It was that word, that last act of desperation that snapped them out of their trance. Akagi was the first to return to herself and when her gaze shifted from the clone of her sister, she was greeted by a sight she prayed to never see again.
The Commander, James Harper, her husband lay on the ground in a pool of blood. Before him stood the clone of Jean Bart and beside him stood Atago. Turning back to his unconscious body and seeing the blood trickle out of his wound made Akagi shake and caused her knees to buckle.
The memories she had of him started playing back in her mind. From the time they met to that encounter on the island. That moment where he saved her and she fell head over heels for him. She thought of the day he came back, the day they were married and the night they shared as husband and wife. All of it was gone, in a single moment.
And what was she doing while all this happened? She was standing completely still.
"JAMES," shouted Z23, rushing to his side.
"I've had enough of this," said Omega, looking at the scene like someone who had seen enough soap operas "Keres, end him."
In response, the clone of Jean Bart (now called Keres) raised her leg up till it touched the sky. Everyone knew that if she brought it down on him, even half of that would be enough to kill him. But all that force on a human of all things? There wouldn't be anything left to bury.
But the kick did not reach its target. Instead it was stopped by someone that caused Omega's expression to change. She went from bored to concern at the sight of a white-haired Akagi raising her fist up to block the Keres' attack.
"You did this," she said, with a growl and punched Keres with enough force, it sent the Siren soldier flying back. In response, the Atago clone charged at Akagi's right with her blade drawn and swung but Akagi caught the weapon in mid-air, shocking everyone.
"Damn you," she hissed, now forming her rigging. Just as her hair a bright white, her typically crimson-coloured runway was now an ominous black.
"Damn you," she said, the anger in her voice rising "DAMN YOU."
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When the message came through, Alec did not believe it at first. The first thing he assumed as Gamma managed to hack their communication line and sent out the message to deter the attackers. Yet, when he heard it again, the reality hit him like a brick.
"The Commander is down," said the voice, sounding a lot like Z23's.
The message did not come from Gamma, but it did have the intended effect. In an instant, half the battlefield became deathly silent. Everyone paused as if to confirm if the words they heard were true.
"The Commander is down," repeated Z23 "he's unconscious, bleeding out and suffering from multiple internal injuries."
"We have to get him back to the base," shouted Queen Elizabeth, engaging in combat with what sounded like a battleship.
Alec then saw the incoming barrage from the enemy's side and shouted at everyone to run. Though his word were enough to snap many of their shock, many others were badly injured by the attack.
"What the hell is going on Z23?" shouted Enterprise before Alec could voice his concerns "what do you mean the Commander is down?"
"It's exactly as I said," came the reply "he was stuck down after fighting Jean Bart and Atago."
"WHAT?" shouted Alec, sounding more confused now
"Not the time for answers, we have to get out of here now," she stated.
"But, what about our mission?" asked Essex, looking at the many Siren vessels coming at them
"To hell with the mission," barked Saint Louis.
"Saint Louis is right," said Alec, in an attempt to gain control over things "there's too much going on right now and we're in the dark. For now, we have to link up with the insertion team and head back to the base."
As he said that, he heard a cannon shell hit the waters near him. Alec spun around and saw the enemy forces were now increasing the ferocity of their attacks.
"God damn it, it's like they knew what was going to happen," said Curtis "they have no intention of letting us through."
"I don't care how many of them are there," said Roon, taking a cannon shot to the face without flinching "we're getting the Commander."
As much as Alec believed in Roon's strength, the fact is that Gamma's forces had effectively created a wall of fire, attacking the fleet and the boots on the ground that it was nearly impossible to take even a step forward.
Yet, they had to. Because if they didn't, they'd lose their leader.
"Here's what we're going to do," said Alec, "Enterprise, take the carrier division and punch a hole in their defences. I don't care how big or small it is, all I need is an opening."
"Roger," said Enterprise in a tone her sisters never heard before.
"Belfast, Saint Louis, take your teams through the opening and meet with the insertion team," said Alec "no doubt you will encounter Omega and whatever else there so be prepared."
"And what about us?" asked Friedrich "you can't ask us to stay behind…"
"There's plenty of ships in front of us Friedrich," said Alec "take your frustration out on them."
As he saw the teams start following their plans, Alec momentarily questioned if what he did was the right thing. Rather than sending the Royal Maids and the PR Class, it made more tactical sense to send the Big Three.
