Chapter 41: Declaration of Love and War (Finale)
"Dive bombers, flight of ten heading directly towards us!"
"No need to be so alarmed, Gray Ghost, we shall clear the skies for you~!"
Prinz Eugen's familiar teasing was an old comfort to Enterprise alongside Belfast's steadfast reassurance as the cruisers positioned themselves for a defensive broadside against the diving Siren aircraft, anti-air weapons quickly tearing their opponents to shreds before the Union carrier so much as had to think about employing her own countermeasures. Instead she took manual control of a wing of her own bombers, gracefully maneuvering and rolling around Siren flak with the elegance of a gymnast before a clutch of munitions was sent streaking into the heart of the ocean outpost, demolishing its generators and causing the sizable construct to fall silent with a mechanical groan, only a few dozen aircraft still in the fight and they were being swiftly picked apart by her sister's cannons and her own fighters.
"One more outpost down."
"And yet two more to go, hmm? Or will you let your darling and insecure sister finally have one over you?"
Rolling her eyes at Eugen's teasing words the carrier bluntly replied, "Essex will have to learn that she's perfectly capable and brilliant at some point, I'm not going to coddle her every step of the way until said time."
"Now would she be upset or gratified to hear that…"
"As engaging as your banter is, sisters, I ask that we focus on the current objective."
They wordlessly accepted and followed Belfast's suggestion, Enterprise feeling her lips twitch slightly in amusement. Who would have thought that she would be the one joking and chatting in the middle of combat and her maid partner the stoic and composed voice of reason?
Not that there was much to focus on. The outpost was silent and what aircraft remained were being destroyed in short order, the carrier yet again assuming direct control of her interceptors more as a means of distraction than any kind of necessity. Their onboard AI - augmented by her own considerable years of experience - meant they could outfly their opponents any day of the week.
"Wait, what the-"
The rare moment of complete bewilderment that escaped the pale-haired shipgirl was mirrored by Belfast and Eugen as they watched the overhead duel, the remaining Siren forces that had moments prior been fighting to the last simply...stopping?
Bombers had pulled out of dives or rolls into lazy coasting patterns, interceptors leveled out and throttled down their engines all while being torn to shreds as if there wasn't an enemy airwing darting and flying around them.
In seconds it was over, the few moments of bewildering distraction more than enough for the sounds of battle to fall silent as only secondary detonations or sporadic clanks of machinery could be heard from the outpost.
"Well that was...unexpected."
"A shame it is also unwelcome. Surprises of every nature from the Sirens are to be taken with no small helping of salt."
Enterprise found herself agreeing wholeheartedly with the Ironblood but with no immediate explanation in sight and them being on a tight schedule there was no opportunity to investigate, the carrier recalling her craft as Belfast and Eugen skated over to her vessel, the Royal Navy cruiser using a recently constructed radio set from the Bakunawa to communicate with their human allies running patrols far away in conjunction with the few observation drones that could be spared.
"No sign of enemy reinforcements yet and our sisters destroyed their objective with no losses. Thus far our plan seems to be bearing fruit."
"Were it not for that little tanzen hiccup I would be quite satisfied with what we have accomplished thus far."
Nodding as her sisters approached her position - cruisers taking up flanking positions as their vessels engaged their engines and began to head towards their next target - Enterprise watched Eugen with a careful eye, Belfast finishing up another round of communications with the patrols.
They had all been worried about their Ironblood sister, considering her circumstances. While they had all suffered enormous losses of both friends, family and plenty of friendly rivals there were at least still members of their respective factions alive, sisters they could share their burdens with. But for Eugen? The Ironbloods hadn't exactly been numerous to begin with but to be the last surviving shipgirl of an entire faction was a burden Enterprise couldn't even imagine.
Yet the admittedly beautiful cruiser wore the mantle well. A bit older looking - in mannerisms if not physical appearance - and she was more prone to quiet reminiscence than before but on the whole Eugen was still her usual, aggravating self.
"And I suppose we have Alexander to thank for that."
She briefly smirked, amused at the thought that the usually flirty and seductive woman became docile and content after a single night of passion and debated whether to point that out-
"No, no, NO!"
