Azur Lane: Silent Service
Chapter 27 - New Toys

[Akashi Shop]

“Kanya~! I came nyaaaa~”

In a small shop that sells ship supplies and ammunition. Seen the figure of a busy cat girl carrying a box that reads “Eagle Union Tech Box” with the number 4 in the outer layer. It was a box containing Eagle Union ship equipment with Elite or Super Rare rarity. The activity occurred because the Admiral Eagle Union faction gave an open invitation to other factions to conduct submarine hunting exercises owned by Eagle Union.

The submarine in question is the mysterious USS Seawolf. The USS Seawolf operation was a violation of Azur Lane security protocol. Officially, the USS Seawolf is not registered with the Eagle Union faction or the Azur Lane alliance. As the conflict between the ship's maidens and mankind once raged and heated up, information regarding Seawolf's illegal program was made known by the Azur Lane alliance and forced the Eagle Union to halt Seawolf's program. The Eagle Union knows how much conflict it has over the safety of humanity and stops the Seawolf program to put down futile conflicts.

As a last salute and apology from the Eagle Union faction, a submarine hunting military operation will be conducted. Warning boards and invitation letters have been deployed to various factions to hunt down the USS Seawolf on the high seas.

Azur Lane's military base gets a surprise attack from a siren unit but is brought under control by a mysterious smokescreen and a mysterious submarine attack belonging to Eagle Union. The reaction given by other factions was surprise and curiosity with the smokescreen that damaged their ship's equipment. Strange occurrences like jammer and booster signals make them wonder about the technology being developed by the Eagle Union faction. To answer their curiosity, some factions followed the Eagle Union submarine hunting military operation to measure the strength level of their ships with the Eagle Union faction.

“Akashi, do you have PBY-5A Catalina spare parts?”

“Ey! Akash! I want to buy Hedgehog equipment!”

“Akashi! We want to buy ammunition Depth Charge!”

“Akashi! Sonar!”

“Akashi!!”

“Sabar Nyaaa~ this cat hand only two.”

From a distance, Helena noticed the hustle of Akashi's small shop and moved to the ghostly figure standing at the door of the warehouse while taking note of the equipment coming out of the door of the warehouse.

“During morning, Shiranui. Are you busy?”

Helena greeted the figure followed by the two purple-colored fireballs that flew following the figure in front of her. The figure is IJN Shiranui, a destroyer from Sakura Empire who works to take care of the logistics part of the Azur Lane alliance with Akashi.

“Helena? You don't usually come to this place. Is this related to the big event you are going to do?”

“Ah, The.. Rumors have reached your ears?”

“Of course, with the siren attack that can be stopped quickly. Other factions are very interested to see the power of your mysterious submarine.”

“Then, maybe this will help you” Helena submit a proposal paper containing a request to sell special weapons Eagle Union. The special weapon in question is a small torpedo equipped with active sonar to search for its target target.

“Torpedoes? Isn't that too small for a conventional torpedo launcher destroyer?” ask Shiranui.

“True, this is a light torpedo being developed by Eagle Union for hunting siren submarines. The launch system uses torpedo tubes that are easy to install and remove. We will use this torpedo as a field test against the USS Seawolf.”

“I understand. What am I supposed to do?” reply Shiranui.

“Admiral just gave me a short message to sell and recommend this new torpedo to a ship that is from the Eagle Union.” faction

“New technology from Eagle Union, huh? Can I see it?” Shiranui stopped her small activity and looked at Helena's eyes seriously. A magic sentence that Helena had issued had provoked Shiranui's attention.

“I-That..” Helena is trying to change the subject of the sensitive Eagle Union's new technology.

“Is the torpedo still a company secret?” ask Shiranui.

“Un!” Helena simply nodded to answer Shiranui's question.

“We also don't know if it will work or fail” Helena said.

“Then, I will wait for the stable and secure version. Warehouse number twelve had just been empty and ready for use. I will prepare a report on its use to Azur Lane.”

“Thank you, Shiranui. We were greatly helped by that report.”

Helena and Shiranui watched Manjuu's work closely. The slightest mistake would destroy a storage warehouse filled with active ammunition.

“Helena, you guys made a new weapons factory? The logo of this company looks different than usual” Shiranui said.

“Ah, that's because we made a new subsidiary of a retired former military official. His life's dedication to the safety of mankind made him to stay on the front lines without being directly involved with setting up that factory.”

“By creating a logistics chain for Eagle Union ships?”

“Quickly once.”

“Torpedo Mark-50? In addition to different sizes and shapes. You guys still use the same format for weapon naming? Is this the development of the Mark-28 torpedo?”

“No, it's very different from the previous torpedo. This torpedo has a design that allows it to attack targets that are below sea level such as siren submarines.”

“Allows? That sounds like a doubt to use it?”

“That's right, this torpedo is still in the testing stage like the smokescreen used before.”

“Eh? That smokescreen is yours? As always, you guys are always developing weird weapons every day.”

“What about Sakura Empire? Did you guys manage to develop that weapon?” ask Helena.

“The weapon? Ah.. Triple 460mm Type 94 Yamato-class?” reply Shiranui.

“Un! The greatest Battleship main weapon ever made to date. Didn't the Iron Blood faction have the same idea to make a mock version of it.”

“The weapon may be very large, but it is rarely used in real battles. More precisely, Musashi and Yamato did not have the opportunity to use his main cannon.”

“It just so happens, these torpedoes are the same. The Mark-50 has just been created and will make its first debut in search of targets in the depths of the sea. With a large or small size, a weapon will become useless if not used, right?” helena said with a sweet smile.

“That's right, as the destroyer Sakura Empire in charge of armament and ammunition of the Azur Lane alliance. I was thinking of throwing away unused weapons for Sakura Empire's children's toys.”

“S-Shiranui, it sounds terrible to someone who takes care of our logistic needs.”

“Quietly, I just threw away the weapons and ammunition that crossed the time limit of use.”

Without notice, the manjuu on duty had finished their work. The originally empty warehouse was slowly filled with Eagle Union's wooden boxes.

“Thank you, Shiranui. Your help is very helpful to our faction. Uh! Before I forget it. There's someone offering you a ship retrofit.”

“Eh? Retrofit?” reply Shiranui.

“This is his business card, if you need retrofit facilities. Please dial the number listed on this business card” Helena gives Shiranui a business card that has a company logo.

“Isn't this the same company as torpedo maker Mark-50?” ask Shiranui.

“Y-Yes, this is just an invitation to cooperate with each other in the future, I guess.”.

“T-Thank you, I will use it if any chance.”

“We should be the ones thanking you for your help, Shiranui.”

Helena and Shiranui continued their conversation regarding the rental and administrative costs that needed to be reported to the Azur lane.

That same day, the sale of the Mark-50 torpedo became a hot talk for ships coming from the Eagle Union faction. Torpedoes that use the Acoustic Homing attribute are commonplace for submarines. But the technology, capable of using torpedoes up to 1,900 feet deep, is a new toy for ship girls. Moreover, the Acoustic Homing torpedo used Mark-50 using active sonar system to pursue the target.

That way, the hunt for siren submarines would be a lot of fun.