Yet, he kept recalling Z23's words. That James fell when fighting Atago and Jean Bart. The innocent side of him wanted to believe he was hearing things, had to believe. Yet the pragmatist, the realist knew that was not the case. His ears were fine and he heard what he heard.
With that knowledge, the question then became, if Friedrich, Warspite and Sandy saw their friends now brought back as some unholy abominations, would they fight back? The answer: no. Alec was sure of this, especially with regards to Friedrich. The woman regarded the others in the Iron Blood as her daughters and could never consider them their enemy. That kind of thinking will get you killed on the battlefield.
Alexis threw multiple Hybrids into the crowd, but more rose up and fired. She saw several soldiers on her left and right being mowed down by the relentless barrage but charged forward. She rammed into one with her elbow and swung it around to knock away those closest. The Hybrids saw her and converged, shifting focus from Curtis' group to her.
As she fought, she saw the skies filled with explosions. From where she stood, it was impossible to tell which side was winning.
In the air, Enterprise stood on the deck of an enemy Carrier and fired arrow after arrow into the towers. Rather than turn them into planes, she let them explode on contact, damaging the ship. Beside her was Essex, taking down numerous enemy aircraft flying towards them by herself.
"I found an opening," said Ark Royal through the communicator "three ships to your right Enterprise."
The head of the carrier division said nothing at first and looked at the ship in question. Compared to the others, it was firing off less airplanes and sustained some damage on the runway.
With her target zeroed in, Enterprise leapt off the crashing ship and onto another with Essex following behind. The pair were greeted by several Hybrids but the welcoming party was quickly dispatched by the arrival of Intrepid, Shangri-La, Bunker Hill, Hornet, and Yorktown.
The group said nothing and came together. They leapt off the deck and saw several planes being shot down by a combination of Royal Navy and Eagle Union planes. While in the air, Enterprise and Essex also fired at any of their would-be attackers.
When they reached the ship in question, the group wasted little time in dispatching it. Essex and Enterprise attached the hull while their sisters provided cover.
"Saint Louis," said Enterprise "you've got your opening."
On the waters below, Saint Louis and Belfast saw the small hole in the steel wall emerge. They could also see several ships coming in from either side to try and plug the opening. Time was short and they had to act fast.
Saint Louis' team led the charge. They went through the enemy forces either by cutting them apart or ramming right into them. Roon in particular was ideally suited for being a battering ram as she barrelled through enemy ships one after another. Behind them was Belfast and the rest of the Royal Maids, the group focused solely on preventing any ships, planes or Hybrids from killing their momentum.
From all sides, Belfast saw Siren jets and bombers converge on them intent to stop them. The area ahead and around them was swallowed by numerous explosions, but the two teams persisted. Right now, they had to meet with the insertion team.
To Belfast, Roon, and Saint Louis in particular, they outright refused to believe what they heard. They did not want to believe that that same tragedy was repeating itself once again.
Belfast fired at the many planes approaching the two teams, but one made it through and cut her on the cheek. She wiped it off and continued firing.
Saint Louis continually cut her way through the ships in her path while Roon just rammed into them. Even Monarch was using her sceptre like a mace to bash and smash her way through the wall of enemy forces.
They finally reached the land and were starting to grow tired. Behind them were several ships recovering from the attack and coming to them. Ahead were countless Hybrids all firing directly at them.
Once again, it was Saint Louis leading the charge. She used her spear to deflect some of the barrage and ran directly into the others. She swung her spear forward and in doing so, took down ten Hybrids. She used her guns to fire all around and took down more. Next came Roon, the jaws of her rigging clamping down on a Hybrid while the guns shot at the rest.
"Damn it there's no end to them," said Monarch, lobbying a volley of cannon fire at the Hybrids in the distance.
"We need to make contact with the insertion team…" said Ibuki "…get their location."
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Everything that happened over the past hour felt like a blur to Kaga. One second she's looking at a twisted version of her sister and the next, Akagi suddenly goes berserk and waylays her attackers.
The team continued through the ruins of the city, heading to what sounded like cannon fire and explosions in the distance. They could almost sense the six monstrosities approaching them from behind like dogs chasing after a scent.
Kaga then turned to Akagi and as a result, saw body she was carrying in her arms.
"How is he?" asked Richelieu, but Akagi was silent.
