I'm not sure how much time had passed since I started to flee from where my first battle had took place, But by the time I managed to figure out how to make use of my carrier aspect, the sun seemed to have moved quite a bit, painting the sky in different shades of orange and red.

Either way, I had made it far enough away from the fighting that there weren't any other ships in sight. At least none that I could see. That didn't mean I was safe yet though. A quick check of my systems revealed that while I had enough fuel to keep going, hull damage and the possibility of being tracked and killed by a task force however large it was needed was obvious, It was clear that I needed to reach safety. or else!

But first, I had to figure out what had happened to me. I knew that I had been hit by something during the battle, but I couldn't remember what it was. Had it been a torpedo or a shell? It was like hamsters running and bouncing inside my mind...

As I pondered this, I noticed that my thoughts were becoming clearer. It was almost as if a fog had lifted from my mind, and I could think more clearly than I had in a long that another quirk of shipgirl biology, So vital to them being able to fight like how it was shown in the Kancolle or Azur lane anime? Or was it just stress hormones- The kanmusu equivalent keeping me alert for any threats?

Whatever it was, it was a relief to be able to think more clearly. But even it was clear to me that this state of mind probably wasn't unsustainable;Still, shipgirl hormones or not. I needed to find something safe to make landfall on or either hopefully a friendly harbour. As it was, I was still very vulnerable to submarines, to say nothing of the less that I wasn't doing jackshit to enemy air recon if a scout plane did show up looking for what had happened in that previous battle.

Right now, I was travelling at a slow cruising speed trying not to burn out early, but that speed was going to have to be enough until I found somewhere safe enough to stop. It didn't help that even in my thoughts, I was already sounding like a character from Kancolle, That old human voice of mine already fading from memory.

But of course, Back to trying to figure out why I'm even here, All the evidence seems to point to "BB with a really bad case of what ifs mixed with shipgirl knows what magic". After all, the eyes don't lie. right? Even leaving aside the bomber I found in my storage, The Mistral does match up with being french, of course. but then the british guns and the modern day secondaries all equally point toward the brits and the italians, Not to mention the computerized systems of course.

You may think that I won the lottery with these capabilities, But I'm still in horrible danger without any help, Yes. If I coul get the APAR working, I would be using it but then, Depending on how advanced and capable the version of sirens I'm seeing here are, Trying to turn it on might result in me being immediately located by passive receivers or attacked by SEAD Aircraft, Same reason with my radio. I don't even know what frequencies are being used by the USN, even.

All I know is that my computers are useless in figuring this out. As far as I can tell, My onboard computers are supposedly made in the 21st century, Which is quite surprisingly advanced given how a lot of military equipment runs on ancient software;The F-22 still runs on the equal of a intel processor that went out of production decades ago with major obsolescence issues and inflexible purpose-built subsystems running on intel 386s, for fuck sake! But these onboard computers are supposed to be working... and yet... I have no idea what they're meant to be for other than fire control and maybe sensor fusion-If i could even get the APAR working, that is.

Yes, I have the Mistrals, light enough to swap out a Oerlikon yet have a seeker that was the world's most advanced at its time, Yes, I could probably survive a Soviet air attack in the Cold war, But a lone ship is still a lone ship AND is still a lone ship.

Sure, Battleships in their final years were extremely potent SHORAD platforms, I don't blame Yamato for being basically stuck with what amounted to a light AAA mount being abused in the 40mm medium role. But the main problem with them was that they had no way to reach out and touch the carriers from a distance, You could use them to destroy superhardened structures on the coast, but that was it. Sure, Battleships did serve a strategic and tactical role, But all they really did was just pin a carrier down, If you couldn't even compare to a plane in terms of force projection, Then what was the point?

Of course, there's a lot of difference between me and the Iowas with the MICA missiles that might just allow me to touch aircraft from beyond the horizon not counting the Mistrals that would make any WW2 engineer cream their pants with the ridiculously low rounds per kill, And of course the carrier potential that might just allow me to fight them on equal terms and probably outfight them with modern aircraft, But the thought still has me worried. What am I supposed to do if a fire becomes out of control? How do repairs here work? Not that it matters, since I'm still stuck in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere.

