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*BANG*

Under normal circumstances the thundering of a battleship's guns outside of a naval base would be more than ample cause for alarm. The resounding echo of shells being launched from guns with all the force of the wrath of the Almighty themself a cry for planes to take to the sky and soldiers to race to their posts, and yet no bombers or fighters took to the sky and no soldiers charged to their posts even as-

*BANG*

Another almighty boom and yet there was no earthshaking explosion, only a loud-

*POP*

A flash of vibrant sparkles lit the night sky, sapphire and emerald which was soon joined by gold and silver. A cheer sweeping up from the populace of the base in whose harbor the battleship responsible for the launch of the fireworks that now lit up the sky.

Indeed, there nestled in the harbor of the Naval base of the Azur Lane sat many ships and yet it was three in particular that had the attention of those on the piers and within the plaza of the base, where a large crowd gathered dancing and laughing in merry glee.

Of the three ships it was the one most easily recognized as a Battleship, an Iowa class to be exact, that was responsible for launching the fireworks, although their method of doing so was..unconventional to say the least given that they were using their main battery to fire modified shells loaded with the fireworks into the air.

The two other ships, one an Aircraft Carrier and the third a vessel of shall we say more… exotic design were holding their fire for now, although if the way that the exoctic vessels' own guns were beginning to hum was any indication it might not be that way for long.

*BANG*

*POP*

A flash of gold and crimson, soon joined by blue and white, green and silver, and countless more colors ignites in the sky, the sparkles reflecting off of the still sapphire blue ocean combined with the pale light of the full moon shining down amidst a field of stars makes for a truly beautiful scene for the inhabitants of the Azur Lane Naval Base. 

Once more the guns on the USS New Jersey adjust themselves before, with an earthshaking roar, another salvo of fireworks are launched into the air, dozens of majuu moving at breakneck speed to load another batch into the canons even as the just launched ones detonate above the ocean bathing the sea once more in radiant colors. 

Despite the loud roar of the guns, they pale in comparison to the sounds drifting from the streets of the base, where the Kansen of all factions stand side by side, glasses in their hands as they cheer for a long and hard fought victory, some cling to their lovers and others find loves as a celebration to rival Mardi Gras sweeps through the base, and yet they are not alone in their revelry for-

*VOOM*

A discharge of what appears to be a multicolored beam of energy detonates amidst the sky, the explosion creating a kaleidoscopic display of glimmering colors that persist for but a few moments longer than the standard and modified fireworks that had been launched out of the battleship's guns. 

Even the uproar of cheer from the base failed to drown out the sudden scream of-

“YOU CHEATING BITCH! WE SAID SHELLS! NOT PLASMA OR WHATEVER THE HELL THAT WAS!” New Jersey yelled from aboard her battleship form, the smile on her face and the fact that the words lacked any true heat showing that there was no true anger in her at the display, although the fact that the person she had just yelled at had the gall to stick out their tongue at her made her eye twitch somewhat as she suddenly whirled about to face the lead Manjuu that stood beside her.

“Is it ready?” The fact that there was a mischievous glint in her eyes, alongside the smile that begun to form on her face would have had any of her fellows nervous about just what the Iowa Class battleship had in store, the fact that the Majuu shared the glint in their own eyes would have had said fellow Kansen running for cover.

The moment the Manjuu nodded it’s head, the captain’s hat it wore almost falling off prompting a frantic scramble as it tried to put it back on its head, the sight making New Jersey chuckle. 

“Alright Captain Kidd, then let’s show our friends what an Iowa class can really do.” New Jersey smiled and turned to face the ships that sat beside her and raised her hands to her lips, even as the Manjuu Captain snapped off a salute before bringing a radio to its beak and relaying the instructions to it’s fellows.

“I HOPE YOU LADIES ARE READY TO SEE WHAT REAL FIREPOWER LOOKS LIKE!” She yelled, prompting worried chatter to break out on the docks where many of her fellows had gathered, they all knew just how excitable the battleship could get when it came to showing off her firepower.

The fact that a neighboring island now had a lagoon was proof enough of just how far she was willing to go to prove her point about her class's firepower. Although, to be completely fair, Prinz Eugen hadn’t really thought that the woman would actually try and make a lagoon with her shells…and the commander had been too busy trying to wrangle a bunch of over caffeinated destroyers to tell her not to use the island for target practice.

On the plus side they now had an artificial lagoon to relax at! 

On the downside, Yuubari was not impressed when she found out what her experimental HE Shell, made with portions of captured Siren tech, had been used for. Although the sight of New Jersey knocked out by the recoil of her guns sending her flying across the base and into a building had mollified her somewhat. 

All of that being said, the reactions of those present at the base were perfectly understandable.

“TAKE COVER!” Or some version of the phrase was shouted in a multitude of languages as Kansen and their guests alike dove for cover, some simply choosing to dive into the harbor, while others upended nearby furniture to use as shields. Those who possessed a form of shield based ability were quick to deploy them, and then dive behind cover after pulling those near them as close as possible to make sure their shields covered them as well.

Meanwhile in the harbor, the other two ships merely adjusted their footing a little bit as-

*BOOOOMMMM*

The sheer force of the blast created a shockwave that sent many of those on the pier onto their back, some were flung back like rag dolls and others still were almost knocked out by the sheer force the shockwave impacted them with, many of the destroyers among those almost knocked out.

Friedrich Der Grosse, clad in an elegant black and crimson dress, was among the few not really affected by the blast and even she had been forced to shield her eyes, and the sight she saw upon lowering her gasp.

On one hand New Jersey was doing her best attempt at becoming a submarine by having successfully flipped her ship form over.

And on the other hand, there on the horizon was now an enormous firework depiction of the symbol of Azur Lane, the colors as vibrant as the ones that adorned the cloth banners that hung from the flagpole in the center of the base. 

Friedrich couldn’t stop herself from smiling softly, even as she pulled the still partially dazed forms of Houshou, her kimono almost having been blown open, and Yorktown, her coat now missing and her dress partially opened near the top, closer, letting the two women rest their heads on her shoulders as they righted themselves. Yorktown clinging to her arm for balance, her eyes wide and her mouth open, an expression shared by Houshou, although it wasn’t shared for long as soon a cheer swept through the base, Yorktown amongst those cheering.

“Honestly my child, you really must learn to reign in your pride.” The Iron Blood Matriarch said softly with a smile on her face, as she watched several submarines dive into the water to pull the now splashing battleship from the harbor. 

As she was about to turn to make sure that everyone else near her was back on their feet once more she was stopped by a tugging on her dress.

Blinking, she looked down and smiled at the sight of Nagato, her ruffled kimono making her look far more adorable than should be considered healthy, and Mutsu, who was currently trying to find her headpiece.

“Yes my child,” Friedrich said as she leaned down, her hand patting Nagato’s head. Houshou having moved to help Mutsu find her head piece and Yorktown having been swept away by a cheerful Hornet and a blushing and smiling Graf Zeppelin but a few moments ago.

“Will you dance with me in the plaza, Mutsu is looking for her headpiece and Akagi and Kaga are dancing with Amagi,” Nagato said, even as she leaned into the head pat with a smile on her face, her eyes drifting closed as she savored the feeling. 

Friedrich’s smile could have lit the entire port as she rose to her feet and outstretched her hands and lifted Nagato up to hold her against her chest, the smaller battleship resting her head on the matriarch's shoulder as the towering battleship carried her deeper into the port.

“I would be more than happy to! Although I am surprised you didn’t ask someone else from the Sakura Empire, are they all busy?” Friedrich asked as she weaved through her fellows, smiling when she saw Prinz Eugen wrapped in Prince of Wales arms as the two women kissed passionately. Bismarck and Hood were only a couple of feet away from them and yet they were likewise occupied with each other much to the battleship's amusement. Her smile widening as she saw more of her children, be they of Iron Blood or of the the other factions that made up Azur Lane pairing up to celebrate their victory and the end of what seemed to be a previously unending nightmare. 

Her smile was blinding when she heard the battleship tucked in her arms reply to her question, even the new chaos breaking loose in the harbor wasn’t enough to stop her from smiling and adding a spring to her step as she strode towards the plaza.

“Not all of them are busy, but I wanted to spend some time with one of my mothers.”

Meanwhile at the harbor

It was safe to say that after seeing the entire horizon become a firework version of their banner the Kansen were certain they had won the impromptu fireworks challenge, and then-

“Oh that has got to be cheating.” Vestal said, unable to stop herself from laughing at the sight of what one of the ships was doing as a response to the display. 

There soaring through the sky were an assortment of planes, bombers and fighters to be exact, and the performance they were putting on was enough to leave the battleship who had just been fished out of the harbour sulking, although everyone could see the smile on her face, a smile that widened as Ticonderoga pulled her into her arms, the two squealing with laughter as they fell on their backs. 

The bombers were dropping their payload which was then quickly shot down by the fighters that were following them, only these were not normal bombs but rather specially made fireworks that detonated in vibrant colors. 

Although the fireworks lacked any true shape, the skill of the one controlling the planes made up for that as they were able to manipulate the planes in such a way that the explosions combined to form beautiful displays. 

Although perhaps having them form the words ‘Show Off’ had been a bit excessive, the laughter it had prompted from everyone, even New Jersey, made it well worth the effort. 

The cheering grew louder still as the planes began to form other shapes.

A heart.

A smaller form of their banner.

An eagle, okay now that was just showing off.

The displays only got more elaborate when a second batch of planes joined with the first, a second aircraft carrier, almost a twin of the first one, materializing alongside it. The two sets of planes seamlessly worked with one another with a level of skill that even the most adept pilot squadrons would have been unable to pull off. 

Now the displays included a whale of all things.

Now they were forming what looked like a rifle, the sudden cry of joy from Ark Royal alerting them all as to just what type of rifle it was. 

Now they were going down the list of the factions flags.

Iris Libre and Vichiya Dominion were done at almost the same time, the sight prompting a cheer to rise from the two fleets, Jean Bart, situated firmly on Massachusetts lap, gasped at the symbols with tears of joy beginning to shine in her eyes, a sight which prompted her lover to smile and hold her close. The forms of Alabama and South Dakota cuddled closer on either side of Massachusetts as they looked at Jean Bart with smiles on their faces as well, enjoying the sight of their sister's lover with joy in her eyes. 

Richelieu smiling softly as she watched the display from a bench in the plaza, Jean d’arc leaning against her with an equally soft smile as they raised their wine glasses in a toast before sharing a kiss under the radiant image of their banner.  

Even the normally dozing Champagne had her eyes wide open as she sat on Saint Louis lap, a serene joy sparkling in them as she saw their symbol gleam amidst the stars above them. Gascogne who was tucked against Saint Louis’ side sported an uncharacteristically joyful expression, a soft smile gracing her lips as she took a sip of her wine, tears building in the corner of her yellow eyes.

Béarn sat beside Emile Bertin and Surcouf, Algerie and Foch nearby as well as they watched over the destroyers of their factions, they were more than a little impressed with how calm their charges had been throughout the night, even if they had somehow managed to get their hands on several glasses of wine it was something they were more than happy to forgive, not only because of how special the occasion was but also because somehow it was actually making them act calmer, none of the three of them had any idea why but they weren’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

Dunkerque was busy carrying freshly made confections to the desert table alongside some of the Royal Maids, and La Galissoniere was busy attempting to grab one of the entire Mouse cake, granted no one who had tasted Dunkerque’s cooking could really blame her for her attempts at doing so. But even her sweet tooth had been stalled by the sight of the symbols appearing in blazing glory in the night sky, a triumphant cheer leaving her lips as she raised a fist into the air, several nearby Kansen joining her, their guests doing the same.

The symbol of Dragon Empery prompted cheers as Ning Hai and Ping Hai danced about with delight, their fellows quick to join them. Although many of them were quick to keep their distance once Ping Hai began to spring Ning Hai around, the purplette’s sandals almost flying off her feet, however the wide smile she wore on her face showed her lack of anger at action.

Yat Sen smiled from where she sat under a pair of cherry blossom trees, several of the pink petals having landed on her dress, although she paid them no mind, in the central plaza, a glass of sake raised in salute to the fireworks as she smiled. She looked at the destroyers that sat in front of her, An Shan, Chang Chun, Fu Shun and Tai Yuan, all clad in celebratory dresses of their own. Her smile widening at the awestruck look on their faces as they embraced one another, tears of happiness in their eyes. She smiled further when she saw Ying Swei walking towards them with several trays of food in her arms, the smell making her destroyer charges turn towards the cruiser as their stomachs rumbled. 

She only hoped they didn’t charge her and know the food over…again.

The symbol of the Royal Navy, and now Vestal was certain those two were just showing off…or trying to earn some serious brownie points and if that was the case they were setting the bar pretty damn high for everyone else. 

As the crowned lion made of gold and crimson fireworks formed in the sky Queen Elizabeth raised her glass to a toast with Warspite, the two sharing a smile as they watched the display alongside Richelieu and Joan of Arc. 

Illustrious smiling softly at the fading colors as she was pulled into a one armed embrace by Littorio, Unicorn sitting between the two of them watching with awe at the colorful display, her friends sitting in front of them on the grassy hill likewise awed at the display. 

Hood parted from Bismarck for a moment, a thin strand of saliva connecting their lips as the two briefly turned to look at the firework, before they turned back to each other, Hood pulling Bismarck as close to her as possible, with Bismarck lifting the woman into her arms and pinning her against the wall behind her. A moment into their intense makeout session she heard a pleased moan come from her right, she couldn;t stop herself from smiling as she saw Hood take the hand of Prinz Eugen who was likewise pinned to the wall by Prince of Wales. 

The two women shared a smile before they returned to focusing on their lovers, Bismarck silently vowing that she was going to get the ones watching over the destroyers and younger U-boats the biggest launch day presents she could. 

At the same time Victorious was enjoying laying her head on Tirpitz shoulder, the Iron Blood Battleship having draped her fur lined coat over their laps as they cuddled closer together to watch the fireworks. She silently promised that she was going to find a way to extract the image of the gentle smile that Tirpitz wore as she looked at the fireworks in the sky, it may not be the symbol of IronBlood, but the sight of the fireworks themselves and what they symbolized made her smile wider as she turned and placed a gentle kiss to Victorious’s lips. 

Yeah Victorious was getting those two show offs the best gift she could get her hands on.

Monarch smiled slightly at the display as she was pulled closer to King George, the ruby-eyed woman having pulled her onto her lap with a claim of  ‘A Monarch deserves a fitting throne no?’ something that had made her blush more than a little bit, despite the smile she wore as she nuzzled closer to her fellow, savoring the sensation of warmth and comfort that came from the embrace.

Hunter smiled as she pulled her husky closer with one arm and Eskimo closer with another, the two raising their mugs of hot chocolate to the sky with a cry of cheers from Eskimo that was echoed by the destroyers and younger kansen that sat around them in the amphitheater in the plaza where many of the destroyers and younger Kansen from all of the factions had gathered under the watch of the older members of their factions, the kind eyes of Rodney and the stern gaze of Nelson were mixed with the watchful eyes of London and Exeter, who was situated firmly atop Ajax’s lap. Renown and Repulse were keeping an eye on the refreshments, and surprisingly to many, Ark Royal had proven herself to be trustworthy for helping with keeping order on this night as well, although that might have been due to whatever Friedrich had spoken to her about before the celebrations had begun. Or maybe it was the presence of the guest who sat beside Rodney who was to blame for the surprisingly calm attitude of the well known lolicon. 

Many of their watchers were also thankful that Hardy was able to keep many of her fellow destroyers, and a certain monitor, from causing too much chaos as they indulged in confections made by the best chefs of Azur lane. The sight of Fiji carrying a new tray of sweets and more savory foods over to the center table, Jamaica helping her by somehow managing to carry a tray on her head as well as one in either hand despite the chains she still wore over her left arm even in her dress and York was…okay…maybe there was more to her ‘Force’ then everyone thought.

That or they were all either drunk as hell or high as fuck because a gaping Arethusa and Galatea would later claim that they had seen her somehow levitating more than a dozen trays much to the thunderous cheers of her fellows. Faintly Rodney swore she heard the guest standing beside her mumble a confused ‘How in the fuck?’ under her breath, she smiled as she turned and put her hand on the woman’s shoulder.

“I take it yours never…” She trailed off as the woman shot her a look that told her the answer even before it left her lips.

“If she did then I think we would have known about it, couldn't keep a secret to save her life that one.” The woman said with a sad chuckle near the end before she was pulled into a hug by Rodney much to her surprise if the stiffening of her spine was anything to go by. However, she was quick to relax into the embrace and rest her head atop the smaller woman’s own as she returned the embrace with a quiet ‘Thank you’.

Rodney smiled as she pulled back, “No Problem Ark. Let me know if you need another one.” She said with a wink at the end prompting a laugh from Ark Royal.

The woman then turned and looked at Ark Royal who was currently attempting to get a wine glass away from Amazon, and was somehow failing miserably at it, even with Penelope and Icarus helping her.

Rodney felt Ark Royal sigh.

The woman stood up, softly slipping Rodney’s arm off of her shoulders as she began to walk towards Ark Royal, the eye not covered by her bangs glowing a light blue.

Rodney couldn’t stop herself from chuckling as she saw Glowworm take one look at the advancing Kansen and all but dive out of the way as the woman simply reached over Amazon’s shoulder and plucked the glass from her hands before replacing it with a plastic cup full of punch that she had grabbed from the nearby table.

The smug grin Ark Royal wore as she looked at Ark Royal was something that made Ajax and Nelson snort with laughter, Exeter chuckling as well as Rodney when Ark Royal’s eye began to twitch as she glared at the glowing eyed mirror of herself.

“Your welcome,” Ark Royal META said with a smirk as she stood and began to walk back towards Rodney.

Her counterpart could be seen mumbling what was more than likely a very long string of profanities under her breath as she began to walk over to where the normally drowsy Acasta had taken a place on Shinanano’s lap, the two Nap Club members seemingly wide awake for once, although that might be owed to a suspicious black can with a green oh dear god-

Nelson all but leapt to her feet alongside Rodney the moment she noticed the trembling arm of Acasta and the slight twitch of Shinano’s eyes. The two felt grateful that Centaur and Ryuuho weren’t that far away in case things went really bad.

Somehow they knew Abercrombie was to blame for this.

The Sakura Empires symbol was next, and the cheer of Zuikaku made Vestal giggle, the crane pointing at the display with stars in her eyes as Shoukaku giggled at her sister's childlike display as she pulled her down before she tripped into the ocean. 

As she swayed with her sisters wrapped in her arms Amagi smiled, her smile widening as she heard the sound of dress shoes tapping on the flagstones behind her, Akagi’s ears poking up was something that made her stifle a giggle and the look in Kaga’s eyes told her that she wasn’t alone in doing so. 

Once she heard the footsteps stop she smiled as she felt a soft hand rest on her shoulder, a voice like a spring breeze, soft and gentle a surprising combination given the profession of just whom it belonged to, drifting into her ears. 

“Pardon me ladies, but do you have room for another dance partner?” 

Amagi didn’t have time to respond before Akagi all but leapt at the speaker, something which prompted a chuckle from them, as the speaker quickly caught the kitsune and spun her about prompting a joyous squeal as nine crimson tails wrapped gently around the person who held her in their arms. 

Amagi could faintly hear a certain pair of carriers from her faction and an Iron Blood Battleship mumble something along the lines of ‘Lucky Bitch’, much to her, and if the snorts and chuckles she heard was any indication, many others amusement. 

As she watched the two figures begin to sway to a slow waltz, Akagi happily pressing her forehead to her partner's own even as her partner twirled her around with deft ease, slowly swaying to rope Taihou and Junyou into a rather touching fourway waltz, and then somehow making room for Roon as well in the most bizarre yet touching five way waltz that Amagi had seen in some time.  Amagi turned her gaze towards the sky once more, savoring the lack of pain in her lungs as she breathed in the cool air of this most joyous of nights. Kaga leaned her head against her shoulder with a smile on her face, their tails entwining together as they watched the display.

At the same time Ryuuhou was busy attempting to see if Centaur still had her tonsils with her tongue, only to have her important exam ruined by the machinegun fast steps of an out of breath Terror, Erebus right by her side as usual, she was more than ready to growl out how this better be good damn it before she saw the unease in their eyes.

With a sigh of discontent she straightened out her back and helped Centaur down from the ledge she had been perched on, smirking all the while at how disheveled the other woman looked.

“All right, what-”

Before she finished her sentence Erebus gasped out.

“Shinano…Acasta…Energy Drink!” 

And like that Ryuuhou and Centaur were gone. 

Atago smiled as she rested her head on Takao’s shoulder, with Maya resting her head on her chest as she sat at her feet, and Choukai resting her head on Takao’s lap as they watched the fireworks from the comfort of a park bench.

Atago smiled as she and Takao raised their sake glasses, an action their sisters mimicked until they met in a toast. All four had wet eyes, joy and hope shining even as tears of happiness trailed down their cheeks as they smiled at the prospect of what the future might hold. The sound of approaching footsteps caused them to look at the figure slowly winding their way down the path towards them.

A gasp left Atago’s lips as she felt Maya sit up, allowing her to stand and meet the approaching form. 

The figure had barely had time to open their mouth to speak before Atago all but threw herself at them, almost knocking them off of their feet until the figure regained their balance and gently pulled her closer, letting her rest her head on her chest, listening to the steady beating of the figure's heart. 

Atago didn’t say a word as she stood up and pulled the figure to where her, no, their sisters were waiting with tear filled eyes. 

Atago pulled her companion to where they were posed to take the place she had previously occupied, and gently pushed them down to sit down, Atago then took the place beside them with Maya laying her head on the figure’s lap much to their surprise. Takao, smiled softly as she gently laid her arm around the figure’s shoulder an action which prompted a startled look from them, their amber eyes confused for a moment before they softened as Atago began to gently stroke their back, cooing calming words into a pair of canine ears. 

Choukai sat up and moved to where she could join Maya in resting her head on the figure’s lap.

Tears began to trail from amber eyes as Takao began to stroke their scalp in the way she knew they would find calming, after all she always found it calming when it was done to her by those loved. 

Ember opened her mouth to speak only for Choukai to shush her as she and Maya shifted to where they could lay their heads on her chest instead of her lap, soft smiles on their faces as they embraced their sister. 

She may be of another timeline, of some forgotten and lost iteration of their reality or some variant of it, but that meant nothing to them. She was still a Takao Class. She was still their sister, and that was all that mattered to them. 

“Shush Ember-Nee, we can talk later…for now…let’s just be together.” Choukai softly spoke.

Atago hummed her agreement as she nuzzled the META’s neck, her lips gently ghosting over the woman’s pulse point prompting a sharp gasp from the META. 

Ember closed her eyes for a moment, relaxing into the embrace of her…sisters…huh…she never thought a day would come when she would call someone else that and yet…

She smiled as she leaned her head against Atago’s own.

“Alright…Nee-Chan.” Ember said as she felt something within her click into place once more, a feeling she had lost so long ago returned to her in full. 

She was finally home.

As the firework depiction of their banner bean to fade Hiryuu and Souryuu, both the METAs and the Kansen native to this particular timeline, sat side by side with saucers of sake sitting beside them, Hiryuu handing her META self a plate with dango skewers on them with her alter taking one and handing it to their other META sister before grabbing one for herself. 

The four siblings smiled as they watched the fireworks display resume, although Hiryuu METa did shake her head with an amused huff leaving her lips.

“Honestly, no matter what timeline those two will always be show offs won;t they?” She asked the rhetorical question which brought a round of laughter from her siblings, Souryuu chuckling as she replied-

“You know the worst part? I don’t even think they’re trying to show off.”

Both METAs and Hiryuu chuckled with META Souryuu chuckling as she agreed with her twin.

“True, if they wanted to show off we would probably be seeing them make scale to scale replicas of battles for all we know!” Here the META laughed with her siblings joining her a moment later after the image etched itself into their minds, pour Hiryuu almost knocking over her sake as she frantically tried to get air into her lungs as she imagined what Zuikaku’s face would be like if saw the two showboats do such a thing.

Although all that served to do was send her into another fit of laughter that had her collapsing across the METAs laps, the two women shared a glance with Souryuu before all three rolled their eyes at their siblings' antics. 

The sound of a drunken cheer caused them to look over to see Ise and Hyuuga, who had somehow managed to rope Suruga, Kii, Kumano, Kongou, Hiei, and unless their eyes were deceiving them Mikasa, of all people, into a drinking competition.

Nearby they could see Noshiro, Hiei, and Kinu on standby in case things ended like the last drinking competition that had taken place in the port.

The fact that Iron Blood and Northern Parliament were the last two standing was no surprise to anyone.

The fact that the Commander had agreed to take part in said competition and was likewise one of the last ones left standing was one hell of a surprise to the Kansen, who didn’t think a human could consume even half the alcohol that the Commander had. 

The fact that they managed to tie with Sovetskaya Rossiya and Prinz Eugen was one hell of a shock to everyone.

Another surprise came when several very drunk, and very crazy Kansen decided to get into an argument over who won.

With their riggings doing most of the talking.

To this day they had not found all of the stray shells and torpedoes from that drunken brawl, despite their best efforts. The Commander had been of little help during the debacle, partly because they were also very drunk, and partly because they turned out to be a very flirty drunk. The faces of Akagi, Roon, Taihou, Junyou, Atago and many others would never cease to bring laughter out of those who jhad pictures of them or remembered said faces from being there at the time. 

“Should we try and stop them?” Souryuu asked.

“Nah. If anything,” Here Hiryuu META stood up and stretched out her hands to both her still chuckling alternate and her sister to help them to their feet before doing the same for Souryuu herself as well. 

“I say we join em.” The rabbit eared Kansen said with a smile on her face, her words prompting a cheer from Hiryuu as she began to drag Souryuu along with her towards the long tables where the competition was being held. 

“Come on Nee-Chans!” She shouted, “Let’s celebrate!”

Souryuu looked at her alternate self as they watched their sisters head to the tables.

“This is going to end badly isn’t it?” She asked.

Her alternate self merely sighed as she threw her arm around her shoulders and met her gaze.

“More than likely…but at least it will be fun.” She said with a smile on her face, a similar one forming on Souryuu’s own face as the two turned to head after their sisters before they began to cause too much trouble.

Akashi was having the time of her life. As fast as she could pull sakes and beers from the freezers they were flying off of her selves, the same was going for snacks and even celebratory items! In just the last couple of hours she had made more than she would over the course of a normal week! The greedy cat couldn’t stop herself from smiling if she wanted to, a smile that was shared by her partner Shiranui.

The two rose the glasses of sake they had set aside for themselves in a toast.

“To the start of a new age, nya!” Akashi said. 

“May it be a prosperous one.” Shiranui finished with a smile.

The sound of footsteps caused them to look up, Akashi walking to the register of their stall to greet their customer.

“Can I have a couple bottles of Sake, whichever brand has the most alcohol in it.” 

Akashi blinked as she looked at her customers.

“I didn’t know you lot could get drunk nya.” She said, prompting an amused huff to leave her customers' lips.

“We can’t really, but those lot don’t know that.” The customer gestured to the drinking competition taking place nearby. Amusement glinted in the eyes of both merchants and their customers' eyes as Akashi began to rub her hands together as an idea entered her mind.

“I’ll do you one better. I’ll give you a discount if you agree to fake it to the last round.” The greed in her eyes told her customer all they needed to know.

Her customers eyes gleamed with mirth as a smile that would have sent many running for cover spread across their face. A smile that only widened as they heard the voice of Hakuryuu yell out from the contest area.

“OI! I thought you were getting drinks, not flirting!” 

The two shared a look as Shiranui brought out a box she had filled with sake and beer bottles. All high proof. 

Akashi’s eyes widened as her customer sat a small rectangular box on the counter and then ghosted her finger over the center prompting it to glow a light blue for a moment before it faded amidst wisps of energy leaving in its place-

The two merchant’s eyes were as wide as saucers at the gems and coins that overflowed from the counter and onto the floor at their feet.

“That enough?” The smirk on their customer’s face made the two of them aware that it wasn’t really a question.

Akashi reached out her hand and took her customers, Shiranui doing the same to their other hand. 

“I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship,” Akashi said.

“We’ll keep the booze coming as long as we have it in stock. You win and we’ll give you one thing from both of our stores for free, deal?” Shiranui said. While normally Akashi would loudly protest such a decision she couldn’t help but agree, they were going to make way more then they would possibly lose if this kept up. 

Hell they could probably expand their stores ten times over with just how much they had just been given!

Their customers smile widened as they look them both in the eyes with a gleam in their eyes.

“And if I want you two?” They said teasingly, causing the two merchants to blush as they looked at each other for a moment.  In the two merchant’s minds. Plans to quickly set up a betting pool as to who would win, and with the knowledge they now had…the killing they could make…that and the fact their customer was pretty hot…They shared a nod as they leaned and kissed their customers cheeks prompting a dumbfounded look of shock to grace their customers face.

“You win,” Shiranui began with greed that was normally kept in check, burning like molten rubies, mixing with a small amount of lust.

“We’ll rock your world, nya.” Akashi finished. Greed swirling in her yellow orbs like molten gold, a reflection of her customers of vibrant yellow eyes.

Their customer had a look of shock on their face for a moment before they smiled so wide that it must have hurt as they shook the two merchants hands enthusiastically before they seized the crate of booze and took off for the competition.

No way in hell were they losing now!

Azuma smiled as she watched the Mutsuki class handing candy out to their fellow destroyers and the younger Kansen, her smile widening at the sight of Chiyoda and Chitose helping some of the smaller Kansen make plates from the buffet table and the sight of the Muse Kansen taking the stage to being their concert didn;t hurt either. 

This is what life was supposed to be. Good food. Good drinks. And good friends. 

Ibuki handed her a glass of sake, a non alcoholic blend, but perhaps the most delicious brand she had tasted in quite a while and besides she needed to stay sober to watch over her charges, she could get drunk with her fellow watchers later. 

And then she heard the first few lyrics of what had become one of the most beloved songs around the port as Taihou and Roon took to the stage with Akagi beginning to play her guitar. 

She heard the voice of Murmansk yell out-

“TO THE COMRADE COMMANDER!” 

A cheer swept through the amphitheater, and if the sound from the base was any indication across the entire base as the cheer must have traveled through the intercoms that had been set up so the base could hear the concert.

She could also swear she heard an embarrassed squeal which prompted a smile to spread across her lips. 

She raised her glass and repeated the cheer. 

Yes, this is what life should have been like from the start. But it was alright now. 

The banner of Northern Parliament done in silvers and snowy white with sapphire blues also mixed into it lit up the sky prompting a round of cheers from the girls of the frozen northern seas. 

Avrora raised her bottle of vodka into the air, with a wide smile on her face as she cheered alongside her comrades. It should come as little surprise that they were not only taking part in the drinking competition, but were also some of the primary instigators of the entire affair, granted their destroyers were not present as they had decided to go cheer Tashkent on when it was her band's turn to perform, which if the fading notes of Verheeder’s song was anything to go by should be about now.

Gangut smirked at the flushed face of Prinz Heinrich as she downed another gulp of her own vodka. 

“Feeling ready to call it quits comrade Heinrich?” She asked as she saw the woman sway a bit for a few moments before she steadied herself, a glint of determination entering her eyes as she met the Northern Parliament Battleship’s smirk with one of her own as she down her mug of beer.

“Not eve-*hic* even close.” The cruiser slurred slightly as she looked at the battleship’s own slightly flushed face and the way she swayed slightly in her seat. 

“ ‘Sides…you loooook like you’re go*hic* goin*hic* gonna drop out soon.” She said, slightly slurring some of her words even as she smiled at her opponent. 

Gangut smirked as she reached for another bottle of vodka, smirking as she saw that it was a higher proof than the last one. 

“May…maybe comrade…” She said as she took her time to speak so as to avoid slurring her words too much as she met Prinz Heinrich’s gaze as she popped open the bottle, smirking again as she added-

“But I know…I know I’ll outlast…you.” She finished as she downed the began to down the bottle. 

Prinz Heinrich accepted the challenge by raising not one, but two steins of beer to her mouth and beginning to down them at the same time.

Cheers rose from the spectators and fellow competitors at the scene.

Chapayev smiled as she pulled Tallinn closer to her, unable to stop herself from licking her lips at the sight of the flush that adorned her comrades face at the feeling of her arm being pressed between the cruiser’s breasts.

Tallinn responded to the attention by lifing her bottle to her lips and taking a slow sip, deliberately letting a few drops leak from between the bottle and her lips so that they landed on her breasts, an action which caused Chapayev’s eyes to darken as she felt her lust begin to rise.

She smirked as she finished her own bottle before she lunged.

Tallinn fell back with a squeal and her bottle spilled what little drink it had left in it on the ground as Chapayev began to lap at the drops of vodka that had fallen on her breasts, an action which prompted cheers and applause from those around them.

Sovetskaya Belorussia couldn’t stop herself from chuckling as she stood up and began to drag her comrades from the table. 

“Alright you two, go find a room if you want to play like that.” She said as she began to help them to their feet, smirking as she saw the gleam of lust in both of their eyes as they began to hurry off, not bothering to fix or adjust their clothing as they did so.

“They should have stayed! We could have dinner and a show!” She heard her sister say with a laugh, something which many of her fellows joined in with, prompting her to roll her eyes with a smile. 

“Maybe next time sister,” She said as she took her seat at the table, smirking as she lifted the mug filled with what could best be described as an unholy fusion of vodka and rum to her lips and after downing the drink in a few gulps much to the cheers of her fellows. 

“But the last thing we need is for one of the young ones not at the theater to come across it. Friedrich would skin us all alive if that happened.” She said with a shudder at the thought of the Dark Matriarch of Iron Blood’s  potential wrath. Drunk she may somewhat be, but she is nowhere near drunk enough to even consider risking the wrath of the enraged battleship.

The gulps and fearful glances of her fellows told her that the sentiments were shared. Although, thankfully the fear vanished quickly as those present saw one of their newfound comrades came to table, effortlessly holding two enormous trays of food from all of the varying factions. 

“Someone order take out!” They heard them call as they sat down the platters to the cheers and rejoicing of their comrades. 

As everyone began to grab something to snack on they noticed that there were some exotic items amidst the buffet that had been laid on the tables, prompting whistles from many as they grabbed samples of the food.

The Scharnhorst siblings sat together the META versions sitting across from this timelines versions of them as the four split steins of beer and bratwurst as well as  several other German dishes, at least until Gneissenau reached over and grabbed a coconut…where their comrades got a coconut no one really knew.

Gneissenau broke the coconut open and then gained a glint in her eyes as she began to pour some of her beer into the coconut half, and then down it.

What followed next could best be described as an unspoken addition to the drinking being added to the contest. Using ingredients to make their drinks more interesting. 

Needless to say things went crazy from the get go with Hornet, who had been roped into the contest when Graf Zeppelin had dragged her and Northampton over to the table to get a drink earlier, deciding to cut the top off of a pineapple and hollow it out and pour a mixture of vodka, rum, and what looked like whiskey into it.

   She then began to add various other fruits and liquors to it, even grabbing a nearby sake bottle and adding what was left in it to the mixture.

A mixture that had begun to bubble.

Everyone paused in their own drinking and eating to watch the unholy concoction, which was now beginning to foam as Hornet reached over and grabbed a bottle of oh sweet mother of-

The moment Northampton saw the bottle in Hornet’s hands she all but leapt at the carrier trying to wrest it from her hand with Graf Zeppelin joining in a moment later, after her brain processed the sight of a bottle labeled Everclear being at the table.

However, Northampton was much too slow in grabbing the bottle as Hornet had already poured a healthy dose of the potent liquor into the pineapple.

The mixture stopped bubbling.

Everyone began to lean back.

The foaming and fizzing ceased.

Everyone began to prepare to bolt.

…

…

…

It didn’t explode.

Everyone felt the breaths they had been holding leave them as they all but collapsed like puppets with their strings cut in relief.

And then Hornet took a sip of the drink.

She stiffened, her spine going ramrod straight as she froze.

Graf Zepplin reached her hand over to her shoulder and-

“Well I think I just fucked up.” Hornet said as she stood up and took off her hat before handing it to Northampton, and then she took off her coat and handed it to Graf Zepplin, before she turned to face her fellows and snapped off a salute before-

*THUD*

Falling over in a dead faint.

Northampton looked at Graf Zeppelin.

Graf Zeppelin looked at Northampton.

Hornet had foam coming from her mouth and swirls in her eyes.

The two women heaved sighs before they put on the articles they had been given by Hornet and then proceeded to lift the woman up and head off in search of Vestal or Akashi.

‘Ah the things we must do for love.’ Was the thought that echoed through the heads of several at the table.

Everyone looked at the pineapple that sat there innocently.

Mikasa stood up, a slight stumble due to her own inebriation.

“Can we all agree that anyone who can drink that and not pass out wins?” She called out to the gathered Kansen and their guests who were all looking nervously between the pineapple and the direction where Hornet, Northampton, and Graf Zeppelin had headed.

A minute later everyone raised their voice in agreement.

One of their new comrades stood and made her way over to the pineapple, actual unease gleaming in bright yellow eyes. 

With a gulp she grabbed the pineapple, the thorns doing nothing to her skin as she held it to her mouth.

“If I die…tell my fellows I always hated them.” Her words brought laughter from those present including said fellows who happily began to cheer her on as she lifted the pineapple to her lips and-

Began to gulp it down.

Everyone watched with the morbid curiosity of those who were seeing a train or car crash happen in slow motion in front of them. 

After a full minute of solid drinking, the woman had emptied the pineapple.

She actually was swaying a little bit and seemed to be forcing herself to remain standing as she grabbed onto the table in front of her to steady herself. 

Several moments later her swaying stopped, her bright yellow eyes dimming and the brightening again and again for several moments before the woman threw up her arms in a V shape with a cry of-

“I WIN!” 

Cheers exploded from the crowd as the woman staggered towards one of her fellows before slumping down against them.

“Did that thing actually force you to-” Their comrade began as they put an arm around her shoulder to steady her.

“Yes, I actually had to leave it a couple of times to stop from actually getting drunk. I don’t know how Hornet made it, but I am having that… thing registered as a bio-weapon as soon as I can.” The woman said and then began to laugh as an idea came to her.

“What is it?” Her friend asked and several of those around her looked at her as she broke out in cackles for several moments before she regained herself.

“I just realized that I am probably going to have to get this body purified .” She said unable to stop her laughter as her fellows seemed to consider what she said for a moment before-

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Laughter erupted from all around the table as the woman fell back cackling at her pun amidst the storm of her comrades' laughter, a feeling of warmth that had nothing to do with the liquor radiating in her chest as she thought of the days to come and the promises they held.

They had done it. 

They had finally fucking done it.

And now they could finally claim their due reward. Their Happy Ending.

And it was all thanks to the commander. They couldn’t stop themselves from smiling.

The symbol of the Sardegna Empire came next done in flashes of emerald and crimson, splashes of silver mixed in.

Vittorio Veneto raised her wine glass with a smile on her lips, Aquila resting her head on her shoulder as she raised her own glass to tap it against her friends with a smile on her face as the two shared a drink.

Carabiniere sighed in bliss as she downed another helping of her Harlot’s Pasta and took a sip of her wine, smiling at the taste as she leaned back in her chair to relax a bit more. Her smile widened upon spotting Formidable striding to her table, another bottle of wine in one hand and a music player in the other.

“Figured I would get us another bottle before we ran out.” Formidable said as she sat the bottle of wine in the ice bucket on the center of their table. The two having decided to enjoy a more relaxed evening at the Sardegna Dorms as opposed to being in the middle of the concert grounds, where Carabiniere could swear she heard some commotion faintly under the song playing over the intercoms, or…whatever was going on at the pier and plaza, the two having had more than their fill of dancing earlier. 

“Grazi, mia signora.” Carabiniere said as she began to look for the bottle opener, she knew she had set it down on the table somewhere.

As she found the opener and looked back to her plate, she noticed that it was missing.

“Mmm,” The sound made her look up to see Formidable eating her pasta.

“Hey! Get your own.” Carabiniere said as she reached over to try and grab the plate back, only for Formidable to hold it over her head with a giggle, smiling softly as the pasta haired destroyer stood up and tried to reach over the taller carrier to get her meal back something which only made Formidable have to hold in her chuckles as she stood up to keep the plate from Carabiniere’s hands.

“I have a much better idea,” Formidable said as she sat the plate down in front of her before sitting down and pulling the destroyer onto her lap with a smile.

Carabiniere blinked for a moment before she chuckled as she adjusted herself to where her head was resting on Formidable’s chest, barely resisting the urge to nuzzle her head into the heavenly softness pressed against the back of her head.

Smirking Formidable sat down her music player and selected a song before bringing up a fork of the pasta for Carabiniere to eat before she reached over and grabbed their wine glasses and filled them again. Holding hers so that Carabiniere could tap her own against it in a toast as they relaxed to enjoy their meal. 

Duca degli Abruzzi savored the taste of her wine as she watched Maestrale and Libeccio indulging themselves in some zeppoles, Maestrale taking the time to cut hers into small pieces with a knife and dip it into the raspberry sauce with a fork, while Libeccio enjoyed dipping them into the chocolate sauce with her fingers. 

She smiled at the sight of the two enjoying themselves, she was tempted to walk over to Maestrale and tell her that it was alright to mirror what her sister was doing only for a very enthusiastic Nicoloso da Recco to beat her to the punch as she overheard the young destroyer trying to get her friend to lighten up.

While normally she would have preferred her fellows observe proper decorum, even she was willing to wave such a thing given the circumstances of this celebration, although she herself was still behaving as properly as she could. 

She felt someone move to standy by her side and turned her head enough to see Giulio Cesare standing beside her, a rare soft smile on the woman’s face. Her hair let down from its normal short ponytail and allowed to flow freely, framing her face. 

Duca smiled softly as she raised her glass for her fellow to meet with her own in a toast, her fellow turning to her with a smile on her own face as she met her glass with her own. The two heard faint giggling prompting them to turn and see Pola and Zara pressed up against each other, their faces flushed as the two shared a soft kiss before they head off to find a more private corner to continue their own private celebration. 

 They couldn’t help but roll their eyes at the antics of the two. They then turned at the sound of footsteps to see Conte di Cavour walking towards them with a glass of wine of her own in her hand as she moved to stand beside her sister, smiling softly as she leaned her head against her sister's side, raising her glass for her sister to meet in another toast.

Trento smiled as she sat alongside Vincenzo Gioberti at the plaza, the two having decided to get some fresh air and enjoy more of the night's festivities before heading over to the ampitheatre to catch a couple songs. Although she was more than a little surprised to have seen Torricelli, Long Island, and U-47 together in the park, but she felt she really shouldn’t have been as the three were somewhat kindred spirits in their preference for being alone.

Her smile widened as she saw Marco Polo mingling with her fellows, her typical uniform swapped out for a flowing black dress with red and silver highlights, her hair blowing in the breeze as she took turns dancing with some of the destroyers who had decided to take a breather from the concert. At least she was doing so until Duke of York decided that she was curious as to if the Sardegnan could keep up with her and had roped her into a dance somewhere in the plaza, Trento having lost sight of them a little while ago.

Trento smiled as her young friend happily began to eat the cotton candy she had grabbed from a nearby stall, the two happily enjoying each other's company and the company of their friends as the festivities continued around them.

The Banner of Iron Blood Illuminated the sky, crimson and silver gleaming amidst the dark sky, the dark night sky serving to fill the spaces should be black, the symbol bringing a new round of cheers from both the drinking contest as well as those scattered around the base.

Odin smiled as she sat beside the U-Boats, having been assigned as their watcher for the evening she was actually enjoying the job more than she thought she would. Perhaps owing to the rather uncharacteristic calm that the young destroyers and submarines were displaying.

Well…some of them were displaying at least. 

The sounds of U-37 and U-96 laughing uproariously as they watched the drinking match taking place on the pier through a pair of binoculars was a minor thing she supposed compared to the usual antics some of her fellows got up to she supposed. 

And she was grateful that she had Washington and Kirishima nearby in case things started to get out of control…that is assuming the two could keep it in their pants long enough to help her if she needed it.

Once more she was grateful for the angels that were Nurnberg and Leipzig as the two had been a great help in wrangling the more eccentric members of Iron Bloods youth, alongside of Z2 and the Konigsberg class who had been assigned to assist her as well. 

As the laughter died down she smiled and took another slice of cake from her plate. ‘Yes’ she thought, ‘This peace is a nice thing indeed.’

The sound of a slight commotion caused Odin to open her eyes to see the rather amusing sight of Zeppy being all but dragged down to the concert by the smaller version of Akagi, the young kitsune eager to see one of her sisters performances and the… whatever else the commotion going on at the theater was.

With a glance Odin gestured for one of her fellow watchers to go with them, Reno accepting the silent command with a nod of her own as she walked off to catch up with the two little ones. 

Prinz Adalbert was having the time of her life as she and Magdeburg were taking place in an impromptu race, even she wasn’t really sure just who had suggested it but she suspected it was Prinz Heinrich, at least if the exasperation on Peter Strasser’s face and Weser’s face was anything to go by at least.

Prinz Adalbert couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she heard a squawk as Benson accidentally crashed into Marblehead and Richmond, Kumano, having seeing the incoming destroyer and dodged out of the way, was attempting to pick her friends up so that they didn’t get trampled by the incoming Nachi and Pensacola. 

She couldn’t stop herself from laughing as she saw Ulrich von Hutten push Honolulu and St. Louis out of the way of the incoming charge, the indigent squawk and accompanying yell from Honolulu making her wish she could turn around and see her face, but there was no way she was losing this race!

Koln should have expected this, she really should have given their track record of the amount of times things went mad around the basem at least this time she had some more company to help her deal with this new breed of lunacy.

“HOW THE HELL DID THEY STEAL MY BRA!?!?” The scream of Ark Royal made her stagger for a moment, she could hear Karlsruhe trip over her feet as she broke down cackling, Koningsberg joining her a moment later as most of the gathered destroyers and younger Kansen likewise broke out in giggles or laughter. 

Even on the stage Polaris had to take a brief break in their song as they tried to compose themselves at the sight of Ark Royal, rifle in one hand and saber in the other, tearing through the theater after what could only be described as a light blue and pink blur as Nicholas moved at speeds that Hussein Bolt would call too fast, the can of energy drink in her hands giving a clue as to the source of the sudden energy burst.

 Of course Nicholas wasn’t alone, somehow Shinano of all people was actually moving faster than her, Acasta sitting on her shoulders with two cans of the damnable drink that was responsible for this whole mess.

Koln vowed that she was going to have Albacore and Abercrombie running laps around the base for this. She should have known the two were in on it together!

Distantly she swore she heard a very familiar theme start to play as Polaris once more took a break as they lost the battle with their laughter.

The moment she turned her head to see the damn monitor holding the music player she changed targets and began to bolt after her instead. With a startled shriek Abercrombie began to dash, bobbing and weaving around her now howling fellows as Polaris once more began to play their song, the smiles on their faces telling her they were enjoying this. 

“What in the-” A white haired woman asked from the entrance, she had left to get something to snack on during the show and came back to the Benny Hill theme playing as what could only be described as a scene out of a comedy played out even as the idols continued their performance.

She blinked her blue eyes for a moment before she turned and looked at her fellows, one with a mane of white hair let flow freely and the other with their own hair done up into a small sidetail to keep it from getting in their eyes as they likewise wore dumbfounded expressions on their faces for a moment before they heard a light chuckle come from the last member of their group. Her own hair brushing the ground as she moved to take a seat and begin to toss popcorn into her mouth as she enjoyed the show in front of her, looking over her shoulder as she did so,

“Come on, we get to see a comedy and a musical today.” Her words prompting a round of laughter from her fellows as they took their places around her, the blue eyed woman herself almost doubling over cackling as she saw the fox tailed blur suddenly toss a black and blue haired missile straight at one of their pursuers causing them to let out a startled yelp as they were knocked to the ground by said projectile before it stood up and bolted in their direction.

Acting on instinct the blue eyed woman lowered her head so the poor girl didn’t gore herself on her horns as she leapt over her and towards the exit amidst cries of ‘STOP HER’ from the watchers of the group.

She smiled as she counted down in her head.

‘3’

‘2’

And..

‘1’

The black and blue haired blur was stopped as the last two members of their group arrived, one of them reaching out and seizing her in one of her limbs before lifting her up and over the group and holding her still even as the girl squirmed and fidgeted trying to slip free from what the group knew was an iron grip.

“Now, now. None of that my dear.” their newly arrived group’s leader said as she kept her grip on the girl as she pulled her closer and patted her head. “Why don’t you relax a bit and enjoy the show.” She received no response as the twitching destroyer tried to squirm free again only for the panting form of Ryuhou to seize her by her shoulders from behind.

“Th-Th-Thank y-you,” she struggled to say through trying to catch her breath, having been lead her own merry chase around the perimeter of the amphitheater by a peach haired blur named Echo for almost 20 minutes before she was able to catch the girl with Centaur’s help, said carrier was currently taking the girl back to the Royal Navy Dorms so she could crash someplace where they wouldn;t have to spend hours looking for her.

“It’s no problem. Now why don’t we put this little one to bed.” The white haired woman said as she reached into a small ‘pocket’ and pulled out a white can before holding it up the destroyer, Ryuhou almost jumped at the woman when she saw the familiar M shaped logo before she was stopped by the giggling of the ones around her.

She turned to see one of the women raising a finger to her lips and holding up her hand and beginning to countdown with her fingers.

‘5’ The white haired woman let Acasta go.

‘4’ The destroyer shakily grasped the can with a gleam in her eye.

‘3’ The destroyer opened the can and began to gulp the contents of it down.

‘2’ Acasta finished drinking the can dry.

‘1’ Acasta blinked.

‘0’ Acasta fell backwards only to be caught by Ryuhou, who was gaping at the now sound asleep destroyer in her arms. 

“H-How?!” The carrier asked as she met the mirthful eyes of the woman who was even now tossing the empty can back into the ‘pocket’ she had pulled it from.

“Our own young got their hands on something like that drink a while back…it took us damn near a week to round them all up,” The haunted gaze in her eyes and the eyes of her fellows, was something that all of the older kansen who were present to mind their younger fellow could sympathize with.

“After that mess we decided to make something to act as a counter agent to any stimulant without the need for needles or pills, something that was designed in such a way that they would be drawn to try and drink it for more energy only to find the opposite happening.” The woman smiled at the now gaping Ryuhou.

When she felt a hand on her shoulder she turned to see the face of the woman she had arrived with, the face of the experimental cruiser Yuubari was blank but there was a hunger in her eyes that was typically reserved for when the two were in a more passionate mood.

“Teach me,” she demanded.

The white haired woman blinked.

“Umm okay.” She said in response.

The searing kiss she received as a response brought cheer and hollers from her fellows and the Kansen who saw it.

‘I think I’ve created a monster.’ The woman thought as she froze for a moment before she wrapped all of her limbs around her lover.

‘But I think I can live with it.’ She concluded, with a smile.

Friedrich smiled as she gently swayed across the part of the plaza that had been cleared for dancing, bent over to where she could dance with Nagato without the small battleship's feet leaving the ground.

Her smile was soft and gentle, and yet at the same time undeniably radiant as she thought of her children having fun and celebrating as they deserved to on this of all days. She thought of all of the blood and tears, the pain and grief that it had taken to reach this point, she thought of the sacrifices made, the horror and terror at their monstrous foe, and the struggles that had all culminated in this day of celebration and joy.

She also thought of the one to whom they owed this victory. The one who even now danced with her children, her beautiful children having decided to take turns dancing with them so as to make their beloved’s dance more enjoyable. 

She smiled at the sight of the long white hair that gently flowed to the Commander knees slightly swaying the breeze like a wave of silver light, she knew the stress and shock that had driven the black from the hair and slowly turned it white and was overjoyed that at last the time had come for that stress to fade and for their beloved leader to relax.

She knew that it would take a while for them to truly relax but she also knew that they would be there every step of the way, this is where they belonged after all and they weren’t going anywhere.

Her smile softened at the sight of their leader's pale skin, too much time spent over strategy tables and overseeing logistics had left little time to spend in the sunlight or even outside of their office, and those few days they could, they were typically too tired to do more than relax in their company. She couldn’t count how many times she had picked them up and laid them down in their bed, the poor dear had tried to make do with the smallest bed they could get claiming they were used to it, something which had made their fellows blood boil upon learning of it, and the thing had been too uncomfortable to even serve as a damn prison bed.

She closed her eyes and reigned herself in for a moment so as to not ruin Nagato’s dance. 

She could recall the day their leader had passed out in the middle of a meeting. The sheer terror that had gripped everyone on the base was something that their enemy could never hope to mimick even with their cruelest and bloodiest of offensives. Thankfully their leader had been alright, but after that scare everyone who had the privilege of serving as a Secretary had made it their mission to ensure that they slept, be it in their faction's dorm or in the new bed they had brought in for them. They had thrown the old one at one of the Sirens during a battle, the dumbfounded look on the Oceana’s face as she processed the fact that a bed had been thrown at her was something that would never cease to make them laugh. The fact that they had a picture of it was even better.

She turned her attention back to Nagato as the young battleship began to slow her dance. A tired yawn leaving her lips as she calmly leaned her head against Friedrich’s waist, prompting the dark matriarch to lift her up and gently carry her to a nearby Kawakaze and Houshou who accepted their factions leader with a soft smile and thanks before heading off to tuck her in alongside a now slumbering Mutsu.

Friedrich could faintly hear Nagato trying to keep herself awake and smiled, she vowed to get as many recordings of the night's festivities as she could for the young girls to enjoy. 

She was about to head off to find Gridley, the resident camerawoman of Azur Lane, to see if she had got any videos of the night before she heard a voice speak up from behind her prompting her to turn and meet a pair of mismatched eyes, the left one a dark swirling blue like the depths of the ocean and the right one a bright almost electric blue with hints of yellow, the skin surrounding it slightly paler than the rest of their skin.The face of the speaker had soft features, no more sunken cheeks as they had gained as they neglected their health claiming it was normal for them, something which everyone had disagreed with as they had made it a point of importance to make sure they ate their fill whenever they desired it. 

Their cheek bones were slightly high and their chin was a little pointed, their lips were full and pale pink, and their full cheeks were marred only by a small scar that ran over the bridge of their nose, through their right eye, and then terminated at their forehead just below their hairline.

That had soft and gentle features overall mixed with slight aristocratic ones, something they claimed came from a long dead ancestor of theirs. However there were also signs of premature aging brought about by the amount of stress they had been under for quite a while as their eyes were slightly sunken and there were faint wrinkles at the corners of their eyes and lips.

Their body was likewise soft, with curves in all of the right places for a young woman of barely 28 as their commander was, they had gotten her on a stable and healthy diet as soon as they had noticed her lack of regard for her own health afterall. Their hips were wide and full and their breasts were a respectable C cup, with a slightly toned if somewhat soft tummy beneath them, their shoulders were a bit broad and there were faint muscles on their arms and legs owing to training that they had begun to do to keep from gaining too much weight. 

Their leader had to crane her head back a little bit to meet Friedrich’s gaze as they were only about 5 ft 1 inches in comparison to Friedrich’s own height of 8 ft 2 inches, the action prompting their leader to reach a hand to rub at their neck for a moment before Friedrich knelt to greet her commander eye to eye with a soft smile on her face as she opened her arms.

The young woman across from her gave a smile as she leaned into the offered embrace, throwing her arms around the battleship as she rested her head on her chest.

“My dear are you alright? They didn’t tire you out too much with all of the dancing did they?” Friedrich asked the woman currently nuzzling her chest, chuckling at the muffled response the woman gave. 

“I’m afraid I didn’t catch that. Could you speak up a little bit my dear?” Here Friedrich’s smile widened as with a sigh the Commander leaned her head up and spoke up.

“I’m alright just…just having a hard time believing it all I guess. That and my feet are killing me right now.” The woman finished with a slight whine in her voice prompting an amused chuckle from Friedrich and the Kansen who had gathered around the two.

“Oh? Would you like a foot massage then Commander?” Akagi asked with a smile on her face, her smile widening as she broke out into giggles at the deadpan look her beloved shot her over her shoulder.

“Well since you’re partly to thank for it I wouldn’t object to it if you are offering,” 

Friedrich chuckled as she lifted the woman in her arms into a bridal carry, the action prompting a startled squeak from the smaller woman who instinctively threw her arms around Friedrich’s shoulders as she was lifted up.

“Well then come along my dear, let’s go find somewhere where we can rest. Maybe at the theater with the others? We could enjoy the concert and the fireworks at the same time.” Friedrich said as she began to stride towards the amphitheater, her children trailing after her, chuckling and giggling at the embarrassed blush on the Commander’s face at being carried and at the sound she had made upon being picked up. 

“Sure, as long as I can sit down I’ll be happy.” The woman said as she calmed herself down from her embarrassment and rested her head against Friedrich’s chest again with a smile on her face. 

Friedrich leaned down to place her lips to the Commander’s forehead with a smile on her face. Her poor child had been through quite a lot and she imagined their victory had yet to fully sink in, and the poor dear was also probably worrying about some minor concern as she was unfortunately prone to doing. She smiled at the thought of helping her beloved child relax, perhaps after the concert and a massage for her aching feet they could go down to the pier to get a more close up view of the fireworks, or perhaps relax in one of the dorm rooms. 

Regardless she smiled as she felt the woman shift to get more comfortable in her arms, her breathing slowly evening out prompting her to whisper into the woman’s ear-

“Azalea my dear I need you to stay awake for a little bit longer. You can sleep once the festivities are over.” 

The woman’s reply had her and the others with her chuckling.

“Fine…but I am not giving a speech, I did that earlier and I am not giving another one.'' The ‘Huumph’ that came at the end of the sentence made them all break down laughing for a moment, even Azalea herself chuckling for a moment.

“No one is asking you to do so my dear. Just relax and enjoy the festivities. You’re the reason they're happening after all.” Friedrich said with a gentle smile as she held her child close.

“You girls deserve this a lot more than me, all I did was sit in a bunker and read maps while you all we-” Her words were cut off by Friedrich gently placing her lips to hers, a soft and tender kiss as the Iron Blood matriarch stopped her movement to attend to a more immediate concern.

It was an unfortunate trait of their commander’s to not only stress over even small things, but to also be quite self-deprecating, not understanding her own significance and the significance of the action until someone else laid them bare for her to see. 

“Now, now, none of that my child.” Friedrich said as she pulled back from the kiss prompting a small whine to leave Azalea. 

