Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Two events have caused my heart to leap to my throat. The first was the day I saw the blimps on TV, floating around the Statue of Liberty as it crumpled around me.

The second was when my ‘promotion’ was supposed to take place.

See, from the beginning, I was a strange man in the eyes of the government, both governments.

My parents are full-blooded US citizens despite one of them not being from the US, yet I was born in international waters, so technically, I don’t ‘belong’ to any country, which still didn’t stop me from enlisting in the Lazarus Project.

So, I watch, wide-eyed as, once again, my world falls around me, and this time it wasn’t because of some Soviet with an admittedly bad accent.

It all started the day I was born, stranded in the middle of nowhere with a doctor, my mother, my father, and other crew members in a shoddy boat. Turns out my parents, in the lower-middle class, managed to dredge up enough money for a short cruise while my mother was pregnant.

As one could guess from the story, I was born in international waters. A few hours later, I was saved, but my status was still questionable. Officially, I am a US citizen, but unofficially, that’s always been a little complicated.

But who cares about things like those with paper pushers around, so that problem was officially pushed off to the side.

Regardless, I mentioned my family was lower-middle class. Well, over time, that became firmly in the lower bracket of society, barely making ends meet, and guess what complex was paying enough to support me and my aging parents despite not even being out of high school?

The Military Industrial Complex…

Yup, I joined the military.

In hindsight, it was… I wish I could say it was the alcohol, but I have been sober since the day I was born. I made that choice with all mental faculties intact and of a sane mind...sadly.

Well, at least I got the airborne division, so that was something to write home about, at least. Then, the tests started.

Physically? They were practically torture, boot camp sucked, but this sucked worse.

Mentally? Exhausting, but that’s when things started to change. See, I was always a bit of a leader, though mostly whenever everyone else was just doing nothing. So, when I was told my CO wanted to talk to me, well, that’s where it all went downhill, kinda. Again.

See, he referred me to something called the Lazarus project, a sort of pseudo-Doomsday prep program where the brightest and best of the military take part to become even brighter in the case of an emergency that places the Military complex at stake.

I joined because, one, it sounded impossible, and everyone there acted like it was an after-school activity, which it was. It was just studying and occasionally performing simulations, and two, I was simply genuinely interested in being better than people.

I wasn’t at first, but I got better and got smarter, unorthodox, orthodox, if it was needed, I could do it to the point where I was fairly good at it. I even got to the rank of Lieutenant amid my training.

I’m thankful I did, especially considering that whole debacle with the Soviets and Yuri. Having the entire military at your disposal is addictive but stressful. Not to say it was always sunshine and rainbows.

Still, despite all of the tactical training, experience, and physical training, jets and, by association, the sky were what I loved dearly and truly. So, getting the opportunity to test out Einstein’s new jet…

Well, it had me practically salivating at the opportunity atop the truck taking me to an airstrip.

At the front seat, I could see myself in the rearview mirror. Blue eyes stared back at me with short blonde hair and a fit body, while I was wearing normal ‘civilian’ clothing, which is a stark difference from what I wore during my time as the Commander of the Allied Forces. My frown turned into a fond smile at the sight of a familiar face, while the vehicle I was in slowed down to a stop, and I got off.

“Ah, Alex, welcome, welcome.” Einstein, the German genius he is, frazzled and flanked by other scientists from various countries, spoke in German, “It heartens me to see you’re still in good health.”

“Physically,” I answered while stepping forward, extending a hand and clasping his, pulling him into a hug and patting his back before pulling back, unable to stop the way my lips twitched upwards, “I’m fine, but mentally…” I trailed off, looking off as Einstein nods sadly in understanding, “The war took a lot out of me.”

“If it’s any consolation, you barely look worse for wear.” Einstein pointed out, as I laughed.

“Time has been kind to me,” I answered while looking to the sky, “I’ve been allowed peace to heal, but even so, any conflict that will pop up shouldn’t include me. At least,” I couldn’t help but scoff, “nothing like Yuri should be popping up any time soon, managing logistics and supply lines is far easier when you don’t have to deploy trained dolphins against mind-controlled squids when the cargo ship’s been attacked.”

“Of course, I’ve heard you’re thinking about re-enlisting?” Einstein noted as I shrugged.

“With the cleanup of the…” I trailed off, finding it hard to come up with the right word for the after-effects of two timelines merging, “merging. A lot of things had people confused, a lot of deja vu, a lot of paperwork was tampered with, thankfully, mine was fine, just took a while to get to.”

“Oh, what a dreadful mess.” Einstein noted with a sigh, “Well, if you’re ever interested-.”

“I’m not interested in joining the Germans or anyone other than my home country.” I cut through as a resounding series of sighs, curses, or stumbling sounds rang out. Einstein simply shrugged.

“It was worth a shot. Now,” Einstein’s eyes glinted in excitement and mine must have reflected it, “let us go and see what you came here for.”

“Fuck yeah!” I yelled, following after the good doctor, and listened to him ramble as they moved to the hangar.

“The original model of this ship was sent to me by the Japanese,” he began, some more scientists joining with equal excitement, “it’s an unnamed model, filled with redundancies and ridden with energy problems along with weight, but with a bit of help and funding provided by Cavill on your insistence, let me reveal to you,” he trails off, letting the Japanese scientist pull the tarp away from the aircraft as my eyes widened, “the Excalibur!”

In all my time in the military, learning about planes, jets, the sky, never had I ever seen something like the Excalibur.

Its form was lean and long, starting thin before widening as one looked down its form. It lacked any paint or notable details beyond a bit of blue, with two guns on either side buried within the wings, another smaller turret at the back, and other knicks and knacks that reminded me of something. “Wait...isn’t this like the SU-25?”

“Yes, it was inspired by the Soviets' models, but that’s not what’s important.” Einstein insisted as he placed a large pile of paper stapled together onto my chest. “Here’s the manual. Get changed and memorize it. Let us worry about the insides.”

While Einstein left, I began to sift through the manual, and my confusion only grew the longer I read. “No gas mask? ‘VTOL’? Jesus, I know I said to go wild, but I think this is just over-’Possibly space-capable’?”

This is overdoing it.

Still, I signed up for it, so I changed into my usual clothes, a leather bomber jacket with some boots, my bag of utilities in case something happens and I find myself stranded, and, finally, a picture.

I smiled at it as I climbed onto the cockpit, popping my knuckles as I placed my hands where they’re supposed to be, occasionally glancing at the manual to make sure it’s right, and then looking at the picture I brought along. A group photo of me and my friends, with an arm hooked around my shoulders, is a Latino with a buzz cut, otherwise known as Manny, General Cavill, Eva, Tanya, Joshua, another fellow grunt in the army, and Einstein, not in that order. All of us were smiling even amid that war. After I shook away the cobwebs and the nostalgia, I started, “Right, Doctor, I saw some pretty absurd terms in that manual, so my expectations are high.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll strive to meet them. Ready?” Einstein asked as I nodded, closing the cockpit as I sank into darkness for a second.

“Affirmative. Lazarus, beginning test flight of the VF-19A, otherwise known as the Excalibur.” I reported, my voice being projected through speakers as I activated the jet.

To my surprise, the cockpit lit up, the dark screens coming to life as they showed my surroundings entirely, a 360-degree view above and around me as more and more information filtered through. “ Alex, can you hear me? ”

“Loud and clear, you told me to hold off on putting on the helmet, right?” I asked, and the German doctor’s face appeared at the corner of my eye on the monitors.

“ Ja, put it on, though it might feel a little strange at first. ” The good doctor explained as I inspected the helmet, nothing too unusual, thankfully, so it probably won’t be the cause of my death anytime soon. At least, I hope it’s not.

Slipping the helmet over my dome, there’s a second where a strange feeling coursed through my head. “Argh! What-?”

Then, before he could do much, the helmet with glass over the eyes, meant to protect the pilot from shrapnel, came to life, displaying information I didn’t understand but knew to an extent. “Doc, what in fuck’s name was that?”

“ Pardon me… ” Einstein trailed off, the sound of tapping keys ringing out as the migraine I had for a second disappeared. “ Perfect. All systems are green, nothing has gone wrong, I say the prototype was a success. ”

“ Compa ,” I started, using the Spanish slang for ‘friend’, taught to me by an… old friend, “I said go wild, but what the hell kind of wild bullshit is this?”

“ Please, calm down. ” Einstein started, almost desperately, something strange for the mad genius. “ The helmet, at the moment, is scanning your brain waves; it’s a prototype meant to be used to fly a plane without the need of training in the future, relying on instinct and habit instead. ”

Wait… does that mean… “What about the weapons? They disarmed?” He asked, looking around as he tried to find some way to disarm the weapons.

“ Of course, ” Einstein said, “ while we were thinking of forgoing the usual controls in favor of just using the helmet, a burst of wisdom came to me .”

“In the form of someone with a saner mind, I hope?” I can’t help but ask, Einstein ignored my words as he continued to ramble without end.

“ They suggested keeping the controls in case something happened and the systems were to be knocked out, or if the controls were being misinterpreted. While we will be going through the calibration, it’s better to be prepared rather than to have complete confidence. Besides, it’ll make the process easier since your mind and body are already used to the controls of similar jets. ” He added, “ There won’t be an awkward transition phase, your body and mind used to what the controls should do when you move them. ”

Well… it… made sense?

I was a commander and a tactician, put me in front of impossible odds in war games or war in general, and I’ll get you victory. Put me in a vehicle capable of flight, and I’ll show you why Angels weep when the US Army takes flight. Give me an impoverished city, starving, and I’ll make a utopia.

Ask me how the brain works, and you’ll see a perfect example of what my old squadmates in basic would call a ‘taxidermist’s dream’, nothing in it.

Again, I was a Commander, not a scientist. “Right… I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“ Trust me, ” Einstein said, which I’d have no problem doing, “ it will fly like a dream. Let me relinquish privileges, and then you can begin the tests. ”

“Roger,” I answered, my hand moving around as I tapped on random surfaces, something to keep myself calm and make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Or not dead. The nightmares aren’t always harsh, usually more befuddling, but they’re there half of the time.

Soon, the visor displayed a notification, telling me that I now had control over all of the Excalibur to use at my wishes. For a second, there was a burst of activity before it died down. Reaching out, the screen changed to ‘Manual’ controls as Josue frowned.

I glanced around and found the necessary buttons and switches before flipping them as the screen changed again. ‘Automatic’.

So, just thinking about it, seemed easy enough, just imagine that all of the pre-flight conditions have been met. With a thought, the thrusters came to life, my mind intimately aware of details as the screen in front of me lit up, displaying information like an aiming reticle for the various weapons, moving as none of the weapons were activated.

It’s the same as a fighter jet but far more… advanced. Still, he had a test to perform, so, with his hands where they’re supposed to be, the thrusters become louder as he internally counts down and bursts through the runway, catching speed before catching flight almost immediately.

“Einstein, this is Lazarus. Takeoff has been successful.” I started, managing to hide my grin and smile from my voice.

“ Well done, we’re calibrating the reactions as we speak. Weapons are free for you to activate, but I have enough faith that you won’t activate them for a test flight. ” Einstein reminded me as I chuckled.

“’Course not,” I said, after all, I wasn’t some rookie fresh off the army. Well… not anymore anyway. “Right, I’ll start with the flight.” I started calming down as I monitored the various pop-ups of the system.

Admittedly, it took a bit of time; occasionally, my body, accustomed to a different jet, would either miss or overreach and possibly press something else. Still, it took a lot less to get used to as he finally got to his favorite part.

Full-speed, and god damn if that wasn’t full speed.

Mach 25 .

Shit, it cruises at Mach 5.

For the daredevil and speed demon in me, this was practically ecstasy, but I managed to keep my cool. Again, this is a test .

After testing out the limits of the fighter jet, its speed, maneuverability, and climbing ability, it’s time for the next part.

“ GERWALK? ” I repeated Einstein’s words. “Sounds a bit ridiculous.”

“ We are not naming experts. We are scientists.” Einstein reminded me, which, while true, doesn’t remove the fact that the name is kinda unoriginal.

“Right, so, just think about it, right?” I asked, tightening my grip o-.

“What the fuck!?” I yelled, the fighter jet turning into, in my professional opinion, literally a ‘jet with legs and arms’. If I didn’t know that this was made by Einstein, I’d have thought someone told a child to draw a jet with legs and arms, and the mechanics just rolled with it.

For a second, I flailed and so did the GERWALK as I had to take a moment to ‘right’ myself as the cockpit changed, it had a fucking gun in one arm and a small shield on the other as I proceeded to right myself. “Right, did you catch that, Einstein?”

“ Yes! ” Einstein started before continuing in German, insisting that I continue the trials, though he said it so quickly, I had trouble translating it for a second.

In GERWALK Mode, the Excalibur was maneuverable, capable of going back and forth, side to side, and in any direction necessary as needed with little problem. The gun clicked, the ‘safety’ still on as I stowed it away and continued flying around.

Soon, the final tests were conducted, and I radioed in. “Right, activating… Battl- Why are these names like this?” I complain before finishing, “Battroid Mode.”

This time, I was prepared for the changes, but not the magnitude, as the image was displayed on his visor. It was of Excalibur's Battroid Mode. “… Fucking ‘ell.”

It was fucking awesome . Reminiscent of the knights of old, with power and dignity that many peasants must have seen during the times of Knights. Probably why they’re so iconic as well.

Each shift of my mind was reflected in the Battroid as I looked around within the new cockpit. “How… This has to be impossible.” I finished, but this isn’t too surprising. The war against the Russians and Yuri afterwards was pretty absurd. Besides, this is a better version of the GERWALK Mode, so the tests are easy and similar, if not a bit more exciting, since it feels like something out of a comic.

I don’t think the scientists minded the short distance I flew in a Superman pose.

Still, all good things must come to an end, and once the tests were over, Einstein appeared once more, “ Excellent, Alex, this data is going to be useful for future trials. Now, there’s one last thing, see within your fighter jet, I installed a prototype of the Chronosphere. I wish to see how it works. ”

“… You know what,” I muttered under my breath, because, honestly, I feel like being surprised will just exhaust me more than it did during my stint as the Commander of the Allied Forces, “fuck it. Fine, let’s start with a slow flight.”

While the jet doesn’t need to be in motion, it’s slightly more dramatic if I activate the Chronosphere in the middle of it. Also, I might as well look cool before I die if something does go wrong.

So, I activated it, a gauge beside the option showing the amount of power it has stored up and how much it’ll use.

Slowly, lightning arced around the jet, the world outside of the field being projected by the jet and proto-Chronosphere to protect the pilot in the shift between time as the string of lightning continued.

Except someone made a mistake.

I knew the feeling of time travel, of wrongness that comes with defying the laws of physics, among other things. Of defying God and whatever primordial being was in charge of the flow of time.

This… it wasn’t the same.

“Einstein! We’ve got a problem! I don’t think this is going back in time!” I yelled, a strange force enveloping me, “Shit!” I started pressing anything, but the process couldn’t be stopped, no matter how hard I tried; a countdown began. “Fi-. Fine. Einstein. Tell everyone it’s been a pleasure, and try not to mourn me too much. You’ve all got lives and time you can spend doing better things. This Angel is about to take off.” I finished as the telltale zoom of something happening, the pressure increasing until I couldn’t endure it further.

The last thing I feel is the feeling of blood in my mouth, and then I pass out.

Alex cruised away as the world he left behind scrambled, grieved, but inevitably went about their lives, his very presence having changed warfare as his wish was granted. A lost leader, now looking for purpose beyond simply going through the motions of daily life.

For those who watched, watching the man who saved the world go out in an indecipherable event was fitting, better than some death in the battlefield, assassination, or anything they could think of. Just a load of ‘what the fucks?’ and ‘what was that?’.

The Excalibur continued its journey, expending energy until it finally flew out of wherever it was as it continued to cruise over the sky, the proto-Chronosphere powering down and leaving the Excalibur to fly on its power. Alex came to life a few seconds later, shaking as he looked around. “Where…?” He swallowed the blood in his mouth and placed his hands on the controls once more. “Einstein, you there?”

Nothing but static came back, his visor displaying a message, ‘Connection Lost’. “Fuck.” He cursed, looking around at the expanse of the sky as he looked around some more, checking the surrounding area, the radar coming up empty. “So… what now?” He wondered out loud, various tabs popping up as he cruised over the ocean. The temperature… “Pacific then.”

Fairly humid and tropical area, even with the AC inside the fighter jet, now comes the real question.

“Did I go back in time?” He asked himself, since the Chronosphere usually acts as an anchor, making sure that whenever someone dips into the past, they appear in the same location they were previously. So he should be somewhere above the forest of Germany, not the Pacific.

“I should check on the nearest naval base, it should be… Hawaii, if I’m correct. So, Pearl Harbor.” He said to no one, mostly to try and organize his thoughts as he pushes the fighter jet to its cruising speed, enjoying the sight of the seas, the calm radar, and the skies.

Even as a Commander of the Allied Forces, he always loved going out on flights, even if he was usually escorted while doing so, he was second only to the President. So even if he, say, purposely broke away from his escorts to participate in a race, no one could scold him. Not that anyone, with the exception of those that were personally close to him, would.

Still, he slowly climbed in altitude to a level that should obscure the jet and be outside of the range of any coastal AA guns or their radars, as he finds it and pauses. Switching to the VTOL, the Excalibur now hovering in place, he does something stupid.

The cockpit receded, and he removed the helmet while grabbing some binoculars as he stepped onto the wings. The gentle hum of the active thrusters causes minute vibrations on the machine as he crouches down, crawling to his stomach as he looks down at what is supposed to be a naval base. “What in the world…?”

Bringing the binoculars to his eyes, he could see that Pearl Harbor was in shambles, some of the buildings seemed to be peppered with gunfire usually seen in fighter planes, with craters associated with varying bombers. There’s also the various ships still being towed around and…

Girls?

He had to lower his binoculars for a moment and practically lean into the sky, narrowing his eyes to make sure he could see it, and he can. In the sea of uniforms associated with the US Navy, he can see a few that stand out that are definitely not uniforms.

Now that he noticed, the uniforms of the Navy officers were… strange in a way. Almost antiquated in comparison to what he’s used to. If he had to nail a time in particular, according to his occasional forays into the various branches of the military, it’d be….

Fuck, those look from the fifties at the most. The Russians’ attacks wouldn’t have even happened at this time and-.

An idea, traitorous and alluring, bloomed in his mind as he shook his head. Einstein already warned him once about the dangers of traveling through time and the changes that could be caused. He begged, thought, and tried as hard as he could, but changing the past, enough to stop that event…

Still…

“ Fuck. ” He hissed under his breath, shaking his head and looking down once more, watching as older fighter planes began taking to the runway. Cursing again, he looks at the sea of uniforms that are sailors and the occasional woman in strange clothing, for some reason, as none of them are pointed his way. Lowering them, he weighs his options.

At the moment, he’s in the past, but the process that brought him here… It couldn’t be time-travel, he’s aware of the various intricacies of time travel thanks to Einstein and his drunken rambles, along with his own experiences in his battle against Yuri.

Not time travel, so what could it be? Well, two concepts are usually put together, so if it isn’t ‘time’ then it has to be ‘space’, but if Pearl Harbor was attacked, he’d probably be the first to be called by any means necessary, so…

Shouldn’t he be able to connect to nearby communication centers?

He can recognize warmed planes, so he needs to check a few things before he can make a decision.

Slowly, Alex made his way back to the cockpit, entering as he slips his helmet over his head and begins to fly off, he needs to check a few things and corroborate them with his knowledge as he hopes his current conjecture is wrong. If it isn’t, well… He isn’t a stranger to strange situations.

Still, it’ll be the first time he’s ever slipped into a new world.

“Japan…” Alex noted down the flag flying in one of the nearby islands as he frowned, “Those aircraft look outdated, though.” He added to himself, the Excalibur still cruising at an altitude away from the capability of coastal AA or ship guns. Once more, he made a quick course over the islands and tried to listen in to their radios, but didn't have much success.

“Seems recent, Japan must have caught America off guard.” Alex said as he checked the map on the screen. “Seems to be a line, so let’s check… there.”

There were a chain of islands nearby, there should be someone or something that can help Alex make sense, or at least allow him to take stock of the situation on dry land. So, with that thought in mind, he began to make his way over to the location.

“Laffey!” A young woman spoke, her lavender hair bouncing with each jog as her blouse and skirt fluttered with each step, a spear in hand as she made her way through a ship with practiced ease, “Oh, where are you!?”

“Here… Javelin~.” A voice rang out quietly, the young woman by the name of Javelin, entered the room with the words ‘Living Quarters’ labeling it as she walked in.

“Oh, come on, Laffey, it’s about ti- What are you doing?” She yelled, looking at the piles of mattresses, pillows, blankets, and more on the floor, stripped from the bunks with a single arm appearing, thin as it slowly curls into a thumbs-up.

“I was sleepy.” Laffey explained, her voice muffled since she was between a pair of mattresses. “The pressure feels nice~.”

“Maybe so,” Javelin began, reaching for her friend’s arm, peeking through the pile of pillows and blankets, “but it’s nearly time to report to Long Island and Unicorn. You don’t want to make them worry, do you?”

“Long Island should just come here,” Laffey said, slowly revealing her form as Javelin pulled her away from the mattresses, revealing a pale young girl with red eyes and fluffy white hair set in twintails, a sweater hanging around her elbows with a white and blue shirt, and a red skirt. Atop her twintails were a set of bunny ears that twitched despite being artificial.

“C’mon, we’ll be late with our reports otherwise.” Javelin insisted, stumbling as she finally managed to extract her friend out of her self-imposed, comfy prison.

“To whom?” Laffey asked, causing Javelin to pause as the lazy girl yawned, bringing a hand to her mouth. “There’s no Commander in Azur Lane, High Command hasn’t sent anyone to replace the last one that died in Pearl Harbor, and he didn’t let Laffey sleep much.” Laffey pointed out, slumping while turning to Javelin and pouting, even if her sleepy face didn’t show it much, “He was strict.”

“Was he?” Javelin asked, tilting her head, “The chap that was our Commander for a while was pretty lax, though…” She started, thinking back to the Commander of the Royal Navy she was stationed under for a while before the whole debacle began with the Ironblood, “I think that’s mostly because he didn’t know what to do with us, in hindsight.”

After all, they were weapons given human bodies, despite some of their petite frames, within them they carry enough weapons to level a small building, some can even cause countries to re-draw their maps entirely.

For those accustomed to the military and similar, it’d probably be difficult to become accustomed to the discipline, or lack of it in some cases, most KANSEN, or Shipgirls, display, while others have trouble seeing them as weapons or humans. Their treatment was varied, but it was common for it to be more positive than negative.

“Still,” Javelin insisted, “you wouldn’t want everyone back at base to worry. C’mon, let’s check in with Unicorn and Long Island, and we can compile a report to send back.”

“Mmmh~.” Laffey moaned, muffling a yawn as she sighed, reaching under a bunk and bringing out a bottle of Oxy-Cola. Before Javelin could stop her, Laffey grabbed her spear and rested the blade under the cap with her hand right under it. With a twist, the cap of the cola popped off, and she returned the spear to Javelin, grabbing her respected weapon with a small whine as Laffey chugs the cola, stopping midway and sighing. “Fine, let’s go.”

“Huh?” Javelin asked as Laffey made her way through her ship as Javelin followed after her, “Wait for me~.”

Soon, the two found themselves atop the USS Laffey’s bridge, the Destroyer cruising along the waves with the HMS Javelin beside her ship a distance away. The two closed their eyes, mostly to concentrate and possibly fall asleep, as they used their internal radios to hail their fellow Kansen.

“ Hey~, Laffey hasn’t seen anything~. Report done. ” Came Laffey’s voice, despite her mouth not moving, as she began to slump atop her chair, and Javelin began to panic.

“ L-Laffey, you can’t just-! ”

“ This ghost hasn’t either~. My scouts haven’t seen anything either~. ” Long Island spoke, atop her bridge, munching on some snacks, making sure none of them landed on her long black hair, her blue eyes closed in joy at the easy job she got. Her blue jacket’s sleeves, usually long enough to cover her hands, were rolled up to make snacking easier in the middle of her job.

“ Long Island~ .” Javelin started, “ Can’t you be a bit more… verbose? ”

“ How would you put it then? ” Long Island asks.

“ Er, well, let’s see… ” Javelin started, looking out to the endless ocean, “ The waves lap easily against my hull, our luck allowing us an easy patrol. ”

There was a pause in the comms as Laffey turned to Javelin, her mouth moving as her words seemed to overlap in Javelin’s head as Laffey’s voice was spoken and sent through the channel, “Isn’t that just a fancy way to say nothing happened?”

“I know~!” Javelin despaired as she slumped over, her eyes closed, and in a grimace as she nearly fell to her knees. “Darn it, how in the bloody hell can Hood or Warspite write their reports and make them seem so… fancy ?”

“ Ummm ,” The fourth and final member of the patrol started, Unicorn resting at the bridge of her, long lavender hair tied into a side bun with a white dress and lavender eyes staring into her various systems, a stuffed unicorn in her hands. “ Isn’t it because they’re the ones who usually do the reports? They have a lot of experience. ”

“ I know. ” Javelin started, on her hands and knees, “ But-.”

“ Huh? ” Unicorn interrupted, her scout planes landing on her flight deck as the information filters through her mind, relaying the information gathered. “ Ummm, Long Island? ”

“ Hm? ” Her fellow aircraft carrier asked, her scout planes resting on her flight deck.

“ What model is this plane? I’ve never seen it with the Royal Navy, maybe you’ve seen it with the Eagle Union. ” Unicorn asked, Long Island’s voice humming through their internal communication.

“ Hmmm, let’s see, let’s see~ .” Long Island said, Unicorn, sending the information to her, the image included as Long Island pauses.

“ Well… ” Long Island trailed off before shrugging, “ Beats me, never seen it in the Eagle Union, and the Sakura have been using those new Zeros, right? ”

“ Laffey, Javelin, have you-ah! ” Unicorn started before being interrupted as her stuffed anima came to life, standing atop one of the tables and looking out. “Yuni, what’s wrong?” Unicorn asked her stuffed animal to point to the radar, something was coming at them. He reacted in the same way he did a few hours ago, insisting that they go on this patrol… for some reason.

Then, Laffey woke up, “Someone’s hailing Laffey. It’s a bit hard to discern the frequency, but it feels like Eagle Union.” Laffey reported. Her AA weapons came to life, but didn’t swivel to point anywhere.

“Really?” Javelin asked, looking around, “Who could it be?”

“Dunno…” Laffey said, their line going silent.

“I think we should report this to-.”

“Hi~.” Laffey started easily, to Javelin’s surprise and anxiety.

“Laffey!”

“This is Laffey of the USS Laffey, unidentified craft, please identify yourself or Laffey will have to shoot, yes.” She proclaimed, the line going silent for a second.

Finally, a voice cracked through, “ Err, Laffey of the… USS Laffey, this is callsign Lazarus, asking for permission to land on one of the flight decks of your carriers. ”

Laffey didn’t answer at first, turning to Javelin, a single brow raised as the question was obvious, and Javelin shook her head. Considering neither of them recognizes the callsign, Long Island and Unicorn probably don’t either.

“ Umm, ” Unicorn starts, interrupting their train of thought, “ he can land on my flight deck, I should have enough space to let him land. ”

“ Are you sure? ” Javelin asked as Long Island sighed.

“ Well, mine doesn’t exactly have the space for any extra aircraft. ” Long Island admitted. “ I don’t think he’s Sakura either. ”

He doesn’t have any particular accent, so he’s probably from the Eagle Union, as an agreement was reached. “Lazarus, sir, you’re clear to land on the HMS Unicorn.”

