[A/N]: I've got nothing to say. I hope you enjoy, sorry for the wait.

The night that Enterprise and everyone else arrived I didn't bother joining in the drinking or the partying. I was too busy helping my sister through her mental problems.

As it turned out, the explosion that mentally scarred my precious sister was a car bomb set by a terrorist organization from the central states.

Being how they were from the central states I was furious at them acting on the coast, but then Danielle explained that there had been a month long string of attacks in the same area, which to me indicates there's a hideout somewhere in the area.

I've always drawn the line at intentionally killing humans. To me it makes us no better than the Fog. However, to me terrorists have never counted as humans. They're scum. The lowest of the low. And if there's one thing that Dad taught me, it's that hurting someone's family is nothing short of a declaration of war.

Come morning I manage to pry my clingy sister off of me and change my nanomaterial clothes from pajamas to my usual black cargo jeans and a black short sleeve. I grab my crutches and haul myself out of bed, fixing my bedhead into a ponytail which I thread through the back of my baseball cap.

Finally looking presentable I hobble out the door on the side of my wheelhouse and cross over the quarter mile of open water to Intrepid's ship. I find nobody up on deck, and I don't quite want to try going down to the lobby again, so I just make my way over to the rows of anti-aircraft guns lining the sides of the ship and pace fore and aft while on my crutches, just running thoughts through my mind.

"Morning."

I stop my pacing and look up to find Scylla standing on the flight deck a few feet away.

"Oh, it's you. Hi." I grumble, turning to face the railing.

"Don't sound so excited to see me," She snarks with a smile, moving closer while rolling her shoulders and stretching her arms with a yawn.. "You're the one who said you wanted to talk to me."

"After what you said to my sister yesterday I don't want to hear your sass. You seem to me like a loose cannon, I want to trust you, but you haven't provided any reason for me to trust you."

"Understandable, but why should I worry about earning your trust when we're already on the same side?"

"Because I am a motherfucking Alaska-class battlecruiser. My ship is designed to chase down fast ships and slaughter them like dogs on a highway. You struck a low blow yesterday teasing my sister like that. If you want my help during battle how do I know that if I help you then you won't leave me for dead?"

"You don't. But I guess you'll just have to trust me and see what happens. Plus I don't think you'll have any trouble keeping up with me." She gives that half-crazed grin of hers. "Or you could quit pulling your punches and not worry about killing them. Then you won't have to keep up and you'd have a better kill count!"

"Is that how you look at this?! This isn't a fucking videogame!" I snarl angrily.

"Sure it is! Besides, they have it coming anyway! What, too afraid to kill your enemies kitty?"

"You… Raaagh!" Before I make any stupid decisions I consider my own condition, and while I'd normally haul off and knock someone on their ass for calling me a name like that, I'm in no condition to fight. I turn around and head off down the flight deck, noticing both Intrepid and Enterprise standing twenty or so yards away.

I move straight up to Enterprise and do my best to stand at attention, giving her a salute to show I mean business. "Flagship Enterprise, requesting permission to go out on maneuvers and firing exercises."

Enterprise looks to Intrepid, who simply shrugs and moves past me. "Your call. C'mon Scylla, we're waking everyone up and informing them of our first combined fleet action."

"Oh sweet! We going on a joint kill mission!?" The cruiser hybrid asks excitedly, causing me to grip the handles of my crutches so hard that my knuckles start popping.

I wait for them to get a little further away before I turn my full attention to Enterprise. "That girl is crazier than Oakland is. There's no way I'm working with her on a mission."

"That's not my call to make, but I'll keep it in mind. As for your request… how're you feeling? Do you feel like you can without hurting yourself?"

"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have asked. I need to blow off some steam because otherwise shit's gonna go down between me and her. And in my current condition, that's a fistfight I'll probably lose."

"Alright fine, I'll take your word for it but I want you to take Samoa with you. Just take her along to get her away from everyone here." Enterprise pauses and her expression softens. "By the way… how is she? Did you find out why she froze up and broke down like that?"

"Yeah. It was a car bomb by a terrorist organization. She told me there's been a ton of attacks since then, and I'm thinking there's probably a hideout that they're operating out of. I had an idea but… I'd need your help, and it wouldn't hurt to have the crazies help too."

"Let me guess, you want to find this hideout and destroy it."

"Yeah. We both know I don't like deliberately killing people but…"

"Terrorists sit in an entirely different category. Say no more, I'm in."

I sigh in relief, relaxing my stature and slumping on my crutches. "Thank you. I know you've been wanting to do another Doolittle-style raid, so we'll probably do that."

