Ocean spray filled the air as the ship's bow hit a particularly stubborn wave. Rather than gripe about the dampness, USS Essex relished in the cool spattering across her skin. Even with a slight breeze, the day was still very warm. Not a single cloud speckled the sky to offer a momentary respite from the heat.

"Despite being difficult, it's not impossible for us to get sunburned ya know."

Essex glanced over her shoulder as USS San Francisco strode down her flight deck towards her, hands casually stuffed into her jacket pockets. The heavy cruiser's coat was halfway open and billowing lightly in the wind. She looked relatively comfortable and grinned mischievously as she took up position alongside her.

"I do strive to exceed expectations." Essex replied, trying to hold back the smirk already forming on her lips.

San Francisco rolled her eyes, still grinning. "So, what's eatin' you? You're not normally this quiet, or reclusive." She thrust her head back towards the command tower where the rest of their group was. A pair of destroyers sat in the shade of the tower, one tinkering on a computer while the other reclined on a lounge chair watching a tennis match on the flight deck. The two players were going at it aggressively, the shorter of the two darting this way and that, slamming the ball for all she was worth.

"Maybe it's just nerves." Essex sighed and brushed one of her twin tails out of her face.

"Really?" San Francisco raised a brow. "You act like you've never been on a sortie before."

"It's not so much that." Essex sighed. "It's just that Enterprise asked for me herself."

"So? We all were."

Essex frowned as her thoughts drifted back to just weeks prior. Elizabeth's call to arms as one of the many 'Knights of the Round Table' to defeat a new Siren threat had been one of the most nerve-wracking messages she had ever received. Rendezvousing with her fellow sisters in arms enroute to the battlefield only further drove home the seriousness of the situation. Even from over a hundred miles away, the warship Orochi was a behemoth amongst dreadnaughts, easily dwarfing any ship she'd faced before, human or siren. And then there was Enterprise; CV-6. When the combined forces on site couldn't put a dent in the thing, Big E had dealt away with the ship's shield with a single shot, turning the tide of the battle in an instant.

And all Essex had done was show up just in time to attack and annihilate the siren reinforcements.

"It's a bit different for me." Essex finally spoke. "It's Enterprise. Our strongest and greatest carrier asked for me. The namesake of the Essex-class. It's kind of a big deal."

"Ah-h." San Francisco rocked her head from side to side, tossing her own twin tails as she did so. "Carrier rivalry?"

Essex's cheeks flushed a little and the smirk tugged a little harder at her cheek. "I'm not sure rivalry is the right word for it. More like… it's just… not wanting to mess up."

San Francisco was silent for a moment before she bent sideways and prodded Essex in the cheek with one of her horn buns. Essex arched a brow as the heavy cruiser grinned cheekily at her. "You're being too uptight about this Essex. Considering your service record, I'm pretty sure you'll be fine."

Essex huffed, pushing her friend's head away with a roll of her eyes. "Says the one who's almost as distinguished as Enterprise."

San Francisco blew out a raspberry. "Hey, I'm no Enterprise, but compared to her twenty battle stars, I'm content with my seventeen. It's a nice uneven number." She flashed Essex a wink before resting her arm on the carrier's shoulder. "Besides, I've seen you in action. You're pretty dope yourself."

"I know Fran. And you're right… I just feel a bit…I don't know… Inadequate?"

San Francisco let out a horse-like pft. "What is this, a measurement contest?" She waved her hands in mock distress before taking on a sing-song tone. "Oh I'm Essex. I'm have tons of combat experience. I'm strong and I'm hot, but I still only have fourteen battle stars to my name. Wa-ah."

Essex frowned and rubbed her cheek to try and hide her sheepish blush. "Is that really necessary?"

San Francisco only snickered. "About as necessary as you comparing yourself to Enterprise."

Essex let out a groan. "Can we just drop it, please?"

"Alright alright." San Francisco sighed, wrapping an arm around Essex's shoulders and pulling her into a firm side-hug. "But seriously. Don't worry about it. It'll be fine."

Essex cracked a half smile. "I'll take your word for it."

"Damn right. Now come on. Stop being so edgy and chill with us."

"I..wuh…Hey!" The carrier practically squeaked as San Francisco took her by the hand and pulled her back towards the others. After a few paces, Essex let out a sigh, as the spray from another wave cooled her growing anxiety as her friend's words played back in her mind. Maybe she really was worrying for nothing.

Maybe.

As they approached the group, the sounds of rackets impacting a tennis ball could be heard over the rush of the waves.

"How long are you going to keep this up Cooper?" The taller girl asked, sounding bored as she smacked the ball back at the scurrying little destroyer.

"As long as it takes to beat you Bremerton!" Cooper's shoes screeched across the deck as she smacked the ball back across the chalk-drawn line she had made. "I will take the championship this year. Just you wait!"

Bremerton sighed. "Cooper, you're just too small to face me effectively. It's nothing to be ashamed about." She pat the ball back like an owner throwing a toy to their overly excitable puppy.

