Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Georgia was having a lovely day.  Sipping cola as she sunbathed on her towel, she chose to invite one of her predecessors to hang out with her.  The Prototype Battleship was wearing quite the alluring black bikini and a matching shawl, her blue star-shaped shades covering her eyes from the sun.

"Thanks, Arizona," she said with a satisfied sigh after gulping down her fifth bottle.  Must be nice to consume all that sugar with no consequences.  "For coming out with me.  Really means a lot."

Said dreadnought was also laying on her own towel, wearing a pair of aviators and a tantalizing navy-blue two-piece.   She was also drinking a cola, courtesy of her junior.

"It's no problem, Georgia.  I enjoy getting to know you and the other fast-types," Arizona replied.

"Still," Georgia started, eying her companion's choice of wear, "never expected you to wear something so daring."

"Oh, umm," Arizona fidgeted a bit.  "It was a gift from the Commander.  I couldn't refuse him."

Georgia simply hummed in response.  Everyone at Azur Lane knew it was a matter of time before those two got hitched.  The man was probably still apprehensive about Penny and Mo being all passive aggressive towards him.  At least the former did it in good fun.  The latter was a bit overprotective.

"Well, just don't tell my sister where you got that from.  She might throw a fit," Georgia quipped.

Somewhere in a distant bush, watching over the two with binoculars, Missouri sneezed.

"Damn allergies," Mighty Mo mightily muttered.

Arizona chuckled at the comment.  "Missouri means well, I'm sure.  I wouldn't mind if you could reel her in a bit, though."

"Don't you worry 'bout that, I can handle her," Georgia replied, opening another bottle of cola.  "Besides, once Iowa shows up, it'll be smooth sailin' from there."

"I look forward to meeting her, and her other sisters." Arizona popped open her second bottle.

"I'll toast to that," Georgia said with a grin.  The two clinked their bottles together.

And so the two Eagle Union battleships spent the rest of their day relaxing and having light conversation.  Truly, nothing could interrupt their peaceful moment.  Except the author wanted to write something dumb.  Like how a portal opened up several meters in the air above them, dumping a visitor in a world she's not supposed to be in.

"Aaaaahhhhh!" The figure screamed as she fell from the sky before landing face-first and eating sand.

"Woah, what the hell was that?" Georgia jumped to her feet in alarm, Arizona following suit.

"Someone just fell from the sky!" Arizona shouted.  "Why? How?!"

Said figure shook her head free and spat out some sand.  She was wearing a brown poncho over her white front tie top that exposed her midriff.  A brown eye patch with a white star could be seen under her blonde locks.  "Aww hell, where's mah hat gone off to?"

The mystery girl stood up, dusting sand off her grey chaps that she wore over denim short shorts. 

"Shucks, there's even sand in mah boots," she whined while trying to shake her brown boots around, the movement causing the silver spurs on her heels to spin slightly.  Then her face lit up as she saw the brown cowboy hat in the sand, dusting it off before placing it back on her head.

Arizona and Georgia looked at each other confused.  Apparently a cowgirl dropped in from above.  

"Uh, hello there," Georgia greeted.

"Are you lost?" Arizona asked.

"Hmm?" The cowgirl looked up in mild confusion before growing alarmed.  "Wait, who the heck are you guys?  Da heck am I?!"

"Woah, calm down, missy." Georgia tried to placate the girl.  She was already waving her arms in panic and flailing about like a fish out of water.

"Careful, Georgia.  She's probably afraid of us," Arizona noted.  She took a closer look and noticed the black iron piece holstered on her side, previously hidden by the poncho.  "And she's armed, too.  She can't kill us but don't spook her."

"Dang straight, I'm armed," the crazy girl said.  Her right hand hovered close to the gun while her left reached for the whip on her other hip.  "You girls Sangvis Ferri? Don't look like any Sangvis I ever seen, ya got the wrong color scheme."

"Sangvis Ferri? No, I'm sorry," Arizona replied.  She knew a bit of Latin to try and guess what the girl meant.  "Are you looking for the Iron Blood dorms? We can take you to see Bismarck."

"Bismarck? Who's Bismarck? Sounds like somethin' Kar98 or MP40 would talk 'bout."  The girl's posture relaxed, her hands drifting away from her armaments.  She realized she wasn't in immediate danger and that the two women in front of her were definitely not Sangvis.  "What is this place, anyways?"

"Well, we're in the Azur Lane base.  I'm Georgia and this here's Arizona," the taller girl explained, pulling a cola bottle out of nowhere to offer.  "Here, why don't you just relax over a drink and we can talk, yeah?"