At a whim's thought, I began thinking about the night encounter, I was no sergeant or someone from Westpoint, I was just someone who roleplayed and casually did the math on Secret projects and tank net. but I should have nearly died or been crippled in that night attack, Honestly. the reason they didn't was that they didn't even bother to silently launch torpedoes;they had started with guns and searchlights, which had been their first and last error, If they had with torpedoes. though? I would probably have been hurt quite badly before I realized what was even happening, Why hadn't they started even with the noisy wet-heaters? These were DDs... All I could guess is that somebody in that squadron must have panicked and jumped it with the triggers.

The other thing I could remember about that night encounter was that my reaction speed was beyond that of a human, Not even once in my past life did I ever act this fast, not even when I was playing ship or plane games. That's one thing I'm still grateful for.

Still, whoever had shot first winded up unintentionally allowing me to respond in kind and saved my life, And isn't that just nuts?

But shit, that whole experience had been terrifying. I absentmindedly brushed my hand over my shoulder, wincing slightly as I still felt it underneath my jacket. I'd made it out, yes, but I hadn't done that unscathed. And next time, I might not have the luxury of having a cruiser be the biggest thing I was facing off against. The remains of that Siren group would have gotten the events of last night to their superiors by now. They'd be out curious and looking for me.

And no way in hell they would be going with a standard cruiser and destroyer combo this time, although that would probably be enough to confirm the reports If I was honest. No, they'd be sending the heavy ones. A battleship or two at least, but most likely an entire aircraft carrier group. Why risk your own girls when a few planes could do the job just as well, right? And why send only a single cruiser and destroyer squadron when a carrier group could take care of me much better than they could, even if I did have all these strange abilities that made me more that more dangerous than the regular shipgirls?

So I had to run. And that meant being in hostile waters with no home turf advantage and no idea what might be lurking out there. Oh yeah, there were also submarines too, who I probably wouldn't detect until I get five torpedoes thrown under my stern. Or I'd get spotted and lit up by aircraft transmitting a attack beacon and report for just about everybody within a 100 mile radius.

I ran my hands through my hair, balling them up into fists as my vision began to blur. and a growing ache in my stomach became more apparent.

"Goddamn it!" I cursed, rubbing my eyes hard before standing up straight again. "What am I doing?" I asked myself aloud, feeling like a complete idiot. This wasn't some video game where I could just reload the save file and try something else. It was real life, and a mistake could easily mean death. Was that really what I wanted? No, not at all... And yet here I was, about to make another one. A mistake that I could potentially end it all. Again. This was dumb, and I knew it. But what was I supposed to do instead? Just sit here, waiting for somebody to come along and gun me down? There had to be a better way.

And then, an idea came to mind. "Maybe..."

"...'Computer'. Can you do anything with that big buzz-all Nebo RADAR on my head? If we could just turn it on for a full all-around sweep..." Calling for help could draw attention from Electronic warfare girls and passive sensors, Aircraft might give me away if someone were to follow their trail back. Trying to fight a big group, in addition to being suicidal. wouldn't be enough to hopefully attract nearby friendly Azure lane or U.N forces. But Radar. especially long-range, Low-frequency VHF search radars like this, if perhaps used correctly... if perhaps i could use it to get a idea of where i was, and then cross-reference that with my internal map... Anti-stealth radars need not be accurate when searching for landmasses!

'Affirmative'.

Granted, That voice-the voice of my virtual crew as they went to work fiddling with the combat computers and other electronics in the CIC- still rung in my head. It always had an eerie quality to it that left me feeling uneasy even now. Still, at least they were willing to help if I gave them a job to do. And honestly? There wasn't much else to lose by letting them do their thing and hoping for the best. "Do your best... let me know as soon as you find anything."

Sure, It was still strange that they were there in the first place. honestly, I don't know if it was just my mind or latent shipgirl instincts, But if it wasn't for 'them'. I wouldn't have made it out of that night battle alive. I'd have probably still been fumbling with the controls let alone trying to operate these main batteries without the automation and other simplification methods for idiots like me.

Either way, what can i do? I was still feeling the strain of no sleep, Shipgirl or human. Taking a nap in the midst of a warzone sounded like a bad idea even if I could somehow dolphin-sleep. And I didn't trust anything about this place enough to just fall asleep and leave myself vulnerable. Not with the Sirens running around and god knows who else. No, the only option left for me was to keep moving. To find land or help before they found me instead.

