Approximately thirty minutes ago
Alec looked through the binoculars at the anchor. He and the rest of the fleet were stationed a little bit further away from the barrier surrounding the facility. As part of the plan, they were to wait till the team inside managed to bring down the barrier.
Alec smiled a little when he saw the explosions occurring around the anchor, but his relief faded when the weapon fired an energy barrage and covered the battlefield.
While the others were worried and murmured amongst themselves, Alec bit his lip.
'Damn, it ended up just as he expected,' he thought and turned around.
"We'll be switching to the backup plan," he said out loud so that everyone could hear him.
"Saint Louis, Neptune, Izumo, and Ibuki, front and centre. I also need girls who are good at throwing."
While the four in question came forward, the second part of that request confused the group. They all exchanged perplexed looks, wondering what exactly he meant by that.
Among the crowd there was one who did understand the request and sighed at herself for knowing. Quietly, Wales took a step forward. Seeing this, the remaining group understood what Alec meant and in response, Enterprise, Shokaku, and Zuikaku also came forward.
As per Alec's instructions, Wales, Enterprise, Shokaku, and Zuikaku held Neptune's, Saint Louis', Ibuki's and Izumo's hands. Alec then had the rest of the fleet move back to give them enough space. With a wave, the four girls spun the members of the PR class before there were slingshot over the barrier.
Alec brought up the binoculars again and saw the four of them reach the top of the anchor before descending on the structure like four meteors.
Both Alec and the fleet watched as the structure came crashing down, which in turn caused the barrier to come down. He smiled as he and the rest of the fleet geared up for the inevitable clash.
"Saint Louis, what's the Commander's status?"
"He's hurt badly," came the reply "right arm is bleeding and his vision is halved. There's no telling how badly he's injured internally. We have to take him to the medic now."
"Oh no you don't," said the Commander, moving away when Saint Louis tried to grab him.
"But my liege…"
"But nothing," he said wiping away the blood on his face and pushing his hair back "I didn't come all this way just to bow out at the last damn second."
"I'm seeing this mission through to the end," he said, activating his boots and shooting up.
"Damn it," shouted Alec "can anyone catch him?"
"Not when he's activated those jets," replied Wales, slicing through several hybrids with her rapier "the idea behind us giving him those boots was to make him as agile as an eagle."
"What about the others?" asked Alec, referring to Warspite, Sandy and Friedrich.
"I'm fine Alec," said Warspite "but Friedrich and San Diego are…"
"Comman… SON, SON!" shouted Friedrich, suddenly bolting upright and scanning the area. Her noise caused San Diego to also wake up.
"Calm down Friedrich, you're okay," said Neptune.
"Where is he? Where is James?" she demanded.
"He's up there going after Alpha," said Neptune "but we need to get you to the medic."
"Absolutely not," she said, as she stood up "do NOT expect me to lie down quietly while he's out there in the state he's in."
"Hey Warspite, Friedrich," said San Diego, checking her rigging and slapping her cheeks "I'd say I have enough left in me to finish this mission. What about you?"
"Same as you San Diego," replied Friedrich, cracking the knuckles in her hands.
"We started this mission," said Warspite "it's only right that we finish it."
Despite how much Alec, Tirpitz, Queen Elizabeth and Yorktown tried to be the voices of reason, their arguments fell on deaf ears. The trio charged into the fight, intent on meeting with the Commander and finishing the fight.
"Damn it," shouted Alec again "what the hell is with you all being so stubborn?"
"Alright, Saint Louis, take your team, go after those three and provide them support," he said, trying to get a handle on things.
"Belfast, you and the maids go after James," he added.
"Roger," said the women as they all went about fulfilling their objectives.
Alec meanwhile surveyed the fight and started coming up with ways to ensure their victory. The anchor was down and that meant no Siren reinforcements were coming in. However, he could not let his guard down here and make a mistake.
The fleet came here with the intent of wiping out the Siren forces and he was going to make it happen.
By his estimates, they were out number two or three to one. That number advantage gave the Siren fleet plenty of time to spread out and make themselves look more formidable. Despite how much Alec tried to spread the fleet out as well, but the number difference meant that the Sirens stopped his attempt at every turn.
