Chapter 62: Counterblow (Part 4)

"I thought you said that you were familiar with Old Siren tactics and other such shit?!"

"We are! This is new!"

"Oh well aren't we the fucking lucky ones!"

A wild laugh of delight escaped Aegir's lips as her Rigging bore down on an Old Siren drone, ripping it in half before firing off a blast of plasma that slagged a Tower-class into its component pieces, a volley of more standard kinetic rounds flying in from the side as their Human allies laid down covering fire for the cackling Ironblood.

"Well as least she's crazy in our benefit-"

[Master, approaching enemy forces from the corridor ahead!]

TB's distracted warning had Alexander biting back on yet another violent slew of curses as he instead surged ahead, Empress and Arbiter VI right on his heels as he leapt forward, the lead machine having just enough time to poke its optics around the corner before the Aloadae's shield smashed it into the wall with enough force that its mechanical insides blew out in a spray of electrical gore.

…Which left the male completely exposed on both sides, a collection of Tower and Bunker classes staring him down as Alexander resisted the urge to smack himself in the face.

"I should have just kicked it and not used the damn shield."

Thankfully TB and the pair of Neo Sirens were there to bail him out of his dismal decision making, the Rigging attached to his back affording him crucial seconds of safety against the deluge of return fire as layers of shielding sprung into place while Empress and Arbiter took the more expedited route of simply annihilating their foes in sweeping waves of plasma, laser and kinetic munitions that raised the ambient temperature of the corridor enough that he was grateful for the regulated temperature inside his suit.

Those few seconds of distraction and delay were enough, the male hauling his shield into place before it sprung to life, rotary cannon howling as it launched a solid line of ammunition into the horde of Old Siren machines while his shoulder mounted cannon reaped its own tally, metal and circuitry flying in a hundred different directions as explosive and armor-piercing rounds ripped their shells to shreds.

Three seconds of sustained fire and Alexander eased off the trigger, breathing out a shaky sigh of relief before turning back to his comrades, motioning them forward as they fell into formation behind him as Empress and Arbiter took up flanking positions, Aegir and August taking up the rear as the carrier's Rigging transported two of the Marine's lifeless corpses atop its back.

Less than three minutes of running and gunning had caused no shortage of carnage.

"TB, have you figured out where we are yet?"

[Apologies, Master, but my focus is…torn, at the moment. I am attempting to slow down the self-destruct sequence of the base and halt any further teleportation events but defenses are greater than I expected and attempting to do so is taking up much of my processing power. Finding a layout of this facility is beyond my capabilities.]

"Well GREAT."

Leaving the A.I. to do her thing he instead turned back to the sounds of battle occurring alongside them, shoving open a side door to find Amagi and Shinano clearing out another flanking attack, the Aloadae finding himself once more spellbound by their graceful lethality and power.

Amagi waded through the Old Siren onslaught like an unmovable pillar of strength and firepower, staggering her cannon's shots so that there was never an idle moment of destruction while her glowing shields blunted everything else. And while Alexander had always associated Shinano with a calm and sleepy soul her movements in the heat of battle were anything but, deft footwork and absolute control of her body creating a mesmerizing display as her fox tails drifted in and out of the enemy like silver trails of light, Rigging guarding her flanks while what had initially seemed like comically oversized blades reaped a grim tally as they sliced through armor and machinery as if it was no more durable than warm butter.

"It's like a bustier, slightly more artful version of Kawakaze."

Shaking off that errant thought as the last drone fell he asked, "You two alright?"

"Just a few minor burns and such, Dragon-sama. Do we have an escape route planned?"

One of Amagi's tails flicked itself and snuffed out a burning strand of hair as the Aloadae shook his head, grumbling, "No luck, TB is working full time on keeping the base from going sky high and like hell I know where we are inside this mess."

"And our Neo Siren allies?"

"You're assuming way too much from them, foxy~!"

Aegir's irrepressibly excited words caused Empress to briefly scowl, the expression vanishing a moment later as she replied, "We are aiding TB where we can, without physically interacting with any terminals or other means of information access our ability to do so is limited."

A rumbling filled the halls as yet another swarm of Old Siren forces approached, Empress frigidly asking, "Unless you would like to hold still for an extended period of time? I'm sure the locals would appreciate such a static target."

Unable to come up with a suitable response to the Neo Siren's snark Alexander spent a precious few seconds trying to think of a clever solution…and snarled in annoyance at his lack of brilliance before barking, "Shinano! Can your blades cut through the walls?"

"Given time, yes…they must also recharge but-"

"Start cutting in that direction, we'll keep em' off of you!"

