"You Union gals are something else." Roon growled as she jumped back, dodging a pack of bombs dropped from above by Hornet's B-25 miniatures. As a reaction, Shrimpy stomped his foot, boosting Roon's shields before firing a blast from his internally mounted cannon, demolishing the ground beneath Hornet.
Enterprise winced a bit watching her sister fight the Ironblood cruiser.
Odin looked at Enterprise.
"The order to eliminate Hornet has been acknowledged. We are to follow your exact specifications." Odin spoke, sending a shock through Enterprise's body.
"Even though it was my Idea… I still don't like the idea of killing my only remaining sister…" Enterprise spoke softly.
"I can't say I understand the turmoil your cubes are feeling… but I can only assume it is not pleasant. As I do not have a sister, it is impossible for me to completely understand. However, I can understand the desire to not wish to kill an ally. My condolences." Odin spoke.
Enterprise wiped a tear from her eye.
"It's for the greater good. I am sure I will see her again." Enterprise said as Odin continued to stare at her.
"What are your wishes on the handling of this?" Odin asked.
"Withdraw Roon. I will fight her. She isn't being herself. She was never this strong. Sure she was on par with me back in the war. But even the old me wasn't this powerful. I feel like something else happened to her. When she wakes… she will wonder what happened. I want to be there to tell her that her big sister took care of it." Enterprise said.
Odin nodded and blew a sharp whistle.
"Roon, retreat. Move with Bismarck and help Jager's group retreat to the end of the airstrip." Odin ordered.
"Jawohl!" Roon yelled as she and Shrimpy jumped back, dodging even more planes and a hail of pistol caliber sized rounds from Hornet's rigging. In a flash, Enterprise was in on the fight, her shields blocking the small arms fire while reaching behind her, removing an arrow from her rigging's quiver. Odin spotted a small fighter in place of the arrow's tip, one that matched a smaller version of her Skyraiders.
"Dear sister. It pains me to see you like this. So please… make this easy on yourself." Enterprise whispered, knowing full well that the Hornet in front of her no longer viewed her as her big sister, but as a mortal enemy.
"You have come to destroy those I have been tasked to protect. You will die first… and Apollyon will follow." Hornet spoke as she charged Enterprise.
Enterprise drew back the string on her bow and stopped, her body unwilling to fire the arrow that would end her sister's life.
"Enterprise. You need to do this now!" Odin yelled as Roon jumped back into the fight, defying the direct order from Odin in order to keep Hornet off Enterprise.
"Look, Union Carrier. She is not herself. She never will be again. This is not the sister you knew." Roon spoke, much to Odin's surprise.
"I… I… I can't…" Enterprise dropped her bow before allowing her rigging to dissipate. This gave Hornet the boost she needed to turn the tide. In a sudden burst of reserved strength, Hornet's rigging sliced upwards, cutting into the soft flesh under Roon's arm, causing the cruiser to wince in pain. Yet despite this, Roon remained steadfast, keeping her feet firmly planted between Hornet and Enterprise.
"You have to! You are now a member of the Kommandant's fleet! You. Must. Stay. Alive!" Roon roared as she began pouring power into her legs to drive Hornet back, only to be met with Hornet's steadfast determination to eliminate the threats before her, forcing the flight deck of her rigging to complete the cut, cleaving Roon's right arm from her body.
A loud smack was heard on the ground as Roon's arm laid lifeless on the ground, much to Odin and Enterprise's horror. Yet, despite the pain and loss of her limb, Roon released Shrimpy into the world once more and used his strength to keep Hornet at bay.
"Jager! Bismarck! Target Hornet immediately! Enterprise, if you cannot fight, you need to retreat behind friendly lines!" Odin spoke as she drew her officer's sword and rushed in, coating her blade in lightning to keep Hornet wary and used her strength to keep Hornet's rigging from taking another swing at Roon.
"Kommandant!" Odin yelled into the radio.
"Odin, What's wrong?" Isaac asked immediately.
"Roon has sustained serious damage in an attempt to shield Enterprise from Hornet. We need Vestal immediately." Odin reported as her sword clashed violently with Hornet's rigging.
"Vestal isn't here. After her report on the damage from both the Yume and Prinz Heinrich, I haven't heard a word from her." Isaac spoke.
"I will contact her then." Odin said as she switched the channel and tried to contact Vestal.
"Vestal. We need help here, now. Roon has been severely injured." Odin spoke.
"I am aware. I've seen it all. Please apologize to Miss Enterprise for me." Vestal softly said as several loud cracks came from the bushes outside the fence of the airfield. The first impact cracked the shield around Hornet's head, the second impact shattered it. The third and final impact came to the base of Hornet's spine, where a bullet from a rifle entered her neck and lodged itself deep into Hornet's spine, shattering the black cube inside before pressing firmly on her spinal cord, causing the carrier to collapse under the weight of fighting two Ironblood powerhouses.
"SISTER!" Enterprise cried out as she scanned the area for whoever had shot Hornet. But when she found nobody that could have been the culprit, she broke down right there on the tarmac as she watched the color rapidly drain from her sister's face. Enterprise's eyes went wide as she saw the look of relief and realization come to Hornet's eyes.
"So… it wasn't… true… after all… I'm so sorry… Big sister... Enterprise." Hornet's voice trailed off as her dying breath escaped her lips. Hornet's body finally went limp as Roon collapsed backwards, falling on her rear as blood poured from her severed arm. Odin ran to the bloodied cruiser's side and pulled off her coat before tearing off the arm and tying a tight tourniquet around Roon's stump.
