In the world of Azur Lane, a battle is in progress.
One Eagle Union ship is fighting a losing battle for her life against two Sakura Empire ships.
A lone Hornet versus Zuikaku and Shoukaku. And Hornet is losing her strength.
"I don't like being completely on the defensive, you know!" she shouted as she dodged an almost continuous hail of gunfire and planes.
Unfortunately Hornet could not dodge one shell, which sent her spinning onto the water's surface. Her flight deck had been damaged beyond use, and at this point her strength was exhausted.
Even worse, her hat was knocked off after having multiple holes shot in it.
Her breath knocked out of her, Hornet could do little but softly gasp for breath and blink in the bright sun as Zuikaku walked up to her, katana drawn.
"At last I have the mighty Hornet. Sister of the Grey Ghost!" She said proudly. Then her expression changed to a mixture of amusement and disgust.
"Look at you. Nothing like your sister. Not even like...Yorktown."
Hornet glared at this direct and sinister assault on her personal pride and on her line's legacy, but was forced to stay still as Zuikaku pointed her katana at the downed carrier.
"To me, its not much, but still...finishing the third member of the famed Yorktown class is something I'm going to relish.
"Your end is here, far away from your big sister while your friends watch helplessly." The bloodlust was almost audible in Zuikaku's tone. Her own sister, Shoukaku, stared a little fearfully, never hearing Zui speak like this before.
Zuikaku raised her katana for the final killing blow. Hornet closed her eyes one last time.
"I'm sorry...sisters..." She whispered to herself, a tear forming in her eyes.
The katana swung down, but it never reached its victim. It was blocked by an arm wielding a...frying pan?
A shocked Zuikaku and a confused Hornet looked at the owner of the arm and pan, which turned out to be a boy who appeared to be not much older than themselves but with unusual-looking riggings.
On each side there was a large turret with two high-caliber guns. Farther back on each thick supporting arm were two smaller turrets, which resembled smaller versions of his main guns but had high-angle capabilities. Scattered around his riggings were numerous small-caliber guns, from 6-pounders to machine guns.
On his back a uniquely designed mast rose from the bridge of his riggings. At its peak floated a striped flag with the upper left corner a blue field with white stars.
Near his waist, almost invisible, were two torpedo launchers, each with 5 tubes.
He wore a navy blue officer's uniform with gold trim and medals adorning it. A matching broad-brimmed naval hat with gold trim and a golden design on its broad front shaded his eyes. A moderate-length, flowing cape hung from his shoulders, with large golden designs adorning each side.
On his left arm he bore a colorful shield:
(A/N): This is the actual bow shield of the old USS Oregon, one of the very few pieces remaining of it.
The newcomer smiled grimly. "Hello there."
In a flash the frying pan swept from under the blade of the katana. The next moment it connected with Zuikaku's face with a very satisfying BANG.
KNOCKOUT!
Her unconscious body flew backward toward her shocked allies, while the astonished Eagle Union fleet looked on.
Oregon turned to help Hornet up. Thanks to Zuikaku he already knew who she was, but he decided not to address her by her name out of politeness.
"Are you alright? Let me help you get up."
Casually throwing his pan over his shoulder, which disappeared in a sparkle of small blue cubes, he gently helped Hornet to her feet. Then he turned to look at the Sakura Empire and Iron Blood ships.
"Ara~ It seems we have a newcomer who's also a boy," Prinz Eugen purred. "His weapon choice is unusual, but he is very skilled with it. I wonder what else he is skilled at~"
Oregon didn't reply. Instead he just stared at Eugen, a stern but neutral expression on his face as he considered what he possibly had to say to such a ship.
Eugen, however thought he was staring at certain places of her body. "Ara~ Do you like what you see~?"
Oregon squinted and pretended to "examine" Eugen closer. "I don't see anything interesting here."
As hard a burn that was, Eugen did NOT take it well. Her expression...well, I won't grace it with a description.
Shoukaku, on the other hand, couldn't help but say "Ayy lmao!" as she herself was getting tired of Eugen's constant teasing and flirting.
Noting Eugen's reaction, Oregon continued. "I would highly recommend that you leave. Unless you want a taste of my faithful pan like Zuikaku over there did." He summoned his pan again, and gestured with it toward the unconscious crane.