"I'm not…" Cooper slapped the ball back again. "Ashamed of my height." She cast a challenging grin at Bremerton. "Don't tell me you're scared of an underdog."

Bremerton gave her a dubious look as she parried the ball. Cooper, seeming to notice the heavy cruiser was toying with her now, gripped her racket with both hands and slammed the ball with every ounce of power she could muster.

The ball shot towards Bremerton like a high velocity round, before Bremerton spun on her toes and slammed it back. Cooper let out a startled squeak as the ball rocketed past her head, missing her by inches. She stumbled backwards, trying to catch her balance before failing and falling hard onto her rump.

Off to the side, the lounging destroyer Allen M. Sumner sighed. "Cooper, will you just take it easy already? You've been at this since we left port."

"I have not!" Cooper protested through her heavy panting. "We've only been doing this for…" She paused before looking to the other girl beside Allen. "How long has it been Ingraham?"

"Three hours, thirty-seven minutes and forty-two seconds." Her older sister replied without lifting her head.

"See? Not that long."

"This is the third round of the day Cooper." Ingraham said pointedly as she looked over her glasses. "The first was, as you declared at the time, a warmup, lasting an hour and forty minutes. The previous was two hours and seven minutes."

Cooper's cheeks flushed, seemingly from indignance, rather than embarrassment.

Ingraham ignored her and returned to her laptop. "I agree with Allen though. Maybe you should take a break."

"Oh come on, not you too." Cooper whined, shooting a suspicious look at Bremerton who casually twirled her racket, looking grateful for the break.

"Cooper, we know you want to get better for the next tournament, but really. There's only so much you can do." Allen sat up and tried to put on a sympathetic look for her younger sister. "You have to learn when it's okay to rest."

"I'll rest after the tournament." Cooper groaned. "I'm perfectly fine until then."

"It's still almost four months away."

"No, it's thirteen weeks." Cooper corrected with a wave of her finger.

"You're getting into semantics again Cooper." Essex piped up. The group all turned towards her as she stooped to retrieve the ball off her deck. Her eyes locked with the youngest destroyer, knowing full well that if she didn't step in, Cooper would let her obsession with beating Bremerton be the sole focus of her time two days running. "Tell you what. If you want to keep training, you can do so on your own ship." Essex jerked her head off to starboard where Cooper's ship glided along beside Ingraham's.

Cooper's expression fell. "Aw come on Essex. That's not fair!" She gestured around the expansive flattop. "There's way more space to train here."

"My hull, my rules Cooper." Essex shut one eye and smirked at the distraught destroyer.

"You guys are beyond not cool." Cooper whined, her shoulders slumping.

The others laughed with Allen getting up to bring the two athletes their water bottles. Both Bremerton and Cooper doused themselves before sipping from them.

"See? That's not so bad now, is it?" Allen teased.

"Bite me." Cooper huffed and shot her a glare. But the look was overshadowed by the smirk on her lips.

Allen chuckled and mussed her hair, knocking the headband down letting Cooper's bangs fall into her sweat-streaked face. Cooper gave a half-hearted swing at her before Allen grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet, letting her arm fall across her shoulders. "You're doing good." She whispered in Cooper's ear. "I think Bremerton was beginning to tire a little."

Cooper blinked and shot a quick glance back at the heavy cruiser who was busily wiping her face with a towel. "You think so?"

"You'll find out in a couple months." Allen gave her an encouraging squeeze. "Just don't overdo it before then, okay?"

Cooper sighed and gave her eldest sister an awkward hug as though she were getting her in a headlock. "Alright. But I'm still going to go just as hard as I always do."

Before more banter could be thrown around, San Francisco spoke up.

"Hey, are we expecting any company?"

All heads turned to follow her stare. Sure enough, there was a ship on the horizon.

Essex frowned as she squinted at it, projecting her radar senses in its direction. The fact it had managed to get this close without detection made goosebumps crawl up her arms. San Francisco was right; she was letting her anxieties distract her too much. "Ingraham, what have you got?"

"Single vessel. Running thirty-two knots, flank speed. Bearing… oh…"

"What is it?" Essex looked down at the destroyer who adjusted her glasses with a look of surprise directed at her screen.

"It's on an intercept course… And hailing us."

"Is it one of ours?" Bremerton asked, shooting another glance out to sea. "It's a heavy cruiser for sure. But… I don't recognize the silhouette."

San Francisco nodded in agreement as the ship in question began to bank as though intending to slide in with their formation. "I see what you mean. Seems kinda flat."

Minutes passed as the group watched the ship steadily grow larger as it neared their formation. Essex sawed her jaw back and forth, scanning the horizon and skies for signs of other vessels. Why would anyone, even the Iron Blood, send out a single ship with no escort fleet? Her instincts told her something was off.

"Wait a moment!" Allen straightened up, her voice suddenly filled with alarm. "Those are Iron Blood colors!"

That got everyone to full alert. Sure enough, the group could see the unmistakable crimson, black and white of the Iron Blood ensign blowing proudly in the wind. Essex clenched her jaw as her eyes set on the eight-inch guns, all of which, thankfully, remained pointed ahead and away from the fleet.

