Apocrypha leaned on the balcony rail looking out over the harbor surrounding the central island of the base, watching ships bob and sway in the water with the gentle lull of the swells that caused ripples across the glistening surface dyed in reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks by the setting sun. A few ships had moved to anchor further out in the water, two she recognized as Enterprise and Franklin's ships next to each other, girls milling about out on the flight decks while others laid on beach chairs. On the shores of the island and the surrounding mainland, a handful of other girls were out still playing in the water or enjoying watching the sunset. With a scene like this before her, it was hard for Apocrypha to remember that at any instant it could transform into a battlefield.

She hadn't heard Swiftsure come into the main office, but jumped when she heard the Royal Navy cruiser speak up behind her from the doorway leading out to the balcony. "Commander, the Dragon Empery's festival will be starting soon," Swiftsure informed her, hands folded primly in front of her and clasping each other nervously. "I wanted to ask… if you wouldn't mind if I joined you. T-that is, if you didn't have plans to go with someone else, of course."

Apocrypha smiled, heading inside and motioning for Swiftsure to close the doors to the balcony. "I don't have any set plans. I'd love to have you join me, Swiftsure."

Swiftsure seemed relieved to hear that, helping Apocrypha do some last tidying up in the office and lock up before they left. She stayed close as they headed out of the main building, sometimes speaking up to help guide Apocrypha out to the boardwalk and pier where a small throng of girls had gathered, loudly talking amongst themselves.

Apocrypha noticed a few speakers set up around the area to play music, mostly drowned out by the chatter of the girls, and a small food stand a couple of girls were selling out of. Swiftsure seemed to have noticed the food stand, too, pulling her over toward it. The two girls smiled as they walked up. "Good evening, Swiftsure!"

Swiftsure waved politely. "Hello, Ning Hai, Ping Hai. Could we get two baozi?"

The black-haired one of the pair nodded, addressing the other girl who Apocrypha assumed must be her sister. "Ping Hai, two steamed buns, please." She looked back to Swiftsure and Apocrypha. "Chen Hai said that you would be coming, Commander, so this order is on the house for you. Consider it our welcome gift to you. My sister and I are the Ning Hai-class light cruisers. I am the name ship, and Ping Hai is my younger sister. We have high expectations that you'll ensure the port here prospers."

Apocrypha nodded dumbly, used to that statement by now. Everyone had "high expectations" of her and it wasn't as if everyone's ideas lined up with each other. Despite the pit settling in her stomach, she managed to thank Ning Hai and Ping Hai when the two steamed buns were handed to her and Swiftsure. It wasn't their fault she was overwhelmed, and there was no question that the food smelled delicious.

She allowed Swiftsure to lead her away further into the throng, admiring the decorations hung and the paper lanterns lit to provide light in the growing darkness as the sun dipped below the horizon. From time to time they would stop and Swiftsure would introduce her to another of the Dragon Empery girls, Apocrypha falling into the memorized motions of introducing herself and mentally trying to file away the name and class of ship for each one. So when a familiar voice greeted them, she was surprised, even if she had already observed that there were more than only the Dragon Empery girls here.

"Commander. Fancy seeing you here."

Apocrypha turned to see Augusta and Wales wading through the crowd to make their way over, Royalist following behind at a polite distance. At the sight of the maid, a chill went down Apocrypha's spine, her mind flickering back to the bloodstain that had been in her office when she'd arrived. The maid had hardly spoken to her since then beyond what was necessary to inform her of invitations to join the Royal Navy girls for meals, but her presence somehow always left Apocrypha feeling uneasy.

"Augusta, Wales, Royalist. It's good to see you."

"We thought we would join the festivities for a short while, but won't be staying long," Augusta admitted, sighing and tossing a glare toward the main building. "I still have some paperwork that needs to be dealt with tonight. It was Wales's idea to come down."

