"The Sirens are attacking the Sanctuary!"
"What?! Right now?! As we speak?!" Ryan exclaimed, springing up to his feet.
"Here's the gist of the message we've received," Cleveland said, bringing up a piece of paper and clearing her throat before reading. "The Sanctuary's under attack. We're heavily outnumbered and outgunned, but as proud Kansen of the Combined Fleet, we will stand our ground till the very end. Glory to the Sakura Empire. Banzai."
Ryan gawked, his face openly showing his anxiety as he took in the news.
After a short period of apparent calm, the Sirens had made their next move, and what a move it was. First the Basilica, now the Sanctuary; they always hit where it hurt the most, but how was it possible? It had been barely a few weeks since their arrival, but it seemed like they knew where to strike the nerve center of each faction, almost as if someone had provided them with the information…
No, this wasn't the time for that. He had to focus on the matter at hand.
The message was sent to all the major ports of the alliance to spread the news, but of course, only the other Sakura outposts were close enough to send reinforcements in time. Unfortunately, even considering the best-case scenario, it'd take a few hours for aid to arrive, and if the situation was as bad as it sounded, it would be too late. Nagato had also recalled all vessels and Kansen on patrol duty in the area, but would that be enough if the enemy had an entire armada on their doorstep?
"Dammit, is there really nothing we can do?" Of all the factions, the Sakura Empire was the closest to the base, but it was still days of sailing away. Even if they deployed post-haste, they'd never make it in time. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that they could only wait and hope for the better.
"Actually, yes, there's something," Freedom intervened, much to the Commander's confusion. "This was Sparviero's idea."
Ryan's eyebrows raised so much that they disappeared into his hairline as the shipboy explained the plan.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" He asked Freedom, not hiding the concern in his voice.
"Positive," the male Kansen replied, a confident grin appearing on his face.
In response, Ryan let out a breath to hype himself up. The idea sounded so insane that it actually made sense.
"Okay, then, let's do this," he declared.
Sparviero let out the breath he was holding, his surroundings finally falling silent.
He was standing on the docks of the base, alone, waiting, and pondering.
While he did let Hood and Dunkerque go ahead of him on the Reality Lens out of consideration, he also did it because he needed some time to prepare himself.
Oh, how many times he had wished to be able to see, if only to better support his brothers in battle and to stop being a burden to them. He knew they didn't think of him like that, and for that he was grateful, but he couldn't help the persistent feeling of inadequacy from becoming a constant in his mind anyway.
The others knew about his wish, of course. During the time they had spent together out to sea in their world, scouting the ocean for information on the seed's whereabouts, they were also looking for a way to cure his blindness. Unfortunately, after a while, they all lost any hope of success because of the lack of progress. None of the Sirens they defeated carried that information with them, and at some point, they all just gave up.
Sparviero had long since stopped giving it thought. Even after the meeting with Observer Zero, he remained unperturbed, being careful not to get his hopes up over nothing, if only to spare himself the disappointment in the future.
Then the whole fiasco with the Ashes happened, Enterprise returned with the ability to open Mirror Seas, and all of a sudden, reaching the Original Timeline wasn't a pipe dream anymore, but before the glimmer of hope in his heart could become too bright, he forced himself to snuff it out, keeping up a skeptical attitude.
And then Freedom came back from his "trip" with the Commander. He still remembered the barely concealed excitement in his brother's voice when he had come to tell him of the success of the mission.
Sparviero, of course, was livid. How could his brother take such a risk by throwing himself into the unknown while keeping him in the dark all the while? He knew his anger was justified, but despite how much he tried, it didn't last any longer than a few minutes. Freedom had done it for him, after all, and he could barely contain his joy, so much so that it took him all his self-control not to cry like a baby after receiving the news.
It was at that moment, though, that anxiety took hold of him.
Sure, he was about to receive the gift of sight—a dream come true. But the dark was his world, the only thing he'd always known. He knew the world around him only thanks to the knowledge imparted to him by the Cubes, and he knew the faces of the people he loved only because they let him scan them.
How would his world change after that? The unknown scared him to bits, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to take the leap.
The funny thing was that his brother and he had literally been heading for the hospital to talk to Dr. Anzeel about the specifics of the operation, in the hope that she could assuage the doubts in his mind, when they had bumped into Cleveland. The light cruiser seemed to be in a hurry, if the urgency in her voice was any indication.
