The next morning arrived with a small amount of fanfare, but mostly breakfast and a car ride to the port where Aggy bid her uncle farewell and he bid her good luck, before strolling in and being directed to the south end of the docks by a pleasant uniformed naval private.

Her morning promptly got better when she saw that the only ship at the south ends of the docks Was a Heavy cruiser with both the Eagle Union and Azur lanes flags, and that sitting atop the superstructure in a place no one could normally ever reached was a woman. Meaning the ship was a Ship-girls Very own vessel!

"It's a good ship, init?"

Aggy turned to find a Sailor in full uniform standing beside her and looking at the Vessel with a smile on his face, right before turning his head just enough to smile at her. "Ah, um, yes? I mean, yes, it is." Aggy said, thrown for a loop by the admittedly handsome man's sudden appearance.

The man let out a good natured chuckle and turned to Aggy, offering a hand for a shake. "Names Arthur Dillons, Petty officer of Azur Lanes naval forces."

"Oh, uh, Aggy, I'm, joining Azur Lane as a civilian Dorm Secretary and was told to come here this morning to ship out to the Pacific base," Aggy said as she shook Arthurs hand.

"Ah, your one of the civilian contractor's then. Good, this is the right place for you." Arthur said as he tuned and pointed to a small canvas tent roof set up by the docks with a line of people at it. "If you head over to that line they will get you marked as having arrived as well as tell you where you will be sleeping aboard the Helena for the trip."

"Is that her name?" Aggy asked as she looked at the distant woman atop the superstructure, blue hair blowing in the wind. He couldn't tell much else, but she was sure that she was likely beautiful. She had seen pictures of many of the unions ship-girls, and most were unnaturally beautiful, with a number such as Lexington and Saratoga being known for public prances like concerts.

"Yep, she's a little quiet to some people, but she a good fighter. If you are lucky you might meet her personally during the voyage," Arthur said with a smile as he suddenly checked his watch and nodded. "You should head over and get marked as present though, if everyone arrives early we might be leaving port early to make better time."

"You are coming as well?"

"Yep, im stationed on Helena's vessel for this mission, mainly to help keep everyone in line and out of trouble," Arthur said with a chuckle before patting Aggy lightly on the back, "Now head on over, don't keep them all waiting!"

"R-right, sorry, and thank you," Aggy said with nod before running off and leaving Arthur behind to stand in the line of people.

As she arrived at the lines rear, though it was not long, she noticed a couple things. The first was that a lot of people standing around nearby or on the deck of the Helena were not wearing uniforms. She also noticed that those who were wearing uniforms all appeared to be armed, and that there were two uniforms present. The first were the Eagle union uniforms, white with blue accenting, while the others were Bright blue with black accenting and silver trim, the uniforms of Azur Lane.

"Next."

Aggy was pulled from her musings at the word and looked forward to see that the line had moved along and she was next.

"s-sorry," she said in embarrassment as she walked up to the table under the tent roof. At the table were two men in Azur lane uniforms and behind them were a number of boxes, closed to seemingly hide what was within. "Um, my name is Aggy Anderson; I am here for being accepted for a job opening in Azur Lane."

"May I see your letter of acceptance?" The man in frotn of her asked professionally, yet pleasantly.

"Oh, yes. Uh ," Aggy murmured as she fished out the papers from her jacket pocket. "Here."

The man took them and looked it over for a moment before speaking. "Let's see, Civilian contract, non-combatant, posting to the Pacific Base as a Dorm Secretary and caretaker for the civilian contractors dorm."

"Uh, yes, that is correct," Aggy spoke up, unsure of if she was supposed to or not.

"All seems to be in order. You will be in Bunker room B7 on the Helena, and upon Arriving at the Pacific base you will be given the Civilian contractor uniform and explained your duties. Board the Helena when ready and make sure you stow your personal effects before departure, understood?" the man asked as he handed Aggy back her papers.

"Um yes, but, how will I find my room?" Aggy asked as she took her papers and put them back in her jacket pocket.

"Blue arrows have been temporarily put on the deck and the inner walls of the Helena to help guide Civilian contractors. Follow them, or pending that, ask a sailor for assistance. Just know that the engine room, armory, gun control and bridge are off limits to contractors such as yourself."

"Understood, I won't go where I'm not supposed to. Thank you for the help," Aggy said with a nod of thanks before turning and heading over to the gangplank and up. Having never been on a boat before she figured it would feel strange, yet once she came onto the deck she instead found herself very comfortable, the slight sway of the ship seemed to cause her no issue like it clear did for some people standing around on the deck "Maybe it's the sea breeze or something?" She said to herself as she looked around and found her hand drifting up and thumbing her pendant underneath her jacket nervously.

