Chapter 9 - Royal Navy Taskforce

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 Beeep...

 Piiiiinggg...

 Beep...

 Piiiiinggg...

 Bep...

 I decided to move away from Siren Strongholds and observe the situation. The weather conditions around Siren Strongholds became abnormal with rising temperatures and erratic sea water. It wasn't a storm because the temperature and wind pressure conditions around Siren Strongholds looked normal.

 "Ugh, this is so troublesome" I grumbled.

 Technically, submarines do not search for targets using active sonar. They rely on passive sonar to hear the situation. This is because sonar waves that propagate in water have a very high density and disrupt the underwater ecosystem. In addition, the strong emission from active sonar can be re-tracked so that the position of the submarine can be easily found.

 In the ocean, layers of seawater have several levels based on depth, wavelength, and seabed conditions. Conditions such as oceans filled with mud, rocks, and coral have their uniqueness for hiding submarines.

 I emitted active sonar to analyze the condition of the sea depths around Siren Strongholds. The surface conditions of the seawater were obstructed by thick fog and lightning strikes so aerial observation could not be done.

 Siren Weather Device.

 It was a weather manipulation device created by the siren. Shaped like a tall tower and a wave transmitter, the device was able to change weather conditions that hinder ship movement such as snowstorms, frozen seas, corrosive fluids, lightning storms, and other very annoying weather disturbances.

 "Sofia, did you find anything else?" I asked Sofia.

 "Master, after we fired three active sonars at different intervals. There were only one sonar reflections coming from surface ships while for Siren Strongholds-"

 "There was no contact that penetrated Siren Strongholds," I interrupted Sofia and observed the sonar system.

 "That's right, Master. It seems that the weather changes inside Siren Strongholds are too noisy to reflect sonar sounds."

 "What about the surface contact conditions?" I continued my question.

 "Un! I just matched the noise of the surface contact propellers based on the data that has been collected. It is a Royal Navy convoy heading towards Siren Strongholds."

 I read the report that Sofia gave me and looked at the list of surface contacts that were successfully identified. Most of the surface ships that Sofia had identified were from Hunter Killer Drone reconnaissance and the rest were coded as unknown Siera contacts.

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

 A small idea occurred to me. Using the Royal Navy convoy and moving in to approach the target. The Empress III might entered alert mode and changed the defense of Siren Strongholds with abnormal weather that blocked visibility even visual display, radar range, and sonar were unable to penetrate it.

 The Royal Navy convoy presence was like an oasis in the desert, full of hope to be used as bait.

 With this, my submarine's "Undetected" status was still in the gray zone.

 "To join the Royal Navy convoy, we need a long message for introduction and main purpose explaining the reason for joining the convoy. I can do it by manipulating the radio waves coming from Admiralty Code," Sofia said.

 "Do that and bring the submarine to the surface. We will intercept the Royal Navy convoy right at their crossing," I ordered.

 "At your command, Master!"

 My submarine's body slowly moved to the surface of the water to greet the Royal Navy Flagship.

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

[Operation Queen & Iron.]

 [Multiple Task Force Royal Navy & Iron Blood.]

 [Flagship: King George V.]

 Inside King George V's communication network, a short message coming from the Admiralty Code caught King George V's attention. She observed the short message and sorted the random sentences according to the Royal Navy's cipher protocol. The encrypted message she received was a permit from an Eagle Union submarine unit requesting to join the Siren Strongholds hunt.

 King George V laughed after reading the meaning of the message sent by the Admiralty Code and ordered the destroyer to broadcast active sonar. She did it intentionally to lure the Eagle Union submarine to the surface. The Royal Navy's tradition of viewing submarines as losers led her to the wrong decision.

 "King George V to All Task Force, we have an uninvited guest from Admiralty Code. Once contact is seen, immediately send an identification message of 'Tea or Coffee' and make sure the contact will reply-"

 "Maid!"

 An unknown radio channel had joined their communication channel. The unknown contact was too thin to be detected through King George V's radio wave reflections. She quickly scanned her radar panel and found no foreign contact appearing in her radar range.

 "King George V, I need your help to sneak into the Siren Strongholds. Forgive my indiscretion in your military operations but some circumstances have changed my plan. The Empress III has entered a phase that is difficult to understand and is different from most sirens," said the unknown contact.

 The unknown contact was actively giving sensitive information without caring about the vulnerability of the radio waves that might be heard by the sirens and all ships.

 "Excuse me, before we discuss the target's condition. I would like to identify your ship. Can you surface and make formal contact?" King George V quipped.

 "Don't worry, I already did. I am already on your left," replied the mysterious contact.

 King George V rushed to the port side of her ship and saw a long black submarine on surface sea without being detected by her radars. A light signal from the submarine gave King George V a question, "Tea or Coffee?" which became the identity code.

 King George V replied with the light signal "Maid". After the identity exchange was confirmed, the mysterious contact asked for permission to dive and follow the convoy from underwater but was refused by King George V. Seeing the strange shape of the submarine, King George V observed his exterior design.

 Submarine warfare was not the Royal Navy's expertise. So, King George V dug up information from Iron Blood's partner who had hundreds of submarines in the main Azurlane military base. With the light code from her main ship, she gave a small code to Tirpitz which was on the right side of her ship.

 Tirpitz's answer confused her because the identity of the mysterious submarine was protected by the Admiralty Code. Tirpitz's status as a Flagship Iron Blood was unable to obtain permission to access the Admiralty Code's secret archives. The incidents experienced by Bismarck and U-30 made King George V even more confused. She now doubted the credibility of the secret unit developed by Eagle Union.

 "Hey, it's not polite to talk about other people right next to that person."

 "Hiiieekk!!" King George V was surprised by the appearance of a mysterious figure beside her.

 "Huh? A-A child?" King George V said in a questioning tone.

 "Um, is it strange for a child to be on the battlefield?" the mysterious figure asked.

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

 "Well, if you know my uniform. That means the Admiralty Code has lost power to keep lost unknown unit as a secret Azurlane Archieve."

 "Urm, so… Why are you here?"

 "First of all, I'm sorry. I messed up Siren Strongholds a bit this time and made The Empress III sulking. Ehehe… I accidentally destroyed Siren's defenses in her ocean territory. Ah! For more details. Please read my battle report in here..."

 The mysterious figure handed her a book containing Siren Strongholds' activities.

 "T-This is…" a small sweat dripped down King George V's forehead after reading the battle report carried out by the mysterious figure.

 "Hey! How did you get this?"

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

 Appearing came and disappearing without being noticed like an invisible ghost in the vast ocean, the mysterious submarine disappeared right next to King George V's ship.

 "W-What just happened?" Suddenly, the fine hairs on the back of King George V's neck stood up in fear and terror of unknow Ghost submarine.