AN: Let me start by giving a thanks to all of you for taking time out of your schedules to look at this mediocre piece of work that I have posted on this site. Now time for the shoutout to CabooseHelpsU for lending his time to make this piece of work better. Also please tell review and tell me what you think and leave any suggestions that you have.
The Admiralty Code sounds like Holo (Brina Palencia) from Spice and Wolf (Dubbed), we dare you to unhear that.
Chapter 3
"A true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
-G.K. Chesterton-
The first thing that Captain Alexander Kraus noticed were large, ornate pillars. Made of some form of marble, they were finely crafted with minute details. His gaze turned to the center of the room, most likely a gazebo. There, sat in the center of the room at a table set of latticed metal, with a simmering tea set. There were matching chairs facing each other, but they were empty. 'Where were the occupants?'
As if to answer his question, a familiar face appeared before him. "Dearest Alexander, greetings once more to you. I must say, you continue to surprise me with these random encounters," the Admiralty Code said, walking around the table to approach him.
He fought to keep his jaw from dropping; rather than the space suit from last time, her body was clad in a white dress. It was elegant, reaching to the floor with perfect accents to her curves, yet the dress was still loose enough for her to be able to move her legs. There was a V-cut, just hinting at her shapely chest, but the shoulders were still covered to provide decency. Her long hair was in a high top ponytail, reaching down her front, accentuating her otherworldly eyes. She looked even more like a goddess than he could have imagined.
He must have been staring at her, as she let out a slight laugh and gave a slight twirl that showed there was another large V-cut on the backside as well. "I see that you enjoy my new outfit," she teased.
Thinking as fast as his processors could run, he gave a suitable comeback. "But of course, it brings out the beauty worthy of a Goddess such as yourself!" He held his face for as long as possible, but in the end it was he who blushed and turned away.
Code was just as surprised, but hid it with a teasing smirk. She then sauntered up to him with a slight swing to her hips. As she got closer she finally noticed that she had to look up slightly to look him in the eyes. He stood at almost 6'2", while she stood at 5'6". She stopped just short of touching him, pausing before placing her hands on his chest, causing the former human to look down at her, while she looked up locking gazes with each other. They unconsciously drew closer, till their lips were almost touching before Alexander grasped her shoulders before holding her at arms length, while pulling his head back and turning to the side.
"I'm sorry. But if you do indeed feel that way for me, I will tell you that I don't feel the same for you yet. I might if you give me time but not yet." He said as he let go of her and stepped back from her.
"I see. I apologize for misiterpting you, but our interactions bordered on that of seeking a relationship." Code said, as she to turned from Alexander, teasing mood now gone.
"I am not sure myself if I am ready for one so soon after everything that has happened. Maybe after everything has settled down and i get more used to being a mental model. It is not a no, but also not a yes." He said as he chanced a glance at her before moving to the table and pulled a chair out for her.
"I understand, there is still a possibility," she said as she approached the table and took the offered seat. "Now, you must have questions," she reached for the tea set.
"Yes I have a few," he said as he pushed her seat in before walking around to the other seat and seating down in the other chair and waiting for the tea. "The most prominent is, where are we?"
"Ah, that is quite simple. This is the Joint Tactical Network, it is the information space that connects all vessels." she said as she added some sugar to her tea cup. Stirring it a little with a spoon. Tapping it on the side lightly, she set the spoon down to one side she picked up her cup and took a sip from it. As she set it down with a sigh, she continued, "It is built with quantum communication protocols, thus it is not affected by distance and obstructions. Though, I am surprised that you were able to access it so soon after your conversion," she finished with a raised eyebrow.
"I never meant to access it in the first place." Alexander admitted as he took the teapot to pour himself some tea.
Code looked confused at that. "Then why are you here, the only way that one can access this level is to try to, or to be called here, and I most certainly did not call you here, as it was quite the opposite actually."
" I was finishing a fight with Kongou when I closed my eyes and when I opened them I was here." Alexander said as he added a few sugar cubes to his tea.
The air chilled by a dozen degrees, and she put her tea down with a frown, "What do you mean, 'finishing a fight with Kongou'? The only way that you could fight was to engage in a sword fight with her unless you turned the bed into weapons." Her voice had taken on the razor sharp edge of a woman finding out her lover had done something extremely idiotic.
"Do you promise not to be angry?" He asked, body tensing as if to run away at any second.
"That depends on how you answer, my dear," she said while narrowing her eyes, already suspecting what he was going to say.
"Kongou had insisted on insulting my integrity as an Officer, despite me giving a reasonable explanation. She then attacked me when I revealed my status as a mental model. My Klein Field activated, launched her into her own hull, and locked down her weapons; I...I may have gone a bit too far in shouting at her."
