Chapter 13
The old ornate Grandfather clock at the corner of the Base Commander's office tick-tocked away ignorantly, filling the silence that had permeated the room. A bead of sweat trailed down the Royal Navy Battleship's face before falling past her collar only to be absorbed by the fabric of her blouse. The blonde Shipgirl did her best to levy a strong and confident face as she stared directly into the teasing eyes of the Iron Blood Cruiser across from her. With a slender plastic black piece in her hand, Wales moved it forward, closer to Eugen's front.
"Hmm~" the Heavy Cruiser let out in amusement, her eyes looking down only for a moment before locking her gaze with the Battleship once again.
"What's the matter?" Her Majesty's Battleship asked back with a playful smirk, "not to your liking?"
"Quite ze contrary," the mischievous Iron Blood responded with a playful smirk of her own, "now it's getting interesting~"
"Is it?" Wales let out a little posh chuckle, "the way I see it, I have you backed into a corner."
Taking a moment to survey her surroundings, Eugen's playful smirk only widens, "zat appears to be ze case."
A surprised gasp escapes the Battleship's lips as she feels the Heavy Cruiser's legs brush up inside her own trailing higher up into her thighs.
"If I vant to get to you," Eugen's voice becomes low as she leans forward taking her piece into her hand, quickly diving straight inside Wales' front, "I have to do something quite bold."
The blonde's eyes went wide not expecting the normally coquettish Heavy Cruiser to be so direct. Gritting her teeth, Wales strained to come up with any sort of retaliatory action.
"You're quite good at this…"
"Really?" Eugen asked back with an amused smile, "it's only my second time."
"Second?"
"Commandant Bismarck took my first." The Heavy Cruiser stayed looking at the Battleship across from her, watching for a reaction.
"I'd say I'm pretty jealous," Wales went to brush her leg against the insides of Eugen's.
"I never took you for ze type," Eugen laughs coyly.
"How do I compare to her?"
"Eager to find out now," Eugen teased, "your technique is a bit lacking… but~ you're not half bad"
Wales couldn't help but puff out her cheeks slightly, surprising even herself with how frustrating it was to hear that.
knock* *knock* followed by Köln barging through the office doors looking a little frantic, stopping to clear her throat as she catches sight of the two at the office table.
"Ahem, I hate to intrude on your…" the Light Cruiser sees her superior's legs tangled with each other under the table, a chess board sat between them with its pieces placed about favoring the Battleship at first glance, "...heated match, but something related to the Siren surface fleet we've been tracking has just come up."
"Well, what seems to be the matter?" Wales sits up straight, re-composing herself back to a more professional standard as she straightens her skirt, "surely those surface vessels are no match for the force we sent after them?"
"That should've been ze case, yes…"
"Did something happen to their fleet?!"
"No…" Köln shook her head, "our forces seem to be fine, but-"
"But…"
"But as they got closer to the intercept point," the studious Light Cruiser adjusted her glasses, "they weren't seeing any signs of the Siren Surface Ships."
"Nothing at all?" The Royal Navy Battleship furrowed her brow.
Köln shook her head yet again, "nothing on radar, sonar, even Ranger's scout planes reported nothing."
The Iron Blood Light Cruiser held the documents she was carrying close to her chest, "like they just vanished…"
The grandfather clock continued to tick away, ignorant to the growing tension in the room.
Eugen sat still in her spot being uncharacteristically silent with a series expression on her face, something Wales, sitting across from her, could easily pick up on.
"You've been awfully quiet…" the blonde Battleship decided to press her secretary.
"Hmm…" Eugen chuckled, trying to regain her usual composure, "Köln dear," she got up from her seat calling to her fellow Iron Blood who immediately stood up straight in response.
"Y…yes?!"
"There's something else you're not telling us…" Eugen places her hand on the Light Cruiser's shoulder from behind, holding her close. With her other hand, Eugen gently cups Köln's chin, turning her head to face her own, "... is there?"
With her glasses askew, Köln's ears glowed red as the two Cruiser's noses brushed against one another.
"N…no… well…" Köln stammered out as her legs began to tremble slightly from Eugen's intoxicating touch.
"Eugen!" Wales raised her voice.
"Hehe, sorry but you're too cute when you're worried about something…" Eugen whispers into the Light Cruiser's ear before slowly parting.
"Could you please act more appropriately?" The annoyance in Wales' face was fairly obvious.
"Ha, that's quite something, coming from you~" Eugen hid her giggle behind her hand.
"It's alright, I'm fairly used to this…" Köln straightens her glasses as the red in her cheeks subsides.
ahem* Wales clears her throat, "so, there's something else you want to report?"
