"Yo, Dick! What's up!?"

The loud, booming voice of Fleet Admiral Boston sounded throughout the luxurious lobby of the International Fleet Command Headquarters as Drake, Kaga, and Warspite entered.

Drake saluted. "Sir."

"Ha! Don't be so formal, Dick!"

Fleet Admiral Boston was a big man, even taller and bulkier than Drake himself. He was a former marine, and he had even spent some time with the Navy SEALS before the regime change re-assigned him as an admiral in the rebranded Liberation Navy. He had dark skin and a well-trimmed black beard, and he wore his white admiral's uniform fairly loosely.

"Yes, sir," Drake replied, still annoyed that Boston insisted on calling him 'Dick.' He didn't know if the fleet admiral just wanted to use a nickname or if he was doing it intentionally to troll Drake.

Boston then noticed Kaga. "Oh! You must be the aircraft carrier, Kaga, right? Dick's secretary ship?"

"Yes, sir." Kaga confirmed in her usual blank tone.

"Nice," Boston said with a nod, "Dick only has good things to say about you in his reports. Good to finally meet you."

Just then, a trio of people emerged from one of the doors leading into the main lobby, revealing Bismarck, Shigure, and a girl Drake didn't recognize.

The German battleship frowned as she saw Kaga and Drake. "Ah, you've finally arrived. Did you two have fun on your little excursion?"

"Sure, I guess," Drake replied with a smirk. "Don't blame us because you got lost, though."

"I did not get lost!" Bismarck fumed.

"My, my, you are a handful, even to your own admiral!" the red-haired girl exclaimed, an impressed expression on her face.

Bismarck whirled on her. "Shut up, will you?!"

"This is probably why the Germans didn't make a bigger fuss when we asked for Bismarck," Boston said in a low voice to Drake as he gestured to the scene with an amused grin.

Drake sighed as he watched Bismarck and the red-haired girl continue to argue. Shigure stood cringing beside them, seemingly embarrassed by their behavior.

"By the way, who's that other girl?" Drake asked, referring to the red-haired woman dressed in white.

"Oh, that is Ark Royal," Warspite answered. "She is an aircraft carrier in the Royal Navy."

"I see… Wait, isn't she the one who sank Bismarck?"

Warspite wore a tired smile as she watched the two bickering ship girls. "Well, she is the one who disabled Bismarck's rudder which ultimately led to Bismarck's sinking, so those two do not have a very good history. Bismarck also does not get along with the British in general, so that certainly doesn't help either."

Another pair then entered the lobby, presumably to check on the commotion that was going on. It was Iowa and Saratoga, the two American ship girls that Drake had met before. Instead of their usual outfits, they wore a similar getup to Drake's: dark brown carrier pilot jacket, khakis, and black boots. It made sense because that was the way a lot of off-duty officers dressed in the USLN when they were on shore leave.

"Heya, Captain!" Iowa waved over to Drake. "Where have you been?"

Drake raised a hand in greeting. "We were just walking around the city for a bit."

"Huh?! How come we didn't get to go!" Iowa cried, turning to Saratoga, who merely shrugged for her part. "We were cooped up in here all day! Come on!"

"Hey, you three are matching," Boston noted with a chuckle. "We should get a picture of this. You look cute with them, Dick!"

Drake frowned as it was clear that Boston really was trolling him at this point. "Uh, no thanks -"

"Yeah!" Iowa interrupted, slinging an arm around Drake's shoulders. "Say 'cheese,' Captain Dick!"

"Please don't call me that…"

"Who is Dick?" Bismarck asked, evidently having had her fill of arguing with Ark Royal.

"Captain Richard Drake!" Iowa cheerily provided. "'Dick' is just a nickname for 'Richard.'"

"Yeah, but you can just call me Admiral Drake," Drake quickly interjected. "Call me Admiral Richard if you must… But do not call me 'Dick.'"

"Oh, come on, nothing wrong with 'Dick,'" Boston unhelpfully countered, slapping Drake on the back while wearing a shit-eating grin.

Bismarck looked confused. "All right… That aside, Fleet Admiral Boston, I came to ask where the rest of the German fleet is. Surely they are here, no?"

"How the fuck would I know?" he replied with a shrug. "Those fucks get pissy whenever I get near them, so there's no way I can keep tabs on where they are every second of the day."

Drake suddenly remembered something. "Oh shit, I never finished that report I was supposed to send to them…"

Boston laughed. "Ha! You fuckin' blew them off?"

"Not intentionally," Drake mumbled, hoping they wouldn't care now that Bismarck was here anyway. "By the way, what other countries are coming? Where're the other Japanese admirals? I remember they left a day before I did."

