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Shadow's POV
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Enterprise:and that's all for the report,Commander

Shadow:mmm,alright then,that's good enough,I'll handle the rest

after what happened yesterday,I was heavily on my guard,I couldn't let the girls know however and so I masked my worries in the pile of work I had to do,even if I was worried about the Sirens underneath the base,I still had my duties to fulfill

today was going to be a relatively normal day for the girls,I had missions for all of them and all of the girls that would be left here,had training classes or had their own training regiment that wouldn't be finished until noon

once I finish my work,I'd have a good amount of time to check up on those Sirens without much disturbance,Purifier and Observer were already out and that meant,Arbiter and Tester weren't far behind

I had to make sure they were not up to no good,Arbiteralone could destroy this base if she wanted to and I had to be ready for if she does consider it,though,if she was constructed already,then it has been quite peaceful so far

Enterprise:the fleets have been assembled and are ready to head out at your command

Shadow:you all be careful out there,typical protocol and strategy,watch out for each other

Enterprise:of course,Commander,we'll be back before you know it

Shadow:stay safe Enty and good luck

Enterprise nodded before leaving as she exited my office,I continued to work on my duties until I was sure that she was gone,when the coast was clear,I set my pen down and moved my paperwork to the side as I looked around my office

I had felt a presence watching Me and Enterprise the entire time we spoke to each other,the presence intently watched us,listening to our every word closely,seemingly trying to look for any important information in our conversation,if I had not sensed the presence,I might have leaked critical information

Shadow:I know you're here,I do not know who you are but I very aware to your presence,it you do not wished to be harmed,then show yourself immediately and drop all your weapons on the floor

heeding my warning,a figure appeared in front of Me in less than a moment as it floated above the floor,it was a woman with long white hair and pink eyes,wearing nothing more than a white sundress that could only realistically be worn at a beach or in private with a small and thin piece of cloth that barely covered her lower half

the woman wore a smug smile on her face while I narrowed my eyes at the woman,her presence alone was dangerous and the fact that she now had the same access as my girls made her even more dangerous as my defense systems won't activate against her unless manually told so

???:even with this advanced cloaking,you still could sense my presence and were on high alert,you truly are a special specimen,we were not wrong to keep an eye on you

Shadow:Arbiter:Empress

Arbiter:hah,you should feel privileged,human Commander,you are the only other being than your Shipgirls to see my body and form,all the others are no longer in this world with you

Shadow:you have some courage to present yourself here in front of Me

Arbiter:oh,I have become more than well aware of what you are capable of,the data shows it all,we knew your abilities in combat long before your own forces did but we are aware of your own limits and morales,I already know you do not plan on attacking Me here

Shadow:Purifier and Observer gave a report to you then

Arbiter:of course they did,whether here or there,they are still,MY Sirens

Shadow:thus the question of the moment is brought up

Arbiter:rest assured,our loyalties lie with you,if not,we would not have wasted the chance of nightfall to strike,would we not

Shadow:I know how your race works,the plan is never simple,you like to play games and toy with the pieces on the board,if you wanted something done,then the plan has to be beatable by the enemy,so that when they finish it,your end goal if fulfilled by them,thus concluding your experiments

Arbiter:huhu,you've certainly done your research on us,but that was to be expected I suppose

Shadow:cut to chase,what made you come out of the underground,did you come here to simply annoy Me as I worked

Arbiter:do you believe that,I,the Empress of the Sirens would have such childish reasonings

Shadow:we don't know,you tell Me,Arbiter

Arbiter:huhu,truly a brave and courage man to talk to Me with such a tone,nevertheless,I am merely exercising my rights as a member of this fleet

Shadow:are you now?

