Azur Lane: The Great Game
01: Fortune's March
...
Portsmouth was on fire
Explosions raged out from the city's prestigious naval base as a combination of heavy bombers, ballistic missiles and KANSEN pounded the installation with reckless abandon. Amidst the chaos, Olivia was huddled up in a command bunker while her boyfriend was leading from the front, trying desperately to coordinate both the defense of the port and the evacuation of the Admiralty, who hours earlier were subject to attacks by Ironblood sleeper agents.
"We need to divert more power to our air defense radars!" Olivia commanded, "If we can't burn through their jamming, then those heavy bombers are going to continue to lob missiles at us from outside our radar range!"
[But Commander, we'd be surpassing safety-]
"And you think a bloody overheated radar set is safer than getting bombed?" Olivia asked furiously "Just get on with it! If you break a few radar sets, the Royal Air Force will take care of it!"
After a few seconds, a reply came on the other side of the line
[C-complying with orders, Commander]
As the voice of the air defense operator cut out, Olivia's thoughts raced to process the immense amount of information laid before her, with her stressed and panicked mind working overtime to adapt her hastily-formed battle plan to the evolving situation.
With the Channel choked with warships and Her Majesty's skies filled with aircraft, every few minutes seemed to herald the start of something major. It was only through the sheer might of her brilliance as an officer that she managed to take in what was happening to heart, and even then she was having a hard time.
"Fuck" she said to herself "Where's Rayleigh when you need him. Bloody fucking distress signals"
If there was one thing Olivia knew Rayleigh was good at, it was keeping incredibly calm under pressure. And if Olivia was being honest, she seriously needed some of that energy in her life as of the moment.
Her thoughts led her to glance at another console, one that tracked every single battlegroup Azur Lane knew was around the North Atlantic. Ignoring the chaos of the Channel Brawl, her eyes locked on to the sigil of Task Force Pacemaker, a sigil that to her horror, was flashing white and blue.
"They're being engaged"
Olivia closed her eyes to calm herself down, taking deep breaths and trying not to panic further. Looking away from the display, her eyes made contact with the meteorological map, the sight of which only made her drop the cup of tea in her hand.
One by one, she could see as the massive amount of Mirror Sea storm systems that had begun to form in the North Sea began to expand and connect with each other, a phenomenon that she felt would envelop the entire area in one gigantic super-storm.
And on the edge of one such storm, was Task Force Pacemaker
…
Having shrapnel in his leg was an experience that Rayleigh would never forget.
The officer let out an audible rising grunt, tears in his eyes as another piece of metal was pulled out of his leg, before letting out a small whimper of relief once the sharp pain in his leg subside
"Holding on there, Rayleigh? If you want, we can always get ya some-"
"No need for that, Josie" he interrupted, forcing a smirk "There's a lot of injuries aboard. They need the painkillers more than I do."
"Hmmph, if you say so" she replies "But if it gets too much…"
"I know, I know, I'll tell you" he says, huffing from exhaustion "I'm a big boy now."
"If you're such a big boy, then hold still will ya? And it's Lola, not, old hag."
"I'll try my best, old hag"
Before Josie could continue to treat Rayleigh's wounds, Petty Officer Kirov Korolev would enter the room much to Rayleigh's delight, with his only visible signs of injury being the bandage on his hand.
Before he could casually greet his fellow officer in the casual manner that he usually did, he stopped himself once he noticed the look on his face.
"Is there… Anything you want to tell me?"
"I have the casualty reports from the rest of the medical staff" he started "Comrade Penrose and Comrade Hornblower are incapacitated. We… don't know if they'll ever wake up"
Rayleigh's heart sank, but he stopped just short of letting it show on his face too blatantly.
"Pops… Harry…" he paused, covering his face with his hands as he took the time to compose himself "Shouldn't you be telling this to the highest ranking officer remaining?"
"Comrade…" he spoke, his tone getting softer "You are the highest ranking officer remaining."
