The sheer presence of this ship alone was enough to make Enterprise feel like she was drowning.

Divine Right: "I see my coordinates are still off slightly. I shall have to have minor maintenance upon my arrival at base."

Enterprise was speechless as Divine Right turned to her with cold, golden eyes.

Divine Right: "... You there. Identify yourself."

Enterprise: "USS Enterprise. Aircraft carrier of the Eagle Union."

Divine Right: "Hm. Your introductions need work. From what I have been told by Imperial Flame, Eagle Union is part of this... Azur Lane alliance. Therefore you are an ally."

Enterprise noted the massive bow in Divine Right's hand, despite the fact that she was a battleship, she seemed to have carrier capabilities. Which made sense considering she clocked in at thirteen and a half kilometres of Ceramite.

Belfast quickly approached and placed a hand on Enterprise's shoulder.

Belfast: "It is quite an honour to finally meet you, Lady Divine Right. I am HMS Belfast of the Royal Navy."

Divine Right: "Belfast? What an odd name. Are you not an extension of your glorious leader?"

Belfast tilted her head at the question, prompting Divine Right to launch into a short speech.

Divine Right: "We of the imperium of man are named in honour of the god-emperor of mankind. Imperial Flame is the fire that shall cleanse the galaxy of its sin. I am the embodiment of my lord's divine right to rule the galaxy, nay, the universe!"

Enterprise: "And Sword of Sacrilege?"

Divine Right's gaze snapped to Enterprise.

Divine Right: "If that damned heretic wishes to be counted amongst the imperium once more, then I shall have to personally re-educate her."

Even Enterprise flinched at that. Divine Right was one thing and one thing only...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sword of Sacrilege: "A TOTAL FUCKING HARDASS!!"

Y/n sighed as he sat in the Admiral's office with Sword of Sacrilege, Imperial Flame, Enterprise, Belfast, and Divine Right.

Divine Right: "Hoh? Is that a heretic who wants to be put in a penitent engine I hear!?"

Sword of Sacrilege: "FUCKIN' TRY IT, WHORE!!"

Y/n: "ENOUGH!"

Divine Right immediately quieted herself as Y/n addressed Enterprise and Belfast.

Y/n: "These, uh... Dragon Empery girls. How are they faring?"

Belfast: "I have taken them to the dorms to rest. Ning Hai was badly hurt, so she is being treated by Vestal."

Y/n: "I see. Very well, you're all dismissed for the moment. I have some things to look into."

The women nodded before turning and exiting the office, leaving Y/n on his own.

He stood up and walked to the window before gazing out at the clear blue sky.

Y/n: "Hm... Gravity's a bitch."

At that moment, Y/n's legs gave out and he collapsed.

Y/n: "... Yup... I'll just lie here for a while."

As it turns out, Gravity had a bit of an effect on Y/n as he had spent several months in the void of space with lower artificial gravity prior to finding himself in this new world, so normal gravity was very much still something to get used to. He had offset it for the most part by remaining seated as much as he could, however his current position wasn't going to change within the next few minutes. He would lie there and probably fall asleep.

Two hours later, the door to the office was thrown open and Queen Elizabeth walked in with Hood, Warspite, Illustrious, and Belfast at her sides.

Queen Elizabeth: "Hm? Admiral? You here?"

Y/n (muffled): "Down here!"

The five looked down and saw Y/n lying face down on the ground.

Hood: "A- Admiral!?"

Warspite: "The hell are you doing down there!?"

Y/n: "You see, there's this thing called gravity. It's a bitch."

Illustrious and Belfast moved over and helped Y/n onto his chair.

Y/n: "Thanks, you two."

Belfast: "Why were you on the floor?"

Y/n: "Two things. One: Artificial gravity is weaker than normal gravity, meaning I still have to adjust to the 9.81 Newtons of gravity acting on me, rather than the 8.32 Newtons aboard Imperial Flame in the depths of space. Second: The floor is surprisingly comfy."

Belfast: "A- Ah. Imperial Flame did mention that you were in outer space for a time."

Y/n: "Several months, yes. In that time, I had adjusted to the slightly lower gravity onboard the ship. Getting used to Terra's gravity again is a bit of a bitch. Oh, Warspite, mind passing me that tin there?"

