Archive of Our Own ^beta

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.