Tanya could only smile and hide her mild annoyance as Glein said farewell to his former ship when she finished going through Schugel's tests – a physical administered by what was hopefully a more sane doctor, followed a test of her physical capabilities by having her complete what she recognized as the Minimum Physical Fitness Test she recalled barely passing, a test of her martial capabilities through a demonstration of her primary and secondary batteries, along with some fancy swordwork, and finally a test of her mental facilities by having her recount a battle her hull had gone through.

She had stared at Tanya's impassive gaze while she recounted her crew's defense against the 203rd with a cheeky grin, which she had lost when Tanya responded with a scowl.

As she bade Captain Glein goodbye, she really wished he stayed, because she wasn't sure how to interact with the two… sheships and she didn't want to interact with Schugel.

Of course, the madman didn't care what she wanted.

"I hope you were paying close attention, Lieutenant, because, as I am sure you remember from my declaration to the observers of your little bout with Emden, you are going to be training them!"

She managed to resist the urge to glare at him, but she couldn't hide her scowl as she stared away from the newly built hospital. "Train them in what, Doctor Schugel?"

He grinned at her, though she refused to meet his gaze and was staring off towards the various construction sites around the newly built expansion to the High Seas Naval Station. 'Nemonia' was to be headquartered here until a more permanent location was chosen.

"Playing coy, are we, Lieutenant? No matter!" he declared. He gestured about wildly as words poured from his mouth and Tanya's scowl deepened.

"They remember their time as ships, so there's little need to ask you to teach them naval tactics that you have no knowledge of – perhaps they can teach you a thing or two, even! No, what they lack is experience with their new human forms, which you will provide to them."

She continued to stare ahead as the sounds of construction faded and they walked through a less messy area of the base. Cauberg was telling Basel about the amenities, which Tanya was taking note of while privately hoping the girl would trip and send Schugel careening into the water where he would hopefully drown.

"Doctor," she began while draining as much of the irritation she felt from her voice as she could, "these… 'sheships' are not Aerial Mages. I hardly know their capabilities, let alone whether the combat they will be entering resembles combat between Aerial Mages or even Marine Mages. Whatever training I give them may not even be applicable."

She kept her protestations brief, as she didn't expect them to do much. Schugel clearly wanted her for this job, if his presentation was anything to go by. If the week she had spent without an assignment was anything to go by, then the factions that made up the Navy clearly couldn't agree on anything else for her to do.

As expected, her words do nothing.

"Now now, Lieutenant. Don't sell yourself short!" he cried out, nearly tipping over his wheelchair as he propped himself up on his arms to lean towards her. "Doctor Schugel!" Cauberg cried. He sat himself back down, his gaze not drifting away from Tanya.

"My apologies, Cauberg. But she really shouldn't! She built up her 203rd into the most potent force of its kind in the world, and she devised the Kampfgruppe which were responsible for how efficiently the Empire was able to defeat the Federation," he extolled.

Cauberg answered before Tanya had a chance to qualify his sweeping praise for her abilities. "Of course, Doctor Schugel. I- I read about some of it in the papers!"

Tanya resisted the urge to sigh at the fact that Schugel was feeding her soon-to-be subordinates propaganda. The naive ones would think she was a god among men and the cynical ones would think she was an overblown braggart who liked to pose for the camera without actually doing any work.

Instead of giving the doctor a heartfelt thank filled with as much venomous sarcasm as she could muster, she continued to look around…

Only to then notice just how many sheships – because no one else would wear such ridiculous or provocative outfits – were nearby. She counted at least twenty coming and going from the various amenities that had been built up, and more than a few were taking a moment to stop and stare at or give a friendly wave to them as they passed.

Quite a number of them were very… beautiful.

Tanya shook the errant thought away. "Just how many sheships have been made, Doctor?" she asked, a hint of trepidation leaking into her voice.

Schugel's smile went from satisfied at Cauberg's words to insane in a split second. "Thanks to your defense of the fatherland, Lieutenant, many. Not enough, never enough, but many."

Muttering to himself, he stared off into the distance as she had been, though now that she looked around, it seemed they were being followed by some of the other sheships. If she was lucky, they wanted to investigate Basel or to speak with Schugel.

