alex 34 anders: Glad you like this Duke of York! I had a lot of fun writing her bits.
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Chapter 11
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September 7th, 2023: Mid-afternoon - On a still as of yet unnamed island currently under Siren occupation
Ever since one retired college professor from the Eagle Union named Forest Mason was elected(read: all but forced) to take charge of this island settlement made up of refugees and displaced former Azur Lane soldiers as their mayor, it's been nothing but one headache after another for the better part of two and a half years now. First his home falls to some unknown invaders from who knows where, then the Azur Lane Alliance is defeated, followed by countless numbers of people fleeing from all over the place only to get themselves chased by those very same mysterious invaders only to somehow end up stranded on an unknown island located out in the middle of the Pacific... Honestly, if it weren't for being kept so busy all the time since, Forest probably would've drunk himself stupid wishing this were all just some horrible nightmare that he'd wake up from any second now.
"...sigh..."
Sadly, this was reality... and reality seldom, if ever, gave even half a shit about anyone or their problems.
'...Goddammit...! Why me? Why the hell did I have to be the one stuck dealing with this shit?'
Mentally cursing his fate one last time, Forest pushed those thoughts away and quickly got himself back into 'mayor mode'. Still, he couldn't help but let out one last resigned sigh as he braced himself for whatever trouble was bound to come off that strange flying ship.
- Meanwhile, with the crowd gathered around the settlement's only port -
"...Whoa! A real flying ship!? Seriously!?" exclaimed a wide eyed little boy.
"You think it's some new Siren ship or something?" a young woman asked with quiet worry, her expression pensive.
"...Dunno, but I sure hope not," replied the man standing to her right. "But either way, my gut tells me that it's not..."
"What makes you say that?" asked another man standing behind him.
"Like, I don't know... just that coming up to us outta nowhere like this is just weird. I mean, other than watching us and making sure we don't go too far from our usual fishing and trading routes... the Sirens usually leave us alone, right? Well I mean, except for when they first arrived that is..."
The other man and the young woman (and everyone else) listening in reluctantly nodded while recalling what happened that fateful day.
"But still, is it really okay for us to just... I dunno, gather around and gawk at it like this? What if we're wrong and it is some new Siren trap?" asked the second man, getting a few others to nod in cautious agreement.
The first young man just shrugged. ""Yeah well, it this thing really does turn out to be some new Siren death machine in disguise or something then it's not like hiding would do us any good anyway, right?"
"Hey look! I think somebody's coming out!" someone cried, shakily pointing to the slowly opening ship door.
For a moment, time seemed to stand still as everyone present held their breaths and silently waited for whoever or whatever it was to finally come out and show themselves.
...
And then, half a heartbeat later, the first domino fell.
"...Whoa!"
"...No way!"
"The fuck!?"
"...Girls...? Are, are they Sirens though, or...?"
"..Dunno, but holy fuck are they hot! Like, drop dead gorgeous even!"
It didn't take long after those first few comments for things to quickly escalate as everyone tried to figure out just who their new 'guests' really were and what they might want in coming here.
- With the now disembarking shipgirls -
"...That's, a lot of humans...," New Jersey observed as she took in the size of the crowd gathered in front of her and her fleet sisters. "Wow, and they're all just staring at us too, haha!"
"I mean we did just kind of show up out of nowhere in a flying ship, so there's that," Saratoga said. "Oh, and we're all really hot too, so it's not rally a surprise they can't take their eyes off of us!"
"...Really?" muttered a slightly exasperated Peter Strasser at Saratoga's antics.
"Yup! Really~!" replied the petite pinkette with a smile and a wink.
"...You two do realize that we're supposed on a 'goodwill mission', right?"
"Well yeah, but that's only because nobody else wanted to come out while the Commander is just being slow! Besides, aren't you excited about seeing so many humans? I mean, aside from the Commander, it's the first time we've ever seen any, let alone so many of 'em all at once like this!"
"Ja, but that's why it's so important we don't screw this up by giving them the wrong idea about us," Strasser reminded. "After all, we're probably going to be here for awhile so we can get a better picture of what's going on."
"You think they'd really mistake us for Sirens though? I mean, we don't look or act anything like them, right?" New Jersey asked, a bit skeptical.
