Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I've got something” Ark Royal suddenly said over the comms, alerting the escort group.

“What is it Ark?” Hood asked, wondering what Ark had spotted.

The two were currently on a simple escort mission, escorting a fleet of transport ships back to Britain. With them were the battleship Prince of Wales, the heavy cruisers Suffolk and Norfolk, the light cruiser Hermione, and the destroyers Achates, Antelope, Anthony, Echo, Electra, and Icarus.

“One of my recon planes just spotted some smoke coming from a nearby island” Ark replied, “There might be someone on the island”.

A shipwreck survivor, that was interesting. There hadn't been many reports of Siren attacks out here, and never against civilian ships. It must have been from an unlucky ship that sank due to a mechanical failure or something.

“Copy that Ark,” Hood said “Did you get that commander?” she asked.

“Yes I did” The commander of the Azur Lane, Grant Kline, replied “Hood, Norfolk, move in to investigate the smoke and look for survivors” he ordered “If there are any, I want you to recover them and bring them back to my ship to recover. But be quick, I don't want to be late because of this,” he said harshly.

Grant had come along with the convoy as he had to attend an important meeting in Britain and was currently residing inside his command ship, the USS Calypso. He was not nice to the Kansen under his command, always being rude to them and forcing them to overwork. Hood sometimes wished that he would be replaced by someone who was actually nice to them. But sadly, that was unlikely.

“Copy that sir” Hood complied before she activated her rigging. Her ship started to shine blue before it turned into a massive swarm of blue cubes. The cubes then formed around her, transforming into her rigging “Now then, let us be off” she said before she broke formation and followed one of Ark's recon planes towards the island.

Norfolk soon joined Hood, moving into formation beside her “Uh... Hood?” she asked skittishly.

“Yes, Norfolk,” Hood said with a friendly smile.

“Your sure this is a good idea?” Norfolk asked, “What if this is a siren trap”.

“If it was a siren trap, then it's a very bad trap” Ark replied over the radio “There's nowhere for a siren fleet to hide. It's just a single island in the middle of nowhere” she explained.

“See, perfectly safe,” Hood said, reassuring the cruiser.

“I hope you're right,” Norfolk said nervously as the island came into view.

The island was a medium-sized one, covered in trees which offered a great deal of shade and cover. There was also a small fire just on the edge of the tree line, but there was no sign of anyone on the island.

“Ur, Ark. I don't see anyone,” Hood said, straining her eyes as she looked at the island.

“I only got a glimpse of someone whilst the plane was flying over” Ark replied “But there's definitely someone there. I bet my Destroyer magazines on it”.

Hood sighed “Alright if you insist,” she said as they approached the island.

They soon reached the island and walked ashore, keeping their riggings on just in case. There were definitely signs of someone living on the island. There was a fish cooking over a fire. Several small pit traps littered the ground, and a hammock was hanging in-between two trees in a well-shaded area.

“Well, looks like someone's been living here” Hood observed as they walked up the beach towards the tree line.

“You think they're alright?” Norfolk asked.

The sudden sound of footsteps rapidly approaching alerted them. They quickly pointed their guns in the direction the noise was coming from, just on the off chance it was hostile.

They kept their eyes glued in the general direction the footsteps were coming from, waiting patiently for the cause to show itself.

Suddenly a young man smashed his way through the bushes, only to collapse onto the ground moments later, panting heavily.

Hood and Norfolk quickly rushed over to him “Are you ok?” Hood asked as she crouched down beside him.

“Yeah, I'm fine” the young man replied as he caught his breath “It's just... running.. not my strong suit” he panted.

Hood nodded as she looked him over. He was young, probably 18 or 19, and was garbed in what looked like a ruined and blood-stained Royal Navy uniform. Probably a captain if the rank insignia on his left arm was to be believed. He was definitely British, he had the accent. His raven hair was a complete mess, and his face looked like it was in desperate need of a shave. His eyes were a deep purple, they were a bit like Enterprises in a way.

“Do you have a name?” Hood asked sounding rather concerned “Are there any other survivors?”.

“No, it's just me,” the young man said “My name is Lelouch, Lelouch Lamperouge” he replied before he looked up at Hood. He then started laughing for some strange reason. Moments later he collapsed onto the sand, showing very little sign of movement.

“Is-is he dead?” Norfolk asked skittishly.

Hood put a hand against his neck and check for his pulse “No, he's still breathing” she replied calmly “Must have fainted. Now what brought that on?” she wondered before she picked him up off the ground “Come along Norfolk, we need to get him back to the command ship”.

“Should I deactivate my rigging and carry him back on my ship?” Norfolk asked as they rushed down the beach.

“No, I'll carry him back like this. It'll be faster that way” Hood replied as they reached the water, speeding off towards the fleet as soon as they touched it “Commander, this is Hood. We've found a survivor and are bringing him back” she said over comms.

“Copy that Hood,” Grant said, “We'll have medical teams and Hermione on standby”.

“Copy that sir,” Hood said as she skated across the sea towards the fleet.

The fleet soon came back into view, just as Ark's recon planes flew overhead. Hood looked down at the young man in her arms. How did he get out here? What happened to his ship? Was he really a captain, or was she just mistaking him for one? She didn't know, and she wouldn't be getting answers to these questions until he fully recovers from being isolated for god knows how long. That will take time.

She just hoped that commander Grant's patience can last long enough for him to recover.

Cue Code Geass R1's 1st opening titles (with an Azur Lane theme to it), because that is by far the best out of the four openings.

Chapter Text

Purple eyes slowly opened as the consciousness behind them slowly returned to reality. He felt surprisingly comfortable for once, so he was obviously in some kind of bed, probably a medical one considering the state he was in. His surroundings had changed as well, a grey room with metal walls and portholes. Must be on a ship then.

Spending god knows how long alone on a deserted island was not good for his health and sanity, made worse by the fact that he should have been dead.

He died, he felt Suzaku's sword pierce his heart. There was no surviving that, he knew it, Suzaku knew it. Hell, he had told Suzaku to stab him again if he showed any sign of life after he dramatically fell onto the ground. It had been perfect, his Zero Requiem. Dying and taking all the world's enmity and hatred with him.

And yet, there he was. Alive, naked, and stuck on an isolated island in the middle of nowhere. He was lucky to find that bloodstained navy uniform to cover himself with. He had no idea where it came from, but at least it was something to wear.

He was surprised that he lasted as long as he did on that island. The last time he was stuck on an island didn't go so well, he spent an entire day digging an animal trap, and caught nothing. Euphemia, on the other hand, managed to collect a massive amount of fruit. But this time he didn't have Euphemia to help him. He was completely alone on that island.

He had contemplated just lying there on the sand, letting dehydration take him. But he quickly threw that notion aside. Suicide was the coward's way out, and he was not a coward. Surviving just so the universe didn't have the satisfaction of pushing him to suicide. If he was to go out again, it would be on his terms.

Survival was difficult, but he managed it. It may have taken several days for him to get everything he needed to survive sorted out, but he succeeded. But whilst he had survival sorted out, his slowly fading sanity was a completely different battle. One that he was losing.

Humans were social creatures, not meant to be isolated from others for extended periods of time. He tried his best to maintain his sanity, but there were some things he could not do alone. Hell, he thought he had finally lost it when he saw a woman standing over him with four double-barrelled tank turrets on her back. Not even Britannia had anything like that.

He must have hallucinated the turrets, there was no way those things were real.

“Oh, you're finally awake,” a polite female voice said as the sound of footsteps came closer, telling him that he wasn't alone in the room.

He turned his head to the side to see who was approaching and was slightly surprised by what he saw. He knew it would be a young woman, her voice gave that much away, as well as her Britannian origin. And considering the room he was in, he suspected her to be a nurse. And she was. It was just that her uniform didn't look like something a real nurse would wear.

She wore a tight-fitting white nurse dress that just covered the top of her legs, with rather short sleeves. Black stockings that went up to her thighs, simple white shoes, white gloves, and a nurse hat.

The woman herself was kind-looking, with a friendly face, long white hair, and light yellow eyes.

He had to make a double-take, just to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating again. He wasn't. He would have seriously had to question his brain if it was a hallucination.

“Are you feeling ok?” the woman asked, giving him a friendly smile “You know you're lucky we spotted the smoke from that fire. If you hadn't started it, we may never have spotted you,” she said. She had a noticeable Britannian accent.

Well, that would explain how they found him.

“Thanks,” Lelouch said, thankful that someone had finally taken him off that island and was hopefully heading back to civilised society.

His stomach suddenly growled loudly.

“Oh my. When was the last time you ate something?” the nurse asked, sounding very concerned.

“Two days ago I think” Lelouch replied “That fish I was cooking was the only thing I've managed to catch in days” he added.

“Oh, I'll just get you something to eat then,” the nurse said before she walked off, returning moments later with a tray of food “Here you go,” she said as she put that tray down on the table next to the bed “Eat up”.

Lelouch slowly sat up. He grabbed the tray and moved it onto his lap, and started eating. The food wasn't the best, but it was far better than what he had been eating on that island, and he was guaranteed a meal three times a day here. Far better than spending an entire day fishing and getting nothing for days on end.

“Oh, I completely forgot to introduce myself” the nurse suddenly said “I am the light cruiser Hermione of the Dido class, and a member of the Royal Maids,” she said with a polite bow.

“Lelouch Lamperouge,” Lelouch said, keeping a calm face. It would be pointless to be flustered over something that didn't make sense, as that was an easy way to miss something important or draw unnecessary attention.

He understood her status as a Royal Maid, his family did have a large number of maids working for them after all, plus there was Sayoko who looked after him and his sister. Her working as a nurse was also understandable, as there were nursemaids. But what was a royal maid doing on a ship? unless this was a ship that belonged to the Britannian royal family, or perhaps it was just a title used by a fancy maid organisation? Probably the latter as the medical bay was a standard one and not one of the high-tech ones he remembered seeing on Britannian royal family-owned ships.

Besides, it was obvious she didn't know who he was, and his face was very much well-known across the planet. He made sure of that little detail.

What really puzzled him was that she called herself a light cruiser. She was very obviously not a ship, but it was too soon to draw conclusions. It was far too easy to waste time fruitlessly speculating something with only bits of information. He would have to investigate this later when he has more information to work with and wasn't limited to a small medical bay.

A sudden chirp, quickly followed by a large yellow bird jumping onto his bed brought him back to reality. The bird was egg-shaped and was about the size of a football, maybe larger. It kind of looked like a chicken chick, just egg-shaped. It also had a nurse's hat on and was holding a bone saw.

The strange bird turned to face him, with a sinister look on its face.

To say that he wasn't at least surprised and frightened by the sudden appearance of this strange bird would be a slight understatement. He couldn't even hide his surprise.

“No,” Hermione said as she slapped the bird on the head, and took away the bone saw it was holding “He is not here to have his arm removed” she scolded as she picked the bird up and put it back onto the floor. She gave Lelouch an apologetic smile “Sorry about him. He's a bit enthusiastic about cutting people's limbs off” she said “I know, most Manjuu are nice. But some are a bit, weird”.

Lelouch simply nodded. Manjuu, that's what that bird was called. Now, this was a big clue telling him all he needed to know, this was not his Earth. There were no yellow, egg-shaped birds called Manjuu back home, so it was obvious that he was on a different version of earth. One where Britannian and his family probably did not exist.

More research seems to be in order. He'll have to find out all he can about this different version of earth, and how its history differed from his own. And whether or not he could live a normal life here.

“You ok?” Hermione asked “You look a bit pale”.

“What?” Lelouch said, slightly surprised “Oh, sorry. Must have spaced out a bit”.

“I understand,” Hermione said calmly “Having a Manjuu with a bone saw jump onto your bed with the intent to cut one of your arms off can easily take the colour out of your cheeks,” she said with a smile.

Lelouch simply nodded and went back to eating. He kept an eye out for the Manjuu that tried to cut off his arm, just in case it tried it again.

“So, I have a few questions I would like to ask you. About how you ended up on that island” Hermione said. Lelouch stopped eating “You don't have to answer them if you don't want to. You have just been rescued after all,” she said, “But there is one very important question that needs to be answered”.

“Ok. Ask away” Lelouch said calmly, putting down his cutlery.

“Alright. Where you got that captain's uniform your wearing from?” Hermione said, “You are far too young to be the captain of a Royal Navy ship”.

Of course, someone mistook him for a captain. He knew it was pointless to lie about where he got it from, nor could he lie about being a captain. He may have been the leader of the black knights, and ruler of the entire world for a time, but Britannia and the black knights probably did not exist here, so he could not rely on those backgrounds here.

Thankfully, he knew these questions would come a long time ago, so he had plenty of time to come up with the perfect answer. The truth, with a little lie thrown in to help back up his story.

“I found it on that island I was stranded on” Lelouch replied “I don't know where it came from, or who once owned it. It was just there, hanging from a tree with no sign of who put it there,” he said “I only put them on as I had nothing else to wear. I'm just a merchant seaman” a small lie, but one of many he had been working on whilst he was on the island, just in case someone found him.

“Wait. You were naked when you arrived on that island?” Hermione said, blushing slightly “How did that happen?”.

“It's kind of embarrassing” Lelouch replied with a smile “I was having a shower when the ship was struck. I don't know what hit it, only that whatever hit it caused it to sink quickly,” he said, reinforcing his lie “I didn't have time to get changed before I had to abandon ship”.

“You abandoned ship naked,” Hermione said as she flushed bright red “Well, you must have been glad that you found that abandoned uniform on that island. It would have been very embarrassing for everyone if you were found naked”.

Lelouch chuckled “Yes it would have”.

The two shared a quick laugh. It was nice to be talking to someone, especially someone who didn't know who he was. It was, pleasant.

Suddenly the door shot open, and a man wearing what looked like an admiral's uniform walked into the room with an unhappy look on his face.

Hermione quickly stood up and tried to get in between the man and Lelouch, but got pushed out of the way by the aggressive man. He then walked over to Lelouch, grabbed him by the collar, and lifted him onto his feet, sending his tray of food flying.

“Where did you get that Royal Navy uniform?” the man commanded loudly “Are you an Ironblood spy, trying to spy on us” he shouted, “Admit it, your a spy”.

Lelouch tried his best to stay calm, but it was kind of difficult when you got a rather angry man lifting you off the floor and shouting into your face. But for all his shouting, he had given him another clue about this world. Ironblood. He had no idea what it meant, but he was accusing him of being one of their spies, they were probably a rival organisation.

He filed that word away for later, along with all the other things he'll need to investigate.

“Commander,” Hermione said, sounding desperately like she was trying to not shout. Both Lelouch and the man turned to face her “He's not a spy, he's a seaman of the British Merchant Navy, nothing more” she said clearly.

“Then why is he wearing the uniform of a Royal Navy captain then?” the man asked aggressively.

“It's not his, he just found it on the island we picked him up on,” Hermione said, looking like she was holding back her anger “He wasn't exactly wearing his uniform when the ship he was on was sunk”.

“And you believe that?” the man said sounding annoyed “It's a simple lie, hardly believable. Don't tell me you believe him”.

Hermione raised a finger “If he was trying to spy on us, he would not admit to being a member of the Merchant Navy, he would have said he was a captain. But that lie would not work as he is far too young to be a captain of a ship. So him saying that he is a part of the British Merchant Navy is the truth” she said “As for the Ironblood spy. Why would they maroon someone on an island and hope that we would come by and pick them up, it doesn't make sense. They have far better ways to get a spy into our ranks without relying on a complicated and very unlikely-to-work plan”.

Lelouch smiled inwardly. She was good, very good. He could have said all of that himself mind you, but it's so much easier to believe something if someone else also believes it too. She unknowingly just helped reinforce his little lie.

The man holding him suddenly let go of him, dropping him back onto the bed “Alright, I'll believe his lie” he said “But one wrong move out of you, and I'll make sure you regret coming off that island” he growled before he walked towards the door and left the room.

Hermione sighed heavily before she walked over to the food tray and started cleaning the floor “I'm sorry about him, but he likes to vent his frustration on people” she apologised “He's not well-liked around here. Especially by us Kansen”.

“Oh, and whys that?” Lelouch asked. He could have just asked what's a Kansen, but that would be a bit too obvious. The people of this earth probably knew exactly what a Kansen was, so he would look suspicious if he asked that. So he asked the more obvious question, as that would answer several of his questions at once, not just one.

“He was a seaman before the siren war started. Back then military ships were manned by hundreds of sailors. But then the sirens showed up, started taking over the seas, and our navies couldn't fight them” Hermione replied “The final nail in the coffin was when we unlocked the power of the wisdom cubes and made us. No need to have hundreds of people operating a ship when you can get the ship to command itself. So the world navy's reduced the number of navy jobs by a huge amount” she explained as she finished cleaning up “Thousands of seamen were laid off as we took over their jobs. There are still some navy personnel around, operation fleet command duties and patrol ships. But the majority of seamen were laid off. The commander has been sour about it ever since”.

That gave him a lot of information about this earth. These sirens, whatever they may be, must be powerful if they forced the locals to build ships that can be controlled by a single person. These Kansen must be humans who have been augmented with some kind of tech that allows them to command an entire ship all by themselves. Were casualties that bad? How many of these Kansen were they building and losing in this war?.

He shook his head. He was speculating again. He knew nothing about this war, so it was pointless to speculate on how bad it was.

“So he's annoyed that you lot replaced the majority of the world's navy,” Lelouch said.

“Yep, lost a lot of friends because of it. As a result, he's very rude to us Kansen” Hermione said “As much as I would like to disobey his orders, I can't as he's the commander of the Azur Lane. I don't know why the Eagle Union allowed him to be appointed as it's commander, but they did” she said before she walked over to the bed “But that's enough talk for now. You should get some rest” she said.

Lelouch nodded and laid back in bed. He desperately needed the rest, for two reasons. He was still tired after surviving on that island, plus he had a lot on his mind. This earth was vastly different from his own earth. Yes, there was no empire of Britannia conquering that planet, but that was an entirely new threat threatening humanity. These sirens, whatever they were, are attacking humanity. And this, Azur Lane organisation was fighting back.

Looks like this planet wasn't as boring as he first thought. But, was this really his fight to fight? He finished his fight, he won, and he achieved peace in his world. But there was no peace here, a war was being fought against a powerful enemy.

He closed his eyes, He'll have to think about what he'll do later, once he knows more about this world.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since Lelouch had woken up in that medical bay, and finally, Hermione deemed him fit enough to leave. They managed to find him a non-military uniform to wear, and some spare clothing from one of the transport ships they were sailing with. Basic clothing really, but it was better than nothing.

Due to his status as a civilian, he was transported to one of the merchant ships, the S.S. Thames. It wasn't preferable, but he didn't have any other choices. They did see him as a civilian after all, no way they would keep him on board a military ship when there was a civilian ship they could dump him onto.

The S.S. Thames was a small transport ship, two-thirds the size of the rest of the transport ships in the fleet, so it looked somewhat out of place. Oddly enough, the Thames was the only transport ship in the fleet that was armed, a single BL 4.7-inch, a 45-calibre gun was mounted on the front of the ship. There were a few people on board who knew how to use the gun, but as far as he could tell, no one onboard knew why the ship had the gun in the first place.

He wasn't exactly given something important to do whilst on the ship. It already had a full crew after all. So he was given the simple job of mopping the deck. Not the most dignified thing he could be doing, especially for someone with his upbringing. But there wasn't anything he could do about it, as he couldn't use his status as the son of a Britannia noble, as Britannia did not exist here.

He learnt a bit more about this earth over the past day or so. Britain, as it was called here, was still an empire, but it held much less territory than Britannia. Japan was independent, and America had seceded from Britain over a century ago. Yet the world was far from peaceful, as due to the sirens showing up, the planet was involved in a full-scale war, and not just against the sirens.

Germany, calling itself the Ironblood, had joined the sirens and formed the Crimson Axis, an alliance of nations who have also joined the sirens. This alliance also included Italy, which called themselves the Sardegna Empire, and the Vichya Dominion, which is France.

The Azur Lane was the organisation that was formed to fight the sirens. Originally the members of the Crimson Axis were also part of the Azur Lane but left before the war started. Its members now include the Royal Navy, and Britain. The Eagle Union, America. And the Dragon Empery, China. There are also the Northern Parliament, Russia, and the Sakura Empire, Japan. But the Northern Parliament have been busy with sirens up in the north, and the Sakura Empire has been very quiet as of late.

He was kind of happy that he was alone in this world. This was far from the world he wanted for Nunnally, very far from it. But he had left his one in a peaceful state, so she and the others should be fine.

Kind of ironic that he died to make a peaceful world, only to end up in another war-torn one. It's like the universe didn't want him to live in a peaceful world. Still, the world was at war, and here he was mopping the deck of a ship. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

The next couple of days were repetitive and boring. There wasn't much to do, apart from card games and mopping the deck. The crew were friendly, even the officers were friendly towards him. It was a big improvement over the rather rude attitude the people onboard the USS Calypso had towards him.

He made a few acquaintances amongst the ship's crew, but they never quite approached friendship, as he had secrets that sadly served as a border that separated casual acquaintances and friends.

He talked to a lot of people during meals, although most of what Lelouch said were lies. Some people somehow knew most of what he said were lies, but they never pushed for the truth. A common joke at the table was that he was the estranged son of a noble who joined the merchant navy just to get away from his dad. It was surprisingly funny, considering how close it was to the truth.

Of course, working on a small transport ship was starting to get boring. He longed for a real challenge, the ship's crew were so bad at poker that it was unfair to play against them. Plus the only chess set onboard was missing all but five pieces, six if you count the black king piece he decided to carry with him.

Three days before the fleet was due to arrive at its destination, he got his chance to put his skills to the test.

It started off as a normal day, moping the main deck when he saw someone standing at the very front of the ship, resting against the side rail. A woman wearing a fine Edwardian-styled blue coat with a Union Jack capelet, and a rather odd hat that looked like it had part of a ship on top of it.

She was standing by the rail, looking out to sea with her arms behind her back. She held herself with a calm and proper demeanour, and there was an air of elegance around her.

Lelouch had to admit that she was a very elegant woman. But he couldn't help but wonder if he's seen her before.

It was only when he got close did she speak. “Nice weather we're having,” she said with a polite and calm voice, she then turned towards him. She had a polite and gentle smile on her face.

“Agreed,” Lelouch said as he put a pause to his moping “Quite too, no sign of Siren activity” he added.

The woman simply hummed in response before she turned back towards the sea, gazing out into the open ocean. His gaze followed hers and he too was looking out at the ocean, watching the waves rise and fall as a gentle sea breeze blew over them.

“I just wish it was as calm and peaceful as this all over the world,” the woman said with a slight frown “I hope the Crimson Axis see the error of their ways and rejoin the Azur Lane soon. This war of theirs is pointless”.

Lelouch had to agree with her on that one. The planet was under attack by an alien force, and yet, some people decide to declare war on the people who are fighting to protect the planet from the invaders. Human stupidity at its finest.

“Still, I'm glad to see that you're doing well after we rescued you,” the woman said as she turned to face him “I was so worried when you fainted in front of me,” she said with concern in her voice.

“Oh, so you're the one I saw on that island,” Lelouch said, realising where he had first seen her.

The woman smiled “I am the Admiral-class battlecruiser, Hood. The pride of the Royal Navy” she said, introducing herself with the elegance of a lady.

“Lelouch Lamperouge, British Merchant Navy,” Lelouch said, reinforcing the simple lie that had become his life now.

“Yes, Hermione told me who you were are,” Hood said politely “Are you sure you're not a son of a noble? Because your polite and charming demeanour tells me otherwise?” she asked.

Lelouch let out a small laugh “You too” he said with a smile “I've already got half the crew thinking that, and now I've got a Kansen thinking it too” he said, “If I was a noble, I wouldn't be working for the merchant navy”.

Hood sighed “Fair point,” she said before she looked back out to sea “I just wish the commander was as polite as you”.

Lelouch rested on his mop “You don't like him?” he inquired.

“Who doesn't? He's rude, selfish, and repulsive. He sends us out on missions when we need to rest, shifts funds away from us to pay for unimportant things” Hood said with a hint of anger in her voice “Hell, I would have talked to you sooner if he didn't keep distracting me with pointless chores”.

“Yeah, I got told by Hermione how badly he treats you. How did he even get to command the Azur lane?” he asked, wondering how such a man got promoted to such a position.

“Because he gets results, and that's all the Eagle Union cares about” Hood replied “His superiors will ignore his less-than-desirable qualities as long as he keeps winning battles against the sirens. The Royal Navy's been trying to get him replaced by someone who doesn't overwork us, But they've been trying their hardest to keep him in control” she explained before turning around to face him “It'll take a miracle to get him out of that job” she said before a large beam of energy shot across the ocean, tearing straight through several ships, splitting them apart.

Hood sighed as she looked up “I asked for a miracle, not a siren-” she said before an almighty explosion knocked both of them off their feet, tumbling to the ground as their ears rang.

“Ow,” Lelouch groaned as he sat up. That was a big explosion, probably from a warship. He noticed Hood was having trouble standing up, so he quickly got up and helped her up.

“Thank you,” Hood said, thanking him politely as he helped her up “Now then, what-. My god” she gasped as they quickly saw the burning remains of the USS Calypso, its crippled body burning as it quickly sank beneath the waves.

“The command ship. It-It's gone” Hood shuddered as she watched the last bit of the Calypso fall beneath the waves, taking its entire crew with it.

“Siren!” someone suddenly shouted, knocking Hood back to her senses.

They both turned towards the front of the ship and saw a large pillar of water shoot out of the sea. A human-like woman then jumped out of the water with what looked like a metal manta ray on her back, with several canons built into it.

Hood quickly grabbed him and pulled him back out of the way of the incoming siren, just in time too, as the siren swiped at them as she landed directly where they had been previously standing.

For an alien invader, the Siren looked remarkably human. She had long white hair, pale skin, and inhuman yellow eyes, she also had a psychotic smirk on her face.

“Tester Beta,” Hood said as she took on a defensive posture, shielding Lelouch behind her.

“Ah, if it isn't little Miss Hood!” the Siren Tester said with a smirk “Interrupting something I see. Gotten a new boyfriend?”.

“Why are you here” Hood demanded, keeping her eyes fixed on Tester.

“Oh, I'm just here to cause some chaos for you and your commander” Tester replied calmly "So if you could tell him I'm here so he can start pissing his pants,”.

“Like he'll do anything like that,” Hood said with a polite elegance. Lelouch was surprised she was able to maintain it “Besides, he's dead, along with the command ship you destroyed”.

Tester's psychotic smirk quickly disappeared, replaced by a look of dread “I destroyed the command ship!” she shuddered rather uncharacteristically “Oh shit, I was not supposed to do that. Observer is so going to send me to the Russian front for this” she fretted “Ok, I can fix this. All I need to do is destroy all the ships, starting with this-” she said before she was interrupted by a biplane ramming into her.

“Thank you, Ark, she was really starting to annoy me,” Hood said, probably into some kind of earpiece “... get the rest of the girls into their rigging, we need to protect the convoy from her,” she said as she started towards the side rail “... Yes, I know it's going to be a lot harder now that the commanders dead, but we have no other choice. We don't have a spare commander”.

“I might be able to help,” Lelouch said, prompting Hood to stop and look at him.

“Keep attacking the Siren, I'll be there to help soon,” Hood said before she walked over to him “What do you mean, you might be able to help?” she asked.

“I, have a basic grasp of naval combat strategy” he lied, he had far more combat experience than he was letting on, but it would be suspicious if he said he was a strategic mastermind, so basic understanding it was then. “I might be able to offer some help in fighting the siren,” he said.

Hood looked at him, looking deep in thought. He hoped she would take him up on his offer of assistance. Honestly, he was only offering his assistance on a whim, he had confidence that they would be able to fight and defeat this siren. But, he wanted to see in person just how these Sirens fight, and how they would react to his tactics. He would just have to be sure to not overdo things, as the last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself.

“Alright, if you can help us, then that's fine,” Hood said as she passed him a radio and binoculars “We need all the help we can get. Just don't make me regret this decision,” she said before she turned around, rushed towards the side rail, and jumped off of the ship.

Lelouch, not knowing why she would do that, rushed after her just to check to see that she was alright. What he saw was surprising, as Hood was now standing on the water with four double-barrelled tank turrets on her back. No, not tank turrets, ship turrets. Now he knew why they had to cut so many navy jobs, the Kansen did not just command the ship, they were the ship.

Hood quickly skated off towards the siren, who looked busy fighting a few more Kansen, all of them with parts of a ship on them. This he did not expect, but it wasn't something that he couldn't accommodate.

“Well then” he smirked as he raised the binoculars to his face “Let's see how well you sirens play”.

Chapter Text

Tester was not having a good day. She had accidentally destroyed the Azur Lane command ship, killing their commander in the process. Ok so she has had worse days, but this day was turning out to be even worse as the royal navy Kansen were surprisingly competent today, surprisingly more so than usual.

She fired her main gun at Suffolk, only to end up getting broadsided by Prince of Wales. She quickly turned to fire at her, only for her starboard battery to explode. Some sneaky git had shoved a torpedo down the barrel, causing it to explode when she fired. This was the second time this tactic had been used successfully on her, taking out her port-side hip gun. They were systematically destroying her rigging, piece by piece, which was getting annoying as she couldn't sink them without her weapons.

Who was commanding these girls? With the commander dead they should be a disorganised mess, having to rely on split-second decisions during combat. But here, someone was defiantly commanding them, and it wasn't the Azur Lane commander, as he was A, dead as fuck, and B, not capable of pulling tactics like this out of his ass. Someone else was commanding them, someone with far more competence than the now-dead commander.

A glance to the side gave her a good idea of who was commanding the fleet, Hood was standing far back from the battle, not fighting, but watching. She couldn't see if she was giving orders, but she was defiantly observing the battle.

Tester charged toward her. Half of her guns may be destroyed, but she could still make the battlecruiser regret pissing her off. Plus she still had her claws.

Hood had obviously spotted her approaching, and not only fired her main guns, but also fired a barrage at her. The first salvo, as well as most of the barrage, hit her directly, causing massive damming to her already ruined rigging. But it didn't matter how much damage she took, if this body died, she could easily download into a new one. So she kept on charging towards Hood, ready to rip her face off when she got close.

Hood predictably turned and quickly retreated to the transport fleet, probably to distract her whilst the rest of the fleet caught back up. But she would not let her escape so easily. Even whilst she was being shot at she still pursued Hood.

When Hood reached the fleet she jumped over one of the transport ships. Tester would have destroyed the ship, but her main guns had been so badly damaged that she would most likely miss, so she rushed over to the ship and jumped over it, a smile pasted over her face.

Her smile quickly changed to a look of surprise as she saw Hood crouched down on the deck of the ship, her guns pointed directly at her. Above her was a 45-calibre gun, also pointed directly at her.

She barely had time to notice the grin on Hood's face before the battlecruiser and the 45-calibre gun fired at her.

Lelouch smiled as the broken body of the siren fell onto the deck, yellow blood dripping out of its body. A loud cheer came from the ship's crew moments later, celebrating the Siren's death.

“All ships, the Siren has been eliminated,” Lelouch said into the radio “Return to formation and deactivate your rigging”.

“You did well out there Lelouch,” Hood said as she walked over to him “Surprisingly good, all things coincided. The way you commanded us out there, the confidence in your voice. It sounded a lot like you had more than a basic understanding of combat strategy”.

Lelouch chuckled “I might be what you call a natural-born leader,” he said with a smile “Plus I'm surprised most of the strategies I used on that siren worked, especially shoving a torpedo down one of her barrels. I was especially surprised when that worked twice” he lied, kind of. He knew his strategies would work, he just didn't expect them to work as well as they did. He wasn't lying about the torpedo trick, that had no right to work twice. But it did, so he didn't complain.

The ambush trick worked as well, admittedly that only had a 50% chance to working as the Siren could have easily shot the ship. But she didn't, which was a relief. He took a real gamble with that one, and it paid off.

“Well, it worked out well for us. Especially the ambush on the Thames, that worked out rather well,” Hood said before she turned to the 45-calibre gun “I honestly had forgotten that regular guns could still be used to harm and kill sirens. She did not see that coming”.

“Well, a 45-calibre gun is still a 45-calibre gun,” Lelouch said “A 4.7-inch shell would still be able-OW” he yelped as something hit him on the head, knocking him off balance and causing him to fall onto the ground.

The crew's celebrations stopped as Hood quickly rushed over to him and knelt beside him “You alright?” she asked, sounding very concerned.

“Yeah, I'm fine” Lelouch replied and he brushed the area on his head that had been hit “What hit-Ghh” he shrieked as he saw the decapitated head of the Siren, laying on the ground with a rather annoyed look on its face. Even he had to admit it was a creepy sight to see, a decapitated head looking at you with judgmental eyes. He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes. The siren was dead, so there was no way it could-.

“You know Hood” Tester's decapitated head said, sounding rather annoyed. Lelouch opened his eyes and looked directly at her head “I hate you right now, you know that right?” she said.

“I know,” Hood said calmly before she stood up and grabbed Tester's long, white hair and started spinning her around quickly “And you are starting to annoy me too,” she said before she lobed Tester's head up into the air and aimed her main guns at it “Cover your ears,” she said, giving everyone present time to cover their ears before firing at Testers head “There, that should be the last we hear of that annoyance for a while,” she said with a polite smile before she helped Lelouch back to his feet.

“Thanks,” Lelouch said.

“You're welcome,” Hood said with a smile “I'll get Hermione to look you over, just in case”.

“Yeah, that might be a good idea,” Lelouch said before he stumbled a bit “Defiantly a good idea,” he said before he looked back at Hood “You should get out of your rigging, the siren's no longer a threat”.

“Indeed I should,” Hood said before she walked to the side of the boat “See you around, commander,” she said playfully before jumping off the side of the ship and moved back into formation. A large blue flash later and the HMS Hood appeared in all its glory in formation, with Hood standing on the Bow of the ship.

“Looks like someone has caught the eye of the pride of the royal navy,” one of the ship's crew said as he playfully patted Lelouch's shoulder.

“Hey, all I did was take temporal command of a small fleet to defeat a single Siren, nothing too impressive,” Lelouch said calmly as he felt a large number of people crowd around him.

“Nothing too impressive! Do you have any idea what you just said,” another crewmember said “Sirens are fleet killers. Back when they first showed up, they butchered the world's navies. It took hundreds of ships just to kill one siren” he explained.

“Plus you commanded the fleet like you've done it before. Skills like that just don't come naturally to someone”.

Well shit, no one had told him Sirens were that powerful. If he knew that, he probably wouldn't have gone overboard with how he commanded the Kansen. Hell, he shouldn't have tried killing it with the Thames' only gun and just had the Kansen fire at it until it was dead.

This was going to get him on someone's radar, wasn't it? Well, there goes trying to lay low.

Oh well, time for plan B. Sit back and see what happens. Who knows, things might start getting interesting.

Later that day, on board HMS Hood.

“More tea, lady Hood,” Hermione asked, holding a teapot.

“Yes please, thank you” Hood replied with a polite smile before Hermione poured her some more tea.

She was sitting down at a table on board her ship. With her was Ark Royal, Prince of Wales, and Icarus. With Suffolk, Norfolk, and Hermione serving them.

“So, with the Azur Lane commander now dead, we now have the perfect opportunity to get one of our own commanding the Azur Lane,” Wales said, putting her cup down onto its saucer, no intent to mourn for the now-dead commander “But the question is, who should we appoint as the new commander?”.

“That's going to be difficult, the war with the Crimsom Axis has cost us the good commanders,” Ark said, “We don't have anyone experienced enough left who we can afford to command it”.

“We're going to have that bastard Rayden Gomez put in charge, aren't we,” Icarus said with a frown “He's almost as bad as Grant”.

“Yes, he is. But his track record isn't as good” Hood calmly said “He is far less competent than Grant, so the Eagle Union will be a lot less forgiving of his less-than-desirable qualities. Besides, we have the perfect replacement commander within this fleet” she said as she took a sip of tea.

“You're referring to Lelouch Lamperouge, aren't you? The boy we recovered from the island” Wales said with a half-smile “I do have to admit, he would make a perfect commander. The way he commanded us whilst fighting Tester. That was not beginners luck, that was an experienced commander utterly humiliating a foe” she said “I don't know who he is, or how he learned to be such a good commander, but he would make a far better commander of the AL they anyone else we have. The real question is how are we going to convince the Admiralty to not only accept him into their ranks but to also get them to appoint him as our candidate for the AL commander”.

“Yes, you do have a point there,” Ark said “He's a civilian working for the merchant navy. Getting them to agree to appointing him as a fleet commander is going to be difficult. Especially considering we don't know anything about who he is”.

“Oh I don't think that will be much of a problem, most of the admiralty still owe me a few favours, so I should be able to convince them to accept him,” Hood said with a smile.

“That may not work Hood, they won't just accept him without evidence of his command abilities,” Wales said “We would need to put him through another battle or two, just to convince them that this was not a fluke. And I don't see any battles coming up”.

“On the contrary, Wales. I do believe that a battle is coming up, one that will defiantly prove to the admiralty just how good of a commander Lelouch is” Hermione said, “Bismarck has been spotted in Norway with Prinz Eugen”.

“Bismarck! She's in Norway!” Wales said sounding surprised.

“She's probably planning to attack our shipping lanes,” Hood said as she calmly took a sip of tea “It's what I would do if I were there,” she said “This would be the perfect opportunity to test Lelouch's command ability. Bismarck is no slouch in combat and is a very good commander in her own right. She will make a perfect opportunity to see his command abilities in full”.

“Beating her won't be easy, she will probably have a large escort fleet with her. She is the leader of the Ironblood after all” Wales said, “This could backfire on us, Hood”.

“And if it does, I will take full responsibility for it,” Hood said, “But this is our best chance of getting someone from the royal navy in charge of the AL, even if we have to bend a few rules to do so”.

“We will be bending more than a few rules with this” Ark said “But if it works, it works. Now, all we need to do is get a command ship over here, convince him to work for the royal navy, and hope the admiralty will agree to it all”.

“I don't think that will be much of a problem,” Hood said calmly “Once they have a clear grasp of the situation, they will have no choice but to agree to it. This is exactly the kind of thing they have been looking for, after all,” she said with a smile “If everything goes well, we won't have to suffer a commander who hates us”.

Chapter Text

“So, you want me to leave my job in the royal merchant fleet, become a commander in the royal navy, and command a small task force in taking out the leader of the Ironblood,” Lelouch said, covering the basics of what he was just told.

He was sitting at a table on the main deck of HMS Hood, with Hood, Ark Royal, and Prince of Wales sitting around it with him. With Hermione serving them. The rest of the Kansen were out in the fleet, protecting the fleet and commanding the mass-produce ships, which wasn't an easy task as the command ship was destroyed.

“Well, that's the basic run down,” Hood said, putting her cup down “But yes, that is what we would like you to do. You can refuse if you want to, but after witnessing your command abilities I feel that you'll be perfect as a command for the royal navy,” she said.

Lelouch smiled inwardly. This was far easier than he originally thought. After he accidentally went overboard with commanding the fleet, he had expected the Royal Navy to take notice of him. He just didn't expect it to be so quick, nor did he expect to be offered a position within their command structure so soon. Plus his first job as a fleet commander would be to go up against the leader of the Ironblood, the battleship Bismarck. He didn't even need to use Geass on anyone. Although he should probably check to see if he still had it. He hadn't accidentally used it on anyone, but that didn't mean he didn't have it, just that it wasn't uncontrollable.

He should get contact lenses, just in case.

“And your admiralty is ok with this?” Lelouch asked.

“It took some convincing, but they are willing to give you a shot to prove yourself to them,” Hood said before she sighed “Truth be told, this war isn't going well for us. We've lost a lot of our good commanders to both the Sirens and the Crimson Axis, and with the recent death of the commander of the Azur Lane. Our leadership is suffering greatly, and we desperately need new commanders”.

“And you think that I would make a good replacement commander,” Lelouch said, Hood looked like she was about to say something, but Lelouch quickly cut her off “Don't worry, I'll accept your offer. Just one question, do you really think it's a good idea to send me against Bismarck so soon? She is the leader of the Ironblood after all”.

“Well, we kind of do need to put you through a few more battles, just so the admiralty can realise that the battle against the siren wasn't a fluke,” Prince of Wales said.

“Plus Bismarck isn't actuary the leader of the Ironblood, she's just the face, so to speak” Ark Royal added, “She's just in charge of the navy, and even then she still has to report to a superior. It would be rather daft of humanity to put a Kansen in charge of an entire country”.

Well, that was some useful information. Bismarck wasn't the one in charge of the Ironblood, someone else was above her in the command structure. That was useful to know.

“I see,” Lelouch remarked. Still, he was curious as to why his war against the Crimson Axis was being fought anyway. Surly the Sirens were the bigger threat. Why waste resources fighting amongst themselves when there is already a bigger threat to deal with? He decided to fish for information, but not in a way that would arouse suspicion “It's a shame we have to fight her”.

“Yeah it is, isn't it,” Ark said with a frown “If only relations between France and Germany didn't turn sour, then we wouldn't be fighting this pointless war of theirs. Thankfully everyone involved is being smart about this war and are not using nukes”.

So, that's how this war started, a collapse of relations between the two nations. Things must have spiralled out of control after that. Well, now he had a better idea of how this war started. Oh well, back to the matter at hand “So, what's the plan to take on Bismarck?” Lelouch asked.

“The plan is to have Norfolk and Suffolk cover the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland, a second group consisting of myself and Prince of Wales will cruise to the south of Iceland to intercept Bismarck and her escort fleet once they've been detected” Hood explained “Once the transport fleet arrives, Icarus will leave and join up with a fleet of other destroyers and join us. Most of the overall plan has already been sorted out by the admiralty, all you have to do is command the battle, nothing more”.

Ok, so most of the plan has already been sorted out, and he had to admit, it was not the best plan. He could easily come up with a better plan, but he wasn't the one in charge of everything, so he would just have to make do with what he was given.

“Ok, that looks workable. But tell me, what will Ark Royal be doing, and will I have a command ship” Lelouch asked “Because having an aircraft carrier will help massively when dealing with Bismarck”.

“Sadly I won't be able to help it this battle” Ark replied “Once we reach port, my rigging has to go in for repair. As for the command ship, well, do we still have a spare command ship available?” she asked.

Hood shook her head “No, all royal navy command ships are in use. We have none spare”.

“Well, that seems like a major problem. Where am I going to command the fleet from?” Lelouch asked.

“Fair point. Without a command ship, we won't be able to bring in mass-produced ships” Prince of Wales said, “Plus one of us would have to carry him, which will servery hamper our combat ability”.

“You think the admiralty would have thought about this before they agreed to this” Hermione said “And before you ask, I can't help either. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has requested my presence, once we reach port I will be leaving to meet with her”.

“Well this was badly thought out,” Lelouch remarked “Me being there will hamper someone's combat ability. Unless we can bring in another ship from me to command from”.

“Well, we can't use a transport ship, they're all owned by private companies,” Hood said “Plus we can't use a mass-produced ship, as they're not kitted out for command duties. And their armour is effectively tissue paper against Kansen and siren weapons, so it's not the best type of ship to use”.

“Looks like we're going to have to call 'her' in to help,” Hood said calmly “Hermione, can you get me the phone please?” she asked, ignoring both Ark Royal and Prince of Wales, who had spit out their tea.

“Ur, sure,” Hermione said sounding rather surprised before she walked off.

Wales looked at Hood with shocked eyes “You can not be serious, Hood” she said sounding shocked.

“On the contrary, I am very serious,” Hood said calmly “We need a ship for Lelouch to command us from. With a command ship unavailable to us, we must rely on a Kansen whose ship has command and control systems built into her,” she said, “She is the only Kansen in the royal navy who can fulfil such a role without hampering our combat ability. She is our prototype after all”.

“Prototype?” Lelouch said “Who are you girls talking about?” he asked.

“HMS Dreadnought, the first Kansen ever manifested.” Prince of Wales replied proudly “She was the first ship ever to be manifested as a Kansen, and was used as a testbed for all future Kansen, just so humanity had a better idea of what they were doing with wisdom cubes” she explained “Back then her ship was fitted with command and control systems to better command our fleets against the Sirens. But when it was found out that it was very unsafe for humans to be onboard a Kansen's ship when they activate their rigging, all the C&C systems were moved to a separate ship”.

“So I take it her command and control systems were never removed,” Lelouch said.

“They weren't, but they are very outdated,” Ark said “Plus since she was built during an era where planes weren't a problem, she has no AA guns”.

“She was also never sent into battle against the Sirens and is very pissed off about it” Prince of Wales added.

“We have no choice in the matter, her command systems can still be used,” Hood said “Besides, you two know just as well as I do that she can't activate her rigging, not since the accident,” she said as Hermione returned with a mobile phone.

“Here's the phone, my lady,” Hermione said as she put the phone down next to Hood “You should really keep that on your person. Someone could easily steal it,” she said.

“This dress doesn't exactly have pockets,” Hood said as she picked up the phone, she then dialled a number and held it up to her head “Hello... Ah hello, Dreadnought, Hood here. How have you been doing?... oh that's good to know... Yep. Well, I was wondering... what?... you can't be serious... seriously... she wore that to work... oh my...” she said, sounding surprised.

Lelouch had no idea what she was talking about, but he figured that it would be better if he didn't know.

“Oh yes, I was wondering if we could use your ship. We kind of don't have a command ship available and we desperately need one... oh... is there anything you can do about it... alright, I'll send you our route and we'll meet her on the way... yep... see you later” Hood said before she put the phone down “Ok, I've got good news, and bad news. The bad news is that Dreadnought can't help us, she's too busy training the new maids. The good news is that she's sending someone who can help act as a command ship for us. She'll meet us somewhere on our expected route”.

“Any idea who she's sending to help?” Prince of Wales asked.

“No, I don't, she didn't say,” Hood said “All she said about her is that 'she's been waiting to test out her new equipment, whatever that means”.

“Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see,” Prince of Wales said “Ark, Hermione, you two should return to your ships. We will be leaving for the Denmark Strait soon,” she said as she stood up

“As you wish,” Ark Royal said as she stood up “I wish you success with your mission,” she said before she, Hermione, and Prince of Wales left for their ships.

Hood waited for a few minutes, giving the others enough time to get to their ships before she stood up “Now then, let us be off” she said. Moments later the ship changed course and moved away from the fleet, Prince of Wales, Norfolk, and Suffolk soon joined them, moving close together as they moved away from the transport fleet.

Lelouch watched from the side of the ship, watching as the transport fleet got further and further away.

He heard Hood walk up behind him “It must feel bad, leaving so many friends behind” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Lelouch smiled slightly “Not really,” he said, still looking at the fleet “They were mostly acquaintances, not friends. I wasn't there long enough to get to know any of them well,” he said.

“Of course. All your friends would have gone down with your old ship” Hood said sombrely, lowering her head “Tell me, what was the name of the ship you worked on?”.

Lelouch lowered his head “I-I don't remember” he lied, seeing that he didn't come from a destroyed ship. Thankfully he could rely on his background of being found on an island, they had no idea how long he spent on that island, so it was easy to fake forgetting the name of the ship use supposedly served on “I've been stuck on that island for-, I don't know how long, I must have forgotten it”.

“I understand. Memory can be such a fickle thing” Hood said “Humans are just not supposed to be alone for long periods of time. Don't worry, if your friends on your old ship could see you now, they would be so proud of you. You're in a command position within the royal navy”.

“I think most of them would be jealous of me, not happy,” Lelouch said with a slight chuckle.

“That too,” Hood said “Also you should really think about getting a shave and a haircut, your head is a mess,” she remarked.

“Well, I haven't really been able to, what with me not having the required tools to do so,” Lelouch said “You wouldn't have a shaving kit onboard?” he asked.

Hood shook her head “Sadly not, I can carry ammunition and fuel, anything else will be destroyed when I activate my rigging. One of the downsides of being a Kansen, all our food has to be transported on a different ship. Unless it's a supply ship, as anything they're carrying isn't destroyed when their rigging activates. Still not safe for a human to be one them, as that gets rather messy”.

“I can guess,” Lelouch said, looking back at the transport fleet, which was just barely visible over the horizon.

He smiled inwardly. Now things were getting interesting.

????????????

“You're going to get sent to the Russian front,” Purifier said as she and Tester walked down the cold, black corridor “Although, the real question is which one,” she said.

“Don't talk about it, Purifier” Tester said sounding annoyed. Ever since she got back she had been pestered by Purifier none stop.

“Maybe she'll send you to simulation fifty-two, or maybe ninety-nine,” Purifier said before she smiled “Maybe you'll be sent to simulation thirty-one”.

Tester shuddered, she had bad memories of simulation thirty-one. The endless Kirov spam still haunted her. Hopefully, she wouldn't be sent there.

“Look, I didn't mean to kill the Azur Lane commander from simulation forty-three,” Tester said “I just, missed my target a bit”.

“The laser shot through four vessels. You hit your target, as well as everything behind it” Purifier corrected with a smile “Face it, Observer is not going to be happy with you”.

“What am I not going to be happy with?” the voice of Observer Alpha asked behind them.

Testes spun around and saw Observer Alpha behind her, resting within the tentacles of her rigging. Sitting on her lap was Observer Mini, the child version of Observer Alpha that was recently created after a small skirmish with the Azur Lane of simulation eighty.

“Ur, hi Observer. How are things?” Tester asked nervously.

“Fine, thank you” Observer replied “Although you are acting a bit out of character. Are you in need of maintenance?” she inquired.

Tester was about to reply, but Purifier spoke up first “Tester just killed the Azur Lane commander of simulation forty-three,” she said with a devious smile.

“Oh, good,” Observer said with a sigh of relief “I don't have to order that simulation's commanders death now”.

“What!” both Tester and Purifier exclaimed, rather confused that Observer was happy about that simulation's Azur Lane commander's death.

“You seem surprised,” Observer said calmly “His death was already planned. He would die, and be replaced by someone from the royal navy” she explained “Seeing that he has died sooner than expected, we can move on to the next phase of that simulation. Tell me, Tester, did you happen to see a boy about eighteen years of age, with raven hair and purple eyes?” she asked.

“Well, now that you mention it. There was someone who matched that description” Tester replied “He was with Hood when I saw him. But his hair was a mess and looked like he was in desperate need of a shave”.

Both Observes smiled “Good” Alpha said “Deploy a Lurker to monitor him, and to protect him if necessary. It should be your top priority in that simulation that he becomes the next commander of the Azur Lane” she ordered before moving away “I expect to see a full report later”.

Tester and Purifier just watch Observer move away, still rather confused.

“Ok, so I know we're had to secretly protect Azur Lane commanders before. But we've never deployed a Lurker before” Purifier said “Plus we've never been required to make sure someone becomes the command of the AL”.

“You think this has something to do with Dreamweaver's plan?” Tester asked.

“Probably, she is our superior after all” Purifier replied “I wonder what she's planning with him?” she wondered.

“I have no idea,” Tester said “What I do know is that Observer will be mad at us if we don't get to work,” she said as they went back to walking down the corridor.

“Agreed” Purifier said as they walked off. Both of them wondered what exactly Observer was planning with this human.

Chapter Text

Lelouch stood at the front of HMS Hood, looking out to sea. There was very little to actually do onboard the ship, and he couldn't do most of his command duties without a command ship. Luckily for him, they were due to meet with the Kansen whose ship will be used as a makeshift command ship, so he had that to look forward to.

Still didn't know whose ship he'll be using.

He was still wearing the uniform he was given to him, and he still hadn't gotten his hair and face cleaned up, as none of the Kansen had a shaving kit on them. He'll just have to hope that the Kansen that's coming will have a kit on her.

He heard footsteps walking up behind him. He turned his head and saw Hood walking up to him.

“You ok?” she asked as she walked up to him.

“I'm fine” Lelouch replied “I'm just coming up with a basic outline of the plan to take on Bismarck,” he said.

“I see,” Hood said “I guess you'll be able to come up with a full plan once the command ship arrives”.

Lelouch nodded “I'll be following the admiralty's plan, have Norfolk and Suffolk follow Bismarck and her escort fleet whilst we and the destroyer fleet attack from the front,” he said, “But that's if everything goes as planned, a battlefield is an unpredictable place after all. You never do know what's going to happen”.

“Yes, you never do know what will happen,” Hood said “You're sure your not an experienced commander with several battles under your belt?” she asked.

“I, might have learned a few things from my father. He had a lot of books on the subject” Lelouch lied, he didn't learn anything about combat strategy from his father, he taught himself how to command armies.

Hood looked at him with an almost sorry look “It sounds like you didn't like your father much” she said.

Lelouch smirked, she was very good at reading people “What gave it away?” he asked, not expecting an answer from her “Yeah, I hated him. After my mother was killed and sister crippled during a siren attack, he disowned both of us and sent us to japan. He even blinded my sister”.

Hood choked “He what!” she said, sounding very shocked “Why would he do such a thing?” she asked.

“To make her look less threatening” Lelouch replied, turning to Hood. She looked horrified “I'm not surprised you're horrified by it. I was too when I found out about it, and angry. So angry that I came back to Britain to kill him”.

“Did you?” Hood asked, looking concerned.

“No” Lelouch replied calmly “He was killed during a siren attack a few years ago,” he said “It was annoying at first, but I got used to it. The perfect karmic death for him, dying to the same thing that killed my mother and sister”.

Hood lowered her head “So your sister died as well”.

“Yes. She was killed in a siren attack a year ago” Lelouch said, lying as his sister Nunnally didn't exist in this world. It was painful to say that his sister was dead, but it was the most logical thing he could say. It helped that he had a very long time to come up with his cover story “Her death, well, broke me. All I could think about was getting revenge on my father for sending us out there. I was so blinded by hatred that I didn't even bother to check to see if he was still alive”.

They stood there for a while, not speaking as they watched the sea gently move up and down. He looked over at Hood, it was obvious she was thinking about something.

“Lelouch,” Hood said.

“Yes, Hood,” Lelouch said, turning his head towards her.

“Have you-. Never mind, forget I said anything” Hood said before looking away.

Lelouch looked at her before looking back at the sea, something was defiantly on her mind, something tragic. Had she done something in her past that she regretted? She definitely acted like it. He sighed, he wouldn't force her to talk about it.

“Commander,” the voice of Prince of Wales said into his ear. He had an earpiece on that allowed him to communicate with the Kansen under his command “The destroyer fleet has arrived. HMS Achates, Antelope, Anthony, Echo, Electra, and Icarus are now under your command” she said, “Also the command ship has arrived”.

“Good. Tell her to move along us so I can board her” Lelouch said.

“Don't worry, I'm already doing that,” the voice of a hyperactive young girl said “I'm coming up along the port side”.

It unnerved him that the destroyers looked like young girls, but that was how they manifested. It felt wrong to send them into battle, but they seem perfectly fine with it. He'll just have to grin and bear it and order them into battle when the time came.

“Copy that,” Lelouch said before he walked over to the port side of the ship, followed by Hood who had a rather annoyed and disappointed look on her face. He looked over the side and saw the ship coming alongside them. It was a small ship, about the size of a destroy, but it was wider and taller and was very low in the water. It looked to be some kind of ironclad, with black smoke coming out of its two rear funnels. There was a single large turret on the front of the ship with two cannons on it, several more guns on its side and a single gun at the back of the ship.

There were several Manjuu running about the deck of the ship, cleaning and maintaining the ship. There was also a young girl standing at the front of the ship, looking slightly older than most destroyers. She looked like she came straight out of 1890 what with the clothing she was wearing. A thick black dress with a long skirt, fancy black shoes, a nice hat, and a sabre by her side. She also had what looked like a plush toy of some kind of three-legged walker, a kind of tripod fighting machine.

The young girl looked up at them and smiled, before jumping up rather high into the air and landing right in front of them on the deck of HMS Hood. She turned to face them and bowed politely.

“Greetings command. I am the Royal Navy ironclad torpedo ram, HMS Thunder child” the girl said politely, finishing her bow.

Lelouch was, well, rather confused right now. Thunder child was the name of a fictional vessel from H.G. Wells's novel, the war of the worlds. She shouldn't be here, she shouldn't even exist.

“Why are you here, Thunder child?” Hood asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

Good question, why was she here?

“Dreadnought sent me here to act as the fleet's command ship” Thunder child replied with a slight smile “I've just had a retrofit done, so I'm just as fast as the rest of the destroys. And I have emergency command systems installed into my ship, so it can be used as a backup command ship when a proper one isn't available” she explained.

Hood grumbled slightly “I see now why Dreadnought didn't tell me who she was sending,” she said quietly “This must be revenge for making her wear that butler bunny girl outfit during that party a few months back, isn't it”.

“Actually, it isn't. She said so herself” Thunder child said with a rather large smile “She sent me because I was the only one available. If she really wanted to get you back for that, then she would have made you wear that very skimpy maid outfit and make you be her personal maid for the day” she said, watching with glee as Hood's face lit up red. She then turned to Lelouch “So you're the new commander” she said, looking him up and down “You look more like a merchant seaman than a navy commander”.

“That's because I was a merchant seaman before,” Lelouch said, ignoring most of what was previously said “Lelouch Lamperouge. Royal merchant navy, and now commander in the Royal Navy,” he said, “You wouldn't happen to have a shaving kit on board your ship, perchance?”.

“Ur, sorry, no I don't” Thunder child replied, “Nobody told me to bring one,” she said, “And yes, I know I'm a ship from a book, please don't ask me about it. I really do not like talking about my fictional origins”.

Lelouch looked at her with a confused look before turning to Hood “How did you-”.

“Create her,” Hood said before she sighed “Let's just say someone thought that it would be a good idea to make a ship that never existed in real life. It didn't exactly go to plan, but it did help create the foundation of the PR ship development program” she said, “Which is different as it's developing ships that only ever existed on paper, not in fictional stories”.

“Yes, thank you for telling him that,” Thunder child said sounding annoyed “So can we please never speak of project Thunder child again around me”.

“Fine. As long as you don't call me auntie” Hood said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“Deal,” Thunder child said before she walked over to Lelouch “Now then, commander,” she said before she effortlessly picked him up “To my glorious ship,” she said before she jumped off of HMS Hood and landed on the deck of her ship.

“Ok, that was, new,” Lelouch said as Thunder child put him down on the deck of her ship. It felt very strange to not only get picked up by a child but also carried by the said child as she jumped from one ship to another “How strong are you Kansen?” he asked.

“Very strong,” Thunder child said as she leads Lelouch into her ship “Even without our rigging on we are much stronger than the average human,” she said as she leads him into what looked like a command room that was full of computers and tables with maps on them, and had a lot of Manjuu inside as well “And here's the command room. Sadly we only have Manjuu to operate everything in here as no human crew could be spared,” she said as they walked in.

Lelouch walked towards one of the tables. Underneath all the maps was a screen with a map of the surrounding sea on it, as well as what looked like the real-time location of every ship in the fleet “I think I can work with this” he said calmly before looking around “Although this will be my first time working with Manjuu” he said as one of the birds in question walked past him.

“Oh don't worry, you'll be fine,” Thunder child said with a smile “You'll get used to the little guys. Although if I was you, I'll keep everything locked, as they tend to get into places that they are not supposed to be in. Like my underwear draw”.

“Yeah, I can see that happening,” Lelouch said “Well, might as well get to work on the battle plan. Tell me, what information do we have on the Bismarck and her escort fleet?”.

“Everything you need about all the ships in our fleet is in that filing cabinet over there,” Thunder child said, pointing at a filing cabinet in the corner of the room “We don't know much about Bismarck herself, the Ironblood kept a lot of her statistics a secret. But we do know the number of ships they're bringing. The battleship Bismarck herself, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, and a small fleet of mass-produced ships”.

“That's it,” Lelouch said sounding surprised “That's a rather small force for such an important Kansen,” he said.

“Yes, it is a small force,” Thunder child said “They're probably trying to sneak her into the Atlantic, so a small fleet would be harder to detect than a large fleet. If she does get into the Atlantic, then she could cause some serious damage to our merchant ships”.

“It would be a massacre,” Lelouch said, looking over some of the flies that were on the table “We must do everything in our power to make sure that doesn't happen. Bismarck must not be allowed to enter the Atlantic”.

“Exactly,” Thunder child said “Well, you've got a good grasp of the situation, so I'll leave you to develop the plan of battle,” she said before she politely bowed before leaving the room.

Lelouch smiled as he went to work, looking through all the available information he had on the ships under his command, as well as the ships he'll be facing. There was a bit more information on Prinz Eugen than there was on Bismarck, but it would be enough to develop a rudimentary plan to combat them.

“Well then, Bismarck,” he said as he looked at a picture of the battleship in question “Let's see how well you fair against me”.

Chapter Text

Bismarck sighed as a cool sea breeze blew past her, standing at the front of her ship, watching the waves crash against the front of her ship. KMS Prinz Eugen was sailing ahead of her. Her own radar had suffered a fault, so Eugen moved ahead of the formation with the rest of the mass-produced fleet.

“Something on your mind?” Prinz Eugen asked over comms. Out of all the Ironblood Kansen, Eugen was one of the few who could see through her posturing.

“Yes, there is” Bismarck replied “It's my sister, Tirpitz. She's being manifested today. I wanted to be there for her, yet I'm out here raiding Royal Navy shipping lanes”.

“Ah yes, I almost forgot that was today,” Eugen said “Kansen manifestation can be a difficult process and have to be monitored closely. If things go badly, it could end up causing problems for the Kansen in question,” she said, causing Bismarck to worry about the well-being of her sister “Don't worry, your sister will be fine. Manifestation problems are rather rare these days, so I doubt your sister will suffer from any problems”.

“I just hope you're right” Bismarck sighed. She would hate for anything to happen to her sister before she had the chance to meet her in person. She also hoped that this mission went smoothly and didn't end up like the last time she was in the Denmark Strait.

“Contact!” Eugen shouted over the radio “One royal navy mass-produced destroyer, dead ahead”.

A single destroyer, and a mass-produced one at that. What was the royal navy planning by sending a single mass-produced destroyer at them? It wouldn't last long against them, hell, it wouldn't last long against Eugen. It was probably a spotter for a much larger fleet, so getting rid of it as soon as possible was a priority.

“A single destroyer, not even a Kansen” Bismarck said sounding unimpressed “Whoever's in command of that ship must be an idiot,” she said, “Eugen, deal with it quickly”.

“Verstanden!” Eugen said before her ship was surrounded by a blue glow, it then disappeared into a swarm of blue cubes which formed around Eugen, quickly turning into her rigging “Now then, let's have some fun” she said before she skated off across the sea towards the destroyer.

She skimmed past the small fleet of friendly mass-produced ships, skimming quickly towards the target ship. She noticed that it started to move to the left just before she entered weapons range, exposing its side armour to her. She didn't know why it was doing that, as it would make it easier for her to destroy it.

Oh well, one more kill for her.

She fired her main guns at the destroyer several times, a few shots missed, but the majority were on target, and soon the destroyer began to sink below the waves. Strangely enough, it started letting out smoke as it sank, which was strange as mass-produced ships didn't have smoke launches.

She looked at the smoke with suspicious eyes, wondering why it was there. Moments later her suspicions were confirmed as more smoke started to form, smoke that started to move towards the rest of the fleet.

There was a Kansen in that smoke.

“Bismarck! New contact, enemy destroyer hiding in smoke, making their way towards you!” Eugen shouted over the radio.

“What! Where the hell did that come from?” Bismarck asked as she activated her rigging. She was confused by this because this was not how this battle should go, it should be her and Eugen against Hood and Prince of Wales. Where were they anyway?

“It must have been hiding onboard that mass-produced destroyer” Eugen replied as she quickly followed the smoke. That would explain why it turned to the side, the destroyer it was carrying could jump off undetected on the other side whilst she was engaging it “I'll try to intercept them-, oh fuck!” she exclaimed just as she saw several torpedoes heading her way. She quickly moved to dodge them, but one of them struck her, hitting her propeller and slowing her down considerably.

“Eugen, are you alright?” Bismarck asked sounding concerned for her college.

“I'm fine. Minor damage sustained” Eugen replied calmly “Although I have lost a propeller, so I won't be able to catch up with the enemy destroyer,” she said “Although I doubt a single destroyer will be a problem for you”.

Bismarck could hear the smug grin Eugen had “Just get back here ASAP. Command saw fit to give me an emergency repair kit, so I should be able to fix it” she said as she aimed her cannons at the smoke, ready to destroy the destroyer when it leaves the safety of it's growing smoke screen.

This was a rather interesting tactic being deployed by the Royal Navy here. Using a mass-produced ship to cover a Kansen was almost unheard of, no one's ever tried it before. Whoever was behind this plan wasn't very good as one destroyer was not enough to defeat her. She almost felt sorry for the poor girl she was about to sink.

She pointed her guns at the smoke, ready to fire at the poor destroyer who was about to leave the smoke. Seconds later a single destroyer skated out of the smoke, immediately followed by five more destroyers in a scattered formation. Swerving from side to side to avoid the incoming fire from the mass-produced ships.

“Oh shit!” Bismarck exclaimed, her eyes shooting wide open as the six destroyers closed in on the small escort fleet “Eugen, get back here now, we're dealing with more than one destroyer!” she said as she fired her main guns at one of the destroyers, but missed.

“I'm going as fast as I can-, Behind you!” Eugen shouted.

Bismarck turned just in time to see several high-explosive rounds heading toward her. She quickly moved to the side to avoid the shells. But one hit home, hitting her rigging and destroying her radar.

“Where the hell did that come from?” Bismarck said, looking around to see where the shots came from.

Then she saw them. Five more Royal Navy vessels came up behind her. Two heavy cruisers, one battlecruiser, one battleship, and what looked like Thunderchild? What was she doing out here?

The battleship started to panic. The royal navy had caught her in a pincer manoeuvrer between a fleet of destroyers, and another fleet of heavy ships.

She took everything back about the command of this fleet, he wasn't an idiot, he was a Gott Verdammt tactical mastermind.

Who the hell was in command of this fleet?.

Royal navy fleet.

Lelouch smiled as he watched the battle unfold from the deck of HMS Thunder Child. His plan was going well, very well. His initial plan was to pincer the Ironblood fleet between his fleet and Norfolk and Suffolk, but a storm put an end to that plan as his destroyers had to turn back to avoid flooding. It didn't help that the Ironblood fleet had moved further west than previously thought, thanks to Norfolk and Suffolk losing them for a bit, so they ended up meeting them side-on.

He had two choices, attack them head-on, or meet up with Norfolk and Suffolk and wait for the destroyers to return. He chose the latter option, as he would rather fight with every ship under his command, than just two ships.

He was lucky that the destroyer fleet managed to acquire a mass-produced destroyer. He wouldn't have been able to pull off this plan, hell, he wouldn't be able to do this if he was commanding normal ships. These Kansen allowed him to try a few unorthodox tactics that normally couldn't be used. Still, it was surprising that the plan was working far better than it should have. Maybe it's because it's never been done before, so they probably didn't see it coming until it was too late.

“Good work destroyers,” he said with a smile “Maintain your momentum and keep moving from side to side unpredictably. Don't use your torpedoes on the mass-produced ships, save them for Bismarck” he ordered calmly “Hood, Prince of Wales, maintain your bombardment on Bismarck. Force her to use her main guns on you, that should leave her with her secondary weapons to use on the destroyers. Norfolk, Suffolk, maintain your approach, prepare to mop up any surviving mass-produced ships then meet up with the destroyers for another pass. The more damage we do to her now the better”.

All the Kansen under his command replied with a yes sir before carrying out their assigned orders. Hood and Prince of Wales continued to fire at Bismarck, shelling her with regular and high-explosive rounds. The Ironblood battleship responded by firing back at Hood with her main guns. The destroyers skated through the Ironblood mass-produced ships, firing at them with their main guns and sinking several of them and damaging the rest as they passed. They skated past Bismarck at a relatively safe distance, dumping all of their loaded torpedoes at the battleship before they retreated towards Norfolk and Suffolk. They took some damage from her secondary batteries, but her main guns were focused solely on Hood.

Norfolk and Suffolk met up with the destroyers before they came into range of the mass-produced ships, but that didn't affect the plan much. The Ironblood ships were in disarray, Bismarck was taking heavy damage, Eugen was still making her way back to the now decimated fleet, and the Kansen under his command have only sustained light damage.

If everything went as planned, Bismarck should be dealt with before Eugen could return to support her.

Bismarck grunted as she fired her main and secondary guns again, damaging several destroyers but not crippling any of them. It was almost annoying how easily the Royal Navy had tricked her, distracting her with an unassuming foe that carried a much larger force. The damage to Eugen's propeller was a luckily hit, and it no doubt annoyed the normally smug heavy cruiser.

She would have fallen back to Eugen, but the destroyers had crippled her with their torpedoes. Her propulsion was completely gone, leaving her a sitting duck.

The Royal Navy bombardment of her was brutal and unrelenting, made even more brutal by the previous torpedo bombardment she just suffered from. She barely had time to dodge them all, resulting in a lot of them hitting her. The shells were even worse, most didn't hit their mark, but a few did hit her, damaging or destroying key systems and leaving her even more vulnerable.

Another barrage and another shell hit her, this time directly in the face. She screamed in pain as she clutched her face, covering her left eye which was bleeding. She looked back up at the Royal Navy fleet, the destroyers and heavy cruisers were coming around for another pass, destroying what was left of the mass-produced fleet.

“How. How could this happen” Bismarck said as she watched the remaining mass-produced ships sink “The royals don't have anyone this good, not any more at least. Who in command of this fleet?”.

“Bismarck!” Eugen said over the radio “Just hold on for a bit longer, I'm almost with you!”.

Bismarck almost smiled. Despite her smug attitude, Eugen could be relied upon to back her up, it's why she was her second in command after all.

But, deep down inside of her, she knew Eugen would not get to her in time. She had been heavily damaged, her rigging was almost destroyed, her uniform was in tatters, and her body was covered in cuts and gashes. There was very little chance of her coming out of this alive.

Indeed, as she looked up she saw a massive barrage heading her way. Hood's 'Royal Navy's Glory' by the looks of it, aimed directly at her.

She closed her eyes, and fired off one last salvo “My sister... I'm sorry that... I won't ever be able to meet you...” she said before the shells hit her, one of them piercing her armour and detonating her magazine.

Hood gasped as another shell hit her, ripping off one of her turrets. Bismarck's retaliation fire was relentless and heavy and was focused directly at Hood herself. She did not know why Bismarck singled her out, but she couldn't blame her for focusing on her. It was either her or Prince of Wales, and she could only choose one.

Hood fired off another salvo at Bismarck, watching as the shells flew towards their target. Completely missed the shells that were coming towards her.

The shells struck her hard, the AP rounds smashing straight through her armour and causing heavy damage to her.

“Hood, are you alright?” Lelouch asked over comms, his voice full of concern “You've sustained heavy damage”.

“I can still fight” Hood replied, brushing the blood off of her lips.

“Are you sure? I'll rather not lose you to a lucky hit” Lelouch said.

Hood smiled. It was nice to hear that he was concerned for her. Very few commanders cared about the well-being of the Kansen under their command.

He would make a very good commander of the Azur Lane.

“Don't worry about me, Lelouch. I've been through far worse than this” Hood said.

“I'll take your word on that,” Lelouch said “Hood. Fire one more salvo at Bismarck, then retreat back to Thunder Child”.

“As you wish, commander,” Hood said as she fired one last salvo at Bismarck, firing off her 'Royal Navy's Glory' barrage as well. She then turned around to retreat back to Thunder Child but stopped when she saw a salvo heading her way. She turned to face them, and let them hit her.

“May I finally be able to put down this crown of thorns,” she said as the shells hit her, piercing her armour and detonating her magazine.

“Hood!!” Thunder Child shouted from the deck of her ship as she saw the two large explosions caused by two ships' magazines exploding. One from Bismarck, and the other from Hood.

Lelouch slowly lowered his binoculars as he watched the smoke rise from where Hood once was. Shocked by what had happened.

“Commander!” Prince of Wales said over the comms, her voice full of fear and concern “W-what happened to Hood?”.

“She-. Bismarck and Hood shot each other's magazine, causing them to explode” Lelouch said solemnly over the comm “They took each other-”.

“Incoming!” Thunder Child shouted loudly.

Lelouch barely had time to react before the ship shook violently from the hit, forcing him to grab the side rail of the ship “What hit us?” he asked as he turned towards Thunder Child.

Thunder Child turned around to face the back of her ship “I don't-. Hood!” she shouted before she rushed towards her main gun.

Lelouch turned to see her main gun now had a large dent in its turret, and he was shocked to see what had caused it. Hood's broken and bloody body had smashed into the turret. Her rigging had been completely destroyed, and her clothing had been reduced to rags.

He rushed over to her, reaching her a few seconds after Thunder Child “Hang in there Hood, I've got you” Thunder Child said as she pulled Hood out of the dent and laid her out on the deck of her ship.

Several of the ships Manjuu quickly rushed off towards the inside of the ship to gather medical equipment.

Lelouch checked her pulse. She was still alive, just barely. She would need immediate medical attention.

“Hang in there Hood,” Lelouch said as a group of Manjuu with nurse hats on arrived with a large amount of medical equipment “We've got you,” he said as the Manjuu started applying bandages to her body.

Hood's eyes slowly opened “Lelouch, I'm so sorry, for disobeying your order,” Hood said slowly, just barely hanging on to life “I am just, so, so, tired of this war. This would be, so much easier, if we were all, merely, weapons,” she said before her eyes closed, and she slid into unconsciousness.

“No! Hood! Don't you die on me!” Thunder Child cried, tears falling from her eyes as she grabbed Hood's shoulders.

Lelouch quickly grabbed Thunder Child and pulled her away from Hood before she could accidentally cause her more harm “Hay hay hay, Calm down Thunder Child!” he said, trying to calm her down “Hood will be fine, I promise. But you could end up causing more harm to her if you treat her like that” he said calmly “Let the Manjuu work on healing her, ok. We still have a battle to-” he said before the ship shook violently again.

“Torpedoes!” Thunder Child as she stood back up “But Eugen isn't in range”.

“U-boat, U-boat, U-boat” Prince of Wales shouted over the comms just as HMS Thunder Child was hit again. Another torpedo to the side of the ship.

Lelouch rushed to the side of the ship, catching a shot of one of the U-boats that were firing at them before it hid below the waves. Off in the distance, he could see Prince of Wales getting harassed by U-boats, focusing all of her attention on dodging the swarm of torpedoes that surrounded her.

He scowled as the ship was hit by another torpedo. Looks like the 'Suzaku' finally arrived.

Chapter Text

U-556 moved quickly through the water, hidden below the waves and ignoring the battle that was raging above her.

“Target hit, target hit” she heard U-557 report over comms, confirming another hit “Two hits on Thunder Child”.

She ignored the comm chatter from her sisters, for as much as she would have liked to participate in the battle, she was focusing on something far more important.

“Copy that Five-Five-Seven,” U-81 reported over comms “Preparing for another attack run on Prince of Wales”.

The water around her was cold and devoid of life. All the surrounding sea life had fled when the first shells fired. She wasn't bothered by the cold, for she was a U-boat of the Ironblood. She was made to endure such cold temperatures. But the waters felt exceptionally colder today.

“Stay just below the water and focus on harassing the command ship and Prince of Wales” U-96 advised, “We have to divert that destroyer and cruiser fleet away from Bismarck”.

Bismarck, the legendary battleship and leader of the Ironblood, and her lord. She swore an oath to Neptune himself that she would protect lord Bismarck from danger, no matter where she encountered it. So when she detected a distress signal coming from Prinz Eugen, she rushed towards the source, as Eugen was sailing with Bismarck.

“Welcome to the hornet's nest, Royals,” U-81 said as she and U-96 started their next attack run on Wales.

She was glad she rushed towards the signal, as when she arrived she saw Bismarck getting hammered by a fleet of Royal Navy ships, with Eugen being heavily damaged and separated from the mighty battleship. She was just about to issue an attack order before she saw Bismarck explode, her magazine detonating.

“Target hit, target hit-, oh fuck” U-96 said panicky over the comms “Oh fuck that was a close one”.

Lucky for her, one of the ships of the Royal Navy also had its magazine detonate.

“What happened?” U-557 asked.

Hood also went up in a massive explosion, destroying her and leaving the rest of the fleet disorderly.

“Wales just shot at me with her main guns” U-96 replied, “She missed, but she was bloody close to hitting me”.

Which left the command ship and Prince of Wales open and vulnerable to their counter-attack.

“Destroyer fleet closing in on us,” U-81 reported, alerting the others to the approaching destroyers.

The U-boats attack was relentless, striking the vulnerable ships and forcing the destroyers and cruisers to fall back to protect them, lest they lose them too.

“Do we have time for one more attack run?” U-557 asked.

Whilst the royals were distracted by the rest of her wolfpack, U-556 was free to rescue Bismarck.

“We'll try. But do prepare to fall back once they start throwing depth charges at us” U-96 replied.

She wasn't going to fail her. She was not going to let her lord Bismarck sink, not whilst she could still do something.

“Making my last attack run on Thunder Child,” U-557 reported.

She promised her, she promised Bismarck that she would help her.

“Their throwing depth charges at me!” U-81 shouted as several depth charges detonated around her.

And there was nothing in this universe that would stop her from fulfilling that promise.

“All U-boats, fall back!” U-96 ordered, “We've done everything we could. Let's hope it's enough”.

She wouldn't fail her.

“...Lord Bismarck?”

“All destroyers and cruisers, fall back to the main fleet and destroy those U-boats!” Lelouch ordered as Thunderchild was struck by another torpedo.

“Copy that! All ships, fall back to the main fleet!” Icarus responded “What about Eugen?”.

“Ignore her, we can deal with her later!” Lelouch replied, “We need to deal with these U-boats now before they sink us!”.

“Yes sir,” Icarus said.

“Ur, why are we falling back as well?” Norfolk asked nervously “We don't have any anti-submarine equipment”.

“You're falling back as well because without the destroyers covering you, you'll become prime targets for those U-boats” Lelouch replied, “Besides, you'll be no match against Eugen without battleship support. So get back here quickly”.

“Copy that sir,” Norfolk said nervously.

Lelouch quickly turned to Thunder Child “Thunder Child, get Hood inside. It's not safe for her out here!”.

“Rodger” Thunder Child said before she rushed over to Hood and picked her up. Several of the Manjuu helped her, some with carrying her, others with clearing the way.

Once Hood was inside his focus shifted to Prince of Wales, who was panicking as she was harassed by two U-boats.

“Lelouch Help me!” Prince of Wales shouted as she was hit by another torpedo “I don't know how to deal with U-boats!”.

“Wales, calm down. The destroyers are on route to help us” Lelouch said, trying his best to calm the battleship down “Make your way towards the destroyers and let them deal with the U-boats for you”.

“I'll try sir,” Wales said nervously, quickly changing course towards the destroyer fleet. He could tell that she was new to war, this was probably her first real battle. He couldn't blame her for panicking. Not everyone is capable of keeping a level head during a battle, especially when things go pear-shaped.

“Commander,” Thunder Child said over comms “Hood's in the ship's medical bay and is being looked after by the Manjuu. But she's not in good condition. We're going to have to make port as soon as possible if we want to save her,” she said, sounding clearly distressed.

“Copy that” Lelouch responded before the ship shook again, another torpedo hit “Destroyers, how long till you enter depth charge range?” he asked, griping to the side rail to help maintain his balance.

“Just entering it now, sir” Icarus replied. Sure enough, he could see the destroyers and cruisers come into view.

They split off into three groups. The two cruisers were protected by two destroyers, with the remaining four destroyers splitting off into groups of two, one to protect Prince of Wales, the other to protect Thunder Child.

The destroyers started launching depth charges at the surrounding U-boat, detonating them beneath the waves. He had no idea if any of them had scored any hits, but seeing that they were not being hit by any more torpedoes, they were obviously being driven off.

“Their retreating! The U-boats are retreating!” Icarus reported.

“Good work destroyers,” Lelouch said, “But it's not over yet. Everyone reorganise and prepare to attack Eugen. We finishing this”.

“Ur, sir. We may have a problem with Eugen” Norfolk said.

Lelouch quickly raised his binoculars and used them to look at Eugen, and could not believe what he was seeing “You have got to be kidding me”.

Eugen cursed as she slowly made her way towards the royal navy fleet, hell-bent on getting revenge for the sinking of Bismarck. The damage to her was only light after all. She was only moving so slow because of a lucky hit on her propellers.

If it hadn't been for that lucky hit, she might have been able to save her.

The destroyers and cruisers were falling back towards the main fleet. She couldn't tell why they were regrouping now, not when they could quite easily charge towards her to finish her off. No matter, they would be coming for her soon anyway, and whilst she couldn't take on all of them, she could still take a few of them out with her.

At least she didn't have Hood to deal with any more.

The water beside her suddenly rippled, and a familiar blue-haired U-boat rose up out of the water.

“U-Five-Five-Six!” Eugen said sounding surprised “What are you-” she said before she noticed the heavily damaged body of Bismarck, laying on her rigging “Bismarck!”.

“She's alive, but only just,” U-556 said, tears falling from her eyes “I need you to take her so I can switch to my ship. I can't transport her back safely like this”.

Eugen nodded and quickly picked up Bismarck. U-556 then started to move away from them, her rigging glowing blue. Moments later it transformed back into a full-sized type VII U-boat.

The top hatch quickly opened, and U-556 poked her head out “Get in quick. We don't have much time, and my sisters are already retreating” she said.

Eugen wasted no time in jumping onto the ship and clambering down into it. It wasn't easy to get in, especially when she was carrying a barely alive Bismarck and still had her rigging on. But she managed.

Once inside U-556 closed the main hatch, she then dived the U-boat beneath the waves and proceeded away from the royal navy fleet.

Eugen quickly placed Bismarck down on one of the beds. There were several of them near the middle of the ship, built into the side of the hull. They weren't the best to sleep in, but they will have to do.

“Will she be alright?” U-556 asked, tears still falling from her eyes. She was holding a medical and repair kit in her hands, holding them out to Eugen.

“She'll be fine” Eugen replied, taking the medical and repair kit “But we have to make port as soon as possible”.

“Don't worry, we're already on route to friendly waters,” U-556 said, “It will take a while, but we should get to a friendly port quickly”.

“Good,” Eugen said before she set about healing Bismarck. There wasn't much she could do to help the battleship, apart from keeping her together. Her clothing was all but gone, her rigging was almost completely destroyed, and her body was covered in blood. She would need more than a repair kit to save her “I suggest you focus on getting us to safety. We can't afford for the royal navy the pursue us like this”.

“Don't worry, I'll make sure Lord Bismarck reaches port safely,” U-556 said before she turned around and walked to the control room. Turning back to look at Bismarck only last time before she left the room.

Eugen focused on treating Bismarck's wounds, she wasn't an expert on healing people, so she might make a few mistakes here and there. Hopefully, she didn't cause more damage to her whilst fixing her.

U-556 would never forgive her if Bismarck were to die here.

Lelouch scowled as he watched Prinz Eugen climb into the U-boat with Bismarck “Damn, the U-boats weren't trying to attack us, they were distracting us” he said as the U-boat dived beneath the waves “They knew I would recall the destroyers to deal with them. I gave them a clear opening to recover both ships”.

“Commander, what do we do about the fleeing U-boats?” Icarus asked.

Lelouch sighed. Had the circumstances been different, he would have pursued them. But Prince of Wales and Thunder Child had been heavily damaged by torpedoes, and Hood was in desperate need of medical help. Plus the destroyers and cruisers had all taken a lot of damage from Bismarck's secondary batteries. The entire fleet was in need of repairs, and he couldn't afford to lose any ships to any more ships to enemy ambushes “Let them flee” he said over comms “We're in no state to pursue them at this current time, especially with Hood in critical condition. We need to make port as soon as possible for repairs”.

“Copy that commander,” Icarus said before all the Kansen in the fleet returned to formation and sailed directly towards the nearest friendly port, deactivating their rigging and returning them to ship form.

He turned to face the direction the U-boats were fleeing. They may think they have won this day, but truth be told, he was the victor. Even if Bismarck survives this day, she would be out of action for several months, and her rigging would require even longer to repair. Yes, Hood was barely alive, but if he was lucky, they would make port before it was too late to save her. But she wasn't the leader of the royal navy, Bismarck, on the other hand, was the leader of the Ironblood. Her loss would hit them harder. They would suffer dearly without her, whilst the royal navy would, at worst, suffer a significant moral loss from what happened to Hood.

He looked down at his feet, there was a gold necklace resting against his shoe. He picked it up. It was a gold chain with a bright blue gemstone hanging off of it, with the word 'Hood' written above it on a small gold bar.

He put the necklace into one of his pockets. It obviously belongs to Hood, so he would have to give it back to her once she recovers. That is if she recovers.

Chapter Text

“So, Hood's going to survive,” Lelouch said, sitting down at a finely crafted desk. Opposite him was the owner of the desk, the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship, HMS Valiant.

Valiant was a short girl, not even the size of a full adult. He kind of expected the battleship to be like Hood, tall like an adult, but she looked like she was a child. Yet despite her childish looks, she held an air of authority similar to her sister Cornelia. Well, almost similar, she didn't know how to put the fear of God into people.

“Yep, she'll survive,” Valiant said with a smile “We're lucky that you brought her back so quickly. She might not have survived had you chosen to pursue Bismarck and the fleeing U-boats” she added.

“I couldn't risk pursuing them. The fleet had taken too much damage from both attacks, and I couldn't afford to lose any more ships to future attacks” Lelouch said, which was the honest truth, he could not afford any more casualties “Besides, Hood's injuries took priority. Her death might not have been taken well by the public”.

“Agreed, she is the glory of the royal navy after all. Her death would affect us all” Valiant said, lowering her head slightly “But seeing that she has been brought back for treatment, she should be fine, in a few months that is. Her injuries are rather serious” she said. She then perked up a bit and smiled “But that's enough of that. I do have some good news for you, high command is pleased with your work. Bismarck may not have been sunk, but she will be out of action for a very long time, maybe even longer than Hood. She won't be causing us any problems in the near future”.

Lelouch smiled “That's good to hear,” he said, “That should keep our waters safe for a while. Well, from the Ironblood at least. Can't say the same about the Sirens,” he said.

“Indeed it should,” Valiant said “With any luck, they'll reduce the number of navy operations they conduct against us. Like Hood was the pride of our navy, Bismarck was theirs,” she said “So, ur, I can't help but notice that you're still wearing your merchant navy uniform,” she said, looking at his mess of a uniform, which also smelled bad because he also never got the chance to clean it.

“Well, I was never issued a new one,” Lelouch said “Plus I still haven't had a shave or haircut,” he said, brushing a hand over his mess of a face. His hair was a complete mess, and his facial hair didn't suit him.

“Yes, well Hood's report did say you were recovered from an island after your ship was sunk,” Valiant said “How long were you on that island anyway?”.

“I don't remember” Lelouch replied “I kind of lost track of time whilst I was stuck there”.

“Well, no matter. We can have you washed and cleaned before your audience with my sister, Queen Elizabeth. She'll completely lose it if you go to her dressed like that” Valiant said before she pressed a button on the side of her desk “Glasgow, you can send Colossus and Hercules in now” she said.

The door to Valiant's office opened and in walked two adult women, both of whom were dressed like butlers, and had rather noticeable bustlines.

The one on the left was slightly taller than the other and had dark grey hair and brown eyes. The other had light brown hair and red eyes. Their hair was short and uniform, their uniforms were smooth and clean, and they held themselves with a level of professionalism that could only be expected from a butler.

“HMS Colossus and Hercules. The last first-generation battleships to be built, butlers of the royal navy, and trained by the head butler herself, Dreadnought” Valiant said as the two walked up to the desk, stopping just behind him “They will be cleaning you and providing you with a new uniform, one befitting of a commander of the Royal Navy!”.

“Lelouch Lamperouge” to one to his left, Colossus, said politely “Would you kindly follow us please”.

Lelouch nodded and got up, following the two women out of the room and into the corridor. There weren't many people in the corridor, only one or two maids cleaning. He was surprised to see Prince of Wales waiting for him.