Like a switch had been flipped, the girl immediately became cheerful and friendly.  "Interesting names there, but whatever. Ya got some cola for lil' old me? Why, thank ya kindly. Name's SAA but y'all can call me Colt 45 or Peacemaker.  And I freakin' love cola!"

"Wait, you're name is my home state's official firearm?" Arizona questioned with furrowed eyebrows.  

Before SAA could answer or take the offered cola bottle, thundering footsteps could be heard behind her.

"I ain't letting you hurt Arizona, criminal!" Missouri came barreling down the beach at 30 knots before knocking out SAA with her mighty uppercut and sending her flying.  Apparently, she had seen the holstered firearm and deemed her a threat to Arizona.  In other words, she overreacted.  Again.

Once again, the blonde cowgirl ate sand as she landed headfirst from her impressive descent, groaning her last words in lament.  "My colaaaa...."

"Mo, what the heck?" Georgia facepalmed, shaking her head.

Arizona could only nurse her temples with one hand, the signs of a migraine about to form. "Missouri, please stand down." That was all she could say in exasperation.  

"B-but I was protecting you! Sis, back me up, c'mon!" Mighty Mo wailed in confusion.

"We'll explain later, just pick her up, will ya." Georgia ordered, Arizona already moving to pack up their things.

"So you mean to say this girl," the Commander pointed at SAA currently nursing her chin with an ice pack on his guest couch, "fell from the sky and introduced herself as a revolver from the late 19th century?"

The three battleships and SAA were currently in the Commander's office.  Arizona and Georgia were still in their swimwear but he tried to keep his cool.  He's seen more revealing outfits with the less restrained Ship-Girls.  They had just finished explaining the weird situation to him, and gave a quick summary to the injured girl about Azur Lane and Ship-Girls.

"That's about it," Georgia clarified.  "Miss Zuri over here decided to knock her flat after we calmed her down."

Missouri could only stand there between Arizona and Georgia, trying not to look embarrassed at her blunder.  "Look, I'm really sorry about that.  I thought she was gonna pull her gun on Arizona."

"Don't say it to us," Georgia growled.  She grabbed the top of Missouri's head and turned her to face SAA.  "Say it to her."

"I'm sorry," Missouri said as she was forced into a bow.  

"Now give this to her." Georgia pushed a bottle into Missouri's hands.

"Here you go, please accept this as a token of apology." Missouri bowed lower as she offered the cold beverage to the injured girl.

"Thanks," SAA muttered, taking the cola with her free hand and popping the lid with her thumb.  Then she chugged the thing in record time, earning a whistle of approval from Georgia.

As if by some miracle, SAA looked right as rain as she placed the empty bottle on the nearby coffee table. "Ahh, that hit the spot. I feel good as new, woowee!"

"That's good. Now, if you could explain yourself," the Commander suggested.

"Right. Howdy, y'all. Like I said before gettin' launched like a fresh boot off the back of a bronco, my name's SAA, short for Single Action Army. You can call me Peacemaker, Colt 45, Colt Revolver, or just plain ol' Colt if ya want." SAA burped. "Scuse me."

"Why are you named after a revolver?" Georgia asked.

"Well, all T-Dolls employed by Griffin are designated after their imprinted firearm. I think our CEO is a bit cuckoo, coming up with that naming system. Not as cuckoo as that mad scientist cat lady, she gives me shivers."

Nearby Akashi coughed up a furball.  Somewhere else, Persica choked on her coffee and Berezovich Kryuger flexed his pecs for no reason.

"I would call that weird, but us girls are named after places and people," Arizona mused.

"What's a T-Doll?" Missouri posed the question.

"Eh, think of us like androids modeled after humans. Course, you got them plain military hardware types that look like moving blocks of metal."

"Is Griffin your company?" The Commander asked.

"Sort of. Griffin and Kryuger is one of the PMCs left in my world. Keep the peace, security detail, yada yada."

"How did you get here, anyway?" Missouri questioned.

"Was runnin' a combat sim against Makarov again. There's usually a glitch in the system I liked to use to get the drop on others, but Miss Kalin patched it out. Curiosity got the better of me, I went to see for myself, then bam I end up on your beach." By this time, Georgia had given her another cola.

"I see." The Commander tried to think of something but he was distracted by the curves in front him. "For now, I'm leaving you under the watch of Arizona and Georgia until something can be figured out. Missouri, Washington wants to see you for something."

"But, Arizona-"

"I'll be with her, squirt. You don't wanna make Wash wait."

"Uggh, fine."

With that, the four left his office.  Arizona, however, lingered at the doorway a bit.

