Chapter 60: Counterblow (Part 2)

As much as Émile would have liked to take a moment and properly dole out their mutual share of responsibility in the coming battle there simply wasn't time, weapons humming as they charged to combat readiness while metallic clacks accompanied gun barrels aligning on their position, metallic eyes staring at her and her sisters with impartial lethality.

"Left!"

"Right!"

"Center!"

The most they could do was call out which parts of the Siren line they were to hit, a staggered volley of kinetic cracks sounding out from behind them as their allies opened fire, most of the smaller drones being destroyed by the fusillade as they focused their efforts on the larger specimens.

Carefully eyeing the business end of a turret as it swung her way Émile waited a split second as the machine brain confirmed its target before leaping into the air, the sharp impacts of wood, dirt and rock scraping her skin as the earth beneath her feet vanished, providing an extra push as she gracefully somersaulted forward, bladed heels perfectly embedding themselves atop the chassis of metal as the drone immediately tried to buck her off, turrets swiveling in a bid to push her away-

-and she effortlessly kept her footing, the cruiser pointing her own weapons downwards before unleashing a salvo that tore through the Tower's weaker armor atop its back, shrapnel and acrid smoke once more engulfing her but it was a small price to pay for victory as the behemoth collapsed, Émile sweeping her gaze across the battlefield and taking in their situation at a glance.

Their Marine allies had taken some fire but by her count they were all active and still engaged in battle, most of the smaller drones destroyed by their targeted fire as Chao Ho and Ying Swei had also finished off their own targets, the cruiser deciding that the massive construct assailing the Siren woman and thus far not taking part in the battle was the greater threat-

-the shipgirl barely managed to jerk her head out of the way of a devastating blast of energy that turned a strand of her hair into a fast expanding cloud of dust, destroying a healthy portion of the landscape behind her as she squawked in dismay.

"Not the hair, you Connard! I take exquisite care of it!"

No more than a brief glance between the shipgirls transmitted their thoughts and plans without need for words, the trio sprinting forward and watching as the massive Siren construct tossed away the humanoid one like yesterday's trash, turning to face them directly as its full complement of weaponry prepared to turn them to ash…just a hair too slow, a volley of shells, missiles and every other miniaturized tool of war at their disposal smashing into the robot and forcing it to the ground in a thrashing heap of sparks and flaming components.

Émile wasn't above taking a bit of vindictive glee in sliding past a trembling energy emitter to leap atop the shuddering machine, cannons aimed downwards and delivering a killing salvo straight to the constructs controlling brain, a metallic groan escaping it as it collapsed with all the grace of an avalanche.

"Sisters, are we free of further enemies?"

"It certainly looks that way."

Turning to her fellow cruisers Ying Swei glanced around the warzone with a keen eye, Chao Ho running back to check on their allies in person as the remaining duo nodded to each other, carefully approaching the downed Siren woman with their Rigging prepped and ready for any funny business. The enemy of their enemy had also been their enemy for quite some time as well, a bit of caution never hurt anyone.

"Get closer, I'll be ready to blow her head off at the slightest provocation."

The unusually aggressive words from Ying Swei had Émile quirking her lips, amused at the cruiser's open distrust as she replied, "Your aegis is appreciated, sister…but I imagine this particular Siren will have little to offer us in regards to threat."

"Stranger words I've never heard you say, sister."

"Our allies are all intact and taking up overwatch, I'm heading back."

Relieved at the news that none of their Human compatriots had perished Émile instead bounded close to the collapsed Siren, her fellow cruiser not far behind as the Iris shipgirl came to a stop but a few steps away, watching with a cautious eye as the pale-skinned woman shivered, trying to force herself upright as blood poured from the holes in her skull and flecks of drool spilled from her lips.

"Well at least she seems a fair bit more elegant and composed than her compatriots."

Most Sirens Émile had the dubious pleasure of encountering were either arrogant and abrasive or a fair bit unhinged seeming. This one possessed a tasteful white dress and heels while a cap somewhat reminiscent of the Parliament's fashion sat askew on her head, icy blue eyes gazing into the cruiser's own as a low groan left the woman.

"Saved by the lesser variants. Wonderful."

"Is that truly what you should say to your savior?"

Dully meeting Émile's pout the Siren hissed out a pained breath through clenched teeth, growling, "No, it isn't. But we don't have time to quibble about manners, we need to-"

The Siren's attempt at rising to her feet nearly fell flat figuratively and literally as she pitched forward, Émile catching her in her arms before deviously deciding to carry the pale-skinned woman princess-style, the Siren muttering, "Empress is going to delete me for this…" before taking a deep breath, asking, "What are your available forces in this theater?"

