(A/N) This chapter ties in with u/Tinselyboyo's Story. it's not entirely needed to read it to understand what's going on, but I recommend giving it a look.

Chapter 18

"Don't see many sailors knocking around, they can't all be on shore leave." Spence commented as we walked onto the bridge. It was easy to reach from the deck and meant we didn't have to go through too much of the ship. Though the apparent lack of crew was still obvious. Hood had split off to go get the tea, leaving us to make casual conversation while we waited for her.

"We're only here for a few days and there's so much to do, those who aren't sleeping are out getting provisions or taking some time off." I quickly replied.

He looked around the bridge, He was probably surprised to see everything in such good nick. "She looks practically brand new from the outside, and the interior isn't any different. How'd you get a ship like this?"

"The owner of it entrusted her to me."

He looked out the window at the forward guns. "Still, it's a surprise anyone makes these ships anymore. You would only see old relics like this as models or drawings in museums."

"I would refrain from using such terms when referring to Javelin. She doesn't tend to enjoy such titles." Hood spoke as she walked into the Bridge carrying a tray with a teapot and a few cups.

"Ah, my apologies ma'am." I hid a smile as he probably thought Hood was just being superstitious.

Hood carefully poured out a cup for each of us before putting the tray to the side. "So, onto business then?"

After taking a sip of his tea spence hummed in agreement. "You said last night that you were able to provide some level of protection for our convoy fleet. I was curious as to what you meant, but seeing this ship has made it rather obvious."

I leaned against the wheel. "Your convoys destination is New York. We have some business to attend to in the union, however it takes a lot of supplies to run a fleet, so we decided to see if anyone would like some protection while making the journey."

He clicked his tongue. "Can't see how much damage a small boat like this can do against the sirens out there. It was only a few weeks back an entire convoy was destroyed just a few miles out from the coast. And there's also all the news coming in about the increased attacks on ports."

"We can't offer you full security. There's no telling what we will encounter out there, but this ship was able to destroy four siren ships on her own, while only taking minimal damage herself. And this ship isn't my only one, I have five more under my command."

"Six warships in total." he scratched the back of his head. "And where are these other ships right now?"

"At other dockyards. We knew this one was going to be rather full so we split up. They will join us when we reach the open sea."

Waking back and forth across the bridge he thought about the offer. As someone who used to do the figures for a ship, I knew he was weighing the costs. He could potentially get protection for him and his fleet, but it would affect his bottom line. Eventually he stopped and sighed. "About two months ago my fleet was making the final stretch to New York. Just as we thought we were home free, several siren ships appeared at our formations front. I tried to call for help, but I knew we were done for, however just as their weapons started to glow, they were suddenly bracketed in fire. A nigh constant stream of shells rained down upon them and didn't relent until they were nothing but scrap."

Both Hood and I listened to his story with extreme interest, this could be proof that other ships were operating out in the world. "When everything finally ended, we spotted two nigh identical ships sailing by. They were a similar size to one of my cargo ships, but were completely decked out in every weapon imaginable."

"Did you find out the ships name. Or any distinguishable features?"

"We tried hailing her. Was a shock when a Yanke girls voice came out the radio." He shook his head. "I thought someone was pulling my leg, but even with her tone she obviously knew her stuff. Giving us the best heading and the sea condition, hell I was expecting her to even give us the weather gage. I tried to get a name, but she seemed to be talking to someone else on another channel and quickly wished us luck before the ships started to steaming north."

I looked to Hood; she would know more than me. "You have any idea who they might be?"

"I'm afraid not. My knowledge of union ships is lacking at best; I would probably struggle even if I was presented a photograph."

"Oh well." I hummed. it was a big ocean, the chances of finding them were slim.

"If your ships can do even half of what they did, then I would rather cut into our profits then sail alone. My crews would probably appreciate it as well, nobody can get a wink of sleep when were in the dead middle of the Atlantic. If they knew you were there it might make things run a bit smoother." He offered out a hand to me. "If you can produce these five other ships then you have yourselves a deal."

"You have my word." I shook his hand. "Hopefully we won't be needed and it will be a smooth crossing."

"You should be careful; hope can be dangerous."

