Later…

Reclining back on her seat, Fort Grace made herself as comfortable as she could, taking full advantage of the hospitality the seat offered. With the battles now behind her, such luxuries were a treasure.

"Hm. I like what you've done with the set dressing."

Sitting across from her, Dysnomia quietly rolled her eyes. She sipped from her tea, the taste filling her senses but she was not here to enjoy some simple tea time.

The battlecruiser curtly laid down her cup. "Let's cut straight to the point, shall we? We did not convene for mere talk."

The Delta carrier leaned forward, all business now. "No mere talk, but some talk nonetheless. With the end of hostilities, there are some things to discuss."

The two exchanged serious eyes, gauging and assessing each other. The war is over but that did not mean they were acquaintances.

"With Tanager and the Aegir Fleet indisposed of, authority of the Rose Kingdom now falls upon the Rán Fleet. Therefore, as its head I now inherit the crown."

"Not a coronation you were hoping for, with all that's happened…" Fort Grace muttered. "Regardless, do you concur with the cessation of hostilities between the Rose Kingdom and the united nations of Usea and their affiliated parties?"

Dysnomia scoffed. "Of course. It would be a fool's errand to suggest otherwise."

"And do you agree to surrender your territorial gains, returning the occupied lands to their original inhabitants and withdrawing to previously-defined borders?"

"Yes, I do. In exchange, I ask that my lands and territorial waters remain solely under our sovereignty and administration."

Fort Grace narrowed her eyes. "You're asking for no oversight on our part, in spite of your country being responsible for the damages throughout the continent."

For once, Dysnomia smiled. "Certainly. We may have been the occupiers of your lands, but that was Tanager and her ilk. To occupy our lands in return would only invite resentment, to be punished for a war they did not start let alone commit to through the end. I had assumed that our bargain back in Farbanti made our 'alliance' clear. And besides, is our subjugation part of your 'justice' your Coalition wished to serve?"

Fort Grace said nothing. To object would be an error - to not was a risk.

"... What do we have to assure you will return and maintain the peace?"

"The simple fact that, while I harbored ambitions of my own, I am not Tanager," Dysnomia answered smugly. "Make no mistake: we may have been defeated but I do not see this as an unconditional surrender. I too wish to see the Rose Kingdom stand strong on its own legs. I will simply accomplish this goal my way as opposed to her way."

Silence hung in the air. Even without sound, Dysnomia could hear the carrier's mind buzzing like a hive.

Finally, she opened her mouth. "... Very well. If this is palatable to you, then I can assume your cooperation is guaranteed. But do know that if any trouble comes up, I'll be the first to know."

"As you should…" the Rán flagship murmured. Then, clearing her throat she continued with a more solid tone.

"As per the terms laid out, I, Dysnomia of the Rose Kingdom and its maritime forces, agree to the terms submitted by Fort Grace of the Delta Coalition and acting representative of its allies and related parties, namely the Silver Star Federation and the Azur Lane. I hereby acquiesce to calls for peace."

Likewise, Fort Grace reciprocated. "And I, Fort Grace, acknowledge the Rose Kingdom's new successors and their cessation of hostilities. Let the past be not injustice but a reminder as we move forward together as a continent."

Declarations voiced, the two translated them onto paper, where their words and assurances would be seen by all. With a few strokes of a pen, the ceremony was complete.

The fighting had ended at Megalith and now the war was officially over. Peace was now avowed.

Fort Grace sighed, taking another cup of tea in relaxation. "Well, that's done. Now comes the mess of rebuilding."

Dysnomia scowled at the thought. "Another reason to curse that damn Tanager. That Megalith of hers… were it not for your intervention, she would've brought this land back to the Stone Age, with nary anyone left to rebuild. But even with her plot foiled, she has no doubt devastated the continent. You no doubt have heard to what extent the damage is."

