Outbreak

by war4sure

The Sirens has been defeated, but London was surprised with a retrofit, which requires her to be placed in stasis. But during her stasis, a dangerously infectious virus capable of turning normal humans into a bloodthirsty killing machine sweeps across Great Britain. Awoken from her stasis twenty eight days later, she finds herself facing an enemy more terrifying than the Sirens

7. Bembridge Base

Remember my warnings about language and characters going out-of-character in the prologue? Well, here's why. Remember that all this is just for the story, not that I hate Saint Louis and Cleveland. Cleveland is a staple in my fleet when I'm grinding for Saint Louis and Seattle and would probably do so once Anchorage arrives. And Saint Louis is my go-to ship when there's a Light Armour boss that need to be trashed or when Hard Mode asked for a CA with high evasion. It just happened that both of them have personality ripe for O-o-C mode.

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Day 28

1438

Skies above London

It was a surreal moment for her. Over half an hour ago, she was chased by the Infected and was later discovered by NATO forces, who then proceeded to have her to run halfway across the city all the way to the Thames River, where along the way she had to defend herself not just against the Infected but also several shipgirls that had become Infected themselves. She had no idea that in the twenty-eight days in her stasis, a virus had caused so much death and destruction to her country and fellow shipgirls alike. As of now, she rested inside the helicopter as it flew away from city. Only the whirring noise of the blades outside were heard, which considering the hell she just escaped from, it sounded so calming to her nerves. She then looked out the window to see the city underneath her, everything appeared to be frozen in time.

"You're okay, Miss London?" She was startled by the question as she turned around to see the group of soldiers that was with her inside the helicopter. The first uninfected humans she actually encountered ever since she was out of stasis. While they all looked intimidating due to their protective equipment, they were friendly to her.

"I'm fine. Just trying to wrap my head over what that just happened. But where are we going to?" She replied. One of the soldiers answered her question.

"Miss, we're heading towards Bembridge. Currently it's the main base of operations for NATO Rage Containment Task Force under the commands of General Eleanor Gayle. You probably already had known him." London simply nodded; the General was instrumental in getting her out from the Infected clutches. But there were still a few things that she doesn't understand, and she asked the soldiers again.

"I just wanted to know, what really happened back there? I only heard the general told me about a virus. What was it and how come it ended up like this?" The soldiers were initially confused by her question and one of them responded.

"Miss, you sure you don't know what happened?" She shakes her head, and then explained why. "No, I was in stasis at the time as I was undergoing a retrofit. They told me it would only take three days, but when I woke up, I find the retrofit centre abandoned. Then I find out it was already twenty-eight days since I was in stasis. I couldn't get in touch with anyone, the phone and Internet are down so I had no choice but to venture outside. So, I went out and find the whole city trashed. Then I ran into these bloody Infected and ended up running halfway across the city before you guys found me."

Her explanation gets the "Uh huh" reaction from the soldiers. "So, you're saying you are in a state of coma for the past twenty-eight days?" London wanted to correct him for she was in stasis but decided to just go along with it. "Yes."

"Yeah, she really does have zero idea about the Rage Virus outbreak." One of the soldiers said. All of them agreed, and then another spoke up. "Guess we have to tell her what happened, anyone here have the most knowledge about this?" Another soldier raises his hand to volunteer. "Me." He then sat on the seat right in front of London and began to explain.

"Well, London. It started out nearly a month ago in Cambridge. Apparently, there's this research centre that has been experimenting with a virus and this virus somehow escaped the facility and begin to spread there." London listens to him as he slowly reveals the story of the virus outbreak to her.

"To prevent mass panic, the British Government covered up the events as a student protests, but from the start there were already something's off about it, because footages from those at Cambridge began circulating on the Internet. The government again tried to downplay it, even going as far as asking major social media websites to take down any videos or photos regarding it. Naturally, they sent the British Army to try and contain the Infected in Cambridge, but they failed, and next thing you know, the virus began to spread outside of Cambridge."

"What happens next?" London could already tell the outcome. The soldier continued. "One by one, towns and villages fell to the Infected despite efforts by the British Army and the Royal Air Force to stop them. They erected road blocks in major towns and cities to try slowing them down but it failed. Eventually, on the wee hours of the second day as the Infected creeps closer towards London, the decision was made by the British Government to call in Azur Lane's Royal Navy to help out."

"What!? But they should've known that shipgirls are not supposed to be deployed on land! They have tried it before, and it didn't work!" London yelled, she herself were shocked that the government knowingly deployed the shipgirls despite the knowledge that the shipgirls were almost powerless on land. This information surprised the soldiers, who thought the shipgirls doesn't know about it until the outbreak happened. "Wait, you actually know that shipgirls are useless on land before?"

"No, but actually, I remembered about two months earlier, several shipgirls of various types are brought to Larkhill for some firing test, they said they wanted to see how the shipgirls fare on land combat. They never told us what happened during the tests so I and the rest of us assumed our guns are less useful on land. I didn't expect recoil strong enough to send one flying backwards across the street or making aiming impossible." London explained, and the soldiers somehow agreed.

"Wait, Warspite said otherwise. They didn't tell anyone else about it?" London shakes her head, which makes the soldiers even more dumbfounded. "Damn! This shit's deeper than we thought, guess we really need someone to get inside Whitehall and grab whatever documents or files the Brits left behind so we can get to the bottom of this."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! You see how many Infected that were still active out there? It's already four weeks and as you can see, they can still run like batshit crazy! That's a goddamn suicide if you step foot in there right now! Replied one of the soldiers. London was again confused by the soldier's conversation. "Whitehall? What is going on actually?"

"Oh, we get to that eventually, but let's continue at where we stopped. Okay? So, the Royal Navy were deployed at Bullsmoor and Potters Bar alongside the British Army as they set up a defensive line there. That's when they found out what you just said."

"Then what happened?"

"The Royal Navy shipgirls were fast to adapt and started to use their anti-aircraft guns to fight the Infected. But given that the shipgirls are not trained for land combat or urban warfare to begin with, they have some difficulty in mobility as they kept forgetting that they were on land and not on water, and some of them have rigging that was too big to fit in some areas. Yet they alongside the Army managed to hold Bullsmoor for almost two hours."

"If they managed to hold the town for two hours despite the odds, then how did they fail?" London asked again. The soldier takes a breath before continuing. "The Infected initially attacked in waves, so at first it was easy to defend against them, but they began to slowly came in numbers with each wave. With each successive attacks the defenders found themselves slowly worn down as the Infected kept attacking with increasing numbers and that they almost getting closer to breach the defence lines."

London can only feel that all that build-up will lead to an inevitable outcome, and it was confirmed when the soldier continued. "Then, at 0942, another wave attacked Bullsmoor. This one's bigger than the previous one and the defenders at the time was in the middle of a resupply and as such some of them weren't fully stocked up when the attack begins. However, they were so focused on defending against the Infected coming from the north that they failed to noticed that the lines east and west of them were overrun, and as such they were surprised when the Infected attacked them from east and west as well. In that confusion, the Infected managed to infect one of the shipgirls, and that's where the real hell breaks loose."

London could only gasp at the soldier's revelation, but she knows the worse is yet to come. The soldier continued. "That one Infected shipgirl began to attack her fellow shipgirls, which not just caught them by surprise but also shocked them as they were attacked by one of their own, and the Infected took advantage of the situation and started to infect the shipgirls as well. Fortunately, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Tank Regiment put a stop to them, but the damage was done. Six shipgirls were killed or Infected."

She felt like time had stopped for a while, that her faction already took casualties on their first day of engagement against the Infected. But this was still the beginning, and it was only Day Two. Currently it was twenty-eight days into the outbreak, which means there are still worse to be revealed. "So, what happened after that?" She asked.

"After Bullsmoor, all Royal Navy shipgirls were pulled from frontline combat, although the carriers continued to provide support, bombing the Infected and strafing them with the fighters while the rest helped with logistics or buffing up the city centre, but the British were losing grounds to the Infected as they made their way deeper into London, increasing their numbers in the process. The British Government began asking for international help, and of course good old US of A had to respond."

