Author Prologue: Before you start reading this chapter, I would like to dedicate this installment to my favorite naval historian, James D. Hornfischer, who recently passed away on June 2th 2021 at the age of 56 after battling cancer for a couple of years. Best known for his books: Last Stand of the Tin Cans (2004), which was a full narrative account of the Battle of Samar Island in which a small group of American destroyers and jeep carriers faced off against the might of the Japanese Center Force Fleet which of course was led by the super battleship Yamato herself. And Neptune's Inferno (2011, which I personally own a first edition hardcopy), a grueling and harrowing narrative of the US Navy at the bloody Guadacanal Campaign, Mr Hornfischer's works were a very big part of my childhood obsession with the Pacific War and one of the greatest American naval historians of the century.
Mr Hornfischer, thank you for keeping the stories of the greatest generation alive. I may not be American or even Japanese, but your books and appearances in documentaries has captivated my imagination and expanded knowledge of the Pacific War further than I can imagined. You were gone way too soon and definitely had more engaging stories that you could have narrate in the future. I am still heartbroken over your passing but am grateful to have encountered your amazing and vital work. Fair winds and following seas. :(
Chapter 26 - A Different Kind of Strength
November 14th 2204 - Outskirts of the Sulrethea Region
Two hours following the destruction of the Gatlantean stealth submarine, the Neu Lambea and what was left of her battle group trudged along silently under protection of the Audacious and the rest of the Manchester's flotilla. Across the battered surfaces of the Garmillan ships, hulls, teams of both earth and Garmillan mechanics were both busy slowly patching up the bruises they had accumulated from their hard won battle.
At the center of the fleet, the Neu Lambea stood side by side with the red striped Andromeda, its four auxiliary engines now glowing and back in action.
"Bloody hell! One vessel did that much damage to your fleet?!" gasped Commander Vivian, his projection on the Audacious' meeting room viewscreen flickering slightly as he lowered his head in concern.
"Yes, unfortunately we were not prepared to deal with such a threat."
Colonel Vale's distinctly thin silhouette replied with a grim tone from the image next to the burly brit's face.
"After our first encounter, we were also caught in an ambush laid by a Gatlantean carrier force," the Garmillan continued. "It was most likely an attempt to finish us off once we escaped from their first attack."
Listening to his words, the bespectacled captain sitting in front of the viewscreen looked down at the tablet in his hand and glanced through the images of the attacks the Neu Lambea had braved. Most prominently, he stopped to look at each angle of the vessel that had been terrorizing the Garmillan defense grid.
"Thankfully, we were able to fight them off which gave us the time needed to regroup and prepare for the eventual second stealth ambush," said Colonel Vale as he crossed his arms. "Without that, our forces would not have been able to negate the damage we did in the second attack."
"Still, Two Guipellon multi-deck carriers, a Gaiderol battleship and nearly two dozen escort ships lost from three almost consecutive attacks," Vivian stated as he held his chin and looked down in thought. "It's a miracle you didn't get picked off by the time we got here. The Gatlanteans must have really wanted to take the Neu Lambea out of the picture."
As he said this, the british commander let out a smile and glanced up towards the bespectacled captain.
"Then it's a good thing we listened to Berger's hunch eh Jonathan?"
However, despite his leading question, the Audacious' bespectacled captain did not respond immediately and instead adjusted his glasses as he eyed his tablet.
"Yeah," he replied absently, which caused Vivian to raise an eyebrow.
"Berger sent you?" Colonel Vale asked.
"Yes Colonel," Vivian replied. "He noticed you were late for your rendezvous scheduled in the Reuyama Sector. According to him, that was extremely uncharacteristic of you and so he persuaded us to go check it out."
"I see," the bearded Colonel replied with a hint of a smile in the side of his mouth. "I will take note of that."
As he said this, Vivian took a look again at Jonathan before glancing down at his computer.
"That being said, if the Gatlanteans do decide to send another one of those things at us, will we be able to fend it off?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes. "According to your XO's report, it was only thanks to a missile hit via spacecraft that its cloak was disabled."
"Ah yes," replied the Colonel as he turned to Jonathan. "That is something I would like to ask Commander Lee. It was only thanks to his messengers and consultant that we were able to destroy the vessel. From what I heard, they were able to identify what the Gatlanteans were posing as to avoid our radar and used that to hunt them down, though I am unaware of the details. Commander Lee, has sub-lieutenant Gieslzer's report been submitted yet?"
The two commanders waited for an answer but Jonathan seemed to still be unresponsive.
"Commander Lee?" Vale repeated.
"Hmm, a cylindrical hull about two hundred meters? Seems fair enough considering how much ordinance it was able to dish out…" the bespectacled captain murmured.
The two commanders narrowed their eyes.
"I beg your pardon?"
"It has a design similar to a late Cold War-era Vanguard-class SSBN," Jonathan continued. "Actually scratch that the bow is too spherical… Perhaps Columbia-class? Nah, the payload configuration is closer to those updated early Ohio-class that were retrofitted into cruise missile platforms… Makes sense considering what we've seen them do to Garmillan Base 239. And that explains those massive holes and blast marks we found…"
Vivian and Vale narrowed their eyes in confusion.
"Commander Lee, what are you talking about?" asked the lanky Garmillan.
Finally, the Audacious' bespectacled captain looked up in response at them.
"Oh sorry sir," replied Jonathan cheerfully. "I'm just admiring this new Gatlantean warship. It's truly a technological marvel for the Gatlanteans to come up with something like this. I mean sure cloaked vessels aren't exactly an original concept in the universe. But having the ability to preemptively lay and arm their weapons at various locations and be long gone before their victims could realize what hit them?"
Following his words, he let loose a whistle before putting a hand to his forehead and let out a chuckle. "Damn, I hate to admit this but I've really got to compliment those green bastards. Whoever designed and developed that vessel and what it can do is really a genius! No wonder we all had such a hard time finding those sneaky buggers! It's absolutely fantas-"
It was at this point the bespectacled captain finally realized that he had gone into full nerd mode by accident, and the two commanders in front of him were giving him hard looks of confusion which caused him to freeze.
"Oh, sorry."
Shifting in his seat, he cleared his throat and put down the tablet in his lap. Opening his mouth to reply, he realized he had not heard the question and glanced at Vivian with pleading eyes. Letting out a sigh, his old friend gave him an out.
"Sub-lieutenant Gieslzer's report."
"Ah right," he smiled awkwardly before regaining his composure.
