"President Roosevelt, I have arrived as you requested," said admiral Chester Nimitz, as he entered the Oval room, unsure why he was called to meet with him, quickly noting that the man had a very small smile adorning his lips. And while that didn't help him with finding out the reason for his summon, it still was a good sign. And he oh so much wanted to do something after he was recalled from the Pacific all those months ago.
"Admiral, take a seat, please," the president responded and waited for him to do so after they shook hands, which Nimitz gratefully did with a sigh escaping his lips as he finally sat down on a much comfier chair than those in the plane and car he took to arrive in Washington.
"The reason I have called you here today is that prime minister Churchill and a trading fleet that returned from Pearl Harbor brought some news. Both good and bad. Do you want to start with the good or the bad ones?" he asked after a short while and admiral Nimitz pondered for a second over his response, before he finally decided on what to say.
"The bad ones first, sir," he answered, steeling himself for the information dump he knew would come his way, knowing full well that he was slowly, but surely, getting old for all that crap.
"For starters, the Bismarck has somehow returned from its watery tomb and is terrorizing the Royal Navy, and our own, merchant convoys even harder than both the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau managed to do, when working in tandem. Prime minister, the SOE and our own intelligence suspect that the Sirens are behind this," president Roosevelt started and Nimitz felt his hands ball up into fists, anger already filling his thoughts, but he then took a few deep breaths and calmed down, just as the president continued.
"And lastly, the Sakura empire staged an attack on Pearl Harbor," he said and Nimitz's eyes narrowed at that. That was grave news indeed for the western coast, if the Japs succeed and he suspected the worst to happen, since the commander stationed there had only 300 men strong personnel with him and no functional coastal defenses according by the last report he heard from one of the survivors of the Siren attack back in December.
There goes our final defense against an invasion from the Japs, he thought, but then he noticed the president grin like a man possessed and he raised an eyebrow in a 'what is it?' way to get the answer from the president. And answer he did with something unexpected.
"However, commander Baker managed not only to fix the coastal defenses of the base just in time. He even managed to harness the Wisdom cubes and gain allies in some Jap defectors that formally surrendered to him and successfully defended the base against the Sakura attack. And he had already defeated two Siren fleets as well before that."
This time, Nimitz's eyes threatened to bulge out from their sockets and euphoria filled his body as he heard that information. It was unexpected and very much welcome news after all those defeats against the Sirens, because it showed that they can be beaten without too much accelerated modernization of their naval forces.
"How?" he asked after calming himself once more, knowing full well that to do something like that would take a miracle to make it happen. Especially since the Sirens themselves allied with the Axis and at least one of the Axis nations had already harnessed the cubes, thanks to their help.
"You can call it a miracle or fate pulling the strings, but he managed to get his hands on the Wisdom cubes and accidentally found out that they can be used to instantly repair any damaged ship, along with, and I am not joking, making a physical manifestation of the ship's 'soul' to appear," the president stated without any facial expression betraying his thoughts and Nimitz felt that he was speaking the truth, even if it sounded like someone took an inspiration from some bad superhero story and said it to him.
"Your next assignment is to arrive at Pearl Harbor, meet up with commander Baker and accompany him to meet with Prime minister Churchill at Liverpool. After that, you have the supreme command over the Pacific theater," he continued and Nimitz nodded, a grin forming on his lips as his wish was finally coming true. He'll be able to be back on the sea and possibly beat a fleet or two along the way, suddenly feeling younger by a decade.
"Understood, sir. Is this all?" he asked and after the president nodded, he stood up and left the Oval office in a much better mood than when he entered not even ten minutes ago.
"How is my sister? Will she be alright?" asked Shoukaku for what was most likely the 500th time in the week after they managed to win the battle, even if she herself was just five days awake, after being in a coma from overtaxing herself for two days. And honestly, it was bugging the hell out of Vestal so much that she had to take deep breaths for about a minute to calm down.
At least, lady Enterprise didn't get hurt this time, she thought with a small smile at the small mercy and resumed practicing her skills with the humans' First Aid kits on faux-injured soldiers, alongside with a medic called Max, who was also a doctor and a strong believer in Christianity before he volunteered to join the army, and Katie - one of the nurses - overseeing her work, but this time, they didn't need to stop her and point out that she did a mistake and where, unlike when she started with it right after the Sakura attackers were finally out of sight of the built-in radar of commander's Siren tablet that he confiscated a while ago.
