A woman stands in the middle of the sea, no land can be seen in any direction, she holds her side, blood flows from the wound she desperately holds the wound. Blood flows through her gloved hands. Blood begins to flow from the corners of her mouth. She spits out the blood in her mouth but only more blood fills her mouth. Explosions from behind launching large amounts of water into the sky. The woman turns around her rigging at the ready and simply fires her cannons through the waters. She can't see what she's firing at but she fires a few more shells and quickly runs the other direction. Her blood drips down onto the ocean below. It feels like she travels thousands of miles. No stars can be seen, as clouds, smoke, and fog surround her. She doesn't pay attention to the water, and hitting something she falls down onto the water, the impact sending water everywhere. She gets to her knees and looks at whatever she tripped on. Her eyes widen in shock and tears begin to fill her eyes. A body.
"Oh no, no, no, no, no, please no" She stammers as she struggles to make it towards the body. She reaches the body cupping the body's face. The body was of a dark skinned woman. Her black clothes had been ripped apart most likely by shrapnel. She is surrounded by her blood that's mixed into the water. Empty eyes stare above. The woman holds the body close, crying loudly. A shell lands near the two, separating them.
"NO" The woman yells out trying to stand up and get to the body. Figures emerge from the smoke and fog, and quickly move towards the body.
"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH HER" She screams at them. A bright white light emanates from the woman as she screams, firing her cannons at the figure.
The woman having the nightmare wakes up, sweat covers her entire body, the blankets of her bed stick to her skin because of it. Adrenaline rushes through her body as she tries to get out of bed quickly to find her partner. She panics and falls to the ground tangled by the blankets of her bed. She screams out.
"MASS" The woman starts having a panic attack believing that her nightmare was real. Running can be heard from beyond the door of her bedroom. She starts breathing heavily, the bedrooms flung open and a dark skinned woman runs towards her, the two hug on the ground. The dark skinned woman makes sure that she holds the woman having the nightmare tightly.
"It wasn't real Jean, it's ok, I'm here" The dark skinned woman says. Jean remains silent. Relief washes over her as she holds onto the woman tightly. Jean's breathing begins to steady.
"I'm sorry," She says.
"There's nothing to be sorry about," Mass says gently. The two simply hold each other, hoping that these nightmares would stop.
Shepherd once again finds himself standing on the flight deck of the Enterprise. Looking to his left he sees the Hornet and Northampton sailing side by side. He can see the two on top of Hornet's island. His phone vibrates, taking it out of his pocket. He looks at the message.
'Jean Bart and Massachusetts on the move'
Shepherd turns around, fewer vehicles have been placed on the flight deck compared to the last operation. Walking near the tower, a plane appears on the flight deck and it launches itself off the deck and goes high into the morning sky.
Enterprise exits the towers and stands next to Shepherd, launching a few more recon planes.
"Have any experience with Jean Bart and Massachusetts?" Shepherd asks Enterprise. Enterprise thinks for a moment.
"Not much, only fought with them a few times, but they're best together" Enterprise answers.
"Which also brings the most risk giving their status with each other" Shepherd adds.
"What about me and Belfast?" Enterprise asks.
" You carry the same risk but you two are most likely gonna be on different sides of any battle, and from past experience you tend to charge the enemy leaving everyone behind you" Shepherd says. Enterprise becomes slightly embarrassed at the remark. She became more aggressive in battle after her older sister, Yorktown was injured. Enterprise felt guilty and angry at herself, charging into battle, risking her life over and over again. She became the 'Grey Ghost', a nickname given by both her friends and her enemies. It took many interactions with friends, a splitting of Azur Lane into two rival factions causing a short civil war and spending a lot of time with her eventual lover, Belfast, to become like her old self.
When heard that humanity's greatest assets were fighting each other, Shepherd made it known to the previous Commander about his opinion on the matter. They talked for hours about it, even offering to use the Legion to, as he said it back then, " put them back in line" but the late Commander was adamant that they should leave the shipgirls alone. The Commander trusted that they would sort everything out without anyone dying, while that was true, a few were injured, some majorly so, such as Yorktown.
A Legion soldier walks up to Shepherd, a tablet in his hand. Shepherd takes the tablet and quickly scans through the data on it.
"Four of the supply ships are having some minor problems with their engines, the extra inflatables have been attached on the vehicles, and morale is high" The Legion soldier says.
"We'll stop at Malta before heading to the target near the Suez to make final preparations, make sure everything is ready" Shepherd says. The Legion soldier leaves, going back to his men to double check everything. A few hours later the sun sets and Enterprise and Shepherd retire to their rooms on the Enterprise along with most of the soldiers. A few soldiers stand for night watch on rotation. An eagle stands on top of the Enterprise's tower, simply watching.