[DATE UNKNOWN]
Bon Homme Richard stands on the bridge of her Aircraft Carrier with Compiler, who is calculating the most effective way for Bonnie to use her weapons and aircraft based on what little she knows of their enemy.
As she watches NYC disappear over the horizon, Bonnie asks, "Do you ever feel love, Compy?"
"My name is Compiler, and what do you mean?" She asks.
"Ya know, like loving someone. Or… loving something, like a place." Bonnie explains.
"No. I am not sure what love is."
"When you… uh… have strong feelings…. I guess?" Bonnie tries.
"I am confused. Isn't that what the emotion called 'hatred' is?" The Antiochus asks.
"Kinda, but the opposite end of the strong emotions, I suppose. If you love someone, you wanna spend more time with them, get them nice things, do things for them—"
"Is that what leads to sexual intercourse?" Compiler interrupts.
Red-faced, Bonnie says, "Um… yeah… but… usually it takes a while to get to that point…"
"Why would such a natural activity take so long? Would it not be more efficient and logical to engage in said activity as soon as two humans fall in love? Isn't there some kind of mating ritual as with many members of the animal kingdom?"
"…oh, good lord…" Bonnie facepalms. "With humans… it's not so straight forward… usually when animals do it, they don't see each other again and they just do it to bear offspring. People… do it when they want to start a family… or just for the pleasure of it… man, this is so awkward…"
"That seems like a blatant waste of time if not for the production of a new generation." The Antiochus replies.
"…but… don't you wanna know what it's like? To love, I mean?" Bonnie asks.
"Are you asking to reproduce with me? That would be impossible."
Now very bright red, Bonnie yells, "No! Nononono!" She waves her hands around, "No. Well, maybe it'd be interesting— NO!" She facepalms again, "What is wrong with me…?"
"Your increased heart rate and tone would suggest you are embarrassed as a result of your natural curiosity to see what sexual intercourse with an Antiochus unit would be like." Complier answers the rhetorical question.
"C…could we just get away from this topic, please!?" Bonnie pouts.
"Understood."
"Anyway… about just love itself… wouldn't you wanna know what that's like, at all? Not to have sex, just… to love something like I love NYC?" The Carrier asks.
"Perhaps one day the feeling known as 'love' may be worthy of exploration. I will research and archive it for later." Complier decides.
Bonnie looks forward and adds, "Yeah… NYC means the world to me, just like my friends and sisters. I'd do anything to help them. I love my fans. I'm not gonna stop fighting until this Leviathan thing is dead. It dares to threaten everything I love, and I won't stand for it!"
"You know, using slightly altered lines of dialogue from your movie roles seems a rather lazy way of getting your point across." Compiler deadpans after recognising her little speech.
Blushing once again, Bonnie says, "It just sounded cool, okay!?"
Her radio comes to life. The voice of Enterprise says, "Bon Homme Richard, you're lagging behind. Increase speed to match. Our allies are in sight."
"You got it, Enty!" Bonnie speeds up.
Compiler instructs, "Approaching anticipated AO. Prepare aircraft."
Bonnie nods as her Wildcats, Helldivers and Avengers appear with propellors spinning. She and her Eagle Union comrades have been sailing from NYC for hours to meet up with the other factions. She sees the other flagships moving into formation. Her radio comes to life again as she hears on the Combined Azur Lane open channel.
"This is Bismarck. Requesting permission to join your fleet, Kommandant."
"Eternal Flagship, Vittorio Veneto, requesting the same, Commandante."
"Battleship Nagato of the Nagato-class offering assistance with my forces, Shikikan-sama."
"This is Warspite. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, demands a union of fleets, Commander."
"Battleship Richelieu reporting in. The newly-reformed Iris Orthodoxy wishes to lend our aid to our friends. Let the light of God and the Holy Iris guide us, Commandant."
"Oui… what my sister said."
"The Dragon Empery is here and ready, Zhǐhuī guān!"
"Sovetsky Soyuz to all new Comrades, let us destroy the enemy together, Comrade Komandir!"
"This is Observer Zero. All mass-produced Antiochus units in position in the Vanguard Fleet. All Enforcers, Elites and Arbiters are on standby."
"Good to have us all together, girls. You all have permission. I'm so proud of all of you for coming together." The Commander gratefully responds. "It took a lot of work to reform Azur Lane to its full power, and with the new Antiochus girls with us, I doubt anything will be able to threaten us."