"Great work, Vestal. You don't need more training, but don't forget to practice it from time to time," Max said and Vestal's smile grew even wider at the praise. After all, she now felt that she'll be even more useful in helping the other medical personnel of the base with their work, while also having a specialization that none of them had.
"And to answer your question, Shoukaku," Max continued, "only our Lord Almighty knows when she'll wake up. Her fate is up to Him and no one else now. We can now only pray for her swift recovery."
And after he said that, the commander entered the makeshift inframary with a smile on his lips that they knew meant good things. And good they were, because…
"The Bulins and the construction squad volunteers just cleared the rubble from the last building. It is estimated that the inframary could be fully moved back in about two days, if you wish so. And by the time when we'll receive the much needed shipment of more advanced medical equipment and other supplies, we might be able to finally crack open the secrets of the Siren armor plating," he said, getting smiles from the trio, their moods improving by quite a bit.
"That is good news indeed, commander," Max responded and they then watched as the commander left their domain after he nodded and glanced at the CV duo on the beds and her in a way he only looked at her fellow Kansen - a mixture of admiration, care and… pity?!
I can ask him about it later, she decided and returned to her work, not even noticing that she was blushing a bit from seeing that the commander didn't see them as weapons to be wielded, but as human beings instead.
Meanwhile, about six hours northwest from Pearl Harbor
"I'm boooreed," moaned a short blonde girl with red eyes as she was sitting on her rigging and kicking her legs to do at least something. It was a full week after Akagi rejected their offer of help and they had to escape from her massive swarm of fighters, some of them somehow scoring lucky hits on their comms.
If it wasn't for Z46's great AA defenses, we'll be toast, she thought with a small pout as the reminder of the very close encounter with death was enough for her to remember that Akagi's unwillingness to cooperate would be enough of a reason for her to be punished by Bismarck for failing to secure the alliance. But, that change was only recent.
Wait… How do I know this?! Bismarck was always like- "Stop whining, Blücher. We still have a mission to complete," a voice cut through her thoughts like a hot knife does through butter and she pouted in response, turning to the owner of the interruption a few moments later.
"But, Zed… There is nothing to do, since our comms are busted…" Blücher responded with a small pout, making the shorter blonde with purple eyes groan and mutter something about a "lack of professionalism" as if it mattered to her more than having fun every once in a while.
"What do you propose then?" Z23 asked, the tone of her voice unchanging and then, Blücher remembered something and got an idea from it, grinning mischievously, before saying what was in her mind.
"Why not get the parts from that Union base we passed by?" she asked and if the look on Z23's face was something to go by, she started to consider the idea's ros and cons, while also trying her best to appear like it was a bad idea… only to give in with a final sigh a few moments later.
"It's our best bet at getting the needed supplies, but we'll also have to be careful. Their comms suggested that they have at least Enterprise and some Sakura defectors alive and well on their side. Who knows who else joined their side in the week after that failed Sakura attack? Definitely not us," she said and rolled her eyes as Blücher smiled without warning and hugged Z23, said DD quickly getting flustered at the action.
"W-what are you doing?! Unhand me, Blücher!" Z23 shouted and tried to wiggle her way out from the hug to escape the humiliation that she thought it was bringing on her.
"I think it's called 'hugging', Zed," answered the amused voice of Königsberg as she looked at the scene from her spot, where she held their captive DD from the Royal Navy that tried to reach the very same base that they planned on "visiting" for spare parts to finish up the repairs and was captured a day after they tried to talk with Akagi.
"That is a theft! And theft is a crime! What's next? You're gonna slack off and force someone to install those stolen parts for you?! I'm gonna make-" their prisoner shouted, before receiving a hit to the stomach from Z46's sword's scabbard, the emotionless-looking DD showing a very brief and rare angry face.
Another thing that doesn't feel right… Blücher thought and without warning, started her trek to the base, the rest of the small fleet following her soon afterwards.
But, none of them noticed the F6F flying overhead that immediately sent a warning to said base they were coming to.
"Commander, I have spotted a small fleet coming straight for this base from the northwest. What are your orders?" Enterprise asked and Harvey paled a bit at hearing that. After all, it might've been a new attack by the Sakura empire to finish what Akagi started.
"Are they Sakura?" he asked, concerned about said possibility. After all, they might have come to finish what they started and destroy Pearl Harbor once and for all.
"No. It seems that they fly the Iron Blood colors and have a Royal Navy hostage with them," she responded and both frowned at the same time. It was indeed strange to see an Iron Blood ship outside the Pacific and both knew it.
