Azur Lane: Silent Service
Chapter 9 - Multiple Task Force

*Piii... *beep...

*Piii... *beep...

*Piii... *bep...

I decided to stay away from the Siren Strongholds and observe the circumstances. The weather conditions around Siren Strongholds are becoming abnormal with erratic rise in temperature and sea water. It was not a storm as the temperature and wind pressure conditions around the Siren Strongholds looked normal.

“Ugh, this is very troublesome” my little grouse.

Technically, the submarine does not conduct target searches using active sonar. They rely on passive sonar to hear the situation. That's because sonar waves propagating in the water have a very high density and disrupt underwater ecosystems. In addition, the powerful radiance of the active sonar can be retraced so that the position of the submarine can be found easily. Within the ocean, the ocean water layer has several levels based on depth, wavelength, and sea floor conditions. Conditions such as oceans filled with mud, rocks, and coral have their own uniqueness for submarine hiding.

I emitted active sonar to analyze the deep sea conditions around Siren Strongholds. Sea level conditions are hindered by thick fog and lightning that strikes so that air observations can not be done.

Siren Weather Device.

It was a weather manipulation tool created by sirens. Shaped like a tall tower and a wave transmitter, the device is capable of changing weather conditions that inhibit the movement of ships such as snowstorms, frozen oceans, corrosive liquids, thunderstorms, and, and another very annoying weather disturbance.

“Sofia, did you find anything else?” I asked Sofia.

“Master, after we fire three active sonar with different intervals. There are only sonar reflections coming from surface ships while for Siren Strongholds-“

“No contact penetrated into Siren Strongholds” I cut off Sofia's speech and observed the sonar system.

“True, Master. Apparently, the weather changes inside Siren Strongholds are too noisy to reflect sonar.” sounds

“How about the surface contact condition?” continue question.

“Un! I just matched the noise of the surface contact propeller based on the data that had been collected. It was a Royal Navy convoy heading for Siren Strongholds.”

I read Sofia's report and saw a list of surface contacts that were identified. Most of the surface ships Sofia has identified come from the Hunter Killer Drone reconnaissance and the rest get codes in the form of unknown Siera contacts.

“Sofia, if we use the Admirality Code command to join their convoy. Can we use the Royal Navy convoy as bait to sneak into the Siren Strongholds and destroy the Siren Weather Device?”

A small idea was thought of by me. Using a Royal Navy convoy and moving in to approach the target. The Empress III entered standby mode and changed the defense of the Siren Strongholds with abnormal weather blocking visibility. Visual display, radar range, and sonar are not able to penetrate it.

Their presence is like an oasis in the desert.

With this, the status of “Undetected” my submarine is still in the grey zone.

“To join a Royal Navy convoy, we need a long message for introductions and a main purpose explaining the reasons for joining the convoy line. I was able to do that by manipulating the radio waves coming from Admirality Code” Sofia said.

“Do that and bring the submarine to sea level. We'll intercept a Royal Navy convoy right at their crossing” my orders.

“Ready, Master!”

The body of my submarine slowly moved to the surface of the water to greet the introduction of the Royal Navy Flagship.

-----&&&-----

[Operation Queen & Iron.]

[Multiple Task Force Royal Navy & Iron Blood.]

[Flagship King George V.]

Inside the King George V ship's communications network, a short message from the Admirality Code caught the attention of King George V. He observed the short message and sorted the random sentences according to the cipher protocol the Royal Navy provided. The encryption message he received was a permit from a unit of the Eagle Union submarine requesting to participate in the hunt for Siren Strongholds.

“King George V to All Task Force, we get an uninvited guest from Admirality Code. After visible contact immediately send an identification message in the form of ‘Teh or Kopi?’ and contacts will answer-“

“Maid!”

An unknown radio channel had merged into their communication channel. The unidentified contact was too thin to be traced through the reflection of King George V radio waves. He immediately observed his radar panel and did not get any foreign contact appearing on his radar range.

“King George V, eh? I need your help to sneak into the Siren Strongholds. Forgive me for my leniency in your military operations but things have changed. The Empress III entered a phase that was difficult to understand and it was different from sirens in general”.

The foreign contact actively provided sensitive information regardless of the vulnerability of radio waves that sirens and all ships might hear.

“Sorry, before we discuss the target condition. I want to identify your ship. Can you come to sea level and make formal recognition contact?” king George V.

“Let's just relax, I've done it. In fact, I was already next to your left” replied the mysterious contact.

King George V rushed to the left side of his ship and saw a long black submarine. A light signal from the submarine gave a question to King George V in the form of “Teh or Coffee?” it becomes the identity code.

King George V replied with a light signal “Maid”. After the identity exchange was confirmed, the mysterious contact asked for permission to dive and follow the convoy from the water but was rejected by King George V. Looking at the strange shape of the submarine, King George V watched its outward appearance closely.

Submarine combat is not a Royal Navy skill. So, King George V digs up information from Iron Blood's colleagues who own hundreds of submarines at Azur Lane's main military base. With a light code from his main ship, he gave a small code to Tirpitz who was to the right of his ship.

The answer Tirpitz gave made him confused because the identity of the mysterious submarine was protected by the Admiralty Code. Tirpitz's status as Flagship while Iron Blood was unable to obtain permission to access the Admiralty Code's secret archives. Bismarck and the U-30 incident caused confusion among King George V. He doubted the capabilities of the secret unit developed by Eagle Union.

“Hey, it's rude to talk about someone else right next to that person.”

“Hiiieekk!!” King George V was surprised by the appearance of a mysterious figure beside him.

“Huh? L-Male?” king George V said in a curious tone.

“Um, is it strange for a man to be on the battlefield?” ask the mysterious figure.

“No, it's just. I've never seen a military uniform like that.”

“Well, if you know my uniform. That means the Admirality Code lost its power to keep an unknown unit secret Azur Lane.”

“Urm, so... Why are you here?”

“First of all, forgive me. I slightly messed up the Siren Strongholds this time and made The Empress III frown. Ehe... I accidentally destroyed the siren defense to the level of the ocean. Uh! For more details. Please read my battle report.”

The mysterious figure gave a book containing the activity of Siren Strongholds.

“I-Inii..” a small sweat drenched King George V's forehead after reading a battle report by the mysterious figure.

“Hey! How do you do it?”

King George V turned his face to look at the mysterious figure and found the scene empty.

It appears suddenly and disappears without being noticed. Like an unseen ghost in the vast ocean, the mysterious submarine disappeared right next to the King George V.

“A-What just happened?” suddenly, the fine hair on the nape of King George V stood up.

...(.(.King George V, illustrated by shika)...