He paused, trying to gauge her reaction, but was only met with stony eyes as she gestured for him to continue.
"Along with the rest of the Blue Steel, I met a young human girl named Makie, who was accompanying them for unknown reasons. It was determined that Makie and I would travel aboard Kongou's hull for the duration of the journey. Again, I may have let my judgment slip, when I chose to traverse an obstacle course on the way to the ship, with Makie secured on my back. Kongou was...not happy, and called me out on it. Next I knew, we settled it with a duel, with me as the technical winner."What Alexander had left out was that he himself had been impaled, fearing her wrath from such a discovery.
After a moment of studying him, Code stood up, "...That explains the why and outcome, but you still have not answered the question I asked you." Her eyes had gained a dangerous glint, and was more than likely about to start glowing.
"What question would that be?" Alexander asked, standing up as well.
"How. Did. You. Fight. Her?" She emphasized each word, leaning forward putting her hands on the top of the table.
"Oh, it was... fairly close quarters." stepped away from the table slightly, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
"There's nowhere you can run, dear Alexander," She said with a smirk, now walking around the table.
"Who said anything about running?" Alexander asked with a fake tone of confidence as he backed up, looking for some way to escape. 'So this is what the hen feels like when the fox gets in…'
"You won't be able to leave unless I say you can," she said, grinning at his futile attempts to escape as she closed in on him.
"Do you promise that no matter what I tell you, that you won't hurt me?" Alexander asked as he felt his back hit what he assumed was one the was still advancing on him, a predatory gleam in her eyes.
"So long as you stop trying avoid the question~." She stopped a few inches from him, close enough for her to distinguish his slightly accelerated breathing.
Knowing that was as good as he was going to get, and that he had no idea of how to leave the network, he decided to tell the truth. "Very well. It was a sword fight, ending with a slash to Kongou's chest and a shard of her blade near my heart."
Code's eyes widen a fraction in shock, before narrowing again. "You get angry about being called reckless, yet you subsequently get into a sword fight, risking the very thing I just saved!" She pulls back and glares up at him. "What if that shard was lower? I had your union core form to take the place of your heart," She took a fearful step back before turning her head down to the side. "I...I don't think I can lose you."
He bowed his head, wincing at his failure to see her feelings. After a moment, he spoke, "I'm sorry for worrying you. I'll be more careful in the future."Stepping forward, he pulled her in a hug and stroked her hair.
She said, trying to escape from it, confused by what was going on. Confused, she attempted to free herself, "W-what are you doing?"
"I am giving you a hug." He stated as it was fairly simple to understand.
"I know that, but I don't understand why." She rolled her eyes, but stopped struggling. With an inaudible sigh, she rested her head on his chest.
"Hugging can have many meanings in various situations. In this situation I am giving you a hug to reassure you." Alexander explained, smiling at Code's struggle with human emotions.
"...I see," After some time, she stepped out of the hug, and made her way back towards the table. "Now, I do believe that you still have some questions."
Alexander nodded and returned to the table as well. "Yes, quite a few actually. The most prominent one is why is my ship form so powerful? I understand that you want me to survive, but you gave me what might as well be the most powerful Fog core known."
Code seemed to hesitate before answering. "The answer is simple, yet quite complicated at the same time. Years ago, when I first awoke, I had a...well, a vision is what one would call it, that the Fleet of Fog would rule with an 'iron fist', as humans say. The humans would fight and die in the most hopeless ways, and the Fog would merely remain machines…"
"It then showed that a human who survived a battle against the Fog would be... 'reborn' as one of them. Now, keep in mind that I never saw what the human looked like, just how they would act. The vision then went on to show that because of the human turned Fog, we would be treated as equals. There would be no more hatred, no more fighting, and no more fear."
She paused, letting it sink in with her eyes glazed over in memory. "Needless to say, that is the reason as to why you have so much power." She finished, voice getting more and more quiet, looking down slightly. "When I first met you, I had hoped desperately that you would be the one."
Alexander was shocked, to say the least. "So, you're telling me that you had a prophetic vision of a human turned Fog bringing peace between both sides. Correct?" He asked as he leans back into the chair while processing everything he just heard.
"...Yes, that is correct." Code confirmed. Her face was turned up slightly, expression tentative as Alexander didn't sound angry at this revelation.
With a sigh, he got up and paced, hands behind his back. 'So I have some cliche prophecy hanging over my head along with everything else. This is almost enough to make me regret my decision to not just die.'
