Enjoy the chapter. That is all


The Admiral woke up back in his room laying on the sofa in a half sitting/half lying position. The television was displaying the main menu of the movie he and Takao were watching last night but they must have fallen asleep during it. Speaking of Takao, the Sakura woman had her head resting against his chest while the rest of her body pressed against him in a warm embrace. Not the first time he woke up like this with a shipgirl next to him, but certainly not the last.

Thankfully his position was closest to the edge of the sofa, breaking out of Takao's grasp as she slept. He proceeded to make himself a cup of coffee while looking over the calendar to double-check his current schedule. He almost spat out what coffee he had in his mouth once he saw the date land on the 4th of December. Monthly inspection time

"Shit! I have a million things to do today!" Shikikan began to panic as he hurriedly drank his coffee and went to change into comfortable clothes

Then the phone rang. Shikikan rose a brow at who would be calling him at this time but he went ahead and answered the phone while putting on his pants.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Admiral, I got both good news and bad news," Martin's voice rang from the phone, "Good news is that Enterprise we were talking about yesterday is awake...but the bad news is that she escaped HQ."

"Martin...you're joking me?" the officer retorted, looking out his window towards the sea to hopefully spot the shipgirl

He frowned once he saw the surrounding trees and snow were basically blocking his view. If he was going to run into this alternate Enterprise, he was going to have to wait at the docks or go out into the sea. Both options were terrible since it required Shikikan to ignore his current duties of making sure the base was in perfect order.

"No, I'm not...Guards were knocked out and all the medical equipment was left on the floor. Her ship is gone from the docks and she got through our defenses before anyone could go after her," a tired sigh followed, "Be on your toes, Admiral. You never know what is going through her head."

Shikikan was busy putting on a turtle neck as he listened to Martin's words, his frown evident, "Well, if she tries anything, I'll have Roon with me. That woman can take a beating and dish out more punishment than any carrier."

"Might want to have a backup plan in case that goes south. Watch yourself out there, Admiral."

The call ended with Shikikan's thoughts returning back to his list of errands to work on. Some of them included going over all business through Akashi and Shiranui. Another being inspecting the Royal Navy ships to be sure they didn't have some faulty safety measures that would end in explosions. History taught the officer that bad safety measures could make the strongest of ships easy to blow up. Then he would have to inspect the other factions' ships before going over logistics.

Shikikan's brain began to process every errand for his monthly inspection until his mind awakened to a simple reply.

"Wait for a second, I left the inspections to the leaders of each respective faction. I just have to check in with them if any issues were noticed," the Admiral muttered, scratching the errands off his list

He would have made himself some breakfast but time was not on his side. Making sure he was fully clothed, he left the office after turning off the tv and putting a blanket over the sleeping Takao. He walked into the hallway to immediately feel how chilly the weather was compared to his warm office. He quickly put a coat on and went on his way to the mess hall to get a quick breakfast before he set himself to his tasks.

Once more, snow fell onto the island and replaced the previous snow with fresh batches. Again, Shikikan heard the laughter of the younger destroyers throwing balls of snow at each other. Makeshift forts reinforced their respective positions with their ammunition practically unlimited. At least this snow was real and not discount shaved ice to trick the younger ones they had snow.

His eyes then caught on a lone figure coming towards him, a familiar face that he needed for the day. Roon looked quite different compared to what he was used to, finding her wearing warmer clothing on this cold day. Gone were the metal plates on her head and her uniform was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she wore a cream-colored coat with a long black skirt. She probably wore leggings underneath so she could keep warm. Finally, she finished her outfit with a red scarf around her neck.

"Roon, just the person I was looking for. We have a pretty important day," the Admiral said, feeling some relief that Roon was here

She giggled in return, "Of course, it is our date after all."

"Oh? I meant the fact it was inspection day," Shikikan chuckled at this news, "Gascogne didn't inform me who I was scheduled to date."

That was going to complicate matters a bit more, but not by much. At least Roon was going to be by his side for the entire day in case their surprise visitor ever showed up. If he had to do all the inspections all on his own, like he used to do back in his early career, he wouldn't be home until nighttime. Thankfully, being reminded that the faction leaders were in charge of their inspections, that left most of the day free.

"Come on, I'm famished," the Admiral said, grabbing one of Roon's hand, causing the Ironblood to have a light blush that was not noticeable due to her light skin

She then raised a brow in confusion, "Did you not want me to make you breakfast?"

"No, not today. We have a lot to do today, especially when a certain person arrives on our base," he replied, his voice going low while his eyes shifted downward

"Who?"

