"You will not harm a single hair on her head, Siren." Massachusetts spoke slowly as she glared daggers at the Siren battleship in front of them.
"Oh? I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. Not with the thoughts of turning your hull into iron dust clouding my mind." Exploration spoke with a spiteful smile.
"You may grind my hull to dust. You can break my bones and cut my flesh. But you will not hurt Jean Bart. I will rend your soul before you get the chance." Massachusetts spoke sharply as all nine of her sixteen-inch cannons took aim at the only target in her vision.
"I'd like to see you try, little battleship. The only real threat here… is New Jersey. You and Jean are just the appetizers before the main event. And with my lovely little friend, Concealment, dealing with New Jersey's systems, I can easily take you two out before New Jersey can target me." Exploration goaded as nine sixteen-inch shells impacted her shields, placing massive cracks along the entire surface.
"Looks like I got a good start." Massachusetts growled as she glared at the now angry Siren. Her guns were still smoking from the near constant shelling she had been doing since the enemy drones came within range.
"Listen here you bitch. You ruin the clothing Mistress Hermit gave me; you will feel a thousand deaths before I let your cubes fade away!" Exploration screeched.
"You should focus on fighting, and not flapping your useless gums." Massachusetts spoke as she loaded her main guns and fired another full salvo, impacting the shields of Exploration once more. The deep cracks spread further, some blue shimmers coming from the shield indicating that the material was failing.
"It seems you might be worth the trouble of coming here." Exploration spoke as she addressed her sea of Explorer class sirens.
"Listen up my pretties. Attack the French battleship, Jean Bart. Leave the American pig sow to me." Exploration spoke as Massachusetts turned her attention to Jean Bart.
"I got this. You focus on that battleship bitch. These little shits aren't worth the sole of my boots." Jean Bart spoke proudly, giving Massachusetts some hope.
"I will not allow them to hurt you." Massachusetts spoke under her breath.
"I'll be fine. Focus!" Jean yelled as she activated her rigging and began opening fire with her rigging and full-sized cannons in a seemingly effective attempt to thin the approaching herd.
Seeing Jean's limited success, Massachusetts turned just in time to activate her rigging and use the anchor chains to block an incoming volley of fire from Exploration.
"Oh? Is your head not in the fight now that your friend is in distress?" Exploration asked condescendingly.
"Shut it, Siren. My lover has no problem defending herself from such low-level threats." Massachusetts growled.
"Lover?! Ha! As if someone like you could find love with someone like her!" Exploration spat.
Massachusetts felt a vein pop on her forehead.
This Siren was going to meet her end.
"Damn submarine. Where'd you go now?!" Concealment growled as she swung her light through the blackness, trying to find the submarine that had made its home just outside of view.
'Closer than you think, Siren.' I-19 thought as she launched a wide spread of six tiny Type 93 torpedoes from her rigging, varying the homing signature between them to make the movement erratic and hard to predict.
"Six torpedoes in the water. Cannot calculate appropriate countermeasures. Taking drastic action." Concealment spoke as the lanterns hanging from her rigging began to glow brighter and brighter until they began emitting a near solid beam in every direction.
One of the beams grazed by I-19 and she felt the water around the beams begin to boil.
'Shit. She's trying to boil me alive.' I-19 thought as she dove under the majority of the beams, allowing the icy water of the depths to cool her burns.
I-19 watched as the beams tore her torpedoes apart mid-flight, detonating far short of the intended target.
A moment later the beams died down. For a quick moment, I-19 could see that one of the lanterns of Concealment's rigging had shattered after the use of her omnidirectional ability.
'Maybe…' I-19 thought as she counted the remaining lanterns.
'Three in total. Maybe that's the number of times she can use such an attack… I have unlimited torpedoes… I can beat her here.' I-19 thought as her rigging pulled her lazily through the murky water.
I-19 positioned herself 90 degrees from her last location, putting her behind Concealment. Another six torpedoes left the tubes, prompting Concealment to once again overload her lanterns to protect herself from the seemingly unavoidable torpedoes.
"Tch. Pesky brat. Fine. I'll play this game." Concealment spoke as the legs of her rigging began to stomp the seafloor, kicking up tons of mud, clouding the already dark water. Using the mud to her advantage, Concealment began throwing out what I-19 thought were barrels. That was until the first barrel exploded.
