The docks
The Commander, along with Task Force Alpha were waiting for the flagship of the human fleet to dock, a Nimitz class aircraft carrier. Akagi and Enterprise both felt a little sense of envy at its size and modern equipment, but were glad it wasn't a kansen, that meant it was still no match for their own powers should they want to sink it.
Task Force Alpha now had four more members. Cleveland had joined and was standing with Enterprise. A white, short haired, blue-eyed woman in a black and white maid outfit was standing with Prince of Wales, she observed the carrier glide in with a little frown on her face.
Next to Akagi was a woman in a white military uniform, although it only extended to the top of her thighs, beneath that was only black, semitransparent thigh high stockings and silver high heels, she had dark brown eyes and long black hair that reached to her waist, on top of her head rested a pair of wolf ears. She was smiling warmly as she waited with the fox woman, seemingly amused by the whole thing.
Finally there was the red-eyed woman with Bismark, she had silver, waist length hair in twin tails. She was wearing a sleeveless dress top styled very much like Bismark's own uniform, only far more form fitting to her curvy body; the only thing that covered her legs were black stockings from her lower thighs, the rest of her clothing barely covered her panties. She seemed bored and had a finger in her mouth as she watched the carrier dock.
The group watched as a catwalk extended from the ship towards them. The Commander kept his eyes on the doors at the top and he quietly spoke to his friends behind him.
"If I know Commodore Nico at all, he'll try to squeeze as much authority from me as possible while he's here, no matter what he says or does, don't lose faith in me or in each other." He then turned to them with a sombre look in his eyes and clenched a fist over his chest.
"Whatever happens, Azur Lane will always endure and we'll always be together...always." The ships all gave him either a kind, confident or sultry smile depending on their respective personalities.
"We're all backing you up Commander!" Cleveland called out pumping her fist in the air. Enterprise, the Royal navy and Sakura empire women all smiled and nodded in agreement. The Commander grinned back at them and turned back to the catwalk. Bismark and the other Ironblood woman both looked at each other and chuckled quietly.
"This should be interesting, wouldn't you agree Prinz Eugen?" Bismark asked her. "Of course Lord Bismark, I imagine these humans will be either very amusing or very boring." She mused, almost wistfully.
The cat walk finished extending and the door groaned as the wheel on it turned from the other side. The unmistakable sound of metal grinding on metal reverberated as the door finally opened.
Three men stood side by side in the doorway, all three were wearing a typical blue sailor's uniform, but the middle man was wearing a captain's cap much like Enterprise's own, he also had golden stars on his uniform indicative of his rank. He had dark brown eyes and short messy brown hair under the cap.
He saw the Commander at the bottom of the ramp and smirked. He then proceeded down the ramp while waving to him.
"Hello 'Commander'." He shouted to him, clearly chewing out the word 'Commander' in that greeting, making the target of his jest groan, already annoyed. The man made it to the bottom of the cat walk with his guards and kept speaking.
"I must say its a great place you've got here, long sandy beaches, constant sun, warm blue oceans and of course..." He then looked past the Commander with a sneer at the women behind him, who just seemed confused. "...great company."
The ship girls all stared on with anger at that statement, the more stoic ones like Enterprise and Bismark just folded their arms while shaking their heads, the more energetic girls like Akagi and Cleveland growled quietly at the statement, everyone else simple gritted their teeth as they kept glaring.
"They're literally walking artillery pieces and airbases Nico; please don't piss the women off." The Commander told him irritated. The man raised his hands defensively and whistled. "Whoa relax, just complimenting the place and its...residents." Nico replied, glancing at Akagi who kept giving him a death glare.
He then gestured to his carrier. "Like to come aboard, where we can speak more privately?" Nico asked with a big grin. The Commander almost chuckled. "Sorry Nico but whatever you have to say, whether you tell me now or I tell them later, my team are gonna know about it." He responded, pointing over his shoulder with a thumb at the ship girls with a smug smile.
Nico's grin vanished and he became annoyed. He made a gesture to the guards and they went back up the cat walk to the carrier. He then stood next to the Commander and faced Task Force Alpha.
