A flashback, and Mainz becomes a spectator.
What would a mechanical fish sound like?
Also, a quick rundown on some Japanese sword terminology that I'll be using in this chapter:
Tsuba=guard
Kashira=butt cap (stop laughing)
Saya=scabbard
For more information, look up samurai sword terminology on Sword Buyers Guide.
You should already know what senpai and kouhai mean. Azur Lane players are otaku after all. Ya filthy weebs.
"Hello. You are Leipzig, correct?"
The light cruiser in question turned to face the newcomer who addressed her. She brushed some of her short blonde hair that had fallen over her violet eyes before putting her hat back on. "Y-yes, that is me. How can I h-help you?"
"Ah, good. I was told by Herr Kommandant that I should get to know you. That way, I can finally learn things to go out and sink our enemies. Hehehe~"
Leipzig got a closer look at the slightly taller woman in front of her. She had strawberry blonde hair framing a youthful face with brown eyes, and was wearing a primarily black uniform with bits of red along with a matching black skirt that exposed her creamy thighs. There was a pair of metal ornaments on her head, giving off a horned-appearance, along with some streaks of red highlights visible under her blonde hair.
"Oh, umm, you must be the new prototype cruiser, u-umm," Leipzig stammered as she took in the fairly intimidating appearance of the other kansen.
The new kansen nodded and smiled, spreading her arms out as she introduced herself. "Ja, I am the heavy cruiser Roon." She brought one of her hands, covered in black gauntlets, under her chin and started tapping her cheek with a clawed finger. "At least, that's what I've been told. If the Kommandant says that's my name, then that shall be my name."
Roon looked at Leipzig who seemed to be on the verge of fainting. "Oh, do I scare you? Don't worry..." she stepped in with open arms, "...I won't bite." She brought the frail-looking girl into a gentle hug.
"O-oh, what is this...?" Leipzig was momentarily confused but the hug did feel nice.
"Ah, something I was told that could help others relax and calm down. You are familiar with this?"
Leipzig nodded in agreement. She and her sister Nurnberg would often embrace each other for comfort. This heavy cruiser felt a bit familiar in that regard. "Yes, it feels nice. Danke..."
Roon smiled- she still looked scary but she didn't seem so bad- as she broke off the hug to look her new comrade in the eye. "That's better. Now, when do we start?"
Leipzig snapped out of her reverie as her radio crackled to life. She pushed herself off the command console that she had slumped over, listening to a series of chirps and beeps after the static cleared. She let out a sigh before responding. "Don't worry, Fishy, I'm fine. How about you?"
The Leipzig had taken a glancing blow to the superstructure. The impact must have shocked the kansen into one of her fainting spells, which had fortunately become a rarer occurrence over time. The offending Knight-class cruiser that had fired the shot was swiftly dealt with by a full salvo when Fishy's wrath took over. The rest of the Sirens had been mopped up shortly after.
More beeps and some growling.
"Hmm, yes. You'll get to rest after this. We've been out for a while after all."
A pleased hum reverberated throughout the command bridge.
Leipzig smiled as her strangely sentient rigging/hull went back to radio silence to focus on the current situation. They had been on this patrol for hours, and the surprise Siren fleet certainly didn't help matters.
"Leipzig, are you okay?"
Prinz Eugen was hailing her now. Despite their appearances, the heavy cruiser was technically the younger of the two. Due to their shared history, Eugen had always felt a bit of responsibility for Leipzig.
"Miss Eugen, y-yes, I'm fine."
"...I'm coming onboard. Wait there, verstanden?"
"O-okay, of course."
Leipzig sighed as the transmission ended. She reached down to a mini-fridge near her feet and pulled out a pudding cup and a spoon. It had been a minor addition to her vessel; bolted down to the floor so it wouldn't go tumbling all over the place.
She scooped a spoonful into her mouth, savoring the sweet taste of the cold treat. "Mmm. Heh, Roon's favorite..."
Several days had passed since the recent Siren activity and Mainz had acclimated herself quite well with the operations of Azur Lane. She was diligent and her secretarial work was satisfactory. When her sisters had returned, she had gotten that promised lunch with them, along with Tallinn.
Gah, black again.
The Commander refrained from wincing- he had gotten used to it- as he sipped one of Mainz's brew. Once word had gotten out that the new Iron Blood kansen had developed a taste for coffee, several like-minded allies taught her about the different coffee beans and how to brew a fresh pot. It wasn't surprising to see her and Enterprise lounging about in the morning, speaking few words as they enjoyed their coffee. Z24 occasionally joined them whenever she had free time from Akashi.
