After the first two meetings, I declared them to be successes and sent a glowing report upstairs that should give the politicians at least the illusion of progress. I also noted to myself that these were really fun to do. They were something I looked forward to doing and didn't feel like work. That being said, there were way too many ships in this harbor to do them all one at a time. That, and I felt summoning them into my office tended to start things off on the wrong foot, so I tried a different tactic.

While the Iron Blood may not have invested as much into destroyer tactics as the Sakura, their Z-Series was extensive. After some careful observation and study (read: dartboard and a blindfold), I decided to interview them next. This time, I met a few of them at the canteen.

Normally, I ate alone somewhere else. Seeing me in line for breakfast was an unusual sight for everyone, and I could feel their confused looks upon me. Still, I walked up to Cassin in a hairnet. She was clearly thinking of something else, and recited the lines, "Move on up. Pick what you want. Move on up. Pick what you want." Some of the tater tots looked good to me and I asked her to give me some.

Her head jerked up to an unfamiliar voice and I could see her heterochromatic eyes. "Oh hey, commander. Weird seeing you here."

I responded, "Yeah, I don't come often."

She dumped a spoonful of tater tots and some brisket onto my tray and said, "You should grab some apple cobbler before it goes away. St. Louis made it herself."

I asked, "Which one?"

"The one that doesn't have a lance. Now move on; You're holding up the line."

I headed over to the designated table and looked around. After a recent environmentalist push, we decided to switch to metal utensils. Rather than throwing more plastic away and having our port compared to a prison, we now had to deal with people stabbing each other. Not that the silverware had a chance in hell of penetrating anyone's armor, but the constant clinking noise of their comedic attempts drove anyone with even a shred of sanity up a wall. At least it added another method of employing people via dishwashing.

Like any cafeteria, the groups and cliques immediately became apparent. All of the bulins clustered in a corner, continuously giggling. Higher priority ships tended to be quieter and stick to their own factions, also separating themselves from the others. Elites and below, however, mingled freely with their own social groups, usually by ship class. I also noticed that bust size increased with ship priority, with few exceptions. One of those exceptions was making her way to the unofficially-designated destroyer table.

Z23 was a ship of many talents, which ended up being her strength and weakness. She'd volunteered to assist in destroyer tactics training, filed paperwork of quality that impressed even Gneisenau, managed our base band, occasionally sorted the books, and apparently made an ungodly amount of money selling confectionaries. To top it all of, I heard she sometimes taught philosophy, a desperately needed subject in this morally bankrupt pit of hormones and oil.

Long story short, it made for a punctual, if highly strung individual. After her retrofit, she gained an unusual amount of firepower, enough to give a few cruisers a run for their money. The cape was a bonus.

Z21 arrived soon after and stayed silent. She tended to be shy, but I can certainly remember a time when I was as well, before I realized I couldn't be if I wanted my career to continue.

Z35 and 36 walked to the table together, still tied to those mines. After a minor incident involving a birthday pinata, they were permitted to carry the mines around the base on their person. However, their explosive charge had to be removed and couldn't just be left around the base, even if "We remembered where they were, we just had to go do something!" The fact that they carved faces into the mines innerved me. Still, they were pleasant to be around, even if one of them thought she was a witch. Considering the amount of inexplicable things that happened around here, she might just be. All of them greeted me with a "Guten morgen."

We all ate some, then Z23 asked, "So… I hear the Odin project has finished the drafting phase."

I said, "Word sure does spread fast. Yeah, with a few others still in the works. Odin's the first one we're working on here in R&D."

Z35 asked, "So, what's she going to be like?"

"Battlecruiser with a focus more on armor and agility, rather than brute firepower, unlike Friedrich der Große. She's even supposed to have anti-submarine capabilities. "

The mention of the last battleship killed the mood a little. I continued, "But don't worry. She'll be a lot more… subdued than the last one. I've even got some concept art of her if you'd like to see."

I showed the pictures around and they showed some interest. Z21 commented, "Nice longsword."

I said, "Well, it's a work in progress, so some things might change, but I've got a good feeling about this one. Regardless, I'm assuming you all know why I'm here?"

This had a mixed reaction. Z23 said yes, but the rest of them more or less grunted and returned to their food and oil.

Z23 piped up again. "If you're really dedicated to this program, why don't you go after the ones in Iron Blood who actually need it?"

Z21 continued, "Better yet, why don't we just pit them against one another and have our losses cut themselves? Put Deutschland and Friedrich in an armored box and see who comes out, then court marshall the winner."

I sighed. "I understand they're an issue and really disrupt operations here. For now, I'm going through the folks that seem the best, and then work my way up (or down, depending on how you see it)."

