With the last two weeks being filled with endless supply order forms and nonstop combat training exercises, Apocrypha could feel the tension bubbling all around the port in preparation for something big. So it hadn't been a surprise when Augusta had finally called a meeting, those at the base gathering together in a large meeting room. Screens on one of the walls had started to fill with some of those still at their home ports joining the meeting via video call, and a map had been projected onto the opposite wall. Apocrypha recognized a few of the pre-marked locations as matching those of the red pins Augusta had had on the map in her office, realizing now that they must be meant to mark Siren bases.

She recognized a few of those joining the call, surprised to find that Midway was one of them, though the dark dress and witch's hat was a far different look than the shorts and bikini top she'd seen her in back in San Diego when she'd first met Mobile. She recognized Jean Bart and Primauguet on another camera as well. For the moment, the girls were broken into groups, making small talk with each other or discussing plans for the upcoming operation, while others were quietly waiting for the meeting to begin. From what she picked up from snippets of conversation, this would be the first big operation in some time and it had been even longer for the factions to be in such close cooperation like this.

Augusta checked the clock again, clicking her tongue in annoyance at something as she rose from her seat. The room quickly quieted aside from a few last murmurs, which Augusta allowed to die out before speaking. "Thank you to everyone who's made this meeting on time," she began. "It appears that the Northern Parliament will be late to join us, so I'll skip the overall mission briefing at the moment until they and An Shan are with us."

"Then can we address the elephant in the room that at this point I believe everyone is well aware of?" an ash-blonde inquired, taking a black peaked cap with a silver badge of the Sardegna shield off of her head. "Iron Blood, since you're so friendly with them again, can we expect the Iberian Crown to be participating in this operation?"

"Mind what you're insinuating, Duilio," another woman spoke up on the video call, looking like some sort of phantom knight with her white hair and grey eyes against the ebony black of her armor. "But to answer your question, no, the Crown will not be taking part in this. There is still no interest from them in offering their fleet to the alliance, nor would what few ships they have make any substantial difference in the success or failure of our goals here."

"I just think it's interesting how they're suddenly talking to Iron Blood and nobody else," Duilio remarked. "If it's for shore defense, why travel all that way when Sardegna or Vichya would be much closer and still willing to lend aid? That's not suspicious to you at all, Baden?"

"If there are ulterior motives to it, it's on the side of the Crown," another woman stated, red eyes framed by red-streaked silver hair. "Perhaps they're shoring up coastal defenses so that eventually their ships are available to participate in our operations and join the alliance, or perhaps it's their same usual selfishness. As Baden pointed out, what the Crown is doing has no effect on the current matter at hand, so I propose we drop the subject until a more appropriate time."

Augusta sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Scheer. As long as the Crown continues to keep to themselves while this operation is underway, they're not our priority to worry about."

"If we're still waiting on Northern Parliament, why don't you tell me who's who on the call?" Apocrypha suggested, trying to head things off from becoming a giant petty argument. "I recognize Jean Bart and Primauguet from the Vichya Dominion. And Midway, of course."

Apocrypha blinked at her own statement.

"Actually, didn't you say Midway doesn't participate in ops?"

"Correct - mostly," Midway answered. "Because of the size of this operation, it's been in the planning stages for a few months now, so it was possible to get everything in order for me to sortie. This isn't something that's a common occurrence."

Augusta nodded in agreement with Midway's words. "Right. As you said, Commander, there's no need for me to introduce Jean Bart and Primauguet. On the Royal Navy's side, you have Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. I'm not sure if she'll be taking the flagship position herself or delegating that to someone else, though."

"Barham will be acting as flagship for our fleet in the Atlantic," Queen Elizabeth informed them. "I want to know beforehand if things are going to turn for the worse."

"Makes sense. For Iris Libre, we have Suffren, nameship of her subclass. She's Duquesne's half-sister, though I haven't seen her in action much. I assume she's more than capable if Richelieu's put her in charge of the fleet. For us in Eagle Union, we'll be splitting into two fleets. Midway will be in charge of the larger Pacific raid fleet out of San Diego. Our Atlantic fleet launching from here in New York will be a combined fleet with the Royal Navy. Wales and I will be leading that fleet, and you, Commander, will be coming along aboard my ship."

Apocrypha took a moment to let those words sink in. "I'm going out on the operation?"

Augusta nodded briskly. "Yes. It's about time you get used to larger operations. This one is fairly low-risk since the only fleet approved for anything beyond a small-scale facility will be Midway's fleet, and even they've only approved up to mid-scale facilities for this particular operation if all small-scale targets are eliminated."

