The location was Sri Lanka. Alec found out about this on Memorial Day, but knew not to say anything. Whitney's (which were actually Alec's) intel gathering team finished scouring through all of North Asia and found nothing. It was only when they were combing through South Asia, did they find the stronghold.
Several documents were sent to Whitney which were immediately forward to Alec. Alec noticed a picture featuring the ominous Anchor that the Sirens loved so much and that confirmed everything else that came afterwards.
He went through the documents and notes, getting any details he could on the enemy structure before compiling it and bringing it to James.
While Alec knew not to tell any of the girls, James had to know. That was why he was waiting in the office. He was waiting for James to return and present this information.
Now, James looked through the report Alec made and had no doubt come to the same conclusion he did. They were going to make their move, just not today.
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The first thing that James did when he woke up the next day was hold a meeting with the faction leaders. The girls assembled, along with Alec and Curtis. There, James presented the information Alec gave him but chose to omit the date he received it.
He waited for them to go through the data, but he already knew what their response was. When they were done, there was a silence that filled the room.
"What's our plan?" asked Tirpitz, turning to James.
"Our plan will consist of two teams. One team will be led by Alec and will launch a frontal assault on the enemy. The idea is to divert as many if not all forces here and leave only a few guards around the Anchor."
"I will lead a smaller strike team to the enemy's back. With all forces focused on Alec, we attack the Anchor and hopefully take it down. If we can do that, Omega has no immediate access to reinforcements and we launch a concentrated attack from all sides."
"A question then," asked Yorktown "who will be part of this strike team?"
"That one's pretty obvious Miss Yorktown," said Saint Louis "the PR class will of course accompany the Commander."
"No. You won't," said James, making Saint Louis' eyes open wide in shock.
"But my liege…"
"For this to work our heavy hitters must be part of Alec's team," he said "that means the faction leaders, the Royal Maids, the PR class, and the Big Three."
"If that's the case then I am completely against the plan," said Queen Elizabeth "with the stakes being as high as they are, no one here is letting you walk into the enemy's fortress without backup."
"Then why not have the faction leaders join James in the fight?" suggested Yat Sen.
"Wouldn't it make more sense to have you lead the charge?" asked James "Omega will know something's up if she doesn't see any of you there."
"She'll know something's up when she sees YOU'RE not there," countered Akagi. "Don't forget, you already have a reputation of being the first one charging down the line when a fight starts."
"And let's not forget that we have leaders based on our ship type," added Queen Elizabeth "and those leaders are not faction leaders. Hence, our presence there is not significant."
"And what of you Curtis?" asked Saint Louis.
"My team will be supporting the first," said Curtis "the way I see it, we can use ourselves to sow plenty of confusion on the battlefield and make it look like the Commander is here with us."
"Hmmm," said Richelieu "that might not work for long, but there are merits to it though."
"Might I also offer a suggestion," said Alec "James and the faction leaders while small, are not enough to do any lasting damage to the Anchor. If we're going for the kill, we'll need more hands here."
"Very well," said Rossiya "I'll speak to my team. I'm positive they're all itching to take the fight to Omega."
"Alright then," said James "tell everyone to get ready. We leave tomorrow morning."
With everyone in agreement and leaving, the fleet began preparations. As usual, the kids were to remain on the island. Rather than Yorktown staying behind to protect them, this time it was Enterprise. She didn't like the idea of staying behind on their most important mission, but knew it was important. With their safety guaranteed, James could focus everything on ending the war.
Alec returned to the mainland and for formality's sake, informed Whitney about their next move. To his surprise, she ordered as more than fifty people in the Resistance to stop what they were doing and help out the fleet. They would be travelling a great distance and would be carrying Curtis and his troops as well. Hence, they'd need plenty of supplies to ensure they're ready.
For a moment, Alec thought that Whitney turned over a new leaf. But, he quickly dismissed the idea when he let his logical side take over. She lost the Siren's support after what happened with the Valkyries and was alone right now. Her only option was to fully commit to James in the hopes that he'd win the war.