Giving another sigh he stopped pacing and turned to the Admiralty Code. "If there's anything...else I need to know, now is as good a time as ever."
"Well, technically you outrank every flagship and supreme flagship, so the only orders that you have to follow are mine." Her voice was tentative, and she wasn't meeting his eyes as he sat back down.
"Well, that is one of the better revelations I've heard," he muttered under his breath. "Is there anything else you can tell me about the resupply fleet that is to guard me?"
She winced at his tone, body of nanomaterial perfectly capable of catching the words. She nodded her head before pulling her nearly transparent interface before a window popped up and was then slid up off the interface, where he then felt an urge to open his, which he did and saw that what was probably the same window on his interface. "The resupply fleet headed for your location is comprised of Thatcher, Ammen, Mullany, and Cowell, all Fletcher-Class destroyers. In addition, there are Oakland and Brooklyn light cruisers as escorts to the Red Oak Victory, the Victory class resupply vessel." Her voice had become firmer as she said this, but was he nearly heard it catch. He nodded as he saw all the ship names on the window in front of him then closed his interface.
"Alright, is there anything else that needs to be said?" He asks while take a sip of his, surprisingly, still warm tea.
She shook her head as she drained her tea, "No, that should be all that there is for now; I will send you a message should something important comes up." She stood, walking from the table towards the edge of the gazebo with the grace he had admired. Just before she reached the edge of the hazy white light, she looked over her shoulder before saying, "Oh, and before I forget, if you haven't already guessed, all you have to do to leave is to think of leaving." And with that she vanished.
Alexander facepalmed at how simple it was, sipping the last of his tea. Looking around the Gazebo, he nodded and closed his eyes, vanishing the next moment.
**line break**
Alexander's first sight was the wooden planks of the Kongou's deck. "Captain Kraus!" He pushed himself up when he heard Makie's shout.
'Have only a few seconds passed since I fell unconscious? Then again Code did say that the Joint Tactical Network used quantum mechanics.'
The man turned-Mental Model had just gotten onto his knees when Makie slammed into him with a force belying her size, letting out a small *oof*. He wrapped his arms around her, for balance and to prevent her from forcing the shard of Kongou's blade deeper.
"Hey careful there Makie, I might fall over which would force the shard back through my body and injuring you." Alexander said as he steadied himself. This caused her to let go of him and back up a little so that he could stand up.
"I'm s-sorry Captain Kraus, i-it's just that…" She started sniffling with tears forming in the corners of her eyes, "When you fell down I become so worried that you had died."
Alexander's eyes softened, and he hesitated on how to comfort her. Deciding an apology was due, she stood up and placed a hand on her head. "Makie, I am truly sorry for scaring you like that. My pride got the best of me, just like the princess over there. I promise not to allow something like that to happen again." He pulled her into a hug, which she accepted before truly breaking down by crying into his stomach. Rubbing her back up and down, he just let her.
Thump Thump Thump. He turned his head, grimacing at what was next. The other mental models had landed behind him with glares and more than a little bit of killing intent. 'Well, I need to cut this off at the head before things repeat.'
He cut them off as they opened their mouths. "Before any of you say anything, I've already been chewed out by the Admiralty Code, and seeing Makie cry is more than enough punishment. And can one of you that is not Hyuuga please pull this shard from my body."
One mental model, with flowing white hair and small stature, stopped in her tracks. "The Admiralty Code...How did you talk to her?" Iona asked, tilting her head as the others approached from behind him.
"When I fell down, I accidentally accessed the Joint Tactical Network, where I apparently summoned her to me. Some goods things came from it as I was able to ask about the resupply fleet." Alexander said. Continued to rub little circles on Makie's back as her sobs softened.
He winced, giving a small groan as he felt the shard get pulled out. "Thank you. Anyway, the escorts are four Fletcher Class destroyers, the nameships Oakland and Brooklyn light cruisers, and the resupply vessel Red Oak Victory."
Looking over to Kongou, he saw that she was still unconscious. "So, anyone have an idea on how to wake the princess up?"
"I have an idea," came Makie's muffled reply from where she still in his stomach. She pulled her head from its resting place to look up at him. "You could take control of her ship and make it dive till she is underwater."
All the mental models, sans Kongou as she was completely out of it, stared at Makie before almost all of them developed matching evil grins. Alexander scooped her up and hugged her to his chest. "Makie, you are a brilliant child." She beamed up at him as he handed Makie over to a surprised Iona, then opened his interface.
Remembering the simplicity of controlling the interfaces, he willed Kongou's hull to respond to his overrides. Around him, hexagons of purple bled into the dark khaki of his own, spinning in random patterns. A loud noise came from the hull as the ship activated.
