"What'd I tell ya?" Scharnhorst called out to me as she stepped through the hatch and onto the bridge wing. "Love that fresh sea breeze."

I couldn't help but grin as I tore my eyes off of the horizon and turned to face her. "It does have its own unique charm," I agreed, "And a pretty good view. But I think I like this one a lot more."

She blushed, but she still gave me a confident grin as she sauntered over to me and placed her hands on my waist. "You think buttering me up like that is going to get you anywhere?"

"I was hoping it would, yeah," I smirked, as I trailed my hands up her arms teasing her bare skin. "Maybe back to my place, finish that…tour of my apartment?"

Her eye widened as she caught the hopeful note in my voice, surprise registering on her face for the briefest second before it was buried behind her confident smirk. "Yeah? Think you've earned that?"

My grin faltered for a second, a doubt suddenly growing in my mind, but I did my best to hide it and press on. "Would it be presumptuous of me if I said yes?"

She pretended to think about it before eventually shaking her head. "Nope."

I let out an internal sigh of relief. "Then yes."

Scharnhorst eyed me up and I could see her weighing things in her mind. When she finally answered, her reply sent a thrill running through me. "I think so, too." Her playful grin returned as she glanced back into the bridge, where Gneisenau was running diagnostics on Scharnhorst's forward radar for the tenth time. "Although, if you don't want to wait, we could always ask my sister to go check on Anton…"

"No," I laughed, "No way. Does the phrase 'getting caught with your pants down' ring a bell?"

Scharnhorst laughed with me and nodded. "Literally, in this case. And before you say it, I know we're on patrol, I'm just having fun with you." As she lifted her eye to the horizon, she let out a soft, sad sigh. "Just…a shame it's been so quiet. I was hoping we'd find at least a mass-produced patrol or something like that."

"I know," I nodded, patting her hip reassuringly. "Still, it was nice to not be stuck in the office filing reports all day and get out to sea. And the company's always nice."

"Damn right it…" Her voice trailed off as her eye focused over my shoulder, and I glanced over my shoulder, trying to follow her gaze. There, way out on the horizon, I saw a strange glow from several sources. We carefully disentangled ourselves from one another as we went to the railing, and I lifted the binoculars to my eyes.

While it was still too far out to identify what it was, I could see the strange lights were circular, purple discs, and I knew immediately what it was.

"Sirens." Scharnhorst and I said at the same time, and we both glanced at each other before we nodded and bolted back for the bridge.

I let her go first, stopping to slam the hatch shut and dogged it down tightly. Gneisenau, startled, looked up from the holomap, glancing between both of us with a worried expression. "Hostiles?"

"Sirens just portaled in," Scharnhorst confirmed. "Bearing zero five three, about twenty-five kilometers out."

Gneisenau pulled up the holomap and zoomed out, focusing her attention on the space on the map where the enemy should have been. "Nothing on sensors just yet."

"Must have been trying to set an ambush for us, try and catch us in the flank when we passed by unnoticed," I noted. "Plot an intercept course and set general quarters." As the alarm bell began to ring, I gave the younger sibling one last order. "Take the rest of the patrol and head out ahead of us. I want eyes out there looking for those Sirens."

She met my gaze and nodded once before saluting smartly and heading out. I turned my attention back to Scharnhorst, who was using a spyglass to scan the horizon. "Any sign of them?"

"Nothing yet," she grumbled. "Damn shame they don't have any chimney smoke, make it easier to spot them. Meanwhile, they know exactly where we are…"

"True, but they're also operating under the false assumption we don't know they're here," I countered. "Which gives us the advantage."

Scharnhorst grinned as she continued to search for the enemy. "Advantage or not, I'm looking forward to this. Bastards have it coming."

