Last time, Sheffield and Edinburgh had infiltrated the Sakura Empire's main base and discovered Project Orochi. They obtained the Mental Cube, a comatose human man and two defectors, Shinano and Akashi.

With the help of Slash of the 19th Tactical Fighter Squadron, they were able to escape. But Sheffield was wounded and they needed to take shelter. Slash recommended an abandoned island to take shelter in while Sheffield ordered Slash to warn Trigger.

Now Slash and Trigger are planning a rescue mission for the team. As for what the LRSSG are up to, they are trying to find Trigger. But it also seems like a ghost has returned with a solution to their problem.

Also for kevinlee010601: How Shinano knew about Trigger was of her traversing through the dreamscape and finding the information.

As for the portals, the Sirens have advanced technology, so a device to create a gateway to another world is not out of the way of what they can do.

Let's get on with the chapter!

Ace Combat Universe

OFS Admiral Andersen

Farbanti, Erusea

To say that Count was surprised would be an understatement, he was actually shocked to see this person was here. He and Avril remembered him because of the bets he did and was a huge gambler. But the one thing that he always had was his luck and there's no doubt about that. But to both of them - he was supposed to be dead. As Count asked,

"Is that you, High Roller?"

The man chuckled, "Were you expecting a ghost? Because I am here now."

Húxiãn asked, "Friend of yours?"

He sighed, "Former wingman, High Roller was Spare 7 in my old squadron. He's also a gambling nutjob."

High Roller pointed out, "And very lucky as well."

Avril asked, "How is that possible? You died over Roca Roja!"

The gambler shrugged, "Well I managed to eject safely."

Count paused, "Wait? You ejected? That's impossible since Bandog locked out the ejection seats so we couldn't escape!"

The gambler recalled, "It seemed like the first missile hit actually disabled the lockout on my ejection seat and when I took that second missile, I managed to bail out safely. I was picked up by the regular forces who were a bit mad that they were upstaged by a bunch of convict pilots. The look on their faces made me laugh a bit."

Count remembered that base, "We pretty much flattened the base that day."

"So the regular forces saw my flight suit and realized that I was a convict and plus, I didn't want to die in a desert, so I went with them as they locked me up and prepared to transport me back to Zapland."

Avril pointed out, "You never arrived, so something must have happened."

"Right, we were heading for the forward air base when the transport convoy I was in came under attack by a single fighter - an SU-30 with orange wingtips."

Wit remembered, "Mihaly did tell me about a convoy in Roca Roja, so that was you in that convoy."

"He nearly blew up the truck that I was in, but me and a few others managed to survive. After that, the survivors and I were captured by the Eruseans and shipped to multiple bases until we stopped at Artiglio for refueling when…surprise surprise - you guys happened to attack since I noticed the sin lines."

Count remembered, "Oh that port, we were too busy blowing shit up to notice you were down there."

The gambler shrugged, "The confusion allowed me to sneak away so I can signal you for help until that damn sandstorm came in." He complained, "That wanton destruction ended up getting me recaptured, so thanks for that, assholes."

"It's not our fault that you chose to pull an escape attempt in the middle of a sandstorm!" Count retorted.

Lanza spoke, "Give the man credit, at least he tried."

High Roller chuckled, "Yeah, I did. Anyway, the Eruseans decided to send me to a more secure base for interrogation and shipped me and the other POWs to an off-shore platform in Snider's Top. The damn thing had a runway for planes to takeoff and land and it was a staging area for the Erusean Navy to attack Eastern Usea since I saw a lot of ships from my cell. That wasn't until I saw Osean Aircraft attack the platform itself. But the craziest thing was seeing an XFA-27 fly into the runway platform and destroying the support sections. But I also saw the three strikes on the tail."

Skald spoke, "That was Trigger since he even destroyed the planes on the platform before they took off. He actually found out about the support sections and destroyed the first one."

High Roller was surprised, "So that was him? What a coincidence." He continued, "I and the others managed to escape the collapsing platform by sneaking aboard an Erusean destroyer that was pulling out of that wanton destruction with them none-the-wiser. As we kept a low profile aboard that ship, I soon overheard several officers talk about how Stonehenge shot down an Arsenal Bird. I had a bet that just because it's big doesn't mean it's invincible and I won. All you needed was a huge-ass gun."

Lanza spoke, "Yeah, we used the last Stonehenge gun to destroy the Arsenal Bird."

"Anyway, as we kept a low profile, I heard about the loss of the IRBM cluster Sierraplata and the others heard about the mutiny of some submarine called 'The Alicorn' afterwards the destroyer I was on was sent to Anchorhead Bay. The Eruseans had their naval power gathered at the port, mostly from the mothball fleet. We disembarked and actually came across an Erusean General who knew that we were Osean. But he didn't arrest us and he said something about conservatives and how the radicals are responsible and how he wants to end the war."

Jaeger realized, "You met General Labarthe?"

The gambler nodded, "Yeah, that was his name and he was sending information to Osean forces in secret. The next thing I know, Anchorhead was attacked by four Osean planes while huge explosions went off everywhere. The entire port was pretty much a scrapyard and I saw a 2-on-2 duel between a pair of Berkuts and a pair of Eagles. My money was on the Eagles."

Count pointed out, "That was me and Trigger going up against two hitmen that were hired to kill him."

High Roller was shocked, "Kill Trigger? Why would someone want to kill Harling's supposed Murderer?"

"Trigger was actually innocent, so you won that bet."

"I kinda figured, but still, lucky me!" He went back to the story, "So in exchange for my freedom, I actually sent the specs of the Alicorn as well as the information on Cape Rainy to you guys when I was undercover. I did this because: 1. to ensure that the psycho captain doesn't send a nuke to Oured and 2. You guys needed a staging area for the showdown in Farbanti."

Count stated, "Trigger actually took Torres targeting Oured personally since his parents and sister live there. Man, you should have seen him, he was out for blood upon hearing that his home was the target."

The gambler was surprised, "Never seen Trigger pissed off, but it's a good thing that he stopped him or else the war would've escalated."

He continued his story, "Soon enough, I was off along with Captain Karl who was a POW like me, who was in the Osean Army and we were sent out in a chopper for Cape Rainy. Once we arrived, Karl and I stayed hidden as we sent information to the allied forces, but when the base personnel started getting suspicious, we hitched a ride aboard an Erusean destroyer that departed for Farbanti. Later on, we heard that you guys took the air base for your upcoming assault on the capital. As for us, the destroyer's dumbass Captain thought that waiting in the ruins of the municipal area would provide cover in anticipation for the upcoming fight."