When she told them about the news she had just received, their blood ran cold in their veins. Before she could rush to Ryan's office to notify him, Sparviero had advanced his suggestion, and Freedom had gone with her to relay it to the Commander.
And now, there he was, standing on the docks, his part only half done.
As he let out another nervous sigh, he heard footsteps approaching. Then he felt an arm take hold of his own as a familiar voice graced his ears.
"Ready?" Massachusetts asked him.
He took a deep breath to prepare himself before taking off his blindfold, then he turned toward the shipgirl's voice and nodded.
"Ready."
A familiar sensation washed over him as the ground disappeared from under his feet and his body lost all weight, but it only lasted a fraction of a second.
In the time it took him to blink, the silence of the base was replaced by the noise of explosions and gunfire. His sensitive ears rang painfully as the deafening cacophony pummeled his brain, and he couldn't resist covering them, almost doubling over in pain as he tried to shut out the noise.
"Massachusetts, where are we?!" He asked her amidst the chaos.
"At the docks of the Sanctuary!" She answered him. The shipgirl had already called out her rigging and was using it to cover him and herself as she scanned their surroundings.
On one side was the imposing threat of the Siren armada, shelling the port with everything they had; on the other side was the harbor proper, where most of the artillery fire was landing. Further behind was the Sacred Sakura, still standing, and above it all, the roar of the engines of allied aircraft battling the Siren drones in the sky.
Massachusetts grimaced. She still wasn't used to warping over great distances, so she was expecting to mess up the arrival of a few feet, but of all the places they could end up in, it had to be between a rock and a hard place—still better than in the middle of the enemy fleet, she guessed. They were in a more secluded area of the docks, so they weren't being targeted specifically, but the chaos of battle was still deafening, and it was taking a toll on the shipboy.
"Sparviero, what's wrong?! Get a hold of yourself!" She told him as he winced in pain.
"My ears hurt, and my radar's going crazy!" He shot back, still trying to get a grip. "You need to point me at the enemy!"
And that's exactly what she did. Gently, but urgently, she pulled him into her and held him up by the arm, pointing him straight toward the Siren fleet. He did his best to regain his composure; he slowly opened his eyes… and groaned as a myriad of red dots appeared in the dark curtain that was his sight.
The situation was a lot worse than they were expecting. This was going to be an uphill battle, but he couldn't let himself get caught up in despair; he had a job to do.
He reached his hand forward and focused on his Cube.
It started with Kaga taking Kurama out of harm's way.
The white Kitsune's giant familiar brute forced its way through the Siren horde until it reached the shipboy's position. Kurama dismissed his giant fire pillars and stood still, allowing the fox to pick him up in its jaws and bring him to safety.
Kaga was almost tempted to have it swallow him as payback for making everyone worry so much.
"Nagato-sama, I got him," she said into the comms after the giant fox came back to her and dropped the male Kansen into her arms. He was out like a light, his last ounce of energy completely spent at last.
"Good, now fall back and rejoin the ranks," Nagato replied, letting out a breath of relief and watching from a distance as the giant fox disappeared into thin air, a telltale sign of Kaga having recalled it or having run out of energy as well.
She shifted her attention around her, scanning her surroundings. Her friends and comrades were all around her, spread apart in a semicircular formation a few feet away from each other, right where the line of the harbor's destroyed buildings met the temple grounds. The slightly elevated position offered a perfect view of their wrecked home and of the wretched fleet of perpetrators ahead.
By now, only a handful of the base's buildings and facilities were left standing, and the Sirens could finally focus on their main goal, the Sacred Sakura. With the tree being too far from the coast, the mass-produced vessels would have a harder time scoring good enough hits to bring it down, but with the male Kansen and the giant fox having stopped harassing their fleet, they had the chance to draw near the base. Sure enough, they were now repositioning slightly closer to the Sanctuary, navigating through the wrecks of their burning and sinking comrades scattered around the place, courtesy of the tough resistance the Sakura had mounted.
On the other hand, the shipgirls being more spread around meant that the Sirens would have a harder time reaching them with their volleys, giving them the opportunity to pick apart the enemy fleet as they got into firing range. That would give them some time as they waited for reinforcements to arrive.
