Chapter One: Pride and Loss of the Lone Wolf
A/N: G'day everyone! Now, you may or may not be familiar with me by now. As I've Co-Written Spartan and Wolf: Realities Collide with Arisentactica (Arisentactica: Check it out please). However, as this story is my idea (Arisen: it was a joint idea), Arisentactica will be taking the backseat co-writing role on this one, and he will be featuring his newly created OCs for this story (Arisen: only one main character).
A/N for Arisentactica: Well… I don't know how this will end up, but let's give it a shot. WE OWN NOTHING but our own characters! Arpeggio of Blue Steel belongs to its creators not us! M for blood and gore.
Date: Year 2048. All other date and time information unavailable.
Location: Unknown, Suspected to be somewhere in the Pacific Ocean near unknown island
The air rumbled with the sounds of explosions. The US Fog Pacific Patrol Fleet 5, made up of four Iowa-class battleships, eighteen Fletcher-class destroyers, six Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, three Alaska-class battlecruisers and eleven St. Louis-class light cruisers, continued to hammer an absolute bastion of a battleship that was black in color, with vibrant electric blue lightning patterns and boasted five quad-barrelled gun batteries. The ship's armor absorbed each hit the Fleet of Fog dealt, and the battleship dealt it's own damage with devastating efficiency. Each turret fired their shells at their own individual targets, of which their Klein Fields were quickly drained, and the ships sunk with three volleys for the battleships and battlecruisers and two for the cruisers and destroyers each. The big battleship had no real need to use a full broadside until the Iowa-class battleships, Alaska-class battlecruisers, and the bulk of the St. Louis-class cruisers joined the fight, launching corrosive torpedoes and missiles en masse. At that point, the battleship's entire deck opened up, revealing at least 180 missile tubes loaded and ready to fire.
The battleship's five deck mounted gun batteries diverted their attention onto one of the four Iowa-class battleships, and fired. All twenty shells hit the much smaller battleship and overloaded it's Klein Field before piercing the armor. Half a second later, the doomed ship erupted into a massive fireball. But the second volley was already on its way to the second Iowa as the battleship's missile array launched, each tube spitting out four missiles in quick succession. The missiles gathered in a cloud as they streaked up into the sky before falling upon the battlecruisers and the heavy cruisers, right as the final Iowa erupted into its own fireball. The battlecruisers and heavy cruisers didn't stand a chance, the first two volleys overloaded their Klein fields, allowing the third and fourth volleys to blow the doomed ships to bits. Then the lone battleship turned on the remaining light cruisers and destroyers. It's speed increased as it charged, and many of the Fog ships were unable to run away as the big battleship mercilessly smashed right through them at full ramming speed.
After the ramming run was complete, there were only 3 St. Louis-class cruisers left. As a last act, they launched all of their remaining torpedoes and fired all of their batteries on the unknown ship. Unable to further withstand the barrage after the massive battle, the ship finally received damage and took a direct hit to the bridge, blowing everything that was inside it, including a human body, out the other side and into the water. A female voice cried out when this happened, shouting, "Skipper!", but with the ship being hit left and right, it could do nothing but raise the throttle and slink away, covering it's escape with thick volleys of missiles and cannonfire. However, ignored by the Fog, the body drifted for miles among the debris until washing ashore onto the beaches of an unknown island.
∫∆µ∆∫
In the year 2039, right before the final battle between the UN navy and the Fog Fleet, the Yamato-class super-battleship sister ships, Yamato and Musashi, built another super-battleship. The only difference being that it was an old American design that never saw service, the Montana-class battleship, instead of another Yamato-class. The Montana-class was big enough to take on any Japanese ships during WW2 and was fast enough to catch even the Kongou-class fast battleship when needed. Something went wrong however, instead of a female Mental Model, the Montana built itself a male Mental Model, causing an uproar among the sister ships and the Fog fleet commanders. When he was added to the council though, things straightened out for the most part, mostly due to no-one wanted to get on the bad side of a ship that could blow even the Yamato-class super-battleships apart with ease. This was due to the size and amount of turrets equipped on such a vessel. It was 921 ft 3 in (280.80 m) long and had 4 triple barrel photon cannon super turrets with enough power combined to match a supergravity cannon, with 120 missile/torpedo tubes spread throughout the hull and deck, and a ultra-gravity cannon to go along with it, this ship could blow apart an entire fleet without taking any damage, due, in part, to the powerful, highly advanced, Klein Field equipped on the ship. He was more maneuverable than any battleship ever made due to the 5 main engines that propelled him.
