Exodus: Waves of Steel
Prologue: Exodus
- 2087
After a long and bloody civil war, the new nation of Lorentia forms, with the country's former generals ascending to power. While the world is relieved to see this conflict come to an end, the generals' rise to take the reigns of the country causes some nations to express their concerns. The generals assure that they have no expansionist views and only want to see their nation strive and its people prosper.
- 2096
After almost a decade of silence, internal reforms, and rebuilding, Lorentia makes its first deceleration of war at one of its neighboring countries. The international community watches with great concern at this, as the statements made by the country almost a decade ago seem to have been nothing but empty words.
- 2097
After a year of constant war, Lorentia manages to conquer the last of its neighboring countries, and for the nation's first time in history, gain access to sea. This sudden expansion has caused many nations to denounce the leaders of Lorentia and their actions. In the annual UN meeting, with overwhelming support, sanctions are imposed to Lorentia, both in trade and in its military. Some nation leaders threaten with military intervention if Lorentia doesn't comply with their demands. Lorentia cuts its military budget and spending by almost in half, while reducing its military personnel greatly, signing it accepts the demands...for now. Analysts predict that the country will most likely crumble on in itself, noting that such heavy sanctions will ruin its economy and stability.
- 2099
While Lorentia seems to remain passive and keep abiding by the demands that had been imposed on it, secret talks are being held between three major powers. In the annual UN meeting, Lorentia's representative, Simon Crowell, states that the sanctions are greatly impeding the nation's and its people economic growth, and petitions for their lift. In a voting that lasts three days, with a final result of 79-64, the trade restrictions are lifted, while the military ones remain. In secret, Lorentia starts increasing its military assets, both in equipment and personnel. The first military naval yard finishes construction, while two more are planned to be built within the next years. Its first commercial satellite is also successfully launched into space, marking a significant milestone for its space program.
- 2100
The three prominent nations of Darkköchavya, Erusia and Belka announce the creation of a new military alliance between them, called Alliance of Sovereign Powers, or ASP for short. This causes great confusion within the international community, with many voicing their concerns that the world is heading towards the path of war yet again. Lorentia, not letting this chance slip by, starts developing its heavy industry more actively, while continuing strengthening its military. Many secret, military projects get approved, with Lorentia's brightest scientists working on them.
- 2109
In an event that once again tips the balance of the world's power, Lorentia announces the annexation of two of its neighboring nations. The ASP and the UN react to this, demanding an explanation and the immidiate release of the nations, but Lorentia simply states that the annexation has been done by democratic means and by following all international laws. Despite this, many nations start mobilizing their armies, fearing a war is inevitable. As Dr. Edward Miller, professor of geopolitics at the National University of Erusia, states in an interview about the world's current situation, "We have sadly reached the point of no return. Lorentia has already switched its production and economy to these of war times, while military exercises from their forces become more and more common. Other nations have started doing the same, greatly increasing their military spendings, and even mobilizing their armies. World leaders have already started choosing sides and making alliances of their own. I'm afraid that a global war...is inevitable."
- February 3rd, 2110
At the early hours of February 3rd, Lorentia declares war at one of its neighboring countries, sparking a chain reaction across the world and plunging almost every nation, small or big, into a global conflict.
- February 14th, 2110
Eleven days after the initial war declaration by Lorentia, and seeing their vast military power, the ASP joins in the war against it. Many nations, mostly the ones fighting against Lorentia, join the ASP. Seeing this, Lorentia quickly moves to conquer any nations that have yet to join the alliance or fighting with other nations. The 1st Lorentian fleet is formed, consisting of mostly naval ships from the conquered countries.
- July 5th, 2110
As the last independent nations either get conquered by Lorentia or join the ASP, the war comes to a halt, with both major powers having made no significant gains against each other in the past weeks. A temporary truce is agreed between both sides.
- July 6th, 2110
The next of the truce, Lorentia starts repairing damaged infrastructure, as well finding new sources of resources and improving and/or repairing existing ones. The leaders of Lorentia announce war relief will be provided to all civilians affected by the war, regardless of their original country. They also state that no civilian will be mistreated, and promise for a comfortable lifestyle within the influence of Lorentia. Lorentia also launches their first ships of indigenous design, creating the 2nd Lorentian fleet.
