13th September, 1941.
Bismarck wakes up and opens the reprogramming machine. She steps out and looks at Hood.
"Lady Bismarck? How do you feel now?" The Battlecruiser asks with a smile.
Bismarck shakes her head and says, "The urge to kill you is gone, but I can still hear her damn voice…"
Wales offers, "Perhaps you need to be in there for longer?"
Bismarck says, "Nein. I've done all I can do with it. The rest I'll need to work on by myself. I request that we wake up U-556 and my schwester."
"Your what?" Wales asks.
"Her sister, Wales. Lady Tirpitz." Hood clarifies. She looks at the Iron Blood, "Come with us, Lady Bismarck. We shall find them."
"Danke… but right now, I need some rest. We're about to go and meet up with the Kommandantin in the simulation to escort her back. She somehow managed to teleport herself to the Pacific." Bismarck informs them as she walks over to a bed to lay on.
Upon hearing that, Wales remembers giving Victory special permissions, then turning them off again. She suddenly runs back towards the computer she used, and Hood runs after her, "Wales, wait! What's wrong?"
With the city of Leningrad now under siege from Iron Blood, Kirov keeps her eyes trained in the direction they had retreated from. Rossiya sits in her new Secretarial office reading reports. She sees that Marshal Voroshilov is being replaced today. She puts her hand to her chin and says, "Hmm… interesting…"
Belorussiya asks, "So… who is he being replaced by?"
"Someone named "Georgy Zhukov"… Can't say I've personally heard of him. Let's just hope he does a better job, I suppose…" Rossiya answers. She stands up and enters Admiral Tribut's new office to deliver the reports.
Petropavlovsk enters and stands before the other two, "There better be a good reason I've been called here."
Soyuz ignores her attitude and says, "You've been reassigned to Leningrad to assist in beating back the Iron Blood advance. It seems that the Admiral thinks them seeing a former Iron Blood ship firing on them may cause demoralisation or some kind of psychological hesitation to attack you."
Petropavlovsk retorts, "Ja, because I couldn't possibly hesitate myself to shoot at my former people… did any of you even think of that?"
Belorussiya smirks, "Last time we checked, you couldn't wait to start killing Iron Bloods. Plus, they're working with the Sirens, remember?"
Petropavlovsk glares at her, "Don't use my own words against me. I'll set off now." She turns and leaves.
Belorussiya and Soyuz both slowly shake their heads. The latter says, "It's a suicide mission, you know."
The former nods sadly, "I know… but it's not up to us. If she'd refused, she'd have been shot right here…"
Victory could never figure out how she opened the portal. Defeated, she sits in Nelson's Captain's chair on the Royal Battleship's bridge. They're being escorted by Maryland, West Virgina and Enterprise as the Main fleet and Downes, Cassin and Laffey as the Vanguard. While Nelson herself focuses on steering her ship, Victory chats with the Eagle Union Admiral, who came along with the escorts to make sure they get home safe.
"So how did you manage to become Commander? You know, being a Kansen and all?" The man asks.
Victory smiles, "It came with the founding of Azur Lane itself. It has its perks, especially when you're the last surviving member of the original Azur Lane Admiralty."
"You say that, but Azur Lane was founded back in the 1800s. So you're one of those sail ships?" The Admiral pushes.
"You've already asked me this, Admiral." Victory chuckles, "You're not going senile before me, are you? I'm around 200 years older than you are."
A brief laugh is heard over her radio and is followed by the Admiral replying, "Nah, I'm just still trying to understand."
"Well, for the record, yes. I am the Kansen of the first-rate ship of the line, HMS Victory. Former flagship of Horatio Nelson, the namesake of this very Battleship." Victory proudly answers.
"So how come you're only a Commander? I'd have thought you'd be Admiral of the Fleet by now?" The Admiral guesses. "You could've even been the top boss of Azur Lane, and by extension, the leader of every Allied Navy on the planet, so why are you still just a Commander?"
Nelson looks back at her with curiosity. She's often wondered that as well.
Taking a moment to think, Victory smiles and says, "I've certainly considered accepting promotions a lot of times… but If I were to move higher, I'd have to put someone else in charge of my girls. I'm a special case, as I helped found Azur Lane, so I hold rank. My girls are unable to as my request for the higher-ups to see the Kansen as people was voted against…" her smile turns to a spiteful frown. "… so they cannot, and as a result, I can't officially make any of them a new Commander, and I don't trust any human back home to lead them properly and treat them with the respect they deserve. Even if I shoot right up to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet, I very much doubt I'll even have the time to dedicate myself to commanding the girls directly… and let's not forget that the general public doesn't know about Kansen, and can't be allowed to know as word of the Sirens may get out too…"
Nelson looks back silently. The Admiral responds, "Well, my girls say I'm not doing too bad leading them…" while shrugging. He looks at the Kansen of the ship he's currently on, Enterprise, who gives him a nod.
