Madrid

Gerhard Wagner headed to a special room after he left his admiral office beside the deceased Blanco. Upon arrival, he had taken over the base under suspicious eyes. The situation was tense since their soldiers were occupying the various port around Iberia excepted for Barcelona given to Vichya for their contribution. It was a close naval base to call in Vichya's force for help. Wagner, for now, was preoccupied with draining those lands dry. Important war material like tungsten, chromium and nickel were countless on these lands.

His "Wagner Campaign" was going better than expected with no opposition or interference, but the recent fall of southern territories made bombing a recurring occurrence. The fall of Ceuta and Casablanca meant they were close to being attack in Madrid.

This prospect made his mind focused on one thing : exploit as much as possible before departing. When he picked the phone, his thought was to reassure Donitz that the supplies would continue to flow.

"Raeder here," said the voice on the other side.

"Wagner. Everything is going according to plan. Is anything the matter?"

"Actually, yes. Have you been sending us ghost ships full of commodities and resources? Is this a prank?"

"What do you mean, Großadmiral?"

"Not that we wouldn't use it, but since your exports are as good as Tiesenhausen in the Österreich, continue your work. We will further investigate those mysterious ships."

Wagner went back to his office with some pressure relieve of his shoulders. Iberia, rich lands, could be replaced by those "mysterious ships" in case of defeat. In his office, he immediately summoned Canarias. He wanted to know one thing for sure.

"Canarias, why did you choose us over Azur Lane when Victoria Eugenia decided to join them?"

Canarias looked unmoved. The blazing fire raged within her cube. Her sister and friends were gone. She was a shipgirl with nothing to lose and she was afraid to show it. Pity was not needed.

"Burn. I want to see everything burn."

Three hours in Operation Backbone II

Latorre and Reina Eugenia Victoria were following their destroyers squadron leading the charge. Behind their covering force, the close escort led their convoys to the beaches of Madrid. The carriers Formidable, Furious, Ranger and Santee were covered by Jorge Juan and Almirante Antequera. Underwater, twenty-two submarines would chase enemy submarines and convoys out of the area of battle.

Latorre looked at the bright sun. It was so calming before the impending battle. Somerville sent them on an optimistic note. For Reina Victoria Eugenia, it was returning home. Returning alone. It showed in her undecisive eyes. The cruiser's squadron ahead of them, around Buiza's gunboat, was talkative. Brooklyn was reining her sister Savannah who's teasing and energetic personality annoyed the commander slightly. Libertad, who came to his defense, was bothered by her undiplomatic attitude completely opposite to Brooklyn. If her sister could defuse a war, Savannah was a trigger.

"It seems animated in your battlegroup," Latorre commented.

"Can I join you?" Blaz de Lezo joked.

"Stay in formation!" said Bartolomeu Dias. "We have to make sure not to go far to not be mistaken as enemies by our air forces."

"You are right Dias," the heavy cruiser Almirante Brown said. "Stay focused. We will face a big opposition at Madrid."

Formidable and Santee launched their reconnaissance plane to watch for waves of enemy waves of planes. They went as far as five kilometers without spotting anything. On their way, Formidable saw the bombers formation heading for Madrid. The bright sun illuminated them like shooting targets. Nevertheless, they carried on. An hour passed.

"You are permitted to attack Madrid," Somerville voice confirmed through the radio.

Buiza showed himself on the deck addressing both the ships in his presence and the other forces through his wireless microphone on his uniform.

"To all forces, prepare to engage!"

Different voices responded simultaneously.

"Finally, some good action!" said Veinticinco de Mayo.

"To all forces, good luck," Malaya said.

"The one with the lowest results will get extra lessons!" Ranger shouted.

[…]

Madrid

Shell holes were everywhere, but nothing was left to burn. Canarias was fixated on the remaining building leveled to the ground. Only debris. Small flames of destruction. One single bomber was hit by anti-air fire from Köln. The wreck exploded on the leveled Palacio and burned brightly like a campfire. The bombers went back home while Canarias never fired her guns. Deutschland shook her to take her away from the clouds.

