Do not own either franchise.
2.
Nagato slowed her pace and kept her eyes trained on the shore. A large building lay in the background, in a way reminding her of the Naval District she so fondly considered home. Before the building stretched a long runway. She had only seen one runway in her life, but she knew straight away what it was due to how closely it resembled the decks of her aircraft carrier girls. On the edge of the runway were another seven girls. There was no denying that the seven before her were normal girls either. They all stood upright on two very normal legs and no matter how much she stared she couldn't distinguish any ears or tails, or other animal abnormalities of any kind.
She exhaled, not realising she had been holding her breath whilst staring at the figures before her. Nagato was now standing still atop the water. The four escorts hovering off to her side. Barkhorn flew forward and hovered in front of the group of seven and seemed to be relaying information but Nagato could not hear her from so far.
'You're standing on water!' A young girl squealed in pure excitement. She had two long black pigtails reaching down her back almost to her waist. Out of the eleven girls she had now met this one was clearly the youngest.
'Calm down Lucchini.' Another girl added calmly, grabbing the small girl by her upper arm and dragging her into her chest. Which Nagato had noticed she had plenty of.
'Lucchini. Why do they all have such weird names?' Nagato thought. Though she hadn't learnt the importance of 'witches' or tails she had at least learnt some names on the way here. In her opinion Yoshika was the only one with a normal name so far. She had learnt that Barkhorns' given name was Gertrude, the small blonde girl was called Erica Hartman and the stuck-up Eila had a name she couldn't even remember now, let alone pronounce.
Barkhorn turned back around from the group of normal girls and waved some signal at the plane-girls still hovering beside her. The three instantly flew up to join Barkhorn before all four flew over the heads of the others and continued towards the big building in the background. They were out of sight before long as only the top of the building was visible to Nagato.
'I'm not sure what you need, but there is a small beach a short distance to your right.' A girl with long dark hair spoke down to her. For whatever reason she had an eye patch over one eye, so Nagato considered her to be the least normal looking of the remaining seven girls. 'Is that appropriate? We'll meet you there shortly.'
'Thankyou. That will be fine.' Nagato replied before turning and slowly venturing up the coast to locate the beach.
She had managed to take off her heavier equipment before anyone joined her, the day had left her exhausted and hungry. For the first time since arriving Nagato realised she hadn't refuelled since before the final battle with the Abyssals and the airfield princess.
'So it was just machinery.'
Amongst the members greeting her were Hartman and Barkhorn this time without the planes strapped around their legs. 'Ohh.' Was all Nagato could manage upon realising that along with their machinery legs and weapons, their animal traits had also disappeared. She suddenly felt uneasy realising this likely meant that the girls she had deemed normal possessed the animal traits after all.
'Major Sakamoto Mio.' The girl with the eye patch declared. Nagato guessed this girl was of a similar age to herself, and she appeared to be the oldest of the four present.
'Another normal name.' Nagato thought to herself before replying. 'Flag-ship Nagato. I am flag ship of the Naval District and name ship of the Nagato class battleships.'
'Excuse me?' Sakamoto retorted.
Obviously this girl was not familiar with ship-girls either.
'Were you named after the battleship Nagato then?' She continued.
'No. I was named for the Nagato soul I possess. The original Nagato battleship has not existed for…' Nagato stopped mid-sentence seeing the girl before her redden with anger.
'The Nagato battle ship is the pride of the Fuso Navy and I'd appreciate…'
'Mio, stop.' The fourth girl finally spoke. Nagato instantly looked her way as the simple sentence had held such presence. The girl before her looked her age also, maybe slightly younger, it was hard to tell because though her features were flawless and youthful her eyes seemed so wise and her demeanour that of a natural leader. Her words had first grabbed Nagato's attention, but now she simply stared because she considered the girl so stunning. She had auburn hair but in the sun it appeared an even brighter red. She wore a jacket similar to Barkhorns but her legs were bare like the others. Her body was toned but not masculine and her plentiful chest was obvious despite the cover of the jacket. Nagato admired her in silence waiting for her to continue. This surely had to be Commander Minna.
'Nagato. I think it will be best if we continue in my office.' She looked down at the equipment beside the girl before continuing. 'You can place your equipment in our hanger if you have no other preferences.'
Nagato slung her equipment back over her shoulders, not worrying this time about securing it to her body and indicated for the commander to lead the way.
