BSBxKc Chpt 11

==Blue Squadron (Battletech x KanColle(ish) crossover) - Chapter 11 -==
<<Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
----
===Returning Home===
Jan Mayen System, Deep Periphery
Having returned to their system of origin, the three members of Blue Squadron were on their way towards Waystation 135.
Repeating the delicate process of equipping Brest with improvised propulsion had been time-consuming, but ultimately successful. More important, though, was the fact that everything was fine. 
 
Having called over the radio for a situational report, the wait for a reply had been a tense and wordless affair. Only when Amber Lotus herself replied, did the three other fleetmaidens relax. 
 
On a vector of approach Brest , supported by Swift Justice and La Plata on her right and left respectively, squinted.
 
"I can see Amber, but are all of the dots her dropships?"
 
Leaning forwards to see better, Swift Justice peered at the distant station intently. "I cannot tell for certain."
 
When both of them glanced at La Plata questioningly, the woman merely grunted. Apparently she could not tell either.
 
With their eyes now riveted on the dots of light orbiting the frozen planet of Jan Mayen, Blue Squadron continued their approach. A few orbits later, they were close enough to tell.
 
"There's two dropships at the station, that belong to neither of us." Her already present frown deepening, Brest continued in a murmur. "That better not be the reinforcements we were promised."
 
Glancing at Swift, the question in La Plata's eyes was obvious. 
 
"All of us had misgivings about going onto this sortie, and leave the people here undefended." The grey-haired woman went on to explain. "A promise that reinforcements were on the way made it easier for us to justify leaving." With furrowed brows, the Aegis could not help but think that maybe they had been lied to, in a roundabout way. Technically, support had arrived. Yet...
 
"One of them isn't even a combat dropship. I can't see any guns on it." Brest did not sound happy about the revelation either.
 
"I thought people..." La Plata hesitated for a moment. "Aside from us, i mean, couldn't fight this enemy we had the pleasure with?"
 
"They cannot, as far as we have seen." Though, the Aegis' thoughts went to the crewman in Vespucci Station's command room. She wondered if that woman had drawn the sidearm in her hand on panicked reflex, or if she had actually been clear of thought and fighting the intruders. With a mental shake, Swift continued. "But i do not need to tell you that there are enough dangers about, even without eldritch horrors in the equation."
 
"That's true." Agreeing readily, the dark-haired woman turned her eyes forwards again.
 
"I think it's an Overlord? Or at least used to be?" Not having taken her eyes off of the unknown dropship, Brest was still guessing.
 
"We will know soon enough." Swift replied conversationally, as the station and everything next to it disappeared behind Jan Mayen's curvature.
----
===Meet and Greet===
Jan Mayen System, Deep Periphery
And they did. The next orbit saw them linking up with the station, and Amber. 
 
Meeting them at half of the remaining way to the station, the dark-haired girl matched their speed and direction. She greeted them with a smile. "You made it. Welcome back." Her eyes were on Brest , and relief was plain to hear in the Inazuma's voice. 
 
"Told you i would be fine." Brest seemed equally as happy.
 
The corvettes were not the only ones. Swift could feel a subtle tension leave her shoulders, one that had been there as soon as she had sent Amber ahead. The grey-haired woman disliked having her young charges off on their own somewhere.
 
"How have things been over here?" 
 
"All quiet when it comes to enemy activity, nanodesu." Amber responded to her flagship's query. "Some people have arrived though." She pointed at the two dropships next to the station. "They want to see you. Or, well, us." Her eyes were firmly on Brest .
 
"That is fine. The sooner we go into a debriefing, the better." Thinking of the strategic situation had been occupying the Aegis' mind all the way back. She wanted to be up to speed with current developements.
 
While Brest was obviously curious why Amber had worded her answer the way she had, she did not push her friend, beyond raising her eyebrows at the dark-haired girl.
 
Answering the other corvette's non-verbal question, Amber continued "It's someone from the AFFS." While on final approach, she inclined her head at one of the dropships as they passed it.
 
True enough, the Gazelle-class proudly bore the crest of the Federated Suns. 
 
"Huh." Brest stated what the rest of the fleetmaidens were probably thinking. Swift just hoped whoever had shown up would not try to interfere with how she ran her unit.
 