After some more discussion about the planned route and the composition of his fleet, spence had to leave to continue the preparations for departure. He told us that the convoy would be departing in two days' time, Hood had somehow convinced him to give a small down payment for the escort duty. Something I thanked her for after he left.

"If it wasn't for me, you would probably end up escorting him for free." She had said with a smile.

Apart from Javelin having to profusely apologise to Warspite when she returned and promising to clean out all of her main cannons when we were underway, the rest of the day mostly went by without a hitch. I knew Warspite wasn't overly angry and was just getting a little revenge. Though this did give us an insight into a ship's biology as while Warspite was fully hungover in the morning, by the time lunch rolled around she was back to being normal.

The afternoon and evening were spent cataloguing everything in Javelin's stores. We then moved onto planning the journey across the Atlantic. Richard Spence would predominantly be in charge of the route, but me and Hood had been able to negotiate that in the event of an engagement then we would be in full control.

As for a general formation of my ships, it was decided a spearheaded formation at the front of the convoy would be best with the battleships forming the outer line and the destroyers on the inside. That way if we were to come across sirens, they would either have to deal with the battleships frontal armour or face a full broadside. U-556 wasn't suited for open combat so her role was to prevent anything getting within the convoy and if things got dire, to preform search and rescue.

Even though the girls had assured me that they could sail without stop for the entire trip I still figured it would be best if a rota was established that they can all spend some time resting on another ship with their rigging within them.

I could tell the question of who was going to be the flagship, and therefore the ship I was going to stay on was at the forefront of all the girls minds. But fortunately none of them asked, I wouldn't of been able to give an answer anyway.

Eventually the next day rolled around and it came time to uphold my promise to Elizabeth and post my letter.

"So, tell me again why you're taking Her majesty out on a date? And yet I'm supposed to still believe there's nothing going on between you two." Warspite asked as we walked down a corridor together.

"It's not a date. Were just going to get some lunch." Everyone else didn't seem to overly care about it except for her, who had immediately been suspicious. "As for the reason, well. Don't tell her I told you this... But when you were unconscious, she was very down in the ditches. I promised her that when we get to port, I would take her to a nice restaurant. It helped make her feel better." It was a lie; however, it was one Elizabeth had told me to use.

It was obvious that she was still suspicious, but she let it go. "Very well, I will leave her majesty in your care." I went to continue walking, only for her sword to materialise in front of me. "But I warn you. Should any harm befall her, then you won't live to regret it." She lowered the sword and smiled innocently. "Have fun."

I quickly walked off to find Elizabeth.

"I'm sorry my sister threatened you like that, she can be rather protective." Elizabeth told me as we went into the main town area. I had noticed that she was walking with a small spring in her step and her hair looked to have been thoroughly combed. There was even a slight scent of lavender coming from her, I suspected she had gone out and purchased some extravagant soap in excitement for this.

As we rounded a corner, I could see the post office. I felt the letter inside my pocket, it had taken all night to write, but I definitely felt better for doing so. "Right, Lets quickly do this and then get some lunch, anything in particular you want?"

"I'm open to suggestions."

There were a few places I had been at before in this town, I tried to think of one that would be to her taste. "There's an old restaurant ran by a family from Sardegna, they serve all kinds of Mediterranean foods. Well, what they can make with the ingredients available."

"Ooh, very exotic." She nodded. "I spent some time out in the med in my early years, it is a beautiful stretch of ocean and one of the easiest to sail. I suspect the food there is positivity divine."

After posting the letter I started walking us towards the restaurant, it was on the other side of town so I took a few back roads to cut down on the walking. We continued idlily talking about random things to pass the time.

"I must commend you on your planning yesterday, the formation you purposed is probably the best you could do with our limited fleet size. We'll make a fine commander out of you yet. Though." She put a hand to her chin. "You have placed the destroyers inside the formation. It is usually common practice for them to screen the larger ships, their small size and manoeuvrability makes it easy for them to detect torpedo's and warn the rest of the fleet."

"I know, both Z23 and Javelin had informed me of this last night. But to get all that speed they have barely any armour. We don't know what's out there, we could come under attack without a second's notice, I think it would be best to keep them safe inside the formation as standard and let them use their speed to reposition if needed."

