Lost in A World of Ship Girls: An Azur Lane Story
Rated T for strong language, violence, and suggestive themes
Chapter 1: A World Where Warships are Girls
UPDATE: 1/31/2022 Added Copyright, Trademark, and Rating info
Skies Above Honolulu, Present Day…
Sometimes James Kirkman thought he was born 80 years too late. Not that he disliked modern life, but World War II naval aviation had always fascinated him from the day he first stood on two legs. His passion for the glory days of piston driven aircraft launching from wooden decks in thrashing seas inspired him to learn all he could about World War II navy history and earn his private pilot's license. The young man had turned 21 a few months earlier and today was his first solo flight under Instrument Flight Rules. The sky and weather couldn't have been more perfect. Clear and blue in all directions above and below, the Hawaiian Islands themselves the only obstruction to the azure expanse. At his current altitude James could make out Pearl Harbor, headquarters of the United States Pacific Fleet. Modern guided missile destroyers and cruisers resided in dry-docks once belonging to vessels with heavy caliber cannons and torpedoes as their main armaments. James had never been in the military but had friends and family who served in pretty much every branch including his late grandfather. Upon sighting the Arizona memorial out of the right window of his Cessna 152, James gave a salute with his right hand while keeping his left on the control yoke.
"Rest in peace sailors." James said in reverence.
Suddenly his radio crackled to life.
"Unidentified aircraft, this is Sunliner 4, vanguard for Enterprise task force. You're in the way and are ordered to vacate the airspace immediately." A stern female voice ordered over the radio. Although if you paid enough attention, one might picture the massive grin on her face while delivering that introduction.
James laughed into his headset. "How many strings did you have to pull to use official comms and a multi-million-dollar plane just to prank me sis?"
Yes, James' younger sister Jessica, Jessie for short, joined the United States Navy after high school, graduated from the Naval Academy, and became a member of strike fighter squadron VFA-81 aboard the new USS Enterprise CVN-80. She pulled alongside her brother's prop plane and did her best to keep formation with him without stalling. The sleek, aggressive profile of Jessie's F/A-18E Supe Hornet couldn't have provided a starker contrast to the Cessna 152.
"Well, the squadron was already on its way to Pearl, so it wasn't that hard to convince the captain to give me a head start." Jessie explained. "Plus, he's got a pretty good sense of humor."
"Lucky." James groused half-jokingly.
Now Jessie chuckled into her mic. "Well, that's about all the time I have to goof off." She rocked her wings and banked toward the airfields near Pearl Harbor. "See you on the ground!"
"November-1701-Echo, KNHL (Honolulu International Airport) ATIS, over." The air traffic controller at Honolulu International Airport abruptly called.
"N-1701-E go ahead." James replied into his headset mic.
"Updated weather bulletin. Thunderstorm coming in from behind your current heading speed 20 knots. ETA to your position 5 minutes." The ATC informed urgently but professionally. "Vector back to KHNL ASAP. Squawk back to confirm."
Huh. James thought. The morning forecast said it would be clear into the evening. Regardless, freak storms weren't unheard of, and he knew better than to stick around until one caught up with him.
"Roger Honolulu. Beginning left hand turn to KHNL now." James complied as he banked the plane accordingly.
Once on the proper return heading James looked at his Garmin GPS display. He keyed up the weather overlay and saw what looked like a monster storm approaching from behind. He craned his neck to get a visual and wished he hadn't. Ominous black clouds rumbled toward him like giant steamrollers. To make matters worse, the storm appeared to pick up speed.
"Honolulu, N-1701-E, I think the storm is… accelerating." James reported in astonishment.
The controller found himself just as dumbfounded. "We confirm that N-17- KSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
"Gah!" James yelped as he twisted the volume knob on his radio down. The sky became dark as the clouds overtook his baby blue trainer plane. The air became turbulent as the young pilot fought with the controls to keep level in the crosswinds.
"Honolulu! Grrh." James grunted. "Honolulu do you copy?! Jess?! Anyone?!"
James' eyes darted around the cockpit. His compass spun wildly, and the GPS screen pixelated before going out completely. Oil and fuel sensors remained functional as well as the pitot tube readings.
James jolted in his seat when a bolt of lightning flashed across his plane's nose. Only…
"Purple lightning?"James wondered. "The Hell is going on here?" He asked to no one in particular.
