BSBxKc Chpt 8

==Blue Squadron (Battletech x KanColle(ish) crossover) - Chapter 8 -==
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===First Meetings===
Jan Mayen System, Deep PeripheryQuite a while earlier
Confusion was the first thing FSS Brest felt.
 
She'd just performed a hyperjump, as part of her shakedown trials. Yet she immediately noticed that she wasn't where she was supposed to be.
 
The stars in the distance were wrong for her destination, even if the system's primary was the right spectral-class. And there certainly weren't supposed to be so many planets there.
 
A mere moment later, more things started seeping into her conscious. Sensations foreign, yet familiar to her.
 
The brunette girl blinked, thoroughly startled. Realizing what she'd done, she froze.
 
After several moments, her mind made sense of the sensations, new and old, she was feeling.
 
The corvette raised her hands. Peering at her new form's limbs disbelievingly for a second, she made the realization.
 
Something extraordinary, outright impossible even, had happened to her. She looked down at herself, to confirm what she already knew. What her new body? Hull? Frame? was telling her.
 
She, the Fox-class corvette FSS Brest, had been turned into something resembling a human. Yet...She was still very much a warship. She was still many thousand tons of steel, still had all her weapons and equipment.
 
What she didn't have was an idea of where she had ended up. Only that she was close to a frozen planet, some 1.6 AU from the system's primary.
 
First things first. She was in unknown territory, and had protocol to follow. The brunette busied herself with detaching her dropships, and launching a wing of fighters.
 
Following the first pair of fighters with her eyes, after they had streaked out of her launch bay, she discovered yet more new things.
 
Feeling her mind being drawn towards the strike craft, the Fox gave in to the urge. The next instant, she was seeing the cosmos through one of her pilots' eyes.
 
It was the first time she saw her new shape. Turning this way and that, the girl scrutinised her appearance. She liked what she saw, especially the way her shoulder-length hair bounced when she turned. Belatedly, she noticed that she was smiling.
 
Indulging in her self-inspection for a while longer, Brest was eventually drawn out of it, when she sensed movement behind her. Turning, she peered in the direction her fighter had seen it from.
 
Sure enough, her powerful senses noticed immediately. There were several dots of light, clustered around a larger one, moving quickly in front of the background-stars.
 
Calculating course and velocity in her navigational computers Crunching the numbers in her head, she quickly made the realization that the contacts were heading for her.
 
As a warship, she was naturally suspicious. Considering her extraordinary state, and the unknown means by which she had ended up here, she had to assume some kind of foul play. And on top of that, there was an unknown warship, with escorts, approaching her. There was only one thing to do. She launched all her fighters and prepared for combat.
 
Tense minutes went by, during which Brest identified the probable warship as something roughly her own size.
 
She was a minute away from sending a challenge, when she heard a female voice in her ear.
 
"This is DCS Amber Lotus, to unknown warship. Please respond."
 
Brest didn't know what to think. The voice was that of a girl, soft in its timbre, and sounding quite young. It wasn't what she expected from a DCMS member. It might have been part of a ploy, to catch her off-guard, though.
 
Wariness was plain to hear in the Fox' response. "This is FSS Brest. What is your business here?"
 
Waiting for the comms-delay gave the brunette time to thoroughly search her surroundings, and track the approaching Amber Lotus. She still expected an attack, although a voice at the back of her mind asked how the Draconis Combine could have set up what, by all rights, should be impossible.
 
"I was hoping you could shed some light on that, nanodesu." There was as much suspicion in the voice as Brest felt.
 
Keeping an eye on the warship during its approach, Brest remained silent.
 
It lasted until the Fox could make out details. Then a gasp escaped her throat.
 
The other warship was brand new. Brest could identify it as belonging to a newly introduced class of corvette. What took her breath away, though, was what she could see with her new sight. It was a girl in place of the approaching corvette. Or rather, at the same time. This draconian warship was just like she was! Carefully more optimistic about the encounter, Brest spoke again.
 