"Sub-lieutenant Gieszler has already given me a preliminary report detailing his findings," explained Jonathan. "However, according to him, acting on this information will be more difficult than he expected as there were some unforeseen complications when translating his prototype software over to our fire-control systems. For now, we will be able to see the enemy submarines coming with our radar and sensors but won't be able to achieve proper weapons lock unless it's at close quarters. He will be giving more details after this meeting."
"I see, that will be good enough for now," said Colonel Vale as he held the bridge of his nose in thought.
"Where do you intend to berth the fleet?" asked Vivian. "We may be safe for now but ideally we'd want you to be within friendly territory as soon as possible."
Upon hearing the question, the bearded Garmillan let out a sigh through his nose before a frown formed on his face.
"We intend to get our repairs at Voss."
His statement caught both Jonathan and Vivian off guard, visibly recoiling as they remembered how adamant Nerge was to keep things secret there.
"Are you sure about that?" asked Jonathan as he folded his arms. "We just came from there, they didn't seem willing to admit visitors."
"I will handle that," replied Vale as he lowered his head. "But for now, I would like to make sure that your fleet does not get tied down to us for too long. Our defense forces are already stretched as is, we cannot waste one of the few remaining high-mobility forces on escort duty. Since Voss is the only capable shipyard we can get to within a reasonable time, that will have to be our destination."
The two earth commanders narrowed their eyes with lowered heads as they pondered his words.
"I understand," replied Jonathan before looking back up at the Garmillan colonel. "The Audacious currently has an intelligence bureau officer onboard that has knowledge of what's happening on Voss. I'll arrange a meeting between you two."
Colonel Vale widened his eyes at his statement and gave a small bow.
"Thank you, I appreciate the help you and your fleet have given us."
"It was no problem," replied Jonathan. "Thank you for taking care of our messengers."
The Garmillan Colonel gave a nod in response before turning to Vivian.
"If that will be all, I must take my leave now to oversee the ship's repairs."
"Very well," replied Vivian. "We won't hold you any longer. Good luck colonel."
Nodding again, Vale gave a quick Garmillan salute before his image disappeared from the screen leaving Vivian and Jonathan alone. Once he had confirmed the Colonel had left, Vivian immediately shot a sarcastic frown at Jonathan.
"Really? Daydreaming on the job?"
"Sorry I can't help it," Jonathan shrugged quickly. "It's not everyday we get to see such a unique ship from the Gatlanteans. Until now they had always based their more powerful designs on stolen tech or on brutish firepower. So to see something completely new like this is incredibly intriguing."
The British commander let out a sigh before giving him a tired smile.
"I figured it was something like that. Anyway it looks like you have a busy day ahead of you so I won't keep you any longer," said Vivian. "Keep me posted once you receive updates on Gieszler's detection software."
Nodding in response, Jonathan exchanged a salute with his old friend.
"Will do sir. I'll see you again later."
As the viewscreen went dark to reveal his reflection, Jonathan let out a sigh of relief and fell back into his cushioned chair. Nerge had already caused enough grief during their previous mission to escort the derelict Zoellugut, but he wasn't expecting him to get in the way again so soon.
At least Colonel Vale seemed to be confident in his ability to persuade their security, he thought to himself. Hopefully his negotiations will go smoothly.
Turning back to the tablet in front of him, the bespectacled commander picked it up again and eyed the purple vessel that was displayed on it.
Despite his earlier praises, he couldn't help but feel uneasy swiping through the different angles of the cylindrical craft. It wasn't too long ago that they had encountered that new Gatlantean fighter as well. It too had abilities that their forces struggled to deal with. If these new ships were anything to go by, it was possible they still had not yet seen the full extent of their enemy's forces.
Was this the tip of a modern and dangerous new Gatlantean Navy?
It was a foreboding thought that brought a concerned frown to his face, but one Jonathan could not shake from the back of his head. Turning off the tablet's display, he put the device back down on the table and leaned back in his chair, tapping on his armrest as his expression darkened.
Just then, the intercom on the wall beside him beeped with a tone, signaling an incoming message.
"Hi Jonathan, is your meeting done yet? The Carrier Pigeon crew is ready to see you."
Smiling in surprise when he heard his Zalti friend's gentle voice, the bespectacled commander quickly got up from his seat and pressed on the intercom to reply.
"Y-Yeah, sorry we just finished. Is Kaito there with you?"
"Yes, he's here talking with Yashiro."
"Good, remind him to come up as well. I want both of you to be around for the debriefing."
"Got it, we'll be up in a sec."
"Thanks."
Oh yeah that reminds me he thought to himself while he pressed a button on the table to close up the large viewscreen. I wonder how well that scheme worked out in the end?
Jonathan smiled to himself as a fond memory came to mind, causing him to let out a small chuckle as he turned to look around the room.
"Those days seem so far off now…"
Meanwhile in one of the Audacious' elevators, Konno let out a sigh to herself as she listened to the quiet hum of the motors in the background.
"What's up? You look like you're thinking hard about something."
The young pilot turned to her left to see the familiar face of her spiky haired flight leader looking at her.
"Oh- sorry I was just spacing out," she said quickly as she closed her eyes and rubbed her face. "Don't worry about it, I think I'm just tired from the last battle…"
Smiling as the young pilot let out another sigh, Kaito lifted his hand above her head and suddenly rubbed into her hair with his knuckles.
"Well of course you're tired!" he laughed. "Two battles in a day? That's an all time high for you!"
"Ow ow ow hey!" laughed Konno as she tried to shake his grip off. "Alright I get it! Sorry I was thinking about how to greet the others!"
"Kaito, what are you doing?" another gentle voice chuckled.
Glancing up from Konno, Kaito turned to the other two occupants of the lift, Anika and Otto, who were staring at them with puzzled looks of amusement on their faces.
"What? This is our way of cheering each other up," he said nonchalantly. "It's called battle to loosen up the-"
"You're wide open!"
Kaito widened his eyes as two fingers were suddenly jabbed into his side causing him to simultaneously laugh and cry out in pain.
"Yeow! Okay I yield! I yield!"
As the two pilots continued to scuffle among each other, the two officers next to them could only watch in bewilderment as the lift shook slightly from their motions.
"I-Is this normal Ms Welmer?" asked Otto.
"Uh, who knows? I haven't really watched the pilots before," chuckled Anika as she shrugged before turning to the bespectacled officer. "Although he does have a point. Considering what you achieved, I thought the three of you would be in higher spirits coming back here."
"Really?" the bespectacled young officer replied, turning his head to her. "I thought our reactions were fairly normal."
"We got it out of our systems earlier already," sighed a voice from the front.
Anika narrowed her eyes briefly and glanced forwards toward Josiah who had been silently typing on a tablet in front of the elevator's doors.