Strasser shrugged. "Who knows, but tell me Frau Jersey; what would you think after seeing strange, unknown women coming off of a flying battleship you've never seen before docked in an area already under Siren control?"
"...Okay, good point."
"But, Sister Sara's too smol and cute to be some big and scary Siren though! Like, really!"
"...And tell me Frau Saratoga; what, exactly, does being small or cute have anything to do with what those humans might think a Siren is, exactly?"
"..."
"...Well?"
"...You're no fun..," said a dejected and now slightly pouting Saratoga.
Strasser just shook her head at the little pinkette. "Let's, just get go and get this over with already..."
- Back with a very tired and stressed out Mayor Mason -
To be honest, Forest had no idea what to make of the three newcomers who'd come off of the strange flying ship currently docked at their port. Sure they seemed friendly enough, but they were still strangers... and suspicious ones at that. Fortunately, he'd quickly ruled out them being Sirens if for no other reason than that they felt more 'alive' than Sirens seemed to. At the very least, they were more inclined to talk first, which was more than enough reason to at least hear them out before jumping to any hasty conclusions. Besides, needlessly provoking them and incurring the wrath of the large, and likely very heavily armed, flying warship in front of them probably wasn't a smart idea even if they weren't Sirens. So, naturally, he decided to try and handle things diplomatically first.
"You know, it's been quite some time since we received any new guests. Especially ones as lovely as yourselves. Ah, but where are my manners? I'm the mayor of this little settlement; Forest, Forest Mason. A pleasure to meet you."
Thankfully, and regardless of whatever he might be feeling or thinking on the inside, Forest was really good at keeping his emotions under control and act with a level head no matter the situation, which was one of the reasons everyone trusted him to take care of things and was made the settlement's leader... not that he'd agree with those sentiments though.
"Wow, you're a pretty cool and smooth talkin' cucumber, aren'tcha?" New Jersey said with a laugh and a bright, toothy smile. "Anyway, yeah. Sorry about the sudden intrusion and all that but well, a lot happened, y'see."
"Oh?"
"It uh, it might be a little hard to believe, but we're actually here to investigate why the Sirens have been so active around these parts. Heck, we even had a fight with 'em not too long ago."
"...What?"
"...Way to just go and blurt it all out, dummkopf," Strasser lightly rebuked with a light tap to the bluenette's head after seeing the alarm on the mayor and gathered crowd's faces.
"Hey!"
"...Wait. Investigate the Sirens? Are you part of Azur Lane then? Some new resistance group maybe?" Forest asked after quickly recovering from his earlier shock, now much more interested in these mysterious newcomers. If nothing else he, and the crowd behind him, were relieved that these girls weren't some new kind of Siren at least.
The reaction from the three beautiful strangers, however, didn't really help though.
"...Uh, we're not, not with Azur Lane...?" Saratoga so eloquently said, scratching her head seemingly just as confused as her audience before seeking help from the only one that seemed to have any sense for dealing with these kind of situations. "...Er, Strasser? A little help here please?"
"...sigh. Ja, ja. Just, let me handle it," said the twintailed ravenette before turning her attention to the still patiently waiting Mayor. "Right, where to begin... Well, strictly speaking no, we are not formally a part of the Azur Lane Alliance military. That said, we are aligned with their goals of defeating the Sirens and protecting humanity so yes, I suppose you could say we're something of a new, recently formed resistance group," Strasser explained. "Anyway, we're here in place of our Commander to do a little meet and greet while he takes care of a few things aboard our ship. You'll get to meet him and the rest of our crew before too long. Until then, I apologize for the unintended anxiety the suddenness of our arrival might've caused."
"Damn girl! You're great at that formal speak kinda stuff, aren'tcha!" New Jersey praised, patting Strasser on the shoulder, causing said ravenette to to just roll her eyes in return.
"No, you and Saratoga are just careless and simple minded dummkopfe."
"Hey, how come you look like some sort of slutty looking sci-fi playboy bunny? What kind of 'resistance fighter' walks around dressed like that?" suddenly asked a random townswoman relieved and emboldened by the fact these girls, whoever they were, weren't Sirens but irritated and very envious that said newcomers, especially the blue haired hussy she was addressing, could so shamelessly flaunt their assets and draw the attention of so many of the more... easily distracted among them; namely the men (and a few women). Normally this wouldn't be an issue for her, but hell hath no fury like a woman who's man is ogling the big tiddied, provocatively dressed harlot from who the hell knows where. Hey, she might not be a supermodel or anything, but dammit! She had her pride too and wasn't about to get shown up like this!
