Both sides didn't move a muscle. Humans, shipgirls and Siren forces all remained rooted in their spot, waiting for the light to fade. The Commander and Alpha did not know what to expect on the other side. Hence, the pair clutched their weapons, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
The light slowly faded and in the center of it were three unknown beings. The first was a white-haired woman with medium-length hair, a form-fitting white shirt, skin-tight pants and plates of armor on her shoulders, elbows, kneecaps and feet. The second was a white-haired man with a pair of regular arms, two pairs of energy arms wearing only a pair of military pants. The third was another woman with flowing white hair, a sleeveless crop top and short shorts. The one noticeable trait all three shared was the pale-white skin.
While the trio examined themselves, the others didn't know what to do.
"Blake," called the Commander and in response, the white-haired man turned to him.
Realizing this, Alpha immediately swung her hand down, resulting in the Siren vessels launching a combined attack on the trio.
"Grab my hands," yelled the Commander as he bolted towards them. When near, the trio extended their hands out to him and he grabbed them. Unfortunately, the weight of carrying three people was too much and the time it took to react too slow. James and the trio paid for it as they were sent soaring into the air before crashing violently to the ground.
Alpha was too focused on the attack, she failed to see Roon charging at her. The aptly named psychotic juggernaut of the Iron Blood rammed her foot into Alpha's side before her rigging let loose a near point- blank barrage.
Alpha's punishment was far from over as Illustrious, Enterprise, Akagi and Essex aimed their planes at her and covered her in a massive fireball.
Alec meanwhile managed to free himself thanks to the aid of a few soldiers. Once freed, he rushed to the others, ignoring the explosions taking place near him. When he neared, he saw the Commander doing his best to cover all three of them, despite the fact that the back of his clothes were on fire.
"James, you're on fire," shouted Alec.
"Forget about me," he said and turned to the trio "are you alright, Alexis, Blake and Marie?"
The now identified trio of Alexis, Blake and Marie hesitantly nodded at the question while Alec tore the cape off the Commander's back to keep the fire from spreading.
He tried to get up but winced and clutched his side. That was when the group noticed the large wound on the leader's side.
"You, you got hurt protecting us," said Marie.
"Par for the course," replied the Commander and turned around. Though he was clutching onto his wound, the Commander took out his sword and got ready to attack.
"No Commander," said Blake, standing next to him "you protected me. It's time I do the same."
As he said that, they saw a battleship careening towards them, all the while firing at them from its many cannons.
Blake stood in front of the Commander and took every shot without so much as flinching. Then he let out a wild roar before dashing forward and ramming right into the battleship. To the surprise of everyone who saw him, Blake's attack managed to block the ship's progress.
Perhaps spurred on by Blake's sudden burst of energy, Alexis and Marie also ran forward and rammed their elbows into the Siren vessel. The combined strength of the trio slowly started pushing it away. The ship tried to retaliate by aiming its guns at them, but the Commander quickly flew towards them and cut the barrels with his sword.
"Tirpitz, Rossiya, Richelieu," called the Commander, "lock onto my position and fire."
The trio halted their attack on the other Siren ships and did exactly that. Meanwhile, Javelin and Nimi came to the Commander's position and helped him up then leapt off the ship before the battleship's barrage hit.
"Where's Alpha?" he asked and Javelin pointed towards the Siren who was struggling to hold her own against the combined attack of the carrier and cruiser division.
"Commander, are you okay?" asked Javelin.
"I'll live," he replied and saw the girls attacking Alpha from all sides. The cruisers protected the remaining group who made it nearly impossible for Alpha to find any breathing room.
The Siren leader was sent flying into the sky whereby she was met by Takao and Sirius who had their swords drawn. Rather than block them, Alpha flew away from their combined attack. Seeing this, the battleships fired at her but she was able to dodge them all.
"Damn it," hissed the Commander. He tried to activate his boots but found that they weren't working.
Thinking quickly, he turned to Alexis and said "throw me."
"What?" shouted Alexis, Alec, Blake and Marie who were understandably confused by the order.
"We have to bring Alpha down to the ground," replied the Commander "no one can jump that high and my boots are malfunctioning after that last attack. The only way to get her is to throw me at her."
"B-but how are you sure that it'll work?" asked Blake.
"This isn't the first time I've been thrown like a ragdoll," he replied and extended his arm out to Alexis. "Now, when I give you the signal, I want you to throw me."
Alexis was clearly resistant to the idea, but she had no choice. Nodding to herself, she held the Commander's hand and then watched as the battle in the sky continued. There was a moment when Alpha emerged from multiple explosions unscathed and had her attention fully focused on the girls.