Once they reached the hanger she lowered her suit down and started to remove the rest of the machinery from her lower legs. Whilst she was preoccupied Barkhorn came by her side, picked her earlier equipment up with one hand and with apparently little effort walked it over to a prepared space. 'No way.' Nagato whispered under her breath. Even when she was full of energy she had always needed to carry her equipment with two hands. The only fleet-girl with heavier machinery was Yamato. She walked over to add the rest of her equipment, all whilst trying to hide how annoyed she was at the previous display of strength.
She now sat across from the Commander in a small but comfortable office. Sakamoto and Barkhorn were both still present but Erica had skipped off once they had returned to the base. Sakamoto the whole conversation had appeared to be biting her tongue and concentrating on keeping silent.
Nagato had quickly been brought up to speed with the basic matters. No one knew what a ship-girl was. The girls of the base were known as 'witches' and could all fly around the sky with machinery called 'striker units'. And the witches were all a part of a group called the '501st Joint Fighter Wing' also known as 'strike witches'.
But with the basics out of the way Commander Minna now sat staring at her in shock, the same reaction she got the first time she had said so.
'So you've really never heard of the Neuroi?'
'I'm sorry but the last thing I remember is battling the Abyssals with the Naval District.'
'What on earth is an Abyssal?' Barkhorn questioned from the side of the room.
This time it was Nagato's turn to stare at the girls in shock.
'You have never heard of the Abyssals?'
The conversation took longer than anyone had first planned. It seemed both parties had a lot to learn about the conflicts occurring in the apparently different worlds. By now, at least that much was assumed correct. Though, how Nagato had reached this world in the first place was a mystery.
Nagato was recounting her last memories; that of fighting the Abyssal fleets airfield princess, when a radio on Minnas' desk interrupted her.
Apologising Minna accepted the call and the whole room was silent whilst the voice on the other end explained the news.
'What!' This was the first Sakamoto had spoken since entering the office. 'A battleship can't just disappear.'
'We lost contact this morning Major. We deployed fleets as well as witches to the last location. But we can now confirm with certainty that the battleship Nagato has vanished.' The radio relayed the message to the members of the room.
The room was silent, all eyes now on Nagato as if expecting she had answers. Only one thing was of interest to her though, 'You still have actual ships?'
Minna finally stood up from behind her desk, twisting her neck left and right trying to ease the ache running down her spine. The conversation had gone on for long enough. Plenty had been learnt, but in all Minna couldn't shake the feeling that nothing had actually been accomplished. Without knowing any details of how Nagato had come to their world, or why the battleship Nagato had disappeared on the same day, she had no idea of how to reverse the situation.
'How about we break for dinner?' She suggested to the room, only to be met by grunts of approval.
'I am pretty hungry.' Nagato added. She was slightly worried, however. She ate a lot of food and due to this she often avoided eating at the same time as the other fleet-girls or ate in the operations room with Mutsu. In this new world she didn't know what to expect. She assumed she would be judged for how much she was already planning on consuming, but mainly she was hoping enough had been prepared in the first place.
'That's good.' Barkhorn replied. 'Yoshika ran straight to the kitchen once she was out of her striker claiming that she wanted to cook some food for you.'
Nagato smiled in response and followed the three girls down a hall and into a large dining room. The other girls were all sat at one long table, various dishes before them like a proper banquet. The dishes though, were not piled very high and Nagato secretly hoped the other girls wouldn't eat much because she had a bad feeling that not enough food was available.
She took a spot as indicated by the commander and found herself next to a pretty girl with long flowing blonde hair and oval shaped glasses. Barkhorn sat on her other side and Minna and Sakamoto sat across from them. Sakamoto had remained quiet and brooding all evening.
'M-Major.' The pretty blonde next to her squeaked whilst quickly adjusting the neck tie around her jacket. Nagato instantly picked up on the need for attention the girl was displaying. She had witnessed many similar actions amongst her own base members.
Nagato eyed the food hungrily but managed to keep her composure until the commander had reached for a dish. Taking it as the sign she was after Nagato quickly filled her own plate high and dug in.
'You really were hungry.' Minna commented as Nagato finished her last mouthful and went to refill her plate.
'Well, I am a battleship.' Nagato tried to cover her embarrassment but she could still feel the heat rising in her cheeks and she was sure it was showing. 'Though Akagi would probably still eat more than me.'
Sakamoto cringed at the mention of the Akagi. The ship meant a lot to her and she hated to think of some girl with uncontrollable eating habits representing the soul of the ship in another world.
'I can make more Nagato-san.' Yoshika jumped up from her chair and quickly rushed towards the kitchen, seemingly happy that someone was here to eat what she made. A girl similar in age to Yoshika jumped up to follow her. Whilst their ages seemed similar Nagato couldn't help but notice quite how busty the young girl was.