"Hmm… yes, they do say that, don't they? While you are a promising contender in my eyes, I very much doubt the Royal Navy would stand for you assuming command of our ships, especially with the Eagle Union not actively participating in this bloody War…" Victory scratches her cheek, knowing that it wouldn't even matter if he does command them. He probably doesn't even exist outside the simulation.
"Yeah, I know my shipgirls are itching for a fight with the Crimson Axis, but we can't just start throwing shells at 'em without provocation…" the Admiral grunts.
"I can understand that feeling. I've had it multiple times since… Trafalgar…" She goes silent after reminding herself of that event.
After a minute of silence, the Admiral asks, "…Uh, Commander?" Nelson looks back at her with barely hidden concern.
"Oh. My apologies. I'm fine." Victory says.
"You sure, Victory? You've been through a lot more than most people. You're the oldest, most experienced Kansen to exist. It won't do you much good to keep any trauma from all those years in your mind. You should talk to someone you trust about it. I'd know. Don't let anything haunt you. Vestal taught me that." The Admiral pleads.
Victory smiles again, "You're a good man, Admiral. I'll consider confiding in someone." She looks to Nelson, who blushes and stares forward again.
The Admiral adds, "Don't be embarrassed to talk to someone because you're a veteran. Everyone needs someone to talk to."
Victory looks down, smiling more. She says, "Thank you, Admiral Anderson-"
Nelson suddenly yells out, "Commander, hostiles sighted ahead!"
Victory snaps her attention to her Secretary, and suddenly gets serious. She asks, "Crimson Axis?"
"No, Ma'am. Sirens!" Nelson confirms.
Over the radio, they both hear Anderson yelling commands in the background to his own girls.
"Get ready, Nelson." Victory orders.
"I'm always ready to fight them." Nelson flexes her fingers, readying her guns.
The Elite leading the Siren Carrier Force sees the combined Royal-Eagle fleet. She stretches and cracks her neck, "Ahh… finally, I get to have some fun…"
Zero contacts her, "Purifier, the Kansen Commander is in that fleet. Do not sink her flagship. You are free to sink all other ships."
Purifier smiles, "Can I cripple her ship? Pretty please? Maybe even go to her bridge and kneecap her?"
"Whatever you wish, just leave the Kansen Commander alive and bring her to us. She cannot hide behind her base defences out there." Zero lazily confirms before disconnecting.
Purifier gets excited and readies her rigging. "Hahahaha! This is my favourite part of the job! Get ready, you lot!" She says to her fleet, which start moving into an attack formation. "Killing Kansen never gets old…" She observes the enemy fleet and sees Enterprise, "Ooh… maybe I'll make that one go META like the last timeline, hahahaha!" She dramatically theists her arm forward, making Siren fighter-bombers take off from her Carrier.
Enterprise looks over at Anderson, "Admiral! It's a Carrier Force led by an Atlantic Siren known as Purifier! She's launched fighter-bombers! Your orders?"
The Admiral looks back at her and says, "Show her what Carriers can really do, Enty." He smiles.
Enterprise blushes slightly and says, "Yes, sir!" She summons her SBD Dauntless and F4F Wildcat squadrons that begin to take off.
Victory observes the fighters and dive bombers taking off from Enterprise's deck, "I'll never not be jealous of that…"
Nelson clears her throat, refocusing her Commander's attention on her.
"Oh, right. Sorry. So…" she stands up and stands next to her Secretary. "Purifier again, hmm? You remember how we handled her?"
Nelson nods, "You don't think she's learned from last time? She may have her emotions under control now."
"Let's hope not. Get ready, she could charge at any momen-"
BOOM
Nelson yelps as her forward deck takes a hit from a plasma beam, almost taking out her front turret. "Bloody hell, lucky shot!" The Battleship yells as she leans against Victory, who steadies her. She takes aim and returns the favour. The way her turrets are positioned means she can deliver a full broadside by turning a fraction the amount of a normal ship as all her guns are in front of her bridge. She can't allow any enemies to get behind her, however.
West Virginia and Maryland open fire alongside Nelson, almost covering their whole ships behind the smoke.
Purifier sees her entire Vanguard get obliterated by the power of the Big Seven. Her smile drops quickly as she realises the raw firepower she's up against. "Aw, shit… uh… Carrier! Deploy the—"
She's cut short by witnessing the flight deck of her Carrier get blown to pieces by the bombs that were just dropped by Enterprise's Dauntless squadron as her own planes get harassed and kept away by her Wildcats. She turns back to the Combined Fleet and yells out, "Oh, you fucking bitches!"
"Does this Purifier have any idea what she's doing?" Anderson says out loud.