'That was easier than the first time...maybe it's because she is unconcious?' The other mental models, along with Makie, jumped up to the bridge as the ship submerged. He felt the ship shudder and lower towards the water waiting below.
While all of this was happening, Alexander walked over to Kongou, so as to get the perfect view of her face. The water was just about to start flowing over the deck when he felt that something was wrong. Pulling his sensor screen up, he noticed that there was a large cluster, approaching at high speeds.
Before he could alarm the others, the cluster slowed down to a reasonable speed, separating into seven different ships. 'Destroyers, cruisers, and a supply ship, all a day early.'
He then heard some sputtering in front of him. As he looked past his interface he saw that Kongou was now on her hands and knees. Alexander released the override, khaki outlines returning to the original purple.
"Ah, the princess awakens once more."
"W-What happened?" She made an attempt to stand up, movements hindered by her wounds. Stepping over, he extended an arm, which she accepted with a dazed look.
"Oh, it's quite simple sweetheart. You were wounded first, thus I won," Alexander said with a slightly satisfied smirk on his face. "It also appears that the resupply fleet has arrived much earlier than expected." He finished while looking off into the distance in the direction the fleet was coming from.
He heard the other mental models land shortly followed by Makie being placed down on the deck of the ship. He soon felt a somewhat familiar weight hanging from his shoulder once more. "The resupply fleet is here sooner than expected….What do you mean by that?" Makie asked as she looked over his shoulder.
"I meant just that. You other models can confirm, about 50 nautical miles at 152 degrees. They have just entered my sensor range." He had pulled up the area map, that now had the resupply fleet roughly 1 nautical mile from where his fleet sank.
"We should get under way so that we can get to the battle site before sundown," Alexander said as he closed the map and interface while turning to the others.
"Understood." They nodded and started moving towards I-401. As he watched them leave, he felt Kongou's eyes glaring him in the back.
"Kongou, just so that you know," he turned around, and she flinched at his expression. "If you purposely do anything that could cause the destruction of this fleet, I will personally destroy you. Are we clear?"
"Crystal, Admiral." Kongou said curtly. He raised an eyebrow, fighting the urge to chuckle at the use of the title but he put it off as another question that he had to ask Code the next time he saw her.
"Good. Now, set course for bearing 151." Opening his interface, he sent a request for the resupply fleet divert course to his destination with information on their planned course. Immediately, the supply fleet altered course, slightly increasing speed.
"Now... how do we fix our models?" He asked, staring down at the hole in his chest, still gaping and filled with lose nanomaterial.
Hyuuga just grinned, catlike and predatory.
**line break**
36 minutes later
The Blue Steel Fleet slowed as they started to approach the resupply fleet. While standing at the bow, he discovered a newfound respect for his nanomaterial body and it's seemingly seemingly endless stamina, allowing him to stand for longer periods of time.
In front of him, the resupply fleet sat, stationary in the calm waves. If he had seen them a week ago, he would be nigh shivering with fear at the firepower confronting him, but now...he merely felt curiosity. The resupply fleet seemed to have the common secondary color scheme of brown, with only slight variations in shades and symbols.
The Red Oak Victory seemed to be that of a auburn color for the lines that cover the ship, but other than that it looked like a normal Victory class transport ship. The Fletcher's, true to the form of mass construction, had all metal-gray hulls, with glowing chestnut lines crossing their hulls. The Oakland had a strange shade brown so light that it could be mistaken for a shade of pink. And finally the Brooklyn, with lines that could be called a sandy brown color.
As they got closer he fought the urge to shiver slightly. He turned from the sight when a voice asked, "Is everything alright Captain Kraus?"
Behind him, Makie had taken notice of his apprehension. She, and her small army of stuffed animals, were gathered around a miniature table in a tea party. The tea set, sparkling and brightly colored, depicted various ships painted on the different pieces. He fought, valiantly, against the urge to laugh at the sight of Kongou, kneeling and taking part. Apparently, not even she could resist the pleas of the little girl.
Kraus imagined that the only reason he had not been 'invited' was the fact that they were approaching the death site of his old fleet, and he was searching for survivors.
Responding to her question, he turned his gaze back to the other ships. "Yes, everything's fine my dear." He felt her frown, and quickly reassured the girl. "I merely had the feeling of being watched but no need to worry, it's gone now."
"You were most likely scanned to see if you are the one that they were assigned to." Kongou said as she took a dainty sip from her cup of tea. Her body language had recovered to the 'calm and collected' air it once had.
"Most likely. Pull us alongside the Red Oak Victory, if you would please." Alexander said as he turned his attention towards the approaching fleet.