-and instead hissed in pain, doubling over as a wave of emotion crashed against her mind while Belfast and Eugen reciprocated the motion, hands grabbing their heads in an instinctive movement.
"W-what the Hölle was that?!"
"I...I think that was Alexander."
Belfast's grim suggestion had Enterprise's heart clenching in anxiety as they regained their feet, the carrier not particularly enjoying the thought of something that could have their sole means of turning this war around in such a perilous and distressed state, the sheer force of his emotions reaching them from almost a quarter of the globe away.
"Then we must go immediately, if trouble has found them-"
Swiftly reaching out and grabbing Prinz Eugen's arm as she made to stride off Enterprise snapped, "And just what are you going to do, sail across the globe and save the day just in time? Whatever's happened will be long over by the time you've made even a tenth of the journey."
The ironblood rounded on her with such a fury that Enterprise actually recoiled, mentally noting that it was somewhat touching her fellow shipgirl could get so defensive and passionate about something so quickly, when she was typically the most composed and playful of their number.
"And you would have us do nothing?! Sit on the sidelines and let Alexander suffer yet again? You should know he is not nearly so composed or put together as he pretends!"
Footing regained Enterprise offered Eugen a comforting squeeze on the arm, fury draining from the cruiser as quickly as it formed.
"I know. But there truly isn't anything we can do, at least not directly."
Belfast chimed in, setting a reassuring hand on the Ironblood's shoulder before adding, "Rather, let us focus on our own mission and draw as many of our foe's gazes as possible."
Releasing a tired breath Prinz pinched the bridge of her nose, quietly murmuring, "Yes, of course. My apologies, sisters."
The cruiser abruptly straightened, eyes hard and molten with a lethal resolve that truly encapsulated the title of 'Ironblood'.
"No enemies have yet attempted to hinder us? Then perhaps our blitzkrieg has not been fast or flashy enough. Come! We have machines to break."
With that Eugen strode off towards her vessel, already turning towards the next Siren outpost while Belfast and Enterprise watched her go with no shortage of bemusement.
"Had you told me a few months ago that our Ironblood sister would so readily wish to aid and comfort a man I would have politely smiled and brought up a different line of conversation."
Enterprise chuckled at the remark, replying, "Had you told me any of this a few months ago I wouldn't have believed a word of it."
Both shipgirls mentally commanded their vessels to match Eugen's pace, Enterprise letting some of the icy cold from her Gray Ghost days enter her demeanor.
"She has a point though. All of this and we've yet to receive so much as a single Siren scout plane or sub observing our movements."
She tugged her hat low, violet eyes frozen and glaring towards the horizon as an old and familiar anger caused her orbs to shine gold for the briefest of moments.
"Perhaps we've been a bit too restrained in our rampage."
"I like it when you act this way."
Shaking her head at Belfast's playful comment the cruiser departed without another word, both of them leaving it unsaid how uncomfortable and worried they actually were.
"You had best be safe, Alexander. There's been enough loss and scattered families in this war as is."
Pale yellow eyes stared into bright, shining blue...and only yellow blinked.
"No...it can't have…I thought..."
Heedless of the enemy fire now landing around his position where he limply clung to the wall Alexander dully stared into Émile's final expression, one of puzzlement, alarm and perhaps even the vaguest sensations of fright.
All because he'd fucked up again.
"Why? Why why WHY?! Why can't I do something - ANYTHING - on my own that doesn't end up killing them?! What the fuck was the point of all these enhancements, upgrades, knowledge and who knows what the fuck else if it NEVER FUCKING MATTERS?!"
He almost welcomed the swift and justified death heading his way as more Siren drones took aim, feeling that it was the least of atonements he could make for his constant screw ups.
Maybe this time he could stay dead.
[Recommend implementation of reality alteration protocol, designation Émile is still within projected retrieval timeframe.]
The Aloadae blinked, his Rigging quickly taking up a protective position in front of his body as it returned fire, confusion filling the man's mind as he tried to parse what the hell the machine meant-
-and felt a tender, wild hope blossom within his chest as the memory of whatever the fuck Omega-1 protocols were unspooled within his mind, head snapping to the machine as it weathered another barrage, shouting, "The fuck does-never mind! How do I do it?!"
