(AN: This is the continuation of a side-story I started in chapter 3. Sorry if it confuses anyone)
In another world, on a deserted and barren wasteland under the heat of a blistering sun, a young girl quietly traversed the landscape. To her left and right the desert stretched on but it was not an empty place. No, there were large and small pieces of metal twisted, turned and contorted into different shapes.
The girl recalled how this desert was once a city, a vibrant one that served as a repository for her kind's knowledge. Then, all that changed on the onset of war and it only got worse after that. Where once there were tall skyscrapers and vibrant streets, there was now endless sand and an empty sky.
Despite the heat beating down on her and her choice of wearing short pants and a school uniform that exposed her midriff, the girl did not feel the heat. To her, there was reason and a purpose for traversing this skeletal waste.
As she climbed up a hill and looked ahead, she found her objective. Not turning away for a second, the girl leapt off the hill and, in the air, she formed her weapon. A black and yellow glider that moved thanks to a pair of small jets in the back appeared under her feet. She landed on the device and flew towards her objective.
The reason why she only chose now to summon her weapon and not before was because she needed to conserve her energy. The fight ahead would be a demanding one and she needed to be ready. After all, if she were to slip up here, then the results would be problematic for her and he friend.
The girl drew closer to her objective and as she did, the object grew bigger and bigger. At about one hundred feet away, she stopped and let out a little whistle.
It had been a long time since she had seen it in action and it was still as imposing as it was back then. A monolithic structure, a fortress made out of steel and held up by four massive feet. Just one foot alone was enough to crush a stadium so imagine what four could do. The giant feet and the size of the structure was all meant to house it's most powerful tool.
She looked at the long projection that stood in silence pointed at the sky. Dubbed 'Gungnir' by a former hero, this weapon was capable of firing a high energy beam with a range capable of reaching the moon. Since it was built, the weapon was fired five times. Yet in those five times the lives it ended numbered in the tens of thousands.
She then turned to the many anti-air cannons dotted along the side of the fortress and the gun itself. These guns would be about as big as a battleship cannon yet looked miniscule next to that laser gun. If she were to offer a comparison, the gun was like a tree branch and these cannons were like toothpicks.
The girl quietly pressed her right temple and muttered "I found it."
00000000000000000000000000000
Time passed. How much time had passed was unknown as she did not count. Soon enough those, she spotted a set of dots in the distance. She waited till the specs took on form and confirmed who they were. From the many dots that came to her, a long figure leapt off of them and descended to her.
The girl watched the woman glide to her with elegance and ease. How the woman did it without any technology was beyond her. Then again, such small things did not matter to her.
"Is this it?" asked the girl, pointing to the structure.
The woman, with her flowing grey hair and prominent nine tails stepped forward. She closed her eyes, no doubt using her 'magic' powers to somehow scan the inside of the metal beast.
"She is here Purifier," said Shinano, finally opening her eyes "I can sense her presence."
Once again, Purifier did not ask how she knew. However, there was one doubt that loomed in her head.
"Before we start, I gotta ask, is this lady as strong as you say?"
"Indeed, she is," came the reply "you see, in my world, there have only been three who have carried the mantle of 'Strongest.' I am one of them, the second now fights alongside the Commander and the third is here, waiting. That she is alive after all this time is proof of her strength and capabilities."
"Welp, guess its time to wake up the dragon," said Purifier in a matter-of-fact way.
Shinano asked Purifier to send away the bulk of the ships that accompanied her, as it would not be necessary for them to commit such a large force. When asked why, she simply stated that she had a plan. When there were only three destroyers, two carriers and one battleship left, she outlined the plan.
The objective was to have these six ships act as a distraction for an insertion team to enter the structure from the side. Given their stature in comparison to everything else, Purifier quickly understood that she and Shinano were part of the insertion team.
"Additionally," said Shinano "you mentioned that you can assume direct control of some of these ships. How many?"
"To be precise, I said I could control the planes, not the ships themselves," said Purifier, correcting her friend "and I can control a dozen of them."
"Good, for this to work, it requires you to take control of those planes and provide an additional distraction. That will make it difficult for the structure's on-board defenses to detect our entry."
"Wait, you want me to control those things AND run with you?" she asked, her mouth half-agape at the assumption.
Her fears were confirmed when Shinano nodded in agreement.
"If you'd like, I can carry you," she suggested and Purifier gave her a blank stare.
"I humbly decline the request," she said, flatly.
"Very well then, let us proceed when you are ready," said Shinano.
Shinano watched as Purifier went to her ships and began to enact the plan. She silently gave the orders to the ships and watched as they went to perform their duties. In a way, she was somewhat sad to send these ships to their doom as she knew they were not coming back. Despite the fact that they were unmanned and comprised of circuits and metal, the Siren grew attached to each of the ships that made up the resistance force.
To see them head to the structure was like sending your friends to the gallows. She watched the ships draw closer to the behemoth structure and as they did, she slowly started taking control of the planes on the carriers.
High-ranking Sirens like Purifier could exert some form of direct control on these ships. Their rank in the hierarchy determined the amount of control they had. For Purifier who was in the lower section of the top group she could control a dozen planes and fewer ships.
She closed her eyes and began to control the planes. She could hear the sound of the on-board guns firing at the ships but did not open her eyes.
"Let us be off," said Shinano as she started running. Purifier now opened her eyes and while she kept her gaze fixed on the battle in the sky, she stole a few glances to what's ahead of her. This prevented her from tripping or falling or doing anything that might result in her losing concentration.
