-Book One- Ghost of Kyiv, an Azur Lane Story

Chapter 2: Mighty Wings

0800 Hours
Midway Atoll

The MiG approached.

The air around its engines wavered and crackled as the ground wavers and crackled during a hot summer day. Finally, it touched down, and he started shutting off engine power as soon as he turned onto a taxiway. He slowly opened the lightly cracked cockpit and waited for a ladder. 3 minutes go by, and a woman wearing a black and yellow cowboy hat rolled a ladder up to the battered plane.

He pointed at the small holes near the wing root where the ladder goes, and she nodded, inserting the tips into the holes. He climbed down the ladder, and flipped the visor off, wiping his face with a handkerchief hidden in one of his pockets. "ебать-колотить, those were one of the most intense 2 hours of my life. It's a wonder this beautiful piece of machinery didn't break down on me." He said, running his hand alongside the wing root and nose of the plane, as if caressing the plane in his hand.

"What in the name of Sam Hill is that even? Some kind of Siren plane we have never heard 'bout?" Hornet asked, wondering what kind of witchcraft was done to create such a thing. "Sirens? Do you mean those things that uh..." He snapped his fingers, looking for the right word. "Ah! I got it, do you mean those things that ring whenever there is an alarm or alert?" Hornet burst out laughing, much to Stepan's surprise. "Hoo boy. If you have never heard of sirens, you're in for a very long story, but explainin' that is not up to me to explain, that is somethin' Commander D'Elise will explain to you in due time." Stepan nodded, and took off his helmet, shaking his head to dry it off from the sweat.

"So, judging from the accent, I assume you are Soviet Russian? I have never seen such markings on a Soviet bird before though. Are those regimental markings or..." Stepan raised his eyebrow, surprised that no one has ever heard of the Ukrainian Air Force. "I am not Russian, though Ukraine's roots dig very deep into Russia's history. Our language is very lightlysimilar to theirs, but some call it "Russian with extra steps". As for the markings, those are the markings of the finest air force on the planet, the Ukrainian Air Force. The rest is something you can listen in to when I have a talk with your CO."

Hornet slapped him on the back in a way that his brothers usually slapped him on the back when he was little. "Even though I have never heard of Ukraine or the Ukrainian Air Force, I think you and I will get along just fine!" Stepan jumped a little from the impact, since it was unexpected."Ow! You slap harder than Mikhail! That's something, considering how Mikhail is literally a Ukrainian copy of Arnold Schwarzenegger." Hornet, confused, asked him another question.

"If you don't mind me askin', who is this Schwarzenegger feller? Never heard of him." Stepan nodded, explaining who Schwarzenegger was. "You see, this man is one of the most popular action movie actors in the world. The Terminator franchise, Escape Plan, Total Recall, and True Lies, are just some of the multiple movies that he starred in. He was even the governor of the American state of California once in 2003." Hornet nodded, being very surprised. Up ahead, a group of people walked in 2x2 columns, so 4 people.

One of them walked up to Stepan and spoke. "Sir, you are to come with us. Commander D'Elise wants to have a word with you." Stepan nodded and walked with the men. Hornet walked alongside him and spoke, "I have never gotten your name by the way, so, what's your name?" Stepan looked to Hornet and smiled. "Thank you for asking. My name is Stepan, what's yours?" Hornet smiled as well, something that Stepan couldn't notice, even if he wore glasses. "I'm the third of the Yorktown-class carriers, the USS Hornet, nice to meet you, Stepan!" Stepan chuckled, "Nice to meet you too, Miss Hornet."

0815 Hours
Interrogation room in a Bunker on Midway Atoll

Stepan walked into the room, which had a light hanging off the ceiling. One of the men pointed to the seat and Stepan got onto it. Minutes ticked by and still, no one walked in. Finally, a woman walked in, herself looking 3 years younger than Stepan despite her rank, and greeted him. In walked another lady with blonde hair. She was the first person to talk. Except she didn't talk, she straight out started yelling. "First it was crippling the strongest Sakura Empire shipgirl. Then it was wounding a high-ranking Siren shipgirl. Now we find out you have never heard of a Siren? Who are you and why were you in our airspace? You realize you broke the rules of war by entering the airspace unannounced?"