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"United wishes and good will cannot overcome brute facts, truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it. Ignorance may deride it. Malice my distort it. But there it is."

-Winston Churchill

Chapter 21: The Crib Method

The spectators recovered from the shock that they had just received as Calico Jack was reloading Giovanni and putting him back into the concealed holster. A few of the audience members began to applaud appropriately, like they had just seen some sort of high-class competition. It began first with Duke of York, but it spread, with Nashville as the loudest, who had no reservations about concealing any sort of biases towards her commanding officer.

But, before he could acknowledge any of the crowd, he had to attend to his duty as a sportsman. He looked towards Sheffield as she stood there in her still shocked state. He started walking towards her with a smile on his face that he tried to make seem friendly and not condescending. Once he was close enough to the maid, he extended his hand for a respectful handshake. He offered the words, "That was a good duel."

Sheffield looked down towards his hand, and then up to his face, and then back to his hand before she passed her Hi-Power to her left hand and reached to meet his right hand with her own. They shook and she said, "Is still don't understand how you did that. But that was some fancy shooting." She nodded slightly and she added on, "You're pretty good."

Based on what he had seen so far, Sheffield wasn't known as a warm person. In fact, based on the few times that he had spoken with her, she was cold to the point of easily being considered rude or at least impatient. So, Las Vegas understood the significance of Sheffield giving any sort of complement.

They stopped the handshake and then looked towards the assembled group. The light applause had concluded and now it was smiles and nods of approval all around. As expected, Queen Elizabeth was the first to do anything. She laughed for a brief moment before she spoke, "I'll admit it… I'll admit it, Calico Jack. On all counts, you have impressed me. Again, thank you for accepting a knighthood. It really makes it easier to work alongside you." Then she directed herself to the others here, "What do you think, ladies?"

That opened the floor to any comments from the collective. Hood was the first to capitalize, and she said, "I think that I speak for all of us when I say what just occurred, defied expectations. It would seem that the smartest course of action around you would be to expect the unexpected." She had no idea how right she was. Especially when it came to pistol shooting, he had another few tricks up his sleeve that he would keep to himself for now. But ignorance of how right Hood was didn't stop calls of agreement from the rest present. Illustrious echoed that sentiment.

"Methinks thou wilt be a fine addition to the order," opined Duke of York. Prince of Wales readily agreed.

Now it was the maids who had something to say. After spending a brief moment in silent conversation that Nashville strained to overhear, Belfast turned and remarked, "Had we seen such a performance before being knighted, we would have extended the offer of being the first butler in our ranks in the Royal Maid Corps. You certainly have the skill with signals intelligence that we so sorely lack, and your skill with a pistol is hard to come by, even among us ship girls."

The rest of the maids were about to voice agreement when Nashville finally lost her patience with being quiet. She waltzed forward out of the spectators and posted right beside her commander with a big smile on her face. She threw her arm over his shoulder and declared, "Well, I've seen it, so now I believe it. You might just be the fastest gun in the west."

He laughed in response and said, "I wouldn't say that." He was right though, the fastest that he'd ever heard of for a quick draw is right around two-tenths of a second. He would have continued on with that train of thought, but Nashville spoke first.

"But I gotta say, if you did get the offer for the Maid Corps at the same time as the offer for the knighthood, I would've said, 'Go with the maids.'" She then looked directly at Queen Elizabeth before she justified, "No offense about your knights, Queen Elizabeth. I just hope you understand how enticing it is to never have to do my share of cleaning ever again with a butler walking around."

Queen Elizabeth had been well on her way to be offended before Nashville justified herself. But then the monarch had to begrudgingly agree. Having maids around was an awfully nice luxury. But still, she couldn't just let Nashville's comment go without any sort of response so she said, "I will overlook any sort of disrespect because, well, I understand the appeal of servants."

There then passed a moment of collective amusement at Queen Elizabeth's expense. All the Royals present understood completely just how helpless Queen Elizabeth would be without any sort of maid's assistance. Cooking and cleaning would rapidly spiral out of control and Queen Elizabeth would have no way out. But none looked more amused in this moment as the maids themselves. They were treated respectfully, and Belfast's own opinions were often considered equal to any member of the queen's court. The members of the Royal Maid Corps often enjoyed a sort of behind-the-throne power when it came to the management of the ship girls of the Royal Navy. They were never in command, but they were always there to advise or serve as seconds-in-command. And that made any sort of discomfort of being a maid worth it in their eyes.

But the foreigners weren't privy to that fact. In this occasion all that the man among them could say was, "Thank you. All of you. I appreciate the compliments." But then he had a moment of reflection. He was never his popular before, much less with women, so what made him different now? He started to run through all sorts of answers in his head. But he kept going back to the fundamental truth that he was still himself. In all honesty, the better person to ask would have been Nashville, but he didn't think that.

But there was something new on the agenda that Queen Elizabeth had in mind. She still wanted to consult her newest knight about the security breech that the Sirens used to spoof one of her own orders. So, she said, "Again, Calico Jack, that was quite the performance. But I would still like to hear your opinion on how the Sirens have cracked out codes."

"Of course," he replied. "Codes are my specialty after all. But would Your Majesty like to return to the bridge or should we go to a place where everyone can have a seat?"

Queen Elizabeth considered the options for a few moments before she asked, "Where would there be more seats?"

"The officer's mess."

She hummed for a moment and decided that a less formal setting would be sufficient before saying, "Lead the way to the officer's mess deck then. But in just a moment." She turned to address the assembled court and maids to dispense with some instructions. "Sheffield, Gloucester, and Sirius. Return to your duties in the organization of the fleet at the mouth of the Thames. The rest of you, come with us to the officer's mess deck. I want all of you to know about this. You are dismissed."

All the members of the Royal Nay chorused, "Yes, Your Majesty." The appointed maids separated and made way to cross the deck and down the gangway. This act wasn't unnoticed by the six watchers, but the let the maids leave unmolested. They would get their chance soon.

As Las Vegas began to lead the group towards a hatch that would lead below decks to go for the mess, Nashville excused herself by saying to her commander, "If you don't mind, I'm gonna sit this part out to oversee the repair technicians work." For some reason, she felt okay with him being with other women in groups. Maybe she trusted them more? Or maybe it had something to do with him just not being alone? But while she acknowledged this as adding an extra dimension to the ongoing mystery of what is wrong with her when Las Vegas is involved, she decided that the moment she's talking with her commander isn't the time to try and get to the bottom of things.

"Not a problem. I'll catch you up later," replied Las Vegas. She gave her final goodbyes to all before she parted from the group.

