Chapter 46: Renewed Hope (Part 5)

"You're close, all you need is to go left down this corridor, down the first steps on the right and second door on the left once you reach the bottom!"

"Thank you, we'll be on our way."

"Don't mention it, have fun~!"

The Bulin scampered away as the group made their way through the labyrinthine structure of the Bakunawa, Sovetskaya briefly wondering how the titanic vessel managed to stay afloat and operate despite its colossal size…or how anyone found their way through the damn thing. They'd had to stop and ask Bulins for directions two separate times and if a Shipgirl was having to do that then perhaps the vessel was a bit excessive.

"Is something like this really necessary? What is all this space used for?"

Tashkent's thoughts mirrored her own as Le Malin contemplatively mused, "We were told that bits and pieces of the ship are used for refurbishment and retrofitting of our vessels, right? It would need to be big for such a process."

Chao Ho crossed her arms and huffed out, "I think it's overcompensating for something."

"Sister, what would a gigantic man like Alexander need to compensate for?"

"...Oh you know what I mean!"

Sovetskaya rolled her eyes, bluntly replying, "No, in this case we really don't."

"Well obviously he has a significant ego!"

Even Tashkent seemed dubious of that particular claim, grimly remarking, "Does a guy with an ego cry and hold himself accountable like he did during the siege?"

The redheaded Empery cruiser grimaced, the audio of the battle still fresh in her mind as she mumbled, "No."

Ying Swei took pity on her opposite, cheerfully remarking, "Now now, I understand it may be difficult for you to be polite and charming to Alexander but a little bit of humility can go a long way in making someone like you, sister."

"Are you saying I'm normally the opposite?!"

"Pretty much, yes…" was Tashkent's quiet mumble.

The taller Parliament shipgirl quietly shook her head at the familiar interplay before letting her own thoughts wander, wondering how best to approach the unusual matter of Alexander Curtis. In all honesty she was a bit apprehensive, even if she would never show it. The more she thought about it the more uneasy she became with their initial behavior towards the man. They'd had reason to distrust him, yes, but after seeing what he'd gone through in order to give the rest of Azur Lane - the rest of the world - a fighting chance the Parliament shipgirl felt very real regret.

How would she and her sisters have felt if, after everything they had done and gone through, humanity returned to how it had initially been, cold and cautious of their mere existence?

"I had best apologize before any genuine offense is taken."

Except apologies weren't her strong point and in all honesty she would have rather left such niceties and more sentimental pursuits to her sisters who were infinitely more suited to the matter. Except most of those sisters were dead and the ones who were good at it had been smart and reserved enough to withhold initial judgment.

"I would rather be back on the battlefield."

Wryly amused by the direction her thoughts had taken Sovetskaya lead her sisters into the depths of the ship, finally arriving at the assigned door before pushing through it and were welcomed by the sight of Akashi perched atop a sizable metal box, rapidly sketching something out on her ever present notepad while the constant whirring of distant machinery assailed their ears.

"Akashi? We were told Alexander would be here."

"He is. By the way, you might want to step back, nya. He's about to eat it."

Ying Swei tilted her head, confusedly asking, "What do you mean eat it-"

CRASH!

Sovetskaya barely managed to not flinch or yelp like her sisters as an enormous and brutal suit of armor came slamming down in front of them, kept from a truly disabling landing only by the four metallic appendages sprouting from its back, bits of gelatinous blue material smoothly combined with ebon metal and circuitry reminding the shipgirl more than a little of Siren rigging.

"Ow…okay, lesson learned. This thing doesn't stop on a dime."

Not even looking up from her sketch pad Akashi simply stated, "Told you that would be the case. But you didn't listen to me, nya."

"Of course I listened to you. But just because you told me doesn't mean I can magically make it happen. Akashi, the Sirens are attacking us. There, you have all the necessary info, go beat them up."

"Already have the tools, nya~!"

