"When history witnesses a great change, Razgriz reveals itself... First, as a dark demon. As a demon, it uses its power to rain death upon the land, and then it dies..."
"However, after a period of slumber, Razgriz returns. This time, as a great hero."
---
Azur Lane Base
1157 Hours
All of the pilots and shipgirls including the ones from Crimson Axis gathered on Azur Lane as ordered. Akagi was there, unconscious. Kaga was kneeling beside her, looking at Akagi with happiness, relieved that she's finally back. Enterprise and New Jersey were guarding the two just in case they do anything wrong.
Monarch anxiously stared at the orange-filled sky over the horizon along with other shipgirls, several thoughts were running down in her mind. Beside her was Nagato, the lead ship of Nagato-class battleships, and the head of Sakura Empire. Though her face was calm, she still felt nervousness.
Silence fell upon them, until...
*BOOM*
A huge explosion on the horizon caught their attention. Although faint, the sound of the blast had reached the base.
"Mobius 1, come in." Sky Eye contacted, nervousness evident on his voice.
Static.
"Mobius 1, come in." Eagle Eye repeated.
The radio crackled, followed by an audible short breaths. "This is Commander (L/n), callsign Mobius 1. Mission accomplished. Returning to base."
"Roger that, Mobius 1. Commander, welcome home, sir." Sky Eye said with joy.
All of the personnel who have heard the transmission screamed and cheered in victory. The Mobius Squadron pilots threw their helmets in the air, while some of them hugged each other in celebration.
"Heroes really do exist." Nagato said with a smile. "And now he's coming home."
Soon, (Y/n)'s Raptor came into view, as they waited in anticipation. The plane slowly went down, until the gears touched down on the runway.
Suddenly, one of the landing gears broke the moment his plane leveled on the ground, making the plane unbalance and causing the rest of the landing gear to break under the weight of the jet. The missile pods were thrown away from the force of the impact, landing a few meters from the shipgirls.
"(Y/n)/Shikikan/Kommandant!!" Everyone shouted in distress and ran after the now skidding plane.
The Raptor continued to skid on the tarmac, causing sparks as the body of the plane continued moving, leaving a black mark on the airstrip. The plane soon catched on fire, thick smoke pouring out from the main body and wings.
"I'm not gonna die here!" (Y/n) declared while he struggled to control the plane, ignoring the alarms that was continuously blasting on his ear.
(Y/n) screamed loudly as he pulled the stick backwards, the plane finally coming into a halt a few moments later. Manjuus carrying fire extinguishers quickly rushed in and began spraying the jet, successfully putting the fire out.
(Y/n), who was thankfully unharmed, removed his oxygen mask and helmet as he puts them on the flight stick and opened the canopy. He shakily pushed himself from the seat and climbed off from the cockpit. By the time his feet landed on the ground, he stumbled back a bit due to the G's from the maneuvers taking a toll on his body. His vision was becoming blurry, prompting him to hold against the ladder to stabilize himself. The adrenaline from the fight had finally wore off, and it was fading fast.
"Let me through!" Monarch weaved through the crowd of shipgirls, gently shoving them away. She gasped upon the sight of the pilot and quickly ran to him. "(Y/n)!"
"Monarch?" (Y/n) winced a bit when Monarch hugged him rather tightly.
"I knew you could do it..." Monarch said, a tear running down her cheek.
(Y/n) smiled weakly. "Just barely."
Monarch didn't say anything further and kissed him on the lips. He accepted the kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist. The shipgirls who saw the scene unfold cheered loudly, except for New Jersey, Belfast, and Enterprise who looked down to the ground and smiled slightly.
As the need of oxygen came, the two separated from the kiss. Monarch stared into his eyes before hugging him again, although gently this time. She separated from him and held his hand.
"Congratulations, Commander!" Cleveland shouted and gave a thumbs up.
He simply replied with a smile and nodded.
"Hey, hey, hey!" The whole Mobius Squadron came up to him. "Let us join the party!"
They lifted (Y/n) and walked around, occasionally throwing him in the air while shouting 'Victory!'. All of them took the chance to celebrate on the victory, knowing that more hardships will come in their way.