As Nashville turned to leave, Hood saw her chance to finally talk to Nashville about her relationship with Calico Jack. She leaned over to Queen Elizabeth and whispered permission to accompany Nashville. Queen Elizabeth smiled, seeing that this was an opportune time to find out Nashville's feelings. This was especially important to be done after having been made aware of Calico Jack's feelings by Belfast and of Hood's lack of an opportunity to speak with Nashville. Queen Elizabeth whispered her response, "We'll buy you at least an hour, so don't dally."

Hood thanked her queen before she sped up in an opposite direction to catch up to Nashville as she said just loud enough to cross the distance, "Miss Nashville! Might I keep you company?"

Las Vegas didn't hear the whispering, but he certainly heard Hood's offer to Nashville. He then heard Nashville's acceptance. So, Hood wouldn't be accompanying them. Alright. To bad he couldn't talk about the conditions that Queen Elizabeth agreed to a few days earlier. It wasn't her actions that separated the duo, but the duo themselves. But he trusted Nashville to keep hidden what should be kept hidden. He had to smile a bit though, he'd been outplayed.

Queen Elizabeth smiled too after she noticed his while they walked. He knew that he'd been had about the agreed to conditions. Well, she was also pleased to find out that he was a good sport. He didn't jump up and down and holler like a child when he lost at things.

Nevertheless, she kept quiet as he led the way through Nashville's passageways. Eventually they came to a hatch conspicuously labelled, "Officer's Mess," and he opened the hatch for all following him to enter first. They did and he followed them in, closing the hatch behind him. While the enlisted mess hall had a few long rows of tables that stretched the length of the hall, and the petty officer's mess was just smaller with shorter rows of tables, the officer's mess hall had a few detached tables that each had room to seat ten. The Eagle Union's furnishings for officers weren't the best in the world, but in Las Vegas's own views, it was enough. It was spartan to Queen Elizabeth's eyes, but she kept her mouth shut after deciding that she didn't feel like wasting time to go anywhere else.

Unsurprisingly, she posted herself at the head of the nearest table, and Belfast stood next to her. The seat on her direct right had been left open for him, so he advanced to accept it. To his right would be Illustrious. Prince of Wales and Duke of York took the seats across. Belfast pulled Queen Elizabeth's seat out and she gently assisted the monarch as she scooted in. Once that was done, she invited, "Please be seated." Then everyone else sat at the chair they had selected, and Belfast went to sit on the other side of Illustrious.

Once everyone was settled, Calico Jack asked, "Would it be alright if I work while we speak?"

Queen Elizabeth was curious to see how Calico Jack worked. Illustrious and Duke of York had explained how he worked to her, and they tried to capture the skill of the man in his actual area of expertise, but they could only describe so much. Queen Elizabeth said, "You may, I'm interested to see how your process works anyway."

"Thank you," he responded plainly. He took out Mr. Bond from his pocket to place the device on the table and boot it up. Just as Duke of York and Illustrious had described to Queen Elizabeth, she watched as the holographic screen and keyboard began to float in the air. All present leaned forward a bit to inspect the foreign device.

"How did you get that?" asked Belfast.

He saw no need to keep it hidden now that everyone there understood from whom he received his mission. "It was given to me by Grayson Roscoe and Eriko Hara."

Duke of York spoke next saying, "From the Axis Chairwoman herself? I'd say that she's greater than merely, 'a friend in the Crimson Axis,' as thou said a few days past."

"Things were different then," he brushed off. "I decided to air on the side of caution with what I shared, and a lot has changed in the past few days."

"On that, we agree," concurred Illustrious.

They watched as he began his work on the low-security cypher that would allow the fleet to return to Devonport without any issue from raiders or submarines. Queen Elizabeth found it quite mesmerizing to see how the man's fingers tapped away at a rapid pace on his keyboard. She wasn't aware that anyone could be so quick on a keyboard. Then again, that is probably because she still prefers to type on a typewriter. Computers were still too beyond her. As the man focused and hammered away at his problem, it rapidly became apparent that he was indeed a codebreaker first, and a gunman or knife fighter second.

They passed in silence for a few minutes. No member of the Royal Court felt it was their place to get the official business started and Queen Elizabeth was far too entertained just watching Calico Jack work. That left the man in question to get things started. He began with, "The Eagle Union Navy has a few different codes of varying security that are used for different applications. Does the Royal Navy do the same?"

"Yes, we do," replied Queen Elizabeth, now having been broken from her near trance.

"Do the ship girl forces of the Royal Navy have a dedicated code?"

"Yes," said the queen again.

"Okay then," he said before he thought for a few seconds on how to get the ball rolling on explaining his thoughts without being too confusing. He found the way, so he explained, "It is completely possible that through one method or another, the Sirens found the key needed to crack your code. But that involves an intelligence leak at some point. And the possibility of that is something that I cannot comment on because it's outside of my expertise, or even my knowledge."

That had some grave implications, for it implied that there was disloyalty—treason—somewhere in the ranks of the Royal Navy or that a spy had slipped through the cracks. Queen Elizabeth considered discounting this quickly. It was impossible that any human would work with the Sirens. Willingly, that is. The Sirens are capable of some truly terrifying things. She had no idea of the existence of The Heralds of the Deep though, so she couldn't definitively conclude one way or another, instead having to only rely on speculation.

But while she was thinking on any breeches and wanting to deny their possibility, Calico Jack continued, "I'm sorry if what I have implied is offensive. But I feel that honest thinking and speaking will help us far more than gratifying our pride. Especially in this case."

"You're right," conceded Queen Elizabeth. "We'll get people to look into it."

"Excellent, but there's more," he replied.

"Go on," she invited.

He smiled thinly and asked, "Are you familiar with how the Enigma Code was broken?"

"Just that is was broken," said the queen.

"Well, the story begins in the 1920's when the Iron Blood military adopted the Enigma Machine. For the next nearly twenty years, the greatest enemy of the Enigma were cryptanalysts in Poland. The Poles even managed to crack it for a time before the machine was made more complex. Even if they weren't successful when they needed it to be, their findings were absolutely vital to finally breaking the code. You could say that the Poles got the last laugh on the matter. And fortunately, they shared their findings—particularly how the machine worked—with the western allies before they were divided between Hitler and Stalin. So began the work at Bletchley Park. And at this point in the story, entire volumes of books have been filled, so I won't bore you with the nitty gritty details. But the first shortcoming of the Iron Blood was their own security leak that permitted a spy to find out how the machine worked. But from that we roll into the same problem as earlier of treason or a spy somewhere down the line. Do you understand so far?"

Illustrious answered for the group, "We understand that we have to crack down on physical security, but you haven't finished the story."