Nagato took a breath to calm her nerves. Thanks to Kawakaze, the Mirror Sea was dispelled, and they were finally able to send word outside. Help was probably on the way, but how long would it take? And how long could they manage to hold out? Minutes? Certainly not hours.
"Funny how the tables have turned," Nagato thought. Earlier, they were all lamenting their inability to flee, and now that they had the chance to escape, no one was even mentioning leaving. Their desire to protect their home and their pride as Kansen of the Sakura Empire was compelling them, and, with a new glimmer of hope in their hearts, they were all ready to challenge the odds, despite how against them they were.
The Sirens began shooting, and laser beams and energy rounds began landing around her and her comrades.
"Hold your fire until their second line gets in range!" Nagato spoke aloud and into the comms, her rigging ready and taking aim.
The other Sakura shipgirls followed her example, raising their turrets, the carriers preparing their last airwings for takeoff.
But right as Nagato was about to open fire, a flash of light caught her eye. A dark spot appeared in the distance, on the easternmost part of the docks, between the bay and the harbor.
Her heart sank. Another Mirror Sea? Or maybe a portal? She hoped there weren't more Sirens coming; that would be disastrous.
And then the dark spot enlarged, reaching the size of a warship. She could see it clearly now; it was a portal. It resembled those used by the Sirens to teleport around the place, but on second glance, it looked slightly different. It wasn't hovering midair; on the contrary, it was parallel to ground level, and it seemed to have a depth to it.
Then, a purple glow came out of it, quickly rising into the air and coming to a stop in the middle of the harbor, as if scanning the surroundings.
Her internal radio came to life again, and a male voice was heard, shaking her out of her stupor. "Brother, everyone, can you hear me? USS Freedom here! We've brought reinforc- Holy fuck, that's a huge-ass fleet! Good thing we brought everyone."
As if on cue, from the dark depths of what she now recognized as Sparviero's pocket dimension, something else came out. It was a flight deck—a long and wide but very thin flight deck. It unrolled itself on the concrete of the docks like a giant carpet being laid out.
And then, one after the other, marching outside the gate under the bewildered gazes of the inhabitants of the Sanctuary, the Kansen of Azur Lane showed up.
At the head of the group coming out of Sparviero's pocket dimension was Enterprise, with the representatives of each faction leading their subordinates. Behind them were the Sakura Kansen stationed at the joint base, reasonably eager to set foot outside to help their fellow countrywomen, followed by the rest of the Azur Lane Kansen.
At the sight of the grim surroundings, Musashi paused and gawked in horror, anger immediately taking hold of the usually calm and collected motherly shipgirl.
"Hark, children of the Sakura! Let us expurgate those who would sully these sacred grounds!" Her rallying cry resounded through the docks, eliciting a response not only from the Japanese shipgirls but also from their friends and comrades pouring out of the gate.
They jumped into the water, aiming their rigging at the Sirens, a veritable horde of human-shaped warships charging at the alien fleet.
The enemy vanguard seemed to pause, unsure of how to react to the presence of so many variables seemingly appearing out of nowhere all at once.
The shipgirls of Azur Lane took advantage of it.
Enterprise pulled on the string of her new bow, aiming high in the air before unleashing an energy arrow. It traveled in the air, and when it reached its peak, it shattered into multiple energy darts, raining down on the closest Siren vessels like mortar shells.
As she took position and prepared another arrow, she addressed Helena before the cruiser could follow the others in the water.
"Helena, are those all the enemies around? Do we need to watch our backs?"
The blue-haired cruiser perked up at her words, and quickly checked on her radar. Despite the clutter caused by the sheer number of enemy units, she could faintly make out one more signal coming from right next to the Sacred Sakura.
"There's one at three o'clock; it's probably an Elite!" She said out loud so that everyone around her could hear her.
"Okay, I'll take-"
"I'll take care of it!"
"Wha- Sister, wait!" Enterprise called out after Yorktown as her elder sister summoned an airwing and jumped atop one of her planes, heading for the giant tree in the middle of the base, completely ignoring her sibling.
"Let her go, Grey Ghost; your sister can take care of herself," Peter Strasser told her, having remained behind with her to coordinate the other carriers. "We have more urgent matters to attend to."