"You're scared of them getting hurt, aren't you?" With a sigh I nodded. Elizabeth grabbed my hand. "It's ok to feel like that, the duty of command is a terrible burden. But one someone must ultimately take, and I can't think of anyone more suited for the role than you. We will all fight together, and if the worse is to happen, then we shan't be alone in the end."

I mulled over what she had said, I could feel the grim mood setting in. "You say you can't think of anyone else more suited, but I'm fairly sure that I'm the only person you know."

"You know what I mean." She giggled while lightly hitting me on the back. "Now we must press onward, one's hunger is starting to grow." Her pace begun to increase.

We were almost at the restaurant, Elizabeth had been silent for a while, she occasionally looked to me as if to ask something. As we entered an alleyway she finally spoke up. "James, I've been wondering... well, yesterday you see." she kept stuttering and pausing. A deep red blush started to grow across her face. "When we were discussing formations, you forgot to mention something. And I... Just wanted to know, who you have chosen to be fla-"

She never got to finish as what felt like a train suddenly impacted me in the side, sending me and it to the ground.

Thankfully instinct had made me raise my head up, preventing it from hitting the hard floor. Someone had tackled me and was now pinning me to the floor, they reared up giving me a quick view of her face.

As I tried to understand why some random woman had tackled me she lifted a one of her arms and formed a fist while grabbing my collar with the other. She went to punch me in the face, quickly thinking I moved my head to the side and pushed her arm away. Her face winced as the fist impacted hard stone, but she didn't let it deter her.

"Stupid twat!" The next punch was aimed at my side, the impact knocking the air from my lungs. I started trying to push her off. Though she seemed small, she was very heavy and I wasn't able to move her.

Getting my arm free I was able to get a hit in on her face. The impact was solid but she didn't even seem to notice it.

She returned in kind by letting go of my collar and hitting me in the jaw. Pain erupted out from where she hit and I could taste blood. She went to hit me again; I grabbed a hold of her wrist and held it away from us and then did the same with her other hand when she tried to free herself.

"Give them back you criminal!" We were at a stalemate, while it was obvious, she was far more experienced at fighting; I was stronger and prevented her from hitting me.

"Give what back?" I had an idea what she meant, but there's no way I could have been found so quickly.

Blood started to drip down from her nose. She lifted her head up, seemingly getting ready to headbutt me, a distinct blue light shone from behind her before the weight pinning me suddenly vanished.

The woman's face turned to shock as she was suddenly thrown backwards into a pile of wooden crates, they shattered on impact half burying her in splintered wood.

"You will not harm him!" Elizabeth roared as she stood between us, she was leaning forward and practically growling like an attack dog protecting its owner. Her rigging was out, and all four main barrels were directly aimed at the woman.

Another girl with pure white hair ran over to her. "Lady Riley!" She yelled, quickly attending to her. I was finally able to get a proper look at my attacker. She seemed to be average height and build, and was wearing a long, old looking leather coat. Light brown hair had fallen across her face as the ponytail holding it back had come undone as she landed.

I gave a slight sigh of relief as she started to stir, but was quickly distracted as a third person in the alleyway made herself known. "And you dare to level your cannons upon her." A mature voice spoke out. Its owner walked into view, a tall red-haired woman, wearing a large black formal coat over a white uniform dress now stood between us. All of her clothes, including her black cap had a golden trim further increasing her aura of authority.

As I expected, her body was bathed in a blue light as she summoned her rigging, however I noticed a slight wince of pain come from her as she did.

The rigging was massive. With three main turrets, each with three cannons at her side, along with four secondary turrets that only added to her powerful aura. Finally, two sides of a ships were positioned on either side of her legs.

I heard Elizabeth gasp slightly. "Those guns, that's impossible... You! Identify yourself."

A cane with a large red ruby appeared in her hands, she just looked at Elizabeth with mild interest. "You first."

"Why I... Thy stands before the mighty dreadnought, Queen Elizabeth. Now, answer me." I started to feel worried as Elizabeth returned to her royal speak.

