Sorry we kept you waiting. We had to take a while off for personal reasons. But before you continue to read, I'd like to say that Armored Raven has joined us as an editor/partial writer. We wrote a long chapter... again. Also, many thanks for the still overwhelming support you show us. I personally encourage you all leave reviews still - reading them is quite the good motivator.
the optional soundtrack: /playlist?list=PLfUttKNcUeSbjeMmG9z98WlI5VDId3X0P
Also, we have had a title change. Neither of us liked the previous one, so we have made a new one.
-Chapter 3: Act 1-
-Javelin's Perspective-
🎵 Halo 3 ODST - Overture 🎵
The next morning at 06:00 hours, the young royal navy ship sat on the edge of the docks, staring out over the ocean. She was wearing her usual outfit this morning; a white dress with a blue scarf that had animal ears and a blue plaid skirt. Watching the early hours of the sky was something that had become a habit for her; beneath her cheery exterior was a girl who enjoyed sentimental things like this.
And it also included watching her fellow shipgirls return from an overnight and/or 24 hour commission. While she wasn't looking, someone approached her from behind.
"Good morning Javelin." Z23 said in a grieven tone as she sat down beside her looking down at the waters. Javelin looked over to her side at Z23 and smiled.
"Ah, Zed-chan. Morning!"
Z23 sat down next to Javelin. "Good morning, Javelin. May I join you today?"
"Huh?" Javelin looked over to her friend. "Why?"
"Because... I wanted to watch the ocean waves today."
"Oh, Okay!" Javelin smiled at her friend. "Anything you want to talk about?"
Z23 sighed. "Actually..." she looked down at the waves with a sad expression.
"Uh, Zed-chan?" Javelin looked at Z23 with concern. "What's the matter?"
Z23 didn't respond, instead looking down towards the water with a solemn expression. This only made Javelin want to probe her for answers even more. She scooted over closer to Z23, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Huh!?" Z23 nearly jumped into the very water she was staring at.
"Ah! Sorry, Zed!" Javelin frantically waved her hands in front of her chest. "I was just trying to cheer you up!"
Z23's pupils dilated at Javelin's words. She then looked back to the water, wearing the same expression that she had a few seconds ago. Once again, Javelin put her hand on Z23's shoulder, who didn't flinch this time.
Javelin looked her friend in the eyes from the side. "You know you can talk to me about your problems, right? You don't have to lock those bad feelings inside you."
Z23 looked up from the water, but didn't meet Javelin in the eyes. However, she did speak.
"...Fair enough."
Javelin smiled. "Of course! I'm here for you anytime you need me, Zed-chan! That's what friends are for!"
Javelin's natural personality was completely showing now. She really did want to help her friend; Zed has been looking pretty down-in-the-dumps lately, so she wanted to see what was wrong. Even though they had been friends for over a few months since Z23 joined Azur Lane, she never seemed too open to small talk.
Especially since yesterday.
"Yesterday, Hood came back in critical condition." Z23 uttered quietly.
Javelin's eyebrows raised up, and then a look of sheer horror appeared on her face. "Lady... Hood?"
"That's right." Z23 said, flatly but with emotion. "She was hit by new Ironblood ammunition, directly in the chest. Norfolk and Suffolk came back to the base with a worrying amount of blood soaking her uniform. The Commander called for medical attention, but the new person also joined upon extreme insistence."
"You mean Snake?" Javelin asked, still very concerned.
Z23 nodded her head. "Snake found out shortly after he awoke, while he was passing through the dorm hallways. He ran over to the Commander's office, insisting that he evaluate Hood. The Commander initially protested, but then Snake said that he was a certified and experienced combat medic back in his world. He helped some of our medical staff stabilize Hood... but she's in a coma."
Javelin looked at her friend with a look of despair. "Will she wake up...?"
Z23 smiled for the first time. "Yeah. She'll be fine, but the wound caused severe blood loss. Vestal is currently considering giving her a blood transfusion in the hope that it might wake her up sooner. Snake said he will assist Vestal until Hood gets better."
Javelin sighed an incredibly deep sigh of relief. "Thank goodness~! I'll be sure to visit her every day!"
"Of course." Z23 smiled towards Javelin. "We've already got many who want to wish her luck in person, so The Commander is currently creating a schedule of when people can visit her."
Javelin smiled. She turned back to watch the sun tint the sky a nice shade of purple and orange. Z23 did the same.
The dawn sky was a pretty sight. They stared at the sky for several minutes in silence, just watching the sun slowly rise as they felt the sea breeze on their skins. But eventually, Javelin got tired of the silence.
"Hey, Zed-chan."
Z23 ever-so-slight turned her head. "Yeah?"
"Want to hear about what Her Majesty did yesterday?" Javelin asked.
Z23 shrugged. "Very well. I have a good amount of time before I have to do some secretary work for the day."
Javelin's smile widened even more, so much so she stood up and started spilling information onto Z23.
"We did a lot of fun things yesterday!" she said out of pure excitement. "We went to the beach and made sand castles, we then went out to buy some clothes, watched the offshore exercises that Hornet and a few recruits participated in, and I even got to go into her dorm! It was so large and roomy~!"
The words that came out of Javelin's mouth made her smile a little bit. Javelin's cheerful attitude always seemed to cheer Z23 up. Z23 was silent for a few moments, but slowly the smile on her faded. She looked at Javelin and spoke.
"It seems like you had a lot of fun with Queen Elizibeth, it reminds me of the good times..." She went silent once again before uttering these words grimly; "... before Ironblood declared war on Azur Lane."
Javelin's smile disappeared for a brief moment to take into account the words that Z23 said. Before she could reply, though, Javelin noticed a ship and a few figures slowly moving towards the dock on the horizon. Her attention immediately shifted and her smile reappeared on her face.
"They're back!" Javelin said loudy. "They came back from their mission!"
Z23 looked up at Javelin who was practically jumping around in celebration. She then looked over and noticed a ship and a few figures heading in their direction.
"Oh, they've returned." Z23 said in surprise.
Javelin stopped jumping and looked at Z23 with sparkles in her eyes "Yes, we gotta go tell the others!" She then turned around and ran towards the base "I will go alert the Queen and the Commander!"
-Z23's Perspective-
Z23 watched Javelin sprint across the docks and onto the main pathway that led to the heart of the base. She then turned around and continued to look out over the oceans. Reflecting on the months in which she was in Azur Lane before looking back on her time in Ironblood. She was considered an Elite ship, being one of the few Zerstroers that gained a significant amount of respect in the fleet. Despite this, she always remained reserved in her social skills.
Z23 was amongst the few ships in Ironblood that defected to Azur Lane. It deeply bothered her to see a once former ally become an enemy. Among them was her own sister, Z25. She was one of the few who she told was defecting, and she helped Z23 escape her Ironblood base.
However, she never got a chance to say goodbye to her.
"I miss my old friends..." She quietly said to herself, "...if only we all got along... there would be no war."
She missed her old friends dearly. That didn't mean that she didn't like her current ones - especially Javelin - but she definitely missed people like the other Z-ships. She was even more sad that they were now her enemy, and her friends would be the very people she fought now.
It's a shame she had seen it coming.
15 minutes later...
Javelin just returned to the dock with a large group of girls, along with Queen Elizabeth.
"Make room for the queen!" Elizabeth barked, "I cannot see over you all!"
The crowd of girls splitted off into two groups as Queen Elizabeth moved through the divide. Javelin trailed off behind her. The sound of the crowd of girls alerted Z23 from her deep self reflection. She turned around to see a crowd of girls with Queen Elizbeth and Javelin in front of the pack on a different platform of the docks. Javelin was looking in her general direction, signaling to her to come over to the group.
"Z23, come over here! They are almost here!" Javelin shouted over the crowd. Z23 immediately stood up and ran over to the crowd of girls, squeezing her way through the crowd and into the front with Javelin and Queen Elizabeth.
