War. It is one of the few things humans can do the best. For thousands of years, they perfected this perverse art of killing others to the point of being able to kill hundreds, if not thousands with a single bombing run or gas attack. After all, for us new inventions or discoveries always go hand-in-hand with new weapons. And it stalls innovations in other areas for some time.
But for all our might, we came unprepared for extraterrestrial invaders. And that fact was capitalized by them. They appeared out of nowhere and destroyed even the mightiest of navies with ease, dominating the sea, and soon the air as well, in the matter of weeks.
These invaders were called "Sirens" by the sailors that survived the encounters, but there were so few of them left, and even fewer that weren't crazy after the encounter, that they couldn't man even a single destroyer. The situation was grim and only a few brave men and women staged a resistance. However, only a few port cities and a few bases in the Pacific were liberated from them and to make matters worse, some members of the freshly created Azur Lane alliance allied themselves with the Sirens, creating a group called the Crimson Axis.
Humanity was never closer to extinction, but war… war never changes and will be there even after the last human dies in battle.
With a sigh, a human, dressed in the US navy commander's uniform, closed his journal and looked out from a window for what was possibly the 100th time since he was appointed by the High command to defend this base. His once lively brown eyes were now filled with sadness and he once again toyed with the idea of running a bullet through his brain.
The situation was simply hopeless. From the original 200 men and women under his command, only 30 remained. And no defensive batteries were left standing as well. The Sirens made sure to send in way too many ships to overwhelm their defenses and leave them to die afterwards. Even the comms were useless after the attack.
And we're the "last hope" of the United-no, Eagle Union in holding the remains of Pearl Harbor… he solemnly thought, knowing that they were most likely the last base left standing. The common people expected them to do a miracle, but they were the ones in a desperate need of one.
After all, they were short on everything, including manpower, food, drinkable water and ammo. And getting even a single pitiful sardine was a death wish, since the Sirens' futuristic-looking ships were patrolling the area.
And the only ships we have are damaged beyond repair in our current situation, he thought as his eyes stopped to look at the destroyed flight deck of once proud CV-6, nearly sunk form of BB-39 and the destroyed repair facilities of AR-4. Hell… even if they managed to fix at least the Enterprise, it would be for nothing, since they had no fighters and bombers.
But then, something strange caught his eye. However, it was too small for him to recognize it at the distance, so he grabbed his binoculars and looked at the thing again, mouth opening in shock, when he saw a human gripping on an unknown object to not drown. Behind the person, there was a single crate, filled with whatever was saved from the Sirens' attack.
He put the binoculars back on his desk and ran outside, surprising all of his men and three nurses as he passed them by. He didn't need to look behind himself to know that they followed him.
Once he was outside, the commander jumped on the only remaining lifeboat and paddled towards the person, noticing that it was a female, which didn't surprise him that much, since they had a bigger chance to survive a Siren attack, unlike men.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her unconscious form onto the lifeboat, and did the same for the strange device and the crate, before he started frantically paddling back towards the closest pier.
And only when he docked and gave his waiting men the crate and strange device, he finally noticed how she looked. She had long blonde hair, tied into a ponytail and wore a lab coat over a black shirt and navy blue jeans, the former of which also gave away that she was one of the researchers.
They were working on something concerning the Sirens, he recalled as he lifted her from the lifeboat and gave her to the waiting nurses, who had convinced - more likely forced - four of the 27 remaining sailors, pilots and soldiers to carry a stretcher, on which they placed the woman, before going to one of the warehouses that survived and was turned into a makeshift inframary.
And then, after all the adrenaline had vanished from his veins, he saw that the crate was much bigger than what he'll lift normally. It was easily three times the size of what he thought it would be, when he lifted it from the cold waters of the Pacific ocean. The crate was a cube with sides approximately nine feet long and most likely completely filled as well, considering the fact that four of his strongest men had to lift it.
"Take it to the kitchen. It is in the middle of the base anyway," he said and all 25 men walked with a much lesser amount of depression in their steps.
"What do you mean 'managed to escape?'" an almost human-like girl asked the other occupant of the darkened room, this one looking like a teenage Japanese schoolgirl, but with the same unnatural golden eyes and white hair as her seemingly younger companion. She was angry at the report that she gave, both knowing that their boss won't be happy with both of them for letting that happen and not finishing off the human rebels at the small island base.
Only now did Observer Alpha curse her mistake, knowing well that they are the last of the newly named Eagle Union's actually competent soldiers on that side of the so-called Pacific ocean, unlike with the Atlantic, Indian and Arctic oceans that were supervised by Observers Beta, Gamma and Delta, who managed to push the humans off the sea.
