Author's notes:

So, good day to you, if you are reading this. I've been thinking about writing a fanfic for Azur Lane, and other than a single other one-shot that involved one rather popular pairing in this fandom, that has not seen and probably will never see the light of day, here is what I have to offer for now. About what to expect, I should say... maybe some drama, and epic battles? A fair warning that this wont be a SoL fanfic like the Slow Ahead anime was, and will go into a plot rather that random fluff. A plot I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing.

Also, two important things. This will be rated M, but only to stay on the safe side of things, since I am not familiar with this place's rating system. Don't worry, it won't have anything horribly graphic or explicit. Other than that... my upload schedule is not exactly ideal. I am a college student and don't have the most of free times right now with the exam season.

All that said, I hope you have fun reading this. Now, let's get into it!

King George V

"I thought nothing would be worth interrupting lunch over, but… this certainly takes the cake."

In front of us, a storm like none we had ever seen before raged furiously. Lightning, thunder, yet no wind currents at all. The night we fought Bismarck, we fought in the middle of a storm, but nothing on the scale of what was in front of our eyes.

"Sheffy, any signals of what's causing this?"

The maid denied in disgust "Radar and sonar are dead, something must be interfering with them."

In other words, whatever was waiting for us inside the storm, we would have to face the old fashioned way, aiming by sight.

"Why? Why here of all places?"

The more we approached our goal, the more I regretted bringing Wales. When sailors in Iceland reported an anomaly near the Denmark Strait, the Royal Navy's high command had gone on edge, including Wales. She would have rushed out of Scapa Flow alone if I hadn't stopped her.

"I know your frustrations well, Wales, but don't let this matter get to you. Wales."

"If this is the Sirens' doing…"

I could clearly see how Wales's hand tightened around the handle of her sword. Couldn't honestly blame her. That very place was where she had seen Hood blow up, and sink in less than three minutes. A magazine hit, or so had concluded the Admiralty. An incredibly tragic event, but then again, which war wasn't?

Something distracted me momentarily. A black bird glided his way to the highest mast of my rigging, curiously pecking my radar, and then flying down to my guns

"A crow? All the way here?"

"Stand still, Lady George. I shall put my AA guns to good use…"

"Worry about your equipment, and less about a bird, Sheffy." I reached to touch the bird, which strangely enough didn't seem to mind me scratching its head "What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Can't say I remember those birds being common around here either."

A voice I didn't recognise, coming from inside the cloud wall in front of us. My guns were pointed at the source of the voice before it could speak again. I could hear Sheffield's torpedo tubes clicking in place as well

"...you…"

Wales's voice was full of a mix of frustration and sadness that impressed even me. It was different from the tears she had shed when she had first come back to HQ, her gun jammed and with empty eyes.

"Oh, is that you, Wales? Didn't recognise you. New haircut?"

Wales eased the grip around her blade "You and I aren't that different. We carry the same burden. Now get yourself out from behind that cloud wall. Prove the claims of glory from the Ironblood to me!"

So she did recognise the voice… That didn't sound good. No other sound came from inside the storm for a few seconds. Eventually, someone came out. Same outfit worn by all Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers, dangerously open on the side, white hair and amber eyes. I had never before seen the woman in front of me, but her description matched the reports far too well.

"Prinz Eugen? What are you doing here?"

She simply shrugged, feigning ignorance.

"Aren't these international waters? You have no right to tell me what to do. Also, you look good, Wales."

Wales scoffed "You look like shit, Eugen."

Before reprimanding Wales for her unladylike language, I took a better look at Eugen. She did indeed look horrible. Her hair was more of a mess than the reports mentioned, tangled like it hadn't been combed in days. The blackness around her eyes signaled to a rather significant lack of sleep, either that or overwork. Guess that in the end, war forgives neither side of the conflict. Her facial expression soured to match her looks.

"How unbecoming of a member of the Royal family. Is this how that flat chested brat raised her knights?"

"Enough!" I said. I could comprehend the grief of losing one's purpose, and failing someone close, but there was a limit to how much I was willing to tolerate. "I won't allow your badmouthing to go unpunished. You will answer my questions."

"If your questions are about me being here, I'm afraid I have no answers for you."

