Chapter 1
F.N.A
"So do you know anything about him?" Enterprise asked Belfast, who was focused on running a comb through Enterprise's long, silvery hair. An order came down from high command that Azur Lane would receive a new admiral soon; as the representative of Azur Lane, Enterprise had to look her best for the new admiral. Although she, and Belfast, found it strange that the high command barely described him at all.
"I only know as much as you do, dear." Belfast replied, taking strands of silky locks between her fingers.
"You don't think he'll have a problem with us, do you?"
"I would hope not." She replied while brushing out knots and tangles. "If so, I do have the paperwork to show our vows are legal and that both Bel-chan and Enterprise-chan are our legal daughter. Backed by Her Majesty's word, so I doubt anyone would dare try to argue against us."
"That's reassuring to know." Enterprise said with a sigh.
"Are you not interested in meeting him?"
"I wouldn't say I'm not." She folded her arms while Belfast finished combing. "But something about this just doesn't feel right." She added as the other started work on adjusting Enterprise's clothes; she was representing all of Azur Lane after all, so looking her best was absolutely important. Belfast might be a loving wife and mother, but she was also a royal maid. It was a maid's duty to ensure their master was presentable at all times after all!
"Well, these things happen." Belfast said absentmindedly.
"I don't remember the last admiral." Enterprise admitted. "I know we had one, and I know everyone was madly in love with him, but I never really saw him."
"Hmmm." Belfast muttered to herself.
"In fact… I don't even remember him leaving?"
"Well, we've been through quite a lot and our focus changed to the children." Belfast answered.
"But you'd think we'd remember something like that." Enterprise said before sinking into her chair, to Belfast's displeasure. "Maybe I'm just overthinking it?"
"You are." Belfast said bluntly while taking a step back to admire her work. "You look presentable. Shall we go meet him?" She asked while clutching her hands together and smiling.
"Yes. Of course." Enterprise shook her head as she rose from the chair. Clearly she was just overthinking things. The increase in Siren attacks, along with being a good parent to both Enterprise-chan and Bel-chan, was likely taking its mental toll on her. Maybe with a new admiral in charge she could take some much needed rest, maybe even request a vacation?
"Now, the message we received said he would be arriving by noon, by the northeast docks." Belfast reminded Enterprise of the communications they had received while they left their home. "Of course that's all we were told. Not what he looks like, or even how he would arrive." She added as they leisurely strolled through the base, the hustle-and-bustle of the other ships going unnoticed by the two as they carried on their conversation. Word had quickly spread among the girls here and afar of the new admiral, and a few nations were planning on sending delegations to meet him. With all this attention, it seemed strange only Enterprise and Belfast knew when he would arrive and where. Enterprise-chan and Bel-chan couldn't make the meeting, as they still have class to attend with the other youngsters, but for Belfast and Enterprise this was perfectly fine by them. They shouldn't concern themselves with "adult" business after all.
"Do you think we should bring him anything?" Enterprise asked as the two made their way past market stalls being run by other ships. "Would it be rude of us to not get him anything?"
"While I appreciate your concern, dear, I think the Royal Navy's celebration should be more than enough for him. I'm sure he'll find himself at home surrounded by lovely women and girls." She said with a chuckle.
"Think he'll be a playboy?" Enterprise asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"Well if the stories I heard in the baths are true, most admirals seem to be that way." Belfast replied.
"As long as he doesn't try anything on you or the children…" She mumbled in response.
"Oh I don't think we need to worry about that. If our dear admiral has his sights set on our daughters then we'll just have to let high command know he was involved in an unfortunate accident involving an anchor being wrapped around his neck and being pulled into the murky depths." She answered with a very graphic and specific threat.
"Then we have nothing to worry about?" Enterprise asked while stopping in her tracks and turning to the other.
