Nemonia

by SugarcaneSoldier

While what exactly defined Tanya could be argued about by her and those around her at length, there were three things she certainly was not. She was not a Naval Commander. She was not able to control several thousand tons of steel with her mind. Most importantly, however, she was NOT okay with this insanity!

11. Who do I think we should side with?

As the door closed behind the worker from the International Liaison Bureau, Tanya took a sip from her cup of coffee – prepared, as always, by the ever present Viktoriya – and only savored the flavor for a moment.

Moments were all she had today – catching up with her sleep after yesterday meant she'd only woken up half an hour ago. Now, she waited in a well-lit, well-furnished, but unfamiliar office in Hamborg, the interior of the desk she was to sit at littered with papers she'd barely had time to even glance over. The woman had been cordial and had done her best to prepare Tanya, but now it would fall to Tanya to play her part.

She glanced at the blinds covering the window to her right, searching for the imperfections. The light that streamed through the cracks seemed to be behaving normally.

She narrowed her eyes. There. "Neumann. You've mixed up the angle of incidence again. Check your calculations."

The light streaming in from the blinds bent slightly, and Tanya smirked, turned to the closed door, and assumed a neutral expression – slightly downturned lips, open eyes, squared shoulders, and a steady, even pace of breathing.

Neumann didn't have to keep up an illusion for the entire time, but considering he wasn't even under enemy fire, she thought of it as 'prolonged endurance training.' She wouldn't ruin his determination not to show how much her order had rankled by giving him approval now.

Viktoriya was with Neumann behind the false window, and later, when Tanya was meeting with representatives from Azur Lane and the Crimson Axis's major factions, Sophia would come back to brief her on who exactly she was meeting. For the next twelve hours, she would be having meetings and interviews.

If nothing else, it was at least a good justification for having Viktoriya accompany her as well so that she could 'assist' her in her interviews – which really just meant she could bring Tanya a new cup of coffee every few hours.

It was undeniably frivolous, considering she could be helping with the benchmarking and training of Nemonia instead, but Tanya needed to be absolutely focused for some of these meetings, which meant having access to her adjutant's coffee.

A knock sounded on the door, briefly startling Tanya out of her thoughts. She resisted the phantom urge to straighten a tie she hadn't worn in over a decade as she set her half-emptied mug down, and put on a small smile.

"Welcome, Admiral Harthy. You wanted to ask some questions about Nemonia?"

-OxOxO-

Tanya sipped from her now-cold coffee and suppressed the urge to glower at the retreating back of the pirate. Part of her looked down on her base instinct to think less of the woman leaving her office for how she dressed. To not embody the meritocratic spirit of the Empire would be unbecoming of the perfect soldier, after all.

On the other hand, the other part of her reminded the first part that uniform exceptions like carrying around flintlock pistols and cosplaying as a 17th century pirate should disqualify even the most savvy sailors from rising to the rank of Captain as the woman leaving had.

However, even as she left, with an over-exaggerated bow to the man coming into her office, Tanya couldn't help but wish that the pirate woman would come back and sing the praises of submarine primacy and swashbuckling to her some more.

Still, she managed to put on a look of feigned neutrality rather than a desire to murder. "Doctor Schugel."

He nearly leapt into the room, his grin somehow wider than usual and he jumped over the chair and landed in it with his legs crossed. "Lieutenant Degurechaff! Wonderful to meet you once again. How has your assignment been going thus far?" he asked.

She didn't let her eye twitch at his antics. She'd anticipated it when she'd seen that second floor office she was in didn't have ramp access. "Fairly well, Doctor, though the lack of a commander and their associated command staff has been-"

He cut her off. "Yes, too bad the Committee of Appointments and Ranks hasn't yet decided," he mused loudly, "though I did give my agreement with your recommended acting appointments for collateral and training duties for you former staff in your Kampfgruppe and among the sheships, as well as your requests for more specialized training personnel," he continued, stroking his face.

"You were quite correct that they should be preparing to fill more roles than simply something to throw at the Sirens, and the fact that so many of the foreign sheships have melee weapons seems to indicate that they do have some use in the fight against the Sirens," he said. Suddenly, he frowned. "Though I do wonder how on Earth-"

"Doctor. This meeting is specifically to discuss the performance of the various sheships. We can-"

"Now now," he cut her off again, "If you hadn't anticipated that I wanted to discuss some things outside the scope of the meeting, you would have already had the relevant papers out, you wouldn't have allocated an extra fifteen minutes to the meeting on top of the hour I requested, and you wouldn't know me, a fellow member of the faith, nearly as well as I know you do."

He smiled down at her, his frame towering over her even when seated and with a desk between them, not saying a word. Tanya blinked once and sighed. "Continue."

His expectant look gained a toothy-grin. "Wonderful. Speaking of the faith, I couldn't help but notice that there were a few omissions from your duty appointments. Why submit this half first without adding in the welfare and recreation appointments?"

"I-"

"It's preposterous! You haven't even bothered to indicate who will be serving as the chaplains! Many of the ships have professed a desire to go to Church with me, and even those who belong to faiths practiced on the fringes of the Empire expressed an admiration for my devotion. I hope the sheships who display their devotion to God openly weren't intimidated by your reputation?" he inquired.

She almost didn't want to give the man an answer for continually cutting her off. "I was hoping to leave such things… up in the air. The amount of leeway they have been extended outside of regulations with their clothing, attitude, free time, and dormitory is already extreme."

Schugel glared at her, comically angry, and Tanya wondered briefly if she preferred the version of Schugel that hadn't overdosed on drugs. "Now Degurechaff, they can't help what they wear-"

"No," she cut in, "They can definitely wear other clothes. I have proof."

Schugel blinked owlishly. "You do?"

"Yes, I'll show you when we get into our actual meeting. This is a military, not a beauty pageant or a-"

She cut herself off with a sigh. She'd been about to say brothel, because the pictures she'd gotten ahold of from abroad were, to put it bluntly, scandalous.

Scandalous in that the moment they'd hit the Empire's shores yesterday, they had been banned for moral indecency for the amount of skin the images showed, even without showing any genitalia. Naturally, that hadn't stopped them from spreading very much, and she'd been given the copy in her desk by Monarch when she'd stopped by the woman's dormitory to order her to this office for a meeting later in the day.

Again, Tanya's internal love of the rules, and of standards, went to war with her logic that dressing like hookers didn't really say anything about their skill.

"I had a thought," Schugel said, cutting off Tanya's internal rant, "that only God knows what activities they will want to participate in, and in light of such, that having someone coordinate their activities might prevent trouble later on?"

She almost snapped at him, and then, mortifyingly, she realized that he was definitely right.

Not that all of Nemonia's ships would debase themselves by wearing a 'race queen' outfit or posing lewdly while wearing risqué swimsuits. No, more likely, if any of them got caught in anything even remotely resembling a scandal while pursuing their interests autonomously, she might be held to blame if there existed no outlet for them to pursue their interests within the Navy.

Now, if others were assigned to the relevant jobs, then she wouldn't ever get held accountable for the whims of the ships given life. Whoever she had assigned to be in charge of procurement could also handle frivolous requests. Someone else could manage public relations.

"I suppose," she mused aloud, "that they aren't in active combat anyway." She almost thanked him, but their ledger definitely wasn't even.

"Regarding the problem of Nemonia not having a leader," he said, completely blitzing past the previous conversation, "the Committee of Appointments and Ranks is accepting recommendations."

Tanya raised an eyebrow. "You think I would recommend myself?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe. But just in case you haven't yet, I also took the opportunity to recommend you myself."

She fought desperately not to glare murderously. No, their ledger was definitely not square.

"Wouldn't that mean I rank above you?" she asked, unable to mask not just a hint, but an entire bucketload of malice in her voice.

Schugel had the fucking gall to smile. "Yes!"

"Well," she managed to say, unable to even relish the idea of having the power to dismiss Schugel, because for how much he'd done, there was no way she could logically argue for his dismissal beside her personal distaste, "I am already meeting with some sheships later to discuss who will be leading Nemonia."

He nodded, either not noticing or uncaring of the poorly-hidden rage in her voice. "Wonderful! I'm sure you'll convince them of your suitability. I'll be meeting with some of the brightest minds of Azur Lane and the Crimson Axis later today to discuss some of the finer minutiae of sheships. Quite honestly, the amount of information that is exchanged, even between enemies, is quite astounding. I have truly been blessed."

"Regardless," he continued, "we are both clearly busy. Shall we move onto the review of the capabilities of the sheships in their trials?"

"Very well. However, I do have a few questions."

Schugel's smile grew again. "Ask away, dear child of God."

"Why have you awoken so few submarines?" she asked. They'd proven very useful for training, with how many torpedoes they could manifest at once compared to any other ship.

Schugel shrugged. "There's been an order from on high, though I agree with the logic," he stated, his tone lackadaisical. "Most of the submarines – no, not just the submarines, but most of the ships that Nemonia currently has were all in operation for between five years to over two decades. However, the submarines in particular are out of date. The V80-class were never meant for combat outside of the Baltic, while the Doppelköpfiger Drache-class and the U-100-class lack many of the advancements incorporated into the Geusen-class."