“Lelouch,” Wales said, walking up to him. The three stopped so she could talk to him “I'm sorry if I acted like a child during the last battle. Truth be told, that was my first real battle, and I panicked under fire” she said, “I'm sorry if I caused you any problems”.

“Do not worry yourself about it, even the strongest of people can fold under unexpected circumstances,” Lelouch said “I've seen it happen plenty of times. Even happened to myself a few times,” he said with a smile “So don't beat yourself up over it. It's happened to the best of us”.

Prince of Wales smiled “Thank you commander” she said, “It's not often that our commanders reassure us after we make a mistake. Most of the time they don't say anything at all”.

“We're lucky that we don't have anyone from the Eagle Union commanding us,” Hercules said “Their commanders are downright terrible to the Kansen under their command. Their high command only ignores it as they tend to get results”.

“Hopefully that will change when you take command of the Azur Lane. All their commanders will have to do what you tell them to do” Colossus said with a slight smile “Well, that's if you get appointed. The Eagle Union and Sakura Empire will also try to put one of their own in command of the AL” she said, “You'll have to look your best if you want the be the commander of the AL”.

“Well, if there's anyone who can make you look good, it's Colossus and Hercules,” Wales said “Colossus personally tailored the uniforms worn by all Royal Navy Kansen, and Hercules is a master barber. I've had her cut my hair a few times”.

“Well I have had a lot of time to practice,” Hercules said with a slight smile “But we won't be able to get him ready for his audience with Queen Elizabeth in time if we stand here and talk,” she said

“Oh, right. My apologies” Wales said “I'll talk to you later then, commander” she said before she turned around and walked away.

“Come, let us go fix that mess of a face of yours,” Colossus said, walking down the corridor along with Hercules. He followed them, as he desperately needed a shave and a haircut.

Throne room, later that day.

Queen Elizabeth sat comfortably on her royal throne, waiting patiently for the new commander, Lelouch Lamperouge, to arrive. Besides her were her sister Valiant, and her most loyal knight, Warspite. There were several others there as well, Dreadnought was there, standing beside the head maid herself, Belfast. There was also King George V, Prince of Wales, Duke of York, Illustrious, and the maids, Hermione, Sheffield, and Edinburgh, as well as several other Kansen. There were also two Royal Marines standing on either side of the main door to the room.

She was the queen of the Royal Navy after all. It always paid to have a lot of subordinates around, just to show the power you have at your disposal.

She had read reports on the new commander, how he was recovered from an island, how commanded a small fleet in humiliating a siren, several after-action reports from the battle of the Denmark Strait, and Hood's personal report on the boy.

He may be only a young adult, but according to Hood, his command ability was unquestionably good. Bismarck didn't stand a chance against him, especially when he pulled off that strategy of having several destroyers ride onboard a mass-produced ship. She never saw that one before, and she doubted that Bismarck would have seen that coming.

She can see that tactic being used in the future, especially with Lelouch in command.

The large double doors opposite her opened, and she quickly sat up. Colossus and Hercules walked in, along with a third person, a young man wearing a Royal Navy command uniform.

Elizabeth blushed slightly at the sight of him. Despite him looking about eighteen or nineteen, he was very attractive. His raven hair was short and neat, and his face was soft and clean. His purple eyes were like amethysts and had an almost hypnotic feel to them. But it was the way he held himself that caught her attention the most, like the way he walked. He walked not like a normal person, but like royalty, with all the confidence that entails.

He could easily be mistaken for Ark Royal's brother, had the carrier been born human.

He stopped a few feet before her “Greetings your majesty” he said with a polite bow, and not a sloppy one, his was perfect. Even the way he bowed his head was spot on “I am Lelouch Lamperouge. Newest commander of the Royal Navy. And a loyal servant to you, your majesty” he said with a smile, looking back up at her as he straitened himself out.

Elizabeth's blush got redder and redder. She did not expect him to be so, so, charming, with a polite demeanour to bout. Whilst his uniform looked a size too big for him, it was kind of expected as they didn't have any command uniforms for someone of his age. Still, she did not expect him to look or act remotely like this. None of the other royal navy commanders ever said they were loyal servants to her when she first met them or bowed before her.

She quickly looked around with her eyes. Several of the other girls had similar reactions to hers, especially the girls who saw him before he was cleaned up, and they looked very surprised by the change. There were a few exceptions. Sheffield, as expected, didn't change at all. Duke of York looked like she was about to Ara Ara him, and Dreadnought of all people tugged at the hem of her collar.

She quickly sorted herself out, and spoke “Greetings Lelouch. We have heard much about you, especially about your knowledge of navy combat,” she said calmly “Your plan to get a group of destroyers close to her quickly was very ingenious. I doubt that even our greatest commanders would have come up with something like that,” she said “I know Hood getting so grievously injured was unfortunate, but we are glad that you prioritised her recovery. Bismarck may have been a priority target, but losing Hood would have affected us all greatly. Thank you”.

Lelouch smiled “Your welcome, your majesty,” he said, “Hood was the one who rescued me from that island. It was only fair that I repay her in kind”.

“Indeed, and we are grateful that you did,” Elizabeth said before she lowered her head slightly “This war has hit all of us hard, Hood most of all. Operation catapult hit her the hardest. This should be a good opportunity for her to get some much-needed rest,” she said before she straightened herself out again “But that's enough talk about Hood. You're the main focus here,” she said with a smile “The admiralty has thankfully agreed to have you appointed as our candidate for the commander of the Azur Lane. They were greatly impressed by how you took out Bismarck, and expect great things from you”.

“I'm glad to hear it,” Lelouch said “I'm honestly surprised that no one's ever tried that tactic before. But then again, it probably wouldn't have worked as well as it did if people had tried it before”.

“Well, we expect even greater plans and strategy's from you in the future,” Elizabeth said “We will be leaving for the main Azur Lane base at Pearl Harbor tomorrow morning, escorted by the first royal fleet. We still don't have a command ship available for your use, due to the admiralty still refusing to provide us with one for your use. But no matter, we will hopefully have no need of a command ship for this voyage, so you will be transported there onboard one of our ships” she said. She then turned to Hermione “Hermione, I'll be entrusting you in looking after Lelouch. You will be his personal maid from now on, so, make sure to look after him, understood”.

“Understood, your majesty,” Hermione said with a bow “I'll make sure my ships limiter is active whilst he is onboard”.

“Good. The last thing we need is a repeat of the first rigging activation incident” Elizabeth said before turning back to Lelouch “Lelouch, are you ok with having one of the Royal maids look after you?” she asked.

“Indeed I am” Lelouch replied before looking at Hermione “In fact, I'm glad you've chosen Hermione. She was the one who helped me recover after I was rescued from that island”.

“Exactly, that is why I'm appointing her as your personal maid. She's a friendly face who knows how to look after you” Elizabeth said “Now I suggest that you get yourself ready to leave. We have a long journey ahead of us, and the sooner we're ready, the better”.

“As you wish, your majesty,” Lelouch said with a polite bow. He then turned around, along with Colossus and Hercules, and proceeded to leave the room, followed by Hermione.

Once he had left the room, Elizabeth's blush returned “Why did nobody tell me he was so charming?” she asked.

“Well, we never saw him with such a clean face before” Prince of Wales replied, blushing slightly “He was a complete mess beforehand,” she said.

“Well, I do have to say that Colossus and Hercules did a good job of cleaning him up,” Dreadnought said with a slight smile “I wouldn't expect anything less of them”.

Duke of York smiled “His sent is so, dangerous and calm. And his eyes, it was like he could command me just by looking into them” .

“Please sister, commanding people just by looking into their eyes?” King George V said “What is this, a Sakura Empire anime,” she said with a smirk, “Still, I can't deny that he is rather attractive. Hood's report said he had a family, right?”.

“He does” Sheffield replied as she got out a clipboard with some paper on it “According to Hood, he had a father, mother, and sister. All killed in separate Siren attacks”.

Everyone lowered their heads at the news. More unfortunate souls lost to the Sirens. The sooner this pointless war was over, the sooner they could go back to their primary mission, to fight the Sirens. It annoyed Elizabeth that even when besieged by an alien foe, the humans who created them could still find the time and reason to kill each other.

“Any luck in finding out who they were?” Illustrious asked sombrely.

“No. We have had no luck in finding any family with the surname Lamperouge” Sheffield replied “It is possible that he changed his name after he was abandoned by his father, and sent to Japan” she said “Also we have been unable to determine the ship he used to serve on. Several merchant navy ships have gone down in that area during the past few months, but we have no idea which one he served on. The companies who owned those ships got rid of the crew manifests of the ships lost in the area”.

“Seriously!” Elizabeth said sounding annoyed “I thought we told them to stop doing that?”.

“Indeed we did. But the records for the ships in question were accidentally destroyed due to a communication error” Sheffield replied.

Elizabeth sighed “Oh well, the info you have gathered will do. You have our thanks, Sheffield,” she said, waiting for the maid to bow before shifting her gaze to Edinburgh “Edinburgh, have the U-class submarines Upholder, Upright, and Una report to the First Royal fleet. We will need their, 'assistance' in escorting Lelouch to Pearl Harbor”.

“Submarines your majesty!” Edinburgh said sounding surprised “But I-. I'll do as you ask, your majesty,” she said with a bow.

Elizabeth nodded. She didn't exactly like the Royal Navy's use of submarines. It's a downright un-English way to fight. But the admiralty were the ones who made the decisions on what ships they make, so all she can do about the little blighters were to just sit back and let them do their job.

Elizabeth sat up in her chair “This is our chance to get one of our own in charge of the Azur Lane, and I will not allow for the admiralty to mess this up, not again!” she said proudly “And if the sirens think they can stop us. Then let them try, for they will be facing against the full might of the Royal First Fleet!. The mightiest fleet ever to set sail!” she said before she stood up “We are the Royal Navy, the largest navy ever to sail across the seas!. We will not stop fighting until our royal shores are once again safe from Siren and Ironblood attacks!” she said before she held her sceptre high in the air “Glory belongs to us!”.

All the Kansen gathered in the room snapped to attention and saluted “Glory belongs to us!” they all said in unison.

Lelouch smiled as he walked down the corridor, following Colossus and Hercules towards his room for the night. That worked far better than he expected it to go. He probably overdid it with the bow and the 'loyal servant' part, but he needed to impress her and impress her he did. He had no doubt that Queen Elizabeth would do everything in her power to ensure that he became the commander of the Azur lane.

Once he was in command, he could focus all his forces on the Ironblood. Once they were dealt with and brought back into the fold, he could focus solely on dealing with the real enemy, the Sirens.

He got out the king piece he kept from the Thames and fiddled with it. This was starting to get very interesting.

Chapter Text

Observer sat comfortably within the tentacles of her rigging, her younger self, Observer Mini, sat comfortably on her lap. The little one still needed to learn how to do her job after all, and their creation didn't give them all the information they would need. Well, apart from Tessy, as she was created under more controlled circumstances.

Before her stood two Lurker model sirens, Nin and Lin. Like all mass-produced Siren models they looked identical, so it was almost impossible to tell them apart. Well, unless you are a siren that is.

Oh yes, Purifier was there as well, as she was the one who selected the Lurkers who would be sent on this mission.

“Purifier” Observer said looking at the two Lurkers before her “I did say deploy a Lurker, not two Lurkers. Why are you sending two of them on this mission?” she asked looking rather unimpressed.

“Because I have the greatest plan to keep an eye on that Lelouch boy Observer Zero wants to protect, for some reason” Purifier replied with a smile.

Observer sighed “Please don't tell me it's got something to do with ramming a helicopter into something,” she said.

Purifier looked at her with a confused look “What? Why would I? No, that's not the plan at all” she said, “The plan is to have one lurker observe him from the shadows, whilst the other observes him from within the Azur Lane itself”.

“And how do you suppose we do that?” Observer asked, “Lurkers are rather obvious to the eye. Infiltrating and hiding one inside one of the most secure bases the humans have is not going to be easy”.

“Not unless we disguise one of the Lurkers as a Gato class submarine” Purifier replied “It shouldn't be too difficult. All we need to do is change her outfit, cut her hair a bit, change her eye colour. It should work, we even have a name to use. USS Ayumodoki,” she said with a smile “And don't worry about her ship, as making it look like a Gato class shouldn't be too difficult. Hell, we're already converted Nin's ship to look like a Gato class”.

A smile formed on Observer's face “Yes, this could work” she said, “One can keep tabs on threats to him, and the other can deal with them in secret. Yes, this is perfect. Keep up the good work girls”.

“Yes, sir,” Nin and Lin said with a salute.

Observer's gaze moved back to Purifier “Whilst this plan of yours has some problems, it can work. It just needs a few modifications to make it flawless, like how are we going to make the humans not get suspicious of a seventy-eighth Gato class submarine popping up out of the blue” she said.

“I understand, Observer,” Purifier said, “It shouldn't take much effort to come up with a story we can use. But in the meantime we should be able to deploy Lin to observe Lelouch from afar”.

“Good. Deploy Lin to observe Lelouch. He should be boarding one of the ships of the first royal fleet soon” Observer said “I suggest that in the meantime we focus on converting Nin into a Gato class and come up with a way to sneak her into the ranks of the Eagle Union. One question though, why not have her as a Royal Navy submarine?”.

Blank faces were all she got from the three sirens. Purifier lowered her head “Fuck!”.

Observer sighed “Oh well, I suppose it can work with her disguised as an Eagle Union submarine,” she said “Nin, Lin, carry out your assigned objectives. I want regular reports on his movements” she ordered, “Purifier, I want an assault force ready to be deployed. We may need to remove someone”.

“Yes sir,” the two Lurkers and Purifier said before all three turned around and left the room.

Observer smiled before she looked down at her younger self “So, did you learn anything from that?” she asked.

“I believe I did” Observer Mini replied with the smuggest of smiles “I am surprised that we are going to such lengths to ensure that he becomes the commander of the Azur Lane. Don't we normally just roll the dice with who commands the AL?” she asked.

“Normally we do, but simulation forty-three is a special case,” Observer said “Observer Zero requested this simulation to be made. Honestly, I'm surprised she's letting this anomaly take command of the Azur lane, let alone live. But observer Zero has the backing of the Inquisitor on this one, so we have to do as she says for this simulation” she said before she started petting Observer Mini on the head “I'm interested to see what direction she's planning for this simulation to go, and for how Lelouch handles the things we throw at him” she said with a smile.

This would be a, most interesting take on events.

Lelouch stood at the end of the dock, watching as the ships of the first Royal Fleet prepared for launch. Besides him was Hermione, the light cruiser was watching the fleet with him.

It was an impressive sight, a massive fleet of ships all under his command. Well, as long as Queen Elizabeth agreed with the order. She seemed to be rather fussy about being given orders, saying that most commands are 100,000 years too early to command her. But she said she would be generous to him. He did cripple Bismarck after all, so it was only fair to give him a chance.

The fleet itself was large, consisting of five battleships, two aircraft carriers, two light carriers, three heavy cruisers, five light cruisers, eight destroyers, and several tanker and supply ships. And that was just the Kansen and support ships, there were twice as many mass-produced ships as well.

This was a small fleet in comparison to what he used to command back when he was emperor.

“The fleet is almost ready to depart,” Hermione said with a smile “We should be able to depart within half an hour”.

Lelouch smiled “Those Manjuu are very effective workers,” he said as he watched a large group of them launch another mass-produced battleship. Said ship didn't even look near to being completed this morning “Where did they come from, and how can they build ships so quickly?”.

“We have no idea where they came from” Hermoine replied “They just, showed up one day. Probably the result of some Siren experiment. They've been helping us out ever since we found them” she explained “As for the ship construction. They're good at building mass-produced ships. Their designed to buff up our fleets, and are meant to be expendable. They don't take long to build, but they don't last long when under fire”.

“So, the purpose of the mass-produced ships is to soak up the enemy fire and provide support for the Kansen,” Lelouch said.

Hermione nodded “They are quick to build, but just as quick to be destroyed,” she said “Now the real ships, the ones that are manifested into Kansen, are built by humans. No Manjuu-made ship has ever been able to be manifested into a Kansen, only the human-made ones. So the people who build our ships are not out of a job”.

“That's good to hear,” Lelouch said before he looked back at the fleet “No loss of jobs in that area,” he said.

He heard a huff behind him “So, you're the new commander” an unimpressed female voice said behind him.

Lelouch turned and saw two people, probably Kansen, standing behind them. A battleship and a light cruiser. It was almost surprising that he was able to tell what class of ship they were just at a glance, but after everything he learned about them, it was remarkably easy to spot which one was which class.

The light cruiser was wearing a maid dress. She had blue hair and was holding a rather impressive trident.

The other one, the battleship, had some similarities to the KGV class girls but looked distinct enough to probably be a different version of the class. She had a black cape over a white military dress. A black cap, black shoes with black thigh-high stockings, and a cane that he almost mistook for a sword.

“Monarch, Neptune. It's good to see you” Hermione said as she turned to look at them “What brings you two here?” she asked.

“We wanted to check out the new commander before we left for the main Azur Lane base” Neptune replied with a slight blush “But nobody told us that he was attractive”.

Lelouch resists the urge to sigh. This was starting to be like his fan club back in Ashford Academy, but instead of fellow students, it was the women under his command. Oh well, he survived his Ashford Academy fan club, he can survive this one.

What's the worse that can happen?

“Looks aren't everything you know,” Monarch said calmly “You need a good grasp on navy warfare and military tactics to make it as a successful commander,” she said.

Lelouch smiled “At least I'm not the only one who knows the value of having a competent commander,” he said, “Don't worry ladies, I ensure you that I meet both of those requirements. I did take out Bismarck after all”.

“Indeed you did. And it was quite impressive” Monarch said calmly, “Most of the admiralty thought that you would fail in sinking her. Guess you proved them wrong,” she said with a smile smile “But we haven't properly introduced ourselves. I am the PR ship Monarch, I'm one of the rejected King George V-class designs”.

“And I am the PR ship Neptune,” Neptune said “I am a large light cruiser who only existed on paper” she added.

PR ships. Thunderchild and Hood said something about the PR ship development program. Were these girls the product of that project?

“Ah, I was wondering when I was going to meet one of our nation's PR ships,” Lelouch said with a smile "Hood and Thunderchild spoke of the PR program".

“Ah yes, Thunderchild. Our predecessor” Monarch said, “Project Thunderchild may not have been the most successful project the Royal Navy conducted. But it did pave the way for our construction”.

“It's a shame this war is going on,” Neptune said, “I would have liked to have met Roon at some point”.

“Who's Roon?” Lelouch asked, curious about the existence of more PR ships.

“She's the Ironblood PR ship that was developed as part of series one” Neptune replied, “There were six in total. The other three are Ibuki and Izumo of the Sakura Empire, and Saint Louis of the Iris Orthodoxy. But after their nation fell apart, she came under command of the Iris Libre” she explained.

“We PR ships are a lot stronger than your average Kansan” Monarch added, “We also do a lot more damage to sirens. But because of the pointless war you humans have decided to start, we haven't been able to fight any”.

“I see. Tell me, what do you know about Roon?” Lelouch asked, “Seeing that I might be fighting her at some point, it's best that I get some information on her”.

“We don't know much about Roon, other than she killed everyone present when she was awoken,” Neptune said “They wanted her to be a weapon, a killing machine. They succeeded,” she said, “We don't know anything else about her”.

Lelouch smile. It may not have been much, but it told him a great deal about Roon “Thank you ladies. That was most informative” he said.

“But we didn't tell you anything about her,” Neptune said sounding confused.

“Oh the contrary, you gave me more than enough information,” Lelouch said, “The fact that we know they wanted her to be a killing machine tells us that she's dangerous, very dangerous. We will have to be careful if we ever engage her in combat”.

A small smile formed on Monarch's face “That would be the smart thing to do” she said, “Us PR ships are difficult to take down after all. And we have no idea about Roon's combat capability”.

“Attention! All Kansen and command staff of the first Royal Fleet!” Queen Elizabeth's voice said into his ear “Final preparations have been completed. All Kansen are to report to their ships, and all command staff are to report to HMS Hermione. We will be departing in ten minutes and we do not want to leave anyone behind”.

“And that's our cue to leave,” Neptune said “It's been nice talking to you commander, but we have to report to our ships now. Whilst we're not part of the first Royal Fleet, we are coming along for the ride. We will be able to talk later,” she said before she bowed politely before walking away.

“I'll talk to you later commander” Monarch said as she turned around and walked towards her ship.

“We should board my ship now, Lelouch,” Hermione said, gesturing towards her ship “We wouldn't want to delay her majesty, now do we”.

“Of course,” Lelouch said as he turned and followed the maid towards her ship.

“Lelouch! Wait!” the voice of Thunderchild shouted. Lelouch stopped and turned, seeing the torpedo ram running up towards him.

He allowed Thunderchild to rush up to him, stopping to catch her breath before talking to him.

“Lelouch. Sorry for delaying you, but I wanted to see you one last time before you left” Thunderchild said, looking up at him.

“You ok Thunderchild?” Lelouch asked, noticing the bandages around her head.

“I'm fine, sir” Thunderchild replied, “I just wish the same could be said about Hood. She took some serious damage during the battle with Bismarck, and I'm worried that she won't make it”.

“Don't worry, she'll make it,” Lelouch said, reassuring the young girl “The doctors and repair crews should be able to save her. It will be a while before she recovers, but she will get better, I promise”.

“I hope you're right,” Thunderchild said, a small tear falling from her eye “I-I'll miss you, Lelouch. You're one of the few commanders I've actually liked”.

“I'm sorry, but as the Royal Navy's candidate for the Azur Lane I have to go,” Lelouch said, “Don't worry, I'll try to stay in contact, but I can't promise much”.

Thunderchild nodded before she hugged Lelouch tightly.

“Commander, we have to go,” Hermione said.

Thunderchild removed her arms from around Lelouch and stepped back “I'll see you around commander".

Lelouch smiled “I'll see you around,” he said before he turned around and boarded Hermione's ship.

The fleet departed soon after, leaving port and entering formation as they slowly moved away from the port.

Their formation was a simple but defensive one, prioritising the protection of the Kansen ships over the mass-produced ones. Lelouch made a few changes to the formation, making it a lot more effective at dealing with hostile forces.

It would be a while before they reached Pearl Harbor, and he had no intention of losing a single ship before he got there.

?????????
“The Black King leaves his Royal Shores, destined for power that others will be jealous of. The wolf will try to remove him, whilst the falcon will try the same. Yet the shadows will be the ones to save him, and the power of the seas, shall be his to command once again”.

“Come to me, my Black King. Come to me, and release me from my slumber”.

Chapter Text

It unnerved Lelouch that all the submarines and destroyers looked and acted like children. The fact that they were happy to go into battle didn't help either. It didn't feel right to have kids as soldiers. But, that was the way they were manifested, so he would have to get used to them.

He could handle the destroyers just fine, as well as some of the other child-looking Kansen. The submarines, on the other hand, were a completely different story.

“Ahoy commander,” a girl who had introduced herself as Upholder said with a mock salute, trying her best to sound like a pirate. Unsuccessfully.

Behind her were two other girls, Upright and Una. All three of them were submarines and were wearing pirate-themed outfits and swimsuits. Said swimsuits were, well, not the kind of thing you would give to a kid.

Queen Elizabeth, who was standing beside him, sighed “Commander, meet the submarines, Upholder, Upright and Una” she said, looking like she was trying her best to remain calm “They are members of the Royal Navy submarine fleet”.

“Aren't you forgetting something, queeny?” Upholder said with a smug grin “About us being a bunch of rebellious little blighters?” she said as the other two stared giggling.

Elizabeth's face turned a bright red “You, little, so and so's!” she said sounding very annoyed.

“I take it you don't like them much” Lelouch observed.

“Like them?! I hate them! They're underhanded, unfair, and damned un-English, and should be hung as pirates!” Elizabeth said loudly.

“Ah come on queeny. Admit it, you like us” Upholder said with a smug grin, whilst Una held up a pirate flag.

Elizabeth gowned as her head dropped “Just, get into formation around the fleet!” she ordered, “We will support you if we get attacked. So, get into formation quickly”.

Upholder smiled “Ok. But remember, we will like to spend some time getting to know the new commander at some point,” she said before the three girls rushed off and jumped off the side of the ship.

“I'm sorry about them,” Elizabeth said, still sounding a bit annoyed “Rebellious little blighters. I should never have voiced my opinion on submarines”.

“Whys that?” Lelouch asked.

“Well, then they might be a bit more manageable” Elizabeth replied, “They only started acting like pirates after my opinion on them went public, and they've been nuisances ever since. Oh well, that should keep them under control, for now at least,” she said before she turned back to Lelouch “Anyway, now that their occupied, let us return to our tea,” she said before she turned and walked towards the front of her ship. Lelouch followed, not wanting his tea to get too cold.

When they had left the tea party the maids were still setting it up, and only a few people had shown up. Now all the guests had arrived.

Only a few members of the fleet had been invited, the battleships Warspite and King George V, the carriers Illustrious, Ark Royal, and Unicorn, and the destroyers Vampire and Javelin. The cruisers Belfast, Hermione, Edinburgh, and Sirius were also there serving them. The rest of the fleet was busy keeping an eye on things, as it would be a very bad idea to have all the fleet's Kansen on one ship having tea.

He sat down in-between Unicorn and Ark Royal. Unicorn was a young girl, about the same age as the destroyers. She had long purple hair, like Javelin, and a long white dress. She also had a unicorn plush toy with her, which looked like it was alive and could somehow eat.

He wasn't going to ask how that was possible.

He also couldn't help but notice that Ark Royal kept shifting her gaze between him and the destroyers. He knew from Colossus and Hercules that the carrier had an obsession with destroyers. He would have to keep an eye on her.

“Ah, your majesty, commander,” Illustrious said as the two sat down “I hope the submarines didn't cause you too much trouble”.

“They didn't, thankfully,” Elizabeth said with a sigh “Their currently on escort duty. But I don't think that will keep them occupied for long. We don't expect any Siren contacts during this trip”.

“Well, at least this will be an uneventful trip,” King George V said before taking a sip of tea. She then looked at Ark Royal, then at Lelouch “You know, now that I've seen you two together, you two do look surprisingly similar” she said.

“What!?” the two exclaimed, surprised by King George's comment. Ark Royal even spit out her tea because of it.

“Oh, sorry. But I overheard Duke of York saying something about you two being siblings” George said with a smile.

“George,” Ark said sounding rather surprised “Siblings, really. You know we Kansen are not born traditionally, and the only siblings we have are our sister ships. Which I don't have as I'm the only one of my class,” she said, “Still, there are some similarities between us, like the hair and face. But apart from that, there's nothing similar about us”.

Lelouch glanced over at Ark. He had to admit, there were some similarities between them. The hair really did make them look like siblings.

Nunnally would have laughed at that.

Elizabeth sighed “Ladies please. You're being insensitive,” she said, “Lelouch did lose his sister to a siren attack”.

“It's alright, your majesty,” Lelouch said calmly “I have long since come to terms with my sister's passing”.

“My apologies, Lelouch,” Elizabeth said before she took a bite out of a scone “Mmmm. These are really good,” she said before she turned to Sirius “Your cooking's improving”.

“Oh, I didn't make them. The batch I made had to be thrown away” Sirius said, “Lelouch made these ones”.

“What!” Elizabeth, King George V, Illustrious, Ark Royal, Unicorn, Vampire, and Javelin all exclaimed.

“You can cook!” George said sounding surprised.

“Cook, clean, wash up, vacuum, do the laundry. You name it, I can do it” Lelouch said before he took a sip of tea “I had a paraplegic sister to look after, so I had to do all the housework and cooking”.

All the girls looked at him with surprised looks on their faces.

“You must have really loved your sister,” Elizabeth said sombrely.

“I did,” Lelouch said, “I always wanted to make the world a better place for her. But with the sirens around, that's not possible”.

“Agreed. We all want the world to be a better place” Elizabeth said, “The sooner this pointless war is over, the sooner we can focus on our primary objective. To defeat the Sirens”.

“Indeed,” Lelouch said. It was surprising that the people of this world could still fight amongst themselves whilst under attack by an alien threat. But then again, humans were surprisingly stupid creatures at times.

“Ur... commander Lelouch,” the quiet voice of Unicorn said beside him.

“Yes, Unicorn,” Lelouch said, turning towards the young escort carrier.

“Can... can I call you... big brother?” Unicorn asked.

Lelouch pasted for a second. He had read up on all the Kansen of the royal navy, focusing on the ones under his command first. Unicorn saw the royal navy's fleet carriers as older sisters and had asked several commanders if it was ok to call them big brother. Most of them refused, but one commander tried to abuse her after asking. He was promptly arrested by the military police. But it shocked him to find out that he was not only released with all charges dropped but was now an admiral of the Royal Navy.

If he became the commander of the Azur Lane, he was going to make sure that no one got away with barbaric acts such as this.

“Yeah, sure you can,” Lelouch said calmly and politely. He didn't mind the young carrier calling him big brother. It helped that it would improve his public image, as someone friendly to the Kansen under his command. Also, he didn't want the Illustrious sisters to break his legs. They did that to a guy once, and unlike the admiral who got away scot-free, he did not have any charges on him dropped.

He patted Unicorn on the head, to show that he meant well. He then turned back towards the others. He could see a smile on Illustrious' face. It was a friendly one, but also had a hidden threat behind it. 'Harm her, and you won't wake up tomorrow'.

Despite her ladylike appearance, she was a cunning and dangerous woman. He would not want to get on the wrong side of her.

“So, I am wondering, what are my chances of becoming the next commander of the Azur Lane?” Lelouch asked.

“Oh right. Your chances of becoming the next AL commander” Elizabeth said before she finished off her scone “These are really good by the way. Anyway, you'll probably be up against the commanders the Eagle Union and Sakura Empire are putting forward. So it's going to be an even battle. But knowing the Eagle Union, they're going to try some unhanded tactics to try and get their commander in charge. It's how they got Grant Kline in charge”.

“So, expect the Eagle Union to cheat then,” Lelouch said.

“Yep. We don't know how they're allowed to get away with it, but we think it has something to do with them having way more power in the AL than all the other factions” Elizabeth said “We and the Sakura Empire have been pushing for reformations within the Azur Lane, to reduce the amount of power the Eagle Union have over the organisation. But it has been like talking to a brick wall with them” she said sounding annoyed “If we can get one of our own in command, then it will be a lot easier to reform everything and balance out the amount of control the factions have over the Azur Lane”.

“With any luck, the Sakura Empire should back us up on this one,” Illustrious said “Even if they can't get their own commander in, seeing that we share the same goal, they surely would try to get ours in,” she said.

“So, we can trust their support then,” Lelouch said with a smile. It was nice to know that Japan would be with him on this, especially after everything he's done for their country. Admittedly he hasn't done anything for this world's Japan, so it's kind of a moot point. But it made him feel slightly better.

“Indeed we can,” Elizabeth said with a smile “But that's if we can communicate with them properly. They've been suspiciously quiet as of late, and have recalled all of their personal and Kansen from the main AL base”.

Lelouch's smile quickly turned into a frown. This was very suspicious behaviour from the Sakura Empire. Recalling all of their troops and being very quiet. They were planning something, something big.

He felt his chances of them supporting him in becoming the commander of the Azur Lane dropped significantly.

“Well, let's just hope that they're on our side when the time comes,” Lelouch said.

The rest of the party was spent talking about other things and generally, getting to know the girls under his command a lot better. He learnt a few things about them, as well as a few things that he wished he didn't know.

As they talked, his mind raced with plans and ideas. With the Sakura Empire being suspiciously quiet, he had to plan for the possibility that they were planning something against the Azur Lane, probably to attack it. But that was only a possibility, but something that he had to plan for. Just in case Japan wasn't as friendly as they initially thought.

Meanwhile, just outside the fleet's submarine detection radius, the Lurker model siren Lin silently observed the fleet from a safe distance. Watching with an eye on Lelouch Lamperouge, who was surprisingly good-looking. For a human that is.

As she watched, she sent back everything she saw back to Observer. The squid Siren in question was sitting within the tentacles of her rigging, with her younger self, Observer Mini, sitting comfortably on her lap.

Besides her were Tester and Purifier, who were watching the large screen in front of them.

“Why did nobody tell me how attractive this Lelouch guy was,” Tester said, watching the screen “I would have been one hundred percent with this plan from the get-go if he was this good-looking”.

“This is the first time we've seen him with a clean face,” Purifier said with a smile “Your sure we can't kidnap him?” she asked.

“For what purpose would we kidnap him?” Observer retorted with a smile “He knows nothing we don't already know. And he's not yet the commander of the Azur Lane, so all we will be doing is ruining Zero's plan”.

Purifier sighed “Fair point”.

Observer shifted her gaze away from Purifier and back towards the screen “Lin, maintain your observation of Lelouch, keep his fleet within sight at all times” she ordered.

“Copy that Observer” Lin responded.

The screen then changed to the Lurker Nin, whose transformation into a Gato class submarine had been completed. She looked a lot more human now, with short blond hair, pinker skin, blue eyes, and a different swimsuit.

“Nin, I see your transformation has been completed,” Observer said with a smile.

“Indeed it has,” Nin said “All the changes have been made, and the necessary documentation I need has been fabricated. Now all we need to do is get me into the Azur Lane main base, sneak the documents into the commander's quarters, and then I'm in”.

“Good” Observer said “What about the assault fleet, how long till it's ready to attack?” she asked.

“Oh, it's ready Observer,” Nin said before she turned the camera around, showing them a large fleet of mass-produced ships and Sirens “The fleet is ninety-nine per cent complete. We're just waiting on a few more mass-produced ships to be finished, then we can commence our attack”.

Observer's smile got larger “Excellent. Launch the attack the moment the ships are finished. I'll be sending Purifier to lead the assault. Remember, this attack is supposed to be a distraction, so don't try to cause too much damage to the facility. Just make sure you complete your objective before the attack finishes” she said before turning to Purifier “Purifier, whilst this attack is only a distraction, you have to make sure that the base commander is killed during the attack. With him dead, the Eagle Union will not be able to muster a new candidate for the commander of the Azur lane”.

“Understood,” Purifier said with a smile, summoning her rigging “I'll make sure he dies-”.

“Excuse me,” a quiet voice asked behind Purifier. The Siren turned around and saw Purichi, her child version who was also made after a small skirmish with the Azur Lane of simulation eighty “Can I come to?” she asked.

“Sure you can,” Purifier said with a friendly smile, patting her younger self on the head.

Purichi smiled. This would be the first time she'll be allowed into one of the simulations, and have some fun with the Azur Lane girls as well.

She was going to have a lot of fun out there.

Chapter Text

Lelouch stood at the front of HMS Hermione, the warm sea breeze blowing gently past him. It had taken a few weeks to reach their destination, as travel by sea did take a long time after all. But now they were nearing their destination, the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian island chain, where the main Azur Lane base was located. It would have been quicker to get there by air, but Kansen aren't really designed to be transported by air. They are ships after all.

Over the past few weeks, he had been able to get to know the Kansen under his command, including the submarines, who were indeed a handful to deal with. He also learnt of the Royal Navy Kansen who were stationed at the main Azur Lane base. He'd have to read up on those Kansen, as well as the Eagle Union one's as well. Just so he had a better understanding of who they were, and how best to command them.

“Not long now,” Hermione said as she walked up behind him “We should be able to see the island in a little less than half an hour”.

“Thank you, Hermione,” Lelouch said with a smile as he turned to face her.

“Your welcome, master” Hermione said with a bow. She then turned around and returned to her duties.

Lelouch turned and continued to look out to sea. It was nice to have a maid looking after him again. Sayoko was nice and always looked after them, and she was strong enough to fight Suzaku. Although now he effectively had an army of Sayoko's under his command, because according to Belfast, Dreadnought, the Kansen who trained the royal maid corps, didn't let them pass and become fully-fledged maids until they could serve a cup of tea. Whilst under fire.

The things he could pull off with an army of Sayoko's. His brother Schneizel's sky fortress would have meant nothing to an army of ninja maids, especially if said maids had cruiser levels of firepower at their disposal.

He smiled at the thought. But quickly that smile turned into a frown as he saw a small speck on the horizon. He quickly got out his binoculars and looked at the speck. It was another fleet, a large fleet by the looks of it.

He quickly got onto comms “Elizabeth. Fleet spotted dead ahead” he said.

“Copy that” Elizabeth responded “Illustrious, you have your scout planes up. What do you see?”.

“It's a Sakura Empire carrier fleet” Illustrious replied “I see the first, second, and fifth carrier divisions with a seizable escort fleet. But I don't see any command ships”.

“No command ship. That's strange” Elizabeth said “The Sakura Empire wouldn't send the pride of their carrier fleet out without supervision. And knowing them, they wouldn't miss the opportunity to get one of their own commanders in charge of the Azur Lane”.

“They probably didn't have anyone capable of taking the job” Javelin theorised “It is a rather demanding task, commanding mankind's last hope of survival”.

“Good point, it's not the easiest of jobs in the world,” Elizabeth said “They're probably here for moral support, and to help back us up”.

“It would probably be good to give them a call” Lelouch suggested, “Just to make sure they're on the same page as we are”.

“Agreed, they might be doing the same thing we're doing, and have their commander on one of their ships,” Elizabeth said “I'll call them now,” she said before she opened up a comm channel to the Sakura Empire fleet.

Meanwhile, Sakura Empire fleet.

Akagi frowned and breathed a sigh of relief. This was bad but also good at the same time. The fleet was panicking and in disarray, all because of the sudden arrival of the Royal Navy fleet.

They were just about to launch operation Z when the fleet came into view. Its sudden appearance put the entire plan into jeopardy. They couldn't launch the attack with that fleet around, not without them noticing and warning the Eagle Union, and then retaliating with a massive amount of firepower. Yes, they have far more aircraft than the Royal Navy, but if those battleships got into range, then it's game over for them. And even IF they managed to defeat the Royal Navy fleet, they wouldn't be able to defeat the Eagle Union retaliation fleet.

But this setback pleased her, as she was very much against launching a surprise attack against the Eagle union, especially like this. It was barbaric when she did this before, and it was barbaric now.

“Akagi” Kaga's voice said over comms “What do we do? We can't risk launching the attack with that fleet bearing down on us”.

“I know, we can't fight both the Royal Navy and the Eagle Union in a head-on fight. We don't have the firepower” Akagi said with a relieved smile “And it's obvious they've seen us too, you'll have to be blind to miss us at that range”.

“Commander Akagi” Zuikaku's voice chipped in over comms “We've got an incoming transmission from the royal navy fleet. It's from Queen Elizabeth”.

Oh great, the leader of the Royal Navy was here herself, which meant that they were up against the First Royal fleet. Just her luck. If the plan was screwed before, it was definitely screwed now. Queen Elizabeth's Queens Orders ability gave a passive buff to every Royal Navy ship in her fleet, making them slightly harder to deal with.

Akagi sighed, she now had the excuse she wanted to abort the operation. They couldn't risk fighting both the Royal Navy and Eagle Union after all. They didn't even have enough mass-produced ships to effectively fight them.

“Attention, all Kansen of the fleet. We're aborting the operation. Do not launch the attack” Akagi said over comms “Zuikaku, patch me to Queen Elizabeth”.

“Rodger,” Zuikaku said. And soon she heard the slightly annoying voice of Queen Elizabeth.

“Sakura Empire carrier fleet, this is Queen Elizabeth of the Royal Navy,” Elizabeth said proudly “To who are we speaking to?”.

“This is Akagi of the first carrier division” Akagi responded “I was put in command of this fleet, as we have no commanders available”.

“You don-. Please don't tell me that after all the planning we've done, you lot can't be bothered to get a candidate for the next commander of the Azur Lane” Elizabeth said sounding annoyed “Oh well, at least we have a candidate”.

Oh, so that's why they're here, Akagi thought. This had just turned from a good to a very advantageous situation. This gave her the perfect opportunity to get to know the Royal Navy's candidate for the Azur Lane, and hopefully, get them in command. It would give her a better understanding of the Azur Lane's new commander and how it will be structured. They did help a lot with the reformations after all.

The war with the Eagle Union, and the Azur Lane as a whole, was inevitable. As much as she hated it, there was nothing that could be done to stop it. Delayed yes, but not stopped. She just had to hope that high command would delay the war declaration long enough for her to gather enough Intel on this new commander and get home. If he was bad, then they could leave him be. But if it turned out this guy was competent, then he would be a primary target and would sadly need to be eliminated.

“Don't worry, you will have the full support of the Sakura Empire,” Akagi said with a sly smile.

A sudden crackled over the radio “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! This is Azur Main to all available combat units! We are under attack by a large Siren assault force and are taking massive damage! We can't hold them!” a panicked voice said over the comms “We have confirmed sighting of the Siren Purifier leading the assault! We need immediate reinforcements-” the voice said before the line went dead.

This was both good and bad. Good because the Sirens were doing their job for them, and bad because the Sirens were attacking Azur Main. But it was a close save. If that attack had happened whilst they were attacking as well, it would have caused some unwanted implications that they were working with the Sirens. Which was very bad as that was something they didn't need right now.

“Did you get that, Elizabeth?” Akagi asked Elizabeth over comms.

“We did” Elizabeth replied “We will be moving to assist the Azur Main now. Lelouch, you are now in command of the Royal First fleet. Prove to me that the crippling of Bismarck was not a fluke”.

“As you wish, your majesty,” A new voice said over comms. It was male and sounded young, but he sounded charming, with a polite demeanour.

“Who was that?” Akagi asked.

“I am Lelouch Lamperouge” the voice, Lelouch, replied politely and hastily “Royal Navy commander, and candidate for the position of commander of the Azur Lane”.

“Well then, Lelouch. I'll let you command our fleet during this battle” Akagi said “But be warned, if I think your orders are questionable, I will order my fleet to ignore you and command the fleet myself”.

“That is acceptable. But do note, the admiralty saw fit to not provide me with a command ship, saying that I will not 'need one'” Lelouch said, “My command ability will be significantly reduced because of it”.

“Well that's just great,” Akagi said sounding annoyed, which was completely against regulations “Oh well, knowing the Eagle Union, they will hopefully have-” she was about to say 'have a few command ships spare' when they received another distress call.

“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! This is the Eagle Union battleship Nevada at Azur Main! We are under heavy Siren attack!” the battleship Nevada shouted over comms “We have lost all base command staff and command ships! If there is anyone out there, we need immediate support now!”.

“Nevada, this is Lelouch Lamperouge of the Royal Navy. The First Royal fleet is inbound to your location with air support” Lelouch said over comms “A Sakura Empire carrier fleet is with us as well, but neither of us has a command ship with us”.

“Seriously! Fuck!” Nevada shouted sounding annoyed “Well, good luck trying to command this cluster fuck without one!”.

“Wait. What about the Shikikan? Can we use that?” Akagi asked.

“We can't risk launching it. Not whilst we're under Siren attack” Nevada replied.

“But its command and control systems are fully operational,” Akagi said “We can still use it to command the battle, even without launching it”.

“That should work,” Nevada said “I'll get to work trying to get it operation. But it will be difficult. The sirens are not going to make it easy for you to get here”.

“What's the Shikikan?” Lelouch asked.

“It's a command ship. That's all you need to know right now” Akagi replied. She would have told him more about the experimental command ship Shikikan, but he wasn't cleared to know about it yet. She was only suggesting they use it because nothing else was available.

“Understood,” Lelouch said before he switched to fleet-wide comms “All ships, move to assist Azur Main. Carriers launch your aircraft and send them to provide air support, but leave some back for CAP. Everyone will then form up in a defensive formation and proceed towards the battle” he ordered. It was soon followed by a choir of confirmations from every Kansen in the fleet, and the activation of their rigging.

“Commander,” Akagi said, “Good luck out there. We're going to need it”.

“Thanks,” Lelouch said before the call was disconnected, and both fleets started to move.

Akagi and the five other carriers in her fleet started launching their aircraft “Attention, all ships of the Sakura Empire fleet, we are assisting the Royal Navy in providing assistance to Azur Main” she said over a comm channel that only the Sakura Empire Kansen had access to. She also spoke in Japanese, just in case someone was listening in “Whilst we're not attacking the base, if an opportunity presents itself, carriers are to try and bomb key targets that the sirens miss. With any luck, we can cripple this base without anyone noticing or suspecting that we tried to attack them” she said, wishing she didn't have to give that order “Kaga. Get online with high command. Tell them that, due to unforeseen circumstances, we have been unable to launch the attack on the Azur Main. Also, tell them to delay the war declaration for as long as they can. I do not want it to send whilst we're still here”.

“Copy that” Kaga replied calmly as the large swarm of Royal Navy and Sakura Empire aircraft headed towards the Azur Lane HQ.

With any luck, the sirens would do most of the job for them.

Royal Navy Fleet. Sometime later.

Lelouch watched as his fleet engaged the Siren ships, and provided the Eagle Union Kansen with much-needed support. And oh boy was it needed. The Siren fleet was massive, with large numbers of mass-produced ships and Sirens. There was no sign of the siren Purifier, but she couldn't be far.

The battle itself was a mess. Groups of Kansen were everywhere, trying to hold the sirens back, but they were disorganised and without a commander. The city itself was in ruins, fires were burning in every building, with large plums of black smoke choking the air around them. And he could smell the distinct smell of the dead drifting in the wind. It reminded him all too much of the Britannian invasion of Japan.

He needed to get to that command ship ASAP.

“Nevada. Where's the Shikikan?” Lelouch asked over comms.

“I can't exactly tell you where it is, not over an open comm” Nevada replied “Get to Ford Island. I can take you to it from there”.

“Copy that,” Lelouch said before switching to a Royal Navy comm channel “All ships of the Royal navy, cover Hermione's ship as we make our way towards Ford Island. We need to get to the surviving command ship” he ordered, getting confirmations from all the Royal Navy Kansen.

“This battle isn't going well,” Hermione said as several Siren aircraft flew overhead, followed by several Royal Navy aircraft “Why would the Sirens attack Azur Main. They've never hit such a heavily defended location like this before”.

“I don't know,” Lelouch said as a mass-produced ship exploded in front of them, causing Hermoine to change course “There could be hundreds of reasons as to why they're attacking. We may never know-”

“Incoming!” Hermione shouted as she grabbed Lelouch and pulled him away from the front of the ship.

He almost didn't notice the high-explosive shell bearing down on them.

Chapter Text

Hermione noticed the shell just a tad too late and tried to get him away from the blast area, but in the confusion she tripped, causing both of them the fall onto the deck. She looked up at the shell, just moments before it hit the ship.

Suddenly, a Kansen came out of nowhere and smashed the shell aside with a swipe of her arm.

Lelouch looked up at his saviour. She had red hair tied in a ponytail, a black coat, dress, and boots. Her rigging was big, with three twin turrets. A battleship.

The Kansen turned to face him, and her red eyes met his “Commander, glad to see that you've finally arrived” the battleship said with a slight smile “We've been a disorganised mess since the command building was destroyed” she said before she held out her hand.

Lelouch, not wanting to look rude, took her arm. Letting her help him up “There we go,” the Kansen said as she helped him up, she then took a step back and saluted “Good to see- AHG” she screeched in pain as she grasped her right arm.

“Maryland! Are you ok?” Hermione said sounding worried as she rushed over to the Kansen.

“I'll live” the Kansen, Maryland, replied through gritted teeth “But I think I may have broken my arm slightly”.

“Can you still fight?” Lelouch asked as a Siren aircraft crashing into the sea nearby reminded them that they were still on a battlefield “We need to get to Ford Island. I would appreciate your help in escorting us there”.

Maryland smirked “Escort you, please, I can do one better than that, commander,” she said before she picked Lelouch up in a bridal carry and jumped off the side of the ship.

Hermione watched as Maryland carried Lelouch off the ship, and towards Ford Island. She sighed before activating her own rigging and followed the battleship. Elizabeth had given her clear instructions to protect Lelouch with her life, after all. There was no way she was going to let him out of her sight, not now.

Lelouch meanwhile had mixed feelings about being carried through an active battlefield. Being carried by someone who had a broken arm didn't help.

“This doesn't feel very safe,” Lelouch remarked as he tightened his grip around Maryland. He'd been in several battles before, but never had he been carried through an active battlefield, as shells and bombs landed rather too close to comfort all around him “You're sure you can carry me with that broken arm?”.

“It's safer than standing on the main deck of a ship. And my arm should hold long enough to get to Ford Island” Maryland said “Did the Royal Navy really not send you out with a command ship?”.

“No, they did not,” Lelouch said, really wishing that they had sent him out with one, “They said that I wouldn't need one”.

“Well, that's a breach of protocol and a half. They're not supposed to do that” Maryland said as she ducked underneath a falling crane “Just when I thought the Royal Navy couldn't make themselves look more like idiots”.

“Maryland” Hermione shouted as she sailed up beside them “Shouldn't I be the one carrying him? As a light cruiser, I am faster and will be able to get him to Ford Island quicker. Plus your arm is still in bad shape”.

“Indeed, but you didn't have your rigging active at the time,” Maryland said “I can pass him to you if you want”.

“Please don't” Lelouch pleaded, really wishing he was standing on something solid.

“As you wish,” Maryland said before she jumped over the sinking remains of a mass-produced ship “Why exactly do we need to get to Ford Island anyway? All the command ships there have been destroyed,”.

“All except the Shikikan” Lelouch replied “Nevada told me to meet her there so she can take me to it”.

“Ah, so trial by fire then,” Maryland said with a smile “You must be lucky. To be the first commander to use the ALS Shikikan in battle”.

“I don't even know what the Shikikan is, apart from it being a command ship,” Lelouch said.

“Oh, you'll see what it is soon enough,” Maryland said as Ford Island came into view.

There was a lot of flack fire coming from the small island. Most of it came from the numerous AA guns located around the island, but a significant amount was coming from several Kansen surrounding the island.

Maryland quickly reached the island and jumped up onto a large dock. There were several humans wearing navy and marine uniforms about the place, operating AA guns or trying to hit the Siren aircraft with their rifles. But for every man he saw, there were at least three more dead, their bodies were torn up by either heavy MG, shells, or bombs.

There were a lot of Manjuu around as well, hauling around ammo for the Kansen and AA emplacements. Useful little guys those Manjuu.

Moments after arriving on land, a woman rushed over to them. She was wearing a fringed leather outfit, a bit like a cowboy or other American frontier type. She had white hair and blue eyes.

“I'll take it your the Royal Navy commander,” the woman said as she rushed over to them. She didn't sound like Nevada, so she was probably sent to meet them and bring him to Nevada.

“Indeed. Lelouch Lamperouge, Royal navy commander” Lelouch said.

“Good,” the woman said with a smile “Battleship Oklahoma, Nevada's sister. My sister is currently busy getting the Shikikan's command systems ready, so she sent me to find you and bring you to her”.

“You're a Kansen,” Lelouch said sounding surprised “Where's your rigging?” he asked.

“The Sirens sunk my ship before I could manifest my rigging,” Oklahoma said “It's not safe out here commander. We need to get moving before something lands on us”.

“Got it,” Lelouch said before turning to Maryland “Maryland, I need you to return to the battle, we need your firepower out there fighting the Sirens, but don't push yourself”.

“Rodger that. I'll add my firepower to that of my sisters. The Sirens won't know what hit them” Maryland said before she turned around and jumped onto the water, sailing off towards the battle.

“Come on, this way sir” Oklahoma shouted, waving to him to follow as she rushed off.

Lelouch followed quickly, with Hermione right behind him. As they ran he could see the devastation that the sirens had caused to the base and the surrounding city, with the dead and dying lying everywhere. It reminded him an awful lot of Britannia's invasion of Japan. Of the devastation, the first-generation Knightmares had brought upon the country and its people. It was obvious that the sirens were just as merciless as Britannia, which gave him all the more reason to stop them.

They soon reached a slipway with a large armoured building at the end of it. The Shikikan was probably inside.

“In here commander” Oklahoma shouted as she rushed towards a side door of the building, and rushed in. Lelouch and Hermione followed her in and were surprised by the ship they saw.

Right in the middle of the room was a ship, about the size of a heavy cruiser, but it looked to have the armaments of a destroyer, even then it had very few guns and no torpedoes. What it did have were extensive radar and C&C systems.

“That's quite the impressive ship” Hermione marvelled as she looked at the ship.

“Lelouch, Hermoine, say hello to the most advanced ship in the Azur Lane fleet. The ALS Shikikan. The most advanced command ship to date” Oklahoma said as they rushed over to the boarding ramp “As much as I would like to tell you what this baby can do, right now all we need is its bridge. Nothing else matters right now”.

“Understood,” Lelouch said as they rushed aboard the ship and rushed inside.

Oklahoma led them through the ship. Lelouch had to admit, this was quite the advanced-looking ship, almost as advanced as the ships of Britannia's navy, just unable to fly.

He could really do with a flying command ship and an army of Knightmares right about now. That would show the sirens a thing or two.

Soon they walked into the ship's bridge. It was quite an impressive room with everything someone would need to command a fleet and more, as well as control the ship. Everything looked top of the line, with a large table surrounded by several control consoles and, strangely, a raised platform surrounded by handrails just in front of the table. There were several girls there as well, probably Kansen whose ship had also been destroyed before they could manifest their rigging.

“Welcome to the command room, commander,” Oklahoma said as they walked in “There normally would be a lot more people in here, but with the death of all our command staff, we're having to make do with Kansen who have lost their ships,” she said as they walked over to the central table.

There were two girls at the table. One, dressed similarly to Oklahoma was shouting into a radio, the other, wearing a blue uniform, was busy doing what looked like maintenance on the table.

“-focus flack fire around the civilian bunkers and major population areas. We can't let the sirens butcher any more people” the Kansen dressed similarly to Oklahoma said into the radio “And find the command Kansen, we can't operate this thing without her” she said before she put the radio down. She then turned to face them “Oklahoma, I'm glad to see you. I hope that this is the royal navy commander I spoke to”.

“Indeed. Lelouch-” Lelouch said before Nevada interrupted him by throwing a pair of gloves at him.

“No time for introductions sir, just get these on,” the battleship said before turning to the two girls working on the table “Pennsylvania, how's it going down there?” she asked.

“Almost... got it. There” the woman, Pennsylvania replied before she got out from beneath the table and closed up the hatch “It's done. The operations table is now fully functional. Now all we need is for the command Kansen to show up,” she said, but Lelouch could tell that she was shaken up, her hands were shaking and she was looking around in a panic “Where even is she!?”.

“I don't know” Nevada replied “Last I heard she was leaving the academy. I haven't heard anything about her since,” she said, “In the meantime, you go check on your sister, Arizona. Lord knows she needs comforting now”.

“Got it,” Pennsylvania said before she rushed out of the room.

“Command Kansen on the bridge- OH FUCK!” a voice shouted as someone rushed into the bridge. Lelouch, who had managed to get the gloves Nevada had passed to him, barely had time to turn and face the newcomer before they barged right into him, causing both of them to collapse onto the floor.

“Ok, that's going to leave a mark,” a female voice remarked as the girl sat up, bruising her head. Lelouch got up as well, and looked at the girl who had rammed straight into him “Milly?” he said sounding slightly confused, only to realize a moment later that the woman who had bumped into him looked nothing like Milly Ashford, she didn't even have the same hair or eye colour.

The woman was a young girl, slightly older than him, with long brown hair at the ends, and bright blue eyes. She was also wearing an Eagle Union officer's uniform.

“Who's Milly?” the woman asked.

“Shikikan, you can talk about that later. Right now, we've got a battle to fight” Nevada said before she helped both Lelouch and the command Kansen up “Lelouch, get commanding. Shikikan, do your thing”.

“Shikikan. Your name's Shikikan?” Lelouch said sounding surprised.

Note to self changed her name as soon as possible.

“I know, it's a bad name for a Kansen. But it's the name of the ship, so it's also my name” the command Kansen, Shikikan, said sounding slightly annoyed “Oh well, we can worry about that later. We've got a battle to win” she said before jumping over onto the raised platform. The instant she did so everything in the room turned to life, screens turned on, the platform started to glow, and the table in front of him displayed a very accurate hologram of the surrounding area, but it lacked anything that marked the location of the Kansen or Sirens.

“Command systems fully operational,” Shikikan said, but her voice had changed. It was flat, almost robotic “The Shikikan is ready to commence command operations”.

“Good, now we have a chance to survive this,” Nevada said with a smile before turning to Lelouch “You're now in command, sir. Don't try to do anything with the ship's more advanced systems, as their not fully working at the moment. Just focus of commanding the fleet”.

“Don't worry, I won't try anything stupid,” Lelouch said with a smile, he then turned back to the command table “Give me fleet-wide comms” he ordered.

“Affirmative, comm systems active” Shikikan responded, and Nevada passed him the radio she had been using.

Lelouch took the radio and spoke into it “All Kansen and Azur Lane military personnel. This is commander Lelouch Lamperouge of the Royal Navy. I am taking command of the defence of Azur Main and the surrounding city. All combat units are to report in and confirm their operational status”.

He put down the radio and waited for a response. Luckily, he didn't have to wait for long.

“This is Queen Elizabeth of the Royal Navy, reporting in commander,” the voice of Queen Elizabeth said over the comms, and a dot representing her appeared on the holographic map. Soon several more Kansen reported in, with dots representing them appearing on the map.

He smiled as more and more confirmations came in, and the map filled with dots, and they did not just represent the Kansen under his command. AA emplacements, marine units, mass-produced ships, aircraft both manned and Kansen controlled, and siren contacts as well. He knew exactly where everything in the battle was, and could now effectively command it.

It was a mess out there, but that wasn't really a problem for him, as it shouldn't be too difficult to fix it and restore order amongst the confused combat units that were scattered about the battlefield.

“Well then, Sirens,” Lelouch said as he flexed his fingers “Let's see how well you play”.

Chapter Text

Restoring the fleet to some semblance of order was remarkably easy now that the command ship was functional. The detail it gave him of the battlefield was impressive, as it showed him precisely where everything was.

He started off by falling the Eagle Union Kansen back from the front lines, allowing the fresh Royal Navy and Sakura Empire Kansen to engage the Sirens. Once the Eagle Union Kansen had fallen back and been reorganised, he split the EU Kansen into two groups, those who could still fight, and those who were too weak or too damaged to continue. Those who could still fight were either sent back to the front lines or held back to defend key areas from air attacks. The damaged Kansen were moved to areas that are safe and secure from Siren air attacks.

Once the fleet had been properly organised, all Lelouch had to do now was to defeat the Siren fleet. A remarkably simple task due to the number of carriers he had under his command, and the number of AA emplacements. The Siren aircraft were quickly witted down by a combination of fighter and AA gunfire, leaving very few of their aircraft in the air. Once air superiority had been achieved, mopping up the remaining Sirens was easy. Too easy.

The Sirens were far more advanced than the Kansen and greatly outnumbered them eight to one. Yet his forces were now tearing straight through them, which was not what was happening when he first took command of the fleet. Plus he swore that half the siren fleet had disappeared whilst he was reorganising the Eagle Union Kansen. And he certainly didn't destroy them. And where the hell was Purifier? She was the one leading this assault, yet according to Nevada, she disappeared mysteriously right after the second distress call was sent.

He had read up on the Sirens on the way here. He had a lot of free time, after all, might as well learn a bit more about his enemy. Purifier was a high-ranking Siren, a unique and dangerous one at that. She commanded the Siren forces during their attacks and is known to be very deadly in combat. It was unheard of to see her retreat from combat, especially when the Sirens were winning.

What the hell was she planning?

Siren fleet. Just outside of radar range.

Purifier smiled as she watched the Azur Lane Kansen fight the fleet she left behind. As much as she would have loved to keep fighting them, Lelouch and the fleet of Kansen he was with showed up, so she had to fall back, in case she accidentally killed him. That would piss Observer off a lot, so a sneaky retreat was in order. She had already completed her objective. The commander of the base was already dead, so the attack could be weakened without causing any problems. She took half the fleet with her as well and ordered the Sirens still engaged with the Kansen to be defeated. Which was what they were currently doing.

“Perfect. Our forces are getting flattened” Purifier said with a smile “Our objective is complete. All we need to do is wait for the forces still engaged to sink, and then we can retreat”.

“Oh. And I wanted to sink something today” a rather sad-looking Purichi said, “Why did you keep me back anyway?”.

“Because, my little Purichi, had you joined me in the attack, then the Azur Lane will know of your existence” Purifier replied, “And if they know that there are two of me, then they will be shiting themselves. Now is not the time to reveal you”.

“And when is the best time to reveal my existence?” Purichi asked.

“When the emotional impact of there being two Purifiers will be at its strongest” Purifier replied with a grin “When the Azur Lane girl's morale is at its highest, and when they think they have us at our lowest. We will reveal you to them, and really make them panic. But for now, watch and learn from your elders” she said before she looked at her younger self with a smile “Besides, we have thousands of simulations, some of which are utterly useless to us. I'm sure we can let you, Observer Mini and Tessy play around in a few of them”.

Purichi grinned at the news. An entire simulation, just for her to have fun in. This will be fun.

A Scavenger then floated over to them “Purifier” the Scavenger elite said “Our forces remaining at the Azur Lane are almost defeated. There are only a few of them left” she reported.

“That was quick!” Purifier said sounding surprised “How did they eradicate them so quickly?”.

“I think it might have something to do with that human commander, Lelouch Lamperouge” Scavenger theorised “Ever since he got onboard the ALS Shikikan, the Azur Laners have been much more organised”.

“Oh, so the rumours of his tactical abilities are true,” Purifier said with a smile “I should have left some more forces behind. Just imagine the combat data we could gain by fighting him,” she said “Fall everyone back to the nearest mirror sea, we're leaving” she ordered.

The remaining Sirens turned around and retreated, leaving the ones fighting the Kansen behind to sink. Which didn't really bother any of them, as death was more of an inconvenience for them. They could just download it into a new body when the old one dies.

Royal Navy fleet, Mamala Bay.

“The Sirens are retreating my Queen,” Warspite said as she pulled her sword out of the chest of a Siren Chaser.

“Good. Another victory for the Royal Navy” Queen Elizabeth said with a smile “I see the Bismarck was not a fluke. Lelouch can command fleets effectively, very effectively. I've never seen anyone command a fleet with such finesse before, or reorganise a disorganised force so quickly. You're sure Hood found him on a merchant ship?”.

“She did my Queen” Warspite replied “All the Kansen with her say the same as well. He was just an unassuming young man before they let him take command, after that they started to suspect something. Hood theorised that, behind that polite demeanour of his, lies an unparalleled determination” she said, “She didn't say what he was determined to do, but she said that, whatever it was, he would be willing to die to achieve his goal”.

Elizabeth gulped “Die. What was he planning to do, go to war against his own country to get back at his father?”.

“Probably, he was very young when his father sent him to Japan” Warspite replied “It begs the question, just who were his parents and how powerful were they?”.

“Hello, queeny!” Upholder said loudly as she surfaced right next to Elizabeth.

The battleship jumped back in shock “Upholder. What the fuc-. Why are you here?” she demanded.

“To deliver my report,” Upholder said calmly, “You asked us to spy on things for you”.

“Oh, yes, yes we did,” Elizabeth said with a fake smile “Please, deliver your report”.

“You were right to suspect the Sakura Empire. They have an unusually large number of submarines with them, twenty-eight in total. Far too many to have to escort a carrier fleet” Upholder reported

“Twenty-eight! That's far too many to have with a carrier fleet” Elizabeth said sounding surprised “Anything else?”.

“Negative. We've been unable to listen in on any of their communications. They're using a new code, so we can't break it” Upholder replied “Also there's no sign of Purifier”.

“That's strange. Purifier isn't the kind to disappear during battle” Warspite said “What are the Sirens up to?”.

“Whatever it is, we will have to inform Lelouch about this. He might be able to theorise what the sirens are here for” Elizabeth said “Until then, continue to mop up the remaining Sirens”.

“As you wish, my queen,” Warspite said turned and went back to fighting the Sirens.

“I'll see you later queeny” Upholder grinned before she dived below the waves.

Elizabeth sighed before she fired a salvo at the nearest Siren. They were up to something. Admittedly the sirens were always up to something, so, no change there. But still, this was strange, even for them. It wasn't like then to attack the most heavily defended port on earth for no reason. They were here for something. The real question was what were they here for?

Sakura Empire fleet, Mamala Bay.

Akagi watched as the remnants of the Siren fleet were sunk. It was oddly satisfying to reduce them to scrap metal, mainly because she was doing her job and protecting people from them, but also because they had done her job for her. Everything that she and her fleet were supposed to bomb had already been bombed by the Sirens. So there was no need for her to discretely drop anything on the base, which helped keep her hands clean of any human blood.

It felt satisfying that she didn't have to attack the Azur Lane now. Whilst she was all for this war in the first place, launching a sneak attack on someone without sending them a proper war declaration first was just indecent, plus recreating an act she was a part of decades ago just didn't feel right.

Had she been in command, she would have waited for the declaration to be sent before attacking. But she didn't have the authority to do so. All she could do was sit back and follow the orders her human commanders gave her.

Kaga sailed beside her “Akagi, the sirens have been defeated. We are just mopping up the survivors now”.

“Good. They may have done our job for us, but they are still sirens. Sinking them is our job” Akagi said “Any news from high command?” she asked.

“Yes. They're holding off sending the war declaration by a week or two. They've also recalled all other attack fleets” Kaga replied “We won't be able to launch any surprise attacks against the eagle union. But we won't be caught in hostile waters when we do go to war against them”.

“Good. I do not want to have to fight my way out of here” Akagi said “By the way, Lelouch turned out to be quite the good commander. The way he commanded the entire fleet. He could easily give our own commanders a run for their money”.

“Indeed. He knew exactly where we needed to go and what we needed to attack” Kaga said “He will be quite the dangerous opponent in the upcoming war”.

“Indeed he will. And eliminating him will not be easy. With command abilities like that, and the benefits of having the Shikikan under his control. He will be our greatest adversary” Akagi said with a smile “He will be a fun one to take down”.

“So, what's our plan now?”.

“Well first, we help get Lelouch to get the position of commander of the Azur Lane. After everything we've done to help the Royal Navy get here, we might as well have the decency to help them. This entire plan was our idea after all. Then we get to know the new commander a bit before we leave. It's shouldn't take us more than a few days”.

“Planing on playing chess against him?” Kaga asked.

Akagi giggled “Why of course. After all, as Amagi used to say, chess is an easy way to determine someone's command abilities. Unless that person doesn't know how to play chess. Then it's worthless”.

“Well, let's hope that he does know chess,” Kaga said as their planes returned to them “It would be rather boring if he didn't”.

Eagle Union fleet, Middle Loch.

“We need more bandages over here, now!” the repair ship Vestal shouted, trying her best to keep Helena's arm together.

The light cruiser and her sister St. Louis had been protecting the command building from enemy air attacks, but thanks to a miscommunication they were not supplied with more ammo when they were running low. So when they eventually ran out, they became prime targets for a swarm of Siren dive bombers. St. Louis only took a few minor hits, but her sister Helena wasn't so lucky.

“Will she be alright?” a very concerned St. Louis asked, a small trail of blood dripping down the side of her face.

“She will be fine, I just need to stabilise her,” Vestal said as a Builn rushed over to her carrying some bandages “I could really use your help helping the less injured Kansen. There are a lot of casualties and not a lot of people to look after them”.

“Of course, I'll do what I can,” St. Louis said before she sailed off towards a group of lightly injured Kansen.

Vestal took the bandages from the Builn and continued to work on Helena's wounds. All around her were other Eagle Union Kansen, all of whom were too injured to continue fighting. She was glad that the Royal Navy commander had fallen all the Eagle Union girls back behind the front lines. Normally their commanders would force them back into the fight. But this one was keeping the exhausted Kansen back behind the fresh Kansen, well away from the fight.

It was nice to have a commander who cared about the Kansen under his command. It made her job of healing those too wounded to fight much easier, as she didn't have to repair them whilst under fire.

Still, she wished that he had come earlier before the Siren attack hit. They might not have suffered so badly had he been here. The way he turned the battle around and crushed the Sirens was very efficient, almost poetic.

She was already developing a picture of what this new commander was like, and he was shaping up to be better than anyone else they had commanded them. Not only did it look like he cared about the Kansen under his command, but he was also better than any of the other commanders they'd had previously. Even the previous Azur Lane command, Grant Kline, wasn't this good. He would have turned tail and ran, or died with the rest of the base command staff.

She would very much like to meet this Lelouch Lamperouge. Just not right now, as she had a lot of patients to look after right now.

?????????

“The wolfs stark their prey. Watching from the shadows and waiting for the right moment to strike. Yet their greed and lust for power blind them. They underestimate their prey and will strike too soon, letting their prey slip between their fingers”

“Watch your back, my Black King. For you are now … prey”.

Chapter Text

Three Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters stormed through the air, heading directly to the besieged island of O'ahu, and the Azur Lane main base. Standing on the three aircraft were the three sisters of the Yorktown class, Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown herself. Surfing on top of their aircraft. Behind them were the rest of their air wings, totalling two hundred and seventy aircraft. The full might of their air power. When news that Azur Main was under attack by Sirens, the three sisters launched their entire air wings and headed directly to the besieged island. Intent on making the Sirens pay tenfold for the attack.

“We're almost there” Yorktown reported over the radio “We've just entered the radar range of O'ahu”.

“Thank god for that” a very relieved Cleveland shouted as she franticly held onto the fighter Enterprise had put her on.

The light cruiser and her sisters Columbia, Denver, and Montpelier had been with the Yorktown sisters as part of a training exercise. So when the distress call went out, Enterprise had put them on one of her fighters and told them to hold on.

“How the hell can you three surf on these planes?” Denver asked loudly, holding on to the plane she was on for dear life.

“Practice” Hornet replied calmly “Lots and lots of practice”.

“Any word from the base?” Enterprise asked.

“No. Not since Nevada sent that distress call” Yorktown replied “The radio tower may have been hit during the attack”.

“So we have no idea what's happening,” Enterprise said “Hornet, try and get in contact with Azur Main. We need to know what's happening”.

“Rodger” Hornet said before switching to long-range comms “This is USS Hornet to anyone at Azur Main, we are on approach to assist in the defence against the Sirens”.

“Hornet. Thank god you're alright!” the voice of Nevada said over the comms “I take it you're with your sisters”.

“Indeed, Enterprise and Yorktown are with me” Hornet reported “We also have Cleveland, Columbia, Denver, and Montpelier with us”.

“I think I'm going to be airsick!” Denver shouted.

An auditable sigh could be heard coming from the other end of the comm “Please tell me that you're not carrying them on your planes?”.

“It's the fastest way to get back to Azur Main” Hornet replied “Anyway, what's the situation over there?” she asked.

“Well, sadly you girls are late to the party. The situation has already been dealt with” Nevada replied “The battle ended not fifteen minutes ago. We're currently assessing the damage, and looking for survivors amongst the rubble”.

“Wait, you mean, we missed the entire fight!” Hornet shouted, sounding very annoyed “How!”.

“The Royal Navy commander who was due to arrive today took command of the fleet” Nevada explained “We had to use the ALS Shikikan's command systems, as someone in the Royal Navy decided to send him out here without a command ship. I believe someone at the Royal Islands is about to lose his job. We also had a Sakura Empire fleet show up out of the blue to help us. They really helped us out in fighting off the sirens. Also, Purifier fucked off halfway through the battle, so, that made things much easier”.

“Purifier, fucked off. That's new” Hornet said sounding surprised “I've never heard of her retreating before. You're sure someone didn't just get a lucky shot on her and sunk her”.

“Negative, she never got into range of our guns,” Nevada said “She was spotted leading the attack. But after the Royal Navy and Sakura Empire showed up, she just vanished. I'm glad she decided to leave. We might still be fighting if she was still here”.

“Ok, well that's annoying. I wanted to bomb some sirens today” Hornet said sounding annoyed “Oh well, is there anything we can help out with?” she asked.

“We need help moving debris from the command building. The entire command centre was levelled by bombs and we're currently removing it in our search for survivors” Nevada replied, “The Royal Navy commander is also there, helping out the best he can, but he could really do with some help”.

“Don't worry, we'll do what we can. Hornet out” Hornet said before switching back to short-range “Ok girls, looks like the Sirens have already been defeated” she reported.

“Already, that was quick,” Yorktown said sounding surprised “How big was the Siren force?”.

“Big. It had Purifier leading it” Hornet replied “But she disappeared halfway through the battle. The Royal Navy and Sakura Empire also showed up during the fight, so we had a lot more combat units in the area”.

“Wait, what is a Royal Navy and Sakura Empire fleet doing there?” Cleveland asked.

“The Royals were here with the Royal Navy candidate for the Azur Lane” Hornet replied “It's probably the same for the Sakura Empire”.

“Well, I wish them luck, because our higher-ups will not make it easy for them,” Enterprise said before she and her sisters started recalling their planes, keeping the ones that had someone on them active. It would be very bad to recall those now.

As they got closer and closer to Azur Main, the extent of the damage caused by the Siren attack became more and more obvious. Large fires raged across the city of Honolulu, Hickam Field had been levelled, and Azur Main itself was in ruins, with only a few buildings undamaged by the attack. The surrounding sea was full of the wreaks of destroyed ships, thankfully none of them were Kansen.

“Oh my god!” Cleveland shuddered as they got closer to the island. She had seen what damage Sirens have done to over cities far too much, and it never got easier to see. They were always so brutal with their attacks. But it was much worse here, as this was their home. An impenetrable fortress that no siren force could attack successfully. Obviously, the Sirens decided to prove them wrong.

“H-how could this have happened” Montpelier fretted as they got closer to the devastation “We had everything here. The Excalibur defence network, Lance Of Longinus, even the Shroud of Turin. Where the hell are they? Why weren't they used?” she demanded, tears falling from her eyes.

“I don't know” Enterprise replied sombrely “But I'm bloody well going to find out,” she said through gritted teeth. The sirens will pay for this day. She will make them pay tenfold, no, a hundredfold for this. She will make them rue the day they invaded earth's waters.

“Hey, is that Akagi and Kaga down there?” Hornet asked, pointing down at the ocean.

Enterprise looked down, and sure enough, standing at the entrance to Pearl Harbor were Akagi and Kaga. Maryland was with them as well.

“Indeed it is. And Maryland is with them as well” Yorktown replied “Let's meet up with them, and see if we can get a better idea of what happened before we meet the commander” she said.

“Copy that sis” Enterprise acknowledged before the remaining planes dived down towards the water. Skimming just above the surface of the water and allowing their passengers to jump off. Well, the three Yorktown sisters jumped off. Cleveland and her sisters just fell off onto the water.

Yorktown and her sisters sailed up to the two carriers and battleship, coming to a stop just in front of them.

“Akagi, Kaga, Maryland. It's nice to see that you three are alright!” Yorktown said as she stopped in front of the three Kansen, only just noticing that Maryland's right arm was in a sling.

“Yorktown. Glad to see that you and your sisters are alright” Maryland said as a smile formed on her face “And the Cleveland sisters are here too. Good. I was hoping you lot hadn't been caught up in this mess”.

“What happened here?” Hornet asked as Cleveland and her sisters sailed up behind them “Are you ok?”.

“The Sirens happened” Maryland replied “They showed up out of the blue and Pearl Harboured us. We tried to get the defences up, but the Lurkers tore the Excalibur defence network apart before we could activate it. The Shroud of Turin was destroyed before it could be turned on” she explained with a frown “As for the Lance. Purifier deflected the shot right back at it, destroying it. That was the most powerful weapon we had on-site, and she just hit it back like a ping-pong ball”.

“No” Montpelier whimpered as she fell to her knees “We spent so long developing those. They were supposed to form an impenetrable shield around us, a shield that could be developed around other cities. And the Sirens just tore straight through it like it was nothing” she cried.

“Montpelier, calm down. Don't fall apart on me now” Cleveland said as she rushed over to her sister and put her hands on her shoulders “Your stronger than this sis,” she said, trying her best to calm down her sister.

Montpelier took several deep breathers before she calmed down “Your right, I need to be calm right now. Panicking won't help” she said, “We need to be ready, just in case the Sirens return”.

“Good. Stay strong sis” Cleveland said, patting her sister on the shoulder before she stood back up and turned to face the carriers “Sorry about that. The attack must be having an effect on her”.

“Don't worry, she's not the only one who's breaking down because of this” Akagi said “This base was supposed to be our greatest fortress, yet the Sirens tore it down like it was nothing. It will take us a long time to recover from this. Physically and mentally”.

“It was a wake-up call,” Kaga said sombrely “A reminder that, the stronger our deferences, the more it hurts when they are torn down beneath us,” she said before she turned to face the devastation “This defeat, will take a long time to heal”.

Kaga was right, this battle hurt a lot more than any other. This wasn't a raid on a coastal town or city, it was a siege against their home, the main base of the Azur Lane. The effects of this battle will be much, much harder on them, and last much, much longer.

“The Sirens will pay for this” Enterprise growled, her hands clenched into fists by her sides.

“And they will, in time,” Yorktown said “Right now this base needs our help”.

“Indeed it does,” Akagi said “Kaga and I were just about to head over to the command building to meet up with Lelouch Lamperouge, the Royal Navy commander who helped lead the defence. You are welcome to come along if you like. The more people we have the faster we can search for survivors” she said before turning to Maryland “You'll be ok out here by yourself, Maryland?”.

“I'll be fine” Maryland replied “I can't help as much because of my arm, but if the Sirens do come back, I will be able to help fight back. I'm just glad that the Sakura Empire girls were helping us and not the instigators of this destruction like last time. I still get the occasional nightmare about that day”.

“Yes, I'm glad so too” Akagi added with a frown "That day was a very dark day of my history".

“Alright ladies, let's see what we can help out with,” Yorktown said before they sailed off towards the remains of the command building.

As they sailed past the devastation and wrecks of ships, they saw several submarines carrying the drowned bodies of human soldiers, base personnel, and civilians from the water and onto a beach. Several of them snarled. The Sirens known as lurkers were well known for dragging people down into the water and drowning them, the sadistic bastards. Out of all the siren mass-produced models, the lurkers were the most hated and despised.

“Bloody lurkers. How the hell did they get past the sonar network” Cleveland snarled.

“One of the sonar sensors was down for the day for maintenance. A lurker must have been able to sneak past and disable the entire network” Akagi said.

“That should not have been possible. That network overlaps itself” Enterprise said “Even if one was to go down, there would be two more covering it”.

“I don't know,” Akagi said “We will need to mount a thorough investigation after this, just to find out how this went so badly for us”.

“Agreed. Those lurkers should not have made it in so far into our defences without us detecting them” Enterprise said.

They soon reached the command building. Well, what was left of it anyway. It was nothing more than a large pile of rubble, with a large number of humans, Manjuu and Kansen removing rubble and pulling out the remains of the dead.

As they rushed over, they passed by a group of Manjuu carrying a submarine on a stretcher. She didn't recognise her, but judging by her swimsuit, she was probably a Gato-class submarine. They let the medical crew pass by before proceeding toward the rubble.

They soon saw Queen Elizabeth standing by the rubble, directing several Royal Navy Kansen as they searched the rubble.

“Elizabeth” Yorktown said as they walked up to her.

The battleship turned to face them “Ah, Yorktown. I'm glad to see that you and your battlegroup are unharmed” she said before turning back towards the rubble “As you can see, the Sirens hit this place hard. So hard in fact that I doubt that we will find any survivors. We did get lucky, however. West Virginia was in the building at the time, she managed to save the lives of several submarines by activating her rigging and providing them with a shield as a bomb hit. Had she not done that, the Eagle Union would have lost a significant number of their submarines”.

“Thank god she was able to save them,” Yorktown said.

“What were they even doing here anyway?” Hornet asked.

“According to West, Dace bumped into a new Gato class submarine, USS Ayumodoki” Elizabeth replied “Before you knew it, every Gato class on-site was here to meet their new sister. The Siren attack started soon after that”.

“Well, I'm glad that they're all ok,” Cleveland said before looking around “So, where's your commander?” she asked.

“Look behind you,” Elizabeth said with an almost annoyed look on her face.

They all turned around and saw the sorry sight of someone wearing a Royal Navy commander uniform, being carried by Hermione. Said commander looked like he had just run the London marathon, twice.

An annoyed sigh escaped Elizabeth's lips as Hermione rushed over to them and put the command down onto his feet.

“Thanks for that, Hermione,” the Royal Navy command said politely, breathing heavily.

“Your welcome commander,” Hermione said with a bow.

“You are out of shape, Lelouch,” Elizabeth said with a frown “Seriously out of shape. Someone wearing a massive mascot costume could outrun you”.

“Sorry, your majesty, but running, really isn't my strong suit” the commander, Lelouch said as he straitened himself out “Physical education was one of my weaker subjects, I'm afraid”.

Enterprise gave Lelouch a quick once over. He looked young, with short raven hair similar to Ark Royal's hair, and purple eyes that were darker than the Enterprise's own eyes. He was also charming and attractive. Very attractive considering some of the looks the other girls were giving him. Akagi in particular was giving him a rather questionable look.

“You're, rather young for a commander,” Cleveland said with an awkward smile.

“Young he may be, but he's also quite smart” Elizabeth interjected as she walked around the group and stood next to Lelouch “He personally commanded the fleet that took out Bismarck, humiliated the siren Tester, and he took command of the defence of Azur Main and won without a single Kansen casualty,” she said proudly “Believe me lady's, he may be young, but he is a very good commander”.

“We can worry about his age later,” Kaga said “Right now, he's the only commander on site. Everyone else is sadly dead”.

“Don't worry about me, I can ensure you lady's that I will do everything I can to help this base recover from this attack,” Lelouch said, “But right now, we have to search for survivors amongst the rubble. As well as the dead. I would appreciate your help in doing so”.

“Don't worry commander, you will have our support,” Enterprise said with a quick salute. A motion that was quickly copied by the other Kansen she was with.

“Thank you,” Lelouch said with a polite smile. He then started giving them orders on where to go and which buildings needed their help removing debris. Enterprise had to admit, that despite his young age, he knew exactly where they were most needed.

She wasn't going to trust him just yet, not till she has seen his command ability in battle personally. But for now, she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

??????????????
“Nin to Observer Alpha. Infiltration successful. Also, who's the fucking retard who almost dropped a bomb on me?!”.

“Oops”.

Chapter Text

Azur Lane Academy. Five hours after the Siren attack on Azur Main.

Lelouch sat at the head of the large table, listening and taking in all the information he was being told. It had been five hours since the attack, and all that time had been spent searching for survivors, gathering the dead, and investigating how such a devastating attack was allowed to happen.

They had relocated to Azur Main's backup HQ, the Azur Academy. Located along the shore of the West Loch, the Azur Academy was the main source of learning for all Kansen. Within its walls held everything the world had on the Sirens, from ship models, capability, strengths and weaknesses, as well as everything a Kansen needs to know about navy warfare.

He was currently sitting at the head of a large wooden table, with him were the Kansen Queen Elizabeth, Akagi, Enterprise, the Command Kansen Shikikan, and Chloe Wood, the only member of the Azur Lane oversight committee who survived the attack.

The Azur Lane oversight committee, or ALOC, is an organisation that oversees Azur Lane's progress in protecting the world against the sirens. It was a sensible thing to have, as it helped keep the Azur Lane in check. There were other members across the world who were still alive, but Chloe was both the only on-site and highest-ranking member to survive the attack.

Chloe was a young woman with blond hair, brown eyes, with an almost round face. She was wearing a navy blue suit and trousers, a whist shirt, and smart shoes. Her arm was also in a sling, courtesy of a siren aircraft crashing dangerously close to her.

“Civilian casualties are unsurprisingly low. Less than three-hundred dead and only a few more wounded” Enterprise reported sombrely, holding a tablet and reading through the casualty report “This can be credited to people being far more ready for an attack. Military casualties are still being counted, but we estimate it to be somewhere between four to five thousand dead, and over three thousand wounded. We have also confirmed the deaths of the entire command staff and the ALOC members on site. As for Kansen casualties, whilst we have lost zero Kansen, all Eagle Union Kansen stationed here have sustained heavy damage from the attack, and require repairs to their ships. This has left the Eagle Union Pacific Fleet out of action, with only a few Kansen well enough to fight” she reported “As for the damage to Azur Main, all facilities save for the ALS Shikikan's hanger have either been damaged or destroyed and are unsafe to use. We are now relying on backup facilities to keep everything operational” she said before she sat back down.

“This attack couldn't have happened at a worse time for us,” Queen Elizabeth said sombrely “With the previous commander dead, and all on-site command staff killed during that attack, the Azur Lane is now at its weakest. We can't command the world's fleets effectively now. And with the Ironblood and the Crimson Axis still a threat, we have far too many problems and no one to lead us” she said “And, seeing that we, the Royal Navy, are the 'only' faction to have a candidate for the position of Commander of the Azur Lane, we request that Lelouch Lamperouge be appointed to the position of temporary commander of the Azur Lane”.

Lelouch smirked slightly. Whilst the position of temporary commander would only give him a limited amount of power over the Azur Lane, he would have to step down once a second commander from a different faction was selected. It provided him with just enough time and power to get a few of his plans moving, including key parts of the Royal Navy's reformation plan for the AL. There was just one problem with this, at least three members of the ALOC were required to make the decision, and there was only one on-site still alive.

Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose “I'll get in contact with the rest of the ALOC. Whilst I don't have the authority to appoint you to the position of temporary commander, I can appoint you to the emergency commander. Just until I can get in contact with my superiors” she said “Although, considering the situation, I doubt they will go against it. The AL needs someone to lead it, and we can't afford to wait two to four weeks for the Eagle Union to select a new candidate”.

“Of course,” Lelouch said “I'll accept whatever decision the committee makes. In the meantime, we should focus on getting this base operational again. The sooner we can do that, the sooner we can get back to fighting the Sirens”.

“Agreed. Recovery of Azur Lane assets and Kansen should be our top priority” Enterprise said, “We have over thirty Kansen out there with heavy damage, and another twenty whose rigging and ships are destroyed. If the Sirens launch another attack, then I don't think we will be able to survive”.

“I don't think the Sirens will attack here again,” Lelouch said, and all eyes turned to him.

“What do you mean by that?” Enterprise asked looking confused.

“On my way here, I looked through the files on all Siren attacks that took place since their invasion started. Not a single one of them was against the Hawaiian Islands, even before the Azur Lane was founded, these islands have not been attacked. Until today” Lelouch said “Plus this wasn't a normal Siren attack. Their normal MO is that strike hard and fast, causing large numbers of casualties before retreating. But they didn't do that here, they seemingly fought to the death. And Purifier disappeared early into the fight, so did half the Siren fleet”.

“Wait what!?” Akagi said sounding shocked. She had been unusually quiet during the meeting, saying very little whilst keeping her eyes glued on him.

“I did a headcount of the Siren numbers when the Shikikan's command systems came online” Lelouch explained “Once I had finished re-organising the fleet, I did another count, and I noticed that half the siren fleet had vanished from the battle. The remaining Sirens fought to the death, which is something they don't often do” he said “The Sirens were here for something. I don't know what it was they were after, but they had a very good reason to attack Azur Main”.

He allowed everyone a few moments to let the information sink in. The knowledge that the Sirens were looking for something was shocking. But it begged the question, what exactly were they looking for? There was too little information to work with at the moment, and there were a lot of more pressing issues that needed dealing with, like getting this base back up to a functional position.

“Do you think they found what they were looking for?” Elizabeth asked.

“Probably” Lelouch replied “Purifier did retreat early into the battle, so we can only conclude that whatever it was they were looking for, they managed to retrieve it. Annoyingly there isn't much we can do about it. They left us crippled and got away scot-free. It would be at least a month before we can even think about fully investigating what the sirens came for. A small team of a few people could, but right now we have to focus the majority of our resources on repairing the damage they caused”.

“Well, looks like we won't be doing much in the way of fighting the sirens for the next few weeks” Enterprise sighed before turning to Akagi “Akagi, any news from the Sakura Empire?” she asked.

“No, nothing yet” Akagi replied “I haven't heard anything from them since we sent them our report on the attack. Hopefully I'll hear something from them before nightfall”.

“Good. You can report on what you hear from them in the morning” Lelouch said as he stood up “In the meantime, we should focus on clearing debris and recovering the dead. Once that is done, and the dead have been mourned, we can focus on repairing the damage. Then, and only then, can we focus on our primary objective. To take back the world's oceans from the Sirens. Everyone is dismissed for now”.

