Commander Blaze, a front line commander story

by Dasmara

Meet William Blaze, a veteran who royally screwed his last mission and was thrown into prison. But when The Sirens invaded, Azur Lane High Command need him once more and so he is reinstated. His new job? Command the beautiful ship girls and give The Sirens big F you in the face. Join them as William balanced his daily life between dealing with the girl's antics and killing Sirens.

18. Homebase situation

"Kommandant? Wake up, we're almost home." Prinz said to William.

William slowly opened his eye, he stopped leaning on his seat and rubbed his right eye. Prinz sat beside him, and she shook him awake when she was notified by the soldiers that they'll be arriving soon, she then checked on William's head injury and his left leg. William looked outside the window and noted that it's blue skies as far as the eye can see with a sea of clouds underneath them, that means they're way up high in the air. He didn't feel like the trip was that long, but when he checked on his phone it was clear that he'd been asleep for seven hours straight. William checked on Prinz and noted that she doesn't have black eye bags…Good, that means she's been asleep before.

"Already?" William simply asked Prinz.

"Well, we've been flying for quite some time. This plane is quite fast." Prinz said to William.

"Oh, for sure schwester, the pilot went at max speed on this course. We received new orders to deploy, so we would have to drop you guys off quickly with parachutes." The soldier that approached them said out loud.

"Parachutes eh? I always wanted to try those, even though I could float around freely." Prinz said out loud.

"There's this thrill about it, schwester, you really should try it." The soldier said to Prinz as he handed her the parachute bag.

"I think so." Prinz took the bag while she smiled a bit.

"Can you stand yet, sir?" The soldier asked William.

"Please give me an injection first." William said to the soldier.

"Alright then." The soldier said to William.

His left leg felt painful, the painkiller must've worn off. William noted that Takeshi sat in front of him while he stared at his phone. He's suspicious of what Takeshi's doing because if that guy called the Sirens then there's a great chance they'll get shot down by their jets. But, if he really intends to do that then he won't wait this long, so William cleared his mistrust…for now. The soldier took out a first aid kit from his rear pouch and took a small morphine syringe, William rolled his jacket sleeve, and the soldier injected him in his left wrist.

"That should be enough to numb the pain…Might not need to tell you this, but you better get that leg of yours operated immediately when you land." The soldier said to William.

"Yeah, I planned on doing so…Oi, Takeshi, we're going." William said to the soldier then to Takeshi.

"Now? But we haven't landed yet?" Takeshi asked William with cocked eyebrows.

"The plane's not going to land, we are. Ever heard of skydiving?" William asked Takeshi.

"Yeah! But did you forget that I'm scared of heights!?" Takeshi said to William while he narrowed his eyes.

"Well too bad! Get up!" William said to Takeshi in a commanding tone.

Takeshi was reluctant to get up from his seat, but there's something about William's commanding tone and face that made him stand up without thinking, being in command for so long would do that whenever you tell someone to do something...Takeshi stood up and a soldier immediately manhandled him before he put on the parachute on Takeshi, strapped the harness, and made sure it fit before he deemed it safe. The soldier set something on the strap, a round piece of equipment with some kind of measurement meter on it before he put on goggles for Takeshi.

"Alright then, listen carefully to me! Since you're an amateur we installed a special gadget in this one to automatically open your parachute at sufficient height. Since you'll be doing HALO jump, it'll open around six hundred meters off the ground! When you're in the air make sure your body faces the ground or otherwise the parachute could get tangled with your body and if that happens, you're dead! Keep that in mind!" The soldier explained to Takeshi.

"W-What? Can you repeat that?" Takeshi asked the soldier.

"We're nearing the drop zone! Open it up!" The soldier shouted out loud.

One soldier that stood beside the control panel slammed his hand on a large button near the rear hatch, the hatch slowly lowered itself, and the air was sucked out as everyone grabbed on to something in order to steady themselves. William looked at the scenery outside the plane and he grinned widely, when was the last time he performed an aerial drop? Been a long time since he did one and he honestly missed the thrill of diving down while being under heavy AA fire and then immediately went guns blazing just after he landed…Prinz looked outside and she smiled a bit, then she stared at William who for some reason grinned excitedly.

"You look awfully pumped up for some reason, kommandant." Prinz said to William while she smiled.

"Well, it's quite nostalgic and the thrill of diving down is always a good thing." William said to Prinz while he grinned.

"Are you a daredevil by any chance?" Prinz asked William.

"On occasions." William said to Prinz while he shrugged.

"Thirty seconds!" The soldier shouted out loud.

"Come here!" William said to Takeshi as he grabbed him by the arm.

"Dude, seriously, I can't even handle heights from a ten-story apartment building let alone ten kilometers off the ground!" Takeshi said to William while he frowned, his face blue due to nervousness.

"Listen chap, there are times when we have to face our fears straight on without backing down! Everyone has one, and eventually they will have to face them during the course of their lives! Now man up! He who dares wins! Those who cower in fear will gain nothing!" William tried to give Takeshi some encouragement before he slapped his shoulder.

"Green light is on! I repeat the green light is on!" One soldier shouted toward them.

"Thanks for the ride, soldier! Give my regards to Tiger Actual after this!" William shook hands with the soldier.

"Will do, sir! Good luck!" The soldier said to William while he smiled.

"Alright…I can do this, I can do this, I can do-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Takeshi said to himself before he screamed because William pushed him out of the plane.

"See you on the ground~" Prinz said to William then winked before she put on her goggles and jumped off the plane.

William snorted in amusement before he put on his goggles, get a running start, and jumped out of the plane, the C17 closed its rear hatch as soon as William jumped off…William grinned as he feels the wind blow on his face, he saw two figures below him where one was calmly free falling while the other frantically moved their limbs around in panic. William huffed in exasperation before he accelerated and approached Takeshi who's still flailing around, William grabbed him and steadied the man. Takeshi looked to the side and saw William who only gave him a thumbs up after putting him in the correct posture before he separated himself, William looked upwards to see Prinz looking at him before she gave him the 'okay' sign with her left hand.

He took that as a sign that everything was going well, he returned to his free falling posture and saw that they're about to head into the sea of clouds. It took a while and it's cold as heck, but they eventually passed through the clouds and saw the island where their base is located, and they're right on the path. William smiled at the thought that he's back home now…Home eh? Guess this base and the girls have become a home to him. William looked behind and saw that Prinz and Takeshi deployed their parachutes before William did the same instantaneously, the chute slowed him down considerably, and he successfully glided down. But the winds were strong, and that's why William went off course toward the administration building instead of the courtyard. He realized that it's inevitable that he will crash toward his office…This will hurt.

BRAK!

"""""Kyaa!""""" Few females behind the window jolted in shock.

William was glad that the window didn't break, and his body is fortunately numb from the supposed pain of the impact because of the previous morphine shot, he stared inside and noted the occupants of his office…There's Hood who sat in his office chair with a cup of spilled tea on his office table while she looked at him in surprise, Wales sat in front of Hood and she almost choked on the crackers she snacked on, even Belfast recoiled from the sound of him crashing on to the window with widened eyes, Enterprise jumped from the sofa while she drawn out her bow as she was ready to deal with whatever was making that noise, and Shoukaku sat upright in shock on the sofa when she heard the noise…

"Hey there ladies…" William said out loud while he cringed in pain.

"Lord William?!" Hood said out loud.

"W-Whoaaa!" William suddenly said out loud.

The wind returned in full force, and William was hoisted from his position because his parachute was redeployed by the wind, it carried him as it flew towards the sea. William briefly looked down to see that Takeshi and Prinz successfully landed in the courtyard while he was hoisted around, he also saw that the ship girls stopped whatever they were doing when they noticed him in the air. William looked around and realized he's out of the base area and into the sea, with those wounds he sustained right now? Man, it's going to hurt like a complete motherfucker-

SPLASH!

.

"Dear god! What is it with you!? Leaving like that then returning without notification whatsoever, dropped down in a parachute, head's bandaged, and your left leg in need of immediate surgery?! What did I tell you about being reckless?! A master needs to listen to other people's opinions too even if they're a master of their own arts, and you're no exception! Do you need to learn all of that the hard way!?" Hood said to William in a calm tone but with a steely edge on it at the same time.

"Hood, please! I'm trying to work here!" Vestal said to Hood while she frowned.

"…Pardon me." Hood said to Vestal while she closed her eyes then sighed.

Hood was about to fire off one of the longest rants she ever said in her life if she wasn't interrupted by Vestal, the target? William Blaze, himself, who had to sit on the infirmary bed as Vestal checked up the wound on his left leg while Belfast helped with cleaning and nursing his head wound, Prinz and Wales watched with amusement as William could only stay silent while he averted his gaze away from Hood with nervousness plastered on his face.

"…He's the only one who can rile her up like that so far, not even Denmark Strait got her this angry before." Prinz noted as she said to Wales.

"Agreed. Doesn't that mean she just cares about him so much that she's afraid to lose him?" Wales asked out loud.