Just then, Cooper twitched as though she had just been zapped and she bolted towards the edge of the flight deck.

"What is it?" Essex asked, as she calmly approached the destroyer who was busily scanning the waves.

"There's a U-boat around here." Her brow was furrowed as she stalked along the edge of the deck like a cat observing a mouse below.

"Are they hostile?"

Cooper's magenta eyes scanned the depths for another moment. She seemed to be tracking something Essex was unable to see. "I dunno. I think they're trying to toy with us."

"That's unsettling." San Francisco muttered, walking up to scan the water alongside them. Seeming to find nothing she glanced up at her with an arched brow. "We still have an alliance, right?"

Essex twisted her lips in contemplation. She had not been told of any hostilities or tensions since the formal announcement of the alliance weeks prior. But who knew if that had changed in the last days they had been on the seas.

"Iron Blood heavy cruiser requesting permission to come aboard ma'am." Ingraham informed, looking up from her computer.

Little by little the Iron Blood drifted in just a few hundred yards off Essex's bow before straightening out in a vanguard position.

"Permission granted." Essex finally replied. She looked out at the back of the cruiser, spotting a figure emerge from around the port side. They were staring back, hand to their ear as if listening to something. A moment later, the cruiser glowed blue, before bursting into a vortex of shimmering cubes as the figure's rigging manifested. They leapt into the air and flew like a fighter to land gracefully on Essex's flight deck.

"Flashy." Bremerton snarked out of the corner of her mouth to San Francisco.

San Francisco for her part had her lavender eyes focused on the girl's rigging as they approached. "Wonder what it costs to get a kit like that."

Bremerton arched a brow. "You're not serious, are you? That's siren tech."

San Francisco shrugged. "Hey, if I gotta agree with the IBs on something, it's that." She jerked a thumb at the girl's rigging, noticing how shark-like in nature they looked.

Bremerton shivered. "I think I'll pass."

The new guest stopped several paces away and rested a hand on a cocked hip.

"Eagle Union Carrier Essex?" The Iron Blood asked.

"That's me." Essex stepped forward, standing straight and placed a hand on her hip mirroring her guest. The girl maybe reached her chest level with golden blonde hair tied in twin tails beneath an officer's cap. Her emerald-green eyes were sharp like an eagle's and regarded Essex with a hard appraising stare. "And you are?"

"I am Admiral Hipper." She stated with authority and a tinge of annoyance. "First of the Admiral Hipper Class heavy cruisers of the Iron Blood." She paused for a moment, scrutinizing the others present.

"Welcome aboard Admiral." Essex greeted, doing her best to hide the wary tremor in her voice, and stepped forward to shake. Hipper looked momentarily reluctant but shook after a moment. Her grip was strong, and Essex thought she detected a bit of extra aggression in the action.

"You sure took your time responding to my hails." Hipper stated with narrowed eyes. "Are your comms not working properly?"

Essex ignored the bait and gave a slow blink, returning the heavy cruiser's frown with a soft half-smile. "I hope you'll forgive the precaution, Admiral. But we were not expecting additional company. I know we have an alliance, but we've also been on the seas for over a day. A lot can happen in that time."

Hipper's nostrils flared but she nodded after a breath, seeming to accept the explanation.

Releasing the smaller girl's hand, Essex turned and gestured to the others. "Allow me to introduce the other members of my fleet. San Francisco, Bremerton, Allen M. Sumner, Ingraham and Cooper."

All the girls waved nonchalantly, except for Cooper, and Hipper gave a near imperceptible bob of her head in acknowledgment. The blonde appeared to be sizing them up and looking distinctly unimpressed.

"So-o is your friend not going to introduce themselves?" Essex asked, pulling Hipper's attention back to her. "Or is she just shy?"

Hipper locked gazes with Essex who only gave a minute tilt of her head in the direction Cooper was focused and quirked a brow. After a minute, Hipper blinked first. She raised a hand to her ear as though brushing her hair out of the way and looked off to the side.

"U-556, come aboard please."

Essex followed her stare. When Cooper didn't react, she glanced back at the other girls who looked just as perplexed.

Suddenly a column of water erupted skyward as though a torpedo had just struck the hull. Essex lurched forward instinctively, grabbing Cooper by the back of her shirt, inciting a startled yelp from the smaller girl as she was yanked backwards. As water rained down on them, Essex caught sight of a vaguely shark-like silhouette diving out of the plume. It slammed onto her deck and a small, blue-haired figure stood posing triumphantly atop its slumped form.

"Ta da-a!" The girl cheered.

Essex wiped the water from her face and gave the girl an incredulous stare. The other girls were gathering around her, just as wet and unamused.

The little sub noticed and swallowed hard.

"Y-you didn't like my entrance?" She asked, raising her hands in a nervous attempt at placating the taller girls.

Hipper was the one who settled the matter as she made her way over in three strides and brought a fist down on U-556's head.

The smaller girl collapsed to her knees and immediately began whimpering. "Hipper why? You're such a meanie!"

