The whirring of the ARC began filling the air, and the four metal arms began moving, bending on themselves toward the center of the structure. They twisted themselves sideways until they came to a stop with a loud clang, each one bringing their tips to touch the one to their side, forming a perfect circle parallel to the metal platform below.
Enterprise stepped up and extended a hand towards it. She closed her eyes and focused on her Cube, tapping once more into that part of her mind where she knew Ash's memories resided. Then, out of thin air, a small, whirling mass of black matter appeared, suspended midair right in the middle of that circle.
"Is that it?" Nagato cocked her head in confusion. She was expecting a grand display of space-bending power, but the appearance of the small, dark sphere was a huge letdown.
"Is the machine defective?" Kawakaze inquired.
"The ARC is perfectly functional," said TB, a hint of offense in her tone. "All we need to do is wait."
"Wait what exactly?" Ryan asked. "I thought the planetary alignment was already happening."
"It is, Commander. We just need to wait for the portal to react to it…" TB stated, then proceeded to go on a ramble about gravitational pull, photon particles, and other more overcomplicated stuff regarding the phenomenon.
Most of it went over everyone's heads, but apparently the gravitational imbalance caused by the planets during the planetary alignment, even if incapable of affecting the Earth in any meaningful way, was enough for the conversion of the proto-Mirror Sea created by Enterprise into a portal for another world.
That was the gist of it.
And yet, despite all the information at TB's disposal—which was the result of all of Zero's research and effort precipitously crammed inside her database—recreating the opening of a portal for another world was still an endeavor of unprecedented complexity, with plenty of unknowns and variables to consider.
For example, generally, a planetary alignment can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks. With such a wide timespan, there was no way to predict how exactly the phenomenon would reflect on the portal.
When exactly would it open? As soon as the alignment started or at its peak? Certainly not the former since the portal wasn't giving any sign of life yet. And when it did, how long would it last? Hours, days, weeks… minutes?
What's worse, once the shipboys were through, they had no way of communicating with this side to find out how much they had left. Because, apparently, radio waves had no way of traveling through the space-time continuum.
So they had a time limit, but they didn't know exactly how much, and there was no way of interacting with their comrades to stay updated on the situation.
Brilliant.
The only good news was that this time, Enterprise wouldn't need to use her own energy to sustain the portal. The ARC was designed to handle it in her stead by consuming the energy of Wisdom Cubes as fuel. Thank goodness for that since opening a portal for another world was nothing like opening one for another timeline; the strain of keeping it open would straight up kill her.
Luckily, they had plenty of Wisdom Cubes at their disposal, plundered from the remains of the Siren units the Kansen had encountered and defeated during their recent sorties. The things were stored in several crates, stacked near the portal, and ready to be unsealed at a moment's notice to be fed to the machine.
"If waiting is what we need to do, then wait we shall," Leviathan declared as soon as TB was finished with her long-winded explanation, saving everyone from an eventual reprise.
Taking advantage of the moment, Ryan took Leviathan and Emperor aside to inquire about their stay in Europe. The Commander was particularly interested in Emperor's investigation into the Worm-type's whereabouts.
Too bad he was in for a disappointment when the shipboy told him that the search had borne no fruit.
In fact, surprisingly, Siren activity in the Atlantic had been gradually diminishing by the day, as the two shipboys had ascertained personally during their time in Europe, which made the officer even more concerned, as it coincided with an increase in their activity in the Pacific.
Emperor figured it was the reason why he couldn't locate the Worm-type during his sorties; the thing had long since left those waters, along with a good number of its kin. The enemy was preparing for something, and the fact that it all coincided with the approaching of the planetary alignment wasn't just a mere chance; Ryan was sure of it.
He couldn't help but think about the joint base. He had left plenty of his Kansen behind along with the METAs in case the Sirens tried something; he had also sent another smaller fleet over to the secondary base to help the Antiochus protect it.
He only hoped it would be enough.
Aquila was struggling. Despite the tense situation, she couldn't help the wide grin etched on her face. Next to her, Yorktown was in the same predicament, a persistent smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
"What are you two so happy about?" Akagi asked in annoyance, their seemingly unjustified happiness feeding her irritation.
Yorktown chuckled as she waved her off.
"Nothing at all, Akagi. It's just that this is our first mission together in a while. And Aquila is just very excited to be here with us, right?" She asked, turning to the Sardinian carrier.