Warspite looked over at the grey tin on the desk on her right before picking it up and tossing it to Y/n, who cracked it open and began eating the contents. Though whatever it was, it looks like it disgusted him.

Y/n: "Eugh... I've eaten this shit so many times and yet I still hate it."

Hood: "What is it? if I may ask."

Y/n: "Corpse-starch."

There was a moment of stunned, disgusted silence. All the colour from Warspite's face drained in an instant.

Warspite: "C- Corpse... Starch?"

Illustrious: "Please don't tell me..."

Y/n: "Oh yeah, this shit's nasty. Unfortunately, it's a common ration for us. Tastes disgusting, but ya learn to live with it. Especially since I was born in a hive city on Necromunda. That shit got NASTY!"

Belfast placed a hand on Y/n's shoulder. The lord high admiral looked up and flinched when he saw the absolutely menacing smile on her face.

Belfast: "Admiral?"

Y/n: "Uh, yeah?"

Belfast: "How many of those have you eaten since arriving?"

Y/n: "Uh... Ten? Maybe twelve?"

Belfast's smile only grew more menacing as she loomed over him.

Belfast: "Corpse-Starch, eh? Admiral. Do tell me that this stuff isn't actually made from corpses. I will be rather cross if it is."

Y/n: "... Well ain't this the consequences of my own diet?"

With that, the other royal navy ships left the room and stood outside. After a few minutes of extremely loud berating, courtesy of Belfast, they re-entered.

Hood: "Good chat?"

Belfast: "I will be personally disposing of this corpse starch across the entire base. Such a... disgusting thing must not be allowed here."

Warpsite: "Okay, I didn't hear, but is that stuff seriously made out of dead bodies?"

Y/n: "Yeah. Human bodies are recycled into corpse starch. It's a whole industry back home on Necromunda. Hive cities like that are always churning out more meat for the grinder. Literally."

Queen Elizabeth: "Are there any other disgusting food rations you have, Admiral?"

Y/n: "I mean, I got Belly-Churn and Soylens Viridians."

Hood: "... Belly-Churn?"

Y/n: "Okay, this one ain't as bad as it sounds. It's a kind of cheese."

Warspite: "... Cheese?"

Belfast: "Is it made of corpses?"

Y/n: "No, it's made of milk. Usually I have the Styger milk variant, but sometimes it can be nice to have some regular cow milk from an agri-world made into belly-churn."

The royal navy did not look totally satisfied with that response.

Y/n: "It's curdled in an animal stomach that's slung over the back of a riding beast. Stays fresh for a really long time, but it's kinda rationed out more than corpse-starch, so I usually keep it as a treat for myself."

Hood: "Okay, that one isn't so bad."

Warspite: "Anything else?"

Y/n: "I got Recaf, Ploin juice and Tanna leaves."

Queen Elizabeth: "Okay, that doesn't sound anywhere NEAR as bad."

Warspite: "I assume Tanna leaves are for tea?"

Y/n: "Yeah. I grabbed some when we came across a rogue trader fleet that was coming from Valhalla. Lemme tell ya, Tanna Tea's bitter as all hell."

Hood: "Well at least there are some sensible foods where you're from. A- Anyway, that was not the reason for our visit."

Y/n: "Then what is?"

Queen Elizabeth: "Belfast has sent two of the maids, Edinburgh and Sheffield, to the Sakura Empire's HQ as part of an infiltration mission."

Y/n: "It's gone poorly, hasn't it?"

Belfast: "No. The operation is going well. We just need to figure out how we're going to extract them in the event they are found out."

Y/n: "Hm. This will be a good chance to showcase Azur Lane's newfound firepower with the Imperium's help. Belfast. Go find Divine Right and give her the mission to act as an extraction aid. Imperial Flame can assist."

Belfast: "Very well. I will go find them now."

Belfast curtseyed before walking out to go find the battleships.

Warspite looked at the empty tin of corpse-starch on the table and felt sickened by it. Just what kind of brutal regime would grind up corpses into a food ration?

Queen Elizabeth: "You seem distracted, Warspite."

Y/n: "Wondering about the corpse-starch?"

Warspite nodded wordlessly. Y/n let out a light sigh before swinging around in his chair.

