I couldn't believe what I'd just seen. No sooner than I'd called out our target than the entire thing, a massive structure that was nearly the size of Wake Island, just up and displaced itself. And as that was happening, another part of the base, an equally massive installation, this one bristling with shore defense turrets, slid in to replace it. Outside, the volume of anti-aircraft fire slowed as the other ships saw it, too.

"It's a Labyrinth," I groaned. But as much as I wanted to just vent my frustrations, I knew we didn't have the time for that right now. "Alright, focus firepower on the structure ahead of us. Let's start chipping away at the boulder."

Hood and Veneto immediately opened fire, their shells blowing apart the monolithic shore batteries one by one. Littorio began to swing to port as her guns began to train on the defenses as well. Before I thought she had sufficiently presented enough of her broadside, all nine of her guns roared. Fire and smoke obscured the bridge, and I jumped about a foot and a half from the surprise. I looked over to find Littorio grinning at me, a viridian eyebrow cocked. "Surprised, Comandante?"

"Didn't realize your aft turret could traverse that far," I said as I attempted to get my heartbeat back to normal and analyze the damage we had done.

"Three hundred and twenty-degree firing arc," she proudly stated, her grin widening at my increasing surprise.

"Impressive!" I shouted over the roar of her next salvo, sparing a glance outside to watch the shells rip open a gun battery, hurling debris everywhere. "But I should have expected that from one as magnificent as you."

She laughed imperiously and, with a flourish of her cape, spun back around to look out at the destruction she wrought. "Come then, Comandante, let us show these Sirens the glory of Sardegna!"

Once more, Littorio's guns belched smoke and flame, hurling doom and devastation towards the Siren defenses. Hood and Veneto likewise added their own considerable firepower, and before long, the first defensive line had been reduced to nothing more than a blazing ruin, a funeral pyre of its own making.

"One down," I grimly assessed, "Set course for the airstrip and let's start putting a dent in these planes."

No sooner than Veneto and Hood began to change course, the airstrip began to slide away again, replaced by another damned defensive battery. I stared at it, the frustration bubbling up inside as I watched helplessly as our first objective escaped our grasp yet again.

"...Commander?" Veneto's voice crackled over the radio, the uncertain tone clear even through the static and gunfire.

"Same as before, take down the shore battery with concentrated salvos. I'm working on a solution in the meantime."

"Aye, sir."

I paused for a moment, thinking things over before thumbing the radio on again. "Black Prince, Hermione, ammo check."

"Seventy-eight percent."

"Seventy-five percent."

"Understood. Enterprise, how are you holding up?"

Enterprise's answer wasn't exactly strained, but it was clear she was putting a lot of effort into keeping the skies clear. "We're holding our own, sir, but we haven't seen any Siren-Xs yet. If they start showing up, things are going to start tipping in their direction."

"Copy that. Keep holding the skies for as long as you can."

"Roger."

I set the receiver down and stared at the holomap, zooming out until I had the full view of the base again. One by one, I began highlighting all of the defensive batteries and ran some quick math in my head. The conclusion I reached was less than comforting. "This isn't going to work."

Littorio whipped around to give me a look of disbelief. "What?"

"I just did the math and if we try and brute force our way through every defensive battery, we'll be completely out of ammunition before we even get to the last one. And then we still have to bomb the airfields and knock out the core. If we keep going at the problem like this, it won't work."

"So we take it on from a different angle."

"Working on it," I said, folding my arms across my chest as I stared at the map. "How do you pin down an island, though? Every time we get close it-" Suddenly, I remembered something Littorio said about the Labyrinth and it all clicked into place. I quickly reversed the holomap's recording of the battle thus far. "Please be this simple…"

"What are you talking about?" Littorio asked, suddenly very lost as she tried to piece together my sudden about-face.

As the battle reversed, I let out a whoop as the recording confirmed my theory, at least in part. "I think I've got it!"

"Then we'll be switching targets and changing course?"

"Nope!" I said with a broad smile.

Littorio's brows furrowed in equal parts frustration and confusion. "Perhaps you could explain why we're not switching targets."

"Not yet. I want to test this theory out first," I quickly added when I saw her consternation increase. "If what I think is going to happen does happen, then we'll make changes immediately."

She stared me down for another moment before she relented and nodded slowly. "Alright, Inigo. I trust you."