That aside, Alec now thought of how he would handle things. This was the second time he'd be leading the fleet but the first time he'd play a big role in the attack. The last time, he was simply piggybacking off James' plan. This time though, he had to be ready.
After all, just as James would be facing Omega, he'd have his hands full with Gamma. And, if he were being completely honest, he'd hoped to face her. That Siren needed to pay for what she'd done.
The day went on in silence, as did the night.
Come next day and they were ready. All of Curtis' soldiers were put on aircraft carriers, created by Hiryuu, Soryuu, Ark Royal, Ranger, Langley, Illustrious, Yorktown, and Hornet. They all made one final check and then departed.
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Elsewhere, miles and miles away, Omega watched as her newest creations faced off against the facility's automations. The robots Gamma created were meant to be gatekeepers and protect the final Anchor from an impending attack. Gamma apologized that she did not have enough time to fully complete her work, but Omega did not mind. Not one bit.
After all, she'd finally managed to crack the code and turn her darkest dreams into a reality. Her Antiochs. Her most powerful creations were steamrolling Gamma's creations like they were nothing.
Omega smiled at the destruction. Despite being outnumbered five to one, her six Acolytes carved their way through their opponents, suffering next to no injuries.
They were the epitome of what she was striving for. The most powerful beings in her fleet. A combination of two, resulting in a brand new result.
As she saw the last one fall, Omega rose and went over to them. In response, the six immediately formed a line and went to one knee, bowing to her. They could not speak, she made sure of that. Omega wanted weapons, not creatures capable of independent thought.
She put her hand on the one called Hecate, the second-in-command. Her other hand rested on Agrona. Just as she spent a significant amount of time bringing them to life, she also took care when it came to naming them. Omega wanted their names to have meaning and chose those that fit her six elites perfectly.
Then, suddenly, she could feel the air around her change and that was all she needed.
Omega's smile grew wide as she knew what was coming, who was coming.
She turned around and in response, the Antiochs rose up and followed after her. She went through the doors of the training room. Just as she entered a corridor, she saw Gamma bounding to her from the opposite side.
"My Queen," she said. When she neared, Gamma quickly bowed and Omega gave her the sign to rise up. Gamma's presence her no doubt confirmed what Omega was thinking. But, she wanted to hear the message first before jumping to conclusions.
"He's on the move," she said.
Ever since Alpha's fall along with the second Anchor, Gamma increased security measures around their base. The first and foremost were several early warning detection systems in place, placed at key areas around the island nation. Some of the probes she had around the Eastern Seas began transmitting just a few seconds ago, prompting Gamma to assume the worst.
"Very well then," she said "do you remember my plan?" she asked and Gamma nodded.
"Good, do not deviate from it, even in the slightest," she said.
"Far be it for me to question your intellect my Queen," said Gamma "but, are you sure this will bring us victory?"
"Of course it will," she replied, her tone not changing in the slightest. "James has consistently gained victory after victory against me. Whether he knows it or not, he's become drunk off them, thinking that he won't lose. Not only that, he will most certainly use the same move as before."
"We will use those victories to strike a blow to the enemy they will never recover from," she continued "and by doing so, we will have won this war."
Gamma could sense the confidence in her voice and understood it well. She looked past her queen and stared at the glowing yellow eyes her latest projects had. There was an intensity to them that she could not fully understand. These things were alive, yes, but there was no soul inside. And yet, she could not deny them their power.
Gamma watched as Omega leave, followed by the Antiochs. She headed back to the situation room and began gathering ships. As the plan stated, she had to lull the enemy into a false sense of security before her Queen started the counter attack.
"Oh and by the way," came Omega's voice in her mind "do you have 'the red carpet' ready?"
"Yes my Queen," she replied at once "the Hybrids followed your specifications to the letter."
