A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective as Kadokawa Games for Kantai Collection and Yostar for Azur Lane

Note 2: Yes I'm back, no I won't do Traveling Gamer for a while, mainly due to the fact it's a fairly big projects behind the scenes such as creating a full enemy list. But enough of that I enjoy reading a lot of fanfiction and that of course gives me ideas, so it turns out i got one while I was reading some Kantai Collection fics. (Well that and playing some Azur Lane recently) Knowing me I can't leave it alone so I decided to write.

("Human/Speech")

("Thoughts")

(Attacks/Weapon names)

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

(Actions/POV)

(Titles/Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)

(Narration & Everything else)

('Demonic Speech')

("Demonic Thoughts")

Warped Commander Chapter 1

Skies Over Japanise Waters

Third Person-Omni

"So this is it. Huh, I thought I would have had more warning about plummeting from several yards up in the air. At least it is water below me, I hope it doesn't hurt as much." We find ourselves looking into the thoughts of a young man free-falling towards his would-be death on the water below, if not for it bubbling to soften his fall. Wearing a simple white navy admiral uniform, the black-haired young man ponders on the exact details of how he got here. The shock of being so far high up wearing off. His green eyes just staring into the depths below him.

A resounding splash comes off as he hits the aerated water. Thanking the rigorous hell that was training he swims up to the surface grimacing at the pain his whole body experiences. He pokes his head above the water and takes a breath of the salty air.

"Now, where the heck am I?" He thinks to himself looking around him once more now that his emanate death has been averted. Looking around himself, it's just sea as far as his eyes can see. No distinguishing features except for the cool ocean breeze signifying that its at least not a large lake.

"Well, I'm dead. No clean water, food will be hard to catch but I just barely ate, and most of all no shelter from oncoming storms. At Least this is not a mirror sea… I hope." He thinks to himself as he floats on the waves. His mind scrambling to make sense of this situation.

"I hope they'll be alright without me… or searching for me. Who am I kidding, me suddenly disappearing will cause quite a panic. Afterall am the acting commander." He thinks of the problems that his personnel will face now that he is MIA. The sounds of a rudder break him from his thoughts as he looks to what he thinks is the north.

"Did the Sakura Empire make a new ship?" He looked over to find a young woman skating across the water as if it were made of ice. Deducing her to be japanize due to her notable japanize features such as her stature, eyes, and posture. That's not even counting on the fact that she is wearing a predominantly white sailor fuku with a dark green skirt. She also has around her several ship parts such as torpedo tubes attached to her thighs and the smokestack behind her.

"Huh, what is a human doing all the way out here?" She thinks to herself noting the young man in admiral uniform floating with his head above the waves. She stops next to him noting his features and more importantly the admiral uniform he is dressed in. She was just coming back from an escort mission and hadn't heard of any ships taking this path today.

"Need some help?" She asks with her free hand outstretched towards him. Decidedly she didn't mention the danger of Abyssals out here. He grabs her hand after pondering for a split second. She pulls him up basically carrying him above the water with no sign of effort on her part. Paying no mind to his wet state she lets him lean on her.

"Thanks, I didn't know how long I would survive out here. Name's Ben, Ben Xing, Could I have the name of the lady who saved me?" He speaks in a calm comfortable manner. As if he experienced this before. Any other person would have fallen off her on the first few tries she thinks.

"I am the IJN Fubuki." She says in response. The slight widening of his eyes she could not see showed his surprise at the reveal of her identity. It took a good bit of self-control not to voice it. After all the Fubuki that he knew was much shorter with blue hair, amber eyes, and cat ears. Recomposing himself he thinks about the possibility of this being an alternate universe. Afterall he read about it a bit earlier today.

"Where am I, and what time is it?" Ben asks the probing questions. A simple one of course and not all that intrusive.

"We in Sea of Okhotsk and the time is 1200. Why do you ask?" Her puzzlement is shown on her face as she skates towards South to her naval base.

