She recounted the series of events with an accuracy that befitted the leader of the Sakura Empire. From her breakdown to the lone Siren ship retreating, she recalled it perfectly.
However, that did little to detract from the fact that it was like a whirlwind of events that happened so fast, if you were to blink, you'd miss it entirely.
"He did it," said Akagi, clutching onto the cap he put on her head before leaving.
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"Commander what do you mean you don't have a way of landing?" shouted Enterprise.
"Exactly as I said. I don't think I can elaborate on it any further."
"Don't get lippy with me, Mister."
"Sorry. Now can someone please come and catch me before I turn into fish food?"
"That might not be a good idea," stated Z23.
"How so?" asked Enterprise and the Commander.
"Think about the speed at which you're falling and imagine one of us catching you. Given how strong we are compared to you, you'd likely be sliced into three pieces instead of being caught like normal."
"Oh snap," he shouted, sounding more panicked than before "fine, scratch the catch me plan. Can one of you jump up and catch me?"
"I guess that's possible," said Eugen, looking in the direction he might be.
"Man, I can't believe you didn't think about landing Commander," said Hornet.
"Yes," added Illustrious "given your penchant for always being ready, this seems like a huge step in the other direction."
"Well either way," said Enterprise "I'll go ahead and get him. The rest of you can stay here."
Enterprise tried to take a step forward, but found that she could not.
"Hmm?" she said, looking down followed by the words "uh-oh."
"'Uh-oh?'" he repeated through the communicator "that is not something a guy falling to his death wants to hear."
"Uh, Commander," said Enterprise, looking nervous "we've used up all our fuel."
In order for any of the girls of this world to fight on the seas, they are required to have an adequate amount of ammunition along with oil. The oil allows them to nimbly move across the surface of the sea and allows them the ability to utilize weapons to their fullest.
However, the amount of oil any girl can carry is limited to a set amount and as such, once that supply is exhausted, their mobility drops dramatically down to zero.
"….."
"C-Commander?" asked Enterprise.
"Yep, this is how it's going to end," he replied, seemingly resigned to his fate.
"AAHHH, the Commander's just threw in the towel," shouted Enterprise.
"This is bad," said Cleveland, turning to the girls from the Sakura Empire "any chance you guys have some fuel left?"
In response, they all tried to move only to be met with the same results.
"Uh-oh," said Yukikaze.
"We're all… stranded here," said Kaga.
"Wait," said Z23, "don't we normally pack a reserve fuel supply just in case of times like these?"
Everyone's expressions lightened up a moment, only to fall flat the very next second.
"We normally do have those," said Ranger, apologetically.
"But… we used it up during the counterattack," said Oklahoma.
"Commander," said Enterprise "don't worry, we'll get you safe and sound back on the ground in no time."
"….. bequeath the following items to my friends," said the Commander, no longer listening.
"Oh great, he's already saying his will," said Wales.
Just then they noticed everyone in the Sakura Empire pressing their hand against their ear, as if listening to some communication.
"Wait… hold on a second my lady," said Hiryuu "can you switch to an open channel?"
There was a silence for a moment, followed by the three fleets hearing the same message.
"This is Akagi, I'm heading to his position," she said.
After overhearing the conversation from the Coalition fleet, Akagi knew now was the time to act. With that in mind, she bounded down the hill at quickly as she could, reaching the beach and dashing through the water as fast as she could.
Given the position of the Siren fleet, she was able figure out where the Commander was and where she should position herself. Once she was in the right place, she wasted no time in leaping up.
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The story about the Fox and the Cherry Blossom was the last story Amagi read to her sisters. After hearing about her death, Akagi kept the book away in storage, in an effort to remember the memories she had of her sister. As a result, she never got to read the rest of the story and find out what happened to the fox.
The fox soon became tired and sad from not being able to catch the cherry blossoms from the old tree. It realized that the only reason it played pranks on the other animals was because it did not know how to make friends with them and thought this was the best way to do it.
Realizing that being made a fool was a bad thing, the fox apologized to the old tree and promised to never play pranks again. In response, the old tree grew one last Cherry Blossom petal and let it fall to the ground. The fox was able to grab the petal, finally overcoming the punishment. It thanked the old tree, went back to the other animals and apologized for what it did.
The fox became friends with the animals and spent the rest of its days living a happy and fun-filled life in the forest.
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"I've got you," said the fox to the cherry blossom, holding onto him as if he was the one rescuing her.
