BSBxKc Chpt 22

==Blue Squadron (Battletech x KanColle(ish) crossover) - Chapter 22 -==
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===Uncovering Misdirection among the Ranks===
System 3196, Deep Periphery
The grey-haired woman had questions.
 
"CSV Swift Justice to unknown jumpship, please respond." One of said questions was of their rescuees identity. There was no apparent or coherent response.
 
The five fleetmaidens had just begun their burn to reach the mysterious jumpship they had traveled here for. Currently shrouded in the giant's shadow and, going by the constant screaming over the radio, in reach of the destroyed abyssals' wreckages, it was still unidentified. 
 
"We won't get anything useful out of them, I'm afraid." La Pata gave voice to what was apparent to all kanmusu .
 
"What do we do then? They can't help themselves while under the abyssals' influence." Worry was plainly written on Brest's features.
 
"Need to steer it out of the abyssals' range." Casting a sideways glance at Swift, La Pata returned her nod. They wordlessly agreed on how to proceed.
 
"We board it then, quiaff?" Silver Merlin sounded too eager to Swift's ears.
 
"Yes. I and La Pata will." Swift pronounced her old friend's name and herself noticeably. Considering what she knew the clan-warrior's Elementals could do to Battlemechs she would rather not have that kind of weapons on a civilian vessel. She did not trust the Peregrine's infantry to have steady trigger-fingers.
 
Not phased at all, Silver acknowledged with a quick look.
 
"Better for the crew not to see clan-military on their ship when they get back to their senses, nanodesu."
 
"More like because our guys know where to go. Or do you have information on the inner layout of a ship-class which went obsolete some seven-hundred years before your time?" La Pata enjoyed playing the senior-card in that way, tone light and smile broad.
 
"That's a good point." Amber Lotus had her head tilted slightly. 
 
"I only make good points."
That drew a chuckle from Breast and Amber. When La Plata's gaze remained on the draconian corvette, and the dark-haired woman's expression sobered somewhat, the two young ones sensed the change in mood. Their smiles diminished.
 
"That was quite the stunt you pulled there." La Plata's scrutinizing eyes ran over Amber from head to toe, taking in the girl's somewhat worse-for-wear state.
"Amber's the best. That was so cool when she appeared out of nowhere, struck and then slipped past the enemy!" Excitement returned to Breast when it came to her friend's achievements. The good cheer gradually left her after a moment when neither of the cruisers adults were as enthusiastic about it as she was.
 
Green eyes still on Amber, La Pata eventually questioned. "How did you make it here in time to catch those abyssal JumpShips?" Swift wanted to know the same thing. She and La Pata were, maybe unsurprisingly, on the same wavelength again.
 
Almost imperceptibly the dark-haired girl shrunk back for a moment before she answered in her usual soft tone. "I got the order to move up and reinforce. So i did, nanodesu."
 
Swift had picked up on the Inazuma's subtleties, and knew the girl knew where this was going, yet another thing needed to be clarified first. "Who gave you that order?"
 
Dark eyes glanced from La Pata to Swift. "Trelleborg did."
"How?" Pale eyes were resting on the draconian.
 
Looking increasingly confused the girl responded uncertainly. "Via HPG, nanodesu."
 
"She did not give you the order at the Waystation, in person?"
 
"No."
 
Both cruisers exchanged a look. It seemed like Amber was not the only she would need to have a conversation with, Swift thought.
 
"I see." La Pata paused and regarded the Inazuma for a moment longer. "Still. Even assuming Trell sent that HPG-message right after we left system 2799 for here..." La Pata carried on, her brilliant green gaze still on Amber, seemingly picking her words carefully. So much so that the tanned woman apparently did not notice how she had abbreviated Trelleborg's name. "There was still no way for you to make it here in time, to arrive this quickly. Under normal circumstances." Here she paused meaningfully.
 
Amber held La Plata's green gaze, obviously uncomfortable. Brest, for her part, did not know what this was about, but picked up on the tension well enough. The Fox nervously and subconsciously stepped closer to her friend in a show of wordless support.
 
A raised eyebrow from the Dart-class did not get the draconian to talk. Silence began to stretch, and the longer it lasted the more Amber looked like a scolded child. The only noise on the airwaves was the screaming from the unknown JumpShip's still panicked crew. They would need to get these people away from the abyssal-wrecks as quickly as they could once they arrived, Swift thought, before she gently prodded the Inazuma directly.
 
"You quick-charged, did you not?"
 