"I'll have to disappoint in that case. If you don't know what's going on, i don't know either."
 
Remaining in a defensive stance, the Fox' eyes followed the other corvette, until the girl came to a halt relative to her stopped a respectable distance away, and peered at her searchingly.
 
Brest wordlessly sized her fellow corvette up in turn, taking in the draconian's appearance. Dark eyes and even darker hair, combined with Japanese features and her service's uniform, made the girl look pretty much what Brest imagined a DCMS member to be like.
 
After long moments of mutual scrutiny, the dark-haired corvette spoke again.
 
"You seem just as confused as i am. So either you're a good actress, or we're sitting in the same boat, nanodesu."
 
"I was about to say the same thing." Tilting her head, Brest continued after a moment. "Our nations are technically allied at the moment. So can we agree not to shoot at each other, and instead try to find out what happened?"
 
"Or figure out where we are, and how we can get back to where we belong?" The other corvette chuckled humorlessly, then. "Because i have a feeling that the "Why" can't be easily explained, nanodesu."
 
"That works for me." The Fox made a careful and deliberate move, recalling her fighters, a gesture intended to prove her good will. It had the desired effect.
 
The other corvette also recalled her own aerospace assets. Once she had recovered them, the dark-haired girl locked eyes with Brest. "I guess introductions are in order." She raised a hand and saluted. "My name is Amber Lotus, of the Inazuma-class, Draconis Combine Navy."
 
She returned the salute. "I am FSS Brest, of the Fox-class." Her next words slipped out before she could stop her mouth from blabbering. "I am sure you already knew that, though."
 
Hesitant for a mere moment, Amber responded, tone still formal. Polite even. "There's no reason for needling or underhanded insults. Your intelligence services have doubtlessly learned a lot about my own class as well. It's how the game is played, nanodesu."
 
"I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." It really showed that she was a warship, not an ambassador's yacht, Brest thought contritely.
 
"Accepted." Fortunately, the other corvette did not seem to have an ego that was easily wounded, unlike some warriors of the Combine famously do.
 
Slowly and deliberately floating closer to the other girl, the Fox extended her hand, intent on making up for her slip-up.
 
Clasping the offered hand with an incline to her head, Amber locked eyes with Brest. Expression intense, the draconian seemed to be searching for something in the brunette's gaze. Apparently satisfied, she released the hand after a moment.
 
"What now, though? How do we get back to where we belong, nanodesu?" She made a show of looking around herself. The only things in the system were a gas giant, two sterile rocks, and a block of ice not too far from them. And possibly a number of planetoids in the system's equivalent of the Kuiper belt, months of travel away, and thoroughly irrelevant.
 
"Guess we'll head for a jump point and wait until our nav-computers figure out where we are?" Brest's response ended in a questioning note, open for suggestions.
 
"Assuming they can recognize the distant stars." The Inazuma-class turned, and started heading for the system's nadir jump-point at a leisurely pace. "Because if we ended up too far away, or with galactic extinction obscuring our view on the stars we know..."
 
"Better not think of that." Brest pulled up next to AmbItalicer.
 
They traveled in silence for a while. Each of them lost in their own thoughts, grappling with their new existence. One that should be impossible. Eventually Brest glanced over, at the other corvette.
 
"I've been thinking. This whole thing." She gestured down at herself, then at Amber. "I must've either gone mad, or this is some kind of shared hallucination. Because this can't be real, right?" She was wearing a strange expression, part need for affirmation, part disbelief.
 
"Don't know. If it is, then maybe it's a cosmic joke that is a few decades late. Because being thrown into purgatory, along with a FedSuns warship, is something i could see someone laughing at me for, some fifty years ago.
 