"Indeed," I grinned, patting her on the shoulder before heading back to the holomap. I could see Gneisenau already moving away from us, taking Jamaica, Edinburgh, and Grenville with her. For a moment, I lamented the fact that we didn't have any carriers with us, but I knew the patrol to the northeast of us should have at least one. If we got in over our heads, or if we found ourselves under air assault, it wouldn't be too hard to get under friendly air cover.

While I didn't think we'd need them just yet, it still made sense to let them know. I quickly typed up an encrypted message and sent it directly to the other patrol. From the outside, it would look like normal radio traffic, but once decrypted, would give an estimated enemy position and our current heading. That way if we still managed to stumble into an ambush, or suddenly sailed into a Mirror Sea, someone knows where we were going and what we were up to. It was the first rule of damage control that had been drummed into my head back at the Academy: tell someone else, then tackle the problem.

"Alright, other patrols have been notified what we're up to, still nothing on scope," I announced as I glanced up at Scharnhorst. "Anything on your end?"

"Nothing yet…" she answered, the end of her answer trailing off. "Wait. I think I have something."

I checked the scope one more time before rushing to the bridge window, binoculars in hand. "What have you got?"

Her answer was muted as she tried to focus on the distant objects. "Could just be sea swells, but…they're not moving with the rest of the ocean…"

"Where?"

"About five degrees to starboard."

I scanned the horizon, seeing only the gentle rolling waves of the sea until I saw one that wasn't rolling gently. While it was hard to make out a ship at such a long distance(and doubly so with mass-produced Sirens, given the low profile most of them have), I saw what she meant. Tiny objects off in the distance that did not move naturally with the rest of the ocean. I counted at least five of them, although I could hardly be certain of that number. It's hard to take an accurate accounting of specks on the distant edge of your sight on board a moving warship.

"I see them," I declared as I lowered my binoculars. "Whatever it is, it's definitely not the ocean. I'll-"

The radio crackled to life, interrupting whatever I was about to say. "Hostile contact!" Jamaica's voice filled the compartment as she gave her report. "About a dozen of them, Boss, IFF has them pegged as unknown, but my Eye tells me of their evil intentions."

"What're they showing as? All mass-produced or are there any humanoids among them?" I held my breath. If they were all mass-produced, this could be a simple patrol dropped in to harass friendly shipping. If they had a humanoid "minder" along, this could get difficult.

"Mass-produced, judging by the radar returns, Boss."

I let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Good work, Jamaica. Patrol group, go weapons-free, but don't fire until we've reached the optimum firing range for all ships."

A chorus of agreements came across the line, and I nodded to myself. "Stand by."

"Wouldn't optimum firing range be right now?" Scharnhorst asked with a proud grin on her face. "I've hit targets farther out than this."

"I know you have," I smiled back as I held up a hand to stay her enthusiasm. "But I want everyone to be in firing range to give us maximum damage on the first salvo."

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed as she turned back to the window and raised her spyglass once again. "Any particular target you want me to go for first?"

"Shipgirl's discretion," I answered. "This is your chance to show off, so once the shooting starts, impress me."

"Would've been more impressive if I started shooting now…" she muttered.

"I heard that."

Opting to double down, she snapped back with, "Well, it would have been!"

In return, I decided to poke at her a little bit, see if I could get a rise out of her. "Surely the great and mighty Scharnhorst can do more than a few lucky shots at range."

"Lucky?" She spun around, an angry look on her face that wavered the second she saw my smile. Instantly, she knew what I was up to and responded with a cocky smile of her own. "I hope you like crow, Admiral," she sneered, "because you're about to have it for lunch."

"Yum," was all I managed to say before the holomap beeped an alarm as the sensors finally picked up the enemy ships. Just as Jamaica had said, it was a dozen mass-produced siren vessels. A few destroyers, a couple of battleships, and the rest, the bulk of the fleet, were cruisers. I let out a sigh of relief at the absence of enemy carriers. With that last lingering concern out of the way, I was certain that we would be able to easily crush the Siren patrol and finish our sweep.

