Ok! I got a special treat for all of you, although I am not good at constructing scenes like this before so take it with a grain of salt. This one got longer and had to go through a rewrite so expect some faults.
The next day yielded a nice change of weather for the naval base. The sun was out, although it was still cold enough to warrant a coat. A few stacks of paper from High Command kept the Admiral busy if it weren't for some soreness across his whole body. He couldn't understand where he got it from considering he hardly did anything that worked out his body. In fact, he mostly laid back and had conversations with some of the girls around the base. There was the time he tested the armor but that didn't put any strain on his body.
Either way, he powered through it with the help of some pain medication. Maybe he was getting sick and the soreness was from the illness taking a toll on his body. However, he wasn't feeling drained or his head feeling hazy. Too soon to tell but maybe some time outside will clear out his system and he had a plan set for today. He hadn't properly met any of the second batch of priority ships except for Gascogne so he was going to do just that.
The first place to start, the Sakura Empire. They had a grand total of four priority ships with two of them being new while the other two Shikikan got to know decently. Ibuki, the shy cruiser who really tried to prove herself in front of him. Izumo, the battleship that hungered for conflict and hated sitting around. Those two were complete opposites of each other and that was not an easy problem to deal with when they were first brought on.
It was the late morning by the time the officer had finished his paperwork and moved towards the Sakura dorms. Today's paperwork being formal declarations of having the Colorado sisters being redeployed on the naval base. A few paperwork also were tied to some experimental main guns that would be arriving in the next few weeks. The holiday season was coming up so shipments were going to slow until further notice. Not like the Admiral needed more supplies since there was a lack of conflict.
The trail towards the Sakura was neatly maintained with the snow being pushed off to the sides and leaving the ground littered with petals. No doubt Yamato or one of the older shipgirls ordered the destroyers to keep the path clear. Not that the man minded having some solid ground, the snow can get a bit annoying when he had to sink his feet into it. The sound of swords clashing could be heard in the distance, echoed with the peaceful nature around.
By the time Shikikan had reached the dorms, he found Ibuki sparring off with Kitakaze, the new priority destroyer. Some of the Sakura shipgirls were known to be fast on the blade but with priority ships like those two, it was almost lightning quick. From what his eyes could gather, Kitakaze was barely a blur and moved about the sparring room faster than the taller Ibuki. It looked straight out of a movie he had watched recently but he couldn't remember what it was.
As he got closer, the duel between the two priority ships ended and Izumo appeared to give some form of lecturing to the younger women. Ibuki took the lecturing seriously even though she often took the criticism a little too seriously and beat herself over the little matters. Kitakaze seemed to be attentive to what Izumo was saying before giving a firm nod.
"Morning ladies," the Admiral said as he took off his shoes to enter the sparring room, a Sakura tradition he followed out of respect
"Ohayōgozaimasu, Teitoku/Milord," the three priority ships gave him a bow, but where was Azuma?
"I was hoping to find Azuma as well, do you girls know where she is at?"
Ibuki immediately responded, "Azuma-senpai went on some nighttime commissions with a few some of the others and she is currently asleep. I could wake her if you wish, Milord."
The Admiral shook his head, "No, don't do that. I don't want her in a bad mood. I see that you all are training."
"With no Sirens to fight, it is good to maintain the sharpness of our blades and to test our resolve. Ibuki has improved so much since she was built," Izumo replied, a sense of pride evident in her voice
Ibuki humbly replied, "No, my improvement was only because of your guidance. I only put my effort to reach your expectations."
"Would you like to spar with us, Teitoku-san? Kitakaze will go easy on you," the smaller priority ship questioned, eager for another spar
"Kitakaze! The Admiral would be easily outmatched by us. Please forg-"
Shikikan answered much to Ibuki's dismay, "Sure, I occasionally train with Takao so I'm sure I can keep up. Any objections?"
