A/N: Hello everyone, and welcome to the new chapter. Thank you for the commissioner and let's get to reading the reviews!

drake202: I hope I did the reaction justice.

AntoRaid98: I went back and fixed it, as for why?... I've been writing in the present tense a lot recently. Keeps slipping my mind that it's supposed to be past tense.

Now, onto the story!

Alex made his way out of the cockpit of the Excalibur, landing on the flight deck of the HMS Unicorn, a WWII aircraft carrier mind you, after he directly stopped WWIII and Yuri's bullshit. Slowly, he makes his way down, his hand on his personal M1911 he bought for his personal stash of weapons, especially if you consider one thing.

The flight deck was empty, there's no one around, he could spot a few ships waiting to be launched, but there's no crew, no maintenance workers, no engineers or mechanics maintaining them. It's almost like a genuine ghost ship.

It was… eerie.

What was the word… He might have been an Army grunt, but in his tenure as the Allied Commander, he heard a term that was used by some of the foreign Navies. Klau… something. Or maybe it had to do with some show he hasn't seen, he's not sure. Still, with how empty this place was, it was like a ghost ship.

Which he did not like, not at all. Practically ancient aircraft like the ones on the end of the flight deck needed a crew and people to man the AA guns. Of course, he was more familiar with the ships of his time, and this is a British ship, so maybe there are things he doesn't know. Inwardly, he couldn't help but try to estimate how many gallons of oil this ship would use along with its estimated crew-.

"Ummm." A voice began beside him as he practically jumped out of his skin, turning to see who it was, nearly drawing his pistol before stopping with closed eyes after looking who it was.

She was young, almost unbelievably so, with lavender hair and a white dress on her slim body. She looked pretty young, but he's not the best at guessing ages, or maybe his view of high schoolers is skewed. Still, she didn't look like she belonged in a ship.

Removing his hand from his holster, Alex turned to her, "Um, hey…" He trailed off, still looking around, "You… know where the CO of this ship is? I need to have a talk with them, though I'm not sure if they're on break or something." He says, reaching a hand up and grumbling, "I could've sworn I saw some aircraft dock in here."

"Ummm," the young girl holding the unicorn plushie hums, almost unsure, "t-there aren't any."

Her words caused Alex to pause, turning to her with a blank look in his eyes, "...Excuse me?" He asks, his tone indecipherable. "Then who's steering the ship?" He asked as she slowly raised her hand, to his continued confusion. "How?"

Sure, she could be using the technology he was using, but what he was using is a prototype, if this is the past, then how would they have it? Not to mention he needs the helmet for it to work, and she's clearly not wearing a helmet.

"Because it's my ship." She answered, like it was the most obvious answer, "I'm Unicorn, Support Carrier of the Royal Navy." The now-named Unicorn starts, her plushie shook, catching her attention and looking at it before raising it up, "This is Yuni."

The plushie raised an arm and waved at him. An inanimate object moved. Actually, aren't unicorns the ones with horns on their heads? Why's this one got wings?

"Well…" He started, bringing a hand to his head and running his hand through his hair. He mouthed a curse, making sure it's not audible for the young girl who's either delusional, or the seamen were right in that the ships had souls and why they referred to them as 'her'. Shifting and placing a hand on his hip, the answers didn't come easily.

Finally, he let his hand drag along his face, resting it on his chin as he chewed on nothing. "Well, do you have a CO I can talk to?"

"Do you want to talk with Big Sister?" She asked, tilting her head as Alex sighs.

"Well, if I can get some answers from her, it'd be good." He relented, "Yeah, I'd like to talk with this 'Big Sister' if you can."

"I can't." She answered before brightening up, the innocence and beauty causing him to visibly flinch and bring a hand to his face. "But you can come with us! We're about to make our way back home."

"Umm, sure." Alex relented, reaching out and instinctively placing a hand on her head as some of the older soldiers would when he was in basic, though far more gentle as he realized what he's done and brought his hand back. "Oh, sorry."

"I-It's fine." She said, her own face blooming red in embarrassment as Alex has to wonder about her choice of words.

Her ship, not the ship, it stuck in his mind, as if the ship was a part of her rather than a separate entity. His ears caught the splash of the ocean, followed by a second and a third as he instinctively grabbed the grip of his M1911 as Unicorn's eyes brightened.

"Everyone!" She said, jogging over to the edge as three forms land on the deck as he paused for a second because why do they have naval armaments attached to their body? The black-haired girl with a blue sweater had a flight deck by her waist. Beside her, a girl with a spear had a torpedo tube attached to her with a turret to the other side. She seemed peppy as her eyes widened and she almost seemed awed.