He set his cup down as he watched the cruiser neatly arrange some paperwork for him to sign. Instead of the casual jeans and sweater she wore on her first couple days, Mainz was now wearing a white double-breasted jacket, a black skirt, and white thigh high stockings. The left lapel of her jacket was red, as was the underside of the black cape worn over her left shoulder. To complete the look, her left ear was pierced with an iron cross earring, she had a pair of black gloves with red finger tips, and a black headband kept most of her bangs in place.
The Commander remembered when Mainz would work at the secretary desk for the first time. Her hair would keep falling over her eyes while doing paperwork, prompting her to constantly brush it back with her hand. He made a quick call to Janice to see if she had a solution. The tailor had suggested a headband, which she handed over free of charge.
"The twintail look doesn't suit you. Maybe a ponytail would, but I think this looks great," was what Janice said when she stopped by the office.
Mainz had also been told that the clothes worn by kansen were more durable than normal. With how intense their physical activity could get, it wouldn't do to have clothes rip too easily from strain all of a sudden, although it didn't stop certain individuals from wearing more... provocative clothing. She vaguely remembered hearing some muttering from Janice about how she had to get the materials from a green cat and a ghost rabbit.
"Is there anything else you would like me to do for you, sir?" The prototypegirl stood at attention in front of his desk, awaiting orders.
"Hmm." The Commander thought for a while. His secretary had completed almost everything on time daily, aside from a few expected hiccups when she first started. There wasn't much left to do, at least in the office.
Then he remembered a requisition form that Odin filled out before going on patrol. She had given it to him with her usual stoic expression, but the slight blush in her cheeks suggested that she really wanted something. After her contribution in defeating Sirens, he felt now would be a good time to reward her.
"Actually, there is one thing." The Commander opened a drawer and pulled out a form before handing it to Mainz. "Can you take this to Akashi or Yuubari? It's a request that one of them should be able to fulfill."
Mainz raised an eyebrow as she took the folded paper. "A request, sir?"
"Yeah, apparently Odin wants a hammer." The Commander scratched his head. He was no stranger to how a number of shipgirls had various melee weapons to complement their long-range gunnery. So far, only a few like Akashi and Yuubari had the technical know-how on making weapons durable enough for use by women with super strength. "She already has a sword but I don't see a problem granting her this if it means more dead Sirens."
"I see." Mainz thought for a bit. She had seen some of her peers practice their swordsmanship; the Sakura Empire visitors being a notable example when she spectated them in the mornings. "Would it be too much of me to also request a blade for myself?"
"Hmm, well you have been doing an excellent job so far." He studied her uniform and pictured how she would look with a sword at her side. "Eh, why not. You can just ask them when you get there, tell them I approved it."
"Thank you, sir. Will that be all?" Mainz already had a drawing of the type of sword she wanted. She had to thank Janice later for giving her an extra sketchpad.
"Yes, that should be it. You're free for the rest of the day after this."
Mainz snapped a salute. "Very well then, I'll see you tomorrow. Until then, Kommandant."
The Commander saluted back. "Have a good day, Mainz."
He watched the kansen leave with a swish of her cape and once the door closed behind her, he glanced at a stack of documents lying in his drawer. It had information pertaining to an operation that had been put on hold.
Back to Operation Siren again. We still need some time to prepare.
Mainz made her way to the research facility where she presumed the two Sakura Empire girls would be. Unfortunately, the place was empty aside from some human staff.
"Try checking the dorms," one of them suggested. "You should try texting them too."
Nodding her thanks, she then walked in the direction of the temporary dorms for the visiting kansen. She had sent a text to them, but no one responded yet.
"Hyaa!"
"Haah!"
Mainz was temporarily distracted as she once again bore witness to a spar. This time, it was the heavy cruisers Takao and Suzuya in a duel. The destroyer Ayanami must be with Z23 then.
The former wore a white uniform and skirt, her white-gloved hands gripping her katana with the tip pointed towards her opponent in a middle guard. Takao's brown eyes focused as her toned legs tensed under the black pantyhose before suddenly rushing forward with an overhead strike. Long black hair tied into a ponytail with a white bow flowed with the movement, her barely noticeable dog ears twitching slightly as her blade was blocked with a resounding clang.