[Beginning implementation of local reality-alteration process, this unit will handle specific territory calculations, designation Alexander will provide power and direction so this unit may focus computational resources within a thirty-second time frame.]
Before the Aloadae had a chance to so much as blink at the imparted information the Rigging was launching itself at his back, jellyfish like body splitting open as a bewildering amount of internal circuitry and other mechanical bits slammed into his spine and quickly tore open the back of his armor, integrating with the metal and other doodads grafted onto his flesh-
"FUCK!"
-as well as his flesh, an agonized cry leaving the male as uncountable tendrils of cold, piercing steel invaded his body, ravaging his nerves and god knows what else as pain and violation on such an intimate level almost caused him to puke.
Thankfully the agony faded as quickly as it appeared, the Wisdom Cube shards flaring to life as a scalding heat manifested along his spine alongside the familiar emptiness he'd associated with the objects rising to the forefront of his perception...except this time he knew what he was supposed to do.
Direction.
Casting his mind back he focused every iota of concentration he could muster on the seconds before Émile's death, of how she had selflessly covered him with her guns as the heat, adrenaline and terror of the moment had congealed into a fiery mixture of battle lust and primal panic...and pushed.
"GO!"
[Beginning implementation of local reality alteration. Matching subatomic records with those 29.9876 seconds prior, stabilization of time reversal confirmed. Activating reversal-]
Alexander watched with the oddest sense of unreality as the world around them seemed to distort, laser and cannon fire actually curving upward into an endless spiral as his eyes twitched spastically at the sight, so alien and new it was to his senses as his back felt like someone had taken a branding iron to it, the Aloadae gritting his teeth and bearing with the pain as the very fabric of reality twisted and turned-
-and cannonfire greeted his ears, Alexander blinking rapidly as he saw Émile fire her first covering salvo into the stream of Siren machines, the brilliant shipgirl standing strong despite the death that would find her in just a few precious seconds.
"I...I did it? How did-"
The unsettlingly familiar sight of ice and metal exploding around the Iris Libre woman snapped him out of the bewildered state of mind he'd been stuck in, reaching out an arm to pull the shipgirl out of harm's way-
-and felt the most bizarre sensation as a third limb snapped outwards, the appendage blue and gelatinous while being topped by a mechanical claw that snapped tight around Émile's midsection, the cruiser blinking in surprise as she glanced downwards and was unceremoniously yanked down the ice cliff with a startled yelp, placed between the wall and Alexander's body as where she'd stood a scant second ago exploded into steam as a laser blast hit home.
"Keep shooting!"
Scarcely able to believe that he'd somehow, against all conceivable odds actually managed to fix his mistake the Aloadae immediately began to scale the wall, the limbs that he now recognized as his Rigging's working in tandem to propel himself up the cliff at a blisteringly fast pace as Émile recovered from her shock, maneuvering her own Rigging so that it was peeking out from behind his flanks and resumed firing as she clung to his chest.
He barely even felt the searing agony that felt as if someone had taken a rusty, molten saw to his back as it competed against the fire of victory and elation that coursed through his veins, the alteration of time apparently causing the Wisdom Cube shards to release a lot of heat.
Even the unceasing barrage of the Siren drones seemed distant and of little consequence, even though Alexander knew they were beating the hell out of his armor despite Émile's best efforts, aches and lances of distant pain hardly noticed as his lips peeled in a feral grin of joy.
"Pour l'amour du ciel?!"
Just like that his elation and cackling glee faded, Émile's panicked shout causing him to glance over his shoulder and resist the urge to curse even as he hauled them over the edge of the tunnel.
A drone easily six times the size and weight of the others, gun barrel mounted atop of its chassis primed and ready to fire as he shoved Émile further down the hallway-
-and promptly got the wind knocked out of him as a succession of rapid impacts sent him tumbling across the metal floor ass over teakettle, the Aloadae wryly thinking to himself, "Well that humbled things real quick."
"Alexander? Alexander, are you-"
Hauling himself to his feet and ignoring the cruiser's yelp of surprise the male stated, "No time, we're on the clock! This place is going to be getting a really nasty surprise in the near future and we don't want to be anywhere near it!"
"Agreed, but you have-"
"Go!"