An unexpected reply came in the form of a synthesized feminine cackle. "Come now little human, don't be afraid…"
James tapped his headset. "Who is this?!"
Having had quite enough of this horror show, James did the only thing he could think of; pull up away from the clouds. His plane wouldn't stand a chance in the wind shears and down drafts below cloud level, and he was pretty sure his plane could handle the climb.
James pushed the throttle forward and pulled the control yolk back. The plane responded by going into a shallow climb. The altimeter ticked up steadily as he gained altitude.
"Oh, that's cute…" the strange voice taunted.
Suddenly, James felt something push the yolk forward. The pilot pulled with all his might to resist the mysterious force. The lightning flashed again and suddenly a half octopus half woman appeared in the cockpit with him. Her two front tentacles restrained his wrists and prevented him from maneuvering freely. The plane stopped climbing and began heading back through the clouds and toward the ocean surface.
"That's it." The voice cooed. "Portal opening in 3... 2… 1…"
Jame's couldn't believe his eyes. As soon as he broke through the cloud layer's bottom, he saw the ocean below shatter apart like glass to reveal a swirling purple abyss that seemed to stretch on forever.
"Relax…" the creature said though James was anything but relaxed. She brushed his face with one of her hands, her glowing yellow eyes boring into his. "I have no intention of killing you. You still have a purpose to fulfill." James could only stare at the abomination before him equally dazzled and terrified by its visage. It was like something out of ancient myth that would lure unlucky sailors to a watery grave.
"I can't take credit for that, but they had good taste." The Siren teased, apparently able to read his thoughts.
The plane dove straight into the purple maw. When the tail made it below sea level, the portal closed, and the storm clouds disappeared as if nothing happened.
James never touched hallucinogens, but what happened next caused him to doubt his sobriety. A technicolor tunnel of terror stretched in front of and behind him seemingly infinitely.
He saw flashes of the Sirens' invasion. Multiple techno-organic aquatic beings attacking World War One dreadnoughts from above and below. The world's leaders uniting to stop them. Luminescent blue cubes. And the biggest surprise: women with miniaturized warships as armor and weapons fighting the Sirens off. The poor man could barely comprehend what any of this meant and the information overload gave him a splitting headache.
"I'll be observing your performance." The monster assured. "Don't disappoint me…"
Another flash of light and the last conscious thought he had was that he hoped Jessie was safe…
Meanwhile…
Azur Lane's Pacific General Headquarters resided on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands just like the real-life Pearl Harbor. Unlike the real Pearl Harbor, this installation hosted port facilities and accommodations for warships from all over the world. The base's staff being comprised of human manifestations of the ships they represented and chibi chicks provided stark contrast as well. Inland from the dry-docks and moorings lay the base housing, recreational and administrative buildings. The central courtyard among these structures contained a Sakura tree garden encompassing a big golden anchor. Behind the anchor stood flagpoles intended to bear the flags of the nations that founded Azur Lane: Eagle Union, Royal, Navy, Sakura Empire, and Iron Blood. The latter two factions' flags hadn't flown there since they withdrew from Azur Lane to form their own alliance: Crimson Axis.
Still, the base teemed with activity as the ship girls from Eagle Union and Royal Navy bustled in preparation for more of their comrades to arrive from other fronts.
A recently arrived Royal Navy destroyer walked toward her assigned quarters. She looked about 13 years old with light blue eyes and wore her purple hair in a wide ponytail behind her head with a miniature golden crown worn off center on top. She wore a white tank top and purple plaid miniskirt with black socks and purple boots.
Part way to her destination she noticed a fellow destroyer napping on a bench in the shade of a tree.
"Um, excuse me miss?" the Royal Navy destroyer said. "Is everything alright?"
The napping girl stirred awake to reveal tired amber eyes. The preteen had pale skin and wore her white hair in two long ponytails with a bunny ear headband between them. A pink jacket barely hung over her shoulders atop a blue and white spaghetti strap top. Finishing off her outfit were a red pleated miniskirt and white thigh high boots with red soles.
"What time is it?" she slurred.
"Almost 2 in the afternoon." Javelin replied.
"Damn." Laffey swore. "Overslept again."
"I'm Javelin: Sixth ship of the J-Class destroyers!" The purple-nette introduced with a little wave. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Laffey. Benson class." The other destroyer introduced in turn with an outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you too."
The two shook hands.