Tanya was rarely lucky.

His gaze snapped up. "Yes, not enough. Discoveries were recently made about the possibility of using Wisdom Cubes to generate electricity, but priority is currently being given to this project due to the threat the Sirens pose to the Empire. Of course, even if we got allocated every cube, as I asked, we wouldn't have enough."

Tanya nodded, but Schugel wasn't done. "In light of the Navy handing over every pre-war ship to our program, and even a few completed during the war, I highly doubt we will run out of hulls to test on for quite some time!" he said jovially.

That almost stopped Tanya in her tracks. "Every…"

He waved away her incredulity as she caught up. "Of course, they've made sure to keep the most modern stuff for themselves, as well as enough destroyers and cruisers to protect their current battleships and battlecruisers and the ones they've planned to start in the wake of the Empire's transmigration."

"That would still have to be well over a hundred vessels."

Schugel smirked. "I'll ignore you're stating the obvious, since you're also wrong. When you include the submarines, Nemonia will have some 250 sheships to work with… assuming there aren't any problems with their creation."

Tanya stifled her desire to sigh tiredly and decided to ignore that very loaded end of that remark to instead focus on the task before her.

She felt that getting them used to using their human bodies would honestly be a breeze. A few of the training courses she'd put cadets through would certainly help, at least.

However, determining how best to use sheships? She had very little to go off of as far as what their role should or even could be, and her abilities as an Aerial Mage and leadership of the 203rd would only go so far – she had had a bedrock of training and information from her first life to supplement it. There weren't any easy comparisons for what a sheship could be from her first life. There was exactly one person who may or may not have ever existed that could walk on water, and Jesus didn't have 14 inch cannons attached to his back.

Despite the testing that Schugel had done, she didn't really understand the capabilities or limits of sheships, which was something else she needed to do if she was going to figure out how best to use them. It was a daunting task that she was sure someone more capable would have been found for if not for the machinations of Being X.

She'd figure something out. She had to, if she didn't want to end up as the metaphorical gun the Empire only took out to fire at the Sirens.

Perhaps she could even try to observe the other nations' sheships for tips?

Regardless of the solution she arrived at, though, she would have to start reaching out to her old Kampfgruppe, see if anyone could help her out with the mountains of work she would inevitably create. Perhaps Ugar had some colleagues in the Navy he could point her towards?

"Cauberg, you are aware I am a sixty-year-old man who is fully capable of-"

"B- But the doctors said you need to take it easy, and I don't wa- want you to get hurt, and-"

Tanya snapped out of her ruminations to find Schugel trying to wheel away from a blubbering Cauberg. His indignancy was fading into guilt as he promised the girl he'd be careful. She beamed at him and he muttered about god's creations being far too cute.

He slowly began to wheel himself away. "Now, scientists from around the globe are gathering to explain the basics of wisdom cube technology to me and my team – as if I haven't figured it out myself! Regardless, it is very important I leave now and prepare to extract everything I can from them! Cauberg, continue giving them the tour!"

Tanya turned to Cauberg, only for Schugel to cry out once more. "Ah, one last thing!"

He wheeled back over to them, and Tanya hid a smirk as Schugel panted from the exertion. "Degurechaff. I was told to remind you that doing your job and earning their loyalty will, of course, result in rewards."

She wasn't particularly enthused by the promise of rewards – the last time she designed a new doctrine for fighting war, she got shipped away from France to go fight the Federation to employ her doctrine. She wasn't naive enough to think this would end differently, considering her lack of experience with all other naval matters and the bickering between the factions of the Empire's navy.

Of course, a promotion was a promotion, which at least meant more money… which she would be able to access when she turned eighteen. In five years.

When she might not be alive.

"Earn their loyalty?" she asked, much more interested in the second part of his reminder. Schugel scoffed and waved his hand. "I am certain they are perfectly loyal to the Empire," he began, speaking as if Cauberg and Basel weren't right next to them and a dozen other – incredibly beautiful – sheships weren't within audible range of their conversation.

"They are the physical manifestations of not only the soul of hulls they were, but the beliefs and ideas of every single person who lives in the Empire. The notion that their incidental origin from a piece of alien technology that not even I understand is something that only lesser men and women think will affect their loyalty," he sniffed.