"It's been ruled that none of them are suited for operations in the Pacific… or, even more unsuited than the rest of the fleet, as it were. Additionally…"

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the wooden table. "Submarines are, chiefly, for disrupting commerce or for sneak attacks. The Sirens have superior technology in regards to breaking stealth, and since they've largely been confined to the Arctic and don't ship anything out of their containment zone, the only use for a massive fleet of submarines would be to attack another nation." He said it all in a false-whisper, and shrugged at the end.

Tanya raised an eyebrow. Sure, they weren't suited for operations, but could the Empire really afford to be picky? Even if the torpedoes weren't the most modern, she doubted they wouldn't at least distract the ships the Sirens operated, though if the amount of 'Wisdom Cubes' the Empire had access to was limited, she supposed which ship was summoned mattered more.

Regardless, if the order had come from 'on high,' then it was clear that the decision probably had political considerations. If a large submarine fleet got the Americans or British or Japanese jumpy, then not having them to smooth over relations made the most logical sense to secure aid and an alliance, even if it might not make the most military sense.

"Understood. I request you wake up at least a few more. The data will show just how useful they are for training. My other major question is that… you aren't going to strap a Wisdom Cube to a Computation Jewel, strap both to me, and hope God figures it out, right?"

Schugel scoffed.

Tanya felt her right eye twitch.

"Of course not! What a ridiculous question. Computation Jewels do not have their own power… though, with how energy dense they are…" Schugel began to mutter incoherently to himself, and right as Tanya resolved to break him out of his stupor, he bolted up.

"Probably not. I don't believe Wisdom Cubes as currently understood could be shrunk down enough to make whatever extra power or capabilities they provided an efficient decision to implement. The few papers I've read about this world's attempts at doing the same also seem to have failed for inexplicable reasons."

He shrugged. "I'm sure the problem lies in the collective unconscious."

"I have no more questions," she said quickly, unwilling to get pulled into an argument about something so seemingly illogical. She ducked down and grabbed the first few documents, as well as the magazine.

"…That illusion isn't yours, is it?"

She placed the documents on the table and ducked back down. "If you're referring to the one on the window, no. Why?"

"I thought not. It's far too primitive for your handiwork."

Tanya fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Here's the last of it."

The magazine immediately caught Schugel's attention. "Fascinating. What could possibly… do you mind if I take this?" he asked.

If it were any other man, she might think he wanted it for its intended purpose. With Schugel, she was sure he just wanted to study it. "Go ahead. I recorded what I needed with the Type 98…"

"Speaking of, have you made any progress with a Computation Jewel based on electronics rather than mechanical parts?"

He grinned as he stashed the magazine in a pocket. "Some, but other things have occupied my attention. Interested in testing what I create? Have the long days on the front made your heart grow fond of the time we spent pursuing God's vision?"

Tanya bit back an insult and instead looked through the false window. "Not in the slightest. I'm merely interested in a new piece of weaponry… though if you need test subjects, I can personally attest to the ability of the 203rd."

Schugel barked out a laugh. "We'll have to see about that."

With that, they dove into the reams of paperwork that had already been generated by Nemonia. Civilization truly did run on paper.

-OxOxO-

"Thank you again for volunteering for this, Basel," Tanya said, an actually genuine smile placed on her face.

Schugel was exhausting to work with, even when all they were doing was going over paperwork and the training she'd put the sheships through. Just about the only thing that wouldn't have brought some relief to her would be Being X showing up.

The woman, who also towered over her despite being seated, beamed. "Of course, Lieutenant! Getting to teach you a thing or two is just payback for what you taught the Navy."

Tanya nodded. "Before you begin, I wanted to know how you were doing," she asked. It was almost perfunctory, but she was hoping to get advanced intelligence regarding how the sheships were feeling after being introduced to their training.

"I," she began, "actually… hmm, could you give me a moment?" she asked. Tanya nodded, and she closed her eyes. Tanya raised an eyebrow at the look of concentration on her face – if she closed her eyes when concentrating, Tanya would have to drill that out of her.

"It's such a rush," she began. "I remember my time as just a hull. I look back on it fondly, but being able to do more…"

"I guess," she said, "It was like when you learned magic. Suddenly, the world was so much more open."

Tanya nodded, lamenting that while her world may have physically opened after being trained to fly, discovering she had magical aptitude had considerably limited her outlook on life.

"Um, may I ask a question?" she asked. Tanya again raised an eyebrow, this time at the timidity in her tone – where had the fire from her first words gone? – and nodded. "Of course."

"Will we be meeting the sheships from the other factions? I understand the need to keep things hush-hush, but I did want to talk with them."

"You're in luck, then," Tanya replied. "While the particulars are being worked over, Azur Lane, the Crimson Axis, and the Empire will be conducting a joint exercise on the last day of the celebration. At least ten, maybe eleven sheships will be participating. I'm sure some time will be allocated for everyone to get accustomed to each other."

Basel grinned. "Great! Now, you need some coaching on how sheships feel so that the sheships you meet with don't catch on, right?"

Tanya nodded, and the lesson began. The way she described her existence, the sharpness of her vision when she activated 'Lessons of the 203rd,' the easing of her aches and pains when Stheno activated 'Marvels of Legend,' the reverberation of force echoing through her wisdom cubes as she called her rigging into being, was not too hard to grasp for Tanya, especially with magic in the mix.

Outside of battle, however…

"You really can't be more specific than 'a connection?'" Tanya asked. The woman's confidence was faltering now. "It's… no, I don't think so," she admitted, seemingly defeated. "It would be like… you trying to explain how your heart is connected with the tissue surrounding it, but by looking at your chest instead of the cells," she said, trying to explain despite her seeming inability.

Tanya shrugged. "Well, that's fine. Good, even. If I had tried to explain the feeling of having my being connected with the ideas of humanity, then they might suspect something. Even your inability to explain is valuable information for me."

Basel's miserable expression brightened and became sunny once again. "Right!"

The conversation continued. What did the 'Oxy-cola' the Americans had brought taste like? What did it feel like trying to wear clothing other than the clothing she'd materialized with? What were her memories of her time as a hull like? Why had she and everyone else been so sure they wouldn't be paid for their service?

Eventually, Tanya ran dry on questions, and Basel ran dry on things to add that Tanya hadn't thought of.

"Um, could I ask another question?"

Tanya mentally rolled her eyes. She would instill a sense of hierarchy within the week and get them to call her by her rank. "Yes, Basel."

Her face lit up again. "Will you be participating in the joint exercise?"

Tanya kept her disdain from her face. "The roster hasn't yet been decided," she stated dutifully. "I anticipate being chosen in order to keep up the ruse." Keeping up with the sheships would be grueling, but that would, hopefully, be the last time Tanya had to play the part.

"Hmm. Any clue who else will be chosen?" she asked. Tanya sighed. "I imagine at least one other member of the 203rd. Beyond that… the Empire is a meritocracy. Excellent performance during training will likely equate to a higher chance to be selected."

Basel's disposition somehow became even brighter, and Tanya could only mentally roll her eyes once more. Was she fated to be surrounded by battle maniacs?

She missed Rerugen.

Tanya glanced towards the clock on her desk. "Well, time is growing short. Before you left, I wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind conducting a survey of the sheships. What sort of things they want to learn or do. Skills, activities for the military and for training."

Basel nodded rapidly. "Of course, Lieutenant. Uh, are there any limits?"

Tanya sighed. "No. Anything and everything," she said. The point of it was to make sure no one did anything that might compromise Tanya's position, which meant being involved with whatever activities they demanded, no matter how frivolous.

Basel nodded and rose, heading quickly for the door.

Then she stopped, her tail flicking about as she grabbed her cape off of the coat stand. "Lieutenant Degurechaff. I had… one more question."

Tanya nodded slowly, resisting the urge to flick her gaze towards the illusory window. Her tone suggested this was more personal than her other questions.

She stepped slowly back towards the chair, wringing her hands. "How do you… live up to expectations?"

Tanya raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Basel's conflicted expression twisted, and she ducked her head down. "It's… nevermind-"

"Wait."

She stopped, and Tanya continued speaking to the woman's back. "It's no problem that you don't wish to share the information."

She paused, for a moment, thinking. "Meeting people's expectations is not always easy." Tanya began with an understatement, because the things the General Staff expected of her had ranged from difficult to nearly impossible.

"Managing what people think you are capable of is important, but the bottom line is that if you think you might fail, work harder."

Basel nodded jerkily-

"Miss Basel," came a voice from her side. Tanya's gaze snapped to the window – instead of closed blinds, it was Viktoriya speaking into the grate in the window while Neumann looked on nervously.

"What Tanya said is correct, but you should always seek out the assistance of others if you need it! If the General Staff asks you to do something impossible, demand concessions and help from those around you! If they want more than you can give, rely on those around you to make up the difference!"

Tanya's withering gaze softened slightly. She was just trying to contribute an important point, then. "Yes. Useful subordinates, understanding superiors, and connections to coworkers are all important as well," she said. Basel looked between the window and Tanya several times, her gaze incredulous for only a moment.

Then, with a start, she beamed at them both again. "I think I get it! Thank you, both of you!"

Tanya watched the woman leave, frozen, and then she spun and glared at Viktoriya. "Viktoriya, your input was useful in this case, but please keep in mind that pulling something like that around someone who isn't as understanding about being directly monitored might not go well. Don't interrupt us again or I'll make you regret it. Neumann, if you listen to her I will drag you with me to the joint exercise and you can help fight the foreigners."

