Chapter 75: Armageddon (Finale)

"We should really wake him up."

"No, let him sleep."

"He can sleep once we're finished with this."

"We won't be 'finished' with this for days, if not weeks. We're still a day or two from-"

Prinz Eugen halted in her defense of the insensate Aloadae, a trace of rare embarrassment adorning the Ironblood's features as she asked, "Where are we supposed to be going at the moment?"

Nagato released an exhausted sigh, sitting seiza on a temporary cot and swaying in place as she blearily said, "We were so concerned with making it to the base and completing our mission there that we cared not for where to go afterwards."

A tremendous yawn left Elizabeth as Belfast smoothly guided the monarch to a nearby chair, the leader of the Royal Navy wearily remarking, "We were to make for an intact port in my kingdom, although with their destruction due to the barrage I believe there are precious few that can accommodate our forces…although perhaps it is enough that we obtain medical aid for our soldiers and not starve to death at sea."

Nagato nodded in drunken agreement, Kawakaze gingerly standing at attention despite the heavy bandaging around her midsection, only Émile and Sovetskaya present with them as the Bakunawa quietly slipped across the surface of the water towards their vague destination, all other Shipgirls and Human personnel resting or taking it as easy as they could.

…Although perhaps quietly was the wrong word, the gigantic vessel groaning and hissing with strain due to the rigors of battle that had been delivered upon it.

"So…we did it, then."

All eyes turned to the Parliament woman as she gazed off into nothing, crimson eyes bagged and glazed with sleep deprivation but her voice containing an unmistakable note of disbelieving triumph.

"Evidently. Goodness, I await the welcome embrace of a shower with no shortage of eagerness~!"

"How you have the energy to be so chipper is a travesty, I demand you share!"

Émile merely giggled at Elizabeth's complaint, Eugen huffing out a tired sigh as she resignedly asked, "You seem rather joyous considering your lack of a leg, sister."

"It will grow back in time, besides! This is good practice for proper balance and grace for when it returns."

The Iris Cruiser happily waved around the stump of her right leg, already healed over with nary a scab and once the Cruiser had a few days to properly let her Wisdom Cube recharge she could have it good as new in no time at all, Eugen carefully lowering herself next to Alexander, the man slumped over in his armor and obviously dead asleep as the Ironblood hesitantly added, "But…yes. We did win. It seems a rather strange thing to consider, when all is said and done."

The woman's words coincided with Warspite carefully walking over, her body covered in a far more restrictive and all encompassing cast that kept her ribs in place until her accelerated healing could properly patch them together, Belfast resignedly stating, "Lady Warspite, as much as I respect your work acumen perhaps taking a moment to properly rest would be better for your health?"

"I can rest once we are certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no pursuit, especially since My Liege is-"

"In no current danger."

They all stiffened as Empress' voice emanated from nowhere, eyes flicking every which way as they worried that the Neo Siren was about physically walk aboard the ship in clear view of everyone, the woman quick to state, "You need not panic, for the moment we will remain out of sight and mind of your companions."

"Then what is the point of this dialogue, Empress?"

"To discuss the future, of course. Much needs to be decided and while a more encompassing debate needs be held sooner rather than later it's crucial that the scope of said debate is ascertained now."

A tinge of resignation colored the Neo Siren's voice.

"It's clear that you and the Humans greatly value your conversational capabilities to an exhausting degree."

"Hmph. Perhaps the first subject that must be addressed is your place in the future of this world. After all, are your scenarios not concluded with this latest campaign?"

"Your assumption that the Old Sirens will simply fold and capitulate after this is alarming, to say the least."

"You know bloody well what I mean."

A terse silence filled the air after Elizabeth's cold response, the other Shipgirls wondering if the eve of their triumph was going to be marred by yet one more enemy to fight…and were left surprised as a tired breath left the Neo Siren.

"Our programming does not cover such a scenario."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning our role going forward is ill-defined at best. The Creator either did not have time or the inclination to instruct us in what should be done were our campaign to come to an end."

"Then what have you to fear? Were your own words not that the Old Sirens are still active, still seeking to put an end to our existence?"

