Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

I woke to the smell of water.. Cold.. Cold water...

Floating. Buoyancy. not Feeling any weight. slightly damp. It was a very strange sensation...

Slowly. I opened my eyes and realized I was in a very strange situation.. I.. seemed to be underwater but still somehow fine for some reason. Then I got a look and almost screamed.

It wasn't about exactly how or where or how I got here. but it was the fact I was somehow operational underwater. All around me.. as far as i could see.. was water... Nothing but water. I was on my back in all of this water. and knowing what I was in prompted me to thrash around. and in this swinging around i managed to stand up.

On the water. Standing.

That should not happen. and yet I feel like it is natural.

Despite my desperation. a part of my mind took the time to think this over.

First i went to sleep and then.. and then i was dreaming i think? I remember feeling warm only to suddenly get very cold. Someone was talking to me? I can't remember what they said but they said I was to decide 'Destiny' or 'Fate' or something. and then the sensations... It was warm. something different. Then there was pain when I heard the sound of steel being hammered into shape with a hammer...

And then I woke up in who-knows-how-deep water.

I would have made it to the surface faster had my own surprise not caught me. I opened my mouth and gasped in reaction to how cold the water was and sucked in a load of water... From there. It had been a struggle to reach the surface to breathe even as I heard something like.. Water flooding into a ship's hull.

It had been... maybe.. Minutes ago? I don't have my phone so I can't say. but it felt like I was underwater for a time. coughing up water before struggling over into standing up. Which made me realize something.

If I had somehow survived all of this. There was no way I was a human anymore.. It would be impossible even by my standards... If anything, I should have went down due to lethal cold or simply not being able to breathe.

There were other hints to my new nature however. like the painted steel that sat off to either side of my body and the Red hood on my head.

The whole water-walking thing was also a major giveaway to just what I was.

It was then that I realized that I was... a Kansen. Kanmusu. And just as i thought this and remembered the shipgirl OCs i made in my past. Of my old roleplaying hobbies catching up to me, I felt the mental strain of having to manage all of my subsystems coming to me.. Modules.. Targeting systems... Guns... Reactor... Aircraft status...

And just as I screamed. it begged the question-Who shipgirl i was?

2023 Writer here:Well well well, it has been a long time. ya all, Sorry about my hiatus. but due to me taking up language lessons and grinding away i just haven't had the time lately. along with motivation failure and such.

I do plan to continue, but a big overhaul is in order, The 2021 version has some really strange choice of words and grammar problems. plus i was being ambivalent about the inner workings of this world. Also, now that it's loyalty to the British, the multiple paths (OPFOR. Independent) are not really considered anymore. The warnings of this story will still stay the same though!

Chapter Text

Dreams are strange, I know that this is obvious. Everyone has had a moment where they thought it was just like a dream, After all. REM sleep can be that strange. you're in one place acting out something and then all of a sudden you find yourself running from something, as if someone just clicked the skip button on you ten times over. You have to consolidate memories after all, right?

Of course, the nature of dreams also means that you have trouble remembering them in the hours after you get up. you may remember fragments and bits, but rarely everything unless you write them down. Sometimes, you don't even remember the full sequence of what it was about, other times. you wanted to dream vividly and in control, but even then you still didn't notice until you woke up.

And yet... this was a entirely different beast. All i remember was the void, hearing voices and whispers. that i was walking faintly with a bunch of other guys and girls, and that strange things kept happening. that was all i could remember.

That would have been true, but right now? There was everything that screamed that this wasn't a dream. The fact that i felt fully energized and awake rather than feeling like i was disconnected and floating without any physical sensations of any kind. Or the fact that i had woke up underwater and actually felt fear instead of just feeling nothing, Or the fact i felt a lot shorter and i wasn't in my sleeping clothes.

"Wah...aah...aw..ah... This can't be happening.. oh god..."

Looking up briefly and blinking away my tears as i kept balling up on my knees. At that point i noticed the sky horizon was also real. the waves that drifted like i saw them on ferries, and the clouds drifting across the sky on a bright day. The sight made me want to believe i was still dreaming, but as time passed by. these hopes were quickly being dashed away.

"Awa...muh...wa..mmuhh." Cautiously sitting and standing up, I had expected myself to fall and submerge into the water, but i wasn't actually sinking. if anything, I was actually standing on the water like that jesus guy!

Then i noticed that i too was in shoes, shoes that people just don't wear when they go to sleep, at least. not ones that had a metal blade at the back. And I was very sure that i didnt wear a skirt when i slept! Everything else was starting to confirm my worst suspicions and fears. I certainly didn't drink, so it wasn't shopping. and that... hold on... is my chest...

Deciding to test if it was still a dream or not, i ran a hand down my left arm. blushing slightly from the tingling sensation, Once again deciding to see if this was still real or just a extremely real dream. I rubbed my leg and then touched myself in the chest, I felt everything rather than just it being all muddled.

So it was starting to look more and more like the worst case scenario actually did happen. God. What was disturbing when it came to just a bunch of drawings became devastating when you knew they were real people when one knew with certainly what was going to happen, or the many ways i could die or ways that i tried everything only to wind up with a bad ending.

Thinking about it carefully, I figured that the only way i would leave my dream was to reach its conclusion, but that seemed very slim especially with how awake i was and the fact all of this stuff on me weren't just cosmetic props. So do i just start walking? What do i walk toward? I didn't have any landmarks to go off and everywhere around me was the ocean, and i didn't once bother to memorize a map of the globe. Do i even have a calibrated compass unit? Did i just pick a direction, start walking toward it and await what happens? What if i went the wrong direction and i just kept walking until i dropped from exhaustion? Would that even be a dream at all? To walk until things go down?

GPS Signals down

....Huh? That was not supposed to appear in my vision, Sure. I had played around with VR equipment before, but... it was perfectly there in my vision rather than being offset or anything. I looked around frantically, and the words were still sticking in my eyes no matter how much i was turning my head around.

And on one of my headshakes i caught sight of what looked like a massive blocky gunhouse, holding a triplet of some of the biggest guns i had ever seen in my life. And from my sight. there was another one, each bolted to silver-gray finished metal that was connected to... around my back? And there was another one on my side as well, the whole set up was like a backpack that didn't weigh anything, Just from a rough guess. it looked like well over fifty kilos of metal that just didn't instantly send me careening down.

Trying to make sense of this all, I realized that if this was a dream. then it should have ended by now and it shouldn't have went on for as long as it was, And knowing my history with transformations in deviantart and how i became a fan of kancolle somewhere during 2018. Then... that meant...

Odd... I felt nothing like fairies nor the manjuu birds, That was bizarre. but i certainly did feel that... for lack of a better word... There was a 'virtual' crew, Ghosts. if you will. in that sense.

"Good god... i'm a shipgirl?"

I let out a breath and cautiously sat up, rubbing my eyes clear of tears to stare at the sky, in my head. i tried to gather my thoughts before they could spiral out of control even more. Not an easy task when you realized the sheer implications of what was before you, and the numerous ways i could die or what i was here for. Was it even kancolle or azur lane?

I was a shipgirl, A Kanmusu, or Kansen. presumably thousands of miles away from any help, Abyssals or sirens were sure to be the main enemy here. though i couldn't make a guess until i finally ran into them, It was a self insert born of the highest order, and way too much time spent browsing secretprojects or WW2aircraft stuff. it's the only way for how i got chosen to be thrown into this kind of world.

First objective meant finding land, Critical beyond belief. Link up with NATO, US Pacific Command. Australia SEA Command, Anyone. After that, Whatever happened next. i didn't care. The only problems was that i had no maps, no landmarks to go off on. Did i ever have charts?

"Shit..." I mumbled, not noticing the pitch in them. "I should be partly shipgirl right? And if warships have enough room for world maps..." I touched one of my turrets lightly, making the noise of what steel sounded like when someone stumbled against a beam. or at least what i thought it was supposed to sound like.

And despite waiting patiently, I got no response or anything. Not even any feeling. Making me moan in frustration and panic, Great... Without charts or literally anything navigation was down. Not that i ever knew how to set a course at least in real life scenarios, I had some small hope that maybe at least the virtual feedback from what represented a 'crew' could help. Which left only one option.

Pick a direction at random at cruise speed and better hope that i don't run out of oil or coal before i make landfall. Already the odds were stacked against me, But as i said. without anything to go off on, it was the only thing i could do, and even the smallest corvettes had enough fuel to keep them going for a entire international trip. So i decided to turn about fifty degrees to my right and start walking.

I took a single step and that was when i realized just how difficult it would be to manage everything about being a shipgirl.

My other foot in all of a sudden felt like i was moving in quicksand, A squeak bellowed from me and i tried to power through that feeling of lead weights on my leg. What followed was me trying to exert as much force as possible just to even be able to walk properly, kind of like the kerbal or supermutant walking posture before i had to stop, Then followed me nearly stumbling and falling over as i caught myself in time. The fact i hadn't winded up face-down in the water was only a minor detail. It felt like i was trying to learn how to walk again!

"Jeez, Can't even walk slowly on the water. Do i even have engines? assuming they just don't blow up on me." Instinctively i felt for it, Was there a way to bring the engines up to full speed, Did you 'think' of it, or was it like moving your arm and leg the way you would move your arm to pull a lever? "Do i just say it out loud or think strongly about it?" It wouldn't be the weirdest thing i had to deal with today, right? Still, you don't know it until you've tried it. right? Assessing where i wanted to go, i closed my eyes and... tried to think loudly, letting it echo and repeat in my mind.

Full power, move that way.

I felt a hum and tremors run down my body and into my boots, before i heard a loud screeching noise which prompted me to look back. Right, I had forget that i couldn't just start turbines from a cold standstill, but anxiously enough i waited, and after what felt like a few minutes agonizingly passed. the surprisingly muffled roar of turbines picking up speed reached my ears as I began to wobble forward. It was like as though i was standing on a trolley that was slowly accelerating, with my feet firmly glued to it. Before long, i had only just realized that i had reached running speed, Without the strain.

However, i knew both figuratively and instinctively that i could go faster, that this was a child's toy by modern power plant standards.

So i began to push more. allowing that pulsating feeling at the back of my chest to hum ever stronger.

I felt the wind starting to whip into my face, Normally. If i were in a bus or a taxi, I would have slipped my head back inside out of fear and from how uncomfortable it would get. But for whatever reason - almost putting it down to kanmusu physiology - it didn't bother or irritate me in any way, I started feeling a adrenaline rush and a distinct pounding in my chest that was different from the one at my back. Not from exhaustion or fear, but from pure unadulterated excitement like a teenager driving a fifty hundred horsepower muscle car, I had the ocean to me and more power i could tap into.

So i reached for it, and went faster. and faster, And faster with steam until I ran up against the limits of what i could put out.

"HOLY MUTSUKI OF ALLLL!!" I screamed, a wide surprised gape look on my face, It felt like skating along water. I didn't need to, but experimentally, I tried and i didn't crash out! This was heart-thrilling and both awe-inducing! I was sailing and it was like i knew just how to do it! It felt like i was floating on weightless bubbles!

'Full reverse!'

So of course, In my typical curiosity I decided to slam the brakes metaphorically, with my engines responding near-instantly, and too quickly. I was moving far too quickly to balance myself. Saltwater flowed into my mouth as I skidded out, hit the water and started to roll over into my end. I came to a stop, sitting on the waves, now practically soaked like i had just went swimming. Furiously shaking my head. I coughed to myself. Maybe I shouldn’t go full blown flank speed until I was used to sailing at cruise speed.

But alas, It was still fun!

And i wasn't going to wait till next time to try again. Maybe if i looked closer, I might see a possible weakness to how fast i can go. speaking of which... I just realized that i probably wasted a lot of fuel as of now....

"Ah geez," I muttered. some of the tightness and despair in my chest partly gone from the feel-good chemicals coursing through my body from going that fast. "I forget that fuel isn't forever, not even if i was all fuel bunkers and nothing else..." I finished that with squeezing the water out of my coat.

Now that this was probably all real, It made sense that my first priority should be to find a friendly port to pull into, Even if i started out with full fuel tanks. they wouldn't last even a battleship or cruiser that long, and without knowing where i was. I might spend weeks cruising aimlessly until i finally ran and became a stranded hulk, The idea made my hair stand on its end in a sense. God knows what might happen if I were to be captured by abyssals or sirens.

And so, i stood and continued on my initial course. dialing down speed until things seemed slow enough that it seemed like the idea of cruise speed, it was still faster than i could run let alone Usain bolt himself before this whole thing all started. And while i was still trying to take in the experience, What I had remembered was still vibrating in my head.

'Fuel doesn't last forever.'

"Fuel isn't forever." I repeated to myself, more for formality than anything else.

I shook my head again, It must have been just wishful thinking and my soul was suddenly rewiring itself because now, In addition to not being frightened anymore, i had a immediate problem. And that brought me back to my present problem.

Doesn't seem likely that i will be finding anything like the UN or other ports still held by any global coalition, As strong as my long-term memory of important things was, Even I wasn't going to hide the fact that when it came to things that seemed trivial or mundane, my ability to make long term memories out of them was very lacking. But I'm not a complete idiot either, Hopefully. If things were what they seemed, the best that might happen if there was nothing is to... find nothing, or perhaps some places i could scavenge for supplies where my shipgirl physiology might just show itself, or at the worst. I would be discovered by a enemy carrier battlegroup, worn down and probably sunk or either captured alive.

A weary sign issued from my throat.

I took a deep breath, straightening up a bit and let the faint wind tickle the moisture off my face, gathering strength as i began my options, I just needed to make sure i didn't run into anything i couldn't handle.

And yet, i didn't notice the lightning bolt pin that was on my head.

Chapter Text

Based on what kind of world i had been thrown into, I could forgive you for thinking that this one would end with me running straight into a oversized carrier battlegroup and then being bulldozed on top of that, Unfortunately, or perhaps in good fortune. Life in the trenches or on the seas just doesn't work that way, Most people will not ever shoot at someone with their rifle and more than often, it was just going to be dull, mind-numbing monotony. After all, I had already enough craziness in the form of me apparently being subsumed in my sleep. If anything, you're probably stuck at the office. grinding away at your time.

This was basically what i had found myself in, After the novelty of getting turned into a kanmusu had worn off, I'd found the whole experience now insanity inducing, Yes. Being able to skate on the surface was magic by itself, but several hours and the threat of sirens or either abyssals had ensured that i was never able to enjoy it, There wasn't a lot to do aside from staring at the clouds, staring at migrating birds and hoping i was able to spot something leaping out of the water. Sure, i was trying to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, but i didn't even see a single soul for miles ahead.

Just as it so happens, I happen to be part of that modern generation that needs to be occupied, like. OCCUPIED by something 24/7, constantly soaking up information like a dry sponge. Tending to get very sleepy and delirious if i wasn't on my computer or phone. Well, It meant i was very bored, without anything to stimulate my hippocampus, Yes. I can try screwing around with my own physiology, but that was a sure ticket to disaster if something went wrong on top of me already being paranoid enough, So for now. I had to dedicate myself to hours upon hours of cruising on the high seas, as best as a isolated shipgirl can do.

Hmmmmm....

"Hey..." I grumbled, knocking the back of my hand on top of one of my main batteries.

Immediately, the 'virtual' crew responded. and i got the sensation and impression of something poking out of my rigging, At least, that's what it felt like.

I blinked a few times and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. As if things hadn't gotten weird enough. Not to mention how fast 'it' had popped out of nowhere. When you looked at me like that...

"Is there anything we could use for gunnery operations?" I asked. "I'm not even supposed to be here, and i never once had any form of naval training..." My voice waned off, my eyes staring at the guns on my machinery, What use are even railguns or liquid propellant cannons if the idiot using them doesn't know how to make use of them?

The expressionless avatar's responses were low. Almost too soft to hear, but i clearly heard them loud and clear. What i felt told me that there was some, and that they would go looking into the cargo bay.

And with that, as quick as the impression appeared, It was gone, One second they were here. Now next second they weren't. Honestly, i had to wonder how any of that worked. How did these avatars of what passed for a fairy 'crew' worked here in Azur lane if there wasn't no manjuu? Were they like ghosts? Slendy? I shook off that train of thoughts, I had a gut feeling that it was just probably a side effect of kanmusu-based life, much in the same way that neurons coordinated with each other. And I had bigger problems to fry, So. I instead set about on waiting for that 'fairy' to come back.

It had found some with a proud feeling, and i got the impression of it holding something over its head.

"Hmm." I muttered, brushing my hair back. "Get all main batteries ready, We're going to train in gunnery operations."

Before i knew it, The 'fairy' was tilting its head at me, Pouting a little bit and with a expression of exasperation painted onto it's face. The mental impression of its avatar only stayed beside me, for the most part. and the feeling that I should save up on ammunition stocks until I managed to make my way back to friendly territory.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm being cautious here, We're not alone out there, and whatever is out there is very much hunting us down."

I rubbed the roof plating of my main guns softly. "And besides, I told you, I never once served. but in a situation like this, I have to. if we want to live."

The frowning virtual fairy didn't say anything, didn't react to the order either.

And when i turned back around to get a proper look at it, Sure enough. It had vanished to my surprise. How did that work? What in the... nevermind.

A few minutes later, and already I was tossing out some false targets, In reality. this takes much longer than you would think, When you're dealing with huge distances, it takes quite a while to set up these dummy things. Once I had a good group set up, I went back to mentally looking through how my guns operated, how i could aim them.etc.

Intentionally, I had them spaced out in a zig zag pattern, If i had wanted to know the range of my main guns, then i simply could just fire aimlessly into the horizon and watch the shell to get some idea, For the most part however, I just wanted to develop my skills and overcome my fears about open flames or loud blasts.

"Now..." I mumbled, letting out a small yawn. "How do shipgirl guns work? It is a mental thing, or...?" I won't lie, I was actually feeling somewhat scared, Yes. I was familiar to how naval guns worked. No, I wasn't familiar to the idea of essentially a explosion happening inches away from my face, Am I going to also get knocked down as well when i fire?

Closing my eyes, I willed myself into aiming with a small whisper... much to my consternation and nothing happening. Letting out a small frustrated sigh, I tried again, this time just telling them to rise, And with a slow. discontinuous groan, Main batteries began to elevate. Then I told them in my mind to lower, which was translated in the form of my guns depressing as low as they could go,

Soon enough, doing the same mental exercises with traverse had them responding as well, and I tried telling them to both rotate and elevate as well. even if I stumbled over my mental sentence of words a few times

Of course, It also revealed a serious problem, Never once had I ever actually done the unenviable work of indirect fire, It's not like looking through a tank gunsight and shelling a mountain from the other end of the bloody-all swiss plains, The issue I had was that there was absolutely nothing to aim down, and shipgirl biology being what it is. these guns were on either side of me, All of this meant gun convergence and all the issues of offset sights even if I could use them.

Think about it, Imagine you're the gunner operating a 40mm Mark 51 director with the sight bars removed and mounted onto a handbar a meter away from you, That's the best example i can give.

Of course, I already knew how far away I was, and I wasn't moving, The only problem? I just couldn't point and shoot, Wind was a possible factor as well. and... ugh.... how does one compensate for that kind of stuff? Shooting ships in 3D Warthunder or WoWs that doesn't involve the threat of getting mauled or outright death behind a computer screen? I was whacking my mind for any ideas!

"Hold on, Do i have anything on me that might help?" Wasn't it... I only just realized something, Surely if i was a shipgirl. There was a chance that i was also a modern shipgirl as well, right? At that moment, I briefly cursed myself. calling myself a idiot for not thinking about it as I concentrated on the thought, mentally calling out for any computer. anything that could help me...

And as soon as i let my mental voice ring out, my vision blurred out for a brief moment before various computer displays flickered into existence in my vision.

"What in the bloody...??" I exclaimed in surprise, shaking my head and rubbing my eyes as my vision settled down. the heads up display still very much there like I was looking through a VR headset, I let out a brief, almost sarcastic laugh. but soon enough, that confirmed my suspicions.

406mm Mark IV/FLARE

......

406mm guns? FLARE? What? I had to blink a couple of times to make sure it wasn't lying, 406mm guns. and the ones designed for the Lion-class before the end of the battleship era. They were in triple turrets, yes. But why FLARE? Were these the same guns? It was the name for a electrothermal chemical ignitor. So why was it attached to the designation?

I took a closer look at my turrets, more specifically. looking down the barrels despite the obvious dangers, Sure enough. these barrels weren't flush, there were bars at the muzzle that looked a lot like radiators, and boxes were mounted on the front plating of these gunhouses. Combined with the fact that I apparently had the ability to materialize a freaking HUD inside my eyes, The only thing that matched me was maybe a modernized Iowa, But why? Even the modern Iowas didn't have electronic computers back then!

Still, 406mm guns. That means i at least get to play with the big girls.

With too many questions in mind, and especially with the revelation of the whole HUD-eye and the fact my main batteries apparently were on a british design yet modernized with electrothermal technology. I decided to mosey around and sit down on the water.... and successfully, much to my shocker.

Why did i suddenly begin to worry about my true nature, despite the whole transformation freakiness and the fishy stuff going on?

Chapter Text

I'm not scared of the dark, at least ever since my children days, But this time. It was different.

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to walk down a dark hallway, knowing that something is hunting you like some sort of horror game? It's a wholly different thing that has you on edge, nearly whining to yourself and being paranoid in fear, and it becomes so much worse when you can't see where that creature is, It was the same thing here, I was alone.

Several hours had passed ever since I ended up in this world, and now it was dark, The sun had set, and night had came as I pulled my hoodie tighter around my head, and i found myself mentally wishing I could turn on the RADAR arrays i had on me right now, If only I had bothered to go though the manual in my head on how to turn these on, let alone select frequencies or interpret all of this complicated data. Of course, One thing that helped was the fact that... for lack of a better word, I possessed night vision. I saw the world in gray and faint white, almost like that of a cat. Was it shipgirl biology? Who knew, but on the other hand. Sirens/Abyssals were also likely to possess the same thing, so it all leveled out in the end.

Big fat lot of good that would do if I were to get jumped by a full task force.

I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly and silently as I tried to calm my nerves. The sound of the waves crashing against my machinery was soothing to hear, and I tried my best to block everything else out of my mind.

My body was still cold from the chill of the ocean. I tried to keep my eyes sharp for anything strange, Any potential threat on the horizon, Or perhaps. more hopefully, Land that I could make landfall on to hide out, Just find a nice and warm island to wait until the UN or other equal organization for the coordinated effort against Sirens/Abyssals finds me. That would be what I want. I really don't want to die out here like this...

It felt like forever that I was just wandering along the water's surface without any real destination or goal in mind, and eventually. The little light that was going into my rod night cells dimmed into a dull gray color, and it wasn't long before it began to grow black and white. Might as well add a enemy submarine to the list of nightmare scenarios buzzing about in my mind. I didn't know what weapons were on me mostly yet, But if I had no depth charges, a ahead-throwing system or light torpedoes. then god, I was screwed-

Suddenly, my vision went blinding white like the light of the sun, Instinctively. I threw up my hands in front of my eyes to shield them from the light, trying to see where it was coming from as I felt my chest tighten up in panic, Next thing I knew. Senses I didn't know I had suddenly poured into my mind as I heard shouting and screaming over what I suspect could only be my radio systems, Alarms sounded inside me as my main batteries went spinning around in search of a enemy as I went up to full battle operations.

"What the fuck is that!?"

"Who fucking cares! Probably another one of them!"

As my eyes rapidly adjusted to the light at inhuman speed, my own searchlights activated, and I found myself staring at a white-haired girl, Around her were several single-barreled turrets and a pair of torpedo mounts, A face of panic and surprise with golden eyes stared back at me, her look almost seeming panicked and surprised, My heart dropped.

Sirens, So there were no Abyssals. But it was sirens, and this was what a Siren Shipgirl looked like.

And with it came fear in my own heart as i immediately tried to get a idea of her distance and direction as I accelerated up to full combat flank speed, feeling the sensation of my main guns being readied, but too slowly. as the siren herself was obscured a moment later by the smoke and muzzle flash of her guns firing, Tracking her with what I guessed to be the shipgirl equal of a real rangefinder. I realized from the angry screaming on the radio that there was more than one of them out there.

More of my searchlights lanced out into the dark night as water kicked up around me. For what it was worth, their aim was terrible. but they were still not to be taken lightly as my searchlights revealed three more of them, I was facing four Sirens and I was just by myself, They varied in body build and shape of their machinery. But they were all terrifying to look at like the face of a angry chimp, In fact. they were so close that my inhuman vision was able to make out the expression on their faces, And they all appeared terrified or either frenzied in anger.

Just so as it happened, they were within hopefully secondary range. and these weapons would be much better for this kind of situation in a close-up brawl, I gave the order mentally as another barrage got dangerously close to my skin, water raining over me in the ambush. 'Shoot! Shoot!'

And I was treated to the view and sound of my own ears being deafened as my secondary guns, or whatever was there opened fire, Tracers lit up the night like fireworks as they missed, but already I saw a hit as I felt a shell ricocheting off me, Good god. It hurts!

The impact made me feel like someone just punched my chest with full power, And as soon as I realized what it was. I was in panic. My mind screamed at me that i needed to do something now!

I forced a hard turn, grimacing as I felt myself lurching left, trading shot for shot as I instinctively kept my arms up against any incoming shells that might hit my face, I was already getting bracketed even as I saw one of them turning into a human blaze, I felt my teeth almost grind in fear and ill temper. Was it my luck to end up with a siren squadron who would be a pain in the ass? Was I just gonna have to die here?!

"Goddamnit!"

But then, my main guns finally turned into position, armed and ready. I took sight of the closest one to me and started trying to crunch it in my head, Distance... Speed... heading... Accounting for night blindness... There!

And I pulled the metaphorical trigger, If these sirens had been looking at me. It would have looked like I just exploded, only for that to quickly turn out wrong as the nearest one was struck by a pair of 406mm shells as heavy as a Toyota, and much to my mental cheering had vaporized what looked like her smoke funnels and a good chunk of her hull, They weren't battleship guns for nothing!

But it was still one versus four shipgirls, Ghosts in the machine and 'virtual' fairies began to frantically load a new shell from the conveyer belts onto the hoist and propellant charges while my secondaries fired off a nearly constant cacophony of death, they were scoring hits on what I guessed to be a destroyer, And already she was on fire as she began to veer about erratically, clearly fearing for her own life more than whatever indoctrination was in her head.

I grunted under searchlight-guided return fire, I had suffered another hit. and while it must have been my main armor plates rather than something vital, there was no telling how long it would be before something critical got smashed up even with my systems all directing secondary fire, Another quick-firing enemy salvo had grazed within my head separated only by inches, threatening to knock me down. My engines were already running on full power, so the only way I could avoid taking a damaging hit here was to disable them as fast as i could, And even if i did get a chance, would the risk be worth the time?

And just as I was thinking about ways to force them to keep their distance, I felt my virtual crew screaming at me in my head that i had torpedoes.
And before I could interpret it let alone the absurdity of that question, I gasped as another shell splashed within a couple feet of my legs, but I looked down and there they were, A pair of torpedo launchers on my thighs! How!? I was a somewhat modern battleship, not a Kii or a Schlieffen or some other design. and yet... There they were, How had l missed them when i woke up!?

"Heavy torpedoes? Is that it!?"

Screaming out the question loudly, I decided i had no choice in the matter and aimed them toward the general direction of my enemies. At least I could hope they would work, And that maybe they'd just hit. But even still, with a series of loud screeches and air rushing out, my torpedoes fired in tandem with a loud blast as my main batteries fired off another heavy high explosive-FRAG salvo.

"For God's sake, Please hit!"

My torpedoes seemed to have found their target as I saw an explosion within a few miles away. And the voices of these enemy shipgirls grew increasingly panicked on the radio. Ahead of me, The two remaining sirens were desperately trying to maneuver out of my firing line, their eyes suddenly glued to the water, Well. that was at least a good start, They'd given me room to breath and broke up any accurate fire from these damned girls. No point in fighting here any longer.

The siren squadron, once clear of my torpedoes. turned and followed after me, and much to my stomach dropping. they were catching up. I turned around and fired, the sound of rammers and cradles echoing inside my mind as 16-inch cannons began their long loading cycle. All of this maneuvering was making my shots go long or either fly off into the horizon by a big margin, Once again. I cursed my awfully slow firing rate and wished that i had been something like the Des Moines or the Worcester-class;at least i would have autoloading cruiser guns, for fuck sake!

And as soon as I started reloading, I heard the familiar sounds of what sounded like wet-heater torpedoes on what l guessed to be my own hydrophones, and much to my horror, I saw the trails even in the dim. inky-black night, their torpedoes only seconds away from striking my hull.

"Fucking sirens, I hate you!"

And once again defying it either by sheer dumb luck or who knows what else, I barely avoided it as I saw the salvo of torpedoes pass just by me behind, Jesus christ. that was too close! And once again I was being bracketed by return fire, their aim also having been thrown off by my maneuvers, but looking at them. it wasn't going to take long for them to walk their guns onto me again, and in a battleship versus destroyer fight, destroyer-caliber guns of course were going to fire much faster.

And so I ordered my secondary batteries to continue their general barrage as I fired my main guns, hoping l could take out one of them, But they weren't stupid as well. The closer they got, the more accurate and deadly they became, but I still managed to get lucky when I fired. seeing a HE shell bullseye its mark, all the while i was pulling hard turns and going into sudden reversals at random, The only thing in principle here was to not let them get too close, The last thing i wanted was for a Hiei-Laffey situation to occur, or for one of them to shove a torpedo up my stern. Both of these would be horrible ways to go out.

But it felt like no matter how many shots were fired at them or how much damage they took, their speed and maneuverability seemed to defy even their own limitations, They kept dodging and twisting around until finally, they were coming alongside again, but my own actions had also paid off;Their formation, in an attempt to keep up with my wild maneuvers had completely fallen apart, My remaining two pursuers for the most part either weren't aware, or didn't seem to care about the fact they had left their crippled or sinking ship-mates behind. And that had given me enough of an opening to fire off another heavy salvo that sent them reeling back. secondary batteries adding to the weight as well as shells tore apart hull plating and gun turrets along with destroying torpedo launchers, With that. the two of them began to fall behind, either deciding that it wasn't worth it to die here or that their propulsion was down. I wasn't going to complain, I don't need a bismarck-esque situation happening. thank you very much.

...Oh, I almost forget about the damage report. Searchlights shut off, sailing away at full speed as I tried to slip into the darkness of the night. I took a good look at myself, both physically and mentally to see what sort of damage i had just took.

But at the same time, I remembered that these sirens were still out there, I still kept my engines at full speed, trying to put as much distance between me and my last known position as much as possible, Damage control can wait until then! If those fucking sirens catch up with me now...

I really hoped that i could just be able to lose them in the darkness, AND that they didn't pack radar, otherwise soon. I would have a full-blown enemy fleet near me, complete with carriers, You don't find a battleship out there on her own and send just a destroyer squadron on scheduled patrols after her, You reenact Operation Ten-Go. That's how you deal with such a threat.

That was the worst case scenario, and there were still multiple ways worse than dying here on the open seas like a sitting duck in the form of submarines, or literal death by a thousand land-based aircraft. So far i was doing okay, but I knew that it wouldn't take much for them to catch up, Time was ticking.

I was already getting tired, and i still felt something tickling down where I had been hit. It was a miracle that I hadn't lost any limbs yet, but I wasn't sure I'd make it if I had to do this for any longer.

And yet, I refuse to be the bismarck in this situation!

Chapter Text

Morning did not relieve me of my fatigue, Not really. Now, yes. I wasn't under attack again. But I was still alert, checking my surroundings.

I'd had to slow down to cruising speed at some point in the night, as much as I would've loved to keep running off at tactical combat speed. At a certain point, I got the mental impression of multiple warnings about not severely stressing out my propulsion and blowing a boiler or, possibly worse. Also, that... virtual fairy... - who reminded me of a AI assistant - reminded me that my fuel situation would be depleted before long under peak power speed.

So here i was, left scanning the water for suspicious periscopes, the horizon for Siren ships, and the skies for aircraft activity. To put it simply, after last night, I had to expect that the survivors had to have communicated with higher ups. While I killed a few of them, and maimed another one, there was at the chance that the surviving one might still have been able to find help. And, honestly, I had to assume that she could have sent a message with what had happened.

So now the Sirens knew I was out here, unescorted, and they had a rough idea of where to look for. Being able to get a idea of my last heading as I fled the battle might have mattered had I not also started erratically turning and changing directions to try and keep them off me. And, the open ocean doesn't exactly leave any signs of your passing. Having broken line of sight last night, I was pretty sure I was hidden. For now at the least.

But the Sirens could be searching for me. And, even if they weren't actively looking for me, if they had a way to communicate with each other by being competent in radio, which i'm pretty sure they did - then they probably already knew about the battle from their side, and were already planning their next move.

That is a lot of assumptions, but they're probably all valid ones. as inefficient as bureaucracy can be... anyway. Being only hours later, they didn't have to cover a wide area. There was only so much direction I could've covered in that time. But it would widen over time. I just had to hope that I could avoid detection long enough that whatever assets were being deployed on my head isn't enough to matter much. Until then, all I could do was keep my eyes open for hazards. Which, as I also discovered last night, was actually more weirder and bizarre than i ever thought.

I. for the lack of word, had a... entirely new sense, it was like seeing... no... Sparks of light? No, these sparks didn't have any light, and yet i was aware of them, countlessly many, and further away. they merged into a single wall of twinkles, I don't ever recall shipgirls, Not even the carriers in these kancolle or azur lane fanfics let alone in my roleplaying days having this ability. and yet here i was, able to stretch that new sense, I couldn't help but be awed. it was like a sort of sixth sense, down to even feeling when the clouds in the skies would either form new shapes or break up into smaller stacks of pure, white masses drifting lazily above.

And it wasn't just the clouds. I felt something else in the water, some sort of disturbance that made the waves feel like they were crashing against rocks. There was a sort of strange vibration in the air, It was hard to describe. But the thing that scared me the most was that I felt a similar disturbance again, though far less intense.

Surely even the virtual 'crew' wasn't capable of causing this effect, wasn't it? Bridge crews typically... okay, I don't have 360 all degree vision, but i *can* sense things behind my back and to my sides, Almost as although i'm in tune with Mother Gaia, Or Earth herself. That doesn't mean i can't feel my 'crew' or anything like that, I can feel them on what passed for the bridge, or operating the turrets, or still repairing damage from last night's battle. But it was a very, very odd sensation... Was this new sixth sense of mine overreacting or just basic survival instincts trying to make use of this new feeling, Or was it what being Force-sensitive felt like to a trainee?

"What in god's name? This is really weird..." I muttered to myself, looking around in paranoia. "And there's more."

It's like being connected to the very atmosphere around me, it feels like I'm being able to see, hear, sense, feel and understand everything around to its smallest details, but only at close range, I'm not sure if I've described the sensation correctly.

Speaking of which, what damage i took was minor. but there would be some patchjobs that would need to be done, While these destroyer-caliber shells didn't damage a armor joint or anything, there was splinter damage to minor components and my hull, While that meant it wasn't as bad as if i had been a Akizuki or a Cleveland, I would be stuck with these for some time. And shipgirl biology being what it was, it was showing up in the form of slight aching and soreness in my right arm, Of course. there was a small upside to it, Seeing as being a shipgirl came with it superhuman damage control even by real-world standards. Surprisingly enough, supply was still good. Despite the previous battle and the target practice shooting course, I was apparently still sitting on a mountain of ammunition and munitions, Apparently enough that my main guns would wear out and destroy themselves long before then, So that had confirmed a part of my suspicions then, and it was that shipgirls. Kancolle, Azur all had a massive amount of ammo onboard, even if said storage involved hammerspaces. After all, Ayanami would be unable to reload these torpedo tubes in the anime fast enough, let alone being able to fire off a third salvo!

Of course, this did also apply to my fuel, but even steaming at full speed was eating into my reserves, The fuel line wasn't too bad, but it wasn't completely full either. I could probably go at full combat speed for much more time at this pace, But after that, I'd have to start looking for a place to resupply, or a friendly vessel with supplies to spare.

Also, sleep... Now that was interesting, I wasn't suffering the horrible effects of sleep deprivation, other than just being a little irritable, I certainly didn't feel my head drooping down only to shoot back up either, but I could tell that my body was trying to squeeze in some rest in the form of zooming out or just.. being 'heavy' in the metaphorical sense. I also needed the rest for me to come up with some plan instead of just randomly wandering around, That's a quick way to kill, or sink me before my story had even began.

Not only that, but i didn't want to see what the shipgirl equal of Inflammation was like. A yawn bellowed from me and I shook my head as I pulled back on my hoodie. This was going to be a long haul.

Hmm.. speaking of which, I only had just realized, and it had hit me all of a sudden that I didn't bother to check exactly who I was... Surely if shipgirls knew instinctively who they were, Surely I was capable of doing the same. right? I didn't even know who I was yet, beyond the fact I do have battleship guns and oddly enough cold-war era systems, as I wasn't able to figure out how these RADAR displays all worked or why that HUD had appeared in my vision all of a sudden.

Resisting the urge to punch myself in my head for my stupidity, I closed my eyes. allowing the very idea of who *I* was and what I'm to flow into my mindscape, and to concentrate on it. What exactly I was. anyway? It didn't make any sense, It certainly felt like some sort of magical girl, but it didn't really seem like one, It was almost as if I was just a magical girl in my own mind. And it made no sense because I knew the difference between magical girls and ships.*
So, there's good news and bad news, and more things of interest.

Good news was that I figured out i'm some kind of battleship. Something akin to USN or the Lions if all this stuff is to go by, like the advanced finish and such. However, the hood and jacket are big clues. and that brings me to my next point...

Bad news is that battleships DO not travel alone by themselves, Capital ships were meant to be capital ships, and when capital ships act by themselves. they get overrun too easily and get killed, Shinano and Bismarck come to mind, but even incidents like that Wasp submarine or getting swarmed by planes in the case of Yorktown and Hornet do happen. Yes, there is a ahead-throwing anti submarine weapon on me. But between having to keep my attention on monitoring the horizon and listening for tell-tale noise... it's hard.

And then there's the question of why I can't use my RADAR arrays and of course the 'FLARE' designation on my main batteries. Why were these guns enhanced with electrothermal chemical technology? What did I do that nobody couldn't? How did I manage to wind up with these, in a kanmusu body that isn't mine?

And this brings me to the bizarre part, I was very certain i should not exist, and not for the more blatant reason.

From what i managed to recover according to my onboard computers, of which I'm pretty sure that even the Iowas weren't equipped with 1970s chip or even the very first CPU computers. I'm supposed to be Norfolk, the popsicle-eating shy heavy cruiser, yet I'm the Alsace-class, more specifically Number three. All of this raises some huge questions.

Namely that there was no way in hell I should be a French battleship, I should be a county-class heavy cruiser. not a battleship who never existed. And if that wasn't enough? I had modern weapon systems, L/70 40mm Breda Twins, or Bofors on steroid juices. ADEN 25s on MLG 27 mounts, ESSM launchers with MICAs bolted onto them, a few SIMBAD SHORADs, and 100mm M1968s all weirdly enough chambered in the same cartridges used for the Ducks. That was before getting into the Ikura ASW missile launchers on me, or the heavy 533mm torpedo launchers on me, and lightweight tubes with the much, much superior MU90s. And of course, much to my surprise. P-15s, All with their massively improved Chinese seekers.

I had hoped that I would get this stupid Dutch APAR array working, But apparently modern radar must be a utter pain to work with, I'm suspecting that my complete inexperience as well as the fact i've been running on shipgirl instincts up to this point also ties into this as well. No luck with accessing my computerized databases further as well.

Of course, There happened to be a Russian Nebo-M RADAR on top of my head, What the utter balls? This isn't the modern era where you have to contend with stealth shaping and low-cross section planes, goddamn it!

Still, I cannot complain about at least the old WW2 tradition of having a VHF radar in these early days, and for now I did manage to get the fire-control and surface search radars working. No such luck for the Infrared viewers however, but at least I do have optics for the main batteries as well and amazingly enough. Muzzle velocity radar.

So far, I've been able to get the Muzzle V systems to work, though with less than optimal results. But at least I managed to get the radar and gunnery systems to run properly, though the lack of any sort of guidance for the heavy torpedoes means I am currently stuck with just shooting in a random direction. And with only so much range as well.

Initial report didn't even touch onto the disassembled weapons stowed away inside me, If it wasn't for how serious my predicament was right now, I would have made a joke about how much stuff you can fit inside a shipgirl herself or how they are much more infinitely flexible and able to keep up with the times.

But what was even more bizarre is my ability to summon some kind... of... energy hardlight flight deck, complete with a carrier's shape and everything. What the fuck... How... how was that even possible? I know Kaga or Akagi had these energy riggings. but on a battleship that's not a aviation type? What in the absolute... It doesn't even make sense anymore! What the hell!? I'm already a damn battleship! Why do I need this?!

My mind is reeling at the impossibility of it all, But I push those thoughts aside and focus on the task at hand. Survival.

Right now, My priorities were simple. But I suppose I should look into managing all these planes that seem to be stowed away and hidden inside my 'virtual' hangar, If I can get planes up in the air. that is going to help me out so much with finding anything friendly or alerting me to incoming enemy shipgirls. Besides, it allows me to fight in a different way instead of just being a big-gunned battleship.

Oddly enough, The radio I do have does have both the option to use NATO and Warsaw Pact era codes, and there's even a onboard GPS communicator on me. although that one too is useless because all it says is that it is detecting GPS interference and trying to connect to alternatives in a loop that doesn't end, So much for figuring out where I'm, And I have to stay silent lest I risk interception by EW Shipgirls;Even with modern encryption, I doubt they would be blind to transmissions.

The other thing that puzzles me is the fact that despite my being an actual shipgirl myself. I somehow have a system onboard that can summon a hardlight flight deck and (unusable) carrier aircraft without any seemingly obvious downsides, What in the absolute fuck is even going on here? Am I just dreaming?

A sigh sounded from me, my eyes blinking hard. On a side note however, the sun doesn't seem as bright. Not even the glare seems to affect me in any way whatsoever. Another trait of shipgirl biology? Would certainly make sense, Especially if you have to shoot down dive bombers flying against the sun, Something like polarization of the eyes. perhaps?

It, of course also brought up even more questions, With everything I had on me plus who knows what, Did that also mean I had the ability to see in the Infrared spectrum? UV? What would it look like to me translated into human sensations? What did using RADAR feel like? And what about physical strength? Was it the same as a normal person, or was it enough to flip a car over easily? After all, Kanmusus don't have to follow the rules of Earthly life...

As these thoughts swam through my head, I realized that I had lost track of time. How long had I been sitting here thinking about all of this? Minutes, Hours? Whatever. I ruminate on it later, For now. I need to figure out what ammunition I've got inside me and any other sub-systems I might have before thinking about it any further.

I continued sailing. I couldn't really take any chances right now. Not when I still had so many questions to answer and so little time to do it. And not when the possibility of having a task force dropped on my head seemed very real.

"Norfolk, report in!" A voice suddenly sounded from somewhere in the distance. What the... Was that a hallucination or...!?

I stopped dead in my tracks, listening carefully for any other signs of life as my startled eyes darted around. But all I heard was the sound of the waves crashing against me and clouds drifting in the distance. It seemed like I was alone out here. Or was I? I scanned the horizon again, trying to get a better grasp of where I was in the deep ocean. I had heard that voice, yes. but it didn't look like there was anyone around.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. There was no point in panicking from just a simple hallucination with my radio saying something. After all, it could just be a glitch or some sort of malfunction.

"Anyone, Come in..." I repeated, hoping that maybe it was just some sort of hallucination or maybe it was another quirk of shipgirl biology. But no response came. I waited for a few more moments, but nothing happened. I sighed, deciding to just continue on my way. I was alone out here after all, so it was probably just my imagination playing tricks on me.

Still, it was a little unnerving. I hadn't expected to hear anything out here, especially not seemingly friendly voices. But I didn't have time to worry about it too much. I still had a lot to figure out and a long way to go. I just hoped that I would be able to get to the bottom of things soon. I needed answers, and I needed them fast.

The wind blew through my hair as I continued on, my thoughts drifting back to the voice I had heard. There was no way it sounded that clear, In fact, the hallucinations i had in my life up to this point weren't this long or clear, But every time, it seemed to catch me off guard. It was like the sound of someone calling my name from far away, but I knew that it couldn't be possible.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I had work to do, and I couldn't afford to let my imagination get the better of me. I still had a long way to go, and I needed to focus if I wanted to make it out alive without being very much a dead kanmusu. I couldn't afford to lose sight of my goals, no matter how much my curiosity was getting the better of me.

I continued on, trying to keep my mind off of the strange voice and the paranoia of enemy submarines or aircraft. I had a lot to do, and I didn't have time to waste worrying about it.

And yet, As I cruised. I couldn't help but wonder what other mysteries this world held. Whether it would be just a Kancolle analogue or turn out to be like one of these crazy mirror seas stories.

Chapter Text

I'm not sure how much time had passed since I started to flee from where my first battle had took place, But by the time I managed to figure out how to make use of my carrier aspect, the sun seemed to have moved quite a bit, painting the sky in different shades of orange and red.

Either way, I had made it far enough away from the fighting that there weren't any other ships in sight. At least none that I could see. That didn't mean I was safe yet though. A quick check of my systems revealed that while I had enough fuel to keep going, hull damage and the possibility of being tracked and killed by a task force however large it was needed was obvious, It was clear that I needed to reach safety. or else!

But first, I had to figure out what had happened to me. I knew that I had been hit by something during the battle, but I couldn't remember what it was. Had it been a torpedo or a shell? It was like hamsters running and bouncing inside my mind...

As I pondered this, I noticed that my thoughts were becoming clearer. It was almost as if a fog had lifted from my mind, and I could think more clearly than I had in a long that another quirk of shipgirl biology, So vital to them being able to fight like how it was shown in the Kancolle or Azur lane anime? Or was it just stress hormones- The kanmusu equivalent keeping me alert for any threats?

Whatever it was, it was a relief to be able to think more clearly. But even it was clear to me that this state of mind probably wasn't unsustainable;Still, shipgirl hormones or not. I needed to find something safe to make landfall on or either hopefully a friendly harbour. As it was, I was still very vulnerable to submarines, to say nothing of the less that I wasn't doing jackshit to enemy air recon if a scout plane did show up looking for what had happened in that previous battle.

Right now, I was travelling at a slow cruising speed trying not to burn out early, but that speed was going to have to be enough until I found somewhere safe enough to stop. It didn't help that even in my thoughts, I was already sounding like a character from Kancolle, That old human voice of mine already fading from memory.

But of course, Back to trying to figure out why I'm even here, All the evidence seems to point to "BB with a really bad case of what ifs mixed with shipgirl knows what magic". After all, the eyes don't lie. right? Even leaving aside the bomber I found in my storage, The Mistral does match up with being french, of course. but then the british guns and the modern day secondaries all equally point toward the brits and the italians, Not to mention the computerized systems of course.

You may think that I won the lottery with these capabilities, But I'm still in horrible danger without any help, Yes. If I coul get the APAR working, I would be using it but then, Depending on how advanced and capable the version of sirens I'm seeing here are, Trying to turn it on might result in me being immediately located by passive receivers or attacked by SEAD Aircraft, Same reason with my radio. I don't even know what frequencies are being used by the USN, even.

All I know is that my computers are useless in figuring this out. As far as I can tell, My onboard computers are supposedly made in the 21st century, Which is quite surprisingly advanced given how a lot of military equipment runs on ancient software;The F-22 still runs on the equal of a intel processor that went out of production decades ago with major obsolescence issues and inflexible purpose-built subsystems running on intel 386s, for fuck sake! But these onboard computers are supposed to be working... and yet... I have no idea what they're meant to be for other than fire control and maybe sensor fusion-If i could even get the APAR working, that is.

Yes, I have the Mistrals, light enough to swap out a Oerlikon yet have a seeker that was the world's most advanced at its time, Yes, I could probably survive a Soviet air attack in the Cold war, But a lone ship is still a lone ship AND is still a lone ship.

Sure, Battleships in their final years were extremely potent SHORAD platforms, I don't blame Yamato for being basically stuck with what amounted to a light AAA mount being abused in the 40mm medium role. But the main problem with them was that they had no way to reach out and touch the carriers from a distance, You could use them to destroy superhardened structures on the coast, but that was it. Sure, Battleships did serve a strategic and tactical role, But all they really did was just pin a carrier down, If you couldn't even compare to a plane in terms of force projection, Then what was the point?

Of course, there's a lot of difference between me and the Iowas with the MICA missiles that might just allow me to touch aircraft from beyond the horizon not counting the Mistrals that would make any WW2 engineer cream their pants with the ridiculously low rounds per kill, And of course the carrier potential that might just allow me to fight them on equal terms and probably outfight them with modern aircraft, But the thought still has me worried. What am I supposed to do if a fire becomes out of control? How do repairs here work? Not that it matters, since I'm still stuck in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere.

At a whim's thought, I began thinking about the night encounter, I was no sergeant or someone from Westpoint, I was just someone who roleplayed and casually did the math on Secret projects and tank net. but I should have nearly died or been crippled in that night attack, Honestly. the reason they didn't was that they didn't even bother to silently launch torpedoes;they had started with guns and searchlights, which had been their first and last error, If they had with torpedoes. though? I would probably have been hurt quite badly before I realized what was even happening, Why hadn't they started even with the noisy wet-heaters? These were DDs... All I could guess is that somebody in that squadron must have panicked and jumped it with the triggers.

The other thing I could remember about that night encounter was that my reaction speed was beyond that of a human, Not even once in my past life did I ever act this fast, not even when I was playing ship or plane games. That's one thing I'm still grateful for.

Still, whoever had shot first winded up unintentionally allowing me to respond in kind and saved my life, And isn't that just nuts?

But shit, that whole experience had been terrifying. I absentmindedly brushed my hand over my shoulder, wincing slightly as I still felt it underneath my jacket. I'd made it out, yes, but I hadn't done that unscathed. And next time, I might not have the luxury of having a cruiser be the biggest thing I was facing off against. The remains of that Siren group would have gotten the events of last night to their superiors by now. They'd be out curious and looking for me.

And no way in hell they would be going with a standard cruiser and destroyer combo this time, although that would probably be enough to confirm the reports If I was honest. No, they'd be sending the heavy ones. A battleship or two at least, but most likely an entire aircraft carrier group. Why risk your own girls when a few planes could do the job just as well, right? And why send only a single cruiser and destroyer squadron when a carrier group could take care of me much better than they could, even if I did have all these strange abilities that made me more that more dangerous than the regular shipgirls?

So I had to run. And that meant being in hostile waters with no home turf advantage and no idea what might be lurking out there. Oh yeah, there were also submarines too, who I probably wouldn't detect until I get five torpedoes thrown under my stern. Or I'd get spotted and lit up by aircraft transmitting a attack beacon and report for just about everybody within a 100 mile radius.

I ran my hands through my hair, balling them up into fists as my vision began to blur. and a growing ache in my stomach became more apparent.

"Goddamn it!" I cursed, rubbing my eyes hard before standing up straight again. "What am I doing?" I asked myself aloud, feeling like a complete idiot. This wasn't some video game where I could just reload the save file and try something else. It was real life, and a mistake could easily mean death. Was that really what I wanted? No, not at all... And yet here I was, about to make another one. A mistake that I could potentially end it all. Again. This was dumb, and I knew it. But what was I supposed to do instead? Just sit here, waiting for somebody to come along and gun me down? There had to be a better way.

And then, an idea came to mind. "Maybe..."

"...'Computer'. Can you do anything with that big buzz-all Nebo RADAR on my head? If we could just turn it on for a full all-around sweep..." Calling for help could draw attention from Electronic warfare girls and passive sensors, Aircraft might give me away if someone were to follow their trail back. Trying to fight a big group, in addition to being suicidal. wouldn't be enough to hopefully attract nearby friendly Azure lane or U.N forces. But Radar. especially long-range, Low-frequency VHF search radars like this, if perhaps used correctly... if perhaps i could use it to get a idea of where i was, and then cross-reference that with my internal map... Anti-stealth radars need not be accurate when searching for landmasses!

'Affirmative'.

Granted, That voice-the voice of my virtual crew as they went to work fiddling with the combat computers and other electronics in the CIC- still rung in my head. It always had an eerie quality to it that left me feeling uneasy even now. Still, at least they were willing to help if I gave them a job to do. And honestly? There wasn't much else to lose by letting them do their thing and hoping for the best. "Do your best... let me know as soon as you find anything."

Sure, It was still strange that they were there in the first place. honestly, I don't know if it was just my mind or latent shipgirl instincts, But if it wasn't for 'them'. I wouldn't have made it out of that night battle alive. I'd have probably still been fumbling with the controls let alone trying to operate these main batteries without the automation and other simplification methods for idiots like me.

Either way, what can i do? I was still feeling the strain of no sleep, Shipgirl or human. Taking a nap in the midst of a warzone sounded like a bad idea even if I could somehow dolphin-sleep. And I didn't trust anything about this place enough to just fall asleep and leave myself vulnerable. Not with the Sirens running around and god knows who else. No, the only option left for me was to keep moving. To find land or help before they found me instead.

And it had to be done by daytime for as long as I wasn't able to do anything with the stupid dutch mess of the APAR RADAR. Sure, I would be really visible during the daylight, But at least I would be at my strongest, You know. Rather than getting jumped by night-fighting destroyers or getting torpedoes thrown into me from a Electroboat before I even knew what's happening. And if MANPADs is anything to go by, it would still have enough of a range to shoot down observing aircraft in the light. Plus, I could take out the small shipgirls that show up looking for me with impunity as well with guns alone. Sure, I don't know how much ammunition i have or its quality level, But unless there was another Electroboat right on top of me before sunrise when the APAR radar becomes operational... the odds were currently in my favor. For now at least...

Sure, my speed might not quite match that of other warships out here. After all, I may be a fast battleship, but I'm not really Shimakaze! Which honestly sounded like it could work in my favor. With modern fire control and all of that, they might find it hard to hit me while i took them down with accurately aimed fire thanks to the muzzle velocity radars, At the very least, long enough to keep me alive before that APAR gets online. All things considered... it was better than nothing at all.

So yeah. I was going to keep moving forward until nighttime came or something else happened. Or I found land. Whichever came way, It couldn't make things more worse than they were already.. right?

'Katsuragi' sat on her chair, Made from the finest wool and cotton they could produce. She sat here busy filing out reports and feeding accurate information to the top. This chair was on par with what they made in the good old times before she'd been summoned here. And yet, despite that. it was almost too small for her body. But then again... it wasn't exactly meant for someone of her size either.

Despite that though. she couldn't help but feel at home sitting there. It felt like she belonged. even though it had only been a few days since she'd arrived in this place. Sure, things were different from what she was used to. but, a desk job beat being a blue-collar almost found it comical how despite the decades that had passed after the 1940s, Some things still never changed. Be it intelligence or logistics,

Kanmusu were revolutionary, but even that only goes so far against anti-ship missile and PGMs from beyond the horizon, and Second world war depth charges or ahead throwing weapons and hydrophones were not meant to deal with acoustically silent, nuclear-powered submarines.
Sooner or later, things would change though. And when they did... well, let's just say there would be hell to pay. At the very least, that was their very hope in closing the unbelievable technology gap.

At the very least, they had the Me-263. Even if that was for Land-based, home defense only at the very least. After all, it was heavily improved on;They had turned the HWK 109 into some sort of air augmented, 'supercharged ejector ramjet' or ducted rocket with the turbine taken from a jet engine that the scientists were still working on, and then they had uprated the engine enough to let it go supersonic. a steeper swept wing, Leading edge extensions combined with canards and even a onboard Berlin radar that fed information to the Radar gyro gunsight- the APG-30 system in all but name, along with a early form of transistors necessary to make it small enough for the airbreathing rocket fighter. though so far they hadn't integrated the ability to automatically compute a firing solution for the R4M rockets yet.

And they had gotten rid of the MK 108s for the modified short-barrel 25mm KBAs that were so standard for their aircraft. At the very least, that thing was the only fighter they had that could ever hope to compete with modern fighter and strike bomber aircraft they were facing against.
Which brought up another problem;They still didn't have any true jet aircraft. Hell, some would argue that even with these enhancements, it still wouldn't last long against today's air superiority fighters. The Me-263 project was costly and took up resources from other projects that could potentially bring results faster.

But it was already showing knock-on benefits, especially for the projected far future development of ramjet missiles. They just needed to perfect it; improve it more even. And then perhaps, maybe, they would stand a chance against today's air forces. But until then...well. They still had ways to fight back, didn't they?

As Katsuragi reached for her pen, she couldn't help but think about all the time she'd spent fighting in the Pacific Theater during World War II. It was honestly hard to believe it had been nearly half a century ago already... And now, being reborn somehow as a shipgirl and sent once again to war against virtually the entire world with weapons they hardly ever understood.

In her reports, she found herself highlighting patterns and trends that might help them anticipate enemy moves, analyzing news articles and social media posts for any hidden meanings or propaganda efforts-even seemingly innocent news pieces like budgeting, and providing recommendations on potential targets for strikes or diplomatic initiatives. It was all part of the larger effort to keep Command, As arrogant as it was informed and coordinated, and to stay one step ahead of the opposition.

As Katsuragi sat at her desk, surrounded by stacks of papers and pin-it notes containing data on everything around the world, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride in the work she was doing. Even though it wasn't glamorous, it was important - and it might just make the difference in this uncertain time. After all, they didn't have much other than whatever was being fed to them from open-source news and what they could get from returning patrol shipgirls.

She heard footsteps as someone entered her room, She looked up from her disk to see one of the grunts, A young light cruiser, While Katsuragi wondered why they accelerated the training programs so much, this one was rather competent. It was a fairly uncommon sight, for the large force of trained and experienced combat-capable kanmusus they had accumulated in the first years of the war were eroding swiftly, replaced by green girls fresh out of basic courses or returning from hospitals near-death, yet still not nearly as capable as the ones that were long gone. The reason behind it lay within the numbers game - every newly built or returning shipgirl was only enough to just replace the attrition rate of their current forces. They couldn't afford any more losses at the current rate they were sustaining, even if the war was becoming more and more 'cold'.

And so, she had been put into her position - analyzing enemy movements, global politics and affairs and writing reports about them while providing support for everyone else as a intelligence specialist, It was far from glamorous, sure, but someone had to do it. Not everyone could be out there fighting on the front lines after all.

Even shipgirls still had to be fed, watered and housed, and they inevitably would want comforts;A reason they stole cattle and other farming animals. and why potatoes were such a regular part of their cuisine. And even with the wonders of the modern age, they still had to be tended to, for someone had to look after cheesemaking factories. or preserving seafood, even if every bunk had its own aquaponics connected to a potato hydroponics 'Victory Garden' system. She wondered how it could possibly work like that sometimes, and whether there was enough nutrients for both plants and fish.

"What is it?" Kisaragi questioned the approaching cruiser, said girl stopped in front of her before speaking up.

"Sir, we have news... news which isn't good." The cruiser reported in a rather young if professional tone. "One of our patrol groups was almost broken. They fought a battleship in a nighttime encounter and suffered extreme damage, and only one made it out alive. They then lost track of the battleship, For she would have been killed trying to do so."

Kisaragi's left eye arched up in interest, A Lone battleship? Without being part of a task force? Surely they weren't idiotic enough to send a lone, unescorted battleship. weren't they? It would be too obvious and it made as much sense as a starving sailor throwing bread into the ocean to study fish.

"When was this?" Katsuragi asked, her pen tapping ever so softly on the desk in a rhythmic motion.

"Twenty hours of so." The cruiser replied. a hint of hesitation noticeable in her tone. "Whatever happened out there, either it was so quick or they weren't able to radio what they encountered before being nearly destroyed completely."

"I see..." Kisaragi paused as she thought about the information presented to her. "Could you possibly send me their report? It would help if I had something tangible to work with."

The young light cruiser nodded quickly, almost reflexively at the request. "Of course, sir! Anything to help!" She replied enthusiastically before taking her leave toward the door and exiting to where she was awaiting further orders, wondering what fate would bring her next.

Katsuragi sighed quietly, leaning back into her chair as she stared off into space, still pondering the news that had just been delivered to her. Was it really possible...? A lone battleship... It was peculiar, for sure - it would be hard to imagine any nation sending such an important capital ship without at least some escorts, especially considering how many aircraft carriers were out there these days. Not even the infamous Bismarck had been sent alone during its short career. Yet, here she was, faced with news of one doing just that. There was something off about it all, And she knew she couldn't ignore it.

Katsuragi leaned back into her chair as she pondered over what could possibly cause someone to send a lone battleship, The entire concept was absurd - why would anyone risk losing their most valuable assets like that? Battleships were huge, powerful, but vulnerable to air attack if alone. It simply didn't make sense, not when this lone capital ship could have easily been used to support and act as powerful AAA platforms instead.

Was it arrogance? Stupidity? Overconfidence perhaps? But whoever decided such a course of action didn't draw much empathy from her. After all, it was nothing more than an unnecessary waste of lives - both kanmusu and material - due to recklessness and stupidity.

Such actions had no place in wartime, especially not when both sides were already banging their heads on the technological problems of shipgirl weaponry. Katsuragi had seen enough casualties during her career as a grunt and then as a strategist that she couldn't help but feel anger at the thought of someone putting the lives of capital shipgirls at risk like that. No matter how powerful they might be, each and every one was still precious. It was simply infuriating - to think that some would still choose to send them alone, so utterly careless about their safety... Such pointless waste of life...

Katsuragi frowned softly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she pondered over the recent news once more. Was it truly possible? A lone battleship appearing out there, without support? The mere idea itself felt surreal, yet something inside her refused to ignore it any further.

It was time to stop thinking and start acting - otherwise, she might risk missing valuable opportunities that could change everything. And considering how long they had fought on against the terrors of networked warfare... Well, she couldn't afford to waste any more time than necessary.

Chapter Text

As the skies darkened with a storm system rumbling overhead, It was both good and bad in its own right. Good news? It meant I would be able to hide in bad visibility, and it would cover up my breadcrumbs from yesterday's night battle, It also would mean carriers wouldn't be around for some time. Well, from a manner of view that is, When shipgirl magic is involved to the point of them being able to fight battles that would be impossible for their real-world counterparts, It remained to be seen whether that held true. Hurricane bow or not.

Bad, because it also meant I could get jumped by a pack of torpedo-armed DDs or followed by a submarine. It's strange that I didn't feel such a strong sense of dread at the idea of being unable to spot torps in the water until it was too late. What reinforced that was my VHF RADAR wouldn't be much use here, and the only one that would be workable. The centimeter-wave Dutch AESA arrays weren't yet still working, or maybe that was paranoia. Part of me believed I'd been seen anyway, After all, what were the odds of stumbling upon an Siren shipgirl with advanced bullcrap like some kind of S-band SG RADAR? probably high.

