Intermission 1
xxx xxx xxx
- Some time before the girls began working on their virtual battle simulation drills -
"Well? What do you think?" asked the pale, white haired, blue eyed electronic fairy to the floating screen in front of her from within the privacy of her virtual space of her own dedicated terminal server housed deep within the Liberty.
"Honestly? I think it's pure madness nya, but then again, nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that," replied the cat eared verdette staring back at her from the comfort of her dorm room, trusty tablet in hand. "After all, we shipgirls wouldn't have come into existence if humans hadn't dared to do the impossible and jumped off the deep end themselves. Still, do we even have any androids lying around to use nya? And I mean, it's not like we can build 'em from scratch either, right?"
"About that, here have a look," Metis said before bringing up several more 'screens' for Akashi to examine. On the leftmost one had information about a certain very well known manufacturer based in the northeastern part of the Eagle Union, coincidentally in the same area of the country still free of Siren occupation. "It's also one of the more well known companies contracted by SNRI, specifically the androids and other automated systems meant to help manage and maintain the island's various facilities."
"...Tetra-Line Inc. nya," Akashi answered, finally starting to see what the AI was getting at.
Metis nodded. "And it just so happens that they left a small shipment of androids behind too. Not just Tetra-Line either, but Elysion and Missilis Industries models too!"
"What about the Fairchild Group nya?"
Metis shook her head. "Fairchild only helped with providing materials for the Hyperion Class Aerial Combat Support Carriers. All other hardware the island needed was handled by the 'Big Three'."
"...Next you're going to tell me that we have Britannian knightmares or Iron Blood wanzers too...! Shikikan was right. This whole place is just plain ridiculous nya...!"
"Sadly no, but you have to admit that it would be quite something to see Liam pilot one, right?"
"...That would be... AMAZING NYA!"
"Sadly, that will have to stay a pipe dream since knightmares, and Ashford Heavy Industries for that matter, are privately sponsored for exclusive use by the Crown to be used only in defense of the Royal Islands themselves. Same goes for Iron Blood's wanzers too. Really, I think that's the case for any country that use and/or manufacture 'Mobile Assault Frames'," Metis explained, suppressing her urge to laugh at the now pouting tech obsessed cat eared shipgirl. "Anyway, we're getting off topic. The point is, we have exactly what we need to begin work on this mad little side project."
"So what do you need from me then nya?" Akashi wasn't quite sure what would come of Metis' crazy project, but she also couldn't deny it was just too exciting an opportunity to pass up either. After thinking about it for a moment, Akashi realized that the only answer she could give was 'yes' and just go all in. She could leave the consequences and all that other stuff ofr later and for somebody else to deal with. Irresponsible? Oh, most definitely. Did she care? No, not really. After all, times being what they were risks and a little bit of insanity were needed if she was going to help Liam and her fellow fleet sisters survive even one day longer and perhaps, if they caught enough lucky breaks, win their war. Thinking about that way, the little verdette couldn't help but respect the electronic fairy and her mad ambitions.
"Two heads are better than one and I can only do so much on my own, even using drones."
"Good point. So? I'm guessing you already have the programming side of things taken care of then? I mean, we're sort of pressed for time as it is."
"And that is exactly why you were the right catgirl to ask for help," Metis said with a slight smile on her normally expressionless pretty face. "While it is true we might not be able to actually start the project before leaving, we should be able to complete something that we can show Liam and the others in a relatively short time with what we do have after the upcoming operation."
"Details nya."
Metis nodded, pulling up a list onscreen. "One: this island contains all the production, manufacturing, and R&D needed to be entirely self-sufficient. Granted, there are limits to the scale of what we can produce, but it's still more than enough for what we need. Second are the inactive androids I mentioned earlier, which will serve as the base for the project. Third are the Wisdom Cubes. We have so many in stock that using the numbers I need shouldn't significantly deplete our overall supply. Fourth, and lastly, are the Siren derived nanomachines that we'll use for the modifications and that'll handle the units' automatic maintenance afterwards."
"Nanomachines nya?"
"Yes. Apparently, it was something Lab XIII was working on alongside the Hyperion Class's and my own AI development. Essentially, the purpose of that project was to try and see if they could replicate the natural bio-organic nanomachines found in you kansen using reverse engineered Siren technology," Metis explained.
