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!

15. Why did he do that?

After over twelve hours, Tanya could confidently state that the joint exercise had become quite tiring. She didn't have any actual rigging, and while her rifle could serve as a partial substitute – the rifle Deutschland had shot naval shells instead of mere bullets, and explosive formulas could emulate that power – she'd had to use optical decoy formulas to make it appear she had more substantial rigging, all of which was firing… and not doing much.

That was the only reason she and Viktoriya hadn't been found out thus far. As this was just an exercise, everyone was using blank rounds and dummy torpedoes.

Over the course of twelve hours, the assaulting team had gone from launching a 'surprise' attack, to simulating attacks against the port's infrastructure, to chasing down opposing scouts and recon forces, to fighting against opposing sheships, to being pushed back, away from the port, and had now regrouped some distance away.

Halfway through the exercise, Tanya, U-116, Sulayaman Reis, Basel, and Yorck had switched with the other members of Nemonia during the brief break halfway through the eighteen-hour exercise. They were now on the defending team with the Crimson Axis, while Viktoriya and the other four were with Azur Lane.

Technically, if a Siren force wanted to retreat, they would simply teleport away. According to their allies, a Siren force sailing away and regrouping like this would just be bait for a trap.

Now, their team had 'caught up' to the Sirens, and another 'battle' would begin in earnest. Azur Lane and the Crimson Axis's human forces would pantomime a battle, while the sheship forces would do the same.

Tanya had learned a lot, despite her growing lethargy. Still, she'd had to fight for longer before.

Despite having fought for longer and fought harder at other times, and despite how much information she was learning, Tanya was quite certain that this was going to be one of her most tiring engagements.

"Y'know, when that Monarch lady said ya'd be a stick in the mud, I didn't think you'd be-"

"You all… are weak. Why do your riggings not join you in the destruction of our enemies? No matter if our alliance with the Sirens was… misguided, the fruits of that partnership are self-evident-"

"Please, I know this is a bit unsightly for an august person such as I… but you simply must introduce me to those men that serve under you. Really, as one of the highest ranking ships in the Sardegnan Empire, it is only right-"

Obviously not because of the engagement itself, but because of who she had to fight besides.

"If you did not know my name, it is York, heavy cruiser. I am a gifted user of the Force – not that one – and wielder of magic. Fate tells me that you may be different, like I. Would you like to join the council of Wizard, Warlocks, and other Magic-Wielders if your country joins Azur Lane? Despite what others may tell you-"

"Hey, you're that destroyer, right? The one who got shuffled around to every front? Do you have any good hunting tips for fighting larger prey? Whenever I've tried-"

Some of the conversation was unbelievably asinine. She understood that some levity and laxness was expected of deployed troops, during down times, but this wasn't down time, they were in the middle of an exercise!

At least a fourth of the ships she'd talked to, nervously or bluntly or any way in between, wanted her to introduce them to someone, anyone, else from Nemonia who was a 'heship.' Were they truly so desperate? How hard could it have been to find someone-

"Carriers, launch your planes," sounded a male voice over the radio. Tanya watched as the three Japanese and single German carriers all launched planes from their rigging, growing steadily as they climbed into the air and began to fight with their opponents aircraft.

Tanya sighed. This was how it had usually begun. First them, then the battleships and battlecruisers, and then the 'vanguard' classes would be told to advance.

This time, they were to assault their opponent's 'mass-produced' ships, to give both themselves and the sailors aboard those ships experience with the opposite.

With a sigh at how brief the intermission had been, Tanya rose from her sitting position and began to stretch. Sitting on the surface of the water wasn't nearly as relaxing for her as it seemed to be for the others, whose ability to defy physics by running, standing, or sitting on the water's surface like it was the ground was not conscious. She had to pretend the same was true of her.

More orders were broadcasted over the frequency. Eventually, she heard her name. "Tanya von Degurechaff, Takao, and Mainz," they began. Tanya memorized the heading that had been relayed to her and quickly spotted the missile cruiser and its escort they'd been ordered to engage. Taking a deep breath and activating a few reinforcement spells, she nodded to the two that had broken off ahead of the fleet pursuing the enemy team.

The other two skated forward, and Tanya mirrored them as best she could. The turrets of her rigging zeroed in on the opposing destroyers, and she raised her rifle-

The light around her disappeared.

Confusion twisted her determined expression. Tanya stopped on a dime, and she looked up.

There was no sun.

There was no moon.

There were no clouds.

There were no stars.

Instead, far, far away, giant lines of blue-green light snaked through the vast emptiness of the sky above them, like a maze. The planes flying above them were briefly silhouetted against each line as they flew by.

"Mirror Sea," Mainz said immediately. Proper lights began to join what few were kept on even during the day, lighting up their immediate area. The radio was filled with chatter.

Tanya's gaze returned to the ocean, which was no longer a placid, rolling blue but dead and dark. Tanya's eyes and ears searched the air fruitlessly, as did her observation formulas. Neither found an enemy. "Do you see them?" she asked.

Neither of her current partners responded immediately. "No," Takao eventually said. Mainz confirmed that assessment. Tanya licked her lips.

Well, if they weren't going to be attacked immediately, then they needed to regroup. "We need to regroup," Takao said, mirroring Tanya's own thoughts.

Orders were quickly barked into the radio. The American admiral wanted a single battle group formed, of both sheships and the mass produced ships. The ships sitting atop the dark water some distance in front of her began to maneuver through the water. Tanya quickly radioed Nemonia's ships and ordered them to board the Bohmen or rendezvous with it when it got into whatever position the Americans wanted it in. She began to stride forward…

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Aren't you-"

…Only to stop at the sound of the two voices behind her. She scowled at them. "What?"

"Isn't your flagship with the Crimson Axis's forces?" Takao asked.

Tanya nodded. "Sure, but they'll be coming this way anyway." When they didn't respond, Tanya felt her confusion grow. "Right?"

"Of course," Mainz replied, looking up suddenly. "Though the groups might ordinarily be hesitant about joining together, they won't in this situation," she said, "Though perhaps I should go speak with the captain of the Alvitr just in case," she finished, muttering. Tanya scowled.

She knew better than to assume humans were bastions of logic anymore, but surely… "You all aren't going to keep fighting each other with an alien attack imminent, right?"

"Of course not!" Takao replied heatedly. Tanya nodded. "Good. I-"

She then received a frantic message from the Bohmen. Several voices were trying to shout over each other, and she could hardly make out what was being said. Tanya sighed and excused herself from the other two, flying up into the air until she probably couldn't be heard.

"Who is this? Over." she demanded. More shouting followed, until, finally, it was quieted down by a shrill whistle.

The new voice – because none of the other voices had sounded quite this deep – spoke quickly. "I am Manfred von Vollenbock, Captain of the Bohmen, at your service, von Degurechaff. I-"

He huffed. "The German admiral has declared it too dangerous to break formation now, while the Japanese admiral seems to think the Americans can't be trusted. I have no standing orders for such a situation, which is what they are apparently acting on," he paused for a moment. "Lieutenant, do you trust the Americans? Over."

Her confusion compounded, and she took a moment to formulate a response. She almost couldn't believe that people seriously wanted to divide their forces instead of pooling their resources.

She certainly wasn't that idiotic. "Captain, I do not know any of the people on those boats. However, I trust that they are, in fact, people, and that they have no greater desire to die in combat than any other rational person. Pooling our resources is the best way to mitigate that eventuality. In this case, I would say I broadly trust them. Over." Certainly, she'd trust them to help fight their enemy, at the very least.

The man on the other end hummed, and then he responded. "Understood. Your advice is appreciated, Lieutenant Degurechaff. Over."

Before she had a chance to so much as blink, he got onto another frequency and radioed his deference to the American request. Slowly, they began to pull away from the Crimson Axis forces.

Then, more ships followed them. It was hard to tell in the dark from so far away, but it looked like the Italians had broken off first. Then, the French State's forces. Then the Germans, and finally the Japanese all began streaming towards the American forces. Tanya sighed in relief – perhaps this world wasn't quite as illogical in the face of an alien menace as she'd assumed.

She floated back down to the other two. "Is there anything I should expect with this mirror sea? I recall reading that there are multiple different configurations," she asked.

Mainz's response was swift. "This is one they exclusively use for conventional fighting. We shouldn't expect anything unorthodox, except, perhaps, a very large number of enemies."

Tanya nodded, and then she began flying towards the gathering forces. "Understood. Thank you for the advice." She flew off in a rush, letting the illusion of her rigging fade as she flew forward. Her top priority was to survive, and one thing she distinctly remembered from her fight with the Sirens was how they had very deliberately singled her out.

Whether that was due to Being X's direct influence or their own intelligence gathering capabilities designating her a threat mattered little. If she was going to live, she certainly wouldn't accomplish such on her own.

-OxOxO-

The navies of this world handled themselves well. The single carrier, the USS Coral Sea, was at the center, while the battleships Yamato, Vanguard, and Bohmen, as well as the German battlecruiser Alvitr, encircled it. Around all of them were the various destroyers and cruisers of the major and minor naval factions, with the Americans and Japanese making up the majority of the mass produced fleet's forces, with the British in second, the Germans in third, and the rest straggling behind in terms of numbers. Though her judgement was relatively inexperienced, and wasn't quite sure of the efficacy of the current formation, she could at least compare it to what she knew.