"That one has some of the same markings as you do." La Plata remarked, her gaze swerving from the other dropship to Swift and back.
 
"It belongs to Comstar as well." Swift affirmed. She had a hunch what its role would be.
 
"Over here." Having reached the station proper, Amber led the others to, what they could at this point claim was, their airlock. While they approached, as was usual to three of the four fleetmaidens, people gathered at the windows from which they could be seen.
 
Once Swift floated up to the door she could see into it, as well as the corridor behind it. There were two men there, both of which wearing headsets. 
 
One was Zheng, in his usual jumpsuit, customary noteputer in hand. Next to him was a new face, and presumably who the FedSuns dropship had carried here.
 
The man was tall, visibly more so than Zheng. The difference was obvious, despite the two mens' not quite upright posture, one instinctively took on in weightlessness. The newcomer was also an officer, as made obvious by the AFFS uniform he was wearing, and the rank-insignia pinned to his chest. Along with the uniform, the man's short-cropped dark hair would have given him the image one would expect from someone career-military, were it not for his mellow expression. As soon as the fleetmaidens had gotten into view, his gaze had been fastened on them. Brest in particular.
 
Swift disliked him right away. 
 
Letting go of Brest just outside the airlock's door, Swift Justice and La Plata straightened and saluted as one.
 
Mr. Zheng returned the gesture. The FedSuns officer did not. 
 
"Good day, ladies. I am relieved to see you return to us." Zheng pronounced the word noticeably. His expression fell as he swept his gaze over the assembled fleetmaidens. "If not unscathed, then at least in one piece." Dark eyes coming to rest on La Plata , he took in her appearance for a moment. "And with a new arrival too. Welcome to Jan Mayen station. My name is Zheng, SLIC."
 
"Pleased to meet you. I am La Plata , with Blue Squadron for the moment." The woman was confident in her demeanor. 
 
Swift approved of her fellow cruiser's professionalism. "Our encounter with the enemy has convinced her to join us. She is an acquaintance of mine, and i will vouch for her, if necessary." The Aegis added with a hint of pride.
 
An awkward silence followed. After a few moments, Mr. Zheng glanced at the man next to him. "Would you like to introduce yourself, Light Commodore?" 
 
Another moment passed before the officer came out of his stupor. "I am Jared Emmet, AFFS Navy." The man fell silent again, gaze returning to Brest .
 
"He is here in the capacity of an observer and military advisor." Blessedly picking up the string where the other officer had faltered, Zheng carried on, apparently unperturbed by Emmet's peculiar behavior.
 
La Plata and Swift exchanged quick glances, both apparently thinking the same thing. Deciding to move on, the Aegis started the de/briefing proper.
 
"I trust you have read the action-report?" 
 
"Yes. And I want to thank and congratulate you, in the name of everyone here, for preventing what doubtlessly would have turned into an attack on this station." Zheng paused for a moment. He sounded apologetic when he continued, casting a distinctly unhappy glance at Brest . "Unfortunately, victory did not come without a cost." 
 
"Ah, well. Taking damage during battle is inevitable. We all know what fighting in a war entails." Brest appeared surprisingly unbothered. She had been handling the destruction of her propulsion surprisingly well, from the first moment onwards. Despite her tender age, the girl had the fortitude of mind to cope with a loss of that magnitude in a mature way. 
 
Swift Justice was impressed and proud. She placed a hand on the brunette's back in a gesture of support, and confirmed the questioning look she got from the girl with a nod and a smile.
 
"To bring you up to speed on the strategic situation." Zheng continued, eyes connecting with Swift's. "Contrary to what you predicted, enemy activity has increased. Signal Intelligence see fewer coded messages than before, but we have lost contact to a JumpShip and a DropShip in separate systems. Both two jumps from here, and both were tasked with setting up equipment for signal-surveillance."
 
"After their defeat at 1339, they know we are onto them. It seems they have dropped any subtlety, as a result." Wearing an unhappy frown, the Aegis cupped her chin. "They might attempt another attack." From the corner of her eye, the woman noticed that Amber was saying something in sign-language.
 
"Or they are trying to do as much damage as they can, before we uproot the forces they have left all over the place." La Plata argued a valid counterpoint. 
 