"I can tell we're going to be great friends!" Javelin exclaimed.
Laffey hummed in the affirmative.
"Um, excuse me…" a small, soft voice said from behind the destroyers. The voice belonged to a girl shorter and younger looking than Laffey and Javelin with long lavender hair and eyes, pale skin, and a long white sleeveless dress with matching opera gloves. In her arms was what appeared to be a stuffed white unicorn with a purple mane. "I just arrived and… I can't find the Royal Navy quarter."
"Don't worry Unicorn, we'll help you!" Javelin promised. "Laffey, this is the light carrier Unicorn."
After introducing themselves, the three ship-girls started to make their way to the Royal Navy quarter of the base when suddenly…
"Hey! You guys!" a voice yelled out.
The two destroyers and light carrier turned to face the voice's direction to see a blonde in her early teens running toward them and waving her arms wildly. She stopped just before colliding with the destroyers, panting with her hands on her knees.
"Cleveland?" Laffey wondered tiredly.
The first light cruiser of the Cleveland class straightened after finally catching her breath. She wore a long sleeved dark blue shirt with white accents on the sides, a pleated black mini skirt with red trim at the hem, and a high collared cape that covered most of her upper body.
"There's a Mirror Sea forming near the base! I think we might be under attack!" Cleveland exclaimed. The destroyers snapped to attention and followed Cleveland to one of the beaches…
Meanwhile…
The sea near Azur Lane's base split apart like a shattering mirror and out of it flew a tumbling Cessna 152.
James awoke in his cockpit dazed and groggy from the surreal trip he just took, but his ordeal had only just begun. Upon fully regaining his senses three things became apparent: He was alive, his plane's engine was on fire, and the only land in the otherwise open sea was what appeared to be Pearl Harbor. He choked off the fuel flow and closed the air intake. Mercifully, the fire went out, so James tried to restart the engine. The propellor simply rotated a few times before coming to a stop with one of the blades sticking straight up like a middle finger. Seeing no other option, he banked toward the islands.
"Unidentified aircraft, you are entering restricted Azur Lane airspace." A British sounding woman declared over the radio. "Identify yourself and state your intentions or you will be shot down."
With no time to worry about what Azur Lane was, the pilot simply complied. "Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is a civilian aircraft tail number N-1701-E requesting emergency landing at your facility."
"Say status N-1701-E." The voice replied with an edge of concern replacing the initial hostility.
"Had an engine fire, won't restart. Altitude… 6500 feet, sink rate 10 knots, speed 130 knots and falling."
By this point the ship-girls gathered on the beach and port could see the plane headed for the island. At this point the woman on the radio representing HMS Prince of Wales came over the island wide intercom and ordered everyone to clear the beach.
"You're cleared to land at Henderson Field N-1701-E. Bank left." Wales reported.
James calculated in his head whether he could make that runway. "Negative Azur Lane. My altitude and airspeed are too low."
After giving her those two numbers again, his heading, and his estimated distance to the island, Wales asked for a map indicating the islands runways to provide an alternate.
At the same time, James banked toward the islands so that he'd either be able to make a soft landing on land or at least be able to ditch close to the shore.
"Azur Lane, you have anything for me?" James asked urgently.
"Vector toward Hickham Field. It's a bit closer." Wales replied.
As the altimeter ticked through 3000 feet James's heart sank at a comparable rate. "Negative Azur Lane. I'm too low and slow." Running out of options, altitude, speed, and time, James radioed with the only idea he had. "I'm going to try landing on the beach."
Wales didn't know what to say at first. "I beg your pardon?"
"I'll try landing on the beach." James repeated.
"Very well." The voice agreed. "I'll make sure it's clear before you land."
The pilot thanked Wales and steadied the aircraft for a landing on the beach. He focused so intently on touching down safely that he didn't even notice the ships moored at the port were from the 1930s and 40s.
"Airspeed 61 knots, sink rate point five." The pilot reported. The altimeter's reading slowly but surely ticked down through 600 feet. At 100, the pilot could feel ground effect.
"Easy…" James coaxed as he reduced his airspeed further. Normally he should have landed by now but considering that the Cessna Skyhawk wasn't designed to land on sand, James planned to stall as close to the ground as possible so that the plane didn't dig into the sand or tear off the landing gear.
The girls on the beach and others from around the base gathered to witness this unbelievable sight unfold before them.