He took off, wheeling his way around a corner, as Tanya rolled her eyes-

And that was the last moment of peace she had for the next two hours.

"CAUBERG!"

"G- Gah! Zugspitze, Rainerhorn, s- stop it! I can't help it if mine aren't as big as yours, bu- but doing that isn't going to help! Brocken, Møllehøj, help me!"

"You know I can't stop them, Cauberg."

"Better you than me, sis."

Cauberg got felt up by what were apparently her sisters – somewhat similar in appearance and dress and very different as far as their personality went – and absolutely no one found it objectionable.

Basel was surrounded by a dozen other girls of similar or greater height who took turns inspecting her on various metrics, some of which were brazenly sexual in nature. Thankfully, she did not get felt up.

Tanya, on the other hand, got assaulted by dozens upon dozens of introductions, most of which she hardly remembered because they were all so fucking rediculous.

She barely had the presence of mind to try and apply some kind of organization to the madness. Emden was among the 'Six Elders' who had been awakened first, even though none of the hulls they had once been were anywhere near the oldest in Nemonia.

Some ships had animalistic features like Basel – horns or animals ears and tails – while most did not. Some of them introduced themselves as royalty or members of the aristocracy, others were more down to earth and named after officers. Some came in groups with their sisters, others were alone and aloof. The engineers and mechanics baffled her with the minutiae of their work, and the nuns grated on her with their words about faith and god. The submarines either left no impression because their name was a letter and some numbers, made up for their name with their personality, or owned the fact that they were named after legendary pirates who were born somewhere in the Empire, or even just in the Baltic or Mediterranean.

Tanya had been patted on the head more in the last hour than she had in the rest of her life. A few destroyers had called her big sister. A few cruisers had called her little sister. Two battleships dared to pick her up and coddle her like she was a doll and their fucking daughter.

Her reputation would have been fucking shredded if the Kampfgruppe could see her now.

Actually, no. She was sure they would have been jealous beyond belief, because Tanya could confidently say the number of women who wore an outfit that didn't break the Empire's dress code on one fucking hand. She'd seen more titties in the past two hours than in her previous thirty-year first life.

Throughout the two hours, the distracting thoughts in her head commenting on just how revealing their clothes had been had grown more common, and Tanya had felt the entire area getting hotter and hotter as the sun rose and her head had begun to spin as she was surrounded by more and more sheships-

"Fufufu~ I am the Monarch-class Monarch. You stand in the presence of royalty… but fret not, I shant make you kneel. You too are nobility, after all. I place myself under your service, assuming you can… satisfy me."

It wasn't that the six-foot-tall woman was flashing her that did her in. In fact, she was dressed in a crisp white dress uniform Tanya had seen some members of the General Staff wear once or twice, though she was glad none of them had worn anything as form fitting as Monarch's dress shirt because it left very little to the imagination.

Nor was it that her matching white skirt was hilariously – and perhaps illegally – short. Nor even was it the way that she rubbed the pommel of her sword.

No, what caused a fountain of blood to erupt from Tanya's face was the way the woman leaned down and purred into her ear while simultaneously loosening the collar of her shirt.

As the two columns of blood gushed out of her nose with enough force to propel Tanya back, she was absolutely certain this was the closest Being X had gotten and would ever get to extracting a sincere prayer from her.

SMACK

As her consciousness faded and Monarch was berated by those around her, Tanya felt vindicated that Being X wouldn't ever get to use her clearly delayed puberty against her again, because as long as she was prepared for seeing her subordinates dressed skimpily and making passes at her despite her apparent age – it had better be because they thought she was mature enough despite her age and not because of it – that meant it wouldn't happen again!

Right?

-OxOxO-

Hamburg was supposed to be extremely cold, with the new year coming up, and he knew that from experience. He'd been there, at the tail end of 1944, to help plan and lead the effort to drive the Sirens out of the North Sea and into the Arctic.

Thankfully, Hamborg, being located in the southern hemisphere, was not.

The part of the city they were in seemed oddly deserted, for a port town, but it had been explained away as a precautionary measure in the event that they were attacked again. He wasn't sure if he believed it was happening everywhere, but considering the number of times a multinational gathering of shipgirls attracted Siren or META attention, he just saw it as prudent.