He stops for a while to take a breath, and continued. "By noon the next day, units from USAREUR-AF were flown into Great Britain. Of course, since they had the Royal Navy on the ground, they decided to ask if they could get the Eagle Union to assist them as well. Since this wasn't about the Siren, so they need the Congress to approve their deployment. And so, they debated and, in the end, they did and forty-two Eagle Union shipgirls were deployed to Great Britain because they were told that the Royal Navy needed more assistance from fellow Azur Lane factions to help them beat the Infected back."

"Wait, so America simply sends over their shipgirls to Great Britain just because my government said they need more shipgirls?" London was shocked at hearing such news, as she expects the Americans to be more careful. The soldier shakes his head. "No, London. It's because they were told by the British Government that the Royal Navy managed to hold the line for three hours before they were forced to retreat, and that if they had more shipgirls they could've turned the tides, destroy the Infected and put an end to the Rage Virus. They weren't told about the losses. And that's also how they managed to convince French, German, and Italian government to send theirs as well."

Simply hearing that the other Azur Lane factions were brought in through lies made by her government, London's blood ran cold. She knew that this wouldn't end well. Then he continued. "In the meantime, both the British Army and the Royal Navy were pushed back further into the city. The Royal Family were evacuated first before everyone else do, because that's what they did naturally." London can only sigh at it. From all she knew about them, that they were basically above everyone else in Britain despite doing absolutely nothing other than being a symbol. Then she returned back to the topic. "So, what happened after they were pushed back?" She asked.

"On the fifth day, NATO formed the Rage Containment Task Force, whose goal was to contain the Infected and with the Rage Virus from spreading all over Great Britain. 5000 troops from Germany, France, Spain, Belgium and Netherlands were sent to Great Britain to help the British Army. But at the time, anything north of A406 is pretty much Infected territory. They were just kept getting pushed every day. But the real shitstorm starts the next day."

"What happened on the next day?"

"Basically, with the much-needed reinforcements coming from NATO, the British Army thought they could try an offensive to retake back the areas lost to the Infected, so they started to mass their forces at Cricklewood and hold the line from Harlesden all the way to Tottenham. And they decided to bring the shipgirls back to the frontlines, of course this time everyone's packing anti-aircraft guns so they can attack the Infected without issues. Their plan was simple, hold the line until NATO and the rest of Azur Lane were ready and then launch the offensive. Unfortunately, it didn't happen."

London was silent for the moment. She knew just from how the Infected acts and how the British Army, even with help from her faction, still couldn't hold against them for hours if not an entire day. And such she spoke first. "Let me guess, they were overrun before anyone was ready, was it?" The soldiers nodded.

"The situation was similar to Bullsmoor, the Infected initially came in small, easily defeated waves. This time around they had the logistics figured out so they were able to last longer, and now they ensure the flanks were reinforced hoping no more surprise attacks from another direction. At the same time, NATO and the rest of Azur Lane present was setting up a defensive line in case things go wrong, so the whole strike force was held up at Regent's Park. But then, on the early morning hours the next day, a large number of Infected descended upon them. We're talking not hundreds or thousands anymore. We're talking the whole population of London north of A406 and the towns and villages before it coming right at them, in the hundred thousand maybe. They were basically overrun."

She was horrified. With that much Infected, no defence could hold without proper fortifications, and certainly given the time constraints mere sandbags, barbed wires and barricades were insufficient. "What happened to the Royal Navy?" She was met with silence. Then another soldier speaks.

"They were hit hard. Their commander deployed basically everyone he could spare. They're already lost six shipgirls at Bullsmoor, at Cricklewood alone, they've lost twenty. I was told that after the breach, half of them is either dead or Infected." London felt like the world just folded on her. Half the Royal Navy, gone. Either dead or as she had experienced earlier, Infected. "Excuse me, I need time for myself."

She kept to herself for a while, as she tried to process the information she had just learned. Much as she wanted to, she tried to held herself from crying, despite tears already flowing down from her eyes. Like crying would magically revive the dead, or brought the Infected back to normal. She already met two Royals that had met that fate, one helped her during her retrofit, the other was a well-respected veteran battleship. But at least Curlew already died while Duke of York was left to roam the streets for three weeks before Death finally invites her. But the appearance of shipgirls of other factions brought another question. "The other factions, how did they also fell victim?" She asked.

"Remember when I said your government didn't tell the other countries about what actually happened? They did the same to the Royal Navy as well. The British government, specifically the Ministry of Defence or even more specific, the Navy Command, neglected to inform commander Simonds that they had brought in help from the other Azur Lane factions, without asking him first." London was confused at why would they need to inform him about the other factions, which prompted another soldier to fill in the blanks.

"Think, London. The Royal Navy, despite losing to the Infected, they fought them alongside the Army for almost a week, so if there's anyone in the Azur Lane that has the most knowledge about the Infected, it's them." She asked again. "Then did the MoD informed them about the Infected?"

"Yes, they did. But again, they didn't tell anything about the Royal Navy were actually losing or the limitations of a shipgirl on land. When Harland and the Royal Navy founds out about this literally while they were under attack at Cricklewood, they went ballistic at the MoD for bringing them in despite knowing how bad the situation was."

"Couldn't my commander simply contact the others and informed them?" The soldier shakes his head. "Trust me London, we asked the surviving Royals why they didn't contact the others immediately, they said they couldn't reach anyone on their comms. Said it's like someone purposely tried to keep them silent. So, Harland had to reach them through the British Army, who then relayed the information to the other commanders. He also sent what's left of the Royal Navy to get to the others and warn them."

The poor, unprofessional handling of the shipgirls by the Ministry of Defence clearly irritates her. Lying to the other governments just so they deploy their shipgirls to help yet refusing to disclose what really happened, let alone informing her faction of what's going on. London felt as her government didn't think of the plan through enough and decided to continue digging themselves deeper into a problem that they created themselves. At least she knew the Royal Navy took matters to their own hands and tried to save the others. "So, did they succeed?" She asked.

"Well, the reactions mixed. Some shipgirls immediately retreat as soon as they received the news, some didn't believe it at first only to find out the truth only minutes later, but for most it came too late. But considering the number of casualties the Azur Lane suffered right now, I say the Royal Navy was successful. There were still casualties unfortunately, but considering the alternative this one's a bit more acceptable."

London was relieved to know that the death toll wasn't too outrageous. She was sad that there were casualties outside of the Royal Navy, but they managed to mitigate the situation from going out of hand. "So, what happened afterwards?"

"All Azur Lane shipgirls within London were ordered to leave the city using whatever methods they could. Most went for the Thames, which is why Gayle ordered you to go there as well. But there were a few that were trapped in the city due to the confusion but fortunately most managed to escape the next day. The Infected shipgirls you encountered earlier are mostly either infected on Day 7 or Day 8."

"Oh." She responded. The soldier continued. "After the breach, it became clear that containing the Infected is no longer possible. The Prime Minister declared a nationwide emergency while the mayor ordered Londoners to evacuate. NATO stayed in London for another two days trying to buy time before they were forced to leave. Evacuation of England was ordered the next day, and on Day 10 Wales were also ordered to evacuate. It was chaotic, everyone wanted to get out. Anything that could float or fly and at least capable of carrying more than two people is fair game. All these refugees began to flood Europe and soon several countries had to stop accepting them. The soldier paused to breath, and then continued.

"Eventually, when the Infected reaches Scotland, WHO ordered Great Britain to be quarantined. NATO and Azur Lane had to argue with them so that evacuation of Scotland could continue, and they did. So, we continued to evacuate Scotland until Day 24 when the last two towns in northern Scotland were evacuated. After that was a full-scale lockdown. No one goes in or out without our permission. Anyone that tried receives only one warning, if they didn't comply then we will destroy them."

"Is that so…" London slumped back on the seat and looked outside the window, staring at the lifeless city below. Technically, the Infected was alive, but London refused to accept them as a living being.

[BGM: John Murphy – Leaving England]

She watched as the urban landscape of her namesake city slowly transitions into the countryside. As the helicopter flew over a motorway, she could see that both lanes were completely jammed with vehicles trying to head south. Remembering what the soldiers told her, as well as her own experience, she couldn't imagine how the civilians fared against them. Even well-equipped soldiers and heavily armed shipgirls failed to stop them, let alone civilians that is either completely unarmed or wielding whatever items that could be used to defend themselves. As they flew over the railway lines, all she sees is either derailed trains, a train that collided with another train, or simply a long line of trains near the stations or on the mainline waiting for a departure that never came.