The night continued on quite joyfully. The girls were all buzzing with the opportunity to speak to their guest. Nagato was quite the spectacle among the younger members who all had countless questions for her. She didn't mind one bit, all the while that the questions were happening Yoshika was bringing plate after plate of delicious food. Surprisingly Nagato found herself becoming full and had to stop the young girl who insisted she could keep cooking.
Nagato had learnt the names and home lands of the girls present. They each seemed keen to share their own stories with her and Nagato was saddened to realise how many of them had been separated from their families or had lost their home lands. Despite it all though, the girls were cheerful and clearly had found happiness with their current position at the base.
With the knowledge off all the countries Nagato had started to piece together and answer her own questions. They were currently in Brittania, a place Nagato had never visited. In honesty Nagato had never travelled too far from the Naval District. She knew a little of all the countries mentioned though due to the girls at the district. Zuikaku and Shoukaku knew a lot about Brittania, and apparently there was a witch here from Orussia - currently on night patrol - and Nagato found herself wondering if she said 'Khorosho' all the time like Hibiki.
Most of all Nagato now realised why Sakamoto had been so sour with her since meeting. Major Sakamoto, as well as Yoshika were both witches from the Fuso Navy. The very country that the Naval District was in, and the Navy ships that her and her ship-girls now possessed the souls of. It must have been hard for her to hear that the very ships she loves so much are no longer existent in another world. Nagato also had to admit, albeit reluctantly, that having the original battleship Nagato disappear in place for a girl must be difficult to accept.
Sakamoto was no longer in the dining hall, she had left earlier claiming she was going training to clear her head. Minna now also excused herself, saying that she should start some paperwork on this whole ordeal. This left Nagato with eight bright eyed witches. Well seven, Barkhorn was no longer bright eyed over her presence. The young pigtailed girl smirked as Minna left the room, a little show of mischief crossing her face. She instantly launched herself at Nagato and sunk both small hands into her soft chest.
'Hehehe'. The girl laughed cheekily as she groped Nagatos' chest over and over; the ship-girl too in shock to stop her straight away. 'They might be bigger than yours Shirley.'
'No way! Mine are way bigger.' Shirley claimed folding her arms under her chest to rest her breasts on top trying to prove her point.
By this time Nagato had returned to her senses and shoved the young girl off her. 'Ohh. No fair.' Francesca grumbled and went straight to Shirley, nuzzling her face against the girls' chest.
'I'll check who's bigger.' Nagato turned just in time to witness the feral look in Eila's eyes. She was a whole different person now to what she had been earlier. Erica had filled her in on the details after dinner, claiming that Eila was so upset because Nagato was the first person Sanya thought of this morning. The statement still confused her.
Nagato dodged to the side and crossed her arms in front of her for protection. Eila smiled devilishly and raised her hands before her to lunge at Nagato a second time.
'We can find out who's bigger in the bath.' Erica chimed in playfully.
'Yes. Let's all go to the bath.' Yoshika appeared to be having the time of her life watching the girls running around and groping each other. At the suggestion of a bath she almost couldn't contain herself. She quickly grabbed Lynnette's wrist and bolted out of the hall.
'Uhh. No thank you. I think I may return to Commander Minnas' office and help with the paperwork. I am the cause of all this after all.' Nagato would admit to being the problem for the Neuroi in the first place if it would save her from being groped again. She often preferred to keep to herself and being the Naval District flag-ship, had never been exposed to such behaviour before tonight.
Most of the girls complained at this idea. Shirley seemed desperate to know who was actually bigger and the gropers from earlier seemed eager to try again when her bare skin was available.
Luckily for her Barkhorn seemed extremely straight and narrow. 'That makes sense. You can ask Minna afterwards where the baths are, they'll be empty by then.'
Nagato turned the opposite direction from the girls as they exited the dining hall and started towards the commanders' office. She had to take a few deep breaths before she knocked to enter as her heart had suddenly started racing. What was it about this girl which caused her such dramas? She had never met anyone who could make her want to act cute. Not even Mutsu witnessed this side of her. Not directly anyway, Mutsu had once caught her talking like a happy little girl to an adorable squirrel. Nagato felt a blush creep across her cheeks as she imagined the commander with gorgeous puffy squirrel cheeks.
'Ohh, calm down Nagato.' She scolded herself quietly.
I'll upload a couple of chapters at a time until I catch up to where I've written.
Hope you enjoyed =)