I smiled at her as I took her hand in mine. "Thank you. Now let's show them the glory and majesty of Sardegna, shall we?"

Her confident smile returned as she straightened up and blew me a playful kiss. "For you, Comandante, anything!"

The relentless bombardment of the island continued unabated, guns roaring and thundering around us, blossoms of fire and smoke dotting the target until it too was nothing more than a ruined hulk. As Littorio and the others prepared to change course, the airbase once again set in motion, just as I had expected. And just as I had hoped, it had moved in the same direction it had previously.

I let out an exultant whoop and clapped my hands together. "We've got 'em!" I cried out as I snatched up the radio receiver. "Change of plans. Vittorio, Hood, take the others and continue to chase down that airbase. Littorio and I are going to break off and try something different."

"Understood, Ammiraglio," Veneto responded. There was a brief pause before she spoke up again. "Do you plan on letting us know what you're doing?"

"Not on an open channel. Just going to have to trust me on this one."

"Very well. Be careful with her, Comandante."

"I will, I promise." I took a deep breath and glanced at the map, the sky filled with swarms of angry red dots. "Aquila, I need you to provide air cover for us."

"M-me?!" the carrier stammered frantically. "Are you sure?"

"You've got more fighters than the others, so you're the best one for the job, Aquila." I waited a moment, hoping she would find the self-confidence to follow me willingly.

"...alright. For you, my Commander!"

I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding in and nodded slowly. "Atta girl. Form up on us and set course zero five five." I looked over at Littorio, who was giving me a proud smile.

"You don't have to say it, Comandante," she grinned. "Course zero five five already plotted. Perhaps now you'd like to let me know what your plan is?"

I nodded eagerly and gestured down to the map, circling each of the destroyed shore batteries. "Remember what you and Veneto said about the Labyrinth? How the walls moved and the entire thing kept trying to pull you off-course with distractions?"

"Of course."

"I think that's what this Mirror Sea is doing with the airbase. It knows we're going to prioritize it, so it's going to keep moving it away from us, but keep it just close enough in reach so we'll keep chasing it. All the while whittling us down until we're out of ammo or too damaged to be of any use."

Understanding blossomed in Littorio's eyes as she nodded slowly. "All the while drawing us away from our real target. Clever little Sirens, but not clever enough for my Inigo."

My cheeks flushed, and I smiled over at her, but before I could reply, my words were stolen by the sudden flash of light and thunderous explosion just off the port bow. The first Siren-X had arrived.

"Damn," I swore, "Hoping they wouldn't have any more of those. Take evasive action!" I grabbed the radio. "Aquila!"

"On it! On it!" the girl replied and immediately I could see her fighters swarming over it, ignoring their own safety in order to take out the experimental craft before it could fire again. Soon enough, it winked out, and I could see out the bridge viewports as the Siren-X tumbled toward the sea, a pillar of smoke and fire trailing behind it.

"Nice job. But stay alert, I think it's onto us and it'll probably throw everything they have at us now."

"Aye aye!"

With a heavy sigh, I put the radio receiver down and looked down at the holomap. If Littorio maintained this speed and heading, and factoring in her evasive maneuvering, we'd reach the spot in five minutes. It would be a very long five minutes.

It was one of the most hellish scenes I've ever endured. The Mirror Sea was diverting wave after wave of fighters to us in a desperate attempt to stop us from reaching our destination. Littorio's AA batteries thundered and rumbled constantly, flashes of tracer fire filling the sky as fighters tumbled down, leaving columns of dark, black smoke in their wake. Above us, violet lightning flashed and crackled, casing everything a strange, otherworldly glow. A Siren-X would manage to evade one of Aquila's fighters long enough to make an attack run, a massive yellow beam of light spearing down towards us, followed by a thunderclap and a geyser of water that made both Littorio and myself tense up, waiting to see if we'd been hit. Fortunately, while we had a few close calls, and she'd need a new paint job, Littorio had thus far made it unscathed.

Two minutes out, the holomap issued a shrill warning as a squadron of mass-produced cruisers sortied from behind a defensive barrier, guns blazing. "Cruisers, port side, two five seven!" I cried out a warning to Littorio, who was already bringing her battleship's guns to bear. The heavy barrels swung around, stopped, shifted ever so slightly as Littorio made last-minute calculations, and then fired all at once. The entire ship shuddered violently as the sheer force of the guns pushed the ship sideways and obscured our vision with a thick black cloud of smoke.