"What are you doing!"

Canarias' usual green eyes had a reddish halo. The pocket battleship usually confident attitude stood back in awe. Everything changed since Baleares death. She took an ammo of her 203mm. The tip was glowing red. Deutschland then smile awkwardly.

" It seems you are ready for the battle."

"I'll incinerate every ship to the last with my explosive shells."

"Don't you think it's a bit extreme?"

Deutschland's shark teeth became little inoffensive tips when she met the pernicious stare of Canarias looking down upon her. Canarias caressed Deutschland's cheek.

"I'll hunt their convoy and set them ablaze. Prepare for the concerto of fire."

[…]

The carriers airwings were battling it out in the sky. Meanwhile, torpedo bombers were trying to pass and drop their load. Latorre unleashed her Pom-Pom guns whose sustained fire transformed Laté.298, SM-79 and Ju-87 in small balls of flames. Victoria Eugenia maintained the same anti-air formation as her counterpart. The light cruisers protected Buiza with all their available guns. On his gunboat, a sailor was manning the single 37mm autocannon.

They were not surprised when shells landed near them. Schleswig-Holstein, Schlesien, Sachsen and Württemberg short range batterie mattered little when they were wrestling at less than three kilometers.

"Formidable, Ranger, we are counting on you!" Latorre said.

Ranger launched a second wave.

[Battle A-1]

While Libertad was busy dealing with the aircrafts and the incoming destroyers, near misses splashed the water setting ablaze Bartolomeu Dias. These shots did not come from Deutschland, Köln Navarra or Almirante Cervera. To the south, less than one kilometer from their formation, Libertad saw a fearless silhouette.

"Santa Fe, Salta, slow her down!"

Two silhouettes surfaced in front of her and shot their torpedoes. Canarias damaged them; she had no time to dodge the torpedoes.

[Battle A-2]

The torpedoes detonation engulfed Canarias in smoke. Libertad fired in the wall of smoke and was met with return fire. Canarias' broadside met Buiza's gunboat whose bow disappeared below the waves. The ship's rear rapidly angled toward the sky. Almirante Brown kept the rest of the conning tower from slipping beneath the waves. Brown's veins seemed like bright purple strings. Libertad rushed to the help of her commander who was untying the rescue raft.

"Do not worry about me! We need to stop Canarias from reaching the convoy!"

Libertad looked around. From the cloud of smoke, Canarias had emerged with her whole attention on the destroyers escorting the landing crafts.

"Lezo! Follow me!" Libertad screamed.

[Battle A-3]

Santee, seeing the troublemaker, diverted her air wings to harass the cruiser. Canarias anti-air power was almost impenetrable. The combination of Royal Navy's 40mm and Ironblood 37mm offered little windows of opportunity to descend upon her. Formidable swordfishes switched target and dropped torpedoes far from her target hoping she would take evasive maneuver.

"Is she crazy!" Furious shouted.

While her anti-air was keeping planes at bay, Canarias pursued into the torpedoes. Her guns were pummeling the landing craft and the powerless destroyers. Alsedo was dead in the water. Churruca's torpedoes detonated leaving bleeding in the arms of Almirante Valdes. Seeing the chaos that was closing in, the crafts diverted from their straight line. Canarias fire obliterated the leading ship reduce to a burning wreck.

Libertad and Lezo opened fire on Canarias from point blank range.

[Battle A-4]

The firefight was fierce. While Lezo and Libertad had the rate of fire, Canarias large caliber and high explosive seemed to pierce even water vaporizing it. Libertad second turret was torn open by a shell. She blew the little fire when a shockwave caught her attention.

Lezo's legs were still visible, but her body was engulfed in flame. Lezo's body fell in the water and sank without Libertad being able to move an inch. The shocked cruiser cried her name. The oil at the surface was the only proof left of her existence.

Canarias' laughs could be heard.