I raised an eyebrow, slightly "Explain yourself."

Eugen sighed in frustration "You Royals are so frustratingly dense. I didn't come here out of my own accord, I was ordered to."

"By whom?"

Eugen pointed to the storm "You'll meet her soon enough. Unless you want to go inside that and meet her now."

Going inside a storm, radar and sonar blind due to the interference, with visual range of less than thirty meters, against someone with enough influence to order Eugen around? No thanks, I was even less keen on that idea than I was on skipping breakfast.

"How dare you?!" Wales boomed "You know very well what this place is! What happened here! How dare you show your face after what you and your leader did?!"

"Wales…"

"I was close enough to her that I had to start evasive manoeuvres not to hit what remained of her rigging! I saw her being torn apart in half before my very eyes!"

"WALES, BEHAVE YOURSELF!" While it was indeed true that I could never hope to understand the grief she had gone through at the Battle of Denmark Strait, it was no excuse to lose her composure.

"Behave herself?" Eugen looked almost offended, hurt even, as if her eyes couldn't believe my words "That same misguided drivel and pretend you call discipline is what got Bismarck killed."

"What got Bismarck killed was her own crimes against humanity and against the Royal Navy. The same crimes YOU will answer for." I took out my sword, pointing it at Eugen along all of my guns, ten barrels pointing at a cruiser not even twenty meters away "Now, you will come with me to Scapa Flow. I am sure the Admiralty will be delighted to interrogate…"

A wave of dark… energy, if it could be described that way, shot out of the clouds. Almost faster than I could see, definitely faster than anything I could react to. Before I could realize, it had made its way to me, cutting clean through my sword. It was perhaps due to my sword absorbing part of the impact that it barely scratched my rigging. Sheffield and Wales looked at me with terror in their eyes.

"I'm… fine." Without any use to it, I threw my sword into the waves and checked my rigging. Other than a few AA guns and the flag, there wasn't any major damage. I slowly turned, moving part of my rigging in front of me to make sure the next thing that went flying wasn't a limb "What on earth…"

"I am sorry, but I am afraid I can't allow that to happen. Eugen is enough of a security risk as is, there's no telling what she would let go upon interrogation"

Everyone's face, including myself and Eugen snapped towards the now quickly dissipating cloud wall, though Eugen had an expression closer to surprise than our pre-emptive concern. For a few seconds that felt like an eternity of pointing our guns towards it, the clouds evaporated into the air around them. In their place, a human figure stood over the waves. Unlike the seemingly common red bang the Ironblood girls seemed to have, she had white hair and red highlights, with her fringe covering her right eye. Her armour was overwhelmingly black even by Ironblood standards, which often favoured more red than the woman was showing. On her left hand, she was calmly spinning a hammer big enough to be completely impractical as anything other than a sledgehammer, and on her right, a deep red sword that pulsed with dark energy

Whatever the sword was, or could do, gave me the chills. That energy felt strangely familiar in the worst possible way. The mysterious woman seemed to notice.

"It would make sense for you to be wary of this power. The last time the Royal Navy witnessed it, one of your members got put to rest and it almost penetrated your armor like butter. Though to be fair, Frau Bismarck's output far outclassed my own"

Without waiting for anyone's orders, Sheffield fired both her guns and her torpedo tubes. However, the bullets were intercepted by Eugen's rigging, and the mysterious woman slashed with her sword once again, making the torpedoes explode underwater a safe distance from both groups. Sheffield scoffed in frustration.

"And here I thought we would be able to share a few words without incident. Have it your way then…"

With those swords, she threw her massive hammer between them, the tool sparking a few arcs of electricity before sinking below them all.

"I've read the logs. Special Ops segment of the Royal Maids, Sheffield. Tell me, in all your espionage and assassination training, have you been taught about what happens when you apply electricity to salt water?"

Sheffield's face went white for a few seconds. If whatever threat the woman had made could make Sheffield of all people lose the colour in her face, then it was certainly a threat worth considering."Flooding this entire area with chlorine gas will bring you two down as well."

"Goes to show that I don't actually intend to do it unless pushed. Engines off and weapons down, if you would."

