Azur Lane: A Royal Pain

Calling The Phoenix

"Oh no... JACK!!!" All six shipgirls suddenly scream as they rush over to the commander's flagship. The ship has been split in half not unlike what happened to Hood before she was resurrected, and the commander is nowhere to be found, until Hood goes directly into the wreck and finds Jack, completely missing his left leg and part of his right arm, but barely alive. His cane is nowhere to be found, the only evidence of it even being there were the splinters that once made up the cane.

"Ugh... Hood? Is that you?" Jack mumbles as Hood carefully picks him up and carries him over to the others.

"Oh no..." Bismarck says, horrified as the girls return to the docks and carefully set Jack on solid ground as they get out of the water and hide their guns. "We have to get him to the medical wards, ASAP!"

"Heh... Don't even bother..." Jack chuckles weakly, coughing up blood. "We managed to chase off the Sirens, that's what matters."

"But what about you?!" Hood asks. "You're dying!"

"I would have preferred to die fighting, but fate doesn't really care about that kind of thing." Jack replies.

"No... Please don't go..." Wales whimpers. "I'm begging you!"

"I'm sorry this had to happen..." Jack says, slowly extending his hand, and Wales clasps it. "Hopefully one day after I'm gone, the Sirens will forever be vanquished..."

"No don't say that!" Hood says.

"It was an honor commanding you three... Wales, Hood, Georgie, I couldn't have asked for a better group... I'll see you in the afterlife..." Jack chuckles before his eyes shut and his arm goes limp.

"No..." Wales says. "Jack... Please respond... PLEASE!" but alas Jack is gone. "NO!"

"He was gone too soon..." Bismarck mumbles as she takes off her hat, and Zed does the same.

"...I'm... I'm so sorry..." Zed says, putting a hand on Wales' shoulder, and before the six know it they've all burst into tears, having lost their best commander. After the girls have dried off the last of their tears, Wales slowly picks up Jack and gently lays him to rest in the sea as his body slowly sinks to the bottom. They're about to leave when suddenly Bismarck realizes something.

"Wait... Maybe this won't be the last time we see Jack..." Bismarck says.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Wales asks. "Don't play around at a time like this."

"I'm not playing, I actually have an idea!" Bismarck replies. "Remember how the wisdom cubes managed to revive us to fight another day?"

"But this is a human we're talking about, not a ship." Georgie says.

"But his flagship also sunk with him." Bismarck explains. "I know this might sound crazy but what if we were to derive a wisdom cube from his information, and use his flagship to revive him, just like he revived you guys!"

"That sounds crazy, but it might just work!" Eugen says. "But who are we going to talk to if we're going to retrieve data on the commander?"

"His higher ups of course." Wales says. "They have information on just about everybody, including us, and including stuff on the fleet. We could very well get the blueprints for his flagship and bring him back to fight again, this time by our side."

"I'm hoping this works though." Georgie says. "Will he even retain his memories?"

"Stop asking and start doing!" Bismarck says. "We won't get anywhere if we keep questioning the possibilities!"

"But there's one thing that we have to ask ourselves." Georgie says. "...Does he really want to come back?" That makes the girls stop and think for a few seconds.

"I'm a man of war, and I will fight until my dying breath."

"I'm not insane, I'm just more stubborn than the typical commander."

"I would have preferred to die fighting, but fate doesn't really care about that kind of thing."

"That's not what he would want..." Wales says. "As much as we want him back, it just wouldn't be fair to him..."

"You're right..." Eugen says, and the girls simply stand around, in muse.