"You failed us."

Javelin's blood ran cold as a voice filled with venom and spite entered her head. This was one of those times that the poor destroyer had to deal with her own nightmares, with each one just kept getting worse than the last. Despite being offered help by the best psychologist the UNSC could find, the nightmares never ceased to torment her in her sleep.

Overtime, Javelin had learnt to grow a thicker skin and was able to tolerate some sessions. However, as if by some twisted magic, the nightmares also found a way to pierce said skin just to mess with the destroyer mind.

This nightmare was one of those.

With beads of sweat started to slide down her face, Javelin slowly and shakily turning around to meet the owner of the voice. Her eyes went wide as dinner plates and she loudly gasped in horror as the destroyer came face-to-face with three figures... no, three best friends of hers: Laffey, Ayanami, and Z23.

For lack of a better word, all three destroyer kansens looked like zombies. Their bloodied skins looked extremely pale with numerous burns, bruises, and cuts littered their bodies. Their golden eyes were dull and voided of life, though for some reason Javelin could still feel the intense animosity burning within them.

That was where the similarities between the three stopped. For Laffey, she sported a big burn wound on the right side of her head. The wound was so bad that at closer look, Javelin could even see the skull of her friend exposed to the outside world. At her chest area was another large burn wound, though this one looked very different compared to the burn wound on the destroyer's head. This one was caused by stabbing, by a Covenant's energy sword to be exact. Lastly, her eyes... Javelin found herself unable to look at her best friend straight in the eyes. She was ashamed, for she knew exactly what Laffey meant when she said those hurtful words just now.

"Enjoy the show, Javy?", Ayanami sarcastically sneered with a condescending smile, the other two kansens dryly chuckled just to rub salt into the wound.

Upon hearing those words, the Halberd-class destroyer turned her attention towards her other friend. Compared to Laffey, Ayanami suffered worse. Her left arm was blown away from the elbow, leaving a charred stump in its place. Numerous wounds caused by Covenant firearms were seen on her right thigh, right arm, and abdomen, as well as her chest area. In her right hand, the destroyer was still clutching her oversized katana, though said sword was cleaved in half, making it look more like a dagger than a sword.

"Oh but of course, Ayanami. After all, our dear Javy here had no problem leaving us behind to fend for ourselves.", next in line was Z23. Aside from the wounds that she shared with Ayanami and Laffey, the German ship-girl seemed relatively intact, mainly because her death was literally instant. "She, on the other hand? Was busy hauling ass to safety."

Then, all three destroyers slowly walked towards Javelin, forcing her to step back. The sheer aura of death that her... former friends were radiating made her involuntarily gagged. It also made the destroyer feel very claustrophobic, as if she was confined in a small room and the aura was water being pumped into the room at a very fast rate.

Javelin suddenly tripped and fell on her rear. She then scooted back as far away from her dead friends as she could and hastily pulled her M6G sidearm out of its thigh holster. With a shaky hand, the destroyer pointed her handgun towards the three; and with an equally shaky voice, Javelin cried out. "S-Stay back! P-P-Please, just... stay back! I'm begging you!"

Seeing such a pathetic display her friend was putting up, Laffey could not help but throw her head back and laugh out loud. "Would you look at that! Not only she abandoned us, now she has the gall to point her weapon at us! Do you perhaps secretly hate us, Halberd-class destroyer Javelin?"

Ayanami stayed silent as she glared hatefully at the pathetic kansen before her, while next to her Z23 shared the same opinion as Laffey. "Perhaps you're right, Laffey. Maybe she got tired of us all so she decided that getting rid of us would be the best option. Maybe she purposely left us behind so that the Covenant could do the dirty work for her, so that nobody would raise an eyebrow towards her. I admit, you are pretty good, Javy."

"No! P-Please, you guys got it all wrong!", Javelin tried to reason with her friends, but it seemed to only further agitate them. She stuttered as she tried to reason with her dead friends while sobbing uncontrollably. "I-I had to... leave because... there were so many civilians that got inside my hull and... if I had stayed for any longer, the Covenant would-"

The purple-haired destroyer did not get to finish as Z23 suddenly zoomed right in front of her, knocked Javelin's Magnum out of her hand, and with just one hand grabbed the poor destroyer by the throat tightly. The blonde destroyer then lifted the prey before her up and despite all the kicks, punches, and scratches that Javelin was throwing at her, Z23 did not show any signs of being affected by any of them at all. All three zombified ship-girls glared at the purple-haired destroyer with so much hate and disgust in their eyes that could put the worst of the Covenant to shame. The German kansen gradually tightened her grip which slowly narrowed Javelin's windpipe, making her gag more and more as well as slowly stopping her resistance.