"Don't meanie me!" The cruiser growled. "And you very well know why."

U-556 pouted as she rubbed the sore spot on her head and Essex fought an urge to scoop the adorable thing up and coddle her. "I'm going to tell Lord Bismark you're bullying me."

Hipper crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "You do that. I'll just explain that you were not behaving as you were ordered to." She bent down and got right in the sub's face. "And you know what she'll do if she finds out."

U-556 whimpered for another moment, putting on her best puppy-dog face. But Hipper's own expression may as well have been the ship's hull itself for all the budging it did. U-556 relented. She slid off her vehicle and hung her head before the gathered crowd. "I'm sorry." She mumbled.

Before anyone could respond, Cooper was on her feet and pointing in the girl's face. "Hah! I frickin' knew it! I knew there was a sub just toying with us!"

U-556 blinked with wide eyes, suddenly shocked out of her pout. "You knew I was there?"

Cooper smirked and planted her fists on her hips. "Of course I did!"

"But how?" U-556 gaped, looking at Hipper as though she had expected to cruiser to have snitched on her. But the blonde's attention was now on Cooper, clearly intrigued by the destroyer's bravado.

Cooper beamed, puffing her chest proudly. "Easy. You're looking at the Eagle Union's number one anti-sub specialist."

U-556 was aghast as she eyed the dripping wet brunette before her. "You're really Eagle Union's number one unterseeboot specialist?" She began to circle Cooper, looking her up and down eagerly. "Fascinating. You look so… ordinary."

Cooper blushed and pulled her headband back to get her bangs out of her eyes and tapped a fist to her chest. "It's us ordinary ones you have to watch out for ya know."

"Especially the ones with self-proclaimed titles." Allen stated, coming up behind her sister and pinching her cheeks. It was now Cooper's turn to whine as her big sister teased her before the guests.

As the sisters and U-556 jeered playfully at one another, Essex returned her attention to Hipper; the tension now somewhat dissolved. The Iron Blood was watching the three with a befuddled look, as though she were unsure what to make of the interaction.

"Is that girl really as skilled as she says?"

Essex glanced at Cooper who was swatting at Allen who had her in a headlock. "She definitely noticed, but it wasn't until your…sister I'm guessing, was practically on top of us."

Her answer seemed to please Hipper. "That's good to know. We Iron Blood take great pride in the stealth abilities of all our kriegsmarine girls. It would be almost unfortunate to know that one of your Eagle Union destroyers was able to see through our… methods so easily."

Essex cocked a brow. "Why almost?"

Hipper straightened, feet slightly spread, and hands clasped behind her back, and looked ready to address her troops. "That is partly why I am here." She gestured to Cooper and Allen.

Essex looked over her shoulder and gave a sharp whistle. The roughhousing sisters stopped what they were doing and the others formed a semi-circle to either side of her. U-556, no longer being able to play, fell in beside Hipper looking mildly interested. Essex gave Hipper a go ahead nod and the cruiser nodded in return.

"As of yesterday morning, the Azur-Axis Alliance had its first official meeting between its leaders." She announced and paused for a breath, seeming to half expect an interruption. None came. "The joining of our groups has led to some decisions on both sides. First and foremost, the open compilation of accumulated resources and technology."

That got a few looks from the girls, but they kept silent.

"As the Sakura Empire is currently working with Eagle Union and Royal Navy to develop defensive measures against the sirens, we of Iron Blood extend to you our knowledge and engineering expertise to upgrade the ships of your respective factions."

"Upgrades huh?" San Francisco took a step forward, eyeing Hipper's rig. Her portside gun mount turned and growled like a wary guard dog causing San Francisco to recoil. "Are they all quite this feral?"

Hipper smirked. "Nein. Like us, they're manifestations of the ships they are implemented on."

San Francisco huffed. "You don't say."

"Are these upgrades mandatory?" Bremerton asked. She and Allen both looked to be the most apprehensive about the idea while Ingraham and Cooper looked ready to start foaming at the mouth with excitement.

"If you're worried about needing booster shots and needles, you can rest easy." Hipper snarked. "The procedure is painless and only takes a few days to complete. Assuming you have all hands on deck."

"More like why fix it if it isn't broke." Allen put in.

Hipper shrugged. "If you wish for a demonstration, I'd be happy to give one." One of her platforms clamped its jaws to send the point home.

"What was that?" Bremerton clenched her jaw as she looked down on the smaller cruiser.

"The answer is, no." Hipper stated, matter of fact. "But Grey Ghost says that it is highly recommended for all ships to consider."

"Consider me sold." San Francisco said, stepping between her fellow eagle and the Iron Blood. Hipper glanced at her and Essex saw her violet eyes sparkle. "When can we get started?"

"Immediately." Hipper replied and focused on Essex. "I have orders to escort you to a site where we will rendezvous with two other subs for some investigative work."

"Investigative work?" Essex frowned and furrowed her brow. That did not sound like anything she had prepared for. At minimum she expected maybe a cargo escort. But with Enterprise, she had expected something more urgent. Like assaulting siren bases, or intercepting siren patrols along convoy routes. But this...