She watched as the planes danced, ducked and weaved their way through the sky, making a mockery of the guns that tried to shoot them down. At times, some of the planes did fire back, but it did little damage. None of the ships or planes could ever hope to damage something as monstrous as this. No, if she planned to take this behemoth down, then the solution lay within.
Their mad dash came to an end when they reached one of the four legs used to hold Gungnir up. Without saying a word, Shinano formed an ethereal katana above her and used it to cut a hole for them. With an entrance now created, the pair went inside.
Once inside, Purifier let go of her control and a few seconds after that, she could hear several explosions occurring outside.
"Shinano," called Purifier "this friend we're going to rescue better be worth it."
Shinano turned to her and nodded. No words to placate her, just a simple nod before turning back and resuming her march.
The interior of the structure was silent, eerily silent compared to the madness raging outside. The pair walked forward, guided by Shinano's innate senses. It didn't take them long to reach a large platform which was meant to haul supplies and spare parts to the main body. Purifier came forward, typed in the necessary codes and in a moment, the platform started its ascent.
All through the rise, the pair remained silent. The silence came to a sudden halt when the heard the sound of numerous hums coming down to them. The two looked up and saw twenty to thirty drones coming down. Their red eyes homed in on them followed by their guns firing at them.
In an instant, the pair leapt away from their location before it was riddled with bullets. While Purifier did it to avoid damage, Shinano simply did it as she didn't want to ruin her clothes. The drones were not much of a threat to her, merely mosquitoes and she intended to treat them as such.
She pointed her left had at a few and several ethereal-blue butterflies formed around her. The summoned insects fluttered around her for a moment before they shot forward with all the speed of a rifle bullet. The drones that she targeted were cut, sliced through, or exploded in the wake of the attack.
Purifier meanwhile formed her glider and shot them down with her guns. Those that were close, she simple rammed them into the wall.
"There'll be more of them," said Purifier lowering herself and extending her hand to Shinano. Shinano reached out and grasped her hand and Purifier pulled the aircraft carrier onto her glider.
"Hold on tight," she said, momentarily turning back to her passenger.
"Why is there any need to…" but the rest of the sentence did not come out as Shinano jerked back from the sudden force of Purifier's glider. The vehicle shot up like a lightning bolt, covering a great distance in a few seconds. As they ascended, they passed by or rammed into several drones. The drones, stopped their descent, turned around and chased after them.
Soon enough, they reached the top floor of where the platform was supposed to take them. Once here, the pair got off the glider and Purifier dismissed it. She watched as Shinano concentrated on her friend's location.
"There," she said, after a moment. She pointed to one of the corridors ahead of them. Considering the state they were in and the enemies coming after them, Purifier did not bother to double check. She simply nodded and the pair set off in that direction.
Purifier followed Shinano as she turned to her right, then left, then ran forward, then to her left, etc. It seemed as though she was simply moving in a random direction with no particular goal in sight. For a moment, Purifier wondered again if she was being led on a wild goose chase. What if the person they were chasing was a ghost, or a figment? Worse still, what if this was a trap set by Omega?
Her questions came to a head when Shinano came to a halt before a large metal door. Purifier's general estimate of the location told them they had to be in the engine room or somewhere near there.
Shinano now stepped aside and Purifier did her thing. The Siren once again hacked the internal system and in a matter of seconds, the door let out a hiss as it parted ways and opened to them.
It took Shinano all of three seconds to find what she was looking for.
"There," she shouted, pointing directly ahead of them.
Purifier saw a woman held in suspension in a circular tank, her arms and legs bound by energy harnesses, her long-flowing blue hair hiding much of her face.
"By the holy tree what has she done to you," said Shinano now bounding forward while Purifier came behind.
Just when it looked like the fox was about to attack the tank with her bare fists, Purifier called out to her and told her to stop. When asked why, the Siren's response was pragmatic yet vexing.
"We don't know if that will hurt her or do worse," was her reasoning "let me find an alternative."
She spotted a console and began her work. She was already familiar with the structure's flimsy security. No doubt Omega spent little time on this aspect as she believed nothing on the planet could ever get close to Gungnir. But the Siren's arrogance made it easy for Purifier to exploit several weaknesses and undo the restraints.
Shinano and Purifier now heard several beeping noises followed by the tank sliding open. They saw the harnesses come undone and the woman fell forward. In an instant, Shinano came and caught the woman before she hit the cold ground.
Purifier drew closer and got a good look at the woman. She had flowing blue hair, a toned body with a tight brown dress that covered most of her body except for her shoulders. There was a modified grey skirt that covered her hips and her sides. She wore gloves that stretched a little past her elbow. They were silver up to her wrist and white beyond that. Another notable aspect of the girl was a strange metal plate on her head, from which extended two metal projections which looked like a pair of bunny ears.
"My friend, are you okay? Please say something. Anything," said Shinano.
"Ugh," she responded "who? Who's there?"
"It is me, Shinano,"
"Shinano, that's impossible. It must be a trick," she said dismissively.
"It IS possible my friend. I know that you have questions and I want to answer them but not right now. Right now, we must make haste and leave this place."
"You have remained in this cage for eons, but that is over now. It is time to open your wings and take flight, O Black Dragon of the Eagle Union."
Those last few words struck a chord with Purifier who searched her memories. She recalled how there were only two women in that world's history who ever held the moniker of dragon. One was Friedrich Der Grosse and the other was…
"Been a while since someone called me by that name. How ya been, Shinano?" asked New Jersey.
AN: This was the second character I planned to introduce alongside Shinano. I hope the reveal is as good as I think it is.