Hello again everyone! As promised, this is the first official chapter of this Azur Lane story! I feel I have addressed most of the things I wanted to say in the prologue, so without further ado, please enjoy!
Mobius 1-2: Thanks for the support! A pleasant surprise running into a fellow Ace Combat fan, having been playing the franchise since AC4 first released. There's a couple of references to AC throughout the story, let us see if you can point them out! Cheers!
Starburst98: I can totally understand where you are coming from here, and I really appreciate the feedback! The reason for their absence will be explained in the coming chapters, so I do hope you will bear with me in the meantime! I do not want to reveal too many details here just yet, but I will get there! Thanks for the review once again.
HueyLong - I do hope I impress!
Cipher
Note: I do not own the rights to any of the characters or historically significant warships mentioned in this story, those belong to the creators of Azur Lane.
"We should be arriving at their last known position shortly, Commander."
"Thanks for the update Helena."
Upon discussing things with the leaders of the four main factions, a small group of shipgirls had departed via helicopter to the last known position of the transport fleet carrying most of the Eagle Union officer corps. The actual conversation with Nagato, Bismarck, Enterprise and Queen Elizabeth had gone a lot better than the Commander could have hoped for, however, there were still far too many variables with their current situation to feel truly at ease.
"If I could get a couple of you to scout out ahead on the water, I'll lower us down to sea level so you can jump out."
The Commander, who was currently piloting the Sea Knight helicopter, began to descend closer to the ocean. After reaching roughly 10 meters off the ocean, he gave the order.
"Belfast, Laffey, Eugen, if you would."
"Of course, Master." The leader of the Royal Maid corps elegantly jumped out of the side of the helicopter, landing on the ocean below.
"I hope you know you owe me at least 3 biere when we get back to the pub tonight, Commander."
"Once we get back Eugen, I think I'll be needing the same."
"Is that a challenge I'm hearing, Commander. I do hope you'll impress." The Ironblood heavy cruiser gave a slight chuckle before jumping out the opposite to the side Belfast did.
"Zzzz…. I guess it's Laffey's turn now too. Commander better let me nap on the way home too."
"Lots of naps for you Laffey, I promise."
"Laffey will hold you to that mhmm…" The Eagle Union destroyer lazily followed Eugen, slipping off the edge of the helicopter and down into the ocean.
Helena was the only one left on the helicopter with the Commander, acting as his co-pilot.
"Alright girls, we're gonna be right above you in the helicopter, keep your eyes open for anything as we get closer to their last known position." The Commander relayed his orders to the surface fleet and then ascended back to roughly 500 meters to get a better overview of the area. Roughly five minutes passed before they arrived where the last known location of the transport planes
"Anytime now girls." The Commander and Helena had their eyes glued to their surface and air radars, with no detectable craft showing up on either.
"How could they have just disappeared within a matter of seconds… it doesn't make any sense."
However, before the Commander could wonder for too much longer, Eugen radioed in.
"Herr Kommandant, I've got a debris field appearing just ahead of us."
Upon receiving the Ironblood cruiser's latest transmission, the Commander's heart sank. A certain despaired look crossed his eyes for a moment before he felt a hand rest on his.
"Commander, there's still a chance of survivors. Do not look so despaired." A reassuring smile appeared on the bluenette's face. This improved the appearance on the Commander's face but did not ease his worries.
"I can see olive green wing sections all over the area, Master." Belfast reported in. "That would be consistent with the military transports."
"Thanks for the report Belfast, keep scanning the area everyone."
With the amount of wreckage discovered, there was a slim chance there were any survivors from the military transports.
"Keep your eyes peeled for the civilian transport everyone."
Eugen, Laffey and Belfast all continued for roughly a mile before the debris field appeared to diminish into the open ocean again.
"Mmmm… Laffey doesn't see anything more… Can Laffey nap now Commander?" The young destroyer had already seemed to reach her attention span limit with just more of the same being observed in this area.
"Hold on just a little longer for me Laffey. We'll be done soon."
The Commander could have sworn he heard the young ship girl nod off right then and there, but her elegantly skating across the ocean surface would suggest the opposite, at least for now. Another couple of minutes passed, the helicopter and surface fleet expanded their search area to a radius of a couple miles, finding the edges of the debris field in all directions.
"Well girls, I think you can make your way back to me, I'll lower us down so you can be picked up. Thanks for all your help." The Commander sighed at not being able to find any sign of Admiral Greer's plane anywhere but searching here in the middle of the ocean would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Once the girls had made their way just below the helicopter, the Commander descended to roughly 10 meters once again. However, just before he could lift off with his contingency of ship girls, Helena broke the silence.