“… Thanks? ” He seemed almost confused before the line was cut as the girls waited for whatever, or whoever, the signal was coming from.

In a completely unprecedented move, when Laffey spotted what it was that hailed them, she spat some Oxy-cola on Javelin by accident, and Javelin couldn’t find it in her to care, the plane landing on Unicorn’s deck vertically rather than how theirs would. Sleek and almost futuristic, one thing came across all Kansen.

I need to see this.

Chapter Text

Alex made his way out of the cockpit of the Excalibur, landing on the flight deck of the HMS Unicorn, a WWII aircraft carrier mind you, after he directly stopped WWIII and Yuri’s bullshit. Slowly, he made his way down, his hand on his personal M1911 he bought for his stash of weapons, especially if you consider one thing.

The flight deck was empty; there was no one around. He could spot a few ships waiting to be launched, but they had no crew, no maintenance workers, and no engineers or mechanics to maintain them. It’s almost like a genuine ghost ship.

It was… eerie.

What was the word… He might have been an Army grunt, but during his tenure as the Allied Commander, he encountered a term used by some foreign Navies. Klau… something. Or maybe it had to do with some show he hasn’t seen, he’s not sure. Still, with how empty this place was, it was like a ghost ship.

Which he did not like, not at all. Practically ancient aircraft, such as those at the end of the flight deck, required a crew and personnel to operate the AA guns. Of course, he was more familiar with the ships of his time, and this is a British ship, so maybe there are things he doesn’t know. Inwardly, he couldn’t help but try to estimate how many gallons of oil this ship would use along with its estimated crew and thei-.

“Ummm.” A voice began beside him as he practically jumped out of his skin, turning to see who it was, nearly drawing his pistol before stopping with closed eyes after looking who it was.

She was young, almost unbelievably so, with lavender hair and a white dress on her slim body. She looked pretty young, but he’s not the best at guessing ages, or maybe his view of high schoolers is skewed. Still, she didn’t look like she belonged on a ship.

Removing his hand from his holster, Alex turned to her, “Um, hey…” He trailed off, still looking around, “You… know where the CO of this ship is? I need to talk with them, though I’m not sure if they’re on break or something.” He said, reaching a hand up and grumbling, “I could’ve sworn I saw some aircraft dock in here.”

“Ummm,” the young girl holding the unicorn plushie hummed, almost unsure, “t-there aren’t any.”

Her words caused Alex to pause, turning to her with a blank look in his eyes, “...Excuse me?” He asked, his tone indecipherable. “Then who’s steering the ship?” He asked as she slowly raised her hand, to his continued confusion. “How?”

She could be using the same technology, but what he was using was a prototype . If this is the past, then how would they have it? Not to mention, he needs the helmet for it to work, and she’s not wearing a helmet.

“Because it’s my ship.” She answered, like it was the most obvious answer, “I’m Unicorn, Support Carrier of the Royal Navy.” The now-named Unicorn starts, her plushie shook, catching her attention and looking at it before raising it, “This is Yuni.”

The plushie raised an arm and waved at him. An inanimate object moved. Aren’t unicorns the ones with horns on their heads? Why does this one have wings?

“Well…” He started, bringing a hand to his head and running his hand through his hair. He mouthed a curse, making sure it’s not audible for the young girl who’s either delusional, or the seamen were right in that the ships had souls, and why they referred to them as ‘her’. Shifting and placing a hand on his hip, the answers didn’t come easily.

Finally, he let his hand drag along his face, resting it on his chin as he chewed on nothing. “Well, do you have a CO I can talk to?”

“Do you want to talk with Big Sister?” She asked, tilting her head as Alex sighed.

“Well, if I can get some answers from her, it’d be good.” He relented, “Yeah, I’d like to talk with this ‘Big Sister’ if you can.”

“I can’t.” She answered before brightening up, the innocence and beauty causing him to visibly flinch and bring a hand to his face. “But you can come with us! We’re about to make our way back home.”

“Umm, sure.” Alex relented, reaching out and instinctively placing a hand on her head as some of the older soldiers would when he was in basic, though far more gently as he realized what he’d done and brought his hand back. “Oh, sorry.”

“I-It’s fine.” She said, her face blooming red in embarrassment, as Alex had to wonder about her choice of words.

Her ship, not the ship, it stuck in his mind, as if the ship was a part of her rather than a separate entity. His ears caught the splash of the ocean, followed by a second and a third as he instinctively grabbed the grip of his M1911 as Unicorn’s eyes brightened.

“Everyone!” She said, jogging over to the edge as three forms land on the deck, as he paused for a second, because why did they have naval armaments attached to their body? The black-haired girl with a blue sweater had a flight deck around her waist. Beside her, a girl with a spear had a torpedo tube attached to her with a turret on the other side. She seemed peppy as her eyes widened, and she almost seemed awed.

His eyes landed on the last one, a white-haired girl with twintails, a set of torpedo tubes, and a turret as their eyes locked. On one hand, she seems like an NCO’s nightmare. On the other hand…

Her eyes opened wide, her ‘ears’ twitching as the two locked eyes and Alex recognized the look in her eyes. Intense, she almost straightened up before slumping over, almost as if it wasn’t worth the effort. “Sleepy…” She says, her eyes on the Excalibur, with interest in them.

“Woah~.” The lavender-haired girl said, “What’s this?”

“It looks like something straight out of a game~.” The black-haired girl noted, looking around while Unicorn did the same. The sleepy girl didn’t seem interested; instead, she walked straight to him before stopping.

“You… Laffey, right?” He asked, the girl nodding, bringing her hand up in a faux-salute.

“Yes~. I’m Laffey, a Benson-class Destroyer. Are you our new Commander?” She asked, reaching into her hoodie hanging off her shoulder and bringing out a bottle. “Here.” Laffey extended her hand and gave it to Alex.

“Thanks?” He trailed off as she nodded.

“We’re partners now.” Laffey confirmed, “Help me finish them before Akashi notices.”

These are grunts.

Roping unwitting people into things that might get them in trouble if they’re caught? Snorting, Alex grabbed his knife and popped open the cap, sheathing it before taking a sip.

“Laffey~!” The lavender-haired girl whined, “How many times have we told you not to touch the supplies without permission? You know how mad they’ll be when they find out?”

“‘If’.” Laffey corrected her, taking a sip from her bottle as Alex did the same. It wasn’t too bad, but it probably wasn’t geared for human taste buds, but he can push through it. “Besides, we’re bringing him back to base, right? Wouldn’t be good to have him hungry when he gets there.”

“Hunger and thirst use two completely different foods.” Javelin said before blinking as she jerked up, “Ah, er, um, hello.”

“’Sup.” He answered, raising a hand before extending it, “Alex Walker.”

“Oh, I’m Javelin.” She responded with a smile, grasping his hand and shaking it, “A J-Class Destroyer.” She answers, a slight accent reaching into her English, as he smiles back.

“Charmed.” He answered, his smile relaxing as she blinked and coughed, looking away with a hint of red on her face. However, something bothered him as he turned to see the black-haired girl freeze, her hands in her sleeves, looking as if she was about to pounce.

He raised a brow at her giggle, “Hello~, I am the Eagle Union’s first escort carrier, Long Island. I use cute planes to protect merchant ships as well as sea lanes~.”

“Good to meet you,” Alex said as he looked at the girls. “So… what are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Shipgirls.” Laffey answered, yawning, “But the Sakura calls us Kansen . High Command doesn’t like us using that name after their betrayal, so it’s Shipgirl.”

Sakura. Eagle Union.

“Right!” Javelin straightened, as if realizing something, “We have to call this in, right?”

“Mmh,” Laffey grumbled, sitting down and falling back on the deck, “don’t wanna.”

“Me either.” Long Island agreed, though now she was atop the Excalibur and languishing on one of the wings.

“I don’t think we’re in range either,” Unicorn noted out loud. “We should turn back and leave Big Brother at Azur Lane.”

“’Big Brother’?” He repeated with a bit of amusement as Unicorn squeaked and buried her face into the plushie she had on hand. She cautiously peeled away from it as he laughed, “Sorry, just never had someone call me that.”

“You… You don’t mind?” She asked, peeling away with a blush on her face as Alex shook his head.

“Not at all.” He confirmed, a fond smile on his face, reaching out and tussling her hair gently. Smiling fondly, though he could see Javelin and Laffey’s interest as he laughed. “Right, right. That’s enough. You girls have got a job to do, right?”

“Ah.” Javelin perked up, “Right, we’re at the midway point.” Javelin noted as the four close their eyes and the ship under his feet begins to shift, the others doing the same despite none of them having a crew. Tons of pounds of steel were being moved with a single thought from these girls.

What a scary thought.

They opened their eyes as they turned to him, “So, Mr. Walker,” Javelin started, leaning forward in interest, “tell us a little about yourself.”

“What’s there to say?” He asked, grinning sardonically, “The only thing I can say is that I’m American on paper, and was born on international waters. Regardless, I went back home and decided to join the Army to help support my parents, joined the airborne division, tested out this jet, and found myself here.”

“Really?” Javelin asked as Long Island sighed atop the wings of his jet.

“I’ve never seen something like this.” Long Island asserted from atop the wings of the Excalibur.

“It’d be weird if you did. It’s…” He trailed off before continuing, “complicated.”

It was, especially if you consider that either the Navy was better at hiding secrets than the Army, the Marines, the Air Force, and the government combined, or Alex isn’t in his world anymore. It’s the only thing that made sense, especially since one would have to ask why the Navy didn’t attempt to deploy the Kansen during the War. Too many things didn’t add up, though.

It was also getting hot. He knew it was the Pacific, he knew it was hot, and he knew they were near the Hawaiian islands, but still…

Reaching up, he unzipped his bomber jacket, while capable of keeping him warm in the cold sky, is not doing him any favor in the Pacific atop the Unicorn. Unicorn seems to notice, “U-Umm, Big Brother, would you like to come inside? I can contact Azur Lane.” She said as Laffey sat up.

“Mmh. Laffey will come inside.” She spoke without prompting as Javelin chased after her.

“Laffey~, you can’t just invite yourself, that’s rude!” Javelin pointed out as Laffey tilted her head.

“Isn’t staring at someone rude?” Laffey asked, Javelin’s heart dropping as the Destroyer continued, “You were looking pretty hard at A-.”

“It seems like you’re getting heatstroke!” Javelin interrupted, turning to Unicorn with a blush on her face, “Is it alright if we go inside?”

“Umm, sure,” Unicorn confirmed, looking at Alex as he nodded.

“Well, I’d love to. It’s getting pretty warm.” He added, removing his leather bomber and fiddling with the white shirt he wore under it, unaware of the intense stares he was getting from the various Kansen from the way his shirt clung to his well-built form.

He might have been a Commander and spent a lot of time flying before that, but he was also an Army grunt once and still works out on occasion. He was well-built, and the Kansen , despite being the personification of warships, are young girls and women.

Alex turned and raised a brow at the stares, “Something on my face?” He asked, knocking them out of their stupor, except for Laffey, who shamelessly kept looking with the same sleepy eyes.

“N-No. Nothing.” Unicorn began, hiding her red cheeks with her doll as she hurried, Javelin doing the same while pulling Laffey along. He passed under the wing of the Excalibur, a shadow appearing under him as he turned.

“Oof.” He grunted, Long Island landing on him as the Kansen grabbed onto his neck, and he caught her, finding his balance before he could fall.

“Ehehehe~.” She chuckled mischievously, “You’ve caught this Ghost~.”

“Well, you won’t hear me complain.” Alex retorted, amused as he reached up and tousled her hair. “You’re a lot prettier and a lot more corporeal than other ghosts I’ve met.”

“Aw,” Long Island said while he shifted, allowing her to move so he was giving her a piggy-back ride. “Thank you~.”

He missed how Laffey, Javelin, and Unicorn seemed jealous of Long Island as he made his way through the HMS Unicorn’s insides with a Ghost on his back and following the personifications of warships.

… It’s been a strange day, probably only slightly beat by the day the timelines merged.

Within a room, a chubby bird was sleeping, its eyes opened and closed in a fugue of sleep, unable to completely wake itself up but still aware of its surroundings. Or, at least, that’s what it would say if it were caught; at least it isn’t a military employee, so it doesn’t have to worry about the MP.

Then, a series of beeps rang out as the bird chirped, jerking up as it came to life. Its eyes looked around before it found the source as the Manjuu activated it. “ Umm, this is the HMS Unicorn speaking. ”

The Manjuu chirped into the microphone as he pressed something else. If anyone were looking at the HMS Unicorn’s communication room, they’d see a light come to life to represent that yes, someone was listening. Of course, Unicorn herself just felt it instinctively. “ Please tell Big Sis- I mean, HMS Illustrious that we’re making our way back. The patrol went fine, but we managed to find a man with the callsign Lazarus with a pretty jet. I think Big Sister and Prince of Wales would like to talk to him. ”

The Manjuu chirped before grabbing a paper and scribbling something on it while Unicorn spoke, describing a few more details. Finally, it chirped again and waited. “ Umm, anything else? No, not really. Big Brother is very nice. ”

The Manjuu chirped once more, and the connection was cut lest the Sakura manage to pin down their patrol’s exact location from the signal.

Folding the paper, the Manjuu chirps, another Manjuu came as the first passed the paper to the second as the second nodded and walked to the edge of a nearby window, jumping off and flapping its wings as it flew. Below him was the Command Center of Azur Lane within the Pacific, a base resembling a town rather than a naval base, split into ‘districts’ punctuated by the dorms found within. Stylistically, every dorm was different but of equal quality, even if a few were empty at the moment.

Flying over the Command Center, the Manjuu looked for the Royal Navy’s dormitories, various ships docked by the port or on drydocks from recent encounters. Despite this, there were no males on the base, only females and the Manjuu themselves. The flags of the respective navies within are raised, except for a few.

The Manjuu made his way to a dormitory resembling a noble’s home from the era of knights. It made its way through the back and towards a garden where two women were resting, drinking tea. Landing, it chirps, leaving the letter as a maid picked it up, her eyes a deep brown and her hair stark white. “Thank you.” She said, patting the bird’s head, and turned to the other two, “Illustrious, Prince of Wales, we seem to have gotten some correspondence.”

The first to react was a woman in a white dress and a white sunhat, her blue eyes twinkling with curiosity as her sizable chest shifted at every movement, her gloved hand leaving her tea on its plate. “Oh, is it from Unicorn?”

On the other side, a woman sipped from her cup of tea, her blonde hair cut short and braided with a uniform reminiscent of an officer’s with a cape around her shoulder. She opened an eye, revealing a red eye as she fixed her skirt, “Or maybe it could be from Long Island, Javelin, or Laffey, calm yourself, Illustrious. The surge of energy the scientists spoke of might have come from their direction, but it doesn’t mean that they were in the midst of it. It’s more than likely that they had something to report uninvolved with the surge.”

“I know, Prince of Wales,” Illustrious said calmly, “I’m just worried as an older sister ought to be, especially after Pearl Harbor.”

Prince of Wales wryly smirked before accepting the letter from the maid. “Thank you, Hermione.”

While the maid backed away with a bow, Prince of Wales opened the letter, humming as she read through the letter. Once she read through it, her lips twitched while she showed it to Illustrious, trying to stifle her chuckles. “Seems like Unicorn either brought you a brother, a husband, or a problem High Command won’t like.”

“Oh my.” Illustrious said, noting the words, probably summarized as she read through it, her lips forming into a smile, “Well, isn’t this interesting?”

“Sadly, Enterprise isn’t here… again.” Prince of Wales said with a sigh. “We’ll have to call Hornet.”

“The Grey Ghost should be back from her sortie in the afternoon, right?” Illustrious noted, “For now, let’s get together and meet the other representatives and see what we can do.”

Prince of Wales nodded along with her fellow Royal Navy Kansen . The two made their way outside the dormitory of the Royal Navy and to the mess hall, where the youngest sister of the Yorktown-class aircraft carriers of the Eagle Union was taking a moment to relax in between sorties and talking to her fellow Kansen .

“And then, as the Zeros closed in-.” The blonde was in the middle of regaling one of the stories of her deployments, her twintails swaying with each movement as her cape covered her shoulders from the elements over her skimpy clothes. Despite the interest all the other Kansen displayed, she paused as she spotted Prince of Wales and Illustrious. “Oh, hey, Prince! Illustrious!” She said, waving at them as she stood up, grabbing her cowboy hat and exiting from the stories as the various kitchen staff in the form of Kansen worked. “How’s it hanging? Looking for my sister?”

“No, we were looking for you.” Prince of Wales retorted with a smile as Hornet leaned forward with a raised brow, her green eyes twinkling from amusement.

“Because Enterprise isn’t here.” She pointed out, again, stepping forward as Prince of Wales and Illustrious did their very best not to show the guilt on their face.

“C’mon Hornet, lay off them a little bit, why don’tcha?” A blonde with red eyes and a white cape with star-spangled stockings on her feet walked up behind them, sending a pointed look at Hornet as the blonde reeled back and fixed her cowboy hat.

“Sorry, but it was amusing,” Hornet responded as she laughed, Prince of Wales rolling her eyes as Illustrious brought a hand to her cheek.

“So, whatcha need?” Hornet asked, as Prince of Wales continued.

“Could you contact Eagle Union High Command. Unicorn’s patrol came across a rogue element from the US Army, supposedly.” She said as Hornet raises a brow, shifting as she places a fist against her hip.

“Huh, that’s strange… What else do ya got on ‘em?” She asked as Illustrious showed her the paper and Hornet grabbed him, reading it, “Airborne? Something ain’t right.” Hornet noted, returning the paper to them, “The Army ain’t Marines, but they’re still trained to a standard, especially the pilots. If someone like that went AWOL? Just ain’t believable that they wouldn’t tell us, or that they’d be around here at all.”

“Oh?” Prince of Wales noted as Hornet nodded, her face scrunching up.

“I get the feeling that not everything is as it seems,” Hornet said, her expression remarkably serious with a hand on her chin, a beat of silence overcoming all of them.

“Would you quit it with the jokes?” Cleveland requested with exasperation while Hornet chuckled.

“Alright, but seriously, something ain’t right,” Hornet noted as she brought up a hand to her chin. “Let me call my sister, make sure she’s stopping by to have maintenance performed on her.”

“That would be ideal.” Prince of Wales suggested with a sigh, “The higher-ups won’t like this at all.”

“Well,” Hornet said with spread hands and raised shoulders, “now you know how we feel.”

“I heard one of the higher-ups from the Eagle Union was a real go-getter.” Prince of Wales noted as she brought up a hand to her chin, “What was it… Warspite liked reading one of his manuals… ‘Learn how to fire accurately before learning how to fire quickly’?”

“Oh him.” Hornet noted with a nod, “Yeah, he worked with Washington for a while. Heard he used the image of the German Chancellor to test the security of a lot of places.”

“Which one?”

“The one that caused a rift between the Iron Blood and the military,” Hornet answered as Prince of Wales reeled. Even in Azur Lane, it was common knowledge that while the Kansen were well-known and famous in their respective countries, that didn’t mean they ruled everything, so even if the Iron Blood didn’t cause a rift in Azur Lane with their alliance with the Sakura, the Chancellor wasn’t exactly doing their country any favors.

While there is a separation between governments and their militaries, at first the higher-ups were happy until it was revealed that the Iron Blood were messing with Siren tech, and by then it was too late since the people supported the Kansen for all that they’ve done. So, now all they could do was go along with the ride.

Still, Illustrious interjected, “Ladies, I believe it’d be prudent to prepare a room for our guest.”

“Where?” Cleveland pointed out, “I mean, we’ve got the dorms and I don’t think anyone would care.”

“I’m a bit worried about how some of the girls would react.” Prince of Wales noted out loud, “We haven’t had much interaction with the other sex ever since we gained these bodies.” She noted, running her hand over her buxom body.

“True.” Cleveland noted, rubbing the back of her head, “Everything we do is mostly automatic, so having a crew would just be bothersome.”

“Well, he can stay in the Eagle Union dorm until we, or High Command, figure out what to do with him,” Hornet noted as she scratched at her cheek.

“He’ll probably be more comfortable in the Royal Navy’s dormitory.” Prince of Wales pointed out, pointing at Hermione following after them, “The Maid Corps’ service is second-to-none.”

While the white-haired maid subtly puffed her chest out in pride, Cleveland and Hornet glanced at each other. “Prince, I don’t know how the Brits train their soldiers, but I think going from being forced awake to being gently woken up by a maid…”

“There’s a shift, and then there’s a plummet.” Cleveland pointed out as Hornet nodded. “Besides, he’s American, Eagle Union, I’m fairly sure he’d be a lot more comfortable waking up somewhere that’s similar to home, at least.”

“Well, that is true.” Prince of Wales admitted before nodding, “But do the dorms have the space?”

“We should.” Hornet nods, “If we don’t, we can just throw him in the Commander’s Quarters or something.”

“Hornet,” Prince of Wales began sternly, “you know that’s not our decision to make.”

“I know, but it’s the only place we can put a human in if we don’t have the space.” Hornet pointed out as Prince sighed.

“Let’s leave the discussions until the others get back.” Illustrious recommended with a smile, “Let’s go tell the others first, though.”

“Right,” Cleveland said, chuckling, “they were panicking when they couldn’t figure out what that surge of energy was. C’mon, before they cook up some new scheme or other.”

Within the folds of reality, away from what man, woman, religious, atheist, or whoever could comprehend, a young girl hummed, her white hair floating behind her and her body scarcely covered, her yellow eyes glowed, and she rested atop a bundle of tentacles covering futuristic armament. “How curious.”

Something has invaded this world, something no one expected.

It piqued a bit of… curiosity within her, so she looked for the origin, observing as she followed the ripples and came across nothing but air over the area. Not even a spatial, temporal, or quantum disturbance to be found.

“Interesting…” Her voice hummed, placing a hand on her cheek and pondering, “Now, where could it have gone?”

For anyone else, trying to find the source of the disruption would have been like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

For Observer Alpha, it was a simple effort of a wave of her hand as a near infinite number of holographic screens appeared around her, “Oh, there it is~.” She hummed, the image she was looking at zooming in and humming. “Those… They shouldn’t be around yet.” Observer noted, bringing a hand to her chin.

A different screen appeared, this time, showing Alex with Unicorn, Javelin, Laffey, and Long Island talking within the HMS Unicorn’s mess hall. “So, who are you?” She asked no one in particular, but the screen answered.

A minute widening of her eyes revealed her surprise as she got nothing beyond his existence within the timeline, amounting to an hour.

For a second, she tried the same on the jet and got a similar reaction as slowly, her lips stretched into a grin. “How interesting. I wonder where you’ll end up? A simple number? A variable? Or maybe something else entirely…?” She trailed off before her thoughts were interrupted, another screen showing a brunette kitsune with a jacket over a short red skirt and a white shirt with red eyes narrowed, a white-haired kitsune trailed behind her, a white coat over a black shirt and a short blue skirt as her blue eyes were narrowed.

Huffing, the Siren disappeared and met the pair of foxes within their Sanctuary. “Akagi, Kaga, how can the Creator be of help to you today?”

“I care little about the Creator at the moment,” Akagi hissed, glaring at the Siren with derision, “tell me, what was that surge of energy, and what were you doing meddling?”

Observer paused before holding a finger to her chin. “A new variable has been introduced.” She answered, “The Creator did not foresee this.” She noted with a slight frown before it turned back into its usual smug smile.

Despite the pair of Kansen trying to grill her for information, they didn’t get much else, to their frustration.

Atop the Tirpitz, corralled to the Arctic, a woman in a white uniform with silver hair looked out into the South, her breath turned into mist as she asked herself, “If I can feel it, I wonder how the rest are taking it.”

She knew that many would ignore it in favor of defending their homeland, but being so far, Tirpitz has had a lot of time to… think.

Her sister, the woman who leads the Iron Blood with the Sirens, has long since dimmed in her mind, leaving her without much to do except… think.

Think…

Think…

She’d long since run out of subjects to think of. She’s memorized her ship and its parts enough times that she probably knows it better than her own body. The ice of the North has long since become a curse to her and her mind, being the only thing she could see for miles.

Her radio has been broken, and the most she can get is the occasional burst of conversation from her homeland. It’s not good.

Forget about her fellow Kansen , her own country will tear her and her sisters down for siding with the enemy of humanity. The iron in her blood has long since gone cold; no longer does she have the same fire she once did as she waits for her death to at least be honorable.

The distant sound of the British Air Force answered her as she frowned; it seemed like her wish wouldn’t be accomplished anytime soon. Fine then.

For a second, a spark of indignation, frustration, and uncharacteristic heat coursed through her as she resolved herself. She’ll either die in combat or live to see the end of this damned war to punch the face of the Chancellor. Or to attend his funeral and have her thirty-eight-centimeter guns blow up the casket. If that’s not possible… well, she’ll think of something. Maybe take down the Siren whispering nothings into her sister’s ear.

Her eyes narrowed as she released a long breath of air, the ensuing mist far thicker than before from the heat she thought she had long lost to the cold. After all, one doesn’t step on the pride of the Iron Blood and expect to escape unscathed, much less without first facing their wrath.

“ Gott mit uns. ” She chanted under her breath.

Within the mess hall of the HMS Unicorn, Alex listened to the girl talk about ‘Azur Lane’, which confirmed a few things that had him a bit worried. For one, he’s not in the same world as his own. Not as in Hell or Heaven either, but the world he was in was an almost alternate version of his with a few minute differences that end up causing some large alterations.

Azur Lane and the Kansen are one, technically. The Kansen must have come first since Azur Lane came after they researched these ‘Wisdom Cubes’ and found them especially compatible with warships, which made sense to Alex, in a way. While he might have been an army grunt before becoming the Commander of the Allied Forces, he’s seen the Navy grunts care for their warships, old they might be.

They called them ‘her’, cared for them with love, as if they were ‘real’ rather than simply a warship. Some were disassembled or sold, and others were lovingly placed in the middle of the land to be used when they should be needed or to be admired by the public. Still, warships always seemed to have this nature to them that made them stand out.

So, these Kansen or Shipgirls were gathered in an area otherwise known as ‘Azur Lane’, where the world’s navies would come together and study them from their day-to-day lives. They’d go through school, perform exercises, and would get into arguments, fight, and more, as most people would.

Then, things began to change, Nimi and Ayanami began to become more distant along with the rest of their factions, Iron Bloods and the Sakura Empire, Germany and Japan, respectively. Their navies began to distance themselves as well, forcing Azur Lane in half as some of the Iron Blood Kansen began to see their caretakers with suspicion and distaste.

Then, one day, quite recently, the Sakura Empire bombed Pearl Harbor and declared war before the Iron Blood sank the Hood using Siren technology.

“Pause, pause.” He interrupted Javelin’s tearful re-telling of the event, Laffey and Long Island trying to recreate it by her directions, except neither had the energy to act as anything other than Hood. So, while they tried to recreate the event (circling each other and occasionally performing the other’s directions) through Javelin’s instructions (who only had a second-hand account), the moment Hood’s death came, Laffey immediately slumped over and fell asleep. Unicorn was leaning against him, holding her stuffed animal.

“Yeah?” Javelin asked, turning to him from her spot atop one of the tables of the mess hall, acting as the narrator like a Shakespearean actor. “What is it?”

“Like, Sirens Siren?” He asked, bringing both arms in front of him to emphasize his question, Unicorn shifting so he can remove his arm before she returns to leaning on him. “Beautiful women who tempt sailors with her songs.”

“No.” Javelin shook her head without pause and with confidence.

“Nah.” Long Island confirmed.

“Talentless autotune users.” Laffey insulted. Though Alex wondered if the 1940s had autotune, then again, the technology that came from Azur Lane has practically launched technology by leaps and bounds, according to the group.

