The group did not speak much during the journey. Gloucester and Curacao took the left and right flank respectively, scanning the area for any signs of the enemy. This was the first time they were venturing out of their safe zone and into Siren territory, so everyone was understandably on guard.

While the Commander kept looking towards their destination, the fact that his right hand stayed on his sword's hilt indicated his preparedness. Through the journey, they remained on guard with the girls operating in shifts of three hours.

Soon enough, they arrived at their destination: a small coastal town that was in the midst of rebuilding. According to Byron, they were to meet with the town mayor, who would provide them with additional information on the mission.

As the team neared the docks, they saw a thin young man waving out to them. Dido courteously waved back while James remained silent.

The ship reached the docks and the group disembarked. As they made their way through the town, everyone noticed how the people in charge of rebuilding were wearing on torn clothes and looked sick while the ones giving out orders were in better condition.

"Master," said Sheffield, standing alongside him "how do we find the mayor of this town?"

"Look for the most lavish and opulent looking building in the area," he replied "if not, we can always ask around."

Rather than look for some gaudy building that stuck out like a sore thumb, James instead was searching for a fortified building with plenty of guards and limited access points. Soon enough, they found what they were looking for when they reached what was once a school.

"Hey," barked a man and pointed an assault rifle at the group. The girls were almost ready to reveal their weapons but stopped when James quickly gestured for them to remain calm.

"I came here on the request of Byron from the Human Resistance," said James "we're supposed to meet with the Mayor here and discuss repelling a Siren attack."

The man glared at the group and said "and where the hell are you coming from? Some cosplay convention?"

"Does that matter?" muttered Sheffield under her breath.

"We can always go back if you like," countered James "and you can be the one to tell the Mayor what happened."

"Alright, alright no need to get all antsy," said the man as he lowered the rifle and made a few signs with his hands. In response, the entrance opened up and the man gestured for them to come inside.

The interior of the school was in stark contrast to what they saw outside. There was plenty of food, electricity, people in good clothes and everyone looking healthy.

The group made their way to the Principal's office, because that seemed like the most likely place the Mayor would be. James knocked on the door and heard a voice from the other side telling them to enter. He turned the doorknob and proceeded inside.

The first thing that the group noticed was the many empty plates on the table. The next thing they noticed was the cause of those empty plates, a fairly rotund man in a shirt and pant. The man was rotund enough that the buttons on his shirt were struggling to hold on.

"Ah there you are," said the man, licking his lips and tossing the chicken bone on the plate "I was wondering when you were going to show."

"I'm David Smalls, the mayor of this fine town," he said, extending a greasy hand to James. The sight was enough to make Suffolk and Kent look away.

James bit back his pride and very reluctantly shook the man's hand.

"Hmm, you don't look like the Commander Byron mentioned," said David "I guess people like that are too high up on their horses to bother with the regular people."

"But ma…" said Sheffield only to see James stop her. Sheffield and by extension the rest of the girls all wondered why he did not reveal his identity to the man.

"And I was told that the whole fleet will be coming with you," added David "when can we expect them to arrive?"

"That depends entirely on the mission here," said James, stepping up "is it true that the Sirens are planning to attack this town?"

"Yes," said David, shoving the plates on his table to the floor and taking out a map of the area.

"As you can see, our town is a vital supply line to enter further into the state. As long as the human resistance has this, we have a way to push forward and reclaim more parts of the state. Omega knows this and that's why she's trying to prevent it from happening."

"Our scouts reported seeing several alien ships and the beings you call 'Hybrids' near the edge of the town. Based on their behavior, I believe an attack is imminent."

"That actually brings up another question," said James, crossing his arms "in the event of an attack, do you have anywhere where you can hide?"

"OF course, we've built two underground bunkers that are ready and equipped," replied David.

"Newcastle, Kent, can you two go survey the bunkers?" asked James, turning to the two in question.

"Anything in particular you want to check out?" asked David.

"Check the structural integrity," he said to the two "we need to make that thing is safe and sound."

The two nodded and left the room.

"As for accommodations…" said James.

"Not to worry about that," said David "there are several luxury rooms we have here…"

"I'd like a large room," said James "nothing too fancy, but it should be enough to accommodate my team."

"Hmm, the only place that fits the bill is the school's storage area," said David "but you shouldn't have to stay in such a place."

"Not to worry sir," said Belfast, taking a step forward "Master, if you'll permit Sirius, Dido and myself, we will go to there and prepare the room for us."

"In the meantime, you can survey the area," she said.

"Sounds like a good idea," said James and the three girls left the room.

"Well if you'll excuse me Mr. Smalls, my team and I shall begin our work," said James, as he and the rest of the girls left the room.

Once out the room, Sheffield pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to James. The latter immediately thanked her as the group went towards the stairs. On the way, Gloucester bumped into a lady, causing her to drop the plates she was carrying.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" barked one of the guards and was about to hit the lady with the butt of his rifle. However, Gloucester was faster and grabbed the rifle's base with her hand.

"The fault was clearly my own," said Gloucester "there's no need for you to go off on her like that."

"I have to," countered the man "its important to put the rabble in their place or else they might get funny ideas."

"That would be a good idea, if she did something wrong," said James "however, as Gloucester said, she was at fault here not the woman."

"I apologize for any harm I caused," said Gloucester, turning to the woman and bowing. In response, the woman mumbled something inaudible and quickly left.

The group left, but not before Gloucester stared daggers at the man.

Once outside, James merely glanced at the area and several things stuck out to him.

"Is it just me or have you noticed it too?" asked Curlew.

"Yes," said Curacao "inside is like a palace while the outside is in shambles."

"More than that," commented Sheffield looking at the school roof and the gates "this area has better fortifications than the rest of the town."

"Weapons, food, clothes and a cleaner living area," summarized James "damn it, I was hoping this wouldn't happen."

"What do you mean master?" asked Suffolk.

"Its best not to dwell on it for too long," he replied and headed to the edge of the town "for now, we need to survey the area and make a plan."

As the group headed after their master, they heard a young voice ask "are you the Commander?"

Everyone turned around and saw a young boy in tattered clothes and a sickly face looking at them.

"Are you the Commander?" he repeated.

"Yes, I am," replied James.

"Please, come with me," he said and ran towards one of the decrepit houses. James did not want to follow the child but when he saw the girls go ahead of him, he had no choice.

Inside the house, the found a pale woman under a blanket coughing profusely.

"Mom," said the boy rushing to the woman's side.

The woman coughed a few more times before opening her eyes up and smiling at her son.

"Don't worry about me baby," she said in a hoarse voice "I'll be fine."

"No mom you need that medicine or you're not going to make it," cried the boy.

"We can't get the medicine," said the mother "Mr. Smalls won't let us anywhere near the pharmacy."

"Don't worry mom, I have an idea," said the boy, pointing to James and the group "they can help us."

"What? Who are you?" asked the mother.

"That's the man everyone's been talking about," said the boy "the one that'll defeat the Sirens, the Commander."

"It seems news of that battle with Omega spread across the whole planet," commented Sheffield.

"Commander James, please," said the boy, lowering his head "my mom is in bad need of medicine. Without it, the doctor says she won't survive the next two nights."

"The mayor's the only one that's got it. He keeps hoarding medicine and supplies and gives it only to his friends and the people in that school," he elaborated.

While the girls looked like they were ready to storm the school themselves, James remained silent and neutral. His face did not give away any emotion.

"For now, keep an eye on your mom," he said and silently left the house.

Confused by his strange response, the rest of the maids followed him out. They immediately surrounded him and it was clear what they had in mind.

"Master," they said all at once.

"We can't get bogged down with every single problem that lands our way," he said,

"But master," said Suffolk, who (like the rest) were visibly shocked by his cold response "that's not a problem: that's a human being trying to save his mother."

"He's not the only one," said James "take a look around you girls, they're all dealing with the same or similar issues. They've all got their problems."

"Then we should help them," said Curacao.

"If we do that, then we'll never be ready for when the Sirens attack," countered James "don't forget, we're not here to play peacekeeper, we're here to beat the Sirens and that's that."

However, when he looked at the stern expressions the girls had, he knew he their minds were made up.

"Fine," he said, "I will at least consider helping the mother, but no one else, got it?"

The girls became relieved on hearing this. It wasn't the win they were looking for, but that'll have to do for now.

"Now, come on, we still have to survey the area and analyze every possible attack point," said James.

The day passed quickly after that and by night, the team were in the school gym. James waited till everyone got their meal before starting. It didn't take long for the maids to devour everything on their plate. He wasn't surprised by their appetite, considering how much everyone was working today.

"I know it's only been a day," said Kent "but I already miss Hornet's cooking."

"I hope everyone back home is fine," wondered Sirius.

"They'll be fine," said James, halfway through his meal "I'm sure that Elizabeth, Yorktown, Akagi, Tirpitz, Rossiya and Richelieu are taking care of everyone."

As they watched and waited for their master to finish his meal, two soldiers slowly made their way to the group.

"Excuse me Mr. Commander sir," said a soldier with red-hair in a slightly mocking tone "I hope we're not bothering you."

"Don't worry about me," said James, picking up on the tone "please, tell me what's on your mind."

"Well, some of the guys and I were talking," said the red-head "and we thought it would really help team morale if your friends here could… put on a little show for us."

"A show?" repeated James, setting his plated down "oh right, you mean like what they did during WW2."

"Yes, that's right," said the man next to the red-head "it'd realllly help boost morale."

James noticed how the pair were struggling to keep from gawking at Sirius, Belfast, Dido, Curacao and Curlew's chest. Despite his instincts telling him the correct course of action, he decided to stay calm and respond diplomatically.

"The thing is," said James "the girls really worked themselves to the bone today and I don't want to exert them too much. Hate to disappoint you but you guys will have to… motivate yourselves."

"Now see that's a problem," said the red-head, his tone shifting from fake courtesy to veiled anger. He took a step closer to James to try and make himself look imposing.

"If I go back there and tell everyone the bad news, they'll be pretty disappointed. You don't want that right? So how about you ask your girls here to put on a show."

In response, James also took a step forward, while his right hand shifted to the hilt of his sword. He looked at the red-head and said in a calm voice "you heard me the first time and I'm not going to repeat myself."

For a moment, it looked like the two were about to fight. Belfast knew that if the red-head tried to attack her master, the man would lose all four limbs in one fell swoop. She quickly came forward and inserted herself into the conversation.

"Master, I think it would be fine if we were to entertain our guests, even if it is for a little bit," she said, which caught James by surprise.

She noticed his hostile temperament vanish in an instant as he looked to her and wondered what she meant.

"Now that I think about it," said Dido, "there was something I wanted to try for our music festival. This place could be a trial run for that."

"As you requested sir," said Belfast "we will put on a little performance and help raise morale. However, there are a few rules that we'll need to put down first."

"Oh yeah, and what's those?" asked the red-head.

"That shall be for my master to decide," replied Belfast "come on girls, I have just the idea for what to do."

"Look, but don't touch," said James "or else you'll have to deal with me."

James watched as the girls quickly built a make-shift stage using the available material in the area. The other men saw this and were curious to see the outcome.

"Thank you all for waiting patiently for us," said Belfast, bowing to the guards "now, please sit back and enjoy the musical stylings of our very own Dido."

James watched as a nervous Dido came on the stage. When she saw the number of people there, she understandably got a little nervous. In that moment, she instinctively turned to her master. Seeing this, James smiled at her and nodded.

It was his way of telling her that he'll always be cheering for her. With that boost of confidence, Dido took the mic and started.

"Oreta awai tsubasa
Kimi wa sukoshi
Aosugiru sora ni tsukareta dake sa
Mou dareka no tame ja nakute
Jibun no tame ni waratte ii yo"

James was understandably concerned for her choice of songs. What if no one understood the lyrics?

"YAH! I love this song," shouted one of the men, a statement that surprised James.

"Bleach is the best anime ever," shouted another man.

"It played a pivotal role in shaping the shonen anime genre for decades to come," added another man.

A bit relieved to see their reaction, James relaxed a little as the audience cheered on Dido throughout her performance. When she was done, she received a massive cheer from everyone, causing her to get a little flustered.

Dido bowed a few times to the group before heading off stage.

"Well that was a great way to start off this little event," said Kent, taking on the role of the MC "let's keep this pace going with a performance from our head maid."

"Everyone, give it up for Belfast."

*Sheffield, Curacao and Curlew vocalizing.

"zankoku na tenshi no you ni
shounen yo shinwa ni nare

*Sirius and Suffolk providing the background music.

"aoi kaze ga ima
mune no DOA wo tataite mo
watashi dake wo tada mitsumete
hohoende'ru anata

sotto fureru mono
motomeru koto ni muchuu de
unmei sae mada shiranai
itaike na hitomi

dakedo itsuka kidzuku deshou
sono senaka ni wa
haruka mirai mezasu tame no
hane ga aru koto

zankoku na tenshi no TE-ZE
madobe kara yagate tobitatsu
hotobashiru atsui PATOSU de
omoide wo uragiru nara
kono sora wo daite kagayaku
shounen yo shinwa ni nare"

"This is an incredible song," shouted one of the men.

"It formed the basis for every deconstruction anime that followed afterwards," added another man.

James breathed a sigh of relief that the one group the girls were singing to happened to be major anime fans.

The girls sang a few more songs after that with the fifth one being their last. The audience cheered loudly for them and brought the impromptu event to a close.

In light of what they did, the leader of the group practically insisted that they stay in a more comfortable room rather than the gym. James gave in to the requests and soon the girls found themselves in a room adjacent to the gym.

It wasn't long before they had changed into something for the night and were getting ready to turn in. Everyone wished each other good night and went to sleep around James. This was purposeful on the maid's part as it prevented anyone from trying to attack James in the night and prevented James from sneaking off.

Of course, that did not stop their master from slowly rising up and trying to slip past the group. He heard Belfast groaning and saw her turning around. It looked like she was about to embrace him so he quickly used his pillow as a substitute.

James slowly rose up and tip toed his way through the group. He had to be careful around Curacao, Curlew and Sheffield since those three were light sleepers and often reacted to the slightest disturbance.

Finally out of the encirclement, James grabbed his sword and headed out the room. Not two steps forward and he met up with the familiar red-head and his lemming follower.

"I don't think we've been introduced," said James, lowering his voice "then again, it's not like I'll really remember meatheads like you after this mission."

"That's a pretty rude thing to say," remarked the red-head "makes me want to teach you a lesson."

"In fact," added the lemming "how about we make him watch as we have a little… fun with those babes he brought."

"Yeah," said the red-head with a chuckle "what do you say to…"

He could not finish his sentence as a result of James slamming his scabbard into the man's cheek. The force of the attack sent him staggering to the side. The lemming tried to attack only to have James trip him and leave his face wide open for an uppercut.

James then spun around and hit the red-head with his scabbard once again before knocking him off his feet. He then kicked him in the stomach and shoved the sword hilt into the red-head's mouth, preventing him from yelling and waking up the girls.

"That I didn't even need to unsheathe my sword tells me how weak you two are," said James as he used his metal hand to grab the two and lift them up.

"Listen here you little pricks," he said, with a soft, yet very menacing tone "you'd better leave before I count to five or else…"

He dropped the two and gave them a menacing look. Not wanting to take their chances, the duo quickly scampered away.

Now alone again, James took a few breaths to calm down and return to normal. Once he did that, he continued down the hallway with a destination in mind. Unknown to him though, the head maid that he thought he escaped quietly watched the scene unfold through a small gap in the door.

She closed the door and turned to the now awake Royal Maid Squad who were looking at her expectantly.

"As I said," said Belfast "our master will never betray our expectations."