The carrier shuddered. "Too much, that's for sure. We'll both have our hands full for weeks, perhaps months or years simply cleaning up the mess. The continent won't be the same. But we will recover."

The chatter paused as the two stewed over the prevalent topic that clouded their minds: the future.

"... It's a pity we'll never uncover the hidden truth behind this pointless war," Fort Grace began. "Aside from that one confirmed sighting, we have no leads. And with the entire Aegir Fleet having gone down with Megalith, there's no one left that we can ask."

Dysnomia nodded. "I know who you are referring to. I was not present when they first arrived and bargained with her - she saw to that. By the time my Rán Fleet was activated, they were long gone. Presumably abandoned Tanager to her own devices," she scoffed.

Fort Grace turned to look aside, gazing off into nothingness. "I don't know if that makes it any better, to be used and disposed of like a tool for their purposes. To what the Sirens sought to accomplish with this conflict and their gifts, we may never know."

The battlecruiser coughed. "Speaking of 'gifts', I believe you know what I'm about to ask."

"The X-02A Wyvern…" the Delta leader murmured. "Sadly there remains little to understand of that armor. Blimey, there was barely anything of the armor left for Andromeda to analyze. Most she found were barely-recognizable scraps, made of some material she had never seen before. The only thing credible would be our field experience facing it and even then it doesn't answer any of our questions.

"For now, all we can do is add our encounters on the record and put this puzzle on hold until we get more clues. Although that implies there'll be more of those 'flight armors' around…"

Dysnomia did not reply, disguising her own contemplations by toying with her drink. She too wondered where the hell Tanager had acquired such potent weapon or where it had come from or why it acted the way it did in its two battles. A force that gave mighty carriers wings to turn them into heralds of ruin; a tool of destruction unlike any had ever seen. The very characteristic that apparently gave that type of weapon its name.

Such a lethal implement… Privately, she too wondered if there were more like it out in the world. Hiding, waiting…

The battlecruiser shook her head clear, ready for a different topic. "If you don't mind me asking, what is to become of the Delta Coalition? It was formed in response to the war, and with it over, what is its future?"

Fort Grace reclined in her chair as she stared into space, the most animate she had been throughout their meeting. The big question. Dysnomia could tell she had been anticipating such inquiry ever since the reality of peace was within grasp. And now that it had arrived…

The carrier strummed her fingers on her teacup. "To be frank, I'm not sure… You're correct in that the war is over, and already there are those who have gone separate ways.

"Now that the fighting's stopped, White Valley took this to be that her contract was concluded. I would have tried to convince her to stay, that we could retain the alliance to protect the continent but she took the money and more or less ran. To where, presumably to other battles where the money is, or so she said.

"Arquette could have stayed but she set off back home as soon as she possibly could, taking Folkvangr and Fensalir with her. Mentioned something about tending to her stead. This land is part of her home, after all. That and her complaints about her dress made it clear she wanted no more fighting for the time being, although she didn't explicitly state whether she would no longer be part of the Delta Coalition. Either way, with the fighting over she'll have all the time in the world to herself.

"As for the Silver Star Federation, well there's no reason for us to retread the obvious. Their mission was to help fend off the Rose Kingdom's aggression and it was accomplished, aside from that one last job shooting down that satellite Megalith was using. Their carriers returned to their home port along with Andromeda who kept the remains of the Wyvern. I imagine they have quite the after-action report to tell to their commanding officer…

"Which leads us to the last group, the Azur Lane. With the Federation returning home, the Azur Lane did the same. They were planning to head home for some well-deserved rest, although I heard from some of them that they needed to remain with the Federation, possibly to discuss this Siren problem further. I gave them my best regards when we finally parted."

A careful eye observed the Ribbon. "So are you telling me that your organization will be-"

"Disbanded? Perhaps," she shrugged. "No point in trying to prop up an idea that has just succeeded in its goal. With no common foe to fight, the Delta Coalition has lost steam."