"Right. But let me explain something about the art of codebreaking first. I firmly believe that codebreaking is the art of recognizing and exploiting patterns. Mathematical skill is useful for this pattern recognition. But I digress. There is a concept in the field called, 'cribs.' Cribs are words or phrases that are often repeated in the message, or groups of messages, or even the language itself. For example, if you were to see a three-letter word but didn't know what the word itself was, I'd wager that your first guess would be the word, 'the,' and the list of known three letter words will just go from there. Though to be honest, the chances of your first guess being correct is high. And if there are multiple three letter words, then handling and exploiting the cribs just got a lot easier. There are a few other assumptions and patterns in language, but that's the basic gist of cribs. And in this case, the cryptanalysts at Bletchley Park approached the Enigma Machine with the knowledge that Iron Speech has cribs, just like English does. Of course, the Iron Blood High Command wasn't stupid, so they took steps to alleviate their own use of cribs. But that didn't stop the negligence of a lot of lower-level traffic. The regimented nature of military radio messages would have a weather report in the same place in a message at the same time in a lot of locations every day. Or there would be standard greetings and farewells. Ending a lot of your messages with, 'Heil Hitler,' was very unwise. So, Bletchley fashioned a machine that could decipher the Enigma with incredible speed by taking advantage of these cribs and doing what is called, 'brute forcing,' the rest of the code until thousands of combinations—narrowed down from millions—would reveal a key that turns gibberish into Iron Speech. Using a brute force attack each day, they could read Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe orders at the same time as the Wehrmacht or Luftwaffe. The Kriegsmarine used a more complex Enigma, so it took more time to crack and get to the same level as the others, but you were probably aware of that. Of course, there is more to Enigma, but I feel like I'm getting deep enough into the subject."

He stopped typing and he looked Queen Elizabeth in the eyes and said, "Please tell me that you don't begin or end your messages with the phrase, 'God save the Queen.'"

That's exactly what they did. That exact phrase was used at the end of each and every message sent at dusk and dawn in the ship girl force for status updates. From that lengthy crib, everything fell into place for the day and the Sirens knew exactly what their adversaries would do in real-time.

Queen Elizabeth chuckled humorlessly, and she was forced to admit, "We use that exact phrase at least twice a day."

"Well, stop it. And stop using any other sorts of lengthy cribs like that," ordered the codebreaker. "But doing that will only help you in the short term. At best, I'd bet it would maybe buy you a day of time to keep your orders a secret. But realistically speaking, it would probably buy you a few hours, or less, depending on the complexity of the original cypher. If you want a more permanent solution, you'd need an entirely new cypher."

Belfast now had something to say. She wanted to make sure that the subject was completely covered, so she asked, "Before we move on into any replacement codes, is there anything else we should know about cribs?"

Calico Jack hummed as he thought about it. A wicked smile came to his face and he said, "A truly dastardly technique would be to intentionally misspell a word or two here and there. Or even better would be to add a word every now and then that has the length of a normal word but is actual gibberish. Like have the letters, 'jpo,' or what have you, appear in the middle of the message to throw off the pattern of cribs that assume three letter words to be, 'the.' And it goes without saying, but I'd advise being mindful of all communication, no matter what ranking anyone holds."

"That last part is going to be difficult," voiced Illustrious.

"Difficult or not, it will be necessary," countered Prince of Wales. "Too much rides on keeping our own secrets safe from our enemies."

"I concur with mine elder sister," joined in Duke of York. Then she directed towards Calico Jack, "Thinkest thou that the Iron Blood or the Sakura have cracked our codes?"

Calico Jack had returned to his code by now, but he didn't have to think too much to formulate a response, "Well, I can't say anything beyond speculation. But I can comment on what I know. Despite the united front of humanity against the Sirens, the two factions as a whole still don't trust each other, so, I think that there are still efforts to spy on one another. For example, I know that the Signals Intelligence Division, or SID, of the Eagle Union Navy has cracked the most current command cyphers for both the Sakura Navy and the Iron Blood Kriegsmarine. Normally, this information would be classified, but I'd bet money that your own Government Communication Headquarters has done the same. Oh! On a side note, I can read and write Iron Speech and I can read Sakura when it's in their romanji alphabet, but not their kanji. I can also kind of understand both languages. Most experienced codebreakers in SID are the same way with Sakura and Iron Speech. But I can't speak either, my pronunciation, grammar, and accent are terrible. But I digress again. I'd bet even more money that the Crimson Axis has put just as much time and effort into cracking Azur Lane codes as we have into cracking theirs. It beats me as to how successful they are, they've given no sign of it in any of their intercepted communications. But I wouldn't be surprised if they've been successful. Nevertheless, I can attest that the greatest advantage anyone can afford you is underestimating you. So, we better not underestimate them."

"So, the big lesson is that we cannot be too careful?" confirmed Queen Elizabeth.

"Righto," affirmed the codebreaker. "But if it's any consolation, based on the movements of the past year while I was a part of SID before taking my current mission, neither the Iron Blood, nor the Sakura have taken any aggressive actions against any Azur Lane assets, spy games notwithstanding. On the larger scale, they, like us, have bigger fish to fry. And as long as the Sirens are a threat, I think that things will stay like that. And I sure hope that a more lasting peace can be worked out once the Sirens are dealt with."

The Royals had been steadily tensing up over Calico Jack's speculation about the state of their codes as it concerns the Crimson Axis, but that last statement did indeed soften the blow. Silence followed for a few seconds that was only accompanied by the sounds of the codebreaker's art. Then Queen Elizabeth felt to move on with the conversation, "While it is a relief that the Crimson Axis don't seem to be making overt moves against us, that still leaves the issue of needing a new code. I don't suppose that I can ask you to construct such a thing for us?"

Calico Jack had to smile at that request. He replied, "I'm honored that you would trust me with a matter of such importance. But I must decline. And I'll explain why. The best practice would be to update the cypher every now and then and I can't do that when I have to stay mobile. That's compounded by the fact that at some point I'll have to be in Crimson Axis territory. I could get one going, but in order to update it someone else would have to dip their hands in it, and the more who put their hands on it the more potential security leaks you have. And finally, I do hope to get moving on my own mission as soon as possible, and that would certainly interfere with the amount of time needed to get a code put together. I'd honestly recommend going through the normal channels of getting a new cypher put together. And as a heads up, no matter what avenue you decide to use to get a new cypher, don't expect a secure one in less than three months."

"Damn," cursed the teenage-looking queen. "I understand why you have to abstain, but that three-month wait is what hits the hardest. Is there anything that we can do to speed up the process?"

He thought again. He ended up smiling nostalgically and that made the Royals in the room perk up with curiosity. He said, "Over the course of my university and graduate student career, I had the pleasure of being able to collaborate with some very talented people. You could go to one of them to get them to concentrate exclusively on getting a code for you together. Depending on how busy they are, it might be able to shave off a month of waiting, miracles notwithstanding."

Prince of Wales put on a face that belied dissatisfaction with the answer. She rebutted, "The Eagle Union is not easily accessed with the current state of things. I don't know how a referral of yours will help."

