Somewhere in a dark void of her creation, Observer Alpha was experimenting with a new wisdom cube. It was much larger than a standard cube, almost the size of a person. It was floating several feet away from Observer, a dazzling red and white colour across its surfaces, and pulsing with a dark, powerful energy. Even the high class siren felt uneasy handling this new 'Crimson cube' as the Creator had told her, its presence radiating a sinister aura. But she was assured that this new box would be very useful for extracting new data from the Azur lane war.
Observer frowned as she watched the red box slowly rotate in place, seeming to pivot on one of its corners on an unseen surface, small jolts of black and red electricity emitting from its surfaces every few seconds. She couldn't shake the feeling that it was...looking at her. Very few things elicited fear in a high class siren, since she couldn't die, at least not permanently, but this little red cube was somehow triggering her long since forgotten 'fight or flight' response just from looking at it.
She was taking it well however, even smiling at the sensation. "How exhilarating, just being in this cube's presence is...indescribable." She thought out loud. Almost as if it was offended, a larger bolt of red lightning zapped from the cube towards Observer, it bounced off a briefly illuminated yellow force field surrounding it in a dome, inches from the siren's face. "Temper temper~" She teased to whatever intelligence was inside the cube.
She lowered her eyelids, amused at the display of assumed anger from the red box. Observer paced around the circumference of the invisible dome, watching the cube inside fire more lightning at her, it was definitely trying to hit her and not just firing them randomly. While she kept up her nonchalant facade, in reality Observer could feel an intense sense of pressure as she watched the lightning hit the other side of the shield. That little, stubborn spark of fear she felt, it told her she really didn't want it to touch her, yet she still couldn't work out why.
A portal appeared behind her and another Siren walked through, a taller one with a rigging like that of a manta ray with cannons on her back. "Is this thing ready or not?" She asked in a bored tone. Observer looked back at her with a smile.
"Not quite Tester Beta, it still seems..." Observer trailed off upon seeing Tester staring at the Crimson cube, with a concerned expression on her face. Observer knew enough about Tester to know that wasn't normal for her. She floated over on her rigging and with a tentacle she smacked the other siren across the face.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Tester snarled, breaking out of her trance. Observer narrowed her eyes into a serious gaze.
"Don't look directly at it, the Crimson cube has some form of psionic power, much like a black box, but far more powerful and dangerous since its...alive." Observer explained. Tester shook her head, as if clearing herself up from something other than the smack from Observer Alpha.
"Now that you mention it, I did feel strange just now, like I couldn't move for some reason...just what is this thing?" Tester wondered.
Observer was about to answer when a burst of activity from the cube caught both sirens' attention. It whirled around much faster, becoming a blur of motion and light. Its lightning becoming more chaotic and frequent by the second.
"The hell is it doing?!" Tester yelled, shielding her eyes from the brilliant light shining from the cube. Observer meanwhile was in pure shock as she watched the cube start to bounce and ricochet off the forcefield, buzzing and bouncing around like a deadly spinning top.
"Tester get out." She suddenly ordered in a low tone. Tester glanced at her confused.
"What? wh-"
"GET OUT NOW!"
Observer quickly shoved Tester through a hastily formed portal, just as the energy shield dome started to crack under the Crimson cube's power. They made it out of the void just as the dome shattered. Now free, the cube fired a white energy beam beneath itself, creating its own portal. Leaving a trail of black and red energy, it dropped into the portal, From their new dimension, Observer managed to see the Cube escape and sighed.
"No stopping it now, but this should be interesting~" she giggled, Tester just stood their with folded arms, clearly salty about being literally pushed around.
Azur lane HQ, training grounds.
The Commander, along with the various kansen making up Task Force Alpha, were watching their new kansen in action in the bay. The ice super-carrier Habakkuk, was discovering her weaponry and powers, unleashing them upon the mass-produced ships in front of her.
Clad in very little clothing due to her sensitivity to heat, she only wore a free flowing white kimono, modified to only cover her large breasts and to act as a small cape over her back, leaving room for her nine purple fox tails to stick out from under it. The top left a lot of cleavage much like a crop top, leaving her belly and upper chest exposed. The only thing covering her groin area was a purple mini skirt, making sure she had plenty of airflow across her body.
In her right hand was a large Heavy crossbow, loaded with an icicle and aimed at one of the targets in front of her. In the other hand she held a trio of ice shurikens between her fingers. With a flick of her arm, she threw the shurikens above her, they transformed in a flash of white light into Blackburn dive bombers covered in ice. They roared through the sky and dropped into a power dive, dropping their payload onto the targets below. The destroyers and cruisers in the target fleet were blown to pieces and ripped apart by the hailstorm of bombs.
That was when Enterprise made an observation. "She hasn't hit the battleship at all, why would she leave the biggest ship intact?" She wondered out loud. Akagi looked at her with a smirk before looking back at Habakkuk.
