*Meanwhile at the base
As per Yorktown's orders, the unknown girl who washed up on their shores was taken to the emergency room. Here, Vestal administered the required medicines and stabilized her condition. In the time that it took for her to recover, Yorktown placed guards outside the room as a preventative measure. Right now, they didn't know who she was, which meant that she was either an otherworlder or some kind of Siren.
Two days passed and the girl had recovered.
"My name is Alice Footman," said the girl, sitting up in her bed, speaking to Yorktown.
"I'm thirty-five years old, I got a degree in accounts and I've been struggling to find a job in the years since I graduated. Recently I was out sailing with some friends of mine when a storm hit us. The waves must have rocked the boat too much, causing me to topple over."
"Thank you for rescuing me," she said, Holding Yorktown's hands "I don't know how long I was drifting out there. I wouldn't have lasted longer if you didn't…."
"It's good that you're alive," said Yorktown.
"If possible," said Alice "I'd like to get in contact with my family. They're probably worried sick about me."
Yorktown sighed mentally. This was why she was never a fan of leadership, despite how much her sisters spoke about her organization skills and adeptness at fleet administration.
'If there's a lack of supplies or we need more guns then its no problem,' she thought 'Instead though, there's this new girl that's suddenly come here and has no idea what's going on.'
'Of all the things to have happened while you ran off.'
"Um…" said Alice.
"Right now, we haven't yet verified whether or not what you're saying is true," said Enterprise, entering the room, much to the surprise of Yorktown.
"What do you mean?" asked Alice, looking visibly concerned.
"She's right," said Yorktown "for now, please stay here and wait till we're sure you say who you are."
'Commander, get back here quickly.'
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"Sisters," cried out Z23, falling to her knees and embracing some of the girls she called her sisters.
"Eugen," shouted Hipper, putting her arms around Eugen and pulling her into a tight hug.
"I thought that you…." She said, sniffling a little "I thought that you died."
"Technically I did," said Eugen, putting a shoulder on her "but then, he happened."
Hipper turned to the Commander, who was busy speaking to Monarch, Akagi, and Wales.
"That other girl," she said, looking in the direction of Roon "she's wearing our colors but I don't recognize her."
"That's Roon," said Eugen "trust me, that's a story for after we get out of here."
"Eugen," said a familiar voice followed by a pair of arms wrapping around and her and pulling her in for a tight hug.
"Ma," said Eugen, struggling to break free.
"You can't blame me for being so happy to see you," said Friedrich, refusing to let Eugen leave her "seeing you here is nothing short of a miracle."
"And you too Z23," she said, turning to her "my daughter has returned, safe and sound."
As Friedrich reached out and pulled Z23 into her embrace, Eugen noticed how the Commander was busy helping Konigsberg, Karlsruhe and Koln tend to the wounded. Then he turned to Wales and Takao, their conversation inaudible thanks to the embrace of her mother.
A moment later and he turned to Eugen, giving her a coy smile and purposely covering his lips.
"What?" she asked.
"Oh nothing, nothing at all," he said, playfully "it's just, I've known you for a while and this is the first time I've seen you get embarrassed Eugen."
"Same to you too Z," he added.
The pair were now wildly embarrassed as their faces became red, thanks to what he said and how much it annoyed them.
"You were the one who brought my children back," said Friedrich, coming towards him. Up close, the Commander noticed how tall she was, which only added to the imposing aura she gave off.
"You also saved my life and the lives of my family. Yet I don't even know your name."
At this the Commander took in a deep breath.
"Nice to meet you miss, I'm the Commander, leader of the Coalition fleet. My talented and powerful team here accompanied me to the north, where I hoped to recruit you and your faction into our fleet. However, when we got here we noticed the attack and decided to change our objective from recruit to rescue so please say yes when I say that I'd like to help you and your family get out of here," he said in one breath.
"Yes," said Friedrich, almost instantly.
"Wow, I honestly didn't think she'd agree like that," he muttered to Z23.