As they enter the countryside proper, she could see that even villages and towns weren't spared from the Infected's wrath either. They were all devoid of life altogether, some had roadblocks placed to prevent them from entering yet it failed. Some farmhouses were burnt down. Then again, with the fire brigade paralyzed from the outbreak, there's no one to control the fires. After a while, she could finally see the coastline as the helicopter flew out of Great Britain. As they flew over Hayling Island however, London was surprised to see uninfected people still living there.

"Wait, is that Hayling? I see vehicles moving around, there's still people there?" She asked, prompting a soldier to answer.

"Yeah. Hayling, alongside Portsea Island next door were spared because we blew up all the bridges leading into them. They had to be resupplied through sea though, that's what Bembridge are for. Supplies are brought in there and then shipped to them through Ryde."

"Oh." She responded, yet despite not being asked the soldier continued.

"Same goes to Wales, their government retreated to Anglesey and blew up the two bridges connecting them. So, Wales still exists. Technically there are still uninfected people in Great Britain. To reduce the refugee pressure in Europe, NATO constructed quarantine camps all over Great Britain. They're all heavily guarded. We're talking 30-metre-tall walls, electrified fences on the outside, snipers and landmines in between them. And helicopter and armed drones patrolled the perimeter. We tried moving as much refugee into them so they don't have to go to Europe, and any survivors we found after evacuation was concluded were brought there as well. You're a shipgirl, that's why we're bringing you to Bembridge instead"

London felt relieved after hearing the explanation. Turns out all is not lost for her fellow countrymen as there were areas within the mainland that were free from the Infected. As they flew across The Solent, she spotted two Atlanta-class light cruisers sailing alongside a more modern warship belonging to the Dutch as the flag suggested. "Eagle Union warships sailing alongside NATO warship?"

"Oh, that? They're on patrol right now. It's just one of the ways we tried to get along with each other. Also, to build some communication because you girls are working with us now, and NATO pretty much forced everyone to use their communication network after the fiasco in London so they can coordinate better with us."

To demonstrate, the soldier asked the pilot to contact the frigate. "Hey Bill! Can you get that Dutchie on the line? Wanna show her how we run business."

"Hold on." The pilot begins to contact the frigate. "This is Big Bird to Tromp, how copy?" Seconds later a response was heard. The heavily Dutch-accented voice came through. "Big Bird, this is Tromp. We heard you. How copy? Over."

"Solid copy Tromp. We're carrying the VIP from London. Just wanted to demonstrate our communication network to her. Copy?"

"Copy that Big Bird. Been listening to the whole chatter. Shit was intense. Those two Eagles with us are basically on the edge the whole time. Say, want to let her speak to them?" The pilot then asked London if she wants to speak to the Atlanta's. "Hey, you wanna speak to 'em?" She nodded. He then gave her the channel frequency allowing her to join in. She then spoke through her communication device.

"Hello? Who is this?" She was met with an ecstatic joy. "London? Is that you? It's me, Atlanta!"

"Atlanta? Then who's the other…" She didn't get to finish as the other shipgirl announced herself in. "IT'S ME, SAN DIEGO! THE ONE AND ONLY NUMBER ONE!" Which earned her a tirade from a nearby unit. "Oh Jesus! Sandy! Would you please stop yelling into the goddamned mic every time!? My ears hurting!" London was glad that all the things that has happened didn't dampened her spirit. Atlanta then asked her a question.

"London, I'm been following your whole escapade since the beginning. How did you survive?"

"Long story Atlanta. Too long to be told here. I will tell you when we meet in person. Are you finishing your patrol?"

"Oh no, no. we just started our patrol. Each patrol are always two to three hours long and we have to sail up and down until the shift is done and another patrol took over. You got it?"

"Yeah, got it Atlanta. Nice to know you're alive."

"You too, London. You don't know how horrifying for us back then. We lost a few brave Eagles there." London noticed a change of tone in her voice. "What's wrong, Atlanta? You sounded sad."

"Oh, nothing! I assure you, nothing!" London wasn't convinced with her response but before she could question her, one of the soldiers reminded her.

"London, we're about to arrive in Bembridge. You can continue your conversation later."

"Oh, okay." She then returned to Atlanta. "I'm about to reach Bembridge, so I have to go off. We continue our conversation later tonight, okay?"

"Understood London." She replied.

"DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME, SAN DIEGO!"

"Sandy!"

As London went off air, Atlanta could only sigh. She should've been truthful about it; she does have a loss. The Eagle Union dispatched forty-two shipgirls to Great Britain when words came that the Royal Navy needs urgent help fighting off an unknown enemy. They ended up losing fourteen shipgirls to the Infected. And San Juan was among the fourteen Eagles that met her end in the streets of London.

As the helicopter approaches Bembridge, London was amazed by the size of the base itself. The former village, alongside St Helens, Hilway and the airfield was taken over by NATO and had been expanded to cater their needs as well as Azur Lane. She was told that for the time being, both them and NATO fleet had to share docking space at St Helens while military engineers worked to build docks and other facilities needed to maintain their fleet. Even then, the small space means only destroyers could fit in while the rest had to be docked offshore. While both sides tried to make use of existing structures, sometimes a new building were needed. Fortunately, modern construction methods and materials means erecting a new five-storey dorm were a breeze.

But what catches her attention was the airbase. The former Bembridge airfield were once a general aviation airport used mostly by light aviation enthusiasts prior to its abandonment alongside the nearby villages in 2007 following repeated Siren attacks. Upon it's acquirement by NATO seventeen years later, engineers had repaired and extended the runway, as well as constructing two more runways and a new control tower and hangars. As the helicopter hovers over the landing zone, she could see several tents that were erected just next to it. "What are those tents for?"

"Oh? That tent? That's decontamination station. All personnel returning from any ground operation in the Quarantine Zone had to undergo decon before they can go anywhere here. That means all of us had to go through it. And since you're the one that is on the ground the whole time, they might gonna have to bath you." London can already feel the déjà vu for she again had be stripped of her clothes surrounded by people, this time with literal strangers.

"Relax, girl. We got this sorted out, that's why we'll be undergoing decon on that tent over there. You'll be in that one, and it's staffed with female personnel so don't be shy." The soldiers tried to assure her, much like Perseus did when she's about to be retrofitted.

"O-okay…" The helicopter began to descend until it finally touches the ground. Then the rear door opens and they were greeted with personnel clad in HAZMAT suits. The soldiers went to the tent next to it while one of the personnel meets London. "Miss London? Come with me." The female soldier gestured London to follow her. She followed her into the tent, where she was met several more similarly equipped personnel. She doesn't even need to guess what question she's about to be asked next. "Would you take off all your clothing please?"

"Oh no, not again!" She screamed mentally as she began to undo her clothing.

---

Also, in the same timeframe

Joint NATO - Azur Lane Base Bembridge

Reinald and Jean Bart continued to watch as the impromptu beer debate finally concludes with the Germans coming out victorious.

"German beer is the best in the world!" Yelled out one of the German officers, which was responded with the others saying "Yes!" Both Winfried and Prinz Heinrich walked out with a smug face while the Americans had to accept their defeat.

"Oh, I swear the next time we debating this shit, I'm gonna bring a 100% pure American brewed beer that tastes so good, it felt like God himself brewed it!"

"Okay, we're looked forward to see that…dishwasher discharge water of yours!"

As the debate died down, Griggs and Enterprise went back to the other shipgirls and commanders, their faces were exactly what one would expect from the losing side.

"Damn! Didn't expect the scuffle to go that far." Muttered Griggs.

"Well commander, you started it first." Said Enterprise.

"No, he did!" Griggs replied as he points his finger at Winfried. "All I did was saying I wanna give that poor cruiser a beer and suddenly he start talking smack about beers."

"It's true. Your beer is shit!" Before another beer argument erupted, Jean Bart finally intervened by reminding them of their current situation.

"You guys done arguing about beer already? I think we have a much bigger problem right now." She spoke.

"What problems?" Asked Prinz Heinrich, and Reinald speaks up.

"Remember what happened after everyone got out of London after the breach? Basically, everyone's pissed at the Royal Navy for failing to inform us what exactly happened, the reason why they didn't get beaten to death on the spot was because they were decent enough to come clean to us right before the Infected came crashing through." His response was met with groans from Enterprise, Winfried, and Griggs, who then replied.