"In a sense. You too, right?" Prinz asked Wales while she smiled smugly.

"Of course I am, we all do. I'm just not that well versed with words to scold him while still sounding pretty calm." Wales said to Prinz while she smiled bitterly.

"Ouch!" William winced when the alcohol doused cotton touched his head wound.

"Stay still master, I can't clean your head wound if you move around too much." Belfast reminded William as she continued her work.

"Yeah…Hood, I sincerely apologize for the last time we argued, I really do…You have a point." William said to Hood as he stared directly into her eyes.

"…If you understand then good, I hope this will be the last time I have to lecture you about this." Hood said to William while she folded her arms, wait, she forgave him that easily?

"I…would like to discuss that sometime, would that be alright?" William asked Hood while he smiled a bit.

"…Fine, we can talk about it later." Hood said to William.

"Great…Vestal, how bad is it?" William asked Vestal.

"You want me to be honest?" Vestal asked William back.

"…Please." Williams said to Vestal.

"You're in luck. That splash of plasma didn't reach your bone, but it's certainly deep enough not to be considered a light wound, you can still move your left leg, so that's a good sign that the nerve wasn't damaged. However, this would prompt you to be unable to walk properly for weeks or even months." Vestal said to William.

Thank god! It was great news that his left leg isn't permanently damaged because that would spell certain doom if that's really the case! But still, getting a splash of plasma caused a wound this bad? What would happen if he got hit by a plasma bolt directly? Well, William saw several cases back when he rescued Eldridge. One got his head blown off by the plasma projectile, one other got his torso opened and the plasma charred his internal organs, and a few others got second degree burns from a near miss…If science fiction taught him anything regarding plasma weaponry, it's slower than a bullet but the overall damage is even more deadly. Blast plates would be the only thing viable to protect from plasma properly, but could they convert it into armor pieces that easily?

"…That fast? Doesn't this kind of wound take at least half a year?" William asked Vestal with cocked eyebrows.

"That's because we have Regel, commander. Regenerative Gel Therapy would be the only solution to mend your wound and to 'grow' your flesh back, for that I would have to cut up this cauterized part of your flesh." Vestal said to William before she suddenly pulled out a scalpel.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! Anesthetic, Vestal! Please!" William panicked as he stopped Vestal's hand.

"I thought you're quite gung ho that you don't need any painkillers after recklessly engaging a Siren in close quarter combat?" Vestal asked William with an emotionless tone.

…This would be the first time William ever saw Vestal stare at him with half opened eyes hidden in a shadow that engulfed half of her upper face, a deep frown on her face, and veins surfaced on her forehead…Now that he thinks about it, Hood also hasn't changed her expression, Belfast remained composed, but her grip to his head was no indication that she's being calm and professional, and there's Wales who stood with Prinz with a blank face…Are they pissed at him?

"…Vestal, are you angry?" William asked Vestal in a meek tone.

"No shite she is, commander! We all are! You went off without properly telling us about that mission! Everyone's been worried about you and Prinz!" Wales suddenly said to William while she frowned.

"Wait, I'm in the line of fire too?" Prinz said to Wales while she pointed at herself.

"You went off with Commander William without telling us properly, Hipper is worried about you and won't stop asking how you're doing!" Wales said to Prinz with hands on her hips.

"Heeeh, that's quite unlike her…I think I'll go see her now, kommandant is in good hands anyway." Prinz said after she smiled then took off from the room.

The infirmary possesses four wings with patient rooms in it, right now they're in the front left wing and Hipper alongside the others that were affected by the gas were in the rear right wing. William closed his right eye because it's obvious Prinz was copping out of the situation with her sister as the excuse, but it would seem the girls didn't mind that reason…Vestal rummaged through the medical bag she carried and produced a syringe, she quickly and without warning injected William who winced and stared at Vestal with a widened eye and teeth gritted.

"Alright, this should numb the nerves in your left leg." Vestal said to William as she put away the syringe.

"…I think I'll get an OD with how many painkillers I've consumed in the past twelve hours." William said out loud with an uncomfortable tone.

"Addiction is more like it. Now, prepare yourself…Ladies, I suggest you leave the room. This will get messy." Vestal said out loud but the girls didn't move an inch…

"…Oh come on, it's not that interesting. It'll probably involve cutting up flesh and lots of blood." William said out loud with a half closed eye.

"He's exactly right…Now, let's begin" Vestal said as she put some cover under William's left leg.

Frankly speaking Hood, Belfast, and Wales really wanted to see the surgical procedure, Vestal shrugged and let them be as long as they didn't interrupt her concentration. William watched as Vestal used her scalpel to cut up the charred part of his left lower leg, she worked quickly and methodically in cutting his flesh. William noted that Vestal has great knife work, of course as a 'doctor' she has to be proficient with blades before she could be cleared for performing surgeries…William didn't feel a thing but when he saw his blood spilled onto the cover Vestal put under his left leg, even he felt a bit uncomfortable, but he had to stay calm because any movement might mess up Vestal's work…

"…And we're done!" After a while, Vestal successfully completed her procedure.

"I would probably need a crutch for this eh?" William commented as he looked at his heavily bandaged left leg.

"For short distances that's fine. You'll mostly use the wheelchair." Vestal said to William.

"Eh? But I can still walk by myself?" William asked Vestal.

"Nope, you're not going to strain yourself further until that leg of yours heals properly." Vestal said to William with hands on her hips.

"But-" William said to Vestal.

"Doctor's. Orders." Vestal said to William with emotionless tone and face.

"…Alright." William relented, something about her today clearly scream 'Don't fuck with me'.

"Glad you could cooperate. I'll go get the wheelchair." Vestal finally smiled as she exited the room.

…William, Belfast, Hood, and Wales looked at Vestal until she exited the room because holy shit it's the first time they've seen her being domineering like that, no wonder sometimes Enterprise is scared of her. William rested himself on the bed as he looked at his left leg, man no combat activity or training for a while huh? He felt really bad, but it would seem the girls felt happy for some reason? No, he knew why because he's being reckless, and as a commander, going directly to the front is something that no sane military strategist would advise…But, it's the quickest way to earn approval…But the girls approved him already, so why keep doing it? William smiled bitterly, it seems he just can't let it go…He still has the drive to fight directly in the front, to directly make a difference and turn the situation into a victory…

"...How's Takeshi?" William then asked out loud.

"Under Lady Mikasa's and Shoukaku's supervision, I think it would be less jarring for him to speak with his fellow people from Sakura Empire." Hood said to William, she does have a point.

"Keep an eye on him, he tried to defect to the Sirens before, and I don't want that to happen here." William said to Hood.

"Enterprise is handling that at the moment, she's currently preparing a room for him." Hood said to William.

"Great…How about his phone?" William asked Hood again.

"Under surveillance too as Prinz has suggested before, Ms. Akashi is fiddling with it as we speak." Hood said to William.

"I say everything is in order for today then." William said out loud while he smiled.

"Not quite milord, you will need to wash up first." Hood said to William, she finally smiled for a bit.

"Yes master, forgive my words but you smelt like blood, gunpowder, mud combined in one, and it's horrendous." Belfast said to William while she also smiled a bit.

William cocked his eyebrows before he smelled at himself and he recoiled in disgust, he did smell horrible. Belfast received a wheelchair from Vestal who then took Wales somewhere else, both bid a farewell to William, Hood, and Belfast. William raised himself then sat on the wheel chair and must admit that this would be the first time he ever rode on a wheelchair, he felt somewhat hopeless. They exited the infirmary, and Belfast guided him toward his room…How did they get past the stairs you ask? Did you know that the building has a lift? No? Well, it's rarely used since the girls prefer to use the stairs unless they carry a lot of things (except for Long Island, she's just lazy). They reached William's room, Hood opened the door and Belfast brought William inside.

"Right. Let's get him clean, Bel." Hood said to Belfast as she started to take her gloves off.

"Although I can do this by myself, your help is appreciated, someone would need to hold him down." Belfast said to Hood while she smiled.

"…Huh?!" William took a second to process her words before he said out loud.

"Master, please remain calm." Belfast said to William while she smiled.

"How could I when you say something that is easily misleading?!" William asked Belfast with an uncomfortable expression on his face.

"I assure you I have no intention to harm you, I could never do that." Belfast said to William while she sneered.

"Don't say those words with that kind smile, will you?!" William said to Belfast as he was tempted to bail out from his own room.

"Ufufufufufufu, master's troubled face is quite amusing. Do forgive this maid for her little mischief." Belfast giggled merrily before she said to William while she smiled.

.

…Enterprise wiped the sweat from her brows after she finished setting up a room that will be used by Dr. Takeshi in the administration building. It has the basic necessities laid down and some stuff that the doctor might need such as hygiene products, spare towels alongside few spare changes of clothes. It's a bit basic, but Enterprise guessed it would be enough for now…She made sure everything was in order before she exited the room. Enterprise headed for the infirmary, that doctor is someone she wanted to see immediately. Hood has given her instruction to prepare Takeshi's room with a few 'modifications' for security reasons, figuring it better to be safe than sorry. Enterprise entered one of the nursing rooms filled with ship girls who were still stuck in bed, she approached Mikasa who was overseeing Takeshi work with Kisaragi.