"...Huh? Wait, 'slutty looking sci-fi playboy bunny'? Pfft! Ahahahaha! Oh, that's pretty funny! Yeah, I guess I do huh," New Jersey said with a huge smile and laugh, not at all picking up on the woman's true feelings. And really, why would she? After all, she and every other shipgirl only ever had eyes for their Commander and no one else. That's just how their kind is wired, which was more than fine by them. At any rate, the woman had absolutely nothing to fear... well, unless one of them was stupid enough to try and make a pass at their Liam, that is.
"...Is your friend always like that?" Forest quietly asked Strasser.
"...Unfortunately. And as for why she's dressed like that? Well, it's easy to move around in when in combat," Strasser replied. "Let's just, leave it at that, ja?"
"...What? But-"
"-I know what you want to say, but we're not your ordinary sort of girls. Here, look," sensing what the Mayor was concerned about, Strasser made the snap decision to show him and the crowd behind him just what they really were by manifesting a scaled down version of her combat rigging. After all, actions spoke much louder than words. 'Best to get this out of the way now and save ourselves any future headaches later.'
"Oi, are you sure you should do that?" New Jersey asked, a little worried that it might accidentally send the wrong message and make things worse.
"No, I think it's the right move actually," Saratoga said before bringing out her own rigging.
"Really?"
Saratoga nodded before speaking with a rare seriousness. "It's important to show them that not only are we serious about fighting the Sirens, but actually have the power to do it too. And, nothing gets the message across like seeing what we have to bring to the table, right?"
"Well then, let's show 'em just what this super sexy sci-fi playboy bunny can do then!" If nothing else, New Jersey was really good with going with the flow and leaving all the mental heavy lifting to the others.
And, soon enough, all three shipgirls were strutting their stuff for everyone to see. Needless to say, it was very effective messaging.
"...Oh my God...! You, you're shipgirls aren't you!?"
Forest hadn't ever seen them himself, but hie grew up hearing plenty of stories about the mysterious and beautiful shipgirls who showed up out of nowhere and saved humanity alongside their brave Commanders during the First Siren War. In fact, his late uncle was actually one such Commander. More importantly, he wasn't the only one who recognized what those girls were either since there were actually quite a few former Azur Lane Alliance remnants living here as well... some who were even lucky enough to have seen the newest generation of shipgirls that emerged shortly after the end of the Second Siren War.
"Holy shit they are shipgirls! Hey, hey! do you think they know the 'Unbeatable Magician'? Maybe they even serve under him!" said a former infantry grunt turned member of the island watch to the former warship mechanic next to him.
"Um, didn't one of them say they 'weren't' a part of Azur Lane though?"
"Oh, right. But then, who's their Commander then? Shipgirls have to have a Commander right? At least, that's what I heard anyway."
"Who knows. I mean, last I heard, there were only two Commanders around right now, and one of them is stationed all the way in Europa on the other side of the world while Admiral Yang is currently operating in the Sakura Empire and its surrounding territories."
Seeing their mayor's reaction and hearing a bit of the two former soldiers' conversation, the other townsfolk couldn't help but get curious and excited themselves.
"Hey, what's a shipgirl? And where did those weird floating gun things come from?" asked a random and especially inquisitive child pointing up at Saratoga and her rigging.
"I'm glad you asked little guy~!✩ For these are," cue a wink and well practiced twirl, "what me and my sisters use to fight the big bad Sirens~!✩"
"Wwwoooowwww!"
"So, you're like magical girls...but with guns?" observed the slightly older girl standing next to the little boy excitedly hopping up and down nonstop like he were on a sugar high.
"Er... I guess so?" Strasser replied. 'But, what's a magical girl?'
"Yup! You got it, hehe~!✩ You're a smart one! Sister Sara, New Jersey, Strasser, and all our other sisters are totally like magical girls with guns!"
"...Oh!"