"Commander, I'm getting a surface contact a mile to the east."
"Alright, girls let's get going, we have a possible surface contact."
Eugen, Laffey and Belfast once again boarded the helicopter and they left for the radar contact.
1 mile to the east of the Commander's position
"Hey, hey! You really think it was okay for us to reveal like this?"
"Don't worry, they won't be able to do anything about us being here anyways."
"Fine, fine, as long it doesn't interrupt the Empress' plans. Observe all this however you want. I have my plan in place already." The Siren known as Tester Beta seemed to lack the patience for the plans of the other Siren present, known as Observer Alpha. The pair were currently standing on the deck of an impossibly large vessel. On the deck behind the pair of Sirens was an all too familiar looking private jet.
Back with the commander
"We'll be there shortly Commander."
"Alright everyone, be ready. We don't know what to expect exactly."
However, it became extremely obvious who they had spotted once the contact came into view.
"W-What is that?" Helena stammered out. The impressive vessel had a length of nearly 8 football fields, nearly 4 fields wide at what was presumed to be the stern, and roughly 2 wide at the bow. "There is no possible way we could not have detected that… unless we were looking in the wrong place."
"Could something that size truly be a submarine?" The Commander thought to himself. However, all thoughts on the larger craft washed away at the sight of the white private jet they had been looking for stationed on the bow of the large vessel.
"That's the Admiral's plane! I'm bringing us down."
"Commander, this is very likely a trap." Eugen warned. "I don't think diving in-"
"I don't care, we need to see what's happened." After declaring this, the helicopter made a gradual descent towards the craft. Once they were close enough, the group could make out 5 individuals near the plane, 2 more alien-like than the others.
"Those are… Sirens." Eugen voiced out darkly. "If they wanted to destroy us, they could have done so already."
"She has a point…"
The Commander positioned themselves in a parallel manner with the side of the vessel and flicked on the auto-hover function on the helicopter. He then made his way to the open side door of the Sea Knight and looked through a pair of binoculars to get a clearer view of the ship's deck. The sight before him disturbed him to his very core.
"The one Siren has the Admiral off to the back, and the other has his wife and daughter closer to front, and she's stepping on them?!"
Former Admiral Greer was standing perfectly still next to one of the alien-like figures, whereas his wife and daughter were lying prone, forcefully pressed to the deck of the ship by the other Siren.
He then relayed this to the rest of the girls.
"They've got the Admiral and his family hostage… there's only the two of them… but they don't seem to be making any moves towards us. And that can only mean…"
"We will have to go to them, Master." Belfast agreed grimly.
After agreeing upon the course of action, the Commander made his way over top of the Siren vessel before lowering in down to the deck and landing. The group then made their way over to the pair of Sirens who simply stood there and held their ground.
"See, I told you there was no way we got rid of all of them, at least one of them survived." The Siren known as Tester Beta looked over her shoulder and spoke to Siren behind her, known as Observer Alpha. Tester Beta had a flying wing style rigging, with 2 triple mount cannon hardpoints as well as 2 triple mount torpedo tubes. Observer Alpha on the contrary had no torpedoes available but rather 2 triple mounts of battleship-caliber cannons. The pair had mostly black apparel and yellow highlights, matching the color of their eyes.
"Hmm… He couldn't have been that important if I couldn't even find him on the list…" Observer Alpha responded.
"Always ignorant of the most important players as usual…" Admiral Greer, who had been silent up until this point, received a swift punch in the gut which brought him to his knees for his defiant statement.
"Oh, I don't need to be hearing that from you, Admiral. After all, you are still quite useful, as you'll discover." Observer Alpha retorted.
"Hey, hey, I thought we were just going to have to announce their imminent enslavement, so what are we gonna do about these guys?"
"I will only ever take orders from Master, aliens. You'd be wise to remember that." Belfast made her thoughts known, extending her rigging with a smug smile.
"I'm going to have to agree with the maid, it would seem you're underestimating us, Siren." Prinz Eugen followed suit with her own opinion, displaying her heavy cruiser rigging menacingly.
"I suppose there is no point in questioning it, however, I am curious as to how you have returned. I thought we had destroyed your point of entry in the last war." The Royal Maid Corps asked of Observer Alpha.
"Well that was the easy part actually. You did in fact destroy our teleporter to this world and banish us back to our own, for a time. However, Empress had planned for such a tiresome event. Since we had come here once before, getting back was significantly easier than when we initially arrived. And trust me, we will not be repeating the same errors as before. No matter how much you fight, struggle or otherwise. The outcome will always be the same."
