11—Memories Awash
The symphony of explosive shells and the roaring storm consumed their surroundings, growing each passing minute.
Countless aircraft frolicked in the sky. Their silhouettes were barely visible as they traded deadly bursts of lead at one another.
Those that weren't quick enough would meet their end in a vivid blaze. Some would draw trails of flickering flames as they plummeted to the surface.
A few planes could also be seen miscalculating their maneuvers through the gusty winds, resulting into a chain of unfortunate accidents, foe and ally alike.
Coastal batteries, missile launchers, and other land-based artillery were incessant as well; their deafening booms shook the earth with every salvo.
Docked warships and small attack crafts hurried to their positions along the coastline and released projectiles of their own.
The island's resistance was considerable, but the forces of the opposition were significantly greater.
Wave after wave, the number of enemy aircraft coming from the horizon seemed endless.
Humanoid monstrosities rip through the blockade of ships with their bulky armaments, slowly advancing to the shore.
It was a hopeless struggle, and the whistling of enemy bombs above seemed to herald their inescapable fate.
In a few seconds, the miniature warheads annihilated their targets into bits and splinters.
Her ghostly companion tackled her just before a nearby blast sent them tumbling across the road.
As the ringing in her ears began to fade, she opened her eyes and saw the apparition covered in blood and shrapnel.
It beckoned her to stand up and pointed to a path on their right.
The other two fleet girls removed their bloodstained raincoats and hoisted her incapacitated partner using their shoulders.
Meanwhile, the boy took her hand and led the group into a town built next to the shore.
The overwhelming stench of blood and flesh was unmistakable as they approached the place.
The ruined area looked deserted, but she could hear screams of agony further into the wreckage.
She could feel presences… presences consumed in fear and despair.
Sickening images appeared before her eyes, almost instantly provoking a vile reaction in her stomach.
She fended off the urge to retch and gurgle, but it was just too much to bear.
As a fleet girl, she could at least tolerate such an overbearing environment, letting her focus on her duties with little to no concessions.
It was as if the bulwark protecting her against the ocean's vicious waves had crumbled into nothingness.
Unprotected by any convenient buffer, she was now fully exposed to the elements.
She had never felt so feeble… so vulnerable before.
Her headache, accompanied by a constant sharp ringing in her ears, sent her in a disoriented hopeless state.
She could barely feel her limbs. She felt like her chest was about to burst.
The wind brushing against her drenched body made her teeth clatter.
Her teary eyes couldn't stop blinking. Only the constant discharge of a nearby artillery gun kept them from being shut off completely.
The boy looked back and tightened his grip on her hand.
Familiar, comforting warmth surged throughout her body.
The turmoil growing in her chest stirred desperation.
She clenched her hand around his.
She had to, for the sake of her slowly deteriorating mental foothold.
"Commander, stay sti—uh, why do you look so pale?"
"What are you, a grade school kid?" Mica told him. "She can't patch you up properly if you keep struggling like that."
"D-Don't you have any sting-free antiseptic with you?" he asked.
"Everybody knows it's more effective when it stings because you can actually feel it working!"
Inazuma removed the neckerchief that she had tied around his leg earlier and cleaned the wound with a disinfecting solution. Afterwards, she wrapped a clean bandage around the gash. He had his eyes shut during the whole thing, so she couldn't help but smirk at him. "It's done."
"Take that face away from me. It's irritating."
Her eyebrows twitched as she widened her smile. "You're welcome."
His gaze settled at Mica for a moment. "You sure you're okay?"
"J-Jeez, she's right about you being a worrywart."
"What's next?" Maricelle asked, pointing at the overhead monitor. "I think now's a good time to crash into their base and wreck their shit up."
"Just be patient—we'll have our chance later." He activated his terminal's receiver. "How's our blindside, Goya?"
"Clear," I-58 replied. "But I'll do a sonar scan just in case."
"And you're very positive those humans we let go earlier won't give our location away?" the abyssal destroyer asked the commander once more.
"That's assuming at least one of them caught wind of our plan and followed us here. Also, Marvie accidentally fried their network towers and boosters when she put up the wide-area interference field earlier."
"You know," Mica said, "the more you continue talking about things like that, the more it feels like we're inside a ticking bomb that could explode at any moment."
"Don't jinx it. And if you actually want some peace of mind, show her the ropes."
"A-Anyway, even though we have the fairies set some channels up for us, Marvie's field could still work against us, so—"
"Trust me on this."
Inazuma pursed her lips. "I wish you could say the same to us."
"Did you say something, Inazuma?"
She directed her attention away from his scrutinizing eyes. "N-Nothing!"
They had exited the underground installation and positioned themselves in a rocky shoal on the southwest side of the island, which provided them cover from the ships heading eastward.
While surveying the situation in front of the Arbiters' headquarters, they were informed that Commodore Minako and her task force were just about to enter the sea sector. The ongoing battle started to pick up as the Abyssals were thrown into the mix, slowing their progress down by a significant margin. Unless they could take out most of the coastal batteries and other weapon platforms strategically installed within the sector, forcing their way through enemy defenses would be impossible without suffering major casualties.
As for the whereabouts of Akatsuki and Murakumo, the navigation fairies had yet to pick up their signatures in the island base. Inazuma could only hope that they didn't run into the powerful abyssal ship running amok in there.
"Be advised," Aster said. "We're detecting multiple cross signatures within their hangars."
A scout drone's video feed appeared on the monitor, showing the installation's port area. Three buildings in front of the anchorage began to open their doors, revealing a huge pile of blob and mush within them. The uncanny mounds grew taller and more bloated as they slithered out of the hangars.
Zuihou shivered and looked away from the screen. "Umibozu… I'm sure they're using fleet girls to power them too."
As the towering Umibozu and their equipment finished taking shape, they proceeded to launch aircraft from the slots of their flight decks. The Y-shaped planes climbed altitude and formed squadrons in the sky, joining the battle ahead of them.
Other abyssal ships could be seen in the anchorage as well, gearing up with never before seen armaments. It was immediately apparent that they were man-made weapons. Class 2 modules, to be exact.
"They're not pulling any punches, huh?" the abyssal destroyer said, peeking out of the aircraft's side hatch. "At least we're getting a decent challenge this time."
Hatsuyuki's eyes didn't move away from the screen as two of the massive automatons slithered on a ramp leading to the shallow parts of the port. "Commander, why are they collaborating with the Abyssals?"
"I'm thinking the other way around," he replied. "Serra will have a field day when she sees this."
"True," Luceila said, pointing at the screen as the abyssal ships escorted the pair of Umibozu towards the sea, "she keeps her flock in check unlike her fellow overseers. And once you defy her orders, she'll execute you on the spot."
"Is that why you never show your face when she's around?" Maricelle said.
"Ssh! She must never know, ever!"
"You just want to sla—" A tremendous explosion shook the aircraft, causing the lights to flicker. "Are you kidding me?"
I-168's voice blared from the commander's terminal. "They found us," she said. "We'll have to engage."
The abyssal destroyer looked at him with her shoulders raised. "Told you so."
"So much for that plan," he said, turning to Mica. "Prep up for a rowdy entrance."
"Aye," Mica replied as the right side of her helmet's interior lit up a faint blue glow. "Time to show 'em the fruits of my labor!"
As she returned back to the cockpit, Maricelle took the liberty of opening the aircraft's starboard hatch. What immediately greeted them from the sky were automaton-borne planes heading towards them. Ryuujou's frame sparked an indigo hue as her scroll materialized in her hand. "Keepin' a low profile is fine and all, but chargin' into the enemy head-on just suits us better, y'know?"
Inazuma directed her attention back to the monitor that showed the pair of submarines squaring off against a ghostly pale humanoid figure. It had a visage of a tall woman with flowing black hair that reached down to its waist.
"I-Is that an Abyssal?" Hatsuyuki asked, pointing at the glowing figure.
"Funa yurei," the commander replied.
"Ah… an automaton?"
