Chapter 58: Renewed Hope (Finale)
"Uh huh. How about the Royal Navy isles? Are those coming along alright?"
An overhead view of freshly constructed factory - long lines of human workers and drones painted in shades of blue and red moving about it like ants - caused the Aloadae to nod, idly murmuring, "And the water purification plants?"
The Bakunawa's drones dutifully switched the feed to show a collection of spherical chambers connected by pipes, all of them leading to other various buildings or factories such as the aforementioned one bustling with activity.
A consequence of the hasty and faulty 'birthing' process Zero had used on him had become more apparent as time wore on, one of those examples staring him right in the face. While both bits of infrastructure had been available for downloading and implementation what he hadn't been able to realize was the obvious benefits both could reap by working in tandem. The water purification plant created a lot of steam during the desalination process that - with a bit of interpretive engineering - could be jury-rigged into a power plant that in turn made the other factories or nearby settlements have a lot less power consumption woes.
Something they would have to consider considering all the huge technological improvements he was throwing their way.
"Defenses?"
A far more depressing view of just a few hastily installed missile batteries had the Aloadae grimacing, knowing full well that any mildly serious assault by the Sirens would have a clear shot at destroying the whole facility with zero retaliation.
Essex may have been the one who had thought of the clever - and with the benefit of hindsight obvious - union of the projects but it had also been the carrier to sadly admit that there simply wasn't enough ammo and resources to both create the industrial behemoths and adequately defend them.
For now they would just have to wait and hope their renewed offensives south of the Eagle Union would draw enough of the Siren's military might that they would ignore or at least half heartedly attack those sites.
"And on that note…T.B., how's the fleet looking?"
[As well as can be expected, master. No difficulties or issues thus far.]
"Christ I hate just having to sit around and not do anything."
[Master, your presence aboard the outbound fleet would have likely created more issues than it would have solved. You have an unfortunate tendency to draw events of highly dangerous nature to yourself and those around you.]
"Isn't it more likely that I just end up in craziness that's already happening?"
Mildly offended at the little AI's sass Alexander huffed and collapsed further into his command throne, watching from a bird's eye as the combined fleet headed towards the Republic's waters, all of the shipgirls present no doubt eager to strike a heavy blow against the Sirens after a long period of relative inactivity.
Warspite, Elizabeth, Vampire and Eugen had joined up with the fleet alongside Essex and Enterprise, only Aegir, August, Shinano and Amagi staying behind at Azur Lane for the time being. Aegir and August because they wanted at least some mobile defenses to complement the base's own while the foxes were due to receive their damaged but certainly repairable hulks after a few more days of towing.
Which left him stuck on the island and unable to do much of anything to help other than have his drones keep an extra careful watch from the sky.
Much of the Bakunawa's work was completely automated at this point and most of the manuals or blueprints for mass production had been translated and spread across the globe, meaning everyone was super busy but him.
He tried not to fight down the surge of petulant jealousy as he saw a few troop transports and their escorts link up with the distant fleet, joining formation and no doubt preparing for a more permanent invasion of the Republic. Communications had been scattered and piecemeal in the area, never mind the uncertain intelligence local settlements and resistance groups had provided in trying to locate permanent Siren bases throughout the mainland.
Raids on shipping across the narrow strip of land connecting Union and Republic hadn't entirely been the fault of waterbound craft, after all.
Sure, the Bakunawa was stuck where it was but there was nothing stopping him from catching a ride on the other ships and causing havoc on the ground with his armor. Although he supposed that-
[Master, you are thinking in circles. And it is not as if there is nothing for you to do, The Commander would no doubt appreciate aid in administrative details that you are capable of handling. Or perhaps you should begin devising a basic curriculum for those that may one day receive the same adjustments you did?]
"Wait, what was that last one?"
TB sounded genuinely confused as she said, [Have you not considered this, master? It was entirely possible through usage of Wisdom Cubes to craft your body, it stands to reason the process can be refined and replicated in the future. Not to the same extent, naturally, but at least afford similar levels of strength and technological compatibility.]
The Aloadae narrowed his eyes, grumbling, "I'm not exactly in a hurry to have other people go through the same shit I did, TB."
[Which is why a manual or set of guidelines that streamlines the process would be preferable, would it not?]