They all conceded. However, I continued, "But this is about you guys. Even if you're not the worst, I still feel you should be paid attention to. So, I have to ask, who am I to you? Do you feel I'm capable of doing any of what I just said?"

There was a silence for some time. The gossip of the other ships filled everyone's ears. Eventually, Z23 spoke. "I don't like to speak for all of us, especially when we're not all present. But, through it all, the Zerstorers have stuck together. Kreigsmarine never ruled the waves, and we've always been the workhorses; the economic choice. We were easy to produce, laid mines, raided convoys with the U-boats. Even then, our designs have some pretty obvious flaws to them, but we're thankful for the retrofit program to make us feel like we're not fighting with bricks tied to our legs."

"We've always understood Iron Blood has preferred quality over quantity, even if that quality jumped over us and didn't work in practice in the first place. I mean, they didn't even bother naming us. We've gotten over that and now our numbers are our names, but still the thought stays."

"Eugen says that I take all of those responsibilities because I'm trying to separate myself from the rest of the destroyers. It isn't true. I do it because that's what we've always done, and I'm the only one of the Z-series anyone pays attention to, so I have to keep up our image. If I was to ask you one thing, it would be to not forget us. Our history… well it didn't end well for any of us. We've all been given a second chance, and I don't know what would happen if we lost it again."

Wow, that was a lot to unpack. I said, "Then you have my word I won't. I've always tried to make sure the commons aren't ignored." Z21 nodded. Z36 commented, "I always thought we were being played with by the sirens. They gave us technology and we just… repeated history for some reason. I never knew why."

I sighed and scratched my head under my hat. "Yeah. Sometimes I feel we're still being batted around like a cat toy even now, with all of us united. It's hard to stay motivated."

Z36 continued, "Aw, don't be like that commander. You were the one who broke us out of that loop anyway and gave us the courage to stand up for ourselves."

I was incredulous. "Really? When'd that happen?"

"As you know, everybody in Iron Blood didn't all agree to merge with Azur Lane. It was when we spotted Bismark's task force near Gibraltar, back when Sardenga was deciding which side to pick."

I remember it well. It… was not a fun fight. Not that I enjoy pitting defectors of one side immediately against , but that one was particularly unpleasant. Prinz Eugen defected with all the Königsberg class cruisers, most of the destroyers, and a few U-Boats. Tirpitz, the Scharnhorst class sisters, Graf Spee, and Graf Zeppelin were up in the North Sea, near Cuxhaven. They were waiting for the outcome of that battle to make a decision themselves. In the meantime, they made a radio broadcast on all frequencies that they'd only fight defensively, but shoot down any aircraft that came in range. I ultimately had to take command of a mixture of Prinz's flotilla, whatever the Royal Navy could scrape up and face down the Iron Blood fleet blockading the entrance to the Mediterranean. Oddly enough, it was that battle that earned me command of this coalition.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, and that's what made it weird. Waters were calm, visibility was high, and any sea life more intelligent than a jellyfish within ten nautical miles had pissed off. The two fleets had spotted each other around midday, and were maneuvering around, trying to second-guess ourselves. Eventually, it ended after a few hours with a staring contest. The U-Boats attempted to outflank their screening ships and get in position to attach their main line. Our main line consisted entirely of Royal Navy ships, and the only Iron Blood vanguard we had in fighting shape were Z23, Eugen, Z2, and Köln. I stood on the main deck of Eugen and surveyed our opposition.

On the other end, it was quite the motley crew of the more extreme members of Iron Blood. Hipper glared at the traitors with a disgusted disapproval. However, Deutschland seemed absolutely delighted that some turncoats had revealed themselves so openly, and flung around that obnoxiously large hand cannon of hers. A few other destroyers were there, as well as the Roon prototype. She seemed… off; almost incomplete. It was like they'd only had time to slap together some combat instincts and called it good enough. I could tell from my position she was visibly twitching, and her hull seemed asymmetrical. Years later, it would be an unexpected surprise to see that familiar face return when I learned many of the brass thought to revive the project. Bismarck stood menacingly in the back, glowering and practically radiating power. She was bad enough, but what was behind her was what really scared me.

They'd managed to call in some siren support, in the form of two Oceana-class heavy cruisers and a Purifier-class battleship. The sirens were unnerving to look at. It was like my mind wanted to just reject their existence. You know that feeling of pins and needles when your leg falls asleep? I got that inside my skull when I looked at them. They were just wrong and not of this world. In summary, I was scared almost witless. However, I boarded a nearby dinghy with an outboard motor and zoomed in front of our front line. They all looked at me, half-wondering what I was doing. It was something I had to do.

