October 21st
10am

The convoy had arrived back in the city a day ago and had set up defences around the hospital. Resource was given a room in order to treat Norfolk in where the destroyed leg was carefully removed and properly treated. Suffolk had watched on, worried her little sister wouldn't make it.

Agincourt, despite now being awake, wasn't entirely willing to talk about her time as a pawn of the Sirens. She admitted it wasn't because she did unspeakable things, she just wasn't comfortable with answering any questions about it so soon after her revival. She did however thank Anson for freeing her from the cube controlling her. Anson simply said it was her duty to help her fellow ship.

"How long do you think it will take to repair my turrets?" Agincourt inquired once Resource was finished with checking Norfolk again.

"I don't think it will take me too long. There seems to be quite a number of Siren riggings I can remove materials from. I can do it once I've sorted out Norfolk. You shouldn't have to wait too long." Resource explained.

"Thank you." Agincourt replied before she looked down at Norfolk. "Brave fighter, is she?"

"You'd be surprised. Before this war. She was a rather withdrawn girl. Just tried to get on with things without wanting to draw attention to herself. Which is ironic since she's done quite a few feats during the last conflict. Her name also carries many feats from what I've heard" Resource explained.

"Something changed her" Agincourt commented.

"Yeah. I do not know what it was. I've only known her for a little while. Once I'm able to fix her up, I'll try and ask about why she is the way she's been described by Suffolk" Resource explained.

"Suffolk?" Agincourt inquired, curious to know who Resource was on about.

"Me. Miss" the cruiser in question spoke up, standing in the doorway. "I'm her big sister. From another sub-class of our class" Suffolk explained.

"I see. Do you know why she acts the way she has been prior to her injury?" Agincourt asked.

"I do not. Thought we are often inseparable, she didn't want to tell me about it. I respected that" Suffolk replied.

"More like you weren't aware of it and had to be told" Sheffield remarked as she walked past.

"Just because I was unattentive at the time doesn't mean I don't care!" Suffolk replied, a tinge of anger in her voice.

"Alright. Let's not get into an argument. The Siren's are our enemy, not one another" Resource stepped in to try and cool Suffolk down.

"Anyway. Even when I knew, I didn't ask her. As you said, she was a rather withdrawn person and only on the occasion participated in things with the others. She just liked to get on with things without bringing attention to herself and we all just let her be" Suffolk explained.

"Well something changed her for sure." Wasp commented, having walked in on the conversation. "Um. Anson was hoping for an update, Resource" Wasp added, passing on the message she was there to deliver.

"I'll be right there." Resource said before she left the room and headed down the stairs to the bottom floor and found Anson near the entrance. "She's stable. Her injuries are bandaged up but we will need to do something about her hand and leg"

"A prosthetic isn't going to cut it, Resource" Anson replied "I know one of the Italian Cruisers was able to do well with one. But she needs to be returned to normal"

"Then I'm going to need to gather everyone upstairs. Or at least as many as possible" Resource replied. "Please get who you can"

Anson managed to grab who she could and they gathered in the room Norfolk was in. "Norfolk's cubes are damaged." Resource said bluntly. "Not too badly damaged before you start panicking, Suffolk, but they're damaged. I'd need fresh, unaltered cubes in order to repair her."

"Can't we use the Wisdom ore we collected from the HQ?" Indomitable inquired.

"That would be good, but I want to keep as much of it as I can in order to rebuild everyone's ships" Resource replied. "So. I have a curiosity that needs satisfying"

"That being?" Agincourt inquired.

"That Siren that left Norfolk in her current state, did it look familiar to any of you?" Resource asked

"I think so" Indomitable inquired. "An Explorer, class right?" she asked.

"Yes. Anson has informed me that Captain Ryan made note that it had emerged after killing one of his men. It had apparently been disguised as another soldier that had been picked up by the convoy" Resource explained. "I am curious to know if I can extract a cube from them. I will need two however in order to fix Norfolk. I may be able to retrofit her with the cubes. No promises though"

"And how do we get these Explorer types?" Agincourt asked. "It sounds like it won't be an easy task"

"I do not doubt it will be easy. It will be a matter of luring them out" Resource replied. "We have some intelligent women among us, surely someone has a good idea"

"I'm sure I can come up with something" Sovereign spoke up, a confident look on her face.

