BSBxKc Chpt 16

==Blue Squadron (Battletech x KanColle(ish) crossover) - Chapter 16 -==
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===Introductions===
Jay Mayen System, Deep Periphery
"Oh dear. You poor thing." Telleborg was fussing over Brest.
 
"It's not so bad." Aside from slight embarrassment on her part, Brest did not seem to mind the Newgrange being all over her.
 
"If only that were true." Murmuring under her breath the giant woman brushed aside Brest's torn and shredded uniform to take a look at the dorsal missile hit the girl's back, and grimaced.
 
It was a good thing, Swift mused, that Amber had covered all of the station's portholes and windows from where they could be seen. It protected Brest's modesty while Telleborg examined the girl's extensive injuries.
 
Having made a beeline for the Fox-class once they had arrived at Jan Mayen, Telleborg had introduced herself briefly while already stepping into Brests personal space. The woman was single-minded when it came to caring for corvettes, it looked like. She could afford it too, since the Newgrange's charisma would have won the girl over even if Brest was not as easygoing as she was.
"I survived." Despite, or maybe because of, her tender age Brest was being flippant about her close call.
 
"Luckily. That could've gone worse though." Telleborg was finished with her inspection and lowered what was left of Brest's uniform again. "Be more careful in the future." She placed a large hand on Brest's head and, smiling mischievously, ruffled the girl's hair.
 
"Hey" Ducking away from the offending hand, Brest feigned annoyance. The act was given away by her smile. "Why do all of you do that?"
 
The older kanmusu chuckled while Amber, who was parked next to her friend, was watching the Fox' antics bemusedly. Silver was unaffected. Having reclaimed her spot, last in their line and farthest from the station, the clan-warrior was still frowning and refusing to take her eyes off of Trelleborg .
"Your designers would be proud to know that you kept fighting despite the big hits you took, nanodesu."
 
La Plata and Swift shared a glance. Neither said anything, yet they understood each other. Their own designers had passed away centuries ago, yet they wondered what it would be like to meet those people who had been instrumental in bringing them into being. Swift would really like to have a conversation with them.
 
"They surely would." The large woman's words of praise brought a smile and a slight flush of color to the Fox' cheeks. Telleborg stepped away from Brest and raised her jumpsail to begin charging her K-F drive.
 
----
===Meeting between Old Friends===
At the same time Swift had finally gotten a message from officer Zheng. It read that he would be with them shortly, and to start the debriefing. She would begin with her personal questions, yet still make a recording. It could not hurt, since there were many things to cover. Most important to Swift was her apparent loss of memory, but also how Telleborgseemed to know what had been happening.
 
Regarding the Newgrange with a thoughtful expression for a moment, Swift began. "Now that introductions are out of the way we can get down to business." Her voice drawing the attention of all kanmusu, she explained for Silver and Telleborg. "Our liaison with the SLIC will be here soon. Anything we talk about during this briefing is not to be disclosed to anyone else, unless ordered otherwise. Understood?"
 
As expected Telleborg gave Swift an understanding look and inclined her head. When Silver did not acknowledge the flagship's words the grey-haired cruiser gave the girl a pointed look. "Did you hear what i said, Silver?"
 
Seemingly startled for a moment the Peregrine responded curtly. "Aff. Of course."
 
"Good." Hesitating for a moment, Swift sought an answer to the most burning of questions when it came to their new acquaintance. "Trelleborg , I apologies for asking this first but being unable to remember is driving me crazy. How do you know me?"
 
The auburn-haired woman in question gave Swift an understanding look. She knew what the Aegis was actually asking. "We were part of the same fleet, deployed to the Taurus Concordat. We used to meet frequently."
 
Brest's gaze swerved between Swift and Trelleborg , attentively listening to a development which was new to her.
 
Swift had hoped for a revelation, yet it did not come to her. Logically she knew that if Telleborg's name did not do the trick then anything else was unlikely to either. She was still disappointed.
 
"Still nothing, huh?" La Plata had stepped up to Swift, green eyes conveying kindness, and placed a hand on the latter's shoulder. "Maybe that is an effect of our change and it will wear off after a while, like the initial terrible accuracy."
 
