Surprisingly, we actually had a strategic council containing (what we felt) were the best and levellest minds in the port. I was the first to the conference room. The windows were open and the cool breeze of another thunderstorm to the north rolled in. I checked my laptop for notifications, but I didn't have any presentations for today. Nobody here took them seriously, and they were often rife with jokes and poorly photoshopped stock image people doing ridiculous things. The current one running around was "Holy mackerel! Bismarck on a fish!" Followed by an image of Bismarck water skiing on anything other than a fish.

First to arrive were the representatives from Sakura: Akagi and Souryuu. Unlike Iron Blood, who were technologically superior, Sakura ships made up for it with just straight-up magic. People would ask about it, but they would either deflect, dodge, or simply not answer. What was magical to me was their tactic of throwing their carriers into melee, which blew away everything in the strategic handbook, yet still managed to work somehow. It was decided that bringing two ships from the same division would stifle more creative ideas, so one each from the first and second were chosen. They both sat down with curious looks on their faces.

The situation with the Royal Navy was weird. While they had contributed a significant amount of forces to the coalition, jurisdiction was strange. All of their vessels on the island were under my command, yet also answered to the queen. Arguments in command were frequent, especially concerning the maids. Prince of Wales and Edinburgh were the current representatives from there. Ark Royal used to be in Edinburgh's place, but was dismissed due to harassment charges.

Representing Iron Blood came Gneisenau and Eugen. The former had an entire binder full of papers, while the other had a simple pocketbook. They arrived second, greeted me, and then sat down together, whispering to each other.

The representatives from Iris Libre were the first of the smaller nations to arrive. Usually only one person was selected from the smaller countries, but the situation was complex. With the schism and subsequent downfall of the old Iron Blood, the puppet Vichya Dominion surrendered, yet still had inspired the people under it's occupation. For various complex political reasons I didn't understand, they and Iris Libre remained separate entities, but controlling the same areas. They mentioned something about a dual government system. I didn't care, but informing two governments of the same thing got tiring. Gascogne and Saint Louis represented the only priority ships to be given leadership positions so far.

Dragon Empery had little in terms of non-mass-produced ships, instead contributing through raw and refined resources. Rumor had it that their leadership wasn't getting along with each other as it seemed on the outside. Yat Sen had a seat, but it was often empty, especially since they'd started focusing on internal matters.

While not numerically superior, Sardenga leaned towards heavier ships. Zara pompously strode in, no doubt feeling like she channeled a few centuries of naval lineage and tradition.

The Northern Parliament tended to mind it's own business. They exported raw resources and claimed to be holding the line in the polar regions. After seeing them in action firsthand, I decided to give them as much support and leeway as possible. Their ships were designed for arctic operations, and seeing them on our temperate isle was a rarity. Chapayev was the most frequent visitor, and luck had it that she was present. We knew she was because the air was unnaturally chilly around her.

The Union really didn't have a lot when it came to strategists, but Yorktown and North Carolina were picked via pulling papers out of a hat. The latter entered with a glass of tea brewed by her friends in the Royal Navy. She liked adding ice and quite a lot of sugar, much to their disgust. The two arrived last, chatting the entire time.

I cleared my throat and began. "Hey everyone."

They all said variations of "Hello".

I continued, "I'm glad you all could come at a short notice. Because this is an emergency meeting, I haven't had the time to prepare minutes, but I'd like to begin with some quick topics."

"First off, we've finished our development of project Odin's sensor package. As you know, she will be our first battlecruiser equipped with sonar. Saint Louis, how are things going with the barrage module?"

She responded, "We are making very good progress. However, I dislike being used as a lightning rod."

I shrugged. "There's worse jobs. At least you're being given bonus pay for it."

"I'm beyond materialistic concepts such as money."

"Then you can just tell yourself it's all for a good cause."

She grunted, and then let me continue.

"Also in technology, I know there were many detractors of our explorations in space (especially those in Sakura), but it's come in handy recently. In fact, we discovered some very interesting things in the south Pacific, enough to warrant an entire dedicated task force. I'll be sending all of you a memo on that. That being said, Chapayev, anything new from the north?"

She replied, "Nothing new, except for that very realistic combat simulator you gave us a month back. We're all enjoying it very much and it's helped immensely with training. The anti-piracy on it was difficult to crack, but we managed to make copies and distribute it."

I was a little dumbfounded. "You… you mean Red Alert? I gave that to Gangut as a gag gift. I didn't think you guys would take it that seriously."

