Back at the base, Vestal darted through the empty corridors to confirm what she'd seen. In her mind, this had to be an elaborate trick. Akashi and the geniuses in the research division must have cooked up some kind of cloaking device that made anyone who wore it look like the Commander.
That's what she told herself. As she reached a particular floor, she rounded a corner and bounded to a particular room. Typically, it was not advised to run in a hospital hallway but now was not the time for decorum.
Vestal came to the room and to her shock, confirmed that this was no trick. He really had gone to face Omega. What's worse were the several open bottles and empty syringes on the bed. Their presence confirmed the how of it all.
The battle raged on as both sides continued their struggle, but there was one area where things strangely came to a halt. Amidst the sea of soldiers, warriors and metal monsters, a small opening formed. At the center of this opening stood two individuals while those surrounding them dared not move.
Many soldiers expected the Siren Hybrids to advance. Their opponent's back was facing them and there was always the chance of scoring a good hit. Yet even these creatures remained where they stood. Some ignored the pair and chose other targets. None dared make a move.
Tirpitz, who was practically deep in the enemy territory came forward and paused in amazement. Suddenly, she recalled the closing moments of the first war. Omega, who had lost terribly had now enacted a variation of the scorched earth policy. While she ran back to her home world, her forces went berserk and attacked everything and everyone in sight. The Azur Lane only achieved a victory here at a terrible price and now had to contend with this new problem.
If the girls were to fight now, they'd surely lose more.
It was that train of thought that led one battleship to step forward and tell everyone to leave while she handled the rest. Tirpitz remembered that moment clear as day. The battleship in question had one good eye, sustained several terrible injuries yet that did not deter her at all.
She recalled this memory because as she and the others were leaving, the last glimpse of Bismarck she had was of her back. That broad and staunch back, it was like an unbreakable fortress that dared anyone or anything to come and test her.
That was what she saw when she saw him standing there.
"Commander," she said, unaware of how that one word echoed across the fleet.
"This can't be possible," said Omega, shaking her head dismissively "you're supposed to be dead."
"And yet, here I stand," countered the Commander, pointing the sword at her "you're welcome to test me if you like, but I assure you you won't like the results."
Then, Omega noticed a figure leaping in the air behind the Commander. She could see the blade aimed at his back and knew it was none of her Hybrids. The attacker swung their blade down but the Commander leapt to one side and dodged it. He got up and saw the fake Atago standing where he was, the look in her eyes indicated she wanted to finish what she started.
She held her sword back with her left hand and touched the tip of her blade with her right index finger. She bent her knees a little and came forward with a powerful thrust. The Commander did not have to dodge though as a new entrant made their way to the battlefield, blocking the attack.
"Hey now," said Izumo to the clone "I'm supposed to be your opponent. If you keep ignoring me like that then I'll be said."
The clone said nothing and simply leapt back.
"Thanks Izumo," he said and the battleship looked at him and smiled.
"Your fights with her Commander. We won't let these fakes get in the way of that."
Now that she said her peace, Izumo came forward and grabbed the Atago clone before flinging her into the air. There, the battleship fired a couple of times, hitting the clone and sending her back. Izumo charged through the Hybrids, chasing after her.
"Alec, what's going on over here?" asked Enterprise through the communicator.
"What's this about the Commander?" asked Z23.
"Is he back?" asked Warspite.
"How did he wake up?" asked Cleveland.
All this and a hundred more questions came through the communication room, turning the area into a cacophony of incoherent babbling no one could make sense of.
Alec heard the sound of a door slam and turned to see Vestal standing at the entrance. The desperate look on her face told him enough. Against all logic, he took out his earpiece and went to her.
"You have to bring him back," said Vestal "I don't care who you give the order to, you have to bring him back."
"I thought he recovered," said Alec.
"James suffered severe internal bleeding, broken bones and a concussion," barked Vestal "forget one foot in the grave, he's jumped in head first."
"Then how is he able to…"
"He's injected himself with half a dozen pain killers, adrenaline and muscle stimulants," she said, interrupting him.
"Alec," she said, looking at him dead in the eye "if we don't get him back now or else it'll be too late."