Turning slightly to fully face the flagship, Amber straightened and squared her shoulders before she answered. "Yes."
 
Swift already knew, of course, but hearing the girl admit she had knowingly taken unnecessary risks - again - stung the Aegis. She had thought they had made progress when it came to that.
 
"Did the orders you got from Trelleborg stipulate you do that?" La Pata took over again, this question a crucial one. The tanned woman was keen to find out if the Newgrange-class had overstepped her boundaries more than was already apparent, yet her inflection remained gentle. Swift was impressed how her old friend was capable of that.
 
The grey-haired flagship was glad for it, since she did not trust herself in that moment to hide her disappointment.
 
"No."
 
It was the less bad of two possibilities. Trelleborg may have defied her own orders, but at least the red-haired woman was not responsible for Amber risking life and limb to jump as quickly as she could.
 
"Why did you do it, then?" Confident her voice was steady, Swift questioned the Draconian's motivations.
 
"Because i didn't want to see any of you lost because i was too late, nanodesu." Amber briefly glanced at Breast next to her, who gave her a small smile and reached for her hand, then faced the flagship again. With a strange look in her dark eyes and a strained voice, Amber continued. "I was there when you almost went down to that enemy battlecruiser because we were short-handed, nanodesu."
 
The dark-haired girl's words hit Swift unexpectedly hard. Amber had acted brashly and risked herself again, but this time not out of impulse but concern for her fellows. Swift suppressed the officer within her and grudgingly admitted to herself that the girl's reasons were good, at least. Nobody could accuse the Inazuma of not having her heart in the right place.
 
Still, Amber had again shown a tendency towards insubordination, which Swift would need to address somehow. Schooling her features into neutrality so as not to make the scolding too severe, the flagship proclaimed. "I understand your reasons were noble. But well-intentioned or not, insubordination can have dire consequences. This incident will be included in my reports, and i will consult with the Draconis Combine Admiralty on how to proceed."
 
Lowering her head in wordless acceptance Amber released Brest's hand after giving it a squeeze.
 
A slight problem Swift had pondered before had appeared again. How was she supposed to discipline close to a quarter million tons of steel? She would need to stick her head together with La Pata in order to solve this particular conundrum.
 
A voice drew everyone's attention to the apex of their formation. "Why is she being reprimanded?" Silver Merlin was wearing a deep frown, words surprisingly incisive. "If anything she deserves a commendation."
 
Amber and Breast were very surprised by the other corvette speaking up on the Draconian's behalf.
 
"Because Amber risked herself, and by extension your, mine and everyone who happens to be in this area of space's survival, unnecessarily." La Pata replied quickly, brilliant green eyes fastened on the Peregrine.
 
"It was not unnecessary." Returning the Dart's gaze pointedly, Silver retorted. "Thanks to Amber Lotus' actions we have won a strategic victory. Three abyssal JumpShips, along with a sizeable force of aerospace-assets, destroyed. I would call that worth the risk."
 
Swift massaged her temples and sighed inwardly. Wonderful, one corvette interpreted orders the way she wanted them to and another questioned them. Again.
 
"Only because she didn't suffer a misjump." La Pata was showing remarkable patience, though her dark eyebrows were hiking higher onto her forehead. "We're five warships, the only known means to combat the abyssals. Had Amber suffered a misjump we would have irreversibly lost twenty percent of our strength."
"The results speak for themselves, so the risk was worth it, quiaff?"
 
Exhaling with apparent frustration, La Pata tried a different angle. "Silver, why won't you understand. There's reasons for the orders Swift gives. If she can't trust in them being carried out reliably then that throws strategic planning out the window. That's bad."
 
"My name is Silver Merlin." A brief huff. "And I will not condemn a warrior for taking the initiative when victory is won as a result."
 
Pausing briefly the tanned cruiser tilted her head. "I thought not following orders resulted in defeat?"
 
Silver bristled from having her own words recited back at her. "In battle, yes. Outside of it a worthy warrior will recognize and seize opportunities." The green-haired girl gestured to drive home her point.
 
The way Silver argued, expression firm and voice certain, was again at odds with the corvette's exterior, Swift had to note. The green-haired Falcon may have looked like the youngest of her kind, yet the Peregrine standing by her opinion in the face of adversity from a superior spoke of how mature she truly was. And it was not borne from hubris either, Swift grudgingly admitted to herself. Silver was undoubtedly very proficient when it came to military matters. Now if only she was not objectively wrong in this particular case.
 