"Enterprise. Not the one we know, another one. The one that we thought was working for the Sirens during Operation Simulacrum. She found her way here once more but she was in a coma at headquarters. It was last night she escaped and she is now making her way here,"

Roon's eyes naturally hardened with her hands tightening, unintentionally gripping her officer's in an iron grip, "She won't dare get within a mile of you."

He flinched as his hand shot pain up his nervous system, "I don't think she's here to hurt me. I've...seen what she went through. At least, a piece of it."

Curiosity filled the prototype cruiser's eyes as her grip loosened, "How were you able to do this if she isn't on the base?"

Shikikan's jaw tightened on the idea of explaining the whole alternate timeline cube that ended up in his position. Finding that he would have to explain this to the whole naval base sooner or later, he went with it. He began from the beginning, talking about the cube being sent to him from HQ and hearing about Alterprise being in a coma. He went into detail about the man who died at her side and his conclusion it was an alternate Commander. He finished his long story with the gun and hearing the news about Alterprise waking up.

Roon listened intently, her face staying relatively calm until she heard about Shikikan's alternate self dying which triggered her to frown, "But that was in another timeline, ja?"

"As far as I understand. Still, I want to know how it all happened, find out what went wrong that led to that fate. I don't want that to happen to any of you," Shikikan said in a low tone, grabbing Roon's other hand and holding them tightly

Roon's heart fluttered, her light blush growing darker while she felt a bit spoiled by her officer's unintentional romantic words. She smiled in response with a dark shadow looming on her face, "Don't worry about me, mein liebe, I'll rip the riggings off every Siren and splatter their insides with them before they dare touch me."

"Uh…" He gave a long gaze of horror hidden under shock, "...right. Let's go eat."


A quick breakfast at the mess hall left the couple to walk towards Akashi's shop without any problems in between. Part of it being Roon's presence terrified the other shipgirls who weren't battleships or prototype ships like her. Even though she had not gone to her destructive personality since Thanksgiving. It was an improvement, but the Admiral would prefer Roon to not go into her darker self unless absolutely necessary.

The snow depressed under their feet, leaving clear trails behind them. There was no wind to freeze anyone on the spot so the snow was quite nice. Small flakes landed on their bodies before slowly falling off. Unlike yesterday, Akashi had her shop open with a few shipgirls inside to buy some supplies she stocked upon. Mainly lecture books to help improve their skills with Langley constantly reminding them to do so.

"Akashi? Got a minute," the Admiral asked, stepping towards the counter where the repair ship did her business

She grinned eagerly, "Ah~ my favorite customer nya. What brings you back, Shikikan-sama?"

"Inspections," He then leaned in closer to whispering distance, "Also, I need you to analyze something for me."

"Of course, nya~. Akashi always keeps good records of her stock, let me fetch those papers." the Neko turned and went through a back door to the warehouse portion of her store

Shikikan turned around to see what Roon was up to and held his breath when he saw her inspecting a book. Not a lecture book to improve her skills, but a book titled 'How to Marry Your Lover for Dummies." His cheeks lit up and his body felt hot as he studied the prototype cruiser's expression. One of curiosity that was soon replaced with a smile and then replaced with a blissful look.

"Roon?"

She snapped out of her stupor before closing the book and putting it away quickly, "Y-yes?"

Shikikan forced down his blush and tried to remain calm, "What were you reading?"

"N-Nothing! I mean...Just a lecture book!" Roon visibly panicked with her face lighting up in a scarlet color, making her look so adorable

The way she acted when caught red-handed in going further with the officer made her seem like a hopeless romantic. Well, not so hopeless since she only had one love and that was with the Admiral. It was heartwarming to see her progress a little more naturally although he wasn't sure if he was ready to begin walking down the aisle with the other girls yet. Shikikan wanted this whole drama with Alterprise squared away before he even began planning for such an event.

"Here you go, nya~"

Akashi handed a stack of papers for the officer to go over. Years of working behind the desk allowed him to skim the unnecessary and focus on the meat of each paper. Lecture books, promise rings, cubes, and other items were on the list including their amount. Records of the past months of sales were right in front of him to inspect. Even though Akashi was known to make her products a bit outrageous at times, at least she kept her supplies tidy.

"Everything looks good. I'll check with Shiranui," the Admiral nodded before handing the papers back

He took a look back to find Roon reading the same book. Seeing her distracted, he took the revolver out of the holster and slid it towards Akashi along with the keycard. Akashi looked up at the officer to get his clear directions just from his eyes alone. She gave a nod before pulling the items under the desk and going towards the back room to begin.

"Let's go, Roon," he said as he made his way out of the store with Roon following him with an embarrassed smile

Gratefully, Shiranui was far away from Akashi's shop. The couple found her warehouse situated a block away with the destroyer most likely inside the structure to keep warm. Entering the building, the atmosphere went from cold to very warm with the heater on full blast. The Sakura girl was seated at her own little desk while going over her inspection paperwork.