Ibuki went silent while Izumo seemed eager to test the officer's claim. Since he had no blade for himself, Izumo took one of her katanas and handed it over. Kitakaze, eager to challenge her new superior, stepped onto the sparring floor while the others kneeled patiently. Ibuki, in the past, had trouble showing expressions but now she was showing some concern. He didn't blame her for looking out for his safety considering Kitakaze was very new to the base so her restraint was questionable.
The katana in the Admiral's hand had much more weight to it compared to the bokken he was used to when facing Takao. He gave it a few test swings before feeling confident in how to use the blade. Kitakaze's blade was unique, being longer and having a handguard on the hilt compared to a normal katana. The small destroyer waited a moment before gripping her blade and suddenly rushing the man with such speed that she was a blur. No thought or reason could explain how quickly this shipgirl was.
Expecting a strike for his center, the officer moved his blade to guard against the attack and was rewarded with Kitakaze's half-drawn blade locking with his own. For a second, Kitakaze was surprised that her speed did not overwhelm the man so easily before she then got a determined look and disengaged. There was no time to get a reprieve before the Sakura destroyer went for multiple slashes in multiple directions. Instinct guided the blade as his eyes could not keep up with the smaller woman's movements.
The sounds of clashing steel ringing in his ears and vibrations went through his hands, almost making him lose his grip. Another lock with Kitakaze's blade with her pushing with enhanced strength against him. Surprisingly, despite her clear advantage, he held firm and found himself rocksteady in his guard. This was odd considering that his fights with Takao normally made him use all his strength to just not be pushed around but now he was actually holding his ground without exerting all his strength. That strength training must have done wonders for his body to deal with such a powerful opponent.
All that ended so suddenly when he lost his grip on his blade and found himself on the floor with Kitakaze having her blade in front of his face. Just as his confidence was soaring did reality smack him right down to remind him he was not fast enough to deal with a destroyer.
"Not a bad attempt, Teitoku-san, still room to improve," Izumo commented, retrieving her fallen sword
Kitakaze offered her free arm for the officer to grab, pulling him upwards with surprising strength in her strong body. Once he was on his feet, the man gave a respectful bow which the destroyer returned. The two then left the sparring floor and kneeled with Izumo and Ibuki to rest. A rare time for the Admiral to catch up with his priority ships and get to know the new shipgirl added to his fleet.
"Are there really no Sirens as of now?" Ibuki asked curiously, no doubt wondering if her purpose at being an anti-Siren weapon being pointless
Of course, there was an easy answer, "Technically no. They just haven't attempted any attacks on us and the only one out there is Ember, the Takao from a darker universe."
"Then shouldn't we at least sortie after her. If we leave the enemy to gather their strength, they will come with larger numbers than if we preemptively struck," Kitakaze advised
"If we knew where Ember was and if she was still working with the Sirens. As far as we know, she only worked with them once. I don't know if she'll be our enemy. She might consider helping us like Ash," Shikikan replied, considering the option but it would be a wild goose chase
Immediately, he was faced with the frowns of Ibuki and Izumo while Kitakaze stayed neutral on the matter. Tensions between Ash and the other shipgirls weren't exactly on good terms still even with his blessing. The only good that came out of it was Enterprise hadn't encountered her counterpart face to face since Ash kept to herself. But, that didn't keep the other shipgirls from resenting her due to her hostility in the past.
The Admiral would have tried to defend the idea if his phone hadn't begun to ring. He stepped outside before taking the phone out to answer it.
"This is Shikikan."
A voice spoke on the other end, a voice that wasn't Martin or anyone the officer knew first hand. Probably one of the intelligence agents feeding him some critical information. Either way, he nodded along as hushed words entered his ears to relay the vital details. The Sakura women looked at him to determine if the call was to inform him of grim news or good news. Once the call was closed, the officer's expression turned serious.
"Get your rigging, we're moving out in the next hour," he told them before turning back towards his office to get a few items himself.
Out of the three Sakura women, only Izumo was grinning, "Finally."
The very next hour came and Shikikan was now in his naval uniform with his gaze turned towards the seas. High Command had given him a tip that they got Siren signatures just miles away from Midway. The mind of the man began to suspect it had to be Ember since she was the only Siren signature out there. It wouldn't make sense for the Sirens to send out one of their own or a small fleet if they weren't trying to wreak some havoc.
