Chapter 1: new times/devious plot

After the Battle of Iceland, against Charybdis the world was changed massively. Thousands of Abyssals came through the Dark Pillars, the Reclaimed Fleet, a Fleet that uses previously sunken warships in their fleet, the Merchant fleets, four fleets that are effectively wandering traders, the Techno Abyssals who took Papua New Guinea, and many more smaller Abyssal fleets and nations. And then you have the Southern Trench, the newest member of the Azur Lane.

The Southern Trench was also sometimes called the Pacific Empire, or the Abyss Empire. It wasn't just made up of Trench Abyssals, many of the Abyssals that came from other universes joined it. It was a giant country, 6 times the size of Russia and 10 times the size of the United States. Though that was mostly open ocean. 3% of its territory was actual land, mainly the Malay archipelago, which had been taken over.

Though the Southern Trench is a close ally of Japan and the United States, there was a tense undertone amongst the world leaders. There was the possibility that the Southern Trench could blockade the entire world if something went wrong. And China had a very rough relationship with the Southern Trench. Many thought that if the Southern Trench somehow started a war, it would be against China.

This is where we join the story

"it seems that an honest person shall be tainted as a villain" -Observer Zero to Administrator E

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXWorld unknown, Location Challenger Deep unknown POV,

Everything was hazy for a bit as I lay on my back, on the hard ground. I opened my eyes to darkness all around me and I couldn't see anything around me, even if I squinted. For a few seconds that I was underwater, until I spoke.

"Hello?" I said, but instead of my words coming out as intelligible, they came out as air bubbles that floated upwards. At first I panicked, thinking I was going to drown, but now it happened. And I started to wonder why. I tried looking around a bit more, but still couldn't see anything. I think I was looking up, but it was hard to tell if I was or not.

I decided to try and get up and feel around. Once I got up I could feel sand underneath my feet. I started to feel around, but I couldn't feel anything at all. I did this for what felt like an eternity, till I could see the faint outlines of things. Though at first I could only see things immediately in front of me. After some time I could see farther and farther, but not by much. While I was starting to see better I thought to myself how I got down here. But after a while I found that I didn't remember my own name. I also found I couldn't really remember anything of my past, which was incredibly frustrating for me.

When I tried remembering something briefly, I saw something, but after a few seconds the image would become foggy and some kind of strange force would push me away, and I could remember nothing of what I saw. It was frustrating not being able to remember anything at all. I tried and tried to remember anything even if it was a tiny memory, but nothing stayed inside my mind for long.

Finally after about 20 minutes I screamed out "why can't I remember anything!?" Though this only came out as air bubbles and the final air inside of me, so the remaining words were only faint vibrations in the water.

I collapsed to the ground and held my head. I broke down for a while and after an uncertain amount of time I started to regain my bearings. I came to the fact that I couldn't remember anything and just had to accept it, as I still didn't know who I was or where I was. But perhaps there was someone who did know me and could tell me.

Now I could see much farther ahead of myself and could see rocks and debris ahead of me. Though I could also notice that I had something odd attached to me. On my right and left sides I could see two monster heads, the one on my left was white with black teeth and the one on my right was black with white teeth. Two large triple turrets were placed on top of the left monster head, and another large triple turret was placed on the right monster head. I was surprised at first but for some reason it just felt... normal. So now I just continued walking.

Then something appeared out of the darkness. It looked like some kind of giant jellyfish, completely black and it had a giant single orange eye. It has several dozen long thin tentacles. It looked down on me as it now floated upwards slightly. I was curious about what it was. But I was also worried it might attack.

Then I heard a monotone robotic voice speaking "follow…" the jellyfish-like thing now turned around and seemed to beckon me to follow it. I didn't know what this thing was, but then again I didn't even know who I was, I just hoped that wherever it was leading me, I'd be able to get answers to my questions. So… I followed it.

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World "lost battleship of the Southern Trench", Location Pearl Harbor

Now an interesting sight could be seen. Southern Yamato's ship was docked in Pearl Harbor, besides it was Shinano's ship. Shinano's ship appeared similar to her elder sister's ship, as it was jet black, it's deck was a dark gray color with red markings. The bridge glowed a purple color similar to Southern Yamato's ship.

Southern Yamato was there on a trip to visit her sister, who had stayed in Hawaii after Charybdis. After some time Sunken had been proposed to by Byrne and was now married. Though some time after their marriage she turned into a Hadal.