With a sadistic chuckle, Z23 growled. "One close air support run was all we asked for, but what did you do? That's right, you ignored us. You ignored our pleas, ignored our cries for help, even our last dying wishes! What happened to us being best friends forever, Javelin? What would your Queen think of you should she know about all this?"

"You are a big disappointment, Javelin.", Laffey hatefully spat.

"I am such a fool for being friends with such a vile person like you, DD-061.", Ayanami added her own insult with a condescending glare.

All three kansens before her were right, no matter how much Javelin tried to convince herself otherwise. Even though HIGHCOM said that her actions were justified, that there was nothing the destroyer could do to save her friends, at the end of the day, she was the only one responsible for the deaths of UNSC Laffey, UNSC Ayanami, and UNSC Z23.

All the honors and awards she gained from that nightmarish operation were all meaningless, for Javelin had the blood of all three of her best friends on her hands.

And now she would pay for that.

Z23 suddenly let the kansen in her hand go, the poor girl fell onto the ground with a loud thud. She started coughing and gasping for air, feeling somewhat relieved that oxygen started entering her lungs again. The purple-haired girl then remembered that the other three were still standing before her with their murderous aura not faltering even once. Then, with great difficulty, Javelin went on all fours not unlike the Japanese "Dogeza" position and deeply bowed in an apologetic manner.

"...I'm sorry...", she sobbed. The kansen already knew that would not do much to sooth the three's anger, but it was still better than nothing.

Total silence reigned as neither party said anything, Javelin was still in her Dogeza position while continuously sobbing. She did not dare say or do anything lest she wanted to bring the combined wrath from her former best friends. With a frown, Z23 clicked her tongue and motioned for Ayanami with her head. "You deal with this filth. My hands have gotten dirtied enough just by touching her."

The girl in question stepped forward and with a wicked smile, she replied. "With great pleasure, Nimi."

The white-haired Japanese destroyer kneeled on one knee and lifted Javelin's head up by roughly pulling her purple hair, ignoring the girl's cry of pain. Ayanami then pushed her damaged but still lethal sword against the destroyer's throat in front of her, whose lips as well as entire body were shaking in absolute terror. Javelin tried to plead with her eyes all the while searching in the kansen's eyes before her for even a tiniest bit of mercy. To her dread, she found none. All she found were a mixture of negative emotions.

Rage.

Anger.

Disgust.

Betrayal.

It was the last emotion that affected Javelin the most. With a resigned look, she slowly closed her eyes, accepting the punishment that was about to befall upon her.

"Die.", Ayanami growled and with a quick movement of her hand, she slit the throat of the purple-haired destroyer. Javelin's throat gurgled as blood poured out of it like a fountain, but instead of attempting to cover the wound, she kept her hands to her sides.

It was her punishment and she would endure it, no matter how painful it was.

Slowly, Javelin grew more and more tired, before she eventually collapsed.


AZUR LANE MILITARY HOSPITAL

PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII

DECEMBER 7, 1941

6:11 HOURS LOCAL TIME

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Javelin woke up with an ear-piercing scream and sat up straight, her whole body tensed up and was covered in cold sweats. Her face showed absolute terror as her eyes darted around to search for any threats that might be stalking her, only to find none. Taking deep breaths to calm herself down, she let out a sigh of relief that she didn't know she was holding and tried to relax her muscles.

Javelin then noticed that she was sitting on a bed with white sheet, coupled with an equally white pillow behind her and a white blanket, all of which were drenched in her own sweat. Her next thing of interest was her left leg which was covered in a thick white cast and was suspended by a leather strap from a nearby stand, meaning it was broken. Also, the destroyer also noticed that she was not wearing her usual white and purple dress; instead, she's currently dressed in a white hospital gown.

Javelin frowned slightly in confusion. She did not remember having a broken leg when she woke up with Amagi, so what happened to her leg? Then, the destroyer felt a slight headache as recent memories started to resurface. Her Pelican, old Earth, Hawaii, the Siren-looking drones, the pursuit, the shouts from Amagi, her own pleas for help.

Amagi's order to call Azur Lane.

Loud footsteps which sound like multiple people running filled Javelin's ears. She quickly turned her head to the right towards the wooden door where the noises were coming from and put her right hand on her right thigh to pull her pistol out, only to grab air. The purple-haired girl silently cursed under her breath as whoever brought her to this... hospital room had most likely confiscated her weapon beforehand. The noises were just on the other side of the door now and with bated breath, Javelin braced herself.