"Oh, those lucky bastards are staying in the five-star hotel that the conference is being held in," Boston provided. "Sure wish our government would'a paid for that shit for us too… Anyway, the only other countries who have ship girls are those in the European Fleet, namely France, Italy, and Germany. Russia's also here with their one ship girl. Technically they aren't part of the European Fleet, though they do cooperate with INFCOM usually. Aside from those countries, there are nations like China, India, Spain, Iran, Saudi Arabia… You know, the big players. Most of their dignitaries are already here, staying either at the hotel or here at headquarters."

The great oaken doors of the HQ building began to open, causing everyone to turn. Drake stepped aside to allow the newcomers to enter. Two tall, blonde men in sharp navy blue uniforms entered, accompanied by a squadron of women who Drake assumed had to be ship girls. The two men were busy conversing in German, though they stopped once they noticed that there was a fair number of people gathered in the lobby.

"What's this? A welcoming party?" one of the German admirals asked in English with a smirk. He had short albeit messy dark blond hair, and he had a boyish charm to his face and voice. He was shorter than his fellow officer, though he was still about an inch taller than Drake.

The second German admiral was taller, and he had longer wild blond hair that was a much lighter shade. He had long, light eyelashes that gave his ice-blue eyes a frosty flair. His hands were in his pockets and he wore an unfriendly scowl, and his appearance and demeanor sort of reminded Drake of his own if he was being honest.

Bismarck immediately straightened up and saluted as they entered, and one of the German ship girls waved excitedly at her.

"Oh, Bismarck, you're back?" the first German admiral said as he returned her salute. He then began speaking in German, but Fleet Admiral Boston interrupted him.

"Yeah, can you all not stand there? You're blocking the fuckin' doorway."

The German admiral turned to glare at Boston. "You idiots were just standing in this exact same spot before we entered!"

"Fuck you," Boston shot back with a humored grin. He then turned to Drake. "Well, Dick, these two pretty boys over here are the German admirals, Vice Admirals Ehrhard and Bremerhaven. The annoying one is Ehrhard, and the emo bastard is Bremerhaven."

Ehrhard seethed. "Fuck you too! Is that the kind of introduction you are supposed to give?!"

Bremerhaven stayed quiet, but his angry scowl only deepened as he regarded Drake and Boston with his cool blue eyes.

"Like I give a fuck," Boston responded, clearly enjoying Ehrhard's anger. "Anyway, this here is Rear Admiral Richard Drake from the US Liberation Navy… Though you probably already knew that."

Ehrhard cleared his throat as he composed himself. He turned to face Drake. "Yes. You are the American admiral from Japan, the one who commanded Bismarck. Speaking of her, you seem to have forgotten about the report we asked for."

"Oh, yeah, I sent that in. Must've been some sort of problem on your end if you didn't get it," Drake told him with a serious expression, causing Boston to hold back laughter in the background.

"What…? Never mind. I suppose it does not matter anymore," Ehrhard concluded. "Anyway, being around Americans is bad for my health, so we will be taking our leave. Come, Bismarck."

The group of Germans then walked off, Bismarck following her countrymen and melding back in with her group of ship girls.

"Those two seem friendly," Drake remarked dryly.

Boston laughed again. "Yeah? It's 'cause I've been fuckin' with them since the day I got here. They make it way too easy to tease them, hah!"

"Are all Germans still this stuck up?" Iowa sighed.

"I hear the Kaiser is a great man," Boston said. "Though I've never met him myself, so I can't say so for sure. Can't be worse than those two, that's for sure. Anyway, now that that shit is out of the way, I'll show you to your rooms."

Drake and Kaga followed Fleet Admiral Boston as he took them up the stairs into a carpeted hallway lined with doors to various rooms. The interior of the INFCOM HQ building sort of looked like it was modeled after one of those old-style mansions, though Boston had said that in the center of the complex was a large modern war planning room where most of the personnel went to work everyday. These wings of the building were mostly residential. Boston pointed out to Drake and Kaga where there rooms were. Kaga would be sharing one with Bismarck and Shigure while Drake got the room next door all to himself. Their luggage had already been placed inside, so Drake just went in so he could check out the room for himself.

The room was actually fairly similar to a standard hotel room, which was definitely acceptable. It probably wasn't as good as the five-star hotel Genji and Miiro got to stay at, but it was nevertheless decent. After heading to the bathroom and lying in his bed for a bit while he browsed through random stuff on his phone, Drake stepped out of his room, curious about the rest of the building. Boston had said that the other foreign personnel were already here, so Drake was sort of wondering what they were like, especially the ship girls. He also wasn't given any specific instructions, so he just assumed he was free to wander around. If he couldn't find anything interesting to do, he figured he would just eat a quick dinner at the cafeteria that was open 24/7 and then head to bed.

