Bismarck was still on her battleship, thinking things through as the sound of a crane broke her concentration. Looking towards the source of the noise, it seems a stage show was being set up. Well, it was something different at least. Getting off of her battleship, she examined the show being set up near her ship. It seemed to be some sort of concert, judging by the blue haired ship tuning her guitar and the red haired one using a crane to lower a speaker.

"Huh, so this is what you do when not on deployment?" Bismarck pondered aloud, causing the blue haired girl to jump.

"Ah! Didn't see you there, too focused on my work." She gave the guitar a quick strum, confirming it was tuned properly before putting it down and hopping off the stage. "I'm USS Helena, the main "Info Girl" of Azur Lane." She took out a hand to shake Bismarck's.

"KMS Bismarck, your intel was very useful on my deployment." She thanked before letting go of the scout ship's hand.

"A pleasure. While I don't usually enjoy deployment due to my nerves, I love hanging out here at Azur Lane with my friend Sandy!" She pointed to the redhead who gave a polite wave before getting back to work.

"Well, I'll be watching from my ship-" She turned around only to see her battleship being towed away for repairs. "... Nevermind."

Helena politely giggled. "Probably for the best if you got your repairs done sooner rather than later. Azur Lane gets pretty busy after a deployment and you'll probably want the new Iron Blood guns over the ones you were using."

Helena had gotten her dead to rights. "Fair point. It looks like you'll take a while to set up anyway, so I'll be back later."

Helena nodded. "Safe travels!" She proceeded to get back on stage and continue tuning her guitar as Bismarck left to go wander around the base some more.

Hood smiled as she walked around the Royal Navy dormitories, teacup firmly in hand. She smiled and gave polite greetings to her fellow Royal Navy shipgirls, who had nothing but respect for the battlecruiser for obvious reasons. Being the Commander's beloved would be one thing, but she earned that Oath through her own hard work and a little bit being to his taste.

Really, Long Island never stood a chance once she was summoned.

"Are you the Commander?" Hood asked simply as she stepped out of the summoning machine, slightly dazed but quickly regaining her composure as the Commander curtly nodded.

"That I am. I must say, you are quite the sight miss…"

She saluted. "I am Her Majesty's Glory, Admiral-class Battlecruiser Hull Number 51, HMS Hood. Though you may stick to Hood, Commander."

"My, quite the intro for yourself." He was stricken by her beauty, grace and confidence in herself. "I guess you're a Royal Navy ship, then?"

Hood grinned in response. "Not just a Royal Navy ship. I am the glory of the Royal Navy itself. Under my banner, we shall crush all who oppose us."

The Commander nodded. "Well, I did need a flagship for the Royal Navy… I know you're the new ship on the block, but once you exude that sort of confidence on the other ships, I'm sure they'll rally behind you."

She nodded. "Sounds quite alright. If you're open to it, I could also act as your Secretary, at least until my first deployment. I want to get to know my new CO a bit."

He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, Long Island has been slacking on that lately. Mind doing a bit of her backlog?"

Admittedly Hood didn't really like the Commander at first. A little too blunt and he definitely hit the drink hard when off the clock. But in her early days, she was too brash and confident in herself. It took until her first duel with Bismarck to realize that she wasn't as invincible as she made herself out to be and reeled it back, but still maintained her air of dignity.

"It is amazing what humility can do for someone." She muttered to herself as she nearly bumped into someone. "O-oh!" She stepped back in horror of her faux pas, nearly dropping her tea in sheer embarrassment. "Are you quite alright?"

The unfamiliar face shook her head, her waist length cyan hair bouncing around as her orange eyes looked on in panic. "O-oh! My apologies. I was just trying to find my way around the base… I'm HMS Neptune." She offered a hand.

"HMS Hood, a pleasure to… Is that a maid dress?" In her surprise, she had only just noticed her clothing which was in fact, a simple maid dress.

"Oh… Yes, this is the outfit I was "born" in, correct." She rubbed her head nervously. "Apologies, I was just built this morning."

