Azur Lane Base
June 17, 2019
1200 Hours
As (Y/n) taxied his Raptor along the runway, he could see the aftermath of the attack. It was like what happened back at NAS Lemoore; total chaos. The plane finally came into a halt, the engines turning off shortly after.
The canopy opened as he unstrapped himself from the seat and puts down his helmet onto the flight stick. (Y/n) soon jumped off from the cockpit and landed on the ground with an audible thud. He took a few deep breaths and rushed to the docks.
A few minutes later, he arrived at his destination and saw the very unpleasant view of damaged allied ships. The waters surrounding the area was filled with metal and wood scraps. In the distance, Siren ships were still floating, though they were heavily damaged and would sink sooner or later.
'It's like Pearl Harbor all over again...' He thought to himself as he looked around the port. Manjuus had begun on cleaning the waters while dragging the floating injured shipgirls they came across back to the shore.
"MY SHIP!" Someone shouted.
(Y/n) turned to the direction of where the voice came from and saw a red orange-haired girl, kneeling and crying as she watched her burning and almost sinking ship getting dragged back by patrol and rescue boats manned by manjuus. It was San Diego, a light cruiser from Eagle Union, and the self-proclaimed number one idol. Beside her were two shipgirls, comforting the cruiser as best as they can.
(Y/n) approached the trio. "Um... excuse me?"
The shipgirls looked at him. It took them a full ten seconds before they realized that it was their Commander who came to them.
"C-Commander...?" San Diego asked between sobs, before her tears finally flow wildly like a waterfall as she suddenly pounced at him. "WAAAAAAAH!! COMMANDER!!"
The Ribbon Fighter blinked twice and sweatdropped from the sudden action. "Er..."
"My ship! My ship! It's damaged! Don't you see?!" She cried.
"Um... I can see it very well." He awkwardly replied. (Y/n) decided to pat her head in order to calm her down, which seemed to work quite well as her sobs began to fade away. "Your ship is getting repaired, so everything's fine." He reassuringly said to the cruiser, earning a nod from her as she slowly pulled away from him.
"Commander!" A tomboyish American voice came from behind him. He turned around and saw Cleveland running to him, whilst Wales was walking not too far away from her.
"Cleveland and Prince of Wales, I presume?" (Y/n) greeted.
"Yep!" Cleveland cheerfully said. "Nice to meet ya, Commander. Thanks for lending us a hand back there."
"Unicorn is now safe, thanks to you." Wales added.
"Unicorn?" He asked in confusion, until the realization hit him. "Ah. You must mean the little girl with a lavender hair. Where is she now? Is she okay?"
"She's currently resting in her room. Illustrious is with her." The blonde battleship said.
"I see." (Y/n) nodded and turned to San Diego and the shipgirls accompanying her. "You three did well today. Get some rest. You earned it."
The three shipgirls nodded and left. (Y/n) pulled out his phone and scrolled through the contact list, until he reached a contact with the name 'Emma Schnee'. He tapped the call button and pressed the phone against his ear.
"Excuse me for a bit." He said to them.
"Of course." Wales nodded.
The Ribbon Fighter walked a few meters away from them, waiting for the 'Emma' to answer. After a few moments, the ringing had finally stopped. There was an audible chattering and crumpling of papers on the call before someone answered.
"(Y/n) (L/n). You finally called, liebling." A woman spoke in a rather thick German accent. "I've missed you~"
(Y/n) sweatdropped. "We're not in a relationship. Stop that."
"We're not in a relationship, for now~" She teased.
"Cut the crap, Emma." He shot back, mild annoyance began creeping up.
"Meanie." Emma replied. Though, he could imagine her pouting face.
"Look, I'm being serious here. I need you to report this to ISAF." He said.
"What is it?" She asked, her interest now piqued.
"Azur Lane was attacked by Akagi and Kaga alongside a fleet of Siren destroyers and cruisers." (Y/n) explained. "I managed to arrive on time and repel the attack."
"So it's true..." Emma trailed off.
"What do you mean?"