Both of them cringed, and Tanya sat back at her desk. "As it is, you can get the chairs for the next meeting on your own while I go over what Basel told me."

"Yes ma'am," Viktoriya snapped, any dejection she might have been feeling absent from her snappy reply. Tanya smiled in response and looked down at her notes, sipping on her coffee.

-OxOxO-

Tanya had not been afforded even silence when the first few members of this meeting had shown up, and the cacophony of voices debating and shouting and insulting each other had only grown. Tanya was staring off into space, desperately trying not to allow her headaches to become a full blown migraine through sheer force of will alone.

"Yer' nothin' but a overblown braggart, with yer stewpid red hair-"

"Speaking to one august personage as myself, the heir to a thousand years of unbroken rule, is as uncouth as it is predictable-"

"HA! Of course you'd think little miss pirate was talkin' to you, you inbred-"

"Would both of you please just-"

"If you don't quit disparagin' my honor and duty, Derfflinger, I'll cleave your head from your shoulders."

"And there you go, proving my point. You're nothing but a berserker, unfit to do anything but charge at the enemy."

"At least I had an enemy to fight. You were about to be decommissioned without having done a damn thing besides parade around and waste everyone's time-"

"You're all unfocused idiots only in this for pride. Every moment we spend bickering is another opportunity for the Sirens to attack."

"Silence, Zealand. Thou art nothing more than a shivering whelp, a horse struck on the flank and chomping at the bit, a child without a thing to her name, whose only recourse is to ally with those beneath our station in a desperate attempt to seem strong-"

"A little harsh, Links, but-"

"You are no different, Kaiserin. You are nought but a title, unfit to-"

"And you are a symbol of the old world, of the world before the modern. I am the embodiment of the Empire-"

"Would you all cease your endless nattering? Your mere presence grates on my being, so why do you insist on making your idiotic-"

"You couldn' get a tadpole to bow before you, much less yer sisters."

The conversation picked up pace again as everyone broke out into their own arguments, the vitriol growing more acidic. No one had drawn their rigging or, in the case of several of the contenders for leadership of Nemonia, their bladed weapons.

Tanya did not need to stare at the clock on her desk to keep track of time, thanks to her Type 98, and it wasn't like this wasn't at least a little entertaining. If nothing else, trying to figure out what the hell was the deal with the ship that had been referred to as 'Links' had occupied her time – every time Tanya looked away or even blinked, the girl transformed between a short, naked half-dragon girl and an even shorter girl dressed in a bathing suit.

Tanya was no closer to figuring out the mystery when ten minutes passed as she had been after she'd first noticed it, so she put the conundrum to the side and let out a shrill whistle that had even her ears ringing.

One of them – the one wearing a mockery of a Napoleonic-era uniform – managed to either not hear it or ignore it, but she did stop when he realized everyone else had gone silent and was now staring at her.

Tanya detected very little respect for her in their gazes. They were curious at best, but most of them were annoyed or even slightly angry. Only one, who Tanya was fairly sure was named Kaiserin, seemed even the least bit apologetic.

Tanya smiled threateningly. "Now. I let your… discussion carry on for over ten minutes. It seems obvious to me that there is little chance we will come to an agreement over who should be the leader of Nemonia today. Even so, I think having a slightly more structured conversation would be more helpful, yes?"

A handful of insults were thrown at her, and Tanya only frowned and made note of those that had. "Well, that's definitely worth a demotion and a pay cut."

That got all of them quiet, and Tanya allowed her wide smile to appear again. "Yes, and in case you think you will be immune to punishment once I have demoted you and docked your pay to the minimum required, let me assure you that recording you cleaning the bathrooms of the entire base with toothbrushes will be the beginning of what I will do to you."

They all remained quiet, though Tanya was receiving acerbic looks from the majority of them. Yet another reminder that she would have to install some discipline in them as soon as possible.

"Now. I recognize a few faces from my first few days, and I know the names of everyone put forward by the various sheships of Nemonia, but with how many of you I am training, I would appreciate a reminder of who you are."

One of them jumped forward, and Tanya held up a hand. "Without your… introductions, please. Just your name, class, and rating."

The sheship deflated slightly, but she introduced herself all the same. "I be Ivan Dirkie de Veenboer, a John Pro-class Armored Cruiser. As me instructor, I'd prefer ye call me Sulayman Reis, if ye'd please." She bowed her head, and Tanya gave her a shallow nod in return as she sat back down at the table Viktoriya had dragged in.

Most of her clothing wasn't even that outrageous – though it was, of course, wildly out of regulation. She wore a white blouse and a blue corset skirt whose bodice seemed to be woven from a high quality blue cloth. Her heels – because none of them wore regular shoes, obviously – were made of a relatively tame brown leather that also wove up her legs past her knees, while her hands and arms clad in a similar looking brown leather.

Neither was her hair especially outrageous – mostly blonde with black locks interspersed, though most of it was hidden underneath some kind of cloth covering, which made her stick out like a sore thumb. It looked vaguely like a nun's habit. Tanya had grown up around nuns, however, and this one didn't quite match. Based on her preferred name, Tanya was tentatively assuming the head covering was related to the Islamic faith.

She would ask later. If it ever came up.

Another of the more eye-catching women among the bunch stood, gripping her winged military cap in her hands as she towered over her peers. If she wasn't over seven feet tall, Tanya would hear her hat. "I am Nassau, Lieutenant. Of the Helgoland-class battleships."

As with the last sheship, she seemed to be struggling not to say more, though she seemed to be trying to give off the feeling of a kicked puppy with her expression, which felt bizarre.

Somehow, Tanya had made the hulking woman a tad abashed, which was probably giving Viktoriya and Neumann a hard time not laughing at the ridiculousness of a thirteen-year-old girl making a seven-foot-tall woman straight out of Die Walkyrie, plus a leather and fur leotard, a bear-skin cape, and a battleax.

Again, Tanya nodded, and the very… ripped woman, because her bare, muscled thighs were larger than Tanya's head, sat, setting her hat atop her head once more and fiddling with the end of her long braid of hair that somehow reached the floor.

And that was how the introductions for the subsequent seven sheships.

"I am Derfflinger, a Derfflinger-class Battlecruiser," said the tall woman clad in medieval knight armor as black as coal with golden inlays, a white coat with similar golden decorations hanging from her shoulders, and a sword at her hip hung from a red cloth sash.

She had been the one to call Nassau a berserker after having the threat of beheading leveled at her.

"Zealand of the Zealand-class Destroyers, Lieutenant," reported the second-shortest member of the group. She was white, from her skin to her eyes to her hair to her clothes, besides the red of her gloves, the brown highlights of her white dress, and the black of her heeled boots.

She had been one of the few trying to keep things orderly, until one too many insults had dragged her into the scuffle.

And on it went.

Hannover. Light cruiser. She dressed more like an engineer, with jeans and a cotton undershirt and a toolbelt on her hip.

Kaiserin. Sister of Monarch and similarly dressed. She had also been trying to keep the peace, especially with the other royals and aristocrats.

Metternich. Another aging battlecruiser. She dressed like a Napoleonic-era politician, except the white tights she wore were very tight and were complemented by equally white heels. She was one of the sheships Tanya would be demoting.

Habsburg, a catgirl with a red mane brighter than Tanya had ever naturally seen red hair. She had a blue crown floating above her head constantly, like a halo, and scars that raked over her pronounced facial features.

Kaiser Barbarossa also wore knight armor, though hers was a more tame silver. Her red hair seemed to be a more… realistic color, though with how curly and… poofy it was, it was a miracle it hadn't sent the golden crown on her head flying, or at least askew.

The girl who kept… switching stood, but Tanya held up her hand. "You're last."

She turned her gaze without waiting for an answer. "You two. I know for a fact that I invited the ten sheships put forward by Nemonia for this. Who are you?"

Both smiled threateningly. "Yes, and what a travesty. I am Kaiserreich, lead ship of the Kaiserreich-class battleships," said the first woman. She wore a gray uniform and a red sash, with plenty of room for medals and awards. Her hair was a darker red than Barbarossa's, though her's also had streaks of gold – not blonde or even yellow, but gold – and black hair in the braid behind her back. She had a scepter resting on her lap, while a sword rested at her side…

Tanya's thoughts trailed off. "Your teeth…"

The woman smiled again, wider this time, displaying her shark-like smile.

Literally.

Her teeth were not just human teeth sharpened into points, but actual animal teeth. Probably shark!

Tanya refused to verbally or even mentally acknowledge whatever the fuck was going on there and moved on.

"Deutschland. Same class as my sister."

Though her smile was the same, everything else was not. She seemed to have grabbed inspiration from American biker culture, somehow, because she was dressed in a lot of black leather with metal hooks and rings, had biking boots on, and wore a pair of goggles around her neck. Her jacket wasn't quite a match for a biker jacket, seeming much more militarily inclined, while her hair was mostly black with streaks of white and red.

Tanya did not sigh at the questions her appearance created, like why she looked like this when she was fairly sure that biker culture wasn't even a thing yet…

Her thoughts trailed off again as the woman shifted. "Is that a mondragón rifle?" Tanya asked, incredulous. The woman smiled, showing off her weird animal teeth again.

