==|Chapter 01 - 4: Beginnings Of Trust|==
Worried footsteps thumped on metallic floarboards, their owner deep in thought.
The Abyssal named Phoenix - or rather, Giant-Phoenix-That-Watches, her name in full - walked through the corridors of her home rapidly, making a beeline for her office as fast as she could.
As she ducked through hastily-erected fortifications, her thoughts wandered back to the meeting that she just left.
Nothing had been accomplished there - everyone was arguing, Beacon again was stirring things up by attempting to force blame upon her for everything that had happened. The only thing that really happened was sending a few acknowledgments to nearby bases for their support, all thanks to Rally using her influence and abilities as an elder to make them do so...but other than that, they had all fallen into bickering.
Phoenix sighed mentally, and proceeded to push the memories of the meeting away, focusing on the subject of her...visitor.
Only one word remained in her mind -
Why?
Her thoughts focused on the halo that had been hovering above the 'human's' head when he arrived.
The Seal of my mistress...why does he have it? Why is he even here? Did something in the summoning ritual go wrong? Or…
I have so many questions...and so little time...
As she thought, she stepped onto the steps of a spiraling staircase, one that twirled around a tower, her home and domain at its top.
Reaching the top, she pulled a key from a carefully hidden pocket, and inserted it into the lock of the door that guarded her quarters. Turning it, she watched three runes appear in sequence, before the great metal door swung open to reveal her quarters.
Entering, she swung the door close behind her, taking great care to close, lock and secure the door. Checking it as many times as she could to ensure that no one would be able to enter, she breathed in and out, before finally leaving the door alone.
She took a look at her quarters - it was spartan, with a few windows, a table and chair in the middle of the room, a rug made from some unidentifiable material, and a bunch of shelves with various trinkets on them - keychains, glowing amulets or talismans, and perhaps a painting. A door at the end would lead to her own bedroom, but other than that there was not much else. Not surprising, given that her appointment to this position was rushed, recent, and...disliked.
Why did Leviathan choose me to do this again? Seeing the office that was only recently occupied by her erstwhile and caring mentor, Phoenix despaired a little, at the complexity and scope of her current duty, as well as the hurdles that faced her-
No, I cannot. I must not. Gripping her hands, the Abyssal willed herself to push on, to continue past her fear.
For a few moments, she stood alone in silence, trying to refocus her emotions and revitalise her will. Finally, she relaxed, and with newfound determination walked to the side of the rug in her room.
Getting on her knees, she moved the rug away, revealing a hidden strongbox. She watched the door for any indication of a visitor, before crawling over to the side of the box.
Laying her left hand on the cover of the box, she steeled herself, attempting to squeeze out oven the tiniest, smallest amount of magic from within herself.
Nothing happened.
Frustrated, Phoenix huffed, before straining her mental and physical abilities even more. After a few seconds, she finally found it - a tiny amount of energy dripped from the edges of her consciousness, flowing down her arm and into her hand.
Gasping in relief, she quickly shaped that precious drop of power with her mind. Forming a spell with well practised motions, a faint light came from her hand, as a barely visible sigil appeared over it.
A moment later, the strongbox responded, a glowing pattern of sigils and lines appearing, and rotating exactly ninety degrees to the right. It slowly faded afterwards, and Phoenix grabbed the clasp at the other end of the box, opening it.
It was empty, save for a single trinket. Gently, Phoenix slipped her hands into the box, taking great care not to dent the artifact. Bringing it up, she closed the box, and placed the object on her table.
The artifact was plain - a black-painted, cubical crystal rested on a square-shaped pedestral by one of its edges, and its top had the black removed to reveal a white interior. It could have been seen as just a curiosity at best by others - had it not a suspicious-looking seal facing its user.
Phoenix went to her seat, carefully facing the object, before touching the seal.
At her touch, several lines of light appeared on the black crystal, and it began to leviate of its pedestral. The top started the glow, and the characteristic halo with three lines across it appeared above it. As the crystal continued to rise, Phoenix straightened her posture, trying to make herself look as professional as one could be.
The crystal stopped at around her eye level, and a white sigil shaped in the form of an eye appeared on it, facing her. At its appearence, Phoenix slowly felt a presence fill the room, enveloping her...except that, this presence was benevolent. Her goddess, Guardian and Watcher of her people, had answered her call-
"Please do not address me by those titles." Ultra's words cut through her thoughts like a hot knife through butter.
"I...I'm sorry, mistress." Phoenix apologised.
As Phoenix looked away from the eye in embarrassment, Ultra continued on. "In any case...I assume you are here to ask about that human?"