"Huh, and yet so small." She pridefully tilted her head up. "I am the battleship, Monarch."

My attacker with blood still dripping from her nose started to get up, the white-haired girl holding onto her shoulders assisted her. With a hand on her head, she looked at Elizabeth in confusion.

"M-monarch?" Elizabeth stepped back slightly. "But that's impossible, you were never completed."

"And yet, despite everything. I am here." She pointed her cane at Elizabeth. "Now stand aside, my master has business with him."

I could tell Elizabeth was outranked, just by sheer number of guns Monarchs rigging had more firepower. While Warspite was of the same class and had gone up against a siren, however she was also the more warrior minded of the sisters. Despite this Elizabeth held her ground. "Nay, He is under one's protection, and nobody, especially a floating piece of scrap metal such as thee, will lay a finger upon him."

Monarchs eye twitched and her guns seemed to shudder lightly, the comment about scrap meatal had cut her deep. "For you to even believe that you could even scratch me with those pitiful cannons shows that your brain is as small as your chest."

The woman started to stand, but just stumbled and had to be held up. "Monarch, don't."

She seemed to not even hear the woman. With a slight smile her attention entirely focused on Elizabeth and was just waiting for the moment. I had seen enough fights before to know we were almost at the point of no return.

Elizabeth was shaking in anger; she gripped her staff so tightly I was worried it might snap. "Why you insolent!" She moved her foot slightly and the ground seemed to crack beneath it. Distinct clicking noises came from her rigging, as what I assumed to be shells were loaded into the breaches. We were still in a densely populated area.

"Elizabeth!" I stood as fast as I could and put a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough. Please, don't let her get the better of you." My words had the desired effect as her body seemed to relax at my touch. With a sigh her rigging promptly vanished.

With the threat gone, Monarch made her rigging dissipate and just stood there with her arms folded across her chest.

The Woman and I looked at each other. "Guessing there's more to this than you thought." I spoke, knowing that was the usual case for things nowadays. "The names James."

The white-haired girl was helping her stand, while also using a handkerchief to clean the blood from her. She waived her away and stood on her own. "Riley, Elizabeth Riley. And yes, it seems to be that way."

Calling me a thief had given me an idea of why she had attacked me, but having a ship with her had changed things. Looking around I saw a pub on the other side of the street, I nodded my head in its direction. "Fancy a drink, we can figure this all out there without the need of punching one another.

"Yes, that seems like a smart way to continue this."

We started making our way over. Riley waked slowly and had a slight limp. I made a mental note to never piss off one of the ships. Elizabeth was walking very close to me, her head constantly moving to see if anyone tried to make a move.

The girl whose name had not been given went and retrieved a small luggage bag, my guess was that she dropped it when Elizabeth threw Riley. Monarch just walked without a care in the world, as if this entire situation was beneath her.

"To think I have to share a name with that woman. Who does she think she is to just randomly attack people like that." Elizabeth whispered. As we walked inside.

We sat on either side of a table, with me and riley directly opposite one another. Elizabeth stared down Monarch, who didn't even seem to notice. Riley asked the third girl to go get some drinks. With how heavy her accent had been when she replied made me suspect she was also a ship.

"So, why did you attack me? You said something about me being a thief, so I'm going to guess you work for the university of London."

"I don't work for them." She instantly replied. "However, our interests tend to align from time to time." Riley idlily fiddled with a coaster on the table, probably thinking how much information she should give. "Down south you've made a name for yourself, its being mostly kept from the general public, but you're a wanted man."

The woman returned with drinks for all of us on a tray, she carefully laid them out. "Thanks, I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."

"Oh, my apologies." She adjusted her glasses. "I'm Edinburgh, it's a pleasure to meet you." she even bowed slightly.

"Edinburgh? As in the cruiser." Elizabeth asked. Edinburgh nodded. "Ah, one is very honoured to meet thee, thy class was known for both its reliability and cutting-edge equipment.

"I thank you for your kind words your majesty."

"Don't call her that, her crown means nothing." Monarch quickly added. I could see the situation was about to turn sour again.

Fortunately, Riley did too. "Anyway." She spoke loudly. "You were reported for stealing two cubes from the university, and blowing a massive hole in one of the oldest buildings in this country. Care to explain."

