Commander's Rounds Volume 1

Entry 134: Working by Not Working

"Network Transmissions!"

The commander jumped in his seat as Fu Shun slammed a giant stack of datasheets onto his desk with a thud he was fairly sure could be heard from outside. "Excuse me?"

"It's for the missiles!" She said. "While the Sirens have a lot of spoofing equipment designed to make regular missile guidance useless or even malevolent, all of that works by making missiles forget their purpose. But, I think there's a way to make them keep their eyes on the prize."

"How's that?" He replied.

Fu Shun put her hands on top of the stack of papers. "The way that Siren ships coordinate and fight is through constant wireless network connections that they use to share data and collectively come up with solutions for tactical problems- One of the reasons that only we Kansen can fight them effectively is that we can also fight at the speed of thought. However, this also means that they're constantly emitting a distinct signal to each other. It's often buried under the rest of their sensor and jamming systems, but it's there."

The commander knew enough about normal hardware to get where she was going with this. "So you think it's possible to make a missile that can lock on to these transmissions?"

"Mmm!" She said. "There are a few things, though. These are going to have to be artisanal missiles, because they require Siren bits to make them find their way home, plus there'll have to be a lot of filter equipment to keep them on task." She paused. "Aaaand it's probably not going to be quite as reliable as the old guidance systems, but it's still better than just, you know rockets."

"All right." He said. "Take all of this to Yuubari and Purifier. They'll be able to help you out and figure out exactly how feasible this is."

"Of course!" Fu Shun nodded, and gathered up her papers. "It'll work! And then it does, the Sirens are in for a big surprise!"

She then hurried out to leave the commander with other business, which soon made herself known. Memphis had copies of reports in her arms, and she walked up to the commander's desk. "She looked like she was in a hurry."

"Fu Shun has been carrying out her experiments, and she thinks she might have a breakthrough when it comes to missiles. Even if she admits her idea will only produce a limited supply of working weapons, it's not like we're going to turn down any weapon that will help us against the Sirens." He thought about it. "...Besides, even they might be surprised to get attacked by missiles they can't shake."

Memphis smiled, and shook her head. "I know you shouldn't totally overwork yourself, but at times like this, everyone being busy is a good thing. It means they're really focused on getting ready to turn things around against those high-class Sirens." She put the reports on the commander's table in the office, seeing as his desk was otherwise full. "Missiles alone might not be enough, but everything we can figure out how to use against them helps, yeah?"

"Yeah." He said. "Besides, your sister has been a big help there, too."

"Sometimes I wonder if Marbles acts the way she does just so people can underestimate her, and then she turns around and goes "Ah-ha! You thought I was some dumb bimbo, but it turns out I'm not!" Or something like that. There are lots of ways she likes to have fun."

"And what have you been up to, if you like to see people be busy?"

Memphis stood proudly in front of the commander. "Trying to set a good example for the other cruisers, of course!" She replied. "We Omahas are the oldest cruisers in the Union inventory, so we can't be seen slacking off all the time." The cruiser paused. "...Of course, biggest sis mainly works hard because she's afraid of gaining weight, and Concord is just taking advantage of her sugar rushes, but from the outside, it looks like all of us aren't afraid of rolling up our sleeves."