"Can you move?" Alice asked as she supported Roon by placing a hand on her back.

"I can't feel my arm." Roon spoke, more out of observation than surprise.

Alice's expression became worried.

"You lost your arm in the fight with Hornet, according to Odin's report. We have it and are rushing it back to the forward operating post." Alice spoke.

"Why? It's been lopped off. What can even be done?" Roon asked.

"Nothing if we don't at least try. I have already put a transmission through to Vengeance. She is waiting for us on the beach." Alice said.

"Why?" Roon asked.

"She says she can assist us in reattaching the arm. But if we don't hurry, the tissue in your arm will begin to decay." Alice explained.

"Where is the Kommandant?" Roon asked as Alice's expression turned from worried to annoyed.

"Where he is isn't important. Get up. We're still in an active warzone, and I do not feel like dying today." Alice spoke as she grabbed Roon's good arm and rolled her body, enabling her to pick up the ironblood cruiser and make her way towards the beach, safe from enemy fire due to the constant strafing of Enterprise's aircraft that were still in the area.

"Put me down. I can walk, damn it!" Roon growled.

"Stop being difficult. It's in your best interest to cooperate, considering I am going to have to treat you." Alice spoke.

"And why is that? Where's the Union repair ship?" Roon asked.

"Out of commission for the moment. So you're stuck with me and the weird alien lady. So keep your comments to yourself and let me help you." Alice replied coldly, causing Roon to fall silent.

Alice appeared on the beach, where she was immediately met by Warspite and Vengeance.

"Roon?!" Warspite cried.

"Warspite…" Roon said as she turned her head.

"What happened?!" Warspite asked.

"That Union Carrier froze up. I had to step in to keep the enemy from killing her. I lost my arm as a result." Roon spoke, her tone one of disappointment.

Warspite nodded to Alice, who allowed Roon off her shoulder. Warspite put herself under Roon's good arm.

"Come. We can talk about it over some tea and coffee. It should take your mind away from them working on your arm." Warspite said as Roon cracked a small smile.

"I think I'd like that." Roon said as she turned to look at Vengeance.

"Is that a possibility?" Roon asked.

Vengeance sighed.

"It is. I will be using a blank wisdom cube to reattach the limb. But I cannot allow you to fight further in this current battle. The repair will need time to strengthen." Vengeance said.

Roon's face twisted in anger.

"Damn that Union Carrier…" Roon grumbled.

"Roon. We can't blame Enterprise. We all heard the commander. It was her own sister. Would you kill your sister without remorse?" Warspite asked as she and Vengeance made their way to the water.

"I follow orders. If ordered to do so… I would." Roon replied.

"Would you? It's easy to say since you don't have any sisters that we know of. But could you honestly kill your own sister?" Warspite asked.

"I can't say I would be completely okay… but if it was ordered… orders are orders." Roon reasoned. Warspite could sense the frustration coming from this line of questioning.

"Alright. I'll drop it. But don't hold it against Enterprise. She doesn't share your mentality. She had to live knowing she was the sole survivor of her class. Yorktown died at Midway. Hornet went down in the Battle of the Santa Cruz islands. Enterprise had to live on for several years thinking she'd never see her sisters again. So cut her some slack, alright?" Warspite asked.

"Fine… but I don't like it." Roon spoke defiantly.

"Yes yes. I know. Come. I'll put you on my back." Warspite said as the three of them retreated to the bay where the Vengeance sat.

"Continue the advance! use the tanks as cover!" Odin yelled as she and her detachment pushed up in one of the streets of the city outskirts. The road was heavily fortified with makeshift roadblocks, using piles of rubble, destroyed cars, or random bits of metal. Despite the carnage and dangers, a few civilians still loitered nearby, with some still evacuating from the fight.

Backing their assault was a Sherman tank, which MacArthur was personally commanding. It did its job of attracting the enemy's attention as bullets rattled the metal beast, which roared back in reply with its cannon and machine guns.

