Defection (MentalModel!Brothers and OC)

Chapter 19

I stumbled back into the bridge of the massive warship, catching myself on the nearest console before I could fall over from the harsh push of the Mental Model. My eyes narrowed at the order to his other self, turning to look through the windows at the closing cruiser while the three destroyers that were behind it sank into the depths as the water swallowed the smoke billowing from their wounds.

"Oso, there's a ship that's almost your size charging down at us, and there's no extra nanomaterial that you can use to patch up any new holes! We need to take care of Wisconsin before we can even think of taking on Salem! Destroy the larger threat, then focus on the head of the fleet," I shouted at the humanoid still standing on the balcony, his glare not budging from the intended target as the battleship underneath us continued its sharp turn to point its nose at the incoming cruiser.

"The Salem is the flagship of that pitiful fleet," His voice sounded strained before a wicked grin stretched his lips thin, "The witch sinks and we'll be in the clear."

"Oso!" I yelled out in shock as I moved towards him, the bridge door slamming shut in my face by some unseen force and soundly locking before I could yank it back open. The Mental Model switched his gaze from the target to me, his eyes completely consumed by bloodlust as a vicious red glow emitted from deep within his irises.

"Sit down, Ash. This isn't the time for your 'fancy' human tactics."

His voice made me shudder as my hands involuntarily released the handle of the door, taking a step back before he jumped up and out of view. Adrenaline raced through my body like I had just escaped from a terrifying predator, my fingers trembling as I looked at them in disbelief.

"Tirpitz, you can't...please don't let Oso do this."

<<You think you're going to find help from me?>> The voice that had been calm and calculating before sounded just as malicious as Oso's -- if not more so -- as my eyes widened in realization while I faced the blood red symbol blazing ominously on the back wall of the bridge, <<You can't stop a Fleet of Fog ship by yourself. You may be acting as a 'captain', human...but you do not control me.>>

My hands fell to my sides before I clenched them, tightening my shock into a furious glare as my gaze switched from Tirpitz's mark to the door that had shut in my face, feeling my face twist up into a determined expression. Charging at the door's square window shoulder-first, I heard the glass buckle and shatter under my weight before I tumbled through the barrier, grasping onto the railing before my momentum could throw me over the edge and down to the deck some twenty feet beneath the balcony.

With no active way to communicate with Kara already miles away from us or with Choro shut off at the bottom of the coastline, I was by myself on a ship mad with battlelust...and that left me little time to enforce my command upon it.

Quickly confirming Oso's location in the upper parts of the bridge superstructure by looking for the rings of energy, I climbed up the thin metal railing as my fingers and bare toes found purchase on the dangerous jungle gym. Occasional missiles from both Salem and Wisconsin hit the Klein Field mere feet from me as I continued my ascent, my eyes focused on the rings of red high above me as adrenaline pushed down the fear of falling to my death. Spray from both the capital battleship's charge and weapons that had collided at the waterline coated the superstructure, making it more difficult to scale.

I had a minute-and-a-half left before the Cannon was ready to be fired, feeling the thrum of energy begin to collect deep within the belly of the Tirpitz as I finally grabbed the edge of the platform that Oso was standing on, grunting with some effort to fully get onto the surface.