"Like what you see, Commander?" The usually demure battleship teased.

"Very much. Carry on, now," he answered with a blush before returning to his paperwork. 

With a light giggle, Arizona closed the door.

"Y'all got a firing range or somethin' I can use?" SAA asked. 

"Of course. As fun as it is to shoot our ship's actual guns, nothing beats the exhilaration of blasting some Siren with our own rigging!" Georgia exclaimed. 

"We can take you there," Arizona offered. 

The pair of battleships stopped by their dorms earlier to change into their regular outfits.  There were some strange looks thrown at the T-Doll's way but most passed it off as another shenanigan.

"Yes, please. I gotta get my shootin' practice in." SAA patted her namesake's grip.  

The trio made their way to the outdoor firing range.  Seeing as the ones using it were the personifications of warships, it was larger than usual and facing the ocean with some of the targets floating on buoys in the water.

"Gee, dunno how I'm gonna hit anything that far out with my piece." The T-Doll scratched her head. "You got any land targets?"

"Sure, over there," Arizona said as she pointed to a set of chibi Siren cut-outs at various distances from the firing line.  Currently, only Essex was there as she practiced strafing runs on both land and sea targets.  She was too focused on surpassing Enterprise-senpai to take note of the stranger.

SAA whistled at the impressive sight. "That looks mighty useful, sendin' planes to blast your targets. Back at Griffin, we got these artillery units called HOCs. Really saved our asses during this one mess of an operation."

"That's fine and dandy, but sometimes you gotta take a direct approach with the big guns," Georgia said as she deployed her rigging in a flash of light.  She took aim at one of the farthest targets in the water, one of her turrets angling up. "Might wanna cover your ears, Colt."

BOOM!

Georgia fired a salvo into the air and several seconds later, three shells splashed on to the target and destroyed it.

"Umm, Georgia, you forgot to use training rounds on that one," Arizona stated.

"Oh, shit. Yuubari is gonna be pissed," Georgia muttered under her breath.

Meanwhile, SAA was ecstatic.  Sure, she's seen crazy big guns fighting Sangvis and KCCO, but these naval cannons condensed to fired from a person were something else.  

"Holy cow! That was amazing!"

Essex turned around momentarily with a quizzical expression before she returned to maneuvering her Hellcats. She had a ghost to impress.

"Guess your hearing is fine," Georgia noted.

"Mhm! Us T-Dolls can adjust our audio receptors on the fly. Quite handy since we get in gunfights all the time." SAA got closer to Georgia to get a better look at her guns. 

"Well, you said you wanted to use the range. Show us what you got." Georgia flourished her turrets. Then she moved to an open lane and hit some buttons on a nearby console, making several land targets pop up within normal firing range for regular humans.

"Sure thing," SAA said while drawing her revolver. Unbeknownst to them, Arizona was staring intently at the classic firearm.

The T-Doll took a firing position, holding the gun in one hand and cocking the hammer back with her thumb. Then she pulled the trigger.

Bang!

One shot hit the chest dead center of a chibi Purifier. She cocked the hammer back again and put another between the eyes. Fortunately, these cardboard cutouts were cheap and disposable unlike the buoy that Georgia annihilated. Still, someone had to pay Akashi for the cheap stuff.

She fired at two more targets with the same pattern, emptying the cylinder and ejecting the spent casings with a flick of her wrist. Then she pulled out a speed loader clip and reloaded her gun.

"Watch this, somethin' I learned from them old westerns."

SAA held her revolver near hip level, her offhand on top of the hammer. Like before, she cocked it back then pulled trigger. Except this time, she kept the trigger held down and fanned the hammer to empty six shots at six different targets in quick succession.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"How'd ya like that?" SAA said, blowing smoke from the barrel. Georgia gave a thumbs up and a cola, and Arizona clapped.

"Peacemaker, please let me try," Arizona declared with fire in her eyes. She had always wanted one of her own, especially since it became her state firearm. Her dense Commander got her a bikini instead. 

"Uh, sure thing. I can spare a clip, lemme just load it in-"

"Actually, I'd like to load it myself. I, um, already know about basic safety and handling."

SAA stared at the suddenly enthusiastic battleship before shrugging and handing over her gun and a speed loader clip. Then she chugged the cola.

Arizona admired the piece in her hand with awe, then opened the cylinder to eject the casings and load new bullets.

"Didn't know you knew how to shoot," Georgia remarked, watching her friend's excellent trigger discipline.

"Mhm. I watched some videos before," Arizona admitted as she took aim with both hands on the grip, eyes looking down the iron sights at a chibi Observer.

She cocked the hammer back with one thumb, then pulled the trigger.

