alex 34 anders: Glad you like this Duke of York! I had a lot of fun writing her.

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Chapter 11

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September 7th, 2023: Mid-afternoon - On a still as of yet unnamed island currently under Siren occupation

Ever since one retired college professor from the Eagle Union named Forest Mason was elected (read: all but forced) to take charge of this island settlement made up of refugees and displaced former Azur Lane soldiers as its mayor, it's been nothing but one headache after another for the better part of two and a half years now. First his home falls to some unknown invaders from who knows where, then the Azur Lane Alliance is defeated, followed by countless numbers of people fleeing from all over the place only to end up getting themselves stranded on an unknown island located out in the middle of the Pacific... Honestly, if it weren't for being kept so busy all the time, Forest probably would've drunk himself stupid wishing this were all just some horrible nightmare that he'd wake up from any second now.

"...sigh..."

Sadly, this was reality... and reality seldom, if ever, gave even half a shit about anyone or their problems.

'...Iris dammit...! Why me? Why the hell did I have to be the one stuck dealing with this shit?'

Mentally cursing his fate one last time before shoving those thoughts away for the time being, Forest quickly got himself back into 'mayor mode' as he went to deal with today's latest headache. Still, he couldn't help but let out one last long, resigned sigh as he braced himself for whatever trouble was bound to come off that mysterious and unknown flying ship.

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At the settlement's (now very crowded) only port.

"...Whoa! A real flying ship!? Seriously!?" exclaimed a wide eyed little boy.

"You think it's some new Siren ship or something?" a young woman asked with quiet worry.

"...Dunno, but I sure hope not," replied the man standing to her right. "But either way, my gut tells me that it's not..."

"What makes you say that?" asked the man standing behind him.

"Like, I don't know... just that coming up to us like this just doesn't feel like something they'd do, that's all. I mean, other than watching us and making sure we don't break any of the rules they set up for us or fight them, the Sirens usually leave us alone, right?"

The other man and the young woman (and everyone else) listening in reluctantly nodded to that truth.

"But still, is it really okay for us to just... I dunno, gather around and gawk at it like this? What if we're wrong and it really is some new Siren weapon?" asked the second man, getting a few others to nod in cautious agreement.

The first young man just shrugged. "Yeah well, it this thing really does turn out to be some new Siren death machine in disguise then it's not like anything would change with us being here or not, right?"

"Hey look! I think somebody's coming out!" someone cried, shakily pointing to the slowly opening ship door and descending automatic staircase.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still as everyone present held their breaths and silently waited for whoever or whatever it was to finally come out and show themselves. And then, half a heartbeat later.

"...Whoa!"

"...No way!"

"The fuck!?"

"Holy shit!"

"...Girls...? Are, are they Sirens though, or...?"

"Dunno, but damn are they hot! Like, drop dead gorgeous!"

It didn't take long for things to quickly escalate and descend into chaos as everyone tried to figure out just who their new 'guests' really were and why they were here.

- With the now disembarking shipgirls -

"...That's, a lot of humans...," New Jersey observed as she took in the size of the crowd gathered in front of them. "Wow, and so many silly looks on their faces too, haha!"

"I mean, we did just kind of show up out of nowhere in a mysterious flying ship from who knows where," Saratoga said. "Oh, and we're all really hot too, so it's not rally a surprise they can't take their eyes off of us!"

"...Really?" muttered a slightly exasperated Peter Strasser at Saratoga's antics.

"Yup! Really~! " replied the petite pinkette with a smile and a wink.

"...You two do realize that we're going to be greeting them soon, right? Can you please try to take this a little more seriously?"

"Well yeah, that's only because nobody else wanted to do it while the Commander is just being slow! Besides, aren't you excited about seeing so many humans? I mean, aside from the Commander, it's the first time we've ever seen any, let alone this many of 'em!"

"Ja, but that's why it's so important we don't screw this up by giving them the wrong idea about us and have them think we're Sirens or something," Strasser reminded. "Especially if we're gonna be here for awhile too."

