Hey y'all! I'm back with chapter 4! Too bad about the anime being delayed til March, but I can appreciate the quality over quantity choice. Sure, it deviates from the game and the story is not very clear, but I remember seeing that it was asked to be taken as a fun fanservice show appreciating all the Shipfus. Regardless I'm just glad seeing them adapted into anime despite not being created in japan.

But anyways back to the fanfic, hopefully y'all are enjoying it thus far! Feel free to give it some likes and follows to let me know if you like it! Ight that's enough from me, onwards to the story!


Chapter 4: The First Commission!

"Courage is being scared to death, but doing it anyways." – Muguruma Kensei, Bleach


A/N: Starting off from where chapter 3 ended, the starter squad proceeded to give their reports to their respective faction leaders.


{With Laffey}

"Laffey, here."

"Good work, how are things at the base?" Asked the voice of a silver haired beauty in a sleeveless white blouse, a long black tie, and a large black coat that were draped just around her upper arms. "Were you able meet the Shikikan yet?"

Laffey finished off her bottle of bourbon before answering. "Yes, Laffey met the Shikikan."

"Ohh? What's he like? Is he nice? Cool?" Asked another voice of a tomboyish girl with long blonde hair and a large white cape.

"Laffey likes Shikikan" Upon saying this the figures on the screen widened their eyes in surprise at the bunny eared girl's statement before smiling in relief, allowing her to continue.

"Shikikan makes really, REALLY good food, is nice to Laffey, and lets Laffey sleep."

The two figures were not expecting to hear such positive remarks from the sleepy bunny eared girl.

"Oh Laffey, I hope you're not causing the Shikikan too much trouble." A beautiful girl with long blue hair remarked in the background.

"Laffey is happy, all is good." Laffey replied with a wink and a thumbs up to the three ship girls on her phone screen.

"Hahaha" The blonde tomboy laughed awkwardly. "Well anyway stuff over here in the Eagle Union territory seems fine for now, but once we do some more patrols and build up the defenses around here, we will be coming back to the Azur Lane base."

"As the Eagle Union representative while the rest of us are back here, make sure you keep everyone safe Laffey."

"Roger" Laffey said with a rare serious attitude.

"Oh Enty-nee chan, you worry too much, I'm sure Laffey and her friends will be fine. Or are you that interested in meeting the Shikikan wink?" A young blonde girl with twin-tails wearing a cowgirl hat and in very revealing attire said teasingly.

"…" The silver haired girl glared slightly at the twin tailed blonde before sighing. "Well he did win over Laffey very quickly, so I guess I am curious but that's all." She continued.

"I am glad to hear he seems to be nice though." The tomboy commented.

"Yeah me too, unlike Enty nee-chan though, I'll admit I am interested in meeting him soon haha." The carefree twin tailed jabbed lovingly at her sister once more.

"….Anyway keep up the good work Laffey, we'll let you know when we are finished here.

"Kayyyyy" Laffey responded while yawning cutely and saluting good-bye.

At the same time, the other three girls were reporting to their superiors as well.

{With Javelin}

"Javelin, reporting in Your Majesty!"

"Good work, We trust you, the base, and the others are well?" A young girl with long blonde flowing hair that curled into drills at the ends and had on a hairband with a crown on top inquired.

"Yes, we also were able to meet the Shikikan too!" Javelin reported excitedly before trying to calm down after remembering that she needed to try and mind her manners a bit more in front of 'Her Majesty'.

"Ohh? And what are your thoughts?"

"He's really cool!" Her excitement broke through her efforts at being mannerly easily once again. "His eyes are like super pretty crystals, he helped and treated me when I fell down, he made the most amazing fish and chips I ever had, and I even overheard him talk about how grateful and excited he was to be working with us!" Javelin practically had hearts and songs notes floating out of her head as she continued to praise the Shikikan while she twirled left and right with her hands on her cheeks.

"My…" A tall blonde lady with her hair brushed and flowing down the right side of her face commented upon hearing the destroyer's praises. She wore a white hat that was tilted to the side and had some sort of ship radar rigging accessory on top. In addition, she had on a conservative, yet elegant dress that exuded a powerful aura and somehow symbolized the faction that was the Royal Navy.

The young blonde girl was wide-eyed by Javelin's flurry of praises before gathering herself. "Ahem…We are most pleased to hear the Shikikan is of a respectable nature and are most interested in seeing him for ourselves, but alas, We are quite busy with fortifying Royal Navy territories from those blasted Sirens."

"Your Majesty, if I may, overall, fortifications are more than halfway done so we shan't need to worry, this mission shall be done before the end of the month." Another young girl with two strands of her blonde hair flowing down her sides and twirled into two spherical beads at the ends spoke up. She had a claymore sword more than half her size to her side and wore a conservative uniform albeit almost bare in regard to her lower half.

"Thank you Warspite, We are amused to hear the mission is going rather smoothly thus far. Javelin, We leave the base in your hands as the Royal Navy representative. Do pay heed in upholding the honor of the Royal Navy and remembering to send reports. With that said, you are dismissed to go about the day." Said the young girl with a queenly aura.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Javelin said before signing off.

"Your Majesty, the maids have finished readying everything for the afternoon tea party." A beautiful silver haired lady in a formal maid outfit spoke up upon hearing that Her Majesty was done listening to Javelin's report.

"Thank you Belfast, We are most parched." 'And most glad the Shikikan seems like a nice person.' The young girl said the latter in her mind feeling relieved after hearing Javelin's report.

{With Z23}

"Z23 ready to report!"

A tall lady with snow-white hair that reached just reached her shoulders responded with a nod. She wore a conservative Ironblood themed uniform topped with a short white cape and a naval cap. "Good work Zed. Has the Shikikan arrived yet?" The snow-white haired lady kept an emotionless face as she spoke.

"Ja, I've made contact with the Shikikan and am ready to give my report on him."

"Good, go on." The lady spoke once more this time with a hand resting on her chin that somehow exuded slight curiosity."