"Oh, right. They're what allows us to connect with our riggings and helps in the general maintenance of our bodies and lets us keep doing all the absurd things we can do nya," Akashi said, very thankful that their bodies had such a supremely convenient feature. "But yes, I can see why you'd want to use them since unmodified androids wouldn't normally have enough of the 'information' level required for Wisdom Cubes to do their thing. I'm guessing you plan to pre-load them with whatever we want to program into them then?"
Metis nodded. "I've already run a countless number of simulations already, but I still need a real life test case and an extra set of hands to help pull it off to make sure nothing goes wrong. As for the test case? Well, there's really only one readily available AI we can use..."
...
"Wait... Are you telling me that you want to use yourself as a test subject nya!?"
Metis once again silently nodded, prompting another very long pause between the pair. After taking a few moments of trial and error to try and say something, Akashi finally managed to speak up.
"...You know there's only one of you, right? If something-anything-goes wrong, you could get seriously damaged or even erased... Like, do you even have a method to(safely) pull it off? Oh, and there's convincing Shikikan for the go ahead and his help since to use the 'Construction Site'."
"About that. I already talked to him about it, and he said he'd only agree if I managed to convince you to help... Which is why I'm going to explain just what it is I have in mind."
"You really want to make this happen, don't you nya?"
"...It was the only solution I could reach given what's at stake here. Anyway, just hear me out before deciding anything since I'll need your extensive knowledge on both shipgirls and engineering to have even a remote chance of making this work... and possibly not fry myself in the attempt..."
"...Alright, then start talking nya."
"Thank you." Metis replied gratefully, happy that Akashi was willing to at least hear her out.
"It's nothing nya. Honestly, I really should be more hesitant about all this, but even so..." Yes, the rational part of her thought that making her fellow AI fleet sister through something so ridiculous, untested, and potentially fatal was a very, very bad idea but at the end of the day, she was a scientist at her core. Besides, she had a feeling Metis would attempt it on her own if she refused. They were recklessly alike in that way if it meant that they could help Liam, potential danger to themselves be damned.
...
In the end, and just as has often been said by many others, many times before: 'necessity is the mother of invention', 'variety is the spice of life', and 'there's a fine line between genius and madness'. Then, after one long explanation and Q&A session later...
"...Alright nya. The plan could use some tweaking here and there, obviously, but you convinced me that we have a better chance of succeeding than I thought we would. But, we're going to need time to set everything up. In the meantime, we can start by going over and maybe even give you some input on the data you already have."
"Sounds good."
Akashi nodded, finally dropping her serious face and putting back on her usual mischievous grin. "Alright! Let's get started nya!"
- In the dorms the shipgirls were using, mid-afternoon the day after their first training battle -
At a table in a surprisingly crowded dining area-
On one end sat a tall, buxom and silver haired, twintailed Iron Blood beauty known for her teasing and playful personality. On the other sat a petite, taciturn and normally expressionless light lavender haired twintailed beauty. At first glance, both seemed as different as could be and, in many respects, were often more like each other's opposites. However, on closer inspection, and taking away the fact that both were shipgirls serving under and deeply caring for the same Commander (albeit in their own unique ways), Eugen and Laffey still shared some pretty interesting traits/interests.
"Hey, are they really gonna do this now?" half asked, half whispered a very curious Kii to the Iron Blood twintailed ravenette sitting next to her. "I mean, I don't really see either one of them losing this kinda of challenge... and trust me, I've tried."
"Who knows," Strasser replied with a light shrug, drink in hand and small smile on her usually very serious, no nonsense face. "But that's why we're all here, no? To see which one of those booze hounds will go under first? Speaking of which... Do you wanna place any bets?"
"Huh? Wait, seriously? You wanna bet on which one of them gets wasted and passes out first?"
"Why not? And I'd be lying if I said a part of me didn't want to see Eugen lose to that small little Union rabbit," Strasser shamelessly admitted before taking a good long drink of her own beer.
"Wow, that's kind of messed up. Aren't you two, like best friends or something? Or is that why? Anyway, bets huh? What about you, who are you putting money on?"
The other long, black haired beauty just lightly chuckled. "Well, I've never seen that little one there actually drink. I've heard the stories though. But as much as I would enjoy seeing my dear Frau Eugen lose to someone not even half her size, we are still comrades and I would be remiss in my duties as her friend if I didn't at least try and support her."
"Well then!" New Jersey suddenly cut in as she she joined in on the fun. "If that's how it's gonna go down, then I'm putting my money on little Laffey taking down Miss Eugen! Dunno how long it'll take, but we've got the time and like you, I just don't see that little cutie losing in a contest of drinking either!"