"There's no need to overextend our celebrations," he continued, not looking up from his device. "Now that we're back here, there's no reason to waste any more time before going back to our jobs."
Frowning slightly, the long haired Zalti opened her mouth to address his statement but was interrupted by Otto who quickly followed up on his words.
"Right, besides right now the fleet needs the detection software as soon as possible," he smiled as he turned to Anika. "Once that's complete, I think we'd be able to rest a bit easier knowing the Gatlantean stealth vessels won't be able to touch us anymore. So a little more effort here couldn't hurt."
The Zalti widened her eyes at Otto's quick and confident response.
"Yeah, it would be a shame to see the fruits of Gieszler's work get delayed," Konno added from behind, standing victorious above Kaito who had slumped down to the floor in tickled agony.
Looking down at her hand, the young pilot paused as she remembered something.
"I need to keep up the momentum as well," she smiled quietly. "This time I was lucky I had the help needed to bring us out alive, but that luxury won't always be available for every battle."
Glancing briefly at Josiah's back, she realized that she had begun to ramble and quickly spun back to Anika.
"B-Basically what I'm trying to say is we are happy about the results of what happened," she corrected hastily. "But we also still have to do a lot more things before we can really rest. So if we seem to be quite focused that's why."
"Oh, I see," replied Anika, letting out a smile as she rested a hand on her hip. "That's understandable, but just make sure you get some rest as well in between. We can't have you collapsing from exhaustion."
"Y-Yes ma'am," Konno nervously chuckled as she gave her an 'okay' sign. "Got it."
"Yup, that's pretty much it," strained Kaito as he slowly got up, still clutching his side in pain. "Don't worry about training, we can go over what you want to learn later since it sounds like you have something in mind."
Widening her eyes, she turned to her flight leader who simply gave her a grin.
"I'll figure out how to implement whatever you need into a training schedule while you rest. After all, I am still your superior. I can't let my adorable rookie stress on her own."
Listening to his words, Konno's mouth slowly broke into a smile and closed her eyes gently.
"Yeah… thank you sir."
The elevator doors opened with a swish as they finished their conversation, and the group briskly headed to the meeting room for their debrief.
As they passed through the sleek, clean metallic corridors of the Audacious, the young pilot's mind slowly drifted back to the events after the battle.
"Come on guys!" exclaimed Hübner from in front of them with a camera in hand. "People on the left, you're still too stiff. Captain Houth! This ain't some class photo you know?"
Upon hearing his statement, the burly captain glanced away nervously and folded his arms in a gentler pose as the pilots' laughs around his echoed throughout the hangar.
"Also!" he added, pointing into the center of the group right at Konno, Josiah and Otto. "You three are the stars of tonight! Do you really want to remember this day with those slouched images of yourselves?"
In response, Otto and Josiah glanced at each other from the two sides of Konno and tried to stand up straighter.
"He really takes his photos seriously doesn't he?" remarked the bespectacled officer as he tried to keep his chin up.
"No kidding," sighed Josiah.
Letting out a snicker at his obvious discomfort, Konno turned her eyes back to the front on Hübner as she also straightened her flight suit.
After the battle, the trio had decided to return to the Neu Lambea for a short while to say their goodbyes before heading back to the Audacious. In the process, one thing led to another and the pilots ended up wanting to take a commemorative photo in the hangar.
But that wasn't the only souvenir they were going to get from this trip. Glancing behind, the young pilot smiled briefly as she eyed the small white submarine shaped symbol on the fuselage just behind the cockpit.
One of the pilots had suggested painting it after hearing about what had happened in the battle. Technically it wasn't a direct kill, but as the Garmillan pilots had reasoned, not every pilot could say they knocked out a stealth vessel.
Not that I had to do much of the work, Konno smiled lightly to herself before turning to the other two in front of her. Hopefully Kaito doesn't mind.
"Okay… that looks about right."
The messy haired Garmillan pilot in front of them smiled as he held the camera delicately in position.
"Um! Excuse me mechanic!" he suddenly called out over his shoulder. "Could you help us for a moment?"
"Tch, again? If you're going to take so many photos you should've brought a tripod."
Hübner gave the mechanic a sheepish laugh and handed the camera to him.
"Alright! I have no time for this so we're going to get this in one take!" the mechanic exclaimed. "Make sure your eyes remain open or I'll make sure they turn black afterwards!"
As he said this, Hübner quickly dove to the front of the group and laid down like some sort of French pin up girl while the rest of the pilots also loosened up into different poses.
"On the count of three shout victory! One! Two!"
Just before the shutter went off, Konno flinched as she realized how awkward the three of them looked standing formally together in contrast to the rest of the free form pilots.
"Three!"
Blushing slightly, the young pilot quickly put on the widest grin she could and suddenly yanked the other two into a hug.
"Wha- Yashiro-"
"VICTORY!" she laughed at the top of her lungs in chorus before the camera went off with a blinding flash.
A few minutes later, the young pilot stood frozen in the corridor with a beet red face as she held the photo hologram with shaky hands.
"Why did I do that?" she let out as she slumped her head in embarrassment.
At the same time, the door behind her opened with a hiss to reveal Hübner.
"Why why what's wrong?" he laughed before glancing over her shoulder. "The three of you look good together don't you?"
In her hands, the projected image fizzled slightly as Konno flinched at his remark, with Otto and Josiah's awkward expressions sticking out at her like a sore thumb."
"Y-Yeah well, I'm not sure what the other two think of that…" she sighed, glancing back at him briefly as he locked the door behind her before looking back down at the image.
Looking at the picture again, she realized just how small the pilot group was in comparison to the brown Tiger IIB behind them. Her eyes drifted over the different faces in the crowd, and recognized a few of them from the break room, one of which being the ponytailed pilot who had butted heads with Josiah back then.
However, it was then she realized that there were a number of faces missing, the most prominent of which was the lack of the person who had poured water over the tactical officer's head, and Bolz.
"Shall we go then?"
Konno jumped at the voice and glanced up to see Hübner smiling at her while tossing a keycard in his hand.
"Y-Yeah," she let out, quickly putting on a smile as she turned off the projector.
"It's a shame you have to leave so soon, with the protection of your fleet we might actually be able to fix the food processor this time," Hübner chuckled as the two made their way back through the Neu Lambea's corridors.
"It can't be helped," the young pilot shrugged, still looking ahead as she avoided an oncoming officer. "With what happened, our superiors are going to want to know what happened as soon as possible."
"True," Hübner replied before he put his arms behind his head and leaned back.
"Oh yeah, thought you should know, I heard Major Friebel got lectured after the battle."
