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.

28. On one intense afternoon

"KYAAAAAAAA!"

BANG!

That gunshot silenced whoever that just screamed out in terror, and the sound echoed throughout the forest. Suffolk kept her back to the tree she's hiding in while she started to sweat out of nervousness, she then looked to her sides to make sure her friends were still there. Sheffield and Kent are on her right side hiding behind the bushes, while Edinburgh and Victorious hid behind the trees to her left. Almost all of them were panting after running for quite some distance, they were tired as they found the spot for the rendezvous with the other ship girls who were on their side.

"W-What do we do!? Our head maid has gone mad!" Suffolk asked out loud with a worried tone.

"She's mercilessly finishing everyone off! Where's the commander when you need him!?" Kent said out loud.

"Wait, is it possible that she took him out first?!" Victorious asked the maid with a horrified tone.

"No, he will be the last." Edinburgh said to Victorious.

"Why?" Victorious asked Edinburgh.

"I know how Belfast works. She'll save the best things for the last, intimidate him slowly as his allies fall one by one." Edinburgh said to Victorious with a grim face.

"H-How did you know that?" Victorious asked Edinburgh as she got even more nervous.

"…This is not the first time she has done this." Edinburgh said to Victorious.

Edinburgh for sure knows how deadly Belfast could be on land or on the seas, the head maid is the one that Queen Elizabeth herself trusts to take care of many problems, and she lets her do it with her own methods. Furthermore, Edinburgh was the one that often accompanied her during those assignments whenever she could, so she knew how the Belfast problem solving method works, which in this case…they are the problem. Suddenly they heard rapid gunfire coming from behind them and several bullets whizzed beside them, which prompted the group to turn around and run as they each returned fire with the weapons from Heaven's Guard.

"What was that!?" Kent asked out loud.

"It's Belfast! Move it ladies!" Sheffield ordered out loud.

The group ran as fast as they could while occasionally firing back at the unseen attacker, but everyone would assume that it's Belfast since she's the one that has been hunting them down mercilessly. Suffolk panted as she ran until she felt a sharp pain on her lower right leg which caused her to fall down to the ground. Kent turned around when she heard the sound of someone falling, and she widened her eyes to see Suffolk on the ground.

"Suffolk!" Kent said out loud and she moved to help her.

"NO! RUN! JUST KEEP RUNNING!" Suffolk shouted to Kent.

"Kent! Move it!" Sheffield said to Kent.

"Bollocks!" Kent said out loud as she gritted her teeth and continued to run.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

BANG!

Suffolk horrified screams once again put to silence with a gunshot, the girls in the group winced and desperation started to show on their faces as they kept running. They're about to reach the rendezvous point when Sheffield, who's in the lead suddenly stopped moving as she looked to the rear. When she found no one was chasing them, she raised her fist as a code to stop everyone. Edinburgh immediately noticed, and she also stopped without hesitation, but the other ship girls were confused on why they stopped running when their supposed safe haven was only a few dozen meters away.

"Wait." Sheffield said out loud.

"You're out of your bloody mind, Sheffield?! Why did we stop!?" Victorious asked Sheffield with cocked eyebrows.

"Sheffield's right. There's something strange, Belfast would've pursued us relentlessly!" Edinburgh said out loud with a grim face.

"D-Don't tell me…" Victorious said out loud with a blue face.

"Yes…they are targeting master." Sheffield said to Victorious.

"T-This is so unfair…why do we have to go against them!?" Victorious whined as she held her head.

"Why? It's simple. You didn't surrender when we asked you to."

The ship girls turned around and each pointed their handheld firearms toward someone who just said those words. Standing behind them in the open is William's personal secretary herself who walked toward them while she smiled as usual…but upon closer inspection, there was this hungry look in her eyes, and so despite her usual elegant smile she still looked menacing to the others. The ship girls in front of her sweat nervously, but at the same time are intrigued. she's outnumbered four to one, and she had the gall to show herself in the open?!

"Surprised to see me here? Of course, I wasn't known for utilizing stealth after all. That's more like you isn't it, Sheffield?" Hood asked Sheffield while she smiled.

"Please, don't do this Madam Hood!" Sheffield said to Hood.

"Why shouldn't I hmm? But I agree, just tell me where you hide Lord William, and I will spare all of you." Hood said out loud while she smiled.

"You liar, you haven't the slightest intention to let us go! Look at that wicked grin of yours!" Victorious said to Hood as she pointed at her.

"Ufufufufu! Ah forgive me, I've lost my elegance for a bit there!" Hood said to Victorious after she giggled then grinned.

What can she say? She couldn't help herself! These girls had no idea on what's about to befall them, and she relished with the idea being carried out quite smoothly, all she has to do now is to make sure every target is here. Just when she's about to speak, the ship girls' expressions in front of her changed from anxious to relieved, and that's because of one thing, Hood's grin turned into a smirk as she heard footsteps behind her which came to a halt very close to her position. Hood turned her head around while she smirked to see Illustrious herself standing behind her with a M37 Ithaca pump action shotgun in her hand, she's not smiling in the slightest, and she aimed the weapon straight at Hood's backside…Seeing the gentle, patient, and kind woman who only wish to bring love and peace to this world holding someone at gunpoint is very unusual, but at times when the situation called for it…she wouldn't hesitate to protect even when she has to dirty her hands. She didn't like it, but what choice does she have here?

"I order you to stand down, Hood!" Queen Elizabeth suddenly said out loud.

Queen Elizabeth, London, and Formidable appeared from the other directions while pointing their own firearms against Hood. The only one being held at gunpoint smiled as she calmly looked around to notice just how many girls were currently surrounding her, there's at least eight of them ready to put bullets onto her if she so much as moved her hand toward the Desert Eagle on her waist. The situation was tense, the ship girls were itching to fire at Hood, and all of them were looking at each other to wait for the signal from Illustrious…

"Hood, put down your weapon." Illustrious said to Hood calmly.

"My, Illustrious. I see you managed to get a drop on me, quite surprising indeed." Hood commented while she smirked.

"We have you surrounded, Hood, please stop this. Just put your weapon down!" Illustrious said to Hood.

"I will only speak to Lord William, so get that handsome man out from behind the tree please." Hood declared while she smirked.

Illustrious glanced to her rear left and nodded her head, someone came out from behind a tree, and he did not look happy. William stood beside Illustrious as he stared at Hood who's now turned her body toward the William and Illustrious, she didn't show any hint of fear despite being at gunpoint by multiple ship girls at once…William frowned as he approached Hood even closer all the way until at point blank range, even with the tense situation like now, William still believed that things could be resolved relatively peacefully.

"…Hood, just why?" William asked Hood while he frowned deeply.

"Why? Shouldn't you be asking yourself that? I asked you, I even begged you to join my cause Lord William and still you decided to side with them. I was so disappointed; we could've ruled above them all!" Hood said to William while she smiled softly.

"You've lost your mind, there is no way I would've abandoned them! You're supposed to be my most trusted person, I believed in you with all my heart Hood! You betrayed me!" William said to Hood while he frowned.

"No, I didn't. You are too blind to see the truth, Lord William. We are our respective leaders of our own factions now, there's no hope for the two of us to join our hands together…Don't worry, I'll make this as painless as possible." Hood said to William while she smiled somberly.

"How dare you even think of that when you are surrounded by all of us Hood, what arrogance!" Illustrious said to Hood while she aimed her weapon as she frowned

"Oh yes, Illustrious. You know I won't say that without meaning it, I forgot to mention this…But we've surrounded your surrounding team. Do it." Hood said out loud.

Gunfire erupted for a few seconds, and when it ended almost all of the ship girls on William's side fell to the ground. Hood looked around and noticed that several more girls appeared from behind the bushes. Warspite, Prince of Wales, and Duke of York stared at the ship girls who were on the ground after getting hit, they writhed in pain as they could only stare at their shooters…William shielded Edinburgh from the bullets, he stood strong despite being hit several times to the chest. Edinburgh stared at William worriedly before she stiffened as something was pressed on her back. She didn't even have the chance to turn around when a gunshot could be heard, and Edinburgh fell to the ground…She winced in pain as she flipped her body, only to see Belfast holding an P228 which was aimed directly at her.

"S-Sister…" Edinburgh croaked out.

"Do forgive me, big sister." Belfast said to Edinburgh while she smiled then squeezed the trigger on her gun.

BANG!

Edinburgh laid motionlessly on the ground, William widened his eye before he stared at Belfast who looked to the side for a bit to check whether Illustrious could still put up a fight or not. When she confirmed that Illustrious hadn't moved, Belfast turned her head toward William who for some reason wasn't armed. He's in front of them, and he shows no sign of trying to defend himself. How could he? He couldn't bear to raise a gun toward the girls, he doesn't want to hurt them and this entire situation? It's inevitable, there's nothing he could do…William remained unmoving as Hood approached him from behind, she enveloped him in a tight hug while Belfast approached him from the front. Both of them put on their best smile on their face, a victorious smile.

"…H-Hood…Belfast…" William said their names out loud.

"There's no one else I'd like to have on my side, milord, but you refused me…Unfortunately, this is where we part." Hood said to William softly.

"It's been an honor, master. I apologize, but you know this wouldn't have happened if you could just make up your mind." Belfast said to William while she smiled.

BANG!

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

Hood took out her Desert Eagle and shot William in the back, the man fell to the ground after the large caliber bullet hit him. Belfast walked closer to William before she unleashed five shots at him, the bullets in her magazine ran out, and the pistol went click. Both Hood and Belfast stared at William's unmoving body for quite a bit before Belfast walked away toward the other ship girls, Hood sighed as she turned around to look at Warspite who stared at Queen Elizabeth.

"Did we get them all?" Hood asked Warspite.

"Yes, we managed to down all of our targets." Warspite said to Hood.

"Excellent." Hood said to Warspite.