"Better get ready," I warned Scharnhorst, and she nodded dutifully before she turned back to the window, her expression serious. As she moved, so did the ship, and I could hear the massive turrets begin to train on their targets. I flipped the radio receiver on and waited another moment. "Almost within firing range for all ships," I announced. "Stand by."

The next few seconds painfully crawled by as I watched the circle indicating the firing radius for all ships slide past the icons for the Sirens. When the last ship was in the circle, I barked, "Fire! All ships, fire at will!"

The last words of my command were drowned out in the thunder of dozens of guns going off at once, the loudest being Scharnhorst's. Her forward turrets roared smoke and flame, and the ship yawed to port to bring turret Cesar to bear. It, too, added its fury to the fray and Scharnhorst brought the ship back about onto her original heading, straight towards the enemy. On the holomap, I watched as the icons for the projectiles arc through the air before coming down on, or near, their targets. Missed shells threw up huge pillars of water all around the Sirens, who immediately began to take evasive action. But it was far too late for that. The initial salvo tore into vessels, gouging out huge chunks of the superstructure, hull, and turrets with colossal explosions. Six of Scharnhorst's shells slammed into the low superstructure of one of the battleships, completely shattering the bridge and forcing it to heel out of line.

"Nice shot!" I called out to her, and she grinned back at me over her shoulder.

"You ain't seen nothing yet, sir!" she called back, and the deck rumbled beneath our feet as she poured on the speed, the battlecruiser surging ahead. Throughout the ship, I could hear the familiar chunk-clang! of the shells loading into their breeches, readying for the next salvo.

While Scharnhorst prepared her next salvo, Jamaica, Edinburgh, and Grenville were keeping up a near-constant stream of shells with their rapid-firing guns, quickly burning down the enemy destroyers before they moved on to the cruisers. Gneisenau was moving to support us as we charged ahead, firing a volley at the other battleship, one of her shells knocking out a turret.

Just as the battleship targetted by Scharnhorst began to recover, turning hard over to get back into the fight, the battlecruiser's guns reloaded and she opened fire, this time her shells catching the Siren fully broadside. All nine shells hit, and while the armor belt stopped some, one must have gotten through and hit a vital area, because a massive fireball erupted amidships, snapping the warship in half and leaving it a ruined hulk as it began to sink beneath the waves.

Scharnhorst let out a joyful whoop and punched the air before she turned back around to me. "Did you see that?" she beamed.

"Great job!" I cheered, watching outside the window as Gneisenau fired another salvo at the remaining battleship, crippling it further. Of the enemy cruisers, only three were left, one of which was headed straight for us. "Uh-oh," I muttered before I pointed towards the enemy ship. "We've got a rammer!"

Scharnhorst spun around and locked her eye on the rapidly approaching vessel. "Not today," she declared as she put the ship in a hard turn to starboard. The deck yawed and I had to grab ahold of the holomap to stay upright as I watched the world outside begin to turn. The cruiser that had been on a collision course with us began to slowly slip by, and Scharnhorst gave it a farewell send-off with a full broadside at point-blank range. Nine eleven-inch armor-piercing shells penetrating the vitals of the cruiser blew it apart, and I involuntarily ducked as I heard pieces of wreckage and shrapnel banging off of our hull and superstructure.

"That'll show ya!" she jeered, sneering at the wreckage as we sailed past it. I grinned at her enthusiasm before I looked back down at the holomap. The other cruisers had winked out, and the battleship icon was flashing in and out, indicating it was combat ineffective. Indeed, even glancing out the window at it told me it was out of the fight. Listing heavily to port, its upper decks were nothing but a mangled wreck, and it was engulfed in flames from stem to stern.

"Good job, everyone!" I called out over the radio. "Scope shows clear, all ships, report damage."

"Jamaica, no damage."

"Edinburgh, all good!"

"Grenville, good to go!"

"Gneisenau reports no damage, ammunition stores at eighty percent."

"I'm fine," Scharnhorst announced from across the bridge and I nodded thankfully to her.