Seymour realized, "You were at Farbanti?"

"And we were nearly killed when some jackass decided to drop a building on the ship we were on. Karl and I managed to escape by commandeering a missile boat as the building crushed the destroyer."

Count realized, "Oh, sorry."

"After that, we managed to make it back to land where we finally linked up with the Osean forces after helping out the Erusean Conservatives. That's when everything started going to shit as the communications blackout occurred."

Húxiãn figured, "Since you were with Karl from the Anchorhead Raid to Farbanti, you must have been going back to Anchorhead when we were escorting Labarthe. It's just shows since you were shadowing us for most of the war."

"Damn that's right on the money! I was back in Anchorhead as Karl and I were planning to get Labarthe to the helipad, so he could commence the peace talks with Osea. You pretty much saw the state of the city, it became a full-blown war zone as the Eruseans were fighting each other and with the lack of IFF, friendly fire incidents have occurred. It was a mess."

Count pointed out, "The General admitted that it was the Radicals that killed Harling."

"Yeah, I figured it out since Trigger's claim of innocence was genuine since I pretty much won that bet. But anyway Karl was driving, but I was in the passenger seat shooting at any hostile Eruseans that fired on us and didn't respond from hails. We also got regular updates from your AWACS regarding who to shoot and who not to shoot via ID Data. You guys covered us until we reached the helipad, but once we were being airlifted out, some asshole in an F-16 shot a missile at us. As if by luck, I was able to survive, but Labarthe and Karl did not."

Húxiãn was like, "Damn."

Count was surprised, "You survived a helicopter crash into the sea!?"

High Roller pointed out, "And you survived a belly landing beneath the Lighthouse. Luck can pretty much sneak up on anyone, but I was pretty much born lucky and after I washed ashore, I found an unoccupied Erusean AH-64 on a nearby helipad and left Anchorhead. I was pretty much on my own with either evading Erusean forces, attempting to make contact with any Osean forces since I set the copter's radio to Osea's frequency and assisting any wayward refugees since those radicals are merciless. I was just one ex-con in a country that was in a state of civil war, so I had to do my best to survive. Soon enough, I ended up landing at the Space Elevator on Halloween during the huge air battle, no time for trick or treating, it seems."

Jaeger pointed out, "Operation Daredevil was the air battle as the joint Osea-Erusea Coalition forces joined up to bring down the Arsenal Bird. It's safe to assume something happened which nearly made you get close to death?"

"Correct, I landed my bird on the long bridge from the city to the elevator when the burning Arsenal Bird nearly crashed into the bridge. I actually thought it was it for me, but it managed to barely overshoot and crash into the sea nearby. It might have been windy that day, but THAT was a pretty close call."

Jaeger was surprised as he stated, "I agree with you since I actually thought that it was going to crash into the bridge. I can tell that to my son of how you were up close to that burning Roc."

Fencer spoke, "Talk about being the luckiest man alive, right now!"

The gambler stated, "I wasn't the only one since I was able to find the Princess of Erusea and treat her wounds from her jump from the elevator before carrying her to the nearest bunker and handed her to the Osean military."

Avril asked, "She never told me about this! Why?"

"One, she was unconscious and two, if you think I did something to her, get that out of your head, Scrap Queen. I may be an ex-con, but I'm not sick."

Wit figured, "After that, you hunkered down with the others since Hugin and Munin were circling the elevator."

"And after they were down, I helped out with fishing out any downed pilots from the ocean and getting them medical help."

Avril realized, "That was nice of you."

"I'm not an asshole and those pilots needed help. After it was over, I rented a hotel room as I spent most of the time getting some much needed rest with thoughts of heading to the airport to see you, but I was wondering how the reaction would go upon a reunion and seeing the look on Trigger's face when he realizes that I'm alive."

Count realized, "By the time you mustered your courage, we were already in the air heading for Farbanti."

High Roller nodded, "Yeah, so I paid a local to lend me a speed boat and all the supplies I needed for the trip and followed after you guys. I stopped to refuel at Anchorhead and continued along the path, hoping to catch up, but once I caught up - that's when I saw you guys fighting the carrier."

High Roller set his camera down on the table and connected it to the view screen, "This was the footage from when Trigger went after the last drone."

The footage showed the deck of the speedboat as the gambler drove the boat, while the drone was being pursued by the F-22. High Roller's voice spoke,

"He's not firing, either he's waiting for the perfect shot or he's following it so he can see where its friends are."

As the boat continued to follow, something appeared out of nowhere which was a series of purple and red clouds as both the drone and Trigger entered before dissipating with no sign of either of them. This surprised the other pilots as the shocked High Roller in the footage spoke,

"Son of a bitch! Trigger's…gone. But where did that come from?" He realized, "The others…they need to know what happened! I have to get to Farbanti!"

The footage ended as High Roller stated, "It was at that moment that I realized that someone had to see this since it would explain the other disappearances."

Húxiãn asked, "What do you mean by 'other disappearances?'"

"After the war ended, I began to come across some reports regarding missing Gründer Freighters, all with the same story - with unusual clouds of purple and red. But also it seems to be connected with what you saw out there. The ship, the drones, the clouds, they are all connected. I may not be a detective, but what's an occurrence where one goes into those clouds and they dissipate with no sign of who flew in?"

Skald figured, "Oh, the clouds act like some kind of portal!"

Lanza was amazed, "Damn Skald, that's our trivia wizard right here."

High Roller chuckled and agreed with Skald's answer, "But to where? Whatever is on the other side is unknown."

Count stated, "But we know who is - Trigger is on the other side of the portal. We go through a portal then we will find Trigger."

Avril had a thought, "Long Caster, could the E-767's Radome pick up unusual anomalies?"

Long Caster, who was silent the entire time nodded, "It can, but it will be a long shot."

Count stated, "Good, we need to have the 767's radar track the pattern of these portals and give us a chance to fly into one. If a portal does appear, we will be ready to fly in and get to wherever Trigger is." He looked at the former 444 pilot, "You can get in on this, too, High Roller."

The gambler chuckled, "I pretty much discovered this, so I'm in. It's good to be flying again."

Count knew that they were making progress as he stated, "We're coming Trigger, just hang in there!"