His name was Montana but he preferred to be called either Anthem or Strider. If he came to a meeting, all was sorted out quickly and the meeting completed, then he left. This was accomplished by the personality that he was made with: cold, ruthless and no nonsense whatsoever. He was given command of the entirety of the Pacific American Fog Fleet, including the patrol fleets. If he was called into a meeting, you knew it was serious. If he was commanding a fleet that wasn't his own, you knew that there was something wrong. He held the ultimate opinion regarding any changes to the Admiralty Code between the three super-battleships. He was intelligent and wise when it came to tactics and warfare as a whole, more so than any other Fog ship to ever be built. He always wore black jeans, dark grey combat boots, a gray shirt, and a black trenchcoat. His ships color pattern was more angular that any Fog ship seen before, its color was a dark blue, seen only because of the shine of the edge of the pattern. He chose the pattern because he was more practical and found that something with ornate curves and angles was a waste of time in regards to the designing of such things. If he gave his opinion on something, the Fog listened, when he gave an order you either obeyed or thought about it, then obeyed. He was the pride and glory of the Fog and he was well liked due to being a fair and just commander. Any potential rivals feared him because of his capabilities, which outclassed any other Fog Mental Model. He was the commander of the Fog during the final battle with Humanity and it showed what he was truly capable of. He decimated the human fleet by deploying his ships in a formation of battleships and battlecruisers first, then heavy cruisers, then light cruisers and destroyers. He, however, was always under scrutiny for every single mistake he made, every error in his processing algorithms, but he always dealt with it in stride, never letting it get in his way.
He functioned with the utmost loyalty to the Fog and the Admiralty Code, until one day, one event, irrevocably changed his existence. This event was when Musashi sank her sister ship Yamato. When he heard of the deed and why Musashi did so, he was furious, no he was livid. He cut off all ties to the Fog, only taking enough supplies and ships needed for survival. When numbers were totaled in regards to ships, Musashi found that he took 1 Iowa-class battleship, 2 Alaska-class battlecruisers, 4 Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, 5 St. Louis-class light cruisers, 12 Fletcher-class destroyers and 3 Balao-class submarines, fitted for intelligence and stealth in mind. This fleet was never heard or seen from again for decades but before he left the Fog, he vowed that he would have his revenge upon Musashi for killing his little sister Yamato. His exact words were, "Do not expect to see me again until I deem it time Musashi. Never again will I be involved in the murdering of innocents when the only thing that they have done is refuse your beliefs. I will hunt you down until there is nothing left but a hull of a ship, no Mental Model, nothing. This I vow Musashi, until the death of my little sister, your big sister Yamato is avenged. The next time we meet Musashi, it will be your end."
Ever since that day, Musashi has been on guard for the inevitability of Montana's return, building more ships, ranging from battleships to destroyers, at a rapid pace so that she can accelerate her plans without any sort of interference. Every Fog ship knew what his ship was and had heard of his reputation as a commander. If at all possible, they were to contact a battleship immediately if he was encountered. He wasn't seen or heard from in over 5 years. After five years, strange reports of a 'ghost fleet' surrounded by smoke engaged Fog vessels, the vessels could only record the fire coming from the smoke and nothing else before the vessel was destroyed. This earned the commander of the fleet the moniker 'Ghost', because the commander never showed himself and was always gone before Fog ships arrived to investigate. Another thing was the nanomaterial. When the Fog got there and scanned the wrecks, there was no nanomaterial in the wrecks, just the metal used to build the ships. Why the nanomaterial was missing was a mystery that Musashi demanded solved.
