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Chapter Text

King George V heard about the commotion back at the Pacific and the hunt for a gunship called Noctiluca, armed with two powerful 800 mm railguns, 22 Rapid-fire 155 mm railguns, and 54 Anti-Air Revolving Cannons that had destroyed many Siren bases. Such was the panic that the Admiralty pulled Rodney and the newest member of the Knight Corps, Vanguard, to the Pacific.

The panic on the other side of the Channel was also quite noticeable. The Iron Blood launched an immense naval attack that ultimately put both sides on the defensive.

That was over months ago.

"I heard that they wanted to capture that railgun so bad," Duke of York said, taking a sip of wine from her glass. "They sent Tirpizt and forced Vichya Dominion to send Dunkerque too"

"Look where it got them," George said. "Right into an ambush"

Powerful railguns that can shoot at a range of 400 km with a speed of 8,000 meters per second. Nothing could survive that.

"Not to mention the functioning nuclear reactor," Duke of York's eyes sparkled.

"Something that we have in our hands", George smiled.

For all the past setbacks, this massive capture of a working nuclear reactor was a game-changer, not to mention the powerful weapons of the gunboat. Such was the impact of this that the Crimson Axis called for a truce.

"Her majesty asked us to help look after this new arrival as best we could," The vampire took another sip. "What's her name again?"

"Vladilena Milizé," The Knight Commander spoke the name. "French name, but the girl likes to drink tea and speaks English fluently like us, despite being from another world"

Aside from the ship from another world, there was also a living human from another world in the flesh and blood. Speculations were wild about this alien.

"Speaking of the devil," Duke of York looked to see Hood walking into the table in the base near Portsmouth. "Hey,  Hood.How about thy tell us about this new friend of yours?"

"What?" Hood said, looking at Duke of York.

"Oh, come now," The vampire leaned closer to Hood. "You've changed"

"Have I?" The battlecruiser said back. "Please entertain me"

"You no longer cry in your room very often," Duke narrowed her eyes at the lady. "That girl mattered to you"

"Hey!!!!," Howe walked to sit at the table with a plate filled with cookies dotted with chocolate chips. "You are being rude!!!!"

"No, no," Hood spoke with her hands raised. "Go on"

"You worried to death when you heard that the Sirens attacked the convoy that the girl was on," Duke raised three fingers and took one down. "You asked about her conditions regularly before she got here"

Only one finger remained.

"You visited her every day," Duke said, putting down her hands. "Tell me if I am wrong. You cared deeply for that girl"

Hood looked away as if the battleship said something that hit the lady to the core.

"She was trapped in here with us, far away from her own home," Hood said, looking at Duke. "She was locked in this world and..."

"She was alone," Duke finished the sentence. "Like you"

King George V would have to scold Duke of York at a later time, but her focus was on the girl sitting beside Hood. Her eyes and hair were of the same colour, pure silver like the silver coins of old. She wore the dark blue WREN uniform.

"This looks good on you!!!!" Hood complimented the girl. "My...my"

"Vladilena Milizé, please call me Lena," the girl said, bowing her head. "Pleasure to meet you all, sir"

George smiled. This girl had very good manners. She must be a noble girl.

"I am King George V," The Knight Commander began her introduction with a bow of her own, with a bright smile on her face. "The lead ship of the King George V class battleships"

"You already met Wales," George said, looking at Wales, who sat beside Hood from the other side. "So allow me to introduce you to the rest of us"

"This here is Duke of York," George looked at Duke, who nodded her head to the girl with her mouth open, revealing her fangs.

"This here is Howe," George said, looking at Howe, who put her cookies into another plate and gave it to Lena. The girl looked left and right as if she were looking for someone.

"What's the matter?"  George asked with her eyes gazing at the girl.

"Isn't there another one?" Lena asked. "Her name is Anson, I believe"

"Wow!!! You knew about that, too?!!!!" Howe spoke with a loud voice.

This girl was brilliant and had done a lot of digging before coming here, as George noticed her actions throughout the entire party. She even knew about Anson, too.

Later that night...Scapa Flow...

"So?" Hood asked George. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"As far as the Admiralty is concerned," The Knight Commander told the lady. "She was still a foreigner and an alien"

"I knew you cared for her deeply, but she had to leave the base for political reasons," The battleship said to her. "This one came from the Sea Lord, so please do not do anything stupid"

"So that's how it is," The battlecruiser said with her eyes darkened. "They viewed her like an alien after all"

"Don't take it personally," George noticed the lady's distress. "They would send her to the John Brown & Company"

Hood's eyes lit up and grew wide as she looked at the battleship.

"I did not know what kind of strings you pulled or their interests, but your gamble paid off," The battleship said. "The Admiralty will hire her as an auxiliary"

"That's fine by me," Hood smiled.

"Tell me one thing, Hood," George grinned. "Why did you go so far for this girl?"

"You knew that answer," The lady replied. "We all were on the verge of a full-blown mutiny after what the old commanders did to us"

"That's treasonous talk, Hood." The Knight Commander crossed her arms. "But you had a point"

There was no hiding the poor state of Azur Lane before the arrival of both the gunboat and this girl. They were literally on the back foot, where the Crimson Axis had the upper hand.

"So you want to groom her into a replacement in case the Commander get replaced?" George asked. "Is that what you are trying to do?"

"What if I say yes?"

"No, no," The battleship smiled. "This girl is perfect. She is kind, smart and treats us like humans and not just living weapons."

"You have the Knight Corps' full support, Dame Hood"

Over a year later...

"Are you serious?" The Knight Commander tried to digest what Hood told her.

"Pretty much, I do not trust the Republic or the Federacy to keep her safe, whatsoever," Hood said. "Besides, we are going to make our first proper trade negotiations with the continent"

"You want to go into the Republic of San Magnolia's capital, the home of these people who committed the worst crimes in the history of humanity. To complete these trade negotiations," George added. "That's very bold of you"

"You know as well as I do that every faction is struggling financially," Hood added. "Besides, we all knew what happened in the Opium Wars"

"I know. I know," The battleship raised her hands. "We are all running short of money and funds after a decade of war with the Sirens"

"Where will you stay?"

"Lena's home"

George looked on with curiosity.

"Oh," The battleship leaned closer. "Go on a field trip?"

"Maybe if things go well," Hood said with a grin on her face. "One thing is for sure, I will be there for quite a while"

"Tell me, did you come up with this or just Lena, who asked you?"

"Both"

The Knight Commander inquired more.

"She told me about the very poor food shortage that the continent had," Hood sighed. "We had a bit of trade, but it is not enough"

The mention of food shortage made George's stomach growl.

"This one is going to be large-scale and setting a price to satisfy all parties,"

The Knight Commander began to see Hood's plan. The continent faced significant troubles, and Azur Lane offered solutions. Hood was discussing a substantial amount of money, based on the potential profits this new trade would generate. While the RN might not be one of the biggest food-producing countries, it could well be the middleman.

Lena had many connections, being a native and all. Thus, they had many reasons to be optimistic. The gains far outweighed the cost.

"Now that you mentioned it," George remembered something. "We need modern medicine and medical equipment to heal His Majesty"

"Let me guess," Hood said with a bit of annoyance. "They did not want Lena to know"

"This is a rather grave matter," George excused herself. "As much as you voted for her, this one must be kept a secret no matter what"

"You had a point," Hood nodded. "I will see what I can do"

Chapter Text

Main Azur Lane base November 28th,1948...

