As mentioned at the end of the previous chapter, Big-E has arrived to take Trigger to his post in the Pacific.

Fun fact: I had the second chapter written down before I started uploading the first chapter to the site.

But about Trigger, he was a pilot for the Osean Air Defense Force, he's a skilled ace pilot with him being taught by a pilot who served in the Continental War. That's as far as I will get, so let's get on to the chapter.

Trigger's day was getting more interesting, after he and the nuggets survived the ambush, he was being reassigned as Commander of Azur Lane, but he was meeting a shipgirl who was not only the Eagle Union's best, but seeing a small resemblance to Yorktown, this was also her sister. She easily pointed him out because of the Bald Eagle on his shoulder as she stated,

"I was told that you were not a naval officer, but a pilot."

Yorktown spoke, "Trigger has done a lot to ensure that these pilots got a good amount of flight experience and would go out of his way to protect others."

Warner spoke, "Your sister speaks truthfully, ma'am. His leadership skills and coordination with the rookies will apply greatly to the gathering fleet in the Pacific."

Enterprise nodded, "I understand, our fleets need a leader and Admiral Williams wants one that's been through the fires of war."

Trigger stood up as Grim hopped onto his arm as CV-6 noticed,

"Grim has taken a liking to you and I don't know why."

Trigger gently rubbed two fingers across the bird's head, "I don't know why, but I think he just has a good judge of character."

Enterprise nodded as she turned to the door, "Your plane is already being loaded onto my ship, take a few minutes to say your farewells before we depart."

As she left, Yorktown can only sigh at her sister's attitude as she stood up and whispered to Trigger,

"I hope to see you again if I get transferred to the pacific. But while you're there, I want you to break my sister out of her shell. Once you get to the base, find Vestal, she's a repair ship at the port."

The pilot nodded as he turned to Warner, "Sir, who's going to continue training the nuggets while I'm gone?"

The Lt. Colonel gave Trigger a dossier, "We just pulled some strings and Task Force 108 has sent their best squadron here."

He looked at the dossier, "Warwolf Squadron?"

Warner nodded and said, "They were the ones responsible for saving the capital when the Sirens and a rogue pilot from the Northern Parliament attempted to use a long-range weapon to hit the Union's capital. The leader of the squadron, Colonel Bishop shot down this pilot and destroyed the weapon. If anyone can continue training these kids into pilots, it's Bishop."

Rider stood up and said, "Trigger, I guess this is where we part ways. My squadron and I learned a lot just watching you and getting us home safely. I hope we meet again."

Rider and the rest of Squall Squadron saluted him and Trigger did the same as Warner smiled at this as he said,

"Good luck in the Pacific, Commander. Dismissed."

As the briefing ended, Trigger left the command building with Grim now back on his shoulder as his essentials were already with him, including his trusty Beretta. Trigger made his way out to the airfield where a helicopter will take him to the Enterprise. As he arrived at where the helicopter was waiting, he took notice of four F-22 Raptors parked near the hangar. The Osean was a bit surprised since the four Raptors were at the base until he noticed the wolf emblem,

"This must be the Warwolf Squadron…"

"Yes we are, son." Trigger was startled when he turned around and saw two pilots standing in front of him. One was a man with chiseled appearance, tanned skin, flat top brown hair and a look of authority while the other man had a buzz cut black hair, Hispanic skin and brown eyes which made Trigger figure that this guy was part-Sapin which neighbored Osea.

Trigger recognized the first man from the dossier, "Colonel William Bishop, I presume?"

Bishop nodded and said, "I am and you must be the ace pilot who helped Johnson protect the base. But I must say, you look a bit young to be an Ace."

"You have no idea, Colonel."

The second man noticed, "You know that there's a Bald Eagle on your shoulder."

The Osean shrugged, "Grim's been perched there since the debriefing."

"Wait? That's Big-E's bird?"

Trigger figured, "If you're talking about Enterprise, then yes, it's her Eagle."

The man was a bit surprised until, "I don't know how he's not mutilating you, but he seems to like you, man. My name's Captain José Gutierrez, but everyone calls me Guts."

Trigger asked, "How did you get that name?" Guts shrugged, "Well, I got a lot of guts to do some crazy things and Will had to bail me out on most occasions. But I paid him back when I flew right into a missile meant for him during the attack on Miami."

Bishop stated, "He was reported as missing until he was pulled from the ocean."

"Hey, you shot off my canopy when it got jammed, you saved my life and I had to fend for myself. But you also had that Shark Bastard to hunt."

Trigger asked when he mentioned a shark, "The Shark?"