I looked at her two companions, my guess was that she knew what the cubes could produce and had been surprised that Elizabeth had jumped in to protect me. "It's a rather long story. I guess I need to start back on my old ship." Taking a drink to wet my throat I begun to recall nearly everything that happened from the endurance setting off, right up until we met up with Elizabeth and Warspite. I only omitted what wasn't really important, and a few details like Javelins nightmare resulting in us sharing a bed, and that I had caught Elizabeth when she fell from the bridge. Both Edinburgh and Monarch seemed surprised at the mention of Hoods name, I guessed it carried more weight with these girls than I gave credit.

Riley just listened and drunk the entire time. When I was done, she had already started on her third pint, but it didn't even seem to affect her. "Got my back injured before I came here. The morphine I was given has started to wear off, this is the next best thing for the pain." she had said. I wondered what had happened, Monarch looked down at her drink when she mentioned her injury.

"Well, had I met you a few days ago I would have called you a madman. But I have no reason to doubt you, and your companion here is obviously acting upon her own free will. And, about what they did to your Javelin friend definitely sounds like something those twats would do if they were desperate."

I felt myself relax now that the threat of any more violence was gone. "What about you? Last thing I heard there was only ten cubes knocking about. where did you find the ones for these girls."

She laughed slightly and downed half of her drink. "Was given a Job to lead an archaeological survey of an old naval dockyard. Thing was abandoned ages ago due to the siren threat. I was going through a bunch of old rooms when the floor gave out and I fell into a basement. The entire place was bathed in this blue light and without even thinking I was walking over to three strange glowing cubes."

Riley had obviously felt the strange draw I had when I was near Z23's and Javelins cubes. She continued. "We had direct instructions that these things were of the highest priority, so we immediately left to get them back. For some strange reason, I ignored protocol and kept them with me. By the time we arrived in London it was late. The boys and I decided to call it a night and go celebrate our find at a pub by the water." The look on her face changed, I remembered what Hood had told me. "Next thing I knew, everything was on fire. The screams of siren aircraft overhead filled my ears, and I could see ships coming down the Thames. the roof took a hit and caved in, burying us."

I didn't know if Riley had made the connection that the sirens were obviously looking for the cubes. I figured it best not to mention it.

"Next thing I know I'm onboard a ship by the coast. The girls had dragged me from the wreckage and fought their way downstream to get me somewhere safe. But just me, turns out I was the only survivor. Guess we have something in common."

The air was quiet for a while. I thought about what to say while watching Elizabeth take hesitant sips of her beer. She obviously wasn't a hard drinker like her sister. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you up this far north, we've only been here a few days so there's no way it could be because of us."

"My son lives in a village not far from here. This town is the closest train station I could get to. As for finding you, I was given information that you were seen in this area by an old college of mine. I had just been walking about when I noticed someone who looked like person in the sketches. Now knowing what the cubes can do and how powerful they really are, I tried to detain you. Consider yourself lucky the morphine was still in my system, or you wouldn't have stood a chance."

Elizabeth quickly spoke up in my defence. "And if he had seen you coming, then James would have sent you packing."

Riley just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Tell me, what's it like walking into a wall and having your nose be the first thing that hits it?"

While I got the comment instantly, it took Elizabeth a few seconds. To my surprise she just took a deep breath and made a smug face. "I wonder, when was the last time you took on a humanoid siren and lived to tell the tale. My James Has fought one with nothing but a sword and forced her to retreat."

"Humanoid siren?" Riley looked confused; her companions looked shocked. Monarch's eyes ran over me before nodding her head and humming in approval.

"Time for another long story I guess." Despite not telling the entire truth, I was glad Elizabeth had mentioned it. Riley would need to know about the humanoid sirens, and the danger they posed. I recounted the fight at inverness. Remembering Warspite's reaction I didn't tell them about U-556 or Z23, and instead just changed the story to say I had taken a cube.

"You really are in the business of stealing cubes aren't ya?." Her accent baffled me. Most of the time it sounded normal, but on a few occasions, it went to one I had never heard before. She leaned her head back and stared at the celling. "But these human sirens being able to disguise themselves. This will certainty complicate things. That might even explain... nah, its nothing. Thanks for that though, I will keep an eye out from now on."