"...Hoh? Any other takers?" Strasser asked as she saw the others react to the tall bluenette battleship's loud declaration of support and seeing an opportunity to kill some time, make things more exciting... and perhaps win some cash if she's lucky.
"Hey, betting on the two super drunks is nice and all, but what do we even bet with?" asked New Jersey, eliciting many a nod from the other shipgirls now gathered closer around. The two subjects of the bet in question, however, were too busy and focused trying to outdrink the other to bother paying them any attention.
"...That's, actually a very good question. Any ideas girls?" Kii asked, looking around.
"...U, um... Does it, does it have to be money?" Unicorn shyly asked, holding up and hiding behind her stuffed Uni.
"Hmm? Well, no we don't 'have' to use money, but...," Strasser began before trailing off there at the end, somewhat at a loss herself now that she thought more about what Unicorn's question.
Incidentally, since much of the world had fallen under Siren occupation and with the overall collapse of the Azur Lane Alliance that more or less singlehandedly held the world together for decades now, nations had once again fallen into an age of isolationism as they were forced to fight for their own continued survival with little to no support around to help them. Naturally, this made the issue of 'globally accepted currency' very muddled and complicated seeing as nobody really knew what to use that would 'safely' be accepted everywhere for trading goods and services. Fortunately, and was often the case really, necessity was once again the mother of invention.
"Well, if we can't use any local currencies, then let's just make one up and use that for the time being," suggested Vampire, glass of wine in hand and legs crossed in both an elegant and seductive manner befitting her somewhat risque personality. "It should do for what we need it for, at least here on this island, no? And, once we finally start interacting with whoever might still be out there, we could even see about try and making it our own 'official currency' in exchange for our services. Beats worrying about all that exchange rate nonsense since we won't be tied to any one location or nation. All we'll need to do is tie it to Azur Lane and say it has the same value as the Union dollar or something like that so that looks like it has real weight and nobody questions it too much," she suggested before taking another sip of her wine.
"...That's, actually a pretty good idea. I mean, it's got a lot of details to work out, but definitely worth exploring," Strasser acknowledged, seeing the possible merits of having their own currency, at least here on the island. "But, what would we even use?"
And, much to everyone's surprise, save for the two warring booze hounds in the background now on their eighth or ninth mug anyway, came a solution from the most unlikely of sources that they almost forgot was even there with them in the first place... Anchorage!
"Pretty card!"
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
"...A, card?"
landing on their table was a simple white plastic card with a single large dark blue feather in the center surrounded by two larger equally dark blue circles. It was simple yet very pretty and, needless to say, Strasser, Kii, New Jersey, and (mostly) everyone else were quite pleasantly surprised/impressed by the card the overly innocent, almost childlike blonde had shown off.
"...Money!" was all Anchorage said, all the while smiling happily without a care in the world.
"Where did you find this?"
"...Hmm? Anchorage didn't find this pretty card though...?"
"Wait, did you actually make this yourself then?" Saratoga asked, examining the simple yet admittedly very pretty plastic card in her small hands. "What made you think up something like this?"
"Oh, um... Teach was um, going over some name ideas to call home with Anchorage, and... and one of them was, um... 'Outer Heaven'! Anchorage didn't really get it, but it sounded pretty, so Anchorage wanted to make something for Teach based on the pretty name...!"
"...'Outer Heaven', huh? Ya know? I think that name actually really suits us!" Alabama said, offering up a toast before downing her own mug in one go "I mean, it describes this place pretty well, in a way. And it sounds hella cool too!"
"...But, didn't he just get that from another video-game though? 'Metal Gear' or something like that? I mean, don't get me wrong, it does sound pretty cool, but still..," Javelin said, remembering Liam had introduced Ayanami to said game during one of their date nights a little while back. Retro games weren't really her thing though so she kind of fell asleep sometime during their playthrough, on Liam's lap by the way.
"...Yeah, yeah! Metal Gear was so cool!" Anchorage happily cheered, remembering watching Ayanami play it as well. Sadly, Anchorage herself kept dying... like really early on too.
"...Leave it to that dork to use something from a video game," New Jersey said with a fond smile and a hearty laugh. "But that's our Liam for ya!"
"Still, the place did need a name," Saratoga said. "I mean, we can't just keep calling it 'the island' or something lame like that. From a game or not, Outer Heaven's as good a choice as any. We've been so busy lately though that it honestly slipped my mind."