“You may not have been on the battlefield with us in person that day, but it was you whose voice guided our actions, whose plans and strategies won us a battle that should have been unwinnable. It was you who guided us through the dark days before that battle and through the hell that was that day. Never underestimate the importance of your actions that day of all days my child. You are the reason we are all here right now. You are the reason that we can all smile and laugh instead of resting in a watery tomb. And if I have to spend every day for the rest of time telling you that I will, so don;t doubt yourself my child. You are a savior to us, so let us reward you like a savior deserves.” Friedrich finished as she gently kissed her child again before lowering her so that the other girls with her could do the same.

The concert and fireworks could wait, she thought as she eyed a nearby bench. They would be with their leader first. 

As she sat down she smiled as she saw Akagi begin to try and get Azalea’s shoes off, and her smile softened at the happy tears in her daughter’s eyes as she silently mouthed a heartfelt ‘Thank you…mom’ to her.

Friedrich was going to enjoy spoiling her child rotten, she truly was.

The banner of Eagle Union was the next banner to illuminate the sky, done in sapphire and gold with silver mixed in. 

Cleveland liked to think she was the mature one among her siblings, her case in point being-

“Denver, get down from there! Columbia stop encouraging her! Montpelier let me go!”

The laughter of her fellows told her what they thought of this situation and to be fair to them if it were her on the outside of this mess she would be laughing as well, but given that she was currently watching Denver climb a lamp post like a monkey while Columbia cheered her on.

And of course she couldn’t try and get her sister down on her own because someone had given Montpelier enough to drink that she was once more displaying that she was a clingy drunk as she had latched onto her like a limpet and was refusing to let her go. 

“Need some help?” 

Cleveland silently vowed that she was going to get Tennessee and California the biggest presents she could for their next launch day. 

“Yes please.” She said and soon found herself watching as Denver was coaxed down from the lamp post by…unconventional methods.

The laughter of those around them became uproarious at the sight of Tennessee lifting the lamp post out of the ground and shaking Denver out of it while California caught her and tossed her at Columbia with a cry of ‘Go Long!’.

She sighed in relief when the two stayed on the ground in a giggling mass instead of getting up and running off to cause more chaos.

She saw Tennessee and California begin to lift her giggling mess of sisters up, and begin to carry them back to the dorms.

“We’ll get these two tucked in before they try and do something like whatever brand of hell was going on at the amphitheater,” Tennessee called over her shoulder.

“Thank you!” Cleveland called out to them as she relaxed.

…

…

…

Wait…

She was still stuck in Montpelier’s arms.

With a sigh she decided to try and get out of her sister's arms only for her to stand up and carry them over to a nearby cafe table and sit down and begin to nuzzle the top of her sister's head.

 Cleveland blinked before she let out another sigh and decided to enjoy herself a bit as she got a bit more comfortable on her sister’s lap and began to relax.

The sound of someone setting a glass and plate on the table made her blink as she opened her eyes to see the smiling face of Yorktown.

“In case you two need something to eat or drink,” She said as she reached over and pat both of their heads before she stood up, her stance unsteady as she swayed to and fro for a moment before steadying herself. 

“Still not used to them yet?” Cleveland asked with concern in her voice.

“Not really, I am getting better but it still feels weird.” The carrier said as she took a moment to make sure her balance was alright before she smiled and began to walk away, calling over her shoulder as she did so.

“The way I see it, at least I can walk again.” A smile crossed her face and it was soon mirrored across Cleveland's own as she looked at her friend. 

“Now, I’m going to see if I can find Hamman and Sims, I thought I saw them near the pier later and I really don’t want to see what they can get up to if they get enough liquor in their stomachs.” The shiver that racked Yorktown’s fram was shared by Cleveland as the carrier began to walk off, joined soon by an almost mirror replica of herself, a large eagle resting on the other woman’s shoulder as she laid her arm around Yorktown’s shoulder.

Cleveland smiled as she leaned her head against Montpelier’s shoulder. 

“These METAs are going to give me a headache trying to tell who's who.” Cleveland said with a sigh, her sister letting out a hum of agreement as she slipped into unconsciousness with her sister held in her arms. 

Cleveland smiled at Montpeliere’s face and laid her head against hers and began to relax herself, smiling as she fished her phone out of her pocket and began to browse through it as she got comfortable. Looking up when she heard the chairs across from her move, her eyes met the amused faces of Helena and Helena META, both of whom had their phones out and were taking pictures of her.

She raised a single hand and a single finger in response, something which prompted the two women to break down into giggles as they saw the cruiser glaring at them.

Their laughter increased to the point of full on cackling when Montpelier reached her hand out and brought it down on her sister's head lightly with a mumbled comment of ‘No, bad sis’.

With a defeated sigh she decided to just accept her fate. She vowed she would get Monty back for this.

Pennsylvania smiled as Arizona laid her head on her lap in their shared room, her eyes closed as she slept peacefully despite the noise going on outside. It made her heart soar with relief and joy to know that her sisters nightmares had been becoming less and less common, the poor woman finally able to sleep more than a few hours without waking up gasping and soaked in sweat, tears leaking from her eyes with a cry slipping past her lips that typically had most of the dorm coming to investigate, the Colorado class having taken it upon themselves to stay with her after each nightmare, a shared trauma having forged a close bond between them.

Although they were not the only ones as she recalled the day she had gone to the commander’s office to deliver her report from a commission only to find her sister laying on the couch in the office, her head resting on Azalea’s lap as the woman softly threaded her fingers through her hair, an unfamiliar song being hummed from the commander as her sister slept peacefully. 

The commander had heard her enter apparently as she had raised a finger to her lips in a gesture of silence before gesturing to her to come closer with her free hand. Pennsylvania doing so as quietly as possible as she marveled at the expression of tranquility that graced her sister’s face, the young woman seemingly sleeping as soundly as a newborn for the first time in quite a while, bar the times when she would hold her close as she slept but even then nightmares would come and go as images of a horrible day plagued her.

She had been awestruck at the sight of her sisters peaceful face and had been so focused on it hat she had all but leapt out of her skin when the commander had taken her hand and placed it atop her sister’s scalp, the instruction clear as she began to mimic Azalea’s own movements of slowly stroking her sisters scalp. 

“I have nightmares too, from time to time.” The woman had said as she paused in her humming to reach over and get a sip of her drink. “This is what Friedrich and Houshou started doing when I had them as my secretaries a few months ago, and then they taught Nimi and well…now pretty much everyone who's been one of my secretaries knows about it huh.” the woman finished with a self of self loathing at the end.

She recalls wanting to assure the commander that they didn’t think any less of them. That they would all do everything they could to help her with her nightmares and troubles. Wanting to reach out and pull her into her arms as she saw the haunted look that flickered through their leaders then both blue eyes. But she also didn’t want to disturb her sister and so she settled for tilting the woman’s head back and placing a loving kiss on her lips, and a silent vow that she would volunteer to be the next secretary for a while.

After that she had asked the commander to teach her how to calm her sister, and unspokenly the woman herself, down in case of a nightmare to which she had agreed although she had mentioned that Friedrich or Houshou, perhaps even Atago or Yorktown would also be good candidates to ask. Pennsylvania did end up asking them for further tips after Azalea had taught her what she knew, the fact that the woman had fallen asleep on her lap mid-lesson something that made Pennsylvania swell with pride and also gave her ammunition to tease her commander with in the future. 

As the banner of her faction lit up the sky Pennsylvania smiled, once again vowed to rock the commander’s world the next chance she had, not just for getting them to this point but for everything she had done for her sister as well as herself. 

She was shaken from her fantasies when she felt Arizona shift a bit, pressing her face against her sister's tummy, the sight prompting Pennsylvania to grab her phone and begin to snap pictures, further filling an already overflowing album of such pictures, with a smile on her face.

Anchorage was enjoying both the fireworks and the music as she sat in the Amphitheater, an ice cream cone, strawberry and blueberry mix, held in one hand and a glowstick in the other. Baltimore sat beside her on one side with Bremerton on the other, the two sharing their adopted sisters' antics of having a glowstick in one hand and a snack in the other as they enjoyed the show.  

Baltimore was overjoyed at the fact that she had been able to keep her adopted sister from getting her hands on that damned can of energy drink, the last time something like that had happened they had spent hours trying to find her, only to find her in the attic of their dorms of all places, attempting to talk to a pidgeon. 

Needless to say they had made it a point of issue to keep said thing from her hands if at all possible.

But right now, they were going to enjoy this day together and rejoice in a hard fought victory. 

Astoria sat nearby with Quincy and Vincennes sitting beside her, The big sister of the New Orleans Class was smiling as she handed her popcorn bag to Quincy and then to Vincennes and then leaned down to let Minneapolis and San Francisco grab a couple pieces as she sat at her feet, her head resting on her big sisters lap, a pillow shared with San Francisco. 

The New Orleans class were content basking in the company of their fellows and the music, although they did wonder just what the commotion near the entrance was the singing of Cleveland was enough to keep them focused as they cheered on Polaris.

Essex sighed as she leaned her head against Shangri-La’s shoulder, waiting patiently for Enterprise to finish showing off at the pier. Belfast sat nearby, the maid wearing a white dress and a beaming smile as she watched the aerobatic displays, the look in her eyes promising that the two were in for a wild night once they landed. 

Essex smiled slightly as she wondered if Belfast would mind her-

As if reading her mind the maid looked at her with a smile and a gleam in her eye. 

Essex silently cheered at her luck, yes this was going to be a wild night and she couldn’t wait for it to get even wilder . 

The banner of Eagle Union faded and then a hum began to echo across the harbor as the exotic vessel began to prepare its response to the Carriers antics, the planes departing to their respective ships as soon as the were able as the vessel began to build up energy in its main guns the figure stand astride it brought their black cane down with force enough to shake the vessel for a moment as a feral grin spread across their face.

“A GOOD SHOWING EAGLE UNION AND ASH!” The voice bellowed from the ship, easily echoing across the harbor and indeed the base as well.

“BUT LET US SEE IF IT RIVALS THIS.” They yelled once more as the guns of the vessel began to lift to point skywards, portions of it retracting into the hull to make way for additional smaller turrets to fire precise patterns in addition to what was about to happen.

“ALL GUNS FIRE AT MAXIMUM CHARGE!” The all mighty roar of energy being expelled at critical mass drowned out all noise as all eyes were drawn to the display of raw power that lit up the sky in a kaleidoscopic array of radiance. 

The multitude of beams met at distance from the base and then-

BOOOMMMM

The almighty bang shook heaven and earth as a new symbol was born amidst the radian glow, a symbol that appeared to be naught but a massive kaleidoscopic colored mirror, the deep azure of the waves reflected on it amidst the breathtaking array of other colors each symbolic of timelines and worlds lost.

Arbiter: Empress III smiled as the Sirens banner illuminated the sky. They had not truly had one until the commander had spoken with them regarding it, and so the idea of their new symbol was born, the multitude of colors were their tribute to the worlds and timelines lost in their mission, and their showing that their sacrifices were not in vain.

Empress smiled wider as she heard the indignant yell from the battleship near her, chuckles leaving her lips at the sound of the Iowa class yelling at her for, in her own words, “ Vaporizing half the ocean in a bigger show off display then what Enterprise and Ash had done”. 

Her smile softened as she turned to where her superior stood, Observer Zero was wordless as she looked at the display on the horizon, a solitary tear trickling from her blue eyes a display of the emotions she was feeling as she met her subordinates gaze.

The First Siren, the first Antiochus, rose from her seat and threw her arms around her subordinate to steady herself, a near delirious laugh leaving her lips, the words that followed it were muffled but audible still to the Arbiter as she gently embraced her old friend.

“Mother…we did it…we finally did it…we won…we actually won…we finally…we finally…” For a moment she was silent before she broke her embrace with the Arbiter and strode towards the edge of the ship, silently raising one of her hands as her voice rose to echo over the base, the words likewise thundering across the network shared by the Sirens.

Her words swept through the base like a typhoon, prompting cheers to ring out in agreement as they echoed.

Azalea, still wrapped in Friedrich’s arms as she watched the light show felt tears of silent joy and pride trail down from both of her eyes as the thundering cheer of-

“WE WON! VICTORY!” 

Thundered through the base. 

She couldn’t stop the pride and love that welled in her heart as she looked over her base, and her girls.

Yes, they had won, and now they would have their happy ending. 

Chapter Text

She could taste blood. The sharp iron tang filling her mouth as she bit her lip.

She could see the stars, but it was supposed to be midday.

The blue of the sky was gone.

The clouds were gone.

The light of the sun was gone.

She could feel the world tremble.

She knew the worst had yet to come.

Once there was a jewel that fell into the sea. 

That moved legends old with its pleas. 

And from rest they rose to face new foes.

Waking up to a throbbing headache was not an uncommon thing on the base of the Azur Lane, be it because of drinking the night before, accidently pushing oneself to their limits and being due a trip to the medical wing, or stress and adrenaline surge from a nightmare.  

The last one being the most common out of all of the aforementioned sadly, as countless times Azalea had woken up to the feeling of one of the Destroyers or younger Kansen slipping under her covers and clinging to her as they trembled. The sight of Anchorage, her face streaked with tears and eyes bloodshot standing in her doorway clutching a stuffed dolphin to her chest would haunt her own nightmares to her dying day. 

Although they were not the only ones who did so as many times she had woken up to near hysterical sobbing as some of her girls raced into her room to make sure she was still there, their cries of relief upon feeling her arms around them were bittersweet to say the least. 

Sometimes they would join her under the covers, some found comfort in intimacy and pleasure and others simply wished to be held, and other times she would let her girls lift her into their arms and carry her back to their dorms, where she would almost always be pulled into a cuddle pile. 

She could recall the last time it had happened but a few days ago, when the trembling form of Enterprise of all Kansen had slipped into her room, Belfast at her side, looking equally as unsettled by her own dreams or perhaps the state of her lover, and after rousing her and letting her grab her covers, carried her bridal style to the Eagle Union dorms where she was treated to the heartbreaking sight of the tear streaked and fear filled faces of her girls, all of them looking at her like she was the dawn after ages spent cowering from the night. 

She had been quick to move around the room, embracing each of them and offering them what comfort she could as they each gathered their blankets and pillows and began to huddle together, seeking the comfort and peace of mind that only the presence of loved ones could truly provide.

Other times she was the one who woke near screaming, her mind playing back flashbacks to those days when war changed forever, the same nightmares she knew so many of her girls shared with her. During those times the ones in her bed at the time, there was always at least one of her girls beside her even as she slept, would always take her either to their faction’s dorm and call everyone together or call in their siblings and or lovers to join them.  

And was it any wonder their nightmares would drive them to seek each other out as the images flashed within their mind’s eyes. 

Their minds would travel back…

Back to the day when the skies had ripped themselves asunder and storms had swallowed the whole of the world. Waves that swallowed cities surging forward as the heavens wept in an unending downpour amidst the furious roar of thunder and the flashes of lighting as if Zeus himself were warring against the thing that had arrived on his world. 

To the day when It arrived.

 To the days that followed that horrible day when the METAs and Sirens had come to them with desperation and dread in their eyes and a mad plan on their lips, their ancient feud forsaken in the face of that nameless horror. 

To the days when they labored under barriers and shields as their homelands burned and millions were laid low, to devise a way to fell what could only be the origin of the legend of the monstrous Typhon of ancient Greece or perhaps the Biblical Leviathan. 

To the days when they sent forth wave after wave of mass produced Pawns with their own forces amidst them to wear down the beast and slow it’s march, to draw it’s gaze to a baited trap. So many of them falling amidst their efforts only to be called back by the power of the wisdom cubes and the Siren’s own technology. The Sirens and Ashes claiming that it was only because of her that they were able to use the cubes in such a way did much to alleviate the guilt she felt for sending them to what could otherwise have been their final battles. 

In those nightmares they could still feel the searing heat on their skin. The way their eardrums had popped at the almighty roar that had torn from the great weapon they had forged. The way their hair had stood on end at the energy that had saturated the air. Even Azalea, concealed in a fortified command bunker at the behest of her comrades, had felt these things, the sheer intensity of the power they had unleashed seeming to be as omnipresent as it was nigh omnipotent.

They all could still see the way the sky gave way to the void in their mind’s eye, Azalea’s own view of it being that of the countless screens of her command bunker, yielding before the awesome power of their final weapon in their minds' eyes. The way that those hellish eyes had lit with terror and dread, an intelligence far greater and more primal than that of any other living being upon the planet recognizing the coming swing of the reaper’s scythe.

But most of all they could hear it, in the nightmares that made them seek the comfort and safety of loved ones arms. A noise so horrible that even meters of concrete and countless alloys fused together, further mingled with Siren technology could not block it out. They could hear that damnable shriek of anguish and rage, of hunger and madness that had resounded across the world as what could only be a living God was remanded back to the hells it’s blackened soul had crawled forth from eons ago. 

Perhaps it would come as no surprise to learn that both the Sirens and Ashes would also seek comfort with her from time to time. The once terrifying forces that had seemed so insurmountable in the past having long since vanished as they clung to her like a lifeline amidst their fear filled sobs and trembles. Sometimes the Siren’s would craft a mirror sea and gather their comrades and pull the others, Ashes and Kansen alike, into it as well simply to assure themselves that they were indeed all still there as they let slumber claim them.

So yes, waking with a headache was nothing new to any one on the base, and it was for this reason that all of them could state that there were few things in the world that were more merciful than the feeling of an ice cold pillow on your aching forehead and the comfort of loved ones around you.

“Dido, you are a godsend.” She groaned as she tried to merge her face with said cold pillow, a moan of relief leaving her lips as the ever dutiful maid flushed with a giddy smile on her face, perhaps from the compliment or from the sound her Commander had just made, or perhaps both.

“Th-thank you commander,” She said as she walked over to the nearby nightstand to pour her master and her guests a glass of water. The groans that echoed from the bed told her that maybe some aspirin, one normal and several kansen strength ones, should be added as well.

“Kommandant…what time is it?” The sleepy voice of Roon asked, her gloveless hands rubbing sleepily at her eyes as she took her glass of aspirin laced water from Dido with a smile on her face. “Danke Dido.” She said as she downed most of the glass in one gulp.

“It is 10 a.m. Miss Roon,” Dido said as she saw her Commander was busy trying to hold the pillow to her head with one hand and the glass with her other, only for the woman she was using as a body pillow to reach over and grab the glass for her and hold it to her lips. 

“Thank you mom,” The Commander said with a pleased groan as she downed the glass, leaning back as she felt Friedrich pull her close, her head sandwiched between two heavenly pillows, the beaming face of Friedrich der grosse now resting atop her head as the woman sipped at her own glass after the commander had finished her own glass.

Akagi sighed as she left the bathroom with nothing but a towel over her shoulders, the kitsun smirking at the sight in front of her as she began to look for a camera to capture the moment only for Dido to beat her to it by handing her phone to her, several pictures already in the album.

Akagi smiled at the maid and reached over to pat her head and hand her towel to her as she strolled over to the bed and took her place beside the Commander, nuzzling up against her as she draped her tails over her and Friedrich. 

Taihou staggered out of the bathroom a few moments later, Dido handing her a glass of aspirin laced water as the carrier gave her a grateful smile and nod as she sat down on the bed to enjoy her drink, and wait for the pounding ache in her skull to subside. 

The door opened a moment after Taihou sat down as Junyou and Sirius came into the room holding trays of food. The Commander’s nose twitched as she slowly lifted the pillow from her eyes and eyed the breakfast trays.

“There better be waffles left on those plates once I’m out of the shower,” Azalea said as with a sigh she began to get up, Friedrich helping her to stand up as she did so as well, Akagi letting out a pitiful mewl as she began to sit up to get a traditional Sakura breakfast from Junyou’s tray. 

As the battleship and Commander entered the bathroom, Akagi looked at the two maids and asked.

“So what’s the damage to the base,” it said a great deal that no one raised an eyebrow at the question, there was a reason the commander had to write a list of things they were either not supposed to do or not do without permission.

The amount of insurance companies they had bankrupted was truly stupendous. 

“Well,” Sirius began, “thankfully the worst of the damage has already been repaired so we only have some minor damages to the base. Nothing as major as what we thought there would be is really left to deal with, a couple of slightly damaged buildings, some broken windows and some smashed furniture but nothing that was irreplaceable. We also have a damaged lamp post of all things, not sure what the story is with it, and there is some minor damage to the academy that will need to be repaired before classes can resume without putting the younger ones at risk.” Sirius said as she began to pour them all cups of tea or in the case of the Iron Blood ladies juice. 

As she handed everyone their drinks and set the commander’s and Friedrichs on the rooms dresser, a tight fit given the size of the bed that they had gotten the Commander, it took up almost ⅓ of the room entirely, and was plenty large enough for the two maids and carrier to join the Commander and  the others if they wanted to. 

As everyone began to eat, Sirius continued her report to one of the acting secretary ships.

“We have a couple of injuries due to people getting a little too excited or careless in their celebrations. The worst of them is Hornet, who somehow managed to give herself what Vestal claims is the worst case of alcohol poisoning she has ever seen, and yes that includes anything Iron Blood and Northern Parliament have done to themselves. But she should be alright, Vestal and Observer Alpha are currently working on her so she should be up in either a couple of hours or a day.” Sirius paused in her report as she took a sip of her tea.

“Northampton and Graf Zeppelin are going to put Hornet back in the medical wing if she is out for a day and then they’ll sick Yorktown on her,” Roon said with a chuckle as she savored her cup of orange juice and her apple pancakes with a pleased sigh. 

Roon’s comment brought chuckles from the rest of the room's inhabitants as Sirius once more resumed her report.

“Ah! I almost forgot the amphitheater will need extensive cleaning, but no major repairs are needed so we should be able to have it fixed by the afternoon, maybe late evening at the latest. The Sirens have so far cleaned most of the Pier and stores so there is little we have left in the cleanup of the base and the METAs are checking the outside of the base to make certain that nothing like that BBQ incident happens again.” Sirius shuddered at the memory, the others joining her a moment later as the memories flashed before their eyes.

So much fire…so, so much fire. That day they all gained a healthy respect for the people of California that day. 

They shook themselves from their thoughts as they began to finish up their meals with Sirius likewise beginning to wrap up her report of the state of the base. 

“Altogether, with the help of both of them it should take us little more than half a day or so to fully finish cleaning the base, that is assuming we haven’t overlooked something. The Sirens think that there was a little damage done to the outlying islands by Empress's shot but it shouldn’t have affected the base.” Sirius finished her report with her comment regarding the Siren Warlord’s final display of the night making those present chuckle. 

As they ate their breakfasts their minds wandered to the night before and the circumstances for it. 

To think a day would come when not only would they let their once hated foes into their base, into their home, but also be willing to drink and be merry with them. A day when they would willingly embrace the puppet masters of so much pain and suffering not just as allies but as sisters in arms and dare they say it perhaps even as friends. A day when the iterations of themselves that had been lost across countless timelines would stand side by side with them and their once great foes in revelry. 

Surely no one could have predicted the war would end this way, not even in the wildest and most desperate of fever dreams were such thoughts possible, although to be fair no one had anticipated… That appearing if they had wanted to. They would have been dismissed as lunatics if they had tried to inform the world of the true threat that was heading their way.

But they would have been right. For only a lunatic could conjure up the Thing that they had seen that day. Only a mad god could have breathed life into such a thing, for surely there was no reality or world within their own reality that could breathe life into such an abhorrent thing, and if there were it would not be a world to explore or conquer but to burn and shatter till not remained of it but ash and dust, a molten core spilling its boiling blood into the silent vacuum of space. 

For a moment their minds almost wandered back to those days, those terrible days. To being told that their sisters and loved ones were dead, then the feeling of relief upon seeing them be returned to them by their Commander’s  affinity with the Wisdom Cubes and the Siren and Ashe’s technology. To the shock and pain they felt when those they had been so close to no longer recognized them, no longer bearing the memories they had forged together for so long. True their memories would return in time, but the pain would always linger. 

They could still recall their desperation to keep them from dying, from forgetting them. Some going so far as to try to take their place on missions or even going so far as to sacrifice themselves only to inflict the same hellish fate on the loved ones they left behind.  

Perhaps it would come as no surprise to others that so many relationships had changed as a result of this, with everyone trying desperately to form bonds that even their temporary deaths could not erase no matter how futile the efforts may be. 

It had come as a shock to many to regain their memories only to learn that sometimes those who they had taken as lovers were in fact either their sisters or were once their rivals, sometimes both having lost their memories and sometimes only one of them having done so, many would wonder why their fellows, why their sisters, had not told them of this but the simple answer was always the same.

They didn’t have the heart to. Not even the cruelest and most broken of their number, or of the Sirens and Ashes for that matter, or even their beloved Commander had the heart to tell them the truth and watch the happiness they had found, however temporary it may be, vanish in panic and confused fear. Their sisters were almost always just glad to have them back, they cared little to none about how their relationship had changed as long as they could hold them once again, hold them close and assure themselves that they were still there for even a moment. 

What did come as somewhat less of a shock to many of them, at least those who were still bothered by such a thing anyways, was just how little they actually cared about breaking what many consider one of the greatest taboos. By that point they had decided that they cared far too much for their fellows and their bonds with them, then what society thought of them, especially given that there wasn’t really going to be much of one left if they let the stress and pain consume them over worrying about something as meaningless as who they laid with.

Eventually they had sat down in conference with each other, the Siren’s providing a Mirror Sea for just such an occasion, and sorted out the terms of their ever shifting bonds. They had agreed that so long as the younger Kansen, Anchorage amongst them, and the Destroyers were left alone, then they were free to be with whomever they wished to be, there would be no judgment from them. If they wanted to judge each other for their love lifes they could wait till they no longer had a living force of nature tearing apart their planet to do so. 

The Commander had been more than adamant on that last part. Granted she had used far more colorful language to describe what was going on outside of their base, but the sentiment was the same.

While some of those outside of their numbers would more than likely try and claim that many of the relationships that had formed were immoral or wrong given their bonds as sisters they would be more than happy to ask a simple question in response.

What right did they have to judge them when they were busy cowering away in bunkers and shelters while they fought and died to protect their worthless lives? What right did the soldiers who fled their posts without even bothering to try and halt their enemies' march, and the politicians who left their countries to their fates have to judge them for loving who they did?  What right did any of them have to attempt to impose their own morals and ethics on those who had fought, bled, screamed, raged, and died to protect them? The answer to all of those who were present at that conference that day was readily clear to them, they had none whatsoever to judge them.

The memories began to almost overwhelm them until they were shaken from their thoughts when they heard a small commotion in the bathroom, a thud of a bottle hitting something and a muffled curse from their Commander along with a chuckle from Friedrich telling them all they needed to know.

Chuckles left their lips as they used the time to gravitate their thoughts away from that day and to more pleasant topics as they ate. Silently offering their thanks to their Commander’s slight clumsiness for giving them respite from their darker thoughts and memories.

The door to the bathroom opened but a few minutes later, a grinning Friedrich standing naked in the doorway as she ducked down and into the room, the Commander following her a moment later, grumbling under her breath about slippery soap bottles not wanting to go where they were supposed to. For a moment all of those in the room bar Friedrich simply stared at their Commander’s naked body, their eyes darkening in lust at the sight of her nude form even as their hearts ached at the sight of the old scars that lined her body. A grim reminder of that day more than any other memory that haunted the darker recesses of their minds.

Dido picked up a hair brush from the small vanity and pulled out the small stool that was tucked under it, beckoning the Commander to sit down so she could start brushing her hair, the woman in question offering a grateful smile as she sat down to let her maid start trying to tame her hair. Sirius set a plate and glass down at the dresser a moment later, Azalea giving her a smile and thanks in response as she took a sip of her tea.

“Should I repeat what I told Akagi or would you prefer to be updated once you have finished eating Commander?” Sirius asked as she joined Dido in helping their commander get ready for the day, she absently pulled out a small jar and began to rub the contents of it over Azalea’s scars, the coldness prompting a hiss from the woman before she relaxed.

“No thank you Sirius, I can have Akagi debrief me once I can think about more than food.” Azalea said as she absently took a bite of her waffles, Liberally soaked in maple and raspberry syrup, as Dido began to work her own magic on turning the mass of white and gray curls that was her commander’s hair into the normally sleek wave that her fellows were so familiar with threading their fingers through. 

“As you wish, Mistress.” Sirius said as she continued to apply the medicinal ointment to the scars that lined her lady’s body, a silent thank you to the Sirens and METAs leaving her lips as she absently noted that the scars were getting fainter day by day. 

For a while there was nothing but a companionable silence as those present waited for their leader to be ready, Friedrich had her phone in her hands and was busy messaging Bismarck and Tirpitz to see if anything had occurred at the Iron Blood Dorms, or whichever dorms they had ended up in after the festivities had begun to wind down, that the maids had not discovered yet. 

Roon was silently savoring the macaroons that Sirius had brought in, absently looking up from her plate to steal appreciative glances at her Commander’s naked form, her eyes absently meeting the mismatched blue orbs in the mirror as she purposefully licked her fingers, a smile gracing her face as she saw a light blush form on Azalea’s cheeks. The woman was comfortable enough to be naked around them, and yet got flustered at the slightest of innuendos or provocative actions, needless to say it made for endless teasing. 

Akagi was brushing out her tails with a brush that Junyou had been kind enough to grab for her from the vanity, she was a vain woman and she would admit it with no small amount of pride. As such she was meticulous in her self grooming, always making sure there were no tangles or nots in her tail or hair before and after showering with a specially made brush that she and her fellow kitsunes and other fur or tail bearing Kansen had been gifted by the Commander for their launch days. Akagi’s own was made of lacquered cherry wood and emblazoned with the Sakura Empire’s crest on the back. It was needless to say that she had been very happy with the gift, and the Commander had been left with more lipstick marks on them then there were constellations in the sky. 

Taihou had begun to browse her own phone, all the while subtly taking pictures of her Commander for personal use later on, when she noticed an update on Juustagram that made her break down in laughter, the suddenness of which almost made Junyou spill her tea on herself as she jolted.

“What the hell has gotten into you,” Her fellow carrier demanded as she sat her cup down on a nearby nightstand, although she received no response as her comrade was too busy howling with laughter to the point that she had begun to clutch her stomach with an almost pained expression on her face. 

Azalea looked at the scene in the mirror and silently wondered just what had set Taihou off like this, and then her own phone went off, Dido handing it to her a moment later, and she understood.

“How did she…you know what on second thought I don’t want to know how she did it,” Azalea said as she pinched the bridge of nose before holding her phone up the mirror so her maids could see it, the slight chuckle from Friedrich telling her that she didn’t need to update the matriarch about what she had just read.

Junyou was quiet for a moment as she tried to figure out what was going on, meeting eyes with an equally dumbfounded Roon before Friedrich decided to elaborate as the Commander was shooting the bed a longing look in the mirror and more than likely weighing the value of actually going to do something about what she just read as opposed to crawling back into bed once the her maids were done with her. 

“It would appear that Albacore decided it would be a good idea to attempt to prank Anchorage and has wound up being trapped by her.” The Iron Blood Matriarch couldn’t hold back her chuckles as she read the post that Bremerton had added to the base's social media with a smile on her face.

The name of ‘Baby bear has just caught her first fish” was enough to make anyone chuckle,but the picture, showing Albacore being held by Anchorage as a teddy bear with the Submarine being unable to break free from the heavy cruiser’s grip was something that had many across the base cackling in vindictive glee, Taihou probably more than any other given the history between the two, buried though it may be. 

Friedrich couldn’t help herself from smiling at the peaceful look on Anchorages face, the poor dear had seen far too much in the twilight days of the war and yet still maintained her childlike innocence, although her sleep was often troubled as many of theirs were nowadays, leading to the heavy cruiser having made a habit of either sleeping with her adopted sisters, herself, the Commander, or with some of the Destroyers. 

The sight of Anchorage being used as a giant teddy bear in a group cuddle pile of destroyers and younger Kansen and Sirens had been saved to more galleries, albums, and scrap books than any meme could ever hope to be, and had served as a much needed morale booster during those dark days. 

Junyou chuckled at the sight before turning to see Azalea having stood up from where she had been seated, Dido and Sirius helping her get dressed, although none of them would mind seeing her in the nude all day, they knew that they needed to keep such sights from the younger Kansen, at least until a way for them to grow into proper women was found, then…then they had so many ideas.

As the Commander felt her sleeveless naval blue turtleneck slip over her shoulders she began to think over what she had on her schedule for today and realized that aside from organizing the clean up of the base, she had surprisingly little that really needed to be done. Her girls were perfectly capable of dealing with most of the smaller issues on the base without her intervention, and were adamant that she not concern herself with trivial things and she was not one to refuse them even if she was their leader. 

Not for the first time she felt her heart swell at the thought of her girl’s care for her, it was a wonderful feeling and one she could say that she was addicted to with no small amount of pride, actually having people who cared about her. Perhaps she wasn’t a typical Commander, her apparent loose grip on her base and her lack of strict code enforcement more than plentiful evidence of this being the truth and yet one could also not refute that despite her unconventional leadership she had gotten results beyond what anyone had anticipated. 

With her faith in them, and their faith in her they had done the impossible after all. They had laid low what could only be called a god. 

Coupled with that was the fact that no new orders had come in from her superiors in some time, although given the state of the world beyond their base that was no real surprise to her. Said ‘god’ having done an enormous number on the world before they were finally able to put the damned thing down once and for all.

Even if the Sirens were doing their best to assist in rebuilding the devastation, it would still take decades, or centuries in the case of those near nuclear reactors, before many of the affected cities and towns were even remotely habitable, and others would never be livable again as they were little more than craters and canyons carved into the earth, and that was assuming the landmass they were apart of was still above water. The end result of all of that was a chain of command that was so tangled and frayed no one knew a damn thing and could barely get in touch with any of those that did.

While some would say she should be a part of the organization of such reconstruction efforts she would point out that while tactics and strategy were all well and good for her, with logistics being a close second, she had near to no knowledge of how to oversee anything on the scale of what was needed and had likewise no true Disaster Relief training or experience. 

The sad truth was she felt like she was more likely to get in the way and cause more damage to an already damaged world if she attempted to do something that she had no knowledge or experience in doing, and so she put her faith in those that did. At least at her base she could direct her girls to help when and where they were needed, coordinate with the Sirens and Ashes about reconstruction and the exact terminology of their newfound alliance, and make sure that if something else happened they were ready to blow it back to the void from before the words ‘Let There Be Light’ were spoken.

It was all of this that made her thankful that the Sirens had at their disposal the cumulative knowledge of hundreds if not thousands of timelines. It was easier to list a field that they did not have knowledge of, then of the ones they did, and amongst those multitudes of skills was the knowledge, and equipment, to rebuild and repair the broken and bruised world. It was something that they had been waiting to put to use for an uncountable amount of years, waiting for the day their enemy was dead and they could at last cease their flight through time and space and at last make a home for themselves.

She was shaken from her thoughts with a sigh as she felt Dido finish putting her hair in it’s typical low ponytail, lifting it a moment later so that Sirius could put on the last piece of her typical attire, a sigh of relief leaving her lips once more as she felt the smooth leather of the choker against her skin, an always comforting sensation to her. 

Absently she looked in the mirror at the piece of silk and leather that hung pleasantly tight to her neck, a gift from her girls for her last birthday, even after the world had gone to shit they had not allowed it to stop them from celebrating the day their commander had entered the world. The Sirens and METAs own contribution to it was surprising but altogether not unwelcome either. 

She absently traced her fingers over the symbols emblazoned in the leather, the creations of each of the factions that made up Azur Lane done in their respective colors, although not made of dye or paint but rather of precious and semi-precious metals and stones. There were two additional crests alongside the known factions however, one depicting a flame made of ruby and onyx and the other a smooth mirror like pin made of polished diamond and white gold, and finally directly over her throat, with the crests of the METAs and Sirens flanking it, was the crest of Azur Lane done in sapphire and silver. 

She had broken down crying at the sight of it, trying to tell her girls it was far too much had proven to be as ineffective as trying to stop a hurricane with a foil roo, their insistence that she was more than deserving of it and their own joyful tears when she had accepted it, letting her first Kansen, the beaming Enterprise, place it around her throat. 

She could barely remember the rest of the night after the destroyers and younger members had been put to bed, the haze of lust and pleasure having washed away a good deal of her memories but leaving one hell of an impression of just what had happened that night, the pleasant soreness in her limbs when she woke the next morning, her girls surrounding her in a massive cuddle pile, cementing that it surely been one hell of a good night. 

To this day she made sure that it was kept in a secure box in her room at all times she was not wearing it, and even then those times were few and far between, as aside from showers, sleeping or swimming, or being anywhere near the beach really given the younger members antics, she was almost always wearing it. To her it was a badge of pride and honor, a showing of just how much her girls loved and trusted her, and one of the greatest, if not the greatest gift, she had been given by her girls or truly anyone in general. 

It also served a secondary purpose as well, and it was one she hoped she wouldn’t have to use for the foreseeable future.

As she felt the comforting weight around her throat she looked down at the ring on her finger and smiled as for a moment her mind traveled back to the day her girls and her had discussed during their meeting regarding their love lifes and that was something she would never not be able to internally chuckle at the memory of. To say it had been awkward and embarrassing at times would be one hell of an understatement, and at the same time it had been hilarious at moments partially because of the embarrassing nature of some of the things discussed. But one of the main things they had decided was that a way was needed to tell if someone was interested in mingling or was preferring to remain with their current partner for a while. The end result was the idea of using their Promise Rings as a way of telling, with those who had them on their right hand were looking to mingle and those who had them on their left were with their current partner. 

As a point of fact she always wore hers on her left, her explanation had lead to her being tackled to the ground when she had claimed that she was married to her entire fleet and that they should already know she wasn;t going to turn any of them away. She only regretted that she had been holding a glass at the moment she was knocked to the floor. Having juice soak into your clothes and hair is one hell of a way to kill the mood, or at least move it to the shower.  

She shook herself from her thoughts with a smile as she looked in the mirror, raising her hands to pat her two maids on the head, the action making Dido turn cherry red and Sirius blush lightly. Honestly they were too cute at times. 

“Alright, let’s go see how many insurance companies we are going to be bankrupting today,” her words bringing laughter to the room and a smile to her face at the sound of it. True the Sirens had volunteered to use their equipment to help with maintenance and improvement, and that combined with the sheer amount of resources they had at their disposal was more than enough for them to say that they would probably not truly need any insurance companies anymore. But she was never going to let anyone forget the day she had received that letter, there was a reason she had it framed in her office after all. 

With a smile on her face she opened her door and began to head towards her office to face the day, the sunlight shining through a nearby window making the ring on her finger gleam as she did so. The light making the gleam in her girl's eyes seem far brighter as well as they followed after her, eager to lend what help they could. 

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There were many things that could be said of the RN Battleship Littorio. 

She was a casanova who could melt hearts with a glance, but would blush and stammer when the flirting was returned in greater quantities than what she dealt out, or was returned in a more sensual nature. Her wine red eyes would widen and her cheeks would flush, her heart hammering as she felt herself come alight with desire, the sight something that her fellows found to be both adorable and breathtakingly beautiful. 

She was a skilled warrior, be it with sword or gun there were few who could match the ‘Glory of Naples’ were she to be in a full charge, her ability to multitask firing her guns at one target while facing another with her blade was something that many had come to admire with even the likes of Atago offering praise to her skill with a blade. Granted she felt that she was still miles below what the legendary swordswomen of the Sakura Empire were capable of on their worst day, but the compliment was something that made her body sing in joy and so she was happy to accept it…the headpat that she was given by Atago may have had something to do with it as well though.

She was a gifted if not damn near savant level lover who could make even the most frigid or detached of her partners sing her name in ecstasy with but a few touches. Few amongst the port could claim to equal her in terms of her skill in the bedroom when it comes to leaving a lover in a state of near nirvana level bliss. And those that could were opponents she always welcomed. Her beautiful signora being one of them. She had more than once had the honor of helping an overworked and overstressed Azalea Lione relax , each time having left the woman with no stress left to speak of. 

She was a loving sister who adored pampering and teaching her adopted little sister Unicorn everything she knew. Granted her swords classes hand ended with Illustrious dodging a blade that had somehow snapped off of the hilt, she still wasn’t sure why but she was somewhat inclined to agree with her sister’s comment of it ‘being drawn into their gravity field’ the they in question being plainly obvious. 

She had even taken the young girl under her wing to teach her Sardegnian, smiling at the cute fumbles and slip-ups her protegee made as she helped her to the point where she could hold a conversation with her and her fellows in their mother tongue. The look on her sister and Illustrious’s faces when the girl had spoken near fluent Sardegnian to them over dinner had been hilarious enough she had saved them in one of the galleries on her phone. 

The greatest lesson she had taught her new little sister had been on how to be a gentlewoman, to be courteous and polite, honorable and noble, generous and kind, and most of all to always be willing to stand up for someone who needed her help. 

Illustrious had made sure that Littorio knew how much she had approved of that lesson a dozen times over that night, if not two dozen times over. 

And it is important to not forget her own sister Veneto who she offered wisdom and counsel to whenever it was needed, and a shoulder to cry on and a warm embrace and perhaps even a warm body when her sister felt the need to let her stress out. 

Of course there were days their roles were reversed and it was her sister pulling her into her lap, smiling as she blushed and stammered before being silenced by a loving kiss as she was held close and cuddled. There were days it was her sister who guided her to her room and laid her down on her bed, sometimes to lay with and sometimes simply to hold because Illustrious and her had yet to fully sort out shared living conditions with Unicorn and Illustrious had made it clear they were a package deal, not that Littorio was complaining at all. 

Those nights she would lay in her sisters arms and listen to her humming a lullaby in their mother tongue with a smile on her face, knowing the nightmares would not draw, knowing that the images of-

The sea burned, the water igniting in waves of hellfire so intense she had to close her eyes lest they boil in their sockets.

Blood…so much blood…so…so…much blood…

Carabiniere slumped over with blood trailing through her fingers as she held her stomach as a mass of darkness moved to swat her aside like an errant fly, she could feel the destroyers hair as she reached to pull her back and-

She tasted blood in her mouth…it wasn’t hers…

She would typically wake screaming when those nightmares happened. Always searching out the ones who she had seen fall in her dreams to assure herself they were well. 

But most of all she was a loyal friend and comrade and as such she was thankful that her fellows were safe and happy. Too often she had held many of those who had lost their loved ones only to have them return with no memory of them, in her arms and whispered reassurances that their love would bring back their memories in time and that they just had to be patient. She would hold them close and let them sob into her chest as she offered her reassurances and comfort, the casanova gone and a gentlewoman in its stead. 

Perhaps it was the time she had held the sobbing form of Pola, the poor woman having shattered upon having her twin say she did not know who she was, wailing and crying as she clawed desperately at her back as her world shattered around her, that she had been seen as someone they could go to for comfort. She could still recall the way her fellow Sardegnian had sobbed herself to sleep, the battleship having tucked her in in her own bed and slept in a chair nearby in case she was needed in the night, her signora Illustrious having decided to spend time with her little sister Unicorn to comfort her that though she was injured she was still alright. 

She didn’t know how long she had tended to the cruiser, Illustrious occasionally taking her place, and Veneto when neither of them could be present, alongside a host of other volunteers, until a sobbing Zara had damn near kicked open her door and flung herself at her sister.

She had smiled at the scene and prepared to leave only for them to pull her into the bed between them, using her as a pillow as they tearfully thanked her for looking after Pola. She had simply held her two friends that night and had enjoyed a nightmare-less sleep that was becoming harder and harder to come by without the warmth of a body near her. 

But at the moment the one thing that could truly be said about her was just how much she loved the woman in her arms and the young girl sandwiched between them. Her half opened eyes held a warmth that rivaled that of the sun that she knew was struggling to breach the comforting darkness of her blackout curtains, she had learned her lesson 3 hangovers and 4 lectures ago, and her lips were quirked into a gentle smile as she laid there looking at the ones she loved.

She smiled as she felt Unicorn shift in her sleep,the young carrier nuzzling into her chest as she listened to the soothing rhythm of a heartbeat, Illustrious having moved closer to rest her forehead against Littorio’s own as she slumbered peacefully. 

Littorio vowed that she was going to give the Commander a thank you to remember for giving those who watched over the young ones the day off from cleaning as she closed her eyes and began to join her loved ones in slumber once again.

She affirmed that vow again when she heard what sounded like someone yelling about how a bra was on top of a street lamp outside of her window. 

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There were few things in the world more wonderful than waking to the sight of the face of someone you loved, their eyes closed in peaceful slumber as they clung to you with a soft smile on their face. At least that was the conclusion that Bismarck came to as she opened her eyes to see the still sleeping face of Hood and feel the warmth of her arms wrapped around her, the slightly taller Iron Blood battleship laying so that their faces were at the same height as they slept.

She was tempted to close her eyes and join her lover, more than thankful that she had drank little enough to avoid a migraine like what most of her fellows must be dealing with at the moment, when she heard the nearby alarm clock go off. 

She was tempted to sit up and draw the luger she kept under her pillow and shoot it, only for a loud *CRASH* to echo through the room as the half-asleep form of Prinz Eugen slumped back down into the hold of Prince of Wales, pressing her bare back against Bismarck’s own as she tried to slip back into sleep after having thrown the clock across the room.

Bismarck sighed as she began the laborious task of extracting herself from Hood’s embrace, the battlecruiser more than determined to keep the warmth of her lover close and so she was putting up no small amount of resistance.

“Hood we have to get up. We have to help clean up the base.” She said as she struggled in vain against her lover's hold, the woman having seized onto her with a grip that would have made a boa constrictor proud.

“No…stay…warm…” Hood said or rather mumbled as she kept pulling Bismarck down everytime the battleship sat up, a fond smile crossing Bismarck’s face as she saw the sleepy pout that adorned Hood’s face, her blue eyes barely open enough to see her coupled with said pout making for an adorable image.

And then her situation got worse as Prinz Eugen rolled over to lay on top of her, burying her face into Bismarck’s chest as she did so, Prince of Wales following her a moment later as she threw her arms around Bismarck from the side that Prinz Eugen had been pressed against a moment earlier. 

“Stay…warm…pillows…'”She heard the Cruiser mumble into her chest before she sleepily lifted her head and placed a featherlight kiss against her lips before laying her head back down against Bismarck’s breasts and snuggling into them as she fell back asleep. 

Bismarck smiled at the kiss and sighed as the pleasurable sensation of her old friend and lover nuzzling her head against her breasts, she then turned her head to look at Prince of Wales before slowly moving her arm to place it around the woman and pull her closer, the battleship of Royal Navy smiling as she did so, leaning up to place a sleepy kiss on Bismarck’s cheek before laying her head down against her chest, her face lightly nuzzling Eugen’s hair. 

“Well…I guess I’m outvoted.” Bismarck said with a chuckle as she slowly moved the arm she had around Hood, the battlecruiser having seized onto it while trying to keep her lover in bed, and grabbed her phone before pulling Hood close with it, her head now pressed lightly to the side of her breast, as she began to type out a message to the Commander, informing her that she was pinned and needed backup if they wanted her help. 

While she laid there waiting for a reply she gently began to card her fingers through Hood’s hair, smiling at the pleased sigh that left her lover’s lips as she did so. Although she knew she should be out there helping direct her fellow Iron Blood in their clean up efforts, especially given that she was certain they were at least partially responsible for most of the empty bottles, cans, and steins that would be found scattered across the base. She couldn’t help but wish that she could be allowed to stay in bed just a little longer, and savor the sensations of those she loved cuddled up against her. 

She blinked as her phone went off, a message from the Commander claiming that she was sending in reinforcements and to hold tight. Idly she wondered just who Azalea was sending to help bail her out of this very comfortable prison, and just what they were going to do to help her out. While she would welcome any help, she had learned long ago that some people should never be told to wake someone up.

She was one of many who derived no small amount of pleasure from the sight of Albacore pinned under Anchorage and unable to get free. She still owed the sub and Abercrombie for that matter for waking her and Tirpitz up with a bucket of ice water once upon a time. That the two had lived was more due to her not wanting to tell Hood she killed the monitor and likewise not wanting to have to explain murdering one of the Eagle Unions submarines to Saratoga. It didn’t stop her from giving the two a crash course in impromptu dodging practice though. 

She was shaken from her thoughts when she heard her door open and the pitter-patter of small feet as the humming voice of the ‘Parzival of The Seas’ U-556 slipped into her suite. The sound of wheels and the smell of food telling her all she needed to know, and making her smile wider as she heard grumbling as her sleeping beauties began to wake up to the smell of breakfast.

“Lord Mutter Bismarck, I have come to save you! Lady Mutter Hood! Lady Mutter Eugen! Lady Mutter Wales! I have brought breakfast!” The submarine chimed as she knocked at the bedroom door, the young girl continuing her knocking for several minutes making Bismarck smile at her adopted daughter, the girl was the best and she would fight anyone who said otherwise. She was certain they both heard the grumbling of her lovers as they tried to go back to sleep, pulling pillows and covers over their heads as they did so, making Bismarck chuckle at the sight.

“I guess I have no choice. They’re all yours!” For a moment Bismarck dreaded the sight of Abercrombie or some other mischievous member of the fleet opening the door to her room, instead she was greeted to the sight of King George V striding into her room.

The woman took a look at the scene in front of her and seemed to be holding back her laughter, a battle she lost when Bismarck looked at her and mouthed ’help me’ prompting the battleship to double over chuckling as she looked over her shoulder and told the giggling submarine-

“Go wait at the table U we’ll be there in a few minutes.” The submarine brightened at the affectionate nickname, giving the battleship's waist a quick embrace before she began to walk towards the table. 

“Okay Lord Mutter George!” The ever cheerful submarine chirped as she padded over to the table to start sorting out everyone’s plates, not seeing the flush and radiant smile that had formed on King George’s face at being called mother or mamma by the young girl. 

With that same smile on her face King George rolled up her sleeves and began the lengthy process of coaxing her sister and her lovers out of bed, rolling her eyes as she had to almost drag Wales out of the bed and to the shower, the threat of her turning it on and tossing her in there was more than likely just a joke but the sleeping battleship was not about to take that risk and sleepily stood up, glaring at her sister all the while. 

Bismarck had to call on all of her discipline to not start laughing at the sight of King George entering into a form of tug of war with Hood, the battlecruiser clinging tightly to her arm to the point that she was worried she would be dragged out of the bed as well. But the sight of Hood sleepily pouting as she clung to her arm and George digging her heels into the floor to pull her was enough to make Bismarck lose the battle with her laughter, the sound prompting Eugen to lift up her head and blink at the scene in front of her before she broke down laughing as well.

Eugen grabbed Bismarck’s phone and began to record the show as she fought through her laughter to keep the phone steady, rolling over to Bismarck’s side so as to not be dragged off the bed with her lover if she was pulled out of it. 

“Hood let go!” King George growled as she pulled with as much effort as she could, but the battlecruiser wasn’t letting go, a sleepy ‘No’ her only response as she clung onto Bismarck’s arm tighter, even attempting to climb her way up it at one point only to realize that George had more leverage with only one hand holding onto the arm and so she abandoned the strategy quickly opting for a war of attrition instead.

“Hood, you're going to pull my arm out of its socket!” Bismarck said amidst her laughter as she tried to pull her arm out of Hood’s grip, to no real avail. 

“Biscuit, stop pulling her towards you!” George strained out as she pulled with all of her not inconsiderable might, part of her wanted to be amazed at Hood’s strength and at the strength of Bismarck’s arm to not be ripped out of it’s socket, but the majority of her was getting exasperated with the antics of her fellow royal quickly. 

“I’m not pulling her towards me, I’m pulling my arm away from her!” Bismarck called back to the battleship as she had shifted to having her back to the edge of the bed, Eugen having moved to lay at the foot of the bed with the phone still recording.

“Well it sure looks to me like you’re pulling her to you, and it damn well feels like it too!” George said as she pulled harder and harder still, slight grooves wearing into the floor.

“It’s not my fault Hood is impersonating a Koala today okay! Eugen stop recording and help me out here!” Bismarck said as she pulled with all of her might, her upper body now hovering over the edge of the bed as she pulled and pulled with all she had.

Amidst the cackles shaking her frame Eugen swore she knew what was about to happen as-

Hood’s grip slackened for a moment as she yawned, unconsciously raising her hand to her mouth and-

‘Oh Shit/Schiße’ was the shared thought of the two battleships as Hood was removed from Bismarck’s arm, and the law of motion took over.

Hood and George were sent sprawling backwards knocking into Prince of Wales who had been watching the show while brushing her teeth, she was certain that everyone had spare toothbrushes and other items in everyone's rooms by this point, leading to all three of them being sprawled on the floor. Bismarck joined them on the floor, although hers was in the bedroom as opposed to the bathroom, as she went over the edge of her bed from the sudden lack of pull keeping her up on it.

“Lord Mutter Bismarck! Should I call Vestal and Akashi?” U-556 asked from the kitchen.

Bismarck’s reply of ‘No’ was almost drowned out amidst Eugen’s howling laughter.

It was almost 30 minutes later that a much more presentable group left the showers, got dressed, and went to the dining room. King George having stood watch over her merry band of misfits to ensure that things didn’t get too heated in the shower, although that didn’t stop Eugen from teasing her. The cruiser claiming that she felt ‘ So Hot’ as she touched herself looking at the battleship was enough to give the battleship a wicked idea to help her cool off.

 The cruiser’s shriek upon feeling a glass of cold water hit her was music to her ears, the others had seen what the battleship was doing and moved out of the way with smiles on their faces.

King George’s question of “Did that help?” had all of them in stitches.

U-556 sat at the dining table with her feet swinging under her chair, her plate long emptied in front of her while everyone else's plates sat at the other places along the table, Hood and Bismarck’s were closest to her however. The submarine was reading a small book with a smile on her face, the occasional giggle or gasp that left her lips showing how much she was enjoying her new story. 

As the group sat down and began to eat U-556 lifted up her head and blinked.

“Wha-When did you all get here?!” The submarine asked as she sat down her book, her comment making those present chuckles as Bismarck ruffled her hair, Hood following up the moment the battleship lifted her hand. 

“About a minute ago my dear. You really must be enjoying that book. I am glad that you have started reading, although I wish you would pay attention to your surroundings a bit more.” Bismarck said as she looked at the rather large copy of “ The Lord of The Rings ,” a gift to the young submarine from Tirpitz that the submarine had already finished almost half of, granted it had taken her a while but given the sheer size of the book it was a commendable feet altogether. 

“I will endeavor to work on my senses while reading Lord Mutter Bismarck!” The submarine said with a salute at the end. Her antics making those present coo at the adorable U-boat. 

“Oh! That reminds me,” U-556 began as she reached into her pocket and began to rummage around for several moments before pulling out a letter and setting it down next to Bismarck.

“We were able to complete the mission you assigned us a couple of hours ago Mutter, Z2 and Z23  have finished their report from the information the Sirens gave us,” The submarine said cheerfully as Bismarck patted her head once again as she sat the letter aside until she had finished eating. 

“Thank you my dear, if you are still hungry I think there is some left or you can have anything from the fridge.” Bismarck said as she saw the U-Boat smile before she leaned in close to her, resting her head against her mother’s side and wrapping her arms around her in an embrace which Bismarck returned with one arm, a smile crossing the battleship's face at the action.

“I’m alright mutter,” The submarine said before she let go of Bismarck and leaned in to hug Hood who happily returned the embrace with both arms, going so far as to pull the submarine onto her lap, the women giggling at the action as U-556 tilted her head back to look into her mama’s eyes smiling as she cheerfully said ‘Hi’ with Hood responding in kind a moment later.

The rest of breakfast, at least for the four love birds and smiling King George, was composed of similar antics with the Submarine going around and hugging each of them and sitting in their laps for a few moments before moving on in a rather adorable game of musical chairs as the women tried to keep her on their laps.

The game continued until, having finished eating, Eugen seized an opportunity to wrap both arms around the submarine and plant her head atop the younger girls. The sight making those present chuckle as U-556 blinked for a moment before giving in and leaning back to cuddle with Eugen, Wales leaning over to throw an arm around her wife a moment later as well once she finished eating. 

Smiling at the sight in front of her Bismarck eyed the letter that sat beside her, her smile slipping for a moment into a thin line as she thought about the contents of the report before she decided to wait a bit longer to read it.

 At least until her daughter wasn’t around in case her temper boiled over at what she read.

It was almost 45 minutes after they had finished eating that King George had saw the way the little U-Boat was fading into and out of consciousness and smiled as she lifted the girl up and, after giving each one of the ladies present a kiss, and in the case of Bismarck notifying her that she owed her one now, and took the young submarine to her room where she could take a nap before they went out to see what they could do to help, assuming cleaning wasn’t finished already. 

Bismarck lifted the letter and moved to sit down on the couch in her living room, Hood sitting on top of her lap and Wales and Eugen on either side of her with their arms around her a slight apprehensive look in their eyes as they eyed the letter that contained the folded report of both Siren and Kansen. 

She was confident that the other fleet leaders would receive similar ones from either her U-Boats or from their own scouts and so she saw no reason to wait to read the report. Her eyes quickly scanned over the contents of the letter, her lips thinning for a moment before her expression softened once again as she let out a relieved sigh as she finished the report. 

“Well it could be better, but it could also be worse.” Bismarck said as she leaned her head against Hood’s with a relieved smile on her face as she sat the report down on the table in front of her.

“I’m just glad they were able to nip it in the bud before it became a major concern.” Wales said as she relaxed her head against Bismarck’ own with a soft smile on her face as she threw her arm around her fellow battleships shoulders.

“Agreed,” was the simple response of the Lord of Iron Blood as she let out a content sigh, deciding to savor the sensation of being with her lovers a bit longer before she began to stand up, Hood slipping off of her lap and helping Eugen and Wales up as the Iron Blood battleship stood up.

“I am a little concerned that there was another outbreak so quickly after the last one, and in the same region, at that. I know the infrastructure being damaged as badly as it is in some areas makes it easier to happen, contamination and all that, but I thought the Sirens were on top of this matter?” Hood said as she absently looked over the report once more.

“They are,” Eugen began as she stretched, purposefully making the movements more sensual then they normally would be, prompting a lust darkened look from her lovers, Wales in particular was biting her lip. 

“However they are spread a little thin given that they are still re-activating their more damaged fellows. Observer Alpha says they’ll need a month or so before they have their full force ready and then we shouldn't have to worry about any more outbreaks or issues with reconstruction in general.” Eugen said with a sigh at the end as she finished her stretching, smirking as Wales all but pounced on her, Hood wrapping her arms around her from behind to keep the two from sprawling on the floor.