"Oh now, this problem AGAIN!? Don't by now we all agree that it wasn't their fault but rather their government's fault for lying their asses just to get us here only to find out the whole thing went ugly." Griggs said, and then he continued. "I know, we Eagles all are pissed at them at first but after listening to what they had to say, it is clear as day that they were innocent. I mean, even the Iron Blood are chill with them right now." Winfried only his head nodded in agreement with Grigg's statement.

"I know Griggs, but there were a few ships of mine that won't change their mindset despite how many times I talked to her."

"Who, Reinald?" Asked Enterprise. Jean Bart then spoke up, revealing who that shipgirl is. "Saint Louis. If there's anyone in the base that is staunchly anti-Royal right now, it's her."

"But why? She's always a good girl." Said Henrich, and Jean again asked her. "Heinrich, you're together with her in the helicopter after she was rescued right?"

"Yes, she was. Alongside Wichita and Z23."

"Do you remember what she said while all of you are inside that helicopter?"

"Well, she said something about letting two shipgirls die on her and all of it were for trying to get someone out of Kilburn…" then she gets it. "Oh shit, if what she said is correct and London was from Kilburn, then…"

"Yep, if she finds out London was that someone they tried to save in Kilburn, no doubt she will try and strangle her on the spot. Trust me, both Reinald and I talked to her many times about this, and she ain't budging. And then she tried to spread her toxic believes to everyone else, there's a reason why I had to separate Richelieu from her." Said Reinald.

"Why Richelieu?" Griggs asked.

"After the loss of Jeanne, Forbin and Le Triomphant, my sister went into a depression. Double guess on who's using that to her advantage so she can start spreading her lies. That's why my commander relieved her as the flag ship, and reassigned her back to Lorient so she can clear her head." Jean replied to his question.

"Anyone else in the Iris that also anti-Royal?" Asked Winfried.

"No. I think it's just her. At first, she does have some following like Bearn, Arizona, and Gneisenau. But even they eventually wise up and saw through her lies."

"Man, it's sad to see someone like her ended becoming like that." Said Griggs. Reinald are fast to reply.

"Well, that's PTSD to you. None of us expects shipgirls to also suffer that like us humans do, but now we know."

"I know, Reinald. Some of my girls were also suffering from that. Wish we can just get to bottom of this Royal Navy fiasco first so everyone can get along together again."

"Well, we would like to, but as you can see, we still can't." Everyone turned their heads towards the voice. General Gayle returned to the commanders and shipgirls. "We too, also tried to investigate this problem. As you all know, Azur Lane's Royal Navy are currently under direct commands of NATO because when London was overrun, many failed to evacuate, among them was the Ministry of Defence. Since your Royal Navy is under our control, then it was our responsibility to look into this matter." He explained.

"So, what's holding you back?"

"We planned to send a ground team into Whitehall this week. But as you can see from the operation to rescue London, the Infected are still active. Still too dangerous for that. Guess we had to wait another two to three weeks before we can send them in." He explained.

"Yeah, I agree with him. Four weeks on and they can still sprint like that."

"One question general, how long would the Royal Navy will stay under NATO?" Asked Winfried.

"Until a new British government could be formed, at least until they could find someone to replace Harland because the existing chain of command was destroyed during the outbreak." He replied. Everyone could only give a sigh. It's already four weeks since the outbreak and as the general said, the British government are still in shambles. They were still trying to re-establish the government, but given most of them either died or infected during the outbreak due to the speed of the Infected preventing a timely evacuation, existing contingency plans couldn't be used and as such they begin to look for suitable replacements among the surviving members of the government that managed to escape.

"Hopefully they could figure something out. Right now, the Royal Navy only had King George V and Queen Elizabeth to keep themselves together, and that's just on fleet level." Said Reinald.

"Yeah, hopefully. At least they still had their Prime Minister, and the Royal Family is safe. The Welsh Government and Northern Ireland survived too so maybe they can start figuring something out." Just as Gayle said that, they were interrupted by Lara.

"Sir? She's here. Currently she's undergoing decontamination, should be out in half an hour." The general then faces the commanders and shipgirls.

"Well, shall we go and meet her?" He asked.

---

1532

The sun had finally come out after several hours of rain. London finally came out of the decontamination tent after half an hour of decontamination process. Due to her clothes having to be washed, she ended up wearing a track suit and a plain white shirt given to her by the personnel in the tent. Despite some discomfort, at least she is now safe, surrounded by actual people and not those dreaded Infected. She simply sat outside, letting herself basked under the sunlight as she tries to get comfortable with her new reality.

Her country gone.

Half her faction is gone.

She hoped that at least there was another Royal in the base that she could meet. Then she heard a familiar voice calling out to her.

"OI! London! Over here!" She looked up to see Prinz Heinrich coming towards her. Not just her but also the other secretary shipgirls, their commanders and a man wearing a military uniform in which London guessed were General Gayle.

"London, you're one lucky girl! Good to see you here." Said Griggs.

"Thanks commander Griggs." She then turned her attention to the man in the military uniform next to him. "You must be General Gayle, right?"

The man simply nodded. "That's right madam. General Eleanor Gayle, US Army. Currently in charge of NATO Rage Containment Task Force. Nice to meet you London." He extended his hand to her, which she then shakes it.

"Thanks for saving me General." She then turned to the commanders. "What's with that face?" She asked as both Reinald and Winfried tried to contain their excitement.

"London, you have no idea how much your survival means to us, did you? You're the best piece of good news we had after the evacuation of Plymouth." Said Reinald.

"Huh? You're saying after Plymouth, there's nothing good afterwards?"

"It is that bad. We tried to evacuate as many as we could, but in the end, only nine percent of the total population of Great Britain were evacuated. The rest is done for." London mentally calculated how much the numbers were, and her face gloomed. Griggs noticed this and chided Winfried for this.

"C'mon man! We just pulled her out from some bad shit and you just faceplanted her back into it. You ran out of good shit to share or something?"

"Sorry, got carried away because we kept getting bad news." Prinz Heinrich tried to comfort her.

"Sorry about my commander, but don't worry! You're safe now. How about we get you something to eat? You've been running non-stop there, you must be hungry." As on cue, London's stomach growled, causing her to blush from the embarrassment.

"Y-yes, I would like to. I only had a box of breakfast cereal when I got out of stasis and I didn't expect having to run halfway across the city not long after that."

"Oh, you poor thing. Come on, let's go." Said Jean Bart. London stood up and followed the three secretary ships as they head over to the mess hall. As they leave, Enterprise noticed that none of the commanders followed.

"Commander, you're not following?" She asked.

"No, I'll come later. We had something to be discussed with the General. Y'all go ahead first."

"Okay." She then joined the rest. Griggs then pulled out his phone and called someone.

"Afternoon commander! What 'cha calling me for?"

"Hey Washington, just a heads up. You know by now NATO managed to save a shipgirl from London, right?"

"Yes, commander. We've been following the radio transmission. Shit's intense, I tell ya."

"Good, because she's here. And we're going to bring her to the mess hall and meet y'all so get everyone not on patrol there, okay?"

"Will do, commander! Anything else I should know?"

"Yes. She's from the Royal Navy, so ask everyone to be nice to her, okay? She just got herself out of hell, so I don't wanna hear any of my Eagles starting shit over her. I trusted that y'all got past that issue already?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. We all kind of past that. No use wallowing over something that already happened and we all know by now it's not their fault. But you do know there was someone who doesn't get it yet, did you?"

"I know, that's why we have a contingency plan in case something like that happened. So, I trust if shit does happen, you will try and stop it?"

"Don't worry commander, we got this!"

"Thanks, Washington." He then ends the call and then watched as the shipgirls went their way. He then turned towards the other commanders and the general as they begin to discuss something.

As they walked towards their destination, Enterprise can tell that Jean was worrying about something. While Prinz Heinrich are busy talking to London, she found an opportunity to talk to her, as she also shared the same concern.

"Worrying about Saint Louis going to start something?"

"Yeah. She's guaranteed to be there and once she knows about London is the one they tried to save and failed, I'm sure she's going to strangle her on the spot. I know my commander gave me permission but I don't like using violence against a fellow Iris. Yet if that's the only to drive something through that thick skull of hers…" She recalled what Reinald told her earlier.