He nodded. "It swallows a fleet girl's body and operates it as if it was its own."
"M-Mind control?"
"Only fleet girls who underwent some kind of biological conditioning process will be compatible to those automatons. I already informed Minako about that bit, so everybody else shouldn't get too overboard when—"
More explosions struck the aircraft's protective field. "Guys," I-58 said, "I think she's more interested in blowing you up than actually fighting us!"
"Mica, we have to move!" he shouted.
"Already on it! Buckle up, guys!"
Inazuma hurried to the nearest seat, but the aircraft suddenly accelerated forward, throwing her against the rear hatch. Before she could get her bearings back, someone's back slammed into her face.
"Oww… I-I'm sor—" Zuihou's eyes widened. "I-Inazuma, I'm really sorry!"
"I-It's okay," she uttered, rubbing her nose. The two helped each other up and returned to the others near the side hatch. Peeking out of the open hatch, she noticed that they had moved quite a distance south from the islands before the aircraft circled back at a much slower speed. Ryuujou's planes continued to skirt around them as well, intercepting enemy planes taking potshots at them.
Meanwhile, flashes of gunfire and massive torrents could be seen in the shoal where they were last positioned. "How about those two?" Chikuma asked. "Can they hold out against that creepy automaton?"
"I'd place my concerns on Minako's fleet," the commander replied. "They're having trouble breaking through a blockade the enemy had set up along the outermost island."
"What a pathetic excuse for soldiers if they can't keep up with us," Maricelle said.
He pointed at the missiles being launched in the sky. "We'll need to take off the heat from them. Her girls won't be able to advance otherwise."
"Wanna send some of my planes over there?" Ryuujou asked. "I just gotta find an opening and—"
"Don't risk it. They're already close to the interference field, so it'll take more time than usual to coordinate with us and update their identification systems."
Luceila crawled towards the open hatch. "Are they really that weak? Like, cheaper-than-chipboard weak?"
"Apparently, the enemy missiles are armed with C3 warheads. They don't do much damage individually, but a direct hit from a salvo could break even strong mag-ion shields."
"I don't really care. This is just taking way longer than what I've signed up for."
"Do you hate moving that much?" Maricelle said.
"How about this for a plan?" All heads turned to the abyssal carrier. "We'll use ourselves, specifically this plane, to lure their missiles away from your allies. They can't destroy what they can't hit, right?"
"Do what? That's stupid!"
He nodded. "I see. We'll do that while we find ourselves a good drop point."
"Don't agree so quickly! She must be so sleepy that she's probably spouting dumb shit again!"
"Uh, what exactly are we trying to do here?" Mica asked through the intercom.
"Fly us bit more higher!" Luceila shouted. "Make sure they have a clear visual on us!"
Inazuma looked at the commander as the aircraft started to gain altitude. "A-Are you sure about this?"
"Got a better suggestion?"
"N-No, I mean—" She held her tongue, shook her head, and sighed. "Let's just get this done."
Fog began to creep into the compartment as they gained altitude. "Twenty-nine hundred and counting!" Mica said. "What now?!"
Luceila closed her eyes as she began to radiate a crimson hue. "I am a burning wick, charming moths into my flame, purging their feeble wings."
Her mag-ions expanded outwards, engulfing the vessel in a pulsing red light. Not long afterwards, a continuous beeping sound broke out in the passenger compartment. "Well, we got their attention! Your plan better work or we're toast!"
"Jeez, you shouldn't really scream at this time of the—" Her nosed twitched as she drew her eyebrows together. "Wa-wait… hold on…"
"What?! Don't tell me you aren't ready!" A volley of missiles was launched from the enemy base, homing towards them. "Oh Goddess, I'm sorry for being such a naughty girl!"
She shut her eyes and opened her mouth as if she was about to yawn. "W-Why are you making that stupid face?!" Maricelle pressed the carrier's cheeks with her knuckles. "They're gonna blow us up if you don't—"
"Ah… choo!"
Her sneeze caused a reaction from the buildup of energy surrounding them, sending a mag-ion blast outwards. Upon contact with the precarious shockwave, the approaching missiles were neutralized all at once. The aircraft pitched to the left from the explosions, but they were surprisingly unharmed. However, the beeping of the vessel's warning system still persisted. "Another salvo is heading our way," Aster said. "Please intercept it as you did just now."
"H-Hey, do that again!" Ryuujou shouted. "Do that again!"
Luceila put on an annoyed face, her eyes sparked a fiery red. "Only if you guys stop screaming in my ears!"
"I wouldn't be screaming if I had Stork equipped with an AMS of some kind!" Mica cried.
"This is why I don't even bother raising anyone's expectations." She extended her arm at the open hatch. "Everyone's such a pain."
Another energy blast erupted from the vessel. Unlike the first one, the release of mag-ions was much more precise and contained, covering a wide radius. The incoming missiles stopped in the air as it was held by a wide telekinetic field. She raised a hand and made a circling motion with her index finger. "Kill their targeting and control systems… and flick!"
With their propulsion engines still operational, the missiles hurled themselves back to the island base. Spectacular crimson bursts lit the foggy sky as they struck the translucent field encompassing most of the island. Some of the missiles slipped through the flickering barrier and scattered themselves seconds before impact.
Devastating booms ruptured the air as the shockwaves that followed each explosion complemented the destruction across the installation. "Crap," Ryuujou said, "you surely ain't kiddin' about those missiles."
The island's defenses responded with its anti-aircraft guns, unleashing a shower of lead in their direction. It proved to be a futile effort as the projectiles disintegrated upon contact with the aircraft's protective bubble. However, their escort planes were caught in the incessant volley, and all but one squadron managed to pull through the barrage.
As if it wasn't enough, the remaining Umibozu trained its massive rear-mounted turret in their direction. The cannon barrel extended and began to radiate a purplish hue. "Oh, I think I made that one angry," Luceila said. "Bring it on, tough guy."
The energy buildup from the turret reached its peak and the discharge brought about a thunderous roar. Another boom rattled the aircraft as the mag-ion beam collided with their field. Inazuma was scared, but she was also amazed that they took a direct hit from such a powerful weapon and came out unscathed. She happened to look up at the smiling abyssal carrier, but Luceila's confident expression was short-lived when another direct hit knocked everyone off their feet.
Aster's warning came too late as the Umibozu had unleashed a full salvo at them. With their shield weakened from the first attack, the following hits caused the aircraft to lose stability as it veered off to port. In the next seconds, they found themselves spinning in the air. "Hold on!" Mica shouted.
Inazuma managed to get a hold of the nearest safety harness and she stretched her hand out to the commander. As soon as he grabbed her hand, another explosion erupted from the aircraft's tail. The aircraft spun clockwise and he was thrown out of the hatch. "C-Commander!"
She released her grip on the harness and jumped out of the aircraft as well. She would be able to survive the fall, sustaining some broken bones at worst, but certainly not the commander.
Seeing the silver flecks emanating from his modular pack, she tucked in her limbs and dived headfirst to close the distance between them. As they rushed closer to the surface, it dawned on her that she wouldn't make it in time. She closed her misty eyes and accepted their inescapable fate. "C-Commander, I'm sorry! I—"
Suddenly, the rush of wind brushing against her face vanished as an external force seized her body, only to resume falling again until she hit something solid and fell through it. She thought that she would continue falling again, but she felt her body drifting in the air instead.
"What are you doing?"
"I-I think I broke my no—" An up-close image of the commander's face greeted her the second she opened her eyes. "Hawa! You're alive?!"
Floating below her, the commander sighed with an exasperated face and looked away. "Sorry to disappoint."
"No, I didn't mean—"
They heard Mica's voice through their comm links. "Ha! If those guys think they can take Stork down that easy, they've got another thing coming!" She paused, clearing her throat. "Um, you two okay down there?"
The Frontier-class aircraft, heading towards the southern tip of the island, continued to divert the enemy's offensive while miniature planes were launched out of its portside hatch. Inazuma let out a sigh of relief as no one was actually hurt from the earlier incident.