As the smoke began to dissipate, I saw three fireballs bloom off in the distance and two of the cruisers winked off of the map with a third heeling out of formation, critically damaged. "Impressive!" I exclaimed, looking back over at Littorio.

"It was nothing, Comandante," she declared, casually flipping an errant lock of her hair aside. "How close are we to the target?"

"About one minute out."

"Good, just enough time to reload another salvo and end this-" The radio crackled to life and Veneto's panicked voice filled the bridge.

"Ammiraglio, Littorio, I think the Mirror Sea is onto you, everything just started moving, heading back to where you are! Whatever you're going to do, do it fast!" Littorio and I shared a panicked glance before we both looked at the holomap. Just as Veneto had said, the Mirror Sea seemed to be bringing all of its islands towards us, trying to block us from where we were headed.

"Will we make it in time?" Littorio asked.

I ran some quick calculations through the holotable and slowly nodded. "I think so." I looked up at her and gave her a tight smile. "Three hundred and twenty-degree firing arc, right?"

Littorio gave me a predatory grin and nodded, leaning over to impulsively kiss me. "Just give me a target and I'll take care of it, Tesoro Mio."

"As you wish." Right on cue, the Littorio's sensors picked up a massive power surge from dead ahead, what I had hoped to be the core of the Mirror Sea. I grabbed a pair of binoculars and rushed to the bridge window, hoping to get visual confirmation.

There, in the distance, barely above the horizon, was a strange structure, pulsing with an eerie blue glow. Whatever it was, it looked important and powerful, and at this point, we were rapidly running out of options. "Got a lock on it?"

"Locked on."

The holomap issued another shrill alarm, this time indicating a potential collision. I glanced to port to see one of the ruined defensive batteries, smoke still pouring from her ruined surface, the glowing embers giving it an even more ominous appearance. It was now or never. "Fire when ready!"

Littorio glanced over and saw the incoming landmass, snarling at it in defiance. "Trying to oppose me was your greatest mistake. Arrivederci!" Her guns roared one last time, and we could see the shells as they hurled through the air. My heart was in my throat, the ship beginning to list as we were caught in the bow wave of the island bearing down on us.

The shells arced downward and at least some found their target. There was a sudden flash, and then the blue light from the core erupted in a dazzling flash, blinding us as it detonated. A second later we felt the battleship rock from the shockwave, each of us working to keep the other upright. When the light began to fade and our eyes cleared, the storm clouds were gone, the sun was shining, and the seas were calm. We'd done it.

To say the mood was jubilant when we reached home would be an understatement. In a matter of days, we had assembled a force of kansen who had been previously at war, many of whom had fought against one another, turned them into a cohesive, effective fighting force, and come out on top against a technologically superior enemy on their own home turf. We were all elated, and I felt certain that this victory would cement our temporary alliance with Sardegna to a more permanent one. In fact, when Veneto summoned me within hours after returning to port, I thought it would be to formalize the agreement.

My first warning that something was wrong was the somber and sullen expression on the Eternal Flagship's face when I entered her office. She gave me a sympathetic look and gestured to the chair in front of her desk. "Thank you for coming on such short notice, Admiral Vian," she said, her tone one of resigned formality. "But I just finished discussing things with the Senate and I thought you would want to know right away."

I stood by the chair, but chose not to sit, instead, clasping my hands behind my back. "I get the feeling I'm not going to like what you're about to say…"

"You're not. The Senate, in their infinite wisdom," she spat bitterly, "has decided to continue to cancel the temporary alliance."

"What?!" I cried out as my heart dropped into my stomach. "There...there has to be something you can do. Just look at what we've accomplished in just a week! Give us months, or years of working together and we'll be so much farther ahead of where we would be on our own!"

Vittorio closed her eyes and sighed heavily, shaking her head sadly. "Trust me, Inigo, I tried. I made every possible argument, including the fact that you were there for us when the rest of the Crimson Axis was willing to leave us high and dry in this matter. They flatly refused, stating they didn't want to risk antagonizing the Iron Blood any further. They've allowed Warspite to stay until she's better, and then escort her to Gibraltar, of course, but per our current treaty, I'm afraid you'll all have to leave by tomorrow morning or risk being interned…"

While my first thought should have been the safety of the fleet, making sure everything was packed up and ready to go, that we wouldn't be leaving behind anything that could compromise security, I have to admit the first thing that came to my mind was my beautiful signorina. "Does...does Littorio know?" I managed to choke out.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," she said, gesturing towards the chair again. "Please, sit."