"Y-yeah!" Aquila stuttered, embarrassed. "Being deployed beside you both is like a dream come true!"
Akagi let out an audible groan.
"Need I remind you that our last mission together didn't end well for you, Yorktown?" She told the veteran. "And you, Aquila, contain your excitement. Being overeager isn't any different than panicking; both can get you killed on the battlefield."
"Y-yes, Miss Akagi!" Aquila responded. Even on a mission, Akagi didn't miss the chance to school her.
The Sardinian carrier had been working very hard lately. Between going out on sortie and spending extra time training, she barely had a moment to relax. But all her efforts seemed to be finally paying off, as the Commander had seen fit to assign her to the same group as two of the most renowned carriers in the fleet. Sortieing as an equal at the two veterans' side was something she would never have dreamed of, and she was determined to make a good impression, especially after all the time they had dedicated instructing her.
"Aren't you a bit harsh on her?" Yorktown said to the Kitsune.
"And you are being too carefree here," Akagi retorted. "Actually, you've been far too relaxed since you've recovered. Stay on your guard; that rigging doesn't make you invincible."
What in the past would have sounded like a threat coming out of Akagi's mouth was in fact a way to keep her friend on her toes and for the Kitsune to remind herself that Yorktown, as powerful as she was now, wasn't invincible.
That first duel proposition hadn't worked in Akagi's favor, resulting in the Kitsune begrudgingly admitting defeat in front of the other carrier's Type II rigging's power. After that, at Akagi's insistence, they had so many more sparring matches that they had lost count—all of which had resulted in the Kitsune's loss.
If Yorktown's goal for putting forward that proposal had been to distract her friend from what was troubling her, then it worked. Akagi, instead of letting it get to her, had taken it as a personal challenge—a way to restore her hurt pride. She spent the good part of her free time going over those mock battles, formulating strategies, looking for an opening, a weakness, anything that could give her an edge over the Type II shipgirl. At this point, it could be safely said that no one else knew Yorktown's rigging better than Akagi—aside from Yorktown herself, of course.
And as a matter of fact, all that effort Akagi had been putting into figuring out a way to beat her wasn't for nothing. Yorktown had come this close to losing some of those matches, proof that the Kitsune was right.
Despite all that, even if Akagi had never been able to snatch a win out of her, those sparring matches had reignited the Kitsune's competitive spirit, and that's all Yorktown wanted.
"I know, I know, I'll be careful," Yorktown conceded. "But it's been hours, and still no sign of the Sirens. I'm starting to think they won't even show up," she said, her expression scrunching into a frown.
The three carriers were skidding over the water, their rigging out and at the ready. As per Ryan and Nagato's orders, they were patrolling the waters around the Sanctuary, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Around them, the rest of the Kansen had been split into several groups, each covering an assigned area. If they squinted, they could see the other fleets sailing separately at a distance, disappearing and reappearing behind the islets scattered around the place.
But they had been at it for hours, and there was no sign of the enemy yet.
Tester, being the latest of the Antiochus to be retrieved from the hands of the Sirens and thus having the most up-to-date information regarding their maneuvers had said that the enemy did see Azur Lane and the Sacred Sakura Tree as the main threat against their advance. This was why they had let Tower loose in such a desperate rush to cross half the globe. Just like the Commander had speculated, the enemy had wanted to unleash her upon both the joint base and the Sanctuary before her energy ran out.
Now, with the joint fleet present at the Sanctuary and with the planetary alignment in full swing, this was their perfect chance to kill not two but three birds with one stone, and yet they didn't seem willing to take it, judging by how things were progressing.
"Maybe this is the time we get lucky and avoid a fight," Aquila piped up, hopefully.
A cry of alarm going off on the radio was her answer.
"Watch out! The Sirens are already here!"
Spoken too soon.
Shortly before, at around three hundred feet below the surface of the water, Albacore and I-19 were patrolling the sea bottom.
The few submarines they had at their disposal, between those living at the Sanctuary and those under the Commander's orders, had been deployed along with the rest of the shipgirls. They had also been split into pairs and sent out to scour the seabed.
The Sanctuary was located a few miles away from the east coast of Japan, and it was surrounded by a bunch of small islets that could barely even be considered an archipelago. It was relatively close to the mainland, and as such, the waters around it weren't that deep—only between two and five hundred meters, which roughly translated to six and sixteen hundred feet.
