Age of Sail: A Tempesta Tale (Chapter 26)

“That's interesting.” Zero spoke clinically.

“What is?” Strength asked.

“Three of the destroyers we sent to Uruguay… they've been sunk. But one of them has been refloated.” Zero replied.

“Refloated? They didn't have that kind of tech back then. How did that happen?” Strength asked as she pushed her screen aside.

“I… I don't know. Perhaps there's more we're not seeing.” Zero said as she shot her hand out to her side, causing another screen to pop into existence with video feed.

“What is that?” Strength asked.

“I reached out to the refloated destroyer. One of the cameras was left intact. It's an interior one.” Zero said as Strength walked over to view the screen with her.

“Is… that a squid?” Strength asked.

“It is. It's taken up residence inside the destroyer… but that destroyer shouldn't be floating. Black box recorder documented that a strike broke the keel, splitting it in two. Yeah… I can even see water on the camera. That ship is partially sunk, yet… it's not only functioning, but… it's also no longer responding to any complex commands. I can't control it beyond the camera access.” Zero spoke, her tone curious.

“Do we think this squid might be something being utilized by the commander?” Strength asked.

“Without a doubt. Look at that squid's body. It doesn't have any of the normal markings nor the proper colors. This isn't a normal squid. Not many of them carry dark blue coloration. Blue isn't a natural color. But neither is the shimmering gold on the tips of the tentacles. Call Empress to the chamber. We need to get to the bottom of these Kansen.” Zero spoke as Strength made the call.

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“Friedrich. I really don't like the idea of conversing with the Sirens. This could be a trap.” Kearsarge protested.

“Take a moment and think, my child. If it were a trap… why set it for just us three? The might of Azur Lane comes from the numbers we possess and the comradery we've fostered. Defeating just us three would do very little in terms of hindering Azur Lane. That… and my instinct is telling me that this could be genuine. To what end the enemy wants our commander back, I don't know. But I feel as though they could very easily have done something about this, considering their arrival in this world was done via traversing timelines. This lends credence to the voice's warning about breaking the rules and whatnot. Perhaps they simply can't get personally involved.” Friedrich reasoned.

Kearsarge grumbled a bit.

“This still doesn't feel right. We're dancing to a Siren's tune. We're taking the advice of our sworn enemy.” Kearsarge retorted.

“Be that as it may, don't you find it odd that they are reaching out now? If they could manage this now, why not at any point in the past? Eighty years we've been fighting, and for them to now come out and demand an audience? All because our Kommandant has gone back in time, something they claim is their domain. Doesn't that alone warrant a deeper look into this Fountain of Youth?” Friedrich asked.

“Secondary analysis shows that if this isn't an outright trap, which is a fifty-fifty gamble at best, it may be cause for concern in a much worse way.” Nakhimov spoke.

“Why is that? I'm not following.” Kearsarge replied.

“Comrade Commander has been lauded as possibly the best Commander for Azur Lane in our eighty years of existence. If the Sirens are now concerned about him going missing, and are giving us the tools to help get him back… then they fear not only the consequences of directly doing the work to bring him back… but there may be something worse than that, since they're showing the capacity to help us.” Nakhimov spoke.

“You believe that they have a deeper agenda? One where attacking and destroying us is not the end result?” Friedrich asked.

“I cannot claim to know anything. I'm building this idea on an infinitely fragile framework. But… if they are capable of helping us like this, then… what if these aren't attacks… but tests?” Nakhimov asked.

“Tests?” Kearsarge asked.

“Gauge our strength against the best they have? Once we beat them, they become allies to fight something worse?” Friedrich asked.

“As I said… I cannot claim to know. But it is a possibility that could be scrutinized. It warrants a bit of digging. But I will say that if we are going to take into account everything you've said, I'm willing to take the chance on the Fountain of Youth.” Nakhimov replied.

Kearsarge sighed.

“I'll keep an air patrol active. Let's… just get there. We have to wait for that canister thing they gave Friedrich anyway.” Kearsarge spoke as the three continued sailing on a course for Bermuda.

XXXXXVVVVVXXXXX

Enterprise returned to the dorms to find that the flagship meeting was still under way.

“She's back.” Elizabeth spoke as the room turned to look at her.

“How'd it go, E?” New Jersey asked.

“About as well as you'd expect. The secretary tried to stop me in the front courtyard. I walked in and laid everything we've said on the table for this commander to consider. He claims that the bookkeeping and finances are more important and hasn't bothered to research what information we have. The secretary enlightened me to something even worse.” Enterprise reported.

“Well? Don't keep us waiting, Grey Ghost.” Musashi spoke icily.

“She said he doesn't care about this base or our mission. He chose this assignment to make rank without seeing combat since we can fight on our own. He believes that giving an order every now and then and writing reports to NHQ will get him fast-tracked to a position higher up the food chain. He has no experience in leadership. His promotions were likely gained through nepotism. His speciality before his time in NHQ was accounting and paperwork. He's an incompetent pencil pusher.” Enterprise replied.

“That sounds like a perfect storm of shitty decisions. Anything else?” Jean Bart asked.