"Shiranui," the officer greeted her

She looked up with her nonchalant expression as usual, "Shikikan, Roon."

"You got the paperwork ready?"

Shiranui nodded before pushing her paperwork towards him for him to inspect. She took her job quite seriously, the warehouse interior is almost spotless. It was so well kept that all the ammunition was stored in containers to prevent explosions if someone or something fired into the warehouse. Recent shipments of prototype main guns just came in with the turrets being stored in a separate building to be installed to awaiting ships.

Shiranui turned her head as one of the blue orbs began to erratically spin around her. She kept her blank look as she spoke, "Someone is here."

The Admiral turned to look back at where the door was to find no one there. The only other entrance was a back door or the main shutters being thrown upwards. Roon went out of the small office and looked towards the back door. Her face spoke everything; her teeth gritted and her eyes narrowing to a glare. The officer knew right then that their special visitor had arrived without tripping the base's defenses or being spotted by all the shipgirls. Impressive.

Walking out of the office to see Alterprise for himself, Shikikan stopped midway once he saw her purple eyes land on him. Unlike his Enterprise, this one's eyes were much more dim like her previous self had been shattered before. Her eyes then slightly widened while they roamed over his body to confirm her assumptions. Neither he nor Roon could see any other expression due to the black scarf covering her lips.

"You came,"

Alterprise slowly nodded, rigging still powered up in case one of the many shipgirls attacked her. It looked like Roon was willing to take her on with that scowl hiding a threat. Most shipgirls would be terrified to fight Roon in open combat, but not this Enterprise. Instead, she began walking closer to the officer. Every step making Roon's eye twitch and the situation becoming more stressful.

"Why are you here?" the Admiral questioned, holding Alterprise's gaze and looking for any answers within those deep violet eyes

"..."

Roon would have blasted the relatively unknown shipgirl if her officer didn't expect to meet her. Who was she? She heard rumors of a being like her that some of the Eagle Union ran into on a sortie. However, Roon was assigned to Martin for the year that happened so everything was hearsay and not confirmed. High Command would probably blotch all documents in black ink to keep the profile of this character out of the public.

"I don't remember you," Alterprise said, her gaze turning towards Roon

Roon was more tempted to summon her rigging right now, "I am a Prototype Heavy Cruiser created out of the Admiral's wishes. Who are you?"

"Simply ash...of my former self...refer to me as such,"

"So what brings you to this timeline if yours has ended?" Shikikan questioned again, putting a hand on Roon's shoulder to calm her done lest she go through with a violent opening

Ash turned her gaze back towards the officer, "To fulfill the last wishes of my Commander and to find his Wisdom Cube. You have it."

"I do. Doesn't explain why I got a gun and visions of your timeline,"

Ash's eyes widened a little before stepping even closer prompting Roon to summon her rigging. The mechanoid dragon began charging its shot to deliver unto the fallen shipgirl who didn't notice or care. The Admiral raised a hand to halt any violence coming, much to Roon's dismay. What neither expected was for Ash to put her hands on the officer's head before closing her eyes.

No one raised a question about what the aircraft carrier was doing. Her face scrunched up like she was thinking or feeling for something. Shikikan didn't feel himself getting thrown into her mind nor thrown into some form of vision so what was she up to? A few moments more of silence from the new shipgirl until she dropped her hands with her gaze to the floor.

"So he gave you his weapon?" Ash questioned, talking more to herself rather than the couple in front of her, "A shred of him might be left."

"Excuse me?" Shikikan looked shocked at the news

"The wisdom cube, give it to me," her hand extended outward to demand the item, "I want it."

"The cube belongs to us now. You explain to us everything before I break you," Roon threatened with her cannons taking aim

Ash kept her eyes at the Admiral despite the clear threat imposed by the prototype cruiser. Her eyes weren't as hollow as earlier, a small amount of her color becoming a bit brighter. If the cube was hers, who was Shikikan to deny her what she rightfully owned? Moreover, a shred of her Commander being alive because the cube might hint towards it? Either that Wisdom Cube held the remnants of the Commander or Ash was naive in the thought of her only friend being alive.

"Roon, lower your guns. I'll take you towards the Wisdom Cube," Shikikan ordered before turning with a dumbfounded Roon staring at him

Ash didn't show it, but under that scarf of hers was a hidden smile. Walking past the shocked Ironblood, she followed the Admiral through the familiar base she could remember. Well, remember as much as it stayed somewhat like the one in her timeline. This one looked much more upgraded and full of life.