"Yeah," he replied, "we'll catch up with you guys in a bit."
"I found a landing spot, but there are hostiles occupying the area—ACVs included."
"Obviously," Maricelle chimed in, "we have to go down there and sweep out the thrash."
"I believe we don't have much of a choice," Chikuma said. "Just give us the order and—"
"No!" Inazuma said. "We'll do it!"
The abyssal destroyer grumbled. "Oh, just shut up and—okay, what?"
"J-Just leave the soldiers to us!"
"Are you giving me orders?"
"Mari," the commander said, "you and the rest should neutralize their fixed weapon platforms once you enter the installation's field. Make every shot count—I need each and every one of you in top form in case things go south here."
"Tch, roger that."
"I still think bombing the whole place with my planes is the easiest solution to our problem," Luceila said. "Why are we doing this the hard way?"
"Ugh, keep that mouth shut and listen to him."
"Are we settled then?" Mica said. "Just tell the carriers if you're in a pinch."
The commander tapped his earpiece and looked at Inazuma, who did the same with her comm link. "Let me hear your plan."
"E-Eh… um... I just said it in the heat of the moment, but if we do this right, we won't have to kill anyone." She spread her arms out as her eyes wandered around the faint bubble of energy surrounding them, floating just a few feet above the ocean. "Your powers will be our perfect weapon!"
"So… just like what I've been doing earlier then?"
His snarky tone deflated some of her enthusiasm. "Y-Yeah, what was it called again? Telekinesis?"
"Alright," he turned around as the lights on his modular pack became more intense, "we better start moving."
"Ah… I thought we're just going to fly over there."
He narrowed his eyes. "Well, I wish I could."
"U-Um," she uttered as she waved her arms, "how do I get down?"
"Release more mag-ions around your body. Depending on the amount you produce, you'll be able to lessen the effects of my VOKS modules."
Inazuma inhaled deeply, drawing her mag-ions out of her body. Enveloped in saffron light, she suddenly fell to the bottom of the translucent bubble. "I-It worked," she said, standing up.
He tapped his earpiece again. "Mica, I need clearance to the pack's regulator. I'll need every last bit of power I can use."
"Sixty percent is just fi—"
"No, it isn't. Are you going to get me killed again?"
"Okay, okay! You can only use Psyche Drive for a minute though or—"
"Two minutes."
"Ugh, there's just no arguing with you." There was a short pause on her end as muffled explosions and gunfire could be heard in the background. "There. Don't push yourself too hard, okay?"
His modular pack began to emit a low humming sound as its moving parts expanded outwards. The nifty transformation also revealed miniature mag-ion thrusters radiating pale blue light. He dropped to the bubble's surface, facing Inazuma. "Ready?"
"Ah, the commander can sail on water too?"
"Fuel economy is important for us VOKS users, so that method's out of the question."
She slowly looked away, rubbing her cheek with her index finger. "So, uh… piggyback? I'm a bit small, but I'll try to—"
"N-No, you don't have to. Just give me some time to reacquaint myself with my gear."
"You guys sure are taking long," Mica said. "I think we've already exhausted their missile ordna—no wait, they're still firing some."
"It's Inazuma's fault. We'll be there in a minute."
"W-What? Why are you blaming me?"
"Just get ready."
He stomped on the bubble and the mag-ion sphere disintegrated into tiny foams of light. Inazuma unleashed her armaments the second her feet touched the water's surface, producing a huge outward splash. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean that."
The commander didn't respond as a soft white light shrouded his body. "Two minutes—I'll make it count." A violent burst of energy exploded out of him. "Let's go!"
He took a couple of strides on the water and launched himself into the air, creating a tall geyser in his wake. Inazuma was left dumbfounded for a moment before realizing she was already left behind. "E-Eh?! Wait up!"
She watched him soar for a few hundred feet in the air, covering a huge distance forward. Upon losing momentum, his landing made a satisfying crunch against the water's surface as he was completely consumed in an upward gush of seawater. The following second, an explosive force ruptured the deluge as the commander leaped to the sky once more.
She poured more mag-ions in her core engine to pick up speed. "C-Commander, that's amazing!"
His hazy frame, distorting the space around him, crackled with constantly fluctuating energy. "No, it isn't! Platforming hurts like hell!"
"A-Are you angry?"
"Kgh—just shut up and let me concentrate!"
"Y-You definitely are! Miss Mica, what's happening to him?"
"It's just his way of… coping up from the VOKS's side effects."
"S-Side effects?"
"We're almost there!" he shouted, his voice almost echoing in her ears. He began to slow down, maintaining a distance behind her. "I'll give you a boost!"
She began to panic as the island's breakwater was already upon them. "B-Boost? What are you—"
"Repress your mag-ions!" Gritting her teeth, Inazuma pumped a hefty amount of mag-ions into her core structure and made a conscious effort to contain her energy within her body. A warm silvery light engulfed her as she continued to speed towards the concrete barrier. "Now jump!"
She attempted to clear the two-layer breakwater, but she seemed to have underestimated her strength and launched herself into the sky. An invisible force suddenly shoved her forward until she reached a cargo station past the docks. As she was about to make her landing, she focused her mag-ions on her feet and deployed her shield. She landed with a powerful clap, causing the ground to crack and buckle.
The soldiers in the area, now alerted of her presence, directed their weapons from Mica's aircraft and fired at her. However, she had to slowly backpedal into an aisle of containers as her shield began to deteriorate from the sustained volume of their shots. Other than that, they seemed to be using more potent mag-ion cartridges compared to the soldiers stationed in the other island. Or perhaps she only realized it just now since Maricelle had taken the bulk of the attention earlier, and the abyssal princess merely thought of it as an annoyance at best.
Running to the opposite end of the aisle, Inazuma squinted as she tapped her earpiece. "C-Commander? Where are you?"
"Ya need help, Chief?" Ryuujou asked.
She suddenly picked up a faint whir from above, followed by the sharp grating of a minigun. She looked over her shoulder to see a combat drone in hot pursuit. "No, I'm fine. How about the commander? He's not responding!"
"I'll ask one my gals to check on him, so keep yer cool out there!"
Upon reaching the end of the aisle, the drone released a volley of explosive rounds at her. She managed to avoid the blasts by a hair's breadth as she slid under a stair platform and retaliated with her shoulder mount. Her second shell scored a direct hit, engulfing the drone in a bright fireball.
"Miss Ryuujou, did you find him?"
"Chief, found him on the docks. He's on his knees and I'm tryin' to contact him, but he's not pickin' up either."
"I knew it," Mica said, "but he's just too stubborn! We'll keep an eye on him, Inazuma!"
Pursuing soldiers forced her to make a break for the container aisle on her right. As she turned around the corner, a bright flash overwhelmed her eyes and sent her flying through a van and into a half-empty warehouse. Her back slightly aching, she propped herself up through the rubble and saw a bulky figure running towards her. She sprung to the side as the armored soldier attempted to crush her with his foot.
She quickly trained her shoulder mount at the enemy and knocked him across the building with a single shot. Two more soldiers appeared and open fired using the gun attachment on their right forearm. She activated her shield's field projector, but the cylindrical shells released mag-ion pellets on impact, destabilizing her field and allowing more of the shells hit her directly.
She withstood the projectiles, half of them bouncing off from her natural field, and shot one of the approaching soldiers. She tried to nail the other one as well, but the soldier managed to avoid her shell with an MAU-assisted maneuver to the right. He brandished a mechanical hatchet, its blade glowing dull blue, and accelerated towards the destroyer.
Inazuma lunged to the side to avoid a downward swing, but the enemy chased after her and followed through with a heavy swing aimed at her side. The destroyer stood her ground and focused her mag-ions around her hand. She caught the blade in midswing and pushed the weapon back to the soldier. As her enemy staggered a few steps back, she followed through with a shield tackle to disarm him. She finished the job with a cannon shot at his center mass, blasting him through the warehouse wall.