Everyone watched in anticipation as the ship slowly moved closer with the humanoid figures coming into greater view. One of them was a blonde haired girl wearing an older English military uniform and holding a sword in her right hand. The 2nd and 3rd appeared to be identical in appearance; they were both young, had twin long tails, but one has brown hair and a red dress while the other black hair and a purple dress. The 4th girl had short brown hair that wore a navy blue hoodie with lime green accents, her stomach exposed as well and had black thigh highs. And the 5th was a mature looking woman with long white hair with a black coat over a white dress.
"We have returned!" The short brown haired girl yelled with glee.
The crowd of girls cheered as the ship fully docked. five girls walked onto the docks to greet the crowd.
"Ah... Javelin."
The woman with long, white hair walked over to Javelin. Javelin smiled as she watched her approach.
"Welcome back, Miss Yorktown!" she greeted Yorktown with gusto.
Yorktown returned the smile, although not with as much energy as Javelin. "Of course."
Yorktown walked over to the edge of the dock, watching the sun rise in the distance. The twins also approached them, the black-haired one speaking first.
"Where is The Commander?" she asked Z23.
"In his office." Z23 replied. "He is currently arranging some paperwork related to visitation hours for Hood."
"His office?" the black-haired girl asked.
Z23 frowned. "Yes. Hood is currently in intensive care for a battle injury sustained by an Ironblood ship."
The black-haired girl's eyes widened, "Oh. I see..." She then looked over at her sister who was carrying a stack of purple crates.
"Sis."
The brown-haired girl spoke up, finally breaking her silence. The black-haired girl looked over to her twin.
"Yeah, Ping Hai?"
The black-haired girl was met with a head pat by her twin sister. Ning Hai didn't flinch, though, instead smiling at her twin sister.
"...Thanks, Ping Hai."
The two shared a smile as they walked off towards the base. While they were walking, Ning Hai took one of the crates off of the stack that Ping Hai was carrying and carried it in both her hands. Javelin and Z23 just watched as they walked off. Out of the corner of her eye, Z23 saw a shade of yellow moving. She turned her head to see a girl with yellow hair approaching them.
Javelin's smile somehow widened even more. "Ah, it's Miss Warspite!"
Z23 watched Warspite approach them. She was carrying another crate, and her sword was sheathed in a scabbard at her side. Z23 didn't understand why she used a sword despite fighting from a distance, but she assumed that the sword had meaning to her. She opted to ask about this at a later date.
"Greetings, Javelin. Z23." Warspite said, stopping in front of them.
"Morning, Miss Warspite!" Javelin said. "Good morning, Warspite." Z23 also greeted her.
Warspite smiled at the two of them. "I see Javelin is ocean gazing as usual, but I'm not sure I have ever seen you joining her, Z23."
Z23 returned the smile. "It's a recent development. I've been feeling rather worn-out lately, and decided to join Javelin in her early morning activity in order to relax."
"Oh, really?" Warspite looked at Z23 with a sense of curiosity. "I would not have pictured that happening, I must say."
Z23 smiled a bit wider. "...I suppose neither would I."
Suddenly, a loud and high pitched voice called out to them from a distance away. Immediately, Z23 knew who it was.
"WAAAARSPIIITTEEE!~" the voice of Queen Elizabeth yelled loud enough to draw the attention of everyone in the crowd. Immediately, they parted way for her once again as she approached Warspite.
"Ah, not now, Your Highness." Warspite said strictly. "I have to deliver the spoils of our mission to the depot. Unless it is urgent business, I must make haste."
Queen Elizabeth didn't seem fazed. "In that case, I shall accompany you!"
"Very well." Warspite replied autonomously. With that brief exchange, the iconic duo left the area, having a conversation that Z23 couldn't make out from that distance. There was only one person left exiting the ship, who was also carrying a crate - however, it was marked with a "PRIORITY" sticker on it's side. Z23 was able to deduce that the crate either contained a highly sophisticated blueprint, a drill or a Wisdom Cube.
The girl walked briskly, seemingly unfazed by the weight of the crate. She, too, stopped to greet Javelin and Z23.
Z23 recognized the short brown haired girl with the navy blue and lime hoodie with polished ship rigging; her name was Baltimore, one of Eagle Union's top heavy cruisers. She is very outgoing and enthusiastic, not to mention she's got a great reputation amongst the other girls in the base. Many of them look up to Baltimore as a role model, including Z23 who so often follows her by example.
"Yo, Javelin! Oh, and you too, Zed."
""Morning."" Javelin and Z23 said in perfect sync.
Baltimore set down her crate, smiling brightly. "Good day to do some laps around the island, ain't it?"
Javelin nodded energetically. "It is! I was gonna go run around the base in a while."
"Heh. in that case, lemmie join you!" Baltimore replied with equal amounts of energy. "Me and Cleveland were gonna go have a nice jog around the base today. It'd be nice to have a third person with us!"
"Ah, alright!" Javelin replied, smiling even wider. Z23 was beginning to question the flexibility of Javelin's face, seeing how wide her smile currently was. However, Baltimore was one of the handful of people who could match her energy.
Z23 spoke up. "Tell Cleveland I said 'hello'."
"Of course!" Baltimore replied. She grabbed the crate with ease, and began walking off. "Alright, i'll see you two around!"
She left before Javelin or Z23 could say goodbye. With that, everyone except Yorktown had left.
"Pardon me girls, have you seen where Grim went?" Yorktown asked in question with little worry in her tone.
Before Z23 and Javelin could respond, the sound of a bird screeching catches their attention. The three look up to find a bald eagle soaring through the sky above.
"Oh my, there you are." Yorktown said with a smile.
The eagle then dived down and flew on past the three before landing on top of another girl's arm. Z23, Javelin and Yorktown look over to this girl who managed to walk onto the dock without them noticing. This girl, like Yorktown, had long white hair, but her attire was different. She had a black coat over an officer's uniform with a black skirt with black thigh highs and wore a naval officer hat upon her head. In her other hand, she held a bow that had some elements of an aircraft carrier's main mast. She looked at the eagle that landed on her sleeve and smiled before looking over to the three girls who were surprised by her sudden unexpected appearance.
"Enterprise... " Yorktown said in surprise, "I completely forgot you were still on the ship."
The girl faced the three's general direction before letting the eagle fly off onto Yorktown's shoulder.
"I guess they don't call me the Grey Ghost for nothing," Enterprise replied.
"Enty! Welcome back!" Javelin cheerfully greeted her.
Z23 was silent for a moment, before she could say her greeting, Enterprise walked up to her.
"Good morning, Z23." She said formally, "How was secretary duty?"
It hasn't been the first time she was assigned secretary duty, she in fact on several occasions served as the commander's secretary when one of them was absent. While trying to think of a way to explain her accomplishments, Z23 had a brief flashback of the events that happened yesterday. It practically haunted her mind, and she couldn't shake the thoughts of Hood returning unconscious. Not wanting to remain quiet any longer, Z23 decided to finally speak up.
🎵 Halo 3 ODST - Asphalt and Ablution🎵
"It was good... just the usual work." She said in a grieven tone.
Enterprise seemed like she couldn't tell there was sadness in Z23's voice, and instead simply replied,
"Very well." She nodded, turning around to walk over to pick up a suitcase that was set down on the floorboards of the dock. The bow in her hand disappeared with a flash and she walked past the three.
Yorktown looked down at Z23 who was making a face. Z23 couldn't pull off her usual poker face, as the incident from yesterday affected her greatly. Yorktown turned to look back at Enterprise, who was still walking away from the docks.
"Wait, Enterprise!" She shouted, "I think there is something wrong with Z23." Enterprise stopped in her tracks to look back at the three who were still standing at the docks. She then walked back over to them to see what was the matter with Z23.
"Are you okay Z23?" Enterprise asked, "What is bothering you?"
She was lost in thought about yesterday's events. Javelin looked over to nudge Z23, which snapped her back to reality.
"Go on, Zed. Tell her what happened." Javelin said, smiling reassuringly and pushing her forward.
Z23 took her time to come up with an answer. "It's about the scouting mission that the group of Royal Navy ships took part in."