Everyone save for Lelouch stood up and filed out of the room. He sat back down and started pondering today's events. Whilst this attack did delay several of his plans, in the long run, not much was affected. In fact, he might be able to bring a few plans forward a bit. He would have to gamble with a few things first. The Royal Navy high command still didn't have much of an opinion on him. But, after the events of today, they might be a bit more willing to help him.

Things were looking up for him.

Hamburg, Blohm & Voss shipyard.

Blue eyes opened slowly as consciousness slowly returned. Bismarck, once the mightiest battleship in Europe, now crippled by a single shell to her magazine. She had no idea how long she had been out for. All she knew was that she was in some kind of bed, probably a medical one.

She felt something resting against her side. She looked up and saw U-556 resting against her chest. She smiled, it was nice to see her little Parzival was close.

“She's been spending all her free time here,” a voice said beside her.

Bismarck turned her head and saw Z23 standing at attention beside the bed.

“Z23,” Bismarck said weakly “How long have I been out for?”.

“About a month” Z23 replied formally “The damage you received was quite severe. You're lucky to be alive after what happened to you”.

“No need to be so formal Nimi,” Bismarck said quietly “I'm in no condition for a formal meeting”.

“Of course Bismarck,” Z23 said with a nod.

The battleship smiled as she closed her eyes. She frowned as she reopened them “What happened?” she asked “All I remember was my magazine exploding”.

“After your magazine exploded, the U-boats 81, 96, and 557 all launched an attack against the Royal Navy fleet” Z23 reported “This distracted the fleet long enough for U-556 to recover both yourself and Prinz Eugen. The U-boat fleet then retreated from the battlefield. The Royal Navy fleet didn't pursue”.

The Royals didn't pursue them? That was strange. They outnumbered them greatly, even with the unexpected U-boat support. They had several destroyers with them so they should have been able to death-charge the living daylights out of the U-boats.

“Why, didn't they, pursue us?” Bismarck asked, brushing a hand over U-556's head.

“The Royals were more concerned with recovering Hood” Z23 replied “She too suffered a fatal magazine detonation, caused by one of your shells. The fleet had also suffered heavy damage during the battle, so they probably were in no condition to risk a pursuit”.

“I, got Hood. Did the Royals, recover her?”.

“They did. But we don't know what her condition is”.

Bismarck closed her eyes. Whilst she didn't voice it, she was glad that Hood had been recovered. She just hoped that the battlecruiser was coping as well as she was, and could forgive her for what she did.

“Do you, have anything about my sister?” the battleship asked.

Z23 lowered her head “She's been relocated to Norway”.

“What!” Bismarck shouted as she sat up, and instantly regretted it as she felt a sharp pain in her back. She cried out in pain as she fell back onto the bed, waking the resting U-556.

“Lord Bismarck!” U-556 gasped as she woke up “Are you alright!?” she asked with a concerned look on her face.

“I'm fine” Bismarck replied through gritted teeth “I just did something I really shouldn't have,” she said before turning to Z23 “Why was my sister sent to Norway?”.

“High command sent her there to act as a deterrent against a Royal Navy invasion” Z23 replied “Our defences are still quite weak up there, so having your sister up there would help deter such action”.

Bismarck closed her eyes, and a single tear fell from her eye. Now she'll never be able to meet her sister. It would take months for her to recover from this, months that will be spent in a hospital bed. She so desperately wanted to see her sister, just for a moment. But now that would be impossible, even when she gets better. She doesn't have the power or authority to go to Norway, nor to bring her sister back to Germany.

She opened her eyes again, and brushed the tear away “Are you ok lord Bismarck?” U-556 asked.

“I'm fine” Bismarck replied, turning to look at the U-boat “Thanks for asking,” she said before turning back towards Z23 “Anything, else?”.

“Well, progress on Friedrich der Große is proceeding ahead of schedule” the destroyer replied “The combat data recovered from your battle with the Royal Navy accelerated our progress on developing her significantly. She should be finished by the end of the month. Also, we found out why Thunder child was present at the battle” she said, “She was there acting as a command ship for a royal Navy commander”.

“They had a commander at that battle,” Bismarck said sounding surprised “That would explain, the mass-produced destroyer carrying several destroyers. No Kansen would come up with a strategy like that, out of the blue. I knew someone was commanding that fleet,” she said with a slight smile, it would explain why things were different this time “Any idea on who the commander of the fleet is?”.

“I'm afraid we don't know who it was who commanded the fleet” Z23 reported “All we know is that it was a young commander of the Royal Navy who was in charge. We don't know anything else”.

Bismarck nodded before turning her head towards the ceiling, closing her eyes once more. A young commander took her out, a good one as well. His grasp on navy combat strategy must be surprisingly good if he could ambush her with such an unexpected strategy. Packing several Kansen onto a mass-produced ship was quite an unexpected move. One could easily hide their true numbers like that.

“Bring me, Roon,” Bismarck said as she opened her eyes once more.

“Roon, commander,” Z23 said with a nervous look on her face “Your sure about that?”.

“Yes, bring me the PR ship Roon, now!” Bismarck replied.

Z23 gulped “Of course Lord Bismarck. I'll get her at once,” she said before she turned around, only to shriek in surprise when she saw Roon standing directly behind her.

“You called,” the PR ship Roon said with a friendly smile.

Bismarck felt her heart beating faster. She knew how terrifying Roon was, having been there when she was awoken. It was a bloody affair. The scientist working on her went a bit too far with the combat data they were feeding her, only giving her the bloodiest combat data they could find, resulting in her becoming a bit unstable and going on a rampage upon waking up. She was able to subdue her, but only after the PR ship had butchered everyone else present.

“H-how did you get here so quickly?” Z23 asked, sounding completely terrified.

“I was just walking by to visit Leipzig when I heard my name” Roon replied with a polite smile.

“Leipzig?” Bismarck said sounding rather surprised “Why were you visiting her?” she asked.

“Well, we're technically sisters” Roon replied “I am just an enlarged version of her hull, armed with a bigger gun. So we're technically sisters, but only technically. I am, after all, a ship that never even existed, not even on the drawing board” she explained “So tell me, Lord Bismarck. Who do you want me to kill?” she asked, her eyes flashing red for a split second.

Chapter Text

Lelouch didn't exactly have the best of nights, but it wasn't his worst either. The army camp beds that covered the floor of the AL academy gymnasia weren't exactly the warm, comfy beds he'd been sleeping in on the way here. But at least it was better than sleeping on a wooden floor.

As the emergency commander of the AL, he did have a room all to himself, with a proper bed and all. But he gave that up to the light cruiser Helena, who had sustained heavy damage during the attack and there wasn't space in the hospital or medical room for her. So he donated his room to her, letting her recover there whilst he opted to stay in the gymnasia, which had been converted into temporary living quarters for the surviving base personnel.

He did this for two reasons. One, Helena needed it more than he did. And two, it improved his reputation amongst the Kansen. They were too used to having commanders who didn't care about them. So, being nice to them and helping them out when needed, improved his reputation with them. This will help him greatly when it comes to selecting the next commander, as whilst the ALOC had the final say on who becomes the commander of the AL, the Kansen had a great deal of leverage when deciding who should be the next commander. It made sense, as this was the guy who would be commanding them.

Before now, they chose the lesser of two evils. But, when it's a choice between a commander who would be nice to them and one who would not. The obvious choice would be to vote for the commander who had been nice to them. But he would have to be careful, some of them might get suspicions of him. Thinking that he's being nice so that they would pick him, only to start being mean to them once he was the commander.

He would have to prove to them that he had no intention to be like the commanders they're used to.

It puzzled him that so many people in the upper echelons of command would be so mean and aggressive towards the Kansen under their command. Their mankind's only effective weapon against the Sirens. Treating them like lower-class citizens was counterproductive. Something, or someone, must be turning the commanders against the Kansen they would command. It was impossible for so many people to act like this without good reason. And with how important the Kansen are in protecting humanity from the sirens, you would think they would be nice to them, and show them some respect.

He would have to look into this but at a later date. Right now, he had a base to run.

Talking about a base to run, Chloe had been in contact with the rest of the ALOC. They had come to the decision to appoint him as the temporary commander of the Azur Lane. At least he could rely on them to make smart decisions.

And so he settled down into the day-to-day life of running a navy base. It was child's play to get everything organised and sorted out. He had long since mastered the art of military logistics, as an army is nothing without the surplus to run it. By the end of the first full day, he had managed to organise everything the island would need to fully recover from the attack. From materials to repair the damaged buildings and ships, to transports to move that material to the island. As well as Kansen to escort those ships here safely. Once that was done, all he needed to do was keep the base running smoothly. Not an easy task when you're running a damaged navy base from a school.

The Azur Lane Academy itself was surprisingly well equipped to handle operating as a backup command building. In fact, it had a backup commander's office. Which, according to several Kansen, looked exactly like the commander's office in the main command building. But, he has worked with less.

He was currently sitting in the office, looking through the previous commander's files. Some of the things he read disgusted him. He lost count of how many files he found there were full of complaint forms that had been signed to be ignored. The majority were simply minor complaints, but there were a few that disgusted him. And the previous commander had ignored all of them, allowing these men and women to walk away without punishment.

He will have to do something about this. People shouldn't be allowed to get away with such disgraceful acts. Whilst he couldn't do anything about the ones that had already been signed, a large number of complaints had arrived since Grant's death. And as the temporary commander, he had the authority to deal with these people, and he won't be ignoring these transgressions. He would make sure these people are appropriately punished for their actions. That is, once he had the time to do it, as he was quite busy with other things at the moment.

“Ugh” the command Kansen, Shikikan, groaned as she collapsed into the secretaryships desk chair “Why did Gaunt have so much unorganized stuff in his office?” she asked.

“Because he's been dead for over a month” Lelouch replied calmly “Stuff like this piles up when there isn't anyone to sort through it”.

“I know,” Shikikan said sounding annoyed “But still, you would think the base commander would be allowed to look through this stuff”.

“It's a matter of rank, C.K.” Lelouch replied as he organised the paperwork into different piles “Not everyone is allowed to organise this, let alone look at it. Still, I question why I have the authority to sign some of these. Surly someone else should sign some of these”.

“C.K.?” Shikikan said, sitting up and looking at him with a confused look.

“Yep. C.K.” Lelouch replied calmly “I thought it would be better to call you that then commander in Japanese,” he said, which was partially true. It wasn't difficult to come up with a better name for her, it needed to be something she would like. So instead he chose the C.C. approach, and abbreviated Command Kansen “I can go back to calling you Shikikan if you want”.

“Oh no, C.K.'s just fine,” Shikikan said with a smile “It will take a while for the others to get used to it, but, as you said, it's better than being call commander,” she said, “Talking about names, I remember you calling me Milly when we first met. What was that about?”.

“Ah yes, sorry about that. I thought you were someone else at the time” Lelouch replied “It took me a moment to realise I was wrong. You look nothing like the woman I mistook you for” which was true, she didn't look like Milly. But still, why did he mistake her for Milly in the first place? Maybe he had a brain fart or something. A lot was going on at the time and she did bump into him.

C.K. looked at him with an understanding look “I see. So, who was this Milly. An old girlfriend, perhaps?”.

Lelouch almost choked “What! N-no, she wasn't my girlfriend” he sputtered “She was the student council president at the academy I went to in Japan. I never dated her. I would have to be out of my mind to do that”.

“Oh, sorry about that. Got a bit ahead of myself there. So you knew her well then”.

“Yep. I was part of the student council. I had a lot of fun with them, even if the president got me into a few rather embarrassing situations. Which, for the sake of my dignity, I will not go into. What about you. Are you part of the Azur Academy student council?”.

“Sadly no. And even if I was, it wouldn't matter much. Since the war with the crimson Axis started, the academy has suspended all lessons. And I don't see them starting back up any time soon, seeing that we're now using it as a backup command centre”.

“Well, nothing we can do about that. It's all due to uncontrollable circumstances. Truth be told I never did graduate from high school. The Sirens destroyed it during the same attack that took my sister. Everyone I knew was killed in that attack. And I was too full of rage against my father sending us out there to bother enrolling into another academy”.

“Just don't let Langley or Ranger hear that. Otherwise, they will make you finish school whilst you are still in command of the AL. But that's if you become the commander. But I doubt that the Eagle Union can pull someone better than you out of their ass so quickly”.

“Don't be too sure about that” a new voice interjected.

The two quickly turned towards the door and saw the Eagle Union aircraft carrier Langley, standing in the open doorway.

She was a short girl, only reaching up to his chest. Yet despite her short height, she emanated the same authority as the teachers from Ashford academy.

“The Eagle Union has hundreds of navy commanders. I wouldn't be surprised if they selected one of them to be their candidate” Langley said as she walked into the room, stopping in front of Lelouch's desk “And, whilst I'm sorry that you've lost so many friends and family members to the Siren's. I do expect you to finish your academic training once the Azur Academy reopens”.

“Sure, I'll do that” Lelouch said calmly. He might as agree to it, as he didn't have any reasons not to after all.

“Good,” Langley said with a smile “Now whilst the academy is closed, there are a few classes that are still running. Like physical education,” she said. Lelouch dropped the pen he was holding, knowing exactly where this was going “At Queen Elizabeth's request, you have been placed onto Ranger's physical education course. Due to your, and I'm directly quoting her here, lack of stamina”.

Lelouch sighed, there was no getting out of this, was there. He hadn't impressed anyone with his lack of physical fitness, and now he was paying for it. He couldn't even use Geass to get out of this, as he no longer had he.

Yesterday he tested to see if he still had it. It was a simple test, a simple order given to one of the marines. He didn't want to test it on a Kansen, as he had no idea if it would even work on them. They are ships after all.

The order was a discreet one. One that wouldn't arise suspicion even if it didn't work. And whilst the marine did obey the order that he was given, Lelouch didn't feel his Geass activate. A quick check-in a mirror confirmed it. The Geass symbol that always appeared in his eye when he used his power didn't appear. Honestly, he should have checked to see that he still had it earlier, but with all the things that have been happening he either forgot or was far too busy.

“Fine, I'll attend the class” Lelouch sighed, reluctantly agreeing to attend the class.

“Good,” Langley said before she turned to C.K. “Shikikan, I do expect you to finish the homework that I set you before the academy closed”.

C.K. looked at the carrier with a surprised look “Ur. Don't we have more important matters to attend to at the moment. Like, fixing the entire base after a massive Siren attack” she said, “Also it's C.K. now. Lelouch recommended I use it, as it's better than being called commander. Which isn't what I am”.

Langley looked at her for a moment before turning to face Lelouch “Not the best name you could have come up with for her, but it will work for now” she said “Always thought calling the ship Shikikan would cause some problems”.

“It was the previous commander, Grant, who named me,” C.K. said “He wasn't the best with coming up with names for ships. I'm surprised they allowed him to name me. And yes, I will finish that work. Just as soon as I have the time to do it. I'm kind of busy at the moment, what with all this leftover paperwork that needs sorting and doing” she said before groaning loudly “So boring. Sometimes I wish I was a battleship, that way I could shoot stuff with my cannons”.

Speaking of battleships, he had agreed to have lunch with the battleship row girls. Arizona, California, Maryland, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia. All of them had lost their ships during the attack, and whilst their ships are being repaired, it will be at least a month before they can use them again. Plus the attack brought back bad memories for all of them, as the attack was an awful lot like the attack on Pearl Harbour, right down to what happened to the battleship row girls. Arizona herself was the worst affected.

“This is very important work we have to do here,” Lelouch said calmly “We have over a month's worth of paperwork here to organise and catch up on. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we get to work on the more recent things,” he said before he stood up “Now if you can excuse me, I have a lunch date with the battleship row girls. Langley, you wouldn't mind helping C.K. organise the paperwork whilst I'm gone?”.

“Of course not, I'll be happy to help” Langley replied as she walked over to the desk.

“Good,” Lelouch said before he walked over towards the door “I should be back in half an hour or so,” he said as he opened the door and left the room.

What happened next was a bit of a blur. He accidentally bumped into someone, causing him to lose his balance. He tried to grab hold of something to regain his balance, but whatever it was he grabbed onto wasn't exactly stable, and came down with him. The next thing he knew, he was sandwiched between two people. His head squished comfortably between two pairs of large breasts.

“Commander!” C.K. gasped as he heard her rush over to him “What happened?”.

“I think we had a bit of a collision” the polite voice of Illustrious replied.

Ah, so he had bumped into Illustrious. That would explain the 'soft-landing. But who else had he bumped into?

“Don't worry Formidable. We'll help you up” Langley said as Lelouch felt the person laying on his back get helped up.

Ah, Formidable, one of Illustrious' sisters. He had yet to meet her yet, so this was quite the awkward first meeting for them.

Once Formidable had been helped up, Lelouch was finally able to get up himself. He lifted his head out from between the armoured carrier's bosom “Sorry about that” he said as he stood up. He then held out his hand.

Illustrious smiled as she took his hand “No need to apologise commander” she said as Lelouch helped her up “It was us who were at fault. We weren't paying attention to where we were going” she said, “Oh yes. This is my sister Formidable”.

Lelouch turned and saw a woman wearing a black Gothic Lolita-styled dress with a low neckline, straining out her dress. She quickly noticed that he was looking at her, and quickly straightened herself out.

“Good day, Commander,” Formidable said, “I am Formidable, third ship of the Illustrious class. Pleased to make your acquaintance. And ur, sorry for colliding with you, sir”.

“That's ok, it was an honest mistake,” Lelouch said with a smile “It's not the first time I've accidentally bumped into someone”.

“Of course, sir” Formidable said with a polite bow “We were just heading over to the cafeteria for lunch. I was wondering if you would like to join us today”.

“I'm afraid I agreed to have lunch with the battleship row girls,” Lelouch said “But I'm free tomorrow if you like”.

“That would be wonderful,” Illustrious said with a kind smile “We'll see you tomorrow then. Come along sister,” she said before the two sisters walked off down the corridor.

“Wow. Two lunch dates in two days” C.K. said sounding surprised “I've never seen someone have that many in such a small time frame”.

Lelouch chucked “Oh, believe me, I've had more,” he said, remembering the time he had over one hundred dates because of Sayoko. That was not something he wanted to go through again “I was quite popular at high school” he said before he turned around “Anyway, I'll be seeing you girls later” he said as he walked off towards the cafeteria.

Chapter Text

“Must you be leaving today?” Lelouch asked.

“I'm afraid we must” Akagi replied “Since the attack on Azur Main. The Sakura Empire has been recalling all of its fleets to defend the home islands. And sadly, that includes us,” she said, looking behind her as the Sakura Empire fleet started to depart.

The order to return home came in yesterday, five days after the attack on Azur main. The base was still busy recovering from the attack, but most, if not all of the debris had been removed. Annoyingly Lelouch had been quite busy during the week, looking through the backlog of paperwork, organising the base recovery, and general base management. Stuff the commander of the Azur Lane was required to do. He had almost zero free time, so she wasn't able to spend time with him. Plus she couldn't find a chess set that was intact, so that was annoying.

There was some good news. High command had delayed sending the war declaration by a few more weeks. The attack had made her country's leaders realise that they needed to improve their coastal defences, so had agreed to delay things until the current upgrades to the defences have been complete. Which shouldn't take more than a few weeks. After that, the war begins.

“It's a shame you have to go. The support you've been giving us has been most helpful” Lelouch said “We probably wouldn't have the docks fully functional again without your help”.

“Your welcome, commander,” Akagi said with a smile. It was a shame she couldn't bring him back to Japan with her. His tactical and command abilities would be very beneficial in the upcoming war against the Eagle union. Sadly his loyalty was to the Royal navy, and that royal half-pint Queen Elizabeth.

Still, if she could convince high-command to launch a mission to kidnap him. She could work on 'convincing' him to switch sides. The Royal Navy may have busty maids, but the Sakura Empire has something far better. Soft, floofy, tails. As well as a large flotilla of destroyers to head-pat. Plus there were several other 'tools' at her disposal that could convince him to change sides.

“Well. I hope you have a safe voyage home” Lelouch said with a smile.

“Of course sir. I hope so too” Akagi said “Goodbye, commander,” she said before she turned and jumped onto the water, and rejoined the Sakura Empire fleet. Returning her rigging to its ship form when it was safe to do so.

She waited until they were a good distance away from the island before she opened up a comm channel with Kaga “Kaga, what do you think of the Royal Navy commander?” she asked.

“Lelouch. He's a good pick for the commander of the Azur lane” Kaga replied “It's a shame we will have to fight him. We could really do with a commander who actuary cares about us, and doesn't see us as just weapons”.

“Yes, it is a shame. Just makes you wonder, what exactly are they teaching at the academies to make our commanders so, annoying” Akagi wondered. It was no secret that the majority of commanders did not like the Kansen they commanded. A lot of people blamed it on the instructors passing their hatred onto the new recruits.

It annoyed her that people still harboured hatred towards them. It's not like they had any choice in the matter. Had mankind continued to use normal ships against the Sirens, then the world's oceans would be completely occupied. Kansen are the only effective weapons against the Sirens.

“Anyway, did you manage to gather some information on him?” Akagi asked.

“Yes I did” Kaga replied “I found out quite a lot. The Royal Navy found him on an island a month ago. A few days before commander Grant Kline's death. He commanded the fleet in a skirmish against the Siren Tester, then commanded the fleet that crippled Bismarck”.

“He's the one who took out Bismarck,” Akagi said sounding surprised. A sly smile formed on her face “The Ironblood would very much like to know that little piece of information. Where was he taught?”.

“Unknown” Kaga replied “He wasn't trained at any of the Royal Navy academies. He was a merchant seaman when they found him. Hood had to convince him to join the Royal Navy as a commander. The battle against Bismarck was a test of his ability”.

Akagi giggled “Oh, she will not like that. You think we should inform the Ironblood about him?” she asked.

“Maybe. But it will have to be an edited version. We don't want them to flip out, or for the Azur Lane to think it's us who sent them the information. Our alliance with the Ironblood is still a secret. It would be disastrous if they found out about it now”.

“Of course. We'll make sure it's an encrypted channel and doesn't contain anything that could link it back to us. Got anything else about him?”.

“According to the Royal navy records, his father sent him and his sister to Japan when he was ten, right after his mother was killed during a siren attack”.

“His father did that to him,” Akagi said sounding surprised “Good god, what kind of bastard was he”.

“The kind that got killed during a subsequent attack” Kaga replied “Karma as it were. His sister was also killed by Sirens”.

Akagi lowered her head “He lost his entire family to them. Poor kid. It must have been hard for him, losing them all. We should try to keep him alive. He may soon be the enemy, but the world needs someone with his skill and determination leading the fight against the Sirens”.

“Of course. High command would have to be idiots to weaken Earth's first line of defence against the Sirens. Especially now considering what happened to Azur Main”.

“Indeed,” Akagi said as she looked back, the island of Oahu just vanishing over the horizon. She had a feeling in her gut that things were going to get a lot harder from here on out.

Azur main academy. Medical ward.

When Nin agreed to infiltrate Azur Main by disguising herself as a Gato class submarine, Ayumodoki, she thought that it would be a simple mission. Get in, observe this Lelouch guy, and not draw attention to herself. Easy right.

“Good morning sister!” the rather annoying voice of Albacore said beside her, waking her up.

Wrong, it was not going to be easy.

After someone almost dropped a bomb on her, she was whisked away to the academy medical ward. Luckily her cover had yet to be blown. They did a very good job of making her look like a Kansen after all, even changing the colour of her blood. Still, that bomb could easily have killed her and rendered the entire operation pointless. She didn't know the identity of the bastard who almost dropped a bomb on her, but her money was on one of the Strategists. After all, she did piss a few of them off once.

At least she was able to plant the documents in the commander's office before the bombs hit.

She was still recovering from her injuries, which wasn't that much of a problem. The problem was that her 'sisters' wouldn't leave her alone. She couldn't get a single moment where she didn't have one of them nearby keeping an eye on her. Apparently, they were worried about her and wanted to make sure that she was ok. Great, now she had seventy-seven concerned sisters to deal with. Great, just great.

Could have been worse, she could have been disguised as a Fletcher-class.

She groaned as she turned her head sideways to face Albacore, who had a large smile on her face “What do you want, Albacore?” she asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

“I've Just been having a word with Vestal, and she says that you are well enough to be able to leave the medical ward,” Albacore said happily.

“Ur, ok,” Nin said sounding confused.

“Which means that you're well enough for me to give you a tour around the base,” Albacore said happily.

“Oh no,” Nin said, realizing that she would have to spend time with her 'sisters'. Which was very bad as she had already spent far too long in here already, and now she'll be wasting more time away from her mission. At this rate, she'll never gather anything about Lelouch.

Why did Observer even want to observe this guy anyway? He's just another normal, expendable human. Why bother sending a lurker to keep an eye on him?

“Oh yes,” Albacore said before she grabbed Nin and pulled her out of bed “We are going to have so much fun today”.

“Wait a second. Are you sure it's ok for me to leave?” Nin asked as she was pulled towards the door “Shouldn't we speak to Vestal first. Or get some kind of confirmation from the command”.

“I don't think the commander really needs to sign off on someone who's fit to return to active duty,” Albacore said as she opened the door, and instantly froze, as a rather annoyed-looking Vestal was standing on the other side of the door. A rather sorry-looking Bluegill standing beside her.

“Albacore,” the repair ship said, not looking at all pleased “I should have known that you were the one behind this”.

“I can explain” Albacore shrieked, freezing to the spot.

“You wanted to get your sister Ayumodoki out of the medical ward early,” Vestal said “Whilst I don't mind you spending time with her. I do mind when I get called off to a fake medical emergency. There are hundreds of patients here that need my care. What would have happened if one of them went critical whilst I was gone? I would not have been here to save them. Your plan could have inadvertently killed someone”.

“I'm sorry” Albacore cried, tears falling from her eyes “I just, wanted to play with Ayumodoki”.

Seriously, she had one of her sisters fake a medical emergency just so she could get her out of here and play with her. What was she thinking? A siren wouldn't do something so stupid for another siren. Although that's because Sirens don't need medical care. If the body is damaged they can just transfer into a new one, which was something she couldn't do as she was supposed to be a Kansen, not a Siren.

“You can play with her once she's well enough to leave,” Vestal said “She may be able to walk, but that doesn't mean that she is alright to leave. Her body is still recovering from the blast and needs rest,” she said before she walked over to Nin and ushered her back to bed “You will be allowed to visit her. But for now, she stays here”.

Nin sighed a silent sigh of relief. She really didn't want anything to do with the Gato's, so anything to get her away from them was nice. Sadly she still won't be able to leave here yet, so she can't spy on Lelouch yet. But he won't be going anywhere anytime soon, so she could afford to wait a bit.

Nin got back into bed “How are you feeling?” the repair she asked her as she got comfortable.

“Slightly better than yesterday” Nin replied, “My chest still hurts by the way”.

“I see. Well hopefully it'll get better by tomorrow” Vestal said, “I'm surprised by how quickly you're recovering. At this rate you should be well enough to leave in a day or so”.

“That soon?” Nin said sounding surprised. She knew that Kansen recovered from wounds quicker than normal humans, but to recover from a blast like that so quickly, even with re-gen, was quick even for a Kansen. It might have something to do with her siren nature.

“Yes. I had thought that you would be here for at least another week. But your body has recovered much quicker than expected” Vestal remarked, “Maybe your wounds weren't as severe as previously thought”.

“Wait. You mean she'll be able to leave sometime tomorrow” Albacore said, wiping the tears away from her eyes.

“She should be able to,” Vestal said “Which makes your plan to get her out even more pointless. Next time check to see how well she's doing before you plan to get her out,” she said sounding annoyed.

“I know,” Albacore said, “I'm sorry”.

“And you should be,” Vestal said, turning to face the submarine “I've got far better things to be doing than going to fake emergency. I hope this won't happen again,” she said, causing the three submarines, Nin included, to freeze up. She may be a repair ship, but dear god could she be scary at times “Now if you could excuse me, I have several other patients that do require my help” she said before she walked off.

Albacore and Bluegill nervously walked towards her “Sorry about that” Bluegill said, “We just really wanted to play with you. That's all”.

Nin sighed. She knew they meant well. But their plan wasn't well thought out and could have resulted in the loss of life. Why would they even try it in the first place? It's not like it would have done anyone any good.

“Your not mad at us, aren't you?” Albacore asked.

“No, I'm not mad at you” Nin replied, “I'm just slightly disappointed in you. It was irresponsible of you to try and get me out of here. What if I wasn't in a condition to move? What if a real emergency happened whilst Vestal was gone?”.

“We're sorry sis,” Albacore said, “We just wanted to get to know you a bit more. We weren't told that they were making another vessel of the Gato class, so we want to know more about you”.

“You can just ask about me whilst I'm still in the medical ward. I'm not going anywhere” Nin said, although she really didn't want to answer any more of their questions. She had been bombarded by enough of them already.

“Yeah, but we wanted to see how good you are with firing torpedoes,” Bluegill said “There's something we want to know about you that can't just be told. They have to be seen as well. Also we want to see how good you are at hide and seek”.

“Hide and seek?” Nin said sounding confused “What's that?” she asked.

The two submarines looked at her with almost shocked looks “You don't know what hide and seek is!” Albacore said sounding very shocked “That settles it. Once you are well enough to leave, we will teach you how to play the glorious game that is, hide and seek”.

“Ur,” Nin said nervously “Is that really necessary?”.

“Of course it is” Bluegill replied with an enthusiastic smile “Submarines are masters of hiding. It would be an insult to submarines everywhere if you didn't know how to play hide and seek. Just you wait, we'll turn you into a hide and seek pro in no time”.

“Sisters!” Cavalla shouted as she rushed into the medical room “We're late for the commission!”.

“Oh crap. I almost forgot we were due to go out on a commission today” Albacore said as she and Bluegill panicked “Ur. Don't worry Ayumodoki, we'll be back in a few hours. Just got a commission to do” she said before the three submarines rushed out of the room.

Nin watched them leave. Why were they being so friendly towards her? Shouldn't they be at least somewhat suspicious of her? She did just pop up out of the blue after all. Why were they just accepting her as a new sister already? Were they really that trusting of people?

She sighed. What the hell had she gotten herself into.

Chapter Text

Japan. Tokyo navy base.

Akagi sighed as she and Kaga walked out of the meeting room “Well. That could have gone better” she said sounding slightly annoyed, as they walked down the corridor.

It had been a few hours since they arrived back home, and they had just finished giving their report to navy high command. There were more than a few of them who were pissed off that the attack on Azur main wasn't carried out. Akagi tried to explain to them that the fleet would have been destroyed by the Royal Navy's counter-attack. But some of them tried to come up with strategies to try and fight off the Royals. None of which would have worked, even if the Sirens didn't launch their attack.

“At least some of them were understanding about the situation,” Kaga said “I have never been more glad that this operation didn't have a commander commanding it. If we had one of those morons in command, then we would probably be at the bottom of the ocean”.

“Agreed,” Akagi said “Where the hell did half of them get that dumb idea that you could somehow summon a massive fox?”.

“They've probably been watching too much anime” Kaga replied “I have no idea where these rumours that I can 'summon a giant fox' came from”.

“Maybe they were referring to Yamato”.

“Like I could summon Yamato out of nowhere. And even if I could, she would be very pissed off about it. Speaking of Yamato, wasn't that order she gave us a bit, odd”.

“Yes, it was,” Akagi said. The order in question was to find and capture someone called 'The Black King'. She had no idea who she should be looking out for, or what would mark him out as the black king. All she knew was that Yamato wanted him alive, and she wasn't going to disobey her “Who do you think this black king guy is?”.

“I have no idea” Kaga replied “She didn't give us much to work on. Just cryptic clues about who he is and where he came from. Seriously, 'leaves his royal shores'. Do you have any idea how many kingdoms there are with access to the sea?”.

“Too many to make this an easy task. If we just had something to help pin down his home country, then our task will be much easier. Why is it that our orders are always somewhat cryptic? I know I'm being a bit of a hypocrite right now as I have given cryptic orders before. But at least mine was easy to understand”.

“Well, we can only hope that she provides us with more information on who he is. In the meantime, we're stuck here until the coastal defences are finished”.

“Well, at least we have some free time on our hands. We should pay Amagi a visit first thou”.

“Of course. It would be, disrespectful if we didn't”.

The two foxes proceeded out of the command building and towards the dorms. They passed by several Kansen and navy personnel as they walked. Most of them said hi, but the majority of the human personnel didn't say anything and just ignored them. Granted most of them were marching, so couldn't really be allowed to talk to them. But the others, the one's not marching, just flat out ignored them. Some of them acted like they weren't even there.

“What on earth do they teach them at the academy's, how to be rude to Kansen?” Akagi asked.

“Their human, Akagi. What do you expect” Kaga said calmly “Some of them still view us as ships, and treat us as such. Forgetting that we are human as well”.

“I know. It's just shocking that there are so many people who believe that in the military” Akagi said, “Are the teachers passing this hatred of us onto their students? I've heard that most of the academy teachers are from the old day, back when Kansen weren't a thing”.

“Well, if they're passing their hatred onto the students, then there's nothing we can do about it. We have no authority to change how they teach the next generation of navy commanders”.

“Well. At least our commanders are competent and don't let their hatred get in the way of their job. Hell, most of them hate the Sirens more than they hate us”.

Kaga nodded before the two walked in silence towards the dorms. The weather was peaceful today, and there were very few clouds in the sky.

They soon arrived at their shared dorm and walked inside “We're back!” she said loudly as she walked in. A second later a clenched fist came down right onto her head. Dazzling her and forcing her down onto her knees.

“What the!” Kaga gasped before she too got bonked on the head too.

“Could you two please be quiet?” Amagi asked quietly as she stood before them, looking rather unwell and wearing ear protection over both her human and fox ears “I *cough* *cough* just had my injection”.

“Sorry, nee-san,” Akagi said.

Amagi wasn't exactly in the best condition right now. But it could have been a lot worse, as her cube was defective and was killing her. That was until she went through a cube transplant, where they replaced her defective cube with an undamaged and unused one. It worked, her cube wasn't killing her now, but it was taking her a while to recover from the transplant. Plus her new cube was still melding with her body, so she required weekly injections of a modified version of Regen, a drug that speeds up a Kansen's natural regeneration, to help meld the new cube to her. This sadly left her quite weak and vulnerable, as well as heightened her hearing to painful levels. Even a lowly whisper is painful to her, hence the ear protection.

“We didn't know that your injection was today,” Kaga said apologetically.

“It's Monday. I *cough* always *cough* have my *cough* *cough*” Amagi coughed before she fell. Akagi moved quickly and grabbed her before she could hit the floor.

“Amagi. Are you alright?” Akagi asked, worried about her sister.

“No” Amagi replied weakly “I'm not feeling too good right now”.

“Ok, let's get you back to bed,” Akagi said as she helped her sister towards the bedroom and into one of the beds. Keeping her voice low so as to not cause her any discomfort.

“Thank you, Akagi,” Amagi said weakly as the carrier tucked her into bed.

Kaga showed up beside her with a warm cup of tea “Here, have this” she said as she passed it to Amagi.

“Thank you, Kaga,” Amagi said with a smile as she took the cup and took a sip from it “So, how did the mission to Azur Main go?” she asked.

“Ur, things didn't exactly go to plan” Akagi replied, “For starters a Royal Navy fleet showed up out of nowhere, meaning that we had to abort the attack. Then the Sirens showed up and attacked Azur Main for some unknown reason” she explained “The Royals also have a candidate for the position of commander of the Azur Lane, Lelouch Lamperouge. He's quite good, all things considered. He took command of Azur Main's defences when the command staff was killed in the attack. He managed to do with without losing a single Kansen”.

“He sounds like *cough*, quite the good commander,” Amagi said, “I would like to meet him”.

“I'm afraid that won't be possible,” Kaga said quietly “He's not only busy commanding the Azur Lane but we're not allowed to go back there. Once the coastal defences are completed, we will be declaring war against the Eagle Union”.

Amagi sighed “Must we *cough* *cough*, declare war against our *cough*, allies?” she asked, “The Sirens are still a threat *cough*”.

“I'm afraid we have no choice in the matter” Akagi replied, “If our leaders want this war, then we can do nothing but follow”.

“Shame. I always thought they were smart” Amagi said, “Why declare a war when we're *cough*, already losing another. Humanity is in no state to be fighting amongst themselves”.

“Their human” Kaga said, “They will always find a peaty reason to fight each other. Even when they're already fighting for their lives, humans will always find a reason to kill each other”.

“You should get some rest, Amagi,” Akagi said, “We can talk later”.

“Of course,” Amagi said before she closed her eyes.

Akagi and Kaga waited a bit, just to make sure Amagi was ok before they quietly stood up and left the room.

“How long do you think before she's fully recovered from the transplant?” Kaga asked quietly.

“With any luck, she should be better within one to two months” Akagi replied, “But that means she'll be having at least four more injections at best, eight at worst. We just have to hope that does better than expected”.

“Indeed. We can only hope” Kaga said, “At least she doing better than she was when she had her old cube. We could barely get her out of the hospital at times”.

“I know. I'm just glad that this treatment is making her feel better. She would be dead without it. Just imagine the good that can be done if Amagi's treatment is successful. Kansen who have defective cubes can have them replaced with new, healthy ones”.

“Yeah. It's just a shame that our superiors are refusing to share the knowledge of wisdom cube transplants. Not that keeping it a secret is bad. Amagi is the only known Kansen who has a defective cube after all. How did her cube become defective anyway? I know she took heavy damage during the Great Kanto Earthquake, which interrupted her manifestation. It shouldn't have caused problems with her cube. It was even checked beforehand and was cleared. They wouldn't have deliberately used a defective cube to manifest a Kansen. Would they?”.

“I don't know. What I do know was that her cube was in good condition before it has added to Amagi's ship's keel. If something happened to it to cause it to become defective, it must have happened sometime between it being cleared and being built into the ship. Maybe there was an accident and someone didn't tell anyone about it”.

“If someone did that, I'll kill them. But, we don't have proof of something like that happening. Anyway, let us leave that painful discussion behind, and talk about something a bit better, like how we're going to capture Lelouch”.

Kaga sighed “Seriously, you want to capture him alive. High command will probably want him dead considering how good of a commander he is”.

“Of course they will,” Akagi said with a sly smile “That is, unless, we convince them that he is this black king Yamato is interested in. And if that doesn't work, we can just say that he may know something about who the black king is”.

“Are you sure about this? What if Yamato says that he isn't the one”.

“Oh, I don't think that will be a problem. Musashi still owes me a few favours after all. I might be able to get them to play along”.

“This is a very dangerous game you're playing here. What if high-command finds out that you've been lying to them?”.

“Not much. Yamato hasn't given us much to work with at the moment, so we can just blame it on lack of information. By then he'll be hidden away in a place they will never find him. That is until we convince him to switch sides. And then they will have no choice but to keep him alive, as having someone of his skill in command of our fleets will make us invincible”.

“If you say so. But organizing a force to capture him will be difficult. You know how good he is. I highly doubt that he won't be easy to capture. He has both the resources of the Azur Land and the Royal Maids to protect him. Plus there's his superior command ability. Face it, sister, convincing high-command that he is the black king will be the easy part”.

“Well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. All we need to do is wait for the perfect moment when he is least defended and vulnerable”.

“If you say so,” Kaga said, “Although, what do we do if it turns out that he is the black king Yamato was talking about?”.

“I highly doubt it,” Akagi said, “We would have to be super lucky for that to be the case. And knowing us, we won't be. But if, and this is a big if, he somehow manages to be this black king, I will drink coffee for a week”.

“Are you sure you want to be saying that, Akagi. If Amagi finds out, and he does turn out to be this black king. She will make sure that you go through with it”.

“I know. That's why I won't tell her about-” Akagi said before a tennis ball hit her in the side of the head, knocking her sideways.

“I think she knows about it,” Kaga remarked.

“Oh really,” Akagi said, dazed slightly “What gave it away?”.

“The tennis ball with the words 'I know' written on the side of it” Kaga replied.

Akagi groaned as she slumped sideways, realizing the hole she had just gotten herself into. It would be impossible to get out of it now that her sister Amagi knows about it. She could only hope that Lelouch didn't turn out to be this black king. Which probably won't be the case. The universe wouldn't just give them the identity of the black king on a silver platter like that so easily. Would it?

Chapter Text

Lelouch slagged into his chair in the commander's office, breathing heavily. Ranger was not showing him any mercy towards him during her physical education classes, and today was no exception. She personally went to his room, woke him up early, and dragged him out of bed. She did this, every single day.

The lessons themselves were pure torture. On the first day, he was required to run a full lap around the academy's running track, AKA, 400 meters. He barely managed half of that. The rest of the lessons were spent trying to improve his physical fitness, which was very, very slow going. Thank god Langley managed to convince her to go a bit easy on him.

“You ok master?” Hermione asked him as she put a glass of water down on the desk for him.

“I'm fine” Lelouch panted “It's just, I am not very good at physical activities”.

“Yes, I have noticed that,” Hermione said “You really need to exercise a lot more. Oh yes, the Eagle Union candidates for the position of Commander have arrived”.

“Candidates?” Lelouch said sounding surprised “They sent more than one”.

“Well, not exactly sir” Hermione replied “There's two of them, Owen Melendez and Nathan Murray. Owen is the Eagle Union candidate for the commander of the Azur Lane, and Nathan is the replacement base commander. This is an Eagle Union base, after all, so they do need one of their own commanders on-site to command their own fleets”.

“Ah, ok then. Where are they now?” Lelouch asked.

“In the Eagle Union dorm” Hermione replied, “I can get them for you if you want?”.

“Of course. I'll like to meet them”.

“I'll get them right away sir”.

Hermione turned and walked out of the room. She will probably be gone for a few minutes, so that gave him enough time to recover from the excessive workout session Ranger had put him through. Hermione had been kind enough to leave him a glass of water for him, which he downed quickly.

Ten minutes later, Hermione returned, with two navy officers following behind her.

Both officers looked to be in their late twenties or early thirties, and they both had captain rank on their uniforms.

“Commander. May I present to you, captains Owen Melendez, and Nathan Murray” Hermione said, gesturing to the respective captain.

Lelouch had a quick glance over them. Owen was a tall man with brown hair, brown eyes, and a rather stern look to him. In contrast, Nathan was shorter and slightly younger-looking. He had blond hair, green eyes, and a more round face.

“Aren't you forgetting something, Hermewan?” Owen asked sounding rather annoyed “You forgot my nickname, the Falcon of the West,” he said proudly.

Lelouch already hated this guy. He reminded him of the Britannian nobility. Men and women who cared for nothing but the wealth and power their meaningless titles offered them, with the same rudeness it entails.

“It's Hermione,” the light cruiser said sounding very annoyed, looking at him with an annoyed look “Not whatever that insult to the English language was. And what kind of nickname is 'the Falcon of the West'? Who even calls you that?”.

“Only himself,” Nathan remarked, getting a rather angry look from Owen “What, it's true. No one has ever called you that. And why do you have to be rude to every single Kansen you talk to? Like, you deliberately got Hermione's name wrong several times, and you insulted West Virginia, which happens to be named after your home state. And, you called Monarch a useless Royal Bastard”.

Now that was a step too far “Hermione, is this true?” he asked the light cruiser.

“I wasn't there when the incident happened sir, but I did see Monarch walking away, crying” Hermione replied.

Lelouch slowly turned towards Owen “Your the best the Eagle Union could send for the position of commander of the Azur Lane. Mankind's last line of defence against the Sirens. Out of the hundreds of commanders they have to choose from, they chose you, a man who sees the Kansen, our only effective weapon against the Sirens, as nothing but failures” he said with a calm fury “I don't care that you are from the Eagle Union, but as you are on this base, you will not insult a single Kansen under my command”.

“Now hold on a second. You listen here you little Royal brat-” Owen shouted, only to flinch when Lelouch slammed his fist onto the table.

“No, you listen to me!” Lelouch retorted coldly “Until the ALOC says otherwise, I am the commander of this navy base, not you. Now, in two days' time, I will have been the temporary commander of this base for three weeks. When that happens, I will step down and let you be the temporary commander of the base for three weeks. This is so the ALOC can judge to see if you will be a good commander of the AL” he explained “Until then, you will obey my orders. Do you understand me, captain?”.

Owen gritted his teeth “Yes sir” he said, “Nathan made an even worse comment”.

“You leave me the fuck out of this” Nathan said sounding annoyed “All I said was that she had some nice Royal thighs and that I had a desire to have my head crushed between them. Then you went off and called her useless” he explained, “I can tell you've never been successful in talking to a woman before”.

“Like your any better” Owen scoffed.

“At least I don't insult them,” Nathan said.

“Well I can see you two getting along perfectly” Lelouch murmured before shaking his head “Alright you two, calm down. We're all on the same side here. Fighting amongst ourselves is not going to help us fight the Sirens”.

“And yet you Royals are at war with the Ironblood” Owen scoffed.

“It's not like we have a choice in the matter” Hermione retorted “It was either we joined the war, or we left our allies to fall under the iron boot of the Ironblood. Knowing that sooner or later, they will come after us”.

“She does have a point” Nathan added “I mean, we would have done the same if we were in their place. If our allies get attacked we're going to have to help them, otherwise we will look quite bad to our other allies”.

Owen grunted and he looked away. He had the look of someone who knew that he had been beaten, but didn't want to admit it. He had seen that look countless times on the many nobles he had beaten over the years. He felt a smug satisfaction seeing that type of look again, and he didn't even beat the guy at chess.

“One question” Owen said “During the period that I'm the 'temporary commander', what will you be doing?” he asked, a devious smile on his face.

“I'll be heading back to the Royal Islands” Lelouch replied, and the smile instantly disappeared “There are a few operations going on down there that the Admiralty has requested my help with. But, I should warn you, anything you do as the temporary commander will have to go through the ALOC, and you will be limited in what you can do. So don't expect to have full control over the Azur Lane when I leave”.

“Of course, sir,” Owen said sounding slightly annoyed. He was probably annoyed that he wouldn't be sticking around once he's in command.

“Now then, I have a lot of work to deal with right now,” Lelouch said “So you two are dismissed for now”.

“Yes sir,” the two men said as they snapped to attention and saluted. Although Owen looked to be a bit more reluctant. They then turned and left the room.

Hermione sighed after the door closed “How can the Eagles appoint such a disgusting man as their candidate to the Azur Lane?” she wondered “He's just as rude as Grant was”.

“Agreed,” Lelouch said “Your sure he's not related to him?” he asked.

The light cruiser shook her head “Thankfully not. To my knowledge that, 'bastard', didn't have any children”.

“Well that's good to know,” Lelouch said “Hermione, can you please get King George V and Duke of York to check up on Monarch for me. I'm worried that what Owen said to her is affecting her badly. And have Colorado and Maryland check-in on West, just in case she too was affected”.

“Of course, master,” Hermione said with a bow “I will inform them right away,” she said before she turned and left the room.

Lelouch looked back down at the paperwork that he still has to do. A lot of this needed signing and there were several important decisions here that he did not want Owen to make. But he had time, two days is more than enough to finish getting all of his little plans in motion. And once Owen becomes the temporal commander, there would be nothing he can do to stop them. He might not even know about any of them until it's too late to stop them. And if he does find out about them, he can easily use the ALOC's own bureaucracy against him.

Oh yes, things were starting to fall into place.

Two days later. Marine Corps Air Station Hawaii

“Is everything ready?” Lelouch asked.

“Yes, master” Belfast replied as Hermione and Sheffield walked past, punishing luggage trolleys onto a military-owned transport aircraft, a Boeing C-40D Clipper, a modified version of the standard C-40 that can transport Kansen whilst their riggings are active. All three of them had their riggings active “Everyone's luggage is being loaded as we speak, and the emergency fuel tanks have already been loaded up”.

“Good. Wouldn't want you girls to have to deactivate your rigging mid-flight” Lelouch said with a smile.

Kansen, when using their rigging, consume three times as much fuel as they would normally use if they were in ship form. So, when transporting them by air, emergency fuel tanks have to be carried so the Kansen could receive refuelling during the flight, just in case they got too low and risked running out.

“Of course master,” Belfast said, “It would be, quite disastrous for everyone if that happened. It's why we don't often transport Kansen this way”.

“All packed commander?” Duke of York asked as she walked up to him, rigging active on her back. Her sister King George V walking behind her, although she didn't have her rigging on.

“Ah, Duke of York, King George V. Glad you could make it,” Lelouch said as he turned to face the battleships “We're just getting the last of the luggage and supplies inside. York, I hope you're ready for the trip back to the Royal Islands”.

“Of course I am ready, commander” Duke of York said with a smile “My luggage is being attended to, and my rigging is ready for war. I am ready to face Scharnhorst”.

Lelouch nodded with a smile. Scharnhorst and her sister Gneisenau, The Ugly Sisters. The two have been harassing Royal Navy shipping for quite a long time now and had severely damaged several ships, including the carrier, Glorious. They have been quite difficult to take out. But Royal Navy intelligence has informed him that the two sisters will be separated for quite some time, and a plan to draw out Scharnhorst has already been prepared. The admiralty has asked him to be in command of the operation, as his success in both the Battle of the Denmark Strait and Pearl Harbour impressed them. Plus they wanted the highest chance of success for this mission.

It helped that he had a few tricks up his sleeves.

A forklift drove by carrying a large wooden crate. Depositing it inside the transport.

“What's in the crate?” King George V asked.

“Just a little surprise for the Ironblood Kansen” Lelouch replied.

“Commander, it's time for us to board the plane,” Belfast said as she walked up behind him.

“Of course,” Lelouch said, “Well ladies, I will-”.

“Wait for me!” a female voice shouted loudly. They all turned to see Cleveland running towards them, with her rigging active and carrying two large suitcases.

“What the fuck is she doing here?” George wondered as the light cruiser rushed up to them

“Pant*... *Pant*... Sorry, I'm late!” Cleveland panted as she reached them “Just needed to say goodbye to Helena and my sisters. I've got twenty-six of them, and it's not easy to leave when you've got all of them trying to hug you”.

“What are you even doing here Cleveland?” Lelouch asked.

“Oh, Ranger sent me” Cleveland replied “She can't exactly leave here at the moment, so she appointed me as your physical education teacher until you return to Azur Main”.

“What!” Lelouch said sounding rather surprised. This was not what he had planned. This was supposed to be an opportunity to get away from those lessons, not have someone come with him to act as a substitute teacher. But, he could use this to his advantage. She had her rigging with her, and it wouldn't take too much to convince the Admiralty to include her in the operation. The added firepower she could offer him would greatly improve his chances at sinking Scharnhorst. She was also a light cruiser, which meant she had anti-submarine gear equipped. That will be very useful in detecting those pesky Ironblood submarines from coming in and recovering their targets before he can sink them.

Still didn't make him feel any better about having to still partake in exercise classes.

He sighed “I'm not getting out of this, aren't I?”.

“I'm afraid not” Cleveland replied “Ranger's orders are to get you into shape, no matter the cost. Anyway, I'll be seeing you aboard the plane, sir,” she said before she walked towards the plane.

Lelouch sighed as he turned and followed her “Come along you two, we're got a plane to catch”.

Both Belfast and Duke of York nodded before they followed him onboard the plane. York's two sisters, George and Anson, waved them off as they boarded the plane.

The aircraft took off fifteen minutes later, its powerful engines sending it sawing into the sky. Its destination, the Royal Islands of England.

Chapter Text

Navy air station HMS Norrington.

Lelouch stepped out of the landed plane, followed by the rest of the Kansne who were onboard. The air station wasn't a large base, only really designed to land aircraft the size of the Clipper that flew him here. It was by the sea, with an attached port. Giving the Kansen a place to deposit their ships after the flight.

“We should deposit our ships by the port as soon as possible” Belfast said.

“Agreed. You girls deposit your ships” Lelouch said “I'll wait here for you to get back”.

“As you wish, master,” Sheffield said before the Kansen made their way towards the port, leaving Lelouch behind by the plane.

As he waited for the Kansen to return, he watched the plane's crew disembark. All of whom were Manjuu. He had no idea how the little guys could fly a plane, let alone reach all the controls. But he decided that it was safer that he didn't know.

Before the plane had landed, he was on a call with Queen Elizabeth, who was not happy with how Owen Melendez was running things. She had a massive list of complaints about the guy, which included confiscating all of the tea on base, banning the royal maids from the kitchen, putting everyone on double patrols, tried to get all the wounded and sick people in the Azur Academy evicted, banned all games on-site, and, worst of all, wanted to permanently get rid of the USS Arizona Memorial and replace it with a statue of himself. And that were just a few of the things he had done to piss everyone off in the eleven or so hours that he had been in command.

Lelouch had little confidence that the ALOC will allow him to maintain the position of temporary commander of the Azur Lane for the full three weeks.

“Lelouch!” the voice of Thunder Child said loudly. He turned just to catch the torpedo ram jumping up to him and tackling him to the ground with a hug “It's so good to see you again” she said happily.

“Wow there, Thunder Child,” Lelouch said as he pried the young girl off of him “You really shouldn't be ramming into people like that,” he remarked as he stood up.

“Sorry about that” Thunder child said “I am a torpedo ram after all, so I kind of have a tendency to accidentally ram people”.

“That's ok. You're just doing what comes naturally to you” Lelouch said “So, how's Hood doing?” he asked.

Thunder Child's smile quickly turned into a frown “Not very well” she replied “She's still in a coma and is in intensive care. We don't know if she will wake up. The repairs on her ship are complete, in fact, it's in the process of a retrofit. So when she wakes up she'll have a much stronger ship”.

“Well, that's good to hear,” Lelouch said. What happened to Hood was unfortunate and completely avoidable. But a slight lapse in judgment caused her to get ammo racked and explode. He should have ordered her to fall back before she fired another salvo. But, war is always full of small mistakes that have big repercussions. He was just glad he was able to bring her back alive “I would like to be notified the moment she wakes up”.

“Don't worry, I make sure that happens,” Thunder Child said.

“Good. So, what brings you here?”

“Ah. Well, the thing is. The Ironblood have been real bastards lately and, just a few hours ago, bombed more than half of the Royal Navy's command ships with navy bombers. So I'm reprising my role as your command ship”.

Well, that was just typical. His 'superiors' promised him a proper command ship for this operation, and once again they haven't provided him with what he requested. But, the blame can't be fully placed on them, as the Ironblood were the ones who destroyed them. But still, they could have put up a better effort in protecting them.

“Oh well, at least at least it's not entirely their fault this time,” Lelouch remarked.

Thunder Child nodded “Yeah, not much can be done about that. Oh, how's everything at Azur Main going?” she asked.

“Not well by the sounds of it. My 'rival', Owen Melendez, is acting like he has control over everything now that he's the temporary commander for three weeks. He's already angered both the Eagle Union and Royal Navy Kansen on-site, not to mention a lot of base personal and several people from the ALOC”.

“Oh, he should not be doing that. You do not piss off the ALOC. Those guys have the power to fire the commander of the Azur Lane. I do not see him lasting very long in that job. So, when are we meeting up with convoy JW 55B?” she asked.

“Well, if everything goes as planned, we should be leaving sometime tomorrow morning to meet up with them,” Lelouch said with a smile “Oh, and is the package I requested to be sent on board the transport fleet?” he asked as a forklift drove by carrying a large wooden crate it had picked up from the plane.

“Well, yes. But I must ask, why did you request that we send the Northern Parliament one million units of main fleet combat experience on top of the one million that we're already giving them? I know they need it to train their Kansen, but isn't that a bit too much for them”.

“I know it is. But they're fighting both the Sirens and the Ironblood. They need all the help they can get right now, so a little extra in the form of a gift will help”.

“We're back commander,” Cleveland said as she, Belfast, Hermione, Sheffield, and Duke of York returned from depositing their ships.

“Hey guys,” Thunder Child said with a smile “Ur, whys Cleveland here?”.

“Well, Queen Elizabeth wanted to get Lelouch into shape, considering how physically unfit he is” Cleveland replied “She had Ranger add him to the physical education course. But, she can't exactly leave Azur Main at the moment, so she sent me, Cleveland, to be his physical education teacher until he returns to Azur Main”.

“Oh, I was wondering when queeny was going to try and get some more meat on those skinny bones of yours,” Thunder Child said as she poked Lelouch's arm.

“Hay, I am not skinny,” Lelouch said as he pushed the hand away “Well, not that skinny anyway”.

“Queen Elizabeth is able to outrun you, and she sits on a throne all day,” Cleveland remarked “Illustrious can outrun you. Hell, even her sister Formidable can outrun you, and they wear dresses. I swear, if you can't run a full lap of the running course without stopping by the time we get back, I will force you to wear one of her dresses until you can”.

“Ur, Cleveland. I see multiple problems with that statement right there” Sheffield said, “The main problem being that none of Formidable's dresses will even fit him”.

Lelouch sighed a silent sigh of relief. He did not want to dress up as a girl again. He did that far too much of that at Ashford Academy, and he really didn't want to do that here, not when a lot of people said that he looked good in a dress.

“Oh that shouldn't be much of a problem,” Belfast said with a smile and dashing his hopes in an instant “Colossus has his measurements, so she should be able to make a dress that could fit him”.

“Belfast” Lelouch said sounding rather embarrassed “Please don't help Cleveland in this. I've already got enough to worry about already with the upcoming operation to take out Scharnhorst. I could really do without the added stress of running the risk of wearing a dress for the rest of my life”.

“Well, it should be enough to make you exercise more in your free time,” Sheffield remarked “Anyway, we should be gathering our luggage. Can't start the operation without it,” she said before she and the other two maids boarded the walked over to the planes cargo area to take out everyone's luggage.

“Looks like thou won't be able to get out of this easily, commander” Duke of York said with a smile.

Lelouch sighed, he was really starting to regret skipping out all those PE lessons in favour of gambling or beating those annoying aristocrats at chess.

At least things should be smooth sailing from here on out.

Hamburg Navy base. Germany.

Bismarck hobbled into the command centre, using a walking stick to help her stand. She had only been cleared from the hospital a few days ago, and walking was still rather difficult for her. But, at least she was up and about.
“Can someone please explain to me why I was called here?” she asked as she hobbled over to the central ops table, with Roon, Prinz Eugen, and Königsberg standing around it.

The ops table itself was a highly advanced one, with a large screen on it showing a map of Europe with the IRL locations of all Ironblood navy assets. Allies included.

“Kommandantin,” The three Kansen said as they stood at attention.

“Sorry for requesting your presence lord Bismarck, but something's just come up,” Königsberg said “We're identified the man who was in command of the fleet that almost sunk you”.

Bismarck's eyes widened at the news “You have!” she said sounding surprised “Who is he?”.

Königsberg pressed a button on the side of the ops table, and several pictures appeared on the screen, all of which had the same person as the focus. A young man, only looking about nineteen. With raven hair, deep purple eyes, and wearing a royal navy commanders uniform that looked a size too big for him.

She felt something strange when she focused on the portrait image of him. She couldn't tell what the feeling was, but there was defiantly something up with her. She felt her face heat up, her heart skipping a beat, an odd sensation forming inside her. What was happening to her?

“Oh my” Prinz Eugen remarked as she looked at the pictures “The Royals clearly got lucky with this one,” she said with a smile “A good looker and a tactical mastermind”

“Tactical mastermind indeed. One of our spies recovered his service record” Königsberg said “His name is Lelouch Lamperouge. He was a member of the British merchant navy before his ship was sunk. He was then recovered by a Royal Navy patrol fleet escorting the previous command of the Azur Lane to London. A few days later, the fleet was attacked by the Siren Tester. Commander Gaunt was killed in the attack, and Lelouch took command of the fleet, resulting in the successful defeat of the Siren. He was then sent over to the Denmark strait to battle Bismarck as a sort of trial by fire, just so the Royal Navy high-command could get a better look at his command ability”.

“Wait a second” Bismarck said, snapping back to reality “I was defeated by a merchant seaman!?”.

“A merchant seaman who went on the command the successful defence of Azur Main from a massive Siren fleet,” Königsberg said “He is the most dangerous command the Royal Navy has at the moment. And, not only is he back in the Royal Islands after spending three weeks as the temporary command of the Azur Lane, but he's also taking part in an upcoming Royal Navy operation. We just have no idea what upcoming operation he'll be taking part in”.

“So we know he's in the UK. But we don't know where he's going to next” Eugen said “Any idea where he'll be next? As much as I like the look of him, I will have to pay him back for that torpedo that disabled my propellers”.

“Not too much I hope,” Roon said, scratching a finger over one of the images of Lelouch “I wouldn't want my crushing of him to be too quick. I want to savour my battle against him,” she said sinisterly as she once more scratched a finger over the same image.

“You do know that the repair cost for that screen is coming straight out of your wages,” Bismarck said, looking rather annoyed.

“I know,” Roon said with a smile before she walked towards the door, stopping just in front of it “Lord Bismarck. I request permission to request whatever Ironblood assets I need to complete the mission you gave me”.

“What. Why?” Bismarck asked sounding rather confused.

“Because I know where he's going next,” Roon said as she turned around “He's going after Scharnhorst”.

“Scharnhorst, but she's in Norway,” Bismarck said.

“So is your sister,” Roon said, and Bismarck's chest tightened “If the Royal Navy succeed in taking out Scharnhorst, there would be very little we can do to prevent them from striking your sister Tirpitz,” she said, “Now it possible to prevent this, but I will need some help. That is why I'm asking for permission to request whatever assistance I need to complete this mission”.

“You'll get it,” Bismarck said. This was her sister's life on the line, and she wasn't going to sit back and do nothing whilst someone tried to sink her. She would have gone to help her herself, but she was in no condition to travel, and her ship was still being repaired.

Speaking of repairs.

“Königsberg, what's the status of my ship's repairs?” the battleship asked.

“They're going along well” Königsberg replied “It will still be quite a while before your ship will be seaworthy again, but we are making progress”.

“Good,” Bismarck said, “I would like my ship to be retrofitted”.

“Retrofitted?” Eugen said sounding unsurprised “Are you sure that's a good idea. It would be quite an expensive process”.

“Not if we do it during the repairs” Königsberg interrupted “It will make the repairs more expensive, but will significantly cut down on the costs of the retrofit. All we will need to do is just replace all the things we need to upgrade with better equipment. It'll be cheaper than just repairing the ship, then doing the retrofit”.

“Exactly. That's why I want it done now” Bismarck said “I want to be stronger when I run into Lelouch again. I will not be caught off guard by him again” she said. It didn't matter if this would extend the amount of time she would be out of action, she will become stronger. She will not let this embarrassing defeat stain her career. She will make Lelouch pay for crippling her, and Roon will be her chariot of vengeance. Let's see how he handles her.

Chapter Text

Murmansk, Arctic Circle - Northern Parliament Territory

“It is my pleasure to inform you that we've successfully completed the first part of Her Majesty's supply delivery” Belfast reported with a polite bow. Lelouch stood next to her, wearing a thick winter coat over his new uniform. A warm mug of hot chocolate in his hand. He was grateful that the Royal Navy saw fit to attach boiling vessel's to their Kansne's rigging, allowing them to brew a warm cup of tea, or in this case, some hot chocolate, whenever they needed to.

“The second convoy is expected to arrive later this day, and the third should arrive early tomorrow morning. Please make the necessary preparations for their arrival” The light cruiser added.

“We greatly appreciate your support. These supplies will surely be a great help in our battle against the Crimson Axis” the Northern Parliament Kansen, Avrora, said with a friendly smile. She spoke with a Russian accent, and, despite what he had heard from the Admiralty, seemed rather friendly “Although I must ask, why is there a third convoy? The supplies we paid for only needed two convoys. Was there a miscalculation?” she asked sounding slightly confused.

“Actually, that was my doing” Lelouch replied “I convinced Royal Navy high-command and Queen Elizabeth to send you some additional supplies. Seeing that you are holding back both the Sirens in Antarctica and the Ironblood ground forces at the same time. I thought it would be beneficial for all of us if we gave you some additional resources free of charge” he said with a smile “It would be disastrous if the Sirens were to break out of the Antarctic circle now, what with the Azur Lane considerably weakened and us fighting amongst ourselves”.

The confused look on Avrora's face quickly turned into a large smile “Why thank you, I am most grateful for your generosity. I will inform my comrades of your most gracious gift” she said “In the meantime, please inform Her Majesty and Royal Navy High-command that they have our gratitude and our blessings. God Save the Queen” she said.

“Certainly. We are eagerly awaiting your future participation in the war. God Save the Queen!” Belfast responded.

Avrora nodded, and with that, she turned and walked away.

“Thank goodness... We've finally finished our last convoy mission... Now we can go home...” Norfolk said nervously, looking like the cold was affecting her. Being a Kansen, they had inbuilt heating units, allowing them to withstand cold weather far better than he could “Just the thought of getting to drink Belfast's tea again is helping me warm up inside~!” she said with a smile.

“We cannot let our guard down just yet. We may still encounter danger on our way back” Belfast warned “We have yet to run into Scharnhorst, and there is still a significant Siren presence in these waters”.

Lelouch nodded. They had encountered several Siren patrols on their way here, yet there was no sign of their primary target, Scharnhorst. Was she aware of their plan and had fallen back, or was she still out there, waiting for the right moment to strike? Either way, he wasn't heading back until she was sunk below the waves.

He noticed that Sheffield had been rather quiet for some time now “You ok Sheffield?” he asked “You haven't spoken much”.

Sheffield didn't look like she was paying attention, her focus remained on Avrora as she walked away “That girl, Avrora... her smile didn't seem sincere to me” the light cruiser remarked “I don't believe we should trust the Northern Parliament”.

“You're overthinking the matter. We have formed an alliance with them so we have every reason to mutually trust one another” Belfast said politely “Do you not agree that it is our duty as Royal Maids to have faith in Her Majesty's and the Commander's judgement?” she asked with a smile.

Sheffield remained quiet for a few moments “... Let's hope I'm simply being paranoid” she said before she turned and walked back to her ship.

“Well then, according to our intel, there is a chance that we will encounter moderate Siren opposition on our way home, therefore I urge everyone to remain vigilant!” Belfast said.

“Agreed,” Lelouch said before he turned towards the docked HMS Thunder Child “All Kansen, report to your ships and prepare to set sail!” he ordered, getting a 'yes sir' from the Kansen under his command. He then boarded the ship and entered it.

It was a lot warmer inside, and there were several Manjuu rushing about and performing important tasks. He quickly made his way to the bridge, where Thunder Child herself and Cleveland were waiting for him. The latter of which currently had her rigging on.

“Commander, we've just received a report from the second fleet” Thunder Child reported as he walked onto the ship's bridge “We have a shark on the hook. Scharnhorst has taken the bait and is approaching the second convoy”.

“Good, I was wondering when she was going to show herself,” Lelouch said as he walked over to the ship's wheel. It was useless to turn it, as Thunder Child had complete control over the ship. The wheel would only move when the Kansen wanted it to move “Inform the fleet that our prey has entered our sights, and all that's left for us to do is reel her in”.

“Of course sir, I will inform the fleet now,” Thunder Child said before she walked over to the comm systems and turned them on “Alright ladies, get your fishing gear out as we've got ourselves a shark to catch. Scharnhorst has been spotted and we're moving in to remove her from the playing field once and for all. God Save the Queen” she said, waiting for the traditional response before ending the call.

“I think the power of being your command ship might be getting to her,” Cleveland remarked as the ship started moving “Your sure this plan will work commander? You have used this on the Ironblood before, they will be expecting it”.

“Don't worry, I've read everything the Royal Navy has on Scharnhorst,” Lelouch said “She will not see this coming until it's too late to retreat. Still I find the nickname 'The Ugly sisters' to be rather insulting to them, seeing that their anything but ugly”.

“It was humans who gave them that nickname. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few more 'colourful' insulting nicknames for us out there” Cleveland said “There are a lot of people out there who don't like us. I don't see why they hate us, we're the only one's who can fight the Sirens effectively”.

“Humans will always find a reason to hate something, even if the reason for their hate is something insignificant,” Lelouch said “Hate is something that will always be there. No matter what you try to do, whether you make look like a better person or try to direct their hate towards another, there will always be those who hate you”.

“Sounds like you have a lot of experience with hate,” Cleveland remarked.

“You can say that I'm good at manipulating it,” Lelouch said with a smile.

Barents Sea, Two hours later.

“We meet again, my Royal adversaries. Or should I call you a royal pain in my ass?” Scharnhorst taunted as the Royal Navy Kansen formed up in front of her, at a distance that is. Thankfully they still heard her thanks to her talking to them over comms.

“I am Belfast, chief of the Royal Maids. The pleasure is all mine” the lead ship of the escort fleet said with a polite bow “Had it not been for your fleet's sudden visit, I could have been in Scapa Flow by now, brewing the afternoon tea for the young mistress...” she said with what looked like an irritated smile “If you'll pardon my request, would you kindly scuttle yourself to make this easier for all parties involved?”.

“Just as full of yourselves as ever, huh... I knew this battle would come one day” Scharnhorst said as she examined the fleet, rather surprised that Thunder Child was not only with them, but had yet to activate her rigging “Good timing, too! My cannons have been aching for some target practice to warm up in this freezing weather!” she said as she readied her guns and aimed them at the Royal Navy fleet “En garde, you pompous, tea-swigging bastards-” she said before a full barrage of HE shells impacted the water around her, taking out her radar in the process “What the?! My radars been hit...?! Who did that?! Who the hell did that?! Who's the slimy little crumpet-munching island ape bastard out there who just signed her own death warrant?!”.

“That would be me,” a calm voice said over the comms. It was male and sounded young.

Scharnhorst's eyes quickly locked on to the source of the transmission, Thunder Child's ship. She tensed up when she saw two people standing on the deck of the ship. One of them was Duke of York, gun smoke still around her. Next to her was a young man, looking no older than nineteen, wearing a white Royal Navy commander's uniform, and a pair of ear-defenders over his ears. He had a pair of binoculars in one hand, and a handheld two-way radio in the other.

“Who are you?! Identify yourself!” Scharnhorst demanded, looking directly at the boy who stood next to Duke of York.

“I am Lelouch Lamperouge” the boy replied with the confidence of someone who had seen battle countless times “My name may not mean anything to you, but I'm sure you are familiar with my actions. I was the commander of the fleet that sunk Bismarck, and the one who crushed the Siren fleet attacking Azur Main,” he said with a smile.

Scharnhorst panicked internally. She had heard about his from a few offhand remarks and one report. Lelouch Lamperouge, the Royal Navy's ace in the hole. The was very little on the guy, and most of what they knew was only speculation. If the Ironblood knew more about him, it was obviously way above her pay grade. All she knew about him was that he was a dangerous fleet commander.

This left her with only one sensible course of action “Starboard, 150 degrees! Full speed retreat! Get me the fuck out of here!” she shouted as she turned around and retreated as fast as her engine would allow her.

Royal Navy fleet.

Lelouch watched in genuine surprise as Scharnhorst uncharacteristically retreated away from them. He had not predicted this outcome. Whilst he did anticipate that she may retreat during the battle, he did not expect her to retreat the moment he revealed himself. And the way she was retreating, it was like she was running scared, which according to the Royal Navy profile on her, wasn't something she was known to do. Quite the opposite in fact.

“Something's up,” he said as he lowered his binoculars “Scharnhorst should not be retreating like that”.

“Perhaps your reputation had something to do with it,” Thunder Child said as she walked up beside him “You did sink their leader after all”.

Lelouch shook his head “No, it can't have been that. I've only participated in two battles. I would have to have done some extraordinary things to get a reaction like that out of someone like Scharnhorst” he said before speaking into the radio “All Kansen, pursue Scharnhorst but keep your eyes open. This may be a trap” he orders, getting a yes sir from the rest of the fleet “Duke of York, I suggest you join them. Firing your main guns whilst on the deck of another ship isn't exactly ideal”.

“Of course commander,” Duke of York said with a smile before she jumped down onto the water below and joined the rest of the fleet.

“You think she's planning something?” Thunder Child asked.

Lelouch nodded “Someone like her would not retreat so soon into a battle. She would have stayed and fought us. That's what I predicted would happen anyway. Obviously, the Ironblood have their own plans. But she can't be retreating to safety, there are no other Ironblood ships in the area. Nor is there anywhere she could use as cover or hide in”.

“Whatever it is, it can't be that bad,” Thunder Child said.

“I suppose so,” Lelouch said, hoping that Scharnhorst was only trying to delay the inevitable.

Half an hour later.

“Contact!” Sheffield reported over comms “Ironblood A400M Atlas spotted on radar”.

“A what?” Lelouch asked, not familiar with that class of aircraft.

“It's a military transport aircraft with tactical and strategic capabilities” Belfast replied “The Ironblood Luftwaffe has several of them, but I have no idea why they would have one all the way out here,” she remarked.

Lelouch looked through his binoculars and spied the large, grey aircraft. It was flying rather low, low enough to perform a low-velocity airdrop. It was at that moment that he realised exactly why the transport aircraft was here.

“Damn it” He cursed as brought his radio to his face “All Kansen, be advised. Ironblood are about to paradrop Kansen dead ahead of us. Everyone, prepare for immediately enemy contacts”.

“Paradrop Kansen?” Hermione said sounding rather confused “Are you sure commander. That sounds a bit far fetched”.

“I'm sure” Lelouch replied as the aircraft's rear hatch opened up “I've already done the calculations on it, and it is indeed possible to paradrop Kansen,” he said, just as the Atlas started to deposit its cargo, which as predicted, were several Ironblood Kansen.

“My god!” Sheffield gasped as Ironblood Kansen started hitting the water, discarding their parachutes before entering into formation. Scharnhorst too turned and entered into formation with the rest of the Ironblood fleet, the fear gone from her face, replaced with a smug smirk.

Lelouch quickly sifted through the Ironblood fleet, identifying every single Kansen in the fleet, save one. She had light brown hair and brown eyes, her rigging looked like a cross between a scorpion and a shrimp, and was truly a monster. She also had gauntlets with bladed fingertips on both hands. It took him a few moments to realise exactly who he was looking at. Roon. The Ironblood's PR ship. It took him a second longer to realise that she was looking directly back at him.

She smiled, it was a friendly smile. But behind that smile was a deadly predator, one capable of ripping straight through the entire fleet.

Without warning she charged forwards towards him with an unnatural speed, accelerating past both friend and foe without a care. He didn't have time to order the fleet to engage her before reaching HMS Thunder Child and leapt up towards him, arm outstretched towards him with a cute and psycho smile on her face.

Chapter Text

Barents Sea, Scharnhorst perspective.

Scharnhorst was undeniably smug right now. She had fooled everyone into thinking that she was running scared from Lelouch and his fleet. Yes, she knew he was a dangerous commander, but Tirpitz was better. Her plan to lure him out and ambush him was working perfectly. Ok, the airdropping Kansen from an A400M Atlas was rather unexpected. But she assumed that Tirpitz took a page out of whatever book Lelouch was reading, as she had a feeling that the boy will soon become well known for hiding Kansen onboard mass-produced ships or other craft.

Her reinforcements consisted of Tirpitz, Admiral Hipper, Roon, Königsberg, Karlsruhe, Köln, as well as Z23, Z24, Z25, and Z26.

“All Kansen of the Ironblood,” Tirpitz said over comms “Take formation around me and prepare to attack the Royal Navy fleet” she ordered, and the fleet obeyed, forming around her.

“Scharnhorst” her sister Gneisenau said as she sailed over to her “Good to see that you're ok,” she said”.

“Gneisenau,” Scharnhorst said, turning to face her sister. She was here surprised that she was here too since her ship was supposed to be heavily damaged “I'm surprised to see you here. I thought your ship was damaged”.

“It wasn't,” Gneisenau said as she got out a lollipop “They only got a mass-produce version. We tricked them into thinking they got me”.

Scharnhorst smiled “Well, let's show this Lelouch boy that you don't mess with the ugly sisters”.

“Tirpitz,” Roon said over comms “I have eyes on the target. And I think he has eyes on me”.

“Good,” Tirpitz said “Everyone, engage the Royal Navy fleet. Roon get him” she ordered.

Scharnhorst saw the smile that formed on Roon's face before the heavy cruiser shot forwards toward the Royal Navy fleet. She almost, almost felt sorry for him, as Roon would show him no mercy.

Barents Sea, Roon's perspective.

Roon smiled as she skated past the Royal Navy Kansen, dashing past them with ease. As much as she would have liked to crush them, she had an order from Bismarck to fulfil. She could always crush them another day, as Bismarck's order took top priority,

She rapidly came up to HMS Thunder Child, the ship he was using as a command ship. She grinned as she jumped up into the air, sighting her target standing on the deck of the ship.

“Your mine,” the heavy cruiser said as she came down towards him, arm outstretched towards his head.

Suddenly, just as she was about to grab Lelouch, something hit her, causing her to miss him by an inch. Only scratching the side of his face with one of her fingers.

She hit the deck of the ship with a thud, and quickly got up and turned towards Lelouch, only for something to hit her in the face and pin her hands to the deck. Whoever was responsible for this was going to end up dead after this.

She quickly turned to see who had attacked her. But was very shocked when she saw the trident pinning her hands to the deck. A very familiar trident.

“My apologies for this” a female voice apologised politely “But I have orders to protect my master”.

Roon looked up and saw the Royal Navy light cruiser Neptune, a fellow PR ship just like herself. This surprised her greatly as she was supposed to be all the way over in Hawaii. What the hell was she doing here?.

She didn't exactly get a chance to ask her as Neptune proceeded to aim all of her guns at her and fired, sending the heavy cruiser flying away from the ship.

“You bitch!” she shouted as she flew, hitting the water moments later.

Neptune jumped after her, landing on the water just a few feet away from her.

“What are you doing here?” Roon asked as she stood up “Shouldn't you be in Hawaii”.

“I was. But Lelouch had me 'shipped' here in secret” Neptune replied with a smile “Now would you please be a dear and scuttle yourself” she said as she pointed her trident at her.

“Go sink yourself you Royal bitch!” Roon shouted as she charged forwards towards Neptune, guns blazing “YOU WILL PAY!!!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, slicing at Neptune. The light cruiser swiftly dodged the attack and retaliated with a jab of her trident, scratching the side of Roon's arm. The two cruisers then started a deadly ballet of destruction. Striking each other with a mix of cannon fire, blades, and claws. Roon, being a heavy cruiser, could hit harder and take more damage, but was struggling to score hits on the more agile Neptune. Neptune meanwhile could hit Roon more often, but she lacked the damage output of the more heavily armed heavy cruiser. Plus she lacked Roon's durability, so she wouldn't be able to take as many hits as the heavy cruiser could.

“Stay still so I can break you!” Roon shouted as she swiped at Neptune several times, her rigging even tried to grab her within its metal maw.

“I think not,” Neptune said as she easily dodged Roon's attacks, even catching her rigging's jaw on her trident “You are very easy to read Roon. I can see what you're going to do before you even do it”.

“That doesn't matter, I can still RIP YOU TO SHREDS!!!” Roon shouted as she punched Neptune in the chest, sending her flying backwards and into the side of HMS Thunder Child's main gun.

Roon smiled as she jumped after her, landing on the deck of the ship, giggling as she walked towards the wounded light cruiser “Did you really think you could fight me” she said as she slowly approached her “Did you really think you could beat-” she shouted before she was suddenly sent flying back towards the Ironblood fleet. She was rather shocked by this sudden turn of events, as that felt like a battleship broadside, yet the only Royal Navy battleships in the area were engaged with the Ironblood fleet. So where did that new one come from?

She hit the water hard, sinking below the waves for a few moments before she was pulled back up by Tirpitz and Admiral Hipper.

“You ok?” Hipper asked sounding rather concerned.

Roon brushed them off “Who fired at me?!!!” she demanded.

“We don't know” Tirpitz replied before she fired off a salvo towards Duke of York “But I have a feeling that Duke of York and Neptune weren't the only Kansen Lelouch has hidden onboard Thunder Child's Ship”.

Roon smiled “Bring them on then, I'll crush them all!” she said before charging forwards again.

Barents Sea, Lelouch's perspective

“Neptune, are you alright,” Lelouch asked as he rushed over to the wounded light cruiser and helped her up onto her feet. The fleet could cope without his orders for a few moments, as he had already gotten them into position and directed them towards their targets.

“I'll live commander” Neptune replied with a slight smile.

“Good. Because we are still needed” Monarch said as she walked up to them, smoke still coming out of her guns.

“Everything alright Monarch?” Lelouch asked.

The battleship looked at him with a flat look “Just a bit disappointed that it wasn't Owen I just shot” she replied sounding disappointed “Oh well, at least I'm not in that box you shipped us here anymore”.

“Yeah, that was a rather good plan there sir, hiding us in a crate and bringing us here in secret,” Neptune said, “Although I must say that it was rather uncomfortable. Plus you're lucky we didn't need to go to the toilet whilst we were in there, otherwise we would have had some problems”.

“Don't worry, I doubt I'll do something like that again,” Lelouch said before he turned towards the battle “And even if I do need to do something like that again, I'll probably have something more practical on hand than a wooden box,” he said before he got out his binoculars and looked out at the Ironblood lines. He was almost shocked by how quickly Roon had recovered from Monarch's broadside, but this should be something to be expected from someone like her. Monsters like Roon don't die so easily.

“By the way Monarch, how did you get to the main deck so quickly?” Lelouch asked as the two PR ships walked up to him from behind “You were up here the instant I called for you”.

“I was waiting on the other side of the door” Monarch replied before she looked at the Ironblood fleet “Looks like Roon's coming back”.

“Indeed she is,” Lelouch said, noticing the rapidly approaching heavy cruiser “Can you two distract her long enough for Victorious to arrive? We can't win this battle without air support”.

“We'll try,” Neptune said before the two PR ships jumped off the front of the ship and engaged Roon.

“Cleveland, get up on the main deck of the ship. I may need you to help fight off Roon” Lelouch ordered over comms.

“Copy that sir” Cleveland said over comms.

Once that was done, Lelouch switched to a known Ironblood frequency “This is Lelouch Lamperouge of the Royal Navy. I wish to speak to the commander of the Ironblood fleet” he said.

The response came quickly “This is the battleship Tirpitz, commander of the Ironblood fleet” the cold female voice of Tirpitz responded, “So, you're the one who crippled my sister”.

“Indeed I am,” Lelouch said “I take it you knew your sister well then”.

“No, I didn't,” Tirpitz said, surprising Lelouch “I was never able to see her, as I was sent out here before I had a chance to see her. She was being brought back when I was ordered out here. I haven't even been able to talk to her”.

Lelouch was almost shocked by this news. He didn't expect her to not know her own sister. What kind of military keeps someone from seeing their own sister “You, haven't met or spoken to your sister! I'm, sorry to hear that. It must be difficult not knowing your own sister”.

“It is,” Tirpitz said “Had a certain Royal Navy commander not sunk her, I may have been able to meet her”.

“I'm sorry about that, but I had my orders,” Lelouch said sombrely “We are but soldiers on opposite sides of a war not of our making. If it's any constellation, your sister fought valiantly. I hope I can say the same for you”.

Tirpitz was silent for a few moments “You surprise me Lelouch. Most commanders would have gloated over almost killing my sisters, yet you are not. I wish there were a lot more decent people like you commanding us, Lelouch” she said “But, as much as I would like to talk to you, we are, as you said, but soldiers on opposite sides of a war not of our making, and I have my orders”.

Lelouch smiled “So do I,” he said before he switched to the Royal Navy frequency “All Kansen of the Royal navy, press the attack against the Ironblood fleet”.

“We're trying to sir,” Sheffield said, a hint of panic in her voice “But the Ironblood Kansen are reloading their guns far faster than they should be able to. It's like their all equipped with some kind of supercharged auto-reloaded”.

Lelouch frowned and looked at the shells that were being fired. Belfast was right, the shells coming from the Ironblood formation were coming far more frequently than those fired by the Royal Navy Kansen. How fast were those girls reloading their guns? They had practically doubled their rate of fire. Well, everyone save for Scharnhorst that is, as she was still firing at a normal pace.

“Dammit!” Lelouch cursed. This was not going to plan at all. The increased fire rate from the Ironblood reinforcements would shred his fleet to pieces long before Victorious even arrived. How did they know he was coming out here anyway. Very few people knew he was coming back to the UK, and fewer still knew which operation he would be taking part in. Either the Ironblood successfully guessed where he would be, or there was a traitor in the Royal Navy's admiralty.

“Holy shit, that's a lot of fire coming from the Ironblood forces,” Cleveland remarked as she rushed up beside him “That can't be good for their guns”.

“I know, but it's not good for us either,” Lelouch said “We're getting torn up out there. I may have to order a retreat if this keeps up”.

“That may be difficult to do, what with Roon harassing us,” Cleveland said “Fuck me, I've never seen a heavy cruiser move so fast before,” she remarked as she watched Roon and Neptune fight, even with battleship support from Monarch, Neptune was struggling to hold back the more violent Roon.

“We'll have to try,” Lelouch said before he raised his radio “All Royal Navy Kansen, prepare to fall back. We can not fight the Ironblood fleet. Belfast, prepare your smoke generator-” he said before he heard the light cruiser scream over the comms “Belfast! Are you alright!?”.

“I'm alright master” Belfast replied, breathing heavily “But my ship's been hit hard. I've lost control over my rudder, and my smoke generator has been destroyed. I'm afraid I'm out of this fight commander,” she said sombrely “You fall back. I'll hold the Ironblood off whilst you escape”.

“Negative, we are not doing that” Lelouch said “I am not sacrificing you. Duke of York, grab Belfast and fall back, we are leaving-!”.

“Look out!” Cleveland shouted.

Lelouch reacted quickly and looked up, only to be hit and sent flying backwards into the turret of Thunder Child's ship, screaming out in pain as he hit it. His entire body hurt like hell, his right leg felt the worse.

“Lelouch!” Cleveland gasped before she was smashed aside by Roon.

Lelouch panted heavily as the heavy cruiser slowly approached him, grinning manically, his heart beating rapidly within his chest. He tried to crawl away, but he was too weak to move his arms, and his right leg was not only broken but was also bent in several painful ways that should not possible. He was truly terrified of her, of the monster that was approaching him. In all his life he had never faced anyone as monstrous as her. Not even Mao had come close to her. What the hell had the Ironblood cooked up.

“Your mine now,” Roon said with a psycho smile as she walked over to him. Her rigging growling behind her.

Suddenly, just as she was standing over him, the ship shook violently. Disorientating both himself and Roon, although he swore that he saw something glowing on Roon's forehead, but he couldn't see what it was as it was covered by her heir.

The ship suddenly rocked to the side, almost causing Roon to lose her balance. His focus quickly shifted to the side of the ship, where he saw something submerge beside them. It looked like a large submarine, but it was missing its conning tower, which was strange as that was a rather important part of a submarine. So why was it missing?

He got his answer moments later as several propellers sprouted out of the side of the submarine's hull on pivotal mounts. These propellers proceeded to lift the submarine out of the water, revealing that it was in fact, not a submarine, but a submersible Zeppelin.

Roon's reaction to seeing the Zeppelin submerge out of the water and lift up into the air pretty much mirrored his own “What!”.

Chapter Text

SN Cherdenko: Northern Parliament submersible Zeppelin. Barents Sea

Victorious looked out of the main window, jaw opened as she saw the 'submarine' she was one lift up out of the water, not at all expecting this to happen.

“I take it by your silence that you are surprised about my Zeppelin being able to submerge under the water,” a woman said behind her as she walked up to the surprised carrier.

Victorious turned to face her. She was the Northern Parliament Kansen, Kirov. Whilst her uniform was similar to every other NP Kansen, white coat, books, stocking, gloves and a hat, her rigging looked similar to the rigging used by the Ironblood, just a cold light grey and covered in ice.

“Honestly, I thought you were making that part up,” Victorious said with a nervous smile “Didn't think you lot would be crazy enough to make a Zeppelin capable of submerging like a submarine. Why would you even build something like this? Why do you even own a Zeppelin anyway?”.

“Because, my English friend,” Kirov said as she put an arm around Victorious “If I didn't own a Zeppelin, I wouldn't have anything to drop bombs on my enemies during my barrage,” she said before she looked down at the water, at Thunder Child's ship, and frowned “Oh my, your friends don't look to be doing so well”.