"D-Did I overdo it?" She winced as she looked at the shallow cut in her palm. That axe… that was a hullsplitter variant.
Inazuma activated her shield projector as more soldiers poured into the building. As she planned her next method of attack, she heard the commander's voice on her comm link:
"Just because you don't want to kill doesn't mean that you have to go easy on them."
Moments later, he crashed through the ceiling and landed between her and the soldiers, launching them upwards. He faced the destroyer and crossed his arms. "I don't know if you're doing it on purpose or—"
Inazuma was surprised that she didn't bounce back to the floor. The commander seemed to have used a similar trick in the mag-ion bubble that saved them earlier, but the mag-ion burst from his landing had disabled her shield projector as well.
She released more mag-ions around her body and landed back to the ground on her hands and knees. "W-What took you so long? I thought we're going to do this together?!"
He shook his head. "I know, but—" The soldiers, drifting in the air like dandelion seeds, unleashed a hail of bullets at his back. The projectiles, however, didn't even reach their target thanks to his special telekinetic field. "I had to catch my breath. I already told you that I have to give my body time to adjust."
"I was counting on you! You could have told us about it too!"
"Don't give me that face. I was just—"
"Look out!"
Inazuma tackled him away as a soldier fired his mag-ion cannon. With his back on the floor, the commander managed to procure a smart bomb from his supply pack and launched it telekinetically towards the enemy group. The chrome and blue sphere released a mag-ion blast, sending them back to the floor. He set another smart bomb that produced a familiar bubble, absorbing all of the soldiers into it.
She stood up and helped the commander get to his feet. "Th-That was close." She huffed and narrowed her eyes. "I'll escort you back to Stork if you're not feeling well. You'll just get yourself hurt."
She seemed to have pressed the right button as his face twisted to a scowl. "I can take care of myself, Inazuma."
"Again with your excuses."
His eyebrow twitched as he raised his right palm to the side and shot out one of his adhesive tagging discs. She looked to her left and saw another soldier hovering from the shadows. "What's gotten into yo—" He turned his gaze to the immobilized enemy. "Hm? This guy's wearing one of those advanced suits. Maybe he's a squad leader like the other—"
"Don't change the subject," she mumbled. "I really dislike that attitude of yours."
"Are you angry?"
"No."
"Ngh… why do I even care?"
"Really?" a female soldier called out from the bubble. "You'd do us a favor if you kill us now instead of letting us watch this stupid drama!"
"Well, if you seek that much of a death wish, then we'll give you another shot at us." He picked up the axe on the floor and admired its glowing blade. "Either that, or leave the island before the Navy's landing force gets here. I don't care which."
"About that," Inazuma said, "you're just throwing them inside those bubbles."
Enveloped in a silver light, the axe attached itself to his modular pack like metal on a magnet. "What do you want me to do?"
"U-Um, unless we find a way to disarm them completely, they'll be able to reorganize and continue to fight."
"Most of these guys here are mercenaries, so you don't have to worry too much." When Inazuma raised an eyebrow, he only sighed. "If there's one thing you should know about them, it's that they value their lives more than their pay check. Basically, they swallow their pride to fight another day."
"J-Just who are you anyway?" another soldier asked.
"They call him The Liberator," Inazuma replied with a smirk.
"Don't push your luck, Shortcake." He launched himself into the air, creating another gaping hole in the ceiling.
"H-Hey, wait up!"
She followed his trail that led her to the landing platforms. She heard rapid gunfire for the first few seconds, causing her to quicken her pace. The sounds of battle, however, fizzled out as quickly as it started. Upon reaching the place, she saw the commander in full control of the situation, manipulating everything he laid his eyes on like puppets:
MAUs were forcibly ripped apart from their owners' suits, grenades and portable rockets hurled at him were flung to the sky, and the soldiers themselves were moved against their will—he was virtually untouchable with such powers at his disposal.
And just like what happened in the warehouse, the soldiers were tossed inside a mag-ion sphere. "Th-That quick?!" Inazuma said, running towards the commander.
Panting and drenched in sweat, the commander kneeled down and reached out for a machete-like blade beside him. "Mica, there are system terminals that you can use here."
"Copy," Mica replied. "We've taken out all their fixed platforms too, so it should lighten up the pressure on Minako's fleet."
After examining the blade, he activated its compact form and attached it on the other side of his modular pack. "I need a sitrep from her side."
"They're about to send a unit that will slip through the enemy defensive formations to give us support. It'll be followed with several landing teams of the marines upon achieving a strategic breakthrough."
He wiped his forehead with his sleeve. "Anything else?"
"They've lost two escort ships while all three of their amphibious assault ships are dead in the water. Minako told me that the enemies are trying to demoralize her fleet by taking out the conventional ships."
"It doesn't matter. She knows what she's doing," he replied, shaking his head. "We just have to continue doing our part here."
"Are you okay?" Inazuma asked as she crouched beside him.
He looked at his right hand that was violently trembling. "This is frustrating. I haven't used that much energy and yet…"
"Yuu," Mica said, "your heart and pulse rate are abnormally high. I know I sound like a broken record, but without you undergoing neurobiological conditioning, the complications on using the VOKS go beyond physiological damage."
"That's why I'm using it in short bursts. It feels like my lungs are going to give in from the pressure."
"And that's exactly why I'm nervous! Your body will—"
"You're not helping at all, you know?"
An earth-shattering explosion reverberated in the direction of the island's headquarters. Inazuma was suddenly overcome with a familiar sensation, sending her heart in frenzy. "A-Akatsuki! It's her!"
"Are you sure?" the commander asked, standing up.
She began to panic even more when Akatsuki's presence disappeared completely. "I-I can't mistake her signature for someone else! It has to be her!"
"Commander," came Aster's voice, "we can confirm that the readings do match Akatsuki's unique signature. We have also detected Murakumo and many more unidentified signatures within a dome-shaped facility nearest to the heart of the island."
"How come you guys only sensed them now?" Mica asked.
"The facility seems to be protected by a field that masks the presence of mag-ions within it, and a temporary breach allowed us to detect the readings we gave you just now. We're attempting to get through the field at the moment, but it will take us some time to establish a backdoor."
Inazuma, however, didn't want to waste any more time speculating. "C-Commander, let's go! They might be in trouble!"
"I'll drop the others when it's convenient," Mica said. "This Umibozu is making things difficult for us. Not to mention these annoying planes chasing us around."
The commander stepped closer to Inazuma. "I'll carry you, so take off your core structure first."
"It's fine if it's a piggyback, right?"
"You'll just get in the way of my modular pack. I thought you want to get there as quick as possible?"
"Y-Yeah… okay."
He lifted her from the legs and back. "Hang on tight." He parted his legs and closed his eyes. "Executing Psyche Drive."
A surge of mag-ions erupted from the commander, manifesting into a white misty aura. And at that moment, Inazuma's vision swam into a dark spiral as a sharp surging pain ran through her head. The throbbing was too much that it drowned out her senses, casting her consciousness into the void.
She thought that the painful silence would last forever, but she started to hear voices from the deepest recesses of her mind:
Wow! I never had these sweets before! What are they called?
What's with that gloomy face? Don't tell me you got scolded again…
I really like this place. It's peaceful and quiet. I want the whole world to be like that.
For the sake of everyone's happiness, we have to keep fighting. I already told you that before, you know?
Come on, don't be like that! The others won't mind at all!
You can always count on me! We're friends, right?
These voices didn't make any sense to her, but she found them strangely nostalgic. She wanted to know more, and her desire for answers sparked a new occurrence.
A series of blemished and distorted images flashed before her eyes as more voices echoed in her head:
Why are you crying? I'm fine, see?
I… I have to help out everyone on the front. Don't worry—we got this in the bag!
As long as I'm here, those bad guys won't be harming anyone!
So… please wait for me, okay?
Hopelessness and desperation welled up to the point that it was too much to bear.