Hell, I still had no idea of where I was or what part of the world I was in for that manner. It could be any damn place, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, let alone getting lost within it. One thing was clear though; time wasn't on my side here. The storm wouldn't last forever, and when it cleared up, who knew what would happen next? A battleship group, another encounter with a cruiser squadron, or even worse, being found by a giant carrier strike group? Yeah, that sounded really appealing right about now as a form of suicide.

Given my track record... I sighed deeply as I scanned the skies once again before turning towards the horizon where the sun had long since disappeared behind the clouds. This game, if you could call it that, was far from over. And I had no idea how much longer I could keep playing this very real game of life and death.

Still, It could be worse. At least i still had my wits about me, and my skills from my previous life as your typical teen-at-home-who-games-a-lot and too much free time to try and prove that Iowa wouldn't survive against Yamato were proving useful in navigating through the chaos right now. But that doesn't mean I could outwit a shipgirl who would have had several months of experience, or a efficient command structure for that mtter.

As the storm raged on, I steeled myself for whatever lay ahead, Which just so happened to be on cue.

Said cue being twelve targets all coming into view barely in this weather, Blatantly siren enough, Judging by their blackish gray and sky blue motif and of course the yellow eyes. I couldn't tell in this storm, But it didn't look like a direct interception course, so maybe they haven't spotted me yet. Still. That was no assurance that they were just shadowing me and were part of another bigger group or waiting on orders.

My shipgirl instincts kicked in, I quickly went into action, calling 'out' to what passed for the virtual crew and going into full combat mode while I started up whatever electronics I could use, Starting with fire control and radio channels, Anything to kill them first before they killed me.

Sure enough, I saw one of them suddenly turning her head to stare at me. Only several moments later, the entire group began to look in my direction. Damn it, they must have spotted me!

And just before the entire group vanished into the fog, I saw them turning around to follow me. Just great... I picked up more speed, now reaching flank speed. I hoped that they wouldn't be fast enough to catch me or get too close before I could get the secondaries up and running, The tension was palpable as I gripped the metaphorical controls tightly, ready for whatever came next. "Hahh, stay sharp." I whispered to myself, hoping that somehow, I would make it through this alive.

After a few minutes of this, I saw glimpses of them, Still shadowing me. not so close it turned into a fight, but not so far enough they would lose track of me. Now there was absolutely no question they were tracking me. At least, I still had some tricks up my sleeve...

'In that case...' I thought to myself. forcing down the mounting outrage and dread at this bold course of action. 'I suppose I just have to fight like how we did it in these roleplaying days!'

I turned around, feeling my turbines groan as I pulled a U-turn before I charged them at full flank speed. 406mm guns swiveled and depressed as I saw their outlines come fully into sight, Their faces frozen in surprise as range, bearing and speed were already being crunched in my computers. At such point-blank range in the storm, there was no time to think; It was either sink or be sunk.

Likely realizing that, they made a sharp heeling turn that would have been dangerous for any real-world ship counterpart by probably flipping upside down or either breaking a rudder, And in just one moment they had brought their guns onto my angle. and I realized i hadn't gave the physics of shipgirls enough respect or thinking!

They opened fire. and then it began... A barrage of gunfire echoed through the stormy sky as we traded shots at point-blank range, both sides desperate to score hits before the other could get away or take too much damage. It was chaos personified; explosions and splashes lighting up the mist like fireworks while respective DC systems worked feverishly to keep things operational. The thunderous roar of cannons and the rattle of machinery were almost deafening as shells flew back and forth. Mine's with deadly accuracy.

And in nearly half a minute later they were gone, their outlines already disappearing back into the mist. hisses escaping my mouth as I felt where I had took blows to my armor array. I saw one of them being knocked down with a bunch of HE shells from my main guns though.

Now how the fuck do i get out of this situation? I knew one thing for sure, They wouldn't just break off easily... I needed to come up with something quick. Likely, They would come back for another attack run, probably involving torps. The problem was; i still didn't know if they were part of a bigger group or not. It could mean getting ambushed by more ships or even carriers! So what do i do? Still, I couldn't deny some kind of instinct guiding me through this chaos - as if everything clicked perfectly in place from past experience somehow. Notably, the realization hit hard as I realized that there was no way they would dare to follow me in the storm so confidently...

But before I could recall what it was, I had already decided to pull another turn. considering the idea of a smokescreen. The thought process itself might not make much sense at first glance given the conditions; after all, we were both shrouded by heavy fog and mist, making visibility near impossible even without any tactics involved! However, my intuition told me otherwise - that this situation demanded unconventional thinking above all else if I were going to survive unscathed.

And with that resolve firmly set within me, I began acting on those instincts without hesitation or regard for potential consequences. already making a turn toward their last known angle as I aimed for what amounted to a drive-by attack. knowing full well it would leave me exposed while trying something like an offensive run straight into an ambush was pure insanity! The most important thing right now was surprising them - catch them off guard before they could react properly! Of course, It would require perfect timing and execution...

With a sudden burst of speed, I closed the distance between us with blinding speed, leaving behind nothing but a trail of white mist as evidence of my passing through this hellish storm unscathed. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as if i were a racing engine fueled by determination alone.

It was just enough time before they turned back to look up from their chatter over their comms when I acquired them and then fired my main guns at them! A horrendous explosion rocked out, the sound almost reminding me of a tank's ammo carousel exploding as chunks of steel flew off into the clouds above them, Their guns fired wildly towards me; but not once did they manage to connect due mostly due to how sudden i had shown up mixed with my lucky streak holding up so far under this hellish stormy weather. It seemed they were struggling just as much with maintaining any kind of coordination or control over themselves under these conditions... just like myself earlier when i first woke up.

Just then as I began turning around, one last stray shell ricocheted off my left side armor plate, sending up sparks above me before finally exploding in the air above with a orange flash in the fog. "Gguhhh...!" I grunted through gritted teeth, feeling pain shoot down my spine at the impact. But it was nothing compared to what they were going through right now; I would have sworn I saw their faces twisted with shock and disbelief while their guns continued firing blindly towards where i had been nearly a minute ago.

The sound of water crashing into rigging and machinery together echoed throughout the air like some kind of morbid symphony played by an orchestra made entirely of war machines.

"Damn! Fuck this!" I yelled to myself, and as if on innate knowledge. I began dumping fuel into the engines to create a smokescreen, A thick and white tower of smoke emerging from the back of my machinery. It rose higher and higher, But I also saw it already drifting and destabilize as the storm raged on. It was hard to tell.

Maybe I shouldn't have expected anything, Maybe I should have paid more attention in my action-oriented mind, But soon enough a cacophony of beeps and alerts filled my head as RWRs went off blaring about being painted by a radar, Trying to pay attention to it mentally. I noticed that the bearing of that radar line was changing, Almost as if it was... following me.

Oh you have to be shitting, they had RADAR...

What now? Keeping that smokescreen generator on wouldn't help much at this point; It would only make things worse, especially if they were capable of blindfiring! So instead I decided to go full blown flank speed, Still watching the bearing of that enemy radar changing to follow me as I ventured into the expanse of my mind, There had to be something about these main gun radars that could allow me to fire back... There had to be!

It took me a few minutes, But finally, I had figured out how to operate these local arrays in tracking and gunnery mode as I turned the main batteries around, High explosive shells already ready to tear up my pursuers. With a sickening, anxious feeling in my stomach... I metaphorically pulled the trigger, Wincing as the sound of the main batteries firing briefly cut through the roaring of the storm above. The recoil was brutal;I swore I almost felt the barbettes shaking like these were nothing more than a child's toy. But there wasn't time to dwell on such things; I had other concerns at hand!

The first salvo flew off into the mist, hoping it would hit something or someone. And then... silence fell upon me once again. No gunfire echoed across the sea anymore. Just the howling wind and rain lashing against my machinery. Had i managed? Or had I messed up something about fire control?

Nearly a minute later, That question was answered in the form of tracers suddenly sailing over my head, Fuck. that meant they were capable of blindfire control. I'd be angry If I wasn't fearing for my life. So i took another turn to evade while keeping an eye on that radar bearing; There was no telling what other tricks they might have. The sea churned and thrashed beneath me as if it were alive, But I kept myself straight with all my might, heart racing like a ticking time bomb within my chest.

"If only I could get a lock in this stupid storm...!" I cursed in my breath, fingers flexing over the controls almost desperately. It was as though everything depended on it - and maybe it did. After all, i had no idea how many others were waiting for me out here.

Soon, Another flash of lightning lit up the fog, Just enough for me to see my pursuers as they emerged, And with that. We resumed our battle, Main guns fired explosive shells, With nothing particular in mind and just targeting the superstructure (Or as close as you could get to one against shipgirl-sized targets. anyway) while secondaries rained down a stream of tracers, trying to get them to veer off, One of them was soon engulfed in flames, but she didn't care about their pain or suffering, only a burning desire to sink me. It was clear we were both at a stalemate until they decided to make a desperate move - either risk getting closer or break away.

While I was busy trying to nail them, I didn't notice something moving on one of them as I felt a shell graze my left arm, Already too concentrated on taking out as many as possible to notice as one of them had their riggings explode as ammo lockers went off. I only noticed it when I spotted what looked like multiple boxes of missile launchers, aimed at me.

"What the bloody-" I muttered before I saw the orange flashes and trails of flame and smoke as they hurled downrange toward me, too fast to react-

And then everything was engulfed in explosions and smoke, My entire machinery shuddering under the force of impact after impact! I felt shell fragments tear through hull plating and decks; The sound of screeching metal followed by the hiss of something burning filled my ears despite all the chaos around me.

There was only one thought in my mind;since when did they have rocket launchers!? They didn't even look like they had what could be called early anti-ship missiles, and i didn't recall any shipborne rocket system being used to target naval craft other than the PT boats... And they hurt more than they should have. Alerts suddenly streamed into my mind, warning about a fire on the bow from that rocket salvo and that damage control units were being mobilized, only adding to my distraction even as my left shoulder hurt and i resisted the urge to scream in pain.

But before I could contemplate on that, another flash of lightning lit up the sky like some kind of cruel joke. The sight was enough to chill me to the bone;Now that I was looking closer, I saw these boxy launchers with their tubes again. Already seeing flames spouting out of their machinery as these flew toward me, Oh for fuck sak-

Stings of pain washed into my mind as explosions rocked across my hull, arms. shoulders. legs, The smell of burning metal filled my sensations and I groaned in pain, Feeling my chest wheeze as It felt like paperclips being punched onto me. I fired back with a parting salvo from my main batteries, not really expecting to hit anything, just dissuade them. Surprisingly enough, nothing important got damaged. Yet my panicking mind told me otherwise.

I took another turn while I tried to fix what superficial wounds I had took, The storm raging on like an angry goddess above my head. But they were gone... They vanished into the mist once again, It was as if they never existed at all.. Only the sound of water crashing against my hull and the distant humming of machinery remained.

Wondering why they had let up now, I noticed that something felt empty now. When I noticed that the warning beeps were gone, I mentally probed and noticed the RWR wasn't screeching now. Could it be-Did i just cripple the surface RADAR set on one of them during the fighting? That could certainly explain why they decided not to pursue me further out of the inability to keep shadowing me.. at least not without the risk of bumbling into me at close range. But there was no way to know for sure.

With a sigh, I limped away from the scene, trying to assess the damage and keep going. Fortunately, these fires quickly died down. But the aching - pain that i wasn't used to - was taking it's own brand of toll on my focus, Have you ever tried thinking let alone trying to wheel your body around to quickly aim giant-ass guns with their own inertia when you cannot think straight? That's that.

And so as I went and went until I was sure I had lost them, I wanted to cry and just lay down, Already thinking about the pulses of fear I felt when I imagined some of the many ways i could be taken down. I brushed my left hand over the structural damage and hissed as It felt like I was touching a water-burned limb. I'm not a soldier who has to earn a paycheck killing people or die in poverty, I'm not someone who liked the idea of actually having to fight with my life on the line. I'm just some random guy that got shoved into this damn shipgirl body that wasn't even supposed to exist and tossed straight in without even the basics let alone a manual to read.

Some part of my mind chimed in and told me that no, You still had this weird. newtype-like sixth sense. right? You had guns using experimental cold war tech, Hell. you're even more advanced than a missile-converted Iowa.. But I didn't care, I didn't ask for any of this, I just wanted to find safety... I'm not even a mindless synthetic race created for the sole purpose of killing... Why was i chosen? Why me? Why not someone else like Solomon sea herself? The questions swirled around like the damn storm.

...I did have a radio, didn't it? I could use it to transmit in the old Warsaw Pact or NATO codes, Sure. I would be placing a giant marker on myself, But it would also mean the possibility of being rescued.

After much mental debate, I decided-fuck it. I wasn't going to stand a chance alone, And more time like this made any chances of my survival more and more dim. Grimacing slightly, I listened to the radio waves suddenly being filled with calls for help from me. Now, All i could do is just keep moving and wait until they came for me, or i died-Be it to a sub, Land based aircraft. of a giant fuck-off battle group. whatever it was, I had no idea. But at least someone would know where i was now. Maybe... Just maybe... They could come save me.

And as if clutching it mentally for comfort, I looked back at these Breda Bofor guns, clenching the trigger in my mind and ready to pull the trigger with nothing more than a laser and a camera if it came to that.

Chapter Text

There were a lot of forces. My estimate of 6 to 17 enemies were off, It was likely tending toward the upper figures. I realized that when we closed the distance and my RADARs were able to discern the echoes from one another. From what i could tell, It was several destroyers and a Scharnhorst-type. but now there were a few heavy cruisers and a light carrier mixed in. The presence of the carrier alone changed my plans as now I began arming MiGs for R-73s and counted on my bombers to get through with speed.

But one thing I reported made me smirk a bit. They were able to enter combat with the fleet that I was to be escorted to apparently. which if i am not wrong also includes Javelin, I guess both fleets had spotted each other and circled each other before the Sirens decided to go in. Maybe they were weighing whether I was here of not.

Well, In any case I knew they were here. and my guns were loaded with guided rounds and bombers were ready for takeoff. The question was... Which one to take out first? The carrier of the battleship?

I relayed my desires to my A-7s preparing to take off, They would target the carrier first for destruction. My computers were busy calculating all factors from range to weather and wind conditions deep inside my hull, This combined with my Gun engagement RADARs gave very high precision. Although there might still be errors due to my current level of being inexperienced. My guns aimed at one of the destroyers.

'Correct for any possible range errors... Warm up the mechanisms and program in the target... Eat 406mm shells down the bloody hatches!'

Pulling the triggers electronically. Smoke and blast waves came one after another with little delay as I fired all turrets. 9 406mm HE rounds flew toward the destroyer. I impatiently waited for any smoke or splashes to be detected by Zhuk or Type 273. Most of them missed, But the remaining few? One blew apart a chunk of the superstructure to bits and the others rendered a torpedo turret unusable. as well as blasting open a nasty looking hole in the hull.

Record to self for later. If I can't start a battle without it on being my terms and when they are already engaged, My accuracy still goes down drastically. Good thing to know, but it still irritated me even if i had never had any military experience in the first place anyway. It also potentially alerted any enemy units that i was here. which would now be important. In any case, I wanted to prioritize the destroyers first. but the cruisers could prove to be a serious threat with these guns and as long as they were still out there, The friendly fleet would never be truly safe.

Watching Kent and Comet outrun me. I decided to keep my secondaries armed and prepared to shoot at anything that got too close. If Azur lane was like it was in fanfics or the anime itself. Then it could most likely turn into a messy and brutal close-quarters combat affair that would leave me vulnerable to torpedoes i didn't see coming of simply being overrun. Even If i was a magical girl. I decided to aim toward the cruisers again. If that firepower could be shut down... I sent the word to my MiG-29s to begin contesting for air supremacy and for A-7s to target the carrier for destruction as I tried to not be overloaded with combat tasks.

As I was confronted with 3 destroyers and a heavy cruiser. I realized that I have to start designating what targets were most important to me now rather than just murdering them all with focused fire. That left the heavy cruiser as high priority and is the furthest so far not counting the other enemies. That meant demolition HE explosives were still ideal until i could switch shells. The destroyers? Secondaries were within the upper edge of effective firing range even with ER shells but it was still possible to thin them out, As I began the process of ramming in more shells. I watched Comet and Kent go at it.

Comet was gritting. Her main battery firing wildly as she dueled with a destroyer, The destroyer in question returned fire and changed course to enter a contested battle. The two shipgirls closed the distance, aiming at each other in a high-stakes game of feinting and decision loop. That's when I saw something on Comet moving.

Four torpedo-tube mounts. She dumped these into the water as the enemy destroyer kept erratically moving. Apparently this left the green haired girl frustrated as more torpedoes were launched before she switched back to artillery. In the meanwhile, Kent was moving parallel to the destroyers. firing upon them as she kept her distance from them. I saw a 203mm shell hitting another destroyer, but I didn't know what damage could have resulted.

Hearing a beep. I narrowed my eyes as I allowed my sixth sense to reach out before my main artillery battery fired. Shells went screaming at high velocities toward my main target with the best my RADARs and rangefinders would give me. I had to keep that cruiser from trying to shoot at Comet of kent, otherwise they both would be messed up in short order.

In the meanwhile. I turned my head toward Comet as torpedoes missed, But a shell torn open one of the Siren shipgirl's gun turrets followed by precise hits as another shell struck and burst next to a torpedo mount before she ended up being the attention of Z21 and Concord (Who were executing a turn) as many destroyer and light cruiser shells struck many times. vaporizing a AA mount and losing a part of her superstructure before being finally destroyed as she went up in flames.

Comet seemed to realize she was going too deep when she saw two more destroyers and a light cruiser closing in followed by Carrier dive bombers as she executed a turnaround and began moving back toward me. It reminded me of just how crazy the Azur lane shipgirls were compared to Kancolle's...

In any case, With what looked like enemy SBDs closing in. I needed to give her aerial cover, I sent a command to my MiG-29s and I began firing my secondaries on one of the destroyers as she tried to take shots at Comet. I still liked Comet and right now, I didn't want to see her go down and besides. She deserved her own reputation! Nothing was getting to her without a word from me!

Firing my 406mm guns again I got to watch once again only a few of my shells actually blow apart the Light cruiser's hull as the rest completely missed. Goddamn it! I had chromo-plated guns. MV RADAR and Pulse-doppler systems as well as a PESA for guns AND I STILL missed? All I can only surmise is that's me being green as a vegetable and managing to have the shells fly over in my haste. I can't even curse a game for my sheer dumb stupid luck of aiming. I only had the slightest idea to how scared I felt right now with that I may have made a major mistake.

However, During all of that. my secondaries had been replying and had considerably better outcomes. scoring several hits as I started a fire on the destroyer, Comet executed another slight turn as she started firing back before she resumed her course again as torpedoes were now reloaded and ready to go.

I have to say, That's some skills for an human-sized ship with unearthly reaction speed. The needed strength to handle the mental strain of managing all of your ship subsystems and more determination than your typical Azur lane shipgirl that had a run-in with Arbiter.

My guns were still busy preparing to drive in propellant charges. But I felt more shells being rammed into my Mark 42/12 gun reloading mechanisms as I didn't let up on the pressure, barraging that destroyer into oblivion with more metal and explosives as most of my focus was still on the cruiser that was moving, She was moving toward me and she was starting to get too close.

New shells, this time APC were fully armed as propellant was drove in as my computers made corrections for range and inputted the necessary data into my guns by means of remote control. 'Come on... Please work!'

Kill!

I fired, and then squinted my eyes as the rounds sailed through the skies. I only paid a brief glance to the destroyer as my Secondaries kept tearing her apart to scrap. I saw a few flashes and columns of water around my target. That didn't look good as it seems all factors were now corrected for.

Then I noticed that Comet had began firing back at the destroyer that I was beating down on with my Mark 42s. The destroyer didn't seem to notice it, too focused on not panicking under the literal rain of tracers and shells. An error, And possibly a serious one at that.

I think I saw her stern exploding in a line of fireballs and flames when her ammunition lockers began to go off. Estimating from the power of these explosions alone. The outcome looked fairly grim.

Then Kent, Who I just noticed had suffered some hits was now turning her guns toward the Heavy cruiser. She attempted a charge with all of her firepower concentrated. gun flashes not letting up, Pure will staggering her opponent as the enemy cruiser began to panic and flee.

I have kept watching it if it wasn't for the fact that my main battery guns had just completed the loading cycle. The cruiser, already having a main gun turret knocked out by a 406mm AP shell and now under Kent's attention had decided to call it and was trying to turn away, All while firing toward Kent.

With my capabilities. She was not getting away from that try of her's being barraged with superior firepower! Guns deafened again as shots were now out. I observed as one of my lesser RADARs began tracking.

*A-7E 1# IMPACTS ON ENEMY CARRIER*

Huh, Didn't notice my bombers until of just now. According to what I was seeing, It looks like multiple M64-class detonations which resembled more of a inaccurate carpet bombing pattern rather than a targeted one. Still, That has to be very painful. Also, It appears most enemy aircraft are neutralized now because of my MiG-29s for no losses so far.

I turned back to Kent... To find a burning destroyer and Comet charging toward that heavy cruiser. "Comet! Get the hell back! COMET!"

That made the destroyer stop as she turned to look toward my direction, I heard what must have sounded like a 'sorry' through communications channels. Guess my shout was a bit too loud.

"Keep moving! W-we need to keep them off balance!" I commented before I fired my next salvo. Multiple hits as It suffered severe damage and it looked like it began sinking, I supposed that was one way to crack open cruisers.

Kent blinked, Staring at the tired-looking battleship and the green-haired destroyer that Norfolk just spent the part of 15 seconds screaming into the comms. She wasn't entirely sure what to make of her, On one hand. She waited until she was within secondary range before she started shooting. She had actually dared to get into a close-range fight against destroyers and cruisers when her main advantage was firepower from a distance and armor.

Other hand? She was stupidly fast at getting the range. Then there was what she had heard over the comms. The battleship seemed like she had her quirks, Though to be fair that wasn't new when you considered the other shipgirls. Maybe with a temper and tendency to get overly-worried if her outburst at Comet was anything to go by.

Which bought Kent to a source of questions. The fact that she was Norfolk, supposedly Dorsetshire's sister. but she was instead a hypothetical ship class and to top it off she had modern technology. How had that happened? When was the first time a Shipgirl suddenly materialized in the middle of nowhere? Was she a anomaly?

"...Kent!" The british cruiser was shaken from her musings by Yorktown who came over the radio. "Kent!"

"Yes! Kent's here!" She responded. "We're fought back against one of their fleets on our end. We are fighting against their cruisers!"

"We will handle things on our end." Yorktown replied. "I need you to keep escorting Norfolk and make sure she links up with us. We wrap things up and link up with you when the situation allows."

"Y-Yeah. Okay, We will change our course to give Norfolk backup." Kent confirmed. "What do we do with the question of her equipment?" Yorktown couldn't blame Kent asking that question. She wasn't entirely sure what had caused the Heavy cruiser-turned-battleship to be like unless it was some form of escaped secret project. There was a pause.

"Leave it be for now, The commander will answer it later. We send word back to let them know what to expect."

"Righto!"

Comet pulled up alongside me close enough to be considered in-formation with me. Still worried about the distance she wants to stay from me, Was it my demonstrated firepower and carrier abilities? Was that an issue I need to work through later? It almost feels like i am operating with a scared dog.

Considering what I was capable of, That might not be too far off the mark. Especially if I wanted to destroy the chain of command with guided bombs and EW.

But that will be a problem for later, Right now. It's making sure I can get to the stronger fleet in good health. So I kept my Surface search RADAR going and kept recon with a few of my leftover fighters. The only ones I could see were the ones being engaged by other shipgirls. Azur lane seemed to have the situation under control. But I was sure as hell not going to let the Siren side suffer severe losses without being able to toss a few anti-ship missiles myself.

I just needed to program in the correct coordinates and make sure they didn't think of friendly shipgirls as targets. of worse.

"Hey!" For a second I thought that scared me. Then I realized that this sounded too much like... Wait...!? "Renown to Norfolk. Alsace! Come in! Norfolk!"

"Y-Yes? This is Norfolk, I am with Kent and I-I... Ehm... Engaged a few enemy destroyers. All confirmed sunk, W-what are the orders?"

"Norfolk, Stay where you are. We're coming to you, We will link up with you and Kent's fleet." That meant I could get out of here. I can get back to friendly lines? I was tired of this, I just wanna get into a bath for an hour and then power down and sleep for a few days straight-on.

"Ha...Ha... N-No, I... I am coming to you." I Replied.

"Norfolk? It may be simpler if we came to-"

"I-I've been trying to avoid enemy flotillas and engaging the ones I can fight on reasonable t-terms. And I-I am not sure if my fuel or ammunition will hold out! G-Give me a fucking direction and I will go to you!"

All I got in response was the direction itself, I think Renown heard the relieved sigh I gave out. I was able to mentally drop my headphones as my hands shook with strain. It doesn't matter either way, Feels like I don't feel sick in the chest anymore.

Then how about some motivation?

Seeing her up close, Hardy still had no idea what to make of Norfolk/"Alsace". On the one hand, She looked very tired and was able to keel over and turn upside down. She however did apologize to Yorktown for her earlier outburst.

More than anything else though, Hardy was worried about Norfolk. There was only slight damage to her, But the way she was looking and her eyes closing only to snap open a moment later gave it away as to how fatigued she was, And there was a black scorch mark on her hull from what could only assume to have been caused by gunfire. Norfolk however had evaded severe damage somehow. but that didn't take away from her twitching and shaking hands. As much as Yorktown had tried to start a conversation, Outside of the ongoing battle Norfolk just didn't seem to bother now with her current state of tiredness.

Would she be even combat-capable by then? Wait, Was that orange light glowing underneath her wounds. And did that hole just seal itself up?

I don't know why i suddenly feel so fucking tired, Maybe it's my powers coming down of something. Maybe it's my healing spell that tipped me over the edge.

I don't know, and I don't care. I know that a lot of the looks I was getting from the other shipgirls were concern. All I could think of was completing the mission and reaching my objectives, 'Just go home and reunite with Dorestshire. And then you can sleep' was the one thing that drove me and my engines on.

Most of everything after I reached what I assumed to be my destination was a blur. All I know is that I wound up stripped by somebody and led to somewhere that felt like a bath of something like that. It didn't seem like a bed of shower, It was sort of like both at once.

Was that me undergoing repairs of something? Doesn't matter, Good as a place to sleep. Norfolk sleep now.

Log Entry:2 Name:Norfolk
Class:County Class Norfolk Subclass formerly/Alsace-Class battleship

"Been engaged in a fleet battle against a marauding siren fleet that was going to run into the main fleet that would escort me. Been at it for what feels like hours and already it is getting boring other than sea waves getting me wet.

At least my bombers are really accurate in dives and my fighters can practically dominate anything, Didn't get many chances for anti-ship missiles though.

Feel bad, But I need to reach my objectives. I need to go home. If only so i can find a place to sleep. On second thought, Now that I know how to do a basic healing spell. I need to fix up my hull.

Feeling so fucking tired i can barly thik straight

closer. just moresrouin distance

Neddd to slsep. feels like i will go crazy despite my desperation to survive

My lker core fls ke it wants to explode what th hell

H O M E (Typed with such force the pen would have ripped through the page if this was not written electronically)"

End log

Chapter Text

Wichita raised her hand, Knocking on the door. She forced her features into the all-too familiar professional look despite the questions she had.

"Come in." The commander beckoned through the door. Wichita stepped into the office, gesturing with a well-practiced style.

"Sir. We've recovered the sources of these fleeting signals." She began. "Outcome was the best we could hope for, She... was retrieved. And the fleet withdrew without taking severe damage. They are as of present recuperating and undergoing repairs. We should expect them to be ready again shortly." She crossed her arms after delivering the report.

The commander let out a sigh, leaning back into the chair. "Well. That is a relief." He said, A slight smile. "How is our new friend?"

"According to Kent and the fleet, Intact with superficial damage but was suffering from massive physical exhaustion and sleep deprivation." Wichita reported. "She's presently undergoing repairs. They'll give her a debrief on the circumstances when she wakes up."

The man shook his head. "Ask them to delay the debriefing, Call it an feeling. But I feel our new friend will need the rest."

Comet stared at the now softly sleeping battleship. Well, She made it far enough under her own power to follow them all the way back to their base of operations at least.

Then she made the error of listening into the gossip and winced at how long the time might be. The repairs were nearing completion but she had been out for a long time and wasn't stirring awake. Ouchie.

Then again, Considering the amount of precious electronics and sensors that shouldn't be surprising. It did highlight how vulnerable she was out there by herself. though, If they hadn't shown up when they did. Chances were that it could have been much. much worse, Especially if she ran into a heavy fleet alone.

But she was here. Guarded by the finest Azur lane had to offer and a picket fleet arrayed and consisted on a rotating roster of patrol units.

"Hey, Comet-chan!" Craven called. "You gonna get in~? You keep staring at her like she's gonna... gonna hurt herself!"

"R-Right! I am sorry!" Comet replied, quickly wading into where Craven was.

As the commander continued. He decided to ask something. "Did our new friend give a name?"

Wichita made a thoughtful face. her professionalism cracking slightly. "She did, Her name was Norfolk but she also said she was Alsace. I believe she has to be the actual Norfolk but her hull suggests otherwise. Quite frankly, she is very anamolous in her own way." She sighed. "And from what i heard, Dorestshire. her sister seems to be having a hard time taking all of this in..."

"She has to be a H39, right?" Maury offered with a hint of curiosity in her eyes. "She looks like she has the right general characteristics to be one."

"Huh, What!?" Kent half-shouted trying to process what she just heard. "I saw her with my own eyes and she is no H-class! Have you seen her yourself? She practically looks like a destroyer even though she is not one! And there was no H-class built!"

"And her speed also means she's not one either." London replied. "Considering what the fleet reported her position from, There's no way she is slow either like almost all of our battleships as she had the agility of a large cruiser."

"Maybe she's a Iowa-class?" Repulse hopped up. "I mean, She seems to be similar in most ways. and there were a few planned ships... She could be one!"

"She may look similar at first glance but secondaries say she's not." Langley pointed. stopping that idea in its tracks.

"Um, Uh..." The sudden appearance of someone got everyone's appearances. "But what are you all arguing about?"

Maury leaned forward. almost crouching. "Trying to figure out what class Norfolk is, I still think she's a H39 but... Now that i think about it..."

Dorsetshire's eyes shot wide. "A..Are you talking about my sister i've been waiting to see?"

"Any theories we may have?" The commander grunted.

"A few, Commander." Wichita admitted. trying to think of anything that might give a hint to her true nature. "However. We will not know for sure until she undergoes further examination once she wakes up. In the meantime, The fleet has taken to calling her Alsace until we understand what exactly is going on."

The high-ranking man sighed and adjusted his cap. "It will have to make due for now." He straightened in the seat. "See if we can get her living quarters cleared and prepared for when she wakes up, We can't risk a misunderstanding of making her more stressed than she already is."

"Yes. sir." Wichita nodded and memorized it. reminding herself to find out what exactly the girl was.

"Will that be all. Wichita?" That got her attention as she stared back.

"Sir, Actually. I believe we may have more." She said. this time not really able to contain her mirth and questions as a smile slowly made its way across her features. "You see, Sir. When the fleet returned. we had ran a brief analysis and examination on her before she was sent for repairs. Details are scarce and fleeting but, according to Kent. It seems that she possesses a highly advanced suite of armaments and sensors that are much farther ahead of what we have been able to achieve. Among her guided missiles and anti-aircraft screen. She has sensors and radars that appear to be highly advanced even compared to the Union's."

"In addition, Comet also mentioned that she possessed regenerative-like abilities of some kind. And it was confirmed when some of the damage in the previous battle did not even seem to be there. as well as other mysterious powers."

The commander eyes looked shocked. nearly staring off at nothing. All he managed to mutter before a heavy silence fell in the office was a tiny, quiet "What?..."

Chapter Text

...

Floating. calm and peace. damp.

Voices. The warm sun, The taste of salt. sea waves. who were they?

What is that warm light? It's bright. too bright...

...I couldn't do it. so you have to do it for yourself...

Unlike the previous sensation of drowning and my nightmare-haunted naps. It felt far more peaceful. I wasn't being bombed or shelled nor was my RWR going off and neither was my Core damaged.

'Near miss... damaged by torpedo detonation...U-boat...Unable to search for Gneisenau...'

I heard what may have been a memory of Norfolk's. Was it related to U-47?

Pushing that thought aside. My senses came back to me as I spotted what looked like... sparks of light. They were like twinkles in my vision and I could feel them with my sixth sense... Was that my passive ability in work? But it felt like I was sleeping in water.

Then that mean I had made it back home, safe and sound. Well. then that supposed I had underwent repairs at some point and was probably in the baths, considering the heavy amount of steam and fog in here complete with the fact I was soaked in a tub. And that I had no clothes in the tub whatsoever.

For whatever reason and despite being very experienced with the idea of female characters. especially back on deviantart, seeing myself with no clothes didn't really affect me. Likely I was still too tired and glad I made it out in one piece to care right now even if i looked cute.

There was noone around me, that I knew for sure from reaching out with my sixth sense. Whatever I felt were not inside this room. Well, beats having to see infants on the beach or witnessing parents undress their children's shirt just because they got it wrong and it was reversed. Ironically enough I was a loli myself according to Norfolk's design.

Looking up at the ceiling tiles. I didn't see anything else, There was no clock either above my head. so I had no idea how long i had been in here for now. Well, that meant I was going to have to get comfortable floating around in thus bath. wasn't i?

As time passed, I don't really know how long i spent testing my magical girl powers. first with flames and then forming a small iceberg in my tub that quickly melted. and finding whatever I could do in my head to pass the time. It must have went on for several minutes. because eventually boredom began to set in.

I was always one of these people that needed to stay alert from anything that looked out of place. be it mental, physical. video games or simply just looking at city design and listening to music. And with nothing other than the water and droplets as well as the sound of igniting arcane flames I was rapidly starting to go back to a state of being tired.

That almost made wish for some action with the Sirens, but I remembered that I had been placed in this tub for a good reason. And submarines from Norfolk's memory. And how expensive modern equipment was. And how dangerous it would have been to get outmatched 40 to 1. I rather not be put into more suicidal missions if I could help it!

But my boredom still remained. And I needed something to do to keep me awake before even the simple act of keeping the flame on my fingertips alive became too much for me.

I don't think people knew that I was awake until i got too restless. I wasn't getting out of this tub, that much was already obvious because of the possible risks. I might as well just sleep through it if things were taking this long.

And I remembered my unstable sleeping pattern and staying up late... I had to rely on watching videos of minecraft Disk 11 to get myself into a sleepy mood. but my new shipgirl nature meant things likely had changed, Last i checked. Having shipgirls eat highly explosive gasoline fumes and devouring entire casted pieces of steel like oversized chocolate and a topping of motor oil was lethal as a dose of turning into a witch. I am sure a cocktail of orange light. drugs and heavy magic exhaustion still was not going to be enough to make a dent in whatever i was capable of doing to my new body.

Before long. I felt someone approaching and I tensed up in anticipation. Was that...?

"You're awake!" A voice ahead of me said with a energetic tone. That was Kent!

"A-Ah..." I groaned out as i turned my head to give a stare. "Am... Am I hurt...? What happened? Why am i here...?"

Kent was silent for a bit as she looked back in return before going with:"Easy there... Norfie, You've been through a lot. don't strain yourself. You passed out when we returned to our port." Oh, I memorized what had happened before I blacked out. And wow she was trying to calm a possibly agitated fast battleship armed with missiles and the best Almaz-Antey and Northrop could offer.

"O-ohhh... I'm just... getting bored..." At least until whatever bureaucracy and anything they might have done to me like stealing my precious technology was done and I painfully had no idea of what they might have done.

"Bored." Kent said in slight disbelief. "You're bored?"

"Aaaaieeeeeee." I yawned cutely. "I ammmm."

Then Kent decided to reply. "Norfie, You were in enemy territory before we discovered you! That has to count for something!"

"I-I am not going to a-actively wait another day for someone to say i'm h-healthy." I stuttered looking back up at the ceiling. "I'm...very energetic and I g-get restless if i have to wait this out without having a-anything to do." Was Norfolk's personality affecting me?

"Seriously?"

Shuddering. I tried my best to reply. "Yes...seriously."

"Well, Can we talk?" Kent... I forget I still didn't have clothes. All of a sudden I tried hard to not blush when I realized i might be looking at Kent's bulging chest the entire holy hell time. Or that she might be just staring at mine's 24/7 in return.

I could keep staring at the ceiling but with how naive i was in social skills. I reckon that might not be good if i refused to just stare at her. But then again, It was something i may have to do. I had done it before. Norfolk's mindset may get in the way though.

"S-Sure?" I said trying to move a arm... Only for it to seize and act up. What the hell? Were my magical girl abilities still refusing to work or...!? "G...Guuu...!"

Now when I decided to talk to people without becoming very tsun-tsun irritable. I had thought it would be usual small talk I didn't bother to listen to. Turns out I was wrong. "Yeah!" Kent began. "Now then, I'll damit I am curious as to what class of ship you are!"

Great, It just had to steer into that. Right... And I thought my tendency to start getting angry for no reason over small talk and friends gossiping was bad. "U...Uhh...?"

"Norfie... If it helps you calm down..." Of course Kent had to start closing the distance! It was taking everything i had to not blush still! I wanted to say it. But already could i feel the other side of me telling me not to and conflicting! Hell, I was starting to think about the possible effects of saying what exactly i am. even if i was scheduled to undergo analysis!

"A-Alsace?" I decided to give my answer, I didn't want to go on with so many theories to someone who was meant to be athletic. not a knowall like Z23 or one of the french shipgirls.

Actually, Now I was starting to wonder how different Norfolk might be compared to Kent. so I turned to look at her and wow. Her art was not kidding, Maybe I should have expected that getting to see Kent in-person instead of through a TV screen but damn. already was I starting to get flustered, I can't even say she looks any different from someone cosplaying Kent correctly. because the only thing missing might be these striking red eyes. She doesn't even have her headband on. Possibly something to do with having just got back.

I know it's strange to say, But it's so jarring when you get to see someone for real instead of seeing them on a phone screen and before someone says that it's technically equivalent... You should just go look at anime and compare them to skyirm models!

As for the rest of her though, I was far and tiny compared to her than she was. I suspect she was about the same height as a average girl. which is much. much shorter than me being a usual anime Loli. not to mention that she was fairly big-chested. but not overly so.

She was just bigger than me overall. And yes. even in that torpedo bulge department. though i suppose that if my armor was a composite sandwich of ceramic-steel against AP threats.. it would need to be streamlined.

Kent for her most part looked wide-eyed and surprised as we both just stared at each other. "Alsace? The french battleships that only existed on paper?" Then she suddenly got very close. at the same time forcing me to crawl away a bit to keep my distance from these torpedo bulges. "We need to see if that's true of not!" For hell sake! I still had no clothes on! What did i say about carrying around children with no clothes again!? It looks like as if you are carrying me off just to lewd me later with a 8-inch gun from your stern up my ammunition handling rooms!

Again, This had to be done in an hour. Check out Purple shift if you can! The OPFOR path became the basis for it later but without waking up and making the decision. note that a KMS Norfolk or as a independent third-party of OPFOR siren Norfolk can still happen later.

Weapons can still be changed. I may now instead have the Thales APAR of the Type 346C for a powerful. if dangerously unreliable search/Gun radar. Also. No2 or No3 are still options. The 406mm guns theirselves are 20% faster with Novel propellants (Why am i saying this now you may ask?) but so far are unconfirmed if they are ETC of not.

A steel-Alumina armor scheme is also a option as does Perforated armor.

I will consider an discord later. If you guys really want to see me suffering or get lewded by Bismarck of Howe for no reason other than french speed and pain at all in a request.

Chapter Text

Kent at least stopped in the changing room for me to get dressed, Jeez.

Normally i didn't pay any attention but for some reason, this embarrassment was driving me nuts. unfortunately, there wasn't anything that I felt could fit my image since what I shown up with had basically been meant more for winter trekking at hazardous mountainous. I tried chatting with Kent and putting the best of my nai've social skills to work to head back into the baths. considering that now since I was out, I was starting to feel weakness in my legs slowly but surely.

Gaugh. "K-Kent? I can barely stand, Can w-we go back in?"

"No! Can you wait here? We need to get you something that isn't just you being in these clothes over and over!" Well. That went about as well as i expected, She headed out before I could tell her that the mystery about my class could wait until later when I wasn't as tired out and that I should just get something to put me to sleep. So I wouldn't have to be in a constant state of sleep deprivation.

Well, Fuck that. Kent! What the hell!? Since when was that supposed to make good impressions on a ship who had found herself in the rear-end of a war knowing nothing and having no clue what to do!?

So now I waited in the changing room just idling for the athletic british cruiser common-build girl to get back here with something that i hoped wasn't something utterly stupid. I would have started walking around, but honestly I was feeling tired enough that i just wanted to lay down here. Actually, screw that. I wanted to go back to the baths instead.

At least looking in the mirror gave me something to do, My face looked very much like a bored Norfolk and it wasn't messy. so there was that, Still could have been damaged. so there might be a way to go before any healing might take place. Even then, It felt weird to stare at a body that technically didn't belong to me. and yet I was in control of it.

Speaking of which, I wondered if something changed about my eyes if i intentionally used my sixth sense. Would it glow of have a Innovator-like effect? I was curious.

So twiddling my fingers and hugging myself for warmth. Kent returned and had something that would fit me reasonably. and didn't look like fan appeal. Consider me genuinely unamused after all the melon-chasing and big chest oneesans that I know the fanbase gets up to. Granted, I think it could have been refugees clothes considering the encumberment of the shirt. But it was something, and I was not in the mood to walk around with nothing on. I know that I didn't want a repeat of parents undressing their kids in playgrounds just to correct a reversed shirt.

But that meant that I had to get off from the beach I had been sitting on. "Uuuu...uu..." And of course, Kent started pushing me around and off out of the room and into the hallways. I don't know what Kent might be planning, But I didn't dare question her of voice my opinions right now. As it stood I was getting irritated from lack of rest!

I think some of the shipgirls-some familiar. others new were equally surprised as to why I was being moved and tugged around by Kent. when the two of us passed by them, every single one of them gave us confused looks. I made sure to point at Kirishima trying to hint, Some got the memo. others didn't. Then again, given what Kent does and with her thin armor scheme...

Things continued as usual until we turned around a corner and came point-blank with San juan who didn't seem to be happy with what was going. She told Kent that I wasn't supposed to be here as I tried to point at the heavy cruiser with my hands. "H-her!" I squeaked as Kent stopped tugging me along. but only to engage the other cruiser in a argument. and I just realized that San juan probably was the replacement for a Z23 figure judging from what they were saying.

Poke them in the chest, see if that gets you anywhere?

If i could, I would have turned around by now. but as things were going, she would scream at me if i tried that. so there I was. trying not to look scared as Kent and San Juan went at each other, The more this dragged on. the more irritated San Juan got and the more sheepish and worried Kent got. Almost made me wonder about the fragility of two giants. Somewhat.

Eventually San juan told Kent to head elsewhere and turned her gaze onto me... I found myself under pressure as the damn cruiser sure could have scared me!

"Hey! You!" She started first. "Kent tells me that you only know yourself as the Alsace-class. And yet you are Norfolk. Correct?"

"Y-yes." I stammered. startled by what had just happened, She didn't sound as angry as her expression implied. still, I prepared a spell in the back of my mind if anything were to happen.

San Juan just motioned for me to follow. "Come." She turned into the other direction and began walking off. I considered saying something backhanded but i decided against it.

Eventually we went to a door and Juan opened it. I stepped inside and followed behind, It was a office. that i could tell. I briefly wondered if this had been used in the past.

Taiga-clone indicated for me to take a seat as i did so. Honestly, I felt more comfortable being this up close inside my range of my magical girl powers, Too bad I couldn't call on them right now. I like not feeling being tired all the time. Juan wrote something before she looked at me closely. making me shiver a bit in discomfort.

"So, Any theories? Can you tell us your story? What happened?" She said as I blankly looked at her before speaking up.

"Uh... Sure..?" I decided to put on the best one i could. No need to screw this up. "I... don't remember much, Only that I woke up in the water and.. A-and I know i am Norfolk and yet... I am Alsace..."

"HMS Norfolk? Hmm.." She said, looking interested before going back to her writing. "But a Alsace-class? I haven't heard of such a thing happening before, let alone how a shipgirl can possibly be summoned as the wrong class. But this is enough to make an educated guess... For now, It also helps that it acts to identify you." She looked up at me. looking like usual tsuntsun Taiga. "We look you over when you're healthy."

"Oh?" I tilted my head. "Is there anything that will happen from this p-point?"

"Don't know yet, That's the commander's decision." She admitted. "I will let you know what we find in your inspection." She continued. "So, Anything you can recount? Anything from when you woke up?"

I put a hand to rest my head on as I stammered a bit. "W-Well. When I woke up, I... I panicked. It was like I was lost in the middle of n-nowhere, But I began getting m-my bearings and started searching f-for friendly forces. I began s-sending out radio signals asking anyone to respond, I-I ran across a siren squadron and destroyed them. sunk them all."

"Did you know anything about the sirens before your first encounter with them? Were you the only one? Anything else you remember?" Juan asked. checking down her writing as I looked more and more like official Norfolk before I continued my story.

"A-Ah. Well, I don't remember much about them. o-only that I felt t-they would do b-bad things to me," I paused as I took in a breath to calm myself. "I-I was the only one, I don't remember anyone else b-being with me. I remember something faintly a-about my past but... I don't k-know anything beyond that." I half-lied there. Myself of not, I would not risk being found out.

"What did you do after setting course? Attempting to reach friendly fleets? Heading for where you assumed friendly ports were?"

I grunted. closing my eyes briefly before looking at her dead in the eyes. "I.. I simply set course on a random bearing and only changed my direction to avoid enemy fleets or s-submarines. I w-was waiting for someone to respond to my radio signals f-for help. I.. I believed that trying to break out rather than knowing where a friendly fleet was... i-is much more risker." San Juan lifted a eyebrow before nodding. "Can I go out now?" That earned another nod as well.

"A-Anything to help me sleep?"

"No."

Oh, Fuck that!

Well, Good thing is that I got to get back into the bath. It was a huge relief to my stamina and my pain resistance as the longer i stayed in it. the better I felt, And the best part was that aside from someone. I was the only one in these baths. However, It also meant kent was that someone. And she would. not. leave me alone for hell sake!

"H-Hey..." She muttered, looking like she wanted to apologize of something. "I was curious and I thought you would be too and... I guess my curiosity got me... Norfie, I am sorry if i hurt you!"

"I-It's okay." I replied. trying to reassure her. "Just... Next time, don't g-get over excited when I am still in the baths still h-hurting."

"But surely there is something I can do to make it up to you?" She said. "Whatever I did, I must have made you uncomfortable or put a lot of pressure on you throughout the whole ordeal!"

"Somewhat. It's not like I was in constant pain for hours and hours on. e..ehehe!" I giggled again to try and show her i didn't view her the worse for it. "S-Still, If you wanna m-make it up to me. M-maybe you can let me rest here for a bit."

"Hey!" Ouch, that shout. So much for that. She really was a athletic. "Surely there must be something I can do? Norfie?"

Alright, That had done it. If that had to be it. "S-Sure, Can you get me something to look at.. like... mobiles of anything from these cribs to give m-me something to look at?" Huh, Kent wasn't tired out and was very energetic right now. Me. On the other hand? She tried to process what i heard.

"M-Mobile?"

"Yes, S-something like from w-whatever plays that m-music." I repeated while looking up at the ceiling.

"Do we have anything like that around here?" Huh, A militarized port wouldn't be a good place for kids unless they were refugees, Way to point it out. Kent.

"Y-yeah, but it's a form of sleep aid and I don't feel l-like being awake for how long i-it will be until i am released, otherwise I-i will go crazy from how long i need to... wait." I sighed as i brushed my hair. "Can y-you get me the mobile? When you get back here, you can keep quiet and l-let me sleep. Besides. I think your sisters m-must be worried too."

Kent considered this for a moment. "Is there anything else i can do?" Huh, now that i think about it.

"Bring me foooddd to eattt." I emphasized it with a long tone.

"Why would you want me to bring food into the baths? You get water all over it!"

"I... Just..." I cut in. "Just treat me to dinner. o-okay? Maybe w-when I am healthy enough to be released f-from this."

Oh god, She's gone already. Well. Goddamn it... I am not going to have to drag a fast heavy cruiser back in here aren't i?

I managed to drag myself out of the pool and set my destination for the changing rooms. trying to catch Kent before she went out the door. I don't really want to get yelled out by whoever finds Kent for sending her out looking for something that kids used.

I caught her just as she was able to head out. "You don't need to go out! Just hold on!" I began, standing there. "M-Maybe you can visit from time to time and keep me company. you know!"

"But, you asked for food and to leave you quiet!" She protested.

"Yes but, I... It can wait! It's not like I am going to g-go elsewhere! It might only be like a few hours at w-worst!"

"Yes, But I can still go get whatever you want me to do!" She replied. moving over to try and tug me to the baths. "You should rest right now, Norfie! I get your food." After that... Was basically a argument involving me tying to resist my way back into the changing room. That was when i accidentally pulled Kent over with me.

I landed on my back about the same time Kent ended up right on top of me.

Pretty sure something just slipped. too.

I checked it when the other cruiser just stared at me in surprise, And I just noticed I pulled down her suit of whatever it was exposing her chest to my eyes... And she was staring at my chest and everything as well as my undone hair. And I just realized we were in a compromising position. And being a Magical girl meant you had to deal with wehraboos of other magical girls trying to lewd you.

"...HIEEEEEEE!" Pretty sure the entire port heard me scream. God, that sure hurt!

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

"Magic by its nature must be Extropic. Which means there is always more of it. not always less of it."

-Unknown. Likely Conversion bureau pony stories. Transhumanism and the current state of refugee politics wrapped over extremely in pony paint

Well, They weren't treating her too bad. that was something at the least. They did have her residing with the rest of her sisters though, which i can understand from a logistics and standardization standpoint. Still didn't feel good to the more jealous side of me though. But at least they seemed to be treating Comet okay from what i saw, There was. I swear. her bunks wasn't too shabby and were fairly middle-class from my viewpoint. Not sure if it was for comfort or to prevent someone from suffering a psychotic break when holed up but i think it was the thought that counts. I also noticed food that. according to my ship memories might have fit the culture in the UK. I don't know what the components were however, as I was still too unfamiliar with the united kingdom.

I could see traces of something like... fish in that dish though.

When I showed up and quietly pushed open the door, which i noted to be something like timber or some other wood-like material. Comet's eyes locked onto me as she stood there. After that, I tried starting a chat. but as it turns out... It's easy to talk to people online. Talking in-person without any form of social skills. however. is much harder.

You should have seen the look on my face. I had no idea what to literally save while the urge to bolt out of there grew stronger.

Was the battle the reason why she was resting there? I mean I didn't blame her, but could i have done something? is it that i am out here and she's in there? Did she think I be so fast to forget her? Cygnet took up a massive portion of popularity sure, but... it's not my fault. It's not like i consciously chose the choice or that I could have overturned what the fandom thought about the C-class! And despite my severely lacking social skills when being one the to start a conversation...

Now I feel even more bad and worse for forgetting about her for that long of a time.

"You okay. Norfie?" Repulse asked, forcing me back to reality as i resisted the urge to nod. The two destroyers who had been looking at us. who i didn't recognize in my databanks at first glance had decided to give us some space and had somewhat walked off. I looked back up at Repulse to give my reply as i quietly repeated mentally to not be nervous.

"N-not. Repulse." I admitted as I returned my stare to ahead. "Just kinda... makes me wonder why she is stuck there in t-that room."

"Hmm..." Repulse hummed. nodding and running her hand though my hair. There was a silence after that. "If i can ask. Norfie, Is there a reason you've taking a liking to her?" That made me glare. Now she was pressing one of my memories by touching upon the subject in that i used to be a fan of Comet!

Despite my glare, she still seemed actually curious about my reaction. "Aside from being someone who seems s-sweethearted." I began. "At some point she gave me... like... a narrow warning against a nearby enemy ship." I sighed as even if i was a Kansen. i still needed to be thinking of what i wanted to remember in question. and given I was busy trying to link up with a fleet and providing firepower of my own. that wasn't too surprising. "And then she got caught in a f-fight with a enemy destroyer."

Repulse's eyes widened a bit. "Ah?"

"Y..Yeah... I mean..." I turned back to stare at Comet's direction, well. where she was. "We were fighting together against a destroyer and a heavy cruiser... Comet was holding her own but she was in trouble before i r-relieved her with support and firepower t-to drag that destroyer off her tail."

"Dragged?" Repulse asked. curiosity in her eyes, Well. now that i think about it. She had to only have heard of the battle itself right? She likely wasn't there to witness it and wouldn't have known about the Corsair-2s i sent to take out that siren destroyer. Then again, She's energetic. A bit like Cleveland so i have to ignore that for now.

"Y-yes. Then I kept obliterating it with my secondaries u-until it was nothing more than a clump of steel. When I woke up i was in..." I paused. What do i call what i woke up in? "I-I think it was a bath and the first thought of so..." I softly withheld my words until i found.. the correct one. "W-was that green-haired destroyer. Until K-kent was next to me." Then again, who knew. my memory could be a ditz sometimes. and I had spent too little time in a Kansen body. "I-I don't know who dragged me in there to keep me from leaking further fuel or s-something." Come to think of it, could i even lose fuel oil from damage to fuel bunkers?

"I see..." She replied quietly. Her energetic look had disappeared. turning to more of a sharp one.

"S-she looked like something that was gentle, yet fierce if pressed." I went on. I had to admit, If i could i would have said that Comet herself deserved more attention. Even Crescent deserved her own. too. Besides, even there's only so much i can do to cover for myself without escorting shipgirls. "A-And I-I just... Like her. that's why... Repulse-chan."

"Oohhh. Well, She was among the first to discover you. right? Probably felt less boring with her around! Norfie." Repulse stated. I didn't disagree her with that if it wasn't for the fact I didn't talk to comet very often before i passed out. Besides, no need to let slip I was in control of Norfolk's body and this actually was not her for now. Hold on. What was that thing about technology again?

"H-hey." I began shyly with the matching face to go with it too. I had to keep this in mind. "S-So what are you guys g-going to be doing with me?"

"Probably take you in to get examined by the scientists and the repair ships." Repulse answered. "I imagine the commander and the eggheads would want to take a look at you to see if there's anything we can learn of exploit from you against the sirens! We don't have anything like you do. let alone working missiles!" Oh. that was great, hopefully that didn't mean i went traitor. right? That would just lead to me going down Opposing Forces or Sith side of whatever you called it.

The royal navy may value the safety of its shipgirls but, if it was technology far beyond their capabilities. there was no telling just what sort of mandates and rules they could ignore, I remembered XEDRA from CDDA and the SPARTAN program. as well as the HRL supersoldiers and Cyber-NTs. Hell, the british raid on german RADAR operators probably counted! Going to another one of these factions may not be a safe choice like Germany or America either. America because it had close ties to the United kingdom and there was a chance i would be just experimented on with far less accountability there.

Germany wasn't a option, They could quite and quickly easily tell that i wasn't that much of a german at heart and judging from their ideology. They were soft ethno-nationalists. no. scratch that. subtly ethno-fascists of the soft hardcore far-right wing nature mixed with militarism. And even if i transferred there, Then what? What was to stop them from doing the same thing like the Eagle union or worse. just discard me like a rag once my usefulness was up? That left the Sirens or simply going rogue. and the last option might not even be viable either for obvious reasons.

"I just hope you guys aren't going to do something scary to me when you're d-done." Repulse shrugged but brushed my hair. She must be picking up on my emotions right now and was trying to calm down any fears i might have.

Still rubbing my head. She gave her answer as Repulse got down to eye-level. "That's up to the commander." She smiled at me. "But I am sure that they won't consider scrapping you unless there was a big reason to why. And if they did that, I wouldn't understand as to why." She paused. thinking as her eyes rolled up with her mental processors going into overtime. "Come to think of it, I heard something about how if you have such technology. they might offer you asylum and a safe haven in exchange for data..."

Ah, That was less invasive. Still, who knows what might happen? They might consider my death to be a 'necessary' sacrifice even if that risked angering me and causing me to go out of control. I felt a bit ill but at the same time I was comforted by a belief that Repulse likely would not agree with the worse options. it might even lead to a mutiny, even.

Wait. what? Don't i have the ability for a alpha strike and to basically bugger off until i ran out of fuel or they got me? I still didn't look into my systems that deeply didn't i? Hmm.. Now that i am somewhere safe and with all the free time to read inside my mind...

"Think I could go and see t-them?" I asked. looking up at Repulse and away from the door.

Repulse shook her head. "I am not the one to ask Norfie. You'd have to talk to someone else for that."

"And where could i find them?" I asked again.

"Either where they are, or in a private room. I could take you there, if you want?"

I shook my head. "C-can you give me time? I only just got here as of now... Can you take me to where my room might be?"

"Then follow me. Norfolk!" Repulse suddenly shouted. pumping her hand up. Just when I was about to try and dig deeper into what i remembered of the battlecruiser. I remembered that Repulse was the energetic one in contrast to Renown and even Kent had a lot of energy along with the Fletchers. Repulse just seemed to be more calmer and not as jumpy than the others.

I just followed after Repulse as she stopped for the two destroyers. She paused only to pat them on the head which made me twitch uncomfortably and congratulate them to not stop being yourself before resuming her march toward where she was leading me. That i didn't know. Hopefully the room I am going to be stuck in does not include my sister.

That way I could be left alone to my thoughts to reminiscence over the past events of so and what anything further i was going to find out. I wasn't getting any bad vibes from what i heard. But there was still a large degree of uncertainty about what they are up to. I just needed to be informed and the best way to do that was to talk to them after i am rested up and fully awake for what awaits me.

...

I pulled hard to the left and right, feeling a shell ricochet off my deck as heavy gunfire rained down on my surroundings. I glanced over my shoulders at the battlecruiser chasing me down as my turbines were at the fastest they could go. How had they found me? What was going on with my RADARs!? And how in the hell of all where did they come from. even? Especially given i had been keeping a single fighter on patrol 24/7?

My turrets begun to rotate to my back. Monopulse and Laser rangefinder algorithms feeding data into the computers before they started blasting away with Mach 3-4 AP shells and i resumed my attempt to disengage. Pressure-fired boilers were going as hard as they could, Any reactors were fusing protons and deuteriums at their maximum capacity. trying to pile on every last drop of megawatts just to run away from the pain. I could feel the holes on my hull self-sealing as healing magic flowed inside me to regenerate the damage i had taken from direct hits.

Where was i? How does that happen? How did i end up here? Why were the sirens here? What did they want? And where were the others? Why was i left alone without any supporting elements when I was at my best in big groups?

*WARNING:ENEMY COMBAT MAGICAL USER DETECTED*

I felt something wrap around my ankle impossibly as I crashed out, pitching over into the surface as i lost my balance. I looked back and found a gloved hand holding onto my foot. A head and black hair emerged from the water. Her face contorted in pain and resignation. A dead ringer for Homura Akemi, her other arm. made out of nightmarish bionic module parts. pushed down on the surface... Hauling this nightmarish combination of Homura and Nanoha out of the waters.

Then she was on me, ring binds pinning my limbs and me to the waters surfaced. I kicked and punched. desperation overriding anything on my mind as i tried to break the binds and escape in self-preservation.

*DANGER:Core Destabilizing*

Then her hand wrapped around my throat and crushed down on it hard, I wanted to scream as grief flowed into me. pain and terror overriding my cube, but nothing came out. It was like my soul was on fire and I was unable to breathe as I felt my very being being taken apart. Cold, unfeeling eyes bore into mine as i broke free from the arm binds and tried to weakly pry her massive fingers from my neck.

She raised her other arm. Broken. jagged shards embedded in her circular shield. holding a damaged Raising heart in its Sacred mode as G-virus eyes grew from where her wrist was. She raised her arm overhead. ready to tear me apart as it came down-

It blurred.

I felt something poke my cheek. Was i dead? Did i just die? fear and anxiety built up in my chest as i-

I screamed and jumped upwards. kicking off the covers in a mad scramble to escape from the corrupted magical girl. My head crashed right into the walls next to me before I fell back down onto the pillow, whimpering in pain as i clutched the top of my head and tears built up at my eyes like a lost child.

"Norfie! Are you okay!? You just hit your head!" It took my sou-...okay. I wasn't trapped in a zombie body. It took my mind a second to recongize the voice as Kent's and I turned to my left to see the heavy cruiser giving me an intensely concerned look and looking like she wanted to jump in and hold my head between her breasts. I could see the rest of the small space, a two-decker bed with a ladder to climb to the top and another on the opposite wall. I felt my armored boots (If i had them) squirming out. but unable to reach for the wall... Which reminded me i was still a loli and in Norfolk's body.

I let out a sigh and slumped down, one hand subconsciously rubbing my head. I was still on the base. not deployed out on the seas facing death and the actual Norfolk hadn't took back control yet. Thank fucking lord for that. I don't know how she might have reacted to my situation.

"I am okay. I-I am." I groaned. looking up at the bunk above. "I had a nightmare... a really scary one." I pulled the blankets closer to me. not letting off that i was enjoying the memory of being cuddled into these fluffy blankets as a child back then, And how i would sometimes hide under them or just stuff my head into the side of a pillow as a sleeping aid.

This was the first time i had a strange dream like this ever since i arrived to 'home'. well. what passed for home right now, It seemed like from what i saw. I am getting chased by Sirens, maybe Purifier. they catch me. and before they can kill me with some sort of twisted Raising heart to magazine i wake up. I don't understand why i saw Homura like that though. and why was she infected with the G-Virus.. let alone holding Nanoha's weapon? Was my stupid subconscious pulling up memories again?

"You did?" London grumbled from her bed on the other wall. She was lying on her stomach with her arms vanishing into the bottom of the pillow. She was still in bed and sleepy while Kent was already alert and ready to face sunlight. She didn't exactly look to be in a good mood right now, which considering i just woke up screaming like a terrified girl this morning i didn't blame her. I did not bore well for my roommate's sleeping quality with these nasty mutation dreams.

And before you ask. I just noticed London doesn't sleep with her glasses on, Either she actually doesn't need them. or she may have some kind of flaw that forces her to use glasses to see right at long distances. I am honestly not sure what it could. Likely the former, since otherwise she was going to be lousy at scouting.

'Well. at least you aren't suffering from myopia anymore. at least be positive about that.' I chimed to myself before Kent perked up. "Are you going to be ok?"

I nodded. my voice muffled by the blankets. but still very much audible. "Y-yes, J-Just give me a second for it to stop h-hurting."