Alec sensed the urgency in her voice and looked at the screens. Even from a distance he could see that just the hint of James' presence was enough to reinvigorate the Azur Sky and the human soldiers. Benching James now would have a fatal blow to morale and give Omega just enough time to make her final push.
As it stands, he was in a difficult position with no good options left. Bench James and lose the war, let James fight and lose him instead. Alec looked at the screens and saw the video of James standing and facing Omega. Even from a distance, he could tell that their leader was nowhere near ten percent, let alone a hundred.
Suddenly, he felt two hands resting on his shoulders. Alec was about to turn to face the person or persons but a part of him said not to. It was better for him to look forward rather than to the side.
Alec could feel a wave of calmness washing over him, starting from his shoulders then going all the way down. It was this calmness that stilled his mind and helped him reach his answer.
'Watch over him,' he thought in his mind and felt the hands drift away. Alec now saw no one was there but knew who came to him in that moment of doubt.
Now, he put the communicator back into his ear and was once again met with all kinds of noises from all sides. Alec typed a code into the keyboard to isolate the Commander's earpiece from the others.
"Listen up and listen well," he said with an authoritative tone "James is back and is currently engaging with Omega."
Before any of the girls could speak or say something, he continued "BUT! Given his injuries, it is highly likely that he's nowhere near peak fighting form. There's no telling when he might give out so we're on the clock here."
The silence on the other side broken only by the sound of explosions and gunfire told him to continue.
"We need to bring this battle to a close quickly, or else," he said, and pressed a few keys.
"If there was an award for the most stubborn human alive, you'd certainly be the winner," he said, but got silence. For a moment, Alec and all the girls worried if they would get a response.
"Comedy was never your strong suit Alec," said the Commander and everyone sighed in relief.
"Looks like Omega's coming at us with all she's got, continued Alec "please tell me you've got something planned."
"Oh I do," said the Commander, as the sound of his sword clanged against Omega's "but you're not going to like it."
Alec's silence was enough for the Commander to outline the plan. He kicked Omega away and dashed into the group of soldiers. Curtis and his troops fired at Omega in an effort to buy him the time he needed.
"Enterprise, Essex," he said and the two girls immediately stopped what they were doing and listened to him "take your sisters and lead the carrier division against the enemy carriers and battleships."
"Friedrich and Warspite, your objective is to take out those tanks. Omega's showing us some of her new toys, so let's break every single one of them."
"Sandy, you work with the carriers to take out enemy airplanes and help establish air superiority," he continued, watching Omega cut her way through the soldiers.
"Wales and Suruga, take half of the battleship division and get behind the carrier division. You'll provide support for them. Penny and Arizona, you are to take the other half, get behind the enemy forces and attack them from behind."
"Yukikaze: take your sisters and the destroyer division behind the Hybrid's lines and attack them. Once the battleships start firing the enemy is going to take notice and start attacking them. You cannot let a single Hybrid get past you."
"Belfast, you're in charge of the cruiser and heavy cruiser division. Take them and hit the enemy forces head on. If done correctly, you'll wedge the Hybrids between you in the front and the destroyers in the back."
"Curtis, there's a chance that Gamma will see what we're doing and try to mitigate the damage by dividing the Hybrids. She'll try to get the cruisers, heavy cruisers and destroyers to collide then outflank them. You cannot let that happen. While Yukikaze and Belfast are doing their parts, you are to flank them on the left and right. You see any Hybrid trying to move away, you shoot them without question."
"And finally: Saint Louis, Roon, Neptune, Ibuki, Izumo, and Monarch. I'm counting on all of you to keep those clones busy. You cannot let them engage with any of the divisions."
As he finished outlining his plan, Omega came through the soldiers and fiercely glared at him.
"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself," she said and charged towards the Commander.
Elsewhere, Enterprise wiped the dust off her face and looked at the many ships in the distance. It was a difficult task, but she was not concerned at the threat there. She turned to Essex and the two nodded in agreement before going their separate ways.
They were on the clock. The longer it took for them to defeat the enemy forces, the longer the fight between the Commander and Omega, and the longer the strain he was putting on his body.
But there was something else that was propelling her forward. This strange feeling she felt wasn't exclusive to her but was something every girl in the fleet felt.
