Chapter 64: Counterblow (Part 6)

"Shouldn't we have a more secure or appropriate venue for this? I mean it's kind of a big deal, formally announcing the ending of hostilities between our respective factions."

Empress have Alexander a cool and dispassionate look, stating, "And I suppose you would wish to be the one to explain to the world that despite everything that has happened the Neo Sirens are without a doubt on your species' side? That past actions and atrocities hold no current meaning or pertinence?"

"...Okay that's a fair point."

The Aloadae released an internal sigh, knowing the Siren was right. He'd had time to grow accustomed to their presence and their goals, time to reconcile the fact that as long as they could amass or create a cache of Wisdom Cubes there was the chance he could bring back the rest of the Shipgirls that had fallen.

The rest of the world had no such assurance or knowledge, whatever friends or family they'd lost in the conflict gone forever at the hands of an unknowable and implacable enemy. If he had still been working on the docks none the wiser and the Sirens suddenly offered a truce and partnership he would have said fuck that in a heartbeat.

"But the question remains what comes after. I mean what are all of you going to do once we take down the Old Sirens? Just put yourselves in storage or something?"

"There is no point in wondering about events that may or may not even come to pass. It's a waste of time and effort."

"Wow, way to avoid the subject."

Shaking his head at the woman's seemingly eternal desire to avoid getting drawn into a conversation about anything halfway interesting the pair arrived at Enterprise's command deck just as Admiral Harrison did, the Neo Siren's cautionary tale of how Humanity wouldn't be pleased to see and interact with them seeming all the more pertinent and accurate as the man narrowed his gaze and slowly clenched his jaw, body language agitated and jittery as the Shipgirls didn't seem all that much more at ease, no doubt picking up on the Admiral's foul mood.

"So you wish to make peace and fully cooperate with us against the Old Sirens, am I understanding this correctly?"

Alexander almost tripped, caught completely off guard by the older man's gruff and borderline disrespectful jumping to the heart of the matter before accepting the fact that it was probably a hell of a lot better than the alternative. An alternative that involved countless guns, blades and other forms of bloodshed.

"You understand perfectly fine. Old paradigms no longer hold true and the time for change has come. If the Old Sirens aim to actively enter and destroy this reality then it falls to us to use any and all means to deny such an objective. Including abandoning old ways of thinking and acting."

"You mean abandoning your attempts to destroy Humanity? Well, I suppose we should count ourselves lucky."

The bitter words were met by an equally imperious and disinterested response from Empress as she replied, "You should, a two way war would have left much of your people destroyed within a month."

"Look, can we set aside the clear unhappiness and grief everyone has with each other at least for the duration of this meeting? We're staring down the barrel of very real annihilation and what little I've seen of the Old Sirens has me thinking they don't need the help."

Enterprise thankfully stepped forward, adding, "Admiral, he's right. Trust me when I say I have no real love for the Sirens - Old or Neo - but the reality of the situation isn't nearly so convenient that we can just turn a blind eye to what's being offered."

Elizabeth more or less put an end to a debate that was slowly brewing, tapping her scepter against the floor and declaring, "The Royal Navy stands behind this alliance and will support it. To so blatantly and hastily turn away a decisive advantage when presented will do naught but our own egos any good."

Harrison grumbled under his breath, stating, "I don't need any of you to tell me that, I'm well aware."

Taking a deep breath the man turned to the silently watching and listening Empress, adding, "Very well, while The Commander will be the ultimate authority in what sticks during this alliance we can set a few preliminary ground rules."

"Oh? Your other Human leaders will have no say?"

"Even if they accepted your offer as genuine by the time they reached any sort of consensus the Old Sirens will have already marched across half the world and put enough stipulations on such an agreement that it may as well have never existed in the first place. We're better off asking for forgiveness rather than permission."

A sly, icy smile graced Empress' features.

"Intriguing."

"It isn't. Although I'm going to ask for more specifics of this apparent alliance, to what extent should we expect you to aid us?"

Alexander couldn't help but admire the Admiral's composure, setting aside his clear distrust and dislike of their long time enemy for the sake of a future where they weren't besieged on all sides. And it wasn't an act that went unrewarded either, Empress calmly explaining, "Our forces will share all relevant information and military assets that we possess, including locations and force composition of our bases and fleets as well as available stockpiles of weaponry and spare Wisdom Cubes."

