The Human-Fleet of Fog unification conflict

by Jerricom

Three of the Fleet of Fog's divisions have gathered at Yokosuka to partake in a human outreach programme, years after the events set in motion by the Iona Mental model. They are volunteers; some are enthusiastic, some have motives, some are sceptical. But those who are more than sceptical will not take this radical plan lightly. A conflict is brewing, a civil war is on the horizon.

3. 2) The hunt for Hipper

The Human-Fleet of Fog unification conflict, chapter 2:

The hunt for Hipper.

The captain paces back and forth across the bridge, hands clasped behind his back and his beady little eyes squinting down at the floor in front of him; Nagato watches him silently, calm and composed. The man eventually stops and throws a look at her, "A Fleet of Fog warship, hm? And you're telling me that inter-fleet fighting is unheard of? What about the I-401?"

"The I-401 was officially considered a rogue to the rest of the fleet, an ally of the human nations and not a Fog warship anymore," Nagato says, "She had made her intentions to serve human interest over the Fleet as a whole quite clear. This, however…" She falls silent, hesitating. The captain grunts an acknowledgement, stroking a hand down over his bushy moustache and shaved jaw, his tone is severe as he replies, "It's not just a matter of sides this time, of strategic conquest. This was an attack on diplomatic relations, on Fleet-human interests."

She nods, her lips forming a thin line below her nose. The captain turns around completely to face Nagato, a grave expression beneath his captain's hat and thick brows, "I had you lot figured for machines who regarded yourselves little more than weapons designed to serve this… This Admiralty code, directed by whomever claimed supreme leadership. This outreach program was directly approved by Yamato as far as I understood; do weapons disobey orders?"

Nagato's nostrils flare with irritation and she shakes her head, "During our war with Humanity we evolved. We did not always possess these Mental Models, it was something we created for ourselves when we came to the conclusion that self-awareness and real intelligence would provide us with Humanity's tactical flexibility. In that moment we also grew personalities, and became more than just the sum of our parts, but this is something not all are willing to realize."

The captain grumbles thoughtfully and strokes his moustache, staring down at some random point on the deck next to Nagato; this and his somewhat hunched stance really gives him the appearance of being Nagato's grumpy old grandpa, or at least that's what Nagato has heard whispered around the ship, not that she understands what it means. "Weapons not only with enough firepower to lay the world a-waste, but people's whimsical desire to use it… Hrm. Very well." He straightens out, hands clasped behind his back, "I am glad you are being honest with me, ma'am. Any, hrm… Someone lesser might have tried to keep this under wraps."

Nagato nods, producing a moment's small smile, "You would have figured it out yourselves sooner or later, I believe. Let us return to our duties, captain: I am sure you are anxious to see our squadron battle-ready again as soon as possible."

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Hoel scans the horizons yet again. For the last few hours there has been almost half a dozen skirmishes with the enemy squadron, destroyer patrols that come to poke at the cruisers who retreat at the first sign of trouble. They follow them, sometimes finding the Hipper's main force and are driven off, and the process is repeated. It's a game of cat and mouse with the destroyers being used as the fleet's eyes; to Hoel, an ideal scenario. She never felt like the combat simulations, or even the brief war against the human fleets really stretched her tactical capacity as far as it could, but now things have gotten truly interesting.

"Aren't you even a little disturbed that we're fighting other Fog ships, Hoel?"

She's snapped out of her thoughts by Makinami who's sailing alongside her; they are patrolling the cruisers' northern flank while Shikinami and Ayanami are out patrolling the eastern flank; Hipper who was last spotted moving northward with its screen of destroyers. "No, not really," she replies, "It's a challenge just like any other. Who we're fighting doesn't really matter to me." Makinami huffs contemptuously, turning her head away to peer at one of the screens surrounding her, "So you would just as well destroy me, huh?"

Hoel perks an eyebrow, glancing over at Makinami through the spray being kicked up by her bow as they speed along the ocean. "If the situation call f-" she starts but is interrupted by an alarm going off to the top right of her own screen. "Situational Awareness alert! Enemy scanners have me spotted! Hard turn starboard, Makinami!"

A little startled, the Japanese Fog destroyer doesn't argue and her ship pulls into so hard a turn that she kicks up water as if skidding over snow. Then two targets appear on the edge of her scanners; two German Type 1936B class destroyers come into view on the horizon, sailing on a course roughly parallel with Hoel and immediately they open up with their five-inch guns. All their fire is focused on the Hoel, however, and a grin spreads across her face. Excellent… She turns to the other destroyer, "Just like I planned now! I'll draw them off and you circle around them!"