"She somehow managed to save a large crate of supplies and a prototype version of that. Looks like it went similar to Earths 245, 420, 581, 690 and 781…" she responded and Observer Alpha paled. Those four versions of Earth were notoriously known for managing to create the perfect weapons to combat them.
245 had created dragons, 420 some kind of a super cigar that released a poisonous gas, 581 made planes in human form, 690 tanks in human form and 781 tried to replicate us and made Ashes. What's next? 999 creating ships in human form? she thought as she looked out from a window, shivering at the memories of the dragons burning down her brethren by the dozens at once. But, 245 was not the hardest to conquer. That title belonged to 420 and its "super cigar" weapons, followed closely by 781.
"Purifier, you'll lead a task force of three Pawns, two Rooks and one Queen against the island base. We must obliterate them, so Observer Zero won't get even more mad at us," she said and left the room, thinking about how to approach the isolationist Sakura empire.
He smiled widely, when he saw a lot of canned food and a device to collect rainwater, knowing that they have enough food to last about three months without starving. Just the mere sight raised morale by a large amount and he was glad for it.
But then came the confusing part. The large, chalice-like device and a dozen of small cubes, the latter of which was hidden at the bottom of the crate. No one of them had ever seen anything like that before. And the fact that the cubes were pleasantly warm to the touch was a surprising, but a nice bonus to their diamond-like beauty.
"Maybe we should grind them to dust and use as fuel," one of the ensigns said and some others agreed about it. After all, it was a sound idea, since they were low on lumber and coal to keep themselves warm in winter.
But then, the commander got a bad feeling and ran onto one of the somewhat stable parts of CV-6's flight deck, binoculars he snatched along the way from the box of salvaged equipment near Warehouse 2 in one hand and two cubes, he didn't know that he still held, in the other one.
He put the binoculars before his eyes and unconsciously dropped the cubes that he held on the deck's edge, scanning the area, finding nothing outside of the ordinary, until he saw a few rapidly approaching black spots in the distance, which then showed glowing red lines on their hulls and he paled, hands shaking, before turning to one of the men that came outside with him and shouted a single word, unknowingly kicking he cubes down into the exposed lower decks of the ship.
"Sirens!"
If they continue at this pace, they'll be here in less than five minutes! he thought as his left hand inched closer to his revolver on instinct, but then reached for his saber instead, unsheathing it and turning to everyone gathered around him, suddenly filled with newfound curage.
"The Sirens seem to want to finish us off!" he began, voice booming like never before, "but we won't let ourselves get killed like frightened cattle! Today, if we die, we do so as heroes of the Eagle Union! We're carrying the burden of being the last Hope of humanity! Let's give 'em a taste of Hell!"
The men shouted an affirmative and grabbed their own firearms, not caring that they wouldn't be effective against ships. And honestly, they didn't even want to think about it. After all, they'd rather die in battle than be forced into servitude.
And then, the battered form of CV-6 glowed in a bright white light that blinded them for a few seconds.
Purifier was having a bad day. First, she didn't kill all the human researchers on the ship about three days ago, then most of the survivors helped one of the smartest researchers to escape from the sinking ship and now, she had to clean both her and Observer's mess. And while she knew that the bolt action rifles, pistols and revolvers of those humans she was sent to kill won't even scratch the mass produced ships, with her it was another story. After all, if they fired enough ammo on the same spot on her body, she'll start bleeding, even if it would heal almost instantly.
I mustn't think about that! she reminded herself and thought instead about the image of the base reduced to nothing, but rubble and most of the humans dead, except for their commanding officer, who'll Observer might enjoy torturing into giving up some useful intel. After all, Testers did enjoy it, so why not her as well?
But then, a bright while light erupted from one of the two still standing ships and she paled, knowing what it meant, thanks to seeing something similar once before on Earth 781.
Well… shit… she thought as the light faded and a restored enemy Queen-type ship appeared with someone standing near the very edge of the flight deck. And Purifier paled even more, when she remembered just who the person looked like.
They have Ash on their side?! Oh hell no! she thought as she ordered her mass produced Queen to go into overdrive with spawning aircraft, not caring that it would produce less aircraft than Strategist was able to make it spawn, and the other mass produced models to protect it.