The door suddenly busted open and five armed men, soldiers Javelin realized, quickly rushed in with their guns up before scanning the room for any threat. The brown uniforms of the soldiers reminded Javelin of soldiers from centuries ago, with their rifles also looked like something that belonged to such era. She swore she had seen such gears before but she couldn't put her finger on it. The purple-haired destroyer then noticed that all five soldiers wore a black armband on their left arm with two white capitalized "MP" letters on it.

'These guys are Military Police', Javelin thought to herself. 'Their uniforms and rifles look like... When was the last time I saw those things?'

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary aside from the purple-haired patient sitting on her bed, all five MPs lowered their guns and walked out. As the last man stepped out of the door, two nurses and a doctor quickly entered, their faces expressed genuine concern.

"We heard screaming from this room. Are you feeling well, miss?", the doctor hurriedly asked as he looked over her body for anything unusual. Except for the existing injuries, he found none, and the man let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm... fine. It's... It's just a nightmare, that's all.", Javelin tried to reassure the doctor with a smile. The man narrowed his eyes a bit in return as he could clearly see through her facade but decided to let it go. The kansen before him, as well as her other two companions, had already suffered enough from the event last night, so she might be telling the truth. There was no point in pushing the patient and she obviously needed rest... lots of rest.

"If you say so, then.", the doctor said with a sigh. He then put on a friendly smile and began talking to Javelin. "My name is doctor Scott Merlot and I'm a neurologist. These two nurses behind me are Ms. Mary Russell and Ms. Elizabeth Rose."

The nurses gave a small wave and a smile to Javelin who politely smiled and waved back in return. Not wanting to be seen as rude, the destroyer also introduced herself. "I'm Halberd-class destroyer UNSC Javelin, Hull Number DD-061. It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Merlot, Ms. Russel and Ms. Rose".

While the doctor raised his eyebrows in surprise of hearing the patient's name, the other two women openly gasped in shock and covered their mouths with their hands. Merlot turned to Russel and whispered something close to her ear before she hastily nodded and ran out of the door, leaving only the doctor and Ms. Rose to keep Javelin company.

"Well Miss uh... Javelin", doctor Merlot began with a cough in his fist. "How are you feeling right now?". The man wanted to ask the ship-girl before him some questions regarding her identity but it could wait.

"I uh... I'm feeling pretty well, I think", Javelin replied with a bit of uncertainty. She then looked directly towards Merlot and asked. "May I ask where I am right now, doctor?"

The friendly doctor replied with a smile. "You're currently in Azur Lane Military Hospital. Do not worry, you're safe now."

Javelin's eyes immediately brightened up as soon as the words 'Azur Lane' reached her ears. Memories from decades ago flooded her mind as the destroyer started to connect the dots. The primitive radio signals, the lack of space vehicles, the appearance of Siren jets, Amagi's sudden order of calling for Azur Lane.

They really did somehow travel back in time, back to the time where humanity was also fighting against an alien threat.

The Siren War.

Which also meant that her friends, her sisters, and her family as a whole were still here, alive and well.

Javelin's eyes started to water a bit but she quickly wiped the tears off with her arm. "As expected of her, Amagi always makes the right call.", the purple-haired girl muttered with a smile.

Doctor Merlot did not understand what the destroyer meant and was about to ask her to elaborate more when a knock was heard on the door behind him. He stood to the side so that Javelin could greet the person waiting outside the room they were in. With a polite 'come in' from the purple-haired girl, the door opened to reveal Ms. Russel had returned along with the Head of the entire Azur Lane medical wing, USS Vestal. The repair ship was still reeked with the smell of blood and her black nun outfit had some blood stains on it, both old and new. Her long hair was a mess and she also had dark bags under her eyes. It looked as if she just dropped whatever she was doing and went here as soon as Russel reached her, with zero care for her current appearance.

Those little details showed just how dedicated Vestal was when dealing with her patients.

"Doctor Merlot, Ms. Rose", Vestal curtly greeted the two, which was very out of character for her. It was very understandable, though, as she was the only one who did not rest a single minute last night when the three patients were rolled in. Other staff members had repeatedly asked the repair ship to let them handle the patients while she herself got some rest, but she always refused. Instead, she ordered the staff to take turns getting some shut-eye and let the lavender-haired woman do all the job.

"Miss Vestal.", Doctor Merlot greeted with a polite nod, Ms. Rose also did the same. They then stepped aside for Vestal to meet with Javelin. "Our patient has woken up. She identified herself as UNSC Javelin, a Halberd-class destroyer."