"What do you mean? It's like it was made for us. It's the third one in a series, yes? We've all memorized the music and play it at the sirens constantly. There's also talk of us using some of the tactics there for our actual combat operations. It's wonderful and we have you to thank."

Worrying.

"Okay... that's great. Let me know how that goes. In the meantime, we've also updated our specs on the siren's hovering gunships. Those guys have a faster top speed than we thought."

North Carolina said, "I don't think they're a threat, at least compared to my 16-inch anti-air batteries. I've shot down many of them. If it flies, it dies after all." She put on a smug face.

Souryuu griped, "Just because you've shot down a plane with them does not make them anti-aircraft guns."

The battleship took a sip from her sweet tea and replied, "I beg to differ."

Gascogne chimed in. "Conjecture: If a weapon is capable of destroying aircraft and it is used to do so, then it could be, by definition, an anti-aircraft gun."

Souryuu turned around. "She has only shot down two planes with them."

Gascogne responded, "Query: What is the kill requirement for a weapon to be deemed 'anti-aircraft'?"

"Why are you helping her?"

"Statistical analysis: Would you like me to inform you of my calculations of the odds that you will convince her to change her opinion?"

"Shikikan, would you like to throw in a third opinion?"

I sighed, "Admittedly, her idea of loading basically dust shot into her main turrets and firing them at air raids doesn't sound terrible. That one time she hit a bomber accidentally with a HE shell was really impressive, but for economic reasons, let's just keep those aimed at other ships."

North Carolina piped up, "What if it's a flying ship?"

"I wouldn't put it past the sirens to make one, so yeah. Shoot that down, I guess. Let's keep moving, though. I received a suggestion recently from one of the destroyers, and it's stupid enough to work."

Akagi asked, "What do you mean?"

"You know how you guys can deploy your rigging to be the full size ship, especially for repairs?"

They all nodded.

"And you know how you can redeploy them to be attached to you, or you can also detach yourself from it and walk away?"

Nodding, again.

"Well, Simms got an idea after she saw some of you convening on top of Hiryuu. She thinks that if just a destroyer were to deploy her rigging into warship mode, and then have a whole fleet just ride on it as passengers, then that could be a massive tactical breakthrough. Think about it. It's the radar signature, speed, and fuel consumption of a destroyer, but it's an entire fleet onboard. The destroyer could go anywhere, deploy, and then suddenly it's an entire strike force."

Dead silence. Suddenly, Gneisenau exploded into motion, opening her binder and furiously scribbling into it. Souryuu did the same, but on a random piece of paper she found. The pencil lead broke after a few seconds, but that wasn't going to stop her. She sharpened it by chewing it for a few seconds, spit out the splinters, then continued.

Akagi seemed thoughtful, but remained unfazed. She commented, "That is quite the revelation, but I doubt this is why you called this meeting."

I said, "Right. Akagi, no listeners."

"Of course, Shikikan." She then snapped her fingers.

Textbook example of that Sakura magic I talked about. The windows immediately shut and the fluorescent lights switched on. My laptop suddenly complained that it had lost connection to all networks and it's camera. My phone buzzed, probably saying the same thing. My ears also popped like a pressure change and everything sounded funny for a second. The red light on the security camera in the corner of the room switched off. Gascogne seemed most affected, and that would make sense from someone who was more "in tune" with the networks around here. She blinked rapidly.

"Thank you. Now, this topic's about our ship production methods." I unfolded a piece of paper. "I recently received a letter from a friend of mine in R&D. I will now read it to all of you."

While reading it, everyone's facial expressions changed constantly. When I finished, Zara leaned over to Eugen and asked, "What is clomiphene citrate again?" Eugen responded, "Do I look like a chemist to you?" Saint Louis pounded the table and said, "So that explains why I randomly start bl-" before a sudden burst of binary noises interrupted her.

Gascogne's eyes briefly glassed over in her classic "searching" expression. Evidently, she'd broken through Akagi's magical firewall and Akagi noticed this. Gascogne suddenly inhaled and Akagi looked toward her. The carrier asked, "I'm not knowledgeable in this particular compound. I can take a guess on what it is, based on the context, but you're very knowledgeable Gascogne. What have you found?"

"System update: Offloading data to an external server and purging local data from this unit, tagging for later retrieval."

Akagi was a mix of incredulous and suspicious. "Why? And why are you red in the face?"

