"Target is in range," said Pennsylvania through the intercom "ETA, five minutes."
"Looks like this campaign's nearly over," said Saint Louis, tightening her grip on her spear "one last fortification to take out."
"I'm pretty sure this fight will be as easy as the others," said Neptune, "our enemy's barely put up any resistance, not like they're going to do it now."
"It isn't a good idea to underestimate the enemy Neptune," said James, sitting at the edge of the base "especially now, when we're this close to victory. Showing even the slightest bit of complacency can always come back to haunt you."
Stiffening up at the comment, Neptune immediately stood to attention and saluted her leader before saying "Sorry Commander, I won't make the same mistake again."
"It's coming into view now," said Arizona.
On hearing this, James saw their destination getting closer and closer. He stood up and turned around to address the fleet that was waiting on his orders.
"Which of us are going this time Commander?" asked Helena.
"We'll be adding a small twist on the strike team strategy we've been using so far," he replied "Akatsuki, Kirishima, Sheffield, Curacoa and Curlew: front and centre."
Upon saying this, the two ninjas and three maids appeared before him.
"Our attack will consist of two parts: one part will distract the enemy forces while part two will sneak into the arc with the purpose of destroying the teleportation device hidden inside."
"Time is of the essence here," he added, looking at the five girls in-front of him "since this is the Arc, Omega will have additional security forces in place and will be ready to send more reinforcements when we start attacking. If you can take out the device, we can end this fight swiftly and mercilessly."
"Consider the task complete master," said Curlew.
"We will not disappoint you," added Kirishima.
"Commander," said Hornet, "while the strike team is completing their objective, who's going to join you in the frontal assault?"
"That's the fun part," he replied with a smile "normally, it's only a team of six that attack the bases, but today, we're going all out."
"An interesting choice of attack Commander," said Queen Elizabeth "and might I add, just a bit devious in nature as well."
For a moment, everyone seemed confused as to what Queen Elizabeth said. The plan seemed smart and tactical, there was nothing about it that came off as devious.
But soon enough, they quickly came to understand the deceit behind their Commander's latest plan.
"Right then, Saint Louis: make the call."
In response, Saint Louis stepped forward, raised her spear and pointed it at the base.
"AZUR SKY," she yelled. The rest of the fleet immediately formed their weapons while the Commander took out his swords.
"LIGHT IT UP," she shouted and brought her spear down. Saint Louis then leapt off the flying island followed by the rest of the fleet.
One by one, the rest of the fleet followed, while the newest additions to the fleet watched on in silence.
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"And then, the Commander flew down the side of a ship, cutting a huge hole in the hull," said Copper in an excited tone "Suruga took advantage of that moment and blew it up from the inside out."
"I know we've seen him in combat on more than one occasion," said Rossiya "but it still a surprise to see a human attacking so ferociously."
"I didn't think humans were like that," commented Bremerton.
"We're not," stated Alec.
"By the way Alec," said Richelieu "Queen Elizabeth commented on how the Commander's plan was somewhat devious, yet I never felt that when reviewing it."
"James took advantage of the measures Omega put in place to try and stop him. Given that the arc is a vital part of the Siren invasion, it makes sense that it would be heavily guarded. And considering that he's now entered the war, Omega would have doubled the ships patrolling the device."
"With that in mind, if the patrols saw a flying island and a fleet of you coming at them, they'd automatically think of you as a threat and move to stop you. Add in the fact that James is also part of the attack squad and the ships guarding the arc will focus their attention on James to try and hold them back while they signal for reinforcements."
"With the guards focused on the enemy in-front of them, James' secondary team sneaks and takes out the teleportation device. Since they have little to no resistance in their way, completing their objective is a breeze."
"Once the teleportation device is gone, there's no way for the ships to get help. This also allows the second team to attack the Siren ships from their blind spot, effectively catching the enemy in a pincer move."
After giving his explanation, Alec noticed how everyone were wide eyed and amazed. For the most part, he somewhat understood their reaction. While James did not employ any multi-layered or complex strategy, he effectively utilized his resources to ensure victory.
'The hallmark of a good leader is the ability to turn even basic strategies into sure fire wins,' he thought.
"Another interesting thing was seeing how strong everyone's become since our time away," said Intrepid.
"Agreed," said Chapayev "my dear Sara got stronger by leaps and bounds since I last saw her."
"Not just her," said Casablanca "Matsukaze, Suffolk, Kako, Furutaka, Repluse, Long Island, Phoenix, Brooklyn… those girls are usually relegated to the backline while the faction's heavy hitters do what they do best."