“Huh,” Victorious said before she followed her gaze and looked down, and was shocked by what she saw. Thunder Child's ship had several deep dents in it, Lelouch was resting against the turret with Roon looming over him. A glance to the side revealed a large Ironblood fleet bombarding the hell out of the Royal Navy fleet “Oh my god. They are getting hammered down there!”.

“Which means we've arrived not a moment too soon,” Kirov said before she turned around “Fire the auto-cannons!” she ordered, getting a chirp of confirmation from the Zeppelin's large crew of Manjuu “Lock on and fire at Roon!”.

Victorious couldn't see them, but she could hear the mechanical motets of auto-cannon mounts move the guns out from behind retractable plates and aimed directly at Roon. Moments later they fired at the heavy cruiser, smashing her rigging and sending her flying off of the ship.

“Good, that's dealt with one problem,” Kirov said as she turned and walked towards the staircase that led to the bomb bay “Move us over Roon and ready the bomb bays. We're levelling that bitch” she ordered, “And get a Manjuu medical team down there as well. They will be needed”.

Victorious quickly followed her, descending down into the Zeppelin bomb bays. The bay was full of bombs, far more than any of her bombers could carry. A Manjuu medical team soon followed them down, with mini parachutes on their backs and carrying medical gear.

“So, how are we getting down there,” Victorious asked “I can carry us down on one of my planes-” she said before she was stopped by Kirov.

“Come now comrade, as fun as that would be, I have something a bit better,” the light cruiser said before she got onto one of the bombs and stood on it, just before the bomb bay doors opened.

“You're not going to!” Victorious said, not believing for a second that Kirov was about to ride a bomb down to the water.

“Oh yes, right into Roon's face,” Kirov said with a smile before she reached for the bomb release lever and pulled it. Dropping the bomb and taking her with it.

Victorious just watched as Kirov rode the bomb down towards Roon. She sighed before she launched one of her planes and jumped down after her, landing on the plane she launched before launching several more.

She could see Roon recovering below her, the heavy cruiser's rigging growling loudly as she stood upon the water. She then looked up and had about a second to acknowledge the light cruiser riding a bomb towards her before Kirov jumped off of the bomb, sending it directly into her face. Victorious quickly followed this up with a round of bombs and torpedoes before jumping off of her plane and landing on the water beside Kirov.

“And that was done without a single bottle of vodka!” Kirov said proudly, surprising Victorious a lot. If this was her sober, what was she like drunk?

Maniacal laughing brought her back to reality. The two Kansen looked forwards towards the large cloud of smoke where Roon once stood to see the heavy cruiser was still afloat. Heavily damaged, but afloat “Did you think that would work?” she said with a smile “Did you really think that will be enough to stop me! I'll sink you-” she shouted before she suddenly brought her hand up to her ear. She then scowled and looked at them “Till next time then!” she said before she sped off towards the Ironblood fleet.

“Quickly, we mustn't let her get away- WOW!” Kirov shouted before jumping back as the area around them was suddenly bombarded with shells. She pulled Victorious out of the way of an AP shell “Victorious, do you still have planes you can launch!?” she asked loudly.

“Indeed I do!” Victorious replied before she launched a squadron of fighters, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers, and sent them towards the Ironblood fleet. Their lack of a carrier would mean that they would have to rely on their AA. But Roon was fast, very fast. She reached the Ironblood fleet before the planes did. Victorious used her optics to get a closer look at the enemy fleet, locking her sights on Tirpitz. She zoomed in on the battleship and was shocked to see her smiling.

“Auf Wiedersehen, servants of the Royal Family,” the battleships said over comms, speaking to the entire Royal Navy fleet. The battleship saluted before several Ironblood U-boats, one for each Kansen, jumped out of the water and grabbed them, dragging the entire Ironblood fleet below the waves just before Victorious' planes dropped their payloads on them.

The damaged Royal Navy fleet looked on in surprise and amazement at the Ironblood's escape. Where did the U-boats even come from, and why didn't they use them to aid their attack? Did they only just arrive, or were they waiting? They may never know.

“Status report. What's everyone's condition?” Victorious asked over comms.

“We still afloat, but all heavy damaged” Belfast reported “The Ironblood Kansen bombarded us with a superior rate of fire. How did they even manage to shoot so quickly?”.

“That can't have been good for their guns” Sheffield observed “I'll be surprised if they don't have to replace them after this”.

“What happened here?” Kirov asked over comms.

“We were chasing down Scharnhorst when the Ironblood para dropped Kansen on us” Belfast replied “Thanks for the aid by the way. We probably would be resting at the bottom of the Barents Sea if you hadn't shown up”.

“No problem comrades. I'm happy to help” Kirov said with a smile “Now, where's your commander?”.

“Guys, we need medical assistance on Thunder Child's ship, now!” Cleveland said sounding distressed “Lelouch is unconscious and bleeding badly!”.

The Royal Navy Kansen quickly rushed towards Thunder Child's ship, jumping onto the deck and rushing over to the main gun, which Lelouch's unconscious body was resting against. Cleveland and Thunder Child were crouched down next to him, alongside the team of medical Manjuu.

They were all shocked by the state he was in. His leg was bent in ways that should not be possible, there was a pool of blood slowly forming around him, he was barely breathing, and worse still, his right arm was completely shredded.

“My god!” Hermione gasped “What happened to him?”.

“Roon threw Neptune at him” Cleveland replied “I tried to warn him, but I wasn't fast enough. Roon then smashed me out of the way before I could help him”.

“Shit. We need to get him on board the Cherdenko, we've got a medical facility onboard that can look after him” Kirov said as she carefully picked Lelouch up. Her Zeppelin slowly descends towards the water beside them “I suggest everyone boards as well. You're in no condition to pursue the Ironblood fleet. There are repair facilities onboard, so you should be able to perform rudimentary repairs to your rigging”.

“Of course,” Belfast said before they started boarding the Zeppelin. Victorious recalled her active aircraft before boarding, but just as she jumped inside she stopped and started counting on her fingers.

“You ok Victorious?” Cleveland asked sounding concerned.

“No, it's nothing” Victorious replied “Just had a miscount of my planes, that's all. Thought I had three fighters out instead of two. Must have mistaken it for one of my other planes,” she said before she followed the others. Cleveland quickly followed suit, not thinking much of Victorious' miscount.

Barents Sea

A lone Vought F4U Corsair flew away from the Northern Parliament Zeppelin, keeping low to avoid radar detection.

The Corsair flew for several minutes before coming down to land on a runway. The Kansen that launched it looked at the aircraft as it retreated back into her rigging. She then turned towards the Zeppelin. She was too far away for it to detect her, and even if she was in range of its sensors, they wouldn't be able to detect her anyway.

This simulation was different from the others. She had seen this 'Winters Crown' scenario play out hundreds of times, but this was the first time the events were different, drastically different. Scharnhorst was not supposed the survive this day, and Tirpitz was not supposed to come to her aid with a fleet of Kansen. Nor was Roon supposed to be here. Had the sirens changed the tempo, changing the events that they replicated in every single simulation without fail? What was different here? Why would they allow an anomaly like this to happen?

She would have to find out. And there was only one way to do that.

She raised her left arm, and almost instantly a large sinister eagle landed on it, brushing her long grey hair aside and looking into her dull grey eyes.

“It appearers that the sirens are changing events in this world,” a voice said behind her. She did not turn to face her, as she already knew who it was.

“Why are you here?” she asked, keeping her focus on the Zeppelin.

“Just checking in on an old friend” the voice behind her replied “Also, our mutual friend has a request for you”.

She sighed “What does 'she' want of me?”.

“Well, seeing that events are different in this world, she wants you to change things up a bit. To change the tempo” the voice behind her said, “No making a 'Winter's Crown' as the Sirens call them. She doesn't want the Royal Navy's new commander dead”.

“Then what does 'she' want me to do then? Sit back and do nothing!”.

“No. She wants you to cause some 'trouble' for the Northern Parliament. To make a distraction”.

“What kind of distraction?”.

“The kind that will make that Zeppelin head to Murmansk, and allow her to get something in place”.

She kept her focus on the Zeppelin before calculating its trajectory “I'm going to need a fleet for this” she said

“Oh don't worry, she's already got a fleet ready for you,” the voice behind her said “And don't worry about bringing the ships back. Their as expendable as the mass-produced ships”.

She smiled “Well then. Let's cause a distraction”.

????????????

“Lin, report” Observer said as Tester rushed up behind her.

“Well, events are already changing down here, drastically I might add” Lin reported “Roon almost killed Lelouch. I almost had to move in and interfere with things before the Northern Parliament showed up with a submersible Zeppelin of all things” she explained, “They are now heading back to Northern Parliament territory. But that's not the only problem. You know who has predictably shown up, and looks to be doing something different this time”.

“Different” Observer said “Different how?”.

“She isn't trying to make a singularity to fry half of the Northern Parliament” Lin replied “Instead, she's conversed with another, 'you know who', and is now making her way towards Murmansk. Where the Zeppelin carrying Lelouch is also headed”.

Observer looked surprised “Now why would they be interested in him?” she wondered “Maintain your observation of them. I'll send Purifier to try and find out what she's doing”.

“Problem” Tester interjected, “Purifier is already deployed. You know, on that mission in simulation ninety-three. And I'm supposed to be deployed soon as well”.

“Damn it. Why does she always have to show up during this re-enactment” Observer said sounding annoyed “Now who do I send to prevent her from doing something that would mess everything up?” she wondered.

A small cough from beside her diverted her attention. The two sirens turned their heads to see Purichi standing next to them, looking up at them with a smile on her face “Maybe I can go check on things” the mini siren said.

“No way” Observer said, “Empress will have my head twice if you get harmed”.

“Oh come on. Why not?” Purichi said sounding very annoyed “I'm just as good as my older self, and just as powerful. Yet your not allowing me to do anything fun!”.

“She has a point,” Tester remarked “Our younger selves are just as capable as us. You've seen how they were able to steal a cake from the Azur Main is simulation eighty. Ok, it wasn't anything important. But it shows us that they're good at keeping hidden and can formulate plans just as good as yours. Plus we are technically sending Purifier to deal with her, it's just that she's slightly smaller”.

Observer sighed “Fine, you can go sort out our little problem. But bring a Prime with you that isn't Defender”.

“What!” Purichi said sounding annoyed “Why can't I have Defender with me?”.

“We're still testing out the Defender model” Observer replied “We are far from ready to deploy her into combat. Don't worry, the other primes are far more powerful than the rank and file sirens. She'll be able to keep her at bay if you need to escape”.

“Fine, I'll bring a Prime along,” Purichi said before she walked toward the door and left the room. Outside the room were Tessy and Observer Mini.

“So, what did they say?” Tessy asked with an eager smile.

“Well, since older me is busy, their sending me to deal with the Ashes that's shown up” Purichi replied “Although I do have to bring a prime with me, and it can't be Defender because she's still in testing”.

“So you can choose whatever prime siren you want to bring with you, as long as it's not Defender,” Observer Mini said with a smile, getting a nod from Purichi “I think this is a good opportunity to see first-hand what the Onlooker class can do, don't you agree girls,” she said as the other two smiled.

Oh, they were going to have some fun out there today.

Chapter Text

SN Cherdenko: Northern Parliament submersible Zeppelin. Barents Sea.

Consciousness slowly returned to Lelouch. The first thing he noticed was that his body hurt, but not as much as he expected it to. He was hit by a Kansen who had their rigging active, which was equivalent to being hit by a full-on ship. So he was expecting to be in unimaginable pain. Yet, his body didn't feel like it had been hit by a ship. His right leg still hurt, just not as much as it did before, yet his right arm felt numb for some reason.

“Ah, your awake master” he heard the happy voice of Hermione say beside him.

He turned slowly to face the light cruiser, finding her sitting down on a chair beside him, wearing her nurse uniform and was still wearing her rigging. She didn't look at all injured, despite him remembering that she had taken several heavy shells to the face. Yet her rigging still showed signs of battle damage.

“Hermione” Lelouch said sounding surprised “You look, surprisingly well” he observed as he sat up in bed “How is that possible?”.

“Kansen heal from wounds faster than humans” Hermione replied with a smile “But, for serious wounds, we use a drug called Regen to give our natural regeneration a significant boost. Very useful for when we need to repair parts of our body's that would take a long time to repair, like limbs or internal organs”.

“You girls can regeneration organs and limbs?” Lelouch asked sounding very surprised. He knew that some species could regeneration entire limbs, but those were all reptilian, not human or mammals. But, then again, Kansen weren't exactly human.

Hermione nodded “We can, but it takes a very long time to do so. Regen reduces that time considerably. Although, as you can see, it doesn't help fix our rigging”.

He nodded, that all made perfect seance. A drug that increases a Kansens natural regeneration is quite useful, yet it would not work on their rigging or ships as those were all mechanical and required repairs “I take it that Regen isn't safe for human use” he said.

Hermione nodded “It's very toxic to humans. There have been attempts to make a version of it for humans, but so far none of them have been successful”.

“I see,” Lelouch said, “I take it that the Ironblood fleet has already retreated”.

Hermione nodded her head “Yes they did. They had a group of U-boats drag them below the waves. We dared not pursue them, as we were all heavily damaged, and you were not in the best of conditions”.

Lelouch smiled. It was an exact repeat of his last battle against the Ironblood. Yet this time it was he who was the heavily injured patient, and the Ironblood fleet wasn't that damaged. Oh, the irony.

Still, there was something still bugging him, the numbness in his right arm. He could not feel it, nor could he move his fingers. He decided to ask about it first, just in case “Hermione, why can't I feel my right arm?”.

Hermione paled “I-, I'm sorry master, but, we weren't able to save all of you” she replied quietly, a tear falling from her eye “When Neptune was thrown at you, her trident tore into your right arm, ripping large chunks out of it. We tried to salvage as much of it as we could but, you've lost most of your arm below the elbow”.

Lelouch's eyes widened as he started to breathe heavily. How, how could he have lost an arm? He had survived so much, been through so much, without even suffering as much as a broken bone. So how could he lose an arm here?

He desperately wanted to lift the bed sheet off, just to see if she was lying or not. But he was scared that it was true, so he opted to use his left arm to check his right, to feel what was still there. Everything above the elbow was still there, yet covered in bandages, and so was his elbow, yet his fears were confirmed when he went further down. He could not feel the rest of his arm, just a small stump just below his elbow.

He slumped back in bed, a blank expression on his face “How. How could I have lost my arm?”.

“I'm sorry master, but we couldn't save it,” Hermione said, more tears falling from her eyes “Even with the drug we used on you, it wasn't enough to save it. I'm so, so sorry master. We were supposed to protect you, and we failed” she cried.

Lelouch could only watch as Hermione cried beside him. The loss of his arm obviously hit her hard, maybe even all of them. He could relate to that, he's been there before, seeing someone you care about in such a state and knowing that you could have done more to protect them. His last moments with Shirley came to mind. He should have noticed the signs sooner and told her to keep away from him and the black knights. But he was too busy with other things to notice, which was what led to him Geassing her into living whilst she was bleeding out on the floor. For all its power, Geass could not save someone who was already dying.

With his left hand, he brushed the side of Hermione's cheek “It's alright, Hermione, I don't blame you, or any of the Kansen for what happened to me” he said softly “The Ironblood caught us off guard, and I should have been prepared for it. But I wasn't, and we all paid for it” he said, “I should have seen we were heading into an ambush. I had my suspicions, but I didn't act on them. If it wasn't for the timely arrival of the Northern parliament, we would have all died back there”.

“You mean that master?” Hermione asked, tears still falling from her eyes.

“I do,” Lelouch said with a smile “It was me who ordered you to follow Scharnhorst into that trap, so the fault lies with me. I would be a fool for blaming any of you for that. Besides, I've lost far worse than an arm before” his sister being one of them.

Hermione smiled as she put her hand over Lelouch's “Thank you, master” she said.

Before anything else could be said, the door to the medical room opened and the rest of the Kansen of his taskforce rushed in, all of them had their rigging on. The destroyers and Thunder Child reached him first “Commander! Are you alright?” the destroyers asked with tears in their eyes.

“I'm fine” Lelouch replied calmly “I may be down an arm, but you haven't lost me yet”.

Thunder Child and the destroyers smiled before taking a few steps back, allowing Cleveland to walk up to him “So, how are doing Lelouch?”.

“I'm, feeling surprisingly well, despite the missing arm” Lelouch replied “My body doesn't hurt as much as it should do, and my leg doesn't feel as broken as it should. You girls wouldn't know why?”.

“That would be thanks to me!” a new voice replied as the group of Kansen parted, allowing a new individual to walk up to him,

He was rather surprised by her appearance. She looked and dressed like the rest of the Northern Parliament Kansen, but her rigging looked a lot like the rigging used by the Kansen of the Ironblood. Just with a few differences.

“And you are?” Lelouch asked.

“I am Kirov, of the Northern Parliament” the woman replied “You have our scientists to thank for your quick recovery. They managed to create a drug that not only mimics the effects of Regen but is also safe for human use. It's not real Regen, as that stuff is toxic to humans, it just mimics its effects to a lesser degree”.

“So, you made a drug that is not Regen, but acts like it,” Lelouch said, getting a nod from Kirov “And you used it on me”.

“Well, more of like tested it on you,” Kirov said “We weren't really sure that it would work to be honest, as it's still in testing. But we're lucky that it did work, as you would have died otherwise. You did have a Kansen thrown at you after all, which sent you flying into Thunder Child's turret. Your lucky to have not been killed by that in the first place”.

Lelouch was honesty, ok with this. Yes, they did test an untested drug on him, which slightly annoyed him, but they did so with good intentions. And in the end, they saved his life, and that's what matters. He should be thankful for that, not angry. And whilst Losing his arm will be difficult to live with, he'll find a way to manage. Still, he should probably ask if there are any side effects to the drug, as something this experimental will defiantly have a few side effects.

“Well, that explains why I'm only feeling slightly hurt,” Lelouch said “You have my thanks, Kirov. Although, I must ask, is Neptune alright?”.

“I'm fine commander,” Neptune said quietly as she took a step forward, she looked to still be recovering from her injures, and her uniform was torn in places, and her trident was nowhere to be seen “Roon got a few lucky hits on me, but I'll live. I just didn't expect her to be so strong. And, sorry for causing you to lose a limb”.

“Don't worry, I'm not blaming you for the loss of my arm,” Lelouch said with a smile “You're not the only one who's underestimated our enemy's today. The Ironblood caught us all completely off-guard with them airdropping on top of us. Plus I was not expecting them to send Roon directly after me”.

“Yes, you do have a point,” Belfast said “She did make a B-line towards you soon after she arrived, and seemed almost hell-bent on getting to you. If she wanted to kill you that bad they could have just bombarded the ship you were on”.

“No, she wasn't trying to kill me,” Lelouch said “She wanted me alive. They knew I was coming out here, and set a trap for me. The rest of the fleet kept you lot distracted whilst Roon set about capturing me, which she would have succeeded at had I not decided to bring Neptune and Monarch with me”.

“I would say that I was helped two,” Cleveland said, “But, I A, came here because I was ordered to keep Lelouch fit and active. And B, I did absolutely nothing in that battle, apart from getting smashed aside by Roon”.

“But, why do you think they wanted you alive?” Belfast asked, “Roon threw Neptune at you”.

“That I believe was an accident” Lelouch replied “Neptune could have been sent flying anywhere. It was only by chance that she was sent flying in my direction”.

“Ok, so they wanted you alive. Why would they want you in the first place?” Victorious asked.

“I believe I know the answer to that question” a new voice added.

Everyone quickly turned towards the door and saw a woman standing in the door. She was dressed somewhat similarly to Kirov, wearing a white and black uniform and coat. With long white hair, silvery-blue eyes, and while eyelashes.

“Comrade Sovetsky Soyuz,” Kirov said sounding rather startled.

“Ok, why is the leader of the Northern Parliament Kansen here?” Victorious asked sounding surprised “Where were you even hiding?”.

“Relaxing in the hot tub” Sovetsky replied as she walked in “As to why I'm here, well, I'm here to meet with comrade Lelouch here, to thank him for his generosity in providing us with some additional resources to fight both the Sirens and the Ironblood”.

“Ah, I was wondering why Kirov showed up with a submersible Zeppelin,” Victorious remarked “Thanks for the lift, by the way, I probably wouldn't have made it in time to help had you not picked me up”.

“No problem comrade,” Kirov said with a smile.

“As I was saying. I believe I know why Roon was there” Sovetsky said, “According to one of our spies, Bismarck gave specific orders to Roon to find and capture you alive”.

So, Bismarck had sent Roon directly after him. This was troublesome. At first, he thought Roon was sent to capture him because she offered the greatest chance of success in that regard. But since she's under direct orders to capture him alive, by any means necessary he believed, that meant that whilst he was in Europe, he will have to worry about Roon showing up unexpectedly during future operations. It'll be Suzaku and the Lancelot all over again. Just this time it's a psycho murder machine that's gunning straight for him.

It didn't help that Roon was by far the deadliest opponent he had even gone up against. Mao didn't even come close to how axe crazy she was. No other foe had come as close to causing as much damage to his body as Roon had. Even with the rapid healing drug he had been given, his body still felt like it had been through hell. She had even ruined one of his legs, although strangely the leg she had broken felt perfectly fine now. He'd have to ask about that.

“So, Bismarck's back in command, and she's sent Roon after me directly,” Lelouch said “If Bismarck wants to meet with me that badly she could just ask. No need to send Roon to get me”.

“She probably doesn't like you much,” Sheffield remarked “You did almost sink her after all. Still, for someone who was supposed to capture you she was remarkably violent about it”.

“Roon's not exactly stable” Monarch added “The Ironblood wanted her to be a killing machine, and that's what they got. It's just that she enjoys killing too much, and can quickly go from cute to psycho in an instant,” she said, “We're lucky then that she was ordered to take you alive, it would have been a lot worse had she been ordered to kill you”.

Indeed it would have. He could already picture the blood bath that would have transpired had that been the order Roon had been given, and it was no nice.

“Oh yes comrade, we are also currently making you a new arm,” Kirov said with a smile “The Cherdenko has advanced construction facility's to help facilitate repairs to our rigging. Building someone a new arm is but a simple process, but it will still take some time to build. Sophisticated prosthetics are not easy to make after all” she said “Although I wouldn't recommend trying to walk for a while, you are still not fully healed and your right leg is still broken. So, I recommend you spend at least two weeks in a wheelchair before you even think of trying to walk” she said “Realistically, you're looking at about a three-to-five week recovery time. Followed by several months getting used to the new arm”.

So, three to five weeks of him stuck in a wheelchair, plus a few months to get used to a new arm. He could live with that. His sister Nunnally spent almost her entire life in a wheelchair after all. He could handle a few weeks doing the same. Getting used to the new arm, however, would be difficult.

“Well, you have my thanks. Both for saving my life and for making me a new arm” he said.

“Sovetsky!” a girl shouted as she rushed into the room. Judging by her size, she was probably a light cruiser “We've got a problem”.

“Pamiat Merkuria. What's the problem!?” Sovetsky asked as she turned towards the light cruiser Pamiat Merkuria.
“The city of Murmansk is under attack!” Pamiat replied.

“What!” everyone in the room said sounding very surprised, with good reason to. Murmansk, whilst being next to the cost, was deep in Northern Parliament territory, and very far down the Kola Bay. To get to it you would need to pass by the Kola fort, a defensive fortification that protects the entrance to the 57-km long fjord. How the hell did a Siren fleet get past that?

“How is that possible!” Sovetsky said, “How did a Siren fleet get past the Kola fort? It's impenetrable!”.

“They never attacked the fort. The fleet is attacking the city from the south, from further down the fjord” Pamiat replied “Plus their not sirens, it's a completely unidentified fleet of very powerful mass-produced ships with no sign of a Kansen leading them”.

“What. H-how did someone build a fleet that big in secret so far down the Kola Bay?” Sovetsky asked.

“No idea” Pamiat replied “They just showed up and started attacking the city. Here, I've got a photo of the attacking fleet,” she said as she passed her a large photo.

Sovetsky examined the photo, looking at it as she tried to identify the ships “I've never seen ships like this before”.

“May I have a look?” Lelouch asked, curious as to the design of the invading ships.

“Of course comrade” Sovetsky replied as she passed him the photo.

He looked at the photo, and instantly wished he hadn't. He almost had a heart attack upon seeing the ships in the photo. He recognised them, oh hell did he recognise those ships. Because of course, he would know those ships, for those ships were the vessels of the Royal Britannian navy. The ships his father used to control the sea before the development of flying ships.

What the hell were they doing here?

??????????????

“The shadows make their opening move, entering the fray like ash and embers. With the faceless leading them. Yet his true foe remains in the darkness, unaware of the dangers they face. They believe themselves safe, yet faceless one will be their demise”.

“Take heed my black king, for the sins of the past, are returning to confront you”

Chapter Text

Kola Bay. Just outside Murmansk

“All hands, battle stations” Sovetsky Soyuz ordered as the SN Cherdenko approached the besieged city of Murmansk. She then turned towards Lelouch, who was beside her, sitting in a wheelchair that had been provided for him “Comrade, are you sure you won't sit this out? You're still recovering from the last battle”.

“I'll be fine for the time being” Lelouch replied calmly “You'll need me to help you fight those ships after all. But if needs be I will return to the medical bay and leave you in command”.

“As you wish comrade,” Sovetsky said with a smile.

Whilst he had recovered thanks to the drug that was given to him, he wasn't exactly in a condition to enter a battlefield, so the Cherdenko would deposit the Kansen north of the city, then move just close enough for them to observe and command the battle, whilst being far enough away to be safe.

Soyuz had also called in some reinforcements in the form of two more submersible Zeppelins, the Moskvin and Fedorovich. Those two would be supporting the fleet in the defence of the city.

Still, it troubled him that old Britannian navy vessels were here and attacking the city. There was only ten of them and they were all light cruisers, but how did they even get here, and who built them? As far as he knew, he was the only one from his world who came to this world. Was there someone else from his world here as well? If so, why would they be building outdated ships? Unless they didn't have the resources or technology to build the more advanced ships, like the ones with float technology or more advanced weaponry. It would make sense then, they would be limited by the technology of this world, so they wouldn't be able to build the more advanced ships or Nightmare frames.

Still, old ships or not, the city was still being attacked, and he had to fight them off. He could investigate who made those ships.

“Commander,” Cleveland said over comms “We've all been deployed and are ready for combat”.

“Good, proceed towards the hostile fleet and engage those ships” Lelouch ordered.

“Yes sir!” Cleveland said as the fleet proceeded quickly down the fjord towards the enemy ships.

Most of the Royal Navy ships were still somewhat damaged from the fight with the Ironblood, they repaired what they could, but there were still not operating at maximum capacity. The only Kansen who were undamaged were Kirov, Victorious, and Pamiat Merkuria. Cleveland was technically also undamaged, but she only suffered light damaged during the battle and was quickly repaired. The only Kansen who were not being deployed were Sovetsky Soyuz, as she didn't have her rigging with her, and Neptune, who was heavily damaged by Roon and was unable to sail safely. So she was still onboard standing beside him.

There was also one additional Kansen available to him for the fight, Avrora. She had yet to leave the city so was there when it came under attack. According to the readouts, she was busy fending off the enemy fleet with fire support from land-based artillery, tanks, and manned aircraft as the Northern Parliament lacked aircraft carriers. It was an impressive defence, but Lelouch knew the capability's of the attacking ships, and it would take a lot more than a few land defences and air support to defeat those Britannian ships.

Despite being old ships, they were still vessels of the Britannian navy, making them far more advanced than anything else in the world. Well, his world anyway. Those vessels could have gone into battles where they were outnumbered five to one and came out victorious with only a few casualties. And this was before they developed float technology and Nightmare frames. After that, they became an unstoppable juggernaut that was only slowed down by its own bureaucracy and political infighting.

As the fleet proceeded towards the battle, the Moskvin and Fedorovich followed them, ready to assist the Kansen in the defence of the city. Still, he didn't rate those ships chances, the Britannian ships had very good AA guns and missiles onboard and would rip them to shreds if they got close. So he had no choice but to keep them back and provide fire support with their onboard artillery. Why the NP decided it was a good idea to add artillery onboard a Zeppelin was beyond him, but it would allow him to provide fire support when needed.

There were only ten of those ships anyway, he should be able to deal with them quickly. But, who was commanding them?

Murmansk. Southside of the Most Cherez Kol'skiy Zaliv bridge.

Avrora grunted as she fired her guns at the nearest enemy ship, striking it several times but not sinking it. These ships were indeed strong, stronger than any normal mass-produced ship she had ever fought. But they weren't as strong as the Siren mass-produced ships, which was a good thing. Still, she had never seen ships like this before. There was only a few of them, but their weapons and armour were far more advanced than anything she had seen used by humanity. If it wasn't for the line of T-14 Armata tanks on and around the Zaliv bridge, as well as for her brave comrades flying above her in their Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunships, her position would have long since been overrun.

At least there was one thing they didn't have to worry about, the enemy didn't have any aircraft in the air, so she didn't have to worry about being bombed by aircraft. Still didn't stop the army from setting up AA defences.

“Keep firing comrades!” Avrora shouted over comms “Not one step back!” she shouted as several soldiers on the bridge fired several AS rockets at the enemy ships. Only for the enemy ships to retaliate with a barrage of their own, levelling everything on the bridge and almost destroying it.

“Comrade Avrora,” the voice of Major general Yefim Alesnarovich Malchikov said over comms “I've got good news and even better news for you”.

“Good, I've been needing some good news since this attack started,” Avrora said as she finally sunk the ship she had been firing at, and switched targets to the next ship.

“Good to hear that,” Yefim said “The good news is that we've finished evacuating the majority of the city's populations. There are just a few stragglers left but we're getting them out quickly. The even greater news is that reinforcements have arrived to assist us”.

That brought a smile to her face “Finally, I was wondering when Soyuz and the Cherdenko would arrive” she said “Where are they?”.

Yefim chuckled “Look up”.

Avrora did so and looked up, and was surprised to see several squadrons of Eagle Union aircraft, Vought F4U Corsair's, Barracuda's, and Curtiss SB2C Helldiver's. All of which descended upon the enemy fleet, dropping both bombs and torpedoes on top of them and devastating the fleet.

She was very surprised by the presence of Eagle Union and Royal Navy aircraft. She was even more surprised when several Royal Navy destroyers and cruisers rushed past her. It didn't help that she recognised them, they were the Royal navy Kansen that had left several hours ago with that rather good looking and generous commander, Lelouch Lamperouge. What were they doing here?

“Comrade Avrora,” Kirov said as she sailed up behind her “Glad to see that your ok,” she said with a smile.

“Kirov,” Avrora said as she turned to face her “What's the Royal Navy doing here? Shouldn't they be escorting the convoys?”.

“There were a few complications involving the Ironblood” Kirov replied “But that's all been sorted out. Now then comrade, let us crush these invaders,” she said as charged forwards, Pamiat Merkuria just behind her.

Avrora smiled before she too followed them, charging into the enemy ships and blasting them apart. The fire support provided by the battleships and Zeppelins helped to remove the larger ships. Still, where did these things even come from, and who built them.

It was difficult, but soon they were able to push the invaders back. Still, these were very strong ships. It was almost like they weren't mass-produced ships at all. Meaning these ships were built by human hands, not Manjuu. Whoever built them had a lot of resources at their disposal, but either lacked wisdom cubes or didn't have the means to manifest Kansen.

“All ships, launch torpedoes at the sides of those ships” Lelouch ordered over comms, which brought a smile to Avrora's face “Send them to the bottom of the Kola Bay!”.

The Kansen obeyed and deployed their torpedoes towards the enemy ships. The torpedoes hit the sides of the ships, detonating across the side of the ships hull and flooding them. The vessels then slowly sunk. Yet no one abandoned ship, and they didn't explode like mass-produce ships, proving that these were indeed human-made ships.

“Well, those went down quickly,” Sheffield said sounding unimpressed “Lelouch, didn't you say that this may be difficult?” she asked.

“I did” Lelouch replied over comms “These ships are obviously built by human hands, but they were not only unmanned, but they were also operating like mass-produced ships. Had these ships been manned, then we would not have won so quickly”.

“Why would someone make a fully functional warship, and not make them Kansen?” Kirov wondered.

“Whoever made them probably lacked the wisdom cubes necessary for Kansen manifestation” Hermione theorised “The worlds navies are very careful with who has access to wisdom cubes. They are very rare and difficult to get a hold of, so whoever built these does not have access to them”.

“Exactly. They must also not have access to a lot of manpower” Lelouch added “If they did, those ships would have been manned”.

“All units, be advised, an unidentified Kansen has been spotted just south of the city” Victorious announced over comms “Looks to be a carrier. That's strange, she hasn't launched any aircraft. She not even appearing on the radar! Why can't a detect her on sensors?”.

“Rodger that Victorious,” Lelouch said over comms “Be cautious with her. She may be the one in command of the fleet”.

“Copy that commander. Corsair Unit, change target! Go for the unidentified enemy unit!” Victorious said as she redirected her aircraft towards the unknown Kansen, only to be shot down by another group of aircraft that showed up out of nowhere “Wh-what... She... shot down all my Corsairs?! With her own Corsairs, at that?! ...Who is this woman?!”.

Reka Tuloma. Just outside of Murmansk.

Purichi smiled as she, Tessy, and Observer Mini sunk up behind the Kansen who was leading the attack on Murmansk. They were rather surprised by what she was doing, as normally she would be trying to nuke half the Northern Parliament. So this was a curveball.

“Why hello there Ms. Prototype,” Purichi said as she popped up beside her “Or is it Code G, Key Point G, Ash, or just G. Or whatever the hell you're calling yourself today”.

The Kansen, Ash, turned slowly towards them with a death glare on her face. She didn't say a word.

The three child Sirens looked at her with smiles on their faces “Well, aren't you going to say something?” Purichi asked, sounding rather confused “I half expected you to, I don't know, react to seeing us. I mean, we're child versions of the big three, Observer Alpha, Tester Beta, and Purifier”.

Ash remained silent, her grey eyes locked onto the three child Sirens.

“I would just like you to know that your fleet of ships are getting torn to shreds” Observer Mini “Where did you get those ships from anyway? They're not on any of our databases, and they're far more powerful than anything the humans of this time period are capable of building. Someone gave you those ships, didn't they?”.

“Ur, guys. Ash's little fleet, doesn't exactly exist any more” Tessy said nervously “Also, Azur lane Kansen at twelve o'clock”.

The three child Sirens and Ash turned to see the large fleet of Kansen moving towards them, with substantial air support from three Zeppelins and a large number of Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunships.

“All unit's hold” the three sirens heard Lelouch say. The Kansen and military forces all stopped in response. Several searchlights from the Zeppelins then focused on them, lighting them up in the night. Human communication systems, so easy to hack it's almost laughable “Are those, Sirens with the unknown Kansen?” he said sounding very confused.

Observer Mini smiled. Confusion, that's their advantage they have here. None of them would have ever seen a child Siren before, they haven't even seen a child Kansen. So this would come as a big surprise to them all. Admittedly they would have liked to have used this to their advantage at another, more critical time. But Purichi needed the support she and Tessy could provide. Besides, they still had a few cards up their sleeves, like Onlooker.

“I think it is” Belfast replied sounding equally confused “They look like, Observer Alpha, Tester Beta, and Purifier. Why do they look like children”.

“Wait a minute!” Cleveland suddenly shouted over comms “Is that, Enterprise?”.

Oh yes, she almost forgot, they had yet to meet one of the Ashes in this world. Or had they? There were so many different simulations that it was difficult to keep track of where these Ashes had been.

“Unidentified Kansen, identify yourself” Sovetsky Soyuz ordered over the loudspeakers of the SN Cherdenko.


Ash just looked at them coldly and quietly, not saying a word. She then raised her arm, and a large and sinister eagle landed on it.

“That's definitely Enterprise,” Cleveland said over comms “But there's something different about her”.

“Hey! Don't forget about us you know!” Purichi said loudly sounding rather annoyed at being ignored “Ignore the, Darker and Edgier Enterprise here who we can't get a world out of!. Focus on us, the Sirens, your mortal enemy's who want you all dead!”.

“Ur, right,” Lelouch said sounding a bit confused over comms “Who are you girls?”.

“Oh, my apologies for not introducing ourselves,” Observer Mini said with a smile “Girls, let's introduce ourselves”.

Purichi and Tessy smiled deviously “Oh, Prepare for trouble...” Purichi said as Observer Mini pressed a hidden button within her rigging, and music started to play.

“...And make it triple!” Tessy added with a smile.

“To infect the world with devastation,”.

“To blight all peoples in every nation,”.

“To denounce the goodness of truth and love,”.

“To extend our wrath to the seas below,”.

“Purichi”.

“Tessy”.

“Observer Mini”.

“Team Siren circling Earth all day and night,”

“Leave now, or you'll surely lose this fight,”.

“Yep, that's right” Observer Mini finished off as all three of them took dramatic poses.

If this didn't intimidate them, then nothing will.

Chapter Text

Reka Tuloma. Just outside of Murmansk.

To say Lelouch was confused by what had happened would be an understatement. He was downright surprised, dumbfounded, shocked even.

“D-did those child sirens just use the Team Rocket motto on us?” Cleveland asked sounding rather surprised.

“Y-yeah, I think they did” Avrora replied sounding rather surprised herself “How would they even know what that show is?”.

“You never encrypted your TV and radio signals” Observer Mini replied with a smug smile on her face “We've been monitoring everything you've been transmitting. You have some quite interesting shows I might add”.

“Wow, who knew sirens would be interested in watching human TV shows,” Sheffield said sounding unsurprised.

Lelouch quickly brought himself back to his senses. He had a battle to win, Sirens to fight, and a mysterious Kansen to investigate “So, Observer Mini is it. Is the Enterprise lookalike with you”.

“Enterprise,” the mysterious Kansen said, clearly having also hacked into the comm systems “Enterprise is dead, only ash remains”.

Ash. That's almost as

“Yeah, she's not with us” Observer Mini added “We were just sent here to see what she was doing. As she's not Ash here isn't exactly doing what she normally does. Seriously, where's the supermassive singularity's you make to try and fry half of Russia?”.

Ash merely glanced their way before turning back towards the fleet “Alright, suit yourself” Purichi said before turning around and shouted “Onlooker!”.

Lelouch barely had time to acknowledge what the young-looking Siren had said before a large purple beam of energy shot out from beyond the horizon and hit Ash in the back, causing a huge explosion and sending her flying towards the Cherdenko. Neptune almost didn't pull him out of the way before the carrier smashed through the airships main window and smashed into Sovetsky, sending both of them flying backwards into the wall.

“Warning. Dark matter-energy source detected. A class ten siren is in the area” a monotone female voice warned over the ship's intercom “Recommend immediate evacuation of all humans from the area”.

“Couldn't agree with her more” Lelouch remarked before he reached for a radio and turned it on “General, get your men out of here!”.

“Already on that” General Yefim replied as the helicopters that surrounded the Cherdenko turned and fled, followed by the other two airships “We can't do squat to a class ten Siren”.

“Good. I'll try to buy you some time” Lelouch said before he focused on the problem at hand. A class ten Siren was the deadliest class of Siren known to mankind. They take several fleets multiple attempts to take one down and are only encountered in Siren strongholds or as part of a large fleet. Having one show up now was a curveball he was not ready to deal with right now, not his is current condition anyway.

“Neptune, check up on Sovetsky. See if she's ok” he ordered, getting a confirmation from the light cruiser “All active Kansen, be advised that we have a class ten Siren in the area. Proceed with caution”.

“Mater, we can't fight a class ten Siren,” Belfast said over commas “We don't have enough Kansen or surplus”.

“I have no intention of fighting that thing,” Lelouch said just as another beam of energy shot straight through the Fedorovich, destroying it instantly “We need to distract it whilst general Yefim falls back. Once their gone, we will fall back ourselves, regroup, and plan our next move”.

“You could do that,” a voice behind him said. He turned around in his wheelchair and saw the Ash standing up, with Neptune and Sovetsky staring at her “Or, you can provide some cover for me to kill her”.

“Your, offering to help us?” Lelouch said sounding surprised. He was not expecting her to offer her assistance, seeing that she was in charge of a fleet that had attacked the city. But, the Sirens had also attacked her as well, so payback was probably something she was looking for.

“Yes, I am,” Ash said as she walked over to the smashed window “My aircraft can cause some serious damage to her, but that's if all of them make it. And whilst Onlooker doesn't have good AA, it's still enough to take out a good number of my planes”.

“So, you need cover for your aircraft then,” Lelouch said “Well, we only have one aircraft carrier, and I'm not sacrificing the lives of the helicopter pilots or the crew of the Moskvin”.

“Don't worry, Victorious' aircraft should do just-” Ash said before she was interrupted by the voice of Kirov.

“Commander, we've got incoming siren attack drones!” Kirov shouted over comms.

“Oh damn it” Lelouch cursed. Those attack drones would tear anything in the air apart, airships included “Victorious, recall all of your aircraft. Everyone else, prepare to engage air targets” he ordered quickly. He needed to deal with those drones quickly before they tore the Cherdenko apart.

“Rodger that sir” Cleveland responded, being a purpose-built AA cruiser, she had the best AA out of all of the Kansen present, with a skill that can boost it even more. Still, it wouldn't be enough to deal with all of the drones.

“Ash, can you do anything about those drones?” Lelouch asked.

The carrier shook her head “Those drones are from a class ten Siren designed to take me down. They will be able to hold out longer than your aircraft, but they will still be outmatched” she replied “All I need is a window for me and Victorious to launch our planes towards Onlooker” she said “If only Ember was here” she muttered quietly.

Lelouch filed that name away for future reference. No doubt that it will become useful sometime in the future.

The drones soon entered the range of the Kansen's AA guns and were quickly shot out of the sky's. But for every drone hit, five more managed to get past. The AA guns that were on land started firing as well, joining the guns of the two airships, but they weren't doing much to the drones. Plus whoever had been firing those beams of energy had switched firing modes and was now bombarding them with smaller energy blasts. Which were decimating the ground forces and forcing the Kansen back.

“Damn it, we're getting torn up out here!” Avrora shouted over comms.

“Fall back to the other side of the city” Lelouch ordered over comms “We can't fight her like this,” he said just as the surviving drones started swarming the Moskvin, tearing it to shreds and destroying it before setting their sights on the Cherdenko.

“Ur, Ash. Now would be a really good time to pull out some more of those advanced ships you attack us with” Sovetsky said as she watched the remains of the Moskvin crashed into the ground.

“Can't, you destroyed them all” Ash remarked as the drones approached the Zeppelin. But just as they were about to attack they peeled off and moved away from the Zeppelin. Lelouch was about to ask what was going on until he saw ninety-two Russian owned Supermarine spitfires heading their way.

“Lelouch,” General Yefim said over comms “Our air force has arrived to provide assistance. Our comrades in the skies will gladly give their lives to protect the motherland”.

“I'm grateful for the assistance general. Couldn't have come at a better time” Lelouch said before he turned to Ash “Alright, you've got your opening. Launch your aircraft and destroy that Siren. Victorious will provide escort. Everyone else, keep firing at those drones”.

Ash nodded before she jumped out of the Zeppelin, launching and landing on one of her aircraft. Several more aircraft then joined her. Victorious' aircraft flew underneath Ash's, providing decoy for the more powerful aircraft that flew above them.

“Do you trust her, sir?” Sovetsky asked as she and Neptune walked up behind him.

“No” Lelouch replied “But, it's obvious that she doesn't get along with the Sirens, seeing that they just shot at her with a high power laser. But, it's obvious she doesn't like us either”.

“You think we can use that against the Sirens?” Sovetsky asked.

“Probably not” Lelouch replied “She didn't seem to be aggressive towards the Sirens until they attacked her, so she may be some sort of third neutral party or something like that. But we can't tell as we don't know much about her at the moment”.

“So, don't trust her then,” Neptune said “Got it. Although, one of those child Sirens did say something about a singularity frying half of Russia. So she may not fully be on our side”.

“But she's not fully on the Sirens side either,” Lelouch said “We will have to be careful with how we deal with her. Now and in future encounters”.

“Commander,” Victorious said over the comms “We're approaching the class ten Siren, and good grief does it have a massive cannon. I've never seen a cannon so big before”.

“Got it Victorious,” Lelouch said “Your aircraft will be providing her with decoy cover. Make sure the majority of her aircraft survive to hit their targets”.

“Don't worry sir, I'll cover them the best I can” Victorious responded “Commencing dive-bombing”.

It was now out of his hands. He had no visual of the siren or the aircraft that were attacking her. So all he could do was hope that Victorious' aircraft could cover Ash's aircraft long enough to deal with the Siren.

Talking about Sirens, where had those child Sirens gone off to? There were here moments ago, but now they were gone. They probably ran off the moment this Onlooker started attacking. Keep everyone distracted with a powerful Siren whilst they make a run for it.

Suddenly, he saw a bright flash on the horizon. He didn't know what it meant, but he hoped that it was good news.

“Sir, the Siren drones! They're falling from the sky!” Cleveland reported over comms.

Lelouch quickly looked outside, indeed the Siren combat drones that had been swarming them were falling from the sky. His smile quickly disappeared when he noticed that all the Northern Parliament aircraft that had shown up to help had been destroyed.

“Hell yes!” Victorious suddenly shouted over comms “Command, attack on the class ten Siren has been successful. Ash's planes have been successful in causing critical damage to the Siren. Which has now retreated to where ever the Sirens go when we beat them”.

“Good to hear,” Lelouch said into the radio “What's the status of Ash?”.

“Unknown sir” Victorious replied “She disappeared right after that massive explosion forced the Siren to flee, so I have no idea where she is right now. Oh, by the way, what of the Northern Parliament aircraft, did any of them survive?”.

“I'm afraid not” Lelouch replied sombrely “We weren't fast enough to save them. The Siren drones tore them to shreds”.

“Do not worry about our lost comrades, commander” Sovetsky said with a smile “Sirens are always attacking us. Our human comrades are always providing us help whenever we need it, at great loss to themselves. We shall honour and grieve for them later, once the Sirens threat on our borders has been dealt with”.

“Of course. Send my condolences to the families of the crews of the destroyed Zeppelins, as well as the pilots and the soldiers who died on the ground” Lelouch said “Tell them they fought bravely in the face of a superior enemy”

He meant that too. Back in his own world, he didn't care about how many died during his crusade against his father and the injustice in the world. All but a few were pawns to him, expendable pawns. Yet here, here things were different. There was no Britannia here, instead, there were the Sirens. Alien invaders who threaten the entire world. He couldn't start treating everyone as expendable in this world, not against a foe as powerful as the Sirens.

When he first agreed to Hood's proposal, he did so out of boredom. He had no desire to mop the deck of a ship for the rest of his life and fighting the Sirens sounding fun. But now that he knew just how bad the war was going for humanity, combined with this foolish war against the Crimson Axis, was making him feel more involved in this war than he thought he would be.

Mankind desperately needed someone to help restore order and seeing that most of humanity's navy commanders are morons who hate Kansen for some unknown reason. It stood to reason that he should at least try and restore peace to the world. Even if it wasn't his world.

Military transport train. Somewhere south of Murmansk.

Sovetskaya Rossiya smiled as she looked through the technical readouts on the computer before her. These were some good results, better even. Those fighters had a four to one kill ratio against the Siren drones, which was surprising as most carriers could only get a two to one kill ratio against said drones. Although, to be honest, they did get the drop on them, and they had fire support from several AA implements, Kansen, and a Zeppelin, so the results were a little inaccurate. But still, they were rather impressive results.

Although, if she was being honest, she didn't expect them to be able to control the Zeppelins as well as they did, or at all for that matter. But, there were more powerful than normal, so being able to control something larger than a carrier aircraft is unsurprising.

She got up and walked down the carriage. Around her were several other computers, each one had a human scientist working at them. The train was already in motion, so was shaking about a bit.

She left the carriage and moved on to the next one. It was a storage carriage, full of box's containing carrier aircraft. Royal Navy, Eagle Union, Ironblood, Sakura Empire, anything that could land on an aircraft carrier they had, as they lacked carrier aircraft of their own. And if there was something that this project desperately needed, it was carrier aircraft.

She moved on to the next carriage, walking through a secure airlock before entering a sterile white room. There was a single computer terminal with a single human scientist working at it, monitoring the status of two large metal cylindrical canisters on the other side of the room.

The battleship walked past the scientist and up to the two cylinders, stopping a few feet from them. There was a large number printed on each canister, seventy-one and seventy-two.

“Open them up” Sovetskaya ordered.

The scientist complied and pressed a button on his keyboard. Moments later the protective shielding around the two retracted, revealing two glass tanks filled with some kind of liquid. Suspended inside each of the tanks was a woman, naked save for a metal helmet with hundreds of wires poking out the back that connected to the top of the tank.

To the untrained eyes, someone would mistake them for human, yet that wasn't what they were. They were Kansen. Two very special Kansen.

The two Kansen floated motionless inside their separate tanks. Until they looked up towards Rossiya. Their faces masked by their helmets.

Rossiya smiled “You two did well out there, well done,” she said “Now don't worry about the total loss of your aircraft. We have enough left to finish testing your ability's out. Plus, thanks to the generosity of a Royal Navy commander, we will be able to finish developing you two far sooner than we had predicted”.

She could tell the two women were please with the results. She had been on this project long enough to tell what they were thinking behind those masks. If they had smiled or frowned. She almost couldn't wait for the day when they could come out of those tanks and take those helmets off, just so she could see what they looked like underneath them.

“If all goes well, you should be able to leave those tanks and enter active service sometime within the next month or so,” Rossiya said with a smile “I know your both excited, but we have some very busy weeks ahead of us. So rest, and learn from the carriers of the other nations”.

The two Kansen nodded before looking back down. Seconds later the protective shields returned and covered the tanks.

Rossiya smiled before turning around and walked towards the decontamination chamber. This project wasn't done yet, far from it. It had only just truly begun.

Chapter Text

Murmansk. One hour later.

Lelouch looked around as Russian soldiers searched the debris around them for the wounded or the dead. The south side of the city was surprising only slightly damaged, with the only damage being around the river. And the north side was completely intact, save for a crashed Zeppelin.

With him was Sovetsky Soyuz, and Hermione. The rest of the Kansen were busy either helping search the ruins, or were being repaired in the on-site repair facilities. The two recent battles hadn't done the royal navy Kansen any good. It would be at least a few days before any of them would be able to safely sail home, and several more before they were fully repaired. Until then, the transport ship would be stuck in Russian, as there was no way he was going to send them home unescorted.

The good news was that, due to the damage being minimal, the people of Murmansk could return to the city far sooner than normal. Although they would have to be careful about all the remains of the crashed aircraft, and maybe a few unexploded munitions. But apart from that, everything was safe.

“Thanks for your assistance in commanding the defence of the city” Sovetsky Soyuz said with a smile “If it weren't for you, this city would have fallen, and Avrora would be resting at the bottom of the Reka Tuloma”.

Hermione turned Lelouch towards her “Your welcome. It was the least I could do. You did come to my rescue after all, so I might as well have helped you out in return. Still, shouldn't there have been one of your own admirals commanding things here?”.

“We should have, but admiral Rasim Yurievich Sharonov isn't around for some reason” Soyuz replied “We're trying to find out where he is, but it's not easy as he's not answering his phone”.

Now that was odd, admiral Rasim was supposed to be the commander of this areas fleet. Without him, the mass-produced ships that they had in the dock could not be used, as he held the command key for them. So where the hell was he.

They got their answer moments later when general Yefim rushed up to them.

The general looked mid thirty's and had short black hair and a long beard. He also had two scars on his head, one on either side of his head, just next to his eyes. He was wearing sunglasses that completely covered his eyes in addition to his military uniform, which had several medals on it.

“General Yefim,” Soyuz said as she turned to face him “Have you managed to find out where the admiral is?” she asked.

“I have, and you're not going to like it” General Yefim replied “Apparently, he's attending a fancy dinner party on the other side of the country. And he still has his command key with him”.

“That son of a kozyol!” Soyuz shouted sounding very pissed off “The bloody mudak! He's not supposed to take that thing with him if he leaves its assigned region!” she shouted “Well, there goes twenty-thousand ruble's of taxpayer money, because that key will no longer work”.

Lelouch sighed. This admiral Rasim had to be an idiot if he brought a region's command key outside of its assigned region. Those things are dangerous as with that key, you could control the entire area's defences, mass produces ships, as well as give orders to any Kansen in the area. They have sophisticated tracking systems, and will self destruct and erase all data held inside of them if they ever leave their assigned region.

He hadn't even met this admiral Rasim yet, and already he hated him. How could a man in such a responsible position fuck up that badly? Not only would they need to make a new command key, but also hook it up to the entire areas defence network, which will take at least a week, leaving the entire area defenceless.

“How could he be so irresponsible to bring his command key with him?” Hermione asked.

“I don't know” Yefim replied “This just isn't like him”.

“What do you mean, not like him?” Lelouch asked.

“Well, to be honest, ever since he finished at the navy academy he's been different” Yefim replied “I've known him for a very long time, long before we joined the army or navy. Back then he loved Kansen. His room was full of propaganda posters with Kansen on them. But after he left the navy academy, he changed drastically” he said “Gone was his love for Kansen, replaced for hatred for them. Would you believe he had the gall to say that they're an affront to god and nature. Whatever happened during his two years at the navy academy, something changed him. He hadn't even met a Kansen until after he finished at the academy”.

Now, this was interesting. He knew that there were a lot of people in the navy who hated Kansen for some unknown reason. He initially thought that this was something to do with how they were brought up, that their parents were navy personal that were kicked out because they weren't needed anymore. But this flip that theory on its head. This Rasim loved Kansen with a passion before joining the navy, yet after he finished up at the navy academy, his love for them flipped and turned into hatred. Now there are several plausible reasons as to why he may have started hating them, people can just as easily hate something very quickly. But still, why was the academy's making their students hate Kansen, but if that was the case, why didn't everyone who went through them hate Kansen? He had spoken to a lot of people at Azur Main who had been through the navy academy's and only about half of them hated Kansen.

Something was going on at those navy academies. The real question was what? He'd have to investigate them when he gets back to the UK. In fact, he should probably set up some kind of spy network. The Royal Maids were good, but they were more specialised in navy intelligence. Shouldn't be too difficult, he did set up the black knights after all.

“Maybe he should be sent back to them,” Soyuz remarked “If he's incompetent enough to take a command key outside of its assigned region then he definitely needs to relearn a few things”.

“Of course, I'll make sure to tell him that the next time I talk to him,” Yefim said “Well, I'll see you a lot later,” he said with a quick salute before turning and walking away.

Hermione sighed “Looks like everyone's suffering from having incompetent commanders who hate us,” she said.

“I know, but we will have to live with it,” Soyuz said “Hopefully they will see some sense and put such childish beliefs behind them”

“Still, I'm worried about that 'affront to god and nature' remark he made,” Lelouch said.

“Yes, that was odd,” Soyuz said “Our country isn't that religious. We prefer to put our trust into our comrades, not some 'supreme being' who may or may not exist. So Rasim mentioning the G-word is strange, as he's not religious”.

“Commander!” Victorious shouted as she ran over to him.

“What is it Victorious?” Lelouch asked as Hermione turned him towards her.

“We found something whilst exploring one of the destroyed ships,” Victorious said, passing him a letter “It's addressed to you, sir”.

Him! Someone addressed a letter to him and put it on one of those ships. What! Why would someone do that? Who would do that?

He took the letter and opened it, pulling out the letter and read it. Soyuz, Victorious, and Hermione looked over his shoulder and looked at the contents of the letter.

“Ur, ok,” Victorious said as she looked at the letter “It's just a bunch of gibberish”.

“Who would write you a letter in gibberish?” Soyuz asked.

“I have no idea” Lelouch replied before folding it up “Obviously someone was trying to send me a message”.

“Well, obviously they didn't do a good job of that” Hermione said.

“Indeed,” Lelouch said, “Victorious, keep searching those wrecks. There has been something that can tell us who built those things”.

“Of course sir,” Victorious said before returning to the search.

Once she was gone he sighed. Things have just gotten complicated for him, very complicated.

That wasn't mindless gibberish that was on that letter, it was a code, a code used by the Black Knights back during the early years of his rebellion. The message had said 'meet me in the middle of warehouse 19 at midnight tonight.

He didn't know who could have sent that message, but it had to have been someone who knew the code, which meant that there was someone from the Black Knights with him in this world as they were the only one's who knew the code. The Britannia code breakers were never able to break it after all, so it couldn't have been any of them. But still, who sent him that message, and why?

There was only one way to find out, and that was to go to this meeting, and see who wants to meet him.

Later that night. Military warehouse 19.

The one problem he had reaching the warehouse alone was the fact that he was stuck in a wheelchair, and some bright spark decided to make the ramps too steep for a wheelchair user to use. His lack of an arm also made moving difficult. He wished he could have brought Belfast or Hermione with him, but the note said to come alone.

Obviously whoever sent it didn't know about his current condition, otherwise, they would have made an exception or made the meeting point in his room. Still, who in the world would want to meet him, in a warehouse no less. His first thought was that it was Ash who wanted to meet him in private, but that was the case, why didn't she just stick around and talk to him? There were so many questions he had about her, like why she looked like a darker version of Enterprise, why she was attacking Murmansk, and why she so quickly switched sides when the sirens showed up? What was her relationship with them anyway? She was fine to let them talk when they showed up, yet retaliated with them the moment they attacked her. Were they part of the same factions? Or, was she part of another faction, one that was at odds with the Sirens but was content to leave them be as long as they were left alone. More information about this Ash was needed, and annoyingly, he had nothing that could remotely help him in gathering more information on her.

He was actually gratefully that this world kept throwing all of these surprises at him. It would have gotten rather boring and dull otherwise.

Anyway, after finally reaching warehouse 19 he slowly opened the door and wheeled himself in. All he had with him was a thick coat, a flashlight, and a TT-30 he got from Avrora. Although due to his condition, he couldn't hold either of them whilst he was moving, so had to carry the pistol on his lap whilst he held the flashlight in his mouth to help him see where he was going, which turned out to be unnecessary once he got inside, as all the overhead lights were turned on.

The building was like every single warehouse he had seen, large and full of crates of varying shape and size. The note said to meet them in the middle of the building. Finding it was easy, just keep moving forward till you reach the middle.

Once he reached the middle of the room, he checked his watch. Five to midnight. Good, he arrived ahead of the meeting. Now all he had to do was wait for this mysterious contact to arrive. The five minutes passed quickly and soon went on to ten. What was keeping them? If someone wanted to organise a clandestine meeting he knew that they would want it over and done with as quickly as possible, not let them wait for five minutes after the deadline for you to show up.

Either they had no sense of time, hadn't updated their clocks to the local time, or had just forgotten about it.

He was about to consider leaving when he heard something behind him. He quickly turned around and aimed his pistol down the corridor of crates “Who's there!” he shouted, the flashlight held between his legs and pointing down the corridor. He couldn't see anyone, but there were signs of a moment. Dust moving freely in the air.

He knew he was vulnerable here. If someone wanted to kill him here it wouldn't be that difficult, just move around to his flank and shoot.

“I know you're there!” he stated, checking his flanks just to make sure no one was sneaking up on him “If your the one who sent that message I suggest you come out now. I've got no time to play this game”.

Silence was all he got. Nothing but cold silence. He sighed. Probably a rat or something, scurrying across the floor.

Just as he was lowering his pistol, he heard what sounded like a gasp “I suggest you do as he says” the voice of Sheffield followed.

A smile slowly formed on his face. Exactly as he had predicted. The Royal maids would have had someone keeping an eye on him after everything he's been through, and, if the sound of two people landing behind him was anything to go by, Sheffield, Belfast, and Hermione had followed him from the shadows.

“You ok master?” Belfast asked him and she and Hermione and for some strange reason, Sovetsky Soyuz walked up to him from behind. All three of them weren't wearing their normal uniforms, only their undergarments. Guess they didn't have time to get changed, not that the cold could affect them whilst they had their rigging active.

He wondered if Soyuz was feeling cold, but then he remembered that she was probably used to the cold. If the ice on her fellow NP Kansen's rigging was anything to go by.

“I'm fine” Lelouch replied as Sheffield, who also had her rigging on and was also only wearing her undergarments (thank god she decided to wear pants) brought out whoever else was in here with them out into the open. And intently he tensed up, for the person she had at gunpoint was wearing his old Zero Suit. How, how was that thing even here? There shouldn't be anything from his world here. How could someone have made an exact copy of his Zero suit?

He aimed his pistol at the imposters head “Identify yourself. Who are you, and where did you get that suit from!?” he demanded in a harsh tone.

The imposter looked down at him, arms raised above their head “From you” the imposter replied calmly and quietly. Before Lelouch could ponder just what this imposter meant by that, they grabbed their helmet and removed it, dropping it on the floor beside them.

Lelouch's eyes widened at the sight of the face behind that mask. Purple eyes met purple, and his faulted. The gun in his hands slowly slipped out of his fingers and fell to the floor. His arm fell too, his strength to keep it up was gone from his body.

“Nunnally”.

Chapter Text

Warehouse 19.

Lelouch could not believe his eyes. No, he wouldn't believe them. Nunnally shouldn't be here, she shouldn't! She should be back in his old world, where it's safe and peaceful.

How could she even be here? How was she even able to stand?

“Hello, brother,” Nunnally said. Her tone of voice hadn't changed much, but there were minor differences here and there. She also looked about ten years older than she was when they, last met.

“How?” was the only words to come out of his mouth. He knew he should be careful with what he said and asked, as to not give the game up that he isn't from this world to the surrounding Kansen. But that would only work if his sister would play along, and that was uncertain as he didn't know what her state of mind was right now.

“Well, that's a long story” Nunnally replied “But first, I have a question for you, Lelouch. How! How could you do that to me!?” she suddenly shouted, her eyes so full of hate and anger.

Lelouch was taken quite aback by his sisters sudden outburst. He had never seen her so angry before. Not even when they met on the Sword of Damocles was she this angry “Nunnally, I-” he said before his sister cut him off.

“You died, Lelouch! You let yourself die right in front of me! Just so you could take all the worlds hatred with you!” Nunnally shouted at him “Well congratulations, you succeeded in getting sixty years of peace! By those sixty years were so hollow without you, Lelouch. Do you know what it's like, to be unable to talk about you to anyone without being chastised about it? I couldn't even bring up your name without someone throwing out an insult towards you!” she shouted “I couldn't even give you a proper burial as a mob ran off with your body. I couldn't even give you a tombstone without someone defiling it” she cried as fell down onto her knees “How could you leave me all alone like that? Why didn't you let me carry out my plan and have the Sword of Damocles be the focal point of the world's hatred? That way, I wouldn't have to lose you” she cried before bursting into tears.

Lelouch was shocked by his sister's outburst. He knew his death would have had a negative effect on her, but he didn't think it would have been this bad. A minor oversight of his, forgetting that people would still hate him even after his death and that those people would vent their anger onto his dead body. It must have been painful for her, to not be able to put up a memorial for him without someone destroying it.

Still, sixty years of peace. That was an impressive amount of time. But why then didn't she look like sixty years had passed? She should be at least seventy, yet she looked like she was in her twenties. How was that-. Wait, she didn't-. she couldn't have. No, now was not the time to inquire how she hasn't aged that much over sixty years.

He slowly wheeled himself over to Nunnally, put his arm around her and hugged her “I'm sorry” he said gently into her ear “I am so sorry for what happened to you. I just, wanted to make a better world for you”.

Nunnally smiled before returning the hug “I know. I just wish you didn't have to kill yourself to achieve it”.

They were quiet for a few moments, and god did they need it. It had been so long since they last saw each other, even longer for Nunnally. He had no idea the full scale of what his sister had been through to be here now, but judging by her outburst, it wasn't good.

Speaking of that outburst, Sheffield, Belfast, Hermione, and Sovetsky Soyuz complicated things for him. They heard all of that and will have several questions about it, especially considering he had said that his sister had been killed during a Siren attack. This could threaten everything he's planed.

“Master,” Belfast said behind him. He notched his head to the side “It's obvious that this is a personal matter, so we shall be taking our leave to give you two some privacy”.

Lelouch smiled “Thank you”.

Belfast bowed before she and the other three Kansen walked off towards the entrance, giving them the privacy they needed.

Lelouch waited until the Kansen had left before he even thought about asking Nunnally a question. But he had so many racing through his mind that he didn't know where to start. Thankfully his sister was to break the silence for them.

“So, you're probably wondering why I look so young for someone who's over seventy years old,” Nunnally said as moved back a bit.

Lelouch nodded “I do. But I have a feeling that I already know what it is”.

Nunnally looked down with a frown before standing up and pulled her trousers down to her knees. Lelouch was shocked to see a Geass sigil-shaped scar on her right thigh. He didn't want to believe it but, how could his sister not only accept a Geass contract but also the Code as well. Why, why would she do that?

“Before you ask, no, I didn't accept a Geass contract,” Nunnally said as she pulled her trousers back up and crouched back down so that they were at eye level.

“Then, what happened to you?” Lelouch asked, worried about what had happened to his sister.

“Twelve years after your death, a group called the 'Heads of Cerberus' captured me whilst I was attending a party in France” Nunnally replied “There were only three of them, two of them had Geass, whilst the third had the Code. They were wearing hooded cloaks and masks, so I never saw their faces. And I never did know what their plan was, only that the one with the code used some kind of sword to transfer his Code to me without the need of me having Geass”.

“They what!” Lelouch said loudly. Now that pissed him off, forcing the Code onto his sister, against her will, what kind of bastard would do that.

“I don't know why they did that to me, they never did say what their plan was. Or anything for that matter” Nunnally said, “Suzaku broke into the building we were in and killed all of them”.

“So, you knew he was Zero then”.

“Yes, I did. He revealed his identity to me when I was informed about everything that had been going on around me whilst I was blind. I didn't approve of any of it, nor did I like being kept out of the loop like that”.

“I'm sorry, I just wanted to protect you and keep you safe. Still, how are you even walking?”.

“Ah, well, as it turns out, my inability to walk was also psychosomatic, which I also overcame through sheer willpower. Although it was a while before I could properly walk again, as not using them for several years didn't do me any good”.

That was nice to hear, his sister recovering her ability to walk. He wished he could have been there to see it, but, that would have been impossible.

“That's, good to hear,” Lelouch said with a smile “I'm glad you regained the ability to walk. But still, how are you even here? What happened to our world?” he asked.

“It. Things got bad over there” Nunnally replied “Sixty years after your death someone calling himself Apocalypse showed up saying that he was going to destroy the world. No more than a day later, everyone around me turned against me. Turns out this Apocalypse had a Geass that lets him imprint himself onto anyone he has eye contact with. Effectively turning them into him. Without me knowing he had taken over everyone around me. And the one's he didn't take over were killed swiftly. Even Suzaku's candidate to replace him as Zero turned against us”.

Lelouch was shocked, to say the least by what he was hearing. A Geass that lets you imprint yourself onto someone else, effecting making them another you in someone else's body. That was a dangerous Geass to have, more so than the one he had. It effectively allowed this Apocalypse person to make sleeper agents who are also himself. It also makes killing him difficult, as it would be impossible to know who's the real one.

“Everyone I knew either turned against me or died, and I couldn't do anything to stop it” Nunnally cried “I had nowhere to go, no one to run to, and no hope of you coming to save me. And to make matters worse, two days later he activated a device that gave one-fifth of the population Geass” she said “The world soon fell into chaos after that, with Geass users all over the world using their powers for evil. There was no recovering from that, he won, Apocalypse succeeded in destroying the world. I tried to fight him, taking the mantle of Zero because there just wasn't anyone left who could. But I just couldn't fight him. I didn't have the tactical or combat knowledge that you had. And in the end, after five years of fighting him, he set the world ablaze. Literally, he used a powerful laser to heat up the planet's atmosphere and turn it into plasma”.

“He what!” Lelouch said sounding shocked. Destroying the world and unleashing hundreds of thousands of Geass users all across the planet was one thing. But to burn the plant and turn the atmosphere into plasma was another. Why the hell would he even do something like that? “Why, why would he do that?”.

“Apocalypse cares for nothing, not even for the lives of others. He just wanted to see everything burn” Nunnally replied “I survived, but only because I had the Code. But, you don't want to know what it's like, to burn to death only to come back to life only to burn again, over and over again. I lost count of how many times it happened to me, I just wanted the pain to stop”.

Lelouch brought his sister in for another hug, god she needed one. He had seen what C.C. Had been through over her long life, all the painful ways she had died. None of them came even close to what Nunnally had been through. Burning alive over and over again. It must have taken a miracle for her to get out of there.

“How did you get off the planet?” Lelouch asked.

“I, don't know. I just woke up floating in the water after god knows how long” Nunnally replied “The rest I, don't want to talk about. It was, a very painful time for me. All I can say is that, after a while, I made my way here, to this world”.

“So, you too have no idea why your here,” Lelouch said “Looks like we were both brought here for unknown reasons. But, why are you still wearing my Zero suit? Why hide behind my mask?”.

“Because I didn't want you to see what I've become” Nunnally replied “I have made so many poor choices and decisions over the years that when I found out that you were here too, I was scared of seeing you again. So I hid behind your mask and engineered a scenario where I could bring you here and reveal myself to you as Zero. But I got people needlessly killed to get you here, and I got you injured as well” she cried “I just-. Seeing you like this, stuck in a wheelchair like I was all those years ago. I just could meet you, not now. If it wasn't for that Kansen showing up, I would have just left and chosen another time to meet you”.

Hurt, he wasn't hurt in the attack-. Oh, oh dear. She thought that he was injured during the attack on Murmansk, which wasn't the case as he wasn't even hit during the attack. But she didn't know that, so she must have assumed that he was harmed during the attack.

He'd have to rectify this quickly.

“Hey, it's alright,” Lelouch said softly “You aren't responsible for this. I got this before the attack on Murmansk, not during it” he explained.

“You mean, I'm not responsible for you being in a wheelchair, or losing your arm?” Nunnally asked, getting a nod from Lelouch. She then smiled and hugged him “Thank you. I was so worried that I almost got you killed”.

“It's ok,” Lelouch said “It'll take more than that to kill me. This world is far more dangerous than our old world, I think it might be best if we stick together. It would be safer that way,” he said.

It was the truth, his position in the Royal Navy would provide her with relative safety, plus he wanted to be with her again, to learn more about what happened over those sixty years, as well as more about this Apocalypse person.

“I'm afraid we can't,” Nunnally said as she stood back up “I have some unfinished business to attend to, and promises to keep,” she said as she turned and picked up her helmet “We can be together again, be a family again, just not now”.

Lelouch lowered his head “I suppose there isn't a way I can convince you to stay?” he asked.

Nunnally shook her head “No. I'm afraid not. Being with you now would only make matters for you worse. By being apart we can complete our own objectives without getting in each other's way” she said before putting her helmet back on “Goodbye, Lelouch” she said before turning around.

"Wait," Lelouch said. Nunnally turned back to face him "One last question. What happened to Apocalypse?" he asked.

"He burned with the rest of the world" Nunnally replied "I made sure of that," she said before she turned and off into the shadows.

Lelouch was saddened by his sister's refusal to stay with him. After all the painful thing she'd been through, he thought that she would be grateful to be with him again. Obviously, she hadn't fully forgiven him for his Zero Requiem yet. Still, why would she still have unfinished business and promises to keep? Unless this Apocalypse guy had survived somehow as well and here. If that was the case, then it would explain why there were so many people who hated Kansen, he had used his Geass to replace them with himself and told them to hate Kansen. That, or someone else was just brainwashing them. There just wasn't enough evidence to prove what was happening, or if this Apocalypse had survived and was here.

Whatever the reason his sister had for staying away from him, she obviously had a good reason for it. Still, if Apocalypse is here, then he's going to have to invest in some Geass protection for himself and the Kansen. He didn't know if Geass would work on them or not, but he wasn't going to take the risk.

Jeremiah's Geass canceller would be very useful around about now.

There was also his sisters status as an immortal with the Code. She could, theoretically, give him back his own Geass. But that notion was kicked aside, dumped into the trash, and doused with gasoline the moment he thought of it. There was no way he was going to ask her to make a contract with him, not in a million years. She probably wouldn't even accept to do it anyway.

He sighed. This whole ordeal had left him shaken. Meeting his sister after so long, more so for her, was difficult. Everything she'd been through, everything that had happened to her. He thought he had set up ample security and safeguards to protect her from stuff like that. Obviously, he didn't anticipate someone using Geass to replace everyone with themselves.

He slowly wheeled himself out of the warehouse, and was unsurprised when came out and saw Sheffield, Belfast, Hermione, and Sovetsky Soyuz were standing around the doorway “I supposed you four have a lot of questions for me”.

The four Kansen nodded “Indeed we do, master” Belfast said.

“Will you be telling us what your sister meant by 'dying' in front of her?” Sovetsky asked.

“I will, but later” Lelouch replied, “Tonight's events have left me rather shake, and I will need time to get to grips with everything that's happened”.

“Of course, master” Belfast said with a smile “We will give you plenty of time to sort yourself out. But we will not wait forever”.

“Of course. You will get your answers before we leave for the Royal Island” Lelouch said “I would also like for you to keep tonight's events between us”.

“As you wish, master,” Sheffield said, “We will not speak of this to anyone”.

“As will I,” Sovetsky said, “My comrades will not learn of what transpired tonight”.

“Thank you,” Lelouch said. He was honestly surprised that the Kansen were being surprisingly understanding of what happened tonight. He half expected them to start bombarding him with questions or be angry with him. But they were being surprisingly ok with it. Maybe it was because they were waiting for him to explain the full situation to them before they pass judgment on him.

“We should be getting you back to the dorms,” Hermione said as she walked behind him “It's rather cold out and you really shouldn't be out here right now. Plus you must be quite tired after such a long and painful day”.

“Of course. Thank you” Lelouch said before Hermione pushed him back towards the dorm whilst the others followed. He will give them the answer they were looking for, just later. He was tired, he needed time to sort out the mess of emotions he was feeling right now, and he needed to sort out what he was going to say to them. Should he give them the full truth or only parts of it mixed in with a few more lies. Either way, he hoped that the Kansen still trusted him after this.

Chapter Text

Murmansk Navy Base. The next morning.

Duke of York woke up and quickly checked her clock. Five AM. Good, the maids won't be waking Lelouch up for a while, so that gave her plenty of time to 'assist him'.

She quietly got out of bed and checked herself out in a mirror. her curvy frame was scantily clad in a loose dark red babydoll nightgown with matching panties and stockings that she had hand-picked for this 'mission'.

Lelouch had been through so much over the past twenty-four hours. From almost being killed by Roon, losing his arm, running into not only this Ash person but also a category ten Siren, to whatever left him shaken last night. The maids did a good job of sneaking him back in after midnight, but she heard them come in and could see that something had shaken him up, physically and mentally.

For such a young man to go through so much trauma and keep on moving as if nothing happened, was remarkable. But, that didn't mean he wasn't suffering. So, since the Royal maids aren't helping him, it's up to her to 'relieve' the young commander of any stress he may be suffering from.

If anything this had been a long time coming. There was just something about him that was driving her crazy. Something so dark and mysterious emanated from his soul, and she wanted to find out what that was. Plus his eyes, were so, hypnotic. She could easily lose herself looking into those purple eyes of his.

She checked herself over one last time, just to make sure she was appealing before quietly leaving her room and making her way towards Lelouch's room. No one else was up yet, which gave her plenty of time alone with Lelouch.

She soon reached his room. It was unlocked, which was good as she didn't need to waste time lock-picking the door open. She opened it quietly and silently slipped in, closing it behind her quietly.

She eyed the bed that Lelouch was sleeping in, and smiled. He was completely covered by the blanket and sounded fast asleep. She could smell his scent more clearly now. She slowly moved toward the bed, getting closer and closer to her 'prey'.

She reached the bed and laid down next to him “Now, O sinful commander, who tempts me so, engrave my name upon thine-” she said as she lifted the sheet that was covering him, and was met with a rather surprising sight. Lelouch was gone.

His clothing was still there, laying on the bed. But the rest of him was gone. She also noticed a large bulge underneath his shirt, which was suspiciously round in shape. She picked up the top of the shirt and lifted it up, and unsurprisingly a Manjuu rolled out of the shirt and onto the bed. Although there was something strange about this Manjuu, its feathers were black like a Ravens.

The strange Manjuu, groaned? “Ur what the,” the Manjuu said, which was shocking as Manjuu could only chip like a bird, not talk like a human. Also, why did it sound exactly like Lelouch?

The Manjuu got up and look up at her “Gah! Duke of York, why are you in my room?” the Manjuu asked, jumping up in surprise and flapping its wings “And why are you holding my-” the Manjuu said before it suddenly looked at itself. A shocked look suddenly appeared on its face before it screamed loudly. Duke of York swore that it was so loud that even the Sirens could hear it.

What was also surprising was the speed at which Sheffield, Belfast, and Hermione barged into the room, rigging active and still wearing their undergarments.

“Master!” Belfast said as the three maids entered the room and scanned in for hostile's “Are you alright-” she said before the three of them looked at the bed, and saw the strange Manjuu on the bed.

“I am a Manjuu!” the Manjuu shouted, wings flapping in a panic.

The following silence was almost deafening as the gears inside everyone's heads turned, struggling to process what had happened. It didn't take them long before they all realised that this Manjuu was in fact Lelouch, who had somehow been turned into a Manjuu.

“Master?” Hermione asked sounding rather confused. A feeling that was shared by everyone else in the room.

“Yes,” Lelouch replied sounding annoyed “Care to explain what happened to me?”.

“I would ask how this happened” Sheffield replied “But considering that everyone, Duke of York included, looks to have no idea how this happened. Then no, I have no idea how you got turned into a Manjuu. I've never even heard of someone getting turned into a Manjuu before”.

“What's going on?” a sleepy Thunder Child asked as she walked in, wearing her pyjamas and holding a large tripod plush toy “What was that scream?”.

“Lelouch got turned into a Manjuu” Sheffield said. Which was quickly followed by a large amount of what's. Apparently, all the other Royal Navy Kansen, as well as Cleveland, had also woken up and were all now peering into the room.

Duke of York was really wishing that this mission of relieving Lelouch of his stress had gone off without a hitch. She could be showing him a good time right now. Instead, she's laying in his bed whilst Lelouch is a bird, and what feels like half the Royal Navy in the room.

Why did this have to happen today?

“Ok. How on earth did Lelouch get turned into a Manjuu?” Cleveland asked sounding very confused.

“I don't-” Lelouch said before he closed his eyes and breathed, and muttered something about calming down “Alright, calm down Lelouch. Screaming and shouting won't solve this,” he said quietly as he started to pace up and down the bed “Ok, what could possibly have happened to me during the last twenty-four hours that could have done this to-. The healing drug that Kirov gave me”.

“Wait. You think the Northern Parliaments experimental-” Hermione said before she realised exactly why he was suspicious of it “Oh no”.

Belfast turned around “Matchless, Musketeer. Go get Sovetsky. We need to have a world with her”.

“Roger!” the two destroyers said before they rushed off.

“I would ask how a healing drug could turn someone into a Manjuu” Sheffield said “But, considering it's A, experimental. And B, we have no idea what it's made of, it's entirely possible that it can turn someone into a Manjuu” she said, “Also, Duke of York. Why exactly are you in Lelouch's room?”.

Duke of York blushed “I was just planning to, comfort him” she said “He's been through so much in the past twenty-four hours, so I thought that I should help him a bit”.

Lelouch sighed. He knew he was popular, but he never had to deal with girls breaking into his room before. That never happened to him at Ashford. Maybe he should invest in some more security for his door if this kind of thing is to be expected.

Still, this had been a very stressful day for him. Not only was he almost killed by Roon, had a run-in with several Sirens, one of which was a category ten, what looked like a dark version of Enterprise that called themselves Ash, and his sister showed up with his Zero suit and a warning about this Apocalypse person. And to top everything off, he's now been turned into a Manjuu of all things. It was like the universe didn't want to give him time to recover from meeting his sister again before throwing several more things traumatic events at him.

Thankfully, Sovetsky chose that moment to walk it “I hope the reason for me being here is important” the battleship said as she walked in “I do not like being-” she said before she noticed the black Manjuu standing on the bed.

“Hello Sovetsky,” Lelouch said with a frown “Care to explain why I've been turned into a Manjuu?” he asked.

Sovetsky looked at him with a shocked look on her face “What?”.

“Look. That healing drug you gave me may have had a part in turning me into, this” Lelouch said “So, could you kindly tell us what exactly is in that drug that may have had a hand in-” he said before Sovetsky interrupted him by saying “Manjuu blood”.

Everyone in the room looked at her with a shocked look on their faces “You put Manjuu blood into a healing drug!” Belfast said sounding horrified.

“There are treaties that prevent experimentation on Manjuu,” Thunder Child added sounding horrified.

“I know. This is why I suspect that the scientist who made the drug kept its ingredients a secret” Sovetsky said “Manjuu are surprisingly resilient little things, capable of surviving things that really they shouldn't be able to and heal from wounds shockingly quickly. It was only a matter of time before someone tried to harness that ability”.

“So, someone used illegal Manjuu research to develop a Regen like a drug for humans,” Victorious said “But that's wrong”.

“I know. This is why, once we've dealt with this, I will be putting a stop to it” Sovetsky said “I know my government will be annoyed by it. But I will not allow illegal research to be conducted on my nation's soil”.

“Well that's good and all, but. How are you going to deal with me being a Manjuu?” Lelouch asked “As beneficial it looks to be a bird, I would rather be a human than a small yellow bird. Or a small black bird in this case”.

All the gathered Kansen looked at him with a confused look “Why would it be beneficial to be a Manjuu?” Belfast asked.

“Think about it, I can go places where no human can go without suspicion,” Lelouch said “Yes I stand out by having different coloured feathers. But, apart from that, no one should suspect anything if I just walk around the base. Plus I can enter places no one else can, like ventilation systems”.

“You can also sneak into places like the female shower room, dressing room, bathing room, and other places that men aren't allowed into,” Sheffield said.

Lelouch looked at her with a confused look “Why would I do anything like that?” he asked, “What could I learn about what our enemies are doing from their underwear draws?”.

“He does have a point,” Matchless said “What can you learn from someone's panties and bras?”.

“I think Sheffield meant that as a joke. Right, Sheff?” Hermione asked, getting a nod from Sheffield “See, a joke. Still, there are bound to be problems with being a Manjuu all the time. Some people may use it as an opportunity to get you removed from your position”.

“And there goes any chance of me becoming the commander of the Azur Lane,” Lelouch said “Yes, I had thought about that possibility. So I believe that it will be in our best interests to keep this a secret. We can not afford to have a man like Owen Melendez become the commander of the Azur Lane”.

“He's right,” Belfast said, which was surprising considering the events of last night “Owen will most likely be the end of the AL if he's allowed to have his way. So we need to find a way to turn Lelouch human again without the Royal Navy admiralty finding out about it”.

“It's shouldn't be too hard,” Sovetsky said “Sovetskaya Rossiya is here with one of our mobile research labs. There should be the facility's onboard to help 'cure' you and make you human again. But this will take time. Hopefully, we will have found a way to make you human again before you have to leave, so everything should be fine. All you need to do is keep your head down, stay out of sight, and try and keep communications with the Royal Navy to a minimum”.

“Yeah, I see a problem with that” Duke of York said “If I remember correctly, Lelouch has an internet meeting with Queen Elizabeth as well as the admiralty today”.

“Oh bugger” Thunder child said.

Oh bugger indeed. This meeting was going to be a zoom meeting, so there will be webcams. And he will be expected to also have a webcam on, even if he was in a medical bed. So hiding the fact that he's now a Manjuu will be quite difficult.

Well, there goes his career in the navy.

“Actually, I may have a way to keep your current status as a Manjuu hidden,” Sovetsky said “And it will be surprisingly easy. Murmansk has just been attacked by Sirens, after all, so there are bound to be a few, technical problems here and there”.

Lelouch smiled as Sovetsky told them her plan. This could work, and work well. He could hide his current condition and no one back home will be none the wiser.

?????????

Observer Alpha watched in bewilderment at the images being sent to her by Lin. It was of Lelouch talking to the Kansen under his command, as well as Sovetsky.

That wasn't the strange thing. The strange thing was that Lelouch had been turned into a Manjuu.

“Oh no,” Alpha said sounding unsurprised “Not again”.

“Hello, Alpha,” Purifier said as she walked up beside her, and then looked at the screen “Ur, Alpha, which simulation is that? Because I don't remember there ever being a black Manjuu before”.

“It's simulation forty-three” Alpha replied “And that Manjuu is Lelouch Lamperouge”.

“Oh, another one” Purifier said sounding annoyed “How many is that now, commanders who can turn into Manjuu's?”.

“Thirteen” Alpha replied “Now fourteen thanks to this. How? How do these glitches keep happening? I've run the simulation codes thousands of times and still can't find out how these people got their abilities from. At least we know how Lelouch got his, a drug created by the Northern Parliament that acts like Regen, but is safe for humans to use. Well, sort of”.

“Yeah, one of the side effects is getting turned into a Manjuu,” Purifier said “You think this is how the others go their ability?”.

The observer shook her head “No. No other simulation has ever made a drug like that. So how the others got their abilities is still unknown to us. In other news, Purichi, Tessy, and Observer Mini have been scolded for bringing a category ten siren to deal with Ash” she said “Although, I have to admit, the fault is also partially mine. I did tell them to take a prime with them, and Onlooker is a prime. A prototype, one-of-a-kind prime, but a prime nonetheless. Maybe I should have added no category ten sirens as well”.

“Maybe you should have,” Purifier said “Oh well, I'll leave you to your observations,” she said before she walked out.

Alpha ignored her and went back to observing the situation with Lelouch. These glitches that cause people to be able to turn into Manjuu were getting on her nerves. But, it couldn't be helped. Nothing is perfect, not even the Sirens. If everything was perfect then nothing will be interesting, and most of the data they are getting will not be useful to them. Errors, glitches, accidents, and mistakes made useful data, as well as helped improve their systems. After all, smooth sailing isn't always a good thing.

Chapter Text

Murmansk. Military transport train.

Lelouch was impressed by the Northern Parliaments mobile research lab. He did suspect that there was something hidden on that transport train that had come in yesterday, which turned out to be the research lab. He just didn't suspect that the entire train was the lab. This was a train pulling a large number of carriages full of 'iron ore'. Yet each and every carriage hid a small room used to research things the NP doesn't want anyone else to know about.

The fact that the healing drug that was used on him was developed on one of those carriages made finding a way to turn him human again easier.

Sovetskaya Rossiya had shown up about two hours after he had woken up, stuffed him into a bag so no one could see him, and taken him on board the train. She had also taken his uniform and wheelchair, just so he would have something to wear when he becomes human again.

He was now in a sterile white room with what looked like an airlock on one side of the carriage. There was a single computer terminal with a human scientist working at it, monitoring the status of two large metal cylindrical canisters on the other side of the room. There was a large number printed on each canister, seventy-one and seventy-two.

Those two canisters bugging him. There was something off about them like there was something inside of them. He had no idea what it was, but whatever it was, it was alive. He couldn't tell how he knew that, he could just sense it. Maybe there was an ability Manjuu had that allowed them to sense things like that.

Rossiya had left him there alone, as the scientist who had been working at the terminal had left with her. Leaving him alone with whatever was inside those large canisters.

The fact Rossiya had left him on the same table as the computer that was monitoring those canisters was obviously not by accident. Rossiya was testing him, wanting to see what he would do.

Whilst he was indeed curious about what was inside those canisters, there were a few small problems with trying to open them. The main problem was that he didn't know that much Russian, mainly English, Japanese, and Chinese. And since everything in this room was written in Russian, he had absolutely no idea what anything was. And he wasn't going to risk pressing random buttons, that couldn't end well. Hell, he could accidentally kill whatever is inside those things. So instead he practised moving around in his new body.

The fact that there were also two security cameras in the room as well also acted as a deterrent.