Victory responds over the radio, "You've not encountered Purifier before, eh? She's headstrong and reckless, but she's also unpredictable. Don't lower your guard with her, ever. She may not seem like she's competent, but she's always looking for weaknesses."
"Your advice is appreciated." The Admiral simply acknowledges. He turns to Enterprise, "Keep supporting the Battleships. I don't want her ships getting a single hit off. Target their guns and keep on downing their aircraft."
"Yes, sir!" The Carrier salutes as she readies more planes.
Anderson radios the Destroyers and Cruisers in his fleet, "Girls, you may take orders from Commander Victory, help her out if she needs you!"
After a series of acknowledgements, Victory gets on the radio, "Thank you, Admiral. Girls, Nelson needs some cover in the rear. Make sure they don't get behind her, if you please."
Purifier keeps losing ships to the superior force and she yells to herself, "Goddammit, why do I keep getting battles I can't fucking win!? Fuck it!" She jumps off her flagship and flies at the HMS Nelson.
Because that's always worked so well in the past.
"Here she comes!" Victory yells. Enterprise tries to have some of her planes break off and intercept her, but she's too fast.
"I'LL GET YA THIS TIME, YA FUCKIN' TEA DRINKING, POMPOUS BI—" Purifier yells until she takes a shell straight to the face from Nelson. She's sent flying back and tears right through the armour of one of her mass-produced ships.
"She never does learn, does she?" Victory deadpans, almost disappointingly.
"Nope." Her Secretary answers in a similar expression, both ignoring Maryland and Downes laughing their asses off on the radio.
Wales reaches the computer, the room still conveniently devoid of any Sirens. She puts that suspicion aside for now and finds Victory's file. Now that she knows it may help her, she re-enables her special permissions. "There we go… I hope this helps…"
"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT, YOU FUCKERS!" Purifier shrieks, enraged. She activates her new giant plasma cannon and begins to charge it.
Anderson radios, "What is she doing!?"
Victory yells, "She's not done that before… BREAK FORMATION NOW!"
The fleet does so, leaving Purifier with less targets at once in her field of attack. Not that it matters as she wants to sink Nelson.
Victory adds, "All ships, aim for Purifier! Fire!"
Just as she says that, Purifier unleashes a giant beam of plasma so big it completely engulfs the Royal Battleship, causing Nelson to jump in front of Victory to take any of the damage if part of the plasma flies into the bridge. The beam dies down and everyone stares at the ship.
It's completely fine.
Nelson opens her eyes after having shut them tight. "Wha…?" She looks back and sees Victory, her eyes glowing a fiery red with a determined face. "C…Commander?"
Purifer becomes enraged, "WHAT THE FUCK!?"
Victory looks at the bewildered Nelson and smiles, "Are you alright?"
Nelson can only nod as her Commander walks forwards and looks at Purifer through the still intact glass. Nelson looks out as well and sees a massive shield covering her ship, the colour matching the red of Victory's eyes.
"HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!? THAT'S A SIREN SHIELD!" Purifier yells in anger as she sees the now shielded Battleship.
Victory decides to finally pick up the radio and respond to her, "I've grown rather fond if my girls, Siren. I don't appreciate you trying to hurt them."
"GRAAAAAHHHHH! YOU BITCH!" She charges up her plasma cannon again, and has all her ships take aim at the HMS Nelson. "TAKE THIS, THEN!" She unleashes all her firepower at once, and Nelson sees Victory start physically straining to keep her safe. Nelson looks at the Eagle Union ships, seemingly still staring in awe. She takes the radio and yells, "What are you idiots doing!? Help us!"
"R…Right!" Anderson responds, "Girls! Close in on that damn Siren! Target her plasma gun!"
The rest of the Big Seven members form a pincer manoeuvre, wanting to protect their honorary sister as the escorts protect Enterprise.
Purifier grows increasingly angry, but notices the shield starting to falter. "Hehehehe… I can't wait to wipe that smug smile off your face, then carve a new one into your cheeks, you piece of—"
Her fleet starts taking massive hits and she's almost hit herself again by the Eagle ships. The Siren growls at them and sends her fleet at them to hold them back. Her Carrier has repaired itself and she has it launch more aircraft.
Wales looks through more files on the computer and Hood, who had now caught up to her, points at a file they hadn't seen before. Wales clicks on it and she sees what looks like a livestream. It's the current simulation from different spy drones. "So that's how they've been watching us…"
Hood says, "How devious… what's that one?"