Sunshine could be seen on the docks. She no longer appeared like a young girl, now she looked like a young woman. Physically she looked about 18 or 19 years old, though in reality she was about 3 years old. Mentally it was the same as she had matured over the last year quite quickly. Here hair was still very long, though with her height increase, her tail seemed to have shrunk, though it was still long. She seemed to try to imitate Southern Yamato in her behavior, so she tried acting calm, but she couldn't hold back that part of her that was always excited. Especially when they visited her Aunt Sunken and Uncle Pat, those were the names she called them by.

She seemed to actually have a pet in the form of a Po-class, that she had nicknamed Pope. She had just heard the word spoken aloud some times, but didn't know its meaning at the time. The name just stuck. Though Pope also acted as sort of a bodyguard for Sunshine, whenever she was on her own.

Currently she could be seen in the Pearl Harbor naval base, alongside Pope. She could be seen in a white sundress exploring the Naval base. Southern Yamato was there visiting her younger sister, as she had heard news that Shinano was having a child, Sunshine was brought alongside on the trip. Though Sunshine had asked if she could explore the base on her own, she was allowed to, though Pope would go alongside her.

The base, at least from what Sunshine could see, was mainly made up of ship girls, though she also saw something when she was at the docks. It looked like old merchant ships from World War 2, they had flags split in half one side dark gray and the other side red, in the middle was a black circle with a red four pointed star inside it. She seemed excited as she knew what the ships were and rushed to see what they had.

While she didn't have any money, or anything to trade, she always liked seeing what they had. And who were they? It was the Red Merchant Fleet. They basically acted as wandering traders, and stalls could be seen setup on the pier where three of their ships were docked.

While Sunshine saw three Red Merchant Fleet ships, there were seven others that were at the civilian docks selling more valuable items such as food, or useful materials. The ships that were at the military docks were mostly trading with ship girls and any Abyssals there.

Sunshine saw all manner of different little trinkets, though those seemed mostly useless and were the minority of what was actually being sold. Though despite the uselessness of the trinkets, Sunshine was still fascinated by them. If it wasn't for her lack of money she'd probably have bought many of them, and then have gotten bored after a few hours.

Though she was now at a stall that had different types of flowers, she focused on a strange type that looked like a black lotus, with the inner petals being white. She then heard a voice speaking to her "is there anything I can help you with?"

Sunshine turned and saw a sight that was rare, though she had heard that they were from other universes apparently. It was a male Abyssal, who looked about her age, with short black hair, and golden yellow eyes. He had a black shirt on, as well as white jeans.

"What is the flower? I've... never seen one like this" Sunshine asked, pointing to the strange flower. Though she was partially interested in the boy as well.

"Oh this" now the boy grabbed and held the flower by its stem "this flower is what is called Merea Nofei, in the Abyss language it means Beautiful One. It never grew in this world, it came from my old universe. There among Abyssals it was seen similarly to how humans think of roses. Now the only ones that are grown are by the Merchant fleets, and even then they're still quite rare. Not endangered, but still rare"

"That's so cool" Sunshine said with a smile.

The boy seemed to pause before asking "do you want it?"

"Eh? I have no money and nothing to trade with…"

"Hmm…" the boy thought for a moment before saying "you can have it for free"

"Eh? Really?!" Sunshine said excitedly.

"Yeah, it'll be on the house. Here wait a moment" now the boy turned around and seemed to get something. Sunshine waited patiently for him, and after a minute the boy came back, and handed to flower to her "I added a hair pin, so you can put it in your hair if you like"

Sunshine took the flower and examined it with a curious look. Then after a moment she placed the flower on her hair, off to the left side. She fiddled with it for a moment until it was in place "how does it look?" She asked.

The boy paused for a moment before saying "g-good"

"Thanks" Sunshine smiled happily, and her tail could be seen wagging side to side. "Oh, what's your name? I've seen other Red Merchant fleet Abyssals before, but not you"

"I'm Rocky"

"It's nice to meet you then Rocky. I'm Sunshine Princess"

"Do you live here? I don't think I've seen you here"

"Ah, I normally go wherever my mother goes. Though most of the time I live at Guam"

"Guam? So you're a part of the Southern Trench. That's cool"

"So, wait, you come here often?"