"How about Commander-"
"Commander Harlington has disappeared after the altercation with the KANSEN, and the commanders of the Dauntless and Aquitaine did not survive the destruction of their respective vessels. Upon deliberation by the rest of the Lieutenant Commanders present… they have decided to defer command responsibility to you"
Rayleigh looked on at the medical ward, the area overcrowded with dozens of wounded, with a few body bags on the side.
It was at that moment that the reality of the situation hit him like a truck.
"The lives of all these people… they're my responsibility now"
And the mere thought of that horrified him
…
"Comrade Rayleigh… Do you think we are going to get out of this alive?"
Rayleigh looked out to the stormy seas ahead, the pale red horizon indicating that they were now within the boundary of a mirror sea. The officer… didn't speak for a few moments, before giving him a very succinct answer to his question.
"No"
"I… that's what I figured" Kirov replied, resigned "I guess all hope is lost. I… will miss my mother"
"Don't lose hope just yet, Kerry" assured Rayleigh, "Even though we're neck deep in shit right now, all that means is that we have nothing to lose, don't you think?"
"You're right" he said, still unsure of himself "But… it does not change the fact that our strategic situation is…"
"Fucked" Rayleigh continued in an unsteady, nonchalant tone "So completely fucked. But I'd rather take the almost guaranteed chance of death rather than the guaranteed chance of death."
"You seem to be strangely calm about this entire situation, comrade."
"Worrying about it won't get us anywhere" he replied, his voice a little more hollow than before "Besides… I'm panicking too, it's just that I can't show it. Not if I don't want morale to drop anyway."
"Comrade…"
"Don't worry, Kerry" Rayleigh interrupted, two fingers pointing to the edge of his mouth as he smiled "I'll manage"
For a few minutes, the two officers would stay on the conning tower of the Lady Luck, enjoying the calming silence between them as they looked out to the seas ahead, unsure of whether they would ever see tomorrow.
Until they found a tiny speck of hope, just on the horizon.
"Comrade, Is that…"
Rayleigh's eyes widened
"It's an island!"
…
Half an hour later, Rayleigh was onboard a helicopter and headed towards the mysterious island, accompanied by a few marines that had agreed to escort their new commanding officer, most of whom were puzzled why Rayleigh would accompany them in the first place.
"Are you sure you can handle yourself out there Lieutenant Commander?" one of the Marines asked "Your leg is still injured and you're using crutches"
"If there's anything on that island that's going to shoot at us, then everyone is basically dead anyways" he admitted "I'm just taking the easy way out"
With that grim sentiment in mind, the rest of the trip was rather quiet until the helicopter touched down on a flat patch of tarmac. Just as aerial surveillance of the island said, it was far from empty, being the home to an abandoned naval base.
"Naval Installation Agamemnon" One of the Marines said, reading from some nearby signage "Are there any records of this place?"
"I don't think so, Sergeant Rubis" Rayleigh replied "I've never heard of this installation, that's for sure. Any idea who operates it?"
"Best hint we have is it's a 'US Navy' installation" Sargeant Rubis replied, reading from the sign once again "What does U.S even stand for anyway? Some kind of… United States?"
"We can worry about that later, Rubis. Let's fan out and see if this place has anyone on it" Rayleigh interrupted "Double time gentlemen, Mirror Seas shift often. If the Lady Luck loses observation of this place, were stranded"
…
Once the next few hours had been spent exploring every nook and cranny of the island, Rayleigh had managed to conclude one thing.
This place gave him the heebie jeebies.
The entire base felt like just a few hours before, it had been bustling with activity. The mess hall had half-eaten meals strewn about its tables, half-signed paperwork and still warm coffee littered its administrative centers and the bunks had diaries, laptops and lewd magazines in the open, as if their owners simply disappeared in the middle of doing their business.
And despite the signs of activity… there was no sign of life anywhere on the naval base, or hell the entire island. There weren't even animals in the nearby forest, which especially creeped Rayleigh out.
"Well, ignoring the fact this place is out of a horror movie, I guess it's safe" Rayleigh said to himself, clearly unconvinced of his own words "I think we should settle here for the time being… it's not like we can go real estate hunting in the middle of the North Sea."