"You think they'd really mistake us for Sirens though? I mean, we don't look or act anything like them, right?" New Jersey asked, a bit skeptical.

Strasser shrugged. "Who knows, but tell me Frau Jersey; what would you think after seeing strange, unknown women you've never seen before coming off of some unknown flying battleship that docked tiself in an area already under Siren control?"

"...Okay, good point."

"But, Sister Sara's too smol and cute to be some big and scary Siren though! Like, really!"

"...And what, exactly, does being small or cute have anything to do with what those humans might think a Siren is or isn't, exactly?"

"..."

"...Well?"

"...You're no fun..," grumbled a dejected and now slightly pouting Saratoga.

Strasser just shook her head at the little pinkette. "Let's, just get go and get this over with already..."

- Back with a very tired and stressed out Mayor Mason -

To be honest, Forest had no idea what to make of the three newcomers who'd come off of the strange flying ship currently docked at their port. Sure they seemed friendly enough, but they were still strangers... and suspicious ones at that. Fortunately, he'd quickly ruled out them being Sirens since they felt more 'alive' than Sirens seemed to. If noting else, they seemed to want to talk first, which was more than enough reason for him to at least hear them out before jumping to any conclusions. Besides, needlessly provoking them and incurring their wrath probably wasn't a smart idea even if they weren't Sirens.

"You know, not counting our neighbors from nearby islands, it's been quite some time since we received any new guests. Especially ones as lovely as yourselves. Ah, but where are my manners? I'm the mayor of this nameless little settlement; Forest, Forest Mason. A pleasure to make your acquaintence."

Thankfully, and regardless of whatever he might be feeling or thinking on the inside, Forest was really good at not letting it show and act with a level head in almost any kind of situation. That trait of his, among other reasons, was also why everyone trusted him as their leader so much... much to his annoyance.

"Wow, you're a pretty smooth talker, aren'tcha?" New Jersey said with a laugh and a bright, toothy smile. "Anyway, yeah. Sorry about the sudden intrusion and all that but well, a lot happened, y'see."

"Oh?"

"It uh, it might be a little hard to believe, but we're actually here to investigate why the Sirens have been so active around these parts. Heck, we even had a fight with 'em not too long ago."

"...What?"

"...Way to go, dummkopf," Strasser lightly rebuked while lightly tapping the bluenette's head on seeing the clear alarm on the mayor's face.

"Hey!"

"...Wait. Investigate the Sirens? Are you part of Azur Lane then? Some new resistance group maybe?" Forest asked after quickly recovering from his earlier shock and trying to figure out who these mystery girls were. If nothing else he, and the crowd behind him, were relieved that these girls weren't some new kind of Siren at least.

...

"...Uh, we're not, not with Azur Lane...?" Saratoga oh so eloquently said, scratching her head seemingly just as confused as her audience before looking the taller, twintailed ravenette behind her. "...Er, Strasser? A little help here please?"

"...sigh. Ja, ja. Just, let me handle it," Strasser said with a shake of her head before turning her attention to the still patiently waiting Mayor. "Right, where to begin... Well, strictly speaking nein, we are not formally a part of the Azur Lane Alliance military. That said, we are aligned with their goals of defeating the Sirens and protecting humanity so yes, I suppose you could say we're something of a new, recently formed resistance group," she explained. "Anyway, we're here in place of our Commander to do a little meet and greet while he takes care of a few last minute errands that came up. Until then, I apologize for the unintended anxiety the suddenness of our arrival might've caused."

"Damn girl! You're great at that formal speak kinda stuff, aren'tcha!" New Jersey praised, patting Strasser on the shoulder, causing said ravenette to roll her eyes in return.

"Hardly. You and Saratoga are just careless and simple minded dummkopfe."

"Hey, how come you look like some sort of slutty looking sci-fi playboy bunny? What kind of 'resistance fighter' walks around dressed like that?" suddenly asked a random townswoman relieved and emboldened by the fact these girls, whoever they were, weren't Sirens but irritated (and very envious) that said newcomers, especially the blue haired hussy she was addressing, could so shamelessly flaunt their assets and draw the attention of so many of the more... easily distracted among them. Normally this wouldn't be an issue for her, but hell hath no fury like a woman who's man is ogling the big tiddied, provocatively dressed harlot from who the hell knows where.