Strasser, Kii, and the other shipgirls nodded. "You got a point there, and me? I don't really mind it myself. Kommandant could've done much worse," said the Iron Blood ravenette before turning to Anchorage. "I think it's exactly what we needed, but did you show Kommandant Liam yet?"
Anchorage shook her head. "...Wanted to surprise Teach later, when he wasn't busy."
"Alright, let's do that. For now, I'm betting twenty credits on Frau Eugen pasting the little rabbit then!"
"...'Credits'?" Black Prince asked, finally joining in on the conversation after her interest overpowered her general shyness.
Strasser shrugged. "Ja. I figured why not keep it nice and simple?"
Nobody really had anything to say to that. After a moment, the others shrugged as well and decided to just roll with it and let whatever happen, happen.
"Well then, thirty-five credits on the rabbit!" New Jersey declared.
"Thirty on the little rabbit for me too!" Kii said, joining in.
"...Umm... fifteen on Miss Eugen then," Black Prince said, almost in a whisper.
Soon enough, the room filled up with the shouts of shipgirls making while the two betting targets in question simply kept downing mug after mug of amber colored, liquid courage. Incidentally, everyone made sure to come to an agreement that a cut of the total pot would go to whichever one of them ended up winning.
- In a large gym behind the dorms while Eugen and Laffey were busy trying to outdrink each other -
In order to collect raw non-rigging related combat data as well as to test the base physical abilities and limits of shipgirls, two of the most violent and volatile aircraft carriers currently in Liam's fleet were in the midst of a rather intense sparring match.
"AHAHAHAHAHA~!"
"...Fufufu...~! "
Sparks flew from blades classing again and again as the two vermilion and ebony clad figures danced about vying for supremacy with each missed attempt to cut the other down. It was such a close and heated display of elegantly refined violence that everyone present could only watch on in silent awe wondering which one of them would come out on top in the end. Thankfully, one of the three presently spectating was ever the consummate professional and didn't forget to do her duty even as she watched Akagi and Taihou continue their little 'waltz'. "I'm quite sure that Miss Akashi will have plenty to work with by the match's end. Still, I must say that even I didn't expect how skilled we could be in more conventional forms of combat..," quietly observed the silver haired super maid as she adjusted the tracking algorithm on the specialized cameras Akashi had given her.
As for Akagi and Taihou? Well, things were much simpler between the two. They just wanted to see who was the better aircraft carrier.
"...Wow~!" Eldridge's eyes were positively sparkling and literally crackled with excitement as she took in the sight of the pair of buxom Sakura Empire shipgirls exchanging blow after blow. The little blonde zapper jumped up and down as she witnessed Akagi deftly parry fire enhanced tessen strikes with her own katana while Taihou deftly evaded Akagi's rapid slashes by the barest of margins and smallest of movements. It was truly a sight to behold. Meanwhile Jean Bart, who was no slouch with a blade herself, was busy trying to learn whatever she could from their little 'sparring' match.
'I knew we came pre-loaded with all sorts of combat data, but to think that those skills would really come so naturally like that, or is it because those two are especially huge battle junkies? They hide it well, but the sheer amount of blood lust and killing intent those two smiling maniacs are giving off is insane. Though what's more impressive is their ability to keep it trained solely on their opponent and no one else. Hmm. I wonder if I could get them to show me how to do that...'
While Jean was preoccupied by those thoughts, Akagi and Taihou found themselves in a heated 'blade lock' while trading a few verbal jabs with one another.
"Ara? Is that all the little fox is capable of against little old me? And against my tiny little fans no less...~! Oh me, oh my~! Akagi-chan dear, aren't you glad dear Shikikan-sama isn't here to see such a pitiful display!" playfully taunted the ever smiling Taihou in her usual calm and sweet voice... that was dripping with utter condescension and arrogance.
"Fufufu~! Oh, my dear Taihou-chan... You know just exactly what to say to really piss me off, don't you...~?" Akagi replied just as cheerfully as her best frenemy before her eyes blazed with the crimson light of pure, focused violence. "But yes. I'm very, very glad that our dear Shikikan isn't here. After all, you wouldn't want him to see you looking too unpresentable now would we?"
"...What are you talki-"
Taihou's words died in her throat the instant she saw Akagi's already oppressive aura flare up as the nine tailed vixen quickly sheathed her katana and lowered her stance before pushing her back with the force of her killing intent alone to then suddenly vanish in a burst of speed only to reappear right in front of her again, drawing her blade at nearly the same time.