"Alright, let's get-" My order was interrupted by a purple light from somewhere to the starboard side, and I knew what it meant even before I looked back at the holomap.

"Second wave, incoming!" Scharnhorst shouted as she brought her guns around, her secondaries already opening up. They must be right on top of us for those to be going off.

Sure enough, another dozen hostile icons appeared, this time within five hundred meters of our position. "Evasive action!" I ordered.

But it wasn't needed. Scharnhorst was already in motion, the ship swinging around in a hard turn to port. As we slowly came about, I heard the familiar noise of a torpedo launcher going off. I glanced down at the holomap as I heard the sound again, and saw the icons for torpedoes leap from Scharnhorst, lancing off towards our attackers in either direction. I heard, rather than saw, the impact and explosions as all six torpedoes found their mark in rapid succession. On the holomap, an enemy destroyer to port and a cruiser to starboard simply winked off the board. Another cruiser to port began flashing as it began a severe list to port. Gneisenau and the others likewise launched their torpedoes, Scharnhorst deftly maneuvering the ship between the oncoming projectiles as they passed us. Again, I heard the staccato thumps and explosions, followed by more Sirens blinking out of existence on the display.

"That was too close," I sighed as she brought us around for a full salvo, "But damn fine work, Scharnhorst."

She turned around and made a show of flexing her arm while grinning from ear to ear. "That's Iron Blood excellence for ya!" As she lowered her arm, she glanced out the window long enough to punish another enemy cruiser with her guns. "Damn, but I missed this…"

I had to admit, she looked to be in her element here and absolutely loved every second of it. Her blue eye blazed with a passion I'd rarely seen, and she just seemed more alive. "It suits you," I said. "Like this is where you were meant to be."

She glanced over at me, a somewhat surprised look on her face as she peered searchingly at me. In the end, she smiled softly and answered, "With you."

My heart swelled, and I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and show her how much she meant to me at that moment. But a distraction like that mid-battle could prove fatal, so I simply smiled back at her, nodded, and tapped my chest over my heart.

She returned the gesture and we both turned back to our respective duties. The second wave was almost completely cleared now, and it looked like we had survived relatively unscathed, but our ammo reserves were beginning to look lower than I'd care to see. I was beginning to wonder if the Sirens were trying to wear us down, whittle us down in wave after wave. No sooner than the thought had occurred to me, purple light began streaming in from the window and I swore under my breath.

"Third wave incoming!" Jamaica announced and I braced myself for another fight.

"Make that four!" Grenville shouted, and I felt my blood run cold. Two more battlegroups materialized, one on either side of us.

"So much for death by a thousand cuts," I muttered. I knew what we needed to do, and fast, before we found ourselves surrounded and cut off from any avenue of escape. I looked up at Scharnhorst and quietly informed her, "We've got to retreat."

Scharnhorst glared back at me, the defiance almost palpable. "We've got this!" she argued. "We can take 'em!"

"And what makes you think they'll stop at these four?" I countered. "If we stay here, we're going to get cut off from any help, and then we'll be in real trouble. This won't be a glorious last stand if we stay, it'll be a pointless death."

I could see the resolve in her eye had begun to waver, and I made one last push. "Scharnhorst…please…"

Her eye broke contact, and she let out a disgusted snort. "Fine," she bitterly spat as she turned back to the window.

"Thank you," I breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to the radio. "Patrol fleet, we're falling back. Come to heading one four five and begin a fighting withdrawal, Scharnhorst will take point. Gneisenau, take up the rear."

After the confirmations kicked in, I switched over to the northern patrol's channel and sent them a message. "This is Patrol Twelve Twenty Six to Patrol One Seven Three Nine, under heavy Siren assault, currently facing two enemy battlegroups, we have already dispatched two others. We are withdrawing to grid Dog two dash one one, request you rendezvous at those coordinates."