"Okay. I'm definitely not Hornet, but I do love doing those. We'll keep it on the down-low for a while until we get done planning. Now get going, I may end up putting you in the mock battle we'll be having at noon."

"Oh… okay. See you in a little while." I give her a smile and head off, crossing over the water to my ship.

I find my sister still asleep on the gigantic bed in the wheelhouse. She's curled up in the fetal position, her hair covering her eyes while she quietly snores away on top of the covers. I feel kinda bad waking her up when she looks so cute, but she'll thank me later.

I gently poke her in the ribs to wake her up, and she groans before lifting her head and brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Hmmm?"

"Rise and shine. You and I are going out on maneuvers. Get your ship moving and follow me."

"Weighing anchor." She yawns, bringing up a holographic panel and tapping a button. "What time is it…?"

"Quarter after nine. I let you sleep in."

"Oh, thank you. Pasadena always gets me up at five, no matter how long I've been sleeping."

"Well I do it because you're my sister, and you deserve to get spoiled someti-"

{Alaska wait! Sorry but I actually need your help with this. You'll get to shoot stuff in a little bit.} Enterprise calls me suddenly.

"Seriously E? I've already got the anchor up and the guns loaded!"

{I know, I'm sorry! You're the most knowledgeable person here on how our weapon conversions work, so I need your help setting up a weapons demonstration, just to intimidate Intrepid's fleet.}

"Alright fine. Where do you want me?"

{Set up on the West side of the fleet, about a half mile further than the furthest ship. We'll do an aircraft flyover first, and then I'll bring in some planes so you can show off those badass anti-aircraft capabilities you have. Once that is over Roberts can fire off some active decoys for target practice.}

"Alright. What about Samoa?"

{She can occupy your spot for now. You can take up a spot next to me when you're done.}

"Sounds like a plan. On the move."

I power through the formation of ships, weaving in between them until I break out into open water. After executing a very lazy turn to port I drop anchor and watch from inside the wheelhouse as Enterprise launches Hellcats, Avengers, and Helldivers. The planes fly over and get into formations, circling the fleet while I ready all of my weapons.

A green flare marks the start of the demonstration, and I hand my sister a pair of earplugs. "You're going to want these."

She quickly stuffs the earplugs in her ears and gets up from the bed, changing from her pajamas into a simple pair of blue jeans with a black shirt. I loop an arm over her shoulder and pull her against me as the planes angle in. "You know what's great about this ship?"

"The speed?"

"That, and the guns."

With a snap of my fingers all of the anti-aircraft guns open fire, the small twenty-millimeter Oerlikon guns rattling and sending tracers streaming towards the approaching planes while the forty-millimeter and five-inch guns thunder. The semi-inactive shells of the latter two make a very cute looking black puff of smoke just like the real deal, just without the shrapnel.

I get to enjoy myself blazing away at the aircraft for several minutes before Enterprise sends me a message that the surface targets are being deployed. I look out toward the open ocean to find three identical destroyer escorts performing various maneuvers.

"Time for the real fun!" I cheer, bringing my main battery to bear while doing the necessary trajectory calculations. Finally ready after a few more seconds a klaxon sounds when the guns are in position and the firing solution is optimal. The guns fire, belching black smoke and sheets of flame out their muzzles with a tremendous blast that I've grown accustomed to.

Since I have processing power to spare while stationary I reroute that to the reloading process, and have the guns reloaded a solid ten seconds later. My sister gives me the new calculations and I input them into the guns just as the first salvo impacts, scoring multiple direct hits on the closest two destroyer escorts. They deflate like a glorified balloon and sink in seconds, leaving nothing left.

Samoa gives me another set of calculations and I expedite them to the guns, skipping the double-checking process that is the true reason my guns take so long between salvoes. A few seconds later the klaxon sounds and I fire the all guns simultaneously, flinging super-heavy shells in the direction of the maneuvering target.

When none of the shells even hit close to the small ship I look sideways at my sister. "And what were those supposed to hit?"

"I was counting on it to continue the turn! I even double-checked them!"

"Oh you have so much to learn… When a ship is maneuvering like that they're trying to throw your aim off. Why would they maintain a direction of travel for longer than a few seconds?" I ask her while I pull up the file containing my firing calculations.

"I suppose you have a point…"

"Save these, I'll explain them later. Soon as I sink this target." I grin, sending the file with a swipe of my hand in her direction. The firing calculations I was double-checking for the next salvo finally are completed, and seconds later the klaxon sounds, then the guns ripple-fire.