"...ahem! Not to interrupt, but," Forest cut in, hoping to get the conversation back on track, as funny as this little tangent was. "don't we have other, slightly more important, things to talk about?"
"...Ja, ja we do," Strasser replied with a sigh. "Anyway, our Commander and a few other shipgirls will come meet up with us in a little while, so do you mind holding off on whatever questions you might have until then?"
Forest nodded. "Alright, fair enough. Should give me a little more time to really process... all this, y'know?"
"...Man, you really don't let anything get to ya, huh? I can see why you're the guy in charge around here!"
"Heheh."
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About fifteen or so minutes later: inside the mayor's house, living room-
"...So, you're the Commander, huh?" asked an older man in his sixties with short salt and pepper hair wearing a pair of half rimmed glasses over his slightly weary looking but still sharp brown eyes.
"Um, yeah? My name's Liam, Liam Archer," answered a slightly flustered young man as he held out his right hand.
"Oh, yes. You most definitely aren't a soldier, that's for sure," said the older man with a smile as he took and shook Liam's offered hand while introducing himself in return. "And I'm Forest Mason, the mayor of this place."
"Right, so I've heard, and yeah. I'm not a soldier. Actually, until the end of last month, I was just another faceless office grunt," Liam replied, lightly scratching the back of his head a bit sheepishly. "To be honest, it's been one crazy thing after another since I somehow managed to escape the Eagle Union mainland... Honestly, a part of me still can't believe how lucky I've been up til now but well, here I am."
"Haha! You really know how to roll with the punches, don't you!"
"I mean, it's either that or go crazy, right? ...Shipgirls, flying battleships, super advanced sci-fi level AI, not actually being dead yet? Yeah, it's been a trip and a half for sure. Anyway, Mayor Mason right? I'm sure Strasser and the others already mentioned it, but we came here to investigate just why the Sirens have been so active lately, as well as offer what little assistance we can while we're here. ... Um, we will need a day or two to patch up our ship from our fight with the Sirens earlier too though. Sorry about that in advance by the way. Oh, but if you're worried about your island's security, I can have some of my shipgirls patrol the area just in case. As long it's not another Elite, then I can guarantee we'll be able to keep you all safe for as long as we're here!"
"Well, seeing as you're already here and as long as you don't cause too much trouble, then I suppose I can let you stay. If nothing else, we've got the room and supplies to entertain a few guests for a little while at least..," Forest said, readily agreeing. "Besides, it's been years since we've seen some new faces, especially so many pretty ones, hahaha! Ah, speaking of which..."
"Hm? What's up?" Liam asked.
"Just how many did you bring with you? Shipgirls, I mean."
"Huh? Well, you've already met Strasser, New Jersey and Saratoga here," Liam began, gesturing to the three shipgirls to his left before doing the same with the ones to his right. "And these three are Prinz Eugen, Jean Bart, and Belfast. Oh, two others by the name of Enterprise and Alabama will be by shortly. As for the total number I brought with me? Three standard fleets of six shipgirls, three submarine support fleets of four shipgirls and... three more shipgirls as my flagship's bridge crew... so, thirty-three shipgirls total, I think?"
"Thirty-three shipgirls!?" Forest repeated, a little shocked by Liam's answer.
"At first I thought I might've went a little overboard there, but then the fight with the Sirens happened and well... let's just say I'm glad we had the numbers we did. There were a lot of Sirens after all. And that Elite? Whew! She was one tough cookie. If anything, I kinda wish I had more shipgirls with me but for better or worse, this was the best I could do on such short notice..."
"...I, I see." 'Huh, I wonder. Does that mean that this man's base of operations is nearby then, or was it just a coincidence that they were so close by...?'
"Anyway, that aside, I'm honestly surprised the Sirens haven't really bothered with this place too much. I mean, they've been pretty active with the whole 'occupation' thing in general everywhere else, right?" Liam asked, trying to get a better read on the situation, and to stop himself from rambling and stay on track.
"Yes well. About that," the mayor sighed. "While it is true that we are under Siren occupation, they haven't done much more than keep us confined to our local fishing areas and narrow trading corridors between here and a few neighboring islands. Really, so long as we 'stay in our lane' and don't do anything to provoke them, like try to mess with their patrol routes or the like, then they seem more than happy enough to leave us alone. And before you ask, let's just say we learned that lesson the hard way..."