"If you do end up coming across one, all I can say is run away as fast as you can, just by her presence alone I could feel the immense power they have." I looked at the clock on the wall, we had been gone for hours now. The girls would start getting worried soon. "I don't want to sound pressing, but are we done here? We are due to sail soon and there's still a ton of work to be done.

Riley sighed. "Yeah, can't really fault you for doing something I would have done. But there is one more thing, wait here." she promptly stood and went over to the bar.

When she was out of earshot Monarch looked to Elizabeth. "May I ask, why is it you follow James, and were willing to fight to protect him? And yet, the moment he told you so, you immediately stood down."

Elizabeth looked shocked that she had been asked such a question. She eventually smiled and spoke. "He saved my sisters life; And has put himself in danger on multiple occasions to protect our fellow kin. But more than anything, he is always there for us. For that, I trust him."

Monarch fiddled with a coaster, Something I had noticed Riley doing. "I see. Trust is something I seem to be having difficulty with."

"It will come in time. We were granted these body's and all the wonders that come with them, but that also means we have to deal with the same trials and tribulations that humans have to face. Just remember, no man is an island."

The conversation was cut short by Riley's return. In her hands she carried two small glasses. She placed one by me and sat down with the other. "My pa always said you can judge a man by the way he handles his drink. Consider this a test, you pass and I will be on my merry way. You fail, well... we'll see if it comes to it."

Taking up the glass I looked at its contents. While it was a clear liquid, I could smell the heavy alcohol content, it was strong enough that my eyes started to water just from the smell alone. Bracing myself, I quickly brought the glass to my mouth and downed the contents.

The burn was immense as it went down my throat, forcing me to start heavily coughing. Elizabeth rubbed my back and stared daggers at Riley while I recovered.

Riley just burst out laughing and downed her drink like it was water. "Yep, no way you're a hardened criminal if you can't even handle the strong stuff. I think that pretty much clears everything."

"I'm glad I passed." My throat still burned from the aftertaste, but I was recovering.

Stumbling slightly as I stood, we started to leave. "I'm probably going to be off soon, but if I can get some time once I'm done, I will have to swing by and check out this crew of yours, they seem like an interesting bunch." Riley spoke as she offered her hand. "And I will try to misdirect anyone who comes looking for you, and see if there's anything I can do to help clear your name."

"Were off with the convoy tomorrow and will be constantly busy until then, so we probably won't have time for visitors." I replied while shaking her hand. While it was true that we had to be off, I was worried about them meeting Z23 and U-556. "But we'll keep a cup for you and your companions should our paths cross again. And don't worry about clearing my name, I've already started work on that."

Elizabeth and Monarch shared a quick word between themselves as we left the pub. With Riley going back towards the train station, and us needing to get back to the docks we separated and went our separate ways.

"What did you talk about?" I asked as we walked down a road.

Elizabeth had been looking down nearly the entire time. "Just radio frequencies, if we meet out at sea it will be easy to communicate."

"You aright? You're looking a little down."

She sighed. "Today was supposed to be a joyful one, where we could ignore all the pressing matters and just relax. But that woman ruined it!" Elizabeth drove home the point by slamming her foot on the floor.

"Hey, don't worry about it." I gave her a pat on the head. "We can just go out for lunch together some other time. And today wasn't a total bust, everything has been sorted regarding escorting the convoy, and the information we just got can be considered invaluable."

"But we won't have time to go again, we depart tomorrow and are off into the dangers of the Atlantic."

"Well, I've never been to New York before, we might have some time when were there to go out for something to eat." Elizabeth just hummed and continued walking. The rest of the walk back to the ship was done in silence.

We were treated to a strange sight when we finally returned to the Javelin. Large stacks of cargo crates were on the dock beside the ship, with several already on deck. Hood could be seen standing on the upper deck with a notepad, ticking off what I assumed to be an itinerary, she waved to us as we walked into view.

Z23 was walking around the crates checking the contents. She surprisingly had her rigging out. It was a similar size and style to Javelin's, but had rougher edges and had her main gun inside a mechanical jaw that sometimes seemed to twitch and move on its own.

