In the beginning there were three: New Jersey, Shinano, and Friedrich. They were the strongest in the world and for a time that status quo maintained. But, as time came to pass, the three began to wonder, to ponder if they really were as strong as they believed.
Eventually, their thoughts gave way to actions and on one fine morning, the world that would later belong to the shipgirls was rocked to its core when the three clashed. The combatants held no animosity or anger towards one another. They were simply testing themselves, testing their limits to see if they were as strong as they believed.
The length of the battle varied as there was no one at the time to record the event and the participants themselves did not bother to notice the sun rise and set. After what seemed like ages, the three finally stopped when they reached the point of exhaustion.
It was only then when they scanned their surroundings did a terrible truth dawn on them. In their bid to test their might, the resultant clash of their powers severely and irrevocably damaged the world around them. Mountains were made into valleys, ocean patterns were forever altered and ground itself was now miles under the water.
Understanding the danger of their actions, the three vowed to never misuse their powers again. Seemingly content with the knowledge that they were all equally strong and equally unbeatable, the trio bid farewell.
Shinano went on to become the protector and guardian of the oldest Sakura tree in the world. Friedrich resolved to teach others how to use their powers, becoming an iron foundation for others to rise up and prosper. New Jersey did not stay with one faction. No, she decided to travel the world and hopefully undo the damage she and her friends caused. This goal led to her helping the minor factions build their bases and give them a place to call home.
Years and years went by and the story of the 'Trinity' went from being a story, to a legend, to a myth, till it was eventually forgotten.
Until now.
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"Can you stand?" asked Shinano while holding New Jersey. Seeing her friend like this brought a mixture of feelings in her. On one hand she way happy, glad, and joyous to see her old friend from so long ago alive and well. On the other hand, she was sad and worried that her time in this metal cage had caused unimaginable damage to her friend.
Could she stand? Better yet, could she fight? If she couldn't what would Shinano do? The reason why she came all this way was to find New Jersey in the hopes that the two of them plus Purifier could stop what was coming, but without the Black Dragon, stopping their enemy became that much harder.
"I'm… fine," said New Jersey, slowly rising to her feet. She took a few steps then stumbled and Shinano immediately came to help her.
"Your muscles haven't been used in decades, who knows how long," said Purifier, looking around them "no doubt it'll take a while for the blood to reach there."
"Who…" said New Jersey, in-between breaths and looked up. The moment she did, all the fatigue and tiredness that overwhelmed her was gone and in its place was a white-hot rage.
Clenching her fist, New Jersey almost launched forward intending on crushing that accursed Siren with a single strike. Seeing the bloodlust in her eyes, Shinano immediately reached out with both hands and caught New Jersey before she could proceed any further.
"What the?" asked New Jersey, momentarily confused then turning to Shinano in disbelief.
"What's going on?" she asked, doing nothing to hide her anger "why are you protecting her? She's the enemy."
"I will explain everything to you once we are out of this place," said Shinano, trying to be the voice of reason "for now, all that matters is that she is our ally."
"But she's Omega's lackey," barked New Jersey.
"I'll never side with that despot," countered Purifier, now noticing something happening around them. The many lights and lit up panels that surrounded the room started to power down. When all the lights finally went off, a familiar red light now filled the room.
"Emergency power?" wondered Purifier, then turned around in shock
"Were you powering this thing all on your own?" she asked to New Jersey.
New Jersey offered no response, instead she simply bore holes into Purifier.
"I told you she is strong," said Shinano, lifting her friend up "now come on. We have what we wanted, now let us be free of this metal coffin."
"One problem," said New Jersey "before she turned me into a battery, Omega separated me from my rigging."
"What?" asked Shinano, who for the first time was shocked by what she heard "no, that's… impossible. No one can separate us from our rigging. It is part of us, part of our soul."
"Well she managed to find a way to do it," said New Jersey, attempting to alleviate the tension with a bit of comedy.
"Can you sense where it is?" asked Purifier "like how Shinano sensed where you were?"
"Yes, I can take you there," said New Jersey "but I want you in front of me. That way if you try anything, I can end you without hesitation."
"Whatever floats your boat ya giant lizard," said Purifier with a shrug and formed her glider.