Contrary to her usual boisterous self, Yukikaze started moving the destroyers away from the Hybrids and into their position. Shigure and Yuudachi noted how her mood drastically shifted and understood why. Behind them Javelin, Ayanami, and Laffey saw several Hybrids charging at them and took them down with lethal efficiency.
Yukikaze and the destroyers moved away from the center of the battlefield and moved to their new position. Behind them were Enterprise, leading the charge with her sisters. They saw several Siren bombers coming towards them while a few fighters aimed at slowing their advance.
Shigure and Yuudachi fired at the bombers while Ayanami went forward and cut down the planes. Other destroyers like Hatsuharu, Amazon, Grozny, Foxhound, and many others also began firing at the planes. Enterprise and the carriers used this moment to send out their planes and further push their advance.
Elsewhere, Ibuki swung her blade out, her sword nicking the edge of her opponent's foot as the latter leapt into the air and fired at her. Ibuki blocked then charged at the Amagi clone only to see her fire a point-blank shot at her. She used her swords to block the brunt of the attack, but the blast did land a cut on her side.
'So this is what the Goddess of victory is like without that disease,' she thought, reflecting how Amagi was said to be as powerful as Bismarck before getting afflicted with an unnamed affliction.
'Doesn't matter though, I'm still not letting her win,' she thought and charged at her opponent.
What no one commented on, yet still kept thinking back to was the Commander's plan. It wasn't that it was crazier than anything else he'd come up with nor was it too much to ask of them. Instead, everyone noticed one thing about him.
He was panting.
By now, many of the girls knew well enough that their leader had a near infinite supply of stamina in him. They didn't know how but they knew that none of them had the same kind of endurance he did. So to hear his ragged breathing and his difficulty in speaking only emphasized the gravity of the moment. Every second counted.
Alec saw something different from the monitors. To him, the girls did not move with a sense of urgency or worry, they moved with purpose. Similar to how Omega's presence seemingly bolstered enemy morale on the ground, the Commander's presence had the same effect here.
More than that though, Alec noted how no one in the fleet questioned the plan or voiced any doubts. It was as if the moment the words left his mouth, the fleet would make it happen.
All Alec could do was consider all possible moves Gamma would make and formulate counters for them.
'Damn,' he thought to himself, watching the fleet follow the plan 'I really have some catching up to do.'
Omega continually attacked her opponent with a flurry of strikes and thrusts. He ducked and dodged through the barrage then came forward, crashing his shoulder into her nose. Omega staggered back and half expected him to push the assault but saw that did not happen. Instead, she saw him assume a defensive stance and raise the sword up.
'Something's off,' she thought, as she attacked him again. From what she knew and the many recordings that proved it, the Commander favored an offensive style of fighting. Intel suggested that he had significantly greater stamina than others meaning he could push his body well past most others. Yet, here he was going defensive and resorted to take advantage of any openings in her form.
"What's the matter Omega?" asked the Commander and thrust the blade forward. Omega's head tilted a little and avoided the sword aimed for her head. As she dodged, she could tell something was off about him but couldn't quite place it.
Once again, he moved back to a defensive stance and she waited to make the next move. As she watched, something happened that caused her to momentarily stop. Omega suddenly noticed a thin line of blood trickle down his nose. The Commander quickly wiped it off but it was already too late.
Omega understood everything now. She understood why he was so shoddily dressed and why he could fight despite those very visible injuries. The truth was that he couldn't, the Commander's body was near the edge or possibly over it already.
When she understood this, the battle plan shifted. She turned her swords into guns and fired. This move caused the Commander to dodge and strafe through the barrage. Omega continued without remorse. This attack kept him at a distance but forced him to keep moving. Straining an already tired body had disastrous results and all she had to do was give him that little push over the edge.
She used this to increase the distance between them intending on leaving him here. However, the Commander saw through her attack and charged forward. The move resulted in him getting grazed on his sides and his arm, but that didn't stop. He quickly closed in on Omega by shooting into the air above her, turned around and fell foot first into Omega. The Siren leader blocked the attack but was sent spiraling down as a result.
The two separated and Omega eyed him warily. Now, she could see blood slowly oozing out from his mouth and knew he was running out of time. She could hear Gamma trying now to move the troops in order to counter his moves and knew she had to act quickly.
Back at the base's communication's room, Alec saw several Siren tanks break away from the main group and move to intercept the destroyers division. In response, he quickly had Friedrich break of her attack and target those tanks.