"Indeed, Chief Instructor!"

"Why," Tanya began to ask, choosing not to question why she had that when the rifle was issued to Aerial Mages, "are you two here?"

Kaiserreich scoffed. "I am the embodiment of-"

"I don't believe everyone has introduced themselves. If we are going to do things in a more orderly fashion, we should do that before we make our cases," Metternich chimed.

Tanya raised a hand before either of the women before her could interrupt. "Good point. I asked for representatives of Nemonia, and you both decided to come without securing endorsements from other sheships. You'll both be docked pay for that."

Tanya turned to the last sheship and ignored how they were probably glaring holes into her back. "Now. Considering everyone else has introduced themselves, I assume you are Doppelköpfiger Drache?"

The demure girl before her, wearing a black swimsuit that Tanya would have used to garotte its creator before allowing a girl of this physical age anywhere near it, nodded once. "Yes. I am half of the existence of Doppelköpfiger Drache, the right head, Rechts."

Ah. "Which makes Links-"

Tanya blinked, and the demure girl was gone in an instant, replaced by another girl. Though her face, hair, and size seemed similar, nothing else was.

For starters, she was naked.

Despite that fact, nothing private was on display, because she was also partially covered in black scales. She had an oversized tail that was as long as she was tall, with scales covering where her vagina was supposed to be, as well as most of her legs. Two oversized horns on her head complemented her oversized, clawed hands, with scales covering most of her forearms and snaking up the back of the rest of her arms to meet scales trailing down from the sides of her head to meet in a ring around her neck, with some scales trailing down her collarbone and swirling around where her nipples were supposed to be.

Beneath all of the scales, a fiery glow poked out, giving off the impression of burning fire.

She grinned and Tanya saw more fucking animal teeth, except there weren't shark teeth, and were probably supposed to be some approximation of dragon teeth.

"Indeed. I am Links, the left head of the existence of Doppelköpfiger Dr-"

"Alright!" Tanya said – yes, said, and definitely not shouted – as she sat back in her chair. "Alright."

As Tanya had outlined, she wasn't about to solve a problem that had produced twelve figures competing for leadership. Moreover, she wasn't sure she wanted to get anywhere near such a problem.

However, she was the Chief Istructor, and if whatever had caused this spiraled out of control before someone else was in charge and could take the blame, she would catch some of it.

"Alright. Why can't you all agree on a leader?"

The room exploded into a cacophony once more.

Tanya did not manage to accomplish much with the meeting, besides establishing that the Pirates, the Lower Officers, those who wanted to follow the Army's meritocratic example who Tanya was now mentally labeling the Modernists, and the aristocrats and royalty all wanted to be in charge of Nemonia.

It seemed there was some disagreement over how much they would or wouldn't interact with the normal navy, but it was assumed they would use Nemonia as a springboard for their faction to gain influence over the entire navy.

Furthermore, Kaiserreich and Deutschland were supposedly there to represent the more modern ships that the navy hadn't yet given to Nemonia. Considering they weren't likely to be awakened anytime soon, they were pretty much just there for themselves.

At the very least, Tanya would be slotting in some lessons on the structure of the navy and the Empire's government, because all of them seemed to think they would be fighting the Sirens alone, which was just about the stupidest idea Tanya could conceptualize.

By the end of the meeting, she did manage to get everyone to agree that they needed to decide on a candidate – or, at the very least, a more limited list of candidates – before the end of the joint exercises, and that martial prowess would not be how it was decided, because such a thing would encourage a focus on fighting ability that neglected other very important aspects of leadership.

"Please, we are all on the same side, right? And who's to say that just because someone with different ideas from you is in charge means that none of your own plans can be implemented? Cooperation and collaboration are key in any organization, after all."

Her plea seemed to have mollified some of the higher tempers, and Tanya breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at the time – she'd managed to lose track and only had a few minutes left.

She looked down at the docket and verbally sighed this time. They still had one more item.

"Before we adjourn the meeting, we need to come up with some believable history for the Empire before coming to this world. Most of the particulars of the story have been dreamed up by someone in the propaganda department, if I'm not mistaken, but who should we say was the previous leader of-"

"Clearly, the aristocrats and royalty fell from power after abusing their position-"

"Everyone realized what a bad idea it was to concede such an important position to a bunch of pirates with a higher costume budget than-"

"Moles placed by the army in the navy were torn out like the burs in the calf of the magnificent beast of the-"

"The non-aristocratic officers finally realized who their betters were and graciously gave up the position while offering to lick the rust off of my a-"

Tanya's groan went unheard by everyone in the room as the bickering continued.

-OxOxO-

Getting them out of the office was by far the easiest part of the experience the meeting had been, though not even that had been without complications – when she'd finally ordered everyone to leave besides Kaiserin, everyone else had assumed Tanya was trying to offer her advice in her attempt to become leader.

Another five minutes of arguing had followed, which had allowed Kaiserin's sisters, Monarch and Kronprinz, to arrive and explain that this was a disciplinary meeting.

That had gotten them all out of her office, and though Tanya did want a few minutes to rest, she would not get it.

She sent two bursts of interference out and then began to study the three ships who were now in her office.

Monarch was as she had been during their first meeting, white uniform, a towering figure, and a sly grin on her face, even as her two sisters spoke in hushed tones.

Kaiserin looked much the same as her sister, though her sleeve lace marked her as a lower rank – Tanya hadn't yet memorized all of the symbols associated with different ranks, but she was fairly sure one of them was at least an admiral based on the sleeve lace – and the details of her uniform were slightly altered. Her skirt was longer, thankfully, because if Monarch's was any shorter, it would be better served as a dishrag.

The most striking difference was Kaiserin's hair, which was red compared to Monarch's black. She was taking the lead in talking to her sister.

Kronprinz's clothes were far different – her uniform was identical to her sisters in cut, but the entire thing was done in black. The sword at her side was not held in a scabbard, though it wasn't likely to cause any safety problems because most of it had been broken off. Her hair was also different, a blonde color only a touch darker than Tanya's hair.

She didn't contribute much to what was being said to Monarch, only occasionally chiming in and instead frowning and pouting at her white-haired sister.

After a minute more, Viktoriya, having received the agreed upon message, brought in a fresh pot of coffee. Tanya smiled widely as she served some to her and the sheships.

"Now, Monarch. Have your sisters made it abundantly clear the problem with your conduct?"

"Hmm… I'm not sure. Why don't you explain it to me?" she asked, her sly smile still in place. Her sisters groaned, but Tanya held up a hand.

"That's fine. I don't appreciate what you said to me."

Monarch held up a finger to her lips and then, after a moment, shrugged her shoulders. "I don't quite recall what it was that I said. Could you repeat it?"

Now Tanya raised an eyebrow. "In front of your sisters?"

Her smile gained teeth. "Oh, I share everything with my sisters," she said, clasping her hands together low so that her arms squeezed her-

Tanya whipped out her Type 98, a single eyebrow still raised, as it replayed Monarch's words. 'Fufufu~ I am the Monarch-class Monarch. You stand in the presence of royalty… but fret not, I shant make you kneel. You too are nobility, after all. I place myself under your service, assuming you can… satisfy me.'

"W- Wh- W-" Viktoriya stammered, looking between Tanya and the Type 98 and Monarch.

"Right!" Monarch said, cutting off Tanya's adjutant. "My introduction line. What's wrong with it? Specifically." Her smile was still sly and knowing, and Tanya could feel that her earlier efforts to keep her headache manageable were for nought.

"Monarch!" Kaiserin cried, "Don't ignore everything we just told you! That sort of behavior is totally unbecoming of one of the longest serving members of the High Seas Fleet. Apologize!"

Tanya put away the Type 98 as Monarch finally seemed to be getting what Tanya was so concerned about.

"Truly," Kronprinz agreed. "A member of the nobility shouldn't be so forward with their courtship. More subtle methods are becoming of a woman of our stations, not crass innuendo."

…Huh?

Monarch took a step towards Tanya, the sly curl of her lips becoming slightly frantic with the widening of her eyes. "Oh, but such things take far too long. We are soldiers too, and there is no telling what tomorrow may bring, so why not spend the ni-"

"I am. Thirteen. This is. Inappropriate. Indecent. And. Illegal."

"But," Kaiserin chirpped, voice somewhat at a loss, "you've killed people. You're serving in the military. Clearly, you have the maturity of an ad-"

Oh fuck that. She'd been hoping Monarch somehow just… hadn't known that propositioning Tanya, no matter how oblique the terms, was wrong and illegal, but no! She had known!

Tanya closed her eyes and smiled at where Kaiserin had been. "Supporting such an argument that flouts the rule of law clearly makes you an unsuitable choice of leadership, so keep in mind that you will be at the bottom of my recommendations to the Committee of Appointments and Ranks."

Tanya opened her eyes to find that Monarch had backed off, remorse marring her face as she looked towards a pouting Kaiserin. "As for you," Tanya said, "you will be demoted and have your pay cut, to teach you a lesson."

The remorse lingered on her face, and Tanya almost breathed a sigh of relief.

The moment quickly ended and the sly looked returned. "I understand. Could you just confirm one thing for me?"

Before Tanya could respond, she had rushed towards the desk, sending Tanya's hair – and paperwork – flying as she pressed her breasts onto the wood. "You don't find this attractive?"