"Excellent. Then I shall return to my work. If anyone needs treatment for anything. I shall be right here, monitoring Norfolk's condition"

"And we shall leave it to you. I'll gather who I need for my plan in a little while" Sovereign replied before everyone dispersed for their own duties.

Sovereign got together a small group of ships and after some thorough planning, departed in order to find some sirens for Resource, and whilst they were gone, Hector decided to go and check up on Norfolk. He hadn't brought himself up to see her since she was brought up the morning they arrived. But he had a feeling that Anson would have dragged him up to see her if he didn't. He politely greeted Suffolk and knocked on the door. "May I enter?" He asked.

"Enter" came Resource's response. Hector opened the door and entered the room. He stopped for a moment when his eyes locked with Norfolk as she laid motionless in the bed. "She's doing fine, Hector" Resource reassured him

"I know. But I still feel responsible for this" Hector replied.

"Anson told me she took the hit for you. Norfolk in that split second chose to do this. In order to spare you" the repair ship responded. "That Siren would have killed you outright if it hit you. We can take the punishment. That is part of our purpose"

"But you aren't solid punching bags that can weather any fight" Hector replied.

"No. It's why me, Vestal or Akashi exist." she answered.

"Who are they?" Hector asked, curious

"Vestal is the Eagle Union's repair ship. She was often with the ever so famous USS Enterprise. Akashi is the Sakura Empire's own repair ship. There is more than just me when it comes to representing the Royal Navy. But I do not know where they are. Nor do I know if the other factions have their own"

"Maybe we'll find them at some point. So many people are separated from their family and friends. Norfolk especially"

"Her sister, Dorsetshire. She's worried about her isn't she?"

"Yes. Very much so. Do you know much about Dorsetshire?"

"Norfolk and Dorsetshire were the last of the County Class Cruisers. Norfolk was actually meant to have four little sisters. But only Dorsetshire was built. Surrey and Northumberland were cancelled. And the fifth sister never received a name."

"I told Norfolk that a friend of mine served with Dorsetshire, she apparently always spoke very highly and regularly about Norfolk and her accomplishments. Norfolk tried to brush them off as unimportant" Hector explained.

"Reminds me of Bulldog. Her part in the recovery of a complete Enigma machine and books set often goes unheard of." Resource replied. "But yes. Norfolk is a person who thinks herself as unimportant and just wants to get on with things without bringing any attention to herself"

"Can… Can she hear us talking about her?" Hector asked, looking to Norfolk for a moment.

"I have no idea. She is in a medically induced coma, so I don't think so. If she is, then I imagine she'll tell you when she awakens following her repairs."

"How does that work?" Hector asked.

"it's rather complicated I'm afraid. We'd be here too long if I tried to go through all that I know"

"Fair enough" Hector replied before he sat down beside Norfolk. A few moments later, Anson appeared.

"Come to see her then?" she asked with a soft smile.

"You'd have nagged me if I did not see her.

Anson chuckled. "No. I would have dragged you up here."

"Resource has told me she's doing fine" Hector explained as Anson walked into the room and stood at the end of Norfolk's bed.

"She's strong willed. She'll make it" Resource added.

"That's good. Sovereign should have an update on how her plan is going soon. Maybe she's managed to find what you need" Anson responded.

"Best to take it outside the room then. Give you enough space" Resource replied and the battleship nodded.

"It's a shame Sheffield went out on that mission with Sovereign. I imagine she might have been able to talk a little about Norfolk before this new war. They served together on some missions apparently. I know Suffolk sortied a lot with her. But you've given your stories with her, right?" Anson said before she turned to Suffolk who remained on guard outside.

"Yes, Lady Anson. I have told what I could. I don't know what changed Norfolk's attitude"

"Thank you, Suffolk." Anson said before her radio came to life.

"Sovereign to Knight, are you reading me?" Sovereign called over the radio.

"Knight here, go ahead" Anson said as she stepped out of the room to answer the call.

"We've bagged one so far. Sheffield is in the process of bringing a second to our current position." Sovereign detailed.

