She had come in a world where the Sirens were on the verge of destroying Humanity. The Iberian Union had joined the Azur Lane when it was founded. Espana, along with her sisters Alfonso XIII and Jaime I, were the guardians of the Rock. The power of the Sirens was so immense that it shaped a new Europe. In its wake, it separated countries and region in islands. The Rock was no exception and it even gain a four kilometers of land.
But the Sirens never reached the Rock and their submarines could only be fight by cruisers and destroyers. The three battleship welcomed a fourth sister, Reina Victoria Eugenia. They never saw action, and their country was the less destroyed by the end of the war.
However, Espana could see the scars on other shipgirl's faces. She felt like they had been left out of everything for the better and the worst. A new era of prosperity would unfold. Espana always felt like they hadn't done anything to deserve it. Thus, she decided to help however she could, and she would honor the Azur Lane alliance forever because her happiness wasn't the result of her own labor but the labor of countless.
She made great friendships with Dante Alighieri, Gangut, Tegetthoff, Salamis and Sultân Osmân Evvel. The following treaty left them unscathed, but her friends disappeared before her eyes. Dante Alighieri was scrapped. Gangut secluded herself in the north. The depressed Tegetthoff stayed in her castle all day. Sultân Osmân Evvel oversaw the gates that lead to the Black Sea. Only Salamis from the Hellenic Navy remained in contact with her.
The world seemed to run away from her.
And her own sister Alfonso XIII had betrayed the alliance for personal gain. She at least let Jaime I fight another day in her name. She finished her career with only one battle under her belt: The Battle of Madrid. For her, it wasn't about the number; it was all about the impact.
And she leaves without regrets, fired upon by enemies, not by Azur Lane.
"Crimson Axis rest in hell! Long live Azur Lane!"
Madrid
The administration of the Confederación Ibérica Roja had been relocated to one of the last building standing in the city in ruins. It was simple and old building that was used in the confection of bricks. Their bunker-like construction materiel left the building in a good shape enough to house the new administration. Shut in her room, Alfonso XIII thought about the next battle, about the next step. Reina Victoria Eugenia stood beside her still trying to understand why Alfonso's mental state was collapsing.
"If you were unsure about Espana, why did you still insist on getting rid of her?"
"She could have hampered my plans."
"What plans? You talk about them like I know them. Yet, I am left in the dark."
Alfonso fixed Victoria. She murmured something to herself. Victoria tried to make sense of what was happening. Her expression became more concerned.
"Look, will you protect me at all cost?"
"I am there to serve you, your highness."
"Then please be my shield when the time comes."
She presented her hand to Reina Victoria Eugenia. The battleship, who thought of herself has nothing more than the extension of the king, took her hand and promised with a smile.
Victorio declared, "When the time come, you will tell me all about this?"
In the harbor, the last actors for Operation Felix came. Alfonso examined the little group.
"San Giorgio and San Marco! Why are they sending Alighieri's outdated bodyguards?"
"It seems Ironblood's forces will be our main firepower."
"Let's hope admiral Blanco has good plans up his sleeves."
Gibraltar, in the night
Almirante Latorre couldn't sleep this night. The lone Queen of the South had been alone for so long. She just wanted to be with her sister like in the good old time of the Great War against the Sirens. The carrier Eagle, which Latorre called Almirante Cochrane, made her laughed. Her sister of the south, who had taken too much sun and tropical foods, had gain a little bit of height and meat over her sister from the Royal Navy. Her tan symbolized that eternal exclusion.
"What Can I do? The Royal Navy needs me more than ever, especially since the Raid on Taranto, we aren't support no more but a pivotal element on the battlefield like you, battleships."
"If you could go back, would you do it?"
"Three weeks ago? Yeah but now I doubt myself. So much planes everywhere. Illustrious, with only two squadron, humiliated the Sardignians. And from reports from our little friends that took part in the Battle of Madrid, it seems planes are now the essentials."
"Annoying, vociferated Latorre. I was lucky to be retrofitted with even more anti-air guns."
"I promise, you will need it."
"Let's hope our commander doesn't fail us…"
"If Sommerville trust him, I will trust in his judgment."
They then talked about their respective life. Almirante Latorre listened to the tales of her sister. The multiple plane changes that she went through. Latorre envied her. Down in the south, they didn't have the funds the retrofit her with, at least, twin 381mm like Queen Elizabeth. Instead, she was stuck with twin 356mm. For Eagle, she wondered why her sister stayed with her dress that would sure be too hot in the sun. Latorre laughed. She dressed herself for the occasion in a colder climate. Down in the south, she was no different from Rivadavia or Minas Geraes.