Hipper continued as though she hadn't heard her and looked at the rest of the group sternly. "The rest of you are to make haste to Azure Lane and report to Grey Ghost for further orders."

"No offense…" Allen spoke up. "But we're not about to just ditch our Flag just to go get some shiny new upgrades."

Bremerton nodded. "We can wait until after this investigative work is done."

Hipper narrowed her eyes at them. "It's your choice if you want to be disciplined for your lack of it. Either way, it's not my hull that's going to be sitting in the dry dock."

The Union girls bared their teeth and Hipper snarled back. Even U-556 made cute little grrr noises after seeing everyone staring death into each other's eyes.

"Alright, that's enough rowdiness on my deck." Essex called, stepping between the two groups. "Thank you for the orders, Admiral." She nodded and Hipper gave a huff in response. "Now, girls, you have your orders as well. And I expect you to follow them." When her team began sharing worried glances, she sighed and crossed her arms. "Ingraham and Cooper. You can stay behind. The rest of you, git goin'."

"Wouldn't it be best if the two of us stayed with you?" Bremerton asked, nodding between herself and San Francisco.

Hipper snorted. "If you're worried about a fight, you'd need a lot more than just the two of you to take me."

Bremerton clenched her fists tightly and Hipper shot her a superior smirk. San Francisco, however, held her gaze with Essex.

"You sure you're gunna be alright with the half-pint?"

Hipper shot her a look of pure annihilation but San Francisco pretended to ignore it, suppressing a faint grin.

Essex gave her an unamused look, despite her own internal chuckling. "Fran, be nice."

San Francisco raised her hands in defense before shrugging. "Hey, I'm just saying."

Essex gripped her shoulder and looked her in the eye. "We'll be fine."

San Francisco's expression was hesitant, but she bit her cheek and nodded after a couple breaths. "Come on girls." She waved to Bremerton and Allen. "Let's get a move on before we get grounded for being out past curfew."

Bremerton and Allen continued to glare at Hipper for another moment before huffing and turning towards the edge of the deck. San Francisco waited for them to get out of arms reach, seeming to make sure they wouldn't turn around and do something foolish. "I guess we're off then." She stated to Essex and shot her a grin. Essex's eyes went wide as she knew what that grin meant.

San Francisco whirled and placed a hand on Hipper's head, mussing up her hair as though she were a rascally child. "Take care of our Essex squirt."

Hipper snarled and swung at the taller cruiser, but San Francisco danced out of the way with a laugh. Bremerton and Allen both laughed as the three of them leapt over the side of the carrier, their ships exploding into a storm of blue cubes as their riggings manifested. The three shot off upon hitting the water, waving over their shoulders. Essex wasn't sure if it was a farewell to her or a taunt to the fuming Iron Blood beside her.

It may have been both.

"Don't take it too personally Admiral." Essex said, walking up beside her and trying to give as reassuring a smile as possible as. "She likes to push boundaries with everyone. Especially anyone new."

Hipper only scowled at the retreating girls. "Wunderbar. Just what I need. Another Eugen."

Essex blinked at her, noticing the way her brows knit together tightly. "Eugen?" She knew of the name, but little else about the heavy cruiser except by reputation from field reports.

"My younger sister."

"Ah, I see." Essex nodded.

That explained a lot.

As if reading her thoughts, Hipper turned to glower up at Essex from under her bangs. It took all of Essex will not to do as San Francisco did and mess with her. There was something about Admiral Hipper that just opened itself to teasing.

Deciding it was best to avoid angering their liaison further, Essex cleared her throat and straightened herself. "Well, seeing as we have our orders, I think it best we begin immediately." Hipper narrowed her eyes, but Essex held her gaze. "Lead on Admiral?"

Hipper studied her for another moment before giving a low humph. She turned and was about to launch herself off the deck when Essex spoke again.

"Admiral, would you mind? Just walk to the end of my bow before taking off."

Hipper looked back at her, seemingly affronted by the request. "Huh?"

Essex quirked a smile at her. "Consider it a precautionary measure some of us carriers have. Don't want the flight deck occupied should we get attacked."

Hipper scanned the empty sea in all directions before giving Essex her own dubious look.

"Humor me?" Essex couldn't help but continue to smirk.

Hipper groaned before spinning on her toes and began goose stepping the length of the deck, shoulders as stiff as her stride.

"What are you trying to do?" Ingraham asked, as she and Cooper moved up beside her once the admiral was out of earshot.

Essex let her smile spread a little further. "Call it a bonding experiment."

"I see." Ingraham said in a manner that suggested otherwise.

"In the meantime, you two can go get yourselves prepped. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can report back to base."

"Roger that!" Cooper saluted with a grin as she ran and leapt off the flight deck.

Essex and Ingraham watched as she skimmed across the water before springing onto her own ship and quickly disappearing inside.

"I'll be fine Ingraham." Essex murmured when the other destroyer had not moved. The earlier excitement about the upgrades having vanished like a cloud blocking out the sun. "You don't need to worry."