"Self-diagnostic: It appears my thermal regulation system briefly malfunctioned.

Answer: As for your questioning of my data management, I do not remember. I suppose I will when I retrieve it after this meeting."

Akagi bitterly said, "Everyone talks eventually."

"Rebuttal: I cannot talk if I have nothing to say."

I said, "Well, there we have it. Again, this is simply a proposal, and a wild one at that. I guess we're all going to have to take it slow and steady. To start, my best idea is to ask questions and then go from there?"

Akagi said, "You can ask anything about me. I would never hold secrets from you."

"I can't think of anything right now, but I'll-"

"Oh, don't be so shy and uncreative. Ask the first thing that comes to your mind."

I thought for a second, then asked, "Do you have to worry about static electricity with those tails?"

The conversation quickly devolved as everyone else dogpiled on by asking her questions of similar quality. Such as:

"Do you smell like a wet dog when it rains?"

"What does wet fox smell like?"

"Can you use them as a sail?"

"Can you sit on them at any time?"

"Why nine? Why not ten?"

"Why do you practically collapse every time someone fluffs them?"

"How many ears do you have?"

"If you hear things on top of your head, wouldn't all the sound be sideways?"

I sat back and let the bickering run it's course. Eventually, I interrupted them. "It seems this is a topic we will have to consider for some time before reconvening."

Akagi commented, "I can't say the same, myself. I made the decision of the ends I would go to long before I knew of this. However, I did have my theories. The ends have simply moved and the possibilities have simply widened."

Everyone stewed on this for a bit. I observed how everyone was reacting and I noticed a change. At first, each individual contemplated this, but it gradually shifted. They all began looking at each other with inquisitive eyes. None of them ever once looked at me. They all reminded me of people given the location of buried treasure, and suddenly became very aware of how cutthroat things may get. This could end very poorly for everyone if not handled correctly. Most of them didn't have a lot of discipline and were a lot more emotional than the standard naval officer. Curiosity could turn into obsession in an instant, and my officer training suddenly started sounding the alarm bells in my head. This is exactly how things fall apart.

I ended up dismissing everyone from the short meeting. As a final note, I told the members that I believed everyone in the harbor had the right to know. However, this was not to be discussed outside of it.

After the meeting adjourned, I found myself walking down the Iron Blood dorms again. I suppose she should hear the truth as well. I respectfully nodded to South Dakota again and walked inside Roon's room. She was sitting on the balcony, sunbathing. Not that she ever tanned; The girl was so pale she reflected light. I walked through the room and opened the glass sliding door. Roon commented, "Twice in a day. This must be something special."

I sat down on the cement floor and said, "I told them."

She lifted her sunglasses and repeated, "You told them."

There was nothing else I could think of saying, so Roon continued, "And how did they take it?"

I sighed. "I don't think the weight of it has hit them yet, but I'm sure it will when it inevitably spreads out."

"As the only male here, you might become very popular very quickly around here. Compared to the rest of us, you break much easier. You might need me more than you think."

I didn't indulge her. "I did it because I felt they at least deserved it. Yeah, this has probably opened a barrel of explosive worms, but I don't want them to feel limited. Hell, numbers may be our only real weapon against the sirens. Considering the amount of data released upon their 'deaths', their consciousness probably just transfers into a new body, ready to go. You know if we die, that's it, we're done? I'm sure you've been close enough to it to recognize that."

Roon mused, "I'm aware, but we have to think creatively and try to turn their weapons against them. Just like our new proposed method of producing more ships, we also have to think outside the box attacking the sirens. They're always monologuing about simulations and algorithms. I think they rely on that too much."

"And how do you suppose we take on immortal and extraterrestrial beings? We haven't exactly mastered spaceflight yet, much less make a ship capable of going there. Our ships are still stuck in a past era, some even farther than others. We have to put modern technology in there manually. Do you know how long it took to explain to Mikasa what planes are?"

"Probably very long. She's stubborn that way, but it's all about definitions. We cannot kill Sirens. Change that to 'they cannot die'. That means they couldn't die even if they wanted to."

I let her continue.

"Then, we make them want to die. It would be an unbearable misery that they would never find the sweet release to. Repeat that enough times, and they just break. That is because armor and shields protect our bodies." She tapped her head. "But our minds… they have no such protections, and as you told me a long time ago, that's always an even playing field. And there you have it: One 'dead' siren. We repeat this as many times as there are sirens on the planet. As far as we know, they can't even make more of themselves."

