Crossover Shipgirls: Building a Dimensional Empire from Scratch

Shoukaku and the shipgirls in her squad stared blankly as the starship slowly descended in front of them.

Even when Yukikaze's hatch opened, they were still frozen in place.

Looking at the white-haired beast-eared girl who stepped out, then at the devastated sea surface...

Their minds still hadn't processed what had just happened.

Mechanically, they followed Yukikaze onto the shuttle and boarded the Eternal Snowfall.

There, they met Setsuna.

Surrounded by a few Azur Lane shipgirls, he was observing their namesake ships.

Inside the high-tech spaceship interior, these native shipgirls felt an immense pressure.

"Excuse me, you are...?"

Shoukaku asked tentatively.

"We are shipgirls from another world. We saw you fighting Abyssals and decided to lend a hand."

Richelieu replied.

"Shipgirls?!"

Shoukaku and Zuikaku looked over the Eternal Snowfall and the ships around it.

Even the smallest destroyer was nearly ten times larger than their aircraft carriers.

The weapons and equipment installed were things they had never seen before—they didn't recognize a single one.

"These are shipgirls too?!"

"We are Starsea shipgirls."

Setsuna gave a concise explanation.

"Come, I'll take you back to your Naval Base. Yamato is still waiting."

...

The starship's speed was tremendous.

The distance from where Shoukaku had battled the Abyssals to the Naval Base was about two to three hundred nautical miles.

For a spaceship, it was almost instantaneous.

These bewildered native shipgirls had just begun to recover from their daze and hadn't yet had a chance to ask about Setsuna and the Azur Lane shipgirls' origins when...

The Naval Base came into view below.

It was located on an island at the edge of a continental plate, densely built with all kinds of structures.

At the edge of the island was a massive naval base, comparable in size to the still-expanding ports of the Azur Lane world.

Docks, repair facilities, aircraft assembly plants...

With a single glance, Setsuna could determine the function of each building. Regardless of the world, places where shipgirls lived—whether called Naval Bases or Ports—tended to follow similar layouts.

Scattered shipgirls were playing in the waters outside the Naval Base.

Upon seeing the descending fleet, so vast it covered the sky, they were utterly terrified and scrambled back to the base to raise the alarm.

"Bad news! Bad news! We're being invaded by aliens!!"

"The Abyssals have built spaceships, ahhhh!!"

"???"

The shipgirls inside the base were briefly thrown into chaos, then looked up in shock at the majestic starships overhead.

They cast shadows that nearly enveloped the entire island.

Some panicked shipgirls instinctively wanted to activate anti-air defenses or launch aircraft but were stopped by Yamato.

"Wait, they have no hostile intent!"

"Do not attack! Do not attack!"

Yamato stood on high ground and signaled to everyone.

She wasn't entirely sure either—Setsuna had arrived so quickly, there hadn't been enough time for communication.

But she instinctively felt a sense of familiarity with these shipgirls and believed the visitors from another world bore no ill will.

Click—

The starship's hatch opened.

The first to emerge was the rescued Shoukaku squad.

Akatsuki, Hibiki, Ikazuchi, Inazuma, Yuudachi, Yukikaze, and the others immediately ran to embrace the shipgirls stationed here, eyes brimming with tears.

"Waaah—"

"We ran into so many Abyssals just now, I thought we wouldn't make it back, poi!!"

"Thankfully they helped us out, poi!~"

"Their ships are amazing, poi! One shot wipes out hundreds of Abyssals, poi!!"

Yuudachi's peculiar speech pattern drew sideways glances from the Azur Lane shipgirls.

They all recalled that beast-eared girl from the Sakura Empire who always ended her sentences with nanoda.

Thanks to Shoukaku, Zuikaku, and Yuudachi's introductions, the misunderstanding between both sides was quickly resolved.

"They're shipgirls... May I ask who you are...?"

Yamato's gaze lingered on Setsuna. Judging by his position, he was clearly the leader of the fleet.

