Azur Lane: Fallen Stars, Chapter 3
Our mysterious guest
The muffled thumping of Sardegna's bombardment still shook the bomb shelter, shaking dust lose from the ceiling. Despite this Illustrious still felt calm and peaceful, though she knew this was because of Unicorn's presence rather than her own mettle. The petite kansen was still nestled against Illustrious's side, trembling slightly.
"Hey... it's not so bad. I'm fine!" Illustrious rubbed Unicorn's purple head.
"I know... I just hate it... when you get hurt." Unicorn's answer was muffled by Illustrious's shoulder.
Illustrious smiled to herself as she looked up from the kind support carrier. Her bodyguard, the Royal Maid Dido, stood guard by the door. Her black and white uniform was stained with streaks of dirt, and she had a large gash on her arm. Despite the injury, the cruiser stood at the ready as she stared intently up the staircase towards the bunker's entrance.
"Sardinian commandos aren't going to be storming the bunker under this kind of bombardment Dido." Illustrious's words were accented by the thud of a particularly close bomb impact shaking the room.
"I know that my lady..." Dido's expression looked almost hurt "but I should be doing something useful."
"How about getting that wound looked at?" Illustrious gestured to the wound on Dido's shoulder, which had oozed blood nearly all the way down he arm. "Go patch yourself back up, then you can hurry back and fight the Sardinians." She teased.
"Yes mam. I'll... uh... be right back then." Dido bowed slightly before hurrying off down the hall.
With Dido taken care of Illustrious turned her gaze to the last girl in the hallway, the mysterious Procurer. Javelin had told her that the girl looked similar to Formidable, but Illustrious felt the similarities where quite striking, an image no doubt enhanced by the fact that Procurer was wearing a spare set of her sister's clothes. The "Lucrehulk" shipgirl sat with her back against the wall opposite Illustrious.
Procurer's forehead rested against her raised knees, hiding her face. Her hands were pressed tightly over her ears, and she visibly flinched at the sound of each shell impact.
"She's probably never been through a bombardment" Illustrious thought "it wouldn't be good if she panicked in this confined space." Illustrious knew she needed a way to keep the dark haired girl calm, and luckily she had just the right solution.
"Unicorn?" Illustrious touched the support carrier's shoulder "I have a favor to ask."
"Hmm?" Unicorn loosened her grip on Illustrious's side and looked up.
"Our guest seems to be having a rough time." Illustrious kept her voice low, as if sharing a secret with the younger girl. "Would you go over and make sure she's all right? Maybe you can show her to one of the bedrooms farther in."
Unicorn nodded "I will... do my best!" She whispered back, before releasing her grip on Illustrious and standing up. Illustrious watched as the support carrier moved to sit next to Procurer, leaning against the Lucrehulk's side and speaking softly to her. Illustrious couldn't make out what Unicorn said, but within a few moments Procurer had visibly relaxed.
The two spoke for a bit, before standing and walking down the hall together, nodding as they passed a returning Javelin. With Unicorn's absence, Illustrious found herself acutely aware of her cracked ribs. Javelin winced sympathetically at Illustrious groan of pain.
"How bad is it?" The purple haired destroyer asked, offering Illustrious a hand that the armored carrier soon accepted.
"I'll... gah!... live." Pain shot through Illustrious's chest as Javelin helped her up. The two began slowly following Unicorn and Procurer deeper into the base. Illustrious injuries slowed her down significantly, and they soon lost sight of the support carrier and her charge as they disappeared around a corner. "What do you think of her?" She asked Javelin once they were alone.
"Procurer?" Javelin thought for a moment "She's definitely a new Kansen, if it wasn't so absurd I'd say she was created right before we found her."
"New? How can you tell?" Age was tricky for Kansen. Illustrious looked and felt more mature than Javelin, who was actually the oldest Kansen in the Royal Navy.
"She went into sensory overload and had a panic attack when I left her alone earlier. That's common in Kansen who aren't used to their bodies." Javelin explained. "I should have noticed sooner. She didn't need to go through that." The destroyer sighed regretfully.
"I don't remember feeling anything like that." Illustrious thought back to her early days. She remembered waking up, being told who and what she was, and then a couple weeks of exercises that felt more like games. Ark Royal and Hermes had walked her through the entire process, teaching her the how to use her rigging.
"That's because there's protocol now. It's not even that hard to prevent, all you need to do is have someone stay with them while they settle in." Javelin explained "You were probably told to stay close and help your sisters and Unicorn after they were created right? That's all it takes."
Illustrious had fond memories of training her sisters. "But I wasn't ordered to watch over them was I?" It had just seemed like the natural thing to do as their big sister.
"We'll need to keep a close eye on her now that it's happened once." Javelin continued after a few moments of silence. "Repeated attacks and isolation might scar her personality." Javelin's voice was heavy, far different from her normal cheery self.
"It's really that dangerous to leave her alone?" Illustrious was surprised, it didn't seem like something so important.
"Hmm." Javelin only grunted in response. The two had slowly made their way to Illustrious's room. As they entered, Illustrious was relieved to hear a fit of giggling ring out from down the hall. At least Procurer and Unicorn were getting along. Javelin gently shut the door behind her, before helping Illustrious to the bed.