His eyes landed on the last one, a white-haired girl with twintails, a set of torpedo tubes, a turret as their eyes locked. On one hand, she seems like an NCO's nightmare. On the other hand…

Her eyes opened wide, her 'ears' twitching as the two locked eyes and Alex recognized the look in her eyes. Intense, she almost straightened up before slumping over, almost as if it wasn't worth the effort. "Sleepy…" She says, her eyes on the Excalibur, interest in them.

"Woah~." The lavender-haired girl sayid, "What's this?"

"It looks like something straight out of a game~." The black-haired girl noted, looking around while Unicorn did the same. The sleepy girl didn't seem interested, instead, walking straight to him as she paused.

"You… Laffey, right?" He asked, the girl nodding, bringing her hand up in a faux-salute.

"Yes~. I'm Laffey, Benson-class Destroyer, are you our new Commander?" She asked, reaching into her hoodie hanging off her shoulder and bringing out a bottle. "Here." Laffey extended her hand and gave it to Alex.

"Thanks?" He trailed off as she nodded.

"We're partners now." Laffey confirmed, "Help me finish them before Akashi notices."

These are grunts.

Roping unwitting people into things that might get them in trouble if they're caught? Snorting, Alex grabbed his knife and popped open the cap, sheathing it before taking a sip.

"Laffey~!" The lavender-haired girl whined, "How many times have we told you not to touch Akashi's stuff, you know how mad she'll be when she finds out?"

"'If'." Laffey corrected her, taking a sip from her bottle as Alex does the same. Wasn't too bad, but probably wasn't geared for human taste buds, but he can push through it. "Besides, we're bringing him back to base, right? Wouldn't be good to have him hungry when he gets there."

"Hunger and thirst use two completely different foods." Javelin said before blinking as she jerked up, "Ah, er, um, hello."

"'Sup." He answered, raising a hand before extending it, "Alex Walker."

"Oh, I'm Javelin." She responded with a smile, grasping his hand and shaking it, "Destroyer of the J-class." She answers, a slight accent reaching into her English as he smiles back.

"Charmed." He answered, his smile relaxing as she blinked and coughed, looking away with a bit of red on her face. Though something did bother him as he turned to see the black-haired girl freeze, her hands in her sleeves and looking like she was about to pounce.

He raised a brow at her giggle, "Hello~, I am the Eagle Union's first escort carrier, Long Island. I use cute planes to protect merchant ships as well as sea lanes~."

"Good to meet you." Alex said as he looked at the girls. "So… what are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Shipgirls." Laffey answered, yawning, "But the Sakura calls us Kansen. High Command doesn't like us using that name after their betrayal, so it's Shipgirl."

Sakura. Eagle Union.

"Right!" Javelin straightened, as if realizing something, "We have to call this in, right?"

"Mmh," Laffey grumbled, sitting down and falling back on the deck, "don't wanna."

"Me either." Long Island agreed, though now she was atop the Excalibur and languishing on one of the wings.

"I don't think we're in range either." Unicorn noted out loud. "We should turn back and leave Big Brother at Azur Lane."

"'Big Brother'?" He repeated with a bit of amusement as Unicorn squeaked and buried her face into the plushie she had on hand. She cautiously peeled away from it as he laughed, "Sorry, just never had someone call me that."

"You… You don't mind?" She asked, peeling away with a blush on her face as Alex shakes his head.

"Not at all." He confirmed, fond smile on his face, reaching out and tussling her hair gently. Smiling fondly, though he could see Javelin and Laffey's interest as he laughed. "Right, right. That's enough. You girls have got a job to do, right?"

"Ah." Javelin perked up, "Right, we're at the mid-way point." Javelin noted as the four close their eyes and the ship under his feet begin to shift, the others doing the same despite none of them having a crew. Tons of pounds of steel being moved at a thought.

What a scary thought.

They opened their eyes as they turned to him, "So, Mr. Walker," Javelin started, leaning forward in interest, "tell us a little about yourself."

"What's there to say?" He asked, grinning sardonically, "The only thing I can say is that I'm American on paper, and was born on international waters. Regardless, I went back home and decided to join the Army to help support my parents, joined the airborne division, tested out this jet and found myself here."

"Really?" Javelin asked as Long Island sighed atop the wings of his jet.

"I've never seen something like this." Long Island asserted from atop the wings of the Excalibur.

"It'd be weird if you did. It's…" He trailed off before continuing, "complicated."

