Yorktown made her way through the ruined facility. The Sirens, while having been repelled by the efforts of the Army and Yorktown herself, still managed to decimate the building to the point where it would no longer be able to serve its purpose.
"Timothy Barnes. Just where did you get off to?" Yorktown asked herself as she pushed aside a pile of rubble to find a bunch of soldiers and medics looking back at her with horror in their eyes.
With a sigh, Yorktown put on a soft smile and an injured facade.
"We've managed to… repel the enemy… Barnes… where is he?" Yorktown asked, putting all of her skill in acting to the test as she feigned injury and fatigue to earn their trust.
One of the nurses pulled down her mask.
"Corporal Barnes is… in the back. We pulled him back as far as we could… We know you're not our Yorktown… you don't have to act." The nurse said as the soldiers readied their weapons just in case.
With another sigh, Yorktown frowned.
"Right you are. I am not the Yorktown that you all have spent the last three years defending. That Yorktown has sadly passed on… I was not quick enough to save her…" Yorktown said.
"How is that possible? You look just like her." One of the soldiers said.
"I am another Yorktown. Best not to think too much about it… but I am what this Yorktown would have become had she not been sunk at Midway and had gone on to sink Shokaku and Zuikaku… as well as Akagi and Kaga. I pose no threat to you… But I made a promise to this world's Yorktown. I would take the man she took in marriage in her final moments. So please… allow me to fulfill my promise." Yorktown spoke as the nurses gathered around her.
"You… are what Lady Yorktown would have been?" One of the nurses asked.
Activating her rigging, Yorktown showed off the two swords she had taken from Zuikaku and Shokaku.
"Trophies I took after sinking those two carriers. I wished I could have taken trophies from Akagi and Kaga… but unfortunately… that was the battle that killed my dearest Hornet and Enterprise… I don't remember much aside from flooding the sky with enough bombers to level the Sakura homeland." Yorktown spoke softly.
The nurses looked over every inch of Yorktown.
"You're… healthy." One of the nurses exclaimed as she felt for a pulse.
"You're having a hard time believing my story… it is understandable. Yes. As a result of winning my battles, I never sustained the crippling injuries that laid up this world's Yorktown. I survived to the end of the war… and then…" Yorktown stopped, remembering her own past.
"And then?" The nurses asked.
"They linked me to another ship… an Essex class. I served the Union until the end of the war using that Vessel. And when the war was won. I continued to serve. Up until the 70's. Then they retired me… and sent me to sit out the rest of my days in Patriot's point." Yorktown remembered as a wave of confusion overtook the nurses.
"The 70's?" The nurses asked.
"Don't worry about it. It'll be too hard to explain. I came here with a friend… but I cannot bring myself to be where she is right now. I would like to retrieve Timothy Barnes and then find somewhere safe." Yorktown spoke.
One of the soldiers spoke up.
"Yorkie… or should I call you Yorktown… Some of my boys have heard whispers. The group that left Boston nearly a month and a half ago… they had to evacuate Bermuda. Said something about going to Gibraltar. It might not be much… but considering how desperate he was to get this information to me… I will have to take him at his word… considering his pocket of resistance in Maine was squashed no less than a week ago." The soldier spoke.
"Gibraltar. Yes. I remember some radio chatter that I picked up when we were tailing that Admiral. Your man had solid intelligence. If he survives this, and you see him again, buy him a barrel of whiskey… he may have just helped save the world." Yorktown spoke.
"Why do you say that?" The soldier asked.
"Because… I have a bone to pick with these sirens. I helped my friend ward them off before… but they said something to me… something about using my sister to kill me wherever they went. That rubbed me the wrong way… and I will make them pay." Yorktown spoke lowly as the soldier nodded.
"Then… I'll take you up on it. Give em hell, Yorkie." The soldier spoke.
"Oh you're coming too… all of you are." Yorktown spoke as all of the soldiers and nurses looked at each other.
"What? You thought I'd leave you all here to be overrun? I'm not that kind of woman. No man left behind. Get ready to leave. Stabilize anyone too injured to move on their own." Yorktown spoke.
"How will we get out though? We're in the middle of nowhere without access to the ocean?" The soldier asked.
"We'll escape the same way I got here. Just be ready. Point me to Barnes." Yorktown spoke as the nurses escorted her to the back of the medical wing.
"Alright everyone, quiet down." Vittorio spoke as the chatter in the main room of the base quieted.
"We all know why we're here. Our Comandante has requested us to retrieve a pair of blueprints from the Siren known as Observer Alpha. That said, an Armada approach is impossible. We cannot afford to send the entire Gibraltar fleet up north to engage in this heist." Vittorio spoke.