It didn't take long for the trio to find themselves in Akashi's lab. The Pure Cube, as Ash called it, was levitating inside of a machine that sent waves of energy into it to probe for a possible shipgirl. Nothing replied to the waves of energy while the revolver was being scanned and displaying loads of info. The Neko, meanwhile, was searching for anything on the two items given to her by the Admiral. Such strange items from an unknown place.

"Akashi, find anything?" Shikikan asked as the trio entered the room

Akashi turned towards them, her mouth opening to report until she saw Ash. Her mouth instantly closed before the shipgirl dove into a bin of Wisdom Cubes. Her ears poked out before scanning the room for the scary looking Enterprise. Slowly, Akashi lifted her head out of the box to speak.

"Y-yes! So much information nya~. The weapon is not from here and uses specialized ammunition that could damage Sirens." she reported before sinking back into the bin, "C-can you send s-scary looking Enty away nya?"

"Specialized ammunition? Makes sense considering what you two went against but how could a measly rev-"

"Hand cannon," Ash corrected

Shikikan cleared his throat, "Hand Cannon do damage to a Siren? If my reports are correct, standard arms do nothing."

Roon went over to the weapon, looking at it with wonder while her love and this woman were talking. Her eyes trailed over to the small inscriptions of the weapon with one of them being recognizable. While her officer couldn't read it, she saw the inscription as German while the others must be other languages.

"The strength of the pack is the wolf," Roon read aloud, getting the attention of Akashi

The repair ship got out of the bin then made her way towards the prototype cruiser, "Those inscriptions were handmade. No weapon is like this one."

"Not even one?" the Ironblood questioned, her fingers tracing over the smooth metal of the gun

Akashi shook her head, "Not even the Sakura would make such a thing. The inscription near the Sakura symbol says 'As old and as true as the sky.'"

"That's a poem the Commander used to say every time we battled against the Sirens." Ash explained

"You're begging the question, what was he like in your timeline?" Shikakan questioned, intrigued on what his counterpart would be like in a darker world

Ash looked towards the Pure Cube with her eyes noticeably going soft for one moment, "He was.."


BAM! BAM! BAM!

Smoke trailed from the gun barrel as three bullets were fired in rapid succession. The target was now punched through with three medium sized holes into their body while the shooter stood there for a reaction. Seconds later, a body fell to the floor as the shooter was revealed to be a man encased in armor that looked advanced and Siren-like. No rigging, just armor to keep himself safe from attacks.

Behind him were some children who cowered in fear to the opponent that now lay dead. The opponent was one of the Sirens, Tester Alpha. Her rigging going limp as the life of her yellow eyes slowly drained out of her. Two shots into her chest while the third landed in her stomach, fatal wounds. The tentacles of her rigging thrashed about for anything, but no such mercy came to them.

The man walked up to the dying alien girl, his gun filled with plenty of rounds. Observer Alpha looked towards the man with what little strength she could, pulling a triumphant smile. Another gunshot rang into the air with the Siren going limp.

"Thanks mister, we were trying to reach the Havens but she ambushed us," one of the children, a little brunette girl said

The man turned back to them, holstering his pistol while kneeling to be on their level, "Traveling out in the open is a bad idea. You should have taken to the shadows before making your way."

"Is it true?" another one, a blond boy, said, "Are you the Commander that tried to hold off the aliens?"

"Used to be...Rank doesn't mean anything." he rose and took out his weapon once he heard a familiar hum, "Let's move. This place will be bombed to kingdom come."

The soldier and his group of children left the area and just as he said so, planes flew overhead with thousand-pound bombs dropping. The corpse of the Siren was instantly obliterated and any traces of the group were covered. No evidence for them to be hunted down.


"Sounds like a good man," Shikikan commented after Ash had finished her story, her eyes welling up with tears but the shipgirl rubbed them away

"He asked me to make sure that timeline never happened again. That's why I'm here,"

Roon and Akashi looked towards the Admiral for a response, but he gave none. He understood now, the Commander gave one final order before his death. Prevent the alternate timeline from ever happening, prevent the Sirens from winning the war. Humanity had to be saved at all costs.

"The Pure Cube is still something I want answers for," he finally said

Ash was going to respond until the Pure Cube began to glow brightly in reaction to the construction machine sending a wave of energy. It began to rotate quickly before exploding into a pure white shower. The tube opened with steam filling up the room, preventing anyone from seeing what came out of the Wisdom Cube.

What everyone got to see was a sight that no one expected. Not even the Admiral nor the shipgirls around him.


There. I was originally going to do a Christmas chapter but I felt it would be unnecessary. So, a question I have to ask all of you is this; would you guys like to start seeing some marriage chapters? Leave a comment down below