1998.
Snider's Top
The Empress races out of her portal and searches for her smaller comrade. "OBSERVER! WHERE ARE YOU!?" She scans for her and find her several miles underwater. She dives down under.
A few minutes later, the Empress emerges again with the Observer's severely damaged body in her arms. She takes her to the nearest bit of land and looks down at her.
"…Observer?"
The smaller Siren isn't moving or showing any signs of activity.
"No!" She summons her Megalodon rigging and puts her hand on her friend's chest, close to her Black Cube. She starts channeling energy from it into the Observer's body, repairing her but she doesn't seem to be regaining consciousness.
"Come on!" The Empress yells. This has never been done before and she can't just revive her normally in this world.
After a few minutes of trying to restore power to the smaller Siren, the Empress screams, "NO! WAKE UP! WHY!?" Her rage breaks down into sorrow and she starts to cry. "Please… Observer… please wake up…"
Observer remains motionless.
"Please… I…. can't…"
"You can't go on without me?"
"Yes… and… and I…"
"You have feelings for me?"
"Yes… I never wanted to admit it… but— Wait a minute…"
The Empress looks at her again. The Observer looks back with a smug face. "I knew it."
"HUH!? YOU LITTLE—"
The Observer puts a finger on the Empress' lips, silencing her. She teases, "The cat is out of the bag now, my love~"
The Empress' angry glare turns slowly into a caring smile. The two of them start to chuckle a bit, then break down into laughter, "So… what now?" She asks after they settle down.
"Well… as much as I'd love to further explore the surprisingly human emotions we're both feeling, I imagine St. Ark needs some help." The Observer answers.
Remembering what's about to happen, the taller Siren opens a portal. "Oh, shit! Come on, we're going to that test base!"
"Whatever for, your Beautifulness?" The Observer teases.
"Oh, just shut up and get in there!" The Empress yells back with a chuckle, making the smaller Siren giggle.
Top-Secret Gründer Industries research lab.
Dr. Schroeder looks at the opening Siren portal with utter dread. He takes a deep breath and prepares for the verbal onslaught from the Empress.
To his surprise, both Sirens emerge smiling and calm. To his even bigger surprise, the Empress herself looks at him and kindly requests, "Doctor, is the AI ready for a sortie?"
"Um… y… yes, ma'am. The F-15S/MTD is ready and the AI pod has been inserted into the cockpit module."
"Is it running off of Phoenix's data?" The Observer asks.
"Yes, ma'am. All ready to go." The man replies. "The control surfaces have been made more efficient and the airframe has been reinforced. It may be able to take down Phoenix this time."
"Just his defeat will be enough. We don't want him dead, after all." The Empress reasons.
"May I ask why, ma'am?" Dr. Schroeder questions.
"That is something you don't need to know, human." The Empress answers in a dark tone.
"Empress, be nice~" The Observer teases.
"Hmmf." The taller one pouts and backs off like a trained dog.
Looking between the two of them, the man thinks, "What is going on between these two…?" He clears his throat and says. "The plane is ready for a sortie. Shall I send it to St. Ark? The news says the Allied Forces are closing in."
"Just send it up. Dear Empress here will open a portal for it and send it right there immediately." The Observer requests. "Also, put another copy of the AI in that other plane down there. I've not seen that one before…"
"The experimental aircraft, ma'am?"
"Yes. Is it ready to fly?" The Observer asks.
"It is, ma'am. We'll prep it for sortie, too." The Doctor replies.
"Send the F-15 to St. Ark and have the other plane on standby for now."
"Understood." He types in the command for the red plane to start taxiing out of the hangar.
"How is your human pilot, by the way?" The smaller Siren asks as the red Eagle silently rolls onto the runway.
After giving the F-15S/MTD the command to take off, Dr. Schroeder looks at her. The Empress is looking out the window, ready to summon the portal. He answers, "Mihaly? He's fine. Taking some time off for now. I think he's getting bored since he can't actively serve anymore."