"Could be. I guess all of us should pay attention if there are holes in our memory." Brest took the thought to its logical conclusion.
 
"Agreed." Swift disliked being in uncharted territory all the time when it came to her nature, and that of the other fleetmaidens. Yet there was nothing to be done about it. Trial and error would yield the knowledge they needed, eventually. Hopefully.
 
"Maybe we should summaries everything we know about our new forms into a document and send it to the secret services through, Mr. Zheng? Might be of use if kanmusu emerge somewhere away from us again, nanodesu." Gaze on Trelleborg , Amber made a good point. And her words brought up an important question.
 
Swift was about to voice it when there was a crackle on their net.
 
"Apologies for my lateness, ladies. I was caught up in business which could not wait." As though summoned by the mention of his name, Zheng's voice came over the radio.
 
"No worries, Mr. Zheng." La Plata replied lightly. "Where are you?"
 
"I am at the airlock."
 
He did not specify which airlock, yet Swift knew. Aside from Telleborg the other kanmusu glanced at the station's part in question as well.
 
Sure enough the airlock's inner door slid open, revealing the intelligence officer through the porthole in the lock's outer door.
 
Most of the fleetmaidens subconsciously floated closer to it. The exceptions were Brest, who was already the closest of them, and Silver who apparently had no inclination to move.
 
About to speak, Swift waited when Amber went and removed the blankets she had covered the pane of armored glass next to the airlock with. The debriefing would be less awkward with Zheng visible through the proper window. Not to mention that he could close the airlock's inner door. Having it open was an unnecessary safety-risk.
 
Returning to her friend's side Amber held the blanket out to Brest and muttered something. Accepting the blanket from the Inazuma's hands. the brunette wrapped it around her frame.
 
Amber looking to preserve Brest's modesty was a gesture that made Swift smile. It was not necessary with Zheng. Despite their torn uniforms leaving some of them in a bit of an indecent state, the man had not once looked at any of them in an inappropriate way. Unlike the Federated Suns Navy guy, Emmet, Swift groused to herself.
 
Thinking of. "Where is Light Commodore Emmet?"
 
"He will not be joining us for this debriefing." Zheng's inflection was as measured as ever.
 
That suited Swift just fine. She did not like the man. "If everyone is here then we will carry on." Stepping to the side she cleared Zheng's line of sight to the more distant Silver and extended a hand towards the girl. "I think you have not been introduced yet. Mr. Zheng, this is Silver Merlin. Silver Merlin, this is Mr. Zheng. He is our liaison officer to the Star League Intelligence Command."
 
"Pleased to meet you." Zheng let a hint of a smile show through his usual veneer. Swift gave him points for that.
 
Unfortunately the effort was lost on the green-haired girl who replied curtly, expression flat. "Likewise."
 
Quickly moving on, Swift continued. "And this is..."
 
"Hello, Flavio. It's been a while." Telleborgwas smiling at the officer mischievously.
 
Swift's eyes snapped onto the man. He was returning the large woman's smile, head inclined.
 
"You know each other?" Surprise colored La Plata's voice.
 
"Yes."
 
When Zheng did not elaborate Swift turned towards Trelleborg , expectant look on her face.
 
"It's true." The Newgrange confirmed. "Flavio saw me sometime before he embarked on his journey into this part of the periphery."
 
"Cannot have been the first meeting, since you are on a first-name basis?" Swift questioned pointedly. She disliked being kept in the dark about things, and unbidden Silver's warnings of treachery echoed in her mind.
 
Telleborgwent on to explain. "It wasn't, no." Glancing at Zheng again briefly, the auburn-haired woman continued. "He is one of the few people who have known about me."
 
"That explains why you insisted we eat something after we returned from our first sortie. And why you called us fleetmaidens. Because you knew, nanodesu." Amber's observation was on point. In hindsight it was obvious, yet Zheng had skillfully used his image as a secret service member to alleviate the suspicions the original three members of Blue Squadron had had.
 
"A slip-up on my side. I decided to go with the term anyway." Zheng shrugged in noncommittal.
 