“I’ve never seen one,” Unicorn admitted, though she began to blush as he placed an arm around her shoulders, resting it idly so as not to bother her to move while Long Island, Laffey, and Javelin looked on with a bit of envy.

“Have any of you seen one?” Alex asked, and the other three raised their hands.

“Well, they’re not ugly,” Javelin admitted while scratching her cheek. “Just…”

“Alien.” Laffey elaborated, “Tentacles, strange rigging, powerful weapons, green eyes, very strong, very annoying.”

“Huh,” Alex hummed, “so their technology is incredibly advanced, and the entire reason for this war is whether it should be used or not.”

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it,” Javelin answered as Alex brought a hand to his chin.

Because something wasn’t making sense. “And everyone agrees they’re the enemy of humanity, right?”

“Yes,” Laffey confirmed.

“What about the governments?” He asked, and Unicorn perked up.

“Well, Big Sister said that the Germans didn’t admit to anything, just that the Iron Blood isn’t listening to them anymore,” Unicorn explained as Long Island grabbed something from her pocket and scrolled through it.

“Here.” She said, showing it to him to reveal a news site. Grabbing it, he thanked her and read through it. So, it seemed like the current Chancellor wasn’t exactly a fan of the Eagle Union, tensions having been rising between the two ever since his appointment. But it seemed like the more he read, the more it seemed like the Kansen acted, and the Iron Blood had no choice but to follow due to the overwhelming support the Kansen had. Then, what was originally a war in the European Theater came to the Pacific via the Sakura bombing, Pearl Harbor, quite recently.

The idea had him tightening his hands into a fist from frustration, but he let it go, reading a bit more at the site and in between the lines.

Releasing the anger with a sigh, he tapped the table for a bit, “ A rebellion… Aliens… Kansen … Wisdom Cubes… Iron Blood…”

The future is the outcome of events, of people and their choices, never set in stone, but like any equation, easily solved on paper with the chance of something entirely different happening in reality. So all that needs to be done is trace it back.

“Tell me more about the Sakura Empire.” He asked, and the Kansen relented, the glint in his eyes and his very stature different from before, with an almost commanding presence.

To Alex, they sounded like Imperial Japan with an emphasis on the Emperor and their gods, except they’ve also split from their Navy. They and the Iron Blood joined in an alliance as the Axis. Notorious for their aircraft carriers at the moment, but he needs more information. There’s a lot he isn’t getting at the moment, but he has an idea.

“So, it’s a war between the Axis, who want to use the Siren’s technology, and Azur Lane that doesn’t want to use it, with the Axis probably being filled with muscle-headed idiots with too much pride in their veins.” Alex noted out loud while they listened, “Still, why…?”

“What do you mean ‘why’?” Javelin asked, scratching at the back of her head, “Sirens do have superior technology.”

“Sure, but they’re also the enemy. The Sirens gave humanity the Wisdom Cubes, right?” The others nodded while Alex returned deep into thought. “Why?”

There’s a reason things beyond the comprehension of man were labeled as ‘aliens’ or ‘eldritch’, so with a sigh, Alex abandoned the line of thought for the moment as he turned to something slightly more comprehensible. The female personification of warships.

“There are very few things that can cause people to turn to something so obviously wrong. Death, love, anger, so what could it be?” Alex asked himself, and while he’s no genius, he was the Commander of a force that went against a psychic through time after being caught completely off-guard. He understood people and armies pretty well, especially soldiers.

He didn’t have enough information, but the Iron Bloods are fairly simple; they want to protect their country and humanity. Enough so that they turned into the enemy…

No, the Sirens are the enemy, and now, with a war all over the world, no Navy or government is going to just give up and admit that not only are they in war with one another, but that the original enemy was still lurking.

His foot began to tap while he narrowed his eyes at the empty table, idly noting that he didn’t have to do this, but he ignored it. It’s what he’s done for a long time; once more wouldn’t hurt.

The mind behind the Allied Forces that fought against the Soviets and Yuri whirled as he frowned.

Not enough information for a conclusive plan, but he can see how it could and probably should play out. Capture, the fewer ships sunk, the more allies Azur Lane would have if the Sirens attack, then there are the allies…

The Kansen weren’t exactly a state secret; the Kansen were quite well-known and respected, admired even, within the countries. So many of the people were willing to back them up when they went to war, but now that it's taking place, if Azur Lane wins, then the Axis would be in a horrible position afterwards as the ones who started the war. If the Kansen were meant to protect humanity, why would they take such a gamble?

Then, there’s the Sakura, again, enemies, but far more direct this time. Probably just as unlikely to give up…

Well, he had gone up against worse odds.

He scoffed and relaxed, leaning on his arm as he grinned lazily, “Well, that’s one absurd history lesson.”

The change surprised them as the four glanced at each other. “Big Brother, what were you thinking about?”

He glanced at Unicorn and patted her head, tussling it slightly, “Just the future, the Sirens are the enemy, but if this war runs its course, the Iron Blood and the Sakura might find themselves and their people in a bad spot, not to mention the Sirens lurking in the background. If they continue this war, they risk causing a lot of problems for themselves and their country, so what would make them take such a risky gamble?”

He didn’t stop there. Alex mumbled out random ideas and possible events, as Long Island, Javelin, Laffey, and Unicorn all had one thought.

It makes sense.

Among the Naval higher-ups, not many have said anything beyond winning the war, simply telling them to fight for their country, which all of them are willing to do, but they haven’t been told much. So, suddenly being told all these details and how they can be accomplished made them wonder how someone like this could call themselves a ‘simple soldier with a jet’.

The group cruised to the chain of islands that made up Azur Lane, all of them chatting as they got closer.

They were all excited and wondering what their future seemed like.

“Grab her legs!” Alex yelled, slipping behind a woman with long white hair, an admiral’s cap over it. Gray eyes widened in confusion, a sleeveless button-up shirt with a black jacket hanging off her elbows, a short black skirt with black thigh highs.

“Yes, sir!” A blonde in a bikini top, cape, and short-shorts said, grabbing the legs of Alex’s poor victim and bringing them to her waist, the woman looking around in confusion.

“Hornet! What are you-?” The woman asked as she tried to struggle, but both of them had a good grip on her body.

“Sorry, Enterprise,” Hornet grins with a wink, her green eyes glinting with worry and amusement, “Commander’s orders.”

“He’s not even, hey-!” Enterprise started, the duo making their way to the mess hall as an eagle trailed after them.

Prince of Wales, Illustrious, and Hermione watched in confusion and a bit of fear, since as far as they knew, the only thing that happened was that Alex asked Enterprise when was the last time she ate and Enterprise evaded the question, to everyone’s exasperation.

She was devoted, extremely so, and it seems like that wasn’t enough for someone.

“We should follow them.” Illustrious suggested while Prince of Wales nods and the trio make their way to the mess hall.

As they got closer, they could see a congregation of Kansen outside as they peeked in, and Cleveland turned to them with a twitchy smile. “Hey, was that Enterprise being carried in with a stranger and Hornet?”

Before anyone could answer, Hornet yelled, “I got the rope!”

“Good.” A masculine voice noted with a bit too much excitement, like a young boy preparing for a prank, “I’ll go check if you have any Carolina reapers.”

“Carolina, what !?” Enterprise yelled as she struggled harder, but Hornet was far from being her lesser in strength, holding her down while Alex tied her up to a chair. Once she was, he disappeared behind the kitchen, dismissing the maids and kitchen staff on duty for ‘health’ reasons.

“What is-!?” Prince of Wales started, imbuing as much dignity and commanding presence as she could in her voice, only to be interrupted by Alex.

“Damn, Hornet, you know if you’ve got any mutated Carolina reapers?” He asked as even Hornet paused to check the kitchen to see Alex looking back, like he didn’t ask for something absurd. After a long second, he clicked his tongue. “Never mind, normal ones will do.”

He entered back into the kitchen for a while before looking back out. “Where are the normal Carolina reapers?”

Chapter Text

Enterprise struggled from within her binds, unable to do much else but struggle with how tight they were and wonder how she got here after her sortie.

The first thing Alex did upon stepping out of the catwalk of the Unicorn was gape at how… different the Naval Base was from his experience. Lacking any of the usual soldiers, it instead resembled a small town rather than an actual base, but he could still recognize the various installations.

It was shy of being a base but wasn’t either, almost as if it was meant for civilians who could fight.

The next thing he did was choke on his breath and nearly fall off the catwalk. Because hot and beautiful couldn’t even begin to describe the women waiting for him.

One of them was a blonde in a bikini with a cowboy hat, the other was another blonde with stars and stripes stockings, another seemed to be wearing a British uniform while the last one is in a white dress, for some reason, with a gravitational pull around her chest that pulled his eyes a foot under her eyes.

She had a big chest. Like really big. Like big enough that if he kept staring, he might fall into the gravity that was generated from the mass.

Unicorn tugged at his sleeve, reminding him where he was as he glanced at the lavender-haired Kansen . She seemed to be pouting before joining the woman with the large chest and a white theme, followed by Javelin, Long Island, and Laffey, with the former standing beside the blonde in a British uniform and the latter two standing by the other two blondes.

...If these Kansen were designed by someone, they must have a thing for blondes.

“Big Sister!” Unicorn said, hugging the woman, who smiled kindly at the younger girl’s words.

“Good job, Unicorn, you worked hard, huh? So, this must be the ‘Big Brother’ you reported.” The woman said while gently tussling Unicorn’s hair.

“Yes! Big Sister, this is Big Brother.” Unicorn said, pulling her along while grabbing Alex’s hand. “Big Brother, this is Big Sister.”

Alex’s mouth twitched, and the woman in front of him brought a hand to her mouth, hiding the amusement and the laughter that was probably bubbling up if her shaking shoulders were any evidence. “Unicorn,” Alex began, making no effort to hide his breathy laughter beyond the barest of attempts that crumbled under his breath, “your Big Sister is absolutely beautiful, and not a woman I’ll be forgetting anytime soon.” He said, missing the way the woman blinked with a slight tint to her cheeks, “But, I feel like you’re missing a small detail.”

“Hmm?” Unicorn hummed, tilting her head while the small unicorn doll in her arms mimicked her movements. “What is that, Big Brother?”

“Well, it’s why I don’t call you Little Sister. Because there’s something else we go by.” He pointed out gently, mostly out of amusement, because the way Unicorn blinked at him was cute. Though considering no one stopped him, he could see that no one saw any harm in letting him continue.

She blinked for a second before they widened, lighting up in realization before her cheeks followed, and she suddenly looked like she wanted the earth to swallow her whole.

Sadly, Alex thought she looked cute , so when she tried to slip from his grip, he caught her gently and stopped her. “Unicorn, is something wrong? Weren’t you going to introduce me to your Big Sister?”

“Um, ah.” She started, eyes watering slightly as Alex chuckled, letting her go as the Kansen hid behind her sister, ears red from embarrassment.

“Well, as you heard, I’m Big Brother .” He said, taking amusement in the way Unicorn tried to bury herself deeper in the buxom woman’s side.

“Consider me charmed, Big Brother .” The woman said, amusement clear in her voice, while Unicorn turned to the woman with wide eyes, embarrassment clear in her expression, and betrayal in her eyes. Unicorn tried to stuff herself further into the woman’s side, but it didn’t stop her as she added, “What a coincidence, I’m Big Sister .”

Slowly, Alex’s eyes trailed southward slightly, “Well, you are certainly…” He trailed off, stopping his train of thought before it could be completely voiced and starting on the wrong foot. “Very sisterly,” he decided, causing the woman to giggle, gently patting the embarrassed Unicorn.

“Well, in that case, let me introduce myself.” Gently, she prodded Unicorn to the side, who stepped back and brought her doll to her face, hiding when she caught Alex’s gaze. Still, his eyes returned to the woman, who grabbed her skirt and performed a picture-perfect curtsy. “Greetings. I am the armored aircraft carrier Illustrious.”

“Alex Walker, I’d bow, but…” He trailed off, pointing to himself, “Not exactly aware of why and how to bow to the personification of a ship or…” He finished, his mouth opening and closing before he shrugged. “Yeah, I still don’t know how to react to all of this.”

“Aw, don’t worry about it~.” The blonde woman in a bikini and short shorts said, followed by a shorter blonde with a cape around her shoulders, the former blonde throwing her arm around her shoulders with a bright grin. “Most of the gals here don’t mind a bit of breach in protocol, royal or otherwise.”

“Though, it’d be appreciated if such protocols weren’t breached at every moment.” The other blonde in military uniform pointed out, “But, we won’t fault you for your lack of knowledge in the practices and protocols of foreign armies, especially since you’re in the Army rather than the Navy, am I correct, Mr. Walker?”

“Alex works just fine.” Alex assuages them, shifting from the blonde’s grip, as much as he’d rather not move. She’s not as buxom as Illustrious, but she’s easy on the eyes. “Contract was about to end anyway, so no need for formalities, never been my thing anyway.”

“Then, nice to meetcha, Alex.” The blonde said, extending a hand with a wink, “Hornet, you-.”

“Youngest of the Yorktown-class aircraft carriers.” Alex huffed, his mind finally recalling why he had this vague feeling of recognition when he heard Laffey. While he occasionally oversaw major offensives, he was an Army grunt first and foremost, even if the skies were his reign, he left the Navy and Air Force to those who knew better, even if he did learn a few things from them and even if that was only after they weren’t controlled by the Soviets.

As such, he’s heard some notable ships among them, the Yorktown class aircraft carriers among them, and some of the older WWI ships that he vaguely remembers. Though again, he was usually relegated to on-site battles.

He could see Hornet’s eyes wide in surprise, along with the other blonde, “Heh, you surprised her.” The other blonde said, slipping around Hornet while extending a hand, “Cleveland, knight of the sea and oldest of the Cleveland-class.”

“Well, I hope you’re not too hurt by the fact that there probably won’t be a repeat of Hornet,” Alex admitted, reaching over and shaking the tomboy’s hand. “You know…”

“I do…” Cleveland drawled, bringing a hand to her chin while nodding with closed eyes, “Hard to compete with the Yorktown-class, even more so when Hornet acts exactly like her older sister, Enterprise isn’t the best at accepting praise.”

“Hey!” Hornet said, stepping in, pouting with narrowed eyes, “I’m not that bad.”

“Oh really?” Illustrious said, bringing a hand to her cheek, blinking.

“Really~.” Hornet tried again, turning to the buxom carrier while the uniformed blonde stood forward, fond smile in place.

“Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner, you seemed to be enjoying yourself.” The blonde said, stepping forward.

“No, it’s fine.” He said, turning to her, “Still, as you know, I’m Alex Walker, Army. Well…” he trailed off, “soon to be ex-army, the contract’s nearly up, haven’t decided to re-enlist or do my own thing.”

“That so?” The woman said before continuing, “What’s your rank then?”

“First Lieutenant of the Eleventh Airborne Division,” Josue answered crisply, his back straightening in pride, the woman’s eyes widening, for some reason, before he relaxed visibly. “But, again, I’m no one that special beyond that. Most of my time in the army was in planes and the like, so leading wasn’t something I did much.”

“Interesting.” The woman said, turning to him with a bow. “Then please, refer to me as Prince of Wales, the second ship of the King George V-class battleships.”

“Right… Prince of Wales.” He repeated the three words that constituted the Kansen’s name, though she seemed amused as she straightened up.

“Prince works as well, Mr. Walker.” The woman reassured him as he relaxed.

“Alex works fine too,” Alex assured her before he looked beside her to see another woman with white hair, her grey eyes catching his attention before they roamed to her clothes, those of a maid.

She caught his eyes before smiling and performing a curtsy, “Greetings, Mr. Walker.” She began, smiling all the while, “I am Hermione of the Royal Maids.”

“Good to meet you, too, Hermione. Just Alex works.” He said, but still, he couldn’t get the maid outfit out of his mind. It wasn’t the most revealing, but it lingered in the back of his head, for some reason. She looked really good in it, in Alex’s personal opinion.

His eyes returned to the naval base, merging with a town rather than what one would expect, and Alex’s own experiences with naval bases. “So, where am I, if you don’t mind me asking? What’s this all about as well?”

“That, well, we’re welcoming the girls who worked so hard at their sortie as the representatives of the Eagle Union and Royal Navy.” Prince said proudly before glancing at Hornet, “Sadly, one of the representatives is a lot better at combat rather than diplomacy.”

“Well, she should be here now,” Hornet said, a buzzing sound that’s been bothering him getting louder, Hornet brings up a hand as a runway appears under her arm in a flash of cubes and light, a plane cruises and lowers itself onto the runway, stopping before disappearing in a flash of blue. “Let’s go meet her,” Hornet suggested, walking off and turning back with a jerk of her head.

Sighing, Prince shook her head, “That girl…” She trailed off, turning to the group with a soft smile, “All of you did well, go and get some rest. We’ll show Alex around, you should be able to see him at the canteen by the afternoon.”

“’Kay~.” Long Island and Laffey said, practically simultaneously, with Laffey slumping to her rear before falling back and falling asleep on the spot.

“Laffey~!” Javelin said, crouching down and trying to pull her friend along, “At least wait until Prince and Hornet are away.”

“I’ll see you later, Alex.” Long Island said, waving her hand hidden under her sleeve while she made her escape in the direction of a dorm-like building.

“See ya.” He said, waving at the girl before turning to Javelin. Moving to her, he crouched down and grabbed her arm, pulling Laffey to a seated position. “Need some help?”

“Ah, thanks,” Javelin said, smiling brightly, her face scrunched in focus while she grabbed Laffey from under her shoulders and pulled her. “I can take it from here, thanks.”

“No problem. Take care of yourself.” He added, reaching out and patting the lavender-haired girl’s head, her face flushing red slightly before his arm returned to his side.

Turning to Unicorn, he could see the young girl who was previously redder than a tomato swaying, practically a herculean task to stay awake. “You fine?” He asked Unicorn, the young girl, blinking before tightening her hold on Yuni and straightening up.

“I-I’m fine, Big Brother, just…” She trailed off, her bout of energy draining, while Illustrious giggled.

“My, I’ll take her to her room,” Illustrious said, turning to Unicorn with a knowing and gentle smile. “It wouldn’t do for her to fall asleep on her feet, now would there?”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Alex said, reaching down and tussling her hair, letting his hand slide down her cheeks, Unicorn easing into his hand with half-lidded eyes. A second later, her eyes practically burst open from embarrassment as she tried to pull Illustrious away, the older buxom woman bringing a hand to her mouth to hide her laughter before waving at Alex.

Cleveland turned to them before stretching, “I think I’ve overstayed my welcome, then ‘till later, Alex.” The blonde said, waving a hand excitedly while walking off.

Alex returned it, turning to the other two, “So, where are we going to first if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Well~,” Hornet began, walking off as he followed after her with Prince, the two settling beside him with Hornet to his left and Prince to his right, “Enterprise is a short distance away, so we can talk on the way there.” Hornet suggested.

“Sure, I don’t mind.” Alex said, following after the two, “So, you’re the representatives of the American and British navies, right?”

“Well~,” Hornet trailed off, her face scrunching in a complicated manner while Prince sighed, “not really?”

“For the Royal Navy, it’s much simpler, we follow the will of our monarch, Queen Elizabeth, who represents us Kansen, and a large swathe of the Royal Navy, but not all of it,” Prince explained, looking out into the street they’re walking down. “How much do you know about Kansen ?”

“Extremely attractive women who are the personification of warships and with the strength to back it up that came from mysterious cubes.” Alex summarized, and he could see the pride swell slightly in Prince of Wales’ form with her grin.

“Aw, shucks,” Hornet said, blushing and scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. “We’re pretty hot, aren’t we?” She added after a second to compose herself, winking while in a pose, though her embarrassment was still there.

“Absolutely.” Alex agreed without a lag in his answer. “So, is there more?”

“No, it’s been summarized pretty well.” Prince admitted, “Though it’s a fairly simple one, we also reflect the culture of the ships we personify. So, while the Royal Navy is fashioned after a monarchy…”

“Eagle Union is a democracy,” Alex answered, turning to Hornet while she chuckled, but she almost seemed insistent on not meeting his eyes.

“Well, yes, but we technically have two representatives.” Hornet admitted, “It’s a bit complicated, but Lexington is generally the one in charge of speaking with Navy High Command while Enterprise is the representative when Lexington isn’t around. Sadly, she’s also one of our best fighters,” Hornet said, puffing out her chest in pride, “my sister ain’t a gal that’s easy to keep down.”

“She’s also fairly stubborn,” Prince added. “But, yes. Beyond that, with our bodies given human forms, we also crave things humans would, such as food, excitement, happiness, direction.” She listed off, “The Azur Lane base reflects that need, completely self-sustaining and filled with shops manned by Manjuus.”

“Those…” Alex trailed off, wide-eyed at a set of chubby birds driving a car by the road they were walking down. The birds were stacked on top of one another like they’re trying to imitate a human and are doing a pretty good job at it. They’re driving that car better than some people he knew who have been driving a car for a large chunk of their lives.

“Yes…” Prince said, a smile on her face, “They tend to get fairly… excitable when it comes to events, and while they can understand human language, they’re…”

“They’re birds.” Hornet summarized. “Don’t have lips like we do, but they’re easy to understand anyway.”

“Yes.” Prince agreed, “They take care of most day-to-day activities, but it’s been a while since the last ‘event’.”

“Why’s that?” Alex asked while Hornet and Prince grimaced at each other.

“It’s not exactly something we can say openly to an unknown at the moment.” Prince admitted, “I hope you can forgive us.”

“Yeah, we are technically a ‘secret project’,” Hornet said, her hands making air quotation marks. “Beyond the people being vaguely aware of our existence, there are some things the government doesn’t want other people to know.”

“Makes sense.” Alex agreed, already used to handling secrets like the ticking time bombs they are. “So, what can you tell me?”

From there, the three fell into idle chatter, occasionally Hermione chimed in when Alex asked, and Illustrious rejoined them at a crepe stand, where Alex was chomping down on a crepe with chocolate, nuts, and Ferrero Rocher.

“Jesus, this needs some Nutella.” He muttered under his breath, finishing up the crepe, wiping off the remaining chocolate from his fingers, and then using a napkin.

“You enjoyed yourself.” Illustrious pointed out as Josue nodded.

“Sweets aren’t my thing, I’m more a fan of spicy food.” He admitted, having to audibly swallow at the memory of some deliciously spicy wings Joshua made or the salsa Manny made on occasion.

“Really~? How spi-Oh!” Hornet said, perking up, smiling as she waved. “Enterprise~.”

In front of them, a woman stood, an admiral’s cap over her head with white hair flowing behind her. A black jacket covered her back with an eagle at her shoulders. The eagle turned and its eyes landed on Hornet before it scoured through the rest of the group before relaxing. The woman followed, and Alex couldn’t help but pause.

Despite the way her white hair glistened under the dimming daylight, the way her white sleeveless button-up shirt hugged her buxom body, or the very pleasing way her thigh-high socks hugged her thighs, it was her stormy gray eyes that captured his attention almost immediately.

After all, despite the life in them, he recognized the exhaustion in them, the fear, the frustration, and all the emotions rolling in her eyes. He’s seen them on soldiers, on himself, on his squad mates, his best friends, and the survivors of the war.

Despite that, she seemed happy speaking to the excitable blonde, her sister. The two exchange pleasantries before her eyes catch Alex’s. “Hornet, who’s this?” She asked, turning to her sister.

“Ah, right,” Hornet said as if remembering he existed. “Enterprise, this is Alex Walker, a random guy Laffey’s group found. Alex Walker, this is my sister and second ship of the Yorktown-class, Enterprise!”

“You’re not wrong.” Alex said with a wry smile, “But it feels weird being recognized as ‘random guy’.”

Commander, Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, and more, but ‘random guy’ feels like a novelty for some reason. It amused him.

Still, he extended a hand and Enterprise grasped his hand, nodding, “Good to meet you. Sadly, I wish I could stay further-.”

“So when’s the last time you had something to eat?” Alex asked, smiling kindly with closed eyes while he tightened his grip on her hand.

Enterprise sent him a confused look at the question and answered, “I… don’t know how that’s relevant?”

“Yeah, Enterprise,” Hornet said, hooking an arm around her shoulders. “You barely got back and you’re already on your way out, you didn’t even look for me.”

“Well, I have to-.”

“So, have you eaten anything beyond those MREs or rations?” Hornet asked, her face scrunching up at the thought of the food. “Honestly, I’m surprised you can stand them; they taste like cardboard.”

“Can you let me-.”

“She’s stalling.” Alex pointed out, shaking his head. “I don’t think she’s had anything.”

“You’re right.” Hornet nodded, bringing a hand to her chin while closing her eyes as if she had just come to a profound realization. “If she did, she’d have answered. Right, Grimm?” Hornet asked the eagle as it took a second to stare at Alex deeply, as if looking for something, and probably finding it, considering the eagle nodded in agreement.

“Grimm!” Enterprise tried, her brow twitching slightly. Extracting her hand from Alex and turning to Hornet. “I’ll be fine. I can just drink some oil-.”

“You girls can drink oil?” Alex asked, turning to each of them with all of them nodding or making a similar affirmation.

“Not exactly something I enjoy,” Illustrious admitted, “a black stain on a white dress isn’t exactly easy to hide.”

“Huh…” Alex nodded at the realization, which made sense, but the idea was still absurd to him. “Makes sense.”

“As I was saying,” Enterprise interjected, turning to Hornet with a gentle and reassuring smile. “I’m fine, I’ll get something to eat next time I’m on the base.”

Hornet raised a brow, and Alex mimicked the expression, looking at Enterprise in suspicion, the white-haired girl sweating under the scrutiny from the stranger and her sister. The two glanced at each other, mischief and care shared in a single moment as a plan was cooked up in Alex’s mind, and he brought up a hand into his fist.

A series of pops rang out that came from Alex’s knuckles, but Enterprise didn’t notice, “Well, I’ll have to-.”

Before she could finish, Alex slid behind her, grabbed her under her shoulders, and easily picked her up, an easy feat considering his height, making him taller than her, before his and Hornet’s eyes glinted.

“W-Wait,” she began, watching as Grimm flew but didn’t attack Alex, “what are you-?”

“Grab her legs!”

“Yes, sir!”

Even now, she had trouble believing how quickly it escalated, a gas mask settled over her face along with Hornet’s on Alex’s recommendation, while the clatter of silverware and other things rang out in the kitchen. A crowd gathered at the door, looking in as they saw him open as many windows as possible.

Worryingly enough, the Kansen began to disperse after thirty minutes, coughs, tears, and more began to make the other Kansen shy away from the door to the point that even Hermione, who was fairly loyal in her own right, couldn’t stand it and pulled along her master.

“Hornet,” Enterprise began with her voice muffled from the gas mask over her face, turning to her younger sister, “What is Alex doing?”

“He’s… cooking?” Hornet asked, her voice also muffled from the gas mask, moving from her position beside her sister and peering into the kitchenette, a knife in hand, with loud ringing thuds reminiscent of memories she’d rather not delve into at the moment.

“A chemical weapon or food?” Enterprise asked, increasingly distraught while she struggled against her binds, her strength failing her when she needed it the most. “He was going to use a mutated California Reaper Hornet.”

“Well…” Hornet trailed off, her hand crossed under her chest while she shifted her hips. “He…” She trailed off, “He’s a First Lieutenant of an Airborne Division?”

“Since when?” Enterprise asked again, “And how is that relevant?”

Hornet could only shrug, a lot more unsure of how to answer beyond praying that Alex won’t cook up a chemical weapon in the kitchen of their base. However, the longer they stayed, the more she worried.