The calm, cool voice of Enterprise crackled through the radio. "Understood Twelve Twenty Six, One Seven Three Nine en route."

With that part out of the way, I walked over to the window, watching the world around us slowly spin as Scharnhorst brought us onto a new course. "I know this isn't easy for you, but I appreciate you doing this."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," she snorted, and I chuckled softly.

"I know. I-" A sudden insistent beeping cut me off, and I ran back to the holomap. The flashing red icon of a distress beacon was pulsing insistently to our north, past the Siren fleets that had now joined up to pursue us south. I quickly switched the radio channel over to the emergency channel and heard Albacore's voice.

"-heavy fire from Siren aircraft! Need urgent assistance, sustained heavy damage, and can't submerge! Can anyone hear me?"

I quickly answered her. "This is Patrol Twelve Twenty Six, Albacore, we hear you. There's two Siren fleets between us and your location, but sit tight, I'm going to send a rescue party, alright?"

"O-okay," came her shaky reply, and I quickly patched in Enterprise's group.

"Patrol One Seven Three Nine, you there?"

"Here, sir," Enterprise answered.

"Albacore is under air attack and needs a pickup. I can't get to her, can you spare anyone?"

Before she can answer, a new voice broke into the call with an aggrieved sigh. "I'll go."

It took me a second to recognize the voice through the crackle of the radio. "...Taihou?" I ask.

"Yes," she sullenly confirmed. "I'll go and get Albacore. I can give her air cover before anyone else can. But if this is a prank, I'm leaving her there!"

"It's not, I swear!" Albacore protested, the plea punctuated by a nearby explosion.

I stared at the holomap, dumbstruck by what I'd heard. "Alright," I finally said. "You pull this off, I'm giving you a medal for valorous conduct, Sakura Empire or no."

Even through the radio, I could hear an excited gasp as Taihou replied. "On my way, my Commander!"

"I hope you know what you're doing, Kurt," Scharnhorst said as I flipped the radio off. "Also, where the hell's my damn medal?"

I sighed and gave her a slight scowl. "Look, when you're finally able to put aside a grudge or fear or whatever the hell Taihou's got about Albacore and volunteer to go save them, I promise you I'll not only give you the medal, I'll pin it to your chest myself."

"Yeah, any excuse to touch my chest, ya perv," she teased.

"Oh, I don't even want to hear it, Fraulein Take-Me-On-The-Bridge!"

"It would've been hot and you know it!"

"That's not the point!"

"Ah-ha!" she crowed, pointing at me. "So you admit it'd be hot!"

I realized she'd trapped me yet again and I sighed heavily. "Oh, for the love of…now is not the time!"

Her uproarious laughter made for an interesting counterpoint to her guns…


Twenty minutes later, we made contact with Enterprise's patrol and formed up into a single fleet. Now that our size was comparable to the enemy's, and we had gotten a safe distance away from where the enemy was materializing, I was ready to take the fight back to them.

"All ships, come about and engage the enemy," I ordered, much to Scharnhorst's delight. "Fire at will!"

While not as quick to maneuver as her kansen counterparts, Scharnhorst began her hard turn to port to bring herself back into the fray, her main guns opening up before anyone else's. The first salvo was impressive, managing to land half her shells on a Siren battleship from such a vast distance.

"See?" she beamed. "Told ya I can get 'em from long range."

"I'll never doubt you again, darling," I answered mock-sweetly, much to her amusement.

Suddenly, the distress beacon alert sounded and the flashing icon began pulsing up where Albacore and Taihou were supposed to be. "Uh-oh," I sighed and flipped on the emergency radio.

"My Commander! My Commander, we need help!" Taihou's pleading voice came over the radio. "I've got Albacore, but I took a torpedo and I've been immobilized. I need help!"

"Just one?" Scharnhorst muttered under her breath, and I silenced her with a swift gesture.

"Understood, Taihou. Hang tight, we're working on a plan to get to you," I reassured her. Before I could even switch back to the Patrol channel, Scharnhorst spoke up.