'To skies unknown... The path to mankind's vast future remains standing, Granddad. Sis... I've fulfilled my promise to you.'
---
An old man sat on a couch, a TV remote on his hand. He pressed the power button as television in front of him flickered to life.
"Good Morning, people of America. I'm Sean McNamera of UBC News." The newscaster greeted, holding a piece of paper on his hand. "As of today, the Siren supership known as the 'Orochi', have been sunk by the Commander of Azur Lane, who was also known as the Ribbon Fighter by many pilots and individuals. It was also confirmed that Hugin was shot down according to David North, an analyst for USIA's Advanced Weapons Analysis Division. Hugin was wildly feared and known for killing thousands of pilots. However, the Ribbon Fighter had finally ended her life, erasing her from our world. The Ribbon Fighter refused to give a statement. As of today, that's all the information we have."
The old man smiled slightly and glanced on the wall. There, an emblem of the Mobius Squadron was plastered. 'I'm proud of you, Grandson.'
---
The Next Day...
Azur Lane Base
Commander's Office
June 25, 2019
0600 Hours
After the yesterday's battle, (Y/n) now has to deal with his superiors. Of course, he did manage to convince them not to punish the whole Sakura Empire and Ironblood, as they would be beneficial for future operations. Although his superiors eventually agreed, there were still some who were skeptical about the decision.
As for the base, plans for building new dorms for the Sakura Empire and Ironblood shipgirls were now underway, given that some of them will transfer to the main base. His superiors also did mention that they will deploy their forces to Azur Lane, mainly the USAF and US marines, JASDF and JSDF forces, Royal Air Force and British SAS, Germany's Luftwaffe and the German Army, and their arrival will be in two days. Building more airfields and facilities were now underway for the new forces.
All shipgirls from Azur Lane and Crimson Axis have been interacting with each other like they weren't enemies in the past, compared to before.
Everything pretty much went back to normal, with (Y/n) now dealing with the paperwork. The papers on his table were now more than the usual amount due to the added battle and maintenance reports.
"(Y/n), you should rest up a bit." Monarch said. She was not adressing (Y/n) as 'Commander' like the usual, since she had already entered a more intimate relationship with the male.
"Miss Monarch is right, Master. You pushed yourself hard from yesterday's battle." Belfast agreed.
"I'm fine, seriously. Don't be such a worrywart. You girls are my responsibility, so I have to do the duty that was placed upon me." (Y/n) stated.
"But you can't take care of us if you can't take care of yourself." Belfast countered.
"I'm not as reckless as Enterprise, you know?" (Y/n) shot back.
The door spread open, revealing two girls and one male. The first was a brown-haired girl and had a golden-brown eyes. She wore a white tank top, a black jacket, denim short, and white shoes.
Kaori Foulke, also known as Galm 2 or 'Solo Wing Pixy'. During one particular battle in 2012, her F-15's right wing was torn off by enemy fire, but she remained in control of the aircraft and safely returned to base. This incident earned her the nickname 'Solo Wing'. She later painted the right wing of her aircraft - either the same Eagle or a replacement - a scarlet red to commemorate the incident.
The second was a black-haired girl with red strips on some parts of her hair and had a pair of gold eyes. Her outfit was consisted of a white jacket with red pockets on both sides, a black t-shirt underneath, black jeans, and black boots. The most notable features of her was her wolf ears and tail.
Himari Yuzuki, also known as the Demon Lord of the Round Table. She is well known for having an extraordinarily high number of kills - second to the Ribbon Fighter - in Area B7R, which earned her the nickname 'Demon Lord'.
The male on the other hand had a black hair and dark brown eyes. He wore a blue jacket, a black t-shirt underneath, jeans, and white shoes.
Patrick James Beckett, former member of Crow Team and now Galm Team's Galm 3. He was officially transferred to Galm Team after his older team members retired from service.
"Hello there!" PJ greeted.
"..." Himari fidgeted around, averting her eyes away from (Y/n).
"Hi." (Y/n) simply greeted back, still keeping his gaze on the paper. He placed down the paper looked at the three pilots "What brings you here?"