Walking was easy, his transformation into a Manjuu had also given him back his arm, so he didn't need a new one for his Manjuu body. With walking locked down, he next tried flying as that would be a useful skill. He had seen Manjuu fly about the base, even the huge one's the size of humans can fly. How they were able to fay was beyond him, but there was a lot about those birds that confused him, like how they could survive just about everything.

Just how durable was he now?

Anyway, back to trying to fly. He understood the basic principle of how they fly, just flap your arms up and down. He started slowly, moving his arms up and down slowly and gradually gaining speed. He didn't want to fully take off, just hovering slightly above the ground.

As it turned out, Manjuu doesn't need to do much to take off off the ground, and he soon found himself flying several feet off the ground. In a panic he flapped his arms faster, and ended up hitting the roof and fell back down to the ground, bouncing off the keyboard before hitting the floor.

“Oh no,” Lelouch said as he realised the implications of what he's done. He quickly stood up and tried to fly back onto the desk, but stopped when he noticed that the canisters were opening up, revealing two glass tanks filled with some kind of liquid. Suspended inside each of the tanks was a woman, one older than the other. They were naked save for a metal helmet with hundreds of wires poking out the back that connected to the top of the tank.

Lelouch was shocked by the sight. What the hell was the Northern Parliament doing to these girls?

He slowly walked towards the two glass tanks, wondering who exactly those two women were only to freeze instantly when the two women suddenly turned their heads towards him. He suddenly felt two pairs of eyes looking at him from behind those masks. He didn't know how they could see him through them, as there were no visors or cameras. But they were aware of him.

“Admiring our latest creation, Lelouch?” the voice of Sovetskaya Rossiya asked behind him.

Lelouch quickly turned and found the battleship standing over him, with a long red bloodstain over her crisp white uniform.

“Sovetskaya Rossiya,” Lelouch said nervously. He normally would be quite calm in situations like this, but the fact that he was a small bird and she was a battleship who looked like she could squish him with her boot and looked like she had just done that to someone else, he was a little bit more cautious now. A change in scale really makes things a lot scarier.

Rossiya reached down and picked him up. Whilst he was in her hands, he felt the same strange feeling he got from those two women from Rossiya. Was this feeling something that told him that she was a Kansen? If that was the case, then the two women inside those tanks are also Kansen.

Rossiya put him back down on the table “For someone who's just been turned into a Manjuu, you're taking it rather well”.

“Well I did vent out all of my surprise a few hours ago,” Lelouch said before turning towards the glass tanks “Those two women. Their Kansen right?”.

Rossiya nodded “Indeed they are,” she said as she walked towards the tanks “Lelouch, say hello to the Northern Parliament's new PR carriers, Voronezh and Stalingrad. Carriers of the unfinished and dropped projects seventy-one and seventy-two”.

Carriers! They were making carriers, PR ones at that. That would explain why they wanted so many units of main fleet combat experience, they needed them to make their new PR ships. And he just so happened to have sent them twice the amount they had asked for. No wonder they were all being so nice to him, he helped them speed up the development of their new carriers. Which is probably a good thing in the long run.

“So, you're making two PR ships in secret,” Lelouch said “I guess there's a good reason as to why you're keeping them a secret”.

“Yes, there is,” Rossiya said as she turned towards the two tanks “We're worried that Ironblood high-command will try and kill them, so we keep their location secret and on the move, just so no one can lock their location down”.
That was a smart strategy, keeping your new secret weapon on the move. As long as no one identifies the train as a secret research lab, Voronezh and Stalingrad should be fine.

“I see. Difficult to find and hit if they're constantly on the move” Lelouch said.

“Indeed it is,” Rossiya said “These two will allow us to perform carrier-based operations against the Sirens. Giving us much-needed air support whenever we need it. They represent a strategic asset that we desperately need to combat the Sirens, and we can't afford anyone taking that away from us” she said “Now, back to why we're really here. I had a word with the scientist who made the advanced healing drug. Turns out that he already knew about the Manjuu transformation as it happened to him as well, and made something to turn someone back into a human” she said as she got out a syringe “Now, according to his notes, as the man himself was very uncooperative and dead. This should turn you human again” she said as she walked up to him “Although I should warn you, this looks to be an untested version, and I couldn't find the version he used himself. So, this may also have unwanted side effects”.

Lelouch sighed “Well, I know this is against my better judgment, but we might as well use it,” he said as he jumped off of the table and landed on the floor “Let's just hope this works”.

Rossiya knelt down and injected him with the syringe's contents. She then took a few steps back and waited. Moments later the cure had its desired effect, and Lelouch quickly turned back into a human. But there were a few side effects to the rapid transformation. The first one was that he now felt very hot and was visibly sweating. Obviously, the rapid change in size had released a lot of heat and was making him feel very hot. The second problem was that the arm he lost was still missing, so no magically getting that back.

Also, he was completely naked, but that was to be expected as he wasn't wearing anything whilst he was a Manjuu.

He quickly sat down on a chair and covered his private parts “Ok. That worked” he panted “But I do feel like that I'm in the middle of a sauna. Plus I'm still down an arm”.

“Well, that's strange,” Rossiya said, blushing a very deep red. The two Kansen in the tanks were probably also blushing behind those masks “You had two arms when you were a Manjuu, so I thought you would get the one you lost back. Obviously that is not the case”.

“Yeah,” Lelouch said, “Got any water? I feel like I'm in an oven right now”.

“Sorry comrade, but don't allow food or drink in here. For health and safety reasons” Rossiya replied.

Figures. With all the sensitive equipment, food and drink provided a risk of damage to the equipment here, so he could only sit there and let his body cool down naturally. Which took longer than he would have liked.

Once his body had cooled down a bit, he reached toward the pile of clothing and grabbed his underwear. Putting it on and restoring his modestly. Not easy when you only have one hand “Alright, probably should have seen that coming. A size increase such as that would have expended a lot of energy as heat. Now I see why size-changing powers are dangerous, you risk cooking yourself when you use them” he said before he noticed something about his body. It looked different. It looked more, athletic and muscular. How the hell did that happen “Ok, this is new” he said sounding surprised as he checked his body out.

“What's wrong?” Rossiya asked.

“My body, it's different” Lelouch replied “It's not supposed to look like this”.

“You mean it's not supposed to look so hot-, I mean, athletic” Rossiya said.

“No, it's not,” Lelouch said “I'm not an athletic person, physical education is my weakest subject. How could this have-” he said before he realised how this had happened “Oh, I think I know how this happened. That cure did more than turn me back into a human, it stabilised the bird DNA inside of me, basically giving me their strength whilst still being human,” he said.

It was the most reasonable explanation to explain the change in his body's physical appearance. Manjuu, despite being rather small, have been observed performing feats of strength something their size should now be able to perform, like two of them lifting up a Kansen. Ok said Kansen was a destroyer. But another one also helped to lift up a hammock for the light cruiser Reno, and she's a full-sized adult. Those little guys are surprisingly strong.

“So, your strength is that of a Manjuu, upscaled for a human” Rossiya said “Good grief, you might be able to fight a Kansen now”.

“I don't know about that. There is a chance that I maintain my low endurance” Lelouch said “We won't know what ability's I may have until we test them out. And that's going to have to be done somewhere in secret, as I don't want information like that made public. It'll draw too much attention. And I already have enough as it is” he said as he stood up, which surprised him as he could not do that yesterday “Ok, looks like I've also got their quick regeneration as well”.

“Looks like it,” Rossiya said “I take it that you're going to have to pretend to still need your wheelchair to get around for a while”.

“Indeed. I can't make it look like I've fully recovered” Lelouch said as he started putting his clothes back on “If I start walking around now people will get suspicions” he said.

It was the perfect and only option for him right now, keeping the fact that he's now fully healed a secret. If people found out they would want to know how, and that could lead them to find out that he had been turned into a Manjuu for a while, which would probably sink his career there and then.

“Oh well, at least I'm not a Manjuu-” Lelouch said before finding himself falling onto the floor, and feeling like he was being cooked in an oven “-any more,” he remarked before he looked at his Manjuu body, and sighed “I knew this was too good to be true”.

“Did, you just turn back into a Manjuu, just by saying Manjuu?” a rather confused Rossiya asked, all the while Voronezh and Stalingrad looked at him from within their tanks.

“I believe so” Lelouch replied “I think it's a trigger word for a transformation. If I say it again I think I'll turn back into a human. But I'm going to wait until I've cooled off before trying that, as I do not want to cook myself”.

Lelouch waited until he had cooled off before saying Manjuu again, and as predicted he turned back into a human and had to sit back down onto the chair again “Ok, looks like I can't say ma-. The name of those yellow birds without turning into one” he remarked as he cooled himself off “This is both good and bad. Good as I can now turn into a Man-, small yellow bird, whenever I like. Bad being that the transformation is triggered whenever I say a certain word. Which can be very problematic if I need to say that word. Not to mention I feel like I'm in an oven whenever I transform, so I can't switch between the two in rapid succession. Plus when I turn back into a human I will be not only naked but also down an arm”.

Looks like his ability to transform into a Manjuu was a situational one. The lack of clothing and missing an arm would make the Manjuu to human transformation difficult and awkward, as he would have to carry his clothing and arm with him, which would make him stand out even more, as he was still a Manjuu with black feathers. Plus the fact that the heat produced by the transformation risked cooking him meant that he would have to spend some time cooling off after the transformation.

Well, at least he could meet with Queen Elizabeth without needing to use Sovetsky's plan.

“Oh yes, I have your new arm with me,” Sovetsky said as she got out a metal arm “It took a while, but this prosthetic should have the same level of motion as your old arm,” she said as she walked over to him and attached it to his arm. Instantly his fingers started moving randomly “Careful comrade, the EMG sensors are detecting the movements of your muscles in your arm. Try to relax it”.

Lelouch took in her advice and tried to calm his new arm down. It was difficult at first, but he was soon able to stop the fingers from moving.

“There we go,” Sovetsky said with a smile “It'll take a while for you to get used to it, so I suggest you only try simple things with it for now. I also suggest that you let me help you get dressed”

“Of course,” Lelouch said with a nod.

Sovetsky helped him get changed back into his uniform. Once he was dressed, he stood up and sat down in his wheelchair “Well, now that that's all sorted out, I can return to my duties” he said “Oh, by the way. How long till Voronezh and Stalingrad are ready for deployment?” he asked.

“One-month thanks to the additional resources you gifted us,” Sovetsky said before she walked over to the computer. She reached for one of the keys, only to stop and turn towards the tanks “Don't worry you two. You'll see him again” she said before she pushed the button on the keyboard, covering the tanks with their protective metal shield. She then walked behind Lelouch and grabbed the wheelchair “I'll take you back to your Royal Navy comrades”.

“Thank you,” Lelouch said as he was wheeled into the airlock “And don't worry about Voronezh and Stalingrad. I won't tell anyone about them”.

“Thank you, Lelouch,” Sovetsky said as she wheeled him out of the airlock and out of the train.

As they moved, Lelouch's mind was working. Whilst not very active within the Azur Lane, the Northern Parliament were still members of the Azur Lane, so their Kansen could be called upon to help fight the Sirens, which was unnecessary as their already engaged with the Sirens in the north pole. But, the addition of these two new carriers they were developing would help them out a lot.

He should send a few more gifts their way to help their navy, as those two PR carriers could prove to be very useful. PR ships were far more powerful than regular Kansen after all, and two PR carriers will probably be able to bombard the hell out of the Sirens, so having them on his side will help him massively. Far more so than his ability to turn into a Manjuu.

Chapter Text

The next couple of days went well. The repairs on the Kansen's ships was going well and was ahead of schedule, so they should be able to leave for the Royal Island early tomorrow. The Meeting with Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Navy admiralty went well, with no spontaneous Manjuu transformation to ruin it. But, Belfast did recommend that Queen Elizabeth be informed about his ability to transform into a Manjuu. Lord knows how pissed off she would be if she found out about it from someone else.

Talking about things that people needed to know.

“You called, master” Belfast said as she, Sheffield, Hermione, and Sovetsky Soyuz walked into his room.

“Ah, Belfast, Sheffield, Hermione, Sovetsky. Glad you could make it” Lelouch said as he sat up in his bed, his wheelchair beside it. He was still using it, to keep up the lie that he still couldn't walk. It wouldn't be until they got back that he could discard it “I guess you already know why I called you four here”.

They all nodded “About what happens in warehouse nineteen with your sister” Sheffield said, “Who, according to you, was killed by Sirens”.

Lelouch said with a nod “Yeah, I did say that, didn't I. I suggest you girls sit down, as this will take a while” he said, and waited for the four Kansen to make themselves comfortably “Now I should probably start with who I really am. My real name is Lelouch vi Britannia, Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire. Although that means absolutely nothing to you, as the Britannian Empire does not exist in this world” he explained. He then went on to give a brief explanation of his world before going on to his own personal history. He told them everything that happened to him, from his mother's assassination, being sent to Japan with his blind and parallelized sister, the following Britannian invasion of Japan, how he and his sister survived and hid in Britannian occupied Japan, how he got his Geass and what Geass was, everything he did during the black rebellion, all his battles, and all of his mistakes, the black knight's betrayal, his battle against his father, him taking over the Britannian Empire as it's ninety-ninth emperor, then taking over the entire world, and then his Zero Requiem which was supposed to be his death. That was until he woke up on that island with absolutely nothing, not even clothing. He then finished off by telling them what happens in the warehouse after they left. What his sister told him, from what happened to her during the sixty-five years since his death, to the possible threat of Apocalypse.

Not a single important detail was left out, not even him accidentally Geassing Euphemia and causing the Princess Massacre, or him accidentally getting Shirley killed, was left out. As much as it pained him to talk about it, he couldn't leave them out. Out of all the people he killed or were killed because of his actions, those two were the one's he regretted the most, and leaving them outran the risk of them coming back to bite him in the arse, just like it did with the Black Knights.

He didn't expect any sympathy or forgiveness from them, as he didn't deserve any of it, not after everything he did. All he could hope was they would be understanding of what he did and why. In the best-case scenario, he keeps his job, but only for fleet command duties whilst someone else commands the Azur Lane from the shadows, like Queen Elizabeth. Worst case, they force him to resign.

“So, let me get this straight, you are from another world where you were a member of royalty,” Sovetsky said “Were you, after getting sent to Japan, got a magic power to command anyone. You then started a rebellion, almost succeeded before a friend of yours stopped you. Your father then changed your memoirs in a plan to draw out an immortal woman who gave you your powers, which didn't work and you got your memory's and powers back. You then proceeded to conquer half of the world, got betrayed by the very people you helped regain their country, saved everyone in the world from your parents attempt to effectively mind rape everyone into losing their humanity, and then took over the other half of the world after clawing your way out of hell, and then went for broke and re-conquered the half of the world you had taken over before. And to top it all off, you arranged your own assassination in order to let the sins and hatred of the world die with you. Then, for some unknown reason, you showed up on a random island in the middle of nowhere, with no idea how you got there, or why you are alive”.

Lelouch nodded “Yep, that's basically a rundown of everything that happened to me,” he said.

“You've, had quite the active life, Lelouch,” Sheffield said, “And I can see why you lied about your past. No one would have believed it. Hell, if it wasn't for your sister showing up I wouldn't have believed it myself”.

“Yes it does sound rather unbelievable,” Lelouch said “But, then again, I wouldn't have believed in aliens before coming here. My world never did come under alien invasion”.

“True,” Sheffield said, “But still, some of the things you did are questionable at best, horrific at worst. If you expect us to forgive you for your actions then your greatly mistaken”.

“I don't expect you to,” Lelouch said, getting a few surprised looks from the four Kansen “Everything that I did, from the moment I got my Geass to the moment I died, was all done to achieve one objective, to make a better world for my sister Nunnally. I knew that I would never be forgiven for my actions, but that was the entire point. I had to make the entire world hate me so that when I died, all that hate would go with me” he explained “So save your forgiveness for those who can be forgiven, because I am beyond forgiveness”.

The three maids quickly shared a couple of surprised glances, which got the attention of Sovetsky “What's wrong with you three?” she asked.

“Sorry, about that” Belfast replied “But lady Hood said something similar after operation catapult”.

“Wait what?” Lelouch said sounding surprised. He knew what happened during the operation catapult, where several Royal Navy Kansen attacked French Kansen whilst they were in port, but he didn't know that Hood had been involved in the attack “I didn't know she took part in that operation”.

“She probably didn't have time to tell you. The entire affair had a negative effect on her” Belfast said, “If I remember correctly, she said 'we can not be forgiven for our actions today, so save it for those who can't or something along those lines”.

Lelouch was surprised that Hood would say something like that. But once he thought about it, she could have. There was something she wanted to talk to him about whilst he was on her ship, but she dropped it before he could get a better idea of what she was saying. Did she want to talk to him about what happened that day? He would have to ask her about it, once she's well enough to do so.

“This war must have affected her greatly,” Lelouch said.

“It did,” Hermione said “It's probably why she disobeyed your order to retreat”.

Lelouch smiled “I see. At least she's getting some rest now, even if it's in a hospital bed,” he said, “So, now what do you plan to do with me, now that you know my past?”.

“Nothing, master” Belfast replied politely, which surprised Leloush as that was not the reaction he was expecting for them.

“What!” Lelouch said sounding very confused.

“Well, there's not much we can actually do about it master,” Belfast said “We are simply maids of the Royal Navy. The only one's who can really do something about you are either Queen Elizabeth, some of the battleships and carriers, or our admiralty,” she said, “As for Sovetsky. She may be a high ranking Kansen in the Northern Parliament navy, but she's doesn't have the authority to do anything about you”.

“Exactly comrade,” Sovetsky said “We're from two different navy's after all. I have no authority over you, so I can't really do anything about this information. Apart from passing it over to your superiors, who probably won't believe it and think either you or I am crazy”.

She had a point, his story was rather outlandish and unbelievable, and most people in this world would say that he was crazy. So if anyone else heard it, they would probably not believe it. Worst case they would think he had lost it and send him to an asylum.

Thank god he had no intention of telling the admiralty this information. Queen Elizabeth would probably have to be informed about it, at least she asks for his head.

“Thank you. You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would” Lelouch said.

“Well, we are a lot more understanding of things like this, as we ourselves are not without questionable choices in our pasts. We were also there when your sister showed up and ranted about you dying on her” Sheffield said “Besides, your actions in your own world don't affect us. Everything you did in your world happens in your world, not here. And since it hasn't happened here, we can't charge you for any of it. Plus, after everything we've seen you do, you are far more valuable to us as the commander of the Azur Lane. Even if some of your actions in your own world are rather questionable”.

Well, that was kind of a relief, kind of. They were at least understanding of why he lied to them about his past, but they might trust him less after this.

Well, at least they were the only one's who knew the truth about his past-.

The moment that thought went through his mind, the wardrobe door suddenly opened and Cleveland and Thunder Child suddenly fell out of it, surprising everyone.

“Cleveland, Thunder Child!” Lelouch said sounding surprised “What are you doing in my wardrobe? Why are you even in my room?” he asked before he realised that they would have heard everything he said from within there “How much did you two hear?”.

The two surprised Kansen quickly went into full denial mode “We didn't hear anything, we swear” Thunder Child said in a panic.

“Yeah, we didn't,” Cleveland said “Totally didn't hear anything about you being from another world, awesome sounding massive robots, flying warships, magic eye powers, an immortal woman who likes pizza, something about an evil empire, taking over the world, or anything about your sister. Yeah, totally didn't hear any of that” she said with an obvious fake and innocent smile.

Lelouch sighed. It was very obvious that they had heard everything he had said. Oh well, he'll just have to ask them to keep quiet on the matter “Well, that's two more people who now know about me” he remarked, “What, no, how did you two get into my wardrobe anyway? I've been in here for the past two hours or so”.

“Ah, yes. Well, we were playing hide and seek with some of the destroyers” Thunder Child replied.

“Yeah, and we decided to hide in your room” Cleveland added “So when we heard someone coming we hid in your wardrobe. Then you showed up so we couldn't leave. Then Belfast, Sheffield, Hermione, and Sovetsky Soyuz showed up and you five started talking, so we couldn't leave till you finished. And then we kind of fell out of the wardrobe”.

“Well, that upped the number of people who now know Leloush's past up by two,” Sheffield remarked “And they didn't even have the context we had with his sister”.

Lelouch sighed before turning towards Cleveland and Thunder Child “You two. Can you promise me that you won't tell anyone else about what you heard in here, please”.

“Don't worry sir. We won't tell anyone” Cleveland said as Thunder Child nodded franticly.

Good, that was one problem dealt with. Hopefully.

A knock on the door shifted everyone's attention “Commander” the voice of Victorious said from the other side of the door “May I come in please?” she asked.

“Sure” Lelouch replied.

The carrier soon opened the door and walked in, looking rather surprised by the number of people who were with him “Oh, sorry but is this a bad time?” she asked.

Lelouch shook his head “No, it's fine. We were just finishing up” he said “So, what brings you here Victorious?”.

“Ah yes. The Intel report on the Ironblood Kansen in the area has just come in” Victorious replied, “We now have a better idea on the status of their ships”.

“Good,” Lelouch said “Now we know how many of their ships we have to worry about on the way back. Which is?”.

“All of them sir” Victorious replied “All the Kansen we engaged during the battle to take out Scharnhorst are still operational. Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Admiral Hipper, Roon, Königsberg, Karlsruhe, Köln, as well as Z23, Z24, Z25, Z26, and all of those U-boats they had to help with their escape. They are all still active and will tear us apart if we engage them again”.

“Well then, we're going to have to give them a reason to not attack us then,” Lelouch said with a smirk.

The gathered Kansen all looked at him with confused eyes “Ur, I don't follow you sir” Victorious said.

“Simple, what do the Ironblood know of my, condition?” Lelouch asked.

“Well, at the moment, they think you're still stuck in bed” Victorious replied.

“What are you planning to do commander?” Belfast asked.

Lelouch smiled “Simple. I'm going to use my condition against them”.

Chapter Text

Barents Sea – two days later

“Drop, drop, drop!” Tirpitz said over comms as Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Roon paradrop out of the back of the A400M Atlas. The heavy cruiser was surprised that Tirpitz had somehow managed to calculate how to low-velocity airdrop Kansen. But after that stunt Lelouch pulled off with those destroyers hiding onboard a mass-produced ship, a lot of Ironblood commanders have been trying to one-up it. Unsuccessfully if you don't count Tirpitz, whose attempts have worked out better than expected.

The three Kansen soon hit the water and discarded their parachutes “Alright you three, listen up” Tirpitz said over comms “The Royal Navy is returning home, and we are tasked with intercepting them. Now, this would be a simple task, but their commander has made it difficult for us. Due to Roon almost killing him during our last engagement, Lelouch is being transported back onboard one of the transport ships. But we do not know which fleet or ship he is on” she explained “And to make matters worse, there's a small possibility that he may be being carried by one of the Royal Navy Kansen. But we have no means to confirm or deny this as there have been no communications saying which ship he's on. So unless told otherwise, consider Lelouch to be on every single one of those ships”.

“So, we can't engage and destroy any of the transport ships then,” Scharnhorst said sounding annoyed as the Atlas flew off into the distance “Why are we being deployed then?”.

“You're being deployed to engage the Royal Navy Kansen” Tirpitz replied “If we can confirm that he isn't on any of their ships, then we can cross them off, disable them, and get the information on which ship he's on from them”.

“And if he's on one of the Kansen's ships?” Gneisenau asked.

“Then fall back, regroup, and then attack again with the full force of the Ironblood” Tirpitz replied “We will capture him, and bring him to my sister. But do be careful, our Intel does say that he's in critical condition, so try not to do anything that would risk his life”.

“Of course, Tirpitz” Roon said as the three advanced toward the Royal Navy fleet. It would be a while before they made contact, so to save fuel they deactivated their rigging and returned them to ship form.

“Aren't we forgetting something?” Scharnhorst asked, “A certain golden-haired carrier that's with them. If she starts launching aircraft at us we will be fucked. We don't have the AA to stop her aircraft”.

“Don't worry about that” Tirpitz said “Intel says that Victorious lost most of her aircraft after a Sirens attack on Murmansk. So aircraft will not be a problem for you. Also, we are deploying several U-boats to the area to triangulate any radio transmission the Royals send, just in case Leloush is sending one of them”.

“Roger,” Gneisenau said, “We'll report back once we've reached the Royal Navy fleet. Scout fleet out”.

Ironblood scout fleet. Two hours later.

“Royal Navy fleet spotted!” Scharnhorst shouted as the three Kansen activated their rigging, spotting the Royal Navy Kansen off in the distance.

They identified every ship in the fleet, but there was one that stood out. HMS Thunder Child. She was the only Kansen to have activated her rigging. Well, that ticked her off the list of possible ships Lelouch could be on.

“Prepare to engage-” Gneisenau said before a voice interrupted her.

“Well. You took your time” the voice of Lelouch said mockingly over the comm, sounding perfectly fine for someone who recently survived a run-in with Roon.

“Lelouch” Scharnhorst spat into the comms “So you are here”.

“I am. Or I am not” Lelouch said “I could be anywhere in the fleet, or in one of the other transport fleets. And you have no idea where I am”.

As much as Scharnhorst would have loved to have said 'don't be too sure about that she couldn't, as that would give the game away.

“Scharnhorst, patch me through to him and hold your position” Tirpitz ordered over comms.

“Copy that,” Scharnhorst said, knowing full well that Tirpitz was going to try and keep him on the comms long enough so they could triangulate his position.

“Lelouch Lamperouge,” Tirpitz said over comms “You are a difficult man to pin down”.

“Tirpitz, how good to hear from you again,” Lelouch said “Apologies for taking measures to hide my current location. But my last run-in with you left me with more than a few scars and broken bones, courtesy of your personal attack shrimp, Roon”.

“Sorry about that” Roon chipped in, really wanting to apologise for almost killing him when she was not supposed to “I did not intend to hit you with Neptune. She kind of just, got sent flying in the wrong direction. That's all”.

“My request to scuttle you still stands” Neptune added over the comms, still not happy with what Roon did to her “So please, make this easier on everyone and scuttle yourselves”

“Neptune, calm down please,” Lelouch said “I would rather not have you thrown at me again”.

“My apologies, commander” Neptune said polity.

Now that surprised the Ironblood Kansen. There was no passive-aggressiveness in Neptune's words or any form of impoliteness. She was nice to him. Which was something Kansen rarely are towards their commanders, as they're always annoying bastards.

“The Kansen under your command are surprisingly nice to you” Tirpitz observed.

“Well, it pays to be nice to them in return,” Lelouch said “You are mankind's only effective weapons against the Sirens, after all. Treating you badly and without respect is not something we should be doing. Yet, the majority of Kansen commanders treat you as if you were less than human” he said “I, on the other hand, am not like those people. You may be warships, but you are human in my eyes. And treating you differently and without respect is akin to racism”.

Well, that was a curveball. Nothing in his file said that he was nice to Kansen. But then again, something like that wouldn't be in someone's personal file anyway. Still, him being nice to Kansen changed things. He was the Royal Navy's candidate for the position of commander of the Azur Lane, and he could potentially make some positive changes for Kansen, or authorise the Castiel protocol. Either way, he would be far more useful to them as the commander of the Azur Lane, then captured by the Ironblood.

“Well, as unexpected as it is that you're nice to us, I still have orders to take you in, Lelouch,” Tirpitz said “Sorry about this”.

“Why are you apologising? You're a soldier following orders” Lelouch said “I would be concerned if you suddenly decided to disobey them”.

“Not going to try and stop me?” Tirpitz said sounding surprised.

“Why should I? Your not under my command” Lelouch replied.

Not even trying to wiggle himself out of it. Interesting. Roon could see why Bismarck wanted him alive. Most people would either try to insult the enemy Kansne (as well as their own) or try to avoid the fight altogether. He wasn't. It was almost like he wanted them to find him.

Speaking of which “U-47” Roon said into a secure channel “Have you identified where the transmission is coming from?” she asked.

“I have” U-47 replied sounding surprised “It's coming from Thunder Child”.

“What!” Roon said sounding shocked. That was impossible. Thunder Child was the one Kansen in the Royal Navy fleet who had their rigging active, everyone else still had their ships out. How could his voice be coming from Thunder Child? Unless.

“Fuck!” Roon shouted “Tirpitz. The transmission, it's coming from Thunder Child. It's a recording!”.

“What!” Tirpitz said sounding surprised.

“What's wrong?” Lelouch asked. Roon could feel the smug smile Lelouch must have had when he made this “Having tro-, tro-, tro-, tro-, tro-, tro-” he said as his voice started to glitch out. A quick glance over towards Thunder Child reviled that she was messing about with a tape recorder that was connected to her comm systems “Tro-, tro-, tro-, trouble with something?”.

“Damn it” Tirpitz cursed “He knew exactly what was going to be said and by who”.

“Tirpitz, what do we do?” Gneisenau asked, “The Royal Navy fleet are moving in to attack position”.

She was right, the Royals had changed course and were now entering combat formation.

“Disengage and fall back” Tirpitz ordered “We've been unable to confirm his location, so fall back”.

“Rodger-” Roon said before she was interrupted by Thunder child.

“Not so fast,” the torpedo ram said with a smile as she aimed her main guns at them “Eat Martian Heat-Ray!” she shouted as she fired a very hot beam of energy at the Ironblood Kansen. Rapidly boiling the sea around them and causing a large steam explosion.

Royal Navy fleet.

Lelouch was rather surprised by Thunder Child's sudden display of power, as he was not expecting her to have such a devastating weapon at her disposal. Lelouch himself was currently in his Manjuu form, hiding on Thunder Child's rigging. He would have stood out had he been human, but as a Manjuu, he could hide without being seen.

Looks like this ability had some use after all.

The trick of pretending that he was a recording worked perfectively. Thunder Child messing about with that tape recorder and him repeating the same thing over and over again sold it. Still, that heat ray really came out of the left field.

“Well. That worked” Lelouch said sounding surprised.

“Where-. Where the hell did she get her hands on a siren laser?” Victorious asked over the comms.

“It's not a Siren laser” Thunder Child corrected “It's a Martian Heat-Ray. It's part of my barrage. Normally I also shoot a few normal shells and a large number of torpedoes as well. But I was able to isolate the beam so I could fire it without the barrage. But don't expect me to do that again, as that could melt my guns”.

“Why did nobody tell me the Royal Navy had functional heat rays?” Cleveland asked, “We could easily melt through Sirens with those”.

“Because it's tied to my barrage, and thus, unreplicable” Thunder child replied “Hell, I don't even know why I can fire it or how. There are no heat rays in my guns, and I can only fire them when my rigging is active and when I launch my barrage. So yeah, we can't replicate my 'heat ray'”.

“Well, that's a disappointment,” Cleveland said “Oh well, at least we dealt with the Ironblood Kansen,” she said with a smile.

The sudden crazy laughter of Roon put everyone one edge “Did you really think that would work?” the heavy cruiser asked as the steam caused by the explosion started to dissipate “Did you really think that would be able to stop me!?” she said as the steam disappeared completely, revealing that the beam had done no damaged to her.

The Royal navy Kansen started to blush. Not at the sight of the undamaged Roon. But because of, something else. Lelouch adverted his gaze whilst Thunder Child looked rather sheepish.

“I am so sorry about this” Thunder child said.

Roon looked visibly surprised by the Royal's reaction. But before she could ask why they were all blushing, Scharnhorst screamed “Why am I naked!?”.

Roon quickly turned and, sure enough, Scharnhorst was now completely naked, with her rigging covering her up and protecting her modestly. Her sister Gneisenau had also suffered the same thing, with her rigging covering her up as well.

Roon, rather surprised by her comrade's state of distress, looked down and saw that she too was completely naked “What the fuck!” she shouted as she turned towards the Royal Navy Kansen, her rigging covering her up “What did you do to me!?”.

“I'm sorry” Thunder Child shuddered “I didn't know that would happen. I've never fired that at another Kansen before”.

Roon looked positively mad right now, fuming even “I'll rip you apart for this!” she shouted aggressively, preparing to charge forwards.

“No, we are not engaging them!” Scharnhorst shouted, “I am not fighting them naked!”.

“Agreed,” Gneisenau said, “We can't cover ourselves and fight at the same time. We need to retreat”.

Roon sighed angrily “Fine. Execute emergency extraction plan A” she ordered.

Lelouch's curiosity got the better of him, and he turned his gaze back on to the Ironblood Kansen, just in time to see a large balloon attached to long cables get launched from their rigging. At first, he was confused by what they were doing, but then he realised exactly what they were doing “They're going to Fulton extract themselves?”.

Sure enough, the Atlas that deployed them showed up, aiming directly for the long cables.

Lelouch was surprised that the Ironblood had been able to successfully work out how to Fulton extract a Kansen so quickly. He was still working on that. Obviously, they were far ahead of him in developing such a system for extracting Kansen than he was.

The Atlas caught the cables in its front scoop and flew off. The Kansen on the other hand did not as the cables attached to their rigging snapped off. Leaving the three Ironblood Kansen standing there, looking embarrassed and confused. Obviously, they still had some work to do.

“Ur, shouldn't we have been picked up by that?” Gneisenau asked.

“Ur. Execute emergency extraction plan B!” Roon shouted before three U-boats jumped out of the water, grabbed them, and dragged them below the waves.

The Royal Navy fleet looked on with a mix of surprised and confused faces, not really knowing how to process what just happened.

“Did, they just try to Fulton extract themselves?” Belfast asked, “And fail?”.

“I think they did” Sheffield replied “Obviously they need to invest in some stronger cables. There was no way they were going to lift thirty-eight thousand long tons worth of ship with cables like that”.

“Looks like that stunt you pulled when fighting Bismarck made them come up with some new ways to deploy and retrieve their Kansen,” Hermione remarked.

“Indeed it has,” Lelouch said as he flew onto Thunder Child's shoulder. He then picked up his radio “All Kansen, return to escort formation. The Ironblood should not be bothering us again during the trip back. But don't take it as an excuse to lower your guard. There is still a Siren threat in these waters, so keep your eyes open”.

“Yes sir” the Kansen responded, returning to formation and returning to escort duty.

With the Ironblood Kansen now gone, and his location still a secret, the Ironblood should be leaving them alone for a bit, so it should be smooth sailing from now on.

All according to plan.

Chapter Text

Hamburg Navy base. Germany.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Bismarck said, finding it hard to believe what she was being told.

She was sitting down at her desk, with several documents and pictures on it. Before her was Roon, Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau “You're telling me, Lelouch somehow knew what my sister was going to say, recorded all of it and gave it to Thunder Child to play. So we had no idea which ship he was on” she said “Then Thunder Child fires a laser of all things, which did no damage but burnt all of your clothing off, resulting in you being naked. Then the Kansen Fulton extract system didn't work. And to top it all off, I just got a picture of Lelouch disembarking from Thunder Child's ship, despite there never being an opportunity for him to board it in the first place” she said as she showed them a picture of Lelouch walking off of Thunder Child's ship “Who is this guy, Hoodini?”.

Scharnhorst and Gneisenau shared a quick glance “Ur, Bismarck. It's actually Houdini, not Hoodini” Gneisenau said, “He's not a magic owl”.

“It is,” Bismarck said sounding surprised “I'm sorry. I'm just under a lot of stress as of late. That Lelouch is a real headache to deal with”.

“I know,” Scharnhorst said, agreeing with her commander “Thunder Child was the only Kansen with their rigging active and was also the source of the transmission. We tried several times to get a fix on his location, but nothing we did worked. Not even our fake attacks on the three convoys worked”.

“We couldn't risk attacking any of the ships” Gneisenau added, “As much as high command wanted us to send them to the bottom of the ocean, the fact that you wanted Lelouch alive, and that we didn't know which ship he was on, meant that we couldn't risk sinking any of them”.

Bismarck sighed. This entire operation hadn't gone to plan. First Roon almost killed Lelouch, then a Northern Parliament submersible Zeppelin showed up and forced a retreat. Then their second attempt at capturing him failed because they couldn't find which ship he was on.

“Any chance we can capture him when he leaves for Azur Main?” Bismarck asked, knowing full well that he will be most likely be returning to Azur Main in a few days or so.

“That would depend on what method he uses” Gneisenau replied “If he goes by sea then there may be a chance we can get him. But if he goes by air then he will be out of our reach. We can't exactly board an aircraft that's in-flight, only shoot it down. And considering that he knows we're trying to capture him, it's highly likely that he will be travailing by air”.

Bismarck sighed as she sat back in her chair “Damn it. Once we reach Azur Main he will be out of our reach-” she said before an idea came to her “The Sakura Empire sent their declaration of war against the Eagle Union and Royal Navy yesterday, as well as them joining the Crimson Axis” she said with a smile “Roon, what would you say to a nice little vacation to Japan”.

Roon smiled “You want me to try and capture him with the help of the Sakura Empire”.

Bismarck nodded “He may be out of our reach from here, but from Japan, we may be able to launch an operation to capture him there. Now you will be going alone on this, as I won't be able to send anyone with you. But I doubt that will be a problem for you”.

“Of course,” Roon said, “If I need help I can just ask some of the Sakura Empire Kansen to help me out. They know the area better than I do after all”.

“Good,” Bismarck said “You'll leave immediately for Japan. We'll let you use one of our stealth transport aircraft to get there, as you will be going over enemy territory. Just try and bring it back in one piece, please. Those things are expensive”.

“Don't worry. I'll make sure Shrimpy doesn't eat too much of it” Roon said with a smile.

Bismarck looked at her with a confused and surprised look. Roon's rigging, or Shrimpy as the heavy cruiser liked to call it, was terrifying, to say the least. That thing was just as bloodthirsty as Roon herself, if not more so. During the short time since Roon's deployment, Shrimpy had been seen eating, among other things, parts of Kansen rigging, mass-produced ships, and even Sirens.

Those morons at Floating Fortress E2 really should have shown more restraint when making her. But, high command wanted a killing machine, and that's what they got. An unhinged killing machine that killed everyone present to her awakening, save Bismarck herself, as she was able to sedate her before she could leave the room and kill anyone else.

“Right. I would prefer it if he didn't eat any of it in the first place” Bismarck said as she got an envelope out of a draw “When you arrive in Japan, give this to Akagi” She said as she passed Roon the letter “Make sure she gets it. And for the love of Odin please don't let Shrimpy eat it”.

“Don't worry, I'll keep it away from him”.

“Good,” Bismarck said “Your dismissed Roon,” she said. She waited for the heavy cruiser to leave the room before speaking again “Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, I'll like you two to pay a visit to Floating Fortress E2 for me. I would go myself, but my ship is still being repaired and refitted”.

“Of course Kommandantin,” Scharnhorst said, “May I ask why you want us to go there?”.

“I need you two to check in on how 'she' is doing” Bismarck replied “As well as see how the other Kansen there are coping. Getting up-to-date reports from the place is rather difficult due to, you know, the area where it's located”.

“Don't worry Kommandantin,” Gneisenau said “We'll check in for you”.

“Good. You are dismissed” Bismarck said.

The two battlecruisers saluted before leaving the room. Lelouch may have escaped them this time, but there will be more opportunities to capture him in the future. And even if Roon doesn't succeed, they still have other means and tools at their disposal.

He won't be able to evade them forever.

Navy air station HMS Norrington.

Lelouch was rather suspicious at the moment, due to the ease at which he had managed to escort the transport ships back to the UK. Apart from a few attacks meant to draw him out, there wasn't much to deal with. Not even a single Siren came to stop them, which was strange as those waters were supposed to be teaming with them. Where did they all go?

He had been worried about the lack of Siren contacts on the way back. So much so that he thought he had seen a lurker spying on him, which was impossible as if there was a lurker in the area, then they would have attacked them.

“More tea master,” the light cruiser Newcastle asked politely.

“Yes please,” Lelouch replied.

He was currently sitting at a fancy table having tea with Queen Elizabeth's sister Valiant, Victorious, Duke of York, Monarch, and Thunder Child. Whilst Newcastle and Gloucester served them.

“So, I've heard from Belfast that you have a new mechanical arm courtesy of the Northern Parliament,” Valiant said, putting down her tea cup.

Lelouch nodded “Indeed. Our run-in with the Ironblood didn't go so well for us,” he said as he flexed his new arm “I wasn't expecting them to suddenly para-drop Kansen right on top of us. Nor was I expecting them to send Roon after me,” he said, “If it wasn't for the Northern Parliament and Victorious showing up, I would be dead by now”.

“And we would have suffered a great loss,” Valiant said “Losing you would have lost us the Azur Lane, and we would be left with that bastard Owen in command. Every time I have a call from my sister it's mostly filled with complaints about him, or to check in to see if you are ok” she said “She's very worried about you, which is strange as she's normally not worried about our other commanders”.

“It's probably because he's nice to us,” Victorious said, “And that he's our candidate for the commander of the Azur Lane. So she probably wanted to make sure he's ok”.

“Probably,” Valiant said “Well, at least you're ok. Hopefully, you'll still be ok when you return to Azur Main. Things have gotten a lot more complicated over there, what with the Sakura Empire suddenly declaring war on both us and Eagle Union”.

“Yes. A shame about that” Lelouch said “They would have been helpfully in sorting out the reformations to the Azur Lane”.

Whilst that was true, he also had a hunch that the Sakura Empire would be declaring war against them. Their un-commanded fleet showing up at Azur Main was suspicious, to say the least, so he had suspected that they were there to attack it. Only the timely intervention of both the Royal Navy and the Sirens stopped them. Hell, he had been expecting them to declare the war sometime after they left Azur Main.

Well, just one more hurdle in trying to restore the Azur Lane. Not that he minded the increased difficulty. He was actually grateful for it, as it would have been boring if it was easy. He preferred a challenge after all.

“So, when are you heading back to Azur Main?” Gloucester asked as she put down a tray of pastries.

“In a few days” Lelouch replied, “Once Owen is no longer the temporary commander of the Azur Main. I have no desire to let him order me about”.

“A desire we all share,” Valiant said “Sadly he's in command of the Azur Lane, so we have no choice but to obey him. Thankfully he's limited by what he can do. The ALOC has been preventing him from making some questionable orders, so it's good to know that they're still doing their job and making sure he doesn't do anything stupid”.

“That's good to hear,” Lelouch said. It was a good thing that the ALOC was around, having an independent organisation keeping tabs on the Azur Lane was a good thing, otherwise someone might try and use the Azur Lane for nefarious purposes.

“Excuse me Valiant,” a quiet voice asked behind him.

Lelouch turned around and saw another maid standing behind him holding an eighteenth-century phone in her hands.

The maid in question had blue eyes, and short white hair with a red lightning bolt-like streak on one side. Her maid uniform was short, to say the least, and showed some under boob.

“Ah, Camden Lock,” Valiant said with a smile “What is it?”.

“You have a phone call from your sister, Queen Elizabeth” Camden Lock replied “Also, Lelouch. The Repair ship Resource would like a word with you later”.

“Of course. I'll visit her once I'm done here” Lelouch said. Not knowing why the repair ship wanted to speak with him.

“Ah. I was wondering when she was going to call today” Valiant said before she gestured to Camden Lock to bring the phone over, which the light cruiser did so without question.

Valiant picked up the phone and held it up to her head “Elizabeth, hello. What are you calling to complain about today?” she asked. She listened to what her sister had to say, and her face slowly turned to one of horror “He didn't! Please tell me that bastard didn't do that?!” she said sounding horrified “Is she ok?... Oh thank god for that. What's Illustrious got to say about it, they are rather close after all?... Oh my, he really ticked her off hasn't he”.

“What's the matter?” Victorious asked sounding very concerned.

Valiant covered the speaker part of the phone “Owen Melendez kicked Yuni into the Quarry Loch, and then gave Unicorn an unnecessary, loud, and very aggressive dressing-down that left her a sobbing mess” she replied. Instantly everyone either looked horrified or angry. Lelouch being one of the latter. What kind of monster would do such a thing to a girl as sweet as Unicorn? Not even he would do such a barbaric thing, and this was coming from the guy who used Geass on his own sister and then chained her up.

“Oh my god!” Gloucester said sounding horrified “Why would he do such a barbaric thing to Unicorn?”.

“Are they alright?” Monarch asked.

“They're fine. Yuni was rescued by Upholder but spent more than a day drying off” Valiant replied “As for Unicorn herself, she's still traumatised by the entire thing. Illustrious and Formidable had to delay their flight home by a few days, just to make sure she's ok” she said, “He pissed Illustrious off so much, that she said she wanted to hand Owen over to Extractor and her incinerator minions”.

“I see no problem with that” Monarch remarked “Extractor may be one of the worst Sirens out there, but he's more than deserving for what that thing has in store for him”.

“Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here,” Valiant said “As this may be a terrible thing. There is some good news. Because of what he did to Unicorn, his chances of becoming the next commander of the Azur Lane have dropped to zero. There is no way the ALOC will allow him to command the AL after that. So Lelouch becoming the next command of the Azur lane has been cemented” she said before quickly uncovered the phone and held it back to her head “Yes, sorry about that. Just telling everyone what happened-” she said before she paused “You're kidding me. They're breaking up the Shikikan!”.

“What!” The other gathered Kansen gasped. The Shikikan, AKA, C.K.'s ship, was the most advanced command ship in the world. They can't just dismantle it.

Valiant raised her hand to keep everyone quiet “Yes... A lack of funds!... What kind of pathetic excuse is that?... Of course the Eagle Union wants to get rid of our greatest asset... Well, there goes all that expensive command equipment then”.

“Hold on a minute,” Lelouch said “Can we salvage the command equipment from the ship?” he asked.

Valiant looked at him before passing the phone to Camden Lock “Give the phone to Lelouch” she ordered, and Camden Lock obeyed, moving over to Lelouch and passing him the phone.

Lelouch picked it up and held it to his head “Your majesty”.

“Lelouch?” Queen Elizabeth said sounding surprised “What's going on?” she asked.

“I'm coming up with a plan to salvage the command and control equipment from the Shikikan before it's scrapped” Lelouch replied “I'll need your help in carrying it out. Now, get a pen and paper. There are a few things I need you to get,” he said. He waited for Elizabeth to get a pen and paper before he detailed his plan.

If everything goes well, no one should suspect that several components from the Shikikan had been removed.

?????????

.. -. ..-. .. .-.. - .-. .- - .. --- -. / --- ..-. / .-. --- -.-- .- .-.. / -. .- ...- -.-- / ... ..- -.-.-.-. . ... ... ..-. ..- .-.. / .- .-- .- .. - .. -. --. / --- .-. -.. . .-. ...
Infiltration of Royal Navy successful. Awaiting orders.

--. --- --- -.. / -- .- .. -. - .- .. -. / -.-. --- ...- . .-. / .- -. -.. / ... ..- .-. ...- . -.-- / .--. .- ... ... .. ...- . .-.. -.-- / -.. --- -. .----. - / -.. --- / .- -. -.-- - .... .. -. --. / - .... .- - / .-- --- ..- .-.. -.. / -... .-.. --- .-- / -.-- --- ..- .-. / -.-. --- ...- . .-.
Good. Maintain cover and survey passively. Don't do anything that would blow your cover.

.- -. -.. / ... .--. . . / ... - .- -.-- / ... .- ..-. . / --- ..- - / - .... . .-. .
And Spee. Stay safe out there.

.. / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / ... .. ... - . .-.
I will, sister.

Chapter Text

Navy air station HMS Norrington.

“So, why do you think Resource what's to see me?” Lelouch asked as he walked towards the workshop. Pretending to use a crutch to help him walk.

“I don't know, master” Camden Lock replied as she, Duke of York, Hermione, and Cleveland walked with him “All she said was that she would like you to come to visit her in her workshop. No reason as to why was given”.

“Right,” Lelouch said as the workshop came into view. It was a normal workshop situated directly next to a large aircraft hanger with its large main door closed “Duke. You wouldn't know anything about why she wants to see me?”.

“Afraid thy dose not know” Duke of York replied “Resource is a, well, thou will have to wait and see”.

Lelouch sighed as they reached the door “Well, she better have a good reason to want to see me” he said as he opened the door.

“Take this!” and instantly got hit in the face with a wrench.

“OW!” Lelouch yelped as he staggered back, hand on his forehead. He looked ahead of him and, strangely, saw Nina standing before him, wearing a boiler suit and holding a large wrench, with a shocked look on her face “Nina, what the hell was that for?!” he asked loudly.

“Sorry sir,” Nina said sounding surprised “I was just trying to kill a Cockroach!!!” she suddenly shouted as she ran off into the workshop, wrench held above her head ready to bring it down on the offending insect.

Lelouch just watched in with a confused look on his face as he watched Nina run around the room screaming bloody murder as she tried to kill a cockroach with an oversized wrench, causing a large mess in the process. It took him a moment to realise that this wasn't Nina, but the repair ship Resource.

It then took him a moment to realise that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, Resource looked exactly like Nina. She didn't have the same personality, just she just looked and sounded like her. How the hell was that possible? Apart from his sister, he was the only one from his world here. So how come a Kansen ended up looking like someone he knew? Was his sister Nunnally somehow involved? She was being rather secretive about what she was doing, so she could know more about Wisdom cubes. He would have to ask her the next time he sees her.

A loud meaty whack, followed by a copious amount of cockroach Killer Spray being sprayed onto the floor, followed by “Who's indestructible now you flying bastard!” from Nina/Resource, indicated the cockroach's demise.

“That was the most over-the-top way to kill a cockroach ever... of all time,” Cleveland remarked as Resource walked back over to them.

“Sorry about that” Resource said as she stopped in the doorway “I just had to kill that thing before it started multiplying. Also, sorry for hitting you over the head with a wrench. I didn't think anyone would open the door”.

“That's alright, you couldn't have known when we were coming,” Lelouch said as he rubbed his forehead, still trying to get over the fact that she looked like Nina “Anyway, I was told that you wanted to see me, Resource”.

“Ah yes, follow me please,” Resource said as she turned and walked back into the workshop. Lelouch and the Kansen he was with followed her in.

“Like thy said. She's an odd one” Duke of York said as they walked inside.

The interior of the workshop was a mess, with tools, equipment, spare parts, and shell casings all over the place. Which, considering that she was chasing around a cockroach with a large wrench, explained why it was in such a mess.

“Now then, here you go sir,” Resource said as she handed him a pair of underpants.

Lelouch was rather taken aback by the 'gift', from Nina of all people “Ur, would you care to explain why you are giving me, this?” he asked as he looked at the pants.

“Oh, their special underpants for you to wear” Resource replied with a smile “They will help you keep your modesty after your Manjuu to human transformation”.

Lelouch almost choked “How do you know that?” he asked, shocked by how she knew something that he had gone to great lengths to keep secret.

“I'm afraid I'm the one who told her about your ability,” Hermione said “I asked her to develop something that could help keep your modesty after transforming back into a human. Those underpants should help mitigate any embarrassment caused by them. Please forgive me for doing this without your permission, master”.

“It's alright Hermione. You had good reason for doing this” Lelouch said “But, I would have preferred you had informed me about this beforehand. Plus this isn't a safe location to disclose such information” he said, pointing at the two CCTV cameras in the room.

“Oh don't worry about those sir,” Resource said “They were broken during the last Ironblood bombing raid here and had nothing to do with me needing parts from them for something I was working on” she explained “Besides, everyone here already knows about your ability to turn into a Manjuu and back, right?”.

All eyes slowly turned towards Camden Lock, who, apart from Resource, was the only Kansen present who hadn't been a part of Lelouch's task force, and thus, wasn't present when he was turned into a Manjuu during his sleep.

“Ma-, master can turn into a Manjuu?” Camden Lock asked looking rather surprised.

“Bugger,” Resource remarked.

Cleveland sighed “We really need to keep tabs on who knows about your ability,” she said “This could get out of hand very quickly. If we're not careful, every Kansen in the world will know about it”.

“Well, as long as nobody informs anyone else about my ability, we should be fine,” Lelouch said before turning towards Camden Lock “You won't tell anyone about this, right?”.

Camden Lock nodded her head “Don't worry master, I won't tell anyone about this”.

“Good,” Lelouch said before turning towards Resource.

“No one outside of this room will not know of this” Resource said “Now strip naked and put those pants on. I want to see if they work”.

“Wait what!” Lelouch said as Duke of York gave him a rather thirsty look.

“Look, those underpants are designed to shrink down with you when you transform into a Manjuu,” Resource said “They will be invisible whilst you are a Manjuu, and you shouldn't be able to feel them. They should become visible again once you turn human again. But I have no idea if that will work. So get into them and turn into a Manjuu” she ordered. She then walked over to a corner of the room and pulled out a room divided “You can get changed behind this”.

Well, at least he would be getting change in some relative privacy “Fine” he said as he walked towards the screen “But nobody peek, ok” he said as he slipped behind it and started getting changed.

Once he had put the new underpants on, he put on his trousers and shoes and walked out from behind the screen “Oh, why did you put your clothes back on?” Resource asked sounding disappointed “Not that I wanted to see you in your underwear. I just see it as a waste of time as you're going to be having to get changed back into them anyway”.

Lelouch sighed. Resource definitely was not like Nina. For starters she was not interested in men, something Resource obviously is. Plus she wasn't as shy as Nina, being a lot more open and energetic.

Anyway, he decided to get this over with as quickly as possible and just said Manjuu, turning him into one of the small yellow birds. Well, small black bird in his case.

“Oh wow. You weren't kidding about being able to turn into a Manjuu” Resource remarked as Lelouch walked out of his pile of clothes “So, do the pants work?”.

“Well, they aren't in my pile of clothes here” Lelouch replied as he walked away from his clothing “Now if you could give me a minute to cool down so I don't-” he said before Resource suddenly dumped a bucket of very cold water on him.

“Did that cool your down?” Resource asked with a smile.

Lelouch sighed. He really wished Resource had Nina's personality right now, then maybe this would be a bit more bearable.

“Yes, that worked” Lelouch replied with a frown “But could you have at least warned me before you dumped a bucket of water on top of me,” he said, “Also, can somebody get a chair please. I will be very hot when I transform back into a human and I would like to sit down”.

“Well it worked didn't it,” Resource said “Now turn back into a human so we can see if the pants work or not”.

“Let's not rush things ok,” Hermione said, coming to Lelouch's rescue “There is still a lot we don't know about it. So we should be very cautious about everything that involves it. This ability can cook him if we're not careful”.

“Right, almost forgot that could happen to him,” Resource said as Camden Lock put a char down next to Lelouch.

“Here you go master,” Camden Lock said.

“Thank you, Camden Lock,” Lelouch said as he jumped up onto the chair. He then sat down on it and said Manjuu. Instantly he turned back into a human and also felt like he was in an oven. He looked down and thankfully saw that he was still wearing the special underpants Resource had given him “Well, looks like they work” he said, looking up and noticing the Kansen were all gawping at him, their faces a deep red.

“Damn, so they did,” Resource said, her eyes drifting over his body “I ur, I mean great, they work. Good. That should fix any problems that your transformation may cause,” she said before muttering “Why did they work the first time?”.

“Where the hell did you get that athletic body from?” Cleveland asked as she took in his new look “You didn't look like that beforehand”.

“That's the Ma- bird DNA in me” Lelouch replied “The drug that made me human again also stabilised the, bird DNA that was inside of me. Hence why I have the ability to turn into a yellow bird. It also gave me a strength boost, but I'm not too sure what else it gave me. I haven't exactly had time to properly see exactly what I can now do, apart from being able to turn into a, bird” he explained “Can someone pass me my arm please?”.

“Of course, master” Camden Lock replied as she picked up Lelouch's cybernetic arm and passed it to him.

“Thank you,” Lelouch said as he took the arm and reattached it to his body “Any chance you could come up with something for my arm?” he asked, ignoring the fact that Duke of York was licking her lips.

“I'm afraid not sir” Resource replied “Unlike a pair of underpants, that arm of yours is not something that can easily be shrunk down and hidden. I am working on something that may help, but I will need Vestal's help with it. And it will require her knowing about your ability”.

“Don't worry, she's already on the list of people who I intend to inform about it,” Lelouch said as he stood up and picked up his clothes, which had remarkably not been hit by water, and then walked behind the screen to get dressed.

“Resource,” Duke of York said “Did thou deliberately make thy commanders new underwear tight-fitting on purpose?” she asked.

“No” Resource replied “Well, maybe a little. I didn't have his exact measurements after all”.

Moments later Lelouch walked out from behind the screen fully dressed “Well then, these underpants seem to work as advertised. You wouldn't mind making a few more of them?” he asked.

“Of course” Resource replied with a smile “Shouldn't take more than a day or so. Also that is a prototype, so expect the final product to be a lot more comfortably,” she said “Also, there is something else I want to show you. Please follow me,” she said as she walked towards one of the side doors. Specificity one that led to the adjacent hanger.

Lelouch grabbed his crutch and followed the repair ship. The rest of the Kansen followed. Following them into the hanger.

“Holy cow” Cleveland exclaimed as they saw the large military aircraft in the hangar.

“Resource,” Hermione said as she looked at the plane “Where did you get a Boeing seven-four-seven from?” she asked.

“I brought it. With money” Resource replied “A lot of money. And then heavily modified it and turned it into a command and control military aircraft” she said with a smile “This baby has been modified so it can command Azur Lane fleets all across the globe”.

“You've turned it into a command ship,” Lelouch said with a smirk.

“Well, command aircraft really,” Resource said “I've fitted all the necessary equipment to command Kansen and mass-produced fleets, as well as the facilites to dock and maintain up to six Kansen. There would be more, but the command and control systems are rather extensive, and take up a lot of internal space. Plus it has a crew of over one-hundred to operate it”.

“And who gave thou permission to build this?” Duke of York asked. She was then promptly given a large folder with the logo of the Azur Lane on it “I see”.

“So, the Azur Lane commissioned you to build this?” Cleveland asked, pointing at the aircraft.

“Yep. Although that was back before the war with the Crimson Axis, so it's mostly been forgotten” Resource replied “But I finished it. And now it's ready to begin combat operations for the Azur Lane. And considering that the Eagle Union just decided to get rid of the most advanced command ship in the world, and the Royal Navy still hasn't provided you with a command ship, and you're probably going to become the commander of the Azur Lane soon, so you might as well use this one”.

Lelouch smirked. Finally, he had a dedicated command craft to command the Kansen under his command. No more having to limit a Kansen to her ship to allow him to command the fleet effectively. Now he could command his fleets effectively, and he had a platform to implement all the equipment that was going to be removed from the ALS Shikikan.

“So commander” Resource said, “The command aircraft is ready to launch whenever you want it to. All it needs is a name”.

Lelouch looked at Resource before turning back towards the aircraft. She was right, an aircraft like this needed a name, and a good one too. This would be his command platform, where he would command the fight against the Sirens from. So it needed an appropriate name.

He looked up and down the aircraft, admiring its black paint job. Yes, he knew the perfect name for it.

Chapter Text

Navy air station HMS Norrington. Two days later

“Norrington tower, this is Black Knight. We are ready for departure” The captain of the aircraft said into his comms as the Boeing seven-four-seven moved away from its hanger.

“Black Knight, you are cleared for take-off, runway two, no delay, straight out departure approved,” the reply from the air station's tower said.

“Copy that tower. Taxiing to runway two” the captain said as the aircraft proceeded towards its designated runway.

Upon reaching the runway, the aircraft straightened itself out before it proceeded down the runway, slowly building up speed as it prepared to take off into the air.

Once the aircraft had built up sufficient speed it slowly started to take off, retracting its landing gears only when it was safe to do so.

As the aircraft gained attitude, a hatched opened up on the side of the aircraft, and several carrier spitfires launched from the plane and took formation around the aircraft. The old aircraft matched speed with the far more advanced and faster Boeing seven-four-seven.

Inside the aircraft, Victorious smiled as her aircraft took formation “There, escorts are out” she said as the hatch closed. Once the hatched was closed and locked, she left the room, meeting Lelouch and Sheffield “Commander, escorts have been deployed”.

“Good,” Lelouch said “That should keep us protected from Siren aircraft whilst we make our way to O'ahu”.

There were only a few Kansen with him onboard the Black Knight, Hermione, Sheffield, Belfast, Victorious, Camden Lock, Cleveland, Neptune, and Monarch. The rest of the Kansen that was a part of his task force had been deployed elsewhere. Not even Resource was with them, as she was needed in the Mediterranean.

The three of them then proceeded down the plane, passing by several of the aircraft's crew “Black Knight. That's an interesting name you've given this aircraft master” Sheffield remarked as they walked through one of the aircraft's operations rooms.

“Indeed it is. And there is meaning behind the name” Lelouch replied, being very careful with his reply. Unlike Sheffield, Victorious didn't know about his past, nor did she know about the Black Knights or the Black Rebellion. So he would have to word his answer carefully “I named it such so it would be a beacon of hope against the Sirens. A knight to protect the people from the Sirens” he said “From here we can respond to any Siren threat faster than a regular fleet, and once the deployment chutes have been finished, we can deploy Kansen into combat zones instantly. Although, we will need to work on how to recover said Kansen, as we don't have any means to get them back on board aircraft without us having to land”.

“I see,” Victorious said “Still, I must admit, Resource really outdid herself with this. She wasn't kidding about the maintenance facilities, or the command and control systems. Once we get the command systems from the Shikikan installed, and link C.K. up to it, we can command Kansen fleets anywhere in the world. Hell, you could command the entire world from here”.

“Let's not get too carried away Victorious,” Lelouch said “We're here to protect the world, not take it over,” he said.

“Sorry sir,” Victorious said with a nervous smile.

Lelouch sighed. No way was he going to try to take over the world again, not here anyway. Everyone's hatred was directed at the Sirens after all. Anything he did would pale in comparison to what the Sirens have done. Mankind may need to be united to fight the Sirens, but he wasn't going to try and take over the world to do that. Not when there were other, less violent ways to resolve this situation.

Back when he was at the Azur Lane, he spent a long time researching what he could do and not do like the command of the Azur Lane, and one thing caught his eye. The Castiel protocol. A protocol that, once active, would put all Kansen in the entire world under the direct command of the Azur Lane, no matter what allegiance the country they belong to. It would reduce the countries of the world to just mass-produced ships, but it would keep the Kansen out of this foolish war and let them do their job of fighting the Sirens uninterrupted.

There was just one small problem, to activate the protocol, a special key card will have to be inserted into the central command computers of the four main powers, the Royal Navy, the Eagle Union, the Sakura Empire, and the Ironblood. It was supposed to also include all the minor powers as well, but the war put a stop to that. Also, all four key cards were currently gathering dust at Azur Main, and only four people could use them. Queen Elizabeth for the Royal Navy, Saratoga for the Eagle Union, Bismarck for the Ironblood, and Yamato for the Sakura Empire. Getting the cards to Queen Elizabeth and Enterprise was easy. It was the other two that would be hard.

Yamato, the current leader of the Sakura Empire Kansen after its previous leader, Nagato, stood down, hasn't been seen outside the Yamato household since her manifestation. Neither have her sisters, Musashi and Shinano. That latter of whom is apparently in a coma after manifesting. Nobody knows how it happened as her manifestation went smoothly, but Shinano doesn't look to be waking up anytime soon. Getting to her would be very difficult, considering that the last person to break into their household ended up as a red smear on the wall.

There was one piece of good news, the Sakura Empire's C.C.C. was located in the Yamato household. So once she had the key card, getting her to activate it wouldn't be difficult.

Bismarck on the other hand would be easy. That is if he allowed himself to be captured by Roon. Which, after she almost killed him, was a no-go. He was not going to let her get her claws on her, even if she didn't mean to kill him, he wasn't going to let her capture him. He still had that image of her standing over him with that psycho smirk on her scorched into his mind, and it still gave him nightmares about her.

He would have to come up with another way to get the key card to Bismarck, one that kept Roon very far away from him.

Activating the Castiel protocol would be a herculean effort, but it would be all worth it in the end.

“Your tea master,” Camden Lock said as they passed her by, holding a tray with a cup of tea on it.

“Thank you” Lelouch said with a smile as he took the cup.

“Master. Why did you ask to bring her along with us?” Sheffield asked.

“Because she also knows about my ability to turn into a ma-, yellow egg-shaped bird” Lelouch replied “I'd rather have her in my sight and be sure that she won't tell anyone about it, than risk leaving her behind and spilling the beans by accident. Plus it'll give her an opportunity to visit Azur Main. Dreadnought did say that she is without a ship and that she has trouble making friends. This should help her broaden her horizon and meet some new people”.

“Glad to hear someone's actually caring about her” Victorious said with a smile “A lot of our commanders make fun of her for losing her ship whilst it was under construction. At least you don't”.

“I have no reason to hate her. Or any of you in fact” Lelouch said “Even without her rigging she is still a Kansen. C.K. doesn't have any rigging, and she can still help us fight against the Sirens. Camden Lock can too. We just need to convince her that she can”.

“Of course,” Sheffield said, “Now commander. I suggest that you make your way to the gym as Cleveland recommended so we can see just what you are capable of now”.

Lelouch sighed “Must I-” he said before he heard the sound of a gun cock behind him “I'll go there right away,” he said before he made his way towards the aircraft's guy. Which was a surprising thing to have onboard an aircraft such as this.

“Did you really have to do that?” Victorious asked as Sheffield holstered her gun.

“Yes I did” Sheffield replied “He needed some motivation, and I gave him some. He may be a good commander, but he's surprisingly lazy and needs to exercise more”.

“Indeed he does,” Victorious said with a smirk.

Four hours later.

Victorious made her way towards the aircraft's gym. She was curious as to how the commander was doing, seeing that he's been in there for four hours and hadn't come out since. Either he was doing better than expected, or he was having sex with Cleveland. Either way, his endurance will be tested.

She entered the room and was surprised to see Sheffield entering the room before her. Not wanting to be left out, she quickened her pace and caught up with the light cruiser just before she crossed into the next room.

Inside the gym, they were both surprised to see Lelouch running on a treadmill, looking like he wasn't going to be stopping any time soon.

“Oh, hay girls,” Cleveland said as she turned towards them “Come to check in on the commander?” she asked.

“Yes, we have” Victorious replied as her eyes drifted over Lelouch's body. He was wearing black shorts and a white shirt, as well as running shoes. She had to admit, he was hot “How long has he been running for?” she asked.

“Well, he's already run the London Marathon without stopping once” Cleveland replied “Which beats his previous record by about two and a half hours. So his endurance has improved significantly. Which is understandable. Manjuu are capable of flying long distances without rest after all,” she said “Also his strength has been improved as well,” she said before she pointed towards a punching bag.

Sheffield and Victorious turned and were surprised to see the punching bag in question had an obvious dent in it “Please tell me you did that?” Victorious asked.

“No. That was Lelouch” Cleveland replied “Manjuu are surprisingly strong birds, after all, even the small ones can lift a lot of weight”.

“Oh, my” Sheffield remarked, “That's quite impressive. So he's basically a huge Manjuu in human form then”.

Cleveland nodded “Yep. He's stronger and faster than he used to be. He's not at super solder levels of strength, so he can't fight a Kansen whilst we have our rigging on. But he can definitely take a hit from us. Although I haven't properly tested that one out due to us being on an aircraft in flight, and don't want to risk punching him through the fuselage” she said “Either way, he's no longer a wimp”.

“Hay!” Lelouch said sounding annoyed, taking offence to that remark.

“Well, I can't wait to show the rest of the Eagle Union girls how strong our commander is now,” Victorious said with a smile.

“Ah. About that” Cleveland said “We can't let anyone know that he's gotten stronger and faster. No human, not even if they were training every day, could get this strong, fast, or have this kind of endurance, in only two weeks. If people find out about this, they will be asking questions as to how he got so strong so quickly. So just like his ability to turn into a Manjuu, we have to keep all this a secret” she explained “Which means that bet I made with Lelouch, he's going to have to lose it”.

“Wait, now hold on a second” Lelouch said sounding annoyed.

“Look, do you want people to get suspicions of you suddenly having the endurance to do a lap around the running track without stopping after two weeks?” Cleveland asked, “What's better, wearing a dress for a day, or having people snooping around you hoping to find out how you got so strong all of a sudden, and risking them finding out about your ability?”.

Lelouch sighed. Cleveland was sadly right, he needed to hide his newfound strength. Revealing it now would only cause unwanted questions to be asked, questions he won't be able to answer.

Oh well, he can handle the embarrassment of wearing a dress. He has worn them before, unfortunately.

“Well, glad I brought that dress Colossus and Hercules made him,” Sheffield said with a smirk “Should come in handy now”.

“What dress?” Lelouch asked sounding rather concerned.

“Oh, you'll see when you lose that bet” Sheffield replied, “Which you should lose, considering the alternative”.

Lelouch sighed. Sheffield could be really passive-aggressive sometimes, and it was hard to tell if she actually liked him or not.

Oh well, at least she wasn't trying to kill him.

Oahu. Somewhere near Azur Main.

Lin sighed as she waited at the secret meet-up point near Azur Main. Nin was late, half an hour late. This surprised the Lurker as Nin was never late to anything. Maybe this infiltration mission was affecting her more than she thought.

A sudden rustle brought her to alert, but she quickly calmed down when she detected Nin's transponder.

She suppressed a sigh when the undercover Lurker walked out of the bushes “Nin”.

“Lin!” Nin said sounding surprised “What are you doing here?” she asked as she walked over to her.

“Lelouch is in the air heading back here, so I can't really observe him” Lin replied “So, I got here ahead of time. So report. How's things-” she said before Nin grabbed her shoulders.

“Help me!” Nin said sounding distressed “You have no idea what I've had to endure to keep my cover! My 'sisters', which I have seventy-seven of, keep wanting me to play with them, which is getting on my nerves. The only movies they ever watch all have submarine's in them. They're far too hyperactive, and if I have to sing that bloody song about a yellow submarine one more time, I'm going to fucking flip! And to make matters worse, that fucker Owen is unreasonably mean towards Kansen!”.

“Wait what?” Lin said sounding confused “He's mean to you?”.

Nin nodded “Indeed he is. I can't name a single Kansen on-site who he hasn't insulted somehow. He's rude, mean, and I have no idea how someone so vile could be even considered to be the commander of the Azur Lane. And he's not the only one” she said “I've heard from the other Kansen that the majority of their commanders hate Kansen”.

“They do? That shouldn't be happening” Lin said “Kansen are mankind's only defence against us, yes I know there will be some people who hate Kansen, but they should not be put into such command positions. Nor should there be so many of them. Something definitely is different about this simulation, and it's not just Lelouch. Something else is pulling strings in this simulation, and is doing it without us knowing about it” she said “We need to investigate this further. You keep observing things around Lelouch and Azur Main. I'll inform Observer Alpha about this”.

“Got it,” Nin said “I should be getting back before someone notices that I'm gone,” she said before she rushed back into the base.

Lin waited for her to leave before heading back into the water, grabbing her rigging and diving below the surface. There was definitely another force at work here, one working independently from the Sirens. She had no idea what their goals may be, but whatever they may be, it would obviously interfere with their work here. They would have to put a stop to it, quickly, before things got out of hand.

Chapter Text

?????????????

“This is concerning” Observer Alpha said as she looked through Nin's report. She knew that some humans will hate Kansen, it was a fact of life. Some people will hate Kansen. But to have more than half of their navy commanders hate Kansen was something that shouldn't happen. Yes, there were a few simulations where the Kansen had a low affection towards their commander, but that was only one man, not half the navy “Are you sure Nin's report is accurate?” she asked.

Before her was the Lurker Lin, who had given her the report moments ago “Indeed it is” the lurker replied “I checked in with a few other observation units and they all say the same. Most of the worlds navy commander's hate Kansne, with no discernible reason as to why” she explained, “I've asked some of them to look into it, as well as to check the other simulations just in case it's happening in other simulations. But it will be a while before we hear anything back”.

“That's impossible,” Observer said “Humanity should not have this many people in command of their fleets who hate Kansne. How did that even happen without us knowing about it?”.

“We're only observing the Kansen and the commander of the Azur Lane” Lin replied “The other human's commanders are not being observed, so their passing right under our radar. Hence why we missed this information”.

Observer let out an annoyed sigh. This should not have happened. Mankind was not supposed to have this many people who hated Kansen in positions of command. She was going to have to do something about this “I want a thorough investigation of that simulation. Find out what's happening, how it happened, and when it started” she ordered, “Once that's done and we know the cause behind it, we will have to reset it back to a previous version before it started and stop it from happening”.

“Relay that order” a mysterious and quiet voice interjected.

The two Sirens quickly turned towards the source of the voice and were shocked by who they saw. Floating not too far from them was a Siren sitting within a transparent blue jellyfish compartment. The Siren herself was pure white, from her skin, clothing, even her hair was while, with a few strands of blue hair, and blue eyes. She was also carrying a small doll.

“Dreamweaver” Observer said sounding shocked. It was rare for the quiet Siren to speak to anyone, with the only exceptions being Arbiter and her beloved Inquisitor. The rest of the Sirens almost never hear anything out of her. Even Alpha herself almost never hears anything from her “What are you doing here?” she asked.

Dreamweaver didn't reply, she only drifted past them slowly, leaving an ominous presence behind her “Do not interfere with the simulation. The Silent ones will not cause problems for us” she said before drifting over towards the door and passing through it. Leaving the two Sirens alone.

Lin was the first to speak “That was, cryptic” she remarked, “I know she has invested interest in that simulation, but why would she not want us to remove such a glaring BUG?”.

“I don't know” Observer replied “But this is Dreamweaver we're talking about here. Who knows what she's planning. All I know is that she's given us an order, so we have to follow it. She is the one who told me to find and observe Lelouch after all. Still, what did she mean by 'Silent One's?” she asked before shaking her head “It doesn't matter, continue your observation of Lelouch Lamperouge. I'll assign a few more lurkers to look into it. Even if we can't put a stop to it, I still want to find out what's causing it”

“As you wish Observer,” Lin said before she turned and left the room.

Observer sighed, this was rather startling news. Something else must be operating within that simulation, something that was hidden to them. Did it have something to do with Lelouch? No, more information was required before she could make that connection. Still, she had to admit, they had gotten a lot of interesting data from him, even without having to fight him directly.

An idea popped into her head. If they couldn't deal with these BUG's, then maybe Lelouch can.

A smile formed on her face. Oh yes, this will be interesting to watch.

Marine Corps Air Station Hawaii.

The Black Knight touched down onto the tarmac and slowed down. Landing smoothly on the ground before making its way towards the airport terminal to unload its passengers.

Due to being a larger aircraft, a mobile airline staircase had to be used to allow them to leave the plane.

Lelouch was the first to depart from the aircraft, followed by Hermione, Sheffield, Belfast, Victorious, Camden Lock, Cleveland, Neptune, and Monarch. Waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs were Illustrious, Unicorn, King George V, and Queen Elizabeth.

“Lelouch. Welcome back to Hawaii” Elizabeth said.

“Good to be back, your majesty,” Lelouch said as he hobbled down the stairs, still pretending that he needed a walking stick to help him walk.

“Big brother!” Unicorn cried as she rushed up to him and hugged him, just after he had reached the bottom of the stairs “I'm so glad you are alright”.

Lelouch was slightly surprised by Unicorn's sudden hug, but he could understand why she was doing it. She was happy to see him. He smelled before patting her on the head with his good arm “Yeah, glad to see you are ok too, Unicorn” he said before looking up towards Illustrious “I see Unicorn is doing well”

“Indeed she is,” Illustrious said with a bright smile “She's still slightly shaken up by the ordeal, so she will need a bit more help recovering”.

“Don't worry, I'll make sure she gets better,” Lelouch said. Illustrious smiled in response, yet again there was a hidden warning behind that smile, 'shout at her, and it won't just be your arm that needs replacing'.

He was glad that she was on his side. He would not want to be on the receiving end of one of her airstrikes.

“Where's my sister?” King George V asked, looking surprised that Duke of York wasn't there.

“I'm afraid she had to remain behind” Lelouch replied “Due to us failing to sink Scharnhorst, she had to stay behind to provide escort for convoys to protect them from the Ironblood battlecruiser. And from Tirpitz”.

“I see,” King George V said “Well, can't be helped. Things didn't go to plan and she's needed back in the Royal Islands. I won't argue with high command about that”.

“Well, that's good and all, but we should be getting back to Azur Main,” Queen Elizabeth said as several cars drove up behind them “Owen isn't in command today, as the ALOC are busy deliberating who should be the next commander of the Azur Lane. So we shouldn't have to worry about him ordering you about,” she said as the cars came to a stop and the doors opened.

“As you wish, your majesty,” Lelouch said as he slowly walked over towards one of the cars, only for Belfast to direct him to the one Queen Elizabeth was getting into. Which he proceeded to enter.

Queen Elizabeth's car was longer than the others. With five seats in the back, two of which were facing opposite the back three. It was basically a limousine.

With him and Queen Elizabeth was Belfast, Hermione, with Cleveland being invited in as well. The other Kansen got into the other cars. And once everyone and gotten inside, the cars drove off.

“So. How are you holding up Lelouch?” Elizabeth asked, “It's only been a week since you lost it”.

“I'm alright” Lelouch replied as raised his prosthetic arm and moved his fingers “I've gotten used to moving it, and I can pick some things up with it. But I'm still struggling to write with it, and I have yet to try to pick up a teacup with it” he explained, “Hermione has been helping with my physiotherapy, as well as with my phantom pain, I'm glad you assigned her to me”.

“Thank you, master,” Hermione said with a smile.

Phantom pain, pain that feels like it's coming from a body part that's no longer there. He kept feeling the fingers of the hand he had lost, and it always came at the most inconvenient moments, like in the middle of the night. Many times he had woken up with a pain in the fingers on his left arm, only to look up and find out they're not there. Hermione had been helping him the best she could, but there were some things even she struggled with.

There were also other side effects from the lost limb, the nightmares he kept getting about the one responsible for taking it, Roon. He has had nightmares before, about losing his sister. He still had them, even now, but now Roon was starting to show up in them and made it ten times worse. Watching that thing get her claws on his sister and taking her away was not something he ever wanted to see. He was going to need help from a counsellor, which sadly, the Royal Navy lacked.

“Well, that's good to hear,” Elizabeth said with a smile “But, just to be sure, I've booked you with a counselling session with the Eagle Union heavy cruiser Bremerton in a couple of days' time, just to help you with any emotional trauma caused by the loss of your arm”.

Well, looks like that's been all sorted out for him, very nice “Thank you, your majesty” he said with a smile “I was just thinking that I would be needed some counselling. Hermione has been helping me as best she can in that regard, but it's not her field of expertise. But I do appreciate the help she's been giving me”.

“Well, I'm glad to hear that she's been helping you recover,” Elizabeth said “She may be in the middle of her medical studies, but she's already proven to be a competent member of our medical division,” she said, “Now, seeing that you ok, we can discuss some more important things, like what you're going to do once you're the commander of the Azur Lane”.

“Isn't it a bit too early to assume that I'm going to become the next commander?” Lelouch asked, “The ALOC have still yet to make their dissension”.

“I know, but seeing that Owen has pissed everyone off, even the people at the ALOC, I highly doubt they will allow him to command the AL” Elizabeth replied “Besides, even if they choose to appoint him, they still have to think about who the Kansen want as the command, as well as their suitability. Which for Owen is almost zero seeing how much he's pissed everyone off. None of the Kansen will want him as their commander, and he's not suitable for command seeing that he wanted to destroy the USS Arizona Memorial and replace it with a statue of himself. Because apparently, he has a death wish or something. If he's stupid enough to enrage the entire Eagle Union, then he has no right to be in command of the Azur Lane”.

“Not forgetting what Missouri will do to him once she finds out what he had planned” Belfast added “She's rather protective of Arizona after all”.

“Missouri, she's one of the Iowa class battleships,” Lelouch said. Having looked up all the worlds Kansen, he knew the names and class of most, if not all of them, of them. The Iowa class was a class of six fast battleships, but only four were built. They are the most powerful battleships the Eagle Union has. And, unlike Yamato and her sister, the four Iowa's are very much active “I've seen her ship in port”.

“That's actually not her ship” Cleveland corrected “That's a copy of the ship we built for the museum. A mass-produced ship that's a lot sturdier than normal, but not armed for combat. The real Missouri and her ship are currently operating near the eastern seaboard” she explains “I should probably also add that the USS Arizona Memorial hasn't been replaced. People would riot if we did that. So we salvaged a few parts of the ship and built them into a replica of the vessel, allowing us to manifest her as a Kansen”.

That was interesting to know, a Kansen can manifest as long as you can recover a part of the ship and attach it to a replica of the vessel. It would explain how they could manifest them when some of them no longer had their ships. Just track down a part or two and build it into a replica. Probably won't be useful, but it was good to know.

“I see, so Missouri is not currently at Azur Main” Lelouch said “Are there any Iowa class ships under the Azur Lane's command?”.

“I'm afraid not. The Iowa's do not fall under the Azur Lane's command at the moment” Elizabeth said, “In fact, there are less than one-hundred ships under the Azur Lane's command right now, and that is nowhere near enough to protect the world from the Sirens”.

Less than one hundred Kansen, that's not much compared to how many Kansen are out there. He needs to initiate the Castiel protocol as soon as possible because he can't protect the world with so few Kansen.

“That doesn't give me much to work with,” Lelouch said “Is there a way I can get more ships assigned to the Azur lane?”.

“You could ask to have more assigned” Cleveland suggested, “But they may say no. they've been doing that a lot lately”.

So, the Azur Lane is currently understrength, with very little chance of getting more Kansen assigned to it. He'll need to come up with a way to get more Kansen assigned here if he wants to get everything to run smoothly.

Well, good for him that he had a few plans already in motion that should help him in this regard “Well, I think I might have a few ideas on how I can convince them to send us a few more Kansen” he said as he quietly checked his phone, noticing he had received a new text message.

'The Big Stick' – Project well underway and ahead of schedule. Should be finished in about two-three months.
He smiled. At least something was going to plan “Oh yes, Elizabeth. If I do become the commander of the Azur Lane, I would like you to organise a meeting with the aircraft carrier Saratoga”.

“Saratoga. Why would you want to meet with her?” Elizabeth asked.

“Let's say that I have something in mind that I would need her help with” Lelouch replied “But only if I'm successful. It would be rather pointless to meet her if I'm not the commander”.

“Well, if you insist,” Elizabeth said, “I'll get to work setting that up once you've been confined as the commander”.

Lelouch smiled. That should be the Eagle Union sorted. Now he needs to come up with a way of getting the other two cards to the Sakura Empire, and the Ironblood.

Chapter Text

Azur Main. Later that night.

Not much of note happened when they arrived at Azur Main. Owen was keeping to himself with apparent smugness that he was going to be the one selected to command the Azur Lane. Which was unlikely, but that was only if this wasn't rigged. Knowing the Eagle Union they would try anything to keep one of their own in command of the Azur Lane, as they have been doing ever since the organisation was founded.

At least he had one advantage on his side, the Kansen would be fully behind him, and that was something they would have to take into account when making their choice. Plus there was the fact that Owen had annoyed everyone in the ALOC with all the orders he's been trying to push forward, unsuccessfully. So his own chances of becoming the next commander were higher, but not guaranteed. No doubt someone will try something to get Owen in command.

In the meantime, he talked to a few of the Kansen, got to know some of them a bit better, and checked in on a few of the things he had set in motion. Whilst none of them were ready and needed him to be the commander to get them underway fully, they were at least ready to go the moment he took command. And better yet, undiscovered by Owen, who was the only person who could have put a stop to them. He'd have to thank Warspite for keeping his attention focused elsewhere.

Unicorn also never left his side, keeping close to him all throughout the day. He didn't mind having her following him around all day, she was still recovering from what Owen did to her after all. Plus he liked having her around. In a way, she reminded him of his sister Nunnally. Plus it had been so long since he was able to look after his little sister that he kind of missed it, so it will be nice to be able to look at someone again.

Speaking of his sister, who is still alive and is doing something with his Zero suit. He didn't know what she was doing, and she hasn't shown up since their meeting in Russia, so he hasn't been able to ask her what she was doing. Surely he could help her with whatever it is she was doing. What was it that she was doing that she didn't want him involved? He could answer any of those questions without her around, so for now, he'll just have to wait until she shows up again.

He also paid a visit to the repair ship Vestal, just to check to see if she knew about the arm situation and knew how to help him if he developed problems. Thankfully Resource had already filled her on everything she needed to know, including the ability to turn into a Manjuu. Which was fine as it was something she needed to know after all. Although she was still working on the problem involving his bionic arm and the fact that he needs to carry it when in Manjuu mode, which was understandable as something like that would take time to develop.

Anyway, there wasn't much else to do in the day, so when night came and the maids had sorted out his room, he proceeded to get dressed and went to get some sleep in preparation for tomorrow. But just as he was getting comfortably, someone knocked on his door. Curious as to who it was, he got up, made his way to the door, and opened it. And was surprised to find Unicorn standing outside his room “Unicorn. What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Can... can I... sleep with you tonight, big brother?” Unicorn asked.

“Sure you can” Lelouch replied as he invited the support carrier into his room. Unicorn smiled as she walked over to his bed and got in. Sitting Yuni down next to her before making herself comfortable.

Lelouch closed the door to his room and walked back towards the bed, getting in on the other side. Once he got himself in bed he turned off the bedside lamp and got himself comfortably, letting Unicorn snuggle up beside him.

“Big brother,” Unicorn said “What will you do if you're not selected as the commander of the Azur Lane?” she asked, a worried look on her face.

“Don't know yet” Lelouch replied “I take it you're worried that Owen will take command?”.

Unicorn nodded “I don't want someone like him in command. He's so mean. All I did was say good morning to him, and then he threw Yuni into the water and started shouting at me for no reason,” she said.

“Don't worry, I doubt he'll be chosen as the commander,” Lelouch said “I would be questioning the competence of the ALOC if they select him as the commander”.

“Don't be too sure about that. The Eagle Union will try anything to get one of their own in command” Unicorn said.

“You'll think they'll cheat?” Lelouch asked.

Unicorn nodded “Yep. They've been accused of bribing the ALOC officials to make them choose their candidate. But it's never been proven. It doesn't help that the entire organisation was staffed by Americans”.

“Was staffed?”.

“A large number of ALOC personnel were killed during the Siren attack a month ago. With only the off-site members and Chloe Wood surviving. Since then they've had to hire new staff, most of whom aren't American. It's part of Chloe's scheme to diversify the organisation a bit more. Just like the Azur Lane is a multinational organisation, so too should the ALOC. Helps prevent it from being controlled by one nation”.

That was a smart move and should have been something the ALOC should have been doing from the start. But then again, the ALOC was probably created just so the Eagle Union could make sure that their candidates get the position. Now that will be made much more difficult now that the organisation is being rebuilt.

He put an arm around Unicorn “Don't worry, I won't let him lay another finger on you”.

Unicorn smiled and snuggled up to him more “Thank you big brother” she said as she closed her eyes.

Lelouch smiled as Unicorn slowly drifted off to sleep. He was about to settle down as well but stopped when he noticed Yuni do the 'I'm watching you' gesture with one of his hooves. Looks like he's got more than just Illustrious to worry about.

The next day. Azur Lane Oversight Committee Headquarters.

Lelouch actually slept peacefully last night. Maybe having Unicorn by his side helped comfort him and stave off the nightmares. Illustrious was happy that he had allowed her to sleep with him last night, but sadly the armoured carrier couldn't stay for long as she and Formidable had to leave for Gibraltar today. He had agreed to take Unicorn to the airport to see them off, but he had no driver's licence in this world, so they had to be chauffeured over there.

He should really invest in learning how to drive, he can pilot a Knightmare just fine, but there were no Knightmares here, and he always had Rivalz to drive him to where he needed to go. He didn't have that luxury here. Queen Elizabeth will not be happy about that.

After seeing Illustrious and Formidable off, and dropping Unicorn back at the base, he was driven over to the headquarters of the Azur Lane Oversight Committee.

The headquarters of the ALOC looked like it had seen better days. The building itself was still under repair and unsafe for use, so the organisation was using several mobile offices spread out across the car park to work in. They were small compared to the building the organisation used to work in, but until it was safe to work in, this will have to do for now.

Lelouch was currently sitting down on a bench right next to the mobile office Chloe was using. Since she was the highest-ranking member of the organisation to survive the attack, she was effectively the one in charge now. Everyone above her was killed during the attack.

