Local Time: 2200 Hours
March 23, 2161
Location: Martian Orbit
First Engagement with the Fleet of Fog
Assigned Personnel: FFW Rochester, FFW Wasp, FFW I-401, FFW Z-23, FFW Musashi
Tracers streamed past Wasp as she broke into Martian orbit, the slight movement of her hull enough to send them skittering off the defensive Klein field that folded out along her flanks. The woman rolled her eyes, and flexed one hand. A stream of weapons fire swarmed from her lower caliber photon guns swept outwards. Not that there was much of a fight left.
"How many hit you?"
Rochester sent the mental equivalent of a shrug over the link, before responding.
"About half a dozen of what I'd politely call frigates, and less politely call puddlejumpers hit us as we came up. Iona and 23 didn't have their Klein fields up, and 23 took a missile to the forehead that left her a bit disoriented. Iona's with her now."
"Didn't have her field up?"
Rochester sighed audibly as Wasp tugged alongside her, Wasps comparatively much larger Klein fields folding over the heavy cruiser and obliterating the pressure the lesser vessels were dumping upon them. Her sensors folded out and into the battle network as Wasp took operational command, her vastly enhanced sensor suite falling across the battlefield and swarming her with new data to crunch.
"Mm, they've stealth treated their vessels, that's why you're having so much trouble seeing or detecting them."
Rochester angrily glared across the vacuum as one of her swarms of missiles caught one of the Puddle-Jumpers by surprise and swarmed it, shredding it's defenses with shrapnel detonations before plunging a torpedo, cleverly hidden in the swarm, into the heart of the vessel.
A reactor flare consumed the vessel in a burst of brilliant blue light as the torpedo detonated.
"Ugh, that explains why it hurts my head when I try to look at them. What are they even using for it?"
Wasp grinned at her and said.
"I don't think they're intentionally doing it, the paint is messing with our sensors because it's so loud, dear. Tone down the active sensing bands, that should assist you."
She flicked her hand, and the tacmap updated with positions.
"The paint they're using is weird, probably some sort of asteroid derivative from their gas giant cities. I'll tag a sample and send it back to the labs, let them take a look at it."
The other woman sighed.
"Fine, can we finish up here? Are you going to bother speeding this up?"
Wasp pouted at Rochester.
"But Roche~! It's good practice for you and the little ones to get their gunnery in, especially so soon after converting!"
Rochester flipped her the bird, and Wasp laughed as Z23, now seeing straight, joined the fray, darting into combat with twin photon guns raised.
The few remaining vessels tried to scatter, running for the hills. But Iona's contribution to the fight was simple and elegant.
A brocade of torpedoes tore the remaining vessels apart, shattering hulls and sending silent, screaming crew into the void.
"Sortie complete flag, returning to formation."
Z23's tone was curt, more so than normal, and the woman was displeased as she moved throughout the varying wreckage of the field, scanning for survivors and putting them down before space could inflict undue agony.
"Mm, expected travel time to Earth is around a day, so settle in ladies and children, and prepare for little to no inflight entertainment unless Wasp wants to serenade us with her lovely voice."
Wasp offered a slight chuckle. Her fleet forming alongside her, when a voice she'd not been expecting broke into comm range.
"Ladies, Akagi expected you to already be underway, what on Mars is happening up here?"
The long, purple and blood red form of Musashi's hull pierced the atmosphere, her involuntary escorting craft from the UEG vessel breaking off as she calmly waved to them, before stepping forwards. Her vessel's sleek form gently sloped and slid into the center of their formation. Wasp ceding command protocols to the second of Akagi even as she nodded her thanks.
"Ah~ Interlopers, status?"
Wasp responded.
"Minimal damage to the klein fields, if at all, Z23 took a hit to the bridge and head from one of their missiles, she didn't have her klein field up on breaking atmo."
Musashi's lips formed into a mou, and the woman shot a look at the destroyer, who's form hung lazily in front of her.
"Is this true, little one?"
Z23 nodded, standing ramrod straight at attention, the little destroyer would not dream of ever disappointing or lying to the superior vessel, who's catlike gaze had locked her in a prey paralysis.
"I was taken with the beauty of the stars and too confident in our power. I did not expect the humans to test us so soon, I will do better, Fleet Command."
The battleship simply nodded.
"See to it that you do, there are too few of us to make mistakes like this. If that had been a railcannon shot, from say the UEG warship beneath our feet, you might not have come back from it."