"I'll go," she quietly volunteered.

My head snapped up, looking incredulously at her. "You?"

"Yeah, me," she indignantly snapped back at me. "Look, I don't like her, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to leave her to die. Besides, you need someone strong enough to punch through the enemy fleet and still have enough speed to reach them and get out again. That's me."

Her logic was sound, and I could see the conviction in her eye. She wasn't going to back down on this one, and I saw no reason I should fight her on it. Hell, she was about to have enough fight on her hands in a few minutes. "Alright," I nodded firmly. "But you're not doing this alone." I switched the radio back to the Patrol channel. "Gneisenau."

The battlecruiser's calm voice filled the bridge. "Yes, sir."

"Scharnhorst and I are heading north to rescue Albacore and Taihou, I want you to come along for backup. Everyone else, cover us. We're going to punch a hole straight up the middle."

Gneisenau didn't seem phased in the slightest as she began sailing out ahead of us, taking point. "Understood, sir."

"Good luck, Commander," Enterprise radioed. "We'll hold them here."

"Thanks, Enterprise. Good luck and good hunting." I flipped the receiver off and strode over to Scharnhorst, casting a sidelong glance at her. "You ready?"

"I was born ready," she grinned as she hungrily eyed the approaching Sirens. "Let's do this."

"Proceed," I ordered and immediately I felt the deck tremble beneath me again as Scharnhorst increased speed. The Sirens must have picked up on what we were attempting, as they began to direct their fire to us. A few times we were rocked by direct impacts, the ship shaking and shuddering violently, but the armor held out. For now, at least. As we charged directly into the Siren formation, I said the words that sprang to my mind unbidden.

"Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon in front of them

Volley'd and thunder'd;

Storm'd at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well,

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of Hell."

"Hell yes," Scharnhorst called back as her two forward turrets began slowly rotating targeting the Siren battleship to starboard. As if in response to my unasked question, Gneisenau fired a volley at the battleship to port, gouts of flame erupting from the side of it. Scharnhorst's guns quickly followed, similarly biting deep into the enemy vessel.

The younger sister ran the gauntlet of the two battleships first, managing to dodge most of the secondary shells fired at her as she dropped a spread of torpedoes. While it failed to sink them, Scharnhorst's own spread finished the job, both Sirens capsizing rapidly as we sped by.

I quickly doubled back to the holomap and confirmed that we had made it through the enemy fleet. Now if Enterprise and the others could hold out, or even take out the enemy fleet, the rest should be relatively easy. Relatively.

I switched the radio back to Taihou and thumbed the receiver back on. "Taihou, this is the Commander, how are you two doing?"

"I'm holding them off, but only barely!" she cried out, and I could hear the anti-aircraft fire thundering in the background. "How soon will help arrive?"

I glanced at the holomap before answering. "About five minutes. Just keep the enemy planes busy, it'll keep them off of us."

There was another noise in the background, something muffled, followed by a scuffle and suddenly Albacore cut in, presumably using Taihou's comms. "Commander, it'd help if you took out the carrier itself."

"It would," I agreed, "But I have no idea where it is."

"I do!" she cheerfully chirped. "Sending it to you now…hey, Taihou, how do you…?"

"Here," the other kansen tersely answered, and suddenly, a new icon flashed to life on the holomap.

"Got it!" I declared as I fed the coordinates to Gneisenau. "We're on our way, just hang on!"

"Will do!"

The channel clicked off and I quickly switched it to Gneisenau. "Keep heading for Taihou, give them cover and try and draw off some of the bombers if you can. Scharnhorst and I will handle the carrier ourselves."

There was a brief pause, then Gneisenau responded. "Understood. Good luck, and keep her safe."

"I will. I promise." The channel went silent and I watched her break formation, sailing away from us, further north. I looked up at Scharnhorst, who had turned back around to face me. "You ready for this?"