"Wait really?" Konno asked, turning her head to him in surprise.
"Yeah," the Garmillan pilot nonchalantly replied with a shrug. "I overheard one of the mechanics saying that he was called to the Colonel's office for an unusually long time. Though I guess it could've been anything now thinking about it."
"I-I see," chuckled Konno as she glanced away. "Hopefully he didn't get into too much trouble."
The two took a moment to pause from their conversation as they scooted their way past a group of officers who were running in the opposite direction. As they made their way through the narrow corridor, they eventually began to hear the echoes of machinery and engines, which signaled they were approaching their destination.
"Um, if you don't mind, could I ask a question?" asked Konno as she lowered her head.
"Hm? Of course," Hübner replied. "Go ahead."
Glancing up briefly at him, the young pilot paused for a moment before continuing.
"How is that pilot we found?" she asked slowly.
"Oh? Him?" Hübner replied. "Ah, he's uh…"
As he paused, the messy haired pilot continued to wear a smile on his face but took a short while to answer her question.
"Bolz is fine," he smiled, turning to her as he let his hands down. "I got him to the medbay in time."
Konno took in a sharp breath when she heard his response and glanced away with a small sigh of relief.
"I see, that's… good to hear."
"Yeah, according to the doctor they were able to remove the shrapnel from his body during the battle," Hübner continued as he turned back to the front and put his hands in his pockets. "He won't be able to walk for now. But given about a year, his body will eventually recover once he's placed in a proper medical center."
"H-He can't walk?" let out Konno.
The messy haired pilot flinched slightly at her response and turned to her with a small shrug.
"Give the doctors a break would you?" he chuckled lightly. "Usually the consequences of such injuries are much worse. We're lucky they were able to keep him alive."
Widening her eyes, Konno bit her tongue and immediately turned away.
"S-Sorry I didn't mean to do that," she cringed as she held her head. "It's just that you said he was fine so I thought…"
Seeing her reaction, Hübner let out a slight smile and turned back to the front.
"It's fine Young Miss, I had the same reaction…"
Eventually, the corridor opened up into the massive hangar bay, and the two pilots were dwarfed by its high ceiling that housed the dozens of spacecraft in it.
"Are you still worried about how you intend to fight?" Hübner asked as the two of them walked between the long rows of red Debakes.
"Yeah," Konno admitted, still looking at the ground.
"My apologies, I guess we didn't really help with your worries did we?"
"No, it's fine. It's something I'll have to figure out on my own. Seeing all this just helps with that."
"Oh? Well aren't you a strong young lady."
"Pfft what? Are you patronizing me?"
"Heh, not at all, just stating an observation."
As the two finished their conversation, they found themselves in front of the Tiger IIB which was parked neatly in the corner of the hangar. Glancing up, Konno noticed that Otto and Josiah were climbing up onto the craft and preparing to go.
"Well, I guess this is it," said Hübner before turning to her with his hands on his hips. "Hope your stay with us wasn't too uncomfortable."
Widening her eyes in response, the young pilot hesitated briefly before giving a reply.
"Of course it wasn't," smiled Konno as she tilted her head towards him with the projector in hand. "I mean, I even got a souvenir free of charge, I can't complain about that."
Chuckling, Hübner folded his arms in response as he leaned to one side.
"Well if it worked so well, I'll take note of that for future visitors," he smiled.
As he said this however, an awkward pause began to grow between the two pilots, neither really knowing what to say as goodbye given the context.
"A last… word of advice before you go," Hübner slowly started, causing Konno to look up in surprise.
"From the things you've been saying, it sounds like you really want to change the person you are because you feel like you'll suffer for it in the future if you don't," the messy haired Garmillan continued as he put his hands back into his pockets. "And I can admire you for that, because it could've been just as easy to stick a finger at the rest of the world and blame them for everything that goes wrong instead of reflecting on your own actions."
Taking in a breath, he turned his head to look at the young pilot gently.
"But… just remember that there are some things you might not be able to change," he smiled quietly, causing Konno to widen her eyes.
"It'll feel like crap, and you'll always wish you were better." Hübner continued as he looked down at his own hand. "Sometimes you'll wish you could be like the people around you who don't seem to have the same weaknesses as you. You'll try to hide it, fix it, but it remains all the same."
Pausing, the Garmillan pilot silently thought to himself before looking back at Konno.
"But despite that, I want to let you know that that's okay," he added with a slightly brighter grin. "It may not feel like it most of the time, but you'll be surprised at just how important those weaknesses can be in helping the people around you."
Konno gulped slightly as she listened to his surprisingly direct words, and found herself glancing down shortly after to process his words. Slowly, she smiled softly to herself and let out a sigh.
"Got it," she replied gently before she looked back up at him. "I'll take note of that for the future. Thank you Hübner, really. You've been a great help."
Letting out a smile in response, the messy haired Garmillan shrugged and closed his eyes.
"No problem, just returning the favor."
The moment the words left his mouth, the two pilots couldn't help but crack a smile at each other and let out a small laugh.
"I guess we've come a full circle huh?" let out Konno as she wiped away a tear.
"Yeah, it's been a long two days," chuckled Hübner as he lowered his head.
Lowering her head, the young pilot watched as her feet began to shift nervously again, and began to turn away when a sudden thought came to mind.
"Oh yeah!" exclaimed the young pilot, glancing back up at him suddenly. "That reminds me- wait here just a bit, I almost forgot about something!"
Raising an eyebrow, Hübner watched as the young pilot quickly scrambled her way up to her cockpit and dug around within it for a second.
"I found this on the floor earlier!" she explained before she climbed down and ran back over to him. "J-Judging by its contents, I think it probably belongs to you or Bolz."
The Garmillan pilot tilted his head in confusion as she passed him a small device, and instinctively pressed the small button on its side to check its contents. Widening his eyes, Hübner opened his mouth in surprise as he was met with the image of his younger self along with Bolz and Klein in their junior uniforms.
"T-This is-"
He stumbled slightly at the sight of the old photo, and let out a quiet laugh as he took in the glimmer of an old memory.
"Again?" he chuckled to himself as he closed his eyes and turned off the projector. "Bolz, you really need to learn to stop leaving your things around."
Scratching his head as he smiled to himself, he turned back to Konno and opened up his hand to her for a handshake.
"Thank you Young Miss! I'll make sure to pass it back to him. Have a safe trip back home."
Seeing his grin, Konno couldn't help but do the same and answered his hand warmly with her own.
"Thanks, the same to you too."
As Hübner walked away into the distance with a wave, Konno chuckled silently to herself as she climbed up the metal stairs back to her cockpit. But as she got to the top, she noticed Josiah on her right, looking at her from his seat in the turret.