Hood blinked. Usually shipgirls were summoned, not built in base. "Huh, the Commander never told me about this."

"He said I was a secret project. Worked off the books along with a trusted band of scientists. Apparently the plans were lying about, as the Royal Navy never really considered building me before now." She explained before giving a salute. "I'm willing to give my all for Azur Lane, even if I am new!"

Hood responded with a curt nod, her composure not wavering despite her confusion. "Welcome aboard. Your enthusiasm has been noted. If you'd like, I can show you around the dormitories, as I have the rest of the day to myself."

Neptune's orange eyes sparkled with happiness. "Wow! Thank you Miss Hood!"

"Please stick to Hood. I'm the Commander's beloved, after all." She showed her Oath ring to the newly constructed Light Cruiser.

"O-oh! My apologies! I'm still getting used to everyone around here." She apologised in a panic with a bow for good measure.

Hood dismissed her concerns. "Don't worry about it, I'm not one to make it obvious after all. If you're a new ship, that also means you haven't heard of my tales of battlefield glory…"

Bismarck wandered around the Iron Blood dormitories, the walls being decorated with pictures of various pieces of their tech. Iron Blood certainly had pride for their technology, anyone could see that.

One of the pictures hung up caught her attention, as a familiar head of blue hair caused her to examine the picture further.

In the picture was Bismarck herself, but that face… Those adorable little pigtails and those big, hopeful eyes…

"U-556…"

"Bismarck!" Akagi yelled over the communication line. "You have to go! I'm sending Iron Blood reinforcements as we speak, so just retre-"

"Commander. I refuse." She stated point blank as she stared down the Glory of the Royal Navy herself as they prepared to duel, quite possibly for the final time.

"Are you- You don't even have the new cannons you keep asking for, how do you expect to beat Hood?"

"... Iron Blood doesn't fuck up, that's how." With that, Bismarck cut off all comms.

"Talking to your Commander like that, eh?" Hood taunted. "You know that'll get you reprimanded… Well, if you live to tell the tale that is." She trained her cannons on her sworn nemesis. "I'll just make this easier on you and kill you myself."

"Mein fraulein... " Bismarck responded in kind. "I could say the exact same thing about you."

"Bismarck? BISMARCK! Goddammit!" Akagi slammed her fist in sheer rage that her own unit had just cut her off like that as she turned to her supporting officer. "Kaga! Send out U-556. Get her to sink Hood so this silly spat can end."

The white foxgirl simply nodded. "U-556. You have orders to locate and rescue KMS Bismarck. Do you copy?"

"I copy, Kaga." The young submarine loaded up her torpedos as she prepared for her new deployment. "I will get big sis back!"

"Very good." The line went dead as Kaga turned to Akagi. "Consider it done."

Akagi massaged her temple. Iron Blood were always so insistent on following Bismarck's orders over hers. Even Kaga had more sway than her, despite attempts at getting friendly with Prinz Eugen.

"Always so rebellious. Clearly they aren't fit to live in the world I have planned…"

"KMS Bismarck, are you there?" The submarine tried to open communications with the battleship, but all she could find was static, even when looking through every channel she could.

Sick with worry, she turned her engines to maximum output, risking detection from ships above but needing to find Bismarck before it was too late.

Five minutes passed.

Ten minutes passed.

Fifteen agonizing minutes of dodging enemy fire and she found the last known location of Bismarck. Surfacing once she ensured that there were no Azur Lane ships nearby, she couldn't find her anywhere…

Then she found the debris, Iron Blood flag still burning bright despite almost everything else being scattered and destroyed. A final act of defiance against Azur Lane.

Tears in her eyes, U-556 had to keep her professionalism as she opened communications with Kaga. "This is U-556… This has gone from a rescue mission to a retrieval. How do you want me to proceed?"