She gave me a confident grin as she made a show of cracking her knuckles. "You kidding? I eat carriers for breakfast."

"What I wanna hear," I grinned back, "Let's do this."

We sailed in silence for another few minutes before the holomap pinged again. "Radar contact," I announced. "Looks like that's our carrier, and we're straight on an intercept course for it."

"Range?"

"Twenty thousand yards."

"Bearing?"

"Three five seven."

"Understood. Commencing fire." The ship shuddered as the main guns roared once again. While I didn't see the shells fall, they certainly had an impact.

"Sudden bearing change, looks like the carrier's making a run for it."

"Oh no, you're not," Scharnhorst growled.

The radio suddenly crackled to life and Gneisenau's voice cut in. "I've reached Taihou and Albacore. They're alright, but the enemy aircraft just departed rather quickly. Expect enemy air contact."

"Understood," I responded. "Air attack on the way, let's finish this fast."

"On it." Scharnhorst's guns fired again, and this time, I could see the impacts. Some splashes of water, others massive explosions that left fire and smoke behind. As we got closer, I could see the Siren ship more clearly, the massive twin-hulled carriers they used for their mass-produced ships. This was going to be a beast to take down, let alone in a rapid fashion. As we drew ever closer, her secondary guns opened up, creating a constant rumble throughout the ship as it peppered the Siren with smaller shells. Not enough to create a fatal blow in and of themselves, but it set numerous fires across the ship's hull, further hampering any damage control effort.

The radar suddenly sounded an alert, and I saw the sheer number of aircraft that were headed our way. Nearly five squadrons worth of attack craft and escorting fighters, all bearing down on us. "Incoming aircraft, about five minutes out."

"How many?" Scharnhorst called back.

"Lots!" I shouted. "We need to finish this now."

"Way ahead of you…" As she spoke, I heard her torpedoes fire again, and she began to heel hard to port, firing other launchers firing as soon as she had the angle for it. It also put us on a course directly towards the fighters. Like a swarm of angry birds, they began to descend on their attack runs. I swallowed hard and gripped the holotable tightly.

The torpedoes found their mark just in the nick of time, all six blowing open massive rents in the Siren's hull below the waterline. The sea rushed in, dragging the hull down into the water. The sudden list, combined with the forces from the carrier already turning to begin with proved to be too much for the ship, and it began to capsize.

Now, I say began because a twin-hull ship doesn't simply roll over and sink. Instead, it flips itself over onto the hull the way someone might flip a pancake. Which sounds far less terrifying than it is when you're watching it happen only a few hundred yards away. With a horrific groan of buckling metal, it cast a massive shadow over us as it tipped over, coming so close I thought it was going to hit us. It didn't, but the wave generated by the ship hitting the water as it rolled over nearly capsized us, throwing us both off our feet and onto the deck.

We both quickly got to our feet, running towards one another.

"You okay?" Scharnhorst asked as she checked me for any wounds.

"I'm fine," I gasped, still trying to catch my breath as I similarly inspected her. "You?"

"I'm good," she nodded as she looked back out at the approaching aircraft. "Looks like we don't have to worry about the planes…"

I glanced over her shoulder to see the Siren fighters and bombers falling out of the sky. Without the carrier to act as command and control, the aircraft simply didn't know how to function, and crashed into the sea, breaking up on impact. I let out a long, relieved sigh and patted Scharnhorst on the shoulder. "Let's go hook up with Gneisenau, grab Taihou and Albacore, and get home…"

"Aye aye, sir."


It took us a few minutes to get back to the trio, but everyone was still safe, and mostly sound by the time we arrived. Both Scharnhorst and I headed down to the main deck to make sure everyone got on board safely. Albacore was the first, and while she looked worse for wear, she still had a bright smile on her face. Gneisenau was next, who immediately began seeing to Albacore while she waited for our final passenger. Much to my surprise, Scharnhorst went to the railing and helped to haul Taihou aboard. Once she was on the deck, her reasons for helping her up became clear.

