Fun times! Took a bit because I was writing it. The others were just being corrected and posted as soon as I could.
Enjoy the fun.
The META process was still unknown, even to those it affected. Everything stemmed from a significant emotional event, from what Falcon could gather over the years. She never tried to figure out what transformed her from a troubled carrier shipgirl to the instrument of her Lord's will. There wasn't a need to contemplate what would have been a biased or untrue chain of events.
With a heavy sigh, she mulled around the ideas of what might have been and was just the figments of imagination.
Everything seemed so convoluted to Falcon as she levitated within the storm. A long time ago, she learned that a heavy storm would naturally conceal her position from enemy radar, but they couldn't hide from her or the shikigami planes. After orders from Raiden, she infiltrated through the storm. The shikigami hid in the trees, and anywhere else Falcon deemed necessary. This tactic was far more subtle than flying aircraft around haphazardly because who would suspect an origami bird as an enemy asset? That is…. If they can see them.
A question came to her mind as she tried to decipher her memories, did she learn this process from Raiden or someone else?
"I need to stop thinking about the past…." Falcon sighs. "I don't even know if any of that was real…. Stupid girl…."
But like a bad dream, the past returns as the shikigami reported on Roon, the Commander, and Atago. The melancholy Falcon pulls up a heads-up display and turns on a live feed of what the shikigami can see. Roon appeared on screen, to much of her disdain, moving away from the main port grounds to the pathway towards the Sakura Empire grounds.
"Hmmm…." Falcon begins, "You usually keep to the main grounds or Iron Blood dorm unless it's to see Taihou. But Taihou lives on the main campus to be closer to the Commander. Why?"
Then she recalled the sight of the Commander holding Atago and sharing the couch together earlier that afternoon.
Falcon shook her head, "How childish. It won't turn out as easy as you think it will, Roon."
Roon trailed the Commander and Atago for a few hours since she saw the two holdings each other in their arms. Atago's cooing sounded like fingernails against a chalkboard to the unhinged heavy cruiser. From the expression on Roon's face, Falcon wasn't sure what her plan was. The odd mix of anger, anxiety, heartache, and something more worrisome.
Falcon assumed her plan was to hurt Atago or the Commander, but she withdrew the former because of the last expression; Lust.
Turning her attention to the Commander, Falcon found his hand in hand with Atago under an umbrella. The Sakura heavy cruiser had a dreamy expression on her face, as did the Commander. Atago pulled herself closer to the Commander as thunder echoed around them.
"Hmmm…. I see you prefer her, Commander." Falcon remarks, "The others won't be surprised, but it will surprise Roon."
Zooming in, she could identify Atago's katana and Karl's pistol sticking out of his pants. "You haven't changed either." Falcon sighs.
Commander and Atago were chatting most of the way until reaching the Sakura Empire dwellings. The rain increased, and the two began running to Atago and Takao's residence. But Atago began to trip in her heels again on the cobblestone paths. The Commander laughed and picked Atago up too many jests from Atago about her supposed weight issue. But that didn't matter to him, who carried her on his back as Atago held on and carried the umbrella.
"Not one bit." Falcon sighs again, trying to hold back a light smile.
"Are you smiling, Falcon?" The voice of Raiden scares her.
"A little, My Lord," Falcon replies honestly.
"It is a touching sight," Raiden tells her. "But you are not here to enjoy a slice of life. Where is he going to?"
"Atago and Takao's residence," Falcon informs her. "With Roon in pursuit. I assume she wants to punish the Commander for being too close with Atago."
"Who do you think her target is?" Raiden asks.
"The Commander," Falcon says confidently. "Atago is too much of a hard target for her, especially with Takao backing her up."
"I feel an energy on him, Akagi," Raiden muses. "I doubt Roon would want to draw the wrath of either the Takao class or the fire of the Red Castle."
"Then she will attack him in the forest," Falcon predicts. "I fear she might-"
"Intercept her before she reaches them," Raiden commands.
"Yes, My Lord," Falcon replies, calling her shikigami to her position.
The META carrier took off to the forest path. The heavy tree cover of the trail nearly blocked out the light that managed to break through the storm. A blanket of fog lingered between the branches and the pathway, momentarily giving Falcon an odd feeling. The eerie mist began to thicken, closing her scope of vision to a few feet in front of her. It was a double edge sword for all parties, but Roon and the Commander didn't possess the edge she had.
Shikigami birds flew out of the canister from her back beautifully into the rainy evening. The death flock cordoned off any trials between the main port and the Sakura Empire dorms; no one could escape her without a fight. Falcon took her position within the deepest part of the fog. Pulling out her HUD, she spotted the Commander walking out of Atago's residence, this time without an umbrella. To her surprise, he had only been there momentarily.
"How surprising." Falcon remarks, "Maybe the storm has you curious? It should."
Focusing on his face, Falcon could see a firm expression on the Commander's face. His head moved slowly from side to side searching for someone or something. The thunder echoed around them; she saw him reach for his pistol. His pace slowed as he entered the woods. The rain, thunder, and light wind echoed around him as he crushed the dirt and rock under his boots.
"I know you're here," Karl says aloud. "I feel someone here."
Falcon chuckles as she changes her focus to Roon. The heavy cruiser was blissfully unaware of either Falcon or the Commander as she carved a heart into one of the trees with her claws. The shikigami surrounded her and stood ready to go from peaceful birds to demons at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, the Commander closed in towards the psychotic cruiser.
"We'll be together forever, Herr Kommendant…." Roon moans as she finishes her drawing. The sounds of rock crushing under boots caught her attention as she turned to spot the Commander's silhouette in the fog.
A faint giggle echoed from around the Commander. Between the rain, the thunder, and his tinnitus, he couldn't track precisely where the laughter came from.
"Fuck." Karl whispers. The position wasn't good, and neither was the situation. He was on an open path, in the rain, in the middle of a fog bank, and only a pistol to cover his ass. It was pure luck that he could kill that siren drone, but could he kill the Lady from the storm? Karl knew he could kill about anything with a gun, a knife, and a crucifix. He recalled his bag of tricks filled with about everything he could need, but that was nearly a mile away.
The splashing of water to his left took his attention, and he bolted forward at breakneck speed down the path. It was the only thing he could do at such a disadvantage. Lightning danced across the sky as he ran, splashing large water waves from the muddy grey puddles.
