USNS William McLean T-AKE 12
Bunker Hill, Belfast, Lafayette, Lucas and William are standing at the Helideck of USNS William McLean. As an MH-60 Seahawk landed in the Helideck and a person step out it was Enterprise. The MH-60 Seahawk the flew back to the Carrier.
"How was the package?" Enterprise asks the one who asked about the 'Strategic Acquisition' of a dead corpse.
William answers. "The package will arrive soon."
Then an MH-60 Seahawk fly toward the Cargo Ship, carrying the package (Tester β's corpse). It slowly approached the rear of the Cargo ship and lowered its package at the Helideck where the five are waiting.
Bunker Hill, Belfast, Lucas, William and Enterprise approach the package laying down cold at the Helideck.
Lucas asks. 'What are we going to do with her? she's already dead."
Enterprise points her finger at the Plasma cannon protruding at the Rigging. "I want those to be examined and search. And find ways to counter the unknown. If we encounter another one, we are prepared and had counter measures."
"That will be a big pain in the ass..." William said, as he scratches the back of his head while glancing at the Plasma Cannon.
Enterprise looks at him. "You're a Scientist, you can do it. Right?" She asked with uncertainty at her voice.
William replies. "I am not. I'm a Physicist."
Lucas chimes in. "Scientist, Physicist, potato, potato same thing. Right?"
William had a look in his face of 'not having enough' at the Marine bantering in front of him.
As William explains the deference between a Scientist and Physicist, Belfast noticed something deferent on Tester β's corpse. "Everyone you might wanna take a look at this." This caught the attention of the four.
Belfast then points at the corpse as everyone saw a blood dripping not Red, but Yellow. This surprise them as the yellow blood coming-out at the cut-off neck.
The Manjuus covers their eyes, as they all tries to not look at the headless corpse of Tester β. But they still peeked between the gaps of their hands.
Enterprise placed her hand on William's right shoulder. "Do your Magic old man. She's all yours."
William looks at Enterprise with slight annoyance of being called 'old', and talks back at her. "Because I was launched in 2011, 40+ years ago, that doesn't mean I'm 'old'."
Bunker Hill chimed in. "Don't go rough on the package, we don't want any of the sensitive equipment to get damage while you examine it."
William sighs in defeat at the two, and raised both of his hands in acceptance. "Roger that ladies..."
Everyone then entered the Seahawk that is parked at the Helideck. The Seahawk then flew them off from the Cargo Ship and to their own respective Ships leaving William with Tester β's corpse.
William gazed at the headless corpse of Tester β and crack his knuckles "Let's get started, shall we?"
~Time skip~
Inside the Cargo Bay of USNS William McLean where all things all stored. Tester β's corpse is lying on the deck as Manjuus stripping her with equipments that are deemed important for potential research and reverse engineering.
The Manjuus with power tools starts to cut-down Tester β's rigging from the base. They were careful not to damage the Plasma Cannon and any equipment that can be reverse engineered and researched.
William stood there supervising the whole operation in his lab coat and hard hat while holding a clipboard with all the equipment and material needed at the Siren Rigging.
"You're kinda lucky, I'm in charge at your corpse and not DARPA and DOD. Those guys will have a good time 'scanning' your corpse." He said with a smirk.
Manjuus beside him who hears it start shaking in fear, as they saw him smiling like a madman.
The Rigging is successfully separated from Tester β's corpse, after the separation the parts of the rigging and Plasma Cannon are sent to the Work Shop to be analyzed and examine.
Tester β's corpse is currently being stripped-down with clothing, as to placed it in the metal box for refrigeration. And its future plans in mind. That shape of the box is like one of those metal coffin used for refrigeration.
Manjuus looked at him with suspicion and looked back at the stripped naked Tester β being placed on a metal box.
"What are you looking at. I'm not a Necrophilia, or something. I am not going to have an interest in a dead-ass Alien pussy." He exclaimed.
The Manjuus gives him a face of not convinced at his ulterior motives.
( Image)
~Somewhere else~
30 Miles away from the Carrier Strike Group, a Submarine Periscope is popping-out the surface of the ocean. Swiveling from left to right in frantic in each rotation of the periscope.
The unknown submarine that is tailing the fleet after watching the battle, she starts to follow the two ships she saw. The periscope is turning from left and right trying to find something.
A blond girl is looking at the periscope frantically trying to find the fleet that she's been tailing for hours.