It was, especially if you consider that either the Navy was better at hiding secrets than the Army, the Marines, the Air Force, and the government combined, or Alex isn't in his world anymore. It's the only thing that made sense, especially since one would have to ask why the Navy didn't attempt to deploy the Kansen during the War. Too many things didn't add up though.

It was also getting hot. He knew it was the Pacific, he knew it was hot, and he knew they're near the Hawaiian islands, but still…

Reaching up, he unzipped his bomber jacket, while capable of keeping him warm in the cold sky, is not doing him any favor in the Pacific atop the Unicorn. Unicorn seems to notice, "U-Umm, Big Brother, would you like to come inside? I can contact Azur Lane." She said as Laffey sat up.

"Mmh. Laffey will come inside." She spoke without prompting as Javelin chased after her.

"Laffey~, you can't just invite yourself, that's rude!" Javelin pointed out as Laffey tilted her head.

"Isn't staring at someone rude?" Laffey asked, Javelin's heart dropping as the Destroyer continued, "You were looking pretty hard at A-."

"It seems like you're getting heatstroke!" Javelin interrupted, turning to Unicorn with a blush on her face, "Is it alright if we go inside?"

"Umm, sure." Unicorn confirmed, looking at Alex as he nodded.

"Well, I'd love to. It's getting pretty warm." He added, removing his leather bomber and fiddling with the white shirt he wore under it, unaware of the intense stares he was getting from the various Kansen from the way his shirt clung to his well-built form.

He might have been a Commander and spent a lot of time flying before that, but he was also an Army grunt once and still works out on occasion. He's well-built and the Kansen, despite being the personification of warships, are young girls and women.

Alex turned and raised a brow at the stares, "Something on my face?" He asked, knocking them out of their stupor, with the exception of Laffey who shamelessly kept looking with the exact same sleepy eyes.

"N-No. Nothing." Unicorn began, hiding her red cheeks with her doll as she hurried, Javelin doing the same while pulling Laffey along. He passed under the wing of the Excalibur, a shadow appearing under him as he turned.

"Oof." He grunted, Long Island landing on him as the Kansen grabbed onto his neck and he caught her, finding his balance before he could fall.

"Ehehehe~." She chuckled mischievously, "You've caught this Ghost~."

"Well, you won't hear me complain." Alex retorted, amused as he reached up and tousled her hair. "You're definitely a lot prettier and a lot more corporeal than other ghosts I've met."

"Aw," Long Island said while he shifted, allowing her to move so he's giving her a piggy-back ride. "Thank you~."

He missed how Laffey, Javelin, and Unicorn seemed jealous of Long Island as he made his way through the HMS Unicorn's insides with a Ghost on his back and following the personifications of warships.

… It's been a strange day, probably only slightly beat by the day the timelines merged.

Within a room, a chubby bird was sleeping, its eyes opened and closed in a fugue of sleep, unable to completely wake itself up but still aware of its surroundings. Or, at least, that's what it would say if it was caught, at least it isn't a military employee, so it doesn't have to worry about the MP.

Then, a series of beeps rang out as the bird chirped, jerking up as it came to life. Its eyes looked around before it found the source as the Manjuu activated it. "Umm, this is the HMS Unicorn speaking."

The Manjuu chirped into the microphone as he pressed something else. If anyone was looking at the HMS Unicorn's communication room, they'd see a light come to life to represent that yes, someone was listening. Of course, Unicorn herself just felt it instinctively. "Please tell Big Sis-I mean, HMS Illustrious that we're making our way back. The patrol went fine, but we managed to find a man with the callsign Lazarus with a pretty jet. I think Big Sister and Prince of Wales would like to talk to him."

The Manjuu chirped before grabbing a paper and scribbling something on it while Unicorn spoke, describing a few more details. Finally, it chirped again and waited. "Umm, anything else? No, not really. Big Brother is very nice."

The Manjuu chirped once more and the connection is cut lest the Sakura manage to pin down their patrol's exact location from the signal.

Folding the paper, the Manjuu chirps, another Manjuu came as the first passed the paper to the second as the second nodded and walked to the edge of a nearby window, jumping off and flapping its wings as it flew. Below him was the Command Center of Azur Lane within the Pacific, a base resembling a town rather than a naval base split into 'districts' punctuated by the dorms found within. Stylistically, every dorm was different but of equal quality, even if a few are empty at the moment.

Flying over the Command Center, the Manjuu looked for the Royal Navy's dormitories, various ships docked by the port or on drydocks from recent encounters. Despite this, there were no males on the base, only females and the Manjuu themselves. The flags of the respective navies within are raised with the exception of a few.