"But they were tearing through the enemy like nothing."
"From seeing the PR class show off their strength again and again, to seeing the Ironbloods… there was never a dull moment during that campaign."
"Ah, that's right," said Tashkent, as if realizing something "in all the reminiscing, I forgot about the message James asked us to pass on."
"After two days rest, he wanted to give you a tour of the whole island," she added.
"Hold on, only me?" asked Alec.
"Yep," replied Tashkent.
"I remember that," said Richelieu "we all informed him about how Whitney and Manny also helped us during the war, but he seemed pretty hesitant about calling Whitney."
"I wonder why," pondered Gangut.
"Don't sweat the details Gangut," said Alec "instead, tell me more about how it was like seeing all those familiar faces."
With that, the girls started recalling the events from when they joined the Azur Sky till now, sparing no detail. Alec listened to their stories intently, noting the excitement and joy in their voices.
On one hand, he was genuinely happy to see them surrounded by their friends. They seemed more relaxed, calm and in an all-round better mood than what they used to be. Given how often they had to hold back their strength when interacting with the other humans, this must feel like a huge load off their backs.
Of course, Alec couldn't help but wonder why James invited him for a tour and not anyone else.
In the end, the only thing he could do listen to the girl's stories, while silently counting down the clock in his mind.
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Time passed by quickly and on the third day, the group headed to the island, ready to be properly introduced to the fleet.
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Before the alarm bell rang, she quickly shot up and hit the sleep button. She now cautiously stared at the body next to her, making sure her actions remained unnoticed. When she found him sound asleep, she slowly lowered herself back to the bed.
However, rather than catching a little more sleep, she took this moment to quietly stare at her partner.
This was Akagi's ritual. It was how she started her day. Quickly turning off the alarm and then staring at James while he slept. Was it weird? Yes. Did she care? Not one bit.
She giggled a little when she saw him furrow his brow. He was no doubt dreaming about something, but what it was remained a mystery.
'Hmm,' she thought, quietly reaching out and stroking his cheek 'should be just about time.'
As those thoughts left her mind, the door to the room swung wide open, followed by the leader of the Maid Corps making her entrance.
"Good morning my master," said Belfast, while James only groaned a little in response.
"Whas going on?" he said, shaking his head a little "wh-what happened to the alarm?"
"The same thing that usually happens," replied Belfast as she opened the window and let some fresh air into the room.
"Akagi turned it off to stare at you while you sleep."
"Didn't I say not to do that," said James, turning to Akagi.
"I tend to forget that conversation," countered Akagi, feigning ignorance.
"Master," said Belfast as she removed the blanket off the bed and started dusting it out of the window "you should not be surprised that your fox wife tends to display some cunning traits from time to time."
"Aren't you in a catty mood today Belfast," stated Akagi.
"I'm nothing of the sort," countered Belfast "it must be your imagination."
"Master. I should inform you that today's the day you will be meeting with Mr. Volkov and the new members," said Belfast "I believe that the rest of the faction leaders are already getting ready and leaving to meet in the central courtyard."
"Ah, that's right," said James "I remember that you and the maids were working a lot while the rest of the fleet were resting. Belfast, for the rest of the day I want you and the girls to relax. You earned it."
Rather than say anything, Belfast chose to remain silent. She purposely looked in the opposite direction, hinting her dismay at the idea.
"Belfast," called James but got no reply. Instead, she started walking out the door, pretending to do something else.
"Belfast come back here," called James "Belfast, you will listen to me and take the day off."
Watching James storm out the door in a vain attempt to convince the head maid to take a break, Akagi chuckled at their exchange. From what she remembered, when the maids worked under Queen Elizabeth, they were given numerous days off and had plenty of time to rest and relax.
However, ever since they joined the Azur Sky, none of them ever wanted to take a break. Belfast in particular was going for working more than the rest, much to the protests of her leader. This recent exchange was but one in a number of James' failed attempts at trying to convince the head maid to take a break for a moment or two.
"Then again," she said, finally getting out of bed and looking out the window. As she saw the numerous girls going about their day, she said to no one "he does have that effect on us."
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"Whoa," said Alec upon reaching headquarters. His attention first went to the many different buildings and their interesting design choices. Then, he noticed the girls going about the area, no doubt engaged in their daily activities.
There were three girls fawning over a brown-haired girl with a poncho, a beautiful silver-haired woman was walking and talking to an eagle sitting on her shoulder, two girls with bunny ears dressed in school uniforms were engaged in a deep conversation and there was one white-haired girl with cat ears and a tail standing up on a bench, declaring herself as the greatest in all the land.