Enterprise groaned and turned her attention back on the enemy.
"Phew, we are finally out. It was so stuffy in there," Carabiniere said, expressing her relief.
Hiding inside Sparviero's pocket dimension was an experience. First of all, it was as dark as a starless night in there, and it felt like standing inside an anechoic chamber, with the only sounds being the squeaking of the steel at her feet and the voices of the other Kansen around her. Of course, as big as Sparviero's rigging was, with so many people, it was still cramped like a can of sardines.
"Sorry about that, but it's not like there are air vents in there," Sparviero retorted drily to the shipgirl holding him by the arm.
"If you can joke at a time like this, then you are fine," the destroyer commented as they walked. The headache that had taken over the shipboy earlier was becoming less and less intense as they hurried away from the docks.
"I mean, it wasn't that bad. Sure, it was cold, cramped, and stifling, but it was only a minute," Aquila intervened from his other side. The shipboy had done his job, and there was no further need for him to expose himself to danger, so the carrier and the destroyer were escorting him to a safer place, heading away from the docks and toward the innermost part of the Sanctuary, where the Sakura shipgirls were maintaining formation. "Anyway, brother, you never told us that your rigging was so big."
She'd seen it for the first time today; Sparviero's rigging was very much like a giant version of her own—a long, thin strip of a flight deck connected to a superstructure. The only difference was the size; his was more like a full-sized flight deck. No wonder it was able to carry the entire fleet.
"Yeah, it's always been like this. Deploying and dismissing it has always been a hassle, so when I learned Wisdom Crafting, I dumped it into my pocket dimension. It's been in there since forever."
"No wonder you can launch so many aircraft all at once," Aquila added. If she had to be honest, she was a bit envious, but it's not like she was about to voice that thought. To the shipboy, it wasn't a note of pride, but another evident sign of him being born different from the others.
The good thing was that it was going to change soon. Once this whole ordeal was over, they'd go back to the base, and he'd undergo the same operation that had healed the others; the prospect made her giddy in excitement for him.
Suddenly, a flash of light caught their attention. They perked up as they noticed an explosion and smoke billowing from the Sacred Sakura's foot.
They braced themselves and hurried through the wasted streets, trying to keep as low as possible as they headed toward the tree.
"Heh… I'll admit… I underestimated you," Akagi panted, her face twisting as she tried to hold back the pain shooting from her back.
Observer was hovering before her, standing straight atop her octopus-like rigging, her tentacles writhing menacingly around her. The Siren's expression was devoid of any emotion, and her yellow eyes were empty, portraying a very different image of the Elite than Akagi remembered, but her shorter frame felt much more intimidating now that the Kitsune was on her knees, her flames on the verge of dying out.
Akagi admitted that she'd been overly presumptuous while engaging her. She remembered her to be the least adept at fighting among her kin, so she figured she'd be more than enough to get rid of her; there was no need to bother requesting assistance.
But after the beginning of the fight, she immediately found herself on her backfoot, taken off guard by the Siren's unexpected aggressiveness and even more by the power she was displaying. Her opponent's laser beams were much more powerful, her attacks were a lot more dangerous, and her reflexes were much sharper; she was also finally using her tentacles for something that wasn't just to carry her ass around, and she was doing so very effectively, flailing them at Akagi's miniaturized fighters to keep them at bay while also attempting to catch the shipgirl as she dodged her beams.
And yet her appearance hadn't changed; her weapons were still the same, and the only difference seemed to be her rigging, which was now overflowing with energy. The yellow lights traversing its structure were glowing intensely, as if its core had been overcharged.
Whatever the Original Sirens had done to her, they'd spared no effort in making sure that the brainwashed Elite would be up to her new task. Whatever it was, Akagi was sure it wasn't good for the Elite, judging by how her humanoid body seemed to be affected; thin energy lines traversed her small frame, drawing an intricate pattern along her body, like bulging veins brimming with energy.
The enemy's unpredictability and her own presumptuousness were what had caused her to underestimate the potential threat posed by those tendrils; adding to that the increasing fatigue, all it took was a false step for the Kitsune to receive a heavy hit to the back and to fall on her knees in pain.
Now, her rigging was flickering like a dying flame, and she had no other ways to retaliate. She still had a handful of her paper planes in hand, but if she misused them, she'd be completely defenseless.