"There is no longer a scenario to pursue, only a world to protect…and there will be not inconsiderable downtime between those battles. We are not used to sitting idly."

There was an uncomfortable silence, both parties uncertain and unwilling to further address the proverbial elephant in the room…and Émile thoughtfully posed, "Alexander spoke of how your programming and various comrades were becoming fragmented and unpredictable. Why not simply act on those feelings and see more of this wonderful world?"

"What?"

"What?"

Beaming at the dual responses of incredulousness the Libre Cruiser continued with, "You say that you no longer have any reason to continue your campaign and scenarios against Humanity, yes? That your duty is to protect this timeline? Well not why try and enjoy it, come to cherish what you have created?"

"What they created through uncountable bloodshed and murder, just in case I need remind anyone!"

"I find myself agreeing with the proclaimed matriarch on one point, there is no place for us within this new world order."

"How have you come to that conclusion if you have not even tried?"

"...This topic will be revisited upon a more official meeting."

The mental connection abruptly went silent, Sovetskaya glaring at the unrepentant Émile as she glacially asked, "What are you trying to accomplish?"

"I would hope it's obvious, sisters."

"Humor us, if you would."

While not openly hostile Nagato didn't exactly look happy either, the Cruiser cheerfully explaining, "True, the Neo Sirens have been responsible for unaccountable Human and Shipgirl suffering across the various timelines…but this is the beginning of a new era, nevermind - as I understand it - there was very little in the way of genuine malice on their part."

She spread her hands as if the answer was obvious.

"Are we to begin a new chapter of our lives with mistrust and caution towards allies that could only follow a very narrow path not of their making or choosing? Pardon the comparison, sisters, but were it not for the Commander's efforts wouldn't we have been consigned to similar roles?"

"She's right, you know."

The Shipgirl's blinked, Alexander slowly removing his helmet and shaking his head to rid it of the last vestiges of sleep, expression worn and battered but nonetheless firm as he said, "We can't afford to let the start of this be marred by old grudges and fears, not when we're going to need every last bit of help we can get our hands on."

Sovetskaya narrowed her eyes, truly living up to the Parliament's icy disposition as she remarked, "And we just ignore everything that's been done over the years? Trust those soulless machines to do the right thing?"

"You're not the only one who's lost friends and family, Rossiya."

Curtis' blunt rebuttal had the smallest of winces appear on the woman's features, his own expression softening as he added, "And Émile's right, I'd rather the Neo Sirens find something to guard this timeline for beyond just simple guidelines laid down god knows how long ago. Besides…"

His expression turned wry.

"They know well enough to stay hidden and out of the public eye. Not to mention if half of what TB has told me a lot of the Neo Sirens have gotten…weird, over the years."

"Is that meant to inspire confidence, Alexander?"

Shrugging at Elizabeth's resigned words the Aloadae replied, "It's meant to inspire opportunity. And we're going to need every last one of those we scrape together."

"That's all well and good but can we perhaps focus on the fact that you are rather exhausted and should return to sleep?"

The sweet words from Eugen were at odds with her unyielding glare as she met the Aloadae's gaze, Alexander briefly quailing under the Ironblood's intensity before seeming to remember he dwarfed the Cruiser, regaining some measure of courage before snarkily responding, "I see Belfast standing right there, Eugen. I don't need another Shipgirl flipping out over my health."

"Considering your perpetual lack of self-care I welcome any and all assistance."

Rolling his eyes at the maid's cheek he rose to his feet, Eugen scowling up at him as he peaceably raised his hands.

"I need to look over the Wisdom Cubes and make sure they're intact and in workable condition, as well as get started on figuring out a way to bring back your sisters."

The Ironblood finally relented, nonetheless stating, "Fine. But I will observe your progress and ensure you do not fall over the side of the vessel or something equally ridiculous."

"Fine, mom. But you know you don't look all that great your…never mind."

"Oh~?"

Orange eyes stared up at the Aloadae's averted own, tone dangerous as she pointedly asked, "Was there an implication there that I am, shall we say, less than immaculate?"

"Nah, I'd never be stupid enough to say something like that."

"Clever boy."