"Ms. Mikasa." Enterprise greeted her.

"Ara, Enterprise-san." Mikasa said to Enterprise as she put away the paper clipboard she's been carrying.

"How is it going?" Enterprise asked Mikasa.

"Right now, he's taking blood samples, he said that the one who's influenced by the gas the most is Kisaragi-chan. He'll be working alongside the medics to create an antidote, few men in their base were also affected and they need it quickly." Mikasa explained to Enterprise.

"I see." Enterprise said to Mikasa while she nodded her head.

"Hakase? Kore, tsukatte kudasai." Shoukaku approached Takeshi, who worked in front of Mikasa and Enterprise, and she handed him a face mask.

"Eh? Ah sumanai na, boku wa ima chotto ishogasinda." Takeshi said to Shoukaku as he put on the face mask.

"Chotto dake? Hontou?" Shoukaku asked Takeshi.

"Ee, kono Marry wa boku no tsukuri mono nda. Kore wa boku no sei…Sekiningste, boku ga yaru." Takeshi said to Shoukaku as he resumed his work.

"…Wakatta. Onegaishimasu, hakase. Nanika areba, yonde kudasai ne?" Shoukaku said to Takeshi while she smiled a bit.

"Hai, arigatou Shoukaku-san." Takeshi said to Shoukaku without looking at her.

Shoukaku stared at Mikasa and Enterprise for a bit, she smiled, and proceeded to help the others. Mikasa watched as Takeshi carefully drew a blood sample with a special syringe from Kisaragi who still hadn't woken up, he then removed the vial that was connected to the needles, and carefully put it inside an ice box with a few other vials that he already took from the other girls. He closed the ice box and did a few other checkups on Kisaragi, Takeshi then looked at Mikasa and he was a bit surprised to see that Enterprise was there. He shook his head sideways however and Mikasa took that as a sign that there's no improvement in Kisaragi's condition, she grabbed her paper clipboard and wrote a few things on the paper on it while she frowned.

"…He feels remorse for creating Marry huh? It's good that he wants to take responsibility for it." Enterprise said to Mikasa.

"Ho? Enterprise-san, you can understand Japanese?" Mikasa asked Enterprise with widened eyes.

"Hey, I fought your juniors for years in the Pacific. Of course I'll understand a thing or two about your language." Enterprise said to Mikasa while she smiled bitterly.

Prinz entered the room and she immediately went to see Hipper, the said person laid sickly in her bed as she tries to warm herself up with the blanket…Prinz sat on a stool beside the bed as she watched Hipper with a fond smile, something she rarely did outside few moments and those closest to her. Prinz reached out and swept the few strands of hair away from Hipper's face, the sensation prompted Hipper to open her eyes in wonder who just did that to her…Hipper took few seconds to look at Prinz, and she thought she was dreaming, that until she widened her eyes in realization that it is the real Prinz who smiled at her.

"Guten tag schwester." Prinz said to Hipper.

"Eugen! Where…were you going without saying anything…dummkopf?!" Hipper immediately fired off but she's too weak to sit just yet.

"Easy there, you don't want to stretch yourself with your tsundere streaks." Prinz said to Hipper while she smiled and helped her lay down.

"I can…do just fine!" Hipper said to Prinz while she frowned.

"No, you're not…as for your question I went back to the fatherland, to get that doctor here. He might be the only one who could cure you, I certainly hope so…" Prinz said to Hipper while she smiled a bit.

"…Would it kill you…to at least say something…before you go!?" Hipper said to Prinz.

"I guess not, I just didn't want to worry you further." Prinz said to Hipper while she shrugged.

"It did…the opposite, you dummkopf!" Hipper muttered while she scowled.

"Ufufufufu. You're pretty energetic today schwester…Anything you need?" Prinz giggled before she asked Hipper.

"…Food." Hipper said to Prinz in a reluctant tone.

"Aww, you're hungry. Want me to spoon feed you too~?" Prinz asked Hipper in a teasing tone.

"Just get me something…to eat, will you!?" Hipper said to Prinz while she scowled.

"…Ja, wait a bit okay?" Prinz said to Hipper while she smiled a bit.

Hipper nodded her head while Prinz rose from her seat, she turned around and was about to walk toward the exit when she noticed that there's Enterprise and Mikasa who oversaw Takeshi while he worked. The two girls saw her and she nodded as some sort of silent greeting, Prinz observed what Takeshi was doing for a bit. She then briefly looked at Kisaragi who is still unconscious, she heard from one of the medics few days ago that she's in fact lucky that she's a ship girl because with the dose she inhaled she would've died if she's a normal human…Takeshi looked behind and noted that Prinz was watching him, he nodded his head slightly.

"Any development yet?" Prinz asked Takeshi.

"I'm still working on its Ms. Prinz." Takeshi said to Prinz.

"…Doktor, I want to make one thing clear…You don't have the best track record concerning loyalties, so I'm going to keep an eye on you. This place here is my home, the place where people I care about live. If you so happen to be in league with the Sirens to attack this place, you better pray because when your usefulness is up, you're going to die…Got it?" Prinz said to Takeshi in threatening manner.

"…I understand." Takeshi stopped his work as he responded to Prinz.

"Gut…Take a shower doktor, you stink." Prinz said to Takeshi before she went toward the exit.

Takeshi cocked his eyebrows as he smelled himself while Prinz took off immediately headed for the canteen, Enterprise and Mikasa looked at each other…When they just landed Prinz immediately made it known that Takeshi tried to defect to the Sirens and should be monitored closely, the news spread fast, and it didn't take long until everyone was aware with that fact. Some like Shoukaku and Mikasa know about it, but they choose to treat him just like anyone else while some like Enterprise and Prinz took a very careful approach with him, they really didn't want the base security's to be compromised because the last thing they need right now is a Siren attack.

"We all heard about what you did, I recommend you get everything done as quickly as you can and don't venture outside unnecessarily. Most of the girls are uncomfortable with your presence here." Enterprise said to Takeshi.

"Does contacting them for safe haven need to be faced with such treatment?" Takeshi asked Enterprise while he frowned deeply.

"You called for safe haven from something these girls have been fighting for their and other lives doctor, they sacrificed much to keep Earth from falling into the Sirens' control. No one knows when the war with them is going to end, so your traitorous act back there really puts them on edge...I'm not going to act harshly on you, my order is to specifically keep an eye on you. But don't take that as a sign I'm being lenient, I'll still hit you if you cross the line." Enterprise said to Takeshi while she folded her arms.

And that summarized what the girls felt when they had to accept a traitor to their base even for a while, but they had no choice since Takeshi was the creator of the gas and might be the only one who could produce a cure for them. Enterprise really hoped that she won't have to resort toward violence with this situation, she hoped that Takeshi will cooperate with them. Mikasa herself could only sighed a bit, they had to put their hopes on someone who tried to betray humanity as a whole…He must've had his reasons, but right now she didn't care about it and only wished that he could do his job.

"Alright…" Takeshi said to Enterprise while he looked away from her.

"…You want something to eat?" Enterprise asked Takeshi.

"…Yeah." Takeshi said to Enterprise as he nodded his head.

"Sit tight, I'll get you something." Enterprise said to Takeshi.

"Hakase…" Mikasa said to Takeshi.

"Mo ii desu yo, Mikasa-san…Boku wa jijou ga wakatta." Takeshi said to Mikasa.

.

The rest of the day went uneventfully, and everyone retired to their respective rooms…The next day William woke up like usual in the morning, Belfast came to wake him up, helped him bathe, changed his bandages, delivered him his breakfast, and sorted out the documents. Today there would be a meeting between the secretaries and the faction leaders, few of them such Bismarck and Hood however, had to be absent because William had instructed them to do another task, so they wouldn't be present at the meeting. It was around eleven in the morning when everyone was present and the meeting started. William told the girls regarding what happened on Southern Ironblood as the girls listened to him intently…

"-And that's how it all happened." William finished telling the girls his story.

"I'm surprised you didn't record this one, you always carry that little camera with you during combat don't you, commander?" Warspite asked William.

"That attachment works if I use combat goggles Warspite, this time I didn't." William said to Warspite.

"You exposed yourself more to the enemy, and that is quite dangerous, shikikan-sama." Shoukaku said to William while she frowned a bit.

"A fair trade for incognito status in my opinion. Obviously, that didn't work since Crimson Cleanser already had a head start…Well, what's done is done. Now, I already reviewed our situation…I'll be blunt, we'll be tested to see whether we could survive by ourselves or not, but from what I see I think we have a very good chance of making it. We already have several ties with private companies that would certainly not mind working with us more closely and ten more companies that's interested in our fleet escort services." William said to the girls that were present in the meeting.