"UN and ISAF were investigating about Sakura Empire and Ironblood's silence for the past few weeks. After some digging, we found out that the other two camps were using Siren technology to strengthen their forces which alarmed us greatly. We suspected that-"
"Ironblood and Sakura Empire are working with the Sirens."
"Ja." She confirmed.
(Y/n) sighed. "Tell ISAF that I will investigate about this matter myself and take necessary actions."
"Understood. Oh, congratulations on getting promoted, by the way." Emma said.
"Thanks, I guess." (Y/n) replied. "I need to go. I still have a work to do."
"Good luck, Kommandant." Emma quipped, ending the call afterwards.
He puts his phone back to the pocket and walked back to Cleveland and Wales, both were using binoculars looking at the docks, surveying the area.
"They got us." Wales muttered.
Cleveland turned to (Y/n). "Who did you call?"
"Emma Schnee. ISAF representative." He said. "Looks like our suspicions were true. We need to stay on high alert, now that ISAF and UN confirmed that Sakura Empire and Ironblood are using Siren technology."
"Are they aware of how dangerous the power of the Sirens is?" Wales continued.
"Sakura Empire allying with Ironblood was no surprise." Cleveland cooed.
"Did you know, there are three kinds of aces?" (Y/n) suddenly brought up.
"Hmm?" Cleveland and Wales looked at him confused.
"Those who seek strength, those who live for pride, and those who can read the tide of battle. Those are the three. The same principle can be applied to you, shipgirls, as well." (Y/n) glanced at the docks and continued. "Eagle Union and Royal Navy. Sakura Empire and Ironblood. Both alliances can be compared to a coin."
"What do you mean?" Cleveland asked, getting more confused.
"Both alliances have the same goal, but they never face the same direction." He finished. The two shipgirls nodded in understanding.
"Where's Enterprise, by the way?" The cruiser changed the topic.
"I saw her wandering near the repair docks earlier. Her ship was badly damaged. She really pushed herself." The Ribbon Fighter shook his head, already knowing that she could be a troublesome and stubborn girl. Though, he understands her recklessness. He knew about Enterprise's history very well. She hides a lot of pain as much as he do.
"Enterprise... She's a strong warrior. However, a tightly strung bow can easily snap." Wales continued.
Whilst (Y/n) was looking at the horizon, a memory of his past suddenly flashed before his eyes. He balled up his fist and gritted his teeth in anger, as several images went into his mind: a burning city, siren jets, and a badly damaged F-22 with three blue arrowheads painted on the wings with the word 'ISAF' underneath.
Wales looked at him in concern. "Commander? Are you okay?"
(Y/n) sighed. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just a bad memory."
"Commander." Monarch appeared and called out as she walked towards them. "I already finished doing some patrols around the base."
"Sis-" Wales greeted but Monarch interrupted her.
"I'll be on your office if you need me, Commander." The redhead battleship walked away, completely ignoring Wales.
"..." The blonde battleship frowned.
"Jeez... What's wrong with her?" Cleveland said.
"It's best to leave her be, for now. I'll talk to her later, okay?" (Y/n) said to Wales, earning a nod from her. "Get some rest, ladies. I'll go check on Enterprise for a bit."
"Alright, you heard him. Let's go, Wales." Cleveland walked to the opposite direction, with Wales following close.
As he made his way towards the repair docks, the smell of smoke tickled his nose. He came across hundreds of medic and worker manjuus, doing the repairs as fast and as best as they can. Without missing a beat, (Y/n) immediately went to help the little birds clear away the debris from damaged buildings and assist some of the wounded shipgirls.
Once done, he continued to the repair docks. There, he saw the girl he was searching for. Enterprise was standing at the edge of the port, a stoic expression plastered on her face as she watched the manjuus do the repairs on her badly damaged ship. In fact, the ship looked inoperable due to the large holes and cracks present around its structure.
Enterprise snapped out of her thoughts when she heard heavy footsteps from behind her. She turned around and saw (Y/n) approaching her. "Commander..."
"Do you really start your sorties in that condition?" He said, glancing at her ship.
"I'm fine." She blurted.
"You're not." He denied her statement. "Look at your ship. There's a lot of damage."
"Emergency repairs are completed. I can still fight." Enterprise retorted.
