Azur Lane, a global organization, formed by the remaining countries across the world with a single purpose. To defeat an otherworldly invasion force who call themselves Sirens. Ever since their arrival, the world has been in chaos as humanity was chased out of the sea by these unknown entities with futuristic weapons.
Humanity has been pushed back for years until finally being able to make a comeback with the arrival of the ship girls—females who possess the soul of a warship, able to manifest them into a rigging on themselves.
Their arrival was caused by the Wisdom Cubes, a blue cube filled with light underneath its layer. With these cubes, they are able to summon ship girls, and with time, push back the Siren forces and capture some of the lost seas back.
All ship girls have a faction aligned to. Being Eagle Union, Royal Navy, Iron Blood, and Sakura Empire.
The minors were Dragon Empery, Northern Parliament, Iris Libre, Vichya Dominion, and Sardegna Empire.
And of course, as all navy fleets would have a Commander to command over them, but recently there have been some changes in some of the fleets as some of them made a deal with the HQ not to have any Commander.
The deal was made, but there was a catch. Each faction must have at least one Commander to lead them, which they all agreed on since it would be easier for them to keep an eye on them.
Currently, on Eagle Union Headquarter's dock, Vestal was waiting outside with an anxious face. Mainly due to not long ago, Saratoga's fleet reported what they had found and required her to do an emergency surgery as fast as possible when they arrived at the base.
She was in a nun uniform, and beside her was Cleveland, who tries to cheer her up from her nervousness. Although this might be a dumb thing to do in a situation like this, Cleveland didn't think so, as she wanted the repair ship to be in her best condition as much as possible before the surgery.
Cleveland: "Wait, I can see them heading this way!"
Looking at the horizon, both of them could see a destroyer heading their way. They recognize it as Laffey's ship form.
Vestal's heart was beating faster from nervousness ever since she readied the report she got from Saratoga's fleet. She knew she couldn't make any mistakes during the operation. It might cost a life if she did so.
Vestal: 'I need to calm down! If I don't, it will affect my performance.'
Thinking to herself, she started to take a deep breath to calm down her heart and body. Looking back at the approaching ship, her expression and body language changed to a more professional one, unlike her previous nervous self.
Cleveland: 'Her change in character is so sudden that it looks like she wasn't nervous at all earlier!'
She snapped out of her thoughts when the ship arrived at the dock. And before they knew it, Arizona and Phoenix carried an unconscious youth, which Arizona had bandaged. The bandages were mainly dyed red from absorbing the blood as Vestal and Cleveland forgot how to breathe for a second when they saw the horrifying state (Y/n) was in. It was worse than what they have reported.
Vestal: "Quickly! We have to get him to the infirmary. Arizona, Phoenix, load him up in the car!"
Wasting no time, the three begin to load (Y/n) up in what seemed to be an ambulance before they drove off to the hospital, leaving behind Cleveland and the rest of Saratoga's fleet except Phoenix and Arizona, who's in the car.
Cleveland seemed to be in a daze. She didn't know why, but the figure seems familiar somehow to her. She was in such a deep thought that she didn't notice someone was calling her name until her head was smacked by someone, snapping her out of her thoughts.
She rubbed where it hurts before glaring at the culprit, who was none other than Saratoga, who looked annoyed at being ignored by her fellow ship girl.
Saratoga: "Finally, you stopped looking like a dummy, jeez."
Cleveland: "S-Sorry about that..."
Saratoga: "What were you thinking about so much that you forgot your surroundings?"
Cleveland: "Just what to eat for dinner, hehe~."
Scratching her head, she made a silly face, causing Saratoga to facepalm herself and sighed.
Saratoga: "Well, whatever. Wanna go take a bath with us?"
Cleveland: "Sorry, but I have to go see how my sister's doing. Maybe next time."
Saratoga: "Ok, see you later then~!"
The others soon say their goodbye as they all leave to take a bath, leaving behind Cleveland, who stopped smiling all of a sudden when they were all gone. She looked towards the sea and felt like something was off.
Cleveland: "Why do I feel like I know that person?"
Whispering to herself, she closed her eyes and decided to stare at the ocean for a while and sat down on the edge of the dock.
