Our Bonds

There is a slight distortion in the video feed as the drone passed through the perception-blocking field. It was barely even five seconds before a vine shot up from the maze and swiped at the drone. By now, the drone would have been destroyed and we would barely have any information. This time is different. Ayanami-chan is controlling the drone this time. Just before the vine made contact, Ayanami moved the drone away.

"Nice! Good job, Ayanami."

"This is easy." (Ayanami)

The vines continued their relentless assault, only to miss their target. While dodging the attacks, we were finally able to map the current layout of the maze. Right now, the maze is definitely evolving. The previous day, there were only four orbs, which we often call boss nodes. These nodes are a common sight when engaging with Siren singularities and installations. Once a fleet fights their way through to these orbs, a high rank siren, usually a tester beta clone or purifier clone would appear along with mass-produced siren sh.i.p.s. Now, there are six boss nodes, not counting the heart itself. Moreover, there are some weird flowers scattered around the maze. These flowers are spewing out some kind of gas, or maybe dust.

"What is that floating around? Dust?"

"We can take a sample for investigation. Ayanami, hold the left trigger and press the X button. It should activate a vacuum. Keep holding on to the two buttons until the meter is half-full." (Vestal)

"Okay." (Ayanami)

Ayanami did as she was told. There was the sound of something revving up followed by the obvious of a vacuum running, and the red dust can be seen moving underneath the drone.

"Ok. That should be a good sample size. Just scan the area a little more and get out of there. We got what we came for." (Vestal)

Ayanami controlled the drone to maje one round above the thorn maze, taking pictures of the maze layout and other notable features, before exiting the field. A vine tried to attack but it missed again.

"Turn on the autopilot command. It will come back on its own. And we are done. Thanks for the help, Ayanami-san." (Vestal)

"Your welcome. It wasn't even that hard." (Ayanami)

"Thank you, Ayanami. You can go back now. Leave the rest to us."

Ayanami's face turned a bit red. I already know what she is thinking.

"Commander, a reward... Tonight..." (Ayanami)

"Yeah."

I placed a hand on her cheek,

"I'll be waiting."

She smiled, before skipping away.

"Ha~ah... You can have your fun later, Commander. It's time for work." (Vestal)

"Yes. Of course."

"I will analyse the sample and report to you my findings." (Vestal)

"I will analyse the layout and see of there is an easier way to break through. I don't want you girls to fight six bosses in a row."

"Can't be helped. It's our job after all. Though it would certainly be easier if we can just break through without fighting. Anyway, I will go collect the drone and send you the map data." (Vestal)

"Ok."

As I was about to leave the command center, I received a video call. It's from IJN's Brunei Anchorage.

"Good afternoon , Commander Ao." (Brunei Anchorage Admiral)

"Good afternoon, Admiral Taka. What's the occasion?"

"I will just get straight to the point. We may have a problem." (Admiral Taka)

"What is it? Sirens in your area?"

If there are Sirens attacking our allies, we are obligated to help. Likewise, if we have problems with the Abyssals, IJN will provide assistance.

"Not really. At least, I don't think so. There have been some weird Abyssals roaming about. All of which have been reported to exhibit animalistic behavior." (Admiral Taka)

"Animalistic behavior? How so? You mean they will growl at anyone who comes close and use their claws and teeth as weapons?"

I tried to imitate how a tiger would attack by clawing at the air.

"Yeah. Quite literally." (Admiral Taka)

"You serious?"

I meant that as a joke!

"Yeah. Two nights ago, my base has attacked by a fleet of them. Two destroyers, two light cruisers, one heavy cruiser and one light carrier. We managed to eliminate them but suffered heavy damages. That same night, a patrol fleet from Maizuru Naval District was attacked by an Abyssal battleship with the same characteristics. One of their destroyers suffered lasting injuries. Her right eye got destroyed." (Admiral Taka)

Woah. That's horrible.

"I will send you a file containing their characteristics and behavior. Short story is, they use physically strong, preferring to engage in CQB, and have a reddish glow around them. Oh, before I forget, Brunei Anchorage will be assisting Azur Lane in Project Thorn Heart."

"That's great, but don't you have an operation coming up yourselves? You sure you have enough manpower to spare?"

"We will be only taking part in one mission. Originally, Maizuru was supposed to handle it but because of this incident, they may have to be assigned to another mission. And I have more than enough resources and girls to help out." (Admiral Taka)

"Wow. That's terrific!"

