King of the High Seas Remastered (PWxAL)

Chapter 3 - Crowns and Contracts

13:41, Azur Lane Joint Task Force Base Whistler's Rock

Monarch and Robin are working on the underside of their F-14.

"Wrench," Robin says, and Monarch passes one to her.

Then, Dominic comes walking in.

Robin and Monarch stop working and wait for him to speak. Both have taken off their helmets. Robin has short brown hair. Monarch has messy, darker brown hair.

"Alright," Dominic says, "From what me and the base commander here can put together, there was some kind of anomaly at Kuiper that they've seen around these Sirens before. Due to everything being different here compared to our world-"

Robin cuts him off. "Wait, what? Did you just say our world?"

Dominic nods. "Yep. They think we're from another universe or something. They don't know of any way to get back, and neither do we. They offered to give us a contract in the meantime, as they need more fighting forces. Additionally, they said they would help us with returning home once we understand more about the anomalies that keep popping up."

Robin is surprised. "Really?"

Monarch is silent, simply taking it all in.

Dominic nods again. "As far as I can tell. They're willing to pay by kill as per usual."

Robin tilts her head. "Who are they, anyway?"

Dominic answers, "Azur Lane. It's an organization of nations from around the globe."

Robin is still confused. "I assume since this is a different world or whatever, it's different countries, huh?"

Dominic nods.  "Yeah. But there's one thing about their map. It seems similar to pre-Calamity maps of our world."

Robin's eyes widen. "Crazy."

Dominic continues. "Azur Lane has 7 countries in it. First is the Eagle Union, which occupies the continent that Creole and Cascadia partially occupy in our world. Next is the Royal Navy, which is across the Atlantic."

Robin interrupts. "The Atlantic? Isn't the land over there devastated?"

Dominic rolls his eyes. "In our world. Different world here, no Calamity ever happened from what I can tell. Anyway, next on the list is Iron Blood. They're over near the Royal Navy. They were once part of a Siren-allied group called the Crimson Axis, nothing to do with the Crimson we know, but the Axis broke up after a war between the Lane and the Axis, and Iron Blood has since joined Azur Lane."

"And then there's the Sakura Empire. They occupy what in our world is one of the Federation core states. Can't remember which one. They were the second member of the Crimson Axis, and have also joined Azur Lane since."

"Next is the Northern Parliament. They occupy a huge swath of land to the east of Iron Blood, but to the west of Sakura. However, most of it is uninhabitable. They've been part of Azur Lane since the Azur-Crimson war. They don't contribute much to Azur Lane, having sent only 4 ships. However, they're often tangled with Sirens due to how far north they are and can barely send any ships at all."

"The Dragon Empery sits between the Parliament and Sakura. They also occupy pieces of what would be Federation core states. Like the Parliament, they have a small navy. They contribute 3 ships."

"Last but not least, there's the Sardegna Empire. They contribute 5 ships from their already small navy, but the ships they have sent are powerful and have impressive combat records."

"And that's all the nations."

"Thanks for the history lesson, mister crash course," Robin laughs.

"Now is there anything else we need to know?"