"Fine Commander, then I'll be blunt: your little harem here, have proven themselves to be untrustworthy with the safety of mankind, and i'm here to make sure that they do their jobs properly!" Everyone but Nico gasped and went wide-eyed in shock over that revelation. But Nico didn't stop his tirade.
"You have any idea the collateral damage that could be caused if just two of you bitches have a disagreement in a populated area? I've read the reports about your abilities and quite frankly, you scare the shit out of me and Admiralty!" He ranted, his mouth almost foaming with the vitriol he yelled.
Cleveland then stepped forward. "You do know the ocean is devoid of human activity for the most part right? Besides we've never been in an engagement near humans so I don't see-"
"Shut the hell up tomboy, I didn't say you could speak." Nico interrupted, making Cleveland stop and stammer for a moment. The Commander, in a fit of rage then grabbed Nico's shoulder and wheeled him around. Nico barely had time to voice any protest before the Commander punched him hard in the nose, much to the shock of all the kansen present.
Nico staggered back several feet as he held his face, he felt a warm liquid pour from his nose and over his hand, as he looked down he saw his cap had been knocked off by the force of the punch, his mouth hung open in silent disbelief as he looked back at the now furious Commander, who was now pointing accusingly at him.
"You don't get to speak to her, or anyone on this island like that! I hear anything like that again from you I'll send you back to the Admiralty in a coffin!" He roared in Nico's face.
The Commodore's bloodied face then twisted into one of fury as he regained what little composure he had left by straightening his uniform and putting his cap back on. "Commander, I'll have your job for tha-"
"Oh shut your mouth for once!" The Commander interrupted harshly, taking Nico aback once more.
"This isn't some outpost or a random base where you can march in and expect everyone to fall in line to your tune!" He then roughly grabbed Nico by the front of his uniform and threw him back onto the catwalk, he fell down onto his front but got back up, wiping his nose as he glared at the Commander, but his gaze was no match for the enraged look the Azur lane officer.
"This is Azur lane and your heavy handed, authoritarian methods will just cause the very thing we're all trying to avoid, not one man gets off any of your ships until I can draw up some rules for them and that's even if they get to come off at all!" The Commander shouted up at him.
He then turned around and gave an order. "If anyone tries to get onto the island in the next 24 hours, you're cleared to literally throw them back into the sea!" The kansen all nodded, some more eagerly than others at the idea.
"I knew you were hard headed, but this is just stupid Commander! The Admiralty will hear about this! DO YOU HEAR ME!?" Nico yelled as the catwalk retracted back onto the carrier, he then held his face as fresh blood spurted out his nose before turning back to his ship in disgrace.
"My, I never took the Commander for someone so...audacious." The wolf woman giggled, making Akagi giggle with her. "He's not just Commander for his handsome looks Atago~" the fox woman purred watching the Commander walk away, still fuming.
"Was it really necessary to strike a fellow officer though?" The woman in the maid outfit wondered worriedly. Wales place a hand on her hip. "Well Belfast, I certainly agree that he deserves it, that disgusting prick." She spat.
"Still, while I appreciate the Commander's eagerness to defend us, I worry it could cause problems in the long run." Belfast replied. "I agree." Enterprise chimed in. "However I think the Commander knows those 'problems' are coming no matter what we do." She added ominously.
"No matter, we can easily overpower any human soldiers with ease, I don't really see what these 'problems' you two speak of could be." Akagi pointed out confidently.
"That very fact IS the problem Akagi." Bismark replied, making the Sakura woman turn to her with a puzzled look. "Remember: the rest of the world has limited knowledge about Azur lane, they know we're strong, but not how strong, they know we look human, but they don't know how close to human we really are, for all they know we could just be robots or something." She explained. Prinz Eugen nodded with her.
"The Commander is the only human who fully knows our true nature, to everyone else in the world, we're no different to the hundreds of other war machines that already little the battlefields of humanity." Eugen added to Bismark's point. She then looked back up at Commodore Nico's carrier with a thoughtful look on her face.