"I see.", Vestal nodded then turned to the three and smiled. "You three can leave now, I'll handle the rest."

The doctor and nurses said their goodbyes and did what they were told, leaving only the repair ship and her patients to their own devices. Letting out a sigh, Vestal then turned around with a bright smile and addressed the destroyer before her. "Alright, with that's out of the way, let's start with some introduction, shall me? My name is-"

The lavender-haired repair ship did not get to finish her sentence when Javelin suddenly gave her a very tight hug. Vestal then noticed her dress was gradually getting wetter coupled with what sounded like sobbing from the destroyer. It took the kansen another second to realize that her patient was crying while still holding onto her. Slowly and with an aura not unlike a mother's, Vestal soothingly patted Javelin's back while humming a soft melody to calm the distraught destroyer down.

Javelin, on the other hand, was just glad to see a fellow ship-girl despite the major difference in eras. Twenty-seven years of fighting a losing war and ultimately 'died' really did a number on her mental health, so nobody could really fault her for acting like that. Not to mention over the course of the war, she, along with her comrades, was forced to witness the passing of hundreds of kansens, either directly or indirectly via after action reports. Some couldn't bear the grief and were demoralized to the point that they requested HIGHCOM for reassignment to civilian roles while some requested to be converted into mobile factories.

Some, however, were not able to handle the losses very well and thus took their own lives on the field of battle.

Nobody uttered a word as the only two occupants in the room stayed in that position. After a few minutes, Javelin finally managed to calm down and let go of Vestal.

"Ehe... Sorry about that...", the destroyer sheepishly said with an awkward smile.

"Don't worry, it's alright", Vestal replied with a signature warm smile of her own. "How are you feeling now?"

"Um... Much better now, thank you."

Silence once again settled over the kansens as neither of them said a word after that. Taking a seat on a nearby chair, Vestal began looking through the reports of the patient before her and smiled in satisfaction seeing that everything checked out. Seeing that Javelin was not going to say anything else, the repair ship decided to break the ice.

"So", Vestal began. "Your name is Javelin, correct? The same as HMS Javelin of the Royal Navy?"

Javelin began to fidget on her bed as she did not know how to properly answer the question. She was HMS Javelin from the Royal Navy; the only difference being that she's from the future and bore the prefix UNSC. She wished that Amagi or Enterprise was here to handle this dilemma, they always knew what to do.

Speaking of which...

"...Amagi and Enterprise...", Javelin muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?", Vestal asked as she did not hear what the destroyer just said. Javelin then locked eyes with her and with a worried look, she hurriedly said louder.

"Amagi and Enterprise... the other two kansens that came with me, where are they? Are they safe? Did they make it?!"

Javelin's constant barrage of questions and the shout at the end put quite a strain on her abdomen wound, causing her to wince and let out a hiss of pain. Vestal then gently applied pressure on the bandaged wound and lightly pushed her patient to lay on the bed. The repair ship did not fail to hear the mention of the other two kansens' names, though, and to be honest she was quite alarmed.

However, professionalism came first and she had a patient in pain to attend to. Vestal already made mistakes last night by losing composure when treating the one that looked like Enterprise... or maybe Enterprise herself if what 'UNSC' Javelin just said was true... and even worse, snapping at one of her own staff members. That little incident shocked everyone in the hospital, but thankfully they understood the real reason behind Vestal's action and thus decided to forgive her.

"Please don't exert yourself too much umm... Javelin", Vestal still felt a bit weird addressing the kansen before her with that name since she not only had the same appearance as her Royal Navy's counterpart but also sounded the same and carried the same name. "As for your companions, rest assured that they are currently in safe hands. Don't worry, they are going to be alright."

She lied. In reality, Vestal wasn't entirely sure about those two' conditions. 'Amagi' and 'Enterprise', as Javelin just said, suffered lots of life-threatening injuries; even though the repair ship was confident in her and her colleagues' skills, the probability that this might be the first time the Azur Lane Military Hospital could not save its patient, or patients in this case, was still there. Vestal just prayed to God that a miracle would soon happen and that they could save those two.

Fortunately, Javelin was oblivious to the other ship-girl's lies and started to relax. "That's good to hear."