Several minutes earlier

As they made their way to the DECON tents, Reinald taps on Jean's shoulder catching her attention. "Commander?"

"Look, Jean. We have something to discuss with the General so after we meet her, you escort her to the mess hall, okay?"

"Okay, but you know that if Saint Louis…"

"I know, that's why if she does something towards London, you have my permission to take whatever actions necessary. Strike her down if you had to. I know you can do it, because if there's anyone in the Iris that has no qualm on beating another Iris, it's you."

Jean can only groan as she knows exactly what Reinald was referring to, and replied. "I understand, but was necessary to come down with this?"

"Look, Jean. We both tried talking to her, and it didn't work. There's a reason why I transferred the Iris flag ship from Richelieu to you. Your sister wouldn't dare to do this, and would probably let her do whatever she pleased. You, on the other hand, are a bit more reasonable and don't take bullshit like this lightly."

Present

"So, your commander pretty much asked you to hurt her?" Enterprise herself were shocked at hearing this.

"I know, Enterprise. I disliked unnecessary violence towards fellow shipgirls, especially one from the same faction as yours. Not ever since that day. But if push comes to shove, then I might have to bust some teeth from her toxic mouth." She replied. Enterprise was uncomfortable at this. She knew the Saint for a long time. She's among the first batch of priority ships, shipgirls based upon warship designs that were never built, made it pass the planning stage, or built but never finished. They were stronger than most of their fellow shipgirls given their equipment's are all based on prototype weapons as well. As such, they were considered the most advanced shipgirls to be fielded by Azur Lane, given the number of resources needed to construct one.

It was by luck that none of the priority ships were lost to the Infected. Several priority ships were deployed to London at the time before the breach: Saint Louis, Roon, Mainz, Seattle, and Georgia. While the latter four managed to escape by the end of the day, Saint Louis ended up trapped in the city before she was rescued the next day. It was this event that somehow made her hated the Royal Navy.

And Royal Navy themselves were in luck as none of their priority ships were in Great Britain when the outbreak happened, for they were all undergoing a commission in Falklands and was scheduled to return home later that week. They ended up stuck in the Falklands for 24 days before communication with them could be restored and they were recalled back to Belfast. Like all Royal Navy ships deployed overseas at the time, they could only watch as their country went down, and even more shocked when they returned home to see half of them were gone.

Enterprise herself got to see the Casualty Manifest, and just from seeing the list for the Royal Navy alone chilled her to the bone. From what she could summarised, some ship classes were reduced to just one ship, and some unfortunately were completely wiped out. For those that did have a few ships of their class survive, it was either they were lucky enough to escape, or one of them was deployed overseas.

She then looked at London, who is the lead ship of her class subtype, which itself were part of the County-class heavy cruisers. From the Casualty Manifest, four of them were in the list. And London herself was on the list, being listed as missing alongside five other Royal cruisers that went missing after Manchester was overrun. With London now can be removed from the list, there's now only three County-class that survived. And one of them will be happy to see her as at the time she arrived at Belfast, she was told that she's the only one of her type that survived, and were in depression afterwards.

Meanwhile, Prinz Heinrich was busy showing to London the base she was on. As this were the first time ever that Azur Lane had to share base with NATO, there were more things to see other than just the naval base.

"Over there, in those hangars is where they kept those fighter jets. They were faster and more powerful that the most advanced fighters the Iron Blood could field, you know!"

"Yeah, I already saw them in action down there."

"And that's where the helicopters are kept. They were instrumental during the whole evacuation you know. Some of the light carriers like Weser had to service them because they kept having to rearm so they just put some men, equipment and weapons onboard them and the helicopters land on their deck because it's the fastest way to keep the helicopters loaded to fight off the Infected." She explained to London as they walked towards their destination.

Given the size of the base, transport was available to quickly move around, but they purposely chose to walk. One of the reasons was to give London a chance to familiarize with the base, and also to calm her down as she literally woke up from stasis into a hellish version of Great Britain, so it is important to show her that the world outside were still intact and functions normally as it should despite the global effects the Rage Virus had caused. Eventually, they reached the mess hall.

"And here we are! The mess hall. We actually had our own but our commanders told us we should eat together with NATO personnel so that we know each other better, since we're going to work with them for a while and they're the ones in charge right now."

"Oh, I see." She replied. Prinz Heinrich then opens the door and gestures London to go in first, which she did. Enterprise and Jean Bart watches as the two enters the building, they also entered the building. But just before they both step their foot; Enterprise speaks to her.

"Get ready Jean, a lot of drama going to happen after this. Hopefully violence is not needed."

"I know, Enty." She replied. Jean then looked at her right arm, the muscles already tensed as if it was telling her that sooner or later, she's going to punch someone. She then asked Enterprise.

"Enty?"

"Yes, Jean?"

"If I have to beat someone here, get to Reinald immediately. You have his number, right?"

"Like you ever had to ask. Come on, let's go."

---

1600

Main mess hall, Joint NATO – Azur Lane Base Bembridge

Entering the mess hall, London was greeted by the other Azur Lane shipgirls stationed there.

"Hey, she's here!" Hornet announced as she saw London entering alongside Prinz Heinrich. She was immediately swarmed by them, each asking the same question regarding her survival.

"Everyone, let her sit down first. Then you can start asking questions, okay?"

"Oh, sorry. Guess everyone here is too excited since it's been a while since we actually had some good news. Hey, give way everyone! Give her a place to sit!" Commanded Washington, and everyone complied, making a path for London towards an empty seat for her. As soon as she sat on it, the questioning resumed. While Graf Spee brought her a glass of water, she looked around and noticed that while she could see Eagle Union, Iron Blood and Iris Orthodoxy shipgirls with her, there's one particular faction that were missing.

"Excuse me, but I didn't see anyone from the Royal Navy. Where are they? Out on patrol?" She asked. And everyone looked at each other, unsure how to answer her question. Prinz Heinrich tried to answer but Astoria got to her first.

"Umm…London? The Royal Navy is not here. They were currently stationed at their own naval base in Belfast. Your commander is there too. Right now, you're the only Royal Navy ship here in this base."

"Is that so?" She asked and everyone just nodded. While she continues to interact with the other shipgirls, Enterprise and Jean Bart continued to observe from a distance, ready to intervene if something happened. So far, shipgirls from all three factions present in the base were playing nicely with her. But Jean does notice something. While she could see Dunkerque, Tartu, and L'Opiniatre amongst the crowd talking to London, there was a few shipgirls missing from her faction.

"That's funny. I don't see her here. La Galissoniere too."

"They're sleeping, probably? Dunkerque said she was sleeping on the armchair in the lounge just before they mobilized the pilots, then she went for her room. Both of them were scheduled for a patrol tonight, alongside Graf Spee and Prinz Eugen." Enterprise replied.

"Yeah, Emile Bertin and Le Mars too. But both of them just returned from patrol this afternoon, so they probably also resting right now. Bearn is back home at Lorient accompanying my sister." They waited for a while, and then the door on the other side of the mess hall opened, and Saint Louis, alongside Algerie entered the building.

"Here she comes, Jean." Enterprise watched as the Iris priority cruiser made her way towards the crowd, yet her face looks calm, not like she was trying to look for trouble, which confuses Enterprise.

"Jean, you sure she will be going to try and hurt her? Because I don't see like she's going to do anything." Jean simply shakes her head.

"It's just a façade, Enty. She may look calm right now, but trust me. If she finds out about it, there's going to be something." Meanwhile, Saint Louis walked over towards the commotion.

"What is going on here?" She asked the nearest shipgirl, Bailey.

"Oh? Saint Louis? Well, there was this Royal Navy shipgirl that NATO managed to rescue today. We're just talking to her, asking questions like. Everyone wanted to ask her a question so we all had to take our turns." She spoke. "You wanted to meet her?"

"Royal Navy?" Her voice contained a slight tinge of anger, but Bailey didn't notice this. "Take me to her." Bailey then showed her the way. Algerie quietly followed behind, being told by Reinald to keep a watchful eye over her. The Iris priority cruiser proceeds to push anyone that is in her way.

"Ow! What the hell?"

"Louis, what the?"