"Why the secrecy towards us though?" Brest was genuinely befuddled.
 
"Because at first I didn't know what kind of people you would turn out to be. I wanted to know for certain that none of you were a Jinjiro Kurita, a Katherine Seiner-Davion or a Stefan Amaris." Realizing what she had said Telleborggave apologetic glances to Amber and Brest. "No offense." 
 
"None taken." Brest appeared entirely nonchalant while Amber merely shrugged.
----
===Secret of my existence===
Swift wished she could share the two corvettes' mindset. "Who are those select few you mentioned? And how long have they known about you?" Aside from being on the wrong side of secrets being kept, Swift was leery of Telleborg's sudden appearance, and apparent role in the unfolding events.
The Aegis' suspicions must have shown, since the large woman went on to explain. "Let me start at the beginning so you can understand. I was built at the Titan Yards, met my doom during the Hegemony Campaign and emerged during the Second Succession War, as we are now." She swept her gaze over the other kanmusu, most of which were wearing dumbfounded looks. "It was in one of the many systems which disappeared from star-charts during that horrible time." She paused to shake her head and continued. "Comstar happened to run a colony there, and i made contact. Long story short we decided to keep my existence, with all the ramifications, under wraps. It was only possible since the system itself was already a well-kept secret with as good as no traffic in or out. That is where i had been, contemplating existence most of the time."
 
"Until i got word of your arrival, and that my skills would be needed again." Here the giantess glanced at the other fleetmaidens, smile genuine. "To answer your question, Omsk, the few operatives i trained aside, less than a handful of people within Comstar knew of me at any given time. Not even the First Circuit did." Here the Newgrange's expression fell. "Only the Primus, the Precentor ROM and the Precentor Comguards were aware of me."
 
Swift made an uncomfortable realization based on the Newgrange's words, and felt pressure building up in her head. Distractedly she remarked. "Please call me Swift."
 
"Sorry about that. Habit."
 
"Comstar being able to keep your existence secret is impressive. Hiding anything from the ISF for this long is an achievement, nanodesu."
 
"As I said, Comstar was already being down-low because of their colony. And considering they are, or were at the time, a dogmatic religious organization..." Here Telleborgglanced at Swift before she continued. "Knowledge of me and my nature becoming public could have caused all sorts of crises of faith. Not just within Comstar, but the inner sphere as a whole." Here she locked eyes with the Aegis. "And people who have their faith shaken often turn towards extremism as a solution or escape."
 
Swift understood what Telleborgwas saying. Squinting through the full-on headache she had now, the grey-haired woman spelled it out for the others' benefit. "So the Word of Blake knows of you."
 
"Yes. With all that implies." Telleborg's expression turned sour.
 
"I can't follow that. I thought very few people knew? How did the Blakists get their hands on that information?" Brest was frowning in incomprehension.
 
"When the schizm split Comstar," Zheng spoke up to explain. "ROM, almost in its entirety, defected to the Word. Including the Precentor ROM."
 
"It does not matter any more now." Swift pushed aside her own discomfort to make the look on Telleborg's face go away. The woman's expression was caused by something Swift was familiar with. Guilt. "Our emergence out here proves that things would have gone the way they did, one way or another. Nothing good will come from blaming yourself. It was not your fault."
 
The rest of her unit was looking on in incomprehension, yet Swift was not willing to take her gaze off of the giant woman across from her. Zheng merely looked unhappy, remaining silent.
 
"Over the long years a number of Precentors came to see me personally, and i spoke with some of them. I don't know if any of them were what would become Blakists. I'm just saying that i wouldn't be surprised if they, in some twisted way, saw me as confirmation that their faith was true, and all that came with it. Including your destruction." Telleborglamented, guilt-ridden eyes on Swift's.
 
Stepping up to the auburn-haired woman Swift extended a hand and placed it on her opposite's shoulder. Belatedly the Aegis realized that the gesture might be lacking in effect, since she was effectively child-sized compared to the giantess, and had to stretch herself significantly to do it. "I do not blame you. You should not either."
 
