The new chapter is here. Thanks for all your support.
Ashen Rerun finally gave Eagle Union the proper SR destroyer, Allen M Sumner and boy, I have a field day playing with her, torpedoes, torpedoes, and torpedoes.
We will also get the new major event for Sardegna Empire with the new ship being Vittorio. I wonder who else will appear, hopefully this event won't have an incident like Empyreal Tragicomedy on its first run.
Beta by Vandenbz
Disclaimer: Gundam series and Azur Lane belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 6 - Amuro Ray: The Origin
Unknown Place
Inside a dark room, devoid of any light, a lone figure studied the circular holographic table which was projecting the aftermath of the battle between Enterprise and Nu Gundam in a semi-transparent 3D render.
The figure was a girl whose appearance could be described as otherworldly or alien even. She had pale white skin, bluish-white long hair, and yellow eyes. She wore a black cross neck sling tank top with yellow accents which exposed her belly, black tight booty shorts, a pair of black thigh high armored boots, and a pair of black horn like headgear. But what stood out most of all was a jet black machine attached on her back similar to a shipgirl's rigging, except this one had the shape of a robotic manta-ray instead of a warship, possessing triple long barreled cannons on each side.
With a hand motion, she enlarged the Nu Gundam render and brought up the holographic keyboard. Her fingers typed away, hoping to get some information regarding the mysterious machine. Additional graphs showing various numbers appeared on the holo-screen. However, some of them were completely unknown, having only a '?' value in red.
"Hmmm... this is troublesome." She said. Slight disappointment was evident in her tone as both her eyebrows creased with annoyance before she typed again.
"Tester, how long are you going to geek over that robot like a 5-year-old?" another voice spoke with a hint of teasing from behind. The girl, Siren Tester Beta, turned around to see the newcomer.
The Siren was a girl whose appearance looked younger than Tester. Like Tester, she had pale skin, bluish-white long hair, probably longer than Tester's, and yellow eyes. Unlike Tester though, she was barefoot and only wore a black dress with a frilled skirt whose area from the stomach below was completely exposed, showing her belly and black panties, and a pair of bunny ears headwear. While Tester's rigging looked like a robotic marine creature, this Siren's rigging was more organic in appearance. It had black octopus-like tentacles with eight long barreled cannons: three on each side with two on the underside.
"Observer..." Tester said with a stoic look and crossed her arms. "Aren't you at least a bit concerned that this 'robot' isn't like anything we've ever seen before? Most of all it came from a dimensional rift caused by an unknown factor."
"I don't see how it's going to affect our experiment. That robot is nothing more than junk now." replied Observer.
"Then maybe this will change your mind." Tester then swiped away the hologram and changed it to display a wisdom cube. "Cube #7893 has been showing strange reactions ever since that machine arrived."
Tester's new information intrigued the Siren as she hovered closer to her coworker's side and looked at the wisdom cube before shrinking it down and brought back the Nu Gundam's figure, comparing them side by side. Observer noticed how the two different objects were emitting faint but similar energy readings in a green color.
A smile formed on Observer's lips. "Well-well-well... it looks like this 'timeline' just got an 'X' factor from external interference."
"This development is unexpected but a welcoming one." Tester turned to Observer with a grin on her face. "Should I send something to test it?"
"Hmmm..." Tapping her chin with her index finger, Observer then shook her head. "Not yet. It's still too early and Azur Lane is still recovering from the last attack. For now we will let the chips fall where they may."
The Siren turned around and hovered away using her rigging. "Just keep observing our 'subjects' and report to me if you found anything unusual."
Tester didn't say anything and only nodded as Observer left the area before she continued overseeing how the other factions were doing. The Dragon Empery was struggling to defend their coastal areas from the Sakura Empire's assault while the Iris Orthodoxy was on the edge of splitting apart from internal struggle within their own governmental body. The Sardegna Empire was considering joining the Crimson Axis to seek their protection, and Northern Parliament had been secretly conducting their own Siren technology-based rigging despite the fact that Azur Lane was against it.
How would this additional variable affect the outcome of this timeline?
.
.
.
Royal Navy Mansion – Living Room Area
The sun began to set as evening came to the Azur Lane base. The sky and clouds turned yellowish-orange, seagulls returned to their nests, and the residents of the port began to end their activities. Many shipgirls closed their booths before going back to their respective dorms or the mess hall to have dinner.
