20: Uniform?
20: [IMP] 20: Uniform?
Once the national name was settled, work began on the political system, flag, uniforms, and the rest.
The administrative structure needed little discussion: Adam commanded the shipgirls, the shipgirls commanded the Bulins, and the Bulins commanded the Manjuus.
With so few people, a single shout could gather everyone; there was no need for an elaborate bureaucracy.
Attention therefore focused on the flag and the uniforms.
In the Azur Lane world each faction already possessed its own naval ensign, most of them in blue-and-white schemes.
Adam, taking inspiration from the flag of the Human Federation in Stellaris, designed a red-and-gold eagle banner.
At the center of a pure crimson field stood a sharp-edged eagle with wings fully spread.
Compared with ordinary naval flags it looked far more imposing and aggressive.
There was also the matter of clothing.
The shipgirls dressed in every style imaginable…
short qipaos, kimonos, casual wear, even milk-tea outfits…
which looked rather unprofessional when they went on campaign.
A unified uniform was therefore necessary.
Another important reason was that identical clothing strengthened cohesion and made the force easier to recognize in foreign wars.
… Over the next two days design proposals for the military uniform were solicited from every major fleet.
The shipgirls threw themselves into the task with unexpected enthusiasm and displayed every skill they possessed.
“New clothes, yay!!!” “Everyone wearing the same uniform when we go out…
sounds really impressive.” “I think we should adopt Iron Blood military dress as the standard navy uniform…” Within a few days Adam’s desk was piled high with drawings and sample garments.
The Dragon Empery shipgirls produced an elegant white qipao patterned with blue floral motifs…
dignified and refined.
The Sakura Empire girls offered an improved kimono that displayed a shipgirl’s figure to perfect advantage and, in a certain sense, was extremely convenient: one pull and it came undone.
The design clearly bore Taihou’s influence.
The Eagle Union shipgirls combined their own service dress into a blue-and-white uniform reminiscent of the Marine Corps.
Royal Navy, Iris Libre, Iron Blood, and the rest contributed uniforms rich with their own national flavor until the office was a dazzling confusion of styles.
“Everyone’s designs are quite good.
“Commander, which one do you think suits us as a uniform?” Inside the office Richelieu picked up the qipao designed by Yat Sen and examined it for a moment.
“Why don’t you try it on so I can get a better idea?” Adam said with a smile.
He had caught the brief flicker of curiosity and desire in her eyes…
exactly the look of a girl who spots a pretty dress while shopping.
Even the lofty cardinal was not entirely above worldly things.
“Me?
“No, a qipao doesn’t suit me at all.” The usually cool and distant Richelieu actually blushed and waved her hands in a hurry.
“Just try it.
I want to see.
Looking only at the design never quite captures the effect.” Adam leaned back in his chair, half-teasing.
“Well…” Richelieu held the dress, glanced at Adam, then at the doorway.
No one else was around.
After a few seconds of eye contact and realizing he had no intention of relenting, she sighed, took the garment, and stepped into the changing alcove.
“Fine.
Consider it part of selecting the uniform.” A few minutes later she stood before Adam in a short silver-white qipao.
Because Yat Sen had tailored the sample to cruiser proportions, it was noticeably tight on a battleship girl like Richelieu.
The already short hemline became almost nonexistent, clinging tightly around her thighs.
The slightest movement risked revealing more than intended.
“Mm… a little tight.” Richelieu tugged at the collar.
Battleship dimensions differed from cruiser ones, yet the snug fabric only emphasized her perfect figure.
Her golden hair and violet eyes, framed by the dress, gained an extra touch of elegance.
“Well?” Seeing Adam stare a little blankly, she asked.
“Not bad.
Very pretty.
Next one.” Over the following half-hour Adam was treated to Richelieu in a kimono, Richelieu in Royal formal dress, Richelieu in Iron Blood military attire, and a whole series of other looks…
some heroic and dashing, some soft and alluring.
Unfortunately one of the shipgirls had taken inspiration from Sirius’s Azure Waves and Clear Skies outfit and designed a uniform based on it; Richelieu flatly refused to try that one on.
At last she changed back into her own formal attire.
“So?
Which set do you prefer?” “None of them.” Having enjoyed the show, Adam shook his head.
“Ah?” “All of those clothes were designed according to each faction’s existing style.
They’re beautiful, but they aren’t real military uniforms.
“In the future we won’t be only a navy of shipgirls.
There will be an army, an air force, even a space force.
What we need is something more serious and more distinctive.” He handed her his own design sketches.
There were two sets.
One was a black-and-red military uniform inspired by Iron Blood service dress and the naval style of several other fleets, with the golden eagle emblem of the Imperium on the chest…
imposing and dignified.
The other was a more everyday uniform: a black coat with red trim over a one-piece dress, paired with black stockings and short boots, the same eagle emblem on the shoulder.
It retained just enough softness to balance the severity of the formal uniform.
“Oh.” Richelieu let out a soft breath of admiration.
At a single glance she saw the difference between Adam’s work and the others.
These were genuine military uniforms, not the dress-up clothes the various fleets had proposed.
Neither the overall silhouette nor the smallest detail left room for complaint.
“These are the ones.
Everyone will like them!” She reached for the communicator to notify the others, then suddenly paused.
“Commander, if you already had the designs finished, why did you make me try everything on?” “The others’ designs aren’t even in the same league.
Anyone looking at the drawings alone would choose yours.” “…” Adam only smiled and said nothing.
“Com·man·der!” “Confess honestly…
did you slip the Azure Waves and Clear Skies design in there yourself?!”