This sequence of stories, tells the story of my Shark girl Azura and how she went from curious sea priestess to slightly insane shark scientist.

For those confused by the terminology or curious about the setting see: A guide to Valentia

*****

The battle of the Lazulai Sea was the largest naval engagement in the history of Valentia. The DULS first, second, fourth and fifth fleets were en route towards the UPR's western seaboard with the intent of wrecking havoc along the coastal cities and disrupting the UPR's production network. On the way they were intercepted by multiple UPR battle groups who were accompanying troop transports.

The engagement was fast and bloody, as capital ships bombarded each other while their escorts tried to find holes in each other's defences to reach the unguarded carriers. The carriers in turn launched their aircraft which fought one-another above the naval battlefield, while the bombers launched devastating aerial assaults on the lines of ships

The DULS responded quickly to news of the battle mobilising every ship within 50 miles of the battle. Assigned a temporary military captain as befitting a military mission. Their orders: to salvage everything possible and destroy everything else.

****

The smoke hung over the Lazulai Sea like fog, blanketing the surface and hiding everything within it. Here and there small patches of the grey fog were lit up by fires as yet unquenched by the greedy ocean. A deathly silence gripped the sea, only broken by the hissing of extinguished flames or the loud boom of exploding munitions.

The DULS Kelvin cut through the grey mists like a ghostly apparition, skulking around an abandoned house. Her sleek lines and white armour plating made her stand out against the background of fog, a lone sign of life in the seemingly endless sea of grey.

*****

The Kelvin was the newest ship in the DULS fleet, having come out of the western shipyards less than a month ago. She was the pride of the DULS academy of science and research and her design incorporated the very best and newest DULS technologies.

On the outside the Kelvin herself was identical to the other Helix class research vessels. A long sleek design, made specially to cut through the water at high speeds whilst causing minimal disturbance to whatever lay below. Like the other Helix class's the Kelvin appeared to be an overly large luxury hydrofoil yacht, until you reached the back where the extended aft and helicopter pad became visible.

In spite of the war, the Kelvin along with her sister science vessels were carrying on their duties. In the Kelvin's case: Conducting a non-invasive scientific examination of the primitive sentiments of the ocean. As it was wartime the vessel could be commandeered for military use and was travelling heavier than usual with extra weaponry.

****

The bridge of the Kelvin was large for a ship of its size but because of the large amount of advanced equipment aboard, the bridge was actually quite cramped. Only the captain's chair and security station, raised above the rest of the bridge had extra space. The bridge was dark, illuminated only by the glimmer of monitors and what little light came in through the fog filled windows.

The current occupant of the captain's chair was a large black and white bulldog. Himself a captain as identified by his peaked cap and single star upon his uniform. His name tag identified him as Captain Seagaul.

"Bloody scientists", he muttered fidgeting in the chair trying to find a comfortable position for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

Captain Last sighed as his keen hearing picked up the captains words. The tall avian sat uncomfortably at the security desk instead of in his normal place in the captain's chair. "Damn it", he muttered, "I'd just got that chair just right".

"Report Hicks" the bulldog barked, clearly irritated by the lack of news. "Any survivors"

The young Dalmatian jumped at the loud voice calling his name. “No sir", he said his voice laced with contempt, "nothing on scanners, just floating wreckage and dead bears."

Hicks, who was also a canine, shared a quick frustrated glance with his colleague, before turning to the captain. "Nothing sir, nothing in this sector, just bits of wreckage and dead bears".

"Captain" an avian scientist butted in "We received word from the Orion, they found the Excelsior, her navigation's out and none of her planes made it back but apart from that she's salvageable." A cheer went up from the crew as they heard the good news.

"Thank you...”, The captain paused smacking his jowls together as his species were known to, trying to remember the young avian's name.

"Tanner", prompted Captain Last, staring fixedly at the screen in-front of him

"Thank you Tanner, now get back to it, I want to know everything that's going on".

"Screeeeeeach" the sound of tortured metal echoed about the bridge of the Kelvin. causing some of the more sensitive avians to clap their hands to their ears, in an attempt to shut out the noise. The Kelvin shuddered violently, bouncing in the water and causing a few seamen on deck to fall over. Those inside were luckier, protected by the Kelvin's inertial dampers

General alarms rang out and every crew member, canine and avian alike scrambled to their stations and strapped themselves in. They may have been scientists but they were well trained.

"What the hell is going on out there?!", Seagaul Screamed.

"Large bit of debris captain", a twitching canine yelled up from the security corner. "Looks like." He squinted at the monitor. "We collided with half a UPR escort ship, I don't recognise it though. It looks nothing like any ship I've seen before".

"Is it slate grey with an abnormally large forward gun", Seagaul replied, his anger rapidly consumed by curiosity.

"Yes captain."

"It's a stoli class; of course you wouldn't recognise it."

There was a hushed silence. Every scientist aboard was curious, the Stoli class the newest ship in the UPR arsenal and as such was a mystery, they knew what it looked like but that was it. Its purpose was mysterious, but it had been generally assumed to be a new escort.