Z23 took a pause, before looking at the lady with a sincerely happy smile and speaking. "I've concluded that Herr Kommandant is a good human. He helped me when I was walking about the town and treated us to a very delicious lunch he made himself. He does not seem to show any form of hostility or malice towards us ship girls, but much rather the opposite. He spoke openly to Admiral Teito about how honored he felt to begin working with us to fight the Sirens. In conclusion, Herr Kommandant is a good human and personally speaking, I think he has a lot of potential."

"Ohh? How interesting." Commented a young lady with long flowing silver hair in a provocative Ironblood uniform. She had a strand of red hair on the side of her head and had on a devious smile with a finger on her lips as she spoke.

"Does he seem to have the ability to declare war Zed?" Another tall lady with wildly overflowing silver hair that reached her legs and in a reasonably conservative Ironblood uniform albeit her chest area questioned.

"Declare war? Uhm.. In regard to his commanding abilities, we haven't gone on a mission yet so I can't say for certain."

The snow-white haired lady spoke up once more, "Please report back once you've assessed Herr Kommandant's abilities as a commander. Keep up the good work Zed."

"Ja ma'am." Z23 saluted before signing off.

"Hmmm, I don't think I've seen Zed smile like that before, I'm surprised..." The snow-white haired lady spoke aloud.

"Ara, curious about the Shikikan are we, Tirpitz?" The young silver haired lady teased.

Tirpitz didn't bother responding with anything more than a glare before sighing at her fellow ship's teasing nature.

"Sigh, Eugen, since fortifications and restorations of our surrounding Iron Blood territory is nearly done, you are free to either stay here and help or go back to Azur Lane base. Zeppelin, I'm afraid I can't offer you the same choice, I will need you to stay back and provide air support in case of Siren attacks.

"Hmmm, I guess I'll go see for myself what this Shikikan is like and how he managed to charm little Nimi wink." The young silver haired lady said with a very devious smile before sauntering away.

"Does not matter to me, for destruction is everywhere I am." The tall silver haired beauty turned around before leaving as well however, on her face was a small frown that hinted her disappointment in not being able to meet the one who made Z23 smile so brightly.

{With Ayanami}

"Ayanami reporting in"

"Thank you for your work. Are you and the others well?" A young girl with long dark black hair, fox ears, and Sakura empire shrine priestess attire asked. She seemed like a small girl, but behind her stood an arsenal of battleship rigging that was rather intimidating.

"Ayanami and the others are well. Shikikan has arrived as well."

"Ney ney, what's the Shikikan like? Is he nice? Is he cool? Is he strong? Is he smart? Is he good at commanding?" Another young girl with black hair but in bob cut like form and also in shrine priestess attire bombarded Ayanami with questions.

"Etto, Ayanami thinks Shikikan is nice and cool. He made all of us here lunch and it was very delicious des." Ayanami said with a large smile, surprising the two other girls, one in shock and one in wonder.

"Ayanami doesn't know much about Shikikan yet, but Ayanami knows she likes and trusts Shikikan. Ayanami doesn't know if Shikikan is good at commanding, but Ayanami will do her best to help him and protect everyone and the base." She said as she continued to praise the Shikikan.

"Very well, see to it that everyone remains safe Ayanami. The Sakura Empire territories here are almost fully restored and fortified. Once done, I will have more Sakura Empire ships join you at the base. But for now, stay safe and be sure to stay up to date with your reports to me." The young girl with long black hair commanded.

"Hai!" Ayanami bowed before signing off.

"Ney ney, why did Ayanami seem so happy talking about the Shikikan. I wonder why…what do you think Nagato-nee?"

"I…I think Ayanami thinks really highly of the Shikikan, despite only meeting him today. Either way, I am relieved to hear she is doing well. On another note, Kawakaze!"

"Hai." A young lady with long straight gray hair and fox ears in a shrine priestess variation uniform and a sharp black katana to her side responded immediately upon being called for.

"Has Takao, Atago, and Shouhou set sail for the Azur Lane base yet?"

"Hai, I have received word from Fusou and Yamashiro that they've departed from where they were stationed last night. They will arrive later today and will report once they make contact."

The black-haired fox girl nodded her head approvingly. 'The smile on Ayanami's face, to be able to give her such a bright smile, I look forward to meeting you Shikikan.' She thought with a small smile visible on her face.

"Ney Ney! Are you thinking about the Shikikan Nagato-nee? How come?" The other young girl with a bob cut hair asked, seemingly reading her sister's mind.

Blushing she responded, "Wha-I was not! Now Mutsu, help me with these documents!" Exclaiming with a frantic look on her face.

"Haiiiiii" The bob-cut haired girl replied as carefree as ever.

{Back to Shikikan}

'I think it was this way to Akashi's right?' The Shikikan was on his way to Akashi's store. He noticed a lot of Manjuus hard at work around him, but when they saw him, they stopped what they were doing and surrounded him. They seemed happy to see him and looked like they were all about to jump onto him before they heard a regal sounding 'chirp' from afar. They looked back to noticed that their Queen was approaching and stated to scatter to form a path for her. The Queen Manjuu then came up to the Shikikan and chirped happily before bowing.

The Shikikan smiled. "Thank you, your highness", The Shikikan said as he bowed a bit too.

"Chirp Chirp!" The Queen seemed to have called for her subordinates to bring something seeing as how some were pushing and pulling a large cart towards them.

"For me?" The Shikikan asked as the Manjuus chirped, seemingly saying yes.

On top of the first cart, was a letter that had a note attached saying 'To Shikikan'.

He opened the letter and read:

'Dear Shikikan,

Thank you for saving my life back at that lake and for treating us so kindly! Most humans don't treat us as kindly as equals to them as you do and for that we thank you! The Manjuus and I are forever in your debt and will be happy to work with you! Please accept these gifts as tokens of our new friendship!

Sincerely: Manjuu Queen

'The Manjuu really are amazing' The Shikikan thought in his mind. 'To think they are even able to read and write let alone understand human language and do all sorts of things humans can do too. I'm glad they are on my side to be honest.'