Z23 turned her head away, ashamed of her mistake, but Musashi had already moved on.
"My mission has changed, and I will no longer be escorting you. A diplomat is en route to our locale, he is potentially at risk of being destroyed by the rival human factions, who do not wish to see us meet with them. Akagi's rote ban on the Koslovics and Friedenists remains in effect, so both factions are monitoring this with concern over the implications of our meetings."
She turned to face Wasp.
"The hopes of the Fleet Commander ride upon your shoulders, Wasp, may they give you wings and unburden your sails."
The woman nodded solemnly, her duty changing as Musashi delivered the necessary privileges, unlocking equipment her hull had had installed, but had been locked away.
"Use these wisely, and preferably not at all, Akagi wishes to keep our strength as hidden as possible while the industrial base is constructed."
Wasp nodded, and Musashi smiled at the four women.
"I have faith I shall see you again, don't disappoint me, young ones."
Then, she turned, and her hull blazed as the woman accelerated away from Mars at speed. Wasp remained silent a moment, reflecting on the nature of the conflict they could cause if they were not careful.
Then, she shook her head slightly.
"All ahead full."
Four hulls formed up, and as their acceleration faded, eyes watched from concealed watchtowers and talk began to flow amongst the taverns.
Local Time: 2200 Hours
March 23, 2161
Location: Classified
First Engagement with the Fleet of Fog
Classified
Agent Berlin frowned, her phone in her hand as data from the UEG Akagi and the listening stations in orbit of Mars sent encrypted packets of data to the collection of screens she was calmly regarding.
"Yes Madam President, I understand the risks. But the trajectory of those four puts them at Earth, and with their speed, we could have as little as a week to prepare for their arrival."
Her tone was measured, calm, and gentle. A far cry from the one she was used to, but the equally measured response and gentle tone of the woman on the other end of the line, was as close to a threat as that woman often was inclined to speak in.
"Your daughter is doing well in school and adjusting to her new friends, Miss Berlin, please understand that what you're asking me to do could jeopardize all of the hard work you've put in to ensure her place at that academy."
Berlin shivered. Few people commanded the influence of the president, fewer still were willing to use that influence to ensure the "best" outcome for their country. Even if it cost lives.
"I understand. I still recommend DEFCON 2 be set across the nation, and if you must keep the peace and preserve the sense of normalcy, DEFCON 3 at the very least. We do not know the intentions of the fleet that has set out from Mars, but with their weapons and exhibited defensive techniques, they are more than capable of single handedly slaughtering any opposition they face. I do not know if the defensive network of Earth could slow them down."
"Very well."
The call ended, the unspoken threat that not only would Berlin's daughter suffer, but the woman herself would suffer alongside it if things went poorly.
Berlin turned towards the windows and raised her coffee mug in the direction of Mars.
"I hope you succeed, you bastard."
Then, an incoming chime alerted her to another call, this one from a number she recognized.
She hit the button, and did her best to put on a smile as a recorded message played across her tablet.
"Hey mom! I know that you're busy with super secret important stuff, but the Secret Service agents have been taking good care of me. Dad's… really gone, isn't he? You said he wasn't coming back, but I didn't want to believe it but…"
Her daughter's voice choked up, the 17 year old wiping at her eyes.
"Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't be crying to you on this call, but Agent Colorado is kind of a shitty mom… she doesn't even know how to draw like you do!"
Berlin wiped at her eyes slightly. Now she was crying, wonderful.
"School's ok, the academy is pretty strict, but at least they let me shoot and do metal work! So to keep up with the cosplay trends, I got to go as a character from that "Ascendant Awakened" show about those fictional heroes from the last war! I got to go as USS Baltimore, and my classmates were kind of weird about it…"
Her daughter smiled at the camera, gently, but the tears didn't stop.
"Gah, I- I said I wasn't going to cry but… Mom, it's been a year! When… when are you coming home?"
The video ended shortly thereafter, and Berlin let her fingers tap on the table, tapping at the polished, efficient metal as she sobbed silently in a cubelike room.
She wished she'd done what Chapayev had chosen to do, all those years ago.
She touched the wrinkles on her face and twisted her expression into the scowl that forever marked her features.
A part of her focused on the reflection in the mirror, before she adjusted her cap atop her head and stepped out of the isolated room, nodding to the guards that forever flanked her position as they fell in behind her. She wished that she'd listened to her wife all those years ago, even if it had meant Zoe not being born. The Russian woman had been right, when she'd said that it was better to die for one's beliefs than live as a slave to the husks of good ideals.