"I've got you," she repeated "and I swear I'll never let you go."
As the pair descended, Akagi spoke, "This is Akagi to both fleets. I've contacted my base and you'll be refueled in another fifteen minutes. Afterwards, please come to the island nearest to us. I have something important to tell."
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"Enterprise," said Hornet, looking very worried "Enterprise, I can see the veins on your forehead."
"Oy," said Enterprise, emitting a menacing aura, while the veins on her head and hands became noticeable "what did she mean by she isn't letting him go?"
"Maybe…. Maybe your Commander was scared that Akagi was coming for him," said Soryuu in an effort to defuse the situation.
"Yeah, maybe she said that to calm him down," added Hiryuu.
"That has to be it," said Hornet.
"Of course, it's not like Akagi meant something else by it," added Illustrious.
"For her sake that better be it," said Enterprise, looking in the direction where Akagi and the Commander had supposedly landed.
"Hey you two," said Hornet to Belfast and Z23 "how about saying something to calm her down?"
Unfortunately, her words fell on deaf ears as the pair looked equally annoyed by what Akagi said.
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Although he was initially happy and elated that he would not be turned into fish food, after a period of time had passed, the Commander felt awkward, given his present situation.
"Umm….. Akagi," he said, trying to move, but couldn't.
"You can let go now," he added, referring to the fact that Akagi was still hugging him, even though they were on the ground, safe and sound.
"No," she said, almost immediately.
"But I'm safe now."
"I still feel like you'll get into trouble if I leave you alone for even a second."
"I can't get into any trouble if there's no one here."
"The only reason no one's here is because I'm keeping you safe."
'That isn't a logical argument,' he thought and tried to wriggle himself free but the girl's grip and their difference in strength made it an impossible venture.
"Akagi," he said, noticing something "are you….. sniffing me?"
She didn't answer, not immediately at least. Instead she waited for an awkwardly long period of time to pass before saying "No~" in a way that did little to convince him.
"Akagi, just what do you think you're doing," shouted a familiar voice.
"Oh great," said Akagi, looking up and seeing Enterprise stomping towards the pair of them, followed by Belfast, Z23 and the rest of the fleet.
Before Akagi could say anything, Enterprise literally yanked the Commander out of her grasp and placed him next to her.
"Commander," she said, staring daggers into him "we'll be having a talk about your behavior."
"Huh?" he asked, taking a step back "what did I do?"
"Belfast," he said, turning to her "what did I do?".
But his only response came from Belfast giving him an un-characteristic "Hmph" and looking in another direction.
"Commander," said Cleveland, "putting a hand on his should "I hope your affairs are in order."
"Huh?"
"What was it you wanted to say Akagi?", said Enterprise, ignoring the confused Commander.
"Ah, that's right, there's something important I wanted to tell the Commander but I wanted to do it when both sides were present."
Akagi now reached her hand out, gently holding the Commander's hand, before going to one knee and lowering her head, a gesture that seemed to have caught everyone by surprise.
"I Akagi, leader of the Sakura Empire do pledge my loyalty to you. From this day forward, you are my Commander and I will serve your will. Your ambitions are my own, your enemies are my enemies as well. Now, until the end of my life, I will remain by your side as…"
Akagi had to stop when she felt the Commander's hand move away. She raised her head up and saw a very flustered Enterprise dragging the Commander away by his collar and putting him behind her.
"What do you think you're doing Akagi?" she shouted.
"Sister," said Kaga, "isn't this a little too much?"
"What do you mean?" asked Akagi, behaving like nothing was wrong at all.
"You and I both know that the pledge of loyalty is just one line," interjected Enterprise "that extra stuff you put in there made it sound less like a pledge of loyalty and more like a….. a…."
"A marriage proposal? That's because it is," said Akagi in a matter-of-fact way.
"Eh?" said Enterprise, shocked by the frankness of her voice.
"Eh?" said Kaga, shocked at her sister's declaration.
"Eh?" shouted the Commander, shocked for obvious reasons.
"Well it shouldn't come as such a surprise to you," said Akagi "the Commander is a strong, capable and reliable. His position requires for there to be someone by his side to lean on when things get difficult."
"Sister," said Kaga, now throwing her voice into the argument "you can't just do something like that. You don't even know the person you're pledging yourself to. For all we know, that man could be a letch in hiding."