His fleet was composed for this very purpose. He gathered up a combined total of twelve ships with all of them being priority ships meant to take on such threats. The fleet was split into two, one hosting his more seasoned veterans while the other fleet composed of the new shipgirls. He made Monarch his flagship with Izumo and Gascogne forming his backline while Roon, Ibuki and Saint Louis formed the Vanguard.
"What are the Sirens planning?" he heard Monarch utter as she stood at the bow of her ship with him
"Something...They are always planning something. Let's have all radar and sonar equipment running in case they try to spring a trap,"
The ocean waters were clear with miles and miles of endless blue sky mirroring them. No mass of Siren ships was anywhere to be seen, yet, they could appear at any time. A quick look through some binoculars revealed nothing. So where were these Siren signatures that High Command informed him about? Something was out there. A tingling sensation was telling him that they were in the right area.
"Everyone stop your engines," he ordered as the fleet began to slow down their speed
Eerie silence fell on the fleet as everyone kept their guard up. Everyone besides Monarch had converted their ships into rigging and began to scout the surrounding area for Sirens. The Admiral felt the sensation growing stronger with every passing second before the reality around them began to warp around them. Unlike the Sirens, the reality around them began to tear itself like a faulty cable line to a TV. Shikikan looked over the side of Monarch as he saw red eyes glowing through the water's surface.
"Hostiles in the water!" the officer bellowed as the fleet began to notice a few other pairs of red orbs moving around them
The pair of eyes that was looking at the Admiral suddenly leaped out of the water to attack him. On reflex, the officer jumped out of the way and took out his revolver to shoot whatever came onto the bow. Thankfully, Monarch was a step in front of him and had stabbed the creature through one of its eyes before pushing the limp body off. When he got a good look at what their attackers looked like, he was horrified.
It looked like something the Ironbloods would have created as the creature resembled a centipede with black and crimson colors adorning its body. The lower half formed a fish like structure so the being could move in the water with the upper body having many small legs to quickly move across the floor. Two red orbs were on its head which was protected by an upper plating of armor with the underside being the only weakness. Its mouth held pincers with many rows of metal teeth to both grip and shred its victims.
"Keep these things at a distance, don't let them get close!"
Another one of these things attempted to spring out of the water towards the Admiral but he had his gun out. He quickly aimed and fired which resulted in the mechanical beast's entire head exploding and sending bits of oil everywhere. The rest of the shipgirls waited till one of the beasts lunged at them before blasting them apart with their main guns. These were hardly a threat to them but a serious threat to the officer in charge.
The sensation that he was feeling only grew as the corpses of these little robots fell into the depths of the ocean. Something else was coming, he knew it.
"Hey Georgia, how many have you gotten?" he heard Seattle call through the communication network
A few blasts of Georgia's secondary batteries followed before her voice filled his ear, "Four...Five...How about you?"
"Only two, why do you always have to get all the fun?"
Under normal circumstances, Shikikan would have chuckled at shipgirls like Seattle livening up the combat with her personality. However, that wasn't a good idea when something else had to be coming. The little mechanical beasts stopped their assault and disappeared from the sights of the humans above the water. The bits of their metal bodies dotted the very surface with traces of oil polluting the clear liquid into a murky black.
"Everyone, stay on your toes."
Fate loved to play tricks on the man as two large red orbs appeared under the water. Seconds later, the water was displaced as something large came out of the depths to face the fleet. Large swaths of water went into the air as waves were created with the enemy revealing itself. Unlike the mechanic crustaceans, this horror was now a serpent with draconic features within its upper body. It almost looked like an upscaled version of Roon and Friedrich's sentient rigging. A night blue and black color scheme adored the armored creature.
With a mighty roar, it looked directly at the Admiral with crimson eyes filled with whatever programs its master had installed. The metal components in its massive mouth began to whirl with gears churning the joints of the creature. If the Sirens had created this thing...What else were they coming up with?