The Shikikan then looked at the carts and he couldn't stop the shocked expression on his face.

In the carts, were tens of thousands of gold coins, thousands of red gems, and even a briefcase with 3 wisdom cubes inside!

"Are you sure it's okay I can have all of this?" The Shikikan asked in pure disbelief.

"Chirp Chirp!" The Queen chirped happily, implying yes, before waving goodbye, to which most of the other Manjuus previously at work went back to continuing what they were doing while a few remained to seemingly help him push the cart.

"You guys are amazing." The Shikikan couldn't help but admire the incredibly intelligent beings before him. "Mind helping me push the cart to Akashi's?"

Chirp!

After pushing the cart for about ten minutes, they made it to Akashi's storefront.

"Welco-NYA!?" Akashi exclaimed as she saw the large cart of coins, gems, wisdom cubes, AND GEMS.

"Shikikan where did you get all of this nya!?"

He proceeded to hand her the letter the Manjuu queen gave him.

"Nya! You really are amazing Shikikan nya! There's about 200,000 gold coins and 3,000 gems in that cart!" Akashi, being the greedy cat she was, could tell right away how much economy was in the cart. Her eyes were turned into gems and had coins popping out of her head.

"I wasn't sure if we had a treasury, so I decided to bring the cart here. They also gave me 3 wisdom cubes, any idea what to do with them Akashi?"

"You could just leave the cart with Akashi ny-OW!" A paper fan hit her on the head before she continued.

"Don't try and trick the Shikikan you greedy cat." Shiranui said threatening to hit Akashi again if she complained. "Shikikan, the treasury is near your office building, but feel free to lighten the load before heading there ufufu." Shiranui said with a smirk.

"About the wisdom cubes though, is there a way for me to transform them here on base?"

"Nya, the dockyard is where you want to go nya. I'll be heading to the research lab next to the dockyard in about an hour, so you could follow me then after you take a look at my shop nyaaaa." Akashi looked at the Shikikan with begging eyes.

The Shikikan couldn't help but pat both adorable shop-owners heads before heading towards Akashi's store first.

"Nyaaa."

"Warm…"

The Shikikan proceeded to enter Akashi's shop first. He saw all sort of items on sale. From grocery supplies to staple household items to ammunitions and weaponry to all sorts of clothing and to so many other various things on display, her store was surely made for all intents and purposes.

'Besides stocking the fridge and getting some casual and sleep wear, maybe a weapon or two would be smart. The base seems well secured and protected, but I'd rather be safe than sorry later.' The Shikikan reasoned in his mind as he shopped.

After gathering some grocery supplies, household essentials, and some casual and sleepwear, the Shikikan went to the back of the store where the ammunition and weaponry section was to grab himself some forms of self-defense. Much to the disapproval of Dr. Sen, Victoria showed him the ropes of how to use a gun during his free time, which he apparently was a complete natural at after being able to hit bulls-eyes easily on targets Victoria had him practice on with several different rifles.

Akashi had many different guns, from pistols to assault rifles to sniper rifles, the Shikikan hesitated for a bit as he decided which one to get. After careful consideration, he grabbed himself a desert eagle that was purely silver albeit with a black grip instead of a larger gun since he thought it would be a pain to carry a larger, heavier gun around.

"Is that everything nya? If so meet me at the counter so I can ring nya up." The catgirl hummed as she spoke the entire time with cash signs for eyes.

"Yeah I think tha-….?" The Shikikan stopped before finishing his sentence as he was staring at something that caught his eye.

"Shikikan?" Akashi looked to where the he was looking and saw that he was staring in the direction of the wall of the various swords she had for sale nearby. "Nya? Interested in getting a sword too nya?" She asked in hopes of making more money.

"Yeah…" The Shikikan seemed in a trance before reaching out to grab what he was staring at. Akashi thought he would grab a katana, a broadsword, or a saber she had on display, but he ended up reaching towards the top left corner of the wall of swords in the corner of the store that seemed like it would be out of sight to most who were just browsing. He ended up grabbing a rather large broadsword that had a single sharp edge (much like a katana) and had 9 shiny silver rings jangling on the opposite end as he brought it down from its display stand. Upon closer inspection, the pommel was protruding outwards with its spherical-like shape and was seemingly golden in color, the grip was a smooth jet black and seemed long enough to be capable of functioning as both a single-handed and a two-handed sword, the guard was a flat golden circle that had spike like features protruding out of it making it look as if it was a shining star, and the blade itself was a shiny silver color and seemed well sharpened.

"Nya? I almost forgot I had that sword nya. I remember that it was found during a commission near Dragon Empery territory and was in pretty bad condition, but a swordsmith seemingly caught in a shipwreck had offered to fix it back up for free as thanks. I think he mentioned that it was heavier than what it should be, but that it would make a nice display piece regardless too nya."

"I remember seeing a late-night TV show featuring unique weapons during my time at the hospital and this looked like one of the ones shown and I think it was called a dadao." The Shikikan stretched out his arm with the supposedly much heavier than normal sword seemingly with ease. "For some reason though, it feels like its nothing new to me and just sort of 'fits' with me. I'm not really sure how else to explain it." The Shikikan said as he twirled the sword around in his hands and practiced light swings as if it was something he was quite used to using.

"Maybe fate wants you to buy the sword nya. I'll give it to you for a nice price for it nyaaa." Smirked the devilish catgirl.

"Well it does seem so natural in my hands, plus it would double as a form of self-defense….Yeah, I'll take it too. Ring me up Akashi?"

"Shikikan, we are going to get along well nyaa" Akashi purred happily as she rung all of his purchases. "As a sign of customer service, I'll give you the sheathe and strap for the sword for free nyaa. I don't normally do free nya, but you did make me a really good lunch and bought a lot from me today, so I'll make an exception for you today nyaaaa."

"Thanks Akashi." The Shikikan smiled lightly while patting the cat girl's head, who purred happily in response.