Forced by the circumstances to turn our engines off and put our guns down, huh? Not a thought I like in the slightest. However, whatever damage our pride may take here is incomparable to the damage the Azur Lane would suffer if they were to lose us three here. We reluctantly complied with the enemy demands, hearing them turn their engines off as well.

"Good, good." the woman sheathed her sword "In a show of good faith, I will answer three questions, whatever they may be."

I squinted my eyes in disbelief "What are you scheming? Nothing good ever comes from the Ironblood."

"The Ironblood can only offer discipline. Whatever we do, we will push forward."

"I won't be lectured on discipline by someone that gave into the sirens!"

"Your questions, if you will?"

Three questions. That is all we had. If this woman could be trusted, we could unveil the plot of the Ironblood. Wales wasn't in any shape to think clearly, so I had to…

"Who are you?"

"Sheffield!"

The woman nodded "A sensible question, given the circumstances. My name is Odin, experimental battlecruiser and appointed tactician of the Ironblood."

Tactician? The one calling the shots was Bismarck until we sunk her. The only other possible leader for the Ironblood was stuck in a Fjord in Norway. And we hardly knew anything about their current de facto leader.

"I see the confusion in your eyes, King George V. As willing as I would be to explain, I'm afraid it requires practical evidence I simply don't have on hand. In any event, second question."

"What are the current plans of the Ironblood?"

Odin smirked "I see you are going straight for the killing blow. Recovering from the disaster that has been this first part of the war, both against the Azur Lane, and against the sirens. I would find it hard to mention one girl in my ranks that hasn't lost a sister, multiple, or been sunk. Hipper left for the Northern Parliament to find the original Lützow after Blücher was sunk…" she turned her head slightly to face Wales "I am sure you would know the feeling. I've seen what happened here. The look in your face told me more than any amount of words could ever hope to."

I saw Wales go pale "H-How… how do you?"

"For the sake of fairness, I will not treat that as a question. Here." She reached for her face and took her fringe apart to show her right eye "Mimir's eye grants me the power to look everywhere I please, as long as I know where to look, and when to look."

"London, Buckingham Palace, second floor on room 201."

I deadpanned at Sheffield "What are you doing? That's Formidable's room."

"I know for a fact what Lady Formidable is doing right now, so this is the best way to confirm if what our enemy is saying holds any truth."

Odin chuckled "Awfully specific, but I shall humour you."

I could see some sort of weak light coming out of Odin's eye, for a few seconds, tense seconds until she spoke again

"She looks exactly like the Sardegna records. Formidable is on her bed, listening to… whatever that over-the-top looking vinil has on it. Oh…!"

"What?"

"Well… she certainly has earned her nickname. Her bed gave up…"

That mental image gave Sheffield a chuckle, and made me sigh in frustration. That was the third reinforced bed she had gone through, in a month…

"Let's leave that aside and let poor Formidable wallow in her misery. The last question. You both, Odin and Eugen know what took place here, why Wales is so on edge. Why are you here? It makes no sense, it brings nothing to the Ironblood, and certainly doesn't help you 'rebuild'."

This question seemed to hit closer to a nerve. Rather than her previous, instant responses, she took her time, probably considering what she should and should not say. Eventually, she just sighed.

"All I can disclose is that I was sent here on personal request of one of the members of the Ironblood. Our presence here is merely the wish of a certain someone, and the legacy of another."

"Legacy? Wish?"

"I'm afraid we will have to leave that for our next meeting. You have asked three questions already."

So they weren't here on a mission by Ironblood High Command. That didn't add up, why else would they be risking being sighted in Azur Lane waters? In these waters, the Ironblood had ONLY enemies. One radio transmission, and the waters would be swarmed with Eagle Union, Royal Navy and Northern Parliament ships. If I so much as felt like it, we could send them to the bottom of the ocean, even if it cost us our lives.

"If you would excuse us…"

"Are you going to run, again?"

Odin didn't look particularly concerned with those words, seeing as the one Wales was staring at in anger was Eugen and not her. Eugen looked at Wales, some of her usual bravado coming back to her, transforming her expression into a smile

"Running away? Why would I, when you are too scared to chase after us?"