"Do… we really have to?" questioned one of the Marines "My instincts are telling me to ditch this place ASAP"
"Keller, it's either we deal with ghosts, or we starve to death" argued the Lieutenant Commander "And I don't know with you, but I'd rather be a part of the ghostbusters right now"
"Or we could just surrender to Ironblood" suggested Keller "Would be a the best thing to do, as much as I hate to admit it"
"That's kind of the goal right now" Rayleigh admitted "Look, the base has a big communication tower, and we can use that to scan for signals. If we find someone who's willing to pick us up, then we can wipe our computer of valuable information and go with them. It doesn't matter if they're a bit too fond of sauerkraut and sausages."
"As long as we don't have to stay here for longer than we should have, it's fine by me" added Rubis "It's only going to be a few days, right?"
"Hopefully" answered their commanding officer "Anyways, radio the Lady Luck, were setting up shop here for the time being."
"Quite a poorly timed vacation, don't you think Rayleigh?" joked Keller
"At least we saved a few thousand dollars on hotel fees. Lets just hope we don't pay the difference with our lives"
…
Ironblood Multirole Support Vessel Spessart
Peter Strasser sighed as she intently watched the screens aboard the Spessart, sipping her tea as the Channel Brawl unfolded before her eyes. As much as she wanted to join in on the fun, High Command had deemed her needed elsewhere.
With the amount of electronic warfare that both sides were spitting out plus the massive Mirror Sea that was manifesting in the North Sea, a large portion of the Ironblood command ship force was tied up trying to anchor together communications between fleets. With High Command concerned about enemy KANSEN raiding these communications nodes, there needed to be a force of equal potency that could respond to such a threat.
And unfortunately for Strasser, she had been entrusted by Bismarck to fulfill that role. And while she intended to perform her role with dignity, it didn't make the job any less boorish.
"Admiral Strasser" one of her aides said, breaking the KANSEN out of her trance "One of our unmanned pickets has detected a faint sonar anomaly 30 kilometers northeast."
"Do they match any known signatures?" Strasser asked, intrigued
"Archipelagic Confederation attack submarine Amihan" he replied "We cannot discern her intentions, but current analysis is that she is sailing away from the Spessart"
"It does not matter, tell U-31 and U-410 to give chase" replied the officer "Sink that submarine at all costs, she is the most dangerous manned warship in our seas as of the moment. Anything else to report, Captain Ruppercht?"
Ruppercht swallowed, before delivering the grave news
"We have received an order from command. Within the Mirror Sea, we will not take prisoners."
…
[
FRM: IRONBLOOD HIGH COMMAND
TO: NORTH SEA OPERATIONS COMMAND
HIGH COMMAND IS ENACTING DIRECTIVE 1245-B. THERE WILL BE NO PRISONERS FOR ANY AZUR LANE FORCES WITHIN THE MIRROR SEA STORM SYSTEM, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
]
With bated breath, the surviving communications officers double checked the authenticity of the transmission sent their way. From reading the text in its native language, checking its frequencies to even cross-referencing the island's equipment with the Lady Luck's own, they did everything to disprove that the message was an actual Ironblood transmission.
Even after all the checks were performed, there was only one conclusion that could be made.
"It's real, Lieutenant Commander. Unfortunately… this is a real Ironblood transmission."
For a few moments, the entire communications room is silent, with the only sound being the soft footsteps of the commanding officer approaching the communications console.
The Lieutenant Commander puts a hand on the communications officer's head, and ruffles his hair a bit.
"You did a good job, Louis. Thank you for your work"
With that said, he exits the room and heads towards the office that hours earlier, he personally picked out with a smile on his face.
Once he arrives, Rayleigh Adams lays down on the couch and buries his face in a pillow.
And for the first time in a long while… he sheds tears.
A/N: A bit of a filler/character chapter admittedly, but onethat sets up some plot points for later. Story will pick up pace after this chapter though. I still have a lot of plans for post-Schism fanfic after all.