"I'll have the Manjuus deliver the stuff to your office Shikikan nya. Go ahead and visit Shiranui's store nyaa. Once you finish there, we can go to the docks and I'll show you how to transform the Wisdom Cubes nyaa."

The Shikikan thanked Akashi once more before stepping out and heading a few minutes down the road to Shiranui's store.

"Welcome Shikikan." Shiranui did a slight bow as she saw Shikikan enter the store.

If Akashi store was similar to that of a general store, then Shiranui's could be considered more of a specialized store. Her store was filled with books and manuals regarding all sorts of topics such as weaponry improvements, tactical skill improvements, and the like. In addition, she had boxes of different colors with the numbers 1-5 painted on the front.

"What are the boxes Shiranui?"

"Those are equipment boxes, once you buy one, you can open it and equip compatible equipment to a ship girl's rigging. The higher the number on the box, the better the gear will likely be. Each box is different and have faction related variations as well."

"Hmm…okay, could I get four of the T5 boxes then?"

"…The T5 boxes require a different form of currency Shikikan, but as I promised back in the canteen and to thank you for the meal, I'll make an exception and charge 40,000 coins for the four boxes just this once."

"Sounds good, thank you Shiranui." Shikikan said as he patted her head, who surprisingly seemed to be enjoying the warmth from his hands rather than against it.

"I'll have the boxes sent to your office by the end of the day." She said afterwards, feeling fulfilled from the head patting.

After spending some more time talking with Shiranui and learning a bit more about the stuff she was selling, the Shikikan left to go back to Akashi's and headed with her to the dockyard. The dockyard was massive in size and seemed to not have anything in production yet. Going inside, the Shikikan walked around and saw various sections dividing the large facility.

"Okay Shikikan nya, the section we are heading to is the 'Shipbuilding section' but let me tell you a bit more about the other sections." Akashi began explaining what else the facility was comprised of.

The 'Ship Repair' section was dedicated to repairing damaged ship girls, while the 'Ship maintenance' section was for refueling and resupplying them before and after missions. Akashi then pointed out that the fourth and final section was the 'Research Lab' that was located outside, but also near the dockyard.

"I'll show you around the lab after we begin Wisdom cube transformation nya."Akashi brought the Shikikan back to the Shipbuilding area, where he was brought before a high-tech looking device that had a large set of monitors and two square panels. Said devices then led out to a large area where construction seemed to take place."

"Okay nya, so Wisdom Cube transformation is actually quite easy nya. All you have to do nya is place a cube on one of the panels and poof! Construction will start immediately nya. Also, you can have up to two projects going at once and the construction bills will be sent to your office desk right after you start construction nya so make sure you have the coins nya!

"That's a lot simpler than I thought it be, but anyway, let's get started then." The Shikikan proceeded to take two of the wisdom cubes out of the briefcase and placed them on the two open panels. The cubes and the panel monitors immediately began to glow and Manjuus wearing safety hats and welding masks came out of seemingly nowhere, saluted him, and began working on the construction projects.

"It'll take a day or so to transform both cubes, but you can monitor the progress from the wristwatch Victoria gave you nya."

The Shikikan looked at the screen on his watch and noticed a gear with an exclamation on it near the edge of the screen. He tapped it and saw a timer on both projects, saying that both will take a little over a day to finish.

'Guess I'll come back a few minutes before the timers hit zero tomorrow then. In all honesty, the fact that these Manjuus, as small as they are, are capable of doing pretty much anything a person can do, if not even better. I can't seem to not always be grateful to these helpful adorable creatures.' The Shikikan thought in his mind, fascinated by the Manjuus' seemingly unlimited skill sets.

"Okay nya, would you like to see the research lab now nya?"

"Yeah let's head on out and let the Manjuus work in peace." He smiled and saluted the hard at work adorable chicks(?)/ducklings(?) before stepping out. The two exited the dockyard and proceeded to walk just shy of five minutes to a large building that had a sign out front that read 'Research Lab'.

"You'll need a key card to get in here, but don't worry I'll have your own card registered soon nya." Akashi said as she swiped the card reader, which turned from red to green and thus opening the two previously sealed shut automatic doors. Upon entering, the Shikikan saw all sorts of devices common to what would be seen in a respectable laboratory in the addition to stacks of blueprints, shelves filled various research books, archives, and documents, and many strange looking machines most likely for testing and lab purposes.

"This lab is one of the newest additions to the base thus far nya. I haven't started any serious projects or testings yet, but I have been tinkering around in here on some things in my spare time nya." Akashi pointed out while waving her arms over a desk of various gadgets the Shikikan couldn't tell what it would be used for except for one in particular. Said gadget was a pair of something similar to high tech looking metal shoes. He picked them up and noticed that they were lighter than they looked and had two small rocket thrusters near the back of the 'shoes'.

"Nya, that's just some experimentational flotational rigging I was working on nya. It's still nyawhere near ready for testing though nya."

"You're one smart repair ship Akashi." The Shikikan said while patting her head.

"Nyaaaaa…..Wait!...Don't think praising me will get you any discounts at my store…..ehehe…..nyaaa". Akashi tried to fight against the urge to enjoy the head patting but ultimately failed.

After looking around a bit more while Akashi was seemingly doing some tinkering, the Shikikan noticed a file in particular on the bookshelf that when he opened read 'PR blueprints'. The file was albeit empty except a small excerpt discussing the possibility of artificially creating new ship girls using the Wisdom cubes in the future.

"Hmm….I wonder if I'll get a chance to work on this project, since it seems like it would help me get a better understanding of the ship girls.' The Shikikan thought in his mind.

"Okay all set nya!" Akashi said as she walked over and handed a card to the Shikikan.

"Here's your key card I mentioned earlier nya. It's all registered and you'll have full access here whenever you want nya."

"Thanks Akashi" He said seemingly unable to stop patting the adorable cat girl's head, much to her noticeable enjoyment. "Shall we head on back?" He asked after getting his fill of Akashi head pats.

"Hai nya."

