One of the important requirements to adapting to a new surrounding is understanding the people around you and adjusting yourself to this new environment and the people that inhabit it. This is especially true in situations where the natives are dramatically stronger than you.
Learning the extent of their power and durability became the secondary objective the Commander made for himself during his training sessions which Belfast, an activity where Belfast challenged herself with trying to knock him on his ass as many times as possible.
As a result of the punishment she dished out on a regular basis, he was able to understand the following characteristics about the women of this world. Firstly, they weigh about as much as humans do, this was why he was able to carry Hood and Z23 with no trouble at all and how he managed to throw Hornet into a column during their first encounter. But this was about the only similarity shared between the two species.
Secondly, when it came to their attack and defense, everyone in this world favored attack over defense. The remark he once made to Overseer Alpha about the girls here being able to destroy a three storey building was a little exaggeration but it did not detract from the fact that when everyone here hit, they hit hard. If there ever was any doubt that Hornet's strength was a fluke, his sessions with Belfast proved that everyone here could pack a very mean punch. This adherence to an offensive approach ensured that if there was someone who favored defense and evasion, then they'd have some advantage over their opponents.
The best way to understand this approach comes from certain games, wherein a considerably weak character could defeat a much stronger opponent by attacking for a moment then moving back and evading till an opening presents itself.
The third and most important observation he made was that the metal that was used to forge the sabres, swords, katanas and knives that were wielded by some of the women was made of a strong but incredibly rare metal in this world. The metal was able to absorb some of the force of a powerful strike, allowing the user the opportunity the chance to counter. Of course, the weapons were not the preferred choice for combat when compared to the weapons the women here wielded. While they weren't all that important to them, it made all the difference to one person in particular.
Ducking and sidestepping the artillery as he approached the Siren, he initially wanted to make her suffer. He was admittedly angry and allowed that train of thought to guide his initial strikes against the Siren. While he did land a number of cuts on her sides and arms, she only needed to knock him through three trees just once for the scale of victory to tip in her favor.
While he was busy picking off pieces of glass from his side and his face, he realized the importance of keeping his calm on the battlefield. It was a rookie mistake he made and it was honestly good luck that he realized it now instead of when he was one step away from dying.
"You're fighting me on your own?" asked the Siren, menacingly floating in the air and grimacing at the pile of rubble he was sent into "you sure have gotten arrogant since our last encounter."
"Nah, nothing like that," he said, emerging from the rubble "it's just that you're so low on the food chain, I don't want to waste anyone else's time. Sorry, but this is one of those times where having the leader's attention isn't a compliment but an insult."
Any soldier would tell you the idea of not having emotions on the battlefield is an impossible ideal. Of course, there will be emotions as humans are a species that feels. So, if you are being clouded by your emotions, how do you level the playing field?
Simple, you could their mind as well, as demonstrated by the Commander's insult having the desired effect in causing the Siren to yell angrily at him and recklessly charge at him.
When she was close enough, the Siren fired a few shots at him but he dodged the attack by taking a step to the side. The Siren leapt into the air, firing at him but he was able to dodge his way through the barrage. When she landed, he was only a few feet away from her and before she could retaliate, he landed a cut across her chest. The Siren screamed in pain and attacked with a swinging kick but he ducked down, grabbed her foot and flung her into some of the rubble.
"Damn you stupid otherworlder," she yelled, emerging out of the wreckage in no time flat and attacking him as many times as she could. The training he had with Belfast and adapting to her speed paid dividends as he was able to calculate where the shot would land and avoid it completely. When the distance between them was close enough, the Commander attacked with a downward slash, only this time, the Siren was able to grab the blade with her two hands.
"Heh, now let's see how tough you are without it," she said, smirking at him followed by her snapping the blade in half.
Surprised and shocked at how easily she broke a supposedly strong metal with little effort, he quickly recovered and rammed the part of the sabre he was holding onto, right into the Siren's chest. As the Siren screamed in pain, he quickly grabbed the blade she broke off and dug it into her neck. This time, the Siren was able to ignore the pain and land a kick on the Commander's chest which sent him crashing into the ground.
"Stupid insect," she yelled, yanking the piece of metal out of her neck and tossing it aside. "I'll make you pay dearly for that." The Siren was about to attack, but was hampered by a sudden barrage of fire from her right flank.
"The hell?" he wondered, thinking that he did everything possible not to inform anyone that he was facing a Siren.
"Hey," shouted a voice from the side, making both of them turn towards the source. The Siren turned and was hit by another barrage of artillery fire.
"Did you really think I'd let you face that damned Siren on your own?" shouted Z23, all the while stomping towards the Commander, the latter of whom had his foot caught under some rubble.
Demonstrating how angry she was, she casually grabbed the piece of rubble and flung it aside like it were a piece of paper.