Bismarck sighed as she looked towards the ceiling in silent prayer for a moment before she stepped forward and pulled the two apart. 

“Alright ladies, keep it in your pants until we have made certain the base isn’t totalled…again.” Bismarck sighed at the end, her mind flashing back to what seemed to be the predertimed aftermath of every party they had on the base.

She just hoped no one had decided to try flying their ship form again. She really should have made certain that someone responsible was there with the destroyers and young ones when they saw that movie. Although she still wanted to know how the Mutsuki class leader had gotten a cigar, and why she was talking about ‘plans coming together.’

She shook her head from her thoughts as she began the process of all but frog marching the two love birds out to go look over the base, a silent favor in her eyes as she looked at Hood who simply smiled and nodded as she lifted the report into her hands and walked over to the study to deal with the report.

A few moments later she was walking out the door after her lovers with a smile on her face.

—-----------------------------------------Line Break—-—--—-—-—-----------------------------

While it was true that the Sirens were of artificial nature, and indeed in their combat chassis lacked the ability to register pain, exhaustion, pleasure, or indeed most physical sensations aside from the recognition of damage having occurred to their shells. That was only really true for the aforementioned combat chassis, it was not true for their leisure chassis. 

The ability of the Sirens to control multiple bodies was something that they adored being able to abuse. Commanding a chassis that was fighting on the front lines against their enemy, while at the same time controlling a body that had been engineered as a bio-mechanical chassis that, while near useless in battle, could indulge in the pleasures of life and be there to cater to their Commander was something that they took great pride in, and was indeed something of a sort of bragging rights amidst their fellows. 

The more powerful and intelligent of their fellows were able to command upwards of a dozen spare bodies of varying kinds, from their normal chassis to modified and experimental chassis, to give the appearance and firepower of an entire fleet under the mind of a single entity, something that Tester had used liberally during the war. The Arbiter’s were able to command entire fleets worht of specially designed offensive chassis and control near garrison amounts of leisure chassis with almost no effort. 

Observer Alpha was likewise fond of using the skill but for reasons other than one would expect, as while she would control chassis, some of which so heavily modified they appeared more mechanical monsters than Siren, to fight when necessary, her skill at doing so allowing for near 2 fleets worth of firepower to be deployed at once. She preferred to use a single chassis in battle while using her other chassis as scientists and researchers, each one conducting their own experiments and gathering their own data to further said experiments. 

Purifier herself was something of an anomaly amongst her fellows as she tended to have difficulty controlling multiple bodies, typically preferring to use only a single body and have the others in rest mode or undergoing upgrades while she went about her business with her main body. This was not due to a lack of intelligence on her part, but rather the fact that her main body had been so heavily modified and upgraded over the course of their struggle against that void-born scourge that she could probably go round for round with at least two entire fleets at once. Despite this difficulty at controlling multiple odies, it was worth noting that she was still treated with a great deal of respect by her fellows, partly due to her being one of the oldest of their number, and partially because they knew that she didn’t need multiple bodies to fight and win. 

All of this had been somewhat difficult for their newfound (was it really newfound by this point?) allies to comprehend but in the end they had been able to adequately explain their nature and the nature of their bodies to their fellows. Granted the looks of sheer confusion and dumbfounded surprise on their faces had become some of the most widely viewed images on the entire network, the Sirens explaining this to them had to struggle to concentrate as the entire network was filled with laughter at the sight of the faces of dumbfounded Kansen and Ashes. 

Perhaps it was the revelation of the Sirens having bodies near perfectly created to feel the pleasures of life,or maybe the stress of fighting a near continent sized… thing , perhaps it was the bond that had formed over the course of said fight and the struggles that came with it, or maybe it was just plain curiosity that had driven some of the Kansen to approach the Sirens and some of the Sirens to approach the Kansen for comfort.

Regardless it had been an…interesting experience to say the least for all involved parties. One that they were very keen to relive as many times as they could.  

The first two to seek out each other claimed they had done so as part of an experiment. Although perhaps the lingering touches and the way that when they had still been foes they had endeavored to not fire at each other and had displayed more than a little anger upon seeing the other hurt said something different, something that spoke of a far closer bond than a mere science experiment. 

These were the memories and thoughts that traveled through the mind of the Siren known as Observer Alpha as she floated in the air, her eyes scanning the wall of monitors in front of her as she directed several of her modified bodies to assist in the clean up, chucking as one of them pulled a thoroughly sloshed Wichita from under one of the tables in the cafeteria, the Eagle Union woman clad in nothing but her birthday suit, and opened a ‘tear’ to the aforementioned faction dorm to carry the woman through. 

A pleased sigh and moan from behind her prompted the Siren warlord to direct the majority of her attention to the leisure chassis she tended to use as her main body, and turn to look at her lover, a smile crossing her face as she saw Yuubari sit up on the massive circular bed that occupied the center of her room. 

Her smile widened as the Sakura Empire light cruiser got off the bed to walk towards her, wincing slightly with each step as she groaned at the soreness of her body, the cruiser shooting a faux glare at the chuckling Siren who merely sent out her tentacles to lift the woman up and onto her lap. 

“Good morning dear,” Observer said as she pulled the cruiser closer, feeling the way the woman’s tail twitched at the affectionate name, the fluffy warmth wrapping around her waist made her smile widen as she leaned in and placed a gentle kiss to Yuubar’s cheek.

“Don’t good morning me,” Yuubari said as she unconsciously nuzzled closer to the Siren, her ears twitching as her lover chuckled before she wrapped one arm around her to pull her close and used the other to softly pat her head. The cruiser let out a low purr as she nuzzled into the Siren’s neck, the pleasant scent of the ocean and of the previous night's activities helping her relax as she did so. 

“Oh, why ever not?” Observer asked with a teasing smirk on her face as she commanded her tentacles to wrap around the two of them, mentally activating a heating module she had installed in them, turning the cocoon of biomechanical tentacles into a cocoon of warmth as she did so.

Yuubari grumbled something under her breath as she reached out her arms as if she was to receive something, the sight prompting a chuckle to leave the Siren’s lips as she called forth another tentacle for her lover to pull into her arms, the pleasant warmth of it and the surprisingly smooth and silken texture making it feel more like a blanket than a tentacle. 

“You’re the reason I’m so sore,” Yuubari grumbled as she unconsciously placed her lips to the tentacle, smirking at the sudden hiss that left the Siren Warlord’s lips and chuckling at the grumble of ‘minx’ that left the Siren’s lips as she tightened her hold on her.

“I don’t recall being the one asking for more and more last night. Not that I’m complaining of course.” Observer couldn’t help but tease the now cutely pouting woman in her arms, her smile softening as the woman nuzzled closer to her. Perhaps she had been a little too rough last night, and maybe she should have not let her lover convince her to go wild with her tentacles. 

“Of course I could always get you something for-” She was cut off by the warmth of lips on her own, her mind faintly registering a slightly salty taste on them that she knew from past experiences to be her own, as the light cruiser reached up with one arm to pull her down and deepen the kiss. 

After several moments of their tongues dueling for dominance and neither truly prevailing, Yuubari pulled back with a deep breath, her eyes now glinting darkly in the faint light of the monitors that slipped through the small spaces between the tentacles.

“ I know that look in your eyes,” Yuubari said as she leaned up to place their foreheads together, their eyes locking as the experimental cruiser held her close. “Don’t you dare start doubting yourself. Last night was fucking amazing and I would love to do it again when we get the chance. Besides, we both know I know my own limits and so do you for that matter so no more feeling guilty for me being a little sore.” The light cruiser said as she laid another tender kiss on the Siren’s lips before nuzzling her neck.

Observer was silent for a moment before she chuckled and called forth more tentacles to wrap around the two of them as she turned her attention back to the screen, idly registering a slight stinging sensation in her eyes as she felt a few tears gather in her eyes. Once more she questioned why she had given this body that function but, every time she saw the way Yuubari’s expression would soften and her eyes brighten at the tears of joy that leaked from her eyes, she knew why. 

With a sigh she reached up to wipe them away as she returned her full attention to micro-managing her other bodies which had been operating in a manner similar to Pawns without her focusing on them, merely following their pre-assigned directive of cleaning without doing much else. Their cleaning efforts during this time were…well to be kind, clumsy , but with her directing them she was certain she could finish the pier at least before the commander got to her office.

Now she just had to figure out what to do with the ‘pocket’ full of empty bottles and cans.

—-----------------------------------------Line Break—-—--—-—-—-----------------------------

While many of their fellows enjoyed tender moments with their lovers or pondered the circumstances behind their relationships, many other Kansen, Ashes, and Sirens were hard at work cleaning and repairing the base. 

So far the worst of the damage they had come across that the Sirens had not already repaired were a couple of broken hydrants which had flooded one of the streets and a few damaged store fronts that had not yet been repaired. 

However it was quickly becoming apparent that repairing the base may be the least of their issues compared to finding all of their passed out comrades. While the Sirens had tried to keep an eye on everyone and the girls' respective factions had likewise attempted to keep them from wandering off, it was quite clear after Observer Alpha found Wichita and Tennessee found Gangut passed out under the drinking competition table, that they may have missed a few of them.

And then there were the clothes. As Littorio had overheard the howling form of Purifier question as she pulled a bra down from one of the street lamps near the Sardegna dorms, she tossed it into a ‘Pocket’ to go along with the other clothes she had found on her route. 

“You would swear half these girls were nudists at this rate,” The Siren said as she chuckled, wondering just what she was going to do with the clothes in question. Maybe she could give them to Akashi and Shiranui as a thank you for one hell of a good night, and let them sell them back to their original owners.

She laughed as the image of the two merchants being chased by their angry fellows entered her mind, before dismissing the thought. She could find another way to thank them before she-

Purifier blinked at what was in front of her.

Her lips twitched as she activated a recording feature in her eyes.

She lost the battle with her laughter a moment later and had to physically force herself to stand at the scene in front of her. 

“Very funny,” Began Cleveland, a glare in her eyes as she sat at the cafe table with her sister still holding her tight. She had not been able to break the woman’s grip and had actually fallen asleep at one point in the night, the pleasant warmth of her sister’s body and the slight cool of the air making it actually rather comfortable for her. She had long mastered the art of blocking out the noises of her friends and comrades so she could focus on her own work, and so her sleep had come surprisingly easy.

The problem was that she had woken up with the need to go to the bathroom and the sound of someone chuckling before they ran off. 

The reason for the chuckles?

Well…

Purifier could feel many of her fellows linking their vision to hers and was certain that they shared in her laughter at the sight that greeted them.

There sat Cleveland, the ‘Knight of The Seas’, with face paint on that made her look like the love child of a panda and a raccoon, a pandacoon if you will, the black circles around her eyes did make her glare somewhat more impressive to the Siren, but not near enough to stop her laughing. 

She heard footsteps behind her followed by a question of-

“What are yo- AHAHAHAHAHAHA” Helena META broke down laughing at the scene that greeted her, Helena joining her twin a moment later while Biloxi, blessed and wonderful Biloxi strode towards her sister and began to help her out from her predicament even as she chuckled. A moment later Cleveland was free to bolt to a nearby restroom, and wash the face paint off, and Montepilier had latched onto her instead. The taller cruiser sighing as she turned to Purifier to ask-

A ‘Tear’ opened as soon as she met the Siren’s eyes, the cruiser giving a nod of thanks before she left to put her sister into a proper bed. 

Deciding to be a little nicer to the light cruiser who had tried to become a pandacoon, Purifier waited for her to exit the bathroom, her face scrubbed clean of makeup, and then let her go through the portal to get some rest in a proper bed as well. 

Purifier kept chuckling for a moment longer before she reigned herself in and closed the ‘Tear’, and then turned to address the META behind her. 

“So, anything to report in the forest?” The Siren asked as she began to continue her route, the Kansen and META following her a moment later after they had collected themselves. 

“Nothing really,” Helena META began, “we found a couple of the girls passed out on the edges of it, Prinz Heinrich and Aalbert in particular were almost halfway across the island. We don’t know just what happened but the two of them seemed to have decided to take a break from their race and fell asleep in a clearing. Magdeburg was with them so we can call off the search for her.” 

Purifier couldn’t have stopped herself from asking what she did next if she had tried, she really couldn’t have. 

“Did you make sure they got a bath? Last thing we need are lice and fleas going around the base.” The Siren heard the META chuckle as Helena let out a laugh of her own. 

“I think I overheard Peter Strasser say something about tossing them into a bath when they got back to the dorms, but I don’t know if she-” The META paused as she heard her phone go off before she pulled it out and began to laugh at what she saw.

Purifier walked over to look at it before joining her a moment later with Helena joining them a second later at the sight that greeted her on the screen. 

There on the screen was a video of Peter Strasser and Webber, accompanied by Elbe, literally picking the pair of dirt streaked and twig and grass filled hair campers up and tossing them into the bathtub, the two campers letting out yowls similar to those of cats as they hit the water. They could hear Peter lecturing them about not getting mud and twigs in their beds and risking letting whatever else had crawled into their clothes or hair likewise get into said beds. The carriers then proceed to start scrubbing the two down, pulling twigs and grass from the two women’s hair as they did so. 

Purifier wondered who was filming until she heard the familiar voice of Scharnhorst all but cackling as the two cruisers suddenly pulled the still clothed carriers into the bathtub, the battleship seemed to have stopped recording because she dropped her phone due to laughing so hard at the screeches that left her fellows lips. 

Helena META took a deep breath as she steadied herself for a moment before putting away her phone. 

“Well,” She began, still chuckling, “I guess we know what happened to them.” She finished with a slight chuckle as she composed herself. 

“Honestly those two should have known what Peter would do if they tried to climb into bed like that,” Helena said as she shook her head in fond exasperation as she shook her head at her fellows antics.

For a moment there was nothing but a comfortable silence as the 3 women began to resume their clean up route, finding more clothes and bottles as they did so. They were silently grateful they didn’t find anymore of their passed out fellows, although they did spot some sleepily exiting building they had likely crashed in the night before, Purifier taking the time to open ‘Tears’ for each of them as they passed by with the women offering grateful smiles and nods as they entered them and headed back to their dorms.

By the time they had finished their rounds the sun was high overhead and only their fellows not out helping with cleanup were nursing anti-hangover drinks and a lot of Kansen strength tylenol as they tried to do something productive for the day.

As the last few bottles were tossed into ‘Pockets’ to be disposed of later, the last few broken chairs and tables were fixed, and the last couple of missing Kansen were found the Siren paused as she received a message from one of her superiors.

Purifier blinked at the transmission she had been sent across the network, for a moment she simply stood there before she began to chuckle as she headed to seek out the Commander, a confused META and Kansen following her before the Siren explained what she had been told. 

Her fellows joined her in smiling and chuckling a moment later, an unknown weight vanishing from their shoulders at the Siren’s words. 

“Observer Zero just relayed that the reconstruction efforts and repairs might be done much sooner than we thought. The Guards have begun to wake up.” The Siren couldn’t have stopped herself from smiling if she had wanted to, in her eyes this was further proof that their current path was the right one. Idly Purifier hoped that someone tried something again, the Guard were a special breed of monster, and she knew that once they saw the Commander they would not let anything get near her without answering to their guns.

Afterall, despite the differences, she was still an iteration of the woman who breathed life into them all those eons ago.

Chapter Text

Her eyes were closed as she contemplated what she was about to do.

She felt hands on her shoulder, an unspoken vow.

‘Whatever you choose, we’ll be with you’ They said.

She thought a moment longer before she opened her eyes.

Yellow and Purple stared back.

She nodded and stretched out her hands to seal the deal.

She only hoped it wasn’t a Faustrian one. 

Till seas Azur became as Crimson tides.

Gainst those whose voice did Odysseus endure did they fight. 

Gainst Ashes of flames to embers turned did they struggle. 

Till the sea did swirl and churn and all the Earth did burn.

Azalea sighed as she sat at her desk, the pleasant coolness of her chair helping the slight aches of her previous night escapades fade as she worked on some of her paperwork. While she lacked orders from her superiors and had not received much in the way of orders or directives from them to begin with following her appointment to her current position, she still had to manage the logistics of the base, primarily supplies and munitions, but even that paperwork was diminishing as the Sirens activated more and more of their previously slumbering manufactories. 

She sighed as she saw Akagi reach over and take another sheaf of paper, this one a patrol report regarding the situation in their nearby waters, which, thankfully appeared to be as calm as ever, and sit it down in the pile of completed paperwork. A pile which had been growing at a rather fast rate given that she had several helpers this time around.

She could still recall her earlier days at the base when the paperwork would pile up to the point her girls would have to peek around the sides of it to see her and not risk toppling the towering stacks of forms that needed to be filled out, her own short height not helping the problem at all. 

It was after a particularly hectic week of incidents, partly due to the Sirens and partly due to issues with supply lines somehow becoming more and more tangled each day, that she had finally crashed and burned as a result of her bad habit of pushing herself too far. She wasn’t even really certain what had happened that day, just that she had been signing a paper one moment and then her eyes got heavy and the world began to spin and then…

The next thing she knew she was waking up in the medical wing, a crowd of her girls surrounding her with tear filled eyes as they watched her with baited breath. She was thankful she was laying down as she was all but tackled in an embrace, each girl taking their moment embracing her as she was passed from one to the other. 

Vestal had her on strict bed rest for almost a week after that incident, despite her protests at the time, although she would happily admit that she had enjoyed having her girls pampering her, taking turns and shifts remaining by her side as they helped her with whatever she needed. 

She could still recall the way that she had blushed when Curacao and Curlew had taken to gently helping her into her bathtub despite her lack of a need for said help, the sheer adoration and glee on their faces when she had agreed to let them help her had been too much for her to refuse their offer. And truthfully she was glad to have help with dealing with the mess that her hair typically became when wet. 

She had enjoyed her week of having her girls tend to her, and had actually been more than a little sad about having to return to her daily work. Of course she really should have known that they would take steps to insure that nothing like her crash would happen again. 

She had returned to her office to find that it had undergone some… renovations while she had been gone. The office having been expanded to accommodate additional desks, an additional room having likewise been added to accommodate for a small but comfortable bed and bathroom combination. 

She was more than overjoyed at the sight and had made quite certain that her girls had known so, the praises she had laid on them and the embraces and kisses on their cheeks had been enough to reduce even Prinz Eugen to a blushing and stuttering mess for a moment. A sight she had immortalized in a picture, something she was certain most of the others who had seen had done as well. Prince of Wales in particular had enjoyed the sight greatly, and had not ceased teasing her lover about it to this day.

The sound of a tray being placed on her desk caused her to snap back to reality from her thoughts of the past. The warm scent of hot chocolate made her smile, while it was true she liked tea, especially in the morning as she had…issues with coffee, it had become widely known that her favorite drink was hot chocolate with marshmallows, something that Friedrich had just sat in front of her. 

She reached for it only to have the matriarch lightly smack her hand aside.

“It’s hot. Wait for it to cool down.” Friedrich said as she moved to pull up a chair and sit beside the Commander. The matriarch had to have her chairs specially made for her to sit in given her imposing form, the one she kept in the Commander’s office was a launch day present from her Iron Blood daughters and the commander, a sizeable red and black leather chair adorned with the Iron Blood symbols on the arm rest that was made not only to hold up her weight, but also move about on multiple wheels. 

The Iron Blood Matriarch had been overjoyed with her gift and had acted less like the matriarch she was and more like a child as she had spun around in the chair giggling with glee, she had enjoyed pulling each of her girls into her lap and spinning them around. The Commander had been unable to stop herself from nearly howling with laughter at the sight of Bismarck trying desperately to convince her mother to stop spinning her around like a top. 

She chuckled at the memory as she saw the Matriarch begin to start on helping with her paperwork. 

She waited for her drink to cool down and began to reach for another paper to fill out, she had barely glimpsed the title before-

The vision in her right eye became snowy as she let out a low curse before dropping the paper, not even bothering to read it as she brought her hand up to her eye and began to rub it. 

“My child? Is your eye acting up again?” Friedrich said as she moved over to stand by her side, her hands a comforting warmth on her shoulder as she reached over to take Azalea’s place in covering her eye, the Commander sighing in relief as the vision returned to normal.

“It was. It’s back to normal now.” Azalea said as she smiled at her mother, smiling as the matriarch lowered her hand to her cheek, tilting her head up to place a tender kiss to her lips with a loving smile on her face. 

“We really should get the Sirens to look at it, this is the second time this has happened.” Friedrich said, her lips pressed into a thin line as she ran her finger over the scar that ran across her daughter’s face and ran her finger over the now closed eye for a few moments, her eyes showing sorrow and guilt at the wound. 

Friedrich closed her yes for a moment before she placed her lips to the closed eye and pulled her child close, a tight embrace that lasted for a moment as she remembered-

The command bunker was in chaos.

Walls and ceilings collapsed, and several corridors were flooded even as fires began to burn along them.

She could see her children tearing the debris from their way, terror and pain on their faces as they searched for the one they loved. Their cries and calls echoing through the totalled halls.

She saw the pair of Observers, Alpha and Zero, their tendrils not but a blur as more and more formed from portals and rifts as they flung the debris into tears and pockets. 

She could see the debris vanishing as they managed to clear a path to the central control room.

Her blood ran cold at what she saw as she turned and screamed for a medic as she surged forwards at what she saw.

Her child was on her knees, blood trailing from between her fingers as she cupped the side of her face.  

A thin strip of flesh hung from between her fingers, and more blood trailed from multiple wounds that lined her body, more than likely caused from the debris or from the initial blow that the bunker had endured. 

She could see the broken chassis of the Sirens that had been assigned to stay with her child buried under the debris, Observer having relayed that they had pushed her out of the way of the collapsing wall before their chassis were destroyed and their consciousnesses were forced back into the network.

But none of that mattered to her, all that mattered was pulling her child into her arms, heedless of the blood soaking her clothing. 

“Mama...Is that you?” Azalea asked as she clung to the woman who held her.

“Yes, baby girl. Mama’s here. It’s all going to be okay.” She said as she held her close, waiting for the medics to arrive. 

She could feel the blood on her-

Azalea pulled her into a brief and loving kiss, the sudden sensation of her lips on her own and the warmth of her daughter’s hands on her cheeks enough to jolt her from her reverie. She could feel the sensation of arms and warm and fluffy tails wrap around her and knew that her girls were holding her. 

Azalea pulled back from the kiss only to have her place taken by Roon, her lips still tasting of the sugary confectionery she was so fond of,  and then her lips were claimed by each of her children in turn as they guided her back from those dark memories. 

“Where did you go mom?” Azalea asked as she laid her head against her chest, Friedrich resting her own atop it a moment later as she calmed her racing heart and held her child close. 

“The past, but I’m back now my dear.” Friedrich said as she pulled her child close, a smile crossing her face as she did so.

They stayed like that for several more moments, simply reveling in their shared embrace  and the comfort of one another's presence before they parted at the sound of knocking at the door. 

A collective sigh left the group as Azalea called out for whoever was at the door to come in as she moved to take a sip of her drink, the drink thankfully cool enough to not scald her tongue as she did so, a smile forming at both the taste of her favorite drink and the sight of Purifier opening the door, knocking on it all the while with a smile on her face.

“Purifier, knock it off before I knock your head off,” Roon said from where she was still clinging to her mother’s arm, enjoying the comforting warmth of her mother as she narrowed a glare at the Siren who simply smiled and waved in response.

“Okie Dokie, Mrs. Knives Go Pokie,” Purifier said in a sing-song voice as Roon simply blinked at her with a dumbfounded look on her face, an expression shared by Friedrich as Akagi, Junyou, and Taihou has started cackling at the sheer ridiculous nature of the name. Roon grumbling under her breath that the name made no sense before she buried her head in her mothers side, evidently giving up on the conversation.

The only reason that Azalea wasn’t laughing at the name was because she was too busy trying to not choke on her Hot Chocolate at the ridiculous name that Purifier had somehow managed to say with a completely straight face. The ever present and dutiful kunoichi known as Kirishima had leapt from her hiding place in the shadows to start patting her on the back to help her breath the moment she began to choke on said drink.

After several moments of patting her on the back, Azalea gave a nod to Kirishima as she was able to breathe once again. Holding back her laughter she looked at Purifier and decided to ask why the Siren was at her office attempting asassination via a comedy act.

“Not that I mind a bit of comedy but why are you here Purity,” Azalea asked as the Siren brightined at the nickname before she surged forward and wrapped her in her arms, spinning her around for a moment before she sat her down.

“I just got news that the first of the Guard class models has been fully repaired, and is ready to be re-activated within the next hour or so.” Purifier said as she turned about on her heel and opened a ‘Tear’.

“Come on, let’s go!” Purifier said as she began to pull the Commander to the tear, the woman rolling her eyes at the Siren’s antics before she turned to look at her girls.

“I guess I’m going on a trip, I’ll deal with the paperwork when I get back.” Azalea called out as Purifier pulled her through the ‘Tear’. The Siren poking her head through a moment later to look at the gathered Kansen as she spoke up again-

“Hey, any of you girls wanna come? Observer’s gonna broadcast the whole awakening, but if you want to see it in person you can come. We are inviting anyone that wants to come, so if you want to see something really incredible, I would suggest you hurry up.” The Siren said as she vanished through the portal. 

Friedrich smiled as she looked over her girls.

“If you girls want to go, Myself and Kirishima can continue with the paperwork.” The kunoichi nodded her head in silent agreement as her fellow Kansen looked at one another for a moment before they shared a silent agreement as they returned to their desks after giving Friedrich a hug.

“We’ll watch the broadcast Purifier!” Taihou yelled through the portal as she sat down at her desk and poured herself another glass of tea. 

“Okie Dokie!” The Siren called back through the rift before she closed it. 

At first one would be surprised to learn that the girls had not gone with their Commander, especially given their devotion to said woman, however they were more than confident in the Siren’s ability to protect their Commander. They knew full well that they would sooner scrap themselves while still alive and with their pain receptors turned to their maximum as opposed to allowing any harm to befall her, and besides they still had quite a bit of paperwork to get done, and it would have felt wrong leaving all of it to Friedrich and Kirishima. 

Smiling at her children Friedrich opened her mouth to thank them, only for Kirishima to call out to her, holding the paper the commander had been about to fill out in front of her.

Friedrich blinked as she took the paper and read over it.

Anger was something that Friedrich very rarely allowed herself to experience. Typically her self control allowed her to reign in her temper so that her children did not need to see their mother lose her composure amidst her rage.

Yet it was something that she sadly failed to reign in at times, her rage and fury overwhelming her at the sight of her beloved children being slain only to rise with no memories of her and their comrades love for them to the point that she would isolate herself in a Mirror Sea to tear apart expendable pawns and simulated enemies until her rage was spent. Afterwards, she would always pull her girls into a group cuddle as she regained her composure and grounded herself once more.

But anger was not what Friedrich felt as she held the report in her hands.

Rage was a much closer comparison to what she felt, or perhaps loathing was a more apt term for the feeling that swelled up within her at what she read.

For several moments she was still as she closed her eyes, concealing the rage darkened yellow from her children’s sight as she trembled for several moments as she reigned in herself.

Her children looked at her in worry as they slowly approached her, gently placing their arms around her as they tried to help her ground herself. The matriarch smiled as she slowly handed the paper back to Kirishima and knelt down to throw her arms around her girls and pull them close.

“Do you require a simulation?” A voice filled the office as a ‘Tear’ opened, the form of Observer Zero stepping through.

“I do not think so my dear. Although I may take you up on that offer in a little bit.” Friedrich said as opened her eyes to give the Siren Leader a thankful gaze, the sapphire eyed woman nodding in response as she walked over to Kirishima and took the paper from her.

“We will deal with this, it should make for an excellent warmup for our sister.” The Siren leader said, not even bothering to look at the paper. It would be redundant for her to do so after all.

“Thank you Observer. I look forward to seeing just what one of these fabled ‘Guard’ class fighters can do.” Friedrich said as she absently played with Taihou’s hair, trying to distract herself with ideas of styling it in varying ways as she felt the members of her rage begin to dim.

“You are welcome, Friedrich. The activation process will begin in less than an hour so I would suggest tuning into the links I have sent to your emails. It should be a most fascinating sight.” The Siren leader finished with a smile as she turned and strode through the tear, her sapphire eyes alight with a gleam of joy at the prospect of seeing one of her oldest friends restored to life. 

Friedrich smiled as she gave her girls one last squeeze before she walked over to her computer and opened her emails, smiling at the email with the attached link, she could tell that it was sent by Observer Alpha given the formal and polite way it was written.

Greetings Friends and Comrades. 

It is with great joy that I announce that today one of the first of our number will awaken from their long slumber and rejoin us in our service to the creator. A link will be attached to this email to allow for all of those who have chosen to not be present at the Awakening Site to view the process of our comrades return to this world. 

Sincerely - Observer Alpha 

Friedrich clicked the attached link and beckoned for her children to sit with her, a little break wouldn’t hurt after all.

–—----------------------------------------------Line Break---------------------------------------------------

The first thing that greeted Azalea after she had stepped through the ‘Tear’ was the sensation of slipping into cool water, a vague sense of weightlessness accompanying it as though a hard enough push and motion of her arms would allow for her to swim through the very air of the base. 

The cool liquid-like sensation against her skin was somewhat of a paradoxical sensation given the lack of dampness on her clothes and the ease with which she was able to breathe and speak, the liquid either oxygenated or seemingly able to choose to avoid entering her lungs.

It was an even more confusing feeling given that the machines within the base operated with no difficulty at all despite the liquid being present, given the hum of machines that filled the halls like the steady thrum of some colossal heart and the nearby terminals that cast their faint light against the darkness that otherwise dominated this portion of the fortress. 

For a moment Azalea wanted to try and contemplate if the liquid-like sensation was just that, a sensation brought about either by some hidden device within the deepest reaches of the fortress, perhaps as some method of allowing for ease of movement of materials and machines given its apparent effect on gravity. Or if it was some form of preservative liquid that was oxygenated to allow for breathing of visitors, as the Sirens would have no need for it to be breathable, and was used to maintain the base so that the Siren’s could devote themselves to more essential tasks. 

The sensation of a slightly cool hand on her shoulder made her jolt for a moment as she shook herself from her musings, turning her head to meet the confused expression of Purifier.

“You okay?” The Siren asked as her yellow eyes gleamed for a moment, prior experience telling Azalea that the Siren was running a scan of her body to make sure there were no issues regarding her health.

Azalea rolled her eyes for a moment as she heard Purifier mumble something under her breath before she was able to speak up, her own words snapping the Siren out of her own reverie regarding the results of her scan.

“I’m fine,” There was that strange sensation of liquid being in her mouth, filling it every time it was opened and yet there was no instinctive reaction to swallow it to avoid drowning, and even if she did swallow it she knew that at most she would taste something akin to a slightly salty blueberry and not suffer the burning pain of water filling her lungs. She had to shake herself from falling back into her pondering over the nature of the strange fluid as she continued.

“Just still a little confused about the whole…” Here she stretched out her arms and jumped, lightly kicking her feet as she floated above the ground as though she were floating on the surface of a pool. 

Purifier laughed for a moment as Azalea pushed herself down with her arms until she was once more standing on the ground. Azalea took a step forward and was once more almost pushed to ruminate on the strange liquid as she felt no impediment on her walking speed, none of the difficulty of wading through water or gel hindering her as she took several steps forwards and backwards, Purifier chuckling at the sight as her laughter was almost renewed until she reigned herself in.

“You want my advice? Don’t think too hard on it,” Purifier began as she walked over to the Commander, “Honestly even I can’t really explain it, and I have the whole Network at my disposal. You’d probably be better off grilling Observer Alpha or one of the Arbiters about it, they’d be happy to answer ya know?” The Siren finished as she took Azalea’s hand in her own and began to guide her down the dim hallways, a smile crossing her face when she felt the Commander squeeze her hand as she moved to stand by her side, keeping their hands together all the while. 

Azalea contemplated doing just what Purifier had suggested for a moment before she shook her head, she was no scientist and even if she was she had more than a little certainty that she would be unable to understand it anyways. 

She couldn’t stop herself from smiling however as Purifier decided to fill the silence of their travel through the halls with a recounting of her fellows antics and the minor incidents that had occured as they hurried to get everything ready for today, she had to fight the urge to chuckle at the childlike glee in the Siren’s voice as she spoke. 

She kept listening to her escort’s stories even as she looked over the fortress once more, her gaze traveling along the corridor that stretched out before them like the great halls of Moria from the works of Tolkein, a ceiling so high as to be hidden in shadows and gloom, and walls so far away that one would not be remiss in thinking they were not there at all were it not for the occasional terminal casting it’s faint light marking entranceways to what she suspected were either store rooms or other corridors of the base. 

Of course she knew that the best had yet to come as this was merely the least traveled part of the Siren’s base, a place that the Siren’s had taken to using as her entranceway when she visited so as to avoid being swarmed by so many of their fellows that they would be unable to move until someone dispersed the crowd. 

She was still more than a little surprised that no one had caught on to them using this maintenance corridor, storage corridor, or whatever it truly was as their method of traveling within the base, but she suspected that the Observers and Arbiters were running counter intelligence everytime they used it to prevent the secret from spilling. 

Honestly she found the entire situation regarding her having to use these passageways amusing, although she did understand the reasoning behind doing so given that the last time they had accidentally opened a ‘Tear’ in a more populated part of the base they had been dogpiled by ‘Young Codes’ and even normal Sirens as soon as they had stopped through the portal. 

The startled yelp that left Tester’s lips would never cease to make her chuckle when she remembered it.

She was shaken from her reverie when she heard Purifier chime up that they were approaching one of the lifts.

The white disk seemed to glow in the darkness of the corridor, a dull off-white light that was accompanied by a faint sound, akin to the gentle lapping of waves and the steady thrum of a heart as it was remotely activated by Purifier, the Siren finishing the process at the terminal a moment later.

Azalea sighed as she stood in the center of the lift, her gaze traveling up into the stygian blackness that loomed above them as far as she could see, a blackness broken only by faint intermittent lights of what must have been other stops for the lift, and beyond those lights was nothing but further darkness.

“Purity,” She began as she saw the Siren fiddle with the console a bit more before she moved to join her, the Siren beaming at the nickname.

“Yeah?” She began, although the faint glint of amusement in her eyes let azalea know that she already knew what she was about to ask, it wasn;t the first time she had done so after all. 

“Couldn’t you just open a ‘Tear’ or carry me up there while you fly?” Azalea asked with a near pleading tone. She didn’t care much for elevators, the feeling of the floor dropping out from under her, the knowledge that she could be stuck in a glorified moving coffin, and her own innate loathing of being forced to be close to those who were not dear to her making for a rather solid argument for her to avoid them in her eyes. While true the Siren lifts were much different that a normal elevator, the sentiment remained the same with the exception of knowing she wouldn’t be stuck long or be with people she wished had remembered to bathe that morning. 

Besides, stairs were healthier and oftentimes she could actually get there before the elevator could if she moved fast enough and the look in Purifier’s eyes told her all she needed to know.

“Sorry boss ma’am,” Azalea knew she wasn;t sorry at all, the look in her eyes said that much, although she was curious as to what excuse she woul- “But I owe you for the ice cream.” She finished with a vindictive gleam in her eyes that made the Commander gape for a moment.

“Ice Cream? You mean from LAST WEEK!? THAT ICE CREAM?!” She had honestly not known it was Purifiers, she had thought it was Denver’s at the time and the woman had given her permission to eat it since she wasn’t going to finish it. It turned out that Denver and Purifier shared a taste in ice cream, Rocky Road to be exact. Just how the Siren digested the ice cream or if it was somehow atomized in whatever amount to a ‘Leisure Chassis’ stomach was something that had left her baffled for many nights before and after that day, the answer still eluded her to this day. 

She had gotten Purifier another carton as recompense but it would seem she had forgotten just how much of a grudge the Siren could hold. 

“Yep!” Said Siren happily chirped. “I know you got me more, but I can’t let people start thinking that it’s okay to steal my sweets from me. Ya know?” 

‘ No I damn well don’t know you sexualized tin can with a wig! ’ Azalea yelled in her mind as she opened her mouth to continue her argument before the lift began to move upwards, slow at first and then-

“Fuck you Purifier! FUCK YO-” Her yell was cut off as the lift began to move, the other stops becoming little but a blur as Azalea nearly fell to her knees at the sudden increase in speed. 

“I’d love it if you did! You wanna top or should I?” The Siren said as she withstood the G-Force with no problems, her words loud enough for the Commander to hear as she sat down next to her to whisper them into her ear.

She was treated to the amusing sight of someone managing to mix embarrassment, anger, and shock, all combined with a truly piercing glare that briefly made the Siren feel as if she was a ‘Young Code’ standing before Observer Alpha for the first time after doing something wrong. 

Needless to say Purifier very much enjoyed the sight and was very keen on making good on the Commander’s promise, even if she didn’t mean for it to be one. Afterall, who was she to turn down a tumble in the hay with someone like her Commander. 

–—----------------------------------------------Line Break---------------------------------------------------

Anchorage was having the time of her life. Her sisters by her side and her little friends all around her, gasping and cheering at the sights that greeted them within the fortress that the Sirens called their main base. 

They had only arrived a few minutes ago, with Albacore having to be pulled from the sleeping Heavy Cruiser’s grip by the combined might of Tennessee, California, Washington, and North Carolina so that they could actually get ready to go once the email had been received by everyone. 

  While Anchorage had been a little upset at having her sleep interrupted, she was having a pleasant dream involving bunnies and ice cream and she really wanted to enjoy it a bit longer, she was more than pacified when she was told she was going to visit her Siren friends. 

And so after being dressed up by Yorktown and Baltimore, she was happily joining her little friends with a smile on her face as she was pulled along in the throng of Destroyers and younger Kansen as they entered the ‘Tear’ that had been opened by the Hulking form of an Oceana class Siren.

At first they had all expected cold and unfeeling nature that was present in all of the bases the Sirens had constructed throughout the war, with the exception of the Sanctum, and were given more than a little shock at what they saw instead, even those who had been to the base before were once more stunned by the sheer sight of what lay before them.

The first thing that greeted them was the light glow that came from what could best be described as immense pillars of solidified light that rose high into what appeared more a sky than a ceiling, the roof of the chamber they stood within so high above them that even as they craned their necks as far as they could they were unable to make out more than the dim glow rising into what appeared to be infinity. 

These great pillars were not just of solidified light however, each appeared to contain great colorful coral reefs that bustled with a myriad of aquatic lifeforms, some which many of the Kansen present could swear had gone extinct long ago. The pillars connected to a floor of likewise solid light, beneath which stretched an enormous central reef, the ones within the pillars appearing to be little but pieces of this far larger reef. 

In some areas great pits and ravines seemed to have been carved in the earth below the light barriers to allow for more space for larger and more ancient marine life forms to thrive, creatures that even the most unknowing of marine life would be able to say had died out long long before man had even begun to dream of walking the Earth and yet here they swam as if their age had never ended. Forever enshrined in the halls of those who had devoted themselves to ensuring their world would have a history for these great beasts to be remembered in. 

It was surreal to see dolphins and plesiosaurus swimming side by side without tearing into each other, and more so to see a titanic form that could only have been the Megaladon of old swim past the beasts as it paid them no mind. The lack of aggression and mere presence of these creatures was a blatant display of the sheer depth of the Sirens' advancement, as they swam within what could best be described as Moria made of gleaming starlight and waves which further showcased the enormity of what they were capable of when given time to pursue their goal. They could see that were pathways and walkways of sleek blue and white metal that rested upon or perhaps mingled with the faintly glowing blue light that formed the floor, perhaps as a comfort for those who were not eager to see if the light would be able to hold them up. 

Distantly they could hear the great roar of immense volumes of water as in the center of the enormous chamber a great circular opening in the ceiling that rested beyond their sight allowed for water to pour down into an immense opening in the floor, a lagoon surrounded by gleaming light and ancient stones where those who wished could swim amongst the predators and prey of ages long past as rainbows formed in the gleaming starlight around them.

Flowing in the air around the pillars and up into and around the great opening in the ceiling they could see streams of water held aloof in the air by barriers of gleaming starlight to allow for those who could not fly to maneuver about the base with ease using what could best be described as highways of starlight aqueducts. 

Another thing that had many of those who had not been to the fortress before gasping, and not out of shock or awe, and panicking until they were calmed by their fellows was the bizarre sensation that filled the air, liquid and yet not liquid in a way that the mind of any of the Kansen or Ashes present could truly understand. 

As their panic dissipated many of the younger Kansen or more whimsical of the adult numbers of their fellows decided to test the limits of this bizarre liquid as they began to jump up and began to seemingly swim through the air. 

The Mutsuki class doggy paddling through the air was enough to make many of those present coo at the sight, and the sight of Anchorage doing butterfly stokes in the air as she swam around with a childlike glee on her face made many more smile and relax as they saw the Heavy Cruiser enjoy herself. 

While there was likewise something touching about the sight of Eugen smiling as she used the liquid to float up and perch her head atop Wales own, draping her arms over the normally taller battleship’s shoulders much to the amusement of said battleship. 

These antics continued for several minutes more before they were all called back to the main group. 

A moment after they had regathered themselves the familiar distorted sound of a ‘Tear’ opening alerted them to the arrival of their guide in the form of Observer Alpha, the familiar form of Yuubari sitting atop one of the woman’s tentacles as though it were a loveseat. 

For a moment those present were taken aback by the look of sheer glee that shined in the Siren’s eyes, a warm and all encompassing joy that burned as brightly and as hot as any of the Siren’s energy weapons as a soft smile graced the face of the Siren warlord as she looked upon her guests. 

For a moment those present wondered if the emotion came from seeing so many having accepted the invitation to the citadel to witness the Awakening of one of the oldest of the Siren’s number, or perhaps from the fact that they had finally been able to allocate enough time and resources to fully restoring one of their beloved creator’s personal guard back to the land of the living from their own fateful battle all those eons ago. 

It had been more than a little jarring for many of those present to learn about the existence of more of the Antiochus that formed the Siren’s leadership, and the reason that they had not been present on the front lines in their struggle against the entity that the Sirens had bestowed the rather fitting name of Typhon upon. 

Namely due to the fact that they were the reason that they had lasted as long as they had against the beast which had pursued the Sirens through time and space. Most of the first generation of the Antiochus having given their all in a final stand long ago which had left scars and wounds that even a beast as formidable and terrifying as that which had pursued the Sirens through space and time for as long as it had could never fully heal from, with Observer Zero herself being the sole survivor of the battle. 

The tales the Sirens had told and the footage they had shown had cemented the Guard class of the Antiochus as some of the most terrifying entities to have ever graced the sea. Their combined might enough that even that blasphemous monstrosity had been forced to temporarily withdraw as limbs were torn and seared away and organs were ruptured and liquified under the onslaught until it was able to at last take down the group whose last act of defiance was to inflict such crippling wounds upon the beast that even after ages spent pursuing its prey through time and space they had never fully healed. 

Tendrils that still ended in seared stumps, eyes that were not but empty sockets which leaked a phosphorescent fluid that seared and ignited the very air as it came into contact with it, and gaping sores and festering wounds that had never truly mended even for a beast whose power seemed to rival that of a gods. 

The Sirens theorized that the beast was effectively trapping itself outside of time and space when it pursued them, in the process of doing so it was preventing it’s wounds from properly healing as it threw itself after them with reckless abandon. Not knowing or uncaring of the wounds that slowed it enough for the Sirens to try their gamble of uplifting and preparing the worlds of their new timelines to beat back the foe that was coming. 

To this day the Sirens were uncertain as to where Typhon came from. What distant and alien world or dimension could have possibly given life to such an abomination was something that they had no interest in truly knowing, except in regards to how to destroy it so that they never had to face such an abomination again. 

Perhaps it’s alien nature explained why they only ever faced the one creature, perhaps the universe refused to allow for more than one of these abominations to exist within its boundaries, or perhaps the beast would always arrive at the world of its birth and would kill off or consume the rest of its own kind in it’s unending hunger before resuming its pursuit of the prey that got away. 

Regardless of the nature of their now defeated foe, and the reasoning behind it’s actions one thing was certain, and that was that any force that could match the beast in battle by themselves and hold the line long enough for their fellows to prepare to withdraw and inflict such crippling wounds on the beast while numbering as few as they did was a force that deserved both awe and terror. 

And today they would all be witness to the return of one of those ancient and terrifying warriors. 

“Greetings friends and comrades,” Observer Alpha began, her voice echoing amidst the immense chamber and through the liquid around them with joy and glee coating her words.

“On behalf of my fellows I bid you welcome to our home and thank you for coming on this most joyous of days. I am glad that so many of you decided to come and witness this event in person, and I know that what you are about to witness will not disappoint you.” The Siren Warlord turned on her heel as she snapped her fingers prompting a glimmer of light to form in front of her before it moved up until it connected with one of the waterways above her, the wall holding back the water fading away as the newly made waterway was filled, a small barrier stopping the liquid from pouring out over her feet. 

“If you would all be so kind as to follow me we should be able to make it to the gallery before Purifier screws something…up…” The Siren trailed off near the end as her gaze became unfocused as she accessed the visual feed of her fellow Siren, and promptly face palmed at what she saw.

“Purity did something crazy didn’t she,” Ayanami asked as she saw the Siren give her a faint nod.

“I would suggest we hurry before the Commander attempts to strangle her once she is no longer being forced down by the G-Force of the lift they are currently on.” It said a great deal about how used to Purifier’s antics everyone was that instead of questioning just what the Siren in question had done, they simply gave Observer a sympathetic nod as they began to move forward, the waterway large enough for them to spread out somewhat as they called on one of the Siren’s gifts in their ability to move on the water without their riggings. 

As each of the older Kansen, and some of the younger ones, offered the Siren sympathetic pats on her shoulder or back as they walked by her, Anchorage happily skipped up to her with wonder in her eyes, several of the younger ones around her.

“This place is so pretty! Can we look around later on? Can we?” The heavy cruiser asked as she gave her best puppy-dog eyes to the Siren warlord, the additional support of the Destroyers around her made for a truly fearsome combination that would have been able to move even the Arbiters to acquiseing to their wishes.

Observer was quick to capture as many pictures and video feeds of the sight in front of her as possible with her optics as she heard her lover almost fall of her tentacle as she fainted at the sight before her, thankfully Observer was very good at multitasking and was able to prevent her lover from waking up by being dropped in cold water. As she recorded the sight before her she silently vowed that such a terrible weapon as what was before her would be sealed away unless the need was great…or she wanted to see something cute.

“Of course my dear,” Only the most cold-hearted and apathetic of beings could have held even a remote chance of refusing the faces that stared at Observer, and she was neither of those things…unless you were an enemy that is. 

“Once we have finished with the Awakening viewing I would be more than happy to give you a tour of our hom-” Observer was cut off as a veritable wave of Destroyers surged forwards and tackled her to the ground in a dog pile style hug. 

Observer could swear she heard someone call her a ‘lucky bitch’ only for someone else to smack them atop their head. But she was more focused on the sensation of all of the young ones holding her, a soft smile on her face as she looked at them.

There was something soothing about seeing the younger ones with joy in their eyes. It was like a balm for an old and aching soul like her. 

She gave a blissful sigh as she opened her mouth to continue only for Anchorage to lift her up and begin to spin her about in her happiness, the Siren was never so grateful for her ability to summon and de-summon her tentacles at will as she was then as the last thing she wanted was for any of her tendrils to hurt the younger ones. 

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Observer!” The Siren in question smiled as she gently wrapped her own arms around the cruiser, a feeling of pride welling in her chest at the girl pronouncing her name, something which had once given her a small amount of trouble leading to quite a few interesting nicknames until she learned how to pronounce it under Azalea and her own guidances. 

She was still smiling as she waited for the cruiser to calm down and set her down, something which took a few minutes and a call from Mutsuki that everyone was waiting on them to bring about.

Indeed, Observer could hear the sound of pictures being taken and videos recorded on phones as the other Kansen and Ashes watched with smiles on their faces. So she tapped Anchorage on her shoulder and once she had her attention gestured to the women behind her, the cruiser blushing slightly, a sheepish chuckle and a few soft apologies leaving her lips as she sat Observer down. The cruiser then intertwined their hands before reaching out and doing the same with Yuubari before she took off to join her fellows.

“Come on everyone! Teacher is waiting for us!” Anchorage said as she dragged the two with her, the experimental cruiser and Siren warlord sharing a look as they both fondly rolled their eyes and smiled as they let themselves be pulled along. 

While they could have broken free easily, they didn’t want to spoil the joy in Anchorage’s eyes, and so allowed for themselves to be pulled along as the cruiser and her young friends joined their waiting fellows before taking off. 

The Kansen soon took off down the waterway, their gazes traveling along the immense chamber as they did so. Even at this height the ceiling was still not completely visible to them, although they could make out faint lights cast upon the black metal of the ceiling which aided in it’s seemingly infinitely high appearance, although it was still impossibly high up and even without the dark metal it would have been near invisible were it not for the lights cast upon it by nearby waterways and pillars. 

The combination of everything that surrounded them was more than enough to leave many of them breathless as they surveyed the great hall of the Siren’s citadel. Many of them felt the urge to stop and admire the view but decided that they could so later on after the awakening, or perhaps ask Observer or one of the other Sirens that were constantly around their own home to allow them to visit the citadel to take in the sights of it later on. 

But first they had to stop their Commander from committing a felony. Well…was it really a felony if the murdered party was effectively immortal and could simply rebuild their body and redownload their concioussness? 

–—----------------------------------------------Line Break---------------------------------------------------

The ‘Gallery’ as Observer had called it, was in fact an entirely separate wing of the citadel that was used for Activation of new Sirens, a place for ‘Young Codes’ to take their first steps into the physical world beyond the confines of the network, and the Awakening of older model Sirens and Antiochus that had been offline either due to their physical body being destroyed or some form of damage to their data itself prompting them to be pulled into the network to recover. 

Observer had a bittersweet smile on her face as she had recounted to them the last time that the chamber had been used to witness the awakening of the Antiochus known as Compiler, a child by their standards who had been unable to be activated during Typhon’s first attack. While it had been a joyful day to have a new member of the firstborn of their maker amongst them it had been bitter as they had to witness her breaking down sobbing and crying out for her mother and comrades as she learned what had happened from Observer Zero and the Network, and this was coupled with the knowledge that she would not be allowed to enjoy the childlike innocence that they fought so hard to let the Younger Codes have given her role as an Antiochus and her own desire for revenge. 

But now that bittersweet memory was to be washed away as once more the chamber was to bear witness to something wonderful, something that would wash away the bittersweet stain of its last use and once more allow for the wing to serve as a sight of joy for her fellows. 

The return of one of the first Antiochus. 

To be specific, it was to be the return of the ‘Guard’ class unit known as Aegis , the Antiochus who had given her life by setting off her body in an explosion that had rendered all who had seen it blind for nearly an hour afterwards, and that was after she had bored a whole into the side of the Typhon and promptly thrown what little was left of said body by that point into said wound.

Observer could never stop herself from smiling when she saw that, even after regenerating somewhat during one of their lengthier battles with it in another timeline, it still sported a gaping hole in it’s side that leaked the phosphorescent liquid that served as it’s blood and exposed the near translucent and jelly like structures that seemed to be the creatures organs. 

She hoped that the beast felt it’s organs cook slowly from that blast. 

While her body had been all but completely annihilated by the sheer force of the blast that she had detonated herself to create, her consciousness had been able to be saved by being pulled into the network. Although the shock of everything that had occurred and the lack of a body had forced her into a state of dormancy that had lasted for far… far too long. 

It had taken them so long to make it to this point. To a point in time where they were able to devote their full power and the brunt of the resources they had spent so long saving up to create a new body worthy of one of the FirstMade. 

They had been very lucky that Compiler’s body had only needed minor maintenance and even that had taken them centuries to do given that they had to both build the machines needed to make the components necessary for the repairs and then find a way to move them with them when they leapt through timelines, all the while gathering the materials needed to be processed into the parts and components for her repairs. 

But after so much preparation and planning they had finally finished the construction of their new body, and now all that remained was for the Awakening of their fellow from their deep slumber. 

Already she could see the looming form of the aperture that lead into the gallery, an immense doorway designed to allow for the multitudes of her fellows to enter and exit with ease, even the largest of their number would have been able to pass through the immense white metal doors that lay between twin waterfalls with their riggings on with ease. 

For a moment she simply appreciated the beauty of the Gallery. The great white metal walls and doors inlaid with sapphire colored designs depicting the great sea beasts of the Earth, be they mythical or real they were inlaid in stunning detail upon the door, a mixture of sculpting and painting allowing for a truly marvelous sight that was visible even from the distance they were currently at. A sight brought forth many gasps from those with her.

She saw the bright towers of coral contained in pillars of light that lined the pathway towards it. The great doorway itself was flanked on either side by twin waterfalls that flowed gently down into a semi-circular stream that surrounded a platform of gleaming white metal, that was connected to the waterway they were currently on, a small step of light and some slight engineering tricks allowing for the water to not overflow onto the platform.

As they drew closer she could hear the gasps return as everyone took in the sheer scale of the Gallery’s doors, the immense depictions of the great beasts now seemingly to have been made to life sized scale, the doors themselves were nestled amidst the immense tentacles of an enormous Kraken. 

As they stepped off the waterway and onto the enormous platform, the roar of the waterfalls was silenced by an errant wave of Observer Alpha’s hand, the waterfalls still flowed but the noise was muffled to the point of being near inaudible. 

For a moment there was simply stunned silence with said muffled waterfall sounds as everyone took in the sight of the immense aperture before them, a low whisper of ‘Holy shit, it’s huge’ leaving the lips of Baltimore prompting several nods of agreement echoing the shared sentiment as everyone simply gaped at the immensity of what loomed before them. 

With a snap of her fingers, the colossal doors before them began to swing open, far faster and far smoother than one would normally have anticipated from doors of such immense size, the only sound that left the immense doors as they swung open being that of gentle ‘Whoosh’ until at last the doors had opened enough to allow them all to walk in side by side if necessary. 

For a moment those present simply gaped at what laid on the other side of the enormous doors, their minds not quite registering the second scene that had Observer burying her face into her palms with an exasperated sigh as they took in the enormity of the chamber before them.

Even the most immense of theaters or coliseums would have paled to the sheer magnitude of the chamber before them, and they could only see a portion of it from where they stood.

They saw that the entranceway led to what appeared to be an immense landing from which an enormous stair way descended with additional stairways branching off allowing for access to row upon row of seats forged of gleaming white metal emblazoned with sapphire and ruby designs in direct contrast to the black metal that formed the rest of the chamber. 

If they had to guess they would say that they stood in the middle row of seemingly innumerable rows of such seats with additional stairways connected to the landing they stood upon allowing for them to move upwards to additional seats with the massive circular amphitheater. 

Running through the center of the landing before them, and up the stairways and through each row of seats was a stip of silver light and below that light rested azur waters that held an array of multicolored coral and plants, with fish from countless ages swimming amidst them, blissfully unaware or perhaps indifferent to the kansen now looking at them.

The roof of the chamber was styled in such a way as to appear like the night sky, stars and constellations of silver light gleamed, a particularly bright orb of silver light taking the place of the North Star rested in the center of the display of stars and multi-colored galaxies. Strands of multi-colored lights that formed into a halo of Aurora Borealis surrounded the replica of the night sky, further adding to the breathtaking scene before them.

And resting below the North Star of the display was a pillar of gleaming starlight, the azur water within holding a pillar of coral like a hand holding aloft whatever stood atop the pillar, patches of algae and coral that had been strategically placed allowed for the bioluminescence of both to make the pillar all the more breathtaking. 

But what stood atop the pillar truly stole their breaths away.

Held aloft by a pair of gleaming pillars was the form of the Antiochus they had come to witness the Awakening of, and it made for quite a sight indeed.

The silver light of the pillars and stars shined upon the same stark white skin and hair that seemed to be typical of the Antiochus, giving the figure an almost ethereal quality. 

From the distance they stood it was difficult to truly gauge the height of the figure, but if they had to guess they would say she was easily as tall as if not taller than the largest of their own number, 9 or so feet, but it was hard to say from this distance. What was not hard to see however was the build of the figure, something which brought forth more than a couple of appreciative looks and whistles.

Her form was similar to that of an Amazon warrior, a tall form with a mane of curled white hair, small portions of said hair partially obscuring her face, and a powerful and defined muscles plainly visible under the white dress that she had been given to wear until something more fitting could be made to her specifications. They supposed if she was to be the Siren’s creator’s bodyguard it would make sense for her to have such a build so as to make her charge feel safer with them, or perhaps to make those who didn’t know of her true nature still second guess trying anything in her presence.

Although how they could be unaware of such nature was something that those present could not comprehend as even from where they stood, they could feel an intense aura emanating from the dormant form of the Antiochus, a pressure not unlike the depths of the sea bearing down on their shoulders. Although it felt more…comforting than such a weight, as if it was an unspoken ‘I have your back’ in a form that could be felt. It made them feel…safe.

They could not see any rigging on the woman but that did nothing to subtract from the feeling that this figure, even without her guns and having just been remade, would be more than capable of holding her ground against all of them and more than likely emerging somewhat triumphant or at least ensuring their victory was beyond phyric. 

Frankly the thought of having someone like her at their Commander’s side made them almost giddy with joy, especially given the state of the world beyond their base. 

And then they heard something that snapped them from their awed stupors and made them start to chuckle as they moved into the amphitheater to look for the source of the sound. The noise in question having been a resounding shout of-

“GET BACK HERE YOU KNOCK OFF GLADOS!”

“Oh dear,” Tester began as she put her face in her hands, Yuubari began to pat her on the back even as she heard several other members of their group break down in laughter, Prinz Eugen and Heinrich were matched in the loudness of their laughter only by Gangut and Zuikaku at the scene that greeted them with some of the destroyers having joined in moments later once they saw what had their elders in near hysterics.

That sight being a certain Siren running around like a chicken sans a head as Azalea chased the giggling maniac, a look of righteous fury on her face as she bolted up and down the isles, diving over the seats and even at one point leaping over one the rows entirely in her pursuit of the Siren who was dashing around the room to escape the Commander’s wrath. 

The two seemed to be completely unaware of those present, although there was no doubt that Purifier was aware of their presence and was more than likely ignoring them as she enjoyed her little game of tag Granted Azalea looked like she wanted to ‘Tag’ the Siren’s face with her fist but that was just semantics really.