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Essex and her siblings along with Yorktown and her siblings were shooting down several planes while providing Arizona, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and California enough time to fire their volleys.
"Enterprise," cried Essex, causing her superior to turn to her.
"Ten already," she said, showing ten fingers with a look of triumph in her eyes.
"I'm on twenty," replied Enterprise, before firing a few arrows at the enemy?
"WHAT! I'll not have some lemon hating lemming get the better of me," she yelled and took out two crossbows. Essex proceeded to let out a wild yell as she broke past the others and attacked the Sirens with reckless abandon.
Seeing their eldest run off and throw caution to the wind, Shangri-La, Intrepid and Bunker Hill could only look away in disappointment.
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Elsewhere, the Commander ripped a piece of metal sticking out of a ship with his left hand and flung it at Alpha. The Siren leader deflected it, but it gave him the time needed to move in and attack with a downward sword swing. The attack hit the mark and caused a spray of blood to shoot out. Alpha responded by grabbing his shoulder and ramming her head into his.
The resulting collision caused them both to stagger, but Alpha's inherent superiority made her the victor. She saw him stagger back and fired at him, only to have her attack deflected by the arrival of Belfast, Sirius, and Dido.
"Master," cried Belfast, catching him before he fell "are you okay?"
"Belfast… what are you doing here?" he asked, then quickly recalled what just happened to him.
"Is he okay?" asked Dido, while Sirius charged at Alpha.
"Shaken but he'll live," replied Belfast, shifting her attention between the fight and her master.
The Commander got to his feet shook his head and saw that he was joined by the remaining maids.
"If you're here, who's keeping an eye on Friedrich, Sandy and Warspite?" he asked.
"Saint Louis' team is already on the job master," replied Belfast "for now we must focus on her."
"You think you can stop me?" barked Alpha, as she kicked Sirius away "come on. I'll take you all on."
In response, Curacao, Curlew, Sheffield and the Commander bent forward then broke into a run. Alpha tried shooting at them but the four darted and dodged their way through the barrage. As if that were not enough, Sirius, Dido and Belfast came charging down the centre. Two of the maids swung their swords forcing Alpha to block. The third came down on Alpha with an axe kick, causing the Siren to fly back. When she did, she put herself in Sheffield's sights who immediately attacked her with a barrage. To top it off, the Commander, Curacao and Curlew surrounded Alpha, each of them landing several cuts and kicks on their opponent.
In the midst of this continued assault, Alpha managed to scramble together a coherent thought and brought several ships to her. The ships fired at the enemy, causing them to break their assault. Alpha, quickly leapt onto a battleship and gained some distance.
That move proved effective, if only for a moment. The Commander shot after Alpha, intent on giving her no time to breath. The battleship she was on fired a steady barrage at him along with several destroyers and cruisers, but it did little to stop him. It was only when the carriers launched their jets that the Commander faced trouble. The way those things moved with abnormal speed and accuracy made it difficult for him to gauge where and when the next attack came from. As a result, he could not react to one of them knocking him off his path and sending him back down.
Suffolk caught him while the rest provided covering fire. The Commander wanted to try chasing her but felt a stinging pain in his right side. The injury in his shoulder was getting aggravated and he couldn't ignore it.
"James, we've got a problem," said Alec on the communicator.
"What?"
"We're not able to make a dent in the defences," he replied "I have an idea on how we can turn the tides but we need to have a large force behind them in a pincer."
"If we're doing that then we'll need to pierce through," said the Commander "the only one I know that can do that is Saint Louis. You up to the task SL?"
"Of course my liege," she replied "but what about my current duty?"
"Take them with you," he replied "having Sandy, Warspite and Friedrich behind you should prove helpful."
"How many more do we need Alec?"
"A lot, I need half the fleet's heavy hitters behind the Sirens."
The Commander thought it through for a moment and came to a decision.
"Here's the line-up: The PR Class, the Big Three, the Maid Squad, Essex and her siblings, Enterprise, Shokaku, Zuikaku, Yukikaze, Noshiro, Takao, Kinu, Wales, Illustrious, Ark, Monteplier, Eugen, Graf Zeppelin, Tirpitz, Nimi, Javelin, Ayanami, and Laffey."