"Heh, yes. Maybe someone didn't get the memo." The Fox added with levity. The scenario Amber had brought up lifted her gloomy mood. It was a good thing that relations between their nations were a lot better these days. Were they not, the two would have probably ended up shooting at each other on sight, Brest thought.
 
The corner of the draconian's lips were tilted upwards slightly. Brest thought the subtle smile suited the girl.
 
"Is your K-F drive charged, nanodesu?"
 
The non-sequitur caught Brest off-guard.
 
"Uh uh. Won't do me much good, but yes. Why do you as..." She trailed off when she sensed something. She turned, in unison with Amber Lotus, towards the frozen terrestrial planet, not far away from them.
 
What had drawn their attention was a large sensor-contact, emerging from behind the planet.
 
"Maybe we're not so far away from home, after all." Amber was peering intently in the planet's direction.
 
Brest did the same. After a short while, she could distinguish the initial sensor contact as two separate things.
 
"That's a space station." Murmuring, the brunette tried her best to make sense of the silhouette. Telling its class would help them decide how to proceed.
 
"And a warship." Squinting, Amber Lotus' attention was riveted to the newly discovered vessel.
 
Hearing those words sent a jolt of tension through Brest's frame. She shifted her focus onto the unknown ship.
 
The Inazuma beat her to identifying it.
 
"It's a cruiser." The dark-haired girl glanced at her fellow corvette. "An Aegis-class."
Her mind racing, Brest tried to recall which factions she knew to have that class of warship in service. The list was short.
 
"Amber Lotus, do you know of anyone fielding that class of cruiser?" She looked at the other girl from the corner of her eye, unwilling to take her gaze off of the unknown warship. "Aside from Comstar and the Clans, that is."
 
"Please call me Amber. Less cumbersome to use as a name, nanodesu." Distractedly, she answered Brest's question. "And no, i don't know of anyone else to still use that class." With a grumble, she added. "It better not be the Clans."
 
"Hmm." Brest contemplated the options. "Maybe getting back home is as simple as visiting that space station, and asking for a starchart. If nothing else, that would speed up the journey."
 
"You're awfully optimistic. Considering this is an installation somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and guarded by a major warship, chances are they do not take kindly to outsiders discovering them. Approaching that is a bad idea, nanodesu."
 
Wresting her attention away from the unknown cruiser, Brest regarded her fellow for several moments. "You think they would attack us?"
 
A deadpan expression was all the answer she got.
 
Just then, a new voice could be heard over open channels.
 
"Attention, unknown warships. This is CSV Swift Justice, at Jan Mayen station. Please state your business here." It was a woman's voice, lower pitched than her own. Pleasant to the ear, Brest thought.
 
Opening her mouth to radio back, the Fox was interrupted.
 
"We should leave. Now." Amber's expression was dead serious.
 
The Fox was perplexed with how vehement the dark-haired girl was about the matter. "Why? What has gotten into you?"
 
"We are dealing with Comstar, and are probably in the Deep Periphery. I know they have secret bases of operations there." When a raised eyebrow was all she got as a response, she carried on in an imploring tone. "They would kill, and have done so, to keep those secret. And i know you know as well. Your MIIO guys are not stupid, nanodesu."
 
"But that was the old Comstar. They are different now." Brest shook her head in denial.
 
Crossing her arms with a scowl, Amber retorted. "Once Comstar, always Comstar."
Just then, the woman's voice sounded in their ears again. "Unidentified warships, be aware. There is an unknown enemy force operating in the area. I advise falling in with us."
 
"In that case we probably should?" The Fox suggested, glancing at Amber questioningly.
 
A single shake of the dark head. "That's obviously bait. They'll try to destroy us."
 
The Fox narrowed her eyes. "Why are you so suspicious of them, and not of me?"
 
"Hmpf." A huff of contempt. "Because these guys have earned my distrust." She looked into Brest's eyes then. "And you are like i am. I can see you are not lying. You are too naive for that, nanodesu."
 