Kaga looked at Akagi. "Bismarck's gone." Was all she had to say, genuine sadness in her voice. While Akagi and Bismarck had always butted heads, the white foxgirl always got on with the leader of Iron Blood, mostly due to working together so much. Kaga was technically the one running Iron Blood, but the ships went on Bismarck's orders… Well, they did.

"What a waste of time." Akagi spat. "Bring her back. Don't even bother with the wreckage."

"But Commander-"

"Leave it to rust. She should have obeyed my command." With that, the leader of Crimson Axis left the communication room.

"I'm sorry U-556. I truly am. Please return to base, you must be distraught." Even if she couldn't let U-556 retrieve the remains, she could be supportive.

"... U-556 returning to base." The submarine closed the line. Taking one last look at the wreckage, she saluted the ship that she served loyally, before turning around and making the journey back to Iron Blood's headquarters.

"..." Bismarck was at a loss for words. She had been so busy she forgot about the submarine that gave her the one thing Crimson Axis couldn't. Hope.

"I hope that one day we can reunite. My own hubris cost you so much…" She muttered, a single tear rolling down the former Iron Blood's face as she continued to look for her dorm.

Ayayami was inspecting her ship, ensuring that the sleek Sakura Empire destroyer would have enough fuel for her next task when U-556 came on board.

"Oh. U-556." She said in her usual neutral tone. "Strange to see you here."

The young submarine stared right into The Demon's soul. "You've met Akagi. Are the rumors going around Crimson Axis true?"

Ayayami blinked. She didn't really talk to anyone outside of the ships that looked up to her and well, they talked at her, not to her. "What rumors?"

"The one about Bismarck working for Azur Lane now? Is this just hearsay or…"

"According to Akagi, she is." She stated factually. "However, I left my last mission before I could see her. I only saw HMS Hood."

U-556 clenched her fist at the mention of that accursed name, before looking right back the Sakura Empire's finest. "Then I'm going. Don't. Tell. Anyone."

She turned to leave, but Ayayami stopped her. "Going where?"

"Azur Lane. Big sis is waiting for me."

Is she deserting? "I thought Iron blood stuck together, through thick and thin… You're really deserting the Crimson Axis and going right for Azur Lane? That seems… Rather suicidal."

The submarine's resolve steeled. "In that case I'll die getting to her." She walked off without another word. She would have gotten off the boat to chase her, but the comms suddenly crackled to life.

"Ayayami." Akagi's voice surprised her. "There's a shipment of Sakura Empire torpedos incoming. I'm sending you out to make sure it gets here safely. I'll send you the coordinates via radio... I will be very disappointed if you fail me again."

The line shut off as suddenly as it came on, but Ayayami had her orders… Not that she was going to obey them.

The little submarine gave her an idea.

"Well, if you have any more questions about Azur Lane, you know where to find me." Hood had done her best to show the newly built HMS Neptune around the vast, sprawling base. While she had the Commander to help her out when she was first summoned… He didn't do a very good job but she figured it out eventually.

"T-thank you!" Neptune was still a little jumpy, but seemed eager to help. "I'll do my best on my first deployment for you, Hood!"

With a curt salute, the Light Cruiser headed off to make friends with the other Royal Navy ships. Hood simply smiled. Even in this day and age, the Commander could surprise her.

Feeling a vibration in her pocket, Hood pulled out her personal phone. It was the Commander again. "I know I said to call me if anything came up, but…"

"Well, something did come up. Meet me in the briefing room. Crimson Axis may be mounting an attack."

The line went dead. Hood froze for a moment, before doing a swift turn on her heel and sprinting towards the exit of the dormatires, towards the briefing room itself.

"A Crimson Axis submarine? That can't be right…" Bismarck shook her head after hearing the news. "Only Iron Blood have those at the moment and even then, we rarely let them go out on missions…"

Hood burst through the door, heavily panting after her trip to the briefing room. "What's the situation?" She tried to remain calm as the Commander sighed.

"I really should have gone over this after you came, but-"

"There's a "Crimson Axis" submarine that's been detected near Azur Lane's waters." Bismarck finger quoted. "I was just saying to the Commander that only Iron Blood use submarines and even then it's incredibly rare… As far as I know, anyway."

