Recap
Previously on Frostlane
Shikikan managed to secure a few Safe Harbors for his shipgirls as the never-ending winter caused by a climate-changing weapon from the Siren had been activated. Furthermore, a Great Storm which was a massive snowstorm capable of dropping the temperature down below -150°C is coming. A campaign called the Great Evacuation had been made in order to relocate every shipgirls across the world into the Safe Harbor where they could fortify themselves against the raging snowstorm and the hostile Siren.
Yet during the evacuation a portion of the shipgirls had been trapped by the freezing ocean when the Great Storm hit them. Those who got trapped couldn't reach the Safe Harbor and some had been signed as dead or missing in action. In this story I will focus on how those unlucky one managed to escape from the freezing ocean in order to reach their home safely before another Great Storm blocked their escaping path.
Trapped in Ice
Lamotte-Picquet, a shipgirl of Vichya Dominion had been stuck in the freezing ocean during the Great Evacuation. Since then, she was believed to be dead just like many other.
Yet, she was lucky, while the Great Storm covered her in snow an unlikely event saved her and brought her a new purpose of life.
(Lamotte-Picquet is a French cruiser built in 1924 serving in French Indochina and she was a leading ship during the Battle of Koh Chang 1941 during the WW2)
Lamotte-Picquet: Uughhh
She crawled out of the thick layer of ice as something had been happening on the surface. A massive crack of ice as something smashed through the ice ground. A massive Siren ship which had been running in random direction due to its malfunctioning issue, ever since the failed assault on the Safe Harbor it keeps running everywhere as the electronic devices had been damaged during the fight
Lamotte-Picquet: Brzzzz
She hugged her body as she had been freezing for too long. Still, it was her lucky day. This malfunctioned ship could save her. It was extremely large and spacious; it might have something useful for her
Lamotte-Picquet: Alright, let's see what you got in here
Inside the unknown Siren ship there were dead bodies everywhere. All of the Siren crews had been frozen to death. Some hugged each other in desperation
Lamotte-Picquet: WAAAHHH!
She jumped out of the ship out of panic. Yet when she looked around there wasn't anyone here except her. She vaguely remembered that the Great Evacuation happened as the last memory inside her mind.
As she keeps shouting for any survivors only the howling wind answered her. No ally, no enemy, no nothing. Only the a vast snow land upon the former ocean
Lamotte-Picquet: Gosh, this must be the divine punishment for me!
She lamented in sorrow as she feels so lonely and depressed. Suddenly, she heard a buzzing sound inside the Siren ship.
Lamotte-Picquet: Huh?
She entered the ship as she heard the buzzing sound of the abandoned Siren ship
Lamotte-Picquet: Please god, protect me from these poor souls
She prayed as she had to avoid looking at the dead Siren people inside the ship.
All of them had been frozen to death because the previous fight against the Enterprise's army punched a hole on the Siren ship which caused the temperature on the ship to drop down rapidly. All of the crews couldn't survive the Great Storm after that point since they couldn't think of anything to patch up the hole
Still, there was something that interested her. A communication device that keep echoing the buzzing sound with a button on the panel emitting the green light
As she pressed the button she heard the familiar sound from her friend, Tartu. Her voice was panicked unlike the usual expression she heard back then.
Tartu: I am Tartu of the Vichya Dominion. I had been tasked to scout the area around the territory of the Axis Coalition. Due to the unfortunate situation I had been trapped beneath an underground base as the snow ground collapsed.
Not only so, the roof of this base had been covered in snow during a snowstorm so all of my shouting didn't work as nobody could hear me.
If there was anyone, Siren or human, could hear me please help me out of this place! While I could sustain in here for months I'm afraid the supply is limited.
Also, I… bzzzz
Lamotte-Picquet: Huh? The signal is lost!?
Tartu: Please come soon enough… bzzzz…bzzzz
Lamotte-Picquet: Please reconnect the signal again, Siren technology!
She pounded at the console in frustration but to no avail. There was nothing but an eerie silent. She sat down to a chair filling with disappointment
Lamotte-Picquet: So lonely…so creepy…
She looked around and began to throw the corpses outside as she couldn't bear to watch the dead people lying around here. She managed to find out a shovel inside the Siren ship and began to bury those Siren people in a proper funeral
Lamotte-Picquet: While I don't know any of you guy I hope that your soul could rest in peace even though we were mortal enemy
As she continued to search for supply she got enough supply for a few days. She packed all of it into a bag she found in the cabin.