"That's good. Let's hope that they are as useful as Resource wants them to be"

"Indeed." Sovereign replied before the radio went static for a moment "Sorry! One of them just dived at me. It's now on the end of my sword. That's three"

"Right. Withdraw. I know the fight is probably going well but I don't want you being swarmed by reinforcements being deployed behind you"

"I was only ever going to obtain two. The third is just a bonus. We're pulling back. Sheffield! Smoke up!" Sovereign replied before calling out to the Light Cruiser. "We'll be back soon. Sovereign out"

"Copy that" Anson said before she walked back down the hall and back to the room. "Good news. Sovereign's plan worked, somehow. She bagged three." Anson reported to Resource and for a moment she thought she saw a glint in the repair ship's eyes.

"Excellent. I shall have to prepare for them. Suffolk, can you find one of the Nurses? I shall be requiring the Infirmary"

Sovereign's team was back half an hour later, having ran most of the way back, constantly dropping smoke to confuse the Sirens so that they wouldn't know where the shipgirls had gone. The three Sirens were brought down to the infirmary. She requested time alone in order to concentrate. Anson posted Sevastapol outside the Infirmary in case Resource needed assistance. And the Russian Battleship was more than happy to oblige.

It was now a matter of waiting to see if Resource could perform a miracle. So to pass the time some of the ships, when not out on guard duty, decided to catch up with one another. It had been some time since some of them had seen each other. Unfortunately, this left Z20 and Akizuki as the odd ones out, neither of them had really known one another before hand, but they did some small talk and after a little bit, managed to get chatting about things they liked. Hector, who had been nearby was happy to see they weren't being left out since most of the fleet was predominantly British, aside from Sevastapol and Wasp. Though Wasp had served with the Royal Navy before and Sovereign knew Sevastapol due to her service with the Northern Parliament when on loan.

After a few hours, Resource exited the infirmary and headed to where the others were located. Once she got there, she took her goggles off and looked around. "It was successful. I have managed to remove the Wisdom Cube. I can now begin to recover cubes from Sirens. Norfolk will receive the first two. I have a third and I would like to request Bulldog for it's use"

"Why me, Miss Resource?" the tiny destroyer asked.

"If I am correct, the cubes I will be matching to Norfolk will lead to a retrofit. So, I shall be retrofitting you as well. The more cubes we obtain from the Sirens, the more retrofits will be possible for other ships. Though time shall tell who gets upgraded. Agincourt, I think we both know that an improvement to your design will be in order. How would you feel if you're ship was to become more like Valiant's? So a Queen Elizabeth class"

"Would it improve my weaponry?"

"Quite considerably!" Valiant remarked. "In fact. I was meant to have a little sister called Agincourt. But she was never built and you took on her name"

"And to think I have two other names." Agincourt replied. "Sultân Osmân-ı Evvel and Rio De Janiero"

"Rio? Is that where you were original planned to be for. The Brazilian Navy?" Hector asked.

"Yes. I was ordered by the Brazilian Navy. They ran out of money and sold me to the Ottomans. It gets… A bit dicey afterwards"

"Let me guess… We confiscated you from the Ottomans due to the last big war starting" Anson inquired.

"Basically." Agincourt replied simply.

"Some of us have really weird memories imprinted into our ships don't we?" Indomitable remarked

"That or we have odd siblings" Anson commented

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" Resource replied.

"It's not like I wanted Wales and York to be the way they are. George and Howe are fine siblings however"

"Do you know where they are, currently?" Z20 asked.

Everyone fell silent as Anson's face fell slightly. "No. I don't know where any of them are" she admitted before steeling herself. "But I will find them. Much like we will all find our missing siblings and friends. And we will show the Sirens that we will not back down from a fight. They may have our world currently. But hopefully we shall take back our homes and rebuild"

The cheers of affirmation from the others returned the mood to a more positive one. As the other shipgirls went back to chatting amongst themselves, Anson moved over to where her husband stood. He smiled at her before speaking. "Didn't think you were much of a person for speeches"

"I get it from George. She's the charismatic one of us. I've already told you about Wales and York"

"In great detail" Hector replied before chuckling.

"And about Howe too. She's important to me as my little sister"

"We're always protective of our little siblings. How is Suffolk holding up?"

"She was up with Norfolk. She seemed to be getting on well. We can go and see her together if you'd like. Resource will be looking to fix Norfolk tomorrow, so both you and Suffolk won't have to be so moody about her anymore"

"Sure…" Hector replied sarcastically before they both chuckled as they headed upstairs to check on Suffolk, leaving the others to their own devices.