"I see… Anyway, Sardegna's flagship for this is… Duilio, correct? She's Andrea Doria's sister?"

"You've done your research," the ash-blonde remarked, nodding in approval. "Yes, I am the Sardegnian flagship. It seems you've managed to earn my sister's approval for the time being, That's no easy feat. I hope that someday we'll have the opportunity to meet in person."

"I do, too." Although she didn't dare to say anything aloud, she could understand now why Andrea had been upset over the fact Littorio had left Duilio to manage the fleet alone. Something in her eyes made her seem like she was simply looking through everything without seeing, and the monotone to her voice made it clear she was doing little more than going through the motions.

She didn't get to dwell on this for long, however, as Mackensen had already taken charge of the room. "Kommandant, allow me to introduce a few of those who will be leading Iron Blood's fleets."

Apocrypha glanced toward the five screens clustered together, one including the black-clad knight and the other white-haired woman who had been arguing with Duilio earlier. "How many fleets are you operating…?"

Mackensen smiled. "Seven Iron Blood raiding fleets will be taking part in this operation. Friedrich der Große is Iron Blood's overarching commander. She won't be participating in the operation, but she'll be the best to explain where each of our fleets will operate. The other four are the Bayern-class battleship and flagship of our North Sea fleet - Baden; Deutschland-class heavy cruiser and, if I may brag a bit, our best raiding ship - Admiral Scheer; Bismarck-class battleship - Tirpitz; and finally, my sister, the Mackensen-class battlecruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich."

Apocrypha nodded along as Mackensen introduced each of them, trying not to show her surprise at how benign Tirpitz actually appeared. Or perhaps it was a matter of her being surrounded by others who, even on video call, possessed much more threatening presences through the combination of hard gazes and regimented outfits. Although the blonde that Mackensen had called her sister seemed more arrogant than intimidating, but it was still a far cry from the calm observance from Tirpitz. Before she could comment on it, another screen lit up to show An Shan, smiling apologetically as her fingers trailed the edges of her hair for any stray strands.

"I'm sorry for being late," she said with a salute. "Dragon Empery's An Shan, reporting in! Has the meeting started already?"

Augusta shook her head. "We were just making introductions. You haven't missed anything noteworthy, I promise. We're still waiting on the Northern Parliament's representatives."

"They might just flake out on us," Midway commented with a roll of her eyes, not noticing two more screens open while she was speaking. "I wouldn't say they're the most reliable, y'know? They'll make us pull all the weight and then crow about how they're holding the Arctic Front and providing so much to Azur Lane."

"Would you care to repeat that, Comrade Midway?" a blue-haired woman asked from one of the new screens, the challenge clear in her blue eyes.

Rather than backing down like the woman clearly expected, Midway was quick to take up the challenge, golden eyes narrowing right back. "Well, it's not as if we've really seen any sort of progress made by the Northern Parliament. You can't blame me for questioning whether or not you're really pulling your weight out there."

So Sovetsky Soyuz won't show herself, Augusta observed, crossing her arms and leaving the blue-haired woman and Midway bicker a while longer. The Iberian Crown's new ship, the Iron Blood's new leader and what happened with Bismarck, and the Northern Parliament's Pacific Fleet dropping off the radar and Sovetsky Soyuz avoiding speaking to us… No, there's no proof of it all being connected. We need more information before we can say anything. Ugh. This is going to be like prying teeth out of an angry alligator.

She cleared her throat, as much to regain her own focus as to draw the attention of the others. "Apocrypha, meet Sovetskaya Belorussiya and Sovetskaya Rossiya from the Northern Parliament. Usually we would also have a representative or two here from them, but I'd assume something's happened?"

The blue-haired woman - the one Augusta had called Belorussiya - smiled in a way that Apocrypha could tell was condescendingly fake. "Comrade Avrora and the other one should be arriving today. Comrade Molotov unfortunately has been indisposed."

Augusta raised an eyebrow at that information but kept her suspicions to herself. "Well, now that everyone seems to be here, let's begin. Since I'm sure you're needed back out on the frontlines, Rossiya, let's have you go first."

The white-haired woman nodded, smoke blowing from between her lips as she exhaled one last drag off of the cigar. "Thank you for your consideration of our situation, Comrade Augusta. Currently, I have a small fleet stationed in Port A."

While Rossiya opened her mouth to continue laying out her plan-or possibly take another drag of her cigar-noise was coming from something outside the view of Belorussiya's camera followed by a different woman's voice.