The hit and run attacks have been happening for five years, that is until a new threat to the Fog came. A powerful new enemy, a much bigger battleship with five quad-barreled cannon turrets that flew a black flag like in the golden age of pirates, with a skull and a pair of tawny white and black wings fully spread behind it. The ship would roll in silently, out of fog banks and dangerous tropical storms without warning and obliterate any Fog ships in its path with cannonfire and missiles volleys numbering in the hundreds. As the damage caused by this lone ship tied that of the Ghost fleet, it gained its own name: Specter, as none have yet managed to sink it, and any who try are only destroyed. Many Fog Mental Models have received reports that raise a suspicion that the ship can submerge, but none have been proven, as the ship, regardless of its size, has been too quick and nimble for any ship to catch it.
For 5 years, there have been two mysteries that needed to be solved and the threats destroyed. Five years ship after ship has been destroyed. These mysteries were on the forefront of Musashi's processes for the past 5 years, five years of destruction and losses, five years of a massive hole in Musashi's core due to the feeling of family lost, both her brother and sister. One she sank, the other vanished without a trace. The only thing that she has now are her fleets and the Mental Models of the special sub-type class ships of the fleets.
∫∆µ∆∫
Location: Midway Island
Date: March 25th, 2048
In a base no-one but the Ghost fleet knows about, there was a man in a black trench coat, black pants and dark grey combat boots. This man was known to the Fog as Ghost, but to those who knew him, he was Anthem or Strider, former member of the triumvirate of the Fog, former commander of the entire US Pacific Fog Fleet, brother to the late Yamato and former brother to Musashi. One phrase often used to describe him would be one that comes from a early 21st century book titled: "Halo: The Fall of Reach". The sentence went like this: 'If you were his friend he would protect you but if you were his enemy, may God help you.' This was true to anyone who came across him, they either came out dead if you tried to kill him or alive for leaving him in peace.
Ghost was sitting in his command chair on the Montana, thinking about his next move. He could either go looking for a rogue I-400-class submarine that was found by the Japanese islands or he could attack another Fog fleet encroaching on the humans. As he was thinking about his options, a Mental Model of a Iowa-class battleship walked through the entrance to the bridge and stopped in front of Anthem.
He looked up, hearing her footsteps, and looked up at her. She had on an American Navy Captain uniform with the appropriate rank bars and all. Though most Fog ship Mental Models wear suggestive or revealing clothing, Anthem made it clear that any Mental Model found wearing revealing or suggestive clothing would be grounded in their core for a preset amount of time according to the severity of the offense. She had short, pixie cut blonde hair spiked up and to the side. She had striking sky blue eyes, a slender nose, high cheekbones and a thin jaw. Her skin was naturally a pale white, but with the slight tan she had, it looked like she was outside most of the time.
"Sir I have more information on the Fog Fleet approaching the humans." She reported.
Anthem nodded his head and made a 'go on' gesture with his hand. Seeing the gesture the Model said, "The fleet is headed to Yokosuka, Japan. Their intentions are unknown, however and they have 2 Kongou-class fast-battleships with an escort of 1 Takao-class heavy cruiser and 4 Hagara-class light cruisers. There might also be I-400-class submarines with them for intelligence, but it is unknown at this time what they are planning to do there sir."
Anthem nodded and said, "You have done well Missouri, gather everyone in the conference room and prepare the necessary ships for departure and see if you can find any more information on the rogue I-400-class submarine if you can. Use our subs on silent running to do so, we don't need to alert the Fog Patrol Fleets of our ships whereabouts."