"Another 100 deaths from the food riot in the Federacy's capital,"

"Hell, there were mass looting of storehouses in the Roa Gracia too!!!"

Suny and Yaroslava said as they read the letters from home. It was only three days after they arrived at the Azur Lane base that things went downhill back on the continent. They were in the living room of the Royal Navy dorm that the Royal Navy had prepared for them. Comfortable sofas, well-decorated walls filled with pictures and red curtains.

"Our population in the Republic, Elektra and Qitira were only 300,000 people, mostly children. With those countries with at least millions, there were a lot of mouths to feed," Jaina added. "Hoarding by the nobles made this worse"

"Tell me about it," Delphie followed right behind. "We caught Giadian spies stealing food shipments"

The four nobles spoke as they sat on two sofas while Lena stared at the harbour in the distance. Hunger was the order of the day.

"We must accept the Royal Navy's deal when they give us," Lena spoke to her juniors as she turned around. "The sooner we accept, the better"

"It seems we have no choice," The Roa Gracia princess said. "We do not have much leverage"

"We did have one before the Feds squandered it!!!" Suny pointed out the whole war. "Those Giadian nobles were no traders!!! They lacked the brain to think about it!!!!"

"If so, Suny," Delphie asked the young merchant noble. "What cards do we have?"

"Trade concessions," Yaroslava began. "That would heavily favour the Royal Navy"

"There were rumours about the Germans and the Americans plotting to force us to make a less-than-ideal deal", Suny sipped her tea. "Besides, the Royals had significant smuggling operations and trade with us. I can say for one thing that they would rather deal with them than anyone else"

The other nobles nodded their head in agreement with the two.

Duke of York was outside the door and eavesdropped on the conversation. She looked at the clock, and it was dinner time. The vampire silently walked away from the door to the dining room. The battleship made her way to the dining room where George and Howe, as well as the maids, were putting dishes and setting up tables.

"Where have you been?" The oldest sister of the class locked her eyes on her sister. "Don't tell me that you were trying to spy on them"

"What if I said yes?"

"You and I are going to have a long talk later"

Later that night...

In normal circumstances, George should have scolded her sister, but what she told her concerned the Royal Navy and the deal they were about to make with the nations of the continent.

"So yeah," Duke of York said as she sipped her tea. "It seems that those girls made up their minds"

Hood sat right across the battleship with a pouty face. Howe sat right beside her and tried to comfort the lady. Monarch and Vanguard sat beside Duke of York with their arms crossed.

"You said as if they had a choice", George, who sat at the top of the long table, spoke. "They don't. The maid corps reported that the Feds began to station their troops along the border with the three nations. Heck, the Iron Blood still refuses to sign an armistice with them. Now, I heard that the Germans might try to borrow transports from the Eagle Union"

"You are right," Howe joined in the reality of the situation. "They didn't"

"True, the Germans had more men, but they lost all ships to transport them," Hood finally joined in.

The reality of the situation was hard to ignore, with the Russians positioning themselves to take advantage of the situation. The Germans still had a lot of troops to spare despite the humiliating defeats. The only issue was that the surface fleet was so thought crippled that they had no ships for a new amphibious operation.

"Thus, they would look to kidnap them," George said. "Dismissed"

The rest stood up.

"Not you, Hood," The Knight Commander told the lady. "Please stay"

Her tone was serious as Duke of York's smile faded. Howe had to drag her out of the room. The door shut, and only two of them were in the room.

"Sorry about this, Hood," The battleship said with her eyes locked on the flag in the room. "This is a national security now and a very important one at that"

"So tell me," George leaned closer. "Is what Duke of York said fit well with the deal you were working on?"

"Yes," Hood spoke. "Every bit of it. She is a smart one, that girl. Her colleagues are no less capable"

"I noticed her brilliance the first time I met her," The battleship smiled. "To think that she came this far under your guidance. Your efforts finally paid off"

"Had it?" Hood looked up. "We were on the verge of a total war this year"

"At least you and Lena made sure it was short and ended quickly," The battleship raised her hands. "Had it gone for a full year with loss of more lives and money, it would have caused the war to go worse than it was"

"Lena got kicked out of her home because of it. They even demoted her to a mere captain," Hood sighed. "She sided with us, and that was the price she paid"

"Is that why you brought her here?" The Knight Commander questioned. "To keep her safe?"

"You know that the Feds put a bounty on her head, right?" Hood gazed at the Knight Commander. "Then there were all the words written with blood on the wall and the protests. Her people wanted her dead, too"

"I do," George said. "After all, she was the one reason we won the war after all. Isn't that why you asked Wales to stay with Annette in the Republic?"

"Yes," Hood rolled her eyes as she thought about it. "The abuses she got were no less serious or harmful than what Lena got"

"The same goes for these cute Alba little girls she brought"

Hood looked up at the grinning Knight Commander from the reflection in the window. The woman was at the window watching where the barracks were in the distance.

"Cute.Smart.Experience.Join tea parties with us regularly, and the list goes on."

"Honestly, it is hard to find humans to come to this base, and we had to deal with boredom." The battleship turned around. "But with these girls, we can say goodbye to it"

"As I told you, Cleveland," Gil said to the blonde light cruiser in front of him. "People back at my place would kill for a batch of beacons"

"Really?" The girl replied with a bit of scepticism. "Are you sure you are not exaggerating?"

"Maybe eating tasteless food for a decade would change your perspective!!!!" Gil took out a bread and shoved it into Cleveland's mouth.

"What the fuck?!!!!" The light cruiser could not respond as the man shoved the bread in his hands into her mouth. "Help!!!!"

"Nope," Columbia merely waved at her sister.

"Nah," Denver did the same. Montpelier seemed to want to intervene, but was held back by Columbia and  Denver.

"You want a pain?!!!!!" The light cruiser spat the bread in her mouth onto the ground. "Here comes the pain!!!!"

 Cleveland grabbed a bottle of Oxy-Cola before plunging into the man with one of her arms, holding him tight. She opened the lid of the bottle, shoved it into his mouth, and poured it on his head.

"An eye for an eye!!!!"

Gil's men stood there as they watched their boss and the light cruiser duking it out as they grabbed hold of each other's hair and faces.

"Are you guys not going to help him?" Denver asked the men.

"Why don't you help yours?" They asked back, which resulted in a long, awkward silence. They were at one of the warehouses, standing guard. With frequent convoys of food and supplies being shipped to the continent, the Azur Lane began to have a lot of warehouses to house bags of dried meat and caches of supplies worth millions. Thus, the Eagle kansens had to guard the cargo of their nation as part of their new job.

"I see that you two are having fun"

They all looked to see Lena and her noble colleagues looking at Gil and Cleveland. The two broke apart from each other.

"Sorry, sir!!!!" Gil saluted them with his boot on top of Cleveland's rudder feet. "We were arguing about how much a batch of beacons would be worth on the continent"

"I do not think it will be as much as he claimed," Cleveland hissed at him as she kicked him in the ass with her free foot. "So he and I got into a food fight!!!!!"

"I can assure you that he is not exaggerating, Miss Cleveland," Yaroslava said, looking at the piles of boxes with the word bacon inside the warehouse. "We lived off plastic food for a decade because the Legion took a lot of land and contaminated it. Yes, the bacons in this warehouse would cost many times more back on the continent"

"Really?" Denver whispered to her sisters. "Sis, we can make easy bucks!!!!"

