We looked at a photograph, what was once a deserted city was now in ruins even more, buildings completely leveled, ruble itself almost being flattened, much of the water around the area evaporated, large fires consumed the already desolate city, a crater was in the middle of all of the destruction, wide and deep. "Wha-What is this?" Asks Cleveland, barely able to speak. "Obviously this was an attack from the Sirens." Answers Ark Royal. "But why target a deserted island?" Cleveland asks once more. "Perhaps they merely mean to taunt us," Says Queen Elizabeth, "But they underestimate our power." "No, no... you don't understand..." I Say, "this... this is something different." "What are you saying?" Says Ark. "... In my world, one nation has the type and amount of a special weapon to destroy the planet, many times over; A WMD; Weapons of Mass Destruction. What we see here is just like it, I can only assume this is what Orochi is capable of." Helena barged through the doors, "We have more photos!" She presented it to us, it was a Siren fleet, with one particular ship, much larger than all the rest, even having two separate flight decks. "These were taken by recon, moments before the island was vaporized, other accounts say that it originated from the Sakura Empire island coast." Sheffield and Edinburgh were also with us, they confirmed that it was the vessel they saw when they spied at the Sakura Empire's island. "We also got reports that when it departed, the ports of the Sakura Empire sustained heavy damage." "So then it must have come as a shock to the Sakura Empire, perhaps even the Iron Blood." Says Wales. "If that's true, that should prove that the Sirens are the sole threat and end our dealings with Crimson Axis, for now." "Do we know the fleet's current location?" I ask. "Yes." Responds Helena. "Then let's go now!"
"Approaching the enemy fleet! Battle station!" I spoke through the intercom. Before we even made contact, the battle had already kicked off with Red Axis taking the initiative, our presumptions were right, we should be able to face it together. All guns began to fire, streaks of tracers rained upon the Siren fleet. Allied Aircraft then took off in the hundreds, the sky filled with the shrieks of jets and the drones of propellers. In the air with all of the others, the feeling was heavy, my heart pounded, it all came down to this. I communicate with my Attackers. "Red-3, this is Red-1, much closer now, I can hardly see you! Red-2, you must keep up with me! Right Red Section, here we go! stick to me like glue! All bombers, Orochi is our priority target, give it hell!" Before we could approach the Orochi any more, a wave of S-1s scrambled towards us. "Break!" At an instant, some of our aircraft were shot down, puffs of smoke and fire appeared nearly in front of me. I veered off in hope of finding another way but it was immediately blocked off. A S-1 got on my 6, I dived down and it followed, it shot off a missile, I pulled up, trying to lose it in a stall but it persisted. With so much going on around me, it was a little hard to concentrate on my own. With the S-1 now having a clear shot, it lined up for a gun kill, but was shot down before a single bullet could even be fired. It was a Ki-202 who had just aided me, it flies straight past me and off to fight other Sirens, a Me-162 heads straight towards me but did not engage me, instead it shot down another S-1 nearby. We had guessed right, we have a truce in our hands, and were going to need every second of it.
The skies became a little lighter, in the sense that there are less enemy aircraft. We now pushed our way through and penetrated deep into the Siren Fleet, Crimson Axis ships were fighting the Sirens head on. Ahead were humanoid Sirens that were seemingly floating in the air, with the rigging of their own, they turned their barrels towards us and lasers fling past us, a few more of our aircraft were swatted down. Lining up with one, I pulled the trigger for a long barrage of 30mms on the Siren and it seemed to do the trick as it fell. We were now closing on the Orochi. "Bomb whatever looks important!" The ship was so large it was hard to tell what was the best point to attack its on. I angled myself to the superstructure of the vessel, moments later I began to hear the classic whistle of falling bombs. With all sixteen bombs dropped, the Harriers nose pitched up as fast as it could, just barely scratching onto the ship's tower, the Attackers and countless other planes dropped their payload too. Looking back after the smoke has cleared, no effect has been done to it, not a single scratch. Some Junkers Ju-87C Stukas and Aichi B7A Ryusei 'Grace' drop torpedoes to the Orochi, and as it makes contact and explodes, a sort of layer that has a red translucent hexagon pattern that briefly reveals itself after the impact. "Tarudo! All bombers retreat, we can't attack the Orochi directly, fighters, make our skies as clear as possible!" I head back to the carrier to rearm.
I hop out and direct the Manjuus to arm the Harrier for air-to-air. Ark comes rushing over to me, "What the hell is going on?!" "T-theres this, uh, shield protecting the Orochi we can't bypass it!" "Well what do we know?" "It can't last forever... can it?" She shrugs, her eyes wide, all of us have adrenaline through the roof. Not only is this battle still tight with the numerous Sirens, but the outcome of the battle will also have a heavy determination of the future as well. I was about to get back in the jet before Ark grabbed a hold of my hand, I looked back and she now has an eye of worry, "Please be safe..." She pleads. "I'll try." It was all that I could really say.