Even so, covering such a large area would have been pointless if they didn't also check the subsurface, especially knowing that some of the Sirens could dive.
So, here they were, riding their rigging, scouring the ocean floor around the Sanctuary, with the seabed perfectly visible thanks to the clear water and the light of the sun shining above them, still capable of reaching such low depths.
It was only a few miles further away that they would cross the line to the open ocean, and the depth would drop drastically to around three kilometers—ten thousand feet. The Commander had told them not to push themselves over that line and to limit their search to the continental shelf.
"We should turn back now," said I-19, coming to a stop as she turned to her companion.
Albacore did the same after noticing what was ahead of them. She could clearly see the rocky seabed plunging down into the abyssal depths as they approached the continental slope that marked the beginning of the open ocean and the limit of their search area.
"Got it," she said, reversing course as she switched to another channel. "Guys, we've reached the limit here, and we didn't see anything. What about you?"
"All clear over here as well," came U-96's reply, who was patrolling another section with U-81.
Speaking underwater wasn't exactly possible, even for a submarine Kansen. The little divers could hold their breath for a long time, and their internal radio had a channel specific to their class that allowed them to sort of telepathically speak with each other while also communicating with their other comrades on the surface.
"Okie-dokie, we are heading back to you," Albacore said as she and I-19 began making their way back.
As they traveled, they kept their eyes on the seabed.
The place's seafloor morphology, due to the proximity of the Pacific and North American plates, and the intense tectonic activity of the both of them grinding against each other, wasn't as smooth as one might find elsewhere in the ocean. The floor was irregular, covered in crevasses and rocky outcroppings, which made it hard to scan thoroughly, even with the low depth and the abundance of light.
The worst part was that all those nooks and crannies were the perfect spots to hide for an ambush. The subs knew it very well, as no one was familiar with the depths more than them.
"Something's moving over there!" Albacore exclaimed, projecting her thoughts through her internal radio for her companion to hear.
"Where?!" I-19 started, turning to look where Albacore was pointing. Aiming the light of her rigging toward the spot, it revealed a particularly large school of fish swimming in unison behind a rock. They scurried away as soon as the light hit them, making the shipgirls let out a figurative breath of relief.
"Don't scare me like that," I-19 huffed through their link at her, trying to calm her heart rate.
"S-sorry, sorry," Albacore replied sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. Their eyes scanned the area for any further sign of movement, and upon finding none, they set off again, the unease caused by the scare slowly ebbing away.
The two of them had forgone their cheerful attitude for this mission, and not just because of how much the Commander had stressed its importance.
Up until now, the worst things the subs had to worry about when fighting in their natural element were the occasional Lurkers and the depth charges launched at them from the mass-produced vessels. The depths had always been their domain, but now, after hearing from the METAs of the Scavenger-type that had attacked the Cinders, and of the Worm-type that had almost sunk Bismarck and Jean Bart, they weren't so sure about that anymore.
They had also been briefed about those monsters and their patterns by the shipboys, but the subs had not yet met any of those things during the many sorties they had taken part in. They were nervous because, with the arrival of the Original Sirens, they were afraid they might have found their match underwater.
That realization was affecting Albacore and I-19 with a particularly jumpy demeanor, which was shared by all the other subs in the fleet. That feeling was only growing worse since it was hard to discern if the shadows moving below them cast by the uneven terrain were about to extend upward to grab them and drag them down or if it was just the fruit of their imagination.
"H-hey, I-19," Albacore piped up.
"W-what is it?"
"The shadow behind that rock..." Albacore trailed off.
"W-where?"
"It almost looks like..."
I-19's eyes darted around, trying to follow Albacore's pointed finger. "L-like what?"
Albacore smirked. "A SEA MONSTER!"
"Kyaaaaa!" I-19 let out a loud shrill and jumped in her place atop her rigging when Albacore pinched her sides while yelling loudly to scare her.
When the blonde prankster began laughing mischievously, I-19 knew she had been played, and her face darkened in shame. She pouted, glaring hard at Albacore as the other sub cackled.
"I'm telling Shikikan," she announced, rightfully upset.
"U-uh? N-no, wait, I-19, it was just a prank," Albacore scrambled to compose herself.
"Well, that wasn't very nice of you, Albacore," I-19 looked away with a scoff. "This isn't the time for pranks; you should know it."