"If that is the extent of your knowledge I seriously question the extent of your espionage skills." Odin sighed deeply "Eugen didn't run away and abandon Frau Bismarck. She was ordered to leave her to her fate, by Frau Bismarck herself, probably so she wouldn't be next."

It was hard to tell from here whose eyes widened more, Eugen's or Wales's. Eugen's soon turned to contained anger, discomfort even

"Oh, the Allfather stuck her nose where no one asked her too, didn't she?"

"Do not call me that. Our business here is finished."

"What guarantee do I have that you won't start commerce raiding the moment we turn our eyes away."

"The last capital ship that cruised these waters in a commerce raiding mission didn't end up going back home, did she? You also have those."

Odin pointed somewhere behind us. I didn't need to turn around to start hearing the sound of propellers. Some of our carriers must have sent reconnaissance planes after our radio silence. A pair of swordfish flew past us, with a 818 painted in their underwings. Ark's planes.

"If you still need some insurance, I have an idea." Odin undid the belt around her waist and tossed the very same sword she had used to slash the air with from inside the storm earlier. I almost didn't catch it in surprise. "I trust you, a member of the Royal Family, will know how to take proper care of a sword."

I pulled on the hilt slightly to reveal part of the blade. Shiny, perfectly polished and engraved metal. The sword seemed to be pulsing with energy, making my fingers tingly even through the thick leather gloves

"Consider it compensation for your own sabre. Until next time we meet, I ask you to take care of Angurvadal. Eugen, we are leaving."

Odin turned around, followed by Eugen, not without shooting Wales a mysterious smile. Odin extended her hand and as if in a fairy tale or a fantasy book, the hammer she had thrown into the water shot out like a geyser and reached her hand. I inadvertently let out a sigh of relief as I saw Odin turn around

"Ark Royal's planes will escort you into Vichiya waters!"

Odin simply waved her hand over her head without even turning around to face us, and turned her engines on, making her way to the horizon followed by Eugen and a squadron of Swordfishes. Only when they disappeared behind the waves did I realize that I had been holding my breath

"Well, that will certainly take a few years off of my service record. Sheffy, is the radar functional again?"

"Constant 0 degree bearing, and nothing on sonar, your Highness"

"Good, I am starving."

"Should it be necessary, we could fish and eat as is. I've had raw cod on my missions to the Arctic."

I grimaced in disgust "Looks like I will have to put something together when we get back to Scapa Flow."

"That…"

"No buts, Sheffy. We are all a bit on edge right now and you could use the break. Especially…"

I turned around. Wales was wincing at the horizon. Whether it was a show of distrust to the two Ironblood warships that had just left, or simply staring at nothing, I didn't know. What I could definitely see was that she looked even worse than she did when I told her the anomaly had been confirmed to be on these coordinates

"How are you holding up, Wales?"

She seemed to snap out of it, sheathing the sword she still had out

"I'll live through a conversation like that. Hood's… fate may have hit me harder than it did the rest of the Royal Navy, but that won't make break down at the sight of the enemy. That I swear on my name as Prince of Wales."

"Listen, if you want to take some time off the sea, go to Windsor…"

She shook her head "The palace..." she mumbled about something I didn't get to hear properly

I raised an eyebrow "Come again?"

"It's nothing." Her engine room started to rumble, a plume of smoke coming out of her smokestack "Scapa Flow is a long way from here."

Odin

It was the third time I reached for my hip in ten minutes, only to find Angurvadal wasn't there. The feeling was pretty uncomfortable to say the least. The sword had been there ever since I first came to be, alongside Mjolnir and Gungnir. Even then, I gave it away for a good reason. If that is what it took for the Royal Navy to trust me, even if it was momentarily, then so be it. I was certain a member of the Royal Family knows how to care for a sword.

"Aww, is the Allfather regretting giving away her sword?"

I sighed. I had heard from pretty much every member in the Ironblood fleet in Kiel that Eugen could be a bit overwhelming with her constant attempts at teasing and getting on your nerves. Yes, I had heard that even from her own sister, Hipper, right before I gave her permission to leave for Northern Parliament waters

"I believe I told you that I would prefer not to be called that. It gets on my nerves."

"I would also rather not have someone peek into my personal business, if you get what I mean."