"You cannot spend all day in your office, no matter how much you would prefer to," Wales stated, chuckling and shaking her head. "We will let you be on your way, though, Commander, Swiftsure. Enjoy yourselves. The Dragon Empery's festivals are always quite the bit of entertainment."

And with that, they had left again, disappearing into the crowd. She and Swiftsure wandered for some time longer, eventually finding their way out onto the sand away from the hustle and bustle. By now, the sun had well and truly set, the deep navy blue of the sky melting into the navy blue of the ocean broken up by rippling silver as the moonlight reflected off the water.

The whistle of a firework being shot off cut through the air, the sound of the colorful explosion in the air claiming everyone's attention and drawing all gazes up to the sky in time to watch another streak into the sky and burst into a colorful array as the air thuds with the irregular heartbeat of the explosions.

A brief glance toward where she had seen the two Eagle carriers showed that while some girls were playing with firecrackers and sparklers out on the decks, they weren't the source of the apparently unexpected fireworks. Another flash of light and she noticed another ship out in the water, only catching a brief glimpse of the white-haired woman upon it and some sort of mechanical tail before darkness fell again. By the time the next fireworks brightened the sky, she and the ship had disappeared. Swiftsure hadn't seemed to notice, so she opted to say nothing. Even had she wanted to, the fireworks had started to be fired in much closer succession, and anything she said would only be drowned out by the sounds of the explosions overhead.

Eventually, the fireworks ended, their flashes of color fading into darkness once more. As Apocrypha turned to head back up to the boardwalk, she caught sight of some girls running down the pier nearby, two more chasing after them. Shortly before the end of the pier, one of the girls tripped, stumbling for a moment like she might catch herself only to be knocked to the ground when the girl behind her ran into her. The three behind them were too close to be able to avoid tripping over the downed two and creating an impromptu domino routine. When Apocrypha, Swiftsure, and the two girls who had been chasing the group arrived, the fallen girls were still untangling themselves from the pile, sheepish smiles on their faces at failing to escape.

"Is something going on here?" Apocrypha asked, holding out a hand to help a purple-and-white-haired girl to her feet before proceeding to help the next girl she'd fallen on. "More importantly, is everyone alright? What were you all running from?"

"I'm sorry you had to see that," one of the girls who had been giving chase, her hair identical to the purple-and-white of the previous girl but red-and-white-instead, apologized, giving a quick bow of apology.

Meanwhile, the other girl, dressed in a military-style uniform and tiny horns sprouting out of her long green hair tied into a ponytail, was focused on those they had been chasing, mostly glaring at the three shorter girls. "Would it kill you to listen to me now and then? We don't have the funds to make or buy new fireworks!" she scolded. "Now what will we do for the Spring Festival?"

"It was only a few, An Shan!" one of the girls defended, her twin-tailed red hair supplemented by an identical uniform to the green-haired girl, only accented in red and gold instead of blue. "There are still plenty left for the Spring Festival."

"W-we just wanted to give the Commander a big welcome…'' Yet another admitted shyly as she nervously clutched a book in her arms, worried purple eyes framed by a short black haircut. The scolding was clearly hitting her much harder than the others and earned her a pat on the head from the one named An Shan. "Chang Chun said there were extras and it wouldn't be a problem to use a few…"

"Busted," the third of the shorter girls sighed, shrugging with arms hidden in an enormously oversized blue fur-lined coat and her head in an equally fluffy hood with protruding feline ears in a tiger pattern. She didn't seem particularly fazed by being ratted out, her goofy grin still plastered on her face unchanged.

The red-and-white-haired girl raised an eyebrow at the admissions of guilt, staring down her purple-haired lookalike. "So why did you run, Ying Swei?" she demanded, a hand on her hip and finger tapping impatiently. "You're lucky the Commander isn't here to see this right now. What would they think, huh?"