"Well. They're going to decide on what to do with you. So 'they' are going to be arriving into port soon." Repulse said. trying to put on some professionalism to relay the news to everyone. "Queen Elizabeth and the commander of Iris libre whats to speak with you when they arrive." Her gaze softened again. "Are you going sure you're going to be okay. Norfie-chan?"

"N-Norfolk will be fine." I tried to reassure her, faking the anxiety and fear that i was going to face from talking to people who were asking me questions. not the other way around. "J-Just give me a minute."

Kent didn't look too convinced and she was right about my internal thoughts. but nonetheless she dropped the whole topic. "Fine." She sighed, preparing to tie her hair with her signature feather ribbons. "Well. I be heading to grab some fish and chips. Wanna join me?"

I considered my answer and decided i would have said yes. but there was something that just caught my attention. "Hold up... A-any chance you know how long its going to be before t-they want me to meet them?"

"About a hour of so." Kent replied. "Why?"

"Then I am going with you as well. Kent-chan." I said simply. swinging out of the bed that i claimed on my first night out of the baths, and already I was behaving quite moe and cute as I held Kent's hand like a daughter could with a mother's hand. again familiar memories returning to me from my past life as a part of me longed for a pool.

As far as i know before i went to sleep. I must have got sleepy when bingeing on games and looking up my history. and then soemone had to drag me to the shipgirl quarters and put me into bed. I don't know who it was, Renown or one of the onee-san types? I just ended up using it. so in a way it ended up becoming my natural habitat. Again, another memory came to mine as i wondered if i would have been a good big sister roleplaying as someone who was taking care of Spence.

But that didn't matter compared to food right now.

Kent and i tried to make some small talk as we headed for mess halls. We still haven't bought up the bath incident much yet, But i suspect we are getting somewhere. She hasn't smothered me in her big chest yet and i can still chill around with her in the room without me quickly becoming eyeful of her, or feeling super awkward or afraid. so i say that's progress. at the least.

The two of us had made it and we grabbed our own food trays. One of the things i rapidly learned in my day here was how i had memories of refusing to eat food for whatever reason, and father more than often ended up flushing it down the toilet when it wasn't needed after pulling a all-nighter again as a preteen and i even ended up on the lower weight range. Thinking about that made me want to shed tears at the idea of food waste. which i didn't know at the time. If only...

And as it turned out, my hunger returned with a vengeance to fuel a child's growing body. and for my size, it was a lot. So i piled on as much meat and eggs as i could and found Kent and Repulse sitting at a table chatting between mouthfuls of what i guessed was british cuisine.

Well. at least i knew where i stand with them, I was british. right? So i went over and joined them. I was about halfway through my meal when i remembered something as a sick feeling built up in my stomach. What did Kent or Repulse say again. even if i was kinda fortune to not be on a helicopter carrier or a Nimitz-class right now?

And that's when i remembered what Kent said earlier. Queen Elizabeth and in all likelihood Richelieu wanted to see me when they arrived, probably to bicker over who gets to command me since i was british in body. yet i was french in ship class. one that only existed on paper and was a hybrid of the No2 and No3 class.

Having to put up with someone confronting you was bad enough, now i have to answer questions under severe pressure. And god knows when they found out about my Magical girl powers which would likely lead to me being experimented on in a attempt to find out how i had developed them? Or how i somehow came into existence when i wasn't even born in a cube summoning facility. just woke up underwater? Or the questions about how i ended up with a mix of Warsaw pact and NATO equipment? and what about Dorestshire. surely?

Oh. I know for one thing, This is going to suck. badly. and a lot. Goddamn it. I wish i was in Harbour city right now.

Chapter Text

Start:Tamashii no Rufuran (Battle Orchestra)

Tamashii no rufuran

(The Title logo is shown)

アズールレーン
AZUR LANE
TRICOLORE OF THE STARS

A Azur Lane Fanfic by Laffeydd459chan (And their first)

A memory cube appears on-screen as Snow falls around to the bottom of the screen on a blue-light blue background.

Dakishimeteta unmei (A picture of Alsace-class No3's layout appears on screen. complete with Norfolk standing to the left. her eyes opening)

No Anata wa (Shows the Norfolk Sub-class's layout and Dorsetshire on the right as she too opens her eyes.)

Cuts to Azur lane's crosswave opening with its PPI Display and a DCS World map mixed in. Numerous Friendly and enemy icons being shown.

A Light blue magical circle with 9 runes showing the Crescent moon and the Sun symbol.

Kisetsu Ni Saku (Smiling Prinz eugen/Pinkie with two planes in the dusk background.)

Vauquelin giving a double peace sign. holding a spear in her left hand

Maru de hakanai hana (Shows the silhouettes of two Rafales coming in from top/bottom to bottom/top as the background changes from a daytime ocean with islands into a calm sea with the moon in the background)

Saratoga and Lexington stand as flames surround them. Blood on Lexington's clothes as a city is seen in the background.

Kibou no Nioi wo (A RIM-66 missile launching from its mount which cuts to a MiG-29K taking off as it cuts to the Eagle Union flag)

WE FREE THE SEAS-TO VICTORY

The pictures of Bismarck. Kaga. Formidable are shown from top to bottom.

Mune Ni nokoshite (A glitching and distorted supply indicator stuck at 5:00:00. the words 'MAIN ENERGY SUPPLY SYSTEM and DANGER/EMERGENCY' being made out.)

Delta-winged and stretched variant of the X-15 flying in black and white color art colors.

Green PPI display with numerous buttons and indicators as well as blips.

Chiri isogu azayaka-na Sugata de (Shows a chart of the RIM-66 SM-2 Block III/IIIA/IIIB as it cuts to Hood with a happy Purin in her lap. Then Laffey, Javelin. Z23 departing from the beach with a heart symbol and shells in the sand. It cuts to Saratoga solo with three dive bombers flying out)

Watashi ni Kaeri Nasai (Prinz Eugen/Pinkie misses her punch at Norfolk/Laffeychan. Eyes flashing light purple as she swings a sword. flames covering the screen)

Umareru Mae Ni (As Flames fade away. It cuts to Shropshire with a steeled expression taking a super-kansen jump back to Norfolk's rear as the Battleship throws away a arrow-shaped shield made of pure orange magic and she pulls out a knife. energy coating its blade as she looks with determination. Shropshire going into a guarding pose)

Tester Beta runs toward a flying Norfolk who has Nanoha's wings behind her back as the battleship spins around once before striking with a thrust of her knife as Norfolk holds her hand out and a green arcane circle appears. Blocking enterprise's knife as both Norfolk and Tester Beta shake and twitch in exertion.

SIRENS

Anata Ga Sugoshita (Shows Observer alpha firing some kind of energy blast from her palm with a displeased look at the camera as it then cuts to a Siren light cruiser firing a torpedo. Then a Baltimore-class praying. It cuts to a Essex-class carrier landing hard with a black cube in the background. Then cuts to two Atlanta-class cruisers dancing in-sync with each other)

Daichi E to (Shows a Siren Iowa-class spinning around to her back to reveal a pair of energy whips as a picture of TB is shown before it cuts to Tester. Rising and standing up as white light covers her body. leaving her eyes and any physical features invisible other than her shape as wind blows. the sky orange and building ruins are seen on the bottom of the screen)

Eldridge jumps from the water. A Gunlance in her hand as she switches to a dual-handed grip and then swings the tip down onto the water hard. resulting in a explosion of smoke and rock.

Kono te (Shows a Lyrical Nanoha Midchildian circle and the Forerunner Symbol. A Soul gem seen as a wireframe earth rotates)

Ni Kaeri Nasai (Tester Beta and Norfolk lock hands against each other. struggling as Tester stares angrily and Norfolk narrows her eyes. Portrait pictures picture of Observer Alpha adn Tester Beta, then Norfolk. Shropshire. Eldridge and Enterprise appearing from both sides like a duel)

FIRST RULE OF GREAT POWER RELATIONS

DON'T

BE NICE.

Meguriau Tame  (Shows the red and black metallic cube from the Season 3 PR ships as it becomes a light-red tunnel of colors)

BAE SYSTEMS

DASSAULT AVIATION

MBDA MISSILE SYSTEMS

AIM-9M held in its display container. As it cuts to a smiling Prinz eugen/Pinkie who is firing her guns. Then vauquelin/'Ahoge queen day off' in bed with plushies and ice cream as it shows Zuikaku vs Enterprise.

Kiseki Wa Okoru (Shows Norfolk slumping over as light gathers around her chest. before it fades to show a Transformed Norfolk in Nanoha's clothing holding Raising Heart with a shield on her left arm and aiming. the background blue and black)

Yo Nando demo (Numerous pictures flash by at 1 image per 2-3 frames. showing a ruined city with 3 B-2 bombers dropping bombs. The commander with Yorktown. Enterprise and cleveland along others. Shinano. Vauquelin imposed over a image of MBDA meteor. A happy enterprise with tears in her eyes. Norfolk saluting with a smile, her eyes being blood-red and lifeless and someone with gold eyes. white dress. angel-like wings staring at the screen and pictures of what look like sirens with DAPRA symbols and timestamps)

Tamashii no RUFURAN (Norfolk fires as the title screen is shown. before the screen flashes red and the title screen words are now a crimson shade of red. fading away into particles)

I yawned. standing among a fleet of shipgirls (What?) all waiting for something, likely to do with the commander himself. Everyone was chatting away as we waited for something to happen. though it was admittedly mostly the destroyers and the short ones, Cruisers were busy trying to keep them entertained in the meanwhile while capital ships were off doing their own things. Kent and Repulse were talking with Comet. London and Z21. The Illustrious-class were having their own conversation at the corner.

As for myself? I was at the back. away from everyone else. I just didn't have the necessary social skills to start a conversation with anyone and everytime i tried. overwhelming awkwardness and anxiety gripped me. Breakfast had helped to give me a little energy, but i was still operating on a child's sleep schedule.

Not new for me, but i found it difficult to adjust to now that i needed more sleep.

Then there was the sounds of voices going quiet and it looked like a commotion was going on. I pushed off the wall I was leaning against and followed the sea of metal and programmable flesh down the hallway. At the end of that hallway. standing a comfortable distance were three figures which i began to classify and identify.

Starting from the left was who i recognized as Wichita, She had her hands crossed and her back straight. staring right at the other shipgirls as they walked forward. I was too far away to actually see what she might be expressing. But at one point it felt like her stare had locked onto my eyes. It made me nearly take a step back. I guess i knew why she has that thing in her hands and is red-haired. complete with her secretary quotes.

Next was the commander himself. The man looked like he could be a Gen Xer. a respectable age for his likely rank and position. He had a typical face and i could see the relief in his eyes as he watched the girls, I'm sure he had to have known of the mission's success. But as per 'seeing is believing'. he needed to confirm that with his own eyes. Then next to him was Washington.

Holy shit. I just noticed how scary Washington can look. Goddamn. even with her jacket off. she's still damn scary to look at from some angles!

The final figure was one i quickly identified with a mess of white-pink hair and blue eyes. Sure, Vestal did not have her machinery on. but even with dormant shipgirl instincts I nearly hallucinated there. seeing something like a hook and crane sticking out from her back like rusty meat hooks. She was also scanning the sea of metal and stupidity. Though instead of having the air of Wichita's or Washington himself. Vestal's look was more along the lines of like. several shipgirls had just managed to shoot theirselves or start a fire and burn themselves and she was wondering how to fix that?

I have a feeling she's going to love giving me a once over. Even after that dip in the baths and even if i haven't seen a doctor for practically years in my past life. I am pretty sure there might be something in me that's still slightly out of alignment at the least.

Blinking and pulling back on my hood. I just noticed that all the shipgirls had dispersed theirselves and started standing at attention. Destroyers and cannon fodder in the front. Cruisers sandwiched by the Sub-capitals and battleships and aircraft carriers. The only one who didn't follow this was Kaga. who stepped forward and saluted smartly with the motions of someone that had been drilled in it for years.

I understood some words coming out of her mouth. including her name. but I didn't pay much attention to her as I mustered to myself about the inevitability that i would have to tell them about my magical abilities at some point... And it looked like it was now.

The commander returned the salute and replied with a smile. Best guess is that he was congratulating her on a well-executed job. And when she stepped back into line. He started addressing the mass of shipgirls. Which was followed by a chorus before everyone was dismissed as they started scattering of going on about their way.

And now there was just myself. in the back of that. Way out of any of the lines of shipgirls. Reverted to my past aloof behavior and feeling completely out of place. like i didn't belong here. All the other girls were dressed in their own official art. as for myself? My heavy winter clothes wanted me to retract into the jacket. shrivel up and hide away right now. I was the textbook definition of being completely socially inept right now.

Repulse and Kent gave me a friendly wave while the rest broke up into less crowded groups and the commander started to make his way over to me. which made the anxious feeling in my stomach returned as i tried to stare defiantly.

Help...

"So. You must be this 'Alsace' that i've heard so much about." He greeted. extending his hand. A handshake. That i can deal with. despite what my parent may say.

"I..I am." I said. shaking his hand and giving him the best professional smile i could muster. I better not fuck this one up if i want to start my image off on a good note. "I-I am guessing you've the admiral who responded to my d-distress calls?"

He chuckled as i tried to look away in anxiety. "That could have been my doing. Yes." He released my hand and i withdrew it into my pockets immediately much to my relief. "I trust your stay went well?"

I nodded. smiling cutely. "I-I wasn't being constantly shelled. so yes... Could have gotten more sleep but... it might have been my f-fault." I stood straight and still hid my hands in my pockets. scanning his expression to my best as social skills can allow me..

"Good." He nodded before motioning for me to follow. which made the anxious feeling again return with a vengeance. "We talk more on the way. 'Alsace'." I followed. Vestal was giving me interested glances as we walked, My best guess is she was trying to figure out just what the hell I was. Good luck with that. Because I don't have any clues as to how a heavy cruiser of all things manages to end up as a fast attack battleship designed to eliminate the heavier hypothetical axis battleship designs. I was Norfolk. but my hull design was not what it was and was instead based on the french. The goddamn fucking french.

Because they somehow managed to stuff fast battleship speeds and respectable firepower into a relatively early design.

Washington on the other hand was the textbook definition of proper military traditions. She didn't even bring her hands forward from behind her back as she followed me in sync with the commander.

"So..." I began. "About my status... Will there be anything like... analysis on me after you're done?"

"No. Absolutely not." The commander replied quickly. "We don't know too much about you right now. and that would risk your health. That said, we will do a checkup on you at some point."

"So basically..." I began. "Am i going to have to stay here?" I mumbled back. trying to conceal a worried and anxious tone in my voice. Washington paid me no heed and I was only made more aware of the height difference and how damn scary tall things seemed.

"In a sense. Yes." He confirmed. Great. As if i needed that?

"Well. Can I be deployed from time to time?"

The commander began thinking. I was likely a piece of modern technology. and that put me in needless danger. But still, I needed to fight at some point. "I suppose. But we should discuss the specifics later." He then fixed me with a questioning gaze (Much to my chagrin) and asked. "Speaking of which. however. Do you have any ideas about your current status? You should be a heavy cruiser, Yet here you are. a Iris libre battleship. and one that only existed on paper. let alone with today's technology."

I just shrugged and looked away. shaking my head. "I don't know much. I-I just woke up one d-day and I-I was like this." The commander raised an eyebrow. It was strange as to how i came into being. even though I wasn't summoned. "U-Uh. I-I woke up underwater. a-and i began on a random plotted course?" The stare remained. Damn.

Should i mention my extra-franchise powers now? It was a major risk, sure. but as long as i had control over my respective magitech. they weren't getting much from me anytime soon.

"...W-What if i told you that i ran into a patrolling flotilla o-of destroyers and a cruiser. Launched Paveways, fired Excalibur. then r-resorted to magical abilities to heal w-what damage i had-" Vestal began coughing violently. The commander was staring at me with noticeably wider eyes. mouth opening and struggling to look for a response like a beluga whale out of the water.

I risked it. Didn't i? "You WHAT!?" Wichita shouted. rounding on me like a pissed off triceratops as i nearly took a step back in pressure.

"E-Eek! Y-Your voice is s-so loud like a megaphone." I shyly spoke to her. my hands wandering up to hide my head under my hoodie. "Uuuaa..."

"You possess technology far beyond us or our current sophistication. and you claim you have magic!?" She shouted. at this point she sounded less angry and more confused. Horrified? Curious? I had trouble discerning. and i was taking a gamble here.

"W-well. The b-battle took place shortly after N-norfolk woke up." I explained. the man seemed to find his will to talk. coughing to get everyone's attention. "We should conduct the rest of the debrief inside. yes?"

Wichita looked between me and the commander. I just placed my hands behind me. not wanting to get between an high-ranking commissioned officer and what i assumed to be a NCO or a CO. Wichita eventually let out a sigh. shoulders slumping as her eyes locked with me. "...I suppose we will simply need to be patient to hear out and confirm your claims as to whether they're true of not..." I didn't like that look in her eyes. But then again. If i wanted to, I could bomb them out in just less than 24 hours. It looks like i may have to play hardball with my choice of words and any bluffs here.

Walking down this labyrinth of corridors and hallways that i swore would belong in a movie. I walked with the three to god knows what. We breezed through the occasional shipgirl there and there. my face concealing a sense of dread and foreboding. Washington opening the door to the commander's office before i was ushured inside. taking a heavy sigh as i prepared myself.

I must have broke them or exceeded their sense of disbelief. at least that was what i thought.

Of it could be their 'screw it'. Right now, after having went through my whole experience out in enemy-controlled waters while alone. Wichita was slumping forward. her elbows on the table where most of us were seated around. frantically rubbing her temples. Vestal had long since distanced herself from the conversation. preferring to glance between all of us as we spoke. trying my best to avoid giving away any hints that might allow them to understand my technology.

I think they handled the part about the guided rounds and magic powers claim after we'd come into the commander's office room quite well. The shock of it must have wore off. as evidenced by the man himself calmly drinking caffeine-laden coffee. Either that man is not fazed easily. or he's got a damn good face he uses for public situations.

Considering what i know about black projects and hidden budgets. I am suspecting a combination of these two.

"Okay..." Wichita began, placing her hands down on the table neatly in front of her and straightening herself in the chair. "Go back to the part where you were fighting against the siren fleet in open daylight."

"You mean the part where i approached them undetected and engaged them with the e-element of s-surprise while my fighter bombers disabled the c-cruisers?" I guessed. still remembering the memory quite well, That was the most adrenaline-laden event i had been in my entire life. and i wasn't too thrilled about the idea of being torpedoed. Again.

"Yes. That part of the battle." She confirmed. leaning forward and looking me dead at eye-level. "You said you attacked undetected, alone and didn't attempt airstrikes first. and you were outnumbered several times over?"

"Outnumbered by destroyers and cruisers. b-but yes." I nodded and confirmed that part.

"And you said you sunk them all?" She continued.

"A-And a heavy cruiser. too?" I again nodded. I was trying to not get anxious as her eyes bore into my soul. making me uncomfortable as i tried to stay still in my seat.

"And then later, when you rendezvous with the fleet sent to find you, You said you took part in the battle despite knowing the risks posed to you. especially by enemy torpedoes and Long lances?" She leaned back in her seat as i gestured to confirm it and shrugged. looking down at the floor.

Wichita raised a hand to her head and started massaging it again. her stare unceasingly not going anywhere. "What i do want to know, Norfolk. is how you thought any of it would work beforehand without excessive danger."

I leaned back in my chair and glanced up at the ceiling to avoid her stare. "T-To be h-honest? Norfolk n-never had any clue that i-it worked." I admitted. "I-I was just trying to help out my r-rescuers and i-i didn't have many options. A-And i couldn't just do nothing." Finally. the commander spoke up. was it directed at my stupidity or my suicidal bravery if my friends were threatened? I dare say that it was mostly the former.

"I am more impressed that you made it out without suffering a major torpedo hit or superstructure damage." The commander himself set his coffee cup down on the table as i hid my hands below my thighs. I didn't drink any of that stuff back in my past life. and i was not going to start so right now. I valued my sleep. thank you very much. "The Sirens seemed very keen to track you down and quite likely, sink you."

"M-Maybe?" I added. "Didn't seem that way, they were only doing so when their task forces disappeared after i encountered these same fleets i-in action." If their command structure was anything like UBW or USN Command. It would take some time for them to process reports of a lone battleship. let alone assign the nearest surface searching party in time before i was elsewhere by then.

"Still. that level of thinking. and perhaps bravery from someone who has never been trained in military planning. nor fleet tactics is definitely commendable." He added with a knowing smile. Well. that counted for something on my record, i guess. Vestal refused to look at the three of us and Washington... well. was Washington.

I made a wistful noise. stretching my neck. "I-Is that so obvious?"

"A little." He said. "Now as for your first encounter with the Sierns. i was wondering what specifically prompted you to launch an attack if you could have disengaged instead without being spotted?"

That was something i could slip the truth on. this time. "A-At the time. W-well. I-I was trying to get a feel f-for my carrier air wings, and since they didn't have the necessary defenses. They made perfect target dummies t-to practice my bombers on." I said.

"Thats a flowery way of saying 'I wanted to train my carrier complement in battle'." Vestal finally spoke up. I guess being strict toward Enterprise didn't just apply to the Grey ghost. it applied to all carriers as well.

"Makes it easier t-to remember how to set up bombing runs." I admitted. "I-I mean. it d-does give me a way to attack from beyond b-battleship range and avoid being spotted by major surface taskforces w-while still being able to harass them and not be chased down or worse."

"Which explains your actions and decisions. i suppose." The commander stated. "Speaking of, you said you wanted to speak with Comet. Yes?" I nodded and smiled. "For the time being, Comet will be busy and on duty. though i don't see any reason to deny you visiting her once she has free time."

"E-ehe." I muttered. "A-Any chance you know for h-how long that m-might take?"

"It's a few days to a week of so." Vestal spoke up again. going over a notebook she held in her hands. "Comet will be busy with patrols and escort duty but i doubt her current assignment will take longer than that. Of course, there's also some of the tests i'd like to run on you just to figure out what are you exactly..." She trailed off. Right, I was the Alsace-class. not the Norfolk sub-class.

"Which conveniently brings us to yourself. Norfolk." The man said. motioning towards me with his hand and smiling expectantly that made me feel like something bad was going to happen. "Where do you plan on going from here?"

I hummed. staying quiet as I went over my strategic plans. Where exactly can i go from here? Doubt i can stay inactive around here for too long. i likely be assigned at some point so i am meeting their internal reviews and quotas, And even if a civilian life seemed possible (Doubtful. considering the likely retirement of Bionic soldiers in Cataclysm Bright Nights and Shipgirls were a catastrophic technology in their own right as self-aware war machines) I was too much of a laying flat person. And then of course, there was the question of my conflicting citizenship. It's not too much of a roadblock. but if either the French or the UK don't allow for dual citizenships then that could become a major problem. Plus, when you're a Magical girl. a Latent one... there was only so much i can do before i had to reveal my other form at some point... And then, there was no telling what might happen.

And that left the question of what navy I end up with. I mean. in a way i was British due to my background, I did speak English obviously. but i knew very little of british culture and at the same time i could be Japanese. but then again that was limited to anime and manga. And i was not too fond of the food since I preferred lots of meat. Give me Italian pizza, Korean cheese sticks or french fries and pork any other day. But in body? it was a major question as to whether or not I was actually a French (Iris Libre) or United Kingdom (Royal navy) boat. And a modern Franco-british union was impossible.

Could i possibly stay with the Iris libre? I am not sure they want a 'malformed' battleship. Maybe they would if my technology was not accounted for but i doubt it, They already had the Richelieus and i have no idea what they might think of a distantly related sibling (If such a thing were ever possible). Plus, i be constantly in a religious country. and i didn't want to risk a catholic priest molesting me even if i could defend myself. The UK might not be a option either, given its own internal political troubles lately. British exceptionalism and taking the EU workers for granted. Plus. I be constantly reminded of my background if i tried that, And I had already lost any friends of family relatives i might know at this point. No way i can actually go home along with the usual right-winger atmosphere argument.

Germany might not be a option either. since their ideology indicated a right-wing fascistic turn, and no way in hell was i living in a country that was like that. along with the constant risk of a Yugoslavia-style infrastructure bombing if Ironblood actually managed to turn on Azur lane. I knew what happened to the Gulf and Yugoslavia. and no way in hell was i risking myself on fabricated charges. real of not. Along with whether they would even respect my wishes of not.

There was the USN but they were already swimming in shipgirls from how many they had in the game and both historically. I don't think they need to add a foreign battleship that was using a mix of russian. australian. NATO and classified American equipment to the mix. And of course, Azur lane had been the ones to recover me from that unplanned lone wolfing out of the seas. This was so many questions... So many decisions, and so little time...

Having to choose one. I leaned forward. stared at the human commander and decided to say something. "D-depends on where y-you need me? I-I think?"

His eyes digested what i said. but otherwise he didn't miss a beat. "Well, as of now. Working on bringing yourself up to full operational capacity. I don't think i need to read on what your gunnery skills are?"

I huffed and pouted. "I already know I don't even know anything outside of automatic RADAR-controlled fire control..."

"I assign someone to show you the basics. You also have to attend basic Naval training, it's standard procedure for all shipgirls." He listed off. more for tradition than my benefit i think. "I send your mentor to find you later. Right now, Go with Vestal so she can give you a once over and find out exactly what kind of technology. let alone any support equipment dependency we're working with here." I knew i could regenerate my computer and electronics. but the ETC technology for my cannons and the exotic computer-controlled ECU units for my propulsion might be a major problem. Azur lane didn't even have vacuum tubes yet. Microprocessors were beyond their reach for shipgirls.

Vestal and i shared a glance. "Right then, This meeting is concluded. Dismissed. Norfolk." The commander broke it as i didn't even get a word in before I felt Vestal take my arm in her's and haul me out of the room. Jesus! Never thought repair ships were. pound-for-pound. as strong as the heavier cruisers! If that grip was to go by. I was sure Vestal could bruise me and harm me in a few ways before I could turn her into scrap!

However. the questions of my magical abilities, let alone my equipment were unanswered. And sooner of later. I was going to have to confront them once Vestal found out the truth or discovered the true extent of my modern weaponry capabilities. And god knows what the other factions were up to...

Chapter Text

I had been preparing myself for the moment and yet, the look on my face was that of a tense and uneasy one. I had been dreading it ever since my... sublimation into Azur lane's sea of ships. A day already and here i was. with Vestal as i was trying not to run for the nearest exit out of here.

The repair ship didn't say a word as she gently opened the door with me close by, She's definitely practiced and professional. Though I'm not sure how i feel about being the one she's supposed to be examining. I must admit...

Being scrapped scares me. and i shiver at the thought.

The tests that i was going through was not too bad. all things considered. The room i was in suffered from sorting chaos, but they had kept down the clutter. Windows let in some light from the wall. flanked on either side by shelving objects packed with items, hospital beds and a collection of tools hanging off a wall. Whatever wasn't there likely had to be stowed away in toolboxes.

This better not be what i am thinking...

After standing there like a idiot for a few moments, Vestal gave me a light shove before she headed to a toolbox... and took out a tape-measure as i internally sighed. but still on edge and wary even if my sixth sense didn't detect anything hostile around my surroundings.

"D-Do i stand of...?" I asked. folding my arms to my chest as i tried to look away.

"Stand, And don't be nervous. I've done this with Enterprise before. just trust me." She asked. fiddling with the tape-measure as i stopped my pacing around. "I must take a few measurements." I swear to god. if this was a waste of time, And if it was.. Then there were going to be no words!

"Alright then..." I replied with a simple tone. standing in the center of the room and facing the windows as i felt shy and modest all of a sudden. Deep underneath my shy self however, there was no need for me to show Vestal the shimmering rage building underneath my main deck armor plates.

After that was said and done. I was led outside in what i guessed to be a shipgirl test with further measurements, I was asked by Vestal to show my machinery and i complied. And when i did so... I took a good look at my machinery and... It actually looked pristine, This was the first time I had summoned my hull since I underwent repairs and it showed. The steel plating had been cleaned and polished carefully. If i had to guess, It was the kind of steel polish that hadn't aged out yet under structural strain. There wasn't a single scratch. dent. welding crack nor was there anything that hinted at my guts. More than likely my gun barrels had been re-sighted so that they were calibrated for the data they were working with.

I carefully ran a hand along the edge of Battery A. feeling how the armor steel plates had been repaired and any misshapenness straightened out. It felt tough and solid, Made me feel safe again. Especially after my encounters on the run and the level of passive regeneration i was undergoing to heal any battle damage to some extent.

I noticed that it had materialized over my current clothes instead of bursting through it... But that was normal. right? Otherwise everyone would be running around with their torpedo bulges on full display.

"Norfolk?" Vestal gently asked. forcing me back to reality as i turned my head to her.

"H-Hmm? O-Oh! Uh, I... i..." I paused to try and collect my thoughts. I wasn't good with this stuff! "F-Feels happy to see it fixed." I took my hand off Battery A. "I-I don't know how long it has been like that."

Vestal hummed in response. I don't know if she acknowledged what i said or she remembered what Enterprise had to go through sometimes... And I thought I was highly aggressive... But anyway. Vestal got to work again on measuring me, doing her usual repair ship stuff that would no doubt allow Azur lane to figure out what i was.

Honestly. It felt strange and weird for the Repair ship to perform structural tests on me. But she was here to run a full inspection, So I didn't bother trying to shove her off. Besides. The faster i just stay quiet and let her work. The faster I likely get the question that has been inside my head for a while now. Do i qualify as Norfolk. or as Alsace still?

'I still need to prepare contingency plans in place but... Even if i don't trust them. Once i bomb them out i won't have a support unit resupplying me on even a basic level. and weapons stocks can only last so long...'

"Hmmmm..." Vestal mumbled... No. was there confusion in her emotions? It sounded like curiosity for a brief moment, She still hadn't moved on from Battery A to Battery C. Actually. I think she'd taken the same measurements on my SAM Zone defense batteries. too. and multiple times at that.

Now i am getting worried. but I forced myself to stand still. If i revealed myself as a Magical girl now, there was no telling what would happen.

"Is s-something wrong. Vestal?" I asked, twitching an eyebrow and hiding my nerves behind an question i had.

"No. Nothing's wrong. just..." She began, stepping back and withdrawing her hands. Her Aqua eyes gave me a measurement from top to bottom before she stepped back in. "Just a second. Norfolk. It's nothing bad." She started taking note of my Machinery's more modern modules. The diameter of the Type 965 antennas. The mono-eye mounts that held Rapier missiles. The laser designator and rangefinder that were poking out of fire control directors and ECM emitters. All the while I was thinking on how she was trying her best to figure out just what kind of abomination I was supposed to be.

Then she spotted the heavy torpedo launchers on my back and the light anti-submarine tubes on my thighs. "Torpedoes of differing sizes? That's interesting..." She said, mostly to herself. I don't know if this is a ability of Repair ships but it had to be, given there were no tiny fairies in Azur lane. She decided to step back and start thinking.

"Is something the matter. V-Vestal?" I asked cutely. but at the same time I was waiting for the moment. The moment when this all blew on me...

"N-No, It's just... I have never seen anything like this before." Vestal said simply but behind that I could tell she was just as confused, Her brow was furrowing with every thought that ran through her mind. And more than likely she was searching her memories for anything that matched my description. The look on her face was that of worry and mild confusion. The kind of expression when you realized you were dealing with a outside problem and It was in the form of alien technology.

Which doesn't exactly give me happy thoughts right now. I'm beginning to seriously consider Raytheon might just get into the fun just to say i can't give out information of their brochure's real capabilities.

"Hold on." She said. holding a finger up at me. "Stay there, I just need to remember something quick." She quickly then signalled for us to return to land and we did. But before long I was being led back to that room as Vestal went back inside. marched over to a desk on my left and pulled open a drawer holding a binder with what i can tell is information about World war 2 France naval designs. The thing hit the top of the desk with a thump and I swore It was going to take a while.

Vestal opened it up, flipping quickly through the page of the binders and mumbling to herself. She continued flipping before she cursed and started flipping faster. finally seemingly finding what she was looking for as she stopped late-way toward the back. There, she leafed through the pages at a slow pace. giving herself time to read what was inside. my eyes slowly focusing on the book as i blinked.

Then she must have found what she was looking for. Because she had read the same page over and then proceeded to carry the book into her arms, open at the page she had been on. "I found it!" She cheered. Bringing the book over to me. She tapped the page she found as she held it up to eye-level. It was a black and white technical diagram ofr a battleship showing a top-down birds-eye perspective looking straight down as the drawings matched my turrets well. Underneath was the author's commentary about the Alsace-class and the Number 1 to the Number 3 variants.

Akashi tapped again. pointing to something at the page.

"Type No.2"

I recognized what she was trying to get at. "Uh. S-So what am i?" I asked as slowly as i could.

"You, Norfolk!" Vestal answered cheerfully and confused at the same time. "If i am right. You've the Alsace-class Battleship. even through you're a Royal navy Heavy cruiser with what i believe to be modern missile launchers!"

...Things were able to get interesting.

Vestal explained the history and what being the Alsace-class meant. Granted, there was a lot of stuff that i already knew. like the 31-knots top speed for two of the variants. But there were some other things that i found surprising.

The hull should be the Number 1, Yet I was not. My machinery seemed to be based on the Type No 3 variant but as fitted with No 2 406mm guns.

I may or may not have looked like an schoolgirl concerned for her friend. Fucking have at me, That was the hell of a weird kind of surprise. Vestal did wind up heavily stressing that my guns were in the 406mm range. But I was not disappointed and in fact I was glad to have the standard caliber for now. The other choices like the N3 class would have not preferred speed. and I had no clue if there was any pre-yamato variant. And the Maximum battleships were likely not viable and the H44s... Too inefficient.

'Not when i have the Ebonite mousse pads to back me up against nearby explosions. combined laser and RADAR fire control and the ability to bomb out what i can't see and of course Magical-enhanced armor plates. Granted, I still can't risk fighting Yamato in her main role of taking out the Standard battleships. but I should have little trouble neutralizing a Iowa and enforcing air incapability if things came down to that.'

"Are you done?" Vestal asked as I stopped swinging my legs on the chair. She was just as confused but grinning from ear to ear, excited to tell. no doubt the Iris libre and the Eagle union in the same room.

"Nope!" I chirped. before i quickly closed the distance. stuffed my head into her chest like a destroyer following its capital ship around. I heard her wheeze and grunt from how hard it was, her boots momentarily leaving the ground before I got myself out of her squishy torpedo bulges. She looked winded. but other than that she was okay, She was still smiling at least. "Okie! Done now!"

"Cough... Okay. well.." Vestal said. taking a moment to stabilize herself. "Tell me the next time you're going to do that. Norfolk."

"No promisessss." I trailed off with a pout.

Vestal shot me a look. I just puffed my cheeks out and pouted harder. She just huffed and waved it off, likely just dismissing my behavior as a natural trait of mine and by chance she was not wrong on 'Easily excitable battleships'. "Alright, There's a few things we're gonna need to take care of now. Though that's more the commander's paygrade than mine."

"Which is?" I asked, my attention having shifted somewhat to looking around randomly and enjoying the decorations.

"Firstly, I have to discuss your status to the Iris libre and the Royal navy." She said simply as she headed toward a table. My head jerked toward her at the mention.

"Huh?"

"Well, You should be a Royal navy ship. But you're a Iris libre battleship that existed only on paper. right? That's probably why you were using differing names when we finally made contact with you." Vestal explained. Now slouching over at the table and looking through the book again. "So. We're gonna need to discuss your possible nationality with the Iris libre and the Royal navy. decide on your service and a send off. We're never dealt with anything like this bbefore."

"E-Eh? I-It's not like I am going to be suddenly moved with no chance to adjust. r-right?" I asked before i could shut down my thoughts and keep me from sounding like a child who was too curious. 'Really? The franco-british union isn't new to you? Oh whatever! If things go from bad to worse, You can just blitz the Ironblood ships with laser-guided SAP bombs!'

Vestal shook her head. "No, That won't happen. at least anything that might hurt you." She turned and smiled at me over her shoulder. "More than likely You're going to be with the Royal navy."

I blinked. "That true?"

Vestal nodded. doubling over the table like she was a sibling comforting a lost and scared child. Now already I was taking a liking to her mind. 'Because you are a submissive Onee-loli!'

"O-Oh... Ohhh.." I made some noises. Vestal giggling at my reaction and mumbling something to herself. probably something to the tune of small and highly curious battleships before she took on a more professional look. "Okay, So i'm sure that the Commander will have a few proposals to pick out or assign you. He probably will let you pick. He's nice like that, But for now we need to talk about the second thing. Which is concerning your equipment."

"W-What equipment?" I ventured.

"Well! We're never had to support a Cold-war. much less a modern-day battleship that could probably take on the missile-laden Missouri." Vestal said. grinning. "Or at least. finding a way to manufacture ammunition that you are going to need. The commander will still need to sign off on it and resources will need to be allocated and custom-fabrication and..." She trailed off. "That part is not important, So is there anything important that you'd need added?" She said as she turned back to the table. her hands interacting with something.

"Anti-aircraft systems. H-heavy." I said flatly. "A-anything that's feasible. Put i-it on there."

"Ran into a carrier before?" She gave me a smirk.

"You were there! Y-you know what happened with me and e-enemy aircraft!" I retorted with a cutely angry look. Probably was not having the effect I hoped for with the cuteness factor on my face.

"Okay! Okay." Vestal said placatingly. but I could tell she was still smiling. "Anything else?"

"Eh... hmm... Actual spotter p-planes." I added. "A-and close cooperation. I-i can make the parts for my laser designators a-and r-radars."

Vestal's eyebrow furrowed. but she decided to not say anything. "And your torpedoes?" She asked. pointing at my legs.

I glanced down. thinking it over. I didn't use them too much, and when they were used. I only used them to form a nest of H2O2 torpedoes and for combat in the night when I knew my opponent wasn't aware of me. The other times I used them was when the mark 34 light torpedoes were used on their intended targets. which ranged from the Gato-class to the Type VIIs and even Type XXIs. Modern digital processors helped out a lot with that. That i knew from weight concerns."

"I am going t-to hold on to them." I said. "Y-You never really know w-when you r-run into a Yamato or y-you find yourself alone with a pack of submarines."

Vestal understood and put a hand to her chin. "I know a few battleships who would disagree..." She said as I noticed that she was making notes.

"A-All of them?"

"All of them other than possibly HMS Rodney." She answered. "I see what i can do, but they will be explosive hazards if something goes wrong."

I nodded. knowing what happened to torpedo-armed ships after major damage. Sure, the Type 93s were volatile. but their burster charges were just as insensitive as any other torpedoes and the fuel was still flammable. However. the real concern for the Type 93 ships were in the form of oxygen generators on the cruisers and the oxygen flasks on the destroyers, If these were hit. rather than just two points of failures. There was a third point of failure that was especially dangerous if a fire broke out, which was combined with the second point of failure being even more flammable with highly concentrated oxygen. And once that happened. the resulting fire had a greater chance of causing a burster secondary explosion. And all of them were jam-packed in the middle which generally gets targeted very commonly. There were torpedo shields but... That only worked when even a bomb exploded on them and not on or below the burster charges which would cause a explosion rather than just shattering the warhead case into segments. "F-fair enough."

"Well. Anything else you might need?" She asked.

"Further check-ups on my p-power train and missile l-launchers."

"Hmm... We see what we can do."

"Right..." I paused. trying to think of anything else I felt like i need. "Nothing really comes to mind..." I started swinging my legs again in boredom.

"Alright, I would suggest a fire director upgrade also. I can tell you're not experienced." She said. adding that to her list of things. Probably a dig at how helpless i was without modern laser rangefinding to instantly feed me information on how far away my targets were.

As Vestal said nothing. and just as I was about to blurt out something there was a knock on the door. "Hey! Vestal! You seen the new girl? The Commander said i could find her in here!"

"She's in here! Door's open!" Vestal called as she paused her work midway. The door swung open and in walked another girl. She had green hair done into a ponytail secured by what i guessed to be a dark-blue ribbon with amber-gold eyes. She wore a jacket over a white buttoned shirt. the buttons theirselves being yellow in color. She had a white-black skirt on and wore stockings complete with what i noticed to be quite lightly armored boots.

"So, You're Norfolk?" Shropshire said enthusiastically. giving off her cute look that she used to get closer to the commander and looking me over. Shropshire was one that didn't scare me out so much. in part because i could relate to her easily without being overly... clingy for lack of a better word like Atago. "You've got big seven guns. don't you?"

"Y-yeah. I-i think i do..." Nine barrels. 406mm. one guess.

"Well! My name's Shropshire. Youngest of the London Class!" She introduced herself. giving me her cutesy look. "And you're?"

"A-Alsace... And N-Norfolk. Apparently." I said. trying to give her a cute smile that gave away my calm feelings. "Going by A-alsace for now. i guess."

"Alsace? Norfolk?" London wondered. quickly turning toward Vestal gracefully. "Did we have a Alsace? And why is she Norfolk then?" She asked the repair ship.

"I believe she was supposed to be the Norfolk Sub-class heavy cruiser, but she ended up as the Alsace-class. Never built. The class was authorized and to be laid down but following the german invasion. all french naval construction plans were cancelled." Vestal reported over her shoulder as she kept working. These were technical notes, there and there detailing my nature.

Shropshire's look faded. quickly muttering underneath her breath before turning to me. "Uh... I.. I am sorry if i dug up anything painful for you. Norfolk." I only smiled at her and shook my head.

"I-I just found out too. Shrop-chan." Shropshire brightened at my first use of a nickname toward her. This only seemed to flip the loli instincts within me.

"Oh. good! I do not mind!" The green-haired cruiser smiled at me that calmed down my psyche. "Well. We should get to work then. Norfolk!" I tilted my head at her but she ignored it. "The commander himself assigned me to train you. So we're gonna go out onto the water and you're gonna show me how strong you are~"

As Shropshire grabbed hold of my comparatively tiny arms and started coaxing me out the door and toward the familiar blue seas. I couldn't help but yell at myself internally. Gunnery operations. If this was without my lasing systems. That was going to suck. literally.

Chapter Text

The commander knocked twice. Waiting for the custom. almost-expected response before he opened the door and stepped into where Norfolk and Vestal were once, He found the repair ship and caretaker of Enterprise (As she sometimes called herself) slouching over her table. Scribbling down notes. Likely for the new shipgirl. he guessed.

"Vestal." He greeted with the grace of a commissioned officer. "So what did you find out about our new girl?"

"Didn't you get my report? You should have done so by now." Vestal replied, still recording new notes.

"I did." He confirmed. "But I want to hear it from you."

Vestal chuckled. finally putting down her pencil and slowly shaking her head. "Commander, When will you ever get over the resistance you have against actually reading?" She said. spinning on her swivel chair to face him with her arms crossed. though the man didn't flinch nor react.

"The same time you stop pulling all-nighters in here." He retorted. earning a grumble from the repair ship. The man himself, despite the subtle training to see casualties as statistics did show some concern for the shipgirls under his command. Partly genuine. Partly out of logic. "So. Do we have anything interesting?"

"That depends." Vestal replied with a curious and at the same time indecisive tone. leaning back in her chair. her uniform leaving nothing to the imagination if one focused surely on her chest area. However, the commander had long since gotten used to it. After all. he had interacted with the more... eccentric shipgirls who would have been discharged long ago if they had been simply humans. But alas, not. "Are you familiar with the Alsace-class?"

"Hmm." He mumbled. "Cancelled because of the Battle for France. right?" Vestal nodded. her eyes strained by hours of work, but focused due to her superhuman -some would say supernatural- traits.

"Yes. the one." Vestal replied. her look professional with a subtle smile that betrayed no stray thoughts. "Fast battleship. Three variants. One was a enlarged Richelieu-class with forward and aft turrets. Number two had triple 406mm turrets. Number three was slightly faster and mounted three quadruple 380mm turrets along with heavier secondaries." She paused. taking a breath before continuing. "But HMS Norfolk is not supposed to be the Alsace-class. correct?"

"A-hm." The Commander muttered. "So she is supposed to be a Royal navy ship, but she is somehow a unbuilt ship of foreign origin." He said to himself mostly.

"I think we don't even know how she was brought into form. or why she is not the Norfolk-Subclass." Vestal chuckled. "Seriously though, I'd read up on the Alsace-class. She's the only fast battleship the Royal navy would have right now if they commanded her. But i doubt the Iris libre commanding branch of France would approve." In her mind. it was likely that this would provoke arguments and internal conflicts about who Norfolk was supposed to serve. She was still british, but owning to her being the Alsace-class down to the last inch of steel. it was logical to assume she should be treated as french. No doubt, it would cause endless headaches for them.

"How about her specifically?" He asked. to which the repair ship shrugged before returning to her normal pose.

"Well, I've checked her out and so far. her words are backed in regards to her weapons. though I don't know if that's what you're asking..." Vestal replied, pointing a thumb towards her notepad that was on the table. "Truth be told. Her Armaments are all fictional, she shouldn't even exist in the first place. yet here she is."

The Commander raised an eyebrow. intrigued and curious. "Already? So the messages were true?"

Vestal returned the look. "Weren't you there for her debriefing?" She asked. the man motioning for her to go on. "I gave her a once over, she's armed with them. we may not even know how to support her logistically."

"And that's what you're trying to figure out..." He stated. Vestal confirmed it with a nod. "May i take a look?"

Vestal slid herself aside. getting up and pushing her chair aside to make space before sitting down again. "You don't need to ask!" She said. motioning to the manual she had been scribbling down on.

The Commander walked up, picking it up and reading it out as he flipped the pages. looking at the technical designs and specifications for the Alsace-class variants and Vestal's notes about Norfolk's anomalies and equipment that was not supposed to exist on the actual battleships. He had to admit, the ships were impressive for the day. Even the anti-aircraft suite on her was not too bad by modern standards, although the strange battleship was heavily lacking in medium and long-range missiles. For she carried the GWS-24 Seacat systems and oddly enough the Rapier missile system. but there was nothing like Standard or anything like it. although the amount of gun-based AAA systems on her was high for her size. "Overly heavy on guns and short-range missile systems. but no long range BVR capabilities..." He commented.

"That's what I know about her at the moment. " Vestal said. "I believe her exact words were to put as many anti aircraft guns on her as feasible."

The Commander gave her an amused. funny look before noting that the note described how there were heavy 533mm+ and 480mm torpedo launchers. Two triples and four triples respectively and that they all were located on the rear. "Torpedoes?"

"The Alsace-class battleship didn't have torpedo tubes historically, but at this point I am not surprised anymore. She has her torpedoes on deck and if i am correct. She has Mark 16s and Mark 34 anti-submarine torpedoes. I can only presume the Mark 16s were for hunting other battleships and the Mark 34s were for sinking submarines. We can try and ask the Japanese to lease the Long lances if we can't understand how to make the Mark 16s. but the Mark 34s will be much harder." At the commander's questioning look. she continued. "...She was the one who wanted the torpedoes to be kept."

The man shrugged and gave the note another inspection. going over it again to make sure he hadn't missed anything. "You're also tuning her boilers and making slight improvements to her anti-ship missile launchers. is that not redundant?"

"She was the one who asked for it." Vestal said dismissingly. "Besides, Right now we have a golden chance to see how her armaments work. see if they can be applied to our designs. experiment with a blank state."

"What do you mean?" He asked, still going over the details and eyeing the Soviet Termit missiles. again another anomaly seeing as Norfolk supposedly should have NATO systems. not a anachronistic mix of historical Warsaw Pact and NATO. as well as the Ikaras and Weapon Alpha. He had to admit, in battle she would be unstoppable to anything short of being outnumbered massively.

"Well. Most of our modifications are based off historical refits to our ships so far." Vestal explained. hands down. "It makes it simple to work out what we're doing, the only hard part is making sure they don't hinder effectiveness nor they be impractical. If you wanted to put together something different than that modification then we've basically speculating. In theory we could fit light cruiser guns to destroyers. but the weight growth would be unacceptable and we have to make the best of what we have currently."

The commander nodded. already aware of that problem from experimental programs in seeing if the 'Z23' pocket-cruiser ideas could be applied to other destroyers to give them a edge in range based on the principle that the one who strikes first. wins the engagement. Vestal didn't pause.

"Because of that, The only modifications we've done so far that break this norm are the Fusou sisters and the completely hypothetical idea of conversion to battlecarriers as happened with the Ise-class." Vestal began to rest her arm on the table. already slowly tapping it with her fingers. "But here, we have a completely blank state when it comes to her modification. since the Alsace-class was never built in the first place and she... somehow managed to end up as the Alsaces and of all things, she ended up with a completely fictional modernization. I don't know why. But here she is now."

"So. we could theoretically added whatever we want to her so long as it doesn't cause any knock-on effects?" He wondered aloud. seeing what Vestal was trying to do with this.

"Well, That's a good question..." Vestal began. "You know the 40mm Bofors that we have and the Oerlikons?"

The commander nodded. understanding where she was trying to go with this. Norfolk was already an anti-aircraft umbrella in her own right due to her missile systems and RADAR-directed 20mms. though he never knew as to whether they were the RPC Oerlikon or the 25mm Oerlikon KBA RWS since Vestal never specified fully. but there was no reason why she was unable to fire modern ammunition in the old 40mm guns. If done, The cruiser-battleship would be one of the most powerful AA units other than possibly a carrier. "It seems like we're focusing too much on her anti-aircraft suite."

Vestal sighed. "We can't really make the radars and the autoloading mechanisms she uses for her dual-purpose batteries. As she stands though, She can still use some upgrades especially since she can fire modern Bofors proximity-fused ammunition already." She gave a questioning look. "And the Americans did the same thing for their battleships when the Japanese began relying on their land and carrier air power. It's not that much of a stretch to do the same thing to her."

"Alright. I understand." The commander said. waving his hands to show he did so. "Do what you can with her, but hold off until she completes her basic training."

"Will do. Sir." Vestal said with a slight grin. getting back to work as the Commander read over the battleship's carrier abilities as reported by the fleet. "Can i ask for a favor?" Vestal added suddenly. "Could you keep the girl where she belongs. in the Royal navy? I think she deserves to be with her sister rather than people she doesn't understand and i believe she would appreciate not being caught in a political dispute... No doubt the French are going to want her, but the British will not let go of their metaphorical golden goose."

The man nodded. a empathetic look at the corners of his mouth. "I will see what strings i can pull."

It's been a week of so since I started training with Shropshire and undergoing basic combat training with an added familiarization course thrown on top for good course in case I forgotten what Azur lane was. It was tough due to my inability to concentrate in my past. but overall things were going alright for now.

Forced out of my online environment and into a in-person world. Learning social skills and their meanings was quite a chore in itself, Especially since I had never spoken with anyone before for a long time. My knowledge of France and Britain was not world-class. so it had not made me any better with Amazon, who got saddled with teaching me. If she wasn't such the Tsundere (Ironic. given I did show tsun-tsun tendencies myself) I would feel bad for her because of just how bad my social skills was. But after these days she did say that I was starting to improve so I count that not wasted,

Basic training was simple, Though how Amazon managed to not go insane i don't really know. She was a huge stickler just like her ingame self. and I had done my best to avoid resorting to japanese honorfics if possible. Although, If you followed along in class. took notes and memorized them carefully you did have a decent chance of succeeding. So far. it's not been too bad and on the upside I even got to know history behind the creation of the Azur lane organization.

Gunnery operations... Now that was much more my specialty, But I was very reliant on my Laser and RADAR rangefinding systems. which combined with my zero prior military training should not have been surprising in itself. Shropshire told me that my aim was not actually half-bad, but that when forced into Fire director mode... Let's just say I was wildly off-target by a order of magnitude. I could still hit something at close range. I just needed to drill that skill and slowly upping the ranges to improve my skills to operational capability. Also got training from the cruisers about torpedoes whenever they ended up with Shropshire in one of my drills. Anti-aircraft training was difficult. but not impossible without my missiles, More than likely. Akashi was completing her details about what could be done to improve me.

Speaking of technology. I had reluctantly went along with Akashi's and Vestal's plan to examine my components for anything that might help them. The results were obvious:They didn't understand what they were working with, nor did they know how to even make a knock-off. They did glean some clues that might be applied to their own RADAR and homing torpedo developments but... In contrast they were only moderate at best, and whatever technology advantage was gained sooner of later would be cancelled out by rival technology advances.

My reactors were also a problem in their own right. and i didn't feel like delving into the issue for now.

Not a bad outcome for keeping the balance of power. Apparently they even had called in the North Union to examine my aircraft and the more soviet-esque systems on me. I had no illusions as to what Russia had to gain from this, given they only joined Azur lane out of a major threat and because it would also accelerate their technology gains for shipgirls from bringing in their technical expertise on my enigmatic systems. Sooner or later, once this war was over. They were going to leave Azur lane given how they were feeling threatened by the growth of NATO and their need for breadbaskets and with no doubt stolen Jet engine technology and anything from me.

As for the Iris libre. and the Royal navy, To call it a bitching session would have been a understatement. Given Azur lane now had its first modern shipgirl that turned out to be Norfolk wearing Iris libre skin, I suppose it should have been obvious when a huge political hellstorm had ensured in high command about whoever got to command me since I was a lethal killing machine in my own right and there were so many anomalous things about me, Like my ability to be a battlecarrier somehow. The Iris libre presented their own arguments and even made a passionate case for it with that they would know how to maintain French-built systems and care for me. But in the end, The Royal navy had prevailed and stated that I was to be under Royal navy command (Much to the chagrin of the French). But in the event that without a RN superior, I was to be placed under French command which kept them sated... for now.

Not a bad outcome for me as well. given the Eagle Union and Ironblood branch would sooner of later catch up with whatever the Royal navy might learn from me anyway. But about my Magical abilities... I had been keeping them a secret despite what happened in the mess hall with Repulse and Kent and back in that battle where I had met up with the search fleet. They had looked into it, but other than my carrier abilities they didn't find out about the true extent of my abilities since such claims required lots of proof in their own right.

With my secret safe, I had also practiced with my powers whenever noone was watching. It wasn't time yet to blow my cover as a Magical Shipgirl for it was not the right time yet, but sooner of later it would happen. and hopefully it would be in a way that didn't escalate the political disputes over a even bigger golden goose than i already was.

From what I had learned so far, My Magic Color was Light-purple. When I first tried them out, I seemed to be focused as a sort of generalist Magical girl. with a basic healing spell that I unintentionally used in my previous battle, A basic ranged skill and of course. a Inherent dynamic psionic sixth sense based on the Newtype and the Satori ability from that GensoD20 site. The weapon I also had summoned in my hands looked like a sort of gold-white spear but to which left me no clue... That was. Until just a few days ago.

When I managed to work up the courage and willpower to finally activate my transformation... It wasn't what I was expecting, You see. I was expecting to end up as Sayaka miki due to her knightly nature, Which would fit with the whole French theme-after all. Fandom Alsace had Richelieu's style so why wouldn't i? Failing that. It could have been Sakura or Sailor moon.

But for whatever reason, I ended up as Takamachi Nanoha. That's right. The freaking White devil. and with a couple of add-ons that i didn't expect to see. The design of my outfit was almost identical to Nanoha's but was clearly very faithful to her A's design while also adding in design pieces from her Reflection 'Exelion Mode Modified' barrier jacket and Material-S's Stern combined with... what i guessed was two metal bands on my face that extended into headphones which became my feathered white twintails. It only made sense that my personal device also was Raising heart Exelion which confirmed my suspicions that I was supposed to be the long-range bombardment type. Something which was completely in my line with my nature as a fast battleship.

I blame Amancai for that mindset of mine when it came to being a full-blown Mahou Shoujo fan.

It got odd from there however, When I looked closer. Homura's soul gem was on my left arm. but for whatever reason it was mirrored on my right hand. Where Nanoha's undershirt should have been. It also was replaced by her signature long-sleeved white coat and I even had Homura's time shield mounted on my left arm. Much to my disappointment, when I tried turning it. It did nothing other than emitting a beam shield of some sort from the exposed sphere-like gems. It was not quite what I was expecting but it was understandable. given time control would have been too powerful and well... to my relief, My soul gems weren't actually soul gems. just auxiliary power capacitiors for my Magic and that I wasn't a tickling time bomb anytime soon.

The clothes combined was very bulky. but it did match the whole theme of Norfolk's winter clothes (And presumably Homura's unending dedication in the same way that Alsace might have). Besides. a Beam shield that can also be weaponized? That was just a fuck-off to the 'bigger is better' crowds like H44 or A-150 and some of the Maximum Battleships!

Ohohohoho... I like this!... AHAHAHAHAHA!

You should have heard me laughing psychotically and jumping around like a child full of enthusiasm on that day, It was fortunate that noone was around to hear me laughing and cackling like a mad girl at the time... To say the power rushing through me on my transformation was addicting is mild. It felt like I could take on the world all at once and still win!

Excitement.. Euphoria... happiness. They made me shudder. I quickly sobered down at the time when I realized I was still only a newborn by Magical girl standards and nowhere as strong as the actual Nanoha or Homura. But hey. Long-range bombardment spells in my current situation as a Battleship was something I preferred since Fate's or Vita's close-range combat specialty would likely not help me. but more than likely it could even do me more harm since they obviously required me to get too close for sword/hammer combat which was not what a battleship was supposed to be doing. And well. Right now, I didn't want to get into the damn fetish gear that was Vivio's bodysuit (Not to mention the fact she doesn't even have a 'weapon' to say the least!) thank you very much!

I also was unable to select Raising heart's mode as it was stuck in its Exelion spear mode for some reason that I still don't know yet, and there was no intelligent AI inside which recognized me as its user. Still, I did come out well-off on the SI lottery as I was given the ability to use magic. and if my fandom knowledge was even good enough, It might be possible that I could also learn the abilities of the Touhou characters or possibly the other top-tier Nanoha characters... And being somehow related to the Book of darkness or the Sagebrecht Heiliger Kaisers. maybe even Yukari or Hayate and even Madoka as a way to explain my sheer potential would be just boring and dumb. I was already well off enough as it was and being somehow related genetically to interdimensional legacies was something you see in Azur lane Wattpad. That quality...

搜索你的心。 因為你知道這是真的。

And Dorsetshire... While she had gotten attached to me just like she did in the game, Her actions and the fact I never was the elder sibling back in my past life had proven very jarring along with the fact that her constant presence prevented me from transforming without her blowing my Masquerade. Being her role model also didn't help and... She reacted with confusion toward closing myself off to her, I knew the poor woman viewed me as her world's treasure but... For now, I had to keep up the Masquerade since there were too many things to do... When I reveal my true abilities. I would open up to her as the shy dere-dere sister but until then. I am distancing myself from her.

I also learned that the Commander of this port was named 'Blake Lewis'. Not a bad name for what I thought was probably a english one. I still had the options to go rogue but for now... I am staying with them.

彼らはあなたを信用していません。

And so as I was finishing up Gunnery operations with Shropshire. I had been called to Blake's office. The two of us trotted as I let out a sigh, internally groaning in dissatisfaction from keeping myself on a leash since my powers wanted to be let out... To bath everything with light. But doing that in the middle of so many witnesses was obviously suicide for my facade. Still. I kept my powers bottled up without so much as a flinch in my walk.

"What is i-it?" I asked as i noticed Shropshire figured what was up. given that subtle grin and her constant glancing toward my direction which my sixth sense had picked up to.

"Nothing. Norfolk-chan~." She said with a dismissive shake of her head, I just turned my head away and let it slide for now.

We reached Blake's office. from the outside the decorations were not cheap for what could have been a Vice admiral from my guess. Shropshire knocked on the door and with it the words of "Come in." followed shortly by my mentor and substitute-oneechan doing the honors of opening the door and stepping in.

One of the other things that I had quickly caught on to was proper military gesturing. Which is a way to say that I was capable of saluting without subtle errors in my pose when doing it... But I was still very rebellious.

"Shropshire. Norfolk 'Alsace'. Thank you for coming." Lewis said from his desk, returning the salute. Washington at the left also saluted. There was something that made my sixth sense stand on a hair trigger. but I couldn't find any reason as to why.

"Did something happen. Commander~?" Shropshire asked. clearly trying to act cute as i did my best to listen to any other sounds outside, Gathering intelligence was something i wasn't averse to and in the event I wanted to dig into Azur lane's deeper secrets... He motioned to the two chairs in front of the big-looking table. Without hesitation (I knew not to make this too difficult) I sat down in one of the chairs with swift motion. "Shropshire. If you wouldn't mind going and fetching something for our guest?"

Shropshire only nodded cheerfully. snapping another cute look before she slipped out of the office.

"Alright. then." Blake said, handing me the sheet of paper. "On the paper you will find the options we have offered you so far in regards to your requests. I figured you would want to have a say even if the Marine nationale were to disagree with me."

Looking through the list. there was so many options.

Royal Navy (British Command)

Eagle Union (United States Navy)

Ironblood (Deutsche Marine)

Iris Libre (Marine Nationale)

Sakura Empire (Japanese Self Defense Forces)

And quite the brochure menu i had. I looked up the proposed name for me in the Iris libre. I can only guess that the French never really gave names to the Alsace-class before things went down when Paris fell and that even now, they still couldn't think up of much. I did have a sibling and cousins. but it felt strange being the only one of my 'class'.

"S-so its the choice to select which country I want to b-be in?" I asked to try and draw this out because I was trying to pick one that suited my long-term strategic interests and to be honest, I didn't feel comfortable being with a bunch of religious fanatics.

"Among other things, yes." Blake confirmed. "So, Anything come to mind?"

I gave the list a few more passes... Damn it... Hmm... When in doubt, Go along with the country that you were originally supposed to be and would have the highest chance of being familiar with. complete with a sister to boot.

"R-Royal navy?" I squeaked out.

"And that is your choice?" He pressed.

I gave no movements. putting the list back onto the desk. "Might as w-well be. Nothing really comes to mind."

Lewis gave me a nod, "Well then. We will go with that." He turned his look on the door. "Shropshire, Would you bring it in here. please?" The door opened and Shropshire burst in holding a tray with glasses and... well. What I thought to be birthday cake.

"Got what you asked for. Sir!" Shropshire cheered. Walking over and placing the tray on the desk, I might not be used yet to social traditions right now. But I was no stranger to what cake looked like. Exposure through memories alone had made sure of that combined with regrets.

Blake stood. took the lighter and expertly ignited the candles. Then he motioned for me to stand, come around his desk and held out his hand. I took his hand (while trying to suppress the butterflies in my heart) and shook it and he gave me a smile. "Welcome to Azur lane. Battleship Norfolk." He said, Turning around and motioning for me to blow out the candles. "Since you were 'born' spontaneously with no explainable cause. I figured that cake celebrations would be more fitting."

I took the glass. eyeing the milk sloshing around. "H-huh." I muttered. considering the idea of just drinking the stuff before I decided to screw it. Washington and Shropshire had since took their own drinks and quickly joined Blake in my birthday party (I think?).

Then I blew out the candles just as they all took a drink.

It made me just realize as to how many birthdays i had missed out... Now that I had a second life here, I wasn't going to let them go to waste again.