"While I don't agree with the Commodore's mission or his actions, I can understand why he and the Admiralty fear us, to them: we're just machines of war with a screw lose and he's here to put the screw back in." Eugen stated blankly.
Everyone looked up at the carrier after that statement. They all knew this was going to be a different kind of war.
A/N: I probably should have mentioned this in chapter one, but whatever. I'm quite rusty at story writing since my last fic was literally more than a decade ago, so spelling, grammar and maybe even continuity mistakes may be all over this story, sorry if that's the case, I'm writing these in short bursts of time on my computer since I'm busy most of my days, I do proof read but probably very poorly, just thought I'd mention this, thank you!
Outside a cafe on the see front.
Unicorn, and two other girls slightly older than her, were sitting at a table with tea and cupcakes. One had a very tired look in her crimson red eyes, she had long white hair in huge twin tails, wearing a pink jacket that seemed to slide off one shoulder, a red mini skirt and white stockings.
The other girl seemed far more energetic, her lavender hair was in a high but short pony tail and her eyes were blue-green. Her clothing consisted of a white blouse with a red and blue plaid styled mini skirt underneath and a blue scarf adorned her neck. Unicorn was nibbling on a cupcake and looked over at the other two, also eating cupcakes.
"Um...I hope you don't mind Javelin and Laffey, but I invited someone else to join us today." She announced quietly. The lavender haired girl looked over with a smile while the girl with white twin tails barely reacted.
"Thats great Unicorn! I'm glad you're making more friends." Javelin replied excitedly. The other girl glanced over at Unicorn and gave a tired smile. "Laffey, is proud for you." She stated in a weary, monotone voice. Javelin laughed briefly at Laffey before looking back at the younger girl.
"So who is it, someone we might know?" She asked and kept munching on her cupcake. Unicorn then got an unsure look on her face and diverted her gaze away. She started to wonder if her new friend meeting Javelin and Laffey was a good idea, she may be young, but she was smart enough to understand people can hold grudges; especially against a certain fox woman she befriended recently.
"Um...well yes...you know her." Unicorn slowly responded. Laffey tilted her head and looked on confused, Javelin's smile faded into a look of puzzlement. The two older girls looked at each other and shrugged before looking back at the light carrier.
"What is it Unicorn, you're not embarrassed by this friend are you?" Javelin asked kindly. Unicorn shook her head and looked to avoid Javelin's curious gaze.
"I...i'm just worried you might still hate her." Unicorn admitted. Javelin frowned in further confusion, still not getting what Unicorn was trying to say.
"What do you mean by, 'still hate he-" She cut herself with a gasp before suddenly blurting out: "Its not Kaga is it?!" Laffey looked up, her eyes widening slightly at the mention of the white fox woman. Unicorn gasped and quickly shook her head.
"No! No! No! Its not her!" She declared hastily. Javelin sighed in relief, and laughed nervously.
"Jeez Unicorn, don't scare me like that! For second there I thought-"
"Its her sister Akagi." Unicorn then bluntly announced. Javelin then went several shades whiter than normal, her face twisted into one of pure horror and she started shaking. She stammered a few half-formed words before she fell off her seat, still paralysed and stuttering.
Laffey however just hung her mouth open, barely changing much else about her expression. A silence hung over the table for a few seconds, with only Javelin's terrified muttering on the floor interrupting every few seconds. Laffey then came to her senses and went to help Javelin up.
"Javelin, get off the ground, you're getting dirty." She told her plainly. Javelin finally snapped out of it and shot to her feet. She put a hand on her chest and one on her head as she started hyperventilating, her pupils had shrunk to pinpricks as she tried to bring herself out of her panic attack.
"A-A-Ak-Akag-Akagi!?" She stammered out in a horrified tone, she kept whipping her head around as she ranted, looking for the kitsune in question. "The Red Castle?! The 1st carrier division leader who almost destroyed Azur lane by teaming up with the Sirens to build a super Siren ship that almost levelled this base?! THAT AKAGI?!" She screamed in absolute terror.
