-Book One- Ghost of Kyiv, an Azur Lane Story

Chapter 5: LRSSG

June 10th, 1942
0530 Hours
Iguru Jima, Joint Iron Blood-Siren Forward Operating Base

The island was awash with a flurry of activity. Since this particular island was in close proximity to the now flooded Citadel, it was used as a base to treat wounded personnel. There were men and Kansen alike being treated for wounds, and yet every single one of them had the strength to say one thing in particular. One phrase, one name, slipped from the lips of the Japanese and the Germans. Wirbelwind von Arkalov. Ryujin. The Whirlwind of Arkalov Island. Somehow, this one pilot, had braved the island's tightly packed air defenses and managed to knock out the base and subsequently the factory that was about to start mass producing jet aircraft.

An officer wearing Siren-issued uniform walked among the throngs of wounded, the dead and dying. She crouched down, checked on a seemingly asleep soldier, and covered his body up with a blanket. She then got up and continued her inspection. "We really screwed the pooch on this one, as the humans say." She muttered to herself as the atmosphere in the open-air space grew more and more grim. She ran her hand over her gray hair, taking the scale of the damage in. A base destroyed, scores of well-trained troops lost, all to a massive tidal wave from a destroyed dam.

She felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned to see a much shorter Siren with the chevrons of an Ensign on her shoulders standing behind her. The Ensign snapped her a salute, before continuing on with her report. "The Commander and their general staff are waiting for you. They want to hear your debrief that you've gathered so far." The siren mulled this over for a bit, before nodding. "Thank you, Ensign. You may go."

A few minutes later, she was walking through the halls of the complex, a roll of papers and a clipboard under her arm. The commander and the rest of the general staff are in the meeting room, waiting for you." The siren mulled the information over, before nodding and returning to a more relaxed position. "Alright. Carry on, Ensign." The other siren nodded, and walked away.

The halls seemed even narrower, considering the amount of wounded that were being brought in. She squeezed through the halls, and walked into the conference room. Seated at the table were multiple officers from Iron Blood, Sakura Empire, and the Sirens. The commander was a Iron Blood officer, so given his stature, he sat at the head of the table. He massaged his head, a glass of water with two seltzer pills dissolving at the bottom. "Can you tell me as to how we lost 10,000 men, and a considerable amount of military tech? I thought the base was practically impenetrable, given the fact that you took part in developing the factory and the defenses around it." The room fell into a temporary silence, with each present person turning their attention to her. She cleared her throat, before speaking.

"A few days ago, our satellites detected an abnormal rift appear near the island that the humans call 'Midway'. The subsequent radar contact crippled one Siren and injured a member of the Sakura Empire. This contact subsequently went on to land at Midway, refuel and re-arm, and head to Azur Lane's base of operations. One of our parallel attacks was taking place at the time, and during the attack, it crippled four more ships, destroyed three, and killed the leader of Iron Blood's TF-33, Bismarck."

The eyes of those present widened, then went back to a dejected expression. Commander Stigler cleared his throat, drumming his finger on the table. "Well then, do you have a plan for dealing with this erm, 'contact', as you describe it?" He looked expectantly at the Siren, waiting for a response. "The surviving personnel on Arkalov Island were able to escape unscathed, and they brought valuable technology along with them. With the assistance of our coalition, we were able to produce twenty unmanned aircraft, as well as various manned aircraft for your own pilots. We will be deploying them along the area we like to call 'The Round Table'."

She once again pulled up the map, pointing at certain areas in the Pacific. "A chain of fifteen islands, including many smaller uninhabited islets. During the last year, we were able to deploy our forces to three of the islands. We are fairly certain that Azur Lane's forces will attempt an attack there, so we must prepare a defense. We will also issue a warning to all units in the Atlantic and European areas to keep an eye out for this aircraft. Can never be too careful."