Light was just beginning to break over the horizon when Apocrypha was shaken awake by Mobile. Even in her freshly awoken state, the Commander could almost physically feel the excitement radiating off of the silver-haired cruiser. A quick glance over of her showed that whatever it was, Mobile was excited enough that she hadn't even tied her hair up yet and her bouncing her heels had her nearly landing on the silver strands at her feet. "Okay, okay, I'm up. What's got you so excited?"

"Finally! No time to explain, you have to come see for yourself!"

Apocrypha yelped as her arm was grabbed and she was pulled from the hammock, stumbling to find her feet while Mobile still pulled her along to come up on the deck above. Emerging from the opening, she could hear the whirring of plane engines overhead. She looked up at the planes while Mobile rushed out ahead, waving excitedly to the craft above. "Why did Franklin and Bismarck Sea launch their planes…?" she asked, slower to join Mobile at the bow of the ship.

Mobile shook her head, grinning. "It wasn't them. Enterprise and Belleau Wood are home! Looks like they sent planes out to say hi and provide an aerial escort into the harbor."

Apocrypha felt a shiver go down her spine at the names. The Grey Ghost and the Devil Dog… Can I really meet the expectations of ships like them…? she wondered, biting her lip hard. Even someone like her who knew next to nothing would recognize those names. She expected a number of the Eagle Union shipgirls to be present anyway since the port was based here, but she still wasn't exactly mentally prepared for meeting such highly-regarded war heroes immediately upon arrival. The idea settled a pit of dread in her stomach at the thought of who might be representing the other factions Mobile and Augusta had mentioned would be waiting to meet her at the base.

But when they reached the docks, they appeared oddly empty. All around, warships of various shapes and sizes floated silently at anchor, some flying flags that Apocrypha presumed were those of their respective factions, but she only counted three women waiting at the docks. Though on closer inspection, she spotted a fourth, lingering away from the others but closely watching the incoming ships.

"Is this all that's here?" Apocrypha whispered to Mobile.

Mobile shook her head. "The rest are probably in their common areas to wait to meet you. Like I said before, we've been through a few too many candidates for this position to get too excited about it anymore. Most of the girls are gonna expect most of the effort to come from your side of things."

"Oh…"

That hadn't made her feel any more confident in her new situation. Her nerves still felt frayed even starting conversations with the fleet she'd spent the last month conducting training with, but she was expected to initiate with total strangers. Celebrity strangers, at that.

After docking the ships, Mobile led Apocrypha down to the three waiting, taking the opportunity to bring her over to the pair of silver-haired aircraft carriers who had sent planes to greet them while Augusta briefly addressed Belfast and Warspite. "Alright! Apocrypha, meet Enterprise and Belleau Wood! Enty usually works with Franklin and Bell backs 'em up. Oh, but that reminds me, why are you two back already?"

The shorter of the two, a woman with the ears and tail of a wolf, shrugged and laughed. "Augusta sent out orders to come back to port. I guess Oriskany and Kearsarge were sent to take over for us in the meantime. Oh, and your sister's back, too."

"That's real specific, y'know," Mobile countered. "Not like there's 27 of us. 36 if we're counting your class, too."

Enterprise smiled a bit at the cruiser's teasing. "She means Biloxi. She was sent back along with us. Oakland is also on the base somewhere."

Mobile snorted. "Doesn't it seem kinda like Augusta was just pulling names outta a hat when she moved people around, Enty? Think being with those stuffy Royals finally made her snap?"

"I have my reasons for issuing orders, Mobile," Augusta interjected. "Enterprise, Belleau Wood, I'm glad to see the two of you made it safely. If you'll forgive me, though, I'll be borrowing the Commander for now."

Enterprise tipped the black brim of her white cap, her long white hair framing serious purple eyes and a friendly smile as her long black coat shuffled with the movement. "Then I'll be acquainting myself with you later, Commander," she said. "I must say, I was expecting to meet you at Charleston, but I respect you for your choice to call Franklin and Bismarck Sea."

"Oh… I'm sorry?" Apocrypha asked tentatively, her cheeks growing warm from embarrassment at the possibility that she'd bruised Enterprise's ego. She was, after all, a shipgirl even she could recognize prior to being recruited.