Arbiter:if I am correct,my arrival on these docks,whether the one above or below,should have warranted the greeting of the base's Commander,I expected my pristine presence to be met by a presence of equal importance and yet,when I awoke,my eye were met with the disgusting sight of the men in white coats,who so eagerly ogled and salvilated at the sight of my divine body

Shadow:so you-

Arbiter:if that were not bad enough,the first bit of info fed to my mind was that my enforcers had already disobeyed my will and went to see you before I could,naturally,none of this would stand and as such,I took it upon myself to rid these mistakes,if you were not come to Me,then I shall come to you

Shadow:in broad daylight,at a time when the Shipgirls are typically most active,if I had not already planned to send almost everyone out to sortie,you would have no chance arriving here without alerting one of my best ships to your presence

Arbiter:perhaps,but they are not here right now,you've already sent them away in preparation to see Me and the rest 

Shadow:and yet here you are like an impatient child who couldn't wait to see what kind of gift they got

Arbiter:I suppose,will you punish this child then

Arbiter floated closer,approaching my desk as I sat in my chair,I would be lying if I said that she was not attractive and she knew that fact well,using her body to lower my guard and lure Me into her grasp,I however was far from easy to seduce,I was not one to fall prey to temptation and I could care less as to what a person looked like,this made it difficult for even likes of Akagi and Taihou to lower my guard

floating over to Me,Arbiter floated over my table and brought her face close to mine,it was clear that she had learned a lot from the data of the Wisdom Cube and this meant that she knew a good bit of human psychology,unfortunately for her,I knew a lot more than her and her advances would not work

Shadow:sorry to say this but your charms and advances aren't going to work,if you've paid any attention to Akagi,Taihou or Roon,then you'd know their attempts are as futile as yours

Arbiter:hmmm,it was worth the attempt,though it is insulting that you'd compare Me to the likes of them,who so desperately try to claim you as their own 

Shadow:your attempts won't work any better,so remember that well

Arbiter:I shall

Shadow:if that is all you came here for,then this talk is finished,return to the underground 

Arbiter:sending Me away already?,mmm,your resentment is acknowledged,though,I suppose that was to be expected as well,do come see us soon,Commander,the eyes of those scientists bore Me and I'd much rather look at you

Shadow:just go

with a low giggle,Arbiter created a portal which she passed through before it disappeared,I reclined back into my chair and breathed a sigh of annoyance as I held my head with my hand,things were getting problematic for Me again and I didn't appreciate it as it meant more work for Me to handle 

in the end,I would still head down to the underground to see them as I had to make sure that they were kept in check,that would have to wait for a bit however as I still had paperwork to finish and submit as I picked my pen and got back to work

Timeskip brought to you by Observer asking Shadow a list of questions while Shadow drank Coffee

the time was now noon,most of the training classes and self training of the girls who remained here on the base were done and were ready for lunch,I already knew that some would take advantage of the other being gone to ask Me to join them for lunch but I was done with my paperwork and I had slipped away unnoticed well before any of them were done

Chocola and Vanilla nearly saw Me enter the secret passage as they were looking for Me but the entrance luckily closed and locked just in time for them to not notice and see,I knew that they would definitely be looking for Me but I couldn't concern myself with them right now,no matter how much I wanted to

right now,I was in the hallway that lead to the underground docks as I was preparing to meet with the Sirens,Arbiter was already waiting for Me which she pretty much hinted to,when we talked a while ago,Purifier and Observer were most likely idling around,thus leaving Tester left for Me to meet

I wasn't sure of what to do once I got there but I at least had to keep up with code and greet the new arrived ships,as Arbiter already made clear,whether they were Siren or not,they were part of the fleet and I couldn't just scrap them without good reason

I made it my code that I wouldn't scrap a ship for no good reason,same reason as to why I don't let anyone decide what the fate of my fleet is,I'm the Commander and as such,it's my duty and responsibility to see to it that my fleet is in it's best condition

reaching the underground docks,I stepped into the large room as I was met by the same sight as last time,4 large Battleship sized Siren ships floated on the water,fully active in appearance as the red lines along the ship glowed brightly 

it wasn't long until the Sirens that were manifested with these ships found out that I had arrived as I heard a feminine voice yell out "THE COMMANDER'S HERE" with pure joy and happiness in clearly hearable in the tone

moving further along the docks,it was there I found the Sirens that owned the ships here in the docks as with them were two scientists,they seemingly were asking the Sirens multiple questions,to which went unanswered from the Sirens as I soon began to hear the conversation the more I approached