***
Back with Vestal and the others, they had just arrived at the hospital. They quickly rushed in with (Y/n) on an emergency bed. As they moved through the hallway, some of the other ship girls became surprised when they saw them. More specifically, (Y/n), who was practically laying on a dead bed.
Finally, arriving at an operation room, she stopped Arizona and Phoenix from coming in. Thanking them for helping her before closing the door with a loud thud as the LED light upwards lit up in red. Saying 'Occupied.'
The two looked at each other, not knowing what to do next. They looked at the door in front of them before looking back at each other again. Letting out a sigh, Arizona looks at Phoenix with a small smile.
Arizona: "Let's join the others. There's nothing else we can do now except hoping for the best."
Phoenix: "Yeah, I hope everything's going to be fine."
With that, the two headed towards the bathhouse where the others were. Along the way, some curious girls came to them and asked about the badly injured person earlier, but they didn't say anything other than that they found him unconscious on an island.
Some girls weren't satisfied and wanted to pry more, but Arizona and Phoenix didn't tell them anything and continued walking, making them stop, as they figured they wouldn't be able to get anything out of the two of them.
When nobody was following them anymore, both girls let out a sigh of relief, as they didn't like how people gave them so much attention. It was tiring to answer all the questions from the curious ship girls—even more so when it comes to those who were even more interested in the matter.
Phoenix: "Man. Those girls so are interested, huh?"
Arizona: "Well, if you see a badly injured person, I'm sure you have some questions as to what happened to them."
Phoenix: "I guess you're right. Anyways! I'm so ready for that ba-"
Speaker: *static* "Fleet four is required to meet at the commanding room as soon as possible."
When they heard the announcement, both of them couldn't help but groan in annoyance with the sudden call. Phoenix almost bashed her fist into a wall due to frustration, but Arizona managed to stop her before she does so.
Phoenix: "Dammit... My precious bathing time!!!"
Watching from the sideline, Arizona and some other nearby ship girls all sweatdropped by what Phoenix's just said. Some of them could feel her pain since they had been in a similar situation, while some others didn't care and found her sudden yelling annoying.
Arizona: "Come on now, Phoenix~ Let's just finish this meeting as quick as possible, and then we can go to the bathhouse, okay~."
She excluded a terrifying smile that sent shivers to Phoenix's spine, making her nodded as both of their heads toward the commanding room.
When they arrived there, they could see the rest of the fleet had already arrived there, too. All of them held somewhat an annoyed look, which was understandable from their perspective.
Arizona: "Hello, everybody."
Helena: "H-Hello..."
Independence: "Greeting."
Laffey: "...Laffey is tired... zzz."
Saratoga: "What's up with her?"
Saratoga said, pointing at the depressed Phoenix behind her. It was unlike her usual energetic self, which was weird.
Arizona: "Oh? She just missed her bathing time, so now she's all grumpy."
Phoenix: "My bathing time..."
Saratoga: "U-Uh... Ahem! Understandable. Anyways, we should just get this done with, so we can go take that sweet bath. Fleet four is coming in. Please pardon us!"
Opening the door to the commanding room, they could see several well-made wooden furniture. There were bookshelves to the sides, and two windows on the front, while one each to the sides.
Sitting behind a desk as none other than Yorktown, acting as the base commander since they didn't have one currently after some 'incidents.' Beside her were Hammann, who volunteer to be her secretary, and Enterprise, who Yorktown fetched before arriving to the room.
Yorktown: "Hello. I'm sorry for the sudden call, but your return from the last mission has caused a ruckus around the base, you know?"
Saratoga: "Hii! I'm sorry about that, miss Yorktown!"
She, along with the rest of the fleet four, all bowed down, and all of them apologize to her since they knew she would have to write quite a report back to the Navy HQ.
Hammann: "Hmph! At least you know how much trouble you have given to both of us!"
Yorktown: "It's fine, Hammann. It's not their fault. Besides, I want to hear more about this stranger you've brought back to the base. And I want to hear everything."
The last part was more authoritative, making some of the girls flinched at Yorktown's tone.