Bang!

She hit the target in the left shoulder. Puffing her cheeks in a pout, she tried again.

Bang!

Right arm.

Bang!

Complete miss.

Bang!

Nice headshot.

Arizona mentally cheered and was about to fire two more times, but her combat instincts flared. Georgia and Essex felt it, too, as did SAA.

Carefully, yet quickly, she handed the revolver back and deployed her rigging.

"You girls got trouble?" SAA asked, loading fresh bullets into her revolver.

"Seems like it, most likely Siren," Georgia responded, cracking her knuckles.

Then, with a sudden splash, a figure jumped out of the water.

"Helloooo, Azur Lane!" Purifier shouted gleefully.

"Purifier! If I take her down, Enterprise will notice me." Essex prepared her crossbow as her rigging began to manifest more planes.

Arizona and Georgia rotated their turrets to get a bead on the Siren, preparing to fire.

"Prepare to meet your maker- guhk?!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Before she could finish her one-liner, Purifier was hit by three bullets. Two in the chest, one in the head, the Siren crashed head-first into the sand, her weird rigging landing on its owner.

"Is she dead?" SAA kept her sights trained on the fallen idiot.

The three Ship-Girls merely looked at her in awe, then each other, then at Purifier, and back at her again. 

"That wouldn't kill her, but I'm impressed you even knocked her down, let alone hit her," Essex said as she shook herself out of her stupor. "Not bad, stranger."

Georgia and Arizona kept their guns aimed at Purifier, still slightly surprised at the turn of events.

"Damn, I think I want one of those," Georgia whispered to Arizona.

"I know, right?" 

Purifier stirred. "Uggh, the hell happened?" 

Before she could get up, or any of the Ship-Girls could react, three more shots impacted her dense skull and knocked her out again.

"Sorry, reflexes," SAA stated. Then, the air around her started flickering.

"Uh, guys? I don't feel so good." She dropped to her knees.

Alarmed for her new friend, Arizona turned her head. "What's happening? Are you okay?"

SAA jumped back up to her feet with a smile. "Naw, I'm just playin' with ya. I think I'm returning back to my own world."

"Really? That was quick. Here, take one for the road." Georgia tossed another cola.

"Wait. You mean she's not from this world? Who the heck is she?!" Essex was confused.

"Will we see you again?" Arizona really wanted to shoot that revolver again. And get to know her new friend better.

"Dunno. Maybe?" SAA then tipped her hat towards. "Well, it was nice meetin' ya, even though I got socked in the chin. Thanks for the cola, by the way."

Purifier stirred again. Arizona blasted her into the ocean without looking. 

"Oh well, maybe next time," she said, slightly dejected.

"Aww, don't look so down, Zona." SAA reached behind her back and tossed something at her. "Somethin' to remember me by."

Arizona caught the object and realized with excitement that it was another Colt Single Action Army, but silver. 

"You had another one? This is for me?!" She was ecstatic. 

"Yep, always carry a spare. Seen the way you been eying my piece, so eh, why not. Maybe we'll see each other again and have ourselves a shootin' contest." 

A portal opened up behind her.

"Well, catch ya gals next time." With that, SAA vanished into the portal before it disappeared for good.

The three girls simply stood there; Arizona barely containing her excitement, Georgia aiming at the water for Purifier, and Essex looking like a lost child.

"Just what is going on here?" 

"Ehh, we'll explain later," Georgia replied, momentarily turning to face the aircraft carrier.

However, Purifier took this chance to resurface, a bit dazed but still raring to fight. 

"As I was saying, prepare- "

"Stay away from Arizona, Siren scum!" Mighty Mo showed up out of nowhere, skating on the water and firing all her guns. Purifier's mangled corpse sank to the bottom. 

Washington followed behind her. "Looks like we missed the action. Our radar picked up a hostile contact while we were training."

"Meh, you didn't miss much. We can explain later in the Commander's office," responded Georgia.

Washington stared at Arizona who was caressing her gift. "What's up with her?"

"She's excited about that badass revolver," Georgia answered. "Kinda want one myself. Yo, Arizona. Mind letting me shoot it from time to time?"

Arizona didn't answer, even when Missouri poked her shoulder.

Then, Georgia came to a realization.

"Wait, did Colt even give you ammo?"

That snapped Arizona back to reality, her eyes widening in denial. Looks like it would be some time before she got to use her shiny new gun. 

"Aww..."

END

Chapter Text

"Mmm, hoowaaaah~," MG42 yawned. "It's sooo boring."

