(AN: In this chapter, there'll be some text in bold. It's the Commander outlining the plan to them during the meeting and how events are going exactly how he predicted.)

3 days ago

The time, night. The location, outside the headquarters. The situation: dealing with an open declaration of war from the enemy.

"Before we mount an offensive," he said to the group standing outside the headquarters "I need to know what we're dealing with."

"Get me all the information we have on the Sakura Empire. I want their fleet strength, a list of their aces and everything on Akagi."

2 days ago

The Commander sat in the meeting room, arriving ten minutes before the stipulated time. It was his habit to always arrive ten minutes earlier.

Much to his surprise, he saw Enterprise also entering the room, carrying a few folders in her hand. From the looks of things, she didn't expect to see him here, which explained why she looked a little startled when she turned and saw him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, after calming down a little.

"I always come here a little early," he replied "gives me time to think. Why are you here?"

"Same reason you are," she replied. Enterprise then strode forward and placed the folders on the table before him.

"This is what I know about some of the aces," she said "the others are providing all the relevant information they have."

The Commander said nothing. He quietly nodded to her, then stared at the folders, all the while strumming his fingers on the desk.

Not long after that, Eugen, Illustrious, Belfast, Z23, Wales, Cleveland, Hornet and Yorktown came into the room. Some of them had one folder and some had two. Just like Enterprise, they all placed their folders on the table and took their seats.

Taking the initiative, Enterprise stood up and cleared her throat before speaking.

"From left to right," she said "the folders have information on Kinu, Akatsuki, Soryuu, Hiryuu, Yukikaze, Takao, Suruga, Shoukaku, Zuikaku, Kaga and Akagi."

"Damn," he muttered under his breath "they have more aces than us."

The explanation that followed was as detailed as could be. The Commander was made aware about the origins of the Sakura Empire, the founder, Amagi and how she was a member of the Azur Lane, the state of the SE after the first war, Akagi's reign and the growth of the Sakura Empire under her leadership.

There was also information about the numerous times the EU clashed with the Sakura Empire. This was followed by all the relevant information the team had on the aces. When the explanation was done, Eugen (who provided the closing remarks) sat down.

Now everyone turned to the Commander and waited for his response. Many of them noticed that from the start, the Commander's expression and mood was serious, bordering on tense. To nearly everyone in the room who had seen him playing with kids, talking and chatting with others, this was a complete turn around, personality wise.

The only person who was not surprised by the change was Z23, who recalled he behaved the same way during their first briefing.

"Cleveland," he said, finally breaking the silence, causing the girl in question to shoot to her feet.

"Yes sir," she said, nearly shouting.

"I saw the report you gave me on San Diego," he said, turning to her "bring her into this as well. This will be a big operation and I need our heavy hitters assembled."

"Does that mean," said Hornet, "are you going to have Yorktown participate as well?"

At that question, the others remained silent. Yorktown's health was a complicated state. Sure she could sortie like the others and was equal to Hornet and Enterprise in regards to overall power, but prolonged fighting would hurt her already frail body.

However, the problem right now was that they were dealing with a very dangerous opponent. Everyone in the room knew that the Sakura Empire's aces alone were more than what they had. If it came down to a straight up fight, the Commander would have to throw all the bodies he had, if he hoped to win.

"No," he replied, to the relief of many "Yorktown will not be participating in this mission. But, for the duration of this operation she'll be in charge of the base."

"Juneau and Unicorn will assist you along with Saratoga, Lexington and Indianapolis," he said, turning to her "along with keepings the kids safe, I need you to make sure the base is safe at all times."

"Yes sir," said Yorktown.

"Now," he said, standing up "here's how we're going to win."

1 day ago

"And with that, our work for the day is done," said Oklahoma, putting her reports neatly into a folder "ah, finally, I can get a little rest now."

"No time for rest," declared her comrade Nevada, "we still have time to train before dinner time."

"But I wanna rest," whined Oklahoma swaying back and forth in a lazy manner.

"You can go ahead and rest," said a voice from the door behind them "but after we've finished our discussion."

"Ack Commander," yelped Oklahoma, nearly jumping out of her skin "wh-wh-what are you doing here?"

"It's not often we see you in the Commissions wing Commander," added Nevada.

"Yeah sorry about that," he said rubbing the back of his head apologetically "turns out, signing papers and approving rewards is not as easy as I thought."

"I came here because I'll be needing your help in the upcoming operation."

"How can we help Commander?" asked Nevada "just say the word and Oklahoma and I'll get it done quick."

"Thanks for the enthusiasm," he said, taking out a single sheet of paper "I need you to find the others in this list. You'll all be part of a team that'll be participating in the attack against the SE."