Gently but insistently pushing the Libre shipgirl forward she released a vexed huff of irritation that had the man cracking a smile even as she begrudgingly matched his pace. Sure, he was feeling pretty banged up and a fair bit feverish but adrenaline was a hell of a drug and right now he felt damn near unstoppable.
"Now we just need to get out of here in one piece...and figure out why the hell my Rigging is apparently jacked into my spine."
"Shouldn't your comrade be here by now? Something has gone wrong with the base and we need to leave."
Kawakaze stoically nodded at Jeanne's concern, calmly replying, "He's drawing closer, only a few minutes more."
"...Very well, if you say so."
The Iris Libre shipgirl departed to help further along the final preparations to evacuate, the process skipping several steps due to the urgency imparted to them by their comrades as the destroyer turned back to attentively watching the various entrances leading to the depths of the Siren base, trying not to visibly display the slight agitation she was experiencing.
She and her sisters bonded to Alexander had felt the man's terror and despair roll over them like a crushing wave, all of them fully prepared to charge into the depths of the base and render what assistance they could until his mind had seemingly...shifted? Changed? One second it had been grief, hapless rage and the next it was like those emotions in reverse, if that made any sense.
It didn't, but the fright and fury had vanished and been replaced with something approximating victory, the Aloadae on his way back with Émile no doubt in tow.
"...Caring for people is hard."
Things had been easier when the Sakura Empire still stood at the zenith of its power, when more than a hundred shipgirls and thousands upon thousands of military men and women had counted among its ranks. Her naturally reserved nature and deadly skill with a blade meant she made for an imposing and efficient bodyguard, often accompanying Nagato or any other Sakura diplomat or military officer of high enough standing.
Those days had been...nice.
She wasn't the openly friendly and boisterous type, a lifestyle of constant travel and duty with occasional moments to rest had been a good one for her. As much as she enjoyed the antics and revelry of her sisters and a slow, lazy afternoon nap as the soft breathing of her fellow destroyers lulled her to sleep there was only so much she could handle of that manner of interaction.
She had been happy.
And then the war continued and took away practically everything she had enjoyed about her existence, for whatever unknown reason leaving her alive each and every time. Her home, her sisters, her duties...all that had been left was to throw herself against the enemy time and time again, privately hoping that maybe - just maybe - she could redeem herself by acting as the perfect weapon and properly dying as one.
"And now look at me."
Nervously perched atop of her ship, awaiting the return of someone she deeply, truly cared about - a thought had had her cheeks briefly pinking even after all this time - like some silly schoolgirl.
"My sisters would have laughed themselves unconscious if they knew I was pining like a lovestruck maiden."
The fox briefly felt her ears and tail shiver with unease at the thought of a pair like Isokaze or Urakaze learning of her affections. No doubt they would have gone about creating some grand historical reenactment of the whole ordeal. Heavens forbid Kaga or Atago got wind of such a development. After the whole Orochi incident she had spent more time with the Sakura leadership and her 'big sisters' had often teased her about her diligence. They would have embarrassed her to tears in less than a day.
...The fond memories had a small smile tilting her lips upwards, reminiscence no longer carrying the sting of loss and failure as she quietly sighed.
"Maybe Alexander will also feel that way in the future. If that emotional burst he let loose earlier is any indication he still feels significant unease over our casualties."
The destroyer perked, tail wagging as she considered, "If he helps save our sisters here then maybe he will cease being so harsh on himself? It could only-"
The Sakura was on her feet and glaring into the distance before she even fully registered what she was doing, instincts and ears noting the activation of machinery that was not theirs and approaching fast.
"Sisters, enemy activity at the westmost entrance."
From her observation perch Kawakaze watched both Jeanne, Jean Bart and the Empery dancers surreptitiously move away from their assigned posts as Vampire, I-13 and Akashi - who didn't have any specific duty at the moment - subtly trained their vessel's guns in the direction she'd pointed out.
Deciding there was little she could do simply perched atop her vessel the Sakura leapt down and sprinted towards the source of the steadily growing commotion-
-and almost came to a screeching halt as something forced its way through a corridor of solid metal and ice, a bestial Siren drone almost six times the size of the normal variety and packing some manner of oversized gun atop its head, four heavily armored legs propelling its movement as it brought to mind a stocky variety of lobster that the destroyer had occasionally tried to catch during her private fishing trips.