"...Huh? Wait, 'slutty looking sci-fi playboy bunny'? Pfft! Ahahahaha! Oh, that's pretty funny! Yeah, I guess I do huh," New Jersey said with a huge smile and laugh, not at all picking up on the woman's true feelings. And really, why would she? After all, she and every other shipgirl only ever had eyes for their Commander. Really, the woman had absolutely nothing to fear... well, unless one of them was stupid enough to try and make a pass at their Liam, that is.

"...Er, sorry about that. Anyway, is your friend always like that?" Forest quietly asked Strasser after apologizing for the woman's earlier rudeness.

"...Unfortunately. And as for why she's dressed like that? Well, it's easy to move around in when in combat," Strasser replied. "Let's just, leave it at that, ja?"

"...What? But-"

"-I know what you want to say, but we're not your ordinary sort of girls. Here, look," sensing what the Mayor was concerned about, Strasser made the snap decision to show everyone just what they really were by manifesting a scaled down version of her combat rigging. Actions spoke much louder than words, after all. 'Best to get this out of the way now and save ourselves any future headaches later.'

"Oi, are you sure you should do that?" New Jersey asked, a little worried that it might accidentally send the wrong message and make things worse.

"No, I think it's the right move actually," Saratoga said before bringing out her own rigging.

"Really?"

Saratoga nodded before speaking with a rare seriousness. "It's important to show them that not only are we serious about fighting the Sirens, but actually have the power to do it too. And nothing gets the message across like seeing what we have to bring to the table, right?"

"Well then, let's show 'em just what this super sexy sci-fi playboy bunny can do then!" If nothing else, New Jersey was really good with going with the flow and leaving all the mental heavy lifting to everyone else.

And, soon enough, all three shipgirls were strutting their stuff for everyone to see. Needless to say, it was very effective messaging.

"...Oh my God...! You, you're shipgirls aren't you!?"

Forest hadn't ever seen them himself, but he grew up hearing plenty of stories about the mysterious and beautiful living weapons who showed up out of nowhere and saved humanity alongside their brave Commanders during the First Siren War. In fact, his late uncle was actually one such Commander. More importantly, he wasn't the only one who recognized what those girls were either since there were actually quite a few former Azur Lane Alliance remnants living here as well, some who were even lucky enough to have seen some before themselves.

"Holy shit they are shipgirls! Hey, hey! do you think they know the 'Unbeatable Magician'? Maybe they even serve under him!" said a former infantry grunt turned member of the island watch to the former warship mechanic next to him.

"Um, didn't one of them say they 'weren't' a part of Azur Lane though?"

"Oh, right. But then, who's their Commander then? Shipgirls have to have a Commander right? At least, that's what I heard anyway."

"Who knows. I mean, last I heard, there were only three Commanders around right now, and two of them are stationed all the way in Europa on the other side of the world right now while Admiral Yang is currently operating in the Sakura Empire and its surrounding waters."

Seeing their mayor's reaction and hearing a bit of the two former soldiers' conversation, the other townsfolk couldn't help but get curious and excited themselves.

"Hey, what's a shipgirl? And where did those weird floating gun things come from?" asked a random and especially inquisitive child pointing up at Saratoga and her rigging.

"I'm glad you asked little guy~!✩ For these are," cue a wink and well practiced twirl, "what me and my sisters use to fight the big bad Sirens~!✩"

"Wwwoooowwww!"

"So, you're like magical girls...but with guns?" observed the slightly older girl standing next to the little boy excitedly hopping up and down nonstop like he were on a sugar high.

"Er... I guess so?" Strasser replied. 'But, what's a magical girl?'

"Yup! You got it, hehe~!✩ You're a smart one, huh! Sister Sara, New Jersey, Strasser, and all our other sisters are totally like magical girls with guns!"

"...Oh!"

