Bunker Hill, Belfast, Lafayette, Lucas and William are standing at the Helideck of USNS William McLean. As an MH-60 Seahawk landed in the Helideck and a person step out it was Enterprise. The MH-60 Seahawk then flew back to the Carrier.
"How was the package?" Enterprise asks.
William answers "The package will arrive soon."
Then a single MH-60 Seahawk fly toward the Cargo ship, carrying the package (Tester β's corpse). It slowly approached the Cargo ship and lowered its package at the Helideck where the six are waiting.
Bunker Hill, Belfast, Lafayette, Lucas, William and Enterprise approach the package.
Lucas ask. 'What are we going to do with her? she's already dead."
Enterprise points her finger at the Plasma cannon. "I want those to be examined, and find a way to counter it. If we encounter one, we are ready to counter it."
"That will be a big pain in the ass..." William said, as he scratches the back of his head.
Enterprise looks at him "You're a Scientist, you can do it. Right?"
William replies "I am not. I'm a Physicist."
Lucas chimes in. "Scientist, Physicist, potato, potato same thing."
William muttered under his breath. "Fucking Marines."
Belfast noticed something deferent on Tester β's corpse. "Everyone you might wanna take a look at this." this caught the attention of the four.
Belfast then points at the corpse as everyone saw a blood not Red, but Yellow. This surprise them.
Lafayette covers his eyes, as he's trying to not look at Tester β's headless corpse. But still peeking between the gaps of his fingers.
Enterprise puts her hand on William's right shoulder "Do your Magic, old man. She's all yours."
William looks at Enterprise with slight annoyance at the statement and respond. "Because I was launched in 2011, that doesn't mean I'm 'old'."
Bunker Hill chimes in "Don't go rough on the package, we don't want any of her equipment to get damage while you examine it"
William sighs in defeat and raised both of his hands "Roger that ladies..."
Everyone gets inside the Seahawk. The Seahawk then flew them to their respective ships leaving William with Tester β's corpse.
William looked at the headless corpse of Tester β and crack his knuckles "Let's get started, shall we?"
~Time skip~
Inside the Cargo Bay of USNS William McLean. Tester β's corpse is lying on the deck. The Manjuus onboard the ship starts to cut-down Tester β's rigging with power tools. They are careful not to damage the Plasma cannon and any equipment that can be reverse engineered and researched.
William is supervising the whole operation his wearing a lab coat and hard hat while holding a clipboard
"You're kinda lucky, I'm in charge of your corpse and not DARPA and DOD. Those guy will have a good time 'scanning' your corpse." he then smiles like a madman.
Manjuus beside him who hears it start shaking in fear, as they saw him smiling like a madman.
The rigging was separated from Tester β's corpse, after that the rigging was then sent to the Work shop to be analyzed and examine.
Tester β's corpse is currently being stripped with clothing, as to put in the metal box. That shape like a metal coffin and refrigerated it for future plans in mind.
Manjuus looks at him, as he looked at Tester β being stripped naked.
"What are you looking at. I'm not a Necrophilia, I am not going to have an interest in a dead-ass Alien pussy." He exclaimed.
The Manjuus are not convinced.
~Somewhere else~
30 Miles away from the Carrier Strike Group a submarines periscope is popping-out the surface of the ocean.
The unknown submarine that is tailing the fleet after watching the battle, she starts to follow the two ships she saw. The periscope is turning from left and right trying to find something.
A blond girl is looking at the periscope frantically trying to find the fleet that she's been tailing for hours.
"Where are you.... Come on..."
She's being careful of not making any sound for a submarine being detected and sunk is her worst nightmare. But, unbeknownst to her a black cigar shape submarine is tailing her at depth of 800 feet, her.
Denver were listening to the submarine acoustic signature of the unknown submarine that she's been following an hours. She's eager the sink it, but the acoustic signature it emits is similar to the Gato class subs of WW2.
Denver is following this Ww2 Sub for hours now. She's waiting for it to do something stupid, so she could sink it, but decided to follow it instead.
"Could you be more-slower and noisier than this? I'm getting bored, for fuck sake!" she exclaims.
Denver waited for another few minutes, until she couldn't stand it anymore. "This is bullshit."
She couldn't take this boredom anymore, as she ascends from the depth of 300 to 50 feet to contact the Strike Group.
"Denver to Enterprise. I have detected and tailing this sub for hours, now. Location 30 miles south, also this sub has an acoustic signature similar to a Gato class of WW2. What are your orders, Ma'am?"
"Tail it for now I will dispatch Lafayette at the location of the said sub. If the sub acts any hostilities, you have my permission to sink it" Enterprise give the order to Denver.
"Roger that." Denver then ascends to her normal depths of 300 feet. She then continues tailing this ww2 sub.
Enterprise looks at the position of the said sub at the monitor screen. She then contacts Lafayette through the comms.
"Lafayette, I want you to intercept and investigate this unknown sub that is tailing us for an hour, now. If it acts hostile towards you, you may open fire.... I know you want to be useful, but please don't overdo everything okay...?"
she said the last part like caring parent. She then sends the coordinate of the sub via Data Link.