From her limited studies thus far and limited knowledge from her first life, the formation looked relatively secure. Certainly, there weren't any obvious weak points. At the very least, it had been arranged with haste and efficiency.

"I can do the most closer to the frontline. I shouldn't be-"

"As the most advanced, clearly I should be in the-"

"Main Fleet ships are too important to be in charge of coordination duties. As a Heavy Cruiser-"

"As the face of Azur Lane, -"

Indeed, the work of the mass-produced ships stood in stark contrast to the sheships of Azur Lane and the Crimson Axis, who could not seem to agree on anything. At the very least, Enterprise and Prince of Wales, if Tanya wasn't mistaken, were arguing more cordially, though both were trying to nominate the other for a leadership role. Taihou was demanding she be placed in charge, while Prinz Eugen was sniping down other people's arguments.

They had been doing so for over ten minutes. Again, Tanya was forced to wonder if the Sirens were even trying to win with how dysfunctional things appeared to be for humanity.

Of course, Tanya was not without her own problems. Nemonia's Deutschland had gotten into a fight with the Iron Blood vessel that went by the same name – apparently, they looked somewhat similar – and both had nearly been knocked out by 'spontaneous' migraines upon introducing themselves to each other, and Viktoriya was once again reporting that Monarch had been acting improperly.

Oddly enough, Viktoriya hadn't been able to specify how, but Tanya trusted her adjutant's judgement.

Basel and Viktoriya were with her, and everyone else had continued to argue. After ten minutes, Tanya's worry about simply adding to the cacophony was now well and truly outweighed by her worries that their enemy had to have spotted them sitting between the Coral Sea, the Yamato, and the Alvitr. She would end the argument one way or the other… though she certainly had one specific way she preferred it to end.

"Are your prides truly so great that you can't put them aside to save the lives of yourselves and everyone else trapped here?" she shouted while amplifying her voice. The shout quieted the argument for a moment, and Tanya soldiered forward.

"Is this world so incompetent that you do not have procedures for an emergency such as this? Aren't you- we supposed to be examples for our nations?"

The looks being sent her way were mulish, barring Prince of Wales, who merely raised an eyebrow at Enterprise… who was pouting.

"Regardless of procedure," she continued, "I'll throw my own hat into the ring."

Enterprise looking thankful, Prince of Wales seemed intrigued, Prinz Eugen's eyes narrowed though her easy smile remained in place, while Taihou merely raised an eyebrow and glared. "Really?" Prinz Eugen asked.

Tanya nodded. "Indeed," she said in Japanese. "While all of you speak German, Japanese, and English fairly well," she said in English, "I believe my own grasp of all three languages is quite good," she finished in German.

She cycled through all three languages as she continued. "Having anyone experienced with fighting the Sirens on the backline coordinating is a poor decision when there are those of us without experience who could do the job instead."

Taihou looked away from her. "Perhaps. However, Akashi is hardly a frontline fighter, and she speaks every language of the major and minor factions fluently," she groused while gesturing to the short, green-haired catgirl behind her.

Said sheship did not look enthused to be in that position. Tanya forged ahead. "And will the ships from Azur Lane be comfortable with that? If part of why no one can seem to agree is that the two sides do not trust each other, the Empire is, at least for now, not committed to one side over the other."

Silence reigned for a moment, and Tanya thought furiously. The orders they'd received said that they should do as much as they could to convince the sheships they were exercising alongside that they were also sheships… unless doing so would threaten their lives to an unreasonable degree.

Bowing out at the first sign of trouble was probably not what they'd had in mind, but the reasons she'd given were decent enough. She could spout something about not wanting to risk the Empire's resources when all other factions' sheships could be brought to life and they couldn't.

"You've made your preferences known," Prinz Eugen snapped. The Azur Lane ships eyed her with varied looks of surprise.

"Well," she said to fill the air as she kept thinking. Then, Tanya blinked.

She had to fight to keep a smile from creeping onto her face. Considering how much the factions of the Empire's navy seemed to be fighting over which of them would 'get' her, all she would have to do is circumspectly mention that her opinion of any who doubted her assessment of the situation would fall, and they'd trip over themselves to support her… especially since her conversation with Yorck seemed to suggest she thought Tanya would be put in charge of Nemonia.

Now, that kind of influence probably wouldn't extend to the politicians who were trying to use the ruse in the aid negotiations, but the Navy probably wouldn't want to discredit their first choice of commander of Nemonia so quickly. They would have to support her, unless they suddenly found someone much better than her and were willing to take the hit to their credibility.

Tanya nodded to herself. With a few calls to her friends in the other departments and branches of the Empire's military, their combined support might ensure she faced the fewest number of repercussions.

"Well, I'm afraid I and my adjutant are actually less suited to fighting the Sirens than even Akashi," she began, gesturing for Viktoriya to step forward and away from Basel. "We are, after all, not sheships."

The only sound that immediately reached her ears after that was the gentle lapping of the ocean against the distant hulls of the mass produced ships. Tanya's vision was met with uncomprehending stares.

"EH?!" The sheships all exclaimed simultaneously.

"Why in the world would you-"

"That can't possibly be-"

"No way-"

"The Empire, and the world we came from, did not have Sirens or sheships." Tanya continued to speak, and the incredulous outbursts quieted as they tried to listen. "Also unlike this world, some people were born with the ability to utilize magic."

"No…" Taihou was the first to respond. "You mean… those men… aren't…"

Tanya shook her head. "We're all human. We've been awakening sheships as fast as possible, of course, but we are simple mages."

Naturally, they didn't believe her. "What incentive would I have to lie?" she questioned.

"Well, if you were a coward-" Prinz Eugen began.

"She's not!" Viktoriya shouted. Tanya felt a smile flicker onto her face before she smothered it.

"Magic gives us the ability to fly," she said, rising a few feet above the surface of the water, "and create illusions." Her rigging faded away and was replaced by a copy of Taihou's, then Enterprise's, then Basel's, before fading entirely.

"To what end?" Prince of Wales demanded. Tanya shrugged. "An order from my superiors. The basic reasoning they provided was that we might be taken advantage of if the Empire was perceived as being 'defenseless' due to our technological inferiority and lack of sheships." Tanya had her own thoughts on the matter. Bluffing and presenting one's nation as stronger than they were could certainly come in handy when facing enemies, but lying also ensured other parties were less likely to extend trust if the ruse was exposed.

Considering the inevitability of such an outcome, she would have preferred people were more up-front about their capabilities.

"But… you can fight the Sirens, yes?" Enterprise asked. Tanya scowled. "My direct subordinates and I managed, but we suffered debilitating casualty rates. If they'd followed up that first attack with another, or even deployed a few simultaneous attacks against different parts of the Empire, few others would have fared as well."

More questions seemed to be bubbling up. Tanya cut them off. "Regardless of the particulars, our strength does not compare well against sheships, and it has been fifteen minutes since we all arrived here, and we have yet to decide on who should even coordinate our forces."

Most everyone was pensive, at the very least… except Taihou. She stepped forward and opened her mouth.

A hand landed on her shoulder. "The Sakura Empire has no further objections. As a neutral party who can communicate decently well between all parties and who lacks our fighting capabilities, you should coordinate," said the sheep-horned woman behind her.

After a moment, Taihou responded. "Indeed," she said neutrally. She stepped back and continued to stare at Tanya heatedly.

Agreement soon followed from the others, and Tanya couldn't help but smile. "Now," she said, turning to Enterprise, "which ship has been designated your flagship?"

"Not your own?" Prinz Eugen asked. Tanya rolled her eyes. "Of course not. We have no experience coordinating multinational task forces." More than that, though, the Empire's forces were woefully out of date. Staying on any of her own nation's ships was begging to be forced to change ships and get exposed to the fighting. The Americans were on the cutting edge, and having a portion of the forces that had almost won the naval portion of the second world war felt much safer.

"The Boston is," Brooklyn answered. Tanya nodded at the woman, and then at everyone else. "Good. Viktoryia, with me. Basel, stay and provide them with information on Nemonia's forces while we get set up."

Coordinating forces while in a battle certainly wasn't her first choice of jobs she would prefer to be doing, but it certainly beat fighting on the front lines!

-OxOxO-

"Is this Taihou? Over."

"What? Over." she snapped. Again, that voice, her own voice, was there to demand more of her, to sink her dreams.

They weren't kansen after all. They'd likely be put under the same restrictions as everyone else.

"I've got a few questions for you. Over." The girl named Tanya von Degurechaff sounded as neutral as she had earlier, as if she weren't pushing back Taihou's plans.

No, it wasn't her fault… so she claims. Taihou had spent YEARS learning to keep her emotions in check. She was NOT about to set herself back after all her effort.

"Ask away. Over," she replied. They were waiting, at the moment. The Sirens had not yet appeared. Taihou had been in three Mirror Seas thus far – two had been the remnants of the bases they'd constructed in Japan, while the third had been off the coast of their colonial holdings in the Pacific. In the former two, they'd been assaulted for hours by pawns until the machinery had been shut down.

