The Start Of Something Nasty…
"Captain, Sarushima has opened fire on us" Macchi called from her position high above them.
"Is this part of the training?" asked Akeno.
"I have no idea" Mashiro replied. "I don't recall it ever being mentioned, but maybe it is a surprise"
"Maybe… Rin, hard to starboard. Radio, get in touch with Sarushima and ask them what is going on"
"They are jamming our radio"
"Send a message to them by light and by flags that we're sorry for being late" Mashiro ordered. "Rin, midships. Engine Room, give us full power"
"Not likely – we're right on the limit of blowing up"
"Never a truer word spoken" muttered Mashiro. "Okay then… All stop and raise a white flag" and Akeno turned to look at her.
"Excuse me?" she asked.
"We're clearly outmatched so we better surrender"
"Shiro, have you forgotten who is the Captain on this ship?" Akeno asked with a frown. "Rin, hold our current speed and turn – bring us back towards the Sarushima. Mei, standby for torpedo action"
"Aye"
"A-Aye"
"Captain, we must surrender these games" Mashiro protested.
"They are firing live ammunition – something is wrong. We need to disable them and then get away otherwise Sarushima will get us and cause harm. We'll only aim for the stern to disable the engines and then retreat far enough for the jamming to cease and report in for orders"
"I wonder why the other ships aren't firing" Kouko spoke from the back of the Bridge.
"Torpedoes loaded" Mei reported after a few moments.
"Rin, midships. Mei, your target is the Sarushima directly to starboard… Aim for her engines and fire when the sights come on" and then girl nodded and turned to a tube to speak to her crews. The torpedoes sprang from their launchers, raced through the sea and slammed into the hull of the Sarushima – but nothing came from it to the despair of those on the Bridge.
"We can't fire on an Instructor!" Mashiro protested as a shell hit the stern and caused the ship to shake violently. A second later, a phone buzzed and Kouko picked it up and spoke quickly before hanging up again.
"A hit on the stern near the depth charges" and Akeno's reply was quick and decisive.
"Get rid of them – one hit and we'll fly back to base"
"Aye"
"We're not slowing it down" Kouko said.
"Some of the other ships are starting to aim at us" Macchi called.
"We have to signal our surrender. Rin, bring us to a halt and somebody raise flags of surrender everywhere we can" Mashiro started issuing orders.
"Belay that" Akeno spat out. The entire journey from base to this point was getting on her nerves with Mashiro acting like she should have been the Captain because, as being the daughter of the Principal, she should have been in charge – despite being on the ship crewed by those with the lowest scores. "Rin, bring us about. Mei, standby to change loads. Tama, prepare to open fire"
"We're not going to disable it"
"We will… Deputy Captain, please input your key to release the live ammunition"
"No... Captain, we can not fire on our own ships!" Mashiro spluttered.
"If we don't do something to disable the Sarushima, every person on this ship will die - your key"
"No" Mashiro shook her head and Akeno sighed – she had had enough of the girl thinking she was in charge and needed reminded that, sweet as she was, Akeno was in command and responsible for all their lives and their safety. Her word was law and she needed to be firm and unwavering.
"Miss Nosa, please have two members of the crew report to the Bridge with sidearms" and Kouko blinked and passed on the orders. "Deputy Captain, for disobeying direct orders from the Captain of this ship when trying to save lives in a combat situation, I am hereby relieving you of duty and confining you to your cabin. Miss Nosa, make a note of this in the log and the fact that I am removing the Deputy Captain's key and keeping it for myself"
"So noted..."
"You can't do this!" Mashiro lunged forward to grab Akeno but was held back by Tama and Mei pouncing on her. Akeno slapped her hard on the face and then pulled the key from out of her pocket and handed Mashiro's to Kouko.
"Turn on my mark"
"Aye, Captain"
"Three… Two… One… MARK!" and the pair turned the keys at the same time. The panels surrounding the locks both flashed red three times with a buzzing noise to confirm that the activation was complete.
"Reporting as ordered" Akeno turned to look as both the twins from the galley arrived with pistols on their hips. A training vessel they might be, but in the wrong hands they would be a powerful threat – to that end, a small supply of sidearms was issued to every ship in order to help prevent a takeover by hostile forces.