"Child, I believe our guest is wishing to destroy us if we linger here any longer," Friedrich's voice came onto the radio
True to her word, the leviathan of a machine began charging some sort of attack as the fleet just watched, "Load armor-piercing, send it to hell!"
Shikikan had to get off Monarch's ship or she was a sitting duck against this thing's attack. Thankfully he had grabbed something as a safety measure. Before the fleet had departed, he had grabbed the armor from Hipper, despite it lacking any offensive capabilities, and brought it along. Rushing towards the bridge, the officer jumped into the awaiting suit before jumping off the side of the vessel and keeping his distance. Monarch got the hint before her ship turned into rigging and she moved away from the imminent attack.
It was a good thing they did as the creature blasted a red laser where they once were. Steam filled the area as the hot laser clashed against the cold water, evaporating a good amount considering the size of the beam.
"le Seigneur a pitié!" Saint Louis exclaimed before her batteries began to fire at the large mechanical leviathan
The armor-piercing rounds were having an effect as pieces of its armor were blasted off. The creature's slow laser was no match to the shipgirls that could easily maneuver around it. Even so, this thing was heavily armored and the chunks that were blown off were hardly scratching the internal components. There had to be some sort of power source for its attack or the entire creature itself.
"Admiral! Look out!"
Shikikan didn't notice as the lower end of the creature suddenly erupted out of the water and sent the man flying. Thrusters immediately fired to stabilize him before he landed back on the water relatively safe. His hud was filled with warning signs since he was in the vicinity of this dangerous robot. The shipgirls continued to circle around it and unleash volley after volley of AP rounds but the leviathan continued to stand.
The Admiral began to quickly come up with some form of strategy to take this thing out, "Vanguard, keep peppering that thing to get its attention. All battleships, aim for the upper chest region and fire!"
Like clockwork, the prototype cruisers/destroyers unleashed whatever payload they had into the creature to annoy it. Torpedos slammed into the midsection, causing chunks of armor to break and oil to spill out in small quantities. The creature tilted its head into the sky, roaring in fury before a volley of battleship batteries slammed into the upper section. A chunk of armor came off to reveal a large crimson wisdom cube powering the massive thing.
"There! Target that Wisdom Cube!" Shikikan ordered before the monster turned towards him
This time, the leviathan did not bother charging a beam and fired a volley of laser fire from its mouth. The man wasn't trained in how to activate the shielding unit Hipper mentioned yesterday but he had seen Eugen use hers many times in the past. He stuck his hounds out and prayed that the armor responded to what he was thinking. Thankfully, a dome of energy went around him before the laser began to pepper the shield.
Now, what the Admiral didn't know was how painful it was to hold the shield up along with the stamina it demanded. The laser barrage felt like miniature headaches ripping through his brain and his body felt like it was ready to give out in an instant. No wonder Hipper left it at a limited charge, he was nowhere ready to use this thing! Cracks began to form on the dome before it broke and several lasers blasted the interior.
It was at this same moment that the shipgirls fired a volley into the power source, causing the wisdom cube to shatter and the monster to lose all forms of energy. The large mass of metal began to fall, crashing into the water which caused another set of waves.
"Another Siren's superweapon destroyed," Izumo grinned, the barrels of her turrets smoking after the many volleys she had fired
"How many does that make it, two? Three?" Neptune giggled as she prodded the dead mechanical leviathan with her trident
Monarch looked over the beast, stabbing at the dim eyes with her saber before sheathing her weapon, "Roon, Friedrich, these things resemble Ironblood tech do they not?"
"They most certainly do, but this is much too ornate and costly for Ironbloods to produce. Is that right, child?" Friedrich answered, turning towards where she last saw the Admiral to only find the armored man floating above the ocean on his back
"No…" Roon's pupils shrunk before she rushed towards Shikikan's side, picking him up and searching for any wounds
Thankfully, the armor did a good job in keeping most of the lasers out although there were many burn marks on top of the steel. His helmet was relatively unharmed and there were no forms of bleeding anywhere. Roon placed her fingers on the side of his neck to search for a pulse. A faint pulse was felt which relieved the prototype cruiser. The other priority shipgirls rushed over to see for themselves.
