Heart of Oak: Chapter 3

Spywork was usually not done by Kansen. Well, that actually depended on which Kansen you asked. Among the Royal Navy, the Royal Maid Corps were often seen weirdly by those who did not know better. They had the best intelligence-gathering capabilities among all of the different Kansen groups and were experts in the field of infiltration and sabotage. Reportedly, they were used to great effect during the Azur Lane-Crimson Axis war that recently ended.

Unfortunately, Perseus was not part of the Royal Maid Corps, and thus could only make do using reconnaissance fighters to scout out the city. Usually, the planes that carrier Kansen carried had two functions, they could either be of small 'model' size, or they could be switched to 'full size'. The former was much better for checking the state of the city, and so far, she was very confused as to what she saw.

"This…is all different. What's going on? I don't see anything that's familiar, but the city looks the same…"

Mumbling to herself, Hanazuki looked at Perseus with some worry in her eyes.

"Is...something wrong with the city?"

"Everything is slightly off. It looks familiar, but there are all these weird things and flags that don't make sense. There's nothing about the Royal Navy there…"

Minneapolis had gone by herself to scout out the city. Among the three there, she was the only one with any significant stealth skills, owing to her reputation as a 'hunter'. Perseus wasn't concerned about her at all, if what she heard from Juustagram was correct, then not a lot of Kansen or otherwise could even find her. Aside from the Royal Maid Corps or the Shinobi of the Sakura Empire that is.

The sound of water splashing on a hard surface alerted the two of them to someone to their right. Hanazuki prepared her torpedo launchers before Minneapolis put her hand out from the corner of the pier, where she was hiding, easing the tension.

"Easy, I found something you may wanna read."

Holding out what appeared to be a newspaper, it was in English, foreign if Perseus had to guess.

"The New York Times? That's NY port right?" Perseus asked Minneapolis, who just shrugged in response.

"That's not what I want you to see, look at the date."

Looking at the top right corner, Perseus and Hanazuki's eyes widened. "April 12th…2012?!"

Minneapolis nodded. "Yeah…I had the same reaction too. Wherever we are, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore…"

Perseus thought that they were much further than Kansas now, where and when exactly were they now?!

Staying in an abandoned warehouse wasn't the best idea, but seeing as how they were out of place, and out of time, the three didn't have anywhere else they could go. Kolkata's outskirts housed many such abandoned structures, the industries that were there often dried up and headed towards cheaper land around India instead of staying.

"Well, at least we know why the Royal Navy base didn't respond to you. But I don't know if this is any better…"

At least Minneapolis didn't have to rendezvous with Washington anymore, but her new situation wasn't exactly a good thing either.

"Better? We're nearly seventy years forward in the future, with no connection to command, all of our respective nations are apparently completely different and did I mention that we have no money?!"

Perseus's tone was more on the snarky side than scathing, but her point had gotten across. After taking stock of their current situation, they were potentially completely 'alone' in this new world, with no way to contact their allies. At least it seemed that Sirens weren't a factor, based on everything they've managed to find about this world so far, which was only a couple of newspapers and whatnot.

What strange world had they managed to come into that didn't have Sirens?

"P-please don't get mad…We still need to stick together, we're probably the only Kansen of Azur Lane or Crimson Axis here right now!" Hanazuki worriedly tried to get the two to get along. Though Perseus's personality often let her do with snarky responses that didn't help.

Left unsaid was the possibility of being the only Kansen in this world, if that conversation with the Indian transport ship revealed anything. She was entirely surprised at seeing three Kansen in physical form, walking and interacting with the world. And based on their relatively brief conversation, she had never seen any other Kansen like them, essentially only being spirits without the Wisdom Cube.

Minneapolis sat down on an old milling machine, long since been stripped of any useful parts. "So, what now? Wait until command sends someone? We're absolutely nobodies in this world, and we can't even send a message back to them."

Unless their radio also went through time and space, contacting command was not going to be anything they can do. Truly, their situation was not ideal whatsoever. After a couple dozen seconds of silence, as the three tried to think of what to do, Hanazuki spoke first, and all attention was turned towards her.

"Why…don't we go back to our respective homes? Maybe they can help us?"

"What?"

"Well, it's obviously not our home…" Hanazuki looked away for a second, before finding the courage to continue speaking. "But we can find someone we know right? If this world is similar to ours, there has to be another Kansen out there who can help our situation right now?"