"Y…yes!" Köln stands to attention, "it's still too early to tell but, Nimi…" The Light Cruiser found herself fond of her fellow instructor's little nickname one of her students gave her, "... I mean Z23 sounded unsure, but she thinks she found signs of a Mirror Sea…"
"..." Wales didn't even realize she was holding her breath or for how long before she finally emptied her lungs in one drawn out sigh. The Battleship's leg trembled slightly as she grabbed at the fabric of her stockings to calm it, hoping in futility that Köln was pulling a fast one, but she already knew that the stern by-the-book Light Cruiser was definitely not the type to joke around, especially over things like this.
"If a Mirror Sea is involved," Wales shot out, "then that means the Sirens are-!"
"-Shh…" Eugen hushed softly next to Wales' ear, "your shoulders look so tense~."
The Iron Blood Heavy Cruiser brought both her hands down onto the base of the Battleship's neck from behind, kneading her shoulders slowly and deliberately.
"E…Eugen!" Wales' bucked her arms slightly, "just what are you-" but her complaint was cut short when the silver haired Cruiser's arms wrapped themselves around her neck from behind.
Eugen nestled her head onto the Battleship's shoulder, feeling all the tension melt away from Wales' body.
"You know something," Wales said with a side glance to the Cruiser occupying a perch on her shoulder, "don't you?"
"I have an idea," Eugen said, sticking her tongue out playfully, "The Siren Fleet's heading never changed from before right ?" She asks towards Köln.
"Not that Z23 reports." The light Cruiser shook her head.
"...hmm," Eugen closes her eyes for a second, seemingly deep in thought before unwrapping herself off Royal Navy Battleship, "Wales, I think you should phone up our friends at the Central Eagle Union base. They might be getting uninvited visitors soon."
"What makes you so sure?" Wales looks at her Secretary with a bit of skepticism.
"Let's call it a hunch," Eugen says with a wink, "but I'll consult with Bismarck to see if we could pinpoint exactly where they'll appear, so tell New Orleans I'll get back to her soon."
With that said the Iron Blood Heavy Cruiser left the room leaving Wales to scratch her head in frustration.
"She just does whatever she wants." Wales found herself complaining to Köln who was still standing around the office.
"That's our Eugen…" the Light Cruiser chuckles, "that's part of the reason Commandant Bismarck kept her so close for so long."
"I commend Bismarck for having to put up with her," the Battleship let out a sigh, "I don't know how she does it."
"It's difficult to get under Commandant's skin and she usually used to just let Eugen do whatever she wanted whenever she held herself up in the lab researching," Köln recalled, "and Eugen was pretty good at getting whatever Commandant wanted done before she even asked."
"Yeah, she's so good at it, it's almost infuriating," Wales rubbed at her forehead, "still though, I wonder why Bismarck was willing to lend her to me?"
"She wasn't at first," Köln hid a giggle behind her clipboard, "but Eugen insisted she be the one to fill the role as your secretary."
Wales' eyes widened slightly as she turned to look out the window overlooking the harbor, "did she?"
"Don't let her know I told you," the white haired Cruiser made her way to the door, "but I never saw her so honest with herself when she asked."
"What do you mean by-" before the Battleship could turn around, Köln was already gone as the door to her office slowly shut closed, "-that…?"
The office was quiet once again with the grandfather clock ticking away ignorant to the inner turmoil of the room's occupant being left alone with her thoughts.
Wales scratched at her head, ruffling up her own hair as she let out a frustrated groan. Grabbing on to the edge of her desk, the Royal Navy Battleship leaned forward, letting her head hang loosely as her hair hid the red that had overtaken her face. Letting out a sigh unbecoming of her title of Prince she grabs her chair, rolling it closer to herself before taking a seat and burying her face in her hands.
She wouldn't hear the end of it if even one of her sisters would walk into her office right now. With that in mind she takes a few more deep breaths, finally calming down her heart, just remembering her duties as she side-eyes the old fashioned rotary phone on the corner of her desk.
With a few quick turns of the dial, she brings the handset up to her ear. To her surprise the call was picked up rather quickly.
"H…hello, this is the Central Eagle Union HQ," an unexpected but familiar voice came on the line, "h… how may I help you?"
"Bataan?" Wales took an educated guess, "I see you made it to the canal safely."
"C…Commander Wales! Oh, y… yes!" The Light Carrier stammered out, "I arrived earlier before noon."
"Is New Orleans around? I fear it's an urgent matter."
