I probably would say this in every new story I write but whatever, here's a fair warning from me.
First, I AM NOT a native English speaker and still learning about the language, any mistakes and errors you find in the future are completely on me and unintentional.
Second, some parts in this story will be 'fictional', meaning it probably will not correlate with the lores exist in both series, the reasons are either due to the lack of the lore itself or I have yet to know about it. Thus in this regard any help you guys provide will be deeply appreciated.
Third, I'm fairly new to Azur Lane, I only familiar with it for around a month in which I decided to play the game after watching the anime. Something I notice is that both the game and the anime actually very different in storyline, however I decided to have the mix of both though this story will mainly FOLLOW THE ANIME PLOT. Fanfiction is yet to add the tag for Azur Lane anime so I'll put it here on the game's.
Alright, without further ado here it is.
Disclaimer: I own neither Azur Lane and Halo.
Final Frontier
Chapter 1: Unexpected arrival
She came in a burning wrath of God to this broken world, descending with unearthy screech and fiery hues of golden, red and blue fires raging on the entireity of her body, the deep scars marring her dark surface still pulsated with angry scarlet energy, still yet to dissipate from her most recent battle due to their intense heat.
Thick black smoke following her wake like a deadly fog chasing its victim, trying to suffocate and strangle the dying light she had left yet never be able to catch up. Despite the wounds and smoke she sported, neither could obscure the proud symbols of an eagle on her hull, its wings raised high on its sides displaying a silent message of strength and control, however the eagle was not to conquer but to protect and shelter those below it with its powerful wings, and under it was a planet it's born from. On its front, directly on its shield like symbol, four letters painted in block lettering, an abbreviation of the construct's allegiance which the expansion of was displayed horizontally in a banner across the globe.
United Nations Space Command.
As the giant metal construct finally succumbed to the cold and dark ocean surface, creating massive waves of water around its point of impact even the storm created cannot compare to, beams of light flickered on one side of its armored hull, illuminating its name for the briefest of moment before they too died out from power failure. Now dead in the water, nothing but darkness accompanied the once great vessel, a silent reminder that no matter how powerful it once was, a more powerful being existed out there, a being that arrived so suddenly through ominous portals amidst time and space, wreaking havoc to every realms they touched.
It's not much different in this world.
This time however, it would be different. This time mankind didn't face its doom on its doorstep. This time, this one dying vessel would be the one acting as this world's Covenant, one that would ensure the survival of this humanity instead of its destruction for she had swore to protect it the day she was commisioned, an oath she would carry even in her second life.
As a thunder struck nearby, its light shone bright, casting a light to the ship's name in lieu of its inactive artificial lights. The ten digits letter weren't spared from being scarred but even the deep scorch mark failed to fully erase it from the ship's hull. Afterall, it was a name that had gone through eras far before mankind even reached the stars, a name that was lived by countless ships before her, a name that was considered sacred by the Navy due to the legend it carried.
The ship might be dead, but it soul would continue to live on forever as long there was a fight to finish. Luckily for this world this ship's soul refused to die, a sign easily comprehend as a bright light, this time coming from the ship itself, began to encase it as it transformed to thousand small blue cubes. Said cubes swirled high into the raging air before it plummeted to the sea in one focused point, and on it place a figure covered in futuristic looking armor float aimlessly for the ocean didn't dare to swallow her down it endless pit.
The sea had learned to not sink that name, the merciless sea was afraid of it.
"Enterprise! Hey, listen to me!"
On the other side of the sea, a group of four women glid almost magically above its surface, their feet never touching the water thanks to their rigging providing them the capability. The leader of the group however, a woman with silver hair and a black coat, was visibly struggling against the harsh condition of the storm they were in, it's not without reason because she barely receieved a repair after her last battle had her heavily damaged.
This woman was actually an Aircract Carrier, USS Enterprise of the Eagle Union, the strongest carrier in arguably the world with her thorought service granted her a total 20 Battle Stars.
"What is it, Hornet?" Enterprise asked back to her younger sister, another Aircraft Carrier. Despite being a sister they had completely different appearances with Hornet being a blonde haired young woman which she set in twin ponytails, and unlike Enterprise her choice of clothing also more open, at that departement the only thing similiar to both were their coats.
"Hey, you don't need to push yourself too hard, okay? I'm more than capable to handle this kind of situation!" Hornet shot back, fixing her cowboy styled hat after a rather strong wind nearly knocked it off of her head. "Cleveland is here too, you know she's not even half bad, right Cleveland?"
The third member of the group, a smaller blonde with white coat grinned to Hornet in response. "Yep! I'm confidence in myself I'll be able to repel whatever it's gonna be! No need to worry, Enterprise!"
Before Enterprise could respond, another voice butted in. "Hamman is here too, you know?! You guys keep leaving me out of the count!"