"I'm their Commander. According to your terminology, that would be 'Admiral,' right?"

Setsuna replied.

"Ad...miral?"

A complicated look appeared in Yamato's eyes.

"Our Naval Base currently has no Admiral. I'm temporarily serving as the flagship, overseeing things here."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Setsuna."

She offered a formal Yamato Nadeshiko-style bow in greeting.

"Nice to meet you. I'm the Commander of Azur Lane and Arpeggio, here to support the shipgirls of this world."

...

Later that evening—

As thanks for rescuing the Shoukaku fleet, and as part of the Naval Base's duty as host, Yamato organized a grand welcome ceremony and banquet in the main building.

Upon hearing that rare guests had arrived—shipgirls from another world, no less—over half of the native shipgirls in the base gathered to attend.

They crowded the banquet hall, chirping curiously as they peered at these visitors from another realm.

Setsuna noticed that the KanColle shipgirls' outfits were quite distinctive.

Shipgirls of the same class or similar type wore similar clothing.

Destroyers were all little girls. Akatsuki, Hibiki, Ikazuchi, Inazuma, Fubuki, Miyuki, Shirayuki—they all wore sailor uniforms.

The colors varied depending on their model.

Cruisers looked a bit older, usually wearing JK-style uniforms or casual clothes.

The carrier big sisters favored formal kimonos.

Special cases like Shimakaze or Yamato had more unique attire.

Overall, their outfits were far less provocative than the Azur Lane girls—at least passable by public standards.

Size-wise, though, they were clearly a bit smaller.

"Now then, Mr. Setsuna, thank you very much for saving the Fifth Carrier Division and the other shipgirls. Once again, I extend the Naval Base's gratitude."

Yamato bowed slightly in thanks.

"Thanks to your support, our Naval Base can also provide supplies for your fleet. Is there anything you need?"

She asked seriously.

"Whether it's fuel, steel, ammo, or bauxite, we can help."

"Though our fuel reserves are a bit low—Shoukaku set out to scout new resource sites for that reason..."

"As for ammunition, just tell us the type and caliber you need. We likely have it."

Pfft—

Setsuna and the Azur Lane shipgirls were amused by the earnestness of these native girls.

"Fuel, ammo, steel, and bauxite... That really takes me back. But we don't need those anymore."

"In fact, if there's anything you need, feel free to ask."

"When we swapped out our fleet gear, we had a mountain of leftover weapons with no use."

Setsuna casually dumped out a pile of planes, torpedoes, and missiles from storage, leaving the native shipgirls wide-eyed.

"Th-this... this is a jet?! The legendary aircraft that's supposed to be several times stronger than the Zero or Reppuu?!"

Several carrier shipgirls picked up the tiny planes, their faces filled with awe.

They looked like toys, but the shipgirls could sense that these were true instruments of war.

"Oh, yes. We phased those out long ago."

"Missiles?! You can even launch missiles from your hulls?!"

Ooi and Kitakami rummaged through a few corrosion missiles.

In their era, missiles were still a novel concept.

"Is that strange? Shipgirls that can fire hundreds of missiles at once are pretty common."

Ägir replied matter-of-factly.

Hiss—

The native shipgirls were more and more shocked, exchanging looks of disbelief.

"Your ships are so huge—don't you burn through tons of fuel per sortie, poi?"

"Like Yamato-neesan, poi?"

Yuudachi recalled the earlier scene and asked.

"We use Wisdom Cube energy and reactors. No fuel consumption."

"Ah???"

"Wisdom Cubes? What's that? And what's a reactor?!"

To the native KanColle shipgirls, these Starsea shipgirls from another world gave the impression of country girls stumbling into a rich heiress's mansion.

Why were they all shipgirls, yet these ones felt like they had traveled back from the future?!

The Azur Lane and Arpeggio shipgirls had never felt prouder of their identity.