At the mention of her visitor, Phoenix quickly reasummed her professional posture, and quickly fired her questions in rapid succession. "What is going on? Why have you given me that human? Is he under your protection...or does h-"
"Calm down." A mental hand touched Phoenix's forehead, instantly calming down the panicked commander. "You have many questions...but do not worry, I will answer them now."
"I did not call him, or do anything with him, at first. It was only a few hours earlier that I found your spell, trapping his soul in a cage, bringing him here." Ultra began.
"
We summoned him?" Phoenix asked, shocked.
"Correct...at least in a sense. By all means, that spell should not have worked. It was made in a completely wrong manner, routed in a way that the energy would have backfired upon all of you when it began. But yet...it worked, and it brought him here."
Shocked, Phoenix forgot to say anything for the next few seconds. "Then, could i-"
"Let's not jump to conclusions, Phoenix. Of course, after securing his soul, I gave him my 'blessings', and let his soul continue its journey, until...where we are now."
"But why would you do that?" Phoenix queried, confused.
"Because I was hoping to get him to work with you. The expertise of a human could help very much in dealing with their ships, their powers, and their warriors."
At Ultra's last statement, Phoenix's confusion turned to skepticism. "I...do not believe that he will be willing to help us…"
"Before, when you just met him. But now, he is. I have talked to him. He is cooperative, although a little angry. It was to be expected, especially when he has gone through that kind of torture…" A note of sympathy lingered in Ultra's voice.
"I...see…" Phoenix answered. She still did not feel satisfied, but whatever her savior said about this human had sounded...sincere.
Still, can we really work with him?
"I would suggest meeting him as soon as possible." Ultra added, causing Phoenix to snap out of her funk. "He is about to wake...and it will be better if you are the first to meet him, and work together."
"Alright." Phoenix nodded, and touched the device in front of her. The lights on the crystal faded away, and it spiralled back onto its pedestral. As it turned inert, Phoenix began to return it back to the strongbox, carefully putting it under lock and key.
As she was pulling the rug back over its original location, a knock came on the door. She stopped for a moment, her heart beating wildly for a moment, before she adjusted the rug a little and called out, "Who is it?"
"Juri, commander." A unnaturally chirpy voice came through the door.
"What is it?" Phoenix asked as she got closer to the door and asked.
"The human has woken. I have ordered the guards to not reveal it and prevent anyone else from coming...but I'm waiting for you to give any extra orders."
Hearing her subordinate speak of the length she had to go to exert her authority, Phoenix could not help but feel a pang of guilt over what had happened.
We have to do such things to make sure that everything goes well...and Juri has lost her sister…
Phoenix, hiding her true feelings, replied, "I'm coming down now."
==|==
A few groans, and a boy wearing a not-so-immaculate set of uniform sat up. The room he was in was dimly lit, it's only light source coming from a barred window set in a high location.
"Ow...the back of my head hurts like - hey, what's this?" As Daniel pushed himself off the bed, he noticed a certain weight on his chest.
He moved to grab it, only for his arm to be suddenly snap in place with a clatter of chains. Yelping at the shock, he looked around to see what tied him down, and hissed.
"Wow really? I can't see shit, I can't even move, and…" He cursed a few times, profanities thrown about wildly by his sharp tongue. After struggling a little, he resigned to simply making himself feel more comfortable, and gradually began to calm down.
"Still...if this is a jail, and if Abyssals had to hold other Abyssals...its no surprise that they would try to use as many ways to make sure something as strong as a supersoldier doesn't escape." Daniel dryly commented.
"Now...what are you going to do...Ultr-"
The clatter of keys came from behind the door, causing the youth to look at it with apprehension and nervousness. The lock turned, and the door swung open, revealing two Abyssals who were standing in the doorframe.
Daniel surveyed them - he recognised both of them. One of them was a Ri-Class Heavy Cruiser...and the other was the very same Wo-Class Aircraft Carrier that had tried to talk to him earlier.
As he was staring at them both, the Wo-Class turned to her companion. "Get his chains off, and please leave us alone."
Huh...why do Abyssals speak proper, almost perfect English again? Shouldn't they be conversing in alien or something? The boy wondered.
After the second Abyssal had bowed and left, Daniel suddenly felt the chains on his wrists grow warm, before dropping off completely. Raising his arms as they were freed, he surveyed his wrists, checking for any pernament damage. Meanwhile, the Wo-Class stepped into the room, the door closing behind her.
"What's your name?" She asked, her voice as cold as a block of ice.
Daniel looked up at her, nervousness reentering his system. "Um...Daniel...Feng...ma'am." Unsure, he added the honorific at the end.
We are working together, aren't we?
The Abyssal cocked her head to the side. "'Ma'am'? What do you mean by that?"