"Nothing to worry about at all, dear." Belfast smiled before pulling a pocket watch from her cleavage. "Well, we shouldn't dilly about. We're on time, but I'd rather us not be late." She returned the watch back to its resting place while Enterprise thought for a moment of asking why she had a pocket watch hidden away in her bosom? She decided it wasn't that important, and she could ask Belfast later. The two picked up their pace to arrive at the docks on time but were surprised to find no one there. Just a few warehouses and the sound of the sea, nothing else.
"I don't like this." Enterprise said as she observed her surroundings.
"Well we're on time." Belfast was also keeping her eye on the surroundings."Maybe he's late, dear?"
"I assume you are looking for me." Came a male voice, which nearly caused the two ships to jump out of their skins. They turned around at speeds most battleships wished their turrents could acheive and found two men standing behind them; the older of the two was bald with a gray goatee, and was wearing a casual grey clothing with a matching black trench coat. The man beside him was younger, with a mop of brown hair under a wide-brim brown hat. His clothing was a bit nicer, being a tan shirt and pants with a brown vest. A cigarette lay stuck at the side of his mouth, and his facial expression was that of intense bordem compared to the other who was grinning just a tad too much.
"That depends. Who are you?" Enterprise asked.
"My name is Dmitri." The older man spoke before pointing to the younger. "His name is Ricky. I assume you have received word of our arrival?"
"Arrival? Wait. You're the new admiral?" Enterprise asked. He certainly didn't look the part, dressed in dark clothing with an accompanying trench coat. He looked more like a Eastern European arms dealer.
"That would be me." Dmitri reached into his trench coat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Although I'm not an admiral."
"You certainly don't look the part." Belfast replied bluntly.
"And I suppose either of you are better in dressing the part of warships?" He asked while pulling a cigarette out of its carton. "Smoke?" He offered them one, and both politely refused. "I'll skip the formality. I'm here to win you the war. I do not wish to be called commander, or admiral, and Lord forbid "master"; you may just address me as Dmitri." He said while placing the carton of cigarettes back in his coat and pulling out a lighter. "If you want me to be your friend, I will be. All I ask is we get along, and you follow my command. Is that clear?" His question was marked by the snap of his silver lighter which ignited the tail end of the cigarette, releasing a small stream of smoke. This was a rather bold proposition for someone they just met, but the two didn't see a reason to say "no". This was their new admiral, after all, although he didn't look the part.
They stared at him blanky for a moment, watching as he blew a puff of smoke. "Yes?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow before it occured to him he still needed to do one last thing. "Ah! Yes, my papers!" He reached into an unseen pocket of his coat and pulled out his paperwork. Ricky did the same from his vest. "Feel free to look them over." Enterprise snatched the papers from their hands and read them over, finding that everything checked out. The stamps were correct, the signatures, and the photo-IDs. These all looked legit, although she still didn't feel confident about the paper, or the men, either.
"It checks out." She turned to Belfast. "He's the new admiral."
"Very well, admiral." Belfast bowed. "Pleased to meet you."
"Dmitri, please." He replied.
"Very well, Dmitri. Do you have any luggage that I might assist you with?"
"No. We came light." He shrugged.
"So… no change of clothes?" She asked.
"I brought my toothbrush." He smiled at her. "But we pack light. After all, we have a war to win. We're not here for a vacation."
"I see." Belfast folded her arms. "And might I ask you, who exactly is your friend?"
"Ricky." Dmitri told her. "He's my assistant and bodyguard."
"I see." Belfast replied again while sharing a look with Enterprise. There was an awkward silence between both parties, both staring at one another while the wind rustled some nearby leaf litter. All that was needed now was a tumbleweed.