"What was that?" MacArthur asked upon hearing an odd thump within the hull.

"Sorry, Sir. I- I dropped my goggles." The driver answered. MacArthur could only shake his head at the slowly building anxiety of his crew.

"Be more careful." MacArthur took a peek at his viewport. "Keep advanci- Driver, Reverse!"

"What!?"

MacArthur threw open the top hatch of the tank. "Odin! Back off!" As he yelled, a thunderous explosion landed just in front of the tank, sending a shockwave that knocked a few nearby infantrymen off their feet. A mix of dirt and concrete debris fell harmlessly on the tank. Luckily, MacArthur was shielded from the initial blast by the tank hatch.

"Heavy Fire! Fall back!" Odin yelled as several more explosions rattled the Sherman, with a few shells eventually hitting the tank but to minimal effect.

"Driver! Get us out of here!"

The young man fumbled with the control sticks, only for each one to be as stiff as a pillar. "I can't! The sticks are jammed!" The driver yelled.

"What the hell is hitting us?" He looked around in front for the source of the fire. So far, all MacArthur could see were whatever remaining foundations of destroyed colonial buildings and a mixed plume of dust and smoke. A bright blue flash then catches his eye, and the one behind it is an enemy he knew all too well.

"Oceana class spotted! It's aiding the Wolfpacks!" Another wave of explosions reverberated around, forcing MacArthur to duck inside.

"Confirmed Oceana Contact!" Odin yelled to her troops.

"Open fire on the enemy lines!" MacArthur barked. Machine Gun fire erupted from the tank, suppressing the wolfpack footmen. The turret hummed as the gunner began to aim at the Oceana, sweat trickling near his eyes. He wiped the sweat before adjusting the range and pushed his right foot down. A thump echoes as the gun breech reared, and an empty casing flew out and echoed like a bell as it hit the floor.

"Reload! No effect! The round fell short!" MacArthur yelled. However, the humidity inside the tank began to rise. The angered Oceana began to pepper the tank's armor with plasma fire, turning the thing into a 30-ton pressure cooker. The loader quickly got to work and began reaching out for the ammunition, only for him to yelp in pain as his hand sizzled on contact with the rack.

"Damn. Abandon the tank! She's getting too hot!" Each crew began throwing open the hatches; at this point, it was every man for himself. They all began to vacate, but a plasma shot finally melted through the armor, instantly killing the driver and wounding the loader's leg. The man screamed just as the components inside the tank began to ignite.

"Damn it!" MacArthur ducked back inside to aid the stricken loader. "I didn't say you could die on me, soldier! We are leaving!"

Outside, a commotion began to brew as nearby civilians began to gather near the tank. "Stay back! This is an active warzone!" Odin yelled as the small crowd reached out for the escaping crew with some climbing on the tank. "Damn civvies… Move up and defend the civilians! Anyone who can flank this street, get over here. We have an Oceana locking down the street!"

MacArthur grunted as he tried to push his loader out, the cramped space and heat not making the job easy. A civvy then grabbed the loader, leaving him the only man left. He grabbed the rim of the hatch, but, like his loader, his hand sizzled, forcing him to back away. It looks like the old man would meet his end here.

The ever-increasing heat and smoke clouded his vision. He began to cough heavily, his skin roaring, his consciousness fading by the second. The world slowly fell silent and distant.

Suddenly he felt someone grab him. The face of the man was blurry, but he could vaguely make out a brown skin tone.

"Ha! General MacArthur. Funny running into you here."

As he was finally dragged out of his metal coffin, the world became clear again. This gave him a chance to get a good look at his savior, Stefan. A loud explosion followed and shot fragments through the hatches seconds after they reached the ground. The ammunition had finally succumbed to the heat.

MacArthur coughed violently, unable to respond. Around the destroyed tank, Civilians from the surrounding homes tended to the injured loader while Stefan and his men assisted MacArthur. Odin's forces had stacked up behind the burning tank and were taking potshots at the enemy line, trading fire in an attempt to wear down the remaining line and advance.