"Idiot," she said, glaring daggers at him.
"See this is why I kept my mouth shut," he said, tapping the dust off his feet "you're far too close to this."
"And how would you know that?"
"Because I didn't get these cuts and bruises from standing around. Siren's got a lot more bite to her than last time."
"All the more reason we take her down together."
"Hey you, stupid couple," shouted the Siren "don't take your eyes off the enemy."
She ran towards them and when she was close enough leapt forward with a kick aimed at both of them. Unfortunately for the Siren, the pair saw the attack coming as Z23 grabbed her foot and the Commander tilted his body back, avoiding the attack and grabbing her other foot.
Before the Siren could react, the pair rammed her into the ground, not one, not twice but three times, each one more painful than the last. Just when it looked like they were about to throw her one more time, Z23 let go of her grasp on the Siren, ran up the Commander's back, jumped off and when in the air, she let loose a hellacious barrage of cannon fire on the enemy.
"You hold me back if I go crazy," said the Commander to her, just as she landed next to him.
"And you hold me back if I go crazy," said Z23 to him.
"Oh and one more thing," said the pair together as they turned to the downed Siren.
"We're not a couple," the added, intending to dismiss any claims of there being any relationship between the two that went beyond the professional. However, given how well they pulled off that team attack and how perfectly they spoke in unison, their statement did not have the effect it intended.
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Columbia held one hand and Monteplier held the other hand. Together, the pair launched Glowworm head first into the side of one of the Siren ships. The attack had the intended effect as Glowworm barreled through the ship's armor and emerged from the other side, where Cleveland was ready to catch her.
"I can…. Keep going~" asked Glowworm, her head still swirling from the whole process.
"Relax Glow," said Cleveland "you've done enough."
"And you two," she shouted at Columbia and Monteplier "why are you literally throwing our friends at the enemy?"
"Glowworm's got a pretty hard head," suggested Columbia.
"We thought we may as well take advantage of it," added Monteplier.
"Is there any word on our reinforcements?" barked Akagi through the communicator.
"We still haven't managed to locate their jamming ship," replied Enterprise.
"What about Z23?" asked Eugen.
"She said she heard something from the Commander's location," replied Illustrious, sending out a few dive bombers against the ships, with minimal damage being caused.
"For now, we need to do our job and let Z23 do hers," stated Enterprise.
"Everyone," declared Belfast "pick a target and keep hitting it till it sinks."
At that idea, both Denver and Monteplier raised their hands up, no doubt hit by a bout of inspiration.
"We are not throwing Glowworm at them," shouted Cleveland, effectively dismissing the idea.
One of the biggest problems that the inhabitants of this world dealt with was the lack of any organization or strategy used when facing an opponent. Sure, there were those who'd have a different approach to the norm, but people like that were few and far between. This meant that the only strategy factions opted for was to simply throw all that they had against the enemy, hoping that numbers would give them the advantage.
This was one of the reasons why someone like the Commander proved an effective tool on the battlefield. His ability to accurately predict the flow of a battle and position soldiers in just the right places was a sign of how he could utilize each one's skills to their fullest. The best example of this would be their recent battle with the Sakura Empire. The Coalition were outnumbered and outgunned, yet they prevailed thanks to the timely usage of a second fleet that allowed the first fleet the time they needed to counter.
As such, the absence of his foresight left a hole in the fleet's effectiveness and it was a gap that needed to be filled quickly.
'There's still nothing from him,' she thought, 'could he be trying to form a plan? No, he's able to come up with ideas on the fly. Damn it, did they send a small force to take him out as well?'
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When he was close enough, he grabbed his cape and flung it at the Siren, blinding her. In that moment, Z23 grabbed her by the head and rammed her into the ground. The Siren got to her feet and went for a sweeping kick at Z23 but the girl reacted faster. She extended her hand back and was grabbed by the Commander who spun her around and threw her into the Siren, allowing Z23 the chance to land a double kick on their enemy's chest.
The Siren skidded back and fired at the pair, stopping Z23 from moving but the Commander was quicker. She could see him running towards her and prepared to retaliate. What she did not expect was him suddenly going in for a slide. That moment of surprise and shock allowed him to knock her off her feet Z23 used that chance to attack with another kick but this time, the Siren was ready for her and grabbed her foot, while still in the air.
The Commander rolled away just in time, avoiding a kick that would have caved his head in. When he got up, he saw Z23 being flung towards him by the Siren. Although he was ready to catch her, the force at which she came towards him sent the pair crashing through a building.
The Commander groaned in a little, trying to keep from collapsing. He tried getting up but felt a sudden and sharp pain on his side. That was when he noticed the piece of metal sticking out his side.
"Hey, Commander," groaned Z23, "you still alive there?"
"Still kicking, how about you?"