The Manjuu made his way to a dormitory resembling a noble's home from the era of knights. It made its way through the back and towards a garden where two women were resting, drinking tea. Landing, it chirps, leaving the letter as a maid picked it up with brown eyes and stark white hair. "Thank you." She said, patting the bird's head and turned to the other two, "Illustrious, Prince of Wales, we seemed to have gotten some correspondence."

The first to react was a woman in a white dress and a white sunhat, her blue eyes twinkled with curiosity as her sizable chest shifted at every movement, her gloved hand leaving her tea on its plate. "Oh, is it from Unicorn?"

On the other side, a woman sipped from her cup of tea, her blonde hair cut short and braided with a uniform reminiscent of an officer's with a cape around her shoulder. She opened an eye, revealing a red eye as she fixed her skirt, "Or maybe it could be from Long Island, Javelin, or Laffey, calm yourself Illustrious. The surge of energy Akashi spoke of might have come from their direction, but it doesn't mean that they were in the midst of it. In fact, it's more than likely that they had something to report uninvolved with the surge."

"I know, Prince of Wales," Illustrious said calmly, "I'm just worried as an older sister ought to be."

Prince of Wales wryly smirked before accepting the letter from the maid. "Thank you, Hermione."

While the maid backed away with a bow, Prince of Wales opened the letter, humming as she read through the letter. Once she read through it, her lips twitched while she showed it to Illustrious, trying to stifle her chuckles. "Seems like Unicorn either brought you a brother, a husband, or a problem High Command won't like."

"Oh my." Illustrious said, noting the words, probably summarized as she read through it, her own lips forming into a smile, "Well isn't this interesting?"

"Sadly, Enterprise isn't here… again." Prince of Wales said with a sigh. "We'll have to call Hornet."

"The Grey Ghost should be back from her sortie in the afternoon, right?" Illustrious noted, "For now, let's get together and meet the other representatives and see what we can do."

Prince of Wales nodded along with her fellow Royal Navy Kansen. The two made their way outside the dormitory of the Royal Navy and to the mess hall, where the youngest sister of the Yorktown-class aircraft carriers of the Eagle Union was taking a moment to relax in between sorties and talking to her fellow Kansen.

"And then, as the Zeros closed in-." The blonde was in the middle of regaling one of the stories of her deployments, her twintails swayed with each movement as her cape covers her shoulders from the elements over her skimpy clothes. Despite the interest all the other Kansen displayed, she paused as she spotted Prince of Wales and Illustrious. "Oh, hey Prince! Illustrious!" She says, waving at them as she stood up, grabbing her cowboy hat and exiting from the stories as the various kitchen staff in the form of Kansen worked. "How's it hanging? Looking for my sister?"

"No, we were looking for you." Prince of Wales retorted with a smile as Hornet leaned forward with a raised brow, her green eyes twinkling from amusement.

"Because Enterprise isn't here." She pointed out, again, stepping forward as Prince of Wales and Illustrious did their very best not to show the guilt on their face.

"C'mon Hornet, lay off them a little bit, why don'tcha?" A blonde with red eyes and a white cape with star-spangled stockings on her feet walked up behind them, sending a pointed look at Hornet as the blonde reeled back and fixed her cowboy hat.

"Sorry, but it was amusing." Hornet responded as she laughed, Prince of Wales rolling her eyes as Illustrious brought a hand to her cheek.

"So, whatcha need?" Hornet asked, as Prince of Wales continued.

"Could you contact Eagle Union High Command. Unicorn's patrol came across a rogue element from the US Army, supposedly." She said as Hornet raises a brow, shifting as she places a fist against her hip.

"Huh, that's strange… What else do ya got on 'em?" She asked as Illustrious showed her the paper and Hornet grabbed him, reading it, "Airborne? Something ain't right." Hornet noted, returning the paper to them, "The Army ain't Marines, but they're still trained to a standard, especially the pilots. If someone like that went AWOL? Just ain't believable that they wouldn't tell us, or that they'd be around here at all."

"Oh?" Prince of Wales noted as Hornet nodded, her face scrunching up.

"I get the feeling that not everything is as it seems." Hornet said, her expression remarkably serious with a hand on her chin, a beat of silence overcoming all of them.

"Would you quit it with the jokes?" Cleveland requested with exasperation while Hornet chuckled.

"Alright, but seriously, something ain't right." Hornet noted as she brought up a hand to her chin. "Let me call my sister, make sure she's actually stopping by to have maintenance performed on her."