Enterprise's eyebrow raised "What about the scouting mission?" She asked in a mildly considered tone?
"Hood... S-She... " Z23 stuttered, the words catching in her throat.
"She returned... unconscious."
The words that came out of Z23's mouth made Enterprise gasp and her eyes widened with shock. So much so that she let the suitcase in her hand drop to the deck of the dock. The suitcase fell open, and out of it, a few glowing cubes rolled off the deck and into the water below it. She quickly turned around and started to sprint full speed towards the base.
Yorktown seemed shaken by Z23's words. But it didn't have the same gravity on her compared to Enterprise. She kept her eyes fixed on Enterprise, as she ran onto the pavement and made her way into the heart of the base, until she was completely out of sight. Yorktown then looked down at Z23.
"What happened?" Yorktown asked in a more deeply concerning tone.
Z23 remained silent for a brief moment before quickly responding,
"It's... it's a long story..."
.
..
...
-Chapter 3, Act 2-
-Enterprise's Perspective-
Enterprise made a mad dash for The Commander's dormitory. Sprinting across the heart of the base, she attracted the attention of the girls walking about and minding their own business. Some attempted to give her a greeting, but she ignored them while the others gave her a confused look. Enterprise was determined to find out what happened to Hood and was not letting anything get in her way.
She barged through the front door of The Commander's Dormitory and dashed up the stairs. Enterprise's sudden entrance was so loud that it startled a girl who was reading a book while sitting down on a chair in the lobby. After a flight of stairs and a sprint down the hallway, she arrived at The Commander's office where she began banging on the door. The door was opened to reveal The Commander with an irritated face, until he saw who was knocking on his door.
"Oh... Enterprise, welcome back, how was-" Before The Commander got to finish his sentence, Enterprise quickly interrupted him.
"Where is Hood?" She demanded for an answer. His eyes slowly widened, but kept a straight face.
"She's in the Hospital unit, currently-" Before he could finish his sentence once again, Enterprise turned around and ran in the opposite direction away from his office.
She had a bad feeling about her current location, and Enterprise knew what to expect when she arrived there. Regardless, she had a hard time believing that Hood was the casualty of the scouting mission. She knew she was amongst the toughest Battleships in the Royal Navy, and her service had given her a legendary status amongst the ships in the Azur Lane Alliance. She was nicknamed "The Mighty Hood," because of her service longevity, and her powerful cannons that wreaked havoc on every battlefield she sailed through. These thoughts continue to baffle her mind, and continue to question.
Of all the ships in the fleet, how could Hood be the one to return in defeat?
She ran down the flight of stairs until she finally made it to the main floor and rushed out the front door. Enterprise looked around the base to find where the Hospital wing was until her sights finally fixed in the general direction where it was located. She started to feel the fatigue catching up to her, as her breathing pattern was irregular with her heart beating fast with adrenaline. Despite this, Enterprise wasn't going to stop to catch her breath, she mustered up the last amounts of energy she had left in her and made a last dash towards the Hospital wing.
Finally reaching the front door of the hospital, she pushed the door open and rushed up towards the counter. The main lobby was quiet, with no sight of anyone else in the room. Catching her breath, Enterprise looked up on the desk and spotted a clipboard with writing on it. She took a glance at the writing and realized it was a list of the patients that are currently being hospitalized. She skimmed through the list until Hood appeared on the list.
Room H15
She took a mental note of this before setting the clipboard back down on the desk and rushing towards the side of the lobby where the elevators were. To her dismay, there was a note on both elevator doors with an "Out of order" message on it. Enterprise then looked around for the stairs and rushed to them. She looked up the flight of stairs, it was long and it practically seemed to stretch on forever with her dazed vision thanks to exhaustion slowly consuming her mind. She ran up the stairs until she finally arrived at a level labored "H" before entering through the door.
Enterprise scanned through all the rooms while she rushed down the hall until she arrived at the room that was labeled H15. She felt relieved that she arrived at the room Hood was being hospitalized in, taking a deep breath before slowly walking in.
In the hospital room, a nurse was behind a curtain, examining a medicine bottle. She was wearing a black, skin tight nun uniform with white thigh highs and a large cape. She had a sailor hat on as well.
"Vestal?" Enterprise asked in question while breathing heavily.
The women looked up from the table and saw Enterprise leaning up against the wall, gasping for air.
"Oh my... Enterprise are you okay?" Vestal asked with a concerned expression on her face.
Enterprise took a few deep breaths before speaking "Yes... I'm fine..."
Enterprise was extremely exhausted from the intensive sprints she did on her journey here. She was sweating heavily, her mouth was dry and her heart felt like it was beating against the bones in her body. Vestal set down the medicine bottle she held in her hand on the table nearby the hospital bed and quickly walked over to Enterprise, putting a hand on her back.
"Did you run all the way here?" Vestal asked.
"Yes..." Enterprise said while still breathing heavily.
Vestal then grabbed her arm and guided her to a seat in the corner of the room. "It isn't healthy to run a long distance without proper hydration," Vestal said as she walked over to the sink.
She pulled out a cup from the cabinet above the sink and turned the faucet to fill the cup up with water. She walked back over to Enterprise and handed her the cup, who immediately grabbed it.
"Thank you... " Enterprise said as she quickly downed the entire cup.
"You're welcome." Vestal said with a smile. After a few moments, she walked back over behind the curtains to the table near the hospital bed.
"So Enterprise, when did you get back?"
"Earlier... this morning at... 07:45 hours..." Enterprise said while heavily breathing, slowly starting to stabilize.
"Oh, so you have just arrived then?" Vestal asked in question as she looked over at Enterprise.
Enterprise, slowly trying to relax her breathing rate, nodded her head.
"Ahh... In that case, welcome back Enterprise," Vestal said while pouring some liquid from a medicine bottle into a small cup." Enterprise took a few deep breaths before replying.
"...Thank you." She said sincerely.
She watched behind the curtain, watching Vestal's shadow moving close to a figure in bed while holding a small tiny cup. Enterprise, remembering why she ran over here, got up and slowly walked close to the curtain.
She took a couple more breaths before speaking, "Vestal, I came to see Hood..."
Vestal replied, "Huh? Oh... hold on, let me administer some medicine into her real quick."
Enterprise watched the silhouette of Vestal from behind the curtain, seeing her slowly pour liquid into the mouth of the individual who was laying in the hospital bed. Not wanting to wait any longer, she pulled back the curtains, revealing Vestal and Hood who was laying in the bed with her eyes closed.
Her eyes slowly widened; Hood looked lifeless in the bed, with her skin seemingly more pale than normal. Enterprise's stare redirected towards the center of her chest. It was covered in white bandages that were stained with blood. The sight shocked her, sending a wave of dread into her mind. She was horrified... one of the figureheads of Azur Lane, laying in bed in a critical condition from the actions of a faction that - until a few weeks ago - was an ally of theirs. She clenched her fist in anger, but released it in sorrow just a few seconds later in tandem with a sigh. Abruptly, a bright flash came from behind the blinds in the window, followed by a loud bang a few seconds later.
🎵 Halo 3 ODST - Deference for Darkness🎵 ᅠ
Enterprise immediately tensed up, but the sound of rain soon followed, further dimming the mood in the room. The pattering of raindrops on the windows both relaxed Enterprise and soured her mood... of all the moments for it to rain, it had to be now...? it's sudden appearance felt like a coincidence, but all it did was simply make her feel worse just by its mere presence.
"What happened to her?" Enterprise asked Vestal grimmly. Vestal took a few moments to think of a way to explain to her what happened. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.
"I was told that she was shot by artillery fire from an Ironblood battleship." Enterprise's face suddenly grew serious from hearing Vestal's words.
"Who shot her?" Enterprise said with anger lingering in the tone of her voice.
"I don't know who. I was too busy with getting her situated here while trying to stop the bleeding coming from her wound." Vestal replied in a solemn tone. Enterprise was pondering ideas on who from Ironblood could have caused this wound. She had a sinking feeling it was Ironblood's strongest battleship in their fleet, Bismarck.