"Well, would you like a tour of the base?" Enterprise asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"Yes. I would. Spare no details either." He smiled while nodding his head. "Come along Ricky." He ushered the other one, who did so without complaint or really any emotion besides bordem. The two followed Enterprise, and Belfast trailed behind them. She clearly didn't trust them, and no one would blame her either. The two lacked the formality, style of dress, and remotely anything "admirally" about them. And of course they seemingly appeared out of thin air, which while it crossed her mind didn't stay there for long as her ears picked up on the nearby gossip of other ships. Belfast may not have been a fan, but the other ships meeting them clearly seemed to be. The other ships were practically lining up to see the two men, and whispers were swirling about how "cool" and "mysterious" these two were. Beflast at least agreed with the "dangerous" look, although in her case it wasn't a compliment.
As the four made their way past the dorms, the two ships picked up on a familiar, and quite annoying, laugh.
"Ahahahaha!" The Fletcher-class destroyer Bache laughed while dramatically pointing at the two men. Physcially she's a short, blonde-haired girl who's sense of fashion could be at best described as "questionable", and not helping matters at all was her tendency to be rather blunt when it came to opinons, often bordering on rudeness. "This is our new admiral? He looks like a dirty old man! And what's with his trench coat? Is he trying to dress like an edge lord?" She laughed and pointed despite the other Fletcher-class ships trying to silence her. "This guy doesn't even look the part!" She turned to her peers, unaware that Dmitri had closed the gap between himself and her.
"He hasn't been here even an hour, and he's going to kill Bache." Belfast loudly sighed. "Are you not going to stop him?" She turned to Ricky, who returned a blank stare.
"I bet you that he's likely going to sneak into the…" Bache stopped speaking as she saw her peers slowly backing away. Turning around, the destroyer found herself face-to-face with Dmitri; or she would be if she wasn't so short. He towered over, his face stone cold, and his eyes were fiercely locked onto hers. "…baths." She finished her sentence. "H-Hi admiral." She gulped while Dmitri squatted to be eye-level with her.
"Tell me, why did you call me a 'dirty old man'?" He asked while his steely blue eyes never left hers for a moment.
"I… was making a joke." She gulped again. "C-Cause… you know… you're… um… old."
"A joke?" Dmitri raised a quizzical eyebrow. "I was under the impression jokes were supposed to be funny."
"T-They are."
"Tell me, what's your name?"
"F-Fletcher-class destroyer Bache… s-sir!" She quickly stood up straight and saluted Dmitri, hoping the gesture would allow her to see another day.
"Bache. I did not find that joke very funny; in fact it was rather hurtful. I know I am getting up there in years but thinking I'm a "dirty old man" hurts my feelings. Tell me, would you feel any good if I called your short? Or I said your clothes looked silly?"
"Ah… no… sir…"
"You shouldn't say mean things to other people, OK?" He gave her a surprisingly a warm smile as opposed to a threatening one.
"Y-You're right admiral. I'm sorry." She lowered her head in shame.
"I forgive you. Also, you can just call me Dmitri." He said while returning to his normal posture. "I have things I need to attend to, Bache, so just keep in mind what I said. OK?" He flashed a smile again before returning to the others; Belfast and Enterprise were shocked while Ricky still looked bored.
"I'm impressed." Enterprise said as they continued on their way, making sure that Bache wasn't in earshot. "I was expected a rather… different reaction to that."
"Well, what was I supposed to do?" He asked. "Hit her? Say mean things back to her? I'm her commander. I want her to respect me. If all I did was yell and scream and threaten to hurt people that would gain me shallow loyalty. People who would only follow me because they fear me; and be all the more likely to run away the moment they can. Having people be truly loyal, not out of fear or... other reasons, that is the challenge." He paused for a moment and reached into his coat pocket to pull out another cigarette. "But this isn't to say I should spoil those I command either. If they are spoiled, they don't know how to handle situations that are life threatening. They must be independent of me, but still never fear to come to me with problems."
"And is this what you plan for us?" Belfast chimed in.
"Yes." He replied bluntly.
"You may find that some of us aren't too eager to pledge our loyalty away." She replied.
"I would expect nothing less." Dmitri replied, knowing fully well that Belfast wasn't going to be on-board with his style of commanding.