"Are they gonna make it?" Cleveland worried.
"Why don't they just touch down already?!" Javelin exclaimed.
"I can't watch!" Unicorn cried.
Laffey took a sip from a soda bottle she apparently had on her person. "They've got this." She lazily assured.
Finally, rubber met sand as the rear landing gear touched down. Roughly 1700 pounds of airplane skidded through the loose grains. A little too suddenly the aircraft shuddered to a halt, which cracked the landing gear struts but remaining otherwise intact.
"Phew. Another happy landing." The pilot sighed in relief.
The gathered crowd erupted in cheers for the successful emergency landing.
"For a restricted island there seems to be a lot of people." The pilot said to himself.
"N-1701-E stay where you are for the moment. Someone will be along to bring you in for questioning."
"Roger wilco." The pilot replied.
"So… which one of us would be the best to greet him?" the woman on the radio previously asked pointedly. The women in the office with her were an eclectic bunch to say the least.
As mentioned before,the woman who talked to James on the radio represented the King George V class battleship HMS Prince of Wales.
The Town Class Light Cruiser Belfast, a white-haired sapphire eyed mid-twenties woman in a sexy maid outfit that somehow stayed on her buxom frame without slipping off, stood behind Wales. Two more Town class ships, Sheffield and Edinburgh, shared Belfast's hair color but wore less revealing maid dresses and looked a few years younger. A short blonde in a black dress and wearing a regal crown represented the battleship Queen Elizabeth.
The Yorktown class aircraft carrier Hornet was a blonde, green eyed woman of early twenties who wore a black Stetson, a black bikini top, a black cape with yellow on the inside, Daisy Dukes, and black shin high boots.
Obviously, the destroyers and anyone else who looked under 18 was out of the question. The maids were a no-go as well for the moment. Enterprise's lack of social acumen ruled her out. Hornet would have been disastrous.
"Why don't you do it, Wales?" Queen Elizabeth suggested. "He'd at least recognize your voice."
"Very well." Wales sighed. "Have everyone clear the beach and have the infirmary on standby."
"Far be it for me to question your judgement Highness," Belfast began, "but should Wales go alone? This could be a Crimson Axis or Siren trick."
Hornet shook her head. "His aircraft registry format is same one used by Eagle Union. I think Wales will be safe."
Belfast wasn't completely convinced but said nothing further.
"It's settled then." Queen Elizabeth decided.
Meanwhile in the Cessna's cockpit, the pilot began to assess his situation. He landed in Hawaii, but not the one he recognized. Come to think of it, why was the ATC British now? And what was Azur Lane anyway? And were those… battleships from World War II? He also didn't have any idea why the crowd the gathered to watch his landing sounded like a bunch of women and girls.
Is this near the base housing? He wondered to himself. That would at least explain all the women and girls. That doesn't explain the ships though. Most of them should be resting at the bottom of the ocean and the rest should be floating museums scattered around the world.
A brief, but firm rap at his door snapped the pilot out of his pondering.
"Excuse me sir. Are you alright?" The same voice that was on the radio inquired. He turned to get a look at the person behind the voice to find a late twenty something blonde with amber eyes in a red coat with a blue sash slung diagonally across her torso.
"A little shaken and confused, but otherwise in one piece." The pilot replied. "Are you a member of the Royal Family?"
Wales shifted her eyes to one side. "Royal Navy actually. Please come with me. I'll get you some medical attention and hopefully some answers."
"Thanks. Sorry for intruding, but the only other place to land was the water." The pilot apologized as he unbuckled himself. "I'm James by the way. What's your name?"
"Wales." The woman replied curtly.
"You're in the Royal Navy and your name is Wales?" James questioned incredulously. "Like the King George V class battleship Prince of Wales?"
Wales stopped abruptly and turned around. "James, I realize you have many questions. I have many myself, but we're both going to have to be patient and discuss things in a more secure location after you've been cleared by our doctor."
"Right. Sorry if I've offended you." James replied.
The two resumed the walk to the infirmary. "No offense taken I assure you." Wales promised. The rest of the walk to the infirmary was uneventful. Upon reaching it James took notice of how eerily similar it looked to the old photos he'd seen of military hospitals. A short girl with pink hair and what looked like a nun's habit waited for them at the door.
"I'll be back once you're finished here." Wales said as she headed back to the commander's office.
