BSBxKc Chpt 17

==Blue Squadron (Battletech x KanColle(ish) crossover) - Chapter 17 -==
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===Introductions===
Jay Mayen System, Deep Periphery
Have your screen up at all times and assume every jump is directly into combat." 
 
"Mhm. I've done this a few times, but thanks for the reminder." La Plata could not help herself and teased her old friend a little, smile lopsided. 
 
Swift exhaled a shaky breath. "I am sorry. After our latest run-in with the abyssals i do not like the thought of the squadron going into action at anything below full strength." The woman winced when one of her many damaged areas injuries chose that moment to send a jolt of pain through her.
 
"We'll be fine." Projecting the confidence she felt into her voice, the Dart glanced to her side. Two corvettes returned the non-verbal question with gestures of reassurance. Amber, fully repaired and raring to go, gave a thumbs up and a smile, while Silver nodded once.
 
The grey-haired flagship seemed anxious enough to begin worrying her hands any moment, then visibly steeled herself. "Just be careful, alright?"
 
"Always am." La Plata thought her fellow cruiser's worry was endearing. 
 
Trelleborg spoke up, then. After having finished work on Amber, and subsequently La Plata, the giant woman had a powered down sleeping Brest in her repair bay on her lap. "Remember to call for help if you run into trouble." 
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===What happens the abducted===
Trelleborg's words kept repeating in her head for some reason, yet La Plata was almost certain it would not come to that. Looking to the side she regarded Silver, their telephone, for a few moments, then gave herself a mental shake. They were too far away for Swift to reach them in a timely fashion anway. Two jumps more than the Aegis could make at once. And that number was about to become three.
 
Being well into their patrol, and over its course having visited the dormant Willemstad, this half of Blue Squadron was charging their interstellar drives. With both corvettes being on the taciturn side, and La Plata having no reason to say much of anything, the three of them had been quiet most of the time.
 
So it came as a bit of a surprise when Amber spoke up. "You know, I've been thinking. What happened to the people the abyssals abducted? Did they disappear like that man in the escape-pod, nanodesu?"
 
"Hm. That's the question, isn't it?" La Plata's brows furrowed. "They're similar to us, in a way. So maybe? But those people have to go somewhere, otherwise the enemy wouldn't bother taking them."
 
Amber nodded in agreement, the movement making her dark bun bob. "I thought that too. And what they want with prisoners." Here the Inazuma's expression fell.
 
Pondering the fate of people lost to the enemy was always a sobering thing to do. After a few moments of silence La Plata glanced at the other corvette. "What do you think, Silver?"
 
Returning the Dart's brilliant green gaze for a wordless moment, the Peregrine answered with a slight frown. "My name is Silver Merlin. And i have not seen enough of the enemy to form a proper opinion on that yet."
 
"Fair enough. I honestly hope you never have to see the aftermath of an abyssal-attack for yourself." Attempting to lighten the mood La Plata gave in to her mischievous side. "At the rate we've been picking up new kanmusu you might not need to. Especially if there are more brave clan-warriors among them like you, Silver. She drew out the girl's name noticeably. The Dart had noticed that the Peregrine disliked abbreviations, and had confirmed with Swift that it was for cultural reasons. For a moment La Plata felt a little bad for needling the girl, but consoled herself with the fact that Silver would probably return the favor at some point.
 
Predictably the corvette in question bristled. Yet before she could reply they all received a coded fax-message.
 
Tilting her head while she used their unit's agreed-upon ciphers to decrypt it, the Dart murmured the contents of the message under her breath. "Enemy presence confirmed, intercept if possible, pirate point." It ended on a string of alphanumericals.
 
"Those are jump-coordinates, nanodesu." Amber remarked quickly.
 
"Huh. They must be really sure of this. Swift wouldn't break radio-silence lightly."
 
"You cannot seriously be considering a jump there?" Silver's gaze was on the cruiser, violet eyes intense.
 
"I trust her. I know that woman and she has led the unit well, even before i arrived." La Plata replied neutrally.
 
"You assume it was Swift Justice who sent this message." Silver paused for effect. "This was a fax, so if it actually came from her it took quite a while to get here. There is a good chance for it to be outdated, dangerously so."
 