MacArthur opened his eyes after a few seconds. A moment later, the pain of his burns began to seep through the adrenaline rush, causing him to groan in pain.

"Water! Find him some water!" Stefan yelled as he ripped off the sleeves of his shirt to use as makeshift towels. All around him the sounds of battle faded ever so slightly.

MacArthur craned his neck around upon noticing the fading gunfire. What he saw was nothing short of miraculous. Nimi's team had managed to find a side street and used it to monstrous effect to flank the enemy position. She managed to get right behind the Oceana before the wolfpack members could react, allowing Nimi to latch onto the Oceana's rigging and use her own rigging's torpedo launchers to drill several large torpedoes into the Siren's rigging in a disturbing display of brutality. Her forces advanced quickly as well, mowing down the resistance at the enemy line, leaving the Oceana solely at her mercy.

Finally, water arrived for MacArthur, which was carried by one of the women of Stefan's group. "It's not the coldest, but it will cool you down." Stefan soaked the torn sleeves of his shirt and placed it on the worst parts of the burns before dumping water all over MacArthur, causing the man to wince.

He then looked at Odin, who stood behind him. "Where's your medic?"

"She's busy dealing with Roon. And Vestal is out of commission…" Odin answered as a blur of pink hair swiftly went past her.

"How is he?" Vestal asked as she ran over with her big medical bag. Her face, still marred by red tracks where she had been crying earlier.

"Vestal, what are you doing here?"

"I heard your call for help and came running. Be thankful I did." Vestal got to work and tore open her bag, and began snipping away at MacArthur's shirt.

"Move him inside before he catches a stray! Get the loader too." A few soldiers complied and moved the stricken men while the rest of her forces began moving up, catching the remaining wolfpack members in a crossfire. The sounds of gunfire began to dwindle further as Stefan and Vestal managed to get MacArthur and the loader into one of the houses nearby.

"I'm going to push up with the Vice Commander. Can you watch them?" Stefan asked.

"Go. I'm not a babysitter. I'm a repair ship. I'll make sure they pull through." Vestal replied sternly.

Nimi continued harassing the Oceana with barrage after barrage of rigging launched torpedoes. Every hit bringing a satisfying grunt to Nimi's ears.

"Not so tough when you're not using me as a meat shield." Nimi yelled as she opened fire with her rigging's main gun, peppering the heavy cruiser class Siren with armor piercing fire, doing considerable damage to the already damaged siren.

The Oceana turned to try and rush Nimi, only for Nimi to dodge her lunge and retaliate immediately by sending a volley of shells into the Oceana's knees, blowing apart her legs in the process.

Nimi stood over the Siren as Odin and Stefan rounded the corner with their combined troops. A look of satisfaction crossed Nimi's face as she placed the main gun of her rigging behind the Oceana's head.

"Anything you wish to say, Siren?" Nimi asked. The moment the Oceana opened her mouth to speak was the moment Nimi opened up with her rigging and shot several rounds through the Siren's head, silencing her permanently. The blue markings on her body faded as all life left the Oceana. Nimi allowed a single tear to fall as she looked to the sky.

"That's for making my Liebling cry, you Gott verlassene Dämonen. Suffer in hell." Nimi spat as Odin and her forces came up to secure the scene while Nimi's group mopped up the last few Wolfpack members that had tried to surrender.

"Nimi?" Odin tried as Nimi looked at her with tears streaming down her face.

"Never again." Nimi spoke.

Odin nodded.

"Yeah. They won't hurt you ever again." Odin said as she took the small destroyer in a hug.

Odin looked back at the former enemy emplacement.

"MacArthur was injured. We should hunker down here until we can get him transported safely back to the rear. Alice is going to have her hands full." Odin said.

Nimi nodded.

"I will stay here too… I lost several good men during that last push, so I would like to take time to let the others rest." Nimi said.

Odin nodded.