"Uh… she stepped away from the office for a bit…"
"Is something the matter?" The Royal Navy Battleship could sense something wasn't quite right.
"..." Bataan fiddled with the cord on the handset, not knowing how to answer the question. "They disappeared…"
"What? Who did?" Wales' cursed her intuition.
"B…Brooklyn and the rest of the convoy…" Bataan sounded a bit shaken up.
"T…they disappeared off radar suddenly and… and, when I sent my scout planes to look-" The Light Carrier shot out without pausing for a breath, "-I couldn't find any trace of them!"
"Bataan! Calm down, I'm pretty sure nothing bad happened to them," Wales tried her best to soothe the frantic Carrier, "just slow down and tell me what you saw."
"Nothing, visibility from the air is near zero," Bataan said defeated, "there's a thick fog blanketing the whole area for miles, and it's almost made its way to the base."
"Can you patch me through to New Orleans? I assume she's out there looking for them herself."
"I'll try, but wireless communications are a bit spotty." The light Carrier cracks open the window to the office, "she left before the fog came but we're still tracking her and her search party on radar."
"Tell them to look around these coordinates," Bismarck's voice booms as she swings the doors to Wales' office wide open before throwing a chart onto the desk in front of her fellow Battleship, "if they can get anyone through to this point-" the Iron Blood Flagship slammed her finger onto the table, sliding it toward the marked circle on the chart, "-they'll be able to break through to the Mirror Sea."
"W…wait!" Bataan could hear Bismarck clearly through the phone, "a Mirror Sea?! So Sirens are involved?!"
"That's to be determined …" Wales looked towards Bismarck who just averted her gaze not wanting to commit an answer just yet, "but their surface ships are and we believe are going to be appearing at these coordinates soon."
Taking a moment to commit the coordinates to memory, Bataan immediately runs out to the balcony, partially summoning her riggings. Swinging her flight deck around her waist she takes aim at the horizon taking a ready stance before launching the remainder of her Hellcats into the sky. The wind pressure from the numerous launches sent papers and documents flying into the air all over New Orleans's office, cracking a few windows in the process.
"Bataan! Hello!" Wales calls over the phone after hearing all the commotion and what she believed to be the phone flipping around end to end.
"S…sorry!" The Light Carrier gets back on the line after picking the phone up off the floor, "but I had to send out my Hellcats from here, New Orleans and her search party are too far away from those coordinates, I can make it there faster."
"It's a Mirror Sea you're sending them into," Bismarck says into the phone, "you won't be able to control them from the outside."
"Hehe," Bataan lets out a proud chuckle, "my Hellcats can handle this on their own. I have complete faith in them."
Val takes a few cautious steps forward, her arms out in front of her searching through the thick fog for the railing that lined Brooklyn's bow. An uneasy feeling came over her when her hands were not easily visible through the fog.
"Val!" She thought she could hear her Brooklyn calling her name from somewhere behind her,
"Yeah!" Val yelled back before realizing she didn't know exactly where Brooklyn called from. Whipping her head around, a slight panic ensued as she lost track of which direction she came from originally. A sudden grab of her shoulder almost made her heart fly up into her throat.
"Easy now," Massachusetts says flatly as Val takes a sigh of relief, "you almost walked overboard there."
"Was I?" Val laughed weakly, "t…thanks."
"I heard you yelling a second ago," the Battleship went to grab onto both of Val's shoulders from behind, "what was that about?"
"Hmm?" Val looked behind her at Massachusetts, "I thought I heard Brooklyn calling me."
"Brooklyn?" Massachusetts tilted her head quizzically, "I didn't hear anything."
"Really? Val pointed towards where she thought she heard Brooklyn's voice, "I heard her over…there…"
Just as she swung her arm, the fog cleared just a little bit, enough to show her where exactly she was pointing.
"You sure?" The Battleship continues to look puzzled, "we're the only ones on deck."
A chill went up Val's spine as her finger stayed frozen, pointing over the edge of the deck, at the pure white blankness that was quickly returning around them.
"C'mon," Massachusetts patted Val's shoulders, "it's too dangerous out here, let's get you inside."
Grabbing hold of Val's shoulders again, the Battleship pushed her forward slowly, steering her past obstacles and towards their destination.
"You can see in this?" Val peaked behind her.
"Hmm? Not really, I just know my way around Brooklyn's ship."
That made sense, Val nodded to herself, they did know each other for a very long time. Still though, she couldn't help but feel just a little jealous.
"Come in," Brooklyn hailed for the fifth time over the radio, "Central Union Base, I repeat, Come in."
"..." only static came as a reply, making Brooklyn throw down the radio in frustration.