Enterprise let out a laugh. "No, no. Not at all," she said. "The two you called are just as much veterans as I am, and even a hero needs a break from the spotlight every so often. Franklin's someone I'd trust with my life, and Bismarck Sea is someone that's spent more time than she'd like to admit in complete obscurity."

Enterprise offered her hand with a friendly wink, and gave a firm handshake when Apocrypha tentatively offered hers. "I look forward to how you'll surprise us going forward."

Before Apocrypha could respond, Augusta took Apocrypha's arm and led her away to the third woman who'd been waiting, a tall blonde that by her clothing Apocrypha recognized as being a member of the Royal Navy. It seemed to her that Augusta's demeanor softened slightly with this woman, the pair exchanging kisses on the cheek before Augusta introduced Apocrypha. "Apocrypha, this is the Prince of Wales. In addition to serving a similar role in the Royal Navy as I do for Eagle Union, she is also a member of their Knight Corps."

Wales smiled, offering her hand for Apocrypha to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet the new Commander my lovely fiancée here has spoken so highly of."

"Wait." Apocrypha looked between the two, noting the slight blush that had risen to Augusta's cheeks at the information shared by Wales just now, while Wales had wrapped an arm around Augusta's waist to pull her in close beside her. "Fiancée? Augusta didn't mention anything like that this whole time."

Augusta rolled her eyes, though the fact that she leaned into Wales indicated it wasn't anything more than teasing annoyance. "It wasn't relevant, so I didn't say anything. Besides, people have a way of treating you differently when you're engaged to one of the members of the Royal Family," she explained.

"So that's why Mobile and them would call you princess. Huh. Now it makes sense."

"Being too humble can appear fake, Augusta," Wales warned affectionately, earning herself another roll of the eyes from the heavy cruiser. "Moving on, how was the trip from Charleston?"

Augusta sighed, raising her shoulders in a shrug. "Relatively uneventful. A few small skirmishes with stray mass-produced Siren vessels, but nothing that wasn't easily resolved."

Apocrypha noticed an immediate shift in Wales's body language at the subject of the training fleet skirmishing against Siren ships, instinctively flinching under the intensity of her gaze when Wales looked her way. "Er…"

"Would you mind if I take a moment to speak with Augusta alone?"

When Apocrypha nodded, Wales led Augusta out of earshot, trying not to grip her arm as tightly as she wanted to. "You promised you wouldn't fight in your condition. That was the whole reason you returned from the Royal Isles. And I heard Belfast said you refused maintenance in Charleston?"

"So?" Augusta asked, not challenging, but holding her ground. "It's a minor engine defect. I've stayed on the frontlines before with worse issues, and I was doing fine in training exercises."

Wales sighed in exasperation. "That's not the point. You promised. What if something had happened to you because you were just that bit too slow?"

"I can take care of myself. We didn't have time to arrange for yet another ship to come down to Charleston." Augusta frowned when Wales still continued to stare her down. "Fine. I'll ask Vestal or Akashi or someone to take a look at it if I see them."

"And no battles until it's fixed?" Wales pressed.

Augusta gave her a long-suffering look, then noticed another woman slipping away from the docks with Apocrypha. "Fine, fine," she said, pulling her arm free. "Can I go now? Gloire's just taken the Commander and we don't exactly need Vichya sending us looking for a new one this soon. HQ is still trying to investigate what happened to the last one."

Wales nodded, stepping away. "Take care of what you need to. I will go help see to finishing touches on the office."

Augusta nodded in agreement, walking away at a fast clip to go track down Gloire. What the hell is Vichya planning this time…?


Gloire threw open the door to the sitting room where the others of her faction had been waiting, yanking the Commander inside and quickly shutting the door behind them, herself leaning against the closed door serving as a barrier to prevent any thoughts of escape. Apocrypha swallowed thickly, glancing around the room to count three more women and flinching when Gloire reached out to clap a hand on her shoulder.

"Look what I've managed to grab from right under Augusta's nose, girls~" Gloire purred. The sound reminded Apocrypha more of the way a cat would sometimes purr when playing with a toy.

"Gloire, what have you done now?" sighed one of the women, as if this hadn't been the first time and the intrusion was expectedly unexpected.

Apocrypha's focus shifted toward the voice, meeting the dark red eyes of a woman with wavy mouse brown hair that spilled across the couch she was laying on and the draping black of her dress. Her head rested on the lap of another of the women, this one silver-haired with vibrant purple eyes, the bright red of her skirt a contrast to the white of her top and black of the fabric around her waist. Like a princess and her knight was Apocrypha's first impression, until she realized the brown-haired woman more accurately gave her the impression of a priestess.