The hospital room was once again basked in silence, though this time it felt somewhat comfortable to Javelin. She used this time to look around a bit, to see what her room looked like. As expected, the room had a modest design with the interior all painted in white. On the left side of her bed stood a small wooden nightstand with a, to Javelin's standard, antique night lamp sitting on top. A couple of newspapers were also placed beside the lamp, but Javelin was not in the mood of reading at the moment. Another identical wooden night stand was also standing on her right, though this one had a small glass jug of water coupled with two glass cups sitting on top. There was also a big window on her left which provided Javelin plenty of warm and comfortable sunlight.

Activating her own neural interface, Javelin checked the time only to see a big, red 'ERROR' on both the time and date. The destroyer mentally facepalmed herself; of course they would be unavailable since there was no UNSC or UEG network around for her to synchronize the data. Seemed like she had to manually set the date and time now.

"Hey, Vestal?", the kansen in question turned her attention towards Javelin. "What time is it?"

"Hmm... It's currently 6:40 a.m", Vestal replied after checking her watch.

Javelin nodded in satisfaction as she set the time in her neural interface. Next one was the date, and this one would be a bit awkward.

"Eh... If you don't mind me asking... What's the date today?"

That question certainly raised Vestal's eyebrow but she answered nonetheless. "Today is December 7, 1941."

Another nod and Javelin inputted the corresponding date. A quick calculation showed that she was thrown 611 years back in time, which made the destroyer wonder just what the hell happened upon her, and presumably her friends', death that somehow transported them six centuries back in the past.

Six centuries back in the past...

Wait a second.

She, Amagi, and Enterprise were sent back 611 years, back to December 7 of 1941. The time was 6:40 a.m and her current location was Hawaii, which meant that...

Oh no...

"Quick question, Vestal. Are there any Japanese or German kansens living here with you guys?"

The repair ship frowned in confusion and narrowed her eyes a bit in suspicion. Never in her life had she heard those two nationalities, if her interpretation of Javelin's question was correct.

As if reading the other girl's mind, Javelin quickly corrected. "I mean, are there any kansens from either Sakura Empire or Iron Blood living here with you guys?"

"That is a no, Javelin", Vestal answered, the suspicion in her eyes still remained the same. "They broke off from Azur Lane two months ago and formed their own alliance called Crimson A- hey, what are you doing?!"


The drive from the Command Building to the base's hospital took only about ten minutes instead of the usual twenty, courtesy of Maryland's VERY reckless driving.

Under normal circumstances, the battleship kansen would definitely receive disciplinary punishment for breaking pretty much all of the traffic rules, but this situation was anything but normal. Plus, Commander Adams gave her a direct order to drive him and Colonel Smith to the hospital as fast as she could so nobody could fault her for that.

The reason behind such urgency? One of their visitors, the one with the lightest injuries, had woken up from her slumber. As soon as Maryland relayed that information, the Commander wasted no time sending both Secretary kansen Prince of Wales and Private Anderson to their own assignments before he and the Chief Nursing Officer followed the battleship to the parking lot and drove off to the hospital.

It was a pretty hectic drive, in Adams' opinion, as the man himself leaned out of the car window to act as a "human siren". He still remembered the bewildered faces of all the base's personnel and ship-girls as his car drove past them.

The decorated Commander just hoped that no one reported him to his higher-ups; he swore, those men up there seriously needed to chill out a bit lest they wanted to have an early stroke.

As soon as the group of three stepped inside the entrance, Commander Adams couldn't help but grimace at the sight before him.

MPs, armed with M1 Garand rifles and BARs, were standing guard, each man giving the group a salute as they walked past them. A long trail of dried blood as well as bloodied footprints were on the floor, leading further and further down the hallway.

The place looked just like every hospital around the world during the early days of the war, minus the doctors and nurses running around from room to room.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Commander Adams saw a man in white doctor's attire approaching the group. The doctor was none other than Scott Merlot and it seemed that he would be the one to guide the group to the room where the Javelin look alike was in. Along the way, the doctor also gave the group a brief update on the girl's condition.

"Do you think she's ready for some questions, doctor?", Commander Adams inquired.

"Well, I believe she's ready. However, please be easy on her. Poor girl just woke up from a nightmare and it seemed that she's still a bit shaken up by it."

Adams was about to ask more when suddenly a loud crashing sound coupled with two different voices yelling and shouting at each other reverberated around the walls of the corridors. To make matters even more alarming, those noises were coming from the room the group was being led to.

All four of them started picking up the pace. As they came closer, the voices were getting increasingly louder before they became very audible for everyone to hear.

"As the Director of this building, I'm ordering you to get back on the bed, this instant!"

"Please, just listen to me! They're coming as we speak and we still have time to preven-"

"What nonsense are you rambling on about? Sakura Empire has no reason to attack us!"

