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The "Fleet of Fog" is the name that humans gave to the mysterious battleships that began appearing all over the world in the early 21st century.

FogBW

Symbol of the Fleet of Fog

General Information[]

Fleet of fog

"Fleet of Fog" battleships as seen in manga

The "Fleet of Fog" is composed of a great number of unmanned AI-controlled vessels that appear as replicas of WWII battleships and submarines. All "Fog" ships revealed to date are replicas of ships that were operational during WWII. These vessels, however, are equipped with technology far exceeding anything that humanity had achieved at that time.

Takao-SGC-fire

A shot from a graviton particle cannon, used by "Fleet of Fog"

"Fog" warships are armed with Photon cannons of varying power and size, ranging from something that is used to shoot down incoming missiles to something that can break citadel walls in a single hit. There are also Super-Graviton Cannons that cause spatial distortions and can annihilate pretty much anything from a great distance.

Many of the "Fog" battleships and all of the "Fog" submarines also have torpedoes that come with a variety of warheads. There are utility warheads that can turn into a vessel's decoys or can create sound screens to hide the vessel from sonar. There are also offensive warheads, the most common of which is the so-called Corrosive warhead. This warhead, upon detonation, creates a spatial anomaly that will tear any conventional material apart with ease.

As a match to their offensive powers, "Fleet of Fog" vessels also have a nigh-impenetrable particle shield - the Wave-Force armor - that can absorb massive amounts of damage. Wave-Force armor is the only known defense against Corrosive Warhead Torpedoes and heavier graviton cannons. While it's not yet clear, it appears that even a moderately-powerful Wave-Force armor will protect the vessel from a direct hit by a nuclear explosion.

It is presently unknown who or what created these vessels. Even their purpose is not completely clear: while the "Fleet of Fog" annihilates anyone who dares to sail into the seas and claims that destroying humankind is their mission, they have never attacked human settlements or facilities ashore. In fact, they have standing orders to avoid any attack on coastal or inland settlements.

History[]

Originally, the "Fleet of Fog" began its (re)activation on the 1st of May of 1945; however, due to the disappearance of the Admiralty Code, the process was halted and resumed only in the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century. Starting in the year 2012, sightings of "ghost ships" were reported all around the world. Eyewitnesses always stated that these ships looked like World War II warships and that they always appear surrounded by thick fog. Such sightings, while not that rare, weren't discussed much. This changed in the year 2038, when the number of "ghost warship" sightings increased greatly.

Many investigations into these "ghost warships" were launched, but nothing concrete was discovered. At one point in 2038 the "ghost warships" trespassed into Russian waters and were attacked by a patrol fleet. The said patrol fleet was annihilated, revealing just how powerful these "ghost warships" were.

Around December of 2038 the "ghost warships" went on the offensive and began attacking human naval forces all over the world. By 2039, humanity had lost all of its battles against this new threat, which was now referred to as the "Fleet of Fog".

The human vessels that had survived thus far were all brought together and a great multinational fleet was formed. This eventually led to what became known as the "Great Naval Battle". The battle lasted for two days and humans lost 70% of what remained from their fleets and suffered over 600,000 causalities. The few ships that survived the "Great Naval Battle" were placed in hidden underground docks and mothballed until such time as a way to combat the "Fleet of Fog" was found. Following their victory, the "Fleet of Fog" formed a global blockade and isolated all inhabited continents and islands from each other.

I-401 dry dock

I-401 in Yokosuka port dry docks

While the "Great Naval Battle" was lost, JMSDF Commander Shouzou Chihaya managed to capture a "Fog" submarine, I-401, through unknown means. This submarine was brought to Yokosuka and an attempt to study it was made. However, it was soon discovered that the technology involved in I-401's creation couldn't be understood or replicated by humans.

In the year 2045, the Japanese government gave up on their attempts to understand the "Fog" technology and decided to try using I-401 as it was. Shouzou Chihaya was made her captain and I-401 set sail, but disappeared on her very first voyage. In 2046, I-401 returned to Yokosuka on her own without her crew. She was then placed in a dry-dock and locked up. Sometime later, Shouzou Chihaya and the rest of his crew were discovered to have aligned themselves with the "Fleet of Fog". The exact time when it happened is unknown, but it happened before the year 2054.

Around the year 2054, the "Fleet of Fog" started changing: all warships of heavy cruiser class and above received Mental Models - anthropomorphic avatars that are representations of vessel's core. These Mental Models are capable of thinking in a way similar to that of a human and possess appearances and personalities unique to each ship.

I-401, being one of the few vessels that already had a Mental Model back then, chose to activate following the Facility #4 fire and broke free from the dry-dock she had been placed into. Eventually she joined Gunzou Chihaya, one of the students of the Japanese Maritime Institute of Technology and the son of her previous (and first) captain.

Structure[]

Like any military organization, the "Fleet of Fog" has a command hierarchy. It is led by a single Supreme Flagship (Yamato) that commands the flagships of local fleets. These flagships in their turn give orders to the rest of the "Fog" vessels. The Supreme Flagship also has a small group of vessels as her personal guards and attendants. At least this is how it is supposed to be in theory.