Her thoughts made her more angry, as she balled both her hands into fists. Enterprise was already angry at Ironblood's betrayal and declaration of war from months ago, but seeing a close ally lying unconscious in a hospital bed made her want to annihilate an entire fleet of ships. Vestal, seeing the anger in Enterprise's eyes, made her feel worried. She saw the fury that was continuously building up from Enterprise, she looked like she was about to punch a hole in the wall. Not wanting to see her angry any longer, she spoke up.
"Enty…" She began chastising Enterprise. "I understand you are angry, but it would be best if you restrain it."
"I don't think I could do that Vestal…" Enterprise said with metaphorical smoke coming out of her nose. Her bow materialized in her right hand.
"Whoever I find is responsible for Hood's demise..." She pulled back the blinds and pulled back her bow, a bright glowing bolt appeared while drawing it back, pointing it at the ocean.
"I will wipe them off the face of the ocean!"
Seeing her rage escalating too far, Vestal decided to take swift action and end Enterprise's anger spree before she would cause unnecessary harm to others.
"Enterprise stop! Get a hold of yourself!" Vestal said loudly in a more serious tone.
Enterprise, hearing the boom of her friend's words, made her snap out of her blind rage. Her eyes widened at realizing what she was doing. Enterprise then felt a hand on her back, making her look over to see Vestal with a concerned look on her face.
"Please..." Vestal said in a lower tone.
Enterprise, realizing she was about to launch a shot into the ocean, slowly pulled the bolt back down, causing it to disappear with a bright flash. She lowered her bow and faced Vestal.
"I'm sorry Vestal. Normally, I don't let anger blind my better judgement." She sat down in a chair near the window, her bow then disappeared from her hand. She glanced outside the window, sighing at the bitter atmosphere surrounding them. Enterprise took a few moments to let the silence between them and the dripping sound of rain drops, sink in before speaking.
"Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where I cannot suppress it.." She said grimmly in a low tone.
"Ironbloods' Betrayal still leaves me afflicted to this day… and finding out Hood was defeated at the hands of an Ironblood ship fills me with dread."
Vestal walked over and sat down next to Enterprise in a chair next to hers. She took a brief moment to take in the quiet and still atmosphere around them, she then looked over at her friend and broke the silence.
"I understand why you feel great distress earlier... but I now understand why you let your anger slip away from you." Vestal looked straight into Enterprise's eyes. "We are at war with them. That being said, there will be casualties on both sides… yesterday, one of our greatest allies has fallen… thankfully, the tide didn't take her with it."
She briefly looks over a Hood before looking back at Enterprise. "She fought for the sake of not just our countries, but our friends… the same can be said for Ironblood… It is the nature of war. The best we can do is heal our wounds and keep fighting."
Vestal's consulting made Enterprise feel less gloomy over the situation. She then stood up from her chair and began to speak with her usual stoic attitude.
"War is full of hardships… victories and defeats, We will not let Hood's sacrifice be in vain. We will avenge her and show the Crimson Axis that they woken the sleeping giant!" Vestal's eyes widen at Enterprise's words.
"My, I wasn't expecting you to quickly recover." Vestal said with a smile on her face.
Enterprise smiled back at Vestal. "You always know how to make me feel better."
"I am a repair ship afterall." Vestal said cheerfully.
Enterprise looked over at Hood, realizing her skin color was paler than normal, she decided to bring up the topic of Hood's current condition.
"Vestal, Hood seems more pale than normal." Vestal got up from her chair and walked over besides Enterprise.
"She lost a lot of blood while the other ships were carrying her back, I am considering performing a blood transfusion once the order of donor blood arrives."
Enterprise raised an eyebrow "How much blood are you talking?"
"Too much, Enterprise…" Vestal replied, "So much that we had to rush everything in order to get her situated into her room. Thankfully, someone new who joined today decided to pinch in and help us."
Someone new? Enterprise thought to herself; the words seemed almost alien to her. She knows that the Azur Lane alliance was entirely composed of other humanoid ships, with The Commander being the only true human on the base. They rarely get any new ships added to their fleet and never have had any other human as active personnel on the base. This news surprised Enterprise.
"Yes, he insisted on helping despite being greatly deprived of sleep," Vestal replied.
This news surprises her even more. Another man helped render medical aid to Hood? She never saw another man walk about on the base, let alone assist Vestal in providing medical attention. Enterprise almost didn't believe her words until she lifted up a clipboard she was looking at. She didn't recognize the handwriting on it.
"Hmm… another man huh? Who is this individual that helped you with giving Hood medical attention?" Enterprise asked skeptically.
Vestal looked up from her clipboard and looked Enterprise, "Oh… I never got his name as he never told me what his name was. He was rather quiet for the most part during the procedures, but very efficient in what he was doing. He has medical training."
Enterprise eyes widened, "Well, where is he now?"
Vestal smiled, "Most likely still asleep."
.
..
…
-Snake's PoV-
🎵No Music🎵
"Hmmggh..."
Snake grumbled, getting out of his mattress. It wasn't particularly comfortable, but it was definitely better than his old bunk bed in Mother Base. He preferred to be at least somewhat on common ground with his soldiers, and it was his personal quarters that was part of that choice. Though nowadays, he didn't have Mother Base anymore.
But that would change very soon.
Snake groggily got out of his mattress. He rotated his neck in a circle, the joints cracking as he did so. Brushing his clothes off for no reason, he walked over to a nearby sink. Next to it was a digital clock... but he couldn't make out the numbers on it due to blurry vision.
*BANG*
Immediately Snake turned around to see a gun pointed at his wall, smoke coming out of it's barrel. It was being held by a girl wearing a black maid uniform. She had short, light blonde braided hair that gave the illusion of being pink due to the sunlight, and yellow eyes that shined like gemstones.
"Ah, it seems I was too late."
The unknown girl twirled her handgun around in a few circles, holstering it rather quickly. The way she spun her gun like that reminded him of Ocelot. After concealing her gun, she spoke again.
"It is time to wake up, Mr. Snake." She said in a low, cold tone of voice. "It is currently 11:00AM. Ms. Belfast wanted me to wake you, as she is preoccupied with other duties."
Snake grumbled. "...Did you have to use a gun for that...?" he said in a grizzly voice.
The girl smiled slightly. "Of course. A sidearm is a most valuable asset of a maid. Now, since you're awake, I shall lead you to the mess hall. Two girls in particular wish to have a word with you."
Two girls? Did he mean Cleveland and Rodney? Or perhaps Suffolk and Norfolk?
"Right this way, Mr. Snake."
The maid exited the room, and Snake had a few seconds to grab his eyepatch from his bedside and left the room with her. As they walked through the dorm, it was surprisingly lively throughout the building. There were a good number of the girls present in the dorm, and most of them greeted him or at least acknowledged his presence positively. Snake internally wondered if they had heard about him assisting Hood, and if that had changed their collective opinion of him.
🎵Destiny 2 - The Farm🎵
As they exited the dorm, Snake's eyes began watering up and he sneezed shortly after. Hearing this, the girl stopped and looked back at him.
"Ah, it seems the pollen is particularly bad today. I will hasten my pace accordingly."
The girl continued to walk, but started to speed-walk rather than strolling. As they continued down the path of bright pink trees, they were alone - well, with the exception of one girl. They passed a young girl with silver twin tails who was sitting on a bench, seemingly asleep and with... A bottle of alcohol? Snake wanted to say something about that, but he didn't have much to talk about right here. He would have to bring this up to The Commander later.
Eventually, they arrived at a large building a short distance away from the plaza, separated away from the cluster of buildings. Many girls were currently entering or exiting the doors, all of them talking to another. Once again, as Snake approached the doors, they all noticed him one way or another. One even gave him a warm smile. Right as he stepped foot into the large building, the smell of food hit him like a truck. That wasn't a bad thing, but after not having smelled anything in particular for a while now, a strong smell briefly threw him for a loop.
"Mr. Snake." The girl tapped him on the shoulder. "Queen Elizabeth and Ms. Warspite wish to have a discussion with you."