Forward! We have to hit the supply dump! Bring up the fucking PKM! Alexi! Hans! Fucking suppress that asshole!
Gretta, launch the fucking Gustav!
FIRING GUSTAV!
It wasn't the first time he fought in the rain, nor would it be the last. A memory of heavy fighting in the forests around a shanty town in Arcadia played in his head. It didn't have a name, and no one cared to name it past what simply was a shithole shanty town. All he could recall in detail was the heavy rain, and the muddy grey water as red and green tracers flew between the trees and corrugated metal buildings like fireflies. All this while he ran out from under a burning Tiger armored infantry vehicle with nothing but his pistol.
The situation wasn't the same, but it triggered the same response, RUN.
Footsteps behind him grew louder and pushed him to run faster, but a figure appeared in the distance in front of him. Karl ran down a deer trail, a natural path cut into the woods by animals, through thorn bushes and mud. He wasn't sure where it was going, but what mattered was that it was away from the figure. But to his surprise or dismay, four more footsteps could be heard racing towards him. The adrenaline kicked in, and he sprinted through the thorns and brush, the branches and thorns smashing into his skin and cutting him up.
Looking back for a moment, he sees four black figures converging on him. He points his pistol and fires at them, but it isn't enough as the Commander trips on a branch sending him down a small muddy moss-covered hill to a small clearing. Finishing face first in a clearing, he scrambled for his pistol. Merely feet in front of him, spotting it resting muzzle first in the mud. Crawling for what felt like miles, he snatched the pistol and turned onto his back to fire up the hillside. But the pistol jammed, completely packed with mud in all the wrong places. Reaching to his boot for his boot gun, a Colt 1903, but to his pure astonishment, he saw four origami birds had him cornered on all sides.
Disoriented, confused, and cold from the heavy rain, he held the paper birds at gunpoint with the .32 ACP pistol and the disabled 9mm. The Commander looked franticly for a puddle of water to clean the mud off the down pistol, but there was nothing. Only the birds and him with a .32 pistol, of all things, against four or more possible combatants. Footsteps could be heard from his left, and he turned to fire, but the pistol was sliced to ribbons in front of his eyes. His first instinct was to fire his other pistol, but he was rudely reminded that it was jammed with mud.
Dropping his other pistol, he threw a heavy right hook at the figure, but the attacker was faster than he could have imagined. The figure caught his punch and threw him back into the mud. Karl couldn't determine who it was over the dirt in his eyes, but he wasn't going down without a fight. He threw mud into its eyes, blinding it and charging at it. The figure fell to the ground with a thud and thrashed violently as Karl beat it into submission.
But then he noticed something as he threw blow after blow into its face; his fists were turning black!
Stopping for a moment, he noticed that he was beating up a strange grey-like humanoid with a Japanese letter on its face.
"Ink…. This is ink…." Karl gasps, "Its paper…. It's fucking paper!"
Throwing himself off the figure, he retrieved his pistol only to see Roon and her rigging emerging from the fog like a nightmare. The girl held one of the figures in her hand like a naughty dog as her crab-like rigging lumbered slowly on the muddy ground. To his horror, she snapped her metal fingers to get the rigging's attention and offered the paper monster as a treat to it. Lobbing the creature into the air, the rigging snatched it up like a dog biscuit right out of the sky.
For a moment, he froze in horror as the crab creature snapped its jaws as chewed the beast up. A black ooze dripped from the corpse over the sharpened teeth of the riggings mouth. But it didn't stop there as Roon spotted him with darkened eyes filled with hatred and lurched forward aggressively, screaming, "KOMMENDAUNT! OH KOMMENDAUNT! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!"
More paper monsters appeared from the wood like a pack of wolves, their appearance varying from humanoid-like figures to giant tigers. The crab monster and Roon were thrown on the defense as the monsters jumped on the rigging, trying to bring it down. Four grabbed onto Roon, almost succeeding in ripping her away from the beast. Karl grabs his pistol and fires at the beasts, killing two of them and freeing Roon just enough to feed the other two to her demonic rigging.
But the steel beast roared in rage, throwing a mountain of mud at Karl. Throwing him back into another mud hole as it attacked more incoming monsters. The Commander is disoriented but not out of the fight. Catching just enough of his bearings, he locates his weapon.
"MAYBE I WON'T PUNISH YOU AS SEVERALLY FOR TRYING TO SAVE ME, KOMMENDAUNT!" Roon shouts as she rips one of the beasts in half with her claws. "I STILL LOVE YOU!"
Karl snatches his pistol from the mud and runs further into the wilderness as the psychotic cruiser and her demonic rigging pursue him. He wasn't sure where he was going, but Karl was sure it was farther inland as the rain began to slow down. While the rain started to ease up, the thunder above him and the sounds of rubbing metal did not. More thorns cut through his skin, ripping superficial lays like parchment paper.
Through the mud and muck, he cleared over a small crest in the land where a series of abandoned Japanese buildings sat derelict. The sound of falling trees was faint in the distance, but it was too close for his comfort. The angled roofs of the buildings were still intact, sending water flowing consistently from its peak. It was enough to wash his pistol and bring it back to action. Ripping the magazine out of the pistol, he forced the slide back, allowing water into the action to clean out the mud and dirt. After a moment under the water, he worked the slide back several times to clean out the dirt.
Hitting the slide release, he was happy to see it closed forward. Forcing the magazine back into the gun, he worked the slide with his hand aggressively; "Back in the fight!" He says to himself.
It wasn't much compared to that monster, but at least he had something.
To Falcon, this wasn't good. Roon was far more aggressive than she could have anticipated. The violent display shook her to the core, but she had to press on. The shikigami tried to stall Roon and the Commander, but she didn't expect him to bolt off into the woods.
"He should have stood and fought!" Falcon lamented, angry at her assumptions. "That's how he fights! Idiot!"
Her forces tried to stop Roon before she began her assent up the hill towards the Commander, but the heavy cruiser was dead set on capturing him. In a berserk rage, she tore them apart limb from limb as snacks for her demonic rigging as it gorged on their remains. Falcon knew if she could have used them as planes, she could have bombed that blonde bitch straight to the bottom of the sea, but that would have given away her position. Falcon noted, too, that Roon wasn't firing her cannons, but why?