They managed to get them all, which was quite easy, but it might have to do with something with the fact that William is unarmed and unwilling to fight them…speaking of the man, Hood kneeled down beside William as she flipped his body around to see William laid down with a closed eye. She smiled as she stared at his face before she shook him, when she got no reaction, she decided to be a little cheeky and proceed to pinch his cheek while she smiled.

"Lord William, you can stop playing dead." Hood said to William while she smiled.

"Hehehe…Alright, alright. I'm up…Come on ladies, it's apparent that we lost." William said out loud after he chuckled.

The downed ship girls groaned as they stood up while being helped by the others, Belfast pulled Edinburgh up who fixed her glasses while she commented to 'go easier on her' the next time they did this which Belfast responded while she shrugged as she smiled. Queen Elizabeth and Warspite argued regarding her getting shot in the butt, now the Queen would have a hard time to sit without flinching from the red spot on her right butt cheeks to which Warspite apologized for she didn't know where else to shoot her without hurting her. Victorious ranted at Formidable for using fully automatic fire on close range which got some paint on her hair, the lady only cheekily and halfheartedly apologized as she stuck out her tongue at Victorious. Illustrious got up while she commented that the back shot hurt quite a bit despite the protective vest they used, Belfast smiled as she comforted Illustrious that she didn't take a headshot because she knows how troublesome it is to have paint on her hair.

…Yup, everyone is currently playing a military simulation game in which they use some real guns to shoot specialized paint bullets. Each of them wore protective vest and ballistic glasses to cover their body and eyes, William was the only one who didn't carry a gun because he originally served as team instructor until someone started an argument and to settle it, they decided to have a match. Since many capable warriors are on Hood's team, William opted to go with Illustrious and that fired up the girls on Hood's team to take them down…harshly.

"Milord, you're being too lenient on us. I know you can shoot everyone down by yourself pretty easily." Hood said to William.

"It won't be a fair fight if I involve myself, wouldn't it? The purpose of this is to give you ladies some experience in handling guns." William said to Hood while he shrugged.

"But I believe we took that brief play and turned it into a role play that went too seriously near the end." Queen Elizabeth said to William while she folded her arms.

"On that we can agree." William said to Queen Elizabeth while he smiled.

William and the Royal Navy ship girls returned to Heaven's Guard after that, they walked back as they occasionally talked with each other. When they arrived there, they were greeted by Lucas and Lena, who watched on how they were doing through the video cameras and drones set up around the forest. Both of them wanted to see how the ship girls handled firearms, and so far, they are proven to be quite decent. Sure, their firing stances and how they handled their guns seems to be awkward, but their accuracy? Boy, since many of them had to aim their cannons with their riggings, the ship girls are proven to be quite accurate with the guns…with a bit of training, they will be able to use human firearms when the situation needs it. Who knows what will happen in the future, so Lucas and Lena thought it's a good idea to train them in this area too.

"Hey, that was a lousy pretending act you put up there." Lucas commented at William.

"That noticeable huh?" William asked Lucas while he cringed.

"Of course. Anyway, it would seem that this place has become so crowded." Lucas said to William as he turned around.

"Eagle Union would also like to try the milsim, High Commander." Enterprise said to Lucas.

"So would the Ironbloods." Bismarck said to Lucas.

Some Eagle Union and Ironblood ship girls have arrived at Heaven's Guard, they wanted to try their hands on handling infantry guns, and they've heard that William is currently in the building. Lucas and William looked around toward the ship girls who were inspecting the guns enthusiastically. Lucas thought that they do have an interest in ground warfare and just like that an idea popped in his head…Oh this is going to be good one, Lucas couldn't help but to smile widely at his own ingenious idea.

"…Wait a second…Will, Lena, I have a plan." Lucas said to William and Lena.

"This would either be so brilliant or so fucked up." Lena said to William.

"You're right on that account. Why don't we show these ladies why you two were my handpicked choices back then during the formation of Task Force Nimbus?" Lucas said out loud while he grinned.

"…You want Lena and I to face the combination of girls from Eagle Union, Royal Navy, and Ironblood?" William asked Lucas with cocked eyebrows.

"You faced worse." Lucas said to William while he shrugged.

"Can you be more specific?" William asked Lucas with a half-closed eye.

"Operation Ulysses?" Lucas said to William in a questioning tone.

"I got twenty allies at that time!" William said to Lucas with a narrowed gaze.

"We're listening, Lucas." Lena suddenly said to Lucas.

"Lena?" William asked Lena as he turned his head toward her with a questioning gaze.

"Oh come on, don't tell me that's enough to scare you?" Lena asked William while she smirked.

"…No, but-" William said to Lena.

"Wow, a chance to beat a commander in his own expertise?" Hornet asked out loud while she grinned.

"Yeah, it's something we can't miss!" Cleveland said to Hornet while she grinned.

"Oh, we're going to fight the two of them together? Isn't that kind of unfair?" Illustrious wondered out loud.

"Unfair? The both of them are former members of Azur Lane Special Forces Commandos, they'll be fine. It's us that I'm worried about!" Wales said to Illustrious while she folded her arms.

"Lord Bismarck, will you also participate?" Hipper asked Bismarck who's looking at an SG552 assault rifle.

"Ja, I'd like to get some experience in ground warfare." Bismarck said to Hipper while she nodded.

"…Now that I thought about it, this seems like a bad idea for us both." Lena said to William while she cringed.

Lena thought it's a good idea at first, the girls could come at them, and both her alongside William fight them off just like the old days when they are outnumbered and outgunned. But then Lena remembered the fact that the ship girls aren't your ordinary humans, both of them were taught how to kill a human in a hundred possible ways but ship girls? Each of them even has their own gimmicks and fighting all of them available here? What if Prinz used her shields? What if Formidable freezes them in place? What if Sheffield just went gun blazing on their ass? There's just so much that will make this battle harder! Lucas grinned mischievously at the sight of the ship girls seriously contemplating the idea, maybe he should spice it up more.

"Let's make it interesting, shall we? The one faction who beats the two of them will receive some exotic stuff." Lucas said out loud.

"Can you be more specific, High Commander?" Bismarck asked Lucas with an intrigued face.

"Maybe. How about my supply of A5 Grade Meat? A crate of a rare blend of Black Tea that the Royal family gave to me? Or maybe, a crate of Premium Jack Daniels which is always sold out within five seconds it's on sale? Hell, work together to take the two of them down, and I'll hold a barbeque party tonight for all of you. With all of that stuff that I mentioned before…" Lucas said out loud while he grinned.

"Ladies, I can safely say that this cooperation will benefit these three nations of ours." Queen Elizabeth suddenly said to Bismarck and Enterprise.

"I agree, Queen Elizabeth. Shall we hunt those two like there's no tomorrow?" Enterprise asked Bismarck.

"Agreed, let's do our best." Bismarck said to Enterprise while she nodded.

Lucas stared at Lena who's frowning as she looked nervous for once while William had his mouth agape before he facepalmed, dammit he really doesn't want to hurt his ship girls but considering the situation has turned into this? He might not have a choice but to fight. William stole several glances toward the ship girls who looked eager to participate in this event, did they really want to experience the 'what if they're his enemies' scenario?

"Alright, it's settled! Good luck you two, fifteen minutes to prep is enough?" Lucas asked Lena and William while he smiled.

"No, but fine…Ladies, go easy on us alright?" William said out loud to the ship girls while he smiled awkwardly.

"My, I don't think that's possible~" Hood said to William while she smiled.

"Those Jack Daniels will be ours kommandant, prepare yourself~" Prinz said to William while she smiled smugly.

"Nothing screams Eagle Union more than a barbeque with the finest meat. You're going down sir!" Enterprise said to William while she smiled.

"Okay…seems all of you are that determined. Fine, we'll meet you on the battlefield." William said out loud while he shrugged and turned around.

"Hey wait a second!" Lena said out loud while she grabbed William's pants to stop him from moving.

"What?" William asked Lena.

"Lucas, what do we get if we win?" Lena decided to ask Lucas.

William widened his eye in realization, guess he's that eager to show off to the ship girls that he forgot to ask about their rewards if they win. Lena is a bit nervous to be honest, she and William haven't been trained to take down ship girls, but since they are quite human in physical form, she supposed they could treat them as such despite their clear difference in strength.

"Oh, you two? What do you want?" Lucas asked Lena and William.

""Paycheck raises."" Lena and William answered at the same time.

"Jesus! You want to empty Azur Lane's coffers that badly huh?!" Lucas asked both of them while he frowned.

"Do we have a deal?" Lena asked Lucas.

"Five percent?" Lucas asked back toward them.

"Fifteen percent?" William asked Lucas.

"Ten percent, you two are already being paid more than our standard commanders, and that doesn't even include insurance and other benefits!" Lucas said to William while he folded his arms.

"…Ten percent it is, that's a deal for you Lena?" William asked Lena.

"Fine." Lena said out loud.

"We are settled then. Horatio, let's get the ladies sorted out and equipped for those two." Lucas said to Horatio.

"Yessir, I feel bad for you two now." Horatio said to William and Lena while he smiled wryly.

"Don't be, that old fart has pushed us around worse than this impromptu match." Lena said to Horatio while she shrugged.

"Ooh, to my credit, I believe you two could handle it~" Lucas said to Lena and William while he grinned.

"Yeah yeah, bugger off mate. Armory is ours for the next fifteen minutes, shoo!" William said to Lucas as he made a shooing gesture with his hand.

Lucas, Horatio, and the ship girls exited the Heaven's Guard for a quick learning course on the activity. William and Lena nodded toward each other as they immediately split up to gather all of the necessary equipment for the match, they stockpiled the weapons, ammo, and equipment on the aisle. Both Lena and William meet up again as both check on each other's loadout, if they're going to survive an extended hold out then the both of them need to know their equipment and formulate their strategy. They only got fifteen minutes to do this, both of them have to be fast in their preparation.

"…What's the plan, Admiral?" William asked Lena.

"My plan is to snipe them one by one, you?" Lena asked William.

"Guerilla ambush." William said to Lena.

