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EARLY ELECTIONS BEGIN - FRONTRUNNERS, DISAPPOINTMENTS, UNDERDOGS EMERGE
With the end of November approaching, the polls have opened for a period of ten days, after which they will be closed for two ahead of the actual day of the election. The past few months have been fraught with worry, but the methodical approach being taken to avoid the mistakes of the New World's Germany as well as international aid has brought many hope.
Polling of early voters has caused a great upwelling of emotion for all involved, from upset for some to elation and dread for others. Most of all, the polling has revealed that the work being done to ascertain the feelings of the population ahead of the vote has proven effective in predicting the winner ahead of the actual election.
While many parties have come and gone or splintered or merged in even just the past four months, predictions have proven the frontrunners are those that have been predicted for months.
The United Christian Democratic Party has, as predicted, begun to capture the majority of polled people's early votes. The UCDP has reaffirmed their intention to implement further policies to stabilize the country's food production with the broad support of the entire populace, though whether this promise or the early trend in the polls will hold strong remains to be seen.
The Constitutional Revision Party appears to be the runner-up. While a number of their ideas would have seemed impossible in the Old World, with the Empire's enemies forever circling it, the situation the Empire finds itself in has proven a fertile field for the CRP. The idea of making the government more efficient is appealing to all voters, but it is hardly original. Few would have foreseen ideas like codifying the constitution, ceremonializing the aristocracy, or even devolving power to the Länder appealing to proud Imperial citizens, yet the polls prove otherwise.
The Democratic Socialist Party trails behind the two front runners, possibly owing to the, thus far unsubstantiated, rumors of bribery surrounding some of their leading officers. While they have promised to deal with any corruption before election day, the shaken confidence of the electorate has been reflected in the polls. Indeed, the CRP's edge over the DSP has been attributed to voters flocking from the latter to the former.
The Veterans' Party, as predicted, has also captured a fair percentage of the early vote. The endorsement of many famous figures from the war, including the illustrious and retired generals Hans von Zettour and Kurt von Rudersdorf, has sent many former members of the Imperial army and military flocking to the party, especially with the lack of endorsement from one other figure in particular. Endorsements alone are unlikely to keep it afloat forever – the party is inordinately focused on finding some way to undo the transmigration and the changes it has brought to the Empire.
Surprisingly, the True Imperial Party's message has proven startlingly flaccid among the electorate. While their speeches are loud and rhetoric bombastic, they are set to be sixth in this election. Certainly, if the UCDP hypothetically won forty or forty-five percent of the vote, then a coalition could be formed from just the TIP and the UCDP; however, we at Politics, Diplomacy, and More find the idea that the UCDP would want to caucus with a party devoted to singing the praises of the aristocracy and the Emperor over a more ideologically related party farfetched.
The dark horse of this race is, without a doubt, the Argent Party. They are set to become the fifth largest party in terms of votes thanks solely to their usage of the image of Tanya von Degurechaff. They have promised little in terms of policy, their leadership has been accused of running a convoluted money laundering scheme, and at least half of the party offices across the Empire have been censured by the Propaganda office for selling merchandise with the argent's face and likeness plastered across it.
The other half are also selling merchandise with the argent's face and likeness plastered across it, but they have worked out deals with higher-ups in the party so they do not face censure.
Despite all of that, the AP has outcompeted the TIP. It is a travesty that political conmen and government swindlers can make use of a hero like Degurechaff's image just because she is not old enough to sue them for misusing it; if the coalition forged after this election proves stable, hopefully she will be old enough to rake the grifters over the coals before the next one.
As a reminder, election day has not yet arrived. It seems unlikely with the data gathered so far, but the parties may yet change their positioning, and regardless of whether the CRP comes in second or third, they are likely to play the role of kingmaker between the DSP and the UCDP.
For more information about the frontrunners, turn to PAGE THREE. For more information about the polling of early voters, turn to PAGE TEN.
ALL QUIET ON THE NORTHERN FRONT
Ever since the attack on the Unity Celebrations by the Sirens, neither hide nor hair of the mysterious interstellar invaders has been found. All of Azur Lane's new bases have gone up without a single attack, even in the northernmost reaches of Azur Lane's members which border the Sirens' arctic territory.
The lack of action is not exactly a new phenomenon – their attacks following the 'Big Push' at the end of the latest round of conflict with them were nowhere near as large as those before the war, but they were, crucially, extant. The wholesale lack of any activity, especially in the northern direction, has many nervous across the planet.
This worry is only compounded by the sheer scale of the military might displayed during the attacks four months ago. The forces deployed in that engagement dwarfed the estimations for their entire force only five years earlier. No one has been able to determine if they always had such capabilities and simply never deployed them, or if they had been building up their forces for five years.
As ever, the motivations and goals of the Sirens remain mysterious and unknown. Regardless, the world's two premier international military organizations remain on watch, and the Empire stands with them.
For more about the history of humanity's battle with the Sirens and its possible future, turn to PAGE FOUR.
TURMOIL AROUND THE GLOBE RISES
Increasingly, the world grows embittered by chaos and internal strife. There is hardly a location on Earth that has not seen some in the past few years, and especially in the past few months. Whether it is in the colonial dominions of Imperial powers in Africa, Asia, or Europe, or within the home turf of every nation on the planet, from the most powerful in Germany, Russia, and America, or to the smallest in Uruguay and New Zealand, internal division grows.
Sources within major nations around the world have all concluded that some part of the internal instability is being inflamed by the Sirens, who provide funding – usually in the form of gold or counterfeit currency – or weapons to interested people looking to cause trouble. Dissidents from locations as varied as Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, the Levant, Burma, Manchuria, and Indochina have all been found with significant stockpiles of weapons likely sourced from the Sirens.
