Kansen, Japanese for infection, is the technical term used in the world of Azur Angel to describe the humanoid war machines, colloquially known as shipgirls.

After the first contact war with the Sirens, humanity was at the brink of ruin. All classical fleets had been utterly destroyed by the overwhelming power of the alien invaders. Then one day, as if an answer to a prayer, humans found seemingly abandoned Siren technology and managed to retro-engineer parts of it. The resulting crystalline cubes could be implanted into war machines in order to transform them into humanoid form. The first shipgirls were born. The fact that
human technology had to be “infected” partially by Siren tech gave this class of weapon their name.

While the existence of Kansen was a well guarded secret, especially in the early days of the war, these enigmatic individuals
have quickly become renowned for their actions in safeguarding humanity. While the praises for the Kansen Initiative and its
success could hardly be louder, especially in military circles, civilians are a different matter entirely. Most civilians will never
see a Kansen and those that do usually see their more ferocious nature during battle. As such, rumors of human-made
demons run rampant, a fact that the Admiralty is trying to combat with information campaigns.

To the casual observer a Kansen may look like a human female, often with some sort of animalistic or demonic aspect.
The exact way in which the crystalline core is interacting with human technology is barely understood and what little is
known is shared with even fewer specialists.

Kansen are considered the humanoid soul of warships, the power and durability of the ships being condensed and
amplified by the infection process. This leads to incredibly durable and strong bodies. While a Kansen may exist on land,
as any human would, their ship-self must remain in the water unless it is used to manifest the weapon systems at the
Kansen’s side, at which point the ship-self will dematerialize. While in its natural form, the ship-self may be used as a
regular vessel, being under the full control of it’s Kansen. In this form, however, damage, speed and durability are
greatly reduced. As both the Kansen and the ship are parts of the same being, damage done to one is reflected on
the other.

Furthermore, it is imperative that the Kansen remain in a somewhat close proximity to their ship-self or wears her rigging, as increased distance puts additional strain on the crystalline structure of the Kansen’s core. Too great a distance would in theory result in a shattered cube and the Kansen’s demise.

Humanity

Reunited Fleet

Made up of the different pre-war factions of Iron Blood, Royal Navy, Northern, Sakura Empire and Eagle Union, alongside minor factions like the Sardegna Empire, Northern parliament and Iris Libre, the humanoid war machines of the Reunited Fleet are what stands between humanity and destruction.

With its two major bases, Combined Fleet Base Crimson in Europe and Combined Fleet Base Azur in the Pacific, their respective Commanders field Kansen, marvels of ingenuity based on Siren technology, to fight for the planet’s future.

Sakura Empire

The Sakura Empire is a faction based in Japan but consolidates much of the pacific theatre under its banner, with the explicit exception of Australia, which remains under the Royal Navy’s control.

The faction is traditionalistic and headstrong, which is reflected in the Kansen it produces.

Eagle Union

Consolidating most of the American continents, the Eagle Union prides itself on its values of freedom and democracy. Using advanced technologies, soly developed by humanity and success through sheer numbers are of equal importance to the doctrine of this faction.

Iron Blood

The Iron Blood Reich, or simply Iron Blood covers much of central Europe. Ferocious attacks, unwavering durability and advanced technology that also relies on scavanged Siren tech make this faction both powerful and secretive. One of the conditions of the Reunited Fleet’s peace treaty between the Crimson Axis and the Azur Lane had been the establishment of a large combined fleet base on Iron Blood soil. Fleet Base Crimson was subsequently erected in Wilhelmshafen.

Royal Navy

Spanning the Isles of the United Kingdom and the Emerald Isle, the Royal Navy is built around their crown jewels, The Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, who are treated like royalty by the rest of the faction’s Kansen. Fierce fighters and loyal to a fault, the Royal Navy also holds the largest intelligence network of the Reunited Fleet.

The Kansen Initiative

Factions

Azur Lane Timeline:

This is the timeline that contains the events of the games and the Animes connected to Azur Lane. It had been initially used as a jump-off point for ideas but has long since been outgrown. It neither interacts nor features in my world but its existence out there in the multiverse anchors my writing to that universe.

Status: UNKNOWN

Crimson Axis Timeline:

A timeline in which the coalition of Iron Blood and The Sakura Dawn , a militant version of the Sakura Empire, crushed the Eagle Union and its allies, thus establishing the rule of the Crimson Axis.