The twin-tailed white-haired machine gun toting T-Doll was posted up in a trench with her namesake mounted on a barrier of sandbags, along with her four dummy links. Her sister was also next to her with her own set of dummies.

"Don't go to standby mode on me," MG34 chided. She brushed back a lock of her long blonde hair behind her ear. "Command says to keep watch in this sector for Sangvis Ferri, and I don't want to be the only one shooting back."

"You won't be the only one." 42 stuck her tongue out playfully. "You have your dummies with you, Dummkopf."

Bonk!

"Yowch!"

"You're the Dummkopf, Dummkopf." 34 huffed as she brought her fist back. "Besides, ten machine guns are better than five."

"Can you two please stop messing around?" Stg44's exasperated tone came over the Zener Network. "I don't want us to get caught with our slacks around our ankles."

"Ja, ja, sorry about that." "I'll try to keep my sister in line."

Stg44 grumbled quietly under her breath about "silly machine guns," adjusting her cap so her long hair wouldn't get in her face. She inspected her assault rifle for the umpteenth time, more out of boredom rather than necessity. She ejected the magazine, seeing if the rounds were seated in properly. She inserted it back in, pulling back the charging handle and doing a brass check. Stg44 didn't really need to do all that; the imprinting technology that all Griffin & Kryuger T-Dolls had ensured that the weapons they wielded would be an extension of their body. Whether it be a jam, mis-feed, overheating, or ammo count, a T-Doll would know exactly what was wrong with their firearm without having to disassemble it.

Stg44 was further down the trench to the left of the machine gun pair. Her own dummies were also with her, keeping an eye out for hostiles just as vigilantly as the original main frame. Don't ask how dummy linking works, because even T-Dolls can't explain to humans how it's like, other than they were still one consciousness but with multiple bodies. The human brain wouldn't be able to comprehend such a sensation so easily.

She was about run a self-diagnostic when she heard something on the Zener Network. Something that sounded like music.

"What in the world?" The T-Doll listened closely; it sounded like guitars. "Who the heck is playing music on the main frequency?"

"Ahh, sorry! I thought I muted myself." P38 apologized. The handgun Doll was next to MG42 to provide assistance. "I just felt like playing some music to pass the time."

"So you decided to blast your Sabaton playlist on the comms?" MG42 teased while drumming her fingers on her drum magazine. 

"It's a good song at least." Gewehr 43 added, the rifle user further down on the right side of the machine guns. 

"Well, it's distracting." Stg44 bit back. 

"C'mon, if it was too quiet then it'd be like the Western Front, and that would be just gloomy." P38 complained.

"Technically, the Western Front was set in World War One,"  Kar98k chimed in from her watchtower, fiddling with the knobs on her sniper scope,"and we're all based on World War Two firearms instead. So shouldn't it be the Eastern Front?"

"Wehrmacht fighting on the Eastern Front, year 2062, colorized." C96 snickered at her own joke besides MG34. 

Stg44 sighed and fought the urge to nurse a headache, or whatever the android equivalent of a headache was. "Please, that's enough. I don't want hear about you girls getting competitive with Mosin-Nagant and the others when we get back."

Into the Motherland the German army march!

"Mein Gott, Thirty-Eight, will you please at least turn that down?" 

"Oh, fiiine."

Stg44 was about to chew her out when a hand tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and came face to face with MP40. The slightly shorter Doll smiled at her while offering a treat to calm her down. "Chocolate, Frau Sturmgewehr? It's straight from FNC's stash so you know it's good."

The assault rifle Doll accepted a small piece from the tomboy submachine gunner. "Danke, Forty. Sometimes I wonder how we get work done around here."

"Oh, don't be too harsh on them. They try their best, you know?" MP40 sat down in the trench with her back against the dirt wall. She fished around her pockets before pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "Besides, Forty-Four, we're not all Elites- well, maybe except for Frau Karabiner- so you shouldn't expect too much out of us. Gottverdammt, where is my light?"

Stg44 was already prepared with a zippo lighter, flicking it open to light her friend's cigarette. "I know, I know. Converted civilian dolls and all that. By the way, you should really quit smoking, it's bad for your filters."

MP40 took a long drag and blew it out, waving off the other's concern. "I'll be fine, we're not like humans with lungs."

"But you can still clog up your cooling systems."

"It hasn't happened yet. Besides, I can just replace them."

The taller blonde rolled her eyes. "Whatever. The replacement costs are coming out of your pocket though."

"Of course, I al-" The shorter blonde's retort was suddenly interrupted; a portal opened up out of nowhere several feet above them.

"Ahhh! Scheiße!" A figure in a black uniform came tumbling out before landing butt first on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt and dust. "Was zur Hölle?"