"I have relieved the Deputy Captain of her duties and she is under arrest. Confine her to her cabin under armed guard – she is not to leave except for a bathroom visit and any communication equipment is to be removed or disabled" and the Captain looked at Mashiro. "Get her off my bridge!"
"Aye, Aye" one of the twins said. "Ma'am, if you'll come with us" and Mashiro was dragged from the Bridge and escorted away.
"This is exciting" Kouko remarked sarcastically.
"Yeah…" smirked Mei. "Captain, live rounds loaded and aimed at target"
"Same" Tama said simply.
"Torpedoes, aim for her engines and fire to disable only. Guns, target her turret and disable that as well" Akeno balled her hands into tight fists so hard her knuckles were turning white. "Fire"
#
"Principal, we're picking up a number of confusing messages from the training fleet" a Yeoman burst into the meeting room. "Its all very foggy at the moment, but it appears as if the Harekaze opened fire on the Sarushima without warning or cause and has caused it to take on water. The others in the training group are assisting until a repair ship can come to them"
"Where is the Harekaze now?"
"We don't know… According to the report, she fired live rounds and then headed into the open sea at high speed. We've tried tracing her location beacon and attempted radio messages but nothing has worked"
"Have you tried the secret channel to my daughter?"
"Yes – no reply"
"Make to the Harekaze in plain language and in the clear… 'Report combat and status of ship and crew. Request clarification of recent action'. Get that off as soon as you can"
"Aye, Aye"
"Have you tried getting in touch with our other ships?"
"Yes, but there appears to be some sort of radio jamming in progress"
"Hmm, that is very odd indeed. Order all of our ships to return to port at once and to report any sighting of the Harekaze if they encounter it" the Principal looked at the officials she was meeting with. "Well, this is one of those days, I think"
"Clearly" the Emperor replied casually. "Tell me, Principal, does this always happen at your school?"
"Not normally, no…"
#
"Damage report?" Akeno asked as Maron entered the Bridge.
"Yeah – and it is bad. We've had hits on the upper deck aft, turret 3 is out of action, moderate damage to the midships area… We're lucky not to have had any hits into the upper works to be honest" Maron shook her head. "This is going to take weeks to repair – how soon can we get back?"
"We're not going back" Akeno replied. "Tsugme picked up messages between the Blue Mermaids and their ships ordering them to find us and to sink us without warning. Apparently, we've mutinied and badly injured many members of crew on the Sarushima"
"But we didn't do that much" Rin squeaked from the wheel.
"No, but we simply can't sneak into port either in the dead of night with our navigation systems damaged"
"At least we have paper charts for the area" Kouko said. "What are our intentions?"
"We need to find somewhere quiet to make a full damage assessment and to start repairs" Akeno said.
"What about our original second point of the training?" Mei asked.
"That is the first place we can think for the Blue Mermaids to look" Rin seemed a little more sure of herself. "What about the Truk Islands? They are unoccupied and well away from any danger at the moment"
"Does it have any bays?"
"It has two along with little channels between them. If you set up a lookout position on the highest part of them, you could look for miles around and have warning of what was coming"
"How long at full speed?"
"We can't go at full speed, but I can give you maybe half speed. The engines need servicing after whats happened and I'd prefer to do that stationary" Maron said.
"How long could you give us full speed for?"
"Maybe three hours, then its between half and cruising"
"Alright… Rin, plot us a course for Truk as fast as you can. Kouko, work with Maron and start with damage repairs. I will consult the handbook in my cabin and look at where we can get some fuel" Akeno paused to allow the soothing hum of equipment to take away some of the headache she had. Department Heads, I want you to talk to your people and tell them whats happened and that we're going to do everything possible to solve this. I want to speak to Kaede in my cabin – Tama, the deck is yours"
#
"How do you know this about me?" Kaede blinked as she spoke to Akeno some time later.
"You didn't think I would take command without finding out something about my crew, did you?" Akeno smiled. "A single message that is short and to the point will easily escape notice. We don't have a lot of fuel, there are few spare parts and the food situation is a little bad" her expression grew harder. "I think that we were sent out here to provide cover for whatever it was that started at the meeting point. Can you get that message to your father and arrange for it to meet us there?"
"I can certainly try, but it might take some time and with us not being able to send another message…" Kaede shook her head. "What happened back there?" she asked.