- August 15th, 2110
The first cases of civilian mistreatment by Lorentian soldiers start appearing in the former country of Bermia Republic. The people start rioting, demanding that these men are brought to justice. The Lorentian command reacts swiftly before the situation can devolve any further, apprehending said soldiers and putting them on a public trial, sending a clear message to the Lorentian army that no disobedience will be tolerated. This seems to somewhat salvage the situation, but it does little to stop the formation of resistance groups within conquered lands. It also causes many Lorentian citizens to protest at the severe punishment that was given to the soldiers.
- September 24th, 2110
Seeing the sticky situation Lorentia is on at the moment, trying to deal with its internal problems, the ASP starts amassing forces at the borders, while aiding the resistance cells to cause a greater commotion and distract them for long enough for the Alliance to launch a surprise offensive across all fronts.
- October 3rd, 2110
The ASP launches their surprise offensive, breaking the truce and catching Lorentia off-guard. Lorentian command scrambles to mount a counter-offensive, but since a great part of the army is pre-occupied with dealing with the resistance cells that have only been growing stronger day by day, they are unable to hold their ground. The ASP manages to reclaim a great deal of land within the first few days of the surprise offensive, though this slows down as the Lorentian army starts putting more and more resistance.
- October 15th, 2110
ASP forces keep pushing further and further into occupied territory, with the Lorentians desperately trying to stop them. The sinking of the 1st Lorentian fleet by the 3rd Combined fleet also acts as a boost morale for the Alliance.
- October 16th, 2110
At 04:00 AM, an ASP squadron of strategic bombers veers off course thanks to it entering a thunderstorm, and carpet bombs a civilian city within Lorentia's occupied territory instead of their designated target. The city is leveled to the ground, with civilian casualties being the highest that have ever been recorded till that point of the war. Lorentia's propaganda officers are quick to capitalize on this and use it to portray ASP as an evil alliance made of greedy people that just want to conquer the world. Later that day, one of Lorentia's leaders, general David J. Delmayer gives a grand speech that gets shown everywhere in Lorentia, promising that this hideous act the ASP has committed will not remain unanswered. The speech, along with the swift response of Lorentia's search and rescue parties to help the surviving civilians skyrockets Lorentia's public opinion within the occupied territories, causing the recruitment offices to flood with volunteers.
- December 16th, 2110
After two months of constant fighting, Lorentian forces finally enter ASP territory. Lorentia starts fielding advanced tech into the battlefield, causing heavy amounts of casualties to ASP. Lorentia also launches three new spy satellites, of which two are intercepted by ASP's anti-orbital missile systems. Excellent use of espionage and sabotage aims to destroy the Alliance from within.
- April 2nd, 2111
Lorentia steadily advances through ASP territory with light to medium resistance thanks to their advanced weapons. On the other hand, Lorentia has a hard time on the sea, with ASP's Combined fleets scoring some major victories against Lorentia's fleets, and even sinking the 2nd Lorentian fleet at the gulf of Taltebhor. Lorentia launches its fifth fleet, dubbed the "Grand Fleet", due to its sheer size and technological prowess.
- August 30th, 2111
After months of fighting a losing war, at the ASP's convention taking place at the city of St. Loraine, 54 out of 56 nations agree to the temporary unification of their armies under a single command, giving birth to the Union of Sovereign Powers, or USP for short. Through this, the USP is somewhat successful at slowing down Lorentia's advance, but is unable to turn the tide of the war. Lorentia launches their first experimental O.W.P. (Orbital Weapons Platform) that carries an experimental, classified WMD.
- June 30th, 2112
Almost a year after the formation of USP, Lorentia has backed USP into a corner, winning every battle in all fronts, while the pride and joy of their nation, the Grand Fleet, has sunk almost all of USP's Combined fleets. USP had introduced many advanced technologies in the battlefield in the passing months, but it seems it was too little too late. Lorentian command discernes that if they are to secure their victory, they need to attack and capture certain strategic targets. One of them is the coastal fortress-base of Whitehead.