"…I think we'll be able to make this work. Let's use our standard plan and get that raise." Lena said to William.

"If we're going with our standard plan for this situation, judging by the numbers of opposition and terrain means we only miss one thing. Ghillie suit." William said to Lena.

"…I've asked if Watterson has one before, turns out he has the practical one in stock. Easy wear and take off model, it would do nicely." Lena said to William while she smiled.

"Excellent, gear up in five, planning in ten then we book it for the woods." William said to Lena as he nodded his head.

.

The rules for the game are quite simple, the mode they're playing now is elimination which is self-explanatory. If the player is hit anywhere on the torso or the head then they are eliminated, if they get hit in the limbs then they are safe. However, that doesn't mean that using their limbs would still be efficient after getting hit. The rounds they are using are specialized low velocity training rounds with chemical compounds that will harden on the surface and make the impact point numb if it hits flesh. That will simulate gunshot wounds, so getting one on the leg would cause anyone to have a hard time walking. A shot to the head could cause someone to blackout temporarily, and it's allowed because anyone that wants to use the field would have to be properly equipped with armor, in case of a knockout. The others have the option to carry them back to the starting point or leave them be until the round is finished. Players also have the option to surrender, should they wish to stop playing.

Melee weapons are provided in the form of rubber knives which have a paint coating on their blades, if a player got hit in the head or torso with them then they are eliminated. But how about explosives and grenades? They are allowed, though limited into two types only, smoke or paint grenades. Smoke grenades are allowed due to its functionality as temporary cover or a distraction, and it's even less lethal than flashbangs which could still wound or kill someone if handled haphazardly. Paint grenades have the same concoction as the training rounds, so getting hit by one could be an instant inconvenience with how quickly the paint hardened…Fifteen minutes have passed, and the ship girls are currently gearing up inside the Heaven's Guard. All of them were equipped with protective vests, lightweight helmets, and ballistic glasses to protect their eyes. All of them took their preferred weapons and then equipped bandoliers or ammo pouches to store their spare magazines. Lucas and Horatio walked around as they inspected the ship girls preparing themselves, and if there's one who equipped themselves wrongly or awkwardly then both of them would help.

"Alright girls, we've told the rules and basics on how to fight in ground combat. Remember, these two could be ghosts when they want to, so be very cautious and move with a plan. When you cornered them that doesn't mean they will surrender, they are trained to fight even more ferociously when they're cornered, so don't hesitate and fire at them until they're unconscious if you have to. Any questions?" Lucas asked the ship girls out loud.

"Sir, how to down them the quickest?" Enterprise asked Lucas as she raised her hand.

"Headshot would do the trick, though I doubt they'll let you target their heads. Alright, get out there and good luck…all of you will be stuck with two lethal terminators until either of you is eliminated." Lucas said to the ship girls.

The ship girls proceeded to go outside and entered the vast forested area marked with tall fences as the playground border, they stopped by the entrance to discuss many things including their plan, while Lucas and Horatio watched from afar. The owner of Heaven's Guard stared at Lucas, the man must've done this because there's something he wanted to know about the ship girls, even he could figure out that much. But what? What did he want to know? Is he curious about their performance with infantry weapons? Is he curious about their teamwork? Or could he be curious regarding the difference in their method of fighting on water compared to on land to see if they could adapt? There's just so many possibilities, and Lucas doesn't seem willing to talk about what's on his mind.

"That doesn't serve well to boost their morale sir." Horatio commented on Lucas' words.

"That's not my intention at all, Horatio, I simply warned them to take even more caution." Lucas said to Horatio.

"I see…Let's watch through the cameras, they're moving out." Horatio said to Lucas.

The ship girls are done with their little meeting, and they are moving deeper toward the playground. All of them moved while staying close to one another with weapons at the ready in case William or Lena ambushed them, which is a very high possibility. Enterprise carried her M16 while she scanned the surrounding area for any signs of movement, there's a rustling near the bush which prompted the ship girls to stop before it revealed to be a little bunny just passing by. Enterprise sighed a bit in relief before she continued to lead the others, so far so good.

"Stay in formation and stay calm everyone, don't let them spook you." Enterprise said out loud.

"You sure gathering like this is the best thing to do? The arena is quite vast, if we split up, we could cover more ground easier." Cleveland asked Enterprise.

"Splitting up is the first mistake we could do here. We are less trained than them regarding ground combat, we'll be easy pickings if we split up. Numbers are our primary advantage, rain enough rounds at their position, and eventually one or two will strike them." Hood said to Cleveland.

"Hood is right, stay close and watch our surroundings." Bismarck said out loud.

Cleveland nodded in understanding then returned to keep watch on the ship girls' left flank while gripping her M4A1 tightly in her hands. She saw something black in the distance, and Cleveland looked through her ACOG scope toward it. After inspecting it for a bit, she noted that what she saw was nothing but a bird. Seriously though, Cleveland believed that one of them would go down before they could find William or Lena…Cleveland kept walking until she felt a small tug on her cape, Cleveland looked back to see Helena stared at her with a face indicating that she had something to say.

"…What is it, Helena?" Cleveland asked Helena.

"Um, can I try using my SG to locate them?" Helena asked Cleveland.

"Isn't that forbidden?" Nelson asked Helena from their right.

"No, none of them ever mentioned that we are forbidden from using our own abilities in this match." Wales said to Nelson, she widened her eyes in realization.

"Really? Then let's not waste any more time! Helena, use it!" Cleveland said to Helena while she grinned.

"Scanning now." Helena said out loud.

"Alright, stay put everyone." Enterprise said out loud.

The ship girls take cover behind the trees, bushes, or rocks, they will wait for the result of Helena's SG radar scan. All of them realized that William or Lena didn't request them to not use their abilities, which means they could fully utilize them as long as they didn't deploy their riggings! Many of them thought it's a fair trade off considering the vast difference of their experiences, Helena closed her eyes as she fully concentrated to scan the area around them in order to locate William and Lena while the other ship girls watched their surroundings.

"Could SG detect humans?" Hipper asked Cleveland.

"She could detect ship girls, though I don't know if it will work on a human." Cleveland said to Hipper while she shrugged.

"…Sorry, my tracking capabilities are quite limited." Helena said to the ship girls.

"Is it not working?" Bismarck asked Helena.

"N-Not exactly. I can't pinpoint their position, I do detect something around two hundred meters somewhere to our left, but I can't figure out what it is." Helena said to Bismarck while she fidgeted a bit.

"It's better than nothing, let's move." Bismarck said out loud.

At least now they got some direction to follow, around two hundred meters to their left? It means whatever it is that Helena detected is located near the center of this playground. The group moved again, and they moved at a bit faster pace. They spread around for a bit to maximize their search area while still moving closely to one another, so they could respond quickly when one of them found something…or got hit. Duke of York twitched a bit as she felt something she's awfully familiar with, the sense of being gazed at by a predator who thought they could make an easy meal out of her…too bad, those who do usually ended up obliterated by her cannons or slashed apart by her obsidian longsword.

"Halt!" Duke suddenly said out loud.

"What is it, York?" Hood asked Duke curiously.

"We're close, I can feel it…I can sense his hungry gaze on me." Duke said out loud while she grinned.

"What the hell is she talking about?" Hornet asked out loud with cocked eyebrows.

"Trust me, when she senses something? She means it." Wales said to Hornet with a serious face.

Duke scanned the whole area; she eyed every single detail in the scenery around them before finally focusing on a few bushes that had grown near each other. She narrowed her eyes before her pointy ears heard something, in a split-second Duke of York tilted her head to the left and something whizzed past her, brushing against her pink hair and hit the tree behind her, which caused the other girls to take cover, while Duke of York grinned predatorily as she's not affected in the slightest. Bismarck noted that there's a blue paint splatter on the tree beside her, it's obviously the bullet that William and Lena used since they used the red ones!

"Get down everyone!" Bismarck shouted to the ship girls.

"Fine attempt, milord. But thy bloodlust art noticeable…He's in front of us in those bushes!" Duke said out loud as she pointed toward the bush in front of her.

"OPEN FIRE!" Enterprise shouted her command.

TRATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

Around forty ship girls fired their firearms simultaneously at the bushes which Duke of York had pointed at, the bushes shook heavily as hundreds of rounds flew through it to the point many of their parts were cut off by the bullet rain. Enterprise reloaded her M16, and she's about to fire again when she noticed that the bushes had been torn up so bad that they practically aren't a bush anymore, she didn't see anything inside or behind the bush, and that means William must've already bailed out and ran.

"Hold you fire everyone! Hold! Fire!" Enterprise shouted to the ship girls who then stopped firing.

"I'll go check the bush!" Hipper said out loud as she moved.

"Go, we got you covered!" Warspite said to Hipper.

Hipper walked forward with her MP5 at the ready, she walked closer to the remains of the bush while she constantly scanned the area around her for any sign of William or Lena, who might ambush her if any of them got too close. She's close enough to the bush, and she noted that there is no way these remains could hide a person, William is gone. But he did leave a hint that he was there, Hipper crouched down and picked up an Mk14 Enhanced Battle Rifle equipped with a suppressor and sniper scope.

"He was here." Hipper said to the ship girls as she showed them the Mk14 she picked up.

"I told you so." Duke said to the others while she smiled.

"Wow…Duke of York's sense is pretty useful to hunt them down." Cleveland said out loud while she grinned.

"Thank you, however I can't always sense him. Don't rely on thy senses too much." Duke said to Cleveland while she smiled.

"She's right. So, what can we do?" Victorious asked out loud.

"Track the footprints…There are two of them which means both Kommandant William and Admiral Helena were here." Hipper said to the ship girls.

"Alright…Bel, take the lead and pursue them." Queen Elizabeth said to Belfast.

"As you command, your majesty. Maid corps, move out!" Belfast said out loud as she alongside the maids moved to follow the footprints.

