Michael was the first to arrive at the site where Eugen had landed her lifeboat. As the Black Death filtered from the trees, being sure to keep the Japanese royalty covered, Michael heard the trees shifting against the wind.
"Eugen!" Michael yelled as he leveled his rifle into the trees.
"Herr Michael?" Eugen asked.
"Prepare for battle! We got uglies inbound!" Michael yelled as he looked hard against the orange and brown backdrop. The first sign of movement was a single blur of blue more than two hundred meters out. With a quick internal calculation, Michael fired his rifle into the woods, the round snapping limbs and displacing dead foliage as it traveled into the chest cavity of a tailing Explorer. Moments later the round detonated, sending armor chunks and oily black liquid spraying in all directions.
Eugen quickly deployed her rigging and moved to the front as she scanned the treeline, utilizing her serpents to cover more space visually as Michael continued his own visual scans.
"Tony, get the boat back in the water and make sure your rifles are loaded. Get the Emperor into cover." Michael ordered as a high pitched whine filled the air.
"Michael!" Eugen yelled as a pair of Siren aircraft burst from the trees. Eugen turned her rigging and engaged the aircraft as they strafed the exfil site. Several members of the Black Death had put themselves between the fighters and the Emperor's party. Thankfully, the majority of the damage hit their plates, saving them from lethal damage. However, since the plates only covered the vital areas, their arms and legs were still subject to scorching plasma fire, leading to moderate injuries.
Michael moved quickly under the sound of Eugen's guns and the retreating Siren engines. He got to the wounded men and picked them up off the ground, carrying them to the boat as the sounds of the Siren Aircraft returned.
"Eugen, get rid of those aircraft!" Michael yelled as Eugen focused all of her rigging's guns on the incoming aircraft and opened fire. The combination of eight high explosive shells was enough to take down the aircraft, but not before it managed one more burst of plasma fire that struck Michael in the legs and back, scorching his right calf and his upper left shoulder. His rifle took a plasma burst as well, leading to most of the metal components hit melting and warping,making the rifle completely unusable.
Gritting his teeth, Michael got the men aboard the boat as Tony managed to get the boat back in the water. Michael waded into the water as Eugen slowly retreated onto the waves, keeping her eyes on the sky. Michael gripped the side of the boat and tried to pull himself up, but the chunk missing from his shoulder made it impossible for him to pull himself onto the boat. Tony came to his aid and quickly pulled him over the side and set about taking a roll of bandages from the already opened medical kit. He wrapped Michael's leg and shoulder while taking the rifle off his back and setting it aside.
"You good, Gerry?" Tony asked seriously.
"Hurts like a bitch… but I should live. Have your men keep their eyes open. Looking at my rifle, I'm pretty much cooked in terms of fighting capability. I doubt a pistol will take down an aircraft like that." Michael said.
Tony nodded as Eugen came aboard and the boat began turning back towards the open bay. The further out they went, the more Michael could see the surviving Explorers flooding their exfil site and taking to the waves behind them.
"Eugen, deal with them!" Michael ordered as he forced himself to his feet and hobbled over to one of the injured Black Death members and took his rifle from him.
"You rest here. I'll be sure to return this." Michael spoke as he hobbled back to the rear of the boat and set up. He rested the rifle on the back of the boat and began firing at the advancing Explorers. The rounds did little against the armored portions of the Explorer's rigging. Michael kept firing anyway.
The Explorers advanced on the boat, slowly moving to try and surround the boat. Michael turned and could see the Prinz Eugen just a few hundred meters away.
"Eugen, use your vessel! We're in range!" Michael ordered as the naval equivalent of a freight train roared passed the boat and slammed into the leftmost arm of the advancing Explorers.
Moments later, the secondary batteries onboard the Prinz Eugen opened up on the right side of the advancing force, blackening the water and spraying the boat with chunks of flesh and armored shrapnel.
Michael watched as a steel serpent slowly surfaced from the water beside the boat, its iron skin slick with black oily blood, causing water to roll off in beads. It's dull orange eye and familiar color palette had Michael breathe a sigh of relief.
"I figured something like this could occur. So I took initiative. After all, the moment 47 informed me that an Oceana was on site, I knew there was more to come, my child. I've dealt with their kind before." Friedrich spoke as she walked onto the boat and directly towards Michael. From the light mist in the bay, the hulls of two battleships emerged alongside the Prinz Eugen along with the long slender form of a submarine.
"It's good to know that we have you on our side, Friedrich. Things were looking pretty bleak when the aircraft showed up." Michael said as Friedrich peered back towards the landing area. The aircraft that Eugen had downed had exploded in all the commotion and had set fire to the forest.
With a sigh, Friedrich turned back towards the open ocean.
"Let us hope that our battles moving forward aren't so dirty. The destruction of my enemies… My dear husband's enemies, is the only destruction I seek. To see a place once filled with a thriving people reduced to a warzone… that muddies any enjoyment that could come from such a righteous conflict." Friedrich spoke as the sky over Tokyo filled with the smoke of the slowly spreading inferno.
"Michael?" Another voice called from the head of the boat.
"Amagi?" Michael called, which had the kitsune making haste to reach him.
"You've been injured. We need to get you medical attention." Amagi spoke firmly.
"There are others hurt worse than me. Tend to them first." Michael spoke.
"I respectfully refuse. Since your mission is complete, you are no longer the leading element of this group. Hence forth, I am retaking my stance as your wife instead of your subordinate. You will be treated medically. And you will do so willingly, or I will make you." Amagi spoke as she reached into her kimono and retrieved a fan.
Michael gulped and resigned himself.
"Tony, see to it that your men get treated." Michael said as he was unceremoniously removed from the boat and taken directly to the Amagi.
Eugen couldn't help but giggle.
"She's really been holding out, hasn't she." Eugen spoke.
"Agreed. It seems the Sakura are just as susceptible to fear and emotion as we of Ironblood. I could not hold myself to her standard were my dear husband in trouble like that. To be frank… I am only here on his direct order as a result of his trust in me. But I only obey because I know that there are those with my temperament that would do unspeakable things to protect him in my absence. Herr Roon comes to mind." Friedrich spoke as Eugen nodded.
"Unspeakable things is a pretty accurate description." Eugen muttered as she loaded her lifeboat onto her vessel. Within the hour, the four vessels floating in Tokyo Bay were heading for the open ocean on a route back to Kure.