"Guten Morgen meine Freunde," said a voice. Immediately Alec turned in the direction of the voice and saw a pair of girls coming towards them.
They were both dressed in similar red-and-grey clothes, but that where the similarities ended. The girl on the right had flowing white hair, a well-endowed chest and legs you could stare at all day long. The girl next to her had blonde hair all the way to her hips and that was about it. Alec couldn't help but feel nervous around the blonde-haired girl, as she drew nearer.
"Eugen," called out Bremerton, waving to her.
"Nice to see you too Bremerton," said Eugen, returning the gesture with a warm smile.
"Hello everyone," said the blonde-haired girl.
"Greetings Alec," said Eugen with a light bow "I am Prinz Eugen of the Ironblood. And this is my beloved older sister, Admiral Hipper. You don't have to call us by our full names, Eugen and Hipper are more than enough."
"Wait, wait, hold on a second," said Alec, his eyes wide as he turned to Hipper "she's the older sister?"
"Yeah, got a problem with that?" asked Hipper, raising her eyebrow.
"No, no, none at all," said Alec, immediately buckling under her gaze.
"Alec hasn't fully come to terms with how our world is," said Rossiya "this is all quite new to him."
"That's odd," said Hipper, "the Comma- I mean James didn't seem all that surprised by it."
"Well as you can see," said Eugen "between the two of us, I have the looks, the brains and the brawn to boot. While my sister… she has a nice personality."
"Right then," said Hipper, failing to respond to the jab "Mom wanted you all to meet with the leaders first, so shall we start with that?"
With a nod, the group headed away from the courtyard and towards the largest building in the area.
When the group came near, they saw a number of girls waiting for them. While many were focused on the tall, imposing, raven-haired woman, Alec was taking note of the others as well. There was a young girl with flowing blonde hair and a sceptre, next to her was another young blonde-haired girl carrying an abnormally long sword. Then there was a woman with brown hair, red eyes and what looked like fox ears and nine tails. Alec blinked a few times, wondering if he was seeing things. Then he saw a woman with short, white hair standing next to the tall black-haired woman. Alec now saw a woman with white hair, blue eyes, wearing a black jacket with the lower buttons open, exposing her white skirt. Next to her was another white-haired woman with an open jacket, a sleeveless white top, black tie and short skirt.
Realizing that these were all the leaders of the respective faction, Alec started to grow tense and concerned. He wondered what they were going to say and his mind started creating question after question.
It was only when he felt a calm hand resting on his shoulder did he snap out of that trance. He turned and saw Rossiya, who simply smiled at him.
Soon enough, he saw Alec and a white-haired maid join the group. Now together, they all bowed slightly to Alec's group followed by everyone saying "Welcome."
Before Alec could return the gesture, Richelieu and the rest of the Iris Libre bowed.
"Queen Elizabeth," said Richelieu "it does the heart good to see you and lady Warspite in good health."
"I too am glad to see my subjects safe and sound," said Queen Elizabeth "Alec Volkov, as leader of the Royal Navy and protector of the Iris Libre, I thank you for taking care of my subjects during this campaign."
All Alec could do was muster a nervous bow. If his guess was right, a member or royalty just thanked him for something.
"And I too must thank you as well Alec," said the lady with the buttoned-up jacket "in our absence, you protected the members of the Northern Parliament. I am truly happy to see you alive and well."
"And we're also glad to see you up and about Yorktown," said Rossiya "but I am surprised though, I thought you were out of action after that mission."
"For a time I was, but let's just say I found the courage to regain what was lost," said Yorktown then cast a quick glance at James before turning back to the others.
"Ah, before I forget, there is someone else in the Eagle Union I am sure you will be happy to see," she added.
This was followed by a voice yelling "Chappy." As the voice grew louder, the group saw a young pink-haired girl with a very uniquely designed dress rush forward and leap into Chapayev's arms.
"Sara," shouted Chapayev, immediately hugging her while the other members in the Northern Parliament came around to greet their friend.
"I'm so glad," said Saratoga, who was starting to cry "when Lexington and I went to your base and saw nothing left, I feared the worst."
"It's alright my friend," said Chapayev, stroking the girl's head "as you can see I and the rest of the faction are alive and well."
"By the way," said Gangut, eyeing the aircraft carrier up and down "is it just me or do you look a little different?"
Seemingly perking up at the question, Saratoga moved back a little and with a puffed-out chest she said "I'm glad you noticed. Your beloved Saratoga has levelled up since you were away. I'm now stronger than ever, capable of ensnaring the hearts of anyone I lay my eyes on."