Looking out the window of her bridge, Brooklyn hugged at herself tightly as she could barely make out the outline of her number 2 turret through the thick fog.
"What is with this weather?" The Light Cruiser grumbles to herself.
The water was almost deathly still and barely a breeze blew across her bow. Her dead reckoning put the convoy just barely past 100 miles from where they parted ways with Bataan and Senior Chief Hermosa at the Canal's exit and the weather was perfectly normal then.
Her eyes stayed glued ahead, straining to see through the fog but her normal vision was next to useless here. Left with not much choice, Brooklyn closed her eyes tight, willing her radar to activate. She waited patiently for the dish atop her superstructure to ping anything in the distance, but there was no return. Nothing.
The hairs at the back of her neck stood straight. Something wasn't right, Wichita, Massachusetts, and Biloxi should've all appeared as blips on her radar but the image in her mind remained empty no matter how many revolutions of the scan.
"Biloxi! Wichita!" Brooklyn hails over the radio, but it was the same as when she tried to contact the Central Union HQ, only static came back over the line.
The other two escorting Cruisers probably came to the same conclusion at the same time as quick flashes of search lights flanked her on either side.
Brooklyn laughed to herself as both messages were wildly different but pretty much getting their point across, "something isn't right."
Turning her own lights to her escorts she flashed them quick messages, saying to be on alert, but just as she was finishing another bright light appeared at Brooklyn's 10 o clock. Looking at it for a moment it seemed as if it was getting brighter very quickly.
"Shit!" Brooklyn cursed as she turned her ship as hard as she could to port. The few Manjuu on the bridge held on for dear life as the helm spun rapidly, sending one poor bird spinning along with it. Grabbing onto the console in front of her for support, Brooklyn closed her eyes, bracing for an impact.
The sounds of metal straining filled the air as her hull fights against the water. In an instant the beam of light shoots past the bridge, shining through the lids of Brooklyn's eyes, searing and melting through anything unlucky enough to be in its way.
Taking a quick moment to survey the damage, Brooklyn breathes a sigh of relief as it just grazed her upper works, scorching the roof of her #4 turret. Her relief was short lived as the beam had blown away some of the fog revealing something she really did not want to see in the distance.
In the middle of a large formation of what Brooklyn thought to be over 20 to 30 Siren Mass production ships were two dreadnought class surface ships launching a wave of aircraft, but what caught her immediate attention was the second of the two larger ships zeroing in with its forward most gun.
The knuckles of Brooklyn's hands turned white as she gripped the console tightly, knowing there was absolutely no way to avoid the second shot, without transforming and sending every soul and cargo onboard into a fog riddled ocean.
To hell with the cargo, and the Manjuu could make it just fine in the water on their own but Val…
"Brace!" Brooklyn yells over the intercom staring down the barrel of the Siren Dreadnought just as it fires.
The beam was on her in just mere moments as she cursed herself for letting her guard down in this fog. She just hoped Val wasn't anywhere near where the shot was going to land.
Brooklyn closed her eyes yet again as she waited for the eventual impact.
Val winced as she felt a familiar searing heat pass over her that accompanied the beam of light. She surely would've been scorched, if not for Massachusetts pushing her on the ground and laying on top of her, shielding her from the heat.
Just as quickly as it arrived, it was gone as the Battleship helped Val up to her feet looking off into the distance at where the beam had come from.
Val stared at the melted fabric of Massachusetts's jacket as it hung in tatters from her arms.
"A…are you?!"
"I'm fine…" The Battleship dead panned, not betraying her usual laid back demeanor as she tears off the remainder of her jacket, letting it go in the wind, "get to Brooklyn, it'll be safer with her."
"R…right!" Maybe her eyes were deceiving her, but Val could've sworn she saw the Battleship's mouth curved upwards, like she was smiling, eager to take on whatever was laid out in front of them.
Before Val knew it, Massachusetts had leapt off Brooklyn's deck with tremendous force, nearly knocking her on her ass. Regaining her balance, Val's gaze was fixated on yet another beam of light barreling toward them, parting the thick layers of fog as it pierced through them.
There was no time to run, Val noted as her legs stayed frozen in place despite every fiber of her being telling her to go. She could only stand there watching as the beam grew larger drawing nearer to its mark. With her eyes wide open staring down at an impending doom, Massachusetts's shadow passes over Val, as her silhouette contrasts sharply in front of the bright neon pink beam.
Bringing two halves of her riggings together, Massachusetts meets the beam head on. Her armor wouldn't hold up directly, but that wasn't her aim.