Finally, someone skipped into the canteen, humming while her red twin tails bobbed with each skip. “Phew, I can’t believe it’s so empty-.” She stepped into the entrance, bringing up a hand to her eyes. “Hmm, why am I… Ah. Ahhh!” She began to yell, bringing her hands to her throat and her eyes. “It burns! Why!? Why is the air spicy!?”

Hornet and Enterprise watched the event with growing horror before Hermione, in a gas mask, came in and began to pull out the red-haired girl while she reeled in pain.

The pair of sisters glanced at each other, suddenly worrying over their own and each other’s health, until it was interrupted by two plates landing on the table. There, Alex sat in front of them, a Coke beside him and two more with him, placing them in front of Hornet and Enterprise.

“She’s just being a bit overkill. It’s not that spicy.” Alex said, separating the two covered plates. “Much.” He added as an afterthought. “I left all the windows open, so at most it’s ten minutes before it’s safe to come in and disinfect the area and return to normal.”

“ Disinfect ?!” Enterprise finally spoke up before Josue smiled at her, not a single visible malicious thought behind that smile, and only worry in them.

“Don’t worry.” Alex said, sliding the two plates to her, “Just American diplomacy. You can eat outside, or I can feed you.”

“What did you make?” Enterprise asked, looking at the two plates in front of her with suspicion.

“Well, this one,” he began, patting the covered platter to the right, “is food, simple, filling, and, in my honest opinion, tastes good. Nothing too complicated, just a hamburger and fries, but we’ll have to eat them outside.”

Even to Hornet, it sounded like it tasted good, but her curiosity got the better of her. “Well, what’s in the other one? And why do we have to wear gas masks?”

“Well, they’re hot wings.” Alex explained, smiling menacingly, “See, the original recipe called for mutated California Reapers, but those are rare, so my friend who taught me this recipe replaced them with normal ones and meant it as a challenge. See, these are delicious, but they’re spicy as hell. Still, it gets better after… your tenth attempt at the challenge.”

Enterprise’s eyes bounced from the two platters, audibly gulping at the situation she was in and the food in front of her. “Now, choose, would you rather we go outside and you can eat the hamburger with tomato, lettuce, ketchup, and mayo, a special sauce developed by my friend who made the hot wings to my side and refined by my other friend and has won awards? Or, do you want me to feed you hot wings whose original recipe called for mutated California Reaper?”

Enterprise’s confusion was palpable. After all, she didn’t know how they got there, she finished up a sortie and returned, about to return to the sea for their next mission as weapons. She was supposed to return uninterrupted, try and calm her younger sister, and then try to break through if she couldn’t do so gently. She didn’t like it, but she had to.

Then this man came along, read her like a book, and now here she is, being forced to choose a food that’d more than likely burn her tongue off or one that, supposedly, was good.

The option was obvious, but the fact that it had to devolve to a situation like this…

“Why?” Enterprise asked, turning to Alex while her expression contorted into outrage and confusion. “Why do I have to choose? I already had rations. That’s enough for me.”

“Because,” Alex began, reaching into one of the platters and bringing out a wing that left a visible distortion from the heat rolling off of it, his face was bereft of the sadism it previously had, replaced by worry and understanding, “we’re not done.”

We’re not done.

The words that she practically lived by. Azur Lane isn’t done with the Crimson Axis. The world isn’t done with the Sirens. There was something behind his eyes, though.

Heavy and dark, but they didn’t dim; instead, they shone brightly. “And as long as we’re not done, tomorrow will come. Tomorrow will be a day of fighting, planning, and worrying, but today? Right now?” He began, sliding the platter with the hamburger on it in her direction. “We recuperate because even a man needs to relax, a soldier needs leave, and a weapon needs maintenance.”

Enterprise stared at the platter, mulling his words over before he added, “Besides,” he said heavily, his voice scratchy while his gaze landed on the wall, looking through it and something neither would like to see, “I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t try to move you from the path you’re walking.”

Neither of the Yorktown sisters said anything while Alex released a deep breath, turning to Enterprise with a gentle smile. “So?” He asked, taking a bite from the hot wings without any problem, to their shock, “Burger or hot wings?”

Enterprise gulped, glancing at both of the options given to her and the… strange eyes of the man offering them. Eyes that were so familiar…

“I’ll…” Enterprise began, sighing heavily through her gas mask, “I’ll have the burger.”

“Great,” Alex said, extending a hand as Hornet clapped it in a high-five as she grabbed the platter and made her way outside. Grimm followed right by her with his small gas mask over his beak.

The two made their way outside, heading to a table while they removed their gas masks, though the two immediately began coughing while Alex revealed the plate of hot wings with a visible aura of heat. Without a care in the world, Alex picked up a wing and ate it, humming as if he could taste it.

He nodded, eating the rest of the wings while Enterprise revealed the burger. The smell hit her first, her stomach rumbling, to her embarrassment and Hornet’s narrowed eyes, before she ignored it, grabbing the burger with a bit of difficulty, the sauce getting onto her hand as she licked some of it off.

Her eyes widened at the explosion of taste in the sauce, her mouth watering in anticipation of her first bite already. Still, she swallowed it down and opened her mouth, taking a bite out of the burger.

It was messy, nearly causing her to surge forward while the condiments and toppings fell from between the buns. Still, she managed not to make a mess as flavors exploded in her mouth.

Alex smiled gently, and Hornet was drooling, but she swallowed it when she noticed something.

Slowly, crystalline tears fell from her eyes. Not in a stream, but drops that trailed down her cheeks.

“It’s… delicious,” Enterprise said, reaching up and wiping the tears at the edge of her eyes.

“It smells delicious.” Hornet notices, hooking an arm around her sister’s shoulder in a subtle hug. “Mind sharing some?”

As the pair of siblings interacted, Alex could see it in her eyes. Enterprise was far from veering off the path she was originally on, but it was a start.

“Here, have some,” Alex said, passing one of the wings to her as Hornet turned.

She immediately began to cough, eyes tearing up, “W-What the-!?” She hacked, “San Diego wasn’t exaggerating. Water!”

Alex chuckled, taking a bite out of the wing while Enterprise tried to hide her giggles.

Soon, more and more joined them, the Manjuu moving in with grills and others for a small event.

Guess they do love events, huh?

Chapter Text

Prince of Wales deigned to join Alex and the others once what was left of his wings was disposed of as if they were biological waste. Even to this day, Alex could still remember how he and his compatriots reacted similarly when they first laid eyes on the wings Joshua made.

He could still remember the tears and the laughter he had witnessed others cry at the sight of the wings, before devolving into tears himself upon seeing them. It was simultaneously horrifying and hilarious at the time and in all the subsequent ones. Granted, he got used to them fairly quickly, and once one got past the mind-numbing spiciness, they were genuinely delicious.

Food was passed out, the leaders, or the highest ranking at the moment, were there, and now, it’s time for some answers. “We spoke with our superiors.” Prince of Wales began, her eyes narrowing while Alex bit into some fries Hermione left. “They confirmed that there is no First Lieutenant by the name of Alex Walker in the Eleventh Airborne Division.” The table they were at seemed to go down a few notches, though Alex seemed unbothered.

“I told you the truth.” Josue retorted, leaning back. “My name is Alex Walker. I was born in international waters but was registered as an American citizen. I joined the Lazarus Project during my time in the Army and became a First Lieutenant during it.”

The eyes were on him, while Illustrious added, “Mr. Walker, you have to understand our situation,” she insisted gently, “We are not accusing you of anything you have not done, you appear suddenly with a type of aircraft we’ve never seen and tell us you’re part of one of the countries within Azur Lane. But when we submit an inquiry, your past does not come up.”

Alex nodded, releasing a breath before patting the side of his jacket. The cold steel of the insignia calmed him down, allowing him to release a breath before shrugging. “The only way this could happen is if I either went back in time or am in an entirely different world, absurd as it might sound.”

There was a stretch of silence, the Kansen glancing at each other, probably talking somehow, before Hornet frowned, “Well, that’s true…”

“Well,” he added, bringing a hand to his chin, “there was that rank I went under, but it’s more absurd than the entire ‘different world’ possibility.”

“What was it?” Illustrious asked, interested, while Josue reached into his jacket and brought out a medal that caused their hearts to drop in recognition.

All Kansen recognize authority instinctively; even the youngest can look at the patch and recognize a ‘superior’. Listening to their orders is another thing entirely, but it’s something engraved into their very being. Because of the nature of the Wisdom Cubes, they’re capable of also gauging how authentic certain symbols of authority are.

So, when the girls watched the man bring out a medallion, a gold one with a triangle in the middle, painted black with the image of a gold eagle with its wings folded, standing out in the middle of the medallion, they could tell that it wasn’t just a simple medallion.

It wasn’t a medallion that was worn much, but it was used by someone who earned it. The Kansen knew this in their blood, in their very hulls that floated on the docks.

Then, he said, almost off-handedly, “I was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces for a while.”

The group could only gape while Alex put away the medallion, though one thought did course through their mind once they got a good look at it. They just hoped the higher-ups would agree.

After submitting him to a medical inspection, they went to report it, while Josue was led to a room with Hermione to attend to him.

Within the Commander’s Office, the hologram of Azur Lane’s High Command, consisting of some of the highest-ranking Navy leadership within the Eagle Union, Royal Navy, and Northern Parliament, could only look at the Kansen with varying levels of disbelief or amusement.

“Alex Wal-. Wait, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces?” The Eagle Union Admiral asked, rubbing his eyes. “And, you’re sure about this?”

“Yes, sir.” Enterprise nodded. “I believe the Eagle Union and the other Navies have performed experiments on our ability to recognize authority.”

The Admiral of the Northern Parliament guffawed loudly, interrupting the Eagle Union representative, “She’s got you there, Nate.”

“It’s from an entirely different world if they’re correct. How would we know he’s on our side?” Nate retorted, ignoring the use of his name while the Royal Navy representative watched the play-by-play.

“Well, what else can we do?” The Northern Parliament representative began. “We’ve been poring over our military’s medical reports, and not just our branches, and none of them have the required affinity for this endeavor. What’s this we have in our hands?” He asked, revealing a paper in his hand, “A medical report of Alex Walker, with an affinity that’s higher than what we need, and probably the only one who has an affinity that high. He also has experience in the military, or do you want to try and bring civilians into this?”

“No way, Dimitri,” Nate answered with a shake of his head. “But, is this our best choice?”

“It’s the only choice we have.” The Royal Navy representative grumbled. “It was decided by our predecessors that Azur Lane would be led with a hands-off approach. While there are many problems and issues with this, most of them would be waved away with experience and tests. They are capable of ignoring stupid orders.”

Nate brought a hand to his face and released a long sigh. After a few seconds, he removed them and turned to the assembled Kansen . “You have our permission. Inform Alex of the situation once he wakes so that we may meet him.”

“Yes, sir,” Enterprise said, bringing a hand to her head in a salute before Nate and the Royal Navy representative, Damian, flickered, leaving them with Dimitri.

“Good luck, girls.” He said this with his usual accent and cheery laugh, before he too flickered out, leaving the four to their own devices while Alex slept.

“We should probably go to sleep too, huh?” Hornet mumbled audibly, grabbing Enterprise, to the silverette’s surprise.

“Indeed.” Illustrious agreed while Prince of Wales smiled.

“Yes, let’s. Good night.” Prince of Wales said, waving while Hornet dragged her sister along, waving back.

“Night~!”

“Hornet, hey-!” The group exited the room and made their way to their dorms to sleep.

Alex woke up to the sight of a beautiful white-haired woman gently shaking him awake with a fond smile and soft brown eyes. He stared for a second, his eyes trailing down to her noticeable chest, while he tasted his breath for a second. Not a pleasant experience, but it was his life.

Alex’s brain slowly began to remind him that there were cuter girls with bigger chests before he wondered why he knew this.

A second later, he remembered that he was in a different world, almost entirely different, but they still recognized the insignia of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces. He didn’t ask why, but now that he has the benefit of hindsight, it feels like a notable question.

“Commander, wake up.” The soft voice of Hermione pierced his exhaustion while he grunted. “It’s time to wake up. If you keep sleeping, you’ll be late.”

There was one time when he was in training to become an officer. He woke up in a rush, thinking that he was back in school until he remembered he graduated and promptly went back to sleep. That was until he remembered he still had classes .

That’s what he felt. “What are you talking about?” He asked in the middle of his exhausted haze, turning and sitting at the edge of the base. “I’m not a Commander anymore. My contract’s nearly done anyway.”

Hermione seemed vaguely amused and was about to speak until the sound of something hitting the floor began to ring out in the dormitory he was in. Then, the doors burst open. “Commander, help me~.”

Javelin burst in, followed by Laffey as he locked eyes with her, and she smiled. “Commander…” She said, stumbling forward before falling on him.

“Why are you wet?!” He asked, the lithe and warm body of the Destroyer melding with him in the worst ways while he was previously dry, especially for a certain reaction. Laffey's attempt to dry herself off by using him as a towel didn’t make it better.

“The Commander is warm~. Time to sleep~.” Laffey said, yawning before falling on his body as he turned to Javelin, who was despondently leaning against the door, her soul coming out of her mouth while she wore a fairly trendy two-piece swimsuit that she looked good in. It also made her bust stand out, but he didn’t point that out; there was no need to.

He looked down at Laffey before turning to Hermione, “Well damn, guess I can’t wake up.”

The maid looked particularly worried as he slumped back and wished for his dreams to take him to some faraway place. “U-Umm, Commander~.”

“Commander!” Javelin yelled, landing on Alex as he grunted in pain, her thighs straddling him while her chest shifted with each movement atop him. “Listen, Laffey and I were going to the beach, but then everyone began asking us so many questions, I didn’t know how to answer!”

“Noisy.” Came Laffey’s muffled agreement while nuzzling her face into his side.

“They just kept chasing us~,” Javelin said, joining Laffey on Josue while he did his best to ignore it and go back to sleep.

There was a series of knocks, causing Javelin to stiffen before hiding under his blanket, shivering in fear while Laffey ignored it and continued sleeping. Hermione opened the door, and in came Prince of Wales.

She paused at the sight and noticed that Alex’s eyes were opening. “C’mon, time to wake up, you have to meet your new superiors soon, Commander.”

“Huh?” Alex grunted, blinking away the sleep in his eyes. “What you talking about, the President’s got better shit to do if the world ain’t at stake.”

“That he does.” Prince of Wales agreed, nodding but hiding the slight laughs that burst up. “But your superior isn’t the President.”

“Huh?” He asked, blinking blearily at her while he sat up. “The French Prime Minister?”

“No.” Prince of Wales corrected him while he blinked.

“The Queen?”

Prince of Wales had a complicated expression for a long moment before she shook her head. “Not exactly.”

“Then who? Actually, why do I have superiors? My contract’s ending already.” He pointed out that as Prince of Wales drew closer, her expression became unreadable and slightly conflicted, before she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Well, I have good news and bad news.” Prince of Wales began, smiling. “The good news is that you have a job that, if you do right, no one will question you.”

“No…” Alex whispered under his breath, shaking his head while his eyes widened in pseudo-horror, hiding the anticipation he felt while Prince of Wales held a hand to her chin.

“The bad news… well.” She said before the door burst open, Hornet appeared with what looked like a naval uniform on hand as she announced it.

“Welcome to the Navy Commander~! The Eagle Union needs you once more!” Hornet added, twirling before making two finger-guns and jerking them back as if they went off, while silence swallowed the room.

Slowly, he brought up his hands to his face, inhaling before finishing with an exhale. “What?” He asked, his face contorted in confusion.

“So, let me get this straight.” Alex began, dressed in normal clothes while being followed by Javelin, Laffey, Enterprise, Prince of Wales, and Hornet. “You, without my opinion, mind you, put me forward as the Commander of Azur Lane? Again, while I was asleep?”

“Well,” Hornet began, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. “When you put it like that, it sounds kinda rude.”

“It’s the epitome of rudeness, in my opinion.” He noted, sitting down while he began to eat. “Honestly, never seen anything ruder.”

There was silence as he continued to eat, with Hornet leaning forward with a bit of embarrassment. “So…?”

“I’ll take it.” Alex answered, to their surprise, while he continued, “I’m not good at much, but leading and flying are some things that I’m better at. Not like I had much of a chance to get a job outside of a military base anytime soon.”

The girls seemed relieved, returning to their food while they fell into silence, the clatter of silverware ringing out. “Speaking of, who am I meeting?”

“You’ll be meeting the representatives of Azur Lane, Eagle Union, Royal Navy, and the Northern Parliament in particular.” Enterprise explained, eating her food while Hornet watched her doggedly, unwilling to let her sister fall into unhealthy habits once more. “There, they’ll gauge your capabilities and then we’ll introduce you to the base for real this time.”

“Also,” Prince of Wales began, “no one can activate your aircraft, right?”

Alex shook his head. “No, not really. I’m the only one who should be able to use it. Why?”

“Well, it’s gained a lot of attention.” Prince of Wales explained. “A lot of the younger ones,” she said, reaching into her pockets that were… somewhere to reveal a device. “Here.” She said, showing him the device as he looked at it.

‘Juustagram’ was on top of the screen, and it showed a few of the Kansen taking pictures with the Excalibur. Fiddling with it a bit, he was impressed to see that it could move with the tap of a screen, but quickly returned it.

“Yeah, it shouldn’t be able to be opened easily.” He answered, leaning back. “I guess, well, today’s going to be busy, if anything else.” He said, returning to his food while the others nodded sagely.

“Don’t worry.” Hornet said, patting his back, “We’ll help you along the way, Commander~.”

“Good, I’d have to punish you otherwise.” He joked out loud while Hornet chuckled. The others watched them as they prepared for a busy day.

The office was an office; he couldn’t describe it any other way. It’s like the one he worked in while being the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces. There was a large desk with paperwork, and behind it was a bookshelf filled with books. There were windows leading outside to one side and a wall on the other.

It was an office, and inside, the Kansen were setting something up, though he didn’t know what. He sat at the desk and leaned back, enjoying the comfy chair while it lasted before getting into the nitty-gritty that is politics. Or just a debrief. He’d prefer the latter.

“Everything’s ready, Commander.” Prince of Wales announced, stepping aside while Hermione closed the blinds. A few seconds later, Alex nearly fell out of his chair to see holograms pop up. Immediately, he made sure his feelings weren’t shown on his face at the sight of the Russian.

Even after the whole debacle, Alex never hated the Russians. Only a few were truly involved in Yuri’s plans anyway, so there’s no real reason to be angry at them. Of course, the battlefield and people don’t work like that, but Alex has learned to let things go when it concerns someone unaffiliated with the Russians of his world. Dimitri was bald with a well-maintained beard and a sharp chin with an infectious smile that pierced through his attempts at looking serious.

Next, they went to the Royal Navy representative, Damian, a noble, as is the case for most officers within the Royal Navy. Like most of the British he’s worked with in the past, it made sense. He was blonde, but different from his dirty blonde hair, while he wore a uniform and sat up with a teacup at his side.

Finally, there was the Eagle Union, Nate, a brunette with his hair cut short, a stern countenance, and an admiral’s cap. “Alex Walker.” He began.

“Yeah,” Alex responded, leaning back. Holograms tended to lose their glamour after a few seconds of having a sour man look at you. “How can I help you?”

There was a pause, stretching out for a short while until Alex sighed once he got tired of it. “Look, what the hell are we here for?”

The silence stretched for a long while until someone broke it. “I like him already.” Dimitri laughed while Nate’s hand clapped against his forehead, and Damian watched everything.

Nate huffed in frustration before answering. “We’re here to gauge your capability as a Commander, Alex Walker. The Kansen believed that you would fit well as their Commander, and with their… strange abilities. Azur Lane is largely independent, so we can veto, but we can’t do much about it if they decide to appoint you.” Nate explained, though he didn’t seem to like it.

“Basically, we’re making sure you’re not full of shit and assuaging the worries of those higher-ups that the ones leading the super-powerful Kansen are neither incompetent, a danger to themselves, nor a danger to our countries.” Dimitri elaborated while Alex nodded along. Seemed like the Russians were very similar to the ones back home. Blunt and fairly friendly until you get them angry.

“What he said.” Damian answered, taking center stage, “We’ll be putting you through a series of challenges that come with manning a Naval base. From leading the ships into combat to logistics, and the true scope of this war you’ll be fighting, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces.”

“First Lieutenant, Sir.” Alex corrected him. “Lost that rank after everything was said and done. Medallion doesn’t mean shit at this point, but here I am because of it.”

“Yes… In that case, consider this a promotion, Commander Walker.” Nate said, leaning back and watching with interest. “Are you ready?”

Alex had to stop himself from acting stupid as he answered, “Yes, sir. What’s the first test?”

“Logistics,” Damian said while Hermione placed a stack of paper on the table with a sheepish smile. “Find the discrepancies.”

“Can I curse during this?” He asked before reaching over to grab the first paper and inspecting it.

In an hour, he was done with the logistics, found the discrepancy, fixed it, and filled out the correct forms. His brain was hurting. If he was honest, it’s been a while since he last worked on logistics.

“Next up, leading and planning.” Nate came up, Enterprise stepping forward and placing a map on the table. He began rattling off situations and information for Alex to use for the optimal next move, theoretically, since he’ll usually be on the bridge of the flagship for any important missions.

He sighed as he began asking questions and answering.

There was a pause in the room, the representatives doing… something, but their voices couldn’t be heard. ‘Muted’, Prince of Wales called it. Finally, after a lot of nothing, they returned. There was a glint of something in Nate’s eyes. Damian seemed slightly more interested while Dimitri looked like he didn’t mind it at all. “To cut this short, Alex Walker, until it is decided otherwise, we have decided to bring you into Azur Lane as its Commander.”

“Whoo~,” Alex said weakly, raising an arm. “Do I get a raise?”

Clearly, the exhaustion has completely broken the brakes of his capability to stop him from being a smart-ass.

“No.” Nate shot him down, though his lips did twitch slightly into the vaguest of sardonic smiles. “Instead, you now have access to information on humanity’s current enemies.”

“Sirens, right?” Alex asked, sitting up in interest. “I got a rundown on my way here.”

Nate released a long sigh. “Enterprise, Prince of Wales, please remind the Destroyers that what happens in a mission shouldn’t be shared easily.”

“Understood.” Enterprise nodded while Prince of Wales nodded.

“So, what did they tell you?” Nate asked.

“Not much, just autotune aliens is what stuck,” Alex admitted while Nate’s lips twitched slightly at the description before sighing.

“They’re not wrong.” Nate conceded before sighing. “The Sirens are aliens, but that’s as much as we know.”

“What?” Alex asked, his voice taking a slightly rougher tone than he used when commanding and instead scolding someone for incompetence without directly saying anything. “What do you mean that’s all you know?”

“The Sirens are, for lack of a better word, enigmatic.” Damian picked up, “The few interactions we’ve had with them had all ended in violence in one way or another, except for the first, where they first gave us the Wisdom Cubes.” He explained while Dimitri nodded.

“ Da. Boon, they were, and gave many sailors a scare when we began experimenting with them, and these beautiful ladies began to pop up.” Dimitri explained, “Then, the second meeting with the Sirens wasn’t as nice.”

“They have laser-based weaponry that can pierce nearly anything except the Kansen’s natural defenses.” Nate picked up. “Your mission as the Commander of Azur Lane is this: Defend humanity against its enemy using any means necessary.”

“Understood.” Alex nodded, narrowing his eyes.

“You will be given all the tools needed. Don’t abuse them.” Nate warned before nodding. “Until next time.”

With that, his hologram flickered while Damian nodded, his image flickering and leaving Dimitri as the last one left, which was slightly uncomfortable, but Alex ignored it.

“Take care of yourself, Commander,” Dimitri said cheekily before his image disappeared and the lights came back on.

“God-!” He stopped himself from cursing, rubbing his eyes from the sudden change in brightness. “Warn me first, at least.”

“Of course, Commander,” Hermione said while Alex stood up, already over the chair since he now has a job. A job with a lot of paperwork, so basically the same thing as back home.

“So, now what?” Alex asked, and before anyone could answer, the door burst down.

“You’re the Commander, right?” Someone asked with pale skin, blue eyes, and silver hair tied in a side ponytail, her sweater zipped down and revealing her chest held up by a bikini top. Or, at least he thinks it’s a bikini top. Anyway, she had a short skirt and a fairly buxom body.

“Err, yeah?” Alex asked, turning to the other girls, who nodded. “Why? Need something.”

If he strained his ears, he could hear a different set of footsteps in the hall while the girl in front of them stepped forward, to him, taking a deep breath. Finally, she reached the desk and slammed her hands on the desk. “Please-!”

She bowed, her forehead hitting the desk while she asked, “Let me erect a church in Indy’s name!”

“Denied.”

“Eh~? Why~?” The girl cried like she didn’t just ask for something ridiculous. “It’s for Indy, my cute sister, and I refuse to think that there are people in the world who don’t know that!” She straightened up, a fire in her eyes, while Alex sat back down on his chair. “I must reme-!”

“Be quiet, Portland.” A quieter voice walked in-.

Flames. Flames and the cries of the damned, the mushroom cloud engraving its mark on the world and in his eyes, while those with him watched the devastation, powerless to do anything.

He didn’t know if the heat was from the explosion, despite being miles out, or from the indignation and numb rage he felt.

Alex blinked the memory away, clamping on his reaction before exhaling, opening his eyes to see a young girl floating on a nuke , for some reason. She hopped off it, watching as it dispersed into those cubes before it seemed to disperse as she walked to the desk. She was tanned with heterochromia; one eye was blue and the other nearly gold. She wore short shorts with a strip of cloth covering her chest, as skimpily dressed as her sister. She had marks under her eyes as she bowed.

“I apologize for the trouble my sister has caused, Commander.” The girl said before standing up. “C’mon, you too.”

“Eh?” The girl, Portland, said with confusion. “But-.”

“So, you’re ‘Indy’?” Alex couldn’t help but ask before the girl’s eyes snapped to him, clearly displaying her feelings on the nickname.

“Indianapolis, second ship of the Portland-class. Again, I apologize for my sister’s actions.” Indianapolis said while bowing. Alex just waved it off.

“It’s fine,” Alex said while Indianapolis relaxed, only to stiffen at the sound of a strange giggle. The two turned to see Portland in her own world, drooling with her eyes closed. Enterprise put a hand to her forehead while Hornet just chuckled sheepishly.

“Portland…” Indianapolis had the most severe reaction, her quiet becoming one of slight worry and disgust.

“Huh…” Portland said before shaking her head. “What is it, Indy?”

“Please don’t bother the Commander.” Indianapolis requested, only for the damned squeaky wheels to return once more. Not the wheels.

“What did I agree to?” Alex asked, despondent, while Enterprise made a hasty retreat along with Hornet. Prince of Wales was practically beaming but also attempting to be subtle about it. Meanwhile, Indianapolis and Portland were simply confused about what those wheels meant.

Wheels Alex learned to fear, not because they brought destruction, but because of the migraine he’d be feeling at the end of the day that comes with performing the logistics for an entire coalition of allied forces.

The door opened, and the tower of papers wobbled. Hermione pushed it with a sheepish smile while Portland’s and Indianapolis’ eyes widened at the piles.

Alex looked dead inside while Prince of Wales was all smiles. After all, she was the one who had to do most of the paperwork in Azur Lane. “Don’t worry.” Prince of Wales said kindly, barely able to hide the relief in her voice. “I’ll help you until it’s time for your introduction in the afternoon.”

“Fuck me sideways.” Alex’s voice rang out clearly in the office, catching the attention of all the girls before his head slumped, hitting the desk with a loud groan that devolved into a laugh. The laugh stretched out for too long to be considered ‘normal’, worrying Portland as she looked at the pile.

“W-Well, Commander, you seem… busy. We’ll just-.”