Purifier led the duo outside the room and they were greeted by several drones. Some came from below and others came from above. All of them pointed their lasers at the trio and wasted little time in firing a barrage.
In response, Purifier raised her hands up and formed a shield, blocking the bullets while her glider fired wildly. There were so many metal guardians in front of them that targeting didn't matter. All she had to do was fire and her attackers were bound to hit the target.
When there was a hole in their defences, Purifier grabbed Shinano and New Jersey, brought them onto her glider and quickly flew away.
The Siren kept her attention divided between taking out the incoming troops and listening to New Jersey's directions. Listening to her was increasingly difficult as it was tough to hear her low voice in the midst of all those explosions.
Purifier turned when required and rose up when needed. Eventually, the trio came upon another locked door. Rather than wasting time hacking and bypassing the security measures in place, New Jersey opted for the old-fashioned approach.
One swift right later and the massive metal doors that looked like it could take a battlecruiser's barrage fell like a stack of cards. Similar to what they saw with New Jersey, Shinano and Purifier saw what looked like a shipgirl's rigging suspended in air. Judging from the look of things, there were supposed to be some safeguards in place, but they all went offline now that the battery was gone.
Purifier opened the metal bubble housing the weapons and New Jersey came forward. In a moment, she turned around and stepped back. The floating weapons came forward, wrapping itself neatly around her like a glove around an arm.
"She's changed it," said New Jersey, her eyes closed, feeling the changes "I don't understand it but, its like my rigging's become stronger."
"Is that a good thing?" asked Purifier to Shinano, who unfortunately did not know the answer.
Then, the pair saw New Jersey step forward, the cannons that flanked her moved left, right, then up, and down.
"Now I finally feel complete," said New Jersey, clenching her fist and smiling at the other two in the room "lets get out of here."
"By all means," said Shinano, pointing to one of the walls.
Wasting little time, New Jersey pointed her guns at the wall and fired. The power of the attack, coupled by the force of the cannons were enough to tear a nice big hole in the side of the fortress.
While Shinano slowly made her way through the newly created entrance, Purifier was practically slack jawed at the display of power. It was becoming clear why Omega wanted this piece out of the equation. She could single-handedly turn the tide of any battle she was in.
"Well, I'm not moving till you go ahead," said New Jersey, reminding the Siren that she was still not trustworthy enough.
"Fine, fine," said Purifier, holding her hands up and dashing ahead. She went ahead of Shinano, then slowed near the entrance. She waited for the other two to catch up then slowly went outside.
Purifier then realized in the midst of everything that happened, she failed to recognize where they were. This mistake could be attributed to several things like the pace at which things were going or how they were being hounded by the drones. But the truth is, Purifier let her guard down and when she stepped outside of the fortress, she regretted that decision.
Of the many cannons that lined the edge of the fortress, several of them noticed Purifier's presence. In response, one of them turned to her and fired, the explosion sending her flying back, and clipping her shoulder.
This attack was followed by several other cannons that now turned their attention to her and fired. In response, the Siren raised both arms up and formed her shield. Despite how the fortress was running on auxiliary power, there were still plenty of cannons up and running.
The Siren withstood the damage, but she was slowly being pushed back. In that moment, she realized that if the guns pushed her past the hole she emerged from, they would certainly attack Shinano and then New Jersey when they stuck their heads out.
In that moment, all she saw were allies that she needed to defend. So, gritting her teeth, she pushed her body forward. She momentarily turned to the hole and shouted "go, get out while I can still hold this shield."
While Shinano was about to leave, New Jersey had a different idea in mind.
'She's protecting us,' she thought 'even when Shinano and I could withstand that barrage like it was nothing, she's still defending us. Guess I was wrong.'
Deciding on doing the opposite of what her newly recognized teammate suggested, New Jersey confidently came towards Purifier. When she was close, she extended her right hand out and pulled Purifier away.
Shocked and caught off guard by the gesture, Purifier lowered her shields. She wondered why New Jersey would do something so crazy and put herself in the line of fire. But that question and many others faded with what she saw happen next.
