"We're entering the town, how do the skies look?" The tank commander asked.
"We're keeping them busy, but we're running low on ammunition. If you can get us into some tight areas, we can at least attempt to make it harder for them to hit us." Cole yelled back as he watched Natalie and Ania disembark and run towards the city center.
"Where the hell are they going?!" Cole yelled.
"They have an agenda to keep. Natalie's wife is locked up here, being tortured by Alpha. So there's a decent chance that she is heading there to bust her out." Lucia explained.
"She could have mentioned that…" Cole spat as he turned his eyes back to the sky, scanning for more planes with his machine gun. Finding none, he gave his orders.
"Everyone disembark and take up your weapons. Anyone capable of carrying radio equipment will be designated as squad leaders. Break off into groups and begin moving towards the city center. Avoid engaging hard targets like pillboxes and gun emplacements. Squad leaders, if you come across hard targets, relay their location to the Yorktown. Nimitz will be there ready to relay information to our other carrier. We can see those targets destroyed." Cole yelled as a report from a massive coastal battery was heard.
All of a sudden, the driver's hatch on the captured tiger flew open. Out of the hatch came Gneisenau.
"Sergeant." Gneisenau said shortly.
"Gneisenau?" Cole asked.
"That gun report just now… it's familiar." Gneisenau spoke.
"How familiar?" Cole asked.
"It… sounds like my sister's guns. Scharnhorst's guns." Gneisenau spoke.
Cole scrambled to the tank's radio.
"Admiral." Cole spoke quickly.
"Sergeant. We were getting worried here. Thought we'd have to start without you." Nimitz spoke with a nervous chuckle.
"Sorry for the delay, Sir. Can you do me a favor and tell me what kind of coastal defenses we're dealing with? I can't see the coast from my location and Gneisenau swears that they are using Scharnhort's guns as coastal artillery." Cole explained.
"I… can confirm that we are seeing several heavy cannons and a single triple turret that seems to be set into one of the hills. Z2 has just confirmed… that triple turret is in fact Scharnhorst's." Nimitz spoke.
Cole looked out ahead.
"Well?" Gneisenau asked.
Cole couldn't muster the words to speak. Only a subtle nod.
What came next would be permanently burned into Cole's memory.
Gneisenau's face softened into one of sadness as she realized the fate of her sister. Scrapped and used for parts. No word as to the condition of her physical body.
Gneisenau's face then soured and hardened into one of extreme anger and hatred. Out in the distance, Gneisenau's turrets all turned to focus different coastal artillery sites. The guns raised steadily and locked on target.
"Sergeant, what's going on? I haven't requested fire from Gneisenau yet." Nimitz asked.
"She's just learned the fate of her sister… sir. I wouldn't try to stop her now." Cole said as a rapid volley of reports came in as Gneisenau volley fired all nine of her 11 inch guns in rapid succession, not allowing even a single moment of silence to fall between the firing of her shells.
"Gneisenau?" Cole asked as he hopped down from his tank and walked over to Gneisenau.
"They killed her… sir. I cannot… I will not… I will never forgive them. I will never forgive what these monsters have done to her." Gneisenau ground out as Cole could see a lone tear falling from her hate filled eyes.
Almost as if on cue, several Peace Breakers leading a small company of SS troops appeared in the street ahead of them. Without skipping so much as a heartbeat, Gneisenau brought her rigging into existence and trained the heavy guns on her newly acquired targets, unleashing a hellish barrage of high explosive shells that tore the enemy company to pieces without so much as a second thought.
"Contact!" Cole yelled as Brooklyn turned her rigging as well and fired into the enemy troops while Cole brought his rifle up and picked off SS troops that had taken cover behind rubble.
The Peace Breakers brought up their shields and began returning fire on Gneisenau and Brooklyn, forcing them to seek cover behind one of the outcrops of the buildings.
"Commander, shoot those motherfuckers!" Cole ordered as he watched the turret of the Pershing turn to face the Peace Breakers before the 90mm cannon opened fire, piercing the shields of the first Peace Breaker and splitting the siren in half with a well aimed shot to the chest.
The second Peace Breaker returned fire immediately, peppering the forward Pershing with bolts of white hot plasma, causing massive gouges to form in the frontal armor.
"All armor disperse! Do not engage without proper cover! Your armor can't take this level of abuse." Cole yelled as the armor behind him backed off to begin working their way through the town.
"What do we do if we can't rely on the tanks?!" Brooklyn asked.
"We avoid prolonged Combat. Gneisenau, can you take them?" Cole asked.
"Easily." Gneisenau spoke, the hate in her voice was nearly tangible.
"Go get 'em. I'll pull the Tiger back. Brook, get on the radio and see if one of the carriers can spare some support." Cole said as he kept low and ran towards the Tiger that was helping keep the SS troops occupied on the side street.
Brook adjusted her rigging slightly to activate her radio as she provided cover for Gneisenau to get in close.
