****So its been a busy couple of months and I regret at not having enough time to fully work on this. This may seem a bit cluttered and disjointed and at the time I was writing this I had intended to go one direction but after being diverted to work on other things for a few weeks I had to rework some of this and add in other parts of the story. I have taken various details from different franchises and added it here due to I think the need for the humans to be more of a threat to the original Sirens than what they are depicted as in the story. I used both the HALO franchise and the Star Trek franchise due to both having a relative grounding in hard science that I believe humans may have been able to achieve if pushed too hard especially to fight an extraterrestrial force that has far better technology, especially when said species is trying to wipe out humanity. For the action part of the story I drew inspiration from Star Trek 2 Wrath of Khan and C.S. Forester's various works which I feel have a far better grasp of both science fiction naval action would be like and have a mastery of storytelling that I cannot hope to match. Once again I apologize for the long wait and hope ya'll enjoy.****
-2230 03MAY off the island of Nendo in the Santa Cruz islands-
The zodiac was moving through the ocean waters on its way to the landing site on the southern side of the island. Arthur was seated in the craft using his control over the craft to quickly and quietly navigate it under the oppressive darkness of the new moon. He was clad in his Advanced Individual Combat Armor (AICA) which gave his appearance an almost menacing look with his tinted helmet guiding him to a waypoint he established less than 24 hours prior.
The U.S. Military had been experimenting with power armor ever since the Siren threat showed itself, due to the Sirens use of Drones as foot soldiers that could utilize active camouflage, advanced sensors, and was far stronger than the regular human infantry. Many times, these drones could only be destroyed through excessive amounts of coordinated fire being directed at them. As a result, the powers that be, investigated increasing the effectiveness of their infantry with power armor that would allow for better protection, communication, sensing, and heavier lifting. The initial set called the Individual combat armor (ICA) was designed as a massed produced unit that would close the gap and allow parity with the Siren drones. Despite the ICA being a major success improvements were devised to keep parity and even surpass the drones, the problem that arose however was one of power consumption and load. A standard grunt could only carry so much without the system becoming too bulky.
The shipmasters were a solution to this problem. With the power of the cubes that would be harnessed to the suit, many more systems could be implemented including better sensors, armor, more storage, and shielding. These suits were also designed to be self-sealing and NBC proof. As a result of these suits, the shipmasters were selected to conduct more and more special operations as time went on. These operations were crucial to attaining and adapting Siren technology which also were added to the arsenal of the Allies. Some of the Siren technology was even added into the suit, including an effective motion detector system and a VISOR system that could see in infrared and through active cammo. The suits over time took on the appearance of the ODST armor from HALO game franchise due to the inspiration of that came upon the developers and makers of the AICA.
In addition to the new armor, the shipmasters were given new weapons to help fight on the ground. The Siren drones had a very effective armor system that utilized a composite of depleted uranium and titanium alloys to make a heavy but near unstoppable chassis and systems shell. The United States was forced to deal with this situation by rapidly and effectively up gunning their weapons and upgrading their ammunition, occasionally taking inspiration from the Sirens who used a combination of magnetic rifles and plasma for the drones' weapons. The Allies stole as much of that technology as they could and incorporated it into their own weapons leading to a small arms revolution. The shipmasters were ultimately given 3 main weapons, a magnetic accelerator long rifle XSR-5, a personal laser cannon LP-3, and finally a magnetically accelerated assault rifle also known as the XM10. These weapons again took inspiration from the popular HALO franchise with the XSR looking like and having similar capabilities to the HALO sniper rifle SRS-92C, the LP-3 looking like the M6 Galilean Nonlinear Rifle or more known as the Spartan Laser, and finally with the XM10 looking like and having near the same characteristics as the XBR-55.
When these new weapons were originally rolled out on the production line for the shipmasters, Arthur had made a point to tell the developers about the similarities between the weapons and the game, to which they explained that the design itself from the game was sound but that the weapons themselves were designed to surpass what was in the game and that since many of the aesthetics were no different from many current firearms, that it was only logical for them to look similar, since a completely new design would have to many issues in both manufacturing and deployment.