Inside the living room, Amuro sat on a sofa quietly as Wales and Enterprise spoke off to the side.
He was not alone though. Illustrious was sitting across from him along with Curacao and another cruiser named Cleveland who sat on the sofa beside him.
Whereas the Royals were polite and dignified, Cleveland had introduced herself as a Knight of the Sea, but with a friendly and outgoing demeanor. She wasn't as reserved, or close to it, as the Royals who were present. Instead, she was calmer and more laidback with 'a can-do attitude' and a nature that felt more like she wanted to just make friends and enjoy life.
If Amuro had to guess, then she was this place's version of an American. Stereotyped, just like the Royals were, but that didn't mean there wasn't something American in her and this Eagle Union.
Meanwhile Curlew stood outside, keeping them from being interrupted. Repulse and her sister Renown were keeping an eye on the three girls, technically two destroyers, responsible for the earlier excitement.
Eventually, Wales and Enterprise came to an agreement. The pair then turned and approached the table where their guest sat, with the maid seating both.
"Our decision has been made Sir Ray," Wales spoke with calm poise, "For now, Enterprise will tolerate you wearing the Commander's clothing. As it is all we have for any male without his own." Wales' lips had twitched at Amuro's expense.
"What?! That's what you were discussing about?!" Amuro shot Enterprise an annoyed look. "Look, I get it, but it's not like I carry spare clothes in my Mobile Suits anymore."
"Anymore?" Illustrious was the one to ask that at how sudden it was.
"Been almost five years since the last time I had too," He shrugged, "Things change."
"Oh?" Wales looked interested, her eyes sharply on the White Devil for anything she should be looking for.
However, the Royal battleship seemed not aware yet of something different from the usual.
Curacoa for one was giving the man a little bit more attention than how normally she did to other shipgirls, asking how the Gundam pilot would like his tea, and offering him strawberry shortcake. The maid also leaned in closer to him than was necessary as if she was doing it on purpose.
And she wasn't the only one.
Illustrious shifted her sitting position more often, inadvertently shaking her breasts more often in front of Amuro who felt like his morale was being tested. The busty carrier shipgirl didn't seem to notice it a bit, despite how irritating it was to Enterprise, Wales, and Cleveland who seemed taking it more personally as the cruiser could only massage her 'underdeveloped' breasts.
Eventually, it happened.
When Curacoa filled Amuro's teacup, she turned around and accidentally tripped in her boots.
"Ah?"
The teapot slipped from Curacoa's hand, its contents spilling on the floor as the maid fell forward.
*Thump*
And the entire room became silent at once. Illustrious and Cleveland held their mouths, completely speechless as both their faces flushed red while Prince of Wales and Enterprise looked mildly surprised. Right before their very eyes was a scene which one often found in romantic novels, Curacoa now was in Amuro's lap with her face buried in his chest.
The Gundam pilot froze for only a few moments, registering what just happened before slowly moved both his hands away and slowly got up from the sofa to help the maid on her feet again.
"You're... okay?"
Amuro trailed off when the Royal cruiser lifted her face from his chest. Her face, for lack of a better word, seemed rather flustered. Curacoa's cheeks were blushing red and she was breathing so close that Amuro could feel the hot air from her mouth.
Cleveland's head leaned towards Wales but her eyes didn't turn away from what was happening. "Wales... what's happening to your maid?"
Her answer came in the form of Curacoa seizing one of Amuro's arms, surprising him from the sudden act. Her skin felt soft and warm and yet her grip was strong and firm. The White Devil's eyes went wide in horror as she brought his hand right back up and intentionally held it so Amuro would end up palming the shipgirl's bosom.
"W-what are you doing, Miss Curacoa!? Stop!" Amuro cried out, surprised as the Royal maid caressed his hand against her chest. The Gundam pilot tried to pull his hand back from this indecent activity, but her grip was very strong! It felt even stronger than his late friend Ryu! Were all shipgirls physically stronger than him?!
His internal alarm reached critical levels when the woman managed to slide his hand into her shirt and even further past her bra, allowing him to feel the skin directly!