Still, whilst it was a pleasant day today, there was one small thing that was making everything just a tad unbearable “I'm surprised the Royal Navy allowed someone as young and inexperienced as you as their candidate for the Azur Lane” Owen remarked. The Eagle union candidate sitting next to him on the bench “I doubt you were the one in charge of the defence of Azur Main and just standing in for someone else”.

Lelouch calmly ignored him. He was used to arrogant people like Owen. People with far too much money and power, and no care in the world about what happens to anyone else. He's going to enjoy watching that smug grin on his face disappear.

Still, he shouldn't get his hopes up just yet. He had no idea what the final discussion on who the commander should be was, and it could just as likely end up being Owen who's in command.

Thankfully, before Owen could say anything else, the door to Chloe's mobile office opened, and her secretary stepped out “Chloe can see you now”.

Lelouch nodded before standing up and making his way to the door, followed by Owen “Loses first” he heard the Eagle Union candidate remark behind him. He ignored him and proceeded into the mobile office.

Inside, on the other side of the room, was Chloe, sitting down at her small desk “Ah, there you two are” she said as the two walked towards her desk, stopping just before it “Now, I'm going to cut to the chase here, we're not in a good state right now. Both the Azur Lane and the ALOC are still recovering from the Siren attack a month ago. Because of this, we've had to think very hard about who to pick to be the commander of the Azur Lane. As well as base our decision on a few more criteria than normal. Right now we need someone who will put the Azur Lane ahead of personal gain. So, after much deliberation, we have decided to appoint Lelouch Lamperouge as the commander of the Azur Lane”.

Lelouch smirked as he felt the smug grin on Owen's face vanish in an instant “What? You're letting that incompetent fuck take command?” the man shouted aggressively.

“Yes I am, with good reason” Chloe replied calmly before she got out a large folder that was full of paperwork “This folder contains over one-hundred orders you tried to issue, all of which I had to countermand because you either didn't have to authority to issue it, was plain stupid, or went against regulations,” she said “Also, you've been uncooperative as hell. I've been trying to get you to focus on repairing the damage to Azur Main, but what do you do? You divert resources away from repairing the main facilities to try and fix the Lance Of Longinus. That useless thing is rather low on our list of priorities right now”.

“But we need that to fight the Sirens” Owen retorted, trying to salvage the situation “Are you really going to let a paedophile take command!?”

Lelouch almost choked because of that last remark “What on Earth are you talking about?” he asked, slightly confused by his accusation. It was probably just a last-ditch attempt to discredit him.

“You had sex with Unicorn last night” Owen replied confidently “I saw her walk into your room”.

Lelouch sighed, if this was his attempt to discredit him, it was pathetic “I let her in because she was scared and wanted to sleep with me. We didn't even do anything intimate apart from hugging” he said calmly “Don't believe me, you can ask Unicorn or one of the maids. They can collaborate my story”.

“I'm not asking that royal brat anything” Owen scoffed “If anything the little bitch would collaborate your story only because she enjoyed it”.

Lelouch turned towards him with a sour look on his face “You take that back” he growled. He didn't mind the insults to himself, those were hollow and empty. But leave Unicorn out of this, she'd suffered enough already.

“Make me” Owen taunted with a grin, trying to make him react.

Anyone else in that situation would probably have punched Owen in the face, and that would be the end of their career. Even if the smug bastard deserved it. Lelouch on the other hand wasn't like that, and it took a great deal of effort to cause him to react violently towards someone. Besides, he had a better idea of how he was going to deal with him.

“Ok then, I order you to take that back,” Lelouch said with a smirk.

Owen scoffed at him “You can't order me about”.

“Actually, he can” Chloe corrected “You may not have made the cut to be the command of the Azur Lane, but you're still a part of the organisation. You are now a subcommand for the Azur Lane, meaning Lelouch here is now your superior. You've got to do everything he says from now on”.

Lelouch smirked as a shocked look formed on Owen's face “Like I said, take that comment about Unicorn back, otherwise, you will never command a fleet again” he ordered calmly.

Owen panicked, looking back and forth between Lelouch and Chloe, trying to come up with anything that could get him out of this. He came up blank “Fine, I apologise for that comment about Unicorn” he apologised reluctantly.

“Good,” Lelouch said “Now, apologies to everyone, Kansen included, you insulted during the two weeks you were in command here, starting with Unicorn”.

Owen rolled his eyes in annoyance before he walked towards the door and stomped out. Lelouch smiled, it was so good to see a stuck-up aristocrat or rich kid get shown up and outsmarted.

“Wow, house trained already,” Chloe said sounding surprised “Didn't think he would be following your orders so soon. I half expected him to disobey you”.

“He wants to keep his position,” Lelouch said “If he loses it now, he will never be able to become the commander of the Azur Lane. Hence why he's obeying me. He's just waiting for an opportunity to get me relieved of my command”.

“Well, at least we won't be having any more problems with him for now,” Chloe remarked “Well, congratulations on becoming the command of the Azue Lane. Now please tell me you intend to fix the mess Owen created”.

“Indeed I do,” Lelouch said “It shouldn't be too difficult to get everything back on track. So don't worry about a thing, Chloe, because I've got everything under control”.

??????????

“Sir, we have a problem”.

“We've lost control of the Azur Lane, haven't we?”.

“Yes sir, our candidate wasn't picked”.

“Damn it. I told that idiot he was a poor choice for the Azur Lane. Why didn't he listen to me?”.

“What do you want us to do now sir?”.

“Get in contact with the others, we need to plan how we're going to salvage this without drawing attention to us. If only the Sirens didn't attack Azur Main”.

“That's the problem, sir, they're the only thing we don't have control over”.

“No, not yet we don't”.

Chapter Text

Azur Main Academy. Commander's office.

“And this will be where you will be working from now on,” Queen Elizabeth said as she and Lelouch walked into the room “From here you will be running the day-to-day operation of the entire Azur Lane, as well as lead the war against the Sirens”.

Lelouch had a quick look around the room. It was a large and nice-looking office and was far more impressive than any of the other offices. A fine red carpet, several wooden chairs, tables, two desks, several cabinets, and windows with fine red curtains. The room was also at least twice the size of the office he used whilst he was the temporary commander of the base. He also noticed several boxes full of paperwork.

It had been an hour since Chloe had annoyance that he was now the command of the Azur Lane, and all of the Royal Navy Kansen had congratulated him. Unicorn especially considering he had made Owen apologise to her. She even filmed it and showed it to him, which gave him a smug satisfaction watching people like Owen get humiliated by him, whether that's being beaten at chess or outsmarted on the battlefield, they get what they deserve.

Once everything had been sorted out, Queen Elizabeth had given him his command ID and had agreed to 'escort' him to his new office.

“I see everything I need to look through and sign has already been sent here,” Lelouch remarked as he looked at the large pile of boxes.

“Indeed. A lot of stuff came in that neither you nor Owen had the authority to sign for” Elizabeth said, “There's about two months' worth of paperwork here, with more coming in daily. But don't worry about a thing, as the Royal Maids and your secretaryship will be here to assist you”.

“Secretaryship?” Lelouch asked sounding slightly confused by what that was.

“Ah, I see no one saw fit to inform you about secretaryships,” Elizabeth said with a sigh “Secretary ships are Kansen who have been assigned to assist the commander in the day-to-day running of the Azur Lane, a bit like how C.K. helped you with your duty's before you became the commander. It's not exactly a popular position due to how bad our previous commanders were. Hopefully, that should change with you around” she said, “Although I'm surprised she isn't here already”.

“Probably reluctant to show up, all things considered,” Lelouch said as he walked over to the pile of boxes “Who is she by the way?” he asked before someone jumped out at him from one of the boxes.

“Roooaar!” a young girl wearing a white and blue jacket that was several sizes too big for her said as she jumped up at him “Hehehe, were you shocked? I'm like a ghost that's going to haunt you every day!” she said with a smile.

Elizabeth sighed “Long Island, what are you doing?” she asked sounding annoyed.

“Laying in wait for the commander” Long Island replied with a smile before turning to Lelouch “So, was I scary?”.

“Only slightly” Lelouch replied.

“Oh,” Long Island said sounding disappointed “I spent so long setting that up,” she said before she noticed his prosthetic arm “You have a prosthetic arm!” she said sounding surprised.

“Indeed I do,” Lelouch said, he was about to inform her how he got it before the escort carrier interrupted him and said, “You're just like Big Boss!”.

Lelouch was slightly confused by that statement, as he had no idea who she was talking about “Ur, who”.

Long Island looked at him with a shocked look “Please tell me you know of the Metal Gear video game franchise?!” she asked.

Lelouch shook his head “I'm not that fond of video games. More of a chess player myself”.

“What! Not a fan of video games!” Long Island said loudly “This injustice needs to be corrected. But later. You're still new to the job and I don't want to get in your way. So, on to secretary duties, which are?”.

“Well, you've got to show Lelouch around the base,” Queen Elizabeth said “The base facilities just came back online and someone's got to show him around”.

“Oh, why me?” Long Island asked, “Why can't you do it?”.

“Because you're the secretaryship” Elizabeth replied “Besides, I've got more important stuff to be doing than showing Lelouch around the base”.

“Well then, looks like you'll be missing out on all the fun then,” Long Island said before she grabbed Lelouch's hand “Come along commander, let's have some exploring the base then,” she said as she dragged him towards the door.

“Now hold on a minute!” Elizabeth said loudly, her face blushing a deep red “Where do you think you taking my servant?”.

“To show him around the base” Long Island replied “That's what you told me to do. Or are you having second thoughts?”.

“No!” Elizabeth replied “I'm just concerned that you won't give him a proper tour of the base and skip things, that's all”.

“You can come along if you want to,” Lelouch said.

“Fine, I will,” Elizabeth said as she walked over to them “But not because you said I could. I just want to make sure you get a proper tour around the base, that's all”.

“Sure you do” Long Island said before she dragged both of them out of the room.

Azur Main. Central command centre.

“And here is where we command the entire Azur Lane,” Long Island said as they walked into the central command centre. The room was still under construction with several terminals and consoles still being fitted in, but most of the important stuff had already been fitted making it operational. Apart from a few functional workstations, there was also a central table with a holographic display over it, and a large screen displaying a world map with the real-time location of every Kansen in the world.

There were also a large number of people and Manjuu in the room, either working at the different stations or working on the inactive stations.

“Nice to see this place is operational again,” Elizabeth said with a smile “We've been in derisory ever since the attack. Now we're back online and can take the fight to the Sirens once again. Shame we only have just over one-hundred Kansen under the Azur Lanes command”.

“Well, at least the Siren Defence Network is back online,” Long Island said “We will have a better idea as to where the Sirens are now, and where they are probably going to attack,” she said before pointing towards the map, her hands hidden by her sleeves “That map shows the real-life locations of every Kansen that is attached to the Azur Lane, they're the green dots. All our bases are in yellow, and red represents the Sirens,” she said before rushing over to it “Here's where I am”.

“So, the map only shows the location of the Kansen under the Azur Lane's direct command,” Lelouch said as he examined the map “Then why are there far more than one-hundred dots on it?” he asked, pointing at the map “And why is the Sakura Empire Kansen and facility still linked to the system? And where're the Northern Parliament assets?” Indeed, there were far more than one hundred dots on it. In fact, if his suspicions were correct, showed the real-life locations of every Kansen not a part of the Crimson Axis, not counting the Sakura Empire as they were still on the board. Plus, there were no dots in or near Russia.

“Oh, that. That would be the Eagle Union's doing” Elizabeth replied “Despite the SDN being unique to the Azur Lane, all the previous commander's set it so that every Kansen and navy base in the world has full access to this system, giving the Royal Navy and Eagle Union access to Azur Lane resources. Which isn't something they're allowed to do, they're supposed to have limited access to the system” she said “The ALOC tried several times to stop it, without success. It's why rebuilding Azur Main is taking longer than expected, as the Eagle Union and Royal navy are diverting resources meant for us away, as well as using it to take Kansen away from the Azur Lane and back into their own navies without authorisation. As for the Sakura Empire Kansen. We've only just been able to access the system, so we haven't been able to disconnect them. And the Northern Parliament have their own personal network”.

“Smart thing to do,” Lelouch remarked. Having their own system kept them off the main one, meaning he had no control over their assets, which in their mind was a good thing as it meant he couldn't interfere with them “But still, despite supposedly being an independent organisation, the big powers are pulling the Azur Lane's strings” Lelouch remarked “Well then, seeing that the Royal Navy wanted me to play by the book. Then play by the book I will. Who's in charge of assigning who's connected to the SDN?” he asked.

“That would be me sir” one of the officers responded with a salute.

Lelouch walked over to the officer in question “I want everything from the Sakura Empire disconnected from the system. And give everyone from the Royal Navy and Eagle Union that's not assigned to the Azur Lane limited access to the system”.

“Rodger that sir” the officer replied “It'll take a while to do thou, we're still linking up the system, then we've got to update it and the base firewall. Then we can start disconnecting none Azur Lane assets from the system. The Sakura Empire will be easy, just remove all of them. Royal Navy and Eagle Union on the other hand will take longer. We have to individually identify each dot and check if it is one of our assets or not because someone decided not to add labels to this thing” he explained “Normally we'll have around forty people to do this, but we haven't been able to hire new staff since the attack, so it's just me, and I have no idea how long it will take for me to do it all. You have to remember sir, everyone in this room was killed when a Siren bomb smashed through the ceiling. I only survived because I was off-site attending my sister's wedding”.

“Well, how long do you estimate it all to take?” Lelouch asked.

The officer took a few moments to calculate it in his head “Three to four days, five tops. I should tell you that two of those days will be spent just getting the system fixed and updated. Hopefully, by then we will have some more staff on hand so I don't have to do this all by myself”.

“Don't worry, I'll make sure you get the help you need,” Lelouch said. Having some more personnel on-site will help get things organised quickly, it'll just take time to get them all here. He'll probably focus on getting the more important stuff here first, marines, guards, technicians, people who can help get this base up and running and defended again. Hopefully, time will be on their side.

“Thanks, sir. I'll be nice to have some help here” the officer said.

“Don't mention it,” Lelouch said before he walked towards Elizabeth “So, are there any more infringements the previous commander's got away with?” he asked.

“Well,” Elizabeth replied before she started listing off all the infringements. Looks like he has a lot of things to sort out.

Azur Main. Three days later

“I'm sorry Admiral, but I can't give full access to the SDN to personal, facilities, or Kansen not assigned to the Azur Lane,” Lelouch said into his work phone. He was currently in his office talking to admiral Oakley Jordan, who was not happy about his access to the Siren Defence Network was now limited.

He didn't like the man or most of the Royal Navy commanders for that matter. Whilst he was good at his job, he also didn't care about the Kansen under his command, seeing them all as just weapons and tools to be used and discarded. It didn't help that he was also the guy who tried to abuse Unicorn and got away with it scot-free.

“But I need full access to better command our fleets against the Sirens and the Crimson Axis” admiral Oakley replied.

'You mean to better protect your finances by stealing from the Azur Lane' Lelouch thought. Having admin privileges for the SDN had its perks, like being able to find out all the dirty deals the none Azur Lane personnel have been using it for.

“The access level you have right now is perfect for organising your fleets against the Sirens,” Lelouch said as calmly as he could, just talking to Oakley irritated him “As for the Crimson Axis, you're going to have to use your own systems to fight them I'm afraid. I can't allow for the SDN to be used for anything other than protecting ourselves from the Sirens”.

“Are you betraying your country?” Oakley asked as a threat. Sadly it didn't work as well as he had hoped, as England wasn't Lelouch's home country, it was America, as that was where the Holy Britannian Empire was founded.

“Actually I'm just following the regulations set down by the ALOC, which if I remember correctly, you kept telling me to follow to the letter. Which is what I am doing” Lelouch replied “You can't fault me for following your advice,” he said with a smirk “In the meantime, I would like all the Royal Navy Kansen who have been unassigned from the Azur Lane without authorisation reassigned back to our control”.

“What!” Oakley shouted over the line “But we need those ships to fight the Crimson Axis!”.

“You have plenty of mass-produced ships under the Royal Navy's command to allow for the Kansen in question to be assigned to the Azur Lane without causing problems,” Lelouch said “If you need those Kansen back, you can request for them to be reassigned through proper channels, not taking them away from the Azur Lane without telling anyone or without authorisation. You don't want to risk the ALOC kicking me out of the Azur Lane over this, now do you”.

He heard an obvious sigh from the other end, the Royal Navy wouldn't do anything that would risk them losing control of the Azur lane, so they would have to comply with his request “Fine, I'll see what I can do” Oakley said before he disconnected from the call.

Lelouch smiled as he put down the phone and sighed “Well, glad that's over”.

“You managed to calm the Royal Navy down?” Long Island asked as she handed him several files.

“Yep, and they're returning all the Kansen they assigned back to them without the proper authorisation” Lelouch replied “At least I shouldn't be getting any more calls from admirals who want full access to the SDN anymore,” he said with a sigh. Fixing and updating the SDN had taken a lot longer than expected, which gave them more time to get some more people in to help work on the systems. So they only started removing things and bringing none Azur Lane personnel down to regular access to the systems, and he'd been getting several calls from people who want their full access back so they could 'better defend their countries'. At least they couldn't do anything about it considering they're not supposed to be allowed that level of access to the SDN in the first place.

He also failed to mention that he had also copied all of their wrongdoings into a folder, to both protect himself from them, and to blackmail them. If that information got out, then a lot of people in the Royal Navy and Eagle Union will be losing their jobs.

He'd also gotten a lot done during the past three days. Most of the infractions the previous commanders have done had been fixed, repairs to the base facilities were proceeding nicely, most of the paperwork had been done, and his side projects are now fully underway. But there was still a lot of stuff that still needed to be done, and that was before he can get to work on some of his other personal projects. But those can wait until later, they are not that important anyway. He can start working on them later.

“Oh yes, Saratoga is due to arrive today,” Long Island said, “As well as the Royal Navy Commodore Queen Elizabeth brought in to help you as well, Charlotte Cook”.

“Oh, so that's her name,” Lelouch said. He knew Queen Elizabeth had brought in a Royal Navy Commodore to help him in operating the base, but she had never given him any information on them, not even a name. Well, at least he knew their name at least “So, when will they be arriving?” he asked.

“I think, around about, now” Long Island replied, which was followed by the door opening and a young girl with pink hair and wearing a white and blue dress whilst holding a staff with what looked like an aircraft carrier tower with a runway like flag on it jumped in and turned towards him

“Good day commander. Fleet idol and pioneer of aviation tactics Saratoga reporting as requested” the girl replied, which was quickly followed by the mental image of all of Lelouch's plans being shredded.

Lelouch looked at the girl who had said was Saratoga before slowly picking up the picture of her Enterprise had given him a few days ago and quickly realised his mistake. There were two Kansen in the picture, both ships of the Lexington class. Lexington and Saratoga. One was taller and look like a full adult, whilst the other looked like a child, and he had mistakenly thought that the older one was Saratoga because no one had told him which was which. Oh well, at least he'll be able to correct his mistake without anyone realising it.

He quickly put the picture down and turned towards Saratoga “Greetings Saratoga, I'm surprised you got here so quickly”.

“Well, it's not often that the newly appointed commander of the Azur Lane wishes to see me,” Saratoga said with a smile “Although, I am curious as to why you wanted to see me. Queen Elizabeth didn't say anything about why you wanted to see me”.

“Well, it is a rather secretive matter I wish to talk about,” Lelouch said “The admirals of the Eagle Union and Royal Navy will not like it”.

“Oh, so you've decided to activate that protocol named after everyone's favourite angle from supernatural” Saratoga said with a smile “I was wondering when someone was going to try and activate that, considering this war you humans are fighting amongst yourselves really shouldn't involve us. At least someone's trying to fix things,” she said, “Still, how do you hope to get the key cards to Bismarck and Yamato? You will have to give them to them in person, otherwise, they won't work”.

“I'm still working on that part,” Lelouch said, taken slightly aback by Saratoga's knowledge of the protocol in question. But considering her position, she probably had to know about it anyway.

“Well, looks like you'll be in need of some help then,” a familiar voice said.

A shocked looked formed on Lelouch's face as the words hit his ears. He slowly looked towards the door and saw her, someone he was only expecting to see as a Kansen lookalike, not as a human and definitely not as a commodore in the Royal Navy “C.C?”

Chapter Text

Azur Main. Commander's office.

“It's been a while, Lelouch,” C.C. said as she stood in the doorway.

Lelouch could not believe his eyes. How was C.C. here? She's an immortal witch who can't die. Did his sister bring her here, or did whatever save her save C.C. as well?

C.C. or Charlotte Cook as she apparently went by in this world, looked older than she did the last time they saw each other, early or mid-twenties by the looks of it. It didn't take him long to realise that she no longer had the code, and was very much mortal. She must have made a contract with someone else and passed on her code. But still, why was she in the navy? He had so many questions to ask her right now, but he couldn't, not whilst Long Island and Saratoga were here.

“You two know each other” Saratoga said sounding surprised.

“Yes, we do,” Lelouch said, his gaze still focused on C.C.

“You can say we're old friends,” C.C. said as she walked over “I do hope my presence here won't cause any problems for you, sir”.

“No, no they won't,” Lelouch said. Even though he was surprised by C.C. being here, having her around would help him considerably, as having someone he could trust helping him with his plans in saving the world from the Sirens would really help things move along when he's not here.

“Well that's good to hear,” Saratoga said “Now then, about that command card for the Castiel protocol. I kind of can't do anything without it”.

“Ah, yes. Let me just get that for you” Lelouch said as he quickly got back to the matter at hand and reached under his desk and got out a black suitcase. He opened it up and inside were three key cards held within small plastic cases, each one had a faction logo on it. The Eagle Union, Ironblood, and Sakura Empire. The Royal Navy's card had already been given to Queen Elizabeth so that one was absent.

He took out the Eagle Union's card and passed it to Saratoga “Keep that safe and out of sight. And don't take that out of its casing until I give the order to. All four cards need to be taken out of those and put into each faction's respective central command computer almost at the same time and within five seconds. Otherwise, they become useless”.

“Don't worry commander, I fully understand the Castiel protocol and everything involved in activating it,” Saratoga said as she took the card and hid it somewhere within her clothing “Still, how do you plan on getting the Ironblood and Sakura Empire their cards? We are kind of at war with them”.

“I'm still working on that” Lelouch replied “The Ironblood should be easy, that is if I want to sit back and let Roon capture me. Which, after our first encounter, I have no desire of letting her get her hands on me again,” he said as he lifted up his prosthetic right arm.

C.C. suddenly had a shocked look on her face, probably because of him now being down an arm “You lost your arm!”.

“Only below the elbow,” Lelouch said “Roon threw Neptune at me and her trident ripped my arm apart. She didn't intend for that to happen, as the Ironblood apparently want me alive. But after that encounter, I have no desire to let her capture me” he said “I'm still working on how to get into the Sakura Empire”.

“Well I wish I could help you with that, but we don't have much Intel on the Sakura Empire at the moment,” Saratoga said “Getting them to capture you alive and keep you alive long enough to pass the card to Yamato will be a challenge. So will getting you out of there alive”.

“Well, we can worry about that later,” Lelouch said “I can't start thinking about how I'm getting those cards into their hands now, not when I've only just taken command of the Azur Lane. It could be disastrous if I disappear now. We should let things settle down a bit before we plan how to get the cards to the factions we're at war with”.

“Agreed, that would be bad if you disappeared now,” Long Island remarked.

Saratoga nodded “You should wait a few weeks to let things settle down a bit”.

“Yeah, that's the idea,” Lelouch said “You two wouldn't mind giving me and Charlotte some time alone please? It's been rather a long time since we saw each other”.

“Of course sir,” Long Island said “I wanted to buy some new games today, so this should give me some time to do that,” she said before she rushed out of the office.

“Well, she looks to be in a hurry,” Saratoga remarked “I'll give you two some privacy,” she said as the carrier walked towards the door “Although word of warning, I may or may not report any naughty busyness you two may get up to,” she said with a cheeky smile before she left to room, closing the door behind her.

Lelouch sighed “Looks like you've got a lot on your plate Lelouch,” C.C. remarked with a smile.

“Yeah, and it's a lot more complicated than running the Black Knights,” Lelouch said “Those Kansen require a lot of maintenance. For their ships, and the Kansen themselves. Running the Black Knights was easy compared to this”.

“Well I do have experience running a navy base,” C.C. said “I have been here far longer than you have, so I should be able to help you. It's why Queen Elizabeth brought me here after all”.

“And I will thank her for that” Lelouch said “It's, been a while since we last saw each other. More so for you. I see that you not using your true name”.

“No point. Who I was before I got the code is long dead. Charlotte Cook was simply a name I came up with on the fly” C.C. said, “Your plan worked, by the way, Lelouch. There weren't any major or minor wars for forty-three years”.

“Wait, forty-three,” Lelouch said sounding surprised, “Nunnally said that there were sixty years of peace before someone called Apocalypse destroyed everything”.

“What!” C.C. said sounding shocked “Your sister's here, in this world? And our old world's been destroyed!”.

“I'm afraid so” Lelouch replied “Back when I was in Russia Nunnally showed up wearing my Zero suit. She said that there were sixty years of peace before this Apocalypse person destroyed the world by burning it. I was hoping you would help provide some more insight into what happened, as she didn't tell me much, only that she fought Apocalypse for five years before they destroyed the world” he explained “You wouldn't know anyone whose Geass was the ability to imprint of a copy of themselves into someone else?”.

C.C. shook her head “I'm afraid I don't know anything about this Apocalypse person, or the battle between Nunnally and him, or anyone who had that kind of Geass” she replied “I kept my distance from your sister, the Black Knights, and everyone else we knew. Kept off the grid to avoid detection. Didn't even make any new contracts. As much as I wanted to help Nunnally when she got the code forced upon her, I refrained from going to her. I wasn't exactly in her good books after your Zero Requiem” she explained “As for this Apocalypse and his Geass, I don't know. I've never heard of, met, or made a contract with someone who had that specific Geass. The closest person I can think of having a Geass like that would be your mother Marianne, but that only allowed her to transfer herself into someone else, not overwrite them with a copy. I wish I could provide you with more, but, as I said, I was only around for forty-three years after your death before I too died. Permanently as you can see”.

“I noticed. I guess you've been here a few years then. Still, what happened to you? How did you die? Why did you even join the Royal Navy?”.

“I was more along the lines of conscripted into the Navy, I didn't join by choice. As for how I died, I don't really know that myself. I just fell asleep in a hotel bed and woke up naked in a Royal Navy port with no idea how I got there. Not the first time I've been killed in my sleep and dumped somewhere, but it freaked the hell out of me when I realised that my code was stolen from me in the night and that I was in a different world”.

“Yeah, I know how that feels,” Lelouch said “Took me a while to get used to being in a different world that looks exactly like our old one, just with a few major differences. Like Britannia not existing here, and the Sirens invading,” he said, “So, you were conscripted into the navy”.

“Not much I could have done,” C.C. said “I showed up naked in the middle of a navy base with no ID on me. And they didn't believe my story that I had no idea how I got there. Thankfully one of the Kansen, Hood, helped me out of it, on the grounds that I join the Royal Navy” she explained “I can't really blame her for that, there wasn't much else she could do to help me. She knew I wasn't a spy, but there was no other way she could get me out of being shot as one. Plus you treat life or death situations a lot differently when you're no longer immortal”.

“Hood helped save you”.

“Yes she is. She's a surprisingly convincing woman who can change even the most stubborn of people's minds. And yes, I know she was the one who rescued you from that island”.

“So, looks like we both owe her our lives. How long did you know I was here?”.

“Since Hood recursed you. I only didn't seek you out sooner because I wanted to be sure that it really was you and not a lookalike. Like a few of the Kansen looking like people from our past”.

“Yeah, I noticed that. I still don't know how there are Kansen that look like people we know. Nina's the only one I've met so far, but I believe that there might be more. Who knows how many more lookalikes are out there. I'm just glad I haven't met anyone who looks like Shirley or Euphemia. I would not be able to cope having Kansen who look like them around”.

“Don't worry, I've checked all known Kansen in the world and none of them look like Shirley or Euphemia,” C.C. said “There are a few others, but I'll leave them up to you to find. But that doesn't mean any of the new Kansen they manifest won't look like them”.

“So any newly manifested Kansen has a chance of looking like them,” Lelouch said, getting a nod from C.C. he sighed “I just hope that doesn't happen”.

“Well, at least it can't be as bad as your ability to turn into a Manjuu,” C.C. said, causing Lelouch to chock.

It took him a few moments to regain his composure “How-, how the hell did you find out about that?”.

C.C. smiled “Thunder Child told me. Oh don't worry, it's not entirely her fault. She may have let something slip and I pretended to know what she was referring to”.

“So you tricked her into revealing my ability to turn into a small yellow bird,” Lelouch said “And before you ask, yes, I have coincided using my ability to get the card to Yamato, but flying over there as a bird, carrying one of those cards, my prosthetic arm, and some clothing, would be very difficult. Plus I have no idea where the Yamato estate is. Its location is a well-kept secret with numerous decoys”.

“Damn, there goes that idea,” C.C. said “Oh well, we can always come up with something else later,” she said before she sat down “Still, why are you so intent on getting the Kansen out of this worlds civil war?”.

“Because, the world is being invaded by an alien force, and instead of focusing on fighting it, the world powers are fighting each other” Lelouch said “It annoys me how they can do such a stupid thing during an alien invasion. They should be focusing on fighting the Sirens, not each other,” he said, “It's like they want to lose the war against the Sirens”.

“I don't think that's the case,” C.C. said “I've been fighting this war for five years, and I've seen that the Sirens are far more powerful than humanity. Even with the Kansen, they are barely holding them back. But I've seen the Siren's power first hand, and after living for hundreds of years, and fighting in countless wars all over the world, I know when someone's holding back. The Sirens have the power to wipe out all life on this planet ten times over, yet they haven't. I don't know why they're doing it I don't know, but they're definitely not focusing on destroying mankind utterly. They're up to something, and it involves us somehow”.

“The Sirens are holding back!” Lelouch said sounding surprised. The Sirens, holding back, that was unexpected. But it would probably explain why they didn't deliver the death blow to the Azur Lane when they had the chance, they were holding back. But there had to be a reason as to why, a plan they were following that required mankind's continued existence, and the Azur Lane was a part of that plan. But what was it? What were the Sirens planning that they needed to Azur Lane intact? If only he had a Siren to interrogate to get some answers from, but most of them are mindless drones, so that wouldn't work. You can't interrogate something that's mindless. The elite and Prime Sirens maybe, but that would require capturing one alive, which is something that has never been done successfully. Looks like the Sirens will be keeping their secrets for now.

“So, the Sirens aren't invading just to destroy humanity then. They're here for something” Lelouch said with a smile “You've gotten quite good at this”.

“Well, I am several hundred years old after all, and I have learned from some of the world's greatest minds in all of the history of our world,” C.C. said “Plus I learned a lot from you too. With both of us running the Azur Lane, the Sirens won't stand a chance against us. In the meantime, I'll let you get back to your work. The Azur Lane can't run itself now can it”.

“Of course,” Lelouch said as C.C. stood up and walked towards the door “It's nice to see you again C.C.”.

“It's nice to see you again too,” C.C. said as she reached the door “Oh, by the way. When in public, please call me Charlotte Cook, C.C. doesn't exactly work around here as a name,” she said before she opened the door, only to jump back in surprise as Long Island, Saratoga, and C.K. fell into the room in a heap.

Lelouch sighed as the palm of his hand rested against his face “How long were you three out there, and how much did you hear?”.

“Since we left” Saratoga replied with a nervous smile.

“And we didn't hear anything too” Long Island added “Your office is totally soundproofed, so we didn't hear anything about waking up naked, immortality, weird code things, Kansen looking like real people, something called a Zero suit, and some guy called Apocalypse destroying everything,” she said, “Yep, totally didn't hear any of that”.

Lelouch sighed heavily as he buried his head in his hands. Now there are three more people who know something about his past. He'd need to do something about this before every Kansen on site knows about his past.

Chapter Text

Azur Main. Sakura Empire Shrine.

Lelouch sighed as he made his way through the forest. It had been a rather tiring day for him today, what with C.C. showing up, and three more Kansen finding out bout his past.

Long Island, Saratoga, and C.K. were given an abridged version of his past, not the full story, just the important parts. C.C. seemed rather amused by C.K.'s name, he did say that it was much better than having Command Kansen as a name, but all she did was look at him with a smug grin and remark “Did you miss me that much?”.

He was worried that so many Kansen now knew about his past, as sooner or later, one of them, mainly the ones who found out by accident, may tell someone else about him. This wasn't what concerned him the most, it was the telephone effect that worried him the most. People don't always remember things exactly the way they are told, as a result, facts get missed or changed. Truths and lies can easily be misinterpreted and changed as more and more people are informed, and soon it becomes impossible to tell truth from fiction. And he was worried about the fiction that would be formed from it. His story included everything he did, both the good and the bad, and the rumours can focus on one of the two. So it's just as easy for them to focus on the good he did, as it is for them to focus on the bad.

In the meantime, Lelouch decided to have a look around the abandoned Sakura Empire Shrine that was on-site to help clear his thoughts. Although he was rather disappointed by what he saw. The shrine was in ruins, buildings were smashed, graffiti sprayed all over the walls, trash was left haphazardly all over the place, and there definitely were a few piss stains as well.

It angered him that people would smash such a place like this up. He spent a while at such a shrine before Britannian invaded Japan, and it was peaceful there. So they were at war with the Sakura Empire, so what, it was still not an excuse to smash up the shrine and their dorm, the same goes with the Ironblood and Sardegna Empire dorms. The Iris Orthodoxy dorm, which is now in use by the Iris Libre Kansen, has also been targeted by vandals, due to there being Iris Orthodoxy Kansen serving with the Crimson Axis under the Vichya Dominion.

He would have to find out those responsible for this and make them fix it, war or not this place was still part of Azur Main and vandalising it can be considered as sabotage of Azur Lane assets. And that carries a heavy charge, you could easily get up to five years for smashing a window. The people behind this would be lucky if they got just that, as all this damage was worth at least thirty years minimum, eighty at worst.

There was also something else on his mind, C.C. had seemed, normal, acting the way she did back in their old world, and that's what was bothering him. She didn't seem happy or sad or anything really. She did smile a bit, but that was about it. They talked for a bit, but apart from the eavesdroppers, not much happened.

Was there something bothering her that she didn't want to talk about? It had to be something big if she didn't want to talk about it.

He could ask what's bothering her, but that could end up being insensitive, so if there was something worrying her, he'll let her talk about it in her own time, not force her to say anything if it's uncomfortable for her.

After walking around the ruined shrine for a bit, he found an area that was still damaged from the Siren attack more than a month ago, with the walls still bearing the damage from the attack. There was a large dry bloodstain splattered against a bullet-ridden wall. Sadly not even here was spared from the desecration brought upon this place, as there were empty cans, graffiti, and other acts of desecration everywhere.

He was going to make those responsible for this pay.

“His name was Preston Edwards,” C.C. said behind him, causing him to turn to face her. There was a noticeable frown on her face, and she had a bouquet of flowers in her hands. It didn't take him long to realise who the flowers were for.

“C.C. I didn't think you would be around here,” Lelouch said sounding surprised.

“Don't worry, I doubt anyone would think I would be here,” C.C. said as she walked up to the wall and placed the flowers just below the bloodstain.

“Someone, you knew?” Lelouch asked, getting a nod from C.C.

“Yes, he was,” C.C. said sombrely “He was a member of the Royal Marines, and was sent here as part of the Royal Navy's detachment for the Azur Lane. He was killed during the Siren attack,” she said as tears started to fall from her eyes “He wasn't the only one. I made a few friends whilst I was here, they helped me settle in and get used to things in this world, and saved my life a few times. They were the first real friends I've made since meeting you, Lelouch. Friends that I cared about. But then, the Sirens took them, one by one. Killing all of them, and there was nothing I could have done to save them”.

Lelouch knew what she felt. It was never easy to lose those close to you, he knew that feeling all too well, having lost everyone in his life “You must have been close to them”.

“I was,” C.C. said, tears still falling from her eyes “They were some of, if not the only humans in the navy that saw me not as a spy who had infiltrated their ranks, but as someone who was just trying to make do with the situation I was stuck in. sadly no one else shown the same compassion towards me that they showed. Being mortal once more has changed me. Problems I haven't had to face for so long are coming back to haunt me, as well as fears I haven't felt since I was young. I'm scared, not of dying, I've died so many times that even being mortal doesn't make me fear it. I'm scared of losing you, Lelouch. I've lost everyone I care about in this world, and then I found you again, doing what you do best and trying to make the world a better place. But then I heard about what happened to you in Russia, how a Kansen almost killed you. I was so scared about not being able to see you again that I signed on to join the Royal Navy's Azur Lane detachment without thinking. I didn't even think to check to see if it was actually you and not a lookalike” she said “I'm grateful that it really is you, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm scared of losing you again, just like I've lost everyone I cared about here” she cried before she broke down into tears.

Lelouch reacted quickly and put her arms around her and brought her into a hug “It's alright C.C., we'll make the Siren pay for what they've done. Not just for the friends you've lost, but for everyone they've killed. We'll make them pay tenfold for every human life they've taken”.

C.C. had a surprised look on her face, as tears still fell from her eyes “B-but what about you? What guarantee can you give me that you won't get yourself killed?” she asked, “You've already lost your arm, how can you guarantee that you won't lose your life? I've been fighting the Sirens for several years now, and they are far more powerful then Britannian ever was”.

“Because just like Britannian, the sirens have weaknesses. We just need to find and exploit them” Lelouch said “As for my arm, well, let's just say It'll take more than that to take me done. I have gotten a lot stronger after all. Plus I've got a few projects in the work that should help with both survivability and punishing Sirens”.

C.C. smiled before returning the hug and resting her head against his chest “You have no idea how long I've waited to see you again, Lelouch” she said softly “I always hoped that you would somehow come back to me. Back when I still had the code, I hoped that you would show up one day. But meeting you here is fine too. It makes the pain of losing so many friends a bit more bearable”.

Lelouch smiled as he held C.C. close “I-, I'm sorry for leaving alone C.C.”.

“It's alright” C.C. replied with a smile “You did what you had to do. Your Zero Requiem wouldn't have worked if you had lived,” she said “I'm just glad that we've been given another chance to be together. Even if it required both of us to die, at least we've been reunited”.

The two remained close, locked in their embrace and enjoying each other's comfort. It had been so long since they last saw each other, far longer for C.C. and Lelouch missed having her around supporting him. There were others he missed too, like his sister Nunnally helping him keep sane, as well as Suzaku and Kallen dealing with problems straight on, even if the latter of the two really didn't like him. Still, apart from his sister, C.C. was the one he missed the most, and the one he loved the most.

“We should probably get back to work. This base won't run itself after all” Lelouch said.

C.C. hummed in agreement as she took a step back and brushed the tears off of her face “Yeah. We should” she said with a smile before the two of them started to walk back towards the main base “Now may be a bad time to say that the maids haven't prepared my room yet, seeing that I arrived a few days early. So I don't exactly have a place to stay in for a while”.

“Don't worry, you can share mine,” Lelouch said with a smile.

C.C. smirked “Will you be a gentleman this time and sleep on the floor?” she asked.

Lelouch sighed “This again. I'm not giving up my entire bed to you. It's a double bed after all”.

“Oh, all the better then,” C.C. said with a smirk before tripping over a discarded can and being quickly caught by Lelouch.

“You ok?” Lelouch asked as he helped C.C. back onto her feet.

“I'm fine” C.C. replied calmly “In a movie, this would be where I say I love you and we'd kiss. But this isn't exactly an appropriate place for that, now is it,” she said, looking around the ruined and desecrated temple.

“Yeah, not the most romantic-looking location,” Lelouch remarked “Repairing this place will be a pain considering that I've already had it repaired once before. Looks like that order was discarded the moment Owen took command”.

“Ah yes, the Eagle Union candidate for the position of the commander of the Azur Lane,” C.C. said as the two started to walk again “I have had the displeasure of meeting him after my arrival. A rather appalling human being, not the worst human I've ever met, but he's in my top three. He had the gall to try and hit on me, saying that I 'needed a real man in my life lonely life'. I know what a real man is and he wasn't one of them. So when he got a bit too touchy-feely with me, I kicked him in the groin and told him to learn how to respect a woman's feelings” she said with a smile “You wouldn't believe the number of bad pickup lines he tried on me”.

Lelouch smirked “Fool had it coming. He's universally despised around here after all”.

“I wonder why,” C.C. said with a sarcastic smile as they continued to walk “I, love you, Lelouch,” she said as she turned her head towards him.

Lelouch turned his head to face her and smiled “I love you too, C.C.”.

The two smiled as they made their way back towards Azur Main, happy with the knowledge that they have been reunited. Even if it is in a different world that was currently besieged by aliens. But that didn't bother them, as no matter how many ships the Sirens send their way, they will never split them apart.

Unbeknownst to both of them, someone had been watching them from the bushes, spying on them and recording as much as she could about them “Huh, I wonder what that was all about” Nin wondered as she jotted some things down on her notepad. Now that Lelouch was back on-site, she can get back to observing him. But why did he know so much about that Charlotte woman, and why did they confess their love to each other despite only meeting each other for the first time? Humans don't fall in love that quickly, well, unless it's one of those sappy romance storeys, and those tend to be boring attempts at pulling someone's heartstrings. And why did he keep calling her C.C.? She wasn't exactly close enough to get the full conversation, only managing to get a few details, and she didn't even know if they were key details or not. But it sounded like he'll be here for a while, so she had plenty of time to gather some more Intel on him, even if most of it didn't make sense. She just had to find the time to keep away from her 'sisters'.

Chapter Text

Royal Navy dorm

“More tea master?” Belfast asked politely.

“Yes please,” Lelouch replied with a slight nod, waiting for Belfast to pour him some more tea before saying “Thank you”.

Belfast smiled before moving on to the next guest “More tea Charlotte?”.

C.C. nodded with a smile, letting Belfast pore her some more tea. The maid smiled before she walked over to the third and final guest “More tea my lady?”.

“Yes of course,” Nunnally said with a cute smile.

The three of them were having tea in the gardens of the Royal Navy dorm, sitting at a table underneath a finely crafted wooden gazebo. It was a cool day today, with nice weather, cloudless sky, and the wind blowing a gentle breeze.

“It's nice that we've been allowed to have this tea party,” C.C. said with a smile “It's not often that we can spend time together and talk about things”.

“Yes, it is” Lelouch replied. Indeed it was nice to be able to sit down and have a chat with both C.C. and his sister Nunnally, it had been far too long since he last sat down and had a chat with her after all. And a lot has happened since his death. He was curious about his sisters time as queen before Apocalypse destroyed everything.

Nunnally nodded “Indeed it is. It's been a good couple of decades since we last saw each other. Well, a couple of decades for me at least. Having the code forced upon me wasn't the best thing to happen to me”.

“Ah yes, about that” C.C. said, “You wouldn't be able to remember what the sword looks like, perchance? Preferably what the swords handle looked like?”.

Nunnally shook her head “I'm afraid not. It was a dark room and I was more focused on the man holding the sword than the sword itself” she replied “Besides, after Suzaku rescued me, the blade vanished. I don't know where it went to, but it wasn't there when we searched the building. So I have no idea what it looked like or how it was able to transfer the code to me”.

“That's disappointing. Knowing what it looked like may have given me an idea on what it is” C.C. remarked “Even then it probably wouldn't have helped, as I don't know of any swords capable of doing that”.

“So, we're back to square one then,” Lelouch remarked.

“Oh don't worry about it brother, I doubt we will be able to find out what the sword was here,” Nunnally said with a smile “I'm just glad that we can be together again”.

Lelouch smiled, indeed it was nice to be with his sister again. Lying about her death was painful, but finding out that she was alive and well in this world filled him with joy, even though the Sirens were still a threat, they were at least together again.

Suddenly, their peaceful morning was interrupted by a loud scream, followed by a loud smash, and ended with the broken body of Dido smashing into the side of the gazebo.

“Dido!” Belfast shouted as she rushed over to Dido, only to have a 40mm AA shell shoot straight through her head.

Nunnally screamed as Belfast fell to the ground dead. Lelouch could only look on with shock

A burst of sudden statistical laughter causes him to snap his head in the direction of the laughter, and instantly he froze in fear, for standing just within the threshold of a large hole in the wall was Roon, smiling like a mad man and dragging the broken body of Sirius behind her.

Roon giggled “I finally found you, Lelouch,” she said before she charged forwards towards him.

Lelouch quickly reached for his pistol, but Roon was fast, too fast. She closed the distance quickly and smashed him aside into one of the wooden support beams, sending him straight through it and crashing onto the ground with a broken back.

Lelouch cried out in pain, his upper body felt like it was burning, yet he could not feel his lower body. He tried to get back up but his legs were not responding. With a horrified look on his face, he realised that he was now parallelised from the waist down.

He then heard C.C. scream and turned towards her, only to witness Roon slash at her several times with her gauntlets “C.C.!” he shouted as he watched her fall to the ground lifeless.

Roon then turned her sights on Nunnally, who was quivering with fear as she tried to crawl away. Roon smiled before she lunged towards her, clawed gauntlet outstretched in front of her.

“Nunnally!!!” Lelouch shouted as he quickly sat up in bed in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. It took him a second to realise that it was all a nightmare, another bloody nightmare about Roon and her hunt for him.

“Lelouch, are you ok?” C.C. asked sounding concerned, leaning over to him and putting her arms around him.

“No, I just had another nightmare about Roon” Lelouch replied as he rested his left hand against his head “You were in it, and so was Nunnally. She... I... Roon...”.

“It's ok Lelouch, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to,” C.C. said with a comforting smile “I know all too well how painful nightmares can be sometimes. I still get nightmares about the time I got the code forced upon me. But you have nothing to worry about, Roon is back in Europe and can't hurt you here. And I'm still here, and I'm not going to leave your side, not ever”.

“Your right, she isn't here. And I still have you” Lelouch said “Still... it felt so real”.

“They always do, and sadly there's nothing we can do about it,” C.C. said softly “Just hang in there till morning, ok. You have a counselling session with Bremerton tomorrow, hopefully, she can help you”.

“Of course. I hope so too” Lelouch said as he lied back down in bed, with C.C.'s arms still wrapped around his body.

C.C. moved closer to him and pressed her body against the side of him “Lelouch”.

Lelouch hummed in response “Yes C.C.”

“Do you think we-” C.C. said before she shook her head “Nothing, forget I said anything,” she said before she rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

Lelouch smiled before he put an arm around C.C. and kissed her forehead before settling down himself. He then closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.

The next day. Azur Lane Academy.

Lelouch made his way towards the academy's counselling room. He had already completed most of the work he needed to do today, and it was almost time for his appointment with Bremerton, and this was something he could not afford to miss, not after the nightmare he had last night. On the way there he had bumped into Belfast, Dido, and Sirius. Even though his nightmare wasn't real and that Roon didn't harm them, he was relieved to see that the three of them were ok. Dido and Sirius seemed extremely happy that he was giving them some attention and affection.

After giving Dido and Sirius some head pats, he moved on towards the counselling room. Which he arrived at after a few moments.

There was a waiting room outside the counselling room, with several chairs, some tables, and several magazines, so he took a seat, picked up a magazine and had a look at it. And put it back down and picked up a new, less woman orientated one.

He didn't have to wait long, as the door to the counselling room soon opened, and Arizona walked through “Oh, commander. I didn't expect to see you here” she said sounding surprised.

“I have a session with Bremerton in a few minutes” Lelouch replied.

“Oh, is that Lelouch out there?” a calm female voice asked from the other room.

“Yes,” Arizona replied.

“Good,” the voice said “Could you send him in please, Arizona”.

“Of course,” Arizona said before she stepped away from the door “You can come in now”.

Lelouch smiled as he stood up, and walked towards the door “Thank you” he said to Arizona as he passed her, receiving a smile in return from the battleship.

He walked inside the counselling room, closing the door behind him.

“Ah, so you must be Commander Lelouch Lamperouge” the rooms sole female occupant said with a friendly smile.

Lelouch turned and saw the heavy cruiser Bremerton sitting down opposite another chair, with a table in between. There was a third chair as well, positioned just off to the side.

Bremerton herself was sitting down with a notepad in her hand. She was a rather well-endowed woman, with pink hair and matching eyes. She wasn't wearing much, a pink bra and panties which were not covered up well by the very short shorts and almost none existent top. She had boots, thigh high stockings and a navy blue coat with Bremerton written on it, and some rather nice glasses. She also had a few piercings as well.

“Please, do sit down,” Bremerton said with a friendly smile.

Lelouch walked over to the chair opposite Bremerton and sat down “You must be Bremerton then”.

“Indeed I am. USS Bremerton of the Baltimore class” Bremerton said “Me and my sisters hardly got any chances to shine in combat since we were built near the end of the war. But that doesn't really matter at the moment” she said “I'm the Azur Lane's dedicated Kansen counsellor, I normally help other Kansen with any problems they may have, but I do help humans from time to time” she said before she noticed Lelouch's bionic arm “I see you've gotten used to your new arm”.

Lelouch flexed his bionic arm “Indeed I have, but I can still sometimes feel my fingers. Plus I get nightmares about the one who took it from me, Roon”.

“Phantom pain. Yes, that can be a difficult one to deal with for some people. And I have heard from Hermione about your nightmares” Bremerton said “Before we start our session, there's someone I would like you to meet first” she said before she picked up her phone and sent someone a text message “There, she should be here in a minute or so”.

“Who is she?” Lelouch asked.

“Canberra, she's one of my sisters” Bremerton replied with a smile “She's named after an Australian cruiser that was sunk during the Battle of Savo Island”.

Lelouch nodded and sat back and waited for Canberra to arrive. And sure enough more than a minute later, the door to the room opened and a woman about Bremerton's age walked in.

She has chestnut brown hair, Violet eyes, and a round face.

She was wearing an Australian country style hat, much more reasonably sized brown shorts, a white shirt that was only had the top three buttons done up and was not tucked into her shorts, boots, thigh high stockings, a navy blue coat with the word Canberra on it.

“G'day Bremerton,” Canberra said as she walked in. She had an American/Australian hybrid accent.

“Canberra, good day to you too,” Bremerton said with a smile “Would you kindly come sit over here please”.

“Of course,” Canberra said as she walked over, sitting down in the spare chair “You must be Lelouch, I've heard about you from some of the other Eagle Union Kansen. I'm glad you were here to help protect the base from the Sirens. Without you, a lot more people and Kansen would have died that day”.

“No need to thank me, Canberra. I was just doing my job” Lelouch said with a polite smile “I, don't want to be impolite, but may I ask why Canberra is here?”.

“She's here to help with any mental problem you may have with the loss of your arm” Bremerton replied “Hermione did mention your phantom pain, so she's here to help with that. She's, had to live with it for a while”.

A Kansen living with phantom pain, he didn't expect that. He knew that they could regrow lost limbs, so it's possible that during that process feel phantom pain as well. Canberra must have lost her limbs a lot during her career if she's had to live with it for a long time.

“I see,” Lelouch said before turning towards Canberra “You must have been through a lot”.

“Actually I haven't taken much damage during my career, in fact, I was the only Baltimore class ship to sustain combat damage,” Canberra said “I had a torpedo air-dropped on me, which hit below the beltline and immobilised me. That damage had an effect, on my manifestation,” she said before she rolled down one of her stockings, revealing that her leg below the knee was prosthetic.

Lelouch had to hold back his gasp of surprise. A Kansen with a prosthetic limb, how was that possible? Kansen can regrow their limbs, so how did she not regrow hers “You've got a prosthetic leg!” he gasped in surprise.

“Legs actually. Both of my legs below the knee are prosthetic” Canberra said, “Yes I know we can regrow lost limbs, but our bodies can only regrow that which was already there. I, manifested without them”.

“You manifested without legs,” Lelouch said sounding shocked. This was new to him. No one told him that it was possible for a Kansen to manifest missing a limb.

Canberra nodded “Indeed I did. It was a painful time for not just myself, but for my sisters as well,” she said “I'm not the only one this has happened to. There are reports of several other Kansen manifesting missing something like a limb or an eye. But their rare occurrences, so the vast majority of Kansen manifest properly. Still, we've never been able to identify why this happens. It's got nothing to do with damage, as a lot of Kansen took damage and sunk during the war, and none of them are missing limbs. The phantom pain doesn't help either, even though I never had legs in the first place, I still feel them from time to time”.

“I see,” Lelouch said, still surprised that Kansen could manifest without limbs “I never knew that that could happen to Kansen”.

“It's not a common thing to happen to us, so it's not common knowledge,” Bremerton said “But when it does happen, it can be difficult to deal with. Yet, thanks to me and the rest of our sisters, we were able to help Canberra. So hopefully, with her help and mine, we can relieve most of the mental pain from the loss of your arm” she said “As well as the nightmares you keep getting. But it will take time I'm afraid. Rushing this won't help you”.

Lelouch nodded “Indeed. Rushing something rarely gets results. I'm all too familiar with,” he said, thinking back to several of his plans that failed because he rushed in too quickly. Like when he went to rescue his sister during the first year of his rebellion, which spelt disaster for the Black Knights.

He won't be making those same mistakes here.

"Well then, what should we talk about first?" Lelouch asked.

Chapter Text

Azur Main Royal Navy dorm.

Hermione made her way towards Lelouch's room, the advice Belfast had given her from last night still fresh in her mind from when they, well, listened in oh his 'night battle' with Charlotte Cook, or C.C. as he called her. Belfast had told her not to notice if anything had happened during the night, so that's what she was going to do, pretend nothing had happened.

As Lelouch's personal maid, she was one of the few people who had a key to his room, not that she would need it, as the door was unlocked. No need to lock it whilst someone was in there after all. It was also her duty to wake him up at the appropriate time, as laziness was the last thing they needed from their commander.

Once she reached the door to Lelouch's room she quietly pressed her ear against the side of the door and listened in, just to make sure she wasn't going to interrupt anything. She didn't hear anything, so she assumed that it was safe to enter.

She opened the door and walked inside, finding Lelouch sleeping in his bed with C.C.'s arms around him “Good morning master” she smiled before she walked over to the window, noticing the pile of discarded clothing by the window, and opened the curtains, letting not much light as it was still raining heavily outside, with a sky full of dark clouds.

A grown came from the bed as Lelouch stirred “Ah, your awake master” Hermione said as she turned around to face him “I do hope that both you and Commodore Charlotte Cook had a pleasant night”.

“Huh?” Lelouch murmured as he looked up at Hermione “Oh, Hermione. Yes we did, although the rain may have woken us up during the night”.

“You mean you woke me up during the night with one of your nightmares, and I woke you up” C.C. added, eyes still closed.

Lelouch sighed “I said I was sorry”.

“Indeed you did,” C.C. said as she opened her eyes, she then leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Hermione pretended not to notice that kiss, instead she reached down and picked up the clothing that had been discarded on the floor “I'll just take these to be washed” she said before she carried the clothes out of the room and made her way towards the laundry room. The rest of the maids were already up and going about their morning routine of waking the rest of the Royal Navy girls, getting them ready for the day, and preparing breakfast for them.

Upon arriving at the laundry room she deposited the clothing in the wash basket. Glasgow was on laundry duty this morning, so she was busy watching the washing machines.

“Ah, Hermione, what brings you here?” Glasgow asked as she turned and saw her.

“Just bringing some of the masters clothing to be washed,” Hermione said as she walked over to the clean clothes “Are any of these his?” she asked.

“Yes” Glasgow replied “Everything in the green basket is his”

Hermione nodded as she picked up the basket “Oh yes, most of the clothing I've brought in belongs to Charlotte, so don't mistake those for the commanders”.

“Don't worry, I make sure they are put separate from his” Glasgow said before Hermione smiled and left the room.

On the way back to Lelouch's room, she passed by her sisters Dido and Sirius, who were busy some of the other girls up “Oh, hay Hermione. Busy waking up the master?” Dido said with a smile.

“Yes,” Hermione replied “He's already awake, so I'm just getting him some clean clothes”.

“Hermione” Sirius said skittishly “Is it possible that, at a later date, for us to personally serve our honourable Master?” she asked.

“I'll have to ask Queen Elizabeth about that, as she did assign me as his personal maid” Hermione replied “But I'll see what I can do. Hopefully she will grant you a week or so serving him personally”.

Her two sisters smiled happily “That you, sister” Dido said before the two went back to work.

Hermione smiled before she turned and walked towards Lelouch's room. Upon reaching it she reached for the doorknob and turned it, but was surprised to find that the door was now locked, most likely from the inside. This confused her as he had no reason to lock the door, even if he wanted a quick kiss with C.C., there was no reason to lock it.

Feeling concerned for her master, she reached into one of her pockets and got out the key for his room, and quickly unlocked the door and opened it “Mater, are you alri-” she asked before she felt a warm pain in her abdomen, and the feeling of a blade piercing her flesh.

“Forgive me,” a voice said beside her before the blade was pulled out of her, and an elbow to the chest sent her falling backwards onto the floor. It all happened so fast for her that she didn't even notice who had stabbed her or what had happened to Lelouch or C.C. “Let's get out of here, quickly!” the voice said before she heard two sets of footsteps rush away, probably towards the window. It was then that she recognised the voice, it belongs to Takao, a Sakura Empire heavy cruiser. She would have wondered why she was here, but that was self-explanatory, she was obviously here for Lelouch.

Hermione quickly fell back on her medical training and applied pressure to her wound. But she would need medical attention quickly before she bled out.

“Sister!” Sirius shouted as her sisters and Sheffield rushed up to her “Are you alright!?” she asked, tears coming out of both her sister's eyes.

Sheffield gave have a quick once over before she looked into Lelouch's room “Oh hell” she cursed before she summoned her rigging “Look after your sister” she ordered before she rushed into Lelouch's room and out the window.

By now several more Kansen had noticed the commotion and had come out to investigate, noticing her lying on the floor “Somebody get a medical team down here” Ark Royal shouted, ordering several Manjuu into motion.

“What happened here?” King George V asked as she rushed over to them, still wearing her undergarments.

“Hermione been stabbed, but we don't know by who” Dido replied, tears falling from her eyes “Sheffield was here, but she rushed off outside through the window”.

“What about the commander, and Charlotte? What about them” King George V asked.

“We haven't checked” Dido replied “We don't want to leave her”.

King George V cursed before she rushed into Lelouch's room “Ark, get a second medical team down here, Charlotte's been knocked out and hit very bad!”.

“On it” Ark Royal replied “What about that commander?”.

“He's not here” King George V replied “Whoever did this must have taken him. Hopefully Sheffield can find those responsible and get him back”.

Sakura Empire dorm.

“Blast!” Sheffield swore as rain poured down over her. She had managed to spy the one's responsible for kidnapping Lelouch and stabbing Hermione. Takao and Atago, with the latter of the two carrying her half-naked commander over her shoulder. She had given chance, reporting the intrusion over the radio, and had followed them to the now-abandoned Sakura Empire dorm, but now she had lost them.

She looked around, there was no sign of the two heavy cruisers. How could she lose them? Not only were they wearing white, which wasn't a stealthy colour, but they were also heavy cruisers, which were slower than her as she was a light cruiser. Still, even with her radar, she couldn't detect them. The buildings around her were messing with it. She couldn't hear them either, the sound of their footsteps was silenced by the heavy rain.

She did a quick check of the entire dorm, searching every nook and cranny for any sign of them. But apart from some cherry blossom, she found nothing. They were gone, and they took the commander with them.

“All Kansan patrol units report in,” Sheffield said over her radio “Any signs of the Sakura Empire heavy cruisers Takao and Atago?”.

“This is Cleveland, no sign of them near the docks” Cleveland reported over comms.

“Columbia here, no sign of them either” Columbia reported over comms.

“I don't understand, we have guards across the entire port. How the hell could they have escaped us?” Denver asked.

“I don't know” Sheffield replied “I last saw them by the Sakura Empire dorm, but I have no idea where they went from here. It's like they vanished into thin air”.

“How the hell do they keep doing that?” Cleveland wondered “How the hell can their ships just appear and disappear like that?”.

“Looks like it's something we're going to have to find out” Sheffield replied “You lot keep your eyes out for them, just in case they haven't left yet. I'm heading back to the Royal Navy dorm,” she said before she turned and made her way back to the Royal Navy dorm.

She entered the dorm the same way she had left it, through the open window of Lelouch's room. She wasn't surprised to find King George V in the room, sitting beside an unconscious Charlotte, or C.C. as Lelouch called her.

“She ok?” Sheffield asked as she walked in.

“She's alive, but has a rather nasty bump on her head” King George V “Hermione has already been taken to the infirmary. She'll live, the blade didn't hit anything vital, but she'll be out of action for a few days,” she said “Any sign of the one's responsible?”.

Sheffield shook her head “I lost them in the Sakura Empire dorm. But I do know who they were, Atago and Takao. And they had Lelouch with them”.

“Damn it, how did they sneak in here in the first place?” King George V said sounding annoyed “This place has the best security in the entire world. How can two heavy cruisers just sneak in here undetected and take the commander?!”.

“I don't know” Sheffield replied with a frown “If you want me to, I'll start a thorough investigation on what happened”.

“Do it” King George V ordered “Find out how they got in, and how they escaped. We can not allow this to happen again,” she said as a team of Manjuu rushed in with a stretcher.

“I'll help get her on,” Sheffield said as the Manjuu moved the stretcher next to C.C. which she quickly helped her onto it. The Manjuu then carried the stretcher out of the room. She followed the Manjuu's out but went a different direction to them.

She was going to find out how this happened, then, she was going to get Lelouch back from the Sakura Empire.

Somewhere in the North Pacific Ocean

Lelouch groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. What the hell happened to him? The last thing he remembered was kissing C.C. after putting a pair of those underpants Resource had given him on, then everything went black. What happened.

He slowly opened his eyes, seeing a grey ceiling above him and matching walls. He guessed that he must be on a ship. He was also lying down in what felt like a bed, but it didn't feel like he had a blanket covering him. He sat up and quickly found that he was handcuffed to the bed, his good arm that his. He still had his prosthetic arm but it wasn't handcuffed. Whoever brought him here wasn't a fool. Also, his body was covered in sweat. Check that, rain, his body was covered in rainwater. Did someone carry him here naked? Thank god he was still wearing his underpants.

“Ara ara!” a female voice said beside him “Finally awake commander~”.

He turned and saw a woman sitting on a chair next to him. She looked slightly older than him with black hair, light brown eyes and, are those dog ears on her head?

She was wearing a white navy dress, black stockings, white high-heel shoes, and had a katana by her side.

“Apologies for kidnapping you, but sadly we had orders to capture you,” the woman said with a smile “Oh, I'm the heavy cruiser Atago. Takao class”.

Atago. He knew about her. She's from the Sakura Empire. Great, just great. He's been captured by the Sakura Empire and he didn't have their key card to activate the Castiel protocol. Damn it, this wasn't what he had planned for. Now he's going to have to find a way back to Azur Main, get the Sakura Empire's key card, and then get back. Could this day get any worse?

“So, I'm under orders to keep an eye on you, just to make sure you don't escape,” Atago said before she stood up and sat on the bed next to him “But, you were knocked around a bit during our escape, and you must be stressed by waking up onboard a hostile ship. So let your big sister take good care of you from now on~,” she said as she crawled up to him and straddle his chest, a seductive smile on her face. She then slowly started to undo the buttons on her uniform, revealing her lacy black bra.

Lelouch was starting to feel rather worried about this, he was not used to women just throwing themselves onto him like this, especially when he was their prisoner. He would have taken a page out of Suzaku's book and retreated, but that was kind of impossible in this situation, seeing that he's handcuffed to the bed.

Thankfully, before Atago could do anything else, his deliverance arrived “What the hell are you doing!!!?” a voice shouted.

They both turned and saw another woman who looked similar to Atago, standing in the doorway. It didn't take him long to realise who she was, Takao, the lead ship of her class and Atago's older sister.

“Oh, hi Takao” Atago said with a smile “I was just keeping an eye on Lelouch here,” she said as she leaned forwards and put her arms around him, smothering his head between her soft, lace-clad bosom.

Takao looked at her sister with an annoyed look “Atago, our orders were to capture Lelouch alive, unharmed, unspoiled, and bring him back to Japan. We were not ordered to seduce him or, whatever your doing to him. So get off of him and fix your uniform”.

“Oh, but he's such a cute commander” Atago groaned sounding disappointed “Can't we just have a little fun with him. There's just the three of us out here after all. And it can get rather lonely during these long voyages of ours,” she said as she traced a finger across his chest “And he's got a nice body too~”.

“Sister! We have a job to do, and I'm going to make sure we complete it without incident!” Takao said “He may be our prisoner, but that doesn't give us the right to, have our way with him. Besides, we were ordered to bring him back unspoiled, remember? This falls under that, so put your uniform back on, and get off of him” she said “Also we're not the only people here. Our sisters Maya and Choukai are here too”.

Atago sighed before she slid off of Lelouch and got up off the bed “I was just trying to relieve any stress he may have after being captured, that's all” she said as she buttoned up her uniform.

“Just don't do it again, ok,” Takao said “Akagi wants him badly, something about that black king thing”.

“Wait what!” Lelouch bleated out, confused by how she knew about him being the black king.

“Oh I wouldn't worry about it much,” Takao said “Yamato and her sister Musashi put out an order to find someone called the 'black king'. Akagi has somehow convinced the admiralty that you are the Black king, which is why we've captured you. But we all know she's only doing it because of your tactical knowledge. The chances that you are this black king Yamato wants to see is rather low”.

“I don't see why we can't have some fun with him first,” Atago said “We all know he's not the black king. So why not start the processes of converting him to our side now”.

“Because we've been ordered not to,” Takao said before the two sisters started arguing about orders and other things.

Lelouch did his best to look confused and suppressed his smirk. So, Yamato wanted to see him then, well, that simplified things for him a bit, no need to go off and find where she lives when you can be taken to her. Still, he didn't have the key card for her, so that complicated things. Plus how the hell did she find out about the black king, he made no reference to it, apart from the king piece he had with him on occasion. Still, that wouldn't be enough to indicate him as the black king. Well, he can find that out once he meets with Yamato. And oh was Akagi in for one hell of a surprise when she finds out that he is the black king. He might actually get a chance to play a game of chess against her.

Hopefully, nothing happens on the way to Japan that results in him not getting there, he would hate to miss this opportunity, even if he didn't have the key card to activate the Castiel protocol, he could still come back at another date to give it to her.

A growl from his stomach reminded him that he hadn't had anything to eat yet and that he was only wearing his underpants. He would need to rectify both of those “Excuse me you two” he said, drawing the attention of the two heavy cruisers “You two wouldn't mind getting me something to eat and wear? I haven't had anything to eat yet, and as you can see, I'm lacking most of my clothing”.

“Ah!” Takao said sounding a bit sheepish “Well, the food shouldn't be a problem, we have a supply ship with us so the Manjuu onboard should be able to cook you something to eat. The clothing on the other hand will be an issue, seeing that we didn't plan on capturing you, naked”.

“I'll see if Maya has anything that he can wear,” Atago said before she walked out of the room, followed by her sister.

Lelouch sighed before he laid back in bed. He was alone for now, so he could plan his next move without interruption. Hopefully, C.C. could come up with something to not only get him out of this but also get the Sakura Empire's key card into his hands.

Azur Main. Six hours after Lelouch was captured by Sakura Empire forces.

“Somebody tell me how the hell two Sakura Empire managed to sneak into the world's most secure facility and escape undetected!!!?” C.C. shouted as she stormed into the central command centre, flanked by both Queen Elizabeth and Long Island. She was not happy that this was allowed to happen. This base had round-the-clock security, both human and Kansen, top-of-the-line CCTV cameras and security sensors. Nothing can get in or out of here without someone or something noticing them.

The command centre was bustling with activity, with large numbers of people rushing about their assigned task, which was tracking the Sakura Empire Kansen who were responsible for this, and finding out how this was allowed to happen.

“We don't know sir” Nathan Murray reported, clipboard in hand “We're still trying to find that out ourselves. We're going over the sensor logs now, just in case we missed something”.

“Sir, I think we found something!” one of the officers there said.

Both C.C. and Nathan quickly rushed over to the officer in question “Report, what have you found”.

“Several of our sensors at the entrance to Pearl Harbor detected them sailing in not twenty minutes before Lelouch was captured” the officer reported.

“You mean they walked in here, just walked in like they belonged here, and the sensors didn't automaticity raise the alarm!” C.C. said, dumbfounded that this was how they got in, just walked in and out of here without setting off a single alarm or being noticed by any of the guards “How the hell did no one notice them?”.

“They must have used the transport ships that were coming in and out as cover,” the officer said “As for why the alarms didn't trip when they entered, well, Atago and Takao aren't registered as hostile yet”.

“What!” C.C. said, eyes wide open and struggling to believe what she had just been told “I don't know if you haven't noticed, but Azur Main is also an Eagle Union navy base, and the Eagle Union is at war with the Sakura Empire. So why then, didn't the automatic security go off when they entered the base!?” she asked sounding very, very annoyed.

“Because we're struggling to register them as hostile” the officer replied “The base security systems were only designed to detect Sirens, and it's annoyingly difficult to add things to the list of people it needs to raise the alarm for” he explained, “It takes an hour just to register one person onto the system, and we've only just started on the Sakura Empire's light cruisers”.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Nathan said sounding annoyed, “I thought we fixed that to make it much quicker to add people to the system?”.

“We did, but that was before the Siren attack” the officer replied “Everything was destroyed, including the new security program. We've had to go back to a previous and older version. We're still waiting on the people who made the system to dig up the most recent update and send it to us”.

“Please don't tell me the people who made the system are here on Oahu, and that their main office was destroyed during that attack?” C.C. asked, hoping for a no.

“I'm afraid so sir” the officer replied.

C.C. sighed before she placed the palm of her hand against her forehead. This was ridiculous, it shouldn't take this long to register someone on a list of people the security system needs to look out for, in fact, it shouldn't be built like that in the first place! And even then, someone should have seen them walk in. the base security systems need much, much more than an update to prevent this from happening again.

Of course, just as she thought this day couldn't get any worse, Owen walked in with a smug grin on his face “Well, as disastrous as it is that Lelouch has been captured by the Sakura Empire, but the Azur Lane still needs a commander to run it. So I-”.

“Finish that sentence Owen, and I'll have you arrested for mutiny” C.C. snapped, not wanting to deal with Owen and his idiocy right now “Lelouch knew that something like this may happen to him, so he appointed me as his second in command. So if something happens to him that puts him out of commission for a while, I am to take command until he can return to active duty” she said sounding very annoyed “And yes, the ALOC is aware of this and can confirm his decisions. So unless something happens to me, you are not in command of the Azur Lane. Do I make myself clear?”.

Owen adverted his gaze “Yes sir” he said reluctantly.

“Good,” C.C. said before she breathed a few times to calm herself down “Alright then, someone get me-” she ordered before a floor panel suddenly shot up.

“Hello,” Albacore said with a smile as she popped up right next to her, causing her to jump.

“Gah! Albacore, where the hell did you come from?” C.C. asked.

“From the ventilation system,” Albacore replied, pointing down towards an open floor vet cover, which had both Bluegill and Ayumodoki poking their head out of it.

“Help me,” Ayumodoki said with a distressed look on her face.

C.C. looked at the three submarines with a confused look, but then she smiled “Well then you three, you've just volunteered for a special operation” she said with a smile.

The three submarines looked up at her with almost scared looks on their faces. This had just turned from good to bad far too quickly.

Chapter Text

Azur Main dock. The next day

C.C. stood to the side of the dock and watched as Albacore, Bluegill, and Ayumodoki sail, well, fly off actually, onboard the Black Knight, in pursuit of the Sakura Empire Kansen who took Lelouch. She normally would be hesitant to use such a valuable and vulnerable asset, but considering the situation, she had no other choice. The Sakura Empire had a good head start on them, a far too good head start as they had somehow managed to cross the vast majority of the distance in less than a day, and was almost at Japan, something that should have taken them several days to do. The Black Knight could make up the difference quickly, but it couldn't do all of it. It's couldn't go too close to Japan, at least they detect it and launch a mission to destroy it. So they will have to be dropped as close as they could to Japan, and make the rest of the journey by sea.

She wished that she could go with them, to help recover Lelouch from the Sakura Empire, but she had to be here to command the Azur Lane, otherwise, Owen will insist that he should be in command and then proceed to mess everything up. At least she can keep him under control. It also meant that she had a lot more paperwork to deal with now. Still, she had faith in Albacore and her sisters to complete the mission and get Lelouch back. She'd already lost him once, she was not going to lose him again.

“Commander Charlotte,” Belfast said as she walked up behind her.

“Yes Belfast” C.C. said as she turned around to face her, and was surprised to see the light cruiser holding a small black and grey cat of the Korat mix breed.

“Your cat has arrived,” Belfast said with a smile “Just finished going through quarantine this morning”.

“Ah, thank you for collecting her for me,” C.C. said as she took the cat from Belfast and held it close to her “Hello there Arthur my lucky little survivor, did you miss me?” she said with a smile as she patted the cat on the head, which meowed in response.

“I'll make sure the rest of the maids know about your cat, and how to look after it,” Belfast said.

C.C. nodded “Thank you Belfast. It's not been easy looking her since-” she said before she stopped.

“Since Myles died,” Belfast said sombrely “Yes I know, I was part of the fleet he was commanding when he died. He was one of our best, and one of the few new commanders we had who were nice to us Kansen. Those Sirens should not have been allowed to get the drop on us like that”.

“It's not your fault, you couldn't have seen that mirror sea coming. No one could have” C.C. said “At least he was able to get you all out of it before they destroyed his ship”.

“Indeed, some of us might not have made it out without him,” Belfast said “Do not worry about Lelouch, Charlotte. We will make sure the same doesn't happen to him, he will be brought back here alive. Have faith in us”.

C.C. smiled “Don't worry, I know we'll get him back. He's survived far worse than this after all”.

“Yes, I do believe that he did,” Belfast said “Sorry for turning what should be a happy reunion with your cat into such a depressing discussion”.

“It's alright. As painful as it is to lose people, those wounds will heal” C.C. said as she held Arthur closer to her “Plus there are something's that help those wounds heal faster”.

Belfast smiled “Indeed there are. Well, I'll be returning to my duty's,” she said before she turned and walked away, only to stop after walking a few feet “Charlotte. I have a, well, two questions for you,” she said as she turned around.

“Hum. You do?” C.C. said as she looked up at her “Ok then, ask away then”.

“Well, the first is which name would you like to be preferred to as? Charlotte Cook or what Lelouch calls you, C.C.?” Belfast asked.

“Whichever you prefer to use Belfast” C.C. replied, “I don't mind”.

“As you wish, C.C.,” Belfast said. C.C. couldn't help but smirk at that, she would have been perfectly happy if she continued to use Charlotte, but it felt nice to be referred to as C.C. by people other than Lelouch again “As for my second question, well, you've been with Lelouch for a while, so I was wondering, what does Lelouch like?”.

“What he likes?” C.C. said sounding slightly confused.

“Yes, what he likes,” Belfast said “Like what kind of women he likes, types of clothing and swimsuits he likes to see. You know, things that draw his attention”.

C.C. smirked, Lelouch was always a chick magnet, but he never really took advantage of his good looks. She was actually surprised that he never tried to go down the harem route during his rebellion, he even had the opportunity to form one with herself, Kallen, and Kaguya, but never really did anything with it, even though she would have been perfectly happy to share him. Maybe it was time to give him a little push towards seeking relationships with the Kansen under his command. There was nothing in the law against it after all, and a harem of warship girls would be useful. Plus it was obvious that several of them had an interest in him.

“Well I'll be more than happy to answer that for you,” C.C. said as she walked up to her, cat in hand “But it may take a while, so I suggest we go somewhere nice and quiet to talk about this”.

“Of course. The gazebo in the Royal Navy dorm shouldn't be in use today, so we can talk there” Belfast said as she turned and matched pace with C.C. as they walked away from the dock “Should I ask Sheffield to help provide refreshments?” she asked.

“Of course you should,” C.C. said with a smile “She may find this interesting. And get Camden Lock as well, I should be able to give her some advice on making friends, seeing that Lelouch brought her here for that same purpose”.

“Ok then, I'll go get them,” Belfast said before she made her way towards the Royal Navy dorm.

C.C. smiled as she watched the light cruiser walk away “Onwards to step two” she said as she made her way towards the Royal Navy gardens.

Sakura Empire Navy base Tokugawa

Akagi stood at the edge of the dock, watching as the four ships of the Takao class and the supply ship they were with sailed into port. Her sister Kaga standing beside her.

There were several other Sakura Empire Kansen watching as well, plus a few human marines because someone thought that a couple of Kansen couldn't escort one man. She did have to remind them a few times that, until Yamato said otherwise, the Kansen of the Sakura Empire had custody of Lelouch, not the marines or anyone else for that matter. Although she suspected that a few of them may try to disobey that order, which wasn't helped by the fact that vice-admiral Tahara Kiyoemon had convinced the admiralty that Lelouch was a threat and should be killed.

It baffled her that they would be so willing to disobey the Decisives so casually, you don't just disobey them, you can't. Question yes, because what kind of leaders would they be if they don't allow you to question their more stranger orders, but still, to disobey them would be akin to disobeying the gods themselves, which is something you just don't do.

“Well, it looks like the operation has gone smoothly,” Kaga remarked as the ships were pushed into docking position by the tug boats.

“Indeed it has,” Akagi said with a smile “We now have Lelouch within our clutches, and the Azur Lane has no chance of getting him back. Soon we will be able to start convincing him to join us”.

“What about Yamato, she will demand to see him,” Kaga said.

“That's if he turns out to be this 'black king' guy she's been looking for,” Akagi said “Which, if we're being honest, is very unlikely. She's provided us with nothing to help identify who the Back King is, only to find him. Besides, we'll have to be super lucky to find the Black King so quickly, and we don't have that kind of luck”.

“If you say so sister,” Kaga said “How's Amagi doing?” she asked.

“She's getting better, but she's still receiving her injections” Akagi replied sombrely “It's taking her longer to recover from the transplant than expected. It's gotten so bad that I've had to hire a maid to help look after her whilst I'm not around” she explained “I just wish that the pain could stop. She's suffered enough already”.

“Agreed. It's not her fault that her cube was defective” Kaga said “Let's just hope that today's injection is the last” she said as Takao's ships docked in front of them, and several Manjuu moved the gangplank into place against the side of the ship. Once in position, the four girls of Takao class walked down the gangplank. But the sight of them cause Akagi some confusion, as for some reason there were two Maya's. It took her a second to realise that Maya hadn't somehow cloned herself, it was Lelouch wearing one of Maya's spare uniforms, arms cuffed behind his back.

Akagi couldn't help but stare at him, jaw wide open. He looked good, he looked really good. She did not expect Lelouch, a man, to look that good wearing woman's clothing.

“Oh, my,” Kaga remarked, her face blushing a deep red.

“He's... gorgeous” she heard Aoba remark, followed by the sound of the heavy cruiser's camera falling onto the floor.

“I believe I just lost my self-confidence as a girl, des...” the destroyer Ayanami remarked as she dropped her sword.

The same thing was happening to the rest of the Kansen present, all of them had their eyes locked on Lelouch, mouths open in surprise. It was almost ridiculous how good looking he was whilst wearing a woman's outfit. If he looked this good in Maya's outfit, how good would he look wearing a dress?

The four Takao sisters walked off the gangplank and up to them, all four of them were blushing “Akagi, we have successfully, ur, captured the Royal Navy commander and commander of the Azur Lane, Lelouch Lamperouge” Takao said with a nervous smile.

“Why on earth is Lelouch wearing one of Maya's spare uniforms?” Kaga asked.

“Oh yes, about that” Atago said with a slight smile “You see when we moved in to capture Lelouch, he was, ur, only wearing his underpants at the time”.

“And you decided to give him clothing to wear!!” Akagi fumed, really wanting to see him shirtless. Everyone, Lelouch included, then gave her a rather questionable look, causing the kitsune to blush red with embarrassment “I-I mean, you gave him something to wear, good, good. We can't have him going around naked now, can we? That would be indecent” she said with a nervous smile.

An audible sigh left Kaga's lips, and Lelouch rolled his eyes. If his arms weren't restrained behind his back, then he probably would have face-palmed as well.

“We should get him something more sensible to wear,” Kaga said “Maya is going to need that uniform back at some point, and we can't have him wearing drag when he goes to meet with, her”.

“You mean Yamato?” Lelouch asked, causing both Akagi and Kaga to look surprised. He wasn't supposed to know that, so how did her know?

“Oh shit,” Atago said looking nervous “We may have told him about that”.

“You did what” Akagi shouted “That is highly classified information that you should have not told him”.

“Sorry. But it kind of just, slipped out” Takao said “We apologies for our transgression” she said as all four sisters bowed.

“It's alright, I forgive you,” Akagi said “No harm has come of it, apart from ruining the surprise. Anyway, no point standing around here when we have a prisoner to escort. Follow us,” she said before she turned, but stopped when she saw Chitose and Chiyoda, light aircraft carriers, shrine maidens, and the personal caretakers of Shinano, watching over her as she sleeps. To see both of them here means that they must have a very important message from the Decisives.

“Chitose, Chiyoda, why are you two here?” Kaga asked.

“We bring a message from Decisives, for Lelouch Lamperouge” Chitose replied.

“A message, for me?” Lelouch said sounding surprised.

“But he only just arrived,” Akagi said sounding surprised “I haven't even told Yamato that he's here”.

“Shinano foresaw his arrival, and gave us a message to give to him,” Chiyoda said “A greeting from the Decisives”.

“Of course she did,” Akagi said. It was no secret that Shinano had the ability to see the future, even in her sleep. She is an important asset to the Sakura Empire, and her dream walking ability would prove quite useful to them when she finally wakes up. That is, if they can find out how to wake her up “Ok then, what's the message?”.

Chitose cleared her throat before speaking “Welcome home Lelouch Lamperouge, welcome home to Area eleven”.

“Huh!” Akagi said sounding very confused “Area what?”.

“Ur, Chitose. You do know that our country is called Japan, right?” Kaga asked, “Not, Area eleven”.

“I know, but that's what Shinano told us to say” Chitose replied “I'm just as confused by it as you are”.

Akagi sighed “Is this another one of Yamato's jokes? I know she has a bad sense of humour, but could she please leave the jokes to her sister Musashi,” she said before turning around to Lelouch to apologise for this, but stop herself when she saw that he looked shocked. He had that look on his face when you hear someone say something that only you should know about, no one else “You ok Lelouch?” she asked.

It took him a few seconds to acknowledge her question “Yes, I'm fine. Just a little surprised by Shinano's message”.

“Right,” Akagi said. She could tell that he was lying, it was painfully obvious after all. But she didn't push it. He wasn't going anywhere any time soon, and once Yamato has confirmed that he isn't the Black King she can get to work on converting him to their side. Then she can ask what he knows about this, area eleven.

Whether or not he's this Black King or not, he was hiding something. And she was going to find out what that was.

Chapter Text

Sakura Empire Navy base Tokugawa.

Lelouch laid back on the bed in his cell, pondering what he had heard from Chitose early in the day. How, how the hell did Yamato and her sisters know about area eleven? That shouldn't even be possible, apart from himself, there were only two other people from his world here, C.C. and his sister Nunnally. There was also Nina, but she was a kansen in this world and probably didn't remember anything about his world. So how the hell did Yamato find out about it? It didn't help that he was put on the spot and had to lie about being confused by it as well. Lying on the spot wasn't something he was good at, so there was a high probability that a few kansen suspected that he was hiding something.

Well, at least he was due to meet with Yamato, which was good. It would be better if he had her key card for the Castiel protocol, that way he could give it to her now and not have to come back here after he's gotten the key. Oh well, at least he can find out if she's willing to use it or not.

He glanced towards the barred door to his cell, Atago and Takao were standing on the other side, guarding him. Akagi really didn't want anything happening to him, so she was making sure that he was properly protected. Not that he needed it, there wasn't much danger here, unless there was a sudden Siren attack, but that was unlikely. So all he needed to do was sit back and wait for him to be brought before Yamato, no need to do anything stupid and try and escape, just sit and wait.

After an hour or so of waiting, two marines walk up to Atago and Takao “Ma'am, we've been ordered to escort the prisoner to Yamato” one of them said.

Takao looked at them with a concerned look “Are you sure about that?” she asked “We were told that Akagi would be the one to inform us that, with Chitose and Chiyoda being the ones to take him to her”.

“Well there's been a change of plan,” the marine said “Something's just come up that required their immediate attention, so they sent us in their place”.

“Right,” Atago said sounding like she didn't believe them “Do you have any proof of that? Because Akagi told us not to let Lelouch out of our sights unless she tells us in person”.

“Oh yes, we have proof,” the marine said, moments later both Atago and Takao suddenly started screaming in pain, clutching their heads as they collapsed onto the floor unconscious “Quickly,” he said before both marines quick raised their rifles and pointed them at Lelouch.

Lelouch quickly realised what was going on, those two marines were assassins sent to kill him. Who sent them he didn't know, but they had somehow knocked out two Kansen and had him right where they wanted him with no chance to escape. Well, for a human that is. With no other choice open to him, he had no choice but to do the one thing he was hoping that he wouldn't have to do.

“Manjuu” Lelouch said in a panic just as the two marines started firing at him, their bullets missing him by just an inch as they flew over him.

“What the!” one of the marines said sounding surprised as Lelouch apparently disappeared, leaving a pile of clothing and a prosthetic arm. They were soon surprised when a Manjuu with raven feathers popped out of the pile of clothing.

Lelouch really didn't want to be doing this, but he had no choice, he wasn't going to die now, so he had to turn into a Manjuu. He quickly noticed that the two marines were now looking at him with confused eyes. Dispute feeling very hot after his transformation, he had to escape and lead the marines away from the unconscious Takao and Atago, least they try and do something to them. So he quickly jumped out of his clothing, rushed through the bars of his cell, past the two rather confused marines, and down the corridor.

“Get that bloody bird!” one of the marines shouted before the two gave chase.

Lelouch was surprised by how fast he was as a Manjuu as he rushed out of the cellblock, those little guys are surprisingly quick for being rather small birds. But even with his quick speed, the marines chasing him were able to keep up with him. They didn't make any attempts to shoot at him, but that was reasonable as it would be very difficult to hit him as he was such a small target, plus they probably don't want to draw any unwanted attention.

As he lead the marines away from the cell block, he planned how he was going to escape them. He didn't know this base well, so finding a place where he could lose them would be difficult. He thought that he could lose them somewhere in the dock, but he soon found that there wasn't much there to hide behind to begin with, that he could use to escape his pursuers. To make matters worse he ran into another group of six marines, which wouldn't have been a problem if they weren't making their way off of Atago and Takao's ships, carrying several pieces of welding equipment and two sledgehammers. One for each group. It didn't take him long to suspect that these people were responsible for whatever happened to Atago and Takao.

His suspicions were confirmed when one of the marines chasing him shouted “Get that bird! It's the AL commander” which prompted the others to look down at him.

Lelouch quickly ran away from both groups of marines before both groups started chasing him. Now he had at eight marines chasing him, which for anyone who was watching with no context as to what was going on, would look very stupid. In fact, he could already hear the Benny Hill music, Yakety Sax playing already. But silly or not, he needed to escape these people, otherwise, he will not be long for this world.

Suddenly the base sirens started sounding, obviously, someone found out that he's escaped, or they found out what the marines who were chasing him had done. There were CCTV cameras in the holding area, thankfully none of which were pointed at his cell.

The marines chasing him didn't bat an eye at the sound of the alarm, focusing on catching up to him instead of the alarm, even going as far as to ignore the aircraft that flew overhead. But Lelouch didn't ignore them. They were Sakura Empire Zero's, but they had a sort of red fiery hue to them. With one or two having a blue hue.

It was then that he bumped into someone's leg, causing him to fall onto his back. He looked up to see who he had bumped into and instantly closed them as he had the perfect view up Akagi's skirt, a view that he wished he didn't have. Who also happened to look very, very angry.