"...I'm sorry to hear that... and um, sorry in advance for any trouble our actions might bring in the future..,"
"Hahaha! You're an odd one, huh? Nothing like what I imagined a Commander would be like, especially given the stories I heard growing up! Don't worry though, I mean that in a good way," Forest said with a hearty laugh, enjoying the feeling of genuine honesty the slightly awkward Liam gave off, even more so considering the smiles and looks of amusement on the gathered shipgirls' faces. "And it seems your lovely lady friends agree! Good impressions go a long way you know. Especially when dealing with the fairer sex."
"Thanks, I guess? Oh, right! Do you have an inn or some place we could use to stay in? I mean, I don't mind staying on board our ship if need be, but it'll be kinda cramped with so many of us and I'd really like for the girls to get some rest on real and proper beds, if at all possible."
"Hm? Oh, right. We do have one come to think of it. To be honest, we sort of built it on a whim but never really get many chances to put it to use, what with being isolated and all... Oh, right. Some traders from the other islands that come by use it so we do remember to keep it maintained," the mayor explained. "Ah, and don't worry about paying, we can just have you all do some odd jobs for us while you're here. Not a bad deal, right?"
"No, no! It's great, thanks!" 'Damn I hope this string of good luck holds up for a little while longer, but... just admitting this is good luck probably jinxed us, huh? Well, whatever. We'll deal with whatever happens when it happens...'
"So? What are you all going to do for the time being? Still plenty of daylight out and all that," the mayor asked.
It was Prinz Eugen who decided to answer.
"What else? Explore and gather intel. I suggest we wait for Frau Alabama and Frau Enterprise to arrive first before we divvy up the groups and roles though."
"Good idea," Liam agreed before turning to back to the mayor. "In the meantime, do you think you can tell us a bit more about the island, settlement layout, and important places and people to look out for so that we can get a rough idea of what we'll be working with?"
The mayor nodded. "Sure. Well then, where to start first..."
- Twenty minutes later -
"...You're late," Belfast commented, noticing Alabama and her fellow Royal Maid finally enter and sit down.
"Sorry about that y'all. See, it took a whole lot longer getting settled in and leaving on account of the little ones putting up so much of a fuss..," Alabama explained. "Heh, little Elly even threatened to shock everyone if nobody calmed down!"
"Elly?"
"Yeah, y'know... Eldridge, Elly? Get it? Anyway, cute nickname right? Well, she seemed to like it at least. Right, Enty?"
"...Hm? Oh, yes! Miss Eldridge seemed quite taken with it," Enterprise quietly replied. "She even did that odd little bit of emitting tingly sparks to show her happiness... until she also got angry after being told that she had to stay behind with the others too, that is..."
"...She didn't um, actually zap anyone did she?" Liam asked with a hint of worry in his voice, hoping his favorite little blonde zapper hadn't gone overboard with her little tantrum.
Alabama shook her head. "Nah, she managed to keep things under control... though she did grumble a bit before going off to play with Anchorage who... was probably the biggest reason she managed to keep her cool. Probably because they're so alike, y'know?"
"Ah, that's very true," Belfast said with a nod and a smile. "Minor differences aside, in every other way that matters, they are indeed very much alike, yes."
"Yeah, except one's got the body of super model while the other is like some kind of petite mascot... or maybe more like a zap happy plushy or something," Saratoga added while recalling the few times she'd seen the pair of them together.
"Right, well then; the sooner we figure things out, the faster I can find a way to keep Eldridge from getting too zap happy the next time she sees me...," Liam said a bit too hastily, clearly desperate to avoid the blonde little kuudere's wrath. '...Ugh, maybe I can bribe her with Belfast's cookies or something? Hopefully this place has some sweets I can buy...'
"Mr. Archer? Is something the matter?" Forest asked.
"...Huh? Oh, sorry 'bout that. Just uh, well... let's just say that keeping my fleet happy takes up a lot of my thoughts and time."
"Yes, I think I can relate somewhat. Being responsible for so many and having so little free time because of it, can be quite exhausting sometimes," said the mayor empathetically while patting the younger man's shoulder. "Still, you wouldn't give it up, right? Your 'fleet', I mean."