Azur Lane HQ, Briefing Room

December 14th, 2019

0705 hrs

The atmosphere in the briefing room was a bit tense since Slash and the rest of the Ridgebacks were present among the kansen. Hammann did her usual glare at the squadron as Trigger entered the room,

"I'm sure you are all aware of the presence of the 19th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Well I will give you the rundown: Two days ago, Major Herbert landed at this base unannounced to deliver an emergency message personally regarding the infiltration team sent to investigate the enemy base."

The map booted up as the island base came into view, "They were discovered and were able to acquire two Tier-1 Assets along with two defectors. The Red Axis will be looking for them since they don't want them handing over information to us. The Major was able to cover their escape by launching a harassment operation, but it was reported that Sheffield was wounded and couldn't make it back to base."

The image soon shifted to an abandoned island, "They retreated to this island in order to take shelter which according to many sources used to be a populated island until the planetfall of Ulysses. They are no doubt using the ruins of this flooded city for shelter, but both Sakura and Iron Blood fleets know that they are on this island and have set up a blockade, preventing their escape. The presence of this blockade shows that they do not have their exact location on the island. Our objective is to break through that blockade and rescue them."

He brought up a map of the AO, "Ridgeback Squadron will split into two pairs to cover a fleet. Fleet A will consist of Illustrious, Wales, Repulse, Hood, Elizabeth, Warspite, Unicorn, Norfolk, Suffolk, Belfast, and Javelin.

As for Fleet B, Hornet, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Cleveland, Helena, St. Louis, San Diego, Hammann and Laffey."

The names of the kansen popped up on the screen as the names of the pilots covering them appeared,

"Slash and Edge will cover Fleet A while Lance and Axeman cover Fleet B."

Soon enough, additional names appeared, "In addition to the kansen, USS Anzio along with modern destroyers USS Kidd and USS Dewey along with the Aircraft Carrier USS John C. Stennis from the 5th Fleet will take part in this operation."

He discussed what their assignments are, "Wales and New Jersey will lead the Battleships along with Anzio, Kidd, Dewey and the carrier aircraft from the carrier kansen as well as the Stennis into a diversionary attack, keeping the Sakura and Iron Blood fleets occupied. Once the enemy is distracted, the rescue fleet and I will sneak past them and land at the island. I will be flying the rescue copter for this operation, so keep the enemy focused on you until we leave with the infiltration team. Once the infiltration team is on the chopper, provide support as I airlift them to the Stennis."

Hood asked, "Who will be with the rescue fleet to take point with you?"

The names came up as he stated, "Belfast, Cleveland, Javelin, Laffey…"

He turns to his secretary, "And Enterprise." She quickly turned to him and asked, "What!?"

He smiled, "Because of the importance of this operation, and that your ship is now at 100%, I hereby assign you to Fleet B as well as the Rescue Fleet, consider this a warm up since a successful mission will also mean that your suspension will be lifted."

Enterprise was shocked since her time suspended has made her open her heart to him. He stated,

"If you're afraid that I might go down then I'm trusting you to keep me safe before and after we pick up the team."

Enterprise slightly smiled as Trigger looked to everyone, "We also have the element of surprise since there is heavy fog in the area. Visual flying is not possible, so rely on your radars to get through. The Stennis will also have an EW Squadron set to launch as soon as the attack begins. They would provide electronic support for the aircraft and modern ships to improve their missile guidance capabilities, but they can also be used as a terminal guidance system for battleships. So in response, a special guidance system has been retrofitted onto your ships, especially the Royal Navy dreadnoughts. The battleships of Fleets A and B will coordinate with the EW Aircraft to ensure that your shells hit your targets with their help."

Hood figured, "Using an aircraft as a spotter was used a bit during the dawn of naval aviation, but this is new."

New Jersey assured her Royal Navy friend, "Relax, Hood, My sisters and I handled terminal guidance before using marker drones, this would be a walk in the park."

Trigger stated, "Keep in mind that they will do whatever it takes to stop us. It will be a tough mission, but it's one we can't avoid when our team's lives are on the line. Coordinate with the EW Aircraft for precise aim and keep the enemy distracted while we go in for the rescue. All set?" They were as Trigger stated,

"Then let's go bring our team home!"

Abandoned Island, Submerged City Ruins

December 14th, 2019,

1350 hrs

Things weren't going well for the team as they settled in some of the ruins. They knew that it became clear that Akagi wanted that Mental Cube back and will do whatever it takes to obtain it. Akashi, being a repair ship, managed to tend to Sheffield's wounds albeit temporarily until they could get back to base. As for Edinburgh who sat with the cube while Shinano sat down with the comatose man's head on her lap. She nervously asked,

"Is he…" Shinano's gaze turned to her, "No, he's in a coma and has been ever since he was put in that tube."

"Can you wake him?" The fox's hands were on the sides of the man's head as she felt a sense of terror and urgency, the terror of seeing a little one's eyes as hell rains down and the urgency to save a life at the cost of your own. But it's the same thing repeating itself time and time again as she stated,

"Waking someone from a coma takes time and there's a chance that they might find us while I'm doing this. They know we're on the island, but they don't know where we actually are."

The maid asked, "But what do you know about him?"

"I do know that when the Sirens had him comatose, they had him repeat the same memories time and time again. Breaking him out of this memory loop could wake him up, but I would need to go into his dreamscape and break the connections of this loop."

Sheffield asked, "How are you so sure?"

"Even when a person is put under for checkups, surgeries or comatose, they still enter a dreamscape which can consist of memories, imaginations and fantasies. It would not be very difficult since I know who this man is with information from another dreamscape." She added, "Traversing the dreamscape is how I found out about your commander's history. It's also how he got the information regarding Akagi's project and it is vital that we quickly end this war before Orochi is deployed."

Akashi asked, "I saw that Orochi ship and it's huge. How are we going to destroy it if it does deploy before we end the war, nya?"

"That all depends if we defeat Red Axis quickly before they get back the cube."

Shinano soon used her abilities to travel into the man's dreamscape.

Sakura/Iron Blood Blockade,

1400 hrs

In response to the attack on the base as well as the escape of enemy infiltrators and defectors, a large fleet of Sakura and Iron Blood ships were dispatched to find the infiltration team. When their location was traced to this abandoned island, Red Axis had set up a blockade around the island. No one gets in and no one gets out. They needed to find the infiltration team and get back what was stolen.

But for Takao as she stood vigilant on her ship, she wanted to restore her honor after letting the infiltration team escape, but she began to think back to what Ayanami said - about Shinano's reasons for defecting, about the destroyer's own thoughts on the situation and more importantly - Three Strikes. How a single pilot seemingly turned the tide of two battles, how a single pilot caused massive damage to the 1st and 5th Division with an F-22 and a seemingly advanced aircraft with a laser weapon and how it affected many kansen on both sides.