"Yeah, thanks to the Legion, it would take decades to make those lands arable again," Delphie walked and looked at a box filled with bottles. "Are these beers?"

"No," Columbia said. "Those are Oxy-Cola"

"It is our soft drinks," Denver said. 

"Oh, is that so?" Delphie picked one up as she felt the cold of the bottle. "Can I try it?"

"Go ahead," Cleveland said, gazing at Gil. "In this heat, it would work well"

Wales looked at the newspaper from home.

Iron Blood Catastrophe

It was, to put it mildly, the worst catastrophe that the Germans had ever witnessed, with nearly their entire invasion force lost in a very one-sided manner. The Fallschirmjägers, Kriegsmarine, and the Germans once made a road of easy glory after the split had, in less than a single year on the continent, suffered defeats after defeats to the point that the glory from the fall of the Iron Orthodoxy and Europe was no longer in the memory.

The Kriegsmarine's surface fleet, once thought invincible, became a target practice and sank in a fashion worse than the three Royal Navy battlecruisers at Jutland.

"I think the Feds would want my head after this"

Wales looked up from the newspaper at the girl sitting on a sofa in the living room.

"Don't say it like, Annette!!!!"

Annette, like Lena, was under house arrest. But unlike Lena, who Hood dragged back with her to the Azur Lane base with guests. Wales was here to monitor the girl for the house arrest.

"I mean," Annette looked at the window where she could see the snow falling outside. "They probably knew that I cracked their radio communication"

"Then, they should not have just thrown you to us years ago," The battleship said. "Besides, it was they who threw you and Lena into my nation's service in the first place"

"Miss Wales," Annette said, looking at the battleship. "There is something you should know"

The battleship closed the curtains and sat beside the girl.

"If the Feds asked you to hand me over in exchange for concessions," The girl closed her eyes. "Will the Royal Navy do so?"

The battleship put its hands on the girl and squeezed it. "HELL NO!!!!"

"The Feds were sending troops to the border," Annette nodded as Wales's words brought some relief. "To pressure us"

"They would not do anything so stupid," Wales said. "If they do that, it is going to be a bad move"

"By the way, there is something I want to show you!!!!" Annette stood up and ran to the door leading down to the basement. "Come!!!"

The battleship did as the girl asked and followed her down the dark stairs to the girl's lab. The girl flipped a button, and the light replaced the darkness.

"Wait," The battleship saw a bag inside a shell case inside a glass room. "Is that the German propellant?"

"Yes," Annette connected a gas line to a hole in the glass room. "I got it from the Feds' camps in the Fleet Countries. They kept them as trophies"

"What is that?" Wales looked at the gas tank. It was green. "Is it dangerous?"

"You will see why," Annette said, standing up. "You once asked why the German ships blew up so easily, right? I think I knew why"

The girl pointed to the case as the girl hit another button, and the once apparent glass room changed to a room filled with red dust under the purple light from the bulbs.

"Take a closer look at the propellant," Annette pointed at it, and Wales narrowed her eyes. "The gas is messing with it"

At a glance, they were just like everyday dust. Wales then noticed that the bag let out something into the air. Then the red dust turned black like a cloud of smoke from a factory.

"Wait..." Horror filled Wales's mind as she slowly looked at Annette. "Don't tell me..."

"That gas caused the propellant to mix in with the air," Annette closed the UV light once more as the scene became clear. "It was also hard to smell. No one would have known until this happened. That glass is about 10 meters thick, by the way"

Annette put on a pair of glasses and clicked a switch. The glass room erupted into a bright light that was like a naval gun explosion. Wales thought the glass would break, but they held. The glass room became black, the glass rattled, and the force of the blast shook the basement.

"All it takes is a spark in the right locations," Annette said, taking off the glasses. "They just need to hit them after they used the gas to mess with the propellant. They might put them in a storage room, but the gas would turn the ships into floating gas bombs regardless"

"Damn," Wales looked at the black glass room. "It is like Jutland."

"You can say that Jutland was more due to poor handling of cordite and the unsafe procedures. Poor Invincible, Indefatigable and Queen Mary were lost due to human errors, ship's design and doctrine," Annette pointed to the room. "But this one is the intentional use of chemical warfare to cause explosions like what happened to Invincible, Indefatigable and Queen Mary, possibly disregarding all the precautions taken."

"Good lord," it all made sense now, how easily the German ships sank. "How did that not happen to us?"

"Because for these things to work," Annette pointed to the burnout shell case. "There is a trade-off. The propellant had to be in cases for these things to work, and it also took a lot of time. We avoided them because the Feds could not use them due to winds from the sea, as well as the use of silk bags that rendered these gases useless, not to mention that you and others were on the move most of the time"

"So, sitting in the harbour and being exposed to these invisible gases turned them into floating time bombs", Wales raised her hands. "How come Prinz Eugen and Tirpitz did not meet the same fate?"

"Prinz Eugen had to give up all her propellant to the battleships and battlecruisers," Annette explained. "As for Tirpitz, she said she had to throw the cases due to how rusty they were, as well as the damaged holes in her ship that let the air out. Those two got very lucky"

"Welcome to the new age of warfare," Annette said.

How fitting.

Wales thought in her mind as she took in all she heard and saw.

Chapter Text

December 10th,1948...Azur Lane base...

"Thank you for lending us the plane and the escort fighters," Suny told Duke of York as she got on the PBY plane near the dock.

"Sorry, we had to go back due to urgent requests," Yaroslava followed. "There were things back home we had to attend to"

"No worry, conduct thy business well," The battleship waved her hands as the crew closed the door and the hatches as the engine came to life. The plane moved forward and then up into the sky as jets from Victorious's ship flew up after it.

The battleship looked at the busy harbour. It was winter back on the continent, and food was hard to come by. Thus, work was as usual, loading and unloading the cargo ships. The battleship's eyes caught one certain girl with silver hair, directing her fellows who were loading containers into the huge cargo ships waiting at the dock. The work would usually be very labour-intensive, but the sight of the orange robots dragging carts and pulling containers from the warhorses significantly reduces the time and effort required.

Then the battleship noticed someone looking at the girl from a bush, a German with an eye patch—a certain Scharnhorst of the ugly sisters.

Duke of York walked into one of the buildings overlooking the harbour near where Lena was. There were a lot of guards all around, but the girl left herself wide open for a few moments. The vampire locked her eyes on the German kansen who slipped past guards at the gate and finally came near Lena herself.

The girl walked into one of the containers, and the German followed. She was not sure what happened, but a swarm of guards ran into the container as well. Later, they came out dragging a unconscious Scharnhorst by her legs with her face looking up at the sky. Lena came out last and closed the container as a crane picked it up and put it on the cargo ship.

At the Royal Dorm...a few days later...

There were a few places Lena could be on the Azur Lane base, either at the Royal Navy dorm, Commander's office, Warehouses or the market. To Howe, it was easy to guess mainly because of the girl's fondness for sweets.

"So I will be moving to the new residence in the new HQ starting tomorrow," Lena said as she picked up one cookie from a plate of freshly baked cookies. "So I will not be able to come pick up your cookies as usual"

It was a bit sad, really; no morning chatting to make the morning more lively, no more sleepover. No more hide and seek. There would be no more kids around to keep them busy.

"Why are you moving there, if I might ask?" Howe asked, taking off her thick kitchen gloves.