Ingraham looked hesitant until Essex put a hand on her shoulder. "If you wish to stay, I'll need you to be attentive. Can you do that for me?"

Ingraham sighed and adjusted her glasses. "Yes ma'am." She strode away, less enthusiastically than Cooper and stopped to look back over at Essex before dropping over the side.

Essex sighed and brushed the hair out of her face.

"What's the matter with her?" U-556 asked. Essex jumped having forgotten all about the submarine. The little U-boat was looking across at the two destroyers, blinking curiously.

"Ingraham is a little… awkward at times. It takes time for her to open up to others. Especially as of late." She smiled down at U-556 and pat her on the head. "But we help her as she goes along."

U-556 cooed happily for a moment as Essex returned to watching Hipper near the edge of her flight deck. The blonde's strides and posture had slackened somewhat, and Essex allowed herself a knowing smile.

Apparently, she had guessed right.

Hipper launched herself into the air, speeding ahead of the reduced formation before her rigging dispersed in a flash of blue cubes as the heavy cruiser lead the way.

Suddenly, U-556 let out a gasp and swat Essex's hand away before collapsing to her knees and clutching her head with a distraught look on her face.

"Are you okay?" Essex knelt beside her, but the girl shrank away.

"No I'm not!" She shrieked. "I have betrayed Lord Bismarck and let the hands of another pet my precious head."

Essex blinked incredulously. "You're serious…"

"I can never go back! I can never look my Lord in the eyes ever again."

Essex sighed and crossed her arms as she stood back up. "Maybe your lord won't notice if you don't say anything."

"That won't do! Lord Bismarck must be informed immediately of my treachery! As her knight, it is the only honorable thing to do."

"Or…" Essex gestured to her sub-doo still sprawled like a dead fish a few paces away. "You can wash it off in the ocean."

U-556 blinked with sudden realization. "Yes… That might do. The ocean claims much each day. With luck, it'll wash away the perverse presence of your physical flattery in no time!" She took off, grabbing the sub as though it weighed less than a pillow and hurled it off the deck and into the water before diving after it.

Essex watched, rolling her eyes before the crackle of her radio sounded and Hipper's voice spoke in her ear.

"What was that all about?"

Essex found the blonde leaning over the rail of her own ship and looking back at them.

"Your minion is a goof." Essex said with a soft grin.

"Tell me about it. Spoiled pain in the arsch."

No one spoke as all eyes scanned the devastation before them. A two-day voyage had brought them to the site of Orochi's first strike. Essex and her escort, now fully rigged, followed Hipper into a fog bank. They did not have far to go before the first signs of ruin enveloped them like a surrounding forest.

Spires of stone and steal were everywhere as buildings that had not outright been disintegrated struggled to stand strong before them as if to say they would not fall, even in death. Holes peppered the more intact buildings where vehicles had been flung from the blast. Somewhere in the remains of the ruined city, a loud crack could be heard followed by a thunderous rumble.

"There seems to be a lot of unstable architecture here." Hipper muttered grimly. "Be on your guard."

Essex nodded in agreement, staring up at a freight container embedded into a building, seven stories above the water line. "Let's scout around and find an optimal position to set up a makeshift base of operations and get to work." She skated forward with the others flanking her, Eagle union on one side and Iron Blood on the opposite.

"What are you planning on doing?" Hipper asked, shooting a quick glance at U-556 to make sure she was keeping pace. She was but kept looking around with apprehension as though expecting something to lunge out of the fog at her.

Essex remained silent, leading the group between buildings and around city blocks until they came to what appeared to be the epicenter of the blast radius. The area was expansive. Easily capable of birthing all of Eagle Union's aircraft carriers at length and still having room to spare. Essex's rigging dispersed as her ship manifested and dropped anchor. "My ship will serve as command central." She announced as her eyes scanned the group. "Ingraham. You'll run navigation and communications for everyone from here. Relay and record all information and make sure no one falls out of comms range."

Ingraham nodded, leaping high up to clamber onto the flight deck before disappearing from view.

Essex knelt onto the water and drew with two fingers in a spiraling grid pattern. "Admiral, I'd like you to handle the initial surface sweep of the area. I will handle aerial recon and secondary surface sweep of the in a formation like so."

"Interesting pattern." Hipper said, rubbing her chin. "Surprisingly efficient given the circumstances."

Essex gave a half-hearted smile and shrug. "Do with what you got, right? It'll still take us some time to cover much of this area, and that's without hiccups or snags." She looked to Cooper and U-556. "You two will focus your attention on subsurface observation, following the admiral and I." She held up a warning finger. "But do not get yourselves into any spot where you get trapped. Not even accidentally."

Cooper nodded stoically, but U-556 looked ready to protest until a stern look from Hipper silenced her and she nodded.

"I assume you don't want us on your heals right?" Cooper asked, looking from Essex and Hipper to the nearest skeletons of buildings behind them. "At what point do you want us to start tailing you?"

Essex smiled. Cooper could be sharp for all her extravagant behavior.