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Enterprise noticed Saint Louis forcing her way through the crowd and immediately alerted Jean Bart. "Jean, she's making a move."

"No shit." She immediately rushed over to London. Meanwhile Saint Louis pushed Prinz Eugen and Biloxi out of the way, finally seeing London in person.

"Hey, you!" She called out to her, attracting her attention. Prinz Heinrich saw her too and instantly felt uneasy after knowing what can happen. She can already see the Washington, Baltimore, Algerie, Mainz and Peter Strasse already taking position behind her, ready to act should she did something stupid. Nevertheless, she maintained her composure and greeted her kindly.

"Ah, Saint Louis! Have you already met London yet? She's the shipgirl that NATO discovered and managed to rescue not long ago."

"Yes, I know about that. I have a question for you, how did you managed to survived this long when everyone else are dying just to get out?" While her face remains neutral, her voice certainly didn't hide her hate. Washington is quick to remind her.

"Hey, Louis! Please don't try to start a fight with her, okay? We know you're not in a good stance with the Royals right now but please, don't."

"I know. Don't need to remind me that." She then turned her attention back to London. "Now, answer my question. How did you survive?" Just as London were about to answer her, Heinrich whispered to her ears.

"Be very careful when you answer her questions."

"Why?"

"Don't know, but she developed some hate towards your faction after escaping London so try not to anger her too much, got it?"

"I'll try." She then faced Saint Louis and answered her question. "Well, basically I underwent a retrofit and was placed in stasis for three days…" But then Saint Louis interrupted her.

"Wait, you said you were in stasis!? In Kilburn!?" She was taken aback by her sudden change in tone, even her face began to show signs of aggression. Heinrich moves forward putting herself between her and London, while the five other shipgirls tensed up as well. All other shipgirls had already back off, anticipating a brawl that is about to happen.

"Yes." And without any warning Saint Louis lunged at her, her anger finally exploded.

"YOU!" However, before she could even reach her, multiple hands grabbed her by her shoulders and arms and before she knows it five shipgirls were behind her trying to restrain her from moving or making any moves.

"Didn't you promised not to start a fight earlier!?" Yelled Washington.

"SHE'S THE REASON I LET TWO SHIPGIRLS DIE ON ME!"

"C'mon Louis! We all agree that the Royal Navy is not at fault here! You're the reason why none of them wants to stay here!" Said Peter Strasse.

"LET GO OF ME! I HAVE AN UNFINISHED BUSINESS WITH HER!" Saint Louis summoned as much strength as she could to try and break free. Already she managed to step forward.

"No shit! We need more shipgirls here!" Baltimore cried out for more reinforcements. Several light cruisers and destroyers joined in. Now St Louis. Biloxi, Z23 and Tartu came over and together they tried with their might to pull her away from London. London herself were terrified.

"W-what did I do wrong here!?" Prinz Heinrich was fast to answer her.

"Nothing, London! You're completely innocent! You see, some shipgirls didn't cope with the losses well, and blamed the Royal Navy for it. But all of us know they weren't at fault, but a few refused to accept that." Just as she said that, Saint Louis manages to pry herself free from her restraint and dashed over towards London, pushing Prinz Heinrich out of her way. London could see Saint Louis enraged face, which reminds her much about the Infected. The only thing missing was the blood covering her face and clothes. But before she could do anything to her, Jean Bart steps in front of her and proceeded to deliver a powerful right hook straight into her face!

"GAAAHHH!" The resulting punch was strong enough to send the priority cruiser flying backwards. All the other shipgirls jumped out of the way to avoid getting hit by her, as well as creating an opening in which she ended up crash landed into. Saint Louis tried to stand up, but Baltimore was quick to issue an order for everyone to stop her.

"Everyone her pin her down right now!" She yelled, and Washington, Massachusetts, Gneisenau, and Tirpitz all jumped on her, and Jean Bart herself sat on her stomach and held her chin with her left hand ensuring she won't be able to dodge her punches as she held her right arm right above her, ready to strike down additional punches if she really had to.

"Jean, you idiot! Why are you protecting her!? Can't you see what she's done!?" Jean proceeds to punch her again.

"And that's the reason why! You know Louis, I tried talking to you, Reinald tried talking to you, everyone here tried, yet you kept rambling the same exact shit!" She punches her again to emphasize her point. "And before you asked, Reinald gave me free reign to do what's necessary in case you made a move on her, so if this is the only way to get through that thick head of yours, so be it!"

"Do you want me to name every shipgirl we've lost because of their stupidity!?"

"You sure you want me to punch you again!? This time I ain't stopping until you stopped struggling!"

"Go ahead, because at least half of them and their stupid commander are dead!" Lucky thing she said the last part in French, for London had no idea what really happened to him. Before anyone made a move however, the door slams open as the commanders entered the mess hall. Reinald immediately yelled out at the top of his voice.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE!?"

"Commander!" Immediately, she was let go by everyone and stands up as Reinald made his way towards her.

"Commander, I…"

"Don't need to explain to me Louis. I expected this from the beginning. Everyone did. Now go back to your room, Louis."

"But…"

"No buts. I've heard a lot of complains from you ever since you returned from London. Spreading nothing but lies, trying to persuade others to join you, and now, unprovoked violence. Normally I would've ordered you to be sent back to Lorient docks and put you on solitary confinement, but right now, I need all the vanguards that can still functions rationally, and you have a patrol tonight. Now go, before I have everyone here drag you back into your room by force." Reinald maintained a calm look while saying it, yet his voice clearly tells that he was both angry and disappointed at seeing what Saint Louis had become.

The cruiser didn't say anything other than letting out a hiss and glaring angrily towards London before stomping out of the mess hall.

"What the fuck is wrong with her?" Griggs said before facing the shipgirls with a stern face, and then made an announcement.

"Alright, anyone else y'all motherfuckers wanna try that shit?" He said as he pulls out his revolver. "Because I'm not afraid of shooting any of you if I ever heard any Eagle pulled that shit. I know 9mm don't do anything to you but I'm pretty sure .44 Mag will do something!" There was silence among them. For the Eagle Union, they know from all their time with their commander is that if he ever pulled out his revolver, then he's absolutely pissed.

Meanwhile, Winfried didn't say a word but he does give them a glare that promises pain. The Iron Bloods knows this pretty well. Their commander was once part of the Kommando Spezialkräfte Marine before he was chosen to lead them, and sometimes sparred with them both to teach them the know-how on self-defence, and to keep his skills sharp, and even then, he holds himself back. But Roon once asked him to go all out when she noticed he was holding himself back during a sparring session, and what happened afterwards was best described by her as "three minutes of pure, concentrated pain."

Seeing no one reacted, Griggs places the revolver back into its holster. "Good. Now I will make this clear. The Royal Navy is nowhere at fault for what happened back in London. So, if I or any of us heard anymore arguments or fights regarding this matter again, we won't hesitate to dish out punishment. Do I make myself clear!?"

"Yes commander!" Reinald then went towards London and speaks to her. "Look, sorry about what happened earlier. I should've warned you about this possibility, but we thought everyone had gotten over it. Guess she didn't get the message."

"It's okay, but why would she have blamed me or my faction? The soldiers in the helicopter did brief me about what happened but I don't know it would end up like this." Then Griggs spoke up.

"Well, at least you were informed about how everything went upside down, so let me fill the blanks for you. Given how things went down, everyone, especially those who lost their sister ship literally wants to beat every Royal Navy girl out there. Even Reinald over there threatened to shoot your commander for failing to warn everyone earlier. It took a bit of talking before we all found out it was their, I mean, your government's fault for tampering with their communications as well as not informing us of what really happened or about the fact that shipgirls are completely unsuitable for land combat or the fact that shipgirls can get infected."

London, despite already knowing how it went in the helicopter, was pretty much shocked at learning about incompetent her government was in handling the shipgirls during the entire outbreak. "That bad? Sounds even worse than what I was told."

"Make no mistake, London." Said Enterprise. "Back then, we all tried to contact your commander or at least anyone from the Royal Navy even before the breach, but nothing went through. Your government told us they're busy up north so all updates had to come through them. The Royal Navy ended up having to contact us through the British Army as well as coming to us in person, but back then we don't use the same frequency so they had relay it from the soldiers to another shipgirl before it reaches our commanders. Which is why their warning came too late, and why NATO had us to use their communication network later on."