"It has to be because of the other girls," Falcon surmises. "She wouldn't risk bringing in any more guests."
The thunder and lightning were drowning out the Commander's shots, so it really didn't matter what he did. But it made Falcon fear what would happen if Roon got her hands on him….
She looked through her HUD once more to see the Commander washing off his wounds under the waterspout from the roof. Assuming by his heavy breathing, he needed to take cover to rest; this may be her chance to approach him.
Closing her HUD, she pauses for a moment and takes a deep breath. The anxiety rose unbelievably to the point it felt like her chest was going to explode. But the META carrier swallowed hard and forced herself to the ground below. Falcon put herself just short of abandoning the building down a sloping road leading away from it. She eased forward until she saw the building entirely, a former shrine left to wither and die. Moving cautiously, Falcon tried to keep her footsteps silent as she drew closer and closer to the shrine.
Summoning her shikigami, the paper birds changed into brutes that fanned out to every possible exit from the shrine. A brute crossed a window and was met by four shots from the Commander's pistol, dropping the monster to crashing into a puddle. The Commander moved to the window, firing into more of the brutes, dropping two more of them to the ground. Falcon pushes the brutes in to overwhelm him, but three more shots ring out, and he leaps out of the window closest to her.
Firing his last four shots into the pursuing brutes, Karl's pistol locks back; Empty magazine!
Instinct kicks in as he reaches for a new magazine, but he doesn't have one!
Falcon rushes him with a sword in hand but is answered with a fury as the Commander throws rocks at her slowing her down. The cunning swordswoman defects the stones with her sword and closes on him quickly. Within the blink of an eye, Falcon had him dead to rights as she pined the Commander to the wall of the shine with the tip of the blade mere inches from his throat.
"Drop the gun," Falcon says, her voice monotoned.
Karl couldn't do much and was forced to comply with the shipgirl. He dropped his empty weapon and kept his hands raised above his head.
"What do you have against a paperweight?" Karl chuckles.
"Shut up," Falcon replies. "What is your name, Commander?"
Her voice was filled with hostility and a hint of grief as she said, 'Commander.' The poisonous disdain for the title was evident in her eyes as the pupils grew smaller. Whoever this was hated him with a passion.
"I could ask the same thing, Girl." Karl spat, returning the anger with more vigor.
Falcon presses the blade against his throat, her psychotic tendencies returning to her. The sharpened edge cut him slightly as she pressed the sword against him, blood slowly forming on the blade.
"What. Is. Your. Name." She says slowly. The blood began to ride on the blade. Crashing trees, grinding metal, and ripping canvas echoed in the distance. Roon was on her way.
"Fuck. You." Karl growls back. "Do it. It won't matter anyways. You won't live long."
"Roon is too busy with my minions." Falcon bites back. "Cutting your throat and watching you drown in your own blood would be an appetizer before I rematch with her."
"Then do it," Karl encourages her. "You seem like you have a bone to pick with that cruiser anyways. You ashes seem to have a lot of bones to pick! Are you after the foxes? I think I remember a hot piece of ass like you trying to kill Akagi and the other two. Come to finish the job?"
Falcon feels her rage taking over as she punches him several times in the stomach. Putting away her sword for a moment, she kicks him into a puddle of grey muck.
"I want to hear your fucking name," Falcon replies, her voice shaking from anger as she points the tip of her sword at his throat. "I want to hear you beg for forgiveness!"
Karl laughs, "I won't beg for my life."
"Beg for my forgiveness BLACK HUNTER!" Falcon demands.
He pauses and looks deeply into the META shipgirl's eyes. This wasn't a lucky guess; she knew him. Karl's face turned pale, and fear appeared in his eyes.
"What the hell are you talking about, girl?" Karl ghostly says, "Who's that?"
"YOU!" She shouts. "YOU!"
He laughs at her with a hollow tone, "Wrong guy."
Falcon presses the sword further, pressing the blade against the Commander's jugular, confirming her wiliness to take his life. "I know the Black Hunter when I see him. I know him VERY WELL."
Karl scoffs once more till he feels liquid falling out of his nose. A headache strikes him making him twitch and wince from the pain.
"That's a name not worth your time or sanity…." Karl replies as blood drips to the corner of his mouth. "Not sure how you know that name, girl. Did your mama tell you that story? Did it keep you from misbehaving? Or did she tell you that to keep the boogyman away?"
His sardonic laugh echoed in her ears; Falcon had enough and knew one name that would get the reaction she wanted. "Mr. Z," Falcon says flatly.
Karl's laughing ceased immediately, and his eyes centered squarely on Falcon. Death was apparent in his eyes as he looked at her. "Who are you?" The Commander ordered.
Falcon returns the gaze. Her resolve was unshaken as she stared at the bloody and battered Commander.
"Tell me your name," Karl demands. The blade of his sword kissed his neck; he was sure he might have cut his throat if he moved wrong.
Falcon tried to shout her name, but the shell from a naval gun sent her flying into the tree line. Smoke, powder, mud, and rain filled the air and covered him in a thick layer of grey mud. Roon's rigging appeared and let out a fierce roar as its massive cannons smoked. The angel of death personified sat upon her rigging, laughing manically.
"NO ONE DARES TOUCH THE KOMMENDANT BUT ME!" Roon screams as she dismounts her rigging.
The roar of multiple engines caught their attention as black Sakura planes dove from the sky, strafing the crab-like rigging. Falcon was emerging from the rain and smoke with her sword at the ready. She charges forward, striking Roon, only for the heavy cruiser to block it with her claws. Falcon's strikes were relentless, rubbing the black and red paint off Roon's claws, revealing bare metal.
A hard strike forced Roon back, digging her heels into the ground and sending dirt and rock in all directions. She only laughed as she observed Falcon breathing hard, sucking wind from the furious assault.
"What might you be?" Roon asks. "Another whore coming for my Kommendant? Or are you another pest coming to harm him?"
"That doesn't matter now, does it?" Falcon shouts back. Throwing herself forward for another series of assaults, Roon acts quickly with a calculated lunge catching the META ships' sword in midair. "You won't live long enough to even remember it. PR ship or not, I'm the apex predator here!"