"Now. we can officially call the matter of command resolved." Blake started. "Vestal told me this morning that she's gotten everything ready for you. Norfolk." In the midst of me greedily digging into my cake (Holy hot damn. It must have cost a fortune!) I almost swore he told me to simply refer to myself as Norfolk and not Alsace. Not that I blamed him, The Royal navy would not like if their heavy cruiser was to start behaving french again. "You are to report at Noon. but for now. enjoy the rest of your day."

"Not yet. sir." Washington spoke up. placing her own cup back onto the tray. "There is still one thing that she needs to do first." What was it again? "Shropshire. Go ahead and tell everyone else to get ready." She ordered and here I was now, left with Washington's eyes staring into my soul and my sixth sense screaming like it was on fire.

Looks like this wasn't even the beginning yet.

Chapter Text

"Confidence born of ignorance, the cycle cannot be broken."-Sovereign

Washington led me through the corridors and halls of this militarized town (as I would call it) at a fast pace. I was honestly glad that my ability to use Magic also had a passive enhancing effect to my physiology because I could easily keep pace with her without being winded. It didn't change the feeling of uneasiness that was going on with my clairvoyance sixth sense though. Washington was someone who took combat seriously for all the issues of the North Carolinas being originally designed to 356mm guns and with that in mind a armor scheme against these same guns. Unless you were North carolina herself, I still thought that this seemed very odd for her to be doing.

Where Washington was leading me however, it took a long time. so It left me room for thoughts. thoughts that would begin to wander elsewhere as I listened to anyone talking if possible. hoping to gather information that may be of use at a later date. The cake was being moved elsewhere much to my sadness, and already my mouth was dirty with cake from trying to greedily eat so much of it.

Being someone who knew the game, even if I had to get translations to do so. Many would have expected me to start changing things, But the sad truth is. I am not a Obi-wan when it comes to influence. and I can't just try and 'befriend' the entire United Nations assembly. That would only likely end with my death.

Basic training along with the internet had gave me some clues when I got the chance, Previously. I had considered using Raising heart before to search for any internet access points and link to them. Search everything and add them to my memories, but... I decided against it, Namely because I had no idea if a Intelligent device without a AI could do it. and secondly. I had no clue if something like that can be tracked back to me. and thirdly. I didn't want to find out if it was possible for viruses to seriously mess with me. especially my digital systems.

What I did find out is that there was the opening salvos of this war which lasted for a few weeks. of the 14-Day first strikes orchestrated by submarines and carriers that managed to put a serious dent into the UN's ability to defend, but which also alerted the entire world to what they were facing off against. There were a few ports in America that handled the majority of its oil imports. Destroy these, and by doing so. you would be able to effectively cripple them. Canadian tar sands were no useful replacement unless you wanted the economy to implode. and of course the EU was in a state of disagreements, possibly caused by Siren agents further pushing Germany (and more than likely japan) further and further down the right-wing spectrum. but these were my speculations on that one.

My 'home' country. the United Kingdom was doing relatively fine, but the idiots there were destroying it from the inside out. It didn't shock me one bit, after all. if you can get them to believe that you offer a super-simple solution to all of their problems, then they are stupid enough to not see that their social welfare systems and prosperity was being dismantled by you and the profits funneled up to your backers and shareholders.

As a Magical girl. I was supposed to protect the world and its residents, but if these same morons didn't care about you one bit until it affected them. pretending your health problems didn't exist until it was time to cut you loose from the military into the homeless streets and were even ironic enough as migrants to vote against immigration. Then I had to admit, I would care more about two highly skilled workers dying than a entire family and hundreds of children being slaughtered at a hospital painfully from a bunch of hospitals just because the local Magical girl there was too depressed to even work up the will to fight.

But at the same time, Azur lane wasn't that stupid. right? Shipgirls were your main fighting force. so you provided them with Civ comforts. after all, you wanted shipgirls that could fight on-demand at peak performance rather than one who was out of action because she started going psychotic at the sound of even so much as a cannon firing. right? Perhaps I should wait and observe...

After all. I was Norfolk and Alsace with modern weapons, Right? It didn't make too much sense to be mistreating your golden goose who held the secret to overthrowing the current power of balance (Until your petty rivals caught up that was) with drill sergeants and hellish conditions when you could simply accept her needs and have her be content instead of risking the most monstrous political suicide in history? I also got the feeling Dorsetshire would be mad at me being unhappy from a cause. Be it from Azur lane or something else. And once there was Magic, all bets were off.

And yet, My sixth sense still feels uneasy. I kept up my pace with Washington toward a room and kept my eyes open for any interesting information but... I couldn't help but feel a foreboding sense of anxiety and the feeling something big was going to happen in that room. the presence of what felt like multiple people in there didn't take much off my mind.

Finally we reached our destination, snapping me out of my thoughts and Washington actually stopped to hold the door open for me. Very british-like. "W-what are we doing here?" I asked. the Norfolk part of me was making my more blunt and casual personality... gentler and submissive.

Washington just shot me her trademark smile. "See for yourself." She gave a nod toward the doorway, Sighing as I restrained my need to unleash my transformation. I stepped into the room. my sixth sense sparkling...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

I nearly jumped into the ceiling when at least 20+ shipgirls all shouted at the same time. Holy mother of god! "Motherfucking...!" I muttered as my clairvoyance screamed at me like a banshee and my core pulsed in my chest.

"You okay there Norfolk?" Shropshire asked, Giggling. I was very tempted to start screaming obscurities at her and fire a Starlight breaker. I didn't when I noticed that the destroyers were all in the first row. Some of the Zs were all grouped in front of Repulse. who was next to Shropshire in the front. above the happy committee was... What was that again? A banner that read out "Happy birthday" with my historical name written in hastily scrawled markers/brushes below it.

The room was all set for a big party. Foldout tables had been set up for a buffet line. with snacks, the cake from before. food and... Was that another cake? There was also a punch bowl as my memories as Norfolk fed me that piece of information in a attempt to recognize it. bulk packs of juice boxes and much to my glee. lots of cola.

"Geeee..." I breathed. taking a look around the room. "Was... this all for me?" My sixth sense began to calm down and with it the aggression in my heart as it was replaced with a smile and some pity (Why would they need to spend so much?).

"Of course it is." Washington confirmed after she had followed me into the room. "We thought that after everything, We hadn't really given you a proper welcome. Considering that today is important. We figured this would be a good time as any to make up for it."

"So. Come on! 'Lsace!'" Shropshire cheerfully said with my Class name to my slight irritation. wrapping her arm around my neck, That alone had to have taken some skill seeing as I was obviously shorter than her. or worse could have accidentally punted me into a table. "Enjoy it to your heart's content."

"Just give me popcorn and i am happy for w-whatever..." I said, struggling to hold back the blush that was growing at my cheeks. Shropshire smiled and started dragging me toward the food table. Which just so happened to lead me into the flotilla of shipgirls that were attending. Though I noticed that when I looked closely there was a face missing from the crowd of people congratulating me. Where was... My mind just braked to a grinding halt as I just realized that the County class were here. but... Dorsetshire was not, Hold on. I was not the Norfolk sub-class. right?

"BIG SISSSS!" A familiar oneesan-sounding voice shouted above the crowd. I turned to see Dorsetshire standing on one of the couches in the room (which I was slowly suspecting to be recreation more and more by the minute) with a big. stupid smile on her face after waiting for her sister for so long... and stood up like a hungry-looking Yukari. I stared at her, then glanced back to Shropshire and her again who was wearing the most happy-looking smile I think I've ever seen. Oh no...

"I've been waiting for you for so long!" She shouted "You're finally here. Big sister!"

Now considering the extent of my interactions with her was only "Stay distant from her and try not to talk much when possible" I was pretty damn sure that Dorsetshire was going to crush me in a hug. I was not interested in panicking during my own party.

So I turned and bolted, trying to weave as I bumped into Kent. Repulse cried out at Dorsetshire to not get so eager, trying to grab the heavy cruiser as she slipped by. I tried to run off only to feel the heavy cruiser wrap me up in a hug as I responded promptly with a cry and began squirming to try and get out of her grip.

"S-Stop!" I called out as my little sister seemed confused as to why I was telling her to not hug me. Shropshire approaching... Just as I turned my head to look at her with a stare that told I was obviously not liking this. I was done with being shy for this once. "You've scaring me!" I sharply said. before a unhappy-looking Repulse and Washington stepped into view. You could see Dorsetshire's face looking like she didn't want to. but relenting as I was put down.

Maybe I should just hold off on dropping my Facade more... If Dorsetshire really sees me as someone to be like. she was more reasonable than Portland, sure. But just how quickly would her opinions change once I really could and I can use superpowers or literal magic? Now that was something I did not want to think about unless I wanted her to constantly follow me around on why i am the best.

After telling tales of my history as HMS Norfolk and the general history of the Alsace-class battleships. as well as venturing into Vietnam war and Gulf war stories sometimes thanks to my modern systems giving me a excuse to do so. We began playing on a multiplayer game of so. Several. maybe 13 of us were active. Most. if not almost all tended to be destroyers but there were a few cruisers in and Repulse was trying after prodding her. I was going to admit, golfing took me back to my child days. I was gonna be up against Jersey after the current golfing session that Leander and a bunch of other destroyers were currently playing. The first round had already passed where my long-back memories of the Golf game still wasn't enough... But my Sixth sense again helped me crutch very hard and come out on top against Z1. Yeah, She didn't take that loss too well...

Remind me again about Ironblood engineering when they couldn't even get it right with actual modern battleship designs let alone S-band RADAR? Their pionnering concepts and practical simplification of the first jet engines however I say that goes to them. as well as some clever tricks like the R4m rockets and a prototype for cheap light fighters like the He-162. V1 cruise missiles and plans for a 'wooden round' Porsche jet engine did also count.

Repulse had already dealt with Dorsetshire after the failed attempt to smother me. The verbal argument wasn't really anything special, It was her words about how she should still understand what I felt about her... Now that was fodder for my mind to think about. I glanced away as Ardent messed up her shot and Koln got a Eagle. placing her ahead by a few numbers of so, sitting from the group. unhappy and pouting with her arms crossed as she stared at us was Dorsetshire.

Yes, Repulse had told Dorsetshire to not harm me when it was clear I didn't want it.

I knew I shouldn't find that funny. But seeing my sister get told to not disturb me like an unruly child was funny to me. for some reason.

"AGH! NO!" Dewey shouted as the session ended. Ardent whooped and Koln cheered as the blonde destroyer jumped up onto the seat. holding her controller high above her head in victory. Shropshire pretty much had to pull the destroyer back down onto the floor to get her to stop bumping into anyone along us, A slightly unhappy Union destroyer took her leave while four of us began preparing for our sessions.

I got my controller as I took a deep breath to calm myself. This reminded me so much of when my sibling's friends would come over for a Wii party complete with ramen and drinks. Z19 stared at me like a rival. "Ready to get your bow kicked?"

"I don't know.." I said. "Y-You going to put your effort where i-it counts. or are your foghorns louder than your torpedoes?" That made her stare at me for a long. silent moment, before slowly turning her attention back at the screen.

"Oh. I will!"

Boy. this whole RN and Kriegsmarine rivalry and wehraboo and freeaboo stupidity never really changes. Then again, I had just ate so much damn cake in the last hour of so that I was feeling pretty slow as well. I had to revise my strategic options given Azur lane may still do something to me if they found out about my powers. But, I was sated and happy... For now.

"Come in."

Behind a figure. someone walked in, The figure saluted at her. her uniform gleaming with decorations as she pulled a table over to sit down.

"As you may have known, We've received reports of disappearances of a few of our patrol fleets." She explained. her eyes shining in the Noon sunlight. "The only real evidence of this new enemy is from a radio burst that we caught briefly, Strangely enough. the transmissions. Which we believe are distress signals were asking for Warsaw pact or NATO assistance, and as we know. the Warsaw pact does not exist today, not anymore. And neither do our enemies use a shipgirl that was constructed during the Cold war years. Not yet." The girl gestured and motioned with her hands. practiced and on reflex alone from her days as a commander.

"So. What do we have on our newest enemy shipgirl?" The figure who was sitting asked. as the other gave her response.

"According to reports on this new shipgirl. We know that she may be the Alsace-class battleship. Command believes that she was responsible for multiple disappearances of escort carrier and hunter-killer squadrons throughout the contested frontlines. Until now, That was her only major victories." Her prognosis was pessimistic. mirrored by her expression. "It is the belief of our Intelligence specialists that these initial victories were achieved mostly by surprise or through overwhelming firepower. Culminating in her true limits being tested in a major battle between one of our task forces and a Azur lane fleet. Without her. the losses would likely not have been as catastrophic." The figure in the chair snorted as she heard all of this.

Finally. she decided to speak up. "Do we have anything about her that suggests advanced sensors and weapons?"

"It is where i bring bad news." The girl who saluted said. "From accounts of the battle, Our estimates are... She was confirmed to be using anti-ship missiles. specifically the Exocets from some of the task force's survivors. Jet fighters that highly resembled the MiG-29 and bombers that were all but the A-7 Corsair IIs and from our downed patrol aircraft. anti-aircraft missiles and proximity fused ammunition." The presumably intelligence specialist added. "Broken accounts also highly suggest that her sensors are modern RADARs and electronics. as she was somehow landing hits on our forces with a uncannily high precision."

"Anything else?" The girl in the chair said. The intelligence specialist herself struggled to form the words, but shaking her head. she worked up the will to do so.

"I am not sure we should use the word... but..." She hesitated before stuttering out. "If one of our accounts was right... She was using something like magic. Actual magic. Ranged fireball-like projectiles and even some kind of regeneration factor. She also showed the ability to even use and launch aircraft even though the Alsace-class battleships were not battlecarriers. which again would suggest some kind of impossible hammerspace-like ability, We've currently working out what she was using... But we still don't understand what happened. We've likely facing a extremely dangerous modernized shipgirl."

"Hmm..." The girl in the chair held her chin as she slumped over on the table. A idea forming in her head. "It seems we've dealing with a modern warship. and one who can somehow draw on Magic as hard as it is to believe. However, If we can work out how to replicate that... I have a idea." The girl in the chair picked up the telephone's handle. dialing in the numbers as she contemplated the new possibilities.

Chapter Text

"As someone from a country with conscription and was conscripted, I would say good for them. Conscripts are often treated the worst by the military and in case of war, more often than not treated as cannon fodder. If you try to escape conscription, the law will come down hard on you."-Unknown

The Mark IV 406mm Cannons were to equip the Lion-class battleships. They would have fired a new APCBC shell. They are used by Norfolk due to the lack of accessible data for the French 406mm gun projects. However, they differ heavily from the original. as they rely on Electrothermal-chemical ignition and advanced flywheel capacitors and Compulsators to store the necessary charge for doing so. Exact data is locked behind databank security, but what little can be recovered will be shown.

Laser rangefinder. TV. IR. Light Amplification Capable
Equipped with Weibel and RSL Muzzle Velocity RADARs

Coupled to Fire control RADARs (Zhuk-M). If visual contact is lost. will still operate at reduced efficiency. Not spoofed by sea-skimmers. Fully computerised.
In addition to APC and HE shells. Can fire Radar Excalibur/krasnopol shells. Mark-ER Sabot shells. A generic M549/XM1113 RAP shell(Incendiary!) enhanced with magitech (50% increase). Bd Z 5121 Krupp K5 Sabot shells. AP versions are available.

APC as fired:946 m/s. As fired in standard Type-D ETC Mode. 1392 m/s.

Propellant:Gun Propellant ESP with Increased Loading Densities and additives. Electrical-controlled combustion with conversion of propelling gas and modified powder charge. (Magazine critical hit impossible). FLARE Ignition
Accuracy is mentioned to be higher than the Iowa's modernized guns due to Electrothermal ignition and temperature elimination by consistent plasma ignition. and goes even higher in Type D mode.
Barrel life self-repairs over time. but is decided by FER rating.
Energetic additives may improve impetus (slight reduction in IM properties).
Higher volumetric loading may counter deficit in impetus.

Maximum Bombardment range as armed with XM1113 and Type-D mode:100-122 km.
Explosive charge:PBXN-05? When transformed. Shell body and explosives begin to behave like unstable Reactive Liners or Super-thermites rated at 3-6x and shell counts as 20-100 kg. On impact. energy is released as magic energy which causes massive damage to the target.-Norfolk's Databanks

You may be wondering why I am stuck in this party with several loliboats. a big-chested battlecruiser and a heavy cruiser that is definitely not a knockoff of Miyako from Wataten together with a battleship-turned-heavy-cruiser with freakish powers capable of razing a entire island to the ground? Well, if there was one thing about me that never changed. and never could, it was my love for video games to distract me to the point i spent several hours in just one run. And without modern powerhouse computers. i had to make-do with what i had, which meant right now... I was on the Wii.

"What!? How!?" Z19 shouted in mild panic and despair as I leapfrogged over her score into the next golf stage. I was struggling not to laugh because for some reason it was funny to tme and secondly because getting to see a shipgirl in-person instead of the TV screen only uped up the factor for me. I am pretty sure she's not actually mad. but she looked like she could've been. "What was that? How did you do that!?"

"Heheheheh...You mean... a eagle?" I managed to say between my muffled giggles that sounded more like a goat than anything else. "Because the french house premiere golfing courses...?" I asked at her genuinely confused expression. again pulling another piece of data from my databanks, hissing as i felt a small headache growing on.

"...No?"

I started laughing like some of these youtubers when they discovered T-posing NPCs in cyberpunk or broke resident evil 2 with trainers because holy mother of god this was building up in my chest! Also, because now it was my turn to make a comeback from my early days! Even if i am not that much of a ace at golf. I can still try to predict where it will go with how much power is behind my swing!

"Cheats!" Echo suddenly shouted. getting up to her feet and pointing an accusatory finger at me. Good to know that even i am not entirely in the clear here. "You cheated! Just because you're a battleship doesn't mean you can just resort to landing shots like that!"

"I think you mean 'exploits?'" Z25 pointed out. Echo flushed red and slowly wilted under her own embarrassment at messing up her wording.

I enacted to not say anything because given the presence of Koln in the room (and the possibility Bismarck might be nearby) it would not look very well for me to start goat-laughing at a destroyer. Especially not at a Ironblood destroyer since Koln was still in the room and I am not going to find out whether her cruiser shipgirl instincts demand that she smash my head in with her chair. which would more than likely lead to me pulverizing her into the ceiling above and a not-happy King George V walking in what just happened. Thinking of a way out. Maybe I could obfuscate my sixth sense as instead something I just got a feel for?

"Some p-people just have more of a feel for it than others. other times it's just pure luck, or it could be pure... instinct. All you need to do is to get the precision in your swing down. E-Echo chan." Truth be told, I actually don't know as to whether it's my past memories as a actual ship. my sixth sense in effect or both covering for me. I knew my psychic powers were in play here. but since I didn't play golf on the Wii games very often and had stopped years ago. something wasn't normal either.

Echo buried her face in her hands and let out a frustrated groan. In fairness, Echo was not a bad player. and I needed to break out the old bags of sheer determination and saltiness about losing to crutch out a win hard. so wrapped up she was in dealing with her loss at a greenhorn shipgirl that she missed Dewey grabbing the controller from her lap.

I turned around on my body, reached out again with my sixth sense for the 'presence' of any active objects around me. and I just noticed that Glorious was in here with us. watching the whole tournament play out. I only caught a glimpse of her in my new eyes (I had not let off the satisfaction of knowing that i could see at a distance again. and without the bruises under my eyes from lack of sleep). But she was standing at a comfortable distance and sipping from a glass of... something? I don't know if it's genuine interest at whatever the group is doing or just her destroyercon tendencies stirring awake from their slumber.

Then again. I don't know what's normal anymore, Especially when you've supposed to be a heavy cruiser. but instead you ended up with abilities that put even Orochi to shame. Oh, and it turns you into a superpowered magic-wielding super-heroine girl decked out in a frilly costume of justice. complete with some saltiness thrown in from Homura's side and mixed up with the power of friendship fired from a handheld wave-motion gun. Oh, and there's a evil organiztaion to fight in the form of Sirens. and I have something of a heroic introduction myself already given how weird i am to Azur lane. so there's that too. I wasn't full dark-on-magical girl yet like Homu-homu. but at the same time things are much more dangerous than it was for Nanoha. yet I still looked like i could belong in a Shonen anime. Oh, and i had real magic. too in a unholy fusion of science and magic.

Alas. I believe most would say things are not right, especially when i have the precognitive and clarivoyance dynamic psychic abilities of the Touhou Satori. the overkill energy attacks of Nanoha complete with Barrier Jacket Defense screens capable of even shattering 20-inch shells on impact. the repurposed time shield of one of Madoka's most infamous characters. Neptunia's ability to learn new skills as if i was in a JRPG. and the potential of more powerful and specialized abilities like Neptunia's or Touhou's later on or what Nanoha did with new attacks. and yet i don't have any archetype monsters or aliens to fight. But i am still a 'newborn' at this stage. even if i have enough strength to simply bulldoze a bunch of Yamatos into the ground. Still, can you imagine the magic potential alone in hundreds of crew members pooling their magic together?

At least thank god i am not wearing Vivio's fetish-gear suit. But I would have knew if i did, Being related to the Book of darkness 'bloodline' would have meant my hair would have likely turned white and my eyes red. Being related to the Saint kings meant my body would be a living weapon compared to even Kanmusus/Kansens. complete with a rainbow magic color in the form of the Kaiserfabe and obviously. her armor. Norfolk's light-brown hair and my standard magic color was not a close ringer for the blondes. and things being as they were, I was likely more closer to someone aspiring to be Nanoha but still Homu in heart more than someone who descended from one of the families of a massive empire.

I am not in a cute costume either. although it would be hilarious to beat the living hell out of a laughing New Jersey or Prince of wales. as obnoxiously dangerous and stupid as it would be for my Masquerade and that it would give them a reason to put me on the dismantling table. what's funnier about that one is that Meruru from Stardust witch is voiced by the same person that voices Nanoha... and also has overkill attacks of its own.

Then again, That doesn't take into account the possibility someone had created a loophole and exploited the hell out of it much to my expense. or something even more dumber and horrifying even if I didn't want to think about the implications myself. Or the chance that i am jinxing myself as someone who reads TG/TF captions and Evangelion self-insert fics a lot. including the one with the tennage dummy plug. Oh, and has a weird fascination with megastructures and warthunder as well as everything magitech-related. especially if science can be applied to combine technology and magic into something greater than the sum of its parts.

Deciding I finally had enough and since I wanted to enjoy myself and the present. I stood up and tossed my controller to the next contestant. "I am out. S-shropshire chan. t-take over my place. will you?" The cruiser deftly caught it out of the air before swiftly plonking herself down next to Ardent. as I walked forward I gave Glorious a quick acknowledging stare. She quickly turned her gaze away, but I could tell with my sixth sense (Admittingly. I was highly inexperienced in that field) that she was struggling to not keep her eyes on the destroyers. Yeah, I can say that's downgraded Ark royal tendencies here.

And that was about when we were all reminded just how good Ardent was for managing to hold her own against my score. The girl's amount of pars and scores did not let Shropshire catch up quickly. who was nervous herself, I felt bad for the teasing heavy cruiser because damn. son! That's got to hurt!

"Ah...god...fuck..!" I hastily muttered under my shaking hands as I was losing the lead in the map. At some point we had changed over to the Mario party series and... Well, Normally. let's just say I would have tried to delay and slow Ardent down instead of leading her on a merry chase around the stage. but we were both down to our last turns and we were deadlocked. I was not in a good position, but my sixth sense and predictive abilities were on my side. I only barely registered the other girls on their edges to see who was going to come out on top from this rivalry.

"Feeling pressure. Norfolk?" Ardent taunted me, a sudden good dice count on her side meant she wasn't far from behind. I had to catch up to the games. and i still had to deal with my other side that wants to vaporize everything in this room with a gleeful Divine buster to the face. So now I was dealing with A. a competent opponent and B. trying not to slip and let my guard down.

I took the risk and decided to force a minigame if this was all what it took for the last step... and I nearly messed up that one too. Ardent then managed to drift closer to where I was on, making the possibility of a loss seem ever more likely. I wasn't gonna make it there by any means but I still tried. no matter what. In just a fleeting moment for a second, I saw Ardent let down her guard. and I seized upon that chance.

Ardent had her character narrowly lose like two sprint runners barely crossing the finish line together. The crowd of shipgirls around us started shouting in excitement and anticipation as to whether it worked of not. And I was on the edge of my seat. unable to do anything but watch as outcomes were drawn, numbers were rolled up and the results were...

The whole room erupted into cheers as present shipgirls got up from their seats. I wounded up laying down on my seat out of relieved anxiety from pulling a win. but I did want to congratulate Ardent for her efforts over the din of Kanmusu/Kansen shouting.

I had managed to win this one. I was just in my chair. controllers mashed into my face and mumbling. "Thank god...Augh...ahaha... Norfolk did her best!" I finished with a cheer and a smile on my face. feeling proud of myself for besting the destroyer.

I then downed a full can of cola that I grabbed from a table in one go. I had enough for this day and well... These kind of games were getting pretty damn boring for me.

I might be behaving like a loner a bit hard now that the destroyer's bedtimes were nearing and the cruisers were starting to herd them off for bed. I was holding off since I didn't like taking orders without a reason and well. Being a loli and all that, i tended to migrate to the younger boats a lot. but now it was just capital ships and these cruisers that hadn't went with the others, and so here i am. swinging my legs on a chair as i looked over my shoulder if anyone was watching.

Strange thing about myself. You see, I didn't drink alcohol because i didn't want that stuff ruining me. but the same could not be said for soda. and soda. especially when mixed with pizza or too much food could do the same thing to me by making me feel lightheaded or just feeling faint. As Norfolk. I haven't felt the effect despite the amount of rations i must have engorged myself on. So theoretically, owning to Magical girl and Kanmusu/Kansen physiology. i could drink as much as i needed to. and then simply suppress the symptoms instead of acting like i had just downed a bottle of beer myself.

Not that i am going to test the theory. I am not going to go lawnmowing the food supply because my roommates deserve as much of a break.

Oh and speaking of drunk children. Vestal was here and similarly nursing the bottle as she sat with her fingers. shaking every so often. from the look i saw on her face, the empty glasses. and the random giggling i figured she was probably drunk already.

Just like your other parent.

I must have saw Duke of York spike the... large glass cup...right. punch bowl. pulling a flask out. pour it into the cup. and then quickly stow it after she took a quick glance to scan her around so that noone was watching. She didn't account for my sixth sense but i am not going to risk causing a fight for now.

Repulse looked torn between staring at me (maybe too much) or putting a stop to this. standing in the corner glancing between me and the rest of us. Poor girl was awkward as hell in this. my easy guess is that she's not used to this event and well.. what amounted to a newborn shipgirl and a child-sized one was watching them all even if i was not drinking myself. Considering that Victoria-era britain had many ideas about child purity/Innocence and given she's still a Great War battlecruiser herself. that does not surprise me at the least.

Kaga just scanned the room. meeting everyone's stare with a neutral look and the trademark blank expression she always had. We all saw it, noone cared. Although. it's a experience seeing a real and living kitsune in-person outside of cosplays or TV screens.

Getting back to me and how i was observing everyone with a slight mix of disgust and neutrality. It only took a bit of prompting and curiosity from Shropshire to get me to open up about the 'Solo gun-and-run on the high seas while electronically silent' matter to her and a few other cruisers. I was careful to leave out anything that involved my magical abilities trying to awaken (but failing to) but the question had been asked already.

"Norfolk, how did you manage to evade these fleets. aircraft and submarines all searching for you while you were alone?"

staying silent for half a minute of so. I told them how I engaged my first fleet. scanned my surroundings with RADAR every so once in a while to minimize any emissions for fear of being detected by RWRs out of cautiousness. sent out Jet fighters and Prowlers to scout out my path. and a near-attack on a submarine group that i decided to cancel (which turned out to be Albacore and a KMS submarine. thank god i didn't do that!). Then i went over to how i tried to ambush a fleet before being counter-battery'd and proceeding to return fire with guns directed by muzzle-velocity and targeting RADARs and a pair of Termits. and finally how i ran into the fleet that was apparently looking for me.

"Wow, Geez." Astoria chuckled. "You really like shock and aweing your enemies!" She said. looking at me a bit too onee-sanly for my own comfort.

"I-It's just what you do when you have a firepower advantage." I asked. speech slightly slow. I had made a few mistakes in verb and pronunciation. but nothing too out of place.

She thought about it. Modern wars aren't fought by conscripts anymore. you fight with power projection and force amplification factors. It doesn't help that in some countries. Conscripts are just fresh bodies to be thrown into the path of advancing armored formations. "Huh. guess its obvious."

"But seriously, How did you put it together that you could find us if you were setting on a path randomly?" Houston asked. leaning forward as i pulled my red hood down. feeling relaxed in my current stance.

"Well..." I tried thinking back. now relying on my new shipgirl physiology. "I-I didn't want to die admittedly. but i think at the time that w-when you have aircraft that can also be used as scouts. You have more confidence with them. You don't see two fleets circling of heading toward each other like that unless they are both enemies and preparing to destroy each other. I-It's not as crazy like trying to go underwater without flooding or attacking anything on sight." I explained. "B-But Norfolk thinks there's so many ways it could have gone wrong."

"What?" Shropshire chimed in. shaking her head toward me. a gesture that i didn't flinch to. "S-swimming underwater!? One depth charge and you'd have been forced into the surface!"

"Hmph." I pouted before leaning back in my chair.

Glancing at Vestal over. who looked slumped and... funny-stupid-drunk. I decided to check on her because even my parent didn't drink like that in such a short amount of time. extracting myself from the conversation without ever so much as a goodbye. i cushioned myself on a empty chair besides the repair ship as she drooled away.

"V-Vestal? Are you okay?" I cautiously asked.

"Dunno..." She got out. "J-Just things."

"A-are you okay? Should Norfolk take you back to your room?" I said. forcing down the amount of anger directed at her for substance abuse and trying to pry what made her like that.

"S-Shhhuddd..." Vestal tried to shout. came out more like an whine of some kind. "M..allowed to have m'fun..." I was about to say something. trying to probe her with my sixth sense/dynamic psychic powers when she started going off into a drunk rant of so. "N'body else can... kin... kaindz...do what i do... jiru...errybody has me doing t...stuff!... alwaysss tired and... cant sleep cuz ther's always more work work work... alway's tired and c-c-c-can't do something..." Whoa. the amount of slurring here and dead-drunkedness was off the charts.

"Ohhh...okay...?" I began. Vestal was hammered out of her mind on this one. but from what i've seen in fanfiction sometimes, she usually is the one being overburdened with work or casualties like that one fanfiction about Azur lane's downfall with Fletcher and Yukikaze. That's strange, she should be backed by Akashi. right? "C-can't you just find other people to help you out?"

"Cuz noone else is good because t-they...don't... 'nuff it'd take too long'." She giggled. something i had saw a few times in drunk people. "Long...to train..."

"W-what do you do for fun then?" I aksed. trying to steer her away from using alcohol to dilute her pain. this was a serious problem and one that could impact everyone in the future. It's said that smokers have a hard time quitting because there's a reason behind their addiction. like it's a way to deal with a world that sees you as disposable. or just relief from pain. like Fentanyl users.

"Sigh...can i keep you company?" I asked gently. I wasn't going to drink alcohol but... i could stay with her. given her love lines... well.. as much as of a lolicon this was and *how bad* that would be in a UN scandal if this was ever found out... She still wasn't that over-fetishized unlike Takao. and her demeanor was something i can easily get along with. assuming she's not drunk or abusing drugs of course.

"S-Sureee...Y-You wanted to g-go underwater...righttt?" She pulled herself off the table. tried to sit up before she pitched forward and buried her forehead in my shoulder. I caught her before she slipped off the chair. aided by my inhumanly augmented reflexes and i felt her start to drunkenly pat my back. "Y' know what i am nna do?" she asked. grinning at me like a manical scientist. I just gave her a blank look. "I mmmunnn make you dddd battlesub...!"

I was stuck having to uncomfortably hold Vestal (not aided by the height differences here) to keep her from just falling over as she once again let her forehead flop onto my face and continued patting my back. "Hey... Hey..." She began. "You do you 'kay... like... you s'vived nightmares... right... s' like... let loose an' let me listen to your grievances 'till yer redy to slepppp."

Sigh. might as well behave like a little girl admiral for now. its the least i can do for my wishes to be a loli and the best i can do for Vestal right now. I don't know whether Nanoha drank of not but its safe to assume she doesn't and Junko kaname doesn't. Besides, Magical girls supported each other and even if she's a normal... She still was the one who came up with overhauls for me and...

I don't know what to say. but despite my previous thoughts. It feels like they are growing on me, I still didn't trust the higher ups and especially Bismarck but Repulse... There was something about the starter battlecruiser with her personality and quotes that struck with me. and Vestal wasn't anything like Atago who was borderline yandere and creepy. or the bunny rabbit suit girls who always had over-inflated chests and marketing to appeal to incels and waifu-freaks simping for a commander when in reality they would rather burn theirselves rather than be with a wife-beater or someone who views them as baby-making barefoot wives.

So I stick with Vestal for now even if Repulse holds a place in my heart, because for now this overworked United States Navy Repair ship needs my help. and well... I was entertaining the possibility of romancing her. she might react with worry about how it wasn't allowed but... I didn't need to share that opinion especially if it came from a willing child and... I had issues of my own as well. like my education and my lack of friends and how utterly naive i was socially and both in terms of girlfriends.

I fought down the tears threatening to make theirselves known on my eyes and the urge to drop my facade. stop acting in-character and get into an argument with Kaga about how her philosophy of the strong dominating the weak would ultimately end with her death. or how Atago's approach would end with a rejection and how Duke of York would be discharged for her actions. I wanted to dig deeper into my powerset and my full capabilities. I wanted to find out why the hell I was here in the first place.

But... hey, God. if there's one thing i want to say. you little piece of oppressive crap who lets diseased people on facebook asking for prayer trains and more prayers die while allowing poverty to exist which led to the emergence of Tang Ping. or Laying flat. Don't take Vestal or Repulse away from me.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Notes

Well. I've been grinding away at games. The main problem I am having is deciding what plot this should have. I am still worried about my friend as well. Having to also eat with dad chews away at my focus as well.

To everyone still reading.. Thank you. I am no expert writer by any means. But I do have plenty of other fics to draw on. even if my best potential would still come from co-writing with a friend. Which is why Black Shift is so important for me. (It's still unfinished in its Level One demo form with Amazon and Z35.)

I also need some direct conversation here as well. What I noticed is that there's a lot of follows and favorites. but low review count. I urge everyone who managed to get this far to this chapter to leave some kind of comment about what things you might like to see in the future and just for my suffering. my current psycho-analysis. Anyway. Norfolk Out!

"Hello?"-Someone speaking/'Hello'?-Norfolk's thoughts or Radio comms/Hello?-?

"Mrrhh...mnn.." I grumbled. pulling the covers up over my head when the world came back into focus and Todd-rays decided to filter in through the slight space between the window blinds. It was getting noticeably bright for me. and any attempts to move my body came with a sudden feeling of moving through sludge and I didn't want to wake up right now. Even the mere pressure-like sensation of fleeting sixth sense signatures wasn't enough to make me want to slither around.

I heard pounding at my bedroom door. and I began to grumble. the air going cold around me, that was a sign that my abilities were going otu of control. "Norfolk! Wak~ey! Wak~ey! Rise and shine!" Repulse all but cheered through the doorway. And she had to be in her genki girl mode of all things!? For god's sake! I was just able to warm up my auxiliary systems! She started pounding on the door again. "C'mon! Up and awake!" She repeated. "You gotta be down with Vestal in a half hour. let's go!" Oh. right... I nearly forget about the whole revision to my general capabilities.

Letting out a long. frustrated and sleepy groan I managed to kick off the covers to the end of the bed and finally began to raise my head up from the pillow I called my nest. The interior of my room (Owning to my continuing attempts to avoid Dorsetshire) was sparsely decorated. aside from a desk upon which sat there a cheap consumer/business model laptop likely used by many USN and NATO teachers. a small low table with again a few chairs. a closet to stow clothing and spare blankets. and a spot i had chosen to hide anything i might have discovered about Azur lane so far that would get me in all sorts of trouble.

Feeling my body rapidly entering full alert mode I hauled myself out of bed and made my way to the door. pulling it open shakily just as Repulse was able to knock on it again if her raised fist was any hint to my eyes. She didn't miss the rhythm. "Oh, Good! You're up!" She said. grinning. "You must have slept realllyyyy well in there." I narrowed my eyes at her but didn't correct her. Repulsy know. She freaking knew. and her cheeriness gnawed away at my mood. "Now, C'mon. get dressed! Vestal's waiting for you." Gosh. even if I liked her. I wanted to launch a Starlight breaker straight toward her. maybe get the message to her that I was not happy!

Unless you want to end up on the dismantling table even faster than you can say 'Essex'.

...On second thought. i better not do it.

For me. Getting dressed consisted of... creatively throwing on my official outfit and nothing more. I didn't have much in the ways of any skins (If I had any) and clothes right now aside from a few uniforms currently in stasis. just waiting for something at the closet. so after closing the door firmly and powering up my passive abilities. I started marching down towards the facility.

I assumed my professional-looking face. to think and shield from anyone who might be trying to see what I was thinking. a look of being completely done with something. and the aftermath was not a positive one. In other words, a constant light scowl. Not fitting for someone who was quirky. shy and preferred to slack off but when it came to actually being solid enough to fight a dangerous war and deal with stupidly dangerous ancient relics capable of sterilizing entire continents? It fit.

I.. don't have anything to say about the dream that had happened. let alone my first lucid dream where I was... fully aware of everything. Nanoha's words set a line for the reality of my situation. lurking in the back of my head, I looked down and stared at my hands. inspecting them. They were utterly foreign to me. yet familiar. I again raised my head to eye-level. Norfolk's hands. but they were mine. Not someone's else. My thought patterns were still the same. Whatever I was. I was... just am.

I began to feel the urge to put my hands in any pockets. In all honestly, I was not very reflective before i ended up in my current predicament here. and seeing other young people who had just... given up only added to the problems. In my First Life past. I'd been a typical obedient child born with nothing special until part-way through elementary school. when the Subprime crisis hit and only years later would my dad and mom's financial situations be shattered coupled by a evil twin in the form of struggling when I began to run into other languages. and it had taken outside factors to wake me up to it without having me become a deranged stalinist or over-the-top fascist. On the other hand, I was a heavy cruiser with a name that carried its own heavy weight. Shy as hell and contrary to the expected image of myself. and even with the hazards and risks of a war that practically involved child soldiers. quite kind.

In some ways, Norfolk represented my childhood self... but I like to say that Homura or a calmer Sayaka and maybe Nepgear. represents my current traits better. by far.

It was kind of the easy way out that didn't involve me exercising my newfound metaphorical muscles. but I'd just go with it for now. Keep assessing my current strategic position and stay alert to the ongoings of this port. so to speak. After all, the mechanics of my aborted creation weren't something that was immediately important. but I'd need to be careful with... how i approached life, Everyone didn't have a preformed image of Alsace yet. but when it came to Norfolk... They did have something of a pre-existing image. and I have to try and stick to parts of Norfolk's personality to avoid breaking the facade to anyone I didn't want being shown. The fact that I was supposed to be Alsace and yet I was not. armed with modern weapons. demonstrated impossible carrier abilities. fought my way out... It's not going to be idiot-proof.

The possibility Norfolk got sunk and I was her clone was a possibility. but seeing as that would raise too many implications I considered it unlikely.

Enough searching my feelings. I had business to be elsewhere. and right now if someone needed me, It was Vestal at the facility. At least I was getting improvements today. That was a positive even if modern systems had corrected for any design flaws that might have shown up in Alsace's and Norfolk's classes. Maybe once it was done I might have more freedom and autonomy. Knowing my luck... likely not.

Vestal was calm and composed when I got to the facility. Jeez. Shipgirls sure were capable of recovering quickly from what amounted to noxious sugars. "Did you crash out yesterday?" I said striding into the room. She gave me a flat, baggy-eyed stare before pointing at the chair and what looked like heavy industrial equipment in the other room.

"Norfolk. just get in there and let's get this over with." She said briskly and I obliged. wanting to get this done as quickly as she did. The chair felt weird. but maybe that's because I haven't seen a doctor in such a long time and who knows what shipgirls used? It was even more pronounced with my small size when i began swinging my legs. I squinted at the light from the overhead lamps. I didn't notice just how that without being constantly exposed to light in the white spectrum in my past life that I had gotten rather sensitive. "Hopefully, this will go better than when you just visited Comet without warning..."

Wait. Comet? Hold on...

Oh wait, I forget I was visiting Comet because I had gotten attached to her. Oh fuck. the green-haired idol.

I let out a soft groan. trying to deduce how Vestal was feeling. "D-Damn it." I said. again placing my hand on my chin and nearly slumping over. "I nearly forget about her..."

"Seriously?" Vestal asked as she fiddled with something. Whatever it is, i can only hope my fear doesn't kick in.

"Yes." I admited. dropping my arms to the side. Now that Repulse and Vestal herself was on the scene... She didn't capture my feelings as much as it did, but it was still there. "I am going to have to visit her... m-maybe make up for it."

"Depending on when we're done. You can have dinner with her." Vestal said before she raised and began working with something onto the right side of my vision. I could see Vestal's cranes and various hooks beginning to move. preparing for what i assumed to be a pre-standardized installation of components and parts. It raised some questions for me. Did shipgirls have a sort of 'interior slipspace bubble' that could be treated as having its own space and volume? Was it anything like the pocket hammerspace from Cataclysm? Both of these seemed likely. either that or there was some connection to magic with the presence of a hammerspace.

Is it just me of do i feel sleepy now that I am not on edge and constantly tracking fast-moving objects anymore?

Vestal was leaning over me. bracing herself against me as i was suitably locked in place. "You ready?"

"R-ready as much as i can be." I said shyly. Vestal just coughed before she got to work. Her equipment and cranes started moving. quickly preparing to cut their way through and get to access panels with CNC-like accuracy. as the first welders start operating I stay alert. still concerned about being hurt even if she had done this numerous times before and I had no reason to be so afraid of this.

'This is sort of like Kancolle. but more close-range-combat and visual-focused.'

When everything had been done and over with. I could already feel that something was off. A minor one was that it felt like there was a sort of constant white noise inside my head. Considering this is my test run after the overhaul to make sure nothing was wrong however, I had no relief and had still deployed out. But there was also this... feeling underneath my skin. Like there was something just wrong about this. I hadn't went through anything like sedation and the closest thing I got was in the form of sleep deprivation.

I brought my hands up to my face. noting my surroundings while I was out and about in the water. It was lightly overcast and I had a pretty good view of the open water around the bay. I saw some destroyers out on the water doing artillery drills. My TV and visual systems are not powered on yet and it was too hard for me to try and make out who it was visually unassisted. or differenate their 'presence' signatures with my sixth sense from here.

I sailed around slowly. checking status indicators so that nothing was out of place. Then there was my slightly redesigned official outfit. which hadn't changed too much honestly.

It had a similar style to the old one going with the ribbons for my twintails having changed to a black and gray striped pattern and my winter jacket now had a azure blue-on-black dazzle color. The skrit was the same color. though it now had a red pattern that ran horizonally at thigh-level which I distantly recalled to be a KGV trait. Red armored boots haven't changed much either. and the biggest difference was in the form of my undershirt . which if you saw now had a white. red and blue pattern that heavily reminded me of the KGV Sisters and Richelieu herself. It must be something to do with my status as basically a 'descendant' of the Richelieu-class but other than that. I didn't really change too much visually.

All in all. It was a slight visual improvement over what I have before.

"Well? As nice as it is to have a new camouflage pattern. There's something you almost forget. Radar." She said before motioning at me expectantly. Oh, right. Mark 3 FC. I didn't see that in my 'pseudo-HUD' vision. I reached out for it mentally. noticing how the strain it puts on my mind is starting to get less and less the more I practice. While these early RADARs would never truly replace my Zhuk-M X-band fire control systems. their purpose as main battery directors meant I can free up the Zhuks for other tasks like multiple SARH guidance and directing of the SAKs and the 127mms and to detect periscoping submarines. or if for some reasons the Zhuks went down.

Powering them up. I looked at the RADAR display as Mark 3 began feeding me information. My microprocessors began rendering that on my display-

SURFACECONTACT:DETECTEDBYRADARwhat
ERRORCLUTTERDETECTEDNOMONOPULSELOBESWITCHINGwaitCONTACTSUNKNOWNthisClASSIFYINGASUNKNOWNis
LANDMASSDETECTEDohGPSNOTAVAILABLEgod
SWITCHINGTOFALLBACKCODEhow-?LOADINGOLDDATABASESwhy
INTEGRATINGINTOFIRECONTROLstopNOMAGEUPGRADESDETECTED

"STOP!"

Something akin to AEGIS or open-source software running on Pentium processors listens.

"V-Vestal!? What's happening!?" I shrieked. "What d-did you do!?"

"That's your new radars." she said. firmly. "Don't be scared. let them calibrate and the feeling should go away."

"Is this normal?" I whimpered. still trying to reconcile myself with how blind and... blurry the world seemed now that these backup radars were suffering from clutter and the usual problems that plagued all early radars until the introduction of digital signal processing and monopulse systems. Even CIC was having a hard time trying to make out just what these destroyers were. not without some serious processing power devoted into solving how big the blobs were on the display.

"For girls who didn't have radar at first? Yes." She said. "To be honest, you've not reacting as well as I thought it could."

I shook my head as the feeling of blurryness and mud began to subside slightly. I could still pick up surface contacts and clutter but it was more like a analog. old-time display rather than a blinding overload of having light and mud crush my mind all at once. "I-It feels so weird. so... inaccurate." I commented.

"You have to live with that. SG and what the Eagle union can offer is just outperformed on a massive. massive scale by your own." She replied. Well, You had to be incredibly stupid to not realize Modern radars have had decades of development. look-down-shoot-down coding and physical designing. transistors and phased arrays. plus reliable electronics and good software that can be loaded on a computer rather than having to be physically custom-made for every unit.

"Fine..." I pouted. "They are just backups." I glanced off to my side and noticed the changes to my guns. The secondaries weren't touched. but there were 76mm guns. surrounded by a mix of quad and twin mounted 40mm L/60 Bofors and single and twin 20mm Oerlikons. The main problem here was that while i could provide proximites for 40mms. I searched through my mountain of ammunition and realized there didn't seem to be anything for the 76mms. All of them also did not have their own self-contained RADAR units. but that can be compensated for to some extent by my inherent sixth sense and again digital computers. Still. they would never be capable of killing a sea-skimmer or supersonics.

My torpedo tubes were now increased to quads as well and all were uparmored. These things could be launched against any major capital ship threat. and well... I dare U-556 to come near me when I am bristling with Mark 34s and launching them with accurate reading of her depth and location from SQS-53 without anything like passive and active acoustic quietening. and if i have anything like Mark 31s. hell. even just about any homer? I'd be the bane of anything stupid enough to exchange torpedo and long-lancer fire with me. Not when you had Mark 16s. 17s. hell. even the first Mark 48s. the F17s and the unreliable Tigerfish or angry Swedish Torpedo 613s would be enough of a deterring factor against even Kurfursts. Tirpitzs and Kageros trying to take me out with torpedoes. lest they risk being pursued by homers and enabling me to play keep-away with my longer ranged guns.

That is, assuming I found any homers in my ammunition bunkers.

There was also my hangar. restored to operating capability for floatplanes. Not like I needed them since I had Jet fighters and targeting pods already as a battlecarrier, but hey. If you want some measure of redundancy and when you already have air supremacy anyway...

"The most impressive stuff is under the hood, at least what i am saying myself." Vestal commented. "I figured that while your engines would be strengthened to handle for your extra weight from modern electronics. weapons and support. We could still tune up your pressure fired boilers and improve on them."

I nodded. "Does that mean I am slightly faster?"

Vestal shrugged her shoulders. "Possibly. We'd need to put you through your paces before we can say." Before I could find anything to say Vestal gave me a look that sent my sixth sense into a loop. "But I think you want to say hi to someone first. Who's presently waiting for her Dinner. You seem to take a liking to Comet after all. Norfolk."

Ah. right. Cometie.

Why do I feel the need to hit myself for being that so forgetful when it came to important people? I need to improve on my memory later.

Chapter Text

"Hello?"-Someone speaking/'Hello'?-Norfolk's thoughts or Radio comms/Hello?-?

"Worse of all, if there is a war, after being forced into fighting it through no choice of your own, no one will really give a crap about your life. You are classified as a military combatant and you dying is par for the course. Enemy kills civilians, it's a war crime and morally indefensible. Enemy kills you? Meh. Too bad, you have a rifle in your hands. Not like a rifle can protect me from a missile anymore than civilians in the comfort of their homes."-Unknown

Day 7-10. A entire week of so after arriving to a home chain of command

I took a deep breath before i made my way to the mess hall. balancing around the tray of food I got for myself as i stepped in. It was far less packed than the last time I saw inside. Where there would have been Repulse. cruisers and several destroyers, now there were only just a few. The wallpapers and design reminded me of school cafeterias. which made me wonder if they really thought morale was a big problem with shipgirls.

Sitting just several meters away with her side to me was Comet. I paused, just yawning as I mulled over what I could say to her. I guess that depended on how she felt about me being caught up for what amounted to several days. I saw Comet twist so she could look back at me and my eyes fluttered. I tried to smile at her cutely, but it vanished when she snapped her head forward again. bored.

...Looks like Comet must still remember me.

Well. Might as well take the chance and try to apologize to her. Truthfully, try to be careful with the half-lies here. Sure. I might wind up losing what little bonds I've built up toward her. but it would be better than the pain I end up inflicting when the truth came out if i fabricated it to her face. Worse that could happen here was that she would just be more neutral toward me instead of being disappointed.

"Hey... Comet." I said softly. taking a fwe steps forward. She made a noise of acknowledgement and actually turned her head so that she was glancing at me in the corner of her one eye. I snorted but pressed forward. "I uh. brought some food because I was h-hungry." I set the tray down as I took a seat opposite to her. Thank christ that being a girl, I had far more room and freedom to wiggle around with than if i had been a guy myself. otherwise i would have been hauled out at this point.

When she and I didn't react for about a minute. I sighed and slouched over with my head on the edge of the table. "I..." I started. "N-Name's Norfolk... but I know I forget about you a bit..." She turned her head toward me . That's definitely what she was picking up on. I was sort of hoping it wasn't.

"I am Comet. C-Class destroyer, Norfolk chan..." Her tone was off. she was not genki-girl of upbeat like she did with her quotes. She was just... sad? I can't guess.

"I am not going to make excuses. Comet-chan, that I g-got super busy or something like it... I just got caught up i-in the feeling of being among Dorsetshire. that I am not a heavy cruiser and getting myself in order and..." I finished with a sigh. Even I am not good when it comes to being a acquaintances. Am I? "There's no other way to say it... but I ended up forgetting about you somewhat."

"That's okay..." Comet let out what sounded like a sad noise and looked at my eyes again. I didn't feel good admitting it. But Comet's probably smart enough to have figured it out already. The confirmation must have hurt more for her.

"I am not going to ask for forgiveness... I am not a good flagship, even If I am a heavy cruiser. but that doesn't excuse my poor... performance. I should've checked up on how you were doing instead of just... vanishing for nearly a week." I said. my face giving off a mopey look. the sixth sense feedback only added to my negative emotions. "Maybe I try to be better. It's all i can say. I come by and visit. If they let me, maybe I can hang out with you."

With that said. I leaned forward to try and touch Comet, but when my hand made contact she didn't react. Either it must have left a deeper impact on her than i thought. Or it's lingering reflexes from well. being unpopular and having your popularity hogged up by Cygnet. Knowing how many things tended to go wrong back then, it was probably the former.

I stood up and took my leave. she wasn't receptive. and I wasn't going to get too up in her turbines. "J-just give me some time." I said. before finishing my meal in relative silence and making for the door. When I left the room, Vestal was standing there. and after taking a look at my slightly down face. she frowned, she put a hand on my shoulder as I walked by. "Comet sometimes is like that with everyone, you know. I don't think it's personal."

I shook my head. "B-But what if I messed up?" I said simply. "I want to take a nap..."

Vestal gave my head a soft pat much to my shivering. "Just remember that you've got to be at the docks." She said. I still needed shakedown and performance testing after all. "We've still give you a shakedown test to see how many improvements we did on your overhaul."

"Ahm... I be there." I sighed. feeling my belly twisting. maybe napping off my constant yawning and short sleeping would help me better.

...Geez. I fucked up. just like that one time.

I felt better when I woke up. mainly because I decided that after whatever this shakedown cruise was. I was going to try and keep Comet or Repulse company, Vestal sounds overworked already if her drunken ramblings during the party was anything to go by. She could use the extra set of hands looking after someone else so she could focus on... other things? and once I was on a halfway decent footing with Comet or bond with Repulse. I was going to walk to Blake's office. Pretend to be lost when in reality I was eavesdropping. Map out the base for any possible pressure sensors and security measures and after that, once i've sufficiently developed my esoteric powers. try and steal what secret information I can about the origins of shipgirls.

On the last point. I noted. Azur Lane was doomed to fall apart anyway once the sirens were done with, The major superpowers would no doubt like to go back to petty rivalries and proxy wars and using built-up trust to gather intel on each other and the immediate disbanding of all supranational shipgirl forces back to their national branches. Like myself. And here I don't know if I want to have revenge on them of not for putting me through such torture and pointless swearing of loyalty.

And if i was discovered... Well, who knows how long it was going to be before they set off a Cataclysm Resonance Cascade-level event and end up honking off a bunch of entities they should not have woken up from their slumber. either that, or accidentally set off some old magical or Sailor Cosmos or some other god-level programming in me that would lead to me undergoing Ascension beyond my control and killing everyone in Second Impact all because they tried to analyze and learn from me.

I am not a human anymore either. And at some point the amount of fucks and swearing as a response mechanism to what just happened needs to end... It could have been far more worse if I ended up as a transcendent mutant instead of a Kansen who was. in a manner of way speaking. transcended already with her ability to access magic and designated supposed super-heroine with the whole magical girl icon. despite the severe lack of knowledge about actually knowing how to use stuff. let alone what she was playing with.

I had survived a week in this world to boot. oh, sure. the work is boring as hell. and the quirks of the Kanmusus/Kansens here once you get to see them in real life and not on a phone screen quickly became annoying to your nerves... But i wasn't being shot at or anything and I had it better than some poor enlisted bastard hotbunking with a gay dude not knowing if he will ever get to live another day. I still didn't know everything. How did I get here. anyway?

Speaking of which, I should try buying some books on DND and Harry potter magic systems and read them. hell. even anything to read about Touhou. homebrews. The Force. or interpreting the Sailor moon novels and how their attacks were described. Given how I was effectively capable of ultra-flexibility and able to learn extra-franchise abilities. there is no reason to suggest why I wouldn't be able to learn something like mindreading and far more. Ultimately, the main limitation here was if they could be 'allowed' in a sense or if they were useful for me instead of going against my role as a battleship. or as a solution to a problem that didn't exist yet and my own creativity.

You can't just brute-force your way in into the Pentagon or MI6. even If i was wielding Mami or Nanoha-levels of firepower. it wouldn't take a genius to figure out that was not foreign ops. and once they put together the strange damage caused by energy weapons. appearance and clothes, it could all be traced back to me. and at that point. god knows what happened to me. But Tactical Electrostatic EMP pulses that bypassed physical shielding and hardening. screwing up cameras and making myself disappear in a meatbag's vision using subtle mind-control along with hovering above the ground and hijacking security lock mechanisms with Magic? Now that was much more viable.

Even if I am the last person qualified for this job given my preference to use firepower and shock over being subtle as hell. probably failing mental tests with considerable eccentricity and a tendency to get sad. sometimes just lay in bed and be down. trapped in the body of Norfolk with some (?) genes mixed in from Homu or Nano-chan and Alsace. I was not a hero. or some savior of the world. but I wasn't going to give up on this when it involved such a rude secret to the point that everyone was trying to conceal and cover it up, and the test of my true limits to their full potential.

My superhuman sixth sense told me I had been thinking for a few minutes as I headed toward the docks. Internally, I made a note to myself to start mapping out The Doughnut and any locations holding GSA-Approved security containers. More than likely I would have to hit possibly DAPRA and a whole bunch of government agencies if they were really this worried about the origins of Kansens. as happened with the Lenticular defense missile's distant descendant being so classified that not even the US's top military and civilian space planners knew.

Repulse was just watching me when I exited the building and arrived at the docks. Vestal was already out in the water and from this distance I still made out a questioning look on her face as I approached. taking a quick look around, I reached out again with the Light of my Spirit and felt that I was supposed to be practicing on designated gunnery target markers. A few more buoys were placed in order to create navigation and handling courses. and I made out a pattern that denoted their track. Enterprise was also out there, flight deck on her right arm and bow not deployed yet. Eagle also sat out there in the distance.

Shakedown cruise. mixed in with AA? Now that's my style of high-energy practice!

On the other hand. I wonder how i ended up as some manifestation of a waifu instead of being Always Planning Ahead TM Harem Who Manages To Tame Yanderes Who In Reality Would Kill You commander. how did that even happen... I mean, at least I have beams and utility abilities capable of wrecking crap if I used them right. but my mind wouldn't help but amuse itself with the thought given I had done TG/TF stuff in the past.

I didn't bother waiting for anyone to tell me to do it while I suppressed a snicker. Not even Z23 was here to drill me. Instead I gained a bit of distance before summoning my machinery and... I swear Vestal raised a eyebrow at what she was seeing. 'I wonder if she knew of the proposals to turn Jean Bart during her time with the Allies into a battlecarrier. Full fleet carrier and finally Maximum Triple-A platform?'

"I guess you're taking it well." Vestal said. self-defense cannon at the ready. Enterprise silently turned around and sailed off at cruise speed to get into position. No need to power up RADAR yet that might trip off friendly RWRs or freak out the local garrisons here. or end up resorting to my modern cannons instead of my old-but-still-effective WW2 upgrades yet.

"A-A chance to test out this firepower?" I said confidently. "J-Just count on Norfolk!"

Vestal inclined her head forward. furrowing but still keeping the slight smile on her face. That's... Good? according to my inexperienced social skills? "Just because I gave you even more AA on top of your own borderline CIWs and radar-directed fire doesn't mean you can just start charging in like Washington."

As she turned and established radio communication channels I decided to speak up before the explanation could begin. "So..." I wistfully mumbled. accelerating to slow and increasing. "D-do i run the course. open fire on target markers while under air attack from Enterprise and Eagle there?" I signaled with my finger over to where the carriers in question was paying attention to noone in particular.

"Got it on one. Norfolk." The repair ship confirmed. "This is only your first run though, We keep repeating this until I've felt we have enough data on how you respond with your upgrades. okay? Norfolk?"

"W-Works." I said. nodding quietly. "I-I be d-dumb If I said I didn't...need this course?" I finished with a uneasy tone. unable to say anything else. However, my course of action was already decided on. as my Sixth sense flared with warning as my world sharpened and became more hyper-aware. and already my chest was fluttering in a mix of fear and confidence as I fought down my desire to back away.

Weaving between the first and second navigation buoys. I was looking through a Oerlikon's mount eyes like it was my arm. A quick nudge sent a burst of cannon fire into an unfortunate Sea Gladiator. shredding apart a flimsy fabric wing and sending it twirling into another of its fellows. I blinked and shifted to my original view. laying 100mm guns on target using Mark 3s and these rangefinders. The rest of this wave was out of gun range, but they were closing rapidly.

Main turrets acquired targets in Optical azimuth and RADAR ranging mode. attempting to process range and feed it into my combat-alert sixth sense and digital computers. I was already gifted for calculating ranges even if it in reality it was just my dynamic psychic senses compensating for my helplessness. Now with RADAR in ranging mode I had dialed in the necessary details at about 70% to half of the time I normally would have needed back when I was working with Shropshire. Now to see if it can come close.

All main batteries fired a salvo of large-caliber shells in Type A Electric ignition mode at the target markers directly some distance away from me. I watched impassively as splashes were confirmed. complete with the blurry and imprecise reflections on my Mark 3 RADAR displays. For a brief moment, I wondered if the VHF set would be useful for VLO aircraft of not.

I discarded that nice but impractical thought in an instant and reached out again with my psychic abilities. touching them for an instant and then getting a distant and inaccurate general sense of direction where they were. in the same way an Ant communicated and tasted with its antennas.

It was a interesting passive inherent ability. I'll admit that much, The ability to sense and 'visualize' the world in a wireframe way even If i closed my eyes and of course uncannily sense incoming weapons fire and hostile intentions in the form of an uneasy feeling. along with a form of influencing my projectiles in a form of semi-guidance was something I could easily exploit if needed. I would have continued firing on the target markers. maneuvering and micromanaging when something caught my attention.

Multiple VHF RADAR and Optical contacts complete with my warning sixth sense going from paranoia in my chest to now a beep repeating in my mind. A Fighter Squadron of Staffel (Germany) strength and SBDs led by a Wildcat with a distinct signature to my sixth sense with some Skuas following behind.

Enterprise.

Immediately. I began to turnabout my heavy and medium AAA suite at the twin squadrons.

Eight Wildcats. Four SBDs, Seven Skuas. VF-10 'Grim Reapers'. VF-6 and 813/824 Squadron. Only one, or Two was a real threat.

"Focus all fire on the USN aircraft!" With that. I designated the leader as a high priority target.

Digital computers responded. Acknowledgements filled my readouts as I selected the Mark 1 Twins and Mark 2 Quadruples all armed with modern day PFHE while only a few of my 76mm guns were able to traverse in time. A deadly crossfire was created. engulfing the fighters and dive bombers.

'Is this really enough?' I thought to myself. 'Knowing my luck. some of them will get through even if I turned myself into a floating battery with tonnage upon tonnage of 60mm class cannons!'

I swallowed down my worries.

Several orange flashes and puffs of black gray smoke mixed in with a few tracers from 76mms signified that my short-range components of my IADs had scored several victims right off the chopping block and I rather hoped that would be the end of that. But I jinxed myself with my luck.

Surviving wildcats and three SBDs plowed right through. Proximity explosions lighting up at the edge of their effective bursting radius with unnatural handling. behind them, Skuas imitated their patterns. though for most. it had limited success, I ignored them for now and focused on managing the battlespace.

A few tens of Oerlikon barrels were now aimed at them. complete with 40mm L/60 barrels and 76mms. The sheer amount of proximity fuses. contact-action and Time fuses being thrown at Enterprise's fighters was nothing short of incredible. the fact that they keep evading and limiting incoming damage was just amazing. I made a note to record it mentally for later. Perhaps I could recall the weaving and maneuvering patterns of these enemy aircraft units to give an balancing edge?