"Is Rossiya smoking again?! Ros-si-ya!"

A door slammed in the background, followed by the sound of another door being opened and shut on Rossiya's side, everyone else having gone silent at the unexpected outburst. Another blue-haired woman came into view, a brief struggle taking place while she tried to pry the lit cigar out of Rossiya's hand before moving to drop it into what appeared to be a glass of water.

"Gruziya, wait -!"

Before Rossiya could finish, the cigar had been dropped into the glass, only for the liquid within to ignite into a translucent blue flame. The new woman took a step back from it, though she returned Rossiya's annoyed look with a smug grin as if that had been her plan all along. "Oh dear, drinking during the meeting, too? Tsk tsk. What would Soyuz think if she knew about this?"

"She'll know even if you play dumb," Rossiya countered, sighing. "Comrade Commander, I'm sorry about that. I wasn't aware that Gruziya was still at the port."

"Liar."

Apocrypha sighed, something in her gut telling her that there would be much bigger consequences for those two than their behavior let on. "Alright, moving on from… whatever the hell that was. Is there some reason we can't just say 'Arkhangelsk'? Is there some big secret about that port that its name can't be said?"

The door to the meeting room flew open at that moment, a woman in white dress Apocrypha was already learning to associate with the Northern Parliament striding in as if she owned the place, another following behind and smiling nervously in apology.

"I heard my name," the first woman stated.

"That's why we don't say that port's name," Mackensen sighed. "Hello, Arkhangelsk. Avrora. How nice of you to bother finally showing up."

"At least they're sober?" Wales offered. "Better late and sober than late and drunk."

"Alright! Back on topic, please!" Andrea interrupted with a clap. "Some of us don't want to spend all day in a meeting screwing around."

After a few minutes of trying to wrangle the group back onto the matter at hand, Apocrypha listened as each of the factions laid out their plans for the operation, each fleet making their dibs on intended targets and in some cases rendezvous points to join fleets together in the event of primary targets being eliminated and the possibility of larger targets opening up. As more of the targets got marked off, she noticed a particular area that hadn't been marked at all.

"Augusta? What about the more southern part of the North Atlantic?" Apocrypha asked, pointing to an area with numerous enemy facilities pinpointed but no indications of being targeted. "Is there a reason we're not hitting here at all?"

Augusta shook her head. "The fleet I wanted there ended up being reassigned to act as Midway's escort and I haven't figured out another fleet that can get together and reach the area soon enough."

Midway smiled sheepishly. "Sorry for taking Hornet and co. You could have said something, Augusta. Northern Parliament could have sent their Pacific Fleet instead, right?"

"No one has been able to make contact with the Pacific Fleet's flagships," Belorussiya said, shaking her head. "It's safe to assume that they're either busy or they've been lost. We don't have anyone to spare to go see what the situation there actually is. The Pacific will have to fall to the Sakura Empire and Eagle Union, I'm afraid."

Some look of concern on Avrora's face made Apocrypha feel the need to ask, "Who are the Pacific Fleet's leaders?"

"Comrade Kalinin should be leading them," Avrora answered automatically, keeping her voice low and frowning after saying that. "Wait. No. Comrade Kaganovich? Shoot. Uh…"

Avrora's complexion, already pale, went completely sheet-white.

"Please forget I said anything," she pleaded. "Comrade Belorussiya is right. The Pacific Fleet isn't operational right now."

Apocrypha frowned but dropped the subject, instead returning her attention to the operation map again. "How do we plug that gap… If the idea is to make them spread out, then we don't want a big open area they can retreat to and congregate."

"I may have a solution to that, Kommandant, if you'll hear me out," Mackensen spoke up, getting up from her seat. When no one protested, she continued on, "I can lead a fleet into the southern North Atlantic drawing from ships that are already here or who are usually held in reserve."

Apocrypha could see Augusta and Wales share a look and whisper between themselves, Augusta seeming unhappy with something in the discussion, but eventually ceding to Wales. "Who were you thinking, Mackensen?"

"First of all, would the Northern Parliament be open to sending Voroshilov? I understand she was brought back from the Arctic Front in poor condition sometime back, but I'm hoping that perhaps she would be well enough to see action again by now?" Mackensen proposed.

"She died shortly after being brought back to port," Belorussiya said, shaking her head. "We can't provide a ship that's no longer among us."

Mackensen sighed. "Well, that's unfortunate. I'm sorry to hear that. Augusta?"

"What is it?"