As the delegations arrived and met each other, the populace of the town was the farthest thing from Jonathan Smithe's mind as he smiled and watched the reunions play out between the shipgirls he'd brought and the representatives from around the world.

True, only An Shan and Chang Chun were sisters, but those that went to Azur Lane often lamented the time spent away from their homeland and their friends and family. He didn't fault them at all, of course. He understood.

He'd touched base with those he knew. Seeing Enterprise attempt to apologize yet again for that misunderstanding was amusing – something Belfast reminded her close friend which had devolved into a much more casual conversation. Prince of Wales was as cordial as ever, lamenting how long it had been since they'd met, and Prinz Eugen playfully suggested he should simply switch sides if he felt he was under-appreciated in his current role, as always.

He hated how she read him, but she hated that he could tell her offer was made at least partially because she cared.

Of course, he'd received a similar offer from Kronshtadt not five seconds after he met the woman, and his polite refusal was met with a shake of her head that he matched what her friends had said about him.

He'd repressed a shudder at the look he was sure Chapayev was boring into the back of his neck and made an excuse to get away. Of course, that had led to him meeting with various dignitaries and representatives from around the globe – some he recognized, but even the many he didn't did know of him, at least. Most were shocked that he had shown up in person, and he'd given the excuse that, since he was sending a representative of everyone from Azur Lane, he felt humanity should get a representative.

He got a few chuckles when it was pointed out that it also conveniently ensured no faction was over-represented and he professed his ignorance.

Well, he got chuckles from everyone except the representatives from the United States, who were not happy he had sent a more balanced assortment of ships.

Now, he had one last person to meet. Still, his gaze lingered on the animated conversation taking place between Minneapolis, La Galissonnière, Sims, and Foch. At the way Belfast and Enterprise metaphorically danced around each other while Brooklyn and Sheffield rolled their eyes. At the staring contest going on between Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, and South Dakota and Massachusetts. At the hungry looks coming from Atago, Hiyou, Junyou, Kumano, and Suzuya…

Their eyes widened as they caught his gaze, and he felt his soul collapsing. Not again-

"Hello there. I don't believe we've met before."

He spun around, studiously ignoring those five, and began drifting towards the table of refreshments. His eyes narrowed as he took stock of their offerings. If the Empire was hurting as badly for food as their satellites said they were and not as vaguely as implied by their foreign dignitaries, then they certainly weren't showing it with the assortment of food on display. He looked towards the voice and smiled widely at the woman. "I don't believe we have, though your name precedes you, Lady Taihou."

"Likewise, Commander Jonathan Smithe," she replied. Her gaze too drifted towards the food. "If you wouldn't mind," she began, her gaze scouring the table and finding everything but a pastry of some kind wanting, "I have always been… curious about something."

He also wasn't particularly enthused by the food – he got enough sausage in his rations, and caviar wasn't his thing – and picked up an identical pastry to her own. "Shoot," he replied as he leaned back on the table and looked out at the people.

Chang Chun and An Shan were chasing each other around Yat Sen, who scolded them lightly as Hai Tien watched on impassively. He knew all four were being watched like hawks by representatives from the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China, but they played without acknowledging it.

"Why did you decide it was more important to revive fallen Kansen rather than keep your technological advantage over the rest of the world?"

Jonathan blinked, his wistful gaze across the crowd sharply shifting towards her eyes. He didn't get anything from her – the perfect picture of polite curiosity. He gazed back out at the crowd.

"Usually," he chuckled, "Usually, people ask why I did it at all. I guess you wanted to skip that?"

She smiled patiently. "I see no need to tread ground I myself have already worked over."

He nodded, more to himself than anything. "You wouldn't have given it out, I take it?"

He flicked his eyes towards her and saw her stifle… something. Probably derision or a scoff. "Of course not," she answered plainly, sounding just the slightest bit condescending. "Type II rigging allows for the wholesale reconstitution of a kansen into a more powerful, modern form. The ability to constantly revive your fallen meant there was no battle you could fight that you could lose anything important."

He couldn't hide the slightest flinch at that, and then he let out a long sigh. "I don't suppose you have any sisters?"