"Wait! You dressed in a tank top?!"
"Shut up," asked Latorre who looked around for eavesdroppers. "I don't want to be seen in those filthy clothes. Only royal clothes are adapted for my person! We never talked about that!"
"You are so funny Latorre. The sun really damaged your brain!"
"Shut up… Idiot."
Eagle looked through the window. She pointed the glowing moon in the cloudless night sky full of stars. Latorre went to the window.
"These are our lucky stars," Eagle said.
Latorre and Eagle stayed at the window, each one on their side, and fixed it for hours. Latorre was so happy. It wasn't the harsh and hot jungles. It was the warmth of the Mediterranean and Atlantic's wind caressing her face.
How I miss you sister. Those Ironblood will pay.
[…]
Commander Buiza was reviewing his manpower for the incoming battle that he wasn't sure when it would strike. Beside him, his newly promoted secretary Libertad was standing beside him without flinching waiting to deliver papers in his name. The sleep-deprived commander needed not to waste time with paperwork. Libertad took the freedom to bring him a sweet tea to relieve his stress. He accepted her gift without grumbling.
Another shipgirl entered the room.
"Cairo reporting."
"What is it?"
"It seems scout planes have spotted fleets from the enemy going toward Gibraltar. More than six battleships."
Buiza found that weird. They were superior in every way. He suddenly realized what was missing.
"Report of any planes?"
"Not as far as I am aware."
He dismissed her. Libertad look at his frantic writing on a piece of paper.
"What are those notes?"
"I'm trying to extrapolate the number of planes we saw at Madrid. They were in the thousands and I can't believe our enemies won't bring these machine to this battle."
"If they bring it, we are clearly outmatched in this area."
"And I am guessing we are. Best case scenario, they don't bring planes and we win."
"Gibraltar's planes are ready to fight upon your command."
Libertad went behind his chair. She started rubbing her hands on his stiff shoulders. She invited him to relax and take it easy.
"I'm happy I can rely on you in these hard times."
"You might not be fighting like us on the front line, but it doesn't make you less afflicted by the situation."
The commander smiled.
In the morning
Scouting planes, model Fairey III F, were on their daily reconnaissance mission over Iberia and the west of the Mediterranean. HMS Eagle had sent planes in the vicinity to spot any enemies. They had been on the lookout for days and no one had shown their face.
Suddenly, the transmission for the scout planes was lost. Buiza repeated his message from the cabin of his gunboat in a fanatic effort to get the communication back. Nothing happened.
"They were maybe shot down by anti-air?" said Libertad.
"I have a bad feeling. Get ready."
Libertad saluted. In the harbor, she took her riggings and warned everyone.
"Oh well," said Ajax to Exeter. "In the hope that you get better soon."
"Until my rigging is repaired."
Ajax reunited with her unit of the Patagonian Sun. Afonso de Albuquerque, Bartolomeu Dias and Blaz de Lezo were waiting on the southern side of the harbor. They were to defend the southern portion of Gibraltar since the port of Ceuta had fallen into enemies' hands. Since Lisbon was the last port left after Gibraltar, they were almost encircled.
Buiza waited for the Andean Condor who were taking their time to be prepared. Libertad tried hastening her comrades. Almirante Latorre and Eagle were walking slowly and talking while getting to the dock.
"Get ready you two!" said Libertad.
"It's just another false alert," insisted Latorre.
After minutes, they were ready to patrol the vicinity of Gibraltar. Buiza maintained contact with São Paulo, the flagship of the northern front, and Rivadavia, the flagship of the southern front. Without scout planes on their riggings, they were forced to rely on their eyesight and scout planes from Gibraltar. Land-base scout planes were longer to prepare and were slower in the sky.
The slow-moving battleship force of Almirante Latorre slowed down effort by the cruisers to look for enemies on the ten kilometers square of water.
"If you don't get your gear ready, you are going to be easy fishes for planes."
"My engines and boilers are totally outdated for that!" complained Latorre.
Grey and black clouds suddenly appeared on the horizon covering the sunrise. These fast-moving clouds took less than ten minutes to engulf Gibraltar in a small storm. They had survey around seven kilometers of water when silhouettes appeared on the horizon. Were they from Malta?
"Buiza to unknown signal. Can I have confirmation?"
Instead of a confirmation, thunderous spark came from the horizon. Two lobs slowly came and lifted the water on landing. They were clearly enemies, but the sudden rain reduced visibility to a mere two kilometers. The sound of gunfire intensified.
"I will send my planes!"
Eagle deployed a squadron of torpedo bombers that disappeared in the rain. Eagle maneuvered them to hit her enemies on the side. Her first wave stopped the enemies' volley. The carrier, who scored two hit, transmitted her estimate coordinated to her sister.