He briefly glanced next door, wondering what Shigure and Kaga were doing. He guessed they were most likely asleep, so he didn't bother knocking. Besides, he liked to have a little time to his own sometimes. The HQ building was pretty big, so Drake found it a bit difficult to navigate through. The upper floors seemed to be reserved for housing, so he headed downstairs. He walked through some doors and corridors, and he noticed that the walls were lined with portraits and paintings of famous admirals and naval battles of the past. They were most likely replicas rather than originals like he saw at the National Gallery earlier, but they were still interesting to look at.

Eventually he found the entrance to the cafeteria, but when he looked through the clear glass doors, he saw Bismarck and her group of German ship girls sitting at one of the tables. Bismarck was smiling and talking animatedly to them, and Drake had never seen her so enthusiastic before. The two German admirals didn't seem to be around, but Drake decided that he'd wait until the Germans left before he went in. He was about to turn away and explore the rest of the complex, but before he could, the German girl who waved at Bismarck earlier noticed him and stood up and saluted. This naturally drew the attention of the other girls, who then turned to look at him.

Fuck! In order to make it look like he wasn't just standing there staring at them, Drake decided he had to go inside now. Reluctantly, he approached the German ship girls and gave them an informal salute.

"I see you're having fun, Bismarck," he noted with a smirk.

"S-so what if I am?" she retorted hotly, blushing. "Anyway, what did you want here, sir? We're busy at the moment."

Drake frowned. "I don't want anything with you. I just came to check out the cafeteria."

Indeed, the cafeteria was a spacious and pretty room. The ceiling was also see through, allowing the diners to look up into the nighttime London sky. The room itself was well-lit with white lighting, and the floor was tiled with a white marble material. The walls were made in slate-gray stone, and small waterfalls descended from them, spread out throughout the room and giving the area the ambient noise of gently splashing water. Various food shops lined the the outer rim of the room, making it more like a food court rather than a cafeteria.

"I see," Bismarck replied. "Well then, no need to do that right beside us, correct?"

Looks like she's still mad at me about today… "Where are your manners, Bismarck? Not even going to introduce me to your friends?"

"I apologize for her r-rudeness, sir!" the girl who saluted at him quickly cut in. "I promise you, she is a good girl!"

"Prinz!" Bismarck cried out, blushing even harder than before. She then turned to Drake with a scowl. "Fine, if you must know: this girl over here is Prinz Eugen, a heavy cruiser. Those two small girls are Lebe and Max, destroyers. The quiet one is U-511, a U-boat, and the one to my right is Graf Zeppelin, an aircraft carrier."

The group saluted at him, and he returned it with a nod. "There's a lot of you. The German fleet must be the biggest outside of Japan."

"The biggest and the best," Bismarck proudly declared, puffing out her chest.

"Right," Drake said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Well, I'll leave you alone, then. Enjoy your little reunion while it lasts, Bismarck."

Drake smirked a bit as he said that, feeling like some sort of villain. He supposed he (or his country, at least) actually was one considering those ship girls were fresh off World War II. Either way, Bismarck was going to have to go back to Japan when this small respite ended, so he figured he shouldn't intrude on her.

The rear admiral continued onward, passing the cafeteria and some sort of open area that looked like it may be a garden or a small park.

Damn, this place is bigger than I thought. He also knew that each country in the European Fleet (plus the US) had their own private wing of the building, but he didn't actually know where those were located or if he was even allowed inside them.

He then realized that he completely forgot about his cousin, who lived in this very complex. He rang her up through his cellphone, wondering if she was around.

"... Yeah?"

"I'm at the HQ building now. I didn't see you, though."

"Huh? Did you expect that I would be waiting for you at the gates with a bouquet of flowers or something?"

"No, but that would have been nice, to be honest…"

"Well, too bad. Where are you now?"

Drake glanced around. "I, uh, I think I'm by the gardens or whatever."

"That's not very descriptive. I think I know what you mean, though… Hold on, I'll be there in a few minutes."

The American admiral waited outside the gardens for about ten minutes, enjoying the cool breeze that poured in from the open entrance. He turned around when he heard someone approaching, and he spotted a young woman with long chestnut-brown hair that curled slightly at the ends and sea-blue eyes. She wore the standard British officer's uniform with the khaki pants and red top, complete with the golden shoulder epaulettes. When compared to Drake's own olive skin tone, dark hair, dark eyes, and brooding disposition, Lira really didn't seem like she was related to him.

She gave a small smile and a wave. "Evening."

Drake returned her smile and raised a hand in greeting. "Were you still working?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. There has been a recent development that requires some attention, so unfortunately I was," she answered with a sigh.

"I see," he said, nodding absently. "Is Uncle around?"

She scrunched up her face in distaste. "You really want to see him?"

Drake smirked. "Hell no. I was asking so that I know where to avoid him."

"Well, considering the circumstances, good luck with that. Anyway, congratulations on your last sortie. I heard you sunk a Princess."

