“What cruel irony,” Niloy sighed as she stood at the edge of what remained of the beach, waves gently rising above her ankles. “To think that I’d be forced to partner with you,” she glared at Kada standing next to her. “When you’d be so much more effective on land, but they stuck you with guarding the sea, since there’s a non-zero chance that you’d let your power run just a little too rampant and melt Bastion off the edge of the cliff.”
“Well… I can’t say it’s a completely unfounded worry,” Kada laughed ironically, clearly a little disheartened. “But the fact that they left the entire ocean to only the two of us proves just how capable we are. My sister in melting, these mawhgers don’t know what they’re up against!”
“On that I agree at least,” Niloy got riled up, staring at the multiple fleets of ships from countries all over the world as they sailed right towards the two girls. Though they didn’t really have any particular reason to head inland. Kada had already seen to that, and they’d soon realize their folly.
She had terraformed the smooth cliffside and flat shoreline into cragged spikes that jutted out towards the water. There was now nowhere to land. Any vessels that were deployed to storm the beach would have to reroute much farther up the coast, making it far less efficient than if they had just joined the troops marching in from the northwest.
There had been a bit of brief discussion in having Kada make the border of Last Bastion mountainous and impassible, causing the armies to have to waste time carving their way through. But given their location, there was a bit of concern on how that would affect the seismic plates, and they didn’t have time to develop a device to tell them if it would be fine.
But with how little was actually changed along the shoreline, they were confident it wouldn’t cause any lasting effects. Kada had also popped up a few surprise sand bars and spikes in the water that would otherwise appear deep and vacant. And the ships weren’t taking care, either—rushing towards the beach, likely using sea charts that were outdated just the day before.
Even the battleships that had no business being that close to land were trying to take every inch they could. It was a race after all, to be the first to fire upon and hopefully destroy Last Bastion. But it didn’t take long for the first casualty. A smaller vessel got caught on a sandbar and held up the line.
And then the remaining ships weren’t able to change course in time, creating a clogged mess reminiscent of rush hour traffic on the highway. Even in the open water, the ships weren’t exactly nimble enough to turn right around, especially not when contending with the other crews for space. So there they’d likely stay—nowhere to maneuver, and just out of effective range for firing. But that didn’t mean they still wouldn’t try.
“Alright, let’s go!” Kada signaled the start as she dove into the water.
Niloy gave the girl a brief headstart before heading out herself. But instead of into the water, she went on top of it. Directly on top. The girl took a few hesitant steps at first, still not too used to this technique. She had changed the buoyancy of the water beneath her feet, letting her stand on it like it was solid ground.
After a few more steps with her legs shaking like a newly born animal, she picked up the pace until she was confident enough for a full sprint. By the time she reached her maximum velocity, she was zooming across the water faster than most crafts could sail at their top speeds. But even though she didn’t have to fight against any water resistance, Kada still beat her to the first target.
“Ladies and gentlemen aboard the…” Kada had popped up on the very top mast of one of the biggest battleships and began an announcement with her sound amplifier. “I didn’t check the name. We’ll just call it the Future Fish House. Ladies and gentlemen aboard the Fish House. This ship will be melting away in the next 50 seconds. If you don’t want to be chucked into the sea along with it, I suggest you find your way to a life boat immediately. 50, 49, 48…”
As soon as the countdown was reached, the ship immediately melted. Any crew that hadn’t already abandoned ship were welcomed by the slightly chilly ocean. A few of the lifeboats that were still hanging on the side were left in act, crashing into the water below them. Kada went down with the ship alongside the rest, but dove back underwater so as to not face any retaliation. She then resolidified the ship at the seafloor where it would likely remain indefinitely.
Stolen story; please report.
All in all, a pretty effective tactic, though she could only melt one ship at a time due to their separation by the sea. Well, not entirely true. A few of the ships from less prepared countries didn’t seem to have gotten the memo about using randomized metals. And unlike anything that touched the ground, that would still remain useful even after Kada’s ascension.
Though even without a little extra boost, Niloy was just as effective in this situation, if not even moreso. Since Kada had already attacked openly, she didn’t feel the need to give these seafarers the same warning. Rather than spray the hull of a ship with acidic water to sink it eventually, instead, she focused on an area in front of her as she hid in a ship’s shadow. The girl limited her range to roughly just an inch deep of water, but in a wide area that encompassed seven ships at present.
Niloy then cranked up the acidity in that spot to the maximum of her capability. It was hard to keep it that intense for that long, but it was all she’d need. That inch of water became an acidic blade that sliced clean through each ship’s keel. Within seconds, every vessel in her range had become unsalvageable and irreparable, doomed to sink as fast as the sea could swallow them.
With Tize’s help, she could have very well sunk damn near half an entire fleet at once, but her ability was extremely dangerous. That level of acidity would kill anyone who touched it without fail, cutting clean through them as easily as the ships. And while the Fiends weren’t exactly trying to be pacifists, they also weren’t trying to be wholesale executioners where it could be avoided.
The bigger problem, though, was Kada. If Niloy acted at the wrong moment, she could very well catch Kada in her deadly net. While it was unknown if that would kill a Fiend outright, it ultimately was better for her to target smaller concentrated areas than put anyone needlessly at risk, herself included.
Screams lit up the air above her now that the sailors had finally realized they were sinking. A few seemed to have gone below deck as well to inspect the damage, only to find how screwed they really were. When lifeboats started to fall, Niloy decided it was time to vacate the area, in case any of the crew were more interested in revenge than saving their own hides.
As she approached the next group, those sailors were already on higher alert, having witnessed what happened to their watery neighbors. And they certainly weren’t so friendly as to leave the Fiend to her stroll across the open ocean and begin firing at her. Niloy whipped out one of her water pistols with a special nozzle and sprayed it towards her attackers.
The gun didn’t actually splash her foes, though. In fact, the water went barely more than a foot in front of her. Instead, it sprayed out in all directions—a liquid umbrella to match the rest of her rainy day attire. The water melted any projectiles that hit it instantly, keeping her safe and sound as she casually skipped over to her next victims.
Their enemies barely put up any more resistance than that as the two girls decimated the various navies. Kada had also stopped giving any warnings. Instead, she just swam underneath the ships, gave them a gentle, melting poke, and swam away to her next target as all hell broke loose above her. It was all going rather swimmingly, or floatingly in Niloy’s case.
But of course there had to be some annoyances, though not wholly unexpected. The rearmost ships began firing whatever they could. Some tried to fire at the girls with their cannons, not that it was particularly effective, and at worst damaged some of the other ships before the Fiends got around to it.
The problematic ones, however, were those that actually decided to do their jobs—even though most were too far away and out of effective range. But a few of the bigger vessels had come equipped with longer ranged weapons. The biggest battleship around had fired full-sized missiles, but those weren’t as much of a threat as one might think. Given the long lead time, they were all shot down by the Fiends’ various air support before they could even get close to impacting the cocoon.
More troubling were the mortar shots—not as impactful or deadly, but the shorter flight meant faster impact, and neither of the girls were equipped to deal with something soaring above their heads. Fortunately, damage to the cocoon was minimal from those that actually made contact.
And Kada fired a static shroud after the first few went by, disrupting and erupting those that got too close to the city for a small period of time, as long as the static would last. But it gave them enough time to deal with the aggressors, making them their main target.
The girls were making good progress, but right around the halfway point of having every ship sunk or decommissioned, a cry for help suddenly pierced into Niloy’s ear. “Nini, help me!”