The station tumbled in its orderly orbit around the classified existence that marked one of the UEG's shipyards, and Berlin reflected on the monstrosities of steel and iron that were pouring from the berths every single day as the UEG prepared to go to war. The behemoths of war that poured from her docks sortied to Earth, where they took on crews of sailors and divisions of marines prepared to do nothing but wage war.
"Agent, an incoming shuttle has requested docking permissions, it's used your personal communications code, signifying a delivery."
Berlin frowned, shooting a look at the aide that had accosted her, the young sailor seeming as confused as she was.
"I didn't request anything, nor am I due to receive anything. Lock it down, send a squad to investigate."
The man nodded once and darted off, her own guards tensing slightly as Berlin moved towards her immediate panic room. The station they were on was tiny, and an explosive on a shuttle would be more than capable of depressurizing and destroying the entire breathable area.
The minutes in the panic room turned to hours, and Berlin sketched the designs of the Fleet headed for Earth as she waited, tension setting in like a coiled spring.
Local Time: 2200 Hours
March 23, 2161
Location: Interplanetary Space, on Approach to Earth
First Engagement with the Fleet of Fog
Assigned Personnel: FFW Rochester, FFW Wasp, FFW I-401, FFW Z-23
"Roche, if you try that tactic one more time I swear, I'll end you myself."
"Come now flagship, all is fair in love and war, and this is a completely legal tactic!"
"You are not allowed to do that to armor! That's cheating!"
"23, darling, if you're not going to use those pieces, then I'm more than happy to take them!"
"I do not understand the appeal of this game."
"That's completely fine Iona dear, you're not playing after all, but it does tend to ruin friendships."
"Roche, you put that hotel down there, and I swear, I will break you in half."
"23…"
Wasp giggled, the representation of the board game, a derivative of monopoly and sorry of some kind, etched across her retinas. As she watched, she saw the mental manifestation of Z23's anguish as the smaller destroyer flipped the board, and promptly lost the game as her frustration was undone with the push of a button from Rochester.
"23, please, you know better than that, are you ok?"
The girl sat on her bow, folded her arms across her chest, and gently began sobbing. Wasp flitted to her side, diving off her hull and landing next to the girl, whom she wrapped her arms around gently.
"Musashi got to you, didn't she?"
The girl nodded, and Wasp cut her comms off from the rest of her fleet, sitting down next to the destroyer, she simply held her as she sobbed.
"I am sorry for Musashi's attitude, little one…"
Z23 finally broke, and began shouting.
"Doesn't she know that I saw what happened to Eugen!? Doesn't she know that I saw what happened to U-2501 and Scharnhorst!? I watched them die! I watched MY country rip them apart! I watched them die because they weren't as loved as Bismarck! I… I watched them… I watched them fade…"
The girl's wracking, choking sobs echoed on her hull in the pocket of space that had atmosphere, the stars and space sliding by as Wasp tugged the girl close and embraced her.
"Doesn't she know how it felt!? To be the one that was kept around because I was "efficient" and "low cost"?"
"I just… wanted to be useful…"
Wasp stroked her hair, and gently whispered.
"I know little one… Musashi's greatest oversight is that she often cannot see our own trauma's through the lens of her own, she struggles to process how you have suffered in comparison to her own sufferings. She is an excellent commander… but she cannot see the pain you've gone through."
Z23 sobbed, and Wasp continued.
"What is important is that you simply try, that you work to be better because you are so precious to all of us. You mean so much to Akagi, to myself, to Rochester and even I-401 in her own way."
She paused and shook her head.
"I think you scared Musashi, I think you startled her because for a moment she was back in the darkest days of the war, and she was struggling with how it had felt to lose a daughter, then her partners."
She stroked the smaller girl's hair.
"It's ok, little one. I promise, all will be well, and you didn't take damage, so no need to be concerned."
The girl spoke, then, gently.
"I saw them… I heard them… I wanted to say so much to them. But they're really gone, aren't they?"
Wasp simply nodded.
"Gone, but they're not forgotten little one, and they will never be forgotten so long as we live to sing their stories into the stars."
A/N: And with that, Dream ends, Berlin has a kid~! And the earthbound fleet suffers, Musashi may be a good commander, but all of these poor women are deeply hurting, and there will be much pain to come as they chart their course through the stars!
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