"I didn't sink her, but yeah, thanks," he replied, then crossed his arms smugly. "Though I guess that makes me the first commander to defeat a Princess, huh?"

Lira frowned. "I read your report, and you got very lucky. Don't get too arrogant."

"Oh? Didn't know they let even you read my reports."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded angrily. "... But I guess you're not wrong. This one was just widely circulated because you sunk a Princess, so people wanted to know how you did it. Your reports are most often just read by your fleet admiral and then some of the other high-ranking members here."

She then paused to cough briefly into her arm, a rough, scraping sound that made Drake flinch.

Lira glared up at him. "Don't say anything."

Drake held his hands up. "I didn't, Jesus... "

"But you were thinking it."

"No I wasn't."

"Yes you were."

"Fine, I was," Drake conceded. "Happy now?"

"Yeah, completely," she scoffed. "I am still taking my meds, so it will get better."

"That's not what the doctor said," Drake countered.

"It's pointless discussing this with you," she spat in frustration. "If you're just going to be an ass, then I'm leaving."

"Okay, okay, calm down…"

Drake then turned back to the garden. "So what is this thing? Is it not a garden?"

Lira turned to face it as well. "It's just an open area. It's far too small to be an actual garden, see?"

Drake shrugged. "I guess."

"So how is Bismarck treating you?" Lira then asked.

Drake simply shook his head and sighed in reply, causing his cousin to giggle.

"You were the one who was desperate for a battleship, weren't you?"

"Yeah, and I asked for Warspite first," he pointed out. "Now that I've met both Warspite and Bismarck, I think I'd get along way better with the former."

"Well, too bad," Lira said in a teasing tone. "You're stuck with Bismarck, so you two better make up."

Drake shrugged. "Hey, if she sets her mind on refusing to cooperate, there's nothing I can do."

"Come now. Aren't you a rear admiral? Don't act like you have no power."

"Yeah, I guess," Drake said in defeat as he put his hands into his pockets and looked back out at the garden.

"Have you been back to the States lately?" Lira changed the subject.

"Other than that sortie to Los Angeles, no. I've just been in Japan for the past few months."

"You haven't been home at all?" she asked. "Isn't your family wondering about you?"

"It's not like I haven't talked to them at all," he told her. "Besides I'm an adult now. I don't need to be back home that often."

Lira grinned at him. "Hm? Don't tell me you actually prefer it in Japan…"

"Nah. I do miss America, I'll admit that, but I've got a job to do, so I can't sit back and whine about it," Drake concluded.

"What about our other cousins that also live in America? Surely they must miss you," she said.

"Eh, I doubt it."

"Oh, don't act like that. You know for a fact that they prefer you over me."

Drake shot her a look. "That's because you never visit."

"Sorry," Lira apologized.

Drake shook his head. "Whatever. So, is there anything interesting to do here? If not, I'm just going to go to bed since I had an early flight this morning."

"There's absolutely nothing to do here in HQ, no," she replied. "If you want something fun, you'll have to go out into the city itself."

"Already did that for practically the whole day," Drake said. "We went to the National Gallery. Ever been there?"

"Don't think so… Never really had time for it."

"Really? What about tomorrow? I've already been to the National Gallery, but you could show me around somewhere else."

"Can't," Lira said with a sigh. "Like I said, I've got work with something else, so I'll probably only see you at the ball at night. Besides, don't you have other things you need to do? Don't tell me your navy just gave you free vacation time."

Drake shrugged. "I didn't get any specific orders, so I'm assuming I'm allowed to do whatever I want until the conference in two days."

"Tch. You're quite lucky."

Drake then realized he completely skimmed over something she said earlier.

"Wait… There's a ball tomorrow night?!"

With his hands in the pockets of his jet black tuxedo, Drake entered the spacious ballroom of the newly-remodeled Ritz hotel where a good number of people in evening wear were already gathered.

"This is stupid…" Genji muttered beside him, also dressed in a tuxedo, his short black hair slicked back.

Drake merely grunted in agreement. Apparently INFCOM had decided to host a ball so that all the foreign dignitaries and admirals could get a chance to meet each other before the actual conference, and attendance was mandatory. The ship girls also accompanied them, though like Drake himself, they didn't have any sort of apparel appropriate for a ball, so Boston had to send someone out to rent some dresses and a tuxedo. All in all, Drake thought the whole thing was just a hassle, though he did suppose it was a good opportunity to see some of the other foreign ship girls.

"Isn't this just great!" Kongou shouted as she slung her arms around Genji's and Drake's shoulders. She wore a black dress which accentuated her figure, and Drake had to admit that she looked gorgeous. "A ball in London! It's what I've always dreamed of, desu!"

"Yeah! It's amazing, poi!" Yuudachi also cried out, standing beside her sister, Shigure.

Neither Drake or Genji seemed to share their enthusiasm, though.