Alexander immediately tensed, leaning forward in clear anticipation as he asked, "Wisdom Cubes? How many? If you have-"

"We have two, both of which are of debatable use as they were heavily employed in the Orochi project and have been acting inconsistently ever since."

The Aloadae tried and failed to hide his grimace of disappointment at that admission, forcing himself to take a deep breath and state, "Two maybes is better than nothing. If I can do something with those…"

"We will have them delivered to you as soon as possible, then. And as for joint operations…"

Empress gave the Admiral an appraising look.

"I doubt they will be so eager to fight alongside former enemies, if your reaction is anything to judge by."

That was a valid point up until Belfast proposed, "That may be the case but would it not be more acceptable to the people of the world if a number of Siren ships were 'liberated' from your control? Alexander could even make a show of overtaking them and most would be far more amenable to working alongside these weapons if they were operating at the behest of our hero."

Wincing at the unwanted title Alexander nonetheless added, "You could also change the colors they display once I do so, make em' glow blue or green instead of red, purple or yellow. Purely cosmetic but it may just work."

Empress rolled her eyes, dryly commenting, "To think your kind would be reassured by something so simple as a change in color palette. How your species rose to the level it did is beyond me."

"Do I need to remind you that this species is the one that just pulled your ass out of the fire?"

"I am well aware, and it changes not the facts of the matter. You would be deceived by a shift in the reflected light of an object. I have seen your armor during your initial meeting with the Human leaders of this planet and rest my case."

"Look, I think we have more important things to discuss."

Noting that that the rest of the room looked ready to start shooting at Empress' calm and dispassionate comments Alexander was quick to move things along, hastily pointing out, "We're still facing some of the same problems we did at the start of this mess. The Old Sirens have some weird and unfortunately evil plan in the works and a bunch of it is centered at least in part around the Basilica. Ideally TB will be able to figure out more concrete details from her examination of the data we retrieved but there's no timetable for that."

Elizabeth stroked her chin, commenting, "Then it seems our next target is to march on the Basilica as soon as possible. If the center of all these troubles is there then the quicker we are to neutralize it the better."

"Agreed. I don't much like the idea of our sisters being held under their thrall for a moment longer than is absolutely necessary."

Amagi and Shinano briefly grimaced at Jeanne's words, the Sakura doubtlessly agreeing with that comment wholeheartedly.

"Then if we are in agreement then I shall take my leave, we will contact you when a suitable plan has been formulated."

Empress' abrupt departure from the room had most of those gathered blinking in surprise, Alexander sighing as he stated, "I'll go after her and get something more concrete than that."

Quickly jogging to catch up with the Siren the Aloadae's much longer stride meant he was at her side in short order, casually mentioning, "Don't you think you were a little short with everyone back there?"

"How so? I'm familiar with Humanity's penchant for excessive conversation when far simpler conversations would have sufficed, there was nothing more to be said on my part, thus I departed."

"Everyone already doesn't like you very much, putting in a little bit of extra effort to be likable and not a bitch would go a long way towards alleviating that."

Empress favored the male with a supremely disinterested expression.

"And you or the other's personal like or dislike is pertinent how, exactly? You have already proven to work satisfactorily with us despite my acting like a 'bitch' so I fail to see why putting in extraneous effort to change that would accomplish anything."

Resisting the urge to grumble in exasperation Curtis tiredly replied, "It's because of that extra effort you'd offer up that things would go better. Don't you think that would make things after the war easier for your kind, if people actually gave a shit about what happens to you beyond how many guns you bring to the table or how useful you are in a fight?"

"How optimistic of you, to assume there's a path that will remain for us should victory be seized."

"Don't give me that. Purifier and Zero aren't giving off the impression they'll just ride off into the sunset once we win, they seem to have agency and purpose. And if you really thought there was nothing for any of your kind after all is said and done you wouldn't have bothered saving Arbiter despite the supposed 'risks'."

Alexander gave the silent woman a knowing look.

"Look, I have a whole myriad of issues with you and the rest of the Neo Sirens…but I would infinitely prefer that we can move past all of that, given the opportunity. It helps that I might be able to undo all of the losses you've caused over the years but even if that wasn't the case I think the world is going to be well and truly done with war once all is said and done."