"Good," said the voice on the other side, and then came silence.
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Very little was spoken to on the journey from the base to their secondary location. Even when they reached, everyone was handled their duties without fail. The stop in Hokkaido gave the girls time to rest and check their equipment.
There was a kind of tension that everyone in the fleet felt. They were playing for all the marbles now, striking at the enemy's heart. If any were unsure or nervous about the upcoming fight, they hid it well.
The next day came and with that, the fleet broke into the separate teams. Alec assumed his leadership role over one team while James left with the other team.
The strike team chosen for this mission were all the Factional heads; Yorktown, Yat-Sen, Akagi, Tirpitz, Queen Elizabeth, Richelieu, and Rossiya. Additionally, Z23, Tashkent, Cleveland, Shokaku, Takao and Kaga came along. While there were some protests from Saint Louis and Warspite, eventually the two had to listen to their Leader's word.
Though they were instructed to maintain a steady pace to Sri Lanka and not wear themselves out early, the girls made good time. It took them two hours to reach the designated location and make landfall.
It didn't take them long to spot the Anchor. Given that most of the area was once a city and now just piles of rubble, a large obelisk-like structure still standing in this war stuck out like a sore thumb.
As they went through the debris and destruction, the girls were cautious, looking at all sides and expecting an attack. The Commander however, knew that it was unwarranted. Omega had something else in mind that was the reason why there were no ambushes waiting.
And how did he know his opponent had something planned? Because while everyone else was looking around with their eyes, he picked up something coming to him on the wind. Specifically, his nose picked up something. It was a familiar smell and one that he had hoped he was wrong about. But, as they neared and the smell grew into a stench, James knew what awaited them.
Now everyone started to smell the same thing the Commander did and soon enough, they came upon the source. Kaga shook her fist, trying to contain her emotions, Queen Elizabeth looked back and Z23 struggled to keep her breakfast from exiting her mouth.
There before them, displayed on either sides of a road were a line of human corpses all strung up against metal crosses. Young, old, male, female, fat, thin… it did not matter: to Omega, they were all the same. As they walked through the horrific sight, the group noticed the sickeningly wide smile they all had. As if these cadavers knew what they were walking into and gleefully showed them the way.
The corpses all had the same smell and even from a distance, anyone could see the bodies were left here for at least three days or longer.
What concerned the Commander was not the brutality of the scene itself, but there were no signs of carrion pickers. No crows, flies, or maggots were on any of the corpses here. It struck him as odd and he wondered what could keep the animals from this buffet of the dead?
When the path ahead widened into what looked like a city square, he got his answer.
The Commander recalled a movie he once saw about a historic event dramatized to make an impact. The story told of a small force of soldiers fighting a war against a significantly larger army. In it, a particular scene stood out in his mind where they enemy's elite troops used a village to send a message to these soldiers.
Standing before them, was a monument built with the purpose of instilling fear and horror into all those that saw it. It was a tree. A large tree with several branches extending out in all directions.
The horror of it all was that unlike a typical tree made of leaves and wood, this one was made of humans. The thing stood at roughly fifty meters tall and all of it, every single inch was made of human bodies either sewn, stuck or fused together in the most painful ways possible.
Even the branches were made from twisting and turning human bodies into all sorts of abnormal ways. And there on those branches, were the many crows and flies, looking like they were gorging themselves on this feast.
Cleveland turned away, Tirpitz's eyes watered in horror, Richelieu fell to her knees in shock, and Akagi froze at the sight. Part of them struggled to accept such atrocities were possible and the other part thought they were seeing an illusion, that it was all some elaborate trick of the mind.
The Commander though, turned away from the spectacle of the tree and looked down to the base. It did not surprise him to see the cause of all this seated on the ruins of a large flat stone. The only thing that did surprise him were the six cloaked figures standing on either side of her.
"Hello Commander," said Omega, waving to him with her right hand "I hope you like my welcoming present."