"Saint Louis will lead the charge," he continued "keep the enemy off her as she charges through and you'll reach the other side. After that, you move to execute Alec's plan."
"Commander, what about you?" asked Belfast, as the girls were leaving to take their places.
"Don't worry, I'm coming back," he said and activated his boots as he chased after Alpha.
The group lined up in a 'V' formation with Saint Louis at the front. On her left side was Neptune, Ibuki, Takao, Noshiro, Zuikaku, Sirius and Wales. On the right side was Izumo, Kinu, Wales, Javelin, Ayanami, Dido, Belfast, Sheffield and Warspite. Friedrich, Tirpitz, Eugen, Illustrious, Ark Royal, Yukikaze, San Diego, Shokaku, Monteplier, Enterprise, Hornet, Yorktown, Intrepid, Shangri-La, Bunker Hill and Essex.
"We'll provide you with plenty of cover Saint Louis," said Enterprise.
"Counting on it," said Saint Louis, raising her spear. The gesture was a sign for everyone to get ready. A portion of the fleet opened up, allowing the group to pass by. With that done, Saint Louis charged forward furiously with her spear aimed at a battleship. Behind her were the rest of the girls, who were either firing at incoming forces or trying to keep up.
The Commander's Spear showed the enemy why she was called that as her weapon tore through the hull of a battleship. But she did not stop there. Saint Louis continued her charge, all the while the enemies fired at her from all sides.
Behind her, carriers like Enterprise, Essex, Ark and the rest were furiously firing planes in all directions, barely managing to stay in formation. On either side of Saint Louis were the girls who attacked the Sirens with a combination of their guns or their melee weapons. They shot at the ones far away and cut through the ones that managed to close in.
Several Siren bombers and jets attacked the formation with suicide runs, and while it did injure some of the girls, it didn't stop them from continuing. They simply ignored the pain and kept going.
After what felt like a march through hell itself, Saint Louis finally tore through the Siren line and emerged behind them. Not long after her came the rest of the fleet, who were also equally relieved to have made it in one piece.
"Is everyone okay?" asked Saint Louis, wiping the blood off her mouth.
"Don't worry about us," said Essex, firing at multiple bombers coming after them "it's time we initiate the second phase of the plan."
"Rossiya, Richelieu, are you in position?" asked Alec.
"Roger," replied the two who were now at the left and right-most edge of the fleet formation.
"Now comes the tricky part," said Alec. "Rossiya and Richelieu are to stretch the fleet around the Sirens. Saint Louis and Queen Elizabeth, as this happens, some of the ships might try to get past you. It is important that you do not let it happen."
"The crux of this plan is to completely encircle the enemy. If even one of them escapes the confines then the plan falls apart."
With that said, Rossiya and Richelieu started moving the fleet with the intent of meeting Saint Louis. Saint Louis meanwhile was holding the line with the group that came with her. Alongside her was Monarch and Neptune who alternated between using their weapons and their rigging to engage the enemy. Saint Louis sliced through an enemy plane with her spear while Neptune skewered several with her trident. Monarch went ahead of the group and hit the ship hulls with her sceptre then attacked them with her cannons before they could retaliate.
Elsewhere, Richelieu struggled to keep her objective. While she was helped by Algerie, Vauquelin, Cleveland, Denver, Columbia, and many others, the Sirens increased their offensive. Perhaps some of the ships figured out the plan and tried to escape or were programmed to react when the girls moved like this, it did not matter. They were trying to get out of the encirclement and with every second, that became a growing possibility.
Roon skidded to the side to dodge cannon fire while Warspite simply cut through it with her spear. Wales and Illustrious formed a firing line, with the former engaging in close-quarters combat while the latter provided support through her planes.
"There's still so many of them," said Hornet, firing plane after plane but seeing no end to the enemy's onslaught.
"Just hold on till Rossiya and Richelieu reach us," said Enterprise, who now resorted to firing three arrows rather than one "once they reach us, Alec can initiate the plan."
"In the midst of all this," said Tirpitz to Eugen, "where the hell is the Commander?"
"Where do you think?" asked San Diego, firing a star-shaped barrage at the planes "you think we've got it rough? He's in the centre of that mess, fighting Alpha.