"Either way, we will have to investigate these disappearances." All the other fleetmaidens nodded in agreement with Swift. That much went without saying. 
 
"Also, I'd suggest you cut back on these independent intel-missions. It's probably better to send them in after we have secured a system, to prevent unnecessary losses." 
 
Nodding in agreement with the Dart's argument, Zheng typed on his noteputer. When he looked up again, he apparently felt the need to justify himself. "We had cautionary measures in place. The participants of these missions were briefed on the signs of enemy activity, and to escape as soon as they were noticed. That might have saved the Jumpship that carried the missing DropShip." He looked distinctly unhappy. "But apparently was not enough for the DropShip itself."
 
"You did all you could. The crews aboard those ships knew what they were getting themselves into, and i doubt you alone made the decision." Unexpectedly, Amber brought herself into the conversation. "Someone once said to me that, during wartime, one can only reduce the risk as much as possible. Not eliminate it entirely, nanodesu." Glancing at Swift with an incline to her head, the Inazuma finished her point. 
 
Unable to do anything but smile, the grey-haired woman returned the draconian's gaze. The fact that the girl, despite her unruly streak, had apparently taken the Aegis' lessons to heart made the woman truly happy.
 
Shaking herself mentally, Swift Justice took the conversation's reigns again. "Then we will start recharging our drives and launch, as soon as we are ready, for the nearest disappearance?" Her sentence trailed off into a question.
 
"I will prepare a device for you, with all the information we have on the systems in question, so you can plan the operations." Zheng was typing again.
 
Something occured to the Aegis then. "For completion's sake, Brest will remain behind, for obvious reasons." She had to exert conscious effort not to look at the girl's legs.
 
"That's fine. I'll just join the static defenses here." The Fox' voice was carrying a note of dark humor.
 
Unexpectedly, there was a chuckle from Zheng. It attracted Swift's gaze to something she did not like at all.
 
The AFFS officer next to their liaison was still staring at Brest . Belatedly realising something, the grey-haired woman got angry. How had she not noticed? Brest's damage translated to the girl's uniform being torn in more places than it was not, which lead to it not covering the Fox' modesty as it should. Worse, Brest , and possibly all fleetmaidens, had not truly realized.
 
Not bothering to hide her antagonistic thoughts, the cruiser floated right up to the window, blocking the FedSuns man's view of anything but her.
 
"We will decide on the disposition of dropships while we recharge, since i have no idea if we can get our lost ones back like our fighters or not." While the grey-haired woman's tone was neutral while she spoke, her gaze was anything but. She glared at the officer on the other side of the glass.
 
The man's gaze transferred to her instead, once he could not see Brest any more. Swift got a surprise, though. Up close, she could see his eyes did not roam over her form, as she had expected. Instead, they were locked onto her own. Yet the man seemed to be looking through, rather than at her, absent expression never changing.
 
"That's something I've been wondering. How do we replenish losses and ammunition?" La Plata questioned.
 
"It's simple. We'll show you." Answering lightly, Brest's hand went to her barely covered midriff at the thought of food.
 
Wresting her gaze away from the disturbing FedSuns officer, Swift looked at their liaison instead. "I have to remark that operational risks will be higher, now that La Plata is part of the formation. But i will gladly pay that price for a veteran like her." She looked over her shoulder and sent a smile at her fellow cruiser.
 
"Say what?" 
 
After a moment, the Dart's perplexed look made Swift realize. Shaking her head at her own oversight, she went on to explain. "You do not have an L-F battery."
 
"A what??" La Plata's voice rose in pitch and volume.
 
The way she seemed to be unable to make sense to her fellow cruiser made Swift bring her palm to her forehead.
 
"It's a piece of equipment that enables you to jump twice before you are stuck somewhere and need to recharge, nanodesu." Luckily, Amber Lotus was not so impaired.
 
"That's... neat. Helpful even." Surprise was written on the tanned woman's features.
 
"Aha." 
"One thing i need to add. You have noticed the DropShip." Zheng pointed at the unarmed Overlord-class, parked not far away. "Kepler belongs to the Explorer Corps, and will use its extensive suit of telescopes to map local space. Our aim is to make sure that the enemy cannot get past our frontline." There he paused for a moment. "Unnoticed. The last thing we want is to have all of you on a sortie, only for them to reach inhabited systems via inconspicuous, or hard to see, jump points around brown dwarves or rogue planets."
 