And it had to be done by daytime for as long as I wasn't able to do anything with the stupid dutch mess of the APAR RADAR. Sure, I would be really visible during the daylight, But at least I would be at my strongest, You know. Rather than getting jumped by night-fighting destroyers or getting torpedoes thrown into me from a Electroboat before I even knew what's happening. And if MANPADs is anything to go by, it would still have enough of a range to shoot down observing aircraft in the light. Plus, I could take out the small shipgirls that show up looking for me with impunity as well with guns alone. Sure, I don't know how much ammunition i have or its quality level, But unless there was another Electroboat right on top of me before sunrise when the APAR radar becomes operational... the odds were currently in my favor. For now at least...

Sure, my speed might not quite match that of other warships out here. After all, I may be a fast battleship, but I'm not really Shimakaze! Which honestly sounded like it could work in my favor. With modern fire control and all of that, they might find it hard to hit me while i took them down with accurately aimed fire thanks to the muzzle velocity radars, At the very least, long enough to keep me alive before that APAR gets online. All things considered... it was better than nothing at all.

So yeah. I was going to keep moving forward until nighttime came or something else happened. Or I found land. Whichever came way, It couldn't make things more worse than they were already.. right?

'Katsuragi' sat on her chair, Made from the finest wool and cotton they could produce. She sat here busy filing out reports and feeding accurate information to the top. This chair was on par with what they made in the good old times before she'd been summoned here. And yet, despite that. it was almost too small for her body. But then again... it wasn't exactly meant for someone of her size either.

Despite that though. she couldn't help but feel at home sitting there. It felt like she belonged. even though it had only been a few days since she'd arrived in this place. Sure, things were different from what she was used to. but, a desk job beat being a blue-collar almost found it comical how despite the decades that had passed after the 1940s, Some things still never changed. Be it intelligence or logistics,

Kanmusu were revolutionary, but even that only goes so far against anti-ship missile and PGMs from beyond the horizon, and Second world war depth charges or ahead throwing weapons and hydrophones were not meant to deal with acoustically silent, nuclear-powered submarines.
Sooner or later, things would change though. And when they did... well, let's just say there would be hell to pay. At the very least, that was their very hope in closing the unbelievable technology gap.

At the very least, they had the Me-263. Even if that was for Land-based, home defense only at the very least. After all, it was heavily improved on;They had turned the HWK 109 into some sort of air augmented, 'supercharged ejector ramjet' or ducted rocket with the turbine taken from a jet engine that the scientists were still working on, and then they had uprated the engine enough to let it go supersonic. a steeper swept wing, Leading edge extensions combined with canards and even a onboard Berlin radar that fed information to the Radar gyro gunsight- the APG-30 system in all but name, along with a early form of transistors necessary to make it small enough for the airbreathing rocket fighter. though so far they hadn't integrated the ability to automatically compute a firing solution for the R4M rockets yet.

And they had gotten rid of the MK 108s for the modified short-barrel 25mm KBAs that were so standard for their aircraft. At the very least, that thing was the only fighter they had that could ever hope to compete with modern fighter and strike bomber aircraft they were facing against.
Which brought up another problem;They still didn't have any true jet aircraft. Hell, some would argue that even with these enhancements, it still wouldn't last long against today's air superiority fighters. The Me-263 project was costly and took up resources from other projects that could potentially bring results faster.

But it was already showing knock-on benefits, especially for the projected far future development of ramjet missiles. They just needed to perfect it; improve it more even. And then perhaps, maybe, they would stand a chance against today's air forces. But until then...well. They still had ways to fight back, didn't they?

As Katsuragi reached for her pen, she couldn't help but think about all the time she'd spent fighting in the Pacific Theater during World War II. It was honestly hard to believe it had been nearly half a century ago already... And now, being reborn somehow as a shipgirl and sent once again to war against virtually the entire world with weapons they hardly ever understood.

She heard footsteps as someone entered her room, She looked up from her disk to see one of the grunts, A young light cruiser, While Katsuragi wondered why they accelerated the training programs so much, this one was rather competent. It was a fairly uncommon sight, for the large force of trained and experienced combat-capable kanmusus they had accumulated in the first years of the war were eroding swiftly, replaced by green girls fresh out of basic courses or returning from hospitals near-death, yet still not nearly as capable as the ones that were long gone. The reason behind it lay within the numbers game - every newly built or returning shipgirl was only enough to just replace the attrition rate of their current forces. They couldn't afford any more losses at the current rate they were sustaining, even if the war was becoming more and more 'cold'.