"Excuse me?" Brest's eyebrows hiked high onto her forehead.
 
"Sorry." The girl's expression was contrite. "I spoke before i could choose better words, nanodesu."
 
"Nevermind." Brest smiled, genuine. "If that's the worst you think of me." The dark-haired corvette opened her mouth to retort, yet the Fox cut her off. "I'll go to that station and see what they have to say."
 
 Amber's mouth snapped shut, and she looked at Brest for a moment, as though she were stupid. "There's no talking you out of doing something silly, is there?" She matched Brest's change in course.
 
 "Not when i think i'm right." She glanced at her draconian companion. "You don't need to accompany me if you don't want to. You could return to the inner sphere on your own."
 
 "And likely get ambushed and killed on my own." She paused for a moment. "You're the closest thing i have to an ally, and we are both likely targets for these guys." She turned forward, her eyes trained on the Comstar-cruiser in the distance. "With luck, the two of us can take that Aegis, If they try what i think they will. I'll take my chances with that, nanodesu."
 
"You really think this is a trap." It was not a question.
 
The Inazuma faced Brest, and gestured animatedly while she spoke. "Of course i do. Comstar are never up to anything good. Do you remember when they interdicted your entire nation, nanodesu?"
 
"That was decades ago. As i said before, the old Comstar."
 
Amber deflated in resignation. "I give up. At least be ready to fight, once we get into combat range."
 
A firm nod, then silence fell between them again.
 
With the distance to the station, and cruiser, shrinking, eventually the corvettes could make out an important detail.
 
"That... That cruiser is a woman! She's just like we are!" Brest's exclamation was in stark contrast to Amber's stunned silence. "Maybe she can tell us what's going on here."
 
The Inazuma's expression was still doubtful, but this time she did not object. Brest took it as agreement.
 
"FSS Brest here. We copy, approaching your position, Swift Justice."
 
An acknowledgement came back, and both girls exchanged a look. They would soon know if Amber's suspicions were justified or not.
 
Approaching the Comstar-cruiser, slowly and deliberately, the two had time to take in details.
 
"Pretty tall." Brest muttered to herself. The difference in size between her and the cruiser were somehow more pronounced in their new forms. Combined with her long, grey hair, it made the woman a tad intimidating.
 
"Pretty deadly." Amber seemed to have heard regardless, her eyes fleeting from the Aegis' powerful guns to the aerospace fighters darting around the woman.
 
Stopping, relative to the station and cruiser, as soon as the communications-delay was gone, the duo exchanged another glance. A slight rise of Amber's eyebrow wordlessly told the Fox to take the lead.
 
The grey-haired woman beat her to it. "Greetings and good day. I am glad you decided to take my invitation, despite the..." She trailed off for a few moments, and ran her eyes over both corvettes, from head to toe. "...rather unusual circumstances."
 
"Unusual alright." Brest couldn't read the woman's intentions. The Aegis' features were too much of a neutral mask, carefully applied and maintained. So the Fox decided to be direct. "Would you tell us what's going on here?"
 
Surprise briefly crossed the grey-haired woman's face. "I would if i could, but i do not know." 'Brests, or maybe Amber's, thoughts must have been obvious. Swift Justice added. "I can assure you, however, that i have nothing to do with it. And that i mean you no harm."
 
"You're awfully well-prepared to fight, though, nanodesu." Amber's frown had deep end at the woman's words, the corvette's eyes following the cruiser's fighters' every move.
 
"That is just in response to your own aerospace assets." The woman raised her hands placatingly.
 
"Granted, i would do the same." Brest admitted with a tilt of her head.
 
"Of course you would." Amber gave her a sideways glance.
 
A sigh drew both of their attention back to the Aegis. "Alright. I will take the first step, you follow along. Then we can talk." True to her word, Swift Justice's fighters swerved away from their patrol paths, and returned to their hangars.
 