"Would Biloxi and Franklin be available from Eagle Union?"

Augusta seemed surprised at the question. "Oh. Biloxi wasn't assigned to this operation, no. Franklin is with Midway's Pacific fleet, though."

"The Sakura Empire will offer your choice of our carriers who are present, Mackensen," Nagato stated. "I can inform Akagi, Kaga, or Zuihou if you wish to make use of them."

Mackensen considered the offer, bowing her head in thanks to Nagato. "I'd gladly accept Zuihou in the fleet. Jean Bart, I hope I won't be stepping on any toes if I ask Dunkerque?"

"That's between you and her. Ask if you want."

"Then you should bring Hood, as well, Mackensen," Wales offered, and Mackensen scoffed at the suggestion.

"I think you're failing to grasp my preferences, Prince," she said. "I have no plans to be concerned with 'elegance' or wasting time worrying about risks. Take her with your own fleet, but I won't allow her in mine."

"I insist on someone from the Royal Navy sortieing with this fleet," Wales countered, refusing to back down against Mackensen. "You have always claimed that factionalism is not a system you subscribe to, so prove it."

Mackensen tapped her heel impatiently while she thought, finally glancing over toward Scheer. "You and your sisters have fought a fair few of the Royal Navy girls. Is there anyone who's stood out to you?"

Scheer sat back in her chair, lips pursed into a thin line. "I do recall Spee mentioning Exeter if you're looking for something heavier. If not, my personal experience says Dragon should be a strong contender. She's stubborn in a fight at the very least."

"Dragon is working with Barham," Queen Elizabeth interrupted. "Exeter will have to suffice. Wales, please inform her after the meeting has closed."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

Mackensen shrugged, seeming content enough with the decision and looking at Andrea and Veneto. "I'd like Carabiniere to be the final member of the fleet."

Andrea and Veneto shared a look, but Duilio had answered before they could make a decision. "I'm sure that Carabiniere would be honored to have been chosen for your fleet, Mackensen. Of course, the final say is hers, but I see no reason why we should deny you the opportunity to ask."

Andrea sighed, holding up her hands in surrender. "You heard her. Carabiniere is all yours if she decides to say yes. I'd jump at the chance for a couple weeks away from Littorio."

"Then that's settled."

Augusta pursed her lips, looking over the map. "I'll make arrangements for you to move into Naval Station Mayport for the operation, then. That should give you clear shots into the southern part of the North Atlantic and into the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Will that suffice for your plans?"

"That would be appreciated, Augusta," Mackensen agreed, glancing over at Apocrypha and seeming to get an idea at that moment. "One last thing, though. I'll be taking der Kommandant with me."

"No."

"Absolutely not."

Mackensen didn't seem fazed by the immediate denial of her demand by Augusta and Wales, although it did at least seem to annoy her. "Let's be reasonable about this. You'll have a large combined fleet appropriate for a larger operation. If you have Apocrypha with you, would you or would you not restrict yourselves to only small-scale targets?"

"That's not even a question," Augusta countered. "You know the answer to that. We can't take unnecessary risks with the Commander."

"And what would you do if you didn't have her with you?"

"We'd hit every Siren facility we could find. That's not why we have such a large fleet, though."

Mackensen placed a hand on her hip, eyes narrowing. "Then let me pose another question - if Midway had requested der Kommandant participate with her fleet, would you allow it?"

"What are you trying to get at here, Mackensen?"

"I'm pointing out the hypocrisy and irrationality of your decision," Mackensen answered calmly, though Apocrypha saw the faintest hint of a smug smile starting to form. "You're not concerned about der Kommandant's safety. You just don't want her accompanying one of the Iron Blood's leaders. You're willing to sacrifice this operation being a bigger hit to the Sirens simply for petty factionalism only because I was the one who asked. All things considered, isn't it ultimately her decision?"

Apocrypha blinked as all eyes turned on her, taking a step back from the group. She couldn't deny that it did come across as Augusta being more concerned with it being Mackensen asking than it actually being about her safety, and having the larger fleet freed up to hit larger targets that would later be potential problems made sense. But there was something about Mackensen and the sudden decision to take her with the fleet that left a pit of unease in her gut. As if she knew something or had some ulterior motive that wasn't being shared with everyone else.

"Comrade Commander." To everyone's surprise, it was neither Augusta nor Mackensen who had spoken up, but Gruziya. "I have no dog in this fight, so I hope you'll take my words into consideration. I understand that the likelihood of your loyalties lying with the Eagle Union is high, given it's your home. I also understand that some of us may seem harder to trust because our circumstances have required a certain personality type to be able to survive."