"Yorktown. Yorktown, come in." Brook called as she watched Gneisenau run from cover to cover, approaching the remaining peace breaker like a bear charging its prey.
"Tad busy at the moment, Brooklyn. What do you need?" Yorktown asked.
"We've hit a snag, Battleship class sirens have us bogged down in the southern tip of the town. Can you spare anything at all?" Brooklyn asked.
"Sorry. Elbe and I are dealing with heavy AA resistance. The cruisers are also taking the brunt of the enemy's air power. Even if we had assets to spare, we'd need them to assist San Diego and Wichita, as well as your vessel which is doing the best it can without you on it. We can't help until Elbe and I take down these AA emplacements." Yorktown spoke.
"Shit. Alright. What about the other troops?" Brooklyn asked.
"They just launched the boats a few minutes ago and they should be hitting the beaches right about now. What are our enemies armed with? I might be able to relay that information to warn our boys going ashore." Yorktown spoke.
"They're SS. STGs, Mp-40s, Karabiner 98ks. Standard issue German. That's all I saw before Gneisenau tore them apart with high explosive." Brooklyn said as a bolt of plasma whizzed past her head.
"Elbe would know more. Thanks… sorry. We can't help until those guns go down." Yorktown spoke as she cut the line.
Brooklyn looked up to see Gneisenau's fist pierce the shields of the second Peace Breaker before clamping around the neck of the offending Siren and throw it sideways into a building, allowing the force of the impact to shatter the remaining shields before moving in and executing the siren with a full salvo from her rigging at point blank range. The alley was covered in black liquid as the blood rained down from the force of the explosion.
"We're not getting air support, Gneisenau. We're on our own for the time being." Brooklyn called as Cole managed to get the Tiger tank moving.
"So be it. More for my guns to silence." Gneisenau growled. Brooklyn saw, from where she was standing, two streams of tears running down the battleship's face.
"Gneisenau… there's still hope." Brooklyn spoke.
"She's dead. All that I found when I woke up was my ship and her eyepatch. Even her guns have been removed from their hull and installed as land emplacements. She's dead…" Gneisenau spat.
"I know that's what it seems. But hold out hope… if only for a little." Brooklyn said as she walked to the battleship's side, allowing her shields to take the brunt of the potshots being taken by a dying SS officer.
"And why would I do that?" Gneisenau asked, almost snapping at Brooklyn.
"London came to us right before we left, Cole and I. She gave Cole some intel that had been gathered by a spy that Vittorio had arranged up here. This city holds a prison of sorts. Not exactly a camp, but a prison nonetheless. The spy reported Kansen prisoners. Don't lose hope… not until we check that prison." Brooklyn said softly.
Gneisenau's face softened a bit as she let Brooklyn see her tears.
A tone Brooklyn had never heard came from Gneisenau, far different from the abrasive and callused battleship she had come to know. This voice was soft, gentle, tender even. Brooklyn, while never hearing it, understood. It was a tone from a different time, before the Sirens. This was her true voice.
"I… I thought I'd be able to see her again. That this eyepatch meant she was still here with us. That her guns being here meant she was still somewhat okay… I hope this is the case… Brooklyn." Gneisenau spoke softly.
Brooklyn steeled her resolve.
"Let's bury the hatchet here, Gneisenau. We were enemies during this last war. But we now have common ground. I will help you find your sister. For better… or worse. I will help you find her. And if she is still with us, I will not rest until she is safe aboard the Yorktown when we make our way out of this wretched place." Brooklyn said as she extended her hand.
Gneisenau turned to face her with soft eyes, using the tone Brooklyn had heard moments before.
"I… I would like that. Truth be told… I was never this angry. But after everything fell and I woke up to… well… this, I couldn't help but feel angry. I let that anger consume me until I forgot how I used to be. I can only hope that we find her alive… I want nothing more… not at this moment." Gneisenau spoke softly as she took Brooklyn's hand.
In a surprise move, Brooklyn pulled Gneisenau in and hugged her the moment she took Brooklyn's hand. Brooklyn hugged the battleship for all she was worth.
"It's the same for me… you know. I lost a good friend of mine when we escaped Bermuda. She wasn't my sister… but she might as well have been. I realized then that I had become more abrasive. More violent. But I found Cole… he gave me a rope to pull myself from the depths of despair. Let me extend that rope to you and give you some hope." Brooklyn whispered as she released the battleship from her hold.
Gneisenau smiled a bit, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
"Let's get this done then. The Admiral of Azur Lane shan't be kept waiting any longer." Gneisenau said.
"Agreed. Let's get this shit done." Brooklyn said as she gave Gneisenau a soft slap on the back.
"Quite the touching moment there, Brook. Both of you, hop on, we're going to take this tiger all the way to the center square." Cole said as he poked his head out of the driver's hatch.
Brooklyn blushed a deep red. Gneisenau giggled and turned towards the tank.
"Come along. We have a battle to win." Gneisenau said as the tank began rolling forward, towards the center of town.