When the Shipmasters were first deployed as 5 man "Lances" with their AICA and gear, they made a definite impact on the Sirens who began to fear them more and called them "Terrors" and "Hunters" due to their ability to seemingly appear from nowhere, their effectiveness, their efficiency, and their brutality, never leaving any survivors from a raid. Overtime the Shipmasters were given melee weapons including their personal swords to help focus their power from their cubes to act as an effective cutting tool against Siren armor, and as a ranged option of releasing a large amount of energy in a blast at one time. These swords were found to be especially potent if they had some historical value since similar to the cubes, it was found that the more renowned a weapon was, the more powerful it would be.
Arthur stayed alert as he slowed the craft onto the southern shore of the island. He decided to land near the inlet of Masoko which would give him enough cover from the point of origin of Matthew's transmission. From there he would head overland to Lata and approach the village which he determined was where Matthew was being held.
Arthur had conducted an overflight with his drones of the area when he was still over a day out and upon not finding any major Siren threats or ships determined that the transmission was a trap and decided to conduct an infiltration of the island while he sent Iowa off to the nearby island of Vanuatu which was only a short distance away from the Allied base at New Caledonia.
Arthur landed and quickly set about concealing the Zodiac before moving into the jungle highlands of Nendo.
'I wonder why the PSs picked this place to hold Matthew. Why not pick one of their bases as bait and have me go against that.' he wondered as he continued his movement through the jungle, avoiding any roads or dwellings to not give away his position.
'It's too quiet. I haven't seen any inhabitants yet despite signs of recent habitation in some of the huts. Something is really fishy about this. Did the PSs round the people up and execute them? Experiment on them perhaps? The Sirens did that back with us so I wouldn't be two surprised, but usually there is some form of encampment for that or structures to conduct the tests in. Recon spotted nothing, no pits for mass executions, no factories, no facilities, no docks, nothing. So why here and where are the people?' he asked himself, growing increasingly apprehensive as he continued to his overwatch position outside Lata.
He noticed some movement with his VISOR enhancer in his helmet which allowed him to see through active camouflage. 'Hmm seems to be some foot guards here, probably synthetics by the look of their movements.' he noted as he continued observing their movements and found that there was a pattern to their routes that had them converge around a two-story building in the middle of the town. He continued watching them for 12 hours, taking special care to note any deviations in their patterns. Once he was satisfied and had gathered all the intelligence, he could he began planning his infiltration into the town, deciding to do so at night to potentially minimize his profile while also allowing for better options should he be discovered.
Once darkness had descended, he made his way carefully and quietly down from his overwatch position to the outskirts of the town, staying in the shadows and using the buildings as cover from what appeared to be drones. Along the way he planted explosives on some of the buildings to allow for an escape route once he recovered Matthew. He made his way through several houses to further hide his movements until he reached the target building which was near the center of the town. He was able to distract several of the drones guarding the back entrance of the building by pushing a cart down a street that was being patrolled by some of the drones causing them to go investigate.
Using the distraction, he was able to enter the building which was totally blacked out. He swept the first and second floor and found nothing until he reached the main staircase which seemed to have a hidden door on the side.
'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.' he mumbled as he opened the door and found a staircase heading down below the ground floor. 'Nothing spooky or suspicious about a hidden staircase heading down to a basement in a building surrounded by high tech drones.' he mused.
He continued moving down the winding staircase noting that even though he closed the door behind him, there appeared to be a breeze that came from the stairs. He continued moving at the high ready with his XM10 as he went deeper and deeper into the building before finally stopping at a metal door with a keypad on the side. He used the secondary function of the SERENA system to hack into the panel and unlock the door which he moved through and closed as he took note of the room, he was in. For the most part it appeared to be an office overlooking a factory and as he looked out, he was shocked.
'The people haven't been killed; they've been incorporated.' he thought with horror as he looked out to see not just a factory but a huge warehouse with people inserted into slots as though in sleep along both sides of the structure which seemed to be at least 100m tall and 200m wide. They seemed to have implants on them and had pale skin.
"Magnificent isn't it." A voice stated behind Arthur who quickly turned around and faced the voice with his rifle aimed at the source. The source appeared to be a pale skinned yellow eyed girl with what appeared to be a headset around her and several turrets sprouting behind her. "Humanity's potential combined with Siren technology. Order from chaos. All of their thoughts and wills combine together in a single cohesive group." She stated as she moved passed Arthur and looked to the depths of the building.