With a powerful grunt, Massachusetts slams down on the head of the beam. The fog parts rapidly from the force as the beam was redirected downwards into the ocean, exploding violently under the surface sending a huge column of water high up into the air.
Riding the shockwave to even greater heights, Massachusetts soars through the air, but that wasn't enough, she needed more speed. Swinging her riggings rearward, Massachusetts fires off her main guns behind herself, propelling her faster than any Battleship had any right to, directly into a formation of Siren jets.
Letting loose with all her guns, the Siren jets unlucky enough to be caught by a flurry of shells and tracers explode all around Massachusetts as she flies past the front of the formation. Landing atop one plane she leaps off sending it careening into another below as they explode together, streaking down to a watery grave.
Massachusetts laughs, wondering what Enterprise would say if she were to see her now as she leaps from jet to jet closing in on her objective below. Flaring out her riggings like a pair of metal wings, the Battleship slows midair like a Northern Parliament fighter performing a Cobra, somersaulting over a Siren jet in pursuit.
Through the explosion, Massachusetts dives down past the wreck of the burning fighter directly over the top of the Siren Surface Fleet. A hail of anti-aircraft fire broke out directed entirely on her position as she fell faster and faster. Normally reserved for lighter planes and ships, the lower caliber weapons bounced and deflected harmlessly on the shell of Massachusetts's riggings. Taking aim below, the Battleship opens fire raining down the full might of her miniaturized 16" guns.
The shells struck deep, penetrating through the decks of both Siren Dreadnoughts. Massachusetts lands between them, quickly shielding herself in her riggings as a catastrophic explosion rips one Dreadnought in half sending its bow straight up into the air.
The front turret of the other Dreadnought soars through the air, before landing on another Siren Cruiser, crushing it underneath before slipping under the waves.
"Phew" Wichita whistled, as she followed the trail of destruction Massachusetts had left behind.
"Damn!" The Heavy Cruiser cursed as she sped off towards the carnage ahead, "She got a head start! No fair!"
"Don't go scuttling yourself!" Biloxi yells at the back of the redhead as she jumps atop Brooklyn's number 2 turret.
"Now then…" Biloxi's riggings flare out as all her guns turn skyward, "no aircraft shall evade my sight!"
As if on cue, Biloxi and Brooklyn's guns let loose at the incoming swarm of Siren jets. 6" and 5" guns spit out shells and an astonishing rate taking out groups of clustered bombers as their fuses detonate between them.
All Val could do was cover her ears as she tries not to fall over given how hard Brooklyn was maneuvering. Flaming wrecks of planes and the near misses of Siren artillery and smaller beams came splashing down all around the Brooklyn showering Val and Biloxi with the spray of seawater.
"Val!" Brooklyn grabs onto her fiance's wrist.
"Brook?!" Val jumps before lunging for a hug, "what're you doin here?!"
"Looking for you!" Brooklyn returns the hug, feeling Val trembling slightly in her embrace.
"Shouldn't you be controlling your ship?!" Val yells over the cannon fire.
"What do you think I'm doing?!" Brooklyn holds Val out in front of her as she flashes her a reassuring smile, "I wouldn't be a good Shipgirl if I couldn't do both."
"Are you sure you wanna be having this conversation outside?!" Biloxi yells from the top of Brooklyn's turret, still firing away at everything in sight, "it's still pretty dicey out here!"
No sooner she said that a low flying jet sweeps Brooklyn with gunfire, narrowly missing those on deck. Just as Brooklyn and Biloxi go to return fire, the Siren fighter is raked with machine guns from above, setting it ablaze as it crashes into the sea below.
"Wha?" Brooklyn turns her ear to that portion of the sky, "piston engines?!"
"Hellcats!" Val laughs in relief pointing excitedly towards the formation breaking through the waning fog and cloud cover before splitting off to chase down their Siren prey.
"They're Bataan's?!" Biloxi shot out incredulously, "but how?!"
The lead Hellcat streaked down towards the bulk of the Siren fleet, a couple of bombs strapped under its wings, keen on delivering its payload on an unlucky Siren Ship.
Buzzing right above Massachusetts it lets both bombs go as they crash into the deck of a Siren Cruiser. Two explosions rock the ship as it quickly starts to list before capsizing completely.
Massachusetts waves at the lead Hellcat as it climbs upward joining in the aerial battle above.
The Siren formations, both on sea and in the air were in disarray as their numbers quickly began to dwindle. More and more ships slipped under the waves as Massachusetts and Wichita tore through anything putting up a fight.