"To not bother your dorm any longer, as well as proper residence for diplomats with meeting rooms for more meetings wth other factions and businessmen. As after this, I am sure that others would come talk to us more and more," Lena explained as she opened the jars for the battleship. "Not to mention that Gil and his men will be able to handle the security there better with his tanks and new fences that cover the new HQ more tightly"

The Royal Navy kansens had no issue with letting them stay longer, but like Lena said. The security and the frequent meetings with the diplomats and businessmen alike were becoming an issue, with the fear of spies and unwarranted intrusion. Then there were the issues of making a proper residence for the foreign diplomats.

"But you can come to visit us any time," Lena smiled as she and Howe put cookies into the jars.

The New HQ...December 13th,1948...

After the incident that sent Lena into a high fever, the new HQ was on lockdown. Soldiers were at every door, and tanks were at every gate leading into the new HQ. Every 30 minutes, a column of armed guards would patrol the chambers. Dragoons ran around on the back of their horses to the HQ every 15 minutes, and snipers on the rooftop.

"Can you guys tell me..." The Commander shouted in the faces of Grand Admiral Raeder, Admiral Donitz, and Admiral Lütjens. "Why the fuck did you do what you did today?"

The man was struggling to maintain his voice and his anger.

"We just asked her to do what is right reasonably," Raeder raised his hands. "To pay us for the trouble they caused by giving in to our demands"

The man grabbed the German by his collar. "Do you have any idea what you did today?!!!!!"

"Am I hearing this right?!!!!" The man let go of the German. "That you wanted them to give up after you lost"

"We never lost," Admiral Donitz interjected. "We have more troops to spare and submarines to use"

"Are you fucking serious?" The words sent the man's mind ringing. "They would be absolutely pissed about this"

"They can't do anything" The Germans laughed it off. "They did not have any fleet to strike back"

"Did you forget that we wiped out your so-called best of the Iron Blood military?"

A voice startled the Germans, and the door to the Commander's office slid open. Two noble girls in yellow and brown dresses walked into the room.

"It seemed that Fallschirmjägers who had been turned into fertilisers wanted more friends", Delphie spoke. "What's this all about?"

"We offered you a peace to end this war between us," Raeder broke free from the Commander's hold. "This will be the best that you will get"

"And why should we accept it?" Jaina retorted. "Give me one good reason"

"Because you had no choice, and we are being generous", Admiral Donitz took out the same paper with the conditions. 

1. The Iron Blood will not pay for any damages to the Republic of San Magnolia, Elektra and the Grand Duchy of Qitira.

2. The  Republic of San Magnolia, Elektra and the Grand Duchy of Qitira had an obligation to accept the Iorn Blood overlordship for their defiance.

3.  The  Republic of San Magnolia, Elektra and the Grand Duchy of Qitira must relinquish all of their territory and become Iron Blood vassals.

"We are the only ones willing to help you," Donitz crossed his arms. "We still had big armies"

"Just accept it," Admiral Lütjens spoke. "It would be best for all of us"

The kansens stood at the walls on both sides of the room. The Royal Kansen knight corps on one and the Iron Blood on the other.

"Like how you torched several villages with your own hands and ordered Hipper to blow up coastal villages to pieces," Delphie gazed at  Lütjens. "Who was it again, the captain of Admiral Hipper?"

"Hellmuth Heye," Jaina added. "My snipers shot him in the head between his eyes when he came to inspect his works on shore"

"We still had armies to spare, and we are willing to help you," Raeder said. "But it is going to cost"

The two noble girls grabbed hold of each other and laughed, their laughter echoing throughout the room.

"Help us?!!!" Delphie smiled. "After you lost nearly an entire surface fleet and two armies?!!!"

"The Feds had over 3 million men ready for war!!!" Jaina followed suit. "You barely had half those numbers!!!! How the fuck are you going to help us?!!!!"

A while later...

"You made an absolute fool of yourself, Bismarck", George said with her arms crossed. "You made us kansens look like fools"

"Thanks to you, Lena got kicked out of her home!!!" Howe joined in with her fingers pointing at Bismarck's face. "They put a price on her head now!!!!"

In a typical case, the Knight Corps never broke their posture, but the shameful acts by the Germans angered them to say the least. They had the gall to try to force Lena, Delphie, and Jaina to accept a humiliating peace that was an unconditional surrender of their countries.

"If you came in just 20 meters near them," The Knight Commander pointed her finger at Bismarck's face. "A railgun round will be between your eyes"

The Knight Corps walked away from the Commander's office with their backs to the Germans.

"Go back to sleep," George told her sisters. "I will be on guard duty tonight"

"Sorry, Miss George,"  Lena said to the battleship. "I did something I should not have"

"Don't sweat it," The battleship said, looking at the girl. "Given how they shamelessly asked you to give up your country after they invaded you, I get the feeling"

"I mean," Lena said as Delphie put an ice pack on her head. "I make you fight Bismarck again,"

"I honestly had it with Bismarck to tell you the truth," The lady told the girl. "What the Germans did to you today was a violation of diplomatic safety conduct. You might not think much of it, but in the large scheme of things. The Feds will no doubt take advantage of this regardless"

"Miss George is right," Jaina nodded her head in agreement as she put the green cloth in her hands in a bowl of warm water. "If anything, the Feds had the justification for all the hardships they inflicted on the German prisoners"

"They will be at my nation," Lena said as Jaina squeezed the cloth dry and put it back on her head. "But I doubt the Feds will let them go easily"

"I think the same," George knelt right beside Lena's bed with her head at the girl's level. "Therefore, I would like to request permission from you to allow my knight corps to handle this prisoner issue"

"I mean, it is my nation and it is my responsibility," Lena said. "I know what kind of people they were, and I doubt that they will let the Germans go"

"But you are also a citizen of my nation now," The Knight Commander smiled a bit, putting one of her hands on the girl's shoulder. "You will be busy on a later date anyway. Rest assured that the Germans will not dare to invade any of your countries anytime soon. They were too busy dealing with rebellions and revolts"

Delphie and Jaina looked at Lena, who nodded her head. "If so, Miss Wales and Annette could handle it."

"Please take a good rest tonight," The Knight Commander stood back up. "I will be on guard watch tonight"

"What the fuck are those Germans doing over there?" Gil pointed to a bunch of German destroyers in the bush. "All tanks aimed guns at them!!!!"

The spider tanks aimed all their guns at the German destroyers in the green bush. Two massive Vánagandrs turned the two massive 122 mm guns as the shells were loaded into their chambers. The Germans, seeing this, disappeared into the forest with the rattling of trees, and birds flew from their nests.

"I want a rotation every three hours," Gil spoke to one of his officers. "Set up more guard posts and sleeping tents here, too."

The officer nodded and walked away. The darkness of the night was on as the coldness began to fill the air. He needed his men to light fires to keep themselves warm and safe from the flies.

"Needing oil drums?" 

Gil looked to see Cleveland, Denver, Columbia and Montpelier near him, all with two oil drums in their hands.

"You read my mind," He said as the light cruiser put down the barrels. "Thanks"

The Knights of the Sea put down the barrel as the soldiers began to fill it with paper and oil before tossing in a lit match. The warmth from the orange flames brought relief to many in the cold night.

"That feels good," The soldiers huddled together with their hands raised at the fire to warm their hands near the barrels.

"You do things like this very often?" Cleveland asked the man. 

