Azur Lane: Savior

A day after Enterprise left the port with her fleet, Hornet was walking through the port to get some refreshment from Akashi.

"Heyya Akashi, do you have any oil to spare?"

Akashi, who was sleeping, was surprised by Hornet's sudden appearance.

"Nya!? Oh, it's you Hornet. Oil?"

Hornet nodded. "Yes, I need oil for my planes. They are out of fuel."

Akashi pondered for a bit and instantly rose. "I have some spare nya~"

"Oh, good! Please give me some. I'll make sure to pay you back."

"Wait here nya~"

Hornet waited for Akashi to come back, trying to take a peek at Akashi's collection.

"I'm back nya~" Akashi appeared behind Hornet before she could take a peek.

"Uahh!! Akashi, you scared me."

"Sorry."

"No, it's okay. Just make sure not to appear suddenly behind me."

"Commander told me the same before nya~"

"Commander did? I guess we are the same. See you later, Akashi!" Hornet rushed out.

Akashi was flabbergasted by Hornet's speed and proceeded to go back to her nap. An explosion woke her up again, and the rooftop was now on fire.

"Fwuaahh! My warehouse nya!!" Akashi panicked, and the manjuus were helping her using a hydrant.

"I better hide until everything is good nya!" Akashi used her secret passage to hide from the explosion.

Meanwhile, Hornet, who had just left Akashi's warehouse, deployed her rigging and alerted everyone at the port through her communicator about several planes closing in above the ground.

"Hornet! Did an attack by the Siren happen!?" Northampton emerged from the building with her rigging already deployed.

"No, it was by someone else." Hornet shook her head.

Northampton looked up at the sky, and there was a single plane closing in on them at a fast speed.

"No way..."

"Sakura Empire's?" Hornet was also surprised.

The plane suddenly changed its direction towards Hornet and dropped a bomb.

"Hornet!!!" Northampton tried to reach out her hand to Hornet, but the smoke was rising.

"...I'm okay. More importantly, let's worry about our friends at the harbor."

The smoke gradually cleared, and Northampton nodded at Hornet before heading to the harbor. After seeing Northampton go, Hornet decided to follow her, hoping to assist in evacuating every personnel at the Azur Lane port.

Hornet's communicator went off. "Hornet! My recon plane has identified an unknown ship near the sea outside of the port!" Langley's distorted voice spoke to Hornet.

"Langley? Where are you right now? We need air support!"

"I'm currently being held by several mass-produced ships. I can't get to your location immediately, but please protect the port!"

The communicator was cut off by Langley. Hornet immediately rushed to help others who were surrounded by the enemy planes.

"Hornet, this way! Arizona got heavily damaged!" Pennsylvania called out to Hornet.

"Arizona!? She's unconscious. Get her to safety. I'll defend you!" Pennsylvania nodded and carried Arizona back to the port.

After Hornet was done protecting Pennsylvania, it was her turn to move to a different ally. A fighter tried to shoot her, but Hornet skillfully dodged the attack and destroyed the plane with her rigging.

"These planes will never stop coming unless we stop the main culprit," Hornet clicked her tongue.

The manjuus outside of the port were also panicking as fire spread everywhere and the control tower was destroyed. In the span of an hour, everything was engulfed in flames. Hornet spotted something in the distance, a humanoid figure wearing kimonos.

Hornet's expression turned grim. "Akagi."

The defense perimeter that had been set up by Akashi in case of emergencies seemed to be working, as the bombardment gradually decreased and enemy planes were nowhere to be seen. The blue sky turned dark, but Akagi's figure was nowhere to be found.

"We need to make a counterattack." Hornet suggested.

"Right now? In the middle of recovering?" Northampton replied.

Hornet nodded. "We need to know the enemy's objective for attacking us. I hope the Commander doesn't mind about this."

"I'll go with you, Hornet. The Commander still hasn't come back yet, but we have relayed a message to Helena." Northampton answered.

"So be it. Let's go before it gets dark."