Among the major nations of the world, their homogenous response has been paradoxically unhelpful regarding the problem. All major nations profess their innocence and vehemently deny that they have smuggled weapons to dissidents residing within the territory of their rivals. All major nations decry their rivals for seemingly aiding the Sirens in accomplishing their goal of causing chaos by contributing weapons and funding of their own. Polish freedom-fighters have been found with German weapons captured in north Africa, while Indonesian rebels have been captured with American guns thought to have been recycled into scrap following the Japanese capture of the Philippines. It seems all countries involved have acted astonishingly hypocritical.
The Sirens' work is not wholly devoted to fomenting armed rebellion, either. From the top to the bottom, the Sirens' manufacturing capability, teleportation, and technology in general allows them a seemingly insurmountable ability to infiltrate human society. Politicians in all major countries have been implicated in accepting bribes in return for favors, though the extent to which all such claims can be trusted is suspect, owing to the ease and convenience of using such an excuse to get rid of political enemies.
The Sirens have also been found to be behind various 'astroturfing' scandals, where they paid exorbitant sums of money to all kinds of organizations, from news outlets to charities, to present 'facts' they'd 'collected.' Protests and riots over everything, from working conditions to race relations to government policy, have been sparked in the West and its colonies, at least in part thanks to Siren monetary aid and coordination. Reports out of the Axis, the Soviet Union, and the Empire of Japan's territory are far more sporadic, but sources within the American and British governments claim their rivals are afflicted with the same. The Sirens helped back two coups in South America in the past five years. Only one failed.
Even the Empire is not immune to such vagaries. Several minor parties were undone but two months ago after they were discovered accepting financial assistance from a 'quisling' who'd been turned by the Sirens.
While some voices call for a treaty between all major powers regarding the sale of weapons, the infeasibility of the enforcement of such a treaty's stipulations, a lack of trust, and a desire to stir up trouble for opponents have forestalled any such talks. Certainly, the Sirens would have no desire to stop their efforts, and in all likelihood, they would attempt to make the signatories of such a treaty appear to be breaking the agreement before the ink dried.
For the time being, it seems the world must simply grin and bear the pain while remaining vigilant for Traitors Against Humanity.
For more about the groups and people connected to Siren bribery, funding, and/or armament, turn to PAGE FIVE.
MIXED FEELINGS ON MITHRIL
Tanya von Degurechaff was perhaps the most recognizable person in the Empire, before the transmigration. Soon, she may turn out to be one of the most recognizable people in the world.
The Propaganda Department ensured the former fact through her usage in any number of war posters. Few have forgotten the iconic 'Red-Clad Little Girl' poster or the inspiring 'God! Country! Victory!' poster. There was a quota of using the girl and her exploits once a month in every newspaper in the Empire. Many tried to print her in more. Indeed, the Propaganda Department's usage of the girl's image to inspire is perhaps the reason we can even print these words – if not for the whole country knowing so much about Tanya the First, Tanya the Second might not have been born and saved us from the Siren attack.
Her herculean efforts warrant her reputation, though the degree to which the figures provided by the Propaganda Department can be trusted is highly suspect.
The Propaganda Department faces looming obsolescence with the CRP's goals of formalizing and codifying many government functions and organizations. Not this fact, their mandate, common decency, or anything else has stopped them from seeking to ensure that the White Silver is the most recognizable person on the planet Earth. They have been aided by the 'modern' ideas of the New World and foreign partners alike in spreading her likeness through the commodification of her image. Everything, from water bottles to keychains to 'action figures' to marketable plushies have been emblazoned with her image or made to emulate her.
Judging from the lines outside of toy stores spread through social media platforms like Juustagram, she has become an even bigger hit than some of the sheships that were already fairly popular. Though her image has not yet become associated with a 'meme,' we assume it is only a matter of time.
While it is tempting to conflate the image of the White Silver and the Empire itself, and to take pride in seeing one of our own so popular abroad, we must keep the facts in mind: the Empire is a state, and the girl is a citizen of it.
One has to hope that the lack of public commentary from the girl for or against the Propaganda Department means that, at the least, she does not mind their efforts. As she has only released a single, unrelated public statement during her entire tenure in the military, we find this explanation for her silence weak.
One has to hope that the girl will receive some fraction of the money being earned through the use of her image, or, at the very least, that she can recapture some of that money through litigation. Certainly there is no other member of the Empire's military that has been treated quite like the Argent.
For more on the history and whereabouts of Tanya von Degurechaff, turn to PAGE TWO.
CONFLICT ACROSS THE IRON CURTAIN?
From Norway and Denmark, to the Netherlands and Belgium, to Czechoslovakia and Poland, and to their allies across the continent, chaos has begun growing sharply in the German Reich's European empire, with numerous bombings rocking the continent and killing civilian collaborators. This chaos has made the aftershocks of the harsh winter of '47 worse, even after a year's time has passed. Without a corresponding increase in the amount of turmoil across the world, it is unknown if this extra chaos is the result of the Sirens' efforts or a coordinated effort between the Allies.
Given conditions in the Soviet Union, this seems unlikely. While the Soviet Union has kept up food imports to the rest of the world, the Empire knows from experience that this hardly relates to conditions inside the country. The New World knows it as well, and with meteorologists certain that a drought struck the country from 1946 to 1947, it is assumed that collectivisation, exportation of food to obtain foreign currency, and the aforementioned drought have led to a famine. Whether anything as organized as the rebellions in the German Reich's conquests has emerged remains unknown.