Enterprise's eyes dulled for a moment before unleashing an ear splitting scream that caused the firefight around them to cease, if only for a moment. Out in the bay, every available inch of the Enterprise's flight deck was occupied by Skyraiders, loaded to the limit with bombs and ammunition that were bound for whatever Enterprise could hit. One by one, those aircraft launched, weighed down with ordinance and coming mere inches from the water's surface before the massive eighteen cylinder duplex-cyclone engines forced the planes into the sky.
Radio calls came in from the fleet demanding to know what was happening.
"Enterprise, what are you doing?" Odin demanded.
"I...I...I will murder them all. I will not stop… until every single Siren on this planet has tasted my wrath." Enterprise ground out as she slowly stood, forcing her rigging into existence once more. Several members of the Wolfpack in front of them opened fire on Enterprise, but in the time it took them to take aim, their hearts and heads were pierced by arrows fired from Enterprise's bow.
"You did that to her. You turned my own sister against me… You will pay… for making me like this." Enterprise spoke as a whistling came from the sky. Anyone not shot by Enterprise's bow bore witness to a cluster of eight 250 pound bombs making their way towards the tarmac, half of the available complement carried by one of Enterprise's Skyraiders. Wilhelm's men as well as Stefan and his fighters began running in the opposite direction while Bismarck, Odin, Roon and Enterprise all activated their shields.
The bombs detonated on impact, tearing away the asphalt and everything underneath, spraying debris in every direction The impact of eight consecutive bombs landing in one area built up in quick succession as the force of two thousand pounds of explosives was unleashed on the enemies that stood before Enterprise.
"Burn in life, as well as in death. This is the essence of war you sought. This is the essence of war you will now suffer." Enterprise spoke as shrapnel bounced uselessly off the shields of everyone present as Wilhelm and co. dove to the ground moments before the shockwave hit, protecting them from the main brunt of the blast.
Arizona came running, followed closely by Alice and several other nurses from the nurses' brigade on the Norfolk.
Odin flagged Arizona over.
"Roon was severely injured in the fighting. She needs immediate medical attention." Odin spoke, keeping an eye on the extremely volatile Enterprise.
Odin then looked to the bush at the end of the airstrip to see the fleeting image of pink hair retreating back towards the fleet.
Odin sent a message to Vestal via morse code.
"Why did you kill her?"
"To save Miss Enterprise from the guilt of killing her sister."
"She will end up hating you if she finds out."
"I know… Were you able to procure the cubes?"
Odin looked back to where Hornet's body had fallen, sure enough, surrounded by a pool of blood and shards of a black cube, sat two glowing blue cubes.
"Yes. You managed to shatter the black cube we suspected was inside her neck… It was keeping her mind focused on fighting, and not who she was fighting. She… realized it was Enterprise right at the very end."
The line went silent as Vestal quietly returned to the Norfolk.
Odin went and collected the cubes before standing and walking over to Enterprise, who was standing tall, watching the flames destroy everything before her. The burning bodies of men and women littered the tarmac as the screams of the dying filled the air, only to be snuffed out once the flames and fumes reached their lungs.
"Enterprise. I am relieving you of your duty for the foreseeable future." Odin said as she laid her free hand on Enterprise's shoulder.
"I can still fight. I want them to feel my pain." Enterprise argued until she saw the cubes in Odin's hand.
"Someone has to look after these until we can revive her. And with Vengeance on the front line… she can't revive them at the moment." Odin said.
"I see… One question, Vice Commander." Enterprise said as she gingerly took Hornet's cubes and held them tightly to her chest.
"Ask, and I will answer to the best of my ability." Odin said.
"I… I see Vestal returning to the fleet, coming from this direction… the one who shot Hornet… it was her, wasn't it?" Enterprise asked.
Odin hesitated.
"She told me to tell you that she is sorry. That she did what she had to to protect you and the fleet." Odin said.
Enterprise went silent.
"Tell her… thank you… for doing something that I could not." Enterprise said as she looked down at her sister's cubes and burst into tears.
"Enterprise thanks you for saving her, and for doing what she herself could not." Odin's message to Vestal read, left unseen by Vestal who was now running across the beach, her eyes red and tears streaming down her face. Not only had she killed one of her own dear friends. She witnessed firsthand the pain that Enterprise felt, if only for a moment, after losing her only remaining sister. The moment her feet touched the water, Vestal ripped the rifle from her back and threw it as hard as she could manage, sending the battleworn M1 Garand into the ocean where it would become unretrievable.
"Forgive me, Miss Enterprise!" Vestal screamed as she collapsed to her knees and cried harder than she had done so before. The Death of Lexington and Yorktown were not as heart wrenching as being the one to pull the trigger that ended Hornet's life.
"Kommandant." Odin's voice was heard as Texas escorted Isaac ashore.
"Odin. I just hit the beach and am making my way to the forward operating post. What's up?" Isaac asked.
"Hornet has been confirmed killed in action. Her cubes are already en route back to the fleet as we speak." Odin reported.
"And the battle at the airstrip? Why am I seeing so many fighters in the air?" Isaac asked.
"Enterprise… finished the fight for us." Odin said as Isaac looked to see a massive plume of smoke in the distance.
"I see. And is Vestal there? You had said that Roon was wounded." Isaac said.
"Arizona is here along with several Nurses from the Norfolk. Vestal… is MIA." Odin said.
"Find her. We leave no man behind, you hear me?" Isaac demanded.
"Understood sir."