"That would be ideal." Prince of Wales suggested with a sigh, "the higher-ups won't like this at all."

"Well," Hornet said with spread hands and raised shoulders, "now you know how we feel."

"I heard one of the higher-ups from the Eagle Union was a real go-getter." Prince of Wales noted as she brought up a hand to her chin, "What was it… Warspite really liked reading one of his manuals… 'Learn how to fire accurately before learning how to fire quickly'?"

"Oh him." Hornet noted with a nod, "Yeah, he worked with Washington for a while. Heard he used the image of the German Chancellor to test the security of a lot of places."

"Which one?"

"The one that caused a rift between the Iron Blood and the military." Hornet answered as Prince of Wales reeled. Even in Azur Lane, it was common knowledge that the wehrmacht, especially the Iron Blood, did not get along well with the current Chancellor and the cause of the war. They'd do their duties as warships and protect their home and its people from the consequences of the first War, but they do not share the ideologies of their leaders, something obvious in their alliance with the Sakura Empire, not the Japanese government.

While there is a separation between governments and their militaries, and even further their Kansen, everyone with the right information can tell that the separation within Germany's forces is way, way larger than is normal. Considering they recently began working with Sirens, even the government has tried to cut them off, which is like watching cars crash.

Still, Illustrious interjected, "Ladies, I believe it'd be prudent to prepare a room for our guest."

"Where?" Cleveland pointed out, "I mean, we've got the dorms and I don't think anyone would care."

"I'm a bit worried how some of the girls would react." Prince of Wales noted out loud, "We haven't had much interaction with the other sex ever since we gained these bodies." She noted, running her hand over her buxom body.

"True." Cleveland noted, scratching her cheeks, "Everything we do is mostly automatic, so having a crew would just be bothersome."

"Well, he can stay in the Eagle Union dorm until we, or High Command, figure out what to do with him." Hornet noted as she scratched at her cheek.

"He'll probably be more comfortable in the Royal Navy's dormitory." Prince of Wales pointed out, pointing at Hermione following after them, "The Maid Corps' service is second-to-none."

While the white-haired maid subtly puffed her chest out in pride, Cleveland and Hornet glanced at each other. "Prince, I don't know how the Brits train their soldiers, but I think going from being forced awake to being gently woken up by a maid…"

"There's a shift, and then there's a plummet." Cleveland pointed out as Hornet nodded. "Besides, he's American, Eagle Union, I'm fairly sure he'd be a lot more comfortable waking up somewhere that's similar to home, at least."

"Well, that is true." Prince of Wales admitted before nodding, "But do the dorms have the space?"

"We should." Hornet nods, "If we don't, we can just throw him in the Commander's Quarters or something."

"Hornet," Prince of Wales began sternly, "you know that's not our decision to make."

"I know, but it's literally the only place we can put a human in if we don't have the space." Hornet pointed out as Prince sighed.

"Let's leave the discussions until the others get back." Illustrious recommended with a smile, "Let's go tell Akashi and Shiranui first though."

"Right," Cleveland said, chuckling, "the minty kitty was panicking when she couldn't figure out what that surge of energy was. C'mon, before Akashi cooks up some new scheme or other."

Within the folds of reality, away from what man, woman, religious, atheist or whatever, a young girl hummed, her white hair floating behind her and her body scarcely covered, her yellow eyes glowed and she rested atop a bundle of tentacles covering futuristic armament. "How curious."

Something has invaded this world, something no one expected.

It prodded a bit of… curiosity within her, so she looked for the origin, observing as she followed the ripples and came across nothing but air over the area. Not even a spatial, temporal, or quantum disturbance to be found.

"Interesting…" Her voice hummed, placing a hand on her cheek and pondering, "Now, where could it have gone?"

For anyone else, trying to find the source of the disruption would have been like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

For Observer Alpha, it was a simple effort of a wave of her hand as a near infinite number of holographic screens appeared around her, "Oh, there it is~." She hummed, the image she was looking at zooming in and humming. "Those… They shouldn't be around yet." Observer noted, bringing a hand to her chin.

A different screen appeared, this time, showing Alex with Unicorn, Javelin, Laffey, and Long Island talking within the HMS Unicorn's mess hall. "So, who are you?" She asked no one in particular, but the screen answered.

A minute widening of her eyes revealed her surprise as she got nothing beyond his existence within the timeline amounting to an hour.