Y/n: "Tell me. How hard do you think life is for a human in this world?"

Warspite was confused, but answered with whatever came to her mind.

Warspite: "It's tough, but they created us so that human life wouldn't need to be thrown away."

Y/n: "Hm. Then none of you in this base or on this planet could even comprehend how difficult it is for a regular man, woman or child in the imperium. I look out this window and I see the girls walking around, playing together, going shopping. Something I seldom ever saw during my time in the Imperial Navy."

Queen Elizabeth: "Surely they were kept safe though, right?"

Y/n: "Heh. Not always. Planetary governers were easily made corrupt and therefore corruption of law enforcement was rampant. People in hive cities are crammed into industrial slums, sometimes with ten to fifteen families in the same home."

Hood: "T- That's..."

Y/n: "Ultimately the lives of normal people in the imperium are usually alright if they live on agri-worlds or feudal worlds. As for hive-worlds... No words can truly describe how bad things can get there."

Illustrious: "I see. It sounds like a sad state of affairs..."

Hood: "Then the reason that even the floor seems so comfortable to you is..."

Y/n: "Because my bed wasn't made of high quality materials. It had fairly cheap mattress and the sheets themselves were fairly light, which doesn't fuckin' help much when you're in the vast cold of space, or Emperor forbid, Valhalla or Fenris."

The royal navy were silent for a few moments before Queen Elizabeth spoke up.

Queen Elizabeth: "What's Earth like? Is Britain still-"

Y/n: "Britain?"

Warspite: "How about Britannia?"

Y/n: "Hm... Oh! Britonnica, Albyon and Albia?"

Hood: "Ah, that sounds about right. Strange that the names were changed."

Y/n: "Hm. If I remember right Albyon is currently home to a small hive city. Albia, from what I remember reading, was where the XIV legion originated from. The Emperor had them support him after he appeared before them clothed in white and red and unarmed."

Hood: "The XIV Legion?"

Y/n fell silent as a look of anger spread across his face.

Y/n: "The Dusk Raiders. That was what they were once called. Now they go by a different name, having betrayed the Imperium."

Illustrious: "They go by a new name?"

Y/n: "Yeah. I've fought them once before. Never something I wish upon anyone. They called themselves the Death Guard after Mortarion was found."

???: "That ain't info that your Emperor lets out so easily, Admiral."

Everyone turned as they saw Sword of Sacrilege standing with a smirk in the doorway.

Sword of Sacrilege: "How did you find out about that?"

Y/n: "Not all of the Death Guard were traitors. Some of them remained loyal. Nathaniel Garro was one such."

Sword of Sacrilege: "Yeah but Garro's six feet under by this point. The heresy was ten millennia ago for fucks sake."

Y/n: "True. However, while the imperium isn't very trusting with it's info, there are those who know of their past. Not to mention there's chapters with a bit of traitor geneseed in 'em. For example, the Sons of Antaeus."

Sword of Sacrilege: "They're a smurf successor chapter."

Y/n: "And yet, they're every bit as resilient as the death guard. But that's neither here nor there. Bottom line is, when you live most of your life amongst the stars, you learn to pick up a few things for the road."

Sword of Sacrilege raised an eyebrow before her smirk widened.

Sword of Sacrilege: "You corpse worshippers aren't supposed to ask questions."

Y/n: "Nope. No we are not."

Sword of Sacrilege laughed as she realised that Y/n had poked around and asked questions before. He would have had knowledge that would make him dangerous to the imperium.

Sword of Sacrilege: "So who spilled the beans?"

Y/n: "Believe it or not, Imperial Flame gave me a rundown of the heresy on the first night we spent here."

Sword of Sacrilege: "Huh. Well shit, yeah. She was around then so it makes sense. I'm sure that bitch Phalanx isn't gonna be happy that you know about this though."

Y/n: "Probably not, but we'll get there when we get there."

It was odd. To even speak to a traitor would be considered heretical. Yet here he was, acting Lord High Admiral, having an amicable conversation with a Chaos aligned warship.

Meanwhile, at the Sakura Empire's HQ, Akagi and Kaga were briefing their leader, Nagato.

Nagato: "Hm... You say she had firepower like nothing that even the Sirens have ever displayed?"