"Fine, fine…if only to keep myself busy."
Pulling up yet another blank writing file the male began to jot down notes and recollections, surprising himself with how into the project he quickly became. It was almost therapeutic, in a way.
"Let's see, first there's the basic physical changes which are probably the least important in the grand scheme of things but definitely the first alteration someone will notice coming out of the change. That begs the question of whether it will be hard for people to adapt if they don't have the massive download of information I got that outlined the process."
He scratched his head, frowning as a whole bunch of questions began to originate from that singular thought.
"Actually that's an entire can of worms all unto its own. I'd have to come up with a series of physical exercises and tests so people aren't tripping over their feet, never mind all the cybernetic doodads that were grafted onto me."
He rapidly typed out a basic program to be stored in the Bakunawa for future perusal, tapping his thigh before further musing, "Actually I should probably be more worried about mental conditioning than I am physical. If they end up looking all big and Siren-like there might be some separation anxieties inbound, to put it lightly. Removed from humanity and all that, just like what I felt. And are they gonna have all those odd mental connections and junk or was that just a result of the Wisdom Cubes?"
"Working hard?"
"Jesus!"
Jumping in his seat as Aegir yet again snuck up behind him the Aloadae sent the smirking Ironblood an unimpressed glare, grumbling, "How you manage to do that with that kind of footwear is beyond me."
"We were not attempting to be stealthy, you were just exceedingly lost in thought. A poor showing, my familiar."
"You know it's a sign of just how used I've become to you shipgirl's eccentricities that I'm just taking the whole 'familiar' thing in stride without so much as a backwards glance. Also since I'm the one who summoned you shouldn't you be my familiar?"
He could have sworn there was a brief smirk across August's lips before once again smoothing out into cool dispassion, the carrier primly sitting herself on a mechanical seat his faithfully hovering Rigging provided, Aegir matching the motion with a far more casual hop as the horned cruiser complained, "Quibbles over wording aside is there not something we can do to chip away at these monotonous hours?"
A dissatisfied groan escaped the Ironblood, stretching her arms overhead before flopping over the improvised seat like an inconvenienced dragoness as Alexander didn't bother to hide his staring at the way those motions were accentuated by her tight clothing.
"Are you not locked in a war for survival? Where are the vast flotillas and endless tides of enemies for us to burn? I'm bored!"
What would have been an impassioned and fiery speech was turned comical by that last editorial, Alexander rolling his eyes before stating, "Look, I get it, but I'm telling you there's going to be plenty of action on the horizon. As soon as Amagi and Shinano are back in action and the rest of our forces from the Sakura Empire are freed up you'll have your time to shine. The Basilica still needs to be investigated and plenty of other territories are also on the table."
"Yes yes, that's all well and good but we need not have waited when a campaign already exists and is about to meet with the enemy."
Aegir annoyedly gestured towards the screen that still showed an overhead view of the fleet heading directly towards the Republic, appearing more and more imposing by the day as it reunited or was reinforced by additional fleet elements.
"Why are we not engaging in battle alongside our sisters when there's very clearly a battle to be had?"
"Because you would have tipped the battle too far in their favor, obviously."
"A poor attempt at consolation, familiar."
"Okay, fine, it is, but the sentiment is what matters. A lot of those shipgirls are about to have their first sortie after undergoing some pretty heavy retrofits and alterations to their capabilities, never mind a lack of time for suitable practice and training. They'll have a bit of help from the rest of their sisters who have been involved with things from day one but the last thing they need is additional combat paradigms to worry about. Which you two absolutely are."
He brought up a different screen which showed an overhead of the Sakura Empire and Azur Lane side by side, as well as the towed forms of Amagi and Shinano's craft just a short distance away from the venerable base.
"Once they return here and are all fully prepped for combat operations you'll be accompanying them to whatever our next target ends up being. It'll be a smaller fleet but it'll be making up for numbers with experience and quality."
"Now that is an attempt at conciliatory flattery I can get behind."
Breathing an inward sigh of relief at Aegir's amused words the Aloadae turned to August, tilting his head before curiously asking, "What do you two remember of the future? Most of the current shipgirls have scattered memories of their various incarnations as the namesake ships but is that how it works for shipgirls from the…original timeline, I guess?"