"Yeah, pretty much," He replied as he looked at the flames. "Raids behind the Legion lines, and we freeze our asses off because if we lit fires, the Legion will spot us and call artillery on us."

"Man, that's rough," Denver added as she tightened her coat. "Plastic food and such horrible conditions."

"That's the life of people like me," Gil took in a fresh breath of air. "Send out to die like cattle at a moment's notice"

The Knights of the Sea stood in silence as the man said so.

Chapter Text

Wales looked at the list on Annette's computer as the girl slept on her table again. It was just three days before the Feds leaked about the captured Germans in the Republic to the German public. Over 5,000 Germans flooded the Azur Lane base to find their sons.

Naturally, the Iron Blood bombarded the Royal Navy with calls and diplomatic pleas for the confirmation of the captured Germans. The Admiralty was under heavy pressure from both its own country and the Iron Blood to hurry the process as fast as possible.

The battleship closed the monitor and carried the girl who wore her sleeping gown in her arms to her bed. The body landed on the mattress with a soft crack of the bed as the lady moved a blanket over the girl.

A small stone slammed the wall, and she looked outside to see a certain Prinz Eugen standing outside the fence.

The battleship made her way down from the second floor to the fence of Annette's home. As had become a daily activity, the wall of the girl's home was full of curse words written in red liquid, with such a smell that she had to pour perfume on them daily to remove the stink.

"What do you want?" Wales looked at Prinz Eugen. "Eugen"

"The list of names," The heavy cruiser replied with her red eyes locked on Wales's eyes. "Give it to me"

"This is the Knight Corps's business,"  The battleship spoke as she looked around. "I can't do that"

"Then just get out of my way and pretend you don't notice," The German tried to walk past, only for a hand to be raised in front of her and slam into her breast.

"I said that I can't do that," Wales pushed Eugen back. "This is confidential information."

"How about this?" Eugen pointed a finger at Wales's face. "You and I have a fist fight. If I win, you let me get that list"

"And if you lose?" The battleship asked.

"I will not involve myself in this business any longer," Eugen raised her hands. "So what's it going to be?"

The battleship could sense desperation, anger, and determination from the heavy cruiser. The heavy cruiser would usually sneak in easily, but why did she do something like this this time?

Then she noticed purple spots, bruises, and stitches all over her face and her body. With her clothes already very revealing, Wales noticed them all over her entire body upon closer inspection.

"Raeder threatened to scrap your sisters if you can't get that list"

Both looked behind them to see Annette with a brown case in her hands, walking from the door to stand beside the lady. Wales looked at Eugen, whose face turned white as if she saw a ghost.

"I knew that look," Annette said with a yawn. "I saw families being torn apart, you know"

The girl's words answered Wales's question. The shocked look on Eugen's face confirmed it.

"Either you get this or your sisters go to the scrapyard"

"Stupid," Yaroslava said. "Does the Feds think they could get away with it?"

"They sure are trying to," Suny added. "With our entire continent on board with it, who else is going to complain?"

"With the latest invasion of our three countries without a formal declaration of war, as well as the indiscriminate use of bombing by planes, everyone is pissed", Delphie added. "No one is going to give mercy to the Germans"

"Not to mention the planned colonisation of the continent that got leaked to everybody," Jaina joined in. "The fact that the fat guy tried to do it for real angered everyone"

The one question they talked about was the issue of the German prisoners. The Feds did everything possible to justify their actions of treating the Germans very poorly, and while no one said it, every higher up on the continent had no sympathy for the Germans.

"I did not know about you guys," The Roa Gracia princess looked at her fellow nobles. "My country, for one, will not allow them to pass through our territory"

"The same for me," Suny said. "My country was not in the way for them to pass through anyway"

"So that's left me," Jaina looked at Delphie. "Delphie and Lena to decide"

"Pretty much, girls"

They all looked to see Hood and Lena, who wore horse riders' uniforms. The lady wore a dark blue jacket adorned with a golden lion wearing a crown symbol at her left breast, complemented by a dark blue skincoat topped by a white necktie around the neck, a dark blue cap with a white rose on her head, and white pants from the waist under the skirt down to the black boots. Last but not least, the white gloves on the horse's leash.

The girl at her side wore similarly, but with only a difference being the colour and a few accessories. The jacket was dark blue but had a Prussian blue coat over it, and so was the riding helmet, which also featured a Prussian blue rose. The four nobles wore the same as Lena, but with purple for Yaroslava, black for Suny, brown for Delphie, and yellow for Jaina.

"Wow," Delphie said as she looked at Hood and her white horse. "You are killing it, Miss Hood!!!"

"Is that so?" The lady asked.

"Yeah," The Roa Gracian princess added. "We never ride a horse in a group like this for over a decade, and your dress looked very elegant!!!"

The others gave the lady the same compliments.

"Well," Lena spoke as she stood beside Hood. "We kept losing land to the Legion, and the lands were turned into farms and facilities to support the war efforts"

"So, except Lena and Delphie here," Hood looked at the four nobles. "You girls had no horse riding experience before?"

Yaroslava, Suny and Jaina nodded their heads.

"No worry," The battlecruiser raised her chest with pride. "I can teach you all on the way"

Delphie took the lead of the horse convoy of six horses. She carefully led Yaroslava, Suny and Jaina forward as they were going deep in the forest of the base with Hood and Lena at the back.

"What is the Royal Navy's position on the captured Germans?" Lena asked Hood as her legs sat on the stirrup. "If I might ask?"

"Well," Hood took a deep breath as she held the reins of her white horse with her two hands. "It was a political decision. Both the king and the parliament decided to get them back at any cost"

"I already decided to let them go," Lena sighed as she looked forward. "But it would not be as easy as I thought"

"Your fear that your people will skin them alive before they even leave?" The lady asked, gazing at her friend. "Is that your biggest fear?"

"Yes," Lena looked at the lady at her side. "The Bleachers already put a bounty for the Germans"

"Are they now?" Hood spoke in annoyance about the people who were Lena's bosses. "I take it that they ordered you to kill all of them?"

"They did," Lena replied, hiding nothing. "They wanted them dead"

"The Feds paid them?" The lady said as they were under the shade of the trees. "Or just plain non-Alba hate?"

"Both," Lena touched the horse to thank it for its effort to stay so long under the sun. "But I stopped listening to their crap, bullshit and orders years ago"

"Yeah, right"

They stopped at a river to let the horses wet their throats and fill their stomachs. They all tied the horses to a tree near the river and took out apples from their bags and put them in a basket for the horses, whose mouths filled the bucket.

"Yaroslava," Hood spoke as she stood beside the princess. "I have a favour to ask of you"

"What is it, Miss Hood?" The princess inquired as she took a sip from a canteen. "You seemed rather uneasy"

"This is about the captured Germans," The lady put two hands in front of her near the skirt. "Do you think you could convince the King to allow safe passage for them?"

The mention of persuading the King of Roa Gracia, King Idinarohk, made the princess freeze for a moment.

"I will not lie to you, that would be next to impossible," The princess put down her canteen. "My fiancé's brother faction could support you, but the other faction would refuse no matter what. Given where the wind is blowing, the King would likely swing toward not letting them through"

"Then tell him that he had a powerful leverage" Hood's hands touched her chin. "Should he let them through his lands, he will gain favour with many as an act of mercy. That alone would help the future negotiation your nation might want to hold about food trade and more"

"Miss Hood...that is very interesting and also a ruthless one too," The princess replied. "But that could work"

"Suny said that you do not have leverage," Hood spoke. "But now you do, do not waste it"

"Have a good ride?" Vanguard said as she wrapped her arms around Jaina, before lifting her off her horse.

