Azur Lane: Savior

"Anything on sight?" Greynar asked as he used the communcation while watching his surrounding from the monitor.

"No, there's nothing as far as my recon plane could go." Wasp commented, she controlled her plane to search above the water. 

The fleets arrived at the destinated location as fast as possible but when they got there, no one was on sight. There was no trace of battle or trace of ship's remnants. Helena used her SG Radar around the area but she didn't detect anything. It was noon for them so there's quite some time for them to search for the S.O.S Signal. 

"Memphis, try to search from our trail. There might be something we are missing." Greynar ordered sternly. 

"Okay! I'll gather some ship to follow me." She left from his side immediately, not wanting to waste any time. 

'This is strange, could it be some kind of mirror sea? We have lost contact from the S.O.S Signal shortly after we entered the area.' The Commander frowned. Enterprise's fleet was missing by the time they almost reach the area, there was no abnormality on their way so something must have happen on their side, but Greynar couldn't find any clue.

"Albacore, how's it going on your end?" Greynar asked, addressing the submarine girl who was still diving deep underwater.

"I uhhhh... Don't see anything Commander, the waters here are clean and i don't see any ship or trace of battle here." Albacore replied through the comms. 

"Hmmm... Let's go search for more, i think there's something small thing we haven't look into yet." Greynar silently clutching fist anxiously. 

The search party went from the south area to a nearby perimeter, but it didn't bear any result at all. It was as if the S.O.S signal was all fake and never happen. Nobody knows where they went but Greynar didn't give up as he knew that there's a chance they found something, until someone alerted him. 

"Commander! 2 o'clock! Massive Sakura fleets are heading to our way!" Wasp shouted as she recalled back her recon plane. 

"All fleets, go on a stand-by! Do not shoot until i say so!" The Commander immediately ordered after he saw some Sakura Empire's KANSEN, but the look on their face says otherwise. They're sort of dead to him. 

Greynar silently muttered. "Command S.A.V.I.O.R, activate status identification." 

His eyes shifted to a vivid yellow the moment he spoke the word. The world around him underwent a dramatic transformation, resembling something straight out of a VR game. Greynar, in silent contemplation, directed his gaze towards some shipgirls, effortlessly discerning their statuses. However, when he turned his attention to the approaching Sakura fleets in the distance, a sea of red flooded his vision, signaling imminent danger. Hastily, he shut off the augmented view and widened his eyes as the mass-produced battleships trained their guns in their direction.

The Commander immediately signaled the entire fleet to open fire as the opposing side unleashed their salvo. It was then that a realization hit him – these fleets weren't Sakura Empire's; they were Siren pawns created to deceive them. Greynar gritted his teeth, the S.O.S Signal that last seen was probably coming from the pawns. But there's also a problem about Enterprise's fleet location which coincidentally disappear from the map. 

"Helena! Prepare to counterattack! Unleash everything we've got on those fakers!" He exclaimed, urgency and determination in his voice.

"Fa-? What are you saying Commander!?" Helena was confused as what did her Commander wanted to say. 

"No time for a detailed explanation! But use your logic and figure out why the Sakura Empire is converging on this location!" His voice was momentarily drowned out by the roaring salvo of the ships, but Helena managed to grasp the urgency and intent behind his words.

"Alright, Commander, i will trust your judgement." Helena begin to order some of mass-produced ship to aim at the vanguard position while she tasked the carriers to control the air. She swiftly used her SG Radar to momentarily boost the firepower of the mass-produced ship.

As Greynar command ship silently retreated from the front, he begin to look around, finding any clue regarding the disappearance of the fleet. There's countless of possibility that he guessed but all of it was leading to a hidden mirror sea. Something that a normal person know, the mirror sea are dangerous area that could move you to a different place. Though, there's something he was missing, the apperance of the pawns and the disappearance of the fleet was the clue to find them. 