As he and Akashi exited the lab and soon enough the dockyard, a familiar voice called out to them.

"Herr Kommandant!"

The Shikikan looked out in front of him to see the starter squad running towards him and Akashi.

"Hi girls, finished with your reports?"

"Yep! But wait no Shikikan! There's a big issue!" Javelin said frantically.

"What's wrong?"

"Distress signal was received 35 nautical miles out towards the East des." Ayanami clarified.

"Okay any idea from who sent it?" The Shikikan's face turned serious upon hearing this.

"No, but Laffey thinks we should go help." Laffey said with an uncharacteristic serious tone and expression.

"Your orders Herr Kommandant?"

"Girls prepare to set sail." He said without any hint of hesitation in his voice.

The starter squad and Akashi couldn't help but smile in agreeance at him. "Yes sir!" The girls then ran out and began preparing to set sail.

"Shikikan nya, I haven't gotten the chance to tell you yet, but you have a command ship that you can use to travel with the girls. It's armed with a Single 127mm (SK C/34) and a 37mm AA Gun (Flak M42) for safety measures too nya."

"Thanks Akashi, I'll take you up on that offer."

'Might also be for the best to get some combat experience and see what the girls are capable of too' The Shikikan thought additionally.

"Okay I'll show you to it nya"

Before they started walking the Shikikan had a sudden thought pop up in his head.

"Hey Akashi, could I ask you for a few favors?"

"What is it nya?" The cat-girl asked questionably while tilting her head.

{Back to the starter squad}

Javelin, Laffey, Ayanami, and Z23 were in the ship maintenance section of the dockyard, or more specifically, in the ammo storage area with Shiranui.

"Alright everyone, now its our chance to show the Shikikan what we can do!" Z23 proclaimed. 'I hope I do well enough that he'll praise me!' She thought in her head afterwards with a small blush visible on her face as she was grabbing ammunition for herself.

"Hmm Nimi, your face is red." Javelin said before a playful smirk appeared on her face. "Are you thinking of ways to impress the Shikikan maybe hmm?" She asked teasingly.

"N-NO! I'm just uh…excited that we are on a mission. T-that's all!"

"Hehehe, I'm just kidding Nimi, I'm hoping the Shikikan praises me if I do a good job too hehe." Javelin said boldly with a small blush.

"Laffey wants head pats." Laffey said as she huffed cutely, determination apparent in her eyes in addition to a slight sleepy look.

"M-me too" Ayanami said with an uncharacteristic embarrassed look on her face as she looked away from her friends with a large blush being very noticeable on her face.

The others were surprised to see Ayanami have such an embarrassed look on her face, but they all soon began giggle in unison soon after.

"Looks like we all thought the same thing hehe." Javelin said after calming down a bit.

Shiranui, overhearing the whole conversation, had a small albeit devious smirk on her face.

"Are you girls ready? I just got word from Akashi that the Shikikan is just about ready to leave in his command boat. Also since you all seemed to all have the same thing in mind how about this: Whoever does the best job gets a head pat from the Shikikan?" Shiranui said, essentially throwing fuel to the fire.

The girls all perked up upon hearing this and after a few seconds….

"Javelin, heading out!" She said as she dashed out towards her ship.

"Wait! Javelin that's not fair!" Z23 exclaimed as she dashed after her.

"Face the power of the demon" Ayanami stated and was off.

"Self-imposed limiters…release!" Laffey last but not least sped off as well.

"Ufufu, this should be interesting." Shiranui said as she saw the girls off with a devious smirk.

{Back to the Shikikan}

The Shikikan stood in front of the harbor where his command boat was just finished being quickly inspected and supplied with fuel and ammo by Manjuus wearing naval hats. His command ship was a respectably large white ship with a black underside and the Azur Lane emblem on both sides of the ship. The command room at the tallest point in the center, the main cannon near the bow just below the command room, and the AA gun near the stern. The Shikikan was taught by Victoria how to steer a boat, but it seemed that the Manjuus would be steering while he just oversaw the whole operation. After a few more minutes, the Manjuus lined up in front of him and saluted, suggesting they were ready to commence.

"Shikikan! We're ready to commence the rescue mission!" Javelin shouted as she steered towards him with the other girls in tow, all seemingly equipped with their riggings.

"Ayanami how come you have a sword and Javelin how come you have well...a javelin?" The Shikikan asked seeing her hold the large weapon in her hands.

"It's for combat silly Shikikan hehe" Javelin said teasingly as if it was common knowledge for ship girls to wield melee weapons.

"Looks like I have a lot to learn about you girls" The Shikikan smiled lightly while scratching his head. He then took a deep breath before putting on a serious face.

"Alright girls, let's commence the rescue mission!" He stated before signaling to the Manjuus to set sail towards the distress signal.

"Yes sir!" They all replied immediately before following him.

The Shikikan had the desert eagle he bought from Akashi in a gun holster to his side and his nine ringed dadao sheathed and strapped onto his back.

'I'm not sure if I'll even use these weapons, but better safe than sorry.' The Shikikan reasoned as he and the girls sailed out.

Back on the base at the end of the dockyard

"Think they'll be fine?" Asked Shiranui.

"The Shikikan might be new but I get a sense that he's a reliable commander nya." Akashi responded with confidence.

"True, I guess I got that sense from him too. By the way, the thing you gave to Shikikan, was that…?"

"I'll tell you about it on our way back to the shops, let's go nya. The Shikikan gave us quite a bit of work to do while they are off nya." Akashi said as started to walk back.

"Looks like things are about to get busy…and interesting too." Shiranui said the latter with a small smile before following after Akashi.

After about an hour of sailing towards the signal…

'According to the radar, the signal should be about ten minutes away.' The Shikikan thought as he stood in front on a set of monitors in the command room of his personal command ship. 'Alright, breathe in, breathe out. Need to stay sharp and be ready for anything.' He opened his eyes again after closing them to gather himself.

"Alright Manjuus, stop the ship here please."