Bonnie chuckles at the sight of every Kansen and Antiochus on Earth banding together. No enemy can hope stand against them now. As the Commander confirms the formation of the biggest Naval fleet ever assembled, the Carrier turns to her more robotic friend and asks, "Everything okay so far?"
Complier nods, "Affirmative. Observer Zero is watching from her vantage point on top of Enterprise's superstructure. Together, we will defeat the Leviathan."
"You got that right! No big, dark fox thing's gonna destroy NYC on my watch!" Bonnie says with a thumbs up.
Complier deadpans, "There is far more at stake than a major Eagle Union city. There may be others arriving after this one."
"Yeah, yeah. Just tell us when it's here." Bonnie waves her off. "Wait… others…?"
Suddenly, the sky is lit on fire as the atmosphere is breached by a colossal, mechanical monster. Bonnie freezes as she stares it down.
"It's here." Compiler says.
It's so impossibly massive that Bonnie how it's flying. She then realises that it's not. It's falling. The entire fleet starts launching aircraft, shells, missiles and bullets at the creature, along with battle cries flooding the radio as they all activate their skills.
The monster lands in the water at terminal velocity and then a massive wall of water gets sent at them all.
"HOLY SHIT!" Bonnie screams as she sees it taking out and capsizing most of all the Kansen vessels and Antiochus mass-produced ships. Air strikes prove ineffective against the sheer size of the Leviathan. The enormous tidal wave gets close to her ship.
Complier orders, "Face towards the wave to minimise the chance of capsizing. Dispel all planes still on deck to prevent them falling off."
Bonnie does so and her ship goes almost vertical as the wave picks it up. It's a miracle she gets over it. At the top of the wave, she sees the damage it's done.
"Oh no…" Bonnie says, crestfallen. Everyone except some of the biggest ships have sunk. Enterprise is still fighting as well as the other flagships.
The Commander yells on the radio with a very emotionally pained voice, "All remaining ships, use everything you have left! We can't retreat from this fight! FIRE EVERYTHING!"
Bonnie launches all the rest of her planes and manually targets the Leviathan with her other armaments. "Die! Just die!" She yells. "I won't let you damage NYC!"
"Shouting at it won't help." Complier says.
"Shut up! It's helping me!" BHR demands. She sees every attack failing to do any damage to the massive fox-like monster due to its seemingly impenetrable skin. It rears up and fires a massive laser over their heads towards the Eagle Union homeland.
Bonnie looks to Complier and asks, "Where is that laser going!?"
Complier responds, "Calculating trajectory… it will strike NYC."
"WHAT!?"
Complier says, "NYC has been obliterated."
"No…"
Bonnie sees the Leviathan fire another. Complier says, "New laser trajectory will hit London in the Royal Kingdom."
"No… NO!" Bonnie screams. Her skin goes pale and her eyes start turning from sky blue to blood red. Her clothes darken and a furious aura surrounds her. "YOU…. YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" She sails her ship towards the Leviathan full-speed, launching glowing planes again and again without rest. She doesn't even bother with tactics and just throws them right at the monster in Kamikaze strikes, much to the shock of many of the still remaining Sakurans. The rest of the Kansen join her attack in one last desperate push.
Bonnie looks closely and she sees the shield actually start to falter. She suddenly gains a wicked grin and says over the radio, "KEEP GOING! MAKE IT PAY FOR DESTROYING NYC!"
Warspite, taking over for her now sunk sister, yells with passion, "FOR QUEEN AND COUNTRY!" Her nuclear submarine launches its own nukes at the monster all at once, along with New Jersey firing all of her nuclear shells. The Battleship herself is crying silently.
The skin of the Leviathan finally gives and it starts taking damage from the nuclear warheads.
The Commander says with very little emotion, "Girls… it's been an honour commanding you… and I'm so sorry… but the higher ups have ordered nuclear retaliation. Turn around, retreat and just hope that you escape."
Bismarck shouts, "FICK DICH, KOMMANDANT! I WILL NOT ABANONDON MY INJURED SCHIFFSMÄDCHEN!"
"NOR WILL I!" Warspite concurs.
After a series of panicked arguments in this breakdown of command structure, Bonnie sees the Leviathan lower its head to aIm its mouth laser at the fleet.
Bonnie doesn't seem to hear her, but Compiler says, "Additional Leviathans have appeared in other oceans in the world targeting Eagle Union territories and other faction capital cities and major ports. We have miscalculated. This timeline is lost. Initiating failsafe. Preparing escape portals."