A flared sleeve smacked against the side of the metallic box the repair ship was sat upon, a metallic sigh escaping the sprawled figure as servos hissed and whined before forcing the towering monstrosity to its feet.

"Dare I even ask how many more of those damn things you made?"

"Only two. Ran into the same problem everyone has right now, just not enough raw material and refining plants."

"Just two, she says…"

The grumble accompanied a pleased smirk from the minty kitty, voice amused as she bargained, "That means lots of headpats, right~?"

A gauntlet that vaguely resembled a human hand if human hands were made of lethal metal and claws waved about, Alexander's voice dry as he replied, "Gonna have to give you a raincheck on this one, Akashi. I don't think you want your hair accidentally ripped out by the roots."

"Is that delayed payment, nya? I charge interest."

Deciding to intervene before they were ignored any longer Sovetskaya cleared her throat, Akashi rolling her eyes at the interruption as Alexander turned to face the quintet of new arrivals, the Parliament shipgirl fighting back the urge to flinch as a faceless and imposing helm looked down at her.

If the previous suit the man had worn could still be considered as holding a human shape then this one must have held a monster. Slightly hunched to accommodate a large backpack of metal that housed the four waving tentacles with thick arms and legs that were obviously focused more on power than mobility, a hefty torso that appeared as if it could shrug off a battleship salvo and a truly imposing height that merely added to the man's already considerable stature.

They had assumed the previous model was made for war…either they were wrong or that was just the light version.

"Sorry, you came at a bit of an awkward time, I'm trying to get used to wearing this thing before we head out to the Sakura Empire and it's…different."

"Speaking of awkward…"

Sovetskaya noted that the man's tone was definitely guarded, withholding a fair bit of emotion as if he was worried they would somehow misinterpret it. Which she supposed was their fault so she decided to solve things as quickly as possible, lest the uncertainty and miscommunication continue unabated.

"That's understandable. But I imagine all of us will be experimenting with new paradigms and situations…we unanimously decided to undergo the retrofits you are offering us as soon as I-25 and 26 are finished with them."

That seemed to take a moment to register, the man simply standing silent before responding, "You, umm…well I mean that's great but-oh for Christ's sake! TB can you get this damn helmet off?"

The shipgirls blinked at the sudden cursing while Akashi just snickered, one of the tentacles smoothly grasping the sloped metal before twisting it off and revealing the man's annoyed expression.

"Of all the stupid problems to be having right now…"

Curiosity getting the better of her Sovetskaya asked, "TB?"

"Oh, uhh…that's the name of the computer that helps me out with the armor functions and stuff. I'd still be stuck inside that helmet if it wasn't for h-it."

Feeling a small wellspring of mistrust rise at the man's painfully obvious deflection Sovetskaya made to comment on it-

-and Ying Swei stepped forward, sending the Parliament shipgirl a brief look that she was immediately grateful for as she cheerily remarked, "You do seem to be busy, has everything always been so hectic in Azur Lane since your arrival?"

The man and Akashi shared a brief look, both of them simultaneously responding, "Yes," before Alexander sent the quintet a curious look.

"If you don't mind me asking what brought about this change of heart. Last I checked you were all wary of the process. I know the rest of your sisters were as well when I first showed up."

Akashi offered a small, embarrassed shrug at his words while Sovetskaya grimaced, the rest of her sisters also not in any particular rush to reveal that they had seen both the physical and audio recording of their defense of Azur Lane.

Eventually it was Le Malin who hesitantly stated, "We…that is, the Commander, showed us the log of your holdout during the Siren assault on this base. And we, erm…heard most of it as well."

The reaction to that admission was immediate, the male stiffening as his face lost any hints of expression while Akashi subtly set aside her drawing pad, staring at the Aloadae with thinly veiled concern.

