Chapter 8.3 - Ironclad Liberty

Ironclad Liberty
"Take the Super Driver off," repeated Lynette firmly, jerking the rifle at Solace's back.

Solace continued to face away from Lynette, "Why?"

"You don't know?" taunted Lynette, "The Super Driver is flashing many coloured lights on your front and back."

"... So? If it's giving you a headache, there's no need to point a gun at me."

Sora was attentively watching the flashing patterns of the lights on Solace's chestplate. "... Take it off," she murmured.

"What? You too?"

"No, seriously, take it off," Sora ordered with force, looking into Solace's eyes.

"Why?" replied Solace, matching the force in her own voice.

"Only one thing freely gets through the Hakurei Barrier," explained Lynette, "Light. The Super Driver is transmitting information about the Thunder Child. That's why it asks you to go outside in clear weather. So they can see the lights and completely bypass The Convenience Theory that stops Haruhi from reproducing the Thunder Child. If you don't take it off, Haruhi will recreate her own version of the Thunder Child and then neither the Hakurei nor Sonic Barrier will mean anything to North High. Haruhi will own the entire universe."

There was a period of silence.

"So, you going to take it off?" questioned Sora, impatiently.

"Well..." pointed out Solace, "I actually have no idea how to take it off." Sora noted that Solace didn't seem all that concerned. She stepped closer to attempt to take the Super Driver off when the nose of the Thunder Child suddenly shot upwards, throwing the three of them against the back wall of the bridge. The ship gained speed towards the ocean's surface.

Sora took hold of the chair and pulled herself into it. Looking back at Solace, she strapped herself in, "Solace, get that Super Driver off!" She faced forward and began examining the Thunder Child's systems. "I don't have navigational control!" The Thunder Child pierced the surface and fell back down horizontally, sending Lynette and Solace back to the floor. However, the Thunder Child continued its unexpected movement, taking an incredibly sharp u-turn before heading back north. A brightly lit aircraft carrier could be seen ahead, the Thunder Child easily covering the distance between them.

"It's the Akagi!" exclaimed a shocked Lynette, "What is it doing in Gensokyo?"

"I can't see the Hakurei Barrier," realised Sora, the Barrier characteristic colours missing from the dark night horizon, "What's been ha-" Sora was rudely interrupted when Metal Gear RAY jumped out of the water in front of the Thunder Child. With fast reactions, Sora summoned an orange portal that sent RAY out of the blue portal behind the vessel. However, this RAY was immediately followed by another that touched the edge of the portal with an arm. Sora activated the Thunder Child's White Noise generator, bright white light covering the windows. The light suddenly disappeared as the white noise barrier smashed, revealing the second RAY falling back into the water, its charge successfully repelled. Then suddenly the Thunder Child was struck heavily from its left side, an all too familiar wrenching of metal filling the body of the vessel. All its forward momentum was completely nullified and the ship begin moving sideways.

"Solace!" called Sora, "Got that Super Driver off yet?"

"I can't," responded Solace, sitting up, "There's no joins or gaps on the chestplate."

Lynette took off her jacket and jumper and unbuttoned her shirt, leaving her in her underwear. She wrapped the shirt round Solace's shoulders and rebuttoned it, the shirt being her only upper clothes that covered the front up to the neck and hence the only one that covered all the lights, Solace unable being to use her own shirt. "Don't take it off," Lynette warned.

"Holy..." mumbled Black★Gold Saw, stood on deck of the Akagi, "Where the hell did that thing come from?" A huge warship, far larger than the Akagi and certainly much bigger than the Thunder Child had just appeared out of thin air and rammed the Thunder Child from the side, partially cutting through it. The Thunder Child looked pitiful, the way it was lodged on the front of the massive ship.

Sakamoto Mio, the squadron leader of 501st Joint Fighter Wing of Strike Witches, lifted the eyepatch over her right eye revealing a glowing pink pupil, "It fits the description of Arsenal Gear."

"This isn't what we agreed!" protested Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke, the wing commander of the 501st, looking at Black.

"... No, it isn't," grimaced Black, with her arms folded, observing several RAY units jump onto the Thunder Child. "Matagi? Could you send them a warning shot?"

A fifth girl walked up to the group, dragging a long sword across the deck, acknowledging the order with a hum. The purple flame over Black★Matagi's left eye flared as she held the sword like a two-handed machine gun. She pressed both triggers, one in the handle, one in the hilt, and the sword shot out a single purple energy blast from the very end. The blast raced through the ocean air, striking one of the RAYs on the Thunder Child in the back. There was a purple explosion, smoke erupting out the RAY unit. With a cry, the RAY unit collapsed into the water. "Wow," whispered Matagi, "That was my weakest shot."

Flying above Arsenal Gear, Remilia watched the RAY fall into the ocean, "Are they attacking us? Or was that just a really poor shot?"

Next to her, Flandre laughed, "How about we pretend it was deliberate? Then we'd have an excuse to wipe them out."