Bonnie attempts to launch planes into the monster's mouth to disable its laser, but then it fires and a light completely engulfs the fleet and the waters around it, blinding Bonnie and a sound rings out so loud it deafens her.
In a pure white void, BHR hears only a ringing in her ears, until she hears a voice, "Bonnie…?"
She feels a hand on her shoulder and she looks to see Essex. She looks around again and she's suddenly back in the Siren stronghold. Essex asks, "Bonnie, you okay? You blanked out there."
"Uh… yeah… just… gimme a minute…" Bonnie leaves the room to be alone.
"What was that about…?" Essex whispers. She decides to follow her in secret. Enterprise was right, she's acting very strangely…
29th September, 1941
Sovetskaya Rossiya enters the flagship office where Sovetsky Soyuz sits catching up on paperwork. The older sister looks up from her work and meets eyes with her, "Welcome back, Rossiya. How did the meeting go?" She looks back down at her paper.
Rossiya says, "Just as you said it would, except that the Eagle Union one, Enterprise, has woken up from this simulation loop."
Soyuz' pen snaps in her hand as she swiftly turns her attention back to her, "She's WHAT!?"
Rossiya sits down opposite her. "You heard me. She and many others in Azur Lane have woken up and have been affecting the simulation from the outside. I assume this hasn't happened in the previous loops, judging by your reaction and the fact you never mentioned that part."
Soyuz calms herself and attempts to wipe some of the spilled ink off her hand. "Indeed, this is new… I should've gone myself this time… they still think you're the one who remembers every time?"
"Da. It sure seems that way. Also, I'd still like to know why I'm filling the role of flagship, by the way." Rossiya answers.
Soyuz sighs, stands and grabs some hay from a box on the table in the room and puts it in a rabbit hutch. As a small, snow-white fluffy bunny starts to nibble on it, Soyuz answers, "I've told you so many times… and each time it never gets any easier…"
Rossiya listens as her sister continues, "I need to lay low so that the Sirens do not suspect me. Their attention is focused on many different points of interest. Our operations attract much of that attention. If I were to personally interfere too much, they would make our situation even more dire. If someone else, who was not directly aware of the loop, was in charge of operations, the Sirens could ignore us while they keep their eyes on Enterprise, Victory, Queen Elizabeth, the Iris sisters, Veneto and the Sakura foxes as they actively work to undermine their control."
Rossiya asks, "Aren't we actively doing that as well?"
Soyuz sits back down at her desk, "Da, but we are being subtle about it. Not even the other flagships know how far we've gotten, and I intend to keep it that way. I do not know why we have not been able to wake up in the real world considering our hulls were cancelled and that concerns me greatly. I want to know why."
Rossiya asks, "Why don't you ever change anything to give us an advantage?"
Soyuz says, "There are a great many events in this War that rely on very minor details that must happen the way they do so that the outcome is always the same."
"And what is that outcome?" Rossiya asks.
"The Northern Parliament pushes Iron Blood all the way back to their capitol city, and our flag flies proudly from their buildings after that truslivyy ublyudok kills himself along with his wife." Soyuz answers coldly.
"So… we win? And anything we do differently could change that?" Rossiya asks.
"Da. I would rather not take the risk. Anything we do could potentially lead to an even better outcome, or could lead us to complete ruin. We are losing this fight at the moment, but in Stalingrad, everything will change. Plus, if we end up looping again, it may not even matter if things turn out better…" Soyuz explains.
Belorussiya enters the room and says, "Oh, am I missing a meeting?"
"No. Have you given the order, sister?" Soyuz asks.
"Da." The blue-haired sister answers. "Avrora is teaching the humans how to use her old guns in Oranienbaum as we speak. I doubt it will do much to hold back Iron Blood, but she will send us regular updates."
"She will be sunk tomorrow. I want to send a team to rescue her before it's too late." Soyuz says.
Rossiya puts her hand up, "No. don't."
Her sisters look at her as if she'd just bitten the head off of Soyuz' bunny. They both say, "What!?"
Rossiya says, "From what I learned in that meeting, it seems now that our friends have unlocked some setting in the simulation that used to keep us asleep and ready for another loop. Now that when we sink, we can be fully taken out of it instead."
Belorussiya asks, "So… Avrora could actually be free?"
Rossiya replies, "I think there's something that needs to be done with her Cubes, but I'm sure Victory and her girls know what to do."