“You want that church?” he spoke lowly, causing Portland and Indianapolis to freeze, slowly turning back to see the light casting a shadow over Alex’s face, like something out of a horror movie, while an eye glowed menacingly, “right?”

Indianapolis’ eyes moved to her sister, and she could see the wide eyes, the realization, and, above all, the smile on her face. The innocent, pure smile, in contrast to the scheming grin on Alex’s face, before his eyes landed on her, while a feeling of resignation set in.

Prince of Wales shook her head, watching Portland be suckered into helping Alex sort through his paperwork with Indianapolis helping her. Still, it was notable how much harder Portland worked at the thought that the Church of Indy would be considered.

He didn’t even promise that he would , just that he would consider it, and that was enough for Portland. Even Indianapolis seemed surprised, and a bit unnerved, at how hard her sister worked.

Alex was going through the paperwork easily, but he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. Not to mention the speech he had to do…

He was a simple man with a complicated mind, a mind that helped him win battles and end wars, but such knowledge doesn’t do good in politics. If it were him, he would go in, say a few words in jeans and pants, and get right back to work. The soldiers don’t want to sit through hours of speeches, and he doesn’t want to write hours of speeches. No one wins in situations like those.

While he inwardly ranted on the stupidity of speeches, Prince of Wales pointed out another mistake that he quickly corrected.

By the end of it, Portland looked like a corpse, Indianapolis was worried, and Alex wasn’t any better.

Unlike Portland, he had something else to do, and he couldn’t evade it.

So, after apologizing to Indianapolis, he made his way and changed into the uniform.

Within his new room, he looked at himself in the mirror, wearing the naval uniform for Azur Lane, consisting of a navy jacket with a white shirt under it. Reaching up, he set the cap over his head with a sigh. “Let’s do this, one more time.”

Felt like it was the first day of the Soviet invasion, so much happening so quickly and without much reason, but he’ll just have to chew it up and spit it back out.

Time for Alex to take his first step into saving another world.

The steps of the auditorium rang out, silence pervading the Kansen of the Royal Navy and Eagle Union stationed at the base. For days, they’ve heard of a man who came with Unicorn and her group in a strange jet, only for rumors to come true that he is the new Commander.

Enterprise waited to the side, looking to the sea before returning to Alex as he stepped up to the podium. His bearing was that of a proper soldier: unreadable face, perfect stance, and measured steps. Behind him, Prince of Wales followed in his footsteps and stopped as he reached the podium.

Stepping up, his gaze washed over the attending Kansen , all with different features and histories, and all of them ready to fight.

He tapped the microphone, the sound ringing out signifying its active status as he got closer.

“For the sake of time, I’ll try to keep this short,” he sighed heavily, looking longingly in the direction of the canteen. “They’re giving lobster and steak for dinner.”

Some of the Kansen chuckled, but Alex continued. “My name is Alex Walker, now your Commander. For years, all of you have waited, and today, your wait ends.” His voice, even and severe, caught the attention of many of the Kansen . “You’ve fought enemies beyond the scope of human understanding before being forced to turn those weapons against your allies. The Ironblood and the Sakura have harassed us while the Sirens wait for some unseen signal, using technology beyond our understanding and given by those Sirens. Were they reckless to do so? Extremely so. Are they in the right?”

The silence stretched out for a beat. Audible swallows and tapping of feet rang out. “We fight on two sides in history,” he said, his voice rising in volume. “Detached from what many will remember, our future is uncertain, our odds of winning are uncertain, and our true enemy is uncertain. We cast our sight to the void that is our future with all these uncertainties, and what can we do?”

There was silence, bated breaths, waiting while their blood pumped in their ears, their Cubes humming, and their hearts beating a mile a minute. The Kansen could hear their calling in the waves splashing against the docks.

Finally, Alex smiled, savage and unrelenting, cunning and, above all, filled with resolve. “Step into the void and figure it out, one battle at a time! ”

With that, cheers rang out. The Kansen were ready for battle with their Commander, while Alex sighed and smiled easily.

“For now,” he began, interrupting their cheers, “if any of you have a problem, my office is open to all. Until then, I bid all of you a good night.”

With that, he stepped out and stretched.

There, that’s enough. Right?

He made his way to his new home and felt his eyes close, preparing himself for a new day.

Within an office, a woman, sensual with horns atop her head, and a motherly atmosphere waited, watching within the room they were in as she read a new report. Not of the paper or emails that the various nations liked, but different.

A cube, one that undoubtedly also found its way into the hands of the Sakura Empire. Her red gloves traced over it as she let it rest on her lap, her dress and bodysuit tight on her buxom body as her singular visible amber eye narrowed in interest while she prodded at it again.

It unfurled into an image, a hologram, of a man with a medallion, one that her nature as a Kansen could tell was genuine with meaning behind it, and a jet, of all things. It looked advanced, but it lacked the aesthetics of the Sirens, something the Sakura Empire noticed and failed to identify if their failed attack was any evidence.

Still, to Friedrich Der Grosse, it meant other things, especially as she read through his file and the Siren’s information.

She stood up, her mind going to their leader and her recent situation, before the light around her dimmed to nothing. “A child…” She noted out loud, chuckling. “Fine, let us see what will happen.”

Slowly, she hummed a lullaby while she continued working.

Chapter Text

With a silent gasp, Alex surged forward, his hand extended, while the other desperately patted his side, where he felt the comforting leather of his belt, the holster of his M1911, and Ka-Bar knife connected to it. He scrambled for a second before looking around.

Nothing, no one; it was just him and this very comfortable-looking room, the dream that had caused him to react as such receding into his mind as he calmed himself. His breaths were audible but quickly calming while he brought up a hand to his head. “Damn it, it’s way too early.” He grumbled while he sat back on the bed.

Glancing at the digital clock, the number blared in bold red against the dark background, glared at him like his drill sergeant would if he saw the number on the clock back when he was still a Private.

Slowly, he regained control of his breathing, managing to calm it down gradually as the memories of the previous day returned in full.

Truly, he’s cursed never to be able to leave the military; it’s even harder now, both literally and figuratively, with such attractive girls around him.

Still, military life left its mark on him, so even if he would have loved to do nothing but lie down for the rest of the day, the familiar sense of responsibility and his habits wouldn’t let him. So, with a lot of regret in his heart, Alex began his first day as Azur Lane’s Commander.

The first thing he did was go to the bathroom to freshen up, a habit ingrained into him since before he even set foot in boot camp. He had to look presentable as his… mother would insist constantly, both before and after he joined the Army, when he was allowed to visit.

The thought of his dearly departed family caused the toothbrush he was using to slow, looking up to see dull blue eyes staring into his soul, his toothbrush hanging off his mouth while nothing courses through his mind. Slowly, he placed both hands on both sides of the sink and leaned on it.

For a second, everything and nothing happened, despair bubbling up along with bile before he spat out the froth from the toothpaste and turned on the sink, water flowing into his hands that he used to rinse his mouth before spitting it out, then cupping his hands under the water and splashing it on his face.

Once more, he looked at the man in the mirror and shook off his worry, pushing it down for later. Under his breath, he muttered, “Need to finish up.”

Sometimes, the fact that he looked like his father bothered him, as after the first nuke went off in Chicago, his parents were near the epicenter of the explosion. Nothing but marks on the pavement, but sometimes, when the memory becomes too much to bear…

The question of how his father’s corpse would have looked, had it been found, seemed eerily easy to answer.

He had a routine, and to this day, he stuck to it, consisting of varying steps that were either replaced with some or had the order shifted around, but the general idea was the same. Wake up, freshen up, get dressed, and do… something.

Despite his time in the military being a relatively short part of his life, it was the most notable period of his life. He was the Supreme Commander for most of the world’s armies, for god’s sake.

Everyone knew who he was, and he could get any job he wanted, which made him miserable every time he thought about it. All of that power was at the tip of his hands, and he could barely get off his ass in the morning. It’s not like he needed to work; he could have picked any country and they’d probably be happy to let him live in their country… for a while. He had no illusions that his fame would earn him any favors in the years to come; that was simply how wars worked.

So, for a while, he made sure that all who wished to leave the various militaries weren’t screwed over by paperwork or something else. Made sure that all of them left with enough opportunities to pull themselves out of any hole they found themselves in, whether that be trauma or a lack of cohesive support. That said, that was for everyone else, not for him .

So, in essence, he was fairly miserable despite having enough political pull to allow Einstein to create the Excalibur for god’s sake without many questions.

The feeling of purpose, despite the seething hatred at the responsibilities, was a welcome reprieve from the usual feeling of loss that came with leaving the military. If only it weren’t because he was right back in the military.

Sighing, Alex closed the door to his closet, the lingering scent of ‘new’ that clashed with his expectations of ‘stale’ doing little for how he felt about it all.

Similarly to his time as a Commander, he had a uniform, but no protocol to it beyond what he knew of the Navy. Still, the sun was rising, and he could see the shadows of the trees outside peering into the window, allowing him a glimpse of the Pacific.

He didn’t have any clothes to work out in, so he’d have to be satisfied with taking a break.

The mirror reflected Alex’s form in slacks, a button-up shirt, and a jacket that was still hanging, and he, decidedly, did not want to deal with it today.

Especially since he’ll be busy, after all, the amount of paperwork that must have piled up… the image had Alex nearly crying.

Still, he had to face the music sooner or later, and he’s better with a paper in hand or a file on his computer than with a gun or in the air. Only marginally, though.

Still, the Kansen did good work, work Alex could appreciate; he’s seen entire bases go to disarray from the slightest mistake on his end, along with the help of a few petty Officers who didn’t like him for one reason or another. For there to be two different factions in one area and not have them try to screw one another over?

Well, it was impressive, either these girls aren’t as prideful in their nationalities, or there is something deeper, probably almost instinctive.

These girls do refer to themselves as ‘Kansen’ instead of ‘Humans’.

He opens the door to his ‘building’, so to speak, found a short distance from his office and the ‘main area’ of the island.

The island is divided into four distinct districts, each with its unique architecture, and many areas blend seamlessly into one another. The Ironblood’s old ‘home’ is obvious with their Gothic architecture and the symbols still emblazoned on their flags.

Meanwhile, the Sakura Empire’s architecture was even more noticeable, with a choice of the building’s style consisting of ‘older’ designs rather than the modern Japanese streets he’s seen before.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they were the only ones, just the more noticeable ones. He could see a few Italian buildings and some English architecture, including the Eagle Union’s college dorm style, as well as the Royal Navy’s own estate.

Still… “Where the fuck was this money when I needed it?” He muttered under his breath.

How does the Royal Navy get an estate ? It makes no sense .

Slowly, Alex shook his head while taking in the rest of the area. In the Main Area, he could see what looked like an Academy and a few shops, consisting of many of the essentials needed for general living. Clothes, a supermarket, and he was fairly sure he could see an oil refinery.

Speaking of, he should get caught up on current events, among other things. From the… War to the outside world.

The idea of the war leaves a sour taste in his mouth. He barely left one just to jump into another one while being right at the helm…

His shoes click softly against the worn path, the bricks pristine but worn down from constant use and simple age. He had to find his office first and foremost, since clearly, things here are very different from what he was used to, as no one was awake yet. A lack of military discipline has him wondering how this could be considered a base.

If anything, it was like…

A social experiment.

The thought horrified him, it made him sick, and, worst of all, the experiment was probably over, over too soon.

With a shake of his head to dispel his thoughts, he found the building and entered, spotting what seemed like a lounge at the entrance while he made his way through.

The layout was similar enough to the bases he knew, so finding his room was fairly easy.

Without much fanfare, he reaches for the handle and…

Tugging it, it only rumbles slightly before stopping. The sound caused Alex to pause before sighing. “Locked.” He grumbled, letting go and stepping back.

He looked at the door, inwardly cursing it before wondering where he should go next.

The Docks were the next best choice in his opinion.

After all, he could see the hulls of a few familiar ships by the docks.

Slowly, he looked across the hulls of such huge titans of steel, far larger than his own chosen form of combat, but no less beautiful.

“Jesus…” He muttered under his breath. “And we built these?”

The idea befuddled him to no extent, but he quickly shook it off to head to his next location.

In a pile, Laffey is glaring at the sky, barely shaded by the various objects atop her at the docks, her eyes bloodshot in the same way Alex’s were after particularly hard nights of partying. With alcohol, a lot of it.

The white-haired rabbit looked to the side, where a bottle of scotch rested, and she began to crawl over.

“Hair of the dog ain’t exactly the best choice to cure a hangover,” Alex said, reaching down and grabbing the bottle of scotch, amused while Laffey’s red eyes narrowed and she pouted. “Morning, Laffey.”

“Commander~. My head hurts~.” She whined while Alex chuckled. “What are you doing here so early?”

“I woke up earlier for my time in the Army.” Not to mention the War and Yuri, “What are you doing out here?”

“Didn’t feel like going back to my dorm.” She admitted, slumping down before extending her arm in his direction. “Commander~. Carry me.”

“No.” He said, amused as he crouched down and brought her up in a princess carry. “You girls got any snacks around here?”

Laffey pointed at the huge aircraft carrier a few docks over. “Long Island should be on her ship. She might have something.”

Nodding, Alex made his way to the ship, “So, it seems like you had your fun last night.”

“Mmh,” Laffey confirmed with a sleepy nod. “It’s good to be working with you, Commander.”

Alex chuckled. “Same here. Still, the Commander’s Office was locked when I got there.”

“Enterprise probably has the keys,” Laffey noted before looking up and bringing a finger to her chin. “Or Prince. Enterprise is usually out on sorties.”

“That so?” Alex noted, making his way to the gangplank, which led to the Long Island. “Anyone else here?”

“On the docks?” Laffey asked while closing her eyes. Something in Alex was telling him that she’s using her radar, and if he tried to pull at that something, he could probably…

“No,” Laffey said. “Just me and Ghost.”

Something at that prodded at Alex. He didn’t know how or why, but something told him it wasn't good. Which didn’t make sense. This isn’t the first time this has happened. The Sakura Empire and Ironblood, both factions consisting of Kansen, obviously knew where this place was, and they hadn’t attacked it, so why did that statement unnerve him so?

It’s because he was here, that was a fact, it had to be. All of the other Kansen are either asleep or nursing a hangover from the celebration.

Laffey must have noticed the change, as she sat up straight. “Commander?”

“Laffey, we’re going on a sortie,” Alex said, letting her go and leaving the bottle of scotch in her hand. “Here, the hair of the dog will have to do. We’ll get you some actual food once we’re here.”

Laffey nodded. “Understood.” She opened the bottle, knocked it back, and made her way to her own ship before stopping. The slight slump to her body was now gone as she stood up and turned slowly to the sea.

Now, Alex could feel it clearly, something deep in him reacting as he followed her gaze.

The frantic steps that followed did not spell anything good. “Commander!” Long Island said, almost desperately. “It’s the Sirens.”

In the distance, they could see them: ships welded into unimaginable forms that moved under a strange, red energy that lined their hulls. Coming at the most inconvenient times.

Still…

“It’s always the first fucking day.” Alex sighed, leaning against the railing of the gangplank. “Why? Why can I never have a normal first day on the job?!”

First, it was the Army, then it was the Supreme Commander, and now, this?

Huffing, he stared into the worst this world had to offer and spoke. “Long Island, Laffey, we’re going on a sortie. Prepare to depart at once.”

“Understood,” Laffey said and went to her own ship.

“Ehe~.” Long Island chuckled while Alex stepped with her, planes appearing from nowhere atop her flight deck. “Let’s give them a huge scare.”

The alarms for Azur Lane went off the moment the duo took to the sea, with Alex atop the Long Island.

Chapter Text

A ‘stress test’ is what Tester called it; she could’ve called it all-out-war for all Purifier cared, and she still would’ve been bored out of her mind.

“Ahhh! So bored~.” The Siren whined, “Why didn’t she tell Observer to do this? I’m not built for this.”

She understood why this was needed, with the new variable that’s designated itself as the ‘Commander of Azur Lane’, they knew nothing about it. They knew he was human with a strange, if not almost futuristic jet , something that shouldn’t have been invented yet. Like others, Purifier was specially built for certain acts and was programmed similarly, she loved to fight and loved to learn by fighting.

Humans say that the best way to understand someone is by fighting, and Purifier embodied that perfectly. That’s how they were created after all, to learn. It could even be said that all the Sirens like them are representative of it.

Purifier learned best through combat, Observer, well, observed, Tester tests, and all the other Sirens are similar.

So, to be the one to ‘observe’ a ‘test’ when leading has never been her strong suit is a bit strange. Though in a way, it made sense.

“If he can’t even endure an assault from me with all these mooks, then I might as well hit him from here.” She said, her rigging shifting behind her in response to her words while she giggled, her eyes translating what she saw until she could see the ships coming her way and the man on the bridge of the Long Island.

She could see him, blonde, blue-eyed, with a slight tan, and his eyes narrowed forward. All she needed was a single shot, and his body wouldn’t even shift, much less cause a mess. He would fall, headless, lifeless, and a-.

He turned and looked straight at her. His eyes narrowed, squinting in the distance as his eyes moved in an attempt to get a good look at her.

She didn’t move, feeling as if her chest was tightening in on itself in sheer shock. He continued to look until Long Island tugged at him, and he nodded.

She could see her move, jogging out of the bridge of her ship and then hopping over the edge and onto the sea, where she skated along it with ease, ingrained into them since creation.

Still, Purifier’s mouth widened, tightening into a grin that had her cackling. She, like many of her fellow Sirens, can see things better than others, and like the KANSEN, she can understand authority very well. Probably even better with their nature.

She had her orders, but she sorely doubted they would do much, granted, they weren’t meant to do much.

“What will you be, I wonder?” She asked, her voice soft while she giggled maniacally, resting forward with her palm on her hand. “And what are you hiding…?”

The mass-produced Siren ships began to move under her will, bearing down on the two Kansen moving forward confidently.

She could see him make his way away from the port to somewhere else, probably communication towers.

The siren is getting on her nerves.

She paused and threw her head back, laughing, “Ahahaha, oh! I get it. A siren for a Siren . Finally, I always wondered why that bothered me.”

The alarm blared all over the base, one that everyone knew intimately, both out of practice and necessity. Enterprise removed her blanket and pondered whether she should leave while still in her pajamas or not, but decided against it. While the alarms were going off, she changed into her clothes, wondering how many were outside ye-.

Alex .

The reason why the Sirens attacked was obvious; worst, he doesn’t know how to fight Sirens. Slipping her cap over her head, she called out, “Grimm!”

Her eagle followed her out of her room, the other KANSEN doing the same as they filed out and the alarm finally stopped blaring while all of them were headed to the port.

She was about to charge in, but choked when her legs nearly went ahead of her, someone grabbing the hem of her jacket before she looked. “Whoa.” That was all Alex said before letting go of her coat, allowing her to balance herself before huffing.

“What are you doing here, those are Sirens-.” Enterprise began while Alex brought up some binoculars with a hum, looking in the distance.

“So it seems. Long Island and Laffey are there. They’ll be fine.” He said, waving her off, to her shock and outrage. “I’m used to alien shenanigans, and these shenanigans are the furthest thing from it. They almost seem like they’re going easy on us.”

“What do you-?” She asked and looked again. She couldn’t argue against what he said, they seem to be baiting a reaction, Enterprise intimate with the range Siren Battleships have and their Aircraft Carriers. “… You’re right.” She noted while Alex’s eyes narrowed.

Bringing the binoculars up, he added, “Go and help organize the others.” He said, glancing back to see some KANSEN walking around, lost and clearly outside of their pre-determined squads in emergencies. “I’d do it myself, but I’ve been here for all of one day. I’ve told Long Island to scout out their numbers and Laffey to slow her approach. Should buy enough time to spring the trap.”

“What trap?” Enterprise asked, narrowing her eyes at the formation of Siren ships heading their way. Destroyers and Cruisers surrounding a Battleship with an Aircraft Carrier in the back. The Destroyers are there to attack first as a spear, drive a wedge, and leave the island open for bombardment from either the Battleship or Aircraft Carrier. The Cruisers are there to protect the Battleship and Aircraft Carrier. “There’s nothing there.”

“Exactly.” Alex pointed out before his eyes narrowed. “They’re heading to us directly with two very notable targets. We go after the Carrier, we get bombarded by the Battleship. We hit the Battleship, the Aircraft Carrier will release its planes. It’s straightforward and anyone would go at it with confidence that it’ll be a collision.”

Enterprise nodded, understanding the idea. A simple naval battle. One side is defending, and the other is attacking. “Do you think it’s a diversion?”

“I don’t know what to think.” He huffed while lowering his binoculars, glaring in the distance. “I’ve led Naval battles before, but it’s barely my first day here. I’d rather be safe than sorry with things like these. But everyone’s disorganized.” He said pointedly before looking at her dryly. “Which I’m fairly sure I told you to do so in place of my inexperienced self?”

“Sir, I believe I’d be better suited to assist Long Island and Laffey,” Enterprise answered while looking at Alex.

“No can do. You barely got back, right?” He noted while looking at the slowly moving mass-produced Siren ships. “You need to rest, besides…”

Enterprise saw him trail off, even with the frustration bubbling up. “Commander?”

“If this isn’t a diversion, then that means this is either an attack or a test. Since this seems too weak for an attack, it means that it’s a test. Which would mean someone or something is proctoring it. Tell me, what would a proctor do if you’re caught cheating on a test?”

“Shut down the test,” Enterprise answered, less frustrated.

“Yeah, with your strength and experience, this would be a cakewalk.” He noted, “But if this is a diversion, that means something is out there waiting and looking to attack, and we have one too many people too willing to jump in to fight a visible enemy when there’s a chance of an invisible one. Your experience is better suited to taking care of things like that at the moment, not to mention that your presence would probably be counted as ‘cheating’ and will cause the person ‘proctoring’ this test to shut it down, and I’d rather not know what that would entail.” He added under his breath before continuing, “So go and work with Prince of Wales to get the people organized and start flanking while looking for any traps. The Sirens aren’t the only enemy we have to worry about, after all.”

Enterprise took his words and nodded, “Understood, Commander.”

“Also,” he added as an afterthought, “tell Portland that she’ll be working elsewhere. Indianapolis seems to have gotten there before anyone else.”

Enterprise watched the form of Indianapolis move to join Long Island and Laffey before scrunching her face. “… Got it.” It was not going to be an easy thing to do, at least. “Look for the Main Ships, probably the Battleship or the Aircraft Carrier,” she suggested, “if they go down, the rest will disconnect from whatever system the Sirens use and will be easy pickings.”

“Got it,” Alex said, smiling with a nod. “I’m gonna go and move somewhere that isn’t so easily identifiable.” He said before the two separated, moving in different directions to their destinations.

As she began to make her way, she began to note something. People . He referred to them as ‘people’, not KANSEN.

Maybe it was a slip of the tongue, but it says a lot about who he is. Now that she paid attention, she could feel various KANSEN hailing her in the confusion and chaos while she tuned into Hornet.

“ Enterprise !” Hornet yelled, nearly bursting Enterprise’s ear, “ Wait for me, I’ll-. ”

“Negative, Hornet,” Enterprise said, sighing. “Commander gave his orders. Leave the Sirens to him. I’ll organize the Task Forces. This is either a diversion, a test, or an attack. If it’s the first one, it’s our job to look for it.”

For a second, Hornet didn’t answer, which worried Enterprise as she asked, “Hornet?”

“ Ah, sorry. ” Hornet said, clearly sheepish, “ I just didn’t expect you to listen to the Commander if he told you to stay back. ”

Enterprise frowned, nearing a pout as she noted, “You were there when he told us about his qualifications, you felt the same thing. Besides, it’s not like the reasons were unreasonable, if there’s an ambush, I’m probably the most qualified to intercept it.”

“ Well, I’ll take what I can get. ” Hornet relinquished before asking, “ So, where am I going? ”

“Take the North side, they’re coming from the West so make sure we don’t miss anything.” She said before she cut the connection and answered the next one.

Prince of Wales was the far from the first to reach the edge of the port where the Mass-Produced Siren ships were visible, but she was the first to bring up the possibility of it being an ambush and bean to act on that thought. Organizing the KANSEN to inspect the areas around them in their predetermined groups.

Which was where the confusion started, some made their own groups, others went out on their own, it was a mess, but not one Prince of Wales didn’t think would happen.

Things only began to organize themselves once Enterprise joined her in organizing the fleets to look for possible ambushes.

Many of the other KANSEN moved as reserves should the Commander need it.

Alex Walker… the man who is now their Commander and will lead them in his first fight. She was one of the first to see his capability through his rank, different it might be, but she still felt anxious and apprehensive. Where was he? Had he been hit yet? Why were they all focusing on searching for ambushes rather than taking the fight to them?

They were all unprepared, now they can ether sink or they will fight to live another day. Weirdly enough, the ships were very clearly Siren in nature rather than some other form of ship from a different Navy. It made her curious why they would attack so overtly at such a time with such a small force?

Regardless, by the time she could hear the hum of the planes above, they could see Indianapolis and Laffey’s main guns firing along with splashes. As a Battleship, she had other responsibilities, like leading her own Task Force once the Command Ship of the Sirens fell.

She stepped onto the water and began to skate with ease to the battle, slowly.

Indianapolis cut through the water, nothing like a Destroyer, lumbering as her status as a Heavy cruiser, but joining Laffey. “Permission to join.” She asked, sending it to the group.

“ Permission granted, ” Alex responded while Indianapolis joined Laffey as they got within range. “ Welcome, Indianapolis, I’d greet you properly, but we’re in a bit of a rush. ”

“Mmh.” Indianapolis nodded, agreeing while she could hear Long Island sigh heavily.

“ It’s so early, why do the Sirens have to interrupt us so early in the morning? ” She said, despite that, they could see dive bombers and fighter planes take to the sky in preparation to counter the Aircraft Carrier on the Siren’s side.

“ Meanies. ” Laffey agreed, despite that, her eyes were wide, and her entire pose was only reminiscent of the sleepy Destroyer. “ Was going to be pampered by the Commander. ”

Indianapolis turned to the twin-tailed girl in interest before Alex cut through. “ Look alive, Long Island, numbers? ”

“ Err… ” Long Island hummed, “ One Battleship, one Aircraft Carrier, three Destroyers, two Heavy Cruisers, and two Light Cruisers. ”

The Siren Destroyers began to peel away, and then the Battleship’s main guns turned to them. “Commander-!” Indianapolis began.

“ I see it. ” He cut through calmly, “ You’ll be fine, all of you are stronger than them. You’re better. And you’ll have as much time to do whatever you want for the rest of the day once they’re piles of scrap. ”

His words ignited a fire in their hearts that even Indianapolis could feel, and even see with her fellow KANSEN. “ Long Island, stay in the back row, make sure you have air superiority, Indianapolis, Laffey, you’re going in first, intercept those Destroyers and watch out for the Battleship’s main guns. ”

“Commander.” Indianapolis began, “They’re coming.”

“ Scat- .”

Before he could say anything, Indianapolis felt the familiar pulsing through her Wisdom Cube, anxiety, elation, and more coalescing into her core before it burst when the Battleship’s main guns did as well.

The salvo was directed right at her at the front before it stopped, bursting mid-flight along with the others, the air around her shimmering while a shield of spectral blue hexagons interlocked before that flickered, bursting while they continued.

For a second, the line was silent, the only thing that was heard was Portland’s cheering from the port, which Indianapolis pointedly ignored in favor of pointing her guns forward.

Finally, Alex’s voice cut through, “ I really need to go through some of those reports before something like this happens again. Fire! ”

Long Island’s fighters began firing at the Siren’s aircraft, the two trading fire and taking the skies for their own, leaving the seas to those on it.

