Continuing on the next day, Greynar did his usual morning routine in his room. Stretching his hand, tidying his bed, making his morning drink, and changed into his uniform after a refreshing shower. Looking into the clock, it was still early morning for others to be awake. Following their encounter with Richelieu the previous night, Aurora was the first to go to her room, tired and sleepy after catching up with everything at home.
Meanwhile, Greynar and Volga were left alone in the cold night. They decided to have dinner together, showing affection towards one another. It was almost midnight, and only a few patrol ships and Royal Navy knights were visible in the area. Shortly afterwards, they returned to their respective rooms, bringing an end to the night.
Greynar smiled to himself, reflecting on his recent encounter with Richelieu. As a commander, it was expected that he would have connections with high-ranking individuals, but he still wasn't accustomed to it. Some people would become nervous and stumble in the presence of such individuals, but Greynar was grateful that he could maintain his composure during his conversation with Richelieu.
The timeline given follows a random pattern at certain events. The possibility of the game's timeline deviating from the original one was on his mind. Swiftly finishing his drink, he can take some time to relax and contemplate his future plans, as there is no paperwork to complete during his visits.
About roughly an hour later, he went outside to get some breather and made his way to the castle. The distance between his temporary residence with the castle was not very far and it only took him a short walk to get there. He expressed gratitude to the queen for assigning him a lovely abode that was both near to the castle and within close proximity to the sea. On his way, he encountered some Royal Maids who were cleaning the hall.
"Good morning, Master." Sheffield bowed down, followed by others. "Did you sleep well last night? Or are you feeling tired and needing a lap pillow to rest on?"
"...sorry what?" Greynar was a little taken aback by her absurd words.
"I'm just joking, please ignore me," she said with a small smile, and continued to work diligently without interruption.
Upon realizing that Sheffield was joking, he shrugged and walked off while chuckling. Sheffield is one of the Royal Maids who is known for being direct in expressing her thoughts to others. Although she can be difficult to handle, she has a good heart. Therefore, dealing with her will be challenging for him, but he can manage it the second time they meet.
He reached the throne room after exploring a bit of the uncharted area of the building. As there was no attendant at the entrance, he had to open it himself. It was unexpectedly easy to pull the door with just one hand. Although there was a loud creak, the throne room appeared to be empty.
It was unusual as he expected someone to be present in the room each morning. The queen was not visible, so he closed the door once more. Aurora had previously mentioned that the Queen's schedule had always been the same. Upon turning, he noticed an individual standing around the corner, gazing at him with curiosity.
The interested expression swiftly transformed into a radiant one."Commander! Is that really you? It has been a long time since I've seen you!" She said warmly. "You look different from the last time we saw each other, maybe even more handsome!"
"Hey there Repulse, i heard that Renown and you got something to do in Mediterranean Sea, did you just got back?" Greynar asked.
"Ah... About that, yeah you're correct, i just got back here from the place i was stationed in. By , are you looking for Her Majesty?" Renown glanced at the door to the throne room who he just opened a while ago.
"Right, i was looking for her, any idea where she has been this morning?"
"Ah so she didn't tell you? She was busy last night with Sardegna stuff and she is still sleeping in the room."
Greynar raised his brow. "So, something happened? Like a reenactment?"
"Yes, she didn't tell you? Well we had a battle near the Mediterranean location where i was stationed last night. Illustrious was fighting Littorio last night and tied in the match." Repulse said as if she witnessed the battle herself.
"In the end, you just came back here since the mission is done. You guys are trying to distract us by using the hot spring and Iris Libre to do this stuff. And you don't want to trouble us about this matters..." Greynar pondered for a bit. "Should i say thank you for the consideration?" Greynar clenched his hand as if he was ready to beat up somebody.
"Wait! Wait! Don't be mad first Commander. This matters also included everyone," Repulse said with a wry smile, holding back Greynar's hand with both hands. "And for this, the queen has planned something for your fleets to take care of it."
Greynar sighed and slowly lowered his hand. "So... What do you need me to do?"
"You see, this is about the strange incident regarding the white tower that has been appearing around Europe. Every time we tried to get closer to it, the tower disappeared and went underwater again. Our submarine tried to chase it, but it was too fast to follow, we tried to track it too, but it always go off the radar." Repulse said with a dejected expression. "I've been tried to chase it for months now, and it bear no result... So please... PLEASE END MY SUFFERING, COMMANDER!" Repulse clinging on Greynar while faking her tears, begging for him to accept mission.