“You boys wouldn't be the one's responsible for knocking out Atago and Takao?” Akagi asked with tranquil fury “As well as for whatever the hell you've done to Lelouch Lamperouge?” she asked before she took a step forwards and stood on him so hard that he popped out from underneath her shoe and was sent flying away.

Well, on the upside he had managed to get away from the marines chasing him. The downside being that he now had to get back to his uniform and prosthetic arm without drawing attention, not an easy task when Akagi and Kaga already know that he was missing, and explaining it will be difficult. Oh well, he can cross that bridge when he comes to it. What he needed to focus on right now was to not become a pancake on the floor.

He was about to start flapping his wings to reduce the speed he was falling at when he suddenly found himself landing headfirst inside a large paper bag full of sticks. Check that, a large paper bag full of lollipops and other pieces of candy. Well, at least it wasn't the floor.

Before he could climb out of the bag someone grabbed him and pulled him out “You ok there mister Manjuu?” a young, childlike voice asked as he found himself turned upright and facing a young girl with short dark brown hair, green eyes and cat ears. The destroyer Mutsuki if he remembered correctly, with six of her sisters sitting around her on a picnic blanket. He had read up on all the Sakura Empire Kansen so he knew who all of them were, and he was worried, very worried.

“Mutsuki, what's wrong with that Manjuu?” Kisaragi asked nervously “Why is its feathers black like a raven?”.

“I don't know” Mutsuki replied “I've never seen a Manjuu with black feathers before,” she said as she put Lelouch down onto the floor.

“Maybe it's a shiny Manjuu” Minazuki suggested “You know, like in the Pokemon games”.

“You're sure about that?” Uzuki asked, “Manjuu aren't Pokemon”.

“Well, then how would you explain why its feathers are black then?” Minazuki asked.

“Maybe one of its parents was a raven” Fumizuki replied.

“Ur, I'm not sure if that's the case” Mikazuki interjected “Manjuu have never been observed making nests, so where do they put their eggs? In fact, do they even lay eggs?”.

“I don't know” Nagatsuki replied “But let's not bother about that now, let's go show this special Manjuu to the others!” she said, followed by her sisters saying YEAH! With their arms up in the air.

This was why Lelouch was concerned about them. Because they were children, very young children who can be quite the handful, and now he was a Manjuu, which left him in quite the predicament as he was now at their combined mercy with no chance of escape until they are done with him, which could take days. Why couldn't he transform into a normal Manjuu with yellow feathers? That way he wouldn't have this problem.

Mutsuki and her sisters quickly packed up the picnic blanket and then set about running around the base showing Lelouch off to anyone they could find, which made him feel like a glorified trophy being paraded around. Not helped by the fact that everyone who they showed him to found him cute.

If only they know who he was and what he was capable of.

One and a half hours after Mutsuki and her sisters took him, they went off to show him off to the one person he really wished they wouldn't. Akagi. She was the one most likely to identify him as Lelouch as she was a kitsune, with a much better scene of smell than a human.

“Akagi,” Mutsuki said as she and her sisters rushed up behind Akagi “We've-”.

“Not now, Mutsuki” Akagi shot, making the destroyers stop in fear, turning her head slightly towards them “I've rather busy at the moment and have far more important things to be doing,” she said before she looked away, towards the group of Manjuu carrying away several stretches with body bags on them.

“Wh-what happened here?” Mutsuki asked sounding very scared.

“We had some Siren cultists infiltrate the base. They broke into Takao and Atago's ships, uncovered their wisdom cubes and hit them with sledgehammers” Akagi replied, “Don't worry, they're fine, just recovering from a massive headache”.

Lelouch scowled. Siren cultists, humans who worship the sirens for a variety of reasons. Whatever their reasons may be, they all have been known to sabotage the Azur Lane's efforts in fighting back against the Sirens. That would explain why those marines wanted him dead, they were cultists, and as the commander of the Azur Lane, he was their enemy. But how did they manage to infiltrate a navy base? He would need to help stamp down on these cultists before they become too big of a threat.

“Siren cultists!!!” Mutsuki said sounding shocked “How did they get into the base?”.

“I don't know” Akagi replied “They did not survive my, interrogation,” she said with a snarl “Now if you would excuse me, I've got to find what they did to Lelouch,” she said before she walked off.

Mutsuki and her sisters watched as the carrier walked away, choosing not to follow her “Now what do we do?” Kisaragi asked.

“What are you lot doing here?” Kaga asked behind them, causing them all to turn around in shock.

“Kaga!” Mutsuki said sounding scared “We were just showing this special Manjuu we found,” she said, holding Lelouch up to her.

Kaga had a good look at the black Manjuu, all the while Lelouch was sweating up a storm, as Kaga was also someone he was worried about as she too knew his scent and could use that to identify him whilst he was a manjuu.

Thankfully, by the grace of whoever the hell brought him here, she didn't identify “You're sure this Manjuu's feathers are naturally black?” she asked.

“Well, we've never seen a black Manjuu before” Mutsuki replied.

“Maybe the reason why you've never seen one before is that there are no Manjuu with black feathers,” Kaga said “This Manjuu must have had its feathers dyed by someone, or got caught up in an oil spill”.

Mutsuki and her sisters suddenly looked shocked before looking back at him “Oh no, poor Manjuu. Who could do such a thing to you” Mutsuki said as she hugged him tightly, sadly not tight enough to send him flying again, which was something he was hoping would happen again, as it would get him away from Mutsuki, and allowing him to go off and find his clothes and arm.

“I know, let's go wash all the muck off of him,” Nagatsuki said “That way he can be yellow again”.

“Good idea,” Mutsuki said “To the onsen,” she said she and her sisters rushed off, Lelouch still in hand.

Lelouch quickly started to panic as he tried to break free from Mutsuki's grasp, resisting the urge to speak out loud. One of the last places he wanted to be was the onsen, for so many reasons that he did not want to go into, being in the woman's only side of the onsen and being in there with people as young as Mutsuki and her sisters being two of them. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not escape from her grasp. He really didn't want to be in an onsen with an unknown number of women who can turn into warships, and what would happen to him if those women find out that he could turn into a manjuu and was in the onsen with them.

Soon the flotilla of destroyers reached the onsen and went into the changing room, with Uzuki staying outside to keep hold of him whilst the others got changed, passing him back to Mutsuki when the rest came out and getting changed herself. Lelouch meanwhile kept his eyes closed, knowing full well that the young girls around him will only be wearing white towels now.

“All set,” Uzuki asked as she walked out of the changing room.

“Yep,” Mutsuki replied with a smile “Let get into the onsen and wash this manjuu”.

Please no, Lelouch thought, really, really not wanting to go through this.

Mutsuki and her sisters rushed into the onsen, but something must have tripped the destroyer up as he suddenly found himself flying through the air, eyes still closed as he hurtled through the air before hitting something soft and bouncy. This was one of the other things he was dreading, falling face-first into someone's breasts.

Dispute feeling fearful for his life, Lelouch opened his eyes slowly and looked up at the person whose chest he had landed on, and his eyes shot wide open in fear. If it were possible he would have turned as white as snow, for who's chest should he have somehow been sent flying into, why none other than Kallen Kozuki, who just so happened to be looking down at him with a shocked/annoyed look on her face.

Lelouch's first thought was 'please be a Kansne', but that was rapidly changed to 'please be regular Kallen'. Because whilst he could handle human Kallen, he would not survive Kallen with the firepower of a warship.

“Get the fuck off of me you perverted yellow bird!” Kallen shouted as she rapidly stood and smashed him away from her, sending him flying into someone else bosom.

“Now that wasn't very nice, Haguro,” a motherly voice said as he was picked up and put down onto the stone floor next to the onsen “It's not his fault that he landed on your chest”.

He looked up at the woman who had so far been the most genital to him. She had short purple hair, brown eyes, and had a beauty mark underneath her right eye. He quickly identified her as the light aircraft carrier Houshou.

“Sorry about that Houshou” Kallen said as she sat back down in the pool, right in-between two other Kansen, who he quickly identified as Myoukou and Nachi. Then he remembered that Houshou referred to Kallen as Haguro, one of Myoukou's sister ships and one that he didn't have any pictures of. Well, looks like she is a Kansen. Oh well, as long as she doesn't find out that he can turn into a Manjuu he should be fine.

Houshou smiled before she got out of the onsen and covered herself with her towel before walked towards Mutsuki to see if she was ok. It was then that he noticed that there were several other Kansen in the onsen with them, about ten not including Mutsuki and her sisters, plus the one's that he's already seen. As well as a good number of manjuu. This was not good, not good at all. But he was only able to recognise all but three of them. The first one was tall with purple hair tied into a ponytail, with two horns on her head, and had pink eyes. The second one had long blue hair, two small horns on her head, and heterochromia eyes, with a red left eye and a blue right eye. The third one was slightly taller than Kallen, or should that be Haguro, either way, she was taller than her, with short brown hair and green eyes. And all three of them had rather noticeable busts.

He didn't recognise any of the three Kansen in question, but there was something about the third kansen that looked familiar to him like he knew who she was but at the same time didn't. More information about this Kansen will have to be gathered, somewhere else that is as he would prefer to get out of here as soon as possible. He should be fine as long as he doesn't talk.

“Now this is an odd-looking Manjuu” a short girl with long red hair and cat ears said as she picked him up. Lelouch quickly recognised her as the B1 submarine I-19, and had briefly seen her at Azur Main, just after the Siren attack “Whys it's feathers black? You wouldn't have any ideas about it Ibuki?” she asked as she showed him to the women with the heterochromia eyes.

“Why would I know why a Manjuu's feathers are black,” the woman said as she got up and sat down on the side of the onsen, covering herself with her towel “I may be a PR ship, but I'm still getting used to this world. Right Izumo,” she said as she turned towards the purple-haired woman next to her.

“Ibuki's right, we're still getting used to, existing,” the woman said “Maybe ask someone who's been around longer than us. They may know something about it”.

Ibuki and Izumo, he knew those names. Those were the names of the Sakura Empire's PR phase one Kansen. This was sort of good as he now knew what they looked like. Still didn't answer who the third one was.

“Oh right. Forgot about that” I-19 said “Hay Yura. Can you identify this” she said as she threw him towards the unknown Kansen, landing right onto her face.

Ok, so her name was Yura, which means she's a Nagara class light cruiser. That's good to know. But he probably should have seen that coming considering she was sitting next to Kinu, another member of the Nagara class.

Yura's reaction was, quite predictably, to grab him and throw him into the water “I-nineteen, what made you think that I know why that manjuu has black feathers?” she asked sounding annoyed. But there was something, familiar, about her voice, but he still couldn't put his finger, or in this case, wing, on it.

He can find that out later, right now he had to get out of here, which won't be easy considering Mutsuki and her sisters want to clean him, plus there were well over twenty Kansen here, so sneaking past all of them will be difficult.

Speaking of Mutsuki “Hello mister manjuu” she said as she picked him up “Sorry for dropping you, but I slipped a bit. But don't worry about me mister manjuu, I'm alright” she said cheerfully “Now let's get you all cleaned up”.

“Ur, Mutsuki, what are you doing with that manjuu?” Haguro asked looking rather confused, a feeling that was shared by most of the Kansen there.

“I'm giving mister manjuu here a wash,” Mutsuki said “Kaga suspects that his feathers were dyed black, so I'm washing him so he can get his yellow feathers back,” she said before she dunked Lelouch underneath the water.

Lelouch quickly started to panic, flapping his wings and legs as he tried to break free from Mutsuki's grasp. What was she trying to do, clean him or drown him? Whatever it was, he had to break free or he will never be able to get away from Mutsuki and her sisters.

He then felt something poke his side, so he turned to his left and was surprised to see a manjuu just sitting there next to him, with nothing but a snorkel in its beak.

The other manjuu turned to look at him with a blank expression on its face. Lelouch quickly took advantage of this situation and grabbed the manjuu, squeezing out of Mutsuki's hands and putting the other manjuu in his place before the destroyer could grab him again. He also took the snorkel, just so it didn't look like he had escaped.

For some strange reason, the manjuu didn't seem to mind what was happening to him and looked to have a smile on his face when he was pulled out of the water. What a strange bird, useful, but strange.

He couldn't hear what was being said due to the water, but it sounded like everyone was either surprised, confused, or happy. Either way, they now thought that the bath had worked and that he was a normal manjuu, meaning now all he had to do was sneak out of the onsen and find his clothing. But he would have to do it carefully, otherwise, Mutsuki and her sisters may spot him again, and he would be right back to square one. So he decided to move away from Mutsuki and stay underwater. The problem was that it was very warm water he was sitting in, and he was getting hotter and hotter by the second. He was going to get out of here soon, least he becomes a roast manjuu.

He slowly made his way to the side of the pool and noticed that there was a piece of a towel poking into the water. This was good as it meant that he could use it to get out of here without being seen, well, they will notice him leaving, they just won't be able to see him.

He quickly grabbed the towel and pulled it over him as he jumped out of the pool and ran towards the nearest exit as fast as his small body could take him, his body covered by the towel.

“Hay! You bloody Manjuu! Give that back you fuck!” Haguro shouted because of course, the towel was her's, why wouldn't it be?

Once he was past the door to the onsen he discarded the towel and rushed off into the bushes. Mainly to escape Haguro's wrath, but also so that he could move about unseen. Now he could go and find where Akagi had taken his clothing and prosthetic arm.

Turns out it was surprisingly easy to find where she took his stuff, as Akagi had taken them to her quarters, well, a small Japanese house, but still, it's where she lived and she wasn't at home, good, now he can simply sneak in, turn back into a human, and get dressed. That left one problem, how he was going to explain what happened to him to Akagi. Oh well, he can cross that bridge when he comes to it.

He carefully entered the building and made his way towards his clothing, which had been placed on a small table by the wall, just next to a sliding door. Once he reached his stuff he quietly said Manjuu, turning back into a human, thankfully he was still wearing his special underwear. He quickly grabbed his prosthetic arm and reattached it to his body. But before he could put the rest of his clothing on the door to his side opened and someone came out of it, bumping into him and sending both of them falling onto the floor, with whoever it was who had bumped into him laying on top of him.

Lelouch quickly regained his composure and looked at the person laying on top of him, and instantly started to blush a deep red. It was a woman, another kitsune like Akagi, in fact, she looked a bit like the brown-haired kitsune, just with a lighter shade of brown for her hair and fur, and purple eyes. She was also completely naked and wet, probably just came out of the shower, noted by the towel that was laying next to them, which must have fallen off of her when she fell on him.

Their eyes met with a confused gaze. Lelouch's face was blushing a deep red, but the woman who was laying on top of him looked only slightly confused and not at all embarrassed, apart from having a slight blush on her face.

Suddenly the main door opened “Nee-san, we're baaaaaaaaaaaah!!!” Akagi screamed as she and Kaga walked in, stopping once they saw the state Lelouch and the other woman were in. Both of them had mortified looks on their faces, positively shocked by the sight before them.

“Oh, hello Akagi,” the woman laying on top of him said calmly, ignoring the fact that she was laying on top of Lelouch.

Lelouch meanwhile was desperately hoping that the woman on top of him would get off of him and put her towel back on, he's already had enough of women and towels today. Could this day get any more embarrassing?

“Amagi, I've brought yo- Oh good lord!” a woman who was dressed as a maid exclaimed as she walked in, stopping dead in her tracks and dropping a basket full of clothing.

If Lelouch could get redder he would be as red as the sun, because against all odds, he recognised the maid who had just walked in, good lord did he recognised her. Sayoko Shinozaki, the woman who took care of both Nunnally and himself whilst they were at Ashford Academy.

Lelouch sighed, and resided himself to whatever punishment fate had in store for him, which hopefully was a sword through the chest because that would be better than having to explain what has happened to him today.

Chapter Text

Sakura Empire Navy base Tokugawa.

Honestly, Lelouch was expecting a much more, violent punishment from Akagi, seeing that he had a naked Amagi, who was her sister, laying on top of him. He half expected and may have hoped for a sword through the chest. What he got instead was, well, he didn't know if it was a punishment or a reward.

“Akagi, you think we've smothered him enough?” Kaga asked.

“Nope” Akagi replied with a frown “He's staying like this until we get orders to take him to Yamato. Until then, he stays where he is”.

Where he was being smothered by the two Kitsune's fluffy tails, which was an odd punishment as it was very comfortable. Their floofy tails completely engulfing him. It was also rather warm and completely unable to escape from, as each time he tried to get out, a fluffy tail would drag him back into the ball of floof. A strange punishment to be sure, but one that kept him within Akagi's reach.

“Is it really necessary to punish him?” Kaga asked, “You heard Amagi's side of the story. She didn't mean to fall on top of him. She just got dizzy and collapsed, that's all”.

“After washing him after finding him outside naked” Akagi retorted loudly “How the hell did he get from the prison to our dorm? Those cultists wanted him dead, yet they didn't kill him on sight, they wasted their time chasing a manjuu”.

“May I say somethi-MAMFOWEBFIU” Lelouch tried to talk, only to have one of Akagi's tails smother his face.

“No, you're not to say anything about what happened,” Akagi said sounding annoyed “I am not in the mood to speak to you”.

“You're just mad that Lelouch tried to make a move on Amagi,” Kaga said calmly.

“Hay, I made no such-IGUEWHUSEF!” Lelouch tried to defend himself, only to get smothered by one of Kaga's tails.

“Shut up, the adults are talking,” Kaga said before turning to Akagi “Look, I know you're very protective of Amagi, but she can look after herself, even when sick”.

It was then that Sayoko walked into the room “Amagi's resting, so I advise you keep your voices down”.

“Thank you Sayoko,” Akagi said with a smile “How's she doing?”.

“She's fine” Sayoko replied as she sat down opposite them “She's been getting a lot better since her last injection. Her new wisdom cube has finally melded to her body, so no more injections. But it will be a few weeks before she's fully recovered, so don't expect her to manifest her rigging any time soon” she said “Also she said that you shouldn't be so hard on Lelouch. It's not his fault she fell on top of him whilst both of them weren't exactly wearing much”.

“Well, I'm not letting him go until we get orders on what to do with him from Yamato!” Akagi said, “He's been a lot of trouble as of late, and I have no desire to let him out of my sight until I know what to do with him”.

“That could take days,” Kaga said “What do you plan to do with him if you need to go to sleep?” she asked.

“I'll come up with something,” Akagi said with a smile.

Lelouch really wished that he wasn't stuck in this position right now. Yes, it was comfortable, but it was also getting rather hot and he was getting cramps in parts of his body. Also, he was still in his underwear as Akagi and Kaga didn't give him enough time to get dressed before they smothered him in floof.

There was a knock on the door “Who is it?” Akagi asked loudly.

“It's Haguro” a female voice replied “I'm with Yura. We've got orders from Yamato”.

“Come in,” Akagi said, not wanting to delay them.

The door opened and the two Kansen walked in. But due to his head being smothered in floof, he could not see them.

“So, what are the Decisives orders?” Akagi asked.

“Orders are to take Lelouch Lamperouge to Yamato's estate immediately” Haguro replied “With Atago and Takao currently recovering, Yura and I will be the one's escorting him there, alongside Chitose and Chiyoda, with Atago and Takao joining up for the return trip”.

“Wait, you mean, he's the black king?!” Akagi said sounding surprised.

“I don't know. Yamato's message didn't cover that” Haguro replied calmly.

“It's possible that she can only confirm that he is the black king in person” Yura added “We won't know for sure until we take him to her. Also, who have you got trapped in your tails?”.

“Oh, that would be Lelouch” Akagi replied before she and Kaga released him from their tails, and shoved him onto the floor.

“I have been consumed by floof for thirty minutes,” Lelouch said before he stood up, and immediately noticed that Haguro, Yura, and Sayoko were all blushing a deep red. He was also able to see what the latter two were wearing and was surprised by it.

Haguro was wearing a Sailor Fuku similar in colour to the uniform of Ashford Academy but was designed differently. He also only just noticed the pair of cat ears on her head, which were obviously not fake.

Yura meanwhile was dressed similarly to her sister Kinu, but her outfit was white, the skirt was slightly longer, and she didn't have a hat on. There were also two small horns on her head, an Oni like her sisters.

“How the hell did that happen?” Yura murmured quietly.

“Oh my god,” Sayoko said sounding shocked “What happened to your arm Lelouch?” she asked before she stopped herself from saying anything else, realising too late that she should not have said that.

Sadly Akagi and Kaga were quick to figure out what she was going to say “You know Lelouch, don't you Sayoko?” Kaga asked.

“Yes” Sayoko replied, causing Lelouch to feel worried “I looked after him and his sister back when they were in Japan before a Siren attack separated us” she explained, and Lelouch breathed a sigh of relief.

“You know him, and you didn't think to tell us about him?!” Akagi said sounding annoyed.

“Well, you never asked” Sayoko replied “Besides, I didn't think it was the same Lelouch I knew. I thought he died during a Siren attack”.

“She has a point Akagi” Kaga added with a slight smirk.

“Ur, excuse me,” Haguro said with a slight smile “As much as I don't want to interrupt you a lot, Yamato's orders were to be carried out immediately. And I don't think it's a good idea to bring him before the Decisives, in his underwear”.

“Good point,” Akagi said as she stood up and walked over to the clothing Lelouch had been previously wearing, a spare pair of Maya's clothing, picked them up, and passed them to him “Wear these”.

“Ur, isn't there anything else I can wear?” Lelouch asked, not wanting to wear that again.

Yura sighed “You can get dressed into something more appropriate later, during the trip to Yamato's estate,” she said, “Now get dressed before we force you into it!”.

Lelouch sighed before he took the clothes “Can I go somewhere private to get chan-” he asked before all the gathered Kansen responded with a loud “NO!”.

He sighed again there was no privacy here, was there.

Transport ship Sengoku. One an hour later. En route to the Yamato estate.

Lelouch laid back in bed, watching the clock on the wall. There wasn't much else to do anyway, he had already gotten changed into something far more appropriate for a meeting with Yamato than woman's clothing. Ok, so there were a few interesting things to note, like despite how much Haguro acted like Kallen, there were a few differences, like the fact that she likes to read mangers. He was sure that he never saw Kallen even go near them, she wasn't 100% her. Still wasn't going to tell her about his ability to turn into a Manjuu.

Yura meanwhile was still bothering him. There was something about her that looked and sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't tell why. He doesn't remember knowing anyone who looked or sounded like her, but the feeling was still there. Who was she a doppelgänger of from his past? He didn't have much of a chance to gather some more information about her, as he spent most of his time here being guarded by Haguro, so he couldn't gather much about her.

There was also something else bothering him. When he was coming here the skirt he was wearing felt heavy on one side, yet he didn't know why. He couldn't check it out as that would cause the others to be suspicious of him, so he didn't bother looking into it. But now that he was alone he could.

He sat up, reached for the skirt, and held it up. Indeed it felt slightly heavy on one side. He felt around on the heavy side and found a thin rectangular shaped thing had been hidden inside the skirt, in-between the layers of fabric.

He slowly and quietly tore open the bottom part of the skirt, right beneath the rectangular object. Once opened he reached into the skirt, grabbed the object, and took it out, and smiled. It was the Sakura Empire's key card for the Castiel protocol, still held within its plastic case, with a note taped to the back of it. 'Rescue will be attempted after meeting with Yamato'. Good, so whoever put this here knew how important it was that it got into Yamato's hands. It couldn't have been C.C. as she would be busy commanding the Azur Lane in his absence, so it had to be a Kansen or group of Kansen. Either way, he will be heading back to the Azur main soon and then can move on to the Ironblood.

He smiled. Things were looking up, and there was no Roon insight.

Sakura Empire Navy base Tokugawa. Airport. Two hours after Lelouch departed for the Yamato estate.

Akagi and Kaga watched as the Ironblood stealth aircraft landed on the runway and slowed down. Around there were a few other Kansen and base personal.

“Must we allow her here?” Kaga asked, “We have enough problems as it is”.

“The Ironblood are our allies, so we must be courteous with them” Akagi replied with a sly smile “Even if they send that, monster, here, we must treat them like guests,” she said as the aircraft moved in front of them and stopped. A part of the aircraft opened up and a staircase came out. Roon then slowly stepped out of the craft and walked down the stairs, followed by her monstrous rigging.

Whilst Akagi and Kaga were strong, most of the humans weren't. In fact, none of them were, and all of them looked uncomfortable with that thing around. They all knew the story's around her, about what happened when she was awakened, what kind of monster the Ironblood had cooked up in that lab. None of them wanted to be around her, but had to, because Akagi had told them to be here.

“Guten Tag,” Roon said as she stepped onto the ground, speaking in German, which wasn't much of a problem as Akagi and Kaga were fluent in German “Apologies for not greeting you in Japanese, but I'm still learning your language,” she said as she walked up to them, her rigging following behind.

“It's quite alright,” Akagi said in German “We're fluent in German, after all. Also, welcome to the Sakura Empire, Roon,” she said with a smile.

“Thank you,” Roon said with a sinister smile “I'm glad you allowed me to come here. And as much as I would like to have a look around, I have more important things to do”.

“Of course, we'll assist you the best we can,” Akagi said with a smile “Ayanami, would you kindly show Roon to her dorm?”.

“Yes,” Ayanami said with a nod “Please follow me”.

Roon happily followed Ayanami towards her dorm, followed by her rigging.

Both Akagi and Kaga felt unnerved by the monstrous shrimp as it walked past “Why is it that the Ironblood's rigging looks so, monstrous?” Kaga wondered, speaking her mind when Roon and her rigging were out of sight.

“I don't know” Akagi replied, “But I think that it's for the best that we don't”.

“Agreed,” Kaga said with a slight nod. She didn't know why Roon was here, but she could guess that involved Lelouch. Bismarck was taken out by him, so it would be obvious that she would like some revenge on the man responsible for almost sinking her.

Well, she'll have to wait her turn. Yamato wasn't done with him yet.

Two Hours Later. Yamato estate.

When Lelouch first set his eyes on the Yamato estate he was amazed by the Japanese architecture, it had been a very long time since he last saw a building like this. When Britannia invaded Japan most buildings like this were destroyed and replaced with something more 'modern'. It was nice to see a Japan that hasn't been torn apart and corrupted by his father's empire, which made him feel more motivated to protect it from the Sirens.

Of course, he wasn't allowed to admire the estate for long, as one of the estate's guards, whose equipment looked more ceremonial than practical, escorted him inside, not giving him a chance to admire the beautiful interior and several objects that were on display. This was a very well kept estate.

The guards took him to a large room near the centre of the estate, ressentiment of his father's throne room, but with a Japanese feel to it. Also three massive and grand thrones at the end that were far larger and more impressive than anything his father ever rested his arse on.

Two of the thrones, the middle one and the one of the right looked somewhat like battleship rigging, a large battleship that is, with several large turrets with large cannons on either side of the bow, which looked the be the seat part, with a large number of smaller guns covering them. Their third one, the one on the left, looked more like an aircraft carrier, with two large flight decks on either side of the thrones bow.

What was surprising was that all three of them were empty, no one was sitting on them. It was strange as he was expecting to see Yamato sitting on one of the thrones when he walked in, yet she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

The guards who brought him here pushed him forwards, almost causing him to trip. When he turned back to face them he was surprised to see them leave, even the two guards who were on either side of the door turned and followed them out before closing the door, shunting him inside an empty throne room.

“We've been waiting for you, Lelouch Lamperouge,” a strong female voice said behind him. He turned around quickly and was shocked to see that there were now two people sitting on the two battleship looking thrones, both were kitsune with very large and fluffy tails “Or should that be, Lelouch vi Britannia” the middle kitsune said with a slight smile.

Chapter Text

Yamato estate

Lelouch stood there frozen on the spot, with a shocked look on his face. How? How the hell did they know his real name? He had said it once in this world, and that was when he was talking to Belfast and the others about who he really was. No one outside of that room, apart from C.C., know his real name. Unless they had found someone else from his world who remembered who he was.

The middle kitsune was a tall and imposing woman, with short light grey hair and fur on her large tails, red eyes and a regal posture. She was wearing a red kimono with an armoured belt around her waist, black stockings, metal geta's, and had a smoking pipe held in one of her hands.

The kitsune on the right was similar in height to the middle one, but she had long black hair and fur on her tails, golden eyes, and had a more, mischievous look on her face. She had a black and red kimono with an armoured belt around her waist, metal geta's, and a large and impressive fan held in her hand. She also looked more relaxed than the other one.

Both women were very well endowed.

“H-, how do you know my name?” Lelouch asked, still shocked by what he had just heard. Only just noticed the two moon-like spheres floating beside them.

“A question, for later” the middle kitsune replied in a commanding tone “You should be honoured Lelouch vi Britannia, to be granted the honour of being brought before us. Most men would kill just to be here, whilst others believe that they can just walk in here like they own the place, and demand what they want from us” she said before she took a smoke from her pipe “I do hope that you know who we are, Lelouch”.

“Yes, I know who you are,” Lelouch said “The Decisives. Yamato and Musashi. The leaders and flagships of the Sakura Empire”.

“Indeed. I am Yamato, flagship of the Sakura Empire” the middle kitsune, Yamato, said proudly “I would have had to punish you if you had gotten that wrong. But I doubt that would have happened. Men like you like to know as much as they can about the major players” she said, causing him to gulp.

“And I'm Musashi,” the kitsune on the right said with a smile “I must say, you're very cute for the commander of the Azur Lane, and small. But don't worry about that, we will take good care of you~”.

“Musashi, save your teasing for later,” Yamato said, looking at her sister “We have more important matters to discuss. Like our sister Shinano”.

Shinano, the third ship of the Yamato class, and strangely missing. It was obvious that the third throne was for her, but it was empty with no one sitting on it. Where was Shinano?.

“I can't help but notice that your sister is missing. Where is she?” Lelouch asked.

“She's asleep” Yamato replied as she stood up, allowing him to see just how tall and imposing she was “Follow” she ordered before she walked towards and past him towards the main door. He turned and followed the battleship, but was surprised that Musashi didn't follow. In fact, when he turned to look at her, she was gone.

He followed Yamato out of the throne room and down the long corridor, taking a few turns here and there before they entered a lavish garden with a small shrine in the middle of it. Inside the shrine was a stone tablet with a mattress on it. Sleeping on said mattress was another kitsune, with long light grey hair and fur on her large tails. She was wearing a blue kimono with an armoured belt around her waist, white stockings, metal geta's, and had several small moons floating above her. Said moons were the same as the two that were floating around Yamato and Musashi. She was also just as busty as her sisters.

“I take it that's your sister Shinano?” Lelouch observed as they walked towards the shrine.

“Indeed it is,” Yamato said as they walked inside “She's been like this ever since she was manifested. We don't know why she manifested like this, and we've been unable to find a way to wake her up. Until now”.

“Your slow sister,” Musashi said with a smile, sitting on a bench inside the shrine and letting her moon float around her hand “In the time it took you to walk over here I was able to get over here and get myself comfortable,” she said as she let her moon fly off and join the moons floating above Shinano “You sure all this lazying around isn't having an effect on your engines?”.

Yamato sighed “What have I told you about running in the corridors?” she asked.

“Who said I was running,” Musashi said with a smirk before she stood up “Now, our sister may be asleep, but she is far from useless. She can dreamwalk, allowing her to see things that have happened, are happening, or will happen. She can also interact with the world through her dreams and can even conduct a ritual from within her slumber” she explained “And yes, her ability allows her to visit other worlds, that includes your world, Lelouch vi Britannia”.

His world! How was that possible? He was already struggling to believe what Shinano could do, but now she can see into other worlds as well, his included. Not even Geass could do anything remotely like that. Or it could, and he never met someone with that ability.

“So that's how you know who I am,” Lelouch said as he turned to face Yamato.

“Indeed Lelouch, our sister showed us your world, as well as what you did,” Yamato said as she walked up to Shinano “From your highest highs to your lowest lows, she showed us them all. As well as the more, questionable decisions you and those around you made”.

“Like the Black Knights turning on you, the ungrateful bastards” Musashi added “Seriously, after all you did for them to help free Japan from your father's empire, only to turn on you at the drop of a hat after your brother showed up. They trusted him far too easily and didn't even check with you first” she said sounding annoyed “Ok so he was sort of right, you did accidentally cause a massacre, but still, they believed and trusted your brother far too easily. If they were our subjects we would have given them a right telling off for how dumb they were. Even if it was the truth, they were idiots to believe him so quickly”.

“Musashi, enough. You don't have to remark on that moment in his life” Yamato said sounding annoyed “Or on any part of his life for that matter. We don't have time to have a commentary on his entire life. We are here because he is the key to waking our sister up!”.

“I'm what?” Lelouch said sounding surprised.

“Yes. According to Shinano, you are the one who will wake her up from her slumber” Yamato said, “We just don't know how you're supposed to do it”.

“Oh great,” Lelouch said with a sigh “Is there a reason you girls don't know why-” he said, about to ask a question before one of Shinano's moons floated over to him. It had a constellation on it, which changed a few times. It then quickly changed into a symbol, although he didn't get time to see what was on it before it glowed red, and he suddenly, somehow, found himself sitting down in a rather nice looking cafe “What the hell?”.

“Mmh... This one apologises for bringing you here without warning” a voice said sleepily before him “But time is important, and we can't afford to waste it”.

Lelouch looked up and was surprised to find Shinano sitting before him, fully awake and with a cup of tea in front of her “What?” he said sounding surprised “How are you-”.

“Awake,” Shinano said, “This one, is still asleep in the real world. This is the Dreamscape, the bar of dreams to be exact. Where this Shinano, and other Shinano's go to plan our routes”.

“Other, Shinano's?” Lelouch said sounding confused. He then looked around and was surprised to see that the cafe was full of Shinano's “Oh” he remarked as he looked around. There was a large number of Shinano's in here. Most of them looked the same, but there were a few that looked different. One was dressed like one of the Royal maids, another was wearing a WW2 Japanese navy uniform, and there were at least two who looked like child versions of them.

“This one, is not the only Shinano. There are, others, from other worlds” Shinano said “We gather here, to plan out routes, in the ever-changing landscape of the dreamscape. It's from here I found my way to your world, and its other versions. Just like me, there are other versions of you, each one living in their own world, with no idea that there are other versions of them, living the same but different lives” she explained “I'm afraid that I got a bit confused when visiting your world, so some of the information I've provided to my sisters may not be accurate”.

“I see,” Lelouch said, struggling to take in everything Shinano had just told him. Multiple versions of himself? How was that possible, unless the multiverse theory was, in fact, correct and there was god knows how many other versions of himself “Is there a reason you brought me here?” he asked because as interesting as multiverse theory would be, it's a bit too complex for him. Better leave that kind of stuff to someone who knows more about it and can visit other worlds, like Shinano.

“Huh? Oh yes, that” Shinano replied “This one, brought you here, to tell you how to wake her up in the real world. I would have told my sisters but was unable to do so. Unlike the other Shinano's, this one requires a drop of your blood, that has touched Watatsumi, a special stone that allows us to will ships into existence, even those who never truly existed”.

Lelouch looked surprised, but in reality, he was hiding his smirk. A stone that could will ships into existence, that could be quite useful in making new Kansen quickly “And where can I find this, Watatsumi?” he asked.

“You can't. It was destroyed by the Ember some time ago” Shinano replied, “Which is strange, as this one still feels its presence in this world”.

“So, it's been destroyed, but you can still sense it,” Lelouch said “So it still exists then”.

“This one believes so. But it's out of my sight” Shinano said “If it is still intact, you must find it and bring it here. This one, can not wake from this slumber without it” she said “You should go now. Timing is important and there are places you needed to be at specific times. Also, be careful, the Ember has a hatred for whoever commands the Azur Lane, which includes you, Lelouch. She may try to kill you”.

“Wait, who's-” Lelouch asked before he found himself back in the real world, standing where he was stood before he found himself in that cafe “-Ember?”.

“Oh, you're back,” Yamato remarked as she moved in front of him “So, how was your chat with my sister?” she asked.

“It was strange” Lelouch replied “How long was I, well, standing here?”.

“About ten seconds” Musashi replied “Time moves differently in the dreamscape. So anyway, what did our sister tell you?” she asked with a smile.

“She told me how to wake her up” Lelouch replied “She needs a drop of my blood to-”.

“Oh, that's good,” Musashi said before she grabbed Lelouch's hand and was about to cut one of his fingers with one of the blades on her fan.

“Wait!” Lelouch shouted, “It's not that simple. The blood needs to have touched Watatsumi first”.

“Oh, well that's going to be a problem since Ember destroyed it,” Musashi said as she let go of Lelouch's hand.

“Who is Ember anyway?” Lelouch asked, really wanting to know who they were before they came after him “Shinano told me that Ember may try and kill me just for being the commander of the Azur Lane, but she didn't tell me who they were”.

“She's like Ash,” a voice said behind him, one that was familiar to him. He turned around, and once again found himself face to face with his sister Nunnally, still wearing his Zero suit “A Kansen from the same world as Ash, the Enterprise lookalike you met in Russia. She's dangerous Lelouch, if she wants you dead, there is very little you can do to stop her”.

“Nunnally. Why are you here?” Lelouch asked, surprised to see his sister again.

“She's a guest at our estate” Yamato replied “Your sister had been most helpful in helping us get a better understanding of your life. Whilst Shinano did give us plenty of information about you, it wasn't all from the same world. So it got a bit muddled. Your sister helped us put all the correct information together, whilst correcting us on any misunderstandings”.

“Which was slightly disappointing when some of the things we found out about you turned out to not have happened to you personally, but to other versions of you” Musashi added.

“You thought my brother was gay and in love with Suzaku whilst also married to C.C.” Nunnally explained “And had to fight someone with a notebook that could kill people and had a god of death backing him up. I know Shinano provided you two with a mix of information about Lelouch, but I would have thought some of it would be obviously not from the world we came from, like the aforementioned god of death”.

“You what!” Lelouch blurted out, shocked that they believed such a thing. Him, gay and in love with Suzaku and married to C.C.? what the hell kind of horny schoolgirl fan fiction nonsense was that? Also, a notebook that could kill people, how would that work? Write done the name of whoever you want dead and wait?

“To be fair, those were some of the less strange things Shinano showed us,” Musashi said, making Lelouch wonder what else they saw that made those things less strange “Anyway, how are we going to wake up Shinano? Watatsumi was destroyed”.

“You sure about that” Lelouch replied “Shinano said that she could still sense Watatsumi, so it may still be out there. She just doesn't know where”.

“So, Watatsumi still exists then,” Yamato said with a slight smile “I suspected much. Nagato did say that Ember said the Watatsumi she destroyed was a well made fake, but I didn't think much of it until now. If it is true, and it was a fake, there's only one person I can think of who can make such a realistic replica, Akashi. Looks like we're going to have to have a word with the greedy cat after this, just to see if she is involved in making the fake that was destroyed. I'll summon her once we're done here, until then, Lelouch, we'll leave you to the tender care of Akagi. No doubt she'll be happy to know how important you are to us” she said “Until the next time we require you, Lelouch vi Britannia”.

“Wait, I-” Lelouch said, still needing to talk to them. But just as mysteriously as they had appeared, Yamato and Musashi had vanished “Damn it! I wasn't done yet” he said sounding annoyed “They don't have their key card yet”.

“You mean the key card for the Castiel protocol?” Nunnally asked, “The one Musashi took from you when you were talking to Shinano?”.

“Yes, that-. Wait what?” Lelouch said as he quickly checked his pockets, sure enough, the key card that he had hidden in his clothing was gone “They took it. Why?”.

“Because they want to be freed from this war and go back to doing what they were made to do, to fight the Sirens” Nunnally replied “They want out just as much as the rest of the Kansne, and you represent their only hope. Plus knowing you, you'll find a way to get back to the Azur Lane without much trouble. C.C. may already have a plan in motion to get you back”.

“I see,” Lelouch said “Any chance that you can help me with that?”.

Nunnally shook her head “I'm afraid not. I have a deal with Yamato, so I can't interferer with this” she said with a frown “But like I said, C.C. may already have a plan in motion to help you, barring that, I'm sure you can come up with something. You've escaped from worse situations after all” she said “Be careful out there brother, those Siren cultists won't stop trying to kill you. Get someone you can trust to watch you back. They are far more organised then they let on to be” she said before she too disappeared, a hologram protecting her image. He actually smiled at that. His sister had learned a few things since his time, as well as had a few things developed to help her out. That hologram technology she had would have been very useful during the black rebellion, sadly during his time such tech was still under development and the holograms that were made were obviously not real.

He sighed as several of Yamato's guards walked in to escort him back to the transport that brought him here. He hid his smile as they escorted him out of the building, three down, just one more left to go.

Chapter Text

Transport ship Sengoku. On route to Navy base Tokugawa.

Takao jogged along the top deck of the Sengoku, exercising to keep herself fit. She could have been doing this onboard her own ship, but Yamato herself had ordered that he be protected, so that's what she was doing.

She had recovered from having a group of cultists uncover her ships wisdom cube and hitting it with a sledgehammer, and was now returning as part of the escort group. How they were allowed access to her ship was unknown, as Akagi killed them all, but the experience had frightened her. She will not allow the same thing to happen to her or anyone else again.

She wasn't the only one Yamato had ordered to protect him, her sister Atago had also received the order, as well as the heavy cruiser Haguro and the light cruiser Yura. Quite the formidable escort for just one man, but Yamato said that he was important, so she will protect him with her life.

Of course, some of them were taking this is a bit more seriously than others, like her sister Atago, she spent more time fantasising about him than guarding him. And then there was Haguro, who was currently sitting at the front of the ship reading one of her manga's. No idea what Yura was doing.

She slowed down slightly and walked up behind Haguro “You know we're supposed to be guarding someone right?”.

“I know” Haguro replied “My ships busy doing that,” she said as she pointed towards her ship, which was sailing in formation around the transport ship “Lelouch's cell is locked, Yura's ship's sonar is keeping an eye out for submarines, our air CAP is up and keeping an eye out, and the thirty other ships escorting us will warn us of anything that comes close. We can afford to relax a little, or in your case, exercise”.

“Exercise is good for you. It's always good to keep one's body in shape” Takao said.

“I know. It just doesn't do much for us as we Kansen can't get fat, or thin. In fact, our body's don't change at all” Haguro said “Don't get me wrong, I do exercise from time to time, just not as much as you do. Besides, shouldn't you be guarding Lelouch at the moment?”.

“Atago's busy guarding Leouch-” Takao said before someone grabbed her from behind and started 'massaging' her.

“Hello there Takao~,” Atago said with a smile “You look a bit tense today. Do you require big sis to help relax you a bit?” she asked.

“Atago!” Takao shouted as she quickly broke free from her sisters grasp and turned to face her “What have I told you about doing that?” she asked before she noticed that Yura was with her “Why is Yura here? Who's guarding Lelouch?!”.

“Don't worry, he's having a shower” Yura replied calmly “We're giving him some privacy. It's not like he can escape”.

“I wanted to help wash his back, but Yura here stopped me,” Atago said sounding disappointed.

“Our orders were to protect him, not to spy on him in the shower,” Yura said.

“I know,” Atago said “Anyway, what you reading Haguro, more porn?”.

Haguro's face rapidly turned red “I-I-I, I am not reading porn!” she shouted as her head snapped towards Atago “It's a normal, non-porn, mech manga. Nothing else”.

“Then why does one of the pages show a guy clearly piloting a mech naked?” Yura asked before Haguro smacked her in the face with her manga.

“You say anything else and I will drag you to Mt. Fuji and sink you for real this time!” Haguro shouted.

Takao sighed, she should have suspected something like that would happen. Haguro didn't exactly get along with Yura, although she couldn't tell why. Back when the two first manifested they got on well, but then one-day Haguro just flat out started to dislike Yura for no known reason. Even their sisters were confused by it. Kinu said that the two had a private chat the night before but she had no idea what they talked about. The funny thing was that the feeling was not mutual, as Yura did not hate Haguro. Maybe she just said something that angered the heavy cruiser and had yet to be able to make amends for it. It was just that none of them knew what she had to to make her angry at her. Whatever it was Yura wasn't talking about it, which made helping her impossible. Oh well, hopefully, they sort it out, as it can get annoying sometimes.

“Now now Haguro, no need to be so aggressive. She was just pointing out the obvious” Atago said with a smile “We all know about your, 'secret stash'” she said with a cheeky smile, causing Haguro to blush even more “Plus I know you two have the hots for our prisoner Lelouch”.

“No we do not” Yura retorted with a light blush on her face.

“Oh, so you didn't say 'no' when Lelouch asked if he could get dressed in private” Atago said with a smirk “I've seen how you two look at him, you can barely keep your eyes off him. Plus I know you two were talking about him during that last 'secret' meeting you two had. What were you talking about, how good looking he was?”.

“No, nothing of the sort” Haguro said still blushing “We were just talking about why he's so important. Yamato only said that he is important to her, but never said why”.

“She's probably keeping that information to herself,” Takao said “Need to know information probably. Although high-command would probably like to know why he's important to her”.

“They probably want him dead, considering the general consensus amongst them” Atago added “Although I don't understand why they want to kill him? He hasn't done anything. In fact, our top priority should be to keep him alive because he's the commander of the Azur Lane. Killing him would be like shooting ourselves in the foot”.

“Well, as long as Yamato wants him alive, he should be fine,” Yura said “They wouldn't risk trying to kill him, not unless they want to anger Yamato. Last time they did that half of them got demoted,” she said “The only thing that's really a threat to him is the Sirens, and we're unlikely to see them out here now are we,” she said before a mass-produce ship exploded in the distance behind her.

All four of them quickly turned to face the destroyed ship, shocked looks on their faces “What the hell!” Takao said sounding shocked.

“Sirens! Here?” Atago said, “This area is supposed to be secure”.

“You see Yura. This is why I don't like you, you hypocritical idiot” Haguro said sounding annoyed “You jinked it”.

“Battle stations, battle station!. All Kansen man battle stations!” Kii, the Kansen in charge of the fleet, shouted over the comms “We have an unknown combatant bombarding the fleet. All Kansen move in and engage!”.

“You heard her, let's go,” Takao said as she summoned her rigging and drew her sword. The other three quickly followed and summoned their rigging and drew their swords. They then jumped off the side of the ship, but just before they hit the water some kind of blade attack sliced the Sengoku in half, and causing the rear of the ship to explode.

“What the fuck!!!” Haguro shouted as they hit the water and turned towards the ship.

“No eyes on contact, repeat, no eyes on contact. It's not showing up on sensors” Ayanami reported over comms.

“Shit!” Takao cursed “Sengoku been hit!” she reported over comms.

“Oh gods, that's not good,” Kii said sounding shocked “Get the passengers and prisoner off the ship and get them out of here. We have no idea what's attacking us”.

“Rodger!” Takao said before she turned to the others “Haguro, Yura, get onboard the ship and get the passengers and prisoner off. Atago and I will try to keep the ship afloat”.

“Rodger” the other three responded before all four of them went about their tasks. Atago and Takao rushed over to the back of the ship and grabbed the hull of the ship, lifting it up to slow down the ship sinking, but even with their impressive strength they still struggled to keep the ship afloat. Haguro and Yura meanwhile boarded the ship to look for survivors. Thankfully Lelouch was being held in the front of the ship, unfortunately, there was also one passenger on board, a very important passenger whose loss would greatly affect the Sakura Empire.

“Come on you two!” Atago prayed as a group of Manjuu drove a lifeboat towards them.

“This is Ryuuhou, I have eyes on the target-” Ryuuhou over the comms “Gods have mercy it's her! It's Ember!”.

“It's what!?” Takao said sounding shocked as she loosened her grip on the ship. Ember, a more powerful look-alike of her that appeared during the Swirling Cherry Blossom incident, the one that destroyed Watatsumi and caused heavy damage to the Diadem of Light. Why was she here attacking them again? She already destroyed Watatsumi, what else do they have that she doesn't want them to have?

“Sister! I can't do this by myself!” Atago shouted as she struggled to keep the ship up all by herself.

“Right, sorry!” Takao said as she got back to lifting the ship “Haguro, Yura, hurry up in there, we can't keep this up for long!” she shouted over comms.

“Copy, heading back now!” Haguro replied over comm. Moments later both Haguro and Yura returned, with both Lelouch and-

“Lady Kaguya! Thank the gods you're unharmed” Atago said as Haguro helped lady Kaguya, a human and a rather influential member of the Sakura Empire's noble houses, onto the lifeboat “Apologies about this my lady, but we didn't see this attack coming”.

“It's quite alright. This trip was getting a bit dull” Kaguya said with a smile as she sat down in the lifeboat. And then yelped when Lelouch was dumped next to her, wearing nothing but a wet towel.

“I would like to point out that this is the second time I've been on board a ship that has sunk when I was in the shower,” Lelouch remarked “I would also like to say that Kaguya here was spying on me in the shower,” he said, causing both Atago and Takao to looked surprised.

“What. I just wanted to meet the new commander of the Azur Lane” Kaguya said “I didn't know he was having a shower”.

Haguro sighed “My lady, this is improper behaviour for someone like you”.

“Can we save this for later!” Takao shouted, “There's a very powerful lookalike of myself out there attacking the-”.

“Atago, watch out!!!” Ryuuhou waned over comms.

Atago quickly turned before she was assaulted by a barrage of shells “ATAGO!!!” Takao shouted as she let go of the ship and rushed over to her sister, grabbing her before she could fall beneath the waves. Her sister's rigging was almost completely destroyed and there was no way she could safely sail “No!” she cried before their position came under heavy bombardment.

“We can't stay here!” Haguro shouted as a shell came dangerously close to the lifeboat.

Takao quickly placed her wounded sister into the lifeboat “Get them out of here, quickly! Push the boat if you have to, just get them out!!!” she ordered before she turned towards the direction of the attack “I'll cover you!” she shouted before she charged forwards. She could not see the target on her sensors, but the cannon fire betrayed her location.

It didn't take her long before she saw Ember with her own eyes. When she first heard about Ember she didn't exactly believe it, not until she saw the devastation she caused. Even then a part of her still didn't believe that Ember looked like her. But now, now that she was facing her down and had a good look at her, that belief was shoved aside and set alight.

Ember looked exactly like her, but she seemed darker, more sinister. Her uniform was different to her own and had a black and white jacket over it, and her rigging looked bigger, she also carried a large sword in addition to the normal one she had.

Ember was approaching slowly, her guns firing and driving back anything that came close. The destroyers couldn't even get close to her to launch their torpedoes, aircraft were shot down before they could attack. The only one's having any success were the battleships and cruisers, but most of their shots were missing. The one's that did hit thou looked like they weren't causing much if any damage to her. Yet her swords remained in their scabbard's.

Takao charged forwards towards Ember, sword raised and guns firing at her, yet Ember didn't seem to register her, that or she didn't care and was more focused on something else. It wasn't until she got close that Ember went into a more aggressive stance and moved to draw her large sword, but she did not unsheathe it.

Takao fired all of her guns and torpedoes at Ember before leaping upwards, sword raised above her ready to strike her down. Look-a-like or not, she harmed her sister Atago, and she would not be allowed to leave here alive.

Suddenly, just before her sword came down Ember drew her sword and swiped at her. Her larger sword smashed straight through Takao's own blade, sending the sharp shards flying into her body, and slicing straight through her left shoulder. The blade didn't cut her arm off, just sliced deep enough into her flesh that it cut through the bone and rendered the limb useless. Embers guns then turned on her, firing a full salvo into her and destroying her rigging.

Takao screamed as she grabbed her ruined shoulder and stepped back. The pain was immeasurable, she couldn't feel her arm but it hurt like hell like it was on fire.

“Why?” Ember asked with a frown “Why sell your life away for a thing that's distended to be your ruin?”.

Takao cried out in pain as she fell onto her knees “What the fuck, are you talking about?” she asked through gritted teeth, trying to ignore the pain going through her body.

“The commander. Why protect its worthless body when it's only going to spell your doom” Ember replied.

“What!” Takao said sounding confused “Who are you talking about? I'm not protecting anyone. You harmed my sister!” she raged through her teeth “Why? Why hurt someone who looks like your own sister?”.

“She's not my sister,” Ember said, causing a horrified look to from on Takao's face “She is but a shadow, of someone long gone,” she said as she raised her sword and swung down at her.

“NO!” Takao cried out as the sword came down on her, stopped just in front of her. Her eyes widened in shock at the blade just inches from her face. Why, why had she stopped? Her eyes looked past the sword towards Ember, who strangely had a shocked look on her face.

“What!” Ember said in disbelief, yet Takao did not know why she was so surprised. Then she spotted the very thin wire wrapped around her, holding her in place. Standing some distance behind her were Chiyoda and Chitose, who were the one's holding her in place. The thin wire attached to their clawed finger guards.

“Takao, get Lelouch and the others out of here,” Chiyoda said as she and her sister held Ember in place, but it was obvious that they were struggling to do so.

“Hurry. We can't hold her for long!” Chitose added as the two sisters tugged the wire back, pulling Ember away from her.

Takao nodded before she turned and rushed back to the lifeboat as fast as she could, she may have been taking on water and was barely afloat, but she was going to get that lifeboat out of here. Atago was on that boat and she was not going to let her sink here.

She quickly reached the boat but was shocked to find that Haguro and Yura were also heavily damaged and were inside the lifeboat, which hadn't even moved much either. Embers bombardment of the area was much heavier than expected, causing Haguro and Yura to suffer because she was not fast enough to stop Ember.

With no other option available to her, she got out a small device and threw it in front of the lifeboat. When it hit the water a swarm of cherry blossom fluttered out of the water, forming a wall in front of it. She then rushed behind the boat and pushed it through the wall of cherry blossom. When they passed through the wall they found themselves falling a short distance onto the shore of an island, far away from the battle.

Takao looked around, ignoring Lelouch emptying his stomach over the side of the boat. There was no sign of ships or Ember. Good, they, and her sister, were safe.

She smiled before she collapsed onto the ground and closed her eyes.

Chapter Text

Somewhere in the pacific.

Lelouch gasped after he threw up over the side of the lifeboat, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the beach below. What on earth just happened? First Kaguya, who looked around about his age now, walked in on him in the shower. Not how he would have like to have met her, or how he would like to meet anyone for that matter. Then half the ship exploded, he was carried to a lifeboat, thankfully they had brought his clothing with them, so he was able to get into his underpants and protect his modesty. Then someone started bombarding them, causing heavy damage to Atago, Haguro, and Yura, with Takao going to engage whoever it was who was attacking them, only to get heavily damaged by them. Then a wall of cherry bosom formed in front of them and Takao pushed the lifeboat through it, and now they were on an island in the middle of nowhere.

“Lelouch, you ok?” Kaguya asked him. She was sweating badly, but unlike him, she didn't vomit.

“I'm fine” Lelouch replied “But the Kansen, they need help”.

Kaguya quickly looked at the three wounded Kansen who were in the boat with them, Haguro and Yura were the least damaged, but they wouldn't be able to float, let alone fight, and Atago was unconscious and badly damaged. Then at Takao “Shit” she said as she rushed out of the boat and pulled Takao into the boat “Lelouch, I need your help” she said as she put Takao down in the boat, she then tore off a part of her dress and tied it around Takao's ruined arm “I need you to hold her arm together. I'll go find something to help heal her”.

Lelouch nodded before he grabbed Takao's shoulder and pressed in gently against her body, keeping her limb in place.

“Good,” Kaguya said before she stood up “I'll be back soon,” she said as she rushed off towards the small forest that made up most of the island, followed by half of the Manjuu.

Lelouch watched her disappear into the forest before focusing back on his assigned task. All four Kansen were in bad shape, with Takao and Atago being the worse out of the four. The damage the two sustained was shocking, it was surprising that Takao could stay afloat as long as she did. These girls needed regen quickly, or a repair ship.

“Lelouch,” Yura said weakly.

“Hush, don't try to talk or move. Your badly damaged and are in need of repairs” Lelouch said calmly “Try to get some rest. Kaguya's gone to find something to help you recover, but until then try not to move much”.

“Of course” Yura smiled before she relaxed and closed her eyes “It's good to see you again, Lelouch”.

“What!” Lelouch said sounding surprised. 'Good to see you again, Lelouch' how did she know him? He had no idea who Yura was, having never met anyone who look like her. So why then was she happy to see him again. Was she a member of the Black knights, one of the rank and file, or one of the Britannian soldiers he geassed into obeying him? He didn't know. Whoever she was, he was going to have to have a chat with her in private, because if she knew who he really was, then she was a liability and risk. But there was also the fact that she was a Kansen. The only look-a-like Kansen he has seen were Kallen and Nina, and it was obvious that neither of those two knew anything about his world. So how did she know? He'll have to find out later.

After a few minutes, Kaguya and the manjuu that went with her returned, carrying with them several small blue flowers. They rushed back to the boat and put the flowers down inside “This should do. Now we need a bowl, some water, and something to crush the flowers with” she said before two manjuu came up to her carrying a small bowl, a bottle of water, and a rolling pin “Thank you” she said as she took the two items. She then put some of the flowers and some water into the bowl and started to crush the flowers with one end of the rolling pin.

“What are you making?” Lelouch asked.

“Regen” Kaguya replied “It's made from the Siren Tear wild-flower that only grows on small islands like this one. They showed up about the same time as the Sirens did. It's a very potent substance, but dangerous if you get the proportions wrong, and still poisonous to humans” she explained “The Regen that's used by doctors is a more refined and safe version made using farmed Siren Tears, which have their regenerative properties weakened” she said as she put in a few more flowers into the mix, creating what looked like a blue paste.

“Ok,” Lelouch said. He always wondered how Regen was made, and now he knew the key ingredient “So, how do you know if it's safe to use?”.

“Easy” Kaguya replied as she held the bowl up to a Manjuu, which sniffed its contents. The Manjuu then started acting strange, like it was high on drugs or something “You'll know if you've got the right mix if it makes a Manjuu high as a kite” she said with a smile “Which looks to be the case”.

Lelouch looked rather surprised by this. Regen makes Manjuu high? Would explain why they're not allowed to handle the stuff. That also better not be able to happen to him, the last thing he wants to do is accidentally get high from sniffing the stuff.

Kaguya then moved over to Lelouch “Can you undo the binding covering her arm?” she asked.

Lelouch nodded and uncovered Takao's ruined arm. Kaguya then used a spoon to dab some of the blue liquid into the wound “Alright, cover it up” she said, which Lelouch quickly did “It'll take time for the large gash to heal, in the meantime, keep her arm in place and as still as possible” she said before she started dabbing some more Regen onto Takao's wounds.

Lelouch nodded as he held Takao's arm as still as possible. Once Kaguya was done treating her wounds she made some more and started treating the others “There, that should keep them stable for now, but we're going to need more. Lelouch, you're ok to leave the task of keeping Takao's arm in place to the Manjuu? I'll need your help to gather some more Siren Tear” Kaguya asked.

“Yeah, I should be able to do that” Lelouch said as several Manjuu moved over to him and help Takao's arm in place. He then quickly got changed into his trousers, shirt, shoes and uniform jacket and followed Kaguya into the forest. He waited until they were out of sight before talking to her “So, it's been a while, hasn't it Kaguya”.

“Yes, yes it has” Kaguya replied as their pace slowed “I never thought that I would ever see you again, Lelouch. Or anyone from our old world for that matter”.

“Yeah, neither did I,” Lelouch said “So, how have you been?”

“Fine. Things have been getting worse since the Sakura Empire went to war with the Eagle Union, but at least it's not as bad as it was in our world” Kaguya replied “I don't have the same influence that I once had in our old world by the way. It's small, but it's enough to set small things in motion. How about you, I couldn't help but see that you have a prosthetic arm. How'd you get that?”.

“I was badly wounded after a battle with the Kansen Roon. Whilst they tried to save as much of me as they could, my arm was sadly not something that they could save” Lelouch said “My prosthetic arm was a gift from the Northern Parliament, for helping them fight off a powerful Siren, and providing them with some much-needed surplus” he said “By the way, do you know what happened to our world? What Apocalypse did to it?” he asked.

“Who?” Kaguya asked sounding confused.

“Apocalypse. My sister told me that someone called Apocalypse destroyed our old world” Lelouch replied.

“He what!” Kaguya said sounding shocked “Why would he have done that?”.

“I don't know,” Lelouch said “I take it that you don't know him then”.

“No, I probably don't,” Kaguya said “My last memory of our old world was attending an international conference. I don't exactly remember what I was talking about, only that halfway through my speech I suddenly found myself lying naked on the floor of a forest. No idea what happened to me, so I think someone must have killed me. Must have been instant if I don't know what it was that killed me”.

“I see, so you know nothing about what happened. Looks like I'm going to have to ask Nunnally what happened to you the next time I see her”.

“Nunnally's here?”.

“She is, but not exactly. She's doing something in this world, she just hasn't told me what it is she's doing. Which worries me. She said that she struggled to fight Apocalypse and ultimately lost. Even if she's now an immortal code giver, I'm still worried about her. I want to help her with whatever she's doing but she's keeping me in the dark about it”.

“Maybe she has a good reason to keep you in the dark. You did keep her in the dark about your activities”.

“That was to protect her,” Lelouch said “I didn't want her harmed. If she's doing the same to me, then why would she be doing it at all. I can look after myself”.

“Maybe she's keeping you safe from something you can't deal with,” Kaguya said “She is much, much older than you now after all, and has been through a lot more than you, keeping the peace for fifty-plus years isn't easy you know”.

“I know, that's why I left Suzaku with her, as a knight to protect her. He did a far better job of protecting her than I did”.

“You're right about that. So, are there any other people from our world here, who aren't Kansen? Strage one of them look like Kallen”.

“Well, there's C.C., she's back at Azur Main keeping everything in check whilst I'm here. Hopefully she has something planned to get me back there, no offence, but I do need to get back to Azur Main”.

“None taken. You are the commander of the Azur Lane after all. No doubt you want to get back to your harem of ship girls”.

Lelouch sighed “I do not have a harem of ship girls. I'm their commander, I can't get romantically involved with them”.

“Oh, so your still a virgin then?” Kaguya asked with a cheeky smile.

“What, no, I've had se-. God damn it” Lelouch said before he sighed, realising the grave mistake he just made.

“Ah-ha, so you've finally done the deed then,” Kaguya said with a smile “So, out with it. Who's the lucky lady then?” she asked.

Lelouch panicked, this was not the kind of conversation he wanted to have with her. He needed something to change the subject, quickly. He then sported a small patch of Siren Tears nearby “Oh look, there's some Siren Tears over there” he said as he rushed over to them and started picking them up “And there's some more over there, and some more beyond that” he said, pointing at two more patches of Siren Tears.

“What!” Kaguya said sounding surprised “That can't be right, Siren Tear's don't grow like this. They grow in small patches like this, but never so close to each other. Something wrong here, this is not natural,” she said before she started following the path of Siren Tear's “There's more of them further on. Come on, let's follow it, it has to lead somewhere,” she said as she followed the path of Siren Tears.

Lelouch quickly followed her, not wanting to leave her alone out here, not when there was a possibility for whoever attacked them to show up here and attack again. And with the Kansen out of action, there would be nothing to protect them from her.

The two followed the path of flowers for a minute or so before they came across a sight that surprised and amazed them “Oh my!” Kaguya gasped at the sight before them. Before them was a large Japanese temple, which was suffering from severe neglect. The roof was gone, all the paint on the walls was gone, and there were several holes in the wall, and there were Siren Tears growing everywhere.

“Well, this place looks like it hasn't seen anyone in decades,” Lelouch remarked as they walked into the main hall. The room was covered in overgrown plants, including Siren Tears. There were several statues in the room as well, but it was difficult to tell what they were off, as decades of neglect has left them unrecognisable and covered in plants “I wonder who built this place?”.

“Yeah, I wonder that too. This is an old place” Kaguya said as they walked further into the room “Who would build a temple-like this all the way out here, and why? And why are there Siren Tear's all over the place?”.

“I wish I knew. It would help if we knew where this island was” Lelouch said before he noticed something in the next room, a stone pedestal with a katana resting on a stand on top of it. Not strange in of itself, but the area around the sword was in pristine condition, with no sign of age or wear to it “Well, that's obviously not a normal sword” he remarked before Kaguya rushed over to it “Hay wait, it might not be safe”.

“What, it's just a sword,” Kaguya said as she stood next to it.

“Yes, a sword that just so happens to be in the middle of an area that is unnaturally pristine despite the area around it being ruined and overgrown,” Lelouch said as he walked over to her “Who knows what kind of curse has been put on this thing”.

“Yes, I know that. But it might also be a powerful weapon, and right now we need something to defend ourselves with” Kaguya said “I know it won't do anything to a Kansen or Siren, but with four Kansen badly damaged and wounded we need something to help defend them with. If whatever attacked us comes back, then we need at least something to fight them with. If this sword has some kind of magic power to it, then that might be what we need to fight it off. That, or it's just a normal sword and someone went to great lengths to keep the area around it pristine”.

She had a point, this could just have been some practical joke someone's gone to great lengths to prepare. But it could also be some powerful artefact made by forces unknown. But before he could have a chance to check the sword more closely, Kaguya picked up the sword and tried to pull it out of its sheath, unsuccessfully.

“Come on, come on, pull out” Kaguya groaned as she tried to pull the sword out “Gods this thing is stuck in here real tight”.

“I think it might be rust,” Lelouch said as he took the sword from her, he then tried to pull it out, and indeed, it was stuck fast “Yep, definitely rust. Whoever made this kept everything around it pristine, save for the sword itself,” he said before he passed in back to Kaguya, only then noticing that the sheath had four runes on it, as well as a sash. Probably just for decoration “Come on, let's gather some Siren Tears and get back, we've been gone long enough”.

Kaguya nodded before the two of them quickly gathered as much Siren Tear as they could before making their way back towards the lifeboat, large piles of flowers held in their hands. They dropped a few as they rushed back to the beach, but with the amount they had, it didn't matter if they lost a few. Kaguya still had the sword, by the way, carrying it on her back.

They quickly reached the edge of the forest and arrived on the beach, but were surprised to find that there were now other people around the lifeboat. Lelouch was at first worried about that, but then he realised they were Bulin's, just a group of ten completely harmless Universal Bulin's trying to get the lifeboat back into the water. Beyond them, far out to sea, was a small fleet of Sakura Empire mass-produced destroyers and light cruisers.

“Oh hay, Bulin's. I didn't think a group of them would find us out here” Kaguya said sounding surprised “Wait! If there are Bulin's here, that that should mean-. Akashi!” she said as she started to rush towards the boat. Lelouch quickly followed behind her.

Akashi, the Sakura Empire's only repair ship. If she was here then that was perfect, as she could do more to help Takao, Atako, Haguro, and Yura, far more than they could do with these flowers. He kept them anyway, as they may prove useful.

When they reached the boat, one of the Bulin's turned towards them “Buli? Who are you two?” the Universal Bulin asked.

“I'm lady Kaguya Narita” Kaguya replied “And this is Lelouch Lamperouge, current commander of the Azur Lane, and prisoner of the Sakura Empire”.

Narita, that's not her surname, it was Sumeragi. Why did she change it? Or perhaps, she didn't have a choice. She did say that she woke up naked in a forest, maybe someone found her and took her in, and later adopted her into their family. This would explain why she has some influence in this world.

“Oh, ok buli” the Universal Bulin said, “Get in the lifeboat, and we'll take you to Akashi's ship, buli”.

The two of them quickly got onto the lifeboat, just before the Bulin's pushed the boat onto the water and started moving it towards Akashi's ship. It did not take them long to reach the ship, and when they came alongside it, a crane was lowered down and picked up the boat, carrying it up and placing it down onto the main deck, where several Universal Bulin's and the green-haired cat girl herself Akashi, were waiting from them with stretchers.

“Get the Kansen down into the repair bay quickly, nya” Akashi ordered “And gather the repair took kits and medical gear”.

The Universal Bulin's quickly got to work taking Takao, Atako, Haguro, and Yura off the lifeboat and down into the ship.

“Will they be ok?” Kaguya asked sounding concerned.

“They will be, nya” Akashi replied “I'll fix them up best I can, but their ships will need to be put into dry-dock for a full repair. They're going to be out of action for a while nya”.

Kaguya nodded “I see, thank you for your help, Akashi. Please inform high-command that you've picked us up”.

“Will do nya” Akashi said before she made her way towards her ship's bridge.

Kaguya smiled before she turned towards Lelouch “It looks like you won't be getting back to the Azur Lane. For what it's worth, I'm sorry this has to happen”.

“Don't worry, I didn't expect my escape to be easy,” Lelouch said “Good news is that I've completed what I came here to do. Hopefully C.C. can do the next step without me”.

“Oh. So you wanted to get captured by the Sakura Empire” Kaguya said, “So, what are you planning to do?”.

“I can't tell you that, not with all these Bulin's standing around us,” Lelouch said, looking around at the comically large group of Bulin's standing around them.

“Don't mind us, purin~,” one of the Prototype Bulin MKII said “Just pretend we're not here,” she said as all the Bulin's nodded.

“Why are there so many Bulin's here on this ship?” Kaguya asked, “Did Akashi gather all of them before we declared war on the Eagle Union? Because it looks like she did”.

“If she did, it would explain why I can't find any of them at Azur Main,” Lelouch said, “Been wanting to limit break some of the Kansen but couldn't due to a lack of Bulin's. Once this is all over, I'm going to have to have a word with her about this”.

“Well, until then, you are our prisoner, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to-” Kaguya said before Lelouch grabbed her, shouting “Get down!” bringing her down onto the deck of the ship as an AP shell from one of the mass-produce destroyers flew over them, which was proceeded by the entire fleet turning their guns on Akashi's ship.

“Nya! What are you doing!” Akashi shouted over the ship's speakers “Friendly fire! Friendly fire! I'm not an enemy ship!”

“What's going on!?” Kaguya asked as the Bulin's around them took cover, and the ships AA guns turned and started firing at the mass-produced ships around them “Why are our own ships firing on us?”.

“I wish I knew. Stay here!” Lelouch said before he quickly made his way towards the ship's bridge, keeping his head down as cannon fire flew overhead. The Bulin's were keeping to cover as well, as they don't exactly have any meaningful or useful firepower.

He was just about to start climbing up the stairs up to the bridge when a mass-produced destroyer on the starboard side of the ship exploded, which caused the ship to rock heavily to the port side. He managed to keep on his feet by grabbing the handrail before climbing up it and entering the ship's bridge “Akashi, what's going on. Why are your escorts attacking us?” he asked.

“I don't know nya! Somehow they're not responding to my commands!” Akashi replied as she franticly pressed buttons all over the place “I think someone's hacked them-. Nyoo~!!! two of them is heading straight for us! Starboard side”.

Lelouch turned towards the starboard side of the ship and saw two of the light cruises turn towards them and move towards them at full speed “Damn it. This ship won't survive if they ram it” he said as he tried to think of a way for this ship to get out of the way, which was looking impossible at this range. Then he remembered the thing Takao did to get them away from the battle, that thing with the cherry blossom, that should be able to get them out of this “Akashi, that wall thing with the cherry blossom, can you use that to get us out of here?”.

“Ur, yes nya~! But it's dangerous. If I do it now we will have no control over where we appear” Akashi replied before a shell exploded on the deck of her ship “Which in this situation is better than here!” she said as she rushed over to a big lever “Hold on to your lunch, nya~!”.

Akashi pulled the lever, and moments later cherry blossom started to twirl around the ship, forming a cherry blossom tornado around them, with the density and amount of cherry blossom increased rapidly until they could see nothing but pink around the ship. Then the gunfire stopped, and the shells that were bombarding the ship stopped coming. Lelouch then felt ill, like he was going to throw up, but nothing came out, mainly because he had already emptied the contents of his stomach the last time this happened. It still made him feel unwell and dehydrated. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the cherry blossom tornado around them started to disappear revealing an empty sea around them.

Lelouch let out a sigh of relief as he rested against the wall, they were safe. But what worried him was why the mass-produced ships suddenly turned on Akashi? She was a friendly vessel, there was no way they could mistake her for a hostile.

“Ur, ok. Good nyews is that we're no longer surrounded by Sakura Empire mass-produced ships” Akashi said with a nervous smile “The bad nyews is that we have an Eagle Union fleet bearing down on us”.

“Eagle Union!” Lelouch said as he walked over to the Akashi, but didn't make it far as he suddenly found himself being grabbed and pulled onto the floor, accompanied by the weight of two body's on his back “Commander, do not panic, you are being rescued!” the voice of Albacore said loudly “Do not resist”.

“Ur, shouldn't we be grabbing Akashi?” the voice of Ayumodoki asked sounding confused.

There was a long moment of silence as Albacore and whoever she was with processed what her sister just said, and probably turned to face Akashi, but he couldn't confirm that as he was stuck looking at the floor “Bugger”.

Lelouch sighed as his head rested against the floor. This has to be the strangest rescue attempt ever. Where did these submarine's even come from?

Chapter Text

Somewhere in the pacific. Ten minutes ago.

September 15th – 16:32:14

Ayumodoki/N̶i̸n̶

Sub force

“Targets moving away from the island under heavy guard,” Bluegill said as she observed the lifeboat move away from the island from her periscope “We can't risk engaging them now. Not with that many guards”.

“We'll follow them from behind then, slowly,” Albacore said as they started to move underwater “Board the ship they bring him on board, take out any hostile contacts we find, and extract the target. If we're lucky, we can pull this without anyone noticing us”.

“Guys, this isn't Call of Duty you know. You can stop with all the over the top dramatic stuff” Nin remarked as she followed silently behind Albacore and Bluegill, her rigging having been set to underwater jet mode. They were slower, but much harder to detect on sonar “Also under heavy guard? Their Bulin's for crying out loud! A simple bap on the head is enough to deal with them”.

“Ayumodoki, stop ruing the fun. Charlotte put me in command, so if I want to do this like a call of duty op, that that's how we're doing it” Albacore said as they proceeded slowly underneath the Sakura Empire fleet. The mass-produced destroyers and light cruisers could not detect them.

“You should lighten up sis and learn to have fun from time to time,” Bluegill said “Also, shouldn't we call her C.C.? It's what everyone in the Royal Navy's calling her now”.

“Well, she said she was fine with either name, so either works,” Albacore said “Anyway, you really should lighten up a bit Ayumodoki, your not very good at having fun, your not very enthusiastic at playing games, and you almost never sing along with us”.

“I, can we talk about this later. We've still got a mission to do” Nin said with a frown, not really wanting to talk about this. This infiltration operation was tiring, having to juggle keeping an eye on Lelouch whilst also being dragged around by her 'sisters', and as much as she wanted to stay away from them, she had to be with them to help maintain her cover. If people got suspicious and find out that she's a Siren, they'll tear her apart.

“She does have a point, now is not the time to be talking about this,” Bluegill said “The mass-produced ships may not have very good sonar's, but they will hear us if we're talking. So let's cut the chatter, and follow behind them”.

“Copy” Nin said before everyone went quiet and silently followed the lifeboat. This silence gave her an opportunity to reflect on their current situation, ect, why they were here in the first place.

Her plan was simple, get Lin to attract Ember and force the Sakura Empire Kansen escorting Lelouch to use their Blossom Transportation thing to get him safely out of there, because, whilst they can control where they end up, that takes time to prepare. They can also be used in a pinch to send you to a random destination, which, as much as they believed, wasn't as random as they thought. The Sakura Empire's little trick was easy to hijack by the Sirens, allowing the intended destination to be changed. But they didn't do that often as to avoid them getting suspicions, so they only use it for the unguided one's, just like what they did here. Lin did all the setup and work, so now all she needed to do was pick up Lelouch and get out of here. Unfortunately, due to her 'sisters' unwillingness to come here when she said she said so, they took longer to get here than she wanted to, resulting in Akashi getting here first. Oh well, not all plans survive contact with the enemy, even the Siren's plans are no exception to this rule.

A blip on their sonar made all three of them slowly down, a mass-produced destroyer was moving overhead, which at this range could easily detect them. So they slowed down and came to a complete halt, powered down their rigs, and waited for the destroyer to pass overhead.

They waited until the destroyer passed by before they started moving again, but at a reduced speed. With the number of ships in the area, the risk of getting detected got higher and higher. Thankfully Akashi didn't have sonar, so they can move right up to her and not get spotted. The only problem was getting there undetected.

Another problem just came to her as they saw the underside of the lifeboat get close to Akashi's ship, how were they going to get on board undetected? They couldn't get on the side the lifeboat was one, that would be where everyone's attention would be, and getting to the other side would be risky. Diving underneath a moving ship is not as easy as it looks. They would have to be quick to avoid being caught in its wake.

Albacore made the dive hand signal, telling Nin and Bluegill to dive deeper into the water, and the two subs did so, diving with her and reaching a safe depth to move underneath Akashi's ship. Of course, it would be easier for them to show up on sonar. They will have to be extra careful here.

The three submarine's proceeded slowly underneath Akashi's ship, looking up at the underside of the ship as they passed. Albacore waited for them to clear the ship before she pointed upwards, telling them to go up. The two of them nodded before all three of them went up along the starboard side of the ship and clung to the side of the hull. They then slowly raised their heads above the water and attached magnetic clamps to the side of the hull.

“Alright, we've reached the ship. How should we proceed?” Bluegill asked.

“I suggest we keep our heads down and wait for nightfall. It'll be easier to sneak onboard then” Nin suggested.

“Nightfall! But that will take hours” Albacore said sounding surprised “We don't have time to wait that long. This fleet is only a few hours from a much larger fleet and that one has Kansen in it. We are fucked if they find us” she said before they suddenly heard cannon fire.

“What the hell was that!?” Bluegill asked as the three looked around, wondering where it came from. Then the entire fleet of mass-produced ships turned their guns towards Akashi's ship and started firing “What the hell! Why are they firing. Did they detect us!?” she asked as she ducked her head.

“No, they haven't” Nin replied “We're not the target. Akashi's ship is”.

“Why would they be firing on one of their own ships? Their only repair ship for that matter?” Albacore asked before she noticed one of the destroyers getting close to the ship, too close “Damn it! Bring that destroyer down!” she ordered as she raised her 3-inch/50 calibre deck gun, which looked like a pistol, and started firing at the ship.

Bluegill and Nin quickly followed suit, pulling out their duck gun pistols and unloaded them at the destroyer. Nin used a little Siren trick of hers and hit the ship with a much more powerful shell, destroying it instantly and causing Akashi's ship to rock to the side “Wow! What on earth caused that?!” Bluegill asked loudly.

“Worry about that later, we've got two more destroyers inbound” Albacore shouted as she pointed at two destroyers that were turning towards them “Oh hell, they're going to ram the ship”.

“Who the hell is controlling those ships?” Bluegill asked as she started firing at one of the destroyers, but most of her shots failed to connect.

Nin was about to start firing at the destroyers when some cherry blossom floated by, quickly followed by more “Oh no” she gasped as she realised what was happening, Akashi was engaging her emergency Blossom transporter (they really need to come up with a better name for that). This was bad, very bad. Lin would not be ready to choose the destination for this one, so she had no idea where they will end up “Akashi's teleporting!”.

“Oh hell” Albacore gasped as she and Bluegill noticed the cherry blossom around them “Climb!” she shouted before all three of them swung their rigging over their shoulders and started to climb up the side of the ship. They did not want to be on the side of the ship when it's transported.

They quickly climbed up the side of the ship, which was not easy as they had to carry their rigging with them. And as they climbed the wall of cherry blossom got higher and thicker, but they managed to reach the deck of the ship before it was too late, but the deck was a mess. All the ships AA guns were destroyed, damaged but not destroyed Bulin's lay everywhere, and there were several holes in the ship, but the cannon fire had stopped, which meant the ship was mid transportation.

“Quickly, to the bridge” Nin shouted as she rushed towards the bridge of Akashi's ship. Wherever this ship ended up, they needed to be the ones in control.

Her 'sisters' were quick to follow, coming to the same conclusion as she did. Reaching it just as the cherry blossom started to vanish. They opened the door slowly, and looked inside, spying Lelouch and Akashi in the room.

“Ur, ok. Good nyews is that we're no longer surrounded by Sakura Empire mass-produced ships” Akashi said with a nervous smile “The bad nyews is that we have an Eagle Union fleet bearing down on us”.

Eagle Union. That was good, it meant that they wouldn't have to go far for protection. But they needed to get control of this ship quickly before the fleet started firing on them.

Of course, Albacore and Bluegill, being who they were, charged forwards into the room and jumped Lelouch “Commander, do not panic, you are being rescued!” Albacore said loudly “Do not resist”.

Nin sighed as she quickly followed them “Ur, shouldn't we be grabbing Akashi?” she asked.

Her 'sisters' spent a few moments contemplating what she had said before they turned their heads towards Akashi “Bugger” Albacore said as she lowered her head.

A loud and audible sigh came from Lelouch “Please tell me C.C. sent you?” he asked.

“Indeed she did,” Bluegill said with a smile “Now, Akashi, would you kindly surrender?” she said as she pointed her deck gun at the repair ship.

Akashi looked at her nervously before shouting “Bulin's attack!” prompting several Bulin's to appear out of nowhere and start whacking Nin with their wrenches, drills, and hammers.

“Oh no, I am being overwhelmed by Bulin's. Oh, whatever shall I do?” Nin asked sarcastically, tacking almost no damage from the Bulin's assault. She then started bopping the Bulin's on the head with her deck gun, defeating them all with ease. Because their Bulin's, level one Bulin's with one one-hundred HP, light armour, and only an attack value of ten. They weren't going to do shit to her “Why did you think that would work?” she asked as she turned towards Akashi.

“Honestly nya, a lot more than that seeing that I gave them all a rare Type 98 Twin 100mm DD gun” Akashi replied as several aircraft flew overhead.

“That did not sound good,” Bluegill said as she and Albacore got off of Lelouch.

Lelouch did not waste any time before he started issuing orders “Bluegill, Albacore, secure the main deck but don't shoot anyone”.

“Yes sir,” Bluegill and Albacore said before they rushed out of the bridge and onto the deck.

“Ayumodoki, do you have a radio I can use?” Lelouch asked as he turned towards Nin.

“I do sir” Nin replied as she unslung her rigging, got out a wired phone, and passed it to Lelouch, who took it quickly and held it against his head.

“This is the commander of the Azur Lane Lelouch Lamperouge calling the Eagle Union fleet. I am onboard the IJN Akashi, do not engage, I repeat, do not engage” Lelouch said into the phone, and waited for a response.

“Copy that commander, standing down,” the voice of Baltimore said over the radio “It's good to hear your voice sir. USS Baltimore reporting sir”.

“Baltimore. Your Bremerton's older sister, right” Lelouch asked.

“Yes sir. Lead ship of the Baltimore class” Baltimore said over the radio “I've heard good things about you from both Bremerton and Canberra. Anyway, we can talk about family later. What's your status over there. Bataan just told me Akashi's ships is damaged. Over”.

“Not good. I don't know why, but moments after I boarded the ship, the mass-produced ships escorting Akashi started firing on her” Lelouch reported before he slumped against the wall “We have four heavily damaged Kansen onboard as well”.

“Lelouch!” Nin shouted as she rushed over to him “Are you, ok sir?”.

“I'm fine” Lelouch replied slowly “Just, feeling a bit dehydrated, that's all”.

“I'll get you something to drink nya” Akashi said before she rushed over to a fridge she had installed onto the bridge of her ship.

“Copy that sir. I'm sending Ning Hai, Ping Hai, An Shan, and Chang Chun over to render support” Baltimore said.

“Dragon Empery Kansen” Nin muttered quietly. What were they doing here, and why were they with an Eagle Union fleet?

“Copy” Lelouch said as Akashi passed him a glass of what looked like milk.

“Here you go,” Akashi said as Lelouch took a large gulp “On nice drink, freshly squeezed from another ship nya~!” only to spit it all out over Nin and turn to look at Akashi with a mixed look of shock and horror “What? It's good for you nya. It's-, it-, it-. Fine, I'll get you some water,” she said sounding annoyed before she walked back to the fridge.

“Lelouch, are you still there sir?” Baltimore asked over the radio.

“Yes, I'm still here” Lelouch replied “Shocked, but still here. Move the fleet around Akashi's ship and maintain formation, we'll form up with you soon. Just keep your eyes open, ok. Before coming here we were attacked by something powerful, something that couldn't be seen on any of the Kansen's sensors. So keep your eyes open, it might come back to finish the job”.

“Copy that sir. I'll keep my eyes open. Baltimore out” Baltimore said over the radio.

“Ayumodoki, can you check outside for me? Just in case they miss something” Lelouch asked.

Nin nodded. Ember was not someone who would leave an objective uncompleted, even if the Sirens pushed her towards it. She, like all the other Ashe's, could not be controlled. So she would need to keep an eye out of her, just in case she needed to get some Siren reinforcements. Lelouch would never need to know.

Nin turned and walked out of the bridge and onto the deck, but the moment she walked out she spotted something. Another Lurker just poked her head out of the water, an elite version just like her. The Lurker winked before diving below the waves.

So the Sirens were in control of where Akashi's ship appeared. Looks like Alpha saw this coming and made a backup plan, and if she had planned this, then she must be planning something with Lelouch. A combat simulation.

She smiled. This was starting to get interesting.

???????????????

Observer Alpha smiled as she watched Akashi's ship enter formation with the joint Eagle Union/Dragon Empery fleet on the large screen in front of her, besides her were Purifier and Tester Beta “Good, Lelouch now has a seizable force under his command. Now, all we need to do is wait for the Sakura Empire to sort themselves out and send a fleet to intercept him. Then we can really see how he fights”.

“Finally, I've been waiting for this” Tester said “He's been in combat before, but never in a controlled battle. This should give us a lot of useful data, plus it'll tell us a lot about how he fights”.

“I'm a bit disappointed that we can't get involved and fight him,” Purifier said sounding disappointed.

“We can't get involved in this fight” Observer said “I want to see how he commands Kansen against other Kansen. The battle against Bismarck was short and we didn't have any units nearby to observe it. But now we are-” she said before she was interrupted by someone shouting “Alpha help, I'm being shanghaied!”.

Purifier and Tester quickly turned around towards the open door, and the corridor behind it “Ur, was that Strategist Mark Two Prime?” Tester asked looking confused.

Observer sighed “Please tell me that was not Purichi, Tessy, and Observer Mini running off with Strategist Mark Two Prime all tied up?” she asked before a light started to flash on the control station “And please tell me they did not just find what I think they did and are leaving the base with it?”.

“Oh shit. This is not good” Purifier said with a slight worry “If that's what I think it is then they could cause some serious damage to places we don't want them to damage”.

“Well, it can't get any worse, right?” Tester asked.

“Greetings fellow Sirens!” Arbiter The Empress III boomed as she strode into the room, flanked by Enforcer III Harvest, and Enforcer IX Exploration “It's weekly site inspection time. But first. Where are those adorable child versions of you” she asked with a large smile, displaying a cutesy side unseen in any other Siren.

“We're so dead!” the three Sirens shuddered. Alpha was now regretting sending Defender Prime to simulation 101 and asking Strategist Mark Two Prime to babysit.

Chapter Text

Navy base Tokugawa.

“My sister is no traitor!” Kaga heard Myoukou shout aggressively as she walked into admiral Noya Sotaro's office. Alongside Myoukou was her sister Nachi, as well as Nagara, Kinu, Maya, and Choukai, all of whom were carrying swords.

“What's going on in here?” Kaga asked as she walked over to Noya's desk.

“We are currently doing an investigation into the incident involving Akashi's ship” Noya replied calmly.

“He's saying our sisters are traitors to the empire!” Maya added aggressively “That they fired on Akashi's escorts”.

“Well, who else could have fired on them?” Noya asked “There were no Siren or Eagle Union ships in the area, and the mass-produced ships reported taking fire from Akashi's ship. And her ship only has AA guns on it. So tell me, who destroyed an entire fleet of mass-produced ships?”.

“Our sisters could not have fired on the fleet!” Maya retorted “Katsuragi reported that Atago, Haguro, and Yura took a full salvo from Ember and sustained heavy damage, and Takao not only sustained a full barrage at close range but also almost had her arm cut off! How could any of them fire their guns in that state?! And even if they could, why would they turn their guns on our own ships!?”.

“Maybe they were faking it. Maybe they weren't as damaged as reported. We don't know” Noya said “Maybe Lelouch convinced them to change side. For all we know this was just a plan of his to sow deceit within the empire. We can't even confirm that Ember was actually there,” he said before Kinu slammed her fist down onto the desk.