“Deactivating self-imposed limiter.” Laffey proclaimed and pointed, her guns firing when the Destroyers were within range. Their size hid the power behind them, while her torpedo tubes released their payload while they sailed forward, water splitting where it trailed.

Indianapolis simply took to the front and silently followed Laffey’s example, her guns firing at the closest Destroyer.

Soon, the space between them was filled with whistling rounds and explosions.

Long Island was not a very active KANSEN, combat was her forte only when there was a controller in hand and a fighter on screen. Which is why she was perfect as an aircraft carrier.

Her fighters took to the sky, clashing with the Sirens’ aircrafts, the wind blowing against her hair and loose clothes while Laffey and Indianapolis trade fire with the Destroyers who were looking to circumvent them and go after the port or her.

She gritted her teeth when one of her fighters went down, breaking apart into motes of light while more planes appeared on her runway. She was no Enterprise, much less the First Carrier Division of the Sakura, but she was still an aircraft carrier of the Eagle Union.

Her bombers flew off, flying off the runway with a hum, keeping her eye on her radar while she maneuvered them.

The Siren’s aircrafts were always some of the hardest to fight, they didn’t use the same material as theirs did, occasionally seemed to lack air restistance, and used a different source.

The idea was still the same. Hit the cockpit or hit the wings, so that’s what she did, moving, circling the others while the Siren aircraft carrier did the same. “Geh.” She grunted, noticing how it was circling the others in a counterclockwise direction, the opposite direction she was going.

Her fighters were starting to give as well, the aircraft of the Sirens far more advanced with far more experience than she had.

It was gradual, but she could feel the feeling in her core increase. Slowly filling up like a gauge while she directed her fighters to attempt to overwhelm the Siren’s own.

It wasn’t impossible, the two of them had similar rates of creation when it came to their aircrafts, it was their morals were things were different.

One of the spiraling fighters form the Siren spiraled, landing on Indianapolis’ shield and causing it to flicker, leaving her open from a glancing shot from one of the Destroyers and nearly stumbling into a torpedo.

Their formation had yet to crumble, the damage minimal, but this wasn’t working. The main guns of the battleship went off and she quickly slid around the shots, hitting the sea and kicking up water, splashing on her while she sucked in her lips.

Her Anti-air guns cracked once more, hitting some of the Siren aircraft and helping with the air, but she was starting to get worried.

Shaking her head, she felt it; the ‘gauge’ was full.

Quickly, she sent more fighters in the air, assisting with the ones that were already on the air and clashing with the Siren aircraft.

She needed a target. Her eyes roamed before a voice cracked through, “ Long Island, hit the Destroyers. ”

With a swing of her hand, the bombers began to propel themselves forward.

A swathe of torpedoes slipped from her torpedo tubes, cutting through the water and missing, leaving Laffey to evade the retaliating rounds from the Destroyers.

She fired back, hitting the Destroyer but not taking it down before she slid around, dancing on water without grace but with much accuracy, her core pulsing with excitement while Indianapolis shot it with one of the main guns, slowing it down considerably while she tried to fire but was forced to step back.

“ Airstrike incoming! ” They heard Alex yell while Long Island’s bomber dived in, depositing their payload in the direction of two Destroyers, before their bombs went off. The slow one went up in flames, exploding from the bombs, while another barely managed to turn a direct hit into a glancing blow, but still slowed it down.

She felt it, firing her main guns, the shot landed, and the fire in her stomach spread. “Condition: green… Let’s go.”

She was faster, closing the distance while firing her guns, her AA highlighting her form while gunning down Siren aircraft to assist Long Island, the time between her salvoes shortened considerably while her torpedoes were stronger. The Destroyer tried to move, but it was littered with holes a second later, bursting into flames and leaving them with one Destroyer. While the Battleship moved, its main guns swiveling, Laffey released her torpedos, cutting through the water before bursting, all three hitting the Battleship and causing damage.

Not enough, of course.

Laffey swiveled, the secondary guns aiming in her direction, one of the rounds clipping her shoulder before Indianapolis intervened, her shields up and spinning around her, and Laffey, due to how close they were.

A few rounds later, it dispelled and the two were off, the Heavy Cruisers moving forward while the Destroyer tried to harass them.

Indianapolis fired a salvo from her guns, kicking up mist while the Battleship began to move in an attempt to circumvent it.

Laffey slid forward, but an explosion kicked up sea water, her ears ringing while she got to her feet, aches and pain coursing through her before she shook her head. “Laffey is okay~.”

She lazily brought her hand up while Long Island frantically apologized, “ I’m sorry, the Light Cruisers are taking potshots and I’m getting distracted. ”

“Aircraft Carrier needs to go.” Indianapolis summarized while taking a second to re-center herself. Rolling her shoulder.

“ Look alive, they’ve got reinforcements! ” Alex yelled while they turned and spotted more Siren ships moving in their direction. Though their decks exploded in flames and shrapnel, while the sound of the batteries of Battleships rang off behind them. “ Skirmishes are happening around the area, but this is the only place with an Aircraft Carrier and Battleship. Sink the Battleship, then overwhelm the Carrier, got it?”

“ Right. ” Long Island confirmed while Indianapolis wordlessly nodded.

“’Kay,” Laffey responded, sliding forward while glaring at the singular Destroyer and two heavy Cruisers cutting through the waves with ease.

Hornet frowned, watching her task force cheer while the corpse of a mass-produced Siren ship sank under the waves.

It was too easy, like the attacks weren’t actual attacks. If they were still clambering to re-organize themselves, this would’ve been a lot more damaging, not only for morale, but for anyone who was caught unaware without a task force.

She kicked away stray shrapnel while trying to piece it together. A focused attack before a series of attacks from various positions? No, they were spread thin, hiding with islands to mask their presence, and none of them were Battleships or Aircraft Carriers, usually the ones ‘controlling’ the smaller ships. But there were none.

“So, it was the main force.” Hornet muttered, hearing some of the other KANSEN begin to call in their own sunken Sirens, “That was close.”

If they weren’t organized, this attack would have been a ploy that would have left all of them off guard and panicking, leading to mistakes and openings.

While ‘impeccable’ wouldn’t be the right word, ‘good’ was closer, and as far as they cared, it was enough that they hadn’t lost anyone yet.

Hornet heard Enterprise report in, as they all began to make their way back to port, taking different routes to make sure they didn’t miss anything. It’d be embarrassing if they messed up because they were overconfident.

Looking up, she could see some of Long Island’s fighters take to the sky along with bombers, making Hornet wonder how the three are doing. Shaking her head, she and the rest of her Task Force made their way back to base.

Alex didn’t know enough, and it was driving him insane. Looking at the group fighting in open water, he frowned while the base’s coastal artillery went off, taking care of the few Siren aircraft that miraculously made it through. Bringing up his binoculars, he could see Indianapolis’s shield come up and take some of the fire from the Heavy Cruisers.

The smaller and faster girls moved like ballerinas on the water, reports coming in of singular ships waiting, hidden in the area, while he was focused on the fight between Laffey, Indianapolis, and Long Island.

It hadn’t been too long, but they were holding their own pretty well. Not to mention all the strange abilities they were showing. He internally had to remind himself to go back and look through the reports on each one, who knows what else they’re capable of that he doesn’t know. Then, there were the Sirens, it’ll be very important that he figures them out quickly.

He brings the radio up, narrowing his eyes before nodding. “Long Island, next chance you get, release your bombers and take down the Battleship.”

“ Okay. ” The KANSEN responded, a second later, bombers moving from the runway beside her as they release their payloads.

The Battleship breaks under the force, exploding and sending smoke up, while the three move to intercept the Aircraft Carrier. Indianapolis at the front, followed by Laffey and then Long Island.

The remaining ship, consisting of a single Heavy Cruiser tries to follow them, but Laffey turned, releasing a salvo followed by torpedoes. The salvo hit, rounds piercing its hull and the torpedos worsening the damage, exploding while the three moved.

The airspace was congested with gunfire and planes, strafing around each other, the Light Cruiser’s defending the Aircraft Carrier assisting with their AA guns. Long Island released another wave of fighters while Laffey and Indianapolis’ AA guns came to life.

Lowering the binoculars, he looked around, his instinct telling him that something was looking at him. When you have something like Yuri walking around, a literal mind-controlling man, you learn that it’s best to trust your instincts. It’s been bothering him this entire time.

He’s been glancing back and forth to his Excalibur; no alarms have gone off, so no one has touched it yet, but he’s being paranoid. Shaking his head, he brought his binoculars up one more time.

It’s the last fight, time to get cautious.

AA rang all around them, the hits getting more numerous while the Light Cruisers had Indianapolis and Laffey distracted. Long Island was focusing on the sky, barely able to pay attention lest her concentration slip and have the steadily slipping aerial battles turn in the favor of the Sirens.

There was only so much the planes she had could take, and it was beginning to become a stalemate, in other words, the Siren’s side. If she lets a stalemate happen, she won’t be able to assist with airstrikes or bombing runs, despite her status, she is still an aircraft carrier. A ship that’s seen as the next stage of warfare that will one day replace battleships according to the scientists.

Still, this fighting…

“ Long Island, ” Alex said through the radio, “ how finely can you control each plane? ” He asked, and Long Island tilted her head.

“If I want, I can hold practice all by myself and have each one reach a grade that I choose while making it seem like they were moving on their own.” She answered, having one of them barrel roll away and another chase behind it, gunning them down easily before he nodded.

“ Impressive, alright, try this… ” He explained the maneuver to her while she imagined it in her mind.

As she attempted the maneuver, she remembered that the Commander was part of the Army’s airborne division. If there’s anyone who knows planes and how they flew, it was probably Alex; even some of the other KANSEN didn’t know the intricacies of their planes beyond the instinctual understanding that came with being an aircraft carrier.

Slowly, she listened to the Commander, each move, each maneuver, each description spoken with the ease of someone who has done them. Who had taken to the sky and came back victorious, dominating it like they did the seas.

It wasn’t immediate, the Sirens falling gradually, but with ease.

Now, she could feel it in her core, the pulsing.

“ Wait, ” Alex ordered, and she did.

Waiting for the right moment.

Indianapolis had experience with Light Cruisers.

Granted, it’s in the form of sparring with her sister, which usually devolved into her either conceding or being unable to fight because of one reason or another, but she’s getting off track.

A shot glanced off of her, the large mechanical hands hovering around her keeping her from taking any direct hits while she slid around it, her main guns firing off while she waited for her shields to return. Each shot either glanced off or had a direct impact, leaving holes on the hull of the Light Cruiser while it was beginning to slow down.

Despite that, she had to activate her shield lest a bomb from a bomber take her out of commission. The two shields were spinning around her while she allowed herself to get a bit reckless, tanking the shots to send more back to finish things quickly. She skated around them and fired round after round, clicking her tongue while looking at the Carrier.

Her guns moved, pointing in the direction of the Carrier before firing all her guns in her direction. From main, to secondary, and even her AA, she unloaded everything she could into the Aircraft Carrier, and while it was still standing, the damage was obvious while she evaded fire from the Cruiser, her guns reloading while she waited, weaving in and out, slower than Laffey, faster then Long Island, but far more capable of taking hits due to her thicker armor.

A round whistled by her while she was close, hitting the shields before they burst in a circle around her, damaging the Light Cruiser and causing it to almost hesitate for a second.

Without a second thought, she aimed her reloaded main guns and secondary guns, each round expelled in a burst of flames before bursting once they hit the hull, leaving gaping holes on it and through it while she narrowed her eyes in focus. She fired another salvo, the cruiser stubbornly standing upright before she followed with another salvo that the ship finally burst and began to sink.

Turning, she waited for a second, looking up and nodding. It seemed like Long Island managed to regain air superiority. All her weapons were reloaded, it was a bit worrying that her ammunition was a bit low, but with a quick count, even if she did miss a few shots, she would be fine. Though, she was hoping that things wouldn’t get desperate any time soon.

She regained her breath and sped up, evading a run from a Siren fighter before firing at the Aircraft Carrier.

“ Good work, Indianapolis, ” Alex said before Indianapolis hummed.

“Indy.” Indianapolis retorted while Alex didn’t answer for a second.

“ Excuse me? ” He asked.

“Indy is my nickname. You can call me that.” She reiterated while Alex paused for a second and nodded.

“ Alright, Indy, great work. Laffey is just about finishing up.”

At his words, Indianapolis turned to see Laffey.

Destroyers weren’t meant to perform combat in close quarters; after all, torpedoes need time to set unless they explode in your face. Of course, Laffey didn’t care about that, and the people who decided that probably never thought their ship would grow legs, skate on water, and be short.

Here she is, taking a Light Cruiser in close naval combat. The constant din of AA guns in the background while her main guns fired into the hull, sliding around the water, kicking up mist while evading retaliatory rounds, splashing water all over the place, and occasionally obscuring her sight, not enough to miss the giant Siren ship right in front of her, though.

She weaved in between gunfire, quicker than the cruiser while retaliating with her own, while the feeling of all her guns being reloaded coursed through her. She circled the Siren Cruiser, releasing torpedoes and salvoes of rounds through the hull of the ship in front of her from all main, secondary, and even AA guns, the torpedos bursting as they hit, and the ship followed, sinking under its weight while a pillar of smoke burst through.

“ Well done, Laffey. ” Alex said, causing Laffey to perk up and preen before he added, “ It’s not over, though. Take a second and join Indy and Long Island. Let’s end this. ”

Laffey inwardly noted the use of Indianapolis’ nickname and nodded. “Right, Commander.”

Under the fire of Siren aircraft being countered by Long Island, she runs a quick check of herself while reloading her guns. Torpedoes were running short, and her ammunition could be better.

It’d be enough. “Ready.” She said, skating in Indianapolis’ direction, who had already finished hers, while they made their way to the final ship. An Aircraft Carrier, they could see Long Island’s fighters take to the sky, fighting desperately to get an avenue to airstrike the carrier with little success.

Unlike the surroundings, the defenses around the Carrier were solid, with Long Island lacking the experience and technique to be able to pierce it or circumvent it, while Alex lacked the knowledge or experience against Sirens to understand anything beyond what he could see from his position.

The two pointed all their guns at the Carrier and released it in salvoes in an All-Out Assault, torpedoes sailing in an arc from Laffey while the shields returned around Indianapolis.

The retaliatory attacks were near instant, gunfire strafing them while bombers tried to hit them, but their own AA guns came back to life, their weapons reloaded before they began to move.

They shot down Siren aircraft after aircraft, Indianapolis’ shield bursting and damaging the carrier while they attacked sporadically until Alex called in. “ Open up a lane for Long Island, keep their attention on you. ”

“Understood,” Laffey answered while Indianapolis wordlessly nodded, the two circling the carrier, landing shot after shot on its bulk while focusing mostly on the aircraft around them. The two were taking potshots whenever possible, Laffey sending torpedoes while Indianapolis activated her shield whenever possible, and letting it burst near it.

They whittled at its defenses until Long Island called in. “ Ready, here we go! ”

With a shot of her main guns, Laffey could feel heat course through her, her speed and firepower increasing while her guns reloaded almost instantly. Indianapolis manifested the shields and followed after Laffey, the two making sure the opening is clear for Long Island despite the torn ‘hand’ on Indianapolis’ rigging and Laffey’s injuries.

They heard the buzzing and the planes got closer and closer, the two fighting desperately while Long Island’s own AA goes off in an attempt to keep her airspace clear.

The bombers gained altitude, slowly moving before they began to dive in formation, the edges of the formation lighting in flames as the bombers were shot down, despite that…

A direct hit.

The Siren aircraft carrier burst into flames, while Laffey and Indianapolis aimed an All-Out Assault at the ship, creating a second explosion as the two skated back from the wreck, breathing heavily while re-grouping with Long Island.

Slowly, Long Island’s planes begin to gain air superiority, the Siren aircraft going down like puppets who just had their strings cut. An appropriate comparison, considering the Sirens’ abilities.

They were tense, their bodies wound up and their adrenaline still coursing, their Cubes glowing from the combat that they weren’t sure was over. Neither wanted to say anything, either because of who they were or out of fear that they might jinx themselves.

There was no answer, but they could hear the distant roar of planes and explosions, and their bodies tensed up. Finally, Laffey called for Alex. “Commander?”

For a dreadful second, there was no response, the worst coming to their minds while they prepared to dash and try to help, only for his voice to interrupt them. “ Ughh, fuck me. I need a drink. Some ‘shine would be nice. ”

While Laffey perked up at the mention of what might just be moonshine, Indianapolis asked, “Commander, we’ve taken down the Siren Carrier.”

“ That’s what I guessed. ” He said, the smile on his face audible through the connection. “ Prince of Wales and Enterprise just got to me, said that the few straggling ships started wandering. They were all set, hidden to come out and probably would’ve given everyone a scare if we didn’t organize ourselves. ”

The three were silent, the meaning of his words coursing through them. “You mean…” Long Island trailed off, just as shocked as the others.

“ I do. Girls, the Siren threat has been repelled, and you three are officially the heroes of the hour. ” He said, the three glancing at each other with jovial looks in their eyes and exhaustion in their forms. “ I managed to go through some files, and Enterprise has confirmed that they are Mass-produced ships. ”

Their excitement didn’t dim down even from the revelation. Of course, none of them were the excitable type to begin with, so the three did the only logical thing. “Ahhhhhh~!” Long Island groaned, slapping against the water while Laffey fell face flat against the water, bubbles appearing from the air while their rigging receded, the full armaments previously shown now reduced to one of their guns visible and other accessories.

Indianapolis flinched while she sat on her seat, floating on mid-air while she looked around. Laffey managed to flip onto her back, no longer in danger of, ironically, drowning and immediately fell asleep.

“… They fell asleep, didn’t they, Indy? ” Alex asked, a fond and exasperated tone while Indy nodded, turning to the only position where the Commander would be able to see them, atop the radio tower.

“Yeah, want me to wake them?”

“ They’re tired. I don’t blame them, but High Command just called and started reaming me when they couldn’t contact us. They’ll probably be happy to hear this. That said, carry them, if you will. You’ve all worked hard, but you’re the one with the least damage. ” He explained while Indianapolis nodded.

“Understood.” She said, extending the arms of her rigging around her and cradling both Long Island and Laffey. “Commander?” She asked.

“ Hm? ” He responded while Indianapolis skated against the water.

“Did we… manage to do something?” Indianapolis asked while Alex was quiet for a second.

“… Not in a way that matters tangibly, but far more conceptually. ” He said while Indianapolis’ expression got flatter, staring at where Alex should be, while he chuckled. “ From what I’ve seen, the Sirens have near-unlimited resources, using materials out of this world through techniques no one understands. This is probably less than a drop in an ocean for them. ”

His words had Indianapolis pause, aware that quality usually trumps quantity, but…

They struggled in this; none of them nearly died, but this wasn’t a walk in the park, as expected, yet they took damage and were pushed to the edge. The idea that they were pushed this far when the enemy has so much more?

It was terrifying.

“ Yet, this does bring into play a few questions. Most notably, why here, now, and most importantly, why so little? ” Alex said, his voice becoming less clear.

“What do you mean?” Indianapolis asked while Alex hummed.

“ This attack can be seen as one of three things: a diversion, an attack, or a test. It can’t be a diversion because there are no reports of Siren movement outside of here, yet. It couldn’t have been an attack, with how weak the forces in hiding were, so it had to be a test. A shoddy one too. ” He added while Indianapolis tilted her head.

He must have planned to continue regardless because he continued. “ The ships that were hidden didn’t amount to much, maybe if everyone was still running around like headless chickens, they’d be afraid, but it’d be momentary. It’d push others to try and attack them if they saw it. They could have been dangerous, but they were more of a show of force rather than an attacking force. Not to mention the ships that made up the fleets you attacked didn’t act until you were both in range of each other. Even when Long Island’s planes got close, they didn’t react. Like they were waiting to see the white of your eyes. Then you fought in an isolated area without much interference from either side, the ships that would have appeared only assured that. The only variable was my orders. ”

While furthest from the smartest KANSEN, all of them had knowledge they learned that had hem up to standards for their respective country’s schooling, as such, Indianapolis understood the experimental process. Ask a question, come up with a hypothesis, perform experiments, and record the results to compare them with the hypothesis.

“Why was this a shoddy one?” Indianapolis asks, Long Island leaning on her palm and listening in, her eyes fluttering open and closed in between listening and nodding.

“ Because the one overseeing it probably was never meant to do so, if someone is overseeing it. ” He added, “ Why did they attack us directly? Why not wait for you girls to be out on a sortie or something? It’s just off… Or I’m being paranoid. ”

There was a pause while thy got closer to port and Indianapolis saw someone familiar. “ Ignore my inane ramblings and take the day off. You’ve earned it. All of you. ”

“Indy~!” Portland yelled, leaping at her while she tried to keep her balance. “I was so worried~!” She yelled through snot-fueled tears while Indianapolis tried to keep her balance.

“Portland-!” Before she could start, she was overwhelmed by people, all of them excited and talking.

“ Don’t keep them waiting. Tomorrow ain’t here yet, but it’ll come. Enjoy today. ” That was all he said before the connection cut, and Indianapolis grimaced.

She just wanted to sleep.

Purifier watched Alex slump atop the radio tower, smiling despite the exhaustion, while she could feel someone calling her. Observer, probably.

It’s her fault anyway; if she wanted a perfect test, she should’ve put Tester up to this. She just did this as quickly as possible. It was easy to hide the Ships around the various islands dotting the area around the Azur Lane base, and she had already simulated it; if Alex wasn’t there, they would’ve panicked and desperately moved, uncoordinated and frantic. They wouldn’t have died, and they would have taken care of them easily, but it would have been messy.

Something made Alex special, something that would help them in their goal. Not only their experience, or even the jet, but something… more .

“Well,” she hummed, smiling at the human and the other KANSEN trying to hide her presence, “’till next time, Alex .” She said, testing out the name, a common one, and she found that it wasn’t as bad as she once thought it would be.

The world bent around her before she and her rigging disappeared a second later.

Alex glanced in the direction she had previously been and frowned.

It’s there, a feeling in his gut alerted him of something that was there but is gone. He let the radio rest in the room of the radio tower, letting it rest while he released a breath. “That…”

Even in the most absurd in his time, fighting against Yuri, the Sirens seem to spit on the idea of conventional warfare. Even KANSEN aren’t better, being young girls with guns that shoot large caliber rounds with the force of something at least ten times its size.

Still, watching it all unravel without much opportunity to study it had him scrambling far more than some of his close calls against Yuri’s forces. Sirens are what he’s fighting against, and KANSENs are who he’s fighting with . Each one has their one abilities and so much more, while his enemies might not truly be his enemies. It was all so confusing.

That said, it was par for the course at this point.

Speaking of par for the course, his hand went to his holster, disengaging the safety of his M1911 and aiming at a corner of the room. “Whoever is there, step out or I will shoot.”

The silence within the radio tower’s room was suffocating, a presence that didn’t belong to him suffusing the area, one he was intimately aware of. After all, they were common in his time as a Commander of the Allied Forces.

Subterfuge, so either a spy, assassin, or something else.

“Forgive me.” The voice in the shadows began, slowly stepping out of the shadows to reveal her form. “It seems I got lost cleaning,” she added while her clothes became visible, “and ended up here. I didn’t notice the mess…” She paused on purpose, her honey amber eyes on him, “I’m sorry, I mean you here.”

Alex paused, blinking while wondering if this girl just called him a mess . The girl had her blonde hair in braids while wearing a maid outfit, not looking worried at the gun pointed at her, so that meant…

“You’re a KANSEN,” he pointed out while the girl’s eyes visibly widened in genuine surprise and shock.

“… I didn’t know pests were capable of coming to such conclusions.” She said, outright insulting him while he lowered the gun, engaged the safety, and slipped it in its holster.

“Now, I know that wasn’t an accident.” He pointed out, while her expression returned to its impassive state.

“Forgive me, I stuttered.” She said, bringing a hand to her mouth, hiding it.

“I doubt that,” Alex noted, sitting down on the chair among the radio equipment.

“I mithpoke.” She tried again, and Alex rolled his eyes. “Vermin.” She added under her breath, looking away when he narrowed his eyes at her.

Slowly, he relaxed, turning to her, “So, who are you, and what brings a member of the Maid Corps here, that is what you and Hermione are in, right?”

“So my colleague has introduced herself. That makes things easier.” She said, grabbing her skirt and performing a curtsy, “I’m Sheffield, a Town-class Light Cruiser. Here under orders of Queen Elizabeth to spy… I mean, evaluate Azur Lane’s new Commander and assist them with matters concerning the Royal Navy. So, until told otherwise, I will be working under you, pe-.” She stopped herself before saying, “Master.”

Alex decided to ignore that and ask a more poignant question: “Are you the only one coming?”

“For the moment.” She admitted. “While the Eagle Union and Royal Navy are in an alliance, we still have our problems in the Atlantic. We don’t have much time to help, sadly.”

“Right…” Alex trailed off, sighing. “Well, I was hoping for too much. Well, have you already gotten settled in?”

“Yes,” Sheffield confirmed while Alex stood up.

“Well, let’s go. There are too many things to do and not enough time to do them.” Alex said, stepping away. Sheffield watched him for a while before following after him.

Chapter Text

Sheffield glanced at the new Commander of Azur Lane and found him wanting. Not as a Commander, the medal on his chest glinting under the sun dissuading such notions along with her nature as a KANSEN confirming it, but as a man.

He yawned, bringing up a hand to cover it while his blonde hair was messy despite its short nature. His gait was uneven, ambling rather than walking, while grumbling.

“Here.” She said, the object in her hand flicking out with a bit too much force, the folder in her hand slapping his side and surprising him while he turned, confusion and indignation clear in his eye, along with amusement and a bit of nostalgia.

Interesting.

“Thank you.” He said, grabbing the folder and opening it. “What’s this?”

“A summary of the events that took place today and relevant information. Your ignorance is grating, but it’s understandable considering your background.” She said while Alex raised a brow, glancing at her with curiosity and suspicion. “After all, you’re the unfortunate test subject of a weapon being made in secret without clearance, it just so happens that you have High Command’s interest because of it, and an aptitude for leading, so they decided to bring you in after heavy testing.”

“Huh…” Alex noted, opening the folder and shuffling through the papers. From a passport, ID, and a birth certificate to even a High School diploma, everything was in there that talked about his ‘past’. “You got these pretty quickly, huh?” He added, looking up, “I’ve only been here for a few days, after all.”

“I don’t need to tell you anything.” Sheffield quickly said, “Simply know that, unlike the KANSEN in the Union, the Royal Navy’s status isn’t in question.”

“Is that so?” He asked, reading through the file while extracting a different one along with the other forms of identification found inside.

“It is,” Sheffield said, looking around while she followed after him. “Not like it’d matter much, any information found here is classified to everyone but Naval High Command.”

She couldn’t help but notice the lack of KANSEN in the path he used to return to the Office. Either he knew this ahead of time, or his senses are far better than she expected; it’s probably a mixture of both. Sheffield could recognize the training he went through in his body and mind, tucking the file away under his arm and slipping the IDs and other identification in his wallet. His gun and knife, while clean, held a few scratches, barely visible to anyone who was paying attention and glaringly obvious to her.

As they reached the office, her internal evaluation of him slowly rose by the smallest of notches. Clearly, this was a man who knew not only what he was doing, but why, he has the experience to back up his decisions and the status bestowed upon him.

She reached the door and opened it before he could, as he was reaching for it, propping it open with a bow, allowing him in as he did so, a hint of amusement in his eyes for some reason as the two made their way to the Commander’s Office.

The building where the office was located had various rooms for other things, meetings, planning, and such, but the Commander’s Office was further in. The plaque with his name on it was set up as Sheffield reached out to open it.