Observer loomed over her, her tentacles writhing around her, precluding her any escape route. The Siren's laser barrels converged toward her and started charging up as the shipgirl stared up at her with a pained but focused expression. Right as the Siren was about to unleash her attack, she raised her hand and launched the paper planes with a flourish, aiming them below the Elite.
The explosion wasn't powerful enough to harm Observer, but it was enough to make her falter. Akagi took advantage of the distraction and used the cover of the flames to jump out of the way.
Ignoring the pain in her back, she quickly moved toward the parapet of the temple grounds. As she prepared herself to vault over the balustrade, she took a glance in the distance, toward the harbor. The rest of her comrades, guided by Nagato, were taking up positions around the perimeter of the central temple, trying to form one last line of defense behind the now devastated harbor, all of them too entranced in their task to notice the commotion coming from the tree.
Knowing that her comrades had no intention of going out without a fight pleased her a lot, but she had no time to praise them; she needed to find Amagi and get her out of here. Now that the Mirror Sea was down, it'd be easier to get her to safety.
But then she noticed something in the corner of her eye. More rounds of artillery were hurling toward the Sirens, coming from a more secluded side of the docks.
Before she could take another step, something swatted at her from the side, hitting her square in the face and sending her flying. She landed on her back with a pained yelp, her flames snuffing out for good. She tried to push herself upright, shaking her head as she tried to fight the burning pain in her face and the dizziness coming over, only to realize that she was looking straight into one of Observer's charging laser barrels.
But before the Siren could unleash the beam, Akagi's ears perked up to the sound of incoming aircraft and to a voice ringing in the air.
"Akagi, get down!"
Without even thinking, Akagi threw herself to the ground, right as a series of bombs were dropped on the Siren, trapping her in a cacophony of localized explosions.
A squadron of Dauntless soaring over her head preceded the arrival of a familiar figure dressed in white. She landed right next to Akagi, her rigging spreading widely in a protective manner.
"I'm so glad I made it in time; are you okay?" The new arrival turned to face her, and Akagi's jaw went slack.
"Yorktown?" Akagi managed to ask, despite her bewilderment.
Long, flowing white hair, deep blue eyes, and a smile radiating kindness and confidence.
The Fighting Lady was back.
The shipgirls inhabiting the Sanctuary were still holding formation further inland, watching in shock and awe as their newly arrived compatriots engaged the Sirens alongside the other members of the Azur Lane joint fleet.
Sure, the enemy still outnumbered them, but this time, it was a much fairer fight.
Flashes of light and tongues of fire arose from the battlefield as Alabama and Zuikaku tore apart the Siren ranks with their Wisdom Crafting, the battleship's giant scythe cutting ships in half left and right as the carrier's fiery dance turned hulls into charcoal.
Enterprise wasn't beneath them; she used the newfound power she had obtained from her merging with Ash to send clusters of energy darts down on the enemy with her bow, keeping an eye out for her comrades as she watched their backs from the docks.
Hood and Dunkerque were going all out, as if they were trying to make up for lost time. The British battlecruiser in particular, who had spent the longer time incapacitated, was being unusually forward with her approach, going as far as leading a group of Kansen herself against the enemy while still retaining the elegance of which the Royal Navy prided itself so much.
The METAs were also there, and they were at the top of their game.
Fortune was shining on the battlefield. With her confidence bolstered by the presence of all her META comrades by her side, she was having no trouble controlling her iron maiden-like rigging, turning every single pawn she came across into pudding with her giant torture device.
Ember was taking advantage of the situation to blow off some steam, unafraid as she fought right in the middle of the fray. Hiryuu was eager to test her freshly replaced hand, courtesy of the Reality Lens, and Renown and Yamashiro were thirsting for revenge for their deceased sisters, a sentiment shared by the rest of their META comrades.
And then there was Queen Elizabeth META, who seemed to be perfectly at home, filling the role of their leader.
"All forces, charge! And remember, unapproved sacrifices will not be permitted!" She bellowed, aiming her scepter forward after having deployed Muick and Sandy. The two constructs were pushing ahead, turrets in hand like 16-inch caliber handguns, as they shot their guns at the enemy while also providing covering fire for the other Kansen. Her rallying cry seemed to affect not just the other METAs but also a few of the shipgirls of Azur Lane.