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As San Diego said, the Commander was indeed in the centre of the Siren fleet. After jumping from ship to ship, chasing after Alpha, he finally cornered her on a carrier.
The two circled each other like predators. Alpha and the Commander had their swords drawn and were ready to pounce at the drop of a hat.
"All this resistance we're facing is the result of your meddling," said Alpha, pointing her sword at him "all I need to do is show your decapitated head to the rest of them and it'll be the end of this war."
"My necks right here Alpha," he said, taunting her with his sword "come and get it."
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Despite facing stiff resistance from the enemy, Richelieu and Rossiya managed to connect with Saint Louis. When he saw this, Alec breathed a sigh of relief as they had successfully encircled the enemy fleet.
"Now, all forces, circle the enemy and fire," he said "don't target or aim, just fire at the Sirens."
While many were confused by the new order, Yorktown quickly understood the intent. In response, she started circling the enemy, all the while firing planes randomly. Those that saw her saw how the planes, despite having no target landed a few hits on the ships.
In that moment, the plan clicked and one by one, the girls started circling the Sirens in a clockwise motion, all the while firing at the enemy.
Though their attacks were random, some of them did actually hit the Sirens. Given how the fleet stretched itself around the Sirens, it was impossible for any of the girls to accidentally hit someone on the other side. Meanwhile, the ships tried to break their way through the many openings created by a small fleet stretched to the limit. However, randomness and chaotic nature of the girls it was impossible to find any substantial opening in the encirclement.
Alec, in effect utilized an old trick he saw in old westerns. Here, bandits attacked a caravan and circled around the target, making it difficult for them to escape or mount a counter. The move effectively pinned them down.
"Friedrich, Warspite, Sandy," said the Commander through the communicator "I need your help."
The trio were somewhat torn about what to do. On one hand, they were needed here to help the fleet, yet on the other hand, it sounding like the Commander needed them just as much.
"Go, go, the fleet has this covered," said Alec, making the decision for them "go and end this fight."
Tirpitz, Wales, and Suruga who were nearby, fired a concentrated barrage at some of the planes, creating an opening for the trio. As they leapt from ship to ship, the Commander spoke.
"I have a plan on how to take down Alpha," he said "but I'll need all three of you and the timing has to be precise."
"Alright Commander, lay it on us," said Sandy and the Commander outlined the plan. It was short, sweet, yet very risky.
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The Commander and Alpha charged at each other once again, their swords clanging against each other. All around them, the Siren fleet were starting to collapse under the pressure of the Azur Sky, yet Alpha did not relent.
She pushed the Commander back then charged at him and landed a vertical cut on his chest. The Commander responded by thrusting the mounted blade at her face, which she narrowly dodged as the blade cut a part of her cheek. Alpha saw too late the Commander's knee coming at her and had her head sent jerking back from the collision. However, she quickly recovered and rammed her forehead into his nose, causing the Commander to stagger.
H quickly wiped the blood stream coming from his nostrils before charging at Alpha once again. She in turn charged with her swords aimed at her chest. As they neared though, the Commander broke into a slide and went he came near her, he performed a leg sweep and knocked her off balance.
Alpha recovered from the strike and in the air, she grabbed the Commander, wrapping her arms around his chest in a vice-like grip. When she reached a sufficient height, Alpha dive bombed the Commander into the carrier's runway, knocking the wind out of him and hopefully breaking a few bones.
The Siren leader saw that while they were battling, her fleet were suffering as a result. She had to find a way to wrest victory from this situation. Just as she was about to fly away, the Commander's metal hand grabbed her foot and flung her to the ground. Alpha then saw the Commander's boot ram into her chest, causing the wind to forcibly leave her body. She used whatever energy she had left to fly a short distance away from him.
"All this tenacity," he said, wiping the blood on his face "all this ferocity, you could have been someone great and you chose to side with Omega? Why?"
"Because she elevated me from the pit I was crawling in," replied Alpha "before all this, I was a nothing, a no one. I was the person you'd pass by on the street and forget they ever existed. But all that changed when I met Omega. She gave me power, control, the ability to forge my own destiny. And for that, she has my eternal loyalty."
"With you out of the picture, there's nothing and no one who can stop Omega. All I have to do is kill you. Take you out and we've won the war," she said, forming her swords.