Ah, there it was. A part of me felt a sting of guilt. Eugen had been through a lot ever since the war started. Lost Bismarck, lost Blücher, having Lützow sold to the Northern Parliament… even a secret appointment I and Friedrich had given her, to retrieve a Sakura artefact. Perhaps we should have been more considerate towards her, but with the Ironblood in the state that it was, and with the looming presence of the Azur Lane and the Sirens over the Northern Atlantic region, there wasn't much we could do, nor many people we could send.

And in the end, it was for both her sake, and the sake of the Ironblood

"I'll keep that in mind, for future reference."

"The Allfather has gifted us!"

I raised an eyebrow "Wait, no…"

Eugen smirked maliciously "But Allfather is the only title to describe your endless consideration and…"

The fleet had also mentioned it a few times, especially Hipper and the little submarine, U-556. Eugen could almost border insubordination at times with her small talk and snarky remarks. I had a small mountain of reports from members of the Sakura Empire complaining about her behaviour, and Thiele had confessed that Eugen had taken more sake than it should be reasonable for someone triple her body weight. Her inner machinations and doubts, I could understand, but I had to set some limits. I felt a tingle in the end of my fingers, and let go a little bit. Eugen's hair perked up everywhere, with her trying to put it back on its place. Small arcs of electricity jumped between me and the seawater, crackling loudly and illuminating our surroundings

"Ohhh, scary. I think I'll head out first, if the Allfather agrees to it. My electronics don't take kindly to your fireworks, and sailing without radar is a real bitch."

I stood silently over the waves as Eugen sped off to the distance. I looked at my rigging and took out my Dete 1. I don't particularly enjoy having to rely on these apparatus, but for the times that Mimir's eyes weren't an option, or I just didn't want to put strain on them, it was all I had. The radar fed on the electricity running through my hands while I checked the screen. A dot with constant bearing was approaching the maximum range, when it suddenly disappeared.

I sighed in relief. Inside my coat, a gentle buzz made me reach for it. An Ironblood radio, enhanced with Siren technology. But most importantly, given it's hefty power requirements, a radio only I could ever hope to use. I pressed a button on it and brought it to my ear

"You always seem to know the perfect moment to call, Friedrich."

On the other side of the line, it was a very over the top voice that answered

"The gift of timeliness isn't wasted on me, that much is for certain. Wouldn't you agree?"

I chuckled. Friedrich had her tendency to be unnecessarily dramatic and intense over the most menial of tasks, like in this case, making radio contact.

"As expected of the acting leader of the Ironblood."

"So, tell me."

"We had a run-in with members of the Royal Navy. Prince of Wales, King George V and Sheffield. George and Sheffield seemed to act according to the records, but Wales seemed to be going through a period of distress."

"Hmm." Friedrich hummed for a second, probably pondering what to say next "That child has suffered enough for a lifetime."

"You can't cleanse the world of suffering, Friedrich. Humans have the tendency to start wars over the most irrational of things."

"One step at a time, Odin." I wonder if her not calling me 'her child' had something to do with considering me her equal. In any event, I was glad. One nickname was already too many "A composer simply cannot write music when the staves aren't in place."

"We should one day sit down with some bier and talk about art." I mentioned idly. I always had experienced a certain attraction to painting.

"So be it, but we need this war to be over for that to happen. When you arrive at Kiel, I want you to go to the medical ward. Tirpitz may get something out of your encounter with the Royal Family, or so I hope. I also need you to brief our… guest, on the situation, should they wake up. Make sure our dear Panzerschiff isn't too harsh on her, she will have enough reasons to hate herself soon"

"Understood."

"And Odin…." Friedrich's voice suddenly got even more intense. She had probably moved a bit too close to the receiver "The last piece for our plan. Did you manage to find it?"

The last piece, huh. First it had been what little U-556 had managed to salvage. Then, Watatsumi, lent to Eugen by Akagi after giving them an insane amount of information about our fleet. And now…

I reached for my rigging. I had put it there to avoid any kind of possible damage being made, considering its already frail state. From a compartment below that of Mjolnir, I extracted a cloth bundle. Unwrapping it, there it was. A weak, almost flickering glow like that of a lightbulb nearing the end of its life.

"I have it right here with me."