PR Ship madness

Chapter 8

*??? 

*Evan/My POV 

Loud alarms are blaring through the air... the burning stench of gunpowder is choking my lungs... waves of scorching heat is flaying my skin... I've experienced this before. 

"This must be... the defensive line... at NY Harbor...? Why am I here...? What was I doing...? Why can't I remember anything?" I asked. 

"Hey! Why are you still here?!" A loud voice interrupted me. I turned around and saw a woman running to me. 

"Didn't we agree that you'd be heading to Samos with the others? Why are you here all by yourself?" The woman demanded. 

"I don't know?" I replied. 

"We were crushed terribly in our last-ditch counterattack, so this place will fall soon. You were supposed to go to Samos because we had anticipated this possibility..." The woman instructed. This voice, it feels so familiar, but also so alien. 

"Our defenses are still holding for now, but that cannot last much longer. They will come again with even greater numbers and raze this place to the ground, just as was planned. You were there when the plan was drafted, weren't you? Did you vote for it, or against it? ...So much has happened, I can't even remember the details anymore..." The woman added. I was about to answer her questions when she spoke again. 

"Forget it... In any case, even if you wanted to stay with me, I can't accept that. I'm not important, and you're still needed elsewhere... Let's see if any evacuation fleets have yet to leave. Good grief, so stubborn even at a time like this..." The woman complained. 

"Hurry. This place will fall as well."

"Unfortunately... I won't be able to keep our promise." 

Two voices entered my head. 

"What...?!" I asked. 

"Hey! What are you doing, staring off into space by yourself over there? The battle isn't over yet, so you can't be wandering around outside!" The woman protested. 

"The others will come back and save you." I replied but the woman shook her head. 

"Surely not. If they're following the plan, there's no way they'd be able to leave." The woman replied. 

"They'll come back... I'm sure of it..." I insisted. 

"Well, that complicates things. I wanted to make this deal without them finding out..." The woman remarked. 

"Let's run away, together." I said before blinking. 

"Sir Evan!" I felt my body being shaken and I opened my eyes to see Lady Forbin, Le Triomphant and Belorussiya. 

"Are you finally awake, Comrade?" Belorussiya asked me. 

"...My head still feels fuzzy. Did I pass out just now?" I asked before getting up. 

"For a second." Le Triomphant replied. 

"Only briefly. The fleet has managed to cross the Gate." Belorussiya informed. 

"Were you the one who brought me back to the command ship?" I asked after getting up. 

"Unfortunately not... As soon as we crossed the gate, we were scattered across this sector, with no sign of the control room or where we came through." Belorussiya replied. 

"While we were regrouping, Le Triomphant and I found you unconscious on the submarine." Lady Forbin added in. 

"Sorry to make you worry." I apologized. 

"It's nothing worth apologizing over. Rather, we owe you an apology for taking you into an unknown and dangerous battlefield." Belorussiya stated. 

"At least, you weren't the only one affected by passing through the Gate. Each of us experienced a short period of malaise as well." Tallinn revealed after entering with Gromky. 

"Yeah, it felt like someone clubbed me hard in the head or something... Ugh, this place is weird..." Gromky agreed. 

"However, the city of light is still glowing brightly in front of us, so at least we can be sure that we passed through the other side of the gate." Kirov pointed out. 

"Do you think that all these strange phenomena were set up by the Sirens? ...Well, it's best not to dwell on it. We've seen enough Mirror Seas to know that pretty much anything is possible." Belorussiya theorized. 

"The huge floaty icebergs are also totally different! Look, strange glowy lines are running through them now, just like the console when it was activated!" Murmansk exclaimed. 

"As I suspected, it was no accident that the icebergs in the Mirror Sea continued to regenerate themselves. Everything, including the icebergs, is an indispensable part of this giant city." Tallinn pointed out. 

"The tracks above us are glowing so prettily! Imagine how fun it'd be to slide all the way down from up there!" Gromky pointed out. 

"Those tracks seem to provide access throughout the whole city. We'll have the best shot of finding our bearings if we take control of it. Of course, before we get pulled in too deeply, we should at least find our way back to the control room, just so we have an exit strategy." Kirov suggested. 

"Agreed. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of aerial reconnaissance here, so we'll have to gather whatever information we can while looking for a way back." Belorussiya agreed.