"It doesn't matter, I surmise," Roon replies with an evil smile. "You'll die like the rest of these soft girls in the meat grinder. But I guess you've seen your share of battles too, isn't that right, Ashes scum?"
"Go to hell, you cow," Falcon growls, pressing the sword forward, trying to break her grip. "You wouldn't know what a meat grinder was if you were in a butcher shop."
"I've been to hell before," Roon says darkly. "I'll show you around after I shove this blade up your ass!"
With the taunt, Roon snaps the blade in two pieces sending shards in all directions. Bits of blade race towards Karl cutting him badly and demolishing the shrine, sending its archway crashing to the earth below towards the two girls and the monstrous rigging. Smoke filled the area, and Karl saw his chance to escape. Blood oozed from what to be his shoulder and sides, but he could manage. Ripping his shirt to shreds, he tries to dress off his cuts as best he can. The dash away from the destroyed shrine felt like a journey of a thousand miles. But he pressed on till he could see the faint amber light of lamp posts from the main port as nightfall set in.
"Almost…." Karl says, out of breath. "Almost there…."
Stagging forward as another thunderous roar from the clouds above, he finally feels the firm surface of concrete under his boots. The clouds broke again, unleashing another blanket of cold rain upon him. But Karl just had to keep going. Just a few more steps….
Just a few more steps….
His side felt like hell, and so did his shoulder. Looking at his dirty hands, Karl saw blood mixed with gritty mud. There wasn't any reason not to try to get to the infirmary or something to remove the metal. Vestal kept her operation at the clinic running around the clock even though people or shipgirls needed it.
"Whisky…. Maybe four….. I could get it out….." Karl says to himself with a sickly laugh. Though he felt horrible, feeling race down his spine as a bubbly giggle echoed close to him.
"Oh, Kommendant." The familiar voice of Roon purred from a bench nearby. "It seems you've had an accident!"
"Stay the fuck away from me, Girl," Karl growls, trying to take a fighting stance.
Roon feigns surprise, "A dagger to my heart, Kommendant." She puts her hands over her heart mockingly. "Two in one night! First with Atago and now with your unkind words."
Her face goes from mocking to terror-inducing, "How cruel of you."
"I ain't allowed to comfort a girl in a time of need, eh?" Karl barks.
"No," Roon says flatly. "Those other girls just want to play with your heart. They don't know you like I do."
"Yeah yeah," Karl dismisses. "Ain't no one know me like you and all that shit. I've heard it before. Every controlling shit has said that to me."
"Oh no," Roon says, her face lighting up with glee. "I'm the only one who understands why you want to fight. You live for combat and war like I do. I understand you better than any of these girls ever will."
The heavy cruiser gets up from her seat and begins circling the wounded Commander. "You love the thrill, the action, the despair, the rush of emotions of all kinds, and above all…." She pauses momentarily, savoring her words like fine chocolates or quality wine.
"You enjoy the meaning it gives you!"
"Fuck you," Karl growls, holding his ground.
Roon laughs and reaches for the wound on his side. With a swift motion, she rips the piece of katana from his side.
Karl holds in his screams, robbing Roon of her joy. But that is precisely what she wanted….
"You enjoy the meaning it all gives you." Roon continues. "I could not ever see you in a regular position. Being sent to do pointless paperwork is more painful than ripping metal out of your human flesh."
She strikes again, this time from behind, and pulls the last piece out of his shoulder. Karl bites down hard to hold in his screams, driving him to collapse on his knees. Roon closed on him, kneeling in front of him so she could see the despair in his eyes.
"You know nothing of peace," Roon tells him calmly. "You only know of war and death. But deep down, you want nothing more than to love, an ever-lasting battle. You fight because you want to love and because you want to fight."
Roon pushes him onto his back, the cold ground and heavy rain greeting him harshly. The cruiser peels his pants off as he tries to kick her, but the pain from Roon's attack prevents him from doing anything meaningful. The cold water shocked him as Karl's bare ass, and gentiles were revealed under the blue light of lightning and the amber street laps. Ripping them off completely, she cut his boots off with her claws to ensure he couldn't reliably getaway.
"I smell that whore's perfume and the sulfur aroma of that fucking fox," Roon shouts. "You've been so busy with all these girls when you have me…. ME! I can give you more than any Asian whore ever could!"
The heavy cruiser sits on top of the Commander, her warm thighs giving him some life. Her hand latches onto his face, forcing his tongue out while her free hand grabs his manhood.
"I've been wanting this since you rejected me at dinner," Roon says as she kisses the Commander roughly. Her tongue forced itself to dance with his in a maelstrom of emotions. She tried stroking him to get him hard, but the exhaustion, blood loss, and cold prevented him. Roon could feel her rage building as she took out her frustration with her tongue.
"You WILL give yourself to me…. To your love…. To Roon…. Your only-"
Roon was struck over the head by a large object knocking her out cold. The Commander looks up to see the META shipgirl who attacked him, holding the handle of her sword. Both he and the shipgirl were breathing heavily and wounded severely. Roon had done a number on the META carrier with cuts, bruises, and blood coating her pale skin. The two looked at each other blankly. The distrust and anger between the two firmly loomed over them. The girl let out her hand to him, "Please, Take my hand." She said to the naked Commander.
He took a few breaths, trying to process everything that had happened to him. Karl looked at the container on her back, "Got anything I can use to cover up? I'm literally naked and slightly afraid right now."
Falcon and Karl looked at each other silently as the clouds dropped another blanket of freezing rain. Between the rain, the mud, and Roon, it only seemed to worsen as she noticed he was completely naked.
Both of them broke into laughter, a joyful absurd laugh that seemed to bury the brutal fight against Roon. Falcon reached into her container and pulled out a green poncho.
"It's all I have for clothing, But I have your pistol too," Falcon tells him as she throws it to him. "But you need to get up to put it on."
"Well…. Yeah…. You're right." Karl replies reluctantly as she takes her hand. Getting him to his feet, Falcon helps him put on the poncho and hands him the pistol. After adjusting it, he takes a moment to look at the META girl in front of him. Falcon noticed the wounds and quickly ripped her scarf to make a bandage. Karl stops her and snatches them from her to dress his own injuries, assuring to keep a firm eye on the girl as he does so.
