Narrator's POV
In the middle of the calm blue ocean, the waves whispered as they were broken by the hull of the helicopter destroyer JS Izumo DDH-183. Parked on standby on the flight deck were four helicopters: two AW249 Fenice and two Mi-42 Comets. There stood a silver-haired shipgirl, her fox ears twitching sensitively from the ocean breeze and a slight itch. She was waving her hands in front of one of the helicopters. The helicopter's front machine gun, located beneath the cabin, moved in sync with her hand gestures.
JS Izumo had been reincarnated from her previous life. Once an adult male gamer, she was now a shipgirl with a fox tail that loved to sway from side to side. Izumo was genuinely curious if she could control all the equipment on this ship just using her hands. After testing it on one of the helicopters, she approached two anti-submarine grenade launchers mounted on the starboard side of the carrier's upper deck: the Israeli-made Mars-290. She tried moving her hands, and the car-sized weaponry moved along with them.
Izumo then looked at an uninhabited sandy island visible in the distance. She tried to aim by pointing her hands toward the island in a pistol-shooting pose. Using her imagination, she envisioned shooting the small island and suddenly....
Dash... dash.... dash...!!!!
The two grenade launchers fired four projectiles per weapon—a total of eight projectiles streaking toward the island, leaving a trail of red smoke and fire. This startled Izumo so much that she jumped in a panic and fell backward, accidentally bumping into Akaneko.
"Ouch, Big Sis Izumo. Watch your back," Akaneko complained. Izumo got up and pulled Akaneko's hand to help her stand while bowing apologetically.
"Sorry... sorry... sorry... I was startled because the sound of these grenade launchers is way louder than when I play games with double surround sound TWS," Izumo said, bowing her head so low she almost fell over again. This just made Akaneko laugh.
"Hahaha... you're so funny, Big Sis Izumo. If you fall onto the launcher deck, you're going to scratch your face. Anyway, let's go to the commander's cabin. Let's eat together. The fried fish is ready, along with your favorite Es Degan. You're a big fan of iced young coconut, right, sis?" Akaneko said.
Izumo stood up straight.
"Of course. I really love iced young coconut; it's so fresh and soothing. Let's go, little Akaneko!" Izumo said, pulling Akaneko's tiny hand. They walked from the flight deck into the conning tower.
The day was indeed very bright. The Carrier Destroyer was sailing straight ahead but hadn't yet set a destination. Izumo herself chose to follow the navigation displayed on the ship's GPS monitor, as it showed a shipping lane leading to a point that seemed rather unfamiliar to her. Even her geographical knowledge from her past life couldn't explain it. What was clear was that she was steering the ship toward the end point, which read: Arctic Ocean.
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Somewhere in the vast blue ocean, four shipgirls were patrolling together. This was due to the detection of a dimensional rift—one they felt and experienced the exact same way during the past battle between the Sirens and their Fleet against several ships of the Azur Lane faction alliance. After a brief split, the Red Axis and Azur Lane finally worked together—albeit following their own paths—in dealing with the Siren anomaly and lived together in the Home Port.
However, one day, during their final battle against a massive Siren force, a dimensional rift and portal appeared. With a massive burst of energy, it suddenly transported all the ships and the central base to another dimension. The central base where the WW2-era shipgirls of the four Azur Lane Factions lived: Eagle Union, Royal Navy, Sakura Empire, and Iron Blood.
The four patrolling ships were HMS Javelin, USS Laffey, IJN Ayanami, and KMS Z23 (Nimi).
"Nimi, are you sure this is the right direction?" Javelin asked. She was leading in the front. Her purple hair fluttered in the wind due to their high speed.
"Yes, according to Lady Hood's instructions. Some of Zuikaku's reconnaissance planes detected this point; they saw a massive explosion on a small island and the silhouette of a foreign ship we've never encountered before," Nimi said, keeping her focus forward, occasionally sneezing from the cold. The air was indeed freezing, and dark cumulonimbus clouds could be seen looming ahead.
"Laffey wants to get there soon... and sleep..." Laffey mumbled with droopy, sleepy eyes.
"Laffey, if you don't focus, you're going to crash into Nimi!" Javelin warned.
Ayanami, the Sakura Empire destroyer shipgirl behind them, smiled. She looked toward the sky and her surroundings, setting her ear sensors to be highly sensitive and on high alert. She concentrated on detecting any anomalies nearby. Her red eyes seemed capable of seeing very far into the distance.
Izumo had fallen asleep in the captain's chair until an alarm startled her awake. Several objects were detected on the ship's radar. Izumo rubbed her eyes and looked at the monitor. A "detected" alarm flashed, showing 4 very small dots. Izumo panicked.
"What is that... and why are they so small?" Izumo said.
Izumo then woke up Jolly, who was also asleep in the navigator's seat.
"What's wrong, Big Sis Izumo?" Jolly asked.
"Something's been detected on the ship's radar. If this were a game, these would be enemies. But we don't know how this world works," Izumo said frantically. "Where is Akaneko?"
The two of them looked around, but the cute red catgirl was nowhere to be seen. When Izumo looked out at the flight deck, she saw Akaneko looking off to the starboard side of the ship. She seemed to be looking at something and preparing to welcome it. Izumo tried to look in the direction Akaneko was facing. To her utter shock, four shipgirls with their weapon riggings fully active were heading straight for them; the estimated distance to intercept was only 30 nautical miles.
She recognized their figures. They were her favorite characters from a game. Yes, the game Azur Lane. She knew they were the four best destroyer shipgirls of their respective factions.