With internal turmoil in both nations, tempers along the border have flared. Across the Iron Curtain between the German Reich and its allies and the Soviet Union, physical brawls between what are, without a doubt, soldiers armed with clubs and riot gear have increased sharply as well. Both powers have come precipitously close to breaking the stipulations surrounding the Treaty of Istanbul regarding the demilitarized zone between the two countries, and fears of the start of World War Three grow by the day.
For more about the state of peace between the Allies and the Axis, turn to PAGE SIX.
MAGIC REMAINS MYSTERIOUS
Over a period of two months, doctors trained in the Empire accompanied Imperial diplomatic delegations, touring the planet in order to conduct a comprehensive study of the denizens of the New World. Their findings line up with what has already been found: no one in the New World has magic.
This has saddened and frustrated the international partners of the Empire, and, undoubtedly, many young girls and boys who wanted to be wizards and witches. Nevertheless, other nations hold out hope that it is simply rarer in the New World compared to the Old. Undoubtedly, the doctors involved are happy to continue traveling the world at the expense of others honing their craft.
Conversely, babies born in the last four months are still being born with magic, to the best estimation of those involved. Children are not usually tested for magic until they are a few years old, and the methods being used to test newborns are more experimental. None of those that have been tested were harmed, of course.
This evidence has not yet been deemed conclusive. Most agree that, at the very least, testing of newborns will have to continue until children conceived on the planet we now call home are born. Some think our magical abilities will fade with time. Others postulate that the phenomenon of magic might be tied to the land or blood of the Empire, and that being born in the Empire or being born to Imperial parents will grant someone a chance at being able to use magic.
One undisclosed source within the Imperial military has declared that, "God decides if you get magic on a whim. Hear that kids? If you want to be a magical girl, pray to God and he'll make it happen if you're sincere and he feels like fucking around."
Undoubtedly, this 'undisclosed source's' name rhymes with numbskull, which is certainly a coincidence.
For more about the hotly debated origin of magic, turn to PAGE SEVEN.
RÉUNION SUMMIT IMMINENT
Yesterday, the French State and Free France began public negotiations about the repatriation of Free French forces and their colonies and territories. The full gamut of emotions shared by the two sides was on full display. Families, both human and sheship, were reunited for the first time in many years. Steely glares were shared by Philippe Pétain and Charles de Gaulle.
Both sides would like to reunify their countries, but neither country's leaders want to lose power, especially to people they despise. Arguments over the infeasibility of reunification span a wide gamut, from the form of government either side finds 'acceptable' to whether certain decisions either nation made while separated were 'real' to who or even if one side or the other should be 'forgiven' for the side they chose.
The United States, Britain, and the German Reich are all wary of losing an important ally and seeing their borders with their enemies grow longer. The backers of both the Free French and the French State have items they claim they won't negotiate on, but the resolve and credibility of both sides, and their earnest desire to see their country improved over securing their own power or safety, are likely to be tested in the coming days and weeks.
Their venue for the negotiations, a small island in the Indian Ocean, are a fair distance away from France proper, but the agitation of Communist sympathizers on the mainland, spurred on by both the Soviet Union and the Sirens, as well as Arab agitators in Free France's Mediterranean colonies, supported again by at least the Sirens, has made the choice of an out-of-the-way location necessary.
It is hoped by both sides that the involvement of the three of France's most well-known sheships, Richelieu, Jean Bart, and Clemenceau, will help ensure the peace talks go well.
Should the talks go well, this small bit of peace may perhaps stand as an example to the rest of the world on how we could, or maybe even should, act in the face of an invasion from outer space.
For more about the conflict between the Free French and the French State, turn to PAGE EIGHT.
ADOLF HITLER ACQUITTED
After almost four months, Adolf Hitler has been acquitted of all of the many charges brought to bear against him. Facing no less than three failed assassination attempts, the prosecution of Mr. Hitler has been an intrigue-filled circus fit for the ages. The man was seen crying tears of joy upon the judge's declaration of the jury's verdict.
The man has changed significantly in appearance. He has not allowed his mustache to grow back after theatrically ripping it off in court over a month ago, and his doctors report that he has lost at least twenty pounds. The Aerial Mage assigned to the man to ensure his safety has confirmed that, although the food he received was bland, he was not being underfed or poisoned.
Following his acquittal of attempting to contact agents of the German Reich, Mr. Hitler gave a short statement about his future plans. "I wish only to return to my beloved Vienna to continue my work, assuming there is anything to return to." We have confirmed that his former place of employment is still producing civilian-grade computation orbs.
He has refuted a desire to give any interviews, or, indeed, to be showered with fame or even just attention. "Clearly, it wouldn't be good for me," he joked.
However, he did have one thing to say before he was escorted to a train station to go home. "Ms. von Degurechaff, I thank you wholeheartedly for speaking up in favor of giving me a fair trial. If ever you are in Vienna and have the time, I would like nothing less than to treat you to the best food and drink my city has to offer, as both a courtesy and thanks."
With those words, Mr. Hitler departed.
For more about what some are calling the 'Trial of the Decade,' turn to PAGE NINE.
For an update on the Empire's new island colonies, turn to PAGE ELEVEN. For opinion pieces from citizens of the Empire about yesterday's paper, turn to PAGE TWELVE. For a list of businesses offering new foreign goods for sale, as well as other stories, turn to PAGES THIRTEEN, FOURTEEN, and FIFTEEN.
-OxOxO-
Csibiti danced as she ran, twirling and smiling as she dodged between construction workers and sheships alike. Her hair, clasped in a ponytail, and her black, thick jacket twirled through the midday sunlight with her. Dancing wasn't easy, with thick boots on, but that just made it more fun, more challenging.
