Nelson takes Victory to a meeting with the Admiralty to plan the major assault on the Iris Orthodoxy. One of the younger men there sees Victory walk in with Nelson and he demands, "The girl will have to wait outside, Vice-Admiral. Unless she'd like to make herself useful and serve the tea." He finishes the sentence with a prideful smirk.
Nelson is about to defend her but is cut off by Victory herself storming forward and placing her hands on the table, leaning forward as if to challenge them. She balls her fist and hits the table and asks, "Would you like one lump or two, you pompous little twat?
The other members gasp at her audacity, and the man who originally spoke raises his voice and demands, "Who on Earth do you think you are, speaking to me like that, young lady!?"
Victory says, "Who I am doesn't matter. What does matter is that you shouldn't talk down to people like that. You're fighting a bloody war for the survival of the Empire, and yet you feel the need to take out your frustrations on fellow Brits? You should be ashamed of yourself, sir!"
Her words entertain Nelson to no end and make the rest of the Admiralty see her as someone who doesn't take being talked down to well. While the original agitator is at a loss for words, another clears his throat and says, "We apologise on behalf of our colleague, who clearly needs to remember his manners. We're glad to have you with us, Miss…?"
Victory looks at Nelson, "Should I tell them?" She whispers.
Nelson shrugs, "If you can prove it."
Victory thinks and looks back at them. "My name is Victoria. Midshipwoman of HMS Victory."
The first man who had insulted her couldn't let this go. He bellows, "A MIDSHIPWOMAN!? Gentlemen! Surely we cannot allow this… person of such low rank to be here in this top-secret meeting!" Victory feels her blood start to boil. He carries on and shouts at her, "How DARE you stroll into here, talk back to me in such a manner and act as if you're in control when you are the LOWEST ranked officer in the room! Take a seat outside and wait for the men to handle things, girl! A bloody Midshipwoman!? You're a nobody!" Victory pretends not to be phased by that part, but then the man turns to Nelson and shouts, "Vice-Admiral, I'm about ready to call for a vote to demote you for bringing such an intolerable individual in here! How dare you!"
Victory suddenly starts seeing red as she takes a step back and, without thinking, generates a flash of light that temporally blinds everyone. By the time they can see again, they see Victory glaring at the man with unbridled fury in her eyes. They see on her back are two halves of a miniature version of her ship with her sails pointed up high and all 50 side guns pointed directly at the man who had insulted both her and her Vice-Admiral.
She shouts out louder than she ever has before, "I AM THE FIRST-RATE SHIP HMS VICTORY OF THE ROYAL NAVY, AND YOU WILL SHOW VICE-ADMIRAL NELSON THE RESPECT HE DESERVES, OR SO HELP ME, GOD, THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT OF YOU EXCEPT RED PASTE ON THE WALL BEHIND YOU!"
Silence falls on the whole room as Victory breathes heavily, calming down and realising what she's just done. They all stare in amazement at her rigging and the offending man backs up against the very wall she just mentioned. He begs, "God help me, what the hell are you!? Please don't kill me!"
Nelson puts his hand on her shoulder. She looks at him and he says, "Stand down, Victory. I think he's learned." She looks at the look of pure terror in the man's eyes and she relaxes, making her rigging disappear. He says, "Thank you. How did you do that, anyway?"
Victory says, "I… I don't know… but it feels like I can do it again easily. I just didn't know how to before, I suppose…"
The Admiralty member who had previously attempted to diffuse the situation before clears his throat again and says, "HMS Victory, you say? You mean to say you are the ship itself? It seems you have proven that, despite how unbelievable this revelation is. In that case I am doubly glad you are here with us, Miss Victory. That being said it seems obvious that what you are must remain in this room, nobody else must know, lest our enemies figure out how to do it themselves." The other members nod in agreement, while Victory and Nelson share a look as they know Pollard and a lot of other sailors already know. The Admiralty members all opt to let Victory's outburst slide this time on account of the fact that firepower can be summoned at any time. Knowing this, Victory keeps her rigging hidden away during the planning as to not feel like she's intimidating them into agreeing with her suggestions.