"Took your time didn't you?" he grumbled.
"What?" Konno snarked back tonelessly with a frown. "Can't I give my thanks to the one guy who's helped us with everything since we got here?"
Flinching, Josiah glanced away.
"That's not what I'm saying. But we got a radio message earlier from the Audacious. We're late."
Widening her eyes, Konno gritted her teeth in annoyance and spun around to jump into her cockpit.
"T-Then you should have told me earlier," she grumbled before grabbing her helmet.
I guess some things do never change, the young pilot smirked tiredly to herself as her cockpit canopy closed over her.
Back in the present, Konno watched as Otto and Josiah completed their respective summaries of the mission to their three superior officers standing across them in the meeting room.
Otto had mainly spent the time explaining how they had figured out the Gatlantean stealth vessel's cloak, while Josiah gave a summary of the main events of their journey.
"I see, so you found the submarine based on the information you gathered on the battlefield and used its tactics to find its location?" said Jonathan as he eyed the tactical officer's report in his hand. "That's pretty damn impressive!"
"Thank you sir," nodded Josiah, who continued to stand formally despite the kind words.
"While we're on the subject of impressive feats Captain," added Kaito from next to Jonathan. "Might I also add that Lieutenant Yashiro was able to pilot them through an enemy fleet and take out a carrier on her own? In a bomber no less."
In response to his overly eager compliment, Konno felt her ears burn up and quickly turned away to hide her embarrassment.
"Since when was this a competition?" laughed Anika before she turned to the young trio. "It's quite obvious the three of them have performed exceptionally for themselves. We have no need for a comparison."
"Indeed," smiled Jonathan before turning to them as well with a spark of mischief in his eyes. "However, there is one last question I'd like to ask you all, especially to Lieutenants Yashiro and Anton…"
"How was it like to work together for this mission?"
Widening their eyes, the two officers immediately froze, and simultaneously glanced in opposite directions as they twitched slightly.
"It was quite fun," Otto chirped up suddenly, causing everyone to look at him in surprise.
"Ms Yashiro is sometimes overly eager and causes a bit of trouble as a result," the bespectacled officer explained as he lowered his head with a smile. "But she always seems to care for everyone, and tries to do everything she can to make sure things go well for us."
"And while Mr Anton says some questionable things at times, he's actually quite respectable and is always looking for a way to solve our problems."
Pausing for a moment, he slowly looked back up at the three commanding officers.
"I-I understand the two of them have caused trouble in the past, but both Ms Yashiro and Mr Anton are very capable when given the chance. I hope you'd reconsider your opinion of them going forward."
Stunned, Konno and Josiah both gulped as their faces glowed with a bright shade of red and cleared their throats as they glanced away again.
As for the senior officers, Jonathan fought hard to prevent himself from smiling in amusement, while Anika tried to suppress a giggle from her lips.
"Huh, is that so Sub Lieutenant Gieszler?" said Kaito with a big mischievous grin before his eyes turned to the two embarrassed young officers. "Perhaps we should pair them up more often, since this arrangement worked out so well!"
"Not a chance!" Konno and Josiah finally snapped simultaneously.
Flinching when they realized what just happened, the two gritted their teeth and folded their arms in response.
"W-We just happened to line up once or twice," Konno stated crossly through her pout. "Don't expect it to happen again."
"Anyway, a deal is a deal isn't it sir?" added Josiah quickly before he glared at the grinning flight leader. "We completed the mission, so we're free from our previous punishment."
"Of course," Kaito smiled. "The two of you are henceforth free of your shackles. Well, rather one of you at least."
Letting out a sigh of relief, the two young officers lowered their shoulders as the tension in them very visibly left their bodies.
"Yes sir, thank you sir," they let out.
However, they soon began to process what he just said.
"O-One, sir?" Konno asked meekly.
Smiling again, he turned to her.
"Lieutenant Yashiro, you did promise me that you'd bring back the warp booster without a scratch don't you remember?" said Kaito in a sweetly casual tone as a foreboding arua came around him. "I can't help but notice that you haven't held up that agreement."
Freezing in response, Konno immediately glanced away.
"W-Well uh…"
While the young pilot nervously shifted her feet as she thought of an excuse, Jonathan and Anika let out a sigh as they watched Kaito continue to smile mischievously.
"Permission to end his excessive fun Captain?" whispered Anika.
"Granted," sighed Jonathan.
In response, the long haired Zalti quietly shuffled behind the grinning pilot and smacked the back of his head with a grazing hit.
"Ow! Hey I was already planning to go easy on her!" whined Kaito as Anika made her way back to her place. "You didn't have to do that…"
Letting out a nervous chuckle as she watched her flight leader rub his head in pain, Konno made a quick glance to Otto and gave him a friendly smile.
Thanks Gieszler, she thought to herself as she gave him a thumbs up, to which the bespectacled officer smiled and nodded in return.
As they finished their exchange, Jonathan cleared his throat to refocus the group's attention and took a step forward in front of Kaito and Anika.
"With that, I think we've come to the conclusion of this meeting," said the bespectacled commander as he put his arms behind his back. "If there are no other questions, I'm sure you all would like to get some-"
"Actually, there is one last thing sir," Josiah added suddenly, causing the group to look at him in surprise.
Stiffening, he glanced downward in thought for a moment before turning back to Jonathan.
"On second thought, could I have a word with you sir?" the tactical officer asked apprehensively.
Raising an eyebrow, Jonathan couldn't help but pause for a moment before giving him a reply.
"Y-Yeah sure," replied the bespectacled commander as he turned to the others. "The rest of you are dismissed, go get some rest for now.
In response, Kaito and Anika gave a nod and motioned to Konno and Otto to follow them. And while the room was filled with the sounds of shuffling footsteps, Josiah glanced over silently and watched as Konno and Otto made their way to the door.
"Do you know what he's asking about?" Otto whispered to Konno.
"No idea," she shrugged nonchalantly as she rested her arms behind her head. "Anyway, do you want to join us for a snack later after this? I'm going to be meeting with-"
"Ahem," Kaito coughed from in front, causing Konno to flinch.
"Ah, right…"
"M-Maybe later then," Otto chuckled nervously. "Anyway I still have to finish up some work first."
Turning back to the front, the door in front of them opened with a beep and the group was met with another two familiar faces.
"Oh! Genta! Mitsuhiko!" exclaimed Konno as she poked her head past Kaito and Anika and ran out the door to hug someone. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd still be at your checkup."
"Heh heh, caught you off guard didn't we? Turns out the doc just wanted a small scan…"
As the rowdy pilots and Otto left the room, Josiah noticed Anika pausing at the doorway smiling at them before she gave a quick glance to Jonathan.