"You can use Tawi Tawi Anchorage as an outpost if you need. It's much closer than your current location." (Admiral Taka)

"Thank you so much. That saves us a lot of trouble."

"Don't sweat it. Just introduce me to some of your animal girls next time." (Admiral Taka)

"That's impossible. They are mine."

"Stingy. Anyway, that's all I want to say. Tell us when you are starting your operation. We will prepare the necessities. Bye." (Admiral Taka)

Admiral Taka hung up on his end. Now there are abnormal Abyssals roaming all over the place? It will be bad if my fleet meets one on their way to the operation area. And the Maizuru girls were attacked by one? How come I didn't hear anything about it? Two nights ago... I could have sworn I heard an explosion somewhere far away, but Belfast's and Ill.u.s.trious's m.o.a.ns kind of drowned out all other noise. Oops. I probably shouldn't mention that. Either way, if it managed to deal that kind of damage to their girls, that would mean my girls could be in danger if they come across such an enemy. I have to take some precaution.

I returned to my office and found a stack of doc.u.ments on my table. It's all the data about the thorn maze. Apart from the dust sample that was collected, everything else had been collated and arranged neatly for me. Vestal and Belfast work really fast. Let's see...

As I analysed the data and create possible strategies, there was a knock on my door.

"Come in."

"Commander, it's Vestal. I have finished analysing the compounds of the mysterious dust we collected." (Vestal)

That fast?! As expected of Vestal.

"What is it and what are it's effects?"

"It's pollen." (Vestal)

"Pollen?"

"Yes. Or rather, spores would be a better description." (Vestal)

Vestal tapped on her tablet and a projector came down from the ceiling. The room darkened as the she showed a bunch of words and pictures on the wall.

"The red dust contains Mental cube fragments, matured plant cells and matured plant DNA. I couldn't identify why type of plant it is since there are no matches in our database. I have yet to extensively test its effects but so far, it doesn't affect shipgirls." (Vestal)

"How did you know that?"

I have a feeling that she-

"I tested it on myself. Inhaling the spores only caused a slight choking sensation, similar to- Ouch! Commander! Why are you pinching my cheeks?!" (Vestal)

As soon as she said she tested the spores on herself, I immediately got up and pinched her cheeks. This girl... She should care more about her well-being. I know she is a repairship and a researcher of sorts, but she is my repairship. Even if she doesn't want to admit it. I'm not letting my repairship put herself at risk like this.

"You really need to take care of yourself! If you wanted to test the effects, use something else to test it!"

"How else am I supposed to know if it affects shipgirls or not?!" (Vestal)

"There are other ways apart from sniffing it yourself! Gosh!"

I let go of my grip. Vestal rubbed her cheeks as she glared at me.

"Anyway, let's continue."

"Ok..." (Vestal)

Vestal continued her explanation on the spores we collected. So far, the only conclusion we found was that it's red, contains living plant cells, comes from Siren origin, and does not affect shipgirls in any way, apart from choking. So essentially, what we can conclude is that the spore are just a mild inconvenience for us in the area. A simple mask should be able to stop the choking effect. Though there is something I need to confirm.

"Vestal,"

"Yes?" (Vestal)

"I just got a call from Brunei Anchorage. They said there are wild Abyssal rampaging about. Do you think the spores are the main cause?"

"Hmm... Without a specimen, I can't draw any conclusions. But theoretically speaking, if the spores don't affect us, it shouldn't have any effect on IJN's shipgirls or Abyssals as well." (Vestal)

"What about in large doses? Let's say someone inhales a large amount of the spores, will it still be ineffective?"

"That's a possibility. As I said, without something to work with, I can't-" (Vestal)

The emergency alarm start blaring. An enemy has breached the perimeter!

"We will continue this later. For now, head to the shelters."

"Roger. I will standby for repair support." (Vestal)

I rushed to the command room and turned on the base cameras. Let's see what we are dealing with.

Standing... No, is it floating? Wait a minute, it's using some kind of appendage to raise itself up. There is a young, pale girl in black costume. She is wearing some kind of hat, with glowing red eyes and four tentacles, extending to the water surface. She appears to be drooling. Even the hat she is wearing is spewing some red liquid from its eye holes and mouth. There is a red glow surrounding her body shape. She seems... wild.

That's an Abyssal! A Carrier Wo-class! What is it doing here? Whatever the case,

"Yorktown, Enterprise, South Dakota, Prinz Eugen, Javelin, Nimi, you guys are up! Eliminate the Abyssal!"