Spotting us Z23 made her way over. "Ah kommandant, you have returned. We were starting to get worried. Did you enjoy yourselves?"

I decided I would just tell everyone about our meeting at the same time, to save me having to repeat myself. "Something came up and we ended up being delayed, I will explain it all later. What's the rigging for?"

Her face lit up with a smile. "A remarkable discovery, one that requires demonstration." She signalled us to follow her over to a crate. "kommandant, can you try and lift this."

"I can, it's pretty big though." leaning down I tried to pick up the crate, to no surprise I could barely get it off the ground. It was too wide to get a proper grip, and seemed to be filled with something heavy.

"As you can see, any ordinary human would require a mechanical aid to lift these things. Now Javelin has cranes but we still needed to get them next to the ship. It was then I remembered everything you had told me about how frau Warspite had been able to throw around the assailants you met in London, or when Javelin had physically thrown a depth charge to hit U-556. So, I wondered." Z23 dissipated her rigging and tried to pick up the crate to no avail. "These bodies of ours are mostly the same as any normal humans, so my strength is obviously far less than yours. However, with our rigging." With a blue flash it reappeared and Z23 went to pick up the crate again, this time she picked it up like it was weightless. "Our strength is greatly increased." There wasn't even an ounce of strain in her voice.

"Good job 23." Moving her beret aside I gave her a headpat. She didn't seem to mind me causally taking the Z out of her name. "This solves a bunch of problems, keep up the good work. I will be out in a bit to assist, just need to sort some stuff."

With a nod she returned to working. Elizabeth and I went inside the ship, I was almost instantly accosted by Warspite, who wanted to know what we had been up to. And then why I had blood on my lip and shirt. Surprisingly it was Elizabeth who stopped her, saying she would just have to wait until later to know.

Leaving the sisters together I went to my cabin to clean up, after I returned to help out loading the ship. Though with the discovery of the girl's strength with their rigging there wasn't much for me to do, but I helped pack away provisions and get everything ready for when it would be taken to the other ships once we left port.

"The nerve of that Woman! If I had been there, she would have had worse than a bloody nose." Warspite slammed a fist into the metal table. We had just finished dinner and I had gone through what had happened. Unsurprisingly, Warspite was furious that someone had attacked me.

"Calm thyself Warspite." Elizabeth quickly spoke to try and diffuse the situation. "While one is also peeved that someone attacked thy commander, we must not lose ourselves to anger. Nor entirely blame her for the misgivings, she was doing what she believed to be right. And the information we have received from this meeting is invaluable." I smiled at Elizabeth as she repeated what I had told her earlier.

"It's no surprise that there are other ships out there doing their own thing, Spence told us that he had seen two ships a few months back. It was only by chance our paths crossed back in London. We will probably come across other ships as time passes, we just need to stay vigilant."

"And what if these ships aren't as friendly." Hood gave voice to a concern I had been worrying about for a few days. "While were all united under the common goal of fighting the sirens, some old grudges may come to fruition."

"I hope it never comes to it, but if it does. I want you girls to try your hardest and just disable the ship by knocking out guns and steering. We will just have to try and show them that working together is beneficial to everyone."

The mood in the room was grim, everyone was now facing the prospect that they may have to fire upon their own kin. Warspite was the only one who seemed indifferent, the old veteran already knew the grim realities of war.

Javelin sprang up with a surprised look. "Oh! I completely forgot; I made some pudding, please wait here for a sec." she promptly ran off into the kitchen, it was obviously a ploy to cheer everyone up. But it worked nonetheless and everyone enjoyed a rather well-cooked pudding.

(A/N)

So, this is now the fastest turnover for a chapter. And with this one out we have reached over 100K words, something I'm very proud of.

This one was an interesting one to write as it was a semi-crossover with someone else's story who I have been helping write that's set in the same world as Azur waves.

The story's probably won't have too much of an effect on one another nor will they be made so you have to read both to understand what's going on.

But with this chapter out we can look forward to James and his crew facing the perils that await them on their journey. And I can promise you won't be disappointed.