Chirp! The ship stopped while the girls floated towards the front of his ship.

"Alright girls, we are a few minutes out, stay sharp and be ready for anything. I'm going to stop and try to oversee everything from here. Keep in touch and let me know if anything at all seems strange. Z23, I'm leaving you in charge. Stay in a circle formation with you in the back, Laffey towards the front, Javelin to the left, and Ayanami on the right okay? Good luck!"

"Yessir!" The girls saluted him before sailing off towards the signal.

From the command room, the Shikikan was able to have a top down view of the surrounding area and saw the starter squad advancing towards the signal. 'I can practically hear Victoria scolding me for diving headfirst into this without considering that this is a trap, but I just can't shake the feeling that it just isn't one. Let's just hope it was smart to trust my guts for this first mission.' He thought as he calmed his mind.

{With the starter squad}

In the circle formation planned out by the Shikikan, the girls advanced cautiously to the distress signal.

"So much debris everywhere…" Z23 said out loud as saw that their surroundings were filled with destroyed ships, smoke, and fires.

"Siren shipwrecks…someone must've encountered them and had to signal for help" Ayanami hypothesized as she saw the familiar looking enemy ships up in smoke and flames.

"I hope they are okay…" Javelin couldn't help but worry about whether or not they were too late.

"Signal is getting stronger… over here" Laffey said as pointed to where an unfamiliar looking ship in horrible shape was.

Upon arrival, the girls jumped up to the ship deck and began searching around the very damaged ship.

"Is anyone here!? We received a distress signal and are here to help!" Javelin yelled, to which no one replied.

"Stick together everyone, who knows what may happen." Z23 instructed.

The girls proceeded cautiously until they reached the stern of the ship where they saw something out of place. Under a makeshift canopy, two young girls were huddled together. They were covered in cuts, smoke, and burns while their clothes were also in tatters and seemingly drenched. The two unknown girls were huddled together, shivering, and on edge.

"Are you the ones who sent the distress signal?" Z23 asked cautiously.

The two girls looked up and noticed the four girls in front of them.

"W-who are you?" The one with brunette hair in twin tails and in red oriental clothing asked. She seemed quite scared and clutching the hands of the other girl next to her closely .

"Are you okay?" Javelin asked. Concerned about their injuries, she took a step closer..

"S-stop! We w-won't fall for your tricks!" The other girl with black hair loops and purple oriental clothing exclaimed before cruiser ship rigging appeared around her and pointed her cannons at the starter squad, causing Javelin to stop immediately. Much like the other similar looking girl, she also seemed scared but was able to maintain herself.

"P-please calm down, we are from Azur Lane and came to help whoever sent the distress signal we received." Z23 said as she tried to reason with them.

After a few seconds of standstill, Laffey stowed away her rigging before approaching them. The two girls watched her carefully as she came closer. About a foot away, Laffey reached into her sweater and pulled out two bottles of oxy-colas that she then handed to the two girls.

"Thirsty?" The bunny eared girl asked.

The two girls hesitated for a second before looking at each other. They then nodded their heads before they both reached out to each grab a bottle. The tension seemed to have vanished completely once the two girls began chugging the oxy-colas.

"Whew…." Javelin sighed in relief.

"I am Laffey, this is Javelin, Z23, and Ayanami." She said, introducing herself and her friends.

"I am Ning Hai of the Dragon Empery, this here is Ping Hai, my little sister.'

"What happened here?" Z23 asked as the other three girls came closer to Laffey and the other two girls.

Ning Hai finished her drink before speaking again. "Haaa…ahem we were on route to complete a mission, but then Siren ships came out of nowhere and ambushed us.

"We managed to beat them, but then we were hit by a sneak attack by a few more that were hidden until then." Ping Hai added.

"Would you like to come back with us to the Azur Lane base? We can treat your wounds better there." Javelin asked.

"Azur Lane? Nee-chan isn't that where we're heading to?"

"…..OH! I thought that sounded familiar." Ning Hai said with a hand on her chin in sudden realization. The other girls, excluding Ping Hai and Laffey had a sweat drop run down the back of their heads.

After confirming that they were allies, Ayanami then turned on her radio. "Shikikan, this is Ayanami. We've discovered two injured ship girls from the Dragon Empery who were attacked by Siren ships Over.

"Good work Ayanami. How bad are their injuries Over?"

Ayanami looked over to the girls, in which they responded with a thumbs up.

"They have sustained some light injuries, but they say that they are fine otherwise des...Over."

"Copy that, but regardless, I'll have a rescue team sent to retrieve them Over and Out."

The starter squad smiled as they were reminded again of what made them like the Shikikan so quickly. Ning Hai had a light blush on her face upon hearing him, while Ping Hai was enjoying the rest of her oxy-cola.

BOOM! The sea around them exploded from surprise cannon fire.

"Ehhhh?" Javelin shrieked in surprise.

"Two enemy ships detected!" Ayanami said as she looked in the direction of where the cannon fire was shot, seeing that there were two Siren battleships firing at them."

"Darn….I thought we were able to shake them off.." Ning Hai said with regret.

"Nee-chan what do we do?"

"We fight and show them to not mess with the Dragon Empery!" Ning Hai exclaimed as she tried to get up, only to drop to one knee while clutching her side in noticeable pain.

"Nee-chan!" Ping Hai said worried as she tried to reach to her sister but then felt pain in her arms in doing so.

"Don't push yourselves! We can handle them!" Z23 chastised the two girls out of pure concern.

"Shikikan!" Javelin exclaimed in her radio.

"Girls! Are you okay!? I've picked up three large signals towards the Northeast heading your way and I saw explosions around where you all are.

"We are fine but-!" Z23 started to say as she looked over to the two injured girls.

"Don't worry! The rescue team should be there soon. Can you girls provide cover fire for them until they get the injured out?"

"Yessir!" The girls exclaimed.

Chirp Chirp!

"Manjuus are here!" Laffey said as she saw a boat with Manjuus wearing naval hats and nurse caps on board just below the damaged ship.