Dancing was one of her favorite things to do, so getting in a bit of extra practice, with how hard everyone was working, felt like a good idea to her.
She hoped she wouldn't get scolded for having a bit of fun while doing her job. The last thing anyone in Nemonia wanted was to disappoint the girl leading them.
As she skipped and twirled, dodging out of the way of people and imagining she was dodging bullets or torpedos or something, she decided that she liked the Azur Lane base more. Nemonia's section of both the Crimson Axis base and the Azur Lane base were nearly identical, but the bases themselves couldn't be more different!
Sure, the architecture of both bases were pretty different compared to their main base in the Empire, but it wasn't really that. She slid under a pair of men carrying a table, giggling as the concrete tickled her bare legs. No, the Azur Lane base was a lot more… hopeful! The Crimson Axis base felt gloomy and anxious, even in the civilian part of the base.
Her smile grew as Nemonia's section of the base. A slice of their Empire had been picked up and placed inside what was mostly an American base. She waved towards the guards – two from the Empire, two from America – and they waved her through quickly. Humming to herself, she-
"Csibiti! Hey, wait up!"
Her eyes widened, and she grinned and spun around as Émile Bertin spun towards the border. Émile was one of Csibiti's newest friends, and her sisters had been proud she'd found someone who liked dancing as much as she did.
She asked if she was free, and Csibiti almost said of course, until she remembered what she was doing, and who she was talking to.
Her superior's words echoed in her mind. "Remember, they are our allies against the Sirens, but they are still members of another nation's military. I will not stop you from speaking with or even befriending other sheships, but bear in mind that a day may come when our nations go to war, you will have to fight them. They would use what you've told them against you, and you would be expected to do the same."
Though the words made her want to frown, she kept it off of her face. She'd had a bit of practice with doing that so far. "Um, not right now, Émile. When are you on break?"
They talked, and Csibiti wished that she could spend every day dancing her worries away instead of forever preparing for a fight that might not come. Perhaps her sisters would chastise her for such thoughts, but despite being deployed to the High Seas Fleet, she'd never seen battle.
She wasn't sure she ever wanted to see it… but if it meant protecting her home…
She cast the thoughts out of her mind and waved goodbye to Émile after deciding on a time and place to practice together with some others from both Azur Lane and the Crimson Axis, and then continued on her way to bring a message to the Nemonian base. She wondered what was inside the envelope.
-OxOxO-
The past four months of Tanya's life had gone surprisingly well.
Her appointment as 'Leader of Nemonia,' as well as an accompanying promotion from Leutnant zur See to Kommodore were both happily accepted. She was now a single rank below becoming a flag officer. Achieving such a high rank mattered much less to her than a corresponding promotion in the army would have, as a good many flag officers traveled with their forces into battle and the line of fire. In her case, she'd been expected to lead Nemonia from Azur Lane's base on Guam and the Crimson Axis's base on Saipan, as opposed to somewhere more convenient, like just about any port in the Empire.
Her posting was one thing that had annoyed her in the past four months. One thing among many.
Of course, the nature of her work was far more rewarding than the promotion itself. Building a military organization from nothing meant a lot of paperwork needed to be done. It reminded her of her time in France following the Empire's initial clash with the Russy Federation. Staying off of the frontlines had made her begin to feel remarkably… light in a way she hadn't felt since well before her death as a salaryman… most of the time, anyway.
She had been keeping her skills sharp, of course, but the methods she used to accomplish that goal were not life threatening. Sparring specifically had given her some insight into how the other Tanya von Degurechaff, her nametake, fought. The rate at which that girl was growing skilled was alarming, but Tanya had built up a bit of rapport with the girl. Considering their similarities, such an outcome might have been inevitable, if it weren't for the ways the girl rubbed Tanya wrong. Still, she smiled and bore the girl's passion for religion and other quirks with as much polite attention as she could fake.
At the very least, Tanya was confident that, if she was going to attack at the behest of Being X, she would want to confirm whatever she was told with Tanya.
Tanya wasn't arrogant enough to think she'd win, even if she was given an opening to attack; the girl was just too powerful. However, the opening her double provided her might give her a chance to tire the aircraft carrier out.
Without an active war on and her new role doing administrative work, she also had a remarkable amount of free time, which she was also putting to good use. After doing as much research as she could an ocean away from the United States, she'd told Viktoriya to bet some money on the outcome of the election there. She'd won quite a bit betting on Truman, and she had shared her winnings with Tanya.
Tanya had also been doing her best to make sure that her country did not elect a party that might seek to undermine the Empire's meritocracy and limit her own prospects, as a minor or as a woman. Technically, statements or writing by members of the armed forces were supposed to be given to the press office for release. She'd skirted those rules by submitting her writing decrying facism, communism, and totalitarianism under a pseudonym and a few intermediaries. The one statement she'd actually given to the press as Tanya von Degurechaff had been about the trial of the Empire's version of Adolf Hitler; considering the large number of military staff who'd been giving their opinions without going through the press office, she'd found the benefits outweighed the downsides.
Speaking up in favor of the man personally might have been construed as some kind of support for the one in Germany, so she'd spoken up in favor of the rule of law and a fair trial, regardless of a person's name or potential actions. Whatever support for Hitler or Nazism some might still have construed from such a statement had been offset by ensuring Mister Hitler did not feel the need to try to repeat the success of his New World counterpart in an effort to stay alive or out of prison.
She still didn't know the full extent to which her name held influence in the Empire, but considering a damned party was in the running using her name and a few photos, she'd realized it had a bit more than she'd thought a few months ago, which was annoying.
