secondshipgirlsquadron:

“… I know.” She whispered as her tears began to flow more freely. “I understand that, Sir,It’s just not fair. I was on guard duty!”

Her onboard AI took the chance to join in, allowing the Admiral and Serina into a shared channel so that they might also hear her.

{Tempest, please listen to them. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do.} The disembodied voice pleaded. {Admiral, if I may, I believe the best thing right now is to give us something to do.}

“Like what, Adrianna?” The shipgirl muttered. “If you haven’t noticed already, I’m ten million times smaller than I was a month ago.”

With a soft chime, Serina appeared in front of the two in her avatar, a long-haired human woman in a spotlessly white GDI uniform.

With a polite nod, she had a holo-projected seat shimmer into existence and sat down on it such that she could face both Red and Tempest.

“To answer your statement, Adrianna, that itself is quite the dilemma. Thus far, we have avoided active patrols and other similar deployment duties outside GDI space to focus our efforts inward. The Event has shaken society to its core, and we needed to expend more effort than usual to maintain order.”

Red nodded in agreement. “Indeed. In addition, we’ve had to do an extensive rewrite of our interaction protocols to avoid repeating our previous mistakes, cultural or otherwise. Though…I suppose there are a few things we can have you and your sisters-in-arms do.”

A flick of his wrist brought up a haptic projection of the galaxy. Highlighted in green glows were the scattered regions of GDI space, approximately 18% of the galaxy.

“The Admiralty has been considering a general fortification plan, an attempt to enhance our current system-encompassing defense networks and add new layers of defense.”

A movement with his fingers zoomed the projection in to show a random GDI-colonized star system. Dots indicated the rough locations of defense platforms, emplacements as well as shield generators and other such hardware.

“Normally, we’d leave such a widely encompassing upgrade to our automated construction services. But since Administration notified me himself that such a massive effort, at this time, will tax the construction network’s efficiency to near-breaking point, I’m considering the possibility of having you and your fellow shipgirls help us out in this endeavor. Work your anger off, so to speak.”

A brief sigh escaped from Red as he glanced at Tempest again. “Not going to lie, it will be a lot of work. Once this is done, every GDI system will be so fortified even the Reapers would be hard-pressed to take one on without being ground to bloody paste.”

“So, what do you think, Tempest? Willing to help us out with this massive project? It’s alright if you don’t want to.”

secondshipgirlsquadron:

fleet-admiral-red:

secondshipgirlsquadron:

With an understanding nod, she returned herself comfortably to her seat. Still, she could barely contain herself. She was essentially in the presence of her god!

“Yes Sir.” She responded professionally. “GDS Tempest Eternal reporting. Pennant number EC-276B.”

“As for the last thing I remember… I’d just deployed a squadron to intercept a small civilian vessel I think, nothing out of the ordinary. And then… a flash… yes. I remember a flash. All of my systems shut down within nanoseconds of each other, and then… then… I was here.”

Recalling this must have been taxing for her, given the expression of concentration on her face.

“I need to know, Sir. What happened to my crew?” She questioned. “My AI says she has connected to the Net, but is struggling to access any data.”

A brief moment passed as Red took in the information that ran through his mind and pondered on how to break the news to her while Serina checked the Archives.

GDS Tempest Eternal, carrier, Thanatos-class. Lost with all hands near the Minerva Gate during the Event while deploying fighters and drones on intercept to a stolen civilian freighter. Yeah, do try to tell her the news gently.

Red inhaled, phrasing his words carefully. “This will come as quite the shock, Tempest. You, along with a quarter of the entire Initiative Navy, were…destroyed…by a transapient entity calling herself Bellatrix. Most of your fallen sisters have returned as well, under differing circumstances.”

At the same time, Starbase Zephyr’s local network succeeded in reaching Tempest’s AI, forwarding her the relevant information.

Among that information was the records of Bellatrix’s statements to the entire Initiative and her firing off the strange energy attack that seemed to strike its distant targets all at once, before she disappeared in a display of light.

Following that was a brief tally of all the ships lost in the Event, most of them from the Second Fleet.