"Not to sound ungrateful or rude, but perhaps you should explain your circumstances first?"

Émile arched an eyebrow at the annoyed Siren.

"After all, it seems that you are attempting to take command of the situation and direct our actions. Also do you perhaps have a name?"

"Arbiter VI. Fine, then at least regroup with your forces and remove us from the jamming field, time is of the essence."

The Iris shipgirl briefly debated the merits and demerits of going along with a Siren plan with hardly any information or context provided…and elected to instead put her trust in Alexander's words that the Sirens would put aside past actions or paradigms when confronting their original foes.

"Sisters, retrace our steps and prepare to warn the fleet, something foul is apparently afoot!"

"I just got over here…"

Ignoring Chao Ho's grumble as the three cruisers began to race towards the patrolling Marines - their helicopter flying towards them since all their foes were handily disposed of - as Arbiter explained, "I was dispatched to examine signs of original Siren corruption in this area, ensuring that our scenario continued with as little interruption as possible when I was ambushed by a stronger garrison than was anticipated-"

"Wait, are we seriously going to take one of those bitches with us?"

Mathers' disbelieving words had Émile quickly shaking her head, stating, "Extenuating circumstances, Lieutenant. Can I rely on you to accompany us back to the fleet? I have a sinking suspicion we may be in for more than we bargained."

For a moment Émile was worried that she would have a brief surge of violence to neutralize…and the Human grunted in agitation, responding, "Of course that's the case, when do we ever get the easy jobs? Double time it back to the chopper, boys, we got a schedule to keep!"

"They hold much faith in you."

Arbiter's idle comment had Émile shrugging, the Siren continuing a moment later as she elaborated, "That machine attempted to take over my core programming and access classified information, largely focused on our military and force deployment. More to the point it seemed to be seeking that information for an additional force, one that I believe is close by."

The cruisers shared a worried look, desperately hoping that the Siren's worry was unfounded as the helicopter came in for a landing, the Marines leaping aboard as Émile secured their passenger into one of the seats, a number of the Human soldiers letting the barrels of their guns pointedly drift the woman's way with narrowed and distrustful eyes.

The Libre cruiser tried not to think about how Alexander had seemingly been right that his appearance would cause all manner of friction between himself and the rest of humanity…evidently the scars of the war ran deep, deep enough that not many would be willing to look past his surface level qualities, despite all that he had done and was being advertised as doing.

"You say that there was another group of Sirens opposed to you…do you perchance know of where they might have been located?"

"All I could glean was that they were not far from this area's shores, waiting for further orders and direction."

Émile felt her spine stiffen, quickly asking Mathers, "How quickly can we reach the fleet and establish proper communications?"

"Can't you use that fancy shipgirl mind stuff?"

Chao Ho scowled, pointedly stating, "If it was that simple we would have already done so. At most we can give them a general warning."

"Well then you better strap in tight, ladies. We're gonna have this thing burn out its engines. Rotors. Whatever."

Mathers flicked on an intercom that opened up a line to the machine pilot, Émile trying to properly see through her vessel's sensors but only getting vague impressions as she resisted the urge to sigh.

"Our first battle with all of these retrofits and I fear we're about to see for ourselves just how effective they really are against similarly armed foes."

"Something isn't right."

"Things are rarely right."

"More so than usual. This is like that battle in the Northern territories, right before the rest of Azur lane found us."

Sovetskaya let her ruby gaze drift to the side, Bart scowling at her words as she lounged against one of her main batteries, seemingly unconcerned with the close proximity to a titanic weapon eagerly awaiting something to shoot. One that wasn't under her control, either.

"So you think those Original Sirens are behind this."

"I would be immensely surprised if they weren't. The same communications and observation blackouts, the very ones Alexander and the Commander told us to be wary of? There is a reason Admiral Harrison is being so diligent and cautious with the patrols."

As if on cue one of Essex's planes flew in for a landing on the carrier's deck, momentum harshly arrested by landing wires and shrieking brakes as the Parliament shipgirl's fellow battleship scowled even deeper, Sovetskaya rolling her eyes at the display.

"Why do people always describe me as dour and cold so often when Bart is but a stone's throw away? I would describe myself more as professional and disciplined than a perpetually upset individual."

"Then we shouldn't be sitting here waiting for Émile and the others to finish their investigation, we should be out there helping them-"

"To what end? Will you blindly fire your guns in the general direction they went and hope for the best? Run after them and hope you can outrun one of the new aircrafts they took-"

"Fuck I GET IT already!"