"...ahem! Not to interrupt, but," Forest cut in, hoping to get the conversation back on track, as funny as this little tangent was. "don't we have other, slightly more important, things to talk about?"

"...Ja, ja we do but," Strasser replied with a sigh. "do you mind holding off on whatever questions you might have until our Commander and the others meet up with us?"

Forest nodded. "Alright, fair enough. Should give me a little more time to really process... all this, y'know?"

"...Man, you really don't let anything get to ya, huh? I can see why you're the guy in charge around here!"

In the meantime, Saratoga, New Jersey and Strasser spent the next little while trading questions and answers with Forest as they went over to his house to wait for the others.

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About thirty minutes later, inside the mayor's house: living room-

"...So, you're the Commander, huh?" asked an older man in his sixties with short salt and pepper hair wearing a pair of half rimmed glasses over his slightly weary looking but still sharp brown eyes.

"Um, yeah? My name's Liam, Liam Archer," answered a slightly flustered young man as he held out his right hand.

"Oh, yes. You most definitely aren't a soldier, that's for sure," said the older man with a smile as he took and shook Liam's offered hand while introducing himself in return. "And I'm Forest Mason, the mayor of this town."

"So I've heard. And yeah, I'm not a soldier. Actually, until the end of last month, I was just another faceless low level office grunt," Liam replied, lightly scratching the back of his head a bit. "To be honest, it's been one crazy thing after another since I somehow managed to escape the Eagle Union. Honestly, a part of me still can't believe how lucky I've been up til now but well, here I am."

"Haha! You really know how to roll with the punches, don't you!"

"I mean, it's either that or go crazy, right? ...Shipgirls, flying battleships, super advanced sci-fi level AI, fighting Sirens and not actually surviving? Yeah, it's been a trip and a half for sure. Anyway, Mayor Mason right? I'm sure Strasser and the others already mentioned it, but we came here to investigate just why the Sirens have been so active around these parts lately, as well as offer what little assistance we can while we're here. We, erm, will need to stay a few days to patch up our ship though. Sorry about that in advance by the way. Oh, but if you're worried about your island's security, I can have some of my shipgirls patrol the area just in case. As long it's not another Elite, then I can guarantee we'll be able to keep you all safe for as long as we're here!"

"Well, seeing as you're already here and as long as you don't cause too much trouble, then I suppose I can let you stay. If nothing else, we've got the room and supplies to entertain a few guests for a little while at least..," Forest said, readily agreeing. "Ah, speaking of which..."

"Hm? What's up?" Liam asked.

"Just how many did you bring with you? Shipgirls, I mean."

"Huh? Well, you've already met Strasser, New Jersey and Saratoga here," Liam began, gesturing to the three shipgirls to his left before doing the same with the ones to his right. "And these three are Prinz Eugen, Jean Bart, and Belfast. Oh, two others by the name of Enterprise and Alabama will be by shortly. As for the total number I brought with me? Three standard fleets of six shipgirls, three submarine support fleets of four shipgirls and... three more shipgirls who serve as my ship's bridge crew... so, thirty-three shipgirls total, I think?"

"Thirty-three shipgirls!?" Forest repeated, a little shocked by Liam's answer.

"At first I thought I might've went a little overboard there, but then the fight with the Sirens happened and well... let's just say I'm glad we had the numbers we did. There were a lot of Sirens after all. And that Elite? Whew! She was one tough cookie. If anything, I kinda wish I had more shipgirls with me but for better or worse, this was the best I could do on such short notice..."

"...I, I see." 'Huh, I wonder. Does that mean that this man's base of operations is nearby then, or was it just a coincidence that they were so close by...?'

"Anyway, that aside, I'm honestly surprised the Sirens haven't really bothered with this place too much. I mean, they've been pretty active with the whole 'occupation' thing everywhere else, right?" Liam asked, trying to get a better read on the situation, and to stop himself from rambling and stay on track.