"Then either Sakura Empire have gotten on the wagon…" Hood put a hand to her chin. "Or it's one of yours, Bismarck."

Bismarck looked away. She always cared for the submarines more than almost anyone else. They were young, so full of life… And they looked up to her.

Steeling her resolve, Bismarck got up, adjusting her cap. "I'll go."

The Commander blinked. "Excuse me? I give the orders-"

"And I'm telling you I'm going." Bismarck's tone turned deadly serious. "If it's an Iron Blood submarine, they're either here to kill me… Or deserting Crimson Axis voluntarily."

Hood looked on at the battleship, determination in her eyes. "In that case… I'll have to come with you. Your ship's being repaired and HMS Hood is still on the dock. It'll be the fastest way to get to them." She reasoned.

Bismarck nodded. "And if it is an ambush, you can warn Azur Lane via coms."

The two left, leaving the Commander dumbstruck.

"The hell?"

Sailing across the crystal clear waters, Bismarck leant over the railing of her former nemesis, directly mirroring their conversation earlier in the day while on KMS Bismarck.

"Are you holding up well?" Hood looked at her fellow hsip with concern. "You seem worried."

"It's just that the submarine regiment always looked up to me." Bismarck explained, guilt written on her face. "Taking out Prinz Eugen? We never liked each other anyway, Goddesses rest her rigging. The submarines were like my daughters. If it happens to be an ambush… Go easy on them."

Hood couldn't really nod to that request. Her ship, hell her life would be on the line in that situation, nevermind the rest of Azur Lane. "I…"

"I know the answer already." Bismarck sighed. "Don't let your former rival boss you around like that. It was quite a silly request, after all."

"If they are hostile… I'll give them hell on high water." Hood stated simply. "Azur Lane is my home and if I am to sink defending it, then I will. My apologies, Bismarck."

"Simple, direct and to the point. You really are a diplomat." Bismarck smiled as a figure appeared on the horizon. Familiar blue hair gave Bismarck even more cause for concern, causing the smile to fall instantly. "No… No… No no no no. Goddesses above, no."

"Hmm?" Hood looked out to the figure approaching them. She was young and riding some form of submarine, so she clearly was the one they were looking for.

Hood slowed her ship to a standstill as the figure made up the distance quickly. After stopping, she looked up at the duo. "Guten tag!" She greeted in with a wave. "My designation is U-556! Permission to come aboard?"

Hood nodded. "Leave the submersible in the water and you can come aboard." Doing as instructed, the young girl ran up the stairs on the left of the ship, catching a glimpse of a familiar black, red and white hat as she did so. She suddenly stopped as Bismarck took a deep breath and turned around.

She didn't want to believe that it was her. This shouldn't be happening. Not like this…

"Big sis! You're alive!" U-556 rushed towards the battleship, embracing her in a crushing hug as she did so.

"So you're the submarine giving the Commander worry." Hood struggled to hide her genuine smile as Bismarck silently wept, clutching onto U-556 like she would disappear again if she let go.

"Y-yes!" She nodded affirmatively, before realising who she was talking to. "Wait! You're the bitch who sank my sister!"

"Oh dear…" Hood said as the submarine let go of her "sister" and approached her. "I knew that Azur Lane were no good! You killed her and enslaved her to bend to your commands!"

"W-wait!" Hood's diplomatic facade was falling apart as the sassy submersible ship stood face to face with her. Well, she would be but she was a lot shorter, making things a tad more awkward than they already were.

Hood took a deep breath for this. "Look. I know that Bismarck and I… had our differences, but-"

"U-556. Stand down." Bismarck sternly stated and the submarine did just that. "I thank you for your service Hood, but this is a matter I intend to solve myself as an Iron Blood ship and former commanding officer."

Hood got the message as she headed for the rear of the boat, still within earshot if anything went wrong.