"I do," The girl thanked the battleship with a nod as her feet touched the ground. "Sightseeing on horseback without having to worry about the Legion shooting at you is nice"

"Not to mention that we are in a tropical area and not winter," Yaroslava added as King George V did the same and lifted her off the horse. "At least, we will not freeze. The winter this year is going to be very harsh"

"You bet," Suny said as Monarch carried out the same act. "The Legion tried to starve us out by blocking out the sun and attempted to make winter very long to freeze us out"

Delphie, Hood and Lena slowly got down from the horses.

"It had been a while since I had been riding horses with new buddies", Delphie smiled as she looked at her senior. "Thank you for the ride, sir"

"The same goes for me," Hood said with a smile on her face, as did Lena. "It had been a while since I had new friends to ride with"

Then Javelin came running into the stables with a letter and a brown case in her hands.

"Miss Lena!!!" The destroyer said, her hand stretching out with the letter and the case to Lena. "It's from Miss Annette, it's very urgent!!!"

Lena took them and tore the letter open.

"Good news," Lena said as the Knight Commander walked closer. "Annette confirmed the names of the captured Germans as well as their conditions and the setup for a live feed"

"This is great news indeed!!!" George said with a rather energetic smile. "If we can announce the names before Christmas, that would be great!!!"

"Today is December 23, we can do it tomorrow" Lena looked at her watch and chimed. "I will go to tell the Commander immediately and make preparations now!!!"

Lena hopped back on her horse with Hood, doing the same as they both rode off from the stable to the new HQ. Vanguard cleared the way as the two left the Royal Navy dorm.

"Lena!!!!" Hood shouted as Lena led ahead with her horse, running as fast as it allowed. "Slow down!!!!"

The girl said. "If you can get to my side, maybe I will!!!!"

The lady smiled and grabbed the reins hard as she came up to Lena's side. The girl's horse slowed down and began walking, as did Hood's horse.

"I was the one who taught you how to ride a horse," Hood smiled. "Of course, I can"

"Yeah," Lena looked back as they rode side by side through the road leading to the new HQ. "I just....you know...glad that it is finally over. The Admiralty wanted it done before Christmas"

"Given how far Bismarck went to that length to meet you and me, I am not surprised," Hood looked forward as they came closer and closer to the new HQ. "They were under heavy pressure from both our nation and from Iron Blood. Trust me, even if you disagreed. They would try to beg His Majesty to order you to"

"So how will you get them back?" Lena asked as the new HQ came into view.

"By sea, but it will depend on whether I can secure safe passage from Roa Gracia or not. If they agree, we could pick them up at the Fleet Countries. But if they do not, Elektra or Qitira would have to do"

"It will be months anyway, that they could travel, they were in very terrible conditions", Lena added. "They would have to be in hospital ships"

They would have to plan more, but at least they were closer to finishing the job.

George looked on as the tired Alba girls walked back to their barracks on their feet. The long day of getting the Germans to know if their sons were dead or not took its toll. They walked into lines as all roads were jammed with people, and many Germans were still hoping to see their sons in a live feed.

"There were 1,500 names on the list of that newspaper," Lena said as she sipped her tea. "When in reality there were only 1,000 captured"

Lena remained at the new HQ for apparent reasons. Apart from having to organise the whole thing the night before, she was also responsible for making sure that there were no inaccuracies in the names. Not to mention the order came from the King himself, and they could not refuse. Hell, they even sent Vice-Admiral Holland to deliver the orders personally.

"You should take a rest in the nap room," The Knight Commander touched Lena's shoulders. "I will wake you up if there is anything urgent"

The girl nodded and followed the lady's advice. She was up from six A.M. to eight P.M.

A rest would do nicely.

"Poor girl," Hood said. "Told me to wake her by bonking on her head"

"A lot was on the line," George said as she took a seat right across Hood in the living room of the new HQ. "They were on the verge of a riot to know if their sons were alive or not"

While 5,000 Germans might sound a lot, they were no match against over almost 3,000 well-armed and experienced soldiers of Gil, Lena, Delphie and Jaina combined. They would have some difficulty, but it would no doubt be a bloodbath for the Germans.

"I heard about Lindemann's falling out with his son on the live feed," The Knight Commander asked the lady. "Is it true?"

The lady sighed and looked at her teacup.

"He ordered a full frontal assault on the Feds' line. Four thousand men ran into a massacre of artillery and heavy machine guns. Four thousand died in 3 minutes. His decisiveness might have caused me to sink in the past. But under false intelligence, his decisiveness cost 4,000 lives in three minutes," The lady lamented. "All of his son's friends were killed in that attack, and he left him behind for the Feds to capture. It was normal for Eric to disown his father after this. Amelia told me that he did not want to see his father's face for a long while"

"For all their boasting about powerful warships and soldiers, they lacked the firepower, discipline and cohesion of a modern army. Worse, this whole affair was doomed from the start. Like Lena told us, the Feds had plenty of warnings and expected them to come. Fifty thousand men armed to the teeth dug in mountains with artillery," The battleship remarked when Lena told them in detail why the Germans lost. "Not to mention that their army was of better quality, quantity, and more experienced than ours after having survived against the Legion for ten years. They were superior to the Germans in every way possible"

"They got the Germans where they wanted," Hood sipped her tea. "There was no escape and nowhere to run"

With the whole of Giad's western front army in the front and the missile cruisers at the back, the writing was on the wall for the Germans from the start; they didn't want to look at it. This ignorance would cause the death of nearly the entire expedition—the most humiliating military defeat in the Kriegsmarine's history.

Lena looked up at the night sky as she sat on a rock on the cliff overlooking the harbour.

"Thy can't sleep?"

She looked back and Duke of York appeared out of the shadow of a tree nearby.

"How can I sleep after the Feds put 200,000 soldiers near my nation's borders?" Lena said as the vampire came to stand at her side. "They were not happy about me being here and slapped them in the face"

"Even though they would benefit from this?" The battleship asked. "How shortsighted of them"

"The people would, but the nobles didn't," Lena said. "Even after the revolution, the nobles still held power in my nation. So much for democracy"

"You know, when I first heard about the existence of another world. I thought we would be different from each other," The battleship knelt beside the girl. "Only to my surprise, how similar our worlds were.Nobles here and there, speaking the same tongue for starters"

"And wars," Lena sighed even as the vampire stood very close to her. "Both our worlds were fighting for survival. The Legion War in my world was due to the Giad Empire unleashing its unmanned drones on us. And yours was due to the Siren invasion that led to the creation of your race."

"Thy world has it harder than us.  Suppose I might add, unlike us, who had some reprieve and fought back. Yours had no such luxury, only attacks after attacks. Hell, Thy world has to send children to fight. Because all the adults were either dead or wounded," The battleship gazed up at the sky. "But in the end, we squabbled among ourselves, which led to the civil war"

"Just as my world made war on you just three years after the Legion War was over," Lena looked at the battleship. "Maybe Alterhood was right. Humans would destroy each other long before the Sirens. I was a relic of that war, outlived my usefulness."