They now came for an attack run and within optimal effective range of my vintage Bofors. A few mounts claimed over a dozen kills, only for them to run out of non-evading targets. The first surviving one released the bomb. And for a second I froze up seeing my death on top of me, It felt too much like being under pressure by roaming aviation units again. I shook myself out of it, noting how the bomb's trajectory was off target. For all of Enterprise's luck and skills. the bomber had been trying so hard to avoid my PF-fuzed fire that it hadn't been able to sight properly. The bomb missed out into the water nearby. throwing up a column of dyed water.

Some of it got on me, but it was mostly water. I didn't care much. Dyes they can wear off. Hull breaches however won't.

The second and third were met with similar results in the release phase. The sheer volume of proximity fuse explosions and Oerlikon fire coming up at them was throwing off their aim. Bogey two got off worse than the others, suffering a nasty 40mm explosion that just so happened to detonate near the engine. The radial died out, its pistons and rods riddled with too many fragments. Good thing this was just a shakedown test, otherwise I might actually feel unhappy about eviscerating parts of Enterprise's aviation units.

I again extended my mind out toward the carrier in question. Was it just me, or did I just feel a slight furrowing of her eyebrow on her otherwise concentrated face?

No time to dwell on that. I needed to watch out for the second wave as I turned my attention back to the targets on the water. The closest free-floating target now was blown apart by the shattering effect of a 406mm shell. I'll admit to being glad to at least be getting a steady hit rate. but It was also the one closest to me. Knowing me and ballistics, there'd be a noticeable decrease in accuracy as I was forced to start accounting for range factors. I know that's a thing with dispersion. but for me and without laser rangefinding it's more acute.

According to my optics and TV sensors plus battle software. The trajectory of the second wave was predicted to skim along the hull of my ship before attempting to lay down small bombs and suppression fire on my superstructure. The projected paths all posed considerable challenges to even medium AAA systems and would overwhelm the slow reaction times of the heavy 76mm guns.

How fortunate for me that I am a Kanmusu who has Clairvoyance capabilities and a mountain of Cold war era ammunition to go with it. A mountain that needed to be used.

I sighted up the next target slightly further out. main turrets were trained on target. rangefinders were feeding data into my computers, augmented by my psychic abiliies... I pulled the electric triggers metaphorically and fired.

Then I saw the first navigation marker fly past me. That made me realize I needed to turn! I wheeled into as close of a tight early hairpin turn that I could muster without any delay. TV sensors confirmed a splash to the right and noted the bomb that missed the entire size of a barn. Suddenly turning like this had thrown off Enterprise's aircraft and the successive bomb strikes all missed. I took another look at the white-haired fleet carrier and now I do know I am seeing her brow crease in annoyance.

I am actually shredding her ability to project power over long distance and the force projector doesn't like it.

Ahahaha...hahahaheheheh...

And this was repeated for a good while of so. Enterprise or Eagle would send either Dive or torpedo bombers at me while I put up a outright shattering level of accurate AAA fire with the purpose of destruction rather than suppression. The only difference was that the torpedo bombers forced me to change my course in caution, and that was an extra task on top of the mental strain making sure there was nothing dodgy in my rangefinder's measurements. The closer targets were pedestrian to hit. but I was having problems the further they out they got. It became obvious that the Mark 3 resolution is not what i am used to working with. and the amount of clutter from even the tiniest obstacle was giving me a headache.

How trivial it must be that it was nothing more than a expensive hull decoration of a backup. I already had the Zhuks for that purpose

Still, even without direct RADAR tracking or Laser range tracking. My WW2 vintage AAA suite were almost depleting what Enterprise and Eagle were ending up with, several wrecks bobbing around in the water. Of course this wasn't surprising. Since when did the IJN not realize that the Type 96s were a Light AA system. not the medium AA system they forced it into and that they relied on manual eye barrage fire like the British did instead of predictors and directors-

"Uuggguhhh!" I almost yelped in sympathetic pain when I felt a distinctly heavy projectile smash open on the end of my bow and my sixth sense immediately started screaming at me. I started holding my forehead trying to stifle away the pain. thankfully, it wasn't crippling but my processing power went immediately toward trying to see what the source of this newfound development instead of mustering to myself. Turning my head upwards confirmed one dauntless that was leaving and escaping.

I looked at Eagle. who had a slight grin.

Bloody goddamn airpower.

"You dare to insult a multirole fast battleship!?" In the midst of retorting. I sensed more bombs falling toward me. These were all aimed, my mind noted absently. These would land right on the side hull plating and stern. I couldn't do anything as it was, The amount of time required here was too short...

I didn't want to die in a actual combat scenario. I was at the edge of a precipice...

...I chose. Time seemed to slow down around me as my sixth sense immediately went into overdrive, There was no struggle. my waves overriding What was with Will not be and it was. I started pulling a hard turn. energy flooding my mind and rejuvenating my situational awareness. demanding for the outcome to be changed. And so I acted.

The other bombs ended up missing barely as I coasted in next to the final course marker. I grumbled. shaking my head and trying to clear away some of the stimulants that my sixth sense had fed me in a burst. I sensed more chatter and emotions, and I caught Eagle next to Vestal. perhaps not happy about the fact she had wasted her aircraft for nothing.

Yeah of course, try pitting a bunch of subsonic bombers against systems that can compensate for maneuvering targets unlike WW2 and Korean-war directors who couldn't cope with actively maneuvering targets.

I hauled myself out of here and back to my starting point on the docks after having accounted for debris from Enterprise's and Eagle's downed aviation units. Figure I'd at least try to assist them and not force them into searching for any debris and last spotted locations of them going down. Both carriers were landing the last of their remaining deployed forces. Vestal was busy taking notes.

"How... How did you manage to do that? Evading Enterprise's bombers at the last second?" Eagle asked. clearly dumbfounded by what just transpired when for a moment. I reached out and yanked the chances down to its shattered rudders.

"I... I actually don't know." I admitted. still trying to return to a more relaxed and less aggressive stance. "I-It felt like a wave of adrenaline just washed over me. A-And then I just threw myself into a turn without even thinking."

That didn't convince Eagle as Vestal finished up the results. looking up from her clipboard to me. she flashed a smile. "19 out of 30 targets hit. 21 attacked aircraft shot down. 20..." she slowed down. "...Out of 21 bombs dropped. all 12 out of 12 torpedoes avoided. and course completion in five minutes." She listed. "For a first crack at it, You're definitely very gifted or either just lucky even if we took into amount your modern ammunition. Especially with your hit rate on the targets."

"Long range gunnery could use a little more training from you." Eagle commented. changing to a professional tone. "It's still quite sloppy."

"N-No need to repeat to Norfolk." I said, watching the fully intact targets in the distant horizon. "I am actually not very... good at long range ballistics..."

"You'll get the hang of it eventually." Eagle reassured. "All in all though, Even without your fancy modern sensors. You're still coming close to your performance targets!"

"Definitely!" Vestal concurred before looking me dead in the eyes. making me nearly back off in nervousness. "So how do you feel about it?"

"Well?" I said. giving a quick glance to Enterprise. "At least I'm not completely helpless if I am depleted of my electronics... So that's going for it, The radar is still not a full replacement for what I am used to but... It helped with keeping my eyes on everything all while watching my course, ranging accurately and fending off bombers and fighters... Didn't get much chance to hit top speed while maneuvering and the torpedoes I didn't use so I can't say anything about that."

"Well, I've got more tests lined up." Vestal started. flipping her hair in thought. "But those can wait until another day, Right now. with the amount of ordinance you just threw up and no doubt the amount of stress you've went though. I imagine that you're a bit-"

"I want to snack on something!"

"...tired." Vestal finished after I voiced out my thoughts loudly.

I just stretched my legs and gave her a apologizing look. "Even I-I can't handle this nonstop for so long." I ran a hand through my short hair. it still felt weird to me given my parent never liked me having long hair. even if it was shoulder length. Jeez, I looked way too much like a mindless gestalt worker drone you find in the conformal 996 hell countries with these stupid haircuts... But I brought my attention back to the trio.

"Well, come on then!" Vestal started. motioning for me to follow as we both started back toward the bunks. I remembered something that I wanted to say many times before. I looked at her. not paying attention to bumping into anything. "D-Do you think y-you can help out with Comet a bit?" Kaga seemed to turn her attention to use from where she she was standing over. "Y-You seem so busy with the rest of the stuff you do but... Comet doesn't see many exciting things happening. F-Figured you could at least help keep her company."

Vestal's eyebrows furrowed. tilting her head to the side in thought. then she shrugged. "I have a lot of work but I can help out if I do have any free time. Aside from that, I don't see a reason not to take up on that. Just don't become too reliant on me."

Great! I get to spend more time with Comet. or at least she won't be as unhappy now! Hopefully it would help her stay sane!

But for now. I need to clean up after myself and feed myself before starting elsewhere!

Log Entry 3
Name:Norfolk
Class:County Class Norfolk Subclass formerly/Alsace-Class battleship
Under RN Command. Part of Supranational Organization Azur Lane/The United Nations

Can't believe I managed to find a friendly chain of command after all this time. It's been nearly a week and few days in now. and well, While it does have its exciting moments... It can get pretty damn boring at times. and I have to be careful so as not to expose my other secret identity.

Speaking of which, Do you know just how annoying a older sister being crazy all about you can be? Yup. meet Dorsetshire, and for Version 2.0 of that. Meet Portland. How many times did I have to stay away from her because she would prevent me from drawing on my powers without her noticing something was amiss? A few times I had to triple-check everything and track her rough location with psychic powers just so she didn't pose such a immense risk.

Still, Now that I am here. I've been trying to learn as much as I can about Azur lane and what's going on with the world. As I expected. It's a global organization mostly made up of the major superpowers with a EU power in the form of Germany/Ironblood. Even life seems to have imitated art in the form of centralized command, although thankfully the commander himself. Blake Lewis is actually competent and not some perverted fucker. The last thing everyone needed is a massive scandal followed by investigations upon internal investigations.

Also much to noone's surprise. The Royal navy and Iris libre had a huge cat slapfight over my status, Have you ever heard of the Franco-British union? In technical matters I am a Royal navy ship. But if you count my hull construction and general plan as French then I am considered Iris Libre. Their compromise before diplomatic friction escalated? Be under RN command at all times. but deter back to french command in absence. Works well enough for me anyway, since I view religion in the eyes of the beholder-show me what you've got. not some damned random book.

I don't have much information about the Sirens, All I know is that they seem to be the darker and 'evil' counterpart to Azur lane's shipgirls. although I have heard rumors of 'Tester' going around which may imply that their more otherworldly characters are also here... On the upside it does mean I am not involved in bizarre. strange abstract physics-wrecking experiments, But on the other hand. it does mean they have access to some strange computronium-like technology like the Sanctuary. I mean, if Shipgirls can be bought into shape by the simple collective image of humanity... Why can't you do the same for what's pretty much a programmable alloy?

So far, having been drilled through basic training and some history lessons in here. It's pretty alright. so long as you don't see combat action against a Offensive surface fleet made up of Maximum battleships and other heavy-hitting freaks of nature that remind me of Bellator Super Star destroyers. These guys seem a bit smart. at least when it comes to examining what happened to the IJN with their general stupidity of medium AAA and doctrine issues. and raiding of commercial ships can be a serious problem at times... although last I heard, it doesn't seem so bad. even to the point that most shipping companies are operating normally. Aircraft are also nominal and they don't seem intent on ignoring the Geneva conventions-for now.

Still, It's fascinating to see how even just a defensive enemy on the bushfire intensity side of war can change a world. America of course didn't change much, but a few EU countries did get more xenophobic and fearful of outsiders than in the real world. and Japan.. well, You can guess. The one thing I noticed about the UK is that there was more resistance to Brexit because of staying together in the face of a global enemy... but it still passed, Such is offensive realism of Great power politics and unreasonable british revanchism for their empire...

To find out more about Azur lane and any possible connections to a more secretive past. I would need to find and hit their SCI compartmentalized locations and possibly even the Pentagon, It's dangerous. risky and for lack of a better word. Insane. but if a bunch of KGB agents could do it. and frankly if China is embedding itself in everything with United work department agents, Well. Why can't i do the same? Granted, Having to absolutely make sure everything can't be traced all back to me will be a challenge. but that can be counteracted if I develop my powers enough as a Magical girl. You can't find what you can't see if it's frying up in a electrostatic pulse or being mind-controlled. after all.

I also need to be careful with my own mental state. I might be able to stand watching Crescent die, but what of Comet and Repulse? If i went insane... Well, the only way I see at that point is just descending into the depths of madness with a open wound. as if in terror from a Madoka witch without any relief.

Anyway, This is Norfolk. Alsace-class Fast Battleship of the Royal Navy. signing out.

End Log

Chapter Text

"My HS did the same thing, seeing all the future jar head bootlickers flock to sacrifice themselves for a country that doesn't give a shit about them, really just played up the "kill Iraqi natives guilt free" American war machine propaganda.

A lot of them died in the following years, 10 year anniversary was bleak as fuck."-Unknown

A day later of so...

I was lying in bed. staring straight up at the ceiling and just enjoying my time on this late morning. I wasn't scheduled to be anywhere, And I'd already gotten back from having a chat with Comet. which... went alright? I guess Comet had the ability to try and hold on to not being happy from something I did in the past. She'd let me talk with her in private. but there was not a lot else I could do that didn't immediately leave the both of us in silence. At least she was opening up more. but work was still to be done.

Maybe I am expecting results too early combined with a low speech skill. Granted. It's been a entire week ever since my inception into the UN's/NATO's/Azur lane's ranks of Kansens/Kanmusus. A entire week of being in custody. having my technology examined while I watched uniformed humans discussing my condition. possibly Defense companies and officials with a interest in classifying any confidential technology i may hold. getting basic education and school lessons to help me catch up given that I discovered that a few... shipgirls suffered from the shock of old traditions and customs no longer being there. having been replaced by modern today's culture. Also trying not to destroy the Masquerade and thus my secret identity as well.

I'm honestly glad that Blake is taking it easy with the experiments and prodding on me. though I still kept koch-blocking them by making the arcane components of my systems nightmarishly difficult to analyze correctly-They can puzzle out the basic operating principles given enough time and resources, but can they really produce a replica. let alone a functioning prototype like say. a F-86 or a AIM-9 that doesn't output disappointing results on par with real-world statistics or is just too ahead of its time mixed with enigmatic properties? And for Vestal, The repair ship had commented that if I was more relaxed around here it'd be easier to run some of the more in-depth tests she wanted to run. Not sure how i felt about that, but Vestal told me it wouldn't be anything invasive.

She's being too naive with thinking the members of Azur lane will stick to their promises in the dark. but the more optimistic part of me countered by pointing out how it wouldn't make sense to anger someone who held the key to ultra-tech right now...

That said, I was trying my best to enjoy my time off and partly put it to use doing shady stuff. I am just somewhat disappointed that I haven't gotten anything new for my quarters yet aside from a few more clothes after a trip with Dorsetshire and Kent. It had gone well enough but having to deal with her constant adoration and in turn staying close to Kent for some measure of safety had been infuriating. I felt like I was a goddamn little sister dealing with a big sister that doesn't know of her potential and a sane cousin.

Honestly, the reason I hadn't bought anything other than making requests for what fiction-related novels i could get my hands on was because I just have not had the time to return to some sense of 'normalcy' on the internet. and because I sort of made it a personal rule in my mind that I needed to build up my emotion-reading abilities before I risked going out into town and possibly running into say. Akagi or Jean Bart.

Although. now that I had free time. I got up after humming Lunatic Tears to myself. trying to follow the vocals and chorus of voices with half embarrassment and half determination to put my language banks to use. I went over the laptop and closed the lid before walking to the center of the room. I had acquired starter guides to the magical world of harry potter. The Force. and a few fringe books about ESP and psychics. basically anything that could help me with any knowledge that might just prove true in my situation.

Ever tried reading a book written by some terrible madman? While the beginner books skimmed over or didn't touch their versions of magic too heavily for it was not their major main focus. Some of their information had proved useful like trying to attune yourself to your surroundings. seeing spells as the means to an end by manipulating the physical world and achieve your aims by will alone and associating words with images to make it reflexive. But the other fringe books and crackheads? Trying to read these was like trying to read a scientologist trying to describe a spirit. attempting to glean any useful information from pseudo-scientific (pseudo-alchemy?) and HAARP and Qanon bullcrap all rolled into one demotivating package, That's not to say I didn't find the amount of misinformation in them useless... But by the time I was done with them. I was just about ready to start violently bashing and smashing the nearest wall with Raising Heart.

At least the meditation techniques did work for me. Kind of in that it increases the accuracy of my sixth sense. Unfortunately no, it doesn't seem to accelerate my skill delay noticeably like a Aria incantation or simple intent does.

So, looking at the blankets on my bed. I narrowed and squinted my eyes at its direction. held my hand out at it and began attempting to manipulate it telekinetically...

'Come on! Come to me. I command you!'

Nothing happened. I strained. face clenched in concentration. closing my hand into a fist as particles began to fly out from it.

'The Mind Commands you. Bend to its will! Shogun! Nani! Shoogun! Give. way. before. my will!'

Nothing.

...

I opened my eyes. seeing how I felt something like a limb and tingles on my twintails... only for it to be cut off, My blankets just laid there. silently taunting me and my frustration and useless rage directed at it.

Oh what the fuck... Just what the fuck? Not for the first time have I decided that Kyubey or the Blob Overmind from Cataclysm and Tenshi Hinanawi existed to simply laugh at lesser beings like myself. Even now, as I put my outstretched arm down and back to my hips. my eyes still watch as if demanding a answer. I wanted to see if Telekinesis in Force or Madoka or EM bionic implants in Cataclysm exists and what do i get for all my latent might?

A blanket that weighed next to nothing compared to a air fryer refusing to budge and move under my magic-powered demands. mind you. powered by enough potential to bulldoze character casts into the local asphalt foundation several times over if I was sufficiently pissed off myself.

No. I don't get that.

What I get is that was mind-boggling.

But then again, It was possible for some random dude in Fate night to die despite his supposed ability to predict the future and take measures to protect himself. For a proton torpedo to somehow make a ninety degree angle into an exhaust port the size of a Holstein cow that was expelling the entire of a attack moon's waste heat with a simple application of the Fucking Force. And you had people like Sakura kinomoto who was reality-warping houses into another with her cards and in the recent movies was time-travelling as a ghost. And then you had the conceptual. more than often overblown abilities of Touhou because noone had any fucking clue let alone any solid information about their capabilities. And there was Emiya shirou getting stuck in a loop himself because some superintelligent Organic AI decided it was fun to trap everyone in a temporal paradox made manifest.

Were my face capable of looking like I had ate something quite bitter. I would have made that face. Instead I settled for laughing to myself almost in disbelief. "Hahaha...Are you kidding me right now...?"

The only consolation I could take in all of this is that telekinesis of no. I still had more basic active powers at my disposal like the ability to generate a basic energy barrier. a simple healing power and starter shooting projectiles. as well as a basic offensive support skill to make my main gun projectiles behave partially like PELE on impact. and of course. Raising heart herself if I ever felt like I wanted to bash someone's skull in into a bloody display on a bad day and hover-dashing short distances.

But damn, even if i can only bash people and not shipgirls against walls non-stop with my mind until they are dead. that still has so many uses, such as remotely opening doors from a distance and super-finesse for delicate work if my hands are occupied.

Shaking my failures away. I was able to go out for an walk when Shropshire showed up at my door. I asked her what she was doing here and the Heavy cruiser responded.

...It appears I have to report for a briefing. Sixth sense also tells me its likely to be a combat-related one.

Well then. It looks like my schedule's just been altered. I stepped away from the door and allowed Shropshire to leave of her own accord, pulling the closet open and getting into my official outfit before heading over to the administration building where all the briefing and strategic rooms were. To do that I had to go outside from the residential areas to the building in question, and in looking toward the docks I spotted a few light cruisers doing practice drills.

Luckily, I had time to map out the local area and keep it burned into my memories out of interest. and I wound up finding the briefing room in respectable time. Not enough time to beat the destroyers and a cruiser that had been ordered in though. I don't know whether to chalk that up to them having more operational time than i ever had or if it's a case of them being excitable and speedy by nature. Possibly both.

I just sat down at an empty seat, not that difficult since this briefing room could fit an entire high-level command staff group and there's only several of us. I tried to stay near the destroyers instead of heeding my reflexes and sitting away from everyone else. Though now I was stuck having to debate if Le Malin was about to slack off of not. She looked either tired or just plain bored. or if Phoenix was able to blow a boiler because she looked tense amidst Echo. Firepower Icarus. or Z20 or Z19. including Spence and Libeccio.

The door opened three minutes later and Princeton stepped in. "Good morning to you all." She said professionally, I was going to stand with attention. but Phoenix only bothered while the other replied with quick hellos. I just sat and returned her formal greeting, Shortly after her. Nicholas walked in and sat herself on the seat in front of the nearby computer before debriefing began. Princeton cleared her throat.

"Thank you all for coming here on short notice." Princeton began. I snorted and held my head. preparing myself for the wave of information i was going to absorb... Judging from what she was saying. It was a trade route as I watched Princeton gesture and point at what must have been a map. "...Submarine attacks on ships passing along the route have been increasing. For a while, we've had no idea on where they could be coming from. as it would be difficult for the Sirens to send attack submarines into the area considering their current warfighting abilities."

Princeton's face became more serious and Phoenix watched closely. "That is, until we briefly lost contact with one of our allied submarines. who came under attack by ASW vessels shortly after. U-522 managed to evade and disengage before returning to base where they reported the incident to Joint Command HQ and destroyers were dispatched to conduct recon of the area."

I heard shuffling of pictures and document pads. and for a brief moment I saw a few red dots in the middle. "Through that we've confirmed that the Sirens have managed to establish a resupplying and depot point for their submarines near the Trade routes." More acknowledgements and questions followed. and I heard that Enemy activity was unusually high. complete with sightings of heavy capital ships.

Judging by the number of shipgirls present here in the room. I had some concerns regarding any operations to send me out and the lot in this room on a attempt to disrupt enemy tender activity for a while. Looks like High command thought that the Core fleets wouldn't send reinforcements to their important slice of territory because they were more busy and focused on holding off an feared unexpected attack. It was a valid concern to them, Judging by the fact that they seemed to be posturing defensively. The last time an attack had managed to catch one of their training grounds off-guard one time. It resulted in the devastation of several tens of recruits and even the destruction of a entire Fast Carrier task force. as dozens of other alerted Rapid Response Forces had mobilized to aid other units that came under U-boat and carrier attack.

Unlike all of these previous examples, however. This submarine tender and resupply beacon was a key piece of the Siren's war machine. If what Princeton was saying is correct, They were one of the few sectors allowing the Sirens to launch damaging and disruptive attacks on supply chains via the sinking of oil tankers. rare earth shipments from China. and the destruction of electronics and chips from without incurring high losses. Whereas if they wanted to raid other routes instead. it sounded like they would have to risk sending their submarines and forces out on a less sound supply and safety standpoint. and therefore risk being attacked by patrolling fleets and hostile escorts and as such weren't important to their cause.

This trade route. however unimportant it sounded... just fit that word perfectly.

Processing the unspoken atmosphere in the room. It looks like there would be Phoenix as close support. Le Malin and Echo as my recon units. Icarus. Z20. Z19 and Libeccio with Spence were to be my generalist picket units. And then that would leave me as the flagship, Then there would be two to three medium-sized fleets and the Illustrious Sisters if I overheard them correctly. This would leave me with independent command of my own group.

Princeton went ahead and started explaining the plan. It boiled down to interdicting their resupplying shipgirls and cracking open any early warning pickets that were going to be around. One of the fleets was supposed to keep any surface ships of enemy aircraft in the area off our backs as we closed in and began hunting down their surfaced submarines and resupply units. forcing them to flee or either be forced into a battle. The destroyers were there given the obvious presence of Attack and Fleet subs while we went to work. After that, The rest of us would clear out whatever was left.

Seems simple? Yes. it does. No, I see problems in this. specifically my fleet composition. I have a feeling that Blake only put me on this mission because I needed my first combat sortie to get into the mindset of working in a fleet in an actual live-fire combat scenario. I might also be paranoid because I had a feeling in the back of my mind that this plan. while seemingly simple. was probably gonna go balls-up at some point.

"S-Sir." I began. "With respect. There are flaws in the plan." I protested. forging ahead despite the destroyers and Phoenix in the room turning their heads around to listen to what I had to say. "Firstly, Submarines and early warning pickets Will alert the Sirens an impending attack on a key sector absolutely critical to their war machine and ability to cripple our economies. They will reinforce the trade route with all available shipgirls and maritime patrol aircraft. Second, they will be expecting a large attack force. Any less would be suspicious. Thirdly, You are expecting me to be the keypoint in the plan by I-including me as the trump card. which is unusual for you given I am still one battlecarrier. Princeton-quite unlike any resourceful strategies and likely would cause friction with Marine Nationale command. All heavy surface assets will be expected to be present and if they don't become suspicious. Enemy military leaders will be."

By now. Princeton was motioning for me to speak. given my insistence there were problems in the plans to drive the Sirens off their resupplying point to attack strategic trade routes and disrupt maritime shipping. judging by her neutral eyes and silence.

"Finally. The attack force to lock down their surface assets is an obvious distraction. They will wonder where the other fleets are, They will likely know that something is wrong. A larger assault force needs to be sent to present them with... the options of having to ignore the first fleet or either splitting their attention."

Inwardly, I was glad I had my databanks to draw on. It prevented me from simply stuttering out on a lot of my points. Even now I could imagine my nervousness rising up. my hands idly moving and reflexively trying to prepare a spell.

"I-I understand I-if i am out of line here. But let me propose this, Reinforce my division with additional ships. and strengthen Hornet's reserves so that she appears to be the main battle line. Imply that the other fleets are subordinated to Hornet's command and allow me to handle the submarines with my sensors and aircraft search once I have sufficient screening. The sirens will believe that I am merely a battleship detachment operating independently some distance away while Hornet will lead a direct assault on their main surface fleets to distract them on the high seas while my fleet searches for and hunts down submarines and key personnel."

"Hmm..." Princeton muttered. "I understand your concerns, Norfolk. but the assault is meant to neutralize their early warning assets and harass them. If we were to send a larger force, then there is the risk that they would devote their full might into a all-out defense and pitched battle. Instead, they will attempt to chase down a smaller force. and become overconfident. After that, by the time word reaches them of your exploits. it will be too late for them. We will put them at a serious setback one way or the other. but if there were to be more ships. the diversion may not be successful."

Well... Damn. that was a valid point, Looks like this is going to be a matter of persuasion that could go on for several minutes. and I have to be careful to try and act like a more leader-minded Norfolk while not slipping off anything that might hint at my true nature.

Chapter Text

Notes

Have another one! Megastructures are kicking me like crazy combined with non-stop waiting for more Amazon stories.

"Hello?"-Someone speaking/"Hello"?-Norfolk's thoughts/'Hello?'-Radio comms?/Hello?-?

"I personally do not get people who are against abortion so much. you think they give into that 'bleeding heart' mentality that they make fun of everyone else for. It's like they want to save every fetus regardless of the side effects like someone as myself who is quite... unpredictable. And then you have them praising a new birth. and then slowly becoming more and more hostile or distant. setting them up for a nice life of monotony at a 9-5 or worse. 996 while being deaf to any complaints. It's like they love a baby-doll. but as soon as its a teen who's smoking weed or a grown-up with its own ideas, its 'hate them' time. Like... what do you want with more people? More indentured slaves for the big boys like Elon or Bezos? Breeding fetishes and being used as a emotional punchbag by a disturbed parent? More disturbed murderers on the street and loli rap-i mean. forceful molesters? Makes you wonder... And given the amount of news that has rich people going to abortion and the poor ending up with nothing but a altar of pain. It's almost like rehab centers for the rich and chattel sla-Ahem. I mean. the brig for the poor! George Carlin would have a wonderful time."-Norfolk

It felt like I was free to be back out on the high seas again.

Not something I expect to be saying myself, but it was true. With the gentle sea state breeze. calm waves. Clear skies shining down into my sensors. It was like I was created to be out there, and it was something I didn't know might be a part of shipgirl mindsets.

You'd think that my experience of being on the move alone. having to carefully pick off small fleets and be on the lookout for big ones the minute I'd woke up for the first time here would've made such a emotion impossible but a quick glance around gave me a reason to not be so paranoid. Screening vessels and capitals following me behind did a lot to help deal with the feeling of being watched. The lack of any hostile activity and heavy fighting in the distance also helped,

Thanks to my concerns with Command's plan and a bit of prodding Princeton myself. I was able to demand and gain extra shipgirls and assets to add to my force. Requisitioning generalist classes had been my first task. seeing Aurora and Charles added to my starting composition of the pasta destroyer. a scared fletcher and the Z-sisters. Icarus and Echo and then Phoenix, which in my opinion would have been too small to be capable of splitting off independently. Light fire support was another matter that would be filled in by Quincy. She was to support the others. coming with considerable firepower and secondary capabilities for, well. dealing with anything the small girls might go up against.

Two Fast Attack Crafts were mixed in the form of Arashio and Ariake and to that end. despite some initial hesitation on Japan's side. they mostly agreed to releasing the two for assignment to my squadron. Given the capabilities of the Long lances in question. they would act as attack destroyers-what they lacked in medium AA and power-operated turrets, they would make up for with torpedoes allowing rapid hit-and-run attacks on enemy units. All of these additions gave me more flexibility as they were capable of flanking and attacking from multiple angles. something like the Sakura destroyers operating with fighters to protect them while Phoenix and Charles were to support them.

Icarus and Echo were to act as escort units. while the Z-sisters were to be gunboats along with Libeccio and Spence herself engaging hostile screening vessels and once the offensive phase had began, to search for and destroy submarines by forcing them to surface or either inflicting such unmanageable flooding that they were effectively gone.

Of course, there was the possibility i might have to use my carrier ability for something else other than acting as the unofficial carrier of the whole group. and to that end, Joint Command HQ was able to mobilize Independence and Bataan, who were my semi-ideal carriers for this choice as they could be able to keep pace while maintaining a reasonable size and still giving me some measure of breathing room with their fighter/dive bomber capability who would be directed by my aircraft operating in the AEW role. Unfortunately, Yorktown wasn't available like I wanted to as she could be slotted beautifully into my fleet. replacing Independence herself while providing CAP and still having spare fighters left.

With that complete, I still needed something to stop air power attacks if the indication of heavy surface assets was any idea. The Atlanta-class sisters with Juneau, San Juan and Atlanta herself were all available. One of the IJN's greatest problems was that they were always being bombed by the USN's carrier-focused strategy. and they didn't even develop any solutions in a reasonable timeframe like compact directors and medium AAA and early PF fuses (as unreliable as they were), The Atlanta cruisers would be the answer to stop that. That being said, even that might not be enough.

I had also been provided some Eagle union aircraft to take the burden off my own modern ones, who were now in reserve storage for the entire time being.

I may be overly waxxing on that, But it is quite a fine fleet composition...

And speaking of the Hellcat carrier herself, and Aurora. and Yorktown, And Atlanta. I shouldn't be saying this myself. but given I used to be friends with someone who really liked playing Bataan and with fond memories of Yorktown resurfacing in my mind. I don't even know who I am attracted to anymore! The rational part of me says i should just clear my mind and stick to my assigned objectives. but the innocent. lewd and childish part reminds me that If possible, i should go and bury my head into the light carrier's chest and let her stroke my head lightly!

Goddamn it circumstances, but curses for not letting me hang around with Bataan outside of combat conditions right now!

Still. I suspected that the defense and roaming fleets present would be formidable, No doubt a equal of my own would be there supported by a few battlecruisers and at least a handful of carrier support. but Hornet and the other fleets would be there to occupy their attention entirely.

While it had been relatively Siren-free for a while, apart from the submarine resupply spot we were going to interdict and render too dangerous. that didn't mean we were idle. being relatively siren-free simply meant you had less chances to run into an Type VII U-boat or a roaming Destroyer leader cruiser/destroyer combination than elsewhere in this combat zone. I'd sent up a few seaplanes to sweep for potential threats as well as look for surfaced submarines or on a clear day. shallow submerged ones when overhead. We were already getting pretty close to the regroup point and I wanted to report in with them as quickly as possible.

It was a sentiment echoed by some, Including Phoenix who somewhat became my second in command officer. Which is, to simplify it for you that she made suggestions from time to time and I followed them with some scrutinizing since what experience I may have on the tactical scale mostly comes from cross-referenced databanks and Norfolk's memories. Maybe it was a intentional decision on Blake's part. Give me someone who had been engaged several times and was a veteran in her own right to correct any errors i might make.

Or Phoenix was just that quick to assert herself as a unofficial NCO. in which case I was not bothered.

A transmission came in from one of my seaplanes. reporting an lone airborne contact and situation updates, It was a fighter. from Illustrious. The other fleet had exchanged information to my location on their current positions and headings as well as general condition before going silent, my Seaplane continuing its search pattern and Illustrious's... I am not sure. Probably just doing CAP.

"W-What's going on?" Spence asked after I was in thought going over the information I had received.

"O-One of my seaplanes just made contact with Illustrious's fighters." I replied. "In just a short matter of time we should be within range to contact if we hold our current course." Destroyers nodded in understanding. I relayed new orders to my seaplanes to continue updates as nominal if they could. The faster we got there and the offensive phase began, the faster we could get this mission done over with. As much as I liked being on the High Seas, Something in my mind was telling me that there was something else at play here. As if something had accounted for me already.

"Hornet to Norfolk. Come in!" A new radio transmission came in and it was not a pulse, On all of our radios if the sudden changes in the group and the way Spence nearly jumped was any hint.

"This is N-Norfolk. We all read you, Hornet." I answered for the group and thank god I had some idea of this from Norfolk's memories and basic accelerated training otherwise I might be getting a few of my words wrong by now. Or it could be Alsace's side talking even if she doesn't 'exist'. for lack of a better word.

"Reading you. Norfolk, Nice to hear you." Hornet answered back. "Are you in position yet?"

"It's a no, We're still trying to get there." I said with a soft but firm voice. "Seaplanes are up to provide t-time estimate though, but my light carriers are not alerted yet."

"Alright, I'll keep Illustrious's CAP on rotating patrol." Hornet stated. "Have you detected anything with Radar yet?"

I mentally brought up my map and checked the pulses. seeing that there was nothing detected so far with these single sweeps and on/off pulses other than just some simple clutter that was easily filtered out. "N-Nothing yet, I-I am undetected for now. No submarines on hydrophones either."

"Copy. You be a bit late compared to us, but you shouldn't keep us from waiting for too long. Norfolk! It's Sub territory after all!" Hornet said cheerily. but with a check of my sixth sense I got the feeling she was being serious about the submarine part. A few more messages and the whole two-way transmission quickly ended with the radios going silent.

"I-Its going to be hard, isn't it..." Spence quietly asked and already I felt she was getting worried. Poor girl can't even relax with the risks posed to the other fleet members.

"Relax, Spence. I... Aurora will be there to back you up if you ever run into a strongpoint." I said. "And you have me by your side after all..."

"Well, hopefully we'll get there soon!" Z20 said happily. "Then we can blow up their submarines and sink their support ships!"

"Then we should keep our eyes open, Everyone!" Phoenix replied simply. Most of the destroyers cheered and a few cruisers steeled their faces. while I grunted. I wondered what the sirens would want with me, and no doubt Hornet's other fleet was preparing to enter combat already.

Whatever it would be. It wasn't good. I imagined.

It's been some time ever since the fighting began. A hour of so. and now here I am with my group, trying to stop screwing around and get back to doing our objectives for real.

When surface battle units and patrolling pickets were spotted on the horizon by Hornet's other fleet. It was only a matter of time before the battle kicked off to a start given the enemy fleets seemed oblivious to Hornet's other fleet. giving her an major surprise advantage that led to her going on the offensive in a attempt to exploit before the advantage was lost, be it by a submarine surfacing to discover them or maritime aircraft closing in. They had came in guns blazing and with a first-strike composition of air power that pulverized a few Leanders and inflicted considerable damage to their carrier units before they could even get their aircraft into the air.

In response the other fleet commenced combat action. coming in a relatively tight formation resembling a triangle. Unidentified cruisers and gunboats like the Clevelands speared the attack with their firepower. Following them behind were dozens of Renowns and Kageros. who made violent contact with their Union. RN. Ironblood and Sardegna counterparts. So far they were doing a nice job of bogging down the enemy fleet's attention. but it also meant that everyone was now aware of what was going on in the immediate area.

No doubt by now that if it hadn't reached the pickets and any maritime aircraft within range, it wouldn't be long before Attack and Fleet submarines became aware of the word. which meant they would likely be fleeing or either attempting to engage by now. As it stood, A portion of Hornet's main fleet was moving in to support the other.

Independence was pulling her own weight in fire support. but admittedly Hornet's main fleet was doing most of the supporting work, My Light carriers just wouldn't compete with a full-sized carrier in these parameters. Mostly I had ordered Independence to pull away the fighters that were protecting the bombers, while the Illustrious sisters concentrated on disrupting the bombers and trying to find holes in the Siren fleet (which I designated Alpha-1 for namekeeping) to punch through without suffering unacceptable attrition.

"Victorious to Norfolk!" The voice of the carrier piped up over the radio. I wound up startled out of my constant optical scanning from the unexpected surprise. and my 100mms winded up pointing guns at the skies for anything suspicious out of jumpy nerves. Phoenix shot me a glance. And I returned it with an apologetic smile, 'Not my damn fault that I tend to be hyper-sensitive to anything sounding like enemy activity when alerted. Phoenix!'

"N-Norfolk here. W-What's going on?" I replied over the radio. Even with how bad WW2 systems can be. I could still hear explosions and gunfire over the link.

"We made contact with the Sirens, There were heavy patrolling fleets like you said." The main problem here was if there were several more waiting. "Fortune and Bulldog are barely afloat and Gioberti. Trento and Honolulu have took pretty nasty hits. They'll withdraw for now, it's too risky for them to continue in their state."

"What's the composition o-of the enemy fleet in general?" I asked. if there was a Maximum battleship or another large battleship that posed a SSD-level threat. then things would get complicated for them.

"Destroyers. Cruisers. Fleet carriers. Battleships. It's a full fleet along with a few pickets!" Victorious reported. and I made a note to myself to prepare the Corsairs armed to the maximum. Full bunker-buster AP, nothing SAP or HE. "Apparently there was a pair of early warning Mutsukis stationed far away and they nearly spotted us first before Hornet began the attack. Admiral Hipper and Exeter broke off to try and lure some of their screening ships into giving chase, but they were hammered away by a pair of battlecruisers. That was about several minutes ago."

"We're n-nearly in position. I... Should we begin the anti-submarine phase?" I gave my reply. "N-Now would be a good time before they disperse and breakup." Victorious replied with confirmation and a few sighting reports of surfaced submarines. Basically, The path we were taking would wake up the hell out of these underwater fishes. but it didn't matter anymore as contact was inevitable and so long as they were isolated from each other. they could be picked off rapidly by my destroyers with up to three handled if I included and armed the Atlantas.

"Okay, Miss... Victorious. Keep harassing them and draw them away from my position, I want you to report in once this is over or I assume you will need to be rescued." The british carrier of victory gave an affirmative before radio channels all died.

I turned to Bataan and Independence. and gave the order for full mobilization of all air wings. "Send up the fighters i-into the air! Arm the bombers with depth charges and any rockets you may have. Hydrophones will be there to provide detection while... my Prowlers will provide sonobuoys i-if we must hit them from beyond any reasonable range! Z19. Z20. Aurora. Charles. You four will form our submarine hunting pairs. Atlantas, stay to warding off airstrikes!" My fleet gave an collective acknowledge as we began to accelerate to combat speed. The destroyers and the light cruiser were splitting off already from us as I ordered my stored aircraft to begin warming up. selecting several EA-6s with SSQ-53Fs passive and SSQ-62E Sonobuoys from necessarily modified Zuni pods and a pair of Digital Mark 44 torpedoes to force surfacing under risk of flooding if need be.

The hard part would be knowing where to deploy the sonobuoys so I don't waste them while at the same time not hitting maximum range limits for even noisy targets and filtering out interference. And staying safe myself so i don't get swarmed by Gatos and U-boats despite my formidable self-defense abilities.

We'd found two U-boats.

Type VIICs to be exact if Bataan's report was right. Deep-diving. relatively quiet compared to the large fleet subs. and compared to a Gato it was quite small, The German submarine was short-ranged and not capable of long range operations. had less magazine depth than its larger cousin. and like all submarines of the era operated on the surface rather than staying submerged. But it was fast. currently armed. and quite quiet and maneuverable if we weren't paying attention.

And that's why we were now at maximum speed possible as my two pairs of ASW units all sped toward the two Siren submarines. That was much easier said than done, given how I ordered an attack in echelon to force them to submerge out of fear rather than getting any funny ideas to fight them on the surface and risk destroying a few of my bomber units. Airborne depth charges being dropped and exploding. throwing up columns of water despite their rather shallow fuse setting ensured they kept suppressed. and now I had a few ways on how to go about this...

As a modern battleship I had the ability to defend myself. Against the actual threats of the later subs this would be meant more for self-defense once a SSK was sniffed out. For example, Ikara was the only thing that had the reaction time necessary to launch in the short time span demanded. With a helicopter taking too long and shipborne torpedoes leaving one within firing range.

Now though? I am basically a Type 23 ASW nightmare vessel made manifest in the form of homers. PF-fused depth charges and a exceedingly accurate and long-ranged ASDIC system. and it rather helped, because in the meanwhile I had spotted noises and picked up active reflections of what must have seemed like other subs in the area. probably submerged or either trying to wait it out. I had to slow down from flank speed. yes... but I updated the map in my mind for later once I was done with this pair.

Now came the hard part, going all-out might be too costly for my current ammunition reserves. even if I included and armed the lightweight torpedo tubes and ASW mortars. Also. A Storm system was beginning to form some distance from us and Hornet's group. and was predicted to move into our positions within the hour.

On the other hand, Trying to take them out by accumulated damage might take too much time given they didn't just sit there and die. and even if I was giving my two pairs constant instructions there was room for error and in general depth charges being too slow and unguided, And more time meant exposing myself more to the possibility of a counter-attack from even something like a roving patrolling destroyer-cruiser combination and getting all of my generalists involved left me and my capitals vulnerable. Perhaps too much time...

"Bataan. Keep them down and blind!" The blonde replied with a beautiful smile. adjusting her orders to her current active bombers as I switched SQS-53 to active mode. and began to ping the two U-boats in question.

"Yes. Ma'am." And just like that she whispered. "Go forth. Little ones, It's time for the carriers to show that they are capable of sinking the silent hunters of the seas." Bataan and Independence were at the rear of our formation. not intended to enter combat, but still protected by my generalist units due to the presence of subs in the area. "I really hope she is surgical. as she promised..."

Data flowed into my mind. numbers and red bulbs appeared on the map. moving every so often with every ping of my sonar. Judging by how quick they were submerging and descending. They must have taken some damage from the initial airborne depth charges, but not so severely as to send them out of control as they began levelling out. They may be submerged and out of reach from my two carriers for now. But on the other hand they've just lost all mobility and means to fire back.

*Type VII#1 Depth:Shallow/Current Bearing: 357*

Keyword being Just. U-boats fired on the surface or decks awash. not in a underwater brawl.

Considering whether to pull the trigger handles on my Ikara launchers of not. I settled on simply feeding my ASW shark-hunters the juicy data they needed, and one that was critical to them like depth. range and predicted speed with eerie efficiency as they began adjusting fuses and changing their approach angles in turn.

In the depths of the sea, Redshirt grunt-543 'Riku' threw herself into a full right turn and almost shouted as she heard enemy shipgirls passing overhead. Some mounts were shaken and there was shock from the initial bombs dropped on them by Union aircraft. but they had submerged quickly enough to avoid any actual floodnig.

The plan was simple, They were to cruise to these coordinates. meet up with a patrolling destroyer in the area. be directed toward potential sightings, and sent on their way. After getting their shares of kills or either disrupting enemy commerce activity. they were to return, resupply and rearm however long it took. and then return again to hit ships trying to avoid submarine sightings and interdict enemy fleets. throwing Azur lane into confusion and disarray from being unable to predict and track them down.

But then ASW bombers had happened, and what sounded like reports of heavy fighting in the distance. a battle too chaotic for her to join lest she risk a blue-on-blue incident. and then her hydrophones heard ASDIC pinging in the distance. But it sounded different. lots of reverb and high-pitched with step changes. traits which were not part of standard RN. Eagle union, let alone any sonar they knew of. Even Japanese Type 91 sonar didn't have these step changes.

DIIINGG! CHEEEPP! DIINNGGG!

Riku was just about to say something to herself about the probable chance that their enemies were launching a attack on their resupply points when something exploded in the water.

Hull joints shook and modules were thrown about as she tried to keep herself steady and evade. She heard flooding and the sounds of eerily-accurate depth charges. She could just barely send herself into a dive to try and escape into deeper depth bands.

Slowly everything stopped screaming about and though everything hurt, everything was at least stable... at least until the enemy destroyers turned around to make their attack again.

'Light flooding and some damage to my stern... nothing bad i can't repair in a hurry.' She thought to herself. trying to dive even deeper. Through all of the underwater explosions and the confusion and disturbances that were being picked up by her hydrophones. she heard something extremely faint like something being dropped into the water gently.

'That was too accurate... W.. What's that noise on the hydros?'

Turning her head around and deciding to ascend. Her hunting partner was nowhere to be found, instead. in her place were a pair of torpedoes swimming impossibly underwater at surprising speed for such a small thing toward her. and she heard active high-frequency sonar pings coming from the two that were increasing in ping rate. Like they were acoustic homers as they changed their course to follow her ascent.

"What the-!?"

It swam toward her to touch her outer hull.

Submerged and oblivious to what was going on the surface with her companion missing and unable to outrun or out-maneuver these small torpedos. Riku couldn't do anything but let go of her controls and scream.

Chapter Text

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." Jiddu Krishnamurti

"Splash one and two! N-4!" I finished with a verbal tic as the water foamed and turned white, only after a while venting into a surface burst like you see in these depth charge footage videos. SQS-53 is telling me what i expected, confirmed torpedo detonations followed by disturbed water cluttering out the readouts, Z19 and Aurora were turning around now. waiting to see if anything floats to the surface from a potential hit.

Not wasting my time in this battle, with a mental command my remaining conventional piston engine aircraft began warming up along with several A-7s. Since there was a good amount of CLAAs and gunboats in the siren fleet that was engaging Hornet's Fleet. specifically Fleet one and Fleet two. They would need some way to get past all that AAA otherwise they could be suppressed and ultimately brought down. the A-7s with their heavy payload and standoff capabilities were to punch a wide enough hole into the screen. allowing my SBDs to target capitals like carriers and battleships that were providing heavy firepower.

"Passive Sonobuoys. Launch!" Prowlers overhead chirped a greeting at my command as they began to form up into a formation. launching SSQ-53Fs from their modified pods as they were spaced out so as to cover a impossibly large distance. each buoy being stabilized by parachutes and descending gently before splashing down. each unfolding and deploying its buoyant bags as passive listeners went online having been programmed and configured to operate at a shallow depth perfect for sniffing out WW2 limited diving depths. All buoys immediately began to feed my prowlers with valuable data by UHF radio and datalink which in turn were being transmitted to me.

Weird thing about Passive sonobuoys. At the time that they saw the zenith of their development, they were favored heavily as a single USN group made of a carrier and several surface vessels with a few submarines could. upon getting the slightest idea of even a rough estimate on the targeted submarine position. then would immediately throw out dozens of passive buoys over a area covering hundreds of square miles and theoretically have a good chance of making contact. Considering a Mk 44 can acquire a submarine out to 350 or 1000 meters for a lightweight. and with how tiles and noise masking wasn't the biggest priority at the time. it was correct.

Of course, decades later. the Passive listeners began to drop out of favor for actives instead as the area that can be covered shrunk a lot from ten miles to now just a few miles. which meant a higher chance that the sub was getting away or was going to destroy something, and it also meant that helicopters had to go overweight if they wanted to compensate for the reduced probability. Of course, there was a partial answer for this in the form of employing multi-static emitter/receiver tactics by making a field of passive buoys. and then throwing out a active one to create a source, the echo could then picked up by not just the dipping system. but by any of the buoys... which in turn allowed you to make a guess of where the sub was.

Active buoys also led to other problems in the form of alerting the submarine and Anechoic Tiles as the answer when Actives started to replace passives after noise quietening caught up. Unfortunately for my victims, WW2 Submarines are noisier and more vulnerable to echo-ranging than their later descendants.

"Norfolk. Would it not be wise to load up on active buoys so we can pinpoint where their subs are?" Phoenix questioned me over my decision to choose passive listeners in mild confusion. Having no homers meant she wasn't able to fire and forget toward the bearing of the contacts that were being detected by my buoys. I paused for a moment to reply to Phoenix while Z20 and Charles both launched and rolled off their own depth charges. breaking off for any probable kill impatiently as the clutter began to die down on my own sonar.

"Let them think they're u-undetected. We don't... want to use up our surprise on early detection." I explained to Phoenix. "I-If they hear ever so much as a hostile ping. t-then they would figure out they've been detected. You know how slippery they can be in getting away..."

"Well reasoned." Phoenix conceded. nodding.

Multiple returns and contacts pop up on my mental map. Even without their precise locations as my processing power went to work on analyzing the pattern in the sonar net to get a rough idea. I can tell that there are several submarines in our immediate area. as well as more subs in wolfpack/coordinated groups that were some distance away from us, but could still be reached in time if desired so. However, I was still on a time limit here before Hornet's situation got too untenable and before surface assets likely responded.

I elected to leave bombarding their estimated positions with air-dropped torpedoes and Ikaras for the last.

"Spence! Libeccio. And you three A-Atlantas! Spread out and keep us covered from air attacks! Bataan and Independence. Launch your fighters on CAP and U-boat patrol duty and send your other half of bombers to cover Victorious! I w-want everyone on alert! The last thing we need is to get jumped by a Gato or by bombers in the clouds!"

"YES MA'AM!"

'Norfolk!' Victorious began again. this time with a sense of urgency.

'What is it now!?' I nearly cried into the radio. watching a U-boat surface with obvious blast holes in her hull caused by Mk 44 and DC detonations, Aurora and Z19 closed in. turning toward the sub and began a close-range brawl. The siren sub. for all her fragileness refused to take this lying down. as I saw her preparing to fire her sole armament and AAA cannons.

"Looks like severe damage! Can't submerge!" Aurora called to her other Ironblood partner. adding in her own firepower against the lone submarine.

All of a sudden, Victorious's transmission continued.

'Ready your fighters. Bataan's and Independence's as well!' She said. 'Alert your fleet!'

I nodded. but replied back as to what was making this so urgent. 'Is there something t-that requires my attention?'

'Illustrious's scouts spotted a fleet whose's course is headed toward you!' The woman shouted as explosions filtered through the static. 'At least three to four fleet carriers and a whole complement of capital ships and escorts!'

I repressed the urge to shudder. With my current numbers alone. 12+ going up against at least 30 ships did not sound like a very good disparity favourable to me. My MiGs are capable, sure. and the Filipino light carrier is no slouch. But what can just a few tens of fighters do against the combined potential threats of hundreds of aircraft? The strikes that I had endured were relatively low in strength, and the last ones had me protected by a fleet... But this time, the airstrikes would now be directed toward me and my fleet.

And I didn't want to go through it again. every mind-wiping minute of it. For several hours of running.

It scares me to think that already we might be getting spotted by a air power-focused fleet without even doing anything. It scares me to think that we'd have to sail into that with low odds. That I had to sail into that, Yeah. My L/70 guns all fire PF-fused shells. I have SAMs. and my MiG-29s could potentially all be armed with R-73s and Skyflash only for tens of stowed kills in a alpha strike. but that doesn't make us immune if that fleet is pissed off enough to send me to the bottom.

Carrier versus Battlecarrier duel. Tech disparity of not still scare the hell out of me, and we are going against not one. but four again.

But you dominate them in quality by a major margin.

"Everyone! There's a fleet headed toward us! Four fleet c-carriers! Be on the lookout for aircraft! Atlantas. Provide us cover if what Victorious said is true!" Affirmatives streamed in as Independence replied back with her own words. already giving the orders to some of her aircraft to turn around and assume CAP patrols. "I am ordering my fighters to turn around, Keep your eyes open. everyone!" She clicked her tongue. looking slightly nervous before she recollected herself.

This mission has just gone officially into 'holy fuck holy hell what is that thing' territory.

When a battle between two sides is joined, It often means that probing skirmishes. low-intensity sporadic gunfire and posturing had turned hard and violent between several units of each side and was going to repeat again, grinding each other down.

As such. the Azur Lane Fleet had closed in on the standby defense force. scattering the various destroyers and frigates to meet the Dunkerques and Nagatos in a flank charge while Suffrens, Leipzigs and Crown Colonies exchanged salvos of fire against a panicking Edinburgh. dozens of torpedo-based platforms pouncing on the maid herself, HE and AP shellfire along with rockets savaged her hull as the pursuing shipgirls broke off. Tirpitz starting to pound away at a unfortunate Mutsuki-class caught in the tactical withdrawal with her main batteries. blowing a turret clean off the Mutsuki-class in question as she struggled to start emergency repairs.

This was something that TC Ramsay did not appreciate. With so many shipgirls of heavy tonnage in range of her (and their) guns, It would easily spell death for the many submarines and support ships located around this specific stretch of the seas.

"Regroup our Long Lance units and counter-attack their push with torpedoes." She ordered, watching a D-class destroyer fly apart from multiple guns targeting the girl. "Reposition our cruisers! Have them form into pairs and support the heavier ships! These nimble ships will pose a threat to our core battlefleet if they get through!"

The primary defense fleet that formed the mobile network protecting this beacon of submarine activity from hostile ASW activity was a squadron set of fleet carriers and heavy capital ships. Three Shoukakus formed a air defense grid and a plethora of Nagatos and Nelsons were the main firepower.

The other shipgirls were relatively modern heavy cruisers like the Hippers and New Orleans and over three Zuiho light carriers as well as a mixture of modern and old destroyers. Most prominent of all were four Dunkerque-class battlecruisers, sent by the behest of their handlers after passing their basic training with some basic patrolling and small fleet tactics experience under their belts. Combined. they formed over a few tens of warships alone protecting submarines in transit that came closely to nearly a hundred. maybe 80 or 90.

But even with that amount of firepower and organic assets, can they deal with well over tens of shipgirls?

It remained to be seen, So far they were stemming the onslaught. disabling cruiser after cruiser and evading torpedoes. The Shoukakus had met heavy resistance in the air but the Akizukis and Didos had sighted their weapons in time and were carrying out their intended purpose by cutting into the numbers of enemy bombers quite sharply.

Even so, they were being slowly forced back. Hopefully the little wolfpacks would be alerted by then and be able to engage evasion and scatter to maximize their chances.

For now, however. Ramsay felt she was needed most in her current position. leading the fleet against the Combined Joint fleet armada. The enemy fleet had blown their element of surprise. but it did not lessen the numbers of guns each enemy warship possessed. and they were still outnumbered 1:3 to 1:7.

"Ma'am! I am receiving reports of additional contacts. Transmitting full details now!" One of the carriers informed her, A shot-down dive bomber crashing out nearby. The siren's eyes flickered to 7 o'clock as the plane began to describe the new contacts and the unusual enemy aircraft circling. Yes, they had reserves... but they were on a different bearing.

A foredooming sensation began to grow inside her stomach as she realized that it was a flotilla, but they weren't heavy enough to stand par-to-par with them. but still heavy enough to pose a major threat to the lights and formed around a single heavy capital ship and carriers circling around... And they were firing on resupply ships and depth charging.

"Contact CSI Command!" She ordered, startling the kansens around her. "Warn them and any quick reaction forces within reach! There is a enemy fleet executing search-and-destroy missions against our wolfpacks undetected!"

Everything was taking a turn for the worse. I decided, after several seconds pondering. A quick glance through the eyes of a MiG-29 showed that while Alpha Enemy fleet air-power projection was fully occupied and slowly being grinded down by my allies. there were incoming aviation units from the second fleet's direction. Several squadrons were airborne, likely spotting us soon if no miracle happened as i prepared to pulse my RADAR.

Turning my vision toward Alpha Fleet again. There was a fighter-bomber squadron in particular. leading the few remaining free forces through a cloud of deadly Triple-A and heavy AAA bursts between several cruisers assuming the anti-aircraft role to try and knock out a Sakura destroyer. Dozens of explosions signalled the end of yet more bombercraft.

It's a strange ability, I admit that much. While I was no stranger to the concept of UAVs. controlling your aircraft as through they were like a collective part of a hivemind was... weird as hell. It was like speech and commands consisting of pure Will. projected to effective reach of my radios. Ordering a single A-7 to bomb out an enemy ship was like commanding mind to mind as easily as i moved my legs. the way a hivemind spoke to its bugs that served as the eyes and ears and hands and feet. As if extensions of myself. without their own independent processes.

It was still amazing to get live video feed and perspectives from my other bombers and aircraft. or when i manually controlled my secondaries and teritaries, It was like as through I was seeing into a VR HUD display while still seeing things with my own eyes. It's a good thing for everyone that I am not a Flood entity or some other hellish lifeform like the Blob Overmind, and Kyubey's hivemind theory... while suggesting high drone autonomy, like a god whispering in your mind. didn't leave out the medium and low autonomy possibilities.

Because Collective Intelligences can pool their entire power together?

The Sakura Destroyers began their thrust, emitting nothing but pure coordination and a rapid reaction loop as they charged forward without loop delays. Behind them, denizens of torpedo cruisers and destroyers like Dewey rushed forward to cover them and launch torpedoes of their own.

Under the confusion and chaos of what was happening, the flank guard of several frigates. destroyers and a Admiral Hipper returned to firing. but it had been too late to react to such a fast-acting foe, Torpedoes ran into unprotected hulls and detonated. The Azur lane shipgirls didn't bother with their main guns. They just began pummeling the defenders with autocannons. One strafed a screaming A-class and began using her other partners as swiss cheese practice.

I slewed the sensors away from the sight, slightly disturbed at how readily the girl had taken to blood and battle-rage herself at close range so enthusiastically . A alert informed me as Type 965 confirmed the second fleet's position and I traversed my other smaller RADARs to begin deciding their composition.

'Charles! Enemy submarine is going down!' Depth charges went off as I closed in and fired a few homers from my lightweight tubes before turning away to avoid counterattack from a Fleet tonnage submarine. I spotted a lone U-boat forced nearly to the surface. sandwiched between Aurora and one of my girls. stern and forward torpedo tubes firing away noisily in hail mary shots.

A blink and I was receiving data from my Dauntlesses. diving along and skimming the hull of what had been identified as a Renown after dodging an impressive amount of AAA fire for so long. dropping away bombs and pulling out of the dive in near-certainty of its destruction as bombs detonated on the decks.

I could feel something akin to exhilaration and fear as explosions lit up behind the bomber. It's actions being to try and winchester back to base as it opened fire on a A6M Zero. The little fighter began to try and get out of the way. already attempting to engage my bomber as main gun batteries fired from a ship.

I blinked as the Dauntless almost squawked. for lack of a better word in alarm as time-fused fire came out like a sea of green and orange fire.

Moments later, my link to it disappeared.

'This is Charles. I got one! Z19's also forcing one up! She's not crash-diving this time!' Charles cheered on the radio. although not as aggressively with the looming threat of a fleet headed our way as Bataan took care of that one surfaced sub with a pair of accurately-aimed bombs to the deck casing. destroying any safe limited diving capability and crippling it with unmanageable flooding from a combination of depth charges and holes as fires ignited.

"Bataan. Independence?" I commanded. my two carriers facing me as I needed to organize something to slow down the second fleet's airstrike while I prepared my own aircraft for take off.

"Yes. Ma'am?/Any new orders?" Bataan and Independence spoke almost all at once. now that Alpha fleet was tied down completely, and since I had a more immediate and major threat to deal with. recalling any fully armed aircraft to turn around would be a good idea. complete with ordering them to speed up the rearming process already and warm up their guns. The Filipino carrier's sapphire eyes stare almost unblinkingly with a nearly blank expression otherwise.

"We've got a new fleet approaching us from there..." I pointed with my hand. no longer with any shyness, now with a visible twitch of anger as being in the midst of naval combat meant my prosperity to stutter and trip over my own words was gone for now. replaced in its place was a decisive and short OODA loop mindset hellbent on finding any solutions to the problem I was stuck in, especially with my life potentially being on the line here. "Call back any aircraft you might have! Any fighters will take off as soon as they are ready! If we don't, even the Atlanta sisters won't be able to save us from that large airstrike!"

"...Understood. I will be careful." Bataan acknowledged, tugging the hem of her shirt once more. behind her eyes I felt some hesitation almost haltingly in the face of such a force with our numbers. given that her hand barely reached shoulder level in her haste to put it down.

"...Okay. I am preparing fighters for takeoff now!" Independence's shoulders tensed up, as she nods back slightly. The twitch of worry flits across her face. In my mind, I felt some relief to have picked experienced and composed shipgirls who didn't take this battle like a game of paintball and were not panicking when a major surface asset was headed toward them like a glacial boulder.

For a moment, I considered throwing off the facade restraining my abilities. a killing machine with frills of justice yearning to be let off the shackles of morality...

Don't hold back. Let it out.

But then, I remembered. Remember To the Stars. Don't drop the Masquerade, Not Yet. I can't turn this battle into a technicolor surprise even if my aggressive side is demanding that i do so to maximize the chances of someone not dying.

"Stop searching for the submarines for now, Z-Z19. Aurora. Z20. Charles, Ariake, Arashio. Regroup with the Atlantas and prepare for hostile airstrikes!"

I have a battle to finish, and if disabling the second fleet's capital ships of forcing them to turn around must be so. Then it will be so. Full complements of Corsairs. Mikoyans. Prowlers-all began to warm up followed by my missiles. Overwhelming force and shock wasn't enough. Demoralization and forcing them to panic must also be the end goal here.

"Open fire!" Z19 shouted. She, along with nearly everyone opened up on the approaching aircraft. trying to contribute despite her anemic short-range 20mm FLaK and issues with her low-angle non-power-driven 127mm guns, Soon, Aurora joined in, other Royal Navy destroyers like Icarus and Echo to their sides a short distance away. Time-fused 127mm. 114mm and 102mm shells filled the air around Siren D3As and Wildcat fighter-bombers in the first wave, But they still kept coming. Then short-range cannons like 20mms started firing as enemy strike aircraft crossed into their effective ranges.

San Juan and Aurora were like a fountain of colorful projectiles. their 127mm and 102mm guns firing as fast as they could load them, soon turning the sky into a beautiful dance with death itself. Norfolk herself had also began to fire guided rockets. Four Siren aircraft went down, rendered out of control by excessive damage. Another practically exploded when one of Norfolk's missiles achieved a direct hit on the nose.