The Ironblood pair paused, seeming lost in thought for a moment before August lightly shrugged, responding, "While events are hazy, to say the least, events and happenings of our war against the Sirens still dominate much of our consciousness. I can regale you with a number of various tactics and strategies both sides of the conflict employed although a complete history is impossible."
"I'll take anything and everything you can give. If those very same Sirens are trying to break into this timeline then I need to have as many accounts - firsthand or not - of how things went down."
Seeming pleased by his words Aegir glanced August's way, the carrier nodding in affirmation as the cruiser replied, "Well since you were just on the subject, a great deal of technology and experiments during the time were focused on improving or increasing humanities capability of matching the Sirens on even ground, whether that was land, air or sea based…a fair few which included genetic experimentation and the uplifting of normal humans into something approaching your own circumstances."
"Wait, seriously?"
"Indeed, familiar. The worsening circumstances paved the way for an abandonment of conventional morality. Many of these soldiers served aboard my vessel."
"And you were quite right to begin thinking of ways to ease the burden and transition into something more than human, Alexander. Many of these first soldiers had difficulty adjusting to the changes both from a physical and mental standpoint, exacerbated by the harsh and demanding reality of the war they had been thrust into."
Aegir grabbed the tablet Alexander had been typing on, skimming through it before nodding in approval.
"A good start, although you left out some of the more steamy details."
"I'm not making a record of me fucking a bunch of people, believe it or not."
August gracefully reclined in her seat, folding her hands in her lap before simply stating, "It is not a matter of voyeurism, familiar. Sex and physical intimacy was always an excellent form of stress relief and morale boost. With the alterations made, well…you can see why conventional partners and couplings wouldn't have worked particularly well."
The male grimaced, belatedly realizing that as ridiculous as it sounded it had probably played a bigger factor than he'd first considered. Benefit of hindsight if his partners hadn't been the shipgirls - who were flexible, durable and basically just as superhuman as he was - then any kind of intimacy would have been painful and awkward in the extreme.
How the fuck would he have been a proper lay for a girl Warspite and Vampire's size? Any romance would have been impossible or uncomfortable in the extreme for them.
"Okay…I can see how this ended up being a pretty significant issue. Especially if they had been previously married or dating and they weren't able to easily, well…do it."
Never mind how his newly altered brain chemistry basically offered him crazy amounts of stamina. Just another nail in the coffin of the poor bastards and bitches who underwent these procedures in the future.
"Although dear Eugen has rather bluntly relayed to us your significant conquering of our younger sister's hearts. It seems you vaulted that hurdle and then some."
"Of course she was bragging about that…wait, younger sister?"
Alexander cocked his head, meeting Aegir's gaze head on as he asked, "Wouldn't all of the current shipgirls be your older sisters since they came before you?"
"Yet we originate from the original timeline before shipgirls were a widespread phenomenon, thus we are their elder siblings."
"But if we're in the 1950's and you come from the future doesn't that automatically make you the younger siblings?"
"From our perspective that makes you many decades younger, familiar."
"No, wait, is that how that even works?!"
Rapidly feeling his brain strain as he tried to properly wrap his head around all the time travel and alternate universe shenanigans Aegir come to the rescue as she merrily chuckled, teasing, "And you retain your sense of fun as well. Oh you are a prize."
August was quick to reel the conversation back to normalcy, stating, "Be that as it may, you are doubtlessly more concerned with the tactics our true foe employed during the original war, are you not?"
Some of the levity of the moment vanished, Curtis nodding in agreement as the carrier further added, "Then allow me to explain why you are not taking nearly as many aggressive and decisive steps as you need to properly ascertain their motivations and plots."
So he listened and was ultimately left with a hollow pit in his stomach once the Ironblood finished her tale.
"You called, Commander?"
"I did. And you're either worried about not being included in the deployment to the Republic or you just received yet another bit of bad news."
"I need to work on my poker face."
Collapsing in a chair and rubbing his forehead in agitation Alexander watched as the Commander continued to work in silence for another minute, eventually setting aside his keyboard and affixing the Aloadae with an expectant look.
"We need to investigate the Basilica as soon as possible."
"What's changed?"
Huffing out an agitated breath the male explained, "I just talked to Aegir and August about the war in the future in greater detail. Apparently one of the favored tactics of the bastards was using our own resources against us, taking over bases or sending out false signals to lure in unsuspecting forces."