Wales clicks on a video feed and sees the current battle that Purifier is in. They see the shield being generated from Nelson's ship and Wales says, "It worked…" she sees the other ships in the fleet and says, "I have an idea…" she windows the feed and puts it on the second monitor, next to the files of the Kansen. She goes back over to the first monitor opens the Eagle Union Kansen file…
Maryland, now pinned down by the rest of the Siren fleet, looks on as Nelson is about to take yet another hit. This one will be sure to penetrate the shield and damage her. She wants to help, but she sees the enemy fleet's torpedo tubes aiming at her own ship. She tries her best to turn her cannons, but then she's suddenly able to turn them faster, as fast as a Destroyer, in fact. She takes aim and fires. Her shells hit perfectly and manage to cause huge explosions in the Siren ships magazines, making Downes cheer her on over the radio. The Battleship moves her turrets with lightning speed and gets more precise hits, alongside West Virginia.
Laffey sleepily says, "Condition: green… Let's go." as she starts lighting up the sky with her AA, which is now helped out by new guns that seem to be finding targets on their own and firing bullets so fast there isn't even a break in the sound between them.
Before Enterprise can even process what is happening to her comrades, the same guns appear on her own ship and new planes appear on her deck. They don't have propellors, but they have a sleek, almost Siren design. They're coloured dark grey instead of the usual navy blue. "What the hell…?" She gives them the order to take off, but instead of using the runway, they hover straight upwards and shoot off forwards faster than anything she's ever seen. "Wow…" she can only gasp and the sheer power boost she's feeling. She takes full advantage and sends them at Purifier's fleet.
"Have fun, you lot…" Wales chuckles.
Hood, with wide eyes, looks at her and asks, "What did you do?"
Wales smiles proudly, "I simply altered the coding to make the Battleships aim faster and added an aimbot for them, and as for the others, I gave them some gifts; Phalanx CIWS and F-35 Lightning fighter jets."
Hood stares at her and asks, "….Wales, what are you talking about?"
Wales suddenly gets a blank look and starts questioning herself, "I… I don't know…" she stares at her hands. "What the bloody hell am I talking about…?"
Hood holds them and says, "Wales, think hard. How did you know about those weapons?"
She tries her best, but she seems to hit some sort of mental block. "I… can't remember… there's something… preventing me from activity remembering…"
They hear a loud boom on the video, and they both look at it. Purifier's plasma gun just got blown up.
Everyone suddenly hears a new voice on the radio that shouts out, "WAHRHEIT!"
Purifier is just about to fire her plasma cannon again while shielding it from all frontal assaults, but hears an explosion behind her, turns around and sees a hail of shells raining down upon her. "WHAT THE F-"
She gets launched off her cannon as it gets blown up by a HE shell from a Battleship that came from behind her fleet, catching her completely off-guard as she was focused on the new planes Enterprise was using to obliterate her forces. She had focused the shields against everyone, that she completely neglected her rear flank.
As the Siren falls into the water, Anderson lets out a massive sigh of relief. He picks up the radio and hails their saviours, "Unidentified fleet, this is Eagle Union Admiral Anderson. while I'm mighty thankful to you for that, I must insist you identify yourselves."
The voice on the other end responds, "This is Battleship Bismarck of the Azur Lane-Allied Iron Blood Kansen. We are here to offer support to the Kommandantin and any other Allied forces, Herr Admiral."
Exchanging surprised looks with Enterprise, Anderson replies, "Well, it's a big surprise to be working with former Crimson Axis girls, but it seems today has been full of surprises."
"Ja. I see the new planes. They look impressive." Bismarck says as she observes the new loud planes breaking the sound barrier. She turns her attention to her comrades, "Deutschland, Spee! Go make sure that Siren is down!"
"Jawohl, Lord Bismarck!" Spee yells out as she and her sister go and secure Purifier.
Wales, tearing her attention away from the video, asks. "Well, then. Who should we wake up next?"
Hood says, "While I would like to get all Royal Navy ships woken up, I must admit the Eagle Union and Sakura Empire have quite powerful shipgirls."
Wales looks at her like she'd fine insane, "You want to wake up the Sakurans!?"
Hood replies, "Well, Lady Bismarck herself has joined us, who's to say the Sakurans won't? The Sirens are a far bigger threat to them than we are. Plus, a common enemy is a good reason to unite. We don't know what's happened to Azur Lane in this world, that is, if it existed in the first place, but I'm sure we could rebuild it here and take down the Sirens for good. It may take some convincing, but I feel if we wake up Lady Nagato first, she can help us with the others, just like how Lady Bismarck did."
Wales thinks about it and says, "I don't like it, but alright. Let's just get everyone we know for sure will help us first, yes?"
Hood smiles and says, "Of course. One thing at a time."
Spee finds the unconscious Purifer and is about to grab her. Suddenly, a portal opens up underneath the Siren and pulls both of them in.
"SPEE!" Deutschland moves to grab her sister, but is too late. The portal closes and Spee is gone along with Purifer. "NEIN! SPEE!" She starts hitting the water where the portal was, "GIVE HER BACK!"
Bismarck radios her, "Deutschland ! What happened?"
"THEY TOOK HER! THEY TOOK SPEE!"