"C'mon, I-19, I didn't mean to make fun of you. I was just trying to lighten the mood," Albacore pleaded. "If you tell the Commander, he's going to assign me to cleaning duty again- Uh? What's that?"
"Nice try, but that won't work twice with me..." I-19's voice died in her throat as she turned to look at her companion, right as what looked like a tentacle with a metallic texture latched onto Albacore's rigging, wrapping itself around her leg in the process.
Immediately, the thing began retracting behind the rocky formation from which it had appeared, pulling Albacore down with it as the shipgirl shouted and flailed in panic.
"Whaaa! What's happening?!"
I-19 dove down like a hawk until she reached Albacore's outstretched hand. She pulled with all her might, trying to yank her friend out of the tentacle's grasp, but all she managed to obtain was to be jerked down along with her.
"I-19, help! I can't move!" Albacore cried after realizing the seriousness of her predicament.
"Hold on, Albacore!" I-19 let go of the other sub's hand and pushed her rigging further down, following the tentacle toward the crevasse from which it was protruding.
More tentacles appeared, trying to grab her as well, but she managed to weave through them, expertly maneuvering her rigging toward the seabed until she came face to face with the owner of those appendages.
It was a Scavenger-type; its bulbous, squid-like body was perfectly hidden behind the large boulder obscuring it from view, and its numerous yellow "eyes" were glowing menacingly under its shade.
Without wasting time, I-19 unleashed a flurry of torpedoes from her rigging before scurrying out of reach of its appendages.
The tubes caused a series of explosions that rocked the Scavenger's body. Even if it didn't make direct contact, the shipgirl's attack managed to break the boulders under which it was hiding, forcing it to come out of its hiding spot if it didn't want to get stuck under a pile of crumbling rocks.
Albacore, who was still in its grasp but now had a perfect view of the enemy's frame, maneuvered her rigging as best as she could to get a clear shot before unleashing a barrage of her own torpedoes at it, followed in turn by I-19 with another one of her own.
"Watch out! The Sirens are already here!" I-19 yelled in the comms, taking advantage of the opening to launch the alarm.
But the Scavenger came out of the attack unscathed, much to the shipgirls' horror. The glow in its eyes grew in intensity as its anger flared up. It tightened its hold on Albacore's rigging and around her leg as its other tentacles began writhing menacingly, trying to catch I-19 into his grasp as well.
"Aaaagh!" Albacore screamed in pain as both her leg and rigging were crushed under the squid's hold.
"Albacore!" I-19 shouted as it began pulling her friend in again.
Meanwhile, a series of frantic responses were coming in through her radio, all of them trying to figure out their location, but she was too busy to respond. The Scavenger was bringing Albacore close to the topside of its bulbous body, which had parted to reveal an opening full of sharp metal plates shaped like a grinder.
Albacore struggled to wrench herself free, and I-19 began panicking, unable to help her friend, lest she got caught by the monster's tentacles as well.
"Oh no, what do I do?" The red-haired sub thought. She tried to come up with something, racking her brain for a way to stop the monster as she dodged its attempts at grabbing her.
Then her mind went back to a few days before. As everyone waited for the date of the planetary alignment, between the many sorties and commissions they were taking part in, the Commander had made the shipgirls take part in a series of briefings, with the shipboys taking turns instructing them about the Sirens they had already encountered and those they might come across in the future.
Some of the shipgirls, especially the junior Kansen, didn't take it kindly, as it reminded them of going back to class with Langley while also taking away from them the little free time they had. But others, eager to prove and to earn themselves the Commander's praise, had paid careful attention, including I-19.
The Scavenger-types were, as the name suggested, the units the Sirens deployed to sweep through the battlefield after the fighting ceased. Their primary function was to locate and collect any remnants of materials scattered across the area—metal scraps and any Wisdom Cubes left behind—and to transport them back to their hideout for recycling.
This one must have seen the two subs swimming around and had likely locked in on their rigging, mistaking them for scraps to collect, which was why it was trying to grab her and "eat" Albacore, I-19 figured.
Of course, that didn't mean they couldn't be deployed to fight. Their bodies were armored enough to tank most hits from regular ordnance, and despite their size, they were good for stealth since they could dive.
I-19's eyes then widened in realization as she remembered the most important details: the Scavenger-types had two weak spots. The maw at the top of their heads, which opened the way for their insides, and the thruster at the bottom of their bodies, which they used to propel themselves forward.