For a second, she tried the same on the jet and got a similar reaction as slowly, her lips stretched into a grin. "How interesting. I wonder where you'll end up? A simple number? A variable? Or maybe something else entirely…?" She trailed off before her thoughts were interrupted, another screen showing a brunette kitsune with a jacket over a short red skirt and a white shirt with red eyes narrowed, a white-haired kitsune trailed behind her, a white coat over a black shirt and a short blue skirt as her blue eyes were narrowed.

Huffing, the Siren disappeared and met the pair of foxes within their Sanctuary. "Akagi, Kaga, how can the Creator be of help to you today?"

"I care little about the Creator at the moment," Akagi hissed, glaring at the Siren with derision, "tell me, what was that surge of energy?"

Observer paused before holding a finger to her chin. "A new variable has been introduced." She answered, "The Creator did not foresee this." She noted with a slight frown before it turned back into it's usual smug smile.

Despite the pair of Kansen trying to grill her for information, they didn't get much else, to their frustration.

Atop the Tirpitz, corralled to the arctic, a woman in a white uniform with silver hair looked out into the South, her breath turned into mist as she asked herself, "If I can feel it, I wonder how the rest are taking it."

She knew that many will ignore it in favor of defending their homeland, but being so far, Tirpitz has had a lot of time to… think.

Her sister, the woman that leads the Iron Blood with the Sirens, has long since dimmed in her mind, leaving her without much to do except… think.

Think…

Think…

She'd long since run out of subjects to think of. She's memorized her ship and it's parts enough times that she probably knows it better than her own body. The ice of the North has long since become a curse to her and her mind, being the only thing she could see for miles.

Her radio has been broken, the most she can get is the occasional burst of conversation from her homeland. It's not good.

Forget about her fellow Kansen, her own country will tear her and her sisters down for siding with the enemy of humanity. The iron in her blood has long since gone cold, no longer does she have the same fire she once did as she waits for her death to at least be honorable.

The distant sound of the British Air Force answered her as she frowned, it seemed like her wish won't be accomplished any time soon. Fine then.

For a second, a spark of indignation, frustration, and uncharacteristic heat coursed through her as she resolved herself. She'll either die in combat or live to see the end of this damned war to punch the face of the Chancellor. Or to attend his funeral and have her thirty-eight centimeter guns blow up the casket. If that's not possible… well, she'll think of something. Maybe take down the Siren whispering nothings into her sister's ear.

Her eyes narrowed as she released a long breath of air, the ensuing mist far thicker than before from the heat she thought she long lost to the cold. After all, one doesn't step on the pride of the Iron Blood and expect to escape unscathed, much less without first facing their wrath.

"Gott mit uns." She chanted under her breath.

Within the mess hall of the HMS Unicorn, Alex listened to the girl talk about 'Azur Lane', which confirmed a few things that had him a bit worried. For one, he's not in the same world as his own. Not as in Hell or Heaven either, but the world he was in was an almost alternate version of his with a few minute differences that end up causing some large alterations.

Azur Lane and the Kansen are one, technically, the Kansen must have come first since Azur Lane came after they researched these 'Wisdom Cubes' and found them especially compatible with warships, which made sense to Alex, in a way. While he might have been an army grunt before becoming the Commander of the Allied Forces, he's seen the Navy grunts care for their warships, old they might be.

They called them 'her', cared for them with love, as if they were 'real' rather than simply a warship. Some were disassembled or sold and others were lovingly placed in the middle of land to be used for when they should be needed or to be admired by the public, still, warships always seemed to have this nature to them that made them stand out.

So, these Kansen or Shipgirls, were gathered in an area otherwise known as 'Azur Lane' where the world's navies would come together and study them from their day-to-day lives. They'd go through school, perform exercises, and would get into arguments, fight, and more as most people would.

Then, things began to change, Nimi and Ayanami began to become more distant along with the rest of their factions, Iron Bloods and the Sakura Empire, Germany and Japan respectively. Their navies began to distance themselves as well, forcing Azur Lane in half as some of the Iron Blood Kansen began to see their caretakers with suspicion and distaste.

Then, one day, quite recently, the Sakura Empire bombed Pearl Harbor and declared war before the Iron Blood sunk the Hood using Siren technology.

"Pause, pause." He interrupted Javelin's tearful re-telling of the event, Laffey and Long Island trying to recreate it by her directions, except neither had the energy to act as anything other than Hood. So, while they tried to recreate the event (circled each other and occasionally performing the other's directions) through Javelin's instructions (who only had a second-hand account), the moment Hood's death came, Laffey immediately slumped over and fell asleep. Unicorn was leaning against him, holding her stuffed animal.