She cast a quick glance behind her to get a proper look at Gloire, whose back she'd only been able to see until now. Like the two on the couch, much of her outfit was black, a tight minidress that barely even reached mid-thigh, leaving a wide swath of skin visible between where the dress ended and the top of sheer black stockings began just above her knees, disappearing into ankle-height black boots. She'd been unable to assess just how revealing the outfit really was from behind when it had been hidden by what she now realized was only a long half-skirt, deep crimson red inside against the black of the exterior. The more Apocrypha looked, the more her instincts screamed at her that she was in danger if she didn't find a way out.

She searched the room for the fourth woman, surprised to find that while there remained some black detailing and she gave her no more sense of safety than the other three, her clothing was pristine white, and a dark sword rested across her lap. More so than even the mouse-haired priestess, her disapproval of what Gloire had done was palpable.

"I don't believe you were asked to retrieve the Commander, Gloire," she stated, frowning deeply.

Gloire shrugged, the click of the lock sounding before she traipsed up to drape herself against Apocrypha's shoulder. "I didn't want to let Augusta impose the wrong impression of us on her, and she was just too adorable to leave alone, Joffre. 'Sides, if someone's gonna pass judgment, should it not be the one ordained by the Iris as humanity's judge~?"

"So you decided to abduct her?"

"Does lying by omission count as kidnapping?"

The mousy haired girl sighed, sitting up and getting to her feet, Gloire instantly peeling herself off of Apocrypha to step away at her approach. With a sigh, she addressed the new Commander, her voice soft but sure of itself. "My apologies for Gloire's behavior. She tends to act before she thinks at times," she explained, turning slightly toward the one Gloire had called Joffre a moment ago. "May I introduce us?"

"Go ahead."

The woman nodded her thanks, again facing Apocrypha. "Those of us you see in this room serve to represent the Vichya Dominion. Jean Bart and Primauguet would have come to meet you themselves, but extenuating circumstances unfortunately prevented them from doing so just yet. I am the Suffren-class heavy cruiser, Dupleix. If you've not yet guessed, Gloire is the one who brought you here. La Galissonnière-class light cruiser and a member of the Tribunal tasked with gathering intelligence. Joffre is another member of the Tribunal, the judge as Gloire mentioned. Namesake of her aircraft carrier class. And Algérie is our final member here, namesake of her class of heavy cruiser."

Apocrypha struggled to find words, her instinct still shouting for her to escape the room. "I, uh… It's nice to meet you all…?"

"See, Dupleix! She's cute, isn't she?" Gloire piped up again. "It's too bad to see Naval HQ send us another with no spine, though. Those ones usually don't last long enough to even make plans for."

"Please stop trying to scare her," Algérie spoke up, shaking her head. "As Dupleix said, you'd do best to not let what Gloire says weigh on you too much."

Someone pounding on the door to the room saved Apocrypha from having to try answering again, Augusta's voice coming from behind the door to demand that it be opened. Gloire rolled her eyes, but at a look from Joffre reached to unlock the door. She had to move quickly to keep from being hit with it when it swung open, grinning innocently at the ruffled heavy cruiser standing in the doorway.

"Where's the fire, Augusta?"

Dupleix smiled apologetically, resting a hand on Apocrypha's shoulder to direct her toward Augusta. "Sorry for the misunderstanding. It seems Gloire was under the impression the Commander didn't already have an escort to show her around. I assure you she's entirely in one piece and no worse for wear, if a bit shell shocked."

"And whose idea was that really?" Augusta pressed.

Gloire rolled her eyes dramatically. "Yes. Hi. It's me. I'm the problem. Weren't you listening at all?!"

"Gloire…" Joffre warned.

"What?! I can't win here, can I? I keep my mouth shut and we get pushed around, I fess up and get scolded. Can we make up our minds already?"

"Gloire, enough," Dupleix whispered, grabbing her arm to pull her away. "Augusta, Commander, my apologies again for this mishap. Hopefully we can have a proper meeting again under more suitable circumstances later."