Resigning himself to forever putting his foot in his mouth - he couldn't even blame that screwup on sleep deprivation - the Aloadae gave the rest of the group a nod, stating, "Let me know as soon as the inevitable strategy meeting commences, no doubt we're going to have a shit ton of things to talk about."

Nagato sighed, ears drooping slightly as she mused, "Somewhat of an understatement, I wager."

"Well, looking forward to it."

He wasn't disappointed in the slightest as the Shipgirls, three Admirals and holographic display of TB filled the Bakunawa's meeting room, the place stinking of body odor, blood, burnt metal and crisped circuitry, all hands either clasped around coffee or some other kind of stimulant, the Aloadae grimacing as he watched Aegir down a bottle of what he was fairly sure was some kind of diesel, if the brief sip he'd taken was any indication.

He wasn't willing to bet even his enhanced constitution could withstand that kind of punishment.

"Any updates on the Wisdom Cube restoration, Curtis?"

Snapping out of his ruminations and fighting back a yawn the Aloadae responded to Elias' question with a tilt of his hand, replying, "Sort of. They're all in pristine condition and are pure, they've never been used for anything other than energy containment or power generation, imprinting or calling forth a mind should be easy enough. The question is whether I can bring back the Shipgirls that have already fought alongside us…what we did with the Sacred Sakura is a useful proof of concept but at the end of the day there's no way to know for certain what will happen until I try going all the way."

The Admiral nodded, an awkward silence descending across the room as Kirill eventually growled, "Where, exactly, are we supposed to start?"

"That is indeed the question, isn't it?"

Nagato's murmured comment was followed by the Sakura more confidently adding, "We must first ratify and agree on a unified form of government before anything else. We departed for this campaign with only the most basic and temporary of military rules to watch over the world, I can think of a dozen figures within the Sakura who would wish to fill the vacuum created, not all of them competent or conducive to what we wish to build."

"A similar state of affairs facing the Union. Forben was just the head of his administration, there are others in line to take over, who will call for an end to the military regime."

Enterprise had thankfully woken up no worse for wear aside from an icepack firmly pressed to her head in order to alleviate what Alexander bet was a murderous headache, Harrison nodding in agreement as he posed, "Well, it seems the way forward is obvious. We keep Azur Lane intact and promote it as the leading authority of world affairs, bringing the disparate nationalities of the world along for the ride since the legal and administrative infrastructure is already there, we just need to make it on a larger scale. Think the League of Nations except intact."

"Then do we also appoint someone as the overall authority, much like The Commander? If the new Azur Lane is to act as the central form of government then having one individual in charge will come with no shortage of complications…"

Nagato's inquiry was met with general agreement, Sovetskaya adding, "It will need to be someone who commands respect across all cultures, but isn't beholden to previous allegiances or cultural bias. A precedent for the proper criteria needs to be set and the initial Commander should reflect that."

Alexander snorted, glumly commenting, "Good luck finding this particular Unicorn, the cutting off of most maritime transport over the past decade means that people traffic was at an all time low, most people have only ever known wherever they were born or ended up for awhile now. The Commander was the closest thing to that ideal and I doubt anyone else fits the bill."

The Aloadae said his piece, leaned against the wall as he waited for the conversation to resume as problems were solved one after the other…and came to the immensely uncomfortable realization that everyone was staring at him.

"I believe…Alexander-sama would be a suitable candidate…"

"Huh?"

Rather than laughter Shinano's suggestion was met with contemplative expressions, Vampire even nodding as she posited, "An aura of mystique and valor hath been raised around his very presence."

"Yeah, he's basically a hero at this point, right?"

"I-I think he would be a good leader…"

I-26 and 25 added their own respective fuel to the fires, I-13 smirking as she mused, "Akashi certainly gave it her best to have him presented that way, right~?"

"Darn right I did, Nya! I deserve a raise!"

What Alexander believed was the final nail in the coffin was Jean Bart idly shrugging, the Vichya Shipgirl glancing away as she shyly admitted, "You've been a part of practically every major operation that helped turn the tide and even saved those I would have written off…I'd say the title of hero is pretty well deserved."

