Just off Azur Lane HQ's shoreline.
A small group of ship girls were patrolling around one of the small islets around Azur Lane HQ, a young, white haired cat girl in a maid outfit and small ship rigging on her back was leading the formation, she puffed her cheeks in frustration as she waited for her teammates to catch up.
"Hammann didn't want patrol duty again! Why do I always get this?!" She complained. She folded her arms and kept pouting as she looked around.
"Cos you're always annoying the Commander?" A voice replied to her. Another girl glided around the Islet to join Hammann, she was blonde, wore very little besides a cowboy hat, a black jacket and a black bikini, she also had ship rigging on her back, but those of a carrier instead of guns.
"I keep telling you not to disturb him over trivial things, but you never listen~" She joked, she then grinned and sped right past Hammann, spraying sea foam all over her. The cat girl screamed as she was soaked and growled at the new-comer.
"HORNET! YOU SOAKED ME!" She then tore after Hornet, leaving a large wake behind her. A third girl rounded the corner as she did, also blonde and wearing American styled clothing, a blue and white shirt along with a white overcoat, her rigging consisted of two triple barrelled guns along with two other smaller double barrelled cannons.
She sighed as she watched the first two girls speed off. "Great their at it again..." She groaned quietly. She quickly glided along after the pair, watching Hammann flail and wave frantically at Hornet in irritation, while the carrier girl just grinned cheekily at her. She then looked over at the third girl.
"You keeping up Cleveland?" Hornet jested to her, Cleveland just laughed nervously. "Just staying out of trouble, don't tick off Hammann too much again or we'll both regret it." She warned playfully. Hornet chuckled as she turned around. She then felt a signal go off in her equipment and stopped. Her face becoming serious.
"Guys...I'm picking something up, just over there." Hornet then pointed to the horizon as Hammann and Cleveland pulled up next to her. Cleveland put her hand above her eyes and squinted where Hornet pointed. "I don't see anything." She admitted.
Hornet then activated her rigging, a small propeller plane manifested on top of the mini carrier deck and flew off. Hornet then closed her eyes as she focused on it. "Let me take a closer look." she stated.
Her plane flew towards the horizon and out of sight behind a cloud. After a few minutes she gasped suddenly. Cleveland readied her own rigging as did Hammann. "What is it? Sirens?!" Cleveland asked, preparing for potential conflict. "Out with it!" Hammann demanded, hissing as she was already in a bad mood.
"No, its...Something else." Hornet announced. She then tapped her rigging as she felt another signal. She then turned to her teammates. "Whoever they are, they're sending me a message, they want to speak to the Commander."
"We better report this, I have a bad feeling." Cleveland said ominously. The three of them then headed back to port.
Sakura Empire's Dormitories.
Akagi sniffled a little as she stared out her window, another kitsune dressed in similar attire to her sat next to her looking concerned, however her clothing was blue and white, She had short white hair with white tails and white furry ears along with blue eyes.
She looked over her sister with worry on her face, Akagi had always seemed difficult for her to read, but she could tell something big was wrong with her today. "Dear sister, what happened to you today?" She asked her quietly.
Akagi sighed wistfully and looked back her, her eyes puffy from crying. "I-its nothing Kaga...I...I just..." She trailed off and stared into space as she tried to talk.
"Did someone offend you? I can deal with them if you can't right now." Kaga offered with a sneer, she drew what appeared to be small blue paper planes from up her sleeve, they gave off a small blue flame as if to back up her point.
Akagi shook her head. "Kaga...please don't talk like that..." She told her sister blankly. Kaga's smirk quickly became a look of shock and she de-manifested the planes out of her hands. She then placed her hands on her crossed knees. "Apologies sister, but may I ask why the change?" Kaga asked.
Akagi gave Kaga a sideways glance before replying. "The Commander is creating a multi-faction task force, he wants me in it." Kaga's normally deadpan eyes widened in surprise. "I don't understand, isn't that good?" She asked.
Akagi lowered her head. "But its also my last chance to stay here, if I can't show everyone that I can be trusted, the Commander will be forced to deport me." She admitted, her tears starting to return. Kaga sighed and put her hand on Akagi's shoulder, the red kitsune took some deep breaths to calm herself.
