Around Alexandria, days later
Following the battle of the Strait, the Ironblood wolfpack disbanded and U-559 carried out independent actions. Her damaged hull was repaired a little bit by her hands, but it was ultimately weakened. To avoid Kepling and the submarine, the submarine ran to a position they would expect the least. In the east, she thought herself out of danger. She would wait for the situation to die down.
After days of patience, almost out of rations and starving oil, U-559 took her courage in her own hands and would do the dash to Salamis. The waters were calm on the way. She stayed at surface level.
Her periscope out, she noticed a silhouette tailing her. The flying object stayed seconds in the air before departing. This could not be good.
Soon, five destroyers were tailing her at full speed. U-559 could not outrun them over the war nor under. She dove with the hope of her enemies passing her. Then, she heard that little "ping", like hitting the side of a triangle (musical instrument). With their sonar, she would not be left alone. For hours, she maneuvered, trying to throw off her enemies and advancing toward Salamis. She called in support that never came. Her radio, her torpedo room broke down. The pressure sustained on the hull was too much. After more than fifteen hours of fighting, she surfaced beside the destroyer Petard who opened fire on her, wounding her elbows and abdomen. Hero ordered all hostilities be stopped.
They recovered the wounded body of U-559 and, before sending the hull down the ocean, retrieved from it an Enigma Key and an Enigma sheet displaying all U-boat bases and hunting paths. The powerless U-559 watched as her enemies were taking with them valuable information along with her.
Sardegna
The fall of Athina represented a good step in the right direction, but the declaration of war from Redmoon cut off important supplies and put pressure on the Österreich at the eave of the invasion of the Northern Union. The war in the west turned to their disadvantage when Gibraltar stood strong. Littorio remained hopeful and delusional with her dreams of a great empire while Veneto stayed skeptical and pessimistic about their chance of victory. After the Battle of Cape Matapan, Sardegna would have to an answer multiple trials to reassert their domination. Unfortunately for them, they would never recover…
Österreich
The Österreich, with the help of Ironblood helped in the invasion of the island of Crimea in the Northern Union. In the same fashion, the Northern Union and Redmoon allied themselves temporarily to fight the Black Sea menace. The fighting was limited to minelaying efforts and raids. Some actions happen, but it was mostly silent for the first years as Redmoon limited their action to the Gates and the bear of the north had to woke up from its slumber.
Salamis, two years later
After their defeat, Georgios Averof and her comrades came back to the base with a nostalgic feeling in their heart. It had been destroyed and rebuilt during the war to accommodate submarines. Its inhabitants welcomed the victors with joy. They had suffered immensely and were now liberated by those who had departed two years ago. Georgios Averof had but one mission: finding her friends' remains and bringing it to the Golden Gate. As Lucky Uncle George wondered the streets, cheers followed. Days went by without a clue to where they had been laid to rest. Only a rumor from a flower shop to guide her.
"When the sun rise or sets, it is said that you can see Konstantinos waiting. It is a little girl who said that, but you can see by yourself…"
That the "cemetery" no longer existed. It was a graveyard of opened bunkers and destroyed artillery batteries. Craters had been opened from the repeated Royal Navy bombings. It was 6 pm and the sun was about to go down. Another day wasted. She sighed and leant on a brick wall, exhausted and desperate.
She fell to the other side when the wall crumbled. Beside her, there was the rest of wood crosses and rocks. It was a rudimentary ceremonial burial behind the bunkers at the start of where stood once a beautiful forest, now reduced to charcoal.
Georgios Averof frantically dug around the site with her bear hands. The soil was muddy and it eased her efforts. As the girl dug, she found one sword, then two, then a dozen. Unique and differing in size, Averof had found them.
The sun passed through a gap in the bunkers wall, blinding her. For a moment, Konstantinos sat at a wood table inside the bunker with her friends and soldiers. From their badges, Averof could guess they were artillerymen. They were unarmed and talked in an incomprehensible language. Their murmurs stopped when they noticed Averof with the swords in hand. Konstantinos smiled.
"Long time no see."
When the sun passed, their projections disappeared.
Like promised, Yavuz accepted to bury their sword at the Golden Gate with full military honor. The cannons were fired toward the rising sun. Yavuz, Reşadiye, Hamiss, Mehmed and Evvel pointed their guns and fired at the opened sea.
"With this, I have no debt towards you. May your friends rest in peace by our side."
"And may it be the start of a long-lasting friendship."
They smiled, frankly. Never again would they let their petty sentiment of revenge get a hold on them.
The Gate, months later
At the entrance of the Gate stood two silhouettes surrounded by guards from Azur Lane. They entered the walls and left their riggings in the dock of the fortress. The delegation went to the meeting with the officials of the Redmoon while the Sardegnian ships had an appointment with Yavuz. Formalities.