As Dysnomia opened her mouth, Fort Grace leaned forward. "However, that is not to say that its legacy will end right then and there. This war demonstrated the strength of a united continent and the need for free people to defend themselves against all aggressors. Yesterday it was the Rose Kingdom - tomorrow, it could be anyone, namely the Sirens if the reports are to be believed. Those who compelled Tanager towards war are still out there, and who knows what they're plotting next, where the next conflict will be.

"Wherever that may be, someone must be there to thwart it.

"Will the Delta Coalition be dissolved? Perhaps. Or perhaps it will evolve, become the watchful protectors of Usea. Times are changing and clutching onto the past would only hold us back, repeat the mistakes of old. When the time comes when we are heeded once more, we'll be there; new mission, new banner, but the same purpose. And to be honest, I wouldn't mind fighting alongside old friends again.

"And who knows, you and your reformed Kingdom could be with us one day."

With a satisfied sigh, Fort Grace stood up to leave. Brushing the creases off her uniform, she paused to quickly adjust her beret in the mirror. Only when her hand rested on the door knob was she stopped by a voice.

"Perhaps… I'm looking forward to when we do."

Fort Grace smiled. "Well, that's that. I'll be off now - the blue skies await."

The door opened, and she disappeared into the light.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

HistoricHippos:

And we've done it! The "War of the Roses" story arc has finally come to an end! It's been a long journey but we've finally hit a milestone. But we've still got a long road ahead, as since this story arc was based on the events of Ace Combat 04, there'll be more story arcs to follow. More tales, events, and characters to share. As the end credits song of AC04 says, I have so far to go.

Now that we are through with the finale, time for some commentary. The idea of making a Azur Lane x Ace Combat crossover came about out of the blue. I think it was around the time when I found myself interested in the world and lore of AL (or from what I could understand back then, that 3-hour long video explaining the entire lore wasn't around at the time). Mixing a franchise about aviation and air combat with another about naval warfare makes for an unlikely combination but I figured it would be a neat challenge, such as addressing the power disparity between jet planes and prop aircraft and the differing weaponry and technological gaps. Thanks to the help of the Ace Combat Wiki, I was more than able to draw up a good list of named vessels for this new world I was slowly crafting. Now I must say that this idea is by no means original as one can find fan-made thoughts and ideas of their own ALxAC crossovers on the internet. What I did find surprising was that no one seemed to have made a fanfic depicting AC kansen (on at least; I am aware of a fanfic over at Wattpad that actually uses AC kansen though I haven't read much of it myself). And while I do take some inspirations from outside sources here and there, I try to make these characters and events my own, to make them unique and stand out from other interpretations.

As for shortcomings, I admit I am I'm not the best when it comes to crafting fiction or spinning a tale. I have found that conjuring up all these ideas are much simpler than tying them all together into something cohesive and that plans drawn up well in advance tend to become outdated or unable to tackle intricacies of detail. There are also matters of fleshing out the world and its characters, especially with how some get more attention than others. For example, I had intended for Geofon to be more like Shockwave from the Transformers series (specifically from Prime as I find that version to be the most memorable) as her faction's cold humorless lieutenant fixated on logic and pragmatism. Others like the Aegir destroyers that aren't Herne could have also spent more time in the limelight rather than being background props. The filler chapters are in part an attempt to address this so perhaps I will use them more often to minimize this issue.

Now, to address the elephant in the room that some of you are likely thinking of: the Alicorn. Some of you may have been looking forward to seeing her play a late role in the story. With her being a particularly well-known ship in the Ace Combat games and with Tanager quoting Torres, it would be expected for her to be included in this crossover. Sadly, I'm sorry to say that no plan was made to include her in this story arc. I felt like it would've been too premature, considering what else I had in store for this fanfic. But know this: I have not forgotten about her and I do have a special plan for her. All I ask is your patience as all the pieces need to be put into place.

In the meantime, enjoy some filler chapters while I go prep the next story arc. See you all next time!