He read the report then passed it back to Vestal.
"Any ideas how this started?" he asked.
"It's difficult to say," she replied, turning to Alice, who was lying in bed "apparently she felt the same headache when she saw you for the first time."
"I didn't know about that."
"Maybe it's something to do with you two being otherworlders," she suggested
"Could be," he said, toying with the idea "perhaps it's something to do with the nature of this world and how it can only handle one of my kind at a time."
"For now, just help her get back to normal," he said "if I need to talk to her, I'll send someone to relay the message. I'll also get rid of her guards."
Vestal noticed the Commander letting out a long sigh. Concerned, she asked "you're not getting much sleep are you?"
"Unfortunately no," he replied "overseeing the construction of that new housing complex for the Iron Blood and making sure the day-to-day activities for the fleet still go on without any problem is really taking a toll on me."
"Then why not ask Z23 or someone else to help you out with some of the work?"
"Nah, there's no need for that," he said, heading for the door "they've got their own work to do."
Outside of the hospital, he put his head against the cold wall, feeling some degree of relief. But he couldn't stay here for long and headed back to his office, ready to continue his work.
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It was three days since his attempt at using the Wisdom Cubes to bring back the Azur Lane, a task that ended in failure. This in turn had the ripple effect among the many high-ranking members of the fleet, who started to question whether or not the failure was an honest failure or the signs of something else.
This was why, Enterprise, Yorktown, Illustrious, Wales, Eugen, Z23, Akagi, Roon and Saint Louis were now in a meeting room. As far as the rest of the fleet was concerned, everything was going on smoothly. They all thought it best not to mention anything about the Wisdom Cubes or the Commander's failed attempts so that the morale wasn't affected.
"Belfast isn't coming," said Wales, getting the obvious out of the way "in fact, she hasn't really spoken to anyone for the past few days and has confined herself to her room."
"She confronted him about his motives," said Enterprise "the Commander didn't take it too well and lashed out at her. It'd make sense that she was hurt by what he said."
"This doesn't feel right," said Z23.
"What doesn't?" asked Saint Louis.
"Suspecting him," she replied "after everything that's happened."
"That's rich," said Eugen with a scoff "coming from you of all people."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, turning to her sister.
"Oh come on, Z, you're the last person that's ever spoken nicely about him," she said "you hated him from the start. In fact, I remember when we first came back, you actively avoided being in the same room with him."
"I know that I haven't been supportive of him," said Z23, looking guilty "but the more I think about it, the more I see it was unfair of me to blame him for Hood's death."
"This just doesn't sit right with me," said Yorktown, getting up from her seat "after everything that's happened, us doubting the Commander is unfair and I don't want to be part of this any longer."
"I agree with Yorktown on this," said Saint Louis "my lord would never act in his own interest."
"Then can you explain why it didn't work?" asked Wales "why the Wisdom Cubes responded the first time but it didn't work this time around?"
"It's because they didn't want to come back," replied Akagi.
"What?" asked Illustrious "how do you know that?"
"Because when I spoke to him, the Commander told me the conclusion to a story; a story that only three people in the world know about. Now I know that Kaga and I never told him anything about that, so the only way he knew what to say was if he heard it from Amagi."
"I'll admit that I doubted him for a moment," she added "it was a mistake that I'll never forget. But what we're doing now is wrong, plain and simple. You can all sit here and debate his motives for all I care."
"I am going to help him win the war," she said and left the room. After her, Yorktown, Roon and Saint Louis also left.
"As much as I don't like to admit it, I agree with Akagi," said Enterprise "we're not doing anyone any favors doubting him after everything that's happened."
With that both Enterprise and Yorktown left the room as well.
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Meanwhile, the Commander was marching through the forest behind the base, looking for someone. It didn't take long for him to find a cliff, where Friedrich was stoically standing and watching the scenery.
"Hello Commander," she said addressing him, even though she didn't turn around to see him.
"How did you…"
"Just a guess," she said, turning around now "is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes," he said, walking up to her "Friedrich, what I'm about to say might sound crazy but please bear with me."
Understanding the seriousness of the matter, Friedrich's usually warm smile left her.
"Last night, I had a dream where I met Hood, Amagi and Bismarck. In our conversation, they told me that the history everyone talks about is wildly different from what actually happened."
"They're right," said Friedrich followed by a pause "Commander, what I'm about to tell you…"
"Of course, I won't breathe a word of it to anyone else."
"Then please, have a seat," she said and the two sat at the edge of the cliff.
"What you heard was right," she began "the Azur Lane was formed with the idea of defeating the Sirens and bringing everyone together. But the question of how to beat the Sirens was something none of them could agree upon."
"Jean Bart and Bismarck agreed in an outright attack, Avrora sought to slowly chip away at their forces and Amagi and Atago thought seven times before making any moves."
"If they were divided then why didn't they have their separate teams and each team go about doing their own thing?"
"How would that be any different from the factions you see during this war? Instead of being a single, unified threat, they'd became smaller and less threatening. In that situation, the Sirens need only send a large enough force and permanently wipe out one group."
"The six of them struggled to get anything done and were often close to disbanding," she continued "but in front of the troops, they showed a degree of unity or else morale would suffer."
"That is why I believed that when the Sirens returned, instead of repeating the past, Hood decided the best option was to bring someone in not from our world and let that person be solely in charge of the fleet. And, it had to be someone who wasn't from the factions so their choices would not be influenced."
"And out of everyone in my world, I was chosen for some reason."
"I prefer to think of it in another way," said Friedrich "remember that the one chosen would be the leader of all four factions. Power like that, is dangerous if it was used for the wrong purposes."