"Oh please," interjected Belfast "the Commander's about as dangerous as a dead leaf.
"Hey," said the Commander, taking offense to the comment and was given a pat on the back by Hornet.
"And besides," said Enterprise, taking control of the argument "you can't pledge yourself to him because…"
"Because?" asked Akagi.
"Because I already have," she shouted.
"She did?" shouted Z23 in surprise.
"she did?" shouted Hornet, turning to the Commander.
"She did?" shouted the man in question.
Akagi took a step forward, examining Enterprise closely, then moved away and gave her a smug smile.
"You're lying," she said, followed with a scoff "there's not a whiff of his scent on you."
"So you were sniffing me," shouted the Commander from behind. However, in light of everything that was going on, his voice was about as important as ambient noises were in a horror movie.
"Either way, you're still not getting him," said Enterprise, crossing her arms.
"Is that right?" asked Akagi, raising her eyebrow.
"Sister please be reasonable here," pleaded Kaga "you don't know anything about this otherworlder."
"Fine, let's settle this like how we normally do," declared Akagi.
As much as Enterprise was ready to lay the smackdown on Akagi's head, she was suddenly hit with a brilliant idea.
"You know what," she said "instead of that let's try something else."
Akagi watched as Enterprise grabbed the Commander once again and put him directly in-between the two of them.
"Now choose," said Enterprise to him "decide Commander, who do you want?"
"HUH? How did it get to this?" he shouted, looking about as panicky as one would get in this situation.
"Well it all started that night when we went out of the headquarters and saw cherry blossoms falling, which is strange because there weren't any trees like that on the base," said Belfast.
"You're not helping," he interjected.
"Well Commander," said Akagi "it's time to decide."
It was at this moment, the Commander remembered one particular animated show he saw when he stayed at Kazu and his family's place during the holidays.
The story revolved around a pair of ridiculously buff men trying to defeat what could only be described as 'Aztec stripper Gods.' The main character of this story was a man who employed a seemingly bizarre tactic as a way to get the upper hand on his opponents.
Considering that he was in a position where there was no discernable answer available, the Commander resorted to using that technique and like the main character, started running away in the opposite direction.
In a shocking turn that left everyone on the island stunned, the Commander ran as fast as he could, before reaching the beach and proceeding to swim away.
Although the employment of the tactic was sound, the differences between the Commander and the main character of the story were vast. For example, the main character was known for being a keenly observant and quick-thinking man, while the Commander wasn't. Secondly (and perhaps the most important one), you cannot hope to swim that far with one hand.
These were the two reasons why the Commander was caught and brought back to the Island. However, in light of everything that happened, Hornet and Kaga were able to convince Enterprise and Akagi respectively to have this conversation for another day. As a result, the Commander was spared from a difficult decision but was not out of hot water yet.
All the way back home, he was given the cold shoulder by Enterprise, Belfast and Z23.
(AN: Between Akagi and Enterprise, even the greatest scholars of our time have been unable to land on a definitive answer.)
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*Night three of the Coalition victory party.
The Commander entered the elevator and pressed the button to take him down. He received a message from Akashi half an hour before, asking him to come to a location on the base and that he should come alone.
He waited till everyone was enjoying themselves too much to notice his absence and slipped away. Once in the elevator, he watched the numbers keep changing, indicating how deep down he was going.
When the display landed on '-5', the elevator stopped and the door opened. He stepped outside and saw an illuminated pathway before him, ending with a large platform where Akashi, Purin and Buri were waiting.
"Girls, it's been a while," he said, coming to them "how have you been?"
"We feel different Commander," said Purin "what you did….."
"Yeah, not something I plan to do again. But enough about that, what's with all the cloak and dagger here?"
"We were looking through the base and found information about these lower levels Comnyander," said Akashi, holding up a tablet.
"Purin and Buri helped me crack the code and when we got here…. This is what we found."
Akashi pressed something on the tablet. In response, they heard the sound of machines whirring, leading to six large cylindrical chambers raising up around the platform. The Commander took a step closer at one of the chambers, wiping away the dust.
"Whoa," he said, taking a step back "there's a woman in here."
"Yes Comnyander," said Akashi "they are a group of ships that were in development during the first war, but development was never completed."
"Why's that?" he asked
"Because it required a large amount of resources," replied Buri
"I see. And what category do these ships come under?"
"A unique one," replied Akashi "they're called Priority Class."
(AN: time for a little break from the action)