Nodding, Makinami goes into a wide turn and takes on a north-north-easterly course. Hoel had noticed during the skirmishes that the German destroyers left a significantly larger scanner print than Makinami, comparable to Hoel herself, and reasoned that if she moved ahead of Makinami then Hoel would be detected first and could redirect Makinami so that she wouldn't be detected; Hoel would then draw off the German destroyers and Makinami could turn around and go wide, going behind and past them to establish scanner contact with Hipper unnoticed. Looking behind her Hoel can see now how Makinami scoots off into the distance, rapidly shrinking into a speck on the horizon as the two destroyers shred over a hundred meters' distance each second going at near flank speed away from one another.

Hoel nods, satisfied, and turns to the two destroyers off in the distance; thinking her alone, they are closing in for the kill, raining down shells that explode with bursts of azure blue beneath the waves. She materializes down on the bridge amidst the busy bridge staff; the men are all at action stations and the guns are loaded. She turns to her captain, a short middle-aged man with a pronounced unibrow and a swagger stick, "Captain, Operation: Master key is a go. We will hold the enemy here for however long is required, awaiting Makinami's return."

The captain nods curtly and turns to the navigation officer, barking "XO, you heard the lady! Zig-zag maneuvers, if those interlopers as much as scratch the paint I'll have you keelhauled!" with a cheerful grin that makes Hoel frown momentarily with disappointment; he would have been much more appropriate a captain for Fargo or Huntington, she thinks.

The destroyer pulls into a turn beneath their feet and the guns ring out, blasting back at the approaching German destroyers in the distance, peppering them with every weapon in the Hoel's arsenal; missile silos arranged along her flanks open up and even the small 40mm anti-aircraft guns mounted along the ship's centre blaze away, filling the space between the three ships with shot and shell. They're not even bothering to zig-zag to avoid our fire, Hoel thinks to herself, wrinkling her nose in disgust over such prideful tactics. She shakes her head and returns to focus on fighting and to buy time for Makinami.

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Kinugasa, at the lead of their little formation, follows Makinami's transponder signal intently. North-north-east, north-east, north, north-west… And then suddenly she calls out over the intercom, "I've found 'em! Hipper along with escorts, and they're right on top of you, watch out!"

Suddenly several contacts appear on Kinugasa's own scanners and she can see muzzle flashes on the horizon; the first shells fly right over Kinugasa's head and straddle Belfast who is sailing behind her; the next volley strike with laser precision, impacting against the beige-white ship's Klein field. Damn her, she's crossed the T on us! Kinugasa thinks bitterly as her own guns retaliate, a mere 4 eight-inch shells for every 8 that the Hipper can fire at them while going broadside on like this, and her own guns aren't as accurate as the Hipper's to begin with.

"What are your orders, Kinugasa?" Belfast shouts over the com link. "Shall we turn our broadsides to her and engage?"

"Agreed! Prepare to-" she begins, but then a thought strikes her. "Or perhaps not… That's what she expects us to do in this circumstance, wouldn't you agree Belfast?"

"Yes, and that's because if we don't then we'll be destroyed without so much as bloodying Hipper's nose!" Belfast retorts, emphasized with another volley raining down over her and weakening her Klein field further. Kinugasa shakes her head, a grin growing on her face, "No, we continue on! Right down her throat!" She spins on her heel, staring out through the hail of gunfire towards the Hipper in the far distance. How ironic, my friend, that I'll defeat you with the same tactics we used to defeat the humans…

"Are you mad?!" Belfast shouts, the two buns she's put her hair up into frayed and messed up from artillery fire, "Did you not listen to what I just said?!"

"I heard you," Kinugasa replies, confident, "Hipper's advantage is accuracy at great range, but we have a lot more firepower at our disposal than her if we close in! You remember how we first defeated the humans during the Great Battle, right?"

"Of course I do."

"The humans had designed their navy around maximum first-strike firepower and to destroy the enemy without having to face effective retaliation, so we simply charged right at their fleet, weathered the storm, and decimated it."

"We were not fighting Fog warships with wave-force armour and photon cannons back then, Kinugasa!"

"Yes, but now we have the numerical advantage instead. For the Code's sake, initiate protocol 4 if you're feeling so useless! Let's use our missiles while our guns are not as effective." Without waiting for Belfast's reply Kinugasa takes herself to the bridge, addressing her captain, "Mr. Kurita, clear the deck! We're launching the Red Lance missiles!"