"This is all your fault, Drake," Genji said under his breath to the American. "You're the one who made me bring these two along..."

"The fuck I was!" Drake shot back.

Kongou suddenly let go of them, a figure in the distance catching her eye. "Oh my god, is that Warspite? Hey! Warspite!"

The battleship then ran off to pester the British ship girls, and Yuudachi, caught up in the excitement, followed, dragging a reluctant Shigure along with her.

"You two! Don't run in here!" Genji commanded, but his words went ignored. "Seriously… This is such a pain."

With those three gone, that left Drake and Genji with Kaga and Bismarck. The former wore a dark blue dress and her usual blank expression while the latter wore a black dress similar to Kongou's, and needless to say, both of them looked stunning. Drake had no doubt that they would attract a lot of attention tonight, so he hoped he could just sit at a table and drink the night away while the ship girls distracted everyone else.

"This really is dumb," Bismarck said, crossing her arms. "What exactly are we supposed to do here?"

"Ah, Bismarck, there you are."

The four of them turned around to see the carrier known as Graf Zeppelin, accompanied by the other members of the German fleet. Ehrhard and Bremerhaven were also there, looking as handsome as ever, but they merely scowled at Drake and Genji, who, for their part, responded with their own equally-impressive scowls.

"Oh? You're all here," Bismarck greeted them with a smile. "Good timing. We just arrived as well."

"Admiral Drake!" Prinz Eugen, who was dressed in an alluring red gown, saluted him. "I hope Bismarck hasn't been giving you any trouble!"

"Prinz, please stop acting as if you're my mother," Bismarck said with a roll of her eyes.

Drake smirked as he returned the salute. "Don't worry. Bismarck's just been her usual stuck-up self, so it's nothing I can't handle."

Bismarck whirled on Drake. "Admiral! You can't say things like that in front of them! Don't you dare sully my reputation with your lies!"

"Hm?" Graf Zeppelin glanced at Kaga. "Are you an aircraft carrier, by any chance?"

Kaga nodded.

"Interesting. Do you happen to know Akagi?"

Kaga nodded again.

"Wunderbar!" Graf Zeppelin exclaimed, her pale blue eyes lighting up. "Did you know that I was modeled after her? What is she like? I would love to test my skills in combat against her!"

Graf Zeppelin then dragged Kaga away, continuing to pester the other carrier with questions. Bismarck also followed the rest of the German fleet, leaving Drake and Genji by themselves.

"Aw, did your dates leave you, boys?"

Drake and Genji turned to locate the source of the voice who was speaking in Japanese, and they found Fleet Admiral Umi sitting at one of the tables, a glass of wine in her hand. She wore a white dress and had her black hair tied into an elegant bun, giving her a regal appearance. However, the deep tint in her cheeks and her demeanor made it clear that she was well on her way to being utterly smashed, if she wasn't already.

Seated beside Umi was a tall, beautiful girl in a magenta dress, and Drake remembered her as Yamato, the battleship he saw when he last spoke to Umi. With her long ponytail and curvaceous figure, Yamato looked like a goddess, and Drake almost forgot to breathe when he glanced at her. The ship girl looked embarrassed at her admiral's antics, but she remained obediently seated beside her regardless.

"Hey, come over here! We'll keep you company!" Umi declared, gesturing to them with her wine glass.

Drake and Genji gave each other unsure looks, but they went over anyway, taking their seats at the table.

"Hey! Waiter! Get these two some drinks!" Umi shouted in heavily-accented English, causing the table's three other occupants to cringe at her brashness. Nevertheless, one of the hotel staff walking around obeyed, pouring wine from a bottle into two of the empty glasses at the set table.

"So, you two havin' fun yet?" Umi asked with a grin, switching back to Japanese.

"Uh, sure," Drake replied. She got herself drunk this early into the night!?

"Eeeeeeh? That didn't sound very convincing," Umi said. She then turned to Yamato. "What about you, Yamato? Ya feelin' it yet?"

"U-um, I don't know, ma'am," the poor ship girl replied, looking away.

Umi sighed, leaning back in her chair. "You all are lame. You see, the only way to survive events like this are to get drunk, y'hear? Genji, don't tell me you didn't even get drunk at the Empress' party a couple weeks ago. I was too drunk to remember."

"No, ma'am. I assumed it would be rude," Genji said, watching with strange fascination as Umi downed the rest of her glass.

Umi let out a pleasured sigh after finishing her drink. "Really? I don't… Though, then again, I am a fleet admiral, so maybe they went easy on me. Hah! What about you, Admiral Richard? You staying sober tonight as well?"

Drake's initial plan had actually been to get drunk enough to get through the night, but after seeing Umi, he wasn't so sure if that was a good idea anymore. "Uh… Maybe."