Except, Alex was quicker, reaching out and opening it with a smile, allowing Sheffield in while her expression narrowed, while he kept smiling, the mischief back in his eyes.

She schooled her expression and nodded, “Thank you, bu-. I mean, Master.”

“No problem, Sheffield.” He responded, amusement lacing his voice as she stepped in and he followed, someone already inside. The two froze when they saw who it was.

Sheffield glanced to the side, and her opinion of the Commander dropped by magnitudes.

In front of them, one of the Royal Maids hummed a happy tune, bent over the front of the desk while wiping it with a rag, her rear swinging from side to side idly, her dangerously short skirt swishing with her movements while her white thigh-high socks squished her thighs slightly. At her side, one could see a handmade doll of someone with equally white hair, but, of course, Alex didn’t notice it.

His eyes were… elsewhere, mostly on the maid’s rear, while Sheffield looked at him in disgust and disappointment.

He hadn’t said anything, and the maid had been cleaning the desk for too long, of course, considering Sheffield knew who the maid was… She brought a fist to her mouth and coughed into it, “Dido.”

“Ha!” The woman jumped, Alex straightening up while the white-haired girl with purple eyes turned to them, acting as if he hadn’t been ogling her just a few seconds ago. “A-Ah, Sheffield, and M-Master!” She said, her eyes wide with worry and fear.

“Commander.” She said, not even trying to hide the derision in the title. “Let me introduce you. This is Dido, the namesake of her ship class and one of the Royal Maids staying here.”

That seemed to knock the girl out of her worries, her hands going for her skirt while she performed a curtsy, “G-Good day, Master. I am Dido, a light cruiser. I am in your service as a Royal Maid.”

“Likewise,” Alex said, smiling while his eyes slowly climbed down her clothes to see a gap in Dido’s clothes right under her breast. He couldn’t help but wonder… why?

Why was it there?

“What are you doing here, Dido?” Sheffield asked, “You’re a Light Cruiser specializing in Anti-air, after all?”

“Prince of Wales told me to be here in case any aircraft got too close.” Dido explained, “But since none of them came, I thought I’d clean the Master’s Office before he got here.”

“Thanks.” Alex said, smiling, “It looks very clean for how little time we were out.”

Dido performed a curtsy, but Sheffield could see the twitching smile on the maid’s face. “Of course, Master. We live to serve.”

“If you’ll excuse us,” Sheffield interjected. “We’ll be using it for its intended purpose soon, and you have other responsibilities. So, if you’d please.”

Dido hesitantly looked between Sheffield and Alex until he nodded. “You’re dismissed, go on with your day, I’ll call the Maids afterwards so you girls can give this place a proper cleaning.”

“Of course, Master,” Dido said, bowing, her chest shifting as Alex’s eyes doggedly followed it, and Sheffield’s expression returned to derision before she straightened up, making her way out the door and closing it behind her. They heard her steps and waited for a few seconds.

“Don’t-.”

“Pervert.”

“You were staring, too.” Alex retorted, slipping around the desk and behind it, sitting on the chair with a light scowl. “Don’t deny it, I saw you.”

“Nonsense.” Sheffield countered, “Your eyes were elsewhere, and mine were on you, Master. So long as you show the proper decorum with the other maids, nothing else needs to be said.” Sheffield answered, narrowing her eyes before settling beside him while he read through the folder she gave him.

“That’s going too far, I’d never touch anyone without their consent.” He pointed out, reading through the file. “Well, this is fairly sparse.”

“How whiny.” Sheffield clicked her tongue while Alex raised a brow. Her face returned to its impassive state. “I don’t know what you were expecting, but, sadly, I can only be in one place at once. Don’t ask for the impossible.”

“You know what I mean,” Alex said, rolling his eyes. The files consisted of his ‘past’ and of what ‘happened’, which was mostly left up to him to decide on what to say concerning it, as long as it corroborated with the files they had. The details leading up to the fight were simple and things he already knew, so he passed them to her.

She grabbed it and seemed to bring a lighter from somewhere, burning it and then was about to throw it before Alex cursed, “Shit, I think I left the diploma in there.”

Sheffield’s head snapped to him, noticing the teasing grin he had on his face before her expression straightened once more, and she let the files, burnt to a crisp, fly off. “What a shame.” That's all she said, Alex chuckling while the two waited.

“Would you like something to drink?” Sheffield asked, Alex turning to her in confusion, “It’s been a rather long day, after all, and Sirens do tend to incite headaches more often than not .”

Alex chuckled, shaking his head before glancing at her curiously, “Know what an Arnold Palmer is?”

Sheffield tilted her head in confusion, and Alex released a wry chuckle. “Then get me a drink that’s half iced tea and half lemonade. And ask one of the Eagle Union girls, would you?” He added, smiling wryly. “Unless, you know how?”

“Of course I do,” Sheffield said, glaring at him. “Wait momentarily.” She said, bowing before making her way out, leaving Alex to peruse the files on the girls.

He picked one out and began reading through them.

Sheffield didn’t grumble; she was a Royal Maid, she was capable, and she knew how to make iced tea and lemonade. Ice on tea, the idea is preposterous to Sheffield, but she kept her silence, after all, people have as much of a right to be wrong in such matters.

She made her way to the kitchen found in the building, perusing through the cabinets and nodding in understanding as she looked for what was needed.

Lemon, sugar, water, and-.

“Huh,” a voice spoke behind Sheffield, nearly startling her as the maid turned to see who it was, “I ain’t seen you around here before, who’re ya?”

She turned and swore the KANSEN in front of her was one of the Royal Maids, if it wasn’t for the fact that she wore a brown skirt over a pencil skirt with brown instead of black, her blonde hair covering her eyes while her singular amber eye stared Sheffield down. Though she relaxed once she got a look at her clothes, “You’re one of them maids, ain'tcha? What’re you doing here? Heard most of ya were kept back to take care of things here while everyone else performed reconnaissance, though what are you doing in the Main Building?”

“The Commander is here,” Sheffield explained, setting up the tea, black as was far more available at the moment. “He asked me to make him a half-and-half drink, with lemonade and iced tea.”

“Huh…” She began, her brows up in interest. She looked at the ingredients Sheffield had on hand and tutted. “Young’un, that’s not how you make iced tea or lemonade.” She said, grabbing Sheffield by the shoulders and gently pushing her aside, the Light Cruiser was unable to stop the Battleship’s strength. “Especially if you’re from the Union. Also, I’m Nevada.”

Sheffield looked at Nevada in confusion, “How different could it be from what the Royal Navy uses?”

“For one,” Nevada said, “sugar.” She started, boiling the pot, “Second, it’s in the heart.”

“Like the palpitations he’ll feel when he drinks it?” Sheffield noted the sugar Nevada had in a spoon while Nevada laughed.

“Exactly, hun.”

“It’s Sheffield.” Sheffield introduced herself.

“Then, hun,” she said, turning to the tea, unbothered by Sheffield’s brow twitching, “in the Union, sweet tea isn’t a formal event, it’s what you give thirsty kids who’ve been out in the sun all day. Each place has got its own, but we ain’t looking to kill him, now are we?”

“Not yet,” Sheffield responded, and Nevada laughed it off, returning to her work while teaching Sheffield how to make lemonade and iced tea.

Sheffield bowed to the Battleship before making her way to the Commander’s Office, a cup of the drink on a platter that she carried.

“Pest,” Sheffield said, entering the office while announcing herself. “I mean, Master. I brought your drink.”

“Leave it on the desk.” He said off-handedly, reading through a file, a pile of them beside him, while she put the cup beside him and stepped back, waiting, watching.

He put away he file he had and moved to the next one, grabbing the cup and taking a sip, pausing for a second before taking another, longer one. “This is good.” He said, turning to Sheffield with a smile. “Thanks.”

He returned to the file, but Sheffield still puffed out her chest in pride. “Of course.” She said, bowing. She straightens up quickly while watching him work, reading through the files.

Seems like each ship has a ‘special ability’ of its own, such as Indianapolis’… Pandora’s Box .

Which was beautifully and terrifyingly ironic in Alex’s opinion. The devastation nukes caused, not simply physically, but personally? It was not something Alex would be able to forget anytime soon. Still, a few abilities seemed to overlap, such as the All-Out Assault or Quick Takeoff .

Even so, reading about it could only get Alex so far, and amidst the reading of the KANSEN's combat capabilities, he read through the Siren’s as well.

From weaponry beyond the ken of mundane minds and capabilities that the researchers in R&D are still trying out figure out, the only ones who know more are probably the Ironblood, which comes with a small problem. Bismarck, the flagship of the Ironblood, was recently sunk along with Hood, which comes with its fair share of problems that boil down to ‘we’re enemies’.

Worse, they’re in the Atlantic, so Azur Lane currently won’t have the responsibility of fighting them; they’re stuck with the Sakura. Sirens, too, which makes this attack far too… strange.

“Say, Sheffield.” Alex began, turning to the short maid, “What’s your experience with Sirens?”

“Enough.” Sheffield answered curtly, “Every KANSEN has at least seen a Siren once, for many, that is enough. Seeing what they’re capable of is another thing entirely. They bend reality like it’s an inconvenience, and bring out tricks to make one wonder, as a Union man once put it, and pardon my language, ‘how deep their hat is and how many rabbits fuck in it to pull out so many so quickly’.”

Alex sputtered and released a chuckle, his shoulders shaking while he shook his head, Sheffield continuing a second later, “That said, many who have seen a Siren more than once rarely see the first one again. So there are a lot of conflicting reports among them, especially the stronger ones. The only ones who would have a greater understanding would have to be the Ironblood.”

“We’re kind of at war with them.” Alex noted out loud, “Still, I’ve heard Germany is nice this time of year.”

“You need to get your head checked out, Master.” Sheffield retorted, “Seems like you’re losing brain cells by the second.”

Before Alex could retort, someone knocked at the door: “Excuse me, Commander?”

Enterprise, before he could tell them to enter, Sheffield was already at the door, opening it. “Prince of Wales, Enterprise, guests. Please, come in.”

“Sheffield.” Prince of Wales began, stepping in. “I didn’t expect you here, though, in hindsight, I probably should have.”

“Ah, another maid.” Hornet began, grinning as she extended a hand. “Hey, I’m Hornet, nice to meet you.”

Sheffield stared at the hand for a while and bowed. “It’s good to meet you, Miss Hornet, you too, Miss Enterprise, Laffey, Long Island, and Indianapolis. Master has been waiting for you.”

While Hornet, Enterprise, and Prince of Wales looked fine, Indianapolis looked haggard, Long Island and Laffey still sleeping in her hands as she left them on the couch, slumping in between them with an empty look in her eye while her soul seemed to leave her body. Her exhaustion was obvious while Long Island and Laffey woke up. “Mmh. Commander?”

Long Island yawned, stretching, “Hm? Is it time for a debrief?”

“I think so,” Laffey said, sitting up, still sleepy but with a bit of energy in her form. “Don’t sleep, Indianapolis.” She said, prodding at the Heavy Cruiser, who didn’t stir.

“Yeah, it’s irresponsible.” Long Island said, poking at Indianapolis, but she was still unconscious, so the two stopped. “Well, I guess she can sleep for a while.”

“Mmh. She worked hard.” Laffey agreed, to the interest of those watching.

“Commander.” Enterprise began, snapping to a salute. “I came here to deliver my report.”

“At ease.” Alex said, almost half-heartedly, “Just hit me with it, I can guess the consensus after having checked the files on earlier Siren attacks.”

Enterprise sucked in her lips, unsure, not of her words, but of the situation, “The base took no damage, no supplies were taken, and the damage the ones in combat took was superficial at best. No KANSEN were lost, and any possible ambushes were found before they could be enacted, if they were going to be enacted at all. I find it hard to say this, but if the Sirens ever performed a useless move, this was it.”

“They gained nothing from this, lost nothing, and left.” Prince of Wales elaborated. “There’s a saying that ‘nothing exists in a vacuum’, but…”

“Vacuum or not, this was like throwing a rock at water. It’ll either skip or it’ll sink, anything else would take too much effort or would be too absurd to happen.” Hornet noted out loud, shifting.

“Difficult, but…” Laffey began, closing her eyes, “off. Not in their realm, not on their side.”

“Yeah, don’t the Sirens usually deploy like pocket dimensions or something?” Long Island asked, slumped over the arm of a couch. “Heard rumors about it, but the thing is, it fought on our turf, we had home-field advantage. I don’t see why it’d let us have those if it was trying to take us down. And the way their aircraft moved was too… amateur.”

Enterprise nodded, but didn’t interrupt Long Island. “I had trouble, but that’s because the rounds tore my planes apart and they were faster, not because they were necessarily better at flying.”

Alex nodded, taking in all this information before turning to Indianapolis. “Indy, anything different for you?”

Indianapolis blinked away the exhaustion, grumbling before shaking her head. “No, I didn’t find anything odd that no one’s noticed yet.”

“Thank you,” Alex said, leaning back on his chair and releasing a long sigh that seemed to permeate everyone. “So, put in layman’s terms, nothing’s changed?”

“The Sirens only attacked when you were here.” Enterprise noted. “Before then, they’d attack ports and stuff like that, but the fact that they attacked almost immediately after you got here means that they hold an interest in you, somewhat.”

Alex’s head hit the desk, a deep and frustrated huff coming from between his lips before he nodded. “Right, right, strange alien race interested in me, what else is next?” He muttered before shaking his head. “So, to put it simply, we fought someone who can create pocket dimensions in our backyard in what was probably a test, won, and, as such, gotta continue going until we deal with the next problem that comes our way, is that correct?”

No one disagreed in particular, but Alex sighed, leaning on the desk, “Well, nothing tangible has been gained, but we at least know the single thing that caused them to act in such a strange manner.”

“You, Commander,” Enterprise confirmed while Prince of Wales nodded and Hornet did the same.

“Exactly. Currently, we have no idea why, and if I had my way, it’d be because of my devilish good looks.” He said, Alex holding his chin and smiling, Prince of Wales coughing into a fist to hide her laugh, Enterprise raising a singular brow with a small smile while Hornet grinned.

“Scum.” Sheffield coughed, Alex turning to her with a raised brow.

“Would you rather have it be anything else?” Alex asked, “Because I’m not exactly lacking in things people can take an interest in, like my jet. Or maybe, my medal.” He noted, flashing it and causing the same rush to course through all of them, recognizing his deeds and services even if they didn’t get much context behind it. “Personally? I’d rather we act that it’s my dashing good looks that got to them, than whatever it is, because that’s a lot more understandable than half of the actions they’ve taken in their previous attacks.”

Sheffield didn’t comment, but she did back down, Alex sighing while he closed his eyes and released a breath. “What now, Commander?” Enterprise asked, leaning forward in interest.

He didn’t open his eyes for a while, Laffey, Long Island, and Indianapolis mimicking his expression for a very different reason while he reached for his drink, taking a long sip before placing it down. Without opening his eyes, he started, “If you think I’m gonna dramatically open my eyes and say ‘we take the fight to them,’ you’ve got another thing coming.”

“Ah~.” Hornet pouted, crossing her arms under her chest, “But I wanted to see you act cool.”

“I’m a Commander, not much of a miracle worker, admittedly.” He admitted, releasing a breath before leaning forward. “Well, we don’t change much, we can’t change much. We go out on sorties, I get to see what you girls can do, and we hold exercises so I can gauge the extent of your abilities.”

“… Understood.” Enterprise said, straightening up, “Though, this does bring up a different question.”

Prince of Wales nodded in agreement, “Yes, we’ll need to set up a rotation of sorts.”

“Why’s that?” Alex asked, confused.

“Commander, you aren’t exactly a KANSEN.” Hornet pointed out, scratching her cheek, “And while we might be similar to humans, we aren’t exactly completely human. We may look, act, and feel like you do, but we tend to do things… differently. While everyone here has no bad intention…” Hornet trailed off. “We react to certain things in certain ways that could hurt you. Pretty badly as well.”

“It’s to protect you from external and internal forces.” Prince of Wales explained, her eyes glancing to the side where Sheffield was wheeling in what looked like a mountain of paperwork that Alex doggedly ignored. “Not to mention assisting you in secretarial duties. You are the Commander of Azur Lane after all.”

He sighed heavily, slumping against his seat, “I was worried about that.”

Prince of Wales and Enterprise looked behind him to see Sheffield picking up the empty cup, replacing it with a full one as the former seemed amused. “I believe for the first… term? I believe that Sheffield should assist you well enough in your endeavors, Commander.”

“Will she?” Alex asked, a bit worried, glancing at Sheffield, whose eyes narrowed right back. “I think there’s a higher chance she’ll sweep me up along with the garbage if I’m not careful.”

Prince of Wales laughed it off, waving his worry off-handedly, “In that case, I guess you’ll have to be careful, Commander.”

“Yes,” Sheffield confirmed, not making Alex feel any better. Still, he shook his head before turning to them while they spoke.

“But, afterwards…” Enterprise spoke while Hornet raised her hand.

“I call dibs!” Hornet declared, to Prince of Wales’ amusement as she raised her hand.

“Then I’ll go after her.” She said, Enterprise turning to them before bringing a hand to her face.

“That doesn’t answer the question.” Enterprise pointed out. “We still have no way of actually choosing a secretary, much less for how long a Secretary should be assigned to him. We can’t exactly cast a vote or else it’ll just be a popularity contest, and having it be first-come, first-served won’t be fair.”

“That…” Prince of Wales stopped, nodding. “It's true. What a conundrum.”

“Is it?” Long Island asked, bored, “Just write a program for it. Make it so that it reads a list of available KANSEN, filters out those that will be busy, and picks a random one. It’ll be fair, honest, and, most importantly, impartial.”

The others in the room looked at each other, slowly mulling over Long Island’s proposal. When no one raised any complaints, Alex nodded. “Anyone have any complaints?” he asked, making sure. When no one did, Alex continued, “Does anyone know how to do that?”

Weirdly enough, no one in the room seemed to have the necessary experience to do such a thing, except for… “What?” Long Island asked, looking at each of us suspiciously while she tried to hide. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Long Island,” Alex said softly, standing up and going to her, placing a hand on her shoulder while realization seemed to dawn on her. Slowly, he placed his hands on her shoulders, gently tightening his grip on them to comfort her and to stop her from escaping. “Tell me, and be honest, how much experience do you have with programming?”

Long Island quickly realized that she should have kept her mouth shut rather than speaking up.

Chapter Text

Long Island tapped away, grumbling while the laptop in her lap was pointed away from Alex’s direction, the screen reflecting her sulking expression, while she tapped away at her screen, pouting, while Alex looked a few seconds away from making that same expression should High Command ever contact him.

He already got the job; he could show some displeasure, right? There was nothing in the contract that said he couldn’t be pissed, right?

Who was he kidding? He couldn’t do jack shit.

Why? Why was everything digital? It’s convenient, but it’s not his digital; what he considers digital is considered analogue , because of the tech boom caused by the Siren’s initial trade of tech, so the years are skewed and the tech makes no sense to him.

Not to mention, “Hey, Long Island.”

“Sadly, Ghost is busy.” She said, tapping away while audibly pouting. “Like you told me to, Commander.”

“Well,” he started, sheepish, after all, he’s more used to gruff answers from men or women under him, not pouting girls who were doing their job, “yeah, but…”

“Ghost is invisible~.” She says, bringing her sleeves up, “She is being worked to death again~, boo…”

The door to the office opened again, and a familiar blonde in a side ponytail spoke up. “C’mon, Long Island, cheer up, it’s just for today.”

Cleveland walked in, a stack of papers in hand, with a smile, confident while wearing a cape and star-spangled socks. Her amber, nearly red eyes sparkled with interest at the sight of Alex. “Thanks again for giving me the position of Secretary, it’s been interesting.”

“Glad you think so.” Alex retorted, grabbing the papers and opening them as he skimmed through them. “If only I felt that way.”

He looked back at his laptop and scrolled through the next KANSEN’s data, then the next… then the next…

Not much of it made sense, in his opinion. From these abilities, some of them seem to have and their unnatural endurance that belonged to a ship rather than a girl, but it was his responsibility to at least have something of an understanding of them before sending them off to fight. After all, this information could be the difference between life and death.

For example, Indianapolis’ ability, ‘Pandora’s Box’, creates two revolving shields that burst upon breaking, damaging the enemies. It’s an ability that balances defenses and offensive capabilities that make her indispensable close up. While she could work just as well from a distance, the fact that the shields burst and cause damage to her enemies means that the ability is best used in front rather than in the back.

Using it too early or too late could result in the KANSEN taking more damage than necessary and missing the window to use it effectively, but it’s also a risk considering Indianapolis is a Heavy Cruiser, which means she’s a lot slower than, say Laffey, who is a Destroyer who are known to be way faster than most. That said, Indianapolis could take a lot more hits than what was normal as a Heavy Cruiser with… heavier and thicker armor.

But some, like Long Island, didn’t have such special abilities, at least, not as far as the files state.

Instead, they have standard abilities of sorts. ‘Quick Takeoff’ supposedly allows them to instantly send up bombers or fighters after sending them out. There’s also ‘All-Out Assault’ and more, but a lot of them were starting to slip away slightly.

He sighed once more as he looked through the files and placed them down, leaning against the desk and rubbing his head.

So, to emphasize, the current system didn’t just leave Cleveland as his only Secretary. There are multiple, in fact, but only one personal Secretary, so to speak.

Technically, he had two, with Long Island working on a program to streamline the process along with Cleveland, but that’s only for now. Prince of Wales would be working on more combat matters, such as sorties and Hornet…

Hornet was elsewhere with Enterprise. Thankfully, Enterprise was resting, but as much as Alex hated forcing people into combat, her file said everything else.

‘Lucky E’ was inscribed on the report, glowing like a curse because Alex knew, probably better than most, how ‘luck’ could be a curse and a boon. Luck could get someone somewhere, but it’s skill that elevates them, and Enterprise had that in spades.

Among the files were reports of their ‘skills’ and videos, and Enterprise’s…

She was a game changer. Aircraft Carriers always were, but her skills and abilities were almost unnatural. The KANSENs were born to fight, but they also acted like humans, so treating them as anything else wouldn’t be smart.

Then, there was the problem that because Enterprise was so vaunted, along with her sisters, Hornet and Yorktown, High Command wanted them patrolling the Pacific in case the First Carrier Division was found in the area while repelling smaller fights and assisting. Thankfully, they were allowing her time to rest, but that time wouldn’t be for too long.

They were also sending him… everything. From requisitions to requests to use the KANSEN as escorts for mundane and merchant ships, all of that fell on him, along with the few that survived the Pearl Harbor attack.

So, now, Sheffield, who appointed herself as his personal maid, was placing more papers on his desk. “Here, Master. More forms.”

Alex sighed heavily, looking at them before grabbing the first one and reading it through. He placed it back and stood up, getting their interest. “Is something wrong, Master?”

“No. Just need to stretch my legs a bit.” Alex said, idly moving to the side and pacing, inspecting the various books in place while he thought for a bit.

Theoretically, he knew enough; he’d read through most of the KANSEN’s files, the Sirens, or what little was known of them, but knowing and understanding were two different things.

No urgent orders had come in, so he had a bit of time to get accustomed to things, simple reminders instead as he looked out the window, frowning. He wouldn’t be overseeing every little thing, and he didn’t know every single KANSEN, but…

“What are you thinking, Master?” Sheffield asked, gaining his attention. “You seem like you’re thinking in circles; maybe speaking your thoughts might help you.”

“Just wondering how to prepare for all of this.” He muttered, “Theoretically, I know and understand naval tactics just fine, but you girls and your abilities simply bring another element to battles, so while I could finish the paperwork, I need to get familiar with your abilities as best I can.”

“That’s easy.” Cleveland said, interjecting, “Do both.”

Alex turned to her in confusion, blinking, “Huh?”

“If you’re stuck between both options and need or want to accomplish both, just do them both.” Cleveland said, bringing up a finger, “Time is money, after all,” she said, her eyes glinting with greed momentarily before it disappeared a second later, “we have exercises, but they’re fairly lax, incentivize the girls and you’ll get a fairly good showing of our abilities. Meanwhile, you can work on the paperwork for the rest of the day.”

Alex looked at her before he grinned, nodding, “Yeah, sounds about right, thanks.”

“No problem, Commander.” Cleveland started, “Want me to tell Prince of Wales so she can start organizing it?”

“Yeah, that’d be appreciated,” Alex said, nodding while Cleveland saluted, making her way out of the building with a pep in her step, while Alex sat back down and continued working on the paperwork.

“Wasn’t that pretty obvious?” Long Island asked, looking up from her work, “I mean, you can’t just ignore your work, but you also can’t exactly do much without knowing at least the minimum of what we’re capable of.”

“Well,” Alex said, shaking his head, “Sometimes it’s the simple things that we overlook, and we need someone to talk to to remind us of that.”

Long Island thought about it before nodding in understanding, “Like figuring out the best farming spots.”

Alex looked at her for a second, her confidence, and decided against saying anything, simply nodding as he returned to his work, Sheffield standing beside him, patient for whatever would be needed in the hopes that today would be fairly peaceful.

Maybe get some time to check in on the Excalibur at some point as well, he’d been so busy, Einstein’s work had gone nearly completely ignored.

Still, paperwork must be done, and he’s the poor sod who had to do it, sadly.

More papers were placed in the ‘completed’ tray, and Alex was starting to feel his wrist cramp as a thought came to him. “Do you girls participate in duels?”

“Pardon?” Sheffield asked, turning to him, “Commander, I am a maid. How could such a delicate thing be anywhere on the battlefield?”

Alex sorely doubted that, but thought against voicing his thoughts in favor of listening to possibly get the answer he was looking for.

“While some KANSEN do,” she said with a bit of exasperation, “this is war, the idea of honorable duels is quite outdated, especially since even without such ideas, the Sirens outclass us by magnitudes.”

A few seconds later, someone knocked on the door, and Alex glanced at Sheffield in confusion before she nodded. “Come in.” He said.

A second later, a twintailed blonde with blue eyes walked in, with a black coat and cape, smiling proudly with a rapier at her waist. “Greetings, Commander, Sheffield told me you would require my expertise.”

Slowly, Alex looked at Sheffield as she continued, “Commander, let me introduce you to Amazon, an A-class prototype Destroyer. She will be instructing you in KANSEN warfare and testing you in fleet tactics.”

“Of course.” She said proudly, she turned to Alex before making her best attempt at a serious face. “You performed well in an emergency, Commander, but don’t get cocky.” She said, narrowing her eyes, “You’re experienced in naval warfare, our nature as KANSEN can see that clearly in the medal you wear,” she said, pointing at the medallion, “but we, as KANSEN, are very different from what can be considered a ‘conventional’ force.”

From the open door, Sheffield stepped out and pulled in a whiteboard along with a tray of snacks and drinks. “Move.” She said, nudging Long Island as she sighed, standing up slowly before moving to the side. With one hand, she brought the couch up and then used both to raise it over her head, to Alex’s shock as his eyes widened, before she set it to the side, in front of his desk.

Amazon rolled the whiteboard in front of the table and the couch with a window behind them. “Come, take a seat, Commander.” She said, smiling brightly and with excitement despite her best efforts to hide it.

Alex did so, stepping around the desk to the couch in front of the coffee table and the whiteboard, “Wanna join me?” He asked Sheffield, who seemed surprised for a second before huffing.

“I have other responsibilities, Master. Many who say that I should stay on my feet at all times for your whims, Master.” Sheffield answered while Alex nodded, still patting the space beside him.

“So, if I ordered you to take a break?” He asked, and Sheffield scoffed.

“No need.” She said, circling the couch and sitting beside him. “Honestly, what a troublesome Master I have.”