"Isn't that right Commander?" she asked, turning to James.
"Sorry Sara," said James, "but I only have room in my heart for my beloved little sisters."
At this comment, the woman with fox ears immediately glared at him and made a show of clearing her throat.
For a moment, James did not realize what Akagi meant. Then, his eyes opened wide in shock as he said "andmywife,Ilovemywife."
In a bid to get things back on track, Queen Elizabeth took a step forward and spoke first "I am the leader of the Royal Navy, Queen Elizabeth."
Following that introduction, Tirpitz, Yorktown and Akagi introduced themselves to Alec.
"Well then," said James "now that introductions are out of the way, how about I take you all on a tour of…"
But he could not complete his sentence as a maid suddenly grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away.
"Wait Belfast, let me go," he said, struggling to no avail.
"You have commissions to approve, sign mountains of paperwork and give the go ahead on the many tasks the maids completed while the rest of the fleet rested," said Belfast, "you really don't have time to be playing tour guide right now."
While the sight of James being dragged away by someone was nothing new to most of the girls, it was something else to the new members.
"Hipper, Eugen," said Tirpitz, turning to the sisters "could I ask you to take the Comman- James' place and take the girls on the tour?"
"Sure, sure no problem," said Hipper "come on team, let's go."
The sisters first led the group to a café, aptly titled 'Neptune's Café.'
"This café belongs exclusively to the PR member Neptune," said Hipper "when they first joined our fleet, she asked James for a place where everyone could relax and take it easy. James responded by building the café for her."
"Every night a member of our fleet goes on stage to sing a few songs," continued Eugen "however, because most of them are quite shy, we've only been listening to San Diego for the past couple of months."
On hearing this, the members of the Eagle Union all winced a little.
"What? What's wrong with San Diego?" asked Alec.
"She's something of an acquired taste," said Bremerton, in an effort to dodge the question.
"Personally, I would love to hear Enterprise sing," said Essex.
"She did sing once," said Eugen, "but that was only after the Comman… James kept hounding her for three days."
The sisters then led the group to another large building. In it, they saw a number of different girls lounging around, either relaxing, reading or taking a nap.
"This here is our lounge room," said Hipper "it's where we get to unwind after a tough day."
"Hmm," said Rossiya, examining the room's theme and decoration "Eagle Union wallpaper but Royal Navy furniture, quite an interesting choice to go for."
"Don't get too attached to the scenery Rossiya," said Hipper "James changes it whenever Lexington or Sara come up with a new design."
"How often is that?" asked Richelieu.
"Probably once a month," replied Eugen "of course he'll change the room for special days like the three New Years, Christmas, Halloween, Easter, and Summer."
After that, the girls led the group to a group of apartments.
"This is the newly created dorm rooms," said Hipper "usually only the Eagle Union lives on the main island while the Royal Navy, Sakura Empire and Ironblood live on the islands nearby. However, since we didn't have enough money to turn all four islands into flying fortresses, James decided to build an apartment complex to house the girls during this campaign."
"Whoa, this looks huge," exclaimed Pamiat "how many floors do you think it has?"
"Hard to say," replied Shangri-La, adjusting her glasses "by the way, is this where we'll also be staying?"
"Yep," replied Eugen "after we're done with the tour, we'll show you your rooms. I hope you don't mind being two in one room."
These accommodations were a welcome change compared to the sleeping arrangements they had to make on the Defiant.
They were about to head to another location when the group saw two girls who seemed like they were in deep conversation. One girl had grey hair with red eyes and wore ornate looking clothes. The other girl had short-pink hair and wore a black and red modified military uniform.
Alec wondered why Rossiya and the rest were paying attention to these two after seeing a white-haired, red-eyed girl with cat ears and tail chasing a black-haired, red-eyed girl with cat ears and a tail.
"There's no mistaking it," said Richelieu, "those two belong to the PR class."
"Hello you two," called Eugen, addressing the pair "you look like you're in quite a deep conversation."
"I was just telling Saint Louis over here to try out that new dress Sara and Lexington made. It would totally contrast with the black one I've got."
"And I was objecting to the idea and trying to convince Roon to drop the subject," stated Saint Louis "a knight has no time for fanciful dresses, I must continue to hone my skills whenever I get any free time."
"A knight should always be ready to protect her charge at a moment's notice," said Hipper, "but then, what if there's some formal event and you can't go because your clothes don't match the dress code."
This seemingly casual musing from the Ironblood girl caught Saint Louis completely off guard. Everyone could see her immediately grow pale at the idea of not being able to conduct her duties.