Tanya stared at the woman. The incredibly attractive, clearly horny woman, and took a breath that was definitely too shaky for a superior to have around a subordinate that was attempting to proposition them.

"Regardless of how I feel about it, the law is the law," Tanya ground out.

Somehow, that didn't phase the woman as she stood back up, mischief still shining in her eyes. "I didn't hear no."

"Latrine duty and artillery training! For all three of you," Tanya declared.

The woman only pouted for a second before her smile returned. "I'll accept any punishment you give me. May I be dismissed?"

Tanya fought the urge to visibly respond, but her lack of response was still probably a win in Monarch's book. She hadn't inflected any of those words to sound even the least bit like she was implying something, but the innuendo was still there.

Tanya glared at Monarch, and then at Kaiserin and Kronprinz. "Dismissed, all three of you."

They filed out, and Tanya wasn't sure if it was anger at insubordination or desire, but she left scratch marks on the table as Monarch swayed her hips as she left.

"Viktoriya."

Tanya looked at her…

"Are you alright?" Tanya asked. She had been gaping, like a fish, at the women leaving the office. Tanya's words snapped her out of it, and she saluted Tanya in a flash. "Yes. Of course. Never better."

Tanya resisted the urge to scowl. Hopefully her opinion of Tanya hadn't gone down at how openly insubordinate Monarch had been, but just in case it had…

"It goes without saying that the sheships need more education about the laws that govern the Empire," she said. "Furthermore… I'm not sure that I could trust any of the men with the job of making sure they complete their duty. You wouldn't mind making sure they actually complete their punishment, would you?"

Viktoriya seemed panicked, for a moment, but it passed after only a second. "Not- not at all, sir!"

Tanya nodded, more to herself than anything, as she began to sit back down. "It goes without saying that such behavior is not what the Empire expects of its servicemembers, so if any of that ends up in the papers, you'll both," she said, loudly to make sure Neumann didn't think she'd forgotten he was there, " wish you were as valuable to the Empire as the sheships."

She heard a muffled 'Yes sir' from behind the wall and a loud one from Viktoriya, and Tanya sighed again. The day was barely half done.

"More coffee," she said aloud, causing Viktoriya to flee in a hurry. Yes, more coffee would soothe the irritations of the world.

-OxOxO-

Tanya had taken a wonderfully quiet fifteen minutes to eat lunch, followed by a five minute refresher with Sophia, and then two back-to-back meetings that were relatively quiet and uneventful with Brooklyn, representing the Eagle Union, and Duke of York, representing the Royal Navy. Having to talk with a translator had been taxing, but Tanya wasn't about to reveal that the few years of 'Anglish' she'd taken at the War College was far more in-depth than her grades suggested.

Both had apologized for the inability of the heads of the missions from their sheship factions to attend, but Tanya had been more than understanding – if anything, the fact that they were too busy to meet with her was a good sign that perhaps the Empire was trying to court Azur Lane.

She did have to appear at least nominally neutral according to the writ of the International Liaison Bureau, at least for now, but she'd done everything she could to indicate that she thought the Empire should ally with Azur Lane and that that would be her preferred outcome. She was fairly sure she'd indicated at least that much to them.

The conversation had been relatively light, overall. Tanya had told them both the same false story the propaganda department had cooked up – Tanya was a relatively modern destroyer that had led various charges against the enemies of the Empire, from the opening invasion of Legadonia, to a covert mission in the waters of Dacia, from skirmishes with the Francois, to the invasion of the Orse Fjord, from the few naval actions against the Free Francois around the Southern Continent, to a preemptive strike against the Russy Federation, and even to the ongoing conflict that they had left behind, her false history was vast, storied, and close enough to Tanya's actual military career that it wasn't too difficult to recount the broad strokes with the tone of familiarity those around her would expect.

Her partners had recounted their own. Duke of York's hull had patrolled the ocean to facilitate sending supplies to the Soviets and helped in the Allied landings in North Africa before she'd been awakened in preparation for the Allied landings in Sicily, only for the operation to be called off with the Sirens attacking both the allies and the axis powers. From there, she'd helped liberate much of Norway, Iceland, and the North Sea from Siren control.

Brooklyn's hull had mostly been on convoy escort duty for the early parts of the United States's entry into the war, with her also assisting in the invasion of North Africa. She was one of the many hulls that had been awakened in the wake of the Siren's attack, and had helped to liberate Bermuda, as well as engaging in fighting off of the East coast of the United States, Canada, and Greenland.

Beyond that, she had also gotten some… interesting perspective on the other factions. Apparently, none of them were getting paid by their navies, which boggled Tanya's mind. She was aware that they were apparently the physical manifestation of people's collective ideas about ships, and would thus be indebted to the nation that had created them, but not paying them sounded like a great way to spark a mutiny.

A knock sounded on Tanya's door, and Tanya called out for Sophia, posing as a secretary, to open the door. Tanya thanked her, as did the striking woman who strode through the door.

Her boots, despite being partially made of metal, were somehow not the most ridiculous Tanya had seen, and her shirt was almost decent, except for the fact that it was cut open on the sides allowing anyone who took more than a passing glance at her to catch an eyeful of sideboob.

Of course, any and all professionalism, which the woman seemed to exude from her confident gait, squared shoulders, and smile, was almost entirely burned away by the fact that she did not appear to be wearing any pants. Only the fact that her shirt stretched fairly low covered up her panties.

"Prinz Eugen, I presume?"

The woman smiled. "You presume correctly. And you are Tanya von Degurechaff?"

"Yes," Tanya replied. "How has the Empire been treating you?" she inquired as Sophia stepped into the room and served them both a fresh cup of coffee.

"Coffee, this late in the day? You remind me of Mainz," she commented. Tanya shrugged. "Things have been understandably busy," she said as she took a sip and sighed. "Do you think Mainz will appreciate some coffee?"

Eugen took a sip of her own, and her eyes widened considerably. "Hmm. Not a hint of sugar or cream. I'm sure she'll love it."

They talked for a few moments more about inanities – coffee, her stay at a local hotel, Mainz's personality – and Tanya mentally confirmed that, although they weren't speaking the exact same version of German, it was close enough. If there were any hang ups, they could definitely work through them.

Her German wasn't the same as Tanya's, especially considering

Soon, the pleasant talk ended and they got down to business. "The German Reich always appreciates new allies in the fight against the Sirens," she said. Tanya smiled. "Oh, I'm sure. We're glad to be of help, even if they're an unfamiliar enemy."

That was one of the major changes the propaganda department had cooked up – they could fake a lot, but knowledge of the Sirens wasn't one of them, so they were simply to claim they hadn't existed in their old world, as far as anyone could tell.

"Indeed. And with how similar our peoples are, our cooperation is sure to be all the smoother."

Tanya's smile didn't change in the slightest – she was far too experienced with these kinds of conversations to show her acknowledgement that they were speaking seriously now. "Yes, well, we are all humans – or sheships, in our case – fighting for a single cause."

A delicate eyebrow raised. "And with all of humanity working towards one goal, our victory is assured."

Tanya inclined her head slightly. "Over the Sirens, of course."

"Of course," Prinz Eugen agreed.

Tanya shrugged. "Well, I am a soldier doing a soldier's job, and will fight regardless of the conflict, but I would prefer my country win. From what I've seen, the enemies of the Empire don't stand a chance."

Eugen crossed her arms. "Are you so sure? The Sirens are incredibly advanced."

"If they had the capacity, or, I suppose, the desire to win by dint of their technological advantages alone, they would have already done so," Tanya began. "Consequently, if they can't win through technological advantage, then they will have to try to win through numbers, which is something they can't do."

"Really? From the numbers I've seen, the Siren's technology allows them to construct new weapons at an incredibly fast pace," Eugen countered.

"It does, but the fact of the matter is that the stuff the mass produce can be sunk relatively easily by sheships. Furthermore, I don't have to see the production reports to know that the United States can outproduce them," Tanya said. Finally, Prinz Eugen's smile twitched. "You don't?"

"Of course not," Tanya said. "The history of American ships, published in every one of their newspapers, allows even me to catch a glimpse at their production capacity. Take, for example, the Essex, Fletcher, and Casablanca-class ships," she outlined, shuffling some papers she'd written notes onto. Prinz Eugen's eyes roved over them.

"They churned out hundreds of Fletcher-class destroyers and its more advanced derivatives over the course of the war. If the Sirens did not attack with a concentrated force, then they could take on whatever pawns and mass produced ships were sent at them, and if the Sirens did attack in force, the value of the raid was much more expensive than the value of the cargo they sank." Tanya went from one point to the next, outlining the breadth of their ability to produce ships.

"Furthermore," she continued, ignoring the twitch of Prinz Eugen's lip, "is the Casablanca-class escort carrier. The United States produced fifty of them throughout the war. Though their small size might have limited their overall capability, they allowed the full-size fleet carriers to focus on more offensive missions while they provided defense against Siren counterattack or helped to escort convoys."

"Finally, sixteen Essex-class carriers were produced by the time the Sirens were pushed into the Arctic circle in June of 1945. They made another fourteen before they started constructing solely Midway-class carriers instead. All of them were hulls for at least one year, with all of the later built ones remaining hulls for the standard three."