Bishop stated, "That rogue pilot was Andrei Markov, the Shark and was the best pilot in the Parliament until he and a few other Northern Parliament pilots went rogue. Markov, his pilots and a few Sirens tried to drop a Trinity missile on the Union's capital, D.C. but it was inside the firing range of the railguns and we were sent in to hunt him down. After Guts went down, I managed to damage the tail of the missile and continue pursuit. During the pursuit, the railguns fired powerful air burst rounds as several rogue and siren planes went down. But Markov was smart, he knew not to get caught by the railguns. I finally managed to catch him in D.C. where he was attempting to bomb the White House. But I shot down his PAK-FA before he could do it or so I thought."

Trigger guessed, also knowing the name of the plane which was a prototype name, "He managed to drop the missile before you shot down his SU-57."

"He did and I managed to destroy it, but it was a close call. If I hesitated then D.C. would've been a crater."

Trigger figured, "I can see why your squadron was pulled from TF 108. Warner needs skilled veterans to teach these nuggets about air combat."

Bishop understood what the Osean means, "I appreciate it. Good luck out there, kid."

They saluted as Trigger boarded the helicopter, but raised his arm as Grim hopped onto it. He told the bird,

"Go, tell Enterprise that I am inbound."

The bird nodded and took off towards the ocean as the UH-60 Blackhawk took off and followed.

As the copter made its way out toward the sea, Trigger saw the small lagoon and beach on the base before looking at Yorktown's ship anchored near the base. But upon passing the anchored Yorktown, he saw his destination come into view. Anchored near the Yorktown was a carrier similar to the first, but this one had the letters 'EN' on the flight deck as the F-22 Raptor took up the stern. Trigger knew that this ship was Enterprise, but as the copter descended for a landing, Trigger could make out the familiar woman from the debriefing standing on the bow of the ship.

Once the chopper touched down, Trigger thanked the crew before disembarking and the copter lifted off again. The osean pilot approached the kansen with Grim perched on her arm. She slightly turned and said,

"I see that you have made it. Good, I've wasted enough time getting you, we should get underway."

Soon enough, the anchor was raised as the ship was on the move, heading west into the pacific. Trigger stated,

"Well, that was quite a welcome wagon."

Enterprise turned around, "I only do this because it was Williams' orders. Your duty is to command this fleet and my duty is to destroy the enemy."

Trigger figured, "That's kind of a one-track mind for you. I've read your history, your ship form was quite the rockstar, earning 20 Battle Stars, suffering immense damage that could've sank a ship and being known as a ghost to the enemy."

Enterprise stated, "I may be a famous warship, but what I witnessed during that time before my rebirth scared me and I am going to ensure that the Sirens are beaten. No matter what."

As the kansen walked past him, Trigger looked out to the sea as he knew that his new companion was going to be tough. She probably sees him as a regular pilot that got lucky, but he could clearly remember what Húxiãn said to Count back at the Space Elevator,

"Trigger's Different."

He soon said, "This will be my new life for now." He walked towards his plane and sat next to it. He reached into his bag and pulled out a stick of Sea-Salt Ice Cream as he watched the waves pass by.

All the while, Enterprise was watching him as she couldn't put a finger on why he, a pilot, was assigned to the Command position of a Naval Fleet. She constantly felt the loss that she suffered, all the death, destruction and yet for some reason, she feels safe when Trigger is around, like he has some kind of aura around him and the three scratches on his plane. The pilots back at the base seem to believe that they will survive as long as they are with him. But when she saw the ice cream in his hands, she began to see familiar images,

One of her and Yorktown laughing, one of them at sea in their rigging, the next was her and Hornet smiling as they placed their hands on the B-25 Mitchell sitting on Hornet's flight deck and the last one was all three Yorktown carriers sitting on the beach eating ice cream. The amount of stress from these images made her collapse for a bit until a hand kept her from hitting the deck, she looked up and saw the pilot with a concerned look on his face. He asked,

"Are you okay?"

She stuttered for a bit as she saw his blue eyes, "I…I'm fine, it's the heat…"

Trigger sighed, "When was the last time you had water or an ice cream?" She didn't respond as the pilot reached into his bag again and pulled out a second ice cream stick as he gave it to her,

"Yorktown told me that this was your favorite. I figured that I would get something for the trip and it seems like you need it."

The kansen could only look at the frozen treat in her hand before saying,

"Oh…thank you."

Trigger soon sat down against the Island as Enterprise reluctantly did the same. The pilot took a bite out of the ice cream as he stated, "Salty, yet sweet."

Enterprise took a small bite as she stated, "It's just like how I remember it."

She was still curious about him in general as she asked,

"Why did you join the Air Force?"

Trigger sighed, "First and foremost, I wanted to serve my country, defend those that can't defend themselves and maintain peace."

"According to your dossier, you were chasing a Siren jet before ending up here."