"S-So… where would you like to go next?" Enterprise interrupted the two once again. The only other place was the baths, but for very obvious reasons that would be a no-go unless all the girls were gone. Before Enterprise, or Dmitri, could come up with an idea a new group of ships approached; it was Laffey, Ayanami, Javelin, and Z23; she went by her nickname "Nimi" more so than her real name.
"Ah! It's Enterprise and Belfast!" Javelin exclaimed while leading the charge. "And the new admiral is with them!" She added, coming to a halt right in front of Dmitri. "Eh? Are you the new admiral?"
"He doesn't smell like it." Laffey added, who somehow popped up right behind Dmitri with no one noticing. "He smells like smoke." She said with another sniff.
"There are two admirals, yes?" Ayanami mentioned.
"Ja. I didn't think we were getting two admirals." Nimi folded her arms and nodded her head.
"To answer all your questions, I'm the one that's been assigned here. Ricky is my assistant. And I smoke." He gently waved Laffey off. "And you may call me Dmitri. I prefer that over a title."
"That's very strange, yes?" Ayanami commented.
"Normally the admiral likes to be called, well, admiral." Javelin added.
"Or shikikan. Or commander." Nimi added.
"Laffey is sleepy." Laffey said, not adding anything to the conversation.
"While I don't know anything about your former commanders, I can ensure you that I'm not like them."
"We can tell with your sense of fashion." Belfast whispered to Enterprise.
"While I'm sure the c… ad… Dmitri would like to speak with you all separately he requested a tour of the base. We're about to finish up and then head to his office. You'll all have enough time to speak with him tomorrow." Enterprise step forward to pull Dmitri out of the conversation. The four destroyers bemoaned that they couldn't ask him more, but they understood and waved goodbye to the four as they parted ways. "You'll have to forgive everyone. They're excited to meet you." Enterprise explained as they were nearing his office.
"I can tell." He added while following her lead through the twisting hallways of the main building at base. They came to a stop in front of a rather ornately carved door, the office of the Azur Lane's admiral.
"And here is your office." Enterprise pulled out a key from her coat pocket and unlocked the door. She ushed them into the the lavished office, the centerprice being a lovely mahogany desk with an imposing bookshelf behind it. Both corners of the room had sofas and tables, while the bright red catpet tapered off to a door that lead to a private bathroom and bedroom.
"Fancy." Dmitri whistled while placing his hands on his hips. "What do you think Ricky?" He turned his attention to his assistant, still quiet and bored as always. Ricky nodded his head, a jesture which Enterprise and Belfast weren't sure how to interpret.
"Well." Enterprise cleared her throat. "We must be going now. Our daughters need us. If you have anything else you need, let me know. Our home is located here." She pulled out a map of the base from her coat and handed it to Dmitri; a red circle on the map showed where they lived. "Your room is right that way." She pointed to the private bathroom. "It's right through there."
"Linked right to the office, your former admiral must have been busy?"
"He was." Enterprise lied. "I'm very sorry for cutting our meeting so short, but I'm sure you two are tired. Tomorrow you are expecting a visit from Her Majesty as well as representatives from the Sakura Empire and Ironblood. I'm sure they'll have plenty of questions for the two of you." She paused as she stared at Ricky. "Or, at least Dmitri."
"Don't mind him. He's just shy." Dmitri patted Ricky's shoulder and grinned. "I thank you for your time and the tour. Until tomorrow then." He smiled and waved them off, gently closing the door behind them and waiting a moment before loudly sighing.
"They seemed nice, Boss." Ricky said as he folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe.
"Yes. Although I'm sure they don't exactly trust us." He began to rub his goatee, deep in thought.
"Something on your mind, Boss?" Ricky asked.
"What that one girl said." He replied with another sign. "My trench coat doesn't look bad, does it? I think it's quite fetching! And, you know, cool." Honestly how dare Bache, in her skimpy outfit that was quite demining, think his trench coat looks bad. It wasn't a cheap coat to get, or to modify, either. "Anyhow, I hope she learns her lesson."