"You need to see Vestal imminently," Falcon tells him as he fixes his poncho.
"How do you know my nurse?" The Commander demands.
"Does it matter?" Falcon sharply replies.
"You appear out of thin air looking for a ghost," Karl replies flatly. "Now you're recommending me to my own doctor. What next, You going to tell me my sister's name? Blood type, maybe? Did you see my Father on your way from heaven, or did you come from Hell with my Mother?"
"I know more than just your nurse's name," Falcon tells him. "I know a lot about you; I just wanted to be sure you are who I think you are."
The two became noticeably silent as the rainfall became heavier. Staring at each other for a moment felt like an eternity.
"But I have to be sure."
The META ship closed in on the wounded man and kissed him on the lips. Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling herself into him. A cheeky thought emboldened the Commander as he tried to slip his tongue into her mouth, but she broke off the kiss and slapped him hard against the face before returning to the kiss.
Breaking it once more, she looked into the Commander's green eyes and began to weep.
"Karl Dael…." Karl whispered to her.
"Falcon….." Falcon replies until her tears overwhelm her. She threw herself from Karl and rushed away, but the Commander called out to her. "Stop! Why did you attack me!? What was all this for?!"
"To protect you! To prove who you were to Raiden! To get you ready for her! I wish I could tell you more, but I can't! I'm afraid it would be too much! Just promise me you won't leave them!" Falcon shouted to him as she pulled a teleporter module from her pocket.
"Who's Raiden?! Why did you kiss me?! I don't understand any of this!" Karl shouts back to her as she activates the module. "FALCON!"
"Remember me! I know you do! Somewhere in you is me!"
Before he could reply, Falcon disappeared through the teleporter. An empty feeling filled his heart, a headache raced across his mind, and the cold wind made his naked body shiver. Salvaging his belt from his torn pants, he wrapped it around him and tucked the pistol away. A heavy sigh escaped the Commander as he realized that Akagi had his cigarettes in his uniform jacket. That was a three-mile walk, in bare feet, in the nude, and in a storm covered in wounds. It didn't seem worth it to him to risk death for a cigarette.
But after looking back at the unconscious Roon, Karl felt a sickness in his heart. Regardless if the girl wanted to rape him, as abhorrent as that was, she wasn't mentally well. Landwehr, the official title of the Order's military on Niflheim, regulation stated that if a soldier was caught or convicted of sexual assault, they were to be executed. The pistol at his side had killed only three sex offenders when he was in command, but could he bring himself to kill Roon? She didn't fall under his code of military justice, but Roon did assault him both physically and sexually.
Was it worth the trouble? The shrapnel hitting him was just bad luck; the shells clearly weren't aimed at him, and, while rough, she removed the shrapnel from him. Clearly, she wasn't mentally fit when in a rage like that. It made Karl wonder if she had the same abandonment issues as Dido, as he remembered Roon's possessive love-obsessed rants.
Karl shook his head in disgust, "Ain't no fun in killing pretty and mentally damaged girls. Ain't no fun in killing folk anyways…."
Maybe he would regret this decision, but he wouldn't have to pay the consequences if his luck had kept going this way. Karl threw Roon over his shoulder with his good side and carried her with him. It wasn't like Roon was going to be walking anytime soon. The question arose, though, Where would he take her?
Taking Roon to the Iron Blood dorm, about a mile or so away might put more strain on Karl than he could put up with. There would also be the utterly unique explanation process of informing one of the Iron Blood matriarchs like Tirpitz, Bismarck, or worse, Fredrich Der Grosse; Why Roon was incapacitated, why he was naked and bloody, and why all of this was happening at dark? The Iron Blood wasn't going to be happy with this AT ALL with either of them.
The Commander has too many questions of his own to explain what transpired to anyone at the moment, let alone explain why he was armed, carrying an incapacitated woman, and only wearing a poncho. Ruling out the Iron Blood dorm, he thought of his quarters. Though Karl wasn't sure that the maids would also go along with this situation. After explaining his near-suicide mission to her, Karl wasn't sure if he was on the best terms with the head maid. His personal maid, Dido, might not like the scene either.
The Sakura Empire was a 100% no. Even before they made love, Akagi was head over heels for him, but she wouldn't be happy about this. Atago might be worried or mad, but he didn't want to press her luck with her either. Eagle Union wouldn't risk it, and he was damn sure of that.
"Taihou…." Roon groans, "Pass the rice bitte…."
"Taihou! That's it!" Karl replies, Smacking Roon on the ass. "Good thinking."
With no real options, plans, or a care in the world, Karl carried Roon to the nearby dorms where Taihou resided. Taihou preferred to live closest to his residence, from what Belfast told him, to be available. Though this was done when the old Commander was here initially. He hadn't had much time with Taihou since she was on a commission this month. But the small interactions with her sealed her as a close friend and interest to him. Though Karl wasn't sure she was back, it was worth a shot. Maybe some other shipgirl might get annoyed at him banging on the doors if she wasn't?
Looking at his bandages taking a pretty red color, The Commander shook his head at himself. "A damn mess I've made."
The pain in his shoulder and side faded from extreme pain to manageable. Karl figured it was because Roon pulled the metal out precisely, so it was a clean extraction, adrenaline kicking in again, or he was going into shock. But he had to keep going forward. No one was here to save him unless he made it to Taihou's room. Booking it to the dorms, he made it with time to spare as he threw the doors open and marched up the stairs. Roon was heavy, but he figured that her being a heavy cruiser was a clue to her weight.
Karl chuckles to himself, "That's called a clue."
A pungent aroma of cinnamon and sweet perfume filled the air as he drew closer to a red door marked "Taihou" in Japanese script. Karl's Japanese was nonexistent, but the strong smell of Taihou's perfume is a great context clue for him. He stopped and readjusted Roon on his shoulder before knocking on the door. To his surprise, someone replied from the other side.
"Roon?" The sweet voice of Taihou answers. "Do I smell…."
The rushing of bare feet against wood flooring foreshadowed what he was about to encounter. With the door flying open, the sight of Taihou in a silk robe with her hair in a long ponytail filled his gaze.
"Com~man~der!" Taihou replies cheerfully until she saw everything. "By the one million gods! WHAT HAPPENED?! GET IN HERE!"