"Yes Ma'am, I won't fail you." Lafayette said it with confidence in his voice.
This is his chance to redeem himself, and prove that his not just a kid. This job is perfect for him, his primary mission as a Naval Vessel is ASW or Anti-Submarine Warfare.
Enterprise mumbles. "I could have sent Belfast, But. That kid really wants to prove himself."
Enterprise could send Belfast to intercept the Unknown sub, because she has more experience in ASW back on Earth, but the kid wants to redeem himself from the earlier battle.
Submarine location
A Constellation Frigate then sails to the location of the said sub he saw a blimp in the monitor screen showing the subs periscope poking out the ocean surface. His hull mounted sonar can hear the subs acoustic signature, it is similar to Gato class
(The US Navy recognize the problem of the batch 1 or flight 1 of the Frigate that is the lack of bow mounted sonar. To remedy this short comings, they just install a hull mounted sonar to all flight I in 2040s)
Lafayette uses a low frequency radio wave to contact the sub (low frequency radio wave can pierce through the surface of the ocean)
"Unknown Submarine. This is the Unite Sates Navy Identify yourself and state your intension. I ordered you to surface, failed to comply you will be fired upon. I have the permission to open fire."
The subs periscope swivels to right and saw the Frigate sailing toward the direction of the submarine.
"What? how did they know I'm following them?" she exclaimed.
The blond girl is now having to decide to surface or ignore the warning. If she ignores it she will be sunk and if she surfaces she will be vulnerable, as a sitting duck.
"Shit, I'm seriously in trouble. What should I do? Wait!... Is that a destroyer? Why does it has only a single gun?"
She then remembers this fleet can defeat an Elite-Siren in a battle within a minutes, even the most Elite ships in the Azur Lane could not match them.
"Damn it! Getting sunk by this unknown ship is not part of my war patrol plan!" she exclaims.
"Your time is running out. Surface or I will open fire." He radioed.
"Maybe I could dive down to avoid getting sink. That's it!" she then tries to flood her ballast tanks to dive deeper, But. Suddenly she receives another radio transmission.
"Diving down to avoid my detection, is also futile."
"How did he knows?!" she yelled in surprise.
An MH-60 Seahawk is hovering above the submarine location while the dipping sonar listens to the subs acoustics and also her blabbering inside the sub. Lafayette is listening to her blubbering.
"Why do you think they called the submarine force "The Silent Service". for no reason." He muttered to himself. As he listens to her blabbering.
"Maybe surfacing to meet this fleet ain't that bad." She said.
Lafayette is tapping on of the Sonar panels with his finger nonstop anticipating for the sub the surface. "Come on.... Surface already... I don't want to do this..."
He then hears the subs ballast tank being filled with air and the sound of submarine surfacing. "Thank god that was easy... I really hate using force against... girls." He said.
The submarine then surfaced, as it reveals it conning tower and deck mounted gun. The Submarine was the same exact copy of the Gato Class Sub in WW2. A blond girl came out in the hatch of the submarine she looks around. She then saw a weird aircraft with the rotors on top and two torpedo on its side hovering next to the Submarine.
The MH-60 Seahawk armed with a light weight torpedo is hovering 10 meters away from the stern of the submarine.
'This guy is seriously going to kill me! Wait. why is the rotor on top instead in the front?' she thought.
She then saw the unknown ship with angular design getting closer to her sub. "I hope his not a bad guy." She said to herself.
USS Lafayette
"You." He pointed to one of the Manjuus armed with M4. "I want you all the prepare for a sudden attack. I don't to repeat what happened the last time we encounter an Alien life." He said, as Manjuus armed with M4A1's salutes.
Manjuus armed with M4A1's position themselves at the high position for a good view. The other Manjuus maned the mounted M2 .50 cal. that is bolted in the side of the ship's deck.
The frigate then slowly approaches the side of the Submarine. The two Vessel are now parallel to one another Lafayette with help of the Manjuu lower a gangway, so that the person onboard the sub can come aboard to his ship.
Manjuus with M4 and M2 .50 cal. pointed their riffle and machinegun at the Blond girl that is walking to the gangway to his ship.
He did not expect a blond girl that age range from 10 to 13 years old wearing a bikini with a light and dark gray stripes, a 3inch deck gun like pistol and headset with antenna.
'W-Why are they pointing their weapons to me....?' she thought, as she raised both of her hands.
He raised a fist in the air and shouts. "Hold your fire! Hold your fire! Hold your fire!"
Lafayette and Manjuus beside him turns around as they start turning red after seeing the girl. All of them are staring at her for a second.
He then orders one of the Manjuu besides him to give her a towel for cover herself.
He thought to himself. 'If those guys saw me right now, my life would be shittier than before.'
He then imagines Essex, Barb, William and Lucas making fun of him while making some typical anime teasing faces.
One Manjuu the gives the Blond girl a towel to cover herself-up, because every Manjuus onboard the Frigate is starting to turn into a Tomato, including Lafayette.