"Hold your fire!" Stg44 called out as the Dolls instinctively drew on the unknown contact, surrounding them warily. "You there, identify yourself!"

From the dust, a person, a woman is standing tall. "Huh? Where... where am I?" Her face looked eerily similar to Stg44's, especially with her blonde hair. They could have easily been mistaken for sisters.

"Is it just me or does she look like Frau Sturmgewehr?"  MG42 brought up the question that was on everyone's digi-mind. "Is she one of your dummies, then? Or perhaps a similar Doll model to you?" 

"I..." Stg44 observed the unknown woman before them. "Nein, she's not even a Doll, she's organic. Yet her bio-readings are..." 'Different? Not exactly human? What's going on here? Ohh, what would Herr Kommandant do in this situation?'

"Wait, if she is human... isn't it like SUPER illegal to have a Doll modeled in the likeness of an already existing person?"  C96 sounded worried. "Forty-Four, are you actually an illegal Doll? Oh, this could be bad..."

"Nein! Frau Helian and Herr Kryuger wouldn't have hired me in the first place!"  Stg44 exclaimed back over the Zener Protocol. She didn't want to start screaming in front of the stranger.

The stranger was fairly tall, dressed in a black uniform comprised of a military jacket and skirt. A black cape was draped over her shoulders, contrasting with the white fur trim and the red color on the inverse side. She also wore black thigh-high leggings with white fur trim. The unknown woman was currently dusting off her military cap with white-gloved hands before setting it on her head, tucking some stray blonde hair out of her face. Despite having fallen flat on her ass earlier, she still posed an intimidating figure.

"Ah, you asked me a question just now, didn't you." She spoke with an authoritative voice. "Very well. My name is Bismarck, first of the Bismarck-class battleships of the Iron Blood. Now, if you could be so kind as to tell me where I am right now?"

'Bismarck? Battleship? What's going on?'

"Well, Frau Bismarck, you are currently in Griffin territory, Area S09 to be precise." Stg44 answered. "Normally civilians would never be this far out, but obviously these are not normal circumstances and your are no civilian." She was sure her systems weren't glitching out earlier; she knew for a fact that this 'Bismarck' fell from the sky without having to play back a visual recording.

"That is true." Bismarck studied the Dolls around her. "I can tell something is off here... how and why, I don't know exactly. Your weapons however, they seem very familiar to me."

"Hold on, did you say 'battleship' earlier?" P38 asked out loud. "As in, the battleship that fought and sunk at Denmark Strait about 120 years ago?"

"I did introduce myself as a Bismark-class battleship, yes." Bismarck blinked as she took in P38's words. "Wait a moment, did you just say '120 years ago?' When... no, what year is it?"

"2062."

"...what." 

Stg44 fought the urge to question her doppelganger further; technically they were still in a combat zone and she didn't want to endanger a stranger's life if she could help it. "Miss, if you could please come my way so we can take you to back to command. We can sort out this mess there but this really isn't the time and place to-" 

"I'm getting signals, eleven o'clock." Kar98k pinged out. "Sangvis Ferri are here. Forty-Four, get her to safety now!"

"Ah, crap. Miss, get over here and find cover!" Stg44 hopped out of her trench with two of her dummies to escort Bismarck before the bullets started flying. "You'll get caught in the crossfire!"

Bismarck snapped out of her stupor, looking around with alertness. "Ah, are we under enemy attack, then?" She made her way over to Stg44 cautiously, prompting the T-Doll and her dummies to surround the woman and cover her with their weapons. "I still have questions but I can help fight back, you know."

"Absolutely not," Stg44 protested, "you are in our jurisdiction now, so that puts you under our care. So please make haste to the trench over there."

"I am not some helpless damsel." The other blonde countered with a stern glare which shifted to an expression of curiosity. "Hmm, now that you're up close, you look quite familiar. And your uniforms and weapons... are you perhaps one of my people?" She poked one of the dummies. "And these look like... automatons of some sort?"

The T-Doll didn't have time to answer when warning signals went off in her head. "Get down!"

Energy blasts began to fly out from a treeline as the Sangvis drones got within firing range. The Griffin T-Dolls present answered in kind with their own firepower. Stg44 yanked grabbed the battleship girl by her arms and pulled her to the ground. One dummy threw herself over her to cover her while the other dummy took a knee to return fire. 

"Hey, get off me so I can shoot back!" Bismarck shouted. 

Stg44 didn't spare her a look as she fired her own weapon. "Are you crazy, do you want to die?! Just let us Dolls handle this!"