"I do not. I stand alone."

He smiled sadly. "There are any number of reasons. Just because the United States could stand against the Siren threat with that technology didn't mean the rest of the world could be protected was one of the first I gave."

He gave her a knowing look. "Another I've given is that the US doesn't have any designs on ruling the world, and the idea that we'd utilize our technological advantage to destroy every other fleet before they got the technology and then conquer everything is completely ludicrous."

He stared back out. An Shan and Chang Chun had bowed their heads in front of Yat Sen and were apologizing. "My real reason… is a matter of public record, so I'm sorry to disappoint you if you thought you were stealing some secret from me."

His gaze flicked back to her and found her quietly waiting for his answer. He shrugged. "I asked if you had a sister because… I lost my whole family to the war."

Taihou's eyes narrowed. He deliberately hadn't said the Sirens.

"Dear old Dad died at the Battle of the Coral Sea. Not on a fighting ship, too old for that, but on a support ship. Mom died in the Siren attack on New York City. Peter, my brother, died in the aleutians."

He licked his lips. "My… closest friend got hit in a raid on Iceland."

He shook his head to get rid of the pain he was sure was showing on his face. "If I could end the sadness that Enterprise felt, that Saratoga felt, that dozens in the Eagle Union and hundreds across the world felt," he said, staring into her eyes, "Then I had to help."

"And when your enemies invent a way to ensure ships cannot be revived, rip away the ships of the Eagle Union one by one, and scatter their remains to the winds because of the opportunity your weakness provided, what then? Will you regret your foolishness?"

Taihou had stepped closer, until they were almost touching, and was leaning forward slightly to whisper into his ear. With her so close to him, he could feel the fury burning under her skin.

He leaned away from her so she could look into his eyes. "No."

His answer hung in the air for a full five seconds, her expression of rage and vindication slowly twisting into a scowl as he stepped away from her and leaned on the table behind him once more. "Besides. It would never come to that?"

She raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Well, another reason I've given for doing what I did is that I wanted the world to come together. From what I've heard, Akagi would sooner fight you on my behalf than battle Azur Lane," he smirked.

Her scowl deepened… and then smoothed out. "How fortunate it is, then, that a whole new nation has come into existence that feels no debt towards you."

He shrugged. "Perhaps, one day, you will know what it is like." She smiled, keeping her venomous reply that either she or Shinano, assuming they ever created her, would be the last oil-fueled carriers of the Sakura Empire once the new cube-powered ones were fit for service.

He finished off his pastry and continued to speak in her silence. "Though, I suppose your seeking allies is the secondary reason you've come here?"

Taihou's expression clouded. What? "What other purpose would I have for coming here?" she doubted he knew of her aspirations for leadership, or if he did, that it was conditional on her performance here.

It was his turn to raise an eyebrow. "I cannot think of literally any reason for you to bring those five with you other than-"

Taihou's mind raced, discarding how very well informed he seemed about the inner workings of the Sakura Empire for someone based in the Caribbean. The link between her and those five was well known at home, but how could that possibly tie into their visit-

"Attention! If everyone could make their way to the stage, the opening speeches for the Unity Celebration are to begin post haste with some kind words from the Kaiser, Ruler of the Empire, Heir to the Habsburgs…"

She tuned out the droning of the human and ignored the Commander's farewell. Dwelling on the comments of that fool would do her no good in the days to come.

Though, imagining his bloody, charred, broken corpse laying at her feet as she did what no one else in the Sakura Empire could do – defeat the Grey Ghost, who even now was flaunting her continued existence at this meeting – certainly made her feel invigorated.

-OxOxO-

From within a well furnished room, he stood waiting for the signal for his arrival. The guards in the room looked out of place, but he had learned to ignored the guards that often surrounded him. The fears that assassins sent from their enemies would attempt to kill him to throw the Empire into turmoil was a widely held one among his retinue, but he had never felt safer than he did at that moment.

There were plenty of guards present, of course. Most were regular soldiers, a few close to the stage were Mages, and he knew there were at least two sheships behind the curtain, as well as a few dozen closer to the waterfront just in case there was an attack.