He noticed Z23 rise up from a pile of rubble, holding her wounded right arm. There was also the cut on her head that was slowly but certainly impairing her vision.
"We're really outclassed here aren't we?" he asked.
"Yeah, she's about as strong as a battleship," she replied.
"We can't draw this fight out any longer," he said, noticing the gunfire and explosions in the distance "I need to get a handle on things over there."
"To do that we're going to need to end her. Got any plans?"
"I might," he said and the pair shook off the dust on their bodies and left the building.
"Hmph, so you two are still alive?" asked the Siren.
"Sorry about that," he said, apologetically "looks like we'll be keeping you busy for a little while longer."
"Now follow my lead," he muttered to Z23, then broke into a run.
The Siren fired at him trying to get a lock on him but he kept moving from side to side, making it impossible to be targeted. As he got closer, he failed to notice the piece of rubble sticking out of the ground like a sore thumb. As such he ran into the thing which knocked him off balance and sent him crashing into the ground.
"You damned idiot," shouted Z23, running towards the Siren in an effort to keep her from attacking the downed Commander. She drew in close and attacked the Siren with a few shots before attacking with a high kick. The attack did not land as the Siren predicted she would do this and held her hand up to block her.
"You really need to try something new," she said, staring her opponent down.
"That's why I have a good partner."
The Siren now noticed the Commander in the air coming down on her. At first, she thought it made no sense to do something like that. The difference in power between them was staggering. Even his best punch could barely register to her so it was pure stupidity to attack her head on.
But as he drew closer, she noticed something shining in his hand. That was when she realized his trip wasn't on purpose, it was done so that Z23 would attack and allow him to find one half of his broken sabre.
"See that's the thing about teammates," said Z23, punching the Siren in the gut and quickly retrieving the other piece of the sabre near her "you really need to keep your eyes on both of us."
The Commander swung down, Z23 swung up. The conclusion was decided in an instant. They saw a pair of red lines forming on the Siren's body but turned around and walked away. They knew she was dead, but did not have any time to gloat right now.
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Unicorn bounced back a couple of times before skidding to the ground and coming to a stop.
"Unicorn," shouted Fletcher, turning to her.
"Now that isn't nice," mused the Siren, kicking Fletcher on her side and sending her crashing into the trees.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to keep your eyes off your opponent?" asked the Siren, now turning towards Spencer, who took a step back in fear.
"Please stop hurting them," shouted Yorktown coming in between the Siren and Spencer "they're just kids, they're not a threat to you at all."
"See that's where you're wrong miss," said the Siren, glaring at her "everyone in this world is an enemy to us."
"It doesn't matter if you're young or old, we won't stop until all of you are wiped out from the planet."
The Siren was about to attack but was shot at by Aulick and Foote.
"Ms. Yorktown," they shouted "get away from there."
But Yorktown had little time to react as the Siren shoved her aside like she was nothing.
"You little worms," she yelled, firing her cannons at both Aulick and Foote. The pair were sent high in the sky before crashing down with heavy thuds.
Meanwhile, Spencer, who had managed to hide behind some trees tried calling out to some of her friends.
"No," she whispered, trembling in fear upon seeing that they were either badly hurt or knocked unconscious from the attack. She saw the Siren now turning her attention to Yorktown. Spencer was frozen in fear, she wanted to attack the alien but her body wouldn't respond to her.
'Please,' she pleaded to herself 'please move, please let me fight.'
"Hah, you're even weaker than I thought," said the Siren, picking up Yorktown by her hair. The captor tried her best to break free from the Siren's grasp, only to have a fist crash into her face.
"Ms. Yorktown," shouted Spencer, but the Siren continued attacking Yorktown, this time with punches to the gut.
When faced with a confrontation greater than itself, any living thing will be afraid. It is the body's natural response meant to get the person as far away from the threat as possible in order to succeed. Fear is caused by the body's own act of self-preservation.
However, there are times when a living thing is confronted by something greater than itself, it will experience another emotion far stronger than fear.
And that emotion is courage.
Seeing her friends hurt, seeing her teacher being brutalized by the alien was too much for her. Spencer formed her weapons and fired them at the Siren, aiming for the head. The projectiles hit the Siren and sent her flying back, putting some much-needed distance between her and Yorktown.
The Siren quickly got to her feet, only to have Unicorn fire a barrage of airplanes at her and allowing Foote, Thatcher and Fletcher land multiple blows on her body with their cannons.
"I'll distract her," said Unicorn, standing next to Spencer "you hit her whenever you see any openings."
Spencer nodded and together, the two fired continuously at the Siren, pushing her further and further away from Yorktown.
But the difference in power between the two forces presented itself when the Siren fired one shot from her cannon. Although it didn't hit the two of them and landed nearby, it sent a large helping of shrapnel into Unicorn's left arm, causing her to halt her attack.
