A/N: Meh, I was bored and lacked inspiration for my other fics. Thought I might as well try writing a short series on this game.

Disclaimer: I do not own Azur Lane

We will never surrender. Those were the famous words of Winston Churchill, wartime Prime Minister of the Empire of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1940 to 1945. The words which now resonate in the conscience of many who study the past were made in the face of overwhelming odds and under the threat of subjugation by an unstoppable evil.

Those same words were uttered time and again by many people across the world in the midst of struggle. And now it was blared over the radio. Yet, while there was hope for the Britons then, there was no hope left for us. Like London, the city was reduced to rubble.

Unlike London, it would never rebuild nor recover. Under siege, cut off from our limping and reeling allies, under constant and unrelenting assault from a mysterious enemy, who had control of sea and air. Who can appear out of nowhere. Who are not human. Unlike London, there was no holding out for us.

It started off with ships going missing, with bits of debris turning up. The combined navies and air forces of the association were sent to investigate. What they found would trigger the long and painful struggle, one that would take humanity by surprise and cause hardship.

Our ships were obliterated. The air forces were parried again and again. Drawing global attention, the UN sent troops in to deal with the threat. Then the attacks began. Our allies, once thought to be powerful and rising nations, were swept aside. Tis was the strength of our foe.

Our neighbours slowly began to lose ground and men. The enemy, despite being centered on a hybrid mix of naval and air power, were able to exploit it and push deep. There was no containing them. The Americans pulled out after losing a carrier fleet. The Chinese ships were also quickly destroyed. Then the attacks went global, and nations pulled their forces away, hoping to hold them off.

True, there would be no surrender for us. There would only be death, either through combat or capture and experimentation. Massacres and atrocities were common news, as our comrades crumbled. The shock came when China collapsed, the coastal areas and river basins quickly falling to enemy hands.

There was no evacuation. We were surrounded on all sides, most of the airports having long since been destroyed and the air force practically neutered. The sea was filled with enemy vessels, and so was the air. There was not enough fuel, food or ammunition to do anything at all.

I knew of a few who made a dash for it on their own and attempted to slip past. Their mutilated and experimented-on bodies were found a few days later. Our fate was sealed. In a few hours they would break through, and all hell would break loose. It was only a matter of time before the last Southeast Asian city fell, and with it all of us conscripts, refugees and civilians.

I switched off the old radio as I heard movement outside. The front line had been pushed back, yet there was no clear communication with headquarters. The rest of the platoon had attempted to break out, but failed. Most had tried to reach the front on their own. I was the only one left of the rearguard that tried covering them, the others having been killed with the sergeant ordering me to leave. And now I crouched amongst the ruins of an old apartment, the old radio I found now silenced, as I peered out of the window.

To say when I was shocked when I first saw the enemies would be an understatement. They bore an uncanny resemblance to something in a game I used to play. It was because of that game that I picked up an interest in naval strategy. But alas, the navy was annihilated. They control the sea and the sky. And now they were pushing inland.

My eyes widened at the sight of what was outside. It wasn't one of the drones, droids or creatures that they usually deployed, but one of them. An 'apostle', a weird female humanoid being infused with heavy weaponry. The ones that control these hordes of drone ships and aircraft. The ones who, if the rumours were correct, were in command of everything, including the systematic genocides and experiments.

I held my breath. I did not dare move. Apart from the intimidating alien look its pale skin, white hair, yellow eyes and its… unusual appendages gave, these things were ruthless and deadly. The Americans sent their best armoured formations after them and were annihilated. I half wondered if it would be smart to just run. The sight of the long-barrelled guns attached to it screamed otherwise.

I could only stand there as still as a statue as the apostle unnervingly marvelled at the carnage. The sound of those… creatures coming nearer made me glance around anxiously. There were a lot of them, thankfully outside the ruined building. They appeared to be moving towards the apostle… chaperoning captives?

The apostle gave a bloodthirsty, insane smile. "Ah," I heard her say. Apparently these things speak some of the languages here on earth. "Well done, you lot. You did your master well," she reached down to pet the gruesome creature, one that looked like a semi-organic, lizard and dog hybrid.

The thing, covered in blood and clutching what looked like a mangled hand in its mouth, growled. "Well, let's not waste time now, shall we?" The apostle said. The guns strapped to her back levelled themselves at the weary, shell shocked soldiers. I widened my eyes in realisation. They were from headquarters! They were But… if they were captured, then that meant-

"The resistance you put up was admirable, but it was all for nought. It seems humanity is doomed after all," the apostle gave a creepy smile. "I must say, the screams of those civilians were most delectable,"

I felt my eyes widen. The higher ups decided to make a last ditch evacuation attempt via airlift at the last airbase, which had one, broken-up but usable runway. It was supposed to start today. If what this apostle said was true, then that meant… the airbase was gone. And with it thousands of soldiers and refugees. Including them.

I looked away, not wanting to see more of my comrades massacred. It was a surprise that instead of a blast, a low humming noise was heard. I glanced back. The apostle was holding out a strange cube-like device. The device floated into the air, producing a faint humming sound. It floated off from her palm and began to glow.

Moments later, and to my utter horror, the captured soldiers began screaming, collapsing to the floor in pain with blood seeping through their ears and eyes. The cube appeared to be absorbing something, though I have no idea what, from their bodies. Soon enough the glow faded, and with it the screams. I fought the urge to vomit as I saw the now pale, bloodied, lifeless corpses lying there.