Aforementioned lobsters hadn't taken aim on a group of panicking civilians with the clear intent to commit murder, admittedly.
Before that scenario could come to pass both she and Vampire had their vessels fire upon the unknown type of drone with their laser batteries - the space being too enclosed to risk physical munitions or missile launches with so many vulnerable humans nearby - as the destroyer watched with satisfaction as the invisible lances of energy smashed into the drone and sent it careening to the side.
While they were geared more towards bringing down missiles or aircraft the guns still had quite the kick to them. Large as it may have been the new type of machine wasn't able to withstand that kind of barrage, crumpling into flames...and unfortunately providing a fair bit of cover for the scuttling, more familiar mechanical soldiers that poured out of the opening en masse.
"Keep them from spreading out!"
"I know how to fight Sirens!"
Despite the clear friction that both Libre and Vichya shipgirls shared - one that Kawakaze had often heard of over the course of the war - it did nothing to damper their combat effectiveness, gunfire roaring to life and tearing apart the charging drones with perfect accuracy and synchronicity, never a pause in the barrage to be found as their Riggings roared with fire and fury.
Battleship guns - miniaturized they may be - were plenty powerful enough to tear apart one of the drones with a single graze and did so quite convincingly, the entrance quickly becoming decorated with scrap pieces of Siren soldiers.
But her pair of comrades shared the same issue most battleships did when having to deal with many, fast moving opponents. Firing rate. While their barrages certainly did damage aplenty they would quickly become overwhelmed by the seemingly endless tide of Siren attackers, never mind having to worry about return fire.
"I'll deal with them."
But this was where her area of expertise came into being. Close quarters, fast-paced combat.
Both battleships ceased their salvos as the Sakura manifested her Rigging and laced her fingers around the hilt of one of her blades, the sensation of stainless steel wrapped in textured rubber filling her with confidence as she bent low, practically running parallel to the ground as the world became a blur, attention hyper-focused on her target as a small, feral grin adorned her lips.
If she stopped to think about it, she hadn't had a chance to test her abilities in this theater of combat since her retrofitting.
A rising slash of her blade coincided with the first Siren drone entering into melee distance, the destroyer catching a glimpse of cold, artificial optics gazing into her own-
-and her weapon passed through the machine as if it wasn't even there, two halves of once potent war droid falling apart in a tumble of circuitry and lubricants as her sword buzzed with a muted hum that set the hairs on her tail upright with glee.
While the exact science behind its functions escaped her a high-frequency blade was easy enough to understand in principal, the sharpened material shivering at a very fast, very fine pace that aided the weapon in tearing through whatever material it came into contact with.
Siren armor composites were no more durable against her sword than a collection of paper would have been.
The few drones that had slipped past her comrade's barrage were quickly torn to shreds, falling apart in neatly bisected portions as the Sakura destroyer turned her attention further down the hallway where plenty more machines were charging forward, the blade in her hand ceasing its buzzing as its battery ran dry before neatly being sheathed within her Rigging to recharge.
"No matter. I have more than one sword."
Another lethal edge was drawn and she charged forward with a slowly growing smirk of unrepressed glee, tearing into her foes with impunity as weapons fire and heavy-handed strikes from mechanical limbs didn't so much as muss her clothing.
Caring for people was hard, but not if she could do it within the confines of her comfort zone.
"As entertaining...as this adventure...has been...I may want...a vacation!"
Snickering at Émile's gasped words as they charged forward through smoke, flame and burning metal - the humor doing wonders to distract the man from the steadily growing ache in his everything - Alexander joked, "Feeling's mutual, on the plus side we're almost out of here!"
"We have certainly been running for long enough!"
Sparing a glance to his side the Aloadae briefly worried that the pace was maybe too much for the Libre shipgirl after all they'd been through before accepting the fact that he wasn't that much better off. There were more reports of damage in his armor than there weren't, he felt like he'd been worked over by a small army of angry drunks and apparently even this body had limits, since his breath was coming fast and short.
Émile wasn't doing much better, glistening with sweat as her form was covered in light burns, bruises and cuts from the various fragments of metal that had unavoidably ricocheted around the tunnels when drones had met violent demises.