"Where are you.... Come on..."
She's being careful of not making any sound for a submarine being detected and sunk is her worst nightmare. But, unbeknownst to her a black cigar shape submarine is tailing her at depth of 800 feet, her.
Denver were listening to the submarine acoustic signature of the unknown submarine that she's been following an hours ago. She's eager the sink it, but the acoustic signature it emits is similar to the Gato class subs of WW2.
Denver is following this WW2 Sub for hours now. She's waiting for it to do something so she could sink it, but decided follow it instead.
"Could you be more-slower and noisier than this? I'm getting bored, for fuck sake!" she exclaims.
She couldn't take this boredom anymore, as she ascends from the depth of 800 to 50 feet to contact the Strike Group.
"Denver to Enterprise. I have detected and tailing this sub for hours, now. Location 30 miles south, also this sub has an acoustic signature similar to a Gato class of WW2. What are your orders, Ma'am?"
"Tail it for now I will dispatch Lafayette at the location of the said sub. If the sub acts any hostilities, you have my permission to sink it" Enterprise give the order to Denver.
"Roger that." Denver then ascends to her normal depths of 300 feet. She then continues tailing this ww2 sub.
Enterprise looks at the position of the said sub at the monitor screen. She then contacts Lafayette through the comms.
"Lafayette, I want you to intercept and investigate this unknown sub that is tailing us for an hour, now. If it acts hostile towards you, you may open fire.... I know you want to be useful, but please don't overdo everything okay...?"
She said the last part like caring Parent to him. She then sends the coordinate of the sub via Data Link.
"Yes Ma'am, I won't fail you." Lafayette said it with confidence in his voice.
This is his chance to redeem himself, and prove that his not just a kid and couldn't just ne picked-on. This job is perfect for him, his primary mission as a Naval Vessel of the US Navy is ASW or Anti-Submarine Warfare.
Enterprise mumbles to herself. "I could have sent Belfast to handle such matter, But. That kid really wants to prove himself."
Enterprise could send Belfast to intercept the Unknown sub because she has more experience in ASW back on Earth, but the kid wants to redeem himself from the earlier battle.
Submarine location
( Image)
The Frigate then sails to the location of the said sub he saw a blimp in the monitor screen showing the subs periscope poking out the ocean surface. His hull mounted sonar can hear the subs acoustic signature, it is similar to Gato class
(The US Navy recognize the problem of the batch 1 or flight 1 of the Frigate that is the lack of bow mounted sonar. To remedy this short comings, they just install a hull mounted sonar to all flight I in 2040s)
Lafayette uses a low frequency radio wave to contact the sub (low frequency radio wave can pierce through the surface of the ocean)
"Unknown Submarine. This is the United Sates Navy Ship Identify yourself and state your intension. I ordered you to surface, failed to comply you will be fired upon. I have the permission to open fire."
The Sub's periscope swivels to right in a quick turn, and saw the Frigate sailing toward the direction of the Submarine.
"What? how did they know I'm following them?" She exclaimed.
The Blond Girl is now had to decide to surface endangering her Submarine, or ignore the warning that is given. If she ignores it she will be sunk and if she surfaces she will be vulnerable as a seating duck.
"Shit, I'm seriously in trouble. What should I do? Wait!... Is that a Destroyer? Why does it has only a single gun on deck?"
She then remembers these Ships can defeat an Elite-Siren in a battle within a minutes, even the most Elite Ships in the Azur Lane could not match them.
"Dang it! Getting sunk by this Unknown Ship is not part of my war patrol plan!" She exclaims.
"Your time is running out. Surface or I will open fire." He radioed in an authoritative tone.
"Maybe I could just dive down to avoid getting sink. That's its!" She then tries to flood her ballast tanks to dive, But. Suddenly she receives another radio transmission.
"Diving down to avoid my detection, is also futile."
"How did he knows?!" She yelled in surprise.
An MH-60 Seahawk hovers above the location of the submerged Submarine, while the Dipping Sonar listens to the subs acoustics and also her blabbering inside the Sub. Lafayette is listening to her blubbering through the Sonar Panel.
"Why do you think they called the Submarine Force "The Silent Service"." He muttered to himself, commenting at blabbering.
"Maybe surfacing to meet this Ship ain't that bad." She said.
Lafayette taps his finger at the Sonar panels nonstop anticipating for the Sub the surface. "Come on.... Surface already... I don't want to do this..."