And so, she had been put into her position - analyzing enemy movements, global politics and affairs and writing reports about them while providing support for everyone else as a intelligence specialist, It was far from glamorous, sure, but someone had to do it. Not everyone could be out there fighting on the front lines after all.

Even shipgirls still had to be fed, watered and housed, and they inevitably would want comforts;A reason they stole cattle and other farming animals. and why potatoes were such a regular part of their cuisine. And even with the wonders of the modern age, they still had to be tended to, for someone had to look after cheesemaking factories. or preserving seafood, even if every bunk had its own aquaponics connected to a potato hydroponics 'Victory Garden' system. She wondered how it could possibly work like that sometimes, and whether there was enough nutrients for both plants and fish.

"What is it?" Kisaragi questioned the approaching cruiser, said girl stopped in front of her before speaking up.

"Sir, we have news... news which isn't good." The cruiser reported in a rather young if professional tone. "One of our patrol groups was almost broken. They fought a battleship in a nighttime encounter and suffered extreme damage, and only one made it out alive. They then lost track of the battleship, For she would have been killed trying to do so."

Kisaragi's left eye arched up in interest, A Lone battleship? Without being part of a task force? Surely they weren't idiotic enough to send a lone, unescorted battleship. weren't they? It would be too obvious and it made as much sense as a starving sailor throwing bread into the ocean to study fish.
"When was this?" Katsuragi asked, her pen tapping ever so softly on the desk in a rhythmic motion.

"Twenty hours of so." The cruiser replied. a hint of hesitation noticeable in her tone. "Whatever happened out there, either it was so quick or they weren't able to radio what they encountered before being nearly destroyed completely."

"I see..." Kisaragi paused as she thought about the information presented to her. "Could you possibly send me their report? It would help if I had something tangible to work with."

The young light cruiser nodded quickly, almost reflexively at the request. "Of course, sir! Anything to help!" She replied enthusiastically. Before taking her leave toward the door and exiting to where she was awaiting further orders, wondering what fate would bring them next.

Katsuragi sighed quietly, leaning back into her chair as she stared off into space, still pondering the news that had just been delivered to her. Was it really possible...? A lone battleship... It was peculiar, for sure - it would be hard to imagine any nation sending such an important capital ship without at least some escorts, especially considering how many aircraft carriers were out there these days. Not even the infamous Bismarck had been sent alone during its short career. Yet, here she was, faced with news of one doing just that. There was something off about it all, And she knew she couldn't ignore it.

Katsuragi leaned back into her chair as she pondered over what could possibly cause someone to send a lone battleship, The entire concept was absurd - why would anyone risk losing their most valuable assets like that? Battleships were huge, powerful, but vulnerable to air attack if alone. It simply didn't make sense, not when this lone capital ship could have easily been used to support and act as powerful AAA platforms instead.

Was it arrogance? Stupidity? Overconfidence perhaps? But whoever decided such a course of action didn't draw much empathy from her. After all, it was nothing more than an unnecessary waste of lives - both kanmusu and material - due to recklessness and stupidity.

Such actions had no place in wartime, especially not when both sides were already banging their heads on the technological problems of shipgirl weaponry. Katsuragi had seen enough casualties during her career as a grunt and then as a strategist that she couldn't help but feel anger at the thought of someone putting the lives of capital shipgirls at risk like that. No matter how powerful they might be, each and every one was still precious. It was simply infuriating - to think that some would still choose to send them alone, so utterly careless about their safety... Such pointless waste of life...

Katsuragi frowned softly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she pondered over the recent news once more. Was it truly possible? A lone battleship appearing out there, without support? The mere idea itself felt surreal, yet something inside her refused to ignore it any further.

It was time to stop thinking and start acting - otherwise, she might risk missing valuable opportunities that could change everything. And considering how long they had fought on against the terrors of networked warfare... Well, she couldn't afford to waste any more time than necessary.

Well, here's the rewritten chapter 6! This one took a bit of time, but i finally managed to get it out, I also decided to introduce one of the siren characters earlier this time because quite frankly, they wouldn't identify me immediately as a Alsace-class battleship from the go, It would also be very puzzling to them to receive reports of a enemy battleship without any escorts or whatsoever.

Anyway, see you next chapter!