"Alright, alright, i will do it, so can you please get off me?" He give her a pity look while trying to push her away.
"Really! Thank you so much Commander!" She gotten even closer to the point he almost fall backward.
The struggle continued for a while until Repulse calmed down and remembered what she had done. She averted her gaze from Greynar, who didn't take offence since it was not premeditated. Repulse apologised for her rude behaviour, unbecoming of a member of the Royal Navy. Greynar just shrugged it off as nothing out of the ordinary.
"Anyway Repulse, i have to go, it was nice to see you again." Greynar looked at the windows where its already late morning.
"O-okay, see you soon then, Commander." Repulse waved as they part away and goes into different direction.
With a busy day ahead, he regrouped with the Eagle Union girls and explained to them about a new mission. They were tasked with investigating the mysterious White Tower, which at first they thought was just the usual Siren antics, but its appearance has become more frequent and worrying over the past few months. Following the appearance of the White Tower in Europa, Mirror Sea has also become more common. Lastly, they were to address the Siren fleet that was operating around the trade route.
"...I think i understand, so we only have to deal with the White Tower while the Royal Navy deals with the Sardegna Empire." Saratoga was the first to speak after his brief explanation.
"Not only that, we are unsure of what this structure is. All we have seen so far is its sighting and its appearance around Europa. It is possible that it has also appeared around the world without us knowing." Greynar gazed at everyone in the room and received varying reactions.
"Commander, may i ask something?" Memphis who has been silent the whole explanation raised her hand.
"Sure, what do you want to ask?"
"Can you explain why the White Tower is appearing more often lately? Where do they come from, and what is their connection to the Siren?"
Greynar stayed silent after her question, he also got no clue as to why a white tower appeared, "I don't know." Is what he could tell to them. He believe they appeared because of his presence in this world, and also related to S.A.V.I.O.R in some kind of way.
"I'm sorry, Memphis, but even im not knowledgeable about the White Tower itself." replied Greynar in response to her question.
"No, it's fine." Memphis stayed silent afterwards while thinking of something.
He proceeded to discuss their next move and the fleet organization, aided by Saratoga and Memphis. Given that Enterprise and Hornet were absent, the only available CV and CVL were Volga, Saratoga, Langley, and Wasp. The battleship group consisted solely of Washington and North Carolina.
The fleet will be divided into two sections, each consisting of a battleship, a CV, and a CVL. Greynar's command ship will serve as the flagship for the first section, with Memphis in charge of the vanguard position. The second section's flagship will be Washington, and Cleveland will lead the vanguard.
The mission is scheduled to commence at night, thus Greynar dismissed the team early to allow for rest and preparation for the ensuing night mission. He spent the afternoon with Elizabeth, informing her of his next objective. Surprisingly, Richelieu knows of the Queen's plan to have Greynar and the Eagle Union handle the problem with the White Tower while the Royal Navy deals with the Sardegna Empire. She states that she will not participate in the conflict, but instead, focuses on safeguarding the island's vicinity. Joining the battle may elicit unwanted attention from the Vichya Dominion, resulting in an unavoidable war. Therefore, they are proceeding with caution to prevent detection.
※ ※ ※
"This is too dark, i can't see anything." Greynar grumbled.
"Haha... Just bear with it Commander," Saratoga laid on the seat inside the bridge while brushing her rigging staff to make it more clean. "I'm sure it wont be long before the enemy appeared to our location."
Night came with the march of his fleets to the mediterranean sea, the eerie cold atmosphere combined with the cloudy sky narrowing down the entire fleet's vision, making them vurnerable to a surprise attack. The group was divided into two area, Cleveland and Washington was going into their separate way from Greynar's initial direction.
The White Tower was last sighted in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea before seemingly disappearing during the pursuit of Renown's fleet. The Royal Navy had been monitoring it for some time and their speculations were proven accurate, as the tower moved in inexplicable patterns, enabling it to be tracked in a timely manner.
"Commander, we have a reading from the radar, several Siren ships have been spotted off the small island near the centre of the sea." The comms ringed, Cleveland asked whether she is permitted to engage in battle with them.
"Destroy them immediately, we don't want any potential threats roaming around the mediterranian sea." He ordered.
