Crossover Shipgirls: Building a Dimensional Empire from Scratch

"Commander, do you have any idea how many tasks you've given me?"

After sitting down in Akashi's workshop, the green-haired, cat-eared shipgirl seemed particularly agitated. Counting on her fingers, she began listing her grievances about Setsuna's demands:

"First, to upgrade your mobile suits, I need to research Gundam technologies. That Moonlight Butterfly system is ridiculously complicated!"

"Second, you want satellites and spaceships?! I've never studied that kind of technology in the port! Even the Sirens don't have this stuff!"

"Third, what's with the Spiritron Calculation Engine?! What even is that? And now you want me to build a time machine? Are you serious?!"

The more Akashi talked, the more worked up she became, eventually pulling out a wrench and pounding it on the table for emphasis.

"And after doing all this work, I don't even get paid, meow! Back in the port, I could at least charge other shipgirls for supplies!"

"…"

"Well, the capable take on more, right? Other shipgirls can't do research, nor can the Heroic Spirits. Isn't all the scientific work here up to you?" Setsuna chuckled, pulling Akashi into his lap. He patted her head and gently stroked her cat ears.

"You're one of only two repair ships in the fleet, after all."

"meow?"

"Commander? What are you doing?!"

Akashi initially tried to resist but quickly gave in to the warmth on her head. Unable to overpower him and swayed by the soothing sensation, she unconsciously leaned into it.

Cats can't resist being petted, and cat-eared shipgirls are no different.

"Even if you flatter me, I'm not giving you a discount. Considering labor costs and research expenses, Commander, you owe me—" Akashi's voice trailed off until it was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

"I'll take you to other worlds to earn money in the future," Setsuna said confidently.

"Really? You're not just making empty promises, are you? I still have tons of unopened loot boxes to sell, meow!" Akashi sniffled, recalling that her initial reason for joining the Vanguard Fleet was to sell painted crates.

"Absolutely. I promise," Setsuna replied earnestly. "But before that, we need to enter the space age first. Otherwise, it's going to be tough to sell the stuff in those boxes."

"…"

"Well... fine!" Akashi relented, rubbing her head against his chest and forgiving Setsuna for making her work for free.

"Commander, do you have a special advantage against smaller shipgirls or something?" Richelieu was stunned.

This notorious merchant, infamous for scamming carriers, battleships, destroyers, and submarines alike, had been pacified with just a few words?! Was Akashi really desperate for money, or was there something else going on?!

"Wow—"

"After losing to Taihou, Heroic Spirits, and now Akashi, at this rate, you'll end up losing to the Bulins, Your Eminence," quipped a blonde Iris Libre shipgirl who appeared out of nowhere.

Bang!

"Temeraire, get back to training!" Richelieu knocked her on the head, but her gaze lingered on Setsuna for an uncomfortably long time.

"Bulin? No way, right?! But the Commander really does seem to like Bulins…"

"No, no, I must be overthinking it…"

After calming down the sulking shopkeeper, Setsuna moved on to serious discussions with the shipgirl in charge of research.

"Commander, I think we need to prioritize these tasks," Akashi said, spreading a stack of blueprints and documents across the table.

"Working on three projects simultaneously is far too complicated. And these are all technologies from other worlds. Even with the Bulins helping, we can't keep up."

"You think we should focus on just one project first?" Setsuna asked, considering her suggestion.

The Gundam mobile suit upgrades didn't seem that urgent.

First, there was no urgent need to enhance combat capabilities.

Second, the Gundam was only a part of what Setsuna envisioned, not the whole picture. Beyond technological advancements, there was also future research to be done on magic.

As for the Spiritron Calculation Engine... Akashi would likely need to first study the basic sciences of the Type-Moon world to have any chance of constructing it.

"Let's prioritize the satellite launches and spaceship construction. How far along are you?" Setsuna asked.

"Launching satellites is simple, meow," Akashi said, pulling out several spherical artificial satellites.

"The Bulins' aerospace base is nearly finished. All we need to do is use rockets to send them into Earth's orbit. We've got weather satellites, communication satellites, reconnaissance satellites, and more."

"We could use them for weather forecasts or monitoring Earth's activity... though, since there's no one else in this world besides us, we'll probably just be watching crocodiles, tigers, and lions baring their teeth," she added with a shrug.

Satellite technology had been mature since the 20th century. Given the military technologies in the Azur Lane world, launching a satellite into outer space was not a difficult task.

The real challenge lay in the other mission: constructing a spacecraft capable of interplanetary travel.

"I've designed a spacecraft inspired by the Archangel-class from the Gundam world," Akashi said, leading the group to another section of the workshop to showcase her work.

Suspended by mechanical arms was a massive, unfinished warship, about 300 meters long and entirely black.

The keel and lower hull had been completed, while the upper structures were still open. From above, one could see the internal layout, including the main control room, crew quarters, and ammunition storage.

Hundreds of Bulins were diligently working inside, welding decks, installing parts, and assembling components.

At the front of the ship, the weapon systems were visible: three large main cannons unlike anything the shipgirls had seen before.

"Those are positron blasters," Akashi explained. "In the Gundam series, they're used on the Archangel-class assault ships. They're energy weapons, perfect for use in space."

"As for their power… according to the data, a single shot can sink a battleship with ease."

"In addition, this ship is equipped with four railguns and high-energy beam cannons," Akashi continued.

Weapons from the Gundam series might not surpass those of battleship shipgirls enhanced by Wisdom Cubes in raw power, but they had one clear advantage:

They were designed for space combat.

Azur Lane's shipgirls wield weapons optimized for naval warfare on planetary surfaces. Space combat had never been part of their design considerations.

"What about its maneuverability?" Setsuna asked.

"Its cruising speed exceeds the third cosmic velocity, so it can theoretically escape the solar system, meow."

The third cosmic velocity—16.7 kilometers per second—is the speed required to escape the Sun's gravitational pull.

"It's still far from the speed of light, but it's progress. At least we can reach space," Setsuna mused.

While 50 Mach was blisteringly fast on Earth, in the vast expanse of space, it felt minuscule. Unfortunately, there were no hyperspace lanes here like in the Stellaris era, where native civilizations could achieve faster-than-light travel immediately upon reaching orbit.

For now, they would have to slowly develop their technology.

"So, this is a spaceship? It certainly looks different from our hulls…"

The accompanying shipgirls examined the warship. Its enclosed deck, boxy design, and thrusters at the bottom and rear exuded a distinctly sci-fi aesthetic.

"If this spaceship proves successful, we could modify your hulls as well," Akashi said confidently. "Once that's done, we'll have a space fleet. With Wisdom Cube enhancements, your combat power should be even greater, meow."

"Starship shipgirls…" Setsuna murmured, deep in thought.

Rumors suggested that shipgirls were constrained by certain indescribable forces that prevented them from advancing into space technologies.

But his side seemed free of such threats. At least, they wouldn't encounter horrors like the the Contingency or the Scourge upon reaching orbit.

That meant he could bring the shipgirls from the port into space.

Staring at the hyperdimensional star map, with its neighboring systems and the faint outlines of distant worlds, Setsuna finally felt like he was about to shed his "primitive" status.

"Concentrate all resources and efforts on completing the first spaceship as quickly as possible," he declared.

"They'll see that their soy milk was spilled in vain under my command!!!"

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