Sovetskaya was yet again befuddled by the fierce protectiveness her sisters held for the man, even as she herself felt a trace of sympathy for him. It couldn't have been pleasant to know that one of your lowest and most vulnerable moments had been witnessed by those that had already shown a visible wariness of you.

But in the end a tired, accepting sigh left the Aloadae as he met their gazes, archly asking, "And? It sounds like you've changed your minds."

Feeling a slight hint of shame as the battleship remembered the man's helpless anger and grief she settled for a nod, pushing aside pride for the moment as she inclined her head in a gesture of respect.

"We have. And I apologize for our early suspicion and caution, we should have reserved judgment until more was known."

The man was quick to wave away their apologies, sardonically responding, "Hindsight is always 20/20, I know that better than anyone. You were well within your rights to be worried and I'm happy we can just move along from that."

Chao Ho crossed her arms, haughtily sniffing as she remarked, "You're taking the fact that the Commander shared something pretty damning with us suspiciously well."

To their surprise a lopsided smirk played across the man's lips, tone wry as he said, "Make no mistake, I'm not happy about that in the slightest…but when I first met him the Commander stated in no uncertain terms whatsoever that he didn't give a shit about what I felt and that saving the world took priority."

He raised a hand as if to run it through his hair then thought better of the action, seeing as how said appendage was engulfed by a lethal looking claw.

"He's right. Now isn't the time to hold onto worthless pride and if it got all of you on board…well I'm just gonna ask that you don't judge me too harshly."

Akashi promptly leapt onto the man's back and looped her arms across his neck, pointedly glaring as she growled, "Yeah! You're lucky Alexander is a big softy because I would have definitely demanded a proper apology!"

Greed briefly danced in the cat's eyes.

"Preferably in terms of money but trinkets and shiny things also-NYA?!"

A deliberately gentle flick from one of the metallic claws left Akashi dramatically holding her head as Alexander bluntly said, "Take it easy, crazy cat. We're all on the same side now, no need to poison the well. And you weren't exactly one of my biggest fans until way later, not even when you fell asleep in my lap-"

"Nya ha ha, no need to go bringing up such topics now, is there?"

Akashi's nervous words did away with the last vestiges of tension that had accumulated within the room, everyone finally relaxing as Alexander asked, "So what brought all of you here? Aside from clearing the air and everything?"

Sovetskaya once again took the lead, shrugging indifferently before she turned to the room at large, inquiring, "That was our primary purpose but for the time being we have little to do. What is this place? It seems…cramped."

Following the shipgirl's gaze as she pointedly stared at the racks of Siren drones and other assembled machines Alexander replied, "The Bakunawa's ground complement. We never really had a chance to use any of them previously but with the coming invasion of the Sakura homeland there's doubtlessly going to be some inland bases we have to wreck."

Tashkent pointed to a series of raised platforms that weren't really supporting or doing anything, just sporadically placed about.

"And those?"

"...I needed a jungle gym to learn how to move this armor. That's all that was on hand."

Turning to the group at large the pale-haired shipgirl was surprised to see an amicable smile grace the man's lips, tone friendly as he asked, "I've only got a few hours left before activating I-25 and 26 but is there anything you want to ask or chat about in the meantime? God only knows how many questions you must have."

Ying Swei was predictably the first to leap at such an offer, cheerily asking, "What manner of great heroism did you perform to have our sisters act so protectively with you? They guard your feelings as if they are more precious than gold."

"Well you see-"

"It's because we're all in love with him, nya~!"

The room fell silent for a crucial second, Alexander quickly recovering as he made an airy gesture, stating, "Akashi's messing around. Just like a house cat, really."

"Do you want me on domestic duty, nya~?"

While the rest of her comrades seemed to accept this explanation just fine Sovetskaya raised an eyebrow, wondering if she'd heard that correctly and honestly at a loss of what to do if they hadn't been joking.

"I suddenly don't feel like asking what's been happening on this base for the past months, I fear what the answer may look or sound like. I thought the stories about him sleeping with our sisters were just a joke…"

"So does your ship have sleeping quarters?"