First, there was the light. A blinding white light emerged from New Jersey's cannons and practically filled the area ahead of her. Then, came the sound. Like how the light was blinding, the sound was deafening as if they were standing next to a lightning bolt that seared the air in its way. But this was no lightning bolt or an act of nature. This was New Jersey, her strength on display for all to see.
Purifier saw as New Jersey covered the area before her in a bright, white, destructive light. In that moment, Purifier came to two conclusions. One was she understood why they called her the Black Dragon as the sound from her guns were as loud and deafening as a Dragon's roar. Second was that there were two others like New Jersey.
How these three managed to get through the day without accidentally causing a natural disaster was a question Purifier would have to ask at a later date. For now, her attention was focused on the area that New Jersey fired on and the damage done.
There was nothing there. The cannons, the walls near them and the floor that housed them were gone, wiped out, and annihilated. All that was left was the exposed insides of the fortress.
"Ten years and we couldn't put a dent in this damn thing and here these two are tearing holes in it in less than a day," muttered Purifier.
"Come then," called out Shinano and Purifier nodded. Once again, she formed her glider and waited for the other two to get on. With all three of them onboard, she flew off the edge and descended to the ground.
Purifier was not surprised to see that the shield surrounding Gungnir was gone. Given that it was running on auxiliary power, it did not have the same offensive and defensive power as before.
"Purifier, a question if I may," said Shinano and Purifier looked at her.
"Would you like us to destroy this fortress?" she asked and Purifier stopped the glider.
"Wait, what? Can you?" she asked.
"I could have done so by myself," came the reply "however, those shields would have made things significantly harder."
"If you can destroy it, then do it," said Purifier, answering the question.
"I only ask as this could prove a powerful tool to help you and your people," suggested Shinano.
"No," said Purifier, sounding firm in her decision "that thing is an abomination. Every day it exists is an insult to innocent lives it destroyed. That thing was created by Omega and anything made by her hands isn't a force for good."
"Very well then," said Shinano, leaping off the glider "if you'll excuse me."
"Oh no you don't," said New Jersey, leaping off after her.
"My friend, with respect, you're tired, weak and did not have enough time to recover your powers," said Shinano "rest, and let me do this."
"Sorry Shinano, but I can't let that happen," said New Jersey "for years, this place was a prison to me. Ever since Omega kidnapped me and brought me here, all I've thought about is getting out alive and destroying this thing. I've halfway completed my objective, it's only right I see things to the end."
"Very well then," said Shinano with a knowing nod and smile "I know not to argue with you when you get this way."
Purifier stopped flying away from the fortress and turned around. She saw the pair form their rigging then set off. Shinano banked left while New Jersey banked right. As they neared, some of the cannons on the side and fired. Shinano was too fast, moving as swift as a fox and dodging the projectiles with speed. New Jersey was the opposite. She wasn't as fast as Shinano so instead of dodging, she simply swatted away the shells that came too close.
When near a leg, Shinano summoned two dozen butterflies around her and pointed at the limb. The butterflies floated and danced around her like real ones did then bolted to the target with incredible speed. The ethereal insect made a pass for the leg and covered it in gunfire and bombs. The first pass took out a chunk of the armour and exposed the wires inside. The second pass shredded those wires and took out the leg.
New Jersey preferred a simplified approach. She pointed her guns at the leg and fired. One shot, two shots, and after a third, she successfully tore apart the leg.
The loss of two of its four legs caused the seemingly impregnable fortress to falter and tumble to the right.
As much as she tried to, Purifier struggled to keep her jaw from dropping. She recalled how so many perished when this thing came online and she recalled how even more perished trying to attack it multiple times. Yet, here she was, watching as two girls were making a joke of it. One was too fast to hit and the other deflected anything that came close.
Then she remembered that this was not the complete set. There was another equally powerful, equally terrifying woman that was with the Commander. Purifier then shuddered to imagine the trouble the three would cause when they eventually reunited.
Although the fortress was toppled, it was clear that the pair were not done. After it hit the ground, New Jersey rained down fire and brimstone on it while Shinano backed her up with a steady supply of bombers.
In the time it took one to make a pizza delivery, these two managed to topple one of Omega's biggest weapons. And the scariest part? They made the whole thing look effortless.