"Stop asking questions and let's move on," chided Z23.
"Alright everyone, we're going to be moving in a few minutes now. But before that how many of you are able to fight?"
The question was directed to the Iron Blood. The Commander's shoulders slumped down when he saw them all raise their hands. He was reminded of their tenacity despite the injuries they sustained.
"Let me rephrase that," he said "how many of you can fight?"
At that question, Hipper, Graf Zeppelin and Tirpitz raised their hands.
"That's Hipper, Graf Zeppelin and Tirpitz," said Eugen, pointing to each of them as she said their names.
"Here's what we're going to do," he said turning to his team "we're using a diamond formation to protect the injured and prevent any surprise attacks."
"Front line will be Yukikaze, Z23, Eugen, Cleveland and Hipper," he said. "Right flank will be Wales, Takao and Monarch. Left flank is Illustrious, Akagi, Roon and Tirpitz."
"Hornet and Graf Zeppelin. Stay in the middle and call out shots. If you see a ship that none of us saw, call it out. We can't let any of their attacks hit us right now."
"Hey hold up," barked Deutschland, standing up "why are we taking our orders from you? We don't even know you."
The response came from Tirpitz, whacking her younger sister on the back of her head.
"Ow, what was that for?"
"Because he did introduce himself," she replied "he's reliable enough that he saved everyone and he is the only chance we've got at getting out of here."
"Then what about afterwards?" asked Deutschland, turning to him "you said you wanted us to join? Are you going to try and force us into helping you?"
"He wouldn't do something like that," said Z23, finally free of Friedrich.
"That so?"
"That's right, because if he did then I wouldn't be fighting with him and Eugen wouldn't have returned."
"She does have a point," said Tirpitz, rubbing her chin "you know how Z23 is. If she's vouching for someone, we can trust them."
Tirpitz then turned to the Commander.
"As my sister trusts you, I shall also trust you," she said "remember the importance of that and remember that should you betray that trust, you will not live long enough to regret it."
"Y-Yes ma'am," he said, swallowing hard, not imagining her hunting him down.
Just then, they saw a number of explosions occurring from the main building.
'Looks like they've recovered,' he thought, then turned to the group "we can debate about whether or not I can be trusted afterwards. Right now, we're in a dangerous place and we need to get out of here, fast."
"On that, we're all in agreement," said Graf Spee.
"Wait," said Akagi, just as the group was about to leave.
"Who's guarding us from behind Commander?"
"That'll be me," he replied, taking out his sword.
"As daring as that may be," said Friedrich, walking towards him "we cannot risk any mistakes, not right now. I'll also bring up the rear."
With them in agreement, the large group started running to the base's entrance. Those who were too injured to walk, were carried. Hornet and Graf Zeppelin kept their heads on a swivel, ready to react if they saw anything remotely hostile.
At once, the front line started firing ahead of them, bombarding a few Siren cruisers and destroyers. When that happened, the right and left sides saw multiple ships appearing and firing at them. Both sides weathered the attacks and struck back with equal force, annihilating the ships.
The Commander made it a habit to look behind him every ten seconds. The closer they were to victory, the closer they were to making a mistake. The last thing they needed was to have an enemy ship come behind them and fire.
Just as he feared, it happened. He saw a Siren cruiser lower itself, its guns trained on the group. Wasting no time, he immediately bounded up the nearby wall, leapt off and landed on the ship's deck. Here, he ran across the deck, his sword cutting into the body, all the while keeping it's guns trained on him.
This afforded Friedrich the opportunity she needed to land a one-shot one-kill on the cruiser and send it crashing into the ground.
"Don't look behind you," she said to Scharnhorst and Gneisenau "focus on making it out of here."
The two nodded and turned away. As they did, the Commander landed near Friedrich. Friedrich then fired at some of the Siren ships on the left and right.
As the group neared the entrance, he noticed Friedrich slowing down. Sensing that something was amiss, he too did the same.