When the meeting is over, Nelson and Victory walk out, both in a far better mood now. Victory looks at him and says, "Sir, I must apologise. What I did in there was unprofessional and insubordinate behaviour. I can only hope you'll allow me to redeem myself for it."
Nelson, confused, says, "What do you mean, Victory? You put that vazey hornswoggler in his place. He deserved all that abuse. He got that position through family connections and lies. He hasn't even touched seawater before and he's sent many sailors to die on missions they didn't have enough ships for. How he hasn't been demoted yet is beyond me. It was actually very entertaining watching him squirm, up until you actually made me think you were going to kill him."
Somewhat relieved that he doesn't hate her for that, she sighs, "I know I almost went too far, sir. I am grateful that you stopped me. I… I just wanted him to stop insulting you."
Nelson's eyebrow raises, "Me? What about insults towards you?"
Victory says, "If I can take a volley from an enemy ship and keep going, I can take a verbal battering, sir." She winks. "It's just uncalled for that he started threatening you for something I was doing."
He chuckles, "From how that fight started, I'd say that insults towards you aren't exactly handled as well as you claim."
Victory shrugs and mumbles while looking down, "…doesn't mean I have to like it…"
Back at Merton Place, where Nelson was introducing Victory to his friends and family, a knock came to the door. Lady Hamilton answers it and a Royal Navy officer introduces himself and asks if Nelson is available. She lets him in and says, "Horatio, dear? A Captain Blackwood is here to see you."
Nelson stands and says, "Captain? What news is so urgent you need to seek me out directly instead of sending a letter?"
Blackwood salutes and says, "Vice-Admiral, sir! The Iris Orthodoxy has joined forces with the Spanish! They're all anchored at Cándiz, sir!"
Everyone stops dead upon hearing the news, the only noise coming from Nelson and Victory as they both yell in unison, "They WHAT!?"
Observer looks over her new Franco-Spanish fleet assembled at the mouth of the Mediterranean at her beck and call, through Villeneuve, still mentally linked to her. She speaks into her device again, "It's almost boring how gullible humans are… they actually think they stand a chance here… oh well. This is an experiment where things must go as they did, after all, at least until the death of a particular person, then I suspect things may go very differently."
Tester, now calmed down again, hisses, "Why must you tell me your goddamn hypothesis every time you call me?"
She looks at Tester on her video call, "I'm simply setting a good example and reminding myself what I cannot afford to do, lest this experiment be for naught."
Tester, not being quite as knowledgeable on history as her colleague, says, "So what happens now, you take on the entire Royal Navy?"
Observer leans back on the Redoutable's crow's nest and says, "No, just one battle. It's some time away, so I think I'll just have some fun with my little plaything over there." Points to Villenueve on his own ship, the Bucentaure as it has finally been repaired. "It will be fun to watch him squirm when he loses said battle."
Tester raises her voice, "Ugh, Alpha, he's taller than— Wait, you're going to lose the battle on purpose!?"
"But of course. The upcoming battle itself is simply the catalyst of the experiment, remember? Or would you like to hear my hypothesis again? Perhaps this time it will stay inside that peanut you have in place of a brain." She smirks. To her surprise, Tester hangs up again, but silently. "Hm. It seems that she's finally controlled her temper. At least until I can't hear her anymore." She giggles to herself again.
Nelson and Victory race to London to hold an emergency meeting with the Admiralty again. This time, Victory notices her least favourite decided not to be apart of this one. She couldn't imagine why, of course.
After the meeting where they changed the plan drastically to take the Spanish ships into consideration, Nelson tells Victory to get back to her ship in Portsmouth and get Pollard and Hardy ready to depart while he goes to say goodbye to Lady Hamilton and get his affairs in order. After some persuasion, Victory reluctantly agrees and parts ways with him for now. She gets herself, Pollard and Hardy onto her ship and they await him there.
Pollard asks her the question on both his and Hardy's minds, "So, what's going on, Victory? What's happened to make you spring into action?"
Hardy adds, "Also, where's Nelson?"
Nelson returns to Lady Hamilton's home and meets her in the massive gardens. "Emma, my love… this upcoming battle… it may take weeks to even work on the strategy and getting to know the other men of the fleet. They need some time with me to trust me, and only then can I trust them back enough to execute whatever plan we come up with."