{Alright, that's enough. Cease fire.} Enterprise chuckles softly. Though I can't see the target due to the thick black smoke I know that I've hit it thanks to my surface radar, and I turn all my weapons to safe before she gives me my orders.

{Return to me, we need to decide who we're putting on the simulation team.}

"On my way. Where's the meeting being held?"

{My ready room. Just drop anchor off my port side and meet me there. Samoa doesn't have to come if she doesn't want to.}

"Be there in five tops."

I slowly weave my way through the ship formation as Enterprise retrieves her aircraft, and Samoa watches with great interest as the planes come in one by one, snagging the arrestor wire with their tailhooks before turning into nanomaterials that disappear into the small gap between the amidships elevator and the flight deck. Each landing is absolutely flawless, and by the time I'm anchored she's retrieved all but a half dozen of her aircraft.

I exit my bridge and start to ascend a staircase to the flight deck as another plane comes in. Samoa climbs her own stairway beside me, smiling the entire time like she used to whenever we would visit a museum ship, and upon reaching the flight deck we watch as the last of the planes come in.

"She even got the engine sounds perfect…" My sister starts nerding out, but only for a little bit. Soon enough the last plane has landed, and we cross the flight deck to the base of the conning tower, where all of the warships of the fleet have convened inside of what almost looks like a locker room.

"Listen up!" Enterprise yells after she sees Samoa and I enter. The talking almost immediately stops altogether, and everyone turns to look at her.

"We're having a simulation Six versus Six battle against some ships from Intrepid's fleet. I need someone leading it who preferably has experience leading!"

Several hands go up, including my own. Most of everyone looks at me with concern before Enterprise speaks again, sharing the same look while she stares at me. "You sure you're healthy enough? It's only been a couple days…"

"I'm perfectly capable of fighting, so long as it doesn't involve fisticuffs." I respond, earning a chuckle from a large majority of the people in the room.

"Does anyone have an objection to Alaska leading the flotilla?" Enterprise asks the group, only to receive silence in return. "Alright, you're in. Next I need some people with less experience!"

To my surprise Samoa raises her hand, along with Pasadena, Savannah, and Oakland.

"Savannah you're in. Samoa… if you're feeling up to it then I guess you can. I need another two cruisers and a destroyer!"

All of the destroyers and heavy cruisers raise their hands, leaving Enterprise with a hard choice. "Uhhh… Augusta you're up. Turner and… Oakland."

Augusta and Turner exchange a very enthusiastic high-five before Enterprise stretches her arms above her head. "Okay! So the flotilla is composed of Alaska as the flagship, Samoa, Augusta, Savannah, Turner and Oakland. Any final objections?"

All of the PT hybrids raise their hands, but Enterprise quickly shoots them down. "You guys fall under the category of Assault and Suppression ships, so you can't join."

There's a collective groan that ripples through the back of the room before Enterprise raises a hand, demanding silence. "I know. I'll talk to Brisky and Intrepid about letting us have our turn. Until then, you all are dismissed! The simulation starts at noon, so be here fifteen minutes early if you're in the flotilla!"

Once people start to file out I nudge my sister in the side. "Hey, you sure you're up to this?"

"Hell yeah! I already analyzed the firing solution calculations you sent me and I want to fight with you!"

"Alright, but I want you to stay in my hip pocket."

"Yes ma'am!"

A couple hours later after a brief nap we all meet up and get a ride via PT boat to Brisky's battleship. All of us are dressed in what is considered by us all to be the fleet uniform, black shirts, combat boots, black cargo jeans and a hat of some sort with our respective Fog sigil on it.

Of course, all of this is completely insulted by my metallic crutches, and when we get up onto the deck at a quarter to noon I notice Scylla and Topeka trying to keep from laughing.

I'm about to ask them what's so funny when Brisky appears on one of her guns.

"Those chosen for the simulation will send me a yes through the comms, without making any movement to show that they have been chosen." She states calmly. After a few seconds she smiles. "Good. I have spent the last hours scanning all ships in the fleet, so that whomever was chosen will have their ships currently active armaments and alterations available in the simulation. This will be a six on six simulation, with each group starting at two separate places on a map of my generation. The first group to be completely sunk loses. All combatants will have their positions on their ships locked to the top of their ships superstructure for the simulation, and all tactics and strategies are available for use as long as no further modification is done to your ships in the simulation. Is this clear?"