Laffey then suddenly slapped Javelin across the face, almost making the Royal navy destroyer stumble over from the force. When Javelin looked back up at her in annoyance, she saw that the Eagle Union girl was pointing back at Unicorn, while giving Javelin a disapproving look. Unicorn looked ready to burst into tears and whimpered, clearly hurt by Javelin's reaction.
Javelin immediately felt ashamed, forgetting the sting in her face from the slap, she raced over to Unicorn's side of the table and hugged her.
"I'm so sorry Unicorn! I-I didn't mean to offend you like that! Please don't cry!" she begged to her friend. Unicorn looked up at her with moist eyes before looking away, choking up as she replied.
"I knew you'd...you'd still hate her! It was...s-stupid of me to b-bring you to... meet her!" Unicorn cried out between sobs. Javelin had trouble finding the words to respond.
"Uh N-No I just...I-I...uh..." She looked over at Laffey, hoping she would answer for her. But her American friend just stood there with her arms folded, still frowning at her.
"Don't look at me, you did this." She stated, still in her tired tone, but Javelin could tell their was veiled contempt behind the usually monotone voice. Javelin was starting to panic again, she hadn't upset Unicorn like this before and had no idea how to console her. She just pleaded to whatever deity existed that Illustrious didn't walk past and see her like this. Who knows how she would react?
"Unicorn?" Came a smooth, soft but strong voice. Javelin froze up upon hearing it while Laffey just blankly looked in its direction. There she was, running up to them with her brown fox tails billowing out from behind her, was Akagi. Laffey seemed confused that for once, the kitsune didn't have her usual smug smile and instead she had a concerned look that was fixed right on Unicorn.
Akagi quickly moved to Unicorn's side opposite Javelin and placed a hand on her back. Unicorn didn't even look up from her crying and leaned on Akagi without a second thought. Javelin looked on with a WTF look on her face while Laffey just had a smile, seeing that Unicorn was getting comfort; even if it was from an unlikely source.
"I'm sorry Akagi...I-I just...I..." Unicorn started to say, but Akagi put a finger on her lips and gently shushed her. "Its ok, nothing you do will ever hurt me Unicorn~ I like you too much for that~" She told her playfully but kindly.
Unicorn looked up in surprise as Akagi reached into her sleeve for something, it was a small bag of something. "Some of my favourite sweets from back home in the Sakura Empire, don't forget to share with your friends!" She dropped the bag in front of Unicorn, she opened it and smiled brightly at the star shaped sweets inside.
Laffey sat back down as Unicorn offered her some sweets from the bag, she took a couple and put them in her mouth, Unicorn then turned to Javelin with a confused look, the Royal Navy destroyer had a depressed look as she also sat back down. Akagi seemed puzzled too, but then got an idea.
Unicorn, you know how fluffy my tails are right~?" She cooed to the young light carrier. Unicorn giggled cutely at the statement. "Oh yes, I love your tails Akagi!" She agreed with an adorable nod of her head. The fox woman then gave Javelin a devilish look before walking up behind her.
"Hm?" Javelin was too depressed to register what Akagi was doing, before she felt strong hands on her shoulders. She yelped in shock as she realised the kitsune had grabbed her and she looked around frantically at the many fox tails swinging towards her from both sides and from beneath her chair.
"W-w-what are you doing?! I-I don't wan-" Javelin was cut off as the tails made contact with her exposed skin, she gasped feeling the fluffy appendages on her legs and arms. She laughed nervously as Akagi gently wrapped her tails all around her.
"Heh-heh, stop I-ha ha-that tickl-ooh!" Javelin giggled from inside the mass of tails. Akagi also giggled seeing Javelin convert into a tails fan right in front of her.
"Feels nice right?" She asked her teasingly. Before Javelin could reply, Akagi wiggled a tail inside Javelin's blouse and right up her back. The British girl yelped feeling the fluffy invader inside her clothes and started wiggling in her seat from the sensation.