"But theres an upside to this." She added, a small smile appearing on her face. She turned to Kaga with her usual playful smile. "The Commander confessed his love to me; if I can do this...hes mine~" She giggled as she cheered up.
Kaga smiled back at her, happy for her sister, but her smile then faded as she asked: "But why do you seem so...subdued sister?" Akagi then explained what the Commander had told her in his office, after she finished Kaga then looked offside with her hand on her chin, as if in thought.
"Perhaps I should restrain my anger too, the younger girls do seem to be...wary...around me." She stated. Akagi then hugged Kaga suddenly, catching the white fox woman off guard. "Thank you sister! I knew you'd understand!" She joyfully yelled as she embraced her sister.
"Dear sister, y-you're very close." Kaga tried to say, blushing deeply at how much their breasts were pressed into each other. Akagi giggled as she pulled back. "You're so cute Kaga~ I should ask if the Commander wants you too~" She teased. Kaga somehow went even redder in the face and gasped from the suggestion. "T-thats allowed?!" She asked out of shock, covering her mouth.
Before Akagi could tease her any further their was a knock at the door. Annoyed at the interruption Akagi went to look through the peephole. She went wide eyed realising who it was.
She opened the door and the Commander was standing there. "Hi Akagi, you alright?" He asked pleasantly. "Oh...um yes Commander, its cute you came to check on me~" She giggled.
The Commander then looked inside and saw Kaga. "You OK Kaga? You look like you're over heating." He told her. Kaga put her hands on her face and felt intense heat on her skin, she looked away shyly. "J-just exercising sir..." She lied quietly.
Akagi smirked knowing the real reason for the blush, she then looked at the Commander and gestured to her room. "Please come in, I'll make some tea." She offered. The Commander smiled but waved his hand.
"No thanks, I just came to check on you after earlier, Wales was completely out of line." He stated, looking a little irritated. Akagi looked down for a moment but then looked back up confidently.
"I won't let her stop Akagi's love!" She declared before holding her fist against her chest. "I will protect Azur lane with all my heart, no one will keep us apart Commander, you can depend on Akagi to keep you safe!" She added.
The Commander chuckled a little at her declaration. "I wouldn't expect anything less, you can do this...my Red Castle." Akagi blushed at being called that but smiled genuinely at him. They both hugged each other as Kaga just looked on, smiling back at them.
Before either of them could say another word, Enterprise rounded a corner from down the hallway and sprinted towards them. "Commander!" She skidded to a stop directly in front of a surprised Commander. "Whoa, wheres the fire Enterprise?" He asked jokingly. Enterprise barely reacted to the joke and kept speaking.
"Sir, my sister reported seeing a massive fleet heading our way...of human ships." She added. The Commander eyes narrowed apon hearing that. "Damn it..." He muttered and ran off. "Commander Whats wrong? why is that bad?" Akagi called after him. She looked back at Enterprise with a worried look, but she just shrugged.
"I've never seen him like that, why would human ships be a bad thing?" Akagi wondered. "From what I heard the Commander and his superiors don't get along, perhaps they've forced something on him?" Enterprise suggested.
Akagi looked back at the Commander, he had just rounded the corner and was out of sight. "Whoever ever they are, they'll think twice before upsetting my Commander." Akagi quietly murmured, her eyes glowed red and small red flames appeared on the tops of her tails.
Commander's office
The Commander sat down at his desk, an angry look adorned his face as he set up his computer. He ran through his communications log for any explanation for the human fleet speeding towards his base. As he looked through he tried to think of any reason why they would come here; To help? To steal? Just to look at the base? He just hoped it was simple and quick enough that they would leave in good time, having strangers in Azur lane HQ was not a good situation for anyone.
He found the log he was looking for: a recent addition from the Admiralty that only arrived the day before, no way could they have sent this AND the fleet at the same time. Which meant they had no intention of letting him decide if the fleet would be dispatched or not. He clicked the log and there was a voice recording on it.