Trigger remembered, "The little bastard was fleeing from a siren carrier that my squadron and I destroyed and followed it through one of those portals that they used before I lost it. Next thing I knew, I was helping Johnson's Air Group fend off a bombing raid."

Enterprise's gaze turned to the Raptor taking up her deck, "I'm more curious as to why your plane was loaded onto my flight deck. What I can recall is that the Raptor is not designed to take off from carriers, much less land on one."

Trigger chuckles, "Well, I actually did pull off a carrier landing in that plane because of an emergency landing because my wingman's plane was damaged and he managed to land his F-15C on the carrier and then guided me in for a landing"

Enterprise guessed, "It must have been rough to land on a carrier with a non-carrier aircraft."

Trigger chuckled, "It did put some stress on the Raptor's landing gear brakes and emergency tail hook, but the unofficial crew chief was able to work fast and fix her up." He turned to her, "It's going to be a couple days until we reach the port."

The kansen stated, "My ship can go at least 32.5 knots and we're at full speed, so it will be at least 3 to 5 days."

Trigger figured, "Everyone will probably be gathered by the time we arrive."

Azur Lane HQ, Southwestern Oahu.

December 7, 2019

It's been at least 5 days since the duo departed California and at the newly built port and headquarters of Azur Lane, Kansen from Eagle Union and Royal Navy were arriving in full. As the shipgirls from the two factions mingled, two other kansen were walking side by side, the first one had red eyes and waist-length light-brown hair tied in a wears a high-collared mid-length capelet with a black zipper line and anchor zipper buckle over a blue track jacket with white linings and foldings, black pleated skirt with red linings, blue star-spangled kneesocks, white sneakers and black fingerless gloves. This is the Eagle Union's Light Cruiser, Cleveland. She spoke with her companion as she had her hands behind her head in a relaxed motion,

"Things are pretty exciting around here."

Her companion, who has red eyes and short blonde hair tied in a french braid by a blue ribbon. She wears a red cape dangling off her right shoulder and a red military uniform with a white yellow-buttoned front, black cuffs with yellow linings, a brown belt wrapped around her waist and an aiguillette attached to her upper chest area, black pleated skirt with red linings, white thigh-high boots with red heels and white gloves. This was the Royal Navy's Battleship, Prince of Wales. She looked at the various shipgirls walking around and said,

"I describe it as overcrowded. Look around, the Eagle Union and Royal Navy are both gathering at this base and things don't appear to be slowing down anytime soon."

Cleveland walked ahead and turned to face the battleship while walking backwards and chuckled, "I bet you can't guess who else is coming in from my side. Your hint is our greatest warrior with the most battles stars ever received!"

Wales knew who she was talking about, "Ah, you must mean the famous Grey Ghost." She looked at the docked carrier nearby, "The main forces of our Royal Navy will also be arriving soon. Looks like this base is becoming central to all our activities."

Cleveland decided, "Come on, we should at least say hello." She turned and ran, "It'd be rude to keep them waiting. Let's go! Hurry!"

Wales admired the cruiser's personality as she went to catch up with her as the cruiser said, "Any day now, slow poke!"

The battleship calmly said, "Don't rush me."

Unbeknownst to her, she had passed by a figure in a dark cloak. As she removed her hood, her cloak briefly revealed her figure. She has long white hair tied in a high-ponytail with mechanical animal ears on top of her head, and has brown eyes. She wears a white sleeveless sailor uniform with a blue collar, yellow neckerchief with an anchor motif and shows her midriff, blue pleated skirt with white lines, on her right leg wears a white high socks and on her left leg wears a bandage on the upper thigh & white socks on her calf, black folded boots with white lines and white armband on her left wrist. This was the Sakura Empire's Destroyer ship, Ayanami.

Ayanami looked out at the bay until she heard jet noise and noticed an E-3 Sentry AWACS flying about before landing at the nearby airfield. She couldn't help, but wonder why a naval base would require such a plane, so she turned around and walked away.

At the docked aircraft carrier, Cleveland and Wales welcomed the two Royal Navy kansen to the port, the first was standing on the ramp as she looked out at the sun. She was a tall woman with a slender frame, she has long white hair with an ahoge on top of her head and her hair is tied in a low ponytail by a black ribbon & two front locks tied by a flower-motif ribbon, and she has blue eyes. She wears a white detached collar with black frills and a purple diamond, she wears a white strapless with black frills and white cloth wrapped around her waist, white frilled skirt with purple frill prints, white thigh-high socks, black high heels, white elbow gloves with diamonds and a white sun hat with black frills. This was the Royal Navy's Aircraft Carrier Illustrious.

As she took a good look at her surroundings, her concentration was interrupted when she heard, "Illustrious."

She looked down and saw Wales and Cleveland welcoming her as the light cruiser chuckled while waving.