'Depth charges?! This deep?! She's lost her mind!' I-19 cried in her thoughts, moving erratically to avoid the nearly endless amounts of depth charges being projected from the cloud of mud.
"How's that, pesky brat? You figured out my lanterns… but you won't be able to stop and fire those torpedoes of yours without risking being hit by these depth charges. And firing those pesky torpedoes of yours while moving will prove to be more than a challenge if your rigging fails." Concealment spoke as I-19 reacted, turning away and putting distance from the cruiser class Siren before the inevitable shockwave began emanating from the cloud of mud.
I-19 managed to put enough distance between herself and Concealment to render the EMP useless on her.
'She's panicking. She's doing everything she can to keep me away.' I-19 thought to herself as she felt her chest strain.
'Breathe.' I-19 thought as she let the oxygen she had been holding in escape before putting a tube to her mouth that came from her rigging. She took a deep breath and replaced the tube before moving quickly away from where she had released the air bubbles.
'I have one more breath stored in this… I can't let this fight last too much longer. If I am forced to surface… I'm screwed.' I-19 assured herself.
"Well now… scared? I don't hear any more torpedoes. Did you finally get scared and run away?" Concealment spoke as the depth charges stopped.
'I missed a chance to fire.' I-19 chastised herself for wasting an opportunity. Her lament was short lived as the thunder of guns was heard coming from the surface.
'Fire.' I-19 thought as another six torpedoes left her rigging, covered on their approach by the near constant thudding of battleship guns above. Disappearing into the cloud of mud, the sound of a detonation was heard along with the shattering of glass.
I-19 smiled.
'Bullseye'
"Oh you've done it now, bitch!" Concealment yelled as the cloud of mud dispersed. I-19 was taken aback at how quick Concealment managed to cover ground as the Siren made a beeline towards I-19. I-19 turned to escape when the bright light of Concealment's lanterns flooded the dark water.
"I found you." Concealment spoke as she aimed her guns at I-19 and opened fire.
I-19 managed to dodge just barely. However, I-19's rigging would not react to any further commands.
'Shit! The EMP!' I-19 screamed in her mind as she tried to will the Iron rigging to move, finding it quite impossible.
"You're out of luck, kitty cat. No more torpedoes. No more stealth. You're done." Concealment spoke as I-19's tail straightened before whipping around wildly in the water.
'Eat this then, bitch.' I-19 thought as she used her body weight and the strength of her arms to propel her own rigging away from her and towards Concealment, who caught it easily, making a show of using her strength to crush it within her grip.
"Was that all you had? Without your rigging, you're as sure as dead." Concealment said as a small glint in I-19's hand caught her eye.
'Hasta La Vista, baby' I-19 thought as the pistol in her hand fired a single round, aimed directly at where she knew the warheads on her rigging were stored.
The round penetrated the rigging's shell and detonated within, creating a massive explosion within direct proximity to Concealment, throwing bits of burning metal and pressure at the cruiser class Siren, ripping her own rigging to shreds.
I-19 felt pain as her rigging exploded. It wasn't much more than what she would feel if she was punched in the gut, however, it was more than enough to force her to release all of the oxygen she had been holding in her lungs.
'Shit! Shit! Shit!' I-19 thought as she looked around wildly, looking for her vessel.
I-19 began to black out as she felt a pair of arms grab her and begin dragging her through the water.
'I'm dead…' I-19 thought as her mind went black.
New Jersey was firing her cannons at the drone fleet using Jean Bart's radar data, when suddenly her own radar kicked back in and updated the information.
"I-19 did it! Finally, let's go!" New Jersey yelled as she adjusted her main guns and opened fire with more precision than she had done previously, sinking drones left right and center as each shell detonated within the vessels.
"Akashi, update?" New Jersey asked, looking at the repair ship to find the crane lowered over the side and the boat listing heavily to the right.
"Akashi report." New Jersey demanded as she watched a pair of green ears pop out of the water. New Jersey then saw the red fur of I-19 as Akashi stood on the waves and hopped onto her vessel.
"Akashi? Everything okay?" New Jersey asked as she sensed more aircraft coming.
"H-hai. Akashi had to save I-19-chan." Akashi replied.
"And the enemy?" New Jersey asked.