Relaxing slightly, Brest ordered her own to do the same. When Amber's fighters remained in position, the Fox raised an eyebrow at her.
 
Returning the brunette's gaze, Amber relented after a few moments, expression disgruntled. "Fine."
 
When all fighters were landed, the Comstar-cruiser slowly floated closer. The woman made sure to point her turrets away from the two girls.
 
"Good. I am Swift Justice, of the Comguards. Welcome to Jan Mayen station." The cruiser gestured at the space-installation behind her.
 
"I am FSS Brest, Federated Suns Navy." She inclined her head in greeting, as she spoke. "And this is Amber." She glanced over at the other girl, then jabbed her in the side with an elbow, to get the Inazuma let go of her fighting-stance, and introduce herself.
 
The dark-haired girl reluctantly complied. "Amber Lotus is the name. I serve with the DCMS Admiralty, nanodesu."
 
"I am happy to make your acquaintance." The cruiser's tone of voice was too pleasant to Brest's ears for mere placating words.
 
"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, what happened to us? And how did we get here?" Amber cut to the chase.
 
"As i said, i do not know. That is why i wanted to talk with the two of you. Maybe we can figure it out, if we compare our experiences."
 
Despite the woman's distant neutrality, which Brest belatedly recognized as diplomatic politeness, the corvette found herself wanting to trust the cruiser. Maybe it was the soothing voice.
 
"Sounds good. There isn't much to tell though." The Fox started recounting. "I was busy doing my shakedown-cruise. The last thing i remember was performing a hyperjump. The next moment i was here, changed." She raised her hands to peer at them closely. If she didn't pay attention to her new side for a while, she got surpsied by its presence occasionally.
 
"Hmm." The cruiser's contemplative look was a welcome replacement for the stoic non-expression she had been wearing up until then.
 
When Swift Justice looked at Amber expectantly, the dark-haired girl held her gaze with something of a frown, and crossed her arms.
 
"Then i will go next." Unperturbed, the Aegis shifted gears. "What matters is probably that i was involved in a fleet-action. You might have heard of it. I had an encounter with a battleship, and... the next moment i was here, in this system. Close to the station."
 
"You mean you were destroyed, nanodesu?" The scowl had left Amber's features, replaced by keen interest.
 
"I... i think so." The cruiser's slight hesitation was the first true show of emotion from her. It strengthened Brest's belief that the woman was nothing like Amber saw her as.
 
"But then..." Amber Lotus trailed off, her gaze dropping. She absentmindedly reached for her lower back. When she continued, her mind seemed to be far away. "I was doing my duty, on patrol. All i remember is a stinging pain." She looked up again. "I think i recall a short while of blackness, then i was here, nanodesu."
 
A heavy silence stretched for several moments, before Swift Justice spoke up again.
 
"That supports my hypothesis. I know that i died." The Aegis' words made Brest's eyes go wide in realization. "And it seems like you two might have as well."
 
"But..." The Fox murmured to herself. Peering at her hands again, she gave them a flex. She felt alive.
 
"That doesn't make any sense." Amber murmured to herself, gaze downcast.
 
"No, it does not. But considering our new state of being?" The grey-haired woman questioned rhetorically.
 
"I don't understand. You say you died, and Amber..." The brunette gestured at her fellow corvette. "Amber says she felt pain, so that was some kind of damage, obviously. But I? What about me?"
 
"Well I..." Swift Justice released a breath. "You may have suffered a misjump that destroyed you."
 
"What? How can that be? I'm not the first of my class, and I've made a number of jumps already." Brest protested vehemently.
 
"It may not have been through any fault of your own." The grey-haired woman was using that soothing voice again. "As unlikely as it is, sometimes you just hit that one in ten million chance."
 
For several moments a heavy silence reigned, until Amber spoke up again.
 