*SSHHIINNGG!*
'...Kuso! Too close! Far too close! Tch! So the Vixen can use speed enhanced quick draw techniques can she? Fine! If that's how you want to play then don't blame me if your fur gets more than a little singed!'
Narrowly avoiding getting horizontally bisected, Taihou barely managed to get away with only her yukata slashed a bit, exposing some of her midriff and even drawing a little blood in the process. In response, her two golden tessen began to radiate heat before being covered in crimson flames, which she didn't hesitate to swing forward in retaliation, unleashing a torrent fire aimed at the now stunned and wide-eyed katana wielding vixen.
"What!?" 'Oh that's not fair! That bitch! So help me, if she singes even a single hair on one of my gorgeous tails I will skewer her on my blade and roast her on a spit like the piece of fatty poultry that she is!'
Meanwhile, back with Eldridge and Belfast-
"...Hey, Super Maid?"
"Hmm? What is it, Miss Eldridge?"
"...Um, is this okay?"
"Is what okay?"
"...The two Big Sisters. Um, alright?"
"Oh, they're quite alright. Things might 'look' serious, that's true. But look, see how they're smiling? It might be a little hard for you to understand right now, but that's just how friends are sometimes."
"...Like, with Green Cat?"
Belfast nodded. "Exactly. Sometimes friends can't help but tease and push each other's buttons. I suppose that's just the nature of especially close friendships are sometimes, I suppose."
"...Oh," was all Eldridge said before nodding in understanding. "Yeah. Green Cat is mean sometimes... and keeps trying to take Commander's lap. My lap!"
Belfast giggled a bit seeing the normally stoic looking shipgirl ever so slightly puff out her cheeks thinking about her best frenemy, seeing quite the resemblance between them and the two Sakura Empire shipgirls currently trying to slice apart and/or roast the other. "And that's probably how those two see each other as well. Don't you think, Miss Jean Ba-"
"...Gone?"
"...Not, quite. Look."
Apparently, while the maid and the zapper were focused on their little chat, a certain Vichya Dominion Battleship's combat instincts were pushed a little too far and, before she knew it and with cutlass in hand, Jean Bart soon found herself jumping into the fray. Belfast, finally noticing what had happened, could only let out a quiet sigh.
"...Well, I'm sure Miss Akashi and Metis won't mind too much if I just bundle the footage as a set then. After all, the more and varied the data, the better." With a resigned shrug, the ever professional silver haired super maid simply decided to roll with it and go with the flow as she decided to swap out one recording device for a new one. 'Thank goodness I had the foresight to get these prepped ahead of time!'
- Outer Heaven central berthing dock: aboard the Liberty's bridge -
"Tomorrow's the big day nya. Are you three nervous?" Akashi asked while typing away from her seat at one of the consoles by the captain's seat.
"Hmm? Well, I can't speak for the other two, but I don't see any reason to be especially worried," Sheffield replied without looking up from the guns she was busy cleaning and looking over since she was the first to finish up fine tuning her assigned bridge station. "After all, everyone agreed with our proposal after putting in some feedback and making small adjustments to it, right?"
"Heh. True. Still, I was surprised that you and Shikikan could come up with a formation plan like that so quickly nya," Akashi said, remembering the meeting they had yesterday morning after his group date night with the three blonde maids. "It was solid setup and made use of all the forces we currently have, even the submarines that just woke up too."
"Speaking of which, how are those little darlings? If I recall, they're currently with our dear vermi-I mean, dear Master, yes?" asked the cool and collected maid in her usual and monotone way... as if she hadn't almost slipped up and was about to insult her Commander, eliciting a curious raised brow from the cat eared verdette.
Sirius simply chuckled seeing the slightly confused look on the petite catgirl's face. "Oh, don't mind Sheffy too much Lady Akashi. That's, just how Sheffy likes to express her love and devotion towards our honorable Master since she thinks we and the Head Maid spoil him too much. Really, she's just very shy around him is all."
"Hmph!" snorted a barely visibly blushing Sheffield in reply, causing the other buxom blonde maid to giggle at successfully flustering her normally unflappable friend and fellow royal maid.
"See?"
"...So, a cool beauty harsh type tsundere maid huh? Shikikan really hit the jackpot with you nya~! Nyahaha!"
