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Darkness…

For the Eagle Union, it was a dire time. For a while, the once-dormant Sakura Empire was thought to be unstoppable as they conquered lands near and far, taking control of much-needed resources for her hungry industrial base and cementing her position as a world power. In an attempt to keep the Eagles out of the seas, they launched attacks to weaken their hold, first by launching a surprise assault on Pearl Harbor - taking away a percentage of her men and machine from the physical realm. With that, the war in the Pacific begun.

However, with determination and some luck, the Eagles began to fight back alongside her allies. Using their remaining resources, they slowly began to eat away the Empire's military reach with important battles, one at the Coral Sea and another during an air raid on their home soil, proving that they were not ready to go down without a fight.

But these were deemed not enough to turn the tide, culminating in the decisive Battle of Midway. Both sides throw their available assets against each other in an event that would decide the fate of the war.

In the end, the Eagles were the victors… but not without casualties.

USS Yorktown - beloved by many, the motherly figure of her sisters Enterprise and Hornet, the light of hope and goodness - sank.

It was a shock to her fellow shipgirls just as they thought that they could go home in celebration. They tried their best to save her, but all efforts were in vain. Knowing that her time was up in the world, she gave her eagle - the "God of Death" - to Enterprise for safekeeping and told her to fight on.

As her descent into the cold depths continued, she reminisced of her time together with the other girls. The tearful hug she received from her younger sister comforted her. One day, she belived that the fighting will eventually end and that humanity will live peacefully once again.

Hours after the battle, she was gone from sight, never to return.

The light from the sun slowly faded from view. It was all darkness. Yorktown drifted towards the seafloor where she was laid to rest.

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Then, out of nowhere, an unknown noise touched her ears. She struggled to open her eyes to see something despite the darkness. As if by fate, she noticed a shining bright light on her left.

"...What is that…?"

It took her just a few moments to attempt some identification before her eyes were engulfed by the light. Her vision then blacked out.

The next thing she heard was more noises, only this time it was much louder and with a thundering roar. Thrown in were the faint voices of people talking around her.

"...She's on board..." One uttered in a female voice.

"...This is Wasp 1-2, we have the girl onboard. I repeat, we have… ...girl onboard. Returning to base now..." Another followed.

Attempting to communicate, Yorktown mustered all of her remaining energy. Her eyes were barely opened and her voice was shallow.

"...Who… are… you…?"

"...Ma'am, can you hear us? We're bringing you to…." The same female voice called upon her.

Almost immediately after, her sight, hearing and voice disappeared. Everything drifted away from her again.

When her eyes barely opened for the second time, Yorktown could see something big in front of her. It was a grey object with something on its top spinning at an incredibly fast rate. As well, men wearing some kind of green clothing and grey helmets on their heads were beside her, all bringing her somewhere.

Most important was the sky. It was lit in the colors of the morning sun and filled with its gentle warmth, not like what she felt during that fateful day at Midway.

Despite these sights and feelings, it was to be brief, for she would not be able to fully wake up for a while to see what was truly going on.

One question lingered around Yorktown. Where was she taken to?