The tall and gaunt man before her nods, back straight as a pine, and turns around to bark out orders; men and women outside on the decks hurry inside the ship through the closest hatch, locking it soundly behind them. Then lids arranged in neat rows the deck open up, revealing the pointed tips of missiles coloured military green with crimson headlights glowing in the afternoon gloom, the ship reverberating with an electronic whirring. On the Belfast and Huntington the same is happening; then like a flock of birds scared out of a tree they all burst out of their silos with a great roar and thin contrails of white smoke that cloak the three cruisers in a veil of slowly dissipating fog, above them the deadly projectiles soaring. They go first upwards and then abruptly turn to charge down towards Hipper in the distance, having spread out in a great sweeping arc in the skies above.

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Hipper stands at the top of her starboard rangefinder, cloak waving and flowing around her from the raging wind when she travels near flank speed. Then she sees how a swarm of red lights take off from her adversaries and cover the heavens; a barrage of missiles she could impossibly all shoot down using her point-defence systems. She huffs contemptuously and throws her arms up above her head; great halos of gold surround her and expand, layer upon layer until she's surrounded by a veritable dome of gold rings so great they are large enough to encompass her ship body's entire size. Her turrets cease fire and detach from the barbettes, top and bottom separating as well as the two guns per turret sliding out of their mounts; the pieces of the four turrets align themselves in orbit around the Hipper's superstructure, spinning with increasing speed all along one of the halos, the gun barrels pointing outwards.

The superstructure itself then starts changing, opening up and revealing a large, oval-shaped object that aligns itself with the tips pointing up and down in the middle of the spinning turret pieces. Electricity cracks over its surface and it flashes bright purple; an energy beam every colour of the rainbow blasts out from the Hipper, reaching out across the darkening skies towards the approaching missiles, sweeping across the sky like the stroke of a sword. The beam leaves a contrail of explosions in its wake, fiery bright flashes of white; heat sinks jettison steam along her flanks as the ship slowly reverts back to her normal configuration. Still standing on top of the rangefinder with a small, satisfied grin plastered on her face, "Kinugasa, you didn't see that one coming, did you? And I'm not done yet. One plan for every outcome…"

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Kinugasa stares in stupefied disbelief at the fading glow in the sky halfway between her and Hipper. Huntington at the rear of their little column is the first one to speak, her voice near savage with fury, "What in the Depths was that?! What's she gonna pull on us next, corrosion warhead seagulls?!"

Belfast mutters something to herself with a grim and irritated expression, and then looks up, "She's armed with one of the new variable geometry super-graviton cannons. She can fire it at any power level she wants with a recharge time relative to how powerful the shot is, and aim it three hundred and sixty degrees around her ship, if I recall correctly. As se saw, she can make deploying the weapon at lower power levels with relative ease."

Kinugasa curses, and sweeps her arm dramatically towards the two cruisers behind her, "If she fires again and at full power when we're in a column like this she'll destroy us all with one shot! All ships, train guns to port and follow me!" Cutting through a several metre tall wave generated by Hipper firing the cannon Kinugasa pulls into a hard turn to starboard and blazes away at Hipper with the furious roar of gunfire; the Belfast and the Huntington swiftly follow, raking the Hipper's Klein field from stem to stern with their photon cannons.

They only manage to turn for a moment or two however before the ocean is suddenly cut in two, pressed away to all sides by a glittering energy field. Belfast is caught dead in the middle of it, the rear quarter of Kinugasa and Huntington's bow as well; the intense energy field suspends Belfast hanging in the air, Kinugasa's engines fight futilely to escape and Huntington's momentum swings her rear around, trapping most of her inside the field as well.

"She planned this all along!" Huntington screams furiously, waving her fist in Hipper's general direction while at the same time fighting to maintain her balance as the ship heaves and rocks beneath her. More collected outwardly but still flushed with fury as well Belfast continues, "She would've had us all dead in her sights if not for having to destroy our missiles first and giving us time to react…"

Kinugasa growls under her breath and throws her hands up above her head, halos coloured dark obsidian forming and expanding all around her; her Klein field manifests fully all around the old cruiser, energy rippling over the sheath of energy. Slowly but surely she starts rotating where she's suspended mid-air within the power field being generated by Hipper. Revolver magazines rise out of her hull and load a series of bulbous, rounded torpedoes into the ship's torpedo launchers in the back.