"I understand that," he defended back. "There are a few people here in Europe that I think can handle the job."

Now that got their attentions. "Who?" asked Illustrious.

"The most accessible is an associate that studied in Cambridge University." Calico Jack chuckled and that unsettled the group with the possibilities. "His name is Barnaby Black. The man is a brilliant computer scientist. And given the time of year, I expect that he has graduated from the doctorate program by now, and assuming he hasn't already been picked up by the government, he'd be an almost ideal match for what you're looking for."

"Almost ideal?" recited Duke of York.

"Barney is likely the most prideful man I've ever met. That makes him hard to talk to him, and a chore to work with. It's also really hard to get him to agree to anything, but if you succeed in that, he'll stick to his guns, 'on his honor as a Scotsman.' If you get him to agree, you can trust him to keep his mouth shut and stay trustworthy, no matter what would happen.

But after that, the next most accessible would be Berendina Kraft. She's a Dutchwoman a few years older than me. And she's a mathematician like myself; a really good one too. I'd say that she's practically a human-calculator, so she's leagues more talented than myself. She'd probably be able to get the code going the fastest. But the main problem is that last I checked a few months ago, she's landed a teaching job in the University of Paris, so she isn't very available. Her shyness makes her good at being subtle, but that's her biggest weakness. She makes Swiftsure look outgoing, and her mild manner makes her relatively easy to intimidate. So, despite her good intentions, her trustworthiness might be questionable in a pinch.

Finally, the least accessible—or at least the furthest away—is a Portuguese fellow named Valente Oliveira. In my mind he's the most ideal because he's the only one of the three that I've met and studied alongside in person. His family somehow managed to fork over enough cash to get a blockade runner to get him to the Eagle Union where I met him during my graduate studies at Princeton University. He's a very good friend of mine and if I were to describe his character…well…just make my first language be Portuguese and there you go. That's Valente. His talents are comparable to my own, so while he isn't the best, he's pretty good and more importantly he's sharp enough to learn quickly. Last I checked about three months ago, he just has a job in Lisbon, so with an enticing enough offer, I don't see why he wouldn't come along. Of the three, he's the one that I trust most and he's agreeable too. The only problem is that he's a bit awkward but then again, so was I a few months ago. All in all, I think that he can handle it.

Silence returned to the officer's mess with this new information when something else pertinent came to Las Vegas's mind. "By the way, none of them have overt training in cryptography, but all of them are intelligent enough to figure it out quick enough to not impact your timetable too much, and naturally they'll all gain the experience over time and they'll all learn from their mistakes."

Follow up questions would be passed back and forth, but the most important parts had already been spoken. Nevertheless, they would continue for quite some time.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Hood caught up with Nashville. As Nashville had come to expect of the Royal Battlecruiser, she had on an impeccable smile that radiated friendliness. Nashville smiled back to try and return some of that friendliness. Fortunately, it wasn't that difficult because over the past few days that they had been in England, Nashville had come to quite like Hood. What Nashville appreciated most of her though was her willingness to admit that she had been wrong, and her honesty even when she stands to benefit by lying. She didn't make the connection in her mind, but this was part of the reason she liked her commander so much.

"Hey there, Hood. What's up?" asked Nashville. She suspected that Hood was up to something, but it was beyond her was to what that something might be.

In all her experiences as a warship and now as a woman, Hood had found that she detested deception. Nevertheless, in order to get Nashville to speak about what she wanted to—her relationship with Calico Jack—she would need to use at least some subtlety. So, Hood responded with, "There's something I want to speak with you about, but we can get to that in a few minutes. More than anything, I'd like to keep you some company as you oversee your repairs."

This confirmed in Nashville's mind that Hood is up to something, but now Nashville couldn't help but wonder what that may be. Nashville said, "That's very kind of you. And I'd appreciate the company."

So, the pair would go on to walk and talk as they crossed over Nashville's deck and down the gangway where she would find the foreman of the technicians that are getting her fixed up. She greeted the foreman and the workers warmly and thanked them for their help in fixing up the ship. She made sure to be careful to not give away that her hull was actually a part of herself. Nevertheless, Nashville got the summary of what is to be fixed up. The list made her happy. Since it was still the first day of her repairs, the main thing would be to remove the parts of armor plating that are too damaged to straighten out and mend. And as much as it sucks getting hit by a battleship shell, she found that she quite likes the alleviating feeling of being repaired. So, she gave the foreman her thanks again and notified him that she'd be hanging around at different places and to just holler for her if they need anything. With that business concluded, Nashville and Hood reclimbed the gangway and moved a distance far enough down the deck to be able to speak privately, all the while being close enough to hear anyone yell.

Nashville ended up leaning against the barbette of her number four turret as it allowed the back overhang from the turret itself to shield the pair from the sun as it poked between the clouds. Hood stood next to her in the shade but didn't engage in leaning against anything because she thought such an act inelegant. They passed a few seconds in silence as both enjoyed looking out to the street alongside the river.

As they were looking, the group of cultist assassins were trying their very hardest to act natural in response. Suspicion could destroy everything, and if they were found out too early in their plans to kill the Magician, they might not get another chance. It worked. For now.

Hood began to speak first, "I truly cannot say how grateful I am for your assistance with the battle yesterday."

"Sure thing. But if I'm being honest, I feel like I should thank you and the rest of y'all for bailing me and my commander out when we got surrounded."

"Of course," replied Hood. And then she added on, "I would say that offering assistance is the least we could have done given all that had happened up to that point."

"Yeah," mused Nashville. Then she thought for a few more seconds and then she grew melancholy. "While I'm super grateful to y'all for being fast enough to save us, I do wish that we were all fast enough to save more of those sailors resting at the bottom right now."

"I understand what you mean, and I completely agree. This wouldn't be the first time that not being fast enough has reared it's ugly head."

"Not the first time?" asked Nashville.

"Yes," said Hood. Her face now took on a sort of nostalgic sorrow. She considered explaining why, and eventually decided to do so. "I wasn't fast enough to defeat Bismarck. Or even fast enough to save myself for that matter."

"That's rough," offered Nashville. "I'm sorry that happened."

"It's quite alright." Hood could have left it at that, but she felt the need to share her story further with the younger light cruiser. "It wasn't your fault and if I'm honest, we should have seen it coming. You see, us battlecruisers were an obsolete design by the time our war started, designed for a purpose that didn't exist anymore, and outclassed by fast battleships that had more armor but were equal in speed."

"The Eagle Union never had any battlecruisers. So, what was your purpose?"

"At the time—around the Great War—we were supposed to be fast enough to overtake anything with smaller armaments, but fast enough to outrun anything similarly armed. We weren't meant to fight battleships, or even really other battlecruisers. Jutland reminded us of that, and the appearance of fast battleships spelled the doom of battlecruisers such as I. Then the Washington and then London Naval Treaties put us on life support because it stopped battleship development for a few decades."