Glancing around the group and desperately hoping that someone had a better idea the male was left disappointed as everyone just seemed in agreement, the Humans of their group moving to whatever cover they could find while the Shipgirls and Sirens hunkered down behind their Riggings, August languidly stating, "I find myself torn between complimenting your decisiveness or criticizing your simplicity, Familiar."

"That you're debating between the two at all doesn't do you any favors. It's the latter."

The carrier seemed amused at his words as the Aloadae marched forward, crouching behind his shield at the forefront of the formation as Empress glided up next to him, Rigging primed and ready as she remarked, "You seem quite willing and able to take the reigns of leadership despite your professed lack of experience or suitable personality."

"I'm the one with the enhanced body and tech, the least I can do is make sure everybody makes it out alive."

Electing to ignore the woman's contemplative expression and head tilt he once more tried to contact the rest of the Shipgirls with little success, trying to speak with them through the jamming like trying to recite a Shakespearean play to someone underwater.

The situation would be SO much more manageable if they could just communicate to any meaningful extent with their allies outside, a few missile or railgun barrages punching a hole through the base would make the entire situation moot.

…Or kill them in the resulting destruction since they still had no idea where the hell they even WERE.

"Dragon-sama, they are only a few seconds away!"

Amagi's ears twitched like radar dishes, picking up the clamor of incoming drones as Shinano's blade finally stopped buzzing, a thick sheet of metal falling over with a tremendous clang as the carrier sheathed one of her swords, equipping the next as she bounded through to the next bulkhead.

Just in time for the first Tower-class to peek its head around the corner and earn a blast from the Aloadae's shoulder cannon for its bravery, the drone collapsing in a molten heap and providing a convenient choke point for the rest of the firing line as more machines scurried over their fallen comrade, withering away to the defender's fire as the group was cut to shreds in less than twenty seconds, the base once more falling silent other than the distant rumbling and screeching of approaching squads.

Another hole in the wall, another retreat and Alexander honestly would have liked their chances if it wasn't for the fact that they were going to run out of ammo sooner rather than later. Hell, his chaingun was already down a third of its max capacity and he imagined that was the case for the Marines as well. And while their laser weaponry might last a lot longer and the Shipgirls could regenerate ammunition that was a significant volume of their firepower out of commission.

He didn't fancy their odds in melee with dozens of fearless machines.

"Where the hell is Kawakaze when you need her?"

"No luck yet?"

"None. Damn it all, I knew this was too easy!"

"At no point did any of us think this was easy. Maintain vigilance, sisters, they are still in the fight."

Warspite resisted the urge to grind her teeth and begin pacing up and down the length of her vessel, knowing that it would just be a waste of effort and poor showing of discipline, instead taking a deep breath and forcing herself to remain calm and in control, once more reaching out with her mind towards her liege only to be met with the same indistinct sense of fuzziness that provided neither location nor emotional state, only that he was indeed alive along with her sisters.

In the middle of an enemy base that had whisked them away without so much as a hint of warning and engaged jamming so that they were all but blind.

"And here I thought Her Majesty had a penchant for getting into trouble and seeking out conflict. Alexander is INFINITELY worse and I have only known him for a fraction of the time."

Shaking off that thought the battleship instead glanced around the fleet, all of their vessels patrolling the exterior of the base and looking for something to shoot in a clear desire for action.

…Warspite honestly felt fairly guilty for not having the implicit faith Émile did in her liege, the Iris cruiser seeming convinced beyond any shadow of a doubt that the man would come back into contact at any moment.

"That didn't take very long at all, did it?"

Warspite wryly reflected that His Majesty seemed rather adept at ensnaring the hearts of Shipgirls from all walks of life, anyone with a pulse could see that the dancer was utterly infatuated with the man and she reckoned that by the end of the campaign Émile would find the opportunity to drag him off to bed.

"Will this be the first royal harem in many years to form? I know Queen Elizabeth was entertaining the possibility of wedding Alexander in order to cement his position and safety within our world - something Lady Nagato also intended - but this could spiral out of proportion quite easil-"

The petite battleship smacked her cheeks in order to break the meandering chain of thought, grimacing at how her mind wandered so easily during the heat of combat before once again focusing on the task at hand.

Thankfully their quick elimination of the base's guns had allowed Admiral Harrison and the rest of the fleet to make landfall further into the Republic as originally planned, initial scouting discovering that whatever the Old Sirens had been up to had left many Neo Siren outposts destroyed or heavily damaged, making their task that much easier.

"So many things about this conflict we have yet to understand…in fact we-"

Warspite's head snapped towards a portion of the base perhaps a few dozen meters upwards and more or less directly in front of her hull, Alexander's presence still fuzzy but undeniably clearer as she tried to parse through the tangle of intent and instruction that was coming from the man…and one thought in particular overrode all others.

Fire at this location.