In the latter one, they'd had to wait over an hour for anything to happen.

"The American admiral is asking why you can't distribute your decks and barrels more evenly. Enterprise claims you refused to move Junyou and Hiyou and told the Germans to do the same. Is this true? Over."

Taihou scowled. She had refused, and she hadn't given a reason in case something like this happened. She opened her mouth, to claim that they hadn't offered to extend the same courtesy with their cruisers and destroyers… when that voice reminded her of that question.

What did she hope to gain from victory that she couldn't have in peace?

Taihou swallowed her first fiery response and gave a different one instead. "We will only move once the factions of Azur Lane have directed their destroyers and cruisers to expand their patrol to include where our kansen would be positioned. I will not have my allies and subordinates die, even temporarily, because they lack protection. Over."

The girl acquiesced and began rattling more questions off about their readiness and plans for rotating breaks, if they were trapped in here for that long. She replied automatically as her mind mulled the girl over.

If she really was a human, why in the hell was she even fighting? She couldn't have been more than eleven… but then, why lie about something so outrageous?

Eventually, she was done with her questions, and Taihou was alone with her thoughts for a brief moment.

What did Taihou want? What were her goals?

She wanted to prove herself. She wanted to prove that putting Amagi back in charge had been a mistake. She wanted to prove that she had the power, skill, and mind to lead the Sakura Empire. She wanted to be seen as the best leader the Sakura Empire had ever had by such an overwhelming margin that it wasn't even close.

Technically… Japan did not have to be at war with another nation to do that.

Yes, if she was the one to finally beat the Grey Ghost, that would prove she was more powerful and skilled… but she had been laid down far later than any of the Enterprise-class carriers. The effort put into such a victory could be dismissed as a technological gap in capabilities and nothing more.

Yes, if she led the Sakura Empire to victory against the Eagle Union and the United States, they would avenge their losses in the Second World War… but that would be expected of any ship that led her faction and fought for their nation in war.

No, if Taihou wanted to eclipse her forebears, she needed something bigger.

Mikasa had created the Sakura Empire. Amagi had led it well during peace, but the defects in her hull meant no one was under any illusions she could lead well during war. Akagi and Kaga had presided over both a peace and a short period of expansion; subsequently, Zuikaku and Shoukaku had been forced to manage the steady decline of said expansion, and then Amagi had returned to unify the battered forces in its fight against the treacherous Sirens.

Enterprise's voice sounded over the radio, claiming they were amenable to extending the patrol of their vanguard units and wondering why she hadn't just asked about that earlier. Taihou said the Crimson Axis's forces would reciprocate and did not respond to the second part of the communication.

Taihou took in a steady breath and closed her eyes. If she was going to eclipse all of them… aping the attempts of her forebears was not enough. She would win victories on and off the battlefield.

"Contact!" shouted a voice in Italian-tinged English.

Taihou released her breath, opened her eyes, and willed flames to fly down her rigging. Destroying the threat the Sirens posed to humanity would be a good first step to ensuring the preponderance of her leadership over all others.

-OxOxO-

Tanya had had little trouble with the station she'd been directed to by the men aboard the American flagship – it was far closer to a modern computer in appearance and function than any of the technology of the Empire. She'd even been able to help shore up a few of the weak spots in the kansen's defensive arrangement before and during the battle with the Sirens. Their forces had suffered little damage, though worries about the unknown submarines shadowing the battle group were growing.

She was also able to learn, from watching people aboard the American flagship and watching the dots that represented the sheships move around on her screen.

The sheships moved about in groups of three most often, though the distance between those three often varied depending on their rating. She could see no sign of any kind of nuclear key in the cramped room she'd been brought to, though that could just mean they were in a different one. Mirror Seas eventually ran out of power… although, since this one hadn't, it likely wasn't going to, which meant they had to find a way out. The damage the sheships could do was roughly analogous to their actual counterparts, which tracked with what she'd observed running Nemonia.

No one had needed to enter close-quarters combat, though that too wasn't unexpected; the only times that had happened was in a fight between two sheships or between a sheship and a Siren 'elite.'

The last of the over two hundred enemies had been destroyed half an hour ago, with no reinforcements showing up in that time. The various aircraft carriers and sheships with the capability were launching aircraft to scout for either their enemy or for a way out. It was, supposedly, only a matter of time until they found it.

Viktoriya's expression on the monitor next to her twisted for a moment. Tanya changed her own to express sympathy and rested a hand on her shoulder. Tanya had delegated coordinating the Northern Parliament and their own Nemonian forces, seeing as she didn't speak any other language well enough. They'd cottoned on that she was a native speaker of the language fairly early on, and that Kronshtadt woman's questioning had been incessant.

"Should I talk to them again?" she asked. She shook her head. "Not this time, sir. Ah, I was just worried because Volga said that the only Sirens we've seen are the mass-produced ships and the executor-class models. Apparently, an elite usually shows up to fight by now."

As she finished speaking, a dot appeared on Tanya's screen, bright red and angry, some distance away from their combined battle group. Tanya opened her mouth to say it was there…

Then a dozen more lights appeared. Then more, and more, and more, and on and on until a veritable wall of glowing red lights surrounded their forces a dozen miles out.

After a moment of stunned silence, voices began to erupt, shock and fear sweeping the room.

"There- there are thousands- no, tens of thousands of enemies out there! How-"

"Not supposed to have this ma-"

"Enterprise, come in. Where are you, Enterprise, over?"

"There's no way-"

Viktoriya swore, and Tanya mirrored her.

"Maj- Lieutenant, what do we do?" Viktoriya asked immediately, her voice worried but resolute. That was a very good question.

Tanya weighed her two options. She could continue to coordinate from safely inside the American's flagship, or she could join the fight outside. With all of those enemies, there was no way for her to slip away from the battle, she had very little idea of how to escape from the mirror sea, and she would face accusations of true cowardice if anyone else survived and contradicted whatever lie she would tell about only just managing to survive.

So, did her coordination provide more help than her fighting would? If she only had the Type 98, certainly, especially considering the capabilities of these Sirens was far greater than the ones she had fought weeks ago.

With the Type 95, however? Her power might only be comparable to another sheship, but against enemy numbers so overwhelming, every sheship they could field was critical in ensuring their collective survival.

Tanya sighed. "I'm going out there. Considering last time, you're better off staying here."

She looked like she wanted to join her, and Tanya couldn't help but smile and shake her head ruefully at her subordinate. Ever the warhound. "Don't worry, nothing has killed me yet," she quipped. She'd have to fly to the Bohmen to get some proper flight equipment – the last thing she needed was the distraction of this stupid dress-

"I- alright, Lieutenant. Give them hell," she replied. Tanya nodded again, and then she was off.

After a quick stop at the Bohmen, Tanya was kitted up. The clothes were slightly ill-fitting, but whatever distraction that provided was lesser than the dress.

The sailors that she passed by saluted, and she was cheered as she took off. She could only shake her head at the sight – she hardly wanted to hunker down on one of the ships and wait for the end, but she didn't like her odds of survival, even with the Type 95.

She quickly informed the other sheships of her presence and began to prepare herself for using the Type 95. Would that bastard show up to gloat? He hadn't since the Empire had appeared in this world, so her having to use the Type 95 was probably as good a chance as any…

She frowned as a few of the ships below wished her luck. Right, they didn't know about the Type 95… or its effects on her. She sighed. She certainly hadn't told anyone about the true extent of its effects – the Empire's mental institutions were not somewhere Tanya wanted to be, especially with their often religious bent. The best excuse she'd managed to feed the 203rd was that the Type 95's increased capabilities meant that the analgesic formula's high was more pronounced.

She sighed. She'd explain that mages made use of an analgesic formula that gave her a high and might change how she acted, as well as promise to apologize for anything she said.

Before she had a chance to radio her words before beginning her empty prayer, however, another voice thundered over the airwaves.

"Ohayo, guten tag, and good evening to you all!"

What?

"Though my conversion was never completed, I am happy to rise from the depths of this mirror sea before you as the Empire's first aircraft carrier, ready to combat the Siren menace! My name? I suppose there are at least two other people that sound pretty similar to me, right?"

How?

"I am SMS Tanya von Degurechaff, nametake of the Aerial Mage flying above you. And I have not arrived alone!"

A mile away, a dozen submarines rose from the depths. Their hatches burst open.

"Call it fate, call it destiny, call it a premonition from the Lord; I have come with all of Nemonia at my back! Today is not your last stand, but the glorious first victory of the Empire over the Sirens! Rejoice!"

Tanya then received another message right after. "I hope you won't mind that a few of us tagged along, Lieutenant?" Weiss's voice teased. Tanya forced a smile onto her incredulous face. "Weiss. Good to hear you. On whose authority are you here?" she demanded.

He told her how her nametake had claimed to have received a premonition that something would go wrong with the exercises, convinced all of Nemonia to join her, managed to gather up enough seamen from the naval base to pilot the submarines, and then kept them all submerged until the right moment. "I've got to say," he joked, "it looks like she was right. There wouldn't have been much else for us to fight if we hadn't come, hmm?"

She replied affirmatively, still wondering why.