"By getting rid of their individuality and uniqueness. You have made them no better than drones." Arthur counters.
"Yes. That is one way of looking at it, I suppose. I look at it as progress. Wouldn't you say so, Matthew?" she asks as she addresses another figure that was hidden in the shadows. The figure slowly walks forward with the same type of armor Arthur has with a pistol aimed at Arthur's head. There was a white bold number emblazoned on his armor's chest, 16.
"Damnit." Arthur mutters as he realizes his situation. "So, you have uploaded him to your hive mind, then."
"Indeed. He gave us some difficulty especially with trying to change his opinion but over time he eventually came around to what our position was." the girl stated.
"Oh, and just what is that?" Arthur asked as he attempted to figure out a way to get out while still destroying the facility. 'And getting Matt out of here. Those nano-drones should have been purged by the cube. They must have upgraded them. An EMP may buy us some time and kill the drones.' he thought as he launched a nuclear cruise missile from Iowa.
"I get that you're stalling but could you be a little less obvious about it." the girl said as she huffed. "Our goal is to ensure humanity is stronger, more united, and prepared. If we must constantly run tests, then we will do so. If we must eliminate any potential of stagnation, then we will. We will do what is necessary for humanity to evolve. This is a necessary step toward that goal. For the good of the collective of humanity it is necessary to ensure that some are sacrificed for the betterment of that goal."
"And who the hell gave you the right to choose?!" Arthur stated.
"Why humanity did, after all you have seen or at least Matthew here has seen the willingness of people to give up their individuality, their 'rights' as you call them for the collective. Whether it be security, prosperity, or any other goal humans are just as likely to choose comfort and obedience over their individuality and potentially come to harm over it. It's almost as pitiful as it is enlightening." She scoffed.
"I don't remember giving you that power and I'll be damned before I let the sacrifices of my subordinates or those who went before me be in vain." He said as he threw a smoke and flash grenade on the ground causing a momentary distraction as he jumped out the window onto the facility floor.
"Hmm... always rebellious aren't you. In the end it won't matter since your resistance is futile. Unit 16 find and capture the intruder." the girl commanded as she sighed and continued looking out the window.
"As you command." Matthew responded emotionlessly as he jumped onto the ground floor in pursuit of Arthur.
'Let's see if Arthur matches up to Unit 16s memories. Blocks 3, 4, and 5 activate and capture the intruder.' She mentally commands as over 300 units start activating across the facility.
Arthur makes his way through the facility constantly looking for the main power generator, when he notices a detectable power drain coming from one part of the installation that is then drawn to another part of the facility.
'Shit they are activating.' he determines as he moves through the now darkened floor moving around un-activated drones and finding that the drones are made up of all different ages, races, and people.
'Something tells me that this has been going on longer than the war. The number of drones here and the degree of assimilation seems to suggest that this has been occurring for at least 50 years if not more. Let's see if I can't get some more information.'
He finds a terminal along his route and quickly uploads SERENA into it. As he waits for the download to complete, he notices movement on his motion tracker that appears and disappears but continuously closing in on his location from multiple sources. One of them is moving faster than the others.
'Matthew...' Arthur determines as he switches on his active camouflage and falls back into an outcropping that faces the terminal. He remains motionless as he activates his VISOR enhancements and waits for Matthew to arrive which he shortly does with 4 drones that are heavily armed and armored.
'Combat forms perhaps?' he muses as he throws an EMP grenade into the formation which shorts out 2 of the drones and causes a shimmer to appear on the last 2 and Matthew that shortly thereafter pops and fades.
'Personal shields. Great they've adapted out technology.' Arthur mentally groans at this as he begins shooting at the group killing the remaining 2 drones before he is charged by Matthew who appears to be trying to attach a baton like object to Arthur's armor. They quickly grapple with Arthur trying to disarm Matthew while Matthew is trying to attach the baton. Arthur grabbed a hold on Matthew and threw him over his back before using the leverage on the arm to break it and drop the baton as Arthur backed up and with an EMP grenade and destroyed it. As Arthur looks back, he is stunned when Matthew again charges him and knocks him to the ground.