Now that Illustrious was on the dock with her bags as she stated, "Her Highness has emerged from on high. To what do I owe this honor?"

The battleship assured, "Don't be silly, it's nothing like that." She greeted her, "Glad to see you, it's been a long time."

The carrier replied, "Indeed it has, good day, my friend." She noticed Cleveland, "Who's here with you?"

Cleveland stated, "I'm Cleveland from Eagle Union! Glad you made it, sounds like a long journey." She soon noticed the little girl behind Illustrious, the little one has long curly lavender hair tied in a bunned sidetail by a black scarf and an ahoge on top of her head and purple eyes. She wears a white laced dress with black frills at the end, white butterfly motifs and six side cutouts and dark-blue ribbons on each side. She wears white thigh-high socks, white shoes and white detached frilled sleeves. She was also holding a stuffed toy in the shape of a winged unicorn which also matches the girl's name, this is the Royal Navy's Light Carrier, Unicorn.

She tilted her head out to see Cleveland smile until she retreated back behind Illustrious even when the cruiser wanted to be friendly until the carrier assured,

"Unicorn is a bit shy, sorry, she doesn't mean to be antisocial. Please don't take her behavior personally."

The cruiser then said, "Nice to meet ya." Soon enough, a dock worker approached Illustrious and said, "Ma'am, the crews have already done an inspection of the ship's cargo and there appears to be a lot of planes that the Sirens were trying to smuggle."

Wales asked, "Planes?" The kansen turned to an unassuming docked cargo ship with a strange symbol of a red square with a long diagonal bar ending with a pointing finger. Illustrious stated,

"We ran into a Siren Fleet on the way here and captured this ship trying to smuggle aircraft from an unknown faction, it's only identified by this symbol. So far, there is no known faction remotely related to it and I assume that the Sirens captured this ship before we encountered it."

The dock worker gave her a datapad, "Ma'am, this shipping manifest was found in the cargo hold. It shows that this boat was loaded with standard issue jet planes from every faction. Most aircraft were registered as McDonnell Douglas, Dassault, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, General Dynamics and Mitsubishi, but this one was carrying something advanced."

Illustrious nodded, "I see, I will be sure to inform the Commander once he arrives. But in the meantime, I would like the planes transferred to the airfield."

The dock worker nodded as he and a couple of manjuu assisted in off-loading the planes and sending them to the airfield.

Cleveland asked, "Did you say Commander?"

"Admiral Williams has found the right person for the Command position and he is currently on his way here with Ms. Enterprise."

Wales stated, "I was also informed by the Admiral and he assures me that whoever he picked has proven himself in the fires of war."

As they looked at the various aircraft being transferred from the cargo ship and transport trucks - one caught their attention - the Advanced Aircraft. In this world it was a bizarre and strange aircraft with no visible cockpit with forward swept wings, but for a certain Osean ace, it would be very familiar to him since he saw it fly once before.

Azur Lane Academy, Meeting Room, Southwestern Oahu.

Apart from the port, Azur Lane also has an academy set up for shipgirls to learn of their abilities and further develop themselves when in their rigging. But in this particular meeting room, Illustrious and Cleveland were having a cup of tea while Wales stood by the window as the carrier stated,

"Hood and the others should be joining us here shortly."

Wales asked, "Someone keeping an eye on the Iron Blood? Where are they currently?"

Illustrious replied, "There's a temporary lull, for lack of a better description." She soon added, "But the more pressing matter…"

Wales knew, "Sakura Empire, right?" Illustrious nodded as the battleship stated, "If the Sakura Empire is making a move, this base will become one of the hottest fronts. Reinforcing it now will be a logical defense."

The carrier agreed, "True, but why wage such a meaningless conflict."

There was silence between the light cruiser, carrier and battleship until Wales turned back towards the window and said,

"Warfare stays the same, no matter the era, it's the reason we were even brought into existence."

Cleveland decided to talk about something she heard, "I actually want to talk about something. When I was on my way here, I heard that Sirens were attempting another bombing raid. But listening in, I heard that the air group was nearly overwhelmed until the escorts were destroyed as the air group destroyed the bombers."

Illustrious asked, "What happened?" "There was a single plane - a Raptor destroying the fighters. But after the bombers went down, I heard them point out that the Raptor had three scratches on the tail?"

Wales asked, "Three scratches?" Soon she remembered, "Admiral Williams mentioned that his candidate is known for a three-lined marking."

Illustrious knew that, "But from what he described - we may not be receiving a naval officer as a Commander."

Cleveland asked, "Could the guy from the bombing raid, be him?"

Wales stated, "We are almost certain, but we need to wait until he and Ms. Enterprise arrives."

Academy Grounds.