Being X was not merciful. Why in the hell had he sent that girl after her – she had no idea if she'd actually had a 'vision' or if that was just a lie to cover for Being X speaking to her, but he had to have sent her either way. Why bail Tanya out?

Weiss finished by stating that her nametake wanted her to come down and speak with her for a moment. "On my way," she responded, her mind still working furiously. No, he'd never bail her out, not really.

She flew down, and her nametake came into view, standing at attention and staring out at the unmoving wall of Sirens. Regardless of why he'd done it, he had, and Tanya's chances of surviving had risen.

"Namesake!" the girl exclaimed, her posture slacking slightly as a grin wormed its way onto her face. Tanya merely nodded. "Nametake. How did you know to come?" she asked conversationally. Their enemies hadn't moved yet, above or below the water. She'd do her best to figure out if-

"Uhh." Her trailing off was the very picture of intelligence. "Like I said," she continued quickly, "premonition. Or a vision or… something. I'm not really sure?"

Annoyingly, Tanya couldn't tell if she was lying or not. She sounded genuine, but Tanya could also sound very genuine when she put her mind to it. "Anyway," she said, "I had to give a speech to get everyone on board, I- well."

She cleared her throat and stopped rambling, suddenly becoming shy. Tanya raised an eyebrow. "What?" she barked. The girl jolted up slightly, and then her posture returned to the very picture of military rigidity. "I would like to be placed in charge of all sheship forces, sir."

Tanya's other eyebrow rose. "What you've already done doesn't count?" Really, the girl could definitely face harsh repercussions for having decided to drag everyone away from their base without orders, if one wanted to press them.

The girl shook her head. "Nope. Besides, eh…" she trailed off for a moment when her eyes, cast down at the ground, met Tanya's. She cleared her throat again. "My third ability is called Kampfgruppe Taktiken. When I am designated the flagship of a force, I and all of those under my command receive boosts to our parameters – speed, fire rate, ability to take hits – and abilities, whose amount is determined logarithmically by the total number of ships."

"The growth slows after I am in command of five other ships," she rattled off, "but even with logarithmic growth, putting me in command of over a hundred ships-"

"Yes," Tanya cut off, already seeing what that meant. She didn't know by how much she boosted everyone's capabilities, but multiplying the fighting capabilities of over a hundred ships just by placing her in command would give them an even better chance of surviving… as long as her inexperience did not cost them more than the boost.

She quickly shot off a message on the frequency for the sheship leaders of each faction. "I am requesting that SMS Tanya von Degurechaff be placed in charge of all sheship forces. Her third… ability confers a boost to all ships under her command. Over."

Prince of Wales responded first. "There is no limit to the number? Over."

Tanya asked her nametake, who confirmed there wasn't… and then Tanya told her the frequency. "You'll need it if you're leading us anyway," she muttered. Tanya didn't like placing an inordinate amount of trust in someone with as many unknowns hanging around her as her nametake, but she also wanted to survive.

"Ahem! No, there's no limit. Uh, over."

"That… that's- incredible." Prinz Eugen said. "Over."

There was a bit of deliberation, as well as questions about how the girl ever existed that were deferred, but, in the end, they all seemed amenable. "You'll do your best to protect us all? Over." Enterprise asked.

"Of course," she responded. She looked like she was about to say something else, and then apparently thought better of it and merely promised, "You have my word. Over."

That was enough, and they all consented to allow her to lead. Finally, she turned to Tanya with a chipper, eager grin. "Well?"

Tanya sighed. "For whatever it is worth, you have my permission."

She beamed at Tanya, and then immediately spun around to stare out at their enemies. Tanya stepped a bit closer, but made sure to stand slightly behind her. Just in case.

"I'm sure you've been studying," Tanya said, intent on keeping herself at least decently protected by the hundreds of sheships her nametake had brought, "but you have also only been around for a few days. What ideas do you have for everyone's layout?"

She didn't respond, and Tanya found her confidence waver. "I'll do my best to advise-"

"That won't matter. After all, I've already won."

Tanya's hopes plummeted, and she began to spin up a formula and prepare to activate the Type 95. She wasn't going down-

She took a few steps forward, turned, and cocked her head in confusion at the light growing in her Type 95. "Hey, didn't you hear me?" She grinned coyly. "Are you going deaf in your old age?"

Tanya's eyelid twitched.

"That kind of foolhardy arrogance-"

"Namesake," she began, "With God's favor, the outcome of this battle was foregone. What need have we for things like formations?"

Tanya released the formulas. So, she wasn't turning on Tanya but was instead brainwashed. Overall, not much better. "Nametake, thinking like that will get us killed."

"I vehemently disagree," she immediately replied, an odd look in her eyes clashing with the smile on her face. "Such things would only be necessary if you all were fighting, after all."

She turned away from Tanya, and faced towards the Sirens, which finally seemed to be advancing. "I will not suffer even a single loss, namesake. In pursuit of that goal, I shall defeat all of them by myself."

Tanya could only stand and stare, floating a few lonely inches above the water, gaping as her nametake disappeared in a whirlwind of movement.

-OxOxO-

She rose, slightly, from where she'd been leaning forward, preparing for the fight, stance only slightly changed so she could, if needed, get back into position and lunge into the slowly advancing enemy. Something… had changed.

A message split the air. "That is Kampfgruppe Taktiken. Under my command, sheships become stronger."

Yuudachi grinned. She was even stronger? That meant she could destroy more Sirens, which meant she'd get more food!

"I do this not to aid you in the fight, but myself, and to protect you from the carnage," the voice continued. Yuudachi's face screwed up in confusion. What? What could she-

"Worthy is the Lamb to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might and honor, and glory, and BLESSING."

Above her, something rocketed over her head. She scowled. Was it one of the not-kansen? Breaking formation and singling yourself out was a great way to get sunk. She'd found out the hard way – more than once – fighting after '43. Surely they had to know at least that-

"Umbria, die Große Böse Seewölfin: Delay them while I prepare."

Yuudachi's eyes widened, and she felt her hair begin to stand on end. There was no flash of light, or opening of some kind of hole in the air.

From nothing, from behind the girl standing on thin air a hundred meters in the sky, a metallic creature swam. It was covered in thin, black plates of some kind of metal that covered most of its exterior. Beneath that armor, peaking between the plates, the interior was painted red, by both brush and by ominous, glowing lights.

Its maw was filled with blade-like fangs. Sharp fins jutted out from its back and sides. It spun in the air, swimming around the girl four times smaller than it, keening loudly, and Yuudachi could barely make out a strip of faint white paint trailing from its dorsal fin to the end of the runway on its tail.

She felt a growl build up in the back of her throat. Whatever that was, it looked far too much like Siren technology, even more than the Iron Blood and Northern Parliament. The little girl clad in red, arms crossed behind her back, merely watched as her rigging tore through the air towards their enemies, planes launching from its tail with every flap of its tail.

"Every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and ALL things in them, heard the Lamb."

The machine roared again as it disappeared behind a wall of Siren steel, and Yuudachi lowered herself down again. Whatever she was, their enemies were still coming. She studied the onrushing Sirens…

She blinked as she saw them beginning to slow, and she watched as that girl's rigging appeared again, the carnage it was creating evident even at this far away.

"All enemies appear to be changing their heading," sounded a voice over her comms. "All of them seem to no longer be heading for our battle group, but for… SMS Tanya von Degurechaff's rigging. O- Over." Suruga sounded confused. Yuudachi was too. What-

"When the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, the Lamb said as with a voice of thunder, come, crowned of the white horse, CONQUEST."

The girl's last word thundered, and Yuudachi had to blink her eyes as a bright light appeared… above the line of battle. Behind that girl's head.

"Is… that a… a halo?"

Yuudachi didn't know who'd said that, but whoever they were, they appeared to be right. The girl, her arms now outstretched to the sky and to their enemy, seemed to have a bright light with an indeterminable source floating behind her head. From the runway spooling out of the arm of her dress, more planes joined those fighting with her bestial rigging. Her rifle hung limp against her body.

The Sirens were drifting forward, but they appeared to be wholly distracted with fighting her rigging. Yuudachi opened her mouth – to ask if they should try to join the fight.

She was interrupted.

"When the Lamb opened the second seal, the Lamb said, come, greatsword of the red horse, WAR."

Another thunderous boom resounded from the girl, and Yuudachi now took note of two lights shining from the girl. From her front, there seemed to be a few lights glowing on her chest. Meanwhile, the light behind her head had expanded.

Yuudachi's eyes somehow widened further. No, that wasn't a light hanging behind the girl's head, or a halo. Peeking around the fringes of her hair and helmet and face was complete darkness. A hole seemed to have been torn in the world.

All Yuudachi – all any of them – seemed able to do was watch.

Phantasmal airplanes, more advanced than any of the technology the Empire seemed to have, fought and died and were born anew from the girls rigging and the mechanical animal. The shark-whale-thing was peppered with bullets and missiles and lasers, dodging most and ignoring what little hit as it chewed and sliced and plowed through every Siren that opposed it – be it humanoid or mass-produced.

"When the Lamb opened the third seal, the Lamb said come, balance of the black horse, FAMINE."