His heart clenched at seeing Tempest’s reaction to the news and the intel that followed. With such a violently quick death like this, it was difficult for him not to feel regret for what had happened to the Third Wave’s shipgirls.

And again, the question appeared in the back of his mind, a venomous question. Would he have been able to prevent this, had he not allowed such drastic responses to the existential threats that had plagued the Initiative and the Coalition back then?

Would Tempest and her Third Wave sisters-in-arms not have perished?

He didn’t know. And he doubted he would. After all, all of this was on him by association. His responsibility.

A look of horror passed over Tempest’s face as the windows appeared in her mind. She slumped back in her seat, overwhelmed by its totality. To an outsider, it would look like she was experiencing all five stages of grief at the same time. There was a long delay before the first pinpricks of tears began to form in her eyes.

“I was… destroyed?” She whispered in disbelief. “All of us…”

It was then that she viewed the final piece, a video-clip of the deity’s message to the entire GDI. As she did so, her hands started shaking. Not grief; she was shaking with anger.

“This is what I died for? A message? This was all just for a stupid goddamn message!?” she screamed.

Never had horror so quickly turned to hate.

Red remained silent as he let Tempest express her feelings on the matter.

It was true that she and her Third Wave sisters had perished over a mere warning message to the Initiative.

But as much as it hurt to admit, Bellatrix had more than a few valid points on GDI’s conduct.

The various overkill responses to threats from the Bouzaculan universe, the complete and utter obliteration of the hostile Jarellian sub-culture with the enaction of Juno Protocol, the many, many speedy and often overbearing cultural uplifts…

Blood was on their hands for this, he knew very well. After all, it had been him who’d put forward the first vote for Juno Protocol.

Though all this likely didn’t really matter to Tempest. She was angry, and rightfully so. A death like that for a mere warning was something beyond unjust.

And yet, he had to ensure Tempest didn’t go ballistic. As formidable as a shipgirl was, even Serina herself, as a godlike Ascended intelligence, couldn’t measure up to the true deity-level being that was Bellatrix and…the others.

Strange. There was another? This other deity he was supposed to remember sounded so familiar. On the very edge of his memory.

Red shook himself out of it. He had no time for deep recall. Right now he had a shipgirl to calm.

“Tempest. I know you are angry, and I understand why. But…believe me when I say that, even with the collective might of our entire civilization, we would be unable to hurt Bellatrix. Not even if we tried.”

Seeing that she was still trembling in rage, Red spoke just a little more firmly, so as to make himself clear. “Please…hear me out. If we truly earn her ire and bring down her full wrath upon ourselves, all of us will cease to exist.”

“Like a candle flame before a flood.”

It was a cold, harsh truth, and even he disliked it. For all the Initiative’s power, all that they had achieved, they were nothing before an entity like Bellatrix.

And the fact that Bellatrix even could be angered was something he could not understand.

Surely a goddess like her could see that the humanistic perspective was so laughably limited and flawed that seeing the universe through its lens would be a hindrance?

Whatever the case, she’d already given the Initiative her ultimatum. And they had no choice but to abide by it.

Lest they truly face destruction.

secondshipgirlsquadron:

With an understanding nod, she returned herself comfortably to her seat. Still, she could barely contain herself. She was essentially in the presence of her god!

“Yes Sir.” She responded professionally. “GDS Tempest Eternal reporting. Pennant number EC-276B.”

“As for the last thing I remember… I’d just deployed a squadron to intercept a small civilian vessel I think, nothing out of the ordinary. And then… a flash… yes. I remember a flash. All of my systems shut down within nanoseconds of each other, and then… then… I was here.”

Recalling this must have been taxing for her, given the expression of concentration on her face.

“I need to know, Sir. What happened to my crew?” She questioned. “My AI says she has connected to the Net, but is struggling to access any data.”

A brief moment passed as Red took in the information that ran through his mind and pondered on how to break the news to her while Serina checked the Archives.

GDS Tempest Eternal, carrier, Thanatos-class. Lost with all hands near the Minerva Gate during the Event while deploying fighters and drones on intercept to a stolen civilian freighter. Yeah, do try to tell her the news gently.