"Perhaps he should train a new pilot?" The Observer suggests, secretly planning on making another ace for them to test and capture in the future. "Imagine what a younger ace with Mr. X's actual skills could do, rather than drones with his mere data."
"Hmm… it would give him something interesting to do, at least… and I suppose we can't just keep gathering data on Mihaly forever…"
The engines on the red Eagle ignite, shooting it down the runway. It takes off and flies into the portal that the Empress opens…
St. Ark (A few minutes earlier).
Soon after the Lurker had left the stronghold with Folkvangr, the Rebels find themselves without any Siren support with the Allied Forces on the way.
"Goddammit!" The most senior officer hits both his hands on a console, "Where the HELL have the Observer and the Empress gone!? We need them here! St. Ark is our final line of defence before Fortress Intolerance!"
"Sir! Scarface Squadron has been spotted! They're closing in!" A soldier informs.
"Get all AA defences to start firing! Get all our aircraft up! Throw everything we've got at them!" The Officer orders as his skin turns white. He turns to the nervous Siren stood with the Kansen who is offering advice to her.
"Purifer! What else should we do!?"
"Umm…" Purity mutters. Deutschland whispers in her ear and then she repeats, "Get any and all civilians out of St. Ark immediately!"
"But… aren't we using them as deterrences? The Empress had them placed around the high-value targets and air defences so Scarface Squadron wouldn't destroy them!" The Officer argues.
Deutschland charges forth and grabs him, "Are you challenging your superior, you lowly animal!? Obey her and get those Gottverdammt innocents to safety!"
"Ah… yes, ma'am!" The Officer runs out.
The Kansen looks to Purity, who says, "Thanks, friend…"
"These Narren can't be allowed to win. It's obvious the Allied Forces are the ones we should help…. ugh… that felt strange to say… anyway, we should do whatever we can to sabotage these Rebels."
Purity nods, "You got it. Let's do it! The other Sirens are leading humanity to destruction! I wanna actually help the humans from now on!"
"St. Ark is now in sight." Keynote reports. "There will be defence lines before we reach their command centre. It should prove to be a fierce battle. Good luck. Scarface Squadron."
Upon seeing the city of St. Ark, turned into a gigantic Siren Stronghold similar to Avalon Dam, Phoenix and Edge nod to each other and start taking out the defences for the rest of the Allied Forces to retake the area. Lesser pilots would have turned around and the sight of what the Rebels and the Sirens have done to the city.
Nagase speaks, "This fight will decide what tomorrow will bring for millions of people. It's almost overwhelming. Sorry, I shouldn't get emotional at a moment like this, but I'm ready, Phoenix. Let's win back tomorrow!"
Scarface Squadron gain a lot of ground very quickly, paving the way for Allied ground forces. Thanks to Purity and Deutschland, the targets they destroy are not endangering the civilians.
"Here come the Allied Forces!" A Rebel yells. He sees just two F-22As and adds, "Do they honestly expect to break through our defences with that firepower!?"
The Officer orders, "Keep them away from HQ at all costs!"
2024.
Azur Lane HQ, Akashi's lab.
"The first prototype is complete, nya!" The green cat says excitedly. "Anzio-san! Switch it on, nya!"
A Cruiser Kansen by the name of Anzio nods at Lt. Colonel Bishop, who nods back, and throws the switch on a big frame, which generates a portal similar to one produced by a Siren.
The Fleet Commander, Warwolf 1 and the flagships all stare at it in awe. The Compiler scans it and says, "I had copied the exact details for the world they were sent to that were generated when my machinery malfunctioned. However, it seems unstable. It will only be able to send one Kansen before collapsing."
The Fleet Admiral immediately objects, "I'm not risking condemning another of my girls in that world. Akashi, work on this more—"
Bismarck herself objects back, "Flottenadmiral, We don't have time for this! Kleine Katze!"
"Nya?" Akashi looks up at her.
"I assume you have a return generator, ja?"
"Hai! Here, nya!" Akashi hand shed a small device with a button on it. "It's single use as it will use all its power to make a portal powerful enough for two, so only use it to return back with Deutschland-san, nya!"