Another boom echoed after her last word. More light shone from the girl's chest, and the light and the black hole framing her head grew larger.

"When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, the Lamb said come, keen of the pale horse, DEATH."

Now, a thundercrack followed her last word. The girl glowed ever-brighter. The black hole grew ever-larger.

"When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, the Lamb said come, souls of them that had been slain for the WORD of God."

BOOM. Yuudachi was squinting at the girl now.

"When the Lamb opened the sixth seal, the Lamb said CHANGE; earth unshaken shall shake, sun bright shall darken, and moon white shall bleed."

BOOOM. Yuudachi was having trouble making out the details of the girl, but she could see a bit more of the black hole. Somehow, the glowing light surrounding it seemed to be glowing brighter. In that brightness, Yuudachi could make out the disk around the black hole.

It looked like the black hole was staring down at Yuudachi.

"When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there followed SILENCE."

No boom followed this pronouncement.

The sound of the dark ocean beneath them disappeared, as did the sounds of destruction echoing from the mechanical beast. Yuudachi could no longer hear her own breathing, or even her own heartbeat.

Instead, the black hole truly grew, the darkness now being at least a third of the girl's height, while the glowing, spinning disk was over half her height.

The glow from her chest was no longer a pale blue, but a rich, peerless gold.

"Rejoice."

Yuudachi felt chills go down her spine. Her voice sounded like it was right next to her.

"Durch die Gnade Gottes, I have been blessed with the ability to use magic."

No, the voice was closer than that. Somehow.

"Fellow sheships, brave humans made in God's image: watch, and rejoice. This is not the day you die!"

Then she was gone, and sound returned to Yuudachi.

Shouting erupted over the radio, so Yuudachi turned her's off, and she skated forward, intent on watching the girl.

From this distance, she could see a ball of light dancing through the Sirens flying through the air. One moment, it was high above the water, fighting the unreachable Sirens, the next she was down at the water level, buzzing around the ships bobbing on the water.

It was easier to see the explosions that followed in the wake of the light.

One, then another, then a barrage of lances of light erupted from the still unseen girl, spearing Sirens flying and floating alike. Planes flew from her rigging, intentionally used as explosive battering rams that took out swarms of the Sirens.

Yuudachi continued to skate forward. She had to see. Someone had to see.

Finally, she got close enough to see. The lights on her chest, and the black hole that caused apprehension to well up deep within her, made it hard, but she refused to look away.

She moved faster than anyone Yuudachi could even think of. She'd been flying earlier, but she hardly seemed to need to; she jumped, from one Siren to the other, a knife in the left hand that glowed gold. It would pierce a head or a throat every time, and would then lead her leap to the next and the next and the next, from humanoid automaton to rigging and then to the next enemy. Her rifle, held in her right hand, reached out with a fountain of light to reduce whatever scraps she launched away from to atoms.

Her body was a weapon. The guns on her rigging fired at anything trying to sneak behind her. The runway curling out of her sleeve was swung like a bludgeon. Her helmet was slammed into enemy heads and left little behind. Her armored boot perforated hulls.

She reached the mechanical monster that she'd created, and the pace, already nearly too fast to comprehend, increased. She jumped off of her enemies, and all the beast could do was crunch down on the bodies she sent its way.

The Sirens threw themselves at her, and every last one of them was destroyed.

Great lances of light and heat and power flowed from her gun. Glowing shields intercepted return fire. Sirens fell and fell and fell.

All the while, the girl, pale-skinned with glowing yellow eyes like a Siren, smiled happily.

-OxOxO-

There was nothing Tanya could do to fight her nametake.

The girl, caked in oil and debris from the Sirens, her giant mechanical shark floating in the air behind her, looked to Tanya pleadingly.

"You want…" Tanya trailed off. The enormity of the power disparity between her and the girl had unbalanced her, and her mind was still torn between trying to figure out how she could survive and simmering anger at Being X and the girl's baffling request.

The girl nodded, the black hole behind her head also bobbing up and down. The lights on her chest – eight from the Type 98s, and a single, golden one coming from the Type 95 – made it hard to look directly at her.

"I-" Tanya stuttered. "You… did a good job, Tanya."

The girl beamed at Tanya, the lights adorning her body glowing brighter and brighter and-

Tanya von Degurechaff exploded.

-OxOxO-

Tester was writhing in her berth, and Observer stared at her. She'd done well, or as well as she could, to command so many all on her own. As expected, just about everything had been destroyed by the second Argent.

She didn't like that Tester was writhing in pain from the backlash of the destruction of so many.

She wasn't supposed to feel dislike about something like that.

She disliked feeling the way she felt, disliked that she was acting in a way she knew she shouldn't be able to, and she disliked that she needed to feel a certain way as well.

"Compiler," she asked, her speech shaking slightly, "How well did we do?"

Compiler was still in her own berth. "Uhh, the operation is on target, at least. All Executor-class sirens and mass-produced ships sent to the new Mirror Sea designated Gambit-1 were destroyed almost entirely by the kansen Tanya von Degurechaff, depriving us of over 90% of our forces."

"Furthermore, they've been ejected from the Mirror Sea, along with all of the Wisdom Cube shards. 98% of the material that remained after the girl's rampage seems to be recoverable, according to the drones' initial estimate, though how much of that can be recycled has not been assessed."

Observer nodded again. "Good. And our goals?"

"We'll be monitoring external and internal communications between and within each nation and faction through the usual means to determine the scale of the reaction, but kansen and navies from around the world witnessed the scale of our true power… and the Empire's ability to destroy most of it in an hour."

She was nervous, but Observer paid it little mind. The Sirens were now at the weakest they'd ever been – their losses in the 'Second Siren War' had only reduced their strength by 30%, even if they'd been 'contained' in the arctic. Observer did not care about that either.

The Sirens could not win, after all. No matter how they built up or played the politics of this world, the Sirens had lost in every eventuality Observer had seen. Husbanding their strength as they had in the past did not matter.

So. With the demonstration of the second Argent's true capabilities, combined with the Empire's duplicity and overwhelming strength, the world would distrust the Empire… but they would also covet their most unique and powerful assets.

Combined with the destruction of so many Sirens and a feigned retreat away from almost all of their land-bound bases, that desire would give Azur Lane and the Crimson Axis the room needed to compete… which, in turn, would give the Sirens time to regroup and work towards their new objective.

They would redouble their exploitation of humanity's divisions. Colonial rebellions would be supplied, social, economic, and cultural divisions would be inflamed, and diplomatic efforts would be sabotaged. Then, when the moment was right, the Sirens would grab one of the Argents.

It hardly mattered which.

"Am I going to get to fight her before we turn her into a battery?" Omitter whined from her own berth. "I've never seen a kansen so absurdly strong! Can I please-"

"We're not turning her into a battery," Observer snapped. With Wisdom Cubes, they already had infinite energy. However, a Wisdom Cube could not scale the output of that energy infinitely. Kansen couldn't do it, and the Sirens couldn't either.

Those girls could. In their experimentation in other iterations, no other mage had been able to do it, so it wasn't just their magic. Perhaps they would discover what it was in time, but the first thing they had to do was break free of whatever was cutting them off from other worlds. They could worry about the petty minutiae later.

"Fine, whatever we're doing to her-"

"We'll see." Observer said. Omitter continued to complain, causing an argument to flare between her and Purifier, but Observer paid them limited mind.

She stared out of the cameras in the near-dark room their five bodies were berthed in, motionless except for Tester's continued, metal-warping writhing. The Sirens were more vulnerable than they ever would be. If humanity assaulted the arctic now, they might actually wipe them out.

Observer was not worried. She knew humanity well, and if such a thing were even a remote possibility, she wouldn't have left them so vulnerable.

Humanity would not rise above their petty squabbles. Not now, not ever.

-OxOxO-

The questions were many. They wanted to know if they were named after the same person, how a sheship could use magic, if they were actually using magic, if anyone could use it, if she would please reconsider the viability of the Empire joining the Crimson Axis, and much more besides.

The only question Tanya deigned to answer until she spoke with a superior officer was whether she was alright. She'd told Basel that she was.

Upon returning to the High Seas Naval Base with the rest of the exercise called off, she was asked many questions again.

She laid out what happened as best she could. Those that were incredulous at one part or another, she simply said they would find corroborating accounts from the men and women sent into the mirror sea.

When asked what she meant by the most perplexing of her statements, all Tanya could do was shrug helplessly, point at her nametake, and repeat, "After I told her she'd done a good job, the lights in her computation orbs glowed brighter, she was enveloped by an explosion, and when the smoke cleared, she was passed out on the surface of the water."

In the end, she managed to beg off too much badgering by claiming she needed time in order to compose a more formal report about the action and directing those asking to the captains and crew of the various ships from the Empire's navy that had participated.

For now, she was sitting by the bed of the girl that bore her name, waiting for her to wake. The Empire didn't have much in the way of sheship-specific health knowledge. She'd have to ask whoever was in charge about getting some kind of collier or repair ship awakened, if the Empire had such a ship… supposing she wasn't going to be in command of Nemonia.