Belfast alongside the maids quickly spread out and followed the footprints on the ground, she smiled before she and the maids broke into a chasing sprint with weapons in hand…William and Lena sprint as fast as they could, after running for quite some distance both of them looked back and noted that the ship girls haven't caught up to them yet. Both of them stopped running to catch their breath and took up position at another bush, because they are wearing ghillie suits they are able to blend in with the bush seamlessly. Lena took out her M4A1 equipped with a red dot sight, suppressor, and underbarrel grenade launcher. William got the same weapon and configuration as Lena, both of them loaded a smoke grenade into their underbarrel launcher.

"…Shite, I was right. That woman is bad news!" William said to Lena.

"What does she mean by bloodlust anyway? How could she feel one?! This isn't an anime!" Lena said to William as she stared at him.

"Doesn't matter, we're going with Plan B now, and I hope this one work!" William said to Lena.

Both William and Lena saw Belfast and several other maids from behind the trees, and that caused the both of them to immediately go silent, seeing Belfast and the others were the first one to give chase caused William to sweat in nervousness. Why, do you ask? Well, the maid corps are among the keenest eyed and attentive ship girls he knew, so if there's anything amiss, they will immediately notice! What are the chances they will notice the ghillie suit even amongst the thick bushes? Very likely! William just hoped that Belfast won't go 'Sakuya Izayoi' mode and start throwing torpedoes at him…Oh wait, that's not allowed in here, but she could still do something like that with a grenade!

"They found us?!" Lena whispered to William.

"Our tracks on the ground, they must've followed those!" William whispered to Lena.

"They're more adept in ground combat than I expected!" Lena whispered to William.

"Their superhuman quirks do help them a lot I think…In any case, we have to start thinning their numbers down quickly. Shame that I lost the battle rifle." William whispered to Lena.

"Let's just smoke them when they're in range, and try not to stare at Duke of York this time!" Lena whispered to William.

"Yeah yeah, just ready the launcher. They'll be here any moment!" William whispered to Lena.

The maids are closing in on them, fortunately for both William and Lena the maids passed by their bush without giving it much of a look. Unfortunately? Since the tracks stopped a few meters away from the bushes, the maids stopped giving chase and opted to look around for any signs of them. Things turned for the worse, however, as the other girls caught up, and now William and Lena are stuck in the middle of them, which means with each passing second the chances of their cover being blown is increasing.

"Ready?" Lena whispered to William.

"Wait for it." William whispered to Lena.

"Any closer, and we could kiss them." Lena whispered to William.

"Trust the ghillie suit a bit more will you?" William whispered to Lena.

"I heard some whispers around here." Hood said out loud.

"Whispers?" Enterprise asked Hood.

"Yes, somewhere close. Very close." Hood said out loud as she readied her Vector.

"Go." William whispered to Lena.

BOOM!

BOOM!

PSSSSHHHHHH!

William and Lena threw two fast reacting smoke grenades then used their underbarrel launchers to launch additional smoke grenades, the result is the entire area with the ship girls and them is covered in thick smoke, which served them well to get away...but that's not what William and Lena had in mind. As soon as the ship girls were coughing and confused, both William and Lena sprung out of the bush they were hiding with weapons at the ready as both of them started shooting the vulnerable ship girls one by one. Hornet fell first after her back got hit twice, Illustrious followed after her as her chest got splashed with three paint rounds. Bismarck alongside Tirpitz, Gneisenau, and Scharnhorst put their backs against each other as their first attempt to guard each other, but when it's apparent they're losing too much manpower based on the sounds of suppressed weapon fire and the constant yelping of the other ship girls? It's time to fall back and reorganize.

"Get out of the smoke!" Bismarck said out loud.

The ship girls heard the order, and they immediately ran or jumped away from the smoke. They exited the smoke and calmed their breathing first. The smoke started to fade out, and the ship girls readied their weapons, but they only found many ship girls on the ground with one or two paint splatters on their vests. But among them they saw two bushes 'running' away from the area, two bushes carrying M4A1s. The ship girls were confused at first at what they were seeing, but it was clear that the two bushes were William and Lena, so they immediately opened fire at them.

"There they are!" Victorious said out loud.

"What are they wearing? Camouflage suits?!" Cleveland asked out loud.

"They're like walking bushes! No wonder we couldn't see them hiding!" Wales said out loud.

"Give chase! Don't lose them!" Bismarck said out loud as she started to move.

Paint bullets flew around William and Lena as they ran further into the woods, they ran as fast as they could while they zig zagged around the trees to avoid the bullets coming from their backs. The ship girls behind them aren't afraid to waste an entire magazine to shoot them. William and Lena knew they wouldn't last long if they just kept running, so they had to start fighting again because even after their first ambush, the ship girls are still numerous. After several bullets whizzed beside his ears, William saw some large rock formation in front of them, and he immediately thought that it would be suitable for a temporary hold out.

"Damn, those girls are fast! Near the rock Lena, we'll make a stand!" William said to Lena.

"Agreed!" Lena said to William.

Both of them jumped above and then hid behind the rocks, they made sure to have fresh magazines inserted before both of them nodded to each other, then showed up from behind the rock as they opened fire at the chasing ship girls. The girls were quite surprised since they thought both of them would run a little further before making a stand, that surprise offense caused three ship girls to get hit. Victorious and Formidable hid behind the trees as they prepared to shoot at William's head, however, their body features like their long hair gave away their position easily, and he launched a paint grenade from his underbarrel launcher toward them thus coating them in a thick blue paint.

"Eeehhh! Yuck! This is going to be a pain in the arse to clean!" Formidable said out loud as she looked at one of her ponytails which is coated in blue paint.

"Oh no! My clothes!" Victorious said out loud as she stared at her stained clothes in horror.

"Nice try ladies!" William shouted at Formidable and Victorious while he grinned.

"Come and get us girls! Dinner is served!" Lena shouted to the ship girls while she grinned.

…This is a lot more fun than Lena expected! Honestly, she's worried that the ship girls would kick their ass easily, since they are outnumbered forty to one, and they are basically superhuman, but it turns out they're quite awkward in handling firearms. They are not that cohesive, and they are less prone to using cover which makes them easy pickings! That's something William would have to teach them later down the line, they need to be taught in ground combat since no one knows what will happen in the future…Lena saw a grenade flying toward them, so she grabbed her M4A1 in reverse and swung it toward the grenade, the butt stock connected with the grenade and it flew toward Cleveland, Helena, and Wales which caused the three of them to dive into nearby cover as the grenade exploded.

"Sheesh! Those two can hold us off quite easily?! How in the bloody hell did they manage to do that!?" Wales asked out loud as she reloaded her L85A3.

"I don't know! But-" Nelson was about to say something before she got hit on the head and fell to the ground.

"This isn't going to work! Any ideas?!" Scharnhorst asked out loud before she fired her HK416.

"Shield screen might work." Gneisenau said to Scharnhorst.

"Great idea schwester! You hear that Eugen? Hipper?" Scharnhorst asked them both.

"I suppose." "Fine, but you better cover us!" Prinz and Hipper said to Scharnhorst.

"Lord Bismarck! Hipper and Eugen are moving out!" Gneisenau said to Bismarck.

"Ja! Everyone! Cover fire! Hipper and Eugen are advancing!" Bismarck shouted to the other ship girls.

The ship girls worked in tandem as they fired relentlessly at the rocks William and Lena used as cover which was already painted in red with how many rounds impacted it. The girls fired and reloaded in turns, so they managed to pin William and Lena from returning fire. William smiled a bit; it looks like the girls are learning well in this activity. William then peeked out to see both Hipper and Prinz advancing slowly toward their position with their energy shields deployed and MP5s in hand, well if plasma bolts and shells didn't work against them then don't expect for their paint bullets to do a damn thing! Seeing the situation William only has one conclusion, Plan C.

"Prinz and Hipper?! Bollocks! Lena, get ready to move, and let's use some live cover!" William said to Lena as he reloaded his M4A1.

"A bit scummy but oh well, desperate times require desperate measures!" Lena said to William.

"Give it up, kommandant! We have you surrounded!" Bismarck shouted at William.

"Oh great! We don't have to aim then!" William shouted out loud while he grinned.

"…Huh, she doesn't know why we always manage to get out of holdout situations?" Lena asked William.

"She's about to find out. Let's snatch our shields! Smoke out!" William said to Lena.

Both William and Lena appeared from their cover at the same time as they fired their underbarrel launchers equipped with smoke rounds, the area was covered in thick smoke once more, and that included Prinz and Hipper. The ship girls would've fired blindly were it not for those two being there, and that's exactly why William and Lena fired at Prinz and Hipper. The blinding smoke immediately isolated them from the rest of the ship girls. William and Lena immediately sprinted out of their cover toward Prinz and Hipper, who weren't surprised that they got rushed at but still couldn't be able to properly defend themselves due to the lightning quick movement of both former commandos. They disarmed the two girls by taking away their weapons, turned them around, then held them from behind as they basically held them hostage while they retreated out from the thick smoke with human shields.

"Guh! Can't help yourself huh~?" Prinz asked William while she smiled smugly.

"You know it." William answered while he grinned.

The smoke cleared and the ship girls could see clearly again, but they were surprised to see that William and Lena didn't only run away, but also take their vanguard as human shields. The ship girls knew they were not that experienced in handling firearms, they didn't want to risk hitting Prinz or Hipper, so they gave a slow chase as they tried to flank the two of them since their sides were vulnerable. But they couldn't get too close, both former commandos had their sidearms in one of their hands as a deterrent, and they're not afraid to shoot at any ship girls who are getting too close.

"What?! Human shields are scummy tactics!" Warspite said to William and Lena.

"All is fair in love and war ladies!" Lena shouted at them while she grinned.

"Well, she's got a point." Hood said to Warspite while she frowned.

Both William and Lena kept retreating while holding Prinz and Hipper hostage as they occasionally fired at the ship girls who were trying to flank them, both of them kept retreating until they could hear the sound of water streams, and that's when they knew that it's the time to execute Plan C. Plan B is a high-risk ambush in case they are detected, Plan C is basically being a ghost once more before picking them off one by one from a distance, and the quickest way to do that? Use the river that runs through the playground they're on.