"I see what she's doing: she's trapping the flagship inside the wreckage of its escort fleet, watch this." The red kitsune pointed out, indicating that the ice carrier had switched to her crossbow, aiming at the now trapped battleship. The test ship's AI tried to push the wrecks of its teammates out of its way to escape, but it was too late.
Habakkuk's crossbow started to glow a dazzling light blue, seeming to transfer her power into inside the icicle loaded on top. The energy inside the bolt reached critical mass and the carrier pulled the trigger on the weapon. Instead of just launching the bolt, a massive blue laser beam was blasted out of the weapons tip, the beam tore straight through the battleship, ripping its hull in half and leaving secondary explosions to litter the resulting wreck. The Commander was left amazed by such a display of raw power, as were many of the other kansen.
"Damn, Habakkuk's abilities are incredible, she has to be one of the most power kansen to date." The Commander declared. Prinz Eugen put a hand to her chin as she thought about her response to that.
"I wonder if it has anything to do with her large...hull~" She teased with a wink. The Commander visibly flinched at that statement and flushed beet red. Akagi glared at the German cruiser, who just played dumb by shrugging. "Oh? Don't tell me you're jealous Akagi, though I wouldn't be surprised~" She egged on with another wink.
Akagi quietly growled and took a step closer to the Ironblood girl before the Commander grabbed her hand. The kitsune looked back at him, a small smile on his still faintly blushing face. She instantly felt guilty about getting mad and stayed by his side.
"Relax my Red castle, you're still my number one." The Commander told her before pecking her cheek. Akagi felt much happier with the kiss and giggled a little.
"Of course Commander, I just...well, I think I need some anger management." She thought out loud. The Commander smiled and put his arm around her waist, pulling her closer.
"If you feel that's what you need then I'll help you arrange it, but you've done well over the last few weeks Akagi, I'm proud of you." He told her happily. Akagi smiled back and put her own arm round his shoulder, as well as wrapping some of her tails round his waist.
"I'm so lucky to have you Commander...I..."
Before Akagi could finish, Friedrich der Grosse ran over to the group, filling in as secretory ship for today. "Commander...Fleet admiral Riley's battle-group is approaching the base, he's requesting you speak to him from your office immediately." She announced. The Commander sighed, reluctantly separating himself from Akagi's embrace, turning back to the brown kitsune he gave an order.
"Continue without me guys, once I know when the Fleet admiral will dock I'll come find you." After receiving head nods all around, the Commander left the training area with FDG.
Commander's office
The Commander entered his office and set up his computer for a communication from the Admiral. He still hadn't given the Admiralty a full picture of what happened between him and Nico; not knowing how many of them were in league with him and his uncle Admiral Samson meant needing hold his cards close to his chest for now.
He found a communication request from Fleet Admiral Riley and accepted it. On the screen materialised an image of the man. One of the oldest serving men in the whole Royal navy and the current head of the Admiralty: Fleet Admiral Riley. Greying short hair under his admiral's cap, along with a white moustache and blue eyes. While his skin was clearly weathered from his old age, he still held an incredible sense of authority and presence. The Commander could feel it through the screen from this older man's otherwise neutral expression.
"Hello Commander." He greeted, his voice was friendly, still commanding respect, but through wisdom and experience as opposed to the fear and power that Admiral Samson would try to use. "How is Azur lane HQ these days? I hope the Sirens haven't caused you too much trouble." The Commander chuckled sheepishly and saluted before responding, while he was glad to be speaking to Riley instead of Samson, he still knew to tread carefully.
"Siren activity is still at relatively standard levels sir, a few mass-produced model fleets here and there, but nothing major." The Commander reported. The admiral chuckled a little before replying.
"Good to see you're holding back the tide lad, I knew you were perfect for this assignment!" Riley praised him, clenching a fist in his enthusiasm. Then with a more solemn tone he added. "But this incident with Commodore Nico, its led to some anxiety amongst my fellow officers, especially Admiral Samson, regarding those women you work with Commander. He has levied some very serious accusations against you even since he lost contact with the Commodore."
The Admiral didn't seem angry, just confused and a little worried as he spoke, the Commander realised that this probably meant Riley wasn't in on Samson's scheme to discredit Azur lane. But he had to be sure. He decided to rattle the skeletons in Commodore Nico's closet and see if Riley knew.
"Sir, what I'm about to tell you needs to be done through an encrypted channel, if anyone else overheard us it could place one or both of us in danger." The Commander warned Riley ominously. The Admiral raised an eyebrow at the request but nodded his head.
"Very well, switch us to a secure channel." With the Admiral's permission, the Commander tapped a few buttons, making computer code ride across the screen in its own window, the Commander then sent the code to the Admiral, who typed the code in himself. "Channel secured, now whats the matter sunshine?" Riley asked.
"Sir...I have evidence and witnesses that Admiral Samson and Commodore Nico have revived the Water pounder project using siren technology."