"Hai, what are thou orders shikikan-sama?" Nagato asked William concerning their next move.

"In a moment Ms. Nagato…Belfast, please give me a situation report first." William said to Belfast for a status report.

"Yes master…We should have more than enough fuel to stay operational within our normal capacity for three months, our coffers are nearly full, and the funding in that offshore account would add nicely to our stock, we have enough daily necessity supply for one and a half months, ammunition fully stocked, and base facilities are operational as usual…However, morale is quite low since the attack. Our priorities would be to see if Dr. Takeshi could create a cure and have the girls healed first, while we do that it would be best for us not to split our strength too thin…In case the Sirens try to attack our base, we would need everyone who is capable to fight on standby." Belfast explained the situation to William.

…It would seem they won't have to worry about resources and money for a while, but still, it won't hurt to procure more, their only immediate problem would be the low morale amongst the ship girls ever since the attack. William would need to fix that morale problem as soon as possible, and he might just have a way for that, unfortunately it will take some time to prepare, so he might do that after he got everything done here. William looked at the stack of papers on the coffee table and read one as he grabbed his cup filled with tea then he sipped it, he's not that knowledgeable with all of this business paper horseshit, but at least he understands what these proposal papers wanted…They want escort services, while him alongside the girls want resources…

"…Agreed. For now, in order to fulfill the request orders, have three man teams ready for each commission." William said out loud.

"That means sending thirty of us away to the front." Tirpitz, who acted as Bismarck's stand-in, said to William.

"Relatively speaking, these requests should only take two or three days, send out the ladies periodically. Have today for two commissions, then two on the next day." William further said out loud.

"That should work, master." Belfast said to William while she smiled.

"Shikikan-sama, Akashi requested quite some budget and resources for her research. Here's the details." Souryuu said to William as she handed him a paper compilation.

William cocked his eyebrows as he studied the papers, the paper was a descriptive essay and proposal regarding the Albion armor. Akashi highlighted the issues with the design and her plans to make it 'wearable', and William widened his eye a bit when she got to the power generation issue since Akashi proposed to use the wisdom cube itself… The wisdom cube is capable of realizing collective consciousness, but it's pure raw form could also be used as a source of energy? What kind of bollocks is this? William was no scientist and what he just read didn't make sense, but he trusts Akashi so he'll go along with it…

"She's making Albion…" William commented out loud.

"Is battle armor such as that really necessary?" Souryuu asked William.

"Yeah, look at what the plasma weaponry did to my leg. This should give much better protection than standard Kevlar…Approved." William said out loud and stamped the paper with an approved seal.

"If you say so shikikan-sama." Souryuu said to William and took the paper with her.

"…We already talk about all that needs to be talked about?" William asked out loud to the girls.

"I'd say we have everything handled for now, commander. All we have to do next is to execute the plan." Queen Elizabeth said to William then sipped on her tea.

"Excellent. Then, this meeting is done. You ladies are free to go, eat something, so you don't collapse, and rest if you're feeling tired." William said to the girls while he smiled.

The girls smiled and bid him good day, the meeting was done and the girls dispersed to do their other tasks or activities. William picked up his crutch and walked toward his office table, he set the crutch beside his table then sat on the office seat, and it was the moment when he noticed that Belfast hadn't left the room yet. Belfast tidied up the documents on the coffee table, she diligently sorted the papers, cleaned the leftovers of the teapot and its cups before she put the papers to his office table. William stared at Belfast with a narrowed gaze, didn't he tell the girls that they should rest?

"Belfast?" William asked her.

"Don't worry master, I will stay by your side." Belfast said to William while she smiled.

"You're not hungry?" William asked Belfast with cocked eyebrows.

"I could eat later." Belfast said to William.

"You'll get thin." William said to Belfast with a concerned tone.

"Won't that serve as a win-win scenario?" Belfast asked William with cocked eyebrows.

"No, I like your figure as it is right now. There's no need for you to thin yourself." William said honestly to Belfast.

Belfast smiled softly at that remark, she really did notice that William couldn't take his eyes off of her whenever she's in the office doing her work. So, this current figure of hers was the one that interested him, she'll take his words and decide to keep her figure as it is. William thought of something, he never ever saw Belfast eat a meal…No, for real, he never saw her eat except for the few snacks that she ate due to him urging her to take one, and that really concerned him. Is there any way for him to witness Belfast eating? This started to sound like a strange wish, but that's what he really wants to see right now…Oh, perhaps if he 'forced' her to eat?

"…Bel, come here." William said to Belfast.

"Yes master." Belfast said to William as she approached him.

"Sit on my lap." William shamelessly said to Belfast.

"Pardon?" See? Even Belfast took a second to confirm that statement because she's honestly shocked.

"Sit on my lap." William said to Belfast.

"But master, your left leg-" Belfast said to William.

"Sit on my lap, Bel." William said to Belfast.

"…As you wish, master." Belfast said to William as she finally relented and approached him.

Belfast still had no idea on why William asked such a thing to her? It's quite sudden and confusing since William had never made this kind of request before, she knew him to be a bold person, but that was mostly on the battlefield. Overwhelming curiosity, however, caused her to do what he says. She approached him and then sat on his right thigh…Yup, plump and soft ass, just like William had predicted, but sexual thoughts weren't going to distract him from what he's about to do. He already had a plan in mind, he doesn't know how she will take it, but William's going in without a doubt it will work.

"Now, what I'm about to say is so controversial that you might flip out but I request that you…turn off your maid mode." William said to Belfast.

"Turn off maid mode? But master-" Belfast said to William as she looked at him.

"Ah Ah Ah, try to call me William." William said to Belfast.

"…William." Belfast said his name out loud reluctantly.

"Good. Are you hungry?" William asked Belfast.

"I'm not at the moment." Belfast said to William.

"Really? You have a bit of break time, and you still spend it working? Noon breaks such as now should be used to fill your belly, Bel." William said to Belfast while he smiled.

"Why do you really insist that I eat something?" Belfast couldn't help but to ask him.

"I don't want you to collapse like Hood when she overworked herself." William said to Belfast while he shrugged.

"But I always take good care and schedule my actions properly." Belfast said to William.

"Nope, this being the example. You never seem to eat lunch." William said to Belfast

"I did, but never in your sight." Belfast said to William while she frowned a bit.

"…Then, eat here, so I could believe you." William said to Belfast while he smirked.

"But what shall I eat, master? I will have to head toward the cafeteria for that." Belfast said to William.

"No, I got something perfect for an occasion such as this. Something horrendous according to any maid, something you surely despise with every inch of your being. But sometimes, it will be your salvation in the darkest times" William said to Belfast.

Belfast curiously watched as William reached for the drawer, did he keep some food in the office table's drawer? Last time she checked there's none of it! William went to the bottom most drawer, he shuffled some documents and pulled out something that caused Belfast's composure to falter as she stared at the thing in his right hand with shock and confusion. In William's right hand there's a large cup of instant noodles, chicken curry flavored with double portions. This was something that William bought on purpose few weeks ago in case he had to do overtime or even felt bored enough to eat instant noodles during his spare time, the base has no shortage of food and ladies that could cook delicious dishes…But his commoner soul kept screaming for him to buy and stockpile those noodles! Something that his tongue craved once in a while!

"Behold, instant noodles!" William said to Belfast while he smiled.

"…Master…you're stockpiling instant noodles…" Belfast said to William with shocked expression on her face.

"Occasionally eating this shouldn't hurt you." William said to Belfast while he smiled.

"…Was…was my cooking unsatisfactory?" Belfast asked William while she frowned sadly.

"Huh? No, that's not the case." William cocked his eyebrows on her response, that's not how he predicted-

"Then, were the portions too small for you that you have to stockpile these noodles?" Belfast asked William as she grabbed on his wide shoulders.

"No, that's not…Hah…Bel, I just want you to relax for a bit and perhaps eat something that ordinary citizens would occasionally eat. I don't mean for this to show my disrespect at your cooking, the food you make is something I anticipate daily." William said to Belfast with a serious face, damage control time!

Shit, his plan really backfired as he seemed to make Belfast upset! She misinterpreted him stockpiling instant noodles as a sign of him not liking her cooking, but that was the opposite as he's absolutely enamored with her cooking! Belfast sighed in relief; she really jumped the gun there with her assumption when she should've known better. She always watched him eating her cooking and he never showed a single hint of distaste at it, well with the exception of several vegetables that she threatened to shove down his throat when he was being an ass, so other than that he never has problems with her cooking.

"…Is that so." Belfast said to William while she smiled.

"Yes. And, I just want you to eat something and going to the cafeteria is a long walk. Just eat this, have you tried instant noodles before?" William asked Belfast.

"No, I haven't. Instant noodles are…unhealthy in every sense possible, this stuff is really bad for your health. But I must ask, why do people keep eating it? They surely know the risk and the hazards, but they still keep consuming it…why is that, master?" Belfast did find it a curious thing…

"You will understand once you taste one, I could give you an explanation here, but without tasting the noodles it'll be…an empty explanation without meaning. Sit tight." William said to Belfast.