"Aaaahh~"
Everyone save for Curacoa was frozen in shock as even Enterprise and Price of Wales couldn't help but blush with mouths gaping when they heard the maid let out a loud, satisfied moan from feeling Amuro's hand on her skin, his warm touch pushing her.
*BLAM!*
The loud, dull intoned bang of the door caused everyone to jump before Curlew came in and immediately delivered a karate chop to her sister's neck. A single 'thwack' and Curacoa fell unconscious, freeing Amuro's hand from fondling her breast further, but Curlew managed to catch her before she could fall to the floor.
The White Devil sat back, cold sweat running down the neck from what had just happened. It felt like when he fought Char in his red Zaku II Custom for the first time and losing, except this time it was his dignity on the edge.
"I was afraid of this," Curlew let out a deep breath before she looked at Amuro and then Wales. "Please pardon my sister's actions, Master Amuro and Lady Wales, but I feared rightly that my sister and I might try to seek Master Amuro's touch."
Enterprise, now having regained more composure, frowned at that. What did that mean?
Seeing the Eagle Union Carrier's confusion, Curlew explained.
"My sister and I had grown accustomed to being around men for quite some time, you see. As we were among the earliest shipgirls, along with her Majesty and others, we had men aboard our hulls as we learned how we functioned and operated. As such men's hands are something we are familiar with and not having been touched by any for years have made us miss it sometimes."
Curlew trailed off, realizing how that sounded too late.
"I so didn't need to see or know that..." Amuro muttered as the youngest Ceres-cruiser slowly carried her sister away via piggyback. 'I need to be careful of this development in the future. Otherwise, I feel like I'd step on a landmine.'
The Royal maid then gave them an apologetic bow over Curacoa's action to everyone before leaving the room. An awkward silence followed afterwards. This meeting was supposed to be a serious discussion between the shipgirls and Amuro Ray about the latter's origin, not something scandalous which could spiral out of control and bring the shame to the Royal Navy!
"We have wasted enough time, Sir Ray. We must talk about your origins immediately." Wales pushed forward and began to suspect they had unintentionally gone off topic.
"Y-yeah..."
While Amuro was relieved it was over, inside his mind, he wondered about how he had to tread carefully on his answer. How should he explain to them that he came from another world where space war existed, working for a special forces group tasked with taking down space insurgents and terrorism in the most... logical way possible? He didn't expect to be still alive in another world after all...
He had considered the option to show them some basic information about the Universal Century from the Nu Gundam's database to back his claim in case they would find his story unbelievable or ridiculous even. However, after seeing the old fashioned buildings, rotary dial phones, and gasoline-fueled cars, he suspected that the technology level of this place would be similar to Pre-UC Earth in its mid-20th century which meant the necessary hardware to read the data storage in his Mobile Suit didn't exist yet.
Sensing the growing impatience from the blonde shipgirl, Amuro was left with little to no choice. The Nu Gundam and his lack of knowledge of this world's current state were his only cards to prove that he came from a different world. Hopefully he could play them right.
"I am part of a special forces group called Londo Bell." He began, looking back at the woman. "Our task is to investigate and suppress any insurgency attempts by certain groups or organizations."
"I can't say I've ever heard it." Prince of Wales rubbed her chin in thought. "Which country does this 'Londo Bell' belong to, Sir Ray?"
"They don't belong to any country, Miss Wales" answered Amuro. "And you've never heard of them because they don't exist here."
Cleveland tilted her head slightly and scratched her cheek, confused with what the man said. "Uh, I don't follow?"
The Gundam pilot readjusted his seating before he clasped his hands and looked at each of the shipgirls.
"Think about it. I crash-landed on this island with my Mobile Suit, something which you and likely everyone else here has never seen before, from an altitude that otherwise should have killed me. And I didn't know about the Azur Lane, shipgirls, and the Sirens until this afternoon. What do you make of it?"
Both the Royal battleship and carrier exchanged looks, unsure on how to handle what their guest wanted to tell them. Then both of them gasped, their eyes shooting straight up when they finally understood what the man was implying and turned to him in mild surprise upon this revelation.
And Enterprise was the one who voiced out their thoughts first.
"Wait, are you saying that you..." The Grey Ghost pointed her finger outside the window at the sky. "Came from the stars? Is that what you're trying to tell us?"