"Yes well. About that," the mayor sighed. "While it is true that we are under Siren occupation, they haven't done much more than keep us confined to our local fishing areas and narrow trading corridors with a few of our neighboring islands also under their occupation. Really, so long as we 'stay in our lane' and don't do anything to provoke them, like try to mess with their patrol routes or the like, then they seem more than happy to leave us alone. And before you ask; yes, we learned that lesson the hard way..."

"...I'm sorry to hear that... and um, sorry in advance for any trouble our actions might bring in the future..,"

"Hahaha! You're an odd one, huh? Nothing like what I imagined a Commander would be like, especially given the stories I heard growing up! Don't worry though, I mean that in a good way," Forest said with a hearty laugh, enjoying the slightly awkward Liam's genuine honesty. "And it seems your lovely lady friends agree too! Good impressions go a long way you know. Especially when dealing with the fairer sex."

"Thanks, I guess? Oh, right! Do you have an inn or some place we could use to stay in? I mean, I don't mind staying on board our ship if need be, but I'd really like for the girls to get some rest on real and proper beds, if at all possible."

"Hm? Oh, right. Come to think of it, we do have a fairly large and well stocked inn traders from neighboring islands use. Ah, and don't worry about paying, we can just have you all do some odd jobs for us while you're here. Not a bad deal, right?"

"No, no! That's great, thanks!" 'Damn I hope this string of good luck holds up for a little while longer, but... just admitting this is good luck probably jinxed us, huh? Well, we'll deal with whatever happens when it happens...'

"So? What are you all going to do for the time being? Still plenty of daylight left and all that," the mayor asked.

"What else? Explore and gather intel. I suggest we wait for Frau Alabama and Frau Enterprise to arrive first before we divvy up the groups and roles though," Eugen replied.

"Good idea," Liam agreed before turning back to the mayor. "In the meantime, do you think you can tell us a bit more about your settlement's layout and any important places and people to look out for and talk to?"

The mayor nodded. "Sure. Well then, where to start..."

- Twenty minutes later -

"...You're late," Belfast commented, noticing Alabama and fellow Royal Maid finally enter and sit down.

"Sorry 'bout that y'all. See, it took a whole lot longer to leave on account of the little ones putting up so much of a fuss..," Alabama explained. "Heh, little Elly even threatened to zap everyone if she couldn't come!"

"Elly?"

"Yeah, y'know... Eldridge. Anyway, cute nickname right? Well, she seemed to like it at least. Right, Enty?"

"...Hm? Oh, yes! Miss Eldridge seemed quite taken with it," Enterprise quietly replied. "She even did that odd little habit of emitting tingly sparks to show her happiness... until she was told that she had to stay behind with the others, that is. Which is what took us so long, what with having to calm her down and all."

"...She didn't um, actually zap anyone did she?" Liam asked with a hint of worry in his voice, hoping his favorite little blonde zapper hadn't gone overboard with her fury.

Alabama shook her head. "Nah, she managed to keep things under control... though she did grumble a bit before going off to play with Anchorage who... was actually the biggest reason she managed to keep her cool. Probably because they're so alike, y'know?"

"Ah, that's very true," Belfast said with a nod and a smile. "Those two and Miss Laffey certainly do make for a cute trio."

"Yeah, except one's got the body of super model while the other two are like some kind of petite mascots... or maybe more like a zap happy and cola drinking plushies maybe," Saratoga added while recalling the few times she'd seen the three of them together.

"Right, well then; the sooner we figure things out, the faster I can find a way to keep Eldridge from electrocuting everyone...," Liam said a bit too hastily, clearly desperate to avoid the blonde little kuudere's wrath. '...Ugh, maybe I can bribe her with Belfast's cookies or something? Hopefully this place has some sweets I can buy...'

"Mr. Archer? Is something the matter?" Forest asked.

"...Huh? Oh, sorry 'bout that. Just uh, well... let's just say that keeping my fleet happy takes up a lot of my time and energy."

"Yes, I think I can relate somewhat. Being responsible for so many people and having so little free time to yourself because of it can be quite exhausting," said the mayor empathetically while patting the younger man's shoulder. "Still, you wouldn't give it up, right? Your 'fleet', I mean."