More than that, the remnants of the mythical 203rd were on standby for his speech. If anyone could be relied on to destroy the enemies of the Empire and protect him during the Unity Celebration, it was them.

He scowled at the thought. He'd wanted it called the Victory Celebration – framing the Empire's transmigration after having beaten its enemies in their old world as a victory might add one more reason for the people to avoid throwing him out.

He had been overruled on the matter of naming the event. 'Unity' was eventually decided upon because no one could agree on anything more specific.

Of course, 'Unity' within the Empire was far more aspirational these days than the Kaiser had hoped.

Like the name of the celebration, the only thing the government was working together on without argument was the reduction of the army. Thanks to a recommendation originating from within the Navy, a good number of those soldiers were being put to work constructing infrastructure or getting training to assist in the construction of new ships – the Conservatives had hated the meddling in the economy, but because he had supported the idea, they hadn't tried to block or alter it.

Fortunately, the economy was looking shaky, which was an improvement over how unstable it had been during the war.

Unfortunately, the real problem was the food.

The climate of the Empire had been completely changed. The south, from Pola to the very tip of the Dalmatian coast, was no longer sunny and wonderful year round, as was instead getting colder and colder due to how close it was to the South Pole. Most crops and animals there were either in the process of dying or were already dead. The northeast was getting far too hot. Imperial Dacia's crops were mostly safe due to their elevation, though the hundreds of meters of sheer cliff was understandably having varied and deleterious effects. The northwest was also doing relatively fine, but the changing weather was negatively impacting the crops that had been planted in autumn to survive the winter.

Food had already been scarce, and the damnable weather was sending the price of food higher and higher. The Chancellor had informed him that if people panicked, the economy might crash and fighting over the limited food might break out.

The lack of food was impacting everything.

The coalition spent a good majority of its time bickering about food. The Conservatives didn't want to sell out the country to foreigners, even in return for food, the Center was paranoid about people hoarding what little was available, and the Social Democrats were fracturing internally over whether they should sell their foreign policy for aid or whether the communists were right all along.

He and the Chancellor were managing to hold everything together – the Conservatives and Social Democrats were afraid that leaving would see them ganged up on by the remaining parties like the army, and everyone still agreed that the Army remained a threat to their power – but he doubted that he could do it forever, especially without food.

That problem should be solved relatively soon – some American named Hoover with experience in the area was organizing for aid to be sent, free of charge. Everyone was pitching in, but it seemed they would be sending the most by far.

A point in their favor in the upcoming negotiations.

Of course, the celebration was apparently giving the government conniptions – hiding evidence that Mages were human was apparently much more difficult than he had anticipated when the diplomats lied through their teeth.

Not that he had to deal with it. He technically wasn't part of the government.

oon, the negotiators would wring promises of technology and trade and food and… protection, as much as it irked him to admit, from both sides. In the end, he and the Chancellor would go over both treaties and pick the best deal for the Empire.

There were those that favored one side or the other, and he had biases against both – their former enemies were part of one group while their counterpart in this world had thrown out their Kaiser and had allied with the Sirens in the past.

Allying with their former enemies would leave a bad taste in his mouth, but the thought of allying with these fascists made him nervous.

There was a knock on the door, and the Kaiser schooled his features as the door was checked by one of the guards.

Over a dozen people would be giving short speeches today, and every day after today for the entire week. There were parties to be had, meetings to attend, and demonstrations of both sides' technology and weaponry to watch.

The Kaiser couldn't help but grin, just the smallest bit, at being back in the thick of things.

-OxOxO-

What had once been the 203rd were not, in fact, perched in the air, waiting for just the right moment to speed down towards the stage and land. Doing so would give the foreigners a chance to study them – many of the ships parked up and down the Elbe river had radar and who knew what else.

No, they had been sitting around, making small talk and playing cards while waiting for the Kaiser's speech to start. Now that it had, they were getting suited up…

And Tanya would have loathed every second she was put into the same fucking red dress, again, except her mind kept getting dragged back to thoughts of the sheships of Nemonia.

At least this time everyone else was also wearing unorthodox outfits – a few were wearing their dress uniforms, some wore their actual flight suits, and Weiss had the honor of dressing in his civilian clothing. Tanya was staring at the unadorned back of the building the stage was in that had been constructed for the event.