"Eh, not much I just wanted to know for reference. I don't even know how I got here after all." He calmly answers. His voice even leaving no room for the line of conversation to continue. Leaving them to silence for the rest of their trip.

(AZUR LANE)

Almost A Year Later

Kyoto Suburbs: Ben Xing's Home

"So you want me to take over an abandoned Naval Base on an island in the East China Sea… With my empty records? I'm basically a ghost here." Ben sits on his chair looking at an older man and a young woman sitting opposite him. He looks to be quite out of place considering that his guests are wearing fairly formal attire and him in casual. The man in a fairly standard three-piece suit and the woman in a secretary outfit.

"Well have you here doing nothing and under watch is quite annoying. Leaving you on an island to fight the Abyssals is a much sounder option... At least to the superiors." The suited man spoke in a stoic voice. Heck, both of the professionally dressed is quite stoic.

"Fine. Using that against me. Doesn't sound like a well-informed decision for me, but I'll do it anyway. The call is strong to defend the world like how it was for me originally." Ben sighs at how the man put it. It wasn't the first time that they tried to convince him. It's been like five times in the last month alone that they have tried to recruit him for the fight. If anything they are persistent and won't back down. So no use denying it any longer.

"Alright then, contracts please." The suited man addressed the young woman beside him. After he said the word contracts she already had the papers ready. The man was slightly surprised at the speed of her. Ben noted that, thinking that she must have been partnered to him recently.

"Alright let's see what we got." Ben takes the papers from the man's hands to read through. Basic work condition stuff like non-work days, pay, and legal stuff.

"Not like I can sue them anyway." He thinks as he reads through the Legal portion. At the same time, they can't sue him. Mainly due to having basically no public identity. After finishing the basic terms he goes into the ship girl terms. Finding that he will get a ship girl from HQ every month after the first month on the job. They'll ship some materials to me daily to support the generators on the island. It allows the crafting of the girls as well as RnD for the advancement of them.

All unneeded ships are to be sent to HQ for redeployment elsewhere in exchange for materials. It also speaks of conduct but as they are considered another department of personnel and as such must be reported when they are created.

"Huh, lot more things protecting and subduing ship girls here than in my home dimension." Looking through it Ben finds some differences between the two ship girl types that he knows. All of them negligible though. At finishing it he starts filling out the forms to become an acting commander.

"Alright then here you are." Passing the paper towards her, the secretary takes the papers and flips by them nodding while doing so. She nods at the delegate before retrieving another paper from her stack.

"Please pick the destroyer that will accompany you from the start." The man said. Ben nods and looks though the five options before him. Fubuki's, Murakumo's, Sazanami's, Inazuma's, and Samidare's personality and service record were laid before him. The serious Fubuki. The tsundere Murakumo. The maid like Sazanami. The ever timid Inazuma. And the klutz that is Samidare. He landed on Sazanami for his first ship. Mainly due to others having more need for the other ships.

"Here you go." Ben passes the final form while nodding to both of them. They stand up and prepare to leave while giving him their goodbyes.

"We are off. Please report to the military office in Kyoto proper so you can be directed over in 3 days." The young woman finally speaks giving Ben the last instructions as the pair leave his humble abode.

Ben sighs as he relaxes in his chair. They finally left him alone at the expense of world service. He looks at his military provided home. After coming out of nowhere without any records they decided to just watch over him. After a while posting himself into the community that he lives in now, he will be leaving again for the ocean. He finally stands to go prepare himself some food before packing his things.

(KANTAI COLLECTION)

"At least I have a good idea on how to command ship girls." He sighs reminiscing about his fighting alongside the Azur Lane. The sounds of metal on wood, boiling of water, and flames warming things for his consumption. These sounds always did calm him, even if he didn't have all that much time to cook back then. And these sounds will once more become a rarity sooner or later.