“Unfortunately. The higher ups want the books here cleaned. ‘Clean up the books and trim the fat.’ That's what his orders are. Commander James going missing gave them the opportunity to slash into our funding. I'd prepare to tighten the belt quite a bit. I fear we may soon find ourselves rationing equipment and munitions. This comes from the secretary he almost fired due to me entering the Command Center.” Enterprise spoke.

“He almost fired her?! What the hell was she going to do?!” Jean Bart raged.

“Correction. He did fire her, but I told her she isn't going anywhere. I also said that I personally would drive off any NHQ plane that is brought in specifically to do away with her. This commander seems to be a control freak.” Enterprise spoke, silencing the room.

“We need to get her out and into the dorms. She could be targeted for any number of things just to get her gone. It undermines his authority to have someone he feels has betrayed him still working for him. He can't touch us, but he can make her life hell.” Vittorio spoke, concern evident in her tone.

“That's what I was thinking. She couldn't have stopped any number of us. It takes entire navies to halt someone like any of the people in this room. He isn't thinking objectively, and that provides a sobering amount of detail into the truth of that woman's words.” Richelieu said.

“So what? We can't risk more people being affected.” New Jersey asked.

“We keep an eye on things. If it looks like things are getting worse, I'll send in Kirishima and Akatsuki to collect her and her effects. They've mapped out the security cameras during previous administrations, so they can get in and out without being seen by the cameras. It helped quite a bit when Taihou took one of the previous commanders hostage in his office.” Musashi spoke.

“If Nakhimov were here, I could have her fry the security system altogether. We hardwired a backdoor into the mainframe inside the Parliament dorms.” Soyuz spoke.

“Speaking of… didn't Friedrich take her and Kearsarge to tow away the rescue party's vessels? They should have been back by now.” Bismarck asked.

The room went quiet.

“Do you think they perhaps got ambushed by the Sirens during the last attack?” Enterprise asked.

“Plausible. But that would mean that the Sirens knew they'd be gone.” Bismarck said.

Soyuz grimaced.

“Up until recently… they knew everything, unfortunately.” Soyuz spoke.

The room looked at her.

“Excuse me?” New Jersey asked coldly.

“When I turned Nakhimov loose on the security system following the assignment of the new Commander and Comrade James's disappearance, she eventually discovered a backdoor into our security system that wasn't implemented by any one faction. Nakhimov dated it back to approximately the third commander's reign. So… thirty years ago. They've been able to watch us through our security system for thirty years. Once I was informed, I had Nakhimov patch the vulnerability, but it was clear that they could have known about everything involving Comrade James and his disappearance.” Soyuz spat, her tone one of harsh self loathing.

“Don't beat yourself up. Nobody could have seen it coming. If it took the Parliament's hyper-intelligent android to even uncover the vulnerability, nobody on base could have managed it. I doubt Kearsarge noticed it, and she's leagues above Gascogne in terms of technical knowhow.” Jean Bart spoke pointedly.

“Correct. Gascogne is not meant for development purposes, her core functionality is to aid in battle, just like Alsace. Her subroutines direct all of her computing power into formulating battle strategy and optimizing offensive and defensive measures. She has no hope against the analytical might of the Eagle Union or Northern Parliament.” Richelieu admitted.

“I hate to admit it, but they're right, Jersey. Kearsarge isn't solely used for maintaining security. She's our top research scientist. She splits her computing power between research and combat. The Parliament very rarely, if ever, allows Nakhimov to see the light of day due to her curious nature and destructive tendencies. Remember when they let her out during the pool party to celebrate Commander James's assignment? She found the controller to the pool's heating system and inadvertently set it hot enough to boil because the water was too cold for her liking. We had to evacuate half the base due to the evaporation of the chlorine in the pool water. Or how about when she knocked out power to the radar array because the internet feed was too slow to stream something she wanted to watch. It took them over a month to track down the fried circuits that she shorted to redirect the power. They keep her in the secondary lab. It's natural for her processing units to be geared more towards anything technology based given her limited combat experience.” Enterprise spoke.

New Jersey grumbled something incoherent.

“Fine whatever. Where are they now?” New Jersey asked.

“Radar suggests we lost them somewhere between Guam and Wake. They never properly showed up on radar, but a sunken aircraft carrier from the last attack shows they were well outside our attack range. The attack came just after we got confirmation that they had left the storage facility on Guam.” Elizabeth spoke.

“Put together a fleet. Non-essential personnel. Ting An, Kashino, and a few of the subs. Set up a search pattern between here and Guam. We'll look for any signs of life before expanding the search. No way those three went down without putting up one hell of a fight.” New Jersey ordered.

“Flasher, Archerfish, and Albacore can manage. They've gotten long range patrols under their belt and can determine safer routes.” Enterprise proposed.

“I would advise replacing one with one of ours, Enterprise. With Kashino there, she can help one of ours during a longer patrol, but our sonar tech is a lot more advanced and has a longer range. I'd personally like to recommend U-556 for the assignment.” Bismarck spoke.

“I'd take 556 over Albacore. She hasn't been herself for a long time, not since the previous Commander sent Taihou to the Arctic. She does fine when she's here, but her performance on solo patrols and wolfpack patrols leaves much to be desired.” Enterprise said.

New Jersey nodded.

“Give the orders. Have them leave tonight under the cover of night. The new commander doesn't seem to give a damn, so let's make it easy.” New Jersey said as the room nodded and went their own ways to execute their plan.