Western Naval Command , Mumbai

Several officers could be seen inside a heated argument.

" How is this possible . An entire Aircraft Carrier vanished from thin air." Vice Admiral Surinder Singh FOC of western command , exclaimed to his colleagues.

" We don't know what exactly happened , Sir "said Rear Admiral Sanjay Jadhav as he tried to asses the situation " Viraat was sailing nice and quiet before entering the storm. The rest is just….. history "

" We didn't knew about the storm either. It just pop out of knowhere " said Rear Admiral Dinesh Shetti

" How can a storm pop out of knowhere " Vice Admiral said in disbelief.

" We just don't know." Rear Admiral Dinesh spoke seriously " Weather data from INSAT shows there's no possible condition for storm of that calibre to form."

" So you are trying to say that it's artificial …."

Suggested Rear Admiral Sanjay.

" It's...just a theory ...but possible "

Spoke Rear Admiral Dinesh with confidence in his voice.

" Who could do these , the Americans , Chinese…"

Vice Admiral Surinder asked his colleagues.

" Yankees are our friend and have no reason to do so " Suggested Rear Admiral Sanjay "Chinese do tinker with rainclouds but something of that calibre is out of their paygrade. "

" Have we sent anyone to find out what happened there " Vice Admiral Surinder asked .

" Yes sir .. As we speak , our Carrier Battlegroup Vikramaditya is dispatched to find out Viraat whereabouts " said Rear Admiral Sanjay

" The sooner we find out...the better it may be " Vice Admiral Surinder said before turning to his colleagues " Dismissed "

" Yes Sir "

All of them saluted and exited the room.

Azur lane HQ

Various bird like creatures could be seen towing away damaged warships. Several Kansens were assisting them in repairs and maintenance of Naval base. Siren production Warship could be seen scattered around the base.

" They got us first " Spoke Prince of Wales as she gazed upon battlefield with her binoculars " Never expected Sakura Empire to strike first. "

" It wasn't surprising that Sakura Empire allied themselves with Ironblood but... " Illustrious gazed upon Siren warships , which disappeared suddenly .

" Aren't they aware how dangerous Siren technology is…" spoke Prince of Wales in disbelief.

" Let's...just focus on rebuilding the base " Illustrious spoke to her softly ." The Royal Navy taskforce will arrive soon. We will never be caught off-guard again"

" Illustrious " Wales pointed at the new commer , the somewhat familiar Carrier docked at their base " This girl who helped us , she seem familiar "

" Hermes…is her name " Illustrious whispered " Second ship of New generation Centaur class light fleet Carrier , sister of Centaur "

" What…but...she's supposed to be back at Royal navy " Wales asked her , shocked. How could a recently commisioned carrier , who was supposed to be at home ended up here .

" That's not all. The Aircraft she used is extremely similar to that of experimental Vtol jets being designed at Royal navy HQ. They haven't started production yet and she's here operating few squadrons of it."

" Could she be...an imposter…"

" Dont know. Only time will tell , Wales "

Both of them decided to greet her at Docks.

Docks , Azur lane

Viraat was greeted by Cleveland , who spotted her from her ship.

" You saved us from them. I never saw someone fighting that good. You were amazing out there." Cleveland extended her hand towards her " I am Cleveland . Nice to meet you "

Cleveland. That's weird.The last thing Viraat knew that they were bunch of Light cruiser build during great war . And the girl in front of her , along with the warship was one of them.

" As in Cleveland class Cruiser..."

" Yuup..That one...See I got so many sister who look upon me like I am some kind of idol but..."

She started to bore her " Sorry...I got lost in myself. What's your name by the way."

" Viraat..." She said in emotionless tone " I need to speak with the highest ranking officer on this base "

" We can arrange that " Viraat turned towards source of voice . Two Kansen along with someone who resemble a typical Admiral of Royal Navy " I am Commander of this base , David McCoy . On behalf of Azur lane i personally thank you for providing us assistance "

" Commander David , its an honor . " She replied back politely.

" I am sure you and I have so many questions to be answered. Please follow us to my office "

Viraat nodded.She followed them to their office.