"I will crush you!" Metallix bellowed, charging towards Altair and her team.
Meanwhile. In the Arknights universe, Z23, Daiwa, and the Space Marine were frantically trying to find Agnes tachyon.
"Nimi!!! How did you lose sight of mother?!" Daiwa shrieked, violently shaking Z23 back and forth by her shoulders.
"It's not my fault! She got sucked into a portal!" Z23 protested wildly.
Before Daiwa could even formulate a retort, the air pressure plummeted. A glowing, unstable rift tore open directly beneath their feet.
"Eh!?" they both gasped in unison.
The ground vanished. Gravity took over, and they plummeted straight into the abyss.
"Ahhhh!" Daiwa screamed, desperately clinging onto the top of Z23's head as they free-fell through the swirling vortex.
"..."
The Space Marine remained utterly silent. With superhuman reflexes, he reached out, grabbed both shipgirls mid-air, and braced for impact as they shot out the exit of the portal. A heavy, metallic thud echoed across the landscape as the giant in power armor slammed into the ground, cushioning their landing.
Daiwa groaned, rubbing her head as she looked around. "...So, where are we?"
"It seems that... we are at an island," Z23 said, dusting herself off and scanning the unfamiliar horizon.
"I can see that..." Daiwa muttered dryly.
"Well, can you summon your ship?" Nimi asked, turning to her companion.
"I think so," Daiwa replied.
Closing her eyes, she focused her mental energy. A massive surge of light erupted on the water's surface as her carrier ship materialized—a formidable, sleek Hornet-class aircraft carrier.
Without wasting any time, Nimi and the Space Marine boarded the vessel. As the massive carrier began to sail, Daiwa immediately launched her scout planes into the sky, sending them buzzing over the ocean to find any sign of civilization or mainland.
Meanwhile, hidden deep within a high-tech, shadowy facility...
"Mhm... Something is strange here," a Siren observer murmured, staring intently at her monitors.
"You're right. There is a spike in energy that is quite abnormal," Observer responded, her eyes narrowing as she analyzed the glowing data streams. She turned her gaze to a chaotic-looking Siren. "Purifier, investigate this location. If you find anything, capture them."
"Heh, alright!" Purifier grinned maniacally, practically vibrating with excitement before speeding off toward the coordinates.
Back on the open sea, Daiwa and Nimi were keeping a vigilant watch from the carrier's deck.
"So, do you know where we are?" Daiwa asked, the endless blue ocean offering no clues.
"I don't know," Nimi admitted, crossing her arms.
But the silence didn't last long. Right in front of their path, the space warped. A massive portal tore open, and out poured a fleet of strange, hostile warships.
"What are those?" Daiwa gasped.
Before Nimi could answer, the enemy fleet's cannons illuminated the horizon. They opened fire.
"Ahhh!" Daiwa screamed as a barrage of high-explosive shells rained down. Plumes of water erupted violently around her carrier. Geysers sprayed the deck, but miraculously, none of the shells landed a direct hit.
"Activating rigging!" Nimi barked.
Mechanical components materialized around her in a flash of light. Leaping off the deck of the carrier, Nimi hit the water at full speed, skating across the waves with practiced ease. She raised her weaponry and immediately began returning fire, her shells hammering into the vanguard of the enemy ships.
"Launch bombers!" Daiwa commanded from the deck.
The hangar doors cleared, and multiple squadron planes roared into the sky, banking sharply before diving straight toward the attacking fleet.
As Nimi cleared a path through the enemy lines, she suddenly spotted a figure watching her from a distance. It was Purifier. With a wicked grin, the Siren charged directly at Nimi, their weapons clashing in a shower of sparks.
"You look familiar. Do I know you?" Purifier asked, leaning into the clash with a smirk.
"No, but you will soon!" Nimi retorted.