Queen Elizabeth? Warspite? Was the queen of England present at this base? Snake had so many questions, but his internal defense mechanism for the overwhelming quantity of questions kicked in and he just decided to roll with it. The maid led him to the front of the area, both of them grabbing a tray. On it was an impressively good smelling curry. Snake couldn't complain; curry was one of the simpler meals to make, and it made for a very good food to be distributed to a lot of people. He briefly recalled an implanted memory of the Carribean Mother Base's cafeteria, and how it used to serve curry as well.
"Beverages are over here, Mr. Snake."
Snake redirected his vision to a nearby cluster of fridges. He opened the door of one, grabbing what seemed to be a glass of Coca-Cola out of it. He put down the tray on a nearby surface, placing the bottle cap on the edge. He tilted the glass bottle forward, and with a little arm grease the metal cap came off. He brought the bottle to his lips, taking a sip.
"...!?"
Snake made a horrified grunt, spitting out the cola at lightning speed. That was not cola! He quickly took a look at the label on the bottle... That was Oxidants in the form of soda! Snake was glad that he ejected that out of his system fast enough... but it also made him wonder; were these girls human after all, or some other biological life form? Most of them had these bottles on their tray, drinking them with no hesitation.
"Ah..."
Snake turned back to see the maid with a look of regret on her face. "My apologies, Mr. Snake. I had briefly assumed that you were similar to us, and had the mistaken assumption that you could drink Oxi-Cola. Do not worry, it will not damage your system since you were quick to dispose of it."
Snake grumbled, but shrugged after. "It's fine, just the daily mistake." he said, grabbing the tray and stealthily disposing of the Oxi-Cola.
The maid led him to a table seated with two girls who had long, yellow hair. One of them was being very loud, while the other one was quietly eating. As the maid approached the table, the one with brighter hair noticed them and spoke up,
"Your majesty, they are here."
The other girl stopped what she was doing, and frantically looked around. When she saw Snake carrying his tray, she began smiling widely.
"Ah, so he is!" she said. "You may have a seat at this table, Mr. Snake. Sheffield, you may as well."
So her name was Sheffield, huh... the maid wordlessly grabbed a nearby chair from an empty table, and dragged it to their own table. As Snake took a seat, the girl with a crown on her head stood up, putting her arms on her hip.
"Greetings, I am Queen Elizabeth, the super-dreadnought of the Royal Navy! This is Warspite, my trusty ally!"
The other girl smiled humbly. "Her Majesty wished to personally meet you when she was made aware of your action in tending to Hood."
Queen Elizabeth smiled with pride. "Indeed! Hood is an important figure to us all, including myself..." she said in a more genuine and lower tone. "...So I wanted to give my personal thanks to you for helping stabilize her. Those of us who knew about Hood's condition were in bad morale until news came that you had assisted Vestal, and were quite good at it."
Warspite followed up on Queen Elizabeth's words. "On behalf of all Royal Navy ships, and mostly everyone else on our base... we thank you, Mr. Snake."
Snake was silent for a few moments, but he closed his eye and smiled. "Of course. A soldier looks out for their own, right?"
Queen Elizabeth sat back down, also smiling. "I knew I'd take quite the liking to you!"
After she said that, she immediately tore into her food. Snake watched her as she almost drank the curry. Watching her eat it with such vigor made him hungry as well, and he began eating his curry at a pace where he could enjoy it. Warspite and Sheffield began eating slowly. Snake noticing they were eating with proper table manners.
Suddenly, everyone around him turned to face someone who just entered the mess hall. The room fell silent for a moment, Snake began hearing footsteps approaching him. With his spoon still in his mouth, he turned to see who was nearing his group.
"There... you are!"
A girl with long silver hair and an officer's uniform was currently standing in front of them, gasping for breath. The other girls around him took notice, and quieted down for a moment. It was extremely brief, though, as everyone returned back to their conversations after.
'Ah, Ms. Enterprise!" Queen Elizabeth remarked. "What brings you to our grand table?"
"...It's... to find... that man..." Enterprise said, still trying to catch her breath.
Warspite got up from her table. "My, Ms. Enterprise. You should be taking a seat. You must have ran a good distance, no?"
Warspite grabbed another chair from a nearby table. Enterprise took it, and sat down between Warspite and Sheffield. Meanwhile, Snake continued eating - albeit slower. But that's when Enterprise began speaking directly to him.
"You. You must be Snake, right?"
Snake finished off his curry right as she said that. He took a few moments to respond. "Yeah. Did you need me for anything?"
Enterprise shook her head "No. I just merely wanted to see the man who helped Hood."
Queen Elizabeth gave Snake a smile, revealing a single fang on the top left side of her mouth. "My my, Snake! It seems you've become quite a celebrity amongst us! You've even managed to catch the attention of Ms. Enterprise!"
Snake gave her a skeptical look. "Is that a bad thing?"
"Not at all!" Queen Elizabeth responded immediately. "I'd argue that it's good! Ms. Enterprise is one of the highest shipgirls amongst us. She is one of 5 secretaries The Commander employs, so she has quite a bit of authority."
"Hold that thought."
Snake got up out of his chair, grabbing his tray. He went over to a nearby return bin, emptying the bowl and spoon into it and placing the tray on top of it. He returned back to the table in mere seconds.
"Alright. What's this about a secretary?" he asked.
Queen Elizabeth smiled again, but Warspite was the one to respond instead.
"The Secretaries are under direct order of The Commander. They assist him in various different tasks. Each of them has a specific duty allocated to them, such as Z23 being our radio operator. Enterprise is 2nd in command of our forces and handles logistics. Lady Belfast is another; she is sent around the base to perform order as needed by The Commander."
Snake listened dutifully. He then had a question. "Alright. So who's the other two?"
"Laffey and Javelin." Warspite answered. "You may have seen Laffey asleep on a bench in the Tree Aisle while you approached the cafeteria. Although she seems languorous and lazy, she is actually very diligent in her work. She handles the trivial paperwork and helps the Commander with managing the Depot. Javelin is in charge of handling Commissions and also brainstorming ideas that the Commander can reasonably put into action."
"Pretty organized operations you've got going on here." Snake remarked. "The Commander's got some good talent for someone so young."
Enterprise smiled faintly. "Indeed. Now then, I'd like to ask something of you, Snake."
Snake's eyebrows raised. "And what's that?"
"How bad is Hood's condition?"
Enterprise said those words with such seriousness, that it sent a chill down Snake's spine and also immediately shut up any conversations the other girls in the area were having. There was dead silence amongst the people at the table and soon the entire mess hall. Everyone directed their attention to Snake, and he felt intimidated... Slightly.
"She'll be fine. I helped Vestal patch up her wound, and helped her administer morphine to ease Hood's pain. She'll likely need a blood transfusion, though. Whoever brought her in saved valuable seconds of her life, but she'll need the help of several others if she's gonna wake up in good time."
Enterprise seemed to loosen up a bit. Everyone else began speaking quietly amongst themselves. Snake was no stranger to giving news as it was, but the people's reaction to those news was far worse than the news themselves. Enterprise continued.
"...But will she survive?"
"I just said that she will." Snake responded. "But if you can get some people to donate blood to her, she'll wake up faster."
Enterprise sighed, seemingly carrying out a lot of stress. "Thank you. You've given me peace of mind. I'll be taking my leave now... tell Vestal my thanks if you see her again."
Snake quietly responded with a smile. Enterprise got up from her chair, and began walking off with her white hair streaming behind her. He then got up from the table, and took a breath of air in.
"I've had my grub, so I'm gonna go now. See you around."
"Of course!" Queen Elizabeth replied.
Warspite smiled at Snake, also speaking. "I will see you around as well."
"I will be around your personal quarters later today, Mr. Snake." Sheffield said. Snake just shrugged as he walked off...