"The river, we made it!" Lena said to William.

"Will, I don't mind you holding me like this, but could you ease up a bit from grinding my butt?" Prinz said to William while she looked back at him.

"Huh?! In the middle of combat like this?! You're a schwein, kommandant!" Hipper said to William while she scowled.

"Not my intention in the slightest, Hipper!" William said to Hipper while he frowned.

"You sure? I can sense your 'sword' getting bigger~" Prinz said to William while she smiled.

"Sorry, physiological warfare won't work on me!" William said to Prinz as he fired at Belfast who got too close to him.

"Time to go Will! Plan C!" Lena said to William.

"Right! Danke, Prinz." William said to Prinz then gave her a quick peck on her right cheek.

BANG!

BANG!

SPLASH!

SPLASH!

Both William and Lena reached the edge of the river, they took deep breaths, shoved Prinz and Hipper forward, shot them in the back before they jumped toward the river and dived as deep as they could to the bottom of the river. A few ship girls like Wales, Belfast, Cleveland, Enterprise, Scharnhorst, and Tirpitz jumped toward the river surface, summoned their rigging and floated above it as they searched for any sign of William or Lena. But the water isn't crystal clear, and it's quite deep so they couldn't see them. It looks like both William and Lena thought of everything when they heard they're going to fight them.

"Bloody fucking dammit! We were so close!" Wales said out loud before she sighed.

"Helena! Quick, find out where they are going!" Enterprise said to Helena who stayed on the edge of the river.

"O-On it!" Helena said to Enterprise.

"How many did we lose?" Enterprise asked out loud.

"More than half of our numbers were down during the smoke ambush and that last firefight, there's only around fifteen of us left." Bismarck said to Enterprise.

"Hah…So this is the feeling of facing Master William and Admiral Lena in real combat…They don't hold back." Belfast said out loud as she reloaded her MP7.

"High Commander Lucas was right." Tirpitz said out loud.

…He was right, the more they cornered Lena and William the more ferocious they got. They seem to give this combat situation some predictive thought because each step the ship girls take to take them down? They lost their numbers and quickly, it's like they knew how this battle would go. Bismarck silently walked back toward the edge of the river where Hipper and Prinz were being helped by Gneisenau and Hood, Hipper was caressing her back while Prinz laid down on the ground as she held her helmet cladded head.

"Eugen, how are you feeling?" Bismarck asked Prinz.

"…Ugh…so dizzy…" Prinz said to Bismarck in a low tone.

"Take your time, once you feel strong enough, head back to Heaven's guard." Bismarck said to Prinz.

"…Jawohl…" Prinz said to Bismarck in a low tone.

"How about you, Hipper?" Bismarck asked Hipper as she stared at them.

"I'm quite fine…I'll bring Eugen with me once I can walk properly, just go and hunt them down." Hipper said to Bismarck before she crouched as she caressed her back side.

"Alright…" Bismarck said to Hipper.

"Found anything yet, Helena?" Enterprise asked Helena.

"Yes, they're heading to our right." Helena said to Enterprise.

"Wait, isn't that upstream?" Warspite asked out loud.

"Doesn't matter, round up anyone left and let's go! That tea will be ours!" Queen Elizabeth said out loud.

The ship girls left to the right side with everyone that could still fight, Hipper helped Prinz up before she shouldered her as they walked back to Heaven's guard. Unknown to everyone else, William has his head out of the water behind the large river rocks as he listens to what the ship girls are saying. Looks like their plan worked, shame they don't have radios on them because oh boy this would be a hell lot easier. The man smirked as he noted that Prinz and Hipper had left their position, William swam back to the shore and proceeded to move following the ship girls…Somewhere farther from William's position, Lena took a short break after swimming for some distance upstream. She's so close to the border as she hid behind a tree with the playground's fence in front of her, she's on the edge of the map.

"Hah…hah…shit, I don't think it'll be easy but still…" Lena muttered to herself.

That was quite intense, she had confidence that William and her could take them all on, but it would seem that's not the case…So, despite their overall lack of experience, they are still formidable opponents to fight against which Lena found the hard way. Lena's right arm felt a bit stiff, and it was then she realized that she got hit on the upper right arm, so some of them did manage to land a lucky shot on her. William should be following them from behind right about now, if their assumption with Helena was on point then she has to prepare for some company. Just as she thought that Lena heard something fall beside her, she looked down only to find an armed paint grenade coming to rest beside her.

"Oh motherfu-" Lena said out loud.

BOOM!

"…Seriously?!" Lena asked out loud.

"We found you quite easily, Madam Lena." Belfast said to Lena out loud.

"Ah shit, the Maid Corps is their vanguard? Again!?" Lena muttered to herself.

Lena peeked out from the new tree she took cover on after she rolled out from the previous one which is now covered in red paint. The ship girls' vanguard is the maid corps again, but their numbers dwindled to just four of them this time. There's Belfast, Edinburgh, Sheffield, and Suffolk that took up positions behind the trees. If Lena felt lucky and tried to shift cover, there's a good chance that she'll get gunned down instead…Looks like she has to fight them directly, Lena peeked out from her cover and noticed that they split up with Belfast and Sheffield approaching from the right, while Suffolk and Edinburgh approached from the left. Lena loaded another paint grenade into her launcher, she knew who she was going to eliminate first. She appeared from behind the trees, Lena then launched a grenade at Suffolk and Edinburgh.

BOOM!

"Ugh…so sticky!" Edinburgh said out loud.

"Sheffield, let's go!" Belfast said to Sheffield.

"Understood." Sheffield said to Belfast.

Belfast and Sheffield sprinted at lighting speed toward Lena who fired her M4A1 at them in full auto as her response, however, none of the rounds connected, which resulted in the two maids quickly splitting up and approaching from her sides. The two of them didn't even use their hand guns, both had the rubber knives out. Lena smirked, close quarter combat? Well, it's been a while since she got to experience it. Lena took out her own knife and blocked a swing from Sheffield, she used her right leg to horse kick Belfast, who managed to protect herself by crossing her arms in front of her face. Belfast staggered backwards, and that gave Lena the opportunity to focus on Sheffield for a few seconds. Sheffield quickly goes on the offensive again, and this time she jumps high for an aerial kick to the head. Lena was about to defend herself until she saw something from underneath Sheffield's maid skirt, she saw a pretty hairless slit of a woman being exposed for the world to see…

"What the fu-" Lena said out loud with a surprised face.

BUAK!

Lena got kicked hard in the face, she flew backwards, dropped her M4A1, rolled a bit, and came to a stop when she hit a tree…Lena groaned a bit and cussed because she's distracted, so what if Sheffield went commando? That's her choice to wear panties or not! Lena quickly got up because Belfast dived toward her with a knife thrusting at her chest, she managed to get away by rolling while she grabbed her fallen rubber knife coated in blue paint from the ground. Lena set her stance, she's going to fight two ship girls at once in close quarter combat…Man, she should've packed a SMG or something because she could definitely use one right now. Lena quickly dashed forward toward Belfast who's ready for her, Lena threw her knife toward Belfast which she dodged quite easily, but it gave her an opening as Lena continued to dash toward Sheffield who's taking out her dual Glock 18's. Before she could fire however, Lena managed to grab her hands first, eject the magazines, and took out the slides which rendered her Glocks useless.

"Tch!" Sheffield clicked her tongue as she took out her knife as she jumped back.

Belfast closed in on Lena from behind with a knife on her hand, Sheffield also dashed forward as the two of them closed in for pincer attack. Lena smirked a bit as she thought which one that she will take out first? Sheffield closed in on Lena faster than Belfast, both of them had knives, and thus Lena made her choice…She dodged Sheffield's blade then grabbed her wrist as she slid her feet, used her right shoulder, and judo throw her toward the ground. Belfast jumped above Sheffield and performed a downwards strike, Lena managed to do the same, however, as she used her left hand to grab on to Belfast's right hand, used her right hand to grab her by the neck before she slammed the head maid to the ground.

"Guh!" Belfast grunted as she landed harshly.

Sheffield quickly recovered, and she lunged at Lena, who immediately noticed her when she heard her footsteps from the side. Lena walked backwards with hands at the ready as she dodged or deflected Sheffield's bladed attacks by hitting her wrist or forearms. Lena watched as Belfast made her recovery, and she ran to Lena's right side, they're still using pincer tactics? Well, it's effective when Lena's got nothing to use…Or did she? While she defended herself from two lightning-fast melee attacks, Lena managed to unpin one of her smoke grenades which activated a few seconds later and created a thick cloud of smoke.

"You ladies are pretty good. But unfortunately, I am better~" Lena said out loud while she grinned.

Time to finish this fight, Lena quickly dashed toward Sheffield who heard her footsteps and set her own defensive posture. Lena launched several jabs to Sheffield's stomach before her left hand grabbed Sheffield's right hand. Lena choked Sheffield with her right hand, put her right foot behind Sheffield and pushed her hard. That resulted in Sheffield losing her footing thus allowing Lena to slam her down to the ground, while at the same time stealing her knife. Sheffield was about to recover, but she couldn't do so because split seconds later her rubber knife was jammed at her vest, thus marking her out of the fight.

"Oh well…" Sheffield muttered to herself as she stared at the red spot on her vest.

Belfast used the opportunity to close in on Lena, who heard Belfast's footsteps then rolled forward to avoid her. She turned around, but she widened her eyes because Belfast was already very close to her position, and her attack was imminent. Belfast used her knife to diagonally slash Lena twice, but she frowned because Lena used her own arms to protect herself. Lena took the risky move, so she could close in on her and having her arms harder to use is a fair price. Lena ducked, getting in too close to Belfast as she prepared Sheffield's knife in her right hand, then she dashed forward as she strikes Belfast at the same time…Belfast widened her eyes as she looked down, there's a huge horizontal red slash mark below her waist, and it extended all the way to her sides. If that's a real knife, Belfast would've been disemboweled right now…

"Oh no, my uniform." But she's worried more about her maid uniform which got dirty because of the paint.