On the battlefield, Friedrich used her rigging to tear into a tank's shell and fire inside. She leapt off before it exploded then made a beeline towards her next target. She saw the tanks aiming and firing a volley at the destroyers and it slowed them down. She targeted several tanks and fired at them. Though her attacks did not land, it did cause the tanks to pause and turn to her. That was enough.
She leapt high into the air then came crashing down with her right fist ramming into the tank. The Siren steel bent in a hundred different directions as one of the strongest members in the fleet leapt off it and went after her next target. She used her rigging to rip the hull right off the body and fling it into another. The move resulted in two tanks being destroyed.
Elsewhere, a few tanks fired and hit the cruisers. Eugen in particular bore the brunt of the attack, tanking a shell head on. The attack caused her sister to stop her advance.
"Eugen," shouted Hipper, fearing the worst. She was immediately relieved to see Eugen charge forward through the smoke, only slightly hurt.
"I'm fine," she said, batting the smoke from her face "more than that, we can't stop our advance. We have to complete our objective."
Hipper paused and felt the urgency in her voice. Her typically calm and collected younger sister was now worried and frantic. She knew why and resumed her march forward. In the distance, she could see several explosions and knew that some of them had to be her mother's doing.
Far away from the cruisers, Wales cut through a battleship shell and charged forward. Beside her was Suruga and behind her were some of the strongest battleships in the fleet. The girls internally decided that their more experienced battleships would work with the carrier division to take on the Siren battleships and carriers. The rest were to provide support to the destroyers and cruisers.
She saw several battleships fire at her and she leapt to the side. She fired back at them one after another in quick succession and saw all her attacks land home. Suruga meanwhile let loose a wild volley followed by Fusou and Yamashiro. Their combined attack brought down several battleships and severely damaged a few carriers.
Overseeing all this, Gamma tried moving her troops and dividing her groups to try and counter the enemy forces. But, because James moved first and Alec could anticipate what she'd do, the Siren strategist made no progress against her enemy.
In her rage and anger, she turned towards the source of all this, the one that stole victory right from their hands. It was just like last time when Lady Omega attacked the Human Resistance headquarters. Victory was within their grasp but was stolen at the last second thanks to him.
Enterprise, Essex, and their sisters soon met with Wales and Suruga but said nothing. They followed the plan, assumed their required positions and started firing. The Siren battleships were taken aback by the initial barrage and the planes shifted from their initial attack patterns to meet the new targets.
Sandy saw the planes coming towards them and fired. Out of everyone in the fleet, she had the highest anti-air capabilities and her status as part of the Big Three made her more than qualified to the task. She used her rigging to target several planes that dodged and weaved their way through the air then fired at them. She took down ten and twenty more came. The numbers did not deter her.
Essex and Enterprise alternated between firing arrows and firing planes at the enemy ships. The Siren battleships fired at them but covering fire protected them. Though some shells did hit a few of the carriers, none of them stopped. If anything, all it did was increase their ferocity.
The destroyers now moved into their position and began attacking the Hybrids from behind. Some turned around and were immediately brought down by the incoming barrage. Javelin, Laffey, Ayanami and other specialized destroyers moved ahead of the others and used a combination of melee attacks and rigging to further thin enemy ranks.
Warspite saw the tanks fire several rockets at the girls. She saw sixteen of them aimed at the destroyers and leapt up to meet them. She cut down the ones nearest to her with her sword and fired at the others. When she was done she turned back to the tanks and fired at them. She landed on the ground and charged forward to cut another tank into bits and pieces.
Belfast withstood a frontal attack from the combined might of ten Hybrids but she did not stop. The maids beside her charged forward and brought down her attackers while the other cruisers continued pressing forward. She lowered her hands and could see a few scratches and felt light bruising but she ignored the damage. The head maid pointed her weapons and fired at the Hybrids without hesitation.
The Commander now skidded back from one of Omega's strikes and felt his vision blur a little. He looked down and saw his bandages had opened up. He could feel the weariness overcome his body but he could not stop here.
Omega charged at him with a flurry of strikes and the Commander dodged them. However, his weakened state led her to land a cut on his hand, forcing him to drop his sword.