All of us nod and mutter acknowledgements, then she smiles. "Good. When I tap the barrel of this gun, I shall open a split Concept comms, with those in the simulation in the simulation, and everyone else in the concept comms with me, able to look over the simulation as they please."

All of us nod acknowledgements but utter no words before she grins, the smile sending goosebumps up my back. "The simulation begins then!"

With that she brings her hand down swiftly onto the gun barrel. The instant her finger touches it everything goes white, and the ringing in my ears turns to dead silence.

After a few moments of being blind and deaf everything comes back all at once. I find myself atop my superstructure, and when I look around I find that we're all line abreast. Augusta and Samoa are the closest to me, with Savannah, Turner, and Oakland being further out.

"Where to Alaska?" Turner asks, her destroyer creeping forward out of line slowly.

I look forward at the series of intricate islands, and quickly decide on a plan of action upon noticing the brewing stormclouds in the distance.

"Augusta, scout plane. Let's get some intel on what we're sailing into. Everyone else form a battle column on me. We're going to skirt around to the north while we get a read on things. Report any contacts but don't fire unless fired upon. Oakland I want you to hang around this general area but keep moving along with us, just slower."

"Got it boss!" Oakland giggles, stretching her arms above her head.

"Ahead standard! Let's kick some ass!" I cheer, starting forward. "Turner, up front, keep your sensors running, but keep it subtle."

"Got it!"

Using my amidships catapult I launch a floatplane into the clear sky, directing it to head near the island's enough to see over them. Augusta launches hers and sends it further south, mapping out the southern ends of the islands while we search the northern end the old fashioned way.

...

"Contact in the center! There's a shore installation with some disappearing guns and a couple speed boats! I can see one enemy destroyer entering the islands now!" Augusta reports.

"Bigger problems! Contact to starboard! Two cruisers!" Turner yells, bringing everyone's attention to the two cruisers rounding the end of the large island. "It's Salt Lake City and Scylla!"

"Bring to bear and standby to fire!" I order, turning both my main guns and my secondary five-inch guns to bear.

"They're turning! No sign of any torpedoes yet!" Turner reports just as several lances of plasma streak overhead, missing by a country mile. "Wait, missile! Three missiles, two with Thanatonium readings!"

"Cruisers, point defence! Augusta break off and go reinforce Oakland! Standby to fire!"

I can see the smoke trail from the missiles, and wait for their trajectory to reach its vertex.

"Open fire! Main battery, fire at will!"

Turner's small five-inch guns bark skyward at the approaching missiles as her laser point-defense anti-aircraft batteries open fire, sending black lances of plasma up at them while Augusta turns to port, firing one defiant salvo at Salt Lake City before she disengages from the fight. I fire a simultaneous salvo at Scylla while all of my standard anti-aircraft guns open up on the missiles. Behind me across the gap left by Augusta's exit Samoa fires a salvo over her own while her AA guns blaze skyward, with Savannah behind her using point-defence AA much like Turner.

Augusta's parting salvo splashes harmlessly into the sea around Lake, and seconds later my salvo hits, all except for one splashing into the ocean. To nobody's surprise my inexperienced sister misses, and then Savannah's fifteen gun salvo brackets Lake, with two rounds glancing off her Klein Field.

Seconds later Turner manages to knock one of the missiles out, followed by a second by Savannah, leaving just the third, which adjusts its course and heads straight towards me.

"Oh fuck me!" I yell, beginning a turn to starboard.

A parting salvo from Lake misses Turner by a close margin just as Augusta reports in. "Two contacts to the south! Confirmed as Aurora and Topeka! Still no sign of a sixth ship!"

"Oakland and Augusta head them off! Focus fire on Aurora, she's probably their flagship!"

"Roger!" "Yes ma'am!"

I get halfway into my turn before the third missile impacts, spewing burning liquid all over my Klein Field.

"Napalm?! Seriously?! That does it, Turner! Samoa! We're chasing these two down! Savannah go help Augusta and Oakland!"

"My plane just got swatted. They know we've spotted them." Augusta reports as I bump up to full speed, fanning the flames that burn feet above my head. I start to round the end of the island and a beam glances off my Klein Field.

Due to the distortion from the flames I can't see the target very well and simply aim at the shapes through the flames before firing a complete salvo of main and secondary batteries. I could swear I see a flash of pink, but it's hard to tell.

Only moments later the flames start to die out, and I get a good look of the two ships just as Samoa fires a salvo from her two forward main batteries. Suddenly four missiles streak up from Scylla, being quickly joined by six more from Lake.

"Oh fuck that, Turner, smoke! Samoa we're reversing course!"