Locking her jaw and resigning herself to carrying out what she just knew was going to be an absurd plan the Shipgirl sent a brief outline of the situation to her sisters before prepping her railcannons, wondering if her liege could ever do anything normally.

"TB, ten second rewind!"

Alexander's roar coincided with Amagi falling to the floor minus her head, Mathers and another Marine falling alongside her as a collection of Old Siren drones emerged from the ceiling, the world shifting alongside a heating body as reality rewound itself-

-and an uncomfortably warm gasp left the Aloadae as he hauled the rotary cannon around, shouting out, "Above us!" as the group aimed their weapons high without a moment's hesitation, a section of the wall detonating outwards and peppering the squad with red hot fragments as a bevy of drones poked their weapon mounts downwards-

-only to be met with a flurry of munitions as they were shot down before a single round was fired, Amagi not only keeping her head but personally eviscerating a pair of Towers that had previously 'killed' her.

The Aloadae didn't quite manage to keep an uncomfortable shiver from wracking his body as the memory played out in chilling detail, gunfire falling silent as the group seamlessly kept moving without a backwards glance.

"Down to my last mag!"

"Same here!"

"Not to be the guy that follows the crowd but…"

Except they were well and truly at the end of their rope, Alexander grimly noting that he had maybe a second of sustained fire in the rotary cannon left and that was it, not to mention his ability to rewind time was going to be more than slightly limited if he had to use it in rapid succession. Just the one usage now left him feeling more than slightly woozy, something that Aegir and August noticed if the brief glances they sent his way were any indication.

Yet another metallic bang accompanied Shinano doing away with a wall of the base, her swords struggling and whining with the strain-

And Alexander almost leapt for joy as a tenuous connection established itself with Warspite, the sensation still fuzzy and indistinct but serviceable enough for their needs. And right now they needed an exit no matter how ugly and stupid it may be.

"Everyone hold up, we'll have a way out in just a moment!"

Focusing on the end of a hallway a moderate distance away from them he focused on it as hard as he could, on the idea of destruction and freedom as hard as possible as something that might be resigned acceptance emanated from the battleship, Curtis hunkering down behind his shield as he shouted, "Stay behind me, they're going to blow a hole in the base for us!"

Everyone was quick to heed his advice, warily gazing behind them as the sounds of approaching machinery drew close, the corridors choked with smoke and stink of burning circuitry as yet another wave of drones homed in on them. Thankfully there was a final sense of wariness and warning from Warspite-

-and this time the explosion resulting from her provided salvo was downright oppressive, the group no longer shielded by an intervening bulkhead as the inside of the base howled with the resulting force as even within his armor Alexander felt his insides change location a bit.

"Holy shit. Did anyone else feel that?"

One of the Marines went for a bit of levity as the Aloadae chuckled at the remark, rushing into the smoke and still smoldering metal where hypervelocity rounds had punched right on through as the jamming finally abated enough for a steady line of communication to be established with their outside forces, Enterprise immediately contacting him with, "Alexander, are you alright? What about everyone else?"

"We're fine, took a few casualties but we're still mobile."

"Good, then hold your position, we have escape routes available for you."

Briefly wondering what they meant by that his silent inquiry was answered a moment later as a couple interceptors slewed to a stop directly below their perch, hovering upon columns of pure thrust as Alexander turned to the Marines, shouting, "This is our ride, hop on!"

While there was a second of understandable trepidation from the group at being asked to jump on top of a fighter jet a covering blast from Amagi's cannons seemed to settle the matter, Mathers leading the way as he jumped the remaining distance to one of the fighters, the rest of the Marines following suit as Alexander made to follow atop his own personal craft…and paused as he saw Empress and Arbiter turn to once more head deeper into the base, warily asking, "And just where the hell are you two going?"

"We have still not ascertained whether Arbiter's ingrained information has been seized by the Old Sirens, we will need to find a physical access point to ascertain whether that is still the case."

"Did you miss the part where this place is about to blow the fuck up?!"

"And until it does we need to be absolutely certain. We ensured your survival, now we must accomplish our own tasks."

Without further ado the pair disappeared further into the behemoth's depths, Alexander blinking as August idly remarked, "Leaving so suddenly without so much as a proper goodbye? What poor manners."

Staring longingly into the distance as the safety of their fleet beckoned the Aloadae found himself fully prepared to leave the Neo Sirens to their business…and instead cursed under breath, inquiring, "TB, think you can keep this place from going up in flames for a bit longer?"

[If I can be physically attached to the Old Siren network once more I will be able to indefinitely postpone the self-destruct and Mirror Sea relocation as long as I am not required to do anything else.]