"I'll see you later then," she added with a wave.
Nodding in response, Jonathan replied with a smile as she left and turned back to Josiah, only to find him giving him a glare.
"W-What?" asked Jonathan as he crossed his arms.
Twitching slightly, Josiah glanced away in response.
"S-Sorry sir, force of habit," he sighed quietly to himself.
Taking in a breath, he turned back to the captain.
"It might be an overreaction, but I wanted to notify you about something odd Colonel Vale and his XO did when we first arrived."
Jonathan's eyes widened in curiosity before quickly narrowing in concern.
"Go on."
"Upon our arrival, the first thing they asked for was the names of the people who knew about our mission," Josiah explained. "When we asked them why, they explained that the Gatlanteans seemed to have been waiting for them at our rendezvous location, and suspected some sort of information leak to be the cause."
"An information leak?" repeated Jonathan before glancing downward. "Hmm, I guess it could be possible that the Gatlanteans might have found a way to tap into our communication lines, especially since they've attacked a quite few vital subspace communications stations recently. But so far there haven't been any signs in the Gatlantean fleet's movements that would suggest such a thing. Although I might want to contact the other battle group commanders to confirm the possibility."
Pausing, the tactical officer narrowed his eyes.
"As of now the current consensus is that they're simply attacking as much as they can when they find a way through our battle lines right?" asked Josiah as he crossed his arms. "Hence why their raids seem so random. But if they've actually had access to our communications the whole time, it would be quite a different story."
"True, but that's only speculation at this point," replied the bespectacled commander as he furrowed his brow further in response and held his chin in thought.
"However, I do find it curious that the Colonel didn't bring it up with me in our earlier meeting. If that's the case..."
Widening his eyes, Josiah flinched slightly at his statement and waited as Jonathan tapped his chin in thought.
"Either way, thanks for bringing this to my attention," the captain finally let out before turning back to him. "I'll let Hobbs look into the matter and probably General Dolmen as well. If there's a chance that our communications are being tapped, they'll be able to find it. Until then, we should both keep this under wraps for now."
"U-Understood," replied Josiah before he glanced away.
Seeing the tactical officer's reaction, Jonathan similarly paused.
"You know, I'm glad we've finally had a normal conversation," the bespectacled commander said slowly, causing the tactical officer to flinch.
Letting out a sigh, Josiah glanced back at him.
"That's all I have for you sir, is there anything else?"
"Not at the moment," replied Jonathan with a small polite nod. "You may be dismissed Lieutenant Anton."
A few minutes later, the tactical officer found himself walking silently along one of the Audacious' empty corridors as he thought about what to do. Due to their mission going on for much longer than expected, their superiors had given them the rest of the day off to rest and reset their body clocks.
Pulling down his left sleeve, he took a quick glance at his watch.
"Eight am huh?" he mumbled before putting his arm down and letting out another sigh.
Today's going to be another slow day isn't it?
But as he thought to himself, his stomach suddenly let out a loud growl, causing the tactical officer to flinch and stuff his hands in his pockets.
"Then again, maybe that's not so bad," he grumbled.
Turning the corner, Josiah made his way to the ship's cafeteria and opened its door to head inside. But when he did, he was met with a sight that caused him to freeze and narrow his eyes.
"What?" came a familiar voice.
Plopping her mop down on the floor in front of him in the half-lit cafeteria was Konno, who seemed to be cleaning the empty room with a bucket next to her.
Glancing away quickly from her glare, the tactical officer quietly made his way over to the ship's pantry, and opened it to look for some leftovers.
"I thought you'd be with the others," said Josiah as he looked through the remaining plastic wrapped plates.
"Can it," muttered Konno as she scrubbed her mop across the floor with both hands. "I'm just getting this over with so I don't have to worry about it later."
As she said this, the tactical officer took out a small pastry from the cupboard and began taking quick bites out of it as he observed her.
"You know, it's probably easier if you don't start from the center of the room. You're going to end up stepping over your own work."
Flinching, the pilot glanced at him.
"Just take your food and go," she sighed.
In response, the tactical officer simply closed his eyes and put the last piece of his snack into his mouth to chew as Konno went back to her mopping. Swallowing, he put his hands in his pockets again and walked over to the other side of the mess hall towards another cupboard.
Meanwhile, Konno let out another sigh as she dragged her mop back to her cart and wrung it out in the bucket.
I'll step on my own work huh? She thought to herself as she glanced at the small area she had cleaned.
However just then, the pilot began to hear the clattering sounds of plastic wheels hitting the floor and spun around in surprise to see Josiah taking out his own mop and bucket from the cabinet.
"W-What are you doing?"
Glancing at her briefly, the tactical officer narrowed his eyes before he turned back to his equipment and closed the cupboard.
"Don't get the wrong idea," he muttered as he rested his mop in his cart. "The only reason I'm doing this is because I should've been able to shoot down those Gatlanteans before they got a shot on us that time. So I'm just as responsible for the booster's destruction as you are."
Blinking blankly in response, Konno watched as the tactical officer paused and slowly pulled his cart towards the kitchen to fill it with water.
"Anyway it's not like I have anything better to do," he mumbled. "Plus you did help contact Captain Houth in the last last battle, so I at least owe you for that."
When she heard his words, the young pilot quickly glanced away and continued washing her mop as she desperately tried to hide the small smile forming on her face.
"Hmph, suit yourself," she replied. "You can handle the left side then, I'll do the right"
As she went back to mopping, the tactical officer froze.
"Huh?" Josiah let out in annoyance before he turned back to her. "You've clearly already started work on that side, don't dump me extra work. Anyway it's more efficient to cut the cafeteria into top and bottom, I'll handle top you handle bottom."
In response, the pilot's eyebrow twitched.
"S-Sorry what? Why are you trying to order me around?" she replied with a louder voice as she swung her head towards him. "Aren't you the one offering to help? And don't try to fool me with that, I can clearly tell there's more tables on that side."
"Well you clearly lack the experience so of course I'm giving the orders!" the tactical officer shot back causing Konno to grit her teeth. "Unless you prefer to be stuck here for an unnecessary amount of time."
"The door is still open~ you can leave any time!"
"Look, do you want my help or not?"
"Yeah! But all you're doing is wasting time!"
"Wha- I'm trying to save time you-"
Mid-sentence, the two suddenly heard footsteps approaching and immediately froze. Glancing to the door in fright, they watched as a few crew members walked past. Thankfully, they didn't peek in out of curiosity.
Flinching, Josiah frowned and grabbed his cart.