She had caught up with everyone, of course, and they lamented that she hadn't been able to attend their reunion party yesterday. Hopefully they'd all get a chance to talk more in depth later.

"Ma- Major-"

She suppressed the urge to sigh. Finally. Talking with her old adjunct would at least distract her from her spiraling thoughts about-

Or not.

Tanya's eyes barely flicked down before they snapped back up to Viktoriya's blushing face. "They're making you wear that?!"

It wasn't that outrageous, honestly, especially when compared to some of the incredibly risqué stuff the sheships wore, but a low-cut black dress couldn't not look good even with the close cut dress jacket thrown on top. Although, how the designers had managed to get the boots and its accompanying equipment to work with the dress instead of tearing it apart was anyone's guess.

The light above them flashed red, and whatever Viktoriya had wanted to say was cut off as they all took off immediately, arcing over the building and the stage and coming down to rest on the stage in a line. "Yes, the finest soldiers of the Empire, who, even in the face of overwhelming odds, managed to throw back the Siren menace threatening to destroy our great Empire."

A functionary stepped out from behind the curtain and presented a case. Opening it, the Kaiser took out from a velvet pillow-

Tanya's eyes widened. Silver Wings Assault Medals for all of them?

Down the line the Kaiser went, saying a few words to them as he went while the achievements of their 'group' – the name of the 203rd not being said so that the guests would think he was referring to Nemonia – in relation to naval battles was read out by a different functionary.

As she stared out into the distance, waiting for her turn, Tanya couldn't help but let her gaze shift onto the crowd.

Only to sincerely regret it.

What the fuck?

Everyone from the Empire looked relatively normal. They clapped politely as the Kaiser read out the name and rank of each of the men he pinned a medal.

Almost none of the visitors from abroad looked normal. Some were still gaping, other's eyes were wide, but the vast majority of them seemed to be practically salivating with the hunger pervading their bodies.

She could almost understand the looks on the various humans present – she recognized it in the expression Schugel had been wearing while in the hospital. Their eyes told them that the sheships of the Empire could fly while their own could not. Securing a relationship with the Empire would result in the expansion of the capabilities of their nation and result in hefty bonuses.

The sheships, though? Why did they look so… ravenous-

Dread pooled in her stomach. Oh no.

Were they… also battlemaniacs? If it could be assumed that they had the same skill and power as Emden, and the Sirens she had fought were the baseline, and with the peace ushered in by the defeat of the Sirens, did they view the 203rd as possible opponents?

"Tanya von Degurechaff."

Cameras began to go off, and Tanya blinked, realizing the Kaiser had reached her. She dragged her gaze back into the middle distance as the functionary went over her accomplishments.

"Despite being outnumbered ten to one, she gained her first Silver Wings Assault Medal at the opening of the Great War by defeating the living ships who faced her down. She handpicked the living ships who, under her training, became the most skilled and powerful group in the Empire. Her name and face are known nationwide, and none can speak of the victory of the Empire without mentioning her in the same breath!"

The cameras increased their flashing as the functionary holding the medals retreated, only to bring out a second case and open it-

Tanya kept her face carefully blank. It was a different medal, somehow even more ostentatious and gaudy than her Silver Wings Assault Medal, with a copy of her Type 95 sitting in the center of the thing.

"And having already earned that medal, it was decided that a living ship, a soldier, a hero, such as she deserved an even higher award. Presenting the Mithril Medal of Heroism!"

The flashing of the cameras somehow became even more frenzied as the Kaiser picked up the medal and pinned it next to her Silver Wings Assault Medal.

"My apologies for having to put you through this song and dance, Lieutenant," the Kaiser said. She scrambled to come up with a response to the perfunctory apology. "It isn't any worse that fighting in battle, my Kaiser."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Still. While you all will be getting generous bonuses for your bravery and excellence," and putting up with the circus about to unfold around them went unsaid, "In light of just how central you have been, do you have any special requests?"

Tanya opened her mouth, only to snap it shut when her mind supplied that she ask for permission to do whatever she wanted to the sheships of Nemonia.

She cleared her throat and dismissed a dozen other hormone-fueled suggestions… and then her mind supplied other, less horny, suggestions.