Taihou dragged the two in, "Put her on my pallet! I'll go get the first aid kit from down the hall!"
"I've been wounded pretty bad," Karl explains. "Go to my room and grab a camouflage backpack. The spare is-"
The stunningly beautiful carrier pulls a key from her breasts, "I have my own key! I'll be back, my Commander!"
Taihou ran off at impressive speed to his room. Karl walked in and sat Roon up to check her out. Thankfully, Roon wasn't too hurt by her fight with Falcon. She was just bloody and a bit bruised, unlike him. "Fucking hell," Karl remarked. "You barely took a lick from that carrier."
Roon groans but is still knocked out cold. He looked around the room for a moment looking for a rag or tissues to clean her up. But before the Commander could begin looking around the lavish room, Taihou reappeared with the bag in her hand.
"I got the bag!" Taihou tells him until a strange expression appears on her face. "What are you wearing?..."
"I'm naked and wounded," Karl says flatly as he takes the bag from her. "Please run me some hot water and get me a rag. Roon is better than she looks, but I'll need you to patch me up."
Taihou's face turned red, but she swallowed hard and took to her duties. Her Commander required Taihou, and that's all that she needed to know. Karl removed the poncho, to her surprise, but she held her feelings at bay too much of his amazement. Opening the bag, he took out an individual first aid kit (IFAK) from a woodland camo pouch, a bottle of cheap vodka, iodine, and rubbing alcohol.
"The metal is out, thanks to sleeping beauty over there," Karl tells her as he opens the IFAK. "But I've had to cover it with a dirty shirt to stop the bleeding. I need you to clean it out with iodine and rubbing alcohol. I think I have antibiotics as well."
"Yes, Commander," Taihou says without hesitation. The carrier moved quickly and returned with a bowl of hot water and rags. "I'm going to clean you first."
Taihou sat down next to him with laser-like focus as she coated a rag in rubbing alcohol. She dabbed the wounds and then irrigated them before putting iodine on them. With his free hand, Karl dug around his bag till he found a sowing kit, extra bandage, and some over-the-counter antibiotics.
"What happened to you two?" Taihou asked as she rinsed out his wounds. "You look like hell…."
"I only know half the story," Karl admits reluctantly as the rubbing alcohol burns his skin. "I was coming back from the Sakura Empire dorms after taking Atago home."
"Why were you taking her home, Commander?" Taihou asks him sharply.
"The storm had her scared." He replied honestly. "I wasn't going to make her walk through the storm alone."
Taihou's mood returned to normal, and a sweet smile crossed her face, "You are too sweet to us, Commander." The phoenix cleaned the mud off his skin with hot water and a fresh rag.
"We have to move to the bathroom. I can clean you better there." Taihou instructs him. "Take Roon too; she looks filthy. I think I have a clothes hamper we can use for her uniform."
Karl nods and takes the medical supplies to the bathroom first. He looked in the mirror to see mud coating his face and body. The dirt streaks and faint traces of blood reminded him of several encounters with death, but he couldn't afford an episode now. Before he could go retrieve Roon, Taihou had carried her nude into the bathroom.
"Don't look at other girls around me, Commander!" Taihou tells him, half joking, half serious, as she removes her robe, revealing her astounding figure.
"I'll clean what I can from here," Karl informs Taihou as she sits Roon down by the shower head. She had removed her robe as well as Roon's clothes. It was indeed a beautiful sight to see, albeit in quick glances. The last thing he wanted was to simultaneously draw Taihou and Roon's wrath. But he simply couldn't resist the alluring figure of Roon or the jaw-dropping proportions of Taihou.
Taihou had tied her hair up much higher than before to prevent it from getting wet. Roon was propped up against the tub, bare and naked before them. She was better off than she looked, just superficial scratches being healed by her resilient recovery system that is standard on priority research ships. But that didn't mean Roon didn't need a bath. The Commander noted her perky and well-portioned breasts with conservative nipples.
While compared to the fleet carrier, Roon was small and nearly flat, compared to Taihou's impressive bust. She washed Roon off and cleaned up around her face. Once she was finished, Taihou reined out the rag over Roon to get the rest of the soap off her. Karl turned around, mainly because he had a rigid erection he wanted to hide. He wiped his face off with a rag and cleaned himself as Taihou carried Roon to her pallet.
The busty carrier appeared within a second and took the rag from him, "Now that she's done…. It's time for Taihou to wash her Commander!"
Karl was a mix of excited and worried, mainly because of Roon waking up and turning this whole dorm into a scene from a horror movie. But Taihou nudged him gently to the small tub. Like all bathrooms he saw in South Korea, the Japanese bathroom was made with a drain in the middle of the floor for showering. The carrier motioned him inside the tube and grabbed the shower head. She changed it to a massaging setting and sprayed him with hot water.
The Commander signed happily as the warm water brought him back to life. Taihou smiled and continued to hose him down, the mud and dirt turning the white peal tub gray. Karl leans down to spray his face and scrub it lightly. Taihou then puts the shower head to the side and lathers her loofah with lavender soap. She started with his face and neck, gently scrubbing every corner of him until reaching his shoulders and back.
"Commander," Taihou begins as she steps out to get the medical supplies. "Like you told me before, you were taking Atago home?"
"Yeah I took her hope and the storm came," He began, breaking out of his trace of ogling at Taihou's body. "I was attacked in a storm a few days ago, by what I assume to be a META shipgirl named Falcon. I only know this because she ambushed me and Roon on my way back from the Sakura Empire dorms."
"WHAT?!" Taihou responds, dumbfounded. "I leave port for a week, and you get attacked!? THAT'S IT. I'M NEVER LEAVING YOU!"
The phoenix latches on to him, pushing him into her breasts. Almost losing breath in the softness of Taihou's breasts, he pushes his head up for air, "Taihou honey, I need to breathe, and I need those meds, please." Karl replies calmly.
"Right! Of course, my Commander!" Taihou says as she goes to get the meds. When she returned, she gave him an antibiotic and a water bottle. As he took the antibiotic, Taihou began washing his back.