Seagaul smacked his chops again, as he thought, "Stoli class eh, can this ship pull it Last?"

"Hmmm" Scientific curiosity overrode Last's dislike of the bulldog. He steepled his wing's together as he ran the numbers in his head, “Provided it doesn't weigh more than fifty Tonnes, we should be able to tow it".

"Sir", It was the canine with the twitch on security. "What if there are bears on board?"

"Well then you deal with them", Seagaul paused glancing at Last for the Doberman's name

“Markovits”, Last hissed, exasperatedly.

“Markovits, or is that too much for a Doberman to handle?", he replied arrogantly.

Markovits chose not to deign the captain with a reply; instead he grabbed his rifle from under his console and signalled the other two canines, leaving Captain Last and another avian on the security position.

Again Seagaul lamented the sheer amount of fog; it rendered the massive windows at the front of the bridge all but useless. Leaving them dependent on sensors and cameras, it made the bulldog impatient, he didn't like being blind.

"New report from the Odyssey, captain" Tanner yelled, "They've found the Deadalus, her escort fleet and the Icarus. Apparently they took a friendly EMP late in the battle, they're beaten up but, they should have all power back in five minutes.

This time the cheer was significantly louder. The Deadalus was one of the heavier capital ships in the navy, her survival was great news.

"Good", Seagaul allowed himself a small smile; he knew people on the Icarus and was glad the ship had survived.

"Anything from the Excelscior?", a male jay yelled, desperation clear in his voice "My husband was aboard there."

"I'm sorry Jim", Tanner replied, after a few seconds. "They found the front of it a few hours back.", he paused checking his screen. “According to the data recorder it was hit by dreadnaught fire early on, and broke up under heavy fire from cruisers."

A loud sob echoed around the bridge as the jay broke into tears, clearly devastated by the loss. He stood there shocked before being escorted away by a sympathetic crew member.

Seagaul's claw's bit into the leather of the chair's arms, trying to resist the urge to shout at the scientists. They're just civilians, he reasoned with himself it's not their fault, “There will be time to grieve later; we have work to do, the living to save. We can discuss the dead later."

There was silence as the crew digested Seagauls words, even the radio was silent. Eventually it was Hicks who broke the silence.

"Captain", He yelled, "I've got Markovits on radio, shall I pass it through."

"Hmm, oh yes yes, put him through"

"Captain", Markovits's voice echoed out of the bridge speakers. “We’ve searched almost half the ship and so far nothing but dead rugs and…"

"Captain", the excited voice of the young terrier cut him off mid-sentence, "We've found a survivor, you're not going to believe this, it's a shark."

A loud hush blanketed the bridge. A shark, on an Ursine vessel. Had the two races united like the Avians and Canines?

"Is she one of theirs?", Captain Seagaul asked concern evident in his strong voice.

"No, she's wearing the remains of some of their tribal gear; my guess is that she washed in here during the battle."

"Hmmm" the captain stroked his chops, allowing the lack of sir to slide. "Very well then, bring her aboard. Looks like you get to study sharks after all, Last. Live specimen and all."

Gradually the dull babble of radio chatter resumed, while up in the captain’s chair, Seagaul sat and tapped his fingers, impatiently.

"Captain" yelled the avian managing the security console. “Message from the Deadalus, they're picking up UPR subs bearing down on us, bearing 045 mark 2".

"Thank, you lieutenant.", The captain stood bellowing out orders, "You heard the man UPR subs incoming. Tanner prep the package, we're gonna leave those bears a nice little surprise. Markovits you finished over there? We've gotta go.”

"We're good to go captain", the Doberman's voice rang out clearly though the speakers "The salvage is secure. We're just taking our guest to the infirmary, so we'd appreciate it if you didn't go for full thrust just yet, until we can get her secured."

Seagaul nodded. "Ok then ladies and gentlemen the party's over but we're going to leave the bears a nice little present. Tanner!"

"Sir?"

"Release the package, set timer for a deuce and a half." he said rubbing his pads together with glee. "Cleese, get us out of here now 50% speed, minimum wake we don't want to be tracked"

*****

As quickly as the Kelvin showed up in the Lazulai Sea she vanished, her white form vanishing from the fog banks on her way home. If someone had remained to watch, they would have observed a small white box with a flashing light bobbing up and down. To the casual eye it was identical to the locator packages fitted to all DULS ships.

A short time later the Lazulai Sea was awash with activity as the UPR task force of twenty salvage ships and ten submarines steamed into the battle zone. There was a thud, a flash and once again the Lazulai Sea was devoid of activity.

Despite the massive losses sustained in the Lazulai Sea, the DULS were able to claim it as a victory. Thanks to their salvage operation recovering over seven thousand people and 35% of their navy, whilst the Kelvin's salvage of the Stoli class, provided valuable intelligence into how the new ship functioned and how it avoided showing up on radar.

As for Azura, the young female shark rescued during the battle. Well that's a tale for another time.

***

This stroy, Azura Nocturne, Captain's Last and Seagaul. The crew of the Kelvin, the DULS and PRB are all me

Big thanks go out to J-Reeve for beta reading this story