William used his right hand to lift Belfast from his lap, and she widened her eyes. That's because he's actually strong enough to lift her with one arm without any sort of struggle…Just how strong is he really?! William carefully put her on top of his office chair, he then walked towards the water dispenser in the corner of the room, opened the cup noodle package, took out the contents except for the noodles, filled the cup with hot water, put the seasoning inside, and sealed the cover back. He then walked toward the office table and put the cup on the table. Belfast stared at him curiously, but William just put up his index finger as a sign to 'wait'…Three minutes later William grabbed the cup noodle.

"Three minutes, all in one package, and the only thing you need is hot water…Here we go." William said to Belfast as he opened the lid.

"This is…instant noodles." Belfast commented as she smelled the aroma.

"Yes, it is. Now…I present you the forbidden fruit, eat it Bel. Finish this and you will be given the wisdom, the truth of the masses! The real explanation that will make you understand society better!" William theatrically said to Belfast as he handed her the plastic fork.

"Yes master." Belfast said to William as she took the plastic fork and grabbed her first bite…

"…Well?" William curiously asked Belfast.

"I…I understand! I see! Now everything makes sense! These…these noodles, they are unhealthy, their nutritional value is low, and they are not something you should eat…But! The taste! There's certain things in it that leaves you wanting more!" Belfast said to William with widened eyes.

"And that's the true power of what this one cup does to a person! Addiction is a mere inch away! The temptation, Bel. Once you taste the thing that we call instant cup noodle…You will never forget how it tastes." William said to Belfast while he grinned.

Belfast found herself unable to stop, she kept eating the noodles despite her mind telling her that it's not healthy. But the chicken curry noodle just tasted so damn good! She had never eaten something with a flavor like this and was laced with powerful additives that even her willpower was outmatched and then stripped, turning her into a slave controlled by the delicious poison. Not a shred of her head maid's composure remains, Belfast stared with eyes in fear at William, who smiled maliciously at her. Oh yes, he knew this would be the result. No one can resist the power of instant noodles! Even Belfast the ever perfect head maid succumbed to its might!

"M-Master…W…What have you done to me!?" Belfast asked William with a shaky tone.

"Oh, I'm simply teaching you the real truth about instant noodles. Remember, you're the one who tasted it, you're the one who seek the knowledge, and you got it, but at a price…No knowledge can be obtained without sacrifices, Bel! To understand instant noodles, first you must taste it! No matter what your status, race, religion, or even nationality, instant noodles are a bridge that will connect the entirety of humanity! This one poisonous cup has that much power!" William said to Belfast theatrically while he grinned maliciously.

"Master, I'm here to…"

The office door was opened, and Edinburgh stepped inside carrying a stack of papers and that stack, however, immediately fell then scattered on the floor. Edinburgh widened her eyes at the sight in front of her. Belfast stared at Edinburgh at the door with teary eyes on the verge of crying, a shaky fearful frown on her lips, her right hand gripped on a plastic fork with empty cup of instant noodles in front of her, beside her was William who also stared back to Edinburgh with shocked face because he honestly didn't expect anyone to enter the office…

"…D-D-Dear sister…" Belfast said to Edinburgh.

"Is that…instant noodles!? Master, what have you done to our head maid?! What have you done to my little sister?!" Edinburgh charged forward while she scowled.

"Bollocks!" William cursed out loud.

SLAP!

.

"…That was quite the learning experience." Belfast said to William with her usual composed face.

"…Yeah, getting scolded by Edinburgh was something I didn't anticipate whatsoever though…" William said to Belfast while he rubbed his left cheek.

The fury of a sister is something anyone shouldn't underestimate, never had William ever seen Edinburgh that angry before, and she even slapped her commanding officer and master because he bullied her sister (just a little). The slap even caused a giant like him to fall into the floor, that's how powerful she is despite her clumsiness. Eventually things were resolved, and William spent the rest of the noon break scribbling something on a piece of paper, Belfast watched as William worked on something while she waited patiently by his side. She knew that William would have something for her to do after this…

"…How is it? The instant cup noodles?" William suddenly asked Belfast.

"…Good, but I will keep an eye on you even more from now on, master. I will make food so great that you won't have to eat instant noodles ever again." Belfast said to William while she smiled.

"Looking forward to it…Anyway, here." William said to Belfast as he handed her the paper he's been working on.

"This?" Belfast asked out loud as she viewed the paper.

"Yes, a training plan I've thought might greatly benefit the ladies." William said to Belfast.

"…Torpedo barrage dodge, anti-aircraft training competition, dummy sea mine avoidance maneuver…It's the usual, but you make this sound like a game with this point system, master." Belfast asked William.

"It's on purpose, everything that has happened for the past few days has really put a bleak atmosphere around the base. This should distract the girls for a while, can I trust you with the execution, Belfast?" William asked Belfast while he smiled.

"As your wish master, I shall make sure to supervise this exercise with my absolute best." Belfast said to William.

"Glad to hear it." William said to Belfast as he stood up from his seat.

"May I ask where you might be going?" Belfast asked William.

"Lunch business." William answered Belfast.

"Outside the base I take it?" Belfast asked William.

"Yeah. Before you fret about me going alone in my condition, Hood and Bismarck will accompany me so you have nothing to worry about." William said to Belfast.

"I see, in that case I could rest easy. Take care master and…thank you, for the lesson today." Belfast said to William while she smiled.

"Don't mention it…I'll leave the rest to you." William said to Belfast while he smiled then exited the office.

…This morning William received a message from an unknown number, the message said 'I'm in the mood to visit Smith in the arctic, I heard he has a shop and he's a great baker. The view in the afternoon is also splendid, very suitable for a date! – 44-33-555-33-66-2-6-222-2-555-555-33-66'…Wrongly sent message? No, William immediately figured the message out. It was so simple that William was sure that anyone could crack the riddles if they thought hard enough, with that in mind he never replied, but he definitely understood the instruction hidden behind those words, and he's set out to do it. That's why Hood and Bismarck were absent from the meeting before, William specifically ordered them to get ready.

"Good afternoon, milord." Someone said to William when he exited the administration building.

"…First time I see you dressed in a casual outfit." William commented as he looked to his right side.

There, leaned against the wall was Hood herself who's dressed with a white sun dress complimented with a gold necklace, a white sun hat on top of her head, sunglasses that hid her sea blue eyes, a blue and red themed purse slung on her left shoulder, and blue heels on her feet. William kept his face smiling and composed while on the inside he marveled at how gorgeous Hood looked right now! This would be the first time he saw her without her usual clothes and something much more casual. He watched as Hood went closer from her spot to him and noticed that he planned to go out with his officer uniform…Looks like William had no intention to hide his identity.

"What do you think?" Hood asked William while she twirled once for him,

"You looked gorgeous; a nice change of pace compared to your usual uniform." William complimented while he smiled widely.

"My, thank you for the compliment." Hood said to William while she also smiled widely.

"Kommandant, sorry I'm late." Someone said from behind William.

William turned around and he instantly grinned, why? It's Bismarck who appeared while she was dressed in a crimson one piece dress with a silver crescent moon necklace, silver bangle on her left hand, black purse in right hand, and black heels…Wow, Hood is one thing, but Bismarck in casual clothes? Not even her fellow Ironblood ship girls ever saw her wearing a casual dress for an outing before, but it turns out she has one to use. Little did William know that Tirpitz was the one who helped her with the dress. That's because Bismarck spent so much time trying to decide what to wear when William asked her to come with him to the city.

"Wow! Where's the usual Bismarck gone to?" William asked Bismarck while he grinned.

"Um, please don't tease me so much…How is it?" Bismarck asked William while her cheeks reddened a bit.

"One word, beautiful." William said to Bismarck while he smiled and nodded his head.

"…D-Danke." Bismarck said to William while she smiled.

"Shall we?" William asked the two ladies.

The three of them then walked toward the garage, or limping in William's case since he had to walk with a crutch, but he proved that he's able to match the walking speed of both Hood and Bismarck. William produced the car key for a spare SUV, but Hood took the key away from his hand, she shook her head sideways as she silently got inside the driver seat…William shrugged, isn't the car an automatic? He won't even need two legs to drive it. But he chose not to argue, she just forgave him not too long ago, and he wants to be in her good graces as much as possible. The three of them were inside the car and a few minutes later they exited the base and headed straight to the city. Hood's driving, William rode shotgun, and Bismarck sat on the rear passenger seat.

"Where to milord?" Hood asked William.

"Head for 'Wintersmith Café' in Uptown." William said to Hood.

"Now where have I heard that name before?" Hood asked out loud as she racked her memories.

"They sell the best cake in town, Hood." William said to Hood while he smiled.

"Ah yes, now I remember" Hood said to William.

"…I'm beginning to suspect you, kommandant." Bismarck said from the rear while she pouted slightly.

"What? You don't like sweets?" William asked Bismarck as he looked back at her from the front.