"Albacore! Shoot it in the mouth!" She shouted as she dashed toward the ocean floor, trying to get a better view of the Siren's underside. Disregarding accuracy, she unleashed another flurry of torpedoes. Even if she didn't score a direct hit, all she needed to do was aim for the thruster below its body to make it stumble.
She succeeded, as the explosions managed to throw it off balance.
Albacore perked up to her friend's voice. Fighting back the pain, she twisted herself so that she could easily reach her rigging, detaching one of her torpedo tubes whole from its frame. She waited until the Siren's staggering ceased and it brought her closer to its mouth. As soon as its maw opened to swallow her, she threw the miniaturized projectiles with the whole container after setting it off.
The subsequent explosion was enough to tear open the squid's bulbous body like a swollen pimple. The shockwave sent Albacore reeling back into the water, but I-19 was there to catch her.
Without wasting time, I-19 turned her rigging's nose upward and dashed for the surface, the torn body of the Scavenger-type slowly sinking to the bottom, inert.
And right as the two subs emerged from the water, a familiar voice reached their ears.
"Over here, you two!"
Flying toward them with his wings out and a very concerned expression on his face was Freedom.
"Ow-ow-ow!" Albacore lamented as Vestal healed her leg.
"Hold still," the repair ship said with a firm but reassuring tone.
Freedom had brought the two subs back to the Sanctuary's temple grounds, beside the clearing where the ARC was located. Vestal was treating an injured Albacore while a very concerned Ryan fretted beside her, and Nagato listened to I-19's report.
"There, all done," Vestal said, retracting her rigging.
"Thank you so much, Vestal!" Albacore sang happily. She bolted upright, lightly stomping her feet as she took a feel of her healed leg.
Ryan sighed in relief as the little sub began jumping around, despite Vestal's attempt to keep her from doing so. He turned to I-19, who had just finished retelling the encounter with the Scavenger-type, crouching down to meet her gaze.
"You did great, I-19," he said, reaching out with his hand to rub her head between her ears. "I'm proud of you."
I-19 felt her heart swell, her eyes sparkling in elation. "Hehe, Shikikan is praising me," she mewled as she reveled in his touch.
"Did you see anything else while you were out there?" He asked.
"No, Shikikan," she shook her head. "It was very quiet, unusually so."
"Mmh, I understand," he mused. He had been monitoring the comms and the reports of the other shipgirls since after I-19 had launched the alarm, but there had been no further sightings after that.
But then what was that Scavenger-type doing by itself so close to the Sanctuary? Maybe this one was an isolated case. After all, since the siege had occurred fairly recently, scraps and remains of mass-produced enemy vessels were still haphazardly scattered around the place, and that squid might have been attracted to them.
Maybe there was no need to take all those precautions. Maybe he was just being paranoid.
"Penny for your thoughts, Shikikan?" Nagato asked him.
"Uh? Oh, nothing, just..." he trailed off. "Maybe I really am overthinking this," he thought for a second, doubt plaguing his mind. But then he shook those thoughts out of his head; always better be safe than sorry. "I think we should strengthen our patrols. There might be more of them hiding around the place," he declared. "I-19, I know it might be too much to ask you, but do you feel up for another dive? He asked the red-haired sub. "We don't have that many submarines, and there's only so much ground we can cover with radar. Your help would be invaluable, but if you aren't feeling up to it after what happened..."
"Of course, Shikikan," I-19 replied excitedly. "I'll give it one hundred percent!"
"Thank you so much; just keep your eyes wide open and don't get too close to the bottom, okay?" He told her, smiling softly at her. "And Albacore, stop jumping around," he said more sternly, turning to the other sub. "You need to keep still, so you are staying here where I can watch you." Albacore's leg was fixed now, aside from a large dark bruise where the bone had been reduced to paste; that would take a while to completely disappear.
"Huh?! Wait, Commander," she complained. "I'm as good as new; I can get back to work no problem! Look!" She began jumping harder, stomping her feet down to show everyone that she was fine, but then a sudden jolt of discomfort shot up from her knee, and she froze on the spot, trying not to give it away. She lifted her head sheepishly to meet the unimpressed gazes of the people around her.
"You are sitting this one out, and that's final," Vestal declared, much to the submarine's chagrin.