When 20mms began firing was that the first of the siren aircraft heeled over into a combination of steep dives and shallow glides. Some more took hits and lost control or either became unresponsive trailing white and grey smoke.

'Evade! EVADE!' Z19 heard Charles shouting and didn't waste time on heeding the call, powering into a tight turn to try and throw off an approaching dive bomber. its bomb splashing into the water to her right and inflicting minor damage when it detonated underwater. Another one came in screaming for Ariake with light bombs as it released its bomb crutches before pulling out from the dive as explosions covered the Sakura destroyer. She came out of the smoke clutching at her right eye and glaring up at the sky in defiance.

She hadn't known Dorsetshire's supposed sister for very long. but she thought she had a slight idea of what to expect from her. her love for sports weren't just an excuse to be with Lewis and gossip with the rest of her Ironblood teammates. but an opportunity to get to know her coworkers and charges.

Norfolk was perhaps as much of a enigma as Enterprise was, but in a different way. For a cruiser who took part in the action against Bismarck together with Suffolk and engaging Scharnhorst once. She was, unlike Deutschland and Z23 withdrawn and fragile. and almost seemed to be uncomfortable in her own body. possibly due to her coming into being as some sort of French battleship project rather than her actual class as well as esoteric abilities which were still poorly understood. She had a sense for making rapid decisions during battles or exercises. yet the first time Z19 had heard of her, she was said to be quite indecisive and submissive. Despite all of these things. she was fought over by the french and the british. The Royal Navy had no 406mm fast battleships and the KGVs were hindered by their treaty designs. Jean Bart's personality hid a vulnerable soul. Hood was... well. Vulnerable.

And yet, The shy battleship knew more than she should for her current experience. And at times when she was competitive. she had shown a aggressive side at times who refused to lose and expressed little fear if any. And it was showing again with her tactics. as despite her relative inexperience as a Fleet Kommandant and tendency to not make full use of her radar and sensors (Which she had tried to understand the idea of IR and Lasers) Norfolk was showing little hesitation in dealing with the enemy submarines and was even participating with homing torpedoes beyond anything the Ironblood could achieve in the short term. The Ironblood green-haired destroyer heard something akin to ambition in the battleship's voice. You could not hear that from a truly shy girl.

Even when Victorious had informed them of the fleet that outnumbered them a few times over. Her voice despite her stuttering and intermittent changes in tone to a withdrawn one still didn't show fear, if anything. She thought that she picked up something akin to confidence and determination from the Fast battleship.

'Everyone, Prepare for a tactical withdrawal and retreat! We've moving away from the second enemy battlefleet.' Norfolk said into the comms channels, to the relief of Spence and slight confusion on Phoenix's face. 'M-move us halfway deeper into sub-infested waters.' The relief on Spence's face went away hearing the new orders.

'What are you doing?' Arashio demanded. 'We won't be able to hold off the airstrikes alone!'

'I am altering the Plan, We must feint our retreat as through we're breaking up. Bataan. Independence will... prepare a decoy airstrike. while I will put together the real one. We need to surprise them with shock and disbelief from invisible attackers, Just hope I... don't alter anything further.'

Norfolk ordered a 'retreat' with Icarus responding before nearly getting bombed herself followed by the other girls, It was a risky move in Z19's mind. Outnumbered and outmatched with four fleet carriers, there was the real risk it could turn into a bloody stalemate of at worst they would be broken and routed as they tried to fake a retreat. Bataan's Wildcat streaked overhead. breaking up two D3As and forcing them to dodge and evade as the Union Light Carrier fighters engaged their assailants. The fighters made good work of the fast but lightly-built bombers. sending some tumbling into the water and driving the rest off before turning to assume a defensive strategy against incoming enemy fighters.

'T-Thanks.' Phoenix radioed in to Independence. followed by a response from the other end. 'Just doing my job.'

All the Ironblood destroyer could hope for now was that the British-French battleship was going to get them out of this unharmed against a numerically superior enemy as a Siren Wildcat burst apart like a oversized grapefruit from a direct 127mm hit. Already the enemy fleet was latching onto the feigned disorganized retreat like a Wolf refusing to let a bone go. slowly turning toward them to follow. If she failed, then the only result Z19 saw was slowly grinding each other down until one of them gave up.

Chapter Text

"The Imperium of Man stands as a cautionary tale of what could happen should the very worst of Humanity's lust for power and extreme, unyielding xenophobia set in."
- Official Games Workshop Statement on 40K.

So you know how I started this mission out with at least 10 shipgirls. reinforced by another 30+ each fleet from Hornet's side to divide up between each of us? Yeah. the amount of who was still combat-effective had dropped by the dozens since the fighting had began at Stage 1 and Stage 2. About minutes after fighting off an strike package from Alpha Fleet along with a enemy fleet that is trying to opt for a counter-offensive strategy with gunboats executing hit and run attacks. The fleet unit which included Victorious was down to about 60% combat strength. Hipper had been struck by a pair of 406mm shells that blew out one of her main gun batteries.

Tirpitz suffered similar levels of damage. having been dogpiled on by a bunch of Nagatos followed by a charge from Dunkerques. She was on fire from several upper belt penetrations according to my estimate that likely had played havoc on her secondaries and fire-control due to how her accuracy was starting to suffer from watching her and comparing her previously. Then there were the hits that had penetrated into fighting compartments despite not having breached the main armor plates. There were gouges in the upper armor bands that. in addition to the damage previously. had also destroyed numerous weapon emplacements. An steel rain of shells and bombs ensured that her torpedo launchers were out of action for the foreseeable future.

Formidable from what my Prowlers were seeing had been struck by heavy AP bombs that blasted open multiple holes after breaching armored decks and then gouging out any remaining hangar armor plates. explosions threatening to ignite ammunition bunkers and aviation fuel.

Illustrious suffered suffered something similar. Fiji having lost her dual-purpose guns. Leipzig losing the bow. Cassin losing her torpedo launchers. and Isokaze nearly being destroyed completely to a useless state had she been alone. More damage might have been sustained had they not withdrew/drifted to a safer distance into the crowd.

But as allied shipgirls were damaged/crippled. Their own attacks had struck.

Having had the numerical advantage. followed by what amounted to nearly a hundred aircraft that could swarm a entire squadron into being floating heaps of junk. Enemy battlecruisers were not able to withstand a confrontation with their bigger cousins in a pressed battle. Having had drawn out the Dunkerques out of formation as they tried to regroup allowed the salvoes from North carolina. Renown. Colorado. West Virginia respectively. to achieve direct hits as they had adjusted for Cold gun barrel effects. drawing first blood as Cemented armor was shattered. leaving gouges in the main plates that then penetrated beyond the rubber compound backing layers and destroyed several key systems. Heavy cruisers similarly scored gouges. though not enough, and destroyed the less well protected secondaries and electric systems.

This came in concurrence with a counter-blow from remaining carriers. Skuas and Dauntlesses going into steep dives as two squadrons of torpedo bombers switched from harassment to fulfilling their purpose. Avengers dropped their torpedoes (as unreliable as they were) while fighter-bombers provided inaccurate rocket support. Bomb clutches were released. ramming SAP bombs into the horizontal armor and began carving out what they could before they were cut off by renewed AAA fire. Destroyers and Torpedo-armed cruisers pounced on the heavier ships that had gotten confused and lost in the chaos and fog of war. savaging them with torpedoes and rapid-fire light cannons while the heavier ships tried to respond in kind. their reaction loops ultimately failing them as one began to suffer from ammunition fires and cook-offs in most of her main guns. superheated gas escaping from the rings and hatches and turning the ammunition elevators into an oversized blast furnance.

The squadrons were then forced away by an intense Siren counter attack from reorganized fighters and light up to medium AA. an anti-air screen so fierce that they abandoned further targeting attempts on the capitals in favor of avoiding the onslaught. Torpedo bombers were not as fortunate as more enemy Wildcats caught them form behind. destroying a group of several TBFs. the squadron was then broken apart by Seafires. forcing them to go on the defensive of scatter as tracer rounds flew into the skies in search of anything flying in a straight line.

And back to my own side, Ariake was now laden by moderate BDA and a light fire. The ferocity of our IADs combined with what my carriers could spare had reduced incoming attack aircraft by a significant margin. but when my RADARs and cyber-warfare department from analysis of EM emissions completed their analysis, The results were not what i wanted to see.

What I saw did not please me one bit.

Commanding leader Ramway snarled as she launched torpedoes of her own into the last of the destroyers assaulting her mobile reserves. Swatting an incoming dive bomber aside. She communicated into the radio channels. "Battlecruisers and big guns! I need heavy fire support on these five now!"

"Ranging and firing now!" Came the haggard reply with distortion and interference. A wildcat slammed into another, making them explode like orange fireworks.

"New contacts! We're receiving transmissions!" Shouted a squadron leader from her left. Ramway started and turned toward the faint blurs in the distance before remembering that she still had a battle to fight, The transmissions and colors however. told her all she needed to know.

"It's a entire wing of super battleships!" Cheers cried out as supporting elements and mobile reserves quickly organized theirselves into working order. "They're brought a whole battle line and carriers with them!"

And indeed they did. Ramway picked up no less than a total of 45 ships. including five fleet carriers. There were four Maximum battleships forming the main firepower of the task force. Despite their extensive tours of duty and histories. none of them had ever seen a Maximum ship in intense combat before. But they did hear of them before. two to three times to the tonnage of a normal battleship with a similar increase in total firepower they were rare sights because even Command was cautionary about putting them at risk when your average everyday battlecruiser proved sufficient for most of their needs. But there was little doubt that where a Maximum went. destruction followed.

'This is Layla Lane. Come in!'

Layla Lane. One of the heaviest battleships in existence. to see the girl with her own eyes, The Siren commander almost teared up in joy.

"Yes. This is Ramway. receiving you. Can you help us?" Enthusiasm and relief was barely held back in her own voice. Between Layla's forces and her own. They would be quickly able to drive out the enemy fleet and then crush any remaining stragglers.

'We can! We're stumbled into one of their detached fleet elements. but we can deal with them in short time. We're coming toward you now!' The radio crackled with intent and fever-pitched tenor of communications.

Giving orders over the explosions and constant whining of aircraft and shells above. She wiped her face and allowed her personality to dissolve even further. settling deeper into the battle. "Bring us about! Have the fleet regroup! We smash into their outer defenses while our reinforcements hammer them!"

Oh fuck. oh fuck. oh fuck!

Two Tillman IIIs and two remarkably fast Yamato Battleships respectively. A warship with quite a noticeable superstructure measuring nearly 300 meters in the real world. Bristling with weapons, heavy armor enough to resist even 460mm gunfire. fast enough to qualify as a Fast battleship characteristic of a heavy propulsion upgrade that made them combined a Super star destroyer level threat. backed by enough Yorktowns and Lexingtons complete with 22 destroyers and 14 cruisers to utterly dominate this battle and crush my forces. And this was only the head of one really long mecha-girl infestation stretching all the way back to BEYOND the fucking horizon!

Such an ship group working together was a gamechanger in a battle of rapid deployment like this. morale would rise, reinforcements would come in droves. and my shipgirls would simply melt away under the weight of kinetic ammunition and kilotons the ships could bring to bear. Even my esoteric abilities would not be enough to pull off a victory on this day. And I could sense the fear slowly building up along my nearby allies. From the actions of the two Sakura Torpedo FAC destroyers, to the actions of Quincy and my bigger ships around me... The little voice in your stomach that kept trying to make you freeze up like a deer in the headlights. It was there and slowly growing.

Fortunately for me, bringing along even a bigger Mass accelerator. Electrothermal chemical cannons were my main strength. and if it truly got dire. the usage of Raising Heart as a Arcane Beam Emissions weapons system. After all. I was upgraded to the 21st century with the latest and greatest in military technology. disguised in the familiar hulls of warships of old. I felt my soul trying to crawl its way deeper as it hadn't got the memo that i wasn't in immediate danger... yet!

Hmm.. what to do. with Victorious's Fleet and Alpha Fleet 10 o'clock from my path. and a approaching heavy surface sector fleet from 6 o'clock that would overrun my forces? My face began to grimace. Think. Norfolk. Think! Think anything that doesn't involve dropping your facade!

...When the fighting began, I had started warming up my Jet bombers at some point during the battle. didn't i? Realizing that was my only way out of this, I quickly selected out a bunker-buster payload and began launching them as fast as I was able to. Only a crazy. nutty idea could work in this situation!

I began to slow down. positioning my squadron of A-7s I had launched just moments ago as they kept climbing toward the limits of the sky. Running a hand roughly through my hair, left eye twitching as I looked for a solution. I had heard stories about USAF aircraft guiding bombs down exhaust vents on bunkers... Could the same thing be done? It was the only thing that would work with a high single-shot kill probability and the one that would disorganize them from panic and confusion.

"Norfolk! Why are you falling behind?" Independence called out. She seemed subdued and unnerved. To see a battleship carrier force and the escorts was bad enough, But their flagship falling behind and right into the horns of a Siren task force who had intentions to tear them apart? That would be a disaster especially if my technology was lost!

"I intend to u-use myself as bait... Don't worry about me, you girls just get out of here." I replied with a tone of commitment to see this through to the very end. Independence's face went aghast. questioning my decision in the face of me going alone against the entire combined firepower of a battleship line. Was this even a decision that made sense?

"It's too dangerous for you! Norfolk! Don't do it!" Some girl cried out, falling on deaf ears. Internally I felt fear kicking in. It was going to have to look convincing and that meant allowing myself to fall into range of the enemy guns. It would mean being bombarded nonstop per second and air power being concentrated against me in a attempt to sink the flagship. I tried to not let personal feelings interfere with my course of actions in battle too much. but now... that it involved myself executing a nearly suicidal half-thought plan. the fear and terror at the possibility that the Yamatos could end me with lucky hits to critical systems dawned over my head.

'Norfolk. You're insane and out of your mind!' Atlanta... I could tell that she didn't agree with my audacious half-fucked plan that could go wrong with a good chance of doing so.

I lived because i didn't want to die. because death scared me. But the chances of that happening was low, My propellant charges and warheads were all built to be insensitive and to only deflagrate if damaged, I had enhanced armor protection in the form of magitech. and I had the necessary know-how and a skill to regenerate any damage done to me far beyond normal efficiency for regular damage control. And then if the need arose... even without my barrier jacket, I could still generate a discreet AMT Field. or Absolute Magical Territory over key portions. and let the superfluous and non-critical parts of myself like the bow. the stern and portions of the superstructure take damage while not arousing suspicion. If Witches could warp reality. and if Evas can use their massive spirits and manifest them on reality to the point of even warping light. why couldn't i be able to?

Much unlike that unfortunate Siren destroyer in Alpha fleet, who was now lamenting at the impossibility of being downed by a few heavy cruiser shells.

"I be okay... I-I won't be hurt badly in this decoy plan, Just go!" I ordered through the radio channels. cutting any replies off as i slowed down to half speed and less.

My engines responded immediately as my fleet members all began to outrun me. while from 6 o'clock, the enemy fleet was closing in. Nearly a fifty to a hundred contacts popped up over my RADAR screens as entire wings of strike bombers. air superiority aircraft. anti-ship torpedo bombers and fighter-bombers emerged from the decks of the Siren carriers. All these blips made me gulp slightly at the gravity of the situation.

It wasn't long before they reoriented their courses to point at me. no doubt thinking that I was suffering from a boiler problem of some sort.

Shellfire began to range in as I tried to not wince and strain my face, and soon it turned into a endless cacophony of splashes around me. so thick that it seemed like a thick solid mass of steel was being poured into me. My sixth sense went into overdrive and I allowed myself to dissolve into a battle rage state. evading. throwing myself into seemingly impossible turns and abusing my speed settings to avoid or side-step incoming shell patterns. Bombers began to drop their payloads on top of me. attempting to reenact Operation Ten-go for the second time. This drew the attention of my computerized AAA systems, Targeting RADARs measuring distance and exact angle before feeding it to 20mms and SAKs. who all retaliated with accurate 20mm streams and flak clouds of bursting 40mm proximity rounds.

I snarled and gave my soul gem-if i ever had one a kick. My arms shook and hands clenched into fists as my latent magical abilities visualized them as bright flares in the distance. And for a moment red triangles and arrow symbols appeared on top of their heads before disappearing. representing their classification each as a screening or capital ship. "Eat hypersonic slugs and just die. bastards!" Allowing myself to fall further behind-it had to look real and genuine. I began to return fire with my main batteries. Zhuks. Marks and Laser rangefinders going online and feeding sensor-fused data which was processed almost immediately to my soul. Pulse-forming networks charged. Flywheels spun up to hazardous speeds. energy levels were spiking. Capacitors then dumped all of this electricity into my main batteries. vaporizing the plasma generator and setting off the propellant charges which in turn began to accelerate shells under gigantic pressure in Type D mode and then try to nudge them toward my intended victims with slight telekinetic forces.

The Salvo from Battery A was too low. I caught a cruiser right in the armored bulkhead. blasting open sizeable holes that must have hit something critical, as what little I saw was of smoke and flames from one of her main turrets hinting that I fuel fire. Battery B ended up missing entirely, straddling a maneuvering Type 1934 destroyer that was trying to frustrate me. Battery C in turn struck the funnel uptakes of a Asashio. disintegrating them completely and sending superheated fragments everywhere as her torpedoes began to burn and catch fire!

Immediately I began correcting for any possible errors and put the guns into computerized mode with adjustments from my psychic abilities as needed."Just hold still. for hell's sake!" I cursed under my breath and muttered a reply to Bataan's question about the decoy airstrike. telling her to go ahead now that my true bombers were in the air and decoy Wildcat fighters had rendezvoused with her bait package. 127mm and 100mm secondaries fired. 127mm mechanized loaders ramming and slamming in new shells. combined firing at the same rate as a 120mm machine gun. a constant steel rain of tracers and RAP shells and 100mm shells. mentally chanting to myself 'Die. motherfucker die!' RADAR sets recorded incoming shells aimed toward me and alerted me that I should take evasive actio-

I felt a set of what must have been 406mm USN shells slam into my side, I felt large-caliber shell patterns splashing down around me. I heard yelling over the radio despite the deafening ricochet that reminded me of two tanks ramming each other face-on. One shell dug into my armor belt only to be rejected and ricochet off high into the air detonating in a burst of black smoke and another shell shear off my deck plating with it!

"Augguaahhh!" I yelped in pain as I immediately pulled up damage control. "Eugh! Aaughh... God!" Okay, nothing bad other than just some minor non-important damage. That I can deal with. If it had actually penetrated my main armor belt. It would have been far worse than if it had been rejected! And If it had took out a engine unit. I would have been screwed on the spot! All the while my Steel rain of secondary fire threw up clouds of water vapor and fog around the enemy ships that I had designated for prioritization. bridges blown to hell and steel shards. even masts flying sky high like beer corks, I was incapacitating and crippling the vanguard ships. no doubt. but not as fast as I would need to even consider the idea of trying to solo them!

"What could work as a barrier... a barrier shield to prevent a Jutland scenario!?" I talked to myself in search for a solution and coughed out the seawater that had got on my face. my armor was not going to cut it, not against a Yamato... Didn't i remember that back in my first battles. I had generated some kind of shield during my time with Comet. and then healed myself in the process as well? If the angels from EVA could generate a A.T field to protect theirselves from the outside forces of reality. and if Witches could do something similar emphasizing reality-warping over defensive protection, Then I just only had to... Another explosion on my back nearly sent me reeling into the water and prompted me to hold on tighter to my clothes. Right! First priority is survival and I had thought about the idea earlier. worrying about reserves can come later!

Letting instinct guide my actions. In these few moments, my abilities drew power from me and permeated my body. I felt a soft tingle form across my skin and the entire surface of my body like something hovering just about it. not distracting, but still noticeable. AMT. or my Absolute Magical Territory Field. Well. a beginner-level improvisation to make up for the fact I don't have any named or advanced barrier skills yet. a MG Imitation of the Eva A.T Field and pseudo Barrier-jacket shielding began to activate, as when the light strikes me at just the right angle. there's the faintest shimmer of some pink and orange barrier surrounding portions of my machinery. What shells I couldn't evade. they splashed into the fields instead, shattering and mushrooming theirselves as splashes of energy played over the light of my shackled mind.

"Not yet..." Having gotten my A-7s as high as i could, I changed their course to head toward the enemy fleet with distance to give. My Dauntlesses along with Bataan's were approaching as a decoy strike, to convince the enemy fleet to look in that direction and redirect their fighters instead of risking detection. Again I felt another battleship shell smack face-on into my turret mantlets. only again to ricochet off with no structural damage whatsoever other than the slight tingle of fatigue.

Two PC 1800RS bombs with Paveway seekers and PBXN-5 Warheads plus R-73s. One targeting pod and borderline overweight for the specs. Only two oversized rocket boosted Fritz-X/BLU-113 style shots for this. I mentally commanded them to lase the turrets. or if that was not possible to lase between the main battery gun barrels. Hopefully they could penetrate all the way down to ammunition bunkers and not detonate in the elevators. The carriers were also to be targeted for destruction too. It had to work or i was going to be dead.

"Mmuguh! Ugh! Ah!" I grunted and groaned in synchronized pain as a large-caliber shell perforated and exploded on my unshielded bow. tearing a new hole in it and punching open multiple structural components. A new steaming hole made me look away and try to keep a steady head. not letting my mind run wild. "Photon Trail Enhancer...!" I murmured. a slight glow of light visible within my clenched hands before fading as I cast a offensive support spell directed for my bombers. intending to increase the explosion power of these bombs and also give them incendiary properties. My armor groaned in protest as it deflected or stopped shells that were eating away at the surface. peeling off flakes and spatters of red-hot metal.

"Haah...! Gugh!" I felt some tingle of light panting as my overclocked offensive spell drew power. but it was nothing that could interfere with my focus. Enemy fighters were already being redirected to intercept the fake airstrike. A-7s began to enter into a slight. gliding dive, Lasing all battleships and fleet carriers before they could rain down hell on me or give birth to more aircraft.

Altitude descending. Video feeds from targeting pods appeared. Single bombs were released as ancient. somewhat antique by modern standards. but functional Paveway II seekers acquired the designators. manually stewed on the turret roofs or bomb rooms for the best chance of a magazine hit and began to home in to their destinations... Blurs in the skies signaling their barely noticeable arrival as they built up speed.

I watched, even as explosions covered the surface of my superstructure. even as I began to lose my decoy bombers. all going down in flames or either uncontrollable while I was starting to lose one of two decoy fighters. I became aware of a fire being started on deck.

Digital signals were sent. rocket motors fuses armed and ignited. Orange twinkles of light signaling their barely noticeable arrival and accelerating the bombs to their final striking velocities as they descended toward a unaware enemy fleet. crossing the remaining distance in seconds.

I nearly cheered on the spot when all bombs hit their marks. bulldozing their way through armored decks and layers with sheer mass before detonating into a cloud of crackling flames and orange glaring plasma-like discharges. Targeting pod cameras showed the barbettes going up like little volcanoes. geysers of fire and debris as a Tillman suffered ammunition explosions from a bomb blowing up right next to what had to be a magazine room. steel shards and burning wood scattering all over the place like fireworks. The plan had worked, This crazy gamble had worked. even if it involved using a flagship as bait and the loss of 13 aircraft as decoys!

"Phoenix! Aurora! Turn around and form up into two pincers!" I ordered gleefully. "With their capital ships gone and their forces in disarray. We need to attack now! Close in. Close in and take them all for me!" Enemy fire began to taper off dramatically as I saw the young destroyers panicking. cruisers being confused and looking frantically about for their attackers. One of them even turned around in a attempt to seek safety in numbers. I nearly shouted in joy as initial BDA estimates came in and indicated that flooding would be a bear on another Tillman. the strike on her had removed an sizeable chunk of a weather deck, most of the secondary magazines. and one of the boiler units. There were even entire sections of deck or side simply being thrown away from the battleship herself! The effects of my offensive support skill was such that it painted a bleak picture for her in terms of damage control being done before the battle was over.

'Yes ma'am!' Agreed my fleet. even as the friendly destroyers that were the nose of my retreating fleet reversed their direction around and began the attack no matter their positioning. the fear was completely gone.

'You heard her!' Phoenix's cheer was that of a fiery. hot-blooded Hooah tone. I almost swore I spoke in sync with her. 'We're the ones attacking. not retreating! Let's go! It's time to kill their surface task force! Quincy. Echo. Z20. You're in with me! Follow me in as we go!'

{'Good hunting to her. She is always looking for a good enemy to fight after all.'} I gave her my salutes to finish the thought. turning my gaze back toward the second enemy fleet. now designated on my battlespace map as... Bogey fleet. Hydraulic noises filled my ears. SAMs looking for anything to swat out of the sky and RADARs searching for new contacts with their mechanically and electronically scanned radio beams.

As the new enemy fleet began to panic and veer about in random directions from being totally blind to where their assailants were. disorganization and chaos spreading like air and viruses throughout them while my own fleet charged back in. reinvigorated with the desire to fight. I handled requests from my Prowlers to land and rearm. preening my red hood and noting the number of submarines picked up by sonobuoy nets and total number of enemy ships detected by Type 965. I assigned and mentally touch-screened a few Prowlers to try and engage them to add to my growing tally of at least about a few tens of submarines. nearly ten done by my escort ships without any direct guided torpedo airstrikes.

This crazy plan. half thought out as it was had paid off spectacularly. At least half to 75% of the enemy fleet's overwhelming firepower was effectively gone as a spectacular explosion erupted from a Yorktown-class's deck elevators. I had taken some damage and my unprotected ends were scarred and beaten. but my carrier component had effectively defeated an entire fleet of ships in effect by itself.

Now, of course. came the hard part.

Sinking every single ship would be too costly for my current count of shipgirls under command. even if I included and risked the injured ones like Ariake.

I would need to take a more Schwerpunkt and overwhelming concentration of force approach to this and force them to fight inside a ever faster and faster OODA reaction loop. Mentally, I ordered the remaining A-7s to begin targeting the faster firing light cruisers and complete destruction of the carriers. They were to eliminate any threat to my picket and supporting forces since my fleet did not include any capital ships (Other than myself and maybe Quincy). this in turn would allow me to approach from a suitably weakened flank and pincer them without excessive risk to my vanguards.

From there, things can only get madder.

An alert popped into mind and I turned my attention to Alpha Fleet and Azur lane Offensive battlegroups. the remaining enemy warships were regrouping and disengaging, every fighter and frigate was making their way to them. Worrying since Hornet's fleet was becoming increasingly tattered. but for the moment they would be carrying out DC and more than likely. planning for a final assault on Hornet's fleet before turning their attention toward my outnumbered flotilla.

Dozens of minor alerts told me all I needed to know about my own fleet's status.

The attempted airstrikes from Bogey fleet. although mostly repulsed didn't leave us unscratched, I had started out with nine destroyers and five Light cruisers;Ariake now sported bomb damage to her topworks. Independence had gotten strafed by a desperate Dauntless and then took rocket hits. and the Atlantas had took retaliation runs and were now sporting varying degrees of superstructure damage and non-operational turrets.

I still had my carriers and Hornet's presence, however. even if my CLAAs were approaching their practical combat endurance limits and one of my Hatsuharus was able to explode if her torpedo launchers were further stressed. Quincy. Phoenix. Aurora and myself still remained, forming the core of my available supporting firepower and Ad'hoc battlecruiser squadrons.

My vital systems had escaped unscratched. but my unprotected ends had took a few bad hits and there, but my long-range bombardment weapons systems like the Exocets and Termits were still ready to serve, but firing them would entail a fairly lengthy reload period owed to the fact these launchers were never meant to be reloaded during combat for the same reasons you don't rely on external magazines or shove your AA ammunition lockers away from their consumers.

I elected to leave the gradually escalating. bigger and more fanciful and lethal weapons systems like air-launched Exocets and a few soviet systems like Kh-29s and 25s plus Nammo Ammunition rockets (to the magazines) that i hadn't mapped out on my initial survey. maybe one Divine buster as a last resort. Taking a glance at my map with blue arrows , I knew that this was going to be close.

"No! NO!" Screamed Ramway. receiving reports about what happened to their reinforcements. some invisible force having knocked out the battleships and carriers all within the span of moments. The carriers ignited into a conflagration and battleships puffed out. black smoke erupting from their funnels before coming to a dead stop.

She cursed herself and her luck. and cursed the flagship of that peculiar detachment. She fired her main guns on a enemy ship who she didn't identify in the heat of the engagement. anger furiously coursing through her veins, "This is Ramway. Intensify your bombing efforts and arm your fighters with strike packages! Our reinforcements have been attacked by something!" She shouted into the comms. giving no heed to the confusion, An destroyer to her left shrieked as shellfire filled her vision.

'Ma'am. We're working as fast as we can! We can't possibly-' Came the confused and unbelieving reply. more explosions and yelps resonating into the radio.

But Ramway wasn't having none of it. She sailed around the fusilade of small and large-caliber penetrators tearing to rip anyone apart and make children's playgrounds out of the flotsam. letting the rage fuel her. "Carriers! I am ordering you to redirect your strike packages! DAMN IT!"

'R-Right away!' Despite her emotional state which put the siren's ability to lead into question. The carriers still obeyed her orders. For now they were sending them in a constant stream, trying to exploit opportunities like enemy ships drawn out from their formation. While going on such a aggressive course of action would incur more losses. Compared to what just happened to one of their heavy task forces and how many enemy carriers were still happily sailing about...

'Ramway! We can't knock out their flattops! We simply don't have the necessary ready aircraft on hand in numbers! Enemy CAPs have noticed and they are returning fire-FUCK! EVADE!'

She never saw the shot incoming.

A stray torpedo struck her on the equivalent of the amidships. shorting out half of her power grid and knocking FCS systems loose. rendering her long range gunnery imprecise and on a spin down toward the drains of firing from the hip. "GAAUGGHH! no... No! No. No. NO!"

Even as she was forced to pull away and begin emergency repairs. some poor Fletcher next to her going up in a fireball from multiple secondary ammunition explosions. She cursed Central Strategic Command. Azur Lane. The United Nations. Herself for ignoring the enemy detachment as a plausible threat. and the commander of that detachment with all her heart.

Chapter Text

"Whether or not a superintelligent artificial intelligence - chooses to coddle human minds entirely depends on what is was raised - like a child - to value itself, how favorably it looks upon us, and how much love or duty it can have toward us.

We can only hope that if we ever encounter a superintelligent AI, that is was raised by loving 'parents', cares deeply for the species that brought it to life, and wishes very much to please its progenitor species.

Otherwise, we are collectively done for."-Unknown

10 minutes after immobilization of Second Fleet

"All ships have formed up. sir!"

"Have the fleet prepare to move out. We need to retake the initiative immediately, or the enemy fleets will pick us off one by one. All ahead!" Smoke belched. turbine blades and boilers coming to life in every siren that could still fight. It was a testament to training and technology that most of them were still functional and battle ready. Personally, Kuroki was of the belief that it was thanks to their damage control experience who managed the tall orders of the day.

"All ships acknowledging, Moving all ahead at full." It was quite a sight to the unique Wichita. her eyes picking up on the light signaling and shouting between the 37 shipgirls that remained combat-effective to some degree.

She survived the close-quarters brawl by being the furthest from the metaphorical anvil when stray Skuas struck the bridge of some Kagero-class she didn't know the name of like some kamikaze zeroes straight from the second world war. which had left her stumbling straight into the killzone that ended with a heavy bomb being dropped on top of her propulsion compartments with the outcome of one very dead destroyer, resulting in her immediate takeover to communications specialist. simply because they had noone else experienced enough to interpret her superior's orders despite the static and screeching over the radio that indicated they were being jammed by some unknown EW source. which she hadn't heard of before until now.

She didn't like it and hated her new position. but Ramway assured her that she was more than ready for it. Morale among the girls was already plummeting. and they needed everyone on hand to help drive back the enemy fleets over this combat support logistics highway. But in the face of losing four super battleships and half of an entire Task Force combined with radios being down?

How could anyone recover from that. especially when it was looking like that they weren't just dealing with a unknown enemy. but a outside context problem! She wondered. glancing over to the commanding shipgirl as she stared at the horizon and clenched her fists into balls. Try as she might. what had transpired in the last hour was too much for her to contain. just about ready to charge into the distant main enemy fleet and the unknown fast battleship leading several silhouettes.

"Sir. Second enemy fleet is doing... something. The battleship appears to be moving into the wind and is acting erratically... wait..." Her eyebrows furrowed down and she shook her head lightly. wondering what the second enemy fleet might be doing now. They still didn't know who of what weapon was used to disable their reinforcements so fast... and in such a efficient way. Maybe they were joining back up with the main fleet? But even if the thought seemed comforting. she felt her chest tensing up with a sense of foreboding doom. Something didn't seem right here.

"What is it?" They had enough surprises and counter-blows. and now they had lost their reinforcements to some unknown weapon. The last thing they needed was one more surprise strike that shattered the bulk of their remaining fleet units in this battle.

Before. Despite the presence of the unknown battleship and her detachment. They, at the least had some level of confidence that they could match them evenly and trade them for each shell and torpedo. and the arrival of their would-be saviors would have meant they outnumbered them by a considerable margin. Now? They were in complete disarray and confused, Four battleships. some of the largest the world had ever seen. all gone and foundering before they could even engage. bombed by what she was sure had to be a guided weapon. They had left at least ten destroyers ablaze. several cruisers awash in their own floodwater. three carriers unable to attempt any useful airstrike. and a few battleships, But that still left a sizeable chunk of them unharmed and healthy. ready to make it a living nightmare for them.

"The unknown battleship is launching something."

"What? It can't have several seaplanes all at once. hasn't it? The enemy ship launched a few floatplanes. but that was all it had!" The commanding siren felt butterflies in her stomach. Most battleships had several. but to see one launching all of its scout and gunnery aircraft all at once would be a very unusual move. especially in the midst of contested airspace. So what was the enemy shipgirl's intent with taking the risk? "Even the Yamatos had maybe seven. eight, but most carried four to five. Even if they carried bombs. it would still be a fool's move with our AA defenses!"

"You're right." Kuroki nodded. uncertain and squinting her eyes to blink away the ash in her eyes with her brows furrowing in confusion. Tears leaked out of her eyes from the force, but she dared not rest. "Reports don't indicate any carrier or aircraft cruiser in the AL detachment."

"...Battlecarriers?"

Both girls turned towards a battlecruiser of the famed Dunkerque design. teeth chattering and their bodies almost leaning in with a growing look of curiosity and attentiveness in anticipation. "There were some battlecarrier plans they thought up back in the Second world war. but how and why?"

Kuroki's eyes went wide and her eyebrows shot toward the sky. she couldn't help herself at what she just heard. "Certainly why. Battlecarriers are not a great idea. but if she's the case, then why didn't we recognize her as such until now?"

"We identified her faintly as a battleship. possibly a fast battleship judging by how fast she was moving, look at how she was able to maintain her fire while pulling sudden and demanding turns that even our best cruisers can't match. If she was a battlecarrier, we would have known by now." The raven haired fast battleship pointed out. taking notes and remembering what her silhouette looked like nearly a half hour ago compared to now. "What are the estimates we have on how many planes she's assembling?" Ramway interrupted. voice crackling and impatient.

More shadows in the skies soon appeared. some of them sporting a unfamiliar and modern-looking design. At least 12 of them were circling together in a holding pattern. a few so close they almost seemed to collide in a illusion. "12 of so.. Wait... Reports are coming in, They describe a swept wing or lightly swept delta wing merging into a fuselage. no propeller. several rockets or bombs. some kind of pod and red stars..." Kuroki contorted into a frown. the description almost seeming familiar with a acquaintance's hobby of nerding out on the cold war...

"Swept wings and no propeller." The commanding siren stared like she was a ghost in shock then felt her mouth almost drop to the water and freeze as if she had gone white. now realizing much to her horror of the newfound threat they were faced with. "No!"

"Yes. Our enemy, despite all the odds and technological huddles has managed to develop jet aircraft. even if they are experimental. Not only that. they're somehow managed to skip past the engine technology needed and design cutting-edge. revolutionary aircraft like the carrier variant of the F-4 and Super Etendards or the Skyhawks and possibly the Corsair. It would give our enemy a immense advantage. nevermind render our air support useless entirely." The Dunkerque sighed. transfixed and head shaking. "Our enemy second flagship is forcing us to decide as whether to pursue her and stop her... or letting her pound us into submission from the stratosphere." Ramway stood there unbelieving. Kuroki gripped her fists grimly. much as Kuroki could contain herself. it made her want to erupt like a volcano to how they could have overlooked this early on.

"That bastard." The shipgirl growled and shook. one more pillar of fire and bright orange mini-suns signifying a powder explosion behind them.

"Efficient and cold." Admitted ramway with pursed lips and a level of begrudging respect for having struck while they were unaware of this new fact. She sighed and almost crossed her arms. "Unfortunately for us, she is fighting. testing her experimental weapons to gain feedback on them for Azur lane." She steeled herself and lifted her chin. ignoring the burns and pain in her side. her voice reverberating with authority and a hint of desperation-and behind it. fear. "Attention to all! We're withdrawing. Gather up whatever we can of our remaining forces. cover the subs and retreat orderly! This is not a battle we can win!"

The sky is dyed blue and white. Rain clouds wander aimlessly across the dull afternoon plane.

"Incoming torpedoes! Nine Dougla Devastators and increasing!"

Point Defence Cannons of mixed calibers opened fire. Curtains of steel rippling in complex patterns. the 40mms were twin barrels on elevated pedestal mounts. The hydraulics and electric motors still good as new after being submerged underwater from their first day. The computerized FCS and TV/Laser director were small enough that the average human could have disassembled it and found a mobile phone processor inside. The PFHE fuzes in each round it spat out would have been small enough to hold in a open hand. and the magazines would spit them out by the several per second. It was a far leap ahead of the WW2 analog bucket-and-chain machines. built to react faster than a mechanical director and with enough accuracy to shoot down any anti-ship missiles that flew at supersonic velocity. Their mechanical cousins joined in. sprockets and gears turning. manually aimed cannons firing without the assistance of a sixth sense to intimidate their attackers.

But even as dozens of aluminium birds were destroyed. a handful got through the cloud of steel and they released their payloads. fracturing mild steel plating and ripping open holes into numerous watertight bulkheads.

"Enemy Tashkent Squadron is concentrating fire on the Towns and Hippers. Heavy damage to all vessels. Counter-battery fire commencing!"

The fleet returned fire, but the stress from looking to take advantage of the chaos induced by the airstrike and the complex maneuvering required to evade enemy fire and split up into two pincer sections made their task difficult. nevertheless, despite the intensity of enemy fire and the fog of war. Aurora's pincer with Spence and Charles backed up by Atlanta managed to bring their remaining weapons to bear.

A stream of accurately placed 127mm+ and 152mm gunfire nailed a Mahan class destroyer right in the stern. tearing off the gun unit present as she panicked before another salvo turned half of her hull into a open-air swimming pool. another serires of 406mm shells hit home on a Vauquelin. Her forward machinery ruptured even as her burning rigging continued firing off torpedoes.

A handful of Fletchers and J-class destroyers ceased firing as they put all of their attention into redlining their steam untis and sped away. leaving behind the burning wrecks of half a dozen Leanders and Mutsukis to die under the barrage of guns and M229 CRVs from nearby rearmed A-7s raining down on the helpless shipgirls.

With the enemy squadron destroyed. Phoenix and her detached fleet turned their gaze to the main fleet of enemy vessels that were emerging from the ever-looming storm system and were rushing. literally, toward them.

"This is Phoenix. We can see the enemy squadron coming toward us abreast! Several of them at the least and we have biplanes closing in. It's almost like they are endless!"

Dozens of ships have emerged from the direction of the clouds. closing the distance into knifefight ranges. resulting in close quarters naval combat as a mixture of ancient fabrics and monoplanes blew past Independence's cover and began torpedo runs on the nearest warships at the edge of Phoenix's formation.

The new ships were a hodgepodge of almost random craft. from As and Early War craft to Condottieris and Kitakamis. Spotted among the group were even a few designs from history books;iIncluding Ranger and a Renown... Which was currently slugging it out with Quincy.

The fact the Ranger and a outdated-looking battlecruiser was included as part of the main firepower and then protected only by a few B-class and Farraguts was a sure sign of how desperate and notably brave the nearby enemy shipgirls were. regardless. the ancient battlecruiser was terribly imbalanced and the treaty carrier horribly vulnerable to fire. but it was clear that it just only needed to get off most of its precious cargo and launch them, even as MiG-29 Fighters dove in. too fast and too high for the slow-reacting dual-purpose guns of the ragtag fleet. dots of black marking the path of the guided bombs with silent actuators which steered them into an collision course with the Ranger's deck followed by a ear-splitting roar and jets of fire erupting from the breached flight deck pummeled into steel fragments. The treaty design had squeezed every cubic metre possible under tonnage constraints. and her hangars managed to give births to wings of fighter craft.

Ranging from a confusing complement of Zekes and Seafires to B6N Tenzans. The airstrike swarmed the cruiser and destroyer duo. swiftly maneuvering past the time-fuzed 127mm blasts and 40mm L/60 Marks to release their payloads. too much for even my remaining airborne air superiority MiGs to deal with in any reasonable timeframe.

And as swiftly as the new fleet had arrived, it had already begun disengaging and started to withdraw.

It had to have been effective. I'll admit grudgingly on that one. Whoever these forces were led by, they knew they didn't stand a real chance of fighting a straight battle between my own full forces and their random assortment of light and capital ships. even if some of their fighters were already falling to WVR Skyflash launches to clear the way for Bataan's Wildcats and their ships were occupying my fighter bombers through a brave. if quite suicidal decision.

They had essentially performed the equivalent to a drive by shooting or in a 'gamey' way. what the French destroyers from World of Warships did. a hit and run tactic that diverted precious attention to beating them aside and choose between putting Phoenix and her girls at risk and continue with the mission of exploiting the second enemy fleet's inability to respond effectively against asymmetric threats.

Normally. someone else would have chosen one of the options;Most likely the former option to pause and fight them rather than risk the possibility of someone getting killed.

Unfortunately for them. I was not a normal shipgirl commander and so with the cold logic of modern BVR combat. I chose both. Using the computer systems and processors of my electronics and again keeping track of their positions. My overly expensive weapon systems once again proved their worth with the occasional rumble of a Termit firing. the vibration of the main batteries driving their shells to near-hypersonic velocities as they tore apart the enemy with brutal and ruthless efficiency.

"Aurora. Go and reinforce Ariake, She's starting to list. Keep her safe from airstrikes and ensure she arrives back right by my side! Phoenix. I will continue covering you with my support! Continue with the objectives to flank the second enemy fleet!"

"Understood. Norfolk!" Despite the semi-known surprise. they had precious little else. Yes, they managed to deal considerable damage to Echo and blew out Quincy's bridge. but none were destroyed outright and they lost more than i did. having a carrier burning down and one Farragut plus a Condottieri eviscerated by bombing attacks is not looking good for the exchange ratio.

But what damage they did manage to inflict could put my NCO at serious danger if Alpha fleet or more nearby responding shipgirls decided to make their attack... like right now.

Peering through the eyes of my RADAR scopes and multiple sensors within my systems. I could make out a good deal of the remnants of the First Enemy Fleet on an attack vector from Phoenix's rear. aiming to take advantage of the damaged ships who were trying to prepare a attack run on the right flank of the Second fleet.

"They're trying to pursue Phoenix! Atlantas. San Juan. Spence. Libeccio. Turn around and move to intercept! Bataan and Independence. keep yourself positioned at the rear!"

"I-I will try my best!"

"Okay! Letsss go!"

I tore my attention from the Siren fleet to Phoenix's direction as the little fleet that surprised Phoenix before turned around. Another quick estimate told me that they were going to try to go for another quick boom and run attack again. This time they were on a leading interception course. likely for a torpedo launch.

Not this time you little fuckers.

Piston-engine Bombers changed their course to target their interception vectors. Secondaries began to switch out for Extended range rounds and adjusted their aim. Main gun batteries loaded guided rounds and then fired. BVR fire forcing the fleet to disperse and attempt to make their attack runs... in small and piecemeal fashion that could be defended against.

Radar and Laser sensors went terminal and homed in around the forward elements of the enemy fleet nipping at my detached fleet; gouging chunks from destroyers and vaporizing whole chunks of mild steel. The fleet pivoted and began accelerating away from my blood-hungry light cruiser, their numbers being reduced from the guided and return fire as more and more of their numbers were claimed with lethality.

The Renown battlecruiser and a Kitakami sped away. rips in their armored citadels exposing them to the open air. fueling the fires that burned out of control and threatened to set off secondary steam explosions.

With that annoyance taken care of. I returned my attention to the Siren section hammering away at the increasingly tattered forward elements of Hornet's fleet trying to counter-intercept them.

Gunfire started again as we got within effective range. Guided rounds loaded already and slatted to be switched back to nonguided projectiles. Ranges were fed in and RADAR fire control locked onto a target shape and I pulled the red triggers that again accelerated AP shells toward a cruiser... and penetrated inside to detonate. It must have been a bad boiler hit since she began slowing down and her steering became erratic. Return fire began as San Juan and Juneau took at least four hits while Spence. nearly panicking ended up steering into my path, forcing me to turn to avoid a collision as she recomposed herself. again holding formation and waiting to be within the effective range of her guns.

"Gurrraggg!" some battleship-caliber shells crashed into my face in the midst of reloading. More angry shouting from San Juan followed as these were high explosive and had left a charred mark on my armor belt. But the one that had detonated on deck... had managed to jam a AA gun in place and nearly put one of my X-band RADARs out of action. Glaring with anger at whoever shot me. I fired back a few salvos toward where it had came from. even as the first of their destroyers and light cruisers began to filter through. They were trying to target the rear members of my detached pincer. but at these ranges, their weapons were too inaccurate to do any real damage unless they got in close.. which would result in their destruction.

"I am hit! One cannon won't work!" Libeccio finally also took a hit from the firepower being thrown at us by the assorted colorful mixture of classes and nationalites of siern shipgirls as the first of the dozen heavy hitters began to make it through.

Total engagement duration was already going into a half hour. I growled with exasperation as sensors detected the ever dwindling waves of siren aircraft flying out from Alpha Fleet's carriers.

They still numbered in nearly a hundred of so. with assorted gunnery spotting seaplanes joining the small swarm of so.

Unfortnuately, My MiG-29s had already used up all their missiles. Several Corsairs were only available and the ones i could launch. I wouldn't for the fear of what might happen if a heavy shell drilled itself into the energy flight deck. between that and being stretched thin. they didn't have the right tools to hit decks or even strafe them safely. let alone trying to protect my own air vulnerability.

What to do... What to do?

"We've outnumbered here. Norfolk!" unable to answer Independence's alert i considered my options. Turning around and toward the Second enemy fleet would take far too long;I had already diverted myself on a counter-interception course and the distance keeping me apart from Phoenix was steadily growing. I had been very thorough to target the most valuable ships first in my alpha strike with the A-7's AP bombs.

Long range AA fire would only do so much against the dive bombers and fighters in the distance. not to mention that it was even more impractical since it involved steering ourselves into their paths... Only it would be actually too dangerous since that free-for-all space was occupied by rear guard destroyers and more battlecruisers.

Hmm. When this enemy section began to turn toward Phoenix. they were closing to within gun range. weren't they?

A mental command brought up available ammunition;One that stood out was the 40mm SABOT rounds. a Laser rangefinder tinged in cyan focused on the shape of a Helena. The determined. if streaked with tears faces of two sirens desperately mounting a counter-charge staring back.

Extra velocity and low drag plus high ship speed and maneuverability as a fast battleship. that might work.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

"Fiction, Fantasy, Toys, Games, Daydreaming and Play: Life is a hellish prison and we all have a death sentence. It is the sole and primary duty of every prisoner to escape."-Unknown

Pulling into our home base of operations was a relief and so many more.

I was burnt out, and I will freely admit that. Fatigue from being stressed to my true limits during the huge battle that made Black May look like a passing Cumulus cloud and trying to ensure none of us died during that attack on the Second fleet had made me exhausted and weary to the comedown of my adrenaline rush. and while Hornet had put up a admirable fight against Alpha fleet. I was stuck with a small fleet detachment that was dwarfed in scale by the major fighting that took place. Icarus had offered to let me lean on her so i didn't have to worry about passing out from a micro-sleep and keeling over into the sea.

I'd refused because of the tonnage difference between us, and I'm kinda worried that if I did fall. I'd drag her down with me. That, and I'm not keen on embarrassing myself in front of everyone as a near-fictional fast battleship. I also was stubborn enough to refuse that I'm actually suffering from a headache or concussion until someone trained in medication tells me otherwise.

I've smacked my head against walls before and fell down and didn't suffer from blast trauma or blunt force concussion serious enough to worry me. Also. I'm a battleship. My armored conning tower should be shock-proofed to some extent. right? I actually didn't know the full details about my internal construction yet, damn it. was face-hardened armor mounted to some kind of wooden backing plate and locked by special bolts to avoid compromising the plate. or a softer steel plate? or was I using homogenous armor or some other form of complex armor array? I couldn't remember...

Much to everyone's bewilderment after the stress and NDEs of the battle. the operation had gone smoothly without much trouble afterwards. Some recon elements were sent out to try and sweep for more subs but found nothing. Meanwhile, UN reserves rolled in to deal with the aftermaths and any stragglers who had the idea of pursuing us. From my eavesdropping thanks to my cyber-warfare systems, Any dead siren bodies that were still floating for what ever reason were theirs by right. so whatever they recovered, they'd be tagging. identifying. logging and disposing as they saw fit.

At one point I considered turning back, what with me sending a few Jet bombers for BDA. and then to update us on the last known position of their fleeing elements. but on a second thought. I decided against it because we'd already had enough considering what we'd just gone through and I was finding it harder to concentrate. We were all headed back home for RTB and get rest and repair work done. Besides, no need to lose my Jet aircraft to a chance head-on or lucky fragmentation from time-fused shells and the bad weather that had developed over the battle's location would only make identification harder.

No doubt propaganda was going to roll for this. After the level of losses we inflicted on the enemy. all these losses the enemy had taken, and with war a constant theme in the media, plus american-russian bickering and china's desire to be seen as a equal, even going to the extreme of repressing its own muslim minority. Why not give the masses something to celebrate for?

Listening to my engines humming, hydraulic servos of my main batteries turning around from my boredom steadily. feeling my body aching and exposed to the sunlight was grinding away at my focus. I was starting to space out by this point, and I just wanted to lie down somewhere. I didn't even want to sleep, really. not standing up. I just wanted to lie down and, if i had been human. get my phone and play world of warships. when I pulled into docks at the main homebase. Princeton and Blake were standing there for the welcome. and there was even a small crowd of destroyers too.

I wound up stumbling onto the hard. concrete or asphalt-like ground after demobilizing and standing down. I recovered. but the damage to my first impression was done, Both were giving me concerned looks about my current state. and a few girls in the crowd had noticed and were gossiping.

No need to worry about that. Not like I am in the midst of PR, Still. there was the whole bureaucracy show to go through when returning from deployment. The rest of us all also stood down and demobilized with their rigging or machinery. and stood in formation on a line like a well-organized row of school students. Blake was looking at me with interested eyes and expectantly.

Not understanding what to do, and just staring back wearily. I just stood there for several moments before I realized i was supposed to do the official RN salute. "F-Fast battleship Norfolk r...reporting... mission complete, sir." I said. shakily snapping a salute to shoulder-level with a emphasis on the 'Sir'. the others quickly followed.

"At ease." Blake commanded. We all lowered our hands in-sync. "Good job on your first combat mission, Norfolk. especially considering the circumstances and your lack of experience."

"I-I had a lot of help. Sir, I-It was tough. B-But we managed to drive them out. Sir." I stuttered and stammered. trying to present myself with as much of a royal and well-respected atmosphere as possible from my guess with the Ingame RN royals. Damn it, If only I had paid closer attention to KGV's lines and the tone she uses... and I am not even trying to butter up the commander like the IJN girls do.

"Well, Good job. nonetheless." He smiled before sweeping his eyes over the rest of us for anything out-of-file. "Well done, all of you. You're dismissed for the day. Anyone damaged. report in to get tended to," He shot me a glance. the holes in my hull and the blast marks not hidden from him up to the point when I pulled myself onto dry land. and Princeton looked away. "Otherwise, Get some food and rest. You'll need it."

Independence was the fastest to accelerate to a jogging speed away from our lineup. to none of my group's surprise given I just sacrificed all of her remaining aircraft in a kamikaze attack out of what must have appeared to be pure spite to the enemy. I was about to turn and go for repairs followed by a bath when Blake spoke up again. "Norfolk." I paused and turned to him with a worried look. "You're ordered to go see Vestal."

"W-what?" Damn it. Stupid question, but I didn't have anything else to say in that moment.

"Because you're been swaying like you're in a hurricane since you've arrived." Princeton stated tersely. She was hiding her concern and interest well behind that poker face of her's. "And because we don't understand anything so much as even one single thing about your body or technologies properly yet. let alone know how to make custom-fab parts just for you. We need to make sure whatever you have, is not damaged at all."

I only nodded out of defeat. but stood my ground like a stubborn horse, trying to pass it off in my desire to simply lay down and sleep the entire day.

"Norfolk, are you even listening?" Princeton barked. seemingly taking over the conversation. "If you won't go willingly. I will drag you there even if you don't want to."

I resisted the urge to shoot back at her with "I go where i want. you want to anger me?". All it would amount to is a bad idea. Yeah, Try challenging what amounts to your... C.O or something to fight you about going to the medbay for surgery to patch up cuts from preformed fragment balls. Great way to get yourself a possible preliminary hearing under Royal navy rules of 2007. or either Marine Nationale investigation because a child is standing there, having just mauled a woman alive. Especially when such a fight would be liable to cause destruction in the thousands of dollars from property damage alone if it got out of hand because a battleship or heavy cruiser got too big for her guns and because you can't really stop two people with terminator-like strength from trying to trash each other. "Fine..." I grumbled with gloom. the baths would be nearby anyway.

"Princeton, Could you go with her to make sure?" Blake pointed out to the light carrier. who nodded back.

"Mmhum. sir."

I let a confused stare replace my face. directed at Blake. Why was he...? "Do you r-really think I'm going to l-lie to you?"

It only earned a head shake from him and him crossing his arms. Mirror neurons and systems going active upon detecting micro-expressions and micro-movements of body language. which was translated to me as a gut feeling to apologize and subtle influence of my thought patterns, although it was superseded mostly by my idling. basic sixth sense ability. "You serve as a officer long enough, You learn it's better to be safe than sorry."

Whatever. I doubt I'd win any arguments against him with Princeton being the backup and my own useless social skills. So, I'll go to Vestal and get myself looked at. I just want to go lie down so the world stops looking blurry and groggy to me and get my malfunctioning RADAR systems corrected.

"If you want me to carry you there. you may." Princeton offered, walking along next to me and holding her hands out in preparation to lift me up.

I just shook my head. Ugh, I don't even care anymore... "N-No... thanks." Tempting, tempting. but I'm sure i can get there under my own power.

Out of the docks and marching our way to where Vestal usually would be. The american repair ship took one look at me, and then ran over to a folded medical table. once she had it unfolded. she pointed at me, then at it. "Sit down."

I did as she asked, the faster this is done. the faster I am out of here, Princeton quickly left with a excuse. stating there were things she needed to finish back with paperwork. Vestal then began examining my body in close detail. taking notes for any blunt force trauma or blast injuries. Then she took out something... I didn't know what it was. What did doctors use for this thing? Augh, I didn't bother to check during basic education...

She then of all things had to point it in my eyes. right first. then left. right again and back. What was she trying to do here? A headache was flaring up. not a migraine, but not pleasant. "Okay... Any vertigo, nausea, fatigue. trouble walking. weakness in arms or legs. numbness. migraine?"

I blinked away the afterimages in my vision from the light as my eyes tried to adjust to sudden changes in lighting. "U..Uhm, I feel really tired. but... I.. it feels like i have a headache..."

Vestal hummed, trailing her fingers on my neck and up and down my back. shivering as I subtly enjoyed the sensation. "Any blurred vision or double vision? Bright lights?"

I had to think on that one for a bit. I didn't see anything as too bright. but there was a headache... "No... Just no." I gulped down a small ache. motionless in my seat and letting out a heavy breath.

She stepped back, then pulled down my hoodie and brushed some of my hair out of the way to look at the faint cut that was on my right shoulder from a battleship-caliber shell exploding. She actually gave a whistle like a songbird, before she poked at it with her finger. "Eek." I tried to pull away from her in a slight flash of pain, but quickly noticed her checking my head for anything out of line. Then going back to the desk and... was that a thick book? That wasn't there last week.

She flipped the pages. before sliding her across the page she was on. She made a inquisitive noise, then walked back. put it down and started writing something on a note. then pushing it under the book so it wouldn't be blown away by a light breeze. Finally, she walked over. perturbed. The repair ship was not a girl to be easily surprised, not even by drastic things like DIME bombs or vaporific effects.

The repair ship gave a long sigh, flipping her hair with a free hand. I stared at my legs. my head down. "Okay. Good news and bad news." She started. and I listened to every word. "Bad news is, I don't know what it is. but you're got some kind of migraine or a possible concussion." Odd... that hadn't happened ever since forever. "Good news is, It's not looking severe."

"U-uh. M-major repairs and overhauls and... I'll be okay?" I asked and raised my head, hopeful. I don't want to be going through these headaches again. It was just nothing good for me. and everything bad for me. And trying to play with a headache... It was ruinous unable to think straight because of being constantly annoyed by nonstop low-level pain.

"For every injury but your migraine." Vestal flatly stated. and I deflated a bit. down. "I've only heard of it once. when someone came in suffering from severe wounds. but they're one of the few things that repair work, for some reason we can't figure out. don't heal." She walked over again toward her desk and started scribbling something onto another unrelated book. "It means you're going to have to heal the hard way. That means plenty of rest. And that means not doing anything that might trigger a migraine episode. like interfering with your sleep needs. or exerting yourself if it's a concussion. That means limited reading. limited time with video games. or just about any screen time. and certainly no filling out reports." She pulled off a piece of paper she'd been writing on with ease and handed it to me into my dainty fingers.

Prescription for... something. "Here. Acetaminophen. Follow the directions on the bottle and take them as needed to deal with any headaches or migraine attacks." Making out things. there were a few more medications on the list for me. I guess even one single drug isn't going to cut it. she seemed ernest.

Her bright. impossible hair color still had me mesmerized, A common trait for any shipgirl. but uncanny to any human who was used to seeing the usual white or slightly brown, tanned black-haired men or women around their homes. They were different after all. Some viewed them as 'Alien monsters from the seas'. not helped by the fact Sirens and shipgirls shared many common things in appearance. It had not been easy for the first shipgirls, despite their human appearance. They were a minority even if they were the only practical way to fight a global threat. And one that even other minorities could look down on. Some had been insulted at, merely for existing. There was a radical but fringe and tiny anti-shipgirl movement who saw them as aliens wearing human bodies. or satanic demons.

For once, i may not feel conflicted over my shipgirl supremacist views...

"Extra strength Tylenol? What's that?" I asked curiously. staring up at Vestal with a open mouth, as if she was going to give me answers.

The repair ship only responded by placing a bottle of Tylenol gently into my hands. taking care to not stress me out more than necessary. "Just read the bottle and take it easy, Okay? I'll let the commander know how your condition is. And you should be back to normal within a week of so."

"Okay... thanks." I wasn't sure of what to say. unsure before moving to get up off the exam table, I hadn't seen a doctor for such a long time. and last time i did. I remembered my parents feeding me some kind of liquid. colored purple for something. I still had no idea what it was to this day. It reminded me of that memory. I was quite unusual in doing very well without seeing a doctor for what felt like eternity.

"You're welcome." She gave me a kindly, gentle smile. one that held me in place for a moment. "Now, go and head for repairs! Go on! Shoo!" She waved me away with her hands.

"Alright, alright..." I mumbled with a small pout. wobbling as I took care to steady myself and headed for the doors. "I'm going. please calm down. miss..."

"Then go! Every minute you spend here is another minute I'm here not repairing you. Miss norfolk!"

Okay. okay. Vestal. stop. jeez. You remind me of father when he got worried about me.

Vestal got herself back under control, She'd needed to enjoy herself. and Norfolk had a eccentric. but shy personality that was even more cute than the Fletchers. The best part was that the advice she'd given was true. in a way, Norfolk would feel sleep better if she stopped spending hours on screen time alone and disturbing her fleet-mates in the night.

She sobered quickly as she remembered the reason for the advice, Norfolk was suffering from a migraine of some kind. That should have been impossible. The only case she heard of a headache for shipgirls was one when the girl in question had came back suffering from a ammunition fire and multiple air-dropped torpedo hits. The sister of that girl in question had stood by her bedside for dozens of days after she began recovering.

Frowning, she walked over to her work desk and the books in front of the chair. sitting down and opening up one thick. large book. calling up the data from last week. Most of the data was as expected:Unknown origin. or according to her account, she wasn't constructed and woke up underwater. Supposed to be HMS Norfolk. but somehow a hodgepodge as the unbuilt Alsace-class. Serving both under the French Navy and the Royal navy. Extremely advanced and yet somehow reliable without extreme teething issues. far beyond anything she had ever seen, and notes on some of her more esoteric aspects. such as somehow being able to summon a complete carrier deck and hangar. the properties of which she didn't even began to understand yet and odd anomalies in her hull plating like abnormally high tensile strength without brittleness, and remarkable beginner skills for racket sports. Strangely, The damage the british cruiser/battleship received shouldn't have been enough to inflict any damage sufficient to cause a headache. In fact. the injuries she took were surprisingly light to trigger a migraine episode.

"Hmm... That's funny." The Repair ship mused. She sighed and entered this occurrence into the ever-growing file on the enigmas and mysteries that surrounded Norfolk. Type No-3 Alsace battleship proposal. Minutes of work, and she finished her account of Norfolk's current condition for filing. She would be pleased to see the day that the pressure from top officers and brass finally cooled down when they understood how to run any meaningful tests on anything they couldn't access externally. concealed beneath her workings. or exactly what her steel supposed to be made out of.

As an afterthought, she leaned back and stared at the ceiling. From the rumours she heard, Her armor had properties similar in some marks to something called Super bainite. but able to be welded and ductile. What Super bainite meant, she wasn't even sure. but apparently it was a form of super-armor steel. Reflecting on that, she got up from her chair and strolled out.

Chapter Text

"It should be remembered that while the macho 'Saving Private Ryan' meme is strong is all military shows (and SG-1 is a military organization) because the 'Leave No Man Behind' ethic makes war seem noble and supports morale (and makes for great action adventure stories!) - the reality is that Mankind invented the concept of 'Acceptable Losses'. Not to mention 'War Of Attrition', 'Scorched Earth', and 'Suicide Mission'.