Augusta said nothing, pulling Apocrypha from the room and down the hall, breathing a sigh of relief once they were well away from the room. "Well, I guess that could have gone worse. You got lucky. Let that be a lesson to not go wandering off with random shipgirls here. I'll let you know who's safe and who's not. That group? Firmly in 'not safe' territory."

Apocrypha frowned, tugging free of Augusta's grasp but still following along with her. "They're a little intimidating, sure, but you make them sound like serial killers or something…"

Augusta snorted, shaking her head. "Yeah, that's pretty much an accurate description. Especially Gloire." Her phone buzzed, making her hold up a finger in a "Hold on a minute" sort of gesture while she answered it. "Yes? … Understood. … Yes, the Commander and I will make our way directly to the office. Thank you."

"What was that about?"

Augusta changed course without initially answering, motioning for Apocrypha to follow her. "Seems the rest of the Royal Navy will meet you in your office. Let's not keep them waiting."

Apocrypha took the time to admire the décor throughout the facility while Augusta led her through the different halls, nearly bumping into the cruiser when she stopped in front of a dark wooden door. Apocrypha examined the exterior, admiring the elegantly simple craftsmanship of the door and the brass knob. She glanced at the nameplate on the door, sudden realization sinking in. Commander's Office.

Augusta twisted the knob and pushed the door open, motioning for Apocrypha to go in ahead of her. The Commander stepped inside, treading carefully on the fine grey wood flooring as if she feared marring the spotless surface. A dark, beautifully crafted cherry wood desk sat at one end of the room on an oversized wine red rug. Bookshelves filled with books lined the wall behind the desk and chair, while a few plants in white ceramic pots and a large window facing out toward the water brightened the room into a professional but welcoming space. The space practically took Apocrypha's breath away at the thought of being hers. But Augusta had said the remaining Royal Navy girls would be meeting them here, and aside from herself and the cruiser, there was no one in the room.

"Is this… really my office?" Apocrypha asked, turning in place slowly to take in the room once again.

Augusta laughed, shaking her head. "No. Come this way."

Apocrypha reluctantly followed her to another door, a similar dark wood but more ornate, intricate filigree designs decorating the frame, while the brass handle had been crafted in the shape of a leaping dolphin. Again, Augusta opened the door for her, revealing an even bigger office through the opening. The floor was an expanse of blue-grey marble, the far wall mostly taken up by massive panes of glass except for a swath of blue-grey wall with bookshelves set back into it above a large fireplace protected by ornate black iron gates. A massive L-shaped cherry wood desk sat in front of the wall with a plush black office chair adorned with cherry wood accents. To the right was an expanse of pristine white rug beneath another cherrywood desk and surrounded by chairs, clearly some sort of meeting area. Above the space, the ceiling curved up into a glass skylight that let sunlight spill down from the top as well as the glass wall.

She noticed the same detail to the opposite side of the room, as well, noticing now that the glass "wall" on this side also had a pair of doors that opened out onto a giant balcony overlooking the ocean crashing down below. The side wall there was taken up by a kitchenette with grey quartz countertops, veins of white in the stone adding a touch of brightness. Though rather bare, she did notice the presence of both a tea set and another small section for making coffee, with a few simple cups hanging beneath the cabinets on hooks. Stepping inside, she could see now that against the wall splitting the two offices was a large fish tank, empty save for some coral and saltwater plants. Like the opposite side of the room, this section seemed to also be prepared for meetings, though of a more casual sort with a large three-sided plush black couch taking up most of the rug's perimeter and a cherry wood coffee table set in the center so that anyone on the couch would be able to reach it.

It was at the couch that she saw the group of Royal Navy ships awaiting her. She instantly recognized Warspite and Wales sitting on the couch, and Belfast standing primly behind one side of the couch, but they had been joined by two more. The first she noticed was the brown-haired girl in a red and white uniform dress sitting on the couch, looking for all the world like she wished she could disappear into the couch. The other woman appeared much more at ease and stood behind the brown-haired woman, in an outfit Apocrypha instantly placed as a maid uniform like Belfast's all while her posture and presence gave the impression of royalty, as if some princess had opted to only play at being a maid. This woman was the first to notice the new arrivals, golden eyes locking onto them and pristine white hair shifting and swaying hypnotically as she approached, stopping partway across the room to curtsy. "Lady Augusta, Commander, it is a pleasure to have you join us. Please, come have a seat. Tea and snacks have already been prepared."