Bismarck got down on one knee, meeting U-556's eyes and seeing the ruby-like irises as they shone with hope and potential. "Meine kleine schwester… You have to understand. I was brought back from my grave by Azur Lane. The only reason why we're even talking is because the Commander enlisted my help personally. A lot of other Iron Blood ships are in the same… Boat." She sighed at her own pun.

"B-But Commander Akagi-"

"Akagi is a two-faced hure, mein fraulein. I was sent out to die because I learned of her true intentions. Once Azur Lane are done with…"

"She'll come for Iron Blood next." A familiar destroyer entered the scene, fully equipped with her rigging. "I am sorry for interrupting your reunion, but I've been overhearing talk from Commander… No, just Akagi and Commander Kaga." Ayayami explained as Hood prepared to step in. "HMS Hood. I am here for the same reason U-556 is. Please give us a chance."

Hood blinked. "The same reason?"

The destroyer turned to the battlecruiser. "I wish to desert Crimson Axis and join Azur Lane myself. I know a lot of things the Crimson Axis are up to, including the mole in Azur Lane itself."

Hood put a hand to her chin. "I have been hearing rumors about that… But how do I know you're not the mole?"

Ayayami took off her Crimson Axis issue communication device, already turned off and threw it to the ground before stomping on it. "I'm sure U-556 has left her device in Iron Blood's base."

The submarine blushed before rubbing the back of her head. "I was in a bit of a rush… But I'm only here for Big Sis! Please Bismarck, retire from Azur Lane and we can live happily together…"

The look on the battleship's face was all U-556 needed for an answer as she sighed. "The Commander would never allow it. My reputation is my biggest downfall, it seems."

"Regardless, we have no ill intentions and as proven by Bismarck herself, Crimson Axis are willing to work with Azur Lane." Ayayami pondered aloud. "The problem is Akagi herself. She thinks highly of herself and has gone mad with power. In fact, I was sent here on a suicide mission by Akagi herself."

Hood hadn't moved an inch. "Interesting. The last time we encountered each other, you left without a fight as well. Commander?"

"..." He had been listening to the entire exchange and was deeply concentrating.

"You only mentioned Akagi. What about Kaga?" Bismarck remarked, remembering her beloved old friend.

"Kaga is more than capable of leading Iron Blood by herself and has been doing so since the sinking of Prinz Eugen this morning. In fact, she may be willing to surrender once Akagi is destroyed and she becomes the leader of Crimson Axis by default." Ayayami reasoned, having seen the chain of command document herself many times.

"In that case…" The Commander's voice crackled over the voice comms. "You can both join Azur Lane."

U-556 stood up in shock. "W-what? I'm just here for Bismarck and-"`she thought for a moment.

"Iron Blood has their own dormitory. As do Sakura Empire." Bismarck explained. "I explored both this morning after my deployment. If you join Azur Lane, you'll be housed with the rest of the former Crimson Axis Iron Blood ships…" Bismarck grinned. "Including me."

"I…" U-556 thought about how she was betraying Crimson Axis, about how the other Crimson Axis ships would feel. The only person she hadn't thought about was herself, actually…

The submarine stood up, resolve flowing through her veins as she made her choice. "I'll do it."

"As will I." Ayayami nodded in agreement. "I wish for this war to be over so I can live peacefully. The easiest way to do that is to destroy Akagi."

"That's pretty hardcore. Hood, get back to base with our new recruits. I need to enlist them formally." The Commander, finally back in his usual tone ordered. "I'll get the paperwork set up while I wait for your return."

Hood nodded, the situation being resolved in the best possible way. "HMS Hood, returning to base."

A/N: This chapter was written before I saw episodes 7-9 of Azur Lane. Certain plot elements (Such as Ayayami joining Azur Lane) happened to line up with the show, if not exactly the same way.

I assure you, this was a coincidence, even if I kinda guessed that Ayayami would pull this from earlier episodes. I could go more about my thoughts on the anime in general, but this is a fanfiction, not a goddamn blog.