Trelleborg, brown eyes, still fastened onto Swift's pales ones, smiled down at her weakly. "I'll try."
 
Returning the smile Swift stepped back. La Plata was pointedly looking in another direction to give Telleborg some privacy during the moment. Zheng was busying himself with his notputer, while Amber and Brest had their heads stuck together. Only Silver Merlin was looking directly at them, stone-faced as before.
 
Movement drew the flagship's eyes towards her unit's two youngest members. Exchanging a look with her friend, Brest spoke up, eyes on Trelleborg.
 
"How did you...why did Comstar agree with keeping you hidden in their backyard, so to say, without demanding anything in return?" Brest's tone was inquisitive, blue eyes curious.
 
Telleborg tilted her head slightly and contemplated for a moment. "As i said, it was in both parties' best interests. But." There she hesitated. Regarding first the two corvettes oddly, then the rest of them, her gaze came to rest on Swift again. "Have you not noticed yet?"
 
"I get the feeling I've been missing something important, so I'll ask anyway. Noticed what?" La Plata seemed to have resigned herself to be asking the obvious questions. Though this time, judging by the looks the rest of the unit was wearing, she was not alone in that.
 
"Guess that's a no." Telleborg visibly ordered her thoughts before she returned La Plata's gaze. "With how many people have you spoken?"
 
"Ahm." Taken off-guard by the question the Dart took a moment to think about it. "If you mean humans outside of Blue then only Mr. Zheng."
 
La Plata's attentive gaze was on the yardship when the auburn-haired woman moved her questioning on to Brest and Amber. "How many?"
 
"Two for spoken conversations, a handful in sign-language, nanodesu." Amber answered for the both of them.
 
"We had an entire crowd of observers at the start, before the blankets." Swift gestured at the covered portholes and windows.
 
"I can imagine. What did you talk about? What did those people say?" Telleborg's questions became more pointed.
 
A frown started appearing on Swift's face. "Where are you going with this?"
 
Gaze remaining on the pair of corvettes Telleborg prompted. "Well?"
 
The two girls exchanged a glance again. "Only small things. Wanted to know who we are, where we are from. That kind of thing." Brest's sentence trailed off into a half-question.
 
"That didn't seem strange to you? Or that out of many people only a few wanted to talk?"
 
With growing confusion Swift glanced at La Plata, who shrugged.
 
"I thought most of them didn't know sign-language." Brest retorted.
 
Shaking her head, Telleborg carried on. "It was you who rendered these people speechless."
 
Dumbfounded did not begin to describe Brest's expression. "What?"
 
"We are more than just warships compressed into human shape. There is a supernatural element to our very being. And it affects people."
 
There were several moments of profound silence until La Plata seemed to make a connection. "Wait. Is this why Light Commodore Emmet did nothing but stare during last briefing?"
 
Telleborg inclined her head in wordless affirmation.
 
"What has our presence caused the people here to experience?" Swift was unpleasantly reminded of the hellish and panicked screams over the radio, when they had brought pieces of defeated enemies even somewhat close to Jan Mayen. She was quickly coming to realize that there might be a problem with how they have been doing things. And that they might need to rethink their modus operandi.
 
"I have heard descriptions ranging from a comfortable sensation to outright bliss." Zheng was quick to reassure the flagship.
 
All of Blue Squadron glanced at him questioningly. When he did not elaborate Swift asked pointedly.
 
"You heard?"
 
"Very few are somewhat able to resist the effects. And even fewer do not even notice them at all." Here Telleborg locked eyes with Zheng.
 
Things were starting to make sense for Swift. She gazed intently at Zheng, seeing the man in a new light, before she remembered the woman in the Command and Control of Vespucci-station who had apparently gone down fighting the enemy.
 
"So that's the reason why you said you trained only few operatives." Brest remarked, eyes on Trelleborg, with a proverbial lightbulb over her head.
 
"Yes." The auburn-haired woman returned the Fox' look with a kind smile. "Despite the many decades i was there, the number of people i instructed was small. The already very rare candidates capable of keeping a clear head in my presence also had to be skilled, as well as determined, enough to make it into ROM."
 