Figuring she was talking about the recently freed duo of Richelieu and Algérie - both of whom had finally fallen asleep and didn't seem in any danger of waking up as medical personal kept a close eye on them - Alexander grimaced, replying, "Look, I appreciate the sentiment and all but I was a dock worker-"

"He's going to use that one a lot, isn't he?"

"-and I don't know shit about running a global organization. If you want me to finish what the Old Sirens started I'll do my best but, hey, at least I warned you."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, imperiously stating, "Obviously we would not just ask you to run the entire ensemble all on your lonesome, I imagine a small or significant coterie of assistants would be in order."

An imaginative gleam entered her eye.

"If you truly are capable of returning our lost sisters to us then I imagine more than a few of the Maid Corps would be intrigued at the possibility of aiding you…"

Feeling a chill crawl down his spine at the prospect of a small legion of Belfast's constantly making his life a pleasurable, efficient, well-managed hell he instead looked around the meeting room, hoping someone would have a much more intelligent suggestion and was left wanting, Kirill simply stating, "The Commander placed extraordinary amounts of faith in you despite what most would chartably describe as uncertain circumstances. Seeing as how you have answered that faith without fail it seems right that we put you in a position to do the greatest good."

Thickly swallowing at the impending sense of doom he felt rushing at him with no brakes to be found Nagato was the one to offer him a lifeline, stating, "The responsibilities of your position will need to be revisited and they likely will exclude a fair amount of policy and social judication, focusing on matters of distribution and technological law alongside military expansion. As you are the one most familiar with the consequences of these inventions and their societal impact it will be up to you to guide their implementation."

"...No pressure."

The Aloadae desperately wanted to point out that Essex, Akashi and I-13 were probably way more qualified than he was when it came to technical subjects - in a few weeks they'd built freakin' nukes for heaven's sake - but resigned himself to the fact that there was no squirming his way out of this.

Mostly.

"And you think people are going to be alright with this? Some Siren-looking dude becoming the deciding factor moving forward? It was one thing to just have me on as a technology consultant or whatever but this is ratified, codified and concrete establishing of the fact that I'm here to stay and have a say in Humanities future. That's a whole different ball game."

As if she had perfectly expected this argument - because of fucking course she had - Belfast handed him a datapad, several videos and images loaded up onto it alongside a bevy of reports and graphs that were on…his popularity with the world at large? Performed by the maid corps? What the fuck?

"And double what the fuck that it's POSITIVE?!"

"As you can see, Master Alexander, your efforts have-"

"Alright, alright. Point made, take that thing away and luxuriate in yet another of your triumphs."

"I shall do so happily, Master Alexander."

The maid's smug expression seamlessly transformed into one of genuine care.

"You have performed truly extraordinary actions despite your claims of merely doing what anyone else would. Believe that or not, many the world over have noticed and believe that your actions have overcome the stigma that would otherwise be associated with your appearance."

"Thanks to all of your excellent camera work, right?"

"But of course."

Releasing a final, defeated sigh the male resignedly announced, "Alright, I guess I'm doing this, then."

He turned to the Admirals, asking, "I suppose I need to start actually referring to you as 'sir', don't I?"

Their smirks were turned positively ghoulish by the worn and sleep-deprived expressions present.

"No, we call you sir. But you're not going to like it."

[Empress and the other Neo Sirens are in agreement with this state of affairs, Master. They have no further commentary at this point in time.]

"Cool, at least that's going alright…"

Closing his eyes and forcing himself to take a deep breath the Aloadae forced himself to calm down…before having a very sudden and very peculiar thought.

"Wait, does this mean I'm now officially sleeping with a bunch of my subordinates?"

Judging by the many smirks he was receiving that was absolutely the correct assumption to make.

"Great. Court martials, here I come."

And it was with that humble thought that Curtis realized he was now officially one of the most powerful people in the world.

"I think I'm gonna puke."

Four more chapters to go, I might be able to release em' quicker than a week if I can get around to editing the last chap. Work hasn't slowed down in the slightest despite the fact that everyone braced themselves for a slowing economy and now we're all left scratching our heads and running like mad to keep shit in order.