'He's so reliable!' Z23 thought before shaking her head. "Laffey, Javelin! Help Ning Hai and Ping Hai onto the rescue boat! Ayanami and I will cover you!"

"On it!" Laffey had Ping Hai leaning on her shoulder while Javelin had Ning Hai in the same position before jumping off the ship.

"Sorry for the troubles.." Ning Hai said feeling ashamed.

"Friends help friends. It's okay." Laffey said, causing the girl to look up in surprise.

"Yeah! It's what friends are for!" Javelin added while looking at her with a dazzling smile.

The two were handed over to the rescue team who saluted Javelin and Laffey seemingly saying 'Good work and Good luck!' before immediately sailing away back to the command ship and treating the two Dragon Empery girls' wounds.

On the rescue boat, Ping Hai spoke up.

"Nee-chan, they seem nice and even called us friends!"

"Yeah." Ning Hai smiled as she looked back at the two destroyers in their riggings preparing to fight in their place. "Ping Hai! Let's do everything we can to pay them back for saving us!"

"Shì Nee-chan!" Ping Hai responded happily.

{With the Shikikan}

'Battleships huh? I trust the girls' abilities but still this might be tricky.' The Shikikan thought while assessing the situation through the monitors. 'Hmm, okay so there are some mountainous areas north-northeast and southeast from where the girls are.' He said while looking at the terrain nearby on one monitor.

"Alright, Manjuus, tell the rescue team to get to safety and steer the ship northeast, we are going battleship hunting." The Shikikan commanded to which the Manjuus responded by donning their battle faces and began steering.

{Back to the starter squad}

"Oyyy Ayanami! Nimi!" Javelin called out as she and Laffey approached them, ready to help.

"Ping Hai and Ning Hai are on their way to the Shikikan." Laffey filled the other two destroyers in.

"Good to hear, but we have an issue…" Z23 said as she looked back to the battleships.

"Hhhnnnn….can we win against battleships?" Javelin said sounding nervous and worried.

BOOM! One of the Siren battleships forward main battery seemingly exploded. Not very long after, the other battleship's main battery exploded as well.

The girls looked shocked before noticing a ship in the Northeast.

"Wait….is that….SHIKIKAN!?" Z23 exclaimed.

"EHHHHHHHHH!?" Javelin could only yell in shock, while the other two were wide eyed and unable to find the ability to speak.

"Girls! I have a plan, but I'm going to need you to trust me!" The Shikikan asked into the radio.

The girls looked at each other before nodding.

"What are your orders Herr Kommandant?" Z23 asked.

The Shikikan couldn't help but smile a bit after hearing that they trust him. "Alright, there are some mountainous areas north-northeast and southeast from where you girls are. I need you to form pairs of two and lure the enemy ships towards them. Once they crash into a mountain, barrage the mountains with your guns and crush the battleships with the falling rocks. After that, put enough holes into the ship and force it into the bottom of the sea. I have four smokescreen shots available on my ship that I'm going to try to and shoot at the bridges of both ships, blinding them. I'm sure these are just self-controlled battleships, so they'll just move and shoot at wherever they are taking damage from. What do you girls think?"

The girls heard the Shikikan's rather bold plan to overcome two battleships with four destroyers and a regular ship that was lightly armed and thought it was ludicrous, but they decided to put their trust in him.

"I will do as Shikikan commands." Ayanami was the first to respond.

"Laffey self-imposed limiters released." Laffey said ready to fight.

"I trust you Shikikan!" Javelin said with an honest smile on her face.

"There are a lot of things about this plan that I'm not too sure about, but I am willing to place that aside for now and trust your thinking Herr Kommandant." Z23 said, a smile apparent on her face as well.

The Shikikan smiled once more hearing how much they trust him. "Thank you, girls. Alright Laffey, Z23 head southeast while shooting at the sides of the battleship on the right. Javelin, Ayanami, head north north-east and do the same for the battleship on the left. Let's show them the power of destroyers!"

"Yessir" The girls said as they began to execute the plan.

'Okay, now to focus.' The Shikikan thought as he prepared to manually control his command ship's one cannon. 'Okay the smokescreen rounds are loaded. A single 127mm (SK C/34) cannon can shoot up to about 19,000 yards away. Also need to adjust the trajectory and take account for wind variables for both enemy ships.' The Shikikan was carefully and quickly taking aim at the battleships.

'Alright, that should do it. Ready, aim, and….FIRE!' The Shikikan shot the first smokescreen round, which soared through the sky and much like a sniper, he hit the bridge of the first battleship dead on. 'Alright now for a second shot for assurance.' He adjusted, aimed, and fired once more, showing off his accuracy and precision prowess by hitting the same spot once more, releasing massive amounts of smoke into the battleship. He continued by taking aim at the other ship and landing both shots perfectly into the bridge practically covering the battleship in smoke.

"Wow! Shikikan is amazing!" Javelin had sparkles in her eyes seeing how the Shikikan was landing shot after shot perfectly.

Ayanami was just as amazed, her eyes shimmering in awe. "Javelin, let's proceed with the plan Shikikan gave us!"

"Yeah!"

{At the same time….}

"How is Herr Kommandant landing round after round so perfectly!?" Z23 exclaimed at the Shikikan's abilities.

"Nimi, let's go." Laffey said feeling determined to not be outdone.

"Eh?-I mean yeah!"

{To the Shikikan once more}

'Okay so the area Z23 and Laffey are heading is much more mountainous with much than where Javelin and Ayanami are headed. And if I remember correctly, Z23 and Laffey have stronger main guns equipped as of right now so they should be able to barrage the mountain effectively. That said, I should go support Javelin and Ayanami since even though they have good torpedo equipment equipped, they might not have enough fire power to effectively barrage the mountain with their guns.' The Shikikan was carefully planning his next steps to ensure a success before making his decision and moving out.

With Z23 and Laffey, they were heavily barraging their battleship all while dodging the battleship's remaining firepower and luring it to where the Shikikan told them to go.