...now what to do until nighttime?... Snake internally asked himself. He then realized that he didn't have a day for himself for weeks. Even before he was transported to this world, he was committed to helping Big Boss build Outer Heaven. So much for that plan... but was that something Snake really wanted to do? After visiting this world, he realized that there was more to war then just conflict. All these girls were incredibly positive with each other, despite the fact that they were in the middle of a war. Snake had never seen people this positive before during a war.
Maybe Snake could still learn a thing or two. Maybe he hadn't seen all aspects of war, like he thought he had. With that thought in mind, he made his way back to the dorms to have a day to himself. Come a few nights from now, it would be time for a plan he would put into motion.
The plan to reunite.
LINE BREAK - THE DOCUMENT MANAGER IS A NUISANCE - LINE BREAK
-Chapter 3, Act 3-
-A Few Days Later-
🎵No Music🎵
Snake was currently exiting the dorms. He was currently journeying towards the Commander's office to seek approval for a mission he was going to conduct today; retaking the oil rig. After spending a few days to himself, he was prepared to go on this mission easily.
The sound of his combat boots echoed in the hallway, the corridor lit brightly. It was quiet... of course, he was used to this by this point. He spent a few days in his room reading through an entire book. While he was reading, Snake hoped that his men were able to survive the harsh world. They had adequate training and then some, but training could only do so much before Mother Nature stopped caring. Eventually, he was in front of the large doors that The Commander's office was known for. As usual, Z23 was at the desk, typing on a device Snake had never seen before.
Snake entered the lobby, and knocked on the door to grab Z23's attention. She looked up. "Oh, greetings Mr. Snake. It is unusual for you to be here at this time."
Snake didn't respond visually. "I guess I can say the same for you. Every cog is needed for the machine, huh..."
"Um... I am not sure what you mean by that." Z23 replied, confusion both visible and audible in her reply.
Snake smirked. "It means that every soldier has their use." he replied as he walked over to her desk. "Is The Commander still working?"
Z23 folded the device on itself. "He is. Do you require a meeting with him?"
"No. I just need his approval for something." Snake responded. "I have a mission I need to go on."
Z23 grabbed the receiver from the nearby phone. "Very well." she dialed a number, pausing for several seconds. Finally, she spoke again. "Commander, Snake wishes to get your approval on a mission... no, I have not asked him what it is about... alright, I will ask him about it now."
She put a hand on the microphone. "He wants to know what you need approval for."
"Retaking the oil rig." Snake replied bluntly. "It's in enemy territory. Probably has a small token force occupying it, so I need to go scout it out."
"I see." Z23 autonomously replied. She uncovered the microphone. "He says that he wants to go capture the oil rig, and wishes to go on a scouting mission... yes, I will inform him." she ended the call. "He has given you his approval to go about with the mission."
Snake smiled at her, and turned to leave. Z23, however, called out to him.
"Wait."
Snake turned back to her. "Something else?"
Z23 got out of her chair, holding something in her hands. She walked over to him and held out her hand, revealing it to be a small microphone-and-speaker earpiece and a compass. "Here. You will need it to communicate with us."
Snake snickered briefly. "Don't know how I could forget that. Thanks, I'll keep you posted." he said, putting the earpiece on his left ear and pocketing the compass. Z23 gave him a nod, returning to her desk. Snake left the room. As he walked through the hallway, he switched on the earpiece. Somehow, it greeted him with an unpleasant, yet brief beeping sound that made Snake snarl in irritation. Following soon after was Z23's voice.
"Testing. How copy, over?"
Well, that was quick. "Solid copy. Mic test is successful, over."
"Acknowledged." Z23's voice responded. "The Commander is also listening, so he will account for any potential situation updates as needed. He has allocated a small boat for you in the harbour - it is marked with the identification numbers 12085. It is equipped with one first aid kit. Update when you have reached the boat, out."
Snake exited the dorms to embrace the night breeze. It was early in the night, so the moon hadn't risen that far into the sky yet. Using nearby signs as help, he gradually made his way over to the harbor, which was very well lit with a few CCTV cameras around. Snake wandered around for a while, but eventually found the boat in question.
Entering the boat, he put a finger to the earpiece. "This is Snake. I have reached the boat, over."
"Acknowledged." the voice of Z23 curtly replied. "The boat should have adequate fuel for the mission. Objective is due 48 klicks northeast, we will be preparing a few ships for immediate deployment if needed."
"Copy that." Snake replied simply. "Wilco, am en-route to the designated objective, out."
After having that brief exchange, Snake turned around to face the twin engines. He grabbed both of their ignition cords and gave them both a mighty tug, the engines woke up immediately. They were surprisingly quiet - which meant that this boat probably was meant for stealth missions. Perfect.
He grabbed the steering arm, and opened the two motor's throttle to their max. The boat stood up and lurched forward at a surprising speed. Snake nearly stumbled over from the sudden movement of the boat. Closing the throttle a bit, he pulled out his compass... he was currently going south, so he took a left towards east, and circled around the island to head northeast.
.
..
...
🎵Call of Duty MW2 - The Satellite Compromised🎵
Over the course of the next half-hour, he kept the boat at sixty percent throttle as it skipped across the water. Partway through the journey, he thought he saw a glowing girl in the water... but he dismissed it as his mind playing tricks on him, as it quickly disappeared. The thought lingered in his mind briefly at the strange sight he saw, but quickly redirected his attention when he saw the ever-so-slightest glimpse of the oil rig in the distance, he immediately turned the boat back around in an attempt to gain some distance. Once he was roughly a minute away from the base, he began to send out another radio transmission.
'This is Snake. Time check, over."
"Roger." Z23. "Time is currently 22:22. Have you reached the base, over?"
"Affirmative. The Base is occupied by a token force... Lights on, posted soldiers and a searchlight is equipped on the base. Heading back to HQ to adequately prepare, out."
As soon as the brief transmission was over, he opened the throttle completely. He wanted to get back to base ASAP so he could get the preparation over with.
.
..
...
Another half hour later, and he had arrived back at HQ. While he was docking the boat, he spotted a girl standing on the dock. She had bright pink hair with pink eyes, and was holding a weirdly shaped staff with a long flag, draping in the wing in her left hand. As Snake docked the boat, the girl watched as he did so. When he stepped out the boat onto the pier, the girl came running over to him.
"Ah, your Snake right?" the girl asked.
"Yeah." Snake said, doing a few stretches to wake up his muscles. "Are you the person who was assigned to help me on this mission?"
The girl smiled brightly. "That's right!" she struck a pose. "I'm Lexington's little sister, Saratoga!"
Saratoga, huh... wasn't that the ship that stayed docked for most of World War 2? Snake was no history buff, but he did do some surface level research on the various armed conflicts throughout history. Even before he became Venom Snake, he enjoyed doing research anyways... perhaps that's the only thing he has in common with Big Boss that wasn't implaneted to be similar.
"Hey, Snake?" Saratoga's voice snapped him back to reality. "Don't space out just yet! We haven't even gotten to the trip yet~"
"Trip?" Snake asked autonomously.
"Yeah, the trip! Oh, by the way, Z23 wants you to hook that boat's engines into those nearby fuel line."
She pointed towards a large gas tank behind the boat. Snake took a few moments to plug the fuel nozzle into the boat's fuel tank, filling it up until his brain told him that the gas would overflow. Once he was done, Saratoga spoke again.
"Alright, with that out of the way... I will call in one of my planes!" Saratoga said energetically.
Snake looked at her dumbfounded. This girl was in command of an air fleet? He looked at her in shock; however, the girl in question noticed his look of shock, and smirked.
"Ah, I know what you're thinking - how can this girl be in command of an air fleet?"
Wha-!? How did this girl read his thoughts!?
"Well, the answer to that is this." Saratoga winked him. "I'm what is known as an Aircraft Carrier. Most of us are able to launch planes directly from our rigs during combat... although even I am I'm not sure how that works. But anyways~" She smiled with pride. "I've got a few planes of my own, and one of them just so happens to be a seaplane! The Commander gave me orders to lend you it, and a parachute as well."
Snake inspected her... well, she wasn't carrying the parachute.