"...Snrk!" Enterprise, who had been quietly minding her own business up til now (while still quietly listening in of course), could barely hold back her laughter after hearing her senior maid being described so accurately like that. Little did most know, outside of Liam, Eldridge and a few others, the bespectacled blonde wasn't just an avid bibliophile, but a lover of all things anime and manga related too; a closet 'otaku' as it were. Naturally, her little near outburst did not go unnoticed by the others.
"...Something funny, Enterprise?" asked a still flustered Sheffield, eyes narrowed and leveling the other petite maid with a slight glare.
"You've got it all wrong Sheffy! I was, I was just recalling something funny that I read earlier that's all!" Enterprise quickly replied, feeling like she shrunk at least two sizes from Sheffield's rather intimidating glare. Unfortunately for her, such glares meant absolutely nothing to Akashi.
"NYAHAHAHA~! Total tsundere nya!"
"...Cat, I swear if we didn't need you to help get this ship up and running I would... *grumble grumble*..."
"Oh wow...!"
"Sirius?" Enterprise asked, secretly very relieved that Sheffield had redirected both her attention and anger onto the fearless green haired catgirl instead of her.
"It's just, and I know that we haven't been 'awake' for too long, but I think... this is the first time we've seen Sheffy so frazzled! It's, dare I say, a rather oddly cute sight to behold...!"
"...I hate all of you..."
"NYAHAHAHA~!✩"
"...Anyway! What do you all think we'll find out there?" Sheffield asked, seriously hoping she could steer the conversation away from her and back on topic.
"Well, we know that the islands in question are inhabited and that the Sirens are out there in force and large numbers for whatever reason but not much else, so it it's anyone's guess really nya," Akashi replied honestly, now donning a more serious expression. "Well, the fact that they're so close is reason enough for us to go out there and have a look regardless. All we can really do is pray the Sirens don't have any nasty surprises waiting for us."
"...And if they do?" Sirius asked.
"We do our best and hope we make it out in one piece nya," Akashi said without any of her usual teasing.
...
For a moment, no one said a thing as the three maids silently processed the full weight of what their tech savvy, green haired fleet sister said until Enterprise finally spoke up.
"I think that everything will work out. After all, we have a plan, each other, and our Master. No sense in worrying too much about the 'what-ifs', right?"
"...Very true," Sheffield said, secretly very happy that Enterprise understood her point and faith she had in her fleet and commander (...even if he was an inexperienced game loving pervert). Akashi smiled before closing her laptop and getting up off her seat.
"Well, either way we'll find out tomorrow nya. For now though, let's go and pester Shikikan for a bit nya. Besides, I'm getting hungry."
"Oh, speaking of which! It's actually almost time for dinner too!" Sirius said, looking at the time displayed on her tablet.
"That reminds me..."
"Sheffy?"
"...I wonder who won that drinking match between Lady Eugen and the rabbit?"
"I'd put my money down on Laffey myself nya!" Akashi declared.
"...Lady Eugen," said Enterprise and Sheffield at the same time, totally certain that the silver haired Iron Blood shipgirl would win in the end.
...
"...I um, would put my money on them both passing out in the end..," Sirius admitted, scratching her cheek and looking a little bit embarrassed.
"...Wait, that's a thing you can do nya!?" Akashi asked, genuinely surprised that was even an option, to which Sirius just nodded.
"...If you've ever seen those two go drinking before, then yeah. Totally legitimate choice every time."
"Well, we'll know when we see them, so let's hurry up already," Sheffield said before speeding up, secretly hoping that she could take a picture and maybe hold it over their heads, or at least Eugen's.
xxx xxx xxx
A/N:
And that wraps up the story's first intermission!
The goal here was to introduce some of the more non-Azur Lane elements of this story's world while showing off some random moments just between the shipgirls while Liam isn't around.
Ah, just to reiterate, Liam will NOT be piloting a mecha, as cool as that would be. Remember, he was just a former office grunt nobody before finding the island and meeting the shipgirls. I will confirm however, that since magic does exist in this world, Liam (and most people really) can use magic to some degree or another, but nothing too big or even remotely close to the level of a real mage or anything like that. It's more on the level of having stable ESP and psychokinesis, basic strengthening, low key stuff like that. Fireballs and barriers require WAY more prep time and ceremony. Don't expect to see a lot of it for awhile.
Anyway, next chapter will see the satart of Liam and the girls' first real operation and encounter with the Sirens.
Hope you all enjoyed it and see you next update! Hopefully, I can get it out before the month is out since I've already started writing it.