When they were done, the pair made their way to a stunned Purifier. It took a while for the Siren to accept what she had seen. When she did, she recommended the they rest for a moment. This suggestion was mostly down to the concern she had for New Jersey. Though the woman proved her strength without question, there was nothing wrong with letting her rest and collect herself.
Shinano picked up on the idea and pushed her friend into accepting. And so, the two rested on the ground while Purifier kept watch. A few minutes passed, then more and finally two hours had gone by in a flash.
Purifier, who was looking at the vast and empty sky noticed something coming towards them from the sky. At first it was too small to make out clearly. But, as time went on, she started to faintly make out a figure.
Based on the size she could tell it was not a ship. If not a ship, then it meant something else. It was entirely possible that one of Omega's lackeys was still alive. No doubt the destruction of this weapon will surely come as a shock to both sides. Hence it made sense that the enemy's side will send someone to take a look.
However, rather than draw her weapons, Purifier instead became relieved when the figure drew close enough. The one who approached them was a Siren yes, with dark grey hair and equally grey skin. She had on a torn top that covered only the upper part of her chest, a chain around her neck, very short pants and a pair of greaves that looked more like animal feet than human feet. The two most notable things about her were her abnormally large hands, each one as big as her and the coiled rigging behind her. It looked similar to other rigging a high-ranking Siren had. It moved like it was almost alive.
"Strength," shouted Purifier, coming to give the Siren a hug the moment she landed "I'm glad to see you after so long."
"It is good to see you too friend," said Strength, returning the hug. Then, she pulled back and noticed New Jersey and Shinano who had shifted from sitting down to standing up.
"Who are they? I do not recall any of the Arbiter class or high-rankers look like this," said Strength.
"They are our allies and my friends," replied Purifier "the one with more than one tail is Shinano and the other with glowing bunny ears is New Jersey."
"Their rigging is similar to the world you visited," said Strength, upon inspecting the two a little closer "are they?"
"That's a long story and we'll talk about that later. First, I want to know how the others are doing."
On hearing this, Strength's face shifted into a mixture of regret and sadness.
"I wish that I had good news to share…"
"Why? What happened?"
"In our bid to escape here and quickly get the weak to the bunkers," she began "we failed to bring enough forces to defend our position. About a week back, some of Omega's scouts found us and since then we've been under constant attack. I came here in the hopes of finding allies when I saw the explosions."
"How did…" she said, now turning to the ruins of Gungnir and was amazed at the sight "how did you manage to topple this monster?"
"Oh not me, I wish I was that strong," said Purifier, raising her hands up "nope, the honour of destroying that thing falls to those two."
As Purifier said that, she pointed to Shinano and New Jersey behind her, with the latter waving at Strength and giving her a quick smile.
"Trust me, I know what you're thinking and yes, they are strong. Insanely strong," added Purifier while Strength struggled to keep her jaw from dropping.
"You mentioned that you came looking for allies," said New Jersey, coming forward "maybe we can help."
"I'm sorry but I don't want to ask that of you," said Strength, lowering her head a little "after all, this is our world and our problem. It isn't right to involve outsiders."
"While I don't agree with the logic," said Shinano coming forward "I echo her sentiment. Jersey, you have just got out of that prison. You need time to heal and time to recover."
"Sorry but, I can't recover knowing full well innocent lives are being lost," said New Jersey "besides, anyone who's against Omega is automatically my ally."
Purifier furrowed her brow, not wanting to point out the flaws in that logic.
"Honestly," said Shinano, shaking her head in dismay "it is good and bad to know that caring nature of yours hasn't changed in spite of all that's happened."
"Very well then," she added, now moving forward till she stood next to New Jersey "Strength, please let us help you fend off these attacks."
Strength was understandably taken aback by the gesture and she immediately looked to Purifier for confirmation. A quick and silent nod told her that this was a good move.
"Thank you for volunteering," she said "but if we're going to go, we'll need to equip you with special filters to survive the journey."
"The journey?" asked Shinano, raising an eyebrow "where exactly are we going?"
"Oh right, she forgot to tell you," said Purifier, turning to the two "we're going up. To the Moon. That's where the bunkers are."
(AN: This will be the only instance of a battle in space. I don't want to jump this shark)