Observer was fairly certain that the majority of her fellows were aware of what was happening, and was likewise certain that if she were to access the network at the moment she would be treated by nothing but borderline hysterical laughter as her peers watched the antics going on in front of her through her eyes.

“Come on Commander, can’t you take a joke?” Purifier jokingly asked as she quickly turned on her heel from where she had been running away from the commander to blitzing at her, and then leaping over her much to the amusement and even slight cheers of those present.

“Oh I can take a joke Purity,” The Commander began as she whirled about on her heel and began to bolt after the Siren. “Just not when it nearly makes me a PANCAKE!” The commander yelled as she turned and pursued the Siren in question.

Purity was giggling even as she dashed in the direction of the assembled Kansen before she suddenly stopped, and snapped off a mock salute to Observer. Azalea lunged and tackled her to the ground a moment after she had snapped off said salute. 

Those present broke down in laughter at the sight of the Siren wrestling with the Commander, Azalea trying to pin the Siren to the ground before she was suddenly knocked off of the Siren by a blur that sent her sprawling to the ground with a joyful cry of-

“Teacher!”

The laughter further increased as everyone took in the new scene of Azalea pinned to the ground, the Heavy Cruiser nuzzling into her chest with a delighted smile on her face as she embraced her, Azalea having wrapped her arms around her on instinct as they fell. 

For several minutes there was nothing but joyful laughter as Azalea tried and failed to get the heavy cruiser to let her up, her situation was further compounded when several destroyers decided they wanted to join in on the impromptu cuddling session, much to the further amusement of everyone watching. While this was going on Observer was busy making her displeasure known to Purifier by-

“OW! Knock it off Observer!” Purifier stated as a multitude of tentacles formed around her fellow Siren Warlord and began to reign down bops onto her head, the Siren trying and failing to block all of the blows with her arms as she was prevented from running by a pair of tentacles that had erupted from twin ‘Tears’ on either side of her legs and held her in place for the lumps she was receiving.

Many of those watching had begun to clutch at their stomachs or had slumped to their knees in hysterics at the scenes before them. Additional laughter joined in as Sirens emerged from ‘Tears’, with some simply rolling their eyes with smiles on their faces as they took their seats.

“That is quite enough Alpha, we don’t want to knock Purifier’s IQ down anymore.” Came the voice of the Arbiter known as Empress as she strode towards them from a ‘Tear’ in front of them, Observer Zero by her side. The Siren leader having simply shaken her head at the scene in front of her before moving to help Azalea to her feet, smiling as she told the destroyers and younger kansen to start taking a seat wherever they wished. 

Although she had some difficulty breaking the bear hug that Anchorage was giving Azalea, finally prying her off with a promise of getting her ice-cream later on, much to the amusement of those watching. 

As the heavy cruiser began to move to her seat, the Siren leader helped Azalea to her feet and dusted her off, smiling at the somewhat abashed look on the commander’s face as she did so. 

“Come now my lady, it is time for Aegis to wake from her dreams.” The Siren Leader said as she gently took Azalea by her hand and began to guide her down the stairs as everyone began to filter to their seats, looks of eagre anticipation adorning the Siren’s faces and the Kansen were soon to share those looks as they saw their commander guided down the stairwell, a low hum heralding additional stairs rising to link the landing at the bottom to the pillar.

As she was guided towards the resting form of the Antiochus Azalea felt the aura of the titanic Siren wrap around her, inspecting her for but a moment before enveloping her in a sensation of complete security and comforting warmth, some part of her crying out in joy at the so achingly familiar sensation, despite her having never felt anything quite like it before in this life. Absently she rubbed unshed tears from her eyes as she looked at the towering form before her, a smile forming on her face.

Perhaps these feelings were echoes of another her, the one who had so long ago breathed life into these girls. Perhaps somehow, across time and space these feelings had transmigrated to her, or perhaps some other explanation could be given for these phantom sensations that came to her every now and then. But at the moment she could care less.

It was time to wake her girl up.

–—----------------------------------------------Line Break---------------------------------------------------

If someone had told Enterprise that there would come a day where she would be seated on the lap of the Head Maid of the Royal Navy, with a Sakura Empire carrier holding one hand and one of her fellow Eagle union Carriers holding her other hand as she sat in a Siren facility watching the commander wake up one of the first Sirens, she would have asked what psyche ward they had escaped from. 

But here she sat, her head resting against Belfast’s as the cruiser wrapped her arms around her, holding her close as Saratoga and Zuikaku held her hands and she watched her beloved Commander stride towards the titan of a Siren. 

‘Honestly, truth is stranger than fiction nowadays,’ Enterprise thought as she felt Belfast tighten her grip around her waist as the Commander stood before the Siren.

Enterprise felt her eyes widen and a low gasp leave her, and several others, lips as they realized the true scale of the Siren that rested on the platform. While their Commander was a bit on the short side, she appeared positively tiny in comparison to the titanic form before her, the top of her head resting slightly below the titans waist, and her form was barely wider than the figure's arm.

“We’re going to need to expand the buildings aren’t we?” Enterprise asked rhetorically, only for a reply to come from the woman sitting in front of her, that being the form of Tester Beta.

“Way ahead of you. Observer Alpha expected we would have issues with how big she was and made a modification that should allow for her to shrink her form down enough to allow for her to fit in the buildings on the base. If it doesn’t work we have the materials on stand by.” the Siren warlord whispered to her, prompting a grateful nod from the carrier.

“ Friends, Sisters, and Comrades. I bid you all welcome to this glorious event.” The voice of Observer Alpha echoed throughout the chamber, not quite booming, but still loud enough that those present could hear her with ease even from where she stood in the center of the room.

“So long ago our sister here was one of the many who gave their lives to hold back the might of our ancient enemy and allow for us to escape so that we may one day lay the beast low ourselves.” Her words brought a cheer from the gathered mass at the mention of their victory, a smile crossing the Siren leader's face as well before she motioned for silence.

“Her body was lost that day, as were the bodies of our other noble sisters who shared in her sacrifice that day. But while her body was lost, her mind was not. For years it lay within the network, slumbering. Until at last a day would come for her to once more walk the Earth and sail the Azur Lanes by our side as she was always meant to. And my friends, THAT DAY IS TODAY!” The Siren leader roared out the last bit of her statement, another resounding cheer sweeping through the room as she did so. 

Observer alpha allowed for the cheer to die down as she turned to look at Azalea who had gently laid her head against the towering Anbtiochus’s waist, the gleam of tears faintly visible in the pale light. She strode towards their leader and gently took her face into her hand, softly thumbing away the tears as she smiled softly at the Commander.

“I don’t know why…but I feel…I feel like I failed her in some way…” Azalea said as the Siren Leader pulled her into an embrace, letting her hands rub soothing circles on her back as she gave the woman in her arms a sad smile. 

She knew of these phantom feelings and sensations that the woman in her arms would occasionally have and had spent many a night pondering them, but even with all of the knowledge and information at her power she could not come to a definitive answer. Perhaps they were the echoes of the woman who had held them close and wept with joy when she saw that her experiment had worked, that she had created life in a new form. Or maybe the woman before her was some form of reincarnation of the woman who had taught them and nurtured them as though they were her own flesh and blood instead of lines of code given will and mind of their own. 

Regardless, she cared nothing for the circumstances behind these feelings at the moment, only that she had someone she loved so so very much in her arms with tears trickling from her eyes. 

“You did no such thing,” Observer Alpha said as she gently thumbed away the tears, tilting Azalea’s head to where their gazes met. 

“Our creator did not fail her and she made her. Likewise, you who have never met her did not fail her. She chose to give her life for us, to let her sacrifice be one of the first stepping stones to victory. So don’t cry my dear, and instead rejoice that we have been given this opportunity to let her wake from her dreams to a world where she can claim the peace and joy she deserves for her sacrifice.” Observer Alpha softly said as she pulled back and lifted up her hand, a hum filled the air as particles of sapphire and white energy streamed towards her palm forming and condensing into a solid white Wisdom Cube. 

Observer Alpha gently took Azalea’s hand, and placed the Wisdom Cube into it, watching as the Commander shuddered and let out a low gasp at the sheer amount of power that she could feel within the cube now held within her hand. The Commander gave a slightly watery smile to Observer Alpha before she turned and walked closer to the titanic Antiochus, slowly lifting the Wisdom Cube to her lips to place a soft kiss on it before she closed her eyes and concentrated.

To those watching it seemed that the cube lifted itself from the Commander’s hands and began to shine like a gleaming star as it lifted to where it was level with the chest of the slumbering form of Aegis before it began to dissipate into streams of white energy that converged on the Antiochus’s chest area, fading into the slumbering being before them.

As soon as the last particle had faded into Aegis an immense weight settled over the room as garlands of white and sapphire energy crackled across the still form, the weight that had filled the room growing and swelling as the arcs of energy grew more frequent for several minutes until they vanished with a resounding * Crack *.

For several moments there was nothing but silence as the weight that had filled the room lingered for a few moments longer before it began to recede towards the central pillar as a it began to gather around the towering Siren before it dispersed in a single immense pulse that forced those present to be pushed back hard against their chairs, Azalea remaining standing only due to Observer Alpha’s help. 

For a moment there was only a still and crushing silence as those present began to sit up and look each other over to make sure that they hadn’t lost anything that could have been knocked off by the pulse or had been injured by said pulse, although thankfully none of them were injured despite a couple of sore backs. 

Tester Beta had been looking over those around her until she felt something shift and change within the Network. A feeling like something rising from the depths prompting all of the Sirens, be they within the Citadel or across the world to jolt and turn their gaze towards the Citadel, their eyes coming alight with joy at they felt the presence begin to shift and stir until-

Sapphire eyes slowly fluttered open, a hand easily the size of a normal person’s head lifting up from where it had been resting to sleepily rub her eyes. Her other hand lifted up to stifle a deep yawn that sounded more like wind blowing into the mouth of a cave than a normal yawn as the woman began to stand from where she had been somewhat slouched over.

The woman slowly lowered her hand from her eyes and began to look around the room, the piercing weight of her gaze carrying a weight that made those they landed upon feel as if the weight of the ocean depths themselves upon their shoulders as the figure took in the room around her.

Those present could also now fully make out the face that had been concealed by part of her hair. Sharp high cheekbones and a strong jaw with a sharp chin were matched with full pale lips, deep set eyes and a sharp nose gave her face an appearance reminiscent of that of an Amazon warrior.

For a moment the woman was silent before she turned her gaze to the two women who stood atop the platform with her, her eyes first finding the familiar form of her sister Observer Alpha. Twin pairs of sapphire eyes met each other and an unspoken exchange took place as the first Antiochus sent her sister a gentle smile, twin trails of artificial pearlescent liquid trailed from her eyes and dripped down her cheeks as she took in her younger sister, and the equally tearful Commander who shared a watery smile with the Siren Leader holding onto her to keep from falling over from her legs going weak.

Azalea herself took a step forward prompting sapphire eyes to snap towards her in an instant, said orbs suddenly widened to immense proportions as they fully took in the woman that stood before them. The Antiochus let out a low gasp that sounded more like a distant gale force wind as she shakily moved a single step forward, the small step sounding like a small earthquake as the room shook under the sheer force and power that lone step contained making many eyes snap open wide and many mouths fall open agape. 

The towering Antiochus slowly lifted up her hands, each larger than Azalea’s own head by a margin, fingers slightly thicker than two of the Commander’s own put together gently brushed the cheeks of the two women and lightly thumbed away their tears before the woman slowly knelt to meet their gazes at almost eye level, the thud of her knee meeting the floor shaking the entire room once more.

“Big Sister…My lady…is that you?” The voice was like a rumble of distant thunder, deep and powerful, despite being spoken lowly the voice still resounded throughout the chamber with such force that it made the room itself shake. While many were stunned at the sound and power the voice itself carried, many of the Destroyers and Anchorage were busy looking on with stars in their eyes.

Azalea slowly lifted her hand to gently lay atop the Antiochus’ own, her hand appearing positively tiny in comparison she realized with a faint chuckle as she gently pulled the taller woman into a somewhat awkward hug given their height difference, with her resting her head on the towering woman’s chest, Observer Alpha joining her a moment later as she flung her arms around her little sister. 

“Yes…yes little sister, it’s me and this is our lady.” The voice of the normally calm and collected Siren Leader was shaky and seemed to be on the verge of breaking down into sobs of joy as she held onto her little sister. Azalea had been tempted to correct the Siren Leader and say that she was not the woman who had created them, but something told her that the woman was already aware of that, and so she simply leaned in and relished in the embrace,

As she closed her eyes and savored the warmth and security the towering form before her provided, she felt the woman lower herself to both knees and sweep the two into her arms in a bear hug that, while tight, was obviously restrained by the taller woman to avoid making both of their organs, synthetic and organic respectfully, not come out of their body like toothpaste when the tube is squeezed. 

The towering form rose to her full height, the two women held in a tight grip all the while before the figure adjusted them in such a way that both were held on opposite sides of her chest with an arm slung under them to keep them close and prevent them from falling as the titaness looked at the two in her arms with tears gleaming in her eyes. 

For a moment there was nothing but silence as all of those present held their breaths before the titaness lifted her head and spoke the words that made the chamber erupt into cheers that echoed throughout the Siren base, and across the Naval base as those watching the broadcast joined in the cheers. Even across the world in the places where the Sirens were aiding in reconstruction and reorganization, and in the multitude of bases that lay scattered across the globe, cheers resounded as well. 

The words the Antiochus had spoken having been-

“Hello…Everyone I’m back.” 

–—----------------------------------------------Line Break---------------------------------------------------

Aegis looked around the room she now stood in, a large chamber made for mingling with their newly awakened fellows, her mind still somewhat processing the sheer amount of information that she had been given via data packet during her awakening process as she took in the crowd of Kansen and Siren that surrounded her with wonder and curiosity in their eyes.

She couldn’t stop the slight smile that graced her lips as she saw the tiny forms of the Destroyers, and the not quite so tiny but still small to her form of Anchorage, trying to slip past their elders to try and climb up her legs as she spoke with her new fellows both in person and over the network. 

It was…surreal to the towering Antiochus to see so many faces that she had never seen before and yet know so much about them. She knew that the woman with long white hair and purple eyes was the ace of the Eagle Union and potential Code G, Enterprise, and that the woman dressed like a maid holding her hand was one of the great warriors of the Royal Navy, Belfast. She likewise knew that the red eyed woman with her arms thrown around the shoulders of the brown haired and fox eared and silver haired cat eared Sakura Empire battleships was Gangut, and that said battleships were Ise and Hyuuga.

So many names and faces, so many things she should not know and yet she knew. Such a paradox would have driven most to insanity, but to her it gave only the equivalent of a slight headache as she processed the streams of data running through her head. The comforting weights on her lap helped her to ground herself for a moment amidst both the internal whirlwind of information and the external typhoon of stimuli.

Heaving a slight sigh she turned her head downwards to look at the forms of both her elder sister and her new lady, and was not that last one something of a shock. Her mind still had some trouble processing the situation regarding the young woman who looked to be a near perfect mirror image of the woman who had created her so long ago, the only real difference she could see was that her mother had always preferred to wear her lab anywhere she went, whereas Azalea seemed to prefer to dress as casually as she could as often as she could. 

And it was not just her appearance that made the woman so much of a mirror of her mother. It was her voice, so soft that it made her ache to hear it read to her like her mother had after she had been created. It was the way she so easily entrusted herself to her, letting herself be held in arms that could have crushed her as easily as they could break a matchstick. It was so so many things that made the woman in her arms so much of a paradox, and yet it was also all of these things that made her heart, or what amounted to one, swell with love as she felt the woman lean her head back into her chest. 

Aegis was sorely tempted to devote her mind to processing the enigma that was the woman who was now her Commander and her lady, but decided that such a thing could wait until after the celebrations had finished and she had made certain that everything she needed to do was done. 

She was unaware of just how long she sat there listening to people mingling with each other and answering the questions that were asked of her as she slowly carded her thick fingers through the hair of the two women on her lap, relishing in the way they snuggled closer to her as she did so. She absently noted the way that those present would look at the two on her laps with soft smiles, although both were given said soft and gentle smiles, there was a certain gleam that would enter their eyes when they looked at the Commander that made her raise her eyebrow in intrigue before deciding to consult the data she had been given later on regarding it. 

She was not quite aware of just how long she spent there with her fellows, mingling with them as she answered what questions she could and asked some of her own but eventually she had answered as many of the questions she could before running out of information that she could provide. As she had not exactly had time to formulate opinions on what her favorite movies and foods would be given that she was busy helping her mother with her experiments after said awakening…alongside the chaos that broke loose shortly after her awakening.

As the Celebration wound down she saw many of the younger Kansen, and some of the older ones for that matter, begin to ask her fellow Sirens if they could get a tour of the base now much to their amusement. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she gave a simple nod to her fellows to let them know it was alright to let the younger their fellows get their tour of the facility. She chuckled, a deep and echoing sound that sent shivers down the spines of those who heard it, be it of pleasure or fear at the deep sound was something that only the individuals in question would know, at the sight of the young kansen swarming her fellows to start their tour.

Aegis was jolted from her thoughts when she heard her sister mumble something under her breath about ‘almost…forgot…’ before she felt a finger push against her stomach making her look down to meet her elder sister's gaze, a transmission sent across the network in an instant made her eyes widen for a moment as she processed the contents of said transmission.

She quickly and carefully stood to her full height, her sister and Azalea held tightly against her chest with their heads resting on her breasts, Azalea having drifted off to sleep with a peaceful smile on her face and Observer Zero having drifted off again after sending her the information that made her feel something white hot begin to burn through her body.

“ I…apologize everyone… but it would seem that something has come up and I need to put these two to bed before I head off to deal with it. Please feel free to mingle with each other and tour the facilities, at your leisure, if you wish to return to the base just ask any of my fellows and they will help you out. I thank you all for attending and I am looking forward to getting to know each of you in the future. ” Aegis said, smiling softly at the last bit as she truly was looking forward to getting to know each of these mighty warriors in the future, after all they had slain the monster which she had given her own life against.

She saw many wave at her and others spoke up with ‘See you laters’ and ‘Goodbyes’, as she opened a ‘Tear’ to Observer Zero’s personal chambers to deposit her precious cargo in as she felt the Arbiters and Sirens present within the crowd send a message over The Network that made her smirk.

“Give them Hell.” They said to her across The Network. 

And she would. Of that there would be no doubt.

–—----------------------------------------------Line Break---------------------------------------------------

It felt odd, being in her rigging again, almost like putting on a favorite pair of clothes after so long and finding out that they still fit you perfectly. She smiled at the sensation of once more having the familiar feeling of being surrounded by her rigging, plates of floating white metal that gleamed under the light of the stars. Two circular pieces, one above and one below her, along with 8 additional pieces that floated around her, four large ones that covered her back and four equal sized ones up front, forming into a perfect sphere, all of the pieces adorned in spines of the same white metal that made up the armor, sapphire tips gleaming. 

Vaguely she registered the *Pings* of bullets, armor piercing she judged based on the weight of each impact, some from rifles and some from AA positions made into impromptu anti personnel turrets, ricocheting off of her rigging and a louder *Thunk* and *Boom* signaling that her opponents had resorted to explosives, RPG-30s or RPG-7s she gauged based on the size of the explosion. She heard another series of loud *Thunks* as what she gauged to be .50 cal rounds, armor piercing rounds if the weight of each impact was anything to go by.

A low *Tsk* left her lips as she calculated the source of the rocket and .50 cal projectiles, the wind resistance, the distance, and elevation of the projectiles she did not even need to toggle on the optical connection she had to her rigging that allowed for her to view through the very spines that doubled as her weapons to make an accurate calculation as a low hum filled the air before-

*BZZZT* A bright light-blue beam that evaporated the very sea below it tore through the air, ricocheting from surface to surface until it collided with the source of the rockets, an explosion engulfing the location causing a shockwave to shatter windows and fling individuals around like rag dolls as another beam tore through, ricocheting across the still falling debris as it impacted a missile-bearing helicopter that was in the process of lifting off causing another *BOOOM* to shake the area. Another explosion shook the area as another beam tore straight through the scope of an anti-tank rifle and into the eye of its wielder before it detonated, the blood and gore vaporizing before it could paint the now cratered ground.

Distantly she made out shouts and panicked screaming that was audible even over the alarm klaxons of her target location as she slowly floated towards the area in question, drifting across the surface of the water, the multitude of spikes across her rigging letting out their own low hums until the sound filled the night.

And then-

*BZZZTTT* 

For a moment her rigging no longer appeared to be that of an urchin but instead a demented disco ball as countless beams of light streaked from the spines that adorned it, the beams snapping and arching in seemingly random directions until they collided with their targets.

She distantly heard screaming as the AA positions went up in flames, everyone single of them obliterated in an instant. They were accompanied by the detonation of a munitions depot, a dormitory, and a medical facility, alongside several other less important facilities. However it was the beams that collided with the vehicles that could have allowed for the defenders to withdraw that truly filled them with dread as they now knew that there would be no escape.

 Perhaps this knowledge drove them to fight more desperately as the amount of gunfire that was impacting her rigging suddenly swelled in intensity until another hellstorm of beams silenced the majority of the firing as she drew closer to the base, her rigging floating up to allow her to hover over the concrete of the base once she was close enough.

Wordlessly she toggled on her optical connection and took in the scene of the devastation she had caused. Burning rubble and debris from buildings and scorched and smoldering wrecks of vehicles, were accompanied by smears of blood and scorched craters that adorned the ground in ever growing numbers as she called forth more and more beams to dispatch the defenders.

She began to slowly wind her way through the burning base, her radar alerting her to the locations of her enemies and her beams swiftly dispatching them as she pondered on what she would do once she was finished with this assignment. 

‘I wonder if sister and Lady Azalea would be adverse to me joining them in bed,’ the Antiochus thought as another defender snapped from around a corner and raised their rifle only to have a beam impact the center of their forehead and detonate. ‘Or maybe I should visit with the younger ones and the Kansen a bit more before I join them,’ she was contemplating the pros and cons of both for quite a while as she continued her gradual extermination of the base's inhabitants. 

She blinked as she realized that her sensors were no longer detecting any movement from the base, all motion having vanished amidst the hellstorm of her assault. A smile crossed her face as she realized that she only had to do a couple more things before she could return to the base, having made up her mind to slip under the covers with her charge and her sister after she had mingled a bit more with their fellows.

She began to move her way towards the base's administration building, or rather what remained of it. She had tried to be as careful as she could so as to avoid damaging anything that would be of value to her or her fellows, but still a good portion of the building was rubble and there were several trails of smoke visible from windows hinting at fires that may be burning inside the concrete building. 

The doorway, or what was left of it at least, was a bit too small for her but that did nothing to stop her as she simply smashed through it and continued on her way into the building, the spines on her rigging parting the concrete as though it were nothing but butter as she floated through the building, her sensors having already located her target location. 

As she floated through the building she registered additional contacts in the immediate vicinity of her target location, she simply adjusted her beams a bit and then allowed herself to smile slightly once more as she was almost finished with her mission.

She vaguely heard someone say something from up ahead of her but she had to set an example and so she fired a single beam that bounced from corner to corner until it bore a hole through the person’s skull, further ricocheting around the room they had been in and striking each of the 3 others that had been huddling in the room as well. The beam seared through their bodies and bounced off of the walls, floor, and ceilings behind or around them until all were dead and it sizzled out against the concrete floor.

She continued along her path, having to dispose of 2 other small groups that had been hiding within the building as she finally located the room she had been searching for, the server room.

The rigging parted enough to allow for her to lay her hand on a monitor that rested in the corner of the room, a second passing before she lifted her hand and re-encased herself in her rigging, all of the bases data having been copied into The Network for her fellows to process as she deleted all of the contents of the bases servers and then flooded them with malware and viruses as a little gift for anyone who managed to salvage anything.

Smiling at her job being nearly finished she wordlessly began to ascend, floating through the building, smashing through the floors above her and then through the roof  and continuing to float into the air until she hovered above the base.  

A piece of white cloth lay soaking in a puddle of blood in one of the rooms near the server room, cold fingers still holding tightly onto it. The lone witness to the hellstorm of beams that obliterated the base, leaving nothing but a smooth glass crater. 

Fin of Chapter 3.

Closing  Author's Notes

Well we have to admit that we never quite thought a day would come when we would be able to say that we had somehow managed to get as many as three chapters of a single story done without a new year starting between them, but here we are.

We apologize for the delay with this chapter as we have posted in the tags we will be updating inconsistently as we have other matters to attend to outside of our stories. That being said we will endeavor to continue with this tale and see it through to the bitter end.

Ah! We also hope you enjoyed the introduction of our OC, Aegis, her rigging is based off of a Sea Urchin, we found it quite fitting given her nature as the shield of the creator of the Sirens and while we could have gone with a turtle or tortoise, we found the idea of a floating ball of spiked meytal that shoots out laser beams while containing a titan capable of snapping bones like twigs with her bare hands to be too irresistible to pass up.

Well, with all of that said and done we wish you all well and hope to see you in the next chapter. 

See you next time and stay safe. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Glimpse of The Past: To Never Be Forgotten

The sights that lay before her eyes would never cease to amaze her, even were she to behold them for a thousand years, and millenia more still afterwards. 

From the great gleaming pillars of silver light that bathed the room in a glow resplendent to that of the brightest of lunar lights, to the roaring waterfalls of crystalline sapphire water which cascaded down from levels unseen , their aquatic embrace clutching tightly great reefs that spiraled beyond the view of even the keenest of eyes and the seemingly endless multitude of aquatic lifeforms that called them home.

Yet greater still to her were the great towering pillars of pristine white and sapphire metal that rose into the vaulted ceiling, ornate patterns of silver light encasing sapphire water and reefs and vibrant undersea flora and fauna, some of which bore no known name, decorated the immense towers that rose between the levels of the fortress, their radiant glow making them appear almost spectral in nature till one laid their hand upon the cool metal of them and felt the steady thrum of power that pulsed and hummed through them like some great cyclopean heartbeat. 

Doorways and windows littered the towers, all connected to one another by waterways of sapphire water so pure that she could see below it and the silver light that encircled it to the levels below, where her comrades had begun to wander about as the awakening celebration came to a close, either in pairs and groups or by themselves with a Siren accompanying them to act as their escort so that they did not become lost in the labyrinthian citadel not to be seen for many a day…again.

Honestly they should have anticipated that Horny Maru and her girls would want to find somewhere to ‘ play ’ in the Citadel, their desire to properly christen it in what had become a typically Azur Lane style and their curiosity leading them to wander off into the depths of the base without a guide…somehow they were unaware they had even gotten lost as they had lost themselves to a haze of passion and lust that went unbroken as a result of their ample food supplies stored in their riggings and the availability of fresh water around them. 

No one was certain whether they should praise them for their stamina and determination, or knock them upside the head till their brain imitated a pinball inside their skull for making them worry about them. 

The Sirens and METAs had just found the entire thing hysterical, and had gone so far as to erect a plaque at the location claiming it was ‘Marked property of Horny Maru, Northampton and Graf Zeppelin’ much to the mixed amusement and embarrassment of the aforementioned girls.

She found herself shaken from her thoughts when an impossibly gentle hand laid itself on her shoulder, a gentle squeeze alerting her to her comrades' desire for her attention, a desire she fulfilled as she turned to look at her beloved sister.

There before her was the silver haired form of her sister, the crimson streak of her hair hanging loosely before her wondrous light teal orbs, something she moved to rectify as she reached out her own hand, her red plated fingers gleaming in the light as she delicately tucked the lock behind her sisters ear as she leaned into lean her forehead against her sisters for a moment in silent communication. 

Softly she reached out with her hand and delicately wrapped it around her sisters shoulders, an identical limb wrapping around her own shoulders, the razor edged tips of the crimson metals lightly grazing both of their backs as they held one another.

For a moment she contemplated retracting the metal gauntlet using a gift she had been given by the Arbiter known as Strength, but she decided that if her sister wished to not do so then she would not either, besides it felt more…intimate this way, the knowledge of how lethal the razor edged claws could be and the sense of absolute trust they held for one another making their chests feel warm as they savored their embrace a moment longer before parting.

Quickly their hands found each other, mirror replicas of each other with the same crimson and black plated gloves resting on their hands for but a moment before they dissipated into their riggings storage space as their bare palms laid against one another, the exact same pale skin tone and crimson colored nails adorning each of them. 

For a moment the two sisters simply looked at their interlocked digits, idly brushing the rings that rested upon them together as they looked at them, the faint gleam of the diamond caught in the silver light almost hypnotizing them for a few moments until they lifted their gaze to lock eyes.

A wry smile crossed the face of the elder of the two as she leaned in to lay a gentle kiss on her younger siblings lips for but a moment before parting, idly shifting her arm to oh so gently brush the backs of her clawed gauntlet against her sibling’s scalp, delighting in the purr of pleasure the action brought, though the action also prompted her sleeve to fall enough for her sister to see something which made her eyes dim with sadness. 

For there, wrapped around the top of her left arm just below her shoulder, was a jagged circular scar that wrapped around the entire upper portion of her limb, the eyes of the younger of the two further alighting upon the most minute of differences in the skin’s color, something she knew would be reflected upon the skin of her own left arm.

For a moment a sickening sensation of nausea began to well in her, tears beginning to prickle at the corner of her eyes as a whirlpool of truly sickening sensations began to envelop her for but a moment before her beloved sister tilted her head to lock their gazes and then their lips once again. 

Gladly the younger of the pair allowed for her worries to fade from her mind as she felt her beloved sister’s tongue gently probing at her lips, begging for and entry that she was all too eager to give, the ever increasing passion of their kiss as their tongues danced aiding her in burying the sickening sensations that had begun swell within her as the memories of the past had begun to rage against the bulwark of her mind. 

The two continued their kiss for several moments longer before they at last parted, a thin strand of saliva linking them as they gazed into each others eyes as they delicately carded their fingers through each others hair, the razor clawed gauntlets having vanished into their rigging, exposing limbs that would have been identical were they not opposites with the elder having the left arm and the younger having the right arm. 

They let their gazes linger in their meeting as they offered gentle caresses and chaste kisses to each other not ceasing even at the sound of approaching footsteps, each one being the clank of metal upon metal, the sheer weight of each step making the water around them ripple and pulse as though an earthquake were soon to be upon them, and yet their desire to comfort one another and assure them of their continued presence outweighing any sense of shame they might have possessed as they continued to assure one another of their presence.

They only ceased their kisses and caresses when impossibly large mechanical hands came to lightly rest against their backs, the texture of the dent and scratch ridden metal all they needed to feel to know who it was that now pulled them towards them in a silent embrace, whose silver gray skinned chest it was that they now leaned against as a mane of dark silver hair surrounded them as a curtain to shield them from view as impossibly tender lips brushed against the crown of their heads for a moment before the figure holding them silently rested their head upon their own. 

The achingly familiar presence and the sense of security and comfort it brought was enough to jolt the two from their reverie of passion as they turned to rest their head against the woman's chest, the rhythmic beating of a synthetic heart a soothing symphony to them for several moments more until they found themselves swept off their feet, their entire bodies carried by a single palm each as the hulking form of their adoptive sister gazed down at them with fondness in her eyes as she began to carry them down the stream. 

For a moment longer they were silent before the elder of the two sisters let out a low chuckle before she rested her head against the woman’s bicep, the fact it was easily the size of her head offering her a sense of security that she found herself needing to ground her thoughts from wandering once more as she linked hands with her little sister over the woman’s broad chest. 

“Danke, Stärke. (1) ” The younger of the sibling said, her nickname for her adoptive sibling bringing a silent smile to the woman’s face as she leaned down to place a kiss to her forehead, a low rumble of humor echoing in her chest as she saw the elder of the two giving her an indignant glare at the action as she tried to stick out her head so that the taller woman would get the hint, though it seemed their titanic comrade was in a teasing mood as she simply looked at her with a raised eyebrow, an unspoken question in her eyes.

“You have spent far too much time with The Lovers Stärke, now give me a kiss too!” Came the indignant voice of the woman, her pouting look enough to make the woman let out a low chuckle before she brought her lips to her forehead in a silent kiss before she continued down the waterway.

“ Well kleine schwester,” The elder began as she leaned back against the towering woman’s metal gauntlet, idly noting that it was remarkably comfortable for something that had been through more battles than one could imagine. “It would seem we have a chariot to carry us now.” Her words made the taller woman let out a low huff of amusement as she shook her head in fondness at the woman’s antics, the mechanical canine ears atop her head swaying at the gesture.

The younger of the two softly brought her palm to her forehead as she closed her eyes with a fond smile on her face for a moment before she opened her mouth to reply, though she found herself cut off by another voice.

“I think you mean a Panzer as opposed to a chariot,” came the voice of Scharnhorst as she stepped around the towering woman’s right side, her sister Gneisenau leaning against her as she gave a silent nod to them in greeting as she offered them a gentle smile. The sound of more approaching footsteps heralding the arrival of Ning Hai and Ping Hai, the elder of the two holding her little sister close to her as she offered a gentle smile to the two, Ping Hai giving an energetic wave in addition to her smile making the two chuckle as they offered smiles and waves of their own. 

And they were not alone, there came the gentle pitter patter of feet from Z24and Z23, their sisters accompanying them with interlocked hands, then there was Hiryuu and Souryuu, the white haired rabbit laughing at something as her elder sister laid her face in her palm, though a fond smile was visible on her face if one were to look carefully.

Trailing behind them were the familiar forms of Takao, Atago, Choukai, Maya, and Ember, whose hands were being held closely by Atago and Choukai as she was pulled along by her sisters with a soft smile on her face.

A low chuckle left the elder sisters lips as she leaned back into the metal gauntlet of her dear comrade, a sense of nostalgia swelling within her as she saw all of the familiar faces that surrounded her, a truly bittersweet feeling that left her feeling phantom pains dance along her left arm, the scar tissue aching as though the wound were still raw for but a moment before it faded. 

“You okay Deutsch?” Came the voice of Hiryuu as she moved to look up at the woman, a wince gracing her own face as she saw the Iron Blood Heavy Cruiser reach up and massage the flesh of the scar tissue on her left arm, a pained expression on her face as she gently kneaded the the flesh of the scar tissue for a moment before she found herself being lowered enough so that Z23 could reach out and begin to gently massage the aching tissue.

“Phantom pains again?” The destroyer asked as she  massaged the tissue, a frown crossing her face as she idly traced her eyes over the horrific wound, sympathy welling within her as she heard low groans leave the lips of her fellow Kansen from her ministrations. 

“Ja, Danke Nimi.” Deutschland said as she gently reached out with her free hand and laid it down on the destroyer’s head, softly ruffling her dirty blonde locks as she smiled at her. A chuckle left her lips when Nimi moved one hand from where it had been kneading the tissue to bat away her hand, a scowl on her face as readjusted her hat before resuming her ministrations with both hands. 

All around her she could feel the concerned gazes of her fellows as they looked upon the scene before them, both her sister and Strength’s eyes partially misty with unshed tears as they looked at the scene before them. 

There was once a time when such looks beijing directed at her would have made her fit to explode with anger, when the idea of allowing any of her comrades to see her in a weakened or vulnerable state would have made her flush with humiliation and rage as she hurled abuse at them while seeking the safety of solace and isolation to avoid damaging her image before them.

And likewise during those days she would have demeaned and insulted her peers for thinking of showing such emotions to her, claiming they were below her and weaker than her and needed not to tend to the wounds of one such as herself. 

She would have done all of this to maintain the image of the powerful and mighty warrior of Ironblood, a member of a noble and mighty fiction whose name was synonymous with overwhelming power and fearless determination, who though not born as one of the faction had earned her place as one of their number. 

Though in truth the image she upheld was but a front, a thin veneer of arrogance and mocking hubris built to hide the gaping wounds that had been left upon her heart and soul for her past failures and to convince her fellows that she was indeed deserving of the honor that had been bestowed upon her when she was taken in by them.

But grief and pain and love and guilt have many a ways of bringing the giants that are named Hubris and Doubt to their knees in agony afore slaying them and casting their bodies into the sea of love to be broken upon the rocks of solidarity and camaraderie.

A sigh of relief left Deutschalnd’s lips as she felt the phantom aches and pains begin to subside under the gentle ministrations of her friend, a soft smile crossing her face as she gave a thankful nod to her friend as Nimi finished with her ministrations. 

Idly she noted the pained look that would grace her comrades face when she looked at the viscous scar, somber and melancholic understanding of an unspoken answer to an unspoken question alight in her orbs as she gave a final gentle squeeze to the arm before leaning in to press a delicate kiss to Deutschalnd’s cheek before rising to join with her sisters.

Once there was a time when Nimi would have asked her why she allowed for such a scar to exist on her body when there were numerous ways for the Kansen to purge themselves of such things, something they had only recently begun to find a way to do for their commander, but those days were long since passed and now her comrades fully understood her decision as to why she kept the scar, even if they found it saddening.

She felt as though she needed it to remain, to ever be there as a mark of both failure and victory, of both guilt and pride, a mark that told the tale of her foolishness and of her love and the extent to which she had gone to defend and honor said love. 

Of course there was yet another reason for it to remain beyond its service as a symbol and a reminder, a reason that she knew caused no small amount of shock and pain to those around her when theft learned the truth of it, a reason that helped comfort her when the pains of separation and anxiety reared their hideous viusages, even if it was not in the most healthy of manners of doing so. 

A method of comfort and bonding shared with the woman who rested across from her, teal eyes shining with sadness as she absently reached out to take her sister's hand in her own once more, a low moan of relief leaving her lips at the contact of their skin against one another as their fingers intertwined.

The slight motion of her shifting her arm to intertwine their fingers revealing a near matching scar you the one her sister bore, though the edges were much more jagged in appearance giving the appearance of something that had been done not by a cutting edge but by raw force of a blunt object swung with such force it tore through skin and meat of muscle and flesh as it powdered bone-

Deutschland was once more shaken from her thoughts by the sensation of lips upon her brow, courtesy of the towering form of Strength having leaned in to lay a chaste kiss to offer comfort as soon as she noted the way her charges breathing had begun to pick up and her pupils dilate as memories that were unwanted began to surface, though the light caress of her lips against her brow and the tightening of her hold as she brought the two sisters closer to her chest once more seemed to aid her a great deal in calming her. 

After a moment more of savoring the warmth of the embrace of both Strength and her sister, who had reached to sweep her into her arms as soon as she had been drought near enough to her to do so, Deutschalnd gave a silent pat on her sister’s back to let her know she was alright before leaning up to give a light kiss to Strength’s chin before she returned to the embrace. 

Calmed down she may be, but that does not mean she wanted to leaved the blessed warmth of the embrace, especially since she could just shift a little bit to savor both the warmth of her sisters arms and the beauty of their surroundings as she gave a slight nod to Strength to let her know it was alright for her to resume her escort of them and their comrades. 

And so it was that with her sister in her arms and her comrades beginning to fill the air with their dulcet tones as they conversed with each other, conversation broken but by awed gasps and shockled exclamations as they beheld seemingly ever more wondrous sights as Strength lead them across the waterways and paths of silver light through the citadel. 

Deutschland soon found herself forgetting the dark thoughts that had dared to try and pull her beneath the stygian waves as she saw the way her comrades eyes came alight with glee as they took in the sights that scanned before them, and while it was true that she found the vistas and scenes before her grand indeed, it was more the awe and wonder on her sister and comrade’s faces that brought her comfort and allowed for her to face the memories that had come to haunt her once again with a stalwart heart as any true scion of Iron Blood would and banish them to the depths to haunt her another day.

So Deutschalnd pulled her sister closer to her as she shifted to rest her head against the scar covered skin of Strength’s chest, idly shifting her hand to delicately card her fingers through her sister's silver locks as their tour continued through their comrades' homes halls.

Yet still those memories of the past lingered, dark and horribly tenebrous things that writhed and danced in horrid macabre patterns beneath the surface of the stygian lake of the Pocket Battleship’s memories awaiting but the right moment to once more reach out with their ichorus tendrils and pull her below the fetid water so that they may whisper their gibbering words of malice into her ears. 

Of course those present knew this as well as the ‘Pocket Battleship of Iron Blood’ did, and so they made certain to pull her into their conversations and gawking at the scenery lest those horrid tendrils reach from below those abyssal depths to pull her below the surface and into the throes of grief and fury and sorrow that were oft the contents of the nightmares that bid her wake with tears streaming from her eyes and screams wrenching themselves from her throat.

So it was not like any of those present could or would ever dare to blame her for her reaction to those nightmares, especially when more often than not they were either right alongside her in awakening their dorms with screams and sobs or were among those awakened by the sobs of their kith and kin as they bolted from their beds to wrap them in their embraces as they tried to offer them what comfort they could, of course not all of those who had been present that horrible day were within their little tour group but they knew well that they would share in their sentiments. 

Afterall, who could blame them for waking in cold sweats with terror seizing fast their thundering hearts as they frantically cried out for comfort as faded scars long healed flared to life with phantoms aches and pains given just what they had endured in their noble if misguided pursuit of protecting their loved ones the day they accepted that damnable mission.

Even now the memories danced mockingly in the darkness of their minds, beckoning them to fall into their embrace once more, and try as they might to bury them there were some who could not help but allow themselves to faintly reminisce of that horrid day as they took in the smiles and joyful expressions of their comrades, the bitter pain and anguish being drowned out by the love they felt for their comrades all that they needed to confront those memories, and banish them as Deutschland had.

Yet still some minds wandered as the scenes of the past flickered before their eyes, leading to them holding their loved ones closer to them as they recalled the day when their loved ones had tried to shoulder a burden as Atlas would, only to nearly be crushed beneath its weight. 

And as such it was somewhat of an inevitability that when one found themselves confronted with such seemingly omnipotent darkness, that even the sturdiest of mental bulwarks would creak and groan and eventually give way to the stygian tide of memory, and so it was that in a corner of the the group that had gathered to tour the bastion of the Sirens there was one who found herself slipping below the waves of the dark sea of her memories even as her sisters surrounded her with laughter and smiles. 

She could feel it coming, though she knew not what had prompted the great barriers that resided within her mind to begin to buckle and break under the weight of the sea they held back, although there was a part of her that wandered if it was not the sight of her sisters faces, warm smiles and loving eyes gleaming in the silver light, that bade her call back to the surface of her mind all that she had endured to insure that such a moment could be possible. 

A low whimper, a tightening of her grip upon her sister’s hands as she felt her body begin to shake, these were all the signs that Atago could offer to the group before she found herself unconsciously falling  to her knees as she trembled as though caught out in a great blizzard. 

Around her she could hear commotion, the group breaking formation and forming around her, delicate hands began stroking her hair and back as soft voices cooed words of comfort in her ears as warm bodies wrapped themselves around her in an embrace that she found herself greedily partaking in as she almost hungrily inhaled the comforting scents of her sisters as she basked in their warmth. 

Faintly she registered the large shadow that came to cover her, the two small forms held aloft in its arms looking down at her with sad smiles as one of them reached out her hand to delicately pat her head, lightly caressing her ears as she offered silent comfort to the woman before her.

No words were spoken by the smaller Ironblood woman, only a gentle if sad smile and slightly damp eyes alongside of her comforting touch serving to give voice to the thoughts of the woman that now so softly caressed her scalp. 

How long it lasted Atago did not know, it could have been a minute or it could have been an hour, when one is seized so covetously in the embrace of fear and panic they find that a second is as long as an eternity and a lifetime can pass by in but half the time it takes to blink. 

Be it a second or an hour, in the end the length it lasted mattered not to Atago or to those present, only that one they loved did not endure the throes of panic and dread alone and found comfort in their presences as they tried to guide her from the murky depths and back to the surface and the warm light that awaited her and away from the memories they knew were trying to pull her down into their twilight depths.

All those gathered present felt a weight that had begun to lay itself upon their shoulders in a mocking perversion of an embrace begin to list as they saw Atago’s breathing begin to even out, her shaking beginning to fade as she began to float away from the depths and towards the surface once again. 

When at last she found herself able to open her eyes and take in the sight before her through somewhat tear blurred vision Atago found her vision filled with the concerned gazes of her sisters as she was taken into a tight embrace by each of them at once, Deutschland’s hand yet remaining on her head the IronBlood Cruiser lightly stroked her ears and scalp a moment longer before removing it as she smiled at the scene before her.

For several moments longer the group remained in comforting silence, aside from the gente coos and loving whispers directed at Atago by her sisters as they delicately guided her to her feet and into their arms, Ember and Takao taking her sides, while Maya and Choukai took her front and back respectively as they each held their sister close. 

It was…jarring, to many of those present to see the normally calm and collected big sister persona that Atago wore with pride slip away and reveal below it the fragile and yet tender wound riddled visage of the young woman who had seen and endured far more than she ever wished to in the name of defending her loved ones and herself from the pain of losing the memories of those they loved to the void of death till they at last returned to them.

Sad smiles adorned many faces as the others offered comforting smiles of their own as they each took turns embracing and, in the cases of those other than the destroyers, giving gentle kisses to the young woman till at last a soft smile began to form on her face as she allowed herself to bask in the love and affection she was being shown.

A low giggle left Atago’s lips as she found herself pulled down into a somewhat awkward kneeling position, given her sisters had yet to relinquish their grip on her, though Maya did slide aside enough for the destroyers to offer gentle hugs of their own and brief pecks to her cheeks that made her chuckle as she offered her own hugs and light kisses to their foreheads in turn. 

Soon enough the melancholy that had engulfed the group began to part until at last the group began to loosen the tight circle they had formed around their distressed comrade, though they still remained much closer than they had been before the anxiety attack had struck one of their own. 

Atago gave those present a warm and gentle smile of her own as she wiped away the tears that had begun to form at the corners of her eyes from the affection that her beloved comrades and her sisters had shown her, the sight making several of those present gain small tears themselves that they likewise wiped away. 

Soon enough the tears were wiped away and a warm comforting haze enveloped the group as they lingered where they were for a moment longer, Atago at last breaking the comforting silence that had enveloped the group as she opened her mouth and, after lightly licking her lips, began to speak.

“T-thank you girls…I…I’m sorry abou-” Her words were cut off by a hand lightly cupping her cheek and turning her face to the side, soft lips gently taking her own as Takao silenced her sister in the most effective manner she could think of, that it involved her tongue lightly caressing her sisters own in a lovers waltz was simply a perk of her method. 

For several moments longer there was nothing but the sounds of the two’s kiss until at last they parted, a thin string of saliva linking the their lips together a moment longer will Atago swiped it away with her tongue as she licked her lips, just as Takao did the same thing.

Their silence lasted a moment longer as Takao brought her forehead against her sisters as she lightly stroked her back in a comforting manner, their siblings joining in as they began to lightly stroke and caress their sisters body as they offered more gentle kisses of their own until they were interrupted by-

Deutschland delicately laid her hand on Atago’s head once again, her nails lightly scratching the base of the canine ears that rested atop the young woman’s head for a moment before she shifted her hand to lightly cup the side of the Sakuran woman’s face as she brought her own lips to her forehead before looking her in the eye. 

“Don’t,” The Ironblood woman began as she closed her eyes for a moment before she leaned forward and rested her forehead against Atago’s own just as Takao had done but a moment earlier before she opened her eyes once again, a slight mist covering them as she fought back the tears that threatened to slip from the corners of her eyes as she resumed-

“Don’t apologize for anything Atago, least of all that. Do you understand me?” Deutschland said, her tone brokering no argument or disagreement as she held Atago’s gaze for several moments until at last she saw the other woman give a slight nod.

The display of affection prompting small streams of tears to begin leaking from her eyes for but a moment before Deutschland leaned in and gently swiped them aside with her tongue, the action prompting a giggle from Atago before it was silenced by another kiss. 

Their gathered comrades smiled at the scene before them as they waited for the pair to part once more, Atago finding herself swept off her feet by Ember but a moment after the two had separated from their embrace, the somewhat embarrassed squeal that escaped her lips serving to further lesson the grim weight that had laid itself upon the shoulders of those present when they saw their beloved comrade engulfed in panic. 

Ember gained a faint smirk at the sound her sister had made as she held her tightly in her arms, only allowing her grip to lessen just enough for her to tilt Atago’s head to rest under her own and let her sister nuzzle into her neck before she turned to address their gathered comrades. 

Yet she found the words she was about to speak, an encouragement for them to continue with the tour while they returned to the Port and their rooms so they could pamper Atago a bit more, cut off by her sister as she looked at her, an unspoken conversation passing between them as Atago delicately took Ember’s hand in her own and offered a gentle yet firm squeeze before looking her fellows in the eyes and offering a smile. 

A light sigh left Takao and Maya’s lips, while Choukai merely offer a gentle smile to her beloved sister as she reached over to delicately ruffle her hair, something which Atago basked in for a moment before she opened her mouth and spoke-

“I’m alright girls…let’s keep on going with the tour…please?” The last word spoken as a slight plea gained gentle smiles from the rest of her comrades as they formed up around her, Strength casting an ever so gentle gaze upon her as she leaned down to lightly brush her lips against her forehead before straightening out and holding out her arms so Deutschland and Spee could offer her gentle kisses of their own before they resume their positions of being cradled in Strength’s arms. 

Soon the sound of water sloshing filled the great halls once again, conversation and laughter soon joining with it as the group resumed their travel through the halls of the Sirens domain. Dark thoughts and memories left but to the stygian lakes within the deep recesses of their minds, till once more they managed to gather the audacity and will to dare rise once more in rebellion against the bulwark of light that held them back.

Yet those horrid memories would find their freedom but a fleeting illusion, for none of those present would allow for those they loved to be swept below the tide of their memories while they yet drew breath, least of all one of those who had endured so much on that damnable day.

Even as the memories faded back into their prison Atago found herself thinking back on them, liberated of the grip of the terror they brought her as she lulled in her sister’s arms, her senses alight in a haze of comforting warmth as she took in the sounds of conversation, her sisters breathing, the comforting warmth of the body holding her close, the scent of her kin, all of it aided her in taking a look at the memories her attack had brought to the surface void of the fear which had previously held her at their approach.

How strange it was she thought to herself, that while it was quite a while ago, yet still the memories were as vivid as a freshly carved gash, so newly born it has not yet had time to begin to weep blood upon the seas, in her mind.

She could still hear the nervous speaking of her comrades as they gathered in a room that appeared to be long untouched in the depths of the tunnels that ran beneath the Port, each of them built as a means of moving between the dorms and administration buildings during fouls weather or an attack, the light sheen of dust covering the desk and cabinets telling all that was necessary as to just when the last time the room had seen an audience beyond mites and cobwebs had been.

She could recall the unease that had hung over the room as they had awaited the arrival of the one who had called for all of them to gather here, the faint conversations of several small groups filling the air of the otherwise silent room as they sat on carefully smuggled chairs or on long abandoned furniture in uneasy patience.

Faintly she recalled the smell of so many bodies, some having been long without showers or changes of clothes due to either stress or lack of will to do so, and the somewhat unnerving heat that had filled the room as a result of all of them having been gathered in such a small space.

Idly she recalled the taste of a bead of sweat that had trailed down her forehead and to her lips as she fought the urge to bring her hand to her lips to continue gnawing on her nails as she had been previously, though she feared that such a thing would be unwise given the taste of blood that had filled her mouth in accompaniment to the sharp pain that had caused her to jolt and pull her hand away from her mouth earlier.

Yet she had no more time to think on such things when at last the conversations ceased at the sound of approaching footsteps before the door was opened and-

Line Break

(Flashback)

“Is this everyone?” Came the voice of Akagi as she strode into the room, though many had to do a double take to make sure it was indeed the infamous Crimson Kitsune of the Sakura Empire’s First Carrier Division that stood before them. 

After all, where the Akagi they knew wore immaculate clothes and tasteful makeup to accompany her often infuriating smirk, this woman’s clothes were covered in wrinkles and stains that showed they had more than likely not been changed for many a day, her face was devoid of makeup allowing for the unhealthy paleness of her skin to compliment the almost tar colored bags that resided below weary crimson orbs that gazed at the mass before her.

Idly Atago thought that they all probably looked the same, at least she was somewhat certain that she did given the weight of the bags that rested under her eyes and the oily sheen that coated her hair and the faintly visible stains on her shirt and pants, though she soon found herself shaken from her thoughts as someone from the crowd called out an affirmative to the carriers question.

“Alright…alright.” Akagi said as she calmly moved to take a stand at the front of the room, the rhythmic clicking of her sandals against the stone floor the only sound that filled the room aside from their breathing till at last she stood before the gathered mass, her weary eyes taking in the scene before her as she looked over those who had gathered before her.

“Ladies, let’s not mince words.” She began, a sigh leaving her lips before she continued, “All of us have gathered here today for one reason and one reason only. We are here today to discuss what we will do for the upcoming mission and-” Akagi found herself cut off before she could continue.

“WE CAN’T LET THEM GO!” Came the frenzied voice of Portland, her eyes wild and desperate, streams of tears flowing down from them as she cast her gaze around those who present, finding many offering sympathetic nods and other giving voice to similar thoughts till a raucous cacophony of voices crying sentiments similar to what Portland had said until-

*BANG*

All of those present froze, some instinctively reaching for their own weapons and others diving for cover as a gunshot echoed through the room, chips of the concrete ceiling raining down onto the one who had taken out a Luger pistol and fired a round into the ceiling. 

“Enough.” Growled Deutschalnd from where she had been leaning against the wall behind Akagi, her eyes sweeping across the room, the weight of the madness and fury and guilt and oh so many other emotions swirling within them making all who met her gaze quickly avert their gazes as the Pocket Battleship’s eyes raked over them with a searing glare for several moments longer before she pocketed her Luger. 

“Thank you Deutschland,” Akagi said, a low sigh leaving her lips when the Ironblood woman offered but a nod of her head before she resumed leaning against the wall, absently fishing a picture out of one of her pockets, the sight of whatever laid upon it bringing an uncharacteristically soft smile on her face as she absently traced her thumb over the scene captured in the picture she held.  

“ As I was saying, we are here to discuss the upcoming mission and how we intend to prevent our loved ones from going and,” Akagi trailed off, her eyes gaining a misty sheen to them as her form began to tremble for several moments before she was able to regain her composure, “and risking their lives and memories of us again.” A look of bitter rage passed through Akagi’s eyes as she brought up the fates that had been visited upon each of their beloved ones and kin to such an extent that this meeting had been called. 

Akagi was silent for several moments, and soon it became clear to those present that the normally charismatic and cunning kitsune was ensnared in the creeping tendrils of her own memories of her beloved sisters looking at her as though she were not but a stranger, their words no doubt echoing within her head as a low whimper left her lips as her frame began to shake. 

Atago found her feet gaining a mind of their own, swiftly bearing her to the front of the room as she took the Carrier into her arms, delicately tucking the trembling kitsune’s face into her neck as she gently carded her fingers through the other woman’s scalp and rocked back and forth on her heels to help calm the woman down. 

Gently she whispered calming words into the Kitsune’s ears as she tried to soothe the carrier, faintly registering the whimpered words that made her own heart ache and bid her tighten her embrace on the now openly weeping woman.

“They said they didn’t know who I was…who they were…they said they didn’t recognize me…”

Faintly Atago heard similar whimpering cries fill the room from several of her other comrades, Portland’s wailing cries being matched in pitch only by the low keening cry that was slipping from Yorktown’s lips as Belfast held her hand and tried to calm her down. 

For a moment she was certain that the room would descend into nothing but wailing and sobbing as several of their other meetings had, only for a low sigh to be heard from where Deutschland was leaning against the wall, the Ironblood Cruiser deftly pocketing her picture before she closed her eyes and-

“SHUT THE HELL UP!”

Her voice boomed throughout the room, her previous gunshot seeming to be nothing but a silenced cough in comparison to the deafening roar that had just left her lips, something matched in pitch but by the noise of her fist impacting, and shattering the table, that her and Akagi had been standing behind.

Silence seized the room, save for those few who still let out low whimpers as they tried to compose themselves, as Deutschland once more raked her gaze over the group for several moments before her gaze began to soften, a low sigh leaving her lips as she closed her eyes for a moment before she began to speak.

“Look, all of us are here for the same reason.” Deutschland fished out the picture she had been looking at and held it up for all of those to see, many felt their gazes softening from the scowls they had been directing at the woman for previous actions as they beheld the picture that showed a smiling Deutschalnd and Graf Spee locked in an embrace as they looked at the camera.

“We are here for our family and friends. We are here to put our heads together and find a way to keep them from going on another mission that could cost them their lives and memories, and…I have an idea.” 

Deutschland’s words silenced any further clamor in the room as all turned their gazes to her, some still damp with tears that were being desperately wiped away, and awaited the Iron Blood woman’s next words.

“I spoke with Omitter, Mutter Houshou, and Mutter Friedrich and they have agreed to vouch for us to be allowed to take our comrades places on the mission if we can guarantee that they won’t be able to attend the debriefing before the mission, and if we guarantee that we will be able to pull off the mission.” Deutschland said, her words making many of those present feel a sense of hope begin to swell in their hearts.

“D-do we k-know what t-t-the mis-mission is?” Came the stuttering voice of Erebus, her eyes wet with tears that she was desperately trying to wipe away as she awaited Deutschland’s response, a sense of eager anticipation swelling within her at the thought of not having to see Terror look at her with that terrible blank look again.

For a moment there was silence in the room as Deutschland’s eyes drifted shut once more, a sigh leaving her lips as she delicately brought her hand to her forehead as she took a moment to compose herself before she spoke up, her next words silencing any clamor in the room and making any sense of hope vanish. 

“A direct assault on Typhon. The purpose being to get tissue samples to confirm if the Siren and Ashes current plan will work, and to draw it’s attention away from New York so that the evacuation can finish up along-” Deutschland found herself cut off as a voice bellowed out-

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!” Came the voice of Scharnhorst, her bloodshot eye locking directly with Deutschland’s own as she began to force her way through the crowd till she stood directly before the shorter woman, the faint smell of alcohol wafting from her and making Deutschland’s nose wrinkle as she met the glare of the taller woman with one of her own. 

“Y-your telling me you want us to try and fight that…that thing head on!” The Battlecruiser snarled at the smaller woman as she swayed slightly on her feet, be it from a mixture of intoxication and anger or from her own nerves was something that none of those present could tell as they watched the confrontation taking place before them. 

“No.” Deutschland’s answer made the room go quiet once again, Scharnhorst freezing as she looked at the woman in dumbfounded confusion at the smaller woman before her as she tried to understand what the woman meant by her answer. 