It's dark and cold, but not quiet. Why do I hear the screams of humans, calling for help and why do I know their species? I must help them! But how? I don't even have a body or know where they are! I need this endless nightmare to end and be useful! And I don't want to see her anymore…
Wait… what's this?! A light?! I must reach it! I think that is my ticket away from this endless void! And since when do I have arms? I never had them before.
"-the burden of being the last Hope of humanity! Let's give 'em a taste of Hell!"
A voice? I haven't heard words before, but these give me the hope that they still can be saved from becoming the screaming masses. Huh? What's this? Hair? Another unfamiliar thing to get used to. And I am almost there! Just a little bit more!
And then, she opened her eyes to see the world for the first time.
He blinked several times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. After all, how would a severely damaged ship get completely repaired in less than a second and get fully equipped as well? This doesn't make any sense! he thought and only then, he noticed someone standing near the very edge of the flight deck.
It was a woman with very long silver hair. She was wearing something similar to his own attire, but the main difference was a black skirt, the lack of a black coat and heeled shoes. But, before he was able to ask her who the hell she was, he heard the familiar sound of a SBD Dauntless starting. And it wasn't alone.
"Watch out! Aircraft are being launched!" He shouted at his men, who ran to the edge, sans the last five surviving pilots, who went for the aircraft instead, intending to crew the two SBDs and a F4F Wildcat fighters that were already on the flight deck after the first SBD left to attack the Siren fleet.
But, as they left the flight deck, the elevators started rapidly deploying more F4Fs, SBDs and even a few of the new prototype TBF Avenger torpedo bombers as well, the woman seemingly unfazed by the planes passing her by… only to jump on the last fighter and produce a strange bow from nowhere.
"She's nuts," one of the marines muttered and all the commander could do was nod in response. After all, who'll jump on a plane with a bow and no arrows? Even the "Mad Jack" Churchill wasn't that crazy. And he was the one fighting Germans with nothing but a sword, bow and bagpipes.
And then, he saw a beam of light appear where an arrow should be, changing into a SBD's bomb after she released the bowstring and impacted with one of the mass produced Sirens. This is worse than Superman-level madness, he thought and then, he saw something move between the Sirens' ships, so he put the binoculars back to his eyes and paled.
"The enemy force is led by a humanoid-type Siren!" He called out at the same time as the TBFs released their torpedoes and flew to help the F4Fs with intercepting the Siren aircraft, all protecting the triplet that his men manned and the one the female was on.
"It's like they have a hive mind or something like that," one of the sailors commented the way the planes moved around, soon overwhelming the Siren aircraft as the torpedoes hit and sank the Carrier-type mass produced Siren and severely damaged two of the three Destroyer-types.
And then, he noticed that the Battleship-types and their humanoid overlord started retreating… no, fleeing away from the mass of dive and torpedo bombers that was converging on them.
"We won!" The commander shouted and was grinning like crazy, while he watched only 4 aircraft return back to the flight deck, while the rest disappeared, all cockpits opening at the same time and surprisingly enough, all of the pilots survived without a scratch as they climbed out and their clothes weren't painted red by blood.
Then the woman pulled out a black coat from the opened cockpit of her F4F and put it on, before jumping off elegantly and effortlessly, like it was a normal thing to do. And only then he saw her eyes - light and lively shade of violet, that also showed some sadness.
"Who are you?!" he asked/shouted at her, saber aimed to stab the unknown person should she try to attack them, just as a bald eagle of all things landed on her left shoulder and the strange bow disappeared, before she answered.
"I don't know if you'll believe me, but I am the very ship you're standing on. My name is Enterprise," she answered in a no-nonsense tone that he was familiar with and his face went through several shades of red and whilte, before he realized that she was indeed speaking the truth no matter how crazy or impossible it sounded.
"And I am commander Harvey Baker, of the Eagle Union's branch of Azur Lane alliance. Well met, Big E," he answered and shook hands with her, not noticing the halfhearted glares from his men. After all, his mind was preoccupied with too many hopeful and cheerful thoughts to notice. And then, he had to catch her as she suddenly went unconscious from possible overtaxing.
But, little did they know that they were watched by a woman with short black hair and pale blue eyes, who wrote some notes to a notepad she scavenged from one wreckage a few day back, before leaving for whatever location she came from.
A/n:
A new story! I know that I should focus more on my previously uploaded fics, but this idea couldn't leave my mind after months of playing Azur Lane and this is the result.
And yes, Enterprise would resemble her anime self for quite a few chapters.
Also, here's one last thing: this story starts about 3 months after the TBF Avenger had its first flight. That's why commander Baker knows about it.
Anyway, see ya later!