At the academy grounds, next to the golden anchor, Unicorn was walking around looking for something until a voice spoke,

"Hi there!" This startled the light carrier as she turned to a young woman who called out. She has long lavender hair tied in a messy high ponytail by a dark-blue ribbon, and has aqua-colored eyes. She wears a purple hooded scarf wrapped around her neck with bear ears and red ribbon, she wears a white jagged end blouse with blue laces and yellow buttons and an anchored-chain dangling on her side, red & blue plaid skirt over a frilled black skirt, black socks, blue boots, a white glove with a red ribbon on her right arm and a blue bracelet on her left arm. She also wears a mini crown on her head. This is the Royal Navy's destroyer Javelin as she giggled.

Unicorn figured, "You must be…um…" The destroyer introduced herself, "I'm Javelin, aren't you from the Royal Navy Camp, too?" She noticed her shaking, "Why are you shaking like that?"

She tearfully stated, "My heart is broken, I lost my U-Chan!" Javelin curiously asked, "What's a U-Chan?"

"U-Chan is my friend who is gone. I don't know what to do!" Javelin had an idea, "I have a great idea." She took the light carrier by her hands and assured her, "Let me help you - we'll find U-Chan together."

Unicorn felt a sense of relief that someone was offering to help her find her friend. Their first stop would be along the cherry blossom trees where a kansen was sleeping on the bench. This girl has long silver-white hair tied in messy twintails by a bulky hair clip with bunny ears, and has sleepy red eyes. She wears a pink loose open jacket with furred bottoms and bunny-motifed cuffs over an off-shoulder buttoned shirt with single tailcoat and a bunny tail, red pleated miniskirt with white linings, white thigh-high socks and white boots. This is the Eagle Union's destroyer, Laffey as she whispered,

"So warm and toasty…" Until Javelin spoke, "Hello, are you okay?" The drowsy destroyer turned to the two Royal Navy ships as Unicorn asked, "Have you seen a U-Chan anywhere?"

No response from Laffey as Javelin spoke, "I was confused, too, but it's the name of her missing friend. Show her what U-Chan looks like." Unicorn showed a detailed drawing of her missing friend which to a certain Osean pilot would remind him of the psychopath that nearly bombed his home country. But Laffey said, "Pretty drawing."

Javelin stated, "Yeah, but does it look familiar?" All that the bunny girl can say as she slumped down, "I'm sleepy."

Javelin realized, "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to interrupt your napping time." She looked at Unicorn, "She doesn't know, let's keep moving." As the two turned to walk away, Laffey asked,

"Are you in trouble?" They turned to the destroyer as she offered, "I'd like to help you out. The jets have been making it hard to sleep."

Javelin realized, "So I've noticed, this base was recently built and already an air base is close by."

Unicorn spoke as she pointed something out, "They are really going forward with these planes, but that one…" She saw the transport truck carrying the Advanced Plane pass by, "We found that in a transport ship being guarded by an enemy fleet."

Javelin saw the truck pass by with the large aircraft, "I've never seen anything like that before."

Laffey joined them and saw the plane, "Where did it come from?" After their thoughts on the plane left, the three kansen went to search for the missing U-Chan.

On the Ridge overlooking the port…

Ayanami has seen the mobilization of not just Azur Lane, but any plane that they could get their hands on. The influx of air traffic in the airfield and the cargo ship that the Royal Navy had captured from a Siren fleet meant that the port may have an influx of pilots coming in to support this fleet. But then her thoughts go to what she heard about Azur Lane's incoming Commander,

'He's not a Naval Officer, but if it's true, then who was given the job?'

She knows that Azur Lane is a Special Unit for the Joint Navy. But why would Fleet HQ assign a non-Naval Officer to command this base? It didn't seem to make much sense. Ayanami was also wondering what he looks like and it seems as though he hasn't arrived yet. But when she thought back on the cargo ship - that plane came up. The one she saw from a distance as it was trucked away to the airfield. Why were the Sirens smuggling aircraft? But that won't matter for a while because her mission took priority until she felt something hit against her leg.

She looked down and saw a small stuffed unicorn plushie, she picked it up and gave it a look over and said,

"Cute plushie." All of a sudden, the plushie's head looked at a blue butterfly and struggled trying to get free from the Sakura destroyer's hold as she realized, "Nevermind, it's alive. Weird."

"Look, oh my gosh!" Both Ayanami and the plushie turned to the approaching trio as Unicorn approached,

"There you are, U-Chan! I found you!" The destroyer gave the plushie to the light carrier as she asked,

"U-Chan?" Unicorn spoke, "Thank you so much!"

Ayanami was a bit stunned by this when the girl thanked her for finding U-Chan, "Oh, me? I didn't do anything. Nothing worthy of thanks."

Javelin took notice of the scenery, "Wow, I didn't know such a pretty place was out here!"