Lafayette slaps his checks a bit ho hides his red face, he then clears his throat and face her. "Lower your hands I'm not an enemy. I just wanted to talk." He said.
"Then why are they pointing their guns to me...?!" she exclaims.
He looks around he saw all the Manjuus that is equipped with combat gear is pointing their weapons at her. "Lower your weapons."
He then introduces himself. "The name is USS Lafayette FFG-64 or Lafayette for short. Sorry about that."
The blond girl was shock to hear a USS prefix. 'Is he a new ship that was commissioned by my Faction, by the way why is he a boy?'
He notices her shock expression. "Um... everything alright M-M-Miss?" he's having a hard time saying the last part.
She then introduces herself "My name is Albacore, USS Albacore" Albacore tell her name with a cheery tone.
Lafayette was about to lose his nuts after hearing they have the same prefix. "The fuck did you just say...?!"
~Time skip~
Lafayette and Albacore is at the officer wardroom seating at the same table parallel to each other as they are being serve by Manjuus with food and any kind of treats.
"Sorry about my sudden outburst out there. I'm just shock to find out that you have a "USS" prefix the same as mine" he apologizes sincerely to her. Albacore nods in acknowledgement.
"by the way, why are you following the Strike Group?" Lafayette ask Albacore with a hint of seriousness in his voice. She also notices his seriousness.
"I was on my war patrol and saw a Siren fleet. so, I follow the fleet and saw you guys defeating an Elite-Siren in a minute. So I decided follow you to your fleet." Albacore tells the truth, because she knew this kid have a special ability in Anti-Submarine Warfare.
"Ah... I see. You are that submarine that I detected before the shoot-out? about this Siren and Elite-Siren that you were talking about?" Lafayette ask Albacore, as he now have the lead clue to those Unknown Vessels.
Albacore explains about the Siren and Elite-Siren thing and how this war started. Lafayette nods as he records every word in his memory.
"I see... could you please wait here... I need to contact my superiors." He said.
"Um... sure. I'll wait here." She said.
Lafayette then goes to the ships CIC and contacts Enterprise about his findings. About the Identity of the Unknown Vessels that attacked them.
He then returns to the officer wardroom where he can see Albacore is drinking her hot Choco, he walks towards her and inform her.
"Miss Enterprise wants to talk to you about this 'Sirens' thing, aboard her ship."
Albacore looks at him with a widen eye and surprised expression almost spilling her Hot Choco, as she heard the name 'Enterprise'.
USS ENTERPRISE CVN-80
Enterprise is inside the ships CIC looking at the footage of Lucas having a rigging, she pauses and replaying the whole footage trying to find an answer
"How did a Destroyer Ship dematerialized and materialized... like an exoskeleton?" she muttered, as she clicks the reverse button.
She's about to ask Cortana, but Cortana finishes the scanning and evaluation of the footage and talks.
"According to my Data Base this phenomenon happening to Lucas is called 'Rigging Activation'. If its activated the ship will dematerialize and materialized into a rigging. The process called rigging activation will double or triple the ships survivability and fighting capability as a "Shipgirl" or "KANSEN". The way to activate it is to feel your heart and think about your ship."
Enterprise is shock about the information she just heard, and this gives her an idea why they were human to begin with. But she has a doubt on Cortana's knowledge of this phenomenon.
"So...Is this the reason why we have a human bodies, then?
"Yes."
"How did you know this information? Did DARPA installed this information to you?"
Cortana answers Enterprise question "No. DARPA did not install this kind of information about Rigging Activation. This information was recently uploaded to me at same time when we were transported here."
"And the Manjuus and Meowfficers?"
"Yes. Even their Data are installed to all Naval Vessels."
'Who ever summons us here knows what his/her doing, like it was planned from the start and waiting for our next move.'
Enterprise thoughts were interrupted by her comms. It was Lafayette she then opens the comms.
"Lafayette to Enterprise, I have found an information about the unknown fleet that we've just encountered. The submarine that I intercepted was named "USS Albacore", she also called this unknown fleet as "Siren Fleet" and Tester β and is an "Elite-Siren" according to her."
Enterprise smiles not because of the information, but because of Lafayette proves himself.
"So.... that what they were called.... Sirens. Huh. That quite... odd." She mumbles.
"Lafayette I want you to escort Albacore to the Strike Group. I'm gonna ask her some questions in private. By the way Good job kid."
Enterprise said the last with smile in her face. She can hear in the comms Lafayette voice cheering like he's being praised.
"Roger that."
Enterprise gaze return to the computer screen and ask Cortana one question "Do you think my performance will improves, if I activate my rigging? And how would that fair in combat?"
Cortana answers "it depends on your skill, ability and how long will you push your limits. The last fight against the Siren fleet and Elite-Siren is just a fraction of it." Enterprise smiles in satisfaction.
Cortana continues. "You and your ship is one when inRigging mode. When you receive a hit in the combat your ship will also receivea damage, but. When your ship is hit in ship mode you will not receive anydamage only your ship.