"And they said the only thing we have to worry about was how to move around with our rigging in tight city streets." Added Washington. "They didn't tell us about recoil so strong it sends you flying backwards. That morning, I thought Renown and Warspite were out of their minds so I decided to stick around. Then those fuckers showed up. I thought it would be easy so I just fired all my guns at once, next thing I know, I was sent flying backwards almost two blocks away."

"Ugh…law of physics is a bitch when you're against it." Said Prinz Eugen. "At least your government was right about mobility issues. Some of us have rigging big enough to block entire street just by standing in middle of it. And that itself doesn't yet taking random objects like street lights, trees, fences and parked cars into account. Just moving around without getting stuck is already a challenge, and try doing that when the Infected is onto you. Those things are way worse than suicide boats, and at least they don't change direction so you just get out of the way."

"The Infected? No fucking way." She continued. "They swarm you from all direction, from places you've never expected. Alleys, tunnels, they even climbed walls and jump down from bridges and overpasses just to get to you, and they did it all running at full speed while all of us barely able to move around. Seriously, whoever that got this idea to deploy shipgirls on land, in the middle of a city must have not think this through!"

"She's right." Winfried finally broke his silence. Harland himself probably opposed this idea, but he was somehow coerced to do so."

"How do you know this?" Heinrich asked.

"His secretary ship, King George V told me. Says he was on the phone with them that morning when the Royal Navy were deployed to Bullsmoor. She said he argued with them for almost an hour before he relents, she suspects that they threaten him with something which forces him to comply to their request and deploy the shipgirls there. Probably the same reason why the Royal Navy were unable to contact us, their government was trying to hide something from us that the Royal Navy knows. NATO wants to investigate this but right now, they can't. We have to wait another week or two before they could try and send a team to Whitehall."

"But still, the Royal Navy managed to hold on against the Infected for six days before they were finally overrun. That one, was something we had to respect. We got our asses handed over in two days, but they had to face the Infected alongside the British Army for a good six days. I'm pretty sure they were just as terrified as you are, but they held on to the very end until they had no choice but to retreat. The reason why many of us managed to get out alive and uninfected was because they went all out trying to warn us with whatever means they could, so blaming them for all that has happened had no base at all." Said Griggs.

They then turned their attention back to London, who was partly scared after Saint Louis sudden, unprovoked aggression against her earlier but also from learning how Royal Navy shipgirls were treated afterwards made her visibly uncomfortable, especially when she's the only Royal in the base. Griggs were fast to assure her.

"Look, girl. Don't worry about that. Just…relax okay. You're safe here. If anyone try to hurt you here, just tell us. We deal with it. You got that?" London only nodded. Cleveland then moves closer towards her.

"Uh…sorry about what happened earlier okay? Us Eagle Union are still with the Royal Navy, especially in trying times like this. There was some bad blood between us early on. But as my commander said, we've put that aside. Glad to know that you're at least survived. Your faction would really need this news."

L'Opiniatre was next to come forward. "Sorry about Saint Louis. We also have no quarrel with the Royal Navy."

Prinz Heinrich simply looked at London before finally saying something. "Well, you know us. We Iron Blood are on a good stance with the Royal Navy. You are welcomed here as much as everyone. You heard what our commanders said, no one's getting discriminated here."

"T-thanks everyone." London thanked them all, only for another growling coming from her stomach instantly changing the mood. "Can…someone please bring me something to eat?"

"No shit, someone get her something stat!" Yelled Washington.

"W-what should we get her?" Asked Tartu and Maury.

"She literally ran halfway across the city alright? She's definitely needed a lot of protein and carbs so get her chicken, cheese, milk…screw that! Just get her anything that is meat!"

"Will do!" Both destroyers sped off to get whatever food London needed, while the others tried to gave her whatever food they happened to have.

"You like some chocolate bars? I have this in my pocket, you can have it!"

"Nay, she better off with energy bar! Here, take this."

"Just that? Should we give her fruits instead?" Eventually, the two destroyers returned with a bowl of porridge and a bottle of water.

"You two got her a porridge?" Asked Enterprise.

"Oh? This? The chef's a bit busy getting dinner ready, so after explaining what we need they just made this up on the fly, says should be good enough until dinner time."

"Oh, okay." The destroyers then hand over the bowl to London, who finished the meal in less than 10 minutes. Afterwards, it was her turn to start asking questions.

"So, does all the shipgirls that participated in the quarantine were stationed here?"

"Oh no, not really." Said Washington. "Bembridge are the main base of operations but there's other places that needs to be covered, like say northern Scotland. It was too far away from here so we had other bases like Isle of Man and Shetland Island. My sister, North Carolina is stationed at Isle of Man for instance."

"And most of the Iron Blood is up in Shetland Islands." Added Z23. "But not everyone participated. Bismarck and Friedrich are both in our home base in Wilhelmshaven."

"And all Sardegna ships are in Isle of Man." Said Reinald. "They were supposed to be together with us here, but their commander was concerned about the well beings of the Royal Navy, so they chose to stay in Isle of Man. That way, they can come over to Belfast after every patrols."

"And that's why you'll noticed some of us aren't here. Either they're back home, or stationed at the two bases there. But some does choose to stay together, like us!" Cleveland then places her hand on Montpelier and Biloxi.

"Well, I can see that. You sisters often stayed together." London replied. But then she noticed there were someone missing from the Cleveland sisters. And thus, she asked Cleveland a seemingly innocent question. "But I think someone, or rather two of your sisters aren't here. Where's Columbia and Denver? They're out on patrol or something?"

That's when Cleveland stops responding to her. Something that everyone present there also noticed. "Sister? Are you okay?" Asked Biloxi. Cleveland still didn't respond to her, prompting Griggs to head over. He was about to say something when looked into her eyes and saw that her eyes were shaking and dilating. Coincidentally, her breathing starts getting erratic, followed by her body beginning to shake and sweats despite the cold ambient temperature of the mess hall, which was noticed by both Montpelier and Biloxi. Having dealt with this several times, all three recognized exactly what's going to happen, and Griggs yelled out.

"Oh shit, she's about to have a panic attack!"

In Cleveland's mind, the mere mention of Columbia and Denver triggered a very disturbing memory. It happened three weeks ago, yet despite her attempts to drown it out through means even including smoking, mentioning those two names would bring it back. She could remember all the things that happened.

The wails of police sirens and people screaming as they run for their life.

The sounds of helicopters flying overhead.

Gunshots and explosions as the military did everything they could to slow down the Infected.

Streets full of wrecked vehicles.

The Infected charging towards them.

Death all over the place.

Columbia's blood-covered body left on the street.

And finally, the one thing that continued to resonates in her head over and over again.

Denver's final words to her before the Rage Virus took over her body and mind.

"Sister…stay…away…"

All of it combined caused her to let out a scream as her panic attack sets in with full force. She pulls out her cigarette box. Everyone thought she just wanted to smoke but Montpelier knows the pack was empty and figured it was for something else, and it was proven correct when she used her thumb to push a thin piece of cardboard which revealed a razor blade hidden within the box. She then brought the razor blade close to her left wrist prompting Montpelier to immediately grabbed her right hand and push it away by force.

"NO!" She yelled, and Griggs took the cigarette box away from her while issuing an order to everyone.

"Everyone restrain her!" Several shipgirls, mostly from the Eagle Union pushed her down to the floor in order to stop her from trying to harm herself.

"Let me go! Let me go! I'm a failure of a sister! I just wanted to end it all! It's all my fault that I can't even save them!"

"Sister, why would you do this?" Cried Biloxi as she holds down her suicidal sister on the floor.

"Cleveland, please don't do this. We all love you. You can talk to us, okay? We all know your loss. I too lost my sister but I wouldn't go this far!" Said Massachusetts. But then Cleveland replied.

"You got it easy because you weren't there to see your sister die! I do! I saw both of them died in front of me and I can't do anything!" She then continued to struggle against her restrainer, prompting Griggs to take action before things got wilder.

"That's it. Where's the damn tranquilizer!?" Asked Griggs.

"Hold on." Montpelier went into her pocket, but she couldn't feel the device. "Huh? Where's that thing?"

"You forgot to bring that thing?" Asked St Louis, one of the shipgirls holding Cleveland down.