"Do you ever wonder why Laffey drinks so much? Or why Ayanami seems so expressionless?" Javelin sat next to Illustrious on the bed, remembering her dearest friends. "It's because they were isolated. Humanity didn't know what they were, or what their purpose was. They faced their existence alone." Javelin's voice was sad. "Nimi and I were different, they kept us all together after our creation, because they realized what they had done. But Laffey and Ayanami were already broken."
"Javelin..." Illustrious could only pull the smaller girls close with her good arm. No one ever spoke of what things were like in the beginning.
"Sometimes... I wonder what they would've been like, if they hadn't gone through that..." Javelin's voice waved, but she clenched her fists with resolve. "I will not allow those mistakes to be repeated!"
"I understand." This was something truly important to Javelin. "I'm officially putting you and Unicorn in charge of watching over Procurer. Keep her safe." Illustrious reassured her. "And make sure she's not an Axis spy" she add silently.
"Thank you, for trusting me on this." Javelin's smile returned. "Sorry about getting so heavy about things..." she apologized.
"I'm happy you told me Javelin. I'm always willing to hear your concerns." Illustrious smiled reassuringly.
"Well... to return to the original question..." Javelin changed the subject "...Procurer seems like a nice enough person. Unicorn has been getting along with her too." Javelin began reporting her opinion. "Though I'm currently rethinking my thoughts on her personality..."
"Her self introduction made quite the impression didn't it?" Illustrious commented.
"Yes. I didn't expect her to introduce herself so boldly. I thought she was more of the reserved and observant type." Javelin admitted.
"Perhaps that was the point? She wanted to surprise us." Illustrious mused
"Maybe... and what about the induction itself?" Javelin wondered. "Procurer, Lucrehulk-class Battleship. Lucrehulk. I've never heard a name like that, what language do you think that is?"
"It's hard to tell. Her class doesn't much sense either." Said Illustrious. "A Battleship retrofit, but with a carrier loadout?"
"She mentioned being a cargo ship too. That makes it even more confusing!" Javelin's brow scrunched up as she thought. "Maybe that Trade Federation she mentioned had something to do with that? She's some kind of heavily armed merchant ship?"
"That's unlikely, strapping some 406mm guns onto a cargo ship doesn't make it a Dreadnought." Illustrious disagreed. "She just wouldn't have the armor to compete. Adding a flight deck and hangars would be more realistic, but such a ship would probably end up too slow for open combat."
The two fell silent for a time, deep in thought about their mysterious guest. Eventually, Javelin broke the silence. "If all else fails, I guess we can just ask Procurer about it right? It's not like she's refusing to cooperate with us."
"Ha, that's True. Sitting here and discussing it isn't really helpful either" Illustrious chuckled.
"You should probably get some rest and let your injuries heal." Javelin stood up. "I'll check in on Unicorn and Procurer on my way back to my room." The energetic destroyer closed the door quietly as she left.
"What a day!" Illustrious thought "First Procurer wakes up, then we get hit by one of the worst Sardinian raid yet." The armored carrier gently touched the wound on her chest. "And it feels like I've recracked my ribs as well. I'll need to have that looked at."
"I think I've managed to isolate their signals, despite your help" Observer fiddled with the controls of the mostly repaired trans-dimensional tether. "It looks like there where... three targets."
"Wow! Luckily there was a repair ship hidden beneath all those tentacles!" Purifier lounged at a nearby console. "So where are they then?"
"Let's see... they all manifested midair... looks like one was over the Mediterranean, near Sicily... "Observer began attempting to track the targets "Another appeared in the middle of the Baltic Sea... and the last one was in the Tasman sea."
"The Tasman Sea, isn't that in Australia or something? Are you sure you know how to use that thing?" Purifier asked.
"Yes I'm sure! Get up and look for yourself if you don't believe me!" Observer shot back.
"No, no, I believe you. Great job finding out where they were two weeks ago!" The young Siren clapped sarcastically. "What would we do without you, oh great bosstopus."
"It's a Kraken!" Observer restrained herself from shouting back, knowing that Purifier was deliberately provoking her. Instead, she attempted boost the tether's power in order to find the targets current locations.
"Ouch!" Only to have the machine malfunction and shock her. Observer stumbled back as sparks began jumping from the machine. "Look out! It's overloading!" Arks of electricity shot from the machine for several seconds, before slowly dying out.
"I take it back, you're a terrible repair ship." Purifier giggled, looking over the destroyed machine "Way to fry our our only lead!"
"SHUT! UP!" Observer saw red. Two weeks of frustrating repairs work had just gone up in smoke, and this INSOLENT brat thought it was funny? She slammed Purifier against the wall with her tentacled rigging. "What have you accomplished? You've done nothing but sit there and mock me for two damn weeks while I've struggled to fix the problems YOU created!" She shouted at the taller girl.
"Urk!" Purifier could barely move as Observer ground her into the steel wall.
"You will go to the Tasman Sea. You will find that Kansen, and you will bring me her corpse." Observer's voice was like steel. "And if you come back empty handed, I will tear you apart myself!"
Author's Note:
"Kept you waiting, Huh?" Sorry about the delay on this one, I got a little busy with work...
I decided to tell this chapter from Illustrious's POV, because I wanted to show what the Royal Navy Thought of their new arrival. I hope I was able to write their characters.
I've also come across an unforeseen complication for writing an Azur Lane X Star Wars Fic. That is: York exists, and is aware of what Star Wars is. I've decided to avoid the problem by just not having her appear.
The next chapter will (hopefully) be out sooner than this one, and will introduce a new Starship. See you then!