"Give yourself and U-556 enough time to sonar map this area." She gestured around the artificial bay. "Once you're done with that, Ingraham can direct you to follow us. But don't feel that you need to rush. If we're here to investigate the area, I'd like to return with as much data as possible."

"You can count on me!" Cooper chirped with a salute before looking to her partner. "You ready?"

"I'm already ready." U-556 smirked. "Just don't slow me down."

"We'll see who slows who down." Cooper jabbed back.

The sub-doo rumbled to life, sending up a spray of bubbles behind her before diving out of sight. A cable shot out from Cooper's rig, dipping into the water, the reel spinning rapidly as the line sank deeper and deeper into the darkness below.

Essex shuddered as she stared down into the blackness and had to blink herself away from the sight. The void seemed to be reaching out towards her, threatening to suck her into its depths. Leaving the destroyer to her work, she waited until she and Hipper had drifted a fair distance away before launching a flight of SBDs, sending them off in their search pattern.

"Ingraham, how are things looking on radar?"

"Fuzzy, but that's mostly due to the fog." The destroyer's voice came back over the radio. "I'm getting more solid signals, albeit slower from Cooper and U-556." Her voice trailed off.

"Keep it up." Essex urged after a moment had passed in silence. "Let me know if anything changes."

There was no verbal reply. Just an acknowledging blip.

As the aircraft carrier and heavy cruiser reached the perimeter of the more intact buildings, Essex found Hipper looking at her quizzically.

"Something on your mind Admiral?"

Hipper rocked her head back towards Essex's ship. "Despite my earlier thoughts about discipline amongst your fleet sisters, it seems that you really do have a firm command of them." Her eyes met Essex's. "They seem eager to step up to your expectations."

"Oh…" Essex felt her skin flush. "They just know what I expect from them. Nothing major." She maneuvered around a crumbling building, noticing that it looked like it had once been an investment firm before the city had been abandoned. She also noticed that Hipper had broken off, powering ahead to begin the leg of her own sweep of the area. But the Iron Blood's voice was still strong in her radio despite the growing gap between them.

"That's not nothing. It's not easy to get others to follow you so readily, let alone recognize you as an authority figure."

"You sound like you speak from experience."

There was a stifled growl from Hipper's end. "In the Iron Blood, we base command off our strength. My sister Eugen, despite being my junior, gets chosen for command roles more than I do because she is more powerful than I am."

"Is that a fact?"

"What so you mean?"

"Has it been tested? Like have you two actually slugged it out before?"

Hipper seemed to stumble over her words a bit. "N-no. That would be foolish. Why would I battle my sister like that?"

"Then what you perceive as strength is only just that." Essex said, ducking low to avoid a tangle of powerlines. "Unless you've actually tested your prowess against her, would that not mean her strength is more guess work than cold hard facts?"

"I suppose that is a fair point." Hipper said, seeming to think over her words. "However, she was also the second one to get this upgrade after me. So theoretically, her design is improved off mine."

Essex rocked her head from side to side. "I get you. Give all Iron Bloods the same general treatment but make improvements as you go along. Sound about right?"

"Ja."

"Well, I hope you won't hold it against me when I say I'll believe Eugen is stronger when I see it for myself."

Hipper was silent for a moment and during that time, Essex's trail crossed hers. The heavy cruiser was skating in between a pair of collapsed buildings, scanning the interior where there was a massive gap in one of the sides. For a moment, Essex thought the building would collapse on top of the Iron Blood, but Hipper slid into the opening, unphased by the tight quarters of the interior. The light caught her features for the briefest of seconds. It may have been a trick of the light, but Essex thought she saw her glance in her direction, her expression softened just enough to show a look of appreciation.

And then she was out of sight, disappearing into the fog and shadows of the wreckage.

The rest of the day was spent scouting and searching the ruins with little chat or banter between anyone. Most of the radio traffic was the occasional warning about potentially hazardous obstacles. By the time nightfall came, the group had only managed to scout and accurately map about ten percent of the entire area. At least according to Ingraham.

"As you can see here, ground zero is probably the most troubling." The destroyer pointed to a three-dimensional scan of the area directly beneath Essex's ship. The group was below deck in the wardroom, eating rations Essex had distributed to them upon return. Ingraham had set up her computer at the head of the table and had hooked it up to a wall-mounted monitor for everyone to see.

Essex scrutinized the layout of Cooper's and U-556's initial sonar scans. The artificial bay, which she had initially thought was a crater from the blast looked nothing like what she had expected. A crater did not seem to be an accurate description for the gaping maw directly below her and her escort. It was as if someone had taken a colossal hole-punch and jammed it straight into the island, punching a hole into the ocean floor to make a pit not even U-556 could hope to dive to the bottom of. The combined efforts of the U-boat, Cooper's sonar scans, coupled with Ingraham's technical wizardry had taken hours to complete because of the sheer size of it.

Hipper was the first to speak up. "Do we have any sediment samples?" She glanced between Ingraham and U-556 who only shook her head. The sub had been uncharacteristically quite as she ate.

Ingraham shook her head and met the blonde's eyes. "Any particular reason?"