Thursday, June 30th, 2112
15:45 PM
Coastal Fortress-base of Whitehead, Command Room
Inside the base's sizable command room, several military personnel run all around it, all speaking to one another, exchanging PDAs, or transferring documents to one another through them. Several computer terminals cover the room, with each one having its own operator, who monitors the situation outside the base and keeps in touch with part of the deployed forces.
In the middle of the room, at a part that it's slightly higher than the rest of the floor, a holographic table settles that shows the lay of the land, as well as both allied and enemy forces. Standing next to the table is a woman at the age of 29, with her height being around 170cm (5.6ft). Her thick and braided, blonde hair that reach all the way to her butt is swept over her left shoulder and looped around her neck like an impromptu scarf. She wears the standard uniform of a USP officer, which is a gray dress coat with red trimming on the edges. Over each shoulder, a gray epaulet with red trimming on its edges and 2 golden stars inside it settles, showing her rank. Her beautiful, bright blue eyes gaze at the holographic projection with great concern, looking at the myriad of red dots, both big and small, that surround the base, a hexagonal fortress made from concrete and steel, which has been built only a few meters away from a nearby beach. In the beach, almost next to the fortress, settles a naval yard as well as a small supply port with two big piers.
As she keeps peering at the table deep in thought, a young man quickly runs to her, stopping only a few steps behind her.
"Commander!" the man says and salutes the woman, which causes her to snap out of her thoughts and turn around.
"At ease, lieutenant," she says and waves at the man to lower his hand, so the lieutenant complies and quickly hands her over a PDA.
"The casualty report you asked five minutes ago," he says as the commander quickly scrolls through it, scanning its every detail, then handing it back.
"Have some of the reserves move to reinforce some of the units at the flanks. Also get me a detailed report of our armored platoons, and have platoons Echo and Yankee move at the center of the defensive line; we cannot allow the enemy to advance any further!" she orders, and the man immediately salutes.
"Ma'am!" he says and goes away. Several muffled explosions shake the room, with the lights flickering for a moment.
"Commander, the enemy has started shelling the base!" one of the operators from a nearby terminal shouts, and the commander turns her attention at the holographic map. Behind the red swarm of dots that surrounds the fortress in most of its sides, a few red dots appear marked by a red ring surrounding them. Adjusting her glasses, she spends a few seconds contemplating on what course of action to take. She can't send any land troops, since the enemy has them surrounded, but she can't let the artillery to keep pounding them like that. Every second that passes, more and more blue dots keep disappearing from the holographic map, while others retreat back inside the fortress.
Walking at the operator who had talked to her, she taps her shoulder to gain her attention. "Launch as many FX-190s we have and order them to attack the enemy's artillery."
"B-But Ma'am, the enemy has considerable AA assets deployed, as well holds air superiority over the base," the operator states quickly.
"It doesn't matter. If we don't take care of the artillery, our units will be wiped out. Now get to it," she orders and goes back to the holographic map. Along the way, she grabs a passing officer by her arm, forcing her to walk with her. "Make a detailed report on the extent of damages the fortress has sustained and get it to me in five minute tops." Releasing the officer, who immediately runs away to compile the report, another officer runs to her, stopping in front of her and panting greatly.
"Commander...hah...hah...the enemy has...hah," the man pants, trying to catch his breath.
"What is it, Lieutenant Harris?" the commander asks quickly, passing the man and stepping at the raised part of the room where the table with the holographic map is.
"The enemy...they...their armored spearhead has managed to break through the second line of defense!"
"What!?" the woman says in shock and quickly runs at the holographic map. Indeed, as the man has said, a swarm of red dots is passing from a single point that has opened in the second line of defense, with the blue dots there either pushing away from the red ones, or disappearing completely. "Dammit," she curses, then whips her head at the man. "Order all units to retreat at the final defense line, then get in touch with High Command, explain the situation and ask for immediate reinforcements and support!" she orders immediately, sparing not even an extra second at him, turning to look at the holographic map.
Sighing heavily, she retrieves an earpiece that has a mic from one of her dress coat's pockets, then places it in her ear and adjusts the microphone. Pressing a button that is on it, she starts talking.