"Oh, come on, I thought you Americans loved to party?" Umi teased. "Now that Admiral Wei, he's someone who knows how to drink!"

That reminded Drake that he hadn't seen Iowa or Saratoga yet. He had arrived at the ballroom with the Genji, so the Americans went at a different time, though he didn't know if they were already here or if they had yet to arrive.

"Looking for someone?" Umi asked. She then shot a sidelong glance at Yamato. "Richard, no need to search the crowds; you've got a top-class beauty right here! Right, Yamato?"

"Eh?" Yamato looked confused. "Me? I…"

"Oh, be more confident!" Umi urged. "Talk to him! Don't just sit there all night!"

"Er, that really isn't necessary…" Drake tried to say, but Yamato then turned her mesmerizing eyes on him, fixing him with a determined stare.

"H-how do you do?" she asked in perfect English.

Drake was so caught up in her beauty that he barely even heard her, causing Yamato's expression to change into one of horror.

"Oh no, I knew my English was terrible!" she bemoaned in Japanese.

"N-no, it was very good," Drake quickly said. "It was so good that it just surprised me, that's all…"

"See? You two were made for each other," Umi remarked dryly as she sipped on another glass of wine.

"Is Admiral Hayama here?" Genji asked.

Umi laughed. "That shrimp? Hell no. This is a party for adults! Besides, someone has to stay back and watch the base, even though an Abyssal attack right now is unlikely, thanks to Richard here and his actions last week."

Umi raised her glass to Drake, and he returned the gesture with a nod.

"Hey, Genji, we can't let the Americans surpass us, y'know," the fleet admiral then said after downing her glass.

Genji scowled. "Hmph. He used Japanese ship girls to win, Japanese intel, and Japanese equipment. The only thing that wasn't Japanese about that operation was Drake himself, actually."

"And all the resources that America provides that keeps the base running," Drake pointed out. "Though it is true that victory couldn't have been achieved without the help of Japan. Can't argue against that."

Umi nodded. "Indeed… After the Great Churning, it honestly looked like the world was becoming more and more nationalistic, and I thought it might lead to war. The one good thing about the Abyssals is that they forced us to put aside our differences and come together, so luckily that was avoided."

"But we ended up with war anyway," Genji countered. "And I feel as if this war has a greater chance of wiping out humanity than any human-versus-human war could have had."

A sunken atmosphere settled over the table after that. The Abyssals were not human, and so they cared not for the human race and were undoubtedly willing to shun all rules of war that humans abided by. The Abyssals also saw no value in human lives and were not influenced by political or territorial ambition, so they could not be reasoned with either. Based on all that, it was very possible that the Abyssals could end up completely destroying humanity if they were not stopped.

"Ah, enough of this depressing talk," Umi decided. "Can we spend one night not talking about our imminent demise? You guys need to lighten up!"

Genji frowned. "The Abyssals are the most important thing, though. Do you really have any matters as pressing as them that you need to worry about?"

"Screw the Abyssals," Umi said with a grin. "Speaking of screwing, who do you think's more handsome, Yamato? Genji or Richard?"

Drake and Genji sat there with confused expressions while Yamato blushed at the sudden shift in conversation. "... Ma'am?"

"They're both too young for me, but they're not bad, right?" Umi continued, clearly enjoying the other three's reactions. "They're both quite sulky, but Genji has the refined air of an Eastern gentleman while Richard's got that exotic foreigner look… I think they'd both be pretty rough with you in bed, though! Hahahaha!"

Yamato's blush deepened as she looked anywhere but at the two rear admirals, and Umi continued to laugh as Drake and Genji sat there in bewilderment.

Genji, the first to recover, shook his head as he stood up. "See, Fleet Admiral, this is why we needed Admiral Hayama here to control your drinking."

The Japanese rear admiral walked away, and Drake decided he should follow suit.

"Uh, yeah… Have a nice night, you two," he said as he stood up, also avoiding their eyes as he was sure that he was blushing as well.

"Prudes!" Umi yelled at them between her bouts of laughter as Drake and Genji went off elsewhere.

Maybe I won't get drunk tonight after all, Drake thought as he walked through the ballroom. He tried searching for Kaga or someone else he knew, but he didn't see anyone in his vicinity, so he just continued to wander aimlessly through the throngs of people.

As he was walking, he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder, and he turned to see a woman with slightly unkempt silver hair and a scar on her left cheek. She was wearing a long gray dress, and she grinned at him as she drew uncomfortably close to his face. Drake could smell the alcohol on her breath, and though he tried to inch away, the iron grip she had on him prevented him from doing so. Her strength combined with her incredible beauty made it obvious that she was a ship girl.

"Dobbryvecherr," she slurred, clearly in a language other than English. Drake thought it sounded like it was some Slavic dialect, so he assumed she was the Russian ship girl he heard about.