"Inazuma, what's wrong?"
The commander's calming voice seemed to have broken her trance. She gasped and hastily wiped off her tears. "A-Ah, no, it's nothing."
No sarcastic quip or retort this time. He just gave her a calculating gaze as his hazy brown eyes reflected the blistering glow surrounding them. "All set then?"
She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. "Yes, I'm ready. Let's save Akatsuki and Murakumo."
He tightened his grip on the destroyer. "Here goes...!"
Inazuma heard a violent clap as the ground beneath them erupted like a bomb, rivalling the firepower of her main guns. She then felt the rush of wind hitting the side of her face, and she opened her eyes just in time to see the ground closing in towards them. Their landing was punctuated with a gratifying crunch, causing the cement beneath the commander's feet to crack and bulge. Before she could recover from their descent, they were already up in the air again.
"C-Commander," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck, "I-I think I'm going to be sick… !"
His breathing became quick and ragged while his arms shook uncontrollably. "If you throw up, I'll drop you."
The commander's mag-ions grew more intense in every hop, allowing them to cover a larger distance than the last. The amount of energy being released, including the physical and mental strain to manipulate mag-ion particles, shouldn't even be possible for a human like him to sustain. Then again, he was already an oddity among the people she had met so far in her life.
She could hear Mica panicking over the channel while reading out his vital signs, but the commander simply ignored her warnings as he persisted through his self-inflicted pressure.
Within a minute, they were able to reach the outskirts of the headquarters' premises. Another jump allowed them to cross over the walls and fences, landing in the midst of a scrambling armored unit. The commander deployed a shield to protect themselves from the initial burst of lead from all directions. "M-Mica… what's your status?" he asked, putting down Inazuma.
"They really want to shoot us out of the sky, so Ryuujou and Maricelle jumped out to manhandle that giant blob thing and the other Abyssals."
"I-It's the best way to… deal with them. W-Well… anything with a strong field… really."
"We're on our way to support Minako's inbound units. Just hang in there, okay?"
A soldier from behind produced a blade from his auxiliary pack and rushed towards the commander. Inazuma intercepted the man and disarmed him with a swift jab of her shield. More of them followed suit with their weapons in hand, but the commander stopped them in their tracks as he pointed his hand at them.
He pivoted on his heels and hurled them towards another group of soldiers. Knocking them to the ground like empty cans, he tossed a smart bomb that locked the enemies inside a mag-ion sphere. He didn't give the other soldiers the chance to retaliate as he swept them off their feet and gathered them into the sphere.
"C-Commander," Inazuma said, pointing at the explosions ahead of them, "shouldn't we help them?"
"Th-They… can handle it." He pointed at his left as soon as an APC appeared behind a two-story building and lined up its turret towards them. "D-Didn't you want to get to Akatsuki as soon as possible?"
"Y-Yeah, but—"
The armored vehicle's mag-ion cannon let loose an energy blast. The pair avoided the attack, and the commander cast a smart bomb at the APC, causing a violent electrical explosion upon impact. As the blinding flash receded, there was a wide scorch mark on the side of the vehicle, but the APC itself didn't seem to have any more apparent damage. A few seconds later, the vehicle's crew and passengers hurried out of the vehicle and hightailed to safety.
The remaining soldiers around them, most likely struck with awe from the look of their faces, lowered their weapons and began to pull back as well, much to Inazuma's relief. "Y-You did it!" she said, approaching the commander.
"Nrgh… on to the next stop we go…" He scooped up Inazuma, who gasped in surprise. "Hold on tight."
Before she could utter another word, the commander kicked the ground and leaped towards the dome in the distance.
Inazuma noticed a scarlet glint in the corner of her eye, and she only had enough time to deploy a field to protect themselves from the mag-ion blast. The attack made them lose momentum as they veered to the right and dived towards a thicket beside the water canal. "C-Commander!" Inazuma cried, pulling him out of the bushes. "A-Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, thanks for… b-blocking that one."
As she helped him get to his feet, she noticed blood trickling down his right arm. "H-Hold on, do you have anything that could stop the bleeding?"
He winced as he reached out for an FCP from his modular pack. "Y-Yeah, just give me a minute… to catch my breath," he replied, applying a gauze over the gash.
"The one who shot us was—"
Explosive shells struck the surrounding area, clearing out the trees and vegetation. She pushed the commander down and kneeled beside him so that she could deploy a smaller, concentrated mag-ion field over them. Dirt, wood splinters, and shrapnel flew everywhere as she focused all her energy into the shield projector, but it would seem that luck was on their side once again as the barrage came into an abrupt halt.
A Ru-class battleship, clad in a C2 full body unit, emerged from the thick screen of fire and smoke. The blackened scars covering almost half of her pale face made her more intimidating. "My, just look who decided to drop by and grace us with his presence."
Two more figures hovered behind the abyssal ship. "F-Funa Yurei?" Inazuma uttered.
Unlike the one they saw earlier, their bodies were translucent as if they were real ghosts. A flaming blue orb hovered within their chests, pulsing mag-ions throughout their bodies.
The abyssal ship grinned. "You should concern yourself less about these second-rate machines. I only brought them with me so that they could learn a thing or two about basic combat."
"M-Machines?"
"Biomechanically engineered beings," the commander said as he took his vest off and produced a mag-ion cell. "That's what automatons really are."
"What? R-Really?"
His face twisted in pain as he injected the cell's bluish liquid into the module on his shoulder. "Ngh, why do you sound surprised? Emery already told you that it was her team's pet project."
"Y-You never told anyone about it before."
"But in all honesty," the battleship said, "I don't get why those hapless humans are so wary about your little group. Even with those spoiled rejects on your side, you are but a minor inconvenience to us."
He replaced the bloodied dressing with a new one and began wrapping some bandages around his arm. "No pressure… but keep your wits about you," he told Inazuma. "One small slip and we die here."
"I-I know."
"Are you scared?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Good." He took a deep breath and looked ahead, narrowing his eyes. "You should be."
Ru-class battleship raised her massive cannon and unleashed another scarlet blast, forcing the pair to separate. "If you're done exchanging parting wishes with each other, it's about time we get this underway."
"Commander!" Inazuma cried, shielding herself from the falling dirt and mud.
Floating at the edge of the smoldering crater, the commander had his right hand raised and pointed at the abyssal ship. The fierce look on his face vanished as his silver shroud scattered away. "You know," he said, lowering his arm, "on second thought, I'll sit this one out."
"E-Eh? W-What?"
"Going to surrender?" The battleship's face darkened. "Disappointing. I came here to fight and I was at least hoping that you would be able to provide some challenge for me."
"Oh? But don't take it the wrong way." Grinning, he gestured at the destroyer. "I just figured that Inazuma alone is more than enough to take you down."
Inazuma's eyes shot wide. W-Wait, what is he saying?!
The battleship grinned, brushing a few locks of hair away from her face. "Interesting. I wasn't aware that the Liberator, of all people, can spout out stupid jokes like that." She aimed her cannon at him. "But it's unfortunate that I'm not in the mood for jokes right now."
She let loose another cannon shot, illuminating the remains of the thicket once more.
And at that moment, the commander's frame produced a blistering silver blaze as he intercepted the attack with a backhanded strike and directed it to the ground.
No. It would've been more accurate to say that he caught the blast in a telekinetic field and swatted it away like a ball. Nevertheless, it was still a breathtaking feat.
The explosion that followed dug another wide crater in the ground, but the commander didn't look fazed at all. Winding down, he just floated in the air with his legs crossed. "Me neither, so let me cut to the chase: you can't win against her." Inazuma suddenly heard his voice through her earpiece. "That said, can you keep your natural field generation to a minimum?"
"H-Huh? If I do that and I get hit by a heavy-caliber gun, I'll—"
He grabbed the hatchet from his back and tossed it towards Inazuma. "Speed is the best defense for this situation. Am I wrong?"