"For the love of God, thousands are gonna die if you don't let me go!"

The group finally reached the door leading to the patient's room. The two people inside were still yelling at each other, but they did not care. Maryland forcefully swung the door open causing it to slam into the wall next to it, which made the two kansens in the room turn their faces towards the group.

As soon as Javelin laid eyes on the face of Commander Adams, the Commander that she used to love and respect centuries ago, her eyes started to water. However, it was not the time to get emotional; time was running out and she must warn the man about the imminent attack.

"C-Commander Adams, Sir!", Javelin saluted before, with some difficulties, standing at parade rest and continuing. "Pardon my rudeness, Sir, but Sakura kansens are about to launch an attack on Pearl Harbor from northwest of Hawaii. We still have an hour, if you send ships now to intercept we can still prevent the whole attack from happening."

Except for the regular foot soldiers and sailors, it was the first time Adams saw a ship-girl standing at parade rest in front of him. It felt weird but he quickly shoved that feeling away as there were other pressing matters to attend to.

And the one that the girl before him just relayed definitely took first place on the list of said matters.

While Maryland and Colonel Smith narrowed their eyes in suspicion or confusion, Commander Adams knew what the not-so-foreign girl was talking about. Recent reports from the intel spooks and spies indicated that a formation of six Sakura kansens, specifically the ones from the 1st, 2nd, and 5th Carrier Divisions, along with Siren mass-produced ships had been spotted moving out of their ports few days ago and had been heading east ever since.

Although it might just be that the girls from Sakura Empire were on their way to pay a visit to Hawaii and that they brought the Siren ships merely as escorts, considering all the shady stuff that had been happening within their country as of late, an attack from them would not be out of scope.

"Are you sure about this?", Adams sternly asked just to be sure. Next to him, Maryland stared at her Commander in complete disbelief, her maroon orbs wide in shock as if saying 'You can't be serious'.

"Affirmative, Sir", Javelin immediately replied with no hesitation whatsoever. At the Commander's motion to continue, she elaborated more. "I know everything about the upcoming attack as well as their reason to do so, but we can stop it from happening without spilling a single drop of blood. All you have to do, Commander, is to send a quick reaction force and tell the Sakura girls that Amagi is still alive and that she's currently in our care. It should be enough for them to change their minds."

Once again, everyone did not understand a single thing that came out of the destroyer's mouth, except for Commander Adams as his eyes widened in shock.

Aside from him, Yorktown, Queen Elizabeth, Bismarck, and every single ship-girl of Sakura Empire, nobody else knew about the deceased battlecruiser. It was said that due to some unknown complications during her summoning, Amagi became very sick and was deemed unsuitable for combat. Because of her unfavorable condition, Amagi was never allowed to leave port even once since losing her to the Sirens would cause morale to plummet, not to mention it would also leave a very big stain on the Imperial Navy's name and pride.

For three years, Commander Adams had visited the crippled kitsune every time he had a chance to pay Sakura Empire a visit. He still had not forgotten about her; her gentle and warm smile that could comfort anyone in distress; her optimistic attitude towards life even though hers was running out; her sisterly love towards her sisters Kaga and Akagi despite not being related by class.

The day when she had an eternal sleep never to wake up ever again.

That's why when someone told Adams that a Sakura battlecruiser who passed away years ago was still alive, it was not surprising at all to see the man become visibly upset. However, it was not the time for that, especially when the same person somehow had the knowledge of an impending threat no matter how unbelievable it was as well as the way to prevent it from happening.

"That's a VERY big claim you are making there, you know. Are you willing to take every and all responsibility for your words should they turn out to be false?", Commander Adams warned the injured kansen before him, his eyes boring into the girl's to see for any sign of deceit.

To her credit, Javelin did not falter under her former Commander's scrutinizing eyes. With a firm nod, the purple-haired ship-girl replied. "I swear on my life, Sir."

"Very well", Adams said and turned his head towards Maryland. "Mary, assemble a Task Force of three destroyers, three cruisers both heavy and light, and two battleships and head northwest immediately. If they catch sight of the Sakura fleet, they are to relay the following: 'This message is from Commander Thomas Adams of the Azur Lane Alliance to all present kansens of Sakura Empire. IJN Amagi is still alive and is currently under our care. Please follow us peacefully and we shall lead you to her. However, if any of you show any sign of aggression, we will retaliate with appropriate force'. Also, alert the base's personnel to man their stations. Tell them that we're expecting a possible Siren attack."