She glanced at the still girl in the bed beside her. While they had no knowledge of how a sheship operated biologically beyond what had been observed thus far, the doctors at this facility were used to dealing with mages. They claimed she'd definitely exhausted herself utterly, and that she might be out for a few days, if she wasn't comatose.

Tanya continued staring at the girl. Her chest rose and fell slowly while her hair and ears rested limp on her pillow. She was angled slightly to the side so she wasn't lying directly on her tail – no one here was a veterinarian and they weren't sure about whether letting her lay on her tail was healthy or not.

Her nametake's continued existence was an unprecedented opportunity, and an unprecedented risk.

The risk was fairly obvious. Tanya had absolutely no hope of fighting power like that. She had been faster, stronger, and far, far more powerful than Tanya, even when she used the Type 95. Tanya could say that she seemed to be more accurate, skilled, and strategically minded than her nametake, but those were problems that could be overcome with experience and time.

The only glimmer of hope was that the girl's fighting today was showcasing her upper limit, in which case, 'all' Tanya would have to do would be to hold out against her until she tired herself out.

Considering the girl had held up for over an hour, Tanya was not confident in her ability to do that.

The opportunity was also fairly obvious. If she was sent into a fight, the Empire would be guaranteed to win it. Not even death would stop her for long, once the Empire got access to the Type II rigging and the technology derived from it. At such a point, Tanya's role in warfare could safely be relegated to the rear; at worst, she might be a spare or directed to fight on secondary battlefields while she took on the hardest fights. Additionally, Tanya could think of no role better for her than that of a deterrent on the scale of a nuclear weapon…

Tanya frowned at the girl, for a moment, and then smoothed her expression back out. Well theoretically, if there was a job that provided more value than a weapon of that caliber served to protect, then perhaps-

She shook her head. No, there's no way she'll ever make it behind the frontlines with such a high value there… which is a problem.

Tanya's advantages in a fight only existed assuming that the girl did not also have Tanya's memories, and her desires with them. It seemed unlikely, or perhaps even impossible, for her to both have Tanya's memories and be so openly devout, but if she had to act that way to keep her power or even just to stay alive…

Furthermore, if she did have Tanya's memories and desires, then she would likely want the same things Tanya did – a place in the rear. Achieving such with her value on the frontlines was unlikely, but Tanya's continued existence made it even more so. Would she be seen as an obstacle to the girl's goals?

But, then, wouldn't she just communicate to Tanya what her desires were if they had the same memories?

Of course, if she didn't have those memories, then how much prodding would it take Being X to get her to turn on Tanya? She doubted he would have to put much effort into it once he revealed himself.

She wrangled with the question. Was she more of a risk, or an opportunity?

Right now might be Tanya's only chance to take her out without a difficult or even impossible fight. Could she deceive everyone around her? What, exactly, was required for a ship to be revived, and could Tanya prevent it?

The girl's eyes fluttered open – the doctors had been wrong, then – and Tanya made her decision, rising quickly and stepping towards the girl's side.

"You're in the hospital. Keep your breathing even. I… want to ask you a question."

The girl's eyes widened comically, but she nodded childishly all the same. "Good," Tanya said. "I know that you shouldn't, but the two of us are in a unique position. Apparently, a sheship named after a person who's still alive shouldn't be possible."

The girl looked like she wanted to say something, but Tanya merely raised an eyebrow. She shut her mouth. "So. You shouldn't, but I wanted to ask… do you have my memories?"

The girl blinked owlishly. "No." Relief welled up in her chest. She had an advantage-

"Why?"

Tanya blinked back, scowled, and said, "I… value individual liberty above all else, which includes privacy. I… wanted to make sure my thoughts were my own."

The girl simply continued to stare at Tanya, so she stared back, thinking.

Tanya didn't like her odds in a fight with the girl, but she liked the possible outcomes from killing her nametake less. If she was found out, prison for depriving the Empire of such a valuable resource was possible, and being pressed back into directly fighting the Sirens – reduced though they likely were with what her nametake had done – seemed likely. Abandoning her country was one possibility, but an unpleasant one. She'd either have to trust the authorities of other countries, who she had no established relationship with and who would obviously expect her to work for or with them to some degree, or live as a fugitive or off the grid for the rest of her life.

So, if she didn't have Tanya's memories, or was going to act like it, then Tanya's position was assured. Finding a way to ensure her own safety in the face of an overwhelming weapon like her would be difficult, but she preferred it to the alternatives… up until she was made a tool of Being X. At that point, she'd-

"Hey," she said. Tanya's attention snapped back to the girl… to find that a devious grin had grown on her face. Trepidation-

"Do you have a crush?"

Tanya didn't know how to react to that question, so she didn't, for a moment. Her nametake took that as confirmation, if the growth of her smile was anything to go by. "Oooooo! Oh my god! Who is it?"

"I-" she sputtered. "Of course I don't have a crush."

"C'mon, tell me! From one Tanya to another! Oh! I know, I'll guess, you answer! Ready?"

Tanya leaned back, and her nametake leaned forward. Her heart rate had picked up. "A superior? Someone working under you? Someone you met in town? Someone from another nation? How about the 203rd? Or Nemonia? Monarch? Basel? Kaiserreich? Weiss? Koenig? Viktoriya?"

Tanya finally put her foot down as the door behind her opened. "I'm glad you're alright, nametake."

"I'll keep guessing!" she replied as orderlies rushed into the room. Tanya slipped away, considering countermeasures and the girl's parting words.

Perhaps she could use that as a smokescreen for her concerns for her own safety? Picking someone to have a 'crush' on for her to try and determine while Tanya poured over the girl's schematics looking for a weakness-

"Oh, Lieutenant." One of the doctors passing in the hall towards her nametake stopped her. She raised an eyebrow. "Congratulations on becoming the head of Nemonia. I'm not sure if Schugel was supposed to announce it so abruptly, but I and everyone else know you'll do a good job," the man of over fifty said.

She thanked him quickly as he turned to head towards her nametake. So, she was in command.

With a scowl, she continued forward, seeking to leave the hospital. Nemonia was not her preferred posting, but there was a silver lining. If she was Schugel's boss, perhaps she could task him and others to find a way for mages to stand up to sheships. At the very least, the Mage Corps would be interested in collaborating on such a proposition, which would mean increased funding.

Yes. Even if it wasn't ideal, perhaps leading Nemonia was for the best after all.

-OxOxO-

Fernando 'Fred' Cross was, as his kid might have said, 'absolutely fuming.' Fred would have described himself as 'very upset' to his kid, or 'absolutely pissed' to his coworkers or boss.

He was working as an aide to the delegation sent from the United States, with the knowledge from the higher-ups in that delegation that he was also working for the Office of Strategic Services. They were standing in a room, along with the delegations from all the other naval powers.

Most of the people in that room were also quite mad.

"But HOW!? It shouldn't be possible for that shipgirl to be named after someone still alive! As long as they're alive, they can continue to change the world and directly influence the ideas and opinions of living humans about who they are! Where is Schu-"

"Explain it. Magic isn't real, and I refuse to believe it's real now. It must have an explanation someone-"

Some were angry about scientific things he didn't really understand that well.

"This is an affront to international diplomacy! I don't know how you did it back in your world, but lying through your teeth while negotiating deals has made the entire process a farce! You hear-"

"I say, what fool thought we would simply divide your country into colonies? With your industrial base, such a matter would be all but impossible, especially so far from any country with the capability. My word, what a-"

"Even if someone wanted to, you'd just ask the other side for help! What kind of fool do you-"

Some were angry about diplomatic matters that he understood much better.

Regardless, Fred did his best to memorize it all.

He was pretty pissed about them lying, but diplomatic mercuriality was hardly new, especially considering this place was a warped copy of Germany.

They were still not receiving many answers since the abrupt end of the exercise yesterday. The phone lines answering people's questions had been silenced, and most inquiries had been brusquely rebuffed, barring a few. His own stop-start contact network had evaporated.

Someone began shouting, louder and louder, until everyone quieted down when they realized he was one of the men that surrounded their Kaiser and he was calling for order. Fred watched the puffed-up aristocrat intently.

"We will do our best to answer your questions promptly, though a need for national security will obviously restrict the information somewhat" the man said stiffly. "Furthermore, we will not e answering those questions until after-"

Shouting erupted, and the man had to call for order once more. The bickering quieted slightly, and he finished his sentence. "Until AFTER the Empire has heard the final addendums to each nation and faction's aid offers."

He left the room hurriedly, and the volume increased rapidly, for a moment, and then dropped off sharply as the two sides sequestered themselves to the two sides of the room.

Fred's scowl grew as the conversation continued. Most of the haggling had been done last night, when the revelation that these people had magic that could allow some of them to fly and fight Sirens had come about. Azur Lane and the United States's offers had grown, though stipulations had also become included.

The increased money and food and technology had to be paid for somehow, and the companies that wanted access to study flora and fauna in the search for new pharmaceuticals were rabid.

Somehow, the military was even more so. It was a sad fact, but mass-produced ships were only barely able to contend with Siren equivalents, and were outmatched by even basic Executor-class sirens, to say nothing of the five elites.

Overall, a human had no chance to kill a Siren on their own. The Empire had claimed last night that the only way humans could be massed together like musket-toting soldiers from two centuries ago… unless you were that Degurechaff kid.