"My sisters and I were made thanks to the London Naval Treaty. So, I guess we both have reason to be thankful it existed."

"I supposed," mused Hood. At times she had thought of what might have happened if those treaties hadn't been signed. She probably would have been scrapped by the time Bismarck had even begun construction and her place would have given way to a better capital ship. It might have saved those who would have been her crew, and she would have gladly permitted herself to slip into obscurity and be scrapped if it meant saving them. But then again, Bismarck would have been even more terrifying, but at the same time, any Royal Navy battleship would have been more prepared to receive the Iron Blood menace. There were too many points to consider for the elegant battlecruiser. "In reality, I should say that it was a double-edged sword. It prolonged my existence, but when the Iron Blood stopped playing by the rules, that made Bismarck outclass me in nearly every way except gun size and speed, in which we were equal. And poor Prince of Wales was nearly 15000 tons lighter with smaller guns, less armor, was slower, and with a crew that had only two months of experience aboard! I still remember the day perfectly; Prince of Wales and I would catch up to Bismarck and her escort Prinz Eugen and we would fight them to stop them from breaking into the Atlantic where we might never have caught them. We were rushing in an intercept course with the Iron Blood, but we couldn't close the distance fast enough, a plunging shell from Bismarck tore through my thinner deck armor, instead of the hoped-for side armor if we were closer, and it struck one of my magazines." Hood paused to collect herself and wipe a tear from her eye. Nashville couldn't think of anything to say, so she didn't say anything. Where was her commander when she needed him? But Hood concluded, "And so, 'The Mighty Hood' sank in one thousand fathoms leaving only some rubbish, some oil, and three survivors out of more than fourteen-hundred to mark the place where she sank. Thankfully, Prince of Wales was able to damage Bismarck enough to make her need immediate repairs in an Iris port. And the rest is history, as they say."

Story finished; Nashville leaned her head against the barbette to look upwards to the sky in reflection. After a few seconds she asked, "Do you think that we're cursed? I can't say that I've sank before, but I've lost crewmembers before. I…We've seen war. Been it's victims and it's perpetrators. Yet here we are with bodies of flesh and blood and history is asking us to go through war all over again but from another perspective. Do you think that at some point enough will actually be enough and we can be free from all this?"

Hood joined Nashville in looking up toward the sky. She looked up just in time to see a few doves flying overhead. That little thing brought a small smile to Hood's face and she said, "I don't know. But if we give up on trying to free ourselves and we lose hope that we'll be happy, then we'll never be free and we'll never be happy."

Nashville looked down from the sky over to the battlecruiser and she found herself chuckling a bit. Hood looked down to Nashville after she heard that. With a raised eyebrow she asked, "What's so funny?"

"I could have sworn you just spoke with my commander's voice just now. That's right in line with something he would say."

"Is that so? Does he always speak like that then?"

"Not always, but he definitely leans towards optimism when it counts. He calls it realism, but I think he's confused about definitions. He's blindly optimistic and a hopeless idealist. Well, most of the time."

Now was the time to start segueing into what Hood wanted to find out about Nashville's relationship with her commander. So, Hood said, "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Nashville stood up a little straighter, and she looked more guarded, but Hood continued, "I wanted to better understand what you feel about your commander."

Hood was notably less subtle with Nashville than Belfast was with Las Vegas, and while that did potentially risk Nashville killing the conversation right now because of how closely the Eagle Union duo guards their secrets, Hood made that risk because roundabout questioning and excessive mind games made her feel slimy.

But it was like a storm passed in the light cruiser's mind and heart. She could talk to Hood about all those funny feelings she gets around her commander and she might finally get a name to go with that gut twisting feeling she gets every time another ship girl hugs him or is alone with him. But Nashville pulled on her own reigns a bit. She has known herself to get into trouble by not thinking things through all the way. Did she really want to talk about all of this with Hood? Was Hood really trustworthy enough to let her get this thing off her chest without fears of repercussions? Something told Nashville that whatever comes of this conversation is a mark of the point of no return. But a concern came to Nashville's mind about this. She asked, "Are you asking this? Or is Queen Elizabeth?"

That was exactly what Hood didn't want to hear. But that didn't change the fact that it is what she heard. So, what would Hood say? Well, she had been ordered to do this subtly. But Hood wanted to be completely upfront with Nashville because Hood detested having to lie. She thought and tried to guess how Nashville would react if she was honest. But she couldn't afford to wait too long before giving her answer, Nashville would see through any deception if given after hesitation. Hood decided to go with her heart that was saying that honesty is the best policy. "Queen Elizabeth asked me to look into this. But before you say anything else, please listen for a few moments. Yesterday, your commander asked Duke of York and I to trust that the both of you want to help. We decided to believe you, so please believe me now when I say that I want to help you." Hood paused to think if there was anything else worth adding. Something did come to mind, so she tacked on, "I can tell that you want to talk about this, so please, let's talk."

Nashville sighed heavily. Yeah. That's what she thought was going on. She replied, "I trust you Hood. With what's happened over the last few days, I even trust you enough to talk about this. And let me tell you something; that gives you a leg up over my own sisters." Nashville had to laugh a little though and she continued, "But I guess I wasn't as careful with hiding that something was up as I thought I was. Still, whether I trust you or not, it makes me mighty uncomfortable how everything around here loops back to Queen Elizabeth."

"I understand why that would make you uncomfortable. But I can assure you that Her Majesty's intentions on this matter are pure. She doesn't wish to leverage your relationship with your commander, nor vice versa."

"Sorry Hood. You're gonna have to do better than that."

"Well, a running theme of the past few days is that trust has to be given before it is expected, so I'll tell you why Her Majesty is interested in this matter." Hood took a breath, and she began, "The day that you two arrived, Duke of York noticed how poorly you reacted when Cheshire first met your commander. Circumstances like this has happened before between ship girls, and violence has broken out with people getting hurt. Her Majesty wants to assure that this doesn't happen—much less cause something that would make an international incident—and so here I am trying to find out how important your commander is to you, whether you would turn to blows if push comes to shove."

Nashville didn't have to think hard to get an answer, and she decided that she would be honest in the same way that she can tell Hood is being right now. She stopped leaning against the barbette to stand up straight. Fire came into Nashville's tone as she informed, "Fine, I'll tell you. But I'm gonna level with you Hood. If push comes to shove, I'm definitely going to fight back. I won't fire the first salvo, but I'll be shooting to win. Since Cheshire seems to be the other ship girl on your mind, I'll talk about her specifically." Nashville got herself to calm down with a deep breath and the aggression that possessed her moments earlier left as she continued, "I already told you yesterday how I got my bow from Cheshire. Yesterday I decided to give her a chance, and I made a new friend because of it. Fighting a friend is one of the things that I want to avoid the most. Honest. Yet the truth still is that Las Vegas, or Calico Jack, or The Magician, or whatever his actual name may be, is my commander. And no one else's." She pointed to herself while she spoke to emphasize that she wouldn't be sharing. Nashville then admitted, "Though if I'm honest, Cheshire coming into the picture is just the tip of the iceberg."