Le Malin's question had the Aloadae raising an eyebrow as the destroyer hurriedly added, "I-it's so big it would obviously need some, after all!"

The Parliament shipgirl shook her head and released a quiet sigh alongside a small smile.

It seemed some things would never change.

"So you lived in a settlement for most of your life?"

"Yup. Quite the number of orphans or other lone survivors ended up in the places so there was a substantial community dedicated to helping them, I was one of the lucky ones and got in before rationing and other issues started really hampering what help could be given, not to mention landed a pretty steady job that got me some money and ration cards to play around with."

Alexander let an amused smile grace his lips as he gave Ying Swei a sidelong look, the Empery shipgirl seeming highly interested in his recollections of the way the rest of humanity lived.

"Now that I think about it, a lot of them were curious about topics like that. Guess they were away from their homelands for so long they never really got to see how they were doing."

"Maybe not the most glorious of jobs but a dockworker tended to be pretty high risk towards the latter half of the war, you got a certain kind of notoriety and compensation for pulling that manner of job. Not as chest-thumping as an actual sailor but it was close."

Chao Ho crossed her arms - Alexander forcing himself to mind his manners as these shipgirl probably wouldn't approve of his open admiration - as she crossly asked, "What's this about ration cards and the like? Did the food situation really get that bad?"

Grimacing at the sudden question his little entourage seemed to catch the implication, Ying Swei sympathetically stating, "It did, didn't it?"

Thinking over his words for a moment Curtis eventually replied, "While I'm by no means the end all be all for information on this topic I did hear things from people that emigrated or traveled. Dockworkers are next in line for gossip after sailors, after all."

He noticed that Tashkent and Sovetskaya appeared fairly grim at the current topic of conversation, the man sympathizing with their reactions. The Northern Parliament didn't exactly have a dearth of arable land for much of its eastern territories and the Sirens weather control scheme had lowered the global temperature enough that an already cold region had turned even frostier.

"The Eagle Union was actually a lot better off than most other places. Good climate while the north and south continents had a strip of land that supplies could travel over, even if it did get raided a lot in the later years. It helped that we also had a lot of immigrants who knew how to grow offhand or off season crops. Although…"

He got the sense he was just telling the shipgirls what they already knew but for whatever reason they seemed to want to hear it from him.

"With the Sirens taking so much coastal territory the vast majority of people who lived there had to move inland, taking up space that used to be farmland or building their own communities from scratch. Add in vastly reduced fishing and while things never got quite to mass starvation levels…I hear that the situation was pretty harsh in places like the Parliament."

Tashkent quietly sighed while Sovetskaya dipped her head in grim acknowledgement, the Aloadae deciding that they needed a change in topic after all of the heavy affairs they'd been dealing with.

"On the plus side that shouldn't be much of an issue anymore. Dunno if the Commander told you this but one of the big changes we're making in the next few weeks is to the settlements themselves. Water purifiers, medicines, simple but healthy rations that can be mass produced…hopefully things will get better on that front."

Sovetskaya nodded, this dip of her head more amicable than grim.

"Jean Bart was actually particularly upset about that point. She believes that you having that much power over the world and humanity is a recipe for disaster."

"Oh hell. Any advice on how to convince her that I'm not the personification of imminent threat?"

The ruby eyes of the lead battleship locked onto his as she bluntly responded, "Aside from allowing her to personally handle a trigger that will destroy your head at the press of a button from anywhere on the globe? Extraordinarily little."

"...Please tell me someone has a more appealing solution."

Tashkent shrugged, Le Malin sagely remarking, "She can be stubborn even in the best of circumstances."

Ying Swei bobbed her head, sympathetically saying, "Sister Bart is what one could charitably describe as headstrong."

Heaving out a defeated sigh the Aloadae glumly mumbled, "Well, at least most of you are-"

"Pfft!"

