Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"No contacts still. There's nothing here but us"

The sentence carried over the water, along with an annoyed sight from the blue haired heavy cruiser to have to repeat herself for the tenth time in two minutes. Being careful of everything was good, and Helena was usually overly careful herself, but the paranoid behavior of the carrier leading their little patrol was starting to grate on even her nerves.

"Are you sure? I don't want to get ambushed again…"

There it was. The reason for her nervousness. It was understandable really, but none of them understood fully why Glorious of all people volunteered for the perimeter patrol. 

"Oh give her a rest. There's nothing out here. The Sakura Empire are our allies and the Sirens haven't tried anything since we blew up that Orochi thing"

Bit blunt, in Helena's opinion, but Cleveland was right. In the two months since the last incident not even a mass produced Siren ship had attacked them. On an unrelated note, Cleveland defending her, and being this close to her to begin with, really made Helena feel warm inside for some reason. But personal feelings could wait. They had a mission, no matter how dull. 

Glancing back, Helena couldn't help but marvel slightly at the formation. They were sailing in a standard large formation, with three vanguard ships and three capital ships. There was Ayanami, Cleveland and herself in the vanguard, while the back line was composed of Long Island, Thüringen and Glorious, the latter acting as flagship of their group. Just a few months ago, having ships from all four major factions fighting beside one another would have been unthinkable. But now…

Ping

A loud sound pulled her out of her musings as she looked at the radar. It should have been impossible. Nothing should have even gotten past her long range undetected. And yet, here it was. A signal, unmistakable as real, just a kilometer away. 

"Unidentified contact, close."

She regretted the blunt words as soon as they left her mouth, as their flagship's eyes went wide with fear. She wouldn't admit it of course, but Helena was very observant. The encounter with Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during the war must have traumatized her more than Glorious would admit. Nonetheless, information had to be delivered in some way.

"You're the flagship so I will follow your decision. But you have to make a decision for that." Came the reminder from the Iron Blood battleship beside her after a minute. Glorious shook herself out of her stupor.

"Of course.Get ready for combat but hold your fire for now. I will scout out the area."

And with that, they went to work. For such a group of people that have next to nothing to do with one another, they were still warships. Their coordination was impeccable, in no small part due to Glorious command ability. 

They did not, however, expect what they found.

There on the water lay another shipgirl that was completely unknown to them. Her rigging was unlike anything they'd ever seen, the sharp gray design sort of reminiscent of Baltimore and her sister, but the singular gun and strange dark squares along it dispelled that notion quickly, as did her dark blue uniform. As Ayanami tried to wake her, they got a good look at the name tag on it: K31, Visby

Chapter Text

Ugh, why was her head throbbing so much?

Visby was confused. Just a few minutes ago she had been patrolling the shores of her home, and now she's suddenly waking up from unconsciousness with a huge headache.

Ok. Focus on what she can perceive. One sense after the other. Taste. The usual salty air out at sea, nothing unusual. Smell. The salty air again. Faint traces of wood. That one's new. There wasn't any wood around the area she had patrolled. Feel. The soft coldness of the sea spray. Unusual, as she was laying still. There was wood under her. Why was there wood under her? Had one of the older ships found her and taken her aboard? There weren't many left that still used raw wooden decks. No matter, she'd have to figure it out later. Back to her senses. Hear. The sea spray, as expected. The low rumble of machinery was also expected by now. The low whispering of voices wasn't, but it somewhat calmed her that there were people around who would help instead of striking her down immediately. She strained her ears slightly to see if she would recognize either the engine noise or any of the voices. No luck. Though they all sounded female. Shipgirls most likely. That surprised Visby. Neither her patrol area nor her nation had many of her kind, and this sounded like a fairly large group. If they were the ones she knew this strike force would be a danger to even the Royal navy if they were tactical. But they weren't her friends or sisters, that much was clear. Oh right, there was still one sense left. Sight. Slowly she opened her eyes. Only to startle when the first thing she saw looking up wasn't the sky, but the face of a young girl. The girl's face was framed by a curtain of black hair, currently hanging down.

"Oh, she's awake" ,said girl then announced loudly, making Visby flinch again from the sudden sound. Well no use hiding it now. She sat up, her aching muscles and pounding head protesting along the way. First thing she did was take in the young girl sitting next to her. Black hair, a hoodie that was apparently five sizes too big, and looked a bit like a sailors top. She was wearing a pair of headphones too, topped with a blue piston aircraft. Strange, but fine. More concerning to Visby was that it seemed like she wasn't wearing any pants at all. Sure, the hoodie was as long as a dress, but it wasn't a dress. Then again, this was a shipgirl. They were known for their exotic clothing choices, many of them very revealing. With an internal sigh Visby turned her eyes away from the girl and surveyed her surroundings. She had been right, she was on a ship. A carrier to be precise. Straight flight deck made of wood? That was interesting. Most shipgirls from that age had retired already. Then again… she wasn't picking up the usual navigation and communication satellites anywhere. All transmissions she picked up were… not Radio actually. They were holographic, but a more crude version of what Visby herself used. That was strange. But she didn't have a lot of time to process that, as an elegant blonde woman was approaching her, the red ribbon over her short blue dress almost making it look like she had wrapped herself in a British flag.