Kaga: "Dear Sister isn't lying. Whoever that... monster was, she is far more dangerous than we imagined."

Akagi: "Not to mention. The fifth carrier division has been taken captive, as have the Iron Blood ships that accompanied them."

Nagato: "I see... Simple diplomacy may not be enough to deal with them..."

Nagato kept her face stoic, but even she was fearful of whatever these new foes could do.

Nagato: "... Mutsu."

Mutsu: "Yes, sister?"

Nagato: "I have to make a call. Mikasa must be informed of this development."

Akagi: "Nagato."

Nagato: "Yes?"

Akagi fidgeted before speaking her mind plainly. This was a risky ask after all.

Akagi: "... What of Musashi?"

There was a moment of silence. Musashi was wise beyond normal comprehension, but to disturb her would be...

Nagato: "It's... not a bad call."

They weren't concerned for Musashi due to her power. Rather it was her... protective disposition that they worried about. Especially Akagi.

If Musashi found out about project Orochi... things would be very bad indeed.

Elsewhere on the base, Edinburgh and Sheffield wandered disguised as shrine maidens wearing fox masks.

Edinburgh: "T- This is so nerve wracking..."

Sheffield: "Calm yourself. This is just recon. We find anything out, then we head back to base immediately."

As the two walked, they heard a commotion from nearby. Following a group of Sakura Empire destroyers, they found a rather peculiar scene.

A woman with a short, white and gold dress was perusing the nearby shops and food stalls. A look of foreign curiosity adorned her face. However Sheffield saw the mark that was adorning her shoulder-pad.

Sheffield: "Imperium!"

Edinburgh: "She's with Flame?"

Sheffield: "Seems that way. What's she doing here though?"

Sure enough, Divine Right was casually wandering around without any sort of disguise. Her ship form was high in orbit, out of sight, but ready for battle at any moment.

Divine Right spotted the two and recognised them as her allies. However her acknowledgement did not betray her curiosity as she continued to look around.

She knew the destroyers were tailing her and eventually she turned to confront them.

Divine Right: "Is there something you want, little ones?"

The destroyers all flinched upon hearing her tone. Battle-hardened, authoritative, yet also gentle. One of the destroyers, Fumizuki, stepped forward and spoke nervously up to her.

Fumizuki: "U- Umm... Wh- Who are you, miss?"

The destroyers flinched as Divine Right kneeled to their level. Her golden eyes were almost mesmerising to them.

Divine Right: "Hm... You may call me Divine Right. And you? Who might you be?"

Fumizuki: "F- Fumizuki. Destroyer."

Divine Right: "THEY'RE SO TINY!! AAAAAAAAAA!!"

Let it be known, Divine Right was secretly very fond of small, cute things. Not in the same way as Ark Royal from the royal navy, but she was fond of them nonetheless.

A small smile carved itself onto Divine Right's face as she placed a hand on Fumizuki's head.

Divine Right: "Well then Fumizuki. You and your friends ought to be a bit less suspicious when following people around, okay? Someone might get the wrong idea."

Fumizuki looked at Divine Right's smiling face and felt a strange warmth. However eventually Divine Right stood up and began perusing the market stalls again.

After some time, the Imperial Ship finally decided to address Edinburgh and Sheffield.

Divine Right: "... Have you discovered anything?"

Sheffield: "Only that you're a new face."

Divine Right: "I was tasked with being here by the Lord High Admiral."

Sheffield was still slightly suspicious of her, however the three wandered around, trying to keep out of sight as much as they could.

Eventually, the three happened upon a strange place underneath the Sakura Empire.

Sheffield looked into the water and saw inverted torii gates. Slightly further in, she could hear talking.

???: "The black wisdom cube is the last piece of the puzzle, Akagi. You just need to nurture it."

Sheffield took cover by the wall and looked in to see a Siren hovering just in front of Akagi.

Divine Right: "What is that disgusting thing?"

Sheffield: "A Siren... The enemy of humankind."

Divine Right's eyes narrowed in response.

Divine Right: "So a filthy Xenos then? Very well. Then I shall do what the imperium constructed me to do."

Edinburgh: "W- What's that?"

Divine Right: "... Purge."