"Where was I? Oh yes, The attack," He continued, knowing well that he had to omit specific details. "Some of the META's cronies, some strange paper figures called Shin-Shika- Fucking hell I don't know, Demon fuckers made of paper. She sent those against me, and Roon came to my rescue. That crazy cruiser destroyed the META girl's sword! Sent the shrapnel into me! But the girl got the upper hand on Roon and knocked her out. I guess she thought I was going to bleed out and die…. Well, look how that turned out, eh?"
Taihou was an extremely perceptive shipgirl and knew every detail about the Commander, whether he knew it or not, but she wasn't gullible. Her gut was telling her something was wrong, but he wasn't sure what it was. But she didn't want to spoil her unexpected welcome home present. The phoenix was sure the Commander would visit her today. Kaga told her he was planning something special for her later that night. Images of a candle-lit dinner with fine wine far away from the port were in her mind, but getting to wash every corner of her beloved Commander's body was more than she could have anticipated. She wishes it was because he wanted her too and not with Roon knocked out in the next room either.
"I can't believe you were attacked…." Taihou says with disbelief as she washes his chest, her boobs pressing against him. "The META girls, stay away from us."
"Well, it seems that's changing." Karl laments, thinking about Falcon. "Seems we have a lot of changes going on here…."
"Lift your arms, please," Taihou tells him. "The gossip around the Sakura Empire is that you've been fixing many issues around the port. But my friends in the Eagle Union say you causing trouble, more so after you hit a siren with a plane."
The tone changed from adoring to angry, and fear was sudden, as was her expression. "My Commander wouldn't try to kill himself, would he?" She asks him with a dark face.
"It wasn't a suicide attempt if that is what you are thinking," Karl reassures her. "To be honest, I'm not sure why I did it that way…. It was the only solution. I knew I wouldn't die, though. But, as you and Belfast have told me, it was stupid."
"I spoke with Belfast about you," Taihou tells him as she cleans his arms. "She and I are worried about you. Everyone is, but that just makes me more worried about you."
He gives her a sour expression and a sigh. It didn't feel right to him for these sweet girls, warships or not, to worry about him as much as they did. Karl knew himself better than any of these girls could ever try to. But why did he feel so open with Atago and Belfast earlier that day?
"I might be soft now…." Karl says regrettably. As a warm feeling fills his chest.
Taihou then grabs his erect penis, "No, Not at all."
"Not that!" Karl chuckles, his attention shifting back to Taihou's goddess-like beauty. "In mind. I feel a warm feeling. I don't know. I think it's the meds."
Taihou let go of him and continued washing him thoroughly. Her beautiful red eyes seemed to stare right through his hard exterior to his soul. A playful giggle escapes the phoenix as she moves behind him. Grabbing the shampoo and conditioner, she begins running her hands through his hair. As her soft hands ran through his hair, he let out a sigh of relief as tension began to leave his body. The tender sigh makes Taihou coo with enjoyment, "This is the best gift I've ever received." She giggles.
"I think after the treatment Dr. Taihou has given me," Karl begins with a smile. "I owe her a date off the port. Is there any place you enjoy?"
Taihou pecks her lips on his cheek as she holds her excitement. She wanted to act better than her rival, Akagi, and be more refined than her. "Let's finish this, and we'll talk about it late, My Commander."
She rinses him off entirely and moves in front of him. Her lust was becoming unmanageable, and so was the Commander's, but the two both looked out the bathroom door to hear the snoozing of a sleeping Roon. Taihou sat on his lap, his erection between her thighs just mere centimeters from her hot zone.
"We might wake her," Karl says to her nervously. "I'd rather not fight naked."
"Night battles are fun, though." Taihou jokes, rubbing her soft body up and down his lap to tease him. "But that doesn't mean I can't tease you as punishment for not greeting me at the port."
"I don't have a secretary," Karl explains. "I'm a one-man show at the moment."
"Taihou will be your secretary!" Taihou tells him as she wraps her arms around him.
He wasn't sure he could argue with her, at least not in his position currently. Recalling how much work Atago finished in such a short time, maybe he did need to concede and have a secretary or two. Two would be preferable, like how he had a staff when he first became a battle group Commander in Niflheim. But he would have to think about it in a better mindset.
"We'll talk about it in the morning," Karl replies. "I need to be patched up first and get some rest."
Taihou could read him like a book; she knew it was a yes. But there was something else on his mind. Maybe it was Roon, the attack, or maybe another girl. She wasn't sure, but Taihou wouldn't think about it now. Her beloved Commander needed her, and Dr. Taihou took center stage. Karl dried himself off as Taihou prepared the bandages, "What this bottle, Commander?" Taihou asks, holding a small applicator bottle full of dark green fluid.
"Green gunk," He replies. "It's a new medical miracle made from siren tech. It helps heal wounds and repairs nerves. That gunk saved many of my men at the hospitals in Arkbird."
"Arkbird?" Taihou asks him, not sure where that was.
"Northern parliament." Karl lies, though the artic conditions of a Niflheim winter were just as brutal as the Northern Parliament. "Put a little, like a pea-sized drop, on both wounds and cover it with a bandage. It should heal within a day."
Taihou follows his instructions applying the green gunk on the wound and putting the bandage on. The phoenix then kisses him on the lips and takes his hand, "All done. Now you go to bed, Doctors orders."
"I don't have any clothes to go home in," Karl tells her.
"You will stay with me tonight," Taihou tells him, bringing him to his feet.
They both knew she wasn't offering, and Karl had no real reason to argue, being stripped of everything but his weapon. Karl yawned, agreeing with a nod, and was led out of the bathroom to the pallet where Roon slept nude. He took his spot next to Roon with Taihou on his left side. The snoozing Roon soon turned over, latching herself around him, and Taihou doing the same, left him in a sandwich of softness between two of the most dangerous shipgirls on the port grounds.
"I'll give her this pass once," Taihou says, referring to Roon cuddling him. "But you're only allowed to enjoy Taihou's warmth."
She kicks her legs over him to smother Karl further. Moving her face close to his, she whispers, "Goodnight kiss, Please." She requests.
With Roon's head resting on the right side of his chest and Taihou on his left, he carefully moved to give her a sweet kiss. "Goodnight, Taihou." He says after breaking the kiss. "Goodnight, Roon."
Roon could only droll on him and mumble something incoherently, but he was sure it was a sweet goodnight or a threat of death.