"Um...it's...it's just a way to address others with respect...a-among humans, you see." Daniel replied with a nervous smile.
"I see." Still high and cold, the Abyssal tried to assume a commanding role - until she looked down at his chest, seeing a certain object, in which her tone simply fell flat. "What's that on your chest?"
"Eh," Confused for a moment, the youth finally recalled the strange weight on his chest and neck. Reaching for it, he found an amulet or talisman of some sort, hanging of a necklace, with a symbol engraved on it. "I don't know-whoa!"
Suddenly, the symbol lit up, causing him to drop it with shock. At the same time, the exasperated voice of a certain white-clothed Abyssal filled the room.
"Can we just continue instead of these antics? Time is short."
"Ultra?" Both Daniel and the Abyssal voiced their surprise.
"I'm using this...pendant...to act as beacon of sorts, similar to what you have, Phoenix. Now, can we continue?"
"I don't recall letting you randomly place random objects around my body." Daniel growled, feeling a little offended.
"And you have my apologies. However, as I said, time is short, and not all of us has the time for bickering." Ultra spoke - and Daniel saw the Abyssal named Phoenix shift a little at her words.
"Oh, also, you are hearing my voice through your mind, Daniel, so do not be worried that anyone is listening in...especially regarding our agreement."
"Um...okay, got it." Left with nothing to say, Daniel waited for the Abyssal to continue.
"Alright. Phoenix, meet Daniel. Daniel, meet Phoenix - or Giant-Phoenix-That-Watches, her name in full."
"...Pleased to meet you, Phoenix." Staring at the humanoid abomination with as much bravery he could muster, Daniel raised a hand in greeting.
As Phoenix stared at the gesture with confusion, Ultra stepped in to enlighten her.
"Its another human gesture of respect, and it signifies mutual respect. Just grab hold and shake it."
Phoenix gently grabbed the proffered hand - causing Daniel to realise how surprisingly warm it was - and shook it.
"Right." Ultra announced.
"Now that we are back on track, can you begin?"
"Let's...see…" Daniel began, but stopped. "Wait a moment...um...do you have any...um…'recordings' or something similar?"
"Records?" Phoenix asked. "Do you mean -"
"I assumes he means something like after-battle reports, details of fleet engagements...basically, records of any engagements with the humans." Ultra answered.
"Yeah." Daniel agreed. "You see...I come from a different world, and while I know what you are and the basic situation...there are a lot of things that could be different, such as...um...tactics, weapons...and...and I need to see them in action or at least their effects...you...you get the idea, don't you both?"
"I understand." Ultra replied.
Phoenix - could we use your help?"
"You plan to use my memories? Alright." At her superior's command, Phoenix immediately sat on the bed, holding a hand out to Daniel .
"Hold it." Ultra instructed.
"I will be recreating Phoenix's memories for you, and we can review it while we go along."
"Under...understood." Gently, nervously, Daniel took hold of Phoenix's hand-
And he was plunged into an expanse of white light.
==|==
Somewhere far to the east from where a group of Abyssals gathered, a group of vessels sailed through the waters.
Six vessels, all comprising a single squadron. Five of which were the same - a sleek, long hull with a sharp knife-like edge at its front, measuring about two hundred meters long, with a squat, short bridge, a turret at the front and a helicopter deck at the back.
The ship leading this movement was a much larger ship that reached three hundred meters with a long, wide deck, and a flag with white top half, red bottom and a yellow sun set in its middle with ten stars orbiting it.
At the front of this ship, standing at the edge of the deck, stood a tall, handsome figure, wearing his naval dress and cap, staring into the horizon.
From behind him, a lone, childlike figure, wearing a similar uniform and holding a clipboard, approached.
"Rear Admiral…" She softly began, with a voice that sounded too young for military service - at least, decades ago. "What are you doing, standing there?"
"Oh, Fubuki." The Admiral turned around, smiling. "Just...wondering about...things."
"Really? What are you thinking about?" The former shipgirl, curious, poked further.
A few of their fellow shipmates walked past, sneaking a glance at the curious couple.
"Just...well my job, really. Me being suddenly promoted to Rear Admiral, and well..." The superior answered.
A small chuckle came from the all too experienced, deceptively young soldier. "I think there's nothing to be worried about...after all, you got promoted based on that battle alone, Daniel."
The Admiral huffed. "Yeah...I...guess you are right."
The both of them watched the sunset, when suddenly, a timer beeped as it time ran out.
"Welp, I guess that's it for now." Stretching, the naval officer got to leave. "Let's prepare for the battle."
"Alright." The both of them turned to leave, making a beeline for the bridge, preparing for war.
==|Chapter 2 End|==