"Only one way to find out, nanodesu?" Amber was visibly raring to go.
 
"Agreed. How long until you've reached full charge?" La Plata was starting to draw up a plan of action in her head.
 
"Almost there." The Inazuma replied quickly.
 
"This is not a good idea. For all we know this is a trap, set by the enemy to ambush us." Silver's eyes narrowed. "If those coordinates are even legit. I have no idea where we would emerge, and we do not want to end up inside a sun, quiaff?" The girl gestured animatedly to bring her point across.
 
"That's true. I see no star within on jump that suits the coordinates." Amber was wearing a contemplative expression.
 
La Plata had started crunching the numbers in her head, to get an idea of where the coordinates they had received would take them. "The message had the right codes. I think it's legit." Finishing her calculations she gazed downwards, past her feet, in the direction that jump would take them. "I don't see a star within thirty lightyears."
 
Silver tried a different approach. "Codes can be broken and falsified. And no star in that direction does not make it any safer. Imagine if we jumped there only to end up in deep space. Amber Lotus and I could leave again safely while it would take you decades or even centuries, to charge your K-F drive. Or you could hot-load and risk a misjump." She paused again. "I have to reiterate that i am vehemently opposed to jumping into the unknown."
 
La Plata saw similarities between the argument Silver was making and the one she had had with Swift during their last sortie. She wanted to reconsider for a moment, until she remembered what she had seen on the Willemstad. "Your concerns are noted. My instinct tells me to trust the message, though. We'll jump to those coordinates, do you understand?" La Plata's tone dared the Peregrine to disagree.
 
"Aff." Surprisingly the green-haired girl dropped her argument and nodded. "I am ready to jump." She was in the process of lowering her sail.
 
Taken off-guard by Silver's sudden pivot after the girl had passionately argued against her plan of action, La Plata needed a moment to overcome her surprise and regain her footing. "Amber?"
 
"Charge green and ready to go, nanodesu."
 
"Same here. Alright then. Get ready to jump and prepare to launch fighters immediately after translation. We have to assume the enemy is right there." La Plata was following her own orders, getting ready to jump with guns loaded and missiles in their launchers. Feeling confident, despite the uncertainty of the mystery-message, she began a countdown. "Three minutes to hyperjump."
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===The Hidden Potential===
Arriving on the other side, La Plata understood why none of them had seen a star in the jump's direction. They had emerged in low orbit of a young terrestrial planet, which orbited an equally young brown dwarf. The weak light said dwarf emitted across the spectrum could not get past the dense sheath of gas and dust it had condensed from. In return, that also meant the stars were not visible from inside said sheath. Being in the system meant the equivalent of looking at a canvas of yellows and browns that spanned the entire firmament, lit up from the inside by the brown dwarf as it was.
 
Taking stock of their surroundings while detaching their full complement of DropShips and launching fighters, the kanmusu were tense.
 
"Sitrep." La Plata gestured in sign-language.
 
"All green." Came back from her two companions.
 
La Plata spared the planet below them a long look. The igneous landscapes and thick atmosphere, choked by volcanic gases, reminded her of something she had seen long ago.
 
About to go loud again, a sharp gesture by Amber drew the acting flagship's attention to the girl.
 
"I see something. Ion-trail in low orbit, going this direction." Amber raised a hand to point at what she saw.
 
"Can confirm. Do we intercept?" There was no more doubt or hesitation in Silver's countenance.
 
"Yes." The Dart gestured back. "We'll burn at my best speed in the other direction. That way whoever it is has next to no time to react. Be ready to fight, but don't shoot until we've positively identified the enemy." Her orders were terse, yet included all that was necessary.
 
The kanmusu ignited their transit drives, the powerful propulsion systems pushing them easily through the planet's high atmosphere. They were picking up speed.
 
Remaining in their low orbit, the fleetmaidens' dash around the planet was masked by its curvature. Heading for where the origin of the ion-trail was projected to be, the squadron stuck close to the horizon, backlit by the warm tones of color which dominated the system.
 
It did not take long for them to spot what they were looking for.
 
"Contact." Silver gestured while keeping her eyes on what she was seeing, squinting against the headwind the planet's atmosphere caused.
 