"The tide of battle changes due to the actions of a single pilot? How is that possible?"

She looked back at the datapad as the tail of the Raptor was shown with the three strikes along with Trigger's picture. Once again, the sight of the pilot made the heavy cruiser heat up again.

"A single pilot being the protector of his fleet and…he's…" She tried to compose herself once more until a voice caught her attention,

"What's the matter, Takao? You seem to be all flustered again."

She was soon held by another kansen with waist-length black hair tied with a white ribbon and black wolf ears on top of her head. She has brown eyes and has a mole under her eye. She wears a white military uniform with a high collar and yellow buttons, white pencil skirt with side slits, black thigh-highs, white high heels and white gloves. This was the heavy cruiser Atago, Takao's sister who acts like the eldest, despite not being one.

Her sister's sudden appearance nearly made her drop the datapad, but she managed to keep her grip. Atago noticed,

"Your shoulders were so tense, did you feel that?"

Atago was generally playing around with her sister since she knows many ways to make Takao jump in fright like a frightened girl. She was reaching around her sister's waist when she noticed the datapad,

"Oh, is that who I think it is?"

Takao stuttered again, "N…no…it's not!"

Atago reached for the datapad until Takao batted her away, "STOP THAT, WE'RE ON A MISSION!"

The heavy cruiser jumped back as she giggled as Takao went back to her usual self, "What's wrong with you? Is it that hard to take it seriously?"

Atago cooed, "Yes ma'am." Takao sighed as she finally managed to get her sister away from her until she noticed one thing - She wasn't holding the datapad anymore as she looked around for it until,

"Looking for this?"

She saw Atago holding the datapad with the information, "You were looking at Three Strikes, Takao?" She had a shocked expression as she giggled, "Oh my, has my sister developed feelings for Azur Lane's Ace?"

That's when she went red with embarrassment as her sister teased her about Three Strikes and how some of the Sakura girls were talking about him. But Ayanami, who was also present stated,

"He could be on his way here, right now."

Takao stuttered, "G…good, I'm…will…ing to fight him!"

Atago teased, "Is that all you want to do? I heard Akagi talk about copulation with him."

Takao shouted, "THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME WANTING TO COPULATE WITH THREE STRIKES!!"

Rescue Fleet

20 miles from Blockade

1400 hrs

The rescue fleet had just entered the fog as Trigger flew a V-22 Osprey while the Ridgebacks flew in formation.

"Strider 1 to Ridgeback 1, we have just entered the fog. Have your wingmen split off to their assigned fleet and start the diversion on my mark."

Slash stated, "You heard that Edge? Let's help out our fleet."

Edge, Ridgeback 2 stated, "Roger."

Trigger contacted Wales, "Wales, New Jersey, you and the battleships position yourselves with your turrets facing the port side. Do not attack until we have a visual confirmation of the enemy fleet. Shoot any enemy ship that shows up and punch a hole in that blockade, so we can slip in."

That's when they heard a faint shout in the distance which was so loud it was also on their radios,

"This has nothing to do with me wanting to copulate with Three Strikes!!"

The rescue fleet were a bit confused as Trigger felt a bit nervous since he knew the definition of 'copulation.' He asked,

"Did anyone recognize that voice?"

Cleveland came on the radio, "Judging by that surprised, yet serious demeanor, it had to have been the Sakura Empire's heavy cruiser, Takao."

Wales noted, "Takao is one of the most serious ships in the Sakura Empire, why is she shouting like that?"

Slash pointed out, "Judging from her words, your commander has an admirer, ma'am."

The others were surprised about this news as a few ships who had the hearts for him got a bit jealous. Soon enough, F/A-18s from the Stennis spoke,

"Strider 1, this is the VFA-41 Attack Squadron, nicknamed Black Aces we just launched and we will be joining you for this operation."

Black Ace 2 stated, "Aside from Shipgirls admiring you, we still have a mission to carry out."

Trigger acknowledged, "Copy Black Ace Squadron, be ready for the enemy fleet."

Another voice spoke, "Strider 1, this is VAQ-133 Electronic Attack Squadron, callsign: Wizard, we'll launch as soon as the battle kicks off and provide Electronic Support and Terminal Guidance for the Battleships."

"This is VFA-97 Warhawk Squadron, off the Stennis, we're going to join you for this operation as well."

"Copy that, Warhawk Squadron." He contacted the AWACS, "Strider 1 to Magic, can you get a radar signal for the enemy fleet?"

Magic stated, "There's a series of blips circling around the perimeter of the island, it's most likely the enemy fleet. They haven't spotted you yet, so you have the upper hand."

"Copy that, Magic. All Carriers, launch your planes and prepare for battle!"

The carrier kansen launched their planes and joined up with Black Ace and Warhawk Squadron as several Sakura ships appeared in the fog as Trigger stated,

"I just got visual confirmation of the enemy fleet. All ships fire at will! Punch a hole in that blockade!"

Soon enough, the booming sounds from the Battleships occurred along with the booming noise from Anzio, Kidd and Dewey's 5-inch guns as well as launching missiles as the several shells and missiles flew to the enemy fleet. The Stennis Captain stated, "Wizard Squadron, Launch!"

Soon enough, four EA-18G Growlers, an electronic warfare variant of the F-18 launched from the Stennis.

Soon enough, the shells and missiles struck their targets as the Red Axis became aware that they were under attack. They attempted to return fire until Black Ace Squadron caught their attention as they not only shot at the Sakura and Iron Blood ships, but the Siren mass produced ships as well.

One of the Sakura battleships, a tall woman with semi-long black hair tied in a low side ponytail by a red band, she has blue eyes and has a pair of cat ears on top of her head. She wears a black kimono with brown-trimmed red emon and has a floral print over a white haneri and hakama skirt, a black sask with a red obi are wrapped around her waist, she wears a white thigh-high socks, black boots and blue butterfly hair ornament on the right side of her head. This was Fuso as she noticed an ASF-X fire an anti-ship missile at a siren ship,

"A Shinden-II? It's those Single Lines from the report!"

Furutaka, a heavy cruiser, realized, "They were the ones that allowed them to get away with Akashi!"

Fuso stated, "Be careful, don't underestimate those Single Lines!"

"I'm more worried about running into Three Strikes since he is reported to always take part in battles!"