The Fleet admiral eyes almost popped out his head at that statement, then they narrowed again in intense, barely contained rage. "Project Water pounder?! That POS almost destroyed as many good men and women as it did Sirens! You're saying they tried to bring it back?!" He exclaimed.
"That's not all, they also had a plan to discredit and slander Azur lane by having Nico's own fleet attack us, knowing we'd be forced to defend ourselves he planned to escape using his own water pounder and use that battle as a catalyst to convince you and the rest of the Admiralty that kansen are untrustworthy and that water pounders are the only way to fight the Sirens." The Commander explained.
Admiral Riley was taken aback by Samson's plan, confused and angry at all this. "But...why? Why would they do all that?" He asked, clearly shocked from this revelation.
"I don't know for sure, from what my women in the field have told me, and from my own observations; Nico and Samson both genuinely believe that the kansen are more dangerous than the Sirens, I theorise this whole plan was to trick all of humanity into agreeing with them."
Riley sighed and took a minute to light a cigar. He took a deep puff from it and exhaled some smoke before replying. "Samson always was a little too combative towards the topic of kansen whenever they were brought up, but I would like to see your evidence before I make any decisions regarding him and his nephew, this is a serious accusation Commander, if you're wrong it could cost you your career." Riley warned.
"Sir with respect: If I had any reason to doubt this I would have kept it to myself, Samson is the one who should lose his career." The Commander replied with conviction. Riley nodded, agreeing with him.
"Alright, what do you propose we do about him and Nico?" Riley asked.
"We don't know how many people agree him, if you arrest Samson now, his supporters will rally to his defence, we need to expose the fact that he planned to murder his own men just to prove a point, I hav-"
The Commander was interrupted by Riley's camera shaking and the Admiral stumbling a little before grabbing something off camera to steady himself. "Sir? Whats going on?"
"Hold that thought son." Riley looked off side for a moment before his eyes widened.
"Holy shit..." The officer muttered in terror, he was cut off by another quake rocking his location before the camera turned to static.
"Sir? Sir?! Fleet Admiral?!" The Commander yelled, tapping buttons on his computer to fruitlessly bring the older man back. He grabbed a radio off his belt and yelled some orders into it.
"Task Force Alpha: Admiral Riley's fleet is in trouble, ready up and go assist them!" The Commander ordered.
"We're on it Commander, lets go everyone!" Came Akagi's voice from the radio. After he sent out his people, the Commander could only lean back and wonder what happened to Riley, he had seen a lot more combat and horrors of war than the Commander and not even upper class Sirens spooked him, what could have made him look so frightened?
Out at sea, a few hours later
Task force Alpha glided across the waves towards Riley's fleet, the Commander and Akagi had both tried to contact the Fleet Admiral ever since they lost contact, but no response ever came. On the way a storm arrived, making things even harder for the kansen to find the lost fleet. Lightning cracked the sky and thunder rolled, nearly deafening the women.
"Urgh...Her majesty hates it when I stay out in rain, how much further?" Warspite complained, using her sword to get some semblance of cover from the rain.
"Can't tell, planes are useless in this weather so we can't scout ahead." Enterprise replied. Gripping her bow as she readied for a fight.
"I agree, Cleveland and Belfast: You two are the fastest ships here, go scout ahead." Akagi ordered.
Both light cruisers agreed and raced ahead of the main group, their clothing flopping around madly in the gale force winds. Something in the distance caught Cleveland's eye and she squinted to get a better look.
"Hey Belfast, you seein' this?" She called to her British wing-woman. Belfast pulled along side her and also squinted.
"I see something, its red, bright and...can you hear..."
"ITS COMING STRIGHT FOR US!" Cleveland cut Belfast off and tackled her out of the rapidly approaching objects way. Seconds later, a ball of red light rocketed past where they had been, blasting bolts of red lightning into the sea around it. Looking into the light, the cruisers caught glimpses of metal wreckage seeming to 'orbit' the light as it travelled.
Both ships cringed and gasped as they could hear pained human screams, as the object raced by, as it got closer, the screams grew louder, and just as quickly, they started fading as it flew away. For a second, Cleveland could have sworn she saw people also flying around the object, the most likely source of the screaming she heard.
"Oh my god...we have to help them!" She yelled, chasing the object. Belfast reached out to stop her.
"Cleveland stop! We don't know what that is!" Belfast yelled after her, but either she didn't hear her over the storm or was intentionally ignoring her, Cleveland didn't wait for her.
"We just saw a red light charge past us, what's going on over there Bel?" Enterprise asked over the radio.
"I don't know, but Cleveland started chasing it, I couldn't stop her." Belfast replied, chasing down Cleveland.
"Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, you two go after Cleveland with Belfast, find out what that light was if you can, Me and everyone else will keep going after Fleet Admiral Riley." Akagi ordered.
"Wilco." Both Ironblood girls replied, setting off after Cleveland and the strange red object. Akagi and the other girls went off in the original direction, looking for the lost fleet.