"On it!" "Roger!"

Turner starts laying a smokescreen as Samoa and I turn around, sending a parting salvo before hauling ass in the opposite direction with Turner taking up the rear. Most of the missiles miss, including two of those annoying napalm missiles, but a standard corrosive missile hits Samoa, putting her Klein Field to the test. Then a blast sounds above, and dozens of small corrosive warheads rain down on Samoa.

"How you doing Sis?" I ask once the corrosive warheads are done dealing their damage.

"Saturation at thirty-nine percent. I'll be alright."

"Good. How you feeling about all of this?"

"This is exhilarating! I've never had this much fun in my life!"

"I'll be sure to tell your candy-ass boyfriend he's been demoted to second place." I tease. I can practically feel her glaring at me while everyone else roars with laughter.

"Shut up! You leave my love life outta this!"

I giggle and load a floatplane on my starboard catapult. "Alright. Oakland, Augusta, Savannah, reverse course and head north. We'll regroup and hit them as a group."

"Roger that. I'm gonna send 'em a parting gift of homing torpedoes and lay smoke. Aurora isn't messing around!" Oakland responds.

"Torpedoes to port! Oakie look out!" Augusta calls out, sounding slightly panicked. "Starboard turn!"

"On it! Shiiit this is gonna be close!"

A few seconds of silence ensue before I hear a gigantic blast on the opposite side of the islands.

"God damn it!" Augusta yells in frustration. On my little group roster I can see Oakland disappear from the list.

"Let me guess, Oakland just got taken out?" I ask, starting to round the northern tip of the island.

"Yep, her Thanatonium reserves detonated after her Klein Field got overwhelmed." Savannah responds.

"How bad?" I ask for future reference.

"I can see the very tip of her bow, and that's all that is left."

'Note to self: move Thanatonium reserves closer inwards on the ship'

"Alright. Haul ass back to us. Did she at least get some torpedoes off?"

"One. It's heading towards Aurora."

Soon enough I see Savannah quartering away from Aurora and Topeka in the distance, her guns blazing away to cover Augusta, who's making a beeline straight towards me.

"Time to give these girls a taste of their own medicine…" I mumble to myself, opening up eighteen missile tubes and targeting Topeka with all of them.

'Nothing personal, You're just a good target'

On my fantail and along the sides of my superstructure the wood on the deck lifts up on a hinge, exposing the armed missiles underneath before they all launch, momentarily blanketing my ship in smoke as they shoot skyward, arcing towards the light cruiser in the distance. Some arc high, climbing up to five thousand feet to use gravity to their advantage, while others stay at almost wavetop level in an attempt to divide her point-defense fire.

"Jesus Alaska, do you think you fired enough missiles?" Augusta chuckles softly.

"To be entirely honest, no. But I want to save some for Scylla."

"H-hey! Destroyer by the island! It's Baku!" Samoa yells, firing her secondary guns at the small ship. Her first salvo is rushed, so all of the shells fall short of hit the island behind the new opponent, and Baku's return salvo all glance off her klein field.

"Augusta, new target. Take out that destroyer." I order before Samoa's second salvo brackets the small ship, not scoring any direct hits. "Sis, take a breath. Calm down and you'll stand a better chance at hitting her."

"... Okay, I'm good. Does anyone know how many torpedoes she fired?"

"Eight. Half at me and half were at Oakland." Augusta remarks. "Why?"

"The Leningrad-class destroyer only has eight torpedo tubes. So unless she can reload them then she's used all of them. If we can close the distance we'll be able to take her out with ease."

"There's the nerd I know and love!" I cheer just as my missiles enter Topeka's protective envelope. Two that are low on the water almost immediately get hit and detonate, followed by one of the high missiles. Moments later another two detonate, and then the remaining twelve impact, making her klein field flicker, then wink out.

"Savannah, priority target! Hit Topeka, guns only!"

"Yes ma'am!" Savannah chirps back, turning to port so she can bring all fifteen of her main guns to bear on the vulnerable cruiser in the distance. Before she can fire columns of smoke erupt from Topeka, completely obscuring her as dozens of missiles race skyward, arcing towards us.

"Oooooh shit." I mumble absentmindedly.

"I'm firing my torpedoes at Aurora!" Augusta yells over the thundering of Savannah's salvo, which brackets Topeka, with two shells striking home fore of her superstructure. The corrosive shells detonate on the superfiring six-inch turret and the superfiring five-inch mount, glowing violently before disappearing along with large portions of the turrets.