"Hello Miss. It is good to see that you woke up. Though I wasn't aware of any lone patrols in this area" the blond woman addressed Visby.

"Yes uh… thank you for saving me, though I don't know what happened. Or who you all are exactly" she replied, fidgeting slightly with the cloth of her shirt.

"Oh, where are my manners. I am the royal navy aircraft carrier Glorious. We are an Azur Lane taskforce that was patrolling this area. The one that called me is the eagle union light carrier Long Island. Over there", she pointed to where the blue haired girl and the blonde one were engaged in an avid conversation, "are the eagle union light cruisers Helena and Cleveland and somewhere around here is also the iron blood battleship Thüringen." Glorious smiled softly, as if this was just a nice couple of friends, not a military patrol armed to the teeth.

"And who would you be?"

Visbys head was racing. She knew most of these names, of course. All of them veterans of the siren wars. Her own faction didn't have any shipgirls back then. But if this was a joint fleet, why were they in territorial waters… unless… they said they were patrolling, and you only do that in your own area so…

"Pardon the question, but it seems I was unconscious for a long time. Where and when are we?" Visby hoped that this wouldn't be seen as rude by the royal navy girl, they always insisted on an elegance that Visby just couldn't hold up most of the time.

Glorious seemed taken aback by the question, but seemingly accepted the short explanation.

"Well, you're about five naval miles south of the Azur Lane joint base in the Pacific, and for the time…" she then proceeded to give a detailed description of the time, repeating it in different systems until they found one Visby could work with.

(AN: If anyone knows what year AL takes place, please tell me)

"From your expression I guess you were out for longer than you imagined?" Glorious tried to sound understanding, but her ever present nervous glances at the horizon kind of diminished that.

Visby only gaped as she tried to wrap her head around the consequences of the information she had just been given. It all made sense now. The missing satellites, the obsolete radio broadcasts, the old ships…

"I am from almost 100 years in the future"

Chapter Text

Visby was sitting at the edge of the deck, dangling her feet off. The others had gathered inside to discuss what to do after her revelation. Well, except for Helena who was acting as a lookout behind her. Visby's own radar was on passive, just listening. She was worried. Both about what they were saying about her and her own safety. She was a stealth Corvette. She could intercept missiles any day, but if an aircraft or a cannon shell attacked her there was nothing she could do safe for her main gun. She had been fitted for SAM missiles, but they were ultimately canceled, leaving her with no AA. Then again… that wasn't what she was made for. Her advanced sensor suite and ASW capabilities were what was important at the time she was made. But this wasn't that time. Visby nervously played with her uniform. She was almost tempted to drop her towed array in the water right then and there to prove her usefulness. 

"Hey, don't worry. We're going to get you to someplace safe." Visby looked up. It was the white haired girl… what had they called her? Ayanami, that's it. Her face didn't betray much emotion, a mask of stoicism. But Visby could spot the sincerity beneath it. The destroyer was trying to comfort her despite knowing she wasn't really good at such things. Visby sighed, her eyes scanning the horizon again.

"Do you ever just… wonder if you could actually fulfill the role you were made for?" As the words left her mouth she mentally facepalmed. Of course the girl didn't think that, they were constantly at war. Visby's nation had not partaken in a conflict in a very long time, so all she knew was peace. These girls here had to fight regularly. That's why she was so surprised when Ayanami sat down next to her with a sigh and a similar thousand yard stare. She didn't say anything, understandably. They were still strangers after all. But Visby knew that look. She had seen it on some of her older eagle union friends. This girl had had to make some hard decisions in the past. Not all of them she still agreed with. The look of a veteran. They sat like that for a while, Helena's radar and Glorious' engines the only noises above the water. 

After a while Visby sighed in despair. She had been caught in her thoughts for a while now. Ayanami looked over curiously but remained silent.

"I'll never see them again, will I? My sisters… my country… my friends… my family… all far beyond my reach," Visby lamented.

She drew a shaky breath, the usually stoic shipgirl close to tears. 

"Do you want a race?" came the response from Ayanami. She wasn't good with feeling so she tried to take Visby's mind off of the situation she had found herself in.

"W… What? A race?" Visby said, baffled. She didn't know what she had expected but this definitely wasn't it.

"You're a destroyer, right?" Ayanami said.

"Corvette, actually," Visby corrected, though it was already having the intended effect as a distraction.

"Then let's go. Can you keep up with the demon?" Ayanami encouraged her, her own pride breaking through. A second later she jumped from the carrier in full rigging.