"O-Okay," she mumbled, picking up the small axe, "I'll try to—"
"Eyes ahead."
As she did that, the Ru-class ship already made the first move as she charged at her with a lance in hand. Inazuma lunged to the side at the last second and summoned her armaments, unleashing a quick succession of shots at the enemy's backside.
Protected by a mag-ion barrier, the battleship turned her suit's thrusters off and skidded on the ground. The turrets attached on her back trained themselves on the destroyer and retaliated in kind. Inazuma lunged out of the first shell's path and sprinted away from the onslaught. "C-Commander, are you seriously not going to help?!"
"I believe in you, Inazuma."
"E-Eh? W-W-What are you saying all of a sudden?"
"The power of trust is a wonderful thing. It should've given you a significant power-up, right?
His cynical tone almost cost her her life as a red mag-ion projectile brushed her arm. "S-Stop that!"
He sighed. "How do you think you can run so fast like that?"
As she slid behind a broken tree, she only then noticed the silvery particles leaking out of her body.
She felt as light as a feather, but it didn't make any sense. Was it related to how he could somehow manipulate objects at will? She shoved the thought aside as she sprung a few dozen feet away from the Ru-class ship's salvo. Fighting on land seemed so foreign to her, even when she had her share of it during her time in the Navy, so she could really use all the advantage that she could get.
"If you won't take me seriously," the battleship drifted in an arc and rushed at her once again, "I'll have your head on my spear!"
Inazuma threw her anchor forward, but the battleship leaned to the side and fired another shell at her. She made a quick step to the left and charged towards her as she fired her shoulder mount. The abyssal ship took the shells head-on and pointed her lance forward. Leaning to the right, the destroyer avoided the weapon's pronged tip at the last second and poured her mag-ions into the hatchet.
With all her might, she slammed the hatchet's blade into the battleship's barrier, shattering it in one strike. The enemy ship was just as quick to retaliate as well, jabbing her elbow at the destroyer's face. Inazuma quickly blocked the blow with her shield, but the force of the attack overwhelmed her stance, knocking her to the ground. The Ru-class ship followed up with a stomp, but she activated her winch just in time to avoid the attack.
Inazuma fired at the pursuing battleship as she was dragged across the muddy field, but her shots didn't hinder the enemy at all. As she finally reached the broken tree where her anchor was embedded, she found herself stuck in a mass of vines and branches. She sat up and struggled to break free, but she began sinking further into the pool of mud instead.
The raven-haired abyssal ship stood before her. "That's quite clever of you," she pointed her bulky cannon at the destroyer's face, "but your efforts still fall short in the end."
The cannon hummed as the tip of its barrel began to emit a blinding red light. Gritting her teeth, Inazuma looked down on her ragged and muddy skirt as she steeled herself for the attack.
"Time out!"
A crackling sound filled her ears after hearing the commander's voice. An MAU turret fell off from the battleship's back, releasing bluish sparks from its base. The Ru-class ship smirked and turned around, aiming her cannon at the commander. "You've finally made your move."
A red mag-ion beam erupted from her cannon, but the commander simply skirted from the deadly streak. "Yeah… aren't you enjoying yourself too much?"
Retracting her lance, she took a few steps towards him. "You could say that. It's not every day that you get to fight a fleet girl handpicked by the Liberator himself."
He sat in the air with his leg crossed, pointing at Inazuma with his machete. "Speaking of which, you really shouldn't turn your back from your opponent like that."
"Hmph, overselling a puny destroyer like her won't make this situation any different."
He had a deadpan expression on his face as he stared ahead. "No, seriously."
"What could she possibly even—"
A shadow, fast and silent, leaped over Inazuma and ran a lengthy blade through the back of the abyssal ship. "That. That could happen."
"J-Jintsuu?!" Inazuma cried.
However, the sneak attack proved to have little effect as the enemy responded just as quick with an elbow strike. Jintsuu intercepted it and countered with a punch to the gut. The battleship staggered backwards, but she quickly righted herself and cracked a smile. "Now this is getting interesting."
Drawing a dagger from her belt sheath, Jintsuu sprung towards the abyssal ship and swung the blade in a wide horizontal arc. The enemy hopped backwards and deployed her lance again, catching the fleet girl by surprise. The spear's blade tore through her shoulder, but the light cruiser pushed through and delivered a point-blank salvo with her forearm turrets, swallowing them in a vicious explosion.
Jintsuu burst out of the smoke and landed near Inazuma. "Are you alright?" she asked, lending a hand.
"Y-Yeah, I'm—" The abyssal ship darted out of the waning smokescreen. "Behind you!"
As if on cue, a devastating blast knocked the enemy for quite a distance. Inazuma traced the shell's trajectory, and she saw a group of fleet girls sailing on the water canal. They hopped out of the waterway and started running towards them. "Bam! Second place!" Nagara said upon reaching the trapped destroyer. "Tag in, Inazuma! Time for me to get on the ring and give her the smack do—"
"E-Erm, please help me out first."
She rubbed the back of her head. "Whoops, sorry."
The two cruisers pulled her out of the heap. Inazuma felt heavy with all the icky dirt that had permeated in her clothes. "Th-Thank you."
"You guys had me worried," the commander said, landing in front of the new arrivals. "If that woman had gone serious from the start, the two of us would've been—"
"Wait! Y-You were just stalling?!"
He scoffed as the hatchet on the ground flew towards his hand. "Well, it worked, didn't it? Even if I'm still at my prime, there's no winning this one with just us two."
An outburst of golden energy dominated the area, crawling on the ground outwards like electricity. The Ru-class battleship had leaped into the air and landed just in front of the group. "And so am I." A deep gold hue enveloped her, causing her suit to fall apart. "These toys are cheap and shabby, but I suppose they have their uses too."
"Hmm… I figured as much."
Inazuma looked at the commander. What does he mean by that?
He narrowed his eyes as he returned her leery stare. "Aren't you very easy to read?"
"J-Just tell us what you know already!"
He redirected his gaze at the abyssal ship. "They're conducting trial runs on their MAUs."
"In a high-stakes situation like… now?" Hatsuyuki said.
Maya chuckled. "Yeah, kinda stupid, huh? They're about to lose everything on this island, and they actually had their goons use prototypes that might blow up their faces at any moment."
The battleship plunged her lance into the ground and summoned her familiar bulky armaments. "That doesn't matter now, does it?" She gestured at the two automatons moving towards her. "I have my… orders, but I've already done my part here. It's time for me to have my share of fun."
"I-In that case," Fusou said, "we no longer need to fight each other…"
"Fight?" She cocked her head to the side. "No, you just need to entertain me."
"But we don't have time for—"
A shell darted by Fusou's face. A second later, a massive explosion lit the scenery behind them. "Your little destroyer friend was just the opening act. Let's finish it to the end, shall we?"
Fumizuki stomped a foot forward and pointed at her. "Bully Manager again and I'll clobber you with my fists!"
"You'll get killed," Uzuki said. "Again."
She glanced at the pink-haired destroyer, blinking a few times. "Huh?"
"Just leave her to us," Maya said, turning towards the commander. "The rest of you should go ahead and rescue the others, yeah?"
"I'll accompany them," Chikuma said, "just in case."
Growing more impatient, Uzuki pointed her hand cannon at the abyssal ship. "Then let's hurry and kick her butt already!"
"Before we part ways," he said, putting his hatchet away, "I want to ask you something. You're pretty high up in the commanding chain being a battleship and all, but who exactly are you working for?"
The Ru-class ship grinned. "Are you referring to the humans running the bases in this sector?" she asked. "Don't misunderstand. Our overseer prefers to call them our… business partners. But in reality, they are just our means that we're taking advantage of until they outlive their usefulness."
"I already know that much. I was referring to your overseer."
"I hail from the eastern regions of Serenoir. Does that answer your question?"
"That explains the infighting back then."
She sighed, shaking her head. "Caffelatte's overseer, Serra, is still living in her enclosed world to tolerate convenient… partnerships such as ours and the Arbiters. We've been trying to make her cooperate with us, but she's a lost cause at this point."