Regarding her fame, her free time was also cyclically taken up by representatives of Azur Lane and the Crimson Axis. Tanya had delegated a lot of work to either the human staff she'd recruited from within the navy or old acquaintances elsewhere in the Imperial military, or to some of the more responsible of the close to four dozen Nemonian sheships deployed to the twin naval bases. She could not avoid the meetings she had left, however, before and after which representatives of both factions, be they human or sheship, would extol, with varying degrees of competency, the virtues of joining their faction over the other.
The attempts by the human representatives were bland, but the sheer variety of things offered by the sheships made her think that the effort was a (mostly) spontaneous attempt to include her in the myriad of social groups and clubs that had sprung up seemingly overnight. Certainly, that one girl's attempts to bribe her with cookies could not have been a serious attempt, so she went with the most likely alternative.
The more serious ones had mostly been entertaining for her. Tanya had a lot of latitude, but anyone who thought she had the sway to make the Empire do as she wished was, at best, misinformed. Still, most of her conversations had been polite.
The one outlier had been in her conversations with the representatives of the Soviet Union. She'd refused to meet with any of the communist politicos sent her way point blank. The first talk she'd had with a 'Northern Parliament' sheship had descended into a spirited debate that she honestly looked back on fondly.
She'd decried their ideology, obviously, laying out the myriad crimes they'd committed in just her second life. Then, when the little blue-haired sheship named Tashkent had asked what Tanya would do in her position, Tanya had grinned and said, 'If I were in your position? Perhaps I would try to defect. Failing that, blowing out the back of Comrade Stalin's head sounds like a wonderful alternative.'
The girl had tried to rally after that, asking what her superiors would think of speaking like that about a possible ally's government. Tanya had shrugged and responded, 'Most likely, they would reprimand me… for presenting such a lackluster plan for the decapitation of an enemy state. I've got a better one, if you'd like to crib my notes?'
Another Northern Parliament ship named Kronshtadt had tried throw her coworker under the bus to smooth things over the next day. Tanya had flatly told the woman to find a video reel of the 203rd marching through red square, and that Tanya should have probably killed the leadership of that nation if she was going to be so brazen as to sing their anthem. Her final words to the stone-faced woman were that her feelings towards that communist nation extended to the New World's communist nation as well.
Even then, Nemonia's overall relationship, on a person-by-person basis, with the Northern Parliament was not as bad as Tanya had feared it would be. Even better, Nemonia's sheships got on relatively well with all the other sheships, from what Tanya could tell. The Sakura Empire was fascinated that so many of Nemonia's ships also had animal traits; despite the pronounced political differences, the Empire and the German Reich shared an abundance of cultural traits; despite their pride, the Americans were outgoing to a fault; the British, French, and Italians, got along well with the more 'refined' types among Nemonia's ships; and the Chinese just seemed happy to be included, when the human minders of the sheships weren't busy trying to sabotage each other.
Overall, despite some turbulence, the past four months had indeed been productive and, more importantly, safe.
She was certain that the present state of affairs would not last much longer.
Knocknocknock
Tanya looked up from the paperwork splayed across the plain desk of her plain office. "Sir," said her bland looking secretary, "Miss Csibiti is here to see you with a message from today's exercise area." Despite his utterly bland appearance, he was something of a polyglot. He spoke the Empire's various languages and dialects near-fluently, aiding in Nemonia's cohesion, and he helped her communicate with the other factions more efficiently. Assuming his work continued to be as satisfactory, her letter of recommendation would be glowing.
Tanya sighed. "Send her in, Rudolf."
She had a feeling she knew what this was about. On the one hand, she'd been the one to choose who was coming here, and she'd decided that Monarch should come. She'd partially regretted that choice every single time an incident with her came up, regret that was only offset by the relief she felt knowing she wasn't back in the Empire dragging the image of every sheship down without Tanya around to discipline the woman – who was still seemingly intent on a physical relationship with Tanya.
Tanya was partially revolted by it, but Monarch had explained it had absolutely nothing to do with her appearance; with all Tanya had gone through, she was under no illusions that she was as young mentally as she appeared physically.
Also, she wanted to get Tanya to 'loosen up,' and oh had Tanya been mad at the faux innocence that woman professed after that insinuation.
Overall, Tanya was uncomfortable, because the woman really was startlingly beautiful, but a relationship of any kind between subordinate and superior was bound to end badly, especially because Monarch was not the only one 'competing' for bragging rights regarding Tanya's chastity, which meant if someone 'won,' then there would be even more acrimony that now, and-
The girl named Csibiti – apparently, her namesake was a valley of some kind in Imperial Dacia – strode in and saluted lazily. Her incredibly short shorts were made of khaki, her boots were fit more for the army than for the navy, and her thick, heavy weather jacket covered up the parts of her torso not covered by the flimsy tube top she had on beneath.
Tanya nodded to Rudolf, who nodded back and left. "What's she done now?" she muttered as she looked back down at her work, a response to whatever the woman had gotten up to now already forming in her head. Csibiti wasn't the one who usually delivered this message, but she supposed Brocken could be off duty-
"Uh," the girl began, "I'm not sure. I've got a letter for you?"
Tanya raised an eyebrow and motioned the girl forward. She set the letter on her desk. Tanya cut it open and began to read-
Her eyes stopped in the center, going over a single sentence a number of times, her expression growing more and more tumultuous, until they finished the rest of the letter slowly.
"What's it say?" the girl asked. Tanya's eyes snapped up, and the girl stiffened. "Uh, sir."