But as they passed a final turn that was half melted Alexander felt a small ball of relief settle within his gut, that they had finally arrived at the sight of their backup.
"Purifier, Zero, did the first group make it up alright?"
"Yeah yeah, we kept the humans safe, don't worry. Geez, I forget how slow those people are sometimes."
"And no one saw you?"
Purifier unleashed a mental huff of annoyance while Zero more calmly replied, "No, we burned our way into the base's confines from above. Your flanks are secure, quickly evacuate before Oratorio fires upon this location."
"Oratorio?"
A brief snippet of information from the Omega-1 protocols and whatnot unspooled within his brain-
-and Alexander felt his eyes widen enough to almost pop from their sockets.
"Oh SHIT."
"C'mon, our timetable just moved up a notch or three in seriousness!"
"Again? Were we not already moving as fast as possible, monsieur?"
"Then we gotta move twice as fast as possible, your charges made it out safe so no reason to hold back!"
That seemed to do away with any reticence Émile may have held, bounding forward with renewed energy as Alexander sprinted right alongside her, a final few drones getting in their way as the male inwardly groaned in exasperation.
Of course there was a final hiccup.
His cruiser companion fired off a final volley from her guns that shredded one drone while he made use of his embedded Rigging to fire off a volley of laser fire that struck down another pair of machines, his gun long since out of ammo.
"Screw it, I was always a better brawler than I was anything else."
Ignoring the solid, searing blow to his chest from the remaining drone's laser that briefly rocked him on his heels the Rigging's extendable arms latched onto the opposing machine before he had time to think about what he was doing, a few more steps getting him within striking distance as a hammerblow crumpled the machines body, a second finishing it off with an electronic whine and spray of sparks.
"Heh, who needs guns when you have your fists?"
"Monsieur, ahead of you!"
A quick glance up revealed that Émile was 100% correct, a trio of Sirens rushing through the smoke-filled tunnel and lining up their weapons with his crouched form, weaponry on cooldown and far too distant to simply punch them into submission.
"Never mind, I wish I had a few guns right now."
Resigning himself to suffering a few hits that would no doubt do some pretty significant damage Alexander hunkered down behind his upraised arms-
-and had the distinct pleasure of watching the drones fall apart at the seams as a quiet buzzing could be heard, Kawakaze calmly striding through the wreckage as she visibly sagged with relief upon spotting them.
"Good. The both of you are-"
"Sister Kawakaze, it's so grand to see you after all this time~!"
Practically teleporting over the small distance Émile grabbed the Sakura into an affectionate hug, manhandling her face so that she could plant affectionate kisses on each cheek as the destroyer tensed at the invasion of personal space, nonetheless relaxing a moment later.
"Mmm. It's good to see you too."
Hauling himself to his feet and jogging forward - trying to ignore the way Kawakaze's eyes widened and tail bristled at what was no doubt the ragged state of his armor and body - the Aloadae warned, "As much as we may all enjoy the opportunity to catch up and chat this place is about to go the way of the dinosaurs, we need to move-"
As if in unneeded support of his claim the entire structure groaned like a wounded titan, shifting and shrieking of metal causing Alexander to inwardly curse as he shouted, "Can't we catch a break?!"
None of them wasted any more time chatting, entering a dead sprint as fast as they could before entering the hangar and finding it to be far more busy than it once had been. Drones poured out of several openings while the locals desperately tried to leave without crashing into each other, the shipgirls more deftly handling the evacuation even as they poured suppressing fire onto the seemingly endless tide of machines, vessels packed to the brim with survivors as Vampire, Akashi and Kawakaze also took on as many as they could in the hopes of expediting the evacuation.
"This way, monsieur!"
Kawakaze nodded at Alexander to follow Émile as they raced to board their ships, the cruiser deftly prancing up the side of her vessel and alighting upon its stern as several startled exclamations accompanied her appearance.
"Miss Émile, are you alright?!"
"You're bleeding, do you require medical attention?"
Smirking at the crowd's worry over the shipgirl he made the jump a few seconds behind her, gauntlets latching onto the lip of the cruiser before hauling himself over the edge-
-and really should have predicted the panicked shouts and screams, a few individuals losing their cool completely and opening fire with pistols or rifles that sparked or deflected off his armor, nowhere near powerful enough to penetrate but still imparting unwelcome force to his battered and bruised body.