Lady Hamilton argues, "You're their Vice-Admiral, Horatio, it's their job to follow you."
"I know, Emma. This time, however, none of them have met me and they already have another Vice-Admiral there with them. This battle is very important, my love. It could decide the fate of the Empire, and all of Europe. This battle will make or break the Royal Navy, and they all know that. The pressure they're under makes their resolve commendable, but I also need to be sure they don't bottle it when the battle starts."
"I see…" Hamilton relents. "But… what about Miss Victory?"
Nelson looks at her, "Victory? What do you mean?"
"She loves you as well, you know." Hamilton smirks.
Nelson goes red, "I'm sorry, what?"
Hamilton's smirk grows into a teasing smile, "I've seen the way she is around you. Any mention of what even remotely sounds like what she feels for you, her face goes as red as yours is. Don't tell me you haven't noticed how she looks at you when you're not looking."
Nelson thinks, "It's rather difficult to notice something when I'm not looking, my dear."
Hamilton returns to her question. "So, what are you going to do about her? We both know she's okay with the idea of multiple partners, and let's face it, we've both done it."
Nelson argues, "I've only known her for a couple of years, Emma."
Hamilton chuckles, "I don't mean marriage, Horatio. I mean just let her know that you know about how she feels, and reciprocate of you've grown to like you that much. After all, she has saved your life and your position multiple times. Surely that kind of commitment has to be rewarded, hmm?"
Nelson stares off into space, imagining in his head how he'd think. Victory would react. Would she be repelled as she didn't feel that way after all? Would she flip out like she did in that meeting? Or would she really have feelings for him? Even so, what would she do then? She is the physically strongest person he's ever known, and immensely headstrong. Once she decides on something, she is very difficult to persuade otherwise. He's brought back to reality by Hamilton clicking her fingers. He looks at her again and she chuckles, bring her hand to her mouth. "You should see your face, Horatio. You'd make a tomato jealous."
Nelson clears his throat for any relief from the embarrassment. "Ahem… I… I'll pretend not to notice her feelings until the battle is over. When we win, and we will, I'll take her aside and talk to her about it."
"I think you'll make her day, Horatio. Winning a major battle and winning your heart? A double victory for Miss Victory." She jokes. They both share a laugh and a kiss before Nelson starts to make his way back.
After Nelson returns to Portsmouth the next day, he has breakfast at the George Inn, drawing a lot of attention, causing Victory to run up to escort him toward her ship, past the many people who heralded him as such a hero, they cried and dropped to their knees as they praised him. As he steps onto the Victory, Nelson waves at the crowd with his hat and says, "I had their huzzas before; have their hearts now." He puts his hat back on and turns to her. "Well then, Victory, get us out of dock. We are to join up with the blockade near Cádiz."
"Aye, sir!" Victory eagerly takes the helm once more, making sure she's packing as many cannonballs as she can without it hindering her speed or stability, on top of the weight of supplies for the humans aboard. Having only 3 of them helps save weight for the extra ammunition.
Having arrived at said blockade, they see the HMS Temeraire. Nelson has Victory drop anchor near enough to them and he officially takes command of the fleet from Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood. After which, Nelson spends many weeks having meals with the captains of the other ships of the blockade, getting to know them more and letting them know his intentions, and also what Victory is capable of, reinforcing their confidence. Nelson also spends the times in between with Victory herself preparing and refining the tactics they will use in fighting the new alliance.
They have little models representing both their blockade fleet and the enemy both arranged in traditional lines. Victory, however, sees a flaw. "Sir… they have more ships than we do. If we go in a line like this, they may make quick work of our smaller frigates and then focus on us."
Nelson rubs his chin, "Hmm… yes, you're right. If we take into consideration that they'll be expecting us to do this… then how about this…? We have you and the Temeraire at the front… then…." He carefully rearranges his fleet into a way that has Victory intrigued.
"A rather unorthodox strategy, sir, I doubt they'll ever see that coming!" Victory enthusiastically compliments his thinking.
Nelson nods, "Quite. Let's work on it some more, and then brief then others, yes?" Victory nods and they get to ironing out the wrinkles.