Tanya debated giving the question a response considering her lack of propriety… and then she caved, considering she showed more respect than certain other ships she could name. "The long and short is that Arachne, Hippokamp, and Nixe were caught by Seeadler attempting to sneak inland. According to an overheard conversation, they wanted to 'bag a few men under that small blonde rat's nose.'"
The girl stiffened further, her eyes widening and her back becoming straight enough that Tanya would consider her posture acceptable. "Oh," she said. "Indeed," Tanya replied. "I presume they were performing an exercise with you?" she asked. The girl nodded stiffly and then, after a moment, added, "Yes, sir."
She still had the results of that questionnaire asking what the sheships wanted to do, as well as others she had conducted in the months since. From the beginning, there had been voices among the younger-looking sheships asking why they couldn't go out and form relationships like the more mature sheships.
Those initial responses had ranged from lurid to bratty, and they had remained in the follow-up questionnaires. Joining those responses were a growing number of dissenting voices. The responses had also delivered in tone and content, with the youngest wanting to know if 'hand-holding' and 'kissing' was really that bad – and Tanya had no idea how they'd heard of that idea when anime itself was barely a thing yet, let alone that asinine trope – while a few of the more mature shipgirls had submitted arguments on behalf of others about the logic behind her edict.
She was certain dealing with this troublesome problem was going to come to a head soon, especially with how seemingly unconcerned the other sheship groups seemed to be about the problem.
Tanya sighed. "We will not accomplish anything here, this time. Follow me, sheship," she ordered, any idea of what the hell she was supposed to do in this situation still moldering in her mind. She snapped off a much more crisp salute as Tanya pushed open the door-
She tripped. Csibiti caught her jacket before she could plow face-first into the floor, and helped her get back onto her feet. Tanya glared at the thing she'd tripped over-
Only to send the yellow ball of feathers that resembled nothing so much as a baby chick the size of a regular chicken scrambling behind Rudolf's desk. She glared at it when it poked its head back out. "Damn things. Do we not have an exterminator?" she asked Rudolf.
"Sir!" he exclaimed, "We can't do that. They're too cute! Besides, the locals would get angry if we killed an animal that contributes to their tourism."
Tanya grit her teeth, and then she told Rudolf to delay her meetings for at least an hour. She hated how the damn manjuus kept getting caught underfoot. They were cute, and they, along with the meowfficers, both predictably improved morale and inexplicably improved the capabilities of ships they were on.
She was not okay with them trying to alternatively nest in her hair and 'cheer her up.'
Their existence, much like the Sirens, was another difference between their two worlds that strayed from the result of a counterfactual timeline to 'mysterious, possibly alien, bullshit.'
As she stalked through Nemonia's portion of the Azur Lane base, she was content that, at the very least, her current job beat getting shot at, and there was no level of semantical, interpersonal, or bureaucratic drama that could make her so annoyed she'd rather she was back on the frontlines.
Worryingly, this place tried to prove her wrong at least once a week.
-OxOxO-
She couldn't believe it, but after a lot of hard work, sweat, and tears, she was fairly sure of her conclusion.
"Sex is overblown."
She was alone in her room, obviously. She was not going to jeopardize relations with any of the Japanese Empire's allies or enemies by saying something like that soon after fucking one of their men, nor was she going to imply insult to the men of her own country.
More accurately, sex was enjoyable, but it was not quite as good as she'd thought it would be, especially considering the inexperience of some of those she'd laid with in the months since that meeting in the Empire. Even despite how enjoyable laying with the experienced ones was, it still wasn't as good as she'd thought it would be… which, she supposed, considering no other kansen had ever actually had sex before, she only had herself to blame for her expectations.
Her lack of fulfilment notwithstanding, she no longer feared any reprimands regarding 'impropriety' or 'falling to temptation,' ever since she'd been put in command of the Sakura Empire, and the kansen of Japan did not fear any such orders either. It was as if The Rule had simply evaporated overnight. According to some now-deleted posts online, the same especially held true in America, though her subordinates had reported the other shipgirls stationed at the base on Guam broadly agreed that The Rule was well and truly gone. The sentiment seemed less pervasive among the Germans, but the Italians had responded to the change with gusto.
At least among her fellow kansen, her leadership of the Sakura Empire would certainly be hard to follow up.
She didn't want to be the best after the ones who'd come before. She wanted to be the best, EVER.
The day-to-day operation of the Sakura Empire complicated her desire to become the greatest leader of the Japanese kansen, and the mere existence of the anomaly known as SMS Tanya von Degurechaff meant she might not ever be known as the most powerful kansen ever. Additionally, a new fear had grown within her since she'd first broken the rule and been called to account. She'd been threatened, by mere men, with being swiftly replaced once the next generation of kansen were awakened, whether it was by Yamato or Shinano or the new cube-powered ships.
She would not allow herself to be known as a seat-warmer.
However, every time she tried to think of how to accomplish her goal, the only answer she could seem to conjure was to adorn herself in the glory of war, whether by avenging their tie with the Americans or by being the one to wipe out the Siren threat once and for all.
"What was that American saying about hammers and nails?" she muttered to herself in the darkness of her room. She was a warship, leading other warships, subordinate to a military; could she really cement herself as the most prestigious of her fellow leaders in any other way than through a fight?
"Taihou!" a voice called through her door. Her gaze snapped up to the door as Zuikaku continued. "Can we spar a bit? The Gray Ghost won't accept another duel for a week, and I want to practice a few new moves before I fight her again."
Taihou scowled. What was the point?
"Eh?" She blinked and barely stopped a curse from passing through her lips. She shouldn't have said that aloud.