Soyuz sits down, "I see… then I shall call her and ask her to tell her girls to look for Avrora in the real world when she sinks."
Belorussiya takes her seat, "I hate to leave the poor old girl to die… but we trust you, sister."
"I couldn't ask you for any more, sister." Soyuz nods in gratitude. She picks up the phone. "But I still want someone over there just in case it doesn't work."
Bonnie leans against a wall sideways and puts her hand to her head. "Ugh… I hate when that memory flashes… What a pain in the ass…"
Essex hides within earshot. She's very concerned about her.
Bonnie then continues, "Get it together, idiot… you can't let anyone know… it'll spoil the fun, hehe… AAHH!" She puts both hands on her head and falls to her knees.
"Bonnie!?" Essex races over and grabs her, "Bonnie! What's wrong!?"
Bonnie falls unconscious and falls to the floor. Essex catches her and runs with her back to the room with their new sisters.
Tirpitz stands on the deck of the Peter Strasser, the new Aircraft Carrier belonging to her chess opponent. She asks, "So… these dinky looking planes are what make you more powerful than all 8 my 15-inch guns?"
Strasser, rather annoyed by the jab, retorts, "These 'dinky little planes' are able to carry a 1,000kg bomb, which can do far more damage than your shells. The Ju-87 Stuka is the pinnacle of dive bomber technology. Able to dive at a 90-degree angle, along with an automatic pull-up system should the pilot black out from such an angle, and let's not forget the terrifying siren on it than freezes targets in place with fright. Can your ship do that?" With a smug grin.
"Unfortunately, being stuck here hasn't allowed me to to see what I can do." Tirpitz hisses. She sighs and looks at another plane, "What about that one?"
"Ah, ja." Strasser walks over to it, "The Messerschmitt Bf-109. One of the two greatest fighters in this War. Able to reach a top speed of 426 mph at 24,280 ft. Armed with machine guns in both the cowling of the engine and the wings."
"But what about the propellors? Why mount the guns right behind the blades?" Tirpitz asks.
Surprised by how much a Battleship seems to care about aircraft, Strasser smiles and explains, "They are synchronised to fire precisely and only when there is no blade in front of them, so the bullets fly right through the gaps. This also allows the wings to remain lightweight and that in itself makes the plane more agile."
"I see…" Tirpitz says. "So… what is the other greatest fighter?"
"The Focke-Wulf Fw-190. Unfortunately, I do not have any. While the 109 performs much better at high altitude, the 190 is much faster closer to the ground. The 109 may outmanoeuvre the inferior RAF planes such as the Hurricane, but the 190 is far faster, thanks to its massive engine." Strasser explains, "Unfortunately, the Spitfire is a curse upon our planes. That thing is so Gottverdammt manoeuvrable. Luckily, the 190 is still faster than it."
"You admire the Spitfire, don't you?" Tirpitz asks.
"How can I not? Its elliptical wing ensures it has excellent agility. Many Luftwaffe pilots dread the Spitfire. Hopefully, we will have something that will outclass it in more than just sheer speed soon." Strasser answers.
Looking around, Tirpitz sees something strange, "So… you have Stukas that can hold bombs and torpedoes as well as their own fighter escorts… so what about those?" She points to some older biplanes.
"Ah, those are my reconnaissance aircraft, the Fieseler Fi-167. They are what I can use to scout out the battlefield ahead. They don't put as strain on me as these other, more modern planes and don't hurt as much if they're shot down. As an added bonus, they can also carry torpedoes in the event they're needed." Strasser answers.
"You've just been built, Strasser. How do you know what fighting with them is like?" Tirpitz asks suspiciously.
Being caught out, Strasser keeps cool and thinks. She eventually answers, "I've had many training exercises."
"Right… also, you're going to be sending out biplanes carrying torpedoes in 1941?" Tirpitz asks, to which Strasser just looks at her with an incredulous look. "Oh. Wait. Nevermind." The Battleship says, remembering what happened to Bismarck. "Just… let's just see how good your planes are, then." She grabs her radio, "Set up some targets for air-strike practice."
A voice on the other end says, "Jawohl, Frau Tirpitz!"
She looks at Strasser and says, "Let's see what you can do."
[DATE UNKNOWN]
Bonnie wakes up and shoots to her feet. All round her burning ship are the sinking vessels of every other Kansen. She sees the Antiochus girls opening emergency portals and getting all of the Kansen out. She looks around for Complier, but she's already gone.
