The first-rate ship of the line, HMS Victory, sails to Malta. Her captain, Horatio Nelson, has been given the mission from the Admiralty to join up with Royal Navy forces there to blockade the city of Toloun on the French Riviera in the Mediterranean. He was still getting used to writing with his left hand, not that he has much choice, as his right arm was blown off and amputated in a previous battle, although he wasn't the kind of man to let such an inconvenience stop him from proudly serving his country.

Then comes a knock on his door. "Enter." He simply says.

A young sailor under his command opens the door and steps in, saluting. He nervously informs, "Sir, our allied fleet is in sight."

Nelson looks up from his letter, "Ah, thank you, Mr. Pollard." He stands and walks up to him. "Relax, Midshipman. I assure you I'm not as bloodthirsty as the Iris Orthodoxy would have you believe." He jokes. That puts Pollard at ease and he walks with his captain out onto the deck of the Victory.

He instinctively tries to raise his right hand to shield his eyes from the sun, only to remember he no longer has one. With a grunt, he raises his left hand instead. "I may never get used to that…" he grumbles.

Pollard yells, "Vice Admiral on deck!" Causing the crew not performing vital work to stop where they are and salute. Nelson returns it and tells them to carry on. He takes out his spyglass and looks past the towering masts of his flagship to the friendly fleet he is to join up with, then notices uncertainty on the face of Pollard. "Midshipman, what troubles you?" Nelson asks.

The 18-year old looks at his captain and plucks up the courage to answer. "With deepest respect, sir, I'm not so sure about this mission. I've heard the Iris Orthodoxy have a fleet much larger than we will have with this fleet we're joining up with."

As the fleet in question grows larger as they approach, Nelson lets out a small chuckle. "Worry not, Mr. Pollard. With a first-rate like the Victory, and of course, me in command, we stand more of a chance at keeping the bastards blockaded in. As long as we stay vigilant, we may not even need to fight. I, for one, am not intimidated by rumours and conjecture as to the size of the Iris fleet at Toulon. They would'nt dare to approach as Royal Navy blockade, especially with the Victory or me there."

"Yes, sir." Pollard responds, his nerves somewhat calmed. They eventually reach the waters of Malta and group up with their backup. While they are getting into a defensive formation to protect the Victory, someone else watches from the distance…

"Royal Navy flagship, HMS Victory, identified. Commencing experiment." A slightly robotic voice announces over a device she uses to communicate to someone else. She holds out a glowing, humming blue cube at the end of her fingers and allows it gracefully roll off and plunge into to the sea, then a wave generated from the machinery attached to the woman's back carries it towards the Royal fleet.

Another voice crackles through the device, carrying far less emotion, "This experiment had better go more smoothly than the last one, Observer. Empress will be very displeased if this one bears no fruit."

Observer casually retorts, "Need I remind you that you were the reason the last one went poorly, Tester? If you hadn't lost your very short temper - again - then you wouldn't have ruined the experiment by sinking the USS Constitution in that last simulation, now would you? I remember how Empress scolded you so… you looked very frightened. I've not been so amused in a long time." She smirks as Tester screams in rage and seemingly breaks something before hanging up. Observer sees the blue cube get close enough for someone to see it and says to herself, "Now, let us begin…"

Pollard finishes tying the rope from one of the Victory's massive sails when he sees a glow coming from the water on the ship's starboard side. He looks up at Nelson and calls out, "Vice-Admiral! There's something I'm the water!" While pointing. Nelson follows his finger and sees it as well.

"Fish it out, Mr. Pollard." The Midshipman looks at him. Nelson assures him, "Don't worry, the waters here are quite warm." With the reassurance that he won't freeze and the reduced chance of a shark attack, the Midshipman lowers himself down on a lifeboat and rows over to the glow. He hesitantly grabs the blue cube.

"What on God's green Earth is this? A gemstone? Why has it been cut into a cube?" He shakes his head to silence his questions for now as he secures the cube between his knees as he rows back to the Victory.

Upon seeing the cube in in hands after Pollard hands it to him, Nelson is at a loss for words. He has never seen something like this. "It has almost no weight… what is this thing?"

Pollard says, "I haven't the faintest idea, sir." Nelson gives him an understanding look, as he doubts any of his crew would know, and hands it back to him. "Sir?"

"Keep it safe for now. For all we know, we may need it for something. This kind of thing is what pirates believe in."

"A curse, sir?" Pollard nervously asks.

"All poppycock, Midshipman, But if pirates believe in such drivel, then we may at least have another reason for them to back off."

Pollard salutes, "Aye, sir." And turns on his heel to lock away the cube.

Nelson returns to the helm. "Quartermaster, let's get underway."

"Aye, sir." The Quartermaster responds and starts to get the crew and ship ready.

Living up to her name, Observer watches the fleet from afar. "Now, for the next part of the experiment…" she types in commands to a machine she had hidden near the fleet. It generates a Mirror Sea, of which the entrance is invisible, and the fleet is now unknowingly sailing right into it…

Author's Note: Welcome to my first fanfiction and also my first ever attempt at writing a story at all. I apologise in advance if the story isn't any good or if I get any of the real world history wrong. I only hope I can write a story you all enjoy from a time period of the Azur Lane world that I personally have not seen covered before in any other fic. With that said, the next part will be coming soon!