"Yeah sorry, sorry" Hornet apologized sheepishly, patting the Destroyer in the back before returning her attention to a still unconvinced Enterprise, ignoring the huff she receieved from Hamman. "Look, I know you are concerned to me and I appreciate it, but I can hold myself good. Beside I have a Light Cruiser and Destroyer escorting me, make it three Destroyers had you not insisted to sortie as soon as possible and left Laffey with Javelin on the base"
Enterprise did not respond immediately because a rather large wave nearly knocked her off of her feet, thankfully Hornet managed to catch her just in time else she might have crashed to the ocean. She peered through the corner of her eyes to see Hornet's now worried smile. "I'm fine" She stated before promptly pushing her sister away. "I'm not going to lose you too" Enterprise muttered, still loud enough for Hornet to hear it.
"I'm not going anywhere, sist" She mumbled back as Enterprise sped forward the group, leaving the three girls to follow her from behind.
Cleveland caught up to Hornet's right side while Hamman appeared on her left, they both stared at the advancing carrier with their own concerned expressions. "Is she going to be alright? This is her fourth operation after in just two days. Belfast said she barely eats too recently"
"Enterprise's always been like that" Hamman piped in, frowning deeply. "Ever since... Ever since Yorktown is hurted Enterprise started pushing herself this far, sometimes even further"
"I'm worried about her, her repair isn't finished yet even with Vestal present. Her superstructure is destroyed, her flight deck is heavily damaged and I think there's a problem with her propulsion too"
"I saw the extent of the damage too, she shouldn't be walking right now much lest sortieing"
Having enough, Hornet balled her fists and promptly hit both Cleveland and Hamman's heads, not strong enough to hurt them but was enough to make them reeled in surprise. "That is my sister you both talking about!" She growled playfully, grabbing their human and cat ears respectively, eliciting a pained shriek from both girls.
"Agh! S-sorry!"
"D-don't pull my ear!"
"Good! I made myself understood" The blonde clasped her hands together cheerfully, mercifully sparing both Cleveland and Hamman from further agony. They sent her a glare but it quickly molt to nothingness when they noticed the grimace in Hornet's face.
At that moment they understood Hornet too was unsettled by Enterprise's action.
"Enterprise'll be fine, we take care of our own. I know how it feels to have badass sisters" Cleveland tried to assure the carrier.
"Enterprise has us" Hamman added.
"Yeah... She has"
Their voyage lasted for a few hours more in silence, battling against the rough weather condition all the way. Not once did the girls have to help Enterprise stayed on her feet, either by grabbing her directly or by positioning themselves to break the waves for the damaged carrier. The latter was mainly done by Hornet who had the largest displacement between them, easily smashing through the high water.
The act didn't went unnoticed by Enterprise who couldn't help but to feel bad for the girls. She refused to be a burden, always fighting nail and tooth by her own, yet when another wave exploded infront of her she was reminded with how powerless she was currently.
It just that she couldn't let herself to watch her sister go against the unknown alone, that's why when the Commander informed her the Space Agency detected an anomaly above Pacific Ocean she immediately volunteered to go along with Hornet. The haste was merely to prevent Vestal from grounding her back in base.
No doubt the Repair Ship was currently fuming back home.
I can worry about Vestal chewing me later. Enterprise thought, tipping her hat down slightly when Hornet broke another wave with an excited cheer.
"Hornet" She called her sister, when Hornet turned around to face her Enterprise then continued. "Any word from scout planes?"
That's another problem, Enterprise cannot launch aircraft, not without her bow or her flight deck so she had to rely with Hornet's.
Hornet tilted her head slightly, visibly communicating with her squadrons of Dauntless through mental link. "Scout Squadron 1 reported nothing in west grid but Scout 2 spotted a small flotilla of Siren ships heading northwest"
"A small flotilla? how many to be exact?"
Hornet's brows furrowed lower in avid concentration, Enterprise knew by experience it's more difficult to keep a link with her aircrafts in this kind of weather. "About fifteen ships, mass-produced type"
"You call that small?!" Hamman cried out, hugging herself to keep her body warm. Water and cat didn't fare well in the same sentence afterall.
"I can take them out in two attack runs, most Sirens are dumb anyway"
"Never underestimate your enemy, Hornet" Enterprise reprimanded, giving her younger sister a scolding look. She then turned her attention to the direction where the Siren were heading before making up her decision. "Alright, whatever caught their interest must be related to this anomaly NAVCOM orders us to investigate, we are heading that way too"
"Speaking of which, is there any word from base?" Cleveland inquired.
"No, the storm must have interfered with our comms"
"Huh, so much for being a modern tech" Hornet murmured in return.
"We should never rely solely on equipments, they're prone to break" Enterprise raised her damaged flight deck to emphasize, it only served to remind them how powerless the carrier was. "Hornet, start launching CAP flights. We're officially in dangerous territory now"
"Right" Hornet nodded, preparing the first flight to take-off. She made sure to order most of her aircrafts to protect Enterprise than herself, it's clear she needed it more.