"You know what your only flaw is?" Duke of York put her one of her hands on the girl's shoulders. "You are a human too, you had life being a human and all. Enjoy life"

"Sorry, I spent too much of my life on war. I just...can't let it go," Lena looked at her hands. "You know...it is in my blood by now. I ended up being used by the Feds and my own country to fulfil their agenda. I might have killed the Germans, but it was the Feds who used it to their advantage. My recklessness almost destroyed all your hard work and that of Miss Hood"

"I don't blame you," The vampire said. "Thou are a kid fighting in adult's war. I felt a bit ashamed that we could not prevent kids like you from being sent to the battlefield"

Lena could sense guilt and shame in her voice.

"Even as I issued no prisoner order?" Lena asked as she looked at the vampire. "Kill every German we saw. No quarter given?"

"What about the Luftwaffe and what is left of the Kriegsmarine flattened the cities and villages full of children in Qitira and Elektra who had nothing to do with the Germans' defeat by the Feds?" The vampire asked. "Had those kids not evacuated, thousands would have died from this meaningless invasion"

"We spared no Germans, the Lufwaffe pilots and the Fallschirmjägers who landed or shot down were hunted down or killed like dogs. Even as they were on their knees begging for mercy, we killed them," Lena asked back with the same ruthless question. "From 20,00 who invaded us, merely 100 left alive"

"They died because they invaded you and your allies," Duke of York countered. "You went so far as to help the release of the captured Germans, whom they left in the Fed's hellish captivity. They left their own countrymen to die while you helped free them. That alone is admirable"

"Was it?" Lena asked. "The Feds were using them as bargaining chips anyway. Even without me pressuring them, they would have been released anyway"

"And endure hell by the Feds longer than they should?" The vampire asked, her voice filled with determination. "The man-made hell that they had to go through for more than 6 months? Being toyed with by the Giadians under forced labour and walking through a minefield?"

The girl remained silent as the battleship asked for an alternative.

The next day...

"Her mental issue is very dangerous if I might say so," Duke of York said at breakfast in the dorm. "I would say 8 out of 10. She is a loose cannon, Hood"

"What do you expect from a girl who lost her family at such a young age and was hated by everyone?" Hood looked at her reflection in the teacup in her hands. "Then sent into the deadliest war humans had ever known"

"I will take care of that girl," The battlecruiser said. "Leave it to me"

Chapter Text

Yorktown looked at her table. It was rare to get a special request from home. This was one of those days when a request for exclusive trade rights with the nations of the continent was made. Then there were the loan requests from the Feds.

"Sir, you called for me?" A bell-like voice reached her ears.

The eldest of the Yorktown-class looked at the door up from the table. The friendly face of Lena was at the door frame.

"Oh!!," Yorktown stood up and walked to her. "Look at you!!!. You looked better than a week ago"

"Well, I just signed an official treaty to end the conflict with the Germans along with my allies and deal with the looming riot of the parents of the captured Germans before it turned into a full-blown bloodbath," Lena spoke and smiled in return. "I got a lot off my chest"

"By the way, sit," the carrier said, bringing the girl to a chair right in front of her table. "I will need to go back to Eagle Union today, along with my sisters. I had something I needed to talk to you about urgently"

"That urgent?" The girl did as the kansen told her. "So sudden?"

"This was supposed to be a secret, but..." Yorktown handed Lena a few papers, and the girl's eyes glued to them in no time, saving her the trouble of explanation. "I wanted to ask you about it"

"This is quite a lot of money they wanted to loan from your country," Lena said, her eyes turning up to look at the kansen right across her. "However, considering the unpaid salary of soldiers, all the damages incurred from the war and rebellions, as well as internal unrest, including possible embezzlement. This amount was what they would require to pay their troubles away"

"And I think you could guess what the other thing is," The carrier asked. "From what you have been seeing this past month or so"

"Trade rights," Lena said. "The Eagle Union is still reeling from the Great Depression, more than a decade earlier. While they had somewhat recovered due to military spending, the Siren attacks meant they were not fully recovered. With the Eagle Union having been at war for over a decade now, you are looking for stable markets that would import a lot of produce from your country"

Yorktown smiled as she leaned on her chair.

"The farmers were pressing both the congress and the Eagle Union naval to do something," She raised her hands in the air. "So, they sent me a special request for exclusive trade rights. Can you take it up with them to think about it?"

"No worry, I will bring it up with my friends"

A while later...

"Anything you want from the Eagle Union?" Enterprise asked, her rudder feet standing on the water. "Maybe some snacks?"

"No need," Lena replied, standing on the concrete dock. "But if you can, pie and pudding would be nice. Don't sweat it if you can't get it"

The Big E gave one last smile before sailing to join her sisters waiting at the open waters right outside the base.

Vanguard stood tall near a door at a building near the dock. It was a two-story building with a vast line from the ocean connected to it through a massive, locked hole at the back.

"Good morning, Miss Vanguard," 

An Alba officer walked past the Palace Guard and into the building through a door that opened when the girl showed a card at the panel. The door opened, and the girl walked in. The door closed on its own.

They just completed this installation a week ago. It was so vital that they posted her here for the time being until a proper unit could be assigned. The air was clear as seagulls flew above them.

It was much more refreshing than guarding the palace back at the Isles. Besides, it was less chaotic than it was over three days ago.

Three days ago...

"Gil," Lena looked at Gil and his officers. "I want you and your armoured infantry to be at the two lines from the building to the stadium to prevent the crowd from getting in, and also do not fire a round unless you have to"

They nodded.

"Miss George," Lena looked at the Knight Commander whose hands were at the hip of her sword. "I want you and the Knight Corps to be in the first line between the crowd and the stadium"

She nodded.

"Delphie," Lena looked at the archduchess. "I want your dragoons to be behind the Knight Corps in case someone thinks they are tough. Armed them with lancers"

She nodded.

"Jaina," Lena looked at her blonde junior. "I want your snipers to be in the building in case of emergency"

The girl nodded.

"Miss Belfast," Lena looked at the headmaid. "I want the maid corps to be on standby for riot control and inside the building alongside the snipers"

"It will be done," The maid bowed her head. "Miss Lena, you can count on us"

"Last but not least," Lena looked at Gil again. "I want a platoon of  Vánagandrs to be in the last line between the crowd and the stadium. Loaded the 122 mm guns with blanks"

"Mister Gil," George asked the man. "How long do you need to ready those tanks?"

"Give me three hours," The man said, looking at his watch. "I will ready the tanks and my men at the barracks and come here as soon as I can"

"Understood," She replied,looking at the sky. "We will keep watch until you arrive"

"Get to it," Lena said, looking at them all. "We've got a long day ahead of us"

Vanguard stood on at the entrance of the new HQ as the soldiers and kansens alike ran around like crazy.

"Vanguard!!!!" George shouted at her. "Ready the Knight Corps!!!"

"Yes, sir!!!" She ran off to the Royal Dorm as fast as she could. There was already a hectic activity at the dorm. The Knight Corps and the Maid Corps had already assembled in front of the dorm.

Queen Elizabeth was there shouting orders and pointing fingers all around. If they were going to pull this off, they needed all the help they could get.