Utilizing her momentum, Nimi whipped her leg around, sending a fierce kick directly to Purifier's head. The impact knocked the Siren back. Capitalizing on the opening, Nimi aimed her main gun and fired point-blank.
"Ouch, that hurts!" Purifier whined, though the grin never left her face. She retaliated instantly, firing a barrage of deadly lasers.
Nimi dodged the beams by a hair's breadth, drawing her sword in a fluid motion. She lunged forward, unleashing a flurry of slashes against Purifier, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the deadly dance.
Back on the carrier, Daiwa watched the skies. "Yes!" she cheered as her bombers successfully executed their runs, sending multiple enemy ships sinking into the depths.
But she celebrated too soon. Sneaking up on her flank, a hidden group of enemy destroyers unleashed a spread of torpedoes. The underwater explosives slammed violently into the side of the carrier.
"Agh!" Daiwa stumbled, losing her balance from the massive shockwave. Just as she was about to fall overboard into the churning water, a massive, ceramite-armored hand caught her.
The Space Marine held her steady.
"Thanks," she breathed out, quickly recovering her composure. "Launching torpedo bombers and bombers to attack the destroyers!"
Another wave of planes roared off her flight deck, seeking vengeance against the flanking destroyers.
"Ara ara, it seems we have an anomaly here," a smooth, mocking voice echoed from behind them.
Daiwa spun around on the deck, her eyes widening. Standing there with a superior smirk was another Siren Tester.
"Die, xeno!" the Space Marine roared, raising his massive boltgun and unleashing a rapid-fire volley of explosive rounds. The heavy shells slammed into Tester, but detonated harmlessly against her advanced shielding, leaving her completely unscathed.
"Tsk. Annoying," Tester muttered. She leveled her armaments and fired a high-energy laser directly at him.
The Space Marine, proving deceptively fast for his massive size, managed to roll out of the way as the beam melted the deck plating where he had just stood.
This only annoyed Tester further. Moving at speeds too fast for the human eye to track, she closed the distance instantly. She delivered a devastating blow that struck the Space Marine hard, sending his massive frame flying across the deck.
"You!" Daiwa yelled, charging forward to throw a punch.
But before her fist could connect, a mass of dark, mechanical tentacles whipped out of nowhere. Observer materialized on the deck, her tentacles wrapping tightly around Daiwa, completely restraining her movements.
"So, this is the anomaly?" Tester asked, walking over to Observer.
"Yes. And the fact is, I don't have her in my database... nor him," Observer replied, gesturing toward the fallen Space Marine. Then she glanced out toward the ocean. "But that shipgirl currently fighting Purifier is."
Suddenly, Observer paused. Her sensors flared. She detected a massive, terrifying energy signature dropping out of the sky at terminal velocity.
"What the—?!"
"TARGET ACQUIRED!"
A metallic, booming voice shattered the air. With a cataclysmic impact, Mecha Sonic Mk2 slammed onto the deck directly in front of them, the sheer force of his landing cracking the structure.
"BACK DOWN NOW, ALIEN. YOU WON'T BE GIVEN ANOTHER CHANCE!" Mecha Sonic threatened, his glowing eyes locked onto the Sirens.
Tester, refusing to be intimidated by a mere machine, lunged forward to attack. But Mecha Sonic was faster. With a brutal, casual backhand swipe, he smacked Tester with enough force to launch her off the ship and skipping across the water like a stone.
**"Slash command obliterate. Success rate at 100%,"** Mecha Sonic droned.
Before Observer could even react, Mecha Sonic's body flashed with a chaotic aura. *"Chaos Control!"*
In a blink of an eye, he teleported Daiwa straight out of Observer's tentacles and into his own grasp. Without breaking momentum, Mecha Sonic tackled Observer at blinding speed, driving her off the deck and plunging both of them deep into the ocean below.
Daiwa sat on the deck, completely drenched, blinking in utter bewilderment at the empty space where the Sirens had just been.
"...What the heck just happened?!"