"Her fire burned brightly, but only for a few seconds. A few seconds of ecstasy!"

Lost in her fantasies, she did not see Lezo's and Libertad torpedoes closing in. She was struck in her right leg reducing her speed. Libertad closed in despite Canarias' insane firepower. Each shells felt like a burning meteor. Her outfit was reduced to scraps by multiple fires. Suddenly, Canarias, seeing her batterie totally useless to stop her angry enemy, and Libertad stopped firing at each other. Canarias was holed and most of her guns were disabled while Libertad was on fire and most of her batteries had disappeared under her enemy's shells.

Libertad's clench fist was stopped by Canarias strong grip.

"It will take more than this to bring me down!" screamed Canarias whose bloody eyes fixed her enemy.

"No Pasaran!" Libertad replied with a fierce stare.

[…]

The task force in the north led by Rivadavia repelled the Crimson Axis submarines and destroyed the coastal guns. Mola ran from the battlefield swearing to get her revenge. Veinticinco de Mayo tried to run over her but failed to even catch up to her. Almirante Grau stopped her.

"New orders. We must regroup with our central force."

"Let's hope some good fights are going on there. This was disappointing."

"Big preys. The four Ironblood battleships are there," Miguel de Cervantes said.

Without another second lost, they were rushing toward the scene.

[…]

In the south, Sanjurjo and her wolfpack were pushed back. Suicide boats were neutralized. Coastal batteries were silenced. They received the alert from Latorre. Their help would be needed in the center. Malaya and Minas Geraes rallied their cruiser squadrons and rushed to the scene.

[…]

Latorre and Reina Victoria Eugenia were battered by dive bombers and shells from the four Ironblood battleships. Even if their modernization only consisted of new main armament caliber and anti-air guns, the veterans showed no mercy to their old allies with their damage. In the chaos, Buiza and his crew joined the convoy with the wounded Bartolomeu Dias who had lost all guns to fire damage. Almirante Brown, Brooklyn and Savannah took the helm to lead the destroyers against their enemies who seemed less than willing to fight.

[…]

After Wagner dismissed Canarias, he requested Deutschland and Köln. He had a simple order for them to tell the fleet. He did not feel any remorse nor worried. The mines would be sabotaged. They will be gone in an explosive spectacle.

"Only play with them. I will prepare the last shipment and my ships; we will depart. Upon my signal, you will run and traverse to the south to meet with our convoy. Shoot to kill if necessary."

Deutschland wondered what the admiral was thinking but their commander Wilhelm Langsdorff did not seem to have receive any signal.

"Do we continue the shelling?"

"Just damage them. We don't need to kill for now," he replied.

Their guns were almost worn out.

[Battle B-1]

Weirdly, the dive-bombers and torpedo-bombers, instead of landing on the airfield of Madrid, went over the town and disappeared. Latorre had a glimpse of the planes vanishing at the horizon beyond the island. She knew what they were trying to do but they did not have enough forces to put the pressure on them. Then, the northern and southern forces closed in.

"Taste this you old hag!" Malaya shouted.

"If it isn't our little friend," Schleswig-Holstein said.

"The situation is suddenly to our disadvantage," said her sister.

Ranger's TBF Avengers launched their torpedoes.

[Battle B-2]

A shockwave followed by a mushroom cloud of a fiery color transformed the blue sky in an inferno. The city disappeared behind a wall of smoke. The powerful waves stopped the battle in his track. Reina Victoria Eugenia had her eyes set on the explosion. The city was annihilated definitively in less than a second.

While they were distracted, the Crimson Axis ships ran away to the south where they met Malaya's formation.

"Where do you think you are going!?" she said.

[Battle B-3]

The cruisers Bahia, Rio Grande do Sul, Mendez Nunez and La Argentina were suddenly stuck in a brawl with the enemy destroyers. They had overshot their distance by a mile. Torpedoes were flying right and left. The firefight left Ironblood and their allies concerned about their escape. The explosion had acted as a great smoke cover, but their enemies had blocked the southern exit.