Nevada and Oklahoma took a look at the names on the list and their stomachs collectively became heavier.

In a world where ships are women, how do you know which one's stronger than the other? By finding out how much information there is about them. For example, women like Enterprise, Hornet, Yorktown and Z23 have participated in a number of battles, operations and sorties and so, there was a lot of information about them.

On the other side, Oklahoma, Nevada and the other names on the list like Ranger, Langley, Pensacola, Omaha, Raleigh, Cassin and Downes participated in less missions so, it stood to reason that there'd be little information about them.

So, when the Commander of the fleet hands you a list of nobodies, it can only mean one thing: he's setting you up as cannon fodder.

At least, that's what the two girls were thinking as they looked at the sheet of paper he gave them.

"Commander," said Oklahoma, lowering her head "are you… are you sending us out to ….. To die?"

"What? No. NO, I would never do that," he replied almost instantly.

"Commander, you don't have to mince words with us," said Nevada, in an understanding voice "we know our position on the pecking order here and it's the same with the other girls here."

"Like I said, I'm not sending you out on a suicide mission."

"Stop lying to us," said Oklahoma, her voice trembling.

"The truth of the matter is, you'll have a very important role in the operation. In fact, the outcome of this fight will depend on the abilities of all the girls here on this list."

Try as they might, the girls could not understand how their presence could change the outcome of the fight.

"But why us though?" asked Nevada.

"When Akagi came here, she noted that the only thing she saw were disappointments," said the Commander "that's not what I see. Every single one of you has a part to play in this fleet and if she doesn't see that then you guys will show it to her."

"Don't worry though, I"m not going to keep you guessing," he added "here's how things are going down."

Day of the operation

"And we're taking the fight to them?" asked Hornet "isn't that a little crazy? They have us outnumbered here and attacking them on their own home turf doesn't sound like a good idea."

"They'd never suspect us to try an out-right attack like this," said the Commander through the communicator "Akagi had two ideas in mind: either we surrender and she wins, or we wait it out and she comes at us on our home turf, beats us and then has us submit."

"And us going for option three does what?" asked Z23.

"It'll mess with their minds," he replied "now when they come at us, they'll be overly cautious."

"Isn't that a bad thing?" asked Illustrious.

"Not at all. Every time one of them's about to attack they'll think twice about whether or not its a good idea. And in that space, we attack them and take advantage of the opening."

"That's pretty devious Commander," commented Wales.

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"Cleveland, Illustrious, Hornet, Belfast, Z23, Prince of Wales, San Diego, Eugen and Enterprise," said Yukikaze to Akagi.

"They're sending their best at us," said Suruga.

"It's only right we do the same," said Akagi.

"All forces, move out," she declared and all the aces of the fleet left the room, ready to carry out their leader's orders.

As Akagi also left the SE island and headed to a nearby island inorder to better survey the battlefield, she thought 'peace is right without our reach. I will not let some damn otherworlder stop that.'

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"He was right," said Enterprise, seeing the troops that were coming out to face them.

"He didn't miss a single one," added Z23, referring to the lineup the Sakura Empire sent out.

"Akagi will attack with Kinu, Suruga, Yukikaze, Soryuu, Hiryuu, Takao, Shokaku, Zuikaku and Akatsuki," said the Commander "She'll keep Kaga in reserve and stay out of the fight in order to keep an eye on things and direct the flow of battle."

The moment one side could see the other, they wasted no time and started firing. Shokaku, Zuikaku, Hiryuu, Soryuu all attacked with a barrage of airplanes while Takao used her heavy cannons to fire multiple long range shots.

Hornet, Enterprise and Illustrious retaliated with an equally imposing barrage while Wales fired her own volley. The Eagle Union and Sakura Empire forces met in the middle of the otherwise calm ocean, beginning the battle in earnest.

Cleveland fired a few shots against Akatsuki, who deflected the attacks with her knife. Yukikaze leapt up and attacked Z23, but the latter evaded by dashing to her right side. Eugen drew closer, attacking Takao with a fist, while Enterprise faced down Shokaku and Zuikaku. San Diego went after Kinu firing continuously at her, while she moved from side to side, dodging the barrage.

Zuikaku drew her sword and charged at Enterprise with a single strike and Enterprise blocked with her bow. She quickly kicked her opponent away then spun around and fired at Shokaku. Shokaku ducked down, avoiding the barrage and playing a single note on her flute caused a number of planes to appear and attack Enterprise. Suruga came after Belfast with a number of sword swings but the maid was able to dodge them and let off a few damaging close range shots.