"Do you honestly believe that?"

"Done with war for at least a couple years."

He could only shrug in response to Empress' deadpan glare.

"What can I say? People get into all sorts of arguments and fights on a regular basis, I'm not going to pretend we'll have peace forever. Although maybe the threat of the Old Sirens will help with that…"

The conversation ran its course as they arrived at the exit to Enterprise's vessel, wind whipping through the ship's halls as Arbiter patiently awaited the other Neo Siren's return.

"...It seems ultimately fortuitous that you were the one to be changed as a result of Zero's actions. Had anyone else been the individual to have received the enhancements and uplifting that you did I imagine the current scenario we face would be quite different."

"Flattering, but I can think of quite a few personality types that would have been better suited to taking on the challenge of world conquest and nation-spanning war."

"Yet here we are, with entirely unexpected results before us."

Arbiter seamlessly fell in step with the duo, Empress coming to a halt a mere step away from the edge of the carrier as she turned to face the Aloadae, expression complicated before hesitantly reaching outwards, one hand briefly resting atop his chest where his heart lay, the Neo Siren eventually stating, "All thanks to something as simple as this…"

Yet again not expecting the unusual and borderline sentimental gesture from the woman he cocked his head and waited awkwardly until the Neo Siren blinked, shaking her head and removing her palm before facing the roiling waves.

"I don't think mentioning that it's the brain and not the heart would be an appropriate comment right now."

"Survive until the end of this war, Alexander. If you insist on this 'future' you speak of then you will have to be the one to see it through."

She departed, Arbiter waiting only long enough to incline her head, uncomfortably stating, "Your help and that of the Shipgirls is…appreciated, Alexander."

"Yeah, don't mention it-aaaaand she's gone."

Staring after the quickly vanishing forms of the Neo Siren's Alexander released a resigned breath, turning back into the carrier and idly wondering if he would ever be free of dealing with weird shit.

"So, what now? I mean we came all this way to liberate the Republic but it looks like we 'accidentally' ended up liberating the entire planet."

"Not quite the entire planet. I imagine there still exist aplenty Old Siren foes and whatnot to be fought."

"Oh you know damn well what I mean."

Reclining against a bulkhead as Bart shot August an irritated look Alexander let a tired sigh slip past his lips, glad that most of the mess they had been dealing with for the past few days looked to be winding down, at least for the moment.

So naturally he got to instead begin planning for a whole slew of shit that he really didn't want to think about at the moment, such as their next moves.

"Oi, Curtis. Stop pretending to be asleep and give some input, would you?"

Except the pirate was right and he wasn't going to be sneaking out of this debate anytime soon. Instead the Aloadae cracked open his eyes, meeting the gaze of Jean, August, Aegir and Sovetskaya, the rest of the Shipgirls busy elsewhere or relaxing after the pitched battle.

"This is a pretty informal grouping right here. There really any point to thinking so hard when we'll probably just end up tossing out any ideas of what to do once the main meetings and stuff begin?"

"Considering that it's my sister's lives at stake I'd hope that you were a bit more enthusiastic about everything."

Jean's perfectly sensible and equally stinging remark had the male grimacing, grumbling out, "Twist the knife a little, why don't you…alright, the obvious target of choice is the basilica but if this little campaign is any indication they've got some seriously nasty tricks up their sleeves. We can charge in against unknown fortifications and hope for the best, choosing speed over preparation…or we spend a few weeks or months coming up with a plausible operation that will explain why several hundred Neo Siren ships are suddenly on our side and taking the brunt of our casualties."

The pirate scowled, thankfully at the nature of the choices rather than at any personal affront due to his words.

"It really boils down to whether we can afford to let the Old Sirens either fortify their position or accelerate their plans. And we unfortunately have no way of confirming it as of this moment."

Nodding at Sovetskaya's comment the male rubbed his forehead in a bid to stave off an imminent headache, lamenting the fact that his drones - previously so damn useful and critical for their strategies - were now useless at the potential eleventh hour. Sure, they were great at discovering where Old Siren positions were thanks to the passive cloaking field they emanated but seeing as how they already knew where their enemies were the lack of good intelligence was driving him insane.