"Hah, wow…I haven't had a close quarter fight in a long time." Lena commented as she stood up.

Belfast stared at Lena who picked up her fallen M4A1 then reloaded it, she walked over to Sheffield and offered her hand, which Sheffield took and helped her stand up. Belfast noted that Lena's fighting style is quite simple, but there's something else that makes her very deadly: her agility and speed. She's not that strong, Belfast could still block her kick, and she only staggered for a bit instead of falling to the ground. But she kicked her so quickly it stunned her for a bit, her nimble fingers were quick enough to disarm Sheffield by dismantling her gun precisely, and she used Belfast's and Sheffield's attack momentum then used it on them for a throw. Lena precisely knew how her enemies will strike, she anticipates or downright predicts how they will strike her…Based on what she saw, William fought with raw strength, ferocity, and intimidating sure-kill hits, while Lena fought with agility, speed, and lethal precision…Belfast kind of understand why the two work so well with each other…She can't imagine how their enemies are feeling when they face them in close quarter fights.

"To be frank, you two are quite amazing. I am rarely cornered during a close-range fight, so I'm impressed, Belfast, Sheffield." Lena said to both of them while she smiled.

"We thank you for the praise, admiral." Belfast said to Lena while she smiled and bowed.

"I must go now. See you two later." Lena said to them as she walked away.

SPLAT!

"Guh!" Lena grunted as she staggered forward.

"I reckon you didn't see that coming, didn't you? All this time we were fighting, we realized that the rest of the ladies had arrived. You're too absorbed with the both of us." Belfast said to Lena while she smirked.

"Well played, Bel…well played." Lena said to Belfast while she smiled wryly.

There's a huge blue paint splat at Lena's backside, using a ghillie suit while being in the open forested area without bushes is quite counter-productive. Lena sighed as she sheathed her M4A1, she lost and well, she could only blame herself for being less attentive because she thought she had won against the maids. She looked behind Belfast and Sheffield to see Warspite crouching with William's Mk14 and Hood approaching Lena with her Vector in hand, Warspite found out that scope did make it easy for accurate shots. Perhaps she should install a scope on her rigging? She's the holder for the longest accurate confirmed shot in history, it'll be easy to repeat that feat if she has spotting equipment like a scope…But then again, she doesn't really need one as she can make long range shot just fine.

"Good afternoon, Lena." Hood said to Lena while she smiled.

"Afternoon Hood, lovely weather, isn't it?" Lena said to Hood as she leaned on the tree behind her.

"Agreed. Do you mind telling me where Lord William is currently hiding? He hasn't shown up yet, so that means you two splits up back on the river." Hood said to Lena while she smiled.

"Ah…no I won't." Lena said to Hood while she shrugged.

"I thought so." Hood said to Lena while she smiled somberly.

"Oh, you better be prepared for him though. He'll show up, and he's going to mess with you ladies." Lena said to Hood while she smiled smugly.

"Thank you for the advice…Belfast, are you alright?" Hood said to Lena then asked Belfast.

"Just dirty clothes Hood, I'll be fine." Belfast said to Hood while she smiled.

"Sheffield?" Hood asked Sheffield who dusted her clothes.

"I'm fine as well, Edinburgh and Suffolk are the ones you should be concerned about." Sheffield said to Hood.

"I think we're going to need a long and squeaky bath." Edinburgh said to Hood as she approached her while she smiled.

"I see, you better do just that. Don't want to miss tonight's party, am I right?" Hood asked Edinburgh while she smiled.

"Yes, you're right. Shall we go now?" Edinburgh asked the maids.

"Head on ahead, sister." Belfast said to them.

"Alright Bel. Let's go Suffolk, Sheffield." Edinburgh said to both of them.

Edinburgh, Suffolk, and Sheffield left the area to head back to their respective rooms, so they could take a bath and change into fresh clean clothes. Hood bid goodbye to Lena, and Belfast as she returned toward the waiting ship girls. They're honestly still in disbelief because they managed to take out Lena that easily…But that's the harsh thing about any fight, you could be someone very skilled, and you could get taken down in one move because of ignorance, carelessness, or just plain bad luck…Hood approached Queen Elizabeth, Bismarck, and Enterprise who looked like they're just done discussing something, Queen Elizabeth then stared at Hood curiously.

"Well?" Queen Elizabeth asked Hood.

"He's not here, and I believe her words, he would've intervened if he's nearby." Hood said to Queen Elizabeth.

"I see. What do you think he will do, Hood?" Bismarck asked Hood.

"…I think he'll try to stab us in the back as we lower our guard, just like what we did with Mrs. Lena…" Hood said to Bismarck while she frowned.

"The maid corps is down, it's eleven of us now. What should we do?" Enterprise asked out loud.

"Let Lord William come to us." Queen Elizabeth said to Enterprise.

"What makes you so sure of that?" Bismarck asked Queen Elizabeth.

"It's just as Hood said, Lord William will strike when we lower our guard. Judging his actions in the past, he prefers to be the attacker compared to the defender. So, let's give him what he wants." Queen Elizabeth said to Bismarck while she grinned.

…The ship girls left the area not long after leaving only Lena and Belfast still standing there, around a minute after the ship girls left, Lena and Belfast heard some footsteps approaching from their right side. William walked with the M4A1 on his shoulder, his eye briefly scanning the area around to make sure the ship girls truly left and only two of them remained in the area. William stopped in front of Lena and Belfast, looks like he arrived too late to help Lena.

"Kept you waiting huh?" William asked Lena while he grinned.

"That sentence loses its cool points when you arrive too late, you wussy snake." Lena said to William with half closed eyes.

"Sorry about that, were you the one who shot her Belfast?" William asked Belfast.

"No master, it wasn't me." Belfast said to William.

"She and Sheffield are the ones who cornered me in close quarters though, they're quite good. If they had their rigging I would've died." Lena said to William while she leaned on the tree.

"Well done, Bel. I'm impressed…Head back Lena, I'll settle this match." William said to Belfast then to Lena.

"Want my ammo?" Lena asked William.

"Yeah, any remaining grenades too." William said to Lena.

"Good luck, avenge me~" Lena said to William while she grinned.

"Count on it." William said to Lena while he smiled.

Lena handed William her ammo pouch filled with spare M4A1 magazines and grenades, he's the last man standing, so he's going to need all the ammo he could get. Lena then left the area ahead which leaves William alone with Belfast, the maid stared at her master who was busy fitting his newly acquired ammo into the pouches. He seems to have some difficulty because of how many there are so Belfast approached him, she helped put the remaining magazines in the rear pouch before storing the grenades in his side pouch on his belt attachment. After she's done, Belfast takes out her MP7 and hands it to William who doesn't seem to mind having another gun to use.

"You sure?" William asked Belfast.

"I'm sure. The rules didn't say anything about handing in your weapon." Belfast said to William while she smiled.

"Thanks Bel." William said to Belfast while he smiled.

"Don't mention it…I'm heading back now, master." Belfast said to William while she smiled.

"Take care." William said to Belfast who bowed a bit before catching up to Lena.

…William stealthily sprinted following the direction where the ship girls left, he managed to catch up to them near the river again. There's eleven of them remaining: Bismarck, Enterprise, Queen Elizabeth, Prince of Wales, Hood, Cleveland, Helena, Gneisenau, Scharnhorst, Tirpitz, and Pennsylvania…Hmm, they're quite formidable, and they moved in close formation. William could've strafed them with thirty bullets in his M4A1, and he's got a good chance to down them all, but there's something about them that doesn't feel right…All of them kept looking ahead, none of them looked to the side or guarded their rear from potential ambush. Is it carelessness? No, they knew better than that, they're not amateurs since they've been in combat with Sirens countless times, so they should know better than leave their rear side exposed…unless-

"…Small opening ahead, better get this done fast." William muttered to himself.

William moved to the left with weapons pointed at them in case one did look back, and if that happens, he's compromised. He moved closer to them slowly as he needed to be as close as possible in order to launch his attack plan…Helena stared to her left side, and that got Pennsylvania's attention. She looked to the left but found nothing there, and that caused Pennsylvania to look again at Helena with cocked eyebrows.

"He's here." Helena said to Pennsylvania in a low tone.

"Where?" Pennsylvania asked Helena in a low tone.

"He's circling us, get ready on our left side." Helena said to Pennsylvania in a low tone.

Pennsylvania spread the message in a low tone to the other ship girls and the others passed on her messages all the way until everyone received it. The ship girls readied their weapons as they waited for the go order from Helena who looked to her left side to wait for William to show his face. The man prepared himself by moving closely toward them and readied his rifle, but that's when Helena realized that it's time to begin the fight.

"Now!" Helena said out loud.

TRATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAATAATTATATATA!

"Blimey, you girls are quite merciless today!" William shouted at the ship girls from behind cover.

"The winning prize is quite tempting commander; we would kick your arse for it." Wales said to William while she smiled.

"Oooh, our relationship is worth less than a crate of tea? Pfft, typical Brits!" William scoffed as he reloaded his M4A1.

"Enterprise, you take the left side! Let's flank him." Bismarck said to Enterprise.

"Got it, Bismarck." Enterprise said to Bismarck as she nodded.

"You're surrounded, Commander William! You better surrender, or we will rain upon you with our bullets!" Queen Elizabeth said to William while she aimed her P226 Handgun.

"Ah, your majesty. I haven't told you huh? You girls might have me surrounded, but…I am one step ahead." William said out loud while he smirked.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Thick clouds of smoke appeared all around William and obstructed the ship girls from seeing him again. The ship girls, however, won't fall for other smoke tricks like this again, so they relentlessly fired their guns. Paint bullets rained through the smoke, the ship girls rapidly fired their guns and went so far as to empty their magazines with zero hesitation…They quickly reloaded their guns, they didn't hear any sounds of confirmed hits or anything, so they knew William avoided their bullets. The smoke started to clear out, and Wales, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland moved forward toward William's last known position…Anxious? Of course, what if he suddenly came out of his cover and started blasting them with his guns? He's quite good at it. However, when the ship girls arrived there, he's disappeared from his position…Yeah, of course he would relocate, and he's not that dumb to stay there when he realized he's being flanked by the ship girls!