Saint Louis was stuck in a daze for a few moments then cleared her throat and said "on further consideration, I have decided that adaptability is also a necessary skill for a knight to have."
With that said Roon quickly took Saint Louis in the direction of the clothes room before the latter changed her mind.
"Not bad sister," said Eugne, with an impressed look.
"W-well its no big deal really," said Hipper, looking away and doing her best to hide how happy she was from getting that compliment.
"By the way," said Alec, "who were those two?"
"Remember when Omega mentioned that there were six powerful ships who allied with James in addition to the four factions?" asked Rossiya "those were two of them."
"Saint Louis and Roon," said Richelieu "I'm honestly surprised to see them behaving so casually."
"That shouldn't really be a surprise Richelieu," said Eugen "after all, when we're not taking out the Sirens, we have plenty of other things to do on the base."
"That is something else that surprises me," said Richelieu "we're in the middle of a war and yet, its like any other day on the base. I expected things to be a little more tense."
"That was a decision made by James before coming here," said Hipper "he clearly stated that dealing with Omega and winning the war was something only he and the faction leaders should be concerned with. The rest of us should relax and take it easy."
Although unorthodox, Alec understood the merits for adopting such a strategy. Rather than have everyone on edge and waste energy, it's better to have everyone on standby.
"And that's pretty much the end of our tour," said Eugen.
"Wait, aren't we going to take them to headquarters?" asked Hipper.
"Nah, that's too boring. Let's go meet up with James instead."
"Isn't the Commander busy right now?" asked Essex, raising her hand.
"It's afternoon right now," said Eugen "whether he has work or not, James will never miss going to see his sisters in the afternoon."
Confused by that statement, the group simply let Eugen and Hipper take them to where James was. They figured that rather than ask about James' sisters, it was better to see what they meant.
It didn't take long for them to reach a garden-like area where they saw a bunch of kids playing around. There were a few groups here and there, some playing tag, others playing hide and seek and one group was busy putting band-aid on what looked like a cadaver.
As the gang drew near, Eugen called out "Commander, we finished with our tour."
In response, the cadaver rose up, undid the bandage around his head to reveal James underneath.
"Good work you two," he said "I know that you're both pretty busy with other things so I appreciate you taking the time to get our allies up to speed."
"Its not like I had a choice or anything," countered Hipper, folding her hands "I can't exactly say no when its an order from my Commander."
"Really?" wondered Eugen "I seem to recall that it was a request and that you were pretty eager to do the task since you wanted our dear James to praise you."
At this, Hipper became red faced, partly due to embarrassment and partly due to her little sister's casual attitude.
"I SAID NONE OF THAT," she shouted "YOU HAVE NO PROOF I SAID THAT."
Before Eugen could counter with another comment, Hipper immediately dragged her away. The group watched her give everyone a casual wave before leaving the area.
"Hipper doesn't say it much but she loves being around Eugen," commented James as he got to his feet and took of the bandages around him.
"And Eugen feels the same way," he added "I remember when we the Ironblood first joined us, Eugen was so happy to see her older sister, she didn't leave Hipper's side for three weeks straight."
"So, what's your opinion on the base?" he asked "I hope you'll quickly take to your new accommodations."
"We're fine with any arrangements you have Commander," said Rossiya "to be honest, we're all just glad to see our friends."
As James continued the conversation, Alec noticed one of the kids climbed up a tree. She stood on one of the branches and said something but unfortunately lost her footing and was about to fall. Alec was about to run forward and catch her, only to see James suddenly turn around, leap up and catch the child in the span of a few seconds.
"Charles, how many times have I told you not to climb trees?" he said, putting the kid down.
"But it was a challenge," said Charles Ausburne "you know I can't say no to a challenge. And besides, a small fall like that won't hurt me."
"Hmm you're right, but as your big brother I'd like it if you were a little cautious now and then," he said, followed by rubbing her head a little.
An understandably flushed Charles immediately looked away from James and said "I… I'll try to."
As the group saw the exchange, they also noticed how three children started glaring at James and Charles. One was a purple-haired girl with a stuffed unicorn, the second was a blond-haired girl with a string of hair twitching erratically, and the third was a girl dressed in a Japanese elementary school uniform with cats ears and a tail to boot.
Immediately, the trio and darted to the tree and started climbing up.
"Oy, get down from that tree right now," shouted James, chasing after the kids.
"Oh Alec, would you be interested in becoming the fleet's official strategist?"
"Huh?" shouted Alec, visibly taken back by the offer.
(AN: I'm very sorry it took this long to upload another chapter. I have no excuses.)