"Now hold on a minute!" The Fleet Admiral tries, but is stopped by Hood, who walks up to Bismarck.
The Royal Battlecruiser whispers so only the Iron Blood Battleship can hear her, "Are you sure about this, Biscuit?"
Blushing from being called that, Bismarck nods, "Ja. One of my Schiffsmädchen is stuck in there. It's my responsibility to bring her back." She looks up at Hood, who is just slightly taller than herself, "Don't worry, meine Schönste. I'll be back as soon as I find her."
Akashi announces, "I managed to track Deutschland-san's Cube signature in the other world so your destination will be very close to her, nya!"
Bismarck responds, "Sehr gut." She turns around and salutes the Fleet Admiral. She then kneels in front of Graf Spee. She takes her hat off and looks her in the eyes, "Do not worry, Spee. I will complete the mission. I will bring her back to you. By my honour as flagship."
"Danke schön, Lord Bismarck…" Spee responds with hope in her eyes.
Bismarck smiles, stand and spins around, making her cape twirl and walks towards the portal. She gives Hood a secret wink before stopping in front of it. She takes a deep breath and then cautiously passes through. As soon as she's out of everyone's view, the portal collapses.
After some silence, everyone looks to Compiler. She takes a moment and confirms, "Detecting a weak signal. Battleship Bismarck survived the transfer. She is still alive in the other world."
Everyone cheers and Hood releases the breath she didn't realise she was holding.
"Please be okay, Schwester…" Spee whispers.
The Fleet Admiral looks to Akashi, "Keep working on it. We need a reliable generator and anything could happen in there."
"Hai!" The cat salutes, making her oversized sleeve cover her face in an adorable fashion, making the Fleet Admiral chuckle and pet her green cat ears.
Out of earshot, Anzio pulls Bishop aside. She asks, "Warwolf… after this is all over… could that machine…?"
"Yes, I sure hope so…" he nods, "God knows what's happened in D.C. since we got here…"
1998.
St. Ark.
As Scarface Squadron brute force their way through the Rebel defences, a portal opens and spits out a plane Phoenix had hoped never to see again.
"It's that red aircraft again!" Keynote's update sends a chill down Scarface 1's spine. He looks straight ahead and sees the flash of light from the portal collapsing and his IFF reading a new hostile.
F-15S/MTD
ZOE
This time, however, instead of letting it get to him, he focuses all his attention on it as Nagase continues to hit the Rebels. She keeps an eye on him just in case.
When Phoenix tries to get a lock on the ZOE, his HUD acts up and detects several more fake signals around the red plane. Frustrated with targeting hostile signatures that aren't there, he switches to guns and gets in closer. The ZOE once again uses his own moves against him, and the upgrades added make the normally outclassed F-15S/MTD just as agile as Phoenix' F-22A.
Whenever Scarface 1 gets the rare opportunity to get a proper lock when the ZOE's electronic countermeasure system shuts off to recharge, he lets off a missile and manages to hit the soulless aircraft, but do little damage against the armour plating.
Phoenix remains calm and remembers that this thing can't possible be flown by a human. The cockpit doesn't have a canopy and the moves it pulls would make even himself black out. It has to be a machine. An AI.
Unlike humans, AI are predictable.
He allows himself to be locked onto by the ZOE and lets it chase him like it did in their first encounter back when it was piloting the Tomcat. He sees it visibly unable to process why he's doing this and then fires all its missiles.
Cracking a smile, Phoenix braces himself and yanks back and to the left on his flight stick as hard and as suddenly as he can, forcing his Raptor into a barrel roll and dropping behind the ZOE before it can process what just happened. The ace pilot then gets another lock and fires one right into the engines of the red plane, crippling it. Nagase follows up with a mother quick strike before it can counterattack, bowing off its back end.
Just to make sure, Phoenix blasts it with another round of missiles and bullets as he chases the burning wreck.
Deutschland and Purity watch the dogfight between the F-22A and the red F-15S/MTD.