"To all units both inside the fortress and outside of it, this is Commander Ray B. Fletcher speaking." Everyone inside the command room turns to look at her, stopping whatever they might be doing. "The enemy has pushed us in our final defense line, and there are no signs of turning the tide of the battle. Therefore, I'm activating Protocol 23 and putting the whole base on lockdown. We must not allow the enemy to enter at any cost! If that happens, Command has authorized me to destabilize the fusion reactor in the power plant underneath the fortress. This will most likely cause a massive explosion that will annihilate everything in a several-kilometers radius. That's all." An eerie silence fills the room for a few moments, then everyone resumes with their work. Pressing the button that is on the earpiece, she gets it out her ear and puts it back in one of her dress coat's pockets. She never liked those things, always felt strange on her ear; she'd much rather wear a headset, but it wouldn't be that practical in this situation.
Suddenly, several alarms start blaring inside the room, while at least a dozen warning lights get activated, bathing the room's interior with a bright red light.
"Dammit, what now?" she mutters to herself and walks towards the closest operator. "Give me a status report, now!"
The operator immediately starts typing on her terminal, her monitor changing to a black screen and several rows of green text scrolling through it quickly. "Several jet squadrons along with a bomber squadron have breached the base's airspace and are en route to the fortress, ETA 4 minutes. Our Anti-Air defense systems should come online any moment now."
"What's the status of the drones?"
"They are about to be launched."
"Change priority target to the bombers, and set as secondary objective the interception of the jets; leave some of them with their original orders, we need to deal with the artillery too," the commander says at the operator, as the officer who had gone to compile the damage report on the fortress returns.
"Commander, I have the-" Before she can finish her sentence, Ray turns around and grabs the PDA from her hands, quickly scrolling through the report.
"Update it and also get me a report on our munitions stocks." Giving the lieutenant the PDA, she makes her way back to the holographic map. From one of its ends, several light red dots appear, flying over the map at V formations, while 5 dark red dots appear flying behind them.
"Great, they are protecting each bomber individually," she grumbles as several blue dots start getting launched from the fortress' top, making their way towards the flying red ones. Both red and blue dots start disappearing as the drones engage the enemy's aerial forces, with anti-air cannon fire and missiles from both sides filling the sky. Lieutenant Harris returns at the holographic map, holding a PDA with his right hand.
"Did you contact Command?" Ray asks, glancing at him for only a second. The man nods, though his serious expression has told her the answer already.
"Yes. They said they can't spare any reinforcements at the moment, but they have sent two Ajax squadrons to support us, ETA 25 minutes," he answers and Ray sighs heavily.
"Might as well have said no support is coming at all." The blue dots at the final defense line keep disappearing at an alarming rate, while two of the dark red dots have managed to safely exit the dogfight area and are heading straight for the fortress. "Even if we shoot down the bombers and neutralize the artillery guns, the enemy is about to break through our final defense line, and there is no way to reinforce them with the base on lockdown."
"I'm afraid this isn't even our worst problem," he says and gives Ray the PDA he had been holding.
Sweat starts forming on her head as she starts reading the report the PDA contains, her face draining of most of its color. "No way... The Grand Fleet is moving toward us? But then...that means..."
"The 2nd Combined fleet has been annihilated, with all ships, minus a CV and a BBG, presumed sunk. There were two DDGs and a Frigate that didn't take part in the battle, but they have disconnected from the grid and their positions are unknown."
"So, even if we manage to repel the enemy, the Grand Fleet will simply get in range and shell us till nothing remains." Her face changes expression to one of frustration as she gives Harris back his PDA. "You have their ETA?"
"Based on their last position, about an hour," he answers.
"Not that much." Thinking for a few seconds, she notices that the bombers which had been making a beeline straight for the fortress have changed course and are moving away from the combat zone. Some of the jets are also withdrawing, though the ones engaged with the drones keep fighting. "What the-"
"Commander, we have spotted three unknown vessels at radar and receiving a transmission from one of them; they say they are USP," a nearby operator says loudly.
"Patch it in my comms!" she orders and quickly retrieves her earpiece and places it on her ear.