The latter disengaged with her own katana, grunting as she put some distance before taking her own stance. Yellow eyes narrowed under a pair of red Oni horns as she studied her opponent. Like Takao, Suzuya also had long black hair, except it wasn't tied and was adorned with red cross ornaments. She also wore black pantyhose, and her own white gloves covered most of her forearms. Instead of a military-style uniform, she dressed almost similar to a school girl, wearing a white button-up shirt tucked into a navy blue skirt, complete with a blue and grey bowtie.
The two stared each other down before exploding into action once more. Takao parried a lunge aimed for her throat, following up with a diagonal downwards cut. Suzuya avoided getting bisected by quickly stepping back, raising her katana over her head near horizontally, before stepping forward and bringing it back down in a helm splitter move.
Takao grunted as she brought her blade up in time in a horizontal guard, blocking the powerful blow that she had seen split unlucky Sirens in half. Well, they were holding back to avoid killing each other but she still felt a bit of trepidation at how much power the Oni woman put behind that attack. At the same time, she smiled at her kouhai's improvement. Besides, she had confidence that she would stop herself short of the killing blow. It still didn't stop the dog-eared kansen from breaking a sweat, though.
Suzuya kept on her toes as her senpai pushed her blade off to break the bind, both of them stepping back to reassess their next move. Barely a second passed before Takao went with a horizontal cut, usually meant to decapitate an enemy quickly. The Oni brought her blade up to defend, the tip pointing down at the ground at a slight angle as the other blade caught against her own tsuba.
Capitalizing on the brief bind, Suzuya stepped into Takao's guard, well within the safe zone for an effective counterattack. Steel scraped against brass as Suzuya maneuvered her katana for another strike, not with the blade but with the kashira.
"Mmph!" Takao saw stars as she was dazed by the blunt strike to her forehead. Thinking quickly, she also stepped into Suzuya's guard, letting go of her sword with her left hand to grab the other kansen by her collar.
Suzuya yelped in surprise, not expecting Takao to suddenly switch gears into a grapple of sorts. Then again, when it came to fighting with swords or any melee weapons, or even bare hands, anything goes. So, she did the only thing she could think of at the time.
Sorry, senpai.
Suzuya headbutted Takao. She was at least mindful not to hit her with the horns.
"Yowch!" Takao stumbled back once more before feeling the edge of a blade at her neck. Despite the pain, she felt proud of her kouhai for winning another round. The score was still 7 to 3 in Takao's favor, though.
"Hmm, you're getting better at this, Suzuya-san." Takao relaxed her stance a bit as her head throbbed with slight pain.
"It's thanks to your tutelage, Takao-senpai." Suzuya also relaxed. She hoped she didn't hit her too hard. "I take it we are finished for today's practice?"
"Hai, we have a guest after all." Takao sheathed her blade in its black saya before bowing, slowly so as not to aggravate her headache.
The other woman followed suit after sheathing her own blade in its white saya. She winced a bit as she saw a flash of pain on Takao's face.
"Ah, Mainz-san." Suzuya noticed as she looked up from her bow. "How are you today?"
"Good afternoon, Takao, Suzuya." Mainz returned the two's gesture as they both bowed to her in greeting. It was a custom that she was still getting used to. "That was very impressive."
"Thank you for the kind words, but I am still not as good as Takao-senpai."
"Don't sell yourself short, Suzuya-san." Takao patted Suzuya's shoulder. Her headache was already quickly fading away, thanks to the combination of a shipgirl's durability and the latter's efforts to hold herself back. "That improvisation of yours caught me off guard. Had you not done that, I would have tossed you to the ground myself."
Suzuya merely bowed once more to her, unable to formulate a response to such praise.
"Anyway, how may I help you, Mainz-san?" Takao turned to address the prototype girl.
"I am looking for Akashi or Yuubari. Have you seen them?"
Before either could answer, something exploded nearby.
"Ahh, nyooo!"
Takao pinched the bridge of her nose, counting to herself with eyes closed. A different kind of headache was coming. Suzuya merely sighed.
"Well, there's one of them. Come, let's see what trouble our little neko has been up to."
The three cruisers made their away around the dorm building towards the sound of the explosion. They were soon greeted with the sight of Akashi holding some sort of contraption. Or rather, what was left of it.
The green cat looked fine aside from some soot, but the item in her hand looked like the remains of a ray gun of sorts. The grip and trigger was easy to pick out, but the barrel seems to have been blown off to less than half its original length.
"What happened this time, Akashi?" Takao went straight to the point.