"What did you train them in, nanodesu?"
 
Turning her patient eyes on Amber, Telleborg answered. "Data analysis. Seeing patterns and investigating the unusual. But most importantly secrecy."
 
"Investigating the unusual? So you knew?" Silver spoke up for the first time, expression intense. "For two centuries you have sat there, doing nothing, while you knew that a supernatural enemy would emerge from the Outer Dark?" Violet eyes, as piercing as they were accusing, rested on the Newgrange.
 
"I didn't know about the Abyssals." Telleborg returned Silver's glare unflinchingly. "I just had a lot of time to think about the sense of life and why I had returned, impossibly. I thought there might be a reason for it after all. But knowing? No." Wearing a deep frown she justified herself.
 
After a moment of contemplation Swift came to the auburn-haired woman's defense. "Had I been in her position i would have probably done the same thing." She exchanged a glance with the giantess, who inclined her head in silent thanks.
 
Silver was unconvinced, expression unchanging and attention fixated on the Newgrange.
 
"Abyssals?" La Plata was more interested in the term the woman had used instead of her motivations and methods.
 
"It is a term we have unofficially been using to refer to the enemy." Zheng answered succinctly.
 
"Its origin lies in an old legend of Earth, which speaks of a fleet of ghost ships that dwell in the dark depths of the oceans." Telleborg added. "I first heard that term when i talked with the same man with Japanese roots who introduced me to the term kanmusu."
 
"We should make that official. Beats referring to them as The Enemy or Our Guests." Pragmatic as ever, La Plata advocated for streamlining measures.
 
Murmured agreement came from the brunette and dark-haired corvettes. Looking first at La Plata then at Trelleborg, who nodded, and finally at Zheng, Swift inclined her head. "Might as well use it."
 
"What Silver says about them being from the deep dark is true. So the term suits well." Telleborg concluded.
 
"My name is Silver Merlin." The corvette in question hissed, barely audible.
 
Swift thought to reprimand the clan warrior, yet thought better of it for the moment. She resorted to merely giving the Peregrine a disapproving glance.
 
"We got a little off-track there." La Plata picked up the conversation again. "So that thing about our aura..."
 
"I'd like to not call it that." A prominent frown showed what Telleborg thought of that notion. "Can we agree to use influence or presence?
 
Nobody objected.
 
"So, Mr. Zheng." Brest began carefully. "You're obviously not affected by us. But you sure sounded shaken the two times panic broke out on Jan Mayen because of the enemy's proximity." She left the question unspoken.
 
"I do not know. It certainly was a surprise to me. A most unpleasant one." Zheng scowled, looking through the window in the direction the offending wreckage had been disposed of.
 
"Seems like some people might be able to resist the abyssal influence as well. It's just not the same ones as for us, maybe?" Brest hedged a bet.
 
"We will assume that is the case until we know more." Swift paused in thought. "Considering just how bad the enemy's influence is, having people immune or resistant to it at hand would be a boon."
 
"Would it though? Amber questioned, expression thoughtful. "We know they scramble sensors. So the only real use a resistant human would have is as a marine Infanterist, to repel enemy boarders. But if it comes to that then things have gone really wrong already, nanodesu."
 
"I agree with Amber. Ideally we want to keep the abyssals far away from people." La Plata gripped her chin in thought. "Assuming we can somehow find humans who can withstand the enemy's presence, they might be useful as a comms officer. That way an attacked vessel would at least be able to send a distress call?"
 
"In theory we could use the wreckage you have left here." Telleborg glanced at Jan Mayen's L4 point, which held the wreckage jettisoned by Blue Squadron's first three members there. "Pack volunteers into a dropship, send it on a course to L4 and see if there's anyone who doesn't start screaming. At that point i would use one of my Elephants to drag the DropShip away from the source, since we cannot trust any ship's systems in the vicinity of the abyssals."
 
The flagship did not look happy with the prospect. "I do not want to expose anyone to something which induces that kind of distress. Aside from being unethical, we do not know if any of those terror-effects leave permanent damage."
 
Telleborginclined her head in agreement. "That's why i said in theory."
 