"Yeah, we normally go fishing for Tuna and other fish, since the humans can't really do it on the scale we can. And we come here or the American west coast to trade or deliver orders that were given to us"

"Ooh~ do you ever go to Guam? If you ever do, go to Eiba's diner. She has the best diner on Guam, especially breakfast"

"Ah, no I don't believe we do. I think we normally stay in the Eastern to central Pacific. That's where most of the Red Merchant Fleet operates. The Western Pacific is normally where the Green Merchant Fleet operates. Though I'll keep that as a note if we ever go there"

Now some distance away from them off the pier, Southern Yamato and Shinano could be seen. Shinano was a bit taller than before, though she was still shorter than Southern Yamato. Her skin was a bit darker than when she was an Abyssal, though it was closer to a light tan in appearance. She had dark red eyes, long white hair, and had a small bust. She wore a white kimono with black trimmings that went down to just above her knees, and she had black thigh highs on. Though one of the most notable things was that she looked like she was in the second trimester of her pregnancy.

Though their conversation had paused momentarily as Southern Yamato looked over at Sunshine having a conversation with Rocky.

"Who is that?" Shinano asked as she now glanced at Rocky.

"I don't know. But it seems Sunshine is happy" Southern Yamato said.

"Are you worried that he might?"

Southern Yamato shook her head "no, Pope will protect her if something happens. Besides even if he did and somehow got away from me, the Red Merchant Fleet would punish him harsher than even I would. They wouldn't want to be on my bad side, as that's bad for business"

Shinano chuckled "and we all know how you'd react to someone hurting Sunshine"

Now Shinano could see a small smile on Southern Yamato's face "I'm happy though right now. She seems to be making friends, that aren't just my own friends or associates"

"Oh, that reminds me, how have negotiations gone with the Reclaimed Fleet?"

Southern Yamato sighed "not good. They aren't willing to join the Azur Lane and they're claiming most of the Atlantic as their territory"

"Sounds rough"

Now she chuckled "You're lucky Patrick is still stationed here. The admirals and commanders in the Atlantic have been having a hard time"

"Yeah… So after you leave, what are you going to do?"

"Back to Guam, I need to drop Sunshine off there, as I need to go do something... Hmm…" she suddenly stopped as she got an idea.

"I know that look of yours Yammy. You're planning something"

"That I am. I think it'd be mean especially, if I separated Sunshine and that boy right now. They seem to be getting along so far. Perhaps the Red Merchant Fleet would like an invite to Guam"

"Oh, they'll definitely accept such an invitation. They'll do anything to get on the good side of the Southern Trench. It's very good for their business. But where are you going after Guam?"

"I have a meeting with someone" she paused for a moment "Sadly even as your sister, I can't tell you. But I can at least say, if it works out, it will be a great relief to all of us"

"Being mysterious I see"

"It's a caution. Even our own allies spy on us"

Shinano chuckled "I wouldn't say China is really an ally. More like we have a common enemy"

"If it wasn't because of the Sirens, Techno Abyssals, and the fact we could blockade the entire Pacific Ocean, we'd probably already be at war with them"

Now Shinano sighed "I feel that even now tensions are rising. The merchant fleets love us, Japan, America, and the European nations see us as allies, but I think Russia and especially China hate us. They'd love to have a reason to turn everyone in on the Southern Trench"

Southern Yamato paused for a moment before asking "hypothetically, if the Southern Trench somehow ended up against the Azur Lane, what would you do? Your husband would be an enemy of mine, and it'd be a great betrayal if you chose either side"

"I'd choose the side of my family. Sorry if it makes you sad, but if you threatened my family then I'd do whatever I'd need to do to protect them"

"Don't worry, I can understand such a mentality. I'd do a similar thing if it involved Sunshine"

"Now, what would you do if the Southern Trench ended up at war with the Azur Lane"

"It'd depend. If for whatever reason I attacked first, I'd attack with everything I have on Enterprise. Because she's the only one I'd have to really worry about. Then… everyone would be under my thumb. If I wasn't the one to attack first, I think I'd hesitate. I wouldn't really want to attack, as I'd obliterate everyone quite easily. Especially Japan, you know my thoughts on attacking them"

"Then if you didn't want to obliterate them, what would you do?"

Southern Yamato sighed "most people seem to not see something that has become very important. If you want to win against a big nation, you don't attack the civilians, you don't try to say 'look your government cannot protect you' that's how you make them angry at you, that's how you lose a war. Instead you make them angry at their government. Instead say 'look your government can't beat me. You aren't winning the war and it is costing you harshly' then after winning the war, you treat the people better than their old government did. Then they'll love you"

Shinano was actually quite surprised by what Southern Yamato had said. Then she chuckled nervously and said "the way you say that sounds like you've already figured out how to defeat them"

"While I think it is unlikely, it is always a good thing to have a secondary plan" now she smiled at Shinano "anyways, I loved visiting you, and I hope your pregnancy goes well, but I think it is time for me to go" Now she hugged her before walking down the pier. She wasn't actually noticed by Sunshine, but she could see that Rocky knew exactly who she was, though he didn't know she was Sunshine's mother.

