The Engineer

Chapter I: One Night in A Glasgow Pub

"Are you sure about this, sir?"

Admiral Collins of Her Majesty's Royal Navy looks away from the car window to glace at his driver. "Yes, I am sure, Thornton."

"Sorry, sir. It's just that... from what I have heard about this bloke, he seems like the type to hold a grudge." Says Thornton.

Admiral Collins sighs, "trust me Thornton, I know better than most how he thinks." And with that said, he opens the car door and steps out into the pouring rain.

In front of him stands the Old Salt Pub, the best place in Glasgow to find Royal Navy veterans. Though in Admiral Collins' case, there is a specific veteran he has come to Glasgow to find.

'Let's just hope he is willing to hear what I have to say.' Collins thinks to himself. He squares his shoulders and pushes through the front door of the pub.

The first thing he notices about the inside is how the air smelled faintly of saltwater and pipe smoke. Fishermen's gear hung on the walls.

Collins walks up to the bar counter where the bartender was restocking the shelves. Collins coughs to get the bartender's attention. "Excuse me."

The Bartender turns around, his eyes widening upon seeing the Royal Navy Admiral and he quickly snaps to attention with a stiff salute, marking him as a former military man.

Collins returns the salute, "At ease sailor, there is no need for that."

"Sorry, sir. Old habits and all that." Says the Bartender as he relaxes his posture. He reaches underneath the bar counter and pulls out a shot glass, "is there anything I can get for you, sir?"

"Nothing at the moment, instead I was hoping you could tell me where I can find a man by the name of Douglas Lockheart?" Asks Collins.

"That big bear? Yeah, he is in the booth in the back." Says the Bartender.

"Thank you." Says Collins. He turns from the bar and makes his way towards the booth that the bartender pointed at.

The booth's only occupant was indeed a bear of a man, being just over six and a half feet tall with broad shoulders and a thick beard. He was wearing a wool sweater covered by a reefer jacket and a wool cap. His eyes were an icy blue, a rare color. In his hands was a large mug of beer.

"Douglas." Says Collins in greeting, sliding into the opposite side of the booth from Douglas.

"Edward." Greets Douglas in return, using Collins's first name, his voice deep and gravelly. "Been a while."

"That it has." Agrees Collins, his tone somewhat somber. "Four years and five months, if memory serves."

"Sounds about right." Douglas takes a sip of his beer. "So, what brings you this far north? London too warm for you?"

"I wish I could say this is a social visit." Says Collins, "but we both know that would be a lie, so I will simply cut to the chase. I need your help."

Douglas takes another sip of his beer before replying, "Really? Cause last I checked; I was told my services were no longer required."

"You know I was not responsible for your discharge." Collins strongly states.

"No, you weren't. But that organization you work for certainly was." Douglas retorts.

"What would you have had us do, Douglas? Let the Sirens have complete control of the seas? You may not like it, but Azur Lane has done better than any other previous organization in combatting the Siren threat!" Collins exclaims.

Douglas slams his fist onto the table, "damnit Collins, you bloody well know that is not what I took umbrage with!"

The bar goes silent at Douglas' outburst, a dozen pairs of eyes staring at the two men in the booth. Douglas back glares at them, "what you lot looking at?!"

The eyes turned away, leaving Douglas and Collins alone once again.

Douglas sighs heavily, his head in his hands. "God, Edward. What am I doing with my life?"

Collins doesn't answer that question. Instead, he simply observes his friend, noticing the large bags under his eyes, the slouched posture, and just an overall sense of weariness about him. All in all, it gave Collins the picture of a man with a purpose, and a man without a purpose is a broken man.

"Douglas, you are one of the most talented engineers I know." Collins tells the taller man, "I wouldn't be here trying to recruit you back if I believed otherwise. Your insight was instrumental in the making of both the King George V-class as well as the Illustrious-class. You were also consulted by both the Eagle Union and Iris Orthodoxy on the designs of many of their warships. Not to mention the fact..."

"Alright, I get the point." Douglas interrupts him. "Alright, let's say I do decide to help you... what exactly would I be working on?"

Collins smiles, "glad you asked, my friend."

Collins then pulls a document from his overcoat and places it on the table, "this is what I want your help with."

Douglas grabs the document off the table and begins reading it, "Sakura Empire, Battlecruiser Amagi, built in the nineteen-twenties, currently in dry dock awaiting repairs... Seems standard enough." Douglas puts the document back on the table, "yet I take it that there is more to this story, correct?"

"Yes, the Sakura Empire plans to scrap the Amagi a week from now." Collins clenches his fist in anger, "They say her Wisdom Cube is defective, and thus in their eyes useless. But god damnit Douglas, I looked at that ship from bow to stern, and she is as fit to sail as any ship I have known!"

"Wisdom Cube?"

"It's our secret weapon of sorts," explains Collins, "I don't know how they work myself, but I'm told that without them, we would have lost to the Sirens years ago."

"Alright then. So, you say they are going to scrap the Amagi in a week. You believe otherwise. So where in this picture do I fit exactly? Sounds like any naval engineer worth his salt will do the job nicely, so why me?" Asks Douglas.

"Perhaps, but none of them are you, Douglas. You know ships better than anyone. Besides, I want this job done by somebody I trust. So, what do you say?" Collins holds out his hand to shake, "You want the job?"

Douglas looks at the outstretched hand for a moment, takes one last sip of his beer, then slams his mug onto the table. "Ah, what the hell, not like I have anything better to do!" He takes the Admiral's hand and firmly shakes it, "You've got yourself a deal!"

"Wonderful!" Collins says with enthusiasm, "You best travel light, our flight leaves in two hours. Welcome to the Azur Lane Organization, Douglas!"

And Done!

I know this isn't what you guys expected, but this idea came to me while watching a few episodes of the Star Trek: The Original Series one night, and since Scotty is one of my favorite characters so I decided to write this here story.

Basically, I simply needed to write a story about a Scottish Engineer in Azur Lane, except this one is more of a grumpy sea dog kind of character.

This means I will be working on this for a bit, so stay tuned as it were.

Until next time, TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!