The Iron Blood notices the strange looking cockpit on the latter plane, "Isn't that…?"
"Yep, that's the ZOE drone. One of 'em, anyway. Remember when I threw you into one of them? I guess humans have managed to create them here." Purity answers. She sighs, "Humans wasting so much time and money on finding new ways to kill each other… is this really what it always has to come to…?"
"It's human nature. As long as there are humans, there always be conflict. It's what we Kansen were created for and it'll never end. As soon as one war ends, there'll be another dictator or religious group who will start the next soon enough. There's always new technology. New weapons. If the Siren War ever truly ends, they'll be something else to fight.
"Yeah… even us, huh? Just weapons created by humans to kill other humans…"
"…Was?"
"Huh?"
"Did you just say… 'even us'? Do you mean Sirens were also—"
"HOLY SHIT, LOOK OUT!" Purity screams upon seeing the burning wreck of the red Eagle in a collision course with the building they're stood in. Followed by the hail of bullets and missiles coming from the pursuing Raptor.
"GET DOWN!" Deutschland yells.
The command building of St. Ark falls in on itself as Scarface 1 flies over it, performing a victorious aileron roll in celebration. The mission is a success.
"ZOE aircraft destroyed, along with the Command Centre. This should put an end to this war once and for all. Well done, Scarface Squadron." Keynote praises.
Phoenix and Edge form up again and turn to leave the airspace so the Allied Forces can mop up any resistance and reclaim St. Ark.
Heavy Command Cruiser build site, Fuscum Sea.
"Here is the central power core, the heart of the Aigaion, I suppose you could say." Feniks informs with a gesture.
"Excellent… stand back. And shield your eyes." The Tester approaches with a couple of Wisdom Cubes. One with the data of the Aigaion and The other with the will of the people of Estovakia. She rests them both on a console that controls the power core.
The entire Heavy Command Cruiser starts go glow a brilliant blue light, engulfing the entire site for a second. When the light dies down, the entire ship is now fully built.
Rubbing his strained eyes, Riedel then sees another girl stood before him along with the Siren.
The new girl stands up and looks around, "Um… wha…?"
The Tester questions, "Do you understand us? What's your name?"
The Kansen sees her, adopts an Estovakian salute and responds, "Yes, ma'am! P-1112 Aigaion, reporting for duty!"
Riedel looks at the now complete ship and the very confused workers outside and mutters, "Incredible… you're amazing, Tester!"
The Siren blushes a little and brushes it off, "It's jus5 another Kansen awakening. It's not that great." She looks at the new girl, "Aigaion, get ready take off. We will begin training immediately."
"Yes, ma'am!" The Kansen produces her rigging while still stood in the bridge. The miniature versions of her wings makes her look like a mechanical angel with the shrunk-down engines acting as a jetpack.
With a jolt that makes Reidel fall into the arms of a very red Tester, the Heavy Command Cruiser begins take off procedures, never to touch the ground or water again.
St. Ark.
Deutschland wakes up pinned to the floor, trapped under a huge pile of rubble from the collapsed Command Centre. Even with her Kansen strength, she can't seem to lift it. That coupled with her new injuries causes her great pain in trying. If she were a human, she'd definitely be dead.
"Verdammt…" she hisses. "Get off me, lowly rubble!" She yells before coughing from all the dust around her in the confided space. "Purity? Puri! Can you hear me!? I'm here!" She tries to call out, her voice trailing off into fear as she starts to realise her situation. "Mein Gott…" she whispers. She tries to lift the rubble again, but the agony is too much. She can't even summon her rigging.
Feeling herself running out of air, she rests her head on the ground beneath her. "Spee… Schwester… es… es tut mir leid… Ich…"
Her whimpering is interrupted when the rubble above her begins to shift.
"Was…? Is someone there!? Here! I'm here!" She yells out before coughing again. The piece of wall above her gets lifted up and tossed aside.
Deutschland sees who has rescued her. A tall, blonde-haired woman with piercing blue eyes, clad in black.
"Found you." The woman says with a soft smile.
"…Lord Bismarck…?"