Ayanami turned and saw how pretty it was and how it gives a sense of peace when looking out towards the ocean, even a passing F-4 Phantom added a bit to the peaceful view. Although the narcoleptic destroyer of the trio pointed out,

"The wind is relaxing, I'm sleepy."

Javelin asked, "How were you able to discover such a perfect spot? You must have a special skill!"

Ayanami softly said, "Thanks."

The trio introduced themselves to the Sakura destroyer as Javelin, Laffey and Unicorn. The Royal Navy destroyer stated, "We've been looking all over for our friend, we're so thankful that you helped us." She approached her, "Would you mind telling us your name?"

Ayanami hesitated, not wanting to reveal her name, was it shyness? But it wasn't until what looked like a blue paper plane appeared out of nowhere and frightened the trio. By the time they stood up, she was gone.

Ayanami took the opportunity to flee and now she's hiding in one of the trees with a small version of the blue paper plane as she spoke into it like a communicator,

"Come in, this is Ayanami reporting."

A voice came over the comm, "We're on a mission, use your codename."

The destroyer sighed, "Uh, right I'm sorry. This is Citrus, I'm looking at the general layout of the base in question."

"Good, we're ready to move out as well. We'll reconvene when appropriate."

Ayanami sighed, "Understood."

Somewherein the middle of a bunch of standing stones, two kansen wait for battle. One of them has waist-length dark-brown hair with a red metal-clip on one lock and has a pair of fox ears on top of her head, she has red eyes with orange eye-shadows and has six fox tails. She wears a black over-sized miko upper attire with red strings on each sleeves over a blue & white open cleavage turtleneck with yellow outlines, a black sash with a yellow flower symbol wrapped around her abdomen, a red miko skirt, black thigh-high socks with metal pads, red metallic sandal and black gloves with the thumb sticking out. This was the Sakura Empire's Aircraft Carrier Akagi.

The second one has short white hair with a pair of fox ears on top of her head, she has blue eyes with red eyeshadows and has six tail fox tails. She wears a white over-sized miko upper attire with blue strings on each sleeves over a blue & white open cleavage turtleneck with red outlines, a black sash with a yellow flower symbol wrapped around her abdomen, dark-blue miko skirt, white high socks with black bands, red metallic sandal, black ballers on each wrists and wears a black choker. This is the Sakura Empire's Aircraft Carrier Kaga as she said, "Ready when you are, Phoenix. Just say the word."

Akagi asked, "Tell me, Kaga. What's the fundamental nature of battle?"

Kaga spoke, "Sister Akagi, please use my codename."

"To battle is to inflict injury, battle also invites injury. Therefore a battle is a mutual exchange of pain."

She knelt behind her sister, "Pain is an interpreter. Helping us understand each other's feelings. So you can say - when we battle we share love."

Kaga on the other hand, had a different meaning as she stood up, "None of that poetry has anything to do with your question of war. I battle to destroy my enemies…" She held a blue paper plane near her face, "Plain and simple." As the plane erupted into blue flames.

150 miles en route to Azur Lane Harbor, Enterprise Fleet.

December 7, 2019.

Although they were getting close to the end of their journey, a surface fleet was assigned to guide Enterprise in during their approach. There stood the kansen herself and her new Commander, Trigger as he saw some of the islands as they knew they were getting closer.

Both were actually next to Trigger's plane as they continued their way towards Oahu. Their escorts were modern ships sent from Pearl, there were two Arleigh Burke-Class destroyers and leading them in was the USS Anzio, the Ticonderoga Class Aegis Cruiser that took part in the defense of DC and was sunk when the rogue pilots and siren jets decided to do a kamikaze attack on the ship. She has since been salvaged and repaired and still bears the battle scars of those cowardly attacks. Trigger looked at the ship,

"You have to give them credit, that ship took a real beating and still managed to keep going before being knocked out of commission."

The kansen let out a slight smile, "No modern ship went through as much as the Anzio. It has my respect for holding the line for as long as possible."

Trigger turned his attention away from the Anzio and asked, "So, when we dock, where would I find the command building?"

The kansen stated, "If the Royal Navy is there, then I think the Royal Maid Corp will be present. They handle the day-to-day operations of the base."

"Maids? Huh, it feels like a lavish lifestyle for a military installation."

The carrier shrugged, "It's how the Royal Navy operates."

Trigger decided to ask, "I know of the Eagle Union and Royal Navy, but what about the Sakura Empire and Iron Blood?"

"That's the problem, we don't know what's going on."

Trigger figured as he felt a tingle in his senses, "Something doesn't feel right…it feels like we're sailing towards a battle…"

Soon enough, the alarms of the escort fleet began to sound as Trigger's phone rang. He answered the call as he asked,

"Hello?"