This provided the Siren with the chance to charge forward and grab Spencer then ram her into the ground.
"Well, how's that?" she asked as she continued punching the youth "how does it feel being pounded into the ground?"
"Spencer," shouted Thatcher as she tried shooting at the Siren, only to be kicked into one of the trees.
Meanwhile Yorktown, struggled to her feet, using a nearby tree to help hold her up.
'I have to fight,' she thought watching her students get picked apart by the vicious Siren.
'He trusted them to me,' she thought, desperately trying to form her weapons 'I have to fight, I have to protect them.'
But as much as she prayed to be strong enough, there was no answer. Her injuries made it impossible for her to form her weapons and all she could do was watch helplessly in despair.
As the Siren was about to land the final strike on a battered and bloodied Spencer, Unicorn kicked her from behind, causing her to lose balance. In that moment, she quickly came forward, grabbed Spencer and threw her to Yorktown.
"Everyone," she shouted to the others "you need to run."
"What?"
"Run now. Get to the Sakura Empire and get their help. I'll protect you till then," she replied, standing between the Siren and her friends.
"Bold words kid," said the Siren shooting at Unicorn but the girl remained where she stood "I'll carve it into your tombstone."
"Unicorn no," shouted Fletcher, running towards her.
"It's alright," she said as more and more shells were lobbed at her "I've died before, it doesn't hurt all that much."
"Please," she said, turning to them, tears slowly trickling down her wounded face "please run, while you still can."
"No Unicorn," said Yorktown, her legs struggling to keep her up "you can't stay behind. You can't hold her back."
As she tried to come forward, she found that she couldn't. Yorktown looked down and saw Aulick, Fletcher, Thatcher, Foote and the others holding her back.
"Please Miss," said Aulick, who was crying just as much as everyone else "please, we have to go."
'Big bro,' thought Unicorn as the pain of the Siren's attacks started to get the better of her. 'I wanted to spend more time with you. I wanted…. to go on more picnics….. read more books…. I wanted to play more…. I'm so sorry big bro.'
"It's over," shouted the Siren, firing at her one last time.
"UNICORN," yelled Yorktown as the little girl was engulfed by the explosion. All she could do was watch in horror as a young girl's life was mercilessly ended by the vicious Sirens.
Or at least that's what it looked like.
"Huh?" said the Siren, noticing something.
As the smoke around the explosion cleared, Yorktown, the Siren and everyone else noticed that although the attack did land, Unicorn wasn't killed by the explosion. In fact, she was alive as a result of a new an unfamiliar face that had suddenly entered the battlefield.
Yorktown noted how the woman was dressed in traditional Sakura Empire armor, wielded a sword and had a pair of horns protruding from the head.
"You did well, brave warrior," she said, holding onto an unconscious Unicorn.
"You put your life on the line to protect your friends, risking everything to create a moment of courage that has greatly changed the course of this fight."
"Rest now," she said, placing the little girl against a tree "and know that I will carry on your fight."
Seeing her back turned, the Siren fired a shot at the woman, only to have the target turn around and with her sword, slice the projectile in half.
"Apologies," she said, turning to her "I wasn't paying attention to you just now and that was rude of me. Don't worry though, I won't make the same mistake again."
"There you go making a big show of things but you're forgetting something important," said another girl, appearing beside Yorktown, much to the latter's shock.
Yorktown watched in silence as the second new entrant, with different colored eyes came before her, bent down and gently placed her hands on some of the kids heads.
"You all went above and beyond the call of duty to protect what you cared about. It is an honor to fight in the same fleet as you," she said, smiling warmly at them.
"Miss," she said, turning to Yorktown "can you walk?"
"A little," she replied.
"Good," said the girl "run back to the base as quickly as you can. We'll take care of this."
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"Dear me," said a girl holding a trident in one hand "it looks like we took a little too long getting dressed."
"Speak for yourself," said a woman holding an abnormally long, ornate spear "I for one do not wish to greet my lord wearing only my birthday suit."
"Guys," said a red-haired woman from further away "try to remember that he can also hear our conversation, right Commander?"
"UHHHHHHHH," said the man in question, unable to figure out who was speaking to him.
"Hey now Commander," said the red-haired woman "it's not nice to be silent when someone asks you a question."
"That's alright," said a pink-haired woman, standing next to the Commander, much to the shock of Z23 "he's just so enamored by our arrival, he can't say anything."
"Commander," said Enterprise through the communicator "all of a sudden we're picking up six very powerful ships on the island, what's going on?"
The more he stared at the new girl, the faster the dots connected. He remembered seeing her just once, only when he did, she was in floating inside a tube, far below the base.
"They woke up," he said "Izumo, Ibuki, Neptune, Saint. Louis, Monarch and Roon: the priority class ships have woken up."