With a shake of her head she looked around again and then found the blue arrows that had been mentioned. Following them around the deck and inside of the superstructure she weaved around people as necessary and found her room, a tight narrow room with a pair of bunks on each wall that were just as narrow as the room itself.

"Well, good thing I'm not claustrophobic," Aggy muttered to herself as she noted that none of the bunks had been taken and tossed her bag onto the closest one on the bottom bunk and then climbed on, figuring it would be better to stay out of the way before departure.

Xxxxx

Boats were boring, that was the singular point that, three days into the voyage, Aggy came to understand. It wasn't as if the boat itself was boring technically, but more that there was nothing to do on the boat. She understood it was a military vessel, and a Ship-girls Vessel, but that didn't change the fact she found herself becoming listless.

Counting herself there were only seven women on the ship, three of which were sailors, and the other three all worked as Cooks and were going to be working at the cafeteria and canteen on the island base apparently. They were easily as old as her uncle if not older, meaning there was no women near her age to talk to, which of course left the huge amount of men, both young and mid aged. The ones who were older were nice and polite, answering questions if asked, the younger men however, acted just as men always did, which usually meant staring at her ass as she passed by them.

Men in the ships canteen were bad for this, as there was only so much seating. The sailors were polite, the other men who were contractors like herself, well they started out nice, but quickly made it apparent what they were after.

So when it wasn't a meal time Aggy found herself mostly siting or lying on her bunk listlessly, which was what was mostly attributing to her boredom. The fact that her phone had no signal, so most of its apps did not work was probably helping add to that as well.

"Haaaa, maybe I should just do laps of the deck?" Aggy suggested to herself as she looked out the small window to see an overcast day. It would be a good day for it, and the exercise would be nice even if she wasn't the best at being athletic.

With a hard sigh Aggy sat up on her bed and took off her pendant necklace, cinching the chain a bit so the pendant would hand right around her neck instead of below her collarbone, retied her shoes, and then grabbed her jacket and zipped it up before leaving her room and heading for the deck.

No one stopped her as she went, and arriving on the deck she found a warm day cooled by the water and dull grey clouds overhead. She started out at a simple walk and then moved up to a casual jog as she reached her first lap of the Ships deck. It was also around this time that she noticed there were very few people on the deck itself. There were a handful of sailors milling about, but they did not appear to be doing a whole lot of work, merely moving about as if just to look busy. Ultimately though, she could tell that there were far too few for a normal ships crew.

"Though, I suppose it isn't a normal ship, so that wouldn't track huh?" Aggy muttered to herself as she stopped and took a rest by a large mass of steel that, a second later, became obvious as a huge gun turret.

"First time on a Warship?"

Aggy turned to the new, female, voice to see a woman with long blue hair and an outfit far skimpier than she expected to see anyone on a warship wearing standing a couple meters from her with her arms behind her back. "Uh, was it that obvious?" Aggy asked uncertainty as she noticed the woman's heels looked like a ships rudders and that what looked like a searchlight was holding the girls one ponytail together.

"It was. Most people find themselves staring when seeing a ships guns for the first time. Most people don't understand just how big they are," the Blue haired girl said with a slight smile.

"I can understand why," Aggy said as she looked at the gun, right before a question came into her mind. "Um, the shells get smaller right?"

"Pardon?"

"Sorry, I mean when as personal weapons. Um, a ship-girls Vessel can be made smaller for them to use, right?"

"Ah, you mean our Rigging," The Blue haired girl said with a nod. "Yes, our Vessels can be turned into our riggings. The shells themselves become physically smaller, but their explosives amounts do not change. How did you know that I am a ship-girl though, may I ask?"

"Um, I saw you up on the superstructure before we departed, and you feel . . . different, I guess," Aggy admitted.

"Different?"

"Um, you feel more than a person normally could be. It feels like you are strong despite looking no stronger than me, like you could be counted on. That and your boots kind of are a give away,"

The blue haired woman looked at Aggy for a second before letting out a short giggle and holding out her hand. "Brooklyn-Class Light Cruiser Helena."

"Ah, uh, Aggy, Aggy Anderson,"Aggy said flustered as she took Helena's hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Helena said as she let go of Aggy's hand and stood in a more casual manner. "So, why were you running laps around the deck?"

"Uh, you saw that?"

"Felt it, more like," Helena admitted with a smile. "When people are on our Vessels we can feel it if we focus, otherwise it feels kind of like a light itching, and your laps were repetitive enough that they became obvious."

"Oh, sorry. I was just, fighting boredom I guess," Aggy admitted with a sigh.

"I see. Im not used to so many people being on my Vessel, but as most of them are sailors or young men, I can understand why you might be bored. There is not much to be done when on a Ship."