"Actually -" Apocrypha tried to interject, but an explosion from what looked like some sort of warehouse building drowned out anything else she would have said. Apocrypha instinctively pressed her hands against her ears against the thunderous roar and squeezed her eyelids as tight as possible against the rapid succession of multicolored projectiles. With the building collapsing in on itself, fireworks were free to fly in practically every direction from the remaining shattered shell of the warehouse, the cacophony of booms lasting for a long span of minutes until the last firework had burst in the night sky, slowly fizzling out.

"Ying Swei…"

Apocrypha cleared her throat, trying to get everyone's attention on her. "I appreciate everybody's enthusiasm, but why don't you all introduce yourselves to the new Commander?" she proposed.

"Oh! Do you know them?" the shorter red-haired girl asked.

Apocrypha smiled a bit, nodding in answer to the question. "I know her. Because I am her. You can call me Apocrypha," she said, introducing herself. Seeing the girls starting to stiffen into formality, she quickly added, "The fireworks were wonderful, although I think we could have done without demolishing the warehouse."

Ying Swei only seemed abashed for a brief moment, but was quick to take advantage of her sister still being stunned silent by the fact that the Commander had caught them all in the situation. "How nice of you to come to our little celebration! I'm Ying Swei, Chao Ho-class protected cruiser. Even though our class bears Chao Ho's name, I'm the older sister."

"I'm the oldest!" Chao Ho quickly corrected, giving her sister an annoyed glare. "Don't you try tricking the Commander!"

Chang Chun took the moment to glance over at An Shan and tapped her shoulder with her oversized sleeve. "If they're introducing themselves, shouldn't we be doing our introduction too?"

An Shan flinched in surprise at the tap, seemingly having been lost in processing the new information and trying to figure out how to proceed. But the word 'introduction' seemed to clue her in. "O-Oh, right!" she exclaimed as her focus swept to the remaining two girls. "Fu Shun, Tai Yuan, introductions!"

"We are the An Shan-class destroyers of the Dragon Empery! First sister and the Azure Dragon, An Shan!" An Shan started, taking the lead herself by snapping into a salute.

"Second sister and the Vermillion Bird, Fu Shun!" continued the red-headed girl, her twintails bouncing as she hopped into a crouched position like a bird about to take off.

"Third sister, White Tiger, Chang Chun!" said the girl with the oversized fur hood, holding her oversized sleeves in front of her like a tiger (or a cat) would its claws with an even wider goofy grin on her face.

"F-Fourth sister and Black Tortoise, Tai Yuan…" squeaked out the black-haired girl that had shrunk at An Shan's scolding earlier, just barely avoiding biting her tongue amongst her stuttering as she clutched her book tighter to her chest amidst a quick bow.

Fu Shun and Chang Chun immediately relaxed their postures, and Tai Yuan hesitantly did too, but An Shan stayed in her salute for a few more seconds before her face started to increasingly redden.

"What did you just make me do, Chang Chun?!" she demanded, still not having moved her posture.

"Oh come on, sis," Chang Chun smirked. "You seemed plenty into it yourself, and we didn't even go as far as the Four Heavenly Kings introduction. You got to stay prim and proper."

"Plus, I'd say the Commander liked it, right?" Fu Shun added.

"D-Did she…?" Tai Yuan asked worriedly, glancing over at Apocrypha.

Apocrypha gave a gentle smile and gave Tai Yuan's head a pat, mirroring what An Shan did a few moments prior. "Don't worry," she said. "I very much did. I'm glad to be able to work with enthusiastic people like you. Everybody being all doom and gloom wouldn't have been ideal."

"You hear that, An Shan~?" Chang Chun purred. "The Commander says you shouldn't be so strict with us."

"No she did not!" An Shan fired back. "And even if she did, that gives you no excuse to waste fireworks we can ill afford again and blow up the warehouse!"

"I'll have to agree with An Shan," Apocrypha added. "Stealing and using things that were meant for other purposes is enough of an issue without throwing in property damage. But…"

Apocrypha turned her gaze towards the blackened shell of the warehouse where the fireworks had detonated. "If the loss of those fireworks will be that much of a loss for your Spring Festival, I'd hate for everyone who was looking forward to it to be disappointed."

