Commander's Rounds

Entry 54-4 Operation Ulysses: Purity of Battle

COMMANDER!"

Incomparable shouted this at the top of her lungs, perhaps in some vain hope that the sea breeze would carry her voice to wherever the commander was, so that he could tell her where he was.

Incomparable had been doing her best to keep an eye on the commander's ship throughout the whole engagement, but when Tester Beta and her forces arrived, things became incredibly confused, and she lost track of him in the middle of all of the noise, the shouting, and the shooting. By the time anyone knew what was happening, the commander and King George had gone missing, and no one seemed to know where he was or where he might have gone.

She cursed herself for losing track of him, especially since she owed so much to him- even if she hadn't that long to live, she was grateful to be alive, and it was the commander that ordered her to be released from that black box. So, she told Hood and the others that she was determined to find him and bring him back to the safety of the fleet, and dashed off at all speed to do exactly that.

Incomparable had not been unopposed in her search- While the Sirens had mainly been concentrating on attacking the rest of the fleet, there were a few outward patrols that decided to try to make life difficult for her, but those mainly consisted of ships that could conceivably catch her, such as light cruisers and similarly small ships. It was nothing her own heavy guns couldn't take out, but it still made her anxious, as any moment spend fending off some attacker was one not spent finding the commander.

However, she hadn't given in to despair, as she found that there was no sign that the Orpheus had been destroyed as she searched where she thought the commander's ship might have been, which meant she was sure that he had been able to escape. She did her best to reason out which way the commander might have gone if he had been separated from the fleet, and concluded he'd want to circle around and rejoin the fleet as quickly and safely as he could.

With that in mind, she headed West across the waves.

"COMMANDER!" She shouted again. It was really the best way she had available to try to reach him, damning as it was, but she sailed west, looking for any sign that the commander might be somewhere nearby.

While she didn't find it immediately, she was at least able to find a clue- she leaned over to pick up a few parts of what appeared to be Siren rigging- a few pieces, along with something like a fin with a couple of long guns attached. There was no sign of anything else, so the commander must have gotten away. She kept on heading in that direction until she saw something else traveling the same course. It was Tester Beta, moving straight along, and also ignoring Incomparable.

And seemingly everything else for that matter.

"You!" Incomparable shouted, and followed alongside her. She continued to try to get the Siren's attention, but to no avail- and fed up with that, she aimed a gun and fired, launching one of her oversized shells a mere foot in front of Tester's eyeline.

The only good thing that came of that was that Tester stopped to examine the shooter with her golden eyes, and even began to approach Incomparable. "Subject I... Cube experiment of A-14 #187-I. the activation of this subject was in the realm of possibility with only moderate-low probability. The Anomaly remains inquisitive."

Incomparable spoke up. "What are you doing here?! You attacked us and now you're just leaving the battlefield?"

Tester responded, but mostly to herself. "...The adjustment of parameters must resume. This delay, however, is of no significance."

"Parameters?" Tester began moving again, and Incomparable followed. "What are you talking about?"

Tester continued to talk out loud to herself. "Purifier has created an opportunity to rectify variables. The Anomaly's existence is a non-optimal presence. Retrieval, modification, reinstatement must be pursued."