How could the battleship forget about the pilot with the three strikes since he was all that they talked about before setting up the blockade. But they only saw a series of F-18s, F-35Cs and the four ASF-Xs either doing a hit and run attack or falling back to take down the fighters, but none of them had the infamous three-lines. That wasn't until Fuso noticed a single plane circling around one of the siren mass produced ships until they saw a shell hit the drone ship as it exploded while the plane moved on. Fuso realizes,

"They brought EW Aircraft!"

Fuso may not be a modern battleship, but she studied terminal guidance and realized that those planes were being used as a guidance system for the Azur Lane Fleet.

The Iron Blood Fleet was getting hit hard as 50% of their siren ships were wiped out either from direct air attacks, shell fire, ship-to-ship missiles or a terminal guided shell. Nimi stated the obvious,

"It's Azur Lane."

The destroyer wasn't alone since she was accompanied by the light cruiser Köln and destroyer Z1. Köln stated,

"This was a well coordinated attack with every possible force. Carrier planes, shells, missiles and even the Single Lines have taken part in this attack. And yet…"

Z1 guessed, "There are no signs of the infamous Three Strikes among the air units."

The light cruiser nodded as Z1 turned her attention to Prinz Eugen, after being repaired from her damage in the last battle, "Should we take them down?"

The heavy cruiser stated, "Our only responsibility is to watch the island and as for Three Strikes, he will appear."

Köln asked, "How are you certain?"

"He is not someone to order his fleet to attack without a plan." That's when Nimi spotted an EA-18G circling above with an F-35C as an escort, her eyes widen as she heard the faint echo of a gun discharging,

"Mein Gott, INCOMING!" The Iron Blood ships jumped out of the way as a 16-inch shell hit their observation post and it was incredibly accurate. Eugen recognized this accuracy,

"Ah, the Black Dragon is here."

Köln asked, "Black Dragon? You mean THE Black Dragon? The legendary battleship of Eagle Union?"

"Ja, just as famous as Grey Ghost."

Meanwhile, New Jersey stood on the deck of her ship and smiled when she destroyed the observation post where those Iron Blood ships sat. She saw how the battle was going and knew that Red Axis was focused on them and contacted Magic,

"New Jersey to Magic, Red Axis has their focus on us and we managed to punch a nice hole in the blockade. Should we call in the taxi, now?"

There was a brief silence from the AWACS until he stated, "Granted, but there still could be enemy fighters in the area."

"That's what Enterprise is for." She contacted her commander, "Strider 1, you're clear to make your run!"

Trigger knew this as he flew low to the water as the Osprey's rotors spun fast as he picked up speed. Enterprise was skimming across the water along with Belfast, Cleveland, Javelin and Laffey as they followed after the tilt-rotor.

But as they approached the island, they were briefly spotted by some of the enemy kansen. Takao, Atago and Ayanami were among those who spotted them along with the 5th Division.

Once the rescue team reached shore, the Osprey found a nice spot to land with its nose facing the sea.

Once the kansen approached the loading ramp, it opened as a modified KLR-650 was rolled off the copter. It was cosmetically modified with a snarling wolf on the front, the three strikes on the back and a custom made sidecar meant to hold more than one, even a Hawaii license plate with the number '0S34'. Trigger was also armed to the teeth as he had body armor attached to his flight suit, a rifle hanging off his back, several grenades and his trusty Beretta, he looked at his team as he loaded his gun and said,

"Okay, it's only a matter of time before they come for us. Let's get in, find the team and get out."

Cleveland was surprised, "You have a bike? How awesome!"

"This bike was modified to pick up a signal from Shinano's rigging. Its signal detector was also installed in your own rigging before the mission. If you detect her signal, head there immediately and if we find her, then Sheffield and Edinburgh will most certainly be with her as well."

He mounted the bike as he said, "Azur Lane! Let's roll out!"

He hit the electric start as he moved along the gravel road while the kansen skimmed across the submerged areas. But as Trigger sped across the island, he felt a sense of deja vu when he saw the ruined buildings and submerged roads which reminded him too much of Farbanti's submerged municipal district. This world had suffered a Ulysses Incident as well, but they had time to build multiple Stonehenge Railgun Networks around the globe while Usea only had one defunct network. Now they are a place of defense for humanity while he and his fleet take the fight to them at sea.

He could only imagine the humanitarian mission to this island to rescue stranded survivors on this city.

Soon enough, the signal peaked as he turned his bike to the direction as he blew through a partially submerged highway. He rode through the ruins of this partially flooded city as the signal peaked again. It was just like the waveform indicator when he used the Magnetic Anomaly Detector to find the Alicorn. He soon took notice of a strong hit on the indicator which meant that she was near. He asked, "Strider 1 to Enterprise, I have a strong hit on the indicator."

The carrier stated, "We have it as well, it's in a partially submerged building near you."

He turned off the bike and walked into the building, gun ready in case of emergency. He checked the indicator on his watch as the signal was even stronger. Once he kicked open a door, he was soon greeted by a wounded Sheffield as she thought he was an intruder, she realized,

"Commander? You? You came for us?"

Trigger assured her, "No one gets left behind."

Edinburgh was relieved, "I'm…I'm glad you came for us. When we heard the battle outside, I was worried."

"Edinburgh!"

That was Belfast as she ran into the room and embraced her older sister as the others entered. The head maid stated in tears,

"I thought I lost you."

Edinburgh was surprised since her sister was usually the most serious, but to see her in tears as she hugged her was out of character for the Head Maid, "You…were worried about me?"

"I may be the Head Maid for the Royal Maid Corps, but I am still your sister, I have every right to be worried. I knew that the mission was dangerous, but I knew that you would make it!"

She felt touched by her sister's concern about her, she always felt overshadowed by her little sister and she was a klutz when it came to maid duties as she tries to be the best she could be. But with the way her sister was feeling, it was sisterly love.

Trigger smiles at this until he noticed Akashi with her eyes wide open, the pilot introduced,

"Akashi, my name is Trigger, Azur Lane Commander and Leader of Strider Squadron. We're here to get you outta here."

The cat girl realized, "You're Three Strikes! The pilot that gave the Sakura Navy a black eye, nya!? I can't believe it, nya!"

"I need to ask you to calm down since we're in a war zone right now."

Akashi apologized, "I'm sorry, nya. Ms. Shinano told us that you would be coming. She is actually attempting to awaken the comatose man."