Deutschland passed her destroyers cover and fire on everything.

"Any carriers! We need your help," insisted Geraes.

"We can't do nothing with this smoke cloud!" Formidable answered.

They were on their own.

A silhouette caught fire for a moment, then smoke and debris covered their surroundings. Malaya could not see anything neither could Geraes. Rio Grande do Sul and Mendez Nunez voices could be heard in the smoke. Malaya rushed to their voice. She found them at the feet of Bahia. The dismembered cruiser rested in a pool of blood and oil. The rigging had already disappeared beneath the waves. Malaya and Gereas stood immobile as Rio Grande do Sul embraced her sister's body.

Geraes searched in a frenzy for her enemies in the walls of smoke. To the east, out of the volcanic-like clouds, she found traces of no one.

[…]

Canarias offered a godly resistance to Libertad. They were stuck with letting their fist do the talking. Their destroyed riggings could not be release or else Libertad knew the cost. Canarias seemed in the same position. Their fists met. Libertad lost her hat and was pushed back.

"You are quite the enemy to fight."

"You are lucky I can't fire anymore."

From the sky, Santee's and Furious' planes tried to hit Canarias whose anti-air guns were the only thing left working on her riggings. The last 40mm AA gun was silenced by fighters.

[Battle B-4]

"It seems to be the end for me," commented Canarias.

A glaring and deafening explosion interrupted their battle. Like a volcano explosion, ashes fell from the sky like the snow in winter. The sky became gray and black. When Libertad stopped focusing on the cloud, Canarias had disappeared. Libertad looked around the convoys, the island and endless seas around her. Canarias had vanished.

Libertad declared to the sky, "I promised to find you and we will settle our battle Canarias!"

[…]

For minutes now, Espadarte, Delfim and Santiago del Estero had been tailing Ironblood forces. They saw the admiral of Ironblood, Wagner. The convoy, in all, was transporting material and evacuating their workers. The submarines did not want to blow their cover. They waited.

They were presented with the dilemma of firing at an important target. Their consensus was to only follow them to their new base and signal it to bombers. They stayed submerged. The group followed the trails in the water left by the enemy ships. They were joined by the defenders of Madrid which left Santiago del Estero perplexed. What had happened?

Suddenly, the trails stopped. When they surfaced, they found nothing but a fog. They had vanished.

[…]

Somewhere

"They seem more and more able to use our technology," Tester β said.

Observer α, still glued to her screen, took notes and gave them to the Compiler with a satisfied grin.

"Ironblood has reverse-engineered our teleportation device. Seems like Bismarck wasn't a waste after all."

"You said a battle would follow?"

"Yes," the Observer said, "now that they have the technology, they can teleport instead of traversing the Rhine river every time.

Indeed, the only corridor of water that could transport shipgirl from the north to the Mediterranean was the Rhine River that had been included in the shape shifting of the world. It exited through the Adriatic Sea by the port of Venezia. It had helped with funneling the U-Boats in the Mediterranean instead of taking the Gibraltar pass or any passage through Iberian territories.

And with the reliable usage of the teleportation device, a new specimen had been born. Observer α took interest in Canarias' tainted cube. Such an insatiable appetite for destruction. She would be forever a thorn in Azur Lane's side. For now, she would need Ironblood resources and technology to repair her which in the end would make her part of the Ironblood fleet as the only Iberian ship to stay with them.

"Now with the main dishes. In less than two week, Salerno will be the ground to a grand battle."

[…]

Madrid

In the end, the explosion was a result of the sabotage of an ammunition warehouse that obliterated a part of the city. For miles, the slums had been erased and the destruction left the inhabitants in shock. Soon, Brooklyn and Savannah departed for Sardegna. They decorated the shipgirls that participated in the liberation of Madrid. It was but a consolation in front of the loss of close one. Not a single cemetery or monument could stop their sorrows.

Minas Geraes had to accept the loss of her sisters.