"What? Are you saying that we can't visit our childhood friend? That's harsh." Kaori said, emphasizing the 'our' for a certain individual.
(Y/n) smirked. "You know that you're only coming to me when you need something."
"That was was before. But now..." Kaori walked to his table, intentionally shaking her hips with each step.
"Grrr..." Monarch, who was sitting behind the table the three had walked past by, growled on the pilot's action, almost breaking the pen she was holding.
"W-What do you think you're doing, Kaori?" Himari finally spoke.
"Oh? Jealous much?" Kaori teased and winked at Monarch, who in turn, growled at the pilot and finally broke the pen.
Himari blushed and looked away. "N-No! It's not like I'm jealous or anything..."
"Seriously, though. What are you doing in my office?" He repeated his question.
"We just want to say goodbye to you. We can't stay here for long because we need to go back to Switzerland." PJ explained, waving the flower bouquet he was holding for quite a while.
"A flower bouquet?" (Y/n) aksed.
PJ smiled proudly. "I got a girlfriend back in the base. I'm gonna propose to her when I get back. I even bought flowers, as you can see."
(Y/n) smiled. "Congratulations, dude. Did you by her a promise ring?"
PJ froze before a depressed aura surrounded him. "...I forgot."
Himari sighed, her shy attitude now gone. "You're a bad boyfriend, PJ."
"Yep." Kaori agreed.
"Here." (Y/n) tossed a bag with unknown content.
PJ catched the bag. "What's this?"
"Gems. 600 of it, actually. Use that to buy a promise ring from Akashi. Consider that as a parting gift." (Y/n) said.
PJ beamed in delight. "Thanks, buddy!"
"Bye, (Y/n)! See ya soon!" Kaori waved her hand.
"G-Goodbye..." Himari stuttered. "Uh... Um... Visit us if you have the time..."
"I'll try." He said.
The three pilots soon exited the office, leaving (Y/n) and the two other shipgirls in silence. He sighed and continued to do his work.
"(Y/n), who were they?" Monarch asked, jealousy evident in her voice.
"They were the Galm Team. They were the one who helped us yesterday." He said. "Oh, by the way, how's Akagi and Kaga?"
"They currently on a solitary confinement on the infirmary as we speak. Enterprise and Miss New Jersey were watching over them." Belfast explained.
"I see. Now let's-" (Y/n) was cut off mid sentence when his phone rang. He pulled out his phone and answered the call. "Commander (L/n) speaking."
"Commander." David's voice rang. "Are you free today?"
"With a stack of paperwork that had almost reached the ceiling, yeah, I'm free today." (Y/n) answered sarcastically.
"Oh... I'm sorry but I'm gonna need you to leave that to your secretary. I need you to come to Gründer Industries as soon as possible. As much as I want to tell you right away, we can't discuss this over the phone." David stated.
"Is that really urgent?"
"Yes. I'll be waiting at San Diego Naval Base."
He sighed and stood up. "Alright, then. I'll be there."
"See you soon." And with that, David hang up.
"Master?" Belfast inquired.
"Sorry, but I have to leave for a while. Can you look over the base while I'm gone?" (Y/n) said.
"Certainly." Belfast nodded. "I'll inform Miss Wales and your squadron members about your absence."
"I'll come with you." Monarch sorted the papers on her table in a quick pace and went to him.
"Alright, let's go then." He glanced at Belfast. "I'll be taking my leave. Tell the Mobius Squadron to guard the base until I get back."
"Of course. Be safe, Commander, Miss Monarch." Belfast bid her farewell.
(Y/n) responded with a smile, while Monarch simply gave a nod. The two soon head out of the office, occasionally being greeted by shigirls they came across.
Monarch head out to the port, while (Y/n) headed out to the airfield. Upon arriving, he headed out to the hangar where his F-35 was staying at. He climbed onto the cockpit and did some final preparations for the flight.
Thanks to the VTOL technology, take off was done in a minute. Once he was in the air, he circled around the port, catching a glance of Monarch's ship slowly gaining speed and distance away from the harbor.
"Mobius 1 to Monarch. Radio check, over." (Y/n) radioed.