"Huh? Nah, of course not. It's just a bit much to handle sometimes is all. Oh, but they're totally worth the trouble so it's all good." Liam replied while giving Belfast and the others a warm smile.
"That's good. And with an attitude like that, I'm sure you'll do just fine."
"Hey, thanks. Anyway, how about we work on deciding who does what now, yeah?"
"Ah, about that. I think I have a great idea, if you don't mind, mein Kommandant?" Prinz Eugen offered, taking out her tablet and placing it down on the table they were sitting around and activating a sort of virtual whiteboard of sorts. "Ah, these things are oh so very useful, aren't they? Anyway, here's what I had in mind..."
- One explanation and Q&A session later -
"...Huh. Not bad. Plus, it'll give everyone a chance to explore the island and interact with the locals too," Jean Bart observed, impressed by the Iron Blood silverette's planning skills.
"Not only that, but the groups are arranged so that it's like we get to go out on group dates with the Commander too!✩ I totally approve~!✩" Saratoga said, excitedly giving her own approval.
"...I'm not gonna get a break while we're here, am I?" Liam asked no one in particular as he took a closer look at Prinz Eugen's brilliantly designed outing rotation schedule, all but resigning himself to being tossed around between groups of love crazed, experienced starved and impossibly beautiful shipgirls of all tastes and temperaments. '..Dear lord give me strength, or at least some energy drinks...'
"Ahahaha! To be young and so popular! I truly envy you, young man!" Forest said with a knowing smile.
"...I mean, I don't really mind since it'll let me talk to the locals too, but damn is this gonna wear me out by the end," Liam said as he let out a small sigh, now extremely grateful for the extra stamina New Jersey's all but mandatory early morning exercise regimens granted him. Sure he hadn't been doing it for all that long, but he's still in better shape now than ever before.
"Don'tcha worry about thing, Hon. We'll make sure you have a good time!" New Jersey confidently said while flashing that signature reassuring smile of hers. "Besides, this'll be be the best way to keep the little zapper and the others from rioting later on, y'know? Promising them dates and all that"
"Yeah, I know. And 'Hon'?"
"Yeah, 'Hon'! I thought giving you a cute pet name would be perfect when we're gonna be goin' out on dates together! Keep things nice and casual, yeah?"
"That makes sense. Wait, so does that mean you guys want a pet name too then? Because there's a lot of you and I really suck at naming things..," Liam said, slightly panicking at the thought, which caused every shipgirl present to chuckle while the elder, much more experienced in life and love Mayor Forest just shook his head at how silly Liam was being.
"I mean, you can if you want, but Sister Sara's fine with just being Sister Sara."
"Well, then Imma call you my huggin' pillow then," Alabama said in a very rare, excited tone.
"Master will always be my Master, just as I will always be your Belfast!" declared the ever reliable super maid accompanied by a very well practiced curtsy and bow.
"...As entertaining as all this is, don't you all have things to do? I still need to go over and get things ready at the inn for you and yours y'know," said a slightly annoyed (and maybe a little jealous) mayor to Liam and the shipgirls, arms folded and steadily tapping his foot as if to say, 'hurry up already, would you?'
"...Right! Sorry about that! He's right girls so... are you all ready to go? Dinner together first and all that."
"Ja." 'I wonder how I can tease that silly little fool then...'
"Of course, Master." 'I wonder if I'll find any good local recipes to try out later? Oh I do hope so!'
"Ye, yes, Master...!" 'Ooh, my wisdom cube's pounding a mile a minute! ...Um, maybe I should change into something a little more casual then...?'
Likewise, similar thoughts ran through the other shipgirls' heads as they silently followed behind.
And thus, their dat...information gathering mission soon began in earnest!
Meanwhile, all Liam could think was, 'God, I hope I don't fuck this up! Please, please, PLEASE let nothing go wrong and that the girls will have a good time!'
- Meanwhile, aboard the Liberty -
"...Hmph...!" '...Why? Eldridge, annoyed? ...Annoyed! Very annoyed!'
...
There was much sparking and zapping going around as a suddenly very irate and pouting Eldridge was making her displeasure known for anyone and everyone, save Anchorage and Laffey, who were the only ones who dared to still get close to her but, that's a story and another mess for Liam to deal with later.
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