The Commander just nodded, waiting for the rest of the story.
"Factor in that little reveal with what we know of the Original Sirens actions with Shinano and Amagi - apparently trying to use her to open up a hole for them to properly enter - and I'm not entirely comfortable with them doing their own thing all alone in there with two shipgirls under their thrall."
The older man tapped his fingers against the flat of his desk for a few moments before decisively nodding, responding, "Agreed. As soon as Amagi and Shinano are combat ready and the rest of our forces arrive from the Sakura Empire we'll formulate a plan of attack to either neutralize or at least investigate the Basilica. That settle your nerves a bit, son?"
"A little bit."
Merely nodding at that admission The Commander instead returned to his work, calmly asking, "And what do you make of Elizabeth's latest conversation with you?"
Which naturally drew a grimace from the Aloadae.
"Not sure what you mean by that, in all honesty."
"All things considered you were a fairly recent citizen of the Union not affiliated with Azur Lane. If we were to instigate a coup and replace the current system of government with our own what would the general public reaction be?"
"You want me to speak for millions of people, a fraction of whom I've actually met and chatted with?"
"Yes."
Swallowing thickly at that admission - and not all comfortable with this line of conversation - Alexander slowly replied, "I don't think very many people would care or notice, to be perfectly frank. Yes, the government kept a regular stream of supplies and basic order throughout the settlements but it was always a distant overseer at best, an impartial and unknowable force at worst. Maybe perception is different inside of the established cities but I never saw much of those, what people DO know is that Azur Lane has been doing the lion's share of the fighting, dying and saving. I'm not the only one who was saved by the shipgirls."
"So you're saying that as long as we can keep basic quality of life intact the public perception of us is favorable?"
"In my small corner of the universe? Yes."
The Commander sent the man a raised eyebrow, archly asking, "Do you think we're relying on your input and only your input for this?"
"No, but it sure fucking feels that way sometimes."
"Then rest assured your feelings are unfounded."
Alexander fell silent, eventually releasing a sigh as he tiredly asked, "And what's all this about me being the face of this new government or something along those lines?"
"You will most likely be the one to pull the trigger when the time comes, Alexander. And while Azur Lane may have no shortage of icons and public faces what we don't have is one of the future, one that signifies a moving on from the past."
He affixed the taller male with an expression that made Alexander feel like a little child all over again.
"Make no mistake, an age of heroes and legends has once again fallen upon humanity. Herakles, Wukong, Chulainn…then the shipgirls, larger than life figures known the world over that stand against evil and fall to it."
A single finger pointed the Aloadae's way.
"Now it's your turn. You've always been concerned and invested in the shipgirl's happiness and ability to see the end of this war? Now's your chance to truly do so. Join their ranks in the public zeitgeist, become someone or something that will inspire people."
The Commander's smile held within it equal parts bitter amusement and cold authority.
"You're going to lie to the world for its own benefit and be called a hero for doing so. The only question that remains is will you be able to handle that burden?"
Curtis was quiet for a long time to come, lost in thought as he mulled over The Commander's words, replaying his time at Azur Lane and coming to the inevitable conclusion that this was what the man had been plotting for since a few short days after his arrival. All the publicity stunts and appearances amidst Azur Lane personnel and the other Admirals…he'd been telling Alexander to his face that he was going to be a popular and widely known figure. He'd just never mentioned the part where he was going to be the trigger for a worldwide shift in leadership, beginning with an assassination and blaming their enemies for the act.
…At first glance that might sound highly manipulative and cruel, to withhold and omit information until Alexander was well and truly stuck with saying yes unless he wanted to cause a great deal of hardship and trouble to those he cared about.
But that was ignoring the rather significant elephant in the room, namely that in ascending Alexander to the status of Hero he'd essentially made him a highly influential and powerful individual that could make his own decisions and expect people to follow and endorse them.
…In the first few days the Commander had looked upon him and decided that he was of good enough character to carry the torch, to lead humanity towards something greater.
"Well at this point…I can't really say no. Especially after you've invested so much into me, right?"
A tight smile left the older man, an acknowledgement of their unique circumstances and the plot he'd brought about.
"Precisely. Why don't we go into more detail, then?"
Last set up chapter before we get right back to it.