Then Nagato turned to address the Commander. "I agree, Shikikan; best not to take any chances. And since it's come to this, I think we should join our comrades as well," she said, with Kawakaze nodding her agreement beside her.
"In that case, we should go too," Kurama spoke up from the side. "It's not like waiting around like this is going to speed this up," he said, nodding toward the ARC.
"What, are you so eager to get rid of us, brother?" Emperor smirked. "How cold of you."
"You can get lost for all I care," Kurama shot back.
The shipboys had been there the entire time, waiting for the portal to open, but the inaction was starting to get to them, especially after the close call with the two subs, and they were starting to get restless. No wonder Freedom scrambled so quickly for Albacore and I-19's position as soon as the latter launched the alarm earlier.
"I agree with Kurama," Leviathan said. "Freedom, Emperor, and I have to stay here. But those of you who can, it's better to investigate this matter firsthand rather than just sit around twiddling your thumbs."
"Fine, I was getting tired of standing around anyway," Lenin grumbled. He and Sparviero would have preferred to stay until the last second to say goodbye to the others, but alas, the situation called for a mobilization.
"By the way, where's Freedom?" Sparviero asked.
"Over there with Massachusetts," Emperor said, nodding his head to the side.
The Eagle Union battleship had taken advantage of the wait to pull Freedom aside, the two of them withdrawing further away from the group to have some privacy as they said goodbye to each other.
"I should go too," the battleship said, having overheard the talk. "South Dakota alone can take care of the Commander, and as long as you are still here, he's not going to be in any danger," she spoke with a dejected tone.
"Hey," he lifted her chin with his hand to meet her eyes. "I said we'd be together forever, didn't I? That I'd take you with me to travel the world. I intend to keep that promise."
His words managed to draw a small smile to her face, which caused his heart to swell. He leaned in to kiss her, a soft peck that conveyed all his love and affection, and that only made it harder to pull away.
"Freedom, you coming or not?" Lenin's voice calling out to him brought them back to reality.
"Gotta go now; I swear I'll be back," he said, reluctantly pulling away. "Wait for me."
All she managed as a response was a weak nod of her head as he turned on his back and walked away. She clasped her elbow with her hand, as if steadying herself as she moved to join the other shipgirls and the Commander. She came up to South Dakota, who, noticing her dejected expression, placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. No words needed, her sister began soothing her back as she watched Freedom join the other shipboys right in front of the ARC.
As already decided, Lenin, Sparviero, and Kurama would take to the sea alongside the shipgirls, while Freedom, Emperor, and Leviathan would keep waiting by the portal for it to open. If all went according to plan, the two groups would reunite when the latter trio returned with reinforcements. However, if all went wrong…
"All set?" Kurama asked.
Freedom nodded solemnly. He noticed that his brothers were huddled together in a circle, shoulder to shoulder, each with their right arm outstretched and fists clenched in the center.
A smile came to adorn his lips.
"We haven't done this in a while," he mused, joining them to complete the circle. He placed himself between Emperor and Lenin, putting his left arm around the shorter shipboy's shoulders while leaning slightly forward to join his right fist with the others.
"Yup, and what better occasion than this?" Emperor said, mimicking Freedom's smirk and clasping his shoulder.
"When was the last time?" Sparviero asked.
"The final siege to the seed," Leviathan reminded.
"Right before coming here," Kurama added.
"Well, who wants to speak up?" Freedom asked aloud. "Wanna try this out, Lenin?"
"Nuh-uh. The floor is all yours, leader," Lenin said, turning to Emperor.
The light carrier breathed out a chuckle and cleared his throat, readying himself.
"So, guys, I'd love to tell you about how much you mean to me, how much I'm glad we've met, and how I'd never exchange our time together for anything in the world, but I know some of you don't like mushy stuff, so I'll try to be as direct as possible," he began. "We've always been together in the past four years, fighting side by side, covering each other's backs, but in the last few months, we've done nothing but move around the place. We've met a lot of people, we've created new bonds, and we've seen and done things no human or Kansen has ever experienced before; to be fair, we deserve some rest, but because of that, we've changed, and we've become stronger," he joked, then his tone and expression turned serious. "We've risked our lives countless times, almost as if fate itself has been trying to tear us apart. Yet we've always managed to defy the odds and come back to each other," he continued. "I'm convinced that we can do it again. The universe might be against us, but we'll find a way, like we always have. So don't lose hope, be strong, stay sharp, and remember: no matter what happens, no matter where life takes us, we are always brothers."