"Additionally, they created Essex-class Type II rigging for Yorktown, Hornet, Lexington, and Wasp. If the American's capability to produce naval ships is so prodigious, what does that say about the rest of their industry, which was also making equipment to help invade mainland Europe before the Sirens attacked?"

"My my," Prinz Eugen said, a slight strain in her voice, "you have so many nice things to say about them but nothing about the Crimson Axis?"

Tanya made a point not to flick her gaze to where she was sure Sophia was giving her a withering look out of Prinz Eugen's line of sight. "Of course not. I simply want to outline that if the Sirens were capable of producing enough ships to outcompete humanity, they have not shown that capability with how many dozens of pawns and dumb ships that sheships can sink on their own."

"It is a good thing we are all on the same side, then. If the Sirens had not betrayed us, we would all still be divided," she commented.

Tanya nodded emphatically. "Indeed. One can only imagine the horror of sending off dozens of paper ships invented from wholesale cloth to fight fully realized ships, or cutting down training times in a desperate attempt to match American output, only to watch them all die anyway."

Sophia was now openly glaring at Tanya, but she didn't care at the moment. "Is that what you think?" Prinz Eugen said, her tone now decidedly frosty.

Again, Tanya responded emphatically. "Yes. Anyone who thinks they can fight against Azur Lane is a fool."

"Do you think so little," she said, acid now dripping from her tone, "of the strength of will? Of the power of iron and blood?"

Tanya barked out a laugh once. "On the contrary! I wholeheartedly believe in the supremacy of both!" she declared. Prinz Eugen was shocked, for a moment.

Then Tanya continued. "With that in mind, the Americans have access to the most iron in the world, and while they may be squeamish about losing too much blood, the Soviets have buckets to spare. The Sirens can't beat them in a conventional fight."

"I think," Prinz Eugen said flatly, "that we are no longer talking about the same thing."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Frosty silence reigned for a few moments.

"If I recall correctly, didn't the Empire get engaged in a fight with the 'Commonwealth of Albion' and the 'Russy Federation'?" Prinz Eugen asked contemplatively.

"You are correct."

"And you don't find it paradoxical, to say that Azur Lane can beat any foe, when America was on the cusp of joining the war against the Empire? You had just started unrestricted submarine warfare, as Germany did in this world." She was starting to sound increasingly bitter.

Tanya turned up her nose. "In all likelihood. However, I stand by my words."

Silence again, except Sophia looked like she was at a loss for words. Tanya wasn't sure how – surely someone in the diplomatic core would see just how hopeless the Empire's situation was?

"You said a conventional fight?" Prinz Eugen said, sounding more curious than her earlier frustration. Tanya nodded, frowning deeply. "Yes. It is clear to me that something is… up with the Sirens. If they were aliens bent on taking the resources of the planet, surely they would have just bombarded the planet from orbit with asteroids until human society collapsed."

Eugen shrugged. "Do you have any theories on why they are here? An outsider's perspective may have some use, after all."

Tanya held herself back from rolling her eyes at the barb – only an idiot thought the Axis powers could have won the second world war with the Americans involved. "I read up on the theory about their names having some correlation to their purpose. Tester, Observer, Compiler, and Omitter are good matches, and Purifier might be a good match as well, but if they are testing humanity, what are they testing for?"

"It has been a mystery what they really want for decades. I made my peace with never truly knowing years ago," she said, half disgusted and half resigned.

Silence, again, much less frosty than the last time.

"Although, speaking of mysteries, I think I have run into one of my own," Eugen began, most of the acidity gone and replaced with the more conversational tone from earlier.

Tanya got a faint impression of Monarch, shook away the feeling, and nodded to Eugen's question.

"I wonder why there are no civilians in Hamborg. I wonder why the Empire has demanded so much knowledge of our technology and world, including things that should probably be common knowledge. I wonder why the propaganda I have seen is very… specific."

Tanya feigned ignorance with a raised eyebrow. "Really? Do you suspect some kind of conspiracy?"

"Some do," she said, not answering Tanya's question, "some have wondered if the Empire is really just that far behind in terms of technology and doesn't want to admit it for fear of being picked on… except the Empire has already admitted to being decades behind the rest of the world. It is…" she said, "confusing."

"Indeed. I'll have to beg off your questions – I'm simply not qualified to answer them, as merely the Chief Instructor of Nemonia," she said. That, finally, got Sophia to breathe a sigh of relief. "I do have some questions of my own, however."

"You won't answer my questions?" she asked. Tanya shook her head. "I have my orders."

"And you'll follow them?"

"Of course," she responded, "as would any good soldier."

Sophia's left eye twitched, because Tanya's entire discussion on the failures of the Crimson Axis compared to the Allies was definitely not within the parameters of her orders.

Prinz Eugen smiled. "Well, ask away. Like you, however, I may not be able to answer them."

Tanya smiled dangerously. Sophia got a feeling of intense danger, and-

"American and British satellites have photographed quite a few concerning locations across Germany, Poland, and in the European Axis in general," she began. "Buildings where people go in and don't come out. I was intrigued when I saw those reports in their newspapers. Do you know anything about those locations?" she asked, her tone the perfect picture of faux-innocence.

Prinz Eugen's eyes widened fractionally, and she remained stunned into silence. Sophia almost got in a word, to try to stop Tanya, but Prinz Eugen spoke first. "I'm afraid that I don't recall any kind of-"

Tanya's eyes narrowed. That wasn't enough of a reaction.

"My apologies, I just had the same problem with one of my subordinates. I'll try to be more specific," her tone growning colder and colder. "How many millions of civilians have the death camps at Auschwitz, Treblinka, and a dozen other locations, murdered on the basis of their 'Jewery'?"

Silence, for several seconds.

"What?"

Tanya blinked and looked to Sophia, who was staring openly at Prinz Eugen. "Their… Jewery?"

Tanya looked back at Prinz Eugen, expectantly, who was now staring at the wall behind Tanya, stiff as a board.

"Will you be questioning the Northern Parliament with the same vehemence?"

Tanya wasn't asking to get answers on that specific point. She wouldn't. The allies had asked many of the same questions when the truce with the Axis had been signed, and they'd gotten much the same answer.

Besides, it wasn't like she didn't already know the answer.

"I want to know how you, a supposed embodiment of your people's collective imagination and will and belief surrounding the hull of Prinz Eugen, could allow such a fate to befall your people," she asked. This was what she wanted to know – what happened when something supposedly embodying a nation acted in ways that were not in accordance with their being? How did they cope with that?

She said nothing, for a moment, remaining still.

Tanya pushed. "Do you not hear their voices calling out for justice against the criminals-"

"I am uninvolved. I couldn't help them if I tried," she whispered under her breath. Her gaze jerked down to meet Tanya's. "I'm just a soldier following orders."

Tanya nodded. Then, they coped like any other human being.

"And history will judge you as one."

She bolted from her seat, running from the office. Tanya took a deep breath.

Well, she'd acquired the information she'd been after. Asking sheships to act against the people whose imagination and ideas they embodied would be a very poor idea. Additionally, the Nazis were clearly at least as bad here as they had been in her first world, if she had recognized what Tanya was asking instead of being confused.

Tanya had been briefly worried the allies had invented it all for propaganda.

Tanya stood and began to stretch. It was best to keep her circulation up with all of the sitting around she was doing.

"Is… how?"

Tanya glanced to her side, and Sophia. "How did you learn all that?"

Tanya didn't show any of the frustration she felt on her face. That was why she'd been unhappy Sophia was involved – her help and reminders about what she could and couldn't say were helpful, but the woman was not solely responsible to Tanya, which meant convincing her to be silent would be harder than with Neumann and Viktoriya.

"I'm afraid I am not at liberty to discuss that," she said simply. With all that said, Sophia wasn't Tanya's superior and couldn't demand answers from her – she was a civilian, even, which meant if they wanted to order her to talk, she would have to file plenty of paperwork.

"I trust that you can keep quiet about this?" she asked the woman. Implying that it was top secret would ensure she would be disincentivized to even think about looking into it – though, even if she did, hopefully the bureaucratic lag would give Tanya time to think of something.

Sophia nodded, the earlier frustration she'd seemed to show at having to liaise with Tanya completely gone. Tanya spun to sit back down.

Though the most strenuous task of the day was done, that didn't mean the day was over.

-OxOxO-

Mainz stepped towards the door in trepidation.

Prinz Eugen, the unflappable sheship, who always seemed to have a glib smile for anyone trying to match wits with her, had just run down the corridor of the building Mainz was to meet with Tanya von Degurechaff.

Not only had she been running, not only had her expression been tormented, she had been crying.

Mainz could not remember even rumors of that woman ever crying, and that the small, relatively unassuming girl whose voice matched the leader of the Sakrua's contingent to an eerie degree had made Prinz Eugen cry was shocking in the extreme.

She knocked on the door, fist filled with trepidation and no small amount of desire to figure out what had just happened, and was called in.

Tanya von Degurechaff sat behind her desk like the perfect model of a bureaucrat, while another woman – her secretary, perhaps? – apologized for not opening the door.

"It's no matter," she commented.

"Ah, first, would you care for any coffee?"

YES.

Mainz clamped down on the urge to shout the first word that had rushed to her mind. Instead, she nodded as she took a seat. "Yes, if you don't mind."