"NON! HE IS AN ALLY, ALLY!"
Émile's panicked shout snapped the crowd out of their gut reaction to shoot Siren things first and ask questions never, the cruiser leaping to his side even as the engines aboard the ship rumbled to life, mortification and worry written across her fair features.
"Alexander, are you-"
"I'm fine, focus on getting us out of here!"
Only a brief moment of hesitation before the Libre woman nodded, whirling around and announcing, "Secure yourselves and prepare for a rough departure! And do not attack the armored man, he is a friend!"
Obviously not trusting her charges to NOT cheap shot him the cruiser stuck close by his side, Alexander turning his attention to the embattled docking bay and preparing to fight off whatever drones got ambitious-
-only to find Vampire and Kawakaze taking the kid gloves off now that the area was clear of allies, their vessels launching volleys of missiles that whipped themselves into painfully tight arcs before slamming into the entrances where the Sirens were still pouring out of, completely eradicating any possibility of further attack as a fair number of the nearby civilians clapped their hands over their ears at the excessive noise of the barrage.
"We're moving too slow."
The grim thought percolated within Alexander's gray matter even as Émile slewed her vessel in a dangerously tight turn that had them hauling ass out of the Siren base, Vampire and Kawakaze right on their tail as their forward momentum quickly stalled out, the civilian and shipgirl vessels of all size and make trying desperately to fit through the narrow channel they had initially taken as the Aloadae glanced up into the sky, knowing that Oratorio was going to be ready to fire at any moment...and they were far too close for comfort when the kind of firepower they were talking about had been designed to peel open Siren bases - the ones from the future, not the current day models - like ripe fruit.
But there was literally nothing he could do, aside from getting out and pushing.
"Except I don't know how to skate on water like the shipgirls do so THAT'S out as well."
Minutes passed by with excruciating slowness, the man resisting the urge to pace like a caged animal as one-by-one they slipped through the gap, Vampire being the last to enter the narrow channel-
"It's beginning, I would recommend that you brace yourself for the incoming destruction."
"Heh heh, I can't believe I finally get to see Oratorio in action~!"
Zero and Purifier's warning came from out of the blue and Alexander had to resist the urge to curse, knowing that whatever kind of power the orbiting satellite had it was going to be devastating if they didn't do something to stop the fallout. They had several ship packed together in close quarters and a shockwave with their names on it fast approaching, what could they-
"Vampire, Kawakaze! Hit the ice shelf and see if you can crack a bit of it off to block the passage!"
The pair of shipgirls didn't hesitate to comply and immediately let fly with a precisely calculated barrage of warheads that caused a chunk of iceberg as large as a carrier to groan and crumble, Alexander blinking at the faith they had in him. That idea had been more of a spur of the moment thing than it had been based on any real logic or thought out process. For all he knew the resulting waves smashing into the hunk of ice would merely squish anything in its path, not blunt the impact.
"Oh fuck please let me be right."
The enormous ice shard groaned to a stop as it wedged itself between the towering glaciers on either side of them, half submerged in water and half in the air as Alexander once more looked to the sky, heart racing and throat dry as he waited for something, anything to happen...and it did, with startlingly little fanfare.
An errant cloud that had been drifting overhead abruptly unraveled, flying in every direction as its core developed a perfectly symmetrical hole-
-and a noise halfway between frying bacon and a blood curdling scream echoed out, staccato cracks unlike canon fire causing people to shout or yell in fright as Alexander watched the towering mountain of ice explode into steam and drifting smoke, an invisible beam burning away countless layers of concealing material within seconds before there was a moment of silence, as if everything both animate and inanimate was holding their breath…
And a detonation uncomfortably close the the Shinsei's rose up into the sky, Alexander bracing himself as even behind their makeshift shield kinetic force tugged at them as an unearthly howl shook the world, most of the humans not as lucky as he was and getting thrown around as he placed a steadying hand on Émile's back as she gaped at the column of fire and flame that rose from the depths of the base they had been navigating less than an hour ago.