She moved forward and kicked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Omega came close but the Commander used his boots to fly away and grab his sword. He rose forward and attacked Omega from behind but she moved a sword back to block him.
Omega then spun around and kicked the Commander on the head, sending him crashing into the ground. He tried to get up but the weight of his boots coupled with the overwhelming tiredness made it an impossible task. His vision darkened despite how much his mind shouted at his body to stay awake. He could see Omega coming towards him and knew he'd die if he didn't wake up.
Omega refused to let this advantage slip by. Instead of slowly making her way, she shot forward with her right arm raised. She brought the sword down aiming at his head, with the intent of ending him here and now.
The blade did indeed draw blood, but it was not from the Commander. Instead, Omega saw Akagi's bleeding hand raised up holding the blade in place, protecting the Commander from her attack.
"Get the hell," she said slowly rising up and pushing Omega back "AWAY FROM MY HUSBAND!"
Akagi swung with her right hand and Omega held her swords up to block. The force sent her skidding to the side a little. She did not have time to see Cleveland and Z23 charge forward and land a simultaneous kick in her chest. Omega felt blood come out of her mouth and fired at them, only to have her attack deflected by Takao and Zuikaku.
Omega watched as Kaga helped him up while Queen Elizabeth, Tirpitz, Richelieu, Rossiya, and the others came to form a defensive ring around him.
Seeing her opportunity to strike was closing, Omega charged forward intent on quickly closing the distance between her and the Commander. To her, if she could land one critical strike on him, that would be enough. She might wind up losing this battle but would go on to win the war.
Z23 and Cleveland fired at her but she ducked and dodged. Takao came forward and attacked with several sword strikes but she spun around and continued. Queen Elizabeth, Tirpitz, Richelieu, and Rossiya fired. The shells hit her and landed several injuries on her body but she did not stop. She charged past them leaping over her attackers, all the while keeping her gaze fixed on the Commander.
Tashkent fired at Omega in the air, knocking her to the side, but Omega recovered almost instantly. The others could see the injuries mounting on her but the Siren leader did not stop. She still came charging forward. Just as it looked like she was close, Kaga came forward and fired a few planes at her. Omega withstood the attack by raising her hands up, but that move made it easy for Akagi to slip into her blind spot grab her and kick her in the knee.
Once again, blood shot out of her mouth as her advance halted. She could see the Commander just a hair's breadth away and knew he was at his end. With the last of her strength, she let out a fierce yell as she shoved Akagi away and fired at the Commander.
The projectile was too close for him to dodge and he paid for it as it crashed into his left shoulder. The girls seeing this grew pale as his body slowly tiled back from the force of the attack. However, rather than fall to the ground, the Commander felt something on his back. It felt like a set of hands, six of them to be precise. They were pressed against his back and prevented him from going unconscious.
Seeing Omega now only an inch away from him, the Commander let out an equally fierce yell as he raised his sword up and rammed it right into Omega's shoulder.
The blade went through her body all the way to the hilt. Blood started seeping out of her mouth and she staggered a little. Everyone moved back in response.
This was a bad move from the girls as it enabled several rows of translucent soldiers to appear around Omega and prevent the girls from reacting. As Omega was about to fall, Gamma came down on her and caught her with both arms. She could feel Omega getting weak with each second. She turned to give the Commander a malice-filled stare before shooting up and flying away.
As she did, the remaining Siren battleships, carriers and tanks all flew back. Some of the Hybrids tried to escape but were destroyed. None of them survived. As for the rest, the girls simply ignored them and turned their attention somewhere else.
The adrenaline was wearing off and he could feel the pain overwhelm him. The drugs must have worn off by now and he felt his body grow weak. Simply standing upright seemed impossible right now and his eyes felt heavy. His body slowly fell to the left side and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Once again, he did not hit the ground as he felt someone brace themselves against him. With what little vision he had, he turned to see Akagi looking at him. She gave him a pained smile while her eyes bit back the tears from forming.
"They're all waiting for your signal," she said and he nodded.
With the last of his strength, the Commander slowly and steadily raised his hand up and clenched it into a fist. He did this the last time they scored a great victory against the Sirens and it only seemed fitting to do it now. He heard several shouts and cheers erupt all around him as he closed his eyes and everything went black.