Red inhaled, phrasing his words carefully. “This will come as quite the shock, Tempest. You, along with a quarter of the entire Initiative Navy, were…destroyed…by a transapient entity calling herself Bellatrix. Most of your fallen sisters have returned as well, under differing circumstances.”

At the same time, Starbase Zephyr’s local network succeeded in reaching Tempest’s AI, forwarding her the relevant information.

Among that information was the records of Bellatrix’s statements to the entire Initiative and her firing off the strange energy attack that seemed to strike its distant targets all at once, before she disappeared in a display of light.

Following that was a brief tally of all the ships lost in the Event, most of them from the Second Fleet.

His heart clenched at seeing Tempest’s reaction to the news and the intel that followed. With such a violently quick death like this, it was difficult for him not to feel regret for what had happened to the Third Wave’s shipgirls.

And again, the question appeared in the back of his mind, a venomous question. Would he have been able to prevent this, had he not allowed such drastic responses to the existential threats that had plagued the Initiative and the Coalition back then?

Would Tempest and her Third Wave sisters-in-arms not have perished?

He didn’t know. And he doubted he would. After all, all of this was on him by association. His responsibility.

secondshipgirlsquadron:

fleet-admiral-red:

secondshipgirlsquadron:

It was fortunate that the GDI had created the station just for shipgirls, especially so in the fallout from The Event.

The carrier GDS Tempest Eternal was one of the later of the reincarnated ships, finding herself in some sort of lobby area with a large panoramic window of the starscape outside. She was extremely confused, disoriented, and altogether lost. The only sounds around her were from idle ambient chatter, and a faint ringing in her ears. After all, spending so much time in the silence of the void had dulled her hearing. Although, she sensed a small whisper in the back of her mind, a familiar and reassuring voice.

“Adrianna? Status report! What’s happening to me!?” She said in a panicked and rather loud attempt at a whisper, perhaps catching a few curious glances.

{Our current location and situation is unknown, but I can confirm this is a GDI station. You’re under a lot of stress, take a seat. There’s a sofa right over there. Take a breath and stand by while I try to connect with the system.}

Tempest obediently followed her instructions, hoping beyond hope that someone would help her.

@fleet-admiral-red

All things considered, it had not been a good month.

The Event had shaken up much of Initiative society, not merely the military. And as Commanding Fleet Admiral, he’d been stuck with cleaning up some of the proverbial mess.

Calming down the new arrivals had been a headache. And he wasn’t even supposed to even get headaches anymore, with how augmented he was.

The alert of a new personnel’s arrival pinged in Fleet Admiral Red’s head, received by his direct neural interface. The details ran themselves through his mind.

Human female according to visual record, non-standard appearance and outfit. Zephyr Station’s sensors pinged the unknown girl as a carrier.

Another new shipgirl, likely part of the Third Wave. He definitely needed to pay a visit in person, help her adjust to things…assuming the other shipgirls over there didn’t meet her first, that is.

I’d agree that you should meet with her, Red. Please, do try to keep it informal.

Red mentally nodded at the familiar digital voice in his mind. Of course, Serina. Mark the nearest Blink platform, direct sync to Zephyr Station. Put me to the nearest array to her location.

Done. Her AI has been connected to the station’s Net, by the way.

Another mental nod. At least this carrier, whoever she was, wasn’t raging and smashing things. Zephyr Station didn’t need yet another hull breach in this month.

The Blink platform came to life as Red approached, faintly glowing with energies as he walked on it.

Without missing a beat, Red was transmitted across the Minerva system, appearing out of another Blink platform on Zephyr Station itself.

The starbase had been expanded in size substantially over the past month to accommodate those shipgirls of the newly-arrived Third Wave. By now it was the third-largest space installation in the entire system, after Starbase One and the Orbital Ring.

Doors whispered open as he rounded a corner, admitting him into the area where the mystery shipgirl sat.

Red hoped his attire didn’t intimidate her. The armored longcoat of a Fleet Admiral was as functional as it was formal, suited for both heavy battle and formality.

He gave a warm, respectful nod to the shipgirl as he neared her.

“Hello there.”