But those who were fighting harder were, as expected, the Sakura shipgirls.
Shimakaze and Ayanami looked like demons, darting around the place, dodging hits, and unleashing flurries of torpedoes in the water, so much so that Javelin and the other destroyers were having trouble keeping up; the two of them were so caught up in the moment that they had completely lost their cheerful attitude as they fought to protect their homeland.
Shoukaku was also there, in the back with the other carriers, the notes of the melody coming out of her flute sounding a lot more aggressive than usual as she provided cover for Musashi, Ise, Hyuuga, and the other frontline combatants with her planes.
All that was unfolding under Nagato's awestruck gaze. The short battleship was so distracted that she didn't even notice Freedom landing a few feet beside her.
"Lady Nagato! Where's my brother?!" He asked her in apprehension. He had been trying to reach Kurama with his radio, but the male Kitsune wasn't answering, and he was starting to fear for the worst.
She turned her head toward him, but it took her a second to register his presence. Still a bit shaken, she gestured to him just a little further behind them.
Freedom followed her indication to see three unconscious Kansen. Kurama, Kaga, and Kawakaze were lying down next to each other under the cover of a canopy; Amagi was with them, kneeling beside them and attending to them.
"They aren't heavily injured; they're just out of strength," the battlecruiser reassured him with a tired smile when she noticed him approaching.
Freedom let out a sigh of relief, his shoulders sagging under the weight of his wings. They were all just showing signs of exhaustion, with the only one more roughed up being Kurama. He could imagine how much they must have pushed themselves to reach such a state, and he was starting to regret not making it here sooner.
"Freedom, how did you..." Kaga asked him, unable to complete the sentence as she tried to resist the splitting headache assaulting her. The white-haired Kitsune was resting with her head on Amagi's shoulder, and if she hadn't spoken up, he could have sworn she was unconscious.
The shipboy gave her an understanding smile as he checked on his brother's wounds.
"The last time we were here, we left one of Massachusetts' radio beacons with Kurama, remember? We brought everyone here with her power," he explained to them.
Amagi clearly remembered the day the shipboys departed from the Sanctuary; they did so by warping, and only after explaining to her the specifics of how it worked. She also couldn't help but wonder at the possible applications of such an ability at the time, but if she remembered correctly, it wasn't possible for Massachusetts to warp with more than a handful of people.
When she pointed it out to the shipboy, he smiled wryly at her. "As soon as we received the message, we crammed as many people as we could inside Sparviero's pocket dimension," he explained. "His rigging is large enough to support everyone, so we used it as a way to circumvent that limitation, and Massachusetts did the rest; piece of cake, really." He turned to the sea, where the battle was still taking place, far from over. He'd done what he came here to do, that is, ascertain his brother's condition. Now it was time he also did his part.
"Lady Nagato," he addressed the diminutive battleship, still with her eyes glued to the battle unfolding before them. "The Commander isn't here, but the entire Azur Lane joint fleet is. We want you to know that we're yours to command."
His voice shook her out of her stupor, prompting her to look at him. The weight of his world didn't register immediately, as something else was on her mind.
"Um… Does that go for her too?" She asked him, visible confusion on her face as she pointed to the sky above the battlefield.
Freedom's brow furrowed in confusion as he followed with his gaze where she was pointing. His face twisted into a grimace, and he breathed a sigh of annoyance. Amagi did the same, but when her gaze found the source of his irritation, she couldn't help the bewilderment.
"Is that Purifier?!"
"Hahahaha, die bastards!" Purifier yelled as she flew around with her rigging, dodging AA fire and shooting laser beams at any mass-produced vessel in her sights.
She noticed an airwing of drones coming straight toward her, and a grin appeared on her face. Instead of avoiding them, she propelled herself forward, then shot her guns at the squadron, opening a hole in their formation with a well-placed laser beam and swiftly passing through them as they tried to halt her course with their weapons.
"Too slow!" She turned in a flash midair, aimed her multiple barrels at each of the remaining aircraft, and nailed them with another barrage. She watched in satisfaction as their wrecked remains fell into the water below, her grin widening.