Hipper tapped her MRE platter with her fork as she thought for another moment. "I realize that this may be a bit more trouble than it's worth in the end. But perhaps we can take samples of the sea floor at these points here." She traced her finger along the screen, pointing to several spots lining the drop-off of the pit and surrounding area. "We could run some tests and studies regarding the decay of what was once there."

Ingraham thought about that. "That would definitely be a tall order. But that could be done… with time."

Cooper could only shake her head and rubbed her thumbs over her platter anxiously. "We're just lucky this place was abandoned. If there were humans here..."

Essex placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Even she was counting her blessings on that front.

Hipper leaned back away from Ingraham and let her eyes drift to the crumbling city. "That's something else that's been troubling a lot of us." They all looked at her questioningly. "What was the point of destroying this city? We know the sirens were pulling the strings. So why waste resources on a display of power? Surely they knew we would notice and retaliate."

"Maybe it was a test firing?" Ingraham suggested. "A brand-new weapon like Orochi surely needed a… well, for lack of a better term, live-fire exercise."

"That's definitely something we considered." Hipper nodded with a sigh, not meeting anyone's stare. "The Sakura Empire has been very open about their willingness to share information regarding the Orochi project, and we should expect some sort of intel upon our return. But we can't help but wonder if even Akagi and Kaga knew the full extent of what they were doing."

"Like they were given instructions on how to build a big red button with only an on switch and not telling them that pressing it makes the world go boom." Ingraham said with a shudder.

Hipper rocked her head from side to side. "That feels uncomfortably appropriate."

The wardroom fell silent for several minutes.

Essex let her thoughts drift back to the battle.

She had witnessed the launch of the weapon in question from her scout planes and being helpless to watch as Enterprise took off after it. She had sent a single fighter after the older carrier just as a humanoid siren had shown up to interfere with the interception. Enterprise's escort had been obliterated with merciless efficiency. But the distraction of combat had allowed Essex's lone fighter to catch up just as the siren's drone had managed outflank her senior. She had pulled the fighter in front of the drone's beam weapons, sparing Enterprise from a fatal hit. And as her aircraft fell away, tail section burning, Essex had fired one last defiant burst of the wildcat's guns, obliterating the drone.

"Hey!" Hipper's voice startled Essex out of her memory. "What's wrong? You seem to be spacing out."

"I'm fine." Essex murmured and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Just trying to see this from more than one angle."

Hipper let out a low breath, staring into the floor, before she noticed Cooper leaning towards the screen.

The destroyer staring with narrowed eyes at the aerial recon shots Essex had taken throughout the day, jaw sawing back and forth as she scrutinized the images. Ingraham noticed as well and before long, everyone was staring at Cooper. Hipper was about to speak but stopped when Essex raised a hand to cut her off before shaking her head. Hipper blinked, holding her words and continued to watch as the gears turned in Cooper's mind.

After what felt like an eternity, Cooper finally blinked. "Did anyone think that this may have been an asset denial sort of strike?"

They all exchanged curious glances before looking back to her.

"What makes you say that?" Essex asked, looking at the screens and trying to see what the girl might be looking at.

Cooper was quiet for another moment before giving a single shake of her head. "It may just be comic book geek spin-foil hat mumbo jumbo… But if I were the bad guys and I wanted to rattle my saber at someone, I'd do so in the middle of a city where the most damage could be done." She pointed to several of the skyscrapers in the middle of the island that still appeared to be largely intact compared to their neighbors on the outskirts of the blast radius. "But the center of the impact is here towards the city's piers."

"Where harbors would most likely be." Essex nodded, beginning to get where Cooper was going with this.

"Right. And even though reports say this city was abandoned, that would still leave the harbors open to traffic in and out with little to no interference if anyone thought of a need to use them."

"You think the sirens had something going on here?" Ingraham asked.

Cooper nodded. "Yeah. But it's just a guess right now."

"And a troubling one." Hipper added. "But it does make sense when you look at it that way. However, that brings up another question." She shot Essex a quick glance, possibly to see if she might be thinking the same thing. "If they did have something going on here, why destroy it. No one knew about it."

Essex arched a brow. "You think Sakura Empire was in the dark about this place too."

Hipper nodded. "Unless Akagi and Kaga are far better actors than we realized."

Everyone, including the still-silent U-556, shared their collective frowns.

"I think it's too early to start pointing fingers." Essex murmured. "But we'll check with them when we get the chance."

Hipper looked unconvinced. "Once we return to base, I'm going to put in a request to have them accompany us the next time we're out here."

Essex furrowed her brows. "You sound pretty certain we're going to be the ones out here after our initial sweep."

"Would it not make sense to have the first responders stay on site as they're the most knowledgeable regarding the terrain?"

Essex felt a weight sink into her gut. Was this what Enterprise was calling her out here for? To conduct research rather than fight?

"What's wrong?" Hipper asked, arching a brow. "You look like you just had an unpleasant thought."

Essex could only shake her head in a vain attempt to cast aside her worries. "I just have a feeling that this assignment is not going to be as straight forward as I once thought."