"Commander! We have a problem!" It was Admiral Williams.

"What's going on, Admiral?!"

"The Sakura Empire's First Carrier Division is attacking the port! The Kansen, Akagi and Kaga have Siren Ships to boot!"

"Siren Ships and the Sakura Empire!? That means they betrayed Azur Lane!"

"Exactly, Strider 1, I need you in the air ASAP! The defenders are not going to hold out for long!"

Trigger gave a "Roger that!" before ending the call. Enterprise rushed to him with Trigger's flight gear, "I heard your call, it seems like we're going to see what you can do."

The Osean Ace nodded as he strapped on the G-suit, gloves and oxygen gear as well as his Flight helmet. He walked up to the ladder as the canopy opened before settling in his F-22. He looked at her,

"By the time we arrive, it will be in the middle of the battle."

Enterprise warned, "Be careful, Akagi and Kaga's riggings can turn into a giant fox. I don't want to see you go down just before you take command."

He chuckled, "Well, technically I am in command. So, we're going to give these foxes a surprise of our own."

He turned on his plane's radio, "USS Anzio, this is Strider 1."

The Anzio's Captain came up, "This is Anzio, reporting."

"Set your course to 270 and hold back while Enterprise and I handle the 1st Carrier Division."

"Anzio copies, holding back. Good luck to you two."

The escort ships cleared as Enterprise set her ship to top speed towards the battle zone.

Enterprise looked up at the Raptor as the canopy closed as she heard Trigger say, "Prepare your Dauntless bombers, let's give them a hell of an intro."

Azur Lane Port, Southwestern Oahu.

The situation was critical, the Sakura Empire had launched an attack on the port with Siren ships to boot. Some of the kansen were able to get into the water to summon their rigging and defend the base. As for Javelin and Laffey, they were shocked to find that Ayanami was involved in the attack and despite the persuasion, she refused. As for Unicorn, U-Chan was used as a mount as the light carrier rode to battle.

But soon enough, Kaga had unleashed her rigging as her ship form shifted into a giant fox with runways. The beast had fired thousands of flaming planes as Kaga smirked, expecting more of a challenge which Akagi noticed as she giggled in delight.

But as the defenders continued to fight, Unicorn was soon overwhelmed by the beast and fell to the water. As she was lying there, seemingly at the mercy of this giant beast to devour its prey - it never had the chance as several arrows in the distinct shape of SBD Dauntless Dive Bombers came into play, throwing the beast off. That's when they turned to see the approaching ship which Akagi recognized,

"An Eagle Union carrier, is that who I think it is?" That wasn't until she noticed something off - there was a Raptor on the deck as she spoke,

"An F-22 Raptor? What's it doing there?"

As Enterprise stood on her flight deck, she gave the signal announcing,

"Strider 1, Launch!"

Upon hearing that, the Raptor's engines ignited as the plane rolled across the deck. The Raptor managed to gain enough speed just before reaching the bow as the nose lifted off and the aircraft took to the skies.

After taking off, the Raptor announced,

"Enterprise Engage!"

The kansen took the signal as her ship transformed, the Island became a compact bow while the flight deck attached to a mechanical arm on her back.

The Raptor soon descended low to the water as the Siren ships began to open fire on the plane, but soon enough, it fired two missiles at the ships, each missile connected and sank the ships in the process. The F-22 swerved about to avoid the AA fire and dropped a payload of homing bombs as the siren ships were struck and sunk.

And he wasn't alone, Enterprise was following behind, riding one of her Dauntlesses as the bombers sank the enemy fleet. The Raptor was going for the prize - Kaga's rigging as the giant fox beast attempted to fire at the approaching jet. But the plane did a barrel roll before launching two missiles directly down the beast's throat as the resulting internal explosion hurt it.

Kaga herself, grinned as she saw the plane approaching,

"This fight was getting boring until you showed yourself! Entertain me!"

Until the Raptor pilot, Strider 1 spoke, "I'll do more than entertain you!"

Akagi noticed something about the plane, primarily the tail, "Kaga, stop right there! Don't!"

The carrier launched her paper planes - only to be knocked out of the skies by light arrows. Enterprise was covering him as he soared past Kaga as she noticed the three-lined marking on the tail,

"Three White Lines?" Her questioning left her open as the plane performed a half-kulbit as his 20 millimeter cannons spun up and did damage to Kaga herself before a three arrow strike from Enterprise hit her as well as her body flashed in blue flames before dropping.

Akagi shouted, "Kaga!" She had no time to think until she saw that F-22 fire a missile at her, she managed to counter it only for her tails to get a bit singed by the explosion. The plane zoomed upwards before diving and hitting her with his guns.