"Ah, you're probably wondering where that parachute is!" Saratoga said, smiling brightly. "It's on the plane, which should be here soon..."
Right on cue, Snake heard the sound of a plane approaching them. He looked behind him to see a seaplane coming in for a landing. He watched it approach.
"Oh, right on schedule!~" Saratoga said even more energetically.
The plane descended onto the water, making a loud sound and kicking up a lot of water in the process. It slowed down a lot, and taxi'd itself over to where Snake and Saratoga were currently standing, eventually shutting itself off - but that's when Snake noticed something very odd...
...Where is the pilot?
"Oh, I just know you're gonna ask where the pilot is..." Saratoga said, now starting to creep Snake out with how telepathic she was. "Well, the answer is..." Sne winked again. "...That I have no answer!"
Snake blinked in confusion. "Come again?
Saratoga looked him straight in the eyes. "I said that it doesn't have a pilot. Every plane that we launch is on autopilot. We don't know how it works, we just know that that's how it functions~"
"Then how am I gonna get there?" Snake asked, now questioning even more how things worked around here.
"I'm gonna fly it, of course!" Saratoga replied immediately. "For some reason, the Commander wants us Aircraft Carrier ships to know how to fly, and insists that every Aircraft Carrier gets flying experience before she is sent to battle. Anyways, let's get going before we burn too much of the midnight oil!~"
Saratoga ran off towards the airplane. Snake had no choice but to follow her, impressed with the speed that this girl ran it. She was at the plane in only a few seconds, where it took Snake half a dozen to get there himself. As he approached, he watched her enter the plane's pilot seat. He opted to stop questioning the logic around here, and just accept that things were simply 'different' on this Earth.
The side sliding door of the plane opened as Snake stood next to the plane. Wordlessly, he got in the back. He spotted the parachute in the back seat, and immediately moved to put it on. However, before he did, Saratoga's voice came over an intercom.
"Just so you know, I'll be listening in on your radio channel with Commander and Zed. The Commander gave me orders to send you on a one way trip, but he also said he'll also send help immediately if you give the order!"
Snake noticed that Saratoga seemed to be struggling with the buttons on the console in the plane, looking as if she didn't know what she was doing. He felt compelled to ask her how much experience she has with flying.
"Excuse me!" He yelled over the loud propellers spinning, "Just much experience do you have with flying!?"
Saratoga stopped her frantic pressing of buttons and spoke over on the intercom. "Oh! I'd say a week's worth of training, and roughly an hour of flight time!"
Only an hour? He thought, sending worries of his spine. He was hoping his trip to the oil rig wouldn't end in him taking a swim in the ocean.
"Alright, here we go!~"
Snake just stayed silent as the cargo doors closed, anticipating himself to be jumbled to the floor. To his surprise, he felt the plane steadily accelerate on the water, until he felt that they were in the air. Snake, expecting a rough takeoff, looked up at Saratoga who seemed relaxed. She then spoke over the intercoms again.
"Now I know what you're thinking; how can someone with little to no experience pull off that smooth takeoff?" She said while smirking, a glint in her eye. "Well I lied! I have a large amount of experience when it comes to flying planes!" Saratoga said while trying to hold back her laughter. Snake felt somewhat relieved by her words, but still was on alert regardless.
"Bet I scared you didn't I?" Saratoga said with a huge smug on her face.
Snake decided to remain quiet before simply replying. "Pretty good." He said slightly
Saratoga giggled a bit more before speaking over the intercoms once again.
"We will arrive at the oil rig in about 30 mins, so sit back and relax!~"
Snake laid back into his chair, thinking about the whole operation that he was about to enact. He anticipated the resistance he would inevitably face at the base would be enough to keep him out for a few hours. He put on the parachute, sat in the red chair, and slowly closed his eyes.
.
..
...
x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x
...
"...Io... ck.."
...
"..Me in... S..ke..."
"SNAKE!"
🎵Call Of Duty MW2 - Infiltration🎵
The loud voice of Saratoga, amplified over the intercom woke Snake up. Saratoga looked back at Snake with disapproval.
"Come on Snake, you can't be slacking like that! We're almost at the base."
Snake shook his head, trying to disperse the drowsiness that was still taking ahold of him. He disabled his radio's mute feature, and spoke into it. "Yeah, my bad. After an hour of driving across the water round-trip, I needed a few moments of shuteye."
Saratoga smiled in response. "Anyways~, we're about 2,000 feet above sea level right now. From here, you'll be able to parachute onto that base. Now's probably a good time to start skydiving... what's your call?"
"I'll go." Snake replied over the radio. "Open the door for me, will you?"
Saratoga pressed a button on the dashboard in response, and the sidedoor slowly opened. The intense wind from outside hit him hard, but he stood his ground. He couldn't remember the last time he airdropped into a hotzone. He knew that Big Boss once skydived into Tselinoyarsk, but he himself never did it. Although he had the necessary training, he never thought to have R&D build an airplane (or an airfield) to accommodate.
He mentally shuffled away this thought into his brain... he'd probably come back to this one eventually. Taking a few moments to prepare himself, he slowly stood in front of the door.
"Ah, don't be a scaredy cat~" Saratoga teased him over the intercom. "You're gonna have to get out of here one way or another."
She was right. With her words, Snake took a running start and leaped out of the plane. Immediately, wind currents hit him with tremendous force. The feeling immediately triggered his flight or fight response into its most intense, and the accompanying time dilation allowed him to take a look at the oil rig as he was dropping towards; there was a helipad on the top, and there didn't appear to be anyone manning that particular area, based off the lights that were illuminating it.
In addition, the spotlight wasn't pointed towards the sky, so the soldiers were nearly blind... though he didn't know if they were paying attention to the sound of the plane. With that realization in mind, he opted to pull the parachute last second instead of at the optimal time. He kept approaching the base. Fast... faster... faster.
Now.
Snake pulled the lever on his parachute. The sound of the fabric expanding into the air was quiet enough to not draw attention from the soldiers. With precision and focus, he landed dead center on the helipad. Quickly, he took off his parachute and hid behind a nearby HVAC unit. He checked from his left and right, and then stayed still for quite a few seconds. He listened closely for footsteps or radio chatter... alright, it's clear.. He then quickly folded up his parachute into the bag and hit it behind a few boxes.
"I've landed on the base, moving in to infiltrate." Snake said quietly over his radio.
"Strike Witch 3, I wish you luck, out." Saratoga replied.
🎵 Metal Gear Solid 2 - Big Shell Sneaking Theme🎵
Quickly, he crouched and cautiously walked around the area. After double checking the area, he then made a silent beeline straight for the roof access door. Snake put his ear against the wall, checking for chatter. Once again, he didn't hear anything, so he slowly opened the door. To his great luck, the door didn't creak while he carefully opened it. Snake slowly made his way down a flight of stairs, when he got to the bottommost floor, he surveyed his surroundings - there were no soldiers around again, so he toggled his radio.
"This is Snake. Base appears to be mostly empty, I have not encountered opposition yet, over."
"Acknowledged." the voice of Z23 replied. "According to spy planes, that base does not have any radio equipment. Proceed how you see fit, out."
Proceed how he sees fit, he thought. Snake decided to go about his infiltration non-lethally, as usual. He continued down the hallway, he took note of how seriously neglected the oil rig was, because only the occasional ceiling light was on. Snake couldn't see very well, so he had to rely mostly on his ears for this mission. With that in mind...
Snake toggled his radio again. "This is Snake. Entering radio silence to conduct the op, out." he didn't wait for a reply before he shut down his radio.
Continuing down the hallway, he finally encountered his first soldier. He was on a smoke break and had his back turned to the hallway... a complete amateur, in other words. Snake slowly approached him, moving in a specialized way that didn't create a squeaking sound produced by the soles.
"Gagh!"
Snake grabbed a hold of the soldier's right arm and neck. Without waiting, he quickly knocked the soldier out by suffocating him in a way that wouldn't kill him. Once his movement stopped, Snake slowly laid his body on the floor and dragged it into a corner nearby. Once he was sure that the soldier's body would stay there, he exited the hallway out onto a walkway that looked like it encircled the entire oil rig.