She wanted to work behind the frontline, back in the army. She wanted to be older so she could get her money.

She obviously couldn't ask for that, either, and she doubted he was going to go to bat for her against the Navy or change the Empire's laws for a simple favor.

"Assuming she agrees, could I have some of my former subordinates assigned to me for my work with Nemonia?"

"Which subordinates?" he asked. "My former adjunct, as well as some of the paperpushers from the Salamander Kampfgruppe."

His gaze drifted towards where Viktoriya was standing next to her, and he nodded in an instant with a smile. "Is that all?"

Tanya blinked. Maybe she should have asked for him to change the law. "Could I borrow some mages to assist in the training of the living ships?"

He nodded again. "Of course. Now," he said with aplomb, "I believe you have a speech to give?"

She nodded, at least one worry for the future laid partially to rest, and stepped forward. She'd had her speech cleared with the organizers already, so she wasn't expecting much to happen.

Of course, her expectations never met, because the moment she opened her mouth, the entire delegation from Japan – the sheships and the delegates – were surprised. There were even a few people from outside the delegation who were surprised.

Tanya was one of them, because all she had said was "Ladies and gentlemen."

Then, subtly or overtly, they had all at least cast a glance towards one of the sheships within the delegation from the Sakura Empire, who herself was staring at Tanya with bright red eyes – and not in the way that eyes were usually red. Her irises were literally bright red.

Tanya stared back for a few seconds. As with every other piece of clothing she'd seen the more developed sheships wearing, the thing clung to her body that probably shouldn't have been comfortable. The obi knot that completed her red kimono was more ornate than the Kaiser's clothing, and the sleeves of it were detailed to the extreme – though Tanya wasn't sure if it was actually a kimono because there were odd, long, colorful feathers attached to the sleeves and the woman's shoulders were barred and her breasts were near spilling out of the damn thing.

The fact that her black hair wasn't dragging on the ground was only possible because it was floating in the air, which Tanya refused to contemplate the logistics of. She assumed it was because of the weird hair ornament on her head and decided to ignore it.

Despite that enormous hiccup, her speech went smoothly – she thanked them all for coming, was looking forward to forging a better future through the exchange of words, ideas, and technology, claimed that anyone from the Empire would have done the same in her position, wished them all well and expressed a desire to speak with them at a later date. They all took off and landed at the back of the crowd watch the remaining speeches before they'd be ushered somewhere no one could see them take off their 'rigging' instead of vanishing them into thin air.

And through the entire speech, the woman in red stared at her.

-OxOxO-

Taihou walked up the stairs to the podium in lockstep with the diplomat from Japan. She hardly paid attention to him, instead spending her time alternating between staring at Tanya von Degurechaff and trying to decipher this newest… oddity.

Her conclusions weren't promising.

What the fuck?

The diplomat quickly finished, and Taihou couldn't help but flick her gaze towards the Commander for the third time since Degurechaff had spoken, only to find a smug smirk still adorning his face.

She felt confusion fueled-rage boil up for a moment and immediately quashed it as she took her place on the podium.

When she opened her mouth and gave a short speech – a far cry from the fiery and provocative statement she had wanted to make following whatever milquetoast drivel the diplomat served – she did not stop or even pause when it was the Empire's turn to turn in their seats and stare between Taihou and Degurechaff.

They sounded the same, and not in the way where you meet someone who sounds somewhat similar but not really because your own voice sounds different in your own head.

No, that was her voice.

And as she stepped down from the stage, taking a moment to glare at the hand Enterprise offered her before brushing past her, she marveled at the feeling in her chest.

Of curiosity, not backed by an ulterior motive, at what could possibly have caused this.

-OxOxO-

A/N 1: And here it is. My apologies for the late posting of the chapter, and also for my speculation on how the climate of the Empire would change. I am positive it would probably be worse, but I honestly don't know because it isn't my area of expertise.

A/N 2: In case you don't know, the reason they sound so similar is because they have the same voice actor. That's literally it.

A/N 3: If you'd like to donate to support me monetarily, search for Sugarcane Soldier on the website of the Patrons.

A/N 4: Thank you to WarmasterOku and Afforess for supporting this story and everything else I write.