With most of the Siren planes tangled in the dogfights above, Biloxi lets her arms fall to her sides as her riggings lower themselves, the barrels of her guns glowing red and steaming.
"Phew," the bluenette wipes away the sweat from her brow, "that was almost close."
"I still can't believe we fell right into a Mirror Sea!" Brooklyn disparaged.
"Yeah this kinda sucks…" Biloxi scratched at the back of her head, "but who would've thought mere mass-production ships were capable of forming one…"
"A Mirror Sea? Val tugged on Brooklyn's skirt, still shaking slightly.
"Y…yeah…" Brooklyn nodded, "it's something we thought we were rid of…"
"But apparently-" Biloxi jumps down from Brooklyn's turret, "-not."
With the noises of battle mostly coming to a halt, Brooklyn made her way closer to where Massachusetts and Wichita were, sailing slowly and cautiously past the burning wrecks of the Siren ships that littered the black waters around them.
The fire danced in Val's eyes as she couldn't help but stare at the carnage left over from a real battle. Part of her was thankful that it was her friends who were the cause of these wrecks but as the scar above her eye began to tingle, Val was reminded of the Siren's first attack on humanity and how she was caught right in the middle.
"You good?" Brooklyn nudged her fiance after noticing her spacing out for a second.
"Y…yeah." Val forced a smile.
"You're not hurt anywhere are you?" The blonde Cruiser pats Val down checking for any cuts or hidden shrapnel wounds.
"Brook~" Val let out an exasperated laugh, "no~ I'm fine! Just a couple bruises is all."
"Can't be too careful," Brooklyn finishes her inspection, "once the adrenaline wears off you might succumb to a wound you didn't even realize you had, and besides we wouldn't want the Sirens giving you any more scars than you already have."
"Heh, it wouldn't be the first time…" Val said quietly as she rubbed the scar above her eye.
"Hmm? What was that?"
"N…nothing!" Val laughs dismissively.
"..." in truth Brooklyn heard everything, she already knew the cause of the burn marks on her back, Siren's, it had to have been. It only made sense, given Val's age, she was present during the Siren invasion and she told her herself that she's lived in Brooklyn all her life. One thing always did eat at Brooklyn though, why hasn't Val ever told her? She always figured it to be a sensitive topic, being exposed to that much death and destruction at such a young age.
The sounds of repeated cannon fire bounced off the many wrecked hulls, originating from the top of the lifeless Siren Dreadnought.
"Arrrghhh!" With one foot planted on the Dreadnought's turret, Wichita fires round after round at the deck between her feet.
The hull of the Siren Ship glowed red from the fires burning inside, but the Heavy Cruiser did not let up venting her anger.
"Wichita…" Massachusetts stood behind the Cruiser trying to get her to let off, "I'm pretty sure its dead… "
"If that explodes underneath you, I'll laugh." Biloxi lands next to the pair as Brooklyn pulls up near the Siren wreck.
Ignoring the two, Wichita fires off a couple more salvos before finally stopping to let her barrels cool off.
"How'd we let these damn things get the jump on us?!" She kicks the turret as a last form of insult before leaping down to the water below.
"None of us were expecting to just sail into a Mirror sea like we did…" Massachusetts skates over to the redhead's side.
"You think it was a Siren's doing?" Biloxi asks, catching up to the two.
"I dunno…" Massachusetts brow furrows, "I don't think so… but we should be on guard for now."
The three escorts land back on board the Brooklyn, as Wichita's and Biloxi's ships re-materialize either side. The flight of several Hellcats descended low next to the older Light Cruiser, circling her as if looking for a place to land.
"Bataan's not here to recover them." Brooklyn looks up at the formation just as they begin an approach pattern towards the stern of her ship. "W… wait, they're trying to land!"
The girls run over to Brooklyn's stern as the fighters follow each other down in a straight line, slowly approaching from above.
In a puff of flames, the Hellcats turn into their smaller selves one after the other, flapping their stubby wings trying to land on deck.
Brooklyn catches the first one as it lands into her arms. Biloxi and Massachusetts do the same as they catch the little Hellcats before they land hard on Brooklyn's deck.
"I'll grab one!" Val yells as she readies herself for the last oncoming plane.
"Wait, Val!" Brooklyn tries to call out to her Fiance, "they're kinda-"
"Oof!" Val lets out as the little plane plops itself into her arms, "o…oh~ my god…"
"-heavy…"
Val's legs nearly gave way from the sudden and unexpected weight.
"Bataan makes this look easy!" Val yells as she shores up her legs, taking the heft into herself as she attempts to cradle it like Bataan.
