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SYSTEM LOG - ENTRY RECORD
Comberth Harbor, Deck 4, Central Ring
Spinal Office 4-01, Admiral's Office
0600 BEGIN LOG 0134718
0737 - ENTRY - LCP Tan, SGT Kohl
0738 - CONVERSATION - Archived/SGT Miller - Local ID 0134718-001, Comment: HOTO
0749 - EXIT - CPL Sakai, SGT Miller
0809 - ENTRY - ADM Kanda
0812 - ENTRY - CDRE von Zeppelin
0813:0821 - CONVERSATION - Expunged/CDRE von Zeppelin - Reason: Personal
0831:0848 - CONVERSATION - Archived/ADM Kanda - Local ID 0134718-002, Comment: Patrol Auth
0855 - BROADCAST/ADM Kanda - Fleet Patrol Authorization
0911 - ENTRY - CAPT Ketmanee
0913 - EXIT - LCP Tan, SGT Kohl
0914:0955 - CONVERSATION - Expunged/ADM Kanda - Reason: Personal
0930 - ENTRY - CDRE Muryoutou
0934 - EXIT - CDRE Muryoutou
0957 - EXIT - CAPT Ketmanee, CDRE von Zeppelin
0958 - ENTRY - LCP Tan, SGT Kohl
1000 END LOG 0134718
ADVANCE LOG 0134719
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23 May
4th Fleet HQ
Fleet Activities Comberth Harbor
Admiral Kanda Shiki stares at the frozen holographic map in front of him. In all his years as a serving naval officer, and as Commander 4th Fleet, he has never seen something as ridiculous as this. An invasion fleet, jumping in from multiple systems, entering the Egon system with a screening arrival. Almost as if it had deliberately broken itself up to avoid detection during transit.
Captain Mulia Ketmanee, the Siam-Astra scion, leans on one of the office tables as he types on his datapad. "That's a big fleet. No destroyers, though." His tanned fingers pause their typing for a moment to adjust the holographic projection. "Not that it matters, with what they're packing. If we take too long to respond, House Sumeragi will."
"Or House Fenghuang."
Commodore Hildegarde von Zeppelin, Kanda's Eisenwalder adjutant, regards the map with detached interest as she paces around the room, her long white hair gently swishing behind her greatcoat. "Perhaps one of those snakes has finally made their move?"
The door chimes. Mulia reaches behind him with his free hand and hits a button, disabling the lock on the office door.
"Drop formalities, priority order. Top secret." Kanda pushes aside the datapad on his table as a voluptuous redhead enters his office, her silver and gold commodore's aiguillette glinting in the office's bright lighting. Commodore Muryoutou Himeno's light expression immediately vanishes upon hearing Kanda's words, the 4th fleet's ace turning to look at the holo-map as she walks into the room. "We just got this from the Egon system- so you can assume this data is already one day out of date. Arkbird, rewind."
The jump point begins filling with jump wakes again. First, light cruisers. (Of course they're light cruisers, no bloody merchant convoy would have the discipline to jump in such tight formation.) Then, heavy cruisers. (Definitely not a merchant convoy now.) Then battlecruisers and finally a battleship, all from different directions. Kanda and Mulia stare at the map, as if trying to will the fleet out of existence with their eyes. Hildegarde merely adjusts her hair and continues her pacing.
"Oh, you will
certainly owe me a drink for this." Himeno slowly begins massaging her forehead with her right hand as she stares intently at holomap. "Admiral, your orders?"
"The
Brutus,
Sparta,
Avalanche and
Angelwing were getting ready to head out for patrol, so I'm temporarily reassigning them to your command. The
Hyperion will take too long to get there, so take your crew with you to Anea and sortie with the
Hyperion-A instead. Take this task force to Egon as soon as humanly possible and monitor what the hell that mystery fleet is doing. If you can head them off, do so by all means. Send back regular reports, daily intervals. From composition alone it looks like Princess Yui Akasha's 13th Fleet, but I need to know what I'm seeing."
"Aye sir," Himeno nods, typing rapidly into her datapad. "Anything else?"
"We'll bounce you mission updates as more information becomes available. You're free to commandeer any nearby patrols if necessary, but if our uninvited guests start shooting I want you to get as many ships out there intact as possible and raise the alarm."
"Understood. Is that all?" Himeno's fingers finally stop their typing as she lowers the datapad.
"Yes. Don't take any unnecessary risks and stay alive. We'll uncork the Sauterne when you get back," Kanda nods.