As the last of her Combat Air Patrol groups left her deck, Hornet quickly prepared for her Dauntless to be equipped with bombs. She had half the mind to summon her special Doolittle airgroup but refrained when her mental calculations revealed they're too far from friendly ground territory for it too land.
The strike could do some serious damage, but it was limited with their place of deployment. If Hornet launched her Doolittle and they lost in the sea, they won't be back for months. For some reason the B-25s couldn't be replenished like regular carrier-based aircrafts if they lost somehow, they wouldn't appear back on her deck unless they landed back in friendly territory where they would then just vanish.
It's certainly unknown how they did that, but at least Hornet knew to never waste her special ability. She had learned it the hard way.
"Target spotted, range 25 kilometers bearing 302. SBD Squadron One through Three are attacking" The group came to halt upon Hornet's declaration, they watched in silence as her aircrafts flew in formations toward their targets. Cleveland moved closer to the carriers, her guns traversing high ready to repel any possible aircraft attack while Hamman silently listening for any submarine threat.
"Diverse the attack to two groups, have Squadron One attacking the forward-most ships while Two and Three gets a bead on their rear and sides. That way it will cripple their ability to fight and flight" Enterprise ordered and Hornet complied, she didn't question her sister's order knowing Enterprise had better experience than her.
"Bombs away, ten out of fifteen ships are sunk or out of commission" Hornet reported with her light tone, grinning widely.
"Good job" Enterprise complimented with a small smile of her own. "Alright, we're advancing"
"Wait, you don't want me to finish them first?!"
"It's fine, you guys can take care of them once we get close enough" Enterprise sped forward once again, leaving the rest of the group behind. She didn't want to admit it but she was rather unsettled with this anomaly that had the Commander jumpy.
The fact the Siren also showed their interest also played a big role.
It's not entirely unusual to have some Siren ships roaming the sea, especially the Pacific Ocean considering how vast it was. But to have them exactly on the same place at the same time the anomaly occured wasn't a mere coincident, whatever it was it could be either very good or very bad, to which side was yet to be decided.
One thing for certain, the Commander warned her it was huge, how huge was still a mystery that even he didn't know. NAVCOM were still scratching their heads trying to figure out the exact numbers, considering it only appeared on satellite for a briefest of moment with probably half of it covered in deep dark cloud. By her estimation based on the picture they receieved, the thing was five hundred meters at the very least.
And it was dark, black almost grey-ish in color like a cloud in night sky. Unlike the Siren who prefered to have red and jet black as their paint, this metal construct was colored so differently. The spooks were still trying to properly identify it but they might as well trying to freeze burning coal with refrigator.
She looked up when Hornet's second wave of attack aircraft soared toward the rest of the enemy, the following explosion was far more closer meaning they only a few minutes away from the conflicting area.
Had Enterprise was a bit closer to her sister, she would have heard the yell she uttered to her.
"Wait!"
... Waiting for command.
... System diagnostic started.
...
...
... System diagnostic completed.
... Main computer online.
... AI not detected. Commence hard start?
...
...
... Command confirmed; starting.
... Reactors; check.
... Hull integrity; check.
... Weapon system; check.
... Slispace-drive; error.
... Propulsion... Warning; main engine is offline, sub-engine two is malfunctioning.
... Sensor arrays... Warning; communication system malfunctioning, LADAR is malfunctioning. Switch to passive scan?
... Command confirmed; activating passive scan. Uplifting main bridge protective bulkheads.
...
...
...
... Warning; unknown contacts.
... Warning; unknown contacts.
... Warning; unknown contacts.
...
...
...
By the sea, by the land, and by the stars. We will defend mankind from her possible adversary, be it domestic or foreign, be it the known or unknown, and we will prevail in our duty. Death is just the beginning of something new, death is just the start of a new spirit to take our place, there is no defeat in death, it's only a start of a new victor.
UNSC Epoch-class Heavy Carrier, hull number CV-600 Enterprise, from now onward you will be the sword and shield of mankind until the day you are lost in void and beyond and never be found. But heed this, even in death you will still carry the wish of mankind, a wish that has been granted by to your name, and that is the greatest way they honor us for we will never be lost in time amidst space.
The Final Frontier has just been revealed, and you are the one to first venture it. Shine the light for us to follow, for we have lost in the darkness far too long and blinded by it.
Be the light that guide us.
TBC
I usually upload a chapter around 6k words but considering this basically an intro I decided to make it shorter.
Reviews and feedbacks will be greatly appreciated, if you have something in mind be it question or statement don't be shy to deliver it to me. My knowledge about Epoch-class is limited to what Halopedia says so if you have some facts that aren't mentioned there it will help me in developing this story.
Until next time.