"All units hold this position and set up camp. Establish a perimeter with the remaining tanks we have. Norfolk hasn't relayed any signs of other Siren elite presence outside of a few explorers, so keep your guard up. Be wary of anyone who was severely wounded, they may try to steal their identity to infiltrate our ranks. Move!" Odin ordered the 150 troops left over from the push to take this position.

"How far are we from the city center?" Odin asked.

"We have several more blocks before we reach the center, but my intel states that the last four blocks before we hit the center are heavily fortified with stolen tanks and anti-tank guns. We are going to need the Commander back in order to deal with all that." Stefan said.

"Agreed. Taking on that would waste far too many resources that we do not have… and with the Wolfpacks here, they will kill any civilians trying to evacuate, so we can't bomb the hell out of them with our carrier forces." Odin said as she scratched her head.

"Yeah… after what Japan did to us… I can very much say we would prefer our houses not be blown up any further than they have been. The fact that Enterprise let loose on the airstrip was about as much as the civilians are willing to allow." Stefan warned.

"Duly noted. I will relay that to the fleet." Odin said, earning a thankful nod from Stefan.

"Carriers. Rules of engagement have changed. We can not risk any collateral damage to the civilian housing in the city. No bombs are to be dropped. Strafing runs only and only if we call for it. We need time to make sure that the Civilians aren't in danger." Odin spoke, relaying the message to the fleet carriers in the bay.

"Chief, look!" One of the bulins shouted as they wandered aimlessly throughout the edge of town. Most of the bulins had blood on their uniforms and wrenches from the several Wolfpack members they had fought on their way here.

Chief looked to where one of her sisters had pointed to see an American vessel sitting abandoned on the beach.

"Hmm. If I remember correctly… that's an Abnaki class Tugboat. What of it?" Chief asked.

"Not just any tugboat, an ocean faring tugboat." The bulin replied.

"And?" Chief asked.

"Why don't we take it? Nobody is using it. And the Pond is getting kinda cramped with all the projects we've been working on." The Bulin suggested.

"Hmm…" Chief thought aloud.

"And we can put guns and stuff on it!" Another bulin cried out, causing the others to gasp excitedly.

"And what about torpedo tubes!" Another bulin added.

"Alright, alright. Calm down, the lot of you. Fine. We'll survey the vessel and get it floated. We have to ask the Commander if we can keep it when he comes back though." Chief said.

"Right!" The bulins yelled as they immediately ran towards the tug and got to work.

"What do we name it?" One of the bulins asked.

"Tug o' War!" Chief shouted.

The other bulins looked at each other for a moment before clapping.

"We christen this hull, the Tug o' War!" Chief yelled as she ran off with the others to help float the abandoned tugboat.

Musashi smiled softly as the wind ran through her hair. The small of the sea outside of Tokyo bay sent shivers up her spine. Looking over the railing, she saw dolphins playing just off the port side of her bow, following her hull gracefully.

"Thank the gods for the world and it's infinite beauty." Musashi spoke softly, her clothes now the same crisp white they were when she was awakened. During her sailing, she had managed to also purge her vessel of any remaining grime and filth leftover from her cleansing. Allowing her to worry less about the cleanliness of her vessel and more on catching up to her sister.

"I am coming for you, Big sister. Hold on just a little longer."

"What the hell?! Why won't these planes let up?!" The 'Commander' growled as he remained behind Yamato, using her body to protect him from the constant strafing being done by Shinano's fighters.

"These planes… belong to my sister. Another Yamato class ship…" Yamato spoke softly.

"What did you say, whore?" The 'Commander' snapped.

"She is just as powerful as we are, except she can use planes. She has a near limitless supply of how many she can send for us. The only reason she has not sunk us… is because whoever you are fighting… has ordered her not to. For what reason, I do not know." Yamato spoke before being hit with a closed fist.

"Shut up. We're going to kill that carrier, and that enemy commander. Lord Tester has ordered us to do this. And you will comply or we will kill Musashi." The 'Commander' spoke.

Yamato's ears dropped.

"Yes… sir." Yamato spoke softly.