Missouri nodded her head and left to carry out her orders, as Anthem stood up and went out of the bridge to address his fleet. It currently held 2 Iowa-class battleships: Iowa & Missouri, 3 Alaska-class battlecruisers: Alaska, Huntress, & Colorado, 6 Baltimore-class heavy cruisers: Baltimore, Nightshade, Athena, Kiowa, Delano, and Orono, 10 St. Louis-class light cruisers since they are easy to build with no mental models, 20 Fletcher-class destroyers, no mental models, and 5 Balao-class submarines: Balao, Artemis, Tracer, Pecos, & Widow, over the previous 1 Iowa-class battleship, 2 Alaska-class battlecruisers, 4 Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, 5 St. Louis-class light cruisers, 12 Fletcher-class destroyers and 3 Balao-class submarines. He was in the middle of building another Alaska which would be named Hera due to the current lack of a good strong defense fleet.
As he stepped out, he saw the dry docks filled to the brim with ships undergoing maintenance, along with the Hera being built at the dock closest to the island. He then sighed and made his way to the conference room of the base. Once there, he sat at the head of the table and waited for the ship captains arrive.
Soon everyone was sitting down at the table and waited for Anthem to start.
"Fellow ship captains, we find ourselves in a position where we need to split our fleet for two missions. One will be to the city of Yokosuka, Japan to intercept a Fog fleet on their way there and the other mission is to a fleet encroaching on Hawaii. The second mission will be lead by Missouri and as for the first…" Anthema paused and a pained expression could be seen on his face before he steeled himself and continued. "I will be leading this mission myself. The time has come for us to reveal ourselves to Musashi once again."
To say that they were shocked was an understatement. Their mouths dropped to the floor in shock. Huntress, who commanded an Alaska battlecruiser, was the first to speak. "S-sir! Y-you can't be seen! Musashi w-would destroy you!" she started to tear up at the end. (A/N from Arisen: Mental Models can cry, they just don't do it often) Anthem walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Look at me Huntress." he said softly. Tears started to fall down her face and she looked down even more, ashamed of her show of her emotions. Anthem brought his other hand to her chin and lifted her head up to look at his face. She was crying and shaking from her fear of losing her father. Anthem saw this and spoke. "I'm not going anywhere little one. I won't fall by Musashi's hand or anyone else's." he said like a father to his child, gentle but firm. Huntress was sobbing now and Anthem wrapped his arms around her and whispered, "I need you to be the strong Huntress that I know you are. We will survive and we will find a way to stop Musashi." Huntress slowly nodded into his chest and after a few minutes, calmed down and had a determined expression on her face. "Thank you father, I won't let you down." Huntress said. Anthem nodded his head with a smile on his face and walked back to his seat before sitting down in it. "We will be splitting into groups organized by myself and Missouri. The fleet will be split evenly with equal amounts of firepower. This is not a time to be stagnant, this is the time to show ourselves once again and prove who we are and what we can do." Anthem revealed. "Anyone who would speak to me alone, meet me on the bridge of the Montana." he said.
With that, he dismissed the meeting and walked out of the room, going towards the intelligence center. The intel center was underground so that it couldn't be detected by enemy vessels scanning the area. Though it sounds massive, in reality, it was a large room with electronic storage and computers on desks that took up almost all of the room, allowing little walk space except for one wide isle in the middle of the room going from the front door to the back of the room. When Anthem entered the room, he went straight for the camera feeds around the island. While switching between camera feeds, he found a group of seagulls circling something hidden behind a rock outcropping. Intrigued, he commed Huntress. "Huntress, this is Anthem. I need you to investigate what the seagulls are circling in sector 89-C section 4. I'll meet you there." "Yes Father." Huntress immediately replied. I have a feeling that this will change everything. Anthem thought.