Scientist1:for the last time,if we're to proceed with the experiments,we will need critical information from you 4

Scientist2:please cooperate peacefully to make this easier for everyone

Observer:do you honestly believe,that we'd tell you anything regarding how our ships work

???:I doubt that you'd even comprehend the mechanisms required to operate 1 ship,let alone the complex spatial linking required to keep all ships connected 

Scientist1:look,we need this data for progress,you have that data,we may not comprehend it but we'll figure it out eventually

Arbiter:give it up,you'll get nothing out of us,you're simply wasting all out time and I personally am growing tired of this pointless banter

Scientist2:we need that data!,we brought you and your ships into this world,we can send you back just as easily

Purifier:oh?-

hearing an obvious threat and challenge,Purifier was quick to perk up as she summoned her rigging to her,sporting multiple large cannons and a mechanical hammerhead shark that floated beside and around her as she approached the Scientist with a wide smile

Purifier:you think can get rid of us so easily now that you've brought us into the world

Scientist2:y-yeah,we brought you in,we can take you out

Purifier:let's see you do that while you lie dead on your floor

Scientist2:I'm not afraid of you,your right underneath Azur Lane,make any real ruckus and everyone will be aware of you here and this room cancels out any long range teleports you could try,you're basically trapped in here,you may have advance technologies but I have-

Shadow:you.have.what?

at the sound of my voice,the Sirens smiled while both scientists looked over to see Me approaching,it was then that the area quickly got serious as I stopped once I got to where everyone else was

Shadow:go on,tell us,tell us all what.you.have

Scientist2:s-sir

Shadow:leave us

Scientist1:s-sir we're conducting-

Shadow:I will not repeat again,leave or never set foot in this facility again

seeing that I was serious,both Scientists left in a hurry as they entered a hidden entrance that led them back into the observation area,once they were gone,I looked to the Sirens as they seemed pleased that the Scientists were gone

looking at them,Observer seemed intrigued with Me,Purifier seemed exceptionally happy and Arbiter seemed to be eyeing Me intently,the last and fourth Siren was here as well as she had long white hair and gold eyes like the rest and wore a black shirt that showed off her stomach with black shorts

this of course was the last Siren,Tester,who we typically fought the most on the battlefield,her abilities were extensive and she herself was very powerful,she was not as dangerous as Arbiter but she wasn't someone to be underestimated either as every Siren here was powerful in their own right

Arbiter:so you've finally decided to step out of that office of yours to come see us

Shadow:as the Commander,I have my duties,whether there are new ships or not,these duties cannot go undone

Purifier:who cares,Commander's here now

Observer:so then,Commander,are you here to formalize our arrival at Azur Lane

Shadow:these new bodies of your were indeed made by Azur Lane using the Wisdom Cubes and from what it looks,the bodies created new minds,separate from the original mind of the Sirens we would be facing

Tester:I can indeed confirm that,the original body is completely clueless to our existence but I doubt that will last long

Shadow:with that being the case,you all are already part of my fleet

Purifier:COOL!!,send us on mission then,I want to-

Shadow:but not for a second have I thought of you as an ally

Observer:nothing surprising

Shadow:though these new minds may turn a new leaf,what YOU as a Siren have done will not be forgotten nor easily forgiven,your race has caused much destruction and chaos,many lives have been lost in this war and you 4 have been at the center of a lot of it

Arbiter:we will not deny what has been done but we do hope to fix the damage we've cause