'He's a lot stronger than I remember.' Arthur notes as he begins getting out of Matthew's guard and stands up quickly moving away from Matthew who is trying to get up on one arm. Realizing that Matthew probably won't stop he unsheathes his sword and quickly begins counterattacking while Matthew attempts to bring out his sidearm. Arthur quickly clashes with Matthew and can parry and disarm Matthew of the pistol before Matthew pulls out his own sword and begins attacking Arthur with powerful and heavy strikes. Arthur blocks and parries Matthew's strikes before Matthew seemingly throws a punch at Arthur which he avoids but notices two prongs come out from Matthew's fist. Arthur dodges these prongs as well and slices off the exposed arm leaving Matthew disarmed. He then looks at Matthew's arm which is not bleeding.
"Oh, no. They got to you didn't they." Arthur asks as he sees the robotic innards of the limb.
"I have been upgraded as you will be." Matthew responds as his arms seemingly regrow and repair themselves.
"Why? Why did you let them do this to you?!" Arthur yells at him with anger and sorrow mixed into his voice. "You could have fought it. Your cube would have protected you."
"Why would I fight perfection?" Matthew asks as one of his arms reforms into a blade like appendage. "This is the evolution of humanity. Imagine it brother, no wars, no poverty, no sickness, no death, just order and peace. Humanity progresses without the cost of further useless violence."
"The cost of our freedom and humanity you mean." Arthur retorts as he notices more movement on his tracker.
"What could be more humane than what I have been given, what you could be given. We lost the war Arthur, all of it. The Sirens won in the end. What you see outside is simply humanity attempting to hang on by a few overpowered AIs attempting to make humanity better to help stem the eventual Siren horde. Our sacrifice was for nothing. Our brothers and sisters died for nothing. This is the only way to survive, to evolve." Matthew stated as he mentally ordered the drones to surround both him and Arthur.
"I see then, you truly are gone." Arthur said morosely. He then started channeling energy from his cube into his sword. "I had hoped to save you, but it seems that is not possible now. As Commander I hereby charge you with Treason and murder. May you find peace in death." Arthur proclaimed as he charged Matthew who swung at him. Arthur ducked underneath Matthew's swing and struck up and to the right cutting him in two before beheading him with another swing. As Matthew fell Arthur was able to pull out the Lexington's cube from Matthew's corpse and put it in his backpack.
'I truly wish there had been another way brother. To have fallen so far, that can only be done by one's own choices I'm afraid.' He thought as he rushed to the terminal where the files and layout of the base had finished downloading and uploaded the base's layout to his HUD.
'Hmm a matter anti-matter reactor as a powerplant. That would explain their power for the building and drones, although this can easily be resolved. The plasma and Thermite charges planted in the right locations should cause a cascading failure that should allow for a breach of containment of the anti-matter which will take out the facility and island entirely. The only problem is getting out of here before the thing blows.' He planned as he picked back up his rifle and holstered Matthew's pistols after checking them and finding they were plasma pistols. 'These will come in nicely.'
He then started moving out toward the core of the building where the powerplant was, bypassing what drones he could and quietly destroying the ones he couldn't with his sword, which with his cube's power managed to cut through their armor. As he approached the power nodes, he noticed that drone activity had fallen off and that there were no drones guarding the power generator. He immediately became suspicious but continued with planting the charges.
"So, you eliminated Unit 16, and here I thought humans cared for their friends, but you seemed to have little problem in destroying him. How odd but not entirely unpredictable." The voice said as he was finishing up the last charges. He turned around and found the girl from the office on a stairway above him looking down at him and the anti-matter core (Imagine a warp core from a Borg ship from Star Trek). "You may think you know what you ae doing but you have no idea. Bring down this base and this will cause the rest of the hive to begin operations across the planet. You thought your little war against the Sirens was bad, you have seen nothing yet." She said as she smirked.
"I'm willing to take that chance. At least humanity will know what they are up against." Arthur stated as he linked all the charges with his detonator on his arm PADD.
"Even though this will bring untold carnage and suffering?" she said still with a smirk that appeared to be widening.
"Even then. You are a threat that needs to be dealt with." Arthur responded.