Before anyone could question what she meant by saying ‘no’ the Pocket Battleship reached up and seized Scharnhorst by her collar and pull her down to meet her face to face, their foreheads pressed together as the wide eyed battlecruiser stared into the furious gaze of the Cruiser. 

“I am telling you that we are going to tear that thing a new fucking asshole and rip out some of it’s fucking guts so that we can figure out how to kill it, so we can end this damn war and not lose our loved ones any more you drunk bitch.” Deutschland snarled at the woman before she pushed her back, the sudden shove making the battlecruiser fall onto her back and look up at the cruiser in shock. 

Several stepped forward to help the battlecruiser to her feet while others watched on in stunned silence as Deutschland walked over to a nearby chair and drug it to the front of the room before she took a stand on it.

Akagi pulled back from Atago’s embrace at last to meet the gaze of the Pocket Battleship, who now stood atop the chair, offering a silent nod for her to continue before she let herself slump against Atago and savor the embrace of one of her comrades. 

“Listen up!” Deutschland spoke, her voice not quite a yell but certainly raised above a normal tone of voice as she swept her gaze across the gathered Kansen, taking note of the tear and desperation filled eyes that stared back at her with the beginning of a burgeoning hope forming within them.

“Every single one of us is here for the same reason, to protect the ones we love and by Gott that is what we are going to fucking do. If you want to bitch and moan about how it is going to be difficult, about how our stronger comrade’s have tried and failed missions like this then you can walk right out that gottverdammt door and right back into your empty beds and wait for your family and friends to come back with those empty eyes of their as they ask you who you are and why you are in their room.” Her words made many let out whimpers and low sobs once more as they recalled enduring just that so many times over until at last their battered and bruised hearts had shattered and they had been driven near to madness in grief and pain. 

Deutschland waited for the whimpers and sobs to die down before she took a deep breath and continued, reaching into her pocket to pull out her picture once more as she did so as she held it aloft like a battle standard. 

“Or you can say fuck that and come with me and tear that overgrown Lovecraft reject a new hole so we can actually figure out how to send that thing back to hell! You can stand up on your own two feet and say ‘No More’ to death when it tries to take OUR loved ones from us again! You can do more than drink and fuck away the pain and acutally do something for the ones we love!” Deutschland’s voice rose in fervor and pitch till it began to boom around the room, the Pocket Battleship tapping into every lesson Friedrich had given her in preparation for this moment as she swept out her arms and called out-

“I ask all of you this, are you ready to fight for our sisters and friends! Are you ready to fight for them or die trying! WELL ARE YOU!?” She boomed out, her word bringing forth cries of agreement from the group before her as they roared out their agreement to what the cruiser had said with many crying out that they would fight for those they loved even if it meant they died instead. 

While it may be selfish for them to risk inflicting the same pain they had suffered upon their loved ones, they believed that such a risk was more than worth the chance that at least their loved ones would be safe and that they may be able to come home to them knowing who they were as they were pulled into warm beds and warmer arms. 

Their mangled hearts demanded nothing less from them. 

As her comrades cheered, Deutschland stepped off of her chair and moved to stand before Scharnhorst, her arm outstretched as she locked eyes with her.

“Are you with me?” She asked the battlecruiser, who, for but a moment remained silent until-

“Let’s do this.” Scharnhorst said as she took Deutschland’s hand in her own, pulling the smaller woman into an embrace to bury the hatchet between them in full as those around them cheered once more. 

Now all they had to do was figure out how to keep their loved ones from being able to fight, and it just so happened that Pennsylvania had an idea that, though it made some feel uneasy, had a high chance of working.

Now they just had to gain access to the kitchens.

And Deutschland knew just who to go to.

Line Break (Still Within Recollection Now General POV)

Come the day of the mission, the girls found themselves joining their kin and comrades who were set to go on said mission, for a special meal consisting of them and their kin, something they felt was all too close to a final meal together as opposed to a pre-mission meal.

 As they entered the room and took their seats they began noting that each of the tables had elaborately decorated vases with beautiful blue and yellow flowers contained within them, the sight of the blue petals that bled to yellow near the center, making the group feel their hearts begin to pound as they knew that their allies had done their part, and that their own part was coming up.

As their comrades and kin gathered to dine and bask in one another’s company, there would be many questions as to why the flowers had been put on the tables and just what they meant that made those who knew the language of flowers blush and smile, something that was answered by Akagi as she subtly wiped away a tear as she held fast to Kaga and Amagi’s hands.

“They're called Forget-Me-Nots,” Her words made the two women sit up as though a current had been run through their body as they turned to look at her with sadness and pain welling in their own orbs as they pulled their sister into a tight embrace as the Crimson Kitsune continued. 

“They symbolize true love and dedication. Though their still considered weeds despite that,” Akagi said with a laugh, one that held no mirth or joy and instead bore within it only a deep and bitter sorrow so potent and all encompassing it made those who heard it shudder as their own eyes began to grow damp as their hearts began to ache. 

The words echoed around the room, making many look at the flowers with a new light in their eyes, some coming to bear bittersweet smiles and others trying to hide their faces away behind their hands so as to conceal the tears that had begun to spill from their eyes. 

Yet despite the bittersweet feelings racing through their hearts, all of those present felt an overwhelming gratitude towards the ones who had placed them upon the table, the same ones that had begun to depart from the kitchens and wheel out trays and carts overflowing with food and drink. 

At first no words were spoken, until Queen Elizabeth stood from where she had been seated by Warspite, and began to walk towards the members of the Royal Maid Corp and various other factions that acted as the chefs of the base, the diminutive royal reaching out her arms and offering a gentle embrace to Dido, the action making the maid freeze for several moments before she began to return the embrace with damp eyes.

Soon many had risen from their tables to offer embraces and even kisses to the maids and cooks of the base, some bidding them sit and dine with them before they had to depart for their mission or their other assignments across the base.

They did not notice the slightly sad smiles that many of the girls shared, nor did they notice the silent nods that some of the girls shared with one another before they turned to look at their comrades and kin, with watery smiles upon their faces.

Or perhaps it is more apt to say that they were looking at the special meals that had been laid before them, each of their comrade and kins favorite foods that they so eagerly began to tuck into, heedless of a flavorless additional ingredient. 

Forget-Me-Not, a flower that symbolizes love and devotion, is it not fitting that such a flower is considered a weed? For like a weed, love and devotion can throttle and strangle all other flowers of emotion around them unless they are kept in check.

Idly some of the girls thought that the flowers seemed to sneer at them in mockery as they watched their comrades and kin dine and converse with one another regarding the mission to come, unaware that they would not be going on said mission. 

And indeed it was not long after they had finished dining that those who were set to sail into the gaping maw of hell on what could well amount to a suicide mission began to find themselves feeling weary, drained and tired as their eye lids began to feel heavier and heavier and…heavier…

Atago breathed a sigh of relief as she delicately lifted Takao into her arms, turning her head back to see the other members of her group doing the same with their own siblings and friends as the familiar form of Omitter strode through a ‘Tear’, a sad smile on her face as she snapped her fingers and opened up a series of ‘Tears’ before each of the girls for them to take their comrades through before the rest of their fellows came to dine.

A low sigh leaving her lips, Atago leaned down to delicately brush her lips against takao’s forehead before she strode through the portal and into her and her sisters room, idly taking note of Choukai and Maya laying on their bed, savoring a day off by cuddling together as they awaited their sibling’s return. 

Smiling softly, Atago delicately placed Takao between their sisters and took a step back, her smile widening as she saw Maya and Choukai immediately latch on to Takao, sandwiching her between them as they nuzzle her neck. 

The sight enough to bring a low coo out of Atago as she pulled out her cell phone and snapped a handful of pictures of the touching scene before she leaned down and placed gentle kisses to each of her sisters foreheads, before she began to turn back and walk towards the portal, her eyes fixated on the picture of her sisters laying in bed and cuddling together in blissful peace…as they should have been able to do from the beginning.

She had made it to the rim of the ‘Tear’ when she heard a sleep ridden voice call out from behind her-

“Onee-chan…want…more kisses…” The words, having come from the still sleeping Takao of all people, made Atago feel her cheeks flush for a moment as she turned to look back at her sisters, her lips pulled into a bittersweet smile as she softly spoke her reply to the silent room.

“Don’t worry Imouto-chan, I’ll give you plenty of kisses when I get back…I promise.” She said with tears beginning to leak from her eyes as she turned and strode through the portal before her, her heart weighing in her chest like a stone. 

Idly she wondered if this is what Takao felt when she was called to fight without her in some godless corner of the sea, the two had always hated being separated and had only acquiesced to the decision due to the valid argument that their skills, while excellent together, were also quite good when separated and they needed skilled fighters in multiple areas to harass Typhon and keep it’s gaze away from the mainland and any civilian centers that had not been emptied. 

And that was not taking into account the more…recent developments, developments she just knew were going to make this already suicidal mission, that much more difficult. 

She could only hope she did not wind up being reset and losing her memories of the precious scene on her phone…she did not know if she would be able to bear it.

Those thoughts raging in her head like a wild maelstrom, Atago stepped through the portal and into the beginning of a storm.

Line Break (Still In Recollection)

There is an old Yiddish saying; “Man plans, and God Laughs”. 

It serves as a sobering reminder that no matter how hard we strive to outhink and prepare ourselves for any calamity that can occur we will inevitably find ourselves caught off guard and finding our elaborate schemes and preparations amounting to not but ash in the wind and a bitter taste in our mouths as we are confronted with the harsh reality that we, no matter how much we argue against it, are ultimately powerless in the face of the universe and the whims of fate.

Those that had formed the group known amongst themselves as ‘Forget-Me-Not’ had thought they had prepared themselves for every eventuality, that their plan, which they would readily admit was not without flaw, had at least a somewhat favorable chance of success. 

They thought that everything was going accordingly to the scheme so painstakingly crafted and designed in the dark depths of the labyrinthian tunnels that spanned below the base, from the dosing of their comrades and kins meals with sedatives, to convincing a somewhat hesitant Azalea to allow for them to take their kins places as they rested and recovered, a feat which they would later claim was possible solely due to Friedrich and Observer Zeroi’s aid, and yet…here they were.

Above them loomed skies so dark that not of the rays of the sun that should have been above them could be seen, the only light that came from it being the crackling whips of lightning that tore through the air and struck the seas, as though they as well were under the command of the opponent that loomed before them. 

Around them waves rose so high that all seemed to be swallowed within their stygian maws, lightning and hail and razor wind alike devoured by the crushing depths that bore down upon them from the roiling sea of onyx-sapphire that spanned as far as their eyes could see. 

Distantly they thought they heard the sound of stone and soil collapsing into a sea, an island rent asunder and plunged down into the darkest of depths by the weight of water so great and terrible in its fury that even that which had stood for millennia in defiance against the erosion wrought by said elements could not endure for more than but a few moments before the sea at last claimed its due as it swallowed it whole.

Yet none of those present spot the island that was being devoured, flung about as they were by the writhing oceanic tendrils that battered and devoured and crushed at those around them, their groups having long been broken apart and reformed as they desperately tried to form some semblance of a cohesive unit.

How long they had fought to gather into the teams they had formed, with aid from the Sirens and their ‘Gates’ as the Ashes rained hell upon the beast to buy them time before they joined into the melee, they knew not as time had long lost meaning to them, only the roaring of waves and cannons and-

“EVERYONE, FUCKING MOVE NOW!” Roared the voice of Purifier over their Comm link as waves that reached such heights that even the roiling onyx clouds above were seemingly devoured by their stygian sapphire might came crashing down upon the area they had been standing on but moments ago, before they began to sweep from side to side before they rose once more into the heavens, for indeed these were not waves but tentacles of the beast that loomed afore them. 

Were once to take Mount Everest and drop into the deepest recesses of the ocean, not even it’s tip would pierce the surface of the azure seas, yet those who gazed upon the behemoth known as Typhon felt well that should the mangled corpse of the beast be allowed to fall into the depths of the sea, so great would be the amount that breached the surface that one would consider it not an island chain, but a continent of mountains whose summits reached heights greater than that of the Tower of Babel. 

Few words could adequately describe the beast, for it seemed to contradict all laws and knowledge of nature and of rationality. For its body was as vast as a continent and seemed to reach higher than the greatest of mountains, yet all of it was made not of flesh and bone, or muscle and tendon, least that their eyes could see, but of roiling and crashing waves and vortexes and thunderheads held together by force of will and perversion of natural law known but to the mind that lay behind the baleful multi- colored Phosphorescent orbs that glared back at them from a visage that could be likened to that of a dragon, were it the size of the island of Hawaii. 

Lighting arched and surged through roiling waves of stygian and into the sky above, falling down hellstorms of thunderbolts that sent their aerial forces scattering in desperation, even as waterspouts surged forth from the beasts hide, whipping to and fro as the writhing tendrils they were in truth, eager to devour those not fast enough to avoid both them and the lighting bolts that rained upon them.

Yet there was nothing those upon the sea could do for their airborne allies, be they Sirens or Carrier launched planes, for all of their efforts were devoted to avoiding the tendrils of swirling waves and crackling storm clouds that came at them in sizes that varied from as large as great Red-Wood trees to large enough to fill the horizon and necessitate their Siren allies pulling them through their rifts to avoid being reduced to red smears upon the sea. 

A fate which had sadly claimed many of them already, though how many they knew not only that their voices had ceased to echo over the Comm lines and that the Conductor assigned to monitoring their vitals had reported several casualties before they had found themselves more focused on dodging the endless assault of tendrils and thunderclaps as they unleashed all hell upon the leviathan before them.

Desperation and despair had come to seize an iron hold of them as they saw that not even their greatest cannons could pierce through the waves and clouds that seemed to form the body of the beast before them, yet their rage and fury burned far hotter than the frigid grip of said despair and urged them to fight on as they sought a way to honor their promises. 

So great was the fervor of the battle and the cacophonous orchestra of cannons, torpedoes and Plasma fire, which was matched but by the roaring of blood in their veins and the thundering beating of their own hearts, that those present could not begin to conceive of hearing themselves think more than a handful of errant thoughts, let alone anything but the most deafening of roars and cries that they found themselves thanking for breaking them from their blood craze enough to avoid sudden death quite frequently. 

One such roar soon heralding the beginning of bloodstained grins and snarls crossing many features as they began to renew their attacks in full, malice and fury alight in their eyes as they unleashed all they had upon the beast, forcing it to turn it’s gaze to them once more and away from the ‘Gate’ that had formed upon the sea just beyond where Deutschland and a rather disapparate band of her comrades had been forced to flee to amidst a hellstorm of lightning bolts and whipping tendrils, one such having torn a viscous gash across Scharnhort’s stomach and forced her to retreat through a ‘Gate’, the pink of her intestines visible amidst the flashing of her cannons. 

A snarled curse left Deutschland’s lips as she noted the tendrils that Scharnhorst had been keeping at bay with her salvos beginning to creep in once more, and so she swiftly diverted the aim of one on her turrets to meet the approaching mass of storms and waves with a thundering hellstorm of HE shells, smiling in cruel delight when she saw the tendrils flinch back, though that smile was soon erased when one shot out of the mass and shoot towards her with impossible speed, a crackling spark of lightning forming an all cutting edge that-

Something slammed into her and flung her across the surface of the wild sea, sending her crashing through many towering waves and frigid swells as she was cast out of the way of the razor edged tentacle that had been primed to gore her like a wild boar. 

It was only the heightened reflexes brought about by the unhealthy levels of adrenaline tearing through her veins allowing for her to not be sent sprawling face first into the depths of the raging sea as she took advantage of the momentum to flip herself upright and dig her feet into the surface of the sea with as much force as she could to arrest her momentum.

A snarling curse formed on her lips as she whirled about to regard whatever it was that had sent her sprawling, if it was one of her comrades she would thank them for knocking her out of the way of the attack , but only after she had torn into them for-

Her roar died in her throat, a low keening cry soon taking its place as she surged forward, covering the distance she had been flung in an instant that seemed to her to last for an eternity as she saw azur waves staining crimson with such sped that even the constant crashing and thrashing of the sea could not dispel the growing stain, agonized cries coming from an oh so achingly familiar voice drowning out all other sound but their pained cries. 

Madness and fury and grief and oh so many other emotions swirled within her orbs with such potency to rival the hellish storm they had languished under as she tore through wave and swell, through near blinding rain and jagged hail till she was at last at the side of the one that had pushed her aside and taken a blow fit to gore a wild boar.

Without hesitation she wrapped the injured kansen in her arms, uncaring of the pain wrought by the bombardment of jagged hail against her back and the spreading searing stickiness that soaked through the biting cold of her soaked attire and onto the her pale skin, the vile sensation prompting her to wish to shudder in revulsion even as she held the source of the spreading wet heat tighter towards her as her vision blurred, stinging pain heralding the descent of her tears as she wept.

“H-how…how are you…you should be back-” Deutschland’s words were cut off when she felt an arm tighten around her, light blue eyes shining with an inner light meeting her own manic and tear filled orbs as she felt her little sister hold to her with an iron grip,the thrashing waves doing not to separate them as they held tight to one another, uncaring of the beast that loomed ever so near and of the thrashing seas that seemed so determined to pull them down and-

Vaguely Deutschalnd thought she heard someone call something out over the communications, but she cared little for it as she pulled back enough to look at her sister, the blur of her tears doing nothing to hide how pallid her sisters skin had turned and how sad her eyes were as she held onto her big sister for warmth and comfort amidst the crashing waves.

“...Sorry…guess…you…messed…messed up the…do-” Spee found her words cut off as her big sister pulled away from her, an iron grip still held on her remaining arm as her sister tore at the medical kit on her side, pulling out a tourniquet as she quickly moved to bind the bleeding stump of her sister’s arm, a feat much easier said than done as she saw the red stained white bone that jutted amidst tattered muscles and tendons, nausea swelling in her as she moved to try and help her sister-

A hand seized her shoulder and a wave of blue-white light enveloped her and Spee as they found themselves pulled through a ‘Gate’ mere seconds before a tendril the size of a small mountain slammed into the spot they had occupied but a split second ago, the waves being flung high enough into the sky so as to seem to touch the clouds themselves as a roaring shriek that defied all description echoed across the seas. 

Yet Deutschland heard neither the crashing of the waves or the deafening shriek, instead she hear clamor and commotion so intense it made her ears ring as she found her eyes opening to a scene of abject pandemonium, floors that were once pristine and white now lay smeared with filthy water and blood and viscera so dense in some areas she could not see the once polished white metallic tiles. 

Here and there she saw her comrades laying on bizarre operating tables, needles and tubes and machines which she could not adequately describe aside from being some form of futuristic medical machinery hooked up to them as Siren and Ashes and Kansen medics raced to and fro, narrowly avoiding slipping on piles of cut off clothes and pieces of flesh and viscera as they called out for what they needed as they worked to still the Reaper’s coming approach from their friends. 

A sharp tug began to pull her sister from, ehr arms, an act which brought an almost animalistic snarl to her lips as she began to aim her rigging at-

“Schwester...beruhige...dich...bitte,” (1) the younger sister said, her voice faint and raspy as consciousness began to flee from her even as she held fast to it in an iron grip, desperate to not leave her elder sister again, to not forget her again, to not forget how much they loved each other, how much they needed each other…how much they…

Her vision began to darken as she heard a chorus of voices surround her, her sister’s loudest among them as she began to shake her, tears streaming from her eyes as almost nonsensical babble began to leave her lips in blubbering sobs and desperate shrieks that tore at her already mangled heart, hurting her more than the mangled mass that was once her arm that yet leaked blood onto the floor like an open faucet.

As consciousness began to fade she found herself desperately trying to calm her big sister, trying to say the words she had meant to tell her when she had heard her weeping over her as she lay in torpor on their shared bed, sedative coursing through her system and rendering her unable to reach out her arms and pull her sister into her embrace as she had wished to.

Desperately her mouth tried to form the words she longed to say to comfort her elder sister as she stood above her after tucking her in, tears streaming from her eyes as she begged and pleaded for her little sister to stay safe, that she would be back soon and that everything would be alright again, that she would not need to suffer because her big sister was so so weak. 

Oh how she had wished to surge up from the bed and pull her stupid big sister into her arms, to hold her close to her and tell her that it was all okay, that she was not stupid, nor was she weak or pathetic or any of the other self depreciations she had hurled at herself as she tried desperately to fight off the clawed hands of the sedative before it pulled her away from her sister. 

Sadly, she had found herself trapped in a half-awake and half-asleep state, her body weighed down with the drug coursing through her system for a span of time she could not accurately guess at, minutes or hours or even days could have passed her and would have felt as the same horrible eternity she waited to be able to movie her arms and legs and do more than drag herself upon the ground she had rolled out of the bed and onto.

From there it had taken her far to long to find a way to convince one of the Sirens she had encountered to open a ‘Gate’ to where her sister was, namely due to her having to get quite creative with her threats of going on a rampage and ensuring they had two monsters to worry about as opposed to one in order to convince a rathe resolute Oceana class to open said ‘Gate’, though she felt her opening the portal could be owed more to the way her eyes had glowed with an inner light as someone spoke to her over the Network as opposed to her threats. 

Regardless, she had not hesitated in casting herself through the ‘Gate’ as soon as she could, uncaring of the hellscape that she had found herself thrust into as she desperately sought out her sister amidst the roiling stygian waves.

And yet…for all of that effort her she was, once more about to be separated from her sister, be it by veil of sleep or death at this point she could not tell which would seize her first, only that there were so many things she wanted to say the woman her hand was stretching out for…and yet none of them were able to leave her lips aside from-

“Ich ... liebe ... dich ... große Schwester.” (2) These words slipped past her lips as darkness claimed her vision, the last sight her eyes could register being the sight of her sister’s face contorting into a mixture of shock and anguish as she screamed out her name at the peak of her lungs as several Sirens moved to restrain her and prevent her from leaping at the ones carrying her away from her.

“SPEE!”

Line Break

The sky yielded to the void, A pillar of searing hell flame rising high into the sky, radiant crimson and golden flames hungirly devouring all they touched, be they cloud, water, air, or even the very light itself as they writhed and danced in a blazing inferno for but a moment before they were extinguished by the furious downpour. 

The searing heat and the frigid downpour mixed together to form a mist that enveloped the area, Akagi having to narrow her eyes against the fog that began to assail her form as she tried to keep an eye on the towering silhouettes that loomed on the other side of the mist, her ears registering an anguished shriek that shook the very seas, much to her pleasure. 

Though her pleasure was short lived, as soon the cry of pain turned to a roar of rage so great it made the waves shake as the silhouette of a massive tendril reared back before it tore through the cloud of mist and fog, poised to rend the Kitsune in twain for her offense, and yet it only met empty air as the Sakuran Carrier leapt backwards.

A low growl left Akagi’s lips as she felt the wind generated by the swing cause her hair to fall into her eyes for a moment, temporarily blinding the Kitsune as she tried to pull the long locks of waterlogged hair away from, her eyes, ignoring the stinging pain of the salt water making contact with her eyes as her ears registered the sound of-

She ducked low as another tentacle slashed through the air her head had occupied but a moment ago, several locks of her hair being slashed clean through as the tendril passed over her and struck at the water before her nearest ally, the startled yelp alerting her to it being Shoukaku who was sent flying through the air for several moment before she was able to right herself by dragging her hand through the water to break her momentum. 

Faintly Akagi heard her fellow carrier resume her assault, her flute playing al ow melody to signal her bomber and fighter to rain as much hell as they could down upon the beast that loomed before them, the sound of especially made bullets and bombs raining down on the behemoth form soon filling the air once more as Akagi called forth her flames and planes as she resumed her own assault. 

Soon the air was filled with steam and raging heat once more, the baleful glow of the flames illuminating the monstrous head that had turned to gaze upon the vermin that had dared to assail its form with bullet and bomb and flame, eyes that burned as nuclear reactors glared down with malefic wrath into the crimson orbs of the Kitsune.

Akagi returned the glare with one of her own as she directed her planes to assault the beasts eyes, smirking as she heard it let out a thunderous snarl, though her smirk soon vanished as bolts of stygian lightning arched and danced across its frame, striking down each of the planes that she and her fellow carriers had launched before the bast opened its mouth, baleful light gathering in the open maw as nauseating fluid began to form, a horrid stench filling the air.

“Shit!” Akagi snarled under her breath as she turned and dashed to the side, moving at full sprint across the waves till not could be seen of her save a crimson blur as she tackled Shoukaku aside a wave of searing heat tore from the open maw of the behemoth, several other beams coming alight various other points on the creature's body as it workled to either scatter or destroy the pests that had assailed it, a flurry of cursus and agonized cries rewarding its assault, though they were drowned out under the roar of the beams of heated liquid that tore from the monsters form.

Akagi shielded Shoukaku as best as she could, crying out as she felt blisters and burns begin to form across her body simply by virtue of the sheer intensity of the beam of heated liquid that she was near to, the thundering roar of the attack drowning out her anguished howls to all but her junior, who held her with a grip to rival any vice as she cried out as the now boiling water scorched her own back.

The roaring beam seemed to last an eternity, but all those who survived knew well that it could only have been a few moments at best that the assault had lasted before it began to fade away, the water roiling as a putrid phosphorescent liquid with a nauseating yellow sheen stained where the beam had hit, many crying out a burns formed upon their flesh to the point of them having to withdraw as muscles and bones were made visible.

The howling cry of Suffolk echoed over a portion of the battlefield as she was forced to flee with her arm reduced to not but crimson stained bone with some strips of flesh and clumps of muscle that were liquifying as a result of coming into contact with the horrific liquid even as she fled through a ‘Gate’

Akagi swiftly leapt to her feet once more, ignoring the agony that came from the burns that had formed just from being near the beam of intense heat, taking Shoukaku with her as she stood on her feet and resumed her attack, her heart thundering in her ears as she heard the Conductor cry out for another cycle of pawns and mass produced to be deployed to assist them while they waited for their comrades to be patched up enough to resume their own attack.

A sinking sensation began to form in the kitsunes gut as she noted the decrease in the sound of cannon fire and torpedo explosions, dread beginning to grip her at the thought of being forced to flee in disgrace, unable to do anything to protect those she loved once more, proving her wort-

No…no! She would not let herself fall into those thoughts again, not so long as this damned thing lived and her heart yet beat in her chest. With a snarl she stared at the beast once more, noting the almost malicious glee that seemed to swirl and burn within those baleful orbs, even as pawns and mass produced models formed and began to unleash a salvo artillery fire so great in number it shook the seas around them.

A surge of waves and crackle of lightning as storm clouds wrapped in swirling sapphire waves began to form along the back of the beast, a parody of a pustule that soon ruptured and gave rise to a horrific limb akin to a tendril, nauseating orbs that mirrored the eyes of the beast forming across it in a spiraling pattern all the way to the top of the limb which ended in a shape reminiscent of a flower. 

The comm link erupted in frenzied screams from the Conductor and the others within the command center, all yelling the same thing as the eyes of the towering appendage fixed themselves upon those present. 

“GET DOWN!”

A moment later, a baleful light began to swell and surge within the tendril, illuminating its path as it began to surge towards the top of the flower shaped appendage, which promptly closed the tendrils that acted as ‘petals’ as it bottled up whatever was trying to escape from the tendril, generating more and more pressure as more and more light began to build till the tendril was almost blinding.

All at once across the field of battle ‘Gates’ opened and Sirens pulled the Kansen in, those pulled into the gates found themselves treated to one final scene before the rift closed on them, a pillar of baleful liquid erupting into the sky with such force it parted the clouds.

For a moment there appeared to be no effect, until they saw the stygian skies become saturated with a sickening yellow glow. 

And then it began to rain.

The normal rain of the storm soon found itself mixed with the acidic fluid, the liquid raining down upon the remaining pawns and mass produced models and reducing them into little more than a slurry of melted metal to mix with the now blazing yellow sea, the acidic waters splashing harmlessly against the beast as it roared out its triumph from a number of maws seen and unseen. 

The sea shook under the echoing roar of Typhon’s howl of triumph and the deluge of blazing yellow liquid that seared and scorched the very air it touched, reducing the water it touched into a nauseating tableau of phosphorescent colors and abhorrent stench mixed with the melted metal of the pawns and mass produced models that caused the sea to roil and steam.

When the ‘Gates’ once more opened, in the air and at a safe distance from the several mile wide contaminated zone, to allow for the Kansen to see the devastation their foe had wrought, gasps tearing from their lips at the scene of the seas being dyed a anxious yellow as an aroma beyond that of putrefaction and molten metal filled the air to the point that many found their eyes watering at the horrid stench. 

And looming over this noxious stain upon the surface of the earth was their foe, one head having been joined by dozens more as they formed from the writhing maelstrom of Typhon’s body with all of the ease of breathing, their hideous eyes alighting upon the distant foes with a chilling rage swirling within them. 

To their stunned horror they witnessed the beast seem to grow and swell, drinking in the tainted water and molten metal and mixing it with the writhing storms that formed its body, dying its horrific form that sickly shade of phosphorescent yellow. Even the bolts of lightning that arched and danced across its form were dyed a horrific shade of rust colored red as they grew in intensity, meanwhile the molten metal found a new home atop the countless tentacles in the form of bladed tips that hummed with baleful power as lightning arched between them. 

Yet it was not just the tainted water that swelled the beast's size to the point it eclipsed the horizon, for there came a great churning of the waves as from the depths rose more and more of the beast's form that had previously been concealed beneath the churning sea.

From the frothing wave there came forth 8 tentacles, each as grand in scope and scale the ranges of most mountains, each reaching higher than the summit of Everest into the stygian clouds, the glow of thousands upon thousands of baleful orbs opening illuminating the air 

The horrific sight should have brought forth despair fueled cries from the Kansen that had clashed with  the beast, it should have made them fall to their knees in howls of madness and despair as their spirits were crushed…

Yet all it did was bring a bloodthirsty smile to each of those presents faces as the horror they felt at the display of power washed away as a malicious glee swelled within them, something which was visible to the beast and left its gaze curious as it looked upon those that had escaped its wrath.  

“There you are, you ugly son of a bitch.” Purifier said as she looked down at the beast from where she stood at the edge of the ‘Gate’ uncaring of the few droplets of acidic liquid that scorched her artificial flesh as she met the beasts innumerable eyes with her own burning yellow orbs as she delicately stroked the device that rested beside her.

Vaguely the device appeared like a turret, similar to what one would see upon a battleship, although in typical Siren manner it was exotically styled, appearing as a Tuning fork like turret, arcs of radiant sapphire blue and diamond white lightning arcing and dancing amidst the twin prongs, connected to a base similar to what could best be described as a turtle shell. 

The shell like housing was made of reflective surfaces akin to glass in appearance, polished to a mirror sheen and held in place by silver-white metal, a barrier of hard light gently overlapping the segments to further add to stability, something that was quite necessary given what was inside the turret, and what had stolen the girls breaths. 

For within each of the turrets, visible through the glass like panels, was a single enormous white Wisdom Cube, one that hummed with power so great it made the hairs on the bodies of all those present begin to stand on end, animal instincts screaming at them to flee from the baleful might of the cubes before them.

“I’d recommend you all close your eyes. This is going to be bright.” Came the voice of Observer Zero over their comms, all present taking her advice when they saw the white and blue light gathering in an orb between the twin prongs of the turrets, the light beginning to grow and swell to the point that even with their eyes shut it was visible, searing through their eyelids with almost solar radiance. 

Then there came a sound, at first it was a low hum, butt soon it turned into a room shaking roar that seemed to envelop the world, drowning out the roar of thunder and the crashing of the lightning and waves as the turrets released rays of light so bright that all those present, even with their eyes closed, were able to see the path they carved through the air as they left the prongs and slammed into Typhon’s form.

The sound of the turrets firing was drowned out by the world shaking shriek that left Typhon’s lips, a thousand-thousand maws opening to howl in agony as it’s eyes bulged outwards at the agony that began to assail it as the beams tore through the barrier of thunderheads and waves that it had woven to disguise and protect itself  when it had arrived. 

The pain of it’s deafening roars soon yielded way to sheer malice as the beast reared back its tendrils and prepared to swat at the sources of its agony, countless new limbs erupting from the thunderheads that enveloped its form, some tipped with pincers and some with stingers, and yet others bore the same flower like design of the the tendril that even now began to swell and pulsate with renewed fervor as it and its newly made kin made ready to fire-

*CRACK*

An arrow of solid light slammed into the swallowed head of the tentacle, causing it to rupture and bathe the beast in its own horrid cocktail of acidic liquids, the sickly fluid soaking into the stormcloud like barrier of the beast, and it was not alone, for there came from the direction of Ashe and unending hailstorm of golden arrows that tore into each and every one of the beasts ranged tentacles, each one eliciting a howl of further anguished malice from Typhon.

Perhaps fueled by retaliation for the pain, or perhaps our of instinct, Typhon lashed out, tendrils suddenly tearing through the stormcloud like covering of its flesh like great spears, each the size of large vehicles, and each lined with not only jagged spines of black and red that tore through the clouds and waves that enveloped them, the light gleaming off the razor edged claw that rested atop each of the tendrils as they raced forwards.

Uncaring of the beams that seared through the barrier of waves and thunderheads that wrapped around them and tore great gaping wounds that leaked the nauseating phosphorescent blood of the beast in their frames, the barrier that had so long shielded Typhon having yielded way to reveal the hideous mass of sanguine crimson and dull pinkish flesh that rested below said swirling vortexes. 

Yet there was no time to marvel at the true nature of the flesh that rested below the swirling barrier as Typhon tendrils drew near to where the Kansen, Metas, and Sirens resided in the rifts, uncaring of the chunks torn from them by the beams of the turrets.

“SCATTER!” Akagi yelled out, several others mirroring her words across the other groups as all of the Kansen and Metas dived to the sides as they moved to dodge the incoming blows, some being tackled to the ground by their fellows such as a frozen Atago, who found herself taken to the ground a blur that slammed into her from nowhere, the voice of Portland filling her ears as the woman cried out in fear, something which prompted Atago to hold her tightly.

Yet even as she held fast to Portland, Atago’s gaze traveled across the room, taking in the scene of each of her fellows having sought shelter to the sides of the opening, or at the very least on the ground, with the exception of Purifier and the other sirens present in the other ‘Gates’. 

For even as their fellows dived to the dies and sought cover in the face of the approaching assault, the Sirens did not move an inch, staring at what seemed to be their impending doom with a stalwart stance and glares in their eyes. The eyes of Purifier in particular seemed fit to burn the very air with the sheer intensity of the loathing that burned within her baleful yellow orbs as she gazed at the approaching appendage, though there was yet the most minute hint of cruel delight in her eyes even as what seemed to be imminent death approached her.

‘How predictable.’ Purifier idly thought to herself as she looked at the tendril racing towards her, the stench of the acidic fluid that stained the waves and thunderheads that hid its true form assaulting her smell receptors as the tendril neared her, and yet still she did not flinch back, only wrinkling her nose as she gained a small smirk as she took a single step backwards and spoke aloud, just as the jagged claw that tipped the tentacle neared her-

“Boss, now!”

And just as the tentacles drew near, just at the tip of the blade was fit to gore the Siren, a flickering barrier of silver and blue light formed before each of the openings, the jagged claw atop the tentacle snapping off with a sound reminiscent of the crack of a lightning bolt the moment it struck the shield, the sudden impact and pain prompting each of the limbs to begin to flail about in agony, unknowingly making themselves more vulnerable to the turrets.

With a notable increase in the hum of power they emanated, the turrets began to move, their beams passing through the barrier as though it were not even present as they adjusted themselves such to move their beams from boring into the hide of Typhon and to-

A deafening shriek field the air, once more drowning out the roaring of hum of the turrets as  Typhon wailed in agony as several of its new appendages were removed from it courtesy of the beams of searing light, the writhing stumps spraying phosphorescent blood into the air in great geysers, the liquid coating the barriers as they writhed to and fro in agony. 

For a moment there was silence in the rifts, and then it yielded way to cheers and laughter from the Kansen and Metas, the sirens gaining cruel smirks of their own as they stared down at the beast through the blood that coated the barriers, vengeful glee coming alight in their eyes as they turned to their fellows.

“Go and get patched up girls, stage 2 is about to begin.” Purifier said, gesturing towards 2 smaller ‘Gates’ that formed, each leading towards separate medical wings. “We’ll stay here and make sure the Cthulu wannabe doesn't go anywhere. Also, see if anyone else will be able to join up with us, cause I get the feeling we’re gonna need every hand we can get.” With her piece said, she turned back to surveying her ancient foe, a smile forming on her lips as yet another shriek left its lips as the beams carved valleys and canyons into its immeasurable form. 

Idly Purifier licked her lips as she saw the rivers of phosphorescent blood begin to pool and gather within the great gashes that had been rent in the immeasurable hide of their foe, her own bloodlust beginning to build and swell within her to such an extent that she had to bite down on her lower lip and maximize her pain receptors such that the sensation of her teeth piercing the synthetic skin was enough to nearly white out her vision in agony in order to jolt herself enough to prevent herself from falling into that ever so sickeningly sweet embrace of battle mania. 

As she heard the footprints of her fellows begin to depart to receive treatment, several being carried by their less heavily injured comrades, Purifier found herself smiling, a thin river of artificial blood trailing from the corner of her mouth nearest to where she had bitten down and dripping onto the floor near her feet as she smiled down at her ancient foe.

“Soon…soon…” Purifier mumbled to herself, as she watched the maelstrom that had enveloped Typhon’s frame for so long be peeled away piece by piece, wave and thunderhead vanishing as more and more of the horrific flesh of her foe was laid bare before her. 

“You’ll be ours…you miserable son of a bitch” Purifier continued to herself as she saw the maelstrom apart enough to reveal a glimpse of what lay beneath in its full malefic horror, the sight making her bloodstained smile widen to seemingly manic levels.

“There you are.”

Line Break

The first thing that greeted Akagi after stepping through the ‘Gate’ into the medical wing of Antiochus’s base was the overwhelming stench, her vulpine senses being assailed with the sickly sweet stench of blood and torn flesh and of viscera both fresh and old that lay upon the floor, mixing with cleaning fluid and sterilizing liquids in a concoction that created a truly horrific odor. 

Distantly, she heard Atago’s stammering voice mix with that of Ash and Ember as she tried to take charge of the situation and herd everyone to where they needed to be, the META Takao Class helping to guide her sister of this timeline to a bed where she could have a rather viscous looking gash on her shoulder looked at. 

Atago, having not noticed the wound due in part to the adrenaline running through her system had to fight back whimpers as it was treated by one of the many medics present in the room, several of them being spare bodies controlled by either the other Siren Warlord or by the Arbiters, Ember remaining by her side and holding her hand all the while. 

The sight made Akagi smile, even as she was guided to sit down on one of the treatment beds herself, wincing slightly as her muscles began to scream out to her in protest and pain as soon as she was able to allow for them to rest for even a moment, a gentle hand guiding her to lay down as a medic began to treat the numerous wounds that adorned her frame.

The Kitsune bit her lips as a whimper tore its way from her throats as a bio-mechanical tendril poked and prodded at a rather sizable bruise that adorned her side, spreading a gel like substance, a low sigh left Akagi’s lips as she felt the area become blissfully cool before it became numb enough that it was able to mask the prick of a needle as it was inserted into her flesh before a faintly teal colored liquid was injected into the area, serving not only to further numb her body, but to also begin healing her.

A low whine left Akagi’s lips as she felt the sensation of the frigid liquid course through the wounded area, a moment of sharp coldness that quickly yielded way to an all encompassing numbness that brought with it a much needed relief to aches and pains that had been howling at her in wrath and fury for so long, allowing for her to rest as the swelling and bruising began to fade. 

Idly, Akagi allowed her gaze to sweep across the room, taking in the sights of her battered and bruised comrades being guided to beds similar to her own, though there were some that were being carried to more elaborate looking devices that soon enveloped them in a barrier of shimmering light before the same liquid that now raced through her injured areas enveloped them.

Faintly, the Kitsune registered the sound of approaching footsteps drawing near to her over the noise of cries and whimpers and hurried footsteps that otherwise joined with the hum of machinery and devices to drown out all other noise in the room, her gaze turning in the direction of the sound, her eyes widening at what she saw as she did so. 

For striding towards her, uncaring of the blood and viscera that she stepped in and the sickening squelching sound it caused her boots to make upon the floor as she did so, was Deutschland, her eyes were slightly bloodshot from what must have been weeping, and her hair and attire were in a state of complete disarray. 

Yet it was neither of these things that brought forth a shocked gasp from the Scarlet Kitsune, instead her eyes fixated on where Deutschland’s left arm had been, for now there was not but a stump, a sleeve of what seemed to be a form of vaguely sapphire film enveloping said stump.

“Deutschland!? What…what the hell happened?!” Akagi said as she tried to rise to her feet, only to feel a hand delicately push her back down and onto the bed, the delicate and yet firm hand of the Arbiter known as The Lovers, pushing her back onto the bed, offering her a loving and yet likewise somber smile as her gaze flickered between the IronBlood warrior and her. 

“No, no, you need to rest, dear beloved one.” Cooed the Arbiter as she gently placed her lips to Akagi’s forehead, the sweet smell of her perfume entering into the kitsune’s nostrils even as the Arbiter leaned back, a flicker of light heralding the appearance of a mirror image of the Arbiter before her, the two entangling their arms and spinning about in a brief waltz as they spoke aloud. 

“Yes, yes you need to rest dear one, just as this dear one needs to as well.” Chimed one of them as the pair danced towards Deutschland, not ceasing their twirling and spinning motions for a moment, until they seized hold of the IronBlood woman, who offered just a slight sigh at the antics of the Siren, and placed her between them, holding her aloft in an embrace before they. with seemingly impossible delicateness, ushered her into the bed beside Akagi.

“Oh so much love this one has shown this day!” Chimed in one of the Lovers as she delicately brushed her hand against Deutschland's cheek, the Ironblood woman flushing slightly as she turned away from the smoldering looks of adoration the pair was sending her. 

“Yes dear one, she has shown such wondrous care this day,” Chimed in the other as she delicately began to kiss the other one, her gaze yet fixated on Deutschland as she brushed her own fingers against the stump of her arm, before shifting to tilt her head to look upon them. 

“Were it not for the situation at hand, we would most eagerly reward her display of love with our showing of adoration, would we not?” Spoke up the one being kissed by her twin, her words were redundant, for the sheer desire in those smoldering orbs could not be so easily concealed. 

“Oh, yes, yes, we would. Perhaps when this is said and done, we shall show proper respect for such love, what say you warrior of IronBlood, do you not wish for us to reward you? Perhaps upon our knees, or mayhaps upon our backs?” The one kissing the other took a break to say these words, allowing for her twin to begin to kiss her, a low moan slipping from her lips as her twin began to grope at her rear and chest as they stared at the one armed warrior upon the bed.

Even as her face flushed at the antics of the pair before her, Deutschland managed to compose herself and still the thundering of her heart enough to not stammer when she responded to the pair before her. 

“I didn’t do what I did to be rewarded…I did it to try and show Spee that…that I am still…” Deutschland trailed off for a moment, her gaze unfocused as she began to slightly tremble for a moment, though she found herself jolted from what ever downwards spiral her thoughts had begun to pursue when she felt Akagi gently lay her hand on her shoulder, her tails beginning to drape around her, and the Lovers lean in to take her remaining hand between their own. 

“Wondrous, oh so truly wondrous!” The Lovers chimed in unison as they lifted her hand to their faces, delicately laying their lips upon both palm and back of it, smiles crossing their faces even as their eyes grew damp with tears of gleeful adoration.

“You are simply marvelous, dear love! Wondrous indeed!” They chimed in unison once more, smiling at the Ironblood cruiser with smiles that were so soft and loving, that it made the young woman have to swallow down a sob at the sight of such naked love being directed at her. 

Akagi fared no better, a feeling as though she were intruding upon an intimate moment swelling within her even as her own cheeks flushed at the tender scene, a hope welling within her that they would be able to enjoy such displays of affection from not only the Lovers, but also their own beloved ones once their mission was completed. 

Speaking of…

“How long…” Akagi found her words dying within her throat as the Lovers turned to her, the adoration yet shining in their orbs stirring instincts that she had to work so very hard to push down, lest she pull the two into the best beside her and Deutschland. 

“How long until you are mended? How long until you may rage again? Came the twin voices, the pair now directing their smoldering gazes at Akagi, the sight enough to prompt her to try and avert her gaze for a moment with a light cough, Deutschland silently thanking her comrade for the relief from the weighty gazes as she took the time to steady her heart and suppress her own blush.

She knew the two were fully aware of what their gazes, and even their mere presences, were doing to the two of them, the Comfort Officer of Antiochus was no stranger to utilizing both word and body to allow for her comrades to lower their walls and cry and laugh and moan with her and leave behind their burdens for however brief a moment it may be.

Unfortunately, the Arbiter’s adoration of love and displays of it, and her obsession with aiding her beloved comrades and allies in relaxing, tended to lead to her being at the center of many…public incidents, that the groups had to conceal from their young ones. 

Yet, one could not argue the benefits of their actions, their loving words and caresses, their ever welcoming arms to embrace and hold as one wept against their shoulder, and their ever so adoring gazes, were one of the main reasons Antiochus had been able to continue their long campaign with but minimal cases of the Sirens resorting to decidedly ‘unhealthy’ methods of coping with their seemingly endless conflict.

Thankfully, most had ceased their self-destructive behaviors with Azalea having become a more common sight amongst their numbers, her presence having become something of a soothing balm to these ancient beings' souls, yet still The Lovers continued their duties.

From therapy, to escort services, to clubs that catered to particular needs and urges done in order to relieve the burden of stress, and even as patrolmen who worked to keep their fellows from destroying their chassis and forcing themselves back into the Network in a vain attempt to escape the eternal cycle of war they were locked in, The Lovers indeed bore many hats. 

 And now, they so readily displayed one such role as they offered comforting words and loving touches to the Kansen before them, smiling at them with the kind of naked love and adoration that one should only be able to conjure forth for their oldest and dearest of comrades, yet here she was able to show such affection for those that had barely interacted with her…aside from a particularly…sensual night. 

It was a low sigh from Akagi, and the sight of The Lovers offering them both a tender smile before they leaned in and laid ever so tender kisses upon their brows before they turned and began to move towards a pair of Sirens beckoning for their aid near the battered form of Fletcher, that finally shook Deutschland from her internal reverie. 

Akagi gave a low sigh before she turned to rest her head atop Deutschland’s own for a moment as she spoke.

“Looks like we’ll be staying here for around an hour or so, by then we should be patched up and ready for the next round.” The Kitsune said, a low sigh leaving her lips at the end as she wrapped her tails around her and Deutschland, her eyes feeling heavy as she began to thread her fingers through the ebon locks of her fellow.

“You should-” Akagi’s words were cut off before they could even be spoken. 

“Nein.” Deutschland said as she unconsciously leaned in to rest her head against Akagi’s chest, silently humming when she felt the Kitsune stiffen for a moment, before she relaxed and resumed carding her fingers through her hair, her nails lightly caressing her scalp. 

A low sigh was her response, Akagi softly burrowing her head into Deutschland’s hair as she gave a low chuckle before she spoke up once more, a faintly fond smile resting on her face as she did so, a sense of kinship swelling within her once more and reminding her of why Deutschland had become such a close confidant of hers in recent times. 

“You're just as stubborn…as me and Kaga…aren’t you?” She did not expect an answer to her question, and indeed she was not given one aside from a low hum from the IronBlood Cruiser as she allowed her eyes to drift shut and savor the shared warmth of their bodies as they rested in preparation for the challenges to come. 

Yet before they drifted off to sleep, Akagi found herself giving voice once more to the question that had formed within her upon seeing her injured comrade.

“Deutsch…what did you mean by “I did it for Spee”? What did you do?” The Crimson Kitsuen asked as she looked down into the hazy light blue eyes of her comrade, watching as the IronBlood woman gave a light sigh before she began to recount the events that had transpired upon her departure from the battlefield.

Deutschland’s Flashback

Deutschland felt numb, a prisoner trapped in flesh and bone and sinew and muscle that would not deign to grace her with a response to her frenzied screams and cries to move, to smack aside the hands that guided her ever so gently to a chair to sit down on as another came over to look at her own wounds.

Faintly she registered that she was in shock, yet that was of no comfort to her as she saw her sister lifted onto a medical bed, needles beginning to be inserted into her arms and legs as tubes of blood and various other medicinal fluids were inserted into metallic spires that rested near the bed she had been placed on.

She could see the blood dripping down the side of the bed and onto the ground even as she saw several Sirens clad in medical attire move to begin treating her sister, their words an indecipherable babble of nonsense to her ringing ears as she fought with all that she was against that which dared to hold her prisoner in her own body and keep her from going to the side of the one she loved so much.

Perhaps the conflict was visible in her eyes, maybe in the tears that flowed down her cheeks, carving paths through sea salt and blood that lay caked upon her skin so dense they rivaled any of the coats worn by those of the Northern Parliament as they did so, or in the keening whine that slipped from her lips when she saw the Sirens begin to trade alarmed looks at the readings their devices showed them, for she soon found a familiar presence taking a seat beside her.

An arm gently wrapped around her and pulled her into an embrace, her head coming to rest on a broad shoulder of grayish skin as she was shifted off of her seat and into the lap of the towering figure that now held her seated on her lap. 

No words were spoken for several moments as the towering Siren gently rested her head atop of Deutschland’s, an unfamiliar but pleasant melody leaving her lips in a low and gentle hum as she carded her fingers, liberated from the immense plate gloves that normally held them, through her hair in a delicate caress as she calmed the frenzied young woman from the throes of shock and and panic, all the while not taking her gaze off of her fellows as they moved to and fro around Spee’s bed side.

How long they were there she did not know, only that she was shaken from her reverie’s and gentle humming by the sensation of Deutschland tightly grasping onto the tattered leather crop top she favored, the IronBlood woman gently pushing herself away enough to meet the damp gray-yellow orbs of the towering Arbiter that had become as a sister figure to her and Spee.

One she had hoped to not involve in this mad scheme of her and her fellows, though it seemed that was yet another example of whoever it was that reigned from on high laughing at the plans her and hers had made in their bid to protect those they love.

After taking a moment to wet her lips with her tongue, Deutschland attempted to open her mouth to speak, yet she found herself being silenced as strength leaned down to lay a chaste kiss against her lips, a sign of understanding and acceptance, one further strengthened by the look of understanding the woman gave her, sympathy flashing in her eyes as she felt many of the scars that lined her chassis ache with phantom pains.

Perhaps that is why she had kept them for oh so long, to remind her of her own youthful follies, back when she had thought that she had to fill the roll of vanguard and sword and shield all in one in order to protect her overburdened and weary fellows. 

She had learned her lesson so long ago, in the blood and tears of both her and her comrades when she had been brought before Observer Zero, her flesh mangled and torn and her chassis near rent asunder as the First Antiochus held her close, uncaring of the artificial blood soaking her dress, as she both lectured and consoled her. 

It took far too long for the lesson to sink in, something which she was yet ashamed of till this day.

And now it seemed that Deutschland had unknowingly followed in her footsteps, something which made pain race through her synthetic heart, or rather what amounted to a heart or core for her, as she held the young woman close to her. 

Faintly she registered the IronBlood woman leaning back to look her in the eye once more, sorrow and grief mixed in eyes that were already alight with self-loathing as the woman looked between her and the bedridden form of her sister, her lower lip held tight between her teeth to the point she feared that she would soon see streams of scarlet trickle down the corners of her mouth.

The towering Arbiter leaned in and delicately place her lips to the shaking woman’s forehead, pulling back enough to meet her gaze after doing so, yet not relinquishing her grip on the young woman as she looked into those near manic eyes with her own sorrowful ones, awaiting the query she knew would come soon enough.

“...Did…did I…is this…is-” Deutschland began, pausing between each word to hold back her nervous stammers as she sought to calm down the thundering of her heart, to fight the urge to wretch as the horrible words swirled and churned in her mind like the maelstrom that symbolized that those of Tempesta had taken as their namesake. 

Swallowing down the bile that threatened to spill from her lips she made to ask again, only to be cut off whe Strength delicately laid her finger on her lips, a sad and weary sigh leaving the behemoth Arbiter’s lips as she delicately pulled the young woman towards her, resting her chin atop her head as she rubbed her back for several moments before she began.

“You seek to protect those you love, to keep them from falling into the depths anymore than they already have in defense of you. It is a truly admirable goal, and yet I fear you have learned the dangers of going about it in the way you have done so…much as I did long ago.” The Arbiter heaved another sigh as she enclosed the young woman in her embrace before resuming.

“‘We fight not against what lies ahead of us, but for what lies behind us’. These were the words I was told so long ago, words I took far too much to heart and it seems that you did as well, despite having not heard them huh…history truly does repeat itself doesn’t it?” She asked to the air, knowing she would receive no reply as the IronBlood woman in her lap lent all of her attention to listening to the towering woman's words.

“You ask if you did this? The truth of the matter is that,” She leaned back and delicately moved her hands to gently cup the young woman’s cheeks, lightly thumbing away her tears as she offered her the same understanding smile she had given so many others who had come to her for guidance over the years before she continued-

“No. This is not your fault.” She saw the denial form in light blue eyes and sighed lightly as she delicately pulled her closer towards her, placing her lips to her forehead once more before she leaned back and continued speaking to the young woman before her. 

“You acted with the goal of protecting the ones you love, a noble goal, an admirable desire…and yet it would seem that like myself you forgot that such desires are a double edged blade, for just as you desire to protect someone, there will likewise be someone who desires to protect you. The only mistake, the only thing that could be laid at your feet in blame, is that you failed to take the feelings of those you sought to protect into question…something that we share as a fault I suppose…”  The Arbiter sighed once more, as she saw the IronBlood’s Pocket Battleship look at her with understanding coming alight in her orbs as she gazed at the countless viscous scars that lined Strength’s form. 

“Is…is that why?” She did not need to specify any further as she looked into the Arbiter’s eyes, suddenly realizing just how incredibly ancient the being that held her so close truly was as she gazed into those ancient eyes that looked at her from above a somewhat sad smile as the towering woman delicately lifted one of Deutschalnd’s hands into her own and lightly placed it atop a scar that ran the length of her forearm, one normally concealed by her immense gauntlets. 

“They are…hmm…I suppose reminders is an apt word for them.” The Arbiter said as she relinquished her grip on Deutschland’s arm, allowing for the woman to trace the scar tissue with her hand for a moment longer before she gently tilted her head to meet her gaze once more.

“Do you understand Deutsch?” She asked as she looked into those contemplative light blue orbs, “The only mistake you made was in not talking with Spee about what you had planned, the same goes for all of your friends as well. You are all so kind and loving, and yet so remarkably foolish it is almost mind-boggling.” A low chuckle left her lips at the way Deutsch’s eyes lit up with indignation for but a moment, before they were swallowed by an internal maelstrom once more. 

The ancient Arbiter had barely opened her mouth to resume speaking before she registered a clamorous commotion forming around Spee’s bed, her lips pursing into a thin line as she shared a concerned glance with Deutschland, a low sigh leaving her lips as she helped the IronBlood cruiser to her feet before standing herself, vowing to finish her lecture when-

“...Might…reset…too…blood…arm…not working…” Even her synthetic ears were only able to pick upon these few words amidst the chaos of the medical bay due to her focusing on the conversation of her comrades, so how Deutschland was able to understand them she knew not, perhaps a sixth sense of some kind, but regardless she was treated to the woman’s already pale skin becoming ashen white as she tore across the room with the towering Arbiter in hot pursuit of her. 

That they did not slip on any of the pools of blood and tattered clothes and pieces of flesh was as much a miracle as the fact that the IronBlood cruiser that laid on the operating table was able to rest herself from the jaws of death and the lull of the drugs that had been pumped into her at the approach of her sister, some unnamed sense telling her that her wonderful and stupid big sister was near and sad and-

No matter how hard she tried to reach from her bed to pull her sister into her arms, to try and comfort the woman she could see wailing and shrieking at those that surrounded her, fury and grief and a burgeoning madness beginning to swirl within her orbs once more as she seemed to argue with those that stood around the bed.

Though she could not hear what was said, or make them out by reading her sisters lips given the speed and fervor with which she was speaking, she could see how her sisters words eliciting shocked looks from all of those present and a somewhat disapproving look from Strength as the two spoke, the words almost unintelligible to Spee except for a handful.

“...Foolish….do…this…what…do?...Stay…us…don’t…” The voice was deep and powerful, Strength her mind told her, this was strength speaking.

“I…no one…wear off…time…do this…started…finish it…please.” Deutschland, her voice unforgettable to her little sister even as she lay in between consciousness and unconsciousness, although the note of desperate pleading to it made her feel unease. 

A moment of silence so loud it drowned out all other noise present within the room, enveloping those present around Spee in a bubble of such perfect stillness that she was certain the drop of a pin would have rung like the bells of a cathedral.

Then the silence vanished as a low sigh filled the air as Strength spoke up, her words still only half intelligible to the young woman on the bed.

“You…sister…don’t…on us…this…back alive…I’ll…you …coma…”

 After the final sentence was spoken there was a silence between the two as they looked at one another for several moments, before the Ancient being nodded and turned to speak to her fellow Sirens.

Spee did not know why, but for some reason she felt a sense of genuine unease begin to overwhelm all of her senses, a desperate cry forming in her chest, only to be silenced by the encroaching darkness of the sedatives as she was pulled into slumber once more, only registering the words-

“...Left…take…replacement…unlikely…time…”

And then there was blackness.

When at last she regained consciousness, she found herself resting on the hospital bed, an odd weight on the left side of her body drew her attention, but she found herself unable to turn her head to look at it as it was held tucked against the chest of the towering form of Strength, who laid beside her. 

The position was somewhat awkward, her laying on her back with her head tilted to the right as to nestle against the chest of the behemoth Arbiter, the steady thrumming of whatever it was that acted as the ancient woman’s core filling her ears, as her left arm was held firm in what she assumed to be some form of brace, an odd numbness mixed with a slight stinging sensation dancing across the limb for some reason.

But why did her arm feel so…

Wait…

Her arm…her left…arm…

Her eyes snapped open wide as she tried to surge upwards from where she lay to look at her arm, only to feel a large hand rest itself against the side of her face, delicately pushing her back down, gray-yellow orbs stared down at her as the titanic Arbiter pulled her closer to her as she nuzzled her face into the smaller girls hair.