Back in the air, the four Attackers had also rearmed and headed out for combat. A squadron of S-1s headed straight for us. "Red section, why don't we play chicken?" Throttle at max, we didn't break formation, we both got in gun range and began firing. Just before we collided, it was the S-1s who veered off, giving us the change to get behind them. I square up to one who pitched up, then did an S-split maneuver down, I follow it, pulling a tight turn and once I line it up with the gun sight I fire, down it goes even further. Below me, the Attackers were finishing up the other S-1s, I went in to assist. As a S-1s was trying to fly away from a Attacker, I attacked it from a high angle perpendicularly, with guns blazing the S-1 became fire. Forming back up, we head for the core of the battle. We need the heat of battle, smoke streaks were numerous around the skies, signifying a death, whether it be from one side or the other who knows, too many to keep count of.
I picked something up in the mirror, looking back for a better view, the figure went straight up, one with incredible speed compared to all the other aircraft, it hides itself through the blinding glare of the sun. Suddenly, it shoots out something, one of a turquoise colour. "Red-3, behind you!" But it was far too late, the Attacker, Red-3, went up in flames. "Break, break, break!" I S-Split down and pulled as much of a tight turn I could. Meeting the new foe, it was just barely in view before it passed overhead,(M-1) its airframe was polygonal, under its wings were two things, best described as the Siren's gun pods. I continued the turn to get nose on it, but the M-1 also pulled up, we engaged in a scissors maneuver. Up, down, up, down, doing this for some time, should one relax even a bit it could be the end for them. From all of the chaos just outside our own battle, I let myself slip and the M-1 had nose on me. I Break hard down left, pushing the throttle further and pulling the flight stick harder, as the jet begins to shake, even the Harrier is having difficulty withstanding the intense forces as I am, being absolutely squashed down by the invisible force. Just some hundred feet above the water, I ViFF and forced the M-1 to overshoot, but the M-1 continued its turn. Now the challenge was getting a lock on it. I found myself having shortness of breath, trying to gulp as much air as possible, from my waist down it began to cramp from how much flex, but it must be done to not blackout. Realizing I was out of its turn circle, a ViFF maneuver is placed in action once more. Managing to croak out, "Fox-2!", the missile chases the M-1, the Siren jet sharply turns into a vertical, throwing the missile off. I myself chase the M-1 to the heavens. As we raced to the top, the air got thinner and we both were nearing a stall. I broke out of the chase and hovered, seeing where the M-1 was going, I get distracted by what was behind it, the deep blue sky, absolutely clear of clouds, I thought I could see stars, looking at the instruments, we clocked in at about 45,000 feet (13,716 m). Narrow misses of the turquoise projectile snaps me back to reality, the M-1 did not take the bait. Diving back down for my life, I was starting to run out of options and time, not even knowing how long I could last myself. Racing to the bottom and managing to dodge a couple of missiles on the way down, we get back to the battle below. I flew right by the Orochi, remembering its shield, I veered off away, as I did the M-1 attempted to take shots on me. The Turquoise plasma-like projectile flung past me, it went to the Orochi, bypassing its shield and hitting the ship itself, of course it barely did any form of damage but it was interesting nonetheless. "I need support!" "Over here!" It was Cleveland and a few of her sisters cruisers have good AA, this should do it. Flying in nice and low and shooting past the cruisers, they begin to light up my pursuer shortly after. A wall of black smoke and lead buffets the enemy jet, but it nearly did nothing other than scratching and slowing it down. The three remaining Attackers, as well as a He-162 with some interesting red markings, came to aid. The four of them were just barely able to go toe-to-toe with the M-1, but the foe was able to move in a way that can be described as 'elegant'. I take the time to mentally stabilize, I gasp deep amounts of air practically hyperventilating. To the side, The Orochi ominously glows, its orange cracks glow a bright red, moving and manifesting to one point of the ship for it to then flicker away, but it was far from done. A port opened on the said point of the Orochi, a towing object loomed, it was an ugly structure, black with red cracks all over it. "What the hell did they just activate!" Said an ally, too focused on the thing to know who it was. "It's an ICBM!" "What?" "InterContinental Ballistic Missile!" "What!?" "That's their WMD!"