"Shall I take care of her for you, Boss?" Ricky leaned over and pulled up his left pants leg, revealing a hidden bowie knife.
"No." Was Dmitri's blunt answer as Ricky drew the blade and spun it around. "I don't think resorting to violence will solve that issue."
"Suit yourself, Boss." He shrugged before returning the knife to its hidden sheath. While Ricky was putting his knife away Dmitri had taken a seat on one of the sofas and opened the map Enterprise gave him. As he adjusted it on the nearby table, Ricky slowly walked around the room looking over every nook and cranny.
"No, I don't think they bugged us." Dmitri said without taking his eyes off the map.
"You never know, Boss." Ricky said with a shrug while running a finger across the main desk. "Clean."
"I would expect nothing less. Now, what do you make of their defenses?" Dmitri asked, Ricky jumping over the back of the couch he was sitting on to examine the map.
"Piss-poor. Wankers never heard of defense. This place is a powder keg that has nothing for land, sea, air, or space. We even showed up and none of them at any point questioned where our ship or plane was. We could come in with a fucking marching band and they wouldn't notice." Dmitri lit himself a cigarette while he listed to the other. "What's more, no airfield available. No radar, no CCC, I've seen better fortified positions in the Congo. Hell, the Ugandans and Libyans had better fortified postions!"
"You're not impressed I'll take it." Dmitri remaked while pointing to a space on the map. "Think we can fit an airfield here?"
"Best guess Boss? Yes. But it won't hold much; maybe at best half-a-dozen Fullbacks and some Hinds if we're careful with spacing." He replied while stretching. "Of course we need places for the Pioneers, SAMs, ASMs, and our other stuff."
"And the problem there is if we bring it all over at once or in secret that only risks heightening tensions with the other countries and the Sirens." A puff of smoke left Dmitri's lips. "Well, I suppose I can work something out quickly. We have authority to bring in the Pioneers so that should be our first priority."
"I'm surprised the council would even care about that here." Ricky shrugged.
"Rules are rules." Dmitri told him.
"And what of the girls, Boss?" I'm sure none of them will be none too happy with your decision to fortify their base and bringing in what you want."
"I'm aware of that, Ricky." Dmitri paused, considering his options. "We're here to win a war. War is not a clean business. You know this as well as I. And you know why we're here."
"Eventually they'll find out, Boss." Ricky took up a seat on the other sofa, reclining back and propping his boots on the table. "And I'm sure they're not going to like it." He pulled his hat over his eyes.
"What are you doing?" Dmitri raised an eyebrow at Ricky.
"Napping, Boss. You heard her, we should rest." He folded his hands of his chest.
"It's four in the afternoon." Dmitri replied while glancing at a nearby clock.
"Midnight somewhere, Boss." Ricky spat his cigarette out on the table, to Dmitri's dismay.
"Don't litter and take your damn feet off the table. You're not a child." Dmitri smacked Ricky's legs from the table. "Enjoy your nap, you're going to be working late tonight."
"Boss." Ricky said with a snore.
While Dmitri and Ricky schemed, Belfast and Enterprise had just finished picking their daughters up from school. Bel-chan and Enterprise-chan bore a striking resemblance to their mothers, to the degree some might mistake them for shrunken versions of their mothers. They could easily get away with it to if it weren't for their childish mannerisms. Enterprise-chan was always up for adventure and showing her mothers what she could do, while Bel-chan was more cautious and constantly trying to convince Enterprise-chan that she did not need to climb up that one tree she already fell out of four times in a row. As usual, Enterprise-chan and Bel-chan were full of questions and stories they wanted to share, although their mothers were rather distracted from today's events.
"Mama, is something wrong?" Bel-chan asked Belfast, noticing her mind was wandering elsewhere.