Whether in terms of strength or experience, they far surpassed the native shipgirls of this world.

In the banquet hall, shipgirls began seeking out their counterparts, curious to see what the other version of themselves looked like.

"You're Taihou?"

Taihou stood before a small loli with short brown hair, wearing a white combat uniform and red pleated skirt.

She looked barely older than a destroyer and was just tall enough to reach Azur Lane Taihou's chest.

Her chest was completely flat, much like Saratoga's.

"Ah... yes, that's me. You're Taihou too?"

KanColle Taihou looked up at Azur Lane Taihou's... assets, baffled by the vast difference in their body types.

She materialized her rigging, intending to introduce herself to the visiting shipgirls.

"This is the latest enclosed hangar. It's well-armored on the flight deck—pretty impressive, right?"

"These are my aircraft: Ryuusei and Reppuu. They're very reliable kids..."

Loli Taihou pulled out two toy-sized planes and handed them over.

tsk tsk tsk—

Azur Lane Taihou's eyes showed a nostalgic gleam.

Looking at KanColle equipment now felt like browsing relics in a museum.

Under the Commander's leadership, the Azur Lane girls had gone through several equipment upgrades—from modernized retrofits to near-futuristic designs. At this point, they were practically a sci-fi Stellaris fleet.

World War II-era gear was now only good for handing down to backward vassal states.

—For example, to the natives of the Akame ga Kill world, to help them maintain law and order.

"Here, let me show you the ship frame the Commander designed for me."

"Every module and hangar on Taihou was personally designed by the Commander~"

Azur Lane Taihou summoned her rigging in front of the loli Taihou.

Rigging served as a miniature representation of a ship. Among shipgirls, it allowed them to gauge each other's strength without needing to see the full ship form.

Starsea Taihou's rigging was nearly twice as large as the native version, forged from black alloy with dark red engravings etched across the surface.

There were no wooden decks or old-school boilers. The starship frame was completely enclosed and structurally seamless.

Hundreds of space-combat aircraft were stored in side-bay compartments.

Additionally, to handle emergencies, Taihou—like other carrier shipgirls—was equipped with a super-graviton cannon. Anyone attempting a sneak attack would be blasted mercilessly.

Hiss—

Loli Taihou felt utterly overwhelmed.

In terms of physique? Crushed.

In knowledge? She'd never left the Naval Base, how could she compare with a veteran Starsea shipgirl?

In strength? Her entire arsenal probably couldn't even take down one of the other Taihou's aircraft.

Other shipgirls in the base shared similar thoughts.

The Azur Lane girls were huge!

Akagi and Kaga of the First Carrier Division were bigger than the native versions. Shoukaku and Zuikaku of the Fifth Carrier Division were also larger than the ones just rescued.

Then there were Musashi, Taihou, Shinano—each with outrageously unscientific figures.

Even the base's flagship Yamato probably only matched the Azur Lane cruisers in size.

Of course, there were exceptions.

Azur Lane Nagato looked up at the KanColle Nagato.

"I am Nagato, Nagato of the Sakura Empire, flagship of the Combined Fleet."

"Y-You're also Nagato?!"

The tall shipgirl, about the same height as Bismarck, looked down at the small loli in front of her.

"Eh?"

"You're really a battleship? I thought all the kids from your side were destroyers."

KanColle Nagato was surprised.

She reflexively wanted to reach out and rub Azur Lane Nagato's fox ears but hesitated, realizing it might be too forward for a first meeting.

"An exception! There are exceptions! I am a genuine battleship!!"

The shrine maiden girl materialized her rigging, face flushed red as she argued.

"And I am also the Commander's oath-bound shipgirl!!!"

While the shipgirls from both worlds engaged in lively conversation,

Setsuna sat down to discuss serious matters with the flagship of the Naval Base, Yamato.

He and a few accompanying shipgirls took a corner seat in the banquet hall.

"To keep it short—life hasn't been easy for the Naval Base lately, has it?"

