Azur Lane: Arctic Command
Chapter 01: Welcome to Arctic Command
A/N: Hey hey! I'm alive! So, the reason why Arctic Command wasn't updating was the fact it was more, well testing the waters so to speak. The original plan was for it to be the middle out of a trilogy, with the first entry being called The Great Game, but I decided to make that a separate timeline instead. So anyways, enjoy the chapter!
Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth, Command Centre
Olivia McMillan sat down in her chair and sighed. She knew that this meeting would come for a while now, and she was not the least bit worried about it, well until now at least.
In front of her was famed Northern Parliament captain Alonya Hoshinova, known mostly for her daring Arctic assaults against Ironblood convoys during the Crimson Axis affair. She was lauded as a graceful warrior, a brilliant and daring commander, naturally gifted in the art of fast attack. From the few times they had met before, she had always conducted herself with a sort of grace and nobility, something that Olivia admired in the young officer.
Now however, Olivia was somewhat concerned for her well-being
The beauty of her silver eyes was taken away by the large bags around them, and she seemed to tremble a bit as she sipped her coffee, which was a drink that she was said to have hated. Her hair was also unkempt, and her uniform was creased in more than a few places. Not to mention, she seemed to space out a lot during their conversation.
"Are you okay Captain Hoshinova?" Olivia asked
"Oh no worries, I'm fine!" Alonya replied with a bit of a tired voice "It's just the jet lag you know, and the plane's engines were super loud, nothing to worry about Admiral McMillan!"
"Wait, I thought that the Samson got an upgrade package that reduced noise levels?" Olivia questioned
"Well, not ours Admiral!" Alonya replied to her passive aggressively "Being rather underfunded and all, we have to use surplus equipment remember?"
"Right" Olivia noted "I hope that will change soon"
"It better fucking change soon, I'm tired of dealing with this bullshit" Alonya said to herself in a quiet tone, but still loud enough for Olivia to overhear.
The rather aggressive tone as well as what she said startled Olivia a bit. From what she saw of her, Alonya wasn't the type to swear, especially in front of a superior officer
Maybe it was the effects of sleep deprivation?
"Well, I hope you didn't forget what we are here to discuss, Captain Hoshinova" Olivia said
"Of course, of course" Alonya said back, taking a sip of her coffee "The girl"
"She's not just any girl" Olivia corrected "She's a-"
"Kansen, yes of course" Alonya interrupted "She isn't getting any special treatment because of that you know? Arctic Command is already as stressed as it is, we can't exactly afford to build a luxury villa there"
"Well, I wasn't insinuating that. It's just that she's going to have to be treated a bit more differently than the other members of the Command" Olivia replied
"We can't exactly afford to do that either. If you want us to do that, please give us more funds" Alonya nonchalantly requested
"Maybe after the new gymnasium is set up" Olivia replied "It would be very helpful to keep up the girl's fitness"
Olivia only caught a glimpse, but it seemed that Alonya was tearing up a bit at that statement. Was Arctic Command's condition that bad? Or was she going through something else?
Edmund Hillary Naval Outpost, War Room
Rayleigh Adams was dreading this day
In front of him were five out of the six officers that made up the Arctic Command's command staff, with only one being absent due to needing to take care of other matters. He stood, smiling in front of his war room, with his officers ready to give reports about the base's condition. Under any normal command, this would be a serious affair, but when what was supposed to be a holo-map is replaced by a small plastic table with a map of the Arctic taped to it, it was hard to take it seriously.
Rayleigh pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, before beggining to speak.
"Just, tell me about the bad news at this point. Ace, you go first. How many Siren battlefleets did you spot this month?"
Ace cleared his throat, before replying "Three, Admiral. One of them had a Chessboard-Class support ship"
"Motherfucker" Rayleigh replied "Did they notice the recon drones?"
"Two shot down" Ace responded "They were all a few dozen hours beyond service life anyway"
"At least there's a silver lining to that" Rayleigh chuckled. "Pierre, coastal defense update! Make it quick!"
"Our Blackstone missile radar broke down" Pierre responded "And they don't manufacture it anymore, so I don't know where to find spares"
"I'll contact some old Northern Parliament boneyard then. Should be able to get those at a cheap price. We can't let that thing die after all; it may be three times older than me but it's the lynchpin of our anti-ship defenses" Rayleigh concluded "Anyways, Rosaria, airlift capacity update!"
"Two of our C-202 Samsons broke down" Rosaria answered
"Well shit, going to have to go and beg for parts then. You reckon you can still get some juice out of em though" Rayleigh asked
"It wouldn't be very safe, but-" Rosaria replied
"Good enough" Rayleigh concluded "Andrei, status on our housing?"
"A few of the barracks have some holes, but we managed to fix them up using generous amounts of duct tape. Also, the heater is acting up again" Andrei reported
"No wonder it was so cold last night" Rayleigh mulled "Get one of our mechanics to fix it. Anyways lastly, Hans, status on ground defense. Let me guess, you had to cannibalize another T-76?"
Hans simply nodded
"Alright folks, we have suffered a fifteen percent drop in capability this month, which is lower than last month's thirty percent, so congratulations! I have some wine, let's celebrate!"
The room cheered
"I'm going to miss you Chapayev!"
Pamiat Merkuria hugged her friend tightly as she boarded the transport aircraft that would take her to her new posting. Chapayev hugged her back just as tightly, before speaking.
"I'm going to miss you too!" Chapayev replied "Tell all the other girls I'll miss them!"
After a short chat, Chapayev boarded the plane and sat down on one of the chairs beside a sleeping Alonya. Upon her sitting down, the captain woke up and yawned.
"Short on sleep last night?" Chapayev asked, attempting to initiate small talk
"Are you kidding me? That was the best sleep I've had this week! Too bad the plane's going to stop that"
a/n: writing this at like 12 am, gonna revamp tommorow i guess