"Greetings Commander." A stern, middle aged sounding male voice announced formally from the computer. "I know you're busy over there, watching attractive young women must be very difficult." The Commander sighed at the voice's words, clearly hearing the thinly veiled contempt for his job.
"However this nasty business with 'Red Axis' or whatever they called themselves, has given many of us here at the Admiralty a cause for concern. We're aware you've corrected the problem and we... congratulate you." The Commander rolled his eyes at the false praise.
"But, in order to ensure this kind of thing doesn't happen again, we've dispatched a force to assist and guide you in maintaining order on that island. Don't worry; you still have full jurisdiction over Azur Lane Commander, but your new co-leader: Commodore Nico will be there to provide you security and order, report back once your new officers arrive, Good luck Commander!"
The recording ended with a fuming Commander left glaring at the screen. "Of course it would be Nico, why wouldn't it be him?" He sarcastically wondered in his head. Then pressed record on the computer and made a response.
"Greetings...Sir, I appreciate the support you sent my way, but it is not required nor wanted here. If there is ever another situation where you feel the need to send reinforcements of any kind, I will would VERY much appreciate being informed BEFORE you send them. If this ever happens again I'll assume them to be Siren spies and order my forces to open fire, I STRONGLY advise you not to repeat this mistake SIR, Azur Lane Commander: OUT!"
He pressed send and got up from his desk, swiping a bunch of documents off it in anger. He then kicked the desk in frustration. "DAMN IT!" He screamed at the top of his lungs before punching a wall in his rage. He flopped back down in his chair, looking defeated.
He heard a knock at the door and he barely reacted to the sound. "Come in." He called unenthusiastically. The door swung open to reveal Illustrious and Unicorn, The young light carrier whimpered a little and stayed behind Illustrious, who had a frown on her voice.
"Commander, such inelegant behaviour from a ranking officer!" She scolded as she picked up some of the thrown documents and straightened them out on the desk. The Commander sat up in his seat and helped her out, looking sheepishly down at his desk. "Sorry Illustrious, I...I just hate when the Admiralty scr- ahem, messes things up for me." He replied, watching his words around Unicorn.
Illustrious chuckled quietly and smiled at him. "It must be pretty bad to get you worked up like this." She soothed to him. "Just let me worry about that for now, what can I do for you?" He asked kindly.
Illustrious then looked down at Unicorn, she worked up some courage and walked out from behind Illustrious. "Um...you said you could...help me meet Akagi?" She quietly reminded him. The Commander chuckled quietly while Illustrious's smile faded upon hearing that name.
"You're in luck, she should be here in a few minutes." Unicorn gasped happily while Illustrious eyes widened in shock. "So soon? But..." The Commander gently waved her down and replied: "She IS my secretary ship, relax I'll be here the whole time and I trust her." He explained.
Just as he said that, the door swung open with Akagi walking in with some documents, when she saw Illustrious and Unicorn, she had a look of puzzlement and concern, but she still walked in and placed the documents on the desk.
"Thanks Akagi, you feeling better?" The Commander asked her kindly. Akagi formed a smile and replied in her usual smooth tone. "Of course Commander, Akagi just had to de-stress after that meeting."
As she spoke her tails slowly swayed around behind her, Unicorn giggled a little, feeling one brush by her face and down her arm. "So fluffy~" She said quietly. Akagi was about to say something else when she felt a light tug on one tail, confused she looked behind her and saw Unicorn hugging the fluffy core of her tail, barely paying attention to what was going on any more.
Illustrious saw what she was doing and gasped a little before looking to see Akagi's reaction. Akagi herself just giggled quietly seeing Illustrious's worried look. The Commander just raised an eyebrow in puzzlement, since Akagi's mass of tails blocked his view of Unicorn.
"Whats so funny?" He asked the kitsune, she just smirked and parted her tails to reveal Unicorn, completely entranced by her tail's softness. The Commander smiled at such a cute sight and winked at Illustrious with a 'trust me' look on his face. Akagi slowly turned around to not disturb Unicorn, she then kneeled to her level and gently wiggled her trapped tail to get her attention.