 "So, George," Queen Elizabeth said to the battleship. "You will be stationed at the Republic to safeguard the prisoners"

"As you command," She bowed. "We will carry out your orders"

"This is unrelated, but there had been reports of sightings of the Leviathans near the water of the Qitira and Elektra," Warspite added, standing beside Elizabeth, who sat on the throne. "According to Lady Delphie, she said it was very unusual"

"These creatures, according to the Fleet Countries, were territorial creatures," The tiny queen added, her two hands underneath her chin. "The fact that they changed their behaviours is very concerning. So keep up your guard, in the worst case, these creatures will try to do something unpleasant"

The Knight Commander looked on with amazement in her eyes. She hadn't seen them in person yet, but from what Hood and Wales told her, they were very terrifying. Bigger than even the biggest warships afloat and shooting lasers that cut through a warship like a hot knife through butter.

"Because you and your sisters are the only ones carrying railguns capable of fighting these creatures, you will also have to defend the sea of Qitira and Elektra per terms with our allies, " the Grand Old Lady said, looking at the Knight Commander. "You will be the vanguard of that, but the Admiralty is working hard to relocate carriers and new torpedoes to deal with them"

"That is all," the tiny queen said, raising her hands. "Dimissed"

_

"So I called you here to meet to form a knight club," George told Cleveland. "Now that the affairs of both worlds were at stake and trade, I think setting up a club to deal with this closely would be a good idea in the long run"

"Yeah," Denver agreed. "The navy wanted us to guard the portal anyhow"

The Knight of the Sea all agreed and nodded.

"Now, we will be on the other side at least for now," The Knight Commander said. "To guard our new allies against the sea monsters and to keep up the pressure on the Feds."

"We do not know why those sea monsters changed their behaviour, but let's say the chance of them coming through the portal and causing havoc is high," Howe looked at the map of the portal on the map of the Pacific Ocean. "Our main concern is that they would get into the Pacific and cause issues with us"

"Then there is fear they would land in the two countries in the South and cause problems inland," Monarch added. "Thus, they needed the battleships they could get their hands on"

"Also, with us going far away, the safety of this base would fall to you," Vanguard crossed her arms. "The main communication hub between our world and the continent is here, as well as the trade ships"

"So what do you want us to do?" Cleveland asked. 

"You kept close watch on the portal," George added, her finger stopped at a portal on the map. "But you are not to fight them, not until you have proper support"

"What about the base?" Denver asked, her fingers in the air. "If we go there, who will guard here?"

"Gil and his men," Howe replied, grabbing a cookie from a plate.  "They would take care of things at the base along with the officers, dragoons and the snipers, as part of the alliance they had with us. They would provide soldiers here to safeguard the base in exchange for trade and subsidies"

The Knight of the Seas looked at each other. So far, Gil and his men were hired guns by Azur Lane, essentially mercenaries. They were very good at it. But they provided them with something they cannot, how to deal with humans properly.

Gil was a nobleman, and he took pride in it. He acted like one, and when a human tried to abuse the kansen in any way. He took action, like throwing them into jail or pointing a gun at their faces. His men likewise acted like their boss, keeping the kansen safe from humans' malice.

"Ok," Cleveland smiled. "We are in."

Thus, a knight club was formed.

Chapter Text

29th December 1948...

"I can't believe they were really still wanting to invade," Howe said, still trying to digest what Lena had informed them.

The Federacy's announcement of a planned invasion of the three nations that allied with the RN took everyone by storm. Needless to say, Lena and her committee's stays were put on hold, and they all had to return before the deadline.

"They had over 200,000 at the borders," Duke of York added. "What do you expect?  They did not have enough force to stand up to them"

The Feds gave the five nobles three days to comply, and they had no choice but to go back. The Admiralty was at a loss as to what to do, as they had no powerful warships to help the three nations in case of an invasion. All they had were cruisers and destroyers, no match for the heavy guns and missiles of the Federacy. Not to mention the Republic of San Magnolia, Elektra, and the Grand Duchy of Qitira were in no shape to fight back after the Iron Blood invasion.

"At best, it will be just a bluff," Hood said as she looked at the newspaper. "That is a foolish thing to do, if they really go along with it. The Eagle Union would cut the loans they were planning to get"

"Hood," George looked at the lady. "You need to hop on a jet with them, along with her Majesty, tomorrow. The rest and I will follow later"

"So tell me," Wales asked Annette as they were talking in the living room of the girl's home. "Would they really invade?"

"Why would they? They could pay the Bleachers to do the dirty jobs for them," Annette looked out the window. "Besides, they couldn't afford to lose more soldiers and waste money on more wars. They were already in a deep financial crisis. This is merely a political move to force them to come back"

"Besides, the Germans did a pretty good job of destroying cities and laying the ground for an invasion by the Feds," Annette added. "The mere threat of an invasion alone is enough to force Lena and the committee to do as they say"

"So it is a political," Wales sipped her tea. "The Germans sure got duped by the Feds"

"The Feds had many times more men and tanks," The technician sipped the coffee in her hands. "They would cut right through us like a chainsaw cutting through meat"

The Federacy remained the nation with the most powerful army on the continent; it was a fact that the Royal Navy had no choice but to accept.

"Something still bugs me, though," The battleship put down the teacup in her hands. "How the hell do they know that we do not have heavy ships in the South?"

"Scouting Drones, spies and the Bleachers," Annette replied. 

"Possible, but still they knew precisely when the ships were up North," Wales's hands formed at her chin. "The time they made this announcement is also at the right time since there are no heavy assets down here in the South"

Annette could not help but agree to the battleship's deduction. It was too much to be a coincidence.

"Let's worry about that later," Annette looked at the list of the captured Germans. "We got a bunch of captured Germans to worry about"

"So Wales," Hood asked the battleship. "What is the real threat that the captured Germans are facing?"

"The question is which way they are going to bo gack," The battleship replied. "Because the Feds sure as hell would not let them go easily after trying to conquer them while they were down. Their desires to punish the Germans are not sated in the slightest."

Right after the five nobles returned from the Azur Lane base, the Feds dropped the threat of invasion, but the troops were still stationed at the borders. Like Annette suspected, they were there for only political pressure.

"If the Bleachers kill them, the blame would fall to the Republic. If the Germans are ambushed on the way back during the transit in Elektra and the Grand Duchy of Qitira, the blame would fall to them," Hood said, her eyes looking out at the falling white snow outside. "They just want to keep their hands as clean as possible"

The Feds' harsh treatment of the Germans would soon be on the headlines of the news, yet the Feds had all the justifications to get away with it. As Yaroslava said, no one in the high echelons of the continent had any ounce of mercy for the Germans after their invasions.

If anything, the wrath of the continent had only just begun. The nations on Europa that the Iron Blood conquered after the split broke free from the yoke of the Germans through diplomacy and rebellions, and these nations received massive shipments of arms and military support from the continent, mainly from the Federacy. The Germans protested, but they were unable to take any action. With their navy shattered beyond repair and few operational warships at hand, there was no stopping the massive flow of arms into the nations once conquered.

These nations, once trampled by the Germans with their Blitzkrieg, were eager to have their revenge. Indeed, the Germans had to cede a significant amount of land to their former defeated foes under threat of a joint military invasion. To compound matters, these nations demanded reparations and the return of the looted properties. The Iron Blood was on the brink of economic collapse as the treasury ran dry.

In a year, things went from bad to worse. Mass flights of the German High Command did little in the face of the crumbling nation surrounded by hungry hyenas eager to tear the country apart from all the past torments inflicted on them.

"You try to get the Roa Gracia to agree to a passage," Wales stood beside Hood. "The Knight Corps will ensure their safety"