In the same vein the flagship once more realized that her caution had been justified previously, when she had decided not to have Silver guard Waystation 135 on her own. She would not dare to leave the greenette unsupervised, if she could help it, for the near future.
 
"Enough!" Swift directed her pointed gaze at Silver. "Our unit depends on a working chain of command. If some members cannot be relied on to do what they are ordered then calamity is only a matter of time." She briefly glanced at Amber who, judging by the admonished look she was wearing, knew what the flagship was saying, before she returned her attention to Silver. "As such you will follow orders given to you. Is that understood?"
 
"Aff." The green-haired girl answered evenly, then murmured under her breath. "I never implied i would not."
 
Casting a short glance at the two younger corvettes again, Breast having placed a hand on Amber's back in silent support, Swift hoped the message of how important following orders was had been received. Movement drew her attention to her other side. La Pata had sidled up to her and was giving her a small smile of approval. Returning it for a moment, the Aegis turned her attention to the unknown jumpship they were approaching, and how to rescue its distressed crew.
 
Moments later Silver unexpectedly spoke up again. "You are hot." Her violet eyes were on Amber. "Maybe too hot for the people on that jumpship."
 
"Say what?" "I'm not on fire!" Breast sounded as confused as Amber looked when they replied in unison. 
 
A moment of incomprehension gave way to understanding. Swift chalked Silver's odd choice of words up to the girl's origin and background, while she checked her own sensors. "Silver is right. You are quite the radiation-hazard, Amber." That was an understatement, now that she paid attention to it. The dark-haired girl was making the flagship's sprectrographs light up like christmas-trees. Unsurprising, considering the blast of neutrons the Inazuma had taken, as well as the coat of vaporized and activated wreckage she was wearing.
"Oh." Realization made Amber look down at herself, then at Swift.
 
"Better play it safe then, in case that old Aquilla has lackluster radiation-protection." La Pata recommended.
 
"Should I..?" Trailing off, the dark-haired girl glanced over her shoulder towards where the abyssal JumpShips had been.
 
"The jump point has dissolved. I guess the nearest one is L2?" La Pata had correctly guessed what Amber was thinking.
 
"It is." Swift confirmed after a moment of crunching the numbers on orbital and gravitational mechanics thought. "We will use it to depart the system. Please wait for us there."
 
"Affirmative." Amber confirmed and turned. Breast did the same.
 
"Not you, Brest." La Pata stopped the Fox in her tracks.
 
"What? Why?" Not looking happy, the brunette's frown was pronounced.
 
"Because one corvette is not enough of an escort for two cruisers. More enemies might show up." Expression sympathetic, the tanned woman replied.
 
"But..." Trailing off, the Fox glanced at her draconian friend with a conflicted expression.
 
"Especially cruisers who are almost out of missiles and even more dependent on escorts than usual." Swift understood Brest's reluctance to leave her friend's side. She felt bad herself for having given the the dark-haired girl a dressing down and sending her away right after. With a look which was asking for understanding she glanced first at Amber, who gave her a subtle nod, then at Brest. "Please return to formation."
"Don't be silly. I'm a big girl. Go, nanodesu." Amber gently prodded.
 
Holding the Draconian's gaze for a long moment, expression conflicted, Breast ultimately complied and moved to return to her flagship's side.
 
"We won't be long." La Pata called after Amber as the girl was drawing away from them, accelerating to use the ice-giant's gravitational pull to slingshot herself out of its orbit and towards its Lagrange-point two.
 
Not slowing down or turning, Amber raised a hand in acknowledgement.
"Let us get these people out of the abyssals' area of effect." The remaining quartet of fleetmaidens were on final approach to the unknown jumpship. Illuminated as it was from the system's primary from one side, and by the ice-giant's green glow from the other, it looked suitably mysterious for its circumstances.
 
"Nobody at the windows any more." Breast remarked the difference to before.
 
"Too busy being terrified." La Pata agreed while she was squinting at the ship.
Following her old friend's gaze while they pulled up next to the Aquilla, Swift finally saw the markings it bore.
 
It was as though lightning had struck her. She acted entirely out of reflex, based on primal instinct, and before she knew what she was doing she had turned her weapons on the ship.
 
"Whoa! Relax!" La Pata yelled from her side.
 
Swift could not see her dark-haired friend in the corner of her eye any more. Her vision had narrowed until all she could perceive was the jumpship before her. The grey-haired woman scowled fiercely when her reflexes went without effect, and the ship remained in one piece. Growling with frustration and deadly urgency she made to rectify that state of affairs.
 