Even if she was one-in-ten-million, that meant there were dozens of people like her within the areas influenced by Azur Lane. Considering the Eagle Union had just above a thousand shipgirls under its banner, adding that many to their ranks, when they were otherwise constrained by the need to have a ship in service for years before they could be awakened without any side-effects, even a few dozen would be a substantial expansion.

More importantly, allowing the Crimson Axis to obtain the capabilities to close the gap between them and Azur Lane couldn't be allowed.

With how many people back home wanted in, there was absolutely, positively, no way the Crimson Axis could match the contributions promised by Azur Lane.

His stomach roiled wondering why they were even still debating if that was the case.

He had a feeling he knew.

Eventually, both groups had agreed on the last few details. The aristocrat came back and asked for the representative from Azur Lane.

They went off, were gone for ten minutes, and came back. Then, the same occurred with the Crimson Axis. In the meantime, Azur Lane's representatives gossiped.

"The Kaiser's in there. He looked pretty impassive, but I got the feeling he was impressed. He apologized personally for the 'necessity of lying,'" he said quietly. Fred didn't let the words tear his gaze from the door, even as he cataloged them.

The representative from the Crimson Axis came back, stiff backed and looking pleased.

Fred's scowl deepened.

Another ten minutes passed, until the aristocrat was silently handed a piece of paper. He cleared his throat. "By order of the Emperor, with consultation from the Chancellor and the others among the highest elected body in the Empire, a decision has been reached."

Everyone's anticipation grew. Fred wasn't amateurish enough to lean forward, but others did. Feet tapped, cigarettes puffed, arms were crossed, and everyone hung on the words of the unnamed man.

"While the Empire is happy to accept aid freely offered, limiting the Empire's ability to act decisively and in its own best interest by binding it to one faction over the other has been determined to be detrimental to our country's future."

Stunned silence met him. "In plainer terms," he continued, "while the Empire welcomes aid from all willing to offer it and will hold such nations in high esteem, it is not willing to join either Azur Lane or the Crimson Axis at this juncture."

Outrage rang through one half of the room, while pride and ego rang through the other.

Fred, for his part, just sighed angrily. The man who'd announced the winner was reading out something else – something about what had been 'awarded' in an agreement – he couldn't hear over the arguing.

The arguing, he could hear clearly. British delegates were incredibly angry, while the Soviets seemed to be storming out. Fred understood that. He was too.

He knew, if they hadn't lied, Azur Lane might have been able to get more offers lined up. They'd lost the chance to easily secure an ally while they were relatively weak and on new footing. When they got their agriculture working again, they wouldn't have as much leverage.

Still, this was better than them joining the Crimson Axis. They could still influence them, they'd just have to compete with the Crimson Axis, instead of between the members and companies of Azur Lane.

Everyone wanted to see just what magic could really do. Now, the competition would be even more fierce, and whoever paid for the privilege to be first would pay through the nose.

For Fred's part, he'd been planning for contingencies since the moment he got here. He had his opinions, but a lot was in the air.

He took out a cigar and took a long drag. He needed to see if he couldn't solidify his contacts a bit more, maybe throw around some more of the Office and Bernays's money. What they needed was information that wasn't being spoon-fed to them, to figure out this place's real position relative to everyone else.

He'd been sent here to figure out if they were going to usurp Japan's place as the biggest threat to America in the Pacific, after all.

-OxOxO-

COALITION FALLS APART! MAJOR PARTIES FRACTURE!

The Coalition for Stability during the War has fallen to pieces with the end of the Unity Celebration, although the leadership at the top is hardly at fault in this instance. With the 'end' of the war and the miraculous destruction of Siren forces accomplished by the girl who's dominated many headlines, many junior members of all three parties have been calling for the end of the coalition. With leadership unwilling to pull out, it seems that the junior members took matters into their own hands.

The remnants of the Imperial Conservative Party, the Central Party, and the Social Democratic Party have all called for calm in the four months before elections are organized. Despite the end of the coalition, everyone has been able to agree on the distribution of food aid.

What authority the three are pulling on is questionable. The ICP has hemorrhaged support in the wake of their 'failure' to ward off foreign influence, with many in their ranks reorganizing into a multitude of smaller parties. The ZP, while it has retained the loyalty of its sitting members, has dropped sharply in the polls, and whether it will remain a relevant political anchor has been called into question. Meanwhile, the SDP has devolved into squabbling between the leadership while its own voter base begins to look elsewhere.

A list of all new parties includes, but is not limited to: the True Imperial Party, the Party of Imperial Might, the Right, the Veterans' Party, the United Christian Party, the Imperial Constitution Party, the Conservative Citizens' Party, the Imperial People's Party, the Christian Democratic Party, the Return Home Party, the New Home and Unity Party, the States' Autonomy Coalition Party, the Argent Party, the Democratic Party, the Constitutional Revision Party, the Imperial Social Democratic Party, and the Party of Socialist Action.

We wish luck to those who watch politics closely keeping all the facts of this turbulent time straight.

For more about the new parties listed above, turn to PAGE THREE. For more about the collapse of the coalition, turn to PAGE FOUR.

DON'T PANIC! DON'T FEAR! DON'T REPEAT!

With the collapse of the Coalition for Stability during the War, coupled with growing food prices and increasing inflation, many have felt growing fear in the face of uncertain times. The Kaiser and all politicians have urged people to keep calm and keep the 'three don'ts' in mind.

Seeing what occurred to the empire occupying a similar geography in the New World's Europe, one can only hope the government has more than words for the growing discontent among those displaced by the great transmigration. Though promises abound that 'the Empire shall not make the mistakes this world made in the aftermath of their world war,' attempting alternate policies has proved tricky with looming famine.

For more information about the crackdown on violent Soldier Councils, Freikorps, and 'cults,' turn to PAGE FIVE.

Luckily, aid is coming soon. The former President of the United States and world-renowned philanthropist, Herbert Hoover, has promised that the first ship would arrive within a week, even if he 'had to swim from San Diego to Kopenhyagen himself.' Our thanks go out to him and everyone else working to help us in our time of need. A special edition will be printed with information about how to obtain food aid when the first ships begin arriving.

UN, IMF, OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION ANNOUNCE CONTINUED SUPPORT OF AZUR LANE

A joint press release by a number of international organizations has reaffirmed their support for Azur Lane, both in the pursuit of its 'noble goals' and in the containment of the Siren threat. Records we have been able to obtain paint past announcements as platitudes, though the simultaneous release of the current ones, as well as concrete pledges and delivery of aid has tinged these with more credibility.

The Empire has been rapidly admitted to a number of international bodies with its arrival and the normalization of relations following the end of the Unity Celebration.

For more information on international organizations, turn to PAGE SIX.

AZUR LANE RESURGENT

The lack of humanity's comprehension of the scope of the Siren menace was illustrated in their most recent attack; many news outlets and governments claimed that over 90% of their forces had been destroyed in the 'Big Push' that saw them forced into the arctic. The Mirror Sea they deployed by Hamborg contained more Sirens than had ever been confirmed destroyed in the more than two decades of their existence on Earth.

With this in mind, as well as newfound support from both international organizations and its member states, Azur Lane has announced the reactivation of old bases in Bermuda, the Philippines, Iceland, Newfoundland, Hawaii, and more. All of these bases are set to be expanded to combat the Sirens.

Furthermore, new bases are set to be opened on undisclosed sites in the Faroe Islands, Greenland, the Attu Islands, and all across the northern extremes of Canada, the USA, and the Soviet Union.

The last line of their announcement stated that the joint headquarters was being moved from the Caribbean. The old joint operating base on Samoa is set to be sold and turned into a combined amusement park, tourist attraction, and museum, with the new joint headquarters set to open on Guam.

For more information on the history of Azur Lane, its near collapse, and its recovery, turn to PAGE SEVEN.

CRIMSON AXIS FORGES CLOSER TIES

The countries that make up the Crimson Axis have announced the opening of their first joint base on the Japanese island of Saipan, in celebration of the growing cooperation between its members, both new and old, in combating the siren menace and in standing against the decadent powers of the West and the Bolshevik scum.

When asked if the choice was made to move the base so close to the joint operating base of Azur Lane, the spokesperson declined to comment.

For more information about the ties of some Crimson Axis members to the Sirens, turn to PAGE EIGHT.

QUARANTINE ENACTED!

Tests done during and after the Unity Celebration have confirmed what some virologists feared: the Empire's diseases and the diseases of the New World are not the same. While there are major similarities in symptoms for a number of major diseases, it is assumed that all of them behave slightly differently, to say nothing of the handful of diseases that seem to be unique to Our World and the New.

Biologists, virologists, and more have been clamoring to visit the Empire in order to begin work on vaccines immediately, as well as distribute vaccines for diseases present on this planet, citing the introduction of disease to the Americas centuries ago 'on an ever wider scale.'

Talks have already begun, with hopes that vaccines will be rolled out for the general population of the Empire within the year, and for the majority of the world in two to three. Due to this fact, travel to and from the Empire will be restricted to a small number of people working in critical industries and fields for the foreseeable future. The Kaiser has expressed particular interest in the polio vaccine that was recently developed. Commentators abroad have expressed relief that the Empire is not 'decrying western-made vaccines as an outcropping of Jewish science,' like the German Reich.