Nodding to himself in gratitude at the AI's perseverance - she sounded like she'd just sprinted a mile without stopping to breath - he ran after the pair of Sirens, informing the rest of the fleet, "If we're not back in fifteen minutes then start punching holes in this thing around where your best guess of where we are is!"

"What idiocy are you engaged in now you Blödmann?! If you-"

Inwardly grateful that Eugen's tirade had been cut off by the signal-blocking walls of the base the male didn't bother hiding his sigh, idly remarking, "I suppose it's a sign of how messed up things are that I'm not even questioning all of you following me on this idiot crusade."

"If this is an 'idiot crusade' then are you not among good company~?"

Aegir's amused comment accompanied Shinano languidly stating, "We cannot allow you to perish, Dragon-sama. Accompanying any manner of folly…is simply common sense."

"Well, glad we're in agreement this is total bogus then…"

Feeling slightly more assured in this whole scheme now that he had allies at his back the Aloadae quickly caught up to the Neo Siren duo, Empress looking over her shoulder from where her Rigging was in the process of dismantling an unfortunate drone before snapping, "Why are you here?"

"Because if you two stubborn cunts get caught by these things or caught up the self-destruct then my job becomes harder! Now quit complaining and get moving!"

While the Neo Siren looked as if she had a whole host of choice comments regarding his bullshit she ultimately turned away with the slightest traces of a scowl, Alexander once more taking point as he heard August murmur, "Such a crass and willful familiar…but that is entertaining in its own right."

"Yeah, that's my life, alright. Entertainment and entertainment."

The halls of the Basilica had once been filled with quiet contemplation and serenity, providing all within a sense of holiness and comfort that no other hall of worship the world over could match. A towering structure both elegant and practical, armed with both cannon and effigy alike as the Iris bastion served as both site of pilgrimage and bulwark against the foes of the Orthodoxy.

The interior had been even more welcoming, attended to by holy men and women cast into warming light by stained glass windows and such as the cardinals preached messages of peace and victory in the midst of trying time.

Now? Now those brilliant memories of the past seemed to taunt Richelieu more than any words of the Devil could have hoped to, the once mighty and unbreakable Basilica haunted only by ghosts and a worthless holy woman kept prisoner within her own mind.

Heels clacked loudly on uneven and broken tile and marble, mechanical precisions carrying the Shipgirl's puppeted body across the site of a barrage that had slaughtered a room full of janitorial staff, the scent of bleach and ash still potent.

A sidestepping of a toppled statue of the Lord, dried blood and sawdust creating an expression uncomfortably close to tears on the monument's face.

The woman's chest rose and fell in an unbroken rhythm, once rich and vibrant robes caked in detritus and the remains of the last enemies she had faced before falling under the sway of a soulless machine.

She hadn't even been allowed to die in battle, consigned to a worthless existence of serving the enemy's designs with little else to do but pray for salvation, her only mercy being that as much as she may suffer it was absolutely worse for Algérie, her comrade having actually killed their fellow sisters with her own hands while under the control of their overlords.

She merely had to suffer her own ineptitude, not ineptitude and guilt.

"Identification, Cardinal Richelieu."

Bringing her attention back to reality as her voice spoke depressingly familiar words without her consent, muscles contracting and bringing her eyes before a scanner that confirmed her validity to enter the room beyond the Iris battleship once more found herself wondering if the war had ended outside the silent walls or if they were merely sheltered from it conclusion, doomed to forever walk the empty halls of her old home until a time that her devilish collar was removed or the being in charge of it simply forgot to have her eat and drink.

Striding through the now open security that lead deeper into the halls of the Basilica that even she had seldom visited Richelieu found her body glancing towards the silently vigilant form of Algérie as her puppeteer kept the woman on constant guard duty for an unknown process occurring deep in the bowels of the fortress.

Strange metal hoops that glowed and hummed with foreign technology, a constant stream of Siren machines and weapons whose purpose eluded her. All she knew was that her tormentors had used her body's security clearances to access unknown means of transportation deep within the bowels of the Basilica, the few times she had been made to observe the process a drone had run an odd stick across oversized missiles, the device releasing a high-pitched metallic whine at various frequencies.

The warheads had then been moved to various points of the fortress that she hadn't been made privy to, by her rough estimate just shy of a hundred of the weapons being placed around the Basilica for completely alien purposes although she imagined it was for less than benign means. After all, the beings that had enslaved her and her comrade seemed to be more active in the past days - weeks, maybe - and there was no doubt they were preparing for something.

All she could do - as she had done for the past length of time that escaped her ability to recall - was pray, hoping for a miracle or at the very least penance in death.

Pray that there was something or someone that could deliver them from their failings, as her body spun on its heel and marched back to its lonely vigil, Algérie matching her pace before once more falling into silent blackness as the dimly lit interior of the Basilica hummed with quiet activity.