I replied, "You know, as psychotic as that sounds, I can't think of another way right now. Don't you have any sense of moral or honor?"

"Sticking to a moral is only a method of self-satisfaction. I don't bother with such limitations and I don't need to pat myself on the back. Let's win first, and then we'll write in the honor after the fact as the victors. It'll be like that little war the Union had with itself back when there was a disagreement of states' rights."

"I'm from the Union, and I can tell you there was more to it than that and it was no 'little' war."

"You like to think that. Speaking of morals and the subject at hand…" She slowly turned on her chair and leaned towards me.

"What?"

"Spare me, commander. You are alone on an island with all of us and with no direct supervision. Soon, it may get a lot more dramatic around here. I wouldn't want your inexperience to harm your relationship with everyone else." She continuously closed the distance between her and me.

I instinctually leaned backward. "Since when have you ever cared for my relationships with the others?"

"I don't. The only one that matters to me is ours. Now that the metaphorical fence is torn down and all bets are off, are you going to still believe it's there like a sheep, or are you going to put some real meaning behind this ring?"

"There's more to it than that."

"You say that a lot, but sometimes thing are simple and straightforward. You're right. There is more to it than that, but it's sorely lacking without it. Just let loose and listen to yourself. You'll have boldly gone where no seaman has gone before."

"I can't do anything permanent. Even if I have more freedom than any other officer, I have a war effort to manage. There's only so much of me to go around, and work takes up almost all of it. Not to mention you still have duty. Oh, and that little 'weapon' of yours."

Roon weighed the options, stood up, and walked inside. "Well, if I could single-handedly end the war right now, I would, but that's not happening any time soon. Also keep in mind that if I knew about a weapon, I would also know how to switch it on and off. However, Logistics division is very reasonable when it comes to small requests, such as something easily smuggled in disguised as stamps."

"What….oh. How the hell did you manage to get those past the mail office? Almost all packages are screened. You didn't kill anyone, did you?"

She gave me a smug face while rummaging through the back of her wardrobe. "No, but you can do more with a kind word and a gun than just a kind word."

"Give me… give me ten minutes to think. Just ten minutes of peace."

"And peace you shall have. I will be waiting for your decision with great anticipation."

Meanwhile, Helena was enjoying herself while escorting a convoy. It was one of those deployments where she brought the throttle to half speed, pointed the bow in one direction, and put some music on. She reclined, but was interrupted by a secured directional radio signal. It appeared to be encrypted, but she was one of the best when it came to codes.

"This is Sakura submarine I-58 calling Union cruiser Helena. Callsign: Uniform, Whiskey, Uniform. Please provide countersign."

Helena checked her notes and responded, "Countersign: Oscar, Whiskey, Oscar."

Suddenly. I-58 surfaced a few hundred yards to the port of Helena. She kept a neutral face and said, "Hey, Helena. Aren't you supposed to do a sonar ping every hour while on convoy duty?"

"Yes, but active sonar tends to attract more trouble than it's worth while escorting. Besides, my passive is good enough that I'll hear them anyway. I don't like being loud."

"If you get surprised by a lurker, don't get mad at me. Anyways, I'm here for the secret cargo?"

"Secret cargo? I didn't hear anything about that."

"That's because it's a secret. Ask the captain of the Ahoskie about it."

Helena spent some time on another channel, then returned. "He says he doesn't know anything about it."

"What do you mean he doesn't know? The super-important thing that he was handed."

"He says he doesn't remember."

"The orange box. The one labelled oranges, but isn't full of oranges. It's the second part of the first secret cargo."

"Oh... oh... He says he remembers now. He also says he'll hand it over to you."

There was some chaos and a brief scare of nearly dropping the box in the sea, but eventually it made it across. I-58 thanked Helena and asked, "Look, I know you like being quiet, but please stick with protocol and occasionally ping the water."

Helena said, "If it makes you feel better, I will do it."

I-58 started to submerge and wished her well.

Helena smiled and activated her sonar. What immediately came out of the speaker was not a ping: "CAN'T BE TOUCHED! CAN'T BE STOPPED! CAN'T BE MOV-"

Helena turned off everything in a respectable fraction of the speed of sound. She awkwardly looked in the direction of I-58, whose head was only visible above the water.

The Sakura sub looked back and mumbled, "You Union ships have the strangest tastes in music.", before fully submerging. Helena wondered if the sirens could manipulate time, she could delete the past thirty seconds from history.