"Hmm? Oh! I'm sorry sweetie; your mother and I were caught up in our thoughts. You might have heard that we have a new admiral and we just don't know what to think." Belfast replied.
"Yes." Enterprise chimed in, holding onto Enterprise-chan's hand. "We want to make sure everyone here is safe and that the new admiral does a good job." She gave a very vague answer to the two young girls, which they picked up on very fast.
"Do you not like him, Mama?" Enterprise-chan asked.
"No. No dear, I wouldn't say that. I just don't know him well enough yet." Enterprise explained to her daughter; which was to essentially say that yes, she didn't trust him.
"And what about you, mother?" Enterprise-chan turned her attention to Belfast.
"I agree with your mother." She said with a warm smile. "We don't know him well enough, sweetie. That's all." She and Enterprise shared a look and decided to change the subject quickly. The girls would eventually catch on, and the last thing the family needed was for unfounded rumors to start spreading around the base. After the talking to that Bache got, Enterprise and Belfast really didn't want to have that kind of meeting with him. Thankfully for them, Bel-chan and Enterprise-chan could easily be swayed with talk of sweets and soon the conversation turned from the new admiral to what baked goods Belfast could whip up that evening. They knew soon enough the questions would return and hoped by then they'd have a good answer by then.
Later that evening, when the girls were tucked into bed and Enterprise met up with a few of her friends who were more in the know about high command, the couple could finally relax.
"I don't like either of them." Belfast said as she sat on the side of the bed brushing her hair. "They're sketchy, likely scheming, and who wears a trench coat?" She asked aloud.
"I mean… I think the trench coat is kinda cool." Enterprise replied. "I agree with you though, they are certainly sketchy."
"What if they aren't actually supposed to be here?" Belfast stopped brushing her hair for a moment. "And what if we let two strangers in, and then showed them the inner-workings of our facility?"
"I don't think that's the case." Enterprise said, folding her arms. "I had their documents double-checked earlier today and they weren't forgeries."
"Then why did high command send us two men who are the least admiral-like men I have ever met?" She directed that question to no one in particular before tossing the brush aside and loudly sighing. "I don't want to be that person, Enterprise." In the meantime, Enterprise pulled her into a loving embrace.
"What kinda of person?" Enterprise kissed the top of her head.
"The kind of person who is cruel to those they're unfamiliar with, and expects them to bend over backwards to prove me wrong." She replied. "We have two lovely daughters; we've both accomplished so much together. We don't know anything about these two besides what little time we've spent with them and that our new admiral has declared he will win the war. What exactly is his plan? What experience does he even have?" She leaned back into Enterprise's embrace while shaking her head. "I don't want to be the 'bad guy', but I can't just follow them blindly either."
"And I think that's the right course of action." Enterprise rested her head on top of Belfasts. "Tell you what. How about we write down a list of questions and tomorrow morning we ask them before the delegations comes?"
"And what if he decides to not answer any of our questions?"
"Simple. I write a letter to high command voicing our complaints and strongly recommend he be relocated." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Well I was more thinking we tie an anchor to his neck and throw him into the sea." Belfast replied, to the bemusement of Enterprise.
"I guess there is always that option." Enterprise smiled
It was very unusual for Shinano to be awake for more than five minutes at any given time, even more unusual she would call a guest to meet with her in private; and that guest just so happened to be the rather lustful carrier Taihou.
"My! It's such an honor to be in your presence Shinano-sama!" Taihou bowed before the other, who was still in a drowsy state. "Whatever could I, the humble Taihou do for you?" Shinano was quiet, as if she was gathering her thoughts, before her eyes snapped open and she began to mumble something.
"The fate of this world… this time… is in danger." She softly spoke. "There is a new presence here. One who will bring about untold destruction... or maybe not? Tomorrow, you will accompany Nagato to the Azur Lane base and you will find the new admiral. Bring him to me."
"A new admiral?" Taihou licked her lips. "I will have him delivered to you, regardless if he likes it or not." She said with a dark grin.