Rio Grande do Sul and Mendez Nunez lost their sister in the same battle.

Bartolomeu Dias lost her sister in Operation Backbone I

Latorre lost her sister during Operation Julius.

The Royal Navy had already lost most of the defenders of Gibraltar by that point. Exeter, Cairo, Cossack, Lively and numerous submarines.

Reina Victoria Eugenia had to accept her new role in the resuscitated Iberian Navy. As an accomplice in Alfonso's plot, she decided to repent herself by helping the people. She ferried supplies from Gibraltar to destroyed capital. No amount of help could redeem her passiveness and debt to Alfonso. She decided to be free like Alfonso instructed her to be. She had a legacy to continue. But what legacy? Her memory about the moment seemed fuzzy. She had the words on the tip of her tongue.

Only meaningless babbles came out.

"What are you whispering?" Latorre asked after helping moving rubbles.

"Alfonso said something important to me, but I can't remember."

"If you can't remember, then it might have not been important."

Victoria Eugenia resigned herself. She would remember it another time. For now, she wanted to help as much people as possible. The days passed under the Mediterranean sun. The only turbulence was a seismic shock wave that shook the entire Mediterranean. The next day, Latorre visited Victoria Eugenia a last time.

"So, your punishment is to stay as a symbol from now on?"

Victoria answered, "Unfortunately, yes. I can't secure funds for my retrofit or modernization. My obsolescence leaves me with no usefulness apart from transporting, helping and anti-air defense in case of bombing, but it doesn't seem to materialize."

"Well then. It was an honor your highness (Victoria blushed). Azur Lane has a retrofit ready for me at the home island. I am going back after so many years… alone."

"At least, you accomplished Eagle's wishes."

"She told you?!"

"I happened to be a good spy," Victoria said with a little laugh.

"You eavesdropped on us that night?"

For Victoria, the moon had never been so beautiful from her window just below Latorre and Eagle's room. They shook hands one last time. Eugenia Victoria waved her personal tissues to the Free Latin Union units disappearing on the horizon. She turned around and faced Libertad, Bartolomeu Dias, Miguel de Cervantes, Mendez Nunez, the destroyers and the submarines left. In those ranks, new faces emerged since they had surrender and promised to not wage war anymore. It was the destroyers Velasco, Marte, Neptuno, Jupiter and Vulcano. Libertad and Miguel de Cervantes pulled her sister, Almirante Cervera, from the crowd and teased her in front of the crowd. The cruiser became shy.

"It is a new day for Iberia. We have endured month of intense battles. Let us decide our fate granted by Azur Lane and move forward from our differences. Let us build together. Let us not forget those who are not there to celebrate with us together. They shall forever rest, breathless, in our water as monuments to our effort to defend what we believe in. Let us forgive those who ventured the wrong track. Long live to the Iberian people! Glory be with Azur Lane for our debts is immeasurable and eternal!" she shouted.

At the end of the crowd, she saw a figure in a blue uniform. He had his thumbs up. She smiled. Buiza lowered his cap and was about to leave the small destroyed yard that the girl used for repair. He was intercepted by Navarra who had joined after her surrender during the battle. She was just too slow to run away with Deutschland.

"Where were you going commander?" she said in a loud manner.

"You happened to miss the cool speech of Reina Victoria Eugenia. Are you that slow?"

"Yes, but they aren't," Navarra pointed behind him.

Libertad, Cervantes, Dias and Nunez lift him on their shoulders without him being able to resist and was laid on the platform where Victoria Eugenia had made her speech. The crowd cheered the man who hastily put back his beret on.

"All of this wouldn't have been possible without the help of a brave commander Buiza!" claimed Victoria.

"Oh. Common, common! I didn't do that much. Espana…"

The cheered intensified and he could not finish his sentence. They screamed the word admiral over and over. When it calmed down, he had all pair of eyes fixated on him. Libertad gave him a thumbs-up.

"I would never trade my rank for a higher one. No matter my accomplishments because I get the most of my day by being beside you."