"Bullshit." (Y/n) shot back. "Even if you shipgirls are stronger than humans, you still have your limitations."
"..." Enterprise remained silent. She tried to walk but she began to wobble which further proved his point.
(Y/n) quickly rushed and assisted her. "See? I told you!"
"The enemy hasn't gone far. I can't lower my guard yet." The Grey Ghost pressed on.
"Stubborn." He carried Enterprise bridal style, earning a rather cute yelp of surprise from the carrier.
"H-Hey! Put me down!" She cried out, a light tint of pink plastered on her cheeks. She tried to wiggle out of his grasp but was unable to do so.
"No." He blankly refused. "I'm going to carry you to the medical room. You might go to another sortie without my permission."
"I-I can walk there by myself! Put me down! Are you even listening?!" Enterprise continued her fruitless ranting.
The nearby shipgirls saw what was going on and began on murmuring with each other. On the nearby table, Wales and Cleveland watched the two with smiles on their faces.
"This day sure got better." Cleveland mused, taking a sip of coffee.
---
Waters Adjacent To Azur Lane
1230 Hours
Akagi and Kaga sailed away from Azur Lane, their ships cutting through the waves. On the deck of Akagi's ship, the two kitsunes sat down on the bench placed near the control bridge.
"Come on, hold still." Akagi said, tending Kaga's injuries from the previous battle.
"D-Dear sister, you're very close..." Kaga awkwardly cooed.
"Oh, no, a cut on your face, too."
"Dear sister, this is such a minor injury..."
"No. It would be a tragedy if this left a scar on your beautiful face." Akagi leaned forward and licked the wound on Kaga's left cheek. "Fufu~ You must take care of yourself. I would be sad if something happens to you."
"I'm sorry, dear sister... after all, this body-" Kaga was interrupted when Akagi pressed a finger in her lips.
"Don't mention it. It's only natural for the elder sister to deeply love her younger sister." Akagi giggled.
"..." The white kitsune looked at her sister, unsure on how to respond. A metallic clang suddenly resonated as she glanced at the tower near the bridge and jumped away from the bench.
"Oh, dear, I hope I'm not interrupting." The said girl on the tower had a white hair with a red strand on the right side of her hair and twintails held by red metal hairclips. Attire wise, her outfit was consisted of a grey uniform with grey and red long sleeves, thigh-high tights, and red boots. It was Prinz Eugen, an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser.
"You..." Kaga growled at her.
"Don't glare at me like that. We're allies, remember?" She said at the kitsune, as her riggings snapped their jaws.
"Of course. We are comrades, pursuing the same goal. Everything we do, we do for the victory of Crimson Axis." Akagi stated, pulling out a black wisdom cube.
"I see." Eugen jumped off from the tower and landed on the wooden deck. She approached the two kitsunes, her hips swaying in each step. "Quite impressive on how you controlled those Siren ships even though they're merely production models. Is this another achievement of that project of yours?"
"Everything is Heaven's will." Akagi replied.
Eugen sat down on the bench and grabbed her own stick of the food Akagi and Kaga were eating. "That said, you're being quite careful. You might as well have gone on and crushed that base. Did the scratch on your sister's face scare you?"
Akagi held out her hand, preventing Kaga from snapping at the cruiser. "Oh, dear, no. Where is the love in that? They need to be teased a bit more." She glanced at Kaga's ship, which was filled with cracks and holes. "Besides, that ship is special. You mustn't underestimate her."
"Eagle Union's Enterprise, also known as Grey Ghost. I agree, she could be troublesome." Eugen licked the food before taking a bite out of it, then feeding the rest to her riggings after.
"You mustn't underestimate their Commander, either." Akagi mused.
"Oh? Azur Lane's Commander?" Eugen asked, her interest now piqued. "Who is the man that caught your attention?"
"The Ribbon Fighter." Akagi said in a serious tone.
The cruiser's face suddenly turned serious, her cheeky and teasing demeanor now completely gone. "The Ribbon Fighter... Morgan warned me about him. Looks like we have a bigger problem than Grey Ghost..."
---
The Next Day...