"Count on me to hit them!" assured Latorre.
[Battle A-1]
In the north, the sky suddenly turned dark. A mist came with the rain reducing visibility below one kilometer.
"What is this!" screamed São Paulo.
"Don't lose sight of each other!" said Riachuelo. "Screening force, keep contact with us!"
"We have enemies in front… of us…" tried to say Bahia.
The signal jammed. The covering force could see each other, but not their covering force. They were isolated. Like a horror story, three big guns appeared on a menacing riggings. Her Ironblood outfit was stuff of nightmares. The shark sisters, the Deutschland-class pocket battleships, Admiral Scheer. Her menacing shark teeth shined through the mist. A Vichya Dominion heavy cruisers and two Sardigians light cruiser followed. Scheer applauded.
"Girls, we have our target. Schleswig-Holstein, Schlesien, Sachsen. Please, refrain from firing for the moment."
"Dammit! Dammit! Riachuelo! São Paulo! Do you receive me!" repeated Rio Grande do Sul.
The heavy cruisers opened fire at 1 and a half kilometer. The light cruisers and their destroyers closed in fast. Miguel de Cervantes called a hastily retreat.
[Battle A-2]
Meanwhile, little silhouettes had sneaked past the screening force onto two easy targets that were still trying to get their radio to work.
They fired all their torpedoes and departed.
[…]
The south of Gibraltar was quieter with only a small rain and grey clouds. Rivadavia and Moreno had no idea what was unfolding in the north nor the center. They were tasked with patrolling the south water and that was what they were doing to the letter. Bartolomeu Dias spotted unknown forces coming from Vichya Dominion's territory. Rivadavia didn't hesitate. She ordered everyone to be combat ready.
Shark like teeth, shark rigging, Ajax recognized the shipgirl. It was the pocket battleship Deutschland. She already had defeated Admiral Graf Spee. She could now feast on another giant ship.
"Ironblood continuously serves me sharks on a plate. I hope you will enjoy your last battle Deutschland."
"Who are you little bug? I don't remember ever seeing a frail bug like you."
"You're louder than your sister. That is for sure."
"My sister? How do you know about her?!"
"Before coming here, she had a showdown between me, Achilles and Exeter. We defeated your sister."
"Impossible! You are lying. I would have been informed by now!"
"And now, I have the help of Iberia and the Free Latin Union. Enjoy your beating!"
Dunkerque intervened, "These outdated designs? We will make short lives of them."
"I wouldn't be so sure!" Rivadavia said with a confident grin.
Waves of planes coming from the airfields of Ceuta started appearing in the sky.
"Common, you already have us outnumbered and you need planes? Pathetic!" said Moreno.
Without a word, both sides started firing range shot. Within minutes, it was a violent firefight. Enemy planes scattered the destroyers running for their lives. They were greatly outnumbered.
[Battle A-3]
Then the destroyer Vouga was hit by Deutschland. In return, Rivadavia and Moreno reduced Carlo Mirabello to ashes. Totally outnumbered and outmatched, Rivadavia ordered a retreat toward Gibraltar. They slowed them down and they couldn't hope to win. The fast battleship Dunkerque ordered a pursuit.
"Don't let them run away! We have the advantage of speed."
"Lezo, asked Ajax, come with me and the destroyers, we will launch torpedoes to slow them down."
The destroyers, Lezo and Ajax released all the torpedoes available in their arsenal. The giant wave of warhead headed to cautious enemies that had to maneuver to not be hit by these powerful weapons. In the meantime, Ajax and her comrades were already far away, out of secondary gun range. Dunkerque fired her gun out of anger. They had accomplished their goals. The heavy cruiser Algérie tried resonating with her.
"We made the enemy retreat. Our submarines just need to cut them and we are good."
"I still hate the fact that they ran away."
Deutschland passed by the destroyer Quintino Sella, Francesco Crispi and Augusto Riboty who were crying over Mirabello's body.
"Get over it you three! We need you!" said Deutschland with anger.
"But… But Carlo…"
"She's gone! We can't do anything about it but move forward."
Ajax's declaration resonated in her head like a bell hitting her skull. A bitter taste and her desire to annihilate her enemies grew. She thought about feeding Ajax to her sharks. Espana came back in her head. Maybe she could try some of Alfonso's technique. Fist clenched, she tried to catch up with the fastest cruiser. Almirante Cervera led the pack while Navarra was lagging behind with the battleships.