While not too important to the story, it is this timeline that several several of my OCs stem from.
Status: GLASSED

Sirens

Timelines

Siren Expeditionary Fleet 01

Part of the greater Siren forces, EF-01 is one of 3 expeditionary forces, sent into the void in search of interesting planets. Once found they are harvested for data that the Sirens hope to use in order to perfect themselves.

The planet chosen by the leader of EF-01, the mysterious entity Astra, is a little blue marble in an otherwise unremarkable solar system: Sol 3, Earth.

Siren Main Fleet

It was this amalgam of different vessles that long ago left a doomed world. The survivors knowing they had to perfect themselves to survive. The Sirens were created to assits in that task but over the eons, the once noble dream of self-perfection has become corrupted.

Now, under the leadership of a single Siren, Emmissary, the Main Fleet sends out its Expeditionary Fleets to scour the cosmos for data. The matter in which it is obtained matters little.

Siren technology allows them to manipulate spacetime around a planet in such a way, as to split off different timelines. These run in parallel but usually have key differences to them. This phenomenon the Sirens then use to push a planet in a desired direction, in Earth’s case naval combat. While time passes at the same rate throughout each timeline, not every timeline has been opened at the same point in time, resulting in some timelines being much more futuristic than others.

Despite all their power and technological prowess, it is impossible, even for Sirens to turn back the river of time. As such, new timelines are created instead. This maximizes efficiency and does not waste a planet’s potential with a single experimental cycle.

By allowing humanity to capture key Siren technology, technical advances are increased and the value of data gained from the experiments done to timelines is improved.

Siren doctrine states that, after a timeline has served its purpose, it is to be sterilized in order to prevent potential cross contamination of datasets. This usually is done by the use of thermonuclear missiles.

Shattered World Timeline:

This is the home timeline of both Ashitaka and Okita. A world in which humanity has seemingly pushed the Siren invasion back.

Earth’s defense in this timeline has focused under the leadership of the last remaining major faction: The Sakura Empire.

Status: GLASSED

Future Perfect Timeline:

The creation of this timeline followed a miscalculation by the Sirens, believing humanity would never evolve far enough to really threaten them. They were proven wrong, when this timeline managed to actually fully repell Siren incursions and blocking off access to their world. They now try to use their technological advantages to assist less fortunate timelines.

This might be the timeline with the most impact to the story, other than the Azur Angel timeline itself. Home to several OC characters, this timeline managed to recreate the Siren portal technology, allowing limited (oneway) transportation to other timelines. This way more than one Kansen of this timeline has found their way to the Azur Angel timeline voluntarily.

Status: ACTIVE

Timelines of Note

Azur Angel Timeline:

It is this timeline, that the story mainly focuses on. A timeline selected by the Sirens for long-term storage of potentially interesting individuals. While Siren attacks on this version of Earth still pose a serious threat, This is merely to keep the world invested in the war.

Status: ACTIVE

Future Imperfect Timeline:

This is another timeline that used to be home to several of my OC characters, before they were either transported to tze Azur Angel Timeline or shared the fate of their doomed world. The main difference to many other timelines is, that the Future Imperfect timeline was on the rough technological point our world was. The beginning new millenium. The Siren Forces opened this timeline roughly in 2012, waging their war of attrition against a more advanced foe.

Status: GLASSED

The Median Dimension “The Space Between”:

The Median Dimension is the current base of operations of Siren Expeditionary Fleet 01. It is a pocket dimension
created by the power of the fleet’s leader, Entity Astra. Powered and illuminated by a black sun, this dimension
is perfectly flat, has no weather and a very skewed flow of time that runs much slower than in the different
timelines.

The floor of the Space Between, as the dimension is called by its occupants, is incredibly durable to the
degree where even Siren weapons cannot harm it. This makes the dimension a perfect staging and
training round that has seen the construction of many buildings, ranging from living quarters to research
facilities. At the heart of it all is the throne of Astra, the master of this realm.

While seemingly unending in every direction, the further one travels from the center point of the dimension,
the less stable it becomes, with the floor and the very fabric or reality beginning to bend, twist and tear.
The habitable safe zone roughly spans 10km², more than enough for the Sirens.

Status: ACTIVE