"Oh ho ho, I wouldn't be-" Eugen seemed to take personal offence at the Siren's bold statement, but quickly stopped when a sword materialized in Tester Beta's hand and was immediately held at the throat of the Admiral's daughter.
"I'd hate to kill off any future slaves, but I suppose the Empress wouldn't mind a few casual-"
"Please! Don't!" The Admiral cried out, failing to his knees.
"As much as I would take no pleasure in killing her, the insubordination shown by your girls here Admiral might force my hand…" Tester Beta tightened her grip around the Admiral's daughter's collar, bringing her blade in contact with the girl's throat.
"Please! I will do anything, just don't hurt her!" Admiral Greer was now pleading on his hands and knees.
"Oh don't worry about that Admiral," Observer Alpha whispered into the Admirals ear. "We'll be getting what we want one way or another, it's just a matter of how far we will have to take you."
The Commander had been frozen in place ever since the group had landed, frozen in fear. There was no way to engage either of the Sirens without injuring or killing the Admiral or his family as well. They were effectively at the mercy of these Aliens as soon they had set foot on the deck of this ship.
"Well, the Empress did request the leader during the Second Great War, whoever you are, Commander, is of no importance. So, Admiral, if you would…" Observer Alpha at this point pulled out a syringe filled with a yellow substance and held it to the Admiral's neck before injecting until the syringe was empty.
The Admiral cried out in pain as his body was visibly convulsing as the foreign substance was coursing through his body. The Commander could only look on in horror as the Admiral's eyes were seemingly being infected by the same yellow color as the yellow hue present in the Siren's.
"What are you doing to him!?" The Commander yelled out.
"Oh, hush now, new Commander, we haven't even gotten to the fun part yet." Observer Alpha taunted, as she simply stood back up and watched the former Admiral squirm, but ultimately not fully succumb to whatever he had been injected with.
"Hmm…" Observer Alpha mused. "He is more resilient than I thought. Empress truly did pick the right one here. Tester, it would seem we will have to go your route after all."
And before anyone could even speak, an evil grin had crossed Tester beta's face before she materialized a second sword and swung down in unison at the necks of the only two innocent civilians present, ending their lives. The look of dread that was once spread across the faces of the girls and Commander was replaced with one of pure horror, as the lifeless bodies of the Admiral's family fell to the deck of the large Siren ship.
"Looks like that did it, thank you Tester." Observer Alpha was referring to the former Admiral now, who had a look of horror on his face, trying to scream. However, all he could manage to do now was stay motionless, as the yellow hue that was once struggling to overcome the white's of his eyes, had now been fully converted to the same Siren yellow as Observer Alpha and Tester Beta.
"And as much as I'd like to finish all of you here, that would be a drop in the bucket compared to the Empress' larger goal. You all need something to lose other than each other… so I'm sure the Empress will be pleased to learn about you, Commander." Tester Beta was now mocking the group who was still frozen in place, horrified by the events that had just occurred.
And just before it looked like the girls were going to move in on the Sirens, a large section of the deck of the Siren vessel they were standing on rose up, revealing what could only be described as a large mass-driver, or rail gun.
"Ah, ah ah… None of that today ladies. That isn't part of the plan." Observer Alpha taunted, as the barrel of the large railgun turned to face the group standing on the flight deck. "Run along now, we'll meet again soon enough, and we'll be sure to have lots of fun next time. Make sure to get nice and close in the meantime so we can break you to okay?" The Siren gave a small smile before disappearing into a portal along with the Admiral, who could only stand emotionless and submissive under the control of Observer Alpha. Tester Beta followed suit, leaving the ship girls and the Commander alone on the deck of the ship.
The only sounds that could be heard now were the slow lapping of the ocean waves against the hull of the Siren vessel. Everyone's faces could only be described as dark and pained.
A loud voice then boomed out across the deck sounding like a PA system.
"As much as I said I didn't want to have any more fun today, I am going to have to ask you all to get off my ship now." Tester Beta sounded annoyed the insects had yet to leave, and hence positioned the railgun on the bow of the ship pointing directly at the group once again.
"Commander?" Helena called out. But no response was given to the bluenette.
"Commander?" Eugen tried to get his attention as well, with no luck.
"Master, we need to go." Belfast now tried.
This time, only a mumble was heard in response.
"What was that Master?"
A low, audible voice was now giving a response.