"Sister, how is the Commander?" asked Kaga, but once again only got silence as a response.
Despite the silence though, Kaga could tell her brother was in a critical state. His right hand hung and swayed as Akagi carried him with a thin red stream trickling down. Kaga wondered how much blood he lost since then and told herself that it was nothing. After all, he'd gotten up after facing much worse so he was going to get up again right?
"They're gaining on us," said Rossiya "damn it, how are they so fast?"
"Doesn't matter," said Takao "we're almost near the end."
They could hear the sound of cannon fire getting louder now and picked up familiar, but garbled voices on their communicators.
"We… contact… team… location," said the voice.
"That voice is half a click ahead," said Z23, pointing directly ahead of them.
The girls nodded and increased their speed. Tirpitz looked back and saw several artillery shells coming at them. As they neared however, their path came to a halt when Gamma suddenly descended down ahead of them.
She used her rigging to create multiple projections of translucent soldiers that attacked the girls.
"You're not going anywhere," said Gamma with a wicked smile.
"Get the hell out of our way," barked Akagi and fired several black planes at Gamma. Rather than dodge, she used her soldiers to block the attack.
Kaga's desperation grew. Gamma must have known about their predicament and hence her appearance her. It was clear that her goal was not to kill them but to stall them. That way, it'd be easier for Omega and her bloodhounds to catch up.
Gamma was seemingly fixed on the girls in front of her, she did not notice the one descending on her with two swords aimed at her head. When it looked like the attack would land though, she rolled away and Ibuki only cut air.
Gamma rose to her feet and flashed a cocky grin at her opponent. This move would prove her undoing as she suddenly felt a heavy weight crash into her left shoulder. Behind her stood Monarch, her sceptre buried in Gamma's body.
"Get the hell out of my way you filth," she hissed in a low and annoyed tone before grabbing Gamma by the face and flinging her aside. The Siren remembered the power that one of them had and was horrified to know there were others like her in the fleet.
"My liege," called Saint Louis and froze when she saw the white-haired Akagi coming to her. She seemed momentarily hesitant but her eyes quickly shifted to the person she was carrying. Then, the memories of that terrible day flashed through her mind and she fell completely silent. It was impossible for her to even move a step forward.
"What do you think you're doing?" barked Belfast, snapping her out of her daze "we have to go and help them.
In truth though, Belfast did her best to not focus on the bloody and limp body that Akagi was bringing to them. She instead looked at what was chasing them and was once again met by a shocking sight.
There was Hood and the rest of the Azur Lane chasing after them with Omega in the lead. Her mind began throwing up question after question yet produced no answer.
She became so engrossed that she did not register how one of Omega's Antiochs that looked like Avrora came forward ready to knock the wind out of her. The attack did not land on Belfast and instead hit Neptune's trident.
The PR class' maid swung her weapon out and the Avrora clone leapt away.
"Hey Belfast," she said, looking back and snapping at the head maid "stop standing around and making yourself an easy target."
"Right," she said, returning to herself and going to meet with the others. She ran right past everyone, straight to where Akagi was and saw him once again.
"Master," she said, stifling the fears.
Then, to her surprise and everyone else's, they heard the Commander groan a little and open his eyes halfway.
"Bel-fast?" he asked, in a weak and soft voice.
He tried raising his one hand and found that he couldn't. Seeing this, Belfast immediately grabbed his hand with both of hers.
"I'm fine…" he said, now sounding weaker than before "you…have… to help… the others. I'll… be… fine."
Then, she saw his eyes close and his hand fall down.
A swirl of emotions went through Belfast all at once. But the one feeling that stood out most of all was anger. It was that anger that came to the surface as she stared bloody murder at Akagi. Akagi, sensed this and seemingly turned away, protecting the Commander from anything that Belfast might do next.
"Be angry later," said Roon, of all the people "right now we have to get out of here."
'Of course, to hell with my anger,' she thought 'if Master can use his strength to assure me that he's okay then I can leave Akagi be for now till we get back.'
Roon meanwhile clashed fists with the blonde-haired battleship, the force of their attack producing a powerful shockwave. The Iron Blood juggernaut knew who her opponent was almost instantly. However, unlike the others who were stunned by the sight she did not care. Right now, all she cared about was their primary objective.
Roon saw Omega rise up and fire several energy bolts at her. In response, she used her rigging to fire back and counter the barrage.