"We can't possibly impose on Azur Lane for our mistakes!" An Shan replied.

"Actually, you can," comes Apocrypha's reply. "If I'm the Commander here, I say that this is something I want to help in. Based on the number of shipgirls here right now, I have to guess the Spring Festival will have an even stronger turnout."

"But…won't you get caught diverting money that could have gone somewhere else?"

"Nothing a little creative accounting won't fix. In fact, as long as I'm going there, I'll help you rebuild that warehouse too. I'll inspect the damage and arrange what I need, so you can all go have fun."

"Y-You don't have to go so far for us, Commander," Tai Yuan managed after a few moments of visible hesitation. "It's our fault, so we should be telling you to enjoy your time here while we deal with the damage-"

"She's already gone, Tai Yuan," Fu Shun noted.


Apocrypha sighed as she looked over the burned and shattered husk of the warehouse trying to find any part of it that could possibly be salvaged and only finding more burnt and broken parts. The whole thing would need to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up once it was ensured that there were no unexploded fireworks left within to pose a hazard to anyone working on the building. Caught up in her thoughts on how she was going to have the warehouse rebuilt and how she was going to explain an entire storage building like that being destroyed only a month into her service at Azur Lane, she failed to notice another person approaching until they spoke.

"I think you're the first Commander we've had who's proved themselves a failure in such an… explosive manner," the woman stated.

Apocrypha whirled around to face the speaker, a grey-haired woman with drooped fox ears and tail, a kitsune mask turned to rest against the side of her head. She guessed Sakura Empire by her clothing and the fox characteristics - after all, three of the Sakura Empire shipgirls she had already met had such traits themselves. The next thing she noticed was the katana in the woman's hand, and she quickly shied away to put some distance between them, pointless as she knew it was. "U-um… I didn't… I was just checking the damage," she tried to explain.

"Don't waste your breath," the woman said, narrowing her eyes at her. "Fix your mistakes instead of making excuses. A coward who doesn't own their mistakes and improve on them won't get us anywhere."

"I'm not making excuses!" Apocrypha argued. "You don't even know me!"

"I have no need to," the shipgirl answered. "I know your kind. Just hide in your office and stay out of our way if you're so incompetent, and leave it to shipgirls who have long since become used to taking care of themselves in the absence of someone to trust as a leader. You're not going to offer anything of worth as you are now. All the rest have treated this like it's some soft, comfortable diplomatic job and the port's their personal brothel. Why would we expect you to be any different?"

"Back off, Tosa," Augusta's voice rang out, stepping up next to Apocrypha. "She had nothing to do with the warehouse explosion. You're just looking for a fight."

Tosa bristled, glaring at the heavy cruiser. "The majority of candidates have been Eagle Union and Royal Navy personnel. Add on that Eagle Union ships are always the ones to escort them here and that the main base is on Eagle Union soil and it reeks like you're trying to make it so that you've got extra influence over the whole alliance instead of working together."

Augusta was quick to take the bait. "Shut your damn mouth. It's a matter of selecting the best option on the table each time. It has nothing to do with country of origin. I don't even get a say in picking. If the Sakura Empire doesn't like it, then maybe they should put forth some decent candidates of their own."

"Augusta, mind the time," Wales interrupted, quick to put a stop to the escalating situation before it could go any further. "I do believe that Oriskany will be expecting you and the Commander to be available to take her report regarding her current stay with the Iron Blood shortly."

Augusta looked like she wanted to argue, her glare turning on Wales instead of Tosa but wavering finally when Wales remained steadfast under her glare. She cleared her throat, clearly still miffed but ceding for the moment. "Thank you for reminding me. Royalist, please see to it that tea is prepared. I can feel a headache coming on. Commander, please come with me."

Tosa scoffed at the not-subtle retreat. "Do not forget that all eyes are on you, 'Commander.' Unfortunate accidents have their way of happening to fools who fail to tread carefully here."