"I look forward to it then. When you finally come to the inevitable conclusion that resistance is futile, I will welcome you back. All you will need to do is call up on any frequency and say my name Nin. At that point I will accept your surrender. But until then I can't have you dying on me just yet, you are just too interesting." She said as Arthur started dematerializing.
Realizing what was happening he quickly activate the charges and detonated them as he fully transported onto the mountain overlooking his landing site. The ground quickly began to shake as Arthur immediately sprinted to his zodiac and powered away as the cruise missile he launched detonated in the air above the island frying all electronics that hadn't been hardened. Not that it made any difference as the island then erupted into a massive fireball that sent him and his zodiac flying further into the ocean and knocking him out.
-Unknown time later-
Arthur slowly opened his eyes and saw a white ceiling and light above his head.
'Well, I think I am still alive.' he thought as he tried to move and found himself entirely sore across his body. 'Yeah, too much pain to be dead.' He laid back down in his bed as he began assessing the situation.
'I can feel the rocking of a ship, so I'm offshore somewhere. I don't recognize the medical room, but all the appliances are in English so that's a good sigh.' He mused as he looked around.
He then thought over his experience from Nendo and Matthew.
'Damn it. Why him? He was one of the good ones, always ready to help and go on a mission be it something damn near suicidal or something as banal as patrol duty. Why am I always the last one left?!' he debated increasingly frustrated and emotional. 'The damn hive. I thought we killed them all after we leveled their base with nukes. Seems we missed a few. Matthew should have burned through the nano-drones. I taught everyone that after I was incorporated into the collective and 7th fleet saved me. Why? What caused him to turn? Did he just give up on humanity? Did he just give up on us?'
"Hah..." he let out in a tired chuckle and put his arm above his eyes as he closed them. "All that effort and for what? They survive, they always survive while I lose everything."
"Well... I wouldn't say that I mean you're still alive right, that's got to count for something." a young female voice said.
Arthur turned his head to look at her and noticed that she had white hair, blue eyes with a blue jacket and white stockings.
"And you are?" Arthur asked.
"Eagle Union Cruiser Portland CA-33! I am the awesome sibling of my cute sister Indie or USS Indianapolis." she responded with an excited smile.
'Ah, this is who Renown was warning me about. Well, she doesn't seem too bad.' he mused. "Rear Admiral Strider, Shipmaster USS Iowa." he greeted her with a nod.
"So, want to tell me what happened? We got word of Siren activity around here and were sent to investigate. Yorktown said you might be in the area but you're a lot further west than we thought you'd be." Portland explained.
"Further West?" Arthur inquired.
"Yeah, I mean you were supposed to be in the Santa Cruz islands right?" Portland asked.
"Yes. How far away are we?" Arthur queried.
"We are in the Solomon Island chain, near an island called Guadalcanal." Portland stated.
"Guadalcanal? How, what?" Arthur asked in confusion.
"I assume you drifted over here from the Santa Cruz islands and were swept away by the tides that started due to the island exploding. I was actually over here with the rest of the Eagle girls looking into some weird Siren activity when I found you." Portland elaborated.
"Siren activity?"
"Yeah, we picked up some weird tremors after whatever you did, and some Siren drones popped up near here. We were sent to investigate since it's not often we see Sirens anymore. So far we have run across some Siren wreckage and some Sakuran patrols but nothing else." Portland explained.
"Tremors? From here?"
"Yeah, Task Force 17 has been sent out just to make sure the Sirens don't intervene in the coming operations. The powers that be decided that anything that could make tremors felt in Port Moresby from so far out needs to be investigated. Especially since the Sakurans seem to also be showing an interest."
"Hmm... How far away are we from the source?" Arthur inquired.
"Not too far. The rest of the Task Force should be at the origin point now..." Portland said as a radio transmission then played on intercom.
"To all Allied units disengage from this area... disengage... Sirens... Code Black..." a garbled transmission played.
"Sounds like something happened. Do you have any radio triangulation equipment on board?" Arthur asked as he got up from the bed and began putting on his armor.
"Nope. I assume you do?" Portland asked.
"I do. The Iowa is already working on an approximate grid. I would suggest you follow my lead." Arthur said as he put on his last pieces of armor and grabbed his helmet.