"That salvo didn't kill her, hit her again!" I yell over the howling of Topeka's missiles while turning my main guns to bear.

"No time! Evasive maneuvers!" Samoa shrieks before I'm rocked by four corrosive cluster-warheads. I grit my teeth and clench my fists, watching the saturation percentage of my klein field climb rapidly.

"Contact behind us! It's Scylla and Lake again!" Turner sounds panicked, and over the sound of the corrosive fields covering me I can hear the high-pitched chime of her laser weaponry firing.

"Get torpedoes in the water! Keep them off of us for a little longer!"

"No can do! They're already on top of us!"

I start to count off options, and only now do I notice I've still got a floatplane on the catapult, ready for deployment.

'Well… It's worth a shot…'

I prime all of my remaining missiles and designate Scylla as the target, while also preparing a special mode on my floatplane I've kept since a couple weeks after that first engagement.

Upon launching the plane I do probably the one thing they don't expect me to do: I drop anchor, while going thirty-six knots. Then I fire my missiles, using the smoke from the launch to somewhat conceal my intentions.

The anchor chain snaps taut, and then breaks, starting my turn to starboard while I apply hard right rudder with flank speed. Scylla opens fire with her guns at Samoa, blazing away at the floating hulk of the ship.

"I wonder how long it's gonna take her to realize she's already taken out…" I mutter just as she launches missiles of her own, which split into multiple smaller warheads, taking out all of my missiles.

"Aw come on!" I yell in frustration. "Turner can you do anything to draw Scylla's attention away from me?"

…

"Turner?"

I look at the flotilla roster, to find myself as the only one left.

"Well fuck. If I'm going down I'm taking one of you with me!" I yell to no one in particular as I effectively charge at Scylla, making my normally round klein field more angular at the front of my ship to try to deflect some of her shots.

Now everyone focuses fire on me, and it's not long before my Klein field reaches 90% saturation, then another salvo from Lake raises that up to 96%, and I start to turn to port, bringing all of my main battery to bear, and in my desperation I cut loose with everything I have, including anti-aircraft guns.

At two miles I can't possibly miss, and the klaxon sounds once my main battery is on target.

"Kiss your ass goodbye!"

"Huh?" I look around, no longer finding myself on my superstructure, but instead standing with my crutches amidst and intermingled group of the two fleets, with Enterprise, Brisky, and Intrepid standing up front, behind them a large holographic map of the ocean and vancouver island sits prominently.

Looking at Enterprise I recognize the scowl she has, and that combined with the looks Intrepid and Brisky are giving everyone is enough evidence to me that something is very wrong.

"The simulation is canceled due to outside involvement. A moment ago Intrepid and Enterprise discovered with a pair of scout planes, and a large US Fleet that is heading to our position."

Piggybacking off Brisky, Intrepid steps forward. "They managed to avoid the regular Fog shore patrols, and are heading here with six destroyers, four missile frigates, two missile cruisers and a single modernized heavy cruiser, along with six squadrons of Fighter-bombers as support. We believe they may have been brought here by accidentally thinking that the firing test earlier today were shots from a fleet allied with them and in need of assistance."

'Oh I see, it's my fault then'

Guam and I look at each other, then at Samoa, who's looking somewhat excited. I shrug and turn my attention back to the leaders in the front just as Enterprise puts her bit in. "The US Fleet is heading directly towards us, and as Fog orders say no Human forces my utilize the sea, our action is clear."

"All forces beside myself, Hope, Intrepid, Enterprise and S-36 will head out, and crush the Human fleet. Females may be taken captive if the option is present. otherwise there are to be no survivors to dissuade them from entering the ocean again. I Repeat, No survivors! Is this clear?"

Most of the other fleet is at least somewhat enthusiastic in their responses. Most of the people in my fleet mutter a simple 'yes ma'am' and call it good.

"Good. Enterprise and Intrepid will provide Aerial Assistance via their planes from here. Aurora and Alaska will cooperatively lead the operation. You leave as soon as all forces are ready. Good hunting!"

The smile that Brisky makes moments before the concept comms room is cancelled gives me goosebumps all over, and then we're all on her deck, with her being nowhere to be found.

"Alright you heard her! Let's get to work!" Enterprise yells, spurring everyone into motion. Those with ships nearby run on holopanels to them while those further away mostly hitch a ride on one of the PT boats, with a few exceptions.

I of course hitch a ride, since it'd take me ages to reach my ship while on crutches.

{Alaska, how would you like to go about this? With your… unique… armament I want you and your colleagues in the optimal position. We'll work around whatever you do.} Aurora asks as I hobble my way onto the boat and it roars away from the soviet-style battleship.