"It's….actually working!" Z23 exclaimed.

"Nimi, Laffey sees mountains."

"Okay let's go further on ahead before attacking it more!"

"Okayyy"

The girls advanced further until they reached an extremely tall, yet skinny mountain. They chose that mountain to use for the plan before splitting up and beginning to barrage the ship again with gunfire and torpedoes. The battleship was like a bull seeing a red cape, charging forward in a desperate attempt to fight back. All according to plan, the ship crashed into the mountain and was forced to halt.

"Good condition….Let's go." Laffey said before she and Z23 began barraging the mountain. Since the mountain was rather skinny, it acted like a tree a lumberjack had cut down and fell all at once onto the ship. Unable to withstand the weight and force of the falling mountain. The ship exploded before sinking towards the ocean floor.

"That…that worked out even better than I thought! We didn't even need to empty our ammo to sink it!" Z23 was thrilled to see for herself that the Shikikan's plan was a success.

Laffey came up to Z23 and put a hand up, to which Z23 happily high-fived with a smile.

"Alright, let's go to where Ayanami and Javelin are Laffey!"

"Yawnnnn…...sleepyyy…but okayyy." Laffey said tiredly but noticeably happy that the plan was a huge success for them.

With Ayanami, Javelin, and the Shikikan, they managed to lure the battleship all the way to a massive mountain range.

"Alright girls, advance further ahead and force that ship to a halt!"

"Yessir" The girls proceeded as planned and lured the battleship to crash straight into the mountain range, forcing it to a halt.

"Alright, let 'em have it!" Proclaimed the Shikikan as he fired shots at the mountain, forcing large boulders to come raining down onto the battleship.

"The power of the demon….come feel it!" Ayanami launched her torpedoes at the side of the ship, dealing massive damage to the hull, forcing water to flood in rapidly.

"Witness Javelin's performance!" She said as she barraged the mountain causing more boulders to crash down and firing off her torpedoes as well, making the battleship take in twice the flood damage now.

The combination of the two destroyer girls' firepower and torpedoes and the massive boulders crashing down onto the battleship caused it to explode before slowly sinking into the sea.

"Shikikan! It worked perfectly!" Javelin said as she skated towards the Shikikan's ship.

"Good work girls! I'm honestly glad it all worked out." The Shikikan said with a sigh of relief and a smile on his face.

"Shikikan…congratulations on the success." Ayanami said as she gave the Shikikan a warm smile.

"It was thanks to you girls' trusting me and your hard work that made it a success. Thank you as well." The Shikikan responded happily.

BOOM!

The battleship fired one last, desperate shot into the air as it finally sunk into the sea completely, but not before the shot it fired crashed into the mountain range causing a gigantic boulder to come crashing down onto….AYANAMI!?

Everything went into slow motion…

Javelin looked on in horror before making a mad dash to save her friend from being crushed, but she was so far away…

Ayanami looked up in confusion and shock, unable to move as her life seemed to begin to flash before her eyes. She closed her eyes before tilting her head back down and disengaging her gear to look at Javelin and Shikikan with a smile.

"Thank you for everything Javelin, Shikikan. Please tell everyone in the Sakura Empire, Nimi, and Laffey that I am sorry and that I cherished all of them deeply. Goodbye." She said with a sad smile and tears falling down.

"Ayanami-chan!" Javelin shrieked as she stuck her hand out in a last-ditch attempt to save her dear friend.

"Ayanami!" The Shikikan was running off the bow of the command ship screaming her name as well.

Ayanami closed her eyes once more, waiting for her impending demise.

CRASHH!

She waited…

And waited…

….?

"Eh?" Ayanami scared to open her eyes, slowly lifting them to see that she was no longer where she was once standing, let alone on her own two feet. She looked up and noticed that she was in someone's arms. The sunlight shining brightly through the gap in the mountain range caused by the Shikikan's plan prevented her from seeing who saved her.

"Ayanami…Are you hurt?"

"Eh" She rubbed her eyes, finally adjusting to the bright light. Upon closer inspection into the person's face, she looked at said person wide eyed in pure shock and utter confusion once she realized who it was.

It was….….

SHIKIKAN?


Flashback

"Hey Akashi could I ask you for a favor?"

"Nya? What is it nya?"

"Could I borrow the experimentational flotational rigging you were working on in the lab?"

"Sure, but why nya?"

"I can't help but feel that it might come in handy today. Plus, you haven't tested it right? It might be nice to see how well it does now and see what needs to be improved , don't you think?"

"Good point nya, I'll go get it and meet you at the dockyard nya"

End of flashback


Using Akashi's gadget, the Shikikan managed to make a mad dash for Ayanami with the gadget attached to his feet. Luckily, the gadget worked well enough for Shikikan to manage to burst his way through to close the distance between him and Ayanami.

"S—Shik-Shikikan?" Ayanami tried to say all while trying to prevent her tears from pouring out.

He had held her in a princess carry the entire time, but seeing that Ayanami was about to cry, he brought her closer to his chest and held her there, caringly and lovingly.

"It's okay, let it all out Ayanami. It must have been scary huh? Don't worry though. All that matters to me right now is that you are safe and sound." The Shikikan spoke honestly from the bottom of his heart as he held her in his arms.

At that moment, Ayanami had burst into tears and was crying wholeheartedly into his chest.

Javelin couldn't believe what she saw as she fell down onto her knees and tears uncontrollably falling down her face, before she started crying too.

"I—I'm so glad you're okay A-aya-Ayanami-chan!" She tried to say while sobbing uncontrollably, feeling nothing more than relief seeing her friend alive and well.


Did y'all think I would kill off a top tier waifu, let alone this early into the story lol?

In all honesty though, I'm hoping y'all are enjoying this story of mine as much as I enjoy writing it.

I initially planned to make this chapter longer, but I felt that ending it on this happy note is much better than continuing it.

With all that said and done, please leave favs, follows, and comments to let me know if you like the story so far!

Tune in next time for Chapter 5: The Four Factions Assemble!