The Betrayed Commander and The Abandoned Tsundere (Azur Lane: Origins 1)

Chapter 22: Damage

There was some good news and bad news. The bad news was that both Sora and Hipper's Riggings were leaking oil. The oil was floating up to and fuelling the fireball. The good news was that they had survived and the fireball was only on top of the ocean so it couldn't affect them.

Sora realised that the only way to get above water and to the island where the pedestal was standing was to swim. He deactivated his Rigging and from the decrease in weight on his back, it seemed like Hipper had deactivated her Rigging as well. The commander then swam to the island, Hipper still clinging to his back.

Once they had reached the island, Sora collapsed. 'Hey, Hipper... we made it to the island... you can let go now...' Admiral Hipper rolled off Sora and onto her back. When the commander got up and looked at Hipper, he puked. There were massive gashes all over her body, blood covering her limbs even though she had just been in water. Bits of shrapnel were embedded into her skin. The combination of these injuries and the method of returning through the gateway had made Sora nauseous.

The commander bent down and picked Hipper up. He could see what appeared to be a freshwater spring. Sora stumbled over and laid Hipper in it as gently as he could. He used the fresh water to attempt to clean her wounds. Sora took his shirt of and ripped it into several pieces. He used these pieces of cloth to bandage Admiral Hipper's wounds.

Sora helped Hipper stand up. She had only stopped crying when they were underwater, but once she had made it to land, she continued crying. Admiral Hipper leaned on the commander as they walked back to the island's beach. Graf Zeppelin saw them and ran over. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it when she saw the look on Sora's face. He was crying as well. Silently.

CLUNK!

Sora looked around for the source of the sound. Then he saw Hipper's last gun turret lying on the ground just behind her. He watched as steam shot out from the first hull section of Hipper's Rigging. There was a click and the hull section fell onto the ground with another clunk. Now Graf Zeppelin was crying. The commander looked at her for an explanation and she gave one.

'Admiral Hipper's Rigging is Auto-Purging. This only happens when a shipgirl has been damaged so badly that she cannot fight. She has been damaged beyond repair.'

Just as Zeppelin finished, the one undamaged part of Hipper's Rigging shot steam out of every opening. It then clicked and fell to the ground. Sora's eyes widened. 'No. This can't be. She can't...' The commander watched as Hipper fainted and he caught her. Tears streamed down his face.

'NOOOOOOOOOOO!'

A/N: This chapter is a short one because it was part of the previous one before I decided it was too long and split it in two. Anyway, I didn't expect to take the story down a sad path but there is more happy to come! And this path means more content so the story is longer!