Later that day, he could be found at the hospital after being almost crushed by their embrace.

Gibraltar

The little submarine Leonardo di Vinci, excited to return home after a great hunt, had sent a message to the supreme headquarter at Città Eterna to signal her return. She was happy that she had now more stories to tell Cesare. Suddenly, shockwaves undermined her rigging that started sinking from multiple holes. She tried to surface, but the unresponsive rigging filed with water dragged her like an anchor. The depth suffocated her. Before the darkness engulfed her, she let go of the hat. After all, it was Cesare's.

Earlier, decoders had intercepted a signal and traced it back to a location south of Gibraltar. HMS Active had gone to the scene to depth charged the target. The destroyer had no idea if she had hit the jackpot. She went back to base when she saw nothing surface.

[…]

In the night, after Giulio Cesare had buried her sister's hat, she spotted a feinted light in the distance. The battleship met a small group by luck. Latorre, Geraes, Rivadavia and Moreno were drinking coca tea around a campfire. The four battleships were so surprised by the Sardignian girl that they thought of taking their riggings when they remembered the surrender of Sardegna one day ago. They invited the stranger to their talk when they were joined by Conte di Cavour that was searching for her sister.

Cesare was drinking the calming and invigorating drink. Cavour joined their talks.

"I thought you were missing since I didn't see you in your room all days," Cavour said while unloading her rigging.

"How did you know where to find me?"

"Somerville relayed me to Latin Union's battleship reported to have been seen on the beach of Gibraltar. I just found you with them!"

"Somerville has some good eyes," laughed Moreno.

They talked all night about their lost friends, sisters, philosophy, war stories and they ended up their night with a toast to the dead before going to sleep on their cold blanket on the sand.

"Let us fight for the living and let the dead rest," Cavour said while glancing at Cesare.

Cesare, while tired of her moral philosophy, never could have hoped for a better sister.

[…]

Österreich, Buda Castle

Months before the Liberation of Madrid

"This is how things will unfold, Eugen," said the prophets in front of the Ironblood heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen.

"You are quite a formidable opponent at chess," Prinz Eugen said while wiping the board after being checkmated. "The same thing cannot be said for your stories. Maybe a little bit of outside wouldn't hurt your head, Tegetthoff."

"I am not joking, you travesty!"

"Diedrich is negotiating with Miklós. You wouldn't want to stain our relations so soon, do you? And Duilio should arrive shortly anyway to calm you down."

'We should have sent the old guard, not me! I hate talking to walls.'

The walls of the castle seemed more talkative than the rambling Tegetthoff who spoke but did not discuss anything of value to her. The Österreich battleship talked about Ironblood's defeat in the north, in the south, the walls closing in, Vichya's temporary alliance and the cataclysm of Salerno. Prinz Eugen did not buy her garbage talk. She just waited for Duilio to arrive as soon as possible before she decided to fire a round at her host.

"Our talks are but disguises that will end in anything. Our rotten empire shall die once and for all beside you!" Tegetthoff shouted to the ceiling.

'She is completely bunkers. What did the Great War do to her?' thought Prinz Eugen. She laid back and said, "This time, we are at war prepared. We have new weapons from our brilliant scientists. We have resources to last for months and we have one the best industries in the world. And you still insist that we will lose?"

"Even if you are entrusted with the best technology, without guidance and purpose, what are ya doing? You would not even come close to me and my sistas. We were jewels of this time."

"You are starting to piss me off, Tegetthoff. I like playing but your attitude is intolerable… What is those 'sista' you are talking about anyway?"

"SMS Szent István, SMS Viribus Unitis and SMS Prinz Eugen."

"Quite the fancy name… Wait! Prinz Eugen?!"

"Let me tell you a story…"

Prinz Eugen was all ears.

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT STORY : MEMORIES OF AN ÖSTERREICH

(First chapter to be released on the 24 of May)

(Thank you for reading! We can always dream for Spanish/Portuguese ships to be added to AL)