"Commander what are you doing?" shouted Wales, noticing this. All at once, the group stopped their advance, wondering what he was thinking.
"Go on ahead of me," he said, turning in the direction of Friedrich "I'll bring that lady back."
"But Commander,…." Cried Z23.
"NOW," he yelled, asserting that his previous sentence was an order and not a request. Begrudgingly, the team that accompanied him headed out the entrance.
"Not joining your team?" asked Friedrich, seeing the Commander approach her.
"Ah well the thing about me is that I'm a traveler at heart," he said, with a shrug "when I go to new places, I like to see the sights, the sounds, the tastes, meet new people, make some friends….."
His sentence was interrupted when they saw an energy beam hit the ground before them. When the beam faded, the pair saw a white-haired, yellow-eyed and pale-skinned woman descend from the skies, her sides surrounded by some floating orbs and multiple pointed shapes that looked similar to the Siren ships.
"Engage in the local activities," he said, turning to the Siren
"The Dragon of Omens and the Will of Azure," said the Siren "to think that I'd get to wipe out our two greatest threats at once. Must be my lucky day.
"Don't look so surprised otherworlder," she said, turning to him "everyone in the fleet knows about you and how you killed one of the Triumvirate. I thought you weren't all that threatening to be honest…"
"But that was before you ruined my plans."
"Well it's not all on me alone," he said in response "This was a team effort and I don't like hogging all the glory. The last time I took on one of your types, she called herself Overseer Alpha, what's yours?"
"Arbiter: The Empress III," she replied "remember it, as it will be the name of the one who ended your miserable life."
"Her type's got a force field," he said, turning to Friedrich "they can block some attacks but if we keep hitting it, it'll give up soon."
"Commander," said Friedrich, forming her weapons "would you like to dance with me?"
"It would be my honor," he replied, pointing his sword at the Siren.
Arbiter fired a few blasts at the two, which they dodged. The pair were coming at her from either side. She fired a barrage of guns at the Commander, who ducked down to avoid them, then resumed his attack. Arbiter saw them getting closer and spun in a circle, firing in all directions. While Friedrich ducked, he jumped up and threw his sword at her. It came as no surprise that the sword was knocked away from the force field, but Friedrich took the chance to grab the sword before it hit the ground, thrust it forward, landing a cut on Arbiter's shoulder.
Arbiter winced in pain, taking a step back but recovered with a fist to Friedrich's gut, causing her to let go of the sword. The Commander then picked it up and landed a cut on Arbiter's stomach but she pushed past the pain. Arbiter grabbed him and flung him towards the wall but Friedrich caught him before that happened.
Rather than setting him down, Friedrich flung him right at Arbiter, who leapt to the side to avoid being hit by him. The Commander landed on the ground and attacked her from behind but it was blocked by the shield forming across over her body.
Friedrich smiled as this was what she hoped for. She wasted little time and fired two energy beams from her weapons at the Arbiter. Although the shield blocked the brunt of the attack, it shattered under the strain, causing Arbiter to jump back and avoid further damage.
But she had no time to catch her breath as the Commander flung his cape towards her, blocking her vision for a moment. That moment was all the time he needed to thrust his sword forward and seeing it go through her body.
Arbiter yelled out in pain, knocking him aside and sending him crashing into the wall. But he quickly recovered from that and charged towards her. Friedrich watched the two of them fighting, waiting for her moment to strike.
From the way he engaged the Siren in quick attacks and moved away before she could retaliate, Friedrich understood why he was such a thorn in their mutual enemy's side. The thought of killing someone as dangerous as him was a tantalizing prospect, which was why the Siren focused her attention more on him than her.
Both Friedrich and the Commander understood this as the latter kept the Siren busy, causing her to unknowingly lower her guard.
In that moment, Friedrich saw her opportunity and fired two powerful blasts of energy from her weapons, sending Arbiter flying back a good distance.
He was about to say something but then saw a large energy beam shoot out in the direction the Arbiter fell. The beam hit Friedrich, sending her crashing into the ground.