The fox rigging disappeared as Kaga looked up at the F-22, with a angered look,

"How dare you attack this body! IT BELONGS TO MY SISTER!" She held up three paper planes as a holographic flight deck appeared.

"You damaged me, you and that Phantom! I will take you down, PILOT WITH THE THREE STRIKES!"

The Raptor went off towards the remaining siren ships, but the pilot remain vigilant to this threat as Enterprise stood vigilant to protect her Commander until,

"That's enough! Stop this!" It was Akagi, although damaged, she was telling her to stand down.

She turned to her sister, "Why?! I still have plenty of strength, I can take him down!"

"I am not doubting you, but now it's simply not the right time."

At that moment, the three-lined Raptor destroyed most of the siren ships in a single strike while shell fire, aircraft and anti-ship missiles finished them off.

Prince of Wales and Illustrious stood strong in their rigging as the Anzio and the two destroyers were on scene as they saw the plane, specifically the lines.

Wales smiled, "Three White Lines…it is true then."

Akagi took out a dark cube as she said, "It seems most of our goals are accomplished."

Kaga shook her head, "Not most of them…"

Soon enough, Strider 1 called out, "Attention First Carrier Division, this is the New Commander of Azur Lane. I advise that you explain yourselves for this unprovoked attack! I'm not afraid to empty more bullets into you."

Akagi giggled, "My my, an intimidating one for a commander, I might just pass out from your voice."

Trigger stated, "Why did you attack? I thought we were Allies!"

Akagi stated, "Our interests differ on how we intend to defeat the sirens, your side relies on human technology while our side relies on Siren technology."

Trigger chuckled, "That siren tech nearly killed a Princess, I'm speaking through experience."

"Oh, have you now? You have proven to be quite the formidable foe alongside the Grey Ghost. I do hope we see each other again soon."

Trigger armed his missiles, "Not happening! You're going to answer for your crimes!"

He was going to fire his two missiles at them until he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was another Sakura Carrier, there was also another kansen on the deck.

From what he saw, this one has waist-length brown hair with orange highlights tied in a high ponytail by a hair ornament, and has yellow eyes with orange eyeliner. She wears a long-sleeved hooded kimono with flower motifs and red strings on each sides of her chest, yellow designs and linings, black designs at the end of the sleeves and a black sash wrapped around her waist, red hakama skirt, black straps on each thighs, black socks with red linings and red & silver slippers. This was Zuikaku and he soon turned and fired his missiles away from the First Carrier Division.

Zuikaku saw this and attempted to counter, but soon braced as the two missiles slammed against her ship. She cried out,

"My seniors! We must leave immediately!"

Akagi's confident grin turned to shock as both foxes heeded Zuikaku's call. Akagi soon turned towards Trigger, "You seem to have stolen victory from us, but we'll meet again, Commander. Heaven's Will is with us and we are the Red Axis"

Trigger retorted, "You can count on it! On this day, a Beacon of Light is on the side of Azur Lane."

As the Sakura fleet fled to lick their wounds, Wales looked up as the Raptor circled around to assess the damage,

"Despite all of our best efforts, they still managed to get away. But I am grateful that they both saved us."

Illustrious pointed out, "Enterprise is the mightiest warrior, a Tower of Strength. But she holds so much pain inside."

She points to the Raptor, "The Commander, Strider 1 calls himself a 'Beacon of Light.' One that inspires hope no matter how dark it gets."

She thought back on how they fought together, "When there's a tower of strength, there's a beacon of light to place at the top, banishing the darkness."

Enterprise looked up to see Grim and as for Trigger, he saw Enterprise looking up as he saw Grim flying a good distance as the Bald Eagle guided him to the airfield.

Truthfully, Trigger can get this sense of deja vu. He had just ended a war in his world and now - he's in a new war.

"One War Ends and Another Begins."

A/N: Talk about an introduction right there. Strider 1 and Enterprise fighting off against the First Carrier Division and the Sirens.

It seems as though Kaga has become enraged due to her damage caused by Three Strikes.

About Zuikaku, in the actual episode, she threw that paper plane to throw off Enterprise's aim. But here, Trigger struck the crane with two missiles, making their retreat more urgent.

Now that Trigger has arrived at his new post, but with a new war in play, he's going to have to assess the situation. But also to help Enterprise find her humanity, so Vestal is his best source, but first he would have deal with Enterprise's drone-like behavior when it comes to combat.

And yes, the Sea-Salt Ice Cream is going to be a recurring thing when it comes to Trigger trying to get through to the woman beneath the Ghost. (Yeah, I played Kingdom Hearts!)

But anyway, Trigger's got a lot to do since the Sakura Empire and Iron Blood, now under Red Axis, had now declared war on Azur Lane. He now has a fleet to manage and the cargo from the Freighter that Illustrious had captured.

Nighthawk Out!