"I repeat, this is Captain Roselda G. Hunt, captain of the USPS Vin F. Gerebise. Whitehead base, please respond!"
"This is Ray B. Fletcher, commander of Whitehead base. What's your current status? You do not appear to be connected in the network," Ray immediately tells, then covers her microphone and whispers to Harris. "Have the naval guns aimed at them in case they are not aliied vessels." Harris nods and goes away, while Ray removes her hand.
"We were with the 2nd Combined fleet moving to intercept the Grand Fleet, when USPS Aigaion hit a naval mine at its starboard side. Me and USPS Dimosthenis Giannetos were ordered to escort the Aigaion at the closest naval yard, which is at Whitehead. We were forced to disconnect from the network when enemy hackers attempted to take control of our ships' systems!"
By the time the girl finishes talking, Ray is already processing what she has heard. If they are from the 2nd Combined fleet, then they must be the missing ships, but she can't be sure.
"I ordered one of the operators to run a search at the Naval archives and everything checks out; the naval guns have already zeroed on their position," Harris whispers from her right, and Ray takes a moment to think.
"What's the extent of damage to the Aigaion? Can it safely make it to our naval yard?" Ray asks Roselda while shaking her head to indicate Harris not to fire the naval guns.
"The flooding is under control, but they are listing a lot." There is a small pause, then the captain continues. "Their captain says that they can make it on their own."
"Alright, listen carefully. I want all three of you to connect to our network and start data synchronization. Then plot course to the coordinates you'll receive and start shelling the enemy forces that are sieging our base," she orders and turns back to the holographic map, where three big blue dots appear at its edge to indicate where the allied vessels are. How the hell did they even get this close to the base without spotting them?
"But our orders are-" Roselda tries to explain, but Ray immediately cuts her off.
"Then belay that orders! You are now under my command, captain."
"Understood, Ma'am," the captain responds and terminates the transmission.
"Harris, listen up. This might buy us a few precious minutes, but tell the personnel at the power plant to make preparations for destabilizing the fusion reactor. If the extra support doesn't get the enemy to retreat, then we'll proceed with Protocol 35."
"Understood," Harris says and gulps audibly, then goes away.
Looking at the holographic map, Ray sees something she thought she'd never be able to witness. The enemy forces have stopped attacking the last scraps of defenders that remain at the final defense line, and are actually retreating at full speed away from the combat zone.
"Commander, the enemy forces have stopped their advance and are retreating from the combat zone at full speed! Their airforce is withdrawing too!" one of the operators says loudly and everyone grows silent inside the room. The unthinkable has happened, they have managed to somehow force the enemy to retreat.
"We've won!" another operator shouts and the room bursts with cheers and shouts, people hugging each other and clapping at the impossible feat they have achieved today.
Only one person seems to be keeping her cool, looking intensely at the rest of the personnel inside the room.
"Calm down, everyone, calm down!" Ray shouts, and everyone quiets down, with some people giving her confused looks. "We aren't out of the woods, yet. Even if the enemy is indeed retreating and not regrouping for another push, Lorentia's Grand Fleet will be here in less than an hour, and we definitely aren't prepared to fight against such a large naval force." The atmosphere suddenly turns tense, and everyone loses their smile from their face. "For now, start transmitting every data we have back to command and prepare to evacuate! I'm lifting the base's lockdown, but the plan remains unchanged. After transmitting all data and evacuating, we'll destabilize the fusion reactor and leave nothing behind for the enemy! Now get going, we don't have that much time!"
Everyone immediately springs to action, running around frantically. In the meantime, Ray makes her way towards one of the nearby operators.
"Operator, access the Naval Archives and see if the battle between the Grand Fleet and the 2nd Combined Fleet was recorded," she says and the operator nods.
"Commander Fletcher, we have noticed that the enemy has withdrawn from the combat area. What are our orders, now?" Roselda asks through the comms and Ray presses her earpiece to talk.
"Escort the Aigaion to our naval yard, then dock at the port next to it and await to take aboard civilians; we are evacuating the base before the Grand Fleet arrives," she answers.
"The Grand Fleet is coming here?" Roselda asks in surprise, but Ray doesn't answer, pressing her earpiece and terminating the transmission.