Shadow:then you best hope for a long time,because you've caused A LOT of damage

Tester:we're well aware 

Shadow:it's good that you are,but enough about that,follow Me

motioning them to follow as I pressed a button on a holographic menu that appeared on my sleeve,a door within the room opened up,leading into another long hallway as I began to approach the door

the Sirens,having no questions to ask Me,followed in silence with curiosity as I led them,within the hallway that we walked in,the Sirens continued to follow in absolute silence,though,I was not oblivious to the sense that they had much they wanted to talk to Me about,knowing their race,they were a curious bunch,seeking knowledge,answers and data till the end of time

as the person who led a small fleet of 7 Shipgirls to victory in my early days as a Commander against an entire ocean worth of Siren,I was certain that the ones that commanded those Sirens would have a lot of questions for Me as to how I could possibly bring such victories that led to the times today

I wasn't going to give them good answers whether they did or didn't ask however,if they got to keep their secrets then I got to keep mine as I felt their urge to satiate their hunger for answers grow as we walked along the hallway

the the other end of the hallway was a sealed octuple reinforced titanium door,it had a mix other various classified metals and it was the strongest bulk Azur Lane had against Sirens,I lifted my arm up as a menu appeared on my sleeve again as I pressed a button and slid a few switches that opened the door for us

on the other side was the outside as we came out to a beach underneath a tall cliff that overlooked the ocean,it was somewhat dark but there was enough sunlight that we could still see clearly enough as we stepped off the steel floor and onto the sandy beach

Purifier:ah,open seas and fresh air

Observer:taking us out already?a bit earlier than I would've imagined

Shadow:consider this your first trial to earning my trust

I lifted my arm up as my holographic menu appeared again and with a few commands a futuristic submergible speeder uncloaked itself near a deep enough part in the water

it was fast,stealthy,hideable,cloakable and invisible to even Siren radars for the most part,it only had space for 1 person but it was armed with a few variety of weapons from both Azur Lane's and Shicksal's R&D deparments,effectively making it a deadly weapon

Shadow:I'm going to trust you all not to immediately run off to your Siren allies when I'm not looking,since you were made with the Wisdom Cubes,my radar and tracker can make sure that you don't hide but I'm going to hope that it doesn't need to

Arbiter:you haven't quite explained what were doing

Shadow:most of the fleet is on sortie but a new sighting a Siren fleet in close proximity to the base's safety zone was reported,you four are going to be the ones to deal with it,this will serve as a trust exercise and double as a combat examination

Tester:testing us already?

Shadow:better be done with it,sooner rather than later,the girls are gone and are relatively split up,this is the perfect chance and time to do this

Purifier:I don't know about you all but this is exactly what I wanted

Arbiter:a chance for some entertainment certainly isn't something to pass up on

Observer:I do wonder if this will go smoothly or not,from past observations,it's clear that you have terrible luck when it comes to your girls 

Shadow:enough!,let's not waste time

hopping onto my speeder,I opened up the top and got in as I sat in the chair and started up the vehicle,before long,the speeder was fully on and I drove it to more deeper waters before submerging as the Sirens floated after Me

I sent them the speeder's tracker signal so that they knew where I was and could follow Me as I led them out to the open ocean,I knew exactly where I sent the girls and the path they took to get there and I had a rough idea as to where they were now,with this in mind,I could navigate the waters and avoid contact with them easily

since none of the girls have ever seen this speeder before,the only ones who could realistically find Me are the Submarine fleets but they were far off from where we were going,none of the girls would also be able to find Me on their radars as the the tech on this speeder is on par with Shicksal cloaking tech

as I handled the speeder,I brought up satellite imagery so that I could keep an eye on the Sirens above Me,as they flew above the water,Purifier had an energetic and excited smile like always,Observer and Tester,both seemed to be neutral about the task given while Arbiter seemed happy about how things are turning out,seemingly treating this as a simple outing