Azur Lane Base
Commander's Office
June 18, 2019
0800 Hours
Everything pretty much went back to normal after the attack. However, the base still showed signs of yesterday's bombing. The events that had occurred have one clear message: a declaration of war. A war where (Y/n) will fight for if he needs to.
Speaking of the Ribbon Fighter, he had finally started his job as the Azur Lane's Commander. There's something off, though. Instead of wearing the naval dress uniform, he wore the flight suit even though it was a bit hot.
Monarch had insisted on doing the secretarial duties, which (Y/n) had accepted seeing that she was determined to take the job. She was struggling at first, but soon got the hang of it with his help. She sat down on the table at the middle left of the room with a round table placed in front of her. She took half of (Y/n)'s paperwork and began to do her task, filling in the blank spaces of each document.
(Y/n) silently reviewed the battle reports. Most of the shipgirls had fully recovered and sortie ready, but there is one report that made him sigh as he dialed the intercoms. "Enterprise, report to the Commander's room. Repeat, Enterprise to the Commander's room."
A few moments later, the mentioned carrier entered the room. "Enterprise, reporting as ordered."
He looked at her boots and noticed that it was still a bit soggy, which means only one thing. "Take a seat."
Enterprise did so, and sat down at the chair in front of his desk. She already knew on why she was called, but she still kept her stoic expression.
"I told you to rest, didn't I?" (Y/n) placed the battle report in front of her. "You went into a sortie without my permission. It says here on the report that you returned just ten minutes ago."
Enterprise was about to speak but was interrupted when the door creaked open, revealing a girl wearing a blue and white outfit, white jacket, knee-high socks, and eyeglasses. The said girl was London, a County-class heavy cruiser.
"Your excellency." She greeted, pulling out a small envelope and handed it to him. "The ISAF High Command had sent you this letter."
He accepted the envelope. "Thank you."
"Your welcome, Your excellency." London bowed and exited the room.
"Back to the main topic. Do you have an explanation about your unauthorized sortie?" (Y/n) asked as he leaned his back onto the chair, not taking his gaze off her.
Enterprise sighed. "We are ships. We-"
"-are born to fight, is it?" He interjected. "Let me ask you this. Do you love your sisters?"
"Of course." She answered without hesitation.
"What would you do if they get attacked?" He added.
"I will defend them." She quipped.
(Y/n) smiled lightly. "See? You have feelings. You have a free will. You are not some cold-hearted machine."
The carrier looked down a bit. "I don't understand..."
"What I mean is - yes, you are born to fight, that's true, but don't forget that you have another purpose in this world. I'll let you figure that out for yourself." He said. "You may go."
Enterprise nodded and stood up. The door suddenly bursted open as Cleveland rushed inside, panting. She ran to (Y/n)'s table and slammed her hands at the desk.
"Commander! Hornet's fleet is under attack!" Cleveland panted out. Enterprise was about to exit the door but the Ribbon Fighter had already ran in front of her.
He whirled around and looked at Enterprise who gave him a pleading look. He understood on why. "Cleveland, go with Enterprise. Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. Monarch, take my place while I'm gone. If ISAF HQ calls, tell them that an emergency came up."
Monarch was about to speak but (Y/n) had already got out of the room, with Enterprise and Cleveland following close.
The two shipgirls rushed to the docks, while he went to the separate direction and sprinted to his personal transport: A 4x4 armored vehicle with a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on top.
He entered the vehicle and slammed the door shut. He started the engines and stepped on the gas. The tires screeched as the vehicle sped forward, leaving a trail of smoke and tire tracks on its wake.
Ten minutes later, he arrived at the airfield and stopped in front of the hangar. (Y/n) jumped out from the vehicle and went inside. Once the Raptor came into view, he climbed onto the ladder, went inside the cockpit, strapped the safety belts, and equipped the flight helmet.
(Y/n) closed the canopy and taxied his jet to the center of the runway. He quickly took off and soared into the sky. Now, he needs to gather intel.
"AWACS, AWACS. This is Commander (L/n), callsign Hitman 1-1." (Y/n) radioed, sliding down the visor of his helmet.
"This is AWACS, callsign Bandog." The AWACS acknowledged.
"Requesting status update of Hornet's fleet." He said.