He then hears the Sub's Ballast Tank being filled with air and the sound of Submarine surfacing. "Thank god, that was easy... I really hate using force against... girls." He said.
The submarine then surfaced showing its top-deck, conning tower and 3inch mounted deck-gun. The Submarine was the same exact copy of the Gato Class Sub in WW2, from the armament. Paint scheme and the overall length and width.
A blond girl came out in the hatches of the Submarine Conning Tower, she looks around and saw a weird Aircraft with rotors on top and two torpedoes attached on its side.
The MH-60 Seahawk armed with two Light Weight Torpedo is hovering above in distance of 10 meters away from the stern of the Submarine.
"This guy is really seriously going to sunk me!" She paused after noticing the peculiarity of the Aircraft. 'Wait. why is the rotor on top instead in the front?' She thought.
She then saw the Unknown Ship with angular design superstructure getting closer to her Submarine. "I hope his not a bad guy." She said to herself.
USS Lafayette
"You." He pointed to one of the Manjuus armed with M4.
"I want you all to be prepared for a sudden attack. I don't want to repeat what happened the last time we encounter an Alien life." He said, as Manjuus armed with M4 salutes.
Manjuus armed with M4 position themselves at the high position for a good spotting view. The other Manjuus maned the mounted M2 .50 cal. that are bolted in the side of the Ship.
The Frigate then slowly approaches the side of the Submarine. The two Vessel are now parallel to one another, Lafayette with help of the Manjuus lowers a gangway, so that the person onboard the Sub can come aboard to his Ship.
Manjuus with M4 and M2 .50 cal. pointed their Rifles and Machinegun at the Blond Girl that is walking to the gangway of his Ship.
He did not expect a Blond Girl that age range from 10 to 13 years old wearing a bikini with a light and dark gray stripes, a 3inch deck gun like pistol and headset with antenna.
'W-Why are they pointing their weapons to me....?' She thought, as she raised both of her hands in the air.
He raised a fist in the air and shouts. "Hold your fire!"
Lafayette and the Manjuus beside him turns around, as they start turning red after seeing the girl. All of them are staring at her for a second.
He then orders one of the Manjuus besides him to give her a towel for cover, the bikini is making everyone on deck are getting out proportion.
He thoughts. 'If those Bastards saw me right now, my life would be shittier than before.'
He then imagines Essex, Barb, William and Lucas poking fun of him while making some typical anime teasing faces.
One Manjuu then gives the Blond Girl a towel to cover herself-up, because every Manjuus onboard the Frigate is starting to turn into a Tomato, including Lafayette himself.
Lafayette slaps his cheeks a bit ho hides his red face, he then clears his throat and face her. "Lower your hands I'm not an enemy. I just wanted to talk." He said.
"Then why are they pointing their guns to me...?!" She exclaims.
He looks around he saw all the Manjuus that are equipped with Combat Gear and M4s are pointing their weapons at her.
"Lower your weapons... but still vigilant." He said the last part in a whispering voice at the comms.
He then introduces himself. "The name is USS Lafayette FFG-64 or Lafayette for short. Sorry about that."
The Blond Girl was shock to hear a USS prefix at this Ship-Boy. 'Is he a new ship that was commissioned by my Faction, by the way why is he a male?' Her thought is on a race to find some answers at the oddity of her situation.
He notices her shock expression, and spoke. "Um... everything alright M-M-Miss?" He's having a hard time saying the last part.
She then introduces herself, as he vigor renewed. "My name is Albacore, USS Albacore" Albacore tell her name with a cheery tone.
Lafayette is about to lose his nuts after hearing they both have the same name prefix. "The fuck did you just say...?!"
~Time skip~
Lafayette and Albacore is at the officer wardroom seated at the same table parallel to one other, they are both being serve by Manjuus with food and any kind of treats.
"Sorry about my sudden outburst back there. I'm just shock to find out that you have a "USS" prefix the same as mine." He apologizes sincerely at Albacore; she nods in acknowledgement.
"By the way.... why are you following the Strike Group?" Lafayette ask Albacore with a hint of seriousness in his voice. She also notices this seriousness.
"I was on my War Patrol and saw a Siren Fleet. I tailed the Fleet and saw you guys defeating an Elite-Siren in a minute. So I decided follow you to your Fleet." Albacore tells the truth, because she knew this kid had some special abilities in Anti-Submarine Warfare.