"Now look here mister, while I appreciate the help you just recovered from a battle which knocked you out for a few days." Portland stated slightly annoyed.
"I am mission capable, that is all that you need to know." Arthur answered.
"Very well but take it easy. You won't be much use if you exhaust yourself." Portland said exasperated as she left.
Arthur moved toward to starboard side of the ship and managed to bring the Iowa alongside the cruiser and after boarding his ship took the lead of the formation with Portland providing the information about where the Allies had picked up various Siren signals and recent Sakuran positions. As they continued through the islands Arthur picked up a radar contact 100 kilometers to their North on a converging course.
'Hm, better have Portland onboard and hide her ship form it might give us an advantage if this contact turns out to be hostile.' Arthur thought as he ordered Portland to come aboard and hide her ship.
"Why would I do that?" she asked.
"Just in case this contact is hostile, not only will it prevent them from firing on you, but it will also allow us more options to surprise them." Arthur explained as he sent out a drone to confirm the contact.
"Very well then." Portland said begrudgingly. "Your argument makes sense."
As Portland boarded and turned her ship into her rigging, Athur received visuals of the unidentified ship.
"Portland, do you recognize this ship?" he asked as he printed a copy of the photo of the ship out and gave it to her as she entered the bridge.
"Thats HMNZS New Zealand." She stated. "Last I hear it had been recalled from the South Atlantic to help out with convoying supplies to New Zealand and Australia from the Eagle Union. They might have been called in to help out with the Sirens here." She guessed.
"But it's an Indefatigable class, I though those were all retired and scrapped." Arthur stated.
"New Zealand and Australia weren't due to the need to escort convoys from Sirens. They are rather nice Kansens by the way, not as nice as my sister Indie but they tended to look out for the younger ones." Portland clarified.
"Ah, but why would they be out here fighting the Sirens? I would assume that they would be second line units at best and be restricted to other theaters." Arthur asked
"They have 8x 12in guns and can keep up with cruisers like myself so I wouldn't underestimate them, besides the Royals need every Kansen they can get with the war on." Portland pointed out.
"Well, it seems we're going to meet one." Arthur stated as he began trying to contact the incoming ship with his radio. "I can't seem to make any contact. Do you know any of her possible radio frequencies?"
"I know a few, but I'll need to get to your comms section." Portland answered. Arthur brough her to the comms section where she input a variety of frequencies and attempted to hail the New Zealand.
The ships slowly closed on each other to within 10 kilometers before Portland received a broken transmission.
"Admiral she is saying that she has received damage and cannot get comms working totally and needs to move within signal range." Portland said as she listened into the headset.
"Thats odd, she doesn't appear to have any battle damage." Arthur stated as he had his drone overlook the battlecruiser. "Her turrets are all pointed starboard, maybe some mechanical damage from overuse, perhaps. I don't like this." Arthur stated as he moved to the bridge and continued to use his radar to see if there were any more ships in the sector
The two ships slowly slipped into 5000m and slowed to an easy 10 knots with New Zealand passing to the left of the Iowa. Just as Arthur was about to use the loudspeaker to talk to the other ship who seemed to be missing a mast before a sudden broadside opened up from the New Zealand's main batteries ripping apart the bridge, the fire control radar, the secondary guns on the starboard side, and leaving large holes in the armor belt.
Arthur, somehow still alive, immediately began moving his ship to port hoping to open the range and potentially start engaging with his port side secondaries and main guns which were now being reoriented toward the hostile ship. New Zealand fired another broadside into the Iowa hitting the main engineering sections and momentarily knocking off the ship's power before moving away to make another approach.
Portland who had made it to the bridge looked around at the destruction and saw Arthur looking over a computer screen. "How bad?" she asked.
"Well, we aren't going to make it out of here without a tow, main power is lost but the batteries still working, hull breaches along the starboard side, most of the secondaries along that side are destroyed. Radar and main fire control is gone, one of the hits jammed the rear turret and front turrets have no power. Essentially, we are a sitting duck. We should get some power back in about an hour, but we don't have that time." Arthur stated as he moved away from the computer to look out at the turning battlecruiser. "They knew exactly were to hit us, although my main questions are who and why."