"It sounds unbelievable to you, but I have no reason to tell any lies." Amuro nodded then shook his head. "And it's close but not entirely correct. I came from space, yes. But... not from this world."
"Not from this world?" Cleveland raised her eyebrow, noting how the man seemed hesitant to mention the last part. "What do you mean?"
He turned to the Eagle Union cruiser and explained.
"For one, back in my world, anyone would know what a Mobile Suit was when they saw one since they were pretty common. And we didn't have shipgirls, wisdom cube technology, or these Sirens you told me about. While we still utilize naval warships, they are obsolete in comparison to amphibious space warships. The humans from my world also lived in artificial space settlements called space colonies."
Upon this new information, the shipgirls had different reactions. Cleveland marveled at the idea of living in space and the ships that could sail beyond the skies. Illustrious on the other hand was more worried about what kind of conflict that could potentially happen there with how common the metal titans called Mobile Suits were.
Enterprise crossed her arms and remained impassive. However, it didn't mean she ruled out that possibility yet after what she saw yesterday. Also, she would be lying if she said she wasn't interested with the concept of space warships.
Prince of Wales was the only one who had mixed feelings on this topic. The man's story sounded like it had come out of sci-fi works that the younger shipgirls loved to read, and yet a small of part of her also wanted to believe it after everything that had happened. That and Amuro raised a good point that he didn't have any reason to lie about his origins as he wouldn't gain anything from it either. Should she give him the benefit of the doubt?
"Sir Ray... I must say that's a lot to take in..." The blonde battleship massaged her temples before looking back at Amuro. "If it weren't for your unexplained way of arrival, Mobile Suit, and your strange clothing when we found you, I would have dismissed your story as complete bollocks..."
'That... went better than I thought.' thought the Newtype at the woman's response. Truth be told, he didn't expect any of them to buy his story and had prepared to be called out on it, especially from a woman like Prince of Wales given her straightforward attitude.
'Speaking of my pilot suit, I wonder where they stored it.'
"But let's just say you are telling the truth, what caused you to come to 'our world'?" Wales' question brought Amuro back from his train of thought as he looked at the Royal shipgirl.
"...You seem taking this quite well, Miss Wales." He cocked his eyebrow at her. "Anyone who heard my story of being from another world would probably have called a psychiatrist for me."
The blonde battleship let out a humorless laugh. "I guess when your enemies are capable of altering space and reality, your mind is more open to a possibility like this. How ironic..."
'Altering space and reality?!' Amuro exclaimed in his head, eyes widened in surprise. 'That's impossible! What kind of creatures are these Sirens they're fighting?!'
"From your expression, I guess you didn't know about that as well." Wales spoke again, seemingly reading his mind. "But before that, could you answer the question first?"
Taking a breath to compose himself first from the new information, Amuro ruffled his hair and answered. "I'm honestly not sure... In fact I didn't expect to be still alive after my last mission."
That statement took Enterprise's interest as she cocked her eyebrow in curiosity. "Mission? What mission?"
The White Devil began telling them his last mission where he and his unit had been tasked by the Federation to stop a man named Char Aznable, the new leader of Neo Zeon who believed himself to be a leader of mankind as a whole, waging war against the Earth Federation after judging its people irredeemable due to their leaders' corruption.
"Federation and Zeon... I remembered you mentioned them earlier. What kind of factions are they actually, Sir Ray?" Prince of Wales asked.
Amuro turned to her and answered. "Earth Federation is a global government formed to unify all of Earth's nations, races, regions, and its affiliated space colonies and lunar city on the moon."
"Whoa, wait there." Cleveland held her right arm up, earning Amuro's attention. "Are you saying that all countries in your world are ruled by one leader?"
He shook his head. "No. Every nation on Earth still runs its own political system, but in case an international problem arises, the Federation may step in as the one with higher authority."
"That's... quite incredible." Wales trailed off, amazed with how the government system worked in their guest's homeworld. "This Earth Federation must be very powerful then, but what about the Zeon?"
"Zeon is a space nation composed of multiple space colonies which aren't affiliated with the Federation." answered Amuro. "Unlike the Earth Federation, they utilize the aristocratic form of government."
Amuro however didn't tell them that the Federation and Zeon had a long history of being enemies for over a decade due to their clashing ideals and different takes on the rise of the evolved human beings known as Newtypes. After all, these girls wanted to know what his last mission was, not a history session of Universal Century conflicts.