Seeing this opportunity, the Commander turned to Alexis and nodded. In response, she tightened her grip on the metal arm and flung the Commander like he were a rock. The group watched in amazement as the leader shot forward like a bullet, covering the distance between him and Alpha in a matter of seconds.
Before she could react, the Commander punched Alpha in the face then grabbed onto her.
"What the hell?" she shouted, trying to shake him off while they both descended. The Commander however, continued pummelling at her in spite of their current situation.
The ground was approaching fast. That prompted Alpha to kick the Commander in the face, the force was enough to break his hold. But, the Commander quickly recovered and in the air, he took out his sword and flung it at her. Alpha managed to deflect the attack, but that allowed the Commander to close in on her and stab her in the chest with his mounted blade.
Just as the Commander was about to continue his attack, an unknown figure appeared on his left and punched him in the face. The figure then grabbed Alpha and hit the ground with enough force it produced a shockwave. The shockwave was strong enough that it knocked everyone off their feet while the Commander skidded and ground to a halt.
He stood up and drew his blade ready to face the new attacker. The other girls also quickly recovered from the attack and surrounded Alpha and the new entrant.
It came as no surprise to anyone that the one who punched the Commander was none other than Omega. Sporting a new suit of armour, she paid little attention to those around her and instead focused her attention Alexis, Marie and Blake.
She became visibly frustrated when she saw them and looked as though she was contemplating whether or not to attack them.
Seeing the impending threat, the Commander looked ready to attack, only to be stopped by a single gesture. Omega simply pointed at him and in response, the Siren ships locked onto him. IF that wasn't bad enough, hundreds more came through portals in the sky till they practically covered the horizon.
Enterprise swallowed hard as she wondered if they could take on this force. Akagi meanwhile saw how these new ships also took aim at the Commander. Rossiya, Richelieu, and Wales exchanged worried looks and wondered how they would get out of this alive.
"Lady Omega, I'm sorry," pleaded Alpha, who was now on her knees "I beg you; I didn't expect for this to…"
But she became silent when Omega stared at death stare at her. The intensity of Omega's gaze was enough that it made Alpha shudder in terror.
Alec meanwhile contemplated the next move. Initially, he thought that Omega and the Sirens were on the defensive now that James and the Azur Sky were here. However, the many ships that filled the sky proved that it was wishful thinking. Omega may have suffered a few setbacks, but she still had the largest army.
Omega now turned to Alpha and put her hand on her subordinate and in a flash, the two vanished. This was followed by the remaining Siren ships also teleporting out of the area.
Alec, Akagi, the Commander, and about half of the troops sighed in relief. They were confused as to why Omega didn't attack but none of them wanted to voice their thoughts. That aside, there was another issue that deserved attention.
Everyone now turned to the trio of Blake, Alexis, and Marie.
"How are you feeling?" asked the Commander to Alexis.
Alexis blinked for a few seconds, caught off guard by the random question.
"I asked how are you feeling? Nauseous? Worried?"
"Well, I am worried that everyone suddenly started staring at us," she replied.
"Other than that?"
"No, I don't feel nauseous, my head feels pretty clear."
"And what about you two?" he asked, turning to Blake and Marie.
"Same as Alexis," replied Blake, and Marie nodded.
"Alright then, the first thing we should do is get you back to the base," said the Commander "from there, I'll have my researchers…"
"Commander you can't be serious," objected Wales.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong is that we're willingly bringing in Sirens into our base," she replied, "what's to stop them from going berserk and attacking us?"
"She's right master," added Belfast "even your determination was not enough to keep the Siren influence at bay."
"The circumstances were different then and now," said the Commander "besides, we don't know much about enemy technology to make assumptions like that."
"And aren't you doing the same thing?" countered Wales "surely you don't trust them just because they answered a few questions right?"
"We can argue who's right and wrong after we get back to the base. Can we at least agree on that?"
Wales folded her arms and looked away. Though she was not okay with it, her posture indicated that she begrudgingly accepted it.
"As I was saying, we'll first take you back to the island and…"
"I'm afraid that's not going to happen," said Byron, followed by several red dots appearing on the Commander's chest.
While the others were baffled by this sudden turn, Byron took this opportunity to come forward and give the Commander a condescending smirk.
"The three of them are coming with me, back to the resistance headquarters."
"If you try to stop me, my soldiers will shoot you without question," he added.
On hearing this, Kinu pointed her sword at one of the soldiers, Suruga pointed her cannons at another soldier, Enterprise drew her bow and Essex loaded her crossbow. Belfast and Akagi stood next to the Commander while Ark Royal aimed her weapon at Byron's head.
Thanks to the sudden turn of events, the group found themselves in a modern-day Mexican standoff.
(AN: why do people keep interrupting SKK?)