Lamotte-Picquet: Who would have though these Siren need Oxycola? Still, I must keep myself alive before I could figure it out how to escape from here
Inside the command room she found out a map which had been covered in snow. As she dusted off the snow she realized she map was totally blank!
Lamotte-Picquet: I remembered the Great Storm was a massive snowstorm based on the previous weather forecast from our HQ. This map must have been drawn after the Great Storm if my theory was right.
She then looked onto the console panel as she found out many different buttons filling with alien language she couldn't understand
Lamotte-Picquet: Good grief. How to read all of these things!?
She complained but there was nobody to answer her. Feeling stuck, she closed the cabin door and went into a sleep as she didn't know what to do next.
Despite of the fact the temperature was extremely cold she managed to strip off all of the clothes from the dead Siren in order to keep herself warm.
In addition to that she tried to patch up a hole on the ship by using some of the Siren clothes to cover the hole. While this solution is temporarily at least she won't feel cold for a while.
Lamotte-Picquet: zzzz…huh?
She suddenly woke up as she heard a crashing noise. As she opened the cabin the Siren ship she saw the ship keep drifting endlessly into nowhere. Due to its massive size it could break the ice and moved on forever.
Lamotte-Picquet: How vast this empty world looks like…
As she grew bored with this place she went back to sleep again
Lamotte-Picquet: Let's hope there was some hope beyond the horizon...
Secret Tunnel
A huge impact knocked her out of her sleep
Lamotte-Picquet: Again? What did you hit this time?
She opened the cabin and found out the ship hit something big and hard. She looked around she saw a tower which had been built by the Siren back then
Lamotte-Picquet: Some sort of a Siren watchtower?
Seeing that there was no way to control the ship she packed up everything she need and began to explore inside the tower. The tower had a small space but there was a tunnel which had been locked for quite some time.
With a simple blast of her gun the door break open and she began to venture deep into the dark tunnel. As the ship light of her rigging shone through the place she started to wonder how deep the tunnel was
Lamotte-Picquet: So creepy, it's like an old horror movie I watched back then
She talked to herself as she had to find some courage for exploring this unknown tunnel. Halfway through it she saw a spacious room filling with maps and devices. Fortunate for her it had been written with the language she could understand
Lamotte-Picquet: Must have been the secret tunnel of the Iron Blood I used to hear about it. Our leader Jean Bart must have been involving with it.
On the maps there were various locations which had been erased while other had been abandoned. There were also various devices that she never knew about.
Lamotte-Picquet: Hmmm
She keeps looking at the devices as she tried to understand what its purpose was. To her disappointment she couldn't figure it out its function
Lamotte-Picquet: This place must have been a research lab if I was right
She then saw a big door ahead. It had been sealed with a big warning sign.
Lamotte-Picquet: So I can't get in? Oh well…
She walked away as she tried to find the other way, suddenly…
BONK
Lamotte-Picquet: HUH!?
She looked at the door in panic.
BONK
Lamotte-Picquet: I-I-Is there anyone there!?
Her words stumbled as she was extremely scared
BONK
Lamotte-Picquet: YAAAHHH!
She ran away in panic but she suddenly stopped and looked back
The door break open and Tartu appeared at the end of the door! Tartu was exhausted as she tried to unload all of her firepower into the sealed door as it was being reinforced with a very thick layer of steel.
Lamotte-Picquet: Tartu!?
Tartu: Lamotte-Picquet!?
Both of them hugged out of happiness
Lamotte-Picquet: I thought there was a monster hiding behind the door!
Tartu: I thought I couldn't survive inside this underground base!
Lamotte-Picquet: Still, where is this place?
Tartu: It was an abandoned base of the Iron Blood
Lamotte-Picquet: And what are these?
She showed her some of the devices on the table
Tartu: I don't know. It might be the automation components that Bismarck used to tell us back then
Lamotte-Picquet: You mean the secret project where they build automatons?
Tartu: Yes, it failed
Lamotte-Picquet: I see…
Tartu: Still, I supposed you was the rescue team right?
Lamotte-Picquet: No, I was seeking for help
Tartu: EH!?
Tartu made a surprised sound as she was panicked
Lamotte-Picquet: So we are alone right? Right!?
Both of them stared at each other in silent as the howling wind echoed through the room…