"Based on the transmissions from earlier, the fleet was attacked by three Sakura Empire and two Ironblood ships alongside Siren DD's and cruisers. Bearing 60° northeast, 200 clicks away from your position." Bandog pointed out.
"Copy." (Y/n) banked his Raptor to the right and went to the said location at full afterburners. Getting there late is not an option, now that Enterprise and her sister's fleet is in danger.
"Wait. Hold it." Bandog suddenly called out.
"What is it now?" (Y/n) asked, confused. He glanced on the radar and saws eleven blips in a V formation. 'What the hell...'
"Allied fighters...?" Bandog was also confused. Allied fighters couldn't just appear out of nowhere and don't respond nor radio back. "This is AWACS, callsign Bandog. Incoming fighters, respond."
No response.
"Incoming fighters, respond." Bandog repeated.
Once again, only static. (Y/n) was getting suspicious by the second. Soon, he got close enough to get visual contact. It was a squadron of F-18 Hornets.
"Bandog, I got visual. Hornets inbound." He reported. Though, he could feel there's something off about the fighters. The Hornets maintained their formation as they got nearer. Suddenly, a rapid beeping blasted on his ear as the 'allied' fighters fired simultaneously.
"Missile! Evade!" Bandog warned.
(Y/n) broke hard to the left, punching off chaffs and flares. The Hornets followed after his tail. Just then, he noticed something strange. The 'allied' fighters were moving in sync. Too coordinated, as if they were never piloted by humans to begin with. 'Wait, is it just me or they're trying to read my reactions?'
He did a cobra maneuver and got behind the pursuers. He observed their movements carefully. Five Hornets turned hard to the left, while the other five went to the right. As the planes flew past him, he noticed two things that confirmed his suspicions: their cockpits were empty, and there were blinking red lights beside the canopy.
"Bandog, tag the Hornets as enemies. They're not our allies. They're Siren drones." The Ribbon Fighter quipped, chasing the group that went to the right.
"What?" Bandog cooed, rather surprised by the sudden revelation. "What makes you think that?"
"Sirens disguisd their jets into one of ours to make a fool out of us." (Y/n) explained.
Bandog seemed to hesitate, but sooner agreed seeing that there's no other option. "Changing their identification in the IFF."
(Y/n) immediately locked onto the Hornets and fired, blasting them into oblivion. "Splash five!" Adrenaline soon rushed throughout his whole body as he did an Immelmann turn and went to the other five hornets, facing them head on. The enemy jets suddenly broke their formation and went to different directions, forcing him to chase them one by one.
(Y/n) locked onto the enemy Hornet and fired a missile, sending its remains crash into the sea. He took out the other two by firing short bursts of the rotary cannon, tearing through their wings.
"Hitman 1! Three bandits on your tail!" Bandog warned.
The missile alarms confirmed Bandog's statement. He outmaneuvered the enemy jets using a Kulbit maneuver, allowing the incoming missiles to shot past him. He quickly gave chase and blasted out of the sky by firing his own missiles.
He looked around for the last one and found the hostile fighter flying away. He quickly turned his Raptor around, making the jet look like it drifted in the air. A portal soon opened in front of the enemy Hornet, but it didn't made its way through it when a missile impacted at its body.
"Enemy fighters, destroyed." Bandog pointed out.
"Not bad." Hugin suddenly spoke through the comms. "You haven't change a bit. I'm impressed."
"Unless you want to face me head on, get off the frequency." (Y/n) declared.
Hugin laughed instead. "Now's not the time yet, human. We will meet again in the final act."
The transmission ended after her statement. Final act? What does she mean? Is that another one of her sick riddles? Whatever that means, he will be ready. But now, he still have a fleet to back up. He has no time for brain games.
He used a Split S and went back to the direction of Hornet's fleet. Upon arriving, he got a visual of Enterprise, aiming her bow at an exhausted brown-haired girl holding a katana. The said girl was Zuikaku, a Shoukaku-class aircraft carrier and member of Sakura Empire's 5th Carrier Division.
"It's over." Enterprise said to Zuikaku, aiming her bow at the opposing carrier. Just before she could deliver the final blow, her bow suddenly began to crack and broke apart, much to her shock.