For a brief second, Javelin was about to correct Adams about Amagi's prefix but decided not to. Technically speaking, UNSC Soul of Amagi and IJN Amagi were the same person with some slight differences in personality due to the Human-Covenant War and different prefixes.

Plus, it would be better to use the prefix IJN because, in her opinion, that would make it easier to convince the Sakura girls to stand down.

"Consider it done, Commander", the redhead battleship replied before promptly heading towards the exit to carry out the Commander's orders. Adams then turned to face the wounded ship-girl. "As for you, please listen to Vestal and return to your bed. I was planning on asking you some questions but seeing that the situation at hand is more important, we shall do it later."

The ship-girl in question mouthed a quick "Yes, Sir" before, with the help of Vestal, limped back towards her bed. Adams himself was also about to leave when he noticed a pile of broken glass and spilled water next to one of the two night stands.

The Commander shook his head. He would ask the self-proclaimed Javelin or Vestal later about it.


247 KM (APPROXIMATELY 153.5 MILES) NORTHWEST OF HAWAII

DECEMBER 7, 1941

7:45 HOURS LOCAL TIME

Kaga grimaced as she and the remaining kansens of the Kidou Butai, also known as the 1st Air Fleet in English, struggled to keep up with Akagi.

Originally, the plan was to get into position 300 km, or approximately 186.4 miles, northwest of Hawaii and then launch two air attack waves of both Sakura and Siren warplanes on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The goal of their attack? To show Azur Lane how vulnerable and weak they were without the help of the state-of-the-art Siren technology.

However, that was only the official goal. The true purpose of this attack was a bit different, and only Akagi and Kaga knew about it.

The white-haired carrier kitsune still remembered that fateful night when Observer Alpha, their "benefactor", paid her and her half-sister Akagi a visit. It was a very short and straightforward meeting, where the Siren monstrosity said that she had found a way to revive Amagi as a display of goodwill. All the carriers had to do was quite simple and risky at the same time: to launch a Siren-supported air raid on Azur Lane Naval Base to gather necessary data for "Project Orochi", the project that Observer Alpha had promised would bring Amagi back to life.

As soon as the words "Amagi" and "back to life" entered Akagi's ears, she immediately agreed with zero hesitation, surprising Kaga and even Observer Alpha herself. Thus, after days of convincing Nagato and the Admirals, they finally got the go-ahead on "teaching Azur Lane how weak they are". Of course, that was only the cover for the carriers of 1st CarDiv to accomplish their ulterior objective.

Though that plan had been scrapped when the kansens of the Kidou Butai received an emergency report from the spy, codename "Citrus", they had smuggled in several days prior. According to "Citrus", approximately five hours ago, a strange big aircraft of unknown faction crash-landed onto the beach of the Pearl Harbor and Azur Lane forces managed to rescue three survivors.

At first, the carriers simply agreed that they would be more careful when carrying out the attack since that little event definitely made the base go on high alert. However, it was the fact that one of the survivors looked remarkably like IJN Amagi, the kansen that passed away peacefully three years ago, that tore their operation apart. To make matters worse, that person suffered lots of severe injuries.

Immediately after hearing that, Akagi went full speed ahead towards Hawaii, ignoring all of her half-sister and comrade's pleas to slow down. Seeing that Akagi would not listen, Kaga and the rest of the 1st Air Fleet had no choice but to give chase. Although they all wanted to see this person in order to make sure she was indeed Amagi, they still kept a cool head and not just blindly charged right into the lion's den like the black-haired kitsune.

Internally, Kaga believed their plan had somehow been compromised and the "Amagi" that their spy saw was actually a decoy to lure them in. It made the white-haired kitsune sick whenever she thought about that possibility, yet a part of her wanted to believe that "Citrus" was right, that Amagi was indeed alive and was in Azur Lane's care.

But there was one thing that Kaga was certain about: she never knew her sister could actually give the cruisers or even the destroyers a run for their money in terms of speed.

Suddenly, Akagi stopped and brought out some of her red paper planes. The rest of the carrier battle group also slowed down before coming to a halt behind the lead carrier. For a few seconds, nobody said a single word and Akagi was still clutching onto her paper planes. 'Are we expecting an ambush?' was the question that was in everyone's mind, except for Akagi.

Kaga then took a step forward and inquired her half-sister. "Is something wrong, nee-sama?"

The black-haired kitsune nodded in return and answered. "It seems that Azur Lane has prepared a welcoming party for us."