"If it's not Giulio Cesare and Conte di Cavour. Welcome."
"I see you too have guests," Cesare noticed.
While Yavuz sat behind her desk, Reşadiye Evvel Hamiss and Mehmed stood beside her like soldiers on duty. Georgios Averof had her own chair at the front. Two chairs had been prepared for Cesare and Cavour beside Averof, who had been playing chess with Yavuz in the meantime.
"It has been a long time," Cavour said to Averof; they had not seen each other since the Great War.
Averof stood and shook their hands. Averof and Cesare had seen each other one other time at the action of the Strait.
"Thank you for stopping us that day. We may have never come back alive if it had been for your daring attack," Cesare pronounced to the shipgirls on a gloomy tone.
"Don't thank us!" Averof said with a cheering smile. "Thank Littorio for letting you guys run away ahaha!"
Cavour intervened, "Enough. We have a simple request. It is to let Cesare pass to the Northern Union."
"I know it is the simplest way, but you could have just passed via Alexandria and it would have been all right," Yavuz said.
"Azur Lane had told us the area is mined but the Northern Union did not give any indication to the Royal Navy. We were hopping you would have a map of the spot to avoid."
Since the airbases of the Redmoons could be use as international base, it was common for them to send aircrafts to spy on both the Österreich and the Northern Union, who seemed somewhat like a threat since their position is unclear.
"And why are you going there?"
Cavour took out a paper from her handbag and hand it over to the flagship. The paper could be resume to a special retrofit mission in the Northern Union. Since Cavour received her upgrades from the Eagle Union, to make it fair, they offered Cesare a refit with Northern equipment. This would rebuild the relationship between the Northern fleet and Sardegna, a link that had existed before the war. Yavuz saw nothing wrong with this paper.
"You will be able to pass tomorrow when Azur Lane's official are done talking."
"Aren't they the one who are going to give us access?"
"More or less," Yavuz answered, cryptic.
As the flagship Yavuz, she had the last word.
Georgios Averof attention had been piqued.
"The youngsters are getting an Averof's treatment," she giggled.
Cesare was about to protest the youngster appellation, but she remembered that Averof was three years older than her. Of all the people in the room, she was the oldest, and had even witness the Sardegnian-Redmoon War for Libya, an event none had witness with their own eyes. They asked what she meant.
"Well I was fitted with a Sardegnian engine, Iris boilers, Royal Navy radar and guns and Ironblood generators. As I understand, you will now have your gears, equipment and riggings from multiple nations. Welcome to the international club!"
Yavuz giggled. The international club was getting an extension.
"And you?" Cavour asked.
"I am not as international as her, Ironblood riggings, Iris fire control system and Royal Navy armaments and radar. But my heart is as red as the moon"
They laughed at her corny last statement. Yavuz became red and searched for support. Her friends were giggling.
"Does it really matter where our equipment is coming from?" Reşadiye said.
"Shouldn't it be for whom you are fighting for that matters?" Evvel added.
Averof agreed. Her spirit was Hellenic, a blue that wander the blue seas of the Mediterranean in search of serenity. Yavuz and her comrade's spirit was Redmoon, a red ready to defend its Gate with a passion only they can muster. Cesare and Cavour's spirit was Sardegna, a green…
"For the most unpleasant neighbors ever," pessimistically answered Cesare.
"For our royal, elegant and playful of living!" Cavour tried to silence her sister's voice. "Even in the face of enemies, we remain optimistic."
The conversation became a confrontation between Cesare and Cavour who were cheered on by the others. Now, they knew why their enemies had been at each other's throats. They talked and laughed for hours until it was time to go to bed. Yavuz and Averof decided to stay up late. Their chess game had just begun and the soothing silence made it a peaceful moment of eternity.
Author's note
It will be my last work and publication since I'm going to University and I have to concentrate on that.
I have written for around seven months (since January 2020 with breaks here and there) and these times have been really enjoyable (except for the bad things going on in the world at the moment). As you can see, I am a big fan of Azur Lane (and Sardegna/Regia Marina) and I started this writing journey to show that Sardegna had enough material to be complete faction. Then, it became a learning journey about unknown/underrated ships. In their personification, it was easier to become attach to them. To think there would be so much material for Portugal, Spain, Austria-Hungary/Yugoslavia, Greece and the Ottoman Empire/Turkey. I was a pleasure to write every one of them and their a-historical path (wink wink to neutral Spain and Turkey). Of course, my personal favorite is the Regia Marina, but I'd like to hear yours in the comments ;).
If I ever come back after University, and there is still no shipgirls from the upper countries of Europe, I will do series for Scandinavia (Danemark, Sweden, Norway, Finland), the Benelux (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg) and the Intermarium (Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania).
For the moment being, farewell dear readers and commanders! See ya later!
Thank you for reading!