"Swift?"
Brest's voice reached the flagship from seemingly far away. A second later the brunette stepped into her line of sight. No longer able to see the offending jumpship her vision un-tunneled. It allowed her to see the uncertain and, Swift had to realise with horror, fearful expression Breast was wearing while the girl was slowly stepping towards her, tentatively extending a hand towards her flagship.
 
The reality of what had just happened hit Swift like a glacier-burst. A torrent of icy horror crashed into her mind. She pointedly turned her weapon-turrets away from the offending JumpShip, yet her gaze was again captured by the emblem on its side. The downwards-pointing sword in front of a dark background was giving her a throbbing headache. She squeezed her eyes shut and raised a hand to massage her temple.
Feeling a hand on her forearm the Aegis looked up again. It belonged to Brest. Worry was marring the Fox' features and concern filled her blue eyes. A voice in Swift's head remarked that expression did not belong on a face as young as Brest's.
 
Mere moments later her view was obscured and Brest's blue gaze was replaced by an intense and scrutinizing green one. "What's going on?" Having come right up to her, the urgency in La Plata's voice was justified.
 
"I..." Searching for words, Swift eventually settled for the truth. "I do not know." When she circled her fingers at her temple a few more times in an attempt to dispell the sudden throbbing headache, she noticed that her hand was trembling. Exhaling a deep huff the grey-haired woman, with great mental effort, pulled herself together and looked into La Plata's brilliant eyes. "But i am fine."
 
Said eyes narrowed. "No you're not." Grasping Swift by the shoulders the tanned woman bodily turned her away from the now known jumpship. "Go wait with Amber. I've got this." To emphasise, La Pata placed a hand between the Aegis' shoulders and pushed her forwards.
 
Swift looked over her shoulder and started to protest. "I can..."
 
She trailed off at the dead-serious expression her second-in-command was wearing. La Pata would brook no argument on this.
 
With a defeated sigh Swift Justice gave in and did as she was told. She straightened, eyes to the front, and ignited her transit-drives, trying to ignore the way the others were looking at her. Especially the corvettes. Silver had remained silent throughout the short episode, expression unreadable. Breast though...
Picking up speed the Aegis rose higher above the ice-giant beneath her, the green glow of its atmosphere steadily becoming less pronounced. Her thoughts were racing all the while.
 
The expression Breast had been wearing hurt Swift to think of. It had been a mix of surprise, incomprehension and incredulity. The girl had obviously noticed that she had lost control. So much for setting a good example, Swift thought to herself sourly.
She adjusted her course and speed to transfer onto a vector which would take her to L2, and Amber.
 
Amber, who she had just reprimanded for lack of discipline. The taste of irony was bitter in the flagship's mouth. She now had serious doubts about the future, yet those had nothing to do with abyssals. Would she suffer strong reactions like the one she had just experienced again? If yes, would she still be suitable as flagship? Would the others even accept her in that position still, or would the unit fall apart?
 
Her thoughts were going in a rather dark direction.
 
Turning counter to her direction of movement Swift started decelerating in order to reach her Lagrange-point destination.
 
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===Reining runaway feelings===
Only a short while later she was there. 
 
Slightly startled by the unexpected arrival Amber looked up from something she had been reading. The girl was obviously surprised and curious, yet her greeting was careful. "Hello."
 
Finishing her deceleration-maneuver, Swift flipped herself around to face her young charge. "Hello." Not expecting the wave of embarrassment she experienced when she made eye-contact with Amber, the Aegis tried to cover it as well as she could. "What are you reading?"
 
"Old Hegemony-era comics Breast gave me." She held up the piece of literature. "Started it when i was doing guard-duty at Waystation 135. Don't know where she got them from in the first place, nanodesu." Giving Swift a long look, the Inazuma surely wanted to know why the flagship had joined her at the detention point, as Swift acerbically referred to it in her own mind. Amber's dark eyes were curious, yet she remained silent.
 
Still feeling unbalanced and reeling from her misstep, with dark thoughts of its possible consequences swirling in her mind, Swift gave in to her destructive train of thought. Just what would the dark-haired girl's opinion be on a superior who harps on about following orders, only to then have a comparatively catastrophic reaction to something entirely inane?
 
"I know you want to know what happened. Go ahead." Because I would not be here had nothing happened, she added silently to herself. Swift's voice was remarkably steady. It sounded nothing like what was going on in her mind.
 