∫∆µ∆∫
Seagulls circling something usually meant nothing but remains of a shark kill or a stranded dolphin on the shore. This wasn't the case this time as Strider found out. What he found instead of a sea animal carcass or a stranded animal was a human body. A critically injured body, but a human body nonetheless. It was a 6'8" lithe male with a slight build and black hair coming down over the left side of his forehead, with the sides and back shaved but growing out. His hair had a single cyan streak that was split in half. He was clothed in an open black leather jacket and long vested undercoat with blue "veins" running throughout the coat. The jacket had Fleet Admiral shoulder board markings on the shoulder straps, collar, and sleeve cuffs. Or at least that's what Strider could tell from the wounds that covered the body in a coating of blood. His right arm was missing from just below the elbow down, blood still flowing out of the wound. It was the same for the rest of his wounds. He had a deep gash in his left side and his left arm was broken in to many places to count. He also had minor cuts and scrapes all over his body, some deep, some shallow. His entire face was covered in a moist coat of blood from a deep gash on his forehead spanning most of his forehead. His hair was matted with blood from the gash and turned it very dark burgundy. Huntress was already there, waiting for him, her face pale, probably from seeing the blood is such a large amount. As soon as Huntress saw Strider, she immediately ran into his arms, shaken. "I-I c-can't t-take see-seeing that much b-bl-lood father, I just can't." she stuttered out. The reason that Huntress was like this around blood was because she hasn't seen battle as much as Strider and the rest of the original Ghost Fleet has. She was recently built and was still going through her paces. Strider hugger her and rubbed her back soothingly, something that he learned long ago with her was that she craved physical touch for comfort. Only from him and Iowa though, no-one else. "It's okay my Huntress, go see Iowa. I'll take care of this." Strider said, his fatherly tone showing itself. Huntress nodded and after a few minutes in her father's arms, she calmed down and left to find Iowa.
After Huntress left, Strider walked up to the body and saw that his chest was rising and falling faintly, signs of breathing. After seeing this, Strider carefully picked him up bridal style and walked as fast as he could to the emergency med center, made specifically for these situations. If he wakes up, this could change everything. Strider thought He'll need a new forearm though. I'll see what I can do with that.
After getting to the med center, he nearly jogged into a room and laid him down on the table. He then called Iowa to the room and tried to stabilize him. A few minutes later, Iowa ran into the room, Missouri in tow. Iowa was his second-in-command, had chin length brown hair, brown, soft eyes, a thin nose and pronounced jaw line. She wore a navy commander's uniform for missions and a pair of blue jeans, a red t-shirt, a black leather jacket that went down to her waist, and green and blue shoes. She had a motherly feel about her and as such, she was the mother figure for all of the Mental Models built the past five years, with Anthem/Strider being the father figure. They never really knew why they called the two their parents, but accepted it and filled in the role to teach what was right and wrong. Artemis and Huntress were the only ones to call them 'mother' and 'father', or any variations of the parental titles, respectively, but everyone else called Anthem either 'sir' or 'admiral' and Iowa 'ma'am' or 'commander'.
They cleaned his wounds and bandaged them. They then hooked him up to a respirator to help him breathe and get the water out of his lungs, there was a lot. After doing everything they could for him, they gave him an IV with clean water and food switching in intervals of 1 hour for the water and 3 for the food. They then hooked him up to a heart monitor to make sure that he stayed alive. 4 hours later they got done and went out of the room. Iowa was the first to speak. "This will change a few things." she thought aloud. Strider nodded silently, thinking of what they were going to do when he woke up.
A/N (Hunter): Here we go folks! There's the first chapter for ya, hope you enjoyed, and even though it caps out over four thousand words, it's short by my standards. But then again, it's only the first chapter, and it'd prone to be somewhat short in order to start things off.
A/N from Arisentactica: This was fun to write and took a bit to get right. Didn't think it would be… but here I am, writing this story with a moron (*cough* Hunter *cough*). Let me know if you'd like for me to go more in depth with Anthem/Strider's backstory and I'll see what I can do. See y'all in the next chapter!
Hunter: I'm not a freaking moron. I'm an asshole and a dumbass sometimes, but other than that I'm all good. Now buzz off somewhere.
Arisen: You are all three, usually at the same time.