"And she's always carrying one too." Biloxi laughs as she too strained slightly against their weight.
"Hey," Wichita points upward at the lone Hellcat still flying circles around the Brooklyn, "that one isn't trying to land."
With a quick rocking motion side to side, the lone fighter sauntered ahead of the convoy.
"I think it wants us to follow it," Brooklyn interpreted the wiggling of its little wings.
"It apparently knows the way out," Biloxi holds up one of the Hellcats, "at least this one says so…"
"You speak Hellcat?!" Wichita slaps at the Bluenette's back making her almost drop the little airplane.
"...yeah… I guess…" Biloxi stared at her own reflection on the Hellcats's canopy not really knowing how herself, "she is my sister," she says referring to Bataan.
Brooklyn's hull shakes as her power plants spring back to action, spewing black smoke from her funnels.
"We should get a move on," Brooklyn turns to her escorts as their own ships start to move, "but before we do…"
All five of Brooklyn's turrets swing out over her portside as she raises her arm, taking aim at the dead Siren Dreadnought.
Val covers her ears quickly before 15 6" barrels fire a full salvo at the side of the listing Dreadnought, penetrating underneath its armor belt normally hidden under the waves.
"...just a little payback." Brooklyn turns away satisfied.
A few seconds pass before an explosion blows several holes out the side of the already doomed Siren ship. With water rushing in from the opposite side, the Dreadnought levels out briefly before listing even faster, capsizing completely just a few moments later.
"That still counts as my kill!" Wichita protests as she follows after Brooklyn.
The convoy was well underway, leaving the burning Siren wrecks far behind them. The constant drone of the Hellcats radial engine signaled hope that an escape from this uncanny dimension would come in short time. Val stared at the familiar yet alien landscape, the giant moon reflects off the surface of the water with only the wakes of the three ships disturbing its mirror-like finish.
The oppressive fog was mostly gone leaving the convoy to steam through in the clear.
"So Wales ordered us to stay out here?" A blonde caramel skinned Battleship approached the worried Iron Blood Destroyer who was busy scanning the horizon.
"Nevada?" Z23 jumped at the taller girl's shadow as it passed over her, "j… ja. Commandant Wales said to look out for a friendly convoy carrying a VIP that's probably going to be passing through soon."
"Probably?!" Nevada scratched at her head, "Ranger hasn't spotted anything since we got here, not Sirens, not ships, nothing!"
Feeling something hug at her lower waist the Battleship ship stops her rant as she looks down. Staring back up at her, Laffey rubs at her half lidded and drowsy eyes.
"What's wrong?" The narcoleptic destroyer asks slightly concerned.
"Ah… sorry Laffey, didn't mean to disturb you." The older Battleship laughs, placing a hand on the shorter girl's head, "we're supposed to be waiting for someone, but it's not like they'll be popping out of thin air."
"..." Z23 chose not to say anything at that moment.
"Ah… that makes sense…" Laffy lazily buries her face into Nevada's toned stomach.
"I'm probably not the best pillow y'know."
"It's okay…" Laffey lifts her head before giving a small smile, "you're warm and smell nice."
Nevada blushes as she ruffles the younger Benson's hair
"Okay. Laffey." Z23 tries to pry the Destroyer off the Battleship, "let's try not to bother the others now…"
Laffey didn't protest as she was lifted off, but a familiar scent perked her consciousness as she tilted her nose in its direction.
"What is it now, Laffey?" Z23 put the shorter destroyer down, trying to figure out what caught her nose.
"Brooklyn…" Laffey elaborated no further before speeding off from the rest of her fleet.
"L…Laffey!?" Z23 shakes off the spray that came off behind the metal bunny-eared destroyer.
"What's gotten into her?" Nevada laughed watching Laffey put some distance between them.
"I'll go after her, desu!" A ponytailed Sakura Empire Destroyer sped off too.
"Ayanami!" Z23 yells after getting splashed in the face again.
"H…hey guys!" Ranger waves to get their attention, "radar just picked up one… no two… no wait four contacts just up ahead!" The busty Carrier points in the direction Laffey had darted off in.
"All ships!" She commands, ringing out her little hat of water, "Follow after Laffey!"
Just off in the distance, the Hellcat Brooklyn and the rest were following, dropped down to just above the water heading towards what looked like a series of cracks originating from a singular point. They were jagged and rough, like a fissure formed in space itself. The Shipgirls present were all too familiar with what they were sailing towards, but Val stood frozen in awe.
"That's the exit…" Brooklyn spoke up, hoping to ease Val's mind.
