Observer Zero sat in front of a screen, the room around her pitch black as the faces of her comrades came into view on the monitor.
"I am beginning to question your ability to deal with this little insect, Zero." The empress spoke, her red eyes being the most drawing thing on her pale white form. Her long hair was tied into buns on the sides of her head.
"Nonsense! I ran him out of Niue. Crippled his fleet in Fiji. Compromised his formation, while also in Fiji. And Now my forces have him fighting a losing battle in New Guinea!" Zero said.
"Correction... MY forces." Observer Alpha said, making her presence known.
"Alpha, aren't you supposed to be caring after the old Ironblood territory?" Empress asked.
"I am. But this country had so many factories, I figured I'd give the slaves a reward for their hard work. So I began making the mass produced units from Protocol 17-2." Alpha said.
"WHO AUTHORIZED THAT!?" A siren with seafoam hair asked, the black on her outfit only serving to make her pale shin stand out more.
"Relax Hermit. I authorized the use of Explorer class mass production units. I wanted them to infiltrate the world population so that no matter where that insect goes, we will know about it." Empress said.
"Considering Zero already lost three of our best lower class allies... I'd say open production on all the classes." Tester beta said.
"Lost? What do you mean?" Empress asked.
"Yeah. Navigator and Lurker are dead. That insect killed both of them without remorse. Even Smasher has dropped off the radar." Compiler said, breaking her traditional silence to inform the group.
"Dead? No, we can rebuild them." Empress said.
"Actually..." Zero said as she looked off to the side.
"Zero~~~" Purifiers voice was heard. "Do I need to come over there and help you sort this out? After all, it's only a short trip down from the arctic." Purifier asked.
"Their cubes have all been destroyed in their entirety. Going back through their neural logs, Navigator was taken out by a massive explosion at the insect's base in Niue. The Drone ships reported seeing her impaled by shrapnel through the neck, destroying her cube. Lurker was killed on the battlefield. She was forced to surface after being caught 4 on 1 by Ironblood submarines... and quickly exterminated by every available gun in the Insect's arsenal. Smasher, as stated has gone MIA." Zero said.
"Zero... This displeases me greatly." Empress said.
"This might not be the best time to bring this up... but we also seem to have lost Subject P and Subject R. I sent them to Bermuda to capture Bismarck. It seems like they sank inside the triangle." Alpha said, knowing full well she was lying.
"Hmm. I guess the black cubes need some tweaking. If it makes those in contact with them this stupid, then maybe we need a better avenue of approach." Empress said.
"Now hold on a damn second." A grey skinned woman spoke, her yellow eyes glowing slightly.
"What is it, Strength?" Empress asked.
"I've been studying that Bermuda Triangle the entire time I've been here. I didn't see nothing enter that area at all." Strength said.
"Hmm. I don't know then. My screen here shows that those two sunk within the triangle." Alpha said as she showed the council the doctored image.
"Well... they must have slipped in when I wasn't looking. There was one other event that had pulled me away from my research." Strength said.
"Oh? And what would that be?" Empress asked.
"Someone dropped a nuke in the ocean." Strength said.
"Ah, I picked up that signature as well, Strength." Hermit said.
"So it might just be that I wasn't there to see it." Strength said.
"If we can get back on track. Several of the Explorers have confirmed the death of a single ship on his side." Alpha said.
"Do we know what class?" Empress asked.
"It seems we need to step up our game, because it took seven of them to take down a single Ironblood Destroyer. There is good news however." Alpha said.
"You could have led with that." Empress said.
"The Insect has not been seen on the battlefield for more than 48 hours. Chances are, he is far too injured to continue his push at the moment and we can use the time to strengthen our defenses." Alpha said, knowing once again that she was lying.
"I see. I guess a 'well done' is in order for you, Alpha. You took down a destroyer and crippled their leader." Empress said.
"Thank you Empress." Alpha said.
"Now. I need to return to my duty. I do not expect to hear any more issues in this matter." Empress said as her screen went black.
"Alpha! Why the hell did you lie to her!?" Observer asked.
"Alpha lied?" Strength asked.
"I left out a small detail. Nothing major." Alpha said.
"What is the issue you left out?" Strength asked.
"She only gave me permission to use the explorers... but~~ I decided to break out the Oceanas as well. There is one in New Guinea right now. That is why the destroyer fell and their leader is MIA." Alpha said.
"Alpha, that was a stupid thing to lie about. I will tell the empress when I get the chance. Don't exclude something like that again." Strength said as she and Hermit disappeared. Compiler, Tester beta, and Purifier were the last to leave.
"You owe me big time, Zero." Alpha said in a serious tone.
"What?!" Zero cried.
"If I had told them the truth, they would have replaced you and sent you to guard Antarctica. "Do you want that?" Alpha said, shutting Zero up.
"Thanks Alphy." Zero said.
"I am sending another Oceana. Hopefully we can weaken their fleet further without having to resort to Breakers or Intruders." Alpha said.
"Send it to the Philippines. Tester should be able to utilize it." Zero said.
"Oceanas remain under my command. Tester will not know there is one within her territory." Alpha said.
"And what about Pearl Harbor? Why is there a Strategist there?" Zero asked.
"That I don't know. The is part of the Empress's domain. She might be enacting the entirety of Protocol 17-2 and maybe even 17-3." Alpha said.
"17-3?" Zero asked.
"Classified to lower elites like you." Alpha said.
"Shit." Zero said.
"Your only concern is making sure that the Insect doesn't end up killing you. Especially since Smasher is among them now." Alpha said.
"What did you say?" Zero asked.
"Yeah. The explorers said they saw a human that looked like Smasher inside their port and being treated like a member of the fleet. Smasher is among the humans." Alpha said.
"And you didn't tell me why?!" Zero said.
"Because it's your fault for not informing them that we were using the explorers. If they found out that you lost all 3 to him, the Empress would have ordered you dead." Alpha said.
"I will be sure to eliminate her. This is my problem." Zero said.
"You had better make sure it's not the other way around. If she sticks with him... that fleet is growing more powerful by the day. She is spilling information, teaching them techniques, and helping him devise ways to kill all of us. And in return, I can only assume that he is going to give her as much power as he can." Alpha said.
"I'll be sure to stop him here in Japan if Tester doesn't perform." Zero said.
"Be sure that you do. If you don't... you'll die in one way or another. And I don't think I need to tell you how." Alpha said as she cut the line.
"I will stop him." Zero whispered as she turned around, laying back on her rigging to begin processing everything that she had just heard.