They threw their hands in the air, roaring their determination to the sky, their voices drowning out even the humming of the ARC.
Ryan looked over to the shipboys. Watching the six of them standing before the ARC, huddled together as they hyped each other up, was a sight to behold, and their resolve was trickling over to him.
They were having their moment, and he didn't want to interrupt them. Besides, he had to remain behind, so he could witness Freedom, Emperor and Leviathan's departure and wish them good luck.
Too bad there was no one to capture the moment.
Or so he thought.
*snap*
"Shit."
The sound of a shutter and cursing made him turn to the side, where someone was seemingly trying to sneak around, taking photos of the place, the ARC, and the shipboys.
He walked up to a well-trimmed bush to the side of the temple grounds and raised an eyebrow at the sight of a pair of cyan-haired animal ears.
"What are you doing, Aoba?" He asked aloud, startling the shipgirl out of her hiding spot.
"Uh, saving the moment for posterity?" She replied with a sheepish smile, camera in hand, while scratching the back of her head.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, holding back a sigh.
"Go back to your position now, or I'm telling Nagato."
"R-ryokai, Shikikan!" She scrambled out of the way, back toward the harbor.
But then something came to his mind, and he called her back.
"You know what? Hold on a minute, Aoba."
The cruiser skidded to a stop as his words reached her ears. "W-what is it, Shikikan?"
"You can stay," he said, much to her joy.
"Hell yeah!" She exclaimed.
The other shipgirls had already left, with only South Dakota having remained behind. Which means the only ones to witness the first opening of a portal to another world were going to be him, the battleship, and TB. He hadn't thought about it, but this was an unprecedented event; someone needed to document it, and the Sakura cruiser showed up at the perfect time.
"Kommandant, we have a problem," U-96's voice came in through the comms.
"What is it?" He asked, reaching for his earpiece to respond.
"We are checking the place where Albacore and I-19 were attacked, but we can't find the Scavenger's corpse," she informed him.
"Uh, that's weird."
"They were pretty close to the slope when that happened," U-81 chimed in. "Maybe the currents dragged it down?"
"We can check if you want us to," U-96 said.
"Hmm… Alright, but don't go alone; have some other subs accompany you," he said after considering a bit. "And keep this channel open at all times, just to be safe."
"Got it. We'll wait for I-19 to return, and then we'll- WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" U-81 screamed at the top of her lungs.
The sudden holler from the sub made Ryan's heart jump in his throat, and he began panicking. "What is it?! U-81?! Come in!"
"Something's coming up from the slope! It's… It looks like a Scavenger, but... Those tentacles are too damn big!" U-96 managed to tell him.
"W-what?! Okay, you two, fall back! I'm sending reinforcements!" He told them, his reaction drawing the attention of the Kansen present.
"What's wrong, Commander?" Sparviero inquired.
"Another Scavenger is attacking U-81 and U-96," he informed them. "But they said this one's bigger than the others."
"An Alpha then," Kurama commented. "About time one of those showed up."
"I can go and take them away while the others deal with it, just like with Albacore and I-19," Freedom offered.
"No, you need to stay here. The portal is bound to open at any moment now," TB interjected from the side, the whirring of the ARC having picked up in intensity. Sparks and bolts of electricity had begun dancing all over the structure, converging toward the small mass of black matter being held between its four mechanical arms. If they looked closer at it, they would find it slowly expanding.
"Commander!" Yorktown's voice came in next.
"What is it now?!"
"Hostiles detected! The Sirens are making their move!"
"Goddammit, when it rains it pours…" Ryan cursed. "I'm sorry to cut in, guys, but you have to go. I need you out there," he said, addressing the shipboys.
"No problem, Commander," Lenin said, cracking his knuckles as he, Kurama, and Sparviero began making their way to the harbor. "It was about damn time those bastards showed up."
"Give them hell, guys!" Emperor encouraged them.
"You got it," Kurama responded. "Good luck on the other side."
And with that said, the three of them headed out.
AN: Wanna know something funny? This chapter and the previous one were supposed to come out as one. But guess what? I wrote too much and had to split it in two…
Why do I have a feeling of deja vu?
And why do I have a feeling this won't be the last?
Next Chapter: Troubled Waters