"Uh, hello," he managed, still trying to subtly pry himself free. "Can I help you?"

"Ah, English," she said, now speaking Drake's language but with a heavy Russian accent and a slight slur. "What country are you frommmm?"

"America," Drake answered, cringing a bit at the strong scent of alcohol that was right up in his nose. "Are you Russian?"

The ship girl's reddish-brown eyes glinted in excitement. "Oooh, an American? Hello! I am Gangut, the Russian battleship! Good to meet you!"

"I'm Rear Admiral Richard Drake of the US Liberation Navy," Drake introduced. "Uh, nice to meet you, Gangut. Could you get off me now, please?"

Gangut only drew closer to him as her grin widened.

I hope no one is looking at us right now, Drake thought as he feebly tried to distance himself from the clearly-drunk ship girl.

"You are cute, like a wolf cub," Gangut concluded.

"Thanks, I guess…" Drake finally managed to free himself from her grasp a bit. "Shouldn't you, uh, be with your admiral?"

Gangut frowned angrily. "My admirals left me here. They flew back to Russia on some 'important business.' They said, 'Gangut, go to ball tomorrow and represent the Motherland. We will see you next day.'"

"Oh. Well, don't drink too much," Drake cautioned as he quickly hurried away.

God, why is everyone here trying to get drunk out of their minds? Drake lamented as he made his way over to the balcony, deciding to get some fresh air. However, to his surprise he saw Yamato already there, looking out onto the London streets below. He thought about walking away, but he couldn't help but be captivated by her graceful beauty… Drake knew it was probably a bad idea, but he also knew he would be kicking himself later if he didn't at least try and talk to her. He also didn't want Yamato to be stuck with the wrong impression of him that Fleet Admiral Umi gave her.

"Good evening, Yamato," Drake greeted in Japanese.

Yamato turned around, blinking in surprise. "Ah… Good evening."

Before Drake could say anything else, a fierce red blush suddenly spread across Yamato's face, and Drake cringed as he knew what she must be thinking about.

"U-um, excuse me, but I think the Fleet Admiral is calling for me," Yamato hurriedly said as she began walking away.

Drake sighed internally as he shoved his hands in his pockets in defeat. Great. Thanks, Umi.

"Yo, Dick! Lookin' sharp!"

Drake looked to see Fleet Admiral Boston standing in front of the doors to the balcony, also dressed in a tuxedo. He waved to Drake with a grin, then noticed Yamato, whose exit he was unknowingly blocking.

"Oh damn, was I interrupting something?" he asked, his grin growing even wider.

"Not really," Drake quickly answered as Yamato only blushed even harder. "You just got here, sir?"

"Yeah, you know how Cassius wasn't here yesterday?"

Drake nodded. To think of it, he had seen Saratoga and Iowa at INFCOM, but Fleet Admiral Cassius, who supposedly accompanied them to London, was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, he was dealing with some emergency business back in the States," Boston informed his subordinate. "It was pretty hilarious, actually. The moment he got off his boat at Portsmouth, he got a call forcing him to fly back to the US, ha! Old bastard was pissed!"

"I hope you know I can hear you, Boston," Cassius said in a disapproving tone as he appeared behind Boston. The gray-haired fleet admiral was also dressed in a tuxedo. "Rear Admiral Drake. It's been a while."

"Sir," Drake greeted with a salute.

"Yeah, so as I was saying, we were busy with some shit that went down on the East Coast," Boston continued. "Yo, Cassius, where is she?"

Cassius glanced behind him and gestured to someone, and a woman in a light blue dress stepped out from behind the fleet admiral. She had blonde, fluffy hair styled into twintails, and her blue eyes cautiously regarded Drake.

"This is the USS Gambier Bay, a light carrier," Cassius explained. "Radar detected her sailing aimlessly by one of our naval bases on the East Coast a couple days ago, which is why I was called back to the US. She's still new to this world, but we decided it was best to bring her here after a brief orientation since Iowa and Saratoga are also here and the conference will explain the Abyssal threat, so she could learn more by coming here than staying back there."

"S-sir!" the new ship girl saluted Drake as she stepped up to him. "CVE-73, Gambier Bay, reporting for duty!"

Drake couldn't help but smile as he returned her salute. The addition of a new American ship girl was definitely very good news. "Welcome to the fleet."

Gambier Bay shakily returned his smile, but when her gaze found Yamato, who was still awkwardly waiting for the American admirals to move so that she could leave, her eyes grew wide in horror. She quickly hid herself behind Drake with a squeal of fright, and Drake glanced at the light carrier and Yamato with a confused look.

"Uh… You two know each other?" he asked.

"Gambier Bay was believed to be sunk by the combined efforts of Choukai and Yamato back in World War II," Cassius filled in. "So yes."

