Chapter 76: | 076 | Operation Daedalus
When the discovery of Crescere and the United Navy was inevitable. Fleet Admiral Abraham Shepherd prompted the naval force to take active action against what couldn't be avoided.
How? The answer was fairly simple. It was through establishing clear relations with the adversaries who were trying to find them.
Whether it'd be friendly, neutral, or hostile relations. It would provide clear indications for the United Navy's future actions. Would they wage war? Or enjoy a long-lasting peace?
To establish these simple relations, a new operation was established. It was called Operation Daedalus.
Operation Daedalus needed a subject for the adversary to project its intentions. So, Fleet Admiral Abraham Shepherd picked one of the five Admiral-Gorshkov Class Frigates.
The one that was picked was none other than UNS Marina.
After hours of debriefing, UNS Marina was given the Lingua Gem formerly in the possession of Vice Admiral Charlotte, and the Runic Communicator captured from Crassus.
The runic communicator was given to begin contact with the other side once the scouting wyvern riders were seen. On the other hand, the Lingua Gem was used for language translation.
With these two, the captain of the UNS Marina could handle the second contact alone. Though… Not totally alone.
The UNS Light Bringer was ordered to escort UNS Marina and maintained a distance of 20 clicks from it. Its duty was to reinforce the UNS Marina if the adversaries decided to immediately attack.
With this, the first phase preparation of for Operation Daedalus was a success. The UNS Marina was then sent to the expected reconnaissance zone of the wyvern riders. After that, the second contact was made and the wyvern riders began observing the warship from afar.
Obviously, they swiftly told their superiors about the warship and that their ships might be heading toward UNS Marina at this very moment.
On the bridge of UNS Marina, its captain calmly watched the wyvern riders roaming the skies. Most of them were locked by the frigate a long time ago.
He simply needed to order for the warship to fire.
*The Head Captain of Principatus Humanum has agreed to diplomatic talks. He wants to start the talks in this location three days from now.*
A voice sounded out from the runic communicator. It was the squadron leader of Sparrow.
The captain of UNS Marina raised an eyebrow after hearing the news of the diplomatic talks. He didn't think that they would agree immediately, making him somewhat suspicious.
"These dogs must be pretending. But I guess I should report this to the Comrade Fleet Admiral." The captain remarked before glancing at his communication operator.
"Connect back to the command center of the Port of Dawn. Tell them that the dogs have agreed with the diplomatic talks. It will be done in this location in three days."
After giving his orders, the captain returned his eyes to the wyvern riders in the skies. Meanwhile, the communication operator nodded and responded to the captain.
"Affirmative, Comrade Captain."
The communication operator then began sending the transmission to the command center of the Port of Dawn. After a couple of seconds, the operation was reported to the captain.
"Transmission has been sent to Comrade Captain. Awaiting a reply."
Hearing the words of the communication operation, the captain of UNS Marina nodded and straightened his back. As one of the captains in the Red Fleet, it was his duty to protect the marine borders of the United Navy.
If anyone dared take the sea that belonged to them. He wouldn't hesitate to terminate them for the United Navy. For that was his duty as the captain of UNS Marina.
In the Port of Dawn, Fleet Admiral Abraham Shepherd stood within the command center with Vice
Admiral Charlotte beside him. They were currently discussing future expansions of the United Navy before a communication operator called for them.
"Fleet Admiral, Vice Admiral, a transmission from the UNS Marina has arrived!" Both of them raised their eyebrows as news from Operation Daedalus arrived faster than they expected.
"What's the transmission about?" Charlotte calmly questioned and the communication operator swiftly answered. "The transmission was about the first phase's success."
"Second contact has been made and the intention of a diplomatic talk has been established to the other side. According to UNS Marina, they have accepted our offer and scheduled the talk three days from now."
"The current location for the meeting is the coordinates of the UNS Marina." The communication operator easily explained the report of Operation Daedalus to the high commands.
"So, the second contact had already begun, huh?" Abraham furrowed his eyebrows as various thoughts flooded his mind. He was suspicious as it was too fast.
The response from the other side didn't seem to have that much lag, signifying that it was one commanding officer who called for it.
But a commanding officer handling diplomatic talks? Not even a government body?
There were too many things that needed to be thought about.
"Somewhat suspicious," Charlotte muttered under her breath as she was also suspicious about the so-called diplomatic talks. The acceptance sounded too good to be true.
"I have the same thoughts, Charlotte. It seems that our adversaries are planning something dangerous. We need to tread carefully in phase two." Abraham uttered with a stern tone.
"I'm in agreement," Charlotte responded without much of a reaction.
"Diplomacy, eh?" Before the two could continue discussing phase two of Operation Daedalus, a familiar voice intruded on their conversation. From how naturally smug it sounded, it was obvious where the voice came from.
"Lieutenant Laplace… Quite surprising to see you here. I thought you were undergoing training with your platoon." Charlotte said with a questioning tone.
"The training was fairly easy, so we completed it in an hour." Laplace grinned before staring at the topographic map of the nearby sea.
"It's my own personal opinion but… None of them have any interest in diplomacy. Perhaps, the best thing they're good at is snuffing out potential threats to their dominion."
"So, I personally think that you should lower your expectations if you continue the diplomatic talks." Laplace's smile faded before returning back in a mere second.
"On the other hand, I'll be taking my leave. If you want me to dispose of them, call me?" She smirked before disappearing before them.
Silence shrouded the command room as Charlotte and Abraham were having a hard time reacting to what had recently happened. But they weren't foolish and ignorant.
They noticed the advice that the dragoness had given to them. And even though she might be biased with her words, they still held some weight as she was the only one amongst them with history in this foreign world.
"It looks like we'll be going to war in the near future." Abraham sighed as problems seemed to love him. Did rolling gacha consume his luck? He couldn't help but wonder inside his mind.
"The only thing we can do is prepare for it, Fleet Admiral. This is a world where power matters after all. In their eyes, we might as well be an insignificant insect in their everlasting empire."
Charlotte sighed while feeling a bit at ease that she wasn't the one leading the operation. It would have been troublesome, otherwise.
"At any rate, let's discuss phase two of Operation Daedalus.