The White Devil then went on with his story, telling the shipgirls how Char planned to drop an asteroid whose size rivaled a moon on Earth to make it unhabitable and force its remaining survivors to escape to the colonies. This revelation earned him a couple of gasps and appalled looks, especially from Illustrious.
"That's so horrible... How could one person do such a thing..?" asked the busty Royal carrier, terrified.
Amuro took a deep breath and looked at the woman in white. "I wish I knew, but from what I heard, he was disgusted by the corrupt officials in the Federation government."
It was actually a half lie. Amuro knew very well why that man wanted to 'purge' the Earth from the 'germs' that were poisoning it. But there was no need for him to tell these girls that he actually shared quite a long history with the man known as the Red Comet. Besides, it would only raise more unnecessary questions.
"But was it necessary to go that far?" Cleveland leaned forward, outraged. "I get it if we're mad because of corrupt politicians in charge, but this Char guy basically had no qualms about killing innocents living on Earth as well!"
Amuro then turned to the blonde cruiser. "He believed what he did was for the greater good even if it meant sacrificing lots of innocents for his cause. Like I said, he was a madman who believed that absolute power was the only way to make everything right."
Amuro's eyes suddenly twitched as his Newtype senses felt a rising anger and hatred coming from none other than Prince of Wales for a moment. From the corner of his eye, the blonde battleship seemed composed, but if one looked closer, she was biting her lower lip and had both her fists clenched tighter on her lap before letting them go.
Was it because of what he said?
After the fierce battle between the Federation and Neo Zeon, Amuro then fought Char in a Mobile Suit duel and emerged victorious. However, their mission was far from over yet. The Axis asteroid wasn't completely destroyed as its other half was still drifting towards Earth and they had no more explosives to stop it.
Any hope to stop the impending doom seemed to be gone until the Gundam pilot came up with one crazy idea which would make Enterprise's stunt pale in comparison. With nothing but his own resolve and the Nu Gundam's power, Amuro sought to push away the falling asteroid. While he succeeded, the Nu Gundam suffered heavy damage from the heat friction and engine overload, losing power before free-falling to Earth.
"The last thing I knew was everything went white as I kept falling." Amuro clasped his hands in his lap as he finished. "That fall should've killed me or destroyed my Mobile Suit on impact. But then, I woke up and found myself here."
Silence fell upon the room as the shipgirls absorbed Amuro's story which ended with what supposed to have been his death from a supreme act of self-sacrifice. The sound of a ticking clock was the only thing that could be heard by the occupants. This silence began to make the White Devil feel uneasy as every second passed felt like a minute...
"I'll need a cup of coffee to clear my head." Enterprise finally spoke, breaking the silence. She held her temple and shook her head. "This is all too much..."
Cleveland gave the Eagle Union carrier a disapproving frown. "You won't be able to sleep tonight if you drink another one."
"Putting aside Enterprise's rather unhealthy lifestyle..." Illustrious looked back at Amuro. "What are you going to do now, Sir Ray?"
"I... honestly don't know..." Amuro ruffled his hair again before giving the busty carrier a determined look. "But I believe that there must be a reason why I survived and was stranded here. That's why-."
*GRRROWL~*
Everyone, including Amuro was caught off guard by the sound of his growling stomach which no one had expected. Feeling both embarrassed and upset, the White Devil frowned and held his gut. He wouldn't lie that he was feeling hungry and could find something to eat right now. But his stomach really had the bad timing to tell him in front of these girls...
Illustrious let out a small giggle at this development. "I guess the first thing you have to do now is acquire dinner, Sir Ray."
"Well, gee. Now that you mention it." Cleveland also joined in, tapping her stomach. "I'm also hungry enough that I could eat my own weight."
"After what happened today, we deserve a fancy dinner." Prince of Wales nodded in agreement before turning to Amuro. "Would you like to join us, Sir Ray? Or do you prefer to have dinner at the canteen?"
For the first time in all his life, Amuro really wished he was fighting Char or dozens of Geara Dogas right now...
...
Later that Day
After the conversation they had, Amuro left the mansion along with Cleveland and Enterprise to the mess hall. Among the three, the Eagle Union cruiser looked more excited than usual for two reasons. One, she thought that Enterprise would finally eat something other than the usual MRE (Meal Ready to Eat). Sometimes she wondered if the Grey Ghost was actually part ghost, enough that she didn't really need to eat.