Setsuna leaned back in his chair and asked with a smile.

"Uh, no, we've been fighting the Abyssals for many years. We've defeated many fierce enemies..."

"The partners here at the Naval Base are all doing their best. Soon, we'll reclaim control of the seas..."

Yamato hesitated, choosing not to answer directly.

"No need to hide it. I already saw everything on radar."

Setsuna opened a holographic interface and projected the entire planet, including the areas around the Naval Base.

"The Abyssals have occupied most of the seas. The Naval Base is now an isolated island under siege."

"All maritime routes are blocked. International shipping has come to a halt. You're just trying to hold out and prevent the Naval Base from falling, right?"

"!!!"

Yamato stared in disbelief at the projected map.

The information displayed was even more detailed than their previous scouting reports. It even included distant ocean regions the shipgirls had never reached.

Even more absurd—the map also marked the approximate number of enemies in each area.

From the clusters of red dots, one could deduce the locations of major Abyssal bases.

"How did you do this? I never saw any of your recon planes...?"

Yamato asked, thoroughly confused.

"Just sensors from the spaceship. Without interference, we can get a good grasp of the planet's situation within an hour or two."

Setsuna waved it off casually. What was routine for him, was shocking to the natives.

"..."

Realizing they'd been thoroughly seen through, Yamato stopped resisting and sighed.

"Yes, we're currently at a disadvantage in the fight against the Abyssals."

"They've blockaded the sea routes. Our supply lines for fuel and ammunition are completely cut off. Without sufficient logistics, we can't mount a counterattack."

Yamato shook her head.

"Since we've reduced sortie frequency, the number of Abyssal Princesses at sea has increased. They've occupied and sealed off more waters, trying to completely trap us."

"Previously, Shoukaku and Zuikaku were trying to open a new route to transport supplies from another continent. We didn't realize the Abyssal forces had grown so large..."

The more she looked at the marked enemies on the holographic map, the deeper Yamato's frown became.

The Naval Base was now like an isolated island in the sea, cut off from supplies and unable to contact the outside world.

Continuing like this was a slow death. The only hope might be to rally all forces and break out.

If Setsuna hadn't arrived with his shipgirls, Yamato might've resorted to her classic line: "The rise and fall of the Naval Base hinges on this battle!"—then led the girls to fight the Abyssals to the death.

...

"In that case, I have a proposal."

Setsuna smiled and extended an invitation to Yamato.

"Join us—what do you think?"

"I can offer you protection and help eliminate the Abyssal threat to the Naval Base."

"Eh?!"

The bluntness of the offer left Yamato momentarily stunned.

"Join you? Mr. Setsuna, do you mean you want the shipgirls of this Naval Base to follow your command from now on?"

"Yes. I can provide a better living environment. Staying out at sea all the time is boring, right?"

Setsuna snapped his fingers and projected a star chart.

"If you have time, you could come explore the Starsea with us."

"Every star you see in the sky—I can take you there. It's just a matter of how long the trip takes."

"!!!"

Once again, Yamato was overwhelmed by the might of a civilization capable of faster-than-light travel.

It was her first time hearing someone say they could take her to the stars.

"No, um... this is all so sudden..."

"Please, let me think about it..."

The flagship scratched her head in distress, clearly troubled.

"We only just met. We don't know each other well. I understand your civilization is incredibly powerful, but becoming the Naval Base's Admiral is a different matter..."

"Many shipgirls here don't even know your name. I don't have the authority to accept so easily..."

She answered cautiously.

"No problem. Bonds can be built over time. I didn't become the Commander of Azur Lane and Arpeggio right away either."

Setsuna expressed his understanding.

He marked a few locations on the holographic map and nodded toward Richelieu, speaking casually:

"Do them a small favor. Scout out the Abyssal positions nearby and wipe them all out."

"I plan to stay at the Naval Base for a while and have some in-depth exchanges with the shipgirls here."

...

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