Following the girl's eyes La Plata saw for herself. It was what she had expected.
 
There, in even lower orbit and back turned to them, was the pale figure of a woman. She was wearing a uniform of some kind, which was as torn as it was black, sharply contrasting her skin. The woman was also wearing some kind of helmet and was surrounded by half a dozen fighters.
 
Still trying to discern what class the obvious warship belonged to, the Dart gave orders, still in sign-language. "Doesn't seem to have noticed us yet. I'll launch Killer Whales for the fighters. After they've hit, go in and let her have it."
 
Two nods came back as acknowledgement. With La Plata still at full burn, Blue Squadron came in fast. They were almost in weapons-range when the hostile ship-woman spotted them.
 
Glancing over her shoulder, the pale figure's helmet was revealed to cover her entire face. Curiously she started her drives but did not attempt to turn.
 
It was too late to run anyway. The kanmusu were already in weapons-range, and closing fast still.
 
Moments later they understood why the enemy warship was almost entirely unprotected. There were two groups of dropshuttles, complete with fighter-escorts, in the process of descending to the planet's surface. One of them already at a lower altitude than the other.
 
"Go loud. Fire at will." La Plata spoke the words which the corvettes had been waiting for, while launching her Killer Whales capital missiles.
 
Both girls were wearing distinctly bellicose looks, eyes fixed on their adversary. Once the weapons-free came they fired their NLs and NPPCs respectively, followed by their NACs. Their ordinance hit the target to good effect, explosions visible on the dark vessel's skin.
 
"I have never seen that class before." Silver murmured under her breath while she was reloading, keeping her place in the formation exemplary. Apparently La Plata wasn't the only one unable to make heads or tails of their adversary's hull-shape, aggravated by all kinds of growths that did not belong on a spaceship.
 
The girl's voice seemed to jog La Plata's memory, because she recognized what the enemy warship was at that moment. Or it might have been the batteries of NACs and NLs that fired at them from the enemy's stern.
 
"That's an Athena-class cruiser! Stay away from its backside!" The enemy NLs had largely missed, but she grit her teeth for the impending shell-impacts.
 
"What!? No it's not!" Amber yelled back, confusion in her voice as she did a figure-skater's impression again and pirouetted to avoid the incoming ordinance aimed at her.
 
"Believe me, it is." As if to prove La Plata's point, the enemy warship launched two dozen capital missiles.
 
"Savashri!" Silver cursed when she saw the many missile-plumes and fired her forward facing NACs at their adversary again."Keep your cool. We're well within weapons-range. Those things won't have the time to accelerate enough to be dangerous." The Dart glanced at the planet, gauging the distance to the descending, correction, now ascending dropshuttles. She returned her gaze to their main adversary. "My own Killer Whales are almost there. Send all your fighters to strike at those missiles before they get fast."
 
The arrival of another salvo from the Athena's considerably powerful stern-weaponry caused consternation. La Plata took several hits from NLs, yet her armor seemed to have held. Glancing to her side she noticed Silver had taken a hit from a NAC, uniform torn at the girl's left side and skin beneath it blackened. "Are you alright?"
 
"I will survive." Teeth clenched, the Peregrine growled her answer and returned fire.
 
A change of tactics was in order. "Amber! Break away and intercept those dropshuttles while they are still ascending." Turning to her other escort she proceeded. "Silver! Swerve the other direction and threaten her side. That way she can only point her ass at one of us."
 
Affirmatives came back and La Plata concentrated to take aim. Firing an alpha-strike at the Athena she was glad to see some of the las-beams and shells go home, and have effect. Pieces of armor and wreckage was blasted off their adversary's eerie form.
 
With relief the Dart observed the cloud of enemy missiles headed for them, still relatively slow as they were, be taken out entirely by their own fighters and dropships. No bad experiences with capital missiles this day.
 
The next moment the quartet of missiles La Plata had fired arrived and claimed as many enemy fighters. In their wake came almost the entirety of the fleetmaidens' aerospace assets. Seven dropships and more than two dozen fighters fell like a swarm of locusts on the warship and its remaining two defenders.
 