"That's really helpful." Amber remarked with approval.
 
"Eases the mind too." Brest added her opinion.
 
"We hope to give this campaign a little more order and structure, this way. Along with soothing all of our minds." Zheng finished his piece.
 
Having regained her wits, Swift was about ready to conclude the briefing. "If that was all. Does anyone have anything to add?"
 
After a moment of silence, during which Zheng threw an annoyed glance at the still military advisor next to him, he spoke up again, hesitantly. "One thing. Signal Intelligence has filtered an HPG message out of the ether."
 
Behind her, Swift could hear La Plata uttering. "A what?" 
 
Both of Blue Squadron's corvettes were kind enough to elaborate.
 
"Why the apprehension?" Swift was not sure she wanted to know the answer.
 
"Because we have been able to decipher it." The man paused again. "It reads Mining ship. Gabriel. Move."
A headache came to Swift, unbidden. Wincing, she brought two fingers to her temple, massaging the spot subconsciously.
 
"I am sorry. I thought you should know." With an apologetic look, the man fell silent for a moment. "I think that concludes this briefing." Turning, he gave the fleetmaidens a polite nod and floated down the corridor, out of sight. A click over the radio let the fleetmaidens know that Zheng had left the channel. They went and switched back to their own net.
 
"What does that even mean?" La Plata queried, having come up next to Swift. When the Aegis turned, the tanned woman got a good look at her. "Are you alright?"
 
"It is nothing." Attempting to dismiss her visceral reaction, Swift was not all that convincing.
 
"Sure doesn't look like nothing." La Plata remarked, but did not push for an answer.
 
Just then, movement in the corridor caught both cruisers' eyes. It was not Emmet, though. He was still rooted in place.
 
Instead it was a familiar, red-haired woman who came floating along the corridor. After several moments, Swift recognized what she was carrying as a stack of blankets.
 
Amber had noticed as well. Wearing a gentle smile, she went right up to the airlock's door, miming a Thanks a lot. at the woman.
 
The redhead, in turn, smiled broadly and gestured back. Food will be ready soon. Placing the blankets into the airlock, she engaged the depressurization-cycle, and floated away with purpose. 
 
Catching the blankets as soon as the door opened, Amber jammed most of them under her arms and went to work.
----
===Questions about New Arrivals and Resupplying===
Sidling up to both cruisers, she gently nudged them aside. Spreading the blanket in her hands, she fastened the ends on the outside of the window, obscuring Emmet's view of the outside. She then went to the next window with line of sight to their position, and repeated the process. The people at the windows, surprisingly, did not so much as protest.
 
Amber Lotus taking the initiative, on something Swift herself had only realized late, made the Aegis happy. Her young charges were something to be proud of.
 
"They are good girls." La Plata remarked, following her fellow's gaze.
"Yes, they are." 
 
"Also, what's wrong with that guy?" She jabbed a thumb at the covered window. "He said next to nothing, and i don't think he even moved."
 
"I have no idea. I..." Trailing off, the Aegis' brow furrowed. "I will ask Zheng in private." 
 
"Hmm." A pause. "What now?" The dark-haired woman queried.
 
"Just what we said." Locking eyes with the Dart, Swift tilted her head in a gesture to follow her. She floated far enough away from the station so she could raise her jumpsail.
 
Following the flagship's lead, the Dart also started charging her hyperdrive.
 
Amber was done with the darkening of windows, just in time for the redheaded woman's return. Quickly floating to the airlock, she received the crate of food.
 
After a short conversation in sign-language, which the grey-haired woman could not see, the Inazuma went about distributing their food. She first went by the immobile Brest , who was very grateful and eager to dig in.
 
Parking herself next to the two larger warships, Amber claimed her meal and left the container to the cruisers.
 
La Plata threw a questioning look at the corvette, then at Swift. 
 
With a smile, the Aegis launched into a short and simple explanation. "In our new forms, resupply works as follows."
As soon as she crossed the border of a proper safety-margin, she supplied power to her K-F drive. As always happened, time seemed to freeze for a moment, and the next she was gone.
----
*; Chapter Note from the Author : Finally done. A rather boring chapter, but a necessary one.
----
<<Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
11