Idly surprised that steam wasn't escaping the incensed Vichya as she began to pace back and forth across her hull Sovetskaya resisted the urge to rub her temples in a bid to alleviate the coming headache.

"Why are you even on my ship to begin with? Should you not be badgering Jeanne instead? She seems to be your favorite stress doll of choice most days."

"All that high and mighty paragon would say is to have faith and to believe that our comrades will pull through."

The Parliament shipgirl debated the merits of pointing out that she had said something quite similar just moments ago and gave it up as a bad job, instead electing to ignore her comrade and most definitely ignored the amused feelings emanating from Le Malin and Tashkent at her predicament.

"What's the point of being cool and dispassionate if others don't bother keeping their proclivities to themselves? If it's not the maintenance crews on the base then it's my sisters doing as they please."

Shaking her head free of those random and scattered thoughts Sovetskaya firmly stated, "Return to your vessel, Bart."

"And I'm going to do that because, what? You asked me to?"

Letting the confrontational words slide off of her - the woman had a peculiar way of showing concern for others - the pale-haired shipgirl replied, "Because you're interrupting my thoughts and if we need to engage in combat you will best serve aboard your own hull, not mine."

"Dammit, fine."

Grateful for the silence that followed as Bart leapt away Sovetskaya instead turned in the general direction of Essex, the carrier duo sequestered away behind screening vessels as she asked, "Any news?"

"No, none. Waters and skies are clear."

Enterprise's more cautious words joined the conversation a moment later, the Union shipgirl adding, "Same here. The latest round of drones from the Bakunawa should be returning within twenty minutes to recharge but I doubt they'll find much if our scout planes didn't see anything."

"That would be ideal."

"...Odd. Sister, did one of your drones cut out?"

Sovetskaya immediately perked at Essex's confused words, Enterprise warily responding, "No, they're all still transmitting. Why?"

The mental chatting was put on momentary pause, Enterprise swiftly broadening the scope of their telepathic dialogue as the rest of the fleet was included, Elizabeth haughtily inquiring, "What is the meaning of this crude facsimile of knocking one one's door? A bit of privacy-"

Essex was quick to cut off the queen's lecture, informing their sisters with, "One of the returning drones is out of contact about fourteen nautical miles from our starboard flank, it's unclear if it was a mechanical failure or an Original Siren operation."

"...How often have the drones failed of their own accord?"

"Thus far, never."

Warspite fell silent at Enterprise's blunt words, Elizabeth grimly musing, "It's fortuitous that the Admiral elected to raise the fleet's combat readiness."

For a few seconds they waited with a growing tension as the overhead machine remained out of contact, each shipgirl ironically hoping that it had merely fallen out of the sky rather than actually run across a group of Original Sirens practically within spitting distance considering their armament's increased range.

"Feed received, drone is still intact."

For the span of a moment they were silent, a flurry of wordless communication passing between them as war-refined instinct lead to a common consensus…and as one they sprung into action.

Sovetskaya was only distantly aware of Enterprise calling Admiral Harrison, of fighters and bombers that had been kept in a state of readiness being launched from their respective vessels. Her peripherals catching glimpses of missile launches from the destroyers and cruisers and sharp ears hearing the muted wail of alarms all throughout the fleet.

Her focus was entirely and solely reserved for the first real firing of her guns, of the opening salvo since she had been granted new and incredible power, the surging strength as the 'railguns' drew lavishly of her vessels energy, building to a crescendo that left her body tingling with primal desire to let loose-

CRACK!

-and what she might have dared call a religious movement coursed through her body as the three railguns let loose a salvo of crushing kinetic force that had the typically reserved shipgirl smiling like a wild animal, a noise halfway between childish giggle and mature laugh escaping her as Elizabeth, Warspite and Bart also joined in on the fun as their munitions spread out over a stretch of ocean roughly the size of the disruption the drone had spotted, missiles flying in from the rest of the fleet a scant few seconds later.

The results were spectacular, to say the least. Overhead scout planes that had remained to circle the area showed a section of space that seemed to shatter in on itself the moment the lead railgun rounds pierced it, shields and other defensive measures flaring sun bright as the Parliament shipgirl's barrage struck a ship head on, the other rounds splashing into the waters and kicking up gargantuan waves upon contact while the barrage of missiles made in flight corrections, converging on the vessel that had received direct hits from her guns.

Some of the initial headiness of the strike vanished as almost half of the guided projectiles were shot down by a multitude of tracer fire or laser batteries, Sovetskaya immediately reminded that the Original Sirens were nothing to be laughed at or dismissed in terms of capability.