"I am playing it over and over in my head but I still can't make sense of it. Tsugme has picked up vague echoes of some mutiny in progress, but could this all be part of a major drill in how we handle something unexpected?"
"I doubt it, but I also doubt that Instructor Furoshou is a part of it – I have known her all of my life and she is loyal to the Blue Mermaids and to Japan… If her ship is part of a mutiny against control, then she has been overpowered and imprisoned"
"You are closer to life at Court then anyone else – have you heard anything at all?"
"Only the occasional mutterings of how we should go back to the old days"
"Well" Akeno pushed over a piece of paper that had a short message and a series of numbers on it, "It seems as if those mutterings have gained strength and become a roar"
"Mutiny? You mean a coup?" Kaede gasped. "If there is, it would have taken months if not years to set up"
"I would be stupid to think it unlikely. If there is a coup, then the Navy and Army would have to be in on it in order to help take out the Blue Mermaids"
"Maybe the Deputy Captain was thinking of the same thing" Kaede tried to say something nice.
"From the moment I officially took charge, she has been moaning about how she should have been the Captain and then tried to issue orders over what I wanted…" Akeno sighed. "I'll leave her there for a day or two until I am calm enough to speak. Get that message off… While we still have chance"
"And what do we do if we get found?"
"Then we make for Singapore and scream the whole way there… The British will always protect us – even the Blue Mermaids with the entire fleet would not mess with a single small squadron of the Royal Navy"
"They're one of the few countries that still has a naval force" Kaede raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah… Anyway, you do what you have to and then quietly round up the other Heads of Department and bring them back here for a talk"
"Aye, Captain" and Kaede turned to leave.
"Wait… There is something I want to know first" Akeno regarded the other girl as somewhat of a puzzle. "Why are you so old?"
"I'm sixteen, Captain – that's not old" Kaede replied with a giggle.
"What I mean is why are you here? You, the Deputy Captain and Macchi are a bit older than the rest of us so why do your training now?"
"The Deputy Captain has issues regarding her parents and Macchi had to delay hers due to…"
"Oh, you mean what is in her records?"
"I assume so though, of course, I have never read it" Kaede unladylike shrugged, "But I knew anyway because we're old friends"
"And yourself?" and the sonar operator frowned hard as she mulled her thoughts around.
"Because I was a bird" she said at last.
"A bird?"
"Yes, Captain… A bird who was trapped in a cage and finally allowed to go free" and, with that, she left the cabin. Akeno watched her go with many questions going through her mind before she shook her head and turned to pieces of paper on her desk.
#
"Sir, we've had a message come into the Operations Centre" a young man in a business suit quietly came into the office of the head of the organisation. "It was sent using a private code and on the telemetry channels. Its almost as if the sender didn't want to be discovered" and he handed over a folded piece of paper.
"You have read this?" asked the boss.
"No, sir. I saw the incoming marker and decided to bring it straight to you"
"Good… Wait here in case I need you" and the boss unfolded and read the message, widened his eyes and then read the message several times again. "Call the Operations Centre and enquire about the chances of the Sir Galahad departing as soon as possible. If not, get the San Demetrio ready to sail with a false destination on her papers - I will personally hand the Captain her true location"
"Yes, sir" the younger man bowed at the shoulders.
"And while you are at it, prepare one of our refitters for sailing with a full load" and the man bowed and left the room. The boss was left alone to stare at the paper in his hand with such a desperate message in so few words. "My daughter" he whispered, "What has happened…?"
A/N:
So, you may be wondering what is going on – sit back with a glass, and I will explain.
In the series, we find out that the mutiny was caused by a virus that infected people and that a cover up was going to be planned to hide the truth. What if there really was a mutiny by a large portion of the Blue Mermaids, White Dolphins and a good deal of the Instructors? They could very easily place the blame on the Harekaze whilst getting into key positions and gathering the fleet so they could try and do a coup?
Akeno has to balance the safety of her crew, her ship and yet still find out why she was attacked and to investigate the truth – and she and her crew are the lowest scoring students at Yokosuka! Cut off from their normal supply and parts sources, they will have to rely on friendly ships and those on land that are willing to help them. It will be a long journey, and it has only just started…
I look forward to your reviews,
Pixel And Stephanie Forever