She could see now that Rippers and Vespids were advancing on them, shooting their energy weapons at the defenders. They weren't too difficult to deal with, especially without a Ringleader on the field to directly command them. It was just their numbers that made them problematic and even stray shots could get lucky.

A red warning signal flashed in Stg44's HUD when one of her dummies took a hit. It wasn't critical but it was enough to knock the dummy down temporarily, just enough for Bismarck to scramble out from underneath.

"Hey, what are you doing? Stay down!"

Bismarck huffed at her. "This won't be enough to hurt me. Watch."

Stg44 could only stare in horror as she watched an energy bolt fly through the air, its trajectory putting it on the path to Bismarck's torso. Her processors computed it in slow motion but she knew for a fact that a human wouldn't be able to dodge in time. Imagine her surprise when she realized Bismarck wasn't a regular human.

With a mighty cry Bismarck summoned her battle standard, the red and black flag waving elegantly as she planted the shaft firmly into the ground. Motes of blue light surrounded her before coalescing into a solid shape, forming what appeared to be artillery platforms that were secured to her person. Any energy bolts heading for her were either blocked by a translucent blue force field of sorts or left minor scorch marks on her rigging.

"Truth can only be found within our range!" All four turrets on Bismarck's rigging rotate then with a fierce roar of fire and smoke, the guns fired. "Feuer!"

BOOM!!

"Holy sh-!"

"What the fuck?!"

Firepower! Firefight! Battlestations, keep the targets steady in sight~

 Stg44 didn't know what happened. One moment she was watching this blonde stranger stand up in the middle of a firefight like some crazy lady, then the next moment she was flat on her ass from a shockwave. It was so intense that her visual feed was interrupted by static for an instant and despite her hearing modules adjusting the volume, she swore she could still hear the deafening ring along with the vibrations that traveled through her Doll frame. Oh, and P38's playlist was still going on for some reason.

After a quick diagnostic, some rebooting, and shake of her head, Stg44 got up on a knee and surveyed the situation. What she saw made her jaw drop. The entire treeline was practically obliterated, along with whatever Sangvis Ferri forces happened to be in the area. Only bits and pieces of trees and scrap metal were left in Bismarck's wake, her onslaught warping the landscape with large craters. The closest thing Griffin had to this kind of firepower were their HOCs (Heavy Ordnance Corps) and even they paled in comparison to this level of destruction. Not to mention the HOCs were technically illegal but no one needed to know that. A quick scan from herself showed that all hostiles were terminated, further confirmed the subsequent green signals from the others.

"Now then," Bismarck began as if she didn't just annihilate mother nature, "I have an idea of what's going on. I seem to have been displaced in an alternate timeline or universe of some sort, so I believe the best course of action would be for you to take me to your commanding officer."

Stg44 was still trying to process what happened. Fortunately, Kar98k was there to take control. "That would be wise. Herr Kommandant probably- ahhh, who am I kidding, he wouldn't know what the hell to do in this situation, but it's better than nothing."

Bismarck looked around and dismissed her rigging. "I don't blame you for coming to that conclusion. Even I'm still befuddled on how this happened."

"Of course. Anyway, please come along. We shall escort you back to base and figure out this... mess." Kar98k tapped Stg44 on the shoulder. "Let's go, Sturmgewehr. MP40, rally the others."

"Jawohl! All right, everyone, gather all your gear and let's move out. Come on, chop chop!"

"Huh, wha?" Stg44 snapped out of her daze. "Ah, right. To base. Yes, let's go. Maybe we can find answers there. Or maybe we won't. I don't know, I think I need a drink..."

"Drinks will be on me when we get back, how's that sound, Sturmgewehr?" Kar98k attempted to calm her friend down.

"That would be nice, I guess. Guooh, just what is going on?"

"Shh, don't think about it. Come along, now."

"So you mean to say," the Commander said, "this woman somehow traveled through a portal and landed on our premises?"

"Yes, that is correct." Kar98k stood at attention along with MP40 and Stg44, who was still a little confused at the situation. 

The three of them plus Bismarck were currently in the Commander's office. There was some commotion from the other Dolls on base about the stranger who looked like Stg44 but overall there was no trouble. The Commander was seated at his desk with his hands folded in front of his face and trying to maintain a cool and calm look. 

The Commander then looked at the blonde newcomer. "And according to you and my subordinates, you are called Bismarck, correct?"

Bismarck nodded. "Yes, Commander." 

"And that you are actually the personification of the battleship of the same name, correct?"

"That is correct."

The Commander sighed and removed his red beret to run a hand through his hair. "Well, your regalia looks legitimate. Okay, one more thing. Can you manifest your 'rigging' so I can confirm it? There should be enough room in here."