"He's not here!" Cleveland said out loud.

"Are you sure!?" Queen Elizabeth asked Cleveland.

"Yeah! Very!" Cleveland said out loud.

Just as she said that, something fell from above, and the three ship girls looked at it. They saw two paint grenades with the pins off and the primer engaged. The three of them stared upwards for a bit before they turned around and jumped out of there, but it turns out William had 'cooked' the grenades first with a timer of just a second left before exploding and split seconds after their feet are off the ground, the grenade exploded. The explosion coated Wales, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland's back sides in thick blue paint.

"Ugh! He's above us?!" Pennsylvania asked out loud.

The other ship girls shifted their weapons upwards, when from the leaves, they saw something jumped off of the trees, the ship girls immediately fired as that something landed on the next tree and fell to the ground. Warspite and Queen Elizabeth took a good look at it, it was William's Ghillie suit. Suddenly a torrent of paint rounds rained at Warspite and Queen Elizabeth, Warspite successfully took cover on a nearby tree. She sighed a bit before she stared to the left, and saw Queen Elizabeth pouting with half closed eyes. There's four splat marks on her vest, and boy she's not happy.

"Warspite! I command you to take down that sniveling troll at once!" Queen Elizabeth said to Warspite with a tick mark on her forehead while she gritted her teeth.

"Y-Yes your majesty!" Warspite answered while she smiled wryly.

Easy for her to say! Does she have any idea how hard it is to take him down? It's not as easy as using your rigging and then boom, there he goes getting wiped out by the main battery salvo! In this case, Warspite had to use her MP7 to shoot at their commander, and that man still hasn't shown himself even after eliminating four ship girls and throwing his Ghillie suit away! Enterprise reloaded her M16, and she, alongside Helena and Cleveland, fired at the trees William took refuge on.

"Grenade!" Scharnhorst suddenly said out loud.

Scharnhorst cooked the grenade before she threw it to top of the tree, the grenade exploded, and it painted a large area of the tree with red paint…Alright, they expended some of their ordnance, so that guy must've been hit right?! William, who's now wearing green khaki clothes, controlled his breathing despite his quick heartbeat after being assaulted by so many rounds and a grenade, why did he not receive a single hit? Simple, he jumped to the other tree from the one the ship girls shot at. Then how about the Ghillie suit? Well, one can't underestimate his body strength especially when throwing something like that…This game has gone on long enough, William felt it's time to end this match.

"Right, I might have to take them all in thirty seconds…Hah." William muttered to himself before he sighed.

The closest target to him? It's the Ironblood ship girls which consisted of Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau…Currently they are searching for him as they circled the trees that they thought he's on, William bid his time by waiting until the ship girls came close to his position. Now, who to take down first? Gneisenau seems to be easy picking, but William knew if she reacted well to his attack then he might just get gunned down instead, but William will take the chance, since she's the farthest from the group. His heartbeat quickened as adrenaline started to pump around his system, activating his fight or flight response, and time seems to slow down a bit from his perspective. Then, when the group was close enough, he took out his rubber knife, and he dashed upwards before he dived down toward the ship girls.

"WATCH OUT!" Enterprise shouted at Bismarck.

"Scheisse! Feuer!" Bismarck said out loud as she saw William dived toward them.

William knew he'd get shot if he kept at it, so he threw the knife at Gneisenau instead, the knife impacted her chest and bounced off after leaving a blue mark on her vest. William landed on the ground, and he dashed toward Bismarck who tried to protect herself with her G36 butt stock, but that didn't deter William in the slightest as he deflected her rifle, grabbed her by the arms, and turned her body toward Tirpitz, who just fired her G36. Bismarck widened her eyes in surprise as five paint bullets hit her in the back, she got friendly fired?! William heads toward Tirpitz who's still in shock after shooting her own sister in the back, he closed in on her in split seconds, took her G36 away, held her from behind as a human shield, and fired her G36 one handedly at Scharnhorst, who got rained by bullets because she couldn't find suitable cover around her and being stunned at how quickly her allies fell…There are several more footsteps coming from the side, it's the rest of the ship girls, and William fired Tirpitz's G36 at them but only for ten more rounds because the magazine went dry after that, so he discarded it on the ground as he took out Belfast's MP7 that was handed to him before and pointed it at the ship girls.

"D-Don't worry! Just shoot me!" Tirpitz said out loud.

"Are you nuts, Tirpitz?!" Enterprise asked out loud as she tried to aim at William who held Tirpitz hostage.

"I'm not! Shoot me!" Tirpitz said out loud with a serious face.

"Whoa there Tirpitz, it's good that you're eager but think about self-preservation for a bit." William said to Tirpitz from behind.

"Nein kommandant, if this means victory then I'd gladly take a hit for them." Tirpitz said to William while she smiled.

"Commander! Let her go!" Warspite said to William.

"Soon, Warspite!" William said to Warspite while he grinned.

"Now!" Tirpitz said out loud.

Tirpitz used her body weight to lift William off the ground and exposed his back toward the other ship girls, but William immediately realized on what Tirpitz is about to do, so he made her overturn on purpose by shifting his weight around her, which when the ship girls fired their weapons, the projectiles hit Tirpitz instead. This is it! Everyone is in a tight, clustered group! William took out the safety pin on the last two paint grenades around his belt, the grenades are armed, and he carried Tirpitz in front of him like a shield, and he charged at the ship girls while he shouted as loud as he could like King Leonidas of Sparta charging at the Persian Army on the Battle of Thermopylae! Hood's eyes widened when she realized what William was about to do, and she's honestly not surprised. He's always been reckless like this! But still, suicide grenade attack?! Again?! What's with him and his fetish for suicide bombing huh?!

"Oh shite!" Hood, who very rarely cursed just did so, the girls knew it's bad if she cursed without a shred of elegance.

"Is he going to suicide bomb us!?" Warspite asked out loud.

"RUN!" Enterprise said out loud.

BOOM!

BOOM!

SPLAT!

…William, Tirpitz, Hood, Enterprise, Warspite, and Helena stared at each other as their whole bodies were covered in blue paint, they remained in silence before William started to chuckle in the ridiculousness of what just transpired which caused the ship girls to follow suit either by giggling themselves or just smiling. Yeah, finally the match is over, though with this they didn't know who the winner is, so William guessed that Lucas will decide for them later. The rest of the ship girls on the field and William collected any of their fallen weapons or stuff before they walked back toward the Heaven's Guard together as they recounted what happened on the battlefield. William shared on why the ship girls didn't find him after he jumped into the river to how he managed to skillfully and luckily dodged their barrage of attacks back then…It was fun, the ship girls got to experience why they won't want to face William in ground combat with their riggings off, and William knew the ship girls have potential for ground fights in the future. He should implement a training regimen for them, William's sure Lena and Lucas would agree.

.

"Good work today everyone, wish the Sakura girls could see how it went down, and maybe if they joined us, we could've just beat them both in one go! Cheers!" Enterprise said out loud.

The ship girls cheered back before drinking their respective drinks, then they resumed by eating or talking with one another. The ship girls are on the beach right now, enjoying the clear night with a huge bonfire, with a huge stereo playing music alongside drinks and food at the impromptu barbeque party. The participants of the milsim recounted their stories to those who didn't participate, Formidable and Victorious commented on the long bath they took to clean their hair and clothes, Illustrious who was hit during the smoke ambush, Hornet who ranted that she got shot in the back, Queen Elizabeth who would be upset were it not for the high grade quality tea she's currently drinking, Lena was busy dancing alongside Saratoga, San Diego, and Cleveland while William and Lucas stuck behind the grill flipping meats back and forth…

"Tell me, why am I stuck here with you?" William asked Lucas as he flipped a slab of meat on the griller.

"It's tradition for the man to be the one behind the grill." Lucas answered as he took a well-done steak and put it on a plate.

"Really, here I was hoping I could go enjoy the dancing and drinking beer." William said to Lucas while he grinned.

"Finish these meats first mate, then you could go around as you please." Lucas said to William while he smiled a bit.

"…So, you count that match as a draw?" William asked Lucas as he applied some hot sauce on the steak.

"Of course, both parties successfully took each other out, both put in some effort to win, I reward those that are worthy to be rewarded. It's as simple as that." Lucas said to William while he smiled a bit.

"Well, thanks to that, the girls had a great time." William said to Lucas as he stared at the ship girls currently enjoying themselves.

"…Did you notice anything?" Lucas asked William.

"About what?" William asked Lucas back.

"The ship girls, do you notice anything from that milsim activity?" Lucas asked William with a serious face.

What did he notice? Many things…They are an absolute beast in seaborne combat against ships or ship girls, and frankly speaking in a head on fight they are almost unbeatable with their rigging active, however, as shown during the milsim, they have difficulty in fighting in the chaotic warfare of ground combat. It makes sense though, in the vast open area like the sea they could pretty much see the enemies from far away, and even if they somehow got ambushed, their riggings provided the advantage to defend themselves or evade due to the large bodies of water they could move around on. In the forest? Sure, cover is plentiful, but that's a double-edged sword when they have to face someone using guerilla tactics, and especially when the ship girls are very inexperienced with handheld firearms…William felt there are a few exceptions to that because at one point he saw a video where Helena used her rigging's pistol like cannon to shoot down Siren jets, and Sheffield is a complete badass with her twin handguns. Some girls have their melee weapons, but what about those that usually rely too much on their rigging and have no backup weapon? Yeah, those girls will need some training…

"There are several girls that are quite inefficient with firearms and bladed weapons, they might be quite good with their rigging, but in the event where they can't summon it-" William said to Lucas.