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Far from the distance, two unique humanoid Sirens stood by, watching the battle from afar and murmuring to each other in their distorted voices. "Ah, the culmination of the human hunger for power, destruction, and most of all, their hatred." said one "Hmhmhm, indeed, with weapons like these, humans will finally destroy themselves once and for all, whether it be this or the future generations." said the Other. "That's what Orochi is for... It's time."
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Smoke plumed for the bottom of the missile, and slowly lifted itself up in the air to then violently angle itself and launch. "Dammit! Confirmed launch of ICBM!" "I'm on it!" calls out Enterprise. I look back to the fur ball of the M-1 and the allies. "Red-2, get out of there!" I call out, but the Attacker seems to have ignored me. Red-2 continues to press its attack, but it is doomed, the M-1 pulls a tight High-Yo-Yo maneuver and swats the Attacker down. As much as I wanted to help them out, the ICBM had higher priority. Throttle at max, the Harrier pushed itself to meet the missile, but it wasn't long after the M-1 had caught up and swooped right in front of me, not allowing it to progress a foot more. Forced in a dogfight, I dance with the M-1 again. I Take the advantage of the M-1 passing me and get on its tail. "Fox-2!" As expected it dodged it. M-1 pulls up to the right, I pitch up higher and fire guns, miss. The M-1 continues its turn, going up then back down, I stick close behind it. Just as we both point down, the M-1 flicks itself up and loops behind me, attacking from a high angle. Being near the ground, I am forced to pull up. I crane my neck to look back, a plume of smoke appears under the M-1 wing's, I yank the stick away, the Siren jet fires its guns, I pull the stick the other way. For the sack of staying alive I was being thrashed around the cockpit with the sudden movement I had to do. Having enough of being chased, throttle at max, thrust nozzles all the way down, and the flight stick pulled hardest towards me, a cobra maneuver is executed, as risky as it would be. The intense G-forces nearly blacks me out, my entire body practically being hauled down to the seat, air escapes my chest, I desperately try to suck it back up. Through tunnel vision I just managed to stabilize and bring the nose back down with difficulty and see the M-1 was right in the middle of the gun sights unresponsive. Before I could even think of shooting it down once and for all, the M-1 flicked itself down. A groan escaped from me, I was starting to be weary. As I follow the M-1 down, it suddenly levels itself out, I under shoot, we engage in a scissors dogfight. This time my eyes do not leave the M-1 out of sight, as I go up and it goes down so do my eyes, bobbing up, down, up, down. As it became painfully evident that we now finally matched, the He-162 and the two remaining Attackers caught up, the three drove off the M-1,allowing for myself to be free of the engagement. "Attackers, disengage! That's an order!" I commanded, not wanting to lose more, the two abided. I had no ways of communicating with the 162 but it wouldn't hurt to have some help. As we circled around each other, making twists and turns, we slowly lowered to the surface. With the Spatz at my side, we chased down the M-1 ready to fire, if it weren't for two S-1s that intercepted us, we were forced to break off from the M-1. One of the S-1 lined up for a kill, but it was only a few seconds before the 162 flew right in front of it, while it did dodge the shot, it made itself have two enemies on its six, the 162 was keeping them occupied. Knowing this might be my only chance, I continue giving chase to the M-1, silently thanking the Spatz. The M-1 was dead ahead of me, we neared the sea surface. The M-1 does its flicking maneuvers and ends up behind, I didn't care, it's what I needed. The M-1 went all out, firing all remaining missiles and spamming its turquoise projectiles. With the heart running, I played with the flight stick, moving it all around, pulling and tugging at it, spamming my countermeasures as well. We finally get to my desired height, and again, throttle max, nozzle down, flight stick towards me, and my jet pulls itself away from the floor, the g-forces crushes me even more, and blacking out completely. I hear a deafening crash of water behind me. I wake up shortly after, violently gasping for air, I choke from it. Snapping my head back, the Harrier was above the water, the M-1 was not, a mist of water fluttered from where the Siren jet perished, with nothing left other than scraps of what used to be a formidable aircraft marked its watery grave. Once more I was not even able to think about resting, a squadron of S-1s barreled towards me. "Pinches cosas no me dejan!" I was about to reluctantly accept the battle, but a sudden cascade of AA fire decimated the squadron. Looking to where it had come from, it was Queen Elizabeth and many others from varying factions. "Reinforcements have arrived! Listen up, 'Red leader'! I now dub you as a Knight of the Round Table! Go, takedown the Siren missile, we pray for your success!"