"Oh no, I'm not losing now," Visby said to herself, her competitiveness shining through as she jumped after the destroyer. The fact that destroyers of that time period focused on speed above all else didn't cross her mind. Neither did the idea how her temporary allies would react to this impromptu disembarking.

They raced for a while around the small fleet. It seemed Glorious was concerned about them but Helena reassured her. Visby thought she'd have to thank the cruiser later. Ayanami has long since won the race, her experience combined with her higher top speed had decided that the moment they touched the water. Now they were sailing side by side in a patrol pattern, the silence a lot less awkward than before. 

Visby was using her radar and sonar to the fullest now, not caring if it was picked up by anyone since her companions weren't exactly being stealthy either. That is until she stopped getting any returns. Not even Ayanami right next to her was giving her a signal and the radio that had previously been buzzing with various disconnected broadcasts from everywhere went silent. Visby stopped dead in her tracks, surprising Ayanami who, not having a radar herself, hadn't noticed the signs. 

As she was sailing back to ask Visby what was going on, a thick fog rolled in, separating them. Visby panicked. Her radar was useless, her sonar was useless, her GPS was useless here anyway as the proper satellites were missing here. With growing dread she realized that this meant mist of her weapons were useless too. Her torpedoes relied on Sonar, her missiles were radar guided. And in the rare case she carried cruise missiles, those needed GPS. 

"Stop. Deep breaths. You're a soldier. Unexpected situations are what you're made for. There has to be a way out," she chastised herself. 

"What a peculiar girl," came a strange voice from behind her, distorted and constantly changing pitch, but definitely female. Visby turned around and found herself face to face with three peculiar women. Their color scheme was entirely black and yellow and they were floating slightly in the air. Their riggings, if one could even call it that, was based on ocean creatures instead of ships. The right one was holding a massive manta ray above her head while the left one was surrounded by small weapons, as well as a large hammerhead shark. The one in the middle though, Visby realized with growing unease, was sitting on a mass of tentacles. 

She knew of them of course, even if she hadn't ever seen one herself. They were Sirens, the enemy. The reason shipgirls existed was to fight them. To defend this world from their schemes. Visby summoned her cannon, and it appeared in her hand atop a grip with a trigger, closely resembling a pistol. Of course. The gun on a vessel of her era was the equivalent of a soldier's sidearm. Most of the time not necessary, but when it was you were damn glad to have it. 

Her attention was grabbed again though when the Siren on the right spoke up.

"Another one of your experiments, Observer? Don't you think we should talk about these more?"

The middle one with the tentacles, Observer apparently, just chuckled.

"No, this is not my doing. This anomaly is very much worth studying. She passed the apparent maximum level of technology for a shipgirl. Yes, very much worth our attention."

Visby didn't like the way this Observer talked about her, as if she was some kind of lab rat that had unexpectedly broken out of its enclosure. She thought of raising her weapon and blasting her way through them, but even just looking at their weaponry it was clear that that was a bad idea.

"She's pretty cute," the hammerhead shark girl commented. Visby's face suddenly felt hot. She's never gotten such a compliment from anyone but her sisters. It didn't help that the girls' clothing, if one could even call it that, didn't leave much to the imagination. And that troublemaker smirk really ruined the siren's image of a genocidal maniac that Visby was so desperately trying to uphold.

"Tester, that destroyer girl that entered the mirror sea with her. She's still important. Make sure she finds the exit, but… don't make it easy," Observer commanded. She seemed to be the leader of this group. The siren on the right, the one with the manta ray that was apparently called Tester, nodded and flew away into the still impenetrable fog around them. Observer seemed to be deep in thought, though a small movement from Visby caught her attention.

"Oh right, she's still here. Purifier, could you bring our guest back to her companions?"

The third Siren, Purifier, gleefully let out "Okie dokie!" and picked up Visby. The frigate let out a Yelp at suddenly being picked up and then started blushing upon realizing that she was being carried bridal style by Purifier. At least she wasn't wearing a short skirt like what seemed to be the norm with shipgirls around here, or she would have died from embarrassment.

A good minute of hyperventilating due to both being carried by someone and the fear of being this close to an elite Siren, Purifier stopped and addressed her directly for the first time.

"Hey so… I've got an image to uphold so it'd be really great if you wouldn't tell anyone about this… also i'm sorry about what I'm about to do"

Visby looked confused. 

"Do whaaaa!" Her question turned into a scream as the Siren had literally just thrown her through the exit of the mirror sea. Visby ditched on the water surface once before she hit something soft that collapsed over her. Once she had stopped moving she looked up and realized she had just flown right into Ayanamis legs, the owner of which was now sprawled across her, very much surprised to see her be catapulted out of the dangerous area. They stared at each other for a minute, both wanting to ask quite a lot of things, but unable to find the words. 

Then they were both picked up by the rest of their fleet, all of them looking very concerned. 

There would be many questions being asked once they were safe, and Visby wasn't sure if she could answer any of them.