"What Bismarck meant is this outing is so out of the blue, milord. You're being secretive about it doesn't help to dismiss our suspicions." Hood explained while she smiled.

"You two will see why later." William simply answered vaguely.

It took a while until they reached the uptown area, William checked the calendar, and noticed that it's Monday. The city was bustling with activity in the clear sunny summer afternoon, that's unfortunate because traffic was being a bitch at the moment where they got stuck in a long line on one of the town's major uptown intersections. Hood commented that it'll take a while until they will reach their destination, William grunted as answer while he stared at the pedestrians, and Bismarck commented that the island's getting overpopulated…They finally arrived after being stuck for ten minutes on the road, but the air conditioned shop filled with cakes and pastries closed its blinds with the word 'closed' on the entrance.

"Eh? It's closed?" Hood asked out loud in shock.

"Are you sure you don't want to have lunch somewhere else, kommandant?" Bismarck asked William.

"No, it must be here. Oh well, let's try entering anyway. Excuse me." William said out loud as he pushed the entrance open.

The three of them entered the shop, it's like your regular pastry shop with cakes and pastries on the aisle, but it would seem that the employees were absent from manning their posts. That confused the three of them, the shop was closed, but the cakes were on the aisle that means they are prepared for customers…Just as the three of them thought that they noticed that in fact there is someone that sat alone while looking at their phone, it's a woman with shoulder long light brown hair, amethyst eyes, dressed in black tank top underneath a white jacket, blue jeans, black sneakers, and she turned around just in time to greet them.

"Ah, good to see you, Will, Hood, and even Bismarck!" It was Lena herself.

""EH?!"" Hood and Bismarck said out loud in surprise.

"Hey there." William doesn't seem to be that shocked.

"I see you haven't told them." Lena said to William with amused face.

"I thought we're supposed to have zero contact with High Command during the activation of the Trident Initiative!?" Hood asked Lena with furrowed eyebrows.

"'Officially' Hood, no one said anything about meeting on vacation." Lena said to Hood while she shrugged.

"Why is the store empty?" William asked Lena.

"We bought it-" Lena said to William.

"""What?""" William, Bismarck and Hood immediately said out loud.

"For today, I've talked to the manager, and he agreed to lend this place for today. They'll be taking online orders only." Lena explained further to the three of them.

William, Bismarck, and Hood proceed to sit in front of Lena. It's a six seat table where Bismarck chose to sit by the window, Hood in the middle, while William sat beside her. Lena noted that William was injured, but she hid her displeasure very well. It would seem that almost all of his ground deployments now always resulted in him getting injured, so is it possible that he's gotten rusty? Nah, he only needs to return to his prime combat state like he was way back then, and that would take some time. William set his crutch aside, he smiled at Lena.

"…Great to see you by the way." William said to Lena while he smiled.

"You too, despite the fact you're crippled. What did you do this time?" Lena asked William while she also smiled.

"Yeah, shite happens. I think it's a sign to start commissioning a research project for a blast plate made to withstand plasma projectiles, the Sirens got a lucky shot on me." William said to Lena while he frowned.

"Well, Plan Bellator Luminis resulted with our armor factories currently producing Phase 1 General Purpose Infantry Armor or GEPIA Phase 1. It would be distributed as our new infantry standard body armor replacing our Kevlar vests with plating, Crimson Axis has also received the design and is working to mass produce it like we do." Lena said to William while she smiled a bit.

"Ooohh, neat." William commented while he smiled widely.

"That I agree. Well, I'm glad you managed to crack that message with simple encryption, so go ahead, order what you like, my treat for today." Lena said to the three of them.

"In that case, I shall pick this chocolate fondue with fruits. I wanted it for a while, but haven't got the time to order one…Bismarck, what about you?" Hood asked Bismarck as she looked at the menu on the table.

"I'm a bit confused on what to pick, everything looks delicious." Bismarck said to Hood while she flipped the menu page.

"Want my recommendations?" Hood offered while she smiled.

"Um…I think I'll be fine with my own choice…How about this?" Bismarck pointed at an image on the menu.

"Oh, vanilla soufflé? Not a bad choice by any means." Hood said to Bismarck.

"Then I'll pick this one…How about you, kommandant?" Bismarck asked William.

"Really? Is there no 'heavy' food here?" William asked out loud as he scanned the menu.

"I think this café served mostly female patrons that have a fondness for pastries." Hood said to William while she smiled.

"Dammit…Uh…Cheesecake would do then." William said out loud before he saw a cheesecake on display.

He's hungry and he did hope that this shop would at least provide something other than a cake, he should've thought better than that because a cake shop is A CAKE SHOP! What else do they have other than cakes and pastries, William!? Steak?! You better head for that BBQ Shop on the other side of the road then! William internally screamed at himself for his 'stupid' statement before…He sighed as he grabbed a bottled water that was provided on the table beforehand and drank from it.

"Excuse me, sir?" Lena said out loud.

"…Are you ready to order miss?" The freaking shop owner himself approached them.

"Yeah. One chocolate fondue with fruits, one vanilla soufflé, one waffle, and a big creampie from you." Lena said to him while she smiled.

PFFFFTTTT!

Water spurted out of William's mouth when he choked after hearing Lena's order that prompted Lena, Hood, and Bismarck to recoil in reflex. William coughed as Hood held his shoulder while Bismarck hurriedly took out her napkin and handed it to Hood, she used it to help wiped William's wet mouth and chin while Lena stared at William with opened mouth and widened eyes. The shop owner, however, looked like he's used to this as he's not even fazed with his poker face plastered on his face, and he didn't even recoil when William choked on his water…

"What the fuck?!" Lena shouted at William.

"That's my line!" William shouted back at Lena.

"Ah, there's a bit of misunderstanding here huh? Sir, my specialty is cream pie cake, so you have nothing to worry about." The shop owner said to William while he smiled.

"…I…I see." William said to the shop owner.

"Would…that be all?" The shop owner asked them all.

"Yes, it is, thank you." Lena said to the shop owner while she smiled.

"…Bismarck, do you get it about what they just talked about?" Hood asked Bismarck with a low tone.

"…I googled it and what came out was pictures of cream pie cake…I don't understand why kommandant was so shocked?" Bismarck said to Hood with a low and confused tone.

That must be because Bismarck put google on 'safe search' feature by default, of course those kinds of images won't show up on the search. William actually managed to get his mind into the gutter, but who can blame him really? Hood and Bismarck? Both of them have some knowledge regarding 'sex', but that doesn't mean they knew all the euphemisms or even the slangs most people used. Lena looked at William who had to look away from the ladies with red cheeks due to embarrassment and shame, she grinned when he realized that Lena was the only one who understood why he would choke on his water.

"Perv." Lena commented while she grinned.

"Shut up." William immediately fired back.

The rest of the chat involved some catching up for a bit before their treats arrived, William looked at his cheesecake and noted that the portion…is damn small! What's this? A dieting lady portions? Looks like it! Oh well, he decided to go to that BBQ shop after this and order takeout because there's no way he could sate his hunger with just this one piece of cheesecake…Hopefully that misunderstanding with Belfast won't happen again, as long he can explain it properly. William started eating when he noticed someone approached then sat beside Lena, he almost choked when he saw Lucas just sat with them looking all happy like he's been with them and just went back from the toilet. Lucas wore a dark red t-shirt, green short cargo pants, and sandals…he dressed like he's on vacation with extremely casual apparel.

"Ah! Good to see you and the ladies here!" Lucas said to them in a merry tone.

"Lucas?!" William half shouted at him.

"Why are you so surprised?" Lucas asked William with cocked eyebrows.

"How the hell did you manage to do this and slip by the Intelligence Division?!" William asked Lucas.

"Convenient arrangements Will, it works wonders…Now, shall we begin? You start first, I'm sure you have a lot of questions." Lucas answered while he grinned.

"Bloody hell I do! First off, the Trident Initiative!" William said to Lucas while putting the cheesecake aside, no way he could eat in this situation.

"It's a contingency Lena and I prepared in case someone from within will try to take advantage of the ship girls, it will allow the ALASUC division to work independently without high command's intervention. We noticed that treachery has crept up even into the High Command council, better safe than sorry." Lucas said to them with a serious face for the first time today.

…So, their assumption was right, this whole Trident Initiative is another goddamn bait. Honestly speaking William was tired of this political bullshit, didn't Lucas promise not to hide anything from him if he's to take his job? But it would seem William had fallen into a pit trap that Lucas set up, there's no way he could just back down and actually leave the girls after everything that has happened for the past few months, so Lucas could 'bend the agreement' a bit. He himself would fight to his last breath if the girls were mistreated in any way…He doesn't have the capability and the mind for political games, all he could do now is to go with the flow.

"You can do that without the other members of the council objecting to it?" Hood asked Lucas.

"They would have, if it wasn't for William who's in command of you ladies." Lucas said to Hood while he smirked.