"Will do." And with that, the fiery woman is gone, her vermillion capelet swishing as the doors slam shut behind her.
"That's another ship out of dock. Aren't you afraid they'll find out?" The Siam-Astra scion lazily directs the question towards the Admiral, as he begins falsifying maintenance records for the battlecruiser. "According to our records, the actual
Hyperion has been in dock for a month. If we sortie her now-"
"You told her to rush to Egon. Anybody with two brain cells to rub together will notice if they're paying attention." Commodore Hildegarde von Zeppelin interrupts Mulia, waving her hand at the holographic representation of the station's VI:
a little white-haired girl in a white and black outfit, riding a colored cube. "Arkbird, strategic map. Imperial-Sumeragi border up to Comberth. Simulate the
Hyperion's trip. Maximum speed. Do the same for the
Hyperion-A."
"Yes, Commodore," the VI chirps. A holographic representation of Imperial, Sumeragi and Ho'ou territories slowly forms above a projection dish on the floor, systems fading into being as the map pans out from Comberth Harbor. A blue line extends out from Comberth towards Egon, stopping to rest at jump points as a chronometer begins counting up. A second red line, far faster, simply blitzes its way through Sumeragi territory, making only brief stops to recharge its drives.
"Estimate accurate to 5% error margin," the simulated voice chirps, the tiny girl avatar directing a pointer towards the chronometer.
"ETA 1st June. Two days faster, huh." Kanda mutters, staring at the hologram. "We'll naturally be setting off several red flags. Mulia, can you do anything about this?"
"Sure. But I don't know if they'll buy that we managed to crash-overhaul her jump drives." Mulia nods, typing into his personal datapad.
"If I were you, I'd get the
Hyperion spaceworthy and send it to Anea to complete its maintenance cycle. Whoever's responsible for that fleet arriving in Egon would want to know how we got a battlecruiser over there so fast." The white-haired Eisenwalder chips in, staring intensely at the holographic representation of the Egon system and folding her hands over her chest. "There
is the possibility that we're looking at AVALANCHE EXIT-"
"No. AVALANCHE EXIT is impossible. Not for another six months, at least. It's Princess Yui making a move."
"If you're right about who it is, we probably can't kick them out. So what will you do, o conquering hero?"
"There is definitely a good chance that TOTAL ECLIPSE may be imminent or has occurred. Even if it hasn't, the arrival of such a large fleet may provoke SHATTERED SKIES." The Admiral steeples his hands in front of his face as he leans forward into the table, the bright lighting of the office somewhat diminishing the dramatic effect of the action. "This, of course, depends on if Sumeragi detects the fleet movement. As of now, we have received no prior warning, nor have there been any rumors of such a large scale deployment. I'm hoping that Himeno can head this off before we end up with JUDGEMENT BY DAWN, although this assumes TOTAL ECLIPSE has not already begun."
"Ever the optimist." Zeppelin lowers her right arm and draws out her datapad. "So, what if it
has begun? Will you pull the trigger, then? Assuming scenario FLORID SAKURA doesn't happen, we certainly would be able to eliminate her, the strategic situation afterwards notwithstanding."
"TOTAL ECLIPSE is unlikely to happen giv-" Kanda opens his mouth to speak, but gets cut off by Zeppelin. "And what if she's managed to convince the girl? It's not that hard."
"Unlikely. Akagi's at Jinko-sei. The odds of JUDGEMENT BY DAWN occurring from SHATTERED SKIES firing should TOTAL ECLIPSE have happened are close to 100%. Given that we've seen no Sumeragi fleet movements, I'll give it good odds that we're looking at an isolated incident."
"Fair point, but you'll need to wait for Commodore Muryoutou to return to be proven correct. None of this changes the fact that five capital ships just jumped into the Egon system."
"Alright. Then if we are in TOTAL ECLIPSE, what's our current status on implementing the op plan?" The admiral leans back on his chair and folds his arms. "Mulia?"
"Current active duty and auxiliary forces put us at approximately 140% strength, most of which can be relied on. Ramping up to full strength would take us several months and put us at 170%, with a maximum probable combined infiltration percentage of 15%. This number will decrease in practice, however. " The tanned Imperial replies, his fingers darting around a holographic keyboard. "Bringing up strategic map now. Arkbird. Simulate TOTAL ECLIPSE. Eden Star luminosity at 100%."