"My name is Vestal. Chief Medical Officer of Azur Lane." The repair ship introduced.
"Vestal… like the US Navy repair ship?" James guessed.
"You certainly know your naval history." Vestal observed while taking his temperature.
James passed the physical tests with no problems. The cognitive tests on the other hand…
"Full name?" Vestal inquired.
"James Tyrone Kirkman."
"Do you know the current year?" Vestal began.
James gave the number instantly.
Vestal wrote down his answer on a clip board. "Do you know where you are?"
"Pearl Harbor, I think. I recognize the land, but the ships look like they're from World War II." He answered.
Vestal nodded noncommittally. "What's the last thing you remember before the crash?"
"I was on my first IFR flight in that Cessna that's on the beach. Filed a flight plan with the authorities on the 15th and took off a day later." James began.
"On my way to land at Honolulu I found myself in a thunderstorm. Which is weird since I didn't see anything on the weather advisory or radar about storms before taking off." The pilot continued.
Vestal wrote everything down as James continued his recall.
"Okay bear with me because this next part will sound really crazy. The ocean beneath me… split open."
Vestal's eyes widened slightly.
"Not like parting the Red Sea or anything like that but… like glass shattering. Next thing I knew my plane was being pulled in."
"Anything else?" Vestal wondered, becoming increasingly curious and concerned.
"I saw strange creatures rise from the sea and attack ships from World War One. And there was this synthesized voice laughing at me." James continued. He described the creature the voice belonged to and how it forced him into the portal.
"Then I saw a bright flash and everything else you know from what happened a few minutes ago."
Vestal put down the clipboard and took a deep breath. "The good news is you have a clean bill of health physically. The bad news is that…" The repair ship lowered her eyes. "There's no easy way to say this, but wherever you came from, you're not there anymore."
"What?" James wondered aloud. Then everything started to make sense. The ships at the harbor, the strange creatures he saw, Wales talking to him instead of Honolulu International Airport.
"Oh no…" the young man realized. "Are you saying that I've been kidnapped and taken to another reality?"
Vestal nodded.
"Oh no!" James yelled suddenly. "That means everyone back home thinks I died in a freak thunderstorm! And there's no body to bury! And Jessie will blame herself because of that prank she pulled on me! And-".
Vestal coughed to get James's attention. "I know you're pretty overwhelmed right now and have a lot of questions, so I think it's time you met with our command staff. They'll help explain what's happened."
As Wales and Vestal lead James to the commander's office, the young man couldn't help but notice the stares from the ship girls along the way. "You'll have to forgive them." Wales said.
"Hm?" James wondered.
"This is the first time in quite a while that a man has visited the base. And you did make quite the entrance." The Royal Navy battleship explained. "They can't help their curiosity."
"I just hope that's all it is." James worried.
Wales gave him a reassuring smile. "Trust me when I say your safety is our number one concern. We won't let anything happen to you."
Finally, they reached the commander's office and entered. Waiting for them were Hornet, North Carolina, Cleveland, Fletcher, Illustrious, Queen Elizabeth, Belfast, and Amazon. The room itself was spacious with a red carpet and mahogany desk in front of a window that overlooked the Sakura trees. Wooden shelves full of books and memorabilia decorated the halls. A name plate on the desk read: Admiral N. Anderson.
Flat screens on one of the walls displayed the members of Azur Lane's high command: military brass from Eagle Union and Royal Navy who the Commander reported to and who approved operations and funding for the organization. Two admirals from each country sat behind their own desks. All wore stern expressions.
"James Kirkman," the one of the Eagle Union admirals began gruffly. "I'm sure by now you have some grasp on your current situation, but I'll fill you in completely just to be sure." The clean-shaven middle-aged man wore dress whites with five gold stars on his shoulders and tour of duty medals on his chest that James didn't recognize. His name tag read "D. Hendricks".
Admiral Hendricks's other Eagle Union counterpart wore four gold stars on her shoulders and had the visage of a strict librarian complete with oval shaped glasses worn far down her pointy nose. Her hair was tied in a tight bun behind her head and her name tag read "A. Sloane."
The Royal Navy Admirals wore black frock coats with gold epaulets on their shoulders. The one wearing the blue sash was an elderly looking man with a bushy mustache named Nelson. His counterpart was a middle-aged woman whose hair had a braid encompassing the top of her head named Canterbury.