Now Southern Yamato seemed to look around for a moment, she walked up to an Abyssal. The Abyssal was a female with long hair, red eyes and a flat bust. She wore a white tank top, baggy black pants, and had large black gloves on. She seemed surprised by Southern Yamato suddenly walking up to her.

"Excuse me" Southern Yamato said "where is the leader of your fleet?"

The Abyssal was silent for a moment before saying "uh, he's up on the ship" she now pointed to the ship behind her.

"Can you bring me to him? I need to talk with him"

The Abyssal gulped nervously as she thought something bad had happened and now Southern Yamato was angry. But she knew that refusing her would be a massive mistake. "Uh… sure" she said slowly, before hesitating "follow me" Now she led Southern Yamato up onto the ship and just outside of the bridge, where she was told to wait.

She waited a moment before a voice spoke "so you wanted to see me?"

She turned around and could see a male Abyssal. He was tall, almost the same height as her, short messy black hair, and yellow eyes. He wore a light gray button up shirt that was dirty, black jeans that were also messy, and he had black boots that were most likely steel toed.

She nodded and said "you're the leader of this fleet?"

"Yes I am Ma'am. What is it that you need?"

She hesitated for a moment before asking "how about your fleet, come back with me to Guam?"

The man's eyes widened at her invitation, as he knew such a thing was rare. But he got curious and asked "why are you asking this?"

Now she glanced slightly away and looked over, she could see Sunshine still talking with Rocky. Though Rocky was barely visible. "That girl there is my daughter. She… doesn't really have any friends her own age. And it seems she is getting along with that boy"

The man looked over to look at them and seemed surprised "I see… um… let us have some time to finish unloading our stores at the civilian docks. Then we'll be able to move out"

"Hmm, that is alright. Though, who is that boy?"

"His name is Rocky"

"How does he act?"

The man paused for a moment before saying "he's a kind young man, he's trustworthy. If you're worried that he'll harm her, you don't. Even if he didn't know she was your daughter, she'd be fine"

"Good, then"

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Location Iron Bottom Sound, Techno Abyssal main base

"Damn it!" Eastern yelled as she slammed the table she was at. She alongside Battleship Princess were trying to figure out how they could turn the war around. Dozens, possibly hundreds of different drawings could be seen on the table, with different plans, though all seemed either impossible or impractical for what they wanted.

Despite their own power, they were stuck in a small zone that had little useful resources. They could have one or two of them slip through the forces keeping them in, but the Southern Trench would flock there, if they all tried to escape.

Eastern groaned in frustration as she leaned back in her chair. Battleship Princess who was across from her set down several papers.

"There's nothing we can do, is there?!" Eastern yelled "All I can think is trying to do blunt force. But then we're going to get three Hadals, and Enterprise here"

Battleship Princess sighed as she leaned forward and thought "perhaps not"

"What do you mean? We're all trapped here, on the few islands, with enemies all around us"

"Our enemies are united right now. The oceans, especially the Pacific have never been easier to cross, well except before all this started. But… we'd have a chance at winning if our enemies were divided"

"What's your plan?"

Now she stood up and went over to a drawer, sorting through different folders. While she was doing this she said "we've been making a case for this person if we ever needed it. It's someone who could cause chaos amongst the Azur Lane" now she pulled out a rather large folder and brought it over to the table "but she's fickle, and if we fail at our task, she'll kill us all"

"High risk, but high reward"

"Yes, but I'd rather want that than dying without a chance"

"So where do we find her?" Now Battleship Princess set down the folder in front of her, and she started to look through it.

But then after she flipped a certain page, Battleship Princess pointed to a map of Antarctica "We'll find her here. The Sirens call her… Code S"

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Author's notes:

So this is the first chapter of my new book. Originally Eagle, then I was planning on having this continue in the Lost Battleship of The Southern Trench, but it seemed too drastic of a plot change.

Eagle actually said he had been planning this a while before he left, and originally thought it was going to continue in the last fanfic. Though the exact idea and plot changed for a while as I was toying with it, while I was writing the previous fanfic. But now the plot and direction of it is more set in stone.

As I said before I asked Eagle to make a few things in navalart and upload them to his deviantart. Though some things I've asked him to wait to upload until they show up here.

Anyways hope you enjoy it!