"No, I've discovered that quickly. The only other women are older so, there's not much to talk about," Aggy said as she found herself feeling a bit warm and unzipped her jacket. "What do you normally do to pass the time when on a long voyage?"

"Most Voyages we Ship-girls go on are Patrols or missions, so we have to pay attention to the seas around us, as well as the locations of our allies. Because we are never alone on missions we usually have allies to talk with though."

"That sounds nice," Aggy admitted before stretching her arms above her head, causing her pendant to slip out from underneath her shirt. "So you being alone to bring us to the base is, not normal then?"

"No, not really, but someone needed to volunteer, so I did," Helena admitted as he gaze was dragged to Aggy's pendant. "May I ask what that pendant is?"

"Hm? Oh this. It was my mothers, an heirloom I guess," Aggy said as she thumbed it and then let go, not noticing that it wad glowing ever so slightly.

Something Helena did notice. "I see. Do you, know what it is though?"

"Sapphire or something probably," Aggy said with a shrug. "I don't really care; I just like it because it's the last connection to my mother."

"Oh. She passed on?" Helena asked curiously.

"I don't know. She was never around, living in the royal territories my dad would tell me. He never explained why though, and he never told me her name either," Aggy explained before giving another shrug. "Not like I'll get the information out of him now, he passed away four years ago."

"Oh, I am sorry to hear that,"

"It's fine,. He was in a lot of pain. He was a soldier, and he had an injury gotten from a Siren Weapon that made breathing hard for him," Aggy admitted before humming for a second. "Do, do ship-girls have anything like family?"

"We have our sisters," Helena answered. "Those of the same class are our direct sisters, and some have other forms of groups that are pretty close to what humans would consider families. We don't have parents of course, though some would consider the ones who designed our hulls to be our parents sometimes."

"Oh, that sounds good then. I gather some of you have a lot of sisters then."

"Yes, I have six sisters myself," Helena said with a smile. "Do you have any siblings?"

"No, I'm a single child. . . Just me and my uncle,"

"He's here?"

"No, he's back on the mainland. I- I tried to get into Azur Lanes Civilian sector on my own without telling him initially. I'm here on my own."

"Oh, that is impressive for one that looks young."

"Aren't you-" Aggy began to say before stopping. "No wait, Ship-girls don't age really, you're probably older than I am, huh?"

"Very likely yes," Helena said with a knowing smile. "What are you going to be doing at the base?"

"I'll be the dorm keeper and secretary for one of the dorms, keeping track of things, bringing up repairs that are needed, sorting mail for people at the dorm, that sort of thing."

"Simple but needed work. You didn't try to join Azur Lane officially?" Helena asked.

"No, I . . . im not much of a go getter. I can't stand the idea of pain, so the idea of being a soldier is just . . . ."

"That is fair, it is not for everyone," Helena admitted before suddenly perking up. "Ah, excuse me, I have a call coming in and have to take it in the bridge."

"Oh, of course, it was nice peaking with you, I'll see you around?" Aggy asked hopefully.

"Of course, we'll both be at the base after all, see you later."

"Okay, good luck!" Aggy said with a smile before then going back to running the deck while Helena headed for the ships bridge.

Xxxxxxx

Closing the door to the bridge Helena answered the call. "Helena here,"

"Hey, you doing okay Helena?" Came the voice of Cleveland into Helena's head.

"Yes I am fine Cleveland. Did the Commander ask you to call to check up on me?"

"He is curious, but I just wanted to call on my own," Cleveland said so happily that Helena could easily imagine her smile.

"Well you can report that we are making good time and I should arrive at the base on time, or perhaps early."

"Good to know."

"Ah, one thing, could you please connect this line to the commanders office?"

"Sure, got something to ask him?"

"something like that, yes," Helena said simply.

"Alright just give me a second, I'm near his office so I'll just swing by and-, oh Perfect timing commander, Helena wants to speak to ya!"

Helena waited a moment before she heard the line click and the commander speak up.

"Yes, what is it Helena?"

"Commander, I have a question that may seem a bit, strange. How difficult would it be for a Civilian, or even someone from the navy, to get Wisdom Cubes, or parts of a wisdom cube, outside of navy controlled sectors?"

"Impossible. Wisdom cubes are too important for them to leave Naval Bases. They are strictly held under guard. Our base is the only place where they can even be seen without a dozen locks and guards checks. Why?"

"Well, one of the civilian contractors in board is, a little odd and she had a necklace that is very obviously set with a shard of a wisdom cube," Helena explained.

The commander was silent for many moments before his next words came out, the order as solid as steel an as sharp as a blade. "Watch them, see what you can find out."

"understood sir."

"And Helena, what is their name?"

"Aggy Anderson,"