"Yeah?" Javelin asked, turning to him from her spot atop one of the tables of the mess hall, acting as the narrator like a Shakespearean actor. "What is it?"

"Like, Sirens Siren?" He asked, bringing both arms in front of him to emphasize his question, Unicorn shifting so he can remove his arm before she returns to leaning on him. "Beautiful women who tempt sailors with her songs."

"No." Javelin shook her head without pause and with confidence.

"Nah." Long Island confirmed.

"Talentless autotune users." Laffey insulted. Though Alex wondered if the 1940s had autotune, then again, the technology that came from Azur Lane has practically launched technology by leaps and bounds according to the group.

"I've never seen one." Unicorn admitted, though she began to blush as he placed an arm around her shoulders, resting it idly so as to not bother her to move while Long Island, Laffey and Javelin looked on with a bit of envy.

"Have any of you seen one?" Alex asked and the other three raised their hands.

"Well, they're not ugly." Javelin admitted while scratching her cheek. "Just…"

"Alien." Laffey elaborated, "Tentacles, strange rigging, powerful weapons, green eyes, very strong, very annoying."

"Huh," Alex hummed, "so their technology is incredibly advanced and the entire reason for this war is whether it should be used or not."

"Yeah, that's the gist of it." Javelin answered as Alex brought a hand to his chin.

Because something isn't making sense. "And everyone agrees they're the enemy of humanity, right?"

"Yes." Laffey confirmed.

"What about the governments?" He asked and Unicorn perked up.

"Well, Big Sister said that the Germans didn't admit to anything, just that the Iron Blood isn't listening to them anymore." Unicorn explained as Long Island grabbed something from her pocket and scrolled through it.

"Here." She said, showing it to him to reveal a news site. Grabbing it, he thanked her and read through it, he had one thought in mind as a new difference was revealed.

Nazi Germany and its various atrocities…

Slowly, he returned it to Long Island as his jaw tightened and he hissed, even Unicorn leaned away from him as the comforting warmth was replaced by righteous anger and indignation. In his world, Nazi Germany wasn't a thing, for some reason, but here…

He could imagine how it went, the American public wanted to stay out of the war in Europe, a European issue. Then, recently, Pearl Harbor was attacked. Probably what changed the public's tune and Naval High Command as well. It's no wonder why a race that came from warships created by human hands meant to protect them would rebel against their country for an edge against their enemies.

Releasing the anger with a sigh, he tapped the table for a bit, "Unethical experiments… A rebellion… Aliens… Kansen… Wisdom Cubes… Iron Blood…"

The future is the outcome of events, of people and their choices, never set in stone, but like any equation easily solved on paper with the chance of something entirely different happening in reality. So all that needs to be done is trace it back.

"Tell me more about the Sakura Empire." He asked and the Kansen relented, the glint in his eyes and his very stature different from before with an almost commanding presence.

To Alex, they sounded like Imperial Japan with an emphasis on the Emperor and their gods, except they've also split from their Navy. They and the Iron Blood joined in an alliance as the Axis. Notorious for their aircraft carriers at the moment, but he needs more information. There's a lot he isn't getting at the moment, but he has an idea.

"So, it's a war between the Axis, who want to use the Siren's technology and Azur Lane that doesn't want to use it with the Axis probably being filled with muscle headed idiots with too much pride in their veins." Alex noted out loud while they listened, "Still, why…?"

"What do you mean 'why'?" Javelin asked, scratching at the back of her head, "Sirens do have superior technology."

"Sure, but they're also the enemy, actually, the Sirens gave humanity the Wisdom Cubes, right?" The others nodded while Alex returned back deep into thought. "Why?"

There's a reason things beyond the comprehension of man were labeled as 'aliens' or 'eldritch', so with a sigh, Alex abandoned the line of thought for the moment as he turned to something slightly more comprehensible. The female personification of warships.

"There are very few things that can cause people to turn to something so obviously wrong. Death, love, anger, so what could it be?" Alex asked himself, and while he's no genius, he was a Commander of a force that went against a psychic through time after being caught completely off-guard. He understood people and armies pretty well, especially soldiers.

He didn't have enough information, but the Iron Bloods are fairly simple, they want to protect their country and humanity. Enough so that they turned into the enemy…

No, the Sirens are the enemy, and now, with a war all over the world, no Navy or government is going to just give up and admit that their pet projects have gone haywire. How would the public react?

His foot began to tap while he narrowed his eyes at the empty table, idly noting that he didn't have to do this, but he ignored it. It's what he's done for a long time, once more wouldn't hurt.