"Found it yet?"
"Yes, the network recorded it," the operator responds. "Though it's only GPS movements of the ships and their logs. It's rather difficult to read it and understand what happened."
"It's fine, we can let the IT guys back at HQ sort it out. Is the data being transmitted?" Ray asks.
"Yes, though it might take some time to complete."
"Then give priority to the lab's data; it's more valuable than the Naval Archives," she says and goes away, just as a panting Harris stops besides her.
"The fusion reactor is ready to be destabilized. Just give the order and the men at the power plant will proceed," Harris says after catching his breath.
"Good, everything is proceeding as expected. Have the reserves move out and reinforce the final defense line in case the enemy decides to attack again. We'll first evacuate any high priority personnel we might have, then the civilians and finally us. If we are fast enough, we might even evade the Grand Fleet," Ray orders Harris, who salutes and goes away. Taking a moment to clear her head, she slightly massages her forehead and sighs through her nose, like she is physically venting her frustration of this whole situation.
What will it really take to stop Lorentia at this point? she thinks, then starts going to one of the operators to see how the evacuation is progressing.
"Commander!" one of the operators shouts from the other side of the room, and many people turn to look at her. "We have detected a Lorentian transmission being broadcasted on all airwaves!" The girl pauses, carefully listening at the broadcast. Ray just looks towards her direction with a sceptical expression. Lorentia has a state-of-the-art encryption when it comes to communications, so why would they transmit it in every available frequency? "You need to listen to it ASAP!"
"Put it on the speakers!" Ray orders and the speakers inside the room static for a second, then they start playing the transmission.
"My dear brothers and sisters, this day marks a historical moment for Lorentia and its people."
"Wait a minute, I recognize this voice..." Ray whispers to herself, widening her eyes in pure shock. "It can't be..."
"After almost two years of constant war, we are finally within reach of the unified world we once only dreamt of."
"Why is one of Lorentia's leaders, Delmayer, giving a speech?" Ray wonders aloud, feeling something dreadful crawling in her spine. Last time this man made a speech, it was after the fiasco with the bombing of a civilian city.
"Our Grand Fleet, the pride and joy of Lorentia has sunk USP's last fleet, the 2nd Combined Fleet, and is now moving towards the Gulf of Leetün to blockade the USP's capital of Saint Loraine, while our ground troops steadily advance on all fronts, capturing more and more USP territory and liberating its citizens from their oppressive control."
The last fleet? Does that mean that the the 3rd and 4th Combined fleets have been sunk as well? Their troops are also advancing on all fronts and the Grand Fleet isn't moving towards us? What the hell is going on!?
"You, get in contact with HQ and inform them that the Grand Fleet is moving towards Saint Loraine to blockade the city!" she orders a nearby officer who immediately goes away. "Are we the only ones that managed to hold out?" she mutters to herself as she dedicates her utmost attention at the broadcast.
"The sacrifices that have been made by us all, the blood of heroes that has painted our lands, the tears that we have shed for our loved ones, the pain that we have been forced to endure all this time!"
"Commander, we are picking up energy spikes in the vicinity of the base!" an operator shouts and the holographic map at the holographic table disappears, a diagram showing energy flactuations taking its place over the table.
"Contact Command and tell them what's going on! This is certainly something we've never seen!" Ray orders as she runs at the holographic table, looking at the readings in disbelief. "Do we have any drones in the air?"
"But today, all of these end!"
"We still have a few FX-190s that survived the dogfight and are patrolling the airspace!" an officer responds.
"Have them fly over at the energy spikes and scout the area! There must be something causing this!"
"Today, we show this corrupt union what true cooperation between the people can achieve!"
"W-We can't do that! The energy spikes are all around us! They are surrounding us!" the operator says back, furiously typing at her terminal. "It's like we are in a circle's center with a radius of 40 kilometers!"
"Commander, I can't get in contact with Command! Our communications must be getting jammed!" the operator that had been tasked with contacting HQ says loudly, and panic and chaos starts slowly descending inside the room.
"What are we gonna do now!?"
"Aaahhhh, I don't want to die!"