The commander paused for a while. "What's your game then?"
"You sure are a curious one." She closed her glowing eyes. "To make this dreary world interesting again."
"Make the world interesting?" Maya said. "What the hell are you on about?"
"This war of ours has stagnated over the years that the thrill and excitement it used to provide were long exhausted, don't you think? We need something new… something that would completely rekindle the flames of strife and chaos, bringing us into new heights of glory!"
"Stop that nonsense!" Jintsuu's voice was seething with restrained fury. "Do you have any idea how many lives you Abyssals have destroyed?"
The abyssal battleship wore a smug face. "Are you trying to make me feel guilty? You're just wasting your breath."
"Nobody's askin' you to apologize," Maya said. "But man, you freaks are really messed up in the head!"
"Say what you will, but you cannot escape your destiny to make battle on the front lines." She extended her hand towards them. "You fleet girls exist for the sole purpose of vanquishing the cause of this world's suffering, so you shouldn't hesitate to hunt us down to your heart's content. On the other hand, we will continue to play our part and make sure you girls won't slack off."
"W-We're not fighting for something as selfish as that," Fusou said.
Inazuma nodded. "We fight to protect everyone!"
"Maybe so, but can you deny the satisfying rush that you get in combat? The exhilarating pleasure pulsing from your core, coursing throughout your body in the heat of battle… do you actually find that repulsive?"
Before anyone could voice out their thoughts, Chikuma spoke:
"No," she cast her gaze to the ground, "that's part of our nature as warships—an inherent mechanism that allows us to endure the horrors of war that could break even the most hardened veteran."
The battleship sighed. "At least one of you understands. We… complement each other, satisfying our irresistible desire to live out our purpose as warships! Rejecting your very existence is a futile effort!"
Inazuma bit her lip as the realization finally hit her, clenching her fists. It's just like what Maricelle and Miss Reizel told us...
She didn't want to admit it at first, but it was a facet of hers that couldn't be erased just because she wanted it to be.
The fact that she felt most alive on the battlefield. Her friends seemed to feel the same thing as well, judging from their reactions.
A nearby explosion caused the ground to shudder, breaking the standstill. "So," the commander said, "the purpose of those automatons…"
"Indeed," the battleship replied. "They should make things livelier from her on out, wouldn't you say?"
He paused again, only to turn around seconds later. "I've heard enough for now. Let's move."
"Going already?" As the commander faced her again, she pointed at the dome structure. "Our human partners here are keeping very interesting experiments in there. Watch out for them."
"Experiments?" Hatsuyuki asked. "Of what kind?"
"You'll know when you see them with your own eyeballs."
Using the water canal, Inazuma and the others made their way to the dome facility. As they entered yet another cargo area, they got off the canal and ran towards the staff entrance past the building's massive gate. "Mica, already there?" the commander asked.
"We just made our landing," she replied, "so give me a second to connect to one of their remote terminals."
He looked up to the foggy sky. "Let Marvie open the door for us when you're done."
"Uhh, can't you have the girls blast it down for you?"
He let out an exasperated sigh. "Just let her do it."
"We should really make a simulator later if you want her to improve that badly."
The group waited at the door, taking the time to replace their broken equipment and patch up their bodies. Inazuma, on the other hand, had a lot of speculations swirling in her head since they left the abyssal battleship and Maya's group. Eventually, the urge for answers won over her as she crept towards the commander's side. "Commander," she began, "what do you think about the things that the Ru-class battleship mentioned earlier?"
"I don't know what they're planning right now, but it looks like they no longer care what happens to their bases here."
"I see," Jintsuu said, "but what made you say that?"
He shook his head. "It's just a hunch, but it's obvious that the parties involved here aren't as close-knit as they seem."
"So, there are other groups supporting the Arbiters too?" Fusou asked.
"Yeah, the Freedom Arbiters gets most of their funding from outside sources."
"I see. They're like the Peacekeepers in that regard."
He took a glance at his terminal, frowning. "That's why I'm wondering how they were able to build these bases undetected, being so close to Orion and all."
"Now that the commander mentioned it," Fumizuki said, putting a hand on her chin, "it's either that they're very good at hide and seek or…"
"Or?"
Her lips quivered as she shut her eyes and leaned her head to the side. "…the Navy isn't trying hard enough?"
The commander stared at her for a moment. His eyes widened afterwards. "I… I think you're onto something here. Thank you, Fumizuki."
She gave him a firm salute. "All in a day's work, Commander!"
"I wasn't referring to that," Inazuma said, crossing her arms.
He raised an eyebrow. "What then?"
She paused for a second, gauging the commander's face. "About how she talks about war like it was some kind of cruel destiny that we need to fulfill…"
"That?" He also took a moment to organize his thoughts. "I know that I'm just repeating myself again, but you shouldn't let others dictate your ability to decide for yourself."
"Even if it means defying orders and protocols?" Jintsuu wore a pensive expression. "Isn't that a very dangerous outlook to live by?"
"Whether you made the right or wrong call, you should learn to live with the decisions you make. You wouldn't be able to move forward otherwise."
Inazuma stomped the ground. "N-No, not that either!"
"You're channeling an awful lot of Akatsuki lately…"
"Listen, I just—"
"Are those… our allies?" Jintsuu asked, pointing at the waterway.
The two figures hopped off from the canal and joined the group. "Oh, we got here in time," Maricelle said. "How did these worms do, Yuu?"
"Too early for a proper assessment," he replied, squinting at the direction where the pair came from, "but everything's going well at least."
"Everyone got 'ere in one piece," Ryuujou said, "and that's what matters."
Noting the number of smoke trails and embers drifting into the sky, Inazuma could only assume that the pair got a tad more enthusiastic than what was necessary.
"Is there something wrong?" Fusou asked the abyssal destroyer whose eyes darted to and fro at their surroundings.
"They didn't bring that annoying woman with them?" A smile splayed on her face. "It's good that she's not breathing down on my neck for once."
"Are you talking about Nerine? D-Do you hate her?"
"I wish she'd sink already."
"Um," Fumizuki said, "what do you not hate?"
"This small talk is already getting on my nerves. Who are we waiting for anyway?"
"Marvie," the commander said as he tapped at his terminal.
"Tch, step aside, you hopeless bitches!" Her right hand morphed into a light-caliber naval gun. "I'll show you how it's done!"
"H-How do you work with someone like her?" Jintsuu asked, distancing herself from the abyssal princess.
The commander, on the other hand, placed himself in her line of fire as he walked up to the door and kicked it with the sole of his boots. "Carrots. Plenty of 'em." Blue sparks flew off from the entrance's frame as the door began to open. "But in her case, lots and lots of chocola—"
Maricelle growled and pointed at the entrance. "Less chitchat and more walking!"
They went through a short passageway and into a dock for boats and amphibious vessels. The area was deserted, with only emergency lights illuminating the path ahead of them.
As they got closer to the giant gate separating them from the building's dome proper, the mag-ion field shrouding the gate began to flicker. They could also pick out muffled booms from the other side.
The commander prompted everyone to get ready as he approached the utility access. He gave it a hard kick, causing a reaction similar to the previous door. The steel barrier slowly parted, and what was revealed to them was something out of this world.
A colossal clash of powers that overshadowed all of Inazuma's fiercest battles.
A bloody free-for-all that ravaged the flooded arena.
In the midst of the carnage was a girl shrouded in an ethereal veil.
Y-Yayoi… ?
Her visage was like of an angel. Her graceful but calculated movements were breathtaking.
Prancing around her enemies, she avoided all forms of assault and returned the favor with the discharge of her armaments.
For what seemed to be an eternity, the constant chugs and booms of her floating autonomous turrets filled the vast enclosure. And when it finally stopped, fleet girls and abyssal ships, far and near, sunk into the bottom of the deep pool. Some of their bodies riddled with holes, some had their limbs completely torn away by larger shells.