"Blown to pieces, nyaa." Akashi said as New Jersey watched Akashi hoist one of Concealment's rigging's legs over her head.
New Jersey laughed.
"Guide my anchor. I'll focus on bringing that submarine to the surface. You get that cat dried off and ready to make way towards the Admiral's fleet." New Jersey spoke as her AA guns began firing once more, using her newly restored radar to accurately pick planes from the sky with her five inch, 40mm, and 20mm guns.
"Hai." Akashi said as she helped New Jersey drop her anchor down to where Akashi had latched the tow line onto the hull of I-19. New Jersey allowed her anchor to catch the line before she began hoisting up the anchor, focusing on keeping the pace steady so as to not snap the line or damage the hull, all the while keeping the last few drones and aircraft at bay.
Jean Bart's barrels on her rigging were glowing orange from the sheer number of shells flying through them. Massachusetts could see it on her face, she was worn down. She had no energy left with which to defend.
Jean Bart fell to the deck of her vessel as her rigging faded away. Jean had burnt herself out against the endless waves of Explorers.
"Jean!" Massachusetts cried.
"Looks like lover girl couldn't hold out." Exploration spoke as she smiled innocently at Massachusetts.
Massachusetts glared furiously at the Siren before taking aim once more with her main guns and firing, cracking the Siren's shields further.
"Fuck you." Massachusetts yelled as she looked over to see Jean being hit, kicked, and stabbed by various Explorers who had managed to pour over the railing and onto the deck of the Jean Bart.
"Jean!" Massachusetts cried again as she turned the guns of her rigging over and blasted away, killing several of the explorers who had surrounded Jean.
"Go save her, Massa. I'll handle this one." New Jersey spoke via radio.
"But the drones…" Massachusetts asked as she looked out beyond the battlefield.
"Don't worry about them. My vessel can fire on them without me being there. This Siren however… has earned my undivided attention." New Jersey's voice said as Massachusetts felt a pair of boots landing on the deck beside her. Looking to her left, Massachusetts saw the blood red eyes of the Black Dragon.
"Give her hell…" Massachusetts whispered.
"I fully intend to." New Jersey growled as her massive rigging sprouted from the small of her back.
"Come pick on someone your own size." New Jersey yelled as Exploration grimaced.
"Concealment failed. This just got difficult." Exploration muttered to herself as she strengthened her shields to prepare for her duel against New Jersey.
Jean's body was covered in cuts and bruises as the Explorers continued pouring over the sides of the rail to attack her as ordered by their master.
Another Explorer was about to drive a sharp blade into Jean's eye when she was sent flying by a foot to the chest.
"Keep your filthy hands off my woman!" Massachusetts roared angrily as the impact of her foot and knee hitting the deck splintered the wood beneath her. All at once, the Explorers stopped and looked at their newest challenger. Massachusetts on the other hand moved in front of Jean Bart to cover her.
"Massa…chusetts." Jean tried, fighting the pain to speak.
"Shh. Relax now, my love. I will fight for you now. New Jersey is back on her feet too. Let us fight this battle." Massachusetts spoke firmly.
"Just… as useless now… as I was then… huh?" Jean asked dejectedly before Massachusetts looked her way.
"Not at all. You did well now… just as you did then. Rest. We will talk when this battle ends." Massachusetts spoke as she turned to face the Explorers. Her soft brown eyes now burning a deep and violent crimson.
"You have hurt the one I hold dear." Massachusetts spoke as she gripped the chains on the pair of hundred-pound anchors attached to her rigging. With all the grace of a gymnast, Massachusetts began to swing the chain and anchors like a pair of rope darts… if the darts were hundred-pound anchors and the rope being another fifty pounds of anchor chain each.
"And now you will pay." Massachusetts growled as she launched one of the anchors at an Explorer that had decided to try its luck, only to have its chest caved in by the mad battleship's anchor. The stricken explorer was thrown overboard by the sheer force of the impact.
"Come on then! Have a go if you're hard enough!" Massachusetts yelled as the swarm of Explorers hesitantly charged the battleship, only to find their lives similarly ended by a combination of blunt force and high explosives.
Massachusetts took a breath and looked around, seeing that she was surrounded.
"I've been surrounded… good. Now I can't miss." Massachusetts snarled as she continued her deadly dance.