"Javelin, Laffey, Z23, Ayanami. So, is this world also connected to the Azur Lane game? But there should be Siren Aliens too. As long as we've been sailing, I haven't seen any of those trademark pale, yellow-clad Aliens," Izumo thought.
She hurriedly ran downstairs and out of the tower, rushing toward Akaneko and standing beside her.
"Akaneko, it seems the dimensions of the games I used to play have all mixed into one. Let's hope we're safe in this world," Izumo said.
Akaneko looked at Izumo, whose gaze was locked onto the four shipgirls approaching the carrier. Akaneko held Izumo's left hand and smiled, comforting her.
"Don't worry, Big Sis Izumo. You, Akaneko, and Jolly will always adventure together and protect each other in this world," Akaneko cheered her up.
Izumo smiled hearing that. Now, they prepared to meet different shipgirls originating from a completely different game.
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Javelin's POV
I saw a massive ship, without too many sharp angles or weapons on top of it. Its shape was like the aircraft carrier Enterprise. But it was different. The ship was bright ash-grey, carrying a strange vehicle with propellers on top. What model of aircraft was that? Ever since our home port was dimensionally displaced because of the Sirens, we had never met any shipgirls other than the ones from the home port.
"Nimi, what do you think that is?" I asked my teammate, Nimi (Z23), whom I considered the most knowledgeable.
"That ship is definitely not a Siren. Because it doesn't have the red coloration. And," she glanced up at the ship's deck, "it looks like they're waiting for us. That girl is... a fox?" said Nimi, whose tone was initially flat but shifted to bewilderment. "Ayanami, she looks similar to the Sakura Empire shipgirls," Nimi added.
I looked over at Ayanami; she seemed intrigued. The ship was unfamiliar, but her physical traits resembled a Sakura Empire shipgirl.
"Let me do the talking with that girl, desu..." Ayanami said.
"Stay careful, we don't know them yet," I said worriedly.
As a Royal Navy ship, Javelin was entrusted with keeping the team safe during the mission. Thus, Javelin made sure her friends were secure and didn't act recklessly.
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POV Returns to Narrator
The distance closed, and finally, both parties met on the same path. Ayanami, followed by a worried-looking Javelin, a cold Nimi (Z23), and a still-sleepy Laffey, jumped onto the flight deck with their weapon riggings active. Javelin held her spear at the ready, while Ayanami held the three of them back. She walked forward alone toward Izumo.
"Umm... Who are you, desu?" Ayanami asked, standing in front of Izumo and Akaneko.
Izumo extended her hand in greeting.
"Nice to meet you, I'm An— uh, JS Izumo. You must be Ayanami, and your friends behind you are Laffey, Javelin, and Z23, who goes by Nimi," Izumo said confidently, though slightly hesitant about whether she'd get a different reaction.
Ayanami was surprised, but she remained calm. It wasn't as tense as the old days when she was still hostile towards Azur Lane and was given infiltration missions.
"How do you know our names?" Ayanami asked with a serious face. The ocean breeze blew both of their hair to the side, seemingly amplifying the tension.
But Izumo calmly answered Ayanami's question.
"Because we are not from this world. And I myself am confused as to what world this is. You could say I come from another world," Izumo stated.
"Then why are you on this weirdly shaped ship?" Ayanami asked.
"This is JS Izumo, Japan's largest aircraft carrier in the modern era. This Japan is just like the Sakura Empire where you come from. And I reincarnated into the form of this shipgirl. But I don't know any other way to fight besides controlling this ship's weapons. I don't know how to become like you guys, Kansen," Izumo answered at length.
Ayanami was shocked; the silver-haired girl in front of her knew about the Sakura Empire, the Kansen Engage Mode, and moreover, she was an aircraft carrier with a naming convention identical to Sakura Empire shipgirls.
"So, where do you guys come from, or are you here to chase me away?" Izumo asked with a confused expression.
Ayanami thought for a moment.
"I'll take you to the command center, 200 nautical miles south of here. We also switched dimensions, and this ocean is unfamiliar to us. Seeing that you're also a shipgirl from another world, I think it's better if we have a relaxed chat at the port, desu," Ayanami said.
Izumo nodded and looked at Akaneko. Her tail swayed left and right. With her innocent smile, Akaneko continued holding Izumo's hand. The other three shipgirls approached. Jolly was also standing behind Izumo now.
"Okay, deal. We will come with you," Izumo said firmly, followed by a loud blast from the carrier's horn. "In the meantime, take a rest. Eat with the three of us. You must be hungry from crossing the ocean in Engage mode with active weapons."
Ayanami looked at Laffey, Javelin, and Nimi (Z23). They nodded.
"Laffey is hungry... needs sleep," Laffey muttered.
"Laffey, being hungry means you need to eat, not sleep, duh," Nimi (Z23) remarked as she prepared to un-engage her rigging.
And finally, the four of them deactivated their active rigging mode. The four destroyer ships materialized and sailed alongside the aircraft carrier JS Izumo DDH-183. Izumo smiled before entering the conning tower. She realized she had reincarnated into a game world she used to play, and they had both experienced an anomaly that threw them into an unknown world—but still on Earth. For now, she had just met the members of Azur Lane. What about other humans? To be certain, she had to follow them and sail to the home port.
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POV: A seagull flying over the sea. Below it, the aircraft carrier JS Izumo DDH-183 was escorted by the destroyer ships sailing in an H-formation: HMS Javelin, USS Laffey, KMS Z23 (Nimi), and IJN Ayanami.
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To be continued....
Chapter 2: The Secrets of the World, and Me Learning to be Like Them.