The ship turned around and now had all their guns along the port side as it closed on the Iowa. "I would hang on if I were you." Arthur told Portland as New Zealand again raked the ship with another broadside this time on the port side wrecking most of the secondaries and launchers there as she slowed down and stopped alongside the Iowa about 1000m from her.
Strider after regaining his footing looked at the enemy ship and saw that it was flashing its signal lights at him. Portland too recovered and saw the signal.
"It seems that they want you to surrender Admiral." She stated.
"And just who the hell are they?" Strider asked as one of the computers monitors suddenly lit up with a digital conference call which Arthur went to answer. Arthur and Portland went over, and he answered the call which now showed a man with a tanned complexion with black hair and brown eyes but with a regal demeanor. Portland was confused until she looked at Arthur who looked shocked.
"Lugal?" he asked quietly.
"You still remember Commodore, or should I say Admiral. I cannot help but be touched. I of course remember you." the figure now identified as Lugal said.
"What is the meaning of this attack? Where is the Shipmaster New Zealand?" Arthur demanded.
"Surely I have made my meaning clear. I mean to avenge myself upon you Commodore, I have deprived your ship of power and when I swing around, I mean to deprive you of your life. But I wanted you know first who beat you." he explained.
"Lugal if it's me you want, I'll bring myself over. Spare Portland and my ship." Arthur pleaded.
"I'll give you a counterproposal. I'll agree to your terms if, ...if in addition to yourself you send over all details of the project known as NOVA." Lugal stated.
"NOVA, what's that?" Arthur stated quickly and without emotion.
"Don't insult my intelligence Strider."
"Give me a moment to call up the information on my computers." Arthur asked.
"I give you 3 minutes, Commodore." Lugal acceded as he moved out of the way of the camera.
Arthur put the computer on mute and went to another computer and started typing in a series of codes.
"So, what is this NOVA project?" Portland asked.
"Classified." Arthur answered as he continued working.
"Commodore?" Lugal asked.
"Hmm... What are you trying now?" Portland asked.
"I'm trying a failsafe option. You need to know how things work on a Kansen and ship. Each cube is tied to a Shipmaster and a selected ship. In order to control the ships, there is a mental link between them that allows for automatic control from a single pilot. The problem is that this link can be disrupted by codes from an outside source potentially allowing the ship to be controlled externally without the pilot. So, in the event of a ship being hacked, each country designed a command code for each ship to prevent an enemy from doing what we are attempting to do which is to rotate their guns to fore and aft and cutting their power. Assuming that he hasn't changed the code, he was one of the most intelligent commanders I have ever met." Arthur admitted as he finished putting in the last lines of code.
"Commodore?" Lugal asked.
"It's coming through now Lugal." Arthur answered as he unmuted the call.
"60 seconds left Commodore." Lugal pointed out.
"Lugal, how do we know you'll keep your word?" Arthur asked.
"Oh, I've given you no word to keep Commodore. In my judgment you simply have no alternative." Lugal said smirking.
"I see your point. Stand by to receive the file." Arthur said as he muted the screen and turned to Portland. "I need you to hide behind the front main turret and when my remaining secondaries open up, I need you to switch into ship mode and start firing on him." Arthur ordered her.
"Thats risky." she said as she moved off the bridge.
"It's our only shot." Arthur said as he moved back to the screen and unmuted it.
"Time's up Commodore." Lugal stated with a grin.
"Here it comes now." Arthur answered with a matching grin as he sent the virus.
New Zealand's turrets began moving to their original travel configuration as Lugal started noticing a sudden loss of control over the guns before all power was lost to them.
Arthur then opened fire with his 2 remaining secondary mounts targeting the casemate mounts and main fire control on the New Zealand knocking out most of them and severely damaging the main fire control and bridge of the ship. Portland then showed up behind the New Zealand in her ship form and began blasting into the rear of the ship knocking out the port wing turret and rear turret with her 8inch guns forcing the battlecruiser to move away from the stricken battleship to open the range and bring the guns back online. Portland continued the assault and managed to inflict serious damage to the ship before moving away once the starboard wing turret was back online and attempting to engage her. Portland continued to track the battlecruiser as it moved away until she was certain it wouldn't return and move to link back up with the Iowa.