"I hear you, (Y/n)." Monarch responded.
"Solid copy." He acknowledged. "Let's go."
---
San Diego Naval Base
San Diego, California
0721 Hours
After an hour of travelling, Monarch and (Y/n) had finally arrived at San Diego Naval Base. The trip pretty much went smoothly, with no Sirens appearing to disrupt them.
Monarch had summoned her ship at an empty space on the docks and waited, whilst (Y/n) landed on a nearby aircraft carrier - more specifically, the USS Nimitz.
(Y/n) jumped out from his jet. Shortly after, he was approached by a man with dark-brown afro-style hair, brown eyes, and light-brown skin, wearing a clean lab coat. Behind him were two escort guards, wearing black tactical gears. It was no other than David North.
The Ribbon Fighter turned around to face him. "David North, I presume?"
David nodded and extended his hand. "That's right. It's an honor to meet you, sir."
(Y/n) shook David's hand. "Likewise."
"We should hurry. I know you still have a job to do." David said.
---
Gründer Industries
San Diego, California
0742 Hours
The ride from the harbor to Gründer Industries went as expected. (Y/n) got out from the armored vehicle first, followed by Monarch, then David and the escort guards. They went inside the facility, coming across German and American scientists and engineers working on random devices.
Gründer Industries was the one responsible of the shipgirl project. As such, they were continuing on researching about shipgirls and how to improve them, seeing that Siren tech is catching up.
"Gründer Industries are currently working on shipgirls' retrofits." David said. "UN and Azur Lane High Command had approved of this project."
"So shipgirls will be added with modern weaponry? That would be great." (Y/n) said.
"Not really. There are some shipgirls who are not compatible for retrofit. Retrofitting shipgirls may also change their appearance." The analyst clarified. "Retrofitting shipgirls will drastically increase their capabilities without modern weaponry. However, we were still thinking about adding modern weaponry on shipgirls such as CIWS and Tomahawks."
(Y/n) nodded. "I see."
"Priority ships are also the one's we're working on." The analyst added.
"Priority ships?" (Y/n) repeated.
"Priority ships are prototype ships have specific abilities to kill Sirens more efficiently, and Monarch is one of them." David explained.
The mentioned kansen froze a bit before snapping out of her thoughts. "That's..."
"Surprising, I know." David said. "Oh, we're here."
They stopped on a room with a metal door with the words 'Authorized Personnel Only' written in digital letters. David pulled out a card and pressed it against the card scanner on the right.
There was an audible hiss as the metal doors slid open, revealing a dimly light room. In the middle was a single wisdom cube floating in a chamber.
"Ah, you're finally here, Herr Kommandant. I was waiting for your arrival." A female German scientist came to him, holding a clipboard on her hand. She had a blonde hair, azure blue eyes and a slim figure. "I'm Erika Von Stroheim. I'm one of the lead scientist here in Gründer Industries."
"Commander (Y/n) (L/n). Azur Lane." He introduced himself and turned his gaze at the wisdom cube. "Is that one of the priority projects?"
"Nein." Erika said. "This one right here is Amagi, the lead ship of the Amagi-class Battlecruisers."
After a thougtful pause, it finally clicked in to his mind. "So that's why..."
"What do you mean?" David and Erika asked almost simultaneously.
"Akagi allied herself with the Sirens because she wants to bring Amagi back." (Y/n) clarified. "The Sirens sure did decieved her very well."
Suddenly, the cube gave off a bright light and began to spin violently, causing a strong gust of wind, much to the shock and confusion to those who were around.
"W-What's going on?!" Erika shouted.
As the light disipated, a girl holding a red umbrella came into view. She was wearing a light violet kimono with long red sleeves. She had a light violet eyes, brown hair, fox ears and tails. The said girl was no other than Amagi, the lead ship of Amagi-class battlecruisers.
Amagi's eyes landed on (Y/n). "Hello, Shikikan. I am Amagi, the first of Amagi-class battlecruisers."
(Y/n) nodded. "(Y/n) (L/n). Commander of Azur Lane. It's an honor to meet you."