"But we're allies now, right? Don't worry, I won't hurt you…" Yamato tried to reassure the frightened carrier, but Gambier Bay merely peeked her head out from behind Drake very briefly before hiding behind him again.

The girls sure are all over me today, huh? Drake thought sarcastically.

Luckily, Cassius was there to save him. "Come, Gambier Bay. We still have much to discuss with Saratoga and Iowa."

The light carrier was all too eager to get away from Yamato, so she quickly followed Cassius back into the ballroom. Yamato hurriedly excused herself as well, avoiding Drake's eyes again and making sure to stay out of the American light carrier's way too. Drake and Boston also headed back inside, where they saw a few more people arriving at the entrance of the ballroom. To Drake's surprise, it was his cousin, Lira, and his uncle. Lira's father was a rich, stout man with tan skin and golden hair, and he had a thick but regal blond beard and moustache. His tuxedo was noticeably more lustrous than the average attendee's, and he walked around with an air of superiority about him.

"Ugh," Boston spat in disgust as he noticed them entering. "Avoid that guy, Dick. He's a real pain in the ass."

Drake smirked. "Yeah, that's for sure. He's my uncle."

Boston did a double-take. "Oh, shit, I forgot about that, haha! Unlucky bastard!"

"Yeah…"

Though he was an admiral in the Royal Navy, Drake's uncle, Sir Reginald Snowbrook, was notorious for being a pompous elitist, as well as a bit of a racist as well. Since Drake's mother was half Indian and half descended from an amalgamation of Central Asian lineages, Drake himself was not a pure-blooded Englishman like his father and Sir Reginald, so Reginald was not very fond of Drake. All in all, his uncle sort of reminded Drake of Bismarck, except with all of her bad traits but none of her good ones.

The rear admiral then noticed that his uncle and cousin had another person with them.

"Who's that little girl?" Drake asked.

Boston raised his eyebrows. "They brought a little girl to a ball? Must mean it's a ship girl. No wonder that blond bastard was gone for the past couple days. I'm gonna check it out."

Drake was curious as well, so he followed along. Boston then turned to him with a devious smile.

"I always try to act extra hood around Admiral Snowbrook 'cause I know it annoys the shit outta him, so don't mind me."

Does this guy have to troll everyone he meets? Drake wondered as they approached the British trio.

"Yo, what's good, nigga!" Boston yelled in greeting.

Admiral Reginald Snowbrook frowned deeply. "Boston… I see Richard is here as well. I suppose the rabble naturally draw to each other, eh?"

"Uncle," Drake greeted with a smirk and a shallow, mocking bow. He then shifted his gaze to Lira, who merely rolled her eyes at Drake and Boston's antics.

"Who's the tyke?" Boston asked, pointing to the small blonde girl who wore a white dress.

"I am Her Majesty's Ship, Jervis! And I am older than you, sir, so show some respect, please!" she said cutely, pouting a bit.

"She's a destroyer we found a few days ago," Lira elaborated. "This is what I meant when I said I was busy, Richard."

"Oh? Cool," he said, resisting the urge to squish the British destroyer's cheeks. "We also found a ship girl a couple days ago. Coincidence?"

"I thought it was obvious at this point that groups of them seem to appear at the same time," Snowbrook stated condescendingly. "I hear the Russians also mysteriously left a few days ago as well."

Boston then nodded as if he had just remembered something. "Oh, yeah, my nigga Wei also said that he found some bitch that looked like she might be a ship girl on the West Coast, but we weren't sure if that nigga was bein' serious or just bein' his usual dumbass self, so we kinda just ignored his ass."

Another American ship girl? If that were true, then the US Kancolle forces just doubled. Either way, the addition of new ship girls was certainly a big help in the fight against the Abyssals. If only they could summon them on command instead of randomly waiting for them to appear somewhere in the ocean… But Drake knew that was impossible given how little they knew about the origin of the ship girls.

"At any rate, we do not need you cretins corrupting our ships," Snowbrook decided. "Come, Jervis. We are leaving to join the rest of our comrades."

"Yo, come on. Get that stick outta yo ass, nigga," Boston teased with a grin.

Snowbrook fixed him with a hard, disapproving look. "Even in this sort of formal setting, you still cannot be bothered to show any sense of decency, can you, Boston? And you, Richard, I knew you were low, but you'll only stoop even lower by hanging around his sort. Frankly, I am shocked that Bismarck is able to stand being around you and the Japanese."

Drake couldn't help but grin as well. "Oh, she can more than stand being around me, if you know what I mean."

Snowbrook gave them both another disgusted look before ushering the British destroyer off, who undoubtedly didn't leave with a good impression of Drake and Boston either considering the both of them were purposely acting like retards just to annoy Snowbrook.

Drake and Boston held back laughter as Lira sighed.

"You know, maybe he wouldn't dislike you two as much as he does if you didn't constantly provoke him…"