The second was so she could get know the new guy better. After all, it wasn't every day you met a metal titan pilot who came from space and another world! The Knight of Seas couldn't wait to introduce him to her sisters. Speaking of sisters... hopefully Amuro would be okay in Montpelier's book...
Such a thing would be a great change of pace if Enterprise hadn't split up at the junction and started walking towards the port area.
"Enterprise? Where are you going?" She called the carrier. "You're not coming with us? You'll miss dinner."
Much to her dismay, the white-haired woman dug her hand into her coat pocket and took out what appeared to be a half-eaten energy bar.
"This is more than enough to fill myself. I'll do the night patrol. You show him where the canteen is, Cleveland."
Both Cleveland and Amuro stood in silence and could only watch as the Grey Ghost kept walking, leaving the two. The blonde girl then let out an exasperated sigh. No matter what she was trying to say for her fellow shipgirl's own good, Enterprise would always do things her own way. Honestly, it was starting to worry not only her but also some shipgirls who knew how often Enterprise overexerted herself.
"Ooohhh, that Enterprise..." Cleveland held her temple and shook her head. "Why can't she just listen for once?"
Amuro himself had mixed opinions towards the shipgirl. On one hand, he respected her sense of duty in regards to night patrol, but on the other hand he didn't really approve of her to skipping a proper meal. He admitted that he was like that before joining the White Base as the Gundam's pilot. Often times, he was too indulged in his hobby of coding and programming Haro that he often forgot to eat and sometimes clean his own room which often earned him a good scolding from Frau Brow.
Thinking back, the White Devil just realized how much he owed the girl for being a responsible big sister figure to him when his mother wasn't there.
Amuro turned to Cleveland. "Is she always like this?"
Ruffling her blonde hair, the light cruiser answered. "You'd be surprised, but actually no." The duo kept walking as Cleveland continued. "She wasn't like this when we still..." Cleveland's expression suddenly turned somber and trailed off after realizing what she was about to say next.
Sighing, she gave Amuro an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but I'd rather not talk about it. Basically saying, Enterprise had been through a lot."
"Sorry. I don't mean to pry" He apologized. In his mind however, he could take a guess what the cruiser meant by that.
'War can really change someone. Either for better or worse...'
As they kept walking, the duo came across a building which had been damaged by a Sakura air raid. A huge portion of its wall was gone with broken window frames and glass scattered around alongside other debris.
But then, Amuro's eyes caught something which made him question his sanity for a moment.
The construction workers -instead of humans- were yellow chicken-like creatures wearing construction helmets and goggles. Unlike a normal chicken though, they appeared to be larger in size, enough to use the power tools and operate the construction machinery. If Amuro used his Haro for size comparison, he'd guess these chickens were slightly larger than the robot ball.
"Uh, Cleveland, what are those things?" He pointed his thumb at them.
"Oh. They are called Manjuus, Mr. Ray." answered the light cruiser. "They do many tasks around the base that range from managing the logistics, repair, and cleaning. They are basically our base personnel here."
"What...?" The White Devil glanced at one Manjuu carrying a hand drill and used it perfectly despite its lack of fingers. "That explains why I haven't seen other people here... But, how did they come to exist?" He turned back to Cleveland. "Amuro is fine by the way."
Cleveland scratched the back of her head, trying to find the answer. To be frank she also didn't know where the Manjuus originated from. So far, she only knew that those chicken-like creatures had been at the base before she was assigned there alongside her sisters and other ships.
'Wait! Didn't Curlew say that she was one of the earliest shipgirls that came into existence? Maybe-'
Her train of thought was cut short upon seeing the familiar building layout and its lively atmosphere inside: the canteen.
"Ah there it is." Cleveland's eyes lit up. Suddenly, she grabbed Amuro's hand and dragged him along. "Come on, my sisters should be still inside and I want to introduce you to them."
"Whoa! Hey! Take it easy." The surprised Gundam pilot almost tripped.
...
Azur Lane Base – Storage Area
The storage area was a warehouse complex where the logistics for the base were kept. The logistics could be trading goods, building materials, heavy duty tools, spare parts, and also munitions. This area was fortunate enough to survive from the air raid launched by the Sakura Empire fleet.