"Nyeh, accidental discharge from this weird Siren tech I put together." Akashi dumped the remains in a box for scrapping.
"Oh, and what was its purpose supposed to be? Disintegration? Teleportation? Mind control?" Takao asked with a deadpan expression.
"No idea," Akashi waved it off with an oversized sleeve. "We'll never get to find out anymore."
In another timeline, Amagi-chan sneezed.
"Well, just make sure to dispose of it properly," Suzuya added as she peeked into the box. "We wouldn't want any more accidents."
"Hai, hai. Wakatta nya~" Akashi then turned to Mainz. "Hello, Mainz-san. Would you like to purchase something today?"
Mainz was about to reply no, she would not like to get scammed with tech boxes, but remembered that she was here for a commission of sorts. The Commander didn't tell her if there would be a fee or not.
"Actually, I have a request from Frau Odin." She held the folded paper out to the cat. "I also have a similar personal request that Herr Kommandant has already approved."
Akashi took the paper in her sleeve-covered hand and unfolded it, studying it curiously. It was a requisition form along with a sketch of how Odin wanted the hammer to look like. "Hmm, I see. This isn't my area of expertise but this is easy enough to do." She folded the paper up again. "I'll take this to Yuubari. She's more of the weapons nut than I am. I just give her the materials, nya~"
"What did Odin-sama request, if I may ask?" Takao inquired.
"A hammer," Akashi and Mainz simultaneously replied.
Suzuya raised an eyebrow. "I see she's living up to her namesake."
"No, no. You're thinking about Thor," Akashi corrected. "Odin uses a spear."
"Odin is Thor's father, though," Takao added, "so it's not too farfetched that he could also wield the hammer."
Mainz shrugged. "Ja, I think it also depends on the version of the myth."
Akashi waved her hands to get back on track. "Okay, that's enyaugh. You said you also had a request?"
"Oh right, of course." Mainz pulled out another piece of paper from a pocket. "Here, I've sketched what I wanted."
The green kitty took it with her other hand before unfolding it. "Well, this is at least more normal than the hammer. Okay, nya. I'll get these to Yuubari and she'll come up with something. In the meantime..."
The prototype cruiser watched Akashi tuck the papers away before holding her sleeves out expectantly. Of course she wanted a down payment.
"Ah, Herr Kommandant did not inform me about payment options..."
Akashi's ears drooped as her arms fell to her sides. "Greedy shikikan cannot expect me to do things for free."
Takao lightly bonked the cat on the head with her saya. "That shikikan should be addressed with respect, Akashi."
"Besides, he always makes sure to pay you for your hard work," Suzuya chimed in.
"Nyegh, I know, I know. I was just kidding." Akashi snapped off a sleeve-covered salute. "You and Odin-sama will not be disappointed with the final products. You have Akashi's guaranteed appurrval on that."
The cruisers bid the repair ship farewell as she scampered off to who knows where. The two Sakura women still respected Akashi despite her odd quirks, especially since she knew more about dealing business with other nations and how to handle most technology. Mainz also felt the same; she wouldn't have been here if it weren't for kansen like her, Vestal, and Yuubari.
"So, what did you request, Mainz-san?" Suzuya cast a sideways glance at the light cruiser.
"A sword," answered Mainz, "just in case, ah, how do the Eagles say it, shit hits the fan. I've looked a bit into our people's history and decided on a one-handed sword."
"It would be very interesting to see you in action with such a fine sword," Takao commented.
"Senpai, you just want another person to cross blades with."
Mainz merely grinned at the two heavy cruisers. "Well, I certainly wouldn't mind getting some practice in with my shiny new sword. Although, the different fighting styles will certainly make for an interesting bout."
The dog and Oni women returned her smile, only for Takao to grimace as she remembered something. Specifically, a slight burning smell.
Suzuya noticed and looked at the box left behind by Akashi, sighing in resignation. "Speaking of shiny new toys, that troublesome cat forgot her broken one here. Don't worry, senpai, I'll deal with it."
Mainz also moved to offer her own help in lifting the box. She knew her sword wouldn't stay shiny forever since it would see combat, but she certainly hoped it wouldn't end up charred or blown up by whatever strange experiments Akashi or Yuubari would carry out.
Shiny new toy, indeed.
Expect Tallinn and Odin in the next chapter. Possibly Tirpitz as well.
The reason I have the Sakura address Odin as such is her namesake. She's named after a god, and sama is the most polite and respectful way to address someone. You've probably heard the term kami-sama; kami basically means god.