"What do you think they want?" he asked and Enterprise shrugged, before responding, yet again showing a rare emotion, which made Harvey smile on the inside, knowing that with time, she'll loose up enough to be at ease with everyone and start acting more like a normal human, than a female "Mad Jack" Churchill, that was hellbent on saying that she was nothing more than a weapon.
"Maybe negotiate the release of the Royal Navy captive in exchange for something," she guessed and Harvey nodded at that. It was the most logical solution that he could agree upon with her. But…
"Why here? They could've went to any nearby Royal Navy base that isn't overran by either the Sakura empire or the Sirens," he stated, receiving a flat look from the CV as if he said something incredibly stupid.
"Commander, we are the last base in the Pacific that isn't controlled by either. Even general MacArthur fell when he was fighting against the Sirens," she responded and Harvey paled. Tens of thousands of his countrymen and their allies were wiped out without him knowing?!
"Commander?" Enterprise asked with a worried tone in her voice and Harvey held up a hand as he took deep breaths to recover from the shock of the information he just received. After all, the fate of the Pacific front was laid solely on his shoulders.
"I'll manage," he said after a minute of breathing and placed a hand on her shoulder with a reassuring smile on his lips that didn't reach his eyes, somehow reminding her of Yorktown and that sad smile she always had, whenever she looked at her and Hornet, before entrusing Grim to her.
"How long until they arrive here?" he continued, snapping Enterprise from her thoughts, going into his "tactician mode", as James called it, in the matter of seconds.
"About six hours, commander," she responded with a serious tone in her voice.
"Then, let's form a plan in two and spend the rest of the time with preparations," he said, his mind still clouded with a shadow of doubt about being able to win the war on this front without help from the Royal Navy and the Eagle Union.
Almost six hours later
Z23 knew that something felt very wrong to her the moment they came into the visual range of the docks. The ships were there, but no one was to be seen. Not even a single trace of a recent human activity was visible and that worried her. It worried her even more than the scolding by Bismarck they would get, when they finally will contact her.
"Maybe it wasn't a good idea after all…" she muttered to no one in particular, but she still continued pushing forward, the need for the parts being stronger than her own common sense. They needed to report to Bismarck and get new orders with haste, even if it'll be just arriving back to the main base to receive a harsh punishment from her.
I don't want to end up tortured and isolated from everyone else in the North sea like Tirpitz, she thought and shivered at the still vivid memory of that event. But that still somehow wasn't as scary as the Union base right now. It was as if all life suddenly disappeared. Just like Bismarck told us it did, she thought with a small frown. After all, it seemed highly unlikely for everyone stationed there to just go missing.
"Don't be like that, Zed. Now's not the time to turn back," Königsberg stated, snapping her from her thoughts and only then she noticed that everyone else was a bit further away from her than she thought they were, making her blush a bit, but no one seemed to notice, thanks to the waning light.
"Better be safe than sorry," she muttered to herself and rushed to her allies to catch up with them, the uneasiness getting stronger with each step she took deeper into the base. And to say that everyone was at least a bit scared would be like stating that the sky was blue.
And then, she saw something move behind some crates that were situated in between two warehouses, one of which was conveniently open. That and the movement made even more alarms blare in her mind as if to say that it was just some sort of trap waiting to be sprung at any moment.
"Getting cold feet again, thief?" the captive suddenly barked and Z23 once again noticed that she was lagging behind the rest. And after a few more seconds of trying to calm herself down, she rushed into the warehouse… only to crash headfirst into Blücher's opened arms and get subjected to another hug by the cheery CA.
And once the last of their group entered the warehouse, the door suddenly slammed shut behind them and they were blinded for several agonizing seconds, that felt more like minutes, after which someone turned on the lights and revealed to them the missing humans and Kansen. And it was at that moment that she knew they were trapped with no way out.
And then, a voice that carried respect boomed from behind them, forcing them to look around.
"Identify yourself now and release your prisoner. NOW!" a high ranking naval officer shouted and Z23 watched as their prisoner wiggled herself out from Königsberg's grasp and ran towards a teenage girl with silvery white hair and heterochromatic eyes, one of which was too much Siren-like, which also meant that she was one of those Union Kansen, which was only confirmed by the fact that she had the Union symbol on her shirt.
"Well?" the naval officer asked after a while, his gun drawn and pointed in between her and her allies and then, Z23 watched Blücher's eyes somehow sparkle as she looked at the enemy in silent awe. As if…
No! Stop that! She can't just fall in love with the enemy! she thought and glared at the enemy in one last act of defiance.