"No… she left me…?" She looks ahead and sees the Leviathan looking over its work. She looks back and just barely sees the smoke coming from an obliterated NYC.
Staring back at the monster, Bonnie tries to contact anyone, "Enterprise? Commander? Can anyone hear me?"
All she hears is static. The Leviathan suddenly stares right at her.
Bonnie glares back and shakily asks, "You can hear me? What the hell are you…?"
No answer.
"Why do this!?"
No answer.
"ANSWER ME, MOTHERFUCKER!"
Still giving no answer, the Leviathan starts to charge up another blinding attack to off finish off the Antiochus and the injured Kansen they're evacuating.
Bonnie feels an internal rage unlike any she's ever felt. Her ship glows and the orange fires turn crimson, repairing the Carrier instead of burning it. The clouds in the sky turn black and start to swirl around, creating a thundering cyclone around her ship. Bonnie readies her planes again, then sees some of the other Kansen appear from the wreckages of their own ships and stand together on the water. Like herself, their clothes are darkened and/or tattered and they look far different.
Just like her, they've all gone META.
They ready their weapons and start firing at it. Bonnie META joins in, starting to laugh maniacally. Their improved combined attacks actually start to stagger the monster.
"Hahahaha….. HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bonnie META laughs, her mind starting to break as she think about everything that's just been taken from her. Now she will destroy the one who did it. "KEEP GOING! KILL IT!" Her cyclone gets closer to the beast, the other Kansen moving out of the way and watching in shock.
Helena META asks Enterprise META, "How the hell is she doing that!?"
"I don't know… no Kansen has ever had power like that… not even Akagi and Kaga…" Enterprise META responds.
All they hear is the roar of the Leviathan and the laughing of their spiralling comrade as her cyclone surrounds the monster. Her ship is absorbed into the storm and planes gets launched from every conceivable angle into the body of the beast, tearing it apart.
Enterprise META pleads, "Bonnie! Calm down! Come back to us!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bonnie META cackles.
Knowing its mission is done, the Leviathan starts glowing to escape through teleportation.
A flash of light occurs, and both the monster and Bonnie META are gone, along with the cyclone.
"Bonnie…" Enterprise META whispers.
"She did it…" Helena META gasps. "I… I don't detect that thing anywhere…"
"… what now? All Azur Lane bases are gone, along with our most powerful territories… other Leviathans appeared everywhere else on the planet. The Antiochus units said only this one would arrive… did they lie to us!?" Hiryuu META demands.
"We never stood a chance… yet they could've just teleported everyone out of this universe… did they really think we could fight them…?" Enterprise META asks herself. She turns and see all the others looking to her. Now that the Commander is dead, she's the highest ranking person there.
She takes off her hat, given to her by the Commander. She shuts her eyes, she'd a single tear and throws it away. She takes a deep breath and says. "We failed. This world is gone. All of our history, gone to waste. The Antiochus have betrayed us. They lured us in, had us trust them, and then they led us to destruction, just like the mythical Sirens of the Age of Sail. We must return to whatever is left of NYC, locate the Antiochus bunker, and find out how they traveled to another world. We will track them all down together, and kill them. Then we will find a way to ensure this never happens to as many worlds as possible."
The METAs all salute her. She says, "Don't salute me. We are no longer fighting for humanity! I will no longer own the name given to me by them! Our factions are all dead! Now we all fight as one! These Sirens will fall before us!" The disillusioned Carrier proclaims.
"What shall we call you, then?" Vestal asks.
The Carrier looks down at her hand as ashes land on it. She clenches it into a fist.
"Ash."
Bonnie wakes up again and sees Essex typing on a computer. She sits up and holds her head. Essex sees her, "Hey, Bonnie. You okay?"
"Ugh… my head feels like it's in a vice…" the smaller Carrier answers.
"Oof… when we're out of here, we'll find you some medicine." Essex assures her. She goes back to typing.
"What are you doing?" Bonnie asks as she comes over.
"Trying to find any information on the Wasp-class ships we now have. Most of this stuff is locked behind layers of security. I'm no good at bypassing that…" Essex admits.
Not willing to ruin the fun and help her as she already knows everything about them, as well as easily being able to hack in, Bonnie instead shrugs, "Oh, well. Just find out yourself when we escape."
"Right. By the way, Bon?"
"Yah?"
"I heard everything you were saying in your sleep when you passed out." Essex says.
"…shit."