"No, it's always with me so it can be used exactly on situation like this." She replied, and then she remembered the earlier struggle with Saint Louis. "No shit, probably dropped while trying to restrain the other Saint. Check the floor, it probably dropped there."

The other shipgirls started looking on the floor and under the tables for the injector. And soon Z24 found it lying under a table. "Montpelier, here!" She ran over to her with the device in hand and gave it to her. Montpelier took the device and asked the others to hold Cleveland's head and body steady so she has a clear view of her neck, before removing the cap of the device revealing a needle. London could see for herself several marks on Cleveland's neck meaning this wasn't the first time she was injected with it. Cleveland herself was terrified upon seeing the needle, knowing what it means.

"No, no! Please! Not that needle! Let me go! I promise I won't do this anymore, just let me go! Please!" She again struggled to try and break free, only for everyone to push her down harder. Montpelier came over with autoinjector in hand, and places one hand on her sister's neck.

"I'm sorry, sister." And she stabs her neck with the autoinjector, causing Cleveland to scream in pain. However, the scream slowly died out as the tranquilizer began to take effect. She could feel her strength waned and her vision began to fade until she finally fell asleep.

"Take her back to her room." Ordered Griggs. And Washington, Baltimore and St Louis carried her out, meanwhile he inspects the cigarette box. He could see that there was a gap between the cover and where the cigarettes were placed, and that's how she managed to hide the razor blade. All she had to do was to push a thin piece of cardboard to reveal the blade out. He can only shake his head over this.

"Right, next time she wants a smoke someone has to hold the box for her. Am I clear?" He said, and the Eagles responded.

"Yes, sir!"

"And how in the world did she managed to get her hands on a razor blade? I'm pretty sure she's on a constant watch all the time." He added.

"I don't know." Said Montpelier. "I was always with her whenever she goes to the store or the bathroom, and I've made sure all sharp objects or anything with a potential of self-harm were kept away from her."

"Probably she got it from a soldier here. Wasn't that hard to do so given how friendly they were to us because this was the first time both NATO and us got to be in the same base. All she had to do is to act friendly and innocent, and then asked if she could borrow something. In my experience, the soldiers would do anything without asking further questions." Said Yorktown.

"Is that so? Guess I have to take this matter to Gayle." Then he looked over at London, who were again frozen solid after witnessing what had just taken place in front of her. "Uh…London, are you okay?"

"I…Sorry, I didn't mean to…" She replied, but Griggs cuts her off.

"No, no, no, no. You're not at fault here. Just, you know, some of the shipgirls lost their sisters back in London, and while most could take it, a few like Cleveland didn't react well. So, you might want to exercise caution when asking something around here, especially about sister ships."

"Is that so…Excuse me, I need to go somewhere." London stood up and headed towards the exit. Prinz Heinrich tried to stop her, but Winfried stopped her.

"Commander?"

"Just let her be for now. She just saw what else the Rage Virus had caused, best we just let her alone for a while."

"You sure this is a good idea? I mean…"

"Yes, I know. But I don't think she would be like Cleveland. If anything, she just wanted to get a grasp of this strange new world she just woke herself into. So, let's give some time for herself."

"If you said so." Heinrich backs off following her commander's advice, and watches as London went out of the door.

---

Three hours later

1908

Lounge area, Bembridge Base, NATO side

Turns out London didn't really go anywhere too far, for she decided to head over to the nearest rest area. There, she stayed there for three hours, initially choosing to stay alone before she starts interacting with the soldiers there. By the time she knows it she got herself at least three cans of iced coffee and plenty of ration bars to snack on. She also already had dinner courtesy of the coalition soldiers, so hunger is no longer an issue for her. But she does have other concerns.

Among them was exactly where she was going to sleep for the night. While the other factions promised that there's no harm to her to stay with them, the earlier incident in the mess hall still scare her. Especially when she's the only Royal in the base.

And that also brings to another problem. Despite surrounded by other shipgirls, she felt that she was alone. She already tried to contact anyone from the Royal Navy but no one, not even her commander answered, and her phone was damaged from her earlier attempt to bait Duke of York into the anti-ship missiles. While she already sent the device for repairs, it would take some time before it became usable. Without any communication with her faction, she was effectively an outcast. She would like to have a company with a fellow Royal, and she was certain that they too are engaged in the same activity as the other shipgirls currently assigned to the containment mission. Just as she was deep in her thoughts, she heard someone calling out to her.

"Oh, there she is!" She looked towards the direction where the voice came from and saw a small group of shipgirls approaching her. At most she saw Dunkerque, Mainz, St Louis, and Emile Bertin coming towards her, with Dunkerque carrying a covered basket.

"London, are you okay? Can we sit with you?" Asked Mainz. London only nodded and they take their seats around her. Dunkerque pulls the cover of the basket to reveal copious number of crullers. "You hungry? I made some cruller. Feel free to have one." She spoke.

"Thanks." She took one of them. Emile then speaks up. "I heard about what happened to you earlier from Algerie. I'm sorry for our Louis's actions. Wish she could snap out of her delusions but unfortunately, she doesn't."

"Don't worry about it, it already happened." London replied, then she turned her attention to St Louis. "I'm sorry for triggering Cleveland. It wasn't my intention to make her go up like that." She then shakes her head.

"No, it's actually our fault for not warning you earlier about this. This is the first time any of us faced such a large loss, so a few couldn't handle them well. What the other Louis and Cleveland had suffered is just one of the fallouts from this…Rage Virus shit." She spoke.

"I know it was bad, but seeing the aftermath in person, I don't know it was this bad."

"It is that bad." Dunkerque replied. "A lot of things stack up against us right from the start. We have mobility issues because some of us had riggings far too big to fit in the streets, then we have issues with our guns recoil being too strong to be used effectively on land, then there's the communication issue between the Royal Navy and the rest of us." She pauses for a while before continuing. "And then we have the Infected." Her face changes to reflect her fears towards them. Having encountered them in person, London could understand why.

"So, all of you was down there when things really went wrong?" She was met with a synchronised "yes" from all four shipgirls.

"It was horrifying." Said Mainz. "If there's anything close to hell on earth, 20th May is that day. On that day, the Infected overran both the British Army and the Royal Navy positions and came crashing down on us not long after. Thanks to their comms being tampered by their own government for some reasons, the Royal Navy had little time to warn us, but they did so anyway. That's how many of us managed to escape. But because of that delay, we have a few casualties of our own."

"Especially from the Infected. When we found out that shipgirls could also became Infected that's when hell literally came on us." Dunkerque continued.

"What happened, Dunkerque?" London asked her, but then remembered the earlier incident with Cleveland and quickly apologizes, but Dunkerque then continued. "Don't worry London, it's fine. Before I continue, do you want to know why Jean Bart didn't hold herself back when she punches Saint Louis earlier?"

London nodded, and Dunkerque continued. "That's because if it wasn't for her, I've might as well have died or became one of them. On that day, I got to see for myself what is like to face the Infected." She then paused and looked at the others, all eager to hear her story.

"Just wanted to let you know, Jean doesn't really like to talk about it. So, try not to bring this up when you're talking to her okay?"

"We promise." She then takes a deep breath before continuing where she lefts off. "Because on that day, I witnessed two fellow Iris became an Infected, and Jean killed them both with her own hands."

---

Sorry for the long delay. Had a few real life issues to be dealt with. This chapter was supposed to be longer but after a while I decided that it should be on the next chapter instead.

Yeah, this chapter is already having some dark moments from someone losing it to outright suicidal moves, as well as an implication of how many shipgirls that either died or infected. Again, remember that all this is just for the story and not how I treat my shipgirls in particular so don't bitch about it.

And yes, the British Government was a bit of an asshole here. Deploying the Royal Navy despite knowing what really happened during a firing test weeks before the outbreak began, then not being truthful about what happened to them when asked by the other factions, and finally screwing around with their communication channel just to shut them from telling the truth. The only reason they didn't doomed was because the Royal Navy taking matters to their own hand and warned the rest of the shipgirls, which partly the reason why NATO had them to use theirs instead for the remainder of the operation.

Nevertheless, the next few chapters were flashbacks as the other shipgirls began telling London their near-death experiences as they fought their way out of the doomed city. So be prepared for a lot of violence and characters dying or getting infected soon.