"The honor is mine." Amagi smiled. "Thank you for bringing me back. You have my outmost gratitude."
"Woah... T-This is spectacular..." Erika sputtered out.
"Tell me, Shikikan. What happened while I was gone?" Amagi quipped.
He sighed. "Where do I begin..."
And so, (Y/n) began to summarize the events that had transpired. From Sakura Empire and Ironblood allying with the Sirens, Akagi and Kaga's attack on Azur Lane, the battle at mirror sea, to Kaga launching the Orochi which resulted in ISAF intervening and Orochi's sinking.
"To think that they would go that far..." Amagi frowned. "I'm sorry for the troubles they've caused you, Shikikan."
"Don't worry about it. What matters is that they've learned their lesson." (Y/n) said and turned to Erika. "We need to leave as soon as possible. I can't leave the base for long."
"Understandable." Erika nodded. "Please take care of Amagi, Kommandant."
"I will." He nodded and faced Amagi. "You ready?"
"Yes." Amagi said. "Lead the way, please."
And with that, they bid their goodbyes to Erika and went to the vehicle. They travelled back to the naval base and began to settle the final preparations for their departure.
"Well then, this is where we go our separate ways." David said. "Good luck, Commander."
"Thank you." (Y/n) replied and climbed to the cockpit. After doing some flight checks, the canopy had closed as the engines roared to life. He soon took off, giving David a two-finger salute as a final farewell, with the analyst replying with a wave.
Once in the air, he flew above the port, seeing Amagi's ship slowly getting materialized. Once her ship came into view, she and Monarch had departed from the port and sailed at cruising speed.
"This is Mobius 1 to Amagi. Can you hear me?" (Y/n) contacted.
"This is Amagi. I can hear you, Shikikan." Amagi answered.
"Good." He said and was about to change frequency when he heard Amagi coughing through the comms. "Amagi? Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine, Shikikan." Amagi said.
It finally clicked into him. The September 1923 Great Kantō earthquake in Tokyo caused significant stress damage to the hull of Amagi. The structure was too heavily damaged to be usable, and conversion work was abandoned. Amagi was stricken from the navy list and sold for scrapping, which began on April 14, 1924.
"Are you sure you're fine? We can head back to San Diego if you want." (Y/n) proposed.
"There's no need." Amagi reasured.
"If you say so..." He conceded and changed frequency. "Hey, Monarch."
"Yes, my love?" Monarch replied. Her sentence surprised him a bit, but he quickly shook it off.
"I was thinking about having a vacation. We barely have time with each other because of work. What do you say?" (Y/n) suggested.
"That would be nice." Monarch replied happily.
---
Azur Lane Base
Harbor
0937 Hours
They have finally arrived back at Azur Lane, were some shipgirls had waited for their arrival. What confused them is the second ship sailing beside Monarch's, but they were about to meet the one who's the new addition soon.
The two ships went to the empty spaces on the docks. (Y/n) had landed on the landing pad that was built specifically for his F-35B near the port.
(Y/n) jumped out and landed on the ground, but was immediately tackled by a certain kitsune. He groaned upon landing on the surface with an audible thud.
"Akagi. Get off me." (Y/n) ordered.
"No." Akagi denied and began sniffing him, her tails wagging around. "Hehe~ Yes... I've finally got a taste of Shikikan-sama's scent... Hehehe..."
Now that was certainly wierd. From her treating him an enemy to casually sniffing him like the're no tomorrow. "Akagi. Get off me." He repeated.
Akagi did not comply, until she was suddenly yanked away by Belfast who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was not a move she did not like in any way.
"Thanks." (Y/n) said and stood up.
Akagi summoned her rigging, prompting Belfast to summon hers and the other shipgirls around, pointing their cannons at the kitsune.
"Akagi." Amagi's voice reached them, making Akagi froze upon hearing her name, as well as surprising the other shipgirls.
"Amagi-nee-sama!" Akagi unsummoned her rigging and ran to her sister, tears running down her cheek.
"Akagi." Amagi cooed, watching as Akagi close the distance between them.
Akagi continued to ran, extending her arms to embrace her. Until...
*BONK*
---
Word Count: 3817 Words