The pilot's attention was drawn to the sitting Shinano as she had her hands on the man - a man which made Trigger's eyes widen in shock. If the 444 symbol was any indication, then the #11 etched into the flight suit was a certainty of this man's identity. Trigger said,

"Tabloid…"

Enterprise joined him as she too recognized this man. This was a major motivator for the phrase which culminated with Trigger. He was a friend of Trigger and a wingman. Trigger finished,

"He's alive." Although that confused the carrier when he said that which meant that he was supposed to be dead.

Shinano looked up at him, "I have only managed to partially wake him, but the sirens had a means of inducing coma into him."

Trigger stated, "We have to get him out of here. If we can get him to our base, Vestal can come up with a way to remove the coma inducers."

But soon enough, his ace senses began to tingle - someone was outside. He motioned to the others, "Make sure you're ready to move out, I have a bad feeling that someone is waiting for us. Wait here until I say the word."

They agreed, but as Trigger left, Enterprise silently followed behind. But as the pilot stepped out into the ruined streets, he kept his rifle ready in case someone was waiting to ambush him. But as soon as he scanned the area, he saw two kansen standing in the middle of the road - with their swords ready for combat as her serious look said it all.

Trigger took note on the various kansen of every faction before the first battle and recognized them,

"Sakura Heavy Cruisers Takao and Atago."

Takao composed herself, not wanting to reveal her hidden feelings as she stated, "I should've known that you would come, Three Strikes. But to see you here in a ground operation presented an unexpected opportunity. It was inevitable that our paths would eventually cross."

Atago added, "I must say that you do look better in person. Why would Kaga want to kill such a handsome man like you?"

Takao snapped at her sister as she lost her composure, "We're supposed to take down Three Strikes, not flirt with him!"

"Why not? Isn't that what you are feeling right now?"

Takao's face went beet red again as Trigger watched as he sighed, "If you got time to flirt, a nice dinner and a bottle of Emmerian Wine would do."

Both cruisers soon went beet red with embarrassment as they realized that Three Strikes himself was flirting with them, even though it was not intentional. Takao raised her sword,

"You may be an Ace, but how will you fare on the ground?"

The cruiser leapt at the pilot as dodged to the left, evading the forward slash. Trigger soon raised his carbine and shot at Takao's back where the rigging attachments were located. Just like with the Arsenal Bird's Supply Unit, striking the attachments on Takao's back caused her rigging to shudder which threw her off balance as she landed on her side. When she tried to retaliate with a horizontal slash, Trigger dodged it and hit Takao with the butt of his gun as he said,

"Parents often said not to hit a woman, but in this case, war tends to be the exception." As Takao was trying understand what had happened, a familiar voice spoke,

"Oh, what precise aim that you have, Three Strikes of Azur Lane."

Trigger knew that voice as he saw Prinz Eugen sitting on top of another ruined building. He raised his rifle once more until the Iron Blood cruiser's rigging grabbed him which made him drop his carbine. Eugen leapt off the ruined building and was now on the ruined street as she walked up to her captive,

"The man in the cockpit, the one that many want alive and only Kaga wants dead."

Trigger stated, "I'm just full of surprises, you know. I inspire fear and admiration just like any other Ace Pilot."

"Ja, but unlike other pilots, you are a cut above the rest, Kommanandt." She smirked as she caressed his face, "The things I can do with you once I bring you back to base. It would truly anger Akagi that I got to you first, but infuriate Kaga to know that you are alive."

"I had a whole squadron, but I got separated from them while chasing a drone. But also I have no intention of being a POW."

Atago helped Takao to her feet as she looked at the captive pilot, "I heard a lot about you since Takao has hidden feelings for you. How did you manage to be that good at flying?"

"It's in my blood and I had a good teacher."

Unbeknownst to them, he was actually distracting them since the Sakura and Iron Blood kansen's backs were turned, so they didn't see Belfast, Javelin and Laffey get Sheffield, Edinburgh, Akashi, Shinano and Tabloid onto the KLR's sidecar. But he also noticed a bow pointed directly at them along with a series of guns. That's when the enemy kansen heard a clanking sound as Eugen picked up a dropped canister,

"A smoke canister?"

That's when she noticed - there was no pin as orange smoke began to spew from it as Trigger smiled as he revealed one other thing,

"Eugen, I'm going to take a rain check on that date. But with that orange smoke, my fleet is going see it and what happens next?" He chuckled,

"Bring the Rain!"

That's when two bangs were heard as the cruiser reeled back, releasing him while Enterprise and Cleveland attacked Takao and Atago.

Eugen clenched her side as it was revealed that she was shot by Trigger's Beretta - one of the bullets managed to pierce her skin.

Trigger took this as an opportunity to scoop up his rifle and run to the bike as Sheffield's team was in the custom sidecar. Once he mounted the bike, he said,

"The battleships are going to be bombing this area, we need to get the chopper!"

He turned the bike back to the direction he came as he said, "They know we're here now, so let's make some noise."

Sheffield pressed a button on the bike as music plays and it was Sabotage as Trigger said,

"That's a good choice."

He hit the throttle as the bike sped back through the ruined city as long range shells hit the submerged sections as any Red Axis ships hiding in the ruins were snuffed out. The allied aircraft began to conduct air strikes on the ruins as they routed out any enemy kansen hiding in the ruins. The rescue fleet were already skimming across the water of the submerged area, following after the bike while trying not to get hit by friendly fire.

Cleveland did notice that he was playing Beastie Boys on the KLR's jury rigged music player as she and the others dodged the various ruined buildings as a nearby Iron Blood kansen was hit by an air strike.

As for the rescue tour, the enemy wasn't going to let up as Zuikaku made her presence known and launched her Zeroes to strafe the KLR, only to be shot down by Sheffield's handheld AA guns. The kansen attempted to attack the bike directly until Enterprise jumped from the water and used her bow to block the crane's attack and knocking her into the ruins, allowing the KLR to continue on. After blowing through that partially submerged highway, they were back on the road towards the Osprey.

But soon enough, as the bike closed in on the landing zone, they hit a roadblock because a Sakura kansen was standing between them and the Osprey. As the sleeveless sailor uniform and blue skirt were any indication, then the red and white sword was a sign of who this is as Trigger looked at Shinano as she motioned him to stop.

He stopped the bike as he walked towards the destroyer as he said,

"Ayanami."

The Sakura destroyer knew that one way or another they would meet face-to-face and now seeing that he took a personal role in this operation, it was a good time as ever to finally speak with the Ace Pilot.

"Trigger, I wish to surrender myself to Azur Lane in hopes of bringing an end to hostilities."