"Of course not," she said as another woman – hair brunette, long, and silky where the first woman had curly, black hair – brought in a fresh pot of coffee. Mainz's eyes dilated.

She knew it was an obsession. How couldn't it be?

She was a blueprint ship. Conjured out of thin air with relatively little history besides broken plans and hollow dreams, it was inevitable that she would latch onto something.

All of their obsessions, their faults, were intrinsic to their being. An anchor for them to grip onto where the yawning, gapping chasm of their past was supposed to be.

Whether it was God, or tactics, or orchestral music, or pirates, or robotic compliance with orders, or cosplaying as a catgirl, or just pure destruction of everything around them, they all filled that void with something, because leaving it empty hurt.

That Mainz had latched onto coffee in a country that did not grow coffee and could not import much once the war started had not passed her notice.

It did not matter. She loved coffee. No matter the blend, no matter what was in it. Cream or sugar or milk or honey or whipped cream or air bubbles. Somehow, she even derived enjoyment from drinking the absolute swill ersatz stuff. Even when her tastebuds informed her that it tasted more like burnt wood than a liquid, she derived pleasure from it.

The aroma of the coffee hit her first, and Mainz's eyes dilated again. She felt saliva building up in her mouth. Staring into the dark, inky depths of the liquid swirling in the ceramic mug she was clasping onto, the perfectly calm surface winking invitingly in the light of the room's eclectic lights, she felt the power in the coffee gripped in her hands.

Was her hair beginning to stand on end?

This was…

Tanya von Degurechaff sipped her own coffee, and before Mainz could contemplate if maybe, for once, she should refuse this cup, social niceties commanded her to drink.

The liquid was probed, every last tastebud enveloped by the hot, scalding embrace of the freshly made drink. Deeper and deeper, the feeling traveled, making itself known to every iota of her being.

Not a single superfluous addition intruded upon the purity encapsulated in the darkness now filling her soul. Deeper and deeper, she drank, until at last it was all gone from the cup, instead resting, warm and happy, within her stomach, her mind, her cubes, her being, her soul.

It was the best cup of coffee she'd ever tasted, drank, felt. It was the most divine drink she'd had the honor of sharing the same continent with. It was…

Perfection.

She breathed out, her breath visible for only a moment.

No wonder Eugen had been crying.

"Er… Miss Mainz?"

She shook her head, briefly confused why she'd been thinking of someone else.

She had coffee to drink.

"Um, yes? Sorry, I just… really like coffee."

Tanya chuckled. "Another believer in black coffee. You wouldn't believe how many people have thought I would prefer sugar or cream just because I'm a little girl."

Mainz hummed in acquiescence. "Indeed. Nothing is better than a black coffee." No black coffee would ever again compare to this platonic ideal of coffee.

"May I have another cup before we begin?" Mainz asked. Tanya nodded, and the brunette brought over the pot.

"I'm glad to see you like it so much. Viktoriya's coffee has always tasted better to me than anyone else's."

"M- Major-"

Mainz's eyes snapped to the woman serving the coffee. Viktoriya.

Blue eyes like a calm day in the pacific, stretching into eternity. Straight brown hair with a slight curl at the end. A round face. Ever-so-slightly pouty lips.

Now she knew what God looked like.

They talked about a lot of inconsequential things. Why Prinz Eugen had been crying. The theory behind blueprint ships. The practical aspects of how the Weimar Republic and the German Reich had created its experimental blueprint ships and its more conventional paper ships. State secrets regarding technology meant to carry man to the moon and sheships into parallel worlds.

Through it all, between the baffled looks she received for some of the small things she said, Mainz drank. She drank the ichor of perfection, and she drank in the identity of its progenitor.

Mainz left that day with a promise that she could visit again soon. She hadn't taken no for an answer. They had been surprised but happy to oblige.

Mainz left the building in Hamborg and headed for the hotel where the Iron Blood had been assigned. She would study and learn at the feet of the throne of her new patron saint, until she could encapsulate some small echo of her prowess within her own creations.

Was that not why God, why she, had made humans and sheships? So that they could learn how to make perfection with her?

If it meant abducting the woman, the human, the godlike human – she had been on stage with the sheship Mainz had gone to meet with today, but her clothes were too different, too civilian for her to be a sheship – she would do that.

If it meant defecting, abandoning one Germany for a different, better one, she would do that.

There was no price too small to pay to have even just one drop of perfection grace her soul again.

-OxOxO-

Taihou had been cursing Prinz Eugen for the better part of an hour now.

Well, partly, anyway. It was useful to know that the Empire had intelligence capabilities that advanced, that they had barely been around for a few weeks and were already capable of learning some of the most secret information the German Reich had.

"Are you sure we shouldn't reschedule? She's been in meetings all day, which likely means that she'd welcome the respite-"

"We can't," Taihou ground out, "everyone else has shown up. We have to at least try to fix things. Make yourself useful and try thinking of some ways we could do that."

Suruga did not respond, but Taihou was sure that she was insulting her in her mind. Taihou didn't care what the flighty woman thought – they needed to do some damage control.

Luckily, they had been making inroads of their own. Akashi's business was finally starting to pick up.

Additionally, Taihou had finally broken. Keeping five kansen from locating the base of Nemonia, assaulting it, and trying their best to have their way with the men they found would have been a full time job for Akashi, Takao, Taihou, Suruga, and Yuudachi.

They did not have time for an additional full time job with the diplomatic functions they needed to perform, so Taihou had broken down and promised to look into 'setting up' something for them if they assisted Akashi in obtaining information.

They walked into the building, having to wait for the functionary assigned to them to introduce them and speak for them and get in the way of getting to Degurechaff as fast as possible.

They needed to soften her opinion of the Crimson Axis before she, and the Empire at large, started talking openly about what the Germans were doing.

"Yes, welcome in."

They did need the translator for the first few parts, but Taihou grasped the minor differences between the Empire's German and the German Reich's German fairly quickly.

Talking to her was… odd.

"Do you… have any idea why we sound so similar?" Taihou asked Tanya von Degurechaff. A brief flash of… something appeared on her face, but then she shrugged. "No clue. Perhaps god is playing a cruel trick on us."

A few weak chuckles at that, and then Taihou began to try to win her back, because this sheship was very influential.

Every common man and woman – the ones who changed their sheets and made their food and drove their cars – knew of her, lauded her, and praised her for what she'd done during the war, though people seemed reluctant to say exactly what she had done.

Even those at the top spoke fondly of her exploits, though her seeming ability to appear on every front of their war seemed to boggle the mind.

Regardless, she had plenty of influence, and her message to Prinz Eugen had been clear: she thought the Americans would win any war with the Crimson Axis or with the Sirens, and she didn't like the crimes against humanity the Germans had committed.

"Prinz Eugen recounted some of her meeting with you to me," Taihou began, "and though your opinion of the German Reich was made clear, does that necessarily forestall an alliance with the Crimson Axis?"

She raised an eyebrow. "As one of the alliance's two major powers, how could it not?"

"Well, allying with the Americans would mean having to turn a blind eye to the actions committed by the Soveits in the pursuit of victory. Could alliance with Japan simply mean turning a blind eye to the actions of the Germans?" she posited.

The Empire would eventually let the news of what was being done break, if they had as much hard evidence as Degurechaff knew. Making sure it was cast as a wholly German phenomenon and distancing the Crimson Axis from the entire debacle would be paramount to securing the alliance with the Empire-

Oh, that look wasn't good. "Allying with Japan would mean tolerating Japan. Despite ostensibly being an organization fostering the betterment of all of East Asia, the so-called Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere is hardly innocent of committing crimes in the name of the Empire of Japan. Hundreds of thousands civilians were killed in the Rape of Nanking, goods were taken from conquered areas to feed the troops, causing starvation, and that's without going into the exploits of Unit 731."

The first two, Taihou had been expecting. She had even rehearsed a spiel to feed people when she was asked about such things when she became the leader of the Sakura Empire.

Unit 731 was top secret. The vast majority of people involved were dead, with the remainder retired and sworn to secrecy.

How did she know?

"Unit 731?"

Taihou's gaze jumped to Suruga, but Tanya von Degurechaff continued. "Yes. The biological and chemical warfare unit of the IJA. It committed lots of crimes against humanity and killed hundreds of thousands to learn information that was either already known, matched extant projections, or was done just because it could be done."

How? How did she know all that? Taihou wasn't even supposed to know about it-

"Such as?"

"That is getting off track."

Silence, for a beat.

"You will tell me later."

"Fine."

Silence, again for a beat.

"You also mentioned the production the Americans were capable of-"

"If you try to tell me Japan can match it, I will very politely hold in my laughter until you leave."

That caused Suruga to jump up slightly, but Taihou pushed her back down, even though the girl's voice, Taihou's voice, rang in her own ears as well. "The Americans may be able to outproduce us, but our finest would destroy their fleets."

Again, Tanya raised an eyebrow. "Would they? In a one for one battle, I'm sure the ship you've parked outside Hamborg would outperform anything the allies have made yet, but why in the world do you think they'd fight one on one, instead of sending ten carriers at it and torpedoing it until it went down."

She shrugged. "You revealed your trump cards to fight the Sirens. You can be sure the Americans have already planned how to take it down."