"The cruisers will hang back and use our guns to weaken the enemy while the destroyers and a couple select cruisers close the distance. Our tankers and transports will stay here with Enterprise, but the PT's will come with. They're our vanguard so to speak."

{I see… we'll put ourselves in with your destroyers. That was an interesting fight by the way.}

"Yeah, no kidding. We got demolished. I guess our weapons are more tailored towards fighting humans."

{Don't take it so hard. Topeka and Scylla had modified their missiles armaments into quite the wildcards, and Gato was skulking around underwater and setting up traps, acting as a long range sonar in the early match.}

"I should've known it was Gato when we couldn't find a sixth ship... Oh, would you please tell Scylla that there's no hard feelings? I focused on her because she was the closest ship."

{Of course. Would you like us to lead on?}

"Sure, we'll fill in the edges."

As the PT boat slows down for me to get off I cut the communications with Aurora and access the fleet net while slowly making my way up a staircase to my deck.

"Oakland and Juneau, split the destroyers evenly between yourselves once we get moving. Guam, Helena, Pasadena, Astoria, and Savannah, you'll take the starboard flank once we split up. Augusta, Cheyenne, Fall, Portland, and Samoa are with me, we'll be taking the port flank. PT's mingle in with the destroyer squadrons. Group leaders, collect your assigned members."

A series of acknowledgements come in, and by the time I'm up on top of my superstructure a minute or so later everyone is moving. Enterprise launches dozens of fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers as Atascosa pulls up alongside her, supplying her with the necessary nanomaterials and Thanatonium to create and arm more aircraft. A quarter mile away Intrepid follows suit while Victoria pulls up alongside her.

I realize that Brisky didn't give us a bearing, but Aurora seems to know the way. So as her fleet gets into cruising formation around her I have the destroyer squadrons form on the sides of the formation while our cruisers fall in formation behind them, a clear line between Guam's group and mine.

{Hey y'all, guess what I found on the local radio station!} Oakland laughs.

{Oh God, what?} Guam asks nervously.

{It's a parody of Black Betty made by Spiderbait. Can I play it over the fleet net?}

"No, but you can play it to anyone who asks through a private net until we make contact."

{Buzzkill. Fine.}

Once we all get in formation I can see people like Oakland and a couple of the destroyers laughing and joking, clearly enjoying the music she's playing. Things continue like that for a while until Scylla contacts me on a private network.

{You guys didn't put up as much of a fight as I'd thought!}

"Gee, thanks. We're better outfitted for attacking humans, not other Fog ships. You'll see when we meet this fleet."

{Looking forward to it. By the way, did any missiles from my first salvo hit you guys?}

"Yes. Your fuckin' napalm hit me."

{Sweet, I hadn't had a chance to test it. How was it?}

"About as annoying as trying to comb your hair when it has a ton of knots in it."

{Ha, your field probably caught it yeah? Would've done so much more damage on an unshielded vessel.}

"It was still annoying! I couldn't see anything through the flames!"

{Sweet, works like a charm then! Did you see how the cluster munitions worked? Topeka was wondering if she needed to alter the spread pattern.}

"The spread pattern's fine, don't change a thing. But uhhh… could you send me the plans for those interception missiles?"

{My ABM's? Yeah I can send them to you. They're good for taking out medium to large missiles, but faster targets are harder. They also need a rather large amount of material. It's why I only carry two of them myself.}

"Sweet, thanks. Also, you got lucky. I had you dead to rights."

{Oh? Did you not notice Gato fifty meters to the north of you? Or her torpedoes careening toward ya?}

"Did you not notice the floatplane about to Kamikaze into you?"

{Floatplane? What's the point in a floatplane? It wouldn't have the speed to punch through my field! . . . . Did I lose my field? I can't recall now. Hmm?}

"Thanatonium is a lovely thing, y'know? If my broadside didn't get you then the plane was going to." I grin maliciously, knowing now that she didn't see it.

{Hmmm? What does that have to do with any- oh one sec.}

I make a comfortable seat atop my superstructure and sit down, laying my crutches flat on the roof of the wheelhouse while I wait. Eventually Scylla contacts me again.

{Sorry about that, Aurora was telling us the battle plan. Looks like we're going with an aggressive strike. You staying back and firing at range or pushing with us for a real fight?}

"I've got a maximum range of twenty-eight miles, what do you think? I'm going to be leading a cruiser squadron along the right side to split their fire. That was the entire purpose of our armament change, to have a longer range."