With how often the items were rotated in and out of the facility, inventory checking was done once a month. However, this time was an exception.
Outside the warehouse building which had the number 7 printed on the wall, Javelin and Laffey sat on the ground, leaning back against each other, exhausted. Both destroyers were sweating a lot, their clothes wet and dirty. A clipboard with a checked inventory list was nearby.
It turned out that both Javelin and Laffey's punishment for being reckless and playing around with an unknown piece of technology they had no idea about was to perform stock taking at the warehouse. At first, it sounded simple until the duo found out that there actually 9 warehouses they needed to check. It didn't help that they had to move various items they found from one warehouse to another and Laffey sometimes became sleepy when working.
In the end though, the Royal and Eagle destroyers somehow managed to finish the task right at dinner time.
"Uuuuhhh... I really want to take a bath right now..." Javelin tugged her now dusty dress. "We can't go to the canteen like this..."
"Zzz... Laffey... just wants... zzz… to sleep..." The bunny destroyer on the other hand had almost fallen asleep to the point she snored in between her words.
"Wha-! You can't skip dinner, Laffey! You'll get sick!"
As the Royal shipgirl tried to keep her friend awake, both Javelin and Laffey heard multiple footsteps coming towards them. When they turned to where the sounds came from, both destroyers immediately stood up like girl scouts at the sight of Prince of Wales, Repulse, and Renown.
"I see you two have done a splendid job." complimented the battleship. Wales put her hands on her hips before she looked at the destroyers. "I hope you've learned your lesson today."
"Yes ma'am..." replied Javelin and Laffey like children being scolded by a mother.
Satisfied, Prince of Wales picked up the clipboard and motioned for the two battlecruisers to fetch them. Both Javelin and Laffey just stood still in awe as in no less than a minute, both Renown and Repulse had finished wiping off the dust and from their exposed skins and clothes with nothing but microfiber clothes and cleaning spray.
"Since it's already dinner time, the canteen might be already full." Wales spoke again, getting their attention. "So, how about you join us for dinner tonight? Besides, Unicorn also wants to eat with you."
Immediately upon hearing the offer, both girls' eyes lit up like children getting Christmas presents or in Laffey's case she still looked sleepy but her eyes literally had stars in them. But who could blame them? While Nevada was a great cook, the foods made by the Royal maids were top notch, befitting the high class nobility. That and Laffey knew that the Royal maids had quite fine selection of wines. Maybe she could take a bottle or two?
And they also had quite a story to share with the light carrier.
...
Azur Lane Base - Hillside Forest
The HQ glimmered with lights from afar as the night came and the sky turned dark. At the forest where the battle between the Enterprise and Nu Gundam took place, the white Mobile Suit remained unmoved from its state. A barrier of yellow lines had been placed around its feet.
A few Manjuus in security uniforms and carrying flashlights patrolled around the area. To prevent another incident like today from happening, HQ had tasked them with guarding the giant machine, at least until they figured out any mean how to move it somewhere else, preferably the dry dock.
But as these birds continued doing their job, none of them noticed a faint yellowish-green light emanating from the rear thigh where it had been struck by Enterprise's energy arrow.
When the light faded, Nu Gundam's rear thigh now was completely repaired, as if it had never been damaged in the first place. The scorch marks were gone and a new layer of Gundarium plate had grown over the exposed internal frame like a flesh wound healing.
But how it was even possible for a machine to repair itself like a living being?
None had the answer as the Nu Gundam's eyes suddenly flashed green, earning the attention from the security Manjuus. But as soon as they saw the metal monstrosity start moving again, the poor birds were shocked to the core that their eyes became almost as big as plates and dropped their flashlights.
And in a situation like this, they knew very well what a smart person would do: Run for their lives.
Ignoring the fleeing chicken-like creatures, the white Mobile Suit stood straight, basking in moonlight, before its head slowly shifted towards one destination...
A bit of fanservice here and a brief history of how the first generation of KANSEN did their jobs... in my version of story at least. I mean come on, this is a shipfu game and something like this ought to happen.
Hopefully my explanation of how Federation government works is correct as Gundam Wiki only described them as something like United Nations.
R&R and I hope you like this chapter.