"-alright?"

Having heard what he swore was a snicker the male glanced to the side, five innocent expressions meeting his own…except Tashkent was biting her lip in a way that was a bit too suspicious for his liking.

"Alright, alright. You got me."

This time the Parliament destroyer broke out into audible snickers, gleefully remarking, "You should have seen the look on your face!" as Le Malic tactfully averted her gaze, no doubt to hide her own mirth.

Ying Swei didn't even try to hide her giggles, Chao Ho trying and failing to keep her expression dismissive while Sovetskaya herself had the smallest of genuine smiles pulling at her lips.

"Damn. Went from scared and wary of me to teasing in just a few hours?"

The more friendly dancer pouted, jokingly protesting, "I always had faith in you, Alexander!"

"Uh huh."

Sovetskaya cut in, calmly explaining, "A good way to ascertain someone's temperament is to have fun at their expense, is it not?"

"So I passed?"

"Aren't you acting a little desperate?"

"Aren't you being a little bratty, Milyy Medved?"

The destroyer grimaced at the nickname, Le Malin smirking as Alexander announced, "Yeah, I heard that. Turns out my ears are pretty darn good, even in cramped or busy spaces."

"Voyeur."

"I prefer the term sleuth."

Arriving at the main repair and refit bay the finishing touches were just being put onto I-25 and 26, both subs retrofitted in the manner U-522 and U-81 had as both Sakura shipgirls eagerly watched the proceedings.

"Oh, heya, Alexander! Finally made up with everyone, huh?"

I-26's exuberant greeting had the man rolling his eyes in response, idly replying, "Well enough to the point that they decided to haze me. Really, what are friends for?"

"Did they really do that? Sisters, a little restraint never hurt anyone…"

I-25's soft tone of admonishment achieved approximately zero success, Tashkent shrugging while Chao Ho dismissively said, "If he folded under a few little verbal barbs then we would be better off without him."

The pink-haired rabbit puffed out a cheek as the Aloadae snorted, now free of the confines of his armor and able to give the sub a quick rub between her floppy ears, figuring that it always seemed to work for the other Sakura shipgirls and was proven right immediately as a relieved 'fwahhh' escaped her, fluffy tail twitching with enjoyment as he heard Tashkent grumble, "So easy…"

"Appreciate the backup, I-25, but they're right that a little bit of thick skin never hurt anyone."

"You have experience with head rubs? Ooh, me next, me next!"

Unable to help but be amused by I-26's excitement the moment was put on hold by the male pointing to where a Wisdom Cube was being lowered into the heart of both sub's retrofitted vessels, remarking, "In a moment, this is a big deal and we're going to be leaving in just a few hours afterwards."

True to his words both subs watched the final proceedings with nearly unblinking gazes, the rest of the group also not bothering to hide their interest as Alexander just hoped they wouldn't shoot him once the final stage began.

There was a brief hum of machinery as the cubes were inserted and primed for activation-

-and both subs doubled over, reactions similar yet different. I-25 shuddered and released a trembling breath, arms crossed and squeezing her fairly ample chest as pink colored her pale skin while I-26 shivered and jumped like she was about to shoot off into space, hyperventilating as if she'd just run a mile while her ears twitched and flapped like mad.

"What in the-"

Ignoring Sovetskaya's bewildered comment Alexander barked, "I-25, model 396! I-26, model 339! Prepare to deploy!"

Just like with the other shipgirls both subs snapped upright, tension released as their muddled and intense thoughts joined the bond that was shared between him and the rest of the shipgirls. It was only a moment later that welcomes and greetings - somewhat distant and diluted considering everyone was busy - came across as the pair stared about in open amazement, I-26 whispering, "Whoah…that's crazy."

"I-25? I-26? Are the both of you alright?"