This was a surprise for many, even Javelin and Laffey who were watching from behind a fallen tree from the submerged area were surprised.

Shokaku was watching as well with her eyes widened at Ayanami's decision to surrender. This was the man who damaged her with a laser weapon, decimated a siren fleet and killed an Elite Siren and now one of their destroyers was surrendering.

But before Trigger could say anything, something gave out an electric shock to Ayanami as the destroyer fell unconscious as the two destroyers rushed from their cover to tend to her. Trigger saw that the culprit - was a blue paper plane and he knew who this was as he said,

"Kaga…"

Soon enough, the white fox emerged from the fog with a serious look which matched with the anger and rage that she had for the Osean. She had multiple paper planes in her hand as she said,

"I knew it was only a matter of time before Ayanami would turn traitor. But she did lead me right to you and now I can see your face as you die."

Trigger had his pistol, "Talk about a fated meeting between warriors. But one would remind the other of an insane PMC."

"I am nothing like those mercenary dogs, they fight for money and nothing more. But you, my sister wants you alive while I simply want you dead. Our interests with you diverge and now you're here to rescue your team for their discovery at our base."

Trigger felt a sting right there when she said 'Mercenary Dogs' since his dad was a mercenary pilot with the Ustio Air Force. The white haired carrier brought out five flaming blue planes, "But I will see to it that you will never stand in the way of Project Orochi and I will have my revenge!"

He aimed his gun, "Revenge is not usually normal for a Sakura carrier. But it turns out that you are standing in the way between my team and freedom! So let's put an end to this, right now!"

The white fox launched her planes at him as she said, "Die Three Strikes!"

Trigger sidestepped from side to side until more planes were thrown at him as he ducked under and fired his gun at Kaga. The white fox used a paper plane to block the bullets which only served as a distraction until she noticed something hit her foot, she looked down as her eyes widened - it was a grenade.

She barely managed to dodge the grenade's explosion as she soon went directly for Trigger. He was able to dodge her as he fired his gun again, but another paper plane blocked the bullets. Kaga brought out two paper planes and sent out a shockwave as it knocked Trigger to the ground as the carrier went charging at him again. He barely managed to get to his feet until Kaga grabbed the pilot by his neck and lifted him off his feet. As he struggled against her grip, she sneered,

"We both fight to destroy the enemy, but you are out of your element, Three Strikes."

He continued to fight against her grip as she continued to apply pressure to his neck, "You are a threat and now with your death, Red Axis' Victory will be certain. You should have stayed in the skies instead."

Trigger was trying to say something as the carrier asked, "Your last words, Three Strikes?"

She allowed him to speak, but she didn't expect these words as he said, "Every Pilot Carries a Sidekick!"

That's when the carrier felt two shots hit her side as she released her grip on the pilot as she clutched her side which revealed to be two bullet wounds as she fell to the ground. As Trigger got to his feet, he holstered his smoking gun and walked over to Javelin and Laffey as they tended to Ayanami. He asked,

"How is she?"

Javelin sighed with relief and stated, "She's unconscious, that shock did a lot to her."

Laffey spoke, "We need to go."

"But still, you actually defeated Kaga, albeit temporarily."

He looked back at the downed carrier as she clutched her wound while shooting a hateful glare at him. He knew that he was responsible for her rage against him. He grabbed a medical kit from the bike and walked towards the downed fox.

She suspiciously asked, "What are you doing?"

He knelt next to her, "You have two gunshot wounds on your left side, so you are unable to fight. I'm going to give you some basic medical help until you can go back to your base for a full treatment. So follow my advice." He opened the kit as he brought out a pair of tweezers,

"I need you to uncover the wound since kansen are more resilient to bullets, but I believe that both bullets have penetrated your skin and are lodged into your wound."

Kaga reluctantly removed the sash which exposed her midriff and the bullet wounds which had indeed penetrated her skin as blood was shown. He brought out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and lightly poured on the wounds as he brought out the tweezers. He looked at the carrier as he held out his hand,

"This is going to sting, but when it starts to hurt, just grip my hand. Are you ready?"

She nodded as the pilot began extracting the bullets. Even as pain shot through her, emphasized by the way she gripped his hand, she was at a loss of words, his selfless actions were puzzling to her. She was his enemy, he could have just left her after shooting her and yet, he took the time to help her despite being enemies. She even swore her revenge on him for wounding her in the December 7th Attack. That's when a voice in the back of her head told her that maybe Three Strikes wasn't a bad guy after all and that all his admirers were right.

At the time she was thinking about this, Trigger had already extracted the bullets before applying ointment and bandages to the affected areas. Once that was done, he closed the med kit and stood up,

"That should do until you get back to your base."

Kaga curiously asked, "Why? Why did you help me?"

Trigger stated, "Because in the long run, you're not the enemy. The real enemy is the Sirens."

As he walked to the KLR with Ayanami loaded up with the others, he turned back to Kaga as he said,

"I hope we meet again on more nicer terms."

Soon enough, he mounted the bike and drove off, leaving the white fox to contemplate on the pilot's actions.

After the fight with Kaga, Trigger and the team made their way back to the chopper as he drove the bike into the loading ramp. He turned off the bike and ran to the cockpit as the sea battle was growing intense. He sat in the pilot seat as he closed the ramp and activated the engines, he called out to his passengers,

"Hold tight, this is going to be a bumpy ride!"

The Osprey's rotors spun up as the tilt rotor lifted off the ground and into the air. He soon contacted the fleet,

"Strider 1 to Fleet, I just picked up the team and the defectors. I'm going to rendezvous with the Carrier Stennis!"

There were a series of surprised shouts on the radio that said, 'He really pulled it off?' 'Strider 1 did it!', but soon enough, several Siren aircraft approached as Magic spoke,

"Magic to all forces, Siren aircraft are closing in on Strider 1! All forces, engage the bandits! Keep them away from Strider 1!"

Enterprise's voice came on the radio, "Enterprise to Magic, Rescue Fleet will provide support for Strider 1!"

Slash spoke, "Edge, let's help out with giving Strider 1 support."

His number 2 spoke, "Roger."

Wizard 1 spoke, "Wizard Squadron will provide ESM for the escorts."

Soon enough, various aircraft were going up against the siren aircraft as planes launched from the carriers went up and shot down a few while the two ASF-X's shot down the aircraft with the help of the electronic support from the EA-18Gs.