The pair charged at each other once again, only this time Alpha threw caution to the wind and attacked in wild and random swings. It was impossible for the Commander to track and anticipate her moves. As a result, she not only pushed him back, but landed injury after injury on him.
Alpha let out a fierce yell as the Commander attacked her with a downward swing. She could not raise her sword up in time to stop the blade and so used her hand instead. The blade went through the palm of her hand but it did stop. The Commander was momentarily surprised by this move and paid for it as it allowed Alpha to use her other sword and ram it right through his body.
Alpha watched as the blood started to trickle out of his mouth and his shoulder slump a little.
"I did it. I finally did it. I did what no one else could do. I defeated the almighty Commander," she said, her face twisting in wicked glee "what do you have to say now Commander?"
She saw him slowly slump forward and whisper one word in her ear.
"Checkmate."
Before Alpha could react, the Commander rammed his boot into her chest and used that force to get her sword out of him. During that brief moment of separation, Alpha was hit by a merciless barrage courtesy of San Diego.
The Siren watched in horror as Warspite suddenly appear before her. The battleship let out a fierce yell and swung her blade with such speed and force. It happened so fast that Alpha didn't even feel her arms and legs being lopped off.
She then saw Warspite smile and point to something above her. Alpha looked up and saw Friedrich hovering in the air, her guns aimed directly down on her. In the moment before she fired, Alpha's memories starting passing by her.
Memories of a no-name waitress working in a diner in some part of the western world. She remembered how each day sought to crush her spirit more and more till she was nothing but a husk of herself. She remembered the day when a seemingly normal woman entered the diner and produced an other-worldly object that bathed the world in an ethereal glow.
On that day, she cast aside her human husk and became the Siren Alpha. From then on, her purpose was to help her queen achieve her goals. That was the only thing that mattered to her.
Alpha watched in silence as Friedrich fired the coup de grace on her and all she could think about was how she would never see the day when her queen's ideals were realized.
Before the blast hit her, she managed to utter two simple words.
"I'm sorry."
Friedrich's attack engulfed Alpha in a column of energy incinerating the Siren leader down to her atoms. By the time Friedrich landed, the carrier they were on started faltering. With the loss of the leader, the ships had no orders and were nothing more than bullet sponges to the Azur Sky.
Seeing that the ship was about to fall, the Commander, Warspite, San Diego and Friedrich all started running to the edge. They leapt off and while in the air, the Commander activated his jet boots. He grabbed San Diego with his right hand, Warspite with his left and had Friedrich wrap her arms around his back.
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On the ground, Akagi, Belfast and Alec started searching the shoreline, looking for the four of them. They continually called out for them but got no response.
"There," said Belfast, suddenly noticing four familiar forms approaching them.
"'Sup," said the Commander, in a vain attempt to assure everyone that he was fine. The attempt backfired on him though as he started sputtering a little blood from his mouth.
"James"
"Master"
Immediately Akagi and Belfast came over to him. He looked pale, lost a lot of blood and no doubt suffered numerous injuries throughout the fight.
"Are, are you two, okay?" he asked,
"Honestly James," said Akagi with an exasperated sigh "you are the last one to be asking that question."
"My liege," shouted a familiar and very frantic voice. The group saw Saint Louis, followed by Roon, Neptune, Monarch, Ibuki, and Izumo coming to see them.
"My liege, are you okay?" she asked.
"Peachy," he replied, lying through his teeth.
"Come on, we have to get you to the hospital," said Akagi, putting one arm around her shoulders.
"Wait, hold on. Before we do that, I need to tell the fleet the good news."
"I will assemble them," said Saint Louis, leaving the group.
"Here, let me help you," said Roon as she started carrying Friedrich. Monarch went to help Warspite and Neptune helped San Diego.
Soon enough, the rest of the fleet (including the Valkyries) assembled. They watched the Commander use what little strength he had left to come forward and address them.
"Not only have we managed to take down a dangerous Siren weapon, we've also brought down one of Omega's upper Echelon."
"Victory is ours," he shouted, raising his left fist up and everyone started cheering.
(AN: Typically I have an in-between chapter between major story arcs to act as a breather but not this time. This time we're moving straight to the next story arc and I'm really looking forward to it.)