"You hear that Washington? Let's kick some Siren's ass!" The comms turned off immediately.
Greynar left a quiet sigh. 'I will let them have have a warm up before the major battle.'
Cleveland totally excited by the order she given, she kicked from her location and asked Washington for fire support. She begin to aim for the nearest Siren ship, signaling the mass produced ship to take aim at the Sirens. The Siren's ships noticed something fast coming to their direction and immediately shoot their turret, aiming at the fast object.
Cleveland observed the Siren's actions and responded by quickening her pace. Langley deployed her fighter planes in response to the Siren's carrier-launched planes. She reassured Cleveland that she would handle the bomber attack, allowing Cleveland to focus on other threats.
Counting the number of enemy vessels, Washington began to take aim and fired her volleys at the Siren battleship. Meanwhile, Cleveland was closing in on a nearby destroyer and aimed her guns before shooting and blowing it to pieces. Moving on to the next target, a light cruiser, Cleveland landed a hit on its hull, which disabled the entire ship.
The Siren ship exploded after sustaining a hit from a dive bomber on its deck. Cleveland observed Wasp, who had stolen her kill, laughing heartily and firing her bow at the Siren's planes. Cleveland felt provoked and retaliated by firing her gun, causing several Siren ships to sink until nothing remained.
The battle goes on for a while, it ended after silence engulfed the area. No Siren in sight, only the wreckage of the ships that was left on the surface was left behind and the sound of fire that was burning loudly. Cleveland wiped her sweat and connected her comms again to Greynar's line.
"Commander, we have completed the destruction of all Sirens within view, and there were no elite Sirens spotted in our location."
Greynar nodded to himself. "Alright, thanks for informing," Greynar ended his comms, changing it into a private line "By the way, Washington."
"Yes Commander?" Washington tilted her head, it was unusal for Greynar to opened his comms into her private line.
"While you guys were away, we got ourselves a big problem and we need your assistance as fast as possible." He looked across the windows.
Thunder thundered from beyond, the sea let out a loud snap and the tides changed tremendously. A vortex materialized and a peak of a white tower emerged from it. Every fleet was hanging on for dear life as Greynar tried to assess the current event unfolding before him.
"The White Tower should not be underestimated," spoke Greynar in a subdued tone.
It was his second sighting of the tower, a structure that had remained enigmatic since its initial emergence. He felt an urgent need to flee, his heart pounding rapidly, and the S.A.V.I.O.R. warning him of the approaching danger. The tower's emergence, coupled with a tempest's sudden increase in intensity and the substantial fleets of the Siren, caused him to shudder with horror.
He felt doubt and anxiety about their survival and feared the worst. His mind was flooded with numerous possibilities when he felt a tug on his clothes from behind, only to find Saratoga staring at him with a concerned expression.
"Commander, are you okay?" Saratoga inquired, her eyes displaying concern.
He realized that she is trying to comfort him. He replied with a wry smile. "Sorry Saratoga, i look pathetic don't i?"
Saratoga reassured him with a gentle shake of her head. "It's all right," she said. "Even some people have their own fears." She took one of his hands and spoke emphatically. "We trust you to lead the fleet, so please trust us to follow your orders."
He looked directly into her trusting eyes. She depended on him with her life, so he had a duty to reciprocate. Greynar clenched his fist and faced the towering structure before him. The enormous white tower was rising out of the water, and numerous Siren ships were emerging from its side.
The line of communication is inaccessible due to the adverse weather and the reflective sea. "Saratoga, please relay my instruction to all those in the vicinity. Aim to survive, and don't sink."
"Will do!" Saratoga rushed out from the room, leaving the commander inside a quiet room while chaos unfolded outside.
"Alright, lets make this work." Greynar muttered under his breath, closing his eyes without giving it a second thought, he used his hidden power.
~Command Savior, activate ESP.~
~Command accepted, activating all-seeing eyes~
He opened his eyes gradually, and his pupil transitioned from black to bright red. His eyelid turned into a solid black with a slight blue tint surrounding it. Although his skin remained unaltered, his right hand's hue gradually transformed into a pale white.
"This is frustrating, he forced me to be awake in my deep slumber," Something suddenly took over his body, "Is it about them?" Greynar (?) looked over the windows to see what was happening. "So they have planted their seeds to the core of the deep sea," The unknown being sighed with a worried expression. "Will you also doom this timeline? O'corrupted one."