Out on the walkway were several soldiers. Damm... Snake thought he couldn't exit because he didn't have a non-lethal weapon that would silently neutralize them. The soldier he recently knocked out didn't even have a weapon, which Snake found to be incredibly odd. Entering the hallway again, he looked down another hallway. Snake saw that there were doors behind each of the soldiers. For a moment, he considered dragging them through the doors one-by-one and knocking them out, but there was no way to muffle the sound, such as with rain or distance. That, and the soldiers weren't covering their faces, so he ran the slight chance of being seen out of their peripheral vision.
Cursing to himself, Snake continued down the hallway, sticking close to the concealment under the window. Two doors down, he saw another door to his left - peering through it, he saw that a computer's screen was on. However, the computer looked rather modern... certainly more modern then the computers from his world. Snake decided his next course of action would be to see if he could use it. He slowly walked into the room, closing the door at a snail's pace and locking it.
He took a seat at the desk, moving the nearby mouse to disrupt it's screensaver. Surprisingly, he wasn't greeted with a login screen. The desktop was cluttered with shortcuts to "folders". Clicking on one labeled "My Documents", a window appeared, showing a list of various word documents. However, one of them stood out.
'Sakura Empire Contingency Plans'
Clicking on it, a wall of text appeared in front of him. He couldn't stop himself from reading the text on screen.
This is a list of Sakura Empire Contingency plans. These are only to be given to those who are granted Level 7 authorization. Copy by personal without the necessary authorization will be subject to punishment, as listed in section 2.01:14 of the Army Guidelines and Operations handbook.
N.O.S.W.A.R Protocol: (Negation of Snatched Weapons And Resources)
This protocol is to be used when our enemy has appropriated an enemy base. Four (4) bombers are to bombard the base after giving the designated warning. This warning will be listed below with the necessary (and variations of) the operative phrase. The protocol is to be given by a C.O (Commanding Officer) or personnel of equal stature and rank within the Sakura Empire.
A.B.O.U.T Protocol (Absolute Bombardment of Underwater Trio's)
This protocol is only for use against enemy submarine's. This protocol will be authorized by the Tactical Officer taking part in the battle. If successful, move to engage enemy main fleet ships and-
The digital document abruptly closed itself, and it asked for a password. Snake didn't know what the Sakura Empire was, but he felt that this was critical information. Snake put his ear against the door and listened for footsteps. He heard a few walking his way, and quickly prepared for the possibility that they would enter the room. However, the footsteps passed by the room and continued down the hallway. Once Snake was sure that they had left, he toggled his radio.
"This is Snake. I've found an enemy document that lists protocols. I tried to read more, but it locked me out. How copy, over?"
"Acknowledged." Z23 replied. "Once you have subdued the enemy personal, we will send an intel team over to retrieve and analyze the data, resume your mission, out."
"Entering radio silence, out." Snake shut off the radio again, slowly exited the room. Thankfully, the soldiers had all left the area. Moving out to the walkway, he continued down it, using the wall under the windows as concealment once again. Unexpectedly, Snake saw a searchlight sweep across him over his head. He didn't even want to know what would happen if he was caught in it.
After reaching the end of the walkway, he peaked out from behind the wall. He was quick enough to re-enter it after seeing a few soldiers headed his way. They kept approaching, and Snake knew that conflict was inevitable. He then waited until the right moment to strike.
With quick succession, Venom Snake exited the corner and shoulder-checked the first soldier, quickly before rushing to chokeslam another. The third one could yell "Contact!" Snake swept him off his feet and then punched him square in the stomach, slamming him into the ground with enough force to render him unconscious. The second one was down, and the third one was crippled. However, the first one was charging straight at him. Snake rerouted a punch intended for his face, and slammed the soldier on the floor using his own arm with momentum. He held his chest to the place and began choking the soldier. Once the soldier's movement began to slow, Snake let go; any more and he would have killed him, and Snake hated killing when the act of taking a life was not necessary.
*Click*
The sound of a gun's safety disengaging caught Snake's attention, and immediately he knew it was checkmate. So this is how it ends, huh... caught in the headlights like a deer. Snake thought to himself, not wanting to look back to face his killer in the eyes.
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"That was pretty sloppy of you, Snake. You aren't usually off your game like this."
...Wait a moment, that voice... Snake thought, he immediately recognized who.
🎵 Metal Gear Solid - Afghanistan is a Big Place🎵
Snake turned around. What his eyes saw next stunned him speechless: it was Ocelot, pointing his revolver at him. Snake couldn't help but give his friend a wry smile as Ocelot lowered his revolver and responded with a wry smile of his own. Ocelot pulled the hammer back on his revolver, the cylinder spinning again. He twirled the gun a few times, and gave Snake a knowing smile, and the master of stealth couldn't help but return it.
"Well, what can you say..." Snake said, not trying to deny it. "...When you get thrown through a rift, you'll be pretty 'off your game' anyways. Even more when you don't have your equipment."
Ocelot shrugged. "I guess I'm not in the same boat, am I?"
"No, seems not." Snake replied. He looked at the soldiers he just neutralized. "Are these men survivors of the rift?"
Ocelot holstered his revolver. "That's right. Doesn't look like everyone survived, but we managed to scrape together everyone we could find and took this oil rig." he said, not seeming to feel guilty or impacted in any way. "Let me take a wild guess... you allied yourself with someone and they sent you to reclaim this rig?"
"You're about fifty percent on the mark." Snake replied. "I did ally myself with someone, but I was the one who decided on this mission. Looks like I'm pretty lucky it's already occupied by friendlies."
Ocelot smiled. "That you are. So, are you gonna report back to them or what?"
"Hrm..." Snake stroked his beard. "...I guess that's probably a good idea. Give me a moment."
Ocelot walked over to the men, trying to wake them up as Snake turned on his radio. He'd have to explain this to them, though he didn't anticipate any difficulty.
"This is Snake." Snake spoke into his radio as Ocelot woke up one of the soldiers. "The base is occupied by friendlies. Mission is an unintended success, over."
"Uh... say again all after 'the base', over." Z23 replied over the radio.
"The base is occupied by survivors from Mother Base. Mission is a success. Will introduce them soon, over" Snake repeated his transmission. The soldier Ocelot woke up saluted to Snake, staying silent. As the transmission ended, Snake took notice of the three saluting men. He smiled. "Stand down men. I apologize for treating you like that."
"Oh, no worries, boss!" one of them said. "We're fine with it knowing that it was you."
Snake smiled slightly. Loyal enough to be fine with getting treated like a punching bag... that was one of the reasons he enjoyed leading Diamond Dogs. Ocelot walked up next to Snake.
"We have found Snake. Go inform the other men on the base... we're gonna have a meeting soon."
Snake looked curiously at Ocelot. "A meeting?"
"Indeed." Ocelot replied immediately. "Our men have very bad morale right now. Hearing a good speech from you will flip that on its head."
Snake stroked his beard. "Ah, I see. How many are stationed on this base right now?"
"About sixty. Only twelve were on guard duty, and the rest are sleeping. If it weren't you, I would have sounded the alarms."
"You mean you knew I was here?" Snake looked at him in minor surprise. Ocelot merely chuckled at Snake's shock.
"Of course I did. That plane was pretty fucking loud, and I caught a glimpse of you opening your parachute... I decided that it was a pretty good time to test you - and our men as well."
Snake looked up at the corridor's ceiling. "And you did that by shutting off the lights?"
"Naturally." Ocelot replied. "The men thought that the power generators were failing, but I waved it off as a wiring failure. I'm a little disappointed by how many of them bought that excuse."
Ocelot started walking off, looking behind him towards Snake. "Alright, that's enough chit-chat for now. We've got some men to motivate."
Snake simply smiled as he speedwalked to catch up to Ocelot.
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WAIT! Before you go... we have a discord server ( /r9m5ZDz). If you to come talk to the three of us, then that will be the go-to spot.