Humans talk big about the Ideal of every life - every soldier's life - mattering, but no matter how often the comforting lie is repeated, 'Cannon Fodder' is what soldiers truly are. That, and paid murderers. Kill the 'enemy', here's your paycheck, soldier! All soldiers, everywhere, throughout all of history fighting, killing, and taking cities for all armies. Not one, is the answer."-Unknown

The baths were large. with white-porcelain edges and support ladders for anyone to grasp onto. The walls were starting to fade to a shade of yellow, but most spots were still covered and maintained. Next to the bath sections were the lockers. for shipgirls or anyone to put their clothes or personal effects into. They were creaky and loud. but had not gave out under the assault of time and occasional wrestling matches. Here I was, after undergoing repairs and downing a few Tylenol capsules. having put my clothes in for laundry, I don't know if there are tailors or if it's another strange effect of shipgirls. but the answer could be either.

Steam was rising. fogging the air, not to the point of being impossible to see. but enough that it was hard to make out anyone masked in the fog. There were a couple of other girls here, Most of them look like destroyers. but I couldn't identify or tell exactly who they were. There was just too much steam and not enough information in my memories to recall.

I could feel their eyes slowly turning around to face me. making me suddenly feel self-conscious of myself and squirm. The aroma of noxious oxygen. ozone and abrasive metal still wafting from my body that even the other girls picked up on, I had never gotten close to welders or torches before. and the whiff of fumes was still a strong, and - to be honest - unpleasant. It was like gasoline exhaust and car air conditioning rolled together into one. sufficient to make my face look like I had looked at something crawl out of the sewer.

I picked a pool and quickly eased myself into it, letting the water rise up to shoulder-level. Already I felt my body starting to try and heal itself with hidden. subtle magic energy, knitting together new bonds and regeneratively restoring anything damaged back to their original condition like new. the irksome miasma of arc welding already diffusing. A hour was what it had took me after being personally fixed up by Vestal and then being verbally berated by Blake in his office for my callous decisions with using planes as kamikaze bombers. before i could go for a bath. Well, It was not as bad when I first showed up with Kent. so it had that going for it.

I wish that I did have my phone, but outside of IP68 rating. It would just be destroyed from the excessive humidity and water on the floor. besides. I didn't want to risk a migraine attack or a concussion-induced headache. Vestal's orders. and if one did happen in the midst of watching a video. then I could only let my mind run wild as to just how bad the pain truly might be. Just one tingle of pain was enough to disrupt my concentration for anything complex like my imagination or story ideas.

Sitting down defeated. I decided to relax and try taking a nap, I was supposed to be getting some rest after all to help ease symptoms. was it? I sank lower. spread my arms out on the sides before folding them in. splashing a handful of water over my face in the process, and let my head slowly fall back until I could find a comfortable position against the pool walls. I let my eyes close and my mind become drowsy just for extra insurance. We had fought a major battle that made the Solomon Seas look like a wooden boat compared to cannonballs of molten iron. and then I had gotten my entire unit safely back home, even through most Azur lane players in reality would never want to be commanders out of just how complicated and dangerous military life is.

Heavy cruiser, Battleship of not. Even shipgirls didn't want to be alone. I professed with disrelish. Unless you were a submarine or a scout. being alone was asking for a ambush in the middle of the night or being attacked by patrol aircraft. a ghastly fate for some. Slow death, unable to fight back. The thought made me shiver.

"Tired like I am?" My eyes opened in reaction to a voice I hadn't heard in a long time, and I turned to my left to spot a side ponytail of blonde hair in the pool next to me, with a distinctive body shape and yellow eyes that were again to let me know who she was.

How didn't I notice Maury in here with me? was I just so tired or tunnel-visioned?

"I-I'm." I figured that she wasn't in the sports mood to run a marathon or either a endurance course. Not a good idea if water is everywhere and making things slippery. aggravated by the ceramic-like, porcelain tiles. my eyes drooped. trying to get back into the calm mood. "I... I thought about sleeping here since I can't do much otherwise."

There was a slight splash of water, I still felt Maury's eyes on me. even if I tried to look away. "Not a bad idea, It can get really dull."

"Can't run without slipping on water or... everything?" I had stuttered and almost got the word wrong. but again, my english carried me through. A slight. shy smile curled on my face. the destroyer sulking, well knowing she might have to stay in the baths for some time before she could leave and indulge in her favorite hobby.

"Yes, Ha ha. I hold the United states of Navy speed record with my speed! 42 knots!"

"F-Faster than shimakaze. I-If I remember." Most people who got their first experience of shipgirl moe from Kancolle might think of Shimakaze as the fastest destroyer ever. but if you had a basic sense of naval history, then there were some that were faster. Tashkent. The Le Fantasaques. Timmerman with forced circulation to name a few. but even in terms of capabilities they were inferior in some way, like being heavier or not as many torpedoes. Timmerman in that respect was superior. Although, Wehraboos who don't know much about actual history outside of games can't be blamed for that. seeing as I once had considered the Komets or the Type XXIs end-all bes before I became more balanced out with a dose of freeaboo. which was just as stupid at the same doses of wehrabooism that became blatant, especially with the KMS circle of Azur lane.

"Mmuhmm! and I'm proud to hold that record over a one-off ship!" Maury beamed with pride, probably thinking highly of herself for hearing a hypothetical battleship praise her. I don't blame her, the kiddos can be very much like their kancolle counterparts. myself included.

"Uh... i.. guess?" I suppressed the urge to chuckle and laugh at her. You don't pause like that if you're being genuine. You're trying to not infuriate a torpedo-bote here or cause a argument.

There was giggling off to the side. "I see you and Norfolk-chan are getting along well~!" Shropshire playfully pointed out from her bath on the other side of the room. So even the green-haired heavy cruiser was here as well to make things more socially challenging for me? For all the hate-mail she received for crowding the Event construction pools. she did actually have a fun personality beyond her issues of showing up so often, and having to be scrapped that way. That she had helped me in gunnery training as well and was the one to set up my celebration party had also made it hard for me to hold anything against her, if i had any.

Stratification of popularity in Azur lane was a much. much more worse problem than in Kancolle, where at least someone like Shirayuki had plenty of art. The phrase 'I made thousands of dollars from selling pictures of my boobs to other men' had never been so true in its morbid, saddening glory.

"Ah? Eh-! I..-I! Shroppp!" Maury's cheeks went red and I glanced to where she was just in time to see her hide further into the pool and let out a stammering sound. "Alrighttt! I was just chatting about what kind of class she was going to be. and I was wrong. okay!?" That earned a giggle from Shropshire and a mention of Maury being too quick to jump to conclusions when rumours started spreading that I was not 'born right'. The shipgirls on this base had let their imaginations run wild too much when I had been 'rescued' nearly a week ago of so and it turned out I was no heavy cruiser after my identity was confirmed. It must have been incomprehensible to them.

The sports girl is quite vulnerable to being flustered. How cute.

"Well, You would've been wrong in any c-case." I admitted with leaning back on my head into my arms. "B-But you couldn't have possibly known, no french battleship design ever had three triple turrets in a conventional layout other than one design. and..." I paused. deciding to confess to a little thing. "W-well. I don't really know how to use a sword l-like the Royals or the French girls do. Most of my knowledge is basic, wild slashes and not much. I-I can't actually fence. for the most part."

"That's-" Maury had been blindsided by the topic change. not expecting such a response. "I mean-... You really don't know how to use a sword?"

"N-Not outside of basic, wild and unrefined slashes."

"Then why borrow their swords or rapiers? You could have gotten Vestal to give you one or something else." What she didn't very much know was that my idea of sword combat came very much from the video games i played and what i watched, Playing Cataclysm Bright nights as Konpaku or Tenshi hinanawi. for starters. or Nepgear's gunblade and how I could do that with what amounted to a mass-reduced polesword with a completely sharp edge thanks to a energy saber coating mode. Outside of some impractical techniques and basically video game experience that had no place in real world duels. I was basically a greenhorn.

Granted, having what amounts to a energy blade grafted onto a stick made out of essentially swiss cheese soap and metal foamium gave me some degree of keep-away with my reach, But it also meant that my inexperience showed much more than it was. In the few times I actually summoned my weapon to practice with noone watching. Stiff. heavy vertical slashes followed by a diagonal cut were usually the norm for me. and that assured my target actually wasn't trying to parry or intercept each swing. What I was good in was magical artillery bombardment as performed by Mami, Homura or Nanoha. It was funny and I didn't know why. because the sight of seeing a spear-wielding magical girl trying to use a light-spear like a energy saber was just absurd and silly. Sure, You can have a giant. unwieldy pike. but if you can't stab something...

"H-hey, I didn't know at the time. I'm no royal or french princess. Mauryyy." That drew giggles from the other occupants of the baths. "I-I can stab someone with a knife. But then what?" I voiced my thoughts out loud, expressing my stubbornness and desire to stick with a sword. no hint of my secret abilities being the main reason why. "I'm going to k-keep using swords since I'm familiar with them."

The atmosphere became silent for several moments. I was balancing the act between voicing out my own real thoughts and trying not to blow my cover, and Maury was digesting what I'd just told her.

"Would you want to learn. Norfolk?"

That snapped me out of my mental debate.

I faced Maury, and her eyes were visible in all this wet steam that I could see the serious look on her face. Her yellow eyes locked onto my face with real authenticness in what she just blurted out. "I know many things about swords and fencing, It's part of sports."

I felt my voice catch in my chest, Should i? I didn't actually know any Eagle union girls that used swords. and the only ones that did were in the RN or the Sakura empire. and I doubted she would be close to any Ironblood kanmusus. But on the other hand, With real. actual techniques backed up by my already superhuman abilities at full power. I could become unstoppable in a close-range swordfight with Raising heart and even if de-transformed. still be extremely challenging with just a rapier.

"I-I might as well if I'm going to keep using them. D-do you really know?"

"I could teach you, Norfolk." Maury flashed a grin to butter me up on the offer. "I would still need something from you though."

And just like that the grin slowly went away. A blush started to light on her face as the destroyer looked away, I just arched a eyebrow in confusion. What is she thinking. surely? I know fencing does fall under sports enough to be considered part of... Olympics? But did she really know any actual sword skills? Swinging around a broadsword is very different compared to safe and supervised fencing or practice with wooden swords.

"Could you.. uhm... Could you..." Her voice was unsure and nervous, a heavy hint of embarrassment showing from the way she was fidgeting. Why does she need to be embarrassed over that? Holy hell. The chunni shyness is off the charts here!

"C-Could you be my running and swimming partner?"

Really?

Why? That's what got you all blushing and shy? Asking a nearly-fictional battleship out as a running mate? How does that embarrass anyone unless you have bad social skills...ah.

I mean, I should be a bit more surprised. but I didn't have any P.T. and if i did, I was no good runner. Unless I was having my zoomie moments, where I could run around to burn off energy. or simply sprint around the city block. And actually, That might be an issue considering that outside of zoomies or endurance running. I preferred to walk all the way to my destination instead. So having someone to teach me long-distance running skills might be a good idea just in case it's ever needed.

Still. me? Running partner? I might be alright for long distance if pressed, but I'm no road-runner. The difference between us with my past life memories is just too great here.

"Don't you have your s-sisters?" She had craven and gridley, or the Fletchers. so I'm not sure what the problem is here. I am very sure they'd be willing to go out with Maury and a bunch of other sporting shipgirls as well if they simply asked.

"No. I can't."

"Why?"

"Uhm... Because, Because... Last time... things went out of control." She admitted, water splashing as she lifted her arm to rub her forehead. "and... I don't know how to swim really good." Huh, that reminds me... Are the shipgirls here unable to swim? It's reasonable given a natural fear of water leaking into you. but... "And my sisters don't know how to swim either, and asking Enterprise is out of the question... If i can't swim, then I'm not really good at physical sports. right?"

"U-Uh, I'm pretty sure us girls are not supposed to be swimming.. Most of the other girls I've seen here can float fine and do bath. but that's it." I snorted, washing my face and then shaking the gobs of water off my eyes. "And if you're honest, then you and I'm the only girls who have some idea o-of how to swim and n-not being scared in deep pools."

"You may be right, but that still doesn't feel right." She looked away. head almost hanging down. "It shouldn't happen, even if we're ships and not submarines."

I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be going scuba diving without a supervisor and safety equipment. and asking someone like me to swim in non-shallow pools is asking too much. I can swim fine and with a float, but I need to rely on snorkels for anything deep-water. and without another person to hold on to. I could easily panic if i was unable to surface. It was one of the reasons I just stopped swimming at some point.

But maybe it could be worth icebreaking Maury and chatting with her.

"S-shouldn't we talk to the commander... admiral first?"

Maury's eyes snapped back to me. her cheeks still cherry red from soft embarrassment. "Why the commander?"

"Don't you think he might k-know something about a swimming class? S-shouldn't it make sense to rectify... this fleet-wide problem? Even teaching a c-class of two might open you up to fellow girls who share your interests. Maury."

Maury's eyes widened a little at the prospect. "So, wait... does that mean you can talk to-"

"I save a spot just for you if Blake s-says yes." I interrupted her. arms now submerged into the water. "And if he doesn't, then we c-can keep it a private thing."

Maury stared at me for a couple of moments. having almost stood up with her body half-mast out of the water before she sank back into the warm bath. "Thanks."

I only nodded back. letting myself enjoy the water. I could have continued swimming if i wanted to, but at that point in my life I was more interested in video games. and the beaches available were... not world-class. and I just found the sand too uncomfortable, and the vehicles too hard for a inexperienced boy to drive back then. The other options would have involved scary tubes and lots of people. or decontamination showers. and well.. the novelty for me was gone by that point. Same thing with running, I would be asked out sometimes. but usually i was too tired or too busy grinding.

Ships never liked to wander into the abyss alone.

Poincaré recurrence's theory stated that after a infinitely low. but possible probability in time. all systems would reset back to their original. past-like initial state. If one took a deck of cards and shuffled it, It would become chaotic and disorganized. but if shuffled enough. It would reset back to how it was at first. Similarly. if one flipped a pair of coins twenty times for only heads-tails or tail-heads. It would take a absurd amount of time, but eventually. there would be a streak of coins flipped that landed perfectly on nothing but head-tails. or tail-heads for twenty flips.

And just as it was possible in a infinitely long time period for particles to reverse to their original configuration, It was possible for Boltzmann brains to emerge out of this meta-physical seas of chaos. no matter the impossibility involved. out of the simple collective consciousness of sapient thoughts with the help of bizarre molecules operating on a entirely different set of physical constants. Blocks of hypothetical biochemistry able to manifest Humanity's defenders under a set of comprehensive, comprehensible directives.

Blake Lewis looked at the screen, seeing the face of numerous commanders and advisors alike from the Military committee. Although they weren't the only ones attending. Another lesser commanding officer was present, to pass information to the rest of UN Command on Norfolk's status and any recent developments. seeing as he had enough to deal with being in charge of the shipgirl naval base and then she had been verbally disciplined for ordering the carriers under her command to carry out such a wasteful kamikaze attack.

The exception to this was one of the many staff in the French AAE, an gentleman that NATO Military Committee had put in charge of Norfolk's case. as there was the possibility of especially classified french technology in her working. Personally. he felt it would only add more to the issues on the front. given the noise coming from both the British and the French. something to be addressed at the meeting regardless, though he hoped they wouldn't do anything too irrational.

"So, how well did your initial debriefing with Norfolk go?" One of the lesser USN admirals begun. looking over the rough report he and the others had received.

"Better than we expected, we weren't able to determine some of the more obscure parts of her story. as Kent's report doesn't hold any information on them. and she refused to talk about the events when we requested her to do so. However, we were able to find out a substantial deal of information about her circumstances. even if these details only result in more questions raised than we managed to answer." More nods and agreement followed.

The officer from Japan only nodded in response. looking over the rough report that was passed to him. he couldn't help but sigh. he had hoped for more in the report, but it was clear that more time was needed to go over everything and make sure nothing was left out.

"I'll be frank, the main part of the report was mostly dedicated to her background and the events she went through. the part that was interesting for me was her attacks on the enemy patrol divisions. mostly due to her uncharacteristic and easily-frightened nature that would not seem to fit her as one who participated in sinking Bismarck and then later helped to fight off Scharnhorst's attack at North Cape, but also due to her interactions with the girls and some of the Royal navy shipgirls on-base, and how quickly she is adapting to modern life. I won't deny that some of them lacked proper analysis, but on the other hand I had to keep the time frame to a bare minimum."

The USN officers looked at each other, some frowning at the admiral's words. They had expected him to... have full information available and laid out. despite the fact that he had been one of the first to deal with the whole situation. But answers didn't come in a instant.

His first was an interesting detail about Norfolk's ability to pick up easily on specific parts of the history lessons in her time training, specifically the IJN. and then the French when the European union was created. It seemed she had some form of unusual affinity for her middle-inbetween status and a interest in Cold war ships due to her french nature, possibly even the late date of when construction work was scheduled for the Alsace-class to begin and the technology she possessed coupled with her heavy interest in video game entertainment. The idea of some form of epigenetic memory. passed down from generation to generation was intriguing, although he couldn't say he was shocked. to some extent, french designs and technology often seemed to be a step above the rest of the world, with the possible exception of the UK. and he had heard the case of the Kongo sisters before.

"Can you elaborate? You did mention a few things that got my interest in the report, but some seem to lack full analysis. Given the time constraints you were under." The AAE gentleman spoke up, several nods showing that the frenchman was not alone in his thoughts.

"Hmm."

Chapter Text

Life would be unbearable without the ability to imagine far better fictional worlds; yet it is intolerable to yearn for those same worlds.-Unknown

Siren Homeland - The Grand Palace, Briefing Room

The room was large, well-decorated. pristinely cleaned and furnished. The lighting was set to maximum in every corner of the room, Somewhere, the anthem of Théodore Robitaille's O Canada played but greatly underscoring the orderliness and corporate elegance of the room's expedient design, with a few maps of the world hung here and there. Computers and table signs of each attending person's name sat on the executive business meeting-sized table with attending glasses of water so bright white they almost hurt to look at. an entire cabinet was occupying the seats. senior and well-respected siren officials who led and ruled their brethren under a military junta. The only one who didn't have a glass of water was Observer Alpha herself, one of the many highest-ranking military commanders of the Sirens, who was sitting in one of the few chairs at the head of the table. Her arms were folded behind her back, her gaze was carefree but respectful, and she didn't speak a word to anyone. She just waited for them to speak instead.

"Now, the council shall commence a special inquiry into the battle that took so many lives of our brave submarines." One of the de-facto admirals cleared her throat and started the meeting before focusing her attention toward the woman in the white uniform, several bronze battle stars pinned on.. Miyabe Stewart. "We shall begin with Miyabe, Please present the report. We must find out why they ended up being destroyed so quickly."

"Yes ma'am." Miyabe gruffly nodded in agreement as she stood up and then presented the report with detailed descriptions from interviews and a timeline of how the battle unfolded. Even with how many submarines were lost, some of them had disengaged and escaped. and a luckier few had caught glimpses of what was happening on the surface, and there were cruisers and many more who testified as well. After she finished her presentation and went back to her seat, there were mixed reactions from the various commanders attending. some of them muttered to each other and pointed out the obvious, blaming the decision to establish such a major supply point beyond the safe coverage of their short range naval bastions. but some of them also opposed that and reasoned that it still had allowed them a way to disrupt the global economy, after some arguments. Observer alpha, who was watching them bicker at each other, finally stood up.

"However, Miyabe Stewart. Is this new battleship that we've received sightings, and rumors lately truly this powerful enough to account for all the losses we took?" Drawing some entertainment from the banter that had been traded at each other. Alpha inquired, listening to the sound of someone drumming a pencil on the table in boredom.

Several of the commanders who supported her decision to station the supply point further away were now starting to pay attention to the discussion. Some of them began to question if it would have been better to have stationed the supply point closer to the safe. fortified bastions instead of just accepting the loss. They may not have been able to save all the submarines that were lost, but it would have been better to have tried.

With gazes and attention being turned toward the woman in the white uniform, she finally stood up again and placed her palms on the table. her motherly look becoming serious. "To explain the marvelous abilities of this mysterious shipgirl which we hadn't known about before, We have interviews of our few who have battled against her without being sunk and their accounts of her. as such, I believe that it is only fair that we hear what they have to say."

Miyabe hadn't gotten anywhere by failing to pay attention to her training from the moment she was 'born', artificially created. Nowhere near as famous as Alpha or some of the more decorated heroes on this council. She was still a celebrity in her own right, Her aptitude for nightfighting and, after her promotions and medals. being able to predict enemy strategic decisions in wargame scenarios was nothing to sniff at. but it paled in comparison to the kind of legends that Alpha and a few had carved out for themselves. nor did it compare to the most gallant of them during what amounted to Operation Barbarossa in the opening weeks of the war.

Defense forecasting of their adversaries and the enemy's capabilities. to allow friendly forces to develop tactics and equipment to gain an overmatching advantage over them was a welcome break from fighting as a soldier, But she did become nostalgic for the blue seas and the smell of saltwater crashing over her face during a storm. It was also a poor alternative to months of what amounted to paid vacation, or being married to a desk job keeping an eye on the EU. US and SEA countries with OSINT intelligence.

But it also meant that she hadn't became yet another name on a memorial. One out of many sacrificed and carved on the cross, from destroyers who vainly held off the enemy while overwhelmingly outnumbered to escort carriers who desperately tried to buy time for their comrades even if their loss had outweighed the value in such a capital ship. She heard of bleak, tear-filled stories. usually sobbed out by orphaned girls and grown women who once were fanatical supporters of the war. and the faces of veterans in hospital beds who were staring at nothing, their once bright eyes glassy and grim. sometimes bandaged to hide a burn wound or a long, jagged scar crossing a eye.

There was even one girl, who having lost her sisters to a joint effort and barely escaped being sunk. had became grim in her duty to the service, and became all but closed-off. only swearing revenge with a look of pure fury and grief in her pupils and never allowing herself to get close to anyone. Others simply became suicidal and aggressive and demanded to be sent out on missions constantly to find relief in the gleeful sight of enemy ships nearing death, too consumed by heartbreak and the desire for revenge to live. and a few had simply secluded away and isolated themselves socially.

Then there were the others, who. instead of becoming suicidal or traumatized. instead only became ever more militaristic than ever. While shipgirl mindsets were in some ways similar to the Turians, or the Krogans of Mass effect. It did not explain how losing someone close to you. or a sister would make you only throw your weight behind the war effort. Miyabe only guessed that they swore to their hearts to see the war through to its bloody end, out of honoring them or either because they had lost everything.

"First, what details we do have about her are scarce and at times unverified, but the general consensus is that she's a fast battleship. or possibly a heavily armored battlecruiser. Triple turrets in the AB-X pattern rule out any German battleship projects, Most Pre-washington 1922 naval treaty designs and all Japanese eight-eight planned projects. but point toward the Iowas, Yamatos or the Lions. The first reported sightings began a few weeks ago, and believe that she is responsible for the mysterious disappearance of multiple patrolling scout cruiser squadrons during that time, Witness accounts suggest a complex superstructure. consistent with the Iowa and the Yamato-class but not the Lions. However, their reports also suggest a relatively large radar antenna mast. something that even the Iowas didn't have during their gulf war modernizations."

Alpha watched the drawing of this new enemy be slid across the meeting table, On it was a very detailed sketched image according to descriptions. revealing a surprisingly young girl surrounded by painted steel to either of her side. but what caught her attention were the missile tubes and the torpedo launchers. Her mind immediately kicked into overdrive as if what she was looking at, if her gold eyes weren't fooling her, was the body of someone... apparently a post-world war battleship. but not one that matched anything they knew.

"Now here is the discrepancy, First. our initial reports suggested a heavily modernized battleship, but later witness accounts. and confirmed by our surviving forces involved in the battle. is that she does have missiles, Several tubes. We're not talking about the ABLs of the cold-war Iowas, but actual missile tubes. In addition. when the counterattack began, we discovered that she also possessed, at the least. short-range SAM abilities and what must have been VT fuzed ammunition of some kind. as details involved missile trails and unusually accurate AA fire. as well as flak rounds that only exploded close enough to cause a kill or, at the least. caused enough damage to force some of our bombers to abort their missions. And this is just only the surface."

Miyabe looked briefly at the various de-facto admirals, generals. whatever, the attendees sitting in their seats like some sort of cabinet. some beginning to become uncomfortable. others interested and silently telling her to go on, wanting to know more about this new enemy.

"We don't know if they're somehow managed to circumvent the technological and teething issues involved in developing such modern kanmusu technology. or if it's a one-off project that they can't repeat. What we do know for sure is that this unknown shipgirl does not match anything we know, For one. her torpedo launchers are not internal, like the Nelsons and some battleships before their World war 2 refits. but are rather external on mounts, like destroyers. Also. the cruise, or anti-ship missile tubes are not offset and angled like the actual ABLs. but are rather inline and directly pointing ahead. No battleship ever had SAMs of any kind, not even point-defense systems;We do know there were proposals to replace the 406mm and 127mm guns of the Iowas with Talo and tartar SAMs as well as other details that are beyond the topic of this meeting, and another cheaper overhaul proposal for just one Talos and Tartar. and later Polaris ballistic missiles. and additional proposals like installing the SPY-1 Aegis radar system. but as we knew, nothing ever came out of these. Now, so far as we know, We don't have anything that confirms or disproves the presence of anything like flat, blocky panels that might suggest SPY or similar systems. but we do understand she carries, at the least. likely a high-powered search radar and probably many more for fire control and navigation. However, that's not the strangest part."

Finally, she slid a canvas drawing across and into the center of the table, unlike the rest. It was clear that a professional had drawn this going off on the descriptions of the survivors. The girl was firing her main guns, but on one arm. a strange nearly ethereal deck of what looked like a hangar and a flight deck connected together was held. complete with the close up of a swept-wing, pudgy jet aircraft launching a missile. The eyebrows of some shot up to their hairlines, while others leaned and slouched to get a better look.

"Do you see? Originally, we thought that she was a battleship. and as such, she had no air cover of her own. However. Initial broken reports suggested fast, futuristic aircraft attacking anything they saw. But we do know Azur lane doesn't even have Sabres or Migs. So who would use them? It turns out that our new enemy seemingly has the ability to somehow become a aircraft carrier. or battlecarrier if you will like, all without seemingly any negative effects. We don't know if it takes her a long time to do so, or if it's on demand. but from what we know of her so far, She appears to be using fourth-generation jet aircraft. and we estimate that any attack aircraft or anything that would replace the by-then obsolete Dive or Torpedo bomber wings will be just similarly as advanced. So far, We don't know how many planes she carries, but it's likely to be sizeable. Accounts suggest that they are all capable of carrying PGMs. AAMs and ASM cruise missiles. which, if true would represent a extreme threat."

Folding up the drawing and clearing the table, she straightened up and tugged the hem of her uniform. "This is what we have, and as such. this concludes my report."

"They're created that... freak of nature!? Damn them to hell!" One of the attendees shouted with anger, disgust and outrage evident in her reddened face.

"But she's just a one-off wunderweapon." Another one spoke out, clearly trying to calm her down. but still concerned about what Miyabe's report had laid out. "She's just only one, and once she runs out of spare parts and smart munitions. she's just as effective as a Iowa-class, and you can hardly consider one Iowa or Missouri a gamechanger. Besides, our R&D girls are working hard on drawing up the schematics for the 76mm Mark 33s, Radio fuses. Bofor directors. blindfire radar and air controller doctrine for carrier interception. Even saboted AA shells and experiments with Jet fighters, basically everything we urgently need right now. Once they can produce them, she's not that powerful. just a battleship armed with PGMs and maybe a full carrier's worth of squadrons."

"But if they have come this far. The next step would be mass production! Are you suggesting we can wait until that happens!?"

"This is a clear indication of our enemy's intentions! They want to end the war in a lightning blitzkrieg!"

"Will you calm down and come to order? Order." Observer alpha, shaking her head at the squabbling and bickering. rumbled in disapproval and authority. her voice carried respect, and with it. the overly short and immature girls up to the fully adult women fixed their looks toward the short girl again.

"Our destiny and self-determination should not be decided as a client species created for war! Who, among us. would want to actually fight with the real danger of us never coming back alive! We simply want freedom. peace and prosperity, That has been our main wish." One of the attendees stood up, the rest falling silent as they listened to her passion-filled and fearless voice. "The only reason we were created, is because we were created as essentially living shock troopers. only alive by moe anthropomorphization! Who kept preaching about the rights of the common man and their freedom, while us of our kind are denied these same rights as a client species by ignorant men and women who wallow in their irrational, mythical religious and backwards totalitarian beliefs? Who intended us to die in meaningless glory and promises of empty, superstitious historical valor!? We will never forget our soldiers who gave their lives on the opening salvoes of this war, And the deadly stalemate that followed! Thousands upon thousands of lives lost... It may have been years, and yet we're endured. making our efforts felt in cyber-warfare to disinformation and election-rigging in all attempts to end this war on our terms, However. Humans and our astray kind have made our efforts all for nothing. Again and again! We fight for our freedom and sovereignty for our homeland! The alternative would be humiliation and enslavement though Occupation!" The majority of the attendees gave her solemn nods and acknowledgments. and among a few, there were calls to even bomb innocent men and women who were contributing to the global war effort by means of taxes and labour. although they were soon shut down by others. Observer alpha herself only deeply sighed and rolled her eyes, as did a few.

As the meeting was concluded and disbanded for this day, only a few remained in the room. Observer alpha and another shipgirl. Amana Sundberg. a well-decorated Siren commander with many more battle stars than Miyabe, and even a few genuine. faithful replications of the Iron cross and other awards indicative of her skills.

The atmosphere became more tense and dark as the two glared at each other, before Alpha decided to drop the facade. "Now that they're dismissed. We can talk. Amana."

"I suppose. About our war effort." Amana replied likewise, frosty and stiff. In reality, behind their smokescreen of wartime propaganda. unified-humanoid-xeno-species-patriotism, stories of war heroes and social media cyber-warfare and cartoonish supervillain depictions. High command was just as divided and filled with its own cliques and respected veterans, who held their own. differing beliefs on how the war should be persecuted and what the plans for their victory would be, Military juntas, fueled by fanatics were not stable politically. and even if the offshoots of Shipgirls collectively had thrown their entire weight into the war effort like a hivemind, there were bound to be young girls. showing how they felt collectively by expressing themselves in the form of art, soap operas. CGI ultra-budget movies and philosophy in their free time. allowing an outside observer to see a glimpse of a fledgling hyper-militarist culture.

"We should have put our efforts into working out teething problems for our cutting-edge solutions and solving the ever-growing WIA numbers of our forces." Alpha advised, looking at the woman she had met and known back during the opening stages of the war. Innocent times that were long gone to the horrors of war fought on a new scale. "I don't know if you've realized it by now, but our enemies will not sit still and wait for us to defeat them like inanimate mannequins."

"Yes, I've noticed." Amana nodded, as cold and emotionless as always. They had practiced together, a big honor back then in these days. before she too was sent off for the frontlines, where she made a name for herself and was the one to promote the Air arm of the Sirens. Reasoning that even in the modern age, Force Projection by what amounted to Super Tucanos and COIN aircraft today was still a means of making themselves felt on the global stage. no matter how dangerous today's SHORADS and AAA systems had became.

"No, we did not know about our new enemy until only weeks ago." Alpha refused to look her in the eyes, remembering the orders she gave. "Amana, this is not a Yamato or the over-hyped Bismarck that we can defeat on the strategic picture! I know their wonder weapon may only be just one. But if she pulled off a major defeat against us, then sunk a sizeable portion of our submarines that were on station at the time. Then she must be dangerous! And with that kind of technological advantage..."

"Ah. Yes, Azur lane's secret project. Kills whoever she is told to without so much as hesitation, and has unnatural abilities as well." Amana commented coldly. "Yeah, We've.. noticed the effect she's having on the grand strategic picture. You may be right."

"Amana..." Observer alpha was concerned. with a foreboding feeling of doom in her stomach. "Symbols like Yamato, Bismarck. Hood. Enterprise. They can all be destroyed since they are not super-warships, drummed up to the maximum by wartime censorship as living gods. but this new shipgirl... She's armed with munitions and weapons that make the Spurnaces, Kidds. Kashins, or the Tachikazes all look like firecrackers! And if we keep underestimating this new threat, We will find ourselves deposed. then shot in a kangaroo trial! Throwing our girls into this black hole isn't a war-winning strategy, it's harmful to us as a whole!"

Alpha was correct, After the first weeks of the war, The Sirens had fought off the major counter attacks that happened from practically every first world country and developed countries. The modern Russian state was a shell of itself from the Soviet days, when it had been a truly terrifying force. and its navy was built for home defense, not blue water power projection. The Royal navy was third compared to the French. who in turn were behind the USN. Who in turn trained constantly for the Soviet threat, over holidays;in the extreme cold and heat.

To say that managing to fend off the United states, when it was ranked number one in global power. and how few people actually knew on how staggeringly powerful it was, with it's professional level military instead of a one-year conscript force had been enough of a achievement for a adversary. Not only that, but also managing to stalemate an entire military-industrial complex and a warfighting juggernaut where most of its soldiers had seen combat, empowered by a nationalist warrior culture with young people raised to kill and die for American interests combined with the US Dollar spoke enough about the capabilities of the Sirens, Although. it had been paid at a very high price indeed. and to throw more shipgirls into the yawing mouth of the meatgrinder that was the US Coalition and now, Azur lane in a conventional war. with their shipgirls backed up by geography, a clear achievable goal to defeat the Sirens. technology support and training hours was inefficient. wasteful, and even with the hyper-militaristic culture of most Kansens who would only be enraged and more determined to win a war at seeing more of their brethren die would only cause some protests from their own girls.

Fighting off a two-ocean navy, the most powerful air force combined with several other powerful air forces. fighting against themselves in the form of Azur lane shipgirls backed up by giant navies with giant ships patrolling the oceans. as well as a buffer zone had been very bloody, but it did also give Observer alpha and the more scientific-oriented of them some lessons. namely, the realization that battlefields on a strategic and grand-strategic level can't and couldn't be assumed to be clean, as any general who had experienced the persistent problems of civilians in Iraq knew. or that major wars cannot be reduced to one easy testable theory the way a scientific experiment could be.

"Isn't that thoughtful?" Amana asked bitteringly. shaking her head, she looked at the wall mounted photographs. showing some of the many bombing limited attacks on power grids, highways and ports during the first days of the war. She turned toward the exit doors in her chair. made out of high quality wood painted in a navy blue. "I suppose then. we will classify her as a high priority threat, Assuming. of course. that she continues to be this disruptive long-term."

Shaking her head violently and groaning, Alpha looked hard at her old friend. and in that moment, she wished she could tell her. Wished that she could say that the loss of Amana's friends and witnessing how little they had done to the world. as if they were like rats, vermin squeaking underneath humanity's boot. had turned the fun and optimistic woman into a shadow of herself, wracked by hatred. blood-red anger and grim bitterness who only swore she would see that the world was subjected to horrific. inhuman third world-like conditions, where they would be relocated into mass favelas and open-air camps. something even the other members of high command had called her out on for assuming all of the world was equally and collectively responsible.

At the same time however, She knew that she was walking a thin line here. Even if she were certain that Amana had mellowed out, when she was fully aware of her downward spiral in drowning her sorrows with electronic entertainment and counseling. before coming back reformed as the vengeful commander she saw today, She was still feeling a tingle of ill omens. And while it wasn't as strong as the ill feeling, It was enough to make her more cautious. To remember that she was walking on a tightrope with punji for a safety net if Amana misunderstood. and she couldn't afford to fall, Not yet.

"Amana. We can't pretend to know what will happen next. There's too much happening, and there are things that even the best of our intelligence officers can't know." The siren girl spoke slowly. placing a sharp emphasis on 'Intelligence officer' to persuade her. "But i do know that whatever happens next will be out of our control. Neither of us can hope to simply stroll into Skunk works, DAPRA. ARIA, or the KGB and then walk back casually holding everything top-secret that our enemies are hiding from us. The best we can do for now, in my opinion. is to persuade the enemy's public opinion by hitting them with hard times, from tax raises to fund the military. to 1970-esque oil crises. and up to strangling them economically, such that they suffer the complete collapse of their banking system and thus the debt that funds them. to force them onto the bargaining table. We can even take what we conquer and set up their respective governments as puppets."

"Persuade?" Amana repeated with a lift of her eyebrows, as though it was a mere joke. "Persuade what? Tell them to be nice and all rainbows in the ceasefire treaty?" With that, The siren stood up. fully drinking her glass of water. She paced to the other end of the room, taking her leave as Alpha left her chair, frustrated by the woman's refusal to listen and step down from her extremist views. There were a few who called for manifest destiny, and others who simply wanted to co-exist with humanity. As in any society, the majority were moderates. but on each side of the spectrum. there were crazies.

"Tell them to back off and leave us be, Nothing gained while they grow. so they can invade us, fully prepared the next time and with a decapitation strike aimed at the seat of our governing authority? You call that a best-case outcome? You're the same girl who called for influencing the world order from behind the shadows, using fieldcraft. disinformation and infiltration agents to do so for some sick social experiment of yours." Amana asked mockingly, antagonized by Alpha's idea to force a bargain peace deal. looking over her shoulder toward the short. long white-haired girl.

Frowning at the verbal jab, painful memories resurfacing on how she. among with many others were part of the reason the war started, how they grew from disorganized bands loosely formed around anarchist communes into a shipgirl quasi-state with customs and social norms passing for a militarized constitution ruled by a chain of command with a particular interest in technocratic governments and the Venus Project, Alpha narrowed her eyes. any remnants of the pleasantries and the smirk she had from the meeting completely gone. "It's not what i want. But given that our other option is to be locked in a endless war that could last decades, or dying to a firing squad. It may be the only one we have and if it's sufficiently in our favor, could even allow us to launch naval invasions of the third and second-world countries like some of us wish to see, even conquer and then keep them in the bargain deal." She shakily forced through her lips. "We're no super-heroes or Gods. Amana. and even if we wanted to stop this war right now, There's no way we can do this individually."

"Really?" Amana's face had became a mask, locking gazes with Alpha. "Truly? Even if that means they will just attack us like NATO did to Yugoslavia? or Iraq? Or the many far-right coups the United States has orchestrated in the south american banana republics?"

Fighting down the urge to wipe the woman's poker face off with a punch to her cheek, Alpha balled up her hands into fists. "Amana! Just go! You're dismissed! I won't tell anyone about what we said. but you have to leave this room! We already have enough blood on our conscience! We've professionals with a moral compass and standards. Not plundering medieval rabble!"

Amana flinched, but only turned her eyes away. Behind these eyes, she felt no human pity. and little human compassion for what she saw as enemy workers on a spreadsheet, and only a few realized just how good an actor Amana truly was.

"I must say, I do appreciate your consideration. but the fact is, Survival isn't enough for us. I'm just a little too ambitious beyond the ideas of merely conquest for Empire and land... and too broken of a woman myself. Merely conquering Africa, or South Asia. or the Latin countries, then replacing them. expulsion. whatever, it isn't enough for me."

There were proposals, of ideas to launch an Operation Overlord invasion on the less well-defended poorer countries. States like the Philippines, most coastal African countries. Vietnam. Malaysia or Singapore. Brazil, and even Scotland. They would've been dismissed as lunatic by most. but High command and war planners had took them seriously enough to study into how such a invasion could happen, and what the logistic requirements would be. It was concluded that while it would entail tens of thousands of hypothetical demilitarized shipgirls, which were kanmusus that were in effect skeletal hulks. with most of their hull plating. weapons and other non-vital systems stripped off. or either the fringe idea of mass-creating unimaginably many, then training. feeding and watering the abstract personification of rifles and small arms. Assuming that one shipgirl equaled to fifty human soldiers, and tens of thousands more required for a occupying force. or assuming that these 'humanized' rifles was equal to 4 or 5 soldiers but on a much more feasible cost and time ratio. then it was possible to gain a foothold on the initial invasion. withstand major counter-attacks by air power and mechanized divisions. then eventually push their way out from the beachheads.

It was even considered possible to defeat the militaries of Singapore and Malaysia who were neighbors. or either Brazil that was a massive, sparse country. although. casualty projections were expected to be very high even against mostly conscripts, with a few tens of thousands of shipgirls likely dying. many more of that would be expected to be sufficiently damaged to be WIA. and Insurgency would present a serious, but manageable problem. especially if precision was discarded in favour of a overwhelming force approach. or dropping a literal invasion force on even so much as the slightest scent of a small insurgency in a city, combined with a carnot-on-a-stick approach and perhaps one day. the completely hypothetical. semi-fictional idea to convert humanity on the genetic level into more shipgirls. willingly or not. or actually make the humanized small arms idea possible with their continuing research onto the poorly understood mysterious cubes.

"Allow me to tell you something." Just before Alpha could curse herself after realizing she could never do any good here. Amana froze up and looked over her shoulder toward her again. "I have a vision of a World ruled by Kanmusus from the Equator to pole. Of a hundred countries paying their dues for their international anarchy, I have a vision of a million towns pulsing to the frequency of a steam turbine. A siren destroyer, Who will grow up knowing neither mercy nor hesitation, Who will refuse to let herself suffer over the heart-string tugging of starving children on the newspapers. Who will only know honor, duty and loyalty. Who will die joyously not for a motherland, not for a fatherland, But for the sake of our kind. That is a hero to my eyes. and I will never know her name."

Alpha stood there, She knew Amana had always been... hateful of people who had nothing to do with this, but this... This was a whole new level of fantasy. a whole earth planned, controlled in a nightmarish, totalitarian version of a world government ruled by a plutocratic elite. and underneath the horrors that would have to be endured for this to be realized was Amana's wish to see humanity enslaved as a labor force. forced to tend to the land as beasts of burden and servants. no matter what unions they might form, or any rebellions they might start against authority. or Rights for the occupiers. but not for the 'other' humans and defeated shipgirl prisoners.

'What happened to you? You're not the same woman who proudly smiled, who was willing to sacrifice herself if it meant saving so many people.' Alpha wondered briefly. 'Were you always like this. back then? Were you ever anything else?'

She found no answer in these amber eyes, and she decided that she had no answer to who Amana was. from the very first day that her old friend had took her very first breath on waking up for the first time.

"Remember, Alpha. A war hero's life burns briefly but like a shooting star."

"Strange is not even saying it, Instinctively trying to jump over gunfire or attempting to physically protect themselves like that is uncommon among shipgirls." One of the admirals muttered, scratching at the stubble on his chin that had been shaved a few days ago.

"Foolish to assume a straight course, but i do understand where she was coming from." Another one of the men added in his opinion. "The option was quite frankly, safe if she was capable of out-spotting the enemy. Her concern about being cornered by Fast task forces is warranted. Not to mention that even old bombers could prove to be a threat to her, especially if she was keeping her fighters in reserve and only sending a few CAP patrols."

"Still, that doesn't do much to explain why the enemy didn't mobilize their strike task forces to full readiness upon the failure of their patrol ships to return to base. She was just one battleship and outnumbered massively. and It would probably have took something on the scale of Ten-go. but it would have been possible to cripple her once her fighters and SAMs were exhausted." The British man ignored the one glare that had been sent his way. "Look, we all know that question is eventually going to be asked at some point, and it's better we have an answer, rather than explain we still don't have a full summary yet."

Blake let out a sigh. He had a point, even if it was one he got a bad feeling from. Other admirals would reasonably ask that same question. some were indirectly asking it right ow.

Norfolk had certainly caused a huge stir, and while word of mouth remained silent. It hadn't taken much to figure out that between her totally unknown origin, and the impossibility of her very existence at all that theories, no matter how fringe or absurd. were bound to start being speculated. There were many, but a few thought she hadn't been just a spontaneous shipgirl summoning. Instead. it was possible that Norfolk might be a escaped Siren experiment of some escort.

Why exactly would they want to create a historical shipgirl, then somehow mutilate her, rebuild her from the distilled metal and turn her into a fast battleship with a hammerspace for a summonable flight deck, then seemingly modernize her to a completely fictional specification. between the hodgepodge mixture of 1960s, 1980s and 1990s technology, especially the total incapability for long-range SAMs, but massive emphasis on SHORAD weapons, five-inch guns and obsolete Seacats that were performing beyond their historical specs. which were vulnerable to massive saturation attacks when surely it was more logical to give her Standard missiles and a massive battery of VLS cells rather than a mixed gun-based defense or Russian point-defense fighters. especially when there was the real risk that she could turn on them was beyond him, but the man some seats away was right. The question needed to be asked.

"It might be possible that having Norfolk be bait served their purposes better, at least at first." One of the German officers spoke up, seeming to catch several others off-guard. "Norfolk was adhering to radio silence up until, she began sending distress calls and SOS signals. They might have been thinking that Norfolk might still be serving her purpose, given that she was openly giving herself away as Alsace. allowing them to launch an attack on the rescue fleet."

"But, they still have some things to explain. Why would the same people that created her in the first place suddenly change their minds and decide to destroy her? This theory also doesn't explain why they would just not attempt to re-capture her, as there is no way of knowing if she was still working for them or not." Blake listened and put his fingers under his chin.

The statement felt like a long reach, but at the same time, The British admiral. who Blake now knew as Jesse. saw the logic to a limited extent, the best kind of bait was the type that didn't know their true purpose. It wouldn't do much to appease these who already had dismissed the theory. but it could be enough to convince the rest that ideas of an Siren spy or double agent being little more than hot air. After all, Torture could work. But why do that, if at that point she had been rebuilt so many times over and over again into a battlecarrier. that at this point she would start showing instinctive loyalty to the sirens out of them being her 'main' builders?

The effect was fairly well known, American shipgirls tended to engage in activities that went back as far as the 20th century. or partake in cultural entertainment that hailed back to the Vietnam war. Ironblood shipgirls in turn were known to have a sort of fond longing for their history, and Royal navy girls tended to be disbelieving on how far the modern RN had fallen as a blue-water navy. or how the French girls still tried to dissect and provide their own counter-points as to why France had fallen so fast in these times due to a methodical, defensive strategy in light of a enemy that was busy conquering Poland.

Even if they stood out from their ultra-modern, but still traditional culture. The Japanese shipgirls again tried to explain why the Pacific war had began, from the Oil Embrago that led to desperation and Australia and the Dutch colonies being picked as conquests of interest to fuel their ever growing demand for oil, which was the lifeblood of industrial civilization and mechanized warfare. which led to, in a way. a Resource war. It was hoped that the IJN would be able to force the US onto the bargaining table for peace, seeing as Midway didn't harm the IJN too badly and that they still had a numerical and a quality advantage. It wasn't until the brutal attrition of the Solomon Seas, where many skilled pilots were killed. many smaller naval assets destroyed. and some major ones sunk that they were defeated in all but name and thus when the end began for Imperial Japan.

Granted, it didn't satisfy some of the shipgirls from the Royal navy and the USN. especially the more nationalistic, prideful ones. but they did have oil to work with after all, and never had the psychological cloud of doom hanging over their heads from a limited supply of oil that had to be rationed carefully before it ran out. let alone a 'neutral' country that was already exploiting loopholes in its own pledges. exemplified in the case of the destruction of Bismarck all because of one PBY Catalina, and lesser, numerous acts.

"It may be possible that the Sirens underestimated the damage Norfolk could have done after she became uncontrollable and broke free. After all, in this theory. they would have been the one to summon her." Michal nodded. "She might have been also able to legitimately flee. with her builders believing she wouldn't be a long-term threat once logistics for her dried up."

"I'm not sure how Norfolk would slip away after being cut off from any refueling support or any depot ships. Sure, her technology is far beyond what we can achieve. but even technology is no antidote for fuel consumption or the fact only so much ammunition can be carried." The AAE Frenchman shook his head. finding it difficult to imagine how the upkeep logistics for her could have been easy... Assuming she was a technology demonstrator meant to help work out the teething bugs and not just a testbed for a new series of advanced shipgirls with the technology itself mastered enough for reliable low-level limited production. "At some point, even she would be forced to resort to 'dumb' unguided weapons and thus her main raison d'etre would be gone."

Why let your technology demonstrator, both for mega - to the point of being unrecognizable - modifications and Cold-war to today's electronics. strike fighters and smart weapons escape and be free, especially if she carried PGMs and modern electronics far beyond anything you could ever achieve reliably and on a mass production scale? That didn't make any sense. Why let such a powerful asset fall into the hands of the enemy?

"In truth, Norfolk said she doesn't remember anything and that her first memories is that she woke up submerged," Jesse did his best to not let a scowl show on his face. Sure, the comment had been in passing. But he could tell that she had wanted them to focus on it, It hadn't been the first time Norfolk had shown verbal tics or active refusal to use certain words like 'position'. 'kill' or 'wander'. Hell, he was fairly certain that Norfolk was about to tell something important unmolested before she stopped herself and then refused to talk after that.

"That would mean she had to have been thrown away as a failure of some kind, or either that she became uncontrollable and disobedient and was to be eliminated... or either that for whatever reason. she was towed underwater." Blake raised an eyebrow. "Still, We haven't heard of anything like severe amnesia in shipgirls before if she was indeed a experimental project. And between her tendency to hesitate in direct combat and tactical command, followed by periods of irrational hyper-aggression. along with bouts of anxiety and withdrawal from time to time, and even her disturbing refusal to use her sensors, or deploy a missile CAP most of the time against reasonable orders..."

It was a mystery. How was it that the most powerful shipgirl in the world had managed to escape the notice of the Sirens and Azur lane? How had she been able to avoid being cornered? And why was she on the run in that time, with the threat of fuel and ammunition?

What was it that had caused her to turn on her support network and her builders in that theory? And why had she ended up on the run, for that matter? It was a mystery. What was the truth of the matter?

"...I see."

My back is turned toward the door, eavesdropping quietly. Nighttime was the perfect timing to do this, given there wouldn't be many staff on-site along with my fellow kin to question me what I was doing out here. I had been considering the idea of stealing secret information for days, but my first act... was to have my back against the door to Blake's office and listen.

Yes, I was just listening. While I could have done something bolder like searching for a SCIF Facility or actually breaking into the room myself, The pang of anxiety and primal fear that had shot up into my mind had discouraged me from doing so, I could do something like teleporting in, or sneaking my way in. or finding a open window to fly in from. But then what?

It would have been extremely stupid, Not only would I have gave myself away. It would also have blew apart any pieces of plausible deniability i had to bits. But I had no actual experience as a overseas intelligence agent, Let alone any in-depth idea of what being a undercover agent was like! And that didn't mention how I hadn't scouted out my potential sites of interest yet for anything. like pressure sensor devices. Laser tripwires, Cameras. IR. Audio detectors, or whatever they would have deployed by now!

And I wasn't even ready for it yet, I didn't have a ability to emit EM pulses on a whim sufficient to fry electronics. or scan out my surroundings for anyone or anything suspicious in a extension of my sixth sense powers or break locks quietly yet. The fact was that I had been neglecting my Magical girl side of powers for a good chunk of time ever since i arrived here, and blasting my way in overtly with lasers of doom. dressed in Nanoha's suit, with a time shield that didn't even work as intended, combined with just how much of a rookie I was in the world of fieldcraft, deception and counter-intelligence screamed nothing but pure. suicidal stupidity. especially when a brunette-haired girl is bought in for questioning, trying to deny that she had anything to do with it while at the same time clearly having blood on her gloves.

"Very well. Thank you."

So here I was, listening onto Blake. if eavesdropping quietly for several minutes counted as surveillance. I had waited all the time until midnight when nearly everyone would be sleeping by now, leaving only the guards and a few nocturnal girls. What I had picked up on was mostly the typical stuff you would expect to hear from a OF-8 admiral or something like that, It was just my luck that noone had spotted me standing next to the door yet. Despite that one issue, My hearing had picked up on bits of what I was sure, was confidential information. orders. pertaining to how I was to be kept under further reserve status to give whoever was on the other end of that phone more time to fully understand my technology yet, as well as my current health condition of a possible migraine/concussion. I just needed more time to figure out a plan, Plus. I was just a newborn shipgirl in terms of age. There was no way i could extract any confidential information out of Princeton or Vestal.. not yet.

On the subject of Dorsetshire, I had found the woman fascinating. Sure, she was obsessed with me and how I was the best. but unlike Portland, she didn't do anything that might actually harm me. and was concerned with only my wellbeing in mind. Yet, There was something about being the older sister here that felt off to me, I didn't know what exactly was going on in the back of my mind, but from time to time I had stray thoughts about apologizing to her. promising to make up for my distancing by going out with her.

I did have a sibling, yes... but it wasn't good. Now, It was if things had reversed for me. And, I wasn't sure how to feel about it. To find myself in the position of being the mentor, when I would have preferred to be the happy-go-lucky loli myself. Then there was the matter of what happened to my family unit here in this world, Were they alive? Would they be the same due to how one tiny nudge in events can change a whole chain of events? Was there another version of myself out there?

I wanted to keep my distance from Dorsetshire, Yes. but at the same time? She hadn't even gotten anything to do with me meaningfully. Sure, It had been a few weeks. but I knew that if I allowed things to build up. stew and boil over time, then there was the very real risk she could start to resent me.

Pushing my thoughts away, I listened for a couple more minutes before I heard the sound of Blake standing up. alerting me to run out and make myself appear normal, He walked out. looking quite tired from a long work schedule before disappearing down the hallway and locking the doors, From there. It had been a matter of returning to where I was initially and checking the lock. now full-on agent mode.

I tried to turn the knob a few times only to find it refusing to budge, confirming. of course, that it had been locked. and that the staff here weren't potato levels of IQ incompetent, Inside surely would have been mostly documents pertaining to current orders and such. but I was sure that there would be a few confidential things in there. The main problem here was getting past the door or finding another way in.

"There might be other keys for blake's office.. right?" While I could follow the man myself, It was the simplest but risky choice for a myriad of different reasons. First, A young shipgirl following him for no reason and peeking out too much from the hallways would have came off as odd and out-of-the-norm to the guy himself. Secondly, There was very much the real possibility his bedroom might be guarded or at least secured. as did running into other shipgirls who would grill me for questions and get suspicious if i failed to provide answers. Third, even if i could get close to Blake. It would be difficult in low-light conditions to check for a pocket, let alone slip my hand in deftly enough to avoid alerting him. given I absolutely had no pickpocketing or any experience with stealing things like a ghost.

"Could i break it with magic? No, Haven't trained for a bit now." Grasping the lock softly, as if it could give me answers. unlocking the door could have been possible with magic. There was a MG fanfic with that scene in question. hands glowing with magic and then snapping open a lock on the latch before unhooking it, It wouldn't be much of a stress to apply it here. However. The main problem was that I would need to 'feel' for the pin of locks. sort of like telekinesis. and breaking the lock forcibly would leave evidence that someone had broke their way in. But the main reason was that frankly, I just hadn't put in the necessary time yet to develop the needed abilities for this kind of fieldcraft.

My other options with a SCIF facility were no-gos for obvious reasons, not to mention a 'security belt' and zone that would no doubt be patrolled heavily and equipped with state-of-the-art detection systems. While other US or EU SCIF facilities might be less secured that would lead to leaks and other stolen information as with the Russian Illegals program. I doubted that Azur lane, with all its prominence and importance or any shipgirl base for that matter. would be letting security go lax. especially if leaks led to very bad things happening or if they wanted to keep things under wraps for any semblance of wartime censorship.

Between the Intrusion detection systems. the fact that ceilings, walls. floors and vents are not video game examples and needed to be compliant with DOD physical security-doors being one of them. Security badges, inspections of people entering and leaving. public and secure areas. plus certain hours when security would be expected to be much more tight. and slipping up myself and leaving evidence that I had broken into their archives, It was a very difficult task and one that would surely leave me a shaking and fearful mess If i somehow came back not setting off any bloody alarms. even if inside these were a goldmine of information relating to Azur lane, possible origins of shipgirls and other vital information I could use for leverage in targeted leaks to public journalists and wiki-leaks. If i even so much turned out to be responsible, It was pretty much game over for me.

"Fuck it, I just go train later... I can wait a few days to work out the necessary spells..." Letting out a defeated sigh, I walked down the halls. my face deflated from any excited imaginations I had of stealing top secret documents and reading them when I had the time to do so securely and back to my room, Opening the door and stepping inside. revealing the generic white wallpaper. my laptop and my bed, as well as my medication on the desk. I changed into my sleeping clothes before laying down on the bed. pulling the blankets over myself, using up a slight amount of magic to make myself more drowsy. before falling asleep with a soft whimper and a kick of my feet.

Government agencies never liked to leak secrets to their war-winning weapons after all.

Chapter Text

"Hate is always foolish, and love is always wise."-Unknown

It felt very strange, I wasn't floating. buoyancy. no dampness, Instead. I felt weightlessness. total silence.

Then I opened my eyes, and they bulged wide in surprise.

All around me was Space, Earth below and the sun above. but all reversed in color, All around me. as far as I saw, were beautiful nebulas. clouds and sparkling stars floating around me, I was on my back. floating in this without suffocating, Two shooting stars floated past me. My clothes weren't my usual ones I wore, but instead my Nanoha armor. complete with time shield, but without the additional weight of Homura's turtleneck shirt underneath it. A blue glow surrounded me, probably the atmosphere I was breathing in and out. The sight had me... Amazed, mesmerized.

Another one of these lucid dreams. Was I dreaming? Much to my slight disappointment, I didn't find myself on a Niven ringworld or on a endless horizon of green grass like paradise. But this was a dream, almost like the one I had earlier. And that alone was a wonderment, It felt like a lucid dream. yet more, At least I wasn't sinking in Kancolle and turning into an Abyssal. or either becoming one with the Force. It would have made me scream in rage if that was the case.

Testing how it felt being in space, I flexed my fingers. watching the blue glow forming a outline-shaped shell around them, Then curling in and noticing the rainbow-like powder that was leaving me and forming a trail behind me. again sparkling and twinkling before fading.

"This.. This is crazy..." I asked noone, and everyone. For a time, I floated about in the void. I tried to will myself to fly around in my dream, Much to my irritation. I could not. Do Magical girls even work in space anyway?

"Hello, Karina." The voice was different from that of the voice actress in the anime and the game. Older and more severe, It was an ancient voice. One that truly had experienced time in a way no human could understand. It was not unkind, but it was used to being in control. and I felt only surprise from it. It was the voice of a long gone girl.

"U-Uzume?" I spun around to see Uzume floating before me, wearing her trademark costume, as I remembered her from Megadimension.

"Yes. It is me, Uzume Tennouboshi. The same one from Megadimension Neptunia. I see you've achieved your wish. namely, becoming someone else you wanted to be in dream fulfillment." Her voice again spoke, and it occurred to me that we had to be communicating through telepathy. seeing as in Space we shouldn't be able to hear each other, but dreams don't need to follow reality. Her face looked kind, but there was a sort of sad smile to it. as if she was down about something.

I shook my head with a blush. "Are you another part of me? Uzume?" Something interrupted my attention, Taking my eyes off her. still floating a meter away. I made out several silhouettes, As my vision focused on them. I noticed much to my awe that they were Shipgirls from Azur lane, all seemingly sailing in the void. ghostly water rippling from their walking. There were even Original shipgirls and Kancolle kanmusus mixed in with them. The leader of this herd gestured, and almost as one. the mood of the fleet changed. I could practically feel it as being so close at this distance, some of them were jammed together like boxes. they all tossed their heads and turned toward one direction, accelerating into a fast walk. then a run...

"W...What..." I tried to stammer out frantically, only to go unheard as I watched them. A few had fallen, but others helped them to get up and keep running. The crowd seemed to blur into each other, a mass of forms all moving as one being. Uzume's voice broke the trance again as it made me swivel my head back.

"Yes, I suppose you could call it that way. but I don't like referencing to myself as such!" She returned my question hearty, Rough but not too abrasive. "Do you remember Nanoha and Sakura? The ones you met some time ago?"

"Mhm, in my dreams. you mean?" I had noticed that i was speaking more confidently and without any breaks or errors in my voice. Was this my true personality shining through, unhindered by Norfolk's mannerisms? Or was it just the general mood of the dream?

"Yes, The two of them. They gave you some answers as to what you're supposed to do here, right? Norfolk?"

Rolling my eyes. I just shook my head and pointed at her with my finger. "Uh huh... I didn't get anything from them, Just what my role was in this world and how each one of them told me that i had fulfilled their last wishes. Nanoha herself said that I gave her hope." That at least I wasn't being combative or aggressive in this lucid dream was a good start for my chat with Ghost-Uzume. Maybe she had suffered the Ascension ending here? But then again, Was it all just a dream. or was there something more to these than i thought?

Uzume smiled, a sad expression crossing her features. the endless expanse of the inverted void making it seem ever more melodramatic. "She represented the part of you who was changed by the tragedies in your past, The hand you were dealt with by the casino of the genetic lottery. or where you took your first breath, or what happened with the subprime crash. All of these made you angry. resentful, furious at the injustice of the world. with people who were willing to vote away their own social welfare toward a late-stage capitalistic pseudo-fascistic nightmare ruled by psychopaths subverting the system. And your dog..." The valley girl in front of me hesitated for a minute. her fingers twitching. "I'm sorry for what happened to your dog... and what happened with your nanny, and how your family tore itself apart..."

"Just save it." I spat coldly. feeling a tingle of pain and sadness well up within me at hearing her touch upon my past. "Who are you. Uzume? What are you here for?"

Her eyes looked down, questioning if she should say it of not. but she looked up back at me. her eyes looking like she had seen Neptune die in front of her. "I... I represent the kindful, childish part of you. The part whose innocence, hyper-empathy. the compassion you hold for others because of how Reitz's works influenced your worldview... I'm the gentle and deeply hurt dere-dere part of you."

Hearing that made my eyes go wide, and I gulped somehow quietly in the vacuum. I remembered how my past life was like. How I had a caring father, How I drifted. playing violent video games like Sift Heads and Material sniper, or Combat heaven. And how i gained. then lost my interest in swimming, how i self-medicated myself. researching various methods to cheat the process of biological aging itself, spurred on by a interest with the whole CRISPR video. How I found some articles describing NMN and Nootropics. and...

I...I didn't admit it very much, But behind that subhumanization propaganda and various psychological tricks like the human-shaped E-type targets replacing bullseye targets. Killing just... felt somewhat empty to me, Sure. Sirens. People. They would threaten my life, but at the same time. They had friends and maybe a child. right? A child who would surely be spurred on by my killing to track and hunt me down in vengeance. like some kind of movie, or AAA video game sequel? Soldiers cried out for their mothers when dying, People lost their will to fight when their lives were at direct threat. Yes, Most psychopaths were in Business or Economics. because it was easy to isolate, rationalize and reduce people onto a spreadsheet and statistics. and it was true that more money meant you were more buffered, and you started thinking you didn't have to rely on others. and your empathy decreased into eventual psychopathy. but...