In mere seconds, death's pungent odor only grew stronger, forcing out various degrees of disgust and terror from the group. The ghostly fleet girl hovered back to a platform on the center of the bloody pool. The floating turrets above her shrunk into flaming purple orbs and settled close to her body, gently moving in a circular motion.
She landed next to a pair of fleet girl destroyers who were barely breathing with the damage they had sustained.
Inazuma's heart skipped a beat at the dismal sight. The storm of emotions in her chest made her bolt towards the water. "A-Akatsuki! Murakumo!"
An unyielding grip clamped down around her arm. "Stop," the commander said. "Don't be so hasty."
"B-But—"
Maricelle snorted. "If she wanna die that much, let her go."
Out of nowhere, a voice bellowed from the dome's sound system:
"Truly marvellous! That is the kind of power we need to even the field against those monsters!" There was a short pause as they heard a chuckle. "Don't you agree, Yuu?"
The commander looked up, his eyes darting left and right. So, make monsters to fight monsters? That's a surprisingly straightforward approach from someone like you, Samuel."
"But it is only fitting, is it not? You, of all people, should be aware of the eldritch horrors that we are constantly dealing with in this dirt ball of ours."
Three people emerged from a dim room on the uppermost level of the building and walked along a catwalk that ran across the ceiling's width—a tall man wearing a sleek MAU suit, a girl clad in a knee-length laboratory coat over a fitting hazard suit, and finally, another man in a dark business suit.
"Koharu," he whispered.
"U-Uh, what's going on?" Fumizuki asked.
He narrowed his eyes. "Just… catching up with some past colleagues."
Jintsuu gasped. "C-Colleagues?"
"J-Just how many people are you affiliated with?!" Inazuma asked.
The trio stopped at the center of the platform, and the man in the classy suit leaned on the railing. "By the way, how was your three-year probation, Yuu?" Samuel asked. "If you had accepted my offer back then, you would have gotten out of their custody in the same week."
"I'm over it." He directed his gaze back at the ghostly girl before them. "What's with this new project of yours?"
"I knew you would be interested. It is only a matter of time before the next Awakening begins, so we are doing our utmost to meet all of our deadlines."
"Awakening? Are you referring to—"
"Yes, yes. We have decided to call it that many moons ago." He chuckled. "How does it feel being out of the loop for once?"
The commander let out a low grumble. "How close are we to the next one?"
Another pause. "It is sooner than the last forecast, I'm afraid."
"Wh-What?"
"As early as ten months from now. We might be lucky enough to get an extra month or two of preparation before their forces began to mobilize, but this is an event that we cannot take for granted."
"Where's the next target?"
"We are still working on that. The last case makes it clear that they are willing to attack entire islands at a time as well, so it could be anywhere."
Inazuma looked at the Yayoi. Is this Awakening thing connected to what Miss Emery told us about?
The commander had a concerned look on his face, but only for a moment as he stepped closer to the platform's edge. "Let's put that aside for now before I get fully sidetracked." He pointed at the ghostly-pale fleet girl. "What did you do to Yayoi?"
The man in the suit clasped his hands. "Finally living up to your title, I see. Donning such a complex needlessly puts you in harm's way, and I find it very contradictory to your—"
"I asked you a question, Samuel."
His voice was restrained but filled with unmistakable fury.
"Emery did not tell you? Fine then." Samuel finally stood up straight and flexed his left hand. "We are experimenting on a new kind of remodeling procedure for our ladies of war. The Irregulars and Automatons you have seen so far were mere stepping stones toward our true goal: to create humanity's ultimate guardians that can square off against those powerful monstrosities."
"Ultimate… guardians?" Fusou asked.
"You valiant maidens of the other world have been protecting us from the Abyssal menace for decades, but the stakes involved in this vicious struggle continue to grow as time passes. We need to keep up with the enemy's frightening pace of evolution and progress."
"He's not wrong," the abyssal destroyer said, shrugging.
"But at what cost?" Jintsuu said. "Just now, you were using inexperienced fleet girls as live targets!"
"Sacrifices are inevitable, no? If I recall, the Navy was notorious for stretching such a mindset to its limits." The snapping of his fingers was heard through his microphone. "For instance, I am certain that all of you have heard how they wasted hundreds of freshly constructed fleet girls on Operation Deadlock Tides ten years ago."
"It was… the operation that brought many changes to the Navy's constitution," Hatsuyuki said, "including Code of Conduct and Order..."
"While it was a decision that lit the rage and sympathy in the hearts of people all around the globe, the strategy was a necessary evil that saved millions of lives."
Fusou grimaced. "Bringing that up doesn't excuse you for the things that you've done to our friends!"
Samuel sighed. "We just took a couple dozens of fleet girls—not much of a lost if you ask me."
"And abducting them for that is—"
"A very cost-effective scheme! Emery is quite a cuckoo, but she is indeed one of the brightest minds of our generation." He closed his eyes as if contemplating. "It is truly a shame that she has to leave us when we are so close to completing the final phases of our project."
"Hold on. Not that I care about her," Maricelle said, "but didn't she leave your group because you were planning to sell her out?"
"Oh, no. It was certainly not my idea. As much as it frustrates me to see her gone, I still have to respect the collective decision of my peers."
"And those mass-produced MAUs?" the commander asked.
"We want every soldier to have a fighting chance against such overwhelming odds. Morale of conventional infantry barely improved since the last major breakthrough for anti-abyssal weaponry, so it is only appropriate to bestow them with reliable equipment to complement the fleet girls in battle."
"Is this your way to compete against the Navy and other military organizations in the world?" Jintsuu asked.
"Who said that our MAUs would be used exclusively within our ranks? The technology is to be shared to everyone, as long as they pay the right price."
"The way I see it," the commander said, "you guys are just capitalizing on the arms race between the world's powers."
"We have invested a good chunk of our assets in this risky venture, but everyone benefits from it in the long run." He paused, shaking his head. "Frankly, I thought you would be the first one to support us in this initiative."
"Why would he support such a thing?!" Fusou said. "It's horrible!"
"Why, you ask? He personally saw the devastation brought about by the Awakening in his hometown. I could not imagine that he would let such catastrophe happen again elsewhere."
"Making him feel guilty isn't fair," Fumizuki mumbled.
"I am aware that he has a soft spot for you girls, but you should also know that a man like him is willing to risk everything to achieve his desired goal."
"The hell are you tryin' to say?" Ryuujou said.
"Well, why won't you tell them for me, Yuu?"
The commander's frame released a fiery glow of mag-ions. "I've heard enough. Bring out the rest of the girls you've abducted, and maybe I'll consider dragging you three back to Orion with me."
"Y-Yeah!" Fumizuki said. "Give us back Akatsuki and Murakumo too!"
"There is no need for brash words. I was planning to give them back to you anyway."
"Eh? Really?"
"That's not… suspicious in the slightest," Hatsuyuki said.
The man looked at the girl behind him. "We already have gathered sufficient data to work with. However, I do have to ask you one last favor before I turn them in."
"Wow," Maricelle said, "quite demanding for a creep who kidnaps little girls to experiment on them."
"Gonna have to echo that one," the commander said. "You're in no position to make requests, Samuel. Tell your men to stand down right now before we turn this whole place into a scrapyard."
Samuel smirked. "By all means, do whatever you want." He looked down at the pool below them. "Miss Koharu? It seems that we would require another demonstration for our good friend."
A holographic interface appeared before the girl, and she began typing on its keyboard.
"You're treading a one-way route, Samuel."
"Worry not. I have no intention of turning back."
Two Funa Yurei burst out of the murky water and pulled the unconscious forms of Akatsuki and Murakumo into the air. The pair of destroyers let out a shrill scream, convulsing as the automatons enveloped them within their bodies.
At the same time, a volatile rush of energy erupted from the commander as he launched himself towards the people on the catwalk.
Samuel's grin went wider. "Give it everything you got, or all of you will perish right here!"