In reality, the "Fleet of Fog" is not united and has a number of sub-factions, each following its own goals. A good example here would be the "Scarlet Fleet" led by Shouzou Chihaya with Superbattleship Musashi as its flagship. While this fleet is technically a part of the "Fleet of Fog", it follows different goals. Then, there are deserters: I-401, later joined by battleship Hyuuga and heavy cruiser Takao. Finally, some vessels, like heavy Cruiser Maya and battleships Haruna and Kirishima, go rogue. It is currently unknown whether there are any other factions or not.

Oriental fleets[]

These are two fleets maintaining the blockade around Japan. While the majority of these two fleets' vessels are simply following patrol routes, the assault and suppression vessels from the Second Oriental Fleet - when they aren't needed - are stationed to the north of Shiretoko peninsula; meanwhile, some vessels of the First Oriental Fleet are stationed in various locations around Japan as radar pickets.

Known "Fleet of Fog" vessels[]

Quite a few vessels from the "Fleet of Fog" have made their appearance. The list of the named vessels is presented in this section.

"Fleet of Fog"[]

  • Superbattleship Yamato - Supreme Flagship.
    • I-400 submarine - Yamato's personal guard and attendant.
    • I-402 submarine - Yamato's personal guard and attendant.
    • Destroyer Yukikaze - Yamato's personal guard and attendant. Even though she's a destroyer, she has a Mental Model sustained by 2% of Yamato's processing power.
    • Destroyer "Kasumi" - Yamato's personal guard. Doesn't possess a Mental Model.

First Oriental Fleet[]

Second Oriental Fleet[]

  • Battleship Nagato - flagship.
    • Assault and suppression vessel Zuikaku.
    • Assault and suppression vessel Shokaku.
    • Assault and suppression vessel Akagi
    • Heavy cruiser Atago.
    • Destroyer Akishimo

Scapa Flow Fleet[]

  • Capital ship Bismarck - flagship.
    • Heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper
    • Heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen
    • Heavy Cruiser Admiral Graf Spee

Northern America Fleet[]

  • Assault and suppression vessel Lexington (CV-2) - detachment fleet flagship.
    • Battleship BB-62 New Jersey - has a Mental Model.
    • Fletcher-class destroyer DD-445 Fletcher - doesn't have a Mental Model .
    • Fletcher-class destroyer DD-446 Radford - doesn't have a Mental Model .
    • Fletcher-class destroyer DD-680 Melvin - doesn't have a Mental Model.

"Eastern" Fleet[]

  • Battleship Hood - flagship
  • Battleship Prince of Wales - flagship of a detachment fleet pursuing Repulse and Vampire.

"Blue Steel" Fleet[]

"Scarlet Fleet"[]

Rogue vessels[]

  • Heavy cruiser Maya - originally Kongou's subordinate. Now follows Haruna and Kirishima, regardless of the fact that they don't seem to plan on rejoining the First Oriental Fleet anytime soon.
  • Battleship Haruna - originally Kongou's subordinate. Sunk, but her Mental Model survived. Has changed her priorities to 'keeping Makie safe and happy' following her stay at Osakabe Mansion.
  • Battleship Kirishima - originally Kongou's subordinate. Sunk, but her core was saved by Haruna. Still thinks of herself as part of Kongou's fleet, but in reality she treats Osakabe Makie much the same way her sister Haruna does.
  • Battlecruiser Repulse - didn't agree with a new mandate of her original fleet and thus left it.
  • Vampire - a destroyer accompanying Repulse. Displayed a Mental Model that is dependent on Repulse's dedicating 24.5823% of her own processing power to sustain it.

Admiralty Code[]

At the moment it is not clear what it exactly is or what exact powers over the "Fleet of Fog" vessels it has, but it is known that the Admiralty Code is the highest authority within the fleet; and it was also confirmed that it has the ability to instantly calm down a battleship's core when Haruna went berserk. Many of the "Fleet of Fog" vessels are searching for it, but because each fleet has its own agenda this only divides the "Fog" further.

The Admiralty Code first appeared in the 1910s, when it began observing humanity. Back then it was a passive player, but that was supposed to change in 1945. On May 1st of that year, the "Fleet of Fog" was to be activated; however for an unknown reason the Admiralty Code disappeared, halting the process of activation for over 60 years. The "Fleet of Fog" finally completely activated in 2012.

For a brief moment the Admiralty Code reappeared in 2056, when it stopped battleship Haruna from unleashing an annihilation attack on all three of Japan's dispersed capitals with Maya's weapons. Subsequently the Admiralty Code seems to have disappeared again.

Admiralty Code has a holder or container: she appears to be somewhat similar to a Mental Model, but it is unknown whether she actually is one.

Trivia[]

  • The emblem of the Fog appears to be an upside-down, alien stylised version of an anchor.
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