Her anger cooled a bit. But, if they were already talking…
She clapped her hands and turned on the automatic lights. "My apologies, Zuikaku. Would you come in for a moment?"
After a moment of hesitation, the woman said she would, slid open the door, and walked in, wary.
She wore her usual red dress and white overcoat. Her sword was sheathed at her side, and her expression was wary and confused, with a hint of anger, likely from her words.
They had not had the best relationship. Taihou had declared the two sisters fools for failing to defeat the Americans in the wake of the Battle of Midway. Time and experience had cooled Taihou's opinions to a degree, as had two spars following the war that Taihou had barely won, but even half a year ago, their relationship had still been rocky.
She was sure both she and her sister had been surprised to be included among the kansen Taihou wanted to bring with her, but they were undoubtedly some of Japan's finest warriors. More than that, Taihou knew they were relatively responsible.
Perhaps Zuikaku was more headstrong than Shoukaku, but it had taken both of them to keep up the fight against the American kansen as long as they had.
"Why do you insist on training with Enterprise? You've proven that you can beat her, have you not?" Did she fear how she would fare in a fight if war started once more? Was it anger at how the war had ended, or a desire to ensure her sister wouldn't have to face one of America's most decorated ships?
She shrugged, defensive. "Sure, but not anywhere near consistently. Not yet. Besides, it's fun."
Taihou blinked. "That's… it?" she asked, perplexed.
The woman blinked back, and then she smiled confidently. "Yeah. I want to prove that I'm her equal when it comes to skill, and fighting with her is fun."
Taihou scowled, disappointed, thinking over her dismissal of the woman so she could think alone some more.
"Y'know," the woman said, interrupting Taihou's thoughts, "If you want advice about something, I wouldn't mind telling you what I can… or, if I don't know, I'll know if my sister could answer you."
Taihou thought it over and then she sighed. "Very well." She thought over the wording for a moment more. "As tools of war, what do you think we can accomplish in peace, beyond preparing for the next conflict?"
Zuikaku blinked, the feathers at the end of her cloak making her look all the more like an owl. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What a question! Um… Shoukaku probably has a better answer-"
"If you have one," Taihou interrupted, "I'll hear it." She clenched her jaw as she realized a hint of desperation had colored the end of her sentence. She couldn't afford to look-
The woman's troubled expression cleared up, and, after taking a breath, she replied. "I think… we can live our lives."
Taihou's expression soured. "Doing what?"
At that, Zuikaku shrugged. "I mean… not whatever we want, because we have responsibilities, but… I mean, personally, I'd like to visit some old battlegrounds further away from the ocean. What about you?"
Taihou blinked again, opened her mouth to answer… but none came to mind. Her work was her life; as the personification of an aircraft carrier, there didn't need to be anything else.
Did there?
She snapped her mouth shut, for a moment, and then, reflexively, kept talking. "Thank you for the insight, Zuikaku. I…"
She paused, her mind sliding back towards the yawning abyss where the answers to questions she'd never asked herself before laid. The one from four months ago was the first. A second had just been added.
"I'll take you up on that offer to spar," she continued, hurrying from yet another looming question introduced into her previously simple world. Zuikaku's expression lit up. "Really?"
"I'll beat you again," she promised.
"We'll see," the woman said, and Taihou left behind her room and those questions for something much less complicated.
-OxOxO-
He hummed to himself as he stared down at the world. This had been surprisingly therapeutic, all things considered!
Sure, she still wasn't praying to him, but he'd gotten a version of her that did so, which meant it was pretty close… and even if she wasn't, she was being annoyed by the way her life had developed following his miracle, which was almost as satisfying as beating her would be. If nothing else, he'd obtained a modicum more amusement from her existence than he'd planned to.
Better yet, he wasn't even done with her yet! The Sirens were recovering their strength steadily, and they'd even made a few innovations thanks to an optimization or two he managed to sneak in under their noses. It was tricky to balance them, as everything was when it involved the souls driven to the point of insanity in their worship of him, but he was almost certain that he'd managed struck a good equilibrium between having them act as a threat to increase prayer in himself and making sure they didn't capture either argent and hurt the amount of prayer they inspired.
Of course, even if they did capture either argent, their surprisingly thorough plan to break through the barrier cutting them off from the outside would inevitably fail.
Considering their understanding of their situation was fundamentally flawed, he didn't hold it against them.
The other events he was kicking into gear were also coming along nicely, and he couldn't wait to see them finally convince her to pray to him.
He grinned as he looked down at the recreation of earth in his palm. Perhaps this was not the worst decision he'd ever made while high after all.
He shifted his hold on the planet to focus on the European landmass. Having the pair of argents increase prayer in him was all well and good, but perhaps he could multiply the effect with the right nudge? He'd have to pick a good candidate, of course, though even if he couldn't find one naturally, prodding events until a good one was created would work just as well.
-OxOxO-
For the fourth time this meeting, Viktoriya poured the woman sitting opposite of her a cup of coffee. The stars outside twinkled like they were laughing at her, and Viktoriya almost wanted to join them in laughing at the absurdity of her life.
If she was being honest and frank, with either herself or her closest friends, but not with her superior, of course, then she would have admitted that she was getting tired of making coffee.
Tanya would have been scandalized, or perhaps even a bit angry, to hear such a pronouncement, though Viktoriya was certain she would sympathize with her after she explained her reasoning. She was an Aerial Mage and an officer, and while she didn't mind making coffee once or twice a day, especially for her friends, doing so three times a day, every single day, for several months, was beginning to tire her.