"Interesting," I heard her say. "They proved to be more plentiful than others. But this is not enough for the project," A glow came from the apostle's back. Seconds later, a portal emerged. From what little was gathered, these apostles were able to mold spacetime and create strange portals to help with transportation. It had proven difficult to set up a stable front when these things could essentially teleport, though there were a few suspected limitations.

One of them being it took a long time to 'recharge', as seen when the Chinese launched a week-long counterattack and nearly broke them due to their inability to teleport. Secondly, it appeared it only worked between certain areas and only over ocean and coastal areas. It also became apparent that not all had the ability to do so.

Just as I was about to lob a grenade, another apostle came through the portal, looking somewhat harassed and, shockingly, missing an arm and a good chunk of its leg.

"Oh and what are you doing here? Did something go wrong in that dimension?" I froze. Did she just say there was another dimension?

"That damn alliance is close to destroying our remaining footholds. The council has demanded that two thirds be sent back to strengthen the front," the second apostle said

"I did warn them this was too much fun for us to handle. This would all be meaningless if we fail to at least secure that world," the first apostle shook her head. "The data collection would continue, but we would be on the defensive in this world,"

"Yeah yeah, now would you hurry up? The others can't hold the position much longer. We can't let them get through the portal, and should they capture the prototype, it would be disastrous," I took a chance, pulling the pins out of my two grenades, and throwing them at the two. This caught them by surprise, as the explosion blasted them off their feet and a few metres away.

I rushed out, firing at the lizard-dogs as they attempted to jump me. I quickly grabbed the cube device they dropped. Without a second thought I emptied the magazine of my assault rifle into the first apostle, the second having been miraculously blown apart and now immobile. I knew all it did was loosen her concentration and damage her weapons, and I could hear more reinforcements incoming.

Without a second thought, I dropped my last grenade, a smoke grenade, and jumped through the portal, which started to fluctuate. It was a peculiar sensation, neither pleasant nor overly-dreadful. It felt as if someone tied my to a large wheel and spun it. Within moments, I was on the other side.

I collapsed, feeling rather disorientated. I looked around to find myself looking at the ocean. And a lot of burning drone ships.

"What the-?" I turned around and saw a stunned apostle looking at me. I took my pistol and immediately shot at her eyes. She keeled over, howling in pain as she attempted to heal. I took a quick look around. It looked like I was on the deck of a large apostle drone ship. There were more portals opening with reinforcements coming through. I could see other ships in the distance. Ships that did not look like theirs.

With a start, I realised that those ships were probably the ones beating back the apostles. I also noticed that the shells they were firing were bouncing off… a force field? I immediately turned back to the howling apostle and took a look at some sort of control panel she was operating. Though it was hard to interpret, it did not take a genius to know it either controlled the portals or the forcefield.

I slashed the apostle's eyes one more time with my knife. Just to keep her down a little longer. I reloaded my rifle with the last magazine. Praying it worked, I pulled the trigger and emptied the magazine into the controls. It sparked. I frankly could not care anymore. My home was gone. Singapore was gone. It did not matter if a shell hit me. Everything I cared for was gone. I wanted to return the favour in kind. And so I shall.

The panel and the machinery attached to it began to spark. The next thing I knew I was thrown off my feet by the explosion. I could feel my back ache in pain, my skin scorched slightly from the explosion. I could feel my head knock hard against the deck of the monstrosity of a ship. It felt heavy. Groaning, I got up gingerly. Only to be forced overboard by another explosion from an incoming shell.

I could feel the searing sensation of the cool saltwater of the ocean soaking my wounds. I could feel the burn of my sinuses as seawater burst through. I kicked and flailed on instinct, hoping to get to the surface. I yelped in surprise as I felt something tug on my leg, losing precious air. I looked back, my eyes burning as they made contact with saltwater.

I saw the apostle from before, her scarred, slightly bleeding eyes glowing a vicious yellow as she smiled evilly, using her weird attached tentacle appendage to drag me down. I tried kicking hard, to no avail. I was so close. I could see the glimmer of refracted light on the surface. I tried harder, managing to get one hanto the surface, only for the tentacles to reach forth and wrap around my arms too.

I would have laughed if the situation were not so serious. My perverted dormitory mates would have been laughing too. They would have filmed this and embarrassed me on virtually every social media platform, while teasing how lucky I was. I never did understand why they found something like this attracting. Hell, I never really understood, as a character from my favourite anime called it, 'Super Perverts'.

Now though, they were gone, their light hearted teasing and shameless talks of philandering which I had grown accustomed to never to be heard again. I closed my eyes as I felt myself run low on oxygen, as my sinuses filled with seawater. I closed my eyes and stopped struggling. What was the point anymore? Everything I cared for was gone, and soon so would I. At least I managed to stick it to these bastards.

I felt a sudden tug on my hand. My eyes went wide as I was hauled out of the water. I winced, my ears ringing as the sound of cannons going off sounded just beside me. I felt the apostle loosen its grip, before letting go entirely. Coughing out water, I turned to look at my saviour. I froze as I took in her appearance. She looked to be around my age, with blonde hair and reddish brown eyes.

I blinked multiple times, hoping to get the water out of my eyes thinking they were seeing things. But I still saw the same thing. A familiar blond-haired girl around my age, wearing a white cape of sorts over what looked like a blue shirt or jacket, and a rather scandalously short skirt.

It was then I realised something odd. She appeared to have miniature cannons and naval turrets attached to her and hovering near her, still smoking from their blasts. I noticed that she was not on some sort of boat either, but rather actually standing on water. Just like in that game.

The girl turned to look at me. "Are you alright?" She asked. I looked straight into her eyes and spoke the only thought on my mind.

"What...the actual *cough* fuck is going on?"