True to Akagi's words, as Kaga looked at where her sister was staring at, the white-haired carrier saw a formation of eight Eagle Union and Royal Navy ship-girls with their riggings on standby standing in their way, with one of the destroyers, who Kaga recognized as Foxhound, holding a big white flag and was waving it around. That gesture made the girls of the Imperial Navy confused since the Azur Lane kansens overshadowed them in terms of number and firepower; however, what was even more confusing was the fact that none of the eight ship-girls had their guns trained on the Sakura fleet.

That didn't mean the Sakura kansens would drop their guards, though. Unbeknownst to the Azur Lane girls, the Imperial Navy ship-girls were secretly preparing their weapons to engage at a moment's notice.

Just as Akagi was about to yell out whatever was in her mind to the Azur Lane kansens before her, one of the girls in the formation, Kent, took a step forward and waved her arms around.

"Yohoo! Hello there! If you can hear me, please kindly raise a hand! We have something to tell you!"

The Sakura kansens exchanged looks of uncertainty as this whole thing was not part of the plan. But then again, the whole plan had already gone to flames hours ago so who cared.

Quietly, Kaga asked her sister. "What should we do now, nee-sama?"

Akagi frowned a bit and looked down in thought before releasing a heavy sigh. She then turned to Kaga. "Do what the Royal cruiser said, Kaga, but do not let your guard down."

With a slight nod, the white-haired carrier did what she was asked to do. It seemed that the other party also acknowledged Kaga's gesture as Kent put her arms back down. The Royal heavy cruiser then took out what looked like a piece of paper before reading it out loud.

"Ahem! This message is from Commander Thomas Adams of the Azur Lane Alliance to all present kansens of Sakura Empire. IJN Amagi is still alive and is currently under our care. Please follow us peacefully and we shall lead you to her. However, if any of you show any sign of aggression, we will retaliate with appropriate force!"

Again, looks of uncertainty were exchanged between the girls of the 1st Air Fleet. On one hand, they could simply just agree to Azur Lane's offer and follow them to Pearl Harbor, though it might be a trap so this option was quite risky. On the other hand, they could launch an attack right here and hopefully open a path to the Azur Lane base.

However, it would be a pyrrhic victory even if they did win. Both sides would definitely suffer extensive damage and injuries, not to mention Hawaii would be on full alert should they attack and that they were currently on Azur Lane's home turf.

"Akagi-sama, Kaga-sama. Permission to speak.", Hiryuu of the 2nd CarDiv suddenly said, breaking the tense silence. Receiving a nod from Akagi, the white-haired carrier with bunny ears elaborated. "I believe the best course of action would be accepting their offer but we will still keep our guards up and keep our distance away from them. We are outnumbered and outgunned thus direct confrontation is not wise."

Other kansens nodded in agreement as that would be the best option right now, but then again since Akagi was the leader of this whole operation, she got to call the shots. They all looked at the black-haired kitsune expectantly, waiting for her decision.

Few seconds later, after much consideration, Akagi sighed. If she wanted to meet her sister again, she would have to play by Azur Lane's rules then.

"Everyone, get in formation just like we planned", Akagi ordered. "Be sure to keep your guards up until we reach their port. However, if any of you see any of them foolishly try to ambush us, everyone is to scatter and retaliate immediately."

Akagi's face suddenly darkened as her bangs covered her eyes and a wicked grin appeared on her face. "...With extreme prejudice if you have to."

The rest of the Kidou Butai had to do a double take with wide eyes after hearing what Akagi just said, but the carrier simply ignored them. She meant what she said, though; if it turned out to be a trap and the whole "IJN Amagi is still alive" was just a ruse orchestrated by Azur Lane, blood would spill and lives would be lost.

And Commander Thomas Adams would not be spared.


SNEAK PEEK:

"You are the source of all sufferings that are yet to come. My doppelganger, my body snatcher… my torturer. But guess what, you damned, cursed vixen? I am now one step ahead of you."

With all of the strength she could muster, Amagi squeezed the Black Mental Cube in her right hand, much to everyone's gasps of surprise and alarm. The Cube started to slowly crack with a few tiny pieces broke off and stabbed the kitsune's hand drawing blood; but Amagi did not care. She just kept applying more and more force into her grip despite everyone yelling for her to stop.

Akagi, although she respected Amagi's decision and did not wish to interrupt her, could not bear seeing her sister hurting herself like that. With eyes full of tears, the black-haired kitsune carrier yelled.

"ONEE-SAMA, PLEASE STOP!"


AN:

Yoshiki-909: the answer to your concern shall be revealed in the next chapter.

Just a random guy117 and Alexdel21: sorry, no spoiler!

To everyone: Thank you for your support!