Hornet quickly sent out an equally large barrage of planes to help Enterprise, but that was countered by the combined power of Hiryuu and Soryuu. Cleveland tried to help, but Akatsuki was giving her little chance to turn away.

"We have the advantage in numbers and strength," declared Soryuu "press on and we will have the battle."

This declaration was followed by a number of long range shots from Takao, weakening the enemy's frontal line and allowed the attackers from the Sakura Empire to take advantage of this, pushing them further back.

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Standing at the top of a hill on a small island, Akagi and Kaga viewed the battle from a distance.

"We have them on the run sister," said Kaga "if we defeat their best soldiers, then taking over the Eagle Union will be easy."

"But of course sister," said Akagi, with a condescending smile "after all, trash is trash."

What the pair didn't know was that they weren't the only ones on the island. Because it had a good vantage point of the battlefield, the Commander requested Z23 leave him here. With Kaga and Akagi also coming here, he was forced to hide in the nearby bushes to avoid detection.

'Well that's my bad luck,' he thought, hearing the sounds of explosions and gun-fire in the distance. By his calculations, things had reached the tipping point in the battle.

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Illustrious, Enterprise and Hornet fired another barrage of airplanes, but were immediately put down by Soryuu, Hiryuu, Shokaku and Zuikaku. Wales' barrage was also put down by Takao, Eugen tried attacking her, but Takao's speed and ferocity made it impossible to get in close.

"Eugen you can't take her on your own," shouted Z23, turning to her.

"And just where do you think you're looking?" asked Yukikaze as she fired a number of shots at the target, all of them hitting the mark.

"Enterprise," shouted Hornet, pushing the latter away from a large attack courtesy of the four main aircraft carriers of the Sakura Empire. Hornet was cut in multiple locations and was bleeding badly from her left arm.

'This is bad,' thought Enterprise, surveying the scenery. Everyone was slowly and steadily being pushed back by the Sakura Empire's forces and things were only getting worse as time went on.

"Any last words?" asked Zuikaku, brandishing her sword right at Enterprise's head

"Just one," she said smiling "duck."

"Huh?" said Zuikaku, not understanding what she meant and paid for it when a long range shell hit her side.

"What the?" asked Suruga, noticing this along with the others.

In the distance, they noticed a number of small smoke plumes form, followed by more long range shells hitting their location.

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"An ambush fleet?" said Kaga, who was just as surprised as Akagi upon seeing this.

"But they don't have any other aces in their fleet," said Akagi "how is that possible?"

"It doesn't matter," said Kaga, breaking into a run "I'll go take that fleet out myself."

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"Hey gang," said Oklahoma through the communicator "now that we're here let's finish up this operation."

"If they're here," said Enterprise looking in the distance. It didn't take long for her to spot Kaga making a beeline towards the ambush fleet.

"Once the ambush fleet arrives, Kaga will no doubt go after them. When that happens, Enterprise will suspend her fight with everyone else and focus only on Kaga. Do not let her get near the ambush fleet."

"It's happening just as the Commander predicted," said Cleveland, noticing that the second fleet's long range support was wreaking havoc with the enemy forces, while providing them the time they needed to catch their breath.

"Now's the time," declared Wales "push the enemy back."

"Oh no you don't," shouted Enterprise, firing a few arrows at Kaga, halting her advance. Kaga leapt back, avoiding the attack but could not dodge the strike from Enterprises' bow, sending her staggering from the impact.

Enterprise attacked with more arrows while Kaga created flame based airplanes to defend herself. The pair continued trading blows with each other, with neither side making any headway.

Meanwhile, the ambush fleet's long range attackers were making it impossible for their opponents to have even a moment of rest. Some of the cruisers and destroyers that accompanied the ambush fleet were circling the battlefield, attacking the aces from the Sakura Empire whenever the opportunity presented itself.

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"No," said Akagi, shocked at the sudden turn of events. Her fleet, which initially held the advantage were taking heavy damage.

"I need to order a retreat," she said, fearing "but if I do that then they'll be able to…."

Much to her surprise (and everyone else's) Akagi saw a barrage of gunfire coming from a completely different location. At first, she thought the Commander had snuck in a third ambush fleet, but when she saw the attack hitting her side and theirs, a chill ran down her spine.

This chill only grew colder when she heard the tell-tale cackle of a familiar person.

"Hello Akagi," said Overseer Alpha, appearing through a portal behind her.

"Looks like you've outlived your usefulness," she said, with a maliciously wicked smile.

In warfare, no plan survives first contact. It is the job of the leader, or in this case, the Commander to be ready for every scenario and prepare for it as a single mistake could make all the difference in the team coming back home on their feet or in body bags.