Finally, I complied, feeling numb as I slumped into the chair, my mind racing with concerns, doubts, fears. Was this the end of my command? Would the Sardegnians even let me stay if I resigned?

Veneto wasted no time in getting to the heart of the matter. "Allow me to be curt, Commander. If you had the power to crush your opposition, would you still choose the path of passive deterrence? Would you choose a fleet in being?"

While I had no idea how this anything to do with Littorio, I answered honestly. "Of course not. If I had the power to crush every Siren stronghold and Mirror Sea, I would have done so years ago."

"And if you do not?"

"Then...I would do what I'm doing now. Hitting the enemy where I can, when I can, mustering my forces and trying to forge alliances where possible."

Veneto managed a thin smile and nodded. "Sardegna must do the same, but where we are so hampered by our Senate, our military cannot bear that task alone, especially now, given the Senate's most recent decision. But we are more than simple military might. We are a culture, a people. We are defined by more than our ships, but our art, our history, our cuisine. I intend to see that prosper, one way or another. Sardegna's hope, faith, and love shall be felt all across the world's seas, with our fleet as its emissaries. And that is where you and Littorio come in, Comandante."

"Me and Littorio?" I repeated, still unsure where this was going, but feeling the stirring of hope in my heart once more.

"Yes," she nodded, a warm smile returning to her face. "As I said, Sardegna's kansen shall be the emissaries of her culture, her people. An outreach of sorts. And I can think of no better kansen who embodies the glory and strength of Sardegna better than my own dear sister. So, with your permission, I would like her to accompany you back home as Azur Lane's first Sardegnian emissary. An ambassador, if you will."

In the back of my head, I thought of all the holy hell this would raise with High Command, not to mention some of the Royal Navy, but those thoughts were quickly tossed aside in favor of the calling of my heart. "Yes!" I joyfully answered her. "I would love nothing more than to have Littorio accompany me as an example of Sardegna's glory and beauty."

Veneto's smile grew and she rose, gesturing to the door. "Your emissary awaits just outside, Inigo. I wish you both a safe trip home, and I expect to see you back here before too long."

I got to my feet as well and leaned over the desk to pull Veneto into a big hug. "Thank you, Vittorio," I whispered. "And I will."

As we broke, the now-flustered Veneto adjusted her uniform and tried to appear calm, but there was no hiding the blush on her cheeks. "I can see Littorio's well on her way to rubbing off on you," she dryly commented. "Take care of her."

"You have my word on that, Your Excellency." With that, I sharply saluted her, turned on my heel, and quickly exited the room.

And just as Veneto had said, Littorio was on the other side of the door, looking at me with an eager, anxious expression. I looked at her smiled, and nodded. My beautiful kansen let out a cry of joy and took me into her arms, and I wrapped mine around her in an embrace that neither of us ever wanted to end…

"The rest of the fleet is ready for us to get underway, Comandante," Littorio announced as I took one last look at Taranto. So many wonderful memories and emotions I was taking with me, but so much I had yet to see here. Next time, I promised myself. All I had to do was make sure there would be a next time.

"Very well," I answered as I turned to face her. "All ahead two-thirds, set course for home, and then meet me on the couch."

Littorio gave me a knowing grin and saluted smartly before she linked her arm in mine and escorted me to the little couch I'd come to adore. Beneath our feet, the ship began to shiver as her engines rumbled to life, taking us away from the place where we'd found love and to the next leg of what I hoped would be a long, long journey together.

As we got comfortable, Littorio peered at me, as if she were trying to scry the very depths of my soul. After a few moments, my curiosity got the better of me and I raised an eyebrow at her. "What is it?"

"There is something I simply cannot understand," she said. "I was convinced that nobody would be worthy of my love, yet here you are before my eyes, having captured my very heart... Tell me, Commander, how did you successfully win me over?"

I smiled back at her, shrugged, and answered, "Well, my beloved Littorio, there are simply two kinds of people…"

~Fin~

A/N-And thus ends Two Kinds of People. I hope you enjoyed our journey with Littorio and the Commander. The poll has closed and I'm delighted to announce the winner is...Mikasa! Of course, there will be the usual New Year's Anthology chapter before Mikasa's starts. Until next time, fair winds and following seas!