Chatter around the room continued.
The chatter stopped when Cole stood in the middle of the room.
"I'm going." Cole spoke as Brooklyn stood and grabbed his arm.
"We went over this, you're not going." Brooklyn spoke.
"Sergeant Cole. Were you not just escaping from the region?" Vittorio asked.
"I was. But that was because I was under the assumption that allied forces had already been captured or killed during the Siren invasion. Able and Easy companies are out there in the forests of Germany fighting for their lives. They may not be 82nd Airborne… but they are still my brothers. I'm going back." Cole stated.
Brooklyn huffed.
"Fine. If you go, I go." Brooklyn spoke. Cole wanted to protest but a glare from Brooklyn shot down any argument.
"I'll go too. I want to make those bastards pay for killing Benson." Wichita spoke up as she stood and walked over to Cole.
"I'll go… I don't want my friends to die from any air attacks… and since I've got nothing more to lose, I want to be useful." San Diego spoke as she got to her feet and walked over where Brooklyn and Wichita looked at her with pity in their eyes.
Cole knelt down to see San Diego eye to eye.
"Sandy. Are you sure about this? We can find another if you're not ready." Cole spoke softly.
"There's no available carriers… you have no air cover… I'm the best you got… sir." San Diego said, her tone taking a more dejected stance.
Cole smiled softly before drawing the light cruiser into his arms.
"I hear you used to sing. Let's make this world a place where you can sing happily once more." Cole whispered as Sandy gave him the biggest smile she could muster.
"I'll do my best." San Diego promised.
"I know you will." Cole said as Gneisenau and Z2 stood up.
"We shall go as well. I won't stand by while you invade my homeland… at least not without me." Gneisenau spoke forcefully.
"A Battleship. On a stealth mission?" Cole asked.
"You got a problem with me, union dog?" Gneisenau snapped, causing Brooklyn to once again stand between Cole and Gneisenau and produce her rigging.
"Hurt him and I'll burn you to the ground, Gerry." Brooklyn spat, her accent coming in full force.
"I could shatter your hull with one turret, little girl." Gneisenau shot back as she too activated her rigging.
Vittorio was about to break up the fight when London rushed in.
"Mirror sea opening just outside the port! Prepare for combat operations." London yelled as Abruzzi ran to the wall and hit a red button activating the base's security alarm.
"All hands! Prepare for combat!" Vittorio yelled as her magnificent rigging took shape before she ran outside to engage the supposed enemy.
"Yorktown… I can't believe you managed to bring this ship with you…" One of the soldiers spoke.
The USS Yorktown, hull number CV-10, slipped out of the mirror sea, allowing the Kansen a moment to breathe.
"My friend couldn't bring hers. But for some reason mine was fine to move. Took me a bit but I managed to undo the years of demilitarization that the union had done to this hull. Hence why we are able to use it now." Yorktown spoke as the sound of a raid siren was heard.
"I thought you said this place was safe?" Yorktown asked.
"It was last I checked." The soldier said as he turned to another man carrying a radio.
"Get in contact with the harbor command. Ask what's going on." The soldier asked as Yorktown activated her rigging just in time to get her shields up to block a battleship caliber shell that had been launched directly at her flight deck.
"Don't bother. I'll contact them myself." Yorktown spoke as her eyes went red.
"Clear the flight deck. Yorktown is ready to launch." Yorktown spoke as a squadron of Sky-Pirates laden with multiple torpedoes on each wing shimmered to life at the end of her flight deck.
"All hands clear the flight deck!" The soldier yelled as he corralled every soldier and sailor off the flight deck of the Yorktown.
As the final shimmering of the shield waned away, the Sky-Pirates took to the sky, their wings nearly buckling from the weight of carrying 4 torpedoes per plane.
"Gibraltar port, this is USS Yorktown, hull number CV-10. We have received fire from an unknown source within your territory. Acknowledge or you will be met by deadly force." Yorktown spoke, her voice soft yet firm. A calm voice holding back the will to do what must be done.
Several tense seconds passed before a radio call came in.
"USS Yorktown. This is Gibraltar port. We apologize sincerely for firing upon you. We can make ready to receive you immediately to repair any damage done by our misunderstanding." The female voice spoke.
"I'll take you up on that, Abruzzi." Yorktown spoke.
"How did you?"
"Not important. I'm coming in. I have wounded aboard. So prepare medical facilities to receive them." Yorktown spoke as her planes made a sharp turn and returned to her ship, each one disappearing the moment it touched the flight deck.
"Understood. We will explain when you make port." Abruzzi said as she cut the line.