"Hey, uh…" she began haltingly, "Just wanted to say sorry about decking you a few weeks ago. Shouldn't have done that. So…sorry."

Taihou stared at Scharnhorst, tensed up as if she was waiting for the trap to be sprung. When she realized Scharnhorst's apology was genuine, she glowered at her for a moment, huffed indignantly, and then limped off.

"Taihou," I called out after her, and she halted, turning to face me with an anxious look on her face. "You did good out there."

Her anxious look melted into a soft smile and she nodded before she was guided away by Gneisenau. I watched her go for a moment before I turned back to Scharnhorst, who was staring at me with an expectant look. "Well?" she said.

"Penance complete," I smiled. "Just don't do that again."

"Why would I?" she asked innocently as she sauntered over to me. "You're mine. I know it, you know it, and there's nothing that's going to change that. So tonight…" she leaned in close, nibbling at my ear as her arms wrapped around my waist. "Tonight we're gonna make that official…"

By the time we linked back up with Enterprise, they had managed to defeat their Sirens, allowing us all to head back home for some much-needed rest and repair. Well, most of the patrol got some rest. Scharnhorst, however, stayed true to her word and took me back to my apartment to, as she put it, "claim me". Needless to say, it was a long and eventful night for both of us…


The next morning, I woke not to an alarm, not to the first rays of sunlight peeking in through the curtains, but to the feeling of tender kisses along my neck and shoulder. I slowly stirred, shifting in bed as I rolled over to face my companion and opened my eyes. Scharnhorst grinned at me, her hair splayed out on the bed behind her, a happy, sated look in her eye. "Mornin', Kurt," she whispered before she gave me a tender kiss.

I happily returned it, my arms wrapping around her and holding her tightly. "Good morning, Scharnhorst," I smiled back at her. "I like this whole wake-up system you've come up with. Much better than an alarm."

"Mmm," she hummed cheerfully. "Wait'll I show you what we're doing for morning calisthenics."

"I'm sure it'll be quite invigorating."

"Very," she confirmed. For a second, her smile died, and she looked very vulnerable as she spoke again, much quieter this time. "Hey…Kurt?"

Her sudden tone worried me slightly, and I rolled over a bit more to look her in the eye. "Yeah?"

She fidgeted nervously, her hands nervously tracing patterns on my chest as she worked up the courage to say what was on her mind. "Before we get back to fooling around and shameless flirting and all that, I just wanted to say…thanks. Thanks for saving me, thanks for putting up with my bullshit, thanks for…for showing me what life is like outside of combat…and thanks for working to make sure we all have a place when this is all over. So…yeah…thanks."

At that moment, words could not describe what I felt for her. I reached up and cupped her cheek, my eyes locked on hers as I did my best to tell her what my heart felt. "These past months with you have been an insane roller coaster ride, and as much as you've made me want to tear my hair out, I wouldn't trade one second of it for anything. You are strong, you are beautiful, you are brave, you push me to be better, whether I want to or not, and above all else…I love you. I want to be with you, fighting for you, beside you, with you, for the rest of my life."

Scharnhorst's anxious expression melted away into one of overwhelming joy, her eye tearing up as she whispered back, "I love you, too. From now until the end of our days."

We fell into one another's arms as we kissed, safe and comforted in the knowledge that we loved one another, we would fight for one another, until the last ounce of our strength ran out, until the last day…

…until the last shell.

A/N-And so ends Until the Last Shell! I hope you all enjoyed it. As per usual, please let me know your thoughts on the story overall. Next up is Takao, but there is going to be a one-off story that'll come out around the same time. So expect a sudden burst of activity around early to mid-February as we kick things off again. And no, the one-off won't be a New Year's Anthology. It'll be-...sorry, it's going to be…I'm sorry, this Sabaton's getting a bit too distracting, I'm gonna have to go. Until next time, fair winds and following seas!