The only other option was to send manned reconnaissance and given the Old Siren's capabilities and weaponry he didn't fancy the odds of whoever was selected to perform that particular operation.

"Has that little AI of yours come up with any silver bullets?"

Shaking his head at Aegir's question he replied, "Not yet, she doesn't think she'll have anything concrete for at least a few more days. Whatever encryption or code the Old Sirens are using isn't even close to what they've used in the past."

Alexander sent August and Aegir a hopeful look.

"Don't suppose either of you are crack ciphers or anything like that?"

August shook her head while Aegir airily waved a hand, cheerfully responding, "What I know of electronic warfare you could inscribe on a microchip with a rusty sword."

"And just why do you sound so proud of that? Also what the hell is a microchip?"

Quickly diverting Jean's question which would lead to a couple decades of technological innovation having to be explained Alexander instead remarked, "A really small device, our only real option is to send Human or Shipgirl scouts near the Basilica and hope they don't get shot down or murdered. Without any clear idea of what the fucks are up to we're essentially flipping a coin."

He gave Bart a mildly annoyed look.

"This was truly a productive exercise, arriving at the same point we left from."

"Don't give me that, you didn't even have a-"

"Oh must you always be arguing with someone every waking moment of your existence, sister?"

Émile skipped into the room, pulling the annoyed battleship into her arms for an affectionate hug as she gave Alexander a pitying look, stating, "It seems Miss Eugen and Lady Warspite are plotting something truly awful for when next they see you, Monsieur. I do believe your latest stunt has left them in something of a, shall we say, exasperated mood?"

Huffing out a resigned breath the Aloadae nodded in glum agreement, responding, "Yeah, I noticed. And while I appreciate their concern I could do well without the promise of eventual retribution."

For most of the day he could sense the pair's exasperated frustration with him, like a loaded gun drifting in and out of alignment. Not that he necessarily begrudged them their ire, since he was starting to realize that for all their maturity and composure neither Shipgirl had really had something as…intimate as what they now shared and were at something of a loss as to how to properly show and express their affection.

Honestly, it was kind of endearing when it wasn't terrifying.

"How about you, Émile? Doing alright after your first run with the upgrades?"

"Oh they are fantastique~!"

A flare of light accompanied the cruiser's Rigging manifesting, almost smacking Jean in the face as she scowled at the maneuver while the blonde merrily continued with, "So easy and light to maneuver, while only growing in power rather than lacking in it!"

The ensemble of metal and munitions eagerly flexed like a well toned muscle, Jean barking, "Okay, we get it! Put it away before you kill somebody!"

"Oh, my apologies~!"

The Rigging dematerialized as the Vichya Shipgirl shook her head in exasperation, Sovetskaya briefly smiling before she rose to her feet, announcing, "Well if this meeting will only cover further slapstick then I shall take my leave, your contributions and outlines of future action is appreciated."

The Parliament woman offered a polite nod before departing, Jean quick to mirror her as Émile blankly stared at her retreating comrade's back, August and Aegir sharing a brief and confusing look as they also rose.

"Well, Alexander, this conversation has been most delightful but I believe it's for the best that we do the rounds and ensure none of our little sisters are at all overwhelmed or unsure of their newfound power."

August made her way out with a stately sway of her hips, Aegir shooting Alexander a smirk from over her shoulder as she chirped, "Might I suggest a shower? You still reek of battle."

Unsure of what the two were playing at - but agreeing that he did smell like someone who had just been shoved inside of a box and sweated badly for a few hours - Alexander turned to Émile, stating, "Sorry, guess everyone is heading their own way for now."

"Oh, no need for apologies, Alexander. Would you object to my accompanying of you?"

A dangerous, flirtatious light entered the cruiser's eyes.

"Perhaps we can wash each other's backs?"

"...Ah. Screw it, I could do with some stress relief."

Not to foreshadow or anything, but this is the last chapter of relative calm before the final arc of this story plays out.

Wait, that's foreshadowing.

And on a completely unrelated note holy crap this story managed to be the second most popular in the Azur lane section. I tend to only sporadically check where stories end up in terms of follows and favorites since reviews are more entertaining to read but hot damn, that's awesome.