Siren, an invasive alien race, arrived in this world 30 years ago. Not long after their arrival, their intention to conquer the ocean became clear to the world when they started to sink everything that entered their territory. Ships, boats, canoes, blimps, air balloons, everything that ventured into their domain was obliterated by their advanced technology and energy weapons. Humanity was driven back to the shores, no longer the rulers of the seas.
But through the combined efforts of nations across the globe, humanity eventually reached a breakthrough in naval technology. This breakthrough, known as Kinetics Artifactual Navy-Self-regulative En-lore Node or KANSEN for short, gave humanity a glimmer of hope in their struggle against the Sirens. Kansens are the personification of naval vessels, not in a literary sense, but in the literal, scientific one. Kansen was a girl who possessed the power of a warship. Through their ability to summon intricate metallic rigging and control their respective ships absolutely , Kansens could fire shells, launch torpedoes, and deploy aircrafts from their riggings or ships with just their thoughts. The commission of kansens significantly reduced human casualties in the war against Siren. All of this was possible due to the invention of the Wisdom Cube, a mysterious object capable of 'giving birth' to Kansens.
In the year 1917, humanity launched a series of counteroffensives against Siren that later would be famously known as 'The Great Siren War'. During this conflict, the first generation of Kansens fought relentlessly across every seas on Earth. Many were sunk but many others achieved glory. These persistent and bloody efforts paid decently well at the end. Siren got pushed back all the way to the middle of the Atlantic where they curled up in their absolute defense. The Great Siren War ended in a pyrrhic victory for humanity, but the war against Siren in general kept waging as Siren, with their teleportation ability, was able to launch numerous skirmishes in unexpected locations.
With the majority of oceans reclaimed, humanity founded an organization focused solely on dealing with the Siren threat: the Azur Lane. Countries that possessed Kansens were obliged to join and they also had to hand over their kansens to this organization. They could not simply give up their military assets for free, however. To keep their interest in line, countries also formed factions as their representation in Azur Lane.
Royal Navy from the Kingdom of Albion.
Eagle Union from the Union of States.
Sakura Empire from the Sakura Empire.
Iron Blood from the Allemani Reich (formerly the Allemani Empire).
These were factions that wielded considerable influence in the Azur Lane. Although there were several other smaller factions, their influence was minuscule.
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7 December 1941
Location: Pearl Harbour Multinational Naval Base
Time: 0700
On a tall cliff eastside of Pearl Harbour base, a small white unicorn doll was running and chasing after a blue butterfly. It kept chasing the butterfly until it accidentally crashed into the left foot of a caped individual. This individual was Ayanami.
"Unicorn? Stuffed animal?" Ayanami confusedly muttered as she lifted the unicorn doll.
However, the unicorn doll began to wiggle aggressively in Ayanami's hand.
"Oh, it's alive. A radio-controlled doll, maybe?" Ayanami looked at the doll intensely when a young girl's voice called out from behind her.
"Yuu-chan!" A young girl in a white dress called out to Ayanami.
"Huh?" Ayanami tilted her head slightly as she saw three girls running to her direction.
"There you are, Yuu-chan! I'm glad you're safe." The smallest girl snatched the unicorn doll and hugged it tightly.
"Thank you," The girl thanked Ayanami shyly.
"No need to thank me, I didn't do anything," replied Ayanami calmly.
Ayanami then noticed another girl with a huge blue scarf around her neck. The girl gazed past her, toward the ocean.
"Wow! Look at the view! I didn't know there's a place as beautiful as this around the base." The blue-scarfed girl exclaimed excitedly.
"The breeze.. here.. feels.. nice.." The last girl laid on the grass as she sipped a bottle labeled Oxycola.
"How did you find this place? Are you a scout destroyer? That's amazing!" The blue-scarfed girl asked Ayanami praisefully.
"It's nothing, really. But thanks." Ayanami quietly responded.
"My name is Javelin!" The blue-scarfed girl introduced herself.
"Laffey." The napping girl followed suit.
"I'm Unicorn. Nice to meet you." The smallest girl shyly added.
"Thank you for finding Yuu-chan. May I ask your name?" Javelin thanked Ayanami, extending her right hand.
"Ayanami.." Ayanami smiled slightly as she shook Javelin's hand.
"Nice to meet you, Ayanami! Well then, let's head back to the base together!" Javelin excitedly raised her hand.
"Sorry, you can go ahead, I want to stay here for a bit. I'll catch up with you all later." Ayanami apologetically declined.
"Alright then, you can visit us at the Cafeteria later. See you, Ayanami!" said Javelin as she carried the sleeping Laffey on her back.
Unicorn waved her hand to Ayanami and followed Javelin.
When the three girls had gone from Ayanami's sight, a beep was heard.
"Copy, Ayanami reporting, over." said Ayanami with her built-in headphones, which looked like protrusions at both sides of her head.
"Use your codename. This is a secret mission, please remember that," A girl's voice from the other side sternly reminded Ayanami.
"Alright, my fault. This is Citrus. I've finished mapping the layout of the base. Give me a second to send it to you." Ayanami with a serious tone reported to the mysterious girl.
"Good, we'll be ready for the execution. Keep a low profile and avoid any suspicion," instructed the mysterious girl.
"Understood." replied Ayanami, cutting off the communication as she walked toward the cafeteria.
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7 December 1941
Location: The Pacific Ocean, 160 km east of Pearl Harbour.
Time: 0710
A fleet centered around six aircraft carriers could be seen sailing westward. On the flight deck of one of the carriers, two girls in kimonos stood as they gazed at the vast ocean ahead. One of the girls wore a blue white kimono with a matching fox mask, while the other wore black and red kimono. Both had sharp fox ears atop their heads and nine fox tails behind them.
"Phoenix, ready when you are," the fox girl in blue and white reported to the other fox girl.
"Tell me, Kaga, what do you believe is the true essence of battle?" the other fox girl, the one that wore black and red kimono, asked with a sadistic smile on her face.
"My dear sister Akagi, please use your codename." Kaga reminded Akagi with a serious expression.
"Battle is the act of causing pain. It is also the act of enduring pain. A battle is a shared exchange of suffering." Akagi continued her musing, tacitly ignoring Kaga's reminder.
"Through suffering, we come to understand one another's emotions. In other words, to battle is... to experience a form of Love." Akagi looked at Kaga warmly. She approached her sister and took Kaga's right hand. Akagi caressed the hand softly and carefully.
Kaga grew uncomfortable with Akagi's actions but couldn't bring herself to refuse her sister. Instead, she told Akagi, "I don't quite grasp what you're saying, dear sister. Your poetic musings have nothing to do with the question you asked… or with love."
"But one thing I do know the most is how to destroy our enemies. That's all I need to understand." Kaga stated this with a confident tone as she took blue shurikens out of her pocket and threw them into the sky. The blue shurikens were then ignited, transforming into several A6M Zero fighters, D3A Val dive bombers, and B5N Kate torpedo bombers.
Seeing this, Akagi giggled and followed Kaga's lead.
"Moo, don't leave your dear sister out of the fun," teased Akagi as she launched her own shurikens. She then took out something sinister, a Black Cube. She lifted the cube upward and a fleet of Siren mass produced ships emerged from what looked like a dimensional curtain. This cube was not like the ones humans had invented. This cube originated from.. Siren.
Akagi looked at the fleet and smiled ominously.
"Now, now, we've had enough with Azur Lane's humiliating treatment to our faction. Let the war begin, Tora! Tora! Tora!"