The mind behind the Allied Forces that fought against the Soviets and Yuri whirled as he frowned.

Not enough information for a conclusive plan, but he can see how it could and probably should play out. Capture, the less ships sunk, the more allies Azur Lane would have if the Sirens attack, then there's the allies…

The Kansen are a state secret, so no civilian knows the truth while the war wages on, and if the Iron Blood just appeared after the war ended, the stigma of the Nazis won't leave so easily. Not to mention any concessions that'd be done once the war was over that'd probably leave Germany in a horrible position.

Then, there's the Sakura, again, enemies, but far more direct this time. Probably just as unlikely to give up…

Well, he's gone up against worse odds.

He scoffed and relaxed, leaning on his arm as he grinned lazily, "Well, that's one absurd history lesson."

The change surprised them as the four glanced at each other. "Big Brother, what were you thinking about?"

He glanced at Unicorn and pat her head, tussling it slightly, "Just the future, the Sirens are the enemy, but if this war runs its course, the Iron Blood and the Sakura might have some trouble integrating with the civilians which might either force the governments to either scrap them or risk attacks from these civilians. The problem is that the Iron Blood probably wouldn't fire on their own, so the only way to change that would be to pit them against something or someone else, and once the war is over the demands will start and absolutely cripple Germany, which won't make the Iron Blood happy."

He didn't stop there, Alex mumbled out random ideas and possible events as Long Island, Javelin, Laffey and Unicorn all had one thought.

It makes sense.

Among the Naval higher-ups, not many have said anything beyond winning the war, simply telling them to fight for their country, which all of them are willing to do, but they haven't been told much. So, suddenly being told all these details and how they can be accomplished made them wonder how someone like this could call themselves a 'simple soldier with a jet'.

The group cruised to the chain of islands that made up Azur Lane, all of them chatting as they got closer.

They were all excited and wondering what their future seemed like.

"Grab her legs!" Alex yelled, slipping behind a woman with long white hair, an admiral's cap over it. Gray eyes widened in confusion, a sleeveless button-up shirt with a black jacket hanging off her elbows, a short black skirt with black thigh highs.

"Yes sir!" A blond in a bikini top, cape, and short-shorts said, grabbing the legs of Alex's poor victim and bringing them to her waist, the woman looking around in confusion.

"Hornet! What are you-?" The woman asked as she tried to struggle, but both of them had a good grip on her body.

"Sorry Enterprise," Hornet grins with a wink, her green eyes glinting with worry and amusement, "Commander's orders."

"He's not even, hey-!" Enterprise started, the duo making their way to the mess hall as an eagle trailed after them.

Prince of Wales, Illustrious, and Hermione watched in confusion and a bit of fear, since as far as they knew, the only thing that happened was that Alex asked Enterprise when was the last time she ate and Enterprise evaded the question, to everyone's exasperation.

She was devoted, extremely so, and it seems like that wasn't enough for someone.

"We should follow them." Illustrious suggests as Prince of Wales nods and the trio make their way to the mess hall.

As they got closer, they could see a congregation of Kansen outside as they peeked in and Cleveland turned to them with a twitchy smile. "Hey, was that Enterprise being carried in with a stranger and Hornet?"

Before anyone could answer, Hornet yelled, "I got the rope!"

"Good." A masculine voice noted with a bit too much excitement, like a young boy preparing for a prank, "I'll go check if you have any Carolina reapers."

"Carolina what!?" Enterprise yelled as she struggled harder, but Hornet was far from being her lesser in strength, holding her down while Alex tied her up to a chair. Once she was, he disappeared behind the kitchen, dismissing the maids and kitchen staff on duty for 'health' reasons.

"What is-!?" Prince of Wales started, imbuing as much dignity and commanding presence she could in her voice, only to be interrupted by Alex.

"Damn, Hornet, you know if you've got any mutated Carolina reapers?" He asked as even Hornet paused to check the kitchen to see Alex looking back, like he didn't ask for something absurd. After a long second, he clicked his tongue. "Nevermind, normal ones will do."

He entered back into the kitchen for a while before looking back out. "Where are the normal Carolina reapers?"

A/N: So, new chapter, and a very… different reception of Enterprise than usual. We'll go over how it got to this point in the next chapter, but keep in mind, beyond just being a Commander, he was the only one left after the Soviet's invasion as well as being a grunt in the army once, he knows his fair share of mischief and the look of a haunted soldier.

As for the Carolina reapers… Well, that's for the next chapter.

Anyway, there's not much I have to say at the moment other than I hope you enjoyed it. Please, leave a review, I like reading them.