Hornet and Northampton left the port to chase after Akagi and her hidden fleet.

After a while at sea, Hornet spotted Akagi's figure in the distance.

"Hornet..." Northampton looked concerned.

"It's okay. I can still control my emotions." Hornet reassured her.

Hornet and Northampton increased their speed to the fullest and caught up to Akagi's fleet.

"Akagi! Stop there!" Hornet shouted.

Akagi heard Hornet's voice and sped up her knot while sending out several mass-produced ships.

"Shit, they blocked us," Hornet said as she stopped her movement.

"Go ahead! I will stop these ships. Please, Hornet." Northampton said.

Hornet turned to Northampton and nodded. She swiftly dashed through the mass-produced ships while Northampton gained their attention by firing several volleys.

"Good luck, Northampton." Hornet increased her pace as she sent out several bombers to halt Akagi's movement.

After a few minutes of sailing, Hornet commanded her planes to halt Akagi. However, it wasn't easy as there were other planes halting her movement. It was Kaga's fighter planes that were patrolling around Akagi.

"Akagi, stop right there!" Hornet shouted.

Akagi stopped her movement and turned to Hornet.

"Hehehe, more bugs to squash. I'm surprised you managed to find your way here," Akagi said with a creepy smile, laughing.

"You! What are you planning?"

"I don't have any plans, but our main objective has already been completed."

"What kind of ulterior motive do you have now? What happened in the span of days that made you become like this?"

"You don't need to know. Though there has been a shift in balance within the Empire." Akagi sighed. "Kaga."

A gate opened on the side of Akagi. "I'm here sister." 

"Kaga, you.... Are a carrier!?" Hornet widened.

"You haven't heard the news, everything will change from now on."

Hornet was alarmed by what Kaga was saying, and she took her stance, readying to fight both of the sisters.

"Sakura First Carrier Division, Akagi!"

"Sakura First Carrier Division, Kaga!"

""Forward!""

Both Akagi and Kaga attacked Hornet at the same time. Hornet dodged all of the attacks by Kaga's dive bombers and Akagi's fighter planes. She had no choice but to maintain distance between herself and the enemies in front of her.

"I have no choice but to attack you, Akagi. Sorry." Without hesitation, Hornet launched her planes and attacked the fighter planes and dive bombers.

Akagi dodged the torpedo bombers sent out by Hornet and destroyed them. Kaga jumped and took a step into Hornet's fighter, destroying the plane with her shikigami doll. After that, they counter-attacked Hornet with torpedo bombers. Hornet couldn't escape by dodging, so she chose to jump to a plane and use it as a stepping stone to dodge the torpedoes sent out by the bombers.

"Sister, we don't need to waste any more time. Remember the deal." Kaga warned Akagi.

Akagi nodded and smiled. "Lets end this then." 

Akagi and Kaga sent out several dive bombers, followed by fighters behind them, to halt Hornet's movements. Hornet, who was still dodging the attacks from the previous airstrike, was in a tight spot. A dive bomber hit Hornet, shaking her maneuverability and heavily damaging her. She struggled to maintain consciousness, lying on the surface of the water.

"Our objective has been completed. Call off the third wave of airstrikes. Kaga, retreat!" 

"Call off the airstrikes? But, if we don't finish them off now..."

"Kaga." Akagi looked at Kaga. 

"Yes Sister." Kaga obediently called out her airstrikes.

"Listen, bug! This is the will of the gods! Tell the world my message. Today, the Sakura Empire officially joined forces with the Crimson Axis. We will deliver divine punishment upon the heretics! The future belongs to the strong. We will take our rightful place as divine masters of the oceans! Hehehe!" Akagi laughing menacingly.

Hornet, who heard that, tried to call out to Akagi, but she gradually lost consciousness, leaving her lying on the surface of the water.

"A...Ka...gi..."

"I'm sure we will meet again on the battlefield, Sister of the Grey Ghost." Akagi disappeared in an instant.