"Focus all your fire, everyone! Corrosive torpedoes away!" Kinugasa barks over her shoulder and then makes a motion with her hands; the torpedoes are expelled from their launchers with small puffs of chemical smoke, and their rocket engines ignite mid-air, sending them soaring towards the Hipper right down the trench made up from her energy field as the super-graviton cannon charges up to fire. The Hipper's escorts turn their guns up and fire against the missiles, filling the air not only with the crackling energy of the Hipper's energy build-up but also with explosions and streaks of laser fire seeking the deadly projectiles.

"You struggle in vain, Kinugasa!" Hipper shouts over the ocean, a triumphant little smile on her face, "Your brute force cannot stop tactical genius like mine."

Kinugasa looks up, teeth gritted with effort and frustration, "Your overconfidence will be your undoing, Hipper! Do you think you can take on us all alone and win?!"

"I've already separated you this much, who's to say how much I can toy with your damaged, limping battleships back at the Marianas?" Hipper retorts with a contemptuous toss of her head, clearing her flowing golden hair from her face.

One by one the torpedoes are struck and fall inert to the ocean or detonate mid-air, blinding the crews of the Kinugasa in bright flashes of pinkish red. She counts down the torpedoes, "Four… Three… Two… One…" but when the fourth and final torpedo she launched is shot down, she sees that there are still torpedoes in the air, four more. They come in from the north and the east both, skidding across the surface of the ocean, and fire is shifted to them but Kinugasa can see already that it's too late.

"You will never get the chance, traitor!" she shouts, a small smirk growing on her face. "You lose!"

Hipper glances to the side for a moment, recognizing her imminent destruction evident by how she seems to calm down, her body language becoming softer and her expression neutral. She turns back to Kinugasa, "Why are you following Nagato into this? Do you have no self-respect?"

"I do, but I have not allowed it to blind me! Do you think we are so perfect?"

"You are attempting to repair what isn't broken, you fool!"

The torpedoes blaze through the gauntlet of artillery fire and three reach their mark; Hipper's Klein field stands wide open for them and they impact all over her form; the ship is completely obscured by the energy vortexes generated by the corrosion torpedoes, colouring the Pacific ocean red and pink. A moment later the energy built up by her super-graviton cannon is released all at once in a blast potent enough to completely vaporize the ships closest to Hipper and severely damage the ones a little further off.

The energy field suspending the cruisers in mid-air dissolves and the ocean rushes to fill the gap opened by Hipper; the cruisers are momentarily engulfed completely as they fall into the gap, but soon enough the surface breaks to let the three victorious cruisers out again; and on top of the Kinugasa's mainmast stands the black-haired mental model in her coal-and-gold uniform, clutching one half of the Hipper's Union core in her hands.

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Arizona runs a hand through her fringe with a groan, massaging her right thigh with the other; it's bandaged and a crutch is leaning against the little table. Warspite sits opposite her, leaning her forehead against her knuckles and only looking up when Belfast returns again to the Mental Space. She says, "All the humans have been informed. They seem to have agreed altogether to stay."

A general sigh of relief goes through the room. Arizona's hand falls to her lap and she straightens out, composing herself, "Very well. And what of the burial ceremonies for the humans that were killed?"

"Burial by sea, they call it. We agreed upon enclosing each body in an empty missile casing, the humans will perform some rite or other, and then the casings with the body inside are deposited into the ocean." Belfast clasps her hands behind her back and walks up to stand behind Warspite. The latter rises from her chair, sweeping her eyes across the room, "I'll return to the Model Space and… Monitor the situation. I advise you all talk to your crews personally on this matter, a'right?"

Acknowledgements and nodding heads respond to her, and she nods her head back, satisfied. She vanishes, and Nagato rises as well from her chair, saying "I will contact Yamato at once," and vanishes as well. Kinugasa, who had been standing leaning against a pillar at the edge of the room but still fairly close to the table now also leaves, returning to her perch up on top of her mainmast. Back in the Model Space she's still clutching Hipper's broken Union core in both hands, gingerly almost as if it would explode if she handled it carelessly. She runs her right-hand index and middle finger over the Fleet of Fog sigil on the device's top and it lights up faintly; she then pulls out a small datachip from its underside, flat and oval in shape with a small half-sphere bulb on the bottom that goes from gold to white in her grasp.

She looks the datachip over with a small, satisfied smirk, saying, "Fortune favours those who evolve, Hipper," and then she throws the Admiral Hipper's Union core into the Pacific Ocean, leaving it to be crushed and ground to dust by the unforgiving depths of the sea, to rest alongside the humans she has killed.

End of chapter two.