"Ughh…. Warspite, isn't it? Sorry for the rough start…" Gleipnir apologizes for his actions and words as Warspite tries to carry him.
"Keep it for later, for now, we have to get you to the infirmary quickly! And if you dare do anything suspicious, I won't hesitate!" She says to the stricken Airborne Fortress.
"Why would I…? I am indebted to you and this Azur Lane now…" He mutters out weakly.
'Maybe I should trust him a bit more… Very well…' She thought to herself.
This man in his current state is as harmless as a fly, and his life rests on her whim. There was no choice for him, so he places hope in her.
"Can you walk?" She questions him.
Naturally, he answers yes, due to his pride as the Pride of Leasath, but due to his injuries, he immediately stumbled and fell on his knees.
"I don't think you can walk…" Warspite says, worrying about the well-being of the man.
"Fine… I require a bit of assistance here…" He swallows his pride, and lets her help him stand up.
She then tries to lift him up and act as support, but...
'B-bloody hell! He's heavy!' She thought to herself, being weighed down by the male's weight. The size difference is very obvious.
Nonetheless, the two made their way back to the ship, where he was laid down in the command room.
"Ugh… Warspite, what would happen to my ship…?" He questions her.
'So it's true? He is a male kansen? But how?!' She wonders how a male kansen found his way here.
"Warspite! *cough* Damn it!" The damage from Standoff in the Skies starts to take its toll on his body as he coughs out blood.
"H-huh? Oh! Your ship… I don't know… it's too big to be towed back to base, and I'm afraid it might fall apart if we tried…" She apologetically says to him.
The Airborne Fortress had to be left behind.
"I see…" He says. He had run out of any remaining energy to unsummon his ship, much less try to manifest his raven wings.
"Now, off we go! Full speed ahead, towards Azur Lane!" She exclaims as the ship starts to move by itself, as if an unknown power propelled it to go forward.
He is utterly confused, but is too tired to think about it anymore.
With a sigh, he closes his eyes, embracing the darkness he had once encountered.
Warspite didn't notice him falling unconscious, and asks him.
"Gleipnir, how did you get here?" Her question fell to nothing.
Realizing that there was no response, she immediately panicked and rushed to his side to check for a pulse.
There it is, although very weak and dwindling with every second passing.
With this, she reestablishes radio contact with the Azur Lane base, where Wales is waiting for any reports from her.
"This is Warspite, Wales!" She says over the radio with a panicked tone.
"Yes, Warspite?" Hearing her friend's tone, she quickly reacts.
"Reporting! The Signal sender is a male kansen!" Over the radio, she brings the huge news.
"What?! You're saying that the giant aircraft you told me is a kansen?!" Wales was shocked. An aircraft as a kansen, add to that, a male.
Simply mind-boggling.
"Wales, notify Vestal! I need a free room in the infirmary quickly! He is suffering heavy damage from whatever that did a number on him, and I fear it's too late for us!" She tells her of the current state their male kansen is in.
"Understood. I shall make reservations. Anything else?" Wales regains her composure and asks for anything more.
"That is all, I shall quickly return to the base." Warspite ends their conversation, and continues sailing full speed ahead towards the base.
With Wales…
'A male kansen… It's… truly unexpected. How did all this happen? Is he a harbinger sent by those sirens? If he is, more Intel for us. If he is not, he might turn out to be a powerful ally in our fight for humanity… Only time will tell.' Wales ponders to herself about the big news.
Kansens are the manifestation of humanity's wills, and they usually take the form of girls, including herself and her sisters.
But a male? There is something wrong. Horribly wrong. Who knows if this male is actually a spy sent by the sirens?
But the question is, why would the sirens create a ship, and a male at that? Is it to sow distrust?
Then again, Warspite had confirmed over the radio that the man is in a horrible state.
The sirens wouldn't attack their own creations, right? Why would they?
This would require more investigation later. For now, it's time to notify Vestal of the incoming survivor.
And so, Wales walks out of her place towards the Azur Lane Infirmary to notify the repair ship Vestal.
A bit of walking, and she reaches her destination. She knocked on the door, and out Vestal came.
"How may I help yo- oh! Wales! What brings you here?" Vestal greets her Royal Navy friend.