Needless to say, outnumbered as they were, the enemy fighters were taken out almost immediately. Since the Athena-class had no effective way of engaging fighters, or dropships that close by, they proceeded to strafe and bomb the dark warship with impunity.
 
Already trailing smoke from the hits she had taken from her kanmusu-opponents, the pale woman's tail of debris and vented atmosphere grew larger. In an eerie repeat of the last battle the abyssal showed no reaction to any of the goings-on, aside from when big hits shook her entire frame.
 
"What is wrong with that one?" Silver questioned while she fired her powerful NAC/35s again. She had completed her arch and was approaching the enemy from the side, uncontested. The prolonged assault from their aerospace assets had taken out most of the Athena's weapons.
 
"It was the same for every abyssal we've encountered so far." La Plata had ceased fire and was recalling her aerospace assets. She ordered Silver to do the same.
 
"Aside from the first one. That Quixote screamed like I've never heard anyone scream before she jumped away, nanodesu." Amber was done with the enemy dropshuttles and their escorts. From her advantageous position she did not have any trouble swatting them out of the sky.
 
"Pity we cannot board that ship." Silver was watching the pale woman Athena impassively. Caught without propulsion in the planet's atmosphere, and reduced to a blazing hulk, she was losing altitude quickly.
 
"I'm surprised this one didn't jump away to deny us intelligence." Amber remarked, in the process of forming up with La Plata.
 
"Maybe her K-F drive is so damaged she can't even commit suicide with it." La Plata was following their defeated adversary with her eyes, the pale woman facing her as though returning her gaze all the way down, until she was engulfed in flames during entry.
 
"Or because it had no charge." Silver watched the Athena turn into a large fireball in the planet's atmosphere. "Or because she did not need to."
 
That was the other obvious possibility. In the end it didn't matter. They had won again, yet knew just as little about the abyssals and their motivations as they had at the very beginning.
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===Question of Allegiances===
The members of Blue Squadron were wordlessly following the fireball that had been their enemy with their eyes, until it impacted the planet's surface below them with a titanic flash.
 
Glancing at the other two fleetmaidens in turn, Silver eventually asked. "What now?"
 
"Our patrol is complete. We return home and congratulate someone on a job well done." La Plata stated, green eyes turning towards where she knew a distant prick of light to be on the firmament, around which Jan Mayen revolved.
 
"We should take a look at the planet, nanodesu."
 
"Oh?" It was more of a prompt than a question.
 
Nodding, Amber continued. "I saw a glint of light above me when i was fighting those dropshuttles. Probably reflected weapons-fire, nanodesu."
 
"A satellite?" Silver perked up.
 
"Don't know. I'm having a pair of fighters search for it." Amber turned to look into the distance.
 
True enough, when La Plata followed the girl's eyes she spotted two Spads fighters moving in a search-pattern. "Let me know if you find something."
 
"Got it, nanodesu."
 
La Plata turned her attention to Silver, who had returned to her side. After all was said and done the Dart was surprised the girl had done exactly as she had been told, despite her vehement opposition to jumping into the unknown in the first place.
 
Sweeping her green eyes over the Peregrine's frame, La Plata did a double-take and squinted. "What's wrong with you? Are you alright?"
 
Returning her superior's look in incomprehension for a moment, Silver eventually followed the cruiser's eyes to the NAC-hit in her side. A black substance was oozing from the wound where the clan-warrior's uniform was torn.
 
"Oh. Makes sense you have not seen it." Gesturing at the area on her torso which had arrested La Plata's attention, Silver continued nonchalantly. "That is harjel. Hull sealant."
 
"Hull sealant, huh? Nifty. Any chance for the rest of us getting that?" The cruiser queried half seriously.
 
"Yes. If we visited the Homeworlds they would certainly fall over themselves to equip their enemies with advanced technologies." The sarcasm in Silver's words was biting, but there was definite humor in the girl's violet eyes. La Plata could not help but take a liking to that. She also belatedly realized that Silver had used the word they instead of we when referring to the clans. Was the girl truly so quick with casting off her former allegiance? The thought was derailed by Amber.
 
"I've found it, nanodesu!"
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==Chapter Note==
*; Chapter Note from the Author : This one did not go as i had expected at all. Goes to show that the characters have their own will, and I merely type what they want me to.
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