He directed the fleets to encircle the pawns, forcing them into a chaotic convergence. His attention abruptly shifted from the pawns and the tumultuous sea around him. Something ominous seeped from the waters, and S.A.V.I.O.R warned him about the approaching danger from below. Albacore, the first to notice something beneath her, urgently alerted everyone to scatter around.

Every fleet hastily retreated as a black mist emerged from below, enveloping the pawns. The sight was eerie, the black mist expanding and causing a slight ache in his head. Gripping his head tightly, he struggled as some unknown vision unfolded before him. Everything unfold pretty quickly, he didn't have the time to digest those vision. 

"Every... Fleets... Guggh... Re-...treat!!!!" He struggled to order everyone but it was too late. 

The black mist exploded, wrapping the fleets within its dark tendrils. Shipgirls opened their eyes one by one, blinking away the remnants of the mist. Memphis slowly became aware of her surroundings, finding everyone in a strange and unfamiliar location. Helena, using her SG Radar, attempted to detect any malfunctions, but it showed no signs of abnormalities.

"Are we at-...."

"A mirror sea." Greynar answered her question. 

"Is this where they went? But what is that?" Wasp pointed at the tall structure in front of them. 

"I don't think we have seen this thing." Nevada commented.

They found themselves in a vast expanse of water, with no islands in sight. The sky displayed an unusual orange-blackish hue. A tall structure, colored in pale blue, emitted a soft light, surrounded by red lines wrapping around it. The pawns that the fleets had seen were nowhere to be found. A heavy silence hung over them as Greynar slowly walked to the front of the ship.

"Everyone, let's take a look around the location first, finding our friend first is important task." He silently ordered. 

The fleets all nodded in unison as the carriers launched recon planes, and the submarine fleets dove underwater. Albacore surfaced to share some details she had discovered while submerged. Firstly, the waters around the area were normal seawater, but there were numerous shipwrecks scattered across the sea.

Second of all, the mass-produced submarine couldn't take the pressure of the water and imploded the moment they got deep around 300'ish meters. And the last one was regarding the missing fleets, they found a frozen KANSEN and it seems to be not from the KANSEN they were fighting. 

Greynar sighed in relief, considering the possibility that Volga's ice abilities might be responsible. Nevertheless, he pushed aside the thought, acknowledging that he had more urgent matters to address. A frozen KANSEN, presumed dead according to one of the books he had read, was observed. Helena suggested they explore further, dismissing the frozen KANSEN. However, their search yielded no results.

As time passed, just before he could utter something, the area around them shook violently as the black mist formed once more in front of them. This time, it was accompanied by a storm, and lightning struck down near his location. Beneath the storm's gaze hidden by the mist, he could see a figure standing blurred by the raging wind.

"Commander! At this rate, we're all gonna perish if we don't do something about this stormy weather!" Memphis shouted urgently.

Greynar glanced at her and nodded. He began to issue orders for the fleets to attack the black mist. Whatever was hidden inside would also get hit by the bullets. The armor-piercing shells from the mass-produced ships began to take effect on the black mist. The disembodied figure started to take the form of a person and clapped meticulously. 

"Ahahahaha!!! GREAT!!! THIS IS GREAT!!!" A child-like voice, combined with static sounds, echoed in the air.

Memphis frantically asked, "Who are you?!" As the storm grew bigger and larger, the laugh grew louder.

"Me? Doesn't matter! All of you gonna-" Before the mysterious person could continue their words, something flew at high speed above them and it crashed to the storm making a large explosion. 

"You... Stop toying with us!!" Enterprise appeared from the smoke as she was glaring at it. 

"Enterprise!?" There was a mixture of concern and relief to see her back, but it looked like she hadn't gone without a scratch. 

"Everyone, stand back! This enemy is very different than what we have encounter." Enterprise raised her hand to stop everyone from approaching them. 

"Where is the rest of the fleets? Why are you alone here?" Greynar anxiously asked her.