"Gruziya, stay out of this," Augusta hissed. "This doesn't involve you."

"I think that's what makes me the best to speak on this subject, as I've already explained," Gruziya replied, pausing a moment to reach up and tuck a stray piece of hair back behind her ear as she leaned over next to Rossiya so she could get closer to the camera. "Comrade Commander, this is an opportunity. Prove to us that you're here to lead Azur Lane proper, not only Eagle Union. I'm curious to see just what you'd be able to accomplish with the right tools."

With her piece said, she straightened up and stepped back, blowing a kiss to the camera. "I have things to attend to before my dear sister takes time out of her day to waste her breath scolding me. Da vstryechee, Comrade Commander."

"What a snake," Augusta muttered under her breath, glaring until Gruziya had disappeared from the view of Rossiya's camera.

Apocrypha considered her options a while longer before she sighed in defeat. "I'll go with Mackensen's fleet," she finally said. "We should use the larger combined fleet to hit harder. But on one condition, Mackensen."

"What would that be?"

"A seventh ship from outside of the Crimson Axis will come to act as my command ship. That frees you up to work, anyway, right? Augusta, would that work to make you more comfortable?"

Mackensen and Augusta both nodded, and Richelieu took the opportunity to make her own offer. "I can send Saint Louis or Vercingetorix, whichever would be preferred. Duquesne and I will not be participating, so sparing one of our guards for the sake of the operation would not pose any problems for us."

Mackensen weighed her options, clearly disliking the prospect of either but too stubborn to call off the entire fleet over it. "Fine. We'll take Vercingetorix. Is there anything else that needs to be addressed?"

A brief silence followed aside from a few of the girls murmuring uncertain negatives between each other. Taking that as an answer, Augusta took the floor again. "The operation commences in three weeks. That gives everyone time to get fleets into position and arrange some small exercises for last checks. Inform us immediately of any changes in plans. Meeting dismissed."


Gruziya shifted to cross one leg over the other in the chair she'd claimed to lie in in Soyuz's office, letting out an exaggerated yawn while Soyuz continued to chastise her, Rossiya, and Belorussiya. A moment later, she heard Soyuz stop talking, cracking a green eye open to look at her eldest sister in her periphery.

"Gruziya, are you listening?" Soyuz asked.

"I think I started ignoring you about half an hour ago, so… No."

Belorussiya started to laugh, quickly silencing it when Soyuz's glare turned in her direction. "Sorry. At least she's honest."

Soyuz sighed. "What am I supposed to do with the three of you… Do you understand that we cannot afford to make a fool of the Northern Parliament and her cause? What were you thinking?"

"Is this still about the cigar?" Gruziya asked, turning to lay on her side and actually look at Soyuz now, elbow resting on the arm of the chair so she could prop her chin on her hand. "I didn't know it would be vodka in the glass. If it's anyone's fault, it should be Rossiya. How many times have we had this discussion about no smoking or drinking during inter-faction meetings? By the way, her room looks like a bomb went off in it again, too. Someone's going to go in there and die tripping over all the shit she's got laying around."

"How is that relevant? I haven't had a chance to straighten it up yet and I was looking for something."

Soyuz let the pair bicker for a moment before speaking again, both silencing immediately. "I'll be having all vodka confiscated and withheld from the three of you for the next two months. Consider this a warning."

While Rossiya's face immediately dropped into abject horror at the prospect, Gruziya and Belorussiya only looked slightly put out, sharing a look between each other. Both could tell what the other was thinking.

Oh, our dear older sister, you should know better than to think that would mean anything to us.

Apparently, Soyuz had caught the shared look, too. "Correction: I'll be confiscating and withholding all forms of alcohol from you three until further notice."

"Nice going, Gruziya," Belorussiya hissed.

Gruziya rolled her eyes, grabbing a few papers off of the floor where she'd set them in front of the chair and holding them up with a proud smile. "You might rethink that when you see what Arkhangelsk sent copies of. Augusta really should be more careful to lock her office up during meetings." She held the papers out, waving them tauntingly until Soyuz reached out and snatched them out of her hand. "Oh, and one more thing - I've managed to get a meeting with Friedrich and the Crown's new Queen. How's that for a 'slacker'? Come on, you can tell me what a good job I've done, sister~."

Even Soyuz couldn't help the ghost of a smile coming to her lips as she looked over the reports in her hand. "Well, well. Good work. Now then, don't you three have things to do?"