"Authorization confirmed." The VI intones, wiping the travel simulation from the map. Icons representing active navy patrols and the known positions of other fleets wink into existence, with a particularly large red blob representing Yui's fleet hovering maliciously over Egon. "Running prediction engine. Please hold."
The three watch in silence as icons begin emerging from Comberth and St. Hewlett, heading to their muster points. Two particularly large blue blobs spontaneously form from the active patrol squadrons, before pushing Yui's fleet off Egon. More fleets and task forces gather, engaging stray 13th Fleet elements and fighting off a series of attacks along the Sumeragi border. Eventually, the simulation freezes, leaving two massive warfleets staring each other down at the Sumeragi-Imperial border with Sumeragi elements still attempting to muster. "Four weeks." Kanda supports his chin with his fist, elbow braced against the armrest. "We could be in hell in two months."
"Or we could be dead. Should we activate LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER? You seem to be confident that we aren't looking at GUARDED OASIS." Hildegarde idly adjusts her greatcoat as she paces around the holographic projection. "Suppose it happens- Arkbird. Simulate GUARDED OASIS. Moderate severity. Skip to current time."
The icons reshuffle. The 13th Fleet penetrates a fair distance into Sumeragi territory, as a single cruiser task force desperately attempts to hold Comberth from a heavy cruiser force led by a Ho'ou battleship. Kanda watches with mild interest, his right brow raising a little as the map finishes rearranging itself.
"Do you see that, Kanda? If she wanted us dead, the only thing between us and your dear Taihou's claws is that sword of light that Ketmanee has built," Hildegarde hisses as she brings her right palm down on the Admiral's desk.
"Yes, but - Arkbird, end simulation - that's not possible." Kanda waves his left hand, as if chasing away an imaginary fly. "She's not insane enough to throw the entirety of her military strength at us. House Eisenwald exists and so do the other fleets."
"And how many of them are loyal to the throne? We've been preparing ever since the Empress died, Shiki. We cannot afford to be caught off guard." Zeppelin's hands grip the surface of the plasteel table as she leans in.
"I know that woman as well as I know you, Hildegarde." The Admiral draws himself up to his full height, easily matching the relatively tall Eisenwalder woman. "Sumeragi might be a problem for the throne, but Taihou won't be the one to force LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER. I understand your concern, but we cannot afford to waste our limited energy jumping at ghosts. "
"He's right, you know." Mulia rubs his chin. "Frankly, we can't afford to fight more than one Great House or navy fleet at once. Not with our current strength. We're almost guaranteed to defeat even the 13th Fleet, but anything beyond that is wishful thinking. Excalibur's powerful, but I don't think we want to put too much faith in a prototype."
"No doubt what we're looking at is highly irregular, but an actual mass invasion would have hit multiple systems at once. Yui has access to the capital's records, she would have hit the garrison ports first."
Hildegarde gives Kanda a skeptical look. "Or she's capturing Egon to use as a staging system for her attack."
"Why Egon? Capturing a system equidistant between Sumeragi and Fenghuang space just triggers them both to attack you. It'd make more sense to use a system in Takama-ga-Hara for that." Kanda shakes his head. "We're just jumping at ghosts right now. We'll wait for Himeno to report back first. This is final. Return to your duties. Dismissed."
"By your will." Zeppelin straightens her back, adjusting her greatcoat as she does so. "Before I depart, I will ask you
again, sir. How will you respond to AVALANCE EXIT?"
"You are
dismissed, Commmodore."
"Sir."
Kanda sits back into his chair, leaning as far back as it will allow, closing his eyes as his officers leave.
The Empire is in chaos. The death of the Empress has left the Empire wanting for strong leadership, strong leadership that her coddled child and her questionably loyal regency council cannot provide. The civil service plods along through sheer inertia, desperate to retain some sense of normalcy, either oblivious to - or deliberately ignoring - the increasingly unstable political situation.
Yet where some see danger, others see opportunity. The decentralization of power and the constant weakening of the once-mighty Imperial Navy has left the Empire teetering on the edge of chaos. Already the flames of rebellion smoulder, throwing smoke on the wall for those in the know to see. With those fleets loyal to the Throne stretched to their limits, relying on local forces and mercenaries to carry out even simple anti-piracy patrols, great power could be had...
...and all one had to do was light the spark and seize their own pretty kingdom for themselves, as the Empire collapses into infighting.
"Arkbird, expunge conversational log. Article 5701. Personal conversation."
"Of course, Admiral. Expunging."