Hood was wide eyed with what had just happened. She hadn't expected to stumble into something this potentially serious. After composing herself, Hood invited Nashville to continue explaining.

So, Nashville obliged her. Nashville started from the very beginning with her being launched for a second time only just over a year earlier, so she is still relatively new to all the things that come with a flesh and blood body. She recalled what she did as a fast cargo ship and she listed the reasons she didn't like her last captain. But then she made sure to be extra careful to not divulge any information about the mission as she began to recollect to Hood what had happened between her and her then new commander. Nashville recalled aloud all the acts of kindness and the things that she had been able to see and learn and feel thanks to Las Vegas. She explained how there weren't any problems at first but that over time she has started to get these weird fluttering feelings in her stomach whenever her looks at her, smiles at her, tries to get her to laugh, or even calls her name. She talked about how much she enjoyed the moments when he gives her hugs, or tries to comfort her, and how much she wants to have these moments last forever. A nostalgic smile crossed her face as she remembered that time when she had helped him calm his fears right before the Battle of Windward Passage. But then Nashville arrived at the part of her tale when she remembered the first instance when she felt something that she had never experienced before. It was the feeling she got when Las Vegas went off alone with Nevada or Hornet or even that brief twinge she got when he spoke alone with her own sisters. She would end up saying that the feeling was like a sort of twisting in her insides that hurts her in a way that she couldn't describe accurately enough to do it justice. Nashville explained how mysterious this feeling was to her, how she couldn't tack down exactly what it was that she was feeling, just that she didn't like it. She told Hood how much she wanted to talk to someone about this, to get to the bottom of the mystery of what is wrong with her whenever her commander is involved, but that there was nobody that she felt comfortable talking to in Miami, so they would sail to England.

But then things wouldn't get any better like she had hoped. Meeting Cheshire the first day threw a wrench into that, and Nashville described how first meeting Cheshire was the worst she had ever felt that weird twisting pain, and how that made her angry to the point that she scared herself. Then came the strange parts about not feeling the pain when Javelin hugged her commander or how she was fine with him being alone with the rest of the Royal Court right at this moment for some reason. But it all came to head when Nashville explained how they had found out why she had been launched for the second time. Nashville tried to describe the actual pain and despair she felt from existing only as a back-up, and how her commander fixed it for her and made her feel better. Even when the entire Eagle Union Navy and Azur Lane High Command said she was just a weapon, he made her feel like she was worth so much more. She remembered how she felt like she failed her commander by getting surrounded in the Battle of the Thames, and how he was able to save her, and then forgive her of what she had done. Then came the aftermath of the battle and the things that she felt when Cheshire was aboard. Finally, she arrived at the present with how cool she thought he was during the trial.

Nashville concluded, "I think something is wrong with me. I have no idea what these feelings mean, but what I do know for sure is that all this a centered around how important my commander is to me." She paused and then continued, "Earlier when we were talking about if he should accept the knighthood or not, he said that he doesn't see himself as a hero. But that's wrong. Because he's my hero. He makes me want to be human."

Hood was caught on the back foot by what had just happened. She had a feeling that this subject did go deeper than simple jealousy, but she had not expected that it would go this deep. Nashville didn't know what was going on with her own feelings, so Hood would take it upon herself to enlighten the light cruiser. Hood smiled and that agitated Nashville who spat out, "This is serious. Why are you smiling?"

"I promise that there is nothing wrong with you."

"Huh?" she asked dumbly as her agitation was instantly forgotten. The possibility of not having anything wrong with her had never crossed Nashville's mind.

Hood stayed smiling as she relayed, "All of the things that you have been feeling can be explained easily. It's part of having these bodies of ours, so it's certainly new to us ship girls. And because of that it's understandable that you're confused by all of this, with only a year since your second launch and no fleet assignments." Hood paused a bit to make sure that they were making eye contact so that there would be no confusion with what she would say next. Hood finished with, "What's going on is that you're in love with your commander."

Those words hung thickly in the air for a few seconds before they could be properly processed. But when they finally were, they shook Nashville to her very core. She stumbled over her next words, "What? Th-th-that's not…I-i-i-it can't be…There's no way…" Tears had already begun to manifest as she tried to rationalize what she had just heard.

Realization began to dawn on her as she found herself back against the barbette and she slid downwards until she was sitting on her deck. Like a lighthouse penetrating the darkness of the night, things began to be illuminated for Nashville. She had been so close to being able to figure it out on her own. Love gained and love lost is a very common theme in her favorite music that she listens to nearly every day, but she had never been able to make the connection between what she had heard and what she had felt for all this time. That fluttering in her stomach whenever her commander does anything with her is a sign of her loving him. That twisting in her gut whenever other ship girls enter the picture is a sign of jealousy, and she doesn't get jealous of people she thinks won't attract Las Vegas.

"I'm such an idiot," Nashville berated herself aloud. That final statement broke the dam, and she brought her hands up to her face and she curled her knees into her chin as she began to sob with this revelation. "I'm such an idiot," she affirmed.

By most metrics, Hood qualifies as a good person, so she knelt and then sat down alongside Nashville as she went through this jarring experience. "You're not an idiot," asserted Hood. "You're just learning. All of us were like this at one point or another." Hood left out the part about that this wasn't even the worst first realization of romantic feelings that she had seen from a ship girl. That honor went to Nelson, and she was never the same after.

Given Hood's own experiences with human emotion and by virtue of being trusted by a lot of the ship girls of the Royal Navy meant that this does happen occasionally in her presence, so she knew that companionship would be generally more effective than words. So, 'Auntie Hood,' as she's sometimes called when nobody thinks she is listening, went into action placing a hand on Nashville's back and started to rub small circles to show that Nashville wasn't alone.

They would continue like this for a few minutes, and it was a good time for further reflection for Nashville. It all made sense now. She had the answer that she had so desperately wanted to hear, and it was something that she hadn't expected. She loves her commander. But…Is it good or is it bad that she loves him? Because last she checked fraternization in the navy was frowned upon. Well, she'd gotten this far talking to Hood, so she might as well get Hood's take on it. "Is it…good…that I feel like this? Is it alright…that I love him?"

Hood could discourage Nashville from pursuing this further. But that would break Nashville's heart and Hood's right along with it. This wasn't an option that Hood considered long. She began to speak softly, "I think that it's a good thing, and I think that it's quite alright to love him. You said that he makes you want to be human and learning to love is part of being human."