Relief flooded their faces to find he was unconscious but fine. Although, they needed to rush back to base before more of those things showed up. As the fleet began to move back towards the base with Roon carrying the unconscious officer in her arms, someone watched them from a safe distance.
"Hm…"
Shikikan awoke to find himself looking at the ceiling of the hospital on the base. The last thing he remembered before he lost consciousness was the large battle his fleet had gone through. Small robots followed up with a serpent/dragon robot that tried to kill them all. If those were the Siren signatures that High Command warned him about, the Sirens had stepped up their game. Pain flooded his sore body when the man tried to sit up. He felt bandages wrapped around his upper torso with needles inserted into veins that connected him to some IV bags.
He was alone, just him inside a small room. No doubt this had to be Vestal's little clinic since he recognized the room he was in.
"Admiral, are you awake?" a voice asked outside his room
Normally, he would have recognized the voice right away but his mind was a bit slow to remember, "Yeah."
The wooden door at the end of the room opened up to reveal Vestal carrying a clipboard and looking a little tired. Naturally, she smiled towards him before she took a seat next to his bed. Knowing from past experience, Shikikan expected Vestal to have some form of nagging in her speech since she often had to take care of Enterprise, who was just as stubborn as he was.
"How are you feeling, Admiral?" she began sweetly
The officer had to play his cards safely before the storm was released with this woman, "Sore. Are the others alright?"
"Yes, they came back relatively unharmed but you on the other hand…"
"Just give me the short version."
Vestal's smile went down to a frown, "You had multiple first degree burns all over your body with a couple of second degree burns on your chest. Admiral, from what the girls told me, you put yourself in harm's way."
"To be fair," he retorted, "The armor did its job. I didn't even try to fight what was out there and I even kept myself away from the battlefield. It just happened that the enemy chose to go after me instead of the others."
Vestal sighed, "You have a point but that doesn't change the fact you were in danger. Thank god that you only had mild burns."
"How long will I be staying here?"
"Not very long, you've been resting for most of the day and I have already placed appropriate treatment for your burns. I'll have you released by tomorrow. Oh, you have visitors."
This got the Admiral's interest, "Who?"
On cue, the door opened again with Seattle and Georgia entering the room. The two new priority ships seemed to be close friends based on the little interaction from earlier. Of course, he didn't know too much about them since they were new to the base.
"Hey Admiral, you got pretty roughed up," Seattle greeted, a smile on her face that reminded him of San Diego, "Good thing you made it out safe."
"Yeah, could have been worse. I think I'm gonna lay off for a few days, so what brings you ladies here?" Shikikan replied, curious to why they were here since they hardly knew each other
Seattle looked towards Georgia, the battleship not saying a word, "It was Georgia's idea. She doesn't show it right away but she looks after everyone. Right?"
Georgia's dual colored eyes looked towards the light cruiser before turning back to the officer, "Yeah, someone has to look after everyone after a fight. Nobody was hurt besides you. Although, that Ironblood Heavy Cruiser…"
"Roon?" he suggested
"Yeah, she was a bit shaken up by the whole thing. I tried to talk to her but Friedrich assured me that Roon will be ok."
The Admiral smiled slightly, "I appreciate your concern. I can't manage everyone at the same time so any help is nice."
"Oh!" Seattle sprung up suddenly, "Me and Neptune went ahead and planned for a little party tomorrow for your recovery."
Unexpectedly, the officer narrowed his eyes at the priority light cruiser, "Please...don't. I'm not good with parties unless I expect it ahead of time. It always goes bad."
"Aw, come on A-"
"Seattle, I would rather not. Knowing Neptune, everyone is going to hear about it and it'll turn into a party I can't control," the man sighed exasperatedly, "Last time I let Neptune run a party, the Ironbloods brought their entire bar and half of the girls ended up wasted."
"Really?" Georgia raised a brow, "That sounds like hell."