I had to have some trust in them,no matter how little it was but so far,they were behaved and quiet,whether that was good or bad was left to be seen,it was fully possible that they were talking to other Sirens through radio as they wouldn't need to talk to do it as proven by the Shipgirls

for all I know,the fleet we were heading to could've been fully alerted to my plans by the same Sirens above Me and I could sailing straight into a trap but I wasn't one to make accusations,so against my better judgement,I gave them the benefit of the doubt

eventually however,as we neared the target fleet,the silence was broken as Purifier opened her mouth the start a conversation

Purifier:alright,I'm bored with the silence,Commander-

Shadow:don't make to much noise,we're meant to be stealthy to attract as little attention as possible 

Purifier:ok,I get that BUT,I have a question for you

Shadow:and what would that be

Purifier:what made you choose to be a Commander

the sudden question made,Arbiter,Observer and Tester look in surprise as they knew that their fellow Siren was very frank,blunt and direct but they did not think she was bold enough to ask something so personal,especially when they were barely trusted by the person she asked

Observer:you really are incapable of being indirect aren't you

Purifier:oh come on,you're curious as to why our previous biggest enemy chose to be like this too aren't you

Tester:we are but we're not stupid enough to think that we'd get a good answer from him

Arbiter:if we get to keep our secrets,he gets to keep his

Purifier:but I really want to know

Shadow:if you really want to know,then prior to being a Commander,I retired from being a General after 2 years of service,I guess it was just for the work

Purifier:aww,booo,there's no way that someone like you had that kind of reasoning to be a Commander for your world's best navy

Shadow:........

Purifier:come on,tell us,we'll keep it a secret

Observer:don't get your hopes up,if he hasn't told his Shipgirls,he's not going to tell us-

Shadow:do you really want to know

catching their attention with my response,all 3 Siren looked down to the water in surprise and intrigue as I continued to pilot my speeder

Observer,Tester & Arbiter(mind):did she actually get through to him!?!?!

Purifier:yes!!!!

Shadow:alright then,show Me a good performance on this trial and I'll consider telling you 

Purifier:HAH,you got it,now I'm raring to go

soon enough,the target fleet was in sight and in range,we hadn't been detected as a few humanoid Siren were with a large fleet of production models,they seemed pretty passive but I doubt it was because of their own accord,if they were given free range to scout as they pleased,they would've most definitely gotten closer,knowing that it would be difficult for us to detect them,even in our own waters

I gave Purifier,Arbiter,Observer and Tester the signal to start as I fully brought my attention to the screens in front of Me as I watched from underneath the water,Observer was clearly thinking of how this test would play out and opposite of her,Purifier was ready to go as she charged up all her cannons and got ready to fire

the sudden spike in energy alerted the enemy fleet to our presence,except mine as the production models roared to life and the humanoid Sirens turned to Purifier's directions,finding the 4 High Class Siren that I was with

before the Sirens could question what they were looking at,Purifier fired her cannons and obliterated the enemy fleet in one fell swoop as nothing was left from the giant laser she fired from all her cannons

I wasn't sure if this was something she could always do or something new she gained now that she was made by the Wisdom Cube but whatever the case,if it was the latter,then we would have to be extremely careful when fighting her original version now

Purifier:well Commander,how was that,good enough of a show

Shadow:hmmm,indeed an impressive display,as expected of a High Class,your firepower extremely off the charts-

Purifier:haha,expect nothing less

Shadow:unfortunately,this isn't sufficient data to properly judge you,so we'll have to find a new target to get the rest of the data

Purifier:hahaha,bring it on

Tester:if I may,will this not alert our original selves to our existence

Shadow:the ship I'm in is blocking Siren communications,the reason that fleet wasn't doing much was because the humanoids couldn't control the production models and they couldn't call for back up

Observer:hmm,I wasn't aware that Azur Lane had such a weapon

Shadow:I haven't used this thing since I left Azur Lane originally and I've never used it during sorties,so I'm not surprised

Arbiter:truly fascinating,you become more and more interesting the more I hear about you,I made no mistake to keep watching you