"Of course. If you three can give me some space, please?" Bismarck motioned for the T-Dolls to take a few steps back. She looked around herself to make sure there wasn't anything else in the way before closing her eyes and concentrating.

A flash of blue light enveloped the office, forcing the Commander to cover his eyes lest he be blinded. When he opened his eyes to get a clearer look, he saw Bismarck standing tall with her rigging around her like a protective shield. It resembled two mechanical sharkheads that were somehow connected to her, the metal clanking of their jaws echoing with the whirring and clicking of the guns atop their heads. Like the rest of her uniform, her rigging was painted predominantly in black and red, with some gray and white along the hull. From what the Commander remembered seeing in the old archives of the Second World War, her overall color scheme certainly resembled the battleship she was named after. Or the battleship she actually was. It's still a bit confusing for him.

"I see. It certainly matches with Colt's description." He mused as he opened a drawer to pull out a folder.

"Sir?" MP40 asked.

The Commander flipped through the report given to him months ago by a certain gunslinger. "Colt SAA went through something similar apparently. I originally chalked it up to an overactive imagination or a glitch in her neural cloud. She did mention finding a glitch during a combat simulation." He looked at the occupants in his office. "But as we all know, T-Dolls cannot dream. Which means whatever she remembered seeing was false date planted in her, or was something that she actually experienced."

The folder was offered to MP40 to read. "Nice beach, naval base, big ass guns...oh!" She pointed at a particular excerpt. "Shipgirl rigging, summoned near instantaneously on a whim, looks like miniaturized parts of a warship and its guns. Scaled down to human size for explosive results. That fits the description of Frau Bismarck."

"You mean a visitor from your world came to ours?" Bismarck's eyes widened in surprise. "I was not informed of this...no, wait. I remember there was an odd fellow around Azur Lane base back then, socializing with Georgia and Arizona. Could that have been her?"

MP40 skimmed through the reports again. "It appears so. Colt mentions the names Georgia, Arizona, and Missouri. Commander, why didn't you mention this to anyone?"

He raised his hands in surrender. "Like I said, I thought it was just a weird glitch in her memory. She was actually the one who wanted it kept quiet because it was so damn weird. But now it turns out it might be realer than I thought."

"Do we have any idea how to get her back to her own world?" Stg44 finally asked. 

"No clue, Colt said it just happened after she got into a slight altercation with an enemy."

Bismarck nodded. "Hmm, now that you mention it, I do recall Missouri shooting down Purifier on that day. She had to file a report about it."

"Well, I'm not sure what we can do now. I'm not you're commander so I can't tell you what to do." The Commander drummed his fingers along the desk. "We can try to help you return home but where do we even start?"

The blonde battleship thought for a moment. Stg44 got curious and approached one the metal sharks, only to yelp as it snapped its jaws at her. Bismarck didn't notice or pretended not to, but everyone else looked at her with a "what the hell" expression.

"If it helps, I was in the research lab last I remember. I was experimenting with Siren tech and something must have happened." Bismarck spoke up.

"Siren tech?" The Commander asked. "I don't want to ask for more details and fry my brain, but do you think this tech is capable of transporting you through... space and time, or whatever this is?"

She nodded. "We may not know everything about them but they do have the ability to teleport individual units and mass fleets to a location. It takes a longer time the more they have to teleport, but it can be done. We suspect they're able to travel across dimensions as well."

"That sounds concerning. I wouldn't want them to come here while we're still fighting our own battles." Kar98k frowned at the thought.

"We'll deal with it when it happens, our pressing concern is returning Bismarck to her world." The Commander fiddled with a pen. "For now, you are our guest. Until we find a solution, you'll be staying with us for a while."

"Perhaps she can dorm with us?" MP40 suggested. "We have enough room and she'd fit right in with our squad since she already met us."

"Sounds good. Any complaints?"

Bismarck shook her head. "Nein, these terms are agreeable. Although," he stomach grumbled, "would you happen to have a cafeteria around here?"

"Ah right, of course." The Commander cleared his throat. "If you ladies could please show our guest the way?"

"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant." Stg44 snapped to attention before glancing at her not-so-human lookalike. "I guess you're sticking with us for now."

Bismarck rotated her turrets a bit, working out any possible kinks, taking care not to aim them at anyone. She briefly wondered if she should oil the moving parts later. "I am in your care, Frau Sturmgewehr. And should the need arise," she smirked at the Commander, "I'll be happy to provide my guns to assist you."

"That...is not actually a bad idea. I'll think about it." The Commander smiled back. He did like big guns and explosions after all.