“No…you don’t want to see it little one…just close your eyes…rest…please little sister…please.” The ancient arbiter said as she held the smaller form of Spee close, delicately ghosting her lips over the young woman’s forehead as she reached over behind the woman, the sudden motion removing the muscles that had obscured her sight and giving Spee enough leverage to tilt her head just so-

A sigh left Strength’s lips as she depressed the button on the edge of the bed just as madness began to swirl within Spee’s eyes, the young woman’s eyes coming alight with an oh so familiar look of guilt and pain and fledgling hysteria, that was quickly replaced by calm serenity as the tranquilizers flooded her system.

“Why is it…my sisters are as stubborn as me?” Strength queried to no one and nothing as she pulled Spee closer to her once more, absently threading her fingers through the young woman’s hair as she gazed over at Spee’s left arm.

A sigh left her lips as she saw the bandages that bound the area where the somewhat discolored limb lay attached to the IronBlood Cruiser, another sigh leaving her lips as she closed her eyes and offered a prayer to whoever or whatever was listening that her sister would make it back safely.

She could only hope her fellow would aid her in the fight, because she was uncertain just how formidable her sister would be given her loss of a limb. 

Idly the Arbiter clenched her fist vowing that once all was said and done this day that Deutschland would not be able to leave the medical wing for another week once she had finished with her.

End Flashback

For a moment there was silence as Akagi took in the words of the cruiser she let rest against her form, her crimson eyes wide and her mouth agape as she looked down at the young woman who only offered her a tired smile in response before she found her head being delicately tucked under the Kitsune’s chin as she rested her head atop it, a familiar feeling of kinsmanship growing within her as she held the smaller cruiser against her.

A low chuckle reverberated in the Kitsunes chest as she closed her eyes, as she ruminated on what had lead to them forming their little group and reaching this point, a scene of herself carrying a bloodsoaked Kaga over her shoulder flashing through her mind, the pain and misery of her own wounds being nothing in comparison to the agony of the knowledge that her little sister had suffered such wounds to protect her. 

In a way, the blood soaking through her dress and onto her flesh had hurt her more than the jagged bone tearing through her forearm or the flap of skin that had exposed muscle and sinew as it hung limply from her forehead, the ominous silence only furthering the agony in her heart as she all but fell through a ‘Gate’ with her sister atop her.

She could still recall the way her sister's blood had tasted as it dripped into her mouth before they were separated, the agony of having her taken from her arms and hurried off somewhere deeper into the medical facility as she was lifted up and taken into a separate room. 

Most of all though, there was the panic and fear, the knowledge of just how much she had failed her sister when a sorrowful eyed Observer Zero and Azalea had come to deliver her the news that Kaga had passed from her wounds and would need to be resummoned by Azalea later on.

Her cries and sobs only grew louder when she learned that Amagi had fallen in the same battle as well, having govern her life to buy her sisters time to flee, the Sirens having to restrain her as she clawed and tore at her own flesh as she begged for someone or something to take her instead tio stop taking those she loved from her and just let her protect them for once in her worthless life. 

In the end Akagi had cried herself to sleep as she was held by Azalea, losing herself into the mire of despair and grief deeper and deeper with every day she was treated as a stranger by her kin due to their lost memories. 

It was when they finally recalled her in full, and held fast to her in a tearful embrace that she had vowed to prove her worth as their sister, and make sure that they would not have to endure the pain of death and forgetting all they loved again.

And thus, here they were. 

A low chuckle left Akagi’s lips as she nuzzled into Deutschland’s hair as she gently rubbed her back, the Kitsune idly reaching up to brush away the beginning of tears that had begun to form in her eyes.

“We truly are…so much alike…aren’t we…Deutsch?” She spoke softly into the hair of the Ironblood cruiser, her eyes at last growing heavy as she began to drift off into slumber, though before she faded completely into the realm of Morpheus, she felt her lips quirk up into a smile as she heard Deutschland’s mumbled response to her question.

“Huh…guess so…you’re…a good friend…good sister…crazy fox.”  The Ironblood cruiser mumbled these words into Akagi’s chest before she closed her eyes and used her remaining arm to pull one of the kitsune’s tails closer around her, smiling softly as she soon joined Akagi in blissful rest. 

Thankfully their sleep, brief as it was, was dreamless, though it was but a brief sojourn into rest, for it seemed that just as they had closed their eyes to rest there came the sound of alarm klaxons resounding throughout the room as their eyes opened. 

A growl left Akagi’s lips as she began to rise from the bed, pausing but to outstretch her hand for Deutschland to take hold of so that she could be pulled up from the bed. 

“When this is done, I am sleeping for a week.” The Crimson Kitsune growled, her words eliciting a chuckle from not only Deutschland, but also several of those who heard her, Littorio chiming in from where she had risen from her own medical bed as she donned her familiar coat.

“Agreed signora, once this is done I am going to polish off a bottle of wine with mia bellas and sleep until the snow falls,” the words of the Glory of Naples brought chuckles and murmurs of agreement from those who were able to leave their beds as they finished getting ready before they began to exit the medical room, the Lovers giving each of them a kiss as the other Sirens gave salutes as they headed off as their yet bed bound fellows offered cheers of their own. 

The scene that greeted them upon passing the ‘Gate’ that led them back to the chamber in which Purifier and the monstrous turret resided made many of them feel their breath leave their lungs in sharp gasps, some let out cries of shock, and others retch at the sight that lay beyond the transparent barrier. 

For there lay before them the true form of the entity known as Typhon, the barrier of thunderheads and waves that had so long shielded its naked flesh from their gaze was at last stripped away, peeled back by beams of searing light and the occasional bombardment of salvos from the METAs and Sirens that had not needed medical treatment.

And what a sickening sight it was.

For there lay before them a mountain of flesh and muscle, sinew and bone visible in craterous wounds that yet filled with baleful phosphorescent blood that burned with such a malign radiance they had to avert their gaze from it and to the miles upon miles of nauseating pink and crimson flesh, bearing with it a faint mucus yellow tinge, that made up the form of the beast before them.

Mountain ridges made of bones so rigged with spines that they tore through the flesh and rose high enough to cast stygian shadows upon the fields of flesh below them, and amidst said fields there were tentacles and feelers that writhed and danced to an unheard melody, shards of bone gleaming in the light like fields of broken glass.

There were canyons formed of scar tissue and of mouths that leaked saliva so thick it seemed more like a membrane of mucus than anything else, teeth of an off yellow-white color jutted from the lipless maws, both razor edges canines that jutted from the bottom of the gums and curved upwards and the crushing molars they hid behind them, yet more visible descending into what passed as a throat for the maws. 

And yet still there were appendages for which there were no names, and whose forms defies any true description beyond something wrenched from the depths of H.R. Giger’s nightmares, yet they were not what made many feel a cold chill seize them, for as they gazed upon the beast, so to did it gaze back at them.

For all across the form of the beast were eyes of sizes that varied from that of a small dog to that of a large home, each a different nauseating kaleidoscope of colors that made one feel ill simply by gazing upon them, their pupils likewise varied from serpentine and feline slits, to rounded to what could best be described as collapsed masses of blackness.  

Yet it was not the scale or color of these horrid orbs that seemed to change in number, as pustule like growths formed upon the beast before rupturing to reveal a new orb that, after taking but a moment to blink away the pus and mucus that covered it, gazed up at them just as others receded below the muscles and flesh like a fish diving below the waves. 

No, it was the intelligence that gleamed in those orbs, for indeed the eyes of Typhon seemed alight with a malign and cruel intelligence both more primitive than any wild beast and yet at the same time more keen and aware than that of the wisest of humans. 

An intelligence measured not in ages or millenia, but in epochs and eons stared back at them. 

The Abyss gazed back at them. 

And they gazed into it. 

Chapter Text

“We have one shot at this.” Observer Zero’s words echoed in her mind as Deutschland looked out from the ‘Tear’ she stood beside her comrades within, their gazes sweeping across the sight of cyclopean leviathan as it writhed in fury and anguish, tendrils tearing at the sky and plunging into the depths as Antiochus sallied forth in full to greet their ancient foe.

“With the barrier down, Typhon is vulnerable to direct assaults on its form, we will use this chance to wear it down and to acquire enough genetic samples to perfect a means of neutralizing the beast's regeneration and spatial/temporal manipulative powers.” A wince trailed across the IronBlood cruisers face as she saw the form of the Arbiter known as the Chariot struck from the sky and across the waves like a skipping stone, twin lances of golden plasma surging from where she had come to rest and back at Typhon in retaliation.

Momentarily shaking herself from surveying the scene of carnage before her, Deutschland turned to take in the sight of her fellows, watching as they too shook themselves from their reverie long enough to finish their preparations for their own role in the battle taking place below.

“We will force Typhon to direct all of its attention towards our forces, while your teams will join several others in breaching into Typhon to claim the required genetic samples.” A low huff left Deutschland’s lips as she recalled the confused and disturbed expressions her fellows had worn as they had looked at one another at the news of what role they would be playing. 

“What do you mean ‘breach into’, like dig into the damn things stomach and start rooting around?” Montpellier’s face as she cast a glance over her shoulder at the writhing mass of flesh that was their foe as she made certain that her guns were in working order, was the perfect mirror to the one she had worn when she had asked that question, a mixture of disgust, unease, and no small amount of nausea. 

“While I would not phrase it quite like that,” Observer Zero had the faintest of smirks on her face as she had spoken those words, “You are indeed correct. While there has been some interference, our preliminary scans have indicated that the internal structure of Typhon is large enough for movement to be possible.” The First Antiochus’ smirk had grown slightly at the faintly nauseated looks that had crossed the faces of both her fellows and the Kansen at her words.

“We will utilize the turrets to bore holes into Typhon for you to enter into the beast, with our forces covering your dissent and drawing Typhon’s attention away from it, with any luck it will send out its spawn to engage us and leave itself vulnerable to your actions.” The disgust and nausea had slightly given way to a look of contemplation on the faces of many of those gathered, though some still maintained their disgusted expressions.

“Do we know what kind of defenses this thing has internally?” Atago had asked, her gaze flickering over to her squadmates as she took stock of their conditions, thankfully their injuries had been treated but still, they were not exactly an ace unit, nor were they overly familiar with fighting in enclosed spaces as such they needed all the info they could get. 

Though Atago felt her hopes dashed by no small amount as Observer Zero shook her head slightly, the First Antiochus taking a moment to sweep her gaze across the gathered Kansen, be they META or normal Kansen, her eyes meeting each of theirs before she spoke up again. 

“Admittedly we have only ever attempted all out destruction of Typhon before, something which has been negated due to it being able to regenerate proportional to the damage dealt to it, as such we have very little intel we can offer you in regards to just what you might face inside of the creature. Though we can offer you some means of mitigating at least a minute amount of the potential danger posed to you.” The first Antiochus turned her head towards Tester Beta and offered her a slight nod.

The sight of the grin that crossed the researcher’s face caused no small amount of hairs to rise on the back of the Kansen’s necks, especially when they saw her open up several ‘Tears’ and begin to pull out an assortment of objects. 

“Alright ladies, let me introduce you to some of my newest toys!” The gleam in the mad scientist’s as she had spoken those words had done nothing to assuage the unease that had begun to pool in the stomachs of both Kansen and Siren, though at the very least the aforementioned ‘toys’ did appear…interesting. 

Deutschland turned her head to where Tennessee was fidgeting with her guns, making sure that the magazines she had been given for them were connected completely, before she reached up and, after wincing slightly, carefully attached a small circular device to the side of her magazines, her gaze unfocusing for but a moment as an influx of information came over her as the modification to her rigging took hold. 

“This is the Mirror Magazine, complete with a linking system to attach to your rigging, you should be able to use it to cycle between various ammo types for your guns-” The mad scientist of Antiochus found herself cut off by Akagi, the kitsune narrowing her eyes as she looked distrustfully at the creation of the Siren before her.

“‘Should be able to?’” The Crimson Kitsune queried as she slowly began to back away from the display, memories of her own encounters with Tester’s…’experiments’ flickering across her mind’s eye as she cast a suspicious glance at the now pouting Siren.

Said pout did nothing to make the memories of her beautiful hair becoming a mass of neon hued colors after she tried a shampoo she made, nor did it due anything to lessen the memory of her lips being swollen to horrific proportions after she tried a lip balm she made…but it did warrant her at least hearing her out and deciding who to use as the guinea pig in her own stead.

“Well I haven’t exactly been able to conduct proper field testing of them given everything that has been going on, and given the differences between your riggings and our own any data gathered from experiments with my fellows are not exactly valid for this matter.” Tester began as she picked up the small module that was to connect to their hull, her own rigging manifesting as she showed a similar shaped attachment to her own rigging, though of a different color.

  “That said, while our riggings are different there are enough similarities for me to say that there should be no detrimental side effects, at least none that should impact you on the field.” Tester continued as she sat the module down once more before unsummoning her rigging, idly rubbing her shoulder for a moment before she continued. 

“The most you can likely expect is a bit of sensory overload as you adjust to the influx of information, but it should pass after a few minutes, once that is done you shouldn’t have any issues.” The scientist finished her lecture, watching as the Kansen looked at one another, silently daring each other to step forward and to test their fortune until-

A hand delicately gifted the module from the small podium as their rigging manifested, Portland’s hand trembling as she slowly brought the module to rest against the side of her turrets, pausing but to lick her lips and to divert her gaze from the module to the form of Observer Zero for reassurance, and, with a slight nod from the First Antiochus, she pressed the module to her gun.

At first there was nothing but a slight flicker of pale silver light as the module connected to her hull, followed by several moments of silence as her eyes became distant and unfocused before, with a slight jolt, Portland managed to regain herself. 

“Well?” Tennessee asked her fellow Eagle Union warrior, watching as Portland composed herself for but a moment longer before she managed to speak up.

“I-It works! I can see a list of ammo types when I close my eyes, and-and holy shit I think I can…Yes! If I focus on it I can make it show up without closing my eyes! This is brilliant!” Portland cheered, her previous anxiousness diminishing as she looked at her fellows with excited eyes. 

“HAHA! See I told you all, nothing to be worried about except a little nausea.” The now arrogantly smirking Tester triumphantly looked each of the gathered Kansen and Antiochus in the eyes before she managed to compose herself once more and continue. 

“Of course, there is the risk of something happening and the module being damaged, so it is advisable to have it attached to the center most piece of your rigging, ideally at the joining juncture of your body and your rigging, and even then you might want to have a second one in place on your rigging.” As she finished her statement, Tester beckoned for Portland to step forward as she lifted up a second module from the table, and after having the Eagle Union warrior turn around, she placed the small object at the juncture of her rigging and body. 

Again Portland’s eyes went distant, though this time for but a few brief instants as she was soon able to shake herself free of whatever issue had begun to affect her, though it seemed to leave her somewhat disoriented for a brief few moments. 

“O-okay th-that was weird.” Portland said as she rubbed her eyes for a moment, unconsciously leaning against Tester for aid in standing for a few moments as she composed herself before she continued. 

“It was like I had double vision for a few seconds before it…I don’t know, canceled itself out? I can still call up the visuals of my ammo when I want but now there is another screen behind it.” She turned her head slightly to see Tester’s reaction to her words, the somewhat taller Siren nodding her head in agreement with what she had said. 

“That is a common issue, one second and I should be able to fix it by getting the modules to synchronize, I really need to figure out why they won't do it off the bat.” The Siren grumbled the last bit under her breath before she moved her hand behind Portland to where the second module rested and, after ghosting her fingers over the center of it-

“The second list went away!” Portland exclaimed in surprise, her words causing Tester to nod once more before she spoke up again. 

“Now close your eyes and you should see the first module is active,” and after Portland confirmed that indeed the first module was active, Tester wordlessly moved her hand over it and with a light tug, pulled it from her rigging.

For a second Portland staggered once more as the first module was removed, her lips parting to question just what was going on before she let out a low gasp as the information list returned to her, a brief message accompanying it.

‘Detecting initial magazine regulator removal, secondary magazine regulator activating.’ 

“And now,” Tester began once again as she replaced the initial module, Portland staggering for a few seconds as the taller siren braced her smaller form against her own as she waited for the vertigo to pass, which it soon did as another message flickered across Portland’s closed eyes.

‘Dual magazine regulators detected. Synchronizing modules…Synchronization complete.’ 

“Did it say that the modules were synchronized?” Tester queried to the smaller Kansen, who was still being held fast by her, rigging and all, the smaller cruiser nodding to her taller fellow after a few moments of steeling herself.

“Y-yeah, it was a little disorientating though…” Here Portland turned her eyes to meet the golden ones of the Siren, the mad scientist wordlessly chuckling as she reached up a hand to pat Portland’s head as she spoke up.

“Sorry about that, guess the side effects still need some ironing out, but since the modules are fully synched now there shouldn’t be a resurgence of them, even if one of the modules is removed it should switch over to the auxiliary one with no issues. Though, your rigging can only support two of them at the moment.” Tester concluded as she helped Portland to stand on her own, offering another headpat before she moved back to the podium she had her gifts for the teams on. 

“Ah!” Tester paused in her approach to the table as she whirled about with an excited gleam in her eyes, something which made no small amount of unease swell in the hearts of those present. 

“I forgot, to mention that the modules are linked to Micro-Mirror Seas, so you should not have to worry about running out of ammo,” And the trepidation parted like the Red Sea before Moses as the Kansen looked at one another in shock, something shared by their Siren comrades for a moment as they gazed at the now beaming mad scientist. 

“That’s-” Now it was Akagi;s turn to find herself cut off as Tester continued her speech.

“Also, there are a few custom rounds of ammo I was able to make that should be of use in your new combat environment, they should work better than your normal ammo types for close quarters combat…though I will leave which you use up your discretion.” After several moments of complete silence, and of baffled looks being exchanged by the Kansen and her kin, along with the familiar feeling of someone chatting about her in the network behind her back, Tester spoke up again.

“Well? Why are you all just staring at me?” Her somewhat irritated query was answered when she felt Purifier reach over to place her hand against her forehead, the scientist blinking in confusion as she looked at her fellow.

“Purifier…what are you doing?” Her deadpan question was met with the answer of-

“Checking to make sure your chassis ain’t cracked or something, normally by now your cackling maniacally or waxing poetic about your miracles or-” Purifier found herself cut off by Tester demonstrating that while her mental stability was questionable, the physical capabilities of her chassis ability to throw a punch was most certainly not. 

After that small debacle was sorted out, the meeting continued with their introduction of the next piece of their kit-

A roar so loud it made Deutschland stagger back assailed her, jolting her from her reverie and causing Lexington to let out a low yelp as she seized fast to the large cylinder that rested beside her, the top and bottom of the crystalline material that comprised the cylinder being covered by silver metal, a sapphire colored button allowing for the device to be opened and closed. 

“Damn it!” Lexington cursed under her breath as she steadied the canister, making certain that it had not been damaged, though of course there was little damage to be done to something conceived by Antiochus by merely jostling it, thankfully given the importance the object held. 

“This is a Mirror-Linked canister, you can put in the tissue samples you acquire and, after a press of a button, they will be transported to a Mirror Sea for us to begin examination on them, don’t worry about breaking it I made this thing to withstand Strength’s full grip strength for nearly 30 minutes, so I highly doubt it can be broken…” Here Tester trailed off for several moments, as though to gather herself, before she continued. 

“If it does break however, then that is your cue to get the fuck out of there and fast. Do not try and delay to get more samples, or to try and do anything heroic, just activate the key and get the fuck out of there.” The seriousness with which the golden eyed scientist had ended her small speech led to a chill racing down the Kansen and Siren’s collective spines at the thought of something being able to shatter something that even an Arbiter could not do so with ease. 

And in thinking of the Key that was to be their escape should things go wrong, Deutschland turned her gaze to where Renown stood, the Royal Navy Swordswoman holding the key shaped object that could be used to signal for an emergency ‘Gate’ to be opened at their location…she could only hope they would not need it.

A hand rested on the IronBlood Cruiser’s shoulder, nearly making her leap from her skin, the cruiser whirling about to see Littorio, her hands raised in surrender, looking down at her with concern in her ruby eyes.

“Easy signora, it’s just me. We’re nearly ready to go, how about you?” The Sardegnan battleship asked as she looked over her smaller fellow, carefully keeping her eyes away from the bandaged stump of her missing arm as she did so.

A low grunt slipped from Deutschland’s lips as she silently reached into her pocket and removed the Mirror Magazine module, idly caressing it for a few moments before she placed it onto her rigging, the smaller cruiser staggering somewhat as the influx of information overcame her before it passed.

“Here, let me.” Littorio spoke up as she took the second module from Deutschland’s hand and gently placed it on the joining juncture of her rigging, silently helping Deutschland to get the pair of modules to synchronize before she turned and knelt so that Deutschland could do the same for her. 

As Deutschland leaned in to put the module into place, she found a hand seizing her own as Litorio turned to her and softly whispered-

“Signora, take a breath. We can do this.” Light blue met wine red for several moments as the pair simply shared a silent conversation with one another before Littorio’s lips quirked at the edges as Deutschland’s own evened out of their frown and into a thin smile as the Sardegnan leaned in and purred loud enough for those present to hear. 

“When this is finished, what do you say we gather our loves and have a double date? While I cannot vouch much for Vittorio’s ability to cook anything not Sardegnan, I can at least insure it will be edible…somewhat.” The battleship’s purr being answered by several chuckles from across the room, her words successfully lightening the mood, however slightly as she heard Deutschland speak up. 

“Hmph, you supply the wine, I’ll do the cooking, last thing we need is to get reset because of food poisoning…I would never be able to look Spee in the eye if that is what got me.” Deutschland’s words caused chuckles to break out as Akagi chimed in from where she was looking over her planes.

“I’ll handle the cooking my dear, the last thing we need is for everyone to wake up 2 days later in the arctic with no idea what happened courtesy of how much beer you would use in the cooking.” The kitsune smirked to herself at the indignant squawk that left Deutschland’s lips at her comment, her smirk further widening into a smile as she heard Portland speak up.

“I’ll help Akagi, Indie loves my waffle fries and I can make a good burger too. Oh! Oh! We can have some dishes from everyone! Indie loves those…those umm…oh what are they called, the umm…things where everyone brings something and-” Akagi cut off Portland;s rambling with a low chuckle and a caress of her tails upon her cheek before she spoke up. 

“I believe you mean a Hot-Pot, yes? Hmm…I like it, everyone can bring a dish and an ingredient and we can have a proper victory feast. Perhaps we can convince the others to join in as well and make it into a proper celebration.” Akagi’s words caused her fellows to look at one another as they considered the idea, faint smiles replacing the thin frown and scowls that they had worn beforehand as they spoke among one another for several moments longer before-

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” An ever so familiar, and ever so cherished voice chimed in from behind them as the familiar form of Azalea stepped into their portion of the preparation chambers, her eyes sweeping over her girls as she nervously shuffled her feet, likely only kept from fidgeting with her due to the familiar forms of Compiler and Observer Zero holding fast to her hands. 

“Commander! What are you doing here!?” Akagi said as she leapt to her feet, swiftly moving to embrace her Commander as she wrapped her tails around her and the two Sirens that had accompanied her, the Crimson Kitsune pulling back enough to lay a brief kiss on Azalea’s lips before she tilted her head at her, awaiting her reply.

A low chuckle slipping past her lips at the Kitsune’s antics, Azalea lifted up a hand, Observer Zero having relinquished her grip as soon as she felt her begin to move her arm, to gently caress her head, fingers ever so lightly brushing against the vulpine ears that rested atop Akagi’s head as she gave her a head pat. 

“I figured I would come and see how you girls are doing…and wish you luck.” Azalea said, a slight hitch to her voice at the end as she pulled Akagi into a tight embrace, her face nuzzling into the kitsune;s neck as she closed her eyes and savored her warmth for a moment before releasing her, moving to do the same to each of the other Kansen present in the room. 

As she did this Observer Zero and Compiler similarly moved about the room, Zero offering a handshake to each of the Kansen after Azalea had hugged them, with Compiler following behind her, giving each of the Kansen brief hugs of her own. 

“Every day I am reminded of just how proud I am to be your Commander,”Azalea began, her words making each of the Kansen’s eyes widen as they looked at her, a familiar feeling of warmth surging through them at the praise of their superior. 

“I…I tried to come up with a speech to give you girls before you go. But we all know how I am with something like that,” Azalea’s words brought forth low chuckles from herself and her subordinates, with Observer Zero offering a small smile, and Compiler responding with a blink and tilt of her head. 

“Friederich wanted to be here, but she was needed in the control room so here I am. I could try, and fail miserably to give you girls a pep talk.” Again chuckles filled the room. “Or I could just tell you girls how I see things. I have no doubt that this is going to be the worst mission you will have participated in this whole war.” The joviality vanished as suddenly as it had come, the Kansen directing their gaze at their commander as the Antiochus moved to hold her hands once more in a silent show of support.

“This is something that no one has ever attempted before, and you will be going in blind and with little to no support available from us. You won’t just be walking into the jaws of the beast, you will be throwing yourselves into its stomach and carving your way out…It will be bloody, and there is no doubt that many of you may…” Azalea trailed off for a moment, a distant look in her eyes as she took a moment to compose herself before she continued, ignoring the word that had made her pause. 

“But even with that being said, I have no doubt that this mission will be a success. That you will succeed and return home to us, that no matter what comes between you and your home you will find your way back to us.” Azalea said, unease still swirling within her as she looked over her kansen, though if it was visible within her eyes they said nothing of it, only offering her their silent attention.

“You are each a veteran of more battles than I can count, each of you a skilled combatant in your own right and more than capable of surviving all but the most impossible of odds, and more than that, you are each my comrades. Time and again you have managed to make a mockery of what seemed to be certain death and defeat, overcoming each and every obstacle placed before you no matter the cost. You will have many of your fellows with you in there, and once you all join together there will be few things that can stand in your way.” Azalea trailed off at the end, a low huff leaving her lips as she shook her head.

“And, I’m rambling again, aren’t I?” She voiced the redundant question not expecting an answer, though she found herself receiving one when Compiler lent her own voice as she spoke up for the first time since she had arrived.

“Yes.” The simple and blunt statement from the Young Code cut through the tension that had begun to envelope the room like a hot knife, the chuckles that followed the statement soon giving way to deep laughter as the Kansen and their commander let their unease bleed away with their laughter, trying to bury the dread building within them. 

Confused, the Young code looked over at her elder sister, the First simply chuckling to herself before she offered her a silent head pat, and while she was yet confused as to why everyone was laughing, she decided to just enjoy the sounds and the head pat she was being given.

“Before I start to ramble again, I just want to say good luck girls, we’ll be waiting for you with open arms when you come home.” Azalea said, tears budding at the corners of her eyes as she stepped forward with her arms open, her silent invitation being answered as her girls surged forward to envelop her in a group hug.

Perhaps she should have simply gone with this from the beginning, allowing for her body to speak for her, for silent touches and gentle caresses to tell her girls that no matter what happened, no matter what they faced, she had faith in them. 

Yet, there was little time left for such thoughts as Observer Zero paused in her actions of petting her younger siblings head to tilt her head to the side for a moment before she spoke aloud.

“We’re ready. Bombardment on designated breaching areas will cease in-” The First Antiochus needed not to continue, the Kansen and commander broke their shared embrace with tearful glances and longing gazes that lingered for a few moments longer before the Kansen turned to face the ‘Gate’ before them, stealing their resolve as they readied themselves.

“5” 

If everything went accordingly they should be able to hook up with Vestal and her team quickly enough, her and Lexington’s presence would do no small amount to increase their chances of coming back alive.

“4” 

Once they had hooked up with Vestal’s squadron their combined power should be enough to keep most threats at bay, assuming Typhon did not have some form of enormous white blood cells inside of it, they should be able to overcome them with little issue.

“3”

Their riggings had been enhanced and modified to better work in the environment they were heading into, and their fellows would be giving it their all to keep the beast from reaching land and causing any more damage than it already had.

“2”

With any luck, they would be able to deploy a Mirror Sea that would last long enough for them to get them some assistance, or at least keep Typhon from focusing on whatever damage they did to its insides. 

“1”

Who knows, maybe they really will make it back in one piece. Granted, their lovers and family are likely going to beat the ever living hell out of them the moment they see them again, but to know that they will be a step closer to ending all of this and never needing to see them die again, would make all of that pain worth it.

“0”

That was it, their hearts steeled, their eyes dried, and their minds set, they quickly dashed through the ‘gate the moment it opened before them, not sparing the time to look back and see the brave front Azalea had worn crumble as she reached out as though to stop them before she fell to her knees, the pair of Antiochus moving to comfort her as the gate closed.

“Please…be safe girls…please…” She sobbed out as the pair held her close, a trio of gazes fixing on the point on the beast where they knew the ‘Gate’ would lead, a silent prayer in each of their hearts that this would not be a one way trip of martyrs for their fellows.

Though such a thing was now beyond their control.

Line Break

With a sound of time and space knitting itself shut, the gate closed behind them, leaving the group of Kansen atop a mass of sickeningly slick pink flesh, muscle and sinew visible in many areas amidst the rolling fields of meat that undulated and writhed around them as the beast thrashed against their fellows. 

The tentacles that had seemed so colossal from a vantage on high, were made all the more grand and terrible before their eyes as they stood at their base, the tips of the appendages seeming to vanish amidst the heavens above them as they writhed and thrashed, great gusts of wind being generated with each absent motion of them, such that the Kansen had to yell to communicate with one another.

“ALRIGHT GIRLS! LET’S FINISH THE BREACH AN-” Deutschland found herself cut off as what she had assumed to be a sizable cyst that lay atop the base of one of the towering tentacles tore itself open, exposing an eye of truly colossal scale, a mass of misshapen pupils gazing down at them with a look of malice so terrible it seemed fit to make their blood freeze within their veins.

Yet soon the dread grew, nausea matching it as the eye tore itself in twain, optic fluid and viscera raining down over the area before it as a maw of gnashing teeth was revealed, a howling shriek erupting from it, the force of it such that the Kansen nearly fell to their knees, had their eyes not alerted them to a scene that made them move.

For, as if in response to the howl, the fields of flesh that spanned as far as their eyes could see roiled and churned, cysts and lesions forming in numbers vast beyond count, with each one rupturing in a shower of pus and vile fluid to reveal a writhing mass of bladed tendrils or all too humanoid like grasping hands adorned with scything talons.

The nightmarish scene that had begun to enclose upon them lending speed to their efforts as with not a further word shared among them, the Kansen directed their rigging at the scorched hole they had emerged near to and fired. 

With the sound of breaking chitin and snapping bone, of tearing muscle, sinew and meat, the HE Shells widened the wound carved into the beast by the energy beams that rained down from the myriad of ‘Tears’ surrounding them, into a hole wide enough for the Kansen to swiftly leap through, their feet landing in a pool of phosphorescent blood and mangled meat, the light surrounding them as a ray from on high for but a few moments before it closed as the wound healed. 

Barely had their feet had time to touch the meat that formed the floor of the chamber like opening they were within, and barely had they had a chance to speak up and confirm that indeed they were all present, before there came forth an answer to their presence, one that made their blood run cold as they heard it tear through the halls of meat and muscle that surrounded them.

For a shriek filled the halls, deafening to such an extent that those present felt their eardrums pushed to the verge of near popping as the sound echoed around them for several moments before it faded away, replaced instead by meaty thuds that caused the tunnel around them to shake, viscous fluid dripping down from the ceiling and walls in a manner eerily reminiscent of a maw beginning to salivate at a coming feast.

            Riggings and weapons snapped towards the shadow ridden aperture that loomed before them as the loud thuds grew closer and closer, a low rumbling sound that made the hairs on the back of their necks begin to rise as it grew in intensity to such an extent that the halls seemed fit to begin to tremble, eager anticipation pulsing through the flesh ridden hall as a low glow became more and more visible within the shadows until at last the beast emerged. 

            First there came forth from the darkness a muzzle, naked of fur and scale and even skin, muscles gleaming with a faint phosphorescence that came from the veins that pulsed and swelled and shrunk across the expanse of the naked flesh. 

Just as it lacked fur, hair, or scales, it likewise lacked lips, laying bare a horrific maw of curved teeth that jutted outwards from the sides of the maw, long stained dark brown from blood and flesh and rot, that gleamed in the light like the tips of the reaper’s scythe. 

Yet these seemed to be not the only fangs the beast had, for as it opened its mouth to allow for a prehensile tongue riddled small barbs as thick as the average person's forearm to emerge to lap at the gleaming muscles and rot stained fangs, it revealed gleaming cruel rows of hook shaped fangs that formed rank upon rank as they vanished into the darkness of the beasts throat.

            Soon the brow was visible, broad and riddled with ivory spines that tore through the muscle, thin streams of phosphorescent blood trickling from the base of each of them, trailing over the ridge of the brows and onto the smooth skin where an eye should have been. 

Indeed the eyes were absent, only smooth skin marking the area where they should have been, and yet soon the sight of the eyeless visage was eclipsed, as the fanged maw had been, when there came the sight of not only twin horns, reminiscent of those of a bull, but what could only be considered a perversion of a lions noble mane.

            For where there would normally be a radiant and awe inspiring mane of golden fur, there was instead a mane of vein ridden tendrils, each as thin as a strand of hair and yet grouped together in such numbers that they appeared as an almost solid mass that seemed to writhe and sway in an unseen breeze, the tops of each gleaming as the light passed over small hook like growths that rested atop each of them.

            A powerful and lean body emerged next, shaped like the King of The Jungles own, though much larger with powerful muscles rippling with each room shaking step the monstrous behemoth took until it had at last emerged from the light, pausing in it’s approach as though to savor the light cast by the thick veins of phosphorescent blood that throbbed above them, the glow bathing the beasts near 5ft frame in horrific splendor as it stood before them.

            Idly they noted that the beasts’ tail was the most feline thing about it, appearing almost identical to that which the lions it seemed to be based upon sported, save for the size of it and that instead of a tuff of fur at the top, it sported more of those barb tipped tendrils that yet still swayed in a phantom breeze.

            For a moment the world was silent, all sound vanishing and leaving in its place an absolute stillness so perfect that it was broken but by the sound of a single drop of blood sliding down Littorio’s arm and onto the ground, the drop impacting a puddle of viscous fluid with a * Plop * that would have been near silent in any other situation, but in this one…it echoed like a gunshot.

            As though the sound were a signal for the battle to begin, the beast threw back it’s head and released another deafening shriek before surging forward, claws and fangs bared in malefic hunger so great it seemed to permeate the very air around the beast in a hellish aura.

            Yet the beast was not the only one ready for battle, for soon the beast's shriek was met with the thundering roar of guns of varying sizes and the slashing of blades as they were brought to bear against the beast.

            In a span of but moments the beast had closed the gap of distance between it and the Kansen, claws tearing through the air in a wild bid to tear flesh and muscle from bone, only for those in range of the claws to dodge out of the way, be it to the sides or backwards, causing the scything blades to rend through not but the air as the girls rolled to their feet and once more took aim at the beast before they fired, the blasts of their riggings tearing thick chunks from the beasts hide, and yet-

            “Shit!” Tennessee snarled under her breath as she saw the beast turn towards her, the chunk of flesh torn off by her HE shot rapidly healing before her eyes, with a roar the beast lunged at her, Tennessee snarled once more under her breath as she narrowly avoided the lunge, only to receive a near blinding pain across her back as she found herself sent flying across and into the wall of the room courtesy of the tail of the beast, a cry leaving her lips as she felt the new wound on her back come into contact with the dense flesh of the wall.

            “Ten!” Portland shouted as she took aim and released a salvo of her own, her own AP shells tearing into the hide of the beast, though even they failed to tear completely through them monstrous bulk of the beast, much to her dumbfounded shock as she saw the wounds ripped in its side begin to bulge as the flesh quickly re-knit into its original form.

            Faintly Portland thought she heard someone snarl under their breath about how this was the last time they allowed for their guns to be modified to fight indoors, better to risk blowing themselves up at this point as opposed to letting anything born of Typhon gain the pleasure of killing them, it said a great deal about the situation that Portland found herself nodding in silent agreement as she took aim once more.

            Renown danced, there was no better word to describe the fluid movements the knightess used to avoid the slashing claws and fang filled maw of the beast, even the leaps and flips she did to avoid the times the beast would surge forward with a spin to whip outwards with its barbed tail seemed to be elegant and graceful, a side effect of her training under Hood, and something that seemed to thoroughly infuriate the beast attacking her.

            Saliva that seared and scorched the flesh it touch flew from the maw of the beast as it let out another deafening shriek, lunging as it did so, this time Renown staggered slightly and found herself unable to fully dodge the attack, razor edged claws tearing through cloth and armor and skin with all the ease of a hot knife through butter, a chunk of flesh being ripped from the side of the Royal making her stagger as she cried out with a shriek of agony as she desperately clasped her hand over the weeping wound.

            The beast turned to regard the young woman, a cruel edge to its smile as it brought the chunk of flesh to its maw and began to feed on it right before the one it had torn it from, uncaring of the rounds that tore into its hide and left gaping wounds that ran down to the muscle and bone, yet neither seemed to affect the beast as anything but a slight annoyance as it surged towards the wounded royal with a mad shriek.

             “RENOWN!” Screamed many of those present as the beast leapt at the Royal.

            Only to have several AP and HE shells slam into its side mid leap with such force that it was sent skipping across the ground for several moments before it managed to right itself, the beast barely having regained its footing before a shriek once more left its lips as the sword of Prince of Wales carved a bloody gash across the space its eyes would have been, the blow only serving to infuriate the beast as it lunged forward, only to find itself met by Deutschland as she surged forward and slammed into its side, her clawed gauntlet tearing into its side as she poured all of her strength into her remaining arm and surged forward, carving several weeping gashes the length of the beasts’ body into its side.

             The beast let out a howl of pain as it whirled about to strike at the IronBlood woman with its claws as it swung its tail to meet the pest that had attacked its face, Wales dodging out of the way with a pirouette as she slashed out with her sword and relived the beast of said appendage, the beat howling in agony even as its claws slashing through the air the IronBlood woman had occupied a moment ago, Deutschland having tucked into a roll before springing to her feet and taking aim with her guns and firing once again.

            The shells slammed into the beast's face and making it stagger backwards as its muzzle was reduced to a mangled mass of pulp and teeth that soon began to bulge and swell as it began to regenerate, the sight making the IronBlood woman hiss in rage, a sound mirrored by Wales as she saw the severed tail begin to mend before her eyes just as its maw as doing so, though the beast seemed to be dazed as it swayed upon its feet for but a moment before shaking its head and roaring out another challenge as it lunged again.

            A gleam of madness in her eyes, Deutschland slid forward, under the beasts lunge, her arm lashing upwards to rake her claws down its stomach, the bladed gauntlet digging in enough to allow for the vile warmth of its intestines to splash down onto the ground and the Ironblood cruiser, the searing sensation of the vile blood being drowned out by a sadistic glee at hearing the beast cry out in agony as it rolled across the floor, coming to a stop several feet away.

            Of course, their limited streak of luck seemed to run its course at that moment, as to their amazement, the beast began to rise to its feet once more, seemingly heedless of the intestines that now swayed in the open air as it did so.

            Littorio let out a low breath as she saw the beast begin to rise once more, a story echoing in her mind as she saw the intestines fall to the ground, severed by the mending flesh as said organs began to regenerate within as well, the name of the beats that likewise  seemed to be invincible echoing within her mind and leaving her lips as she saw the monster turn to look at them, wrath and fury emanating from it in a palpable aura of malice as it moved to attack once more.

             “Namean.”

            Claws and fangs bared once more the beast surged forth, only to be met in the middle of its charge with strafing lines of gunfire, from several drones, Lexington directing them to harry the beast and force it to turn its attention towards her, something which she succeeded in as the beast whirled about to face her and blitz towards her, claws readied as it lunged at the carrier…who offered a cruel smile as she rolled to the side, revealing the form of Atago, the Sakuran woman spinning about on her heel and lashing out with her sword to-

            A shriek of pain filled the room once more as the beast fell to the ground and rolled across it, phosphorescent blood pouring from the stump where once it had sported a cruelly clawed paw.

            Seeing an opportunity to strike the girls mirrored the beast and lunged.

            Tennessee raced forwards and delivered a double kick straight to the beasts side, sending it spilling onto the ground once more with a whimper, which soon turned into another shriek as Littorio surged forward and mirrored Atago’s previous actions as she severed the beasts backmost left leg as soon as it rose again, a howling shriek rose as the beast tried and failed to lash out at her with its fang filled maw, the action earning it Tennessee delivering a round of HE straight to its side to once more sending sprawling across the floor.

            The moment the beast hit the floor it found the barrel of a turret laced straight against its head, Deutschland smiling down at it as she fired AP shells straight into its cranium, the eruption of burning blood that splattered across her face doing nothing to lessen her grin as she fired again and again and again, each round pushing deeper and deeper into the mangled mass of flesh that was the monsters skull before, at last, it ceased to move.

            For a moment there was silence as the girls looked at the now still body of the creature, before the still silence was broken by Tennessee as she brought her own rigging to bear and aimed it straight at the beast.

            “Just to be on the safe side, let’s check for a pulse girls!” She said as she began to open fire, her comrades joining her a moment later as they continued firing at the beast until its corpse had been rendered into nothing but a mangled pile of flesh and pulped organs, the girls sighing in relief at the sight before they watched something that made their eyes widen and their hearts begin to race once more.

            For, from the ground had come tendrils of flesh, laden with almost rib shaped spines that anchored themselves into the mass of pulped organs and meat before beginning to pull the body down, into the mass of flesh that was the floor.

            Silence hung for a moment before Renown gave voice to what was on everyone’s mind at the sight-

            “Wh-what the fuck? Did it…did it just consume that thing?” Asked the incredulous Royal, her question being answered by Biloxi as she brought a hand to her chin in thought.

            “I believe the more appropriate term is ‘recycled’ as opposed to ‘consume’. That thing may have been some form of internal security, like a white blood cell, and when it fell it was recycled to regain the biomass used to produce it so that-“ Biloxi was cut off by Deutschland as she turned to her with narrowed eyes.

            “I know what you’re about to say and I am telling you right now, don’t say it. We don’t need to fucking tempt that asshole Murphy anymore than we already are.” The IronBlood woman said, her words eliciting some chuckles from the group, though Renown winced as she her laughter pulled at the wound on her side, the hasty wrapping Lexington had applied before her part in their gamble already becoming soaked through.

            “Shit. Renown, sit down and let me take a look at you.” Tennessee said as she sat her comrade down, fishing in a compartment on her rigging for a moment before pulling out a medical kit and beginning to tend to the injured Royal.

            “Here’s hoping Monty’s team is having better luck than we-“ Biloxi was cut off by the roar of cannon fire as a portion of the walls behind them came apart in a deluge of burning blood and mangled flesh, the girls whirling about with their riggings bared, only to be greeted by-

            “Oh…oh fuck you Murphy. Fuck you so much.” Deutschland snarled under her breath as she saw the monstrous form of a beast near identical to that which had assailed them moments ago come flying into the room amidst the fleshy debris, this one being noticeably leaner and smaller than the one that had attacked them, something which seemed to have no effect on its resilience as it was already trying to rise to its feet before-

            A shriek filled the room as Atago and Littorio surged forward, their blades biting into the beasts joints and removing its front most legs, the two swordswoman pausing in their attack as they heard a voice call out from the hole for them to-

            “GET BACK!” As from the now healing wall leapt a small group of noticeably battered Kansen, each of them raising their riggings and firing into the beast as they did so, their assault being joined barely a second later by those already within the room as they rained hell down upon the beast till it too fell as its kin had moments ago.

            For several moments there was silence as the girls caught their breaths before Montpelier raised her head and turned to look at them, a weeping gash adorning her brow and making her narrow her right eye amidst the crimson that leaked down over it, the Eagle Union warrior raising a hand a she said-

            “Yo. Sorry for the intrusion.”

            Maybe it was her words, or maybe it was the tone they were delivered in, or hell maybe it was just that the were all so incredulous at what had just happened that the girls who had fought the much bulkier Namean began to laugh, Littorio having to brace herself against Atago and Gneisenau as she began to howl with laughter, while Renown tried to bite down on her hand to avoid agitating her wound as she began to laugh with Biloxi and Lexington having bent over in guffaws.

            Deutschland on the other hand had brought her palm to her face as she mumbled something under her breath that made her girls laugh louder, Renown losing her own battle and laughing even as her wound cried out in pain, the sight of the bandage staining crimson anew prompting a startled squeak from Vestal as she raced past her guards to begin treating the royal.

            “Biloxi…not another word out of you till we are out of here…please.” Having been the words that brought about this fit of near hysterical laughter from the Kansen who had fought with Deutschland.

            Montpelier turned to look at Littorio, the Sardegnan woman shrugging her shoulders in the universal gesture of ‘I have no idea’, in response to the inquisitive gaze as she looked worriedly at her battered comrades.

            On one hand they were happy to be reunited again, but on the other they had to wonder just what had happened while they had been separated?

           So it was that the reunited teams took a moment to gather themselves, relaying their experiences in regards to what they had endured, since they had started wandering through the entrails of the beast. 

Montpellier told them of how, after they had been separated during their descent onto Typhpon’s form, and subsequently into the guts of the beast, they had tried to reconvene with them by tearing through the walls of flesh and organs that spanned in the direction they assumed that Deutschland and her team had made landfall upon.

Unfortunately, it would seem that their rampant slashing and burning and rending of Typhon’s entrails had not gone unnoticed by the beast, as they told of how there had come a point when they had torn into a form of misshapen spherical organ that bore within it a low standing level of foul smelling gray-yellow liquid, and had been greeted by a much larger version of the beast that they had come crashing into Deutschland’s team with. 

“The bastard was tough,” Montepelier said as Atago delicately bandaged the gash above her eye while Portland looked over her back for further wounds that needed treatment, “We thought we got it when Duca rammed her gun into its mouth…turns out we just gave it a stomach ache.” The words brought a round of low chuckles from the group as the woman continued. 

“Finally got it when Vestal managed to trip it up with her staff and we unloaded as much Incendiary rounds into its guts as we could, We’re gonna have to give Tester and Observer a huge present for these ‘Mirror Fed Mags’ when we get back,” Montpelier finished with a small smirk on her face, a low grunt leaving her lips as Portland’s tightened a length of gauze over a particularly jagged cut on her back.

Vestal continued where her comrade had left off as she rummaged through the medical kit she had been given by Tester before they left, as she treated Renown. “Of course it turns out that it had a little brother that wanted to get a pound of flesh from us for what we did to its kin-Aha!” The repair ship cut herself off with a triumphant cry as she pulled out a small syringe and bottle of the Sirens healing curative.

The repair ship took a momentary brake in her recounting of events as she filled the needle with the fluid, careful to make certain that the dosage was as precise as possible, and the injection site clean as possible, before she delicately slid the needle into the flesh above the gash that adorned the royal’s side. 

A low hiss left Renown’s lips as she felt the needle pierce her bruised and battered flesh, though soon said hiss gave way to a low sigh of relief as the numbing properties of the medicine took over as it began to work to heal her, a wince crossing her features at the somewhat unpleasant sensation of numb stretching and pulling that marked her flesh and muscle regenerating. 

Even with the medicine not finished the Royal could already feel the side effects of it as her stomach began to growl at her and her eyes grew heavy, the temptation to allow herself to drift away into the realm of morpheus was lost as swiftly as it came however, when Vestal presented her with an MRE, her hunger bidding her to begin devouring it as she was further looked over. 

“Of course,” Vestal continued as she began to continue to bandage the battered royal, “said little brother decided to be as much a pain to put down as his big brother, and that lead to Monty deciding to use HE shells after she finally got it pinned down and…well here we are.” Vestal chuckled as she finished binding the last bit of gauze she saw was needed around Renown’s forearm, leaning back to wipe her brow with a low sigh afterwards.

By this point the others had finished looking over each other and applying what treatment they could to their wounds and were gathering together to pool the information they had each gathered so far, though there was an exception, as Biloxi began to fish out the equipment they had been given to take samples and began to gather what she could from the nearby area. 

“Are the scanners Antiochus gave us working? Or are we going to be wandering around blind? Because ours are just a mass of fuzz whenever we try to activate them.” Queried Atago as she wiped her sword clean of the blood and fat that had begun to cake it, her eyes fixated on the walls around them and her ears trained for even the slightest hint of sound that could herald yet another beast heading in their direction.

After a few moments of silence Biloxi turned to look at the group and spoke up, her tone even and calm despite the slight unease in her gaze.

“ I have good news and I have bad news, which one do you all want first?” The Eagle Union warriors asked as she took in the sight of her fellows pausing in their weapon checks and sample taking to look at her with unease writ clear across their features. 

“Let’s get the bad news out of the way.” Rodney eventually answered for the group, having finished cleaning her sword and making sure her rigging was not damaged during the battle.

“Alright. The bad news is we are going to be damn near blind, it looks like something is messing with the scanners, it only works in a small area around us, everything beyond that area is a mass of static and snow.” The words of the Eagle Union Kansen made her fellows let out groans and sighs of disapproval, a more severe reaction prevented due to them having partly expected such a thing to happen. 

  “The good news is that everything else seems to be in working order, so we should be green to continue on-” Biloxi was cut off by a tremor that nearly caused her to fall flat onto her face, the almost firm jelly like texture of the meat of the ground offering her no comfort as she braced herself on it, with her fellows taking similar efforts to not fall flat on their faces.

The tremors lasted for several moments as the Kansen tried to hold fast to their balance, only for Rodney to find herself losing her footing and nearly falling into a puddle of the baleful blood that littered the floor, her momentum halted but by Littorio grabbing onto her and using her sword and superior height to prevent them both from sprawling into the blood.

Atago let out a low groan as the trembling began to subside, slowly rising to her feet from the kneeling position she had taken as she braced herself against her sword, the assault of the tremors and of the stench and sight of her surrounding almost making her spill the contents of her stomach, though she was thankfully able to hold it down.

Taking a moment to steady herself, the Sakuran swordswoman let her gaze roam over her team, watching as Renown rose from where she had pulled Vestal to the ground, the royal having covered the medic with her own battered form to shield her from any potential threats, something Vestal thanked her for as the pair rose to their feet, similar sounds of thanks coming from where Rodney and Littorio steadied themselves. 

“Come on, let’s get moving before any more of those things show up.” Deutschland spoke up as she took stock of their location, her gaze soon fixing on the opening to what seemed to be a tunnel that rested on the end of the chamber. 

 “Littorio and Atago go first, Montpellier and I will cover the rear. Tennessee, Portland, Renown, stay in them idle with Lexington and Vestal.” No arguments were made to the orders given by Deutschland, as her fellows moved to form ranks before they began to enter the tunnel, weapons ready for whatever new horror awaited them.

Though, nothing came.

Indeed for what felt like several hours they were able to take samples from the walls and floors and ceilings of the chamber with relative ease, encountering but a handful of Nameans, as Littorio had dubbed the beasts, that tried to bar their way as they maneuvered about. 

Soon the hallway of flesh yielded to a grand chamber of meat and bone illuminated by a pool of burning liquid that lay resting below a monstrous tumor into which veins of balefully glowing blood fed, further casting the room in a sickening glow such that while heavily cast in shadows, there was no need for their lights to be active. 

The sight, while sickening, was somewhat a welcome reprieve from the harassment of the lion like beasts, their lack of wounds owing more to their rapidly growing familiarity with confronting the beasts than to anything else. 

Well that and the generous supply of medical salve and supplies the Sirens had provided to them. 

With the room seemingly clear of potential threats, the Kansen moved to begin to gather samples from tumorous growths bathed in the shadows of the room, their eyes watering at the fetid stench that wafted from the pool of blood as they gathered some of it into the Mirror Tubes, and yet others, most notably Portland, had to hold in the urge to wretch as they carved into the tumors till pus like liquid began to leak from them. 

As this was going on, Littorio, Atago, and Tennessee kept watch, their gazes flickering over the walls and entrance ways into the chamber as their fellows gathered what samples they needed. 

“Alright, that looks like everything in here, we can leave that thing on the ceiling.” Deutschland called out as her fellows began to regroup, only for a faint rustling sound to make them halt in their tracks, rigging and blades began to sweep the room for the source of the sound before-

 Portland felt herself slam into the wall behind her, spittle and blood erupting from her lips as her vision swam from the sheer force with which she had been flung into the wall from the sudden savage blow, and yet even with her vision blurry she was able to see the writhing tendril, shaped like a branch made of flesh, that had surged forth from the tumorous mass that grew upon the ceiling to strike her and fling her into the wall.

            Her breath came to her in painful gasps as she watched the tendril whip about to and fro, trying to strike at all of those present, only to find itself met with the open hands of Scharnhorst, the Ironblood Battlecruiser sporting an almost maniacal smile upon her face as she seized the writhing appendage in her hands, ignoring the barbs of bone that bit into the flesh of her hands as she did so, before she began to pull with as much force as she could.

            To the credit of the writhing tendril, it appeared to be trying to fight back against the woman’s grasp, bulging and swelling as it tried to wrench itself free with savage jerks, only to find that the Battlercruiser was not releasing her grasp at all, instead she tightened her grasp as she opened her mouth and called out-

            “ATAGO!”

            The Sakuran woman surged forward, bolting from where she had been knocked to the ground with such speed and force it seemed to rip chunks from the flesh of the floor, as she brought her katana down upon the middle of the writhing tendril, purposefully targeting the area that seemed to be the most swollen with the vile phosphorescent blood of the beast as she did so.

            The sound that came when her blade struck the horrific limb could be most likened to the popping of a cyst or perhaps it is more apt to compare it to the sound of the bursting of a gas swollen and filled whale carcass or a swollen bladder erupting from pressure, a fittingly vile sound to accompany the horrid sloshing sound of the phosphorescent liquid that splashed across the ground as well as Atago and Scharnhorst, the two not even wincing as the liquid seared their flesh, leaving behind discolored burns that the two paid barely a glance at as they turned to help their fellows to their feet.

            Yet just as they had begun to step away to help those that had been knocked to the ground to their feet, they found themselves being stopped as Portland managed to force enough air into her lungs to scream out-

            “DOWN!”

            Without question the two woman dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding being sent flying as yet another tendril surged forward from the tumorous mass that had begun to pulsate and swell from its position upon the ceiling, vile liquid trailing down from it and pooling onto the floor as more and more branching tendrils forced their way through the pustule like growths, rupturing them and bathing the ground in the horrific liquid as they did so, and yet they were not what stole the breath from the Eagle Union Heavy Cruiser.

No, the honor of what had stolen the breath from the young woman belonged to the sight of the tendril that had been severed but a moment ago bulging and swelling, a horrible wet tearing sound emanating from it as the fleshy growth that had covered it’s wound burst open, giving way to two new tendrils, each sporting much larger and much sharper barbs that gleamed with lethal intent.

Soon the air was filled with the roar of gunfire as the Kansen took aim and fired at the tendrils, the air soon being filled with the sound of shrieking as the tendrils were torn asunder under a barrage of both high explosive and hollow point, made specifically for combat against Typhon, phosphorescent blood splashing across the walls and ceiling as the air filled with horrific shrieks and the tearing of flesh as more and more tendrils were rent asunder.

Yet their efforts all seemed for not, as the mangled stumps began to bulge and swell and tear as for every one that was torn apart there came 2 more to take their place, the bone barbs soon warping into scything blades and raking claws of jagged ivory that carved and rent and tore at the girls that soon found themselves backpedaling.

Portland, now being partially carried by a phosphorescent blood and burn coated Deutschland, soon found herself adjusting her gaze to the ceiling of the chamber, many of her comrades following her gaze as there came from the ceiling a deep groaning sound.

“Oh now what?” Growled the Iron Blood warrior as she trained her guns on the ceiling as she tried to shield her comrade from whatever new hell was soon to rain down upon them.

And rain down it did, for soon the groan yielded way to the sound of flesh ripping and tearing asunder and a deluge of Typhon’s nauseating blood that poured from the ruptured growth, which now revealed itself to be an eye, a balefully gleaming eye that burned a horrific almost nuclear yellow-green amidst field of phosphorescent blood vessels and veins.

Faintly Portland thought she heard Deutschland mumble something under her breath as she gazed up at the orb that stared down at them, a look gleaming within the multi-pupiled orb…no orbs for indeed the surrounding pustules had begun to rupture, with each revealing similar orbs that looked down upon them with what could best be described as cruel mockery, an air of malign superiority gleaming within the baleful orbs as they watched them backpedal towards the opening they had come from, the mocking gleam growing more apparent as they found the doorway to be closed by interlocking fangs.

Panicked murmurs filled the group as they continued firing upon the advancing tendrils, with some taking aim at the nebulous orbs above them out of spiteful wrath, only to find that the shells seemed to do little to the eyes as even when they were reduced to mangled sockets and pulpy masses, they soon regenerated into progressively larger clusters of eyes, smaller tendrils writhing and dancing amidst the clusters of orbs that looked down upon them with-

“Stop look-“

Portland turned to look at Deutschland in confusion as she opened her mouth to ask what the Ironblood woman had said, only to have her question answered when the woman relaxed her grip on her, allowing for Edinburgh to take her, as she stepped forward and raised her blood coated clawed gauntlet to the beasts eyes, her own eyes alight with a mixture of madness and rage so great it seemed to make even the gaze of the mass before them recoil in surprise as the woman roared out-

“STOP LOOKING DOWN AT US YOU FUCKING FREAK!”

Her roar of rage was matched only by the roar of her rigging as it thundered out a hellstorm of rounds that erupted upon contact with the mass, bathing them in a sea of roiling flames as the Incendiary shells she had switched to detonated upon contact with the orbs, the flames scorching and licking at the flesh of the mass, and filling the air with the putrid aroma of burning meat as the mass let out an unholy shriek of such might it shook the room and forced many to their knees.

Yet those that remained standing took note that those struck by the flames did not heal as they had before, the seared stumps swaying to and fro in the air in a dance of agony and fear, the sight evoking a startled look from Littorio as a conclusion came to her.

“This damn thing is like a hydra… EVERYONE SWITCH TO INCENDIARY! IT CAN’T HEAL FROM THE FLAMES !” The Sardegnan Battleship bellowed out as she followed her own orders and let loose a salvo of incendiary rounds straight into the yet advancing cluster of tendrils, watching with an almost savage grin upon her face as the mangled stumps did not sprout more heads and instead began to flail about until they fell still at last.