Stepping out of cover, Divine right summoned her rigging and nocked an arrow in her bow before loosing it.

The sheer, unparalleled firepower in that one shot made the Sakura Empire rumble.

Kaga and Akagi were both sent crashing into the cave walls and the Siren took a direct hit from Divine Right's arrow.

As the place began to rumble, a lone repair ship came running over to them and jumped onto Edinburgh.

Divine Right: "You two get going. That black cube is mine."

Sheffield: "It's dangerous."

Divine Right: "I am more so. Imperial Flame is waiting for you, now go!"

Sheffield nodded and sped out of the cave with Edinburgh and the repair ship, Akashi, in tow.

The two carriers stood as Divine Right hovered over with her rigging on full display.

Divine Right: "You survived?"

Akagi's eyes widened in fear as she saw the two-headed eagle on Divine Right's shoulder.

Divine Right: "Feh. It matters not to me. I will be taking this."

Divine Right floated down and picked up the black wisdom cube, which had been dropped by the Siren.

Akagi: "I won't... Let you!"

Akagi tried to send some aircraft to attack Divine Right, however they were quickly disposed of by a single, strange aircraft that sped around Divine Right's rigging before a compartment opened in its side, allowing the aircraft entry.

Akagi: "Y- You're a carrier!?"

Divine Right: "I am a battleship. I have stormhawk hangars is all."

Divine Right spared them not another look as she turned to leave. However she stopped to give a word of warning.

Divine Right: "If you value your Sakura Empire. You will cease this foolish alliance with those Xenos scum. Should you continue, I will not hesitate to make this land burn."

With that, Divine Right left.

Outside, she saw Imperial Flame pelting a few ships with lance-battery fire. Notably, she was aiming at the sea rather than the ships themselves.

Divine Right: "Flame! Mission completed! We shall return to base immediately!"

Imperial Flame nodded before taking off as Divine Right went to find Edinburgh and Sheffield.

She found them not too far away as they headed back to Azur Lane's base with Akashi in tow.

As such, she summoned her full ship form.

The ships from the Sakura Empire looked in awe and terror as they saw the gargantuan battleship emerge.

Divine Right brought the maids and Akashi aboard as she began to ascend to low orbit.

Nagato watched from her balcony as Divine Right left the area.

Nagato: "... We cannot win against such a foe. Mutsu... get me Musashi."

A few hours later. Divine Right, Edinburgh, Imperial Flame, Sheffield and Akashi were inside the Admiral's office as Y/n examined the black cube.

Y/n: "Hm. It's similar to the cubes you all have. However this is something you took from a Siren, yes?"

Divine Right: "Indeed."

Y/n: "Hm. We will need someone to analyse it. Did you learn anything else whilst you were there?"

Sheffield: "We heard something about more ships being sent to the Sakura Empire."

Imperial Flame: "I intercepted communications to a KMS Bismarck. Apparently the Iron Blood are also calling in reinforcements. The name Friedrich was mentioned a few times, strangely they interchanged that name with the word Mutter."

Y/n: "The enemy at our doorstep makes their move then. This will certainly be interesting. What of our forces? Are the royal navy and eagle union calling in more allies?"

Edinburgh: "Y- Yes, sir. As far as I know, other maids will be arriving shortly. Enterprise has also called for more Eagle union ships to come. USS Washington is among them."

Y/n nodded before motioning for everyone to dismiss. However as they left, he spoke to Imperial Flame.

Y/n: "Flame. Go find Laffey, Javelin, Ayanami, and Z23. I want to speak with them."

Flame nodded before going to complete her task.

As Y/n waited, he received an imperial transmission.

Y/n: "Acting Lord High Admiral Y/n speaking. Who is this?"

???: "Ah, you can hear me?"

Y/n: "Indeed. I assume you are the imperial ship we couldn't get hold of for some time?"

???: "My apologies, Lord High Admiral."

Y/n: "Think nothing of it. I'm just glad we're able to get ahold of you. So, who are you exactly?"

The next words to come through the transmission sent a shock through Y/n's entire system.

???: "Imperial command carrier, Imperator Somnium. Flagship of the master of mankind."

End of Chapter.

Next Time: The Ever Distant Thunder.