On the other hand, while Tanya would sympathize with her being given work she found to be either menial or below her skill level, and thus, unfulfilling, Tanya would not let Viktoriya stop. She'd already played through the situation a number of times in her head, and in every one, Viktoriya recognized that the rewards the Empire was reaping from her work were far too good for her to stop now.
"Are you sure you don't want to discuss the terms of your payment?" Viktoriya asked, for the third time that meeting and, in the grand scheme of the meetings they'd been having for months, somewhere between the third and fourth hundredth time.
Mainz drank deeply from her cup, and then, wearing her usual, enigmatic smile, said, "Come now, Viktoriya my dear. Do you really want our meetings to end so soon?"
Viktoriya sputtered, from both the audacity of saying their meetings would end 'so soon' when they'd been meeting for months, and from panic that Mainz might cut off their meetings herself.
Despite Viktoriya's misgivings, the meetings continued and the coffee flowed. Despite not asking for anything besides 'continued meetings and pleasant days,' Mainz kept coming to these meetings and giving the Empire unbelievably valuable intelligence.
She'd passed them records for technology the German Reich possessed. She'd passed them the names and locations of the other so-called 'blueprint' ships of the German Reich. She'd told them about the German invasion of the Soviet Union. She told them about her thoughts on senior military and civilian officials within the German Reich. Whatever they asked for, she was almost always able to obtain.
No matter what, she refused to name a price. Did she want to defect? Did she want money? Some kind of substance? Drugs? Did she want a rival killed or someone close to her saved?
No matter how Viktoriya phrased the question, no matter what angle Tanya gave her to try to exploit, the woman remained unfazed.
In the deepest recesses of her mind, Viktoriya wondered if Tanya's words about a blueprint ship's 'anchor' meant that all Mainz wanted was more of her coffee, before swiftly banishing such thoughts, because, no matter how good Tanya said her coffee was, it was not worth the secrets Mainz was giving them.
She wasn't some kind of double agent, either, because the only information she'd asked Viktoriya for was… personal stuff! Who her friends were, what she thought of other people and her favorite food and her past! And then, she told them about her own life and deployment, and Viktoriya found herself becoming… friends, with her?
She didn't get it, and it was starting to drive her crazy. She wasn't trained for this!
Viktoriya sighed tiredly. And that wasn't her only problem. Monarch-
"Something on your mind, Visha?"
She sighed again, for longer this time. Mainz had already sworn herself not to tell others what Viktoriya had told her, and Viktoriya and Tanya didn't think she was lying, considering the sheer amount of information they'd passed her, as well as recordings they could use as blackmail.
Considering Elya was an ocean away, and most of the 203rd was also an ocean away training the next generation of Aerial Mages, and Tanya was her superior…
She didn't really have anyone else she might even vaguely consider an equal.
"You," she began, mocking and accusing, "refuse to tell me what you want besides more coffee, and I've been having trouble with some other sheships."
"Do you want me to take care of them?" Mainz asked, her cheery demeanor slipping away for a moment. Viktoriya shook her head. "No, nothing like that. If they were threatening me, I could just talk to Tanya. No, some of the ships are… interested in me."
Mainz chuckled, her smile back in full force. "Oh, really? Who~?"
"Monarch, for one," she began, "but she's hardly the only one, and if I'm honest, I think Monarch is hitting on me just to get to Tanya. They're not even all ships from the Empire! I'm at my wits end!"
"Well," Mainz said, "are you interested?"
Viktoriya blinked, frozen by what Mainz seemed to think was an innocuous question, based on her tone.
"Eh?"
"Are you interested in their propositions, Visha?" she said, leaning forward across the small wooden table in the lounge Tanya had insisted be installed in Nemonia's portion of the Azur Lane base. Viktoriya looked away, her mouth dry, at the plush rug on the wooden floor. "Um… I. Um."
"So, maybe you are," Mainz continued as Viktoriya's face began to heat up. She knew she was, at this point, after so many months of being left red in the face when Monarch or one of the others who seemed interested in her for chiefly physical reasons displayed themselves, but she had been stubbornly not thinking about it because if she thought about it then she began remembered just how undeniably sexy almost every sheship seemed to be, and then she thought about-
"While such relationships can hardly be spoken of in the open, that shouldn't be a problem in Germany for much longer, at least. What is the situation regarding such relationships in the Empire?"
Viktoriya's spiraling thoughts paused. What?
"What?" she asked. What was that bit about the woman's home supposed to mean?
Mainz blinked, and then that damn smile was back on her face as she stared down at her coffee. "Ah, right, today's intelligence. I'm sure you already know, considering how astute the Empire's intelligence operations are."
Another question Viktoriya didn't have an answer to. Mainz had explained how Tanya had known the names of… of two notable death camps in the German Reich during one of their first meetings, after which Tanya had confirmed the veracity of Mainz's information.
The problem was Viktoriya had no idea how she could possibly know such information, and Tanya was being very cagey with the-
"Regardless," Mainz said, "I'll confirm whatever suspicions you already have: a coup is set to begin in Germany in about two hours."
Viktoriya just stared at the woman in shock. What?
Downing the last of the coffee, the sheship smiled, amusement shining in her gray-blue eyes. "Could I trouble you for another cup, Visha?"
What?
-OxOxO-
A/N 1: I have so much fun writing this story. My main story feels a lot more… important with the effort I've put into it, so writing this more goofy story always makes me smile. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well.
A/N 2: If you'd like to donate to support me monetarily, search for Sugarcane Soldier on the website of the Patrons.
Thank you to WarmasterOku, Theewizzz, Afforess, UNSC_Kawakaze, Vee, malenkaya, Saito Tachibana, and GnashingBeef for supporting this story and everything else I write. Make sure to vote if you haven't yet!