Nashville nodded a little in understanding and her tears even began to slow. She was emboldened slightly by Hood's words. It was okay to feel this way, and if her commander was here, he'd say that Nashville would have to do all in her power to make sure that it stays okay. So, she decided that no matter what anybody would say or do, she would not stop loving him. Nashville was starting to recover when her thoughts came to a full stop and then slammed into reverse.

In a way that she had never felt before, terror beyond what she thought was possible gripped her. It was like her heart had stopped beating and she was covered in inky darkness. Did he love her back? And if not now, would he ever? Nashville would rather live a thousand lifetimes sailing into daily battles with people screaming about how worthless she is than find out that Las Vegas wouldn't ever love someone like her. Her thoughts of doubt began to parade by her.

She wasn't human…She just looked like one.

The Eagle Union Navy feared her enough to oppress her and others like her…Is he scared of her too?

She's just a tool, something to be used for war…Is this what she is to him?

No human would ever truly love her…Is she too different?

Nashville's sobbing returned as these thoughts pushed out any sort of acceptance and relief she had felt from this revelation. Her hands balled into fists against her face, and she wanted to sink. She wanted to sink into some sort of abyss where nothing would ever make her feel anything again. She figured that if it were a place where she wouldn't feel anything, nothing would hurt her or scare her.

But Nashville now had to confront a hard truth. She can't neglect asking this question like she did with the last one. Not knowing what she was feeling felt like something was eating her from the inside out. And even though she had only been asking if he loved her back for only a few seconds, she knew that there was no way she could hold this void-like question inside her for any length of time and expect to keep her sanity.

Hood noticed this rapid deterioration of Nashville's state. She stopped her rubbing to place the hand on Nashville's shoulder and she knew that this was the part where simply being a companion wasn't enough. She started speaking to try and save the light cruiser from the growing darkness inside her, "Nashville, please, talk to me. I want to help you."

Nashville knew that this was a question she had to ask. For better or for worse.

All of Nashville's fears concentrated themselves into a single question. She stuttered a bit as she spoke, but she committed to giving voice for the thoughts of her heart, "D-d-does he…love me back?"

Only now did Hood bring Nashville into a hug that the light cruiser readily accepted. Hood felt how incredibly tense Nashville was because of her question. Hood whispered into her ear, "He does love you. He just doesn't realize it yet."

"How do you know?"

"Every time he looks at you, he smiles. He saves a brighter smile just for you, one that he doesn't give anyone else. He treats you more fondly than anyone else and I can tell that he's always concerned with how you are feeling whenever anything is happening. You're special to him. I can see it. And deep down, I know that you can see and feel it too. He loves you too, but he doesn't know it yet."

Over the course of that little examination into Las Vegas's feelings, Hood felt Nashville gradually relax in her grasp. She smiled, knowing that things were going well. Thing were going the way that they should be going, that is, towards the happiness of both Nashville and her commanding officer.

Nashville latched onto every single one of Hood's words. And as she played them through her mind, she knew and felt that they were true. Her fears crumbled before the relieving light that filled her being. She loves him, and he loves her back. She repeated this aloud to hear the words being spoken for her own benefit. "I love him, and he loves me."

Hood offered affirmation with, "That's right. So, if you keep doing what you're doing, which is being yourself, he'll eventually realize his own feelings. You can make the wait faster by telling him how you feel, or you can make it slower if you think it's better to wait, but there is a risk with waiting. I won't say you should choose one or the other because as I said, you're special to him, and that is something that is not easily meddled with by anyone else. But more importantly, it's your choice, and yours alone."

This was like music to Nashville's ears. She didn't have to be so uptight about all the women that they'll meet. Well, she likely will keep feeling twinges of jealousy in the future, but now she could confront any of this with the fact that things will eventually go her way, and she'll get the guy.

But in reality, only time would tell if these thoughts of her eventually getting the guy were delusions. One thing was for sure, it wouldn't be easy to get what she wants.

Nashville had relaxed by now and her tears had stopped. Finally, she said, "Thanks a bunch, Hood. You've really done me a solid right now."

"You're welcome. You're my friend. And I take care of my friends."

Nashville liked the idea of being friends with Hood. She smiled at the thought and replied, "Thanks for being my friend, Hood. But you can let me go now." She was referring to the hug that hadn't broken off yet.

Hood declined breaking the hug by saying, "The embrace was for you before this moment. Please let me do this for me for a short while."

Nashville giggled out, "Sure thing."

When the hug finally broke off soon after, Nashville noted how she felt ten-thousand tons lighter. Hood saw that this reflected in Nashville's countenance and they were able to pass the time in happy conversation.

But after more than an hour had passed, Hood notified Nashville that she'd just received a radio message that the rest of the court had concluded business with Calico Jack and that they'd be leaving soon.

The groups reformed at Nasvhille's gangway and goodbyes were exchanged. Queen Elizabeth invited the Eagle Union duo to meet for dinner at the same pub that they had been going to in order to celebrate the victory in the battle the day before. Though they didn't know it at the time, this victory celebration would be one long remembered for all the wrong reasons. The Heralds of the Deep would make sure of that.

The Royal Court left and that let the duo speak. In an instant Las Vegas noticed that Nashville looked different. But in a way that he couldn't describe definitively. However, if he had to say anything, he would say that she looked brighter than usual, and he liked that. He asked, "So, how was it with Hood as company?"

"It was great! We were even able to become friends. How were things with you?"

"I'm happy that you were able to make another friend," he began. He truly was happy for her, seeing as how she had been deprived of friends for quite long enough in her life. But still he had to respond to her own question. "Things went generally well, some mistakes have been made, but I don't think it's anything that can't be recovered from." He paused and then asked with concern apparent in his voice, "Are you okay? I can't tell what it is, but you look different."

"I feel different. In a good way too. Hood helped me clear something up."

Las Vegas had a moment of insight that this had to do with the weird way Nashville was acting the night that they had arrived in England. "Am I allowed to know what was cleared up?"

Nashville decided that the time didn't feel quite right to make her feelings known. So, she said, "I'm afraid not. At least, not for now."

He raised his eyebrow with the understanding that he likely won't be able to get her to talk about what had happened, so he dropped the subject saying, "Okay then. But when you're ready to tell me, I'll be ready to listen."

They didn't speak for much longer before they decided to get back to the tasks that they had been doing when Queen Elizabeth plus her entourage had showed up a few hours earlier. They agreed to meet up in an hour to get lunch going but before he walked away, Nashville asked for a hug. It was given.

In that moment, everything was alright in the world.

But that evening would decide if things would stay that way.