"Then they're in deep trouble, I see you finally noticed that." Lucas said to William.

"Oh? You already noticed ahead of me?" William asked Lucas with cocked eyebrows.

"I do, I have the past video recording accessible you know? It's a glaring weakness that Sirens or Crimson Cleanser will exploit at one point." Lucas said to William.

"So, you want me to train them?" William asked Lucas as he put the last batch of the meat on the grill.

"That did cross my mind, would you have the time?" Lucas asked William as he flipped around the meat on his grill.

"Eh, I could play games or do dumb shite at night. Besides my own, training them to be better would be beneficial in the end…They're humanity's best hope against the Sirens, we should give them no less than the best." William said to Lucas.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Lucas said out loud as he stared at William.

"Hey boys, you two sure are working hard." Lena said to Lucas and William as she approached them.

"Yeah, I would've slack off if not for this old man here. How's the meat?" William asked Lena.

"The well-done steak with personal seasoning made by Lucas? I like it, especially when dipped in a hot sauce. The tea was heavenly good and the beer kicked ass, I couldn't ask for a better barbeque party. Thanks Lucas." Lena said to William then to Lucas as she grabbed a plate full of meat.

"Haha, you're welcome. Enjoy it while it lasts, after this we're going to get back to work." Lucas said to Lena while he smiled somberly.

"Work eh…Humanity's defender, join now to protect your home from the alien menace~! Man, those taglines for recruitment need some serious revision." Lena said out loud absentmindedly.

"I'll be sure to make the head of our PR department reconsiders it, it's a bit clichéd in my opinion." Lucas said to Lena.

"Hey, as long as it works, eh?" William commented as he finished the last batch of the steak.

The three of them continue to chat while Lena waits for Lucas and William to finish up with the grilling, then they sit together with well-done steaks and beers in hand as they spend their time talking with one another while enjoying the meal. Lucas smiled widely all the time, it's nice to just hang out with the two people he could trust in this world. He reminisced a bit about the first time he laid his eyes on them. Lucas immediately knew based on the result of the Bellerophon Project that these two would be very important in the coming war. He was right all along and now with the Siren threat? All of them will be tested to their limits, he hoped that the training and experience these two got will be enough to pull them through this war…The three of them are absorbed with talking to one another that they didn't realize that Hood approached them from the front, that was until Lucas saw something from the corner of his eyes that he noticed the woman who's wearing her usual clothes.

"Oh, hey there Ms. Hood, come sit down with us. The meat is plentiful and the beers are ice cold." Lucas said to Hood while he grinned.

"I think she'd like to have tea instead of ice-cold beer." Lena said to Hood while she grinned.

"Fufu, thank you for the offer, Lena, Mr. Lucas. However, that's not why I'm here…Lord William, may we speak in private?" Hood said to Lena and Lucas before she asked William.

"Err, sure." William said to Hood as he stood up.

"Brilliant, please follow me." Hood said to William as she took his right hand and led him somewhere.

"No hanky panky, you hear me!?" Lucas asked William while he grinned.

"Mind your own damn business old man!" William said to Lucas while he frowned.

"Hehehe, good luck Will." Lucas said out loud while he smiled.

"What do you think she wants to talk about?" Lena asked out loud curiously.

"The work that has piled up?" Lucas answered in a questioning tone before he gulped down his beer.

"Come on, we both know it's not about that." Lena said to Lucas while she smiled amusedly.

"Whatever it is, I don't think it's anything melancholic." Lucas said to Lena while he smiled.

"Yeah, I thought so too…Anyway, I got new intel from Nora a few minutes ago. We got a new lead for the Crimson Cleanser case." Lena said to Lucas.

"You waited until now to talk about that?" Lucas asked Lena with a narrowed gaze.

"Will needs some quality time with the ship girls. Who am I to rob him of such a chance to bond with them? His mind would be filled with nothing but work. If I speak about that, he will definitely focus on that case more than the girls especially now that he knows Gemini Squad consisted of former members of Task Force Nimbus." Lena said to Lucas as she smiled somberly.

"…Well, you're right…However, it's also his right to participate in any action to suppress or destroy them. He said before that his past haunted him. I think he considered that it was his fault that Crimson Cleanser was formed. Ronald's actions all this time happened because he failed to confirm the kill two years ago…Maybe he'll see the act of suppression and elimination of them as his redemption." Lucas said to Lena then he downed the rest of the beer.

"I suppose you're right, Jenny's death, the ship girls' poisoning…there will be more as long as he's alive." Lena said to Lucas.

"Then let's find that son of a bitch as soon as we can. Pack your bags, we'll leave after breakfast tomorrow." Lucas said to Lena.

"Sir yes sir!" Lena said to Lucas with a serious expression.

…William wondered where Hood took him to, so far, they're heading further from the party area and to the pier. The woman looked back and noticed that they were far enough from the party area, she smiled at William as she let go of his hand. She took a few more steps toward the bench on the pier, and she sat there, leaning on the bench all pretty under the yellow light of the street lamp beside the bench. William shrugged as he followed her and sat beside her, staring out at the dark sea as they enjoyed the night wind blowing softly on them. He wondered what she wanted to talk about, so far from the party area and in private too.

"…Did you enjoy the party?" William asked Hood with a curious tone.

"Oh yes I did. The A5 beef proved to be quite delicious, and the black tea straight from the royal family is exquisite. The ladies are lively too, so I consider the party to be a great one." Hood said to William.

"Glad to hear it…So, what do you want to talk about?" William asked Hood.

Hood looked at the ground for a bit, gathering all of her composure, and calmed herself down at what she's about to say to him. Many thoughts ran in her head, how will he respond? How will he react? Is he going to say no? Would he storm off to leave just like that? No, no, no…She's gotten paranoid now, Hood calmed herself down by steadying her breathing rhythm, she knew that she's about to say something important, and she can't afford to mess this up…

"…When I first met you, I saw someone that was shrouded in mystery. I practically knew nothing of you, your files didn't say anything, and you certainly looked stern, that I was afraid you're the same type as our previous commander. However, as time passed, I got to know you better…A man that is courageous, handsome, kind, and powerful, but he can be quite stubborn and reckless so it's my duty as his personal secretary to remind him of such flaws and help him with our daily tasks…I respect you, William. Someone who stands against all odds and dared himself to fight against an otherworldly threat is someone I will respect no matter what, but lately there's something else I feel other than respect…When I hear your voice, my heartbeat quickens. When I see your handsome face, my cheeks go warm. When you gaze at me, it sets fires of giddiness in my heart. When you touch me, my body longs for more and with each passing day this desire burns stronger until I couldn't take it anymore…So I ask you here William, not as your personal secretary but as your friend and ally who desires for your affection…Would you go with me on a date tomorrow?" Hood said to William as she smiled a bit and stared at him right in his right eye.

…

…

…

…William exhaled to release the tension he didn't know he had, his cheeks becoming redder the longer he stared at Hood's expectant deep blue eyes, and he knew Hood expected him to answer…Welp, who would've thought she brought him all the way here to confess her feelings for him? Hell, it's clear that they liked each other as something more than friends but he didn't expect Hood would be the one to come clean first. He already promised to go on a date with her, and he planned on confessing on his own after the occasion. William thought he'll take things slow by going out on a date as a friend before ending it as lovers, but right now he's at the crossroads. If he says yes, he's practically in a relationship with her, and the other girls will surely pedal to the metal in this 'race'.

…Are they going too fast? He didn't think so, William really liked Hood, even willing to go so far that he's inch away from saying love but refrains because he isn't absolutely sure yet, for that word shouldn't be taken lightly. Is he being hesitant? Yes, he practically knows how it will go in the future, and he's not ready to be in a relationship with a bunch of other girls right now…But well, the time will come and delaying will only serve to jeopardize everything. His answer is clear, he knows what to tell her, but he needs some mental preparation first…Once he does this, there goes his status as a single man. It will set motion for other branches of events later, and he has to tread lightly…very lightly.

"Wow…have to admit, you're quite well versed." William said to Hood while he smiled.

"Why thank you." Hood said to William while she smiled.

"…You know, hearing that made my emotions turn into a mix for fun…Happy, flattered, touched, and downright emotional…Hehehe…Hood? I commend you for speaking so passionately like that while being as composed as usual…You want to know my answer? I don't think you have to hear it; I did promise you after all." William said to Hood while he smiled softly.

"No can do, Will. It is courtesy if someone courts you, then you need to give a proper response to prevent any misunderstandings for it's a seed of conflict, and the last thing I want with you is conflict." Hood said to William while she smiled confidently.

"Fair enough…Yes, I'd love to go on a date with you." William said to Hood while he grinned.

"Wonderful! Tomorrow, three o'clock in the afternoon, at this pier." Hood said to William after she clasped her hands.

"Sounds good, where are we going? You mention the pier, this definitely would involve boats." William said to Hood.

"Astute…There's a small island over there, I hear the view is great, and there's a glassy plain on top of its plateau." Hood said to William as she pointed at an island on the horizon.

"Heh…I can imagine it already. It turns out you've been collecting information about this place." William said to Hood.

"I don't see why this vacation should impede our date plan; besides I think it's even better that we're here." Hood said to William while she smiled widely.

"Yeah, agreed…Anyway, let's head back to the party. We could be questioned for being gone for too long." William said to Hood as he stood up.

"Ufufufu, let's go." Hood said to William as she also stood up.

---

Updated: 14-02-2022 (Beta readed by Culture-Hunt3r)

…Boom! Shots fired, and Hood just engaged her hyperdrive! Yup, the lady decided to make her move and voila, she's in the lead…Well, if seen from another perspective the leads are Prinz and St. Louis hahahahaha. As usual, thank you for the follows, favorites, and review guys. I have to say that the next chapter is the last for this current vacation arc, so I plan to make it a 'blast'. Anyway, that's all for now, and we'll see what happens next, stay tuned!

See you next time!

- Dasmara