"Oh yeah… the paperwork will be back. With a vengeance." He shivers at the mountains of paperwork he will experience once more. He finishes up and plates the simple meal of rice and fish. Catfish specifically for today. Setting it on the table he does a simple yet traditional Japanise prayer before eating. He smiles slightly at the taste. Still quite good but nothing compared to some of his fleet.

He stands up cleans up the table and dishes before retiring to his room to pack for his relocating. Looking into his closet he brings down several sets of clothes and one admiral uniform before packing them into a duffle bag. Reminding himself to be neat. No use in being messy. After all, he wouldn't want to go back to bad habits those maids destroyed. He then places his more delicate things into his suitcase, like his laptop, a few external high storage hard drives. jewelry box, a few watches, and pens, as well as a zippo lighter without any fuel in it. Basically his collection of stuff that he gained after half of a year living in this home.

"I need to pack up those knives of mine before leaving." He looks around his room tidying anything out of place. He sits on his bed and stretches before turning in for the night. One filled with hopeful dreams.

(Azur Lane)

Kyoto Military Office

July 21st (Three Days Later)

"I can't believe that it's been a year since I've arrived here," Ben mumbled to himself as he walks forward to the office space. Less imposing than a military base by many magnitudes. After spending so much time in one he forgot what those first days he enlisted in felt like. Still much different since he came from the USA rather than the Japanise offices.

"I am Ben Xing for the transfer to the East China Seabase." He politely spoke with the young woman behind the counter. The clacking of a mechanical keyboard makes itself known as she searches for my orders and my probable flight to a coastal airport to get to the base.

"Yes, here you are. Please go to the airport and get on the plane stated in these notes." She hands him a ticket for the ride and printed off a sheet of orders notably to the naval HQ for meeting his first Ship Girl. Ben nodded and went outside to the taxi that was arranged for him to get to the airport. He accidentally bumps into a young woman with warm brown hair and black eyes. Who looked about 20ish who was walking towards the door. They both apologize and leave for their different destinations.

Naval HQ: Simple Room

July 21st

"So your the one who will be my first ship." Ben looks over at the young girl standing before him. Her hair pastel pink hair tied into pigtails as she bowed to him. She wears a sailor fuku like the Fubuki of this world. An older man stood behind her inside an admiral uniform with a bit more decoration signifying his higher status. Finally straightens out to a stand before writing the character '漣' quickly.

"Ayanami-class Destroyer 'Sazanami', Master. You write it like this, but read it as 'Sazanami'" She gestures to the paper she wrote on when she spoke the second sentence. Her voice slightly soft almost like certain maids Ben knew before, but the cheerfulness was unique. Being around maids so much he knew that she was one even in her sailor fuku.

"Right, I am your new Commander, Ben Xing. She nods in understanding. The admiral standing behind her finally coughs lightly to get their attention.

"As you have read the contract Ben-dono I will not explain any more for this matter. I am sure you will explain your and her duties once you get onto base." Ben nods once again but this time towards the older male in the room. The elder male stands for a few seconds waiting for any questions from the younger ones.

"Alright then. That will be all. In five hours you will be transferred to the East China Seabase, which you will name better later, along with Destroyer Sazanami as you transport and ship girl. Please meet in the East Gate" Ben and Sazanami salute as the oldest of the 3 walks outside of the room. Presumably to debrief other new admirals. The two slightly relax now that they don't have a pair of eyes to judge them.

"Hope you're ready for quite a ride. I'm told I am quite the taskmaster." Ben spoke with a smile. The lady returned the smile with a cheerful smile of her own. Not quite a grin but still enough to show her joy.

"Shall we get something to eat, goshujin-sama?" Her smile didn't waver when she said this sentence. Seeming quite happy to leave the HQ. They both walk outside with her being slightly behind and just giving directions to the mess hall to eat. This is the start of the newest partnership. One that will last through tribulation after tribulation, attracting more towards them. But those stories are for later.

Number of words: Around 2500

Finished the 1st of July