Instead of being goaded by the grey-haired woman's self-deprecating tone, Amber paused. Several things Swift could not truly place crossed the Inazuma's face.
 
Eventually the girl spoke, voice even softer than usual. "Do you want me to know, nanodesu?"
 
Swift did and did not at the same time. Ordinarily she would want to keep her newly discovered dangerous side from being exposed. A mean voice at the back of her mind, though, pushed her to go ahead and let the girl know that she had wanted to shoot at a defenseless ship. Amber would know anyway. The others would tell her, the voice taunted.
 
"I suppose." An exhale. "That Jumpship belongs to the Word of Blake. When i saw its markings i got the reflexive urge to shoot it."
 
Surprise briefly crossed Amber's face, before it was replaced by understanding "So that's what it is." A moment's pause. "Did you shoot it?"
 
"No."
 
"I didn't think so." Amber pocketed the comic-book in her hands. "That's what matters, nanodesu."
 
The grey-haired woman hesitated, then gave in to the derisive voice in the back of her mind, which demanded she admit her misdeeds. "In that moment I wanted to, though." The only reason for the Blakist-ship still being in one piece was the standard-procedure of unloading and powering down guns when outside of combat.
 
Tilting her head in thought, Amber retorted carefully. "I don't think you truly did. Otherwise that jumpship would be scrap now."
Somehow Amber accepting, or not caring about, her serious slip-up made Swift despise herself more. "Did I not?" She knew better. Her shoulders sagged and she sighed wearily.
 
Another unreadable expression crossed Amber's features, and the next moment she unexpectedly stepped into the Aegis' personal space.
 
"What are you doing?" Swift noticed immediately and had to spend considerable willpower not to flinch and back away from the girl.
 
"Something I've learnt from Brest, nanodesu." Two more steps and Amber lifted her arms to enfold the grey-haired woman in a hug.
 
For a moment Swift was stiff with surprise, as well as the turmoil in her head which insisted she did not deserve understanding from her squadmates. Long moments of the comfortable contact weakened the grip Swift's dark thoughts had on her, and she returned the Draconian's hug.
"That's better." Head of dark hair resting on Swift's shoulder, the girl's smile could not be seen, but it was clearly audible.
 
Swift had expected Amber to judge her as harshly as she did herself. Having the girl show her acceptance instead was almost more than the Aegis could handle in that moment.
 
As though she could read the flagship's thoughts, Amber murmured against Swift's shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself. There's a difference between an irrational urge and being violent by nature, nanodesu."
 
"Thank you." When Amber said it like that Swift wanted to believe her. With great mental effort she pushed the mass of dark thoughts to the back of her mind and tightened the embrace for a moment, before letting go and stepping back.
 
The corvette released her as well and regarded her flagship with a small smile. "Better?"
 
"Surprisingly, yes." Feeling genuinely lighter Swift could not help but return her young charge's small smile. When the girl did nothing but look smug, Swift's smile grew. "When i first met you I never thought you would comfort anyone like that, nevermind me."
 
Now Amber was actually grinning. "As i said, I've learnt a thing or two from observing and experiencing, nanodesu."
 
She had alright, Swift thought to herself. And Breast has had an influence as well. "Good guess."
"Not a guess. You looked like you needed a hug, nanodesu."
The Aegis had not been aware her distress had been this obvious. Yet, feeling better now she could joke about it. "Good thing i am bad at hiding my thoughts, hm?"
 
Amber's expression turned serious again. "We know you have issues with the Word. It's obvious." A short pause, Amber was carefully choosing her words. "You're the only one of us who actually remembers how she... died. They killed you after all, so problems arising from that is not surprising, nanodesu?"
 
The Inazuma brought up a good point, Swift thought with a tilt to her head. "I had not considered that, actually. Something to mull over." Her mind being more balanced now Swift realised that was one more thing they, as fleetmaidens, were breaking new ground on. As far as they knew they were the first people to return from death. That was something she would want to talk about with the others. She made a mental note to herself.
"See? No need to blame yourself too much, nanodesu." Amber affirmed her point of view readily.
 
Accepting the Inazuma's kind support with a gracious expression, Swift gazed into the distance. The rest of them were behind the planet, along with the Blakist-jumpship. Swift thanked the stars that La Pata was there to take the reins when they had slipped out of her own hands.
==Chapter Notes==
*; Chapter Note from the Author : Swift has a fun time.
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