"We'll leave it for now. If anyone has ideas for how to counter the abyssals' fear, let me know please." La Plata summed up the point.
 
Several moments of silence passed, which Zheng used to type on his noteputer, before he moved things along. "Next important point on the agenda, your most recent sortie. While the rest of you were off to welcome Trelleborg, Brest has supplied me with a summary of events during it."
 
Taking a noteputer of her own out of ouf a pocket on her uniform, and wincing with pain from the movement, Swift floated close to Brest and Amber. Addressing the former, she prompted. "Did you finish that report i asked for?"
 
"Yup. Here it is." Producing a noteputer as well, the Fox handed it to her flagship.
 
Quickly reading through the report and copying its contents committing it to memory, Swift approached the airlock. "Anything in particular you want to know?"
 
"Your main adversary."
 
"Fighting that cruiser wasn't fun." La Plata absent-mindedly rubbed a hole in her armour bruise on her leg.
 
"A cruiser did this?" Telleborg's eyes were drawn to the impact holes in Swift's hull tears in Swift's uniform and the deep bruises beneath them.
 
"Only because it got the jump on me." Being reminded of her damage gave the grey-haired woman another painful jolt.
 
Telleborg's look turned dubious. "Your armor-protection is good. I would've thought those kinds of hits came from a battlecruiser, at least."
 
"She was the size of a cruiser, but the guns on her were powerful." La Plata added pointedly. "Even without the element of surprise that encounter was bad news."
 
"Another ghost-woman?" Telleborg had her eyebrows raised.
 
Nudging both noteputers into the airlock, Swift stepped back from it. "Yes. It looks like all proper warships these Abyssals have are similar to us." Swift tested how the word felt when she used it.
 
"Which is concerning, nanodesu."
 
Watching Zheng engage the pressurization-cycle, Swift glanced at Amber. She preferred not to think about that. "Yes. What gives me a more immediate headache, though, is the fact that the enemy has equipment they should not have."
 
Retrieving both devices from the airlock, Zheng returned to his place behind the window. "That Quixote-class frigate?"
 
"And that unknown cruiser from last sortie." Swift responded, when she noticed movement in the corridor she could see through the airlock's porthole.
 
Having rounded the corner a familiar young woman with red hair was floating towards them, dragging a box behind her. When she noticed Zheng was next to the airlock she halted, yet the man said something to her off the radio and motioned for her to come over.
 
Swift gave Telleborg a questioning glance, who merely shrugged. So it was Zheng's decision to bring the civilian in, presumably so they would not need to wait with resupplying.
 
The young woman's hair, worn in a ponytail, trailed after her as she floated closer and drew the attention of all kanmusu.
 
"Hellooo!" Brest greeted with a wide smile, waving as enthusiastically as Amber. The woman could not hear them, of course, so the both of them resorted to sign-language.
 
Returning the greetings the red-haired woman deposited the crate she had brought with her into the airlock and engaged the depressurization-cycle, yet did not leave.
 
Swift must have looked just as surprised as the others when Zheng handed the young woman next to him a headset.
 
"Looks like we're finally getting that introduction." La Plata murmured before there was a crackling on the radio.
 
Having put on the headset, the woman's voice came over their channel. "Hello? Test, one two."
 
"Hey there!" "Hello." Brest and Amber returned the greeting in unison, familiar as they were, while the latter went to retrieve the crate of food which came floating out of the airlock.
 
"May i introduce, Jessica Koal." Zheng did the honors.
 
"Pleased to finally meet you." Swift appraised the young woman wile La Plata echoed her greeting.
 
"Just call me Jess, please."
 
"Considering how much she has been helping things along I thought i might as well bring her onto the team." Zheng elaborated.
 
"You are the one who has been taking care of the fleetmaidens' needs?" Telleborg floated closer to the window.
 
"I make food, so I guess?" There was a note of uncertainty in the redhead's mostly flippant voice.
 
"You do more than that. I've read the reports." A kind smile appeared on the auburn-haired woman's lips. "A friendly face willing to listen is worth a lot." She glanced behind her at Amber and Brest, both of whom were a little embarrassed, with Amber making her pick of food.
 