"So I was right," he said, turning to Arbiter. He saw her coming towards them, pointing a cannon barrel at them, which was significantly longer than the others.
'She broke through their defenses,' he thought.
Arbiter pointed the cannon barrel at him and fired. Considering that he could never dodge an energy beam in time, his instincts told him to raise his sword up and block.
"Huh?" he said, seeing the shot being deflected into one of the walls.
"You," said Arbiter, stunned by what she saw "how did you do that? No metal in this world can block our weapons."
"Good thing this isn't from this world," he said, pointing his sword at her.
Realizing the implications of his words, Arbiter fired a concentrated beam at him, intending to finish him off. Given the size of the attack, he could have easily dodged it. The only problem was, if he dodged it, then it'd hit Friedrich.
So the Commander blocked the beam with his sword, but the force of the attack was slowly pushing him back.
'This is bad,' he thought, his hand struggling to hold onto the weapon as it grew hotter and hotter.
Friedrich rose to her feet and saw the Commander slowly being pushed back by the Arbiter.
"I can't hold this thing for much longer," he said, turning to her "get out of here, now."
There was a part of Friedrich's life that she never mentioned to anyone. It was a secret she kept for many years. It was a secret that only two people in the world knew and only one of them was still alive.
Friedrich knew that her daughter was meant for greatness, even at a young age. As she watched her grow and exceed her expectations, she was more than happy to give up her role as the leader of the Iron Blood to Bismarck, in recognition of her talent. When the Sirens came, she was the one who suggested that Bismarck unite the factions in order to better stand against the invaders.
When it was done, Bismarck approached her mother, saying that Friedrich was better suited to lead the Azur Lane and not her. In a move that she had regretted for the rest of her life, Friedrich declined the opportunity, saying that there was only one person fit to lead the Azur Lane and that was Bismarck.
Had she realized the weight of her decision, had she known the outcome it would bring, Friedrich would have gladly changed places with her daughter, instead of unknowingly sending her off to her doom.
'He's a lot like my daughter,' she thought, slowly rising to her feet 'I made the mistake of letting someone I love face the enemy alone once, I will never make that mistake again.'
"Run Friedrich," he shouted, about to let go of the sword.
But Friedrich didn't listen. Instead she ran straight towards him and held him, keeping him from being pushed further back. Then she formed her weapons and fired two large energy beams at the Arbiter, hitting her shoulder and sides, causing her to stop the attack.
Seeing the opportunity, the Commander ran towards the Arbiter. When he was close, he slid down and with a swing of his sword, lopped off Arbiter's right leg.
The Siren screamed in pain at the loss of a limb but was unable to react. This was because, by the time she turned to the Commander, Friedrich had drawn close enough, kicking her right in the face.
"You must have kicked her all the way back to the main building," he commented.
"No time for compliments," she said, picking him "we need to get out of here."
Before he could say anything, Friedrich had leapt high up into the sky.
"When this base was constructed," she said to him "my daughter did so with an idea in her mind."
"Nothing lasts forever. Even a place as sturdy as this was bound to fall, either to time or to her enemies. Which was why Bismarck made sure that her throne room was built tall and wide."
"When the time came," she continued "when the defenses fell, when there was no one left to fight, when all was lost, Bismarck would return to her throne and take her place."
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"Damn those two," said Arbiter, slowly getting up "I swear they will suffer for this."
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"She'd watch silently and wait. She'd wait for her enemies to enter the throne room. Then she'd smile….."
He noticed how Friedrich formed her weapons and pointed them to the main building.
"and greet them before sending them all straight to hell."
This was followed by her firing two energy beams at the top of the main building. The Commander watched as the attack hit the tower, triggering multiple explosions from the top of the tower to the bottom of the building. This was then followed by the entire base being engulfed in a massive explosion about the size of a small town.
"She called it," said Friedrich, smiling at the devastation caused "The Final Roar."