Fleet four girls: "Y-Yes ma'am!"
They told them each of their perspectives on what happened. All the three other ships nodded and gestured for them to continue, wanting to know more about the story and the stranger they've encountered.
Some parts of the story made them felt uncomfortable. Especially when they started to describe (Y/n)'s condition before Arizona and Phoenix patched him up. Somehow, they felt anger when all three of them heard what his condition was, but it was quickly hidden away the moment they've noticed it.
Yorktown: 'Eh? Why did I feel that way just now?'
Hammann: 'What's going on?! Hammann has never felt this angry before!'
Enterprise: 'What is this feeling of rage...?'
Closing her eyes, Yorktown gestured her hand to make them stop. She needed to think about the whole situation and what to do with the male if... he survives. She hoped that he would survive and hear his part of the story.
Arizona: "Oh yeah! How could I forgot about it!"
Arizona's statement made everybody in the room surprised, as she blushed in embarrassment when she realized what she had just done before excusing herself. She quickly left the room, leaving a stunned audience behind.
Yorktown and some other girls giggled at Arizona's action, while Hammann found it annoying, and Enterprise seemed not to mind it.
A few minutes later, an exhausted Arizona came with something in her arms that has been wrapped with a white cloth. The others quickly remembered about the object held in Arizona's arms as they almost facepalmed themselves in shame for forgetting such important objects.
Naturally, the three other ship girls on the desk became curious as their attentions went over the item that Arizona was holding.
Yorktown: "What's that you're holding, Arizona?"
Arizona: "...I-It's all the items we managed to find on his body, ma'am!"
She walked over to the desk and placed the wrapped cloth down gently before unpacking it, revealing all sorts of items. But what caught all of them was a whip and a sword.
Suddenly, tensions in the room started to rise as Yorktown stood up, seemingly startled by sight. Enterprise had her eyes widened, no longer having a blank look on her face as she quickly moved towards the desk. Hammann just stood there, shocked.
Enterprise went to inspect the sword before the whip. Then the other items on the desk. Each time she did so, her body started to shake more as her breath became heavier. Finally, when the last item was inspected, she turned towards her older sister with a shocked face.
Enterprise: "Big sister, t-this is all..."
She couldn't finish her sentence due to how shocked she was before turning her attention from her sister to the rest of fleet four girls; her eyes seemed dull when she asked them a question with a shaking voice.
Enterprise: "Y-You... said that he was sent to the hospital, right?"
Her expression made some of the girls scared and confused as to why all three of them became like this when they saw the items.
Arizona: "Y-Yeah... Phoenix and I helped Vestal to bring him to the operation room-"
Suddenly, Enterprise grabbed her shoulders. Her hands were still shaking.
Enterprise: "Show me where."
Arizona: "H-Huh?"
Enterprise: "Show me which room you took him to."
Arizona: "...Umm, okay. Then, please excuse us-"
She didn't manage to finish her sentence before Enterprise dragged her away from the room, leaving behind yet again a stunned crowd.
***
When they arrived at the operation room, they could see the sign still light up in red. It's almost been three hours since the surgery started. Enterprise finally let go of Arizona, who panted in exhaustion due to how much they had run.
Enterprise: "Thank you for helping me get here, and sorry for that. Please take a rest for the rest of the day and tomorrow, too."
Arizona: "...Hah... Hah... I'm just glad that I was able to help you, Enterprise. But why did you act that way so suddenly when you saw his belongings?"
Enterprise: "That... I can't say anything about it for now, sorry..."
Arizona: "Ah! I-It's fine; I'm just surprised. That is all. Anyways, see you tomorrow, and please get some rest!"
Waving goodbyes to each other, Enterprise focus was now on the door, or rather, what was behind it. She could feel her heart rate rises with each second as if it could explode at any moment.
She remembered this feeling...
Touching the cold metallic door, Enterprise closed her eyes as her heart and thoughts started to fill up with hope.
Enterprise: "Please... let it be you. Please survive... I don't want to lose these feelings again..."
Sitting on a nearby seat, she made herself comfortable while waiting for the operation room to be open. She won't move from this spot before it does so. She promised herself that with a determined gaze.