Well, there you have it. I've finally been able to at least get one of the main heroes to be honest with themselves and fully realize what's going on. It only took me more than 200000 words. So, I would really like to thank the people who have stuck around to see any of this happen. I guess that I really don't have that much to say about this one. I just really look forward to finally going more into the Heralds of the Deep next chapter. But I do feel like I should throw out a source that has really helped me as I've written this arc. It's a book called, "King George V Class Battleships" by V. E. Tarrant. Good book. I haven't finished it, but it does a good job explaining why the KGV's weren't all that good as far as battleships are concerned yet were still able to pull off some frankly impressive stuff. But it's worth saying that this is as much a testament to the iron of their sailors as to the vessels themselves. But enough of that, I see some comments that need responses:

Thanks for the review Prometheus-23. It's a relief to hear that what I wrote was easy to follow. I'll admit to trying to emulate those action movies that actually show the action instead of relying on confusing fast editing and shaky camera work. I've never fenced personally, but the sport does interest me enough to understand the basics and I use it as a baseline for how a "noble" duel is to be conducted. I intend to be looking more into Kendo when we get to the Sakura Empire. I'm glad you liked the chapter. I hope that this one holds up too.

Hi, Seething Abyss. It's great that you can visualize what the fight is like. That's what I was going for. He's going to use the gun at some point. No problem about the Jim Bowie story. I got tons more where that came from so I might sprinkle stuff like that in on occasion.

Hey there, SafetyDoggo. Well, wait no more. Some personal action has taken place and at the moment, I have plans that have that feature more often. Sheffy is befuddled, daresay, bamboozled. The stuff of legend? Well, rumors of a gunman-knight-codebreaker is going to be spreading around the Royal Navy at least. Will he die? Beats me. We'll just have to wait and see. I hope that you're doing well too.

You did it again, Zander22122. You caught the reference. But at some point I'll be able to come up with my own clever hand-to-hand tricks as I write and hopefully it will work out to be cool like from a movie. You make a very good suggestion about picking up the pace if he gets dazed or starts to get desperate. I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for reading and I'm glad that you liked it.

It's good to see your writing again, SomeRand0m. It wasn't a typo. I was trying to demonstrate how Prince of Wales had forced him to be outside of his attack range. But if it was typed in a way that was confusing, then it might has well have been a typo. I'll be more careful about changing subjects so suddenly as I write any fight scenes. No problem with your English, I can read what you write perfectly fine. Thanks for the luck on my final exams, they went well. And I hope that things go well for you too. I'm super happy that you were able to have fun with the chapter and that you were able to follow what was going on. I'm also happy that I'm able to do something unexpected because sometimes I'm afraid that I'm too predictable. Thanks for saying that stuff about my extra explanations or quotes that I include on occasion. The way I see it is that if I couldn't have included it into an essay for school at some point, then it's gonna be here. I'll be honest with you; this fanfic is my chance of revenge for all those years of English teachers forcing me to write about something I wasn't interested in. It's quite liberating. It's awesome that you like the slower pace with the cqc. By the way things are turning out with the responses, I'm going to be trying to keep up that sort of pace. You keep mentioning a philosophy teacher and well, thanks for throwing that out there. I'm keeping all sort of possible endings in mind at this time. He's definitely an above average IQ. We're about to get into the good stuff with the cult, and right now, I've got some ideas that really makes me excited. He's six feet two inches tall. That's pretty tall even by American standards, so that's part of the fun with his character; the juxtaposition of a big guy that's really a professional nerd instead of some sort of athlete or marine. 5'8" or 5'9" sounds about right for Prince of Wales, which in and of itself is pretty tall for the average English woman if what Google tells me it true. A size chart would be pretty helpful here. FDG is really tall in my head so if she shows up, she's going to be taller than Las Vegas. Maybe we'll see more friendly competition in the future. We'll see. I hope this chapter stacked up to your expectations.

Hi, Northreach. Thanks for your kind word. I'm glad the duel and it's pacing worked out for you. I hope that this chapter was good in your eyes too.

Thanks for the review, Touhoufanatic. I'm glad that you liked the pace. But you do have a good point. I can try and play around with the pace of the duel to achieve some sort of affect. I tried to fit in some the reactions at the beginning of this chapter. I'll likely include splurges of how others react about it to as we start to interact with some ship girls that weren't physically there to see it. A "rude awakening" sounds about right. It's going to be great, and I can't wait for it.

Hey there, KINGTIGERACE. I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the luck, it was well used.

What's up, Guest 2856? It makes me smile to hear that this is one of those stories that forces you to read it immediately. I hope to maintain a level of quality that keeps you doing that. The overpowered thing is something that I was really trying to figure out as I was writing. The way I ended up going was that a kansen is about equal in physical ability as Captain America from the movies. So, obviously superhuman, but with some restraint, can actually let a human beat them. As much as addictions suck, here's your fix for the story. Thanks for the understanding about the pace of my uploads. Right now, I'm just trying to move at the pace that my ideas flow.

Thanks for the review, Guest. I'm glad you thought that the duel was epic.

Hi, Ghost14lebi. You do bring up a very valid point about ship girls that don't trust the MC and I tried to start doing that with Nelson but as things turned out, she didn't play that much of a part. So, as I have said in this chapter, the Crimson Axis and Azur Lane still don't trust each other, so when he does get to the Iron Blood, the first reaction is going to be distrust. A big relationship that I'm thinking of trying out is that some ship girl respects him and his skills, but still doesn't like him as a person. I do see where you're coming form about being overdetailed in the fight, but as another review suggested, I really like the idea of speeding of the pace when he gets dazed or injured. And just a heads up, I do intend for him to get injured. I can't stand a movie fight scene where two opponents on relatively equal footing don't both get hit (with exceptions). But whatever the case may be, I'm glad that you stick around, and I hope that you'll keep sticking around. Thanks for your understanding about the frequency of uploads.

It's good to see you, HeronLsL. Thanks for liking the chapter. And thanks for acknowledging the passion that I pour into this. I love doing this and let me tell you, having something fun that isn't T.V. or YouTube to focus on regularly has been a real help to my mental health these past few months. I guess that I can say that you—and everyone else who has been reading—are a real help to me. Thanks for being here. I'm happy that you think that the chapter came together "perfect." You're the only one that mentioned the build up that I was trying to do for the quick-draw duel with Sheffield. I'm glad that it went over well. Keep in mind, there have only been one-on-one duels so far, so I don't intend to keep things so clean cut in the future. I hope that this chapter was able to hold up to what you were hoping for.

Well, that's a wrap for today. Again, I really want to thank you for being here. Seeing all the positive responses makes me feel like I'm flying, and I also appreciate those of you who only read the story. Even just the possibility of making your day a little bit better is enough to make mine better. Take care, friends. If you're having a bad day I hope it gets better, and if you're having a good day I hope it gets even better.