Sovetskaya's understandably concerned words seemed to snap the duo out of their confusion, the tan-skinned submarine promptly turning to the Parliament woman with a beaming grin as she replied, "Yup! Oh boy, you just have to try this out first chance you get, it's wild!"

"I, I can hear Lady Nagato's thoughts? Oh my goodness, I hope I'm not being a bother to her!"

Despite the apprehensive words I-25's tone and body language was anything but, tail and ears twitching with excitement as the quintet looked on with bewilderment, Chao Ho snapping out of her shock long enough to glare at Alexander as she suspiciously inquired, "Why did they appear to be in ecstasy for a moment?"

Only able to look away in sheepish embarrassment the male replied, "Would you believe me if I said I had no idea?"

Thankfully he was saved from further awkward questioning by Sovetskaya asking, "Just to make sure I understand this correctly…these retrofits not only afford greater power but also the ability to hear each other's thoughts?"

"To an extent. And a little bit of practice showed that we can hold onto a fair bit of privacy when doing so, no need to worry about every emotion or whatnot being transmitted across all of our minds. It's basically your telepathy but on a larger and more powerful scale."

The battleship stared him down for a fair few seconds, seemingly lost in thought…and eventually released a small sigh, commenting, "It's a good thing Bart isn't here right now. If she heard talk of thoughts being shared and other similar things she'd go right back to being worried and paranoid that yet more of us will fall under Siren control."

"Well I'll count myself lucky then-wait."

The Aloadae's eyes narrowed, tone wary as he asked, "What was that about falling under Siren control?"

Le Malin clearly wasn't a fan of the subject, grimacing as she looked out over the repair and refit bay as the battleship apologetically stated, "That's right, the Commander likely hasn't had a chance to speak with you yet."

She stood up straight, took a deep breath and informed Alexander of yet another highly worrying aspect of the war.

[Subject 10753, request number 279,002 initiated. Will Subject 10753 convince Subject 10754 to initiate Dimensional Anchoring?]

It hurt. Everything hurt and made Amagi want to do nothing more than simply give up and say yes. To finally have the tireless and cold machine disappear and free her from this nightmare.

Unable to do anything more than simply stand within the bleak and twisting landscape of the mirror sea, movement stolen from her and lending itself to a hellish variety of aches and pains. Coughing fits went unaddressed, leaving her chest and throat aching and tingling as if assailed by a thousand pins and needles. Blinking was done automatically and at set intervals. An upright posture that was held for now and always intermittently causing her back and neck to scream in protest. Even waste removal and nutrition was performed by mechanical rote, a few metal monstrosities - no doubt companion to the collar embedded around her neck - dispassionately carrying out their duty.

All that remained her own was the one thing she would have happily given up. Her mind.

[Subject 10753, request number 279,002 initiated. Will Subject 10753 convince Subject 10754 to initiate Dimensional Anchoring?]

All she was permitted to do was to stare at the infinitely patient Siren drone. Shinano, her friend and sister held in the same position as she, kept hostage within her own body as Siren monstrosities efficiently kept them alive and nothing else.

…It was that very sight that always hardened her resolve, no matter how much she may despair, suffer or briefly slip into madness. Because no matter her own traitorous thoughts and shameful weakness she would not be asked these questions if Shinano had given in.

As long as her sister held resolute, so would she.

[Subject 10753, request number 279,003 initiated. Will Subject 10753 convince Subject 10754 to initiate Dimensional Anchoring?]

But despite the seemingly certain promise of an endless hell where all she was beholden to was an inflectionless voice asking the same question over and over…Amagi couldn't help but notice something unusual.

The machine had been uncharacteristically active with it's questions, asking with far more frequency than normal…or at least she thought it was more frequent, time was a nebulous concept at best in this tortured wasteland.

But she held onto defiance, electing to hope that, no matter how dire things may seem, there was still a reason to fight. Just as Shinano was doing right this very moment.

…

She only hoped that their will lasted longer than their foes' patience did.