"What the hell is even going on!?"
"Today, we show them what we, who are unified can achieve, which they who are divided can only dream of."
"Everyone calm down!" Ray shouts as the situation keeps devolving further and further, trying to salvage it before it gets out of control. "We must not start panicking now, especially when we don't know what we are facing!"
"Commander, the sensors picked up an immense energy spike!"
"Where?" Ray asks quickly, but the operator remains silent. "Answer me, Private!"
"I-It's... It's from space, Ma'am..." the operator answers so quiet that Ray is barely able to hear her over the noise inside the room.
"Did you just say space!?" she shouts in pure shock and disbelief, her eyes wide as much as it's humanly possible. Suddenly, an intense ringing grasps her hearing, so intense in fact that she presses her hands tightly against her ears and falls to her knees. Everyone inside does the same, covering their ears and either falling to the ground from the pain, or trying to support themselves on the nearby computer terminals.
"Aaaahhhhh!" Ray screams from the pain, and she can feel her ears bleeding slightly, the blood seeping between her hands' fingers.
"Today, we build the foundations of ending this war for good!"
"C-Commander! T-The energy spike is...it's overloading our sensors! It's moving towards us!" one of the operators screams, somehow finding the strength to ignore the pain and ringing in her bleeding ears and actually keep track of the information scrolling through his monitor.
Ray tries to stand up using her right leg, feeling as if gravity has increased multiple times. If this is some kind of superweapon that targets only humans and leaves buildings intact, she needs to give the order for Protocol 35's initiation now. Standing up with all her might, she presses her earpiece and shouts what will most likely be her final order.
"Today, we make history."
"Initiate Protocol-!"
But before she can finish her sentence, the ringing stops and her vision goes completely white. Her body grows numb everywhere and the pain goes away; the only feeling she has is as if she is floating in water. Everything is so calm, so serene. It's as if she has died and gone to the afterlife. This lasts but a few seconds, before everything turns black and she finally loses consciousness.
At the bridge of DDG Vin F. Gerebise
Opening slowly her green eyes, Roselda finds herself lying on the bridge's metal floor, part of her vision blocked by her long, red hair that would normally reach all the way to her upper back. Moving them aside and raising herself a little with her hands, she looks around to see how the rest of her crew is, finding some lying unconscious on the floor, while others are starting to get up and checking on the rest.
"Captain, are you alright?" she hears someone say and looks up to find a man quickly approaching her and kneeling besides her.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine, don't worry," she smiles at the man and tries to stand up, when she suddenly feels her stomach clenching and its contents rising up to her mouth. Before she can put her hands over her mouth, she immediately leans to the side and vomits, releasing everything her stomach had been holding.
"Captain! Are you sure you are feeling okay? Maybe you should go at the infirmary to rest," the man that is kneeling besides her says alarmed, but Roselda shakes her head.
"I'm fine, really. I simply vomited, nothing too severe," Roselda responds after she wipes her mouth with her uniform's sleeve, which is a standard USP Naval officer's coat colored blue with red trimmings that is worn over a black service dress with red trimmings on the edges. Coughing a little and taking a few, deep breaths, she dusts off her white pleated skirt and black thigh highs that are part of her uniform, then tries to stand up with the help of the man that is kneeling next to her.
"Go and get me a status report about the ship and the crew immediately. We need to know if the ship is in any condition to fight or not," she orders and the man nods, saluting before going away. "If anyone is still unconscious or injured, get them to the infirmary. The rest of you remain at your stations, we don't know whether the enemy will attack again or not," she says at the rest of the crew inside the bridge, who had been looking at her with concerned expressions. "And get someone to clear this mess." Everyone gets back to their posts, and Roselda looks at the right of her ship and finds a warship similar to hers, while in the distance she can see the coastline and the base. It seems no damage was done to Ryan's ship. I wonder what kind of weapon was that beam of light the Lorentians used. Thankfully it didn't damage either the naval yard nor the fortress. Which reminds me...
"Yumiko, contact the Dimosthenis Giannetos and the Aigaion, and ask about their status, then contact base and ask if we should continue with our orders," Roselda turns and orders her communications officer.