"They are anything but invincible, thankfully."

The ship vanished in a string of reactor detonations and munitions explosions as the missiles struck home, the carcass of the machine actually lifting upwards briefly before splashing down, the battleship nodding in satisfaction as she turned her attention to the rest of the concealed Siren force-

-and felt her jaw drop.

While there still remained three other enemy ships - all of them as large and heavily armed as she was - behind the vessels rested an ovoid and utterly massive shape larger than even the Bakunawa, resembling a crab shell minus the claws and bristling with weapon clusters, sensor nodes and launch bays.

"What in God's name is that monstrosity?"

Jeanne's disbelieving whisper seemed to coincide with the gargantuan construct's lights flickering and dying, only to power back on all at once as if power had been properly restored.

"No way to tell until it's out of commission! Sisters, annihilate them!"

Sovetskaya's words coincided with the Admiral firmly ordering, [Engage the enemy at your discretion, we're running escort for the troop transports until they're out of enemy range.]

The Parliament shipgirl inwardly nodded at the sensible decisions, even if it was clear to tell from the man's voice that he despised having to run from the battle. Their ships were better than what they had before, certainly, but still not up to the level of their retrofits.

Instinct and experience took over, the fleet splitting into two as the Human vessels pushed full steam ahead further down the Republic coastline while the shipgirls turned towards the Siren vessels, aiming to close the gap since they were already well within airstrike and railgun range and would be better off getting closer than falling back.

"Sisters! Dire news! There's-"

"A fleet of Original Sirens nearby, we know! Hurry your ass back here, we're going to need every gun we can get!"

While there was an undercurrent of relief to Bart's words they were as harsh as always, Sovetskaya briefly smirking at the interplay as Émile, Chao Ho and Ying Swei's vessels briefly swayed before straightening out and more confidently cruising within the formation, the trio having no doubt concluded whatever their business was and resumed mental control.

"Ugh, what a way of showing your gratitude for our hard work! Bad enough we have to deal with this jerk…"

"Wait, what jerk?"

Émile gave a small and fairly adorable clearing of her mental throat before stating, "We picked up a Siren opposed to the battlegroup we currently face, she professes to being able to aid us in our-"

"Incoming!"

Tashkent's shout cut off the confusing exchange, Sovetskaya looking through the eyes of the various scout craft as the Siren base began launching dozens of aircraft at once, missile silos firing off so many warheads that it looked like a fireworks display while the remaining vessels returned fire with their own rail cannons.

…This had quickly turned into a battle between equals when they had been expecting a dry run with perhaps a few hiccups along the way, a battle that the Parliament shipgirl found herself quickly racing to recall the combat doctrine of considering their new situation-

-and instinctual, shared knowledge streamed over their mental link, the battleship briefly marveling at how much more versatile what had already been an invaluable tool became after the retrofits as anti-air batteries and missiles prepared for launch, the cumulative experience of Enterprise, Essex, Vampire, Warspite, Belfast and Elizabeth paving the way.

There was a brief moment of alarm as the initial salvo from their enemies struck, Essex's shield holding fast against two of the opposing salvos while the third struck Tashkent and dropped her shields, the vessel beneath thankfully undamaged as Bart maneuvered her vessel so that it was guarding the smaller ship.

A brief lull in the combat as the longer range weapons on both sides recharged, the fighter and bomber formations gathering as the guided missiles crossed the relatively short distance between fleets…and the second wave of railgun fire erupted across the opposing fleets, cruisers now in range to add their own smaller scale yet equally lethal payloads to the mix as the shipgirls targeted down two of the three remaining Siren battleship equivalents, shields flaring and failing as their hulls were ravaged by high velocity kill rounds. The last one fared little better, a sneaky set of missiles courtesy of the destroyers sinking the machine amidst plumes of geysering water and last minute course corrections.

The Parliament shipgirl lost track of the enemy for a brief moment as the missile barrage finally entered CIWS range, attention flitting a thousand different directions as they mentally and intuitively took over different parts of the defense effort, constantly shifting fields of fire seeking out and annihilating the diving warheads with a variety of methods.

Airbursting shells, laser weaponry. Intercept missiles…Sovetskaya couldn't help but find the display beautiful, despite its lethality and capacity for destruction. She appreciated even more its efficiency, not a single warhead making it to the fleet and covering the sky with a fast expanding cloud of fiery smoke.