I turned back toward our fleet and called out over the radio on an open channel, "Members of Iron Blood! You know who you are. I do not envy you this day. You may feel conflicted, questioning your loyalties. No doubt, you want what is best for your nation, and I respect that. That being said, there are times when decisions come upon us where we must decide what we feel is best for our nation, even if our own brethren do not agree. It's also true that bad things can be done with good intentions."

The enemy force didn't attack, or even move. I took the opportunity and continued, "That is not today! You all knew in your hearts that you couldn't stand by and watch your nation puppeted by some twisted, eldritch, glowing, alien tentacle monsters with the faces of humans! Even when your fellow Iron Blood disagreed and in the face of schism, you stuck to what you believed was true. For some of you, this may be the first time seeing a siren. You may doubt they can be defeated, because you do not know them. That isn't true, because I know you."

I pointed to the leftmost ship and said, "You there. Who are you?"

She responded flustered, "I am Z23."

I said, "Your name. The most common answer."

Choosing someone in the middle of the vanguard line, I pointed and asked again, "Who are you?"

Köln responded, "A cruiser of the true Iron Blood, free from the puppet strings of the alien!"

I shrugged and said, "That's what you are and a little bit of your cause. Not my question, but fair enough."

Finally, my finger laid to rest pointing toward Eugen. I asked one last time, "Who are you?"

She responded plainly, "Me, of course."

I posed another question, "And why are you here?"

She said, "Because I love the Iron Blood. I love it's spirit, it's ideals, and I will do anything in my power to see it safeguarded." She scanned across the horizon until her gaze stopped at Bismark, who was clearly staring back. "...Even fight my own kinsmen who believe otherwise."

I immediately revved the outboard's engine and drove parallel to the vanguard line. "And I would hope for the same out of all of you! I demand nothing, but your faith in me. I want you to follow me because you believe in me. If, for some reason, any of you feel you've made a mistake, you have half an hour to move across this battlefield to rejoin them. You will not be fired upon, but I can't say the same about those guys."

Everyone digested this, but I did notice a single tear rolling down Eugen's cheek. I've never known if it was one of joy, sadness, or something in between. It was quickly wiped away. I switched to a more secure channel and said, "I'll be transferring to Victorious and command there."

In response to this, the siren battleship emitted a noise that I deafened out any other thought. It wasn't any language, but spoke volumes. It wasn't audible, yet wormed itself into my head like an invasive idea. Even if it'd bypassed my ears entirely, I knew that it was an ultimatum. It was one last call back to the previous order of things before the shooting started.

Even now, I still remember that noise and the feeling of ants crawling inside my skull. Back to the present, I returned from my daydream and said, "Oh, that time. Yeah, I remember Z23 and Z2 were there."

Z23 continued, "I had my doubts about defecting back then. After that, they all faded away. So, I guess I have you to thank for restoring my confidence."

I turned to the rest of them. "You're welcome. What about the rest of you?"

Z21 finished her food and replied, "Meh. You're less strict than our old bosses. We'll see whether or not that's a good thing."

Z35 said, "Well, I guess we're still doing the same thing we've always been: Patrolling, escorting convoys, laying mines, and fighting subs. I've never had any trouble with it myself. Fighting aliens is more fun, though. I like working together!"

And finally, Z36 spoke, "I just think it's cool that we're facing up against other magic-users. Maybe we'll learn and use their stuff against them! Plus, they're a lot easier to judge when identifying friend-or-foe."

I concluded, "Seems to me like you guys have it well together and are enjoying themselves."

They all agreed to varying degrees. I continued, "Then, I won't bug you guys any more. You've got my confidence that you'll get any job done. If any of you need anything else, just let me know."

They all said they would, and all of them left the table in rapid succession. All except for one, that is. Z23 sat there and stared at the table for a bit. She looked like she had something to say, but was thinking it over. I stayed and worked on finishing my coffee. Eventually, she said, "You mentioned if one of us needed something…"

I said, "I did."

She continued staring at her tray. "Well, I rather enjoy talks such as these. It's… surprisingly calming, especially with everything going on these days, and I figured I'd use that promise you just made now."

I replied, "Continue."

"I would like to have more conversations like these, but maybe in areas with less people and less noise. I know we're both rather busy, so don't take it as some kind of obligation, and I'll understand if you have more pressing matters to…"

I interrupted her, "That sounds like it'd be a wonderful time. I'm heading up to my office after this, and I'll get right on making an opening in my schedule. I'll call when I'm done, we'll compare to yours, and then work from there?"

"Y-y-yes. Yes, of course. I'd also appreciate it if you kept this discrete. This whole port is pretty crowded, especially with bulins and manjuus. It's almost impossible to find somewhere peaceful."

I responded and winked, "I know a few. Commander's gotta have a few secret spots, doesn't he?"

"I suppose we all need some."