Taihou licked her lips. Did she know?

Taihou knew of other secret weapons being developed by the IJN, the IJA, and even the Sakura Empire.

Yamato, Musashi, and Shinano were well documented, but they had secret sisters.

A ship, even more immense than the Yamato-class, built from the ground up to be the largest aircraft carrier in existence.

A dozen of the largest submarines in the world, capable of carrying airplanes.

Watatsumi.

But did she know?

Had even their most well-guarded secrets been discovered?

"Besides, why even contemplate fighting the Americans? It isn't like there's any conflict anymore, right?"

Taihou blinked. Once. Twice.

What?

"How so?" Suruga asked, equally professional and curious.

Tanya nodded to herself. "Well, correct me if I am wrong, but the war involved Japan not getting the oil it needed, the war in China, and the attack against the allies in general and Pearl Harbor in particular, yes?"

They both nodded, and Tanya shrugged. "Well, that's all gone. The Treaty of Istanbul ensured you got oil from the Americans and had your Manchurian puppet recognized. Japan is at relative peace for as long as the Chinese Civil War rages and doesn't face an outside threat. You didn't even have to pay the Americans for blowing up their boats and killing their soldiers since they sank so many of your ships."

Taihou snapped. Her voice. It was her own voice.

Her own self doubts. She could never beat the Americans. She would fail, like all of her fellow kansen.

"And when they decide the Treaty is no longer to their liking? In a decade, when the Sirens have remained quiet, what stops them from tearing it up?"

Tanya tilted her head. "And this competition between the Crimson Axis and Azur Lane is helping keep tensions low?"

"I-"

"The fact of the matter is," Tanya said, "that humanity is at relative peace with itself. Competing for an alliance with the Empire on military terms, when people are starving, when we have a threat that has the potential to wipe us all out, when we are presently at peace, is not the way to go about things."

She shrugged. "I would hope, after how the last war started over an escalating border incursion, that the Empire will not be the one to tear up the peace of this world. What could you possibly hope to gain from victory that you can't have in peace?"

Taihou's voice rang in her head.

What could she possibly hope to gain from victory that she can't have in peace?

What did she want?

"I…"

Taihou trailed off, and then she did something she rarely did, even in the privacy of her own room.

She slumped, her shoulders and head no longer held high. She remained silent, even at the looks sent to her from Suruga and their busybody, staring at the ground and off into space.

"Taihou…?" Suruga asked.

"You've given me a lot to think about," Taihou said as she rose, speaking quietly. "I… would like to speak with you again at a later date, if you would be amenable."

Tanya shrugged. "Sure. We can have our governments set up a specific time, but I don't think that would be a problem."

They just about started their goodbyes when Suruga cleared her throat. "Er… there was, ah, that, matter?"

Taihou blinked, dazed, and then her mind snapped into focus. "Yes. Some of the other representatives from the Sakura Empire were curious about liaisons as well."

"Huh," Tanya said. "Well, I suggest you tell them what I've told those I am training: to wait until the joint exercise. After that, further exercises can be-"

Taihou and Suruga looked at each other, for a moment, and then snickered. Tanya von Degurechaff looked between them, briefly confused. "What's so fun-"

"Not that kind of liaison."

The confusion died immediately. "Oh."

Then, the girl shivered slightly. "Tell them to wait until the exercise. Further exercises can be set up later. Beyond that, I suppose they can pursue whoever they are interested in 'liaising' with at their own leisure."

Suruga and Taihou looked at each other once more. How surprising. "Really?"

Tanya's expression grew slightly curious once more. "Yes? The Empire's education system is thorough. Even for its shipeople."

Taihou blurted it out. "You don't have the rule?"

Tanya blinked a few times. "'The rule?'"

They explained the rule, Tanya's expression growing more incredulous as time went on.

"Assuming," she eventually said, "that what you described is an actual rule, I find such an idea an affront to human liberty."

"Er, ma'am-"

Tanya rolled her eyes. "Human, sheship, whatever. You all know what I mean."

She cleared her throat. "Regardless, the leadership shakeup is still ongoing, and I won't use my position as Chief Instructor to restrict liberties like that, as long as everyone is following the rules of propriety, isn't doing it in the middle of a battle, or doing anything that will affect their ability to fight, it isn't anyone else's business."

They parted ways soon afterwards, with Taihou wondering if she could influence who ended up in charge of Nemonia in any way.

It would be a shame if someone ended up in charge who would restrict the liberties of sheships, unlike Tanya.

-OxOxO-

"Thank you again for this meeting, Commander Smithe. It was very enlightening, to know how one of the premier organizations promoting peace and international trade functions internally and how it interacts with others. The amount of power that an organization so international in scope has been afforded is amazing."

"It was no problem, Tanya von Degurechaff. I appreciate the compliments. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to return to my quarters. It's been a long day."

"Of course. I just had one final question."

The man, relatively clean shaven with a weariness that hung off of him in a manner Tanya would have found unsightly in a military officer of her own, stopped in the doorway.

"Could you please explain to me the level of… freedom that sheships have been extended here?"

He tilted his head and leaned on the closed door. "How so?"

"Well, I wanted to know why military personnel were allowed to dress up as 'race queens,' first of all. After that, why they can pose as swimsuit models in softcore porn magazines is next. Their 'social media' pages show a distinct lack of professionalism and a disregard for military secrecy. I find it all frankly astounding that the whole lot of them haven't been court martialed for sullying the name of their home countries."

"Ah, that."

"Yes. Oh, and it goes without saying that the ones that hosted a 'bunny bar' are the worst offenders for dressing up in stripper outfits."

He cleared his throat. "Part of it has to do with the fact of how they are… treated."

Tanya raised an eyebrow. "Like not being given pay or rank within their own militaries?"

He nodded once. "You've done your research, then."

Tanya was silent again, stewing. "So… they do these things to earn money? Because their governments won't pay them?"

"The way they justified it to me was that it was to cut costs, and that they're too loyal to complain," he said, a faint air of disbelief and frustration sounding in his voice.

Tanya's eyebrows raised higher. "Complain a lot, anyway."

"And they decided that letting them 'show off' their assets was a better way of resolving the situation?"

"…They've got their own semi-autonomous branches for a reason?"

Tanya remained quiet for a few moments. What a shitshow.

"Well. As the leader of Azur Lane, you arranged a few of them, right?"

"We- Well… Yes."

Tanya was silent once more, thinking of how precisely she would answer him.

"I am not in charge of Nemonia," she began, "but please convey to them that if they try to approach any of Nemonia's sheships or heships, especially the younger ones, I will not guarantee their bodily safety."

Especially herself.

"…You know they aren't actually that young, right? They've all had sailors aboard them for at least a few years, so it isn't like they don't know about that stuff."

"What? Actually, I don't care. What I said stands."

He shrugged. "If you say so. Have a good evening, Tanya von Degurechaff."

She nodded her own ascent, and the Commander walked away wondering how in the hell she'd forced herself to wear such drab clothing all day – he knew for a fact that stuff that plain usually itched itself off of them.

With a shrug, he walked off. He was quite enjoying his pseudo-vacation, and as long as he kept avoiding the American contingent – less of a chance of word getting back to Agent, that way.

-OxOxO-

Schugel tapped his fingers together. "This is quite amazing, but you must be correct."

The scientist from abroad whose name Schugel hadn't bothered to remember nodded. "But of course. All ships are at least partially informed by their people's beliefs in their form and function. It is simplicity itself to rely on that function to a greater degree."

"Yes, but the instability of the method is detrimental! Everyone remembers how badly Roosevelt went."

"Bah, that was because of the name change."

"Incorrect! It is clear that news of the Japanese-American internment camps overturned people's beliefs in the namesake of the ship overnight, greatly destabilizing-"

"The General Electric turbines were the cause of the flaw in her-"

Schugel filed away the information they were all spouting off, of course, but his mind was on higher matters.

The navy was likely to hand over most of their current fleet within the next few years as the technology from this world was incorporated into the latest and greatest ship designs. That was all well and good, but that meant Nemonia was unlikely to get an Aircraft Carrier for a decade.

Unless.

Unless Schugel used this latest innovation, to summon a ship that had never existed into being. A lot of delicate factors would need to be balanced to ensure it didn't go awry, but…

"Oh yeah, that's the fucking funniest shit- I mean, uh, forget that last part."

Schugel, hearing the voice of his creator, did just that.

"Ahem. Continue on the path, My child, and this invention shall outclass even the instrument of My will that we hath created together."

Schugel nodded to himself. Yes, of course! If God said it was so, then it would be so!

Perhaps he could take inspiration from those words? Degurechaff had been being facetious, as she so often was, but if he threw his Type 95 into the mix, the very picture of stability thanks to God's help, there was no telling the heights his latest invention would soar to!

"Yeah, that's the ticket buddy. I've got to go talk with the Sirens now. Keep it up! And forget that sentence too."

Schugel did as he was commanded, shook his head, and kept the second sentence God had said to him in mind as he began to plan the culmination of his career.

-OxOxO-

A/N 1: If you'd like to donate to support me monetarily, search for Sugarcane Soldier on the website of the Patrons.

Thank you to WarmasterOku, Afforess, and UNSC_Kawakaze for supporting this story and everything else I write. Make sure to vote if you haven't yet!