"Yah! Stop already! it...ha ha...tickles so much!" Javelin pleaded. Akagi let Javelin go and retracted her tails from her. The lavender haired girl panted as she caught her breath, the kitsune pat Javelin's head with a kind smile before sitting next to Unicorn.
"Well that seems to have cheered you up~" Akagi said to Javelin with a wink. The destroyer blushed a little before laughing nervously again. Akagi looked over at Laffey and asked: "Do you want a turn?" Laffey held up her hand before shaking her head.
"No thanks, I respectfully decline." Akagi just shrugged in response. "Suit yourself." She then grabbed a spare cup and poured herself some tea. Javelin, now a little happier then worked up the courage to speak to Akagi.
"S-so uh...what d-do you do for fun?" she asked, still a little fearful of the fox woman. Akagi giggled before she responded "Mostly just tease some of the other Sakura empire ships, but lately..." She then looked around before whispering to her.
"I've been dating the Commander~" Javelin's jaw dropped at the remark and even Laffey had a small reaction to it. Unicorn just giggled with Akagi.
"Have you banged him yet?" Laffey then asked bluntly. Everyone else at the table yelped and looked at Laffey in shock while blushing bright red. Akagi especially was flushing a deep red colour from the question. Laffey just looked on at them all oblivious.
"What? Its just a question." She stated innocently, still munching her cupcake like she had asked the most normal thing in the world.
Before anyone else could reply Akagi was suddenly and forcefully yanked to her feet by the front of her kimono. Once she got her bearings she realised it was Prince of Wales, with one of the most furious looks Akagi had ever seen on anyone. The younger girls all stood up in shock at the British battleship's sudden entrance, Akagi just seemed amused, despite the death glare she was getting and the fact Wales was still grabbing her clothes.
"My Wales, thats a scary look for you, oh wait you always look at me like that~" She jested. Wales clenched her free hand into a fist and with a low, dangerous tone said: "Get...away...from Unicorn..."
Wales then threw Akagi to the side and walked over to the light carrier. Unicorn gasped and ran around to the other side of the table. The two destroyer girls looking on, unsure how to act as Wales approached their friend. Akagi saw what she was doing and got a serious look on her face.
"You're scaring her, back off!" Akagi snapped at Wales, all playfulness gone and her tone tougher than her normal one. Prince of Wales ignored the fox woman and continued after Unicorn. "Come on, i'm taking you back to Illustrious, you're not safe here." She commanded harshly
Unicorn was cornered and whimpered as Wales went to grab her. "Wales stop it!" Javelin shouted, she then gasped as Wales then pulled Unicorn away, the young girl screamed as she was dragged along with the British woman.
The sight filled Akagi with absolute fury, she manifested her flaming paper planes and with a flick of her arm she threw three of them at Wales's arm. She screamed as the red fireballs slammed into her limb, making her lose her grip on Unicorn, now free she ran to Akagi and hugged her waist, crying her eyes out once again. Clutching her now burned arm, Wales looked over at the now enraged Akagi in a mix of shock and anger.
"You touch her like that ever again and I'LL BURN YOU ALIVE!" The kitsune threatened, her voice resonating with her power and eyes glowing as she powered up. the ends of her tails burned with red fire, more red burning planes were circling around her head. Wales screamed in rage at Akagi's words.
"H-how...DARE YOU!" Wales then ripped off one of her gloves and slammed it onto the ground in front of Akagi. "I'm done tolerating you fox! At sundown on the training grounds, you and me will settle this once and for all! Be there I'll have the entire Royal Navy hunt you down!" Prince of Wales then finally turned around and left empty handed and with one less glove.
Akagi was still seething and breathing heavily, until she felt a small tug on her sleeve. She looked down and saw Unicorn giving her a frightened look. She instantly felt guity and sighed. She de-manifested her planes and red fire. She kneeled down to Unicorn's level and let the younger girl hug her.
"I'm sorry you had to see that Unicorn." She apologised, her voice returning to its softer, smooth tone. "T-thank you Akagi, she was being really scary..." Unicorn replied and kept hugging her.
Javelin and Laffey smiled at the two, but then Javelin looked down at the glove Wales left behind with worry.