Azur Lane:Freedom's Spirit

Aching Pain

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No One's POV
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after the Royal Navy saw all of Freedom's different personalities, he didn't seem the same. he had been silent, he had been still and he felt lifeless ever since they returned back to the base. the Eagle Union had witnessed this once before but it wasn't as bad as this as Freedom was still shedding tear after getting minutes to nearly an hour of rest

something Insanity had done, stirred his emotions and derailed his normal process of thought. they knew of a few topics that could throw Freedom off his focus so much but they could never imagine them to do this much to him. whatever Insanity had showed him or done to him had shaken Freedom so much that he couldn't get a grip of himself properly

the attempt to keep the secret meeting hidden from the girls had been completely for nothing as the mere sight of Freedom being so shaken up was a clear to sign, especially to the Eagle Union girls that something big and important had gone down and it didn't end well

in the aftermath of the situation, NJ had to be dedicatedly relegated to supporting Freedom emotionally as there was no telling as to what the boy might do if he was left alone in his currently unstable state. Freedom's loose and wild emotions had proven to be a phenomenon of unimaginable and unexplainable occurrences and if the enemy were to ever figure this out, it would not be difficult for them to exploit the weakness and tear Freedom into pieces using himself

as to not cause any more harm, other than what was already done, Freedom and NJ were sent back to their room to get some rest while the others held another meeting to discuss the situation and how to handle it if things got worse

evidently, the Eagle Union was, with good reason, unhappy and suspicious of what happened to caused Freedom to be so shaken up but amongst the many girls on the base, a certain blonde Destroyer that was with Freedom prior to the meeting was angrier than most as it would take a lot of power and effort to turn Freedom's sense upside down like they are now while she watches as the officers of the two factions walk away from generally crowded area with unsure looks

with said officers, they took off to the more secluded Royal Gardens where prying ears couldn't so easily hear them as they all sat down, looking to make some kind of adjustment and possibly an apology

Wale:that certainly did not go well

Cleveland:I want to stay positive about this but I think we all could tell that it didn't go well

Illustrious:has this ever happened before

Iowa:yes but not as bad as this. Freedom would have calm down by now but he's more than just shaken up

Yorktown:we've never seen him break down like this before

Hornet:or have a breakdown last this long, for that matter

Warspite:how do we proceed then

Missouri:proceed? are you kidding us. you saw what Freedom's state is right now and you want us to proceed with what I can only assume is strike and combat plans?

Q.E:war doesn't revolve around a single boy

Iowa:but our current attention does. if the Royal Navy wants to proceed with any combat operations, it is are free to do so, just do not expect a lot of Eagle Union support to aid you

Yorktown:with Freedom out of the fight like this, we have to use a lot more resources and appoint more of the girls to defending the base since we were relying on Freedom's barrages and bombardments to keep our enemies far from us

George:so you're switching to defense all because of one boy

Iowa:that ONE BOY single handedly fended off TWO Sakura Empire surprise attacks that caught US off guard, using little to no effort, mind you