"Now Agrona," roared Omega and in response, the Bismarck clone leapt back and charged with a flying kick. Roon barely avoided the attack, skidding to the side at the last minute before grabbing Agrona by the hand and flinging it into Omega.
As the two collided in the air, she fired at them both.
Roon had no time to recover though as Aerona now came at her with her katana. She blocked the blade with both hands then sensed something behind. Roon let go and ducked down just as Saint Louis' spear came forward, aimed at Aerona's head.
The Siren warrior raised her blade to deflect the spear while Saint Louis grabbed Roon by her collar and pulled her up.
"Bit too close for comfort don't you think?" asked Roon.
"Relax, I knew you would dodge it," countered Saint Louis
"You two," said Belfast "we have the Commander, we need to get out of here."
"Izumo, Monarch," shouted Saint Louis. In response, the two long-range shooters fired at the approaching team of familiar faces and Omega, littering the area with cannon shells. During the attack, Saint Louis and Roon departed and met with the rest of the group. After a good three minutes, the pair stopped their shelling and met up with the three teams.
When they reached the shores where the battle still waged, the first thing they heard was "Where's James? Is he with you?"
"Yes Enterprise," said Belfast "we've rescued Master and are taking him to Alec's ship."
"How is he?" was the next question asking the one thing everyone was thinking of.
"We need to get him to Vestal. Every second counts."
That reply was enough to confirm their fears. The question of the why and how would have to wait. Alec sounded the retreating signal and all forces began doing just that.
Curtis' soldiers met with the Essex and Yorktown siblings who produced enough carriers for them to all get on. With everyone safe, the PR class remained at the back, attacking any Sirens that came too close while still maintaining a close proximity to the fleet.
When the two teams reached Alec's ship, Belfast made Akagi put James on the bed. Akagi initially refused but after the head maid insisted on it, she finally acquiesced. Strangely, as she let go of James, her hair turned back to its usual colour. Kaga noticed her stagger a little and came to prop her up.
"Kaga, what's…" she said, then put her hand to her forehead.
'There's too much going on all at once,' thought Kaga 'first the Azur Lane, the Commander, and now Akagi's transformation.'
"Sister," said Kaga "did you at all remember what happened over the last few hours?"
"I remember hearing James," she said, sounding like herself
"Then…" her voice trailed as she saw him lying on the bed.
"Alright, I need everyone to get the hell out of here right now," said Alec, sticking his head into the room the two groups were stuck in.
"The hell we will," shouted Belfast.
"I've contacted Marblehead and Bearn," said Alec "they're the two best options we have right now to patch James up. However, they can't do their jobs with you all hovering over them at every second."
"So until we reach the island, the only ones allowed on this ship are Marblehead, Bearn, and myself."
The words were true but no one wanted to admit it. Instead, they begrudgingly went out of the room one-by-one.
As the group slowly left, Akagi turned to Kaga and said "I want to stay here. I should at least be here in case he suddenly wakes up."
"Sister, I do not think that that's a good idea right now," said Kaga and put a hand on her "you'll only make things harder for Bearn and Marblehead.
She was about to voice her concerns when Akagi felt something grasp her hand with enough force it almost broke her bones. She turned and saw Roon with a malicious gaze in her eyes.
"You of all people have no right to be near him," she said and stared at Akagi.
Kaga hoped and prayed this did not escalate. Fortunately for her, someone upstairs heard the prayer and Akagi went outside without protest. In the time before she left, she gazed at his barely moving body and thought to herself.
'For this to have happened, just not long after we started connecting as brother and sister. Amagi, please watch over him.'
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"Where the hell were you?" asked Omega as Gamma descended to her location,
"Apologies my queen," said Gamma, immediately lowering her head "one of them flung me aside like a damn paper bag."
"Those damned PR class," hissed Omega and shook her fist. Those six girls seemed unaffected by the presence of her Antiochs and that meant they could fight them.
"Either way, we're chasing after them. I intend to end this war," said Omega.
"I must apologize once again Lady Omega," said Gamma "the Azur Sky may have taken out only a quarter of our forces but they did their best to sew chaos among the forces. It will take time to reorganize everything and establish some semblance of order here."
"How long?"
"Two days"
"You have one," said Omega "the Commander made a mistake and it cost him dearly. Without him at the helm, the whole fleet is hanging by a thread. All I have to do is pull and everything comes apart."