"The others are still recovering, they're fine for now in a safe place." Enterprise glanced back at the enemy in front of her. "That enemy is a lost cause and very dangerous than the Sirens." 

"Timeline shifting, timeline regressing, timeline deletion, timeline destruction. These are the exquisite symphonies orchestrated by the Sirens. Test site-A and site-0, the marvelous encores amplifying the chaos," the mysterious being spoke with a sinister glee. "Embrace the sweet melody of destruction, and all of this will cease to torment your existence." It laughed malevolently, the sound echoing with a devilish tone.

"That's enough, you all can be quiet now." another voice chimed in, a soothing and calm tone reverberating in the air.

Everyone glanced to the source of the voice, a figure that similar to the Siren floating in the air as it descending down from the portal. The Commander recognized the figure as one of the one who took charge in the testing of each timeline. Her tentacles that grasped one of the rigging turret suddenly charged at the black storm, trying to grasp the one hidden inside it, but they slipped off from the grasp.

"Observer Alpha... Why are you here...?" The mysterious being asked as it tried to launch an attack to Alpha.

Alpha dodged and used her laser to pierce the storm. "You clearly know why am i here." Alpha replied, she gazed at Greynar before turned again. "I'm here to squash some bug in our system." Her petite figure pointed at the storm's direction

"Don't you see? All of your effort on resisting is useless, each timeline you have tried to strengthen has been destroyed. Look at your old friend dying uselessly on the point-β site." As it keeps talking, the storm changed its form to a black tornado. "I also remember, that thing the humanity has, it's dangerous to be left alone. So, before anything could happen, i will take care of this timeline and go to another one." The black tornado swirling fiercely to Greynar's location at fast speed.

"Not happening." Alpha stopped in front of it. She pointed her gun on the middle of the tornado and shoot her turret. "Didn't i say, i come to squash some bug?"

Suddenly, from the bottom of the tornado, icicle-frozen particles surrounded the vortex's base. It gradually formed a block of ice that froze the vortex entirely. Alpha glanced at the preperator who caused it, she gave her a hmph for her reply. 

"We've made it, Commander! I'm here~" The Northern Parliament carrier appeared using one of the plane, she transformed her rigging into the ship form and landed the plane. 

"Volga! Hammann!" Greynar sighed in relieve seeing them fine and well. 

"Save for your small reunion," Alpha glanced at Greynar, she was inspecting him from bottom to top. "I assume this is our second meeting, Commander." 

Greynar recalled everything that had happened, including the timeline reset. He knew he still harbored some resentment towards Observer Alpha for Noir's death. However, he couldn't address it in the midst of the rapidly unfolding events.

"Observer Alpha, what do you want?" he asked calmly, assessing the situation behind her as the frozen ice silently cracked.

"I'll be brief, those ice only frozen it temporary, this is one of the timeline that need to be preserved so i need you and your fleets to gather every firepower and blast that anomaly." Observer Alpha stated, as she pointed at the frozen vortex. "As the Outsider, i think you know what am i saying." 

Greynar sighed, closing his eyes. Should he trust her? Despite the past and the lingering grudge, she had helped them amid the chaos. Observer Alpha might be one of the more reasonable Sirens, but he couldn't shake the uncertainty about what would happen once everything was resolved. His instincts urged him to trust her, but his mind remained hesitant. 

"Alright," He looked at Alpha once again. "I'll trust you." With the temporary ceasefire, he commanded every fleets to aim at the frozen tornado. 

The fleets hesitated at first, unsure about trusting Observer Alpha. However, as they witnessed a small crack forming in the tornado and saw that Alpha didn't pose any immediate threat and had even helped them, they decided to put their trust in the Commander's judgment. Memphis and Helena also readied their weapons as the crack began to spread rapidly. 

"Enterprise," Greynar called her out. "You better tell me in details of what happens here." 

Enterprise slightly smiled and nodded at him. "I will, this will be also included on my commissions report."