He made a show of going deep into thought, before turning back to Makie. "Makie, I need you to stay close to me, okay? This should be safe, but I still worry." Alexander said, eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"Okay, Captain Kraus!" Her voice was cheerful as she walked over and once more climbed up to his shoulder. He smiled as he activated two hexagons to help prevent her from falling.
As they pulled to a stop beside the Red Oak Victory, Alexander took notice that there was a mental model onboard, which truth be told was to be expected nowadays. She stood at almost six feet tall, and had ruffled looking blonde hair pulled into a messy bun that would probably never fall apart. She wore a denim overshirt and pants that had some seemingly random grease stains on it, covering a white shirt underneath. It was like she had stepped out of a World War Two "working women" propaganda poster. 'Most likely, she copied the look from such a poster, if they used humans as blueprints.'
"So, you are Alexander Kraus. I hav'ta say, you don't look like much, outside of that fancy uniform of yours." Her voice was a thick-as-honey southern drawl, enhanced further by her hands on her hips.
"The Admiralty Code has an interest in my well being, so it doesn't really matter what you think of me. Besides, it's not always what's on the outside of people that's important, but who they are as a person that matters," Alexander replied in a jokingly philosophical tone. He shrugged his shoulders, being careful to not accidentally hit Makie with what would be his shoulder blade. "So Red Oak Victory, have you found anything in the area that could be classified as interesting?"
"Aside from the sunken human fleet that is beneath us? No."
"...I see." He let himself sigh, and hung his head in mourning as they sailed over the grave of his failure. The memories of his fleet and it's death ripped through his body, and he fought the urge to cry out. 'I knew that anything against the Fog would be suicidal, and that they were all volunteers, but they didn't deserve this...no one does.'
Red Oak noticed his silence, but not being sure as to why, hesitantly spoke up. "If you don't mind me asking, what is so important about this small spot of water?"
Lifting his head, he met her curious eyes with his own. "This is now the final resting place for all 1,633 of the men and women that were under my command. We had volunteered to rendevouz with I-401, but things did not turn out well."
She stared back, expression softened slightly. "I see." She looked at his shoulder to see Makie curiously poking her head over. "What is this?"
He noticed Makie looking at him before his gaze returned towards Red Oak with renewed glare. "She is Makie, and she is not to be harmed, or your existence is forfeit."
She stepped back at his low growl, and acknowledged the threat. "I-I understand. Should we move on towards our objective?" Her visage had recovered, but her eyes still held caution from his threat.
"We might as well. We should have I-401 lead the way so as to not get attacked." He opened his interface to send a message to Iona, informing her of the plan. "In the meantime can you fully repair I-401 and Takao?"
"I will be able to, if I can get a full analysis of their damages," Red Oak said as she relayed their orders to her escorts.
"Their damages are quite... unique to say the least." He sent images of the flagship of the Blue Steel Fleet, if it could be called that.
Red Oak did a double take at the site of the ship, mouth gawking. "What happened to them?" She stared at the image of the merged hull, at the features of a submarine and heavy cruiser.
"From what I'm told, I-400 and I-402 sunk their sister while she was in transit to Pearl Harbor. Takao, who is still operational, gave up her nanomaterials and mental model to ensure their survival."
Red Oak simply gawked further, expression incredulous, and he shrugged.
"Well, it'll probably be best to just make Takao a new hull instead of trying to separate them and rebuild them, but making the hull will take a bit as I have to work from the keel up. Might as well rearm them while I'm at it. I'm afraid that you won't be able to get a hull yet sir, as the rebuilding and rearming of them both will deplete about 50% of my available stores of nanomaterials." Red Oak muttered to herself before speaking up and addressing Alexander directly.
"That's fine, I do not think that I'm ready to tell the others at Pearl about me being a mental model. Not yet at least." Alexander said. He didn't know how they would react to him returning as a mental model, and had no will to test it out.
"How long would it take to replenish your stores?" He asked as he was both curious and worried that it would take a long time for them to fill once more.
After doing some quick calculations, Red Oak drawled,"It should only take about a day to refill my reserves, so you should be able to get a hull of your own after we leave Pearl Harbor."
"Right, might as well ask Iona to allow me and Makie back on as I doubt that they will have enough space for this fleet at Pearl." Alexander said as he sent another message to Iona with his request.
As the I-401 pulled closer, dark blue hexagons sprung up to form a gangway. Upon reaching the deck of the submarine hybrid, the hull shuddered slightly before settling down as she took up the lead spot of the now much larger fleet as they started making their way across the 20 nautical mile to Pearl Harbor.