“We’re all servants to something,” Alex said, grabbing a sandwich among the tray of snacks and passing it to Sheffield, who grabbed it while Alex grabbed his own, serving himself some iced tea and lemonade in an Arnold Palmer while Sheffield seemed to twitch at his action before she sighed and simply served herself some tea.

Amazon was frantically drawing something, and once they began to eat, she stepped back and nodded at the finished product. “Now, Commander, what are the cornerstones of fleet tactics?”

“Men matter, doctrine is the glue of tactics, know technology, the seat of purpose is on the land, and attack effectively first.” He said while Amazon nodded.

“Of course.” She said, writing them down on the whiteboard. “Conventionally, moving tons of kilos of steel can’t be done without trained men, at the peak of their performance. Ships weren’t an exception, even before steel ships became the norm. And doctrines lead battles and open up avenues that wouldn’t be open usually. Technology evolves, especially in war, and stubbornly holding on to what is old will not end well. Meanwhile, battles at sea are usually conducted to support operations on land. And finally, attack first to get an overwhelming victory.”

Alex nodded along, taking a sip from his drink while Amazon continued, “Now, take all of this…” She said, grabbing a different marker, red instead of blue, and ran a line, separating the section from the rest of the whiteboard. “And put it to the side. Because we are not warships.”

She drew on the whiteboard a little caricature of Sheffield carrying a couch, “KANSEN stands for Kinetics Artifactual Navy-Self-regulative En-lore Node. Within each of us is a Wisdom Cube, and with it, we, as warships, were given life.”

She began to draw a few more caricatures, “We can walk on water at speeds comparable to actual warships, are as durable as actual warships, made from the ideas and feelings within humanity as warships. But we aren’t warships.”

Each caricature showed what she said; one of them was of a KANSEN on water, the other taking a shell, and Sheffield picking up the couch.

“Despite our armaments not being very big, they leave craters wherever they land, and aircraft carriers can summon ships at any time, smaller than normal but with the capacity to tear holes in conventional planes.” Amazon continued while Alex began to piece it together.

“While the cornerstones of fleet tactics are useful and should be kept in mind, KANSENs are very different from warships,” Amazon emphasizes. “Within a package of a young woman, you have someone who can walk on water, outperform and outgun any warship, and take anything that it can dish out.”

“So, not warships,” Alex noted as Amazon smiled proudly.

“Yes, but not human either.” Amazon reminded him as he sucked in his lips, something she noticed. “And not derisively either. We feel as much as humans can, and understand a lot more. We don’t age like humans. It’s… complicated.” She finally ended. “For some, being human is important, but for others it’s simply a facet of who we are in comparison to those like you.”

Slowly, Alex nodded along, vaguely understanding what Amazon was implying.

“But that’s for philosophy,” Amazon said, knocking Alex out of his reverie. “We will be learning modified fleet tactics instead. You asked if KANSEN participates in duels?”

Alex nodded, “Half joke, half curious.”

Amazon narrowed her eyes before continuing, “Please keep joking to a minimum, but in short, yes, once upon a time, duels were commonplace among KANSEN.” She explained, “Back then, it was an activity stemming from the fact that many of the cultures we come from, once upon a time, used duels as a way to prove their worth. From the Sakura to the Royal Navy, the Eagle Union even had its form of duels.”

She continued writing, “Some KANSEN still believe that they should participate in honorable combat in war, but many have the same idea. That this is war, and honor is best left for later. Of course,” Amazon added, “we aren’t barbarians, we have limits, limits the Ironblood seem to be happy stepping over at every and any chance they have.”

There seemed to be something there, but he decided against pointing it out as Amazon continued. “In the end, duels are more of a ceremony. In war thought, that’s where things get complicated, so pay attention.”

Alex nodded as Amazon erased the whiteboard clean and continued, “Now, with all this information, let’s get into tactics.”

“As you know, every KANSEN has an ability, and their capabilities usually reflect the type of ship.” Amazon continued while Alex nodded along, listening to Amazon.

Meanwhile, Sheffield looked at the Commander, studying him as he learned more and more, Amazon doing a wonderful job of giving her own experiences and knowledge. Meanwhile, she simply watched as she swore she could see the gears in his mind turn.

Leading a fleet of KANSEN is similar to leading a fleet of normal warships, but also like leading a fleet of infantrymen. Especially with how they preferred to traverse, walking, or skating, on water at certain speeds. Go too fast and the slower, and usually tougher, KANSEN begin to lag, but if you go too slow, you risk getting encircled on all sides.

Information is key, and with the Siren’s technology, it has grown in leaps and bounds, but so have ways to counter it. And with the Ironblood and Sakura embracing the Sirens, theirs is far better at the moment.

Still, the Sirens, he almost seemed obsessed with them, but Sheffield understood, they were the ones in the background, who gave the nations Wisdom Cubes without much thought or reason, at least, at the moment. Anything they’ve tried tended to fall flat until he came in and fought back.

It was confusing, almost unbelievable, but it seemed so.

She sipped at her tea as the two talked on various formations and how they can be used with KANSEN, and decided to continue observation; she hadn’t gathered enough data yet.

So, she did, watching the two until they had to get back to work.

“Greetings, Commander Alex.” Prince of Wales said as she opened the door, looking around before remarking, “This room is looking remarkably clean.”

Alex’s head was against the desk, with Cleveland languishing on one of the couches while looking equally burned out, with Long Island blatantly asleep, snoring softly.

“Admittedly, I expected to be roped into helping you with the paperwork, but you’ve done remarkably well.” She added while Alex leaned back and groaned. She noticed that he was no longer wearing an officer’s coat, but instead, a bomber jacket with the same medallion.

“Don’t underestimate me. I’ve been dealing with the logistics, tactics, and planning of the Militaries of the various nations within the Alliance for years.” Alex said, managing to drag himself up, “All while fighting a worldwide war, after I was no longer the ‘only’ option I had to be the ‘best’ option.”

“It seems like your manners need a bit of work.” She noted, but didn’t seem too bothered by it; if not, she almost seemed empathetic to it.

“You’re the one who dealt with all of this before I got here.” He retorted, fixing his sitting position and closing the laptop he was using. “You don’t need to put yourself in my shoes; you’ve been here.”

“And I am eternally grateful I’m no longer in those shoes.” Prince of Wales countered, opening the door and allowing Hermione to roll in a cart with food as Cleveland and Long Island perk up, sitting up, even if Long Island was notably slower. “Here, take this as a little pick-me-up and something to fill the air while we talk.”

Again, Alex slumped over, sighing, “So even while resting, I’m still working.”

“Hang in there.” Prince of Wales offered while Alex stood, stretching while grabbing the cap, and setting it over his head.

“Yeah, well, let’s talk over lunch then.” He offered before moving to one of the windows and opening it, allowing for the fresh sea breeze to enter as he sighed, going to the cart and looking through it before grabbing a hamburger, something Prince of Wales rolled her eyes at.

He moved to the window and sat on the windowsill, taking a bite out of the burger while leaning on the side. “So, what’s up? I’m guessing Cleveland already told you?”

Jokingly, Prince of Wales clicked her tongue, “You Union types and your burgers and habit of leaning everywhere. How’s this different from sitting at your desk?”

“I get fresh air.” He retorted, “And it’s not the desk. That part is very important.” He took another bite of the burger and hummed. “Hmm, this is good.”

“Thank you, while it’s not the Maid Corps’ food,” Prince of Wales admitted, “The KANSEN on rotation aren’t lacking in any way.”

“Hmm.” Alex hummed in agreement, taking another bite while Prince of Wales stood at attention, waiting for him to finish. “You already ate?” He asked.

“Yes.” Prince of Wales responded, “Though in comparison to you, I didn’t have much to do, I was at a bit of a loss, admittedly.”

“Free time, huh?” He said despondently, “When was the last time…?”

It's been a while since he had time for himself, most of it being devoted to his improvement or overseeing some other military. It was… a very exhausting realization.

“Well, only for now.” Prince of Wales admitted, “We’re still fighting a war, after all, and… despite Hood and the subsequent sinking of the Bismarck…” She trailed off, her eyes flickering for a second before she closed her eyes.

Alex nodded, aware of the nature of war. “My condolences.”

“They’re appreciated, Commander.” Prince of Wales nodded, smiling wryly. “Hood went down valiantly.”

“Not exactly, talking about Bismarck as well as Hood.” He says, looking out into the sea while Prince of Wales blinks. “Read the… well, to call it a report would be a compliment to my fellow enlisted before I was an officer. I’d have had to give the recruit who gave me the report a dressing down for such a glaring lack of details. From what little I could glean, it didn’t paint a good picture in particular.”

Prince of Wales didn’t answer, closing her eyes before taking a deep breath. “Forgive me for my curtness, but what are you getting at?”

Alex blinked before he sighed, finishing up his burger before raising a finger, chewing it, and swallowing before continuing. “Nothing. Just felt like it had something to do with the Sirens.”

Prince of Wales sighed, nodding. “From what I’ve heard, that possibility is… not outside the realm of the Siren’s capabilities. They seem to act in ways similar to their namesake.”

“Monsters that sang beautiful songs to lure in sailors to their demise.” Alex noted, “So, she was sunk? Really? Who confirmed it?”

“At least three of the Royal Navy’s upper echelon confirmed that with the damage that was taken, Bismarck shouldn’t have survived.” Prince of Wales countered, “Rodney, King George V, and more confirmed it.”

“Well,” Alex said, leaning back, “look at it from my perspective, people normally don’t survive being shelled, period. If I don’t see the picture of a corpse or if it isn’t explicitly confirmed visually that someone’s sunk, then I think I have some right to be skeptical.”

Prince of Wales rolled her eyes, but reluctantly nodded, “That is true. But the chances of someone saving her… Shall we agree to leave it at a difference in opinion?”

“Does the person who’s right get to say ‘I told you so’?” Alex asked, and Prince of Wales frowned.

“It’s in bad taste to make wagers on such matters.” Prince of Wales retorted while Alex blinked, reaching back to scratch his head, thoroughly chastised.

“Sorry.” He managed while Prince of Wales opened an eye, almost imperiously, before she grinned.

“You’re the Commander of Azur Lane, it’d be a bad show if you prostrate yourself before a simple ‘representative’ of the Royal Navy.” She needled, grinning while Alex blinked, pausing as he shook his head.

“I thought such thoughts were unbefitting of those of our stature?” Alex teased as Prince of Wales smiled wryly.

“Yes, but sometimes, a good laugh is a good distraction. So, Commander, forgive this breach in manners.” Prince of Wales asked pompously.

In return, Alex bowed with the same amount of pomp. “Of course, madame.”

The two straightened up and chuckled for a bit, “Well, onto actually important and tangible matters beyond simply wondering who’s alive and who isn’t.”

“I believe that’s a very important matter, Commander.” Prince of Wales said dryly. “The Sakura and the Ironblood are our enemies, no matter who’s pulling the strings; if we forget that, we’ll find ourselves in a position where none of our tactics, beliefs, or strength matters. That’s the responsibility of those that fight, after all, to bring victory and glory to those that lead them, to secure their home, and to listen to those above them.”

“And the ones above them lead them to argue their ideologies over their corpses,” Alex said, frowning as even Prince of Wales seemed surprised. “No, sorry, just bad experiences with politics. Let’s talk about something funner, like… exercises or…”

He trailed off, Prince of Wales setting her hands on her hips, “Seems like you’ll have a hard time here, you can’t even think of something that’s more fun than fleet exercises?”

“More like there’s literally anything else I’d rather talk about.” Alex latched on, “But, business comes first.”

“Indeed, and I believe we’ve wasted enough time with pleasure.” Prince of Wales said, standing up, “As for experience, as KANSEN, we know you have plenty in a mundane capacity, or as mundane as war normally is. That said, as you might have guessed, such things aren’t as helpful when leading KANSEN. We have more and less to think of, such as our abilities and our speeds. But there is much that is unknown, even after decades of study. Such as the nature of KANSEN and you, Commander. This is as much for you as it is for us.”

Alex nodded, “So, what’s the plan?”

Extending a hand, Hermione placed a file in Prince of Wales’ hand, nodding at the maid as she bowed. Prince of Wales passed it to Alex. “Here, I believe this template is best for what you’re thinking.”

With the tilt of his head, Alex opened the file and read through it, nodding along, “So, a tournament is what you’re saying?”

“Why not?” Prince of Wales noted, “It allows for the girls to fight and get rid of some of the recent stress that came from Pearl Harbor while getting you accustomed to a broader spectrum of tactics, both in practice and in theory. As well as get to know some of the girls.”

“It’d also take up time, time we probably don’t have. High Command is probably still reeling from Pearl Harbor.” Alex pointed out. “It’s only a matter of time at this point before everyone here gets the order to move yesterday, and we find ourselves in the thick of things. I need to get as much relevant information as possible in the shortest amount of time possible. That information includes a way to know when a KANSEN’s ability is ready, a way to contact them beyond radio, and a sense as to how they fight.”

“That is true…” Prince of Wales trailed off, “Then a simple exercise would function nicely. Maybe…” She trails off, placing a hand on her chin, thinking while she nods. “Alright, then I’ll talk to the appropriate KANSEN and get things set up for tomorrow. Now, Commander…” Prince of Wales started while looking to the door, opening as Sheffield appeared with another stack of paperwork, while Alex’s expression fell. “I believe your responsibility is calling for you.”

“Fuck me.” He sighed, hopping off the windowsill while Prince of Wales giggled and walked out, Hermione taking the cart of food with her, and leaving him with Long Island, Cleveland, and Sheffield.

“Done.” Long Island said, slamming her head against the sofa, slipping a pair of eyemuffs over her eyes, “Wake me up the day after tomorrow.”

“C’mon.” Cleveland started, visibly tired but smiling all the while, “Let’s at least go back to our rooms, alright? Wouldn’t want to bother the Commander.”

On his desk, Alex was slumped back on his seat, half dead, and his mouth open, his soul escaping from it, while Sheffield placed a huge pile of paperwork onto a cart, the word ‘Finished’ emblazoned proudly on the cart.

“Hmmm,” Long Island hummed, about to reject the idea before she looked at Sheffield.

Under the darkening sky, the shadows extended ominously, one in particular catching Sheffield’s face as it turned to meet Long Island’s eyes.

She narrowed them imperceptibly, her amber eyes glowing under the shadows as Long Island received the message while stiffening.

Move.

“Actually…” Long Island said, gulping while grabbing her stuff, “I think I’ll go to my room… Yeah. Night Commander, Ghostie is off tomorrow, right?”

Despite insensate, Alex managed a thumbs up, confirming Long Island’s freedom from work as she cheered, running before Sheffield could do anything about it.

“Well, Commander,” Cleveland started, nodding, “have a nice night, and don’t stay up too late.”

The blonde nearly skipped off, closing the door behind her and leaving Alex alone with Sheffield while she grabbed her cart.

Alex sighed, straightening up as Sheffield asked, “Master, was my service sufficient for today?”

Alex blinked, turning to Sheffield with a bit of confusion. “… Huh?”

Sheffield tilted her head, “Has all the time with paper left you deaf, Master? I didn’t think that was possible, but to reiterate: Was my service sufficient? Was there anything in particular you didn’t like?”

She waited while Alex slowly recuperated some of his mental faculties, parsing through her words before he tilted his head. “Well, not in particular. The only thing I could say was that the Arnold Palmer was a bit too sweet for my tastes. But besides that? Best maid I’ve ever had.”

“I’m the only maid you’ve had, Forgetful Master.” Sheffield retorted, but, for a second, he swore he could see a smile on her usually impassive face. “And, if you’d accept some advice from this humble maid,” Sheffield started while Alex leaned forward, “tomorrow might be the last day we have that’ll be peaceful. You’ve finished most of the backlog of paperwork, so I suggest you go out for a bit.”

Alex nodded, smiling, “That was part of the plan.” He said while Sheffield nodded.

“Good, then have a good night, Master,” Sheffield said, closing the door and leaving Alex in silence within the room.

He waited for a second for her footsteps to pass before he sighed heavily, his back leaning on the office chair, before he closed his eyes for a second.

Some of the information he learned flew through his mind, categorizing it, or he simply let it slide off him. In the end, he was still confused, but only a bit less so. It was such a busy day, and the days were gearing up to look busier, if anything.

He closed his eyes before standing up, stretching as his bones popped, and he made his way out of the office.

Instead of going back to his room, Alex went to the hangars, where a certain object waited for him.

He looked for the hangar and found it, opening the door as the lights came on fairly easily.

The Excalibur glinted in its jet form, lacking any details or insignias, while Alex circled it, “You…” He trailed off, unsure of what to make of it.

He’s flown before, obviously, but he’s never flown in combat, or at least, not much. He dragged a hand over the frame before he shook his head and got on.

The cockpit opened, and he slipped inside, resting against it to unwind for a while from all the stress. Like he did when he was the Commander of the Allied Forces, of course, if the jets were to be deployed, he’d have to leave, but…

He simply sits there, after all, activating the Excalibur would cause a fairly big ruckus. Bigger than he would like.

Idly, he grabbed the manual written by Einstein and began reading through it, more clearly since either he finds a genius or he’ll have to be maintaining the Excalibur on his own, which is troublesome. Sure, he could, but he was a pilot and a Commander; he could fly, but he was better at leading.

He looked at the section of the helmet, reading through it, still in a bit of shock at the fact that it could read his brain waves, capable of listening to his thoughts and move accordingly. Not to mention the HUD it had, allowing him to see a lot.

It’d be convenient if he could do something with it; it connected to the systems of the plane, maybe it could do the same with the KANSEN?

The idea was an amusing one, chuckling as he read through the manual further, each flip of the page therapeutic in a way to his tired mind and body until he closed it and set it aside. He got out of the cockpit, landing on the ground easily before making his way back to his room to get some actual sleep.

Despite that, he couldn’t help the little thought in his mind telling him that a stupid plan isn’t stupid if it works. So, maybe, just maybe…

Those thoughts were best left for tomorrow when Alex wasn’t a few minutes away from passing out.

He found his room easily and slipped in, taking a shower and changing into some shorts and a sleeveless shirt before falling on the bed, closing his eyes and allowing himself to fall asleep.

He wondered what tomorrow would bring.

A dim screen lit up a room, with a singular person inside, languidly asleep with a headset barely hanging off her shoulder, while she seemed to splay herself on the singular chair inside, an oversized t-shirt was the only thing she had on, as she breathed softly, barely interrupting the fan of a computer.

Long Island slept in her room comfortably with the knowledge that after all the work she pulled yesterday, she wouldn’t need to go back to work, at most she’d be called in to teach Alex how to use the software, but Cleveland was his Secretary for the day with the other KANSEN taking care of other issues, slowly giving him more and more responsibility until they either needed to go or they just didn’t have anything else to give him.

In no way, shape, or form did any of that have to do with Long Island, not at all, and she was happy about that.

She spent last night, possibly her last night on base since orders were about to be passed out left and right like they’re on clearance, playing a string of games throughout the night until the last time she checked the clock, it was around three in the morning, she probably slept at five.

So, Long Island was enjoying her free day in dreamland and was looking to play the day away until it was night, or orders finally came in.

Sadly, before the clock could strike further than seven, someone knocked at her door, the sound loud and jolting her from her dreams as she blinked, rubbing her eyes. “… Huh?” She muttered.

She rubbed an eye as the knocks returned, slightly more insistent as she put her hands together and stretched them up, a groan coming from her mouth while she tried to remember more details beyond her room.

Again, the knocks came, and Long Island sighed, “Who could be knocking on Ghostie’s door?” She muttered out loud before she stiffened.

Maybe it finally came in, the copy of the game she’d been interested in for a while that she pre-ordered.

Her eyes lit up before the knock came again, more insistent. “Coming, coming~.” Long Island celebrated as she went to open the door, smiling brightly. “Yes, did you come to bring Ghostie’s package?”

The person in front of the door was not a KANSEN Long Island recognized for a second, before the countenance hit her, along with the face, Hermione, one of the maids from the Royal Navy’s Maid Corps. “Long Island?” She asked, and something in Long Island’s mind began to shift.

“Yes~?” She trailed off, raising a brow, “How… can I help you?”

“Well, Lady Wales tried to contact you, but you didn’t answer, so she told me to come with a message,” Hermione explained, Long Island’s stomach dropping further as she continued with a smile.

“She said your presence is required in…” Hermione trailed off, looking at a clock on the wall, “ten minutes at the Docks for a practice exercise.”

Long Island gaped, her eyes blank and mouth gaping as she was suddenly ordered by Prince of Wales to come in to work, on the day she was promised no work.

Hermione pulled her out of her room while she was still in shock and directed her in the direction where she was needed.

Enterprise woke up first, not for any reason, but simply by habit, the room she was in bare except for the bare minimum, one such thing was a picture of her, Hornet, and their oldest sister. Yorktown.

It had been a while since Enterprise had seen her oldest sister, and a part of her was hoping they’d meet here and reconnect. And while that wasn’t what happened…

It was a fairly chaotic arrival.

She chuckled, reaching for a ration bar for breakfast before looking around to make sure neither Hornet nor Alex was around to stop her.

Slowly, she grabbed the bar, unwrapping it to reveal the dull food inside while Grimm gave her a look. “What?” She asked after chewing. “Want some?”

Grimm looked appalled for a second, which was simultaneously worrying and hilarious since eagles don’t have the same facial features as humans, but it was a funny image. But, again, if Grim didn’t want it…

She took another bite before the door opened, “Morning, sis!” Hornet began, a ball of energy despite it being so early in the morning, and the knowledge that Hornet isn’t too fond of mornings.

Enterprise froze, watching as Hornet identified the bar in her hand, Enterprise’s mind running a mile a minute before she brought the bar to her back. “Hey, Hornet, how’s your morning been?”

“Fine, fine.” Hornet said, “What’s that you’re hiding, huh?”

“Nothing.” Enterprise tried, sending a shaky smile in her sister’s direction in the hopes that it’d ward her off.

Hornet paused as she narrowed her eyes, “Oh, really, then you won’t mind showing it to me if it’s nothing, right?”

Enterprise didn’t answer, looking at Grim as the eagle looked away, closing its eyes and revealing its loyalties.

Hornet slowly stalked forward, grinning and arms groping the air, ready to reveal her sister’s misdeeds for all to see, while Enterprise raised an arm to try and ward off her sister, who was looking out for her. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife, and thankfully, something did cut it.

The two stopped as they received a transmission from another KANSEN a distance away, taking a moment to parse the message as even Grim looked outside his wings flapping as the two pair of siblings looked at each other, Hornet turning while Enterprise stuffed the rest of the ration bar in her mouth and began to run off in the direction of the docks.

Alex had woken up earlier than usual, not only to get some breakfast, but to get a head start on the day and the paperwork he’d find at the other end. Of course, no matter how hard he worked…

“Good morning, Master,” Sheffield said inside the Commander’s Office, a full American breakfast waiting for him. “Would you like to have some breakfast or try your hand at the new paperwork that just came in?” She asked, pointing to the new stack on his desk as Alex thought about it for a second.

“Well…” He trailed off, sitting down. “I am hungry.” He admitted, sitting down while Sheffield nodded.

“A wise choice, now if only our Master could be wiser when it comes to his sleep schedule.” Sheffield continued.

He began to eat the breakfast wordlessly, as delicious as it usually was, enjoying the taste while he went through his schedule internally. “First, we’re going to oversee the KANSEN’s practice exercises, then we come back, do some paperwork, before going around and getting a feel for how everyone is doing?”

Sheffield tilted her head, “I’m simply a maid, if you’re asking for my opinion, my duty is to serve my Master to the best of my ability, but…” She trailed off, glancing at the pile of paperwork, “I believe it’d be foolish to believe that all of that would be easy to get rid of in a few minutes.”

“I know,” Alex said, sighing while taking a sip from the orange juice. “By God, do I know that isn’t disappearing in a few minutes.” He said, resignation clear in his voice, while he slumped against the backrest of his chair and closed his eyes for a few minutes.

While he was eating, he opened his laptop and sighed as his worries came true. “Relocation orders.” He muttered while looking through them.

A bunch of KANSEN were being sent around and shuffled depending on where High Command thought they’d be the most useful, how they decided that, he didn’t know.

That said, a particular name did catch his attention. “Yorktown-class Aircraft Carrier, to be relocated…” He muttered under his breath while leaning back. “Sheffield, Hornet, and Enterprise are Yorktown-class, right?”

“Yes.” Sheffield confirmed, “If we’re getting another Yorktown-class Carrier…”

Alex sighed, leaning back, “They’re expecting a lot of combat in this area, aren’t they?” He asked, tapping the table with idle and subtle taps, since now, things weren’t going to be easier at all; if anything, they’re bound to get worse .

Akagi and Kaga, the First Carrier Division, the main perpetrators of Pearl Harbor, among other theories, both of them strong, probably as strong as Enterprise, with fox ears and fox tails reminiscent of the kitsune of legends, with abilities to match.

It was… complicated, and it simply left Alex feeling exhausted.

Still, Sheffield straightened up before turning to Alex. “Master, the KANSEN are ready.”

Nodding, Alex stood up before he paused, an idle thought invading his mind before he asked, “Think we could stop by one of the hangars?”

“A new Commander?” A beautiful brunette with red eyes, fox ears twitching atop her head, asked while kneeling in front of a desk, with a few papers around it. “Hmm, irrelevant.” She said, her pride in her abilities was great, but…

She brought a finger to her mouth and bit her nail. That Siren aircraft they spotted, they sensed scared them off, since it wasn’t Siren; in fact, the feeling they got from it was like the Eagle Union’s radio signals.

Could it be a new weapon, but if so, why hadn’t they attacked? Why hadn’t it been spotted?

She looked through the report on more about the Commander, a lot of it redacted, and more of it was harder to confirm due to their nature as enemies and the Eagle Union tightening its security. The shadows they had were good, but even they had limits.

Still, it was a woefully mundane report. There wasn’t anything special about him, but the report had something else that was crossed out.

Clipped to the report was a picture of the man, blonde with blue eyes. Akagi had to admit that he was handsome, but didn’t see what was special until she began to read through it.

Airborne Division… that was interesting. Even she knew that the soldiers who got into that part of the Army weren’t exactly slouches. Then why was he the Commander of the Navy?

It made no sense; something was wrong, she could feel it.

Then, another picture slipped out as she grabbed it and paused.

Her nature as a KANSEN yelled at her, inspecting the image of the medallion and the uniform he wore. Even through the medium of a picture, she could feel the importance of that medallion. There was more to it than just a fancy decoration or a symbol of valor.

Her Wisdom Cube thrummed, and she couldn’t even confirm anything.

“Akagi,” Kaga called, snapping her out of her reverie.

“Ah, Kaga,” Akagi said, turning to the white-haired and blue-eyed kitsune as she stepped into the office, the brunette smiling at her sister. “How was training?”

Kaga clicked her tongue, “The other KANSEN are getting lax after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They believe that they’ll be an easy opponent.”

“Now, now,” Akagi said, placating her sister. “The Eagle Union is in the back leg, nothing changes that, it’s simply a matter of picking them apart one~ by~ one~.”

Akagi giggled, the shadows hiding her eyes while her red eyes glowed.

While Kaga shook her head, she glanced at a picture Akagi had left on the table, one of a medal, as her instincts roared. “Akagi, what’s this?”

Akagi stopped giggling, looking at the image Kaga was looking at. “You too? It’s a medal worn by the newest Commander of Azur Lane.”

Opening the file she had, the Commander’s name was emblazoned as Kaga hummed, “Alex Walker.” She muttered, her Wisdom Cube thrumming, “I’ll remember that name, it seems like the battles to come won’t be boring for you at least, you have some competition it seems.”

“We’ll see,” Akagi said vaguely, closing the file before continuing. “Now, what shall be our next move?”