Val's mind was anything but eased, it was racing in fact, like everything that just happened within the last few hours were just dawning on her - she was actually in a different dimension, or at least it felt like it. Why would Brooklyn say it's an exit if it were not, but before she could take one last look at the alien seascape around her, the bow of the Brooklyn "crashed" through the fissure.
Like a switch was flipped, the dark moonlit sea was traded for the bright sun filled Pacific Ocean practically instantly. Val's eyes strained as they adjusted to the sudden change.
"You never really get used to it…" Brooklyn says, shielding her own eyes from the sun.
Just behind them, Biloxi and Wichita slowly appeared, bow first, as Bataan's Hellcat climbed up into the sky in celebration.
"So… we're back?" A sense of relief washed over Val.
"Yup," Brooklyn nodded.
"What exactly was that place?" Val took a look back over the edge of the deck at the "exit" that was by all means, not at all visible. A churning in her chest, like a strange form of nostalgia ate away at Val the longer she stared back with the want to return burning into her soul.
"Val…" Brooklyn placed a hand on Val's shoulder spinning her back around, "are you listening?"
"..." Shaking her head from whatever trance she was just in, Val takes a deep breath.
"I was saying, not much is known about it," Brooklyn tries to explain, "but-"
"-but they say," Wichita interjects as she lands back down on Brooklyn's deck, "that's where the Sirens come from."
"Seriously?!" A shiver runs up and down Val's spine.
"Uh huh," The redhead puts on a menacing face, "and that anyone who finds themselves in one, shant ever return…"
Biloxi smacks the Heavy Cruiser upside her head as she joins in the conversation, "we've made it out plenty times."
"That's cause we're Shipgirls! We're built different!" Wichita proudly states, before turning back to Val, "think of it this way, you're one of the few humans to go in and make it back out in one piece!"
"..." Val could only laugh nervously as it did little to ease her mind.
"Contact up ahead!" Massachusetts points over Brooklyn's bow.
Swinging her head around, Val spots what looks like a young girl with gigantic fluffy twintails and bunny ears leaping into the air.
"Oh never mind its just-"
"Laffey?!" Brooklyn lets out in surprise as the younger Benson class destroyer lands face first into her chest, wrapping her arms around the Light Cruiser's torso, "what are you doing all the way out here?"
"Missed you…" was all she replied with as she settled into Brooklyn's chest.
"..." the blonde Cruiser relaxes as she slowly rubs circles on the smaller girl's back, "yeah, missed you too, Laffey."
"Laffey! Where are you going?" Another small Shipgirl landed down on the deck, one who Massachusetts or Brooklyn did not recognize, but the schoolgirl-like sailor uniform she wore had Sakura Empire written all over it.
Val watched as the Sakura Empire girl took a step back, a little self conscious that she landed amongst a few girls she had never really met before.
"Ayanami…" Laffey lazily calls, still in Brooklyn's arms, "came to say hi?"
"Uh…" the Sakura Empire destroyer looks at the three girls she didn't know before bowing, "I…I'm Ayanami, des."
"Massachusetts." The Battleship dips her head as a greeting, earning a wide eyed look of awe from Ayanami who heard that name before.
"Pleased to meet you, I'm Brooklyn." The Light Cruiser flashed the Destroyer a smile.
"Ah, Helena's sister, des!" Ayanami states.
"Y…yes." Brooklyn's smile falters slightly, something the bunny-eared Destroyer still hung around her torso picked up on as she peaked upward at the Cruiser, "indeed I am."
Turning towards Val, Ayanami could sense something strange about her, or, more like the lack of strangeness that usually exudes from most Shipgirls.
Seeing it was her turn to introduce herself with the girl staring straight at her, Val walks over, extending her hand for a shake, "Uh… you can call me Val."
Ayanami took her hand with slight apprehension as she bows once again.
"Yo!" Wichita waves, "weird seeing you guys so close to the mainland."
"Mainland, des?" Ayanami tilts her head in confusion.
"Yeah, are we not?" The heavy Cruiser laughs boisterously.
"Actually…" a bead of sweat drips down from Biloxi's brow, "we aren't…"
Sorry it's taking so long to get to this point. Huge schedule changes and not much time to really do anything really, but thank you to all who are reading and if you have any feedback, please let me know, as I feel I might be getting worse at this lol.
Next time, Brooklyn's convoy finally makes it to the Joint base and poor Jean is having flashbacks of her time at Casablanca when she sees Ranger, Wichita, Brooklyn, and Massachusetts pull up to port.
Edit - sorry but it seemed the last part got cut off when I tried updating on mobile, so it should be fixed now.