"Yes, yes it was. The worst part was that some of the younger girls got ahold of the alcohol too. I had to ban any drinks for a week until the maids properly drilled them to never drink beer until they matured."
"What about you, Vestal? Did you participate too?" Seattle questioned the repair ship
Vestal giggled nervously, "Well, I...I was sadly under the influence too. Anyway, let's give the man some rest so he can get back to work tomorrow."
The priority shipgirls said their goodbyes as Vestal ushered them out of his room. Finding nothing else to do, the officer closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles. The sounds of his heart monitor beeped into his ears as he slowly drifted back to sleep.
Shikikan's eyes opened with the night sky suddenly being shown in front of him. Confusion rocked his brain before he found himself laying on top of the ocean next to the corpse of the mechanical leviathan. Rising to his feet, he began to hear faint whispers in his ear along with the sensation coming back to him. Looking towards the fallen beast, the man began to walk closer; every step making the whispers grow in volume and the sensation rising within his chest.
The area that once held the crimson wisdom cube was blown apart and many shards of the former device floated on top of the waves. The whispers began to become more coherent and the words being short phrases that played around.
"Commander, we can't leave her!"
"I can't stop her."
The shards began to move closer together as the waves rippled around him. The Admiral warily watched the shards began to rise up to reform back into their former shape. The corpse of the beast still lay dormant as this all occurred. The voices continued to play around the man as he recognized one female and another male.
"Enterprise….promise me…"
"Don't leave me…"
A strong pull and desire to touch the cube coursed through the officer's body. His right arm unconsciously rising and reaching out to touch the reformed crimson cube. Inch by inch, his fingers got closer with a wave of energy emanating from the device. Energy that spoke of power.
"Protect them...keep them safe...all of them."
"I...I'll try."
"No...you will."
Once his fingers had touched the smooth surface of the cube, Shikikan saw red sparks of energy suddenly jolt out and entered his body. All his muscles tensed immediately and he couldn't cry in pain with his throat constricted. Pain shot through his nerves, like napalm running through his veins constantly. The pain became so great that he blacked out.
Out on the beach under the cover of the night sky, Ash looked at the ocean with cold, emotionless eyes. The very thing that took everything from her and became the grave of so many she knew. Even though this was another timeline, the pain wouldn't go away. Seeing the faces she knew, it only reignited that remorse. Remorse she tried to bury.
"I thought I would find you here," a voice rang out.
Ash turned to her right to find her counterpart, Enterprise, standing there with a mug of coffee in each hand. Strange of her to offer a drink to someone who was an enemy at one point. Why try to show kindness to the darker version of herself?
"What do you want?" Ash questioned, taking one of the mugs to at least satisfy her mirror
"You know what those things were that the Admiral saw?" Enterprise replied, taking a sip of the hot beverage
Moments of silence followed until Ash spoke, "Yeah...Ironblood tech. They shouldn't be here."
"Hm? Why?" Enterprise asked while looking at Ash from the corner of her eye
"Those were the last things humanity built to push the Sirens away. For those to show up...the Sirens are up to something," Ash answered, "That...or someone brought them over."
"You don't think Ember brought them?"
"Possible."
Silence followed the two mirrors before Enterprise broke it, "Did you love your Commander?"
"Yes," the darker mirror answered immediately
"You know…" Enterprise tried to find the words to say to herself, "You could always try with the Admiral."
Ash looked towards Enterprise with a frown, "My time has passed. Yours hasn't. I'm just a weapon for you to wield."
"You're not a we-" Enterprise tried to retort before her counterpart's eyes looked downcast
"Don't give me hope...just don't."
Enterprise wanted to say something more but Ash turned and walked away before her brighter self could have the chance. Enterprise could only watch, taking sips of her coffee to enjoy the night sky on her own.
Hey everyone. I hope you liked today's chapter. To answer a criticism, the naval base is in the Pacific. I overlooked that mistake and I thank any of you to point out some flaws. With that said, I hope you guys have good luck in your gacha pulls.