"There was no way i couldn't. I was just too curious." An answering smile bloomed on Jess' face while she held Telleborg's brown gaze.
 
With introductions done Swift moved the briefing along. "Next point, strategic situation. With the enemy employing ambush-tactics we have to keep patrolling the surrounding systems." Gaze on Zheng she continued. "With two jumpships lost recently we will have to personally place any surveillance-gear Signal Intelligence want to set up. Sending people out to do it is just too dangerous."
 
"Two?" Telleborg sounded unpleasantly surprised, which reminded Swift that the Newgrange had been underway and did not know details about last sortie.
 
"Yes. We received distress-calls from each. Only found one. No survivors." La Plata elaborated, her usually brilliant green eyes downcast.
 
The news was sobering to Trelleborg.
 
"I wonder how they even managed to call for help with the abyssals' fear-aura in play, nanodesu." Amber Lotus spoke up between bites.
 
"That's a good question." La Plata caught the food-filled crate Brest had lobbed at her.
 
"Possibly a dead man's trigger?" Silver drew all eyes when she unexpectedly spoke up. "I cannot think of anything else which would have allowed those two jumpships to call for aid. Unless both had crew who happened to be immune to the enemy's influence and were in the right place, which is unlikely quiaff?"
 
"Sounds plausible." Brest looked thoughtful. "Maybe we should recommend any ship in the general vicinity rig something like that up, so they can alert us if they get caught?"
 
"There are issues with that. False positives would make the entire thing a detriment." Swift made her pick from the crate of assorted food La Plata had handed her. "If i get my way no more ships will get caught by those abyssals."
 
"Ideally yes. Now that there's five of us we can start patrolling the neighboring systems and prevent their advance." Determination was plain to hear in La Plata's voice.
 
"Once I've fixed up the lot of you. Starting with you, Amber." Telleborg stated matter of factly.
 
The girl in question protested. "Why me? Brest is much more seriously damaged, nanodesu."
 
"Because repairing you and La Plata takes the least amount of time. And the lot of you have proven that patrolling with one cruiser and two corvettes works." Telleborg's tone left no room for argument.
 
"Agreed. I will remain here as a defense, until Telleborg has restored Brest." Swift hid a jolt of discomfort and held the supply-crate out to the Yardship in offer.
 
Lifting her palms, the Newgrange declined. "I've got a lot of fuel left, and won't be needing any all that soon."
 
"Suit yourself." Taking aim the Aegis carefully tossed the now almost empty crate at Silver, who was the farthest away.
 
"How much do you usually eat? I'll get on preparing something for you once this briefing is over." Jess was quick to promise.
 
"Usually maybe three times that what the cruisers have?" Uncertainly glancing over at them, the auburn-haired woman continued. "Once i start on repairs it will probably be a lot more."
 
"Got it."
 
"I will not keep you much longer then. I think all important points have been covered?" Zheng was looking to wrap things up.
 
"We'll have to think of how to go about salvaging the Willemstad. But that is for when we are back at full strength." La Plata reminded while she watched Silver return the now empty crate to the airlock.
 
"Alright. In that case i think we can conclude this debriefing." Zheng anounced.
 
Nods all around, Amber and Brest said bye to Jess, who was waiting for the airlock's pressurization-cycle to complete.
 
"I'll be back in a bit with more food." The red-haired woman promised, exchanging a glance with Zheng who had waited for her, and started down the corridor.
----
===The Hidden Potential===
Before Swift clicked off the channel she heard the man's voice. "Have you thought about my offer of joining the ComGuards?"
 
"That was unexpected." La Plata had stepped up to Swift and was looking down the corridor as well, at the retreating forms of the two humans.
 
"If Zheng decided to bring that girl in, who are we to argue?" Returning her old friend's smile, Swift shrugged. Her attention was drawn by Telleborg's voice.
 
"Are you ready?" Having gone to Amber's side, who had just finished covering up the window next to the airlock again, the Newgrange's gaze was questioning.
 
"Yes. What do i need to do, nanodesu?" Despite the hint of insecurity in the dark-haired girl's voice she was overall enthusiastic.
 