That…wasn't a bad idea, but considering that they quite literally have zero other ideas whatsoever, it was as good as it was going to be. They needed allies, and the only ones they could trust were other Kansen. Minneapolis suddenly remembered a building she saw on the way back, and called out to the both of them.

"Wait, I found a library not far from here, I can break us in and find information on what other Kansen are in this world as well!"

Perseus looked at her skeptically, while Hanazuki nodded her head in enthusiastic agreement.

"Come on, unless you have a better idea, then that's our best idea right now. Anyone opposed?" Minneapolis was grinning as she said that. With a resigned sigh, Perseus agreed as well. Together, the three set off from the warehouse, taking advantage of their enhanced strength to jump over buildings, remaining largely unseen by the residents of Kolkata.

"You're doing great…just one more dose and you'll be good for the day, okay?"

Wiping sweat from a six-year-old girl's forehead, a man wipes her sweat using a towel, careful to not press too hard. As he dissolved the pill in water for her to swallow easier, he double-checked that the pill dosage is fine for a girl of her age. Access to medicine for children in Kolkata was difficult, and he was often forced to make do with adult versions only. Each time he administered doses he had to double-check that the dose wouldn't have any adverse side effects for them.

Placing a hand under her head, he held a spoon with the pill slightly dissolved on it and fed it to her.

"Swallow slowly, you'll get a piece of candy after this, you're a brave girl!"

As the mixture is swallowed by the girl, he smiles and takes a piece of soft gummy candy, before ripping it apart into small pieces. He fed it to her in small pieces as she smiled weakly at him. For the past year since arriving in Kolkata, he had dedicated his time to helping the poor who were often unable to afford medicine or see any doctors. The orphanage he was currently in was run down, and relied on funding from public donations. Though its location near the slums of Kolkata did not help its donation drive, as such he always tried to go there once a week to treat any sick orphans.

Today was another visit, and the six-year old girl had been suffering from a fever since playing outside in the rain yesterday. Nothing too serious, and her condition was probably going to get better soon. As he got up, the nun who ran the orphanage approached him, speaking in English this time.

"Doctor Banner, you need some rest, no? You have checked on her for hours, come, eat with us."

He chuckled lightly, Sister Adya as he came to know her, was always concerned about his own state. The old woman may seem weak, but she had a way with words that usually made anyone hear her, especially the orphans that she managed. "Sorry Adya, Valli is doing better now. Is there anyone else that needs-"

CRASH

"Woaaaah!"

Immediately above Banner and Sister Adya, they heard a crashing noise and a voice that screamed out, before something impacted the floor above them. He immediately recognized that someone was upstairs, the impact too heavy for regular debris.

"Stay here! I'll go check it out, keep the children safe!"

Despite her protests, Sister Adya could only watch as Doctor Banner quickly moved up the stairs and onto the second floor. His mind was racing through any potential situations, if it was a thief, or worse, then he would have to somehow stop them from doing anything rash through words. The risk of having the…other guy appear was great, but he had to at least try and prevent harm from happening to the children. Peeking out onto the orphanage's second floor, he scanned the floor for the intruder.

"Argh….hope no one is in this building…"

From his position hiding on the staircase, he heard a feminine voice speak, surprisingly, it was in English, and in what he thought was an English Accent. Received Pronunciation if he had to guess which one, but another voice came from the hole she made on the roof, this time in an American accent; also feminine.

"Perseus! You okay?"

"I'm fine! Bloody hell…how do I get out of here?"

Peeking out a bit further, he finally sees the woman that apparently crashed through the roof of the orphanage. The sight of her confused him, greatly. Aside from her frilly white dress that looked entirely out of place, she also had bright pink hair. Both were unorthodox to see in a place like Calcutta. That was not the most striking part of her, however, as she stood up, two marble-white feathered wings extended themselves from her back, reflecting the moonlight onto the rest of the room.

Stunned at the sight, he mumbled out subconsciously. "Woah…"

That was a mistake, as the Angel before him instantly caught on to his presence. "Who's there?! Show yourself or I won't hesitate I swear!"

Crap. Might as well de-escalate…

"Don't be rash! I'm coming out with my hands up!"

Slowly walking up the steps, he came into full view of the pink-haired Angel, his hands still raised. She was holding what appeared to be a staff or a spear towards him, ready to attack him with the bladed end. Seeing as how she was agitated, he needed to diffuse the situation quickly.

"Right, uh…it seems that you aren't a burglar, mind if we talk this out?"

In his defence, the awkward delivery was still due to seeing a friggin Angel right before him, no matter how odd she looked. Those wings were definitely not him hallucinating, not at all…

AN:

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