It felt good to smash stuff after so long. While lazing around doing nothing all day was a nice change of pace from her previous routine, she had been missing some good action, and the sudden request for help from the Sakura Empire was the perfect chance to stretch her legs. Sure, she'd prefer another round with the actual Original Sirens, but for now, her old pawns would have to suffice. What's important was that she wasn't growing mold inside the Commander's office anymore.
"Purifier, control yourself! You almost shot down our planes with that stunt!" Shoukaku's voice came in from the comms, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Then keep them out of my way if you are so concerned and stop spoiling my fun!" Purifier shot back, shutting down the comms right as the next wave of drones came at her… only to be shot down by the purple glow that was approaching her at high speed.
She shielded her face from the wind pressure as she was almost run over, and once she recovered, she found herself stared at by a certain male Kansen. Freedom was hovering before her, bearing a very displeased expression on his face; his rigging was out, and his wings were sustaining him midair, the sound of their whirring thrusters almost covering the noise of battle.
"Purifier, don't forget that I'm supposed to keep an eye on you. So, either you behave, or the only thing that's coming back is going to be your Cube," he warned her. He didn't like acting as a babysitter as much as she didn't like having him constantly breathe down her neck, but he was doing this for Ryan—to assuage his friend's worries about having the Siren fight alongside his subordinates—and he intended to do it right.
"Okay, okay, I get it. Geez, no need to be so aggressive." With a sheepish grin and a calming gesture, Purifier acquiesced, his threat hitting home. She remembered full well their first meeting, when he'd shown her up so badly that she was almost glad he'd stolen her Cube; at least that time she didn't have to put up with her comrades pestering her for losing. If that experience alone hadn't been enough to drive home his superiority, the multiple re-matches they'd had at the base in the past few days made her take the hint. Don't cross him.
"Purifier, Freedom, allow me to assist you," another voice was heard, this time coming from behind her.
"Shut up, odd eyes!" She said, turning to face the weird-looking drone hovering behind her. "Keep your drones to yourself-"
"We'll take all the help we can get; thank you, Devil," Freedom cut her off, sending her a telling look as more of the Antiochus' drones approached their position. Indeed, Devil was also there, in the back of the formation with the other carriers, providing support with her drones—the role she was best suited for.
Purifier held back an annoyed groan.
She didn't like Devil. First of all, she had been introduced as a "humanoid Siren" created by the humans in this timeline—an Antiochus, as they called her—and that was more than enough to make her raise an eyebrow. Apparently, Devil was just like her—an entity born from the Cubes with a mainframe and a replaceable vessel.
In all the timelines she'd been through, this was a first. Humanity had never even attempted to replicate the program used by the seed for humanoid Sirens like her. What's more, she felt some sort of kinship with the woman with heterochromatic eyes despite her not being born from the seed, which was odd in and of itself. Similarities aside, she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, and that's exactly what was bugging her.
And then there were those doctors—Aoste and Anzeel. The two mysterious researchers had appeared on base without notice, just like the Antiochus. Purifier was ready to bet that they had something to do with both Devil's creation and some of the shipgirls' miraculous recovery. She had been curious to investigate, but when she tried asking about them to the Commander, he had simply told her not to bother them, stating that they had work to do and that she'd just distract them with her presence.
She didn't get why, though. If those two humans' field of expertise was Siren technology, wouldn't it be more efficient to introduce her to them? Something was fishy, and the Commander wasn't telling it straight. The fact that TB had been given an actual vessel out of nowhere and that, apparently, she was being allowed around the two doctors made it even fishier.
Purifier had made a vow to try to accost them furtively at a later date, but that was a matter for another time. First, she had actual Sirens to slaughter.
She took position beside Freedom, hovering among the small flock of drones as the shipboy's wings changed configuration and his thrusters charged up.
"You two follow my lead, and don't stray too far off the formation," he said. "Let's start by picking apart their rear."
He received an acknowledgement through the comms from Devil, but Purifier grinned under her nose.
"Watch out for friendly fire~" she sang sarcastically.
Freedom turned to send her a glare.
"Don't forget that friendly fire can go both ways," he declared coldly.
And with that said, they were off.
AN: Phew, this is the first time that a large-scale battle spans more than two chapters. How is it? Too long? Too convoluted? Too hard to follow?
As always, opinions and criticism are very much appreciated, especially now that we're heading toward the endgame.
Next Chapter: Last-Ditch Effort