Admiral Hendricks explained the war with both the sirens and crimson axis as well as how the ship-girls or Kansen as they are sometimes referred came to be.
"During our reality's Great War, humanity found itself suddenly under attack by creatures called the Sirens. These creatures are humanoid aquatic bio-mechanical beings with advanced weaponry and technology. We have limited intel that that some possess the ability to warp the fabric of reality to varying degrees. The Sirens presented the gravest threat to humanity to date and were poised to destroy everything after achieving near total air and naval supremacy. However, the nations of our world recognized the threat and pooled their resources to counter it. The invention of the devices we call the Wisdom Cubes was the key. This breakthrough was possible due to the collaboration of the formerly warring nations; Eagle Union, Royal Navy, Iron Blood, and Sakura Empire being the key contributors. They formed Azur Lane to unite the world against the sirens. The Wisdom cubes allowed us to summon warriors representing your reality's warships to drive the Sirens back. The agreed upon terms for these warriors are Kansen and Ship-Girls. After the kansen reclaimed a portion of the seas and skies, the Sirens stopped attacking the mainland and backed off. At first, we weren't sure why, but now we suspect it was to let old rivalries and divisions foment to drive Azur Lane apart. And that's exactly what happened. Iron Blood and Sakura Empire formed Crimson Axis as Azur Lane's opposite before declaring war. Our world now finds itself in the grip of a war among its Kansen and against the Sirens. Neither side holds a clear advantage. In fact, your arrival is the most interesting development we've had outside of the recent cease fire with Vichya Dominion." As the history lesson wrapped up, James stared blankly in dumbstruck awe until another face appeared on one of the previously blank screens.
The face belonged to a woman in her mid-fifties with short blonde hair, piercing blue eyes and the dress whites of a navy officer with four gold stars denoting her rank as full admiral on her shoulders.
"Apologies for being late, Admiral Hendricks." She began. "I was in the middle of negotiating the cease-fire agreement between Iris Libre and Vichya Dominion when I got your call."
"Ah, Admiral Anderson, how nice of you to join us." Hendricks said sardonically. "You're just in time to greet your base's new visitor."
"My name is Admiral Nicole Anderson: Commanding Officer of Azur Lane. I wish I was there to greet you in person, but it is good to see that the Kansen have treated you well." Anderson introduced.
James thought for a split second about her name. Something nagged at the back of his mind about whether it was just coincidence or something else. Rather than dwell on that too long though he introduced himself. "I understand Admiral. I'm James, James Kirkman."
"Right then, let's get to business, shall we?" Nelson declared. "Where is this young man from? And how did he get here?"
Vestal walked forward to speak. "I can answer that Admiral."
Hendricks said nothing at first, but eventually motioned for Vestal to proceed as though humoring a child.
"I believe that James is from the same universe that our namesake ships come from." Vestal explained. "His complete unfamiliarity with Kansen, the Sirens, everything about our world points to him being from that reality."
"If that's the case, who or what brought him here?" Canterbury wondered aloud.
Vestal looked at James, then at the Admirals.
"A mirror sea." She answered honestly. "Specifically a Siren Observer going by James' statements."
"Sirens?!" The Admirals exclaimed. Even the other ship girls wore concerned looks over that fact.
Everyone stood in silence for a moment before Hendricks finally spoke. "Everything the Sirens do is for a reason. And now they have made you part of their machinations. If the Sirens are opening a new front in the universe the Kansen's namesakes come from, it could pose an existential threat to our entire operation. We should transfer Kirkman to a more secure location immediately."
James didn't like the sound of that at all. Being relocated to a prison essentially because some cosmic beings took interest in him? Fortunately, Admiral Anderson thought so too.
"Admiral Hendricks, I disagree. If he stays on my base the ship girls can monitor and protect him from any Siren meddling." She reasoned. "Plus, if anything does go wrong it will be contained to the base instead of spilling onto the mainland."
Sloane smirked. "And what would he do in the meantime? Take up resources and attention that need to be focused on the enemy?"
Anderson decided to address James rather than her superior. "Admiral Sloane has a point there. If you want to remain at Azur Lane, you'll have to enlist and get a job on the base. This is a military installation, not a resort."
James thought for a moment. Never in his life did he consider joining the military. However, never in his life was he faced with circumstances like this until now. If enlisting would keep him from being locked up and experimented on, then…
"I'll do it. I'll enlist with Azur Lane." James decided.