Shadow:enough of that,I still have to get data to judge you all,so let's not waste time,for this instance,I'll give you some merit since you didn't immediately betray Me but there's more to be seen,so let's move out

wasting no more time,I got back to piloting my speeder as I led these Sirens to next target fleet that we could use to gather data from,there was a lot to do and I hadn't had lunch yet,safe to say,when I get back to base,I'm going to get an earful from the girls

Timeskip brought to you by,Arbiter possessively hugging a sleeping Shadow while smirking in front of a bound and gagged,Roon,Akagi and Taihou

after hours of searching and destroying Siren Fleets,I had gathered enough data to properly assess these Sirens that travelled with Me as we made our way back to the base as the girl's have probably returned from their sorties are worrying as to where I had went

Observer:so then Commander,how well did we do,personally I'd we did quite well for Azur Lane's standards

Shadow:S Ranking's for all of you,based on stats and abilities,however,Purifier is too impulsive,you take far too long to assess the situation and act,Tester focuses far to heavily on results and responds far too slowly and lastly,Arbiter is way too concerned with herself to be put into any kind or form of fleet

Arbiter:the Empress should worry not for her subjects and worry only for herself.......and her Emperor

Shadow:if any Empress was like that,I guarantee you that they were tyrannical,terrible and most likely wanted dead by their own people

Purifier:ehhhh,who cares,we got good rating and put on one hell of a show

Tester:I have to agree,this was less of a test and more of a showcase however

Purifier:same difference but who cares,Commander,we had a deal

Shadow:the deal was,that if you gave a good performance I'd consider telling you,I never said that I would tell you

Arbiter:a tactical specification

Purifier:no fair!!!

Shadow:do you really think I'd tell you something so private that even my own adopted children don't know it yet,you really are hopeful and mental

Purifier:mmmm,I gave it my all too

Shadow:I'll give you all some more merit though,you all have been cooperative and complied to everything I've said willingly without resistance,but to day is only the 1st day,there's a lot of time to see more,isn't there 

Arbiter:we don't doubt your suspicions,it's natural for you,for obvious reasons,greatest foe to superior ally in the span of only a day,it does not help that our feud has gone on for quite some time,of course,we are very aware of this but rest assured,my words to you in your office are the truth

Shadow:your current existence was based of a random thought and a loose theory that I had,even if we were to say that I was right,there is no truly telling if you are on our side or not,the only thing we know right now is that we made you more dangerous than before and that makes you an even bigger threat,you 4 have much to mend and if you really are serious about doing it,then you start off with Me

Arbiter:personally,I wouldn't have chosen anyone else than you to start off with 

after the long trip back,we eventually made it back to the base I parked my speeder is a relatively shallow area before cloaking it jumping back onto the beach,where the Sirens were already waiting for Me to land

I led the 4 High Class Sirens back into the facility in silence as we walked through the long hallway,eventually making it back to the underground docks where their ships were,once we were in,I sealed the door,using the menu on my sleeve and locked the doors

I gave the 4 their orders to remain in the underground and to behave before turning my back to them as I was moving to leave

Shadow:Purifier

Purifier:hmm,what's up Commander

Shadow:you wanted to know,why I became a Commander,right?

Arbiter,Observer & Tester(mind):is he actually going to tell her??

Purifier:yes!

Shadow:well.....though I can't tell you the full story.......................let's just say in the blood,whatever you interpret that as is up to you,see ya

after the short exchange,I left the underground the facility and braced myself as I was bound to get a dozen earfuls of scolding from everyone for suddenly going missing and skipping out on lunch

though,whether it was wise to tell the Sirens that my reasoning for being a Commander was in my blood,it was already a made decision,as to what would happen with that exchange was left to be seen as I expected at least 1 thing to go badly

Author:this ends this chapter bois and grils,I personally don't like this chapter ended cuz I find it to be terrible but I can't think of a better way to end it,so I ended it like this,hopefully the next chapter will turn out better,other than that,hope you all look forward to the next one,until next time

Shadowgamer254 out