"Now, now," responded Remilia, unable to hide a smile, "We have a plan to stick to."

"We need Arsenal Gear to turn southwards," observed Nitori, transmitting to their earpieces from the unique manned RAY unit stood on Arsenal Gear. Unlike the other RAYs, which were a reddish colour and unmanned, the manned version possessed a tail as well as other small changes as it was essentially the prototype. "The Thunder Child has the propulsion system on full power." The hyperdrive was emitting strong white light under the water's surface. "It's stuck but it won't be for long if it keeps up the struggle."

"Arsenal's turning to the south," noticed Mio, "That's not good."

Black brushed her hair with concern. "We need to separate the two. Everyone, get back under deck."

"What are they doing?" asked Remilia, watching the Akagi personnel clear off the deck.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." sighed Nitori. She jumped her RAY unit off Arsenal Gear into the water.

"We're stuck on something," notified Sora, "With both the Sonic and Hakurei Barriers down, Yamaha's regained control of the Thunder Child, which is probably why we faced north but Gensokyo's Arsenal Gear has us pinned. Pinned so well that we're not actually sinking. We have several RAY units on us but I think they're trying to keep us attached to Arsenal rather than destroy us."

"With the Super Driver, I might be able to push us off Arsenal," suggested Solace, adjusting her collar, "Raiden managed to do it." Lynette had redressed herself, a foot keeping her Striker Units on the ground.

"Wait, a moment," stopped Sora, "We're turning southwards." The Akagi moved out of the view from the windows as the Thunder Child began facing eastwards.

After a pause, Solace spoke up again, "Well, should I-?"

"Brace for impact!" shouted Sora. Given the early warning, Solace magnetised her Super Driver shoes next to the right wall, taking hold of Lynette. A second later, there was a second impact, again from the left. The Thunder Child was thrown to the right, falling on its right side in the water. As the ship drifted to face northwards again, they could see they had been rammed by the Akagi, which was covered by a flickering red force field, freeing the Thunder Child. It was dwarfed by Arsenal next to it.

Solace recognised the pattern of the field, "Isn't that the Iron Curtain?" she asked, laying on the right wall, which was now the floor, "Wait, since it makes vehicles invincible, couldn't it be used to get through the Sonic Barrier?"

Neither Lynette nor Sora answered the question, leading to an awkward silence.

As the patching system began reforming the hull, the Thunder Child regained its upright position and the hyperdrive kicked in, pushing the vessel, free of RAYs, northwards past both Arsenal and the Akagi.

Remilia was furious. As Flandre flew off to chase the Thunder Child, Remilia summoned an enormous red spear and threw it at the Akagi deck below, though it just bounced off the field. "What are you doing?!" she shouted at the Akagi, "You promised we could have the Thunder Child!" The Akagi began to turn north, the field disappearing, seemingly ignoring her. However, Remilia was aware her voice wouldn't carry to the ship and after a huff went to land on the Akagi, Arsenal turning round too.

Black came back up to the Akagi deck, to be met by Remilia who had fury in her face, "Did you need something?" asked Black, rather casually.

"We agreed," threatened Remilia, "The Thunder Child is Gensokyo property."

"We agreed that the personnel inside are to return to Yamaha," argued Black, "The amount of stress you're giving the Thunder Child is threatening their health. Does Gensokyo not follow The Unwritten Law?"

"Once we have the Thunder Child secure, you can have your criminals. Are you deliberately trying to get it back into your Kingdom?"

"Whether the Thunder Child ends up in Yamaha is its choice," reasoned Black, impatiently, "If it goes into Yamaha it will be easy to capture and then we can give you the Thunder Child-" Black was interrupted by an echoing sound of ripping metal.

Nitori and her RAY had intercepted the fleeing Thunder Child, catching onto the still repairing hole in the hull. Having charged the water jet cutter ahead of time, Nitori easily cut the Thunder Child wide open once again and pointed the vessel eastwards, pushing it back towards Arsenal. Flandre reached the Thunder Child and went through the hole into the ship. She easily reached the bridge door to find it locked. Licking her lips with a smile, she placed a hand on the door, which turned a bright hot white, melting onto the floor and opening the bridge to her. Flandre stepped in to find the bridge empty, with an empty seat but what caught her attention was a hole in the steel floor, made by pulling the metal apart. It was obvious the crew was attempting to escape, possibly out the hole she came in. She turned round to be met by Gold.

"Where are they?" Gold asked, the red flame over her right eye sparking, her long sword on her back matching her height.

"Hell if I know," responded Flandre, without caring, walking past Gold. Gold glared after Flandre before glancing into the bridge herself. Suddenly, the Thunder Child began moving without warning. Gold rushed back to the hole in the hull to find Flandre looking out of it at the shrinking Arsenal and Akagi in the distance. The Thunder Child was being pushed south by unmanned RAY units. Arsenal seemed to be pushing the Akagi away while on board the two vessels a fight was underway between the Black Squad, Strike Witches and the Akagi against Remilia, Nitori's RAY and Arsenal.