"HANG TIGHT, THERE'S ANOTHER-"
The Aloadae didn't even get to finish his warning before the waves seemingly rose up to toss them into the sky, their improvised shield grindingly alarmingly close to where they were tightly packed and even pushing against Vampire's vessel briefly, shriek of metal accompanying the destroyer bumping into Kawakaze which started a chain reaction of ships ramming into the next one in line that - completely understandably - had the people onboard them just shy of outright panic as the roaring winds seemed to suck any and all breath from those present.
But just like with the Shinsei the storm passed in short order, the various shipgirls and human navigators carefully and cautiously untangling their vessels as best they could in the cramped conditions while performing damage assessment.
"Vampire, Kawakaze, you two alright?"
"Only superficial damage."
"Superficial is an understatement of vast proportions! Mine hull is dented and scraped to the point of ugliness! Alas, mine impression upon our long lost sisters will be forever marred by this!"
Breathing a sigh of relief at the news Émile tapped him on the shoulder, relaying, "No damage to any engines and only minor injuries across our various ships."
A radiant smile adorned the blonde's face, made all the more beautiful by her ragged and injured body.
"You and our rediscovered sisters, monsieur, have done much for us this day."
"Hey, glad to help."
Letting go of the tension that had plagued him for the last few hours as Purifier and Zero distantly called out an all clear he felt a sudden sense of vertigo, vision swimming in and out of focus as he knew - beyond any shadow of a doubt - that Oratorio had utterly annihilated whatever that gate or portal had been deep within the confines of the base.
"I think I'm going to sit down now."
The armor creaked and hissed in protest as he heavily sat on his ass, only the instinctive motion of his attached Rigging keeping him upright as he slowly took off his helmet, gratefully breathing in the crisp and cool air of their surroundings, uncaring if anyone saw his face.
"Monsieur?! Stay awake, monsieur, we shall have a doctor along in just a moment to examine you!"
Tiredly waving a hand Alexander grunted, "I'm fine, just need a moment to rest."
"A moment to-monsieur, you have several spikes in you!"
Blinking at the sudden remark Alexander stared down at himself, belatedly realizing that, yes, he did have a fair number of metallic projectiles punching through his form, courtesy of that large Siren drone that had rinsed him not too long ago. One through a lung, one through his liver and two that hadn't hit anything specific but it wasn't like he was excited to have them there.
"Huh. Well would you look at that. Adrenaline IS a hell of a drug."
Émile looked ready to have a panic attack before he quickly set a large hand on her shoulder, reassuring the shipgirl with, "I'm not putting on a tough guy act here, I really am fine. Akashi will be along before long to put me back together, focus on everyone else and yourself, alright?"
Clearly not buying his assessment of his own injuries the shipgirl nonetheless sighed and nodded in agreement at the need to check on everyone else in the fleet...but not before placing a kiss on each side of his face, announcing, "Very well, monsieur Alexander. But once things have calmed down a smidgen I expect to be given the opportunity to speak on a more relaxed basis with you."
"Add your sisters into that arrangement and you've got a deal. There's a lot we have to discuss."
A final nod and the cruiser was gone, the convoy slowly righting and regrouping itself as Alexander idly gazed upwards, mind awhirl with a dozen different thoughts.
On the whole this little sojourn had been highly successful. They'd rescued all of their scattered allies, retrieved two Wisdom Cubes and even discovered the reason communications and radar were so spotty in the north.
…
"And all of it's overshadowed by the fact that, somehow and someway, the original Sirens found a way to gain a foothold in this reality."
He let his head thump against the metal of Émile's vessel, eyes drifting closed as a tired sigh left his busted up body.
"One step at a time. First I need to convince the rest of the shipgirls that I'm not some wacko monster. Second I need to talk with Zero and Purifier and figure out what the hell the rest of their kind are going to do with this latest development. Thirdly…"
He thought back to the cubes stored safely within his integrated Rigging.
"I need to run some experiments."
I dig me some tragedy, it always raises the stakes and makes me root for the fictional people to succeed.
But you gotta have success somewhere otherwise things are just misery porn and only weird people like sad wanks. Happy endings are the way to go!
...
(Ignore the stories I've written where it's just misery porn, it's only a pervert behind the curtains.)