Azur Lane: Kaiserin (Book 1)

Ch36: An Offer We Can't Refuse

Sovetskaya Rossiya:

I awaken with a start. Glancing around reveals nothing but stone cold walls and bars. Even the bed I'm resting on is made of solid stone and as I sit up I feel the effects of this. Every joint and muscle hurts. I have no idea how I even fell asleep in this condition.

Me: Hello!

No one responds and as I continue waiting, restless, time seemingly flows by. Minutes or perhaps hours and no sign of life even remotely make its presence known. It's as though I've been locked up and the key tossed into the abyss. I'd have thought at minimum someone would have come to check I was still here but none even attempt to so much as make a sound or spare a glance. 

Seeing this as my chance to break free,  I arm myself with no difficulty. Yes, it's time to get out of here. I'll need to find the others as I won't be able to escape on my own but once we do, we can bust right out of here.

Raising my guns to fire at the bars, I'm about to let loose when a voice interrupts me.

????: What are you doing?

Startled, I swing my head wildly in an attempt to see who it is but it's merely August who comes into view soon after.

August: Are you dumb?

Me: What?

August: You do realise that you could just pull the bars apart with your raw strength and step out without alerting the entire planet that you're attempting to break free...right?

She must spot the genuine realisation that spreads across my face at that because she soon starts laughing. As she does, a guard comes up behind her and hands her something.

Me: Even so, you can't stop me. I am escaping.

August: Please, you and your tiny ass guns aren't going anywhere.

Infuriated, I move to point my guns towards her but get knocked back by something that appears out of thin air. It knocks me straight through my cell walls and into what seems to be a courtyard of sorts. Still, as the courtyard clears, escape is the furthest thing from my mind as I stare down the barrel of a massive gun. It is so huge that the gun alone takes up the entire space of what was once my cell as well as a few of the other nearby cells. August stands atop it with the guard that had been with her. 

August: As I was saying, your puny guns will take you nowhere. However, now that I have your undivided attention, I have a proposal for you.

I try to focus on what she's saying but all my mind can focus on is the massive gun pointing straight at my head. I'm sure if it hits me from this range all the armour in the world wouldn't save me. Oh heavenly principles, have mercy on this faithful servant for I have sinned and now beg your forgiveness.

August: The proposal is simple. You and all the KANSEN under your command will swear fealty to me and become my subordinates. In exchange, you get to be free and as a bonus, I won't burn Northern Parliament to the ground when we inevitably conquer it all.

Gulping, I try not to think about the gun as I consider her proposal but no matter how hard I try, my eyes keep reverting to the gun. It's kind of hard to think straight with a gun pointed at my head, especially one that is likely to kill me even if it misses entirely. Death by beheading or death by fire...(shivers)

August: Well?

Me: I...can I...can I think about it?

August: What's there to think about? You either are willing to join me or not.