"Did something happen?" asked Gold calmly.

"Honestly, I have no idea myself," answered Flandre, just as calmly. Gold looked at the RAY's pushing the Thunder Child right underneath the hole in the hull. She took hold of the handle of her sword when a shining yellow energy sword was drawn at her neck. Gold looked to her left to see Flandre holding the sword, staring at Gold with wide blood red eyes along with a long grin, revealing her vampire canines. "No."

The Thunder Child began shaking wildly, Lynette, struggling to stay stable while holding her Striker Units. The three of them were hiding on the level below having made their way to the stairwell which lead up to the corridor above, right opposite the side door out the right side of the Thunder Child, the very door they used to enter the vessel back in the United Kingdom.

"I'm hoping the door was overlooked," commented Sora, climbing the stairs back to bridge level and took hold of the clank to open the door. With a strong tug, the door swung open outwards, revealing clear ocean. However, before they could attempt to escape, a explosion on the other side of the Thunder Child once again forced the ship to fall on its right side. The difference this time was that with the outer door open, water rapidly flowed through the vessel and the Thunder Child quickly began to sink.

On Arsenal, RAY was incredibly agile, bombarding both Minna and Mio, in flight with their Striker Units, with missiles. Nitori was not prepared to repeat her earlier experience with Lynette, keeping both Strike Witches far away and on the defensive. Meanwhile, on the Akagi, Remilia was taking on both Black and Matagi in melee weapon combat, her experience as well as her complete disregard of risk really showing. She was using a long metal spear while Black and Matagi had to rely on their swords. Neither Black Squad member could use their long ranged weapons either due to being to close to Remilia or in fear of friendly fire.

Suddenly, Black's earpiece began ringing. "Matagi, cover me!" she called and retreated behind the bridge tower of the Akagi as Matagi attempted to distract Remilia. Black knelt down and put a finger to her ear. "Rin? Make it quick."

"You've got a single minute til The Meltdown Directive," warned Rin through the earpiece, "Get back into Yamaha."

"What?!" flustered Black, "Why so soon?!"

"We underestimated Gensokyo. They've got a damn ulterior motive. They're trying to delay your exit. Forget the Thunder Child, forget Sora and Lynette. Just get out of Gensokyo."

Black tried to think of a reason to protest that Rin would accept but failed. "... Fine..." growled Black, just as a knocked out Matagi was thrown into her view. Remilia walked round the corner and made eye contact with Black with a smile. Black's annoyed expression did not change but her blue flame turned purple.

Despite not being flammable, the top of the Thunder Child, what used to to be its left side, was covered in red fire, swirling round both Flandre and Gold, locked in sword combat. Despite Flandre clear superior destructive power, Gold was coping far too well against her. Gold caught sight of the Akagi, its while deck burning a dark purple. Noting the signal, Gold's left hand turned dark blue, she clicked her fingers at Flandre who immediately froze into ice. As the blue faded back to black, Gold clicked her fingers once more at Flandre before turning to the Akagi just as Minna reached her with a rope ladder. Minna quickly flew back to the Akagi, Gold let go of the ladder into the apparently harmless purple fire on deck next to Insane Black★Rock Shooter, whose clothes had drastically changed to armour.

"Freeze them then hypnotize them," smirked Gold, "Aren't plasmids awesome?"

"Now isn't the time, Gold," answered Black, staring at the burning Thunder Child.

"Hmph," smiled Gold, "Get back inside." Her smile suddenly turned to a frown, "I want to know why we're retreating without achieving our objective." She walked deeper into the fire. Black stood for a little longer before walking back herself as the hyperdrive of the Akagi charged up.

As the Akagi raced northwards, Remilia, stood on Arsenal's deck, brushed off the purple fire burning her clothes. "Hmm," she sighed, "We couldn't keep them here. And they seemed like pushovers."

"Too bad Haruhi had to join in on Doomsday..." noted Nitori from RAY, as Arsenal stealthed itself due to inactivity. "At least we got the Thunder Child. I wonder if the crew are still in there though."

Not far from the Thunder Child, Sora finally managed to pull both Lynette and Solace to the water's surface, the two of them gasping for air, with the Striker Units and Lynette's rifle.

"It looks like they're gone," mumbled Sora, looking around, the fire from the Thunder Child clouding her heat sensors. Lynette slipped into her Striker Units and managed to fly out of the water with her rifle despite the added water weight. Sora put Solace on her back and flew up using rocket propulsion in her heels. "South America's the closest landmass. We should head there before someone comes for the Thunder Child."

Suddenly, Solace was struck on the back by a glowing yellow sword, thrown weakly. Flandre, having unfrozen, was stumbling around trying to regain control of her senses from the hypnotism that was dulling her conciousness, forcing her to attack anything that moved. Solace herself was fine but her unprotected shirt began to burn revealing-

"The Super Driver!" cried Lynette in horror.

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