"Yes, Ma'am," Yumiko answers back.
"Captain, I've got multiple, unknown contacts at north, north-west, distance 20 kilometers," the radar operator says suddenly and Roselda moves at him to look at the operator's monitor.
"Enemy contacts? Though they seem too small to be warships," Roselda notes, looking at the 10+ small dots that are quickly moving towards them, comparing their size to the blip the Dimosthenis Giannetos and the Aigaion are leaving.
"Probably fishing boats, though their numbers and speed are worrying," the radar operator says and Roselda nods, she too gazing at the radar contacts with suspicion.
"Ma'am, I can't contact anyone. Communications are down and we have been disconnected from Whitehead's network," Yumiko reports calmly as she keeps typing in her terminal various commands. "I think that beam of light we saw has somehow knocked out our communications." Stopping her typing, she turns her head to look at Roselda. "What shall we do, Ma'am?"
"Reboot our communication systems, then try contacting them again," Roselda turns away from the radar monitor and orders Yumiko, then turns back to keep observing the radar contacts and decide on what to do next. "Huh? Where did the contacts go?" Roselda asks in surprise as the radar monitor is blank except for the allied contacts.
"I-I don't know... One moment they were on the screen, and the next they...they just vanished!" the radar operator exclaims, being at a loss for words over this sudden disappearance.
"What the hell..." Roselda says, but as the radar sweep scans the space in front of the ship, a single dot like the ones that had disappeared appears at the 5-kilometer mark.
"What the-" the radar operator starts saying but Roselda immediately looks up from the screen, approximately at where the contact is.
"There is nothing there," she whispers to herself as she scans the sea in front of her. Squeezing her eyes and looking a bit more carefully, she manages to make out a black "thing" in the distance, sticking out of the sea like some kind of rock. Walking in the center of the bridge and grabbing the binoculars that stand on top of the ship's console, she uses them to get a better look at the black rock that has so suddenly appeared.
"What in the name of God is this?" she whispers in shock, her eyes widening as much as they can. This black rock is anything but that, looking more like a small, black whale that it's peeking out of the water like a dolphin, with a pair of tiny, blue, dimming eyes with slit pupils that are placed like that of a fish looking towards them.
"Captain, is everything alright?" the helmsman asks from his position, seeing Roselda's face has become pale.
But Roselda doesn't respond. Instead, she keeps looking at the black creature, which gets more of its body out of the water, revealing itsmouth made made from a row of white, human-like teeth. Opening it, Roselda spots a black, barrel-like object inside it. If she could describe its shape more accurately, it resembled the barrel of a 5inch cannon. Whatever this "thing" is, it doesn't seem to have friendly intentions.
Lowering her binoculars, she instantly turns at the weapons officer and shouts at him with a shocked expression.
"Target the unknown contact and open fire!"
Boom!
Looking back at the creature with widened eyes, Roselda sees a puff of smoke rising out of the barrel-like object, and a 5inch shell arcing through the air, aimed directly at them.
A/N: Thank you for reading till this point, I hope you liked it! This is my first time writing a Kancolle fanfic, and frankly speaking, I've had really minor exposure to it. Thankfully my co-author, E-50MasterRace, is more knowledgeable at it than me. Also some disclaimers, we own nothing except for our OCs and our native language isn't English, so expect grammatical errors here and there. In any case, if you liked it and want to see how the story progresses, follow and favorite it. Also, if you have the time, please leave a review, it'll immensely help. Have a nice day/night!
C-A/N: E-50 here, thank you very much for reading our first chapter of the story. Me and my friend, aGuestfromGreece45, wanted to try a Kancolle fic. This was what we came up with. I'm already sure some of you already know some of the references (not that there are many) as you read the story, but we wanted to make the otherworlders to be from a world different from ours to avoid showing preference to certain countries, while freely coming up with ideas more "fictional" (also one of the reasons why the other world ears are from the future). Again, thank you for reading up to this point and expect for more as me and Guest were really excited while writing this and we'll definitely be continuing it. Please review if you can as your opinion and criticism will greatly benefit us to seeing upon what we can imrove on. Have a nice day/night! E-50 rolling out!