I wasn't even born when they appeared. When the Free Seas Alliance (FSA) was revitalized, and the creation of the Imperial Alliance (IA) and AL. Some of my earliest memories are of discussion in my homeland about who to join, a topic that the baby me paid no heed to (For those unaware the Principality of Kanjrick joined the IA, a foolish decision in my opinion). But now it's been 30 years since their arrival and the world has changed. Who knew these strangers and their ships would change the world so much? The colonization of parts of the world and the arrival of Yvornian ships and settlers doesn't even begin to compare to their impact. Yet little is known about them, for 30 years they have been establishing themselves in this world. Whether called ship-spirits, ship-girls, Kansen, Senki, or Kanmusu these new strangers have been rather mysterious. Only recently with the release of the Kingdom of Oceanic Islands, and the Merchant Republic of Sulfian records regarding the Corfian Incident has there been large scale information widely available about these enigmatic organizations.
Out of a passing interest I happened to pick up a copy of the official reports from each country and began to peruse. The more I read the more I became intrigued, and not just how much was finally revealed about these organizations. I then sought out what few other written stories about these mysterious organizations. From there I kept finding references to an enigmatic figure known as the commander. Little was said about them, but they seemed to be very important to AL, even founding the organization. The few noted encounters with them showed them to be very competent and a great leader. But that was it.
No physical description or information on gender or anything. Just a mention, and then they seemed to disappear from record. This intrigued me, who is this mysterious commander who formed Azur Lanes? Why was so little known about them when they had founded one of the most well-known organizations on Daear? More was known about the creation and formation of the FSA and IA than of AL. Even then when members of FSA and IA could join AL. Why was that? Was the commander of AL really that persuasive and charismatic? That was the spark, from there I sought out every contact I had, everyone I knew who might be able to help. Thus, I started on my quest: to discover what I could about this mysterious commander.
Along the way, I discovered more about the organizations, and many mysteries of the strangers started to be unraveled. The FSA, or Free Seas Alliance, a collection of ships who belonged to the 'Allied Powers', who stand for free trade, and free passage of the seas. The members come from the 'Allied Powers' of Eagle Union, Commonwealth, Iris Orthodoxy, Dragon Republic, Mountains Kingdom, Flat Kingdom, Lowlands Republic, Bear Republic, Belkn Kingdom, Hellenic State, and the Northern Republic. These ships would eventually gather and originally from a different organization, its name unknown, just to be together and able to support one another. Then their enemies or rivals appeared with a different organization.
The IA, or Imperial Alliance, is a collection of ships from the 'Axis Powers' who stand for similarly free trade of the seas. But there is a difference, no one is sure what it is, but there is one. Which lends itself to the continuation of the conflict between the two. The members hail from the 'Axis Powers' of Ironblood, Sakura Empire, Sardinia Empire, Translvayian Kingdom, and the Siamese Kingdom. AL is a collection of ships that belonged to both sides, and some neutral countries. Its goal is the guardianship of the ocean's pathways. A fourth lesser visible organization is the Neutrality Patrol, making up members from 'Neutral Powers'. Those powers being: Sapin Kingdom, Forested Parliament, Lustanian Republic, and the Turkick Republic. Their expressed purpose is to minimize the conflict between the FSA and IA, taking up patrols of neutrality for that very purpose. There are rumors of other organizations, such as the SAA, and the mysterious Northern Union.
These discoveries only fueled me in my investigation. Causing me to pry even further, seek out more contacts. I went further afield, climbed higher in the ranks of each organization, pursued contact even further. This mystery only added more to the hole of unknowing that hangs around these organizations. But in the end, I was able to discover answers. Not to everything I sought, but enough that I was sated for the moment. That said the relationships, and friendships I built over the course of writing this will likely last all my life. For I did not go lightly into this work.
Interview 1
The backdrop was not what I expected, rather than some sort of fancy hall, or military base, I instead found myself at a café in the Parliamentary Kingdom of Szent István, a neutral country that contained a small AL base. The sun shone, and winds lightly blew the flowers and leaves, creating eddies and shapes from flower petals. My prey on this day was one of the first people to interact with what would become the founding forces of the Azur Lanes. He took a sip of their ordered drink and sighed in contentment.
"It's hard to find a good proper Hanvarian soft drink in this part of the world," he commented. Their companion, a white-haired silver-eyed ship-spirit, rolled her eyes. Muttering something unheard as she messed with her cap, placed on the table. I couldn't help but let out a slight laugh. The way they interacted showed that the way they had been working together for decades, something I took to be a good sign. With smiles playing on their lips at the laugh, I asked my question.
"Sure, I know a bit. Don't get your hopes up, I haven't directly interacted with the commander, as you call them, much" he started, breaking for a sip of the soft drink "In that regard Tirpitz can likely share more. But not by much" he concluded indicating the so far silent companion. His companion nodded.
"I have had more interactions with the so-called founding group of Azur Lane, if you truly want to start at the beginning, I can share what little I know about the start…"