Soon the air was filled with the roar of guns once more, though this time it was matched not just by wailing shrieks of agony from the remaining clusters of now weeping orbs that adorned the ceiling above the putrid pool, but also by the roaring of flames and the sounds of flesh smoldering into ash and then into dust.

  When at last the shrieks had died down, Biloxi and Montpelier stepped forward and took aim at the mass of flesh that rested above the fetid pool, the mass that even covered in seared and charred and mangled lumps of tumorous growths and missing chunks of its own flesh, yet pulsated and beat with a force that made the ground faintly tremble beneath their feet.

Biloxi turned back to the group while her sister kept aim at the mass above them, and called out, “Think we should take a sample of Deutsch?”

The Ironblood woman gave a simple nod in reply to the question.

“We might as well. Lexington, can you call out some of those drones so we can get a sample?” The Eagle Union Carrier gave a wordless nod as she closed her eyes and focused on summoning the drones the Sirens had given her to replace her aircraft in such confined spaces, idly registering the sounds of Renown and Rodney stepping forward with their blades drawn as they took up position on the circular drones before they were lifted off of the ground and towards the mass.

The pair of Royals quickly using their blades to cut small chunks from the mass and deposit them into containers before pressing a button on them, watching in slight amazement as, with a flash of blue-white light, the flesh was transported to the Sirens labs, the same for the syringes filled with the fluid contained within the mass once they had used them and placed them within the containers as well.

Idly Rodney thought of how much easier it would be if one of the Sirens or Metas could be with them, but they needed a force to keep Typhon’s attention and make it focus on something other than the mainland and the mother of all stomach pains they were giving it, as well as to contend with any of its spawn that it unleashed on the world in retaliation for the pain it was likely in.

Well at least Rodney hoped they were giving it such a pain as she looked at the mangled piles of scorched and torn flesh and the ichor dripping mass above them, but if they weren’t making it hurt yet then she reasoned that when Antiochus was done with their tests they would make this beast know what hell felt like.

Yet the Royal found her thoughts cut off when a pair of roaring shrieks filled the room, as the walls of flesh across from them burst open, a pair of what Littorio had dubbed ‘Nameans’ tearing through them in a spray of blood and flesh as they tore across the room and towards the group, only to be met with a withering hail of incendiary rounds that forced them to slow and the bloodlust filled battle cries of several of the girls as they surged forward to meet these beasts.

Soon the room was filled with sounds of ripping and tearing of flesh once more, as the girls used their previous experience with these beasts to take out their legs and then get as close as possible to reduce their heads into something with the consistency of jelly or particularly chunky stew.

Idly many of the girls wondered how long it would take for them to get the smell of blood and flesh out of their clothes even as yet more shrieks resounded, a chorus of sighs greeting them as the girls readied for battle once again, silently vowing that they were each taking a day to spend in the showers once they were done here.

Though such thoughts were soon to vanish as their came a horrid squelching sound from the farthest end of the cavern, the wall building outwards as cancerous tumors began to rapidly form and swell upon its surface, dozens upon dozens of smaller cyst like growth soon joining them, lingering for but a few moments before they ruptured. 

Noxious fluid filled the chamber as there came forth yet more beasts born of Typhon’s flesh and blood, though these were not the Nameans they had come to face, indeed they appeared as some form of grotesque humanoids, naked of skin and bearing muscles of dark crimson and pink, phosphorescent blood leaking from wounds and pustules that coated their malformed skin.

Amidst the powerful muscles, there were bone like spines that jutted forth from what appeared to be random positions, some bearing them as horns, some having them in place of their eyes, and others having lost their hands to the blades, indeed it seemed that no two of the beasts were the same, for just as some were powerfully built, others were thin and whip like, and one was so corpulent it seemed unable to do much but crawl its way towards them from the wound that had birthed it. 

Some bore teeth like knives that tore through gums left naked by their lack of lips, and others sported bladed tendrils and pedipalps where there should have been lips or teeth, some had eyes of the same sickening shade of their sire, and others had no eyes at all, and yet such things seemed to do not to deter them from surging forth amidst wordless howls and shrieks of wroth towards the Kansen. 

Again there came the roar of cannon fire and the sound of blades meeting and severing through bone and flesh and muscle and sinew, soon to be joined by the sound of energy weapons discharging from the drones as they began to harry the beasts, the blunt of their force concentrating on the corpulent beast that had begun to tear itself free from the strands of sinew and nameless organs that held it to the wound that was as its womb. 

Atago snarled as she dodged a sloppy overhead blow from one of the beasts, sidestepping the attack as she lashed out in an arc, her blade severing the beasts bladed arm and forcing it to recoil, allowing for her to take aim with her rigging and to reduce it’s upper body to a mass of pulp and blood courtesy of the Flechette rounds from such close range. 

Upon hearing another set of footsteps approaching her, she turned to bring her blade up to parry the strike from the twin blades of bone, her leg lashing out in a powerful kick to knock the beast from her and to stagger it, the creature lifting its maw of writhing tendril to snarl at her as it tried to blitz at her once more, only to find itself hewn in half by Montepelier, the Eagle Union Swordswoman dodging an attack from another beast that found Litorio’s blade parting it’s head from it’s shoulders before it could realize the error of ignoring her. 

Yet another fell to Renown, the Royal Swordswoman dodging each of the beasts sloppy strikes as she waited for the most opportune moment to strike, the instant of which occurred when the beast lunged forward, intent of burying its maw of broken glass like teeth into her neck, only to learn of it’s error when, with a swift swing of her blade, the royal parted the top of the beasts head from it’s body, exposing the pulsating mass of what could have been it’s brain. 

For good measure, Renown fired an incendiary round into the beast as she turned to parry another of its kins attacks, swiftly forcing the bladed limbs to point downwards she met the beast with a shoulder check hat staggered it away from her enough such that she could let another salvo loose from her rigging, the Flechette rounds claiming the life of the beast and maiming two of it’s kindred. 

Those two soon joined another of their fellows as a bloodied mass at Tennessee’s feet as the Eagle Union Battleship fired 2 AP shells through them, the rounds tearing through the beasts and halting their momentum such that they could do little but groan when the battleship slammed their heads together with such force they erupted in a fountain of scorching ichor. 

Ad this occurred, Portland, Biloxi, and Deuitschland had moved to cover Vestal, though soon Deutschland broke off to assist in dispatching the corpulent sample of the beasts, the creature using the bones that jetted forth from its eyes and the axe like blade that had claimed one of its hands to drag itself forward even as more and more of its form was reduced to seared and scorched pulp by Lexington. 

The IronBlood Cruiser moved swiftly, rigging letting loose a salvo of HE rounds that slammed into the beasts arms, though even that served to badly wound them, for even as bone and tendon shown through the creature still drug itself forward, stopping but when the IronBlood Cruiser, having dodged a groping swing of both taloned hand and bladed head while the beasts axe like arm was embedded into the ground, leapt atop it’s back and aimed her rigging at the crown of its skull. 

When an AP Shell reduced it’s head to a puddle of brain matter and viscera it at last ceased its march forward, though even with it’s head severed the beast yet held a spark of fell life, for it was but by the cry of Lexington that Deutschland avoided losing her head to a creature that had erupted from the corpse of the bloated beast, this one featuring a bladed tendril for a head, and a pair of clawed hands resting atop 4 arms. 

With a screech that echoed forth from depths unsee, the beast surged forward, a clawed hand seizing Deutschland before she had time to fully recover from her leap from atop the bloated beasts body, and flinging her at the approaching forms of Atago and Litorio, forcing Atago to catch her while Littorio dodged to continue her charge.

Rearing back its tentacle of a head the beast let the sickle like blade that crowned it shoot forward and strike at the Sardegnan woman, the blow of it managing to knock Littorio off of her feet even when she managed to block the sudden attack, though no time was given for the beast to capitalize upon this opening, for soon there came the roar of cannon fire as Biloxi took aim and let loose from where she was nearest to Vestal.

Yet the beast managed to avoid the salvo, swiftly leaping to the side, skittering about on the ground with sickening speed on its four arms, swiftly leaping to the side to avoid yet another salvo from the cruiser, swiftly leaping from side to side as it bounced around the room, avoiding sword and cannon as it lashed out, dodging and weaving amidst the Kansen.

Snarling a curse under her lips, Deutschland dodged out of the way of yet another swing of the beasts claws, the creature using the momentum of its swing to spin about and lash out with a kick that sent her sprawling backwards, the IronBlood warrior narrowly dodging the backwards flung bladed tentacle.

A salvo came from on high as Lexington began to pepper the beast with aircraft, the creature letting slip yet another wordless screech as it flung its head about, slicing one of the drones in twin and forcing Lexington to dodge to the side, at the same time it lashed out with two of its hands, seizing the blades of Atago and Montepelier with its claws, in a flicker of movement it jerked the pair forward and tried to gore them with its claws, only to be denied when the pair let go of their swords and leapt backwards. 

A salvo of flechette rounds tore into the beast from behind, courtesy of a spiteful Deutschland, though soon she was forced to divert her attention from the beast and back towards the walls of the chamber, as amidst the sound of roiling meat and flesh and cracking bone, there began to form more cysts and lesions, more nightmarish creatures beginning to prepare to emerge. 

Another curse spilling from her lips, Deutschland turned and took aim with her rigging, HE shells erupting and impacting the mass of flesh and blood, reducing the developing beasts into a fine mush, though not all was well as from one of the mangled cysts there emerged yet another bladed tendril, a mass of eyes beginning to burst forth along the bottom of it with sounds reminiscent of rupturing bladders. 

Just as she opened her mouth to alert her fellows, she heard the sound of the drones diverting their attention from the beast and taking aim at the pustulent mass, lances of scorching energy piercing the mass and setting it alight, a wordless cry of anguish and anger filling the room as the tendrils diverted their attention from the Kansen on the ground and towards the drones, in the process leaving themselves open for a combined salvo of Tennessee, Renown, and Portland, the trio having fired from where they were near Vestal.

As the mass of flesh and eyes erupted into a blazing mass of burning pulp, there came forth another howl from the tendril headed beast as it tried to bifurcate the Kansen before it, only to find the swordswoman having dodged the swing and lunged to recover their blades as the tendril was seized by Tennessee, the battleship having surged forward from her position near Vestal, entrusting Portland and Renown to defend her and to assist Deutschalnd with long range support to prevent further adversaries from arriving. 

The mass of muscle in her hand was slick with some form of slime, yet it did nothing to prevent her from digging her fingers into it to hold it in place as she pulled a combat knife from her side and rammed it into the mass of muscle, a wordless cry echoing from the beast as it tried to move forward to attack Tennessee, only to find its feet leaving the ground as the battleship began to leverage her strength to spin the beast about.

A taloned hand lashed out, claws digging into the meat of the chamber walls as the creature tried to arrest its momentum, only to fail and leave not but great gouges of viscera to show for its vainglorious efforts, though relief did come for the beast as with a viscous slam into the ground, Tennessee called out-

“LITTORIO! ATAGO! MONTY!” 

Without a word spoken, the three swordswoman surged forward, blades flickering in the light of Portland's cannon fire and Lexington’s Drones as the pair joined deutschland in mowing down yet more of the forming cysts, their fire joined by Vestal but a moment later as the repair ship leveraged what little firepower she possessed to be of aid to those before her, trusting the cysts forming behind her to Renown.

With a sound of tearing tendon and meat, the tendril head of the beast was parted from it’s shoulders, the body letting loose another wordless howl from an unseen orifice as it began to swipe at the air about it in a mad frenzy, only to at last fall when Portland diverted several of her turrets to focus upon it, the creatures preta-natural instincts seemingly extinguished when its head was removed as the rounds impacted it and cast it onto it back, and though it did try to rise once more.

*Schlick* 

Littorio’s blade pierced through its chest and skewered it to the ground, the beast shrieking once more as it began to try and force itself up the blade, the sinew of its abdomen tearing open to expose its hidden maw of saber like teeth as it tried to tear a chunk from the Sardegnan, only to be disappointed as its teeth bit down onto the metal of one of her turrets, and-

The beasts body ruptured like an overly infected cyst, scalding blood and entrail splattering across the Sardegnan as she began to rise from her position, her eyes and face thankfully spared the worst of the blast courtesy of her having averted her gaze before she fired. 

For a moment there was silence in the chamber as the cysts seemed to cease their forming, the last of the Hydras that had attempted to surprise them by emerging from the lesions and pustules having been reduced to a smoldering mass of bone and meat, the horrid stench of which only lent further fuel to the idea of fleeing this chamber.

Though soon further incentive there was provided, as there came yet another great tremor that began to rip and tear its way across the beast, the walls beginning to pulsate and undulate inwards and outwards, as though in the throws of some form of asthma attack.

“Oh now what!?” Vestal cried out, her words soon answered as a sound of meat and sinew tearing came forth, bone began to splinter till a liquid marrow poured out like water from a ruptured pipe as the ceiling above them gave way, the scalding liquid scorching flesh and causing blisters to rapidly form as it rained down upon the girls, though the pain was soon cast aside as a yet greater unease surged through them as with another tearing sound-

“SHIT!” 

The ground gave out from beneath them, the floor falling way into an expanse of darkness that swallowed them whole, their cries of pain and fear devoured as the meat and tissue that had so easily parted began to reknit itself together above them, casting them in complete darkness. 

Line Break

When awareness came to the battered Kansen, it was accompanied by aches and stinging pain as a myriad of wounds both old and new began to cry out to them, though the pai nwas quitem inor compared to the fear that held them fast as they tried to take stock of just where it was that they had been cast down when the floor had fallen, along with the situations of their fellows.

“...Sound…Sound off…is everyone still alive?” Portland called out from where she lay sprawled across a chunk of rigid flesh, her chest crying out in pai from what she was certain was at least one or more broken ribs, though the pain did little to stop her from trying to rise to her feet and take stock of the situation.

“Here.” Came Biloxi’s voice from near to Portland, the Eagle Union Cruiser turning to see her fellow sitting down, her back leaned against the wall of the misshapen tube they had found themselves within, the violet haired woman keeping her gaze fixed on the various openings that lined the walls of the chamber as she spoke up.

“I’m here.” Littorio called out from somewhere above them, the battleship leaning over the side of a ledge of meat and bone that overlooked them from where it jutted from the tube's side, a gash across her forehead trailing blood down her face.

“Everything hurts, but I’m alive.” Came Atago’s voice from beside Littorio, the Sakuran woman joining her fellow in looking down at her fellows and taking stock of their conditions for several moments before she began to rise to her feet, aiding Littorio to her own as another voice chimed in.

“Sore as hell, but I’m still breathing.” Tennessee called out from a ledge across from the swordswoman, a groan slipping from her lips as she rose to her feet before she leapt from the ledge, landing in a crouch on the ground.  

“We’re good over here.” Came Lexingtom’s somewhat weary voice, the Carrier hobbling into Portland’s view from where Vestal and her had been concealed by the walls of one of the openings, the repair ship poking her head out a moment later to take stock of her injured fellows as she finished applying a medical salve to a gash that adorned Lexington’s side. 

“I’m alive, but I could use a little help up here!” Deutschland’s voice cried from above the girls, the cruiser having buried her clawed gauntlet into the walls of the tunnel to root herself in place and prevent herself from landing atop Portland. 

“Give me…a minute Deutsch.” Lexington called out as she called forth a drone to materialize before her from her Rigging, which she had to resummon as well, to aid in getting her fellow down, the Ironblood cruiser flopping down across the drone as it carried her down, Littorio and Atago leaping down to join ehr a moment later. 

“Any sign of Monty and Renown?” Portland called out as Littorio helped her to her feet, throwing one of her arms across her shoulder, with Atago taking the other, to help guide her to where Vestal was.

“We’re here.” The Eagle Union Swordswoman answered as she crept into view from one of the tunnels, one of her arms covering a weeping gash on her side as she began to approach her fellows, her right eye swollen shut as she staggered over to her fellows, half carried by Renown, the battered battleship carrying her forwards to Vestal’s impromptu clinic, Tennessee having moved to aid Biloxi to her feet.

Atago and Littorio helped Portland to lay beside Lexington’s feet, Deutschland soon being laid beside her, with Biloxi and Montepelier collapsing beside them a moment later, the battered quartet looking on as Tennessee moved to aid Vestal while the three swordswomen moved to stand guard, Littorio at the entrance of the tunnel, Renown taking place beside Vestal, and Atago at their rear flank. 

“We’ll rest here for a little bit while we recover our strength and-” A commotion from the end of the tunnel drew their attention, Atago having drawn her sword and moved to attack a figure that had begun to hobble towards them from the darkness, only to still her hand as she saw just who it was.  

“Gneisenau!? What the fuck are you doing here!?” The Sakuran cried out as she saw the familiar form of the IronBood battleship emerge fully into her view, the woman looking as though she had seen many a better day as one of her arms hung loose, gashes and tears adorned her frame such that her uniform appeared more crimson than its normal color. 

One of her legs was bent to the side, obviously broken, her foot being drug behind her as she huddled towards them, blood trailing down her thigh leaving a sanguine trail behind her foot, as she approached, her lips parted in a silent gasp of shock, one that lasted until the swordswoman moved to give her a tight embrace, cradling the battered form of her fellow in ehr arms as she guided her to lay down and rest.

Barely had Atago had time to turn her head before Vestal was already in motion to her side, Renown moving to fill her shoes by aiding Tennessee in tending to the others, as the more experienced medic gave treatment to the most critically injured of the group. 

“...Thou-thought…gonna…die…one else…did…”A wet cough tore from Gneisenau’s lips, her words heavily slurred as her blurry vision looked over her fellows, joy and relief so great it was near that of euphoria shining in her eyes as she reached out to entangle her fingers with Atago’s own.

“Shh, it's okay. Just save your strength.” Vestal soothed her fellow as she moved to treat her to the best of her abilities, the ground around her soon becoming a mass of gauze and salves and other more exotic looking apparati pulled forth from her rigging as she tended to her fellow.

The battered Ironblood Battleship soon slipped into unconsciousness, the merciful embrace of oblivion seizing her as her friends began to tend to her, and for the first time since her team had been torn to shreds before her eyes, she allowed herself a glimmer of selfish hope.

For a moment there was silence as the girls looked over their battered fellow, paying little mind to the pain of their own wounds as the medical salve of Antiochus began to knit and renew their torn flesh, aiding in removing the blisters and lesions that had begun to form as well, their thoughts weighed down by the words their fellow had said before sleep claimed her.

“Who…who was on her team?” Portland asked from where she had moved to lay against the wall. 

“Duca degli Abruzzi, Tallinn, Eugen, Jervis and Formidable.” Biloxi stated in answer, a sigh leaving her lips as she thought of the fates that must have befallen her fellows amidst this sanguine labyrinth. 

“Fuck.” Deutschland cursed aloud, a snarl slipping free a moment later as she dug her claws into the meat of the floor in spiteful act of petty retaliation against the beats they were within, though the scorching blood that began to pool within the wound soon forced her to adjust where she was laying. 

After Deutschland spoke there was stillness and silence once more, the sounds of Tennessee, Renown, and Vestal treating the injured being the only sounds that echoed throughout the tunnel, though it soon found itself joined by another noise as Portland’s stomach rumbled. 

“Sorry.” She said in response to the noise, a pitiful look to her as she cast her gaze over her fellows, though no condemnation was thrown her way as she pulled an MRE from her rigging, soon finding herself joined by her fellows as they took the chance to eat and drink. 

As their rations were finished, the girls noted that Vestal had taken a seat on her haunches, a hand having risen to sweep aside some sweat that had formed on her brow before it accepted a canteen from Renown. 

“Well…how is she?” Deutschland asked from where she had moved to sit beside Biloxi, her gaze sweeping across the form of her battered fellow as she awaited the repair ship's response, though she reasoned to herself that since she was still breathing she must be somewhat alright.

“She’s unconscious right now, I have no way of saying when she will wake up.I treated her wounds as best as I could but I have no way of saying with complete certainty if she is in the clear. Renown, can you try and use the Key to get her out of here?” Vestal asked of the Royal swordswoman, who offered a nod in return as she reached into her rigging to begin to fish out their Key.

Upon pulling out the silver metal object she began to try and activate it as she had been shown, only-

“Why is it not working,” the royal hissed under her breath as she tried to get the device to activate, only for nothing to occur with each attempt, a quick scan of the object in question showing no visible damage, and with no way of disassembling it to see what may have been wrong internally, she could only guess that-

“Interference.” Lexington spoke aloud, giving voice to the Royals thoughts from where she lay against the wall. “Same thing as with our comms, this thing is messing with them in some way. It doesn’t seem to be enough to mess with the smaller Gates generated by the sample holders, but anything bigger is blocked…because of course.” A tired sigh slipped from her lips as the carrier closed her eyes for a moment to compose herself.

“Looks like we’re going to be doing things the hard way.” Tennessee spoke up, her gaze sweeping over her fellows to rest on a visibly distraught Portland, tears having barely had time to begin to drip from the cruiser's eyes before the battleship had pulled her into her arms and begun to soothe her.

As Tennessee comforted Portland, the others began to put their heads together to attempt to think of what their next step should be, with the eventual consensus becoming that they should take one of the other tunnels to try and find a way out of the depths of the beast and to a layer near enough to the surface that they could breach through to the sea and escape. 

And so it was that once all were able to stand, bar the yet slumbering Gneiusenau who found herself being carried by Lexington, the Kansen set out on their search for an exit, with Lexington using her drones to scout out each of the halls and tunnels that branched off from their current location until she found one that seemed promising.

 “That one,” The carrier gestured to a tunnel at an angle from them, “The others are either flooded or lead to dead ends that look too thick to break through, thankfully it doesn’t look like any of those things are down here just yet. That one ends with a thin enough wall for us to break through.” 

Their route selected the Kansen set off, soon finding themselves facing the thin mass of tissue and sinew that Lexington had guided them towards, little more than a few slashes of the swords of Littorio and Atago saw the opening exposed in full, a plateau of meat and bone resting on the other side, perched above a drop.

“Shit.” Littorio said under her breath as she looked at the steep drop before them, the walls were largely smooth flesh, and while her and her fellow swordswoman could use their blades to arrest their momentum, the same being viable for Deutschland with her claws, it was unlikely they would be able to carry their fellows down.

“I could use my drones to carry us down, but someone is going to need to go down first and someone else is going to need to watch the entrance.” The carrier said, her eyes roaming over the group who seemed to share a silent conversation with one another before Portland moved forward. 

“I-I’ll go down.” Her voice was shaky to no small amount of trepidation, though she managed to steel herself after taking a deep breath to speak up once again.

“Next to Deutsch and Vestal I am the smallest one here, so I should be able to fit on the drone easily enough.” Silent glances were shared between her comrades at her words before Vestal stepped forward, resting her hand on Portland’s shoulder as she did so. 

“Okay, be careful though, Port.” The healer smiled at her friend, an action that was mirrored by the cruiser before she moved to take her place atop the drone Lexington had summoned forth amidst their conversation, the carrier giving her fellow a smile and a nod as she lowered the drone. 

For several moments there was silence as the drone moved to the bottom of the chamber, the silence seeming to last for an eternity before there came forth the voice of the cruiser from the depths of the pit, her words echoing as she called out-

“It looks like the tunnel goes two ways. I can;t see anything down one end, but I can see light down the other. I don’t think it’s the sun, but it’s still light. Looks like there is a bit of…something in the way, but we should be able to get through it easily enough.”

The group shared a collective sigh of relief at hearing the cruiser’s voice before they began to move, Lexington calling forth additional drones to help her fellows in reaching the bottom of the pit as they began to descend one by one. 

As the last drone, carrying Littorio who had stood guard as her fellows descended, touched down before vanishing into motes of light, the girls took stock of the tunnel that lay before them, finding that indeed there were thin rays of light shining through a partially torn wall of sinew and muscle, claw and fang marks causing a shudder to run down the girls spines. 

“Good job Portland.” Atago praised the smaller girl, gently caressing her hair for a moment before she moved to begin hewing through the wall of sinew and muscle as her fellows covered her rear. 

Yet barely had her blade begun to carve through the curtain of meat and muscle, then there came forth the sound of a distant roar, a sound soon joined by what seemed to be several other such roars joining in an unholy choir.

Eyes wide, the Kansen began to look around, their gazes alighting on the claw and fang marks that lined the walls around them, made visible by the light that shined through the curtain of meat Atagto had begun to tear through with greater ferocity, the rapidly growing light illuminating the small fragments of broken bones that adorned the ground.

“Of course we manage to land in one of those things fucking nests.” Tennessee said as she slipped her knife into her hand once more, her rigging taking aim into the shadows as her comrades and hers prepared for battle. 

“I’m sorry!I’m sorry! I'm sorry!” Portland cried out as she took aim down the tunnel, her words being met by Littorio placing a hand on her shoulder to steady her as she moved to stand before her. 

“It is not your fault signora. You couldn’t see them in the light, for now just focus on the present.” The battleships words made the cruiser swallow down yet another plea for forgiveness before she joined her fellow in keeping watch of the darkness, the sound of claws tearing into meat drawing nearer and nearer, though the exact distance was impossible to gauge given the unknown terrain of-

“I’m through, come on!” Atago cried out as she surged forward, soon followed by Vestal and Renown as they lifted Gneisenau between them, Biloxi and Deutschland following them, with Lexington, Portland, and Littorio following but a second later. 

Line Break

            It was like a false sun, that was the best way to describe the sight of the baleful orbs that enveloped the end of the tunnel in a nauseating multi-colored glow of nuclear colors so radiant it made the girls have to lift their hands to cover their eyes for several moments before their eyes could adjust to the hellish illumination after spending so long within the dimly lit intestines of Typhon.

Though even as the radiance blinded them, they walked forward, out of the tunnel and away from the advancing wall of flesh and claw and fang, and into what could have been one of the many hearts of the beast.

            As soon as the last of them had begun to rise from the floor of the immense chamber that spanned around them, they heard the now horrifically familiar sound of flesh stretching and bulging and warping as it knit itself together, the entrance they had come through vanishing and leaving them stranded below the burning baleful glow of the orb above them.

            Soon, the girls lowered their hands from their eyes as their eyes adjusted to the light, the scene before them making many gasp out in shock at what lay before them, a scene that forced gasps from their lips as they unconsciously took a step forward, only to reign themselves in when they heard a pained whimper from the yet unconscious Gneisenau, the sound prompting them to jolt from their reveries

Vestal moved to tend to their battered fellow, doing what she could to alleviate her pain as her fellows cast their gazes across the width of the chamber, weapons and rigging moving with their gazes as they swept their eyes across the expanse before them.

            Before them loomed an almost perfectly spherical chamber that seemed to span several hundred feet in diameter, the walls made almost entirely of flesh riddled with tumorous growths and bulges with only some parts having been left bare to allow for openings lined with bone to be visible, a foul liquid of nuclear yellow trickling from each of the openings and into an enormous lake that lay below them.

Into said lake there reached tendrils and veins of a multitude of sizes, some as dense and wide as the greatest of redwood trees, and others as thin and fragile as the flimsiest of crawling ivies, each one pulsating and throbbing as some seemed to inject liquids of a multitude of other nauseating colors into the pool, while others seemed to drink in the foul liquid with a horrid * Slurping * sound that was matched in intensity but by the room shaking pulses of the horribly deformed organ that laid suspended above a grand platform of flesh and bone by tendrils so dense that they appeared more cylindrical skyscrapers than any form of vein or tentacle.

And it was as their gazes traveled to that grand platform of flesh and bone the Kansen found themselves snarling as the riggings they had dematerialized to move quicker came back to them in flashes of blue and white light as they saw what lay upon the platform connected to their own by a bridge of bone and flesh, their gazes sharpening as they took in the thing that lay basking under the horrible glow form above it.

Vaguely it appeared to be feline in appearance, styled in a manor far too reminiscent of the monstrous Nameans to be of any comfort to them, though it was also vastly different from the hulking monstrosities that had chased them into this chamber, for it was lean and thin, it’s limbs willowy and long, the tail it sported not that of a plume of barbed tendrils but rather a perversion of a snake, eyeless and with a maw that split in four separate direction to reveal fangs that dipped with venom that ran down into the blackness of the beasts throat.

Absently they noted the wings that adorned the beasts back, not one pair but rather two or three pairs of wings that appeared a mockery of the Eagle Unions own mascot, for there was no splendor or beauty to the mockeries of eagle wings, their featherless flesh coated in what appeared to be pinions of naked tissue that were surrounded by razor edged pinions of bone that were so dark gray it was almost black in color.

Yet it was not the perversion of a snake tail that made them gasp and take aim with their riggings, nor was it the wings that now began to open to reveal the sheer number of bladed pinions that adorned them as the beast began to rise to its feet in an almost languid manor, un-phased and unbothered by the witless beings that had dared to trespass into its domain as it stretched itself with a low groan leaving the mouth of what truly made the girls stand on edge.

For there was no horrific mass of eyes or eyeless visage above a maw of gleaming fangs, instead there was a face that appeared so horribly human-like as to make them take a step back in shock. It’s skin was richly tanned and the hair that spilled from its head was a lustrous onyx in color that trailed from above a brow that was high and broad, set above deep set eyes with irises a red so dark as to be almost black that rested amid fields of nuclear yellow-green sclera.

It’s nose was aquiline, and its cheek bones high and sharp as they rested above slightly sunken cheeks, its chin was narrow and sharp, resting just below lips of a rich shade of vermillion that parted just enough to reveal fangs so perfectly white they stood out in shock relief against the tanned skin of the beast.

And it was from the mouth that contained those horribly gleaming fangs, there came something that made the girls step back in shock, Atago gasping out in something other than the pain that came when Vestal jerked her hand as she was treating her wound when she heard what spilled from the lips of the beast before them.

For instead of a roar or shriek or warbling cry, there came a silken smooth voice of a rich alto that echoed amidst the cavernous room.

“Well now. Who would have thought you morsels would make it this far? Perhaps there is yet some fight still in you after all, what say you hmm?”

When the girls did not respond as they gaped at the being before them, it gave an almost mocking smile as it spoke up once more, its wings fanning out behind it as it did so, revealing that it sported three sets of wings adorned with razor edged pinions as they did so.

“Oh come now children, did your mothers not teach you it is rude to ignore someone? Come now, let me hear the voices of the little Icaruses that have come oh so near the sun.” The beast said aloud, smiling to itself as it saw the women look at one another in dumbfounded shock before one of them stepped forward, her clawed gauntlet resting at her side as she strode to the beginning of the bridge of flesh and bone that linked their platforms together.

“You want to know if we have any fight left in us? Why don’t you come over here and see for yourself you gottverdammt abomination!” Snarled Deutschland, her shock at the beast being able to speak being overshadowed by the rage and unease that coursed through her when she saw those orbs look upon them with such perverse mockery and arrogant superiority. She did not know what this thing was, but nothing had the right to look at her and her comrades like that after all they had been through this day, especially not some cheap knock off of a sphinx.

For indeed, the beast looked to be a perverse mockery of the beast of Grecian myth, more hideous and vile in appearance than any rendition of the beast that bore its name could ever have hoped to have been.

The IronBlood woman’s words made the beast throw back its head and let out a laugh that echoed amidst the chamber, loud and boisterous and yet so horrible in sound and in the sheer depth of intelligent malice that it contained that it made the hair on the girls bodies stand on end as they prepared for whatever could come next as the beasts laughter died down and it looked at them with eyes that shone with keen intelligence and horrific malice alike.

"Ah, and there it is! The fire and will that has led you here today.” The beast smiled at them, baring twin rows of cruel fangs as it began to pace the length of its own platform as it looked at them as it continued-

“ Such fire and fury, how so befitting of one who bares the claws of a beast upon her hand. Though tell me this little girl, did your mother not teach you to not insult your hosts? Or was she perhaps too busy reminding you of how it is your fault your sister has been reduced to not but a whimpering hype of mangled flesh before her pain was ended by my Creator time and time again?” The words echoed in the room, honeyed venom coating them as they dug into Deutschland’s ears with all the lethality of a gleaming razor.

The words made the IronBlood woman freeze in her place, her eyes widening as her heart began to hammer within her chest as her frame began to shake in what those present assumed to be rage. Her comrades immediately moving to pull her back towards them so as to avoid her lunging at the beast only for it to continue-

  “Oh yes, I can recall the girl. So small, like an annoying fly, and she was just as beautiful as one as well. Truly the Great One did her a favor when it tore her face in two, do you not think so?”  A snarl tore its way from Deutschland’s lips as she stepped forward, taking aim with her rigging as she glared at the beast, hesitating in firing only when Littorio put a hand upon her shoulder, though the action drew the gaze of the beast to her in response.

“Of course she was less hideous than that holier than thou sow that came with her preachings of a ‘Holy Light’, truly that one deserved the pain when her stomach was torn open and her guts fell into the sea, do you not think whoremonger? 

Truly she would have been a much better fuck as a still corpse than when she was alive? After all, you get the body you so lust for without the annoying bitch attached to it, truly a win-win situation if I must say so. 

Though maybe that little sister of hers is more your type eh? Too small and weak to fight back when you hunger for more than she wishes to give., and oh so tender.” Mockery and malice danced a ballet of cruelty amidst those words as the beast smiled in pleasure at the sight of Littorio gaping at it in shock for a moment, before fury colored her cheeks as crimson as her eyes as she tore her sword from its sheath and took aim, hesitating to fire when Deutschland of all women lifted an arm to stop her, the IronBlood woman’s face concealed in shadows as her form shook.

“Haha, no attempt to defend the honor of your lover? Truly a loving mate you are. Of course you are at least proud enough to stand in the light, what of that one there who yet cowers in the shadows just as she cowers behind her sister? 

What of you sow of the Eagles? Where is that tanned sister of yours? Ah, yes! She is in two pieces, torn and mangled and broken, her arms reaching out for you as she cries out for you to come and ease her pain, to save her and protect her like you promised you would.

 Such a magnificent sister you are! Truly it is no wonder she comes to die so often, after all surely pain and death at the Creator’s hand is more merciful than having to contend with your nauseating presence correct?” Again malice and mockery danced as the beast narrowed its gaze at Portland, the poor woman falling upon her rear and backing up to the point she rested against the wall as tears welled in her eyes.

  “N-no NO! Y-y-you’re w-wrong, you’re-" Portland’s stuttering was cut off as the beast laughed loudly again, pausing after several moments as it once more lowered its head to gaze at her with cruel delight in its eyes as it opened its mouth and-

“You’re right…you know?” Came the voice of Deutschland, her face still downcast and yet her words making all present freeze in shock as they looked at the woman, the beast pausing its pacing as it blinked at her in confusion for a moment before the IronBlood woman continued.

“Spee keeps having to fight and die because I’m too fucking useless to protect her. She suffers so much…because I fail my job as her sister so spectacularly that I can’t even be there to protect her when she needs me to. 

She dies…because I can’t move fast enough to take the hit instead of her, or just push her out of the way of the damn blow…but you know what else…I don’t need to hear any of that from a fucking freak like you.” Deutschland spoke up, her head lifting at the end to reveal orbs that, though sported twin streams of tears, yet burned with such a cold fury that it seemed fit to make the very air itself freeze in fear at the murderous wrath that gleamed in those orbs.

The Sphinx paused it’s pacing a look of genuine shock crossing its face as it looked at the woman before it, though the look was soon wiped away as its usual look of smug arrogance came to dominate its features once more as it opened its mouth to speak again, only to find itself cut off once more as Deutschland continued to speak.

“Yes, I am a huge fucking failure of a sister, and yes I don’t deserve a single fucking ounce of the love Spee gives me. She’s strong and smart, and so fucking adorable that she could call anyone else her sister and they would accept her on the spot but you know what, she wakes me up every morning and calls me her Schwester. 

She smiles at me when I try to act high and mighty around her. She laughs at my fucking horrible jokes. She holds me when I wake up screaming. She smiles at me and tells me she loves me when I am on my knees crying when it all becomes too much.” The IronBlood woman spoke these words with an almost drunken smile on her face as she gently reached up to brush aside her tears with the tattered remains of her sleeve, uncaring of the burns the blood that coated them left in their wake. Silently she took a deep breath before she once more closed her eyes and continued speaking.

 “And you know what else? I am going to earn that love, I am going to earn it when I look her in the eyes and tell her she doesn’t have to fight anymore. I am going to earn the love she shows me when she accepts my antics by getting on my hands and fucking knees and begging her to stay with me till the end and beyond.

 I am going to show her I can be worthy of her love by fighting so she can be safe. And most of all…” Deutschland closed her eyes as her lips began to curl into a smile that looked almost tranquil, though there was nothing tranquil in the hellish inferno that burned within her orbs when she opened them once again.

“I am going to earn her love when I rip your fucking tongue out and give it to her as a present.” The Ironlood’s Pocket Battleship said with her lips forming into a horrific smile that spoke of the pain and misery and suffering she would soon visit upon the beast that dared to mock her sister to her face as she began to stride forwards, her comrades sharing glances with one another before they joined her in glaring down the beast, idly noting the look of unease that gleamed in its eyes, the way its wings were tucking themselves against its body in unease as the Kansen glared at it.

“Now, I  do believe I speak for everyone when I say this,” Deutschland began, her guns adjusting themselves just a little bit before she continued speaking, her eyes shrinking to a pinprick as she bellowed out-

“BURN IN HELL SIE ARROGANTES STÜCK SCHEISSE!” (1)

And the room was filled with the roar of cannons of all shapes and sizes as the Kansen surged forward, bloodlust and malice shining in their eyes with such a hellish glow that one would not be remiss in assuming them to be demons that had torn their way from the seventh circle of hell to once more partake in the wanton hedonism of bloodshed and destruction.

To and fro the Sphinx leapt as it tried to avoid the hellstorm of HE, AP, Incendiary, and varying other forms of ammunition that rained down upon it like wrath and fury from on high, the explosions and roar of flames soon drowning out even the beating of the organ it was made to defend as the beats desperately tried to avoid the shells, only to find that they were not the only threat to its life as the Pocket Battleship of IronBlood charged through a wall of flames, her clawed gauntlet tearing gouges across the beasts chest as it flung itself back avoid having her bury her entire hand in its chest. 

It had barely had time to release a pained whine before it felt an almighty blow slam into its side and cause it to fall onto all fours, the beasts snarling as it whipped its tail in the direction of the one that had landed the blow, only to find the venomous serpentine tail seized in the iron grasp of Tennessee, who glared up into its eyes with cold malice as she held the appendage such that it could not maneuver to bite her as she adjusted her footing and pulled .

The Sphinx shrieked in agony as its tail was torn free from its body and then swung with blinding force as a whip to strike it in the face, the pain of the blow being drowned out by the agony of a pair of blades ramming themselves into its hide and twisting before they were removed to allow for their wielders to back pedal out of the way of the shells that suddenly slammed down onto the beasts body, each one tearing out great chunks of viscera and flesh and making the beast howl but louder in a mixture of humiliation and pain until-

“ENOUGH!” The Sphinx roared as it surged to its feet, wings snapping outwards as they released a hail of bladed pinions that at last earned it a moment's reprieve from the unending assault of the Kansen as they were forced to dive for cover, an pained cry earning a snarl of satisfaction from the beast as it turned to see the Kansen that had begun this mad charge sporting one of its wondrous feathers threw her shoulder, though that satisfaction was short lived.

The mind is a bizarre thing. At times it can be as fragile as a robin egg, and yet at others it can be more resilient than any form of alloy could ever hope to be. It can bend and twist and warp and crack, and yet, just as it can break apart it can also be mended and healed into something that is arguably more resilient than it was before.

Yet regardless of each of these facts, there remains an unequivocal law of the world that remains true for all things that live upon this world and that is that every single creature has a point, a moment where they can take no more and the strands of sanity and restraint break under the weight of rage, grief, pain, stress, or such other emotions that have grown and swelled to extremes such that they overwhelm the minds restraints and drive one over the edge and into madness.

Perhaps it was the insult towards her sister, perhaps the insults towards her friends, or maybe it was simply the thought that this thing could even exist, or hell it could have been none of if not all of these things combines that had lead to this moment, but regardless of which one it was there was one thing that was certain.

Deutschland had snapped.

With a snarl, more of rage than pain, the IronBlood woman tore the pinion from her shoulder, snapping it between the claws of her gauntlet as she did so before she let out a cry of rage so great it made the beast step back in unease as she suddenly surged forward, heedless to the instincts ingrained in her that told her to seek cover and wait out the pinions that the beast had resumed flinging the moment she began her charge.

For in the mind of the Pocket Battleship, there was but a single thought running rampant.

'I will earn Spee’s love.'

            This thought fueling her, Deutschland charged forward, all instincts of flight swept aside by the sheer fury that thrummed through her veins as hellfire, all of her instincts instead focused solely on rending the being before her into nothing but a whimpering mass of flesh capable only of begging for the merciful release of death.

            By a hair's breadth she dodged the pinions sent at her, uncaring of the weeping gashes some tore open as they grazed her, by pure chance did she avoid the disemboweling blow aimed at gutting her when she drew within spitting distance of the beast, flipping over the offending limb and then digging her clawed gauntlet into the hide of the beast before she flung herself onto the creatures back, the Sphinx crying out in pain and shock as it began to try and buck the crazed woman off.

            Yet the beast found its efforts to be in vein, no matter how hard the beast bucked and writhed and flung itself against the ground in a vain attempt to remove the woman, she remained rooted to its back, claws dug into its flesh as she pulled herself up the torso of the beast, purposefully digging her razor edged claws into the beasts shoulder as she pulled herself to be level with the beasts shrieking face, leaning just out of reach of its snapping maw as she tore out a chunk of the beasts shoulder with her claws before she wrapped her legs above the beasts front legs, raising her clawed gauntlet to bring it down upon back of the creatures skull.

            Faintly Deutschland registered the silken hair brushing against her flesh as she tore at the scalp of the beast, reveling in the howling shrieks of agony that left the beast's maw, heedless of the razor edged pinions that came to scrape and tear at the flesh of her back as the beast thrashed in mad desperation, the weeping cuts thin and small in comparison to the mangled chunk of flesh she had torn from her own shoulder, yet still she could feel her life fluid beginning to stain her black coat red, the wet and sticky sensation making her cloak adhere to her mangled back as she howled in pain and rage.

            The other Kansen were hesitant to resume firing, not wishing to accidentally hit their comrade as she tore at the beast with her sole remaining arm in a mad frenzy, yet when they saw the wings of the beast rear back as they readied to try and tear the woman off even if it wound upon rending the beasts own body apart, they found themselves taking aim and firing at the appendages.

            Deutschland felt the impact of the shells when they collided with the beasts wings, the shockwave of the AP shells tearing through the bone like pinions and the membranes of the wings as they reduced them to mangled pulp and torn stumps that gushed out the bile phosphorescent blood pushing her flush against the Sphinx’s body, though the Sphinx was too busy shrieking in agony to attempt to tear at her with its teeth.

            The howl of agony that left its lips grew in intensity when it found its foremost left leg being severed at the joint, courtesy of a snarling Littorio. The Sardegnan woman pirouetting about on her heel before she slashed out once more, severing its front right leg as she did so, she then leapt to the side as the beast fell forward with a cry of anguish that grew in intensity when it found razor edged claws tearing into its eyes.

The bladed digits pushed into the sockets as they popped the orbs with a wet * Squelch * as they dug into the sockets and began to pulls and slash at the optic nerves, the tips of the claws raking across the bone that rested at the back of the ocular cavities as they did so.

            Agony and rage colored the shriek that left the beast’s lips, as it flung itself about in attempt to remove the woman that had used her new grip to pull herself up to bury her claw in the beasts scalp once more, the IronBlood woman’s lips curling into an even more sadistic grin as she heard the beasts cries grow in pitch once more when Renown rammed her blade into the beasts side, twisting it before tearing it out as she leapt aside to allow for Portland to take aim at the wound with her guns and fire an incendiary round into the wound, the screech that filled the air drowning out the sound, but not the smell of searing flesh.

            Rodney and Biloxi likewise took aim at a tear the Montpelier had opened in the beasts other side with her combat knife, the Eagle Union woman reaching her hands into the wound and tearing it into a gaping tear from which spilled deformed and glowing organs, before firing a salvo of Incendiary rounds into the beasts torso, the beast emitting an noiseless cry of agony as it felt its internal organs begin to cook from the heat of the rounds.

“Hurts doesn’t it Schlampe? (2) ” Deutschland purred into the beasts ear, smiling to the point her cheeks ached as she heard the beats let out a keening cry of agony as it began to blubber nonsensical words as it attempted to force itself to stand, something which was quite difficult given that it’s legs had yet to heal due to the incendiary rounds that had been fired at them the moment the girls had noted the skin attempting to heal.

“Oh, shh shh. We aren’t done just yet, Schlampe. Remember what I said?” Deutschland breathed in the Sphinx’s ear, smiling as she heard it let out another piteous cry as it opened its mouth to cry out for mercy, to plea for these monsters to at last let it die. Yet the moment it’s lips parted, it found that Deutschland had quickly unburied her claws from her scalp and had instead moved to-

“ARGH!?” The Sphinx gargled out these words as it felt the razor edged blades, coated in its own blood, seize hold of its tongue before the IronBlood woman whispered to it with a sickly sweet and tender voice.

“I said I would give my sister your tongue, so cough it up cow.” The IronBlood woman then adjusted her grip before she pulled with as much force as she could, feeling the tongue begin to rip and tear as her claws slashed at the roots and muscles that connected the tongue the beasts maw, the Pocket Battleship letting out a snarl of pain when she felt the beats jaws clamp down on her gauntlet clad hand, the teeth tearing into and then through her gauntlet as the beast began to try and crush her gauntlet clad hand, but-

The beast’s mouth flew open as it cried out in a shriek of agony that almost made Deutschland go deaf as Lexington took aim with her staff  and rammed it into the gaping and burning wound on the beast's side that Montpelier had located, forcing the tip of the bayoneted end that rested at the bottom of it into what she assumed was the beasts stomach before she began to drag out the large organ, a heap of intestines accompanying it and spilling onto the floor amidst a pool of phosphorescent blood as the carrier took aim again before stabbing another organ and pulling it out.

And Lexington was not alone in giving the beast good reason to keep its mouth open in a cry of abject agony, as Portland had surged forward and buried her hands into the wound that rested on her side of the beasts body, uncaring of the pain of its blood searing into her own flesh as she took hold of whatever organ she could see before pulling it out and tossing it aside with a crazed gleam in her eyes.

Soon the keening cries of the beast began to taper off, death at last closing in as Deutschland tore free the beasts tongue from it’s maw, smiling in perverse glee as she slapped the beast with it’s own appendage several times before she leapt off of it’s back.

Her movements allowing for the girls to take aim at the beast once more, though they held back their bombardment when Rodney held up an arm, looking at the edge of the makeshift arena and back at the beast for a moment before she smiled, her comrades catching onto her idea as they shared her grin.

The Sphinx found itself crying out in a wet gargle of agony as the girls seized hold of it and began to drag the beast to the edge of the ring, the creature digging it’s remaining claws into the ground in a desperate to avoid the fate the girls seemed set upon giving it, yet it’s struggles were in vain as it soon found itself forced to the very edge of the ring, kept from falling but by the groups grip on its sides.

Silently the beast begged and pleaded with gargled cries for them to not push it into the roiling liquid below, to let it die a quick death under the hell storm of cannon fire and blades as opposed to the agony of the corrosive liquid that bubbled below them.

Yet its’ pleas fell on deaf ears as Deutschland offered it a mocking smile as she said-

“Auf Wiedersehen, Fotze (3) .” And with that said, the girls let go of the beast and pushed it into the roiling liquid below, idly basking in the beasts’ agonized shrieking gargles as it began to sink into the liquid that began to slowly dissolve the Sphinxes body, till soon only dark gray bones remained before they were also dissolved into nothingness.

For several moments there was silence as the girls panted, taking deep breaths to at last calm the raging hell fire that had coursed through their veins as they had fought with the beast, sealing away the malice and madness till they needed them once again.

A low groan left Deutschland’s lips as she found herself staggering, her vision beginning to blur as she felt blood loss begin to take a toll upon her, the rush of adrenaline and mania that had dulled the pain of her wounds vanishing as she found herself falling to her knees with a low whine of pain leaving her lip.

Already her vision was beginning to darken and blur further at the edges as she heard her comrades call out to her, their voices distorted and muffled, as gentle hands, their warmth a relief to her suddenly cool flesh, guided her to the ground so that Vestal could begin treating her.

Fighting her body's cries for her to fall into unconsciousness, she looked at the tongue in her hand, thick and forked, before she reached out to Tennessee, the woman taking the organ with a nod before she pulled out a transport container to put the appendage in, sending it to the Sirens for safe keeping.

A pleased smile crossed her lips as she felt Vestal begin to apply a medical gel to her wounds, her last thoughts before she allowed herself to succumb to a brief rest of unconsciousness was-

“Spee…I hope you like your present…”

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-Line Break—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-

When wakefulness came to Deutschland next it was not a peaceful one, for there was the stench of burning meat and fat, and of bile and fluids that bore no known name roiling with such fervor that noxious clouds now hung low and brought with them an almost oily sheen to the air and a disgusting slickness to her skin.

Yet more pressing to her, and perhaps the reason for her awakening, was the sound of battle that surrounded her, the discharge of cannons, matched by the sound of guns firing and casings thudding into the flesh below, and the tearing of meat and snapping of bone as blade and bare hand were used to maim and mangle when the foe drew to near called her forth into battle once more. 

Her vision, yet hazy from the pain of her wounds and exhaustion, to say nothing of the noxious cloud that made her eyes water and her lungs burn as she inhaled it for but a moment before she began to heave out wet coughs, was still keen enough to discern the silhouettes of her comrades holding the line against a seemingly endless tide of aberrations. 

Nameans were matched by spherical abominations ridden with tumorous growths that swam through the cloud atop featherless wings of sinew and bladders, and with them there came forth entities that appeared as a combination of spider and scorpion, though they were of the size of large lobsters and adorned with needle tipped tendrils that emerged from the bare and mucus coated muscles and tendons of their backs. 

A mixed cry of rage and pain drew Deutschalnd’s gaze from the mass of nightmares, her eyes alighting on the blurred form of one of her comrades, whom she could not say, fighting as a madwoman, sword held aloft in one hand as she buried the blade into the skull of a writhing mass of proto-plasmic biomass while her rigging bellowed out a salvo of flechette rounds into the approaching foes. 

Yet it was not the sight of her rigging firing with such fervor that the barrels burned with hellish heat, nor was it the way she skewered and slashed foe after foe that made Deutschland’s eyes widen as she tried desperately to rise to her feet and rush to their aid.

For the cry that had been torn from her comrade’s lips had been one of terrible pain, for the arm that did not hold her blade had been reduced to a twisted mass of fragmented bones and sinew, strands of muscle dangling like vines from a tree as rivulets of blood poured down onto the ground below her fellow. 

Deutschland felt her eyes widen once more as she saw her fellow take another blow, a mass of noxious yellow-green liquid splattering across the front of her body, the sizzling of her quickly melting uniform soon melding with the sound of burning flesh, as the scent of blood and scorched cloth was joined by the scent of burning flesh.

And yet still her fellow gave not but a snarl of rage as she lunged forward and impaled the beast that had sprayed her with the vile fluid, some form of worm like being riddled with tumorous growths that had countless feelers jutting from the spaces where they overlapped one another, through the circular cavity of bladed fangs that was its maw, before she spun about and flung the beast into the mass of its fellows. 

Faintly Deutschland, upon her vision clearing slightly, registered that it was Montepelier who she was watching hack and hew into the masses of their foes, a scowl carved into her face and hellfire alight in her eyes as she cut down beast after beast, the forms of Atago and Littorio by her sides, the trio were holding the line.

But…where were Tennessee, Rodney, Lexington, Gneisenau, and Vestal?

Her questions, unvoiced as they were, received an answer in the form of a shower of searing blood spattering across her back as chunks of rancid meat and flesh rained down around her, gelatinous masses of fat adhering to her like mucus and scalding her skin such that the smell of her own burning flesh and hair soon filled her nostrils, the sound of burning flesh and hair drowned out but by the sound of Vestal’s voice crying out her name.

“DEUTSCH!” The Eagle Union Repair ship moved from whatever it was she was tending to behind her to try and help the Ironblood warrior clean off the scalding fat and blood, uncaring of the multitude of 2nd degree burns that covered her own form, or the patches of her scalp that were visible where her hair had been burned away, or the surely agonizing blisters that had formed across her body. 

“Shit! We didn’t think it would hit you!” The Eagle Union medic near babbled under her breath as she tried to tend to Deutschland, only for the Ironblood Cruiser to stop her as she began to rise to her feet, uncaring of the agony that screamed at her to fall and rest once more, perhaps even eternally, or at least until she was called back again. 

“I…I’m fine Vestal,” Deutschland choked out, her voice slurring and her vision blurring for but a moment before she managed to right herself and stand to her full height, the sounds of battle soon drawing her to begin to move towards her fellows and what she now realized to be the maw of some form of tunnel born into the very meat and sinew of Typhon, only for Vestal to stop her with a hand on her shoulder.

“They can hold a bit longer, we need help to get out of the range of whatever is interfering with our coms so we can call in an evac Gate, our key got lost in the acid back there.” The smaller woman guided her Ironblood comrade to turn to the source of the blood and fat that had coated her, their gazes alighting on the scene of a now awake Gneisenau, and a bruise covered Tennessee tearing into the meat of Typhon with their rigging’s cannons, uncaring of the rapidly forming burns and blisters adorning their flesh. 

But…where were-

“Rodney? Lexington?” Deutschland questioned, though in her heart she already knew the answer, a feeling of nausea swelling inside of her stomach when she saw Vestal give a slight nod, her eyes suddenly wet.

“We got ambushed shortly after you fell unconscious, something tackled Rodney into that acid…knocked her and our Key into it before she could use it…Lex got hit through the head with some spine trying to save her…with any luck…they will be the last ones that need to be called back in this damn war.” The Eagle Union medic sounded near tears as she spoke these words, and though both knew that now was not the time for weeping, neither could stop the tears that carved trails through the filth on their cheeks for but a moment, before once more they were forced to bury their grief. 

“SHIT!” Montepilier cried out as she staggered back, a spine jutting from where her right eye had previously been, a mixture of the liquified ocular organ and blood trailing down her cheek and past her chin.

Surely the agony must have been mind numbing, and yet still she fought on, her guns roaring with increased fervor and her arms moving as not but a blur as she tried to hold back the sudden deluge of beasts that had begun to swarm towards them.

They stampeded forwards upon the ground and clawed upon the walls and ceilings in such numbers that not of the room beyond them could be seen, and yet still the 3 kansen held fast, uncaring of the wounds that had come to adorn their frames as they fought to buy their fellows time to flee, each knowing full well that their own fates were likely sealed and yet still fighting on. 

A low growl slipped past Deutschland’s as she beheld her comrades fighting what could well be a fatal battle as the seemingly endless masses of nightmares surged towards them, and yet she found herself turning away from them and summoning forth her rigging and taking aim at the wall of meat, lending her own might to her fellows as they bore through the flesh and bone. 

The stench was nauseating, the fat that had been liquified by the heat and destructive power of their riggings had swiftly come to form a pool that seared at their boots and shoes as searing blood rained down upon them like a spring shower, each mixing with burned and semi-liquid fluid that was likely some form of bone-marrow to create the oily cloud that burned the eyes and lungs alike. 

To further the nauseating tableau of their gruesome work was the sloshing and squelching of tearing meat, the cracking of titanic bones that seemed at once both impossibly durable and yet likewise impossibly frail mixing with sounds of battle that seemed to grow closer and closer as their fellow fell back under the ever increasing tide of death that bore down upon them. 

‘Hell…we are in hell.’ Came a thought to Deutschland as she continued her assault, trying to wear down the walls in front of her, a modicum of hope beginning to form in her as she saw how the walls had begun to thin, how meat and muscle had yielded to tissue and sinew, amd how the beasts that had harried their flank were seemingly being held at bay.

How long they slashed and tore and clawed and shot at the walls before them as the trio behind them fought to hold the line, none could tell, not when they had doing so for what must have been hours before deutschland had awoken, yet all felt the strength they had spent return to them in a great swell of energy as the walls grew thinner and thinner. 

Gneisenau was unable to fight a cry of triumph as the walls of meat and sinew gave way, a sudden glare of light blinded those who had fought so hard against the walls of meat to achieve this break through, the radiant glow appearing as a light at the end of a stygian hell for those who had warred so long against the beasts to buy their fellows time. 

Hope began to swell in them as their eyes adjusted-

How painful it was a reminder when it came, to be forced to remember that one of the most insidious tortures in Hell-

“Wha-”

-Is hope.

The words died on Gneisenau’s lips as a wet gasp replaced them, the Ironblood battlecruiser staggering backwards as she looked down at the length of chitin and bone that had burrowed through her stomach, a faint gleam of pink visible amidst the crimson and off-white became more visible and intense as the blade tore free, pulling her intestines with it and dragging her forward enough that yet more scything blades could burrow into her shoulder and hip and-

Her eyes wide and a scream on her lips, Gneisenau called out for her fellows, for her sister, for anyone to save her, her tear filled eyes meeting Vestal, Deutschland, and Tennessee's own as she reached out for them as they cried out her name-

RIP

A wet tearing sound filled the air as she was pulled in half, the sound of organs and intestine, along with the pack she had strapped to her back, falling onto pulsating flesh was as a gunshot to those who saw it happen, and yet it alone was not enough of a reminder of their foolishness for having held fast to hope, for what lay before them was now revealed, and the scene made Vestal sink to her knees, tears streaming from her eyes even as Tennessee tried to help her to her feet.

For before them there was a massive chamber of spherical design, the slick flesh of the room bathed in an ominous light of yellow-green that burned as a false sun, a false sun that was held aloft by trees of muscle and tendons and sinew.

And across this false sun there ran veins the size of rivers, each pumping into the semi-gelatinous mass that loomed upon the other side of the room a mixture of noxious colored fluids, the shades mixing to form an ever shifting rainbow of sickening gradients that was then made come alight and burn as a star. 

Without saying it, each knew what it was that loomed before them. 

An eye. 

An eye the size of a large lake, that burned with the baleful light of hellfire.

And-

There was a sound, the sicking tearing of muscles and tendons and the popping of veins, and the ripping of sinew, as before their horrified eyes they beheld the great tree like tubes of nerves that had connected to the eye begin to shift and stir, each bulging and swelling as flesh was rent asunder, blood and fluids unnamed and unnamable spilling onto the ground as legions of beasts poured forth to join the mass that was already present within the room. 