"Fine. If you're that concerned about the tables I'll take bottom," he grumbled as he stomped to the kitchen with his mop and bucket in tow. "Let's get this over with."
"T-That's what I said in the first place idiot," said Konno as she stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to her own mop and pulling it out of her bucket.
Eventually, the two went to work, and continued their own business separate from each other as Josiah walked away to get his water. But as they hid their faces from each other, the two couldn't help but silently smile to themselves as they glanced downward.
Seriously, the two officers chuckled simultaneously.
I guess this means we're really home.
November 15th 2204 - Voss Sector - Restricted Area
In the very depths of the dark inky corners of space, a large Garmillan fleet floated in stationary orbit above a greenish planet, quietly keeping watch for any trespassers who happened to show up uninvited. This powerful sentinel fleet of nearly three hundred ships including two Gaiderol-class battleships, four Polmeria-class assault carriers and finally a single green Gelvades-class battlecarrier which acted as the flagship of the Voss Defense Fleet. Although it was typical to see a major fleet guarding one of the most largest astro fleet shipyards of Garmillas, this one in particular had a particular fondness of keeping people out.
Approaching in the distance, the battered form of the Neu Lambea and her earth escorts slowly warped into view, followed by what little remained of her original Garmillan fleet as they completed their one day journey.
"Neu Lambea, Neu Lambea, this is Voss Command Center," their radios echoed. "We have been expecting you. Please transmit your clearance codes and await further instructions."
"Voss Command Center, Voss Command Center, this is Neu Lambea copy. We are sending our codes over now. Standby for transmission."
Meanwhile, in the Neu Lambea's captain quarters, Colonel Vale let out a sigh as he glanced down at the person he was in a video call with on his visual screen.
"Apologies Colonel Berger, it looks like I'll have to cut our meeting shot. We just arrived at our destination."
"Oh no it's fine," the hot headed commander smirked from behind his screen. "The sooner your repairs can be completed the better shape we'll be in. We've already pulled Baren back from his hunt near the Magenta Sector to fill in for you, but I'd like to have as many friendly faces around as we can."
"Our fleet shares the sentiment," replied Vale. "We will try to return as soon as we can."
"Also," the Colonel on the computer quickly added as he clasped his hands together in thought. "I understand that Voss has a strict policy on outgoing communications, but it would be good if you could join the upcoming meeting with command. Things have gotten bad enough that there have been a couple of commanders who want to ask…"
Berger paused grimily before continuing. "His fleet for help. It would be good to have another balanced perspective to comment on the matter."
Pausing at his statement, Colonel Vale closed his eyes.
"Understood, I'll see what I can do."
Nodding, Berger gave a Garmillan salute before his video feed cut off. At the same time, Vale glanced up as he heard a knock at the door, and pressed a button on his desk to let them in.
"Sir, you are needed on the bridge," the officer quickly stated.
Nodding, the bearded commander stood up from his desk and followed the lieutenant to their destination.
Back outside, the Audacious and her flotilla slowly banked around in the opposite direction, leaving the Neu Lambea fleet alone as the red defense ships approached them.
"Audacious to Neu Lambea," their radios rang out again. "This is where we will part ways. Godspeed."
"Received, thank you for your assistance. We wish you good luck on your mission."
As the message ended, the red striped Andromeda's engines glowed with a bright blue, before she and her escorts warped out leaving the Garmillan ships alone.
"Neu Lambea, this is Voss Command Center," came another communication as the Neu Lambea fleet approached the Voss sentry armada. "We have verified your codes. Standby and proceed with our escorts to the port."
From the bridge, the Neu Lambea's bridge crew watched as their ship plowed through the heavy clouds of the planet's atmosphere. Glancing to their left and right, they could see the slow flashes of the navigation lights from their guards on either side, and couldn't help but feel a chill go down their spines.
Because of her size, the Neu Lambea was forced to separate from the rest of the fleet and head to Voss's larger shipyard for its repairs. However, though they already knew this was going to happen, the crew members at the different consoles were still unable to hide the apprehensive looks that were growing on their faces as they followed the Voss escorts through the planet's murky depths.
Eventually, the ships broke past the barrier of clouds and soon came upon the sight of the gigantic industrial infrastructure that was Voss's shipyards, which spanned nearly two hundred and eight square miles across and was guarded by dozens of Garmillan gunships patrolling just above the surface.
But curiously, nearly a half of the industrial complex was enveloped by a massive holographic field, which prevented the crew from seeing any of the drydock spaces.
"What in the world?" muttered Major Friebel in disbelief. "That space is large enough to build at least twenty Zoellugut-class ships. What exactly are they building here that needs to be so well hidden?"
"I don't think we're permitted to know," replied Vale with a frown. "It could be those rumored replacements of the Gelvades-class the Department of Defense has been requesting for a while."
Narrowing his eyes in doubt, Friebel glanced again at the flickering holographic fields and remained silent as he thought to himself.
The red and black Apollo Norm continued her descent till she was right over the one large drydock that was not covered by a field. And while the red escorts waited above, slowly but gently, the Neu Lambea lowered herself until the supportive docking clamps underneath latched onto her hull and safely secured the massive ship with a satisfying clank into her new berth.
Waiting at the airlock docking terminal and flanked by four Garmillan guards, a tall short-hair blond female Garmillan officer stood at crisp attention as she awaited for her guests to arrive.
In front of her, the doors of the airlock that connected to the Neu Lambea opened and out stepped the two senior commanding officers of the carrier. Slowly, Colonel Vale and Major Friebel stepped forward to face their host, and the three of them immediately raised their right hands to salute in the typical Garmillan fashion.
"Welcome to Voss Colonel Vale and Major Friebel," greeted the young Garmillan woman firmly. "Commander Ingrid Erika of Voss command staff, I will be your guide for the length of your stay here."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Vale replied, narrowing his eyes as he put his arms behind his back. "I presume you've received our request for a transmission back to Command."
"Yes," replied Ingrid before turning her back to him. "Right this way, the director is waiting for you."
The Colonel paused at her statement, and watched as her guards parted to give them space to walk through.
Catching a cautious glance from Friebel, Vale silently turned his eyes away from the guards and followed her into the orange bathed corridor.
Inside a darky lit conference room a Garmillan high ranking official was reading a Gamillan data pad which displayed classified orders that were sent from Garmillan high command. He had a mostly average build with his facial features including moustache and sideburns. In addition he had greyish blue hair that reached his shoulders.
"Divert construction crews and materials to fix the 11th Carrier Group's flagship huh?" muttered Director Ferdinand Kranshaw quietly under his breath in dissatisfaction. "Great, another setback for the second half of the year..."