"For example, Commander," she said, turning to him "you could have easily used your power and influence to have done what you wanted. Perhaps even use your power to create a harem like the kings of your history had done."
"Don't be so surprised by this," she said, when his eyes widened, "I've read many books that happen to come from your world and I've seen how power can change a person's mind. Power corrupts and the last thing this we need during a war, is to be led by some power mad zealot who only seeks to further his own goals."
"I'll admit that when I first met you, there was a….. personal interest. But when we came here, I asked around seeing if the person who saved us is the same person that the fleet sees. And do you know the only negative thing everyone had to say about you?"
He shook his head at the question.
"'He keeps trying to be a leader that we respect, but hasn't realized we already respect him.' Turns out the only mistake you have is being unaware of how much you've grown. Compared to being a zealot or a madman, I'd say that's a pretty decent fault to have."
"Then again," she said, looking up at the sky "this is simply the thoughts and musings of an old woman. How you choose to take my advice is up to you."
"Friedrich, I don't think you're old," he said, "sure you're a lot taller than anyone else here but not old, definitely not old."
"Oh Commander," she said, resting her head on his shoulder "you keep saying such sweet things to me and I might just eat you up."
At this, the Commander let out an awkward laugh "nice one," he said, in an effort to ease the tension.
"I wasn't joking."
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The images flashed through her mind in a blind flurry. They may have passed by her quickly, but there was a tone and purpose behind the pictures. Each one of them was a grizzly depiction of war and the devastation it left in its wake. She saw families clinging to their dead, buildings of safety and sanctity reduced to rubble, rows and rows of long plastic bags being thrown into ditches and the massive fireballs that formed from explosions.
There was no one else in the room, there was no one else to see the sweat on her head or that she was twisting and writhing in pain.
As the images continued flashing by, she remembered what they were, what their purpose was. They were not unfamiliar scenes playing out, they were memories. Memories that dictated the path in life she would go down. For a time, she had repressed those memories…. but not anymore.
Alice slowly opened her eyes and looked from side to side. It was a good thing no one was there. Now that she knew she was alone, she rose up and took in a deep breath.
She knew what her purpose was in this world and why she came here. As she gazed out the window, the color of her eyes changing to reflect her new purpose, she thought about how she would set about accomplishing her task.
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The next day, the Commander was making his usual rounds through the base, when he heard the base alarms going off.
"Attention Commander," said Tennessee's voice through the speakers "Houston and South Hampton request you to come to the beach. An unknown female has washed up on the shore."
Concerned by this, he headed towards the beach and was soon joined by Enterprise and Belfast. When the trio reached their destination, they saw Houston and South Hampton standing on either side of the woman.
The woman that had washed up on shore had short, silver hair, wore on a variation to the maid uniform that Beflast used, had a short skirt, long leggings and dark pink eyes.
'Well she's definitely not a human,' he thought, upon noticing her choice of clothing.
"Dido?" called out Belfast and marching towards her.
"Dido?" he said, turning to her.
"Miss Belfast," cried out the woman, coming forward and pulling Belfast into a tight hug. This caught Belfast by surprise and resulted in her falling back.
"Miss Belfast," said the woman, hugging her "I missed you so much."
"Dido, please get off me," said Belfast "you realize we're in the company of others."
Dido tilted her head back and froze for a moment, upon noticing Enterprise, South Hampton and Houston. Then, her attention turned to the Commander.
"Is she a friend of yours Belfast?" he asked.
"Yes, she was under my care when I was leading the Royal Maid Squad," she replied, finally freeing herself from Dido's hug.
The Commander paused for a moment, his mind focusing on the last few words Belfast said. Now, trying not to think too much about a group of women dressed in maid outfits and acting like spies, he turned to Dido and asked, "are you hurt?"
In life, making a good first impression is important. It can help you at a job interview and more often than not, many people are judged based on the first impression they make.
Take the Commander for example and the first impression he made to certain members of the fleet.
To Enterprise, he appeared as a strong and tough man, able to hold his own even against an incredibly strong opponent.
On the flipside, there was Akagi, who thought of him as un-assuming, bland and forgettable when she first saw him.
First impressions are important and when Dido looked at him, what she was a man with beautiful, flowing hair, deep black eyes she could stare into forever and a voice that made her heart beat faster.
"Are you okay?" he asked, stretching out his hand to her, unaware of the impression he was leaving on the woman.
"Dido, get off me," said Belfast.
Realizing she was staring too long, Dido snapped out of her daze and quickly got to her feet, also allowing her superior to get to her feet too.
"Commander," said Dido "we need your help."
Elaborating on this, she reached in-between her chest and took out a small, circular object, similar to an ice hockey puck. The Commander was about to take it when he felt the piercing gaze of both Enterprise and Belfast bearing down on him.
He instinctually held back, but then realized that if he didn't take the object, he couldn't help her. But if he took the object, there's no telling what the pair would do.
Resigning himself to the fates, he took the object from Dido and examined it. As he did, he saw a holographic projection emerge from the object. It showed a young girl, dressed in very formal attire, wearing a crown.
"Greetings Commander of the Coalition fleet," she declared "I am Queen Elizabeth of the Royal-Dragon Alliance and I have a proposal for you."
Just as he was about to answer, she spoke, indicating that this was a recorded message.
"My Royal Maid Squad have tracked down the location of a large Siren facility. We believe that they were using this facility in order to help their ships teleport themselves to anywhere on the planet."
The Commander, Belfast, Enterprise, Dido, South Hampton and Houston watched as Queen Elizabeth sat on a chair and said "So, how would you like to deal a heavy blow against the Sirens?"