"I thought those bunch of bollocks called me a fuck up?" William quipped as he scoffed.

"In front of your face, yes. They're a bunch of classical tsunderes, they might call you that up front but deep down they know how skilled you are, and how dedicated you are in order to do the right thing. Your stellar performance during Operation Ulysses and Operation Dradetheus has shown High Command that you're indeed fit to be the commander of a special division, they're just not willing to admit that your sometimes 'unorthodox' strategy works wonders, but could cause you to seem 'undisciplined' in the eyes of the other commanders." Lucas explained while he smirked.

"I can vouch for that Will, no one complained when you led such a significant force with Johnson to Terania. They believe you could thwart whatever the Sirens were planning." Lena said to William while she smiled softly.

Operation Ulysses? Damn, it's among the first operations that Task Force Nimbus commenced during the opening stage of the war. Near Dragon Empery's north-eastern border, a sizable recon battalion of Sakura Empire Army set up shop in order to breach Dragon Empery's northern fortifications and pave the way for an invasion. Task Force Nimbus was ordered to neutralize the recon battalion sized force all by themselves, tall order? It's practically a suicide mission…Lena came up with a plan to assault the battalion in one decisive attack, reckless but effective, if commenced at the right situation. Weather predictions showed that a storm will pass the region in two days, so the task force hid themselves inside the thick forest as they watched the forward operational base that the enemy had set up.

The prediction came to reality, massive storm clouds gathered in the area followed by harsh rain and strong winds. Normally that would deter anyone from making a move, not when visibility was so poor and the cold practically bite their bones…But the members of Task Force Nimbus were prepared for even such impossible task, that's why William and two dozen strong Azur Lane Special Forces Commandos that were part of Task Force Nimbus got in as close as they could to the base through the thick jungle. Each of them was equipped with their infrared friend or foe identification signal emitters, they equipped themselves with night vision goggles too so they could clearly distinguish friends and foe in the ensuing chaos. Then, they charged at the base, guns equipped with suppressors and laser designators as they swiftly attacked the unprepared Sakura Empire Army.

One thing that they failed to realize, the battalion that the Sakura Empire sent to that area was known as the Sakura Empire Army Special Warfare Group Battalion that was specialized in unconventional warfare and special activities. That's why even when they were caught off guard, it didn't take them too long to form an effective resistance, the situation didn't look good for Azur Lane as they had to rely on the element of surprise and lightning surgical strikes to take the entire battalion down. That's when William ordered the majority of his men to fall back toward the forest and provide suppressive fire as William alongside four volunteers would split up and flank them.

The flanking maneuver was successful, but the enemy commander realized their strategy, he prepared an ambush of one hundred men within the base compound armed with guns and katanas. William had a vague memory of what really happened, but he remembered that he fought tooth and nail to survive the ambush, his weapons quickly ran out of ammo, his combat knife was lost as it got lodged on one of his victims, he had to steal an enemy katana to kill few others, and when everything else failed his fists were more than sufficient. Realizing that the enemy battalion was distracted by five massacring monstrosities inside the base, the rest of the Azur Lane unit charged in toward the base and seized the victory. That moment was the one that awarded William the title Nimbus Knight for his extraordinary resilience and pure skill in combat...So, Lucas mentioned that high command actually approved of his action but condemned him during debriefing for being a 'glory hound'? What a bunch of hypocritical fucks!

"…Pfft, two faced cunts." William scoffed as he folded his arms.

"Milord." Hood said to William while she smiled meaningfully as she pinched his right thigh…strongly.

"Ouch, alright, sorry!" William said to Hood as he winced and nursed his right thigh.

"Ah…I know who you should bring if there's a meeting with the High Command Council, she seems capable of preventing you from cursing." Lena said to William while she grinned.

"…Also, there's the talk from before about base expansion. How are you going to tackle that if the Trident Initiative is in effect?" William chose to ignore Lena as he asked Lucas.

"You don't need to worry about that. Soon, you'll be receiving major ship girl reinforcements from all factions in this world both from Azur Lane and Crimson Axis. Erich and I have spoken regarding the technical details, it blends well with our grand strategy." Lucas said to William.

"You still think putting all of the ship girls in one place would be the best option?" William asked Lucas with an unconvinced expression.

"What? You think it's bad?" Lucas asked William with an intrigued face.

"You're putting those are basically the only people who can combat the Sirens effectively in one point on the surface of the Earth, won't that make the other places ripe for the Sirens to harvest?" William explained his concern to William.

"…Think outside the box Will, put yourself in the enemy's shoes. If the enemy gathers their best hope in ending the war in one place, what will you do?" Lucas asked William with a serious face.

"Launch a major offensive-" William said to Lucas without hesitation.

"No, I said think outside the box. What will you do?" Lucas immediately rebuffed him and asked him again.

…Shit, William thought deeply, but there's not much strategy that comes to mind except for rounding them up and smash them in one decisive battle…Lucas told him to put himself in the enemy shoes, the Sirens would definitely use that opportunity to strike other regions, but is he sure on that what Sirens would do? There's no proof that could say their thought process would be the same as humans, if that's the case then what other strategies could they possibly come up with? So far, they're still predictable…But William realized that it's their regular forces that he fought all this time, he hasn't actually faced Siren ship girls in combat yet, and certainly not against their commanders directly…Holy shit…he has a huge load of homework to do.

"…There's a lot of options depending on our technological level, our combat doctrines, or even the desperation in High Command to end the war." William chose that vague answer for Lucas.

"You see, this is a test…Based on the video you managed to record back on Terania we now know that the Sirens indeed have leaders and dare I say they are intelligent, Erich and I have decided to test how good they are at a grand strategy level. You see, this whole thing is but a two way bait. We want to see the Sirens' reactions, and we want to see the traitors within High Command." Lucas said to William.

"…I must admit I'm still confused regarding the technical details, Hoher Kommandant Lucas." Bismarck said to Lucas with a concerned face.

"There's no need to understand it deeply for now Ms. Bismarck. You, Ms. Hood, and William here only need to trust us for now and do your work to combat the Sirens. The less people who know about the technical details the better, secrecy is a luxury these days." Lucas said to Hood while he smiled.

"…Alright fine, how about the base renovation plan?" William decided to change the topic.

"You'll need to take the girls on vacation for a week to a remote island nicknamed Eden, there's a facility there enough to accommodate five hundred people and resources that could last for a year. Consider it an extended vacation, when you're back the base will be so brand new you won't recognize it." Lucas said to William.

"When?" William immediately asked Lucas.

"Hmm…In a week, get the girls healed up first and recover before you go. This, assuming that the cure could be produced by Takeshi…You've successfully brought him in, right?" Lucas asked William.

Yup, if they had to do it then there's no choice but to wait for the cure to be created and then wait for the girls to heal completely. Hood and Bismarck have heard about the renovation plan, but they haven't heard regarding that island that will serve as their temporary home, also how will Lucas handle everything necessary when the Trident Initiative is in effect? William, Hood, and Bismarck weren't sure how, but it would seem they had no choice but to go along…Lucas Carville had delivered so far, something went wrong, and he still could provide a way out for all of them. William just had to let him and Lena deal with the higher bullshits, he should focus on the imminent problems.

"Of course…This won't end like last time right?" William asked Lucas with half closed eye.

"No need to worry, Central HQ has already been on constant alert ever since then." Lucas said to William as he waved dismissively while he grinned.

"I'm not so sure but fine…So, anything else we should know?" William asked Lucas.

"Nothing that urgent save for a few things…When the Trident Initiative is lifted, you will maintain what you've done right now. That means, you'll be 'independent' to some degree and won't have to completely rely on High Command for direction. Maintenance, decoration, upgrades, it'll be up to you…Now before you start ranting, there's a reason why we did this. First off, as an international anti siren task force, we believe it might be in the best interest to let someone qualified to handle it and not to be directly under the command of Azur Lane nor Crimson Axis. It will be fairer in the eyes of the others and frankly speaking, both Azur Lane and Crimson Axis have faith in you." Lucas explained to William.

"Really?" William said skeptically at Lucas.

"Believe it…Second, even though you're not under direct command, you're still obligated to receive 'commissions' from both Azur Lane and Crimson Axis. Once you're done with the said commissions, rewards will be granted accordingly. Research results, technological improvements, blueprints, and even resources will be granted each month as long as ALASUC is actively doing their tasks. The amount might just be the usual one you received before this entire clusterfuck, do forgive me for that Will…we need the money somewhere else. Ship girls can't be everywhere at once and for that, we need to strengthen our regular armies, it'll hopefully be able to hold the Sirens off…at least until we really need the ship girls to fight. But rest assured, Azur Lane and Crimson Axis have no intention to abandon you, we might need you more than ever too, and the rewards will be worth it." Lucas further explained to William.