"Now wait just a minute!" Hendricks interjected. "No human besides the Commander is allowed to serve alongside Kansen in Azur Lane. Don't you remember what happened in Manila?"
The ship girls all had their own reactions to the mention of Manila. Apparently, something happened there that affected them just as much as it affected Admiral Anderson. She gave her superior a hard stare.
"I was there, Admiral. I'll never forget what happened that day." Andersen replied somberly. "However, that law applies to humans from our world. Besides he's just one person, and the ship-girls will make sure he doesn't cause any harm."
Hendricks gave a heavy sigh. "You've given us little reason to doubt you in the past so we're trusting you with this, but at the first sign of treachery, I'm dealing with him my way."
"Understood Admiral Hendricks." Anderson replied.
Her superiors gave a nod before hanging up.
"Before I go there are some ground rules we need to establish." Admiral Anderson announced.
The ground rules included what facilities he'd have access to, when he'd have access to them, and one final thing that for some seemed like an elephant in the room...
"Obviously, you are the only male on an island otherwise populated by attractive women and girls. Many of whom you may already admire because of their war records. Any and I mean any funny business and you'll be spending the rest of your time here in a cell." Anderson warned. The stern looks from the other ship-girls drove the point home.
"I understand." James replied. He'd never do anything to upset the ship girls. Besides, he was sure that even the youngest of destroyers would tear him a structurally superfluous new behind if he tried anything like what Anderson warned about.
"I have to get back to negotiations between Iris Libre and Vichya Dominion. I trust you can take it from here Wales." Andersen assumed.
"Yes, Admiral Anderson. We'll get everything squared away." Wales said with a nod.
"Very good. Anderson out." The admiral signed off.
"Right." Wales began. "I'll see about assigning you quarters and sourcing some clothes. In the meantime, Belfast can give you a tour of the base to get you familiar with the places you'll have access to."
James stood as Belfast approached him with all the regal poise one would expect from a royal maid.
She dipped her head toward him and curtsied in greeting. "Greetings Mister Kirkman. I am Belfast: Light cruiser of the Town-class and head of the Royal Navy Maid Corps."
James made a note of her warm smile and sapphire eyes before extending his hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you Belfast. Call me James."
The maid shook the pilot's hand gently, but firmly. "Let's get underway, shall we?" Belfast encouraged as she opened the office's door and motioned for James to follow.
As the two left, the remaining Kansen in the office stood in awkward silence for a moment. "Ya think the Commander's right about this?" North Carolina worried.
Wales nodded. "As her current Secretary it's my job to make sure her orders are followed. We will, however, keep very close watch on this young man- within reason and decency of course." Her head along with all the others in the room turned to Hornet.
"Why are you all looking at me?!" The youngest Yorktown carrier exclaimed.
A/N
A few quick things that I wasn't sure I should include in the story, so I'll include them here. Firstly, for those unfamiliar with Azur Lane:
Eagle Union = America
Royal Navy = United Kingdom
Iron Blood = Germany
Sakura Empire = Japan
Iris Libre = Free France
Vichya Dominion = Vichy France
Sardegna Empire = Italy
Dragon Empery = Republic of China
Northern Parliament = Soviet Russia
This won't follow any one source of established canon but will pull from a variety of the source material including the game, the anime, and its spinoff, plus my own influences. There will be shipping with the OC involved, but I won't say with whom to not spoil the surprise. references, there will be several including historical and from my own tastes in entertainment. I'll cover the historical references in detail in Author's Notes, but not pop culture references.
Historical References
The Sunliners are a real US Navy squadron that operate in the Pacific and there is a CV-80 Enterprise planned for construction.
About James, I feel like pointing out why I don't describe his physical features more. He's meant to be an audience surrogate with a speaking part. I also gave him an interest in naval history, so he'd have some basis for relating to the Kansen. His being a pilot is a tribute to a friend of mine who is a private pilot and it's something I've always wanted to do. Obviously, we'll learn more about him as the story moves forward.
Let me know what you think so far. I have most of the story planned out, but any constructive criticism is welcome to improve the story as it progresses. New chapters will be uploaded every Saturday, but that may change depending on how busy university gets.
And remember:
The sky is never the limit!
Azur Lane is developed by Shanghai Manjuu and Xiamen Yongshi and published by Yostar.
I own only the human OC.