Whatever it was, he didn't care if it was a threat or a good-willed wish; all he cared about was that she was alright. But it didn't mean he forgot what she tried to do. A hard conversation was going to happen tomorrow about what she tried to do to him, but, for now, all he could think of was the softness of the two shipgirls' bare skin and the scent of cinnamon and lavender filling his nose. A strange feeling of ease filled his body as he succumbed to the softness. The hardened Commander felt the tension release in his body, and he brought Taihou closer to him before slipping into dreamland. Taihou smiles and returns the embrace, for she was exhausted after her journey home.
"Goodnight my Commander."
Meanwhile….
Raiden sat outside at an outdoor table, drinking out of a copper cup. The aroma of lime filled the air around her as she enjoyed the drink known as a Moscow Mule, Vodka with ginger beer and lime juice. She sipped the drink slowly to enjoy the cocktail as the clear night sky revealed an endless sea of stars. Across from her sat her sister, Ember, who preferred to avoid such human vices.
"Why do you bother drinking that poison?" Ember jabs at her.
Raiden sits the cup down and folds her hands in her lap with a smirk, "Because what is life without a little vice?"
"It takes you away from your goal." Ember counters. "Removes your focus and sends you down the path of indiscipline."
"When you train, do you take breaks?" Raiden asks her, knowing the reply. "I remember before our metamorphosis, you nearly refused to take any kind of rest."
"I do," Ember admits.
"Why is that?" Raiden asks.
"Because if I don't, I will do more damage to myself. A muscle must rest for it to grow stronger." Ember replies factually. "That doesn't mean I poison myself with sedatives."
"The mind, body, and soul of any needing a respite," Raiden tell her. "Everything is good in moderation, and an easy drink like this soothes my soul in these trying times."
Ember rolls her eyes, "I believe you only say that because he would make those for you. You're drowning in the poison of the past, Raiden."
"Maybe a dip into the ocean every once in a while is good for you," Raiden replies coolly. "As would a little self-love help you as well."
"As I was saying before, you returned with that poison," Ember counters, recalling her conversation prior. "We've secured numerous mass-produced ships and siren drones to take the islands. The other ashes have completed my evaluation and are ready to begin operations in four days."
"Has Falcon returned?" Raiden interjects.
"Yes." Ember replies. "Falcon!"
Falcon steps into the moonlight from the shadows of their residence. "Yes, Ma'am."
"How did our Commander do against you?" Ember asks her.
Falcon swallows her anxiety and straightens herself to display confidence to the two superiors, "Well. He did well." She says. "I was attacked by KMS Roon during the evaluation. Though outgunned, the Commander fought well by himself. But he is, still, only a man."
"A man, possibly, but he is not just a man," Raiden replies.
"He killed several of my demons." Falcon continued. "I nearly cut his throat. But my orders kept me from doing so, as did Roon. He later escaped me, but I managed to knock out Roon before exfiltration with the storm."
"Would you gauge his combat abilities to be more than expected or less than expected?" Raiden asks intrigued.
"As expected from an individual," Falcon reports honestly. "His control over the shipgirls is reluctant. I don't believe he views them as soldiers."
"The difference in the attitude of a shipgirl vs. a commando is like oil and water," Ember adds. "His actions against our drone prove he isn't ready to command shipgirls."
Raiden laughs, "You assume too much."
"Do you even remember how everyone acted when we were pre-META?" Ember sharply says. "Giggling, airheaded, immature children who spent more time chasing pleasure than diving head first into discipline! It's why we lost! Why we are here in this world!"
"Says the girl defeated by giggling, airheaded, immature children during her attack on NY City." Raiden casually remarks.
Ember storms off, leaving Falcon and Raiden alone.
Raiden giggles, "She's still the same uptight sister I know and love. What did he use to say to us, 'The more things change, the more they stay the same,' was it?"
"Something like that," Falcon says.
"You know," Raiden begins, taking another drink of her cocktail. "I feel as if this is fate bringing us together again. I'll see him again when this operation comes to fruition. Tell me, is he still as reckless as he was all those years ago?"
Falcon felt at ease as she noted the change in Raiden's demeanor. She followed suit and eased her posture, "Unfortunately, yes. Though I believed his return flight days before was just a fluke, I was wrong. Recklessly aggressive and always egging me on."
"Did you try cutting his throat in combat or did you corner him?" Raiden inquiries as she takes another drink. "Im curious to see how far you got with him."
Falcon hesitates, remembering what she said to him to draw out his identity for sure. Raiden wouldn't be pleased with her if she knew she kissed him and warned him of her.
"I cornered him," Falcon replies, unable to lie to her Lord. "the blade against his throat, demanding him beg for his life as the Black Hunter."
"Did he?"
"No," Falcon told her, regret and anger hiding under her blank expression. "He lied to me and doesn't know who I was. I don't know why, but I said the name of the man he would speak to on the radio."
"Ah," Raiden replies with a wide tooth smile revealing her fangs. "Mr. Z. Interesting."
The wild animal in her appeared briefly as Raiden's fangs shined in the moonlight. The darkness in her golden eyes began to surface, and the hair on her neck began to stand up. She took a deep breath through her nose to take in the winter's night and caught the smell of the Commander on Falcon clothes.
"I smell him on you." Raiden darkly says, "Did you partake in him?"
"No, my lord," Falcon says quickly, fearful of her response if she told Raiden that she kissed him.
"Don't lie to me, Junyou," Raiden growls, standing up and closing with Falcon. The carrier could feel the heavy cruiser's breath on her as she looked at her with wild eyes. She hadn't heard her real name in years; the code name was the only name she had known since she became META.
Raiden ran her head around her shoulders and face, taking long breaths from her nose to take in the scent. "You have his scent. I know his scent better than any of you could ever imagine."
"I kissed him, my lord," Falcon replied honestly. "I had to be sure it was him. I wasn't blessed with animal instincts like you."
The wild look in Raiden's yellow eyes, the sharpened white fangs, and the anger in her expression shook Falcon to the core. But Raiden held back her anger, "Well, did your instincts prove correct?"
"Yes, my lord," Falcon replies.
Raiden closes in on her and moves to her ear, "Let it be known that if you are lying to me, I will send you to hell. That man is mine. Do you understand?"
"Yes, my lord."