Alright, that cleared a few things regarding what they should do next. It seems Lucas and Lena really have the intention to let them be an independent task force capable of striking anywhere on Earth, but why wait so long to do that? They specifically waited until he's the one in command of the ship girls? William couldn't help but to feel that Lucas didn't tell him everything that he should know about this, there must be a reason why these changes are only implemented now...Regardless of that, William chose to go on with it. Hood and Bismarck ingrained all of the information they just got now, safe to say there would be a lot of things to talk about with the secretaries and the fleet representatives...

"Third…Uh…remember about that thing we talked about in the office?" Lucas asked William.

"Yeah, what about it?" William asked Lucas back.

"The research isn't going well…We might need…Uh…" Lucas being uncharacteristically awkward…

"What?" William said to Lucas while he cocked his eyebrows.

"Uh, this is awkward. You know, I'm maybe a perverted bastard but-" Lucas said out loud while he stared to the side.

"Get on with it you bellend! What is it!? Don't make us-" William said to Lucas impatiently.

"I need your cum." Lucas said to William in a monotone voice and his best poker face.

Bismarck widened her eyes as she quickly searched for water because a piece of her vanilla soufflé got stuck in her throat, Hood stopped munching her strawberry dipped in chocolate fondue with widened eyes as she struggled not to spit out the fruit, Lena stared impassively at Lucas, while William stopped moving as he stared at him with deadpan stare and disgusted mouth at the same time…Lucas thought a bit on what he just said before he widened his eyes in realization.

"""…WHAT?!""" Hood, Bismarck, and William suddenly said out loud.

"…I should've worded that better. Oh yes, the Research Division needs your sperm as a sample for the test. They'll commence the mutation with cells first before they, you know, 'work their way up'." Lucas said to William while he cringed.

"You really need to word that out better! Hah…when do you need it?" William sighed then asked Lucas.

"Right now." Lucas said to William.

"…You're joking." William facepalmed when he heard it.

"Unfortunately, he's not. We can't exactly stay here for long Will; we might need to bail out in the next two hours." Lena said to William with a serious tone.

"I take it's more than enough for you to hand us a sample?" Lucas asked William while he smirked a bit.

Lena and Lucas used this chance to meet on this island with a vacation as a reason, there's no telling how safe they are without any kind of support out there. But the real reason on why the others let them do this is because of the actions they shown during the Azur Lane Headquarters Raid where both of them shown their prowess in combat, there's no doubt in anyone's mind that both of them could handle themselves…William sighed as he looked a bit to the side and noted that Bismarck looked outside uncomfortably while Hood stared back and forth between him, Lena, and Lucas because she sensed that something's off.

"...You expect me to masturbate here?" William asked Lucas while he frowned.

"I could always help you out~" Lena said from the side, both Hood and Bismarck jolted in surprise.

"As much as that thrills me, you're a married woman Lena!" William said to Lena with a half closed eye.

"Tch, figures." Lena clicked her tongue as she looked to the side.

"You don't mind regarding adultery?!" Lucas asked Lena with a surprised tone.

"I'll be honest, I'd rather do it with Will than someone I don't even love." Lena said out loud boldly…

…That was the most awkward, shameless, and outrageous confession that both Hood and Bismarck ever heard. It would seem Lena didn't intend to hide her desires, even one that could be considered as 'delicate' as the relationship problem between William and her, William too felt that Lena was being too forward. It's so unusual for her to be this direct and whenever she does that means there's something wrong going on...

"This is awkward…" Hood said to Bismarck while she grimaced.

"Indeed…" Bismarck said to Hood while she frowned.

"Will, we need that sample. I could help you or the girls beside you could help." Lena said to William with a provocative smile.

"…Hood and Bismarck? Wait no, don't involve them in this!" William said to Lena while he frowned.

"Oh, but this concerns them too, you know? Why don't you consider it as a practice run?" Lena said to William while she smirked.

"No!" William firmly said to Lena.

"Ah I see, you want to date them first before you try something like that?" Lena asked William while she smiled.

"That's-" William said to Lena as he widened his eye.

"Am I wrong?" Lena immediately asked William while she smirked victoriously.

"…No." William said to Lena

"I always took you as the traditionalist~" Lena said to William while she grinned.

"…You do have such interest, milord." Hood commented while she stared at him, faint blush decorated her cheeks.

"Yeah of course I do." William said to Hood with a serious face.

"So, what do you choose Will? Care to do it like the good old times, or you'll let the ladies help you?" Lena asked William while she smirked.

Really, that's the only choice? William closed his eyes, he still could vividly remember how Lena looked without her clothes…She laid down in a bed with her beautiful face, those perky C cup breasts with pink nipples, wide child bearing hips, thick thighs, and hairless slit…Shit, William stopped thinking about naked Lena, but his imagination took even sharper turn deeper toward the gutter. William imagined himself laid down on a king sized bed with Bismarck and Hood slowly approaching him on all fours, predatory looks in their eyes, dressed in cat girl cosplay, and they snuggled up to him. Hood licked his right cheek as Bismarck nibbled on his left ear, and both their hands reached down to his crot-. Focus William Blaze! Focus!

"…Can't I do this by myself?!" William immediately said out loud.

"Experiments indicate that masturbation won't yield as much sperm compared to when you do it with someone else, the results say that when you do it with the intent to impregnate someone then the yield would be the largest and the sensation is…amplified. They said there's a different sensation compared to when you have sex for fun and when you make babies, love would add as force multiplier~" Lena said to William with sultry tone.

"…Not sure I trust that source." William said to Lena folded his arms with half closed eye.

"Oh, but I do, it's certified too." Lena said to William as she also folded her arms.

"And who provided that conclusion?" William asked Lena.

"Research Division." Lena said to William.

"Really..." William was left speechless, Azur Lane Research Division?!

"Be a man and choose Will, clock's ticking. By the way, you need to fill up at least half of this." Lena said to William as she took out a plastic cup.

"…Half of THIS?!" William pointed at the medium sized painkiller sized bottle.

"You can cum more than that." Lena said to William while she grinned, Hood and Bismarck could only listen with red cheeks.

"Be quiet for a bit Lena! Lucas, help me mate!" William turned toward Lucas.

Only to find Lucas struggling to prevent himself from laughing his ass off because the scene that currently happened in front of them was hilarious (according to him), goddammit Lucas never knew that Lena is actually this shameless. She's supposed to be the sane one! But Lucas guessed that's when Lena was working, she's currently on vacation now, and oh my…Lucas managed to stop himself from laughing hysterically as he put on a composed face, William needed his help? Leave it to him! Lucas racked his brains in what kind of method that would work and it would be a win-win situation for all of them?

"Hehehehe…Oh well…Why don't you just have a foursome and be done with it? I'd do that if I'm in your shoes. Actually, let me record it-" Lucas said to William while he shrugged.

"Fuck no! I need other solutions!" William said to Lucas while he scowled.

No? Well shit, that would break the record of the most viewed video on a porn site ever…Nah, Lucas isn't evil enough to do that, and he doubted William would ever allow him to see Lena, Bismarck, or Hood naked. He made it pretty clear back during his visit to the base that William won't tolerate him if he's doing something outrageous, that previous idea would get him a gun pointed straight at his forehead by William if he insisted on doing it…That's when Lucas realized something, he did give him a powerful tool if he's ever in a pinch…

"Well. How about that app?" Lucas asked William while he tapped his chin repeatedly.

"…Right…that app." William said to Lucas with a widened eye in realization.

"What app?" Lena asked Lucas with a curious tone.

"You know, that holographic sexual reliever?" Lucas said to Lena.

"Ah, the one that's being tested by the Research Division to use in pair with a solid hologram projector…Wait, you have one?" Lena asked William with a narrowed gaze.

"Yeah, Lucas handed me one after my visit to HQ." William said to Lena honestly.

"…Wait, does this program have a sound feature?" Hood suddenly spoke up and asked out loud.

"Yes, you can customize it however you like too." Lucas said to Hood while he smiled, his eyes then widened when he realized that he just fucked up…

"Then that means back when we just arrived back at the base in the middle of the storm, when I knocked on your door…You were-" Hood said to William as she slowly turned to meet his face…

Hood looked at William with widened eyes of realization, Bismarck looked confused, Lena covered her gaping mouth with her left hand, and Lucas winced at the sight of a fellow brother in arms that fell down into a pit of purgatory. Lucas promised to apologize to William later after he gave him a suggestion with a device that he's sure the ship girls shouldn't know, he's in for trouble…William widened his eye on his late realization, he just realized Lucas mentioned something that they should've kept secret, he said that in front of Hood and Bismarck, then William remembered what happened the night after they just returned from headquarters with that close call…

"Oh shi-"

Insert To Be Continued Meme

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Updated: 03/11/2021 (Beta Readed by Culture-Hunt3r)

What a rollercoaster that was…William would need to have his seed extracted, but what about the methods? Okay, thanks for the review, favorite, and follow dear readers! You wonder why this one updated faster? Yeah, house quarantine really gives you the time and place to write. Anyway, that's it for this chapter so stay tuned for the continuation and stay safe during this Covid-19 pandemic alright?

See you next time and stay healthy!

- Dasmara