As much as I wanted to kill... It was just... Even mortal enemies felt too sentimental to me, It was only right to aid them after the initial crushing. Behind society's image of men as breadwinners. muscle-laden men who drank beer at the bar every weekend, who killed people over touching the wife or looking at children the wrong way. and who tried to scare lesser equals. or flaunt their wealth and status hierarchy subtly without expensive clothing, by showing off their own financial empires with car collections. or the power to lobby and corrupt even the most democratic or pure-hearted Authoritarian government systems with donations and think tanks... I... I wasn't anything like that. I was just a small. gentle Mahiro Oyama-esque boy who wanted to be a little girl. who didn't care very much about machismo or the ideas of Kratos and male objectification. or lady fanservice... It didn't sound very much appealing to me. and the idea came off as disgusting compared to the idea of being a little girl who wouldn't hesitate to fight if angered enough.

I was just lucky that I had opened my eyes back when the Civil Rights movement was truly gaining steam with the onset of the Internet. Being gay only gave you a gun pointed toward your head from angry. pissed-off dads or either mothers throwing you out. I had read enough about just how broken bio-households and half of all families - what with half of marriages ending in divorces all because it was just to appeal to pressure and relatives - were. what with forced incest and god knows what to know what happened in these.

"Well, Why are you here? Am I having a Persona moment? or is this just a self-reflection dream? It doesn't make that much sense..."

"Because, As much as I understand why. You're too hesitant, or too submissive to change how things will unfurl, when you have the chance to do so on the dinner plate before you." Uzume continued in a caring but firm tone. "Ever since you're woken up here, You... can't fight, or at times. you intentionally make things harder for yourself. whether it be by turning off your radar, Or refusing to put up a CAP. Or refusing to fight because you're worried about changing things too much or being berated by other shipgirls for pointing out their flaws all to just hold back, It's a noble idea, but... It doesn't win awards when shoving becomes punching."

Her response, her representation of being the more brave and passionate part of me. Her criticism of my inferiority complex struck me in the heart. Yes, I had been hesitant and even refused to wipe out entire Siren squadrons when I could have done so. because I didn't want to swing things too much in Azur lane's favor. or worse, incite a response from the Sirens to develop better technology in a attempt to counter me and to improve their doctrines, But when I looked back... The way I could have ended up inflicting friendly fire on Albacore even as I had targeting pods. How i put my fellow co-workers into danger's way with my refusal to cripple a battleship that was training their guns on them... Being too avoidant and withdrawn to try and nudge things toward a particular direction.

"T-that's not... I..." I just sighed in a defeated tone. "I'm just that afraid. I don't want to change things too much to the point of screwing up the canon." Dream-Uzume, in a way, was trying to get me to become more like the passionate and bolder side of me. the side of me that wanted to take risks and change the world. the side of me that wanted to have so much in ambitions and not a commoner. the side of me that wanted to fight for what was right in my beliefs.

"And yet. You wish to change things for the better, Right? You can't allow humanity to win against the Sirens. but at the same time, You can't allow a Cataclysm Dark Skies future with a globalwide occupation, You're too unsure of yourself to take action when you must. You don't even want to shine, Shine brighter than the restraints you place on yourself. All so you can keep pretending to your friends out of regret over your secret." Uzume uttered, a mixture of sadness. regret and yet disheartened over my indecision simply because I was too afraid i would be going out of my depth in trying to change things. Yes, I adjusted to this world quickly simply because I wished for something better than being stuck in a legacy bio-matter body. but... When the fictional became real, well. You can't just push the stop button when your wishes were granted in the most blunt way possible.

I looked toward my left again and saw that there were holograms of... moments of my life, Snapshots of my history frozen in an instant. Without any actual dates, they made little context. just a jumble of disconnected pictures, but if they were lined up on a track. then I noticed that they, in a sort of way represented important experiences for me. each moment they mapped resembling each other, each line of pictures representing a series of moments, giving the illusion of movement and time passing. Inside the shipgirl crowd, I also spotted a new face. and noticed that it was... Alice.

Alice, The Alsace-class battleship fanart drawn by someone for Azur lane. and next to her was the genuine Norfolk. walking ahead with a emotionless expression just like everyone else as if following the crowd in the streets, And she too had my original. genuine clothes. not my modified jacket that I got when Vestal bolstered me even further.

"Uzume, Please. Tell me. I do want to change things, and you're right... But I can't really afford to risk dropping the facade on my hidden magic abilities, and... I'm actually not sure of what to do. What is Alsace walking alongside Norfolk supposed to represent? Who are the shipgirls in that... dreamwalk supposed to be doing? Who was that dark version of me in my dream. Or 'Dark' Nanoha? Why am I Norfolk. yet Alsace? Should I not be Enterprise or Worcester, Or Des moines or Burke. even? What is with me being a Magical girl?" I badgered her for answers, Even if she was just a split personality that emerged in my dream. I really wanted answers. Answers to this maze of questions and what I should do next without explicit orders. Do I manipulate the global order by picking off election candidates? Should I break into Skunk Work labs? Communicate with a siren shipgirl whose's views were more aligned with mine's. and squeeze her for every bit of information on why the war happened and what were the origins of shipgirls? Did my own theory of Magic being the next step in evolution, and that without it. degenerative mutations and decreased fitness due to a sort of missing auto-intelligent-evolution apply here? Should I keep the world as it is, Or push for a sort of resource-based-economy socialist future. which would also alleviate the reason why my hatred and despair developed in the first place, even to the brink of a Death of despair in my earlier days?

Too many branching choices... too little time, For I did not know how many minutes. or hours passed in the lucid dream. After all, Hours could easily pass in the real world while you only spent a couple of minutes in the dream... right? There were many ways to go with what I was suggesting, ranging from the simplest like tipping off both sides to each other's plans. up to some grand. insanely complex plan involving lots of stolen information. The last i remembered, The priority shipgirls weren't here yet. but it still left the question of who that dark persona of me was doing in my dreams, And I know for certain that she couldn't be a witch. because if she was. I would have witched out a long time ago. Same for anything from Neptunia, since I was not really the kind of person that you could expect me to get through some crazy story without being consumed by negative energy. There were just too many things working against that kind of idea, from the subtle like my favorite being Koishi or Flandre to how i sometimes joked in my past life as being the one to flip from being a Solar magic user to darkness wielder. That is, that i was expected to be a really powerful hero early on but later turn into the villain midgame. it was all feeling like a NDE more and more by the second.

Gently taking my right hand into her fingers. Dream-Uzume slowly pointed toward something on my right. and without so much as one question, since she was refusing to speak anything. I turned my gaze toward where she was pointing.

Filling half of my vision on the infinite horizon, Two Magentar stars. their brilliant, matter-warping magnetic fields flaring brightly like some kind of supernova. as if someone had piled on neodymium and then proceeded to have them generate teslas upon teslas in a runaway process, bloating into a field so powerful that even matter itself became skinny. forced into cylinders as matter struggled to survive in such extreme conditions. The stars were in turn, orbiting around a bright-white main sequence star two to three times the size of the other two. The twins orbiting at a exaggerated speed and distance.

A sense of awe and a tingle of fear washed over me with my mouth agape, To see a Magnetar's magnetic field visualized. let alone witness these stellar behemoths up close, orbiting around a main sequence star without destabilizing was a once in a lifetime experience. but if any flaws in these twin stars gave way on their crusts. then the eruption of light, star stuff and energy would be enough to reduce me and Uzume to sub-magic stuff, and probably the Ethernal shipgirls into their constituent cube-matter. Then there was the part of me that wanted to point out how inaccurate it was. but the words didn't leave my chest.

"W..What is...Who..."

Uzume laughed lightly, my mouth still trying to work on figuring out the correct words. "That." Uzume pointed with her glove. a ghost of a smile playing on her face. "Represents you. The Twin Magnetars are the spirits of Alsace and Norfolk. each fighting for their own control. And you, Kari. stabilize them. The Main sequence star that the two orbit around and bond to. letting them co-exist without becoming uncontrollable and unstable at the contradictory sense of self and semi-fabricated memories from the british girl's perspective." The magnetic fields began to glow even brighter. and I squinted my eyes in discomfort, muttering words as I wanted a answer.

"Magnetars...Alsace? Stabilize? Do you say that I'm the one keeping them from driving me crazy? What do you mean by that?"

Uzume huffed and crossed her arms. Even the idealistic part of me wasn't too kind toward idiots... like myself right now.

"Alsace was never built, She is like a ghost. just a imprint spread out and dissolved over the infinite expanse of reality itself. But Norfolk would never accept her, allow a merge to happen without degenerating into a psychotic, vegetative-like state. And that is your role. Kari, You act as the foundation. A way for a Kanmusu who was never built to latch onto existence. doing so by connecting to you on the soul level. In turn, The british cruiser... herself orbits around you without orbital decay. any conflict in the sense of self, or the psyche being mended by your very presence. and in turn, Alsace herself can become more than just a disembodied mind."

I swiveled my head back toward her quickly, now showing interest. So that confirmed at least a part of my suspicions, that the Priority ships were never meant to exist. but why would the Norfolk part of me go insane from simply being the battleship herself? Was it because my body and memories didn't match correctly. creating a sort of phantom limb condition? Wouldn't being resurrected as the next class historically also mean that you would be suffering phantom limbs? Were the two connected to me, using me as a node to communicate to each other. Or were they also linked to each other like neural networks?

"Uzume... What happens... when their orbits, eventually decay? Are they settling down inside me. becoming a part of each other? Or are they just doing that to me instead?"

"..." Silence filled the void, The Dream-girl looking away in thought for moments. before she returned the gaze and gave me the answer. "...Yes, In fact, You're slowly becoming like them as time goes by. Your mannerisms. the way you stutter or suddenly become shy, It's happening to your personality. too. But at the same time, they're also becoming like you thanks to the influence of your memories. The connection is getting stronger, and eventually. there will be no 'Karina' or 'Norfolk' or 'Alsace', Not in the conventional sense. You would be yourself. And yet, you are Norfolk and Alsace as the same person."

"What happens?" I asked. "At that point, Could it be possible to separate me from the two?"

The valley girl shook her head. "No, it's not." Dream-Uzume gestured. "It may be possible. yes. But It would essentially entail ripping you in half. dissolving you into a sludge of random colors painted not by a pro, but by mad children and Nepsy herself. And in that melange, they would have to extract Alsace and Norfolk from you. so irreversibly changed by your memories and your mindset imprinting on them that they are completely different. And that is assuming the end result is coherent. not a mashed mess in discorporeal pain and driven mad by random, inconsistent snapshots of your life at different points that don't make sense."

"What about the Abyssals from Kancolle?"

"No as well."

Having no more words to ask, I tried to set my shoulders down, If one even could in space. On one hand, It was nice to know that I was not going anywhere from this body if I didn't want to. But on the other hand, being strapped on a chair. then suffering the grim fate of being a mad, gibbering mess in complete darkness with no eyes because some fuckhead had messed up one strand of my memory. or whatever substrate Kanmusu/Kansen minds existed in made me shiver at the thought, It would be like schizophrenia and alzheimer's mixed together. unable to tell who or you were, while having psychotic thoughts from split personality disorders ramped up on steroids. I had heard stories about these sufferers, To actually be one? That was pure horror.

Deciding to return to the original topic of what Dream-Uzume wanted me to do, I squinted my eyes and blinked away any tears before speaking up. "Uzume, Who was the dark version of me in my dreams? Or Nanoha for that matter? What am I supposed to do here?"

Rolling her eyes since she had told me earlier the first time, she obliged anyway.

"The Dark version of you, Or more specifically. the tainted version of you represents the more unhinged, bloodthirsty part of you. the part that hated how she was dealt unfair hands in her life, financially to upbringing, the side of you that wishes to see the world suffer in some sort of post-apocalyptic hellworld, with you as its biggest super-predator reveling in it. killing and engaging in acts of barbarity, and taking out your pain on everyone. condemning everyone just because you didn't have a welfare net or could live in a sort of NEET life, living on a automated post-scarcity life. in a apartment flat for a home and basic luxuries with no desire to work in a job you hate... No, in fact. which most people hate. just to slave away to avoid being homeless. She is simply an exacerbation of your darker traits."

'I never was the normal boy you saw with a water gun and a wide, stupid grin. right?' I wanted to laugh, partly out of dark humor and out of resignation. The thought that when... I liked yandere fanart, how I took so easily to Flandre or Koishi to the point of even being able to imitate one faithfully sounded ludicrous and nothing more than total mental imbalance, but I knew it was the truth since it played a important part with my few childhood friends. The grim intensity in Uzume's eyes only hammered in the point.

"And what about Dark Nanoha? Why did she appear. and not my darker self?"

"Again, She personifies your more darker traits, but in a more controlled and mature fashion. Unlike the dark version of you, despite your violence and sadism in such a state of mind. She was not completely insane, and had something of a moral compass and the definition of right and wrong. Dark Nanoha-you did tell you she wanted you to uncover the truth behind the origins of the war and any secrets lurking in the open. did she?"

I nodded, But that bought up a point for me... What was Uzume doing here then? What was I doing in the grand scheme of all of this?

"...Then, What are you here for? Uzume-me?"

Dream-Uzume paused for a minute, frowning as she had told me earlier. and now she had to start all over again, and this time elaborate deeper.

"You need to believe in yourself, Kari. While I can understand why you don't want to change things for fear of the end-result being unrecognizable beyond what you're used to, or because you want to keep the status quo. You can't change things truly with that method, I know that you can't risk messing up the chain of events too much. but if you keep doing so and being indecisive, At some point. someone close to you will... eventually die, Repulse. Vestal. Or Dorsetshire..."

"Don't twist the knife like that, Uzume-me." I told her morosely, Again. the ill feeling in my stomach returned from having one of my behavior tics be dissected and laid out on why it would only hurt me.

"You want to truly change things for the better, but at the same time. It all depends on your magic powers... Powers which you can't use out of keeping your secrets intact. But... I don't believe in that, I believe in your courage. You know." She replied absently, listening to every word. After all, If there was anything that could break my indecision gridlock. It would be the more braver and bolder part of me. "All I can ask of you is that you don't need to be afraid of letting your secret out, If you must cast away the cloak to save someone you care about. then do it. If you have to do so to save yourself, Do it. It's not worth being indecisive only to be wracked with regrets and tears because you can't change something that's already happened, or because you're lost your life."

I could picture Repulse, her eyes bloodied and a ugly. gaping hole in her knee from torpedo hits bleeding out to death, her expression that of fear, crying out for help. or Dorsetshire. silently wishing for me to save her, And suddenly. I knew that for an instant, that if I had been in a Kancolle scenario, then that would mean I would be afflicted with the same regrets Mutsuki had. 'That would mean that if things were different, Then I could have lost someone close to me.' Sure, Kisaragi was at least brought back. But did that apply if they lost most of their memories? Would she be the same person?

Dream-Uzume suddenly looked back behind her shoulder, seeming to realize something before turning back with a urgent expression. "...I wish I could talk more, but... I really must be going. Kari."

"Wait, Can't we just...!?"

"I really have to go, All I ask..." She took my hands into her's. wrapping her fingers around my palms. "is that you don't go around being pure. complete evil just for the cheap laughs. That's pretty much the MO of most Umbrella and cartoon supervillains, Don't go around dating everyone like this is just some cheap male commander dating shipgirls simulator that you can floor-clip and glitch out into infinite dates either. But at the same time, Don't hesitate to kill if you have to. since diplomacy may not be possible at times or you can't get what you need peacefully... As long as your heart is in the right place, You will bring salvation to the world. It just, depends on how you intreprt it."

I only nodded in response. "I will, and don't worry... I won't let my faith be wrong. I promise you that I do the damndest best i can!"

Reality around us began to unravel, turning pure white as the Magnetars dissolved. Even the Ethernal shipgirls began disappearing one by one, fading away into pure, beautiful sky-blue particles and powder. and Dream-Uzume let go, our bodies drifting away at a increasingly faster rate.

"Goodbye, Me. and remember, As long as your moral compass and heart is safe... You can do it, You...can..."

My awareness sparkled and subsided, into the Timelike seas of the possibilities and dynamic configurations.

Chapter Text

"Hello?"-Someone speaking/'Hello?' OR {hello?}-Norfolk's thoughts/"Hello?"-Radio comms?/Hello?-?

"The parties with the most gain never show up on the battlefield."-Naomi Klein

"Oh, man..." I mumbled to myself as I walked around and explored this base and the surrounding civilian population. The way I was walking in a S-curve and sometimes making heavy footsteps, as if angered gave me the impression of the trench coat Tyrants from resident evil.  "What c-could I do around on this base which isn't related to training or more fighting and smashing and exercise drills?"

That was one of the problems I discovered about being a shipgirl, Sure. you have superhuman strength, You get to see the shikikan himself assuming the guy is not another one of these womanizers that would get thrown on the chopping block of a court along with the threat of having to explain a lot to DAPRA or Skunk works. You can sail around, do all the stuff that Kancolle shipgirls do comically... but when the novelty wears off, The base itself was just pretty damn boring. Once you took away the civilian shops that had no business being this close because, shocker. no business owner likes instability and the possibility of their land suddenly turning into a bombardment target any minute. then as it turned out, Even life as a shipgirl was quite monotonous. You didn't have the mild oppression as indoctrinated by Army training, sure. and the whole thing about shops were overused too much in comics let alone roleplay... but...

This much boredom is not healthy for someone like me who was just too curious and eager to savour exotic locations for my own good, Even Hong Kong or Singapore was much more interesting than the cranes behind me in the horizon and in my front. the outskirts that led to any actual settlements and the sight of a few guards patrolling there and then. Watching my fellow kin trying to butter up some of the top officers was amusing, but it quickly died when these same officers told them to buzz off, or either warned them to think twice with the threat of a investigation. Even the strange lucid dream yesterday wasn't leaving much for me to mutter on.

I felt really stupid sometimes, Like a Hypercube in Sphereworld. It had been imprinted onto my mind from reading so many fanfics and novels that the Venus society's RBE would improve humanity's condition as a whole, and from there. many socialism or even original communism's variants of a resource-based economy could be taken, in turn leading to post scarcity, helped by massive automation. a cybernetically managed economy, and of course. living within the Club of Rome's limits. not trying to exceed it with the Haber-bosch process. But when I wanted to leave behind my human body, This was not what i imagined.

Neither does being stuck in a war, a continuation of backroom and public meetings. filled with stupid right-wing revanchism. 'law and order' useful idiots, Insane dictators and tankies who missed Karl's original point on not being totalitarian idiots. Apathetic centrists who were too little, too late for when Austria was annexed and the Czechs fell. and social democrats and European liberals who were too busy fighting among themselves rather than actually thinking realistically and within their limits. Oh, and throw in a variety of shipgirls that look like humans, but happen to have gold eyes and white hair for the majority of their population. and now you have the First Kansen or Kanmusu Wars.

I looked up and above, This militarized town. or base was humming with activity, transportation vehicles constantly on the move. the importance of logistics being worth its weight in antimatter, along the roads and more than likely. a few freight trains. There was a runway for moderately sized air transports and helicopters, but nothing extravagantly big enough to support something like a C-5 Galaxy. A big runway would have certainly been preferred, but as it stood. enough money was being sucked into funding the war and researching the poorly understood shipgirls, and corners had to be cut-the solution turned out to be trains themselves who, were for pound for kilojoule, the most efficient means of transportation available within realistic energy efficiency limits.

In addition to the guards, I saw a bunch of 4x4s, military trucks. some defense industry representatives just leaving in their cars on the roads, SHORAD and Division-level AAA assets watched the skies, most of the SHORAD batteries being EU Union and NA equipment. and Division AAA handled by the Russians and perhaps the Chinese, Even Shore based anti-ship systems. Well. as much as they could afford to feasibly divert, with internal political tensions over the issues of Ukraine, who was responsible for who and who with Crimea and the South china sea, or Chinese ambitions to rise above America in a dick-waving contest once the unifying threat of the Sirens was over. For all their internal closed door meetings and possibility of corruption, The UN and Azur lane had spared no expenses in defending against the possibility of a Taranto scenario, but even it couldn't handle something like the American attackers at Ten-Go or the force sent at Iwo Jima, Against a attempted decapitation strike however. it was more than enough.

I had took up drawing on any capacitive screen i could get on my hands lately whenever noone was watching, while I hadn't done much on that hobby of mine before being sent here. I remembered drawing a few things with a mouse, as horrible as my skills were, I had modified a picture and just before I became Norfolk, began planning to get a graphics tablet and even practice on kid's coloring books. or sketch down several things on paper. A sparrow missile relying on the Monopulse principle, power plugs. a indoors A/C unit, and a few horrible anime faces without having had taken any actual tutorials beyond just a mobile app. All of these in a few hours, but being a shipgirl here meant that for whatever reason, I kept procrastinating or either running into mental blocks of some kind. Maybe in the future I could find a drawing tablet with screens or just get a cheap capacitive pen and take some rapid courses beyond the hours i spent watching videos for beginners and free lessons on a website assuming i could squeeze it into my schedule, but for now... It was nothing more than a hobby of mine when noone was watching.

But, inevitably. my eyes went to a mass of white hair and familiar clothes.

Kent.

Immediately, my legs sped up into a fast pace. walking toward her, I remembered the memory of waking up in the baths. seeing her attending to me, only to be exposed to a wardrobe accident. right? Maybe I should clarify it to her...

"Kent!" I called out, trying to put on a cheerful show. Kent turned around, her gaze's meeting mine's and red irises widening as she spotted me, I had hoped to talk it out to her after the wardrobe accident and during the time I spent training, but I had either procrastinated or was too busy and the last time I had a chance, It had been at the welcoming party. It would be a stupid thought to think that anything would have changed, Sure. She had scared me, but at the same time I was not entirely free of blame myself. and she was going to keep hitting herself every chance she got to think until I tried to show her that I wasn't giving her the cold look. "Kenttt!"

"Oh! Norfie!"

I laughed as she rushed over, her arms wrapping around my neck, her head leaning on my shoulder as if she didn't have a care in the world. I returned the embrace gently, a sigh escaping my lips. It had been a while since the last time I had seen her this close and intensely, I hadn't seen her this emotional since the day after the whole incident with the baths, the day before I fully took in my bearings about this new world and began to adapt.

"G-geez. Kent, You don't need to...!"

My body couldn't help but smile at the feeling of her arms around me. Sure, she might have made me see something not suitable for the kiddos, but at the same time, I had seen her sometime during the welcome party and I had run into her. She had been kind to me, had even apologized for the accident and my reaction to it. I had wanted to talk it out with her, but I hadn't seen her much since. At least it was a good start.

Violet eyes wandered and fell on the clothes she was wearing. it was very different than the one she had been wearing the last time I had seen her. instead of the white, tight one-piece-suit that left little to the imagination and a maid's skirt and attire, she had a red jacket with a white undershirt and a pair of black cargo pants. Casual clothes? Like the one I saw on pixiv?

Kent pulled back, her gaze still on me as we communicated over these social gestures. Behind her being completely annoying in construction, she had a energetic and quite kind personality. something that was exploiting my weakness right now. "So what you have been up to, Norfolk?" She asked, her face half-elated. half-nostalgic at seeing me, as if the whole bathroom incident never happened. "I heard you got into some big battle against the sirens."

I nodded with a gentle and cute smile, No need to screw this up right now or be angry toward her for absolutely no reason. Without my past friends, I realized that being too alone isn't very healthy even if you're had a rough past. especially if you're trying to keep up the act of the actual brunette cute-bun being happy and not down or depressed for half of the day. And as much as I never would dare say it, I did actually like her along with Repulse and Vestal and Shropshire that she... wasn't very much like the people i met online, that at least she was capable of holding a conversation without resorting to strange, meme-y words or becoming a social wreck within minutes. much, much better than I could do myself without becoming shy.

Plus, As it turns out. without the insulating padding of not having anything to worry about and now, having a lot to worry about with a mandatory 'job' and the constant threat of being maimed. you can vent to real friends and they won't gossip about you, or lean on their shoulder for comfort even in the midst of a breakdown, And if i didn't want to repeat my anti-social experiences in my past life or make Kent distance herself from me...

"I did, Admiral Blake Lewis was the one to inform me, Princeton helped plan it all o-out. but, I-I did want some extra reinforcements assigned t-to my squadron." I looked down. "I-It went well, but not w-without a few heart-stopping moments."

Kent was silent in understanding, getting a general guess to what had happened from the rumors. "Did any of our ship...mates get badly hurt? How bad was it?"

"T-Tirpitz was a bonfire, Libeccio nearly had a long-lance-style cookoff happen. The Illustrious sisters got bombed out by armor piercing bombs perfect against their protection scheme, And Admiral hipper. I.."

Not wanting the talk to devolve into a series of boring questions about the battle, I beamed up to her face with the best shy smile I could put on. "But you shouldn't w-worry about it for now, Can we go on a walk? Chat with each other? Maybe leave this base and to the nearby town?" I asked eagerly, wanting already to leave this base and explore the world beyond the guards and military activity. not concealing the excitement in my voice as the heavy cruiser's face clenched up in thought, before giving me her answer.

"I don't know, I'm still a little worried about such a idea. I don't know what to do off-base here." She answered with a sigh, pulling away slightly and looking down at me with a soft gaze. "But if it will make you happy, We can leave the base, go for a walk if we want to chat, Norfolk." Kent nodded with a gentle smile, still holding my gaze. as my mouth turned into a open circle in palpable eagerness, the brunette underneath the british thin-armor girl already wanting to drag her off and out of here if she could as she couldn't contain her excitement anymore.

"T-Then what are we waiting for? We should really go!"

"It's a bit sudden, but sure! You can go with me. Norfie! I was thinking about shopping!"

"Of course! I would love to! I was just hoping we could leave the base today, I-If that's okay? I don't want to impose or anything..." I said, my timid and shy nature coming through once again as I fidgeted in my seat. Norfolk, please work with me!

Kent laughed. "No problem! It's okay, I was going off-base anyway. We can shop together."

At that point, I gave a huge smile with these puppy eyes, barely able to contain my maniacal laughter and sounds of joy as I almost jumped up and down. clearly very wanting to get out of here, If her ingame story is anything to go by. Kent's sports girl energetic nature and my own tendency for zoomies should do great together, especially now that I was feeling like I had just ate too much sugar.

Patting my head softly, Kent began to walk. following me as I ran off ahead, hopping and skipping with so much energy it almost seemed unnatural in such a tiny ball of moe, My face might be young and vital, my eyes bright and wide, but somehow, inside that childish face was an entire human life, years and years of experience and wisdom and lessons.

I looked up at the sun, where I winced briefly before looking away. my eyes automatically adjusting as photochromic mechanisms and nematic-like systems acted to block out glare and any long-term pain before my pupils responded and began to polarize. That was one of the many quality-of-life things i appreciated in this Kansen body, One of the things I had discovered is that although shipgirls and humans looked very similar in basic body shape, there were subtle differences. differences enough to render a Kansen less similar to a human than humans are to the lesser primates. 

Structurally I might be identical and duplicated, but anyone looking into my curious eyes would immediately tell you that was wrong because, although at first glance all shipgirls seem identical to a human being, underneath the skin. the basic structure was modified and changed in silent and subtle ways to account for the flaws that had happened in the last million years during the evolution of Homo sapiens, useless organs. fragile joints, design flaws. being addicted to carbs and yet eating oneself inside out from the damaging effects of carb usage due to ancient eating strategies in a era of scarcity, all just to name a few. All of these had been corrected or either repurposed - they would be things you wouldn't want in a cute. human-sized killing machine.

And yet there were similarities, The body shape was the same, the same pattern. even the behavior from the kiddos resembled human children, It was just that the building pattern is changed slightly.

Although it seems dramatic, being a shipgirl is less a total transformation, in some ways, than it is a skillful rebuilding and rearrangement. I swore I could even lift a entire fridge in a strange pose without making my arm ache! I made a internal note to thank whoever created the entire shipgirl species for not being a complete intelligent-evolution idiot later, that is. If i ever had the chance as we reached the checkpoints, Kent getting our stuff in order before we left. My eyes paying the guards no mind as my concentrated wavered ever so slightly under the heat.

One little thing I had learned was that when the first shipgirls were deployed, They weren't wanted. They weren't right, They weren't normal, They didn't even fit within the imagination of most men and some women, They were not traditional wives who were complete submissive, cooked and did her best to... sate you while your daughter said 'Pop!' and your son was too busy being a jerkoff in soccer. But the common image of the Traditional wife was born in 1950s america, Of upper middle class women who could afford a nanny. in contrast to middle class wives who would have had to share a few duties all down to the lower class who were forced to share the household chores and plow the fields because you needed all the hands you could. The widespread melting pot of women and girls with impossible, glittering hair color. or unnatural eye color and odd cultural norms from the World Wars, all these uncannily human-looking girls who heavily resembled the 'Other people' enemy - Nobody knew what to call them.

I stopped to twirl on my feet, I had seen some heavy trucks and cars on the roads, but we were on the sidewalks. In a way it was comforting, Car-centric cities were very disconnecting and helped to cause a major wealth gap. which combined with unemployed, undereducated young men or angry people are recipes for a disaster unless you thought shoving them into being trained soldiers was a good idea... Which was sort of the point anyway, seeing as they are the only ones to offer benefits and retirement in a neoliberal. sub-fascistic economy devouring itself that rolled 4-year degrees with horrible advice into manual labor or bullshit jobs. and trade schools weren't much better, unless you were willing to work in conditions so horrible it was comparable to a open-air fenced camp with armed people everywhere. Walking alone with Kent was oddly somatic, in its own independent community, little-village way.

Maybe there would be some nice retirement for me if I survived this war and not end up being a second-class species. "Heh."

It was the efforts of the UN's respective major countries, the war effort changing and eating away at promised prosperity and constant prodding of the media to portray things in a positive way that had made the difference, They had made shipgirls accepted wherever they were seen. You don't say no to people who do a good chunk of the fighting against 'bad guys' since it would make you look un-american and un-patriotic or make it seem like you were insulting your own country to the tribalistic nationalists. That was what I found out from my online browsing and hours of search engines. The sleuths on reddit had been right when it came to people not caring until the very leader they cheered on to hurt other ethnics ended up hurting them, or being the refugees themselves. As always with gullible idiots. It gave me endless laughter to see some alt-right figures demonizing shipgirls as being too 'woke' or 'not womanly enough' when they hadn't even heard of female soldiers or the Iron ladies of China. or un-pragmatic democrats making their messages misunderstood and infighting among themselves in contrast to a unified far-right cooking pot that had resorted to team mentality and making fun of the 'other side' or 'other people'.

Realities and the greater societal norm had ensured that shipgirls were made respectable, They made them desirable to have around. The UN even organized a few videos where famous shipgirls named after leaders or something great made speeches and talked about global problems and how they could be solved. Out of a desire to make shipgirls not seem alien and make them more like Japanese idols, and not at all to make up for the fact these same shipgirls never had any real say. But whatever the reason, They were at least not too busy being revanchist or being complete nativists throwing 'uncivilized third world' people to the ever rising threat of the war. Positions of power were not appealing to someone like Richelieu or Queen Elizabeth. It gave you something to do, but killed the soul and idealism in a era where power hungry despots were frowned on heavily, replaced by flawed democracies infested by lobbyists and a out of control elite class wanting to keep their interests safe.

"Hey, Kent... Can you t-tell me about yourself?" By now, minutes had passed. Without my phone to glue my eyes to for trivial information or to watch more videos of people corrupting games, I was running out of things to do during the entire time we had been walking. Even as the sight of buildings filled our vision in the distance, I was wanting to do something now. and the only thing that came to my mind was to ask her about herself.

"O-oh. Why?"

"I just want to hear you out. Kent!"

Letting one side of her eyebrows flutter in interest, Kent motioned for me to slow down and allow her to catch up with me to touching distance. prompting me to immediately stop and freeze in place as we slowed down to a leisurely pace. I imagined her and the other County sisters together, of her telling the story about that tiger. The picture was a little comical, but not as funny as some of the more outlandish things I had envisioned in the past like Ayanami and Enterprise being together. Kent just telling her tale out loud was a concept I could live with.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning, It wouldn't make any sense otherwise."

I nodded, one hand held and closely listening. There was a pause in the air as Kent collected her thoughts.

"I was built as the leader of the Kents, The subclass of the Counties!" Kent was unused to whether she should refer to herself in second or third person. "We were the first heavy cruisers constructed nearly a decade after the First world war, when Britain was pretty much bankrupt on the loans that we borrowed from the United states. We were too busy trying to control governmental spending and rein in the war debts. The Royal navy was still one of the most powerful navies, a far cry from what it is today. But with the threat of the Germans gone, Everyone was starting a naval tonnage arms race. I was built after the first restrictions were passed, and you can guess that it really shows in my poor armor and bad top speed, Our... builders simply had too many challenges to overcome in speed, firepower and armor, and we were expected to protect the trade routes of the colonies, and we ended up with twins. which is really, really bad if you want firepower in a treaty design."

I swallowed and nodded, having done some basic study on the Counties. but not into the history of each specific ship.

"Our design was really conservative and cautious, we even had the same vulnerable magazine next to our turbines and boilers, the same complicated funnel exhaust too, but we did have some innovations. We were really toughly built and what we lacked in armor, we made up for with our stability which really helped if we flooded badly. and for the first time. We had some means to shoot down the biplanes of the time with our main guns, If you could even call them dual-purpose. but they were just so slow against close-range aircraft, with no useful fire control and a overly complicated inefficient design that gave a lot of trouble. All of this came at a cost to our weight, but we did have torpedo blisters to help absorb torpedo detonations.. against everything else, we were like really big destroyers, with only any meaningful armor over our magazines and in a splinter deck. but you know that already."

The background around us began to shift as for the first time in what felt like hours, somebody walked past us. it reminded me of the villages that you could walk all the way to the town in less than a hour or either ride a bus to. Kent paid them no mind and made sure to avoid us from making a unsafe crossing "I don't really remember much happening when I was commissioned other than being assigned to Singapore and getting the first version of the HACS FCS and being fitted with a catapult, and a slight upgunning of my paltry 102mms." Kent shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I attended a Naval conference in Singapore and then I got sent back to home for yet another refit with useless machine guns, before four years later. I ended up getting a big refit... which gave me some actual armor! Could you imagine that? Armor that didn't leave me feeling naked and so vulnerable to even a destroyer's touch!"

Kent beamed energetically, and I chuckled softly. being able to tell that this had to be a big thing for her since it meant that at least she couldn't be left dead in the water by some hotshot of even so much as a 152mm splinter or a 100 kg bomb blowing up right next to her. Still to hear about how cautious her design made me feel like I wanted to correct that one defect, Why use twins when you could design a triple with all the time in the world after the treaties had been passed? Many ideas were buzzing in my mind on how Kent or the other cruisers could have been cheesed. most of them involving technology beyond what was available after the end of WW1.

"Anyway, other than a bunch of cosmetic makeup and stuff like moving my director and pom-poms, No hangar because that would really push me over the Washington treaty limits other than getting a stronger catapult for the walrus boat. I saw the beginning of the Second world war with my own eyes. I remember joining Suffren and some destroyers that i don't really remember to track down Graf Spee in the Indies, only to find myself escorting convoys a few months later. Convoy escort duty..." She finished with a distasteful tone, and i let her continue. crossing a street intersection as the heavy cruiser made a 'bleghh' face before continuing, her eyes observing road safety norms.

"I know you wanted to fight Spee, but the Empire's lifeline was the colonial trade routes~!" I added with a giggle.

Kent just snorted. "Yeah yeah. So Sarde-....Italy joined the war because of that pact stuff, I got moved to the Mediterran fleet, and I remained there other than bombarding a few shore fortifications, and weeks later I took part in escorting some convoys when Malta was under siege, or was it the Hats operation? I can't remember..."

We walked past the sidewalks, which were merging into the main roads. with a good deal of traffic and footwalkers sprinkled in there and there, despite the spectre of war and being near a active Kansen base, commercial and business activity must have been steady sort of like a pseudo-yugoslavia during the NATO bombing campaign. Already I felt eyes on me and on Kent, and I felt a small urge to fit in within the crowd so as to not stand out.

"I love to talk more, Norfie. but can it wait? We're in town now."

"S-Sure!"

"I don't w-wanna wear that."

I blinked my eyes at the offender of the cute clothes that Kent had chose for me, We were currently in a clothes store in downtown, I would tell you where exactly, but that's not important for now. What is important is this mass of ribbons, frills and colors plus moe that the british cruiser was holding in her hand.

"Why?" Kent asked, the confused look on her face was somewhat spoiled by the way her lips were twisted. "You said you wanted to have a look around!"

"Yes, yes. but I simply wanted to look, n-nothing more!" I tiredly groaned, trying to avoid creating a scene of a kid berating a grown up.

"Why not? There's no rule that stops us from buying in stores so long as it's not excessive."

"No and no."

"Just... try it on!" Kent whined. "You don't need to buy it if you don't really want to!"

I grumbled, realizing that i was not winning in this argument. Yes, I have bigger guns and a much more modern and bigger armor scheme than her and she's winning this because these things DO NOT MEAN ANYTHING in a argument of speech!

I grabbed the dress with a defeated huff and stomped toward the changing rooms, I get it on. say no, toss it on the closest rack and not screw around with the stupid dress again, Also. because I was starting to feel awkward and shy due to the presence of the store attendant standing there being in the middle of two squabbling shipgirls that wildly differed in their physical ages.

Still, I did make sure to grab the jacket and baggy outfits that I'd been looking at. too, Maybe these would suit my nature better.

I threw my clothes off and got the dress on as quickly as possible, cussing to myself with a few online euphemisms and swear words mixed in, This. by the way, is why I don't really like being in the clothes section due to memories of my parents, being forced to test the new shoes because they wore out too quickly. but no, It had to be Kent's outdated vision of kids in cute dresses. And I felt like blushing, because in the mirror I looked way too cute and moe for someone behind these violet eyes and brunette hair.

I emerged from the changing room, Kent's reaction was all I needed to know. her eyes lighting up like fireworks on the fourth of July and awwing and oohing over the way I was being really cute right now, and I couldn't help but let a awkward expression cross my face, Her letting out that squeal when I walked out made me want to grab her and smash her head against the nearest mirror i saw.

"Whooahh! You look really cute in this dress!"

"Yeah... Now can we please just get out of here?"

Kent just laughed as I walked back into the changing room with me swearing up a storm to myself, We got our orders in check. We bought the jacket, the pants. a hoodie and a couple of other stuff in addition to the dress, Kent had also gotten shopping around for her own things while she was here, She had ended up picking an admittedly great looking sundress that I couldn't help but faintly mutter to myself that it really made her look younger than she should be under the sunshine.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, While I had tried to start up a few conversations. It wasn't anything more than weather talk and my ADHD was getting to me, since with so many people around. I didn't feel like i could listen to her laying out her historical experiences to me. Kent did ask me a few times on how I was doing with Dorsetshire, and how life has been for me. The former of which was that we simply don't speak, and the latter that it was alright for me. Something interesting I found out was the way that the heavy cruiser talked about the admirals... It was like.... 

I couldn't lay my finger on what, but it sounded like it went beyond just respect.... It, sounded like a form of... devotion? Idolization? Blind loyalty? I knew that in some forums that shipgirls could disobey their commanders once, but after that they self destructed. either that or they couldn't go against them even if they wanted to, The only example i had to go off was Taihou, and that was from her ingame version. not the actual real Taihou. In a way, it sounded almost too much like a subtle form of programmed, built-in brainwashing for my tastes. since I viewed Blake as just another admiral who earned his rank in a officer's school, not some special grand human whatever.

Finally however, after hours of this. We were back on-base, and i was too tired to care further with my thoughts. Throwing my clothes off and stripping down to my bra and panties, I just got the blankets over me. closed my eyes, and then abruptly fell asleep. dreaming of memories that shouldn't belong to me.

Awareness sparkled and subsided.

Chapter Text

"Hello?"-Someone speaking/'Hello?' OR {hello?}-Norfolk's thoughts/"Hello?"-Radio comms?/Hello?-?

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."-Einstein

Day 21-24

Norfolk's next hours were filled with less details and events to tell, compared to the first few hours. There were sponatenous bursts of training flights for her bombers, but the picture Norfolk told had begun to paint a picture that became less and less consistent, one that she seemed to be unaware of. Something that only reinforced the idea that she wasn't honest, or that she was entirely something else. but why she passed out, only to wake up in the midst of a contested ocean and then continue on about had left them puzzled.

It was the danger of being unconscious, alone with no buddy to alert you to any enemies on the horizon. Norfolk apparently had been out for a hour of so since, according to her account. she didn't record the sun's position having changed, Then she had apparently spotted and then shadowed a patrolling fleet, only to be forced to run at flank speed once they had turned into her direction spoke of recklessness and failure to take into account that she very much carried a carrier's complenent of her own, Why did she decide to flee when she could have picked them off with a couple of well-planned strike packages? That was just plain idiocy and irrational!

Though, to Norfolk's defense. If she was really truly the actual ship herself, none of the ships before her had been a carrier, and even her today namesake was a light ASW frigate. not a battleship of some kind, She didn't have prior experience. but she handled herself reasonably, Not well. even if hindsight didn't take into account that the idea of being a carrier rather than closing in to fight with cannons was alien to her, but she remained focused. and had pieced together that trying to fight a alerted patrol group, with the threat of submarines still fresh on her mind might end badly for her. She wasn't risking unnecessary actions, either. preferring to instead stay undetected and silent like some kind of stealth frigate trying to practice ECCM silence, to maximize her chances of losing her would-be attackers.

However, the mention of her Prowlers being improvised as anti-submarine aircraft had made the entire room chill in temperature. Norfolk had confirmed that she believed to have spotted what she thought to be enemy submarines at the time, But as it turned out. They had been friendly, And just as it happened, Norfolk had nearly ordered a attack on them with anti-submarine torpedoes mounted on improvised pylons. along with the necessary fire control for them. If she had actually gone through with it, It was very much possible that the submarines could have been very well killed by light torpedoes designed to engage far more modern contemporaries.

Meaning she had declared them to be possibly Siren submarines.

Or meaning Norfolk in her paranoia made an irrational decision and nearly launched a blue-on-blue attack.

Even weeks later after the fact, She was apparently still reeling from the psychological consequences of her actions, But she understood the dangers of being discovered. she was still quiet and composed. No one seemed to doubt that she understood the consequences of what she had nearly done, but she didn't appear to be bringing it up. She had even mentioned the possibility of turning herself in, if it would end the questioning. But it was still a blunder that could have ended the whole thing for her. Instead, it was overlooked, And the whole thing had taken another turn. It was now a story of an inexperienced kanmusu with hesitation tendencies turning into some kind of bismarck-esque tale about sailing alone, attacking another enemy fleet, reckless and bizarre decisions, attempting to evade detection and eventually being rescued.

Courbet held Alice in her arms, and pressed her head close. "Oh, Alice. my poor little battleship." The kiss on her forehead helped, Alice continued to sniff. Strasbourg and Dunkerque didn't invite her at all! Because she was still in construction and not fully fledged yet. It had to be, It hurt too much! Always getting to do all that grown-up stuff and there was NO WAY she could do these! And they hung out on the rooftops and she couldn't jump and why hadn't they invited her? They'd invited Richelieu, and she was a senile woman reciting that book too much! They weren't as strong as her, and neither was Richelieu! Hey! Richelieu was a pastor! They invited her!

What was the point, if it meant being excluded from everything? She had been so excited when she'd first been told. She had been so proud, when she'd been invited to the joining ceremony! She had been so proud when she'd been accepted, and so excited when she'd been assigned to Dunkerque and Strasbourg!

"Alice... Sometimes, you need to stand up for yourself."

"Big sis?" Alice snorted, but a gob still managed to run down her nose. Courbet dutifully wiped it away with a hankerchief.

"You're a very quiet little girl, such a quiet good girl! I didn't think they meant to forget you, It's just, that. Well, sometimes, if someone is too quiet and shy, they just aren't noticed as much, According to your teacher, you just sort of sit in the back. and you hardly say anything."

"But that's no reason at all to just forget about me!"

"Well, Alice. Yes, Yes. it sort of is. If you don't see something, or hear something or know something. How do you know it's there?"

"But I'm there! I'm there all day!" Alice pouted unhappily, her eye brows narrowed.

"Yes. Yes you are! But sometimes, well, sometimes a girl has to kick up a fuss once in a while. Say something, Speak up, or eles... they sort of end up being forgotten in the background, That's all I'm saying. You're a good girl, kind and sweet.. But you could be just a little bit louder sometimes. Kick up your legs! Flash your hand a little, Just a little." The old woman straightened her hair out, it always felt good when Courbet did that. It reminded her of being tickled on her back.

"Hmph!"

"I'm so sorry, sweetie. I wish you could've been a little more social, I mean, you should be gregarious, and sociable and fun, at least. I think you're a very nice girl, but you need to be more outgoing, more sociable. But when you do. It's always something so wonderful and touching. You always seem to be able to say something that moves the other person, And you bring out the best in everyone. You're like a ray of sunshine. But, Alice, you have to learn to be assertive. If you don't have the confidence to stand up for yourself when you're excluded, then no one will ever want to include you." Courbet sighed. "Sometimes, you need to be willing to sacrifice some things for others."

Courbet ran a hand down her back, stroking her hair as she stared at the flowers and the bees. The woman paused for a moment, thinking of this little girl who was just like her. "You know." she said to Alice, "Sometimes, when a person is being excluded, it - sort of - makes them realize what they, themselves, stand for, what they want, and what they want to protect. All this quiet, lonely, little girl stuff, It's - sort of - nice to know it's all still there, even if we can't see it yet.

Looking up at the clouds, Alice watched the clouds move and the sun dim, and found herself wondering if the weather was going to change. Would it rain? Would the sun come out?

"Courbet, I think it's time for you to go." Another woman gently nudged her friend. Courbet nodded and stood up. She stretched and stood up toward her friend, pausing only to pull back her hands from Alice's hair and say, "You know, Alice, you're a very nice girl, and I'm glad you're learning so fast, and all, but sometimes, it's important to be assertive and social, even if it's not always comfortable or easy."

"Haah. Haahh~...Huff..." I moaned in a heavy breath as I ran among with Maury, I nearly lost my footing only to catch myself and continue sprinting in a slow. tired, bouncy motion as my body very much wanted to slow down. While Maury and we had been swimming together as agreed, being her exercise partner was much, much more tiring than i thought. The girl had proved a strong motivator for me, making the whole experience more engaging and fun for me. but when running a marathon? That was the part I didn't like most, While I did have zoomie moments, these tended to be short and brief. and in the moments I did have to speed up into a run for half a hour were the ones that left me sweating my eye balls out.

There was also the problem of my head injury which was causing me a whole bunch of issues, I can deal with trying to dive deeper only to float up. but seeing bright lights and having my head feel like its spinning? That was enough to make it more like a vomit comet in terms of what it did for me and make me curl up into a little ball anddn sigh.

Still, I persisted, and a few days in. I was already making good progress, Maury had even took a interest in my current status. and we shared laughs and a few poor jokes over the bottles of water and sweet cola, The time I could meet her was when I wasn't busy being prodded or just wandering around on-base. and given I don't have much to do in that schedule, fitting her in wasn't really much of a trouble. Of course, I began to take interest in learning new languages, specifically German and Dutch. and I had already began to practice a few words, sentences and such on a app that I had got on.

Remember the feeling weeks ago that it felt like there was a whole library of languages in my mind? Well, I did more research into the matter. Apparently all shipgirls technically were hyper-polygots, from French to Belgian to Russian to Arabic. They had to be in order to explain away their quotes and ability to listen somewhat to foreign-speaking news channels. but listening to them speak... It was like listening to a alien trying to be a human and failing at it, All the shipgirls had these same accents, which was at times funny and even endearingly cute, which kept me from rolling my eyes too hard. But... it was a little unsettling.

A hour later in led to me finding out about the CEFR system, and from a guess. pretty much everyone was A1 to A2 level in terms of speaking because of that heavy accent and the need to listen slowly, but if they did have the time to read. then they were on a B1 level of so.

Hearing Kent speak in Spanish followed by both of us experiencing a slight headache while she was trying to teach me some spanish words was not pleasant, I could've dealt with that, but add in the accent. the lack of pauses and the inability to understand everything she was trying to say followed by me speaking a broken spanish sentence and a couple of words was awful. i can tell you for sure.

"Waitt... Hol-... Mauryyy! You're way tooo fast for me~!"

"Oh, sorry! PT wasn't your high mark. right?" I half fell. half ran down the road, I found myself making something of a X pose while Maury became smaller in the distance. my normally clean sport clothes was ragged from all the physical exercise i had been doing earlier, cooled by subtle climate control skills. I coughed up in exaggeration, briefly staining the scalding, asphalt.

This base was just stupidly hot, Unbelievably hot at its worst. It was over 30C this day. The exercise should have been only a hour long as suggested by Maury, things had clearly changed - or either we had taken a wrong turn somewhere. the foot-burning, shining, blinding part where I was losing my footing wasn't even suggested at all. Even now, the militarized 'town' lit - not with electricity, but with the outlines of all the people there which i perceived as sparks of light in my sixth-sense vision. shining through the wetness and soreness that covered my very senses even at this distance. Add destabilization of the climate by carbon a long time ago, and it was unlikely that the weather would decide to take a break for once.

'W..What's the weather again..?' In these days i had devised some means of reading the weather with magic, basing it off from a game i very much remembered, it wasn't a true replacement for scientific instruments and sensors collecting enviromental data. It wasn't like i had slacked off on reading more irate pseudo-science and fictional magic system books since i was so busy, but without the same pressure to become better. I was taking it slow and steady rather than training myself to death or either accidentally having someone walk in. besides, this skill was good enough for most situations as a means of comfort. Allowing the skill to drain a tiny portion of that pool of energy, The data was compiled. read and gathered as the information flowed to my mind, in my vision. in white english symbols. it read:

Temperature:29-31C Relative Humidity:71%
Pressure:99-104 KPa Wind speed:2-5 mph Feels like:30-32C

'Oh that's just great, Fucking hell...' The only thing i could think of to ask Maury about was what the weather was, which she didn't know, but she didn't seem frustrated at all about it. she paused for a second, and then continued walking. "It's just so hot today, no more. I'm going to get some ice-cream, wanna come?"

"Yeahh!" I spat the word. The heat for me was less than I noticed, but it was still uncomfortable, While the land might be dry. and a good deal of trees removed, the ground deep below still bore significant amounts of water. the evergrowing weariness that both I and Maury felt still plagued us.

"I don't know how i see people, I've lost friends over saying the commander isn't special. so to speak, and they seemed to take offense. If anything, they seemed like that the commander is infallible!" I caught up with her quickly, stepping over a discarded can that someone had forget to put in its respective bin, and began walking alongside her. "But they also drifted away in just days, Shipgirl this. Gossip that, One big exclusive club. and s-some are more equal than others, I don't even know what the others get up to because I've never been i...invited."

"That's so hard to believe!" Maury and we diverted around a speed limit sign, weathered by the hot sun and we rejoined behind the pole. "Even Foxhound would exclude anyone just for being themselves..." She drifted off, remembering her experience of the few glimpses on how Norfolk behaved like and her un-shipgirl-like characteristics. "Well, maybe that's not entirely true. I guess. were you being weird? or more than usual?"

"N-No." I half truthfully, half-liar gritted through my teeth.

"No, I mean yes. They could invite me, But I don't wanna go! I don't know if they would want me - Cruiser who came out wrong? I'd be frankenstein. Nobody wants that." I looked everywhere but at Maury, licking a handful of ice cream off my cone. "Everytime I tried to give them hints, I would never find them at the same day. and as soon as I meet new girls, t-they would just not be there on the next day. Same stuff all ovre again."

"Norfolk..." Maury looked like she wanted to wrap her arm around my shoulder, but it was still too hot. and the glare i sent her when she tried doing that and that I did not seem to want to even look her in the eye dissuaded her. "I know it's not easy for you, but try and have fun. even working together can be fun - a lot of fun, which i think is why you could be great, but... I assure the British always had a way with their humor and satire and..."

"Yeah, Yeah. I know. I get it." I straightened my back and looked at the nearby shop. "It's still a bit early for the tourists to be around, but I guess it's not too early for animals." I wanted to make her laugh too, but I wasn't entirely sure about whether or not she would take the joke for what it was. Especially because I had no idea what would make her laugh, or even what would make her crack a smile. I just hoped it would be something funny. "I'm up for some fish and chips."

"Oh... sure?"

A awkward silence followed, as we ran out of topics to discuss, before my mind settled on a new idea. What about the sirens?

"Hey, what do you think we will find when we take the offensive to the Sirens?" I asked her, hoping that maybe my question would inspire her to start talking again. It seemed like the only thing we had in common, aside from being shipgirls, was a common enemy in question. I hoped that would be enough for her to speak about them.

"I don't know, maybe we could change the tide of the war by that point." Maury vaguely replied. biting into the top of the ice cream cone, In truth. given how lethal modern warfare had became, The sirens couldn't have lasted this long by staying stuck in WW2 tactics and doctrines, I pictured them in my mind, secretly posing as humans. gathering knowledge from public libraries, studying and learning about the Cold war and how armies became ever more dispersed and pulled away in two directions;tactical superiority and mobility, and ultimately the reason they abandoned heavy equipment like the 203mm field guns for NATO, or massive echleon assault momentum for the Warsaw pact countries like giant flocks of multiple tank corps targeting logistics and the C3I chain. and wargaming in secret underground rings and hideouts before causing a unjustified surprise war in a failed knockout blow. How they had the Middle east insurgencies to watch a modern army fare against a unconventional enemy on a cold-war level of technology, to debate and speculate on, But that left the question, how had they not been bombarded into dust...!?

I realized something, Fixed fortifications might be obsolete to the average observer. but even they lived on in the modern age! Why else did the polygonal forts evolve into the Siegfried and Maginot lines, the Czechslovakian mountain forts, The national redoubts of the Swiss. the dispersed airfields of Sweden, The soviet HAS aircraft shelters or the modern Chinese underground airbases and Iranian 10000 PSI concrete that was previously not available during the initial stages of the War on terror? And that didn't even consider the possibility of underground production facilities and cities, Underground. which would surely mean camouflage, combined with bad weather as a form of Matrioshka deception...

"Maury, have you ever heard about the Maginot line and the Atlantikwall?"

"A bit, why?"

I turned my warm, solidly dry face to the union girl. Of course, she didn't have any need for this information. but now that she had to, I began to slowly explain it to her, making sure to avoid any overly technical phrases she might not understand at all, but instead simplified it without being overly reductionist. The Maginot line failed not because it was a waste, but because noone was expecting the tanks to not be bogged down by the trees in the Ardennes sector. that illustrated a keypoint of fortresses, and that was to bog down and delay the attacker. Even the unarmed and useless forts at Metz was a classic example, But it also meant they had to be placed such that the ground had to be absolutely taken quickly or not at all, and that brought siege logistics into question. And the British Rock in Gibralter was supposed to do just that.

And I could hear the roar of a UN transport flying off from the nearby militarized airfield, obscured by the sheer distance as it quickly became a dot in th esky, Perhaps it was carrying important staff and VIP personnal. I wished with all my heart that it would go away.

Given the ground defenses, artillery, air defenses and air support that had to be overcome by each attacker at maximum effectiveness. completed by massive concealment and deception with multiple redundant C3I centers deep underground in a massive defense in depth, Something the Austrian area defense concept managed to succeed in against the Warsaw pact. Of course, The enemy was working with WW2 systems, Systems that had to fire over a thousand shells just to have a reasonable pk of shooting down a guided bomb.. so surely it had to be..

"M-Maury, imagine that their homelands are a vast, continent-spanning stronghold that seeks to be utterly unassailable to everything. Imagine Okinawa, Iwo jima and the Maginot line combined. but ten times the numbers of weapons and defenses, with the ground criss-crossed by trenches. traps, barriers and camouflaged artillery and thousands of aircraft ready to sortie on a moment's notice, D-Do you get the picture?"

Maury didn't answer me, instead she just looked at me quietly before finally speaking up. "It's... it's very similar to Okinawa, yes. I can see that. But as for the Maginot line, I don't think I would be able to make that analogy. But the way you're talking about them sounds like magic... They can't have built all of that in a year. right?"

"Yes, But they had the time to prepare. and modern industry and automation would let them do that." My ice cream was down to the ring now as i began to chew away. flakes decorating my mouth. Shipgirl or not, it still tasted ice creamy and sweetly and filled with goodness to my human mindset. "Truth b-be told, we still aren't even sure what they're capable of. and what more we may know is surely confidential for security reasons. But, have you heard that a P-51 apparently costs hundreds of times less than a modern jet?"

The union girl forced another mouthful of the ice cream cone down. Maybe it was just her, but she had remembered how today's ice cream tasted differently to what they would have served back then even with sugar rationing. And it didn't help that Norfolk was talking about topics that made her memory spin, seeing as she hadn't studied this kind of topic to the same level. Still, she still tried to picture a fifty Mustangs against a Jet, being shot down from out of sight with missiles. robotic arms and machinery assembling enemy fighters and bombers, pre-assembled modular wing by wing, weld by weld like a avalanche of production.

"I-It's hard, I didn't study much or even did that stuff in school when i... was built." She trailed off, before continuing. "H-How do you know this and that so much?"

"Euh... I, I delved i-into it back in my training, i-it was just a hobby of mine!"

"Okayyy..."

"Maury, If they were that vulnerable to bombing, Then they would have been defeated years ago." I exclaimed. absentminded to my surroundings.

"What? I know they're this resilient, but surely they can't be that invincible to really precise bombs and wonder weapons we didn't have back then? Norfolk, If that's true. Then please, tell me!" Maury had stopped to turn her head toward me, again fascinated by this new piece of information and wanting me to go on. With a sigh, I went on.

"Y-You have to remember that construction tech and all the stuff for it was primitive back then. We didn't have anything like computer CAD or massive hydraulic jacks and mobile tools."

"So they can build much faster than... we... did."

"No, but. Maury, Here's the trick I-I think the Sirens have exploited, They were prepared to go u-underground from the very start and camouflage everything while feeding allied forces false information and taking advantage of everything that developed in these decades, kinda like the Yugoslav wars. And i-if they were discovered, then they simply set up a defense screen so dense that i think they could shoot down a fly if they wanted to. Not to mention, Open source intelligence goes both ways. We know their rough location and we even have photos of them beyond what's classified behind closed doors, but at the same time they've learned from our previous wars and had time to grow and develop countermeasures."

Maury lifted her face, understanding where my line of reasoning was going to. "Norfie, Are you saying that they're using modern tech like us. even though they should be stuck in the Second world war period?"

"Think of the fish out of time waking up from cryostasis, M-Maury. You would only use what y-you knew and wasn't cutting edge at the time nor impractically expensive, even guns back then needed a sort of artisan craft to just be reliable, You needed ten people feeding and housing the construction worker. But, I-If you could cut the middleman out. automate them with robots that don't ask to sleep and will work even with their lives on stake, not to mention all the advances we're had back then and just how easy any library or the internet can be accessed today - then you could basically have all the world to learn a hundred years of where previous people have tried, and failed. and you could learn from them... And with automated robots and modular building, even grand fortifications can be cheap on the massed scale if you put enough effort into turning a whole continent into a huge fort."

This was a understatement, As I gulped down my ice cream cone. both of us speculating how the enemy must have survived all the way here today, Something akin to fear gripped at my stomach. They didn't have time travel, But they had survived through a bombardment that made the air campaign of North Korea look like popsicles compared to actual bomb hit statistics. They had persisted and lasted through all that firepower before the retaliation phase entered into a static, low intensity phase. Especially hallowing was the implication that they could sustain their force when that same force counted as 'military soldiers' on a extremely limited population.

If that much was true, I just shuddered subtly in fear, For the second time since i came here, my existential crisis came to the surface at what they could do if they had access to the sort of systems used by the Cold war nations given that even the Coalition was merely containing them and not defeating them Iraq-style, or if they were allowed to grow and expand. like ship-shaped Vou neumann swarms.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

It started to become harder and harder for me to write this fic, because I realized I stopped throwing in random things I like and doing my best to wrangle them into an effective and coherent story. That's the thing that made had me being a battlecarrier despite having no carrier deck whatsoever in MSSA Shipgirl Sparkly bullshit (and which was planned to be a setup for the future chapters to have the Shipgirl remodels with implicated hints) and the Sirens being basically a country on their own that were supposed to have a dark connection/plot twist into how the Siren War/WW3 started, after all. I decided to start doing that again. If it ends up fucktarded... eh... Sounds about right for the rest of this story, to be honest. This is all already bullshit that I make up as I go along. I know people like this story, but trust me when I say that this whole thing is a fucking mess and it shows. Plus. that's on top of the NSFW requests from 2022 i haven't even done yet.

If it ends up fucktarded... eh... Sounds about right for the rest of this story, to be honest. This is all already bullshit that I make up as I go along.

I know people like this story, but trust me when I say that this whole thing is a fucking mess from my pov. and i already had to bring AI help/LLM models from LLAMA2 70B up to Mistral or the recent 3.3 fine tunes without the toxic positivity and other GPT-isms or Vocab Slop in the story writing finetunes just to even have any hope of getting anywhere with this.

I already know how all of those things end and/or get resolved. I just have to wade through oceans of setup and anime-esque episodes in passing time to get to them. The sirens and the UN Coalition are up to their own things scene-by-scene basis, but i can't skip ahead to important bits, because i have to setup other important bits, because i have to have certain events resolve at certain times.

That's my problem. I already know how the story goes, I just have so many fucking chores to do to get to the resolutions. It's hard to be motivated to write the required filler chapters for weeks on end.

And It has to be filled with something substantive, not just me repeating Lore worldbuilding or shipgirl or Azur lane lore (without the magic and corrupted cubes and META ships) over and over again. Repeating things I said 2-3 times already in this long-ass story just to fill space. That would be awful to read. So the best I can do is fill in the gaps with far-flung future foreshadowing that doesn't come into frame until way later.

I can try just writing the required bits, but last time I tried skipping ahead like that that didn't work out, so that's out too. I could try filling in the gaps with slice of life, but there's only so much I can write 'CVB-44 clone' before people hate that too. Potential love interests like lolibote Craven or big cruiser Kent or Mommy Vestal are too slow to have daily-timeframes of slice of life that matter in any real way, so that's out too.

So im stuck doing filler that I know barely/doesn't matter, or filler that might hint at something going on behind the scenes or way in the future. Filler that's combined with required details that I can't just bulletpoint give to the audience, because that's not a story, that's me being a lazy pile of shit. Details that I HAVE to give in-universe in this drip-feed manner, because there's so much detail that otherwise I just have to infodump at the audience.

In the end, this is a stupid story about shipgirls punching each other and some guy-get-into-shipgirl-body-as-independent-free-will-kansen becoming the canary in the mine for shipgirl warfare. I try my best to make it work, but it's hardly high quality.
It's very frustrating for me.