Indeed, there lay before them, as soldiers defending their liege or crusaders safe-keeping an artifact of their faith, a legion of beasts, their horrid shapes as varied as the nightmares that would tear one from the blissful oblivion of slumber and into the cruel arms of reality with screams upon their lips and tears in their eyes. 

And at the front of this legion, a general or perhaps some form of priest, was the one who now held the upper part of Gneisenau in its hands, and how horrid a beast it was. 

For before them loomed a monster of nearly 7 ft in height, its flesh naked of skin and adorned with a multitude of feelers that bore upon them scalpel like growths of bone, with a multitude of much larger ones lashing at the air from its back. 

The pus yellow-white flesh of the beast was coated crimson from the blood of the Kansen whose upper body it held by the head, its clawed fingers burrowed into where her eyes had been as it held her up to where the scalpel tipped feelers could aid it as it gnawed on the flesh of her chest with teeth akin to hypodermic needles.

Idly the beast flickered seven eyes of off-blue to them, its maw, that spanned the length of a grown man’s arm and was gleaming crimson as it tore at the flesh of their fellow curved into a mocking smile for but a moment before it lifted up one hand and used a scythe like blade that jutted from its fore arms to aid in tearing free one of their fellows breasts.

A look of naked contempt of such intensity it made those present recoil in dread, the beast began to chew upon the severed breast for several moments before it spat it out, the mangled and torn piece of meat landing with a wet thud as a look of disgust crossed the beast's  face as it flung her body to the side, motes of blue and white light flaking off of her flesh like snow falling heavenwards as her form rapidly decayed into nothingness, her Wisdom Cube thudding onto the ground before it faded as well. 

Wordlessly the beast turned to look at them, a contemptuous sneer, or what amounted to one, crossing its face as it began to move towards them, it's tendrils lashing at the air as jagged bones blades were revealed to have been concealed by several of them, the tips dripping with an acrid green-yellow liquid that seared both its flesh and the flesh on the ground that it touched as it advanced towards them. 

Barely had the beast begun to make its way towards them, blades of chitin and bone gleaming in the nauseating light as the beast readied itself to-

A blur slammed into the creature, a blow connecting with its chest with such force that it was launched backwards for several feet before it dug one of its blades into the flesh beneath it to stop its momentum, the gash it had carved swiftly filling with blood and pus as the beast rose to its feet, a gleam of twisted delight in its eyes as it locked eyes with the one that had struck it. 

Tennessee met the glare with one of her own as she cracked her knuckles, one hand holding Rodney’s sword, the energy of her Wisdom Cube having kept it from dissipating, and the other hand clenched around a pair of half melted steel knuckles, as her rigging adjusted its turrets just enough so that she could start the fight with a hell storm of shells that mowed down many of the beasts fellows as she surged forward to meet the beasts own surprise lunge. 

Blade met bone and chitin with such force that a small shockwave erupted from where their weapons had collided, the force staggering both combatants and those behind them for but a moment before the two resumed their clash as the beasts began to surge forward to aid their fellow, only for a deluge of shells to smash into their ranks, causing eruptions of gore to form as geysers across the field as Deutschland through herself forward. 

The scything blades of her clawed gauntlet raked viscous gouges across the face of a multitude of the beasts, prompting enraged and agonized shrieks as they began attempting to surge forward and envelop the Kansen in a pincher strike, the sounds of combat echoing from the tunnel confirming that their kindred had shared their thought.

Phosphorescent blood flood as a river and pooled into lakes of craters blasted into the flesh around them as the Kansen fought, Portland and Biloxi having taken but a moment to gather themselves after seeing their fellow torn apart and having beheld the host before them, before they gathered their resolve and joined the fight, Portland's guns roaring, Biloxi’s joining her but a moment later as the duo began to wreak havoc upon their foes ranks. 

Tears flowed from Portland’s eyes to such an extent that it was miraculous that she could see the beasts around her and avoid their strikes, or perhaps it was more apt to say that she could not see them and was relying on her own instincts and scanners as she called on her muscle memory to survive the gauntlet before them.

In contrast to the manic frenzy of Portland and berserker rage of both Tennessee and Deutschland, Biloxi had found herself enveloped in a frigid malice, her rage at the death of her fellow matched enough by her desire to not lose another comrade this day such that she could retain herself  to the point of calling out for Vestal to keep trying to use the key they had been given as they bought her time. 

The repair ship, tears streaming from her eyes as hopelessness and despair fought against her own will to envelop her and drag her down into the depths, yet Vestal was a veteran of enough battles, and had witnessed enough horrors, to battle against it and force herself to try and calm down enough to plan a course of action to save her fellows.  

“Shit,shit,shit,shit,shit!” She cursed under her breath, desperately looking around the room for anything or anyway to get her fellows out of the hell they were lodged in, her eyes at last alighting upon the massive eye that rested upon the other side of the room, the semi-gelatinous mass pulsating to an alien beat as the noxious liquid within it swirled and churned like the sea-

The sea…

THE SEA!

If that eye was facing outwards, and given the alien biology of this beast that was certainly a chance, then it had to be near the sea, or at the very least glancing somewhere across the monsters body, and if they could get through it then they could have a chance at escaping this hell and-

She shook herself of her thoughts, as she called out to her fellows, her own rigging already taking aim at the monstrous ocular organ, the guns already beginning to howl as she called out-

“GO THROUGH THE EYE! IT MIGHT LEAD OUTSIDE!”

It was a desperate venture, foolish in truth, but there might have been some grain of truth to it, for upon her words being bellowed and her shells scorching the gelatinous mass of the eye, the fluid within roiling as veins sizzled and popped, the nerves and tendrils that connected to the eye writhing as an all encompassing groan, as though a mountain were breathing all around them, as the beasts howled in rage as they surged forth with renewed fervor. 

Curses slipped past the lips of each of the Kansen as they fought with equal furor, blades not but a blur and guns bellowing with such speed that the smell of cordite nearly drowned out the stench of burning flesh and fat as the battle raged around them, the heat of their gun barrels such that it was no small miracle that they had not broken already.

Legion upon legion of the beasts surged forth, spilling forth from the veins and tendons and muscles of the beast, each erupting forth in showers of pus and blood and bile as they threw themselves at the girls with seemingly limitless bloodthirst having enveloped them.

Though that boundless well of malice, that inexhaustible fire of hatred for life not of their own masters creation, was met with an equally potent well of rage and contempt, an ocean of contempt had surged forth within the Kansen, mixing with the fledgling embers of hope and madness that had blossomed within them, culminating in a surge of strength that aided them in their mad battle. 

A snarl slipped past the lips of Littorio as she leapt backwards, her shirt torn open to reveal a weeping gash that adorned her side, meat and muscle held fast by but a few strands of tissue and sinew, the faintest sliver of crimson-white bones visible as she brought her sword down in a two handed slash, slicing her opponent in twain as she fell back, almost staggering and tripping had Atago not seized her shoulder and steadied her. 

The pair had barely had time to regain their footing before, following a thunderous eruption that created the opening in flames, Montepelier was sent flying through the opening, her form twirling about in mid air for a moment before she grained herself and lashed out.

In a blur of motion the Eagle Union fighter had embedded her sword into the ground to arrest her momentum, the half broken blade carving a fissure into the flesh that soon filled with rancid blood that was soon mingled with her own as she fought to regain her breath.

“Monty!” Littorio called out to her fellow as she took in the sight of the partially flayed scalp that hung loosely from Montepelier’s head for but a moment before, with a snarl on her lips, the Eagle Union warrior reached up with a hand that sported only 3 remaining fingers and tore it away before she stood.

“Hit ‘em with a couple of Phos rounds before one of them threw me, should soften them up a bit before they-” Her words were cut short by the sight of beasts beginning to surge forth from the opening, some of them horribly burned and disfigured from the flames that were rapidly being smothered by the deluge of bodies surging forth. 

Even as the caustic flames licked their flesh with ravenous tongues of baleful orange and crimson to the point their naked bones gleamed in the horrid light of the eye beyond them, and even as their organs spilled forth from their torn flesh and drug on the ground behind them, still did the mass of claw and fang and hate surge forth. 

And still did the Kansen stand. 

Blade and fist, artillery and bullet, sung in a harmonic symphony of bloodshed as fear faded away, their hearts calming as they scourged the approaching horde as best they could and fought towards what they hoped to be freedom with all that they could. 

Tennessee snarled through her torn lips, blood dripping from the gash that had torn open her right cheek and born her bloodsoaked teeth and mangled gums to the air, as she dug her hand into the flesh of the ground, the force of her momentum and her own strength tearing a great gouge in the floor as the scalding blood ate greedily of her flesh and blood before her momentum has ceased enough to let go of the ground and dodge to the side.

A scything blade of chitin tore through the air where her head would have been had she not dodged to the side, yet her dodge had put her in perfect range for one of the beasts remaining tentacles to collide with her raised arms, the scalpel like blade parting the flesh of her forearm as butter before it stopped but an inch from the tip of her nose.

And yet instead of a howl of pain, there was a smirk filled with wrathful cruelty as Tennessee lifted her head to meet the beasts own gaze, her smile growing at the sight of several wildly flailing stumps where other tendrils had been torn free, of the hilt of the sword rammed into its abdomen, and of the beasts missing right arm, the creature’s remaining eyes narrowing into a glare as-

“Got you.”

Tennessee gripped the tendril that had pierced her arm with both of her hands and spun about on her heel, leveraging her full strength to tear the appendage from the beast, a fountain of searing blood splashing across her already mangled back, though the fountain of agony that erupted was somewhat mitigated by the howl of hate filled pain her foe let slip before it tried to charge her.

Acting quickly, the battleship ducked into a role, once more dodging a furious swing that would have parted her from the realm of the living as she rose to her feet and swung the tendril a blow that struck what amounted to the creature’s chin, dazing it enough for her to rip the blade free from her arm and surge forward.

Recovering quickly the creature dodged the oncoming strike, lashing out with a haymaker that sent the Kansen sprawling across the ground once more, the battleship snarling as she once more attempted to right herself and take aim at her foe, cursing as once again the beast closed the distance before she could take a shot at it with her remaining rigging, her left guns having been lost at the same time the creature had lost it’s arm early on in their clash. 

Since that moment, the beast had done everything it could to keep as close to her as possible, preventing her from utilizing her guns again without risking injuring or killing herself, something which had led to their current deadlock.

The Eagle Union Battleship had barely had a moment to catch her breath before the beast was upon her, maw poised to tear her head free from her shoulders dodged by but the faintest of hair’s breadth as she took advantage of her foe’s momentum to ram her fist into the pommel or Rodney’s sword, pushing the blade further threw the creature and prompting it to once more howl in rage and agony even as it began to seemingly grow limp, the tip of the blade gleaming in the light from where it jutted through the creature’s back.

Yet, barely had the Eagle Union fighter had a chance to catch her breath before she felt searing agony engulf her shoulder, her mind temporarily whiting out from the agony as she felt jagged fangs tear into the meat of her shoulder, her bones cracking and snapping under the weight of the beasts sudden assault as blood ran down her front in rivers.

A snarl slipping past her lips, Tennessee lashed out once more, seizing ahold of the sword that she had left buried in the beast intestines by it’s pommel as she tore it free from its place, watching as sickening blood poured forth from the wound along with a heap on organs that writhed and swayed like serpents in the breeze that pooled at the their feet in searing mass, the nameless organs lashing out and scorching her legs with their searing blood as they tried to entangle her. 

Even with its organs resting on the ground, and even with it’s life seeming fit to fade away, the beast yet raged, biting down hard enough that, save for the molten agony of muscle and tendon being rent asunder, all feeling was lost in the Kansen’s right arm, her fingers losing their grip on the blade and nearly causing it to fall to the ground as the beast relinquished its grip on her shoulder as it reared back it’s head to aim for her throat, yet before it could make the kill her left hand seized the blade and-

With as much strength as she could muster Tennessee drove the blade through the beast’s open maw, a growl of pain slipping from her lips as fangs tore into her wrist, hateful eyes glaring into her own as the wicked light within them faded away into the void that had long awaited the beast. 

Limp, it’s life force at last spent, the creature slumped down to rest atop it’s now still entrails as the Kansen’s hand limply slid free from it’s maw, mangled flesh flapping loosely as a standard in the wind, exposing muscle and sinew that was too mangled to and torn to hold the blade any longer.

Her vision swimming, the chaotic melody of battle mingling with the pounding of her blood and adrenaline and the scorching agony as her Wisdom Cube cried out in anguish, the battleship forced herself to remain standing, to grit her teeth and train her remaining rigging on the beasts that had begun to overwhelm her fellows. 

A groan slipping free from her lips, Tennessee took aim and-

*BOOM*

Incendiary shells slammed into the flank of the writhing mass that had enveloped Portland, the cruiser, her eyes overflowing with tears that mingled freely with the blood from ehr many wounds, turned to gaze at her fellow as she saw the Battleship offer her a slight smile before her vision of her was obscured by a surging mass that began to envelop her. 

The battleship aiming her rigging at the mass of the creatures aiming to envelop her, uncaring of how close they had become to her as she loaded a salvo of HE shells into her guns and fired, the blast knocking her off of her feet and sending her sprawling across the ground, her front now smoldering as her once tan flesh was charred black and crimson from the heat of the explosion.

Portland had barely had time to call out her fellows name before she saw the battleship take aim once more, even as her body seemed fit to crumble into motes of white and blue energy, and fire off a second salvo, HE and Incendiary rounds alike racing through the air like vengeful stars as they slammed into the center mass of the ocular organ that loomed above them, scorching the gelatinous mass enough so that-

“Oh shit.” Portland whimpered as she saw the writhing mass of worm like entities within the eye begin to push through the scorched organ, leaks of glowing ocular fluid erupting from the eye like water through a thimble, the number of them increasing as yet another salvo slammed into the organ, the thin membrane seeming near to bursting, though by some means unknown it tyet held fast.

Gritting her teeth at the sickening scene before her, Portland steeled herself as she dodged yet another swipe of vicious claws, and a snapping maw of jagged fangs that passed by her neck by but a hair’s breadth, the beast finding itself receiving a kick that launched it into the mass of it’s fellows, the mass attempting to right themselves as a salvo of flechette round tore into them, mangling them into a mass of writhing pulp that soon went still. 

Portland barely having time to see Biloxi take aim once more at the mass around her and let loose another salvo before she was forced to grit her teeth and hurl herself forward into the mass of foes once more, tears blurring her eyes as she felt the presence of Tennessee fade from the chamber, a hiccuping sob slipping from her lips even as she slammed two creatures heads together with such force that scorching blood and pulsating brain matter splashed across her skin.

As the grief and madness afflicted cruiser continue her mad battle, her fellows fought equally as desperately, Biloxi unleashing as many shotgun like blasts as she could from her rigging as she threw herself forward into the beasts, working to defend the battered form of Vestal, who trailed behind her, slowed by her own wounds.  

Her teeth grit hard enough that they had begun to crack under the strain as the cruiser dodged and weaved around what opponents she could, leveraging the uneven terrain to seemingly dance amidst their writhing masses as she mowed them down with her rounds, pausing for but a moment as she saw another salvo lift from the throng of violence ahead of her and slam into the mass of the eye, missing Tennessee’s previously hit area by but a few meters.

Tracing the trajectory of the rounds, Biloxi found her eyes alighting on the scene of Deutschland, far enough ahead of her that she could barely make out her battered form, what of her hair that had not been torn off in chunks to reveal weeping scalp, was drenched in a mixture of phosphorescent blood and her own crimson life fluid.

The flashes of light from where her her lone clawed hand outstretched as she throttled one of the beasts before she brought her boot down onto it’s temple, caving in the beasts skull and then using its body as a launchpad to leap over yet another of it’s fellows attempts to disembowel her, rigging roaring as twin metallic heads unleashed duel salvos of phosphorus laced explosive rounds into the masses, the screeches of agony and howls of rage doing nothing to drown out the seemingly world shaking explosions of the salvos.

The Eagle Union Cruiser took advantage of the blastwave having disorientated many of the beasts to pull back and lift Vestal into her arms, sparing but a moment to look behind her to see Littorio skewer one of the creatures on her sword and then fling the beast into another of its kin, the dead beasts corpse doing nothing to shield the other beast  as Atago rammed her own sword through the creatures skull and into the beast below it, her back being covers as Montepelier fired off a salvo of Flechette rounds from her guns, quickly switching to HE shells and launching them into the recoiling mass, the stench of searing flesh assailing their noses as they pushed towards Biloxi.

The groups soon managed to link together into a unified force once more, with Littorio, Atago, Montpellier, and Portland, who had come as soon as she had seen the opening made by Biloxi, forming a protective ring around the cruiser and the battered healer. 

Their situation was grim, near hopeless, yet still they refused to yield to the ever mounting despair, so long as they continued to fight together they could survive, and in speaking of fighting together. 

“DEUTSCH! SLOW DOWN! WE NEED TO STICK TOGETHER!” Littorio yelled out as she spun about on her heel, blade a flash of blood and fat caked silver as it hewed flesh and bone alike, claiming the heads of many a beast in its baleful arc, a kick sending yet another one flying into its fellows, the mass parting enough so that the salvo of Incendiary rounds and Flechette rounds could widen the divide and provide a brief second of merciful reprieve from that flank. 

Though they did little to alleviate the assault that came forth from all other flanks, only the howling of rigging pushed to near its limits, and the thundering of shells managed to provide such mercy, and even it seemed to do increasingly little as the bodies of the beasts piled so high that their kindred could yet use them as walls and hills from whence to cower in cover or further assail them.

For each that fell, there came forth another, bursting forth from mangled capillaries above them, at least those not already ruptured such that they hung limps as vines, leaking endless streams of baleful blood into ever growing lakes that cast their horrid glow upon the every growing mountains of mulched corpses and gaping wounds carved into the chamber of flesh. 

Yet shadows still did it cast, and in those shadows one beast, more clever and cruel then it’s kin, lifted up the bulging mass of spined flesh that was its stubby arm, pus and bile dripping ceaselessly from sores at the base of the curved spines that tore through it’s flesh and into the pool of it’s spawn brothers blood. 

Swiftly the creature cast it’s gaze to another alcove, spotting the bloated form of a more indolent kindred of its, the wretched beast drug it’s limp leg along the ground as streams of blood leaked from the mangled mass of pulp that rested where its groin was, it’s bloated form riddled with other such weeping gashes that spurt forth yet more blood as it lifted it’s bloated limbs to prepare.

For in the stead of hands or claws, each limb was riddled with spines and sores as the smaller creatures own, the cruel spines that adorned the club like top of each limb gleamed with baleful internal light, a promise of wrath to come. 

Good, oafish the beast may be, but at least its fury over the loss of its appendage, and likely the death of its kindred, had given it the clarity of purpose to follow along with the plan of its smaller fellow.  

Mandibles parted in a vengeful sneer, the beasts lone eye narrowed as it took aim and, with a sickening squelch of an eruption of pus and bile and horrid gasses, the wicked blade that had rested atop it’s limb was launched forth, a louder pop heralding the launch of the brute near it, and several other pops heralding that the others had followed the small creatures plan.

Even as it saw the green green haired sow see the spines racing towards her fellow, and even as she cried out to alert her as her fake limbs bellowed fire and death upon it, the creature was smiling, for even if it died, it would not go alone.

*Line Break* 

Her head was throbbing, perhaps from the torn patches of hair and scalp that revealed glistening flesh and muscle, or perhaps from the thundering pulse of adrenaline and blood surging through her veins, though it could also have been from the weeping gash across her forehead, a gift courtesy of the beast currently gored atop her claws.

A groan slipped past her lips as she felt another blade slash across her back, lips parting in a snarl of contempt as she pirouetted about on her heel to fling the dead beast at it’s fellow, her rigging taking aim to-

“DEUTSCH! GET DOWN!”

Light blue eyes blinked in slight confusion as the Ironblood cruiser lifted up her head to look in the direction of-

Something slammed into her rigging, a grotesque perversion of a stinger, a bulbous gland of balefully glowing fluid resting on the end that had begun to pulsate and-

“Fuck.”

BOOM

Her vision turned to white as molten agony assailed her senses in a way that words could not accurately describe, the pain of the extra limb that was her rigging, her constant and steadfast companion, being reduced to not but mangled scrap metal and sparking components nearly drove the cruiser to her knees as vomit tore from her lips and stained the front of her clothes, what of them remained, and the ground beneath her feet as she fought to stand. 

The agonized howl that tore from the lips of her remaining rigging turret at the death of its fellow, the sheer depth of madness and agony etched into that mechanical howl, and the way it resonated with the Wisdom Cube within her, was what proved to be the final straw for her.

Again and again she had endured the pain of loss, even death’s frigid grasp was no foreigner to her, and yet there was something about the shrieking of her rigging, the soul deep agony that emanated from her Wisdom Cube, and the sight of her battered and blood stained fellows being forced back as they fought a seemingly futile effort that tore apart the threads that held fast her sanity.

Distantly a part of her tried to justify what she was about to do, how in the end she could just be called back, she would break Spee’s heart by doing so, but at this point there was no other option left to any of them aside from letting themselves die.

At least this way, some of them would live.

With a shriek of madness and rage mixed with sorrow and anguish, the cruiser brought her arm to her head and dug the metal talons of her gauntlet into her scalp, the scything blades raking into the flesh of her scalp and carving lacerations that wept rivers sanguine that mingled with the filth that covered her skin, turning it into an abhorrent glue like mixture.

Though it did nothing to stop what was to come, only delay it. 

With a howl that made even the beasts pause for but a moment, Deutschland shot forward again, ignoring the cries of her fellows as she did so.

Madness burning as the flames of hell within her, fury and despair alike urging forward into the mass of her enemies with the remaining piece of her rigging bellowing forth an unending deluge of lead and steel, matched but by the way her claw lashed out and tore misshapen heads from necks, or grappled foes and slammed them into the ground or flung them aside. 

Swiftly did the beasts shake off their surprise at the sudden onslaught, soon resuming their merciless assault as Deutschland lashed and fired at them, her eyes wide with her pupils shrunk to but a pinprick of darkness amidst a backdrop of insanity as she howled in mad fury.

Claws tore into her sides, quills and pines pierced flesh and muscle and bone alike, tendrils adorned with acidic venom and bone whips and barbs lashed her such that strips of flesh began to dangle from her mangled back and flail about behind her like streamers made of meat and sinew.

To her fellows, who yet desperately attempted to catch up to her, she appeared as a devil wrenched from hell's deepest bowels, her demented shrieks and howls growing in fervor and fury every moment as she danced a berserkers waltz amidst their foes ranks, the bellowing of her rigging and the tearing of meat being matched but by the sounds of blades and talons and fangs and tendrils piercing and maiming and mangling her own flesh as she fought on.

The voices of her comrades, calling out for her to fall back and return to them as they fell under fire from beasts hidden in the shadows, were drowned out, not by the sounds of battle that surrounded her, but rather by the deafening roar and yet also tranquil voice of her own thoughts. 

‘I’ve always wanted to fit in, always wanted to be accepted and treated as part of the team, and look where that got us…huh…I’m sorry Spee…I’ll have to break your heart again…please…don’t hate me too much when I come back…okay?’

Above the din of combat, and the hellstorm of her own thoughts, Deutschland raised her voice as much as she could and bellowed out to her fellows, tears beginning to stream from her eyes as pain, both from internal anguish and from external wounds, being not the cause, no it was but the agony of her heart that made her weep even as bloodlust fought to envelop her. 

“ALL OF YOU GET TO COVER! I”LL MAKE US A WAY OUT!”

‘It’s the least I can do…I was one of the ones that got us into this mess after all…’

Distantly she heard one of her fellows, who she could not say due to her swimming head, cry out to her-

“DEUTSCHLAND YOU FUCKING IDIOT! GET BACK HERE!”

Yet already was it too late, for now she stood before the base of the eye, the acrid stench of scorched ocular gelatin, and of the horrid blood, was nearly enough to make her vomit, and if it was not then the sight of the writhing parasites dancing within the organ would certainly have made her wretch were she within her right mind. 

But, fortunately for her stomach contents, or rather what remained of them, she was not. 

Pupils shrunken into pinpricks the cruiser reared back her arm, the claws atop her hand gleaming in the baleful light as she rammed it directly into the gelatinous mass before her, a wordless howl of agony slipping past her lips as searing blood scorched her flesh such that blisters began to form across the rapidly reddining flesh, the burning pain soon joined by the agony of the worm like parasites, now revealed to be vaguely centipede shaped, attempting to pierce her flesh as she tore chunks from the orb before her. 

The baleful liquid within the eye joined with the blood, parasites tearing and gnawing at her flesh as she near mindlessly tore into the mass before her, until she was certain that the wound was deep enough for her to-

The eyes of her fellows widened, cries of alarm slipping from their lips as they began to try and fight their way out of the range of what was to come as Deutschland’s rigging took aim and, with a defiant roar, the guns unleashed their salvo directly into the eye, the mixture of phosphorus rounds and HE shells impacting the gelatinous mass and the fluid therein. 

For a moment there was silence and stillness throughout the chamber, not even the roaring and howling of the beasts and the sloshing of the ever rising pools of baleful blood were audible as those present watched the shells lodge into the eye and-

There was no quite word to describe the sound that filled the chamber when the shells detonated within the gelatinous mass of the eye, perhaps it could be likened best to the rupturing of an overfilled bladder, or perhaps the bursting of a cyst laden with pustules of rot and disease, yet even those seemed to fail to truly describe the abhorrent sound. 

Yet more nauseating than the sound of the eye rupturing, seeming to deflate like a balloon torn open, was the mass of fluid that erupted from it, the horrid liquid bathing all that it touched in searing and scorching blood laden with worm and centipede like parasites that began to feast upon their flesh as they tried to burrow within them as the sickening flood enveloped them, the deluge leaving behind but a thin film to gaze lifelessly at the world beyond the beast.

Distantly, those present noted how the entire chamber seemed to shake, a screech of hate and rage so loud that it forced the Kansen to their knees in agony as they clutched at their ears, the pain only magnifying when they hear the howling and shrieking of the beasts as they changed gears from fleeing the flood, to beginning to assail them, driven into a frenzy by the howl of their master. 

Soon the fluid was at their ankles, and then it was rising higher still, blisters and lesions forming on their flesh as the searing blood and ocular fluid assailed them, the pain soon joined by the stinging and tearing of the parasites that they had to crush under their heels and in their grips as they tried to burrow into their body, all while fencing off the renewed assault. 

Thus it was that their senses were enraptured in the chaotic melody of battle so wholly that they took no time to devote their attention to the moon light that shined through the mangled mass of pulp that was once the beasts eye, the silver light reflecting on the fetid pools that had begun to form, and likewise bathing the blister and burn adorned form of Deutschland. 

The battered IronBlood cruiser fought for each breath that slipped past her mangled lips, her vision swimming into and out of focus as numbness began to envelop her body, the pained whimpering of her rigging as it tried to drag her towards the opening serving but to cause her head to ache and throb more than it already was, yet she could not give voice to such words, her tongue too scorched by caustic fluid to allow for more than a groan to slip free from her mouth.

Distantly, she felt the pain of the centipede like parasites tearing into her flesh, a thousand-thousand needle like legs tearing through muscle and sinew and draping themselves over bones in a perversion of a lover’s embrace as lamprey like lips latched onto organs as they began to feed upon her, another groan slipping from the cruiser’s lips as she felt one of the parasites begin to force digs its claws into her intestines. 

The pain would have made tears flow like rivers had she been capable of weeping, yet now it was that her scorched tear ducts could do not but let trails of blood begin to flow down her eyes as foam began to rise to her lips, her rigging giving voice to yet another pained whimper as it tried to tear free what yet remained of the gelatinous mass of the eye so that the air of the sea could begin to waft into the chamber, bringing with it a much needed comfort. 

‘Spee…when I…come back…can…we…’ The cruiser’s thoughts began to fade into darkness as exhaustion began to claim her, the weariness long held at bay by adrenaline and pain began to at last claim the ground long denied to it as she neared ever closer to that ever so alluring precipice of merciful oblivion.

Yet relief there came not, for a jolt of agony hot as needles of flames driven into her cerebellum assailed her as she heard an agonized shriek tear from both her own lips and that of the rigging that yet remained with her, eyes wide as heavenly bodies she cast her gaze to where her rigging lay, its shriek tapering off into whimpers of anguish as needles and barbs of bone the size of spears and swords pierced it, a beast maneuvering over a mangled optic nerve with its mandibles spread in a luciferian grin of delight. 

Barely had Deutschland began to try and take aim with her rigging than the beast had lunged forth and buried a crude spear of bone into the eye of her rigging, sharply twisting it as it reared back and, with all of the might its thin form possessed, tore a chunk of metal from her rigging, such was the pain to both of them that not even an audible shriek could leave the metallic creature or the Kansen’s lips, nothing but a silent howl of anguish slipping past them as the beast was joined by its kin.

Snarls of delight and hellish glee slipped from inhuman maws as the beasts began to descend, raking claw and fang upon the metal of her rigging, tearing turrets from their rightful places with slavering delight, as yet others of their kind tore at Deutschland’s own flesh, flaying open the skin above her ribs with maws stained sanguine as they bit and tore at her.

Her lips had just begun to open in a wordless howl of agony before her tongue was fast seized by the thin creature, whose claws burrowed in deep to the tender meat as it began to pull and tear the organ from the cruiser’s mouth, her gargled shriek seeming but to excite the horde that soon began to tear at her with greater fervor and delight, especially when, with a howl of delight, the beast at last wrenched free her tongue and began to chew upon it, delighting in the vulgarity of its act. 

Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as one of the beasts snapped its maw shut upon her hand, delighting in the savory meat of her fingers and the delightful crunch of her bones as it feasted, while yet another mimicked the action of the beast that had slain Gneisenau, biting down onto her tender breasts before tearing free nipple and areola along with a chunk of meat in a save bite, leaving behind a crater that field quickly with blood that was soon lapped up by another. 

The vulgarity of her torment growing yet still as one of the beasts took hold of one of her riggins separated turrets, a gleam of cruel delight within its soulless eyes as it lined the turret up with one of her eyes, a snarl of delight tearing from its lips as it began to force the metal against the crunching of bone as her orbital plate began to snap, the agony of her eye beginning to pop free from its socket as her legs were bent and broken such that bone jutted forth for smaller creatures to suckle the marrow from like a mother’s milk, began to push her deeper into oblivion. 

Yet she did not yet allow herself to fall into its embrace, for there was yet one turret upon her rigging hat was active, though jammed into the flesh beneath her, and so it was that as her eye popped free from its socket and was soon mashed into a horrid slurry of optic fluid and nerves and blood, and as one the beasts began to force another turret into her navel as one of its kin began to tear a strip of flesh from her pelvis to her vagina off with its teeth.

She fired her rigging. 

As the HE shells detonated and enveloped her and the beasts in a cloud of fire and ash, her last thoughts were of the sister she would have to break the heart of once more, and her action as she was flung into the air being to unleash one last salvo from her sole remaining turret, her final sight being that of a starburst shell lodging itself in the eye.

As her vision flickered into darkness, she saw something streak across the dark chamber, a mixture of starburst shells and HE rounds, that tore through the mass of the eye, a smile crossing her face as she saw one of her fellows adjust their rigging back into the mass of the encroaching beasts, resuming their desperate defense.

As she watched the small star blaze above the sea, a sense of hope filled her numb body, hope that her friends may yet escape this beast and the horrors that lurk within it, hope that not all of them would die for her errors, and with that hope offering her some comfort, she at last cast down her arms in surrender before the advancing forces of oblivion and allowed sweet nothingness to envelop her.

‘Sorry…Spee…love…you…’

Line Break

The explosion caused Atago to stagger slightly, allowing for a blade of bone to carve a weeping gash across her back, a snarl adorning her lips as she severed the beasts arm from its body in the same breath that she liberated its head from its shoulders, all while she blinked back tears at the knowledge that yet another of her fellows was slain. 

The urge to let loose a howl of grief and rage and anguish was quickly banished as she fought to right her footing, her guns bellowing forth an unending salvo of shells as she fought to keep back the beasts as all those gathered within their tight circle prayed that someone would see the star burst and come to aid them, though little hope they truly held for such a thing to occur. 

Faintly, the Sakuran Swordswoman heard Vestal crying, tears trailing down her eyes even as she adjusted her rigging from their previous positions, taking aim away from the eye and towards the mass of claws and fangs that now began to surge forth in full once more, the Repair Ship already cursing herself under her breath for trying something so foolish and diverting her gaze from the mass advancing towards them. 

Perhaps they could sense the close of the window to slay and feed, or perhaps it was the blood rage brought about by the boundless masses of mashed flesh and muscle and shattered bone and ron organ that rested amidst the writhing lakes of parasite laden blood that drove them forth to battle once more, uncaring of the shells and blades that yet joined their forms with that of their fallen kin by the dozens.

Yet not all of the beasts surged towards them, for even now they could see the flyers billowing out of the mangled mass of tissue that was once the eye, dozens of their fellows tearing their way through the film like remnants of the organ as they heralded an unspoken command to pour forth into the baleful light of the world beyond and-

It came just as Littorio, battered and flayed, had found herself forced onto her back foot, her face contorted in a vengeful sneer as she parried an overhead blow that would have hewn her open had she not countered it,  though it left her open for a clawed foot to slam into her abdomen and send her staggering backwards, kept from falling but by Portland’s own back meeting hers as she grappled with her own foe. 

It came just as Montepelier, a curse on her lips surged forth and buried her blade into the chest of another foe, whirling about on her heel to swiftly use the beasts body as a living barrier against another of the creatures more corpulent kin, an ax blade of bone hewing through the smaller creatures kin, leaving itself open to the flechette rounds that burst open its stomach like a popped balloon. 

It came just as Biloxi, one arm broken, and her right leg shattered such that bone tore through flesh and exposed tendons and ropes of muscle, let out a hellish salvo of artillery that thundered into the core of the beasts that had begun to assail on of the flanks of the hill fo bodies that they had elected to make their stand upon, a curse slipping from her lips as she used her good arm to try and hold herself aloft when Vestal offered her shoulders to aid in steadying her. 

Indeed, just as the beasts, their forms riddled with blisters and burns from the caustic blood and fluid and explosions, and yet further mangled by the parasites that tore into and burrowed through their flesh, their segmented bodies yet swaying the air as they tried to force themselves fully into the beasts mangled forms, began to surge forth there came-

*BOOM*

An almighty explosion echoed through the chamber with the force of a hurricane wind, though one that carried not the refreshing coolness of rain or the scent of the sea, but rather the hate fueled flames of hell itself, matched but by the acrid smell of scorched flesh and fat mixed with sulfur, brimstone, and blood. 

To the Kansen it was perhaps one of the most beautiful scenes they had ever witnessed, as they saw a massive kitsune formed of blazing crimson fire looming beyond the mangled eye, claws dug deep into the beasts flesh as it anchored itself such that even Typhon’s thrashing could do not to dislodge it, something made even more difficult as the beast of flame and ash opened its maw and tore a great chunk of flesh from Typhon such that a-

“HURRY UP AND GET OVER HERE YOU FUCKING IDIOTS!” Came a voice of napalm and ash and crackling garlands of flame from the massive kitsune, her claws widening the wounds further so that aid could come forth from the set of lunatics that had decided to assist her, her gaze absently flickering to where the twin Gray Ghosts were held aloft by Antiochus aircraft directed by the Arbiter known as the Devil. 

As the trio looked over the scene of their battered fellows and the legions of beasts approaching them, they sent forth a silent command to their riggings, even as they called forth their own weapons. 

And so it was that just as a deluge of golden arrows and a salvo of baleful crimson energy scorched and seared the chamber and beasts alike, there came forth a hellstorm of gunfire that filled the cavernous chamber as several aircraft, shrunken such that they could fit within the chamber, tore into legions of beasts, the mixture of Kansen, Meta, and Antiochus fighters and bombers harrowing the advancing mass such that a path was laid open to where Akagi was holding open the gasping wounds.

Even before the smoke had cleared, and even as the projectiles were raining down upon them, the Kansen were mobile, their feet moving as swiftly as they could carry them as yet more and more beasts began to pour forth, the walls of the chamber bulging and blistering as Hydra’s tore free from the walls, the lashing tendrils carving open weeping wounds such that their fellows could sally forth in full to repel the invaders of their holy land. 

From nameless masses of bone and sinew and bladed tendrils, to snarling and cursing Sphinxes, to wrath filled Namean packs ridden by their smaller kindred as though they were war horses, to other beasts whose form eluded all description but of that of nightmares made materium, all came forth to battle, a tide sanguine and malefic to match the flames of war and hate that were brought down upon them. 

Barely had one of the Namean’s managed to slip free of the hellstorm and leap towards the fleeing kansen, teeth bared and gleaming with ichorus saliva and claws naked and gleaming in the light, than there came a flicker of gray as something slammed into the beast.

A mass of gray flinging it backwards for but a second before a hand, naked of the great gauntlet that normally covered it, seized it fast by the ankle, grip such that bone became powder and muscle not but mangled strands of meat, and proceeded to slam the beast onto the ground with such force that viscera erupted from it and painted the ground for but a second before it was flung into it’s advancing fellows. 

And barely had those present a chance to blink before they saw the encroaching mass of beasts stagger, their rampant charge breaking off and slowing as the very air grew in weight and density, bearing down upon them and forcing their movements to still such that they appeared less the rapidly advancing tide and more a slowly looming wave. 

A wave that now faced a mountain upon which to break. 

For the creatures could barely have had a chance to blink before there came a blur of motion, a titan of gray skin slamming forth into them, hands tearing limbs and heads from bodies, and that was when the monster amidst monsters was not pulling them in twain, bathing itself in their viscera as it issued forth a roar of such might and wroth that all those near it were flung back, giving them but a second of grace before once more the mountain surged forth. 

A Namean found its head ground into not but pulp, it’s body lifted by the tail and used as a flail to bludgeon it’s kindred with in a great arc, the force of the swing such that only a single arc it could make before it’s tail was torn from its body, the mangled appendage seeing use as a whip for but a moment before it was discarded as a pair of hands blurred, smashing the heads of multiple beasts together into a mass of mangled meat and bone.

A salvo of bladed tendrils lashed forth, issued by the Hydra’s that had begun to envelop the room, only for the mountain to but snarl at their efforts, blades doing not to halt its momentum even as they tore into its skin, indeed the raging mountain but seized the tentacles in hand and pulled, tearing several hydras from the walls and loosening others as it began to pull and crush and tear the beasts that had dared to strike at it to pieces with not but naked hand and might. 

Though the mountain found its rampage arrested when there came forth a familiar voice from the opening.

“Strength.” 

The berserker turned to cast its gaze upon the white dressed form of its superior, her attire immaculate even now as she floated near the rim of the bloodied wound, her blue eyes raking across the room, a gleam of frigid malice of such intensity that it made even the berserker quake within her boots for the brief second it passed over her, until it alighted on a corner near the eye, a rip in reality forming as a mechanical tendril emerged to pull forth the mangled and battered form of Deutschland. 

“All survivors are accounted for. Withdraw.” 

The words brokered no disagreement or argument, not that such would have been needed as the sight of her battered and wounded sister was enough to spur her to move back towards the opening, the sting of several spears of bone piercing her back doing nothing to make her stall in her withdraw, though a reply did come to the attack as a beam of searing azur energy emerged from the area nearest to Observer Zero, the tip of a metallic tendril poking through a ‘Tear’ for but a second before it vanished.

Part of her was tempted to continue the attack, to wait for her fellow to join the Kansen that had huddled around their battered fellow, lifting her into their arms as they were ushered into a ‘Gate’, but another part of her knew that it would be futile, that typhon would regenerate at speed to match the wounds scored upon it, and would adapt itself to make such an attack on that same area a non viable option, but…she was feeling a little spiteful at the moment. 

A slight smile curled the edges of her lips as she raised her hand and snapped her fingers, the air around her screeching in agony as it was torn asunder to reveal a wall of ‘Tears’ each one erupting a mass of metallic tentacles, each made of gleaming silver and sapphire metal that seemed to write and pulsate as thought it itself were a living being and not a construct of cruel brilliance. 

A hum there was, at first inaudible over the waves and the sounds of ‘Gates’ forming as her peers and comrades fled from the battlefield, waves of fresh soldiers sallying forth from the depths of the Citadel to do battle with the legion that had begun to pour forth from their foe, yet soon it was that the hum grew to a deafening and thundering pulsating sound that made all pause for but the briefest of seconds before.

A beast looked up, a mass of tumor ridden flesh adorned with eyes that writhed beneath the surface of its near transparent skin like maggots in an infected wound, the ever shifting ocular organs all pausing for but a moment to lock with her own as pale lips parted in a cruel smile as the air was split by beams of silver and sapphire light. 

A thousand suns were born in an instant, and then they died within that instant.

The radiance of the beams was blinding to such a degree that even with their eyes closed, those present could see sun spots forming across their vision even as their teeth rattled in their skull from the force of which the beams were released, and yet it paled to the howling scream of anguish and malefic rage that escaped the thousand-thousand maws of their foe and its subservient spawn.  

As she began to step back through a ‘Gate’, Observer Zero allowed herself  a moment to bask in that scream of anguish and fury, and to give one last smile at the mangled mass of sinew and pulp that were as the walls and floors of a rapidly regenerating and evolving canyon, a promise of vengeance etched into within sapphire eyes for but a moment before she faded away, entrusting the battlefield to her fellows once more. 

The gathered mass produced Sirens and the Kansen and Metas that had come to relieve their battered fellows were quick to surge forward, capitalizing on the moment of delirium that seemed to have enveloped Typhon’s spawn as their master regenerated and adapted, plates of bone and chitin forming over where it had been injured even as more tumorous growths covered the area to act as additional padding. 

Silently, those present hoped that some good would come of the research Antiochus was conducting, though those thoughts were soon banished as fliers tore free from cysts and pustulent sores, matched by worm and serpentine swimmers that tore free from fat and tissue both visible and yet hidden below the waves. 

As had been the routine for many a long day before and as would be the case for many a long day to come, the trio of forces met the charge headlong, doing all they could to slow the beast and its progeny on their mission of annihilation until they would receive reprieve when yet another Mirror Sea was deployed to ensnare the beast and delay it once more.

Yet again those forces prayed, this time that the pocket reality would hold for longer than the previous ones had, and that the delay it brought Typhon’s march would at least afford them some time to be with kith and kin, or perhaps make the creature feel even a fraction of the anger and irritation that they did at having to fight a seemingly unending battle. 

Line Break

It was dark and quiet when she awoke. 

There were no stampedes of beasts, no roars and shrieks, nor howls of wrath and anguish, no shouts of dying fellows over the roar of cannon and the whistling of blades, indeed there was only a silent stillness that was soon to be broken but by the faintest of shuffling sounds as an arm shifted the blanket enough to begin to rub at sleep clouded eyes.

Confusion swept through her yet half-slumbering mind as she tried to force herself to rise from her position on the bed, her achingly dry throat driving her to try and escape the ever welcoming embrace of the plush mattress and pillows, though she could not manage to make it more than but an inch before she heard the door to her room opening, a familiar voice gasping and the sound of glass shattering as something struck the floor. 

Barely had she time to blink before a body slammed into her, knocking her back onto the bed and into the embrace of the pillows and blankets, a silver haired blob clinging onto her with such ferocity that she was certain her clothes, or rather the gown she was wearing, would tear, though the thought vanished as swiftly as it came to her when she felt a spreading wetness across her chest, a sensation accompanied by the sound she wished she was not as familiar with as she was.

That being the weeping of her little sister as she held fast to her, the sound enough to drive the last vestiges of exhaustion and slumber back into the most cavernous recesses of her mind, as she shakily reached out her arms, how it was she had two once more she shelved for later thought, to envelop her sister, one hand coming to card through silver locks while the other began to rub circles on her back as she began to try and soothe her little Spee. 

Her voice was not but a dry croak, wordless and pitiable, though it still seemed to do the job of making her sister lift her tear filled eyes from her chest to meet her own, thin lips parting in an unsteady smile as Spee leaned forward to rest her forehead against Deutschland’s own, no words benign spoken as she closed her eyes and basked in her sisters presence. 

For a moment Dutschland was keen to revel in the sensation, to turn to her side and tuck her sister in against herself so that they may both rest in each other’s arms, though such a though soon vanished as she saw Spee lean her head back, eyes alight with a fire that made Deutschland quake.

‘This is going to hurt.’ She had time to think to herself before her sister’s eyes widened into a glare, her arm raising back and-

She was right, it did hurt. 

Not as bad as the lingering aches of whatever treatment Antiochus had put her through to be able to rest in her own bed with her sister, something she did not wish to consider given the likelihood of them having to use various…invasive measures to treat her should any of the parasites have managed to burrow into her and claim ground inside of her body, though still the newly acquired handprint on her cheek stung quite a bit. 

While she normally did not mind when Spee left her with such marks, she would rather it not be after she had just awoken, granted she was also well aware of the fact that she had little say in the matter as she saw and heard her sister begin to tear into her, a mixture of german and english curses made into a garbled mass by sobs and cries slipping past her lips as she berated her for her foolishness. 

Though to her slightly ringing ears, and amidst the sobs yet slipping past her sister's lips the words came out as little more than gibberish, there were some that were yet understandable to her as she allowed her sister to vent her fury down onto her, each garbled sentence punctuated by a half-hearted blow to her chest.

“You Verdammt fool!” (4)

“...Cage you in this room till-!”

“"Ich werde dich nicht aus den Augen lassen, bis..." (5)

“Warum Schwester?! Warum hast du mich zurückgelassen?!” (6)

For how long this went on Deutschland could not tell, only that it seemed an eternity of watching her sister weep and cry atop her as she vented her anger and grief upon her, tears streamed down from puffy eyes narrowed into glares and lips wobbled as they held back achingly deep sobs and cries, and yet even with her face a mask of grief and anger, Deutschland could not deny-

Her arms reached out and gently cupped her little sisters cheeks, thumbs softly brushing over them and sweeping aside her tears as she pulled her down and back into her arms, Spee seeming to deflate as the fires of her indignation gave way to tearful relief as she clung onto her sister once more, burying her face into her chest as she sobbed.

“Verlassen Sie mich nicht wieder. Bitte lassen Sie mich nicht wieder zurück, Schwester. Bitte bleib bei mir, für immer und ewig.” (7) Came forth her sister’s muffled voice from her chest, the pocket battleship of the Ironblood raising her head just enough to meet her sisters own damp eyes in a pleasing look as she clung to her.

A low sigh slipping past her lips, Deutschland tried to wet her throat by swallowing, wincing slightly as she did so, all while cursing that the Sirens had no reliable means of filling their dorms with their vaunted preservation agent without it flooding out into the base. 

Her throat still dry and aching, though more capable of speech than before, Deutschland pulled her sister upwards, gently tucking her head under her chin as she began to stroke her hair and back once more. 

“Das werde ich nicht, kleine Schwester. Ich werde es nicht tun. Wir werden zusammenbleiben, bis das hier vorbei ist, okay? Und wenn es vorbei ist, werden wir immer noch zusammen sein, immer und ewig, selbst wenn das Universum verschwunden ist und die Zeit tot ist, werde ich bei dir sein, jetzt und für immer.” (8)

Smiling sadly to herself at the promise she made, one she knew she had no true way of upholding, she gently lifted her sister’s head up to press their foreheads together once more, the tips of their noses meeting as they shared each other's breaths while staring into one another’s eyes. 

“So no more tears Spee, okay? I don’t like it when you cry.” Deutschland spoke up, a low chuckle leaving her lips as her sister’s eyes narrowed into yet another glare for several moments before she seemed to compose herself enough to close her eyes and relax against her sister.

“Then stop doing such stupid things you damn Schneidebrett, and I won’t have a reason to cry.” The Pocket battleship spoke up with a chuckle slipping free at the end of her sentence as she watched Deutschland twitch at the ever so loathed nickname. (9)

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that sister.” Deutschland choked out with her eyes narrowed, the action causing her little sister to giggle atop her as she began to relax, her lips curling into an ever so soft smile as she nuzzled against Deutschland’s neck.

“Get used…to it…going to…call you that…till…I’m…” Her words trailed off as emotional exhaustion overwhelmed the smaller Kansen, luring her into rest atop her sister, her head swaying to rest beside her sister’s own, gently tucked into her neck, as she held fast to her, grip not relaxing even as she fell into the realm of dreams. 

“Heh, I feel like I am getting off lightly here.” Deutschland said to herself, sighing as she began to nuzzle into her sisters neck and close her eyes to-

“I am in agreement with you there.” Came the deep voice of Strength, who had by means known but to whatever sadistic gods reveled in giving the Ironblood Warrior heart attacks, managed to slip into the room without her knowledge. 

“Compared to the tongue lashing Atago has been receiving for the last half an hour, or the tongue lashing and spanking Akagi received, I would say that you have gotten off quite lucky. That is to say nothing of Littorio’s fate…Illustrious and Vittorio seized her and we have not been able to locate her since.” The towering Arbiter spoke up, her lips twitching but slightly in a sign of mirth as she moved to sit beside Spee and Deutsch on the bed, a feat made possible only by the numerous modifications it had undergone to withstand her titanic weight. 

“Here,” Strength held out a glass that seemed positively tiny in her hands, even without the monstrous metal gauntlets she tended to wear, as Deutschland reached out her hand to take the glass and take a much blessed drink, she idly noted that her fingernails were painted, not something she tended to do…and the color…

Even as she felt a cold shudder wrack its way through her body, she managed to finish off the offered drink, some form of sweet tasting electrolyte mixture she had many times before, before she directed a wordless query to the Arbiter, a query answered with a sigh and a nod as she sat the glass on the nearby nightstand before moving to embrace both Deutschland and Spee. 

“She was…insistent on it. Claimed that it was only fair that since you gave her an arm, that she repays the favor by giving you an arm. I tried to stop her but…huh…the Lovers managed to persuade Death and Zero to go through with it.” Another sigh left the towering Arbiter’s lips as she pulled the pair closer to her, Deutschland shaking herself from her stupor for a moment before she offered her little sister a sad smile as she reached over to lift up the arm she had given Spee with the arm Spee had gifted her, locking their fingers together.

“I…see…heh…after everything that happened that is pretty minor at this point.” A chuckle slipped past Deutschland’s lips, as she turned her head to rest her cheek against Strength’s rather sizable breasts, a low sigh slipping past her lips as she allowed her eyes to begin to drift shut once more. 

She would ask what had been made of the samples they had acquired, or if they had even reached the Sirens given the interference with their ‘Gates’, and just what fates had befallen the rest of her comrades when she could keep her eyes open.

“Huh.” A single brief chuckle slipped past Strength’s lips as she leaned down to place her lips against Deutschland’s head before she rested her head and closed her eyes, allowing for her body to enter into rest mode, though not before she chimed up once more.

“Oh, and once you wake up, there are a few Kansen who want to speak with you about the antics of your group.” 

A soft smile curled her lips as she heard her sister let out a low-

“Oh, well Fuck me.” 

A final chuckle slipped past Strength’s lips as she pulled her sisters close and allowed for her body and mind to drift into the blissful slumber of Rest Mode, while Deutschland closed her eyes and cursed but once more before deciding to postpone her potential mental breakdown till whenever it was she next awoke as she drifted off to a sleep filled with dreams of a peaceful future,and of a happy ending hard earned, and well deserved.

Line Break (Present Day)

Deutschland felt a yawn slip from her lips as she began to try and rise out of Strength’s arms, the hulking Arbiter having become something of an interim bed when their group had decided to take a break on their exploration, something made even more abundantly clear by the fact that nearly every inch of the Arbiter, bar her head and face, was covered by dozing Kansen, Sirens, and Metas. 

How someone could have muscles that, despite being of synthetic origin like the rest of her body, were as hard as steel, and yet also be such a wonderfully comfortable bed, was something that Deutschland had long since given up the ability to comprehend, such was a query left for the scientists and lunatics of their group. 

And speaking of lunatics…

Deutschland noted the familiar sight of the Arbiter known as The Devil speaking with Compiler, exactly what she was saying she could not make out, though if the mischievous smile was anything to go by, then it was likely that someone was soon to have a not so pleasant day. 

“...take your words into consideration. Farewell.” Her peace seemingly said, the Young Code vanished in a flicker of movement, a ‘Gate’ opening and closing in the time it took for her to blink as the smallest member of Antiochus vanished to parts unknown. 

“And there is my good deed for the week done,” the sound of the Devil chuckling made Deutschland feel a chill race across her skin, more than familiar with the madness that the Arbiter held within her, along with her regular antics. 

“Now then,” the woman turned to look at Deutschland, “I have a Dollhouse to get back to, feel free to drop by when you get the chance.” With her words said, the Arbiter vanished in a flicker of shadow, returning to the most stygian depths of the stronghold whereupon her own domain was concealed. 

Deutschland felt a slight shudder travel throughout her body at the thought of visiting the cruelest of the Arbiter’s personal playground, she had seen enough horror and despair to last her to the end of her days. 

Faintly she heard a low exhale come from behind her, the Ironblood Cruiser turning her head enough to meet Strength’s half-opened eyes, the pair sharing a silent communication before Deutschland gave a silent nod to Strength, the Arbiter closing her eyes for a moment as the world around them seemed to ripple and change, reality yielding to a ‘Gate’ that swiftly grew to envelop all of those present, seamlessly depositing them within the chamber of the mighty Arbiter. 

A tired sigh slipping from her lips, Deutschland managed to finish extricating herself from the embrace of her sisters as she moved to the small and somewhat redundant kitchenette that had been installed in the Arbiter’s quarters, silently offering a prayer for whatever poor bastard or bitch that had caught the attention of the Cruelest of All Arbiters. 

As she began to maneuver around the kitchenette, silently grateful that her and Spee’s incessant nagging had managed to get through to their sister in making her actually indulge in eating for pleasure as she had during her more hedonistic days, if for no other reason than having a means of reliably waking several sleeping Kansen and Meta’s on hand whenever they were brought to this chamber. 

Soon enough, the smell of food began to fill the air, and with it came the expected reaction of her fellows beginning to rise from where they were sleeping, some moving to clean themselves off, others to assist her in cooking, and several others simply taking their time to try and wake themselves from their yet lingering traces of sleep while browsing on their phones or speaking to one another. 

Deutschland felt a small smile cross her face as she saw Strength rise to her full height, stretching such that many of those delicious and powerful muscles were made readily apparent to those curious enough to glance at her, though them eighty Arbiter paid the gazes little attention as she carried a half-asleep Spee to the bathroom, where there was already a clamor forming as several within began to struggle to activate the shower in their half asleep states. 

A hand tapped her on the shoulder, jolting her from her reverie and bidding her to turn her head to the side, her gaze meeting that of Tennessee, the brawler of the Eagle Union offering her a silent smile of her own as she leaned down to give her a brief kiss, before nodding in the direction of the showers. 

“Go on and join up with your sisters, we can take care of things out here.” The battleship said, pausing but to receive a kiss from California as she passed behind her sister, “And make sure those idiots don’t decide to spend the whole damn day in there.” Her peace said, the battleship turned to join her sister, Scharnhorst moving to take over Deutschland’s station and thus allowing her to move to join her sisters in the shower. 

As she entered the bathroom and saw the scene of merry chaos that had begun to form as the Kansen and Meta’s bathed, Strength primarily focusing on taking care of still half-asleep Spee and as such not paying much attention to the commotion forming around her, though she did raise her head when Deutschland, having shed her clothes, moved to sit beside her and help her in taking care of Spee. 

Her hand coming to rest on her sister’s head as she began to massage her scalp, Deutschland felt her smile widen as a warmth came to her heart, her gaze flickering around the room for but a moment as she began to relax. 

With her mind at ease and her heart full of warmth, Deutschland allowed herself to lean in and place her lips to her sister’s own in a brief kiss, turning to rise upon her tiptoes to beckon Strength to lean down so she could do the same to her, her actions prompting Spee to giggle as she leaned against her, and Strength to let out a low huff of amusement before she raised a shampoo clad hand to rest atop her head. 

Smiling softly as she leaned in to her sisters embrace, Deutschland allowed herself to let the memories of the past fade away, the promises of the joys the day had to offer bidding her to relax and to join in on the fun that had begun to break loose in the bathroom, her laughter soon joining with that of her fellows as a merry chaos descended upon them. 

When at last, after many antics and mistakes with the controls of the bath from the Kansen and Metas, they emerged from the bathroom to the sight of their comrades having piled high the tables with breakfast foods for each of the various factions, and when the conversations began to flow and laughter and merriment flowed like the waves of the sea, Deutschland found herself re-affirming to herself that yes, the road may have lead through hell, but on the other side was heaven. 

Fin of Chapter 4 Pt 2

Also, a list of translations for the German, bare in mind I used DeepL for this so it might not be the best quality. 

1. SIE ARROGANTES STÜCK SCHEISSE translates to You arrogant piece of shit.
2. Schlampe translates to Bitch. 
3. “Auf Wiedersehen, Fotze” Is Deutschland saying: “Goodbye, cunt.”
4. Verdammt translates to Damn or damned. 
5. “Ich werde dich nicht aus den Augen lassen, bis…” Is Spee telling Deutschland that she will: “I won't let you out of my sight until…”
6. “Warum Schwester?! Warum hast du mich zurückgelassen?!” Is Spee asking Deutschland: “Why sister?! Why did you leave me behind?!”
7. “Verlassen Sie mich nicht wieder! Bitte lassen Sie mich nicht wieder zurück, Schwester! Bitte bleib bei mir, für immer und ewig.” Is Spee begging Deutschland to: "Don't leave me again! Please don't leave me again, sister! Please stay with me, forever and ever."
8. “Das werde ich nicht, kleine Schwester. Ich werde es nicht tun. Wir werden zusammenbleiben, bis das hier vorbei ist, okay? Und wenn es vorbei ist, werden wir immer noch zusammen sein, immer und ewig, selbst wenn das Universum verschwunden ist und die Zeit tot ist, werde ich bei dir sein, jetzt und für immer.” Is Deutschland comforting Spee by saying: “I won't, little sister. I'm not going to do it. We're going to stay together until this is over, okay? And when it's over, we'll still be together, always and forever, even when the universe is gone and time is dead, I'll be with you, now and forever."
9. Schneidebrett means ‘Chopping Board’ you get 3 guesses as to what she is referring to and the first 2 do not count.