"Nothing really. Just sit down here." Having gone into a position as though she was sitting on a chair herself, the huge woman patted her lap.
 
Wordlessly and carefully, Amber complied. She stepped right up to the huge woman and turned, powering down her propulsion systems about to take a seat as instructed.
 
Spreading her arms wide, Telleborg's red cape billowed out around Amber. Her heavy duty tugs fastened themselves onto the Inazuma's hull with powerful magnetic hooks and carefully maneuvered her into the massive repair-bay. She encircled the girl with her arms and drew her close, setting the much smaller figure down on her lap.
 
Systems being shut down in a controlled fashion Eyelids growing heavy, Amber Lotus leaned against Telleborg's arm and exhaled a breath. The girl was asleep.
 
"That was really odd just now." La Plata noted, wearing a perplexed expression.
 
Shrugging, Telleborg retorted. "I don't choose how that looks to human eyes. Repair-procedures were already beginning, with work-crews inspecting the Inazuma's hull. She rummaged in one of her uniform's pockets and produced a sewing kit from it.
 
"Looks comfortable at least." Brest did not seem to mind the prospect of being in Amber's place.
 
Although she remained silent Silver was watching proceedings with great interest, along with the two cruisers.
 
Telleborg did not mind the attention and calmly prepared what she needed, then went ahead and reached under her cloak to retrieve the top part of Amber's uniform. Looking at the tears and holes closely the large woman reached into her pockets again and took out a piece of suitable fabric, as well as a needle and a ball of yarn from her sewing kit. Skillfully threading the needle she began to mend the uniform in her hands.
 
After a minute of watching wordlessly one of the other fleetmaidens spoke up. It was Brest.
 
"We got so lucky. Had you not appeared before us..." The girl shook her head.
 
"As i said. During those long years in a forgotten system, with people nearby but still mostly alone, i thought there had to be a purpose to it all. Lo and behold." Glancing up from her work, the auburn-haired woman gave the other kanmusu a broad smile.
 
"We're happy to have you with us."
 
Some for more reasons than others, Swift thought, while she nodded in agreement with La Plata's statement.
 
A short silence fell again before the flagship chuckled. "It is almost unbelievable. You appeared in a restricted area and instead of getting Comstar jumping at your throat you somehow made them agree with everything you wanted."
 
Pausing briefly in her motions, Telleborg gave the others a serious look. "That's something i didn't want to mention while other people were around. Our influence is literally that. It doesn't just make people feel good, but also very receptive of suggestions."
 
That raised a few eyebrows.
 
"Do you mean to say we have the ability to control people, mortals or whatever, at will?" La Plata was noticeably bothered by the thought.
 
Telleborg hummed for a moment. "I wouldn't call it control. But the overwhelming majority of people will fall over themselves to do what we ask."
 
"Huh. My insistence on keeping contact with people to a minimum may have been a blessing in disguise." Swift thought loudly.
 
"Can't go wrong when you err on the side of caution, eh?" An amused La Plata commented.
 
"You understand now why i wanted to be sure you had your hearts in the right place before i revealed myself?" Sweeping her serious gaze over the other fleetmaidens, it came to rest on Silver. "I wanted to be sure that kind of power, for lack of better word, would not be abused.
 
"I resent that implication!" Telleborg's gaze was effective at conveying what she was not saying, because Silver had set down her food and seemed genuinely offended.
 
"One more thing to watch out for. This one maybe more important than handling our weapons properly." Swift sent a meaningful glance at Telleborg. "Thanks for letting us know."
 
"You would've figured it out eventually.."
 
Her role as flagship, as a leading figure, had just gotten more meaningful, and the stakes had risen. Yet, as Swift watched a comrade from times long past work to restore a very new one, she felt confident they would be able to handle things.
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==Chapter Note==
*; Chapter Note from the Author : My goodness. What a meandering mess this chapter turned into. I will have to try and salvage it at a later point. Or failing that, redo it entirely. Considering how long it took me to get this done, though, it might be a while.Anyway, am i now done setting the stage?
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