As for Trigger, he weaved through the AA fire of the enemy fleet as he was going at full speed towards the allied fleet. He knew that once he reached the Azur Lane fleet, he's home free. He couldn't fire back, so he had to rely on the support from his allies as they destroyed those siren drones.

As he continued to maneuver, he announced, "We're almost there! Keep up the support!"

Enterprise's arrows destroyed any siren aircraft that attempts to get near the helicopter as Belfast, Cleveland, Javelin and Laffey's guns took down any enemy aircraft as well as assisting with supporting aircraft as Belfast took down a drone that was pursuing an unaware Slash as he spoke,

"Didn't see that one, thanks for the assist!"

Belfast stated, "Master is almost there! We need to keep it up!"

Soon enough, the 'Mission Accomplished' sign appeared on the display as the Osprey passed the Azur Lane fleet and into open waters as Trigger announced,

"Strider 1 to all forces, we managed to make it out of there! Azur Lane, Victory is Ours!"

The allied ships began to withdraw as some ships had battle damage, the modern ships like the Kidd and Dewey received light damage as the Anzio received moderate damage, but the Aegis Cruiser stood strong. The Azur Lane ships did receive damage, but they were able to get through the battle. The Stennis' air group received no losses of aircraft which itself was a miracle as any aircraft that was damaged were to return to the carrier for repairs.

As the allied fleet departed the area, Kaga looked at the amount of damage caused by the diversionary attack, seven siren ships were sunk by either battleship or aircraft, eight of their Red Axis kansen were damaged, Prinz Eugen had a single bullet wound while Takao's rigging attachments were damaged by a bullet and she had no doubt that it was caused by Trigger.

"So they did get away after all."

Kaga turned to see Akagi standing at the shore of the submerged area as the white fox stated,

"They did, sister. But Ayanami surrendered herself to them."

Akagi sighed, "It was only a matter of time, but they had also escaped with the cube which will delay the launch of Project Orochi."

She noticed the bandage, "You're wounded, dear sister."

"I am, he wounded me and yet, he took the time to treat me. He…he patched me up."

She was surprised, "Three Strikes was here in person?" She mentally kicked herself for not being there because she would've had him in her tails by now. She stated,

"It's interesting that he helped you, despite how much you wanted him dead."

Kaga made a surprising statement, "Sister, after this - I don't want him dead anymore."

As she said this, she held a paper plane when all of a sudden, her mind envisioned it as an F-15C with blue wingtips and an F-22 with three strikes. She sooner looked up to the skies as the clouds parted and the sun shone on the fox sisters as Kaga said,

"I want to know more about him."

Azur Lane HQ

Debriefing Room,

1600 hrs

All kansen and pilots sat down as Trigger began the debrief,

"Mission Accomplished, thanks to the efforts of the brave sailors, pilots and kansen - the infiltration team along with the defectors were safely retrieved. Sheffield's wounds were being looked at and Vestal reports that she will be fit and ready for another sortie.

But in the meantime, the team brought back data on Project Orochi, this is the superweapon designed to look like a cross between a battleship and a carrier made with the siren technology. The specs of this vessel show that it's massive in size, but we do know that the black cube that they stole from the base is the key to activating it. It was also clear that Akagi and Kaga were working alongside a Siren Leader due to the testimony of Akashi and Shinano.

It goes to show that they would need the cube to activate the Orochi and the damage that it could do is currently unknown. But it is speculated that should they get the cube back and the Orochi set sail - this could mark our defeat in this war. Which is why we need to focus on ending this war before they get the cube back and deploy Orochi."

He looked at Enterprise, "As for you, you did well in this mission. You showed that you can protect others as well as yourself. So I will make it official - Enterprise, your suspension is lifted. You can now participate in combat sorties."

Enterprise stated, "Thank you sir, but I wish to remain as your secretary for a little longer."

"I never said that secretary work was part of your suspension. But your permission is granted."

He turned to the rest, "We have a long road ahead of us. Our goal is to take the Sakura Empire's Main Base and end this war, but it won't be easy. They struck us with a sledgehammer on the 7th, but we will strike back hard. The plans for the counterattack will be finalized in the next few days. Standby for further orders."

The ships and pilots began to clear out as he wondered about the status of their new guests.

Vestal's Clinic,

December 14th 2019,

1800 hrs

When Ayanami woke up, she realized that she wasn't in her room at the Sakura base, but rather a medical clinic. She was a bit confused at first until she noticed that her right hand was cuffed to the arm rail of her bed. She was also not alone as she also noticed that there was a comatose man lying on the next bed in the room.

"I am glad to see that you were okay. After the commander brought you in and assigned me to watch you, I feared for your safety, but also the handcuff was a precautionary measure in case you were not serious about your claims."

That was said by another kansen in the room, sitting on the first bed near the door. She has short black hair with her sharp bangs covering her right blue eye and a yellow string on the left side of her head. She wears a blue cropped jacket with red & yellow accents, a white & yellow collar and black garter straps on her arms over a white collared buttoned shirt with a cleavage cutout, a red slim & fit corset wrapped around her midsection with yellow accents alongside a blue belt with yellow accents and circular golden buckle, black pencil skirt with a blue waist cape and a white wide garter, black thigh-high heeled boots with garter straps and white gloves. This was the Royal Navy's Carrier, Ark Royal as she stood guard over the destroyer. Ayanami asked,

"Where am I?"

Ark Royal stated, "You're on the island of Oahu, what many call paradise. But specifically, you're in the medical clinic at Azur Lane HQ."

"So I am a prisoner of war?"

The carrier nodded before stated, "For now, if you were serious about your surrender. But until the Commander speaks to you: All Prisoners of War will be treated in accordance with International Law." She rolled a table with a flat square box sitting on it as the carrier opened it,

"We even brought pizza."

A/N: Yes, that pun from the Cape Rainy Assault. But yes, Ayanami defects early before the Arctic mission and Kaga realizes that she doesn't want Trigger dead.

Yes, High Roller is alive as the lucky bastard was able to eject. He's had a wild journey which in truth was inspired by Skylinneas' story 'A Night in San Salvacion.'

But the gambling nutjob had evidence that Trigger chased the drone through a portal. Now the LRSSG needs to find one of those portals.

Yes, the comatose man is in fact, Tabloid. But how was he alive when he was crushed by a drone in Operation Daredevil?

Will Shinano awaken him? How will the fleet feel about Ayanami on base? What operations would this long range strategy have for a means of taking the main Sakura Base? What is their solution for Orochi?

You'll have to tune in next time!

Nighthawk Out!