"I need to bury them…" the Commander responded before walking forward slowly and then slowly collecting the two bodies of the Admiral's family and then returning to the Sea Knight. He gently placed the two bodies in the main part of the helicopter, and then covered their bodies with a blanket.
"Let's go girls…"
The entire flight back to headquarters, no-one spoke. The only constant was Helena's hand on the Commander's as he piloted the Sea Knight.
Back on base, the silence continued, the Commander on a mission only he could complete. He retrieved a shovel from the maintenance shed just outside the main HQ and set about digging a pair of graves. The girls that had just finished the mission with the Commander had managed to talk to the girls who had come to greet them upon their return, instructing them to give the Commander some alone time. Of course, such a traumatic experience did not go without its negative repercussions towards the girls who also saw the same thing.
Upon completing the task of digging the graves, he gently lowered the bodies of the two deceased, and then filled the graves back in. And as much as he could muster, the Commander stood at attention, and gave a full salute overlooking the graves of two people he much considered his own family.
"I swear, with every bone in my body, I will make them pay. I will…" A shaky Commander then collapsed at the latter half of his declaration, now allowing tears to flow freely on to the ground below him.
"Make them pay…"
1 week later
The Commander was lying in bed, not asleep, but not willing to get up either. The entire room was pitch black, except for what little late-afternoon sun could creep in through closed blinds. The Commander had not left his room after the confrontation a week ago, having Belfast deliver him his meals and inform everyone else he did not wish to be disturbed. He tried sleeping but would often be woken up in the middle of the night with nightmares and violent flashbacks to what had occurred a week ago.
"I guess I'll call Belfast for an early dinner…"
He went to reach for his cellphone when a knock rang out from the door.
"Who is it?"
"Shikikan, it is me." Amagi's voice could be heard on the other side of the door.
"Sorry I'm not in th-
"I'm coming in~"
"How did y-" Before the Commander could wonder how the kitsune managed to get through the locks on his door, she simply dangled the keys to his room in front of her with a gentle smile.
"Belfast let me borrow these."
"Damn maid…"
Amagi made her way over to the Commader's bedside, who was know in a seated position in his bed. She fluffed up a spot on the side of his bed and sat down, facing him.
"Asking how you are feeling would be a silly question, however, I would like to know you are doing, Nick?"
There was a long pause before the Commander responded.
"Do you know what the Admiral told me when he first told me about this place, and all of you?"
"No, I do not believe you ever mentioned it."
"He told me: Son, just as much as we need those girls and all of the grunts on the frontlines battling it out, we need smart people like you trying to think of every advantage we can have over our enemy, the true enemy."
"The Sirens…"
"Yeah… Of course, not everyone shared his opinion, and then day of his retirement he told me it was one of the biggest regrets of his entire career he never got High Command to appreciate the work I was doing."
"He really cared about you like his own son…"
"To be honest, I was certain he was going to stay in charge here longer than he did, he was always such a dedicated person. But, the only thing that meant more to him than the Navy, was his family…"
A small tremble in the Commander's hands did not go un-noticed by Amagi, who calmly placed his hand in hers, which caused the Commander to look at her in the face.
"Nick, what happened a week ago wasn't your fault, you cannot blame yourself for the actions of tho-"
"But it WAS!" The Commander yelled out. "If I had just acted more swiftly, or had sent more of y-"
"There was no way of knowing anything other than the plane had disappeared and that you were searching for any signs of them. Anything that came afterwards could not have been predicted."
The Commander grew silent at the kitsune's words, lowering his head again. After a moment, Amagi spoke up again:
"And as much as I trust in the abilities of all the girls here, one thing that we do lack right now, is a capable leader, capable of not only leading us into battle, but one that fully understands us as people, not simply as tools of war."
"But that's thing, that isn't m-" The Commander tried to interject only to be shushed again by the battlecruiser.
"Ah ah, none of that. I do believe your little conference before the last mission should have been proof enough of everyone's trust and faith in you, however, right now, we desperately need the man who we've all come to know and l-" Amagi coughed slightly at the end of her sentence, stifling whatever sentence she was trying to conclude with.
"Right now, we need you Commander, we need you to lead us, if it's true what the reports said about the new technology the Sirens have brought to this world, we are going to need every advantage on and off the ocean."
The Commander looked up once again at Amagi and tried to speak, but no words came out. He simply just looked into the kitsune's eyes and saw nothing but genuine confidence and care in the purple orbs staring back at him.
"They didn't deserve this… any of it."