How this mandate will impact the Empire's new colonial holdings given to it by the Japanese Empire remains to be seen, though one can only assume the impact will be negative.

For more on the diseases of this world that have been eliminated, turn to PAGE NINE.

INCREASING TENSIONS ON THE EASTERN FRONT

According to the Treaty of Istanbul, peace was had between the Soviet Union and the German Reich, and within one hundred miles of the border on the German side, as well as all of the lands the German Reich had conquered from the Soviets until June of 1943 was to be demilitarized. Workarounds for this treaty were found, as with the treaties that ended the New World's first World War.

Today, there were 50% more clashes between 'patriotic citizens' and 'proud workers' supposedly not associated with either nation's government along the border between the German Reich and what was once Lithuania using makeshift weapons. In what is apparently a routine procedure, both governments condemned the other for their actions and promised they would not go unanswered.

Resistance to both occupiers is abundant in the former territories the two countries worked together to conquer, though we at News Delivered Daily know little about whether the resistance is propped up by the two human nations or by the Sirens.

For more on our plans to discover more information about the simmering tensions, turn to PAGE TEN.

THE FUTURE OF MAGIC IN QUESTION

Tests given to functionaries, soldiers, and other visitors from abroad have indicated NONE of them had magic. More tests are planned to be done to all willing visitors to the Empire in the future.

Some scientists have expressed worries that unless a way home is devised, magic may begin to fade; as the exact origin and cause of the expression of magic in individuals is unknown, theories that relate it to the planet postulate that, without our old planet, magic would disappear from our population within a generation.

Others are not convinced and remain convinced that 'Imperial blood' will hold true.

For more on the nature of magic, turn to PAGE ELEVEN.

SMS TANYA VON DEGURECHAFF - WHAT WE KNOW

The newest sheship of Nemonia, Tanya von Degurechaff, shares many similarities to the beloved Argent known nationwide for her exploits during the Great War. From her looks to her prowess in battle, it seems our Empire has been blessed with another guiding angel.

While international commentators claim that what has happened should not be able to, we at News Delivered Daily are glad to see that the beloved Argent has once again pulled off what others deem impossible.

Already, a plethora of new nicknames has been suggested by citizens, the government, and readers like you! If you know the Empire's Darling by any nickname, pluralize it, and you've organically discovered a nickname for the two. References to her being the second Tanya von Degurechaff are also common. However!

An intrepid reporter was able to discover that the Twin Argents have nicknames for each other! The first is often called 'namesake' by the second, while Tanya the Elder calls Tanya the Younger 'nametake.' What a cute scheme!

For more on the White Silver and the sheship named for her, turn to PAGE TWO.

ADOLF HITLER ARRESTED!

A man with the same name and a personal history that resembles that of the current leader of the New World's Germany has been arrested, alongside foreign agents. Little knowledge has been released to the public about the arrest, though it was witnessed by several onlookers.

His neighbors have reported that 'Mr. Hitler has been looking nervous and harried for several days' and that 'odd people' were 'knocking at his door day and night.'

For other stories about 'dimensional doubles' both in the Empire and abroad, turn to PAGE TWELVE.

For statistics from the final exercise of the Unity Celebration, turn to PAGE THIRTEEN. For opinion pieces from citizens of the Empire, turn to PAGE FOURTEEN. For a list of businesses that plan to offer foreign goods for sale, as well as other stories, turn to PAGE FIFTEEN.

-OxOxO-

To: AMSTERDAM FOXTROT TWO

From: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Subject: Funding Approval

Yes, you didn't read that subject line wrong.

I didn't think it would happen without a war going hot or a major threat against American soil, but you've proven correct once again: Need for your ideas has manifested, even without a hot war. In light of the emerging threat, the Boss has expanded the amount of funding XXXXXXXXXXX is to receive.

He didn't like it either, but everyone's seen videos of what she did. He's nervous about someone not firmly in our camp having access to power like that. He's working on influencing them, but in case they take a turn like Germany, he wants your work completed.

I am authorizing you to expand the scope of your 'primary project' to the maximum extent you proposed. Spend some time to figure out how you'd expand it even further, in case he wants to throw more money at the problem. I am also giving you personal permission to fund your 'side project,' but keep doing your best to obfuscate where the money is being siphoned off to. No one within your organization has tried to reach me, and no one in the Office or the other organizations has brought it up either, but it's always good to be cautious.

At this rate, you might yet get the recognition you've been talking about. Keep up the good work. With all that said…

WARNING:

LOAM questioned RELIC. MAINE placed in charge of BLUE. After a runaround, BLUE admitted that MAINE had been gone for several days. Resources have been assigned to track down MAINE. The Office is requesting the loan of LIGHTNING and AUDIT when located for capture.

RELIC obviously unwilling to hold MAINE. Will be officially reassigned to XXXXXXXXXXX. Contain MAINE yourself; risk unavoidable, unless you reassess more permanent options.

-OxOxO-

Final Judgement of 'Poussière' Activity - FAILURE

Despite the promise of this Activity, conceptual misalignment has plagued the Activity from the start. What limited success that has been achieved in controlling fleets of mass-produced ships was only due to the vast computing power constructed and allocated to the project, not due to the usage of the concepts relating to Judgement Day.

Limited tests of the conceptual control of pawns have never started, while full-scale tests have always had to be aborted when issued orders were, inevitably, ignored.

All remaining resources are to be diverted to the 'Colonie' Activity, and to identifying the cause of the fire that destroyed much of the physical research and servers, as well as damaged the physical infrastructure on the Kerguelen islands. Researchers still interested in pursuing this idea may refine their theories further. Until they have a better explanation for why it continues to fail or more concrete information about what else could possibly be taking up the same conceptual space, funding on this scale shall NOT be provided.

-OxOxO-

Prinz Eugen stared out at the endless blue of the Pacific.

They'd be arriving in Japan soon, on a goodwill tour. After that, they'd jump around the Pacific and Indian Oceans, before traversing the Suez, checking on the Italians, and then heading home.

Eugen wasn't sure her head wouldn't split before then.

Now, it wasn't hard not to see why. In part, it was because of the arrival of the Empire. Their names shared similar, if not identical origins, while their hulls were not similar in the slightest. Apparently, they were occupying similar ideatic spaces in the collective unconscious.

They might have shied away from their identity as the German Empire, but everyone could see them for what it was, despite their pale attempts to hide behind the fig leaf of 'meritocracy.'

Prinz Eugen continued to stare out at the Pacific, not really seeing it. She grimaced. Could she really…?

Tanya's words haunted her. How could she let what was happening happen?

Bismarck said it wasn't their place to interfere in the politics of the state they served. As if their mere existence did not lend credence to the words of the state. As if any of them could get away with being apolitical when they were dragged from one corner of their country's empire to the other and ordered to give speeches they didn't believe in.

Oh, Bismarck put her foot down when she could, but at the end of the day, they would not abandon their home, and few wanted to live without the comforts denying 'requests' provided.

Deutschland deluded herself and said that they weren't formed from the so-called untermensch's beliefs. As if she couldn't feel what was being done whenever they thought about it.

Some ignored those very uncomfortable facts as best they could. Some, like Deutschland, pretended to revel in the feelings of terror and panic and death that crept into their cubes.

She wondered, as she stared at that open, empty, blue, if the ships the Reich was creating now would care. Had enough died that they wouldn't feel the last few slipping from the mortal coil? Or would the Reich find new enemies to murder that would hurt them?

Her lower lip trembled. Could she… could she really…

For all of her teasing and the airs she put on, Prinz Eugen cared.

Could she afford not to care, anymore? Could she remain silent any longer?

If she did… and she lost… then what was to be done with her?

Some of the Iron Blood had told her about overheard conversations. Some of the human staff working on bases, who she'd managed to charm or who just didn't want there to be more suffering, had told her, in whispered, nervous words, about what might be done with older ships as more advanced ships were eventually awakened.

Every navy had older members, who remained alive despite their obsolescence. It seemed they would always remain alive, thanks to the Type II rigging. Older ships taught the next generation. Older ships doted on younger or newly awakened ships. Older ships served as living examples.

The Reich was weighing whether such older ships were worth more as test subjects, for a short or long period. Perhaps, even, their cubes would be recycled instead of being reawakened.

Could she do it?

Could she live with herself, whether it was one year or a thousand, if she didn't try?

Prinz Eugen stared out at the wide open sea, and an unbidden thought rose to her mind. It wasn't her voice, but the voice of an elderly man.

"Why is this happening… why is no one helping us… God… please…"

She shook her head. No, not again. She was done hearing phantom voices.

Prinz Eugen's broken expression resolved.

She was done pretending.

-OxOxO-

A/N 1: God DAMN this was a slog to write. My schedule got all messed up, and finding time to write this has NOT been fun, but I managed to finish it, at least. There'll be a time skip between this chapter and the next. Ugh.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. This is the end of the first of the three arcs I've decided on.

A/N 2: If you'd like to donate to support me monetarily, search for Sugarcane Soldier on the website of the Patrons.

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