{You have a visitor.} Her AI warned her, bringing her out of the daze she’d found herself in. She jumped up, not entirely sure of how to react to the important-looking and slightly unnerving officer. He looked familiar, but she failed to remember his name, despite the unshakable feeling that she should.

She quickly looked around her, on the off chance that he was talking to someone else. Alas, no such person existed.

“You’re here for me?” She asked. “Thank goodness.” She followed it with a sigh of relief.

He nodded. “I am.”

Red sat down near the girl, aware from her words that she was most likely confused about the whole situation.

“Commanding Fleet Admiral Red, Initiative Navy First Fleet. I apologize for these unusual circumstances, allow me to welcome you aboard Starbase Zephyr, also known as Zephyr Station.”

Seeing the shipgirl about to rise to her feet and salute following the mention of his rank, Red gestured for her to stay put. “At ease, formality’s honestly a drag with the current events as it is. For now, I’d just like to know who you are and what you can last recall before you appeared here. It’ll help me get you up to speed with things.”

It wasn’t a normal manifestation, that was for sure. Or whatever counted as normal for the shipgirl corps.

Red knew approaching the topic of her manifestation was going to be tricky. He would have to be delicate. But then again, it always was a delicate subject to broach.

secondshipgirlsquadron:

It was fortunate that the GDI had created the station just for shipgirls, especially so in the fallout from The Event.

The carrier GDS Tempest Eternal was one of the later of the reincarnated ships, finding herself in some sort of lobby area with a large panoramic window of the starscape outside. She was extremely confused, disoriented, and altogether lost. The only sounds around her were from idle ambient chatter, and a faint ringing in her ears. After all, spending so much time in the silence of the void had dulled her hearing. Although, she sensed a small whisper in the back of her mind, a familiar and reassuring voice.

“Adrianna? Status report! What’s happening to me!?” She said in a panicked and rather loud attempt at a whisper, perhaps catching a few curious glances.

{Our current location and situation is unknown, but I can confirm this is a GDI station. You’re under a lot of stress, take a seat. There’s a sofa right over there. Take a breath and stand by while I try to connect with the system.}

Tempest obediently followed her instructions, hoping beyond hope that someone would help her.

@fleet-admiral-red

All things considered, it had not been a good month.

The Event had shaken up much of Initiative society, not merely the military. And as Commanding Fleet Admiral, he’d been stuck with cleaning up some of the proverbial mess.

Calming down the new arrivals had been a headache. And he wasn’t even supposed to even get headaches anymore, with how augmented he was.

The alert of a new personnel’s arrival pinged in Fleet Admiral Red’s head, received by his direct neural interface. The details ran themselves through his mind.

Human female according to visual record, non-standard appearance and outfit. Zephyr Station’s sensors pinged the unknown girl as a carrier.

Another new shipgirl, likely part of the Third Wave. He definitely needed to pay a visit in person, help her adjust to things…assuming the other shipgirls over there didn’t meet her first, that is.

I’d agree that you should meet with her, Red. Please, do try to keep it informal.

Red mentally nodded at the familiar digital voice in his mind. Of course, Serina. Mark the nearest Blink platform, direct sync to Zephyr Station. Put me to the nearest array to her location.

Done. Her AI has been connected to the station’s Net, by the way.

Another mental nod. At least this carrier, whoever she was, wasn’t raging and smashing things. Zephyr Station didn’t need yet another hull breach in this month.

The Blink platform came to life as Red approached, faintly glowing with energies as he walked on it.

Without missing a beat, Red was transmitted across the Minerva system, appearing out of another Blink platform on Zephyr Station itself.

The starbase had been expanded in size substantially over the past month to accommodate those shipgirls of the newly-arrived Third Wave. By now it was the third-largest space installation in the entire system, after Starbase One and the Orbital Ring.

Doors whispered open as he rounded a corner, admitting him into the area where the mystery shipgirl sat.

Red hoped his attire didn’t intimidate her. The armored longcoat of a Fleet Admiral was as functional as it was formal, suited for both heavy battle and formality.

He gave a warm, respectful nod to the shipgirl as he neared her.

“Hello there.”