"No, they did not. And for that, we will repay them in full. For now, however, we need to prepare."
"Thank you, Amagi." The Commander placed his other free hand overtop of the kitsune's. "It turns out talking was the very thing I really needed to do… But it felt somehow more comforting with you around."
"My, Commander, if you say things like that, I might blush." Amagi teased, fanning her face with her free hand.
"Oh please… it would take me far more than just doing that to get you to blush." The Commander mused.
"Oh, I do hope you try~"
It was now the Commander's turn to blush, shyly looking away from the kistune.
"Perhaps it is a bit much to tease more but…" Amagi slowly leaned in for a peck on the cheek, however, the Commander, wondering what the kistune meant, had turned to face her at the most opportune moment, causing the pair's lips to meet gently. Amagi slowly opened her eyes to find the Commander's eyes wide open in a state of shock. A growing blush formed on the pair's cheeks before their heads shot backwards in shock.
"C-C-Commander I am sorry, I had only meant to-"
"I-I-It's fine, that was my fault, I shouldn't have…"
The two could barely look at each other due to the embarrassment. However, after a moment, the Commander came to his senses.
"I'll address the whole base in an hour over the intercom. I am gonna have a shower before and eat something though."
"O-Of course…" A shaky Amagi then gently rose from the bed, followed by the Commander.
"Nick." Amagi spoke up, still a bit embarrassed that her teasing had gone further than she had intended. "Did you hate it?"
"Of course not." The Commander placed a reassuring hand on Amagi's shoulder giving her a warm smile. "Accident or not, a kiss from a beautiful woman is something to be cherished."
"I-I see." Amagi seemed to regain her calm and cool composure. "Thank you, Commander. I will see you soon."
And with that, the kitsune exited the Commander's chambers. And although the Commander may have tried to play off the interaction with Amagi, he quickly gripped his shirt and slouched onto the bed again, trying to calm his fast beating heart.
"Well, that certainly got my mind off things for a moment… But now I need to get ready."
Commander Andersen then peeled off his sleep wear and headed for the showers to calm his mind under the warm water.
1 hour later
The Commander, now dressed in clothes fitting his old position as science officer, decided to sit at his new desk for the first time, leaning back into formal Admiral Greer's chair.
"I guess I should stop thinking about it like that… This is now all MY responsibility."
Taking a deep breath, the Commander pressed the base-wide intercom button on his desk phone:
"Good afternoon everyone, this is Commander Nicholas Andersen speaking. As my first public address to you, I want to apologize. Since my appointment as Commander, I have been neglecting my duties and responsibilities to all of you. I'd like to declare however, as of today, I am going to remedy that."
Unbeknownst to the Commander, the girls stationed around the base had stopped to listen intently to the Commander's address. Regardless of what they were doing.
"As many of you are probably aware of by now, a week ago, I took upon a rescue and recovery mission for the Eagle Union transport squadron that left here after the retirement ceremony for Admiral Greer. Upon arriving at their last reported location, we came across a large Siren vessel that was likely the culprit behind the destruction of the transport squadron, as well several other officer barracks across the world. We also interacted with two Sirens, Observer Alpha and Tester Beta. The latter of which… killed the Admiral's wife and daughter, before retreating with a captured Admiral Greer."
Also unbeknownst to the Commander at the time, several gasps were released across the base.
"The only guarantee the Sirens gave us; the only worthwhile piece of information they gave was the fact that the outcome of their purpose here was an unavoidable conclusion. One where the inhabitants of this planet are enslaved or purged."
The Commander took a long pause after his last statement before continuing on:
"However, what I am here to tell you today, is that it will not happen; I WILL NOT not allow it. This forgone conclusion they have reached, their arrogance, will be their downfall. They believe us to be weak, and I know for a fact that we are not. I have seen you all work and train for years, and I know you can prove them wrong."
The Commander once again took a pause, deciding to wrap things up for today.
"At the end of the day, we all have a choice to make. We can either submit, or we can fight. I have given you my response, and I hope, for all of our sakes, we can agree on this. Andersen, out."
"I think I'll take Eugen up on those drinks tonight…"
Whew! There we are with the end of the first chapter. I tried to clear up as many things as possible in this chapter, setting the stage for an all out war with Sirens, with some deeply seeded motivations. More to come in the following chapters in terms of back story with the previous Siren war, so stay tuned.
As always please leave reviews and constructive criticism if you have the time, if not, that's okay too! I appreciate all the recent follows and favs as well (for simply a prologue I'm pretty astounded by the numbers!)
Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy!
- Cipher