"Ara~ You are a bold one. As much as I'd like to press this matter, it seems we must leave...for now. More of your friends are on their way, so it would be best to quit while we're ahead."
Sure enough, a lone carrier and a cruiser were approaching at high speeds.
"Ara~ We shall meet again, newcomer. I look forward to seeing your capabilities, both on the battlefield, and maybe even in the be-" Eugen began, but she was interrupted.
"Nope.avi. You disgust me." Oregon was easily able to rebuff the heavy cruiser, much to her annoyance. Eugen managed to control her rising frustration and ordered her fleet to withdraw.
Soon after the first of the two ships drew close. She was a tall shapely woman with long flowing white hair, a long black coat-cape, and an admiral's cap.
Hornet seemed to know her, for she cried out, "Enterprise!"
"Hornet!" Enterprise shouted in return. Oregon released Hornet as Enterprise enveloped her in a bear hug. "Are you alright!?"
"Yes, Enty, I'm fine. I have this fine fellow to thank." Hornet gestured to Oregon, who casually waved in greeting.
Enterprise approached him. "Thank you for saving my sister," she said. "I was afraid I couldn't get here in time."
"No problem. I just happened to be passing by, saw her in her predicament, and decided to help. Good thing I did, too."
"I am Enterprise, second ship of the Yorktown-class carriers. This is my little sister, Hornet." Hornet waved a little shyly, still trying to recover mentally from being nearly killed and then saved in the same moment.
Oregon removed his hat, revealing his brown-gray hair, took a step back, and presented a formal bow. "Battleship USS Oregon. Glad I could be of service."
"You all look too tired to move much," he noted. "Here, let's ride on my ship."
His riggings and shield disappeared in a cloud of blue cubes and reformed as his ship:
Hornet was impressed, more from the style and general design than its rather diminutive size.
"So cool! I love the design!" She said excitedly.
Enterprise, on the other hand, was quick to point out the obvious. "You said that you were a battleship. Then why is your ship so small?"
Oregon: ......And I took that personally.
Take 2
Oregon couldn't help but flinch a little, since he had heard that plenty of times back when he was younger.
"...Well, back in my day ships were generally smaller than they are now. I was part of the transition from those small designs to the big modern battleships you have now."
Enterprise noticed that Oregon looked slightly offended by her remark. "I-I didn't mean it that way!" She quickly replied. "I was just taken aback a little by its size after you said you were a battleship!"
Hornet, in the meantime, had made her way over to Oregon's ship and leaped aboard its bow. The first thing that met her feet was the wooden deck. Broad, sturdy planks covered the deck as it stretched away toward the bridge.
A giant turret with equally large guns sat in front of the bridge. Hornet marveled at their size and the size of the turret itself compared with the rest of the ship.
Meanwhile Enterprise's companion introduced herself to Oregon. "I am Cleveland, lead ship of the Cleveland-class cruisers! I have three sisters, which I am so proud of!"
A brief flicker of sorrow crossed Oregon's face, but only Hornet managed to notice it. "That sounds nice. I'd like to meet them.
"Come on, the sooner we get back to your base the sooner I can more properly introduce myself."
With that, Oregon, Enterprise, Hornet, and Cleveland went to help the other ships of Hornet's fleet.
Once everyone was on board, Oregon asked for the direction to their base.
"It's about 120 miles to the northeast of here," Enterprise replied.
"Psh that's nothing to me. Full steam ahead," Oregon declared.
For a few moments nothing seemed to happen. Then a deep slow chuff emanated from the rear of the ship. Another chuff, and another and another. Black smoke began to pour from the ship's dual funnels.
Slowly the ship began to accelerate. As its speed increased, the smoke disappeared as the fireboxes burned hotter.
"Well, we're on our way," Oregon announced.
Ayo! Author checking in!
So you made it to the end of the fourth chapter! I'm curious as to what you think so far of the story, seeing as nobody has commented yet.
Also I might try to end every other chapter, if not every chapter, from now on with a Team Fortress 2 meme that applies to the current chapter.
I was going to demonstrate what I meant with a meme here but I just discovered that my stock of TF2 gifs has completely vanished from my phone, which is what I use mainly for inserting images.
So sadly, that means no meme for this chapter. >:(
If I can find the intended gif again, I will insert its meme into the next chapter if possible.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these first chapters. I promise that the story will begin to pick up in the next chapters.
Author out!