Unicorn gasped seeing Akagi's smiling face now eye level with her. She quickly let go of her tail and started to stutter half-formed apologises. Akagi just kept smiling kindly at her. "Its OK, I know how fluffy I am." She joked before slowly extending her arm. "I'm Akagi, you must be Unicorn right?"
Unicorn gave a few tiny whimpers in response, with some hesitation, she bravely reached out to touch Akagi's hand. "Y-yes, I'm Unicorn, t-this is U-chan." She then pointed to her pet unicorn, who was sat at her feet staring Akagi out. "Cute~ like you~." the fox woman cooed. She then waved one of her tails over Unicorn's hand, she noticed the light carrier's eyes light up and a small but pleasant gasp as the fur tickled her hand.
"If you wanted to touch my tails all you had to do was ask~" Akagi told her with a giggle. Unicorn gave a quiet giggle as Akagi's tail tickled her up her arm and face again. "They're...so pretty~" Unicorn said in a dreamy tone.
The Commander then stood up and gently took Illustrious's hand, the older carrier looked at him unsure, but the Commander still had that trusting look on his face. She then smiled at him and nodded before telling Unicorn: "The Commander wants to talk to me about something in private, you OK with Akagi watching you for a moment?" She asked Unicorn.
The younger girl looked up at Illustrious with a big smile and confidently replied. "I'll be OK big sis!" Illustrious then walked out the room with the Commander. He gave one last wink to Akagi before closing the door, leaving them alone. Akagi sighed happily, placing a hand on her cheek as she closed her eyes
"Ah~ Akagi is so lucky to be the Commander's secretory~" She stated in a longing tone. Unicorn then sat on the chair facing the Commander's desk, then got a curious look on her face. "Um...Akagi?" She asked softly. Akagi turned around and sat on the desk just next to Unicorn to listen. "Um...when I last saw you in the meeting room, you seem sad about something..." the young girl continued.
Akagi's smile faded a little, but she kept up her smooth, somewhat playful demeanour. "The Commander told me something important, he wants me to prove to the rest of Azur lane that I can be trusted again." She looked away from Unicorn, closed her eyes and added in a quieter tone: "If I can't...I'll never see him again."
Unicorn looked up at her in sympathy, she got off the chair and slowly put her hand on top of Akagi's on the desk. The kitsune looked down at her hand and then at Unicorn's cute smiling face. "I trust you Akagi, you seem nice to me." She admitted, before giving her a big adorable grin. Akagi even felt U-chan rubbing on on her leg like a cat, as if agreeing with Unicorn.
Akagi's eyes widened and then slowly welled up with tears of joy. "T-thank you!" She breathed out, barely able to speak from the overwhelming feelings. She slid off the desk, kneeled down to Unicorn's level and held her hand with both of her own. She was crying but smiling as she did. Unicorn just seemed confused but didn't stop her.
"I'll keep you safe Unicorn, I'll keep everyone safe, I promise you." Akagi declared, she then stood up and wiped her tears. "Wow that...was more emotional than I thought it would be." Unicorn blinked a little at what just happened, but smiled at Akagi.
"I cry sometimes too, it always feels so nice afterwards, I always feel better, like i'm lighter." She explained in her soft child-like tone. She then hugged Akagi's waist, taking the fox woman off-guard, but she smiled and rubbed her hair gently. "I'm happy to meet you Akagi, I already feel safe with you, its OK if you want to cry, I know the Commander will understand." Unicorn added.
Akagi then knelt back down to Unicorn's level and gently hugged her back, crying a little more, her tails wrapped around the pair of them, making Unicorn feel secure and safe in her embrace. Unbeknownst to the pair of them, the Commander and Illustrious were both watching from a small window next to the door. The Commander was smiling proudly while Illustrious just sighed in relief.
"I told you she would be fine, it seems they've both made new friends in each other." The Commander chuckled quietly to the Royal navy woman. Illustrious look back at him smiling too. "I apologise for doubting you Commander, Akagi really does seem to want to change, if I can help in anyway don't hesitate to ask." She told him as she went to collect Unicorn.
The Commander sighed happily, at least one thing was going right for him today.