I'm sorry this took so long since I've been going back and forth on how this would go on. And plus, I was busy with my job, Christmas, New Years, Special Olympics and I also had a vacation to California, so I was pretty busy while trying to balance my time with working on this.

But from a message I got from Razgriz118,

'No Pressure.'

Anyway quick recap: Strider Squadron and Shinano's fleet conducted a Pilots vs Kansen exercise while testing the ADF-11F Raven. But upon returning to base, Red Axis launched an attack on Azur at Lane GHQ. But after protecting the base and covering the arriving transport And planes with the Darkstar crew while shooting down enemy bombers as Long Caster takes off. Upon expanding the radar detection range, they discover that Tirpitz is here and she also brought Crimson Squadron for air support.

But the bad news about it is - Strider Squadron is also low on fuel.

How will they get out of this?

Let's dive right in!

Azur Lane HQ

0935 hrs

What started off as a regular morning of doing an exercise as well as a test of the manned ADF-11F Raven, turned into a battle as the Iron Blood intended to launch a raid on the base. There were Siren ships operating under the command of the Bismarck-Class Battleship Tirpitz, more Stukas and ME-109s from the Light Carrier Weser, which was historically a converted Admiral Hipper class heavy cruiser and fire support from Heavy Cruiser Blücher.

But they were not alone, because flying above them was a squadron that Bismarck had hired to take care of the one person who was keeping them from obtaining siren tech. There were eight aircraft with four F-22s and four SU-37s flying parade colors as their emblems showed a crimson crown.

As for Strