alex 34 anders: Glad you like this Duke of York! I had a lot of fun writing her bits.

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Chapter 11

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September 7th, 2023: Mid-afternoon - On a still as of yet unnamed island currently under Siren occupation

Ever since one retired college professor from the Eagle Union named Forest Mason was elected(read: all but forced) to take charge of this island settlement made up of refugees and displaced former Azur Lane soldiers as their mayor, it's been nothing but one headache after another for the better part of two and a half years now. First his home falls to some unknown invaders from who knows where, then the Azur Lane Alliance is defeated, followed by hundreds of people fleeing from all over the place only to get themselves chased by those very same Sirens to somehow end up stranded on an unknown island located out in the middle of the Pacific... Honestly, if it weren't for being kept so busy ever since, Forest probably would've drunk himself stupid wishing this were all just some horrible nightmare that he'd wake from any second now.

"...sigh..."

Sadly, this was reality... and reality seldom, if ever gave even half a shit about anyone or their problems.

'...Goddammit...! Why me? Why the hell did I have to be the one stuck dealing with this shit?'

Mentally cursing his fate one last time, Forest then quickly steeled himself to get into 'mayor mode'. Still, he couldn't help but let out one last resigned sigh as he braced himself for who or whatever it was that would come off that strange ship that came their way.

- Meanwhile, with the crowd gathered around the settlement's only port -

"...Whoa! A real flying ship!? Seriously!?" exclaimed a wide eyed little boy.

"You think it's some new Siren ship or something?" One young woman asked, her expression pensive.

"...Dunno, but I sure hope not," replied a man standing to her right. "But either way, I kinda doubt whatever this is is Siren related, at least not directly..."

"What do you mean?" asked another man standing behind him.

"Like, I don't know... just that coming up to us outta nowhere like this is weird. I mean, other than watching us and making sure we don't go too far... the Sirens usually leave us alone otherwise, right? Well I mean, except for when they first arrived that is..."

The other man and the young woman listening nodded (albeit reluctantly) while recalling what happened that fateful day..

"But then, is it really okay for us to just... I dunno, gather around and gawk at it like this?" asked the second man, getting a few others who happened to be listening in to nod in agreement.

The first young man just shrugged. "Yeah well, it this thing really does turn out to be some new Siren death machine or something then it's not like hiding would do us any good, right?"

"Hey look! I think somebody's coming out!" someone cried, shakily pointing to the slowly opening ship door.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still as everyone present held their breaths as they waited for whoever or whatever it was that was about to come out and finally show themselves.

...And then, half a heartbeat later, the first domino fell.

"...Whoa!"

"...No way!"

"The fuck!?"

"...Girls...? Are, are they Sirens?"

"..Dunno, but holy fuck are they hot! Like, drop dead gorgeous even!"

...

It didn't take long after those first few comments for things to quickly escalate as everyone tried to figure out just who their new 'guests' really were and what they might want by coming here.

- With the now disembarking shipgirls -

"...That's, a lot of humans...," New Jersey observed as she took in the size of the crowd gathered in front of her and her fleet sisters. "Wow, and they're all just staring at us too, haha!"

"I mean we did just kind show up out of nowhere in a flying ship, so there's that," Saratoga said. "Oh, and we're all really hot too, so it's no wonder that they can't take their eyes off of us!."

"...Really?" muttered a slightly exasperated Peter Strasser at Saratoga's antics.

"Yup! Really~!" replied the petite pinkette with a smile and a wink.

"...You two do realize that we're supposed on a 'goodwill mission', right?"

"Well yeah, nobody else wanted to come out yet and the Commander is just being slow! Besides, aren't you excited about seeing so many humans? I mean, aside from the Commander, it's the first time we've ever seen any, let alone so many of 'em all at once like this!"

"Ja, but that's why it's so important we don't screw this up by giving them the wrong idea about us," Strasser reminded. "After all, we're probably going to be here for awhile to get a better picture of what's going on around here."

"You think they'd really mistake as Sirens though? I mean, we don't look anything like them, right?" New Jersey asked, a bit skeptical.

Strasser shrugged. "Who knows, but tell me Frau Jersey; what would you think after seeing strange, unknown women coming off of a flying battleship you've never seen before in an area already under Siren control?"

"...Okay, good point."

"But, Sister Sara's too smol and cute to be some scary Siren though! Like, really!"

"...And what does being small or cute have anything to do with what they might think a Siren is, exactly?"

"..."

"...Well?"

"...Your no fun..," said a dejected and now slightly pouting Saratoga.

Strasser just shook her head at the little pinkette. "Let's, just get go and get this over with already..."

- Back with a very tired and stressed out Mayor Forest -

To be honest, Forest had no idea what to make of the three newcomers who'd come off of the strange flying ship currently docked at their port. They seemed friendly enough sure, but they were still strangers... and suspicious ones at that. Fortunately for them, he'd quickly ruled out them being Sirens if for no other reason than that they felt more 'alive' than the Sirens did. At the very least, they seemed more inclined to talk first, which was more than enough reason to at least hear them out before jumping to any hasty conclusions. Besides, jumping the gun and incurring the wrath of the large and likely heavily armed warship in front of them probably wasn't a smart idea even if they weren't Sirens. So, naturally, he decided to handle things diplomatically first.

"You know, it isn't often we get to receive any new guests these days. Especially ones as lovely as yourselves. Ah, where are my manners? I'm the mayor of this little settlement; Forest, Forest Mason. A pleasure to meet you."

Thankfully, and regardless of whatever he might be feeling or thinking on the inside, Forest was really good at keeping his emotions under control and act with a level head no matter what seemed to happen, which was one of the reasons he was trusted by everyone and made the settlement's leader... not that he seemed to notice.

"Wow, you're a pretty cool cucumber and smooth talker, aren'tcha? I like that!" New Jersey said with a laugh and a bright, toothy smile. "Anyway, yeah. Sorry about the sudden intrusion and all that but well, a lot happened, y'see."

"Oh?"

"It uh, it might be a little hard to believe, but we're actually here to investigate why the Sirens have been so active around these parts. Heck, we even had a fight with 'em not so long ago oo."

"...What?"

"...Way to just go and blurt it all out, dummkopf," Strasser lightly rebuked after seeing the alarm on the mayor and the others' faces.

"Hey!"

"...Wait. Investigate the Sirens? Are you part of Azur Lane then? Some new resistance group maybe?" Forest asked after quickly recovering from his earlier shock, now very interested in these newcomers. If nothing else he, and the crowd behind him, were relieved that these girls weren't some new kind of Siren at least.

The reaction from the three beautiful strangers, however, didn't really help though.

"...Uh, we're not, not with Azur Lane...?" Saratoga so eloquently said, scratching her head seemingly just as confused as her audience before seeking help from the only one that seemed to have any sense for these kind of things. "...Er, Strasser? A little help here please?"

"...sigh. Ja, ja. Just, let me handle it," said the twintailed ravenette before turning her attention to the still patiently waiting Mayor. "Right, where to begin and how best to explain... Well, strictly speaking no, we are not formally a part of the Azur Lane Alliance military. That said, however, we are aligned with their goals so yes, I suppose you could say we're something of a new, recently formed resistance group," Strasser explained. "Anyway, we're here in place of our Commander to do a little meet and greet while he takes care of a few things aboard our ship. You'll get to meet him and the rest of our crew before too long. Until then, I apologize for the unintended anxiety the suddenness of our arrival might've caused."

"Damn girl! You're great at that formal speak kinda stuff, aren'tcha!" New Jersey praised, patting Strasser on the shoulder and causing said ravenette to to just roll her eyes.

"No, you and Saratoga are just careless and simple minded..."

"Hey, how come you look like some sort of sci-fi playboy bunny? What kind of 'resistance fighter' walks around like that?" suddenly asked a random townswoman relieved and emboldened by the fact these girls, whoever they were, weren't Sirens but irritated and very envious of the fact that said newcomers, especially the blue haired hussy she was adressing, could so shamelessly flaunt the goods that were drawing the attention of many of the more... easily distracted among them; namely the men (and a few women). Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but hell hath no fury like a woman who's man is ogling the big tiddied, provocatively dressed harlot from who knows where. Hey, she might not be a supermodel or anything like that, but dammit! She had her pride in her figure and girls too and wasn't about to get shown up like this!

"...Huh? Wait, sci-fi playboy bunny? Pfft! Ahahahaha! Oh, that's pretty funny! Yeah, I guess I do huh," New Jersey said with a huge smile and laugh, of course not at all picking up on the woman's true feelings. And really, why would she? After all, she and every other shipgirl only ever had eyes for their Commander and no one else. That's just how their kind is wired, which was more than fine by them. At any rate, the woman had absolutely nothing to fear... well, unless one of them was stupid enough to try and make a pass at their Liam, that is.

"...Is your friend always like that?" Forest quietly asked Strasser.

"...Unfortunately, yes. And as for why she's dressed like that? Well, it's easy to move around in when in combat," Strasser replied. "Let's just, leave it at that."

"...What? But-"

"-I know what you want to say, but we're not your ordinary sort of girls. Here, look," sensing what the Mayor was concerned about and wanting to keep things from getting sidetracked later on, Strasser made the snap decision to show him and the crowd behind him just what they were by manifesting a scaled down version of her combat rigging. After all, they would find out sooner or later anyway so why not now? 'Best to get this out of the way now and save ourselves any future headaches.'

"Oi, are you sure you should do that?" New Jersey asked, a little worried that it might accidentally send the wrong message and make things worse.

"No, I think it's the right move actually," Saratoga said before bringing out her own rigging.

"Really?"

Saratoga nodded before speaking with a rare seriousness. "It's important to show them that not only are we not the enemy and serious about fighting the Sirens, but actually have the power to do it. And, nothing gets the message across like seeing what we have to bring to the table, right?"

"Ah, gotcha! Well then, let's show what this sci-fi playboy bunny can do then!" If nothing else, New Jersey was really good with going with the flow and leaving all the mental heavy lifting to the others And, soon enough, all three shipgirls were strutting their stuff for everyone to see. Needless to say, it was very effective messaging.

...

"...Oh my God...! You, you're shipgirls aren't you!?"

Forest hadn't ever seen them himself, but hie grew up hearing stories about the mysterious and beautiful shipgirls who showed up out of nowhere and saved humanity alongside their brave Commanders during the First Siren War. In fact, his late uncle was actually one such Commander. More importantly, he wasn't the only one who recognized what those girls were either since there were actually a few Azur Lane Alliance remnants living here as well... some who were even lucky enough to have seen the newest generation of shipgirls that have emerged in the aftermath of the end of the Second Siren War.

"Holy shit they are shipgirls! Hey, hey! do you think they know the 'Unbeatable Magician'? Maybe they even serve under him!" said a former infantry grunt turned member of the island watch to the ex warship mechanic next to him.

"Um, didn't one of them say they 'weren't' a part of Azur Lane though?"

"Oh, right. But then, who's their Commander then? Shipgirls have to have a Commander right? At least, that's what I heard anyway."

"Who knows. I mean, last I heard, there were only two Commanders around, and one of them is all the way in Europe on the other side of the world, never mind Admiral Yang who's currently working in the Sakura Empire."

Seeing their mayor's reaction and hearing a bit of the two former soldiers' conversation, the other townsfolk couldn't help but be curious and excited themselves.

"Hey, what's a shipgirl? And where did those weird floating gun things come from?" asked a random and especially inquisitive child pointing up at Saratoga's rigging.

"I'm glad you asked little guy~!✩ For these are," cue a wink and well practiced twirl, "what me and my sisters use to fight the big bad Sirens!"

"Wwwoooowwww!"

"So, you're like magical girls...but with guns?" observed the slightly older girl standing next to the little boy excitedly hopping up and down nonstop like he were on a sugar high.

"Er... I guess so?" Strasser replied. 'But, what's a magical girl though?'

"Yup! You got it, hehe~!✩ You're a smart one! Sister Sara, New Jersey, Strasser, and all our other sisters are like magical girls with guns!"

"...Oh!"

"...ahem! Not to interrupt, but," Forest cut in, hoping to get the conversation back on track, as funny as this little tangent was. "don't we have other, slightly more important, things to talk about?"

"...Ja, ja we do," Strasser replied with a sigh. "Anyway, our Commander and a few more of us are about to come meet up with us so do you mind holding off on whatever questions you might have until then?"

Forest nodded. "Alright, fair enough. Should give me a little more time to really process... all this, y'know?"

"...Man, you're really level headed, aren'tcha? I can see why you're the guy in charge!"

"Heheh."

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About fifteen or so minutes later: inside the mayor's house, living room-

"...So, you're the Commander, huh?" asked an older man in his sixties with short salt and pepper hair wearing a pair of half rimmed glasses over his sharp but slightly weary looking brown eyes.

"Um, yeah? My name's Liam, Liam Archer," said the slightly flustered young man as he held out his hand.

"Oh, yes. You most definitely aren't a soldier, that's for sure," said the older man with a smile as he took and shook Liam's offered hand and introduced himself. "Ah, right, and I'm Forest Mason, the mayor of this place."

"Right, so I've heard, and yeah. I'm not a soldier. Actually, until the end of last month, I was just another faceless office grunt," Liam replied, lightly scratching the back of his head a bit sheepishly with his free hand. "To be honest, it's been one crazy thing after another since I somehow managed to escape the Eagle Union mainland... Honestly, a part of me still can't believe how lucky I've been up til now but well, here I am."

"Haha! You really know how to go with the flow too, don't you!"

"I mean, it's either that or go crazy, right? I mean... shipgirls, flying ships, not being dead yet? Yeah, it's been a trip and a half for sure. Anyway, Mayor Mason right? I'm sure Strasser and the others might've mentioned it, but we came to this island to investigate just why the Sirens have been so active around here, as well as to offer what assistance we can while we're here, though... for right now, we will need a day or two to patch up our ship from our fight with the Sirens earlier. Sorry about that in advance by the way. Oh, but if you're worried about security, I can have some of my shipgirls patrol the area around the island. As long it's not an Elite, then I can guarantee we'll be able to keep your island safe for as long as we're here!"

"Well, seeing as you're here already and as long as you don't cause too much trouble then I suppose I can let you stay. If nothing else, we've got the room and supplies to entertain a few guests..," Forest said, readily agreeing. "Besides, it's been years since we've seen anyone else so having some new faces around, especially some really pretty ones, will do everyone a lot of good. By the way..."

"Hm? What's up?" Liam asked, noticing the curious look on the elder mayor's face.

"Just how many did you bring with you? Shipgirls, I mean."

"Huh? Oh, well, you've already met Strasser, New Jersey and Saratoga here," Liam began, gesturing to the three shipgirls to his left before doing the same with the ones to his right. "And these three are Prinz Eugen, Jean Bart, and Belfast. Oh, two others will show up a little later too by the name of Enterprise and Alabama. As for the total number I brought with me? Three standard fleets of six shipgirls, three submarine support fleets of four shipgirls apiece and... three more shipgirls as part of my ship's bridge crew... so, thirty-three shipgirls total, I think?"

"Thirty-three shipgirls!?" Forest repeated, a little shocked by Liam's answer.

"Oh, yeah, at first I thought I might've went a little overboard there, but then the fight with the Sirens happened, well... let's just say I'm glad we had the numbers. There were a lot of Sirens. And that Elite? Whew! She was one tough cookie. If anything, I kinda wish we brought more shipgirls with me but... this was the best I could do on such short notice..."

"...I, I see." 'Huh, I wonder. Does that mean that this man's base of operations is nearby then, or was it just a coincidence that they were close by...?'

"Anyway, that aside, I'm honestly surprised the Sirens haven't really bothered with this place too much. I mean, they've been pretty active with the whole 'occupation' thing in general, right?" Liam asked, trying to get a better feel for the situation... and to stop himself from rambling like an idiot about things nobody else needed to know about.

"Ah, yes well. About that," the mayor sighed. "While it is true that we are under Siren occupation, they haven't done much more than keep us confined to our local fishing areas and narrow trading corridors between here and a few other islands nearby. Really, so long as we 'stay in our lane' and don't do anything to provoke them, like try to mess with their patrol routes or openly defy them, then they seem more than happy to leave us alone. And before you ask, let's just say we learned that lesson the hard way when they first came and leave it there..."

"...I'm sorry to hear that... and um, sorry in advance for any trouble our actions might bring in the future too..,"

"Hahaha! You're an odd one, huh? Nothing like what I imagined a Commander would be like, especially given the stories I heard growing up! Don't worry though, it's a good thing," Forest said with a laugh, enjoying the feeling of genuine honesty the slightly awkward Liam gave off, even more so considering the smiles and looks of amusement on the gathered shipgirls' own faces. "And it seems your lovely lady friends agree! Good impressions go a long way you know. Especially when dealing with the fairer sex."

"Thanks, I guess? Oh, right! Do you have an inn or some place we could use to stay in? I mean, I don't mind staying on board our ship if we had to, but it'll be kinda cramped with so many of us and I'd really like for the girls to get some rest on some real and proper beds, if at all possible."

"Hm? Oh, right. We do have one come to think of it. To be honest, we sort of built it on a whim but never really get many chances put it to use, what with not really being able to leave and all... Well, some of the traders that come this way make use of it so we do make a point to keep it maintained," the mayor explained. "Ah, and don't worry about paying, we can just have you and yours do some odd jobs while you're here. Not a bad deal, right?"

"No, no! It's great, thanks!" 'Damn I hope this string of good luck holds, but... just admitting this is good luck probably jinxed us later, huh? Well, whatever. We'll deal with whatever happens when it happens...'

"So? What are you all going to do for the time being? Still plenty of daylight out and all that," the mayor asked.

It was Prinz Eugen who decided to answer.

"What else? Explore and gather intel, of course. I suggest we wait for Frau Alabama and Frau Enterprise to arrive before we divvy up the groups and roles though."

"Good idea," Liam agreed before turning to back to the mayor. "In the meantime, do you think you can tell us a bit more about the island, settlement layout, and important places and people to look out for so that we can get a rough idea of what we're working with?"

The mayor nodded. "Sure. Well then, where to start first..."

- Twenty minutes later -

"...You're late," Belfast commented, noticing Alabama and her fellow Royal Maid finally entering.

"Sorry about that y'all. See, it took a whole lot longer getting settled in and leaving on account of the little ones putting up so much of a fuss..," Alabama explained. "Heh, little Elly even threatened to shock us all if we didn't calm down too!"

"Elly?"

"Yeah, y'know... Eldridge, Elly? Get it? Anyway, cute nickname right? Well, she seemed to like it at least, right Enterprise?"

"...Hm? Oh, yes! Miss Eldridge seemed quite taken with it," Enterprise quietly replied. "She even did that odd little bit of emitting tingly sparks to show she's happy... until she started to get angry that she had to stay behind with the others, that is..."

"...She didn't um, actually zap anyone did she?" Liam asked with a hint of worry in his voice, hoping his favorite little blonde zapper hadn't gone overboard with her little tantrum.

Alabama shook her head. "Nah, she managed to keep things under control... though she did grumble a bit before going off to play with Anchorage who... was probably the biggest reason she managed to keep her cool. Probably because they're so alike, y'know?"

"Ah, that's very true," Belfast said with a nod and a smile. "Minor differences, in every other way that matters, they are indeed very alike, yes."

"Yeah, except one's got the body of super model while the other is like some kind of petite mascot... or maybe more like a zap happy plushy or something," Saratoga added while recalling the few times she'd seen the pair of them together.

"Right, well then; the sooner we figure things out, the faster I can find a way to keep Eldridge from zapping the crap out of me the next time she sees me...," Liam said, a bit too hastily and clearly desperate to avoid the little kuudere blonde's wrath. '...Ugh, maybe I can bribe her with Belfast's cookies or some kinda local dish. Maybe this place has some sweets or something?'

"Mr. Archer? Is something the matter?" Mayor Forest asked.

"...Huh? Oh, sorry 'bout that. Just uh, well... let's just say that keeping my fleet happy takes up a lot of my thoughts and time."

"Yes, I think I can relate somewhat. Being responsible for so many and having so little free time because of it, can be quite exhausting sometimes," said the mayor empathetically while patting the younger man's shoulder. "Still, you wouldn't give it up, right? Your 'fleet', I mean."

"Huh? Nah, of course not. It's just a lot to manage is all. Oh, but I got some really good help though," Liam replied while giving Belfast and the others a warm smile. "They're totally worth the trouble so it's all good."

"That's good. And with an attitude like that, I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"Hey, thanks. Anyway, how about we work on deciding who does what now, yeah?"

"Ah, about that. I think I have a great idea, if you don't mind, mein Kommandant?" Prinz Eugen offered, taking out her tablet and placing it down on the table they were sitting around and activating a sort of virtual whiteboard of sorts. "Ah, these things are oh so very useful, aren't they? Anyway, here's what I had in mind..."

- One explanation a Q&A session later -

"...Huh. Not bad. Plus, it'll give everyone a chance to explore the island and interact with the locals too," Jean Bart observed, impressed by the Iron Blood silverette's planning skills.

"Not only that, but the groups are arranged so that it's like we get to go out on group dates with the Commander too!✩ I totally approve~!✩" Saratoga said, excitedly giving her own approval.

"...I'm not gonna get a break while we're here, am I?" Liam asked commented as he took a closer look at Prinz Eugen's brilliantly designed outing rotation schedule, all but resigning himself to being tossed around between groups of love crazed, experienced starved and impossibly beautiful shipgirls of all tastes and temperaments. '..Dear lord give me strength, or at least some energy drinks...'

"Ahahaha! To be young and so popular! I truly envy you, young man!" Forest said with a knowing smile.

"...I mean, I don't really mind since it'll let me talk to the locals too, but damn is this gonna be murder on my feet," Liam said as he let out a small sigh, now extremely grateful for the early morning exercise regimen New Jersey all but forced him to start doing shortly after joining the fleet. Sure it hasn't been all that long, but he's still in better shape than he's ever been.

"Don'tcha worry about thing, Hon. We'll make sure you have a good time!" said the New Jersey in question while flashing that signature reassuring smile of hers. "Besides, this'll be be the best way to keep the little zapper and the others from rioting later on, y'know?"

"Yeah, I know. And 'Hon'?"

"Yeah, 'Hon'! I though giving you a cute pet name would be perfect when we're goin' on dates like this! Keep things nice and casual, yeah?"

"...Sure, that makes sense. Wait, so does that mean you guys want a pet name too then? Because there's a lot of you and I really suck at naming things..," Liam said, slightly panicking at the thought, which caused every shipgirl present to chuckle while the elder, much more experienced in life and love Mayor Forest just shook his head at how silly Liam was being.

"I mean, you can if you want, but Sister Sara's fine with just being Sister Sara."

"Well, then Imma call you my huggin' pillow then," Alabama said in an excited tone.

"Master will always be my Master, just as I will always be your Belfast!" declared the ever reliable super maid accompanied by a very well practiced curtsy and bow.

"...As entertaining as this all is, don't you all have things to do? I still need to go over and get things ready at the inn for you and yours y'know," said a slightly annoyed (and maybe a little jealous) mayor to Liam and the shipgirls, arms folded and steadily tapping his foot as if to say, 'hurry up already, would you?'

"...Right! Sorry about that! He's right girls so... Belfast, Prinz Eugen, and Enterprise. You ready to go?"

"Ja." 'I wonder how I can tease that silly little fool while we're out...'

"Of course, Master." 'I wonder if I'll find any new local recipes I'll be able to try out while we're out? Oh I do hope so!'

"Ye, yes, Master...!" 'Ooh, my wisdom cube's pounding a mile a minute! ...Um, maybe I should change into something a little more casual then...?'

And thus, their dat...information gathering mission would soon begin in earnest!

Meanwhile, all Liam could think though was, 'Please, please, PLEASE let nothing go wrong and that the girls have a good time. God I hope I don't fuck this up!'

- Meanwhile, aboard the Liberty -

"...Hmph...!" '...Why? Eldridge, annoyed? ...Annoyed! Very annoyed!'

...

There was much sparking and zapping going around as a suddenly very irate and pouting Eldridge was making her displeasure known for anyone and everyone, save Anchorage and Laffey, who dared to get too close to her.. but, that's a story for another time and a mess for Liam to deal with later.

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