Just then the comms on the table started to buzz for attention, which prompted Kranshaw to answer it.
"Yes?"
"Director Kranshaw, Colonel Vale of the Neu Lambea and his XO are here to see you," came Ingrid's voice.
"Good send them in," replied Kranshaw as he put away his tablet and hid the contents of his message.
The doors slid open allowing the two senior commanding officers of the Neu Lambea and Ingrid to step inside the room. Kranshaw turned around to face his guests which prompted Vale to raise an eyebrow in surprise.
"Welcome to the Voss Shipyards," greeted Kranshaw as he offered his hand forward. "It's been a while Colonel Vale."
Not missing a beat, the colonel accepted his handshake.
"Indeed," greeted Vale stoically as he gripped Kranshaw's hand and shook it out of politeness. To the Colonel's curiosity, the grip from Kranshaw's hand was surprisingly tense compared to his own.
"I didn't expect you to be the new director of the Voss shipyards," continued Vale. "Last time I checked you were in charge of repairing the Balun transwarp gate network three years ago. My compliments to your successful endeavour. It couldn't have been easy to replicate Akerius tech."
"Of course," replied Kranshaw with an unassuming polite smile. "I take pride in being at the forefront of Garmillas science and technology. You yourself have been doing well on the front lines especially with that Terron built battlecarrier of yours. Still pulling no punches on your foes?"
"Not more than necessary," answered Vale stoically. "As long as it delivers the expected losses upon the enemy."
"E-Excuse me sir," asked a hesitant Friebel. "You two know each other?"
"Oh yes," replied Kranshaw. "Vale was a year my junior in the academy days. Always too serious and had a knack for getting the best results regardless of the methods used. Got on the nerves of some of our academy mates back in the day."
"Ah I see," let out the Major with a pained smile.
"Thank you for the summary Ferdinand, but I do believe we're working on a tight timetable," continued Vale as he handed out a data tablet to Kranshaw. "Our repair list. I hope that you'll be able to complete it in a quick and efficient manner."
"Hm, that's to be determined," replied Kranshaw with a frown, scanning through the list of repairs needed to the Neu Lambea. "Nerge informed me about your situation, but as much as I want to return you to the front lines, I have other priorities to be completed here at Voss. And your arrival here has greatly disrupted the schedule that I was tasked to complete."
"Does it have to do with whatever you're hiding under that stealth field?" asked Friebel.
Ingrid glared sharply which caused Friebel to gulp slightly, but before she could berate him, Kranshaw intervened to answer his question.
"All you need to know is that we're building a specialized fleet that is essential to the future of Garmillas," explained Kranshaw in a calm but grim tone. "The details of which are not cleared to be spoken with any unauthorized individual or group."
"A specialized fleet?" muttered Friebel. But before he could ask any further, he noticed Ingrid fiddling with her fingers on the grip of her holstered laser pistol, and sending him a threatening stare which caused him to frown.
"That's enough Major," Colonel Vale cautioned, glancing firmly at his second in command before turning back to Kranshaw. "We have to respect their rules."
However, in front of him, the director simply gave a knowing smile in response, which caused Vale to narrow his eyes in slight annoyance.
At that moment, the comms on the table started to buzz which prompted Ingrid to divert her attention away from the Neu Lambea's commanding pair to answer the call.
"Sir, it's Garmillan high command and the regional commanders on the line," said Ingrid, turning around to face her superior. "They're ready for the conference call."
"Good timing," replied Kranshaw as he looked past Vale and Friebel. "Has the line been secured with all participants?"
"Yes Director," replied Ingrid after checking her readouts. "The comms center has confirmed it, no one is listening in on us. We're good to go."
"Very well, put it on screen" replied Kranshaw before turning to the two commanding officers.
"I apologize for intruding on your call, but there are some things I too need to ask command," he whispered. "I hope you don't mind?"
"Of course," replied Vale as he met the director's gaze unflinchingly. "But let's be done with it shall we?"
Smiling, Kranshaw turned to his deputy and nodded in confirmation to start the call.
A/N: Phew, we finally made it... The end of the Carrier Pigeon/Saving Neu Lambea arc! And it took almost an entire year to finish it! And it still leaves more questions than answers along with a few characters returning from official Yamato canon and of course this fanfic story. I'm pretty sure a certain Bolar Wars fan that I know would probably recognize him... XD
Initially, the events of this arc were supposed to take place on the Audacious herself with the focus being on Otto. However when I was discussing this part of the story with my proofreader/editor we came up with more ideas to make it more interesting and less filler in terms of character development and how it fits with the rest of the story from what was already established and what's being planned in the future. It went to such a drastic change in direction that I decided that my proofreader/editor should actually have a go in writing most of this arc with myself giving advice on feedback on what to change and what to keep. Honestly, despite some very annoying delays and writer's block setbacks, the end result was more amazing and satisfying than I could imagined and I can't see it being written in any other way by my dear proofreader/editor/co-writer. In fact, I've given him the honor to write his own afterword section down below on his own experience in writing this amazing installment for Project Audacious. So please welcome my cousin and best friend, Jatpenguins9, to the author notes commentary!
Editor/Proofreader Afterword: Hello hello! Jatpenguins9 here, hope you guys were able to enjoy this last chapter of the arc. Just a quick background about our working relationship for those who are curious, the two of us have worked together for a very long time on various creative projects in the past. For Project Audacious, he initially brought me in as a simple grammar checker because he was afraid of the validity of his language. But as we got more and more invested into this project, we started to work together a lot more on developing the different aspects of the story, with his main focus being on the overall series & plot direction in addition to world building while I focused on the small details and character building. We kind of naturally fell into those complementary roles, and I think it's really helped us flesh out our writing much better because we can keep each other in check.
Back to this arc specifically though, I think the most memorable part of this experience is really watching the characters grow as I wrote their story. One of the biggest things I wanted to keep in mind while writing this arc was to flesh out the characters I was working with as much as I could, whether it be the main trio or the Neu Lambea crew. Writing them resulted in a lot of self reflection, and in a way, forced me to think about some of the things they were going through in different ways, which resulted in a few changes in the way I think. It also involved many late nights of thinking and head banging, but I hope that what came out of it has been enjoyable for you guys, especially in the case of Josiah. Anyway, back to you JatJordan.
A/N (continued from before): So with the conclusion of the third arc of Project Audacious, we're now writing the next act of the story that will lead into proper game changing events in this alternate world of the SBY remake. The release date is still to be determined as we're more keen to update the story on a more consistent basis per arc, but we hope to get most of it done by late September. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and see you all in the next one!