"Ah... I see. You are that Submarine that I detected before the shoot-out? about this Siren and Elite-Siren that you were talking about?" Lafayette ask Albacore, as he now have the lead clue to those Unknown Vessels.
Albacore explains about the Sirens and Elite-Siren thing and how this war started. Lafayette nods as he records every word she said in his memory.
"I see... could you please wait here... I need to contact my Superiors." He said.
"Um... sure. I'll wait here." She said, as she held a mug of hot Choco at her hands.
Lafayette then goes to the Ship's CIC and contacts Enterprise about his findings. It is about the Identity of the Unknown Vessels that attacked them.
After giving the report, he then returns back to the Officer's Wardroom where he can see Albacore is sipping a mug of hot Choco, he walks towards her and informs her.
"Miss Enterprise wants to talk to you about this 'Siren' thing aboard her ship."
Albacore looks at him with a widen eye and surprised expression plastered at her face almost spilling her Hot Choco, as she heard the name 'Enterprise'.
USS ENTERPRISE CVN-80
Enterprise sat inside the Ship's CIC looking at the footage of Lucas having a Rigging, she pauses and replays the whole footage back and forth, trying to find an answer to peculiarity.
"How did a Destroyer Ship dematerialized and materialized... like an exoskeleton?" She muttered to herself, as she clicks the reverse button.
She's about to ask Cortana, but Cortana finishes the scanning and evaluation of the footage and talks.
"According to my Data Base this phenomenon happening to Lucas is called 'Rigging Activation'. If its activated the Ship will dematerialize and materialized into a Rigging. The process called Rigging Activation will double or triple the ships survivability and fighting capability as a "Shipgirl" or "KANSEN". The way to activate the Rigging is to feel your heart and think about your Ship."
Enterprise is shock about the information she just heard, and this gives her an idea why they were human to begin with. But she has a doubt on Cortana's knowledge of this phenomenon.
"So...Is this the reason why we have a human bodies, then?
"Yes."
Suspicions arises at her head, as such information are not installed in US Navy Data Base. And the onboard A.I. Programming. "How did you know this information? Did DARPA installed this information to you?"
Cortana answers Enterprise questioning. "No. DARPA did not install this kind of information about Rigging Activation. This information was recently uploaded to me at same time when we were transported here in another world."
"And the Manjuus and Meowfficers?"
"Yes. Even their Data are installed to all US Naval Vessels."
Enterprise leans back at her seat, as she sinks at the seat cushion. She stared at the ceiling blankly. 'Who ever summons us here knows what his/her doing, like it was planned from the start and waiting for our next move..... who are you? And what do you want?'
She asked the most unanswered question that is lingering in her mind ever since the transference. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by her comms. It was Lafayette, she then presses a button to open the comms.
"Lafayette to Enterprise. I have found an information about the Unknown Fleet that we've just encountered few hours ago."
This caught her attention, shifting her gaze at the comms.
"The Submarine that I intercepted is named "USS Albacore", she also a Gato Class Submarine. About the Naval Fleet that we encountered is what she and the rest of this world called this Unknown Fleet as "Siren Fleet" and Tester β and is an "Elite-Siren" according to her."
Enterprise smiles not because of the information, but because of Lafayette proves himself.
"So.... that what they were called.... Sirens. Huh. That quite... odd." She mumbles.
"Lafayette I want you to escort Albacore to the Strike Group. I'm gonna ask her some questions in private. By the way.... Good job kid."
Enterprise said the last with smile in her face. She can also hear in the comms Lafayette voice cheering like he's being praised.
"Roger that."
Enterprise gaze return to the Computer Screen and ask Cortana one question. "Do you think my performance will improve if I activate my Rigging? And how would that fair in combat?"
Cortana answers. "it depends on your skills, abilities and how long will you push your limits. The last fight against the Siren fleet and Elite-Siren is just a fraction of it." Enterprise smiles in satisfaction.
Cortana continues. "When you and your Ship are one in Rigging mode. If you receives a hit in combat your ship will also receive a damage, but. When your ship is hit in ship mode you will not receive any damage, only your ship."
After receiving such information, Enterprise stood-up from her seat as she prepares to greet the guest onboard her Ship.
Albacore is escorted by Lafayette to head to the strike group for her and Enterprise to have a private chat about the identity of the Sirens.