{Ineffective range.} She chortles. {When we get into it do you want me to save a ship for you to scuttle?}

"No need, I'll be putting shells on target long before you get into range." I shrug and grin, happy I was able to turn her teasing back onto her.

{That's not what I meant!} she snaps, getting flustered before she closes the channel.

I laugh and start bullshitting with Guam and Samoa until contacts start showing on surface radar.

{Enemy fleet on radar. My firing solution is locked in and ready to fire.} Guam reports.

"I'm ready to fire."

{Target acquired, ready to fire!} Samoa cheers.

"Ready, steady, FIRE!"

All three of us fire our forward turrets simultaneously, the shells screaming out over the entire friendly fleet with a tremendous thundering of guns. We all watch and wait until the half-ton projectiles impact, sending water columns high into the sky.

{Two shells on target, one frigate crippled.} Guam reports calmly.

{Target hit! One guided missile destroyer dead in the water!} Samoa cheers.

"I hit the modernized cruiser three times. One didn't do anything, but I think I hit a Phalanx and punched through the deck with the other two."

{Enemy planes above. Should we do something about it?} Samoa asks with a twinge of nervousness.

"I suppose. Enterprise knows to keep her planes clear. Let's let 'em have it." The communication goes out to the entire fleet, and almost immediately everyone opens fire with a mix of plasma fire and tracers, turning any airspace within a five mile radius into a killing zone.

{Sorry, but this is officially a no-fly zone.} Oakland chuckles darkly, using her dual-purpose main armament against the annoying aircraft.

"Destroyer squadrons, charge! Cruiser groups, flank break!" I order before firing my main guns at the enemy fleet.

My group and I start to all turn to starboard, forming a battle column in which we can bring all of our guns to bear.

I start to straighten out when my salvo impacts, and that's when an unexpected result happens: The guided missile frigate I was firing at explodes catastrophically, the blast breaking the back of the ship and ripping it in twain.

I close my eyes and look away, knowing I just wiped out the entire crew of that ship. It's too late though, I've already seen it happen, and if I stop now I'll never hear the end of it.

Gathering my wits about me I look back up towards the enemy fleet to find that it's practically evaporating under the withering firepower of both my fleet and Intrepid's fleet. They try to fire harpoon anti-ship missiles against us, but they get taken out by a combined effort of ABS missiles from Scylla and point-defense lasers from the destroyer squadrons.

In the battle column behind me all of my group continue to blaze away at the enemy fleet and the aircraft above, downing aircraft like there's no tomorrow while their shells plunge into the enemy fleet, damaging or destroying the modern ships with surprising and frightening efficiency.

Few shells are fired at us. Not even a harpoon is sent our way. The large majority of their attention is directed at the charging destroyers and Intrepid's fleet. At the head of the charge amongst the destroyers is Scylla, her guns blazing away at what I would guess to be their maximum fire rate.

The closer she gets the more the cruisers focus on her, and eventually I see her klein field stop regenerating, meaning it's at full saturation. Seconds later I watch the modernized cruiser start to turn its last remaining turret towards her. I expedite a firing solution to my guns and fire a salvo at it, but all of the shells miss due to the lack of fine-tuning in the solution.

I watch in horror as the guns elevate to fire at her, nearing point-blank range. My guns have yet to reload, and to my horror the two guns remaining in the turret fire.

Everything happens so fast that there's no distinguishing between the guns firing and the impact of the single shell. I stare at the quickly diminishing cloud of smoke atop Scylla's superstructure expecting to see a blood stain, but when the smoke clears I find her standing with her metallic arm extended, laughing hysterically.

"Wha- NO WAY!" I yell in shock.

{What?} Guam asks, having clearly missed it.

"Scylla just survived a fuckin' direct hit from that cruiser!"

{And?}

"She didn't have a field left!"

{What?! That's not possible!}

"You say that but I'm looking at her right now! There ain't a scratch on her!"

A few seconds pass before she responds, just as Scylla practically vaporizes the heavy cruiser. {Holy shit you're right… She's perfectly fine…}

I look around the battlefield to find destroyed ships and aircraft floating everywhere. Spots of burning oil cover the water, and in places the water is tainted red.

"All ships, scour for survivors. Use depth charges to ensure none survive." I order, feeling slightly sick to my stomach.

{Roger. Oakland dropping depth charges.}

{Juneau copies… I'll have the destroyers do it.}

I slow down to cruising speed and safety my guns, turning towards the destroyed ships while scanning the water for any source of life.

'Good God what have we become?'