"Suppose this is how it went, why did we become what we are now, nanodesu?" The Inazuma made a show of looking down at herself. "And why did we end up here?" Voice soft, yet steady, the girl seemed to have come to terms with her own death quicker than Brest did.
 
"I have told you all i have come up with so far. I did not arrive much earlier than you two did, and I was busy for most of that time too." The grey-haired woman's lips were pointed downwards slightly.
 
"Busy with what?" There was suspicion in Amber's voice again.
 
"Remember the enemy force i mentioned earlier?" The Aegis looked at both corvettes expectantly, in turn.
 
"Yes?" Amber's answer trailed off into a question.
 
"When i arrived here, there were hostiles attacking the station." The cruiser pointed at the installation behind her. "When they saw me, they ran. I was chasing them, about to go behind the planet, when i saw the both of you arrive. Popped into existence, without a jump point or emergence signature. Just a flash of light." The woman shook her head slightly, and got back to the matter at hand. "That is why i need your help."
 
"You want our help?" Amber spoke slowly and clearly, incredulity obvious in her voice.
 
"Yes. It is of..." The Aegis trailed off, placing two fingers to her ear. "There is someone you should meet. Please follow me." The cruiser turned and headed for the station.
 
The look Amber Lotus gave Brest said more than a thousand words.
 
"You still think this is where she will turn on us, and start shooting?" Brest whispered to Amber when she passed the other corvette, trailing the cruiser as she was.
 
A disapproving glare was the only answer she got from Amber, until the dark-haired girl huffed in disapproval, and made to follow the other two warships as well.
 
Not much later, the three arrived at the station Swift Justice had called Jan Mayen. Gesturing for the corvettes to come closer as well, she floated up to an observation window.
 
Carefully approaching, Brest could see that the cruiser had told the truth. The station bore the marks of a recent attack. Blackened spots here and there, caused by hits from lasers. Pockmarked and paintless outer skin, the result of autocannon fire.
 
When she was almost to the window, the Fox could see someone on the other side. It was a man in an unassuming jumpsuit, noteputer in hand.
 
Once the three had come to a halt, and Brest had subtly gotten Amber to uncross her arms, the Aegis did the honours.
 
"DCS Amber Lotus, FSS Brest, this is officer Zheng." She inclined her head in his direction. "He belongs to the Star League Intelligence Command."
 
Giving each warship in human form a quick glance, the man spoke into his headset, and his voice appeared on their net. "Member state Liaison Division, to be exact. Good day, ladies"
 
While Amber merely held his gaze with a raised chin, Brest took in the man's appearance. He looked paler than what she would consider healthy, and his hands did seem to be shaking somewhat.
Realizing that the Inazuma would leave the talking to her, the brunette returned the greeting. "Good day to you too."
 
"Please excuse my bluntness, but time is of the essence, so i will cut straight to the case." He pressed a few keys on his noteputer, and continued. "I trust Swift Justice has informed you of the attack on this station?"
 
Brest could have sworn the man shuddered. "Yes she has." Throwing a quick glance at the grey-haired woman, the Fox continued. "I don't understand why you want our help. She can surely handle whatever pirates, or renegade military forces, may be lurking about."
 
"I think it is more than just raiders, in several ways." The cruiser's gaze was fixed on Zheng.
 
"Has Swift Justice told you of her theory?" It was intended as a question for her, yet Brest got the feeling that there was a silent conversation happening between the officer and the cruiser, their gazes connected as they were.
 
"You mean what turned us into what we are now?" The brunette girl decided to tread carefully. Amber was still merely looking on, though with more curious eyes.
 
"No. Pertaining the hostiles." The officer wrested his eyes away from the Aegis.
 
"There is something unusual about the attackers i have seen." Picking up the thread, the woman continued. "They are no mere raiders."
 
"Unusual how? You must have seen them properly when you destroyed them, nanodesu?" Amber had decided to join the conversation, apparently all ears now.
 