Madrid, before the battle
Admiral Blanco had already unveiled his plan to his shipgirls. They were to go in a pincer movement with the central force being a cover force. Alfonso XIII, being less powerful accepted the task. She also accepted the task thinking it would be the spot where she would have less chance to finish at the bottom of the sea.
How she was wrong.
The moment they sighted Gibraltar, a squadron of planes dove on them and dropped their torpedoes.
San Giorgio was struck on the port side and reduced to sluggish hulk.
Daniele Manin's ammunition magazine detonated. Her burning corpse released a distinct black smoke that resembled a smoke emergency marker. Enemies battleship fired in the surrounding water. Unable to respond, Alfonso asked Blanco to retreat immediately.
"Negative. Stay in the area until the northern and southern forces closed in."
"They kept their main force in the port! They won't be powerful on the side!" Alfonso repeated.
The panicked Alfonso wasn't firing or giving any orders to the confused cruisers.
"What do we do?" asked Baleares.
"Seems like Alfonso doesn't know what to do," answered a furious Canarias.
She directed the cruiser squadron forward. They wouldn't be intimidated. For Alfonso, she wanted to run away from the battle, but her own forces would mock her for doing so. Victoria Eugenia's hand took hers.
"I will be your shield, Alfonso. Do you remember."
Alfonso smiled hesitantly. It was the smile that, if everything was to go wrong, she wouldn't be blame and someone would be there for her, as her shield.
[Battle A-4]
Author's note: I made this Order of Battle for the ease of reading and for myself because there is a lot of ships involved.
Order of Battle : Battle of Gibraltar
Gibraltar Defense Force (Commander Miguel Buiza)
Smocking Snakes (North):
Battleships : Riachuelo / São Paulo (2)
Cruisers : Bahia / Rio Grande do Sul / Miguel de Cervantes / Liverpool (4)
Destroyers : Pará / Piauí / Amazona / Mato Grosso / Rio Grande do Norte / Paraíba / Alagoas / Santa Catarina / Paraná / Sergipe (10)
Patagonian Sun (South):
Battleships : Rivadavia / Moreno (2)
Cruisers : Afonso de Albuquerque / Bartolomeu Dias / Blaz de Lezo / Ajax (4)
Destroyers : Buenos Aires / Dao / Douro / Lima / Tejo / Vouga / Antioquia / Caldas / Tamega / Guadiana (10)
Andean Condor (Middle/main force):
Carrier : Eagle (1)
Battleships : Almirante Latorre / Minas Geraes / Jaime I (3)
Cruisers : Libertad / Mendez Nunez / Almirante Grau / Coronel Bolognesi / Cairo (5)
Destroyers : Alsedo / Lazaga / Sánchez Barcáiztegui / José Luis Díez / Alcalá Galiano / Churruca / Almirante Valdes / Almirante Antequera / Almirante Miranda / Císcar / Escaño / Gravina / Jorge Juan / Ulloa / Cossack / Lively (16)
Submarines : Upright / Ultimatum / Unbroken / Urge / Upholder / Narciso Monturiol / Cosme García / A-3 / B-1 / B-2 / B-3 / B-4 / B-5 / B-6 / Isaac Peral / C-2 / C-3 / C-4 / C-5 / C-6 / Espadarte / Hidra / Delfim / Golfinho (24)
Reserves : Exeter (damaged by Admiral Graf Spee)
Crimson Axis (Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco)
Northwest Front:
Battleships : Schleswig-Holstein / Schlesien / Sachsen (3)
Cruisers : Admiral Scheer / Dupleix / Alberto Di Guissano / Alberico Da Barbiano (4)
Destroyers : Velasco / Huesca / Ceuta / Libeccio / Grecale / Panthère / Tigre / Verdun / Le Hardi / L'Indomptable (10)
Southwest Front:
Battleships : Provence / Dunkerque / Württemberg (3)
Cruisers : Deutschland / Algérie / Navarra / Almirante Cervera (4)
Destroyers : Quintino Sella / Francesco Crispi / Carlo Mirabello / Augusto Riboty / Lion / Lynx / Vauban / Guépard / Gerfaut / Aigle (10)
Main Attack Force:
Battleships : Alfonso XIII / Reina Eugenia Victoria (2)
Cruisers : Canarias / Baleares / San Giorgio / San Marco (4)
Destroyers : Teruel / Melilla / Marte / Neptuno / Jupiter / Vulcano / Daniele Manin / Cesare Battisti / Francesco Nullo / Nazario Sauro (10)
Wolfpack I (SS) : General Mola / General Sanjurjo / G-7 (3)
Other Submarines : Durbo / Lafolè / Tembien / Iride / Naiade / Rubino / Diamante / Capitano Raffaele Tarantini (9)