On shore, Gneisenau's group was faring a lot worse than anticipated. Despite the area being quite literally turned into a bombing range thanks to Ranger, there were still structures that had not been destroyed. The cultists and Sirens that had managed to scramble inside had made themselves cozy in their makeshift bunker and were currently pinning down Natalie and Pavel. A short jog away, Gneisenau was using her rigging to shoot down Ranger's planes that got too close to the area where Natalie was pinned down.
Natalie and Pavel sat behind the wreck of a bombed out tank and were throwing potshots out towards the cluster of bunkers that covered an area between their 11:00 and 1:00 angles. Despite the hail of gunfire, the two were miraculously okay for the time being.
Scouring the bodies and what remained of the tank, Pavel had stumbled into a half-looted box of grenades. To Natalie's surprise, Pavel immediately knew what to do.
"Impact grenades… Italian specialty." Pavel muttered as he pulled the arming pin on one of the "Red Devil" grenades.
"Прочь с дороги! Граната!" Pavel shouted as Natalie hit the ground. With the accuracy that one would expect of a Soviet Shock Trooper, Pavel sailed one of the grenades into the opening of one of the bunkers, where it detonated upon hitting the ground. This set off a chain reaction where the initial explosion detonated the stockpiles of gasoline, ammunition and high explosives that had been hoarded by the cultists in what could only be described as lofty ambitions.
Pavel, however, was unphased. Despite Natalie ducking her head, Pavel lined up another toss, and dunked the second grenade into the bunker on their 11:00 flank.
"A different battle… and a different battlefield… yet they scream all the same as those German pigs that we pushed out of Stalingrad." Pavel lamented as the third bunker was engulfed in flames after succumbing to a stray 16 inch high explosive shell that was still occasionally falling from the sky, thanks entirely to the pissed off North Carolina class powerhouse known as Washington.
"That's three for three. Get up, Natalie. We do not want to be bogged down further here. If we cannot contain the two women that are responsible for this destruction, then we will surely meet our end by the invaders." Pavel spoke with alarming clarity.
Natalie pushed herself to her feet, with help from Pavel, and the two of them began making their way closer to where Washington was still engaging the dwindling swarm of Peace Breaker class sirens that didn't have the intuition to stay away from her blind fury.
On their small trek across the bloodied and bombed wasteland that now defined Marsalla, Pavel spotted another tank with several men strewn about it, likely more cultists. Pavel was unsure, so he decided it would be prudent of him to check the wreckage for anything useful, considering he and Natalie were likely headed for certain death should they be unable to calm Washington.
Keeping low and moving quick, Pavel began to scavenge the tank and the cadavers strewn around it. Another box of grenades was gleefully taken as was a relatively untouched flak jacket that was still being worn by one of the dead men, whom Pavel identified as Italian reservists. Soldiers who died for their nation, as opposed to the ones that serve the Sirens.
"To protect your mother country until your dying breath… tis a sentiment we all share. Rest well brothers." Pavel thought as he strapped the flak jacket around his waist before looking over the ground and seeing several parts of the tank that had been destroyed, including some small pieces of steel armor and tank treads that could be used as additional ballistic protection if fastened to the flak jacket he was wearing.
"Anything worth the time we're wasting here?" Natalie asked as she propped her upper body on the butt of her rifle.
"Da. Armor and a few weapons of the Italian variety. I'm going to try and fasten some of the armor plates to this flak jacket… improve my chances at taking a hit or two. Might even soften the blows should that Battleship decide that she wants to fight with fists." Pavel spoke.
"Uh huh… right. Well, let's do it quickly then, Minneapolis just found Gneisenau and they are moving towards Washington. Ranger has been deemed… unimportant as a target for some reason. So we need to focus on Washington." Natalie said.
"Understood. Then let us hurry." Pavel said as the two of them began to fashion a makeshift suit of armor to cover Pavel's vital regions.
Ranger had shown no outward signs of slowing down her rampage. In her enraged and distraught state, she felt as if her energy reserves were bottomless.
Her eyes were moving a mile a minute as she directed flight after flight of bombers and fighters. Her fighters were busy fighting off what she perceived as enemy air support, while her bombers sussed out and annihilated all cultist presence in the town below.
Ranger was ready to launch yet another flight of bombers from her flight deck when a sudden strong presence behind her stopped her cold.
"CV-4… Designation Ranger. Historically the first Union vessel purpose built to be an aircraft carrier. Forged a path for carriers such as the infamous Grey Ghost Enterprise and the Powerful Essex Class. Such a powerful woman… such a powerful ship." An ethereal voice spoke.
Ranger whipped around and tried to summon her rigging, only for the presence to disappear entirely.
This sudden jolt forced Ranger to snap out of her rage.
"What the… hell? Who… was… that?" Ranger asked as the sheer level of fatigue hit her like a tidal wave.
"Ranger? Ranger?!" Minneapolis called out from the corner of a collapsed building.
"Minnie?" Ranger asked as she dropped to her knees.
"What did that bitch do to you? Are you okay?" Minnie called as the heavy cruiser sprinted towards the carrier and caught her shoulders, arresting her fall forward.
"What bitch? Where's Max? The last thing I remember…"
"Shut it! Max is fine. I-25 took him and is sailing at flank speed for Gibraltar. Nimitz ordered a doctor from the Italians to join her to keep the kid stable. He's gonna make it, damn it! You were almost toast, you hear me?" Minnie cried.
"Toast? Why?" Ranger asked as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
"I saw that damn Siren. That wasn't a grunt. That was one of the big ones. The head honchos. Had a massive jellyfish following her around. What did she do to you?" Minnie asked.
"She… knew who I was… she didn't… do anything. She said my name… told me that I was the one who laid the path for the future… for Enterprise… and Essex. I remember… trying to turn and attack… but she was gone… and then I heard your voice… Max… I let him get hurt." Ranger spoke, fighting her fatigue with whatever she could scrape from the bottom of her reserves.
"No. There was nothing you could have done. We were ambushed and the plan went to shit. Max made it off the beach. You have to have faith. He's going to live." Minneapolis spoke as she picked up Ranger and began running towards the beach.
"Where is Washington?" Ranger asked.
"She's… still on a rampage. We're working on bringing her down and reigning her in." Minneapolis admitted.
"I'm sorry…" Ranger whispered as the last bit of fight left in her body vanished, forcing the carrier into a deep unconscious state.
Minnie grimaced.
"I'm sure we all would have done the same, Ranger… you're not alone." Minneapolis whispered as she ducked into the ruins to continue towards the beach without being detected.