She appreciated less the onslaught of Siren aircraft fast on the heels of the guided munitions, the base able to field many more fighters and bombers than the two carriers could and putting them at a fighter disadvantage…and these weren't the older style Siren craft that had to get in close to cause damage, they could stay at safe distances, reach incredibly high altitudes and achieve remarkable speed with no need to worry about a fleshy body within.

Their weapons had advanced but so had the enemies, Sovetskaya scowling as the fighter force almost half the enemy size rocketed forward to meet them, Sovetskaya briefly reflecting that having that Union San Diego girl on their side would have been immensely useful at that moment in time. She'd only met her twice and had found the cruiser's clumsiness…odd. But there was no finer anti-air specialist she would have wanted on their side at this moment.

"Of course, while I'm wishing I wish there were hundreds more of our sisters still in the fight."

A brief twinge of unidentifiable emotion passed through the bond and then Belfast was stating, "Enterprise and Essex will handle the aircraft, focus on removing the base from the field!"

While the battleship wasn't exactly enthusiastic with ignoring the very numerous and very deadly aircraft buzzing their way she decided - as always - to have faith in her sisters, redirecting all attention to the distant Siren base still launching aircraft, albeit at a thankfully slower pace.

"Concentrate on one point, the two foremost launch bays! Staggered line formation, be ready to cover for each other!"

Railguns roared to life once again as the air briefly shimmered with imparted force, a scant moment passing as the rounds traveled the still shrinking distance before impacting with rippling shockwaves across the base's shields…which held with barely so much as a flicker, Vampire complaining, "What manner of shielding doth that colossus possess?! Only the Bakunawa shall be so ludicrously durable!"

Sovetskaya was about to comment when the base returned fire, the Parliament shipgirl's shields flaring for a moment before they broke, her rear turret turned into a fast expanding cloud of metal and electronics as a round came dangerously close to its intended target, sympathetic pain feeling as if someone had smashed her across the back with a metal pipe, two hammerblows to her head accompanying a pair of bombers hitting her control structure and causing fire and flame to wash over her body.

But she was still in the fight, Émile slewing her ship in front of hers to provide a physical shield - both vessels scant meters away from the other in a dangerously close maneuver - as the Parliament battleship wiped away the ash and soot that had covered her face, laser-focused on her target as her two remaining guns cycled and recharged, ignoring her sister's concern and the continuing airwar around them as they again fired off a volley that would have ruptured the eardrums of anyone standing nearby, the Siren base once more shining like a beacon as its shields withstood the barrage-

-and broke apart, a single shell smashing into the primary launch bays and significantly cratering it, the shipgirl's lips parting in a shark's smile.

"Target the CIWS systems, spread out your fire!"

Too deep in the haze of battle to identify who gave the order - and finding it didn't really matter as they shared a common agreement - Sovetskaya redirected her batteries to a missile platform and laser array respectively, firing as one with her sisters even as they suffered another bout of return fire, flashes of pain and apprehension spreading through their link but no permanent disappearances, a cessation of contact.

"Good enough for me."

The god's eye view provided by their aerial surveillance craft - even if they had to keep a fair distance away to avoid the jamming - showcased massive and ragged wounds appear on the titanic base at their latest counterblow, enough point-defense destroyed that a final volley of missiles dove into the ragged wounds and sensitive components of the monstrosity, secondary explosions rippling along the length of the construct as it fell silent, at last removed from the field as the battleship turned her attention to the ongoing air battle…and had to blink as it was mostly over, a scant dozen of Enterprise and Essex's fighter craft hunting down the last few Siren planes as at least a hundred - if not more - plumes of smoke rose from the waters around them.

"Ah. They've been busy."

Slowly rolling her shoulders to work out the kinks and phantom pain she was experiencing the shipgirl took stock of the rest of their forces, frowning at what she found. While there were no casualties they had taken quite the beating, with Warspite taking on a slight amount of water from where a shot had scored line in her hull, Le Malin's communication and radar station merely scrap from where a bomb had directly hit it while Essex and Enterprise were leaking smoke and flame from a fair few portions of their ships, although they were both still afloat and in the fight. Everyone else had light damage or no damage at all although Sovetskaya imagined everyone was low on ammo after that pitched battle.

"Sisters, one last salvo to sink that damned thing."

"Actually, I would suggest leaving it be for the moment and instead focus on destroying what few weapons systems it has left."

Émile's sudden words threw all of them for a loop, Bart demanding, "What do you MEAN we should leave that damn thing alive?!"

"Wellllllll…do you perchance remember that jerk we were speaking of ever so briefly?"

Sovetskaya sighed, just knowing she wasn't going to like this conversation.