(Y/n) saw what happened and immediately sprung into action, diving down at full speed, aiming his sights directly at Zuikaku. "Guns! Guns! Guns!"
*BRRRRRRRRRRRRT*
Zuikaku gasped in shock and whirled around to deflect the hail of bullets that were coming from her. Although she managed to deflect most of the 20mm rounds, some still managed to graze her arms and legs, making her wince in pain.
"Zuikaku!" A white-haired girl holding a flute screeched, looking at Zuikaku in worry. It was no other than Shoukaku, the lead ship of her class and Zuikaku's older sister. She was about to go help her sister, but a missile impacted in front of her that sent her flying. Shoukaku landed on the water with an audible splash. She was wounded badly due to the shrapnels from the detonated missile.
"Shoukaku-nee!" Zuikaku immediately went to Shoukaku and help her stood up.
Shoukaku coughed twice. "I-I'm fine, Zuikaku..."
After that attack, (Y/n) was targetted by the Siren ships' anti-air cannons. The Ribbon Fighter managed to avoid the shots and retaliated by destroying the AA guns.
Eugen, who was standing on top of an untargeted Siren ship, glanced at the Raptor with her usual teasing smirk. "Well, if it isn't the Ribbon Fighter. This should be fun~"
"Don't underestimate him, Eugen. The Ribbon Fighter is not the man you should look down on." A girl wearing a beret, white uniform, and red shoes said. Z23, a Type 1936A Destoryer. Ayanami was also there. Z23 looked at his plane before looking back at the shipgirls in front of her; Javelin, Laffey, and Cleveland respectively.
Cleveland was assisting a gold yellow-haired girl with a black cowboy hat, large black coat with a number 8 printed on the tip, black... er... bra, shots, knee-high tights, and grey shoes. It was Hornet, a Yorktown-class carrier and Enterprise's younger sister. Around them were the other members of the fleet - Hamman, a Sims-class destroyer, Arizona, a Pennsylvania-class battleship, Long Island, the lead ship of her class, Helena, a Brooklyn-class light cruiser, and Northampton, also the lead ship of her class.
Multiple shots suddenly rang out as shells whizzed in the air, forcing Eugen to dodge as she jumped to the water. A glance to her back showed her who shot the projectiles; a white-haired girl in a maid uniform. Belfast, a Town-class light cruiser.
"A pleasure to meet you again, Prinz Eugen of Ironblood. I must say, it is an unexpected pleasure to see you here." Belfast quipped.
"Indeed. Perhaps its not a bad idea to settle some old grudges out here, far from Ironblood and Royal Navy." Eugen replied.
Belfast smiled and closed her eyes. "I have no objections to your proposal, but..."
The Crane Sisters looked to the right. "That's..." Shoukaku mumbled.
"...the main Royal Navy fleet." Enterprise finished.
"So, have you made your decision?" Belfast pressed on.
Eugen simply shrugged. "Well, I suppose it's time to quit while we're ahead."
"Listen now!" Z23 pointed at Laffey. "The next time I see you, you'd better apologize for not taking this seriously!" She walked away with an audible 'Hmph!'.
"Hrm..." Laffey lazily nodded.
"See you again, Azur Lane." Eugen turned around and walked away, but not giving a final message to (Y/n). "We will face each other soon in the sky, Ribbon Fighter." She said to him, before finally walking away to join the others.
Enterprise had finally passed out due to exhaustion, prompting Belfast to come and aid the carrier.
"This is Commander (L/n) to Belfast. How's Enterprise?" (Y/n) asked as he pulled the jet in a gentle left turn, looking down below.
"She's alright, Master. Miss Enterprise is just exhausted." The cruiser stated. He let out a small sigh of relief upon hearing the news. He also didn't say anything about the 'Master' thing and simply stayed silent.
"Good. Is everybody else alright?" He added.
"Legs. Feet. Ass. Complete. We're fine, Commander." Hornet chimed in. The Ribbon Fighter lets out a chuckle.
"Solid copy, Hornet. You girls did well. RTB, and get some rest."
---
Word Count: 4625 Words