"I did not destroy them. I said i drove them off." The Inazuma's questioning look prompted the cruiser to elaborate. "When i chased them to the planet's other side, they were gone when i got there. So there must have been, at least, a JumpShip in play. That is why i think they operate with coordination."
 
"That doesn't seem too out of the ordinary, even this far out." Belatedly, the draconian added. "Wherever this may be."
 
"Being a proper military force is not what i meant." The woman shook her head vigorously, which made her grey braid dance behind her. "Had you seen the things that attacked, you would understand. And the station's sensor-records are useless as well. They do not show even one hostile contact."
 
"That's a red flag." Brest agreed with the sentiment.
 
"Maybe, but i still don't see what that has to do with us." Amber did not seem keen to be dragged into a conflict which meant nothing to her.
 
"This is where i come in." Zheng spoke up again, the intelligence officer lowering his noteputer. "I will not try to make you do anything you do not want to, yet will remind that your nations are members of the Star League." He paused there for a moment. "And according to the Star League Charter, with Comstar being a member, this is a case of mutual defence. The enemy in question may not be the clans, but technically the clause applies."
 
 Brest hummed in thought, while Amber looked dubious.
 
Swift Justice seemed to realize something, and shook her head. "I am sorry, i got sidetracked. What i meant to say is that i am certain the enemy is supernatural as well. And i also think they have a warship."
 
Both corvettes had their eyebrows raised.
 
"It makes sense, for the warship i mean." Brest conceded. "But for your attackers to be supernatural? You'll excuse me if i call that far-flung."
 
"Take a look at these." A burst of data arrived from the cruiser. It was images and video footage Swift Justice had apparently taken from a large distance. Blurry as they were, Brest could recognize that the depicted craft were odd. Off, in shape and proportion, to a degree the brunette questioned how they could even function. It lent credence to the woman's claim. "I see."
 
Amber not so much. "I'm a warship of the Draconis Combine. I can't afford to fight someone else's battles in the middle of nowhere, without the Coordinator even knowing, nanodesu."
 
"Messages to both of your nations' militaries have been sent already. They know you are here. We do not intend to keep you secret from them." Zheng did his best to appease the doubtful corvette.
 
"The enemy are Youma. Do you not want to test your mettle against such a formidable foe?"
 
The Inazuma whirled around to face Swift Justice. Brest had to leave it to the Aegis. The woman had figured out quickly how to rope Amber into this. Then again, appealing to the draconian's warrior's spirit seemed like the obvious route.
 
"These pictures can be falsified. How do i know you are not lying, nanodesu?"
 
"You will know i speak the truth, once you see them."
 
A conflicted expression remained on the dark-haired girl's face for a moment more, before she relented. "Fine. I will join this impromptu international coalition force."
 
"Thank you." The woman turned a questioning look at Brest.
 
"Might as well." The Fox responded with a smile. "How do we handle things?"
 
"Considering this is a Comstar installation, and Swift Justice is more experienced than you are, would you two accept her in command?" Zheng was typing again, apparently already in the process of setting the administrative side of things into motion.
 
"Fine with me." "I accept." The responses were simultaneous.
 
Nodding with approval, the grey-haired cruiser smiled a small smile. "I am glad. Let us make this cooperation a fruitful one."
 
"What do we call our new unit?" Brest's eyes were pointing upwards, thinking.
 
"Considering we're international, we need something neutral, nanodesu."
"Maybe colors? How does Blue Squadron sound?" Swift added after a moment, with an awkward smile. "It was the first thing that came to my mind."
 
"Works well enough." Brest remarked, and Amber inclined her head in approval.
 
"Blue Squadron it is, then." Zheng presumably input the designation into his files already.
 
"Well then. As officer Zheng mentioned earlier, time is of the essence. So here is the situation." Swift Justice launched into a mission briefing.
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==Chapter Notes==
*; Author's Chapter Notes : In case it was not obvious, this happened before Chapter 1.
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