“Don't you dare say that Ember wasn't there! We all know that she can not be detected by any of our sensors or camera equipment” Kinu fumed “The only picture of her we have is from a Polaroid camera, which none of the Kansen in the fleet were carrying! And don't say eyewitness accounts won’t be enough to confirm she was there, there were twenty-plus Kansen there, and they all took a beating from her! It was only a miracle that none of them were sunk by her”.

“Easy, easy” Kaga said calmly as she got in-between Kinu and Noya “We won’t solve this by shouting at each other. We need to find out exactly what happened out there, which is what Akagi is currently doing”.

“She's investigating the area?” Noya said sounding surprised “Why was I not informed about this?”.

“Because she wanted to do a thorough investigation of the area without getting interrupted or having anyone else get in the way” Kaga replied “Although, while the chances of finding anything of use is low, it is not impossible”.

“Well, hopefully, she does find something that tells us what happened out there,” Choukai said with a snarl “Because I know my sisters, and they would not betray the Sakura Empire. Nor would they follow the orders of a prisoner so easily”.

“One must also remember, that lady Kaguya Narita was also recovered alongside them and had just had a very important meeting with Yamato” Nagara added, “Her father will not be happy if his only child is implicated as an accomplice in this incident”.

“Akashi's ship was also carrying every single Bulin on Earth as well” Maya added as well “If we lose them, then we can't limit break any more Kansen, which leaves us at quite the disadvantage”.

“I know you all are rather fond of lady Kaguya, but we can't deny the fact that she was there when it all went down,” Noya said “The chances of her being involved in this incident are quite high after all. For all we know, she could have been the one behind it”.

“For your sake admiral, I hope your right” Kaga remarked with a frown “Because if you’re wrong, you'll have made quite a few enemies here today”.

Unknown island. Two nautical miles from the incident with Akashi.

Akagi walked slowly through the ruined temple, following the steps of those who recently walked here. This island was where the lifeboat carrying Lelouch and lady Kaguya landed here, yet this island wasn't on any chart she knew of. Not even GPS showed it. And this temple she was in, it was old, very old. But it was suffering from some severe neglect, and it was covered in Siren Tears. Every wall, floor, ceiling, and object in the building was covered in the stuff. Yet this was not natural for this kind of plant, they never grew in large numbers, yet this place was covered in the stuff. It felt, unnatural.

She followed the footprints in the flowers. There were two sets of them, and considering that only Lelouch and Kaguya could move, they were most likely theirs. They probably found this place whilst they were out finding Siren Tears to heal the wounded Kansen, and there was evidence that they had picked up some of them.

She followed the footprints until she reached a room with a stone pedestal in the middle of the room. There was a stand on top of it, and the area around the pedestal was in pristine condition, with no sign of age or wear to it. It wasn't even covered in Siren Tears.

She approached the pedestal slowly and held up a hand towards it, she could feel something emanating off of it. Some kind of energy, powerful energy that was getting weaker and weaker by the second. Something very powerful was here, and someone removed it recently. Could Lelouch have taken it? It was possible, but he didn't seem like the kind of man who would take something like that, so maybe Kaguya was the one who took it? Whatever it was, it was powerful and possibly dangerous.

The more she examined this place, the more questions she had. Who made this place? What was stored here? Why was it stored here? And why was it deemed necessary to hide its location? So many questions but no answer to them.

She got out one of her paper aircraft and made it float above her hand “Hiryuu, report. Have you found anything?”.

“Negative, we haven't found anything” Hiryuu voice replied from the paper aircraft, flashing red as she spoke “It's as admiral Noya said. All the mass-produced ships were destroyed”.

“I see,” Akagi said sounding annoyed “I've finished my sweep of the island. I'll be heading back to the fleet,” she said as she turned around and walked back the way she came.

“Copy that. Did you find anything?” Hiryuu asked.

“Nothing that concerns our mission” Akagi replied.

“Akagi! We're found something” Shoukaku reported “It's a Bulin sir, one of the mark three's. We've found her taking shelter in an old shipwreck”.

Akagi smiled, looks like the cranes weren't as useless as she thought “Good. Bring her back to the fleet, I want to hear what she has to say personally” she said as she quickened her pace.

“Copy that sir,” Shoukaku said “We're heading back now”.

Akagi rushed through the forest with great speed, like a fox chasing after her prey. Everyone in the Sakura Empire knew that Akashi had managed to gather all of the Bulin's onboard her ship before they broke off away from the Azur lane, so this one had to have come from her ship. She can hopefully shed some light on what happened here.

Akagi soon reached the shore and leapt onto the sea, activating her rigging just before she hit the water. She then sailed off quickly towards the rest of the fleet, which she could see in the distance. A quick look to the side allowed her to see the Shoukaku and her sister Zuikaku returning to the fleet, carrying a damaged Bulin mark three.

She quickly approached the fleet and jumped onboard the flight deck of Hiryuu's ship, and was met by Hiryuu, Souryuu, and I-19 “Hiryuu, Souryuu” she said as she walked up to them, her paper plane still floating above her hand “Why is I-19 here?” she asked.

“She managed to find the black box of one of the destroyed mass-produced ships” Souryuu replied as I-19 held up a small black box “The ship didn't fully disintegrate when it was destroyed. In fact the rear half of the ship was remarkable intact”.

“Ok. Why wasn't I informed about this?” Akagi asked.

“I only just found it” I-19 replied “I'm still trying to interface with it, but it's mostly encrypted. All I've been able to uncover was what sunk the ship, which is confusing because according to this, the vessel was sunk by Sirens”.
“Sirens!” Akagi said sounding surprised, her gasp of surprise was mirrored by Hiryuu and Souryuu “But that's not possible. There were no Sirens in the area”.

“You're sure that thing is correct?” Hiryuu asked.

“I'm sure. The ID on the box matches one of the ships in the fleet” I-19 replied, “It also clearly states that it received a critical hit from a Siren, but it says the hit was from a three-inch deck gun”.

“A Lurker” Akagi gasped “What the hell is a Lurker doing all the way out here? And why wasn't it detected by the fleet?”.

“I don't know” Hiryuu replied as Shoukaku and Zuikaku jumped onto the deck of the ship, carrying the recovered Bulin.

“Akagi, we've brought the Bulin!” Shoukaku said as the two rushed over to them. The Bulin they were carrying was heavily damaged.

Akagi nodded before looking down at the Bulin “You ok?” she asked softly.

The mark three Bulin nodded “I'm fine bulin. Just need a bit of a repair”.

Akagi turned towards Hiryuu “Hiryuu, go get a repair tool kit”.

“Yes sir!” Hiryuu said before she rushed off to the munitions ship Kashino, who was carrying supplies for this operation.

Akagi turned back to the Bulin “Can you tell us what happen here before the fighting started?”.

“Well, we had just taken on board four Kansen and two humans, Bulin” the mark three Bulin replied “The four Kansen were badly damaged, their guns were all broken and their rigging was full of holes. There was no way they could fight. We then gathered around the two humans to listen in on what they were saying, Bulin. Then the destroyers started firing at the ship. I remember hearing Akashi shouting friendly fire over the comms, but the destroyers kept on firing at us. I tried to take cover, but a shell exploded near me and sent me flying off the ship. When I hit the water a sailed off as fast as I could, I only turned when I was a safe distance away” she said “I saw Akashi's ship disappear into a vortex of cherry blossom. Once she ship vanished, there was a few moments of silence before the mass-produced ships turned on each other, scuttling themselves with their own guns”.

So, the mass-produced ships fired first and then scuttled themselves in order to cover it up. If that was what happened here, then someone in high command, most likely an admiral, had ordered the mass-produced ships to deliberately fire upon one of their own Kansen, their only repair ship for that matter. And it didn't take her log to realise why they did it. Lelouch Lamperouge. Admiral Iwakiri Masahiro has been stating that Lelouch was a threat to the Sakura Empire and needs to be eliminated, and he has most of the admiralty agreeing with him. It wouldn't be a long shot to guess that he was the mastermind behind this little event.

“Kaga, did you get all that?” Akagi asked as she looked down at the paper aircraft floating above her hand.

“Yes, we got it” Kaga's voice replied from the aircraft “All of it,” she said, which was accompanied by the sound of six swords slowly being pulled out of their sheaths.

“Admiral Noya Sotaro” Choukai's voice growled “Would you kindly explain yourself?!” she demanded. Akagi could feel the anger and hate boiling up inside of the heavy cruiser from the other side of the link, not to mention the other five pissed off Kansen who were in the room as well.

“Kaga, sort the situation down there out, peacefully” Akagi ordered “We need admiral Noya and the rest of the admiralty alive so that we can get some answers. We can't get information from a corpse after all,” she said, “Once you’re done there, get Roon and join up with me, we're going after Lelouch”.

“Of course. I'll meet up with you soon” Kaga said calmly.

Akagi smiled before she turned to the others “Get the Bulin onboard one of the support ships and prepare to move out, we’re going after Lelouch” she ordered.

“Ur, Akagi. How are we supposed to go after him?” Shoukaku asked, “We have no idea where he is, and we can't track the Kansen he's with as we can't pick up their transponders”.

“Don't worry about that” Akagi replied with a smile “Just get the fleet ready to move the moment Kaga and Roon arrive”.

“Yes sir,” the other Kansen said with a salute before they went off on their assigned tasks. Akagi meanwhile looked back down at the paper aircraft that was still floating above her hand “Try as hard as you can, Lelouch Lamperouge. You can't hide from me forever, for I have your scent. And when I find you, you will never escape from me ever again. Yes, Akagi will never let you leave her side again. Ahaha... ahahaha!” she said before she started to laugh. Lelouch may have been a slight pain in the arse for her, but his command ability was unquestionably good, plus he was able to somehow escape and not get seen by anyone for two hours, whilst naked. Which was quite impressive. She was going to enjoy getting every secret out of him.

Eagle Union fleet. Currently escorting Dragon Empery Kansen to safety + IJN Akashi.

Lelouch left the bridge of Akashi's ship, having just finished telling Baltimore not to inform anyone about his or Akashi's ship, as he would prefer to get back to Azur Main without incident. And made his way down to the main deck, which was absolutely ruined. All of Akashi's AA guns had been destroyed, and there was a lot of damaged Bulin's laying on the deck. Kaguya was already helping one of the Bulin's, as were Bluegill and Albacore. The mass-produced ships devastated Akashi's ship, yet he didn't know why they attack her. She was a friendly vessel and looked to have been in command of them, so why did they turn on her? Akashi was just as confused about this as he was. The only thing that could explain what happened was that a Siren Cultist took command of the fleet, but that would require them to be in a position where they could command them, but that required them to be in the navy. Could there be more cultists in the Sakura Empire? If there were, then there was nothing he could do about it. He would have to ask the Eagle Union and Royal Navy to check their respective forces for cultists, just to be on the safe side.

He was making his way over to Kaguya when Ning Hai, Ping Hai, An Shan, and Chang Chun jumped up onto the deck of the ship and made their way over to him.

“Commander. Light cruisers Ning Hai, Ping Hai, and destroyers An Shan and Chang Chun reporting” one of the Kansen Dragon Empery said as they reached him. She had black hair and wore a purple and white dress, she also had a small panda with her. He guess that she was Ning Hai, so the other Kansen with a small panda must be her sister Ping Hai.

“Ning Hai, good to see you,” Lelouch said “Get the others helping the damaged Bulin's and move them to the medical bays below deck. Ning Hai, you’re with me”.

“Yes sir!” the four Kansen responded before Ping Hai, An Shan, and Chang Chun moved to help the destroyers, whilst Ning Hai followed Lelouch over to Kaguya.

“Kaguya, are you alright?” Lelouch asked as he reached her.

“I'm fine” Kaguya replied as she finished bandaging up a Bulin's arm “Can’t say the same about the Bulin's thou, they are not designed to go into combat,” she said as she stood up. She then noticed Ning Hai was with him “Ning Hai. What’s a Dragon Empery Kansen doing here?”.

“We're evacuating all our Kansen to Azur Main” Ning Hai replied “Apparently someone in the Sakura Empire didn't get the memo that all our entire Navy and its assets were transferred to the Azur Lane, and thus, are neutral in this conflict. They've taken over all but one of our ports, and even now are moving in to take it over. So we've been forced to head to Azur Main for safety”.
Kaguya looked shocked by what she was hearing “Wait, wha-. But, the army said that it wouldn't be attacking Dragon Empery navy assets” she said sounding shocked.

“Well there are Japanese troops stomping all over our ports right now,” Ning Hai said, not looking at all happy.

Lelouch sighed “Looks like the army is doing the exact opposite of what it's saying it's doing,” he said. This was exactly the kind of thing the Britannian army did back in his world, say they weren't going to attack a place that was neutral only to do the opposite and attack it anyway, coming up with some pitiful excuse as to why they attacked it. It was despicable, plus it was Japan who was doing it, which made it feel even worse as he spent two years trying to free them from his father's oppressive empire. Why did it have to be Japan who are the aggressors in this world? If this is some gods idea of a joke then he wasn't finding it funny “You think the Sakura Empire Kansen know about this?” he asked.

Kaguya shook her head “If I haven't heard about it, then neither have they. The army must be trying its best to keep it a secret” she replied before she turned towards Ning Hai “I am so sorry about this Ning Hai. I wish there was something I could do about it but, well, I don't have much influence with the main political body. Also I'm currently Lelouch's prisoner”.

Ah hell, he had forgotten about that part. Albacore, Bluegill, and Ayumodoki were undergoing a mission for the Azur Lane, which put them under his command, and since they were the one's who captured Akashi's ship, everyone on board were now prisoners of the Azur Lane.

“I prefer referring to them as 'under our protection', due to the indent that resulted in the capture of this ship and the Kansen onboard,” Lelouch said, “This vessel was attacked by its own escorts, after all, so we can't really call them prisoners if their own side was trying to kill them”.

“So, no putting them in the brig then?” Ning Hai asked.

Lelouch nodded “Yes, no putting them in the brig. We wouldn't be doing it anyway due to the large number of them who are damaged. Plus we don't have the brig space for all of them”.

“Damn,” Kaguya said sounding slightly annoyed “There goes that idea”.

“What idea?” Lelouch asked sounding slightly concerned.

“Oh, nothing you need to worry about right now” Kaguya replied with an innocent smile.

Lelouch felt slightly unnerved by this, as Kaguya wasn't this, perverted last time he saw her. Either getting older made her a bit more open, or she spent way too much time with C.C. after his death. Either way, she was going to be a little bit more trouble to him now. At least he could still rely on her intelligence to help him out at times.

“Ok. Anyway, Kaguya, continue helping the damaged Bulin's. Focus on getting the heavily damaged one's below deck” Lelouch said, getting a nod from Kaguya. He then turned to Ning Hai “Ning Hai, can you sail this ship”.

“I should be able to, as long as the ships limiter is active” Ning Hai replied “But why do you need me? Surly you can get Akashi to sail it. This is her ship after all”.

“She's busy stabilizing the more damaged Kansen” Lelouch explained, “Which means I need someone at the wheel to move this ship into formation with the rest of the rest of the fleet”.

“Ah, right. Almost forgot this is a repair ship” Ning Hai said “Well, I'll see what I can do commander”.

“What will you be doing Lelouch?” Kaguya asked.

“Helping out where I can” Lelouch replied “There's not much for me to do at the moment, so I might as well help out”.

“Then you can start off by giving these to Yura and Haguro, Nya,” Akashi said as she passed Lelouch some clean clothing “Their uniforms were badly damaged and are in need of new ones. So these will do until theirs can be replaced,” she said.

“Ur, ok,” Lelouch said sounding slightly surprised “Wh-where are they?” he asked.

“Deck two, maintenance bay six” Akashi replied “They’re the only two in there at the moment, so it should be easy to find”.

Lelouch sighed before he walked off into the ship and proceeded towards maintenance bay six. In retrospect, this was probably a good thing, as it meant that he could have a private chat with both Yura and Haguro. He had questions for both of them, like why Yura said it was good to see him again.

It didn't take him long to reach maintenance bay six. The room looked a bit like a normal medical bay, but had, in addition to medical equipment, also had maintenance and repair equipment for repairing a Kansen's rigging. Yura and Haguro were, as Akashi said, were the only one's in the room, laying on two of the beds.

“Hello, you two,” Lelouch said as he walked in “Just delivering some new clothes for you”.

“Oh, thank you, commander,” Yura said as Lelouch put the clothing down onto an empty bed.

“So it's true then, our own mass-produced ships fired on us?” Haguro asked.

“I'm afraid so” Lelouch replied as he turned towards them “I don't know why they turned their guns on Akashi's ship, but they did fire on us. I would look into it, but since we're now being escorted away by Eagle Union ships, there's not much I can do about it, other than hope that someone in the Sakura Empire looks into it”.

“Well, thanks for helping to get us out of there” Haguro said as she sat up and sat on the side of her bed “Being sunk by friendly vessels is not a way I would like to go,” she said before she tried to stand up but quickly grabbed her back.

“You ok?” Lelouch asked as he rushed over to Haguro and helped her up.

“I'm fine. Just stood up a bit too quickly, that's all” Haguro said through gritted teeth as she held her back “Don't worry about us. We've both got repair tool kits so we're slowly getting repaired”.

“That still won’t be enough to fix the more serious damage,” Lelouch said sounding concerned.

Haguro smirked “Huh, a command who actually cares about us Kansen, even those of his enemy's. That's new,” she remarked “It's like Akagi said, you are different from the previous commanders of the Azur Lane”.

“Well, someone's got to change things around here,” Lelouch said “If you just accept things in life, nothing will change”.

“Yeah,” Haguro said looking slightly surprised “Lelouch”.

“Yes, Ha-” Lelouch said before Haguro slapped him on the face, which was a lot more powerful due to coming from a Kansen. It almost sent him flying “OW! What was that for?” he asked as he held a hand up to his face, covering the area which just got slapped by a Kansen.

“That was for dying you moron!” Haguro shouted, with almost enough force to cause Lelouch to fall over.

“Wh-what!” Lelouch said sounding confused as he held on to the side of the bed to stop himself from falling over “What on earth are you talking about?” he asked sounding confused.

“Your Zero Requiem, Lelouch. Because as effective as it was, did you really need to die to achieve your goal?” Haguro shouted.

“Huh?” Lelouch said sounding rather confused. How could Haguro know about his Zero Requiem, unless “Kallen?”.

“In the flesh” Haguro replied with a frown “Ok, so I may now have cat ears and the firepower of a heavy cruiser, but I'm still me, still the best Knightmare pilot in the world. Even though there are no Knightmare's in this world, and I'm a Kansen”.

“Don't forget about me” Yura added.

“Of course we also have this hypercritical fool over here” Haguro, or should that be Kallen now, said as she pointed towards Yura.

“Hey, I said I was sorry,” Yura said calmly.

“Sorry is not enough to fix the two years you spent ruining everything for us!” Haguro shouted.

“Wow wow wow. Calm down please Kallen” Lelouch said as put a hand on Kallen's shoulder “We don't want everyone onboard hearing us. Also, who's Yura supposed to be? Because I do not remember meeting anyone who looked like her,” he asked, pointing towards Yura.

“Ah, about that” Yura said calmly “We have met before Lelouch, it's just that, the last time we saw eye to eye, I wasn't a woman,” she said.

Lelouch was somewhat confused by what Yura was saying. 'wasn't a woman the last time they saw each other' what was she talking about. Then it clicked, oh god did it click. There was a reason why she looked and sounded so familiar yet didn't look like anyone he knew, because he did know who she was, they had met before, it was just that she was a he. The hair, the eyes, the face, even the voice, was just a female version of one of his oldest, and closest friends.

“Suzaku!”.

Chapter Text

Eagle Union fleet. Currently escorting Dragon Empery and damaged Sakura Empire Kansen.

Lelouch was struggling to believe this. How the hell did Suzaku not only get turned into a woman, but also a Kansen? How is that even possible? Even stranger, how do they remember their past lives? Nina/Resource didn't remember her past, so why did these two remember.

“I guess you have a few questions for us?” Yura, no, Suzaku asked with a neutral expression on her face.

“More than a few” Lelouch replied, still trying to wrap his head around this “Like how do you two remember everything that happened in our old world, how are you both Kansen, and how did Suzaku get turned into a woman?”.

“To answer the latter two first, we don't know” Suzaku replied “We didn't start life remembering who we were, our memories came back to us slowly, as dreams. It took us a while to realise that they were memoirs from our old lives”.

“Effectively, after we manifested as Kansen in this world, it took our minds awhile to, reboot, as it were, and for our old memoirs to come back to us” Kallen added.

So, they slowly remember their pasts. That was interesting, the others and himself woke up in this world remembering everything, why then did it take the Kansen look-a-likes time to remember? Also, did Resource remember her past? He would have to try and prod her with a phrase to see if she remembers as well, maybe mention FLEIJA around her when he's alone with him, that might get a response from her.

“So, your memoirs came back to you over time then,” Lelouch said “Huh, that's strange. When I woke up in this world, I remembered everything. Also I was naked”.

“You did!” Kallen said sounding surprised, blushing a deep red “I-, I mean, you did, that's, strange. How did that happen?” she said, trying to cover the fact that she was blushing.

“I don't know, but it wasn't just me who woke up in this world like that” Lelouch said “Both Kaguya and C.C. woke up naked after dying”.

“Wait, C.C. died!” Suzaku said sounding shocked “How did she die? She's an immortal like Nunnally,” she said before she gasped, looking like she should not have said that “I, can explain”.

“Don't worry about it,” Lelouch said “I already know my sister is an immortal code giver. She told me herself. As for C.C., she doesn't know how she died. She just went to sleep in a hotel and woke up naked in the middle of a Royal Navy base”.

“Nunnally's here?” Suzaku said as she sat up, imminently she groaned in pain before laying back down “Ow. I should not have done that” she groaned through gritted teeth as she massaged her back.

“You should try to not move as much, Suzaku,” Lelouch said before turning to Kallen “You too Kallen. Ember hit both of you hard and you shouldn't be moving around”.

“Yeah, yeah your right” Kallen said as she sat down and laid back in bed “So, Nunnally's here in this world. I suppose she told you what happened to our world then”.

Lelouch nodded “She did. You two wouldn't be able to tell me more about what happened? Nunnally didn't tell me much, apart from someone named Apocalypse destroyed everything and set the world on fire”.

“He set the world on fire!” Kallen said sounding shocked “W-why would he do that?” she asked.

“I have no idea” Lelouch replied “She just said that's what he did, after five years of fighting him, he set the world ablaze”.

“Wait. If he set the world on fire, how did Nunnally get here?” Suzaku asked.

“I don't know” Lelouch replied as he sat down on one of the beds “She never said how she managed to get here. All I know is that she took on the mantel of Zero after Suzaku died and spent five years fighting Apocalypse. She also said that Suzaku died getting her to safety after getting backstabbed by his replacement”.

“Yes, that did, unfortunately, happen,” Suzaku said “Despite being geassed to live, old age and the unexpected attack from behind by someone I thought I trusted didn't activate it. It only kept me alive long enough to get your sister to safety. Time had not been as kind to us as it had been to your sister. We grew old whilst she didn't. We couldn't have helped her even if we wanted to”.

“We were in our seventies Lelouch, we were too old to fight a war” Kallen added “The best I could do for Nunnally was give her the keys to my Guren. And even that, that was a sixty-year-old relic that I was shocked to see still worked”.

“You gave her your Guren!” Lelouch said sounding surprised.

Kallen nodded “It was the only thing I could do. I was stuck in a wheelchair in my seventies. I was too old to pilot it. Plus the Lancelot was destroyed getting her to safety, so she needed a new Knightmare to pilot. Mine was the only one she could use. I just hope she managed to get a new one, as powerful as the Guren was back in the day, it was dreadfully outdated compared to modern Knightmare's. And after Lakshata was killed by terrorists, we weren't able to build a new one, let alone fully repair and maintain the current Guren”.

“We should have been more prepared for him,” Suzaku said with a sigh “Someone like Apocalypse was bound to show up after a while, I don't even know how he was able to convince so many people to turn against us? We left so many people who could help her and look after her, and all of them turned on her in an instant. Why? She was so nice to them”.

“He didn't, he used his Geass on them,” Lelouch said “Nunnally told me that Apocalypse's Geass allowed him to imprint a copy of himself onto anyone he uses it on, basically replacing their consciousness with a copy of his own. It's how he was able to turn so many to his side, he just put a copy of himself into them”.

Both Kallen and Suzaku had shocked looks on their faces as Lelouch told them of Apocalypse's Geass. Realisation quickly came to them “So that's why they all turned on us” Kallen said “Now it makes sense why people I trusted came into my house and killed me. Apocalypse took them over with his Geass”.

“Should have suspected he had Geass from the start” Suzaku added “Guess old age was affecting us more than we thought. Where is Nunnally anyway? Is she back as Azur Main?”.

“I'm afraid I don't know where she is. The last time I saw here was at the Yamato estate” Lelouch replied “She's, doing something, but I'm not sure what it is. She's keeping something, which is ironic as I spent a long time keeping secrets from her. But still, I'm worried about what she's doing. There's something going on that she's not telling me, and I'm worried that she may be in over her head. Immortal or not I'm still worried about her safety” he said.

He was telling the truth, he really was worried about his sister. After everything she's been through, after the countless times, she must have died during her reign as queen, during the battle against Apocalypse, and when she was stuck on a burning Earth. The latter of which gave him nightmares, watching his sister burn to death over and over and over again did not help him sleep well at night. Immortal or not she was still his little sister, and that desire to protect her was still there.

“I wish there was something I could say something to help reassure you, but I don't know much about what happened to her during her five-year battle,” Suzaku said “I couldn't even protect her at times. I allowed her to be captured and turned into an immortal code giver in the first place. And being Geassed to live on didn't help when I needed to protect someone, it prioritised my survival over hers. Sometimes makes me think that I may not have been the best choice to replace you as Zero. Also, Kallen still hates me”.

“Of course I still hate you! Sixty years of protecting Nunnally is not enough for me to forgive you for the two years you spent fighting against very the people trying to free our country from Britannia oppression by fighting for the very people oppressing us!” Kallen shouted “Lelouch accidentally geassing his sister Euphemia and accidentally causing a massacrer aside, you really had the dumbest reasons for fighting for Britannia. I preferred you when I thought I killed you over Mt. Fuji”.

“Kallen, I've long since realised how much of a fool I was back then, believing that Britannia could be reformed from the inside,” Suzaku said, “The rotten cancer that festered within the heart of Britannia would not be so easily healed, only cut out. I wish I had realised that sooner”.

Lelouch sighed, looks like there was still some hatred between the two. Old wounds still open and yet to heal. It'll be a long time before Kallen could forgive Suzaku for what he did. He was a thorn in their sides for a very long time after all, and forgiveness would not be so easily given. Also, rotten cancer was a perfect explanation for the Britannia nobility, and his father “I should probably go” he said as he stood up “The others might get suspicions if I spend too much time here”.

“Sure. We'll be fine here” Suzaku said “We wouldn't want to compromise your position. We can talk more later”.

Lelouch nodded before he walked towards the door “Wait” Kallen said as he reached the door “Lelouch, don't call us by our human names or tell anyone who we really are. We're the Kansen Haguro and Yura in the world. It would be bad if you called us by our human names when around the others. It'll confuse the hell out of our sisters too”.

Lelouch nodded. It would look strange if he called them Kallen and Suzaku when everyone else knew them as Haguro and Yura. With C.C. it could be passed off as a nickname, since both her fore and surname started with C. With Kallen and Suzaku he couldn't do that, so calling them by their ship names Haguro and Yura will have to do from now on. He would have to ask them what's it like to have sisters now, but that will have to wait till later. He smiled before he left the room, walking back to the top deck to rejoin the others.

Seven days later. Several nautical miles away from Midway Atoll.

Lelouch yawned as he walked up onto the main deck of Akashi's ship. Most of the damage done to it had been fixed, but the vessel was still heavily damaged and would require dry-docking to fully repair the ship. The damaged Kansen and Bulin's had also been repaired as much as they could, but as with Akashi, they would need to be dry-docked for a full repair.

He had spoken to Kallen and Suzaku a few more times, got to know their situation better and what happened during the past sixty years. It was quite informative. Quite a lot happened during the sixty years of peace after his death, a mix of good and bad events, minor wars, terrorist attacks, political assassinations, attempted assassinations, and politicians being general idiots, you know, the usual. Nunnally was able to handle it surprisingly well, but of course, there were times where she struggled with it all and wished he was still around. But she managed to keep the peace for sixty years, which was far longer than he expected her to. She may have been able to keep the peace for a few decades longer had Apocalypse not fucked everything up. He would have loved to have put a bullet into that bastard's head after what he did, but burning to death after setting the world on fire was an appropriate end to such a maniac. He just wished his sister hadn't had to share the same fate. He was still worried about her and wished that she would just tell him what she was doing, he could help her after all. What was she so afraid of that she wouldn't ask her own brother for help. Oh well, he wouldn't find out here.

The rest of the fleet was still making progress towards Hawaii, but their pace had slowed down significantly due to having to now escort the damaged Akashi, which in good conditions could only reach speeds of around nineteen knots. But due to the damage, her ship had sustained, her speed had been greatly reduced, slowing the entire fleet down. It'll take weeks for them to reach Azur Main. Oh well, at least he can get in touch with Azur Main now, and C.C.

Things have been going well over there, she's been able to keep everything together and deal with all the people trying to exploit him getting kidnapped by pressuring her into 'restoring' their access to the SDN. Of course, this was C.C. they were dealing with, an immortal witch who's been around for centuries, and helped him lead the Black Knights. They didn't stand a chance against her, and he could tell by the sound of her voice that she was enjoying it. He might have to ask her to deal with such people for him from now on, she was remarkably good at it.

Anyway, he walked around the deck of the ship, breathing in the cool sea air as he made his way around the ship. It was surprisingly relaxing out here, and no sign of any Sakura Empire Kansen or aircraft. Well apart from the five Sakura Empire Kansen who were with them, and with them this close to Midway Atoll and with the SE having no way to track them, they were relatively safe.

It was whilst he was walking he spotted Kaguya talking to someone. At first, he thought that it was one of the Dragon Empery Kansen due to her dress, but he had met all of them and this woman did not look like any of them. She was also about the same height as her and had white hair, so it definitely wasn't Yet Sen. Curious he walked over to them “Kaguya, good morning” he said as he walked up to them.

“Oh good morning Lelouch,” Kaguya said with a smile “I was just talking to Jiang Lihua about how I died”.

“What?” Lelouch asked sounding rather confused before he turned towards the other woman, and his eyes shot wide open. Her hair may have been different, but those eyes, those reddish-orange eyes he remembered very well “Jiang! W-what are you doing here? H-how did you get here?”.

“Hello, Lelouch. It's been quite some time since I last saw you” Jiang said with a smile, her voice was older and sounded more experienced and less lonely or naïve than it did last time he spoke to her “As for why I'm here, I was part of the Dragon Empery navy that was falling back to Azur Main. But as of now, I'm the only survivor. The rest died when our fleet came under attack by mass-produced submarines. I was the only one to survive”.

“I'm, sorry to hear that,” Lelouch said sombrely “I wish I could have been there to help. But I was unaware of your situation”.

“It's ok, there was no way you could have found out. All our transmissions were being jammed after all” Jiang said “I'm just glad that Kaguya is just as much in the dark about this as you were”.

“I must once again apologise for what the Sakura Empire military is doing to your country,” Kaguya said with a frown “It's an entirely unnecessary and pointless war that is only hampering our efforts to fight the Sirens. I just wish there was a way we could put an end to it”.

“I wish so too, but we're not exactly in a position to do so at the moment” Lelouch said with a smile “Still, I'm glad to see that your ok-” he said before an aircraft flew quite close overhead, followed by several more “What the? Who th-. Give me a sec,” he said before he got out his radio “Baltimore, can you please tell Bataan that-” he asked before Baltimore responded, “Not now commander, we are under attack by Sakura Empire aircraft!”.

“We're what!” Kaguya blurted out before one of the aircraft above them exploded “How the hell did they find us?! All our Sakura Empire transponders have been destroyed”.

“Couldn't they have waited a few more minutes?” Jiang asked sounding slightly annoyed “I wanted to talk to Lelouch more”.

“Lelouch!” Kallen shouted as she rushed up onto the main deck “We're-. Oh shit you already know”.

“Haguro! What are you doing up here? Shouldn't you be resting?” Kaguya asked as more and more aircraft flew overhead and started fighting each other.

“I picked up friendly aircraft on my radar, and by friendly, I mean Sakura Empire aircraft” Kallen replied “What I don't understand is how they found us? We-” she said before she looked at Lelouch “Lelouch, take off your jacket”.

“What?” Lelouch asked sounding rather confused “Why?” he asked before Kallen rushed over to him and tried to take his jacket off by force “Wow, hay Kallen, what the hell are you-” he asked as Kallen pulled his jacket off and tore it in half, watching as a red paper aircraft floated out of it and down onto the ground.

“Oh, son of a bitch!” Kallen gasped as her eyes watched it fall, a catastrophically shocked look on her face.

Everyone's eyes were focused on the paper aircraft that just floated out of Lelouch's uniform, it was a simple aircraft cut out of red paper, so it looked unassuming. But he had seen several paper aircraft that were just like this one being held by Akagi and Kage, as well as several other Kansen.

Suddenly the red paper aircraft floated upwards towards eye level and stopped “You know Lelouch, you are surprisingly difficult to track at times” the voice of Akagi said, the paper aircraft flashing red as she spoke, “Lucky for you, I gave you something so I could easily track you. And hear everything that you and those around you say”.

Chapter Text

Eagle Union fleet. Several nautical miles away from Midway Atoll.

Lelouch was having an internal panic attack. Akagi had heard everything he had said over the past few days, all thanks to a paper aircraft that was hidden inside of his jacket. She heard all of it, from his discussion with Kaguya, him finding out that Haguro and Yura were Kallen and Suzaku, to him discussing their past, a lot of which was out of context. She knew a great deal about him, C.C, Kallen, Suzaku, and Kaguya, and maybe a bit about Jiang Lihua.

It did not help that the sky above them was quickly filling up with aircraft and AA fire.

“I must say, Lelouch, you've lived quite the active and interesting life,” Akagi said. Lelouch could picture the sly smile on her face “As have you, lady Kaguya. I'm quite grateful for you divulging so much about you and your friends, It's giving me a better idea of who you are as a person, and a desire to learn more about this, other world you spoke of” she said, “So, if you could surrender now and make this easy on us, I promise you none of you will be harmed”.

“Your sure you can keep that promise?” Jiang asked with a frown “Because you also promised to leave our coast and navy forces alone, and look how well you kept that promise” she said before she looked at Lelouch and winked.

It took Lelouch a few moments to realise what Jiang was doing, Akagi was clearly in charge of the fleet, so Jiang was trying to disrupt her composure and distract her from the battle, making it easier for her to make mistakes. He smiled, she had learned a lot during the sixty years after his death.

“Jiang. I, must apologise for the invasion of your contrary coast when we said we would leave it alone” Akagi said sombrely “I had no idea our forces were attacking the coast. But I can assure you that the navy had nothing to do with this”.

“I would believe you, if you had said the Sakura Empire Kansen had nothing to do with it. Because the navy clearly had a hand in our misery” Jiang said coldly “I specifically remember your marines boarding several civilian vessels flying a flag of truce, carrying hundreds of civilians who were just trying to escape. I have no idea if those people are still alive” she said before she grabbed the paper aircraft “Then there were the endless number of mass-produced ships chasing after us. I'm surprised we were able to get out of there alive and mostly undamaged. If we hadn't run into an Eagle Union patrol fleet, then we would not have survived. So believe me when I say this, we will not idly sit by this time. The Dragon Empery navy will join the war against you, and we will fight you, till our dying breath!”.

There was a long pause after Jiang had finished speaking, no doubt everyone was quite surprised by her little outburst. Even Lelouch was surprised by her, he was also quite impressed by her. She was no longer the naive and innocent young girl she was all those years ago, she was experienced now, and was far more ruthless when dealing with her enemy's.

“I-, I'm sorry that we must come to blows, I just hope you can forgive us at some point” Akagi replied “Unfortunately, you currently stand in-between us and our objective, so we will have to push you aside”.

“Come at us then! We have the black king on our side, and he's defeated army's far superior to yours before!” Jiang said before she dramatically tore the paper aircraft in half.

Silence befell them as the remains of the paper aircraft floated down onto the ground. Everyone was surprised by how Jiang spoke to Akagi, she didn't even give the others a chance to say anything. It didn't take her long to realise that everyone was staring at her “Sorry about that, just wanted to show someone their place”.

“No no, that's alright,” Lelouch said sounding surprised “I'm surprised that you were able to talk to her like that”.

“It's been sixty years Lelouch, I've learned a few things since your death, especially from you,” Jiang said “So, I assume she's been listening in on everything you've been saying over the past few days then?” she asked, getting a nod from Lelouch “Great. Not much we can do about that at the moment. Recommend we focus on the battle first, and deal with Akagi later”.

“Oh, crap, the battle,” Lelouch said as he quickly got out his radio “Baltimore, what's the status out there?”.

“Commander! Sorry about earlier, I was busy dealing with the enemy aircraft” Baltimore replied over the radio “We've managed to deal with the aircraft, but I don't think that was a real attack, just a probe attack to see what we have”.

“Ok. Any idea about enemy numbers?” Lelouch asked. As much as Akagi knowing a lot about his pasts was a problem, he had to focus on the battle at hand, and keep this fleet alive until reinforcements from Midway could arrive, Akagi would have to wait till later. Hopefully, he could launch an operation to capture her. But first, he needed to find her

“No idea at the moment commander, I'm keeping all of Bataan's surviving planes back to protect us” Baltimore replied “Knowing Akagi, she won't be alone. Kaga will be with her, as will the rest of the Kidō Butai. We don't have the aircraft or firepower to deal with six fleet carriers. Not to mention the other surface ships with them”.

Lelouch quickly went through the ships he had available to him. Four damaged Sakura Empire Kansen and one repair ship, none of whom were in a condition to fight. Nine Dragon Empery Kansen, four destroyers and five light cruisers. God knows how many Bulin's. Eleven Eagle Union Kansen, four destroyers, one heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, one escort carrier, and “Three submarines! Albacore, re-”.

“Yes!” Albacore said loudly behind him, causing him to jump and turn to face her and her two sisters.

“Albacore! Don't sneak up on someone like that!” Lelouch said as took a step back.

“Sorry sir, but when the gunfire started we immediately came to you for orders,” Albacore said “So, got a mission for us commander?” she asked with a smile.

“Yes, I need you to locate the Sakura Empire carriers. I'd rather know where they are and where their heading” Lelouch ordered “Do not engage unless I order you to do so. Understood?”.

All three submarine's nodded “Understood sir” Albacore said before the three manifested their rigging, rushed towards the side of the ship, and jumped off into the water below.

“I've always wondered how those girls cope with cold water,” Kaguya said.

“You can ask them later, right now I need you, Jiang, and Haguro to get below deck,” Lelouch said.

“Correction, Kaguya and Haguro can go below deck. I can help you by commanding the Dragon Empery Kansen” Jiang interjected “They trust me Lelouch, and I know how best to employ their skills”.

Lelouch was hesitant to let her stay up here. Yes, she knew the Dragon Empery Kansen, but he did not know how good of a commander she was, or if she could command them in the first place. But, if she was commanding the Dragon Empery Kansen, then that would be Nine less Kansen he needed to worry about “Alright, keep the Dragon Empery Kansen in a defensive formation around Akashi's ship” he said as he passed her his spare radio “Kaguya and Haguro, you get below deck now”.

“No, I can still fight,” Kallen said sounding annoyed.

“Commander, Sakura Empire Kansen on approach, and they've got a lot of aircraft with them” Baltimore reported over the radio.

“Copy that,” Lelouch said before he turned back to Kallen “You are not fighting. You're still heavily damaged, and that is your own faction out there we're fighting. Your own sisters could be out there. I will not allow you to fight them”.

Kallen adverted her eyes “Fine” she said reluctantly “Just stay alive, ok” she said before both she and Kaguya quickly got below deck. Lelouch and Jiang then quickly rushed over to the ship's bridge where Akashi's was busy sailing the ship.

“Binoculars would be very useful right now,” Jiang said as they stood on the side facing the oncoming fleet, before Lelouch passed her one, holding a second one in his other hand “Oh, thank you. Where did you get these?”.

“From the ship's stores” Lelouch replied.

“NYA! Those are my wears!” Akashi's shouted as she rushed over to them “You're supposed to buy those!”.

“You do know that your a prisoner right now,” Lelouch said, giving the green-haired cat girl a glare that made her freeze on the spot “You're lucky that I'm just requisitioning these”.

Akashi laughed nervously “I'll leave you be nya” she said before she went back to sailing her ship.

Lelouch sighed “I might have to keep an eye on her,” he said before turning back to Jiang “Also I'm sorry that you weren't able to save all those people”.

“Don't be, they never existed in the first place,” Jiang said, getting a surprised look from Lelouch “What? You'll be surprised how effective lying can be if employed correctly. I'm sure you've lied before to get what you want. The Sakura Empire marines only boarded one ship, and that was the vessel our entire navy staff were evacuating onboard, no civilians trying to escape” she said “I'm banking on her not knowing a lot about the situation in China, so I'm hoping that my little story has compromised her combat effectiveness. It probably won't help us that much, as she can pass on command to Kaga, but her aircraft might not be as effective now. It's not much, but it's the thought that counts”.

Lelouch couldn't help but smile, Jiang was no longer that young naive girl he met in China, she was now a competent and caring leader who would not shy away from undermining her enemy's. Not the kind of person he would have liked her to become, but leading a country is never an easy thing to do. Sometimes a leader needs to bring down an iron fist to deal with small 'issues' “Well, I'm glad your ok” he said with a smile “Now let's focus on the battle, we can talk about the past later, after the battle and in a secure, non bugged environment” he said before he raised his binoculars and looked towards the incoming Sakura Empire force.

There were a lot of aircraft and Kansen approaching, a mix of destroyers, light and heavy cruisers totalling around fifty, as well as at least two-hundred aircraft and a lot of mass-produced ships.

“You know Lelouch, that is a lot of equipment being sent to capture just one man. Either you've really ticked someone off, or Akagi really wants to capture you” Jiang said before she looked at the incoming aircraft “Yat Sen, gather the rest of the Dragon Empery Kansen and get into formation around Akashi's ship. Shoot anything that gets close and is not friendly” she ordered, speaking into her radio.

“Relay that, get them to board Akashi's ship but do not engage the enemy aircraft” Lelouch interjected.

“What!” Jiang said sounding surprised “Lelouch, how is that going that help us beat them”.

“Trust me, I know what I'm doing,” Lelouch said before he raised his radio “Baltimore, what's the status of the fleet?”.

“We're doing better than expected. We didn't take much damage from enemy aircraft, but Bataan only has twelve aircraft left, and air support from Midway won't be here for another fifteen minutes” Baltimore replied, “The enemy forces will be on top of us before they get here. I don't see us holding them off for that amount of time”.

“Don't worry, I have an idea on how we can slow down their advance,” Lelouch said “Get every Kansen in the fleet onboard Akashi's ship and have the mass-produced ships form into a tight formation around the ship”.

“Ur, copy that sir, not sure how effective that will be against all those aircraft,” Baltimore said sounding slightly unsure of his plan “You're sure you're not setting us up to be bombed to hell and back”.

“Don't worry, I know what I'm doing,” Lelouch said “Also, tell everyone not to fire their AA guns when the aircraft come into range, understood?” Lelouch asked.

“Ur, negative, negative, order not understood” Baltimore responded “You want us to just sit on Akashi's ship and-. Check that, order understood”.

“You sure you know what you're doing?” Jiang asked, “We're already sitting ducks as it is. Putting all of our forces on the slowest ship in the fleet will only make it easier to destroy us”.

“It would be, if we weren't sitting onboard their only repair ship,” Lelouch said with a smirk “The Sakura Empire wouldn't sacrifice their only repair ship over a few Kansen, especially when said repair ship was already heavily damaged and also carrying four damaged friendly Kansen. Besides, Akagi wants me alive, not dead, she wouldn't do anything that would risk killing me” he said, “We deny the enemy of both their aircraft and their guns, leaving them with only one option left”.

“To board us,” Jiang said “All we need to do then is keep them off the ship until reinforcements arrive. Clever, they can't bombard us into submission. Although I don't rate our chances of holding out when they get close. The Sakura Empire Kansen are known for being quite skilled with the use of swords, and have been known to use them against Kansen with a rather high degree of success”.

“Don't worry, I have an idea on how we can stop them from boarding. We just need to wait for those aircraft to pass” Lelouch said.

“Commander,” Albacore said over the radio “We have eyes on the Sakura Empire carriers. They have seven fleet carriers and four escort carriers, as well as several destroyers, cruisers and battleships including the PR ship Izumo. Must be keeping them back as a reserve force” she said “Also, Akagi does not look to be in command of the fleet, Kaga is. Also, her planes are not contributing to the main attack, they are all flying CAP”.

“None of her aircraft are attacking us,” Lelouch said sounding surprised, he knew that Akagi would be somewhat effected by what Jiang told her, but he didn't think she'd keep her aircraft back. Was the situation in China affecting her more than she let on, or was it the war in general? “Thank you for the Intel, fire off a single salvo of torpedoes at the carriers and fall back, I need you girls over here”.

“Copy that sir,” Albacore said “Oh yes, be advised, be had a look at the approaching force of Kansen, they have two PR ships with them, both heavy cruisers. I only recognise one of them, Ibuki. The other's an Ironblood Kansen, but I don't recognise her”.

Lelouch gasped as his heart skipped a beat. An Ironblood heavy cruiser, and a PR ship at that. The Ironblood had only one PR ship, the one ship he had hoped to never see again. He rushed out of the ship's bridge and scanned the oncoming Sakura Empire, hoping, praying that she wasn't here. But they fell on deaf ears.

He saw her, just a small glance of her smile and the rigging behind her, but it was enough to set off the pain in his arm. He cried out as he dropped the binoculars and grabbed his right arm, his back fell against the metal wall of the ship. Despite being half there he could still feel his hand and the fingers that had been attached to it, feel how it felt when it had been torn to shreds when she threw Neptune at him. Why, why was she here?

“Lelouch!” Jiang said as she rushed out of the ship's bridge and rushed up to him, Akashi following up behind her “Lelouch, are you ok!?” she asked sounding very conceded.

“Roon. Roon's here” Lelouch replied as he slowly slipped down the side of the wall and sat down “Why is she here? She shouldn't be here”.

“Roon!” Akashi suddenly blurted looking scared as hell “Whelp, we're dead. It's been nice knowing you commander because she will just butcher you all nya. I saw what she can do, and I do not want to become food for that mechanical shrimp of perpetual pain of hers”.

“Enemy aircraft coming over us now!” Baltimore reported over the radio “They don't look to be attacking us- holy shit!” she suddenly shouted before the ship suddenly shook violently, with the sound of metal creaking under heavy pressure.

Jiang quickly helped Lelouch onto his feet, only for a sinister giggle to sound all over the ship “Did you think you could hide from me? Did you think you could use this ship to protect you from me?!” Roon said with a sinister smile. Lelouch quickly spotted her, standing in the middle of the deck with a deep dent on the floor below her. Her mechanical rigging standing behind her. She turned quickly, guns aimed at the Kansen cowering around her and still as terrifying as she was back in Russia. How the hell did she get over here so quickly? “Do you really think you could hide from ME?! You WILL-” she shouted before something exploded, causing the ship to shake again, this time catching her off guard.

Even though Roon was present, Lelouch quickly looked around for the source of the explosion, only to witness the mass-produced ships escorting them blow up one by one, followed by the Sakura Empire aircraft above them get torn to shreds by AA fire. Where was the fire coming from?

“What the hell” Baltimore shouted “Where the hell is that fire coming from?!” she asked before the ship shook once more, this time because something burst out of the water close by, something large.

“Hold on to something!” Yat Sen shouted as she ship violently leaned to the side. Everyone quickly grabbed hold of the nearest solid object that was bolted down to the floor, but even so, several of them almost fell overboard. Thankfully none of them did.

“Sirens!” one of the Kansen shouted. Lelouch quickly stabilised himself and looked around, watching as several Siren ships surfaced around them. Not submarines, but warships, a large number of warships. The Sirens had completely surrounded them, but where were the humanoid Sirens? Why were there only ships?

He got his answer moments later when he turned and saw a massive Siren ship, far larger than anything else that had been recorded. It was a long, black vessel with red glowing lines along its hull, a large number of guns covered its hull, with a massive arch-like structure on its back. It also had hundreds of humanoid Sirens standing on it.

“What the hell is that!?” one of the Kansen asked, clearly shocked and amazed by this massive Siren ship. The other Kansen had smiler reactions, even Roon looked surprised by the appearance of this ship.

Lelouch quickly reached for his radio which had fallen onto the floor and set it to an open channel they everyone could hear “All Kansen, abandon ship and break through the Sirens blockade away from that massive ship. Get the Bulin's to carry those who can't sail or are human, we need to get away from that thing” he ordered loudly, getting a 'yes sir' from every Kansen in range. He then turned towards Akashi “Akashi, can you manifest your rigging?”.

“Yes nya, but I'll need everyone off first” Akashi replied several Bulin's rushed up to the main deck carrying Atago, Takao, Suzaku, Kallen, Kaguya, and all the damaged Bulins. Two mark two Bulins rushed over to them “Bulins repointing for transport duty purin!”.

“Good. Is that everyone?” Lelouch asked as Kansen started jumping off the deck of the ship onto the water below, guns firing at the surrounding Siren ship. The good news was that Roon and the Sakura Empire Kansen were now engaging the Sirens and helping to open up a passage for them to escape. The one thing he could count on from Kansen is that whenever Sirens show up, all other objectives become secondary, with their primary focus being to combat the Sirens and protect civilian and military assets. And with him being the commander of the Azur Lane, his safety becomes a top priority, so he could count on them not making any attempts to capture him whilst such a large Siren force was around.

Lelouch and Jiang were the last to be carried off of the ship, the rest of the Kansen and damaged Kansen had already carried off. The two got onto the Bulins backs, once they were secure, the Bulins jumped off the side of the ship. Once they were off Akashi quickly manifested her rigging and followed them. Baltimore and the rest of the Eagle Union Kansen were already fighting their way through the Siren's, forming a small corridor that the Dragon Empery Kansen were keeping open as the Bulins carried the wounded and non-Kansen out of the encirclement. Roon of course was busy at the head of the breakout force, tearing the Siren ships apart. If there was one thing good about her, it's that she's effective at killing Sirens. As long as she stayed away from him, he should be able to concentrate on fighting back the Sirens.

As the Kansen fought their way out of the encirclement, Lelouch noticed something odd, not only were the humanoid Sirens onboard the massive ship not disembarking and attacking them but only the ships in their way were attacking them. The rest were sitting idle, watching as they broke out. What were the Sirens doing? They had a clean shot to kill all of them, yet only a small number of them were engaging them. It was like they were letting them break out. But why?

He got his answer moments later, as just as they were breaking out of the encirclement, the radio suddenly crackled “Prepare for trouble...” a familiar voice said, followed by a familiar piece of music.

“...And make it triple!”.

“To infect the world with devastation,”.

“To blight all peoples in every nation,”.

“To denounce the goodness of truth and love,”.

“To extend our wrath to the seas below,”.

“Purichi”.

“Tessy”.

“Observer Mini”.

“Team Siren circling Earth all day and night,”

“Leave now, or you'll surely lose this fight,”.

“Yep, that's right”.

“Somebody help me, I've been shanghaied by these little terrors!” a new voice added, female and autotuned like the rest of the Sirens.

“Oh no,” Lelouch said with an audible sigh. He turned back and looked through his binoculars towards the massive ship, sure enough, standing at the heights point on the ship, with a large black S behind them and several spotlights pointed in their direction, were Purichi, Tessy, and Observer Mini, standing in a not so intimidating pose, with another Siren, a Strategist Mark Two by the look of all the blue on her, tied up rather tightly and hanging from a crane beside them. He sighed heavily, this day was just getting worse and worse.

Chapter Text

Several nautical miles away from Midway Atoll.

To say that the collective reaction by all the Kansen in the area was a mix of confusion and surprise, then that would be an understatement. None of them had any idea what the fuck was going on, or who these three mini sirens were, what that massive ship was, and why they tied up another siren.

Of course, most of the Kansen were still focusing on breaking out of the encirclement and falling back behind the Sakura Empire fleet, so we're only momentarily surprised by it before going back to breaking out.

“Who the hell are those three?” Jiang asked sounding confused as they were carried away from the encirclement, the rest of the fleet following behind covering the rear

“Some rather annoying Sirens I meet back in Russia” Lelouch replied “They weren't that much of a threat, but they brought a category ten Siren with them”.

“Well, doesn't look like they've brought one with them now,” Kaguya said as the Bulin carrying her sailed up beside them.

“Hey, wait, what the hell are you people doing?” the childish voice of Observer Mini said over the radio, not sounding too please with what they were doing “Your not supposed to break out yet, we weren't ready!”.

Lelouch quickly set his radio to a frequency that could be used to talk to the Sirens “Well apologies for not conforming to your plan, but I'm not going to sit back and let myself get encircled by Sirens who don't take full advantage of an ambush” he said with a smirk.

“Ur, was that Lelouch Lamperouge who just spoke?” Tessy asked sounding rather nervous “You know, the one Alpha doesn't want dead”.

“I think it is” Purichi added “We might be in trouble”.

There was a long silence from the Sirens as they probably contemplated how much trouble they were in. meanwhile, the fleet had finished breaking out of the encirclement and was now making their way towards the Sakura Empire fleet ahead of them, as they proceeded, Lelouch wondered what they meant by 'the one Alpha doesn't want dead'. They were probably referring to Observer Alpha, a rarely seen Siren leader that has been seen only by a few, there wasn't much on her and only one poor quality picture of her.

Of course, he didn't have much time to think about it before Observer Mini said “Throw everything at them!” over the radio.

“Oh no,” Lelouch said before he looked back and saw the entire Siren fleet turn towards them and advance at full speed, followed by the humanoid Sirens jumping off the massive ship, as well as hundreds of aircraft being launched “Everyone, full speed now. Get us behind the Sakura Empire fleet, we are vulnerable in our current formation” he ordered before he quickly switched to a Sakura Empire frequency “Akagi, please tell me you still have aircraft”.

“I still have my entire air wing, plus a few aircraft from the other carriers” Akagi replied “But it will take a while for them to reach your position. Who are those three anyway?”.

“Their Sirens, but I've only met them once before. But they're still dangerous” Lelouch replied as his fleet passed through the Sakura Empire fleet, which we're taking a defensive formation “They also have that massive ship which has unknown-”.

“Commander! I've picked up a Dark matter-energy source” Baltimore shouted over the radio “We have a class ten siren is in the area”.

Lelouch cursed. The last time he ran into a class ten it almost destroyed the Zeppelin he was on and took that Enterprise look-a-like to destroy, and he did not have that kind of firepower on him at the moment, plus he had no stable command platform, so he, and everyone else, was in danger “All Kansen, fall-”.

“I'm the class ten siren you daft cunts!” the Strategist Mark Two shouted over comms “Get me the fuck down from here, please! I can't take this anymore!”.

“Check that, the class ten is currently tied up and unable to partake in the battle” Lelouch calmly reported over the radio “All Kansen take up defensive formation, Sakura Empire Kansen will form the first line of defence, Eagle Union second. Engage the moment the Sirens enter range. All damaged Kansen and Bulins will fall back, with the Dragon Empery Kansen escorting them there” he ordered. He would have ordered them back to Midway, but the large Siren fleet was between them and the island.

“Fuck you human!” Strategist Mark Two shouted over comms “When I got down from here, I'm going to punish you so hard, all your limbs are going to need to be replaced with prosthetics!”.

“Looks like you've pissed someone off. You seem to have a knack for that” Kaguya remarked as the Bulins and Dragon Empery Kansen started to move away “Don't worry about us Lelouch, I'll keep the fleet safe”.

“Now now Strategist Mark Two, Alpha would have you reset if you harm him,” Observer Mini said “Now then mister lamp, don't think we're going to let you go so easily,” she said.

“Ur, the names Lamperouge, Lelouch Lamperouge,” Lelouch said sounding slightly confused.

“Sir, should we be going with them purin?” the Bulin MKII carrying him asked.

“No, I need to be here to command the fleet” Lelouch replied “Can't command a fleet in combat

“Hey, mister lamp, focus back on us!” Purichi shouted over the radio “You know, the Sirens currently kicking your rear!”.

“I'm fully aware of you three, and I am currently busy dealing with you,” Lelouch said sounding slightly annoyed “So please, be quiet and let me do my job,” he said with a sigh.

“Sir, engaging Siren's now” Baltimore reported, “But those aircraft are going to rip us-”.

“WATASHI WA NUMBA WAN~” a rather loud and slightly annoying voice shouted over the radio, followed by the entire fleets AA guns suddenly increase in fire rate and overall damage they were doing to the Siren Aircraft, knocking not all of them, but a good portion of them out of the sky.

“Well, that's one less thing to worry about,” Lelouch remarked as what was left of the Siren aircraft flew overhead and fell back, they did drop some bombs and torpedoes, but very few of them hit their targets, knocked off course by the AA fire. Of course, this was only a momentarily setback for the Sirens, as unlike Kansen, Siren carriers could manufacture new aircraft on the battlefield, giving them an almost unlimited number of aircraft, hence why Siren carriers were priority targets. They were not in the clear yet.

“You know we've got a lot more of those than you do mister Lamp,” Observer Mini said over the radio.

“My name's not lamp” Lelouch said sounding irritated by their constant rambling and attempts to distract him.

“Limpady lampady, you've got lamp in your name so we're using it,” Tessy said over the radio “Don't think you're going to-” she said before Lelouch just turned the radio off and sighed.

“Those three are starting to get on my nerves,” Lelouch remarked “I can't command the fleet with those three constantly interrupting me every ten seconds,” he said. Commanding a fleet whilst being carried by a Bulin was not easy, having someone talking to you every ten seconds and distracting you from the battle whilst being carried was almost impossible. He was getting too much information sent to him and lacked the means to process it all. And now he just turned off his radio, meaning he couldn't communicate with the fleet.

“You can use me as a radio purin~,” the Bulin MKII said “All Bulin's are equipped with special radios that the Sirens can't hack into,” she said as she passed him a phone that was contented to her rigging “Only works Bulin to Bulin thou, so we'll need to send Bulin's to both Baltimore and Akagi if you wish to communicate to them without getting interrupted”.

Lelouch looked down at the Builn carrying him, and then towards the fleet currently holding the Siren horde back, then at the Siren fleet that was just throwing themselves at them. Even like that, they had no heavy or air support. The Sakura Empire aircraft and battleships were still a way off, and the reinforcements from Midway were even furtherer away and probably didn't know about the Siren threat. He needed a way to communicate to the fleet, otherwise, they'll be overrun.

“Alright, we'll need to get Bulin's to both Baltimore and Akagi,” Lelouch said.

“Already done sir!” Baltimore said over the Bulin's radio, the sound of cannon fire in the background “One Bulin stayed behind for some reason and- fuck off you bloody Siren!” she shouted, followed by a meaty whack “Sorry about that sir, a Siren got a bit too close for comfort”.

“I'm surprised that the Bulin's own communication system can't be hacked by Sirens,” Akagi's voice remarked over the radio “I'm also surprised that we're just finding out about this now”.

“Akagi. How do you have a Bulin?” Lelouch asked sounding confused, as all of the Bulin's were with him.

“A mark three Bulin was blown off of Akashi's ship and recovered by our forces” Akagi replied “She's still with us by the way”.

“I see,” Lelouch remarked. That was a bit of a stroke of luck. If they didn't have that Bulin with them, then they would have to have sent one over, which would have taken time, time they didn't have “Well, good to know I can communicate with you without getting interrupted by some Sirens. Now, I need your two vanguard fleets to form a V in front of the Siren force, with the point of the V being away from the Sirens”.

“Wait, you want us to enter a reverse V and let the Sirens push into us,” Baltimore said.

“Yes, that's the idea,” Lelouch said “Akagi, how close are the battleships?”.

“They won't be in range for another three minutes” Akagi replied “Lelouch, what the hell are you-” she asked before a loud scream was heard in the background “Oh hell! Taihou! Taihou! What's wrong?”.

“Fumes” a female voice replied sounding rather scared “I smell fumes. It's going to happen again,” the voice said before there was the sound of a small struggle “Don't let me burn, please don't let me burn!”.

“Akagi, what's wrong?” Lelouch asked sounding worried.

“It's one of our carriers, Taihou. She's afraid of dying the same way twice” Akagi replied “We Kansen remember everything our original ships did, and how we sank. And for Taihou, not only was her sinking rather violent, but it's also very much still in her head. She was only manifested a few weeks ago”.

A few weeks, that meant she was new, young, and inexperienced, and as Akagi said, her death was very much still in her mind. Newly manifested Kansen had to spend at least three months undergoing tests and phenological evaluation's before they even start training. The Sakura Empire must have been desperate or careless to send a Kansen out to fight so soon after manifesting.

“Oh hell. Baltimore, organise the fleet into the reverse V formation, I'll try and help Akagi and Taihou” Lelouch said. He wasn't going to allow a Kansen to sink on his watch, not when he could help.

“Copy that sir!” Baltimore said, “Whatever your doing, it better work, we are getting hammered out here”.

“Rodger,” Lelouch said, trusting Baltimore to carry out his orders “Akagi, pass me over to Taihou”.

“Copy” Akagi replied “I'll focus back on the fleet,” she said before she passed the Bulin radio to Taihou.

“Taihou, can you hear me?” Lelouch asked, “This is Commander Lelouch Lamperouge of the Azur Lane. I'm going to help you, ok?”.

“Yes, ok,” the nervous voice of Taihou said, “Please don't let me burn, please”.

“Don't worry, I won't let that happen,” Lelouch said calmly “Now, what's the damage”.

“I-, I got hit by a torpedo on my starboard side just forward of the island, and fuel tanks and supply pipes have been ruptured” Taihou replied with a panicked voice “There's aviation gasoline pooling inside the forward elevator pit and is evaporating. Its the same as last time”.

Lelouch silently cursed, one torpedo to the starboard side, and it was probably one that had been fired by the submarine's that he sent to spy on them. Looks like in this world he was still having to clean up his own messes.

“Ok. I need you to cover the gasoline-filled elevator with foam from the fire suppression system” Lelouch said “Keep all the hatches to the hangers closed, keep the second elevator down, and don't set the ventilation system to full, you'll just distribute the fumes across the ship. You got that?”

“Yes, yes I do” Taihou replied sounding nervous “Sh-, should I transfer to ship mode and smash out all the portholes?”.

“Yes, do that. Just don't do anything that will cause a spark” Lelouch said.

“Copy, I'll do that now. Gods, please let this work” Taihou said “P-, passing you back to Akagi”.

Before Lelouch could ask why she was passing the Bulin radio back to Akagi, but the Bulin was passed before he could say anything “Lelouch, the fleets in formation. But whatever it is you're planning, you better do it now, our vanguard fleet can't hold out much longer”.

“I'll have to agree with Akagi, they are getting pounded out there” Baltimore added over the radio “Several of them have already had to fall back to our lines, even Roon's had to fall back”.

“Roon's fallen back?” Lelouch said sounding surprised. How did they manage to do that? Roon's an absolute killing machine, how could three childish Sirens who were just throwing their troops at them aimlessly take her down? Maybe she wasn't as strong as he first thought “Akagi, are the battleships in range?”.

“They are, but only just” Akagi replied “But if they fire now they risk hitting the other Kansen”.

“Don't worry, they won't. Just get them ready to fire on my command” Lelouch said “Also, get the vanguard fleet ready to split on my command”.

“Split!” the two Kansen said sounding confused.

“Yes, split. Split the V right down the middle and let the Siren's through” Lelouch said, “Can you do that?”.

“I-, sure!” Baltimore said “But you better give the word quickly,” she said as the bulk of the Siren fleet reached them. He needed to end this quickly.

“Got it! Split the fleet now and maintain fire!” Lelouch ordered.

The fleet quickly responded and split, the two sides of the V moving apart and letting the Siren force pass in-between the two fleets, and kept ongoing. He then smirked when the ships and Sirens at the front of the formation either stopped or tried to turn, causing the ships and Sirens behind them to either slow down and stop or crash into the back of those in front of them, bringing the entire fleet to a standstill.

“Battleships, open fire!” Lelouch ordered. Moments later the battleships shells came raining down on the Siren fleet, their tight he had forced them into allowed the shell to cause heavy damage to the fleet. Then the Sakura Empire aircraft arrived and descended down upon the Siren fleet, and despite their small numbers, their bombs decimated the fleet. And the combined firepower reduced the Siren fleet to only a few ships, which, after some retargeting, did not last long after that.

Lelouch smirked as the entire fleet started to cheer, but it's wasn't over yet. They still had that massive ship those child Sirens were using. He quickly reactivated his own radio “So, Observer Mini, anything you want to add?” he asked.

Silence came from the Sirens, probably still recovering from the destruction of their fleet. It was Strategist Mark Two who spoke first “I told you three this would happen. You have no idea how to command a fleet” she said with a deadpan sigh.

“Runaway!” the three child Sirens shouted before the massive ship they were on was suddenly and quickly engulfed by a massive red waterspout, which vanished soon afterwards, along with the massive ship.

“Well, they ran off quickly,” Baltimore remarked.

“Yeah, yeah they did,” Lelouch said as his smirk faded, and his attention turned to the Sakura Empire “Akagi. I know you want to capture me, but both our fleets have taken a beating. Let's save this fight for another day, shall we?”.

“I'm afraid, Lelouch Lamperouge, that I won't be giving you up so easily,” Akagi said “You are quite important, and you still have several of our Kansne with you we need to recover. Not to mention we still have our battleships and seven-” she said before he heard a loud “Surprise!” followed by a loud scream and a thud “Six fully functional aircraft carriers. And we have a lot more aircraft then you do. Tell me, Lelouch, what do you have?”.

Lelouch was about to respond, but was beaten to it “The three fleet carriers responsible for sinking you the last time we were here, Akagi!” the voice of Enterprise said over the radio “Welcome back to your grave bitch!. And yes, I'm carrying a Bulin”.

Lelouch quickly turned towards the horizon, towards the swarm of over three hundred Eagle Union aircraft that was heading straight for them “I suggest that you accept my offer Akagi, because whilst you might be able to survive what's coming, I can't say the same about the rest of your fleet” he said, watching as the Sakura Empire Kansen started to gradually turn and fall back, even Roon was retreating, well, her rigging was dragging her unconscious and bloody body away. Looks like even she can be defeated.

“Damn it!” he heard Akagi swear over the radio “Fine, you win this time Lelouch. But mark my words, next time will be different,” she said before the entire Sakura Empire fleet retreated.

Lelouch quickly switched the radio to an Eagle Union frequency “Enterprise, let them go. They are in no condition to fight”.

“Rodger that commander, we'll escort you back Midway Atoll,” Enterprise said as the aircraft flew overhead “Let's get you lot home”.

Chapter Text

Azur Main. Several days later.

Lelouch stood on the flight deck of Enterprise's ship, watching as they approached the port. It had taken them a while to get back to O‘ahu, the damage done to Akashi's ship slowed them all down, but he wasn't going to abandon them, so he stayed with them during the entire trip back, refusing to take a plane back.

There was no sign of Akagi or any other Sakura Empire Kansen on their way back, which was both good and bad. Good that they didn't have to fight them again, but bad because Akagi still knew about his past. He would have preferred to have captured her as well, but even with the reinforcements from Enterprise and her sisters, he still didn't have the numbers to capture her. Plus he had no idea who else knew about his past. This was worrying as she now had some leverage over him, and he had no idea how to deal with her. Hopefully, he can activate the Castiel protocol before she decides to do something with that information.

He hadn't been sitting idle either, he'd been quite busy commanding the Azur Lane from Enterprise's ship, keeping things together and stopping Owen from fucking everything up. He had also told her that Kaguya and Jiang were with him, as well as what happened to them and that Yamato and her sisters, as well as Akagi, know about his past, but he hadn't told her about Haguro and Yura being Kallen and Suzaku, that was something that he would have to tell her in person.

“Good to be finally home,” Enterprise said as she walked up beside him.

“Indeed it is,” Lelouch said before he took a bite out of a cracker.

“Those aren't good for you you know,” Enterprise said “Those things aren't as healthy as they say they are. You need complex carbohydrates to lower your LDL's. It would be quite bad if you had a heart attack,” she said before she passed him a foil sealed package “Have an MRE”.

“Ur” Lelouch said as he looked at the grey package held in front of him. He knew what an MRA was, he was just surprised that Enterprise was offering him one.

“Meal, ready to eat!” Enterprise said, probably not knowing that he already knew what it was “Freeze-dried foil sealed. Includes entrée, cracker pack, cheese spread, mixed fruit, beverage powder, spoon, coffee, cream substitute, candy, salt, matches, toilet paper. Everything a soldier needs to maintain their calorie intake out in the field” she said “Have them all the time when deployed. Just don't tell Yorktown I said that, she gets rather disappointed in me when I don't eat proper food when it's available”.

“Ok,” Lelouch said as he took the MRE.

“To be honest, Yorktown's not the only one who get disappointed in me whenever I eat an MRE. Hornet, Vestal, even Littorio was displeased by my choice in meals”.

“Littorio?” Lelouch said sounding surprised “Why would she be disappointed?”.

“I think she was disappointed that I wasn't eating any local cuisine” Enterprise replied “Spent a good couple of days getting dragged off to fancy Italian restaurants and have her try to romance me whilst we were eating. Not something I would like to do again, but seeing that the Sardegna Empire are part of the Crimson Axis, it's unlikely that you'll have to go through that any time soon”.

Sardegna Empire. He almost forgot about them. They have a large fleet and are currently contesting the Mediterranean against the Royal Navy, but aren't exactly doing well. He had originally dismissed them, not thinking that he could use them for anything. But, now that he needed to get to Germany without getting captured by the Ironblood, as that would mean Roon capturing him, not something he wanted to happen, even after watching her getting dragged away by her rigging after getting heavily damaged, he was still very scared of her. The Sardegna Empire, on the other hand, offered a solution to this problem, they didn't have any PR ships, nor any Kansen who were as bloodthirsty as Roon, they were also right on the Ironblood's doorstep. One quick flight and he would be in the Ironblood's hands, and all without Roon having to capture him.

He'll give himself a few days at Azur Main before he started work on his plan to get captured by the Sardegna Empire, hopefully, this time everything goes as planned.

It was then he noticed that Enterprise's ship was now docked, and realised that he should probably get ready to disembark. No doubt C.C. would be there to meet him, plus that fool Owen might try something, so he had to be there to stop him from doing anything.

He quickly hid the MRE inside his uniform “We should probably go get ready to disembark. No doubt there will be a lot of people down there to meet us”.

“Agreed,” Enterprise said before the two made their way to the ship's gangplank, which, after the ship docked, lowed itself down to the dock below, allowing them to disembark.

Gathered on the dock below them were C.C., Queen Elizabeth, and several Royal Navy and Eagle Union Kansen.

“Lelouch. Welcome back to Azur Main” C.C. said as Lelouch stepped off the gangplank “I hope your trip back was uneventful”.

“Thankfully very quiet,” Lelouch said, “I see everything's been going well whilst I've been gone”.

C.C. nodded “I've managed to keep everything together and keep some people in check,” she said, “I'm glad your back Lelouch, the Sirens have become a bit more active”.

“I noticed,” Lelouch said “That massive ship we fought at Midway must have sparked an increased in activity from them,” he said as Kaguya and Jiang walked up behind him from further up down the dock, followed by the still damaged Sakura Empire Kansen being escorted by the Dragon Empery Kansen. Takao's arm was in a sling as it still hadn't fully healed, but apart from that, they had all physical recovered. Their rigging was still in need of major repairs though.

C.C. turned towards Jiang “Jiang, glad to see you're alright. I wish the same could be said about the rest of the Dragon Empery navy command staff”.

Jiang gave her a friendly smile “I wish so too, but someone in the Sakura Empire really wanted us dead. It was only a miracle that I was able to survive”.

“Once again, I am very sorry about what my countrymen have done to the Dragon Empery” Kaguya added “I just wish I could have done something about it”.

It was then that Lelouch spotted Owen walking up the dock towards them, a group of Eagle Union marines accompanying him. He suppressed a sigh of annoyance and walked past the gathered group of Kansen and moved to meet him “Sub-commander Owen. What brings you here?” he asked with a frown.

Owen stopped in front of him and passed him a piece of paper, which Lelouch quickly looked at. It was a prisoner transfer “I'm here to take the Sakura Emp-” he said before Lelouch tore the piece of paper in half, not even giving him a chance to finish his sentence.

“The five Sakura Empire Kansen, as well as Kaguya Narita and all the Bulins, are guests of the Azur Lane, not prisoners” Lelouch stated “And they will remain guests of the Azur Lane until I say otherwise. And before you say it, they were captured by Kansen currently serving in the Azur Lane, not the Eagle Union”.

“But Balti-” Owen said before Lelouch once again interrupted him “Only escorted us here. They were not involved in the captured of anyone. So take you marines back to the barracks, and get back to work. Now!”.

Owen gave him an annoyed look, the kind you would give someone you despise but couldn't do anything about. He turned and signalled to the marines to follow, turning and following him away from them.

Lelouch smirked before he turned back towards the others “That should deal with him for a while” he said as he walked back to them.

“Would have thought he would have learned his place by now?” C.C. remarked, “Looks like he's still got some things to learn”.

“Who was that?” Jiang asked.

“That was Owen, the Eagle Unions candidate for the position of Commander of the Azur Lane” Lelouch replied “And my subordinate who takes every opportunity to try and wrench control over the Azur Lane from me. Thankfully unsuccessfully”.

“Be grateful that Lelouch is in command” Queen Elizabeth added “Owen does not like us, and if he got his way, the Pearl Harbor National Memorial would be replaced by a statue of himself”.

“Oh, I see,” Jiang said “Glad he's not in charge then”.

“And he never will be” Lelouch added “Now, Belfast, Hermione, is the Sakura Empire dorm repaired?” he asked.

“It has been fully repaired and refurbished, master” Belfast said with a smile “All thanks to the dedicated help from those responsible for turning it into a mess in the first place”.

“Good. Would you kindly escort Atago, Takao, Haguro, Yura, and Akashi to the dry dock for repairs. After that, kindly escort them and Kaguya to the Sakura Empire dorm, save Haguro, Yura, Kaguya, and Jiang who I want to talk to in my office”.

“Yes Master, we'll ta-, ah!” Hermione cried out as she suddenly grasped her chest.

“Hermione!” Lelouch said as he rushed up to her and helped her maintain her balance “Hermione!, are you ok?”.

“I'm fine master” Hermione replied gritting her teeth “Just recovering from a stab wound. Nothing serious”.

“You were stabbed!” Lelouch said sounding shocked “When did that happen?”.

“When we captured you,” Takao said, lowering her head in shame “After we knock you out, Hermione came into the room, and I, I stabbed her. I tried to make sure I didn't hit anything vital, and there were others around so that she could receive help quickly. But I don't know how much damage I actually did to her” she said “I am so sorry about what I did”.

Lelouch was taken slightly back by this. Takao stabbed Hermione, he could understand why she did it, she was trying to capture him after all and it was probably unavoidable. But she still stabbed Hermione in the chest.

“It's alright, I don't hold what you did against you,” Hermione said, surprising Lelouch “You did what you were ordered to do. It's not easy fighting your own kind when there is a bigger threat out there we should be dealing with”.

Lelouch and Takao were surprised that Hermione had forgiven her so easily, but she was right, it's not easy fighting people you are supposed to work with to fight a bigger threat. He guessed that a lot of Kansen were feeling that way. All the more reason to get them out of this war as soon as possible.

“Y-, you're forgiving me,” Takao said sounding surprised “Why? I could have killed you”.

“But you didn't,” Hermione said with a smile, “You said so yourself, you tried to avoid doing any real damage to me. And apart from the occasional chest pain, it's done no real permanent damage to me,” she said, “Now, I do believe Lelouch told us to escort you to the dry dock to deposit your ships. So if you would kindly follow us”.

The Sakura Empire Kansen followed Belfast and Hermione away from the dock, along with the Dragon Empery Kansen “I'll talk to you later Lelouch” Kaguya said as she and Jiang followed them.

“Well, it's good to see you back safe and sound servant, as well as the rest of the Kansen you were with” Queen Elizabeth, said as the others walked away “The recovery of the Bulins will give us a significant advantage, we can now start limit breaking Kansen. But, how did Akashi get her hands on all of them?”.

“Maybe we should ask her in person” Enterprise suggested “Plus we don't have all the Bulins, the Sakura Empire still has one Specialized Bulin Custom mark three, which they can use to limit break Yamato and her sisters”.

“So, they can still get stronger,” Elizabeth said sounding concerned “Well, at least they're limited to just two limit breaks each, seeing that you need two Bulin's for the third and final limit break. Let's just hope that the floating hotel and her sisters aren't deployed anytime soon. There's not much in the pacific that can counter them” she said “Anyway, we'll leave you two be for a while. As Enterprise said, we have some questions for Akashi” she said before she, Enterprise, and the remaining Eagle Union Kansen walked of, Leaving him alone with C.C.

“Why wasn't I told that Hermione was stabbed?” Lelouch asked, turning to C.C.

“She told us not to worry about it or tell you about it” C.C. replied “She didn't want you to worry about her during the trip back. She didn't seem badly affected by it, but I think there's something else affecting her. Come, we can talk about it on the way to your office”.

Lelouch nodded, walking with her as they made their way back to the main building “So, what's wrong then. She seemed fine when I was talking to her”.

“The problem doesn't lie with you, it's me,” C.C. said “More specifically, our relationship. A good number of Kansen like you Lelouch, but they see me as an obstacle, someone who showed up and captivated your heart in a matter of days. A few girls are disappointed by this as they can't tell you how they truly feel, believing your heart cares only for me”.

Lelouch lowered his head, an unfortunate consequence of meeting her again. He should have known that some of the girls would develop feelings for him since he was the first person to come along who actually cared about them. No doubt some of them wanted to express their feelings for him, but when C.C. arrived, and news of their relationship spread, most, if not all of them would have felt disappointed or angry, made worse by the fact he never said anything about her. It did not help that most of them lacked the context of their relationship, the two years they spent together. In their eyes it was spontaneous. He would have to deal with this, very carefully, accidentally toying with the emotions of a human was dangerous, toying with the emotions of a warship was almost suicidal.

“I probably should have seen that coming, shouldn't I?” he said as they reached the main building and walked inside.

C.C. nodded “That, and we probably should have waited a bit before we had sex. News spreads quickly around here, which might be a good thing that we can use to our advantage,” she said with a smile.

Lelouch suppressed a sigh. It was obvious that she had a plan to help resolve this, and by the sound of it, it will be at his expense. He might as well prepare for whatever she's got planned, as it's obvious that whatever it was, it was already in motion.

“We still have the issue that the Decisives and Akagi now know about our past” C.C. added as they walked upstairs “I don't know how much Akagi heard, but from what you told me, she overheard a lot. Although I am surprised that Shinano, even in her coma, was able to find our world and tell her sisters about it”.

“She's powerful, and she might be able to provide us with more information about what happened to our world. We just need to wake her up” Lelouch said “Good news is that I know how to do it, we just need something that may or may not have been destroyed, Watatsumi”.

“I've heard of that stone,” C.C. said as they stopped outside of Lelouch's office “It allowed them to manifest Kansen that never existed. But it was destroyed”.

“From what I heard, it was a well made fake that was destroyed. The real thing still exists. I just don't know where it is, only that Akashi is suspected of making the fake”.

“A well made fake? And Akashi may have been involved in making it. Looks like we're going to ask her about that, after our talk with Haguro and Yura” C.C. said before the two entered Lelouch's office “Why do you want to talk to those two anyway? I know one of them looks like Kallen, but that can't be the reason why you want to speak to them. Did they accidentally find out about our past?” she asked as she closed the door behind them.

“Something like that” Lelouch said before he looked at his desk and spotted a large amount of paperwork on it “Oh”.

“Yeah, a lot came in for you whilst you were captured,” C.C. said with a slight smirk “Looks like you'll be busy for a while, a few days at least”.

“Yeah,” Lelouch said before he turned towards C.C. “I would have thought you would have dealt with some of this?”.

“I did, this is just the stuff I couldn't do” C.C. replied.

There was then a knock on the door “Master, I've brought you Haguro, Yura, Kaguya, and Jiang as requested” Belfast said from the other side of the door.

“Thank you, Belfast,” Lelouch said, breathing a silent sigh of relief that he didn't have to deal with all that paperwork right now “Bring them in”.

The door soon opened with Belfast the first to walk in, followed by Kallen, Suzaku, Kaguya, and Jiang “Will there be anything else master?”.

Lelouch shook his head “No, not at the moment. You may go now”.

“Of course master,” Belfast said with a polite bow. She then turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Lelouch waited a few moments before he spoke “I expect you two are wondering why I asked to see you?” he asked, to which only Kallen and Suzaku nodded.

“Yes, I would like to-,” Kallen said before Kaguya interrupted by saying “Haguro's Kallen, isn't she?” getting a surprised look from the redhead, as well as from C.C. Even Lelouch was slightly surprised by how quickly she found out.

“Ha-, How did you guess that?” Kallen said sounding surprised.

“Lelouch accidentally called you Kallen when you were tacking off his jacket” Kaguya replied with a smile “And considering how much time he spent with you, we kind of put two and two together after that”.

Lelouch couldn't help but smirk. It was observations and thinking like that that he considered her one of the most loyal members of the Black Knights.

“Wait, how can Haguro be Kallen?” C.C. asked sounding rather confused “I met her before and she acts nothing like her?”.

Kallen's expression quickly changed to a smile “Oh, so the green-haired witch is finding it surprising that I'm a Kansen whilst she is not” she said, clearly enjoying C.C.'s confusion “Do I sense a bit of jealousy, that I have large-calibre warship guns and you do not. And yes, I know I'm a bit different from who I was in our old world, but that's mainly because unlike you, my memories came back to me slowly, so I'm sort of a mix of Kallen, and Haguro, hence why I still like mangas”.

C.C.'s rebuttal came quickly “Well, you may be a warship, but I had the pleasure of having sex with Lelouch first,” she said with a smirk, causing the other women in the room to look at her with a mix of surprised or shocked looks, not to mention all the embarrassment it caused Lelouch. He would have preferred it if C.C. had not just said that out loud, or had a proud smile on her face.

“I knew you had to have had sex with someone from our world!” Kaguya said with a smile “So, what was it like?”.

“Don't answer that,” Lelouch said, trying to salvage as much of his dignity as he could “I didn't bring them here to discuss that. I brought them here so we can disguise the possibility that the other Kansen who look like women from our world might also remember who they are”.

“Ah, that makes sense, considering Haguro is Kallen,” Jiang said “Wait a second, why is Yura here? She doesn't look like anyone we've met before”.

“That's because she's Suzaku,” Kallen said with a slight smile.

“Kallen!” Suzaku said, taken slightly aback by Kallen outing who she was.

“Look, if I'm going to suffer from this, then so shall you,” Kallen said with a slight smile. Watching as the other women turned towards Suzaku.

“Wait. You telling us that Yura, a Kansen and a woman, is in fact Suzaku, who was a man” Kaguya said sounding confused.

Suzaku sighed “Yes I'm a woman now, don't ask because I don't know why or how this happened to me,” she said.

C.C., Kaguya, and Jiang looked at her with confused looks as they processed this revelation that Suzaku was now a woman. C.C. was the first to react, first with a smile, then she started to laugh, loudly and uncontrollably. She was laughing so hard that she spent a good minute trying to put together a cohesive sentence, but struggling because she was laughing so hard. In the end, she managed to get something out “I-, I-, I'm sorry for finding that so funny but, I-, I did not see that coming” she said before she laughed some more “Oh god, that's so hilarious. Oh the irony. This is so much better than Lelouch being able to turn into a Manjuu”.

Lelouch immediately went into panic mode. C.C. had just outed his ability to turn into a Manjuu to everyone in the room, including Kallen, who he wanted to inform about that ability in a more controlled environment.

“Wait, what was that about Lelouch turning into a Manjuu?” Kaguya asked sounding confused.

“Nothing” Lelouch quickly said, preventing C.C. from answering, not that she could as she was still laughing “I do not have such an ability to turn into a Ma-, small yellow bird,” he said, avoiding accidentally turning into a Manjuu.

Of course, his obvious attempt to avoid saying Manjuu was noticed by the others, who got suspicions “Oh, so why did you avoid saying Manjuu then?” Kaguya asked with a smirk as she walked over to him “Is it perhaps a trigger word for your transformation?” she asked, “Say Manjuu, and I will believe that you can't turn into a Manjuu”.

Lelouch gulped, this was a bad situation to be in. if he said Manjuu he would turn into one, and he could already gauge what Kallen's reaction will be, the others not so much. His mind considered possible ways he could either change the subject or say Manjuu without turning into one, but those would probably only be a temporary solution, as Kaguya won't drop it so easily. He sighed, residing himself to whatever fate was in store for him “Manjuu”.

The four women were caught off guard when he disappeared, his clothing and prosthetic arm falling onto the floor. They were ever more surprised when he climbed out of his clothing, as a Manjuu with black feathers.

Kaguya, of course, was the first to react “Oh, how cute” she said with a smile as she picked him up “Your so adorable like this Lelouch. You should spend more time like this”.

“I happen to be the commander of the Azur Lane, and I have a lot of stuff to do,” Lelouch said, really wishing he was not in this situation right now “I can't do any of that as a bird. Its unsurprisingly difficult to write your signature as a bird,” he said. He then noticed that Kallen was looking at him with an almost sinister look.

It was then that Suzaku said the one thing he was dreading to hear “Lelouch, why do you look like the black Manjuu that was brought into the onsen by Mutsuki and her sisters. And got thrown into my face?” she asked, causing Lelouch to start to sweat. Had the two been human he wouldn't be so worried, but they were Kansen, and were much, much stronger than him, even without their rigging. he was also a Manjuu, and thus, much smaller than them.

He would say Manjuu to turn himself back into a human, but Kaguya was still holding him and he had no idea what will happen if he turned back into a human when he was being held by someone. That, and he wasn't wearing the special underpants Resource made for him because he only had one pair on him and it needed cleaning.

“Lelouch. Were you, or were you not the black Manjuu Mutsuki brought into the onsen?” Kallen asked with a frown and an annoyed look on her face.

Lelouch gulped. Kallen was pissed, and it was obvious that she already had a good idea what the answer was. The best he could do was try and explain that what happened wasn't his fault “In my defence, I was taken there against my will-!” he said before he was grabbed by Kallen and kicked through the window with the force of an 20 cm/50 calibre gun, which sent him flying across the entire base.

He was going to have to have a word with C.C. after this. Of course, before he could ponder what he was going to say to her, he suddenly hit something metal and went straight through it before hitting a large piece of tarpaulin.
After recovering from probably being the first Manjuu to penetrate the armour of a warship, as what else could it be, he quickly got himself together and looked at his surroundings. He looked to be inside a large storage bay full of all kinds of large objects with large sheets of tarpaulin covering them. And the tarpaulin he had landed against was no exception, with something large and probably metal underneath it.

He tried to stand up, but due to the uneven ground, slipped and rolled down the side of the tarpaulin, rolling off of it and onto the floor, rolling a bit more and coming to a stop underneath another sheet of tarpaulin. Not the way he intended to get down, but it would suffice.

He stood up and leaned against the large metal object that was underneath the tarpaulin. He looked up at the object and gasped. Its metal frame looked familiar, but it was too dark to get a proper look at it, so he rushed out from underneath the tarpaulin and pulled it off, allowing him to see the object more clearly. And what he saw shocked him.

“How the hell are you here?” he asked, looking at the damaged body of the Gawain, his personal Knightmare from the first year of his rebellion.