"There will be a wounded that needs your care. Can you do it, Vestal?" She gets to the point.
"The infirmary is currently very understaffed, and overcrowded since the attack… but I think there should be a vacant place somewhere here." Vestal says, addressing the problem with the medics there.
"I see. Expect the patient to come shortly." Wales told her of when the wounded would come.
"Wales, if I may ask, who is the wounded? Is she a part of the Royal Navy? Or any of our allies?" Vestal asked Wales of who the patient is.
"To be honest, I don't know. A mysterious SOS Signal was suddenly sent, and we picked it up. As a result, Queen Elizabeth sent Warspite to investigate. So far, what we've found is… surprising. You wouldn't believe me, but Warspite found a male kansen." Wales tells her the big news.
"What?! Impossible! A male?! What ship is he?" She asks again.
"That, I do not know for sure… the SOS came from a giant siren-looking aircraft, according to Warspite's reports. That is all we currently have any knowledge of. This man might even be a siren, but we don't know for sure. I just hope it's not true…" Wales told her of the information Warspite had dug out.
"I see…" Vestal nods in acknowledgement.
Back with Warspite…
She is sailing as fast as she can towards the base. Gleipnir, the man she found, is in a state where he could lose his life in any second.
It's not a good thing, and would leave a bad taste in her mouth.
Luckily, fair winds accompany her in her journey back to base. No sudden attacks from the Ironblood, nor Sakura Empire.
Very suspicious, since the SOS Signal should've reached some Ironblood or Sakura Empire ships.
'Perhaps, it might be the strange frequency.' She shrugs the thought off.
Finally, the base is within visual range. She then continues sailing over to the entrance, where she passes the patrols, and makes it towards the docks, where Wales is waiting.
"Warspite, you've returned. How is the man?" Wales greets her comrade.
"He lost his consciousness along the way… But that's a good thing, since if he stays conscious, the pain is going to be unbearable." She responded.
"Alright, let's bring him over to the infirmary." Wales says.
"Wait, please help me carry him, he's heavy!" Warspite requests for aid.
"Understood." She accepts, and helps Warspite lift the unconscious Gleipnir.
The two carried the unconscious Airborne Fortress over to the infirmary, where Vestal is waiting to see the male kansen with her own eyes.
"My… I thought there was a mistake, but it's real… a male kansen…" A surprised gasp was earned from Vestal as Wales and Warspite put down the unconscious body of the man.
"Vestal, our mission is complete. Now, if you excuse us, we shall return to the Queen's quarters." Wales excuses herself and Warspite along to report to their Queen, who is waiting in her quarters.
"Yes, you may go. Leave him to me." She let them go to deliver the news.
She then turns her attention towards the unconscious man.
A male kansen.
She inspects his body for wounds, and she finds a whole lot of injuries.
Blood was trickling down from his forehead, possibly due to a concussion.
A large gash on both of his arms. Causes unknown.
Broken left femur. Major trauma could be seen in his whole body. Might be from a fall.
A bunch of minor wounds could also be seen. Multiple holes on his body, possibly from shrapnel.
What did a number on him, she doesn't know.
She flips him over to inspect the back. Multiple burns are scattered across his back, along with the same shrapnel wounds.
This is going to be a tough one…
First, she disinfects the large gaping wounds first, and with pinpoint precision, sewn it shut.
One wound done, many more to go.
She repeated the same process with the other gash, and wrapped it with bandages.
From a drawer, she takes out a pair of tweezers. Before going to town, she disinfects the surrounding skin area with a dab of alcohol.
She inserts the tweezers upon the skin cavity, and manages to pull out a piece of shrapnel.
This piece of shrapnel was… never seen before, couldn't be something from their own technology.
She continues plucking out pieces of shrapnel out of the poor man's body, and closes the wound with bandages.
For the burns, she starts with a scalpel. First, an incision is made on the surface of the burnt skin, then she expertly cuts off the dead skin, then disinfects it again, before applying more bandages.
For a normal human, it would require a skin transplantation, however, they are kansens, with greater regenerative traits, so only that, and a little bit of time would be enough.