Augusta nodded, stepping away from Apocrypha to go join the others on the couch. Apocrypha, on the other hand, seemed like she'd hardly heard the maid's words, going to inspect something she'd somehow missed when first looking over the room. Near the central desk, some sort of dark red substance stained the otherwise gleaming floors. "What is this? Is… Is this blood?" she asked, looking to the others. "Why is there blood?!"

She watched Belfast and the other maid exchange a glance between them, Belfast exhaling in a sigh of disappointment. "Royalist, I thought you were asked to ensure the room was perfectly clean."

Royalist smiled politely, for all intents and purposes looking just as disappointed in herself as Belfast apparently was. "My sincerest apologies, but I simply couldn't get the stain to lift no matter what I tried."

Apocrypha glanced again at the stain, curiously scuffing at it with the toe of her shoe and easily flaking off a section. As she'd expected, it would have easily been cleaned up, which meant it had been left there entirely on purpose, presumably as a warning. She forced herself to smile at Royalist while she walked over to the couch and sat down on the unoccupied side of the couch. "It's fine. I'll figure out how to clean it up myself. It looks like you've done a wonderful job having the office ready as it is, so thank you, …Royalist, I believe it was?"

The maid nodded, setting a cup of tea in front of Apocrypha once she was settled. "Yes. I am the Bellonna-class light cruiser, Royalist. I serve as a part of the Royal Navy's Maid Corps and was sent to help tend to the base here. I am sure Belfast has already informed you, but please do not hesitate to let us maids know if there is anything we can do for you. Everyone doing their part here and working together is quite important, so you know. A base cannot run optimally if any of the parties fail to fulfill their duties, after all."

Apocrypha forced herself not to swallow nervously, nodding in agreement with Royalist's words. "Of course. And who are you?" she asked, looking to the brown-haired girl who'd said nothing so far.

The girl seemed to be startled to be spoken to, raising her red eyes from the teacup in her hands. "Oh, me?" she asked. "I am Swiftsure. I-If you're okay with it, I would be happy to help you with anything you may need while here."

Inside, Apocrypha let out a massive sigh of relief. This girl she could relate to. "Glad to meet you, Swiftsure. And of course, you as well, Royalist. You can all call me Apocrypha. I hope I'll be able to meet your expectations here."

Despite the shipgirls giving affirmations, Apocrypha got the sense that they all held varying degrees of uncertainty as the group fell into comfortable chatter over tea and snacks, leaving Apocrypha to observe and mull over her situation. She was surprised when Swiftsure moved to sit beside her after a while, realizing she must have zoned out and made it obvious her mind was elsewhere when Swiftsure held out a cookie in offering.

"Sorry for bothering you, but I thought you might like one?" she asked uncertainly, smiling nervously when Apocrypha accepted the cookie. "Um… I thought maybe you could use someone on your side, too… The others scared you, right?"

Apocrypha gave a small nod, unable to stop from glancing in the direction of the bloodstain again. "I know Mobile and Augusta have both said it's been bad, but I didn't realize…"

Swiftsure sighed. "I thought it was a little over the top. I'm sorry about that. I don't think they have bad intentions. It probably doesn't mean much coming from me, but I think you'll do fine. You've been treating us like people. They'll appreciate it."

"Thanks…"

Once again, she lapsed into silence with Swiftsure, but felt a tiny bit of her unease lift off of her. Some time later, Belfast and Royalist began to collect the dishes onto trays and the others prepared to leave as well. When Swiftsure made to leave, Augusta shook her head, stopping her in her tracks.

"Sorry, Swiftsure, but would you mind staying and helping in the office here? I have a few things to tend to and I'm sure she could use the help," she requested, having noticed that the pair seemed to have a mutual understanding of each other. "I'll be able to take over again this evening if it's needed."

"Oh! Uh… Yes, of course," Swiftsure agreed, then looked at Apocrypha. "If… If you don't mind, Commander?"

Apocrypha nodded, giving Augusta a grateful smile. "That's fine with me."

Augusta nodded. "That's settled, then. I'll come get you around suppertime. Royalist will bring you lunch around one this afternoon, but don't hesitate to ask if you need anything else in the meantime."

Apocrypha watched the group leave out the door, only managing to nod when Swiftsure informed her that she would be in the adjoining office if she was needed. She walked over to her desk, sitting heavily in the chair in front of it and closing her eyes. I'm so in over my head here…