"Huh? Nah, of course not. It's just a bit much to handle sometimes is all. Oh, but they're totally worth the trouble so it's all good." Liam replied while giving Belfast and the others a warm smile.

"That's good. And with an attitude like that, I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"Hey, thanks. Anyway, how about we work on deciding who does what now, yeah?"

"Ah, about that. I think I have a great idea, if you don't mind, mein Kommandant?" Prinz Eugen offered, taking out her tablet and placing it down on the table they were sitting around and activating a sort of virtual whiteboard of sorts. "Ah, these things are oh so very useful, aren't they? Anyway, here's what I had in mind..."

- One explanation and Q&A session later -

"...Huh. Not bad. Plus, it'll give everyone a chance to explore the island and interact with the locals too," Jean Bart observed, impressed by the Iron Blood silverette's planning skills.

"Not only that, but the groups are arranged so that we even get to go out on group dates with the Commander too!✩ I totally approve~!✩" Saratoga said, excitedly giving her own approval.

"...I'm not gonna get a break while we're here, am I?" Liam asked no one in particular as he took a closer look at Prinz Eugen's brilliantly designed outing rotation schedule, all but resigning himself to being tossed around between groups of love crazed, experienced starved and impossibly beautiful shipgirls of all tastes and temperaments. '..Dear lord give me strength, or at least some energy drinks...'

"Ahahaha! To be young and so popular! I truly envy you, young man!" Forest said with a knowing smile.

"...I mean, I don't really mind too much, but damn is this gonna wear me out by the end," Liam muttered as he let out a small sigh, now extremely grateful for the extra stamina New Jersey's all but mandatory early morning exercise regimen granted him. Sure he hadn't been doing it for all that long, but he's still in better shape now than he ever was before.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Hon. We'll make sure you have a good time!" New Jersey confidently said while flashing that signature reassuring smile of hers. "Besides, this'll be the best way to keep the little zapper and the others from rioting later on, y'know? Promising them dates and all that."

"Yeah, I know. And 'Hon'?"

"Yeah, 'Hon'! I thought giving you a cute pet name would be perfect since we're gonna be goin' out on dates together! Keep things nice and casual, yeah?"

"That makes sense. Wait, so does that mean you guys want a pet name too then? Because there's a lot of you and I really suck at naming things..," Liam said, slightly panicking at the thought, which caused every shipgirl present to giggle while the elder, much more experienced in life and love Mayor Forest just shook his head at how silly Liam was being.

"I mean, you can if you want, but Sister Sara's fine with just being Sister Sara."

"Well, then I'mma call you my huggin' pillow then," Alabama said in a very rare, excited tone.

"Master will always be my Master, just as I will always be your Belfast!" declared the ever devoted super maid accompanied by a very well practiced curtsy and bow.

"...As entertaining as all this is, shouldn't we get going? I still need to go over and get things ready at the inn for you and your friends y'know," said a slightly annoyed (and maybe a little jealous) mayor to Liam and the shipgirls, arms folded and steadily tapping his foot on the ground as if to say, 'hurry up already, would you?'

"...Right! Sorry about that! He's right girls so... are you all ready to go? Oh, dinner together first though."

"Ja." 'I wonder how I can tease that silly little fool then...'

"Of course, Master." 'I hope I can find some good local recipes to try out later!'

"Ye, yes, Master...!" 'Ooh, my wisdom cube's pounding a mile a minute! ...Um, maybe I should change into something a little more casual then...?'

Likewise, similar thoughts ran through the other shipgirls' heads as they silently followed behind.

Meanwhile, all Liam could think was, 'God, I hope I don't fuck this up! Please, please, PLEASE let nothing go wrong and that the girls will have a good time! No, seriously. Please don't let me fuck this up...! Oh, and let them go a little easy on me... Please?'

- Around the same time, aboard the Liberty -

"...Hmph...!" '...Why? Eldridge, annoyed? ...Annoyed! Very annoyed!'

...

There was much sparking and zapping going on as a very irate and pouting Eldridge was making her displeasure for everyone, save Anchorage and Laffey, known as she continued to pace around in circles.

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