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On my banshee I chased the horrendous weapon of the Sirens. "Almost there, almost there!" I said to myself. The banshees were too slow, the missile slowly grew its distance with me, I had to take the shot now. I pull up the crossbow, aim, draw it back and the arrow appears. The wind, the shuttering of the aircraft, and the adrenalin shook my arms, I tried to steady it. "Just who I want to see, want to play Enterprise!?" It was the same siren from before! 'She' flutters right in front of me and fires her cannon, my two escorts are shot down, I take evasive action. Both the Siren and I raced to the missile. She pulls up beside me and fires again, I veer away and continue my desperate chase. The missile sputters out of flame, yes this is my chance! But to only jinx it, the bottom part of the missile dislodges and a second rocket continues to propel it further and faster! "No!" I yelp. The Siren continues its maniacal laughter once more it gets in front. "Get out of my way!" I cry out. As if she would even care, the Siren fires away. Lasers rip through the Banshee, while I was miraculously unharmed, I found myself falling through the light blue, The Siren stared at me with wide eyes and a haunting smile, but it was cut short if the siren literally blew up. Still falling, I looked around to see what had caused that, a start to hear a whining whistle, it grew louder and became rougher. My back hits something hard, I reach out my hand and feel something metal and cold, I stagger to lift myself and turn around, it was Aguila's jet. Aguila looks back at me from his cockpit, "Qué estás esperando para, pendeja?!" "Huh? Uh, the missile?" "Yes, get ready!" Looking up, we slowly caught up at a near snail's pace. "Keep it steady!" I say. All of the noises drowned my thoughts, the nervousness came but, but I overcame it, I had to. Breathing in and out nice and easily, I draw out the crossbow again, pull back on it, and with the arrow materializing directly in front of my squinting eye and the missile at its tip. Releasing the arrow, it flings itself out. "Hold on!" Said Aguila. At first not knowing what he meant, the jet's nose stooped down, stumbling down, I cling on to the jet for dear life. "Wait, I don't know if it hi-" as if to answer me, the sky becomes full of a purple glow, what follows soon after was an ear splitting growl of an explosion and it was as if the sky itself was having an earthquake. Looking back a large glowing purple orb floats in the sky, my eyes widen with what would have happened should we have not been able to stop it.
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We approached the Orochi, no effect was made to it despite the combined fire power, with the battle taking prolonged measures and having to get tangled with other Sirens, it was taking a toll on us. "What the hell do we do now?" I tell Enterprise. "..." "Enterprise?" "... I think I know What I have to do..." "think!?" "Just get me as close as you can to the Orochi." I have now idea what she intends to do but I oblige. "We're gonna get hit with AA, hang on we're not there yet!" I warned her. "All units, this is Red Leader, I need to get close to Orochi, I need diversionary support!" "Got it!" a few responded. A number of aircraft linked up and surrounded us. From the large Vessel, lasers shot right at us, we all broke off, allied planes attempted to take the bulk of it for us. Not only were there puffs of smoke, small fires of sky and shrapnel, but as well as the large explosion of dying allied aircraft, parts and pieces of them going everywhere. I broke left to avoid the chaos, then broke right to dodge an info of AA fire, I dived just above the ocean surface, I approached the Orochi nearly below as the AA focused on those above, but they soon caught wind of me and began to fire. I yanked on the stick and it threw the Harrier's nose up. We were right in front of the demonic vessel, its bow had the face of a hideous snake, fangs stretched out. "We're here!" I alert Enterprise. Turning around to see what she will do, the last thing I saw of her was her falling off the jet back first, looking down as she fell upside down. She uses her bow and draws it back, I was able to notice how she takes a breath, closes her eyes and as she opens them they became glowing yellow same as before but in a much more controlled light, the arrow that materialize is not yellow but a bright blue, she releases it, the arrow soars through, and a figure of an eagle is formed at the tip, it penetrates the shield, shattering it and goes across the Orochi. "All units, blow that Mugre ship to kingdom come!" All bombers, all cannons, all torpedos descend upon the Orochi, and a cascading eruption of fire arises from the ship.
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Far from what used to be the battlefield, it was the two unique Sirens again. "Oh singularities, don't you just love them." One said in a tartly sarcastic tone. "This is definitely the most unprecedented, and something rather... peculiar to now get around, but in good time, in good time..." Said the second, "'Cause, as they always say..." "War never changes." finishes the first.
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And it's true as they all say, but it is because of one simple factor; us. We ourselves have the power to change war, we can bring the change to it, we ourselves are the change to war so long as we begin to learn from the past. As the fires slowly whimpered out, the smoke dissipating, the beast of the waters finally went back to a slumber one to never wake from again. All other Siren forces either retreated or were finished off. As quick as the battle started, so has it ended. I slump back to the jet's seat, and the aching feeling all over my body reveals itself, but I didn't care, we were done. Looking back down, Enterprise landed on the water and stood high and proud. She looks up and nods, and I return it.