Then, his head. She prepares more alcohol, and disinfects his forehead before wrapping bandages around his head.
Lastly, a broken leg. She straightens his leg, an easy thing to do without pained cries of the patient, since he's unconscious. She pulled out a cast, and installed it on his left leg before bandaging it.
The male kansen now resembles a mummy from the Egyptian legends from the sheer number of bandages wrapped around his body.
Vestal, satisfied with her work, puts his coat and clothes on a nearby post, just in case when he wakes up.
After she had finished patching him up, she leaves the room to let him rest. To be honest, she is also tired from the amount of kansens that needed help after the Sakura Empire attacked them.
'But it's a part of the job, right?' She tells herself internally.
With the Royal Navy ships…
Warspite and Wales are walking down a hallway together to their queen's quarters.
"Wales, this news is… very big. Which of us are going to deliver it to Her Majesty?" Warspite asks her friend.
"I'll deliver the news myself, don't worry." Wales answers.
The Queen would be very surprised with this news…
They finally reached a white door. Wales knocks upon the door, and opens it to reveal the lush green garden inside, along with the Queen and another blonde-haired girl accompanying the Queen while drinking a cup of tea.
"Greetings." Wales greets the people inside.
"Ah, Wales!" The blonde girl acknowledges her
"Hood. You're here." Wales nods in acknowledgement of her friend.
"Moving on." She kneels before the Queen. "Your Majesty, I and Warspite have returned with news."
"Raise your head." The Queen orders as she put down her cup of tea that she had been sipping.
With that, Wales rose to stand before the Queen.
"Your Majesty, we've found, identified, and rescued the mysterious SOS Signal sender." She delivers the news.
"Hmmm? Good work, my loyal servant!" The Queen exclaims happily.
"Your Majesty, the signal sender is no ordinary ship in trouble. I believe he is the first male kansen in history." Wales continues.
"What?! A male?!" Both the Queen and Hood responds surprisedly.
"*cough* Pardon me for interrupting, Your Majesty." Hood apologizes for her loss of composure, and lets her queen go back to the topic.
"And Wales, a male kansen? Are you sure?" Queen Elizabeth asks her.
"Truthfully, I am not sure myself. But I believe Warspite knows more about this matter than I am." She then motions to Warspite to start talking.
"Certainly, Your Majesty." Warspite bows to address her queen first.
"I believe that he calls himself Gleipnir. And…. his ship… it is not simply a ship. Rather, it is an aircraft. I am not sure of it myself, forgive me, Your Majesty." Warspite apologizes for her lack of knowledge of the matter, and withdraws back to Wales' side.
"I believe it is best to wait for him to recover first before we question him about anything, yes?" Hood interjects the conversation politely.
"That is true, Hood. And it is okay, Warspite. Anything more, Wales?" The Queen turns her attention back to Wales.
"That concludes our report, Your Majesty. If you excuse us, we shall leave to let you and Hood enjoy your tea." Wales politely replied.
"I see. Wales, you're dismissed. Warspite, you can join me!" She dismisses Wales, and invites her sister, Warspite to the tea party.
"Certainly, Your Majesty." Warspite accepts, leaving Wales to return to her office.
Wales walks to return to her office, with questions plaguing her mind.
At least, until a hand on her shoulders broke her off from her soon-to-be trance.
"Wales, how did your mission go?" A voice asks her.
She turns to look at the voice's owner. It was another blonde-haired girl. She wore a red uniform, strikingly similar to her, but with longer hair than her.
"Huh? Ah, Sister." Wales notices the girl that is her older sister, King George V-class Battleship, King George V.
"Yes, it is I. How did you not notice me walking right behind you?" She said to her sister with a face filled with faux sadness.
"Ah, it's nothing. Just thinking about something, that's all. Well, I got somewhere to go, I'll see you shortly, sister." Wales apologizes, but due to some business, she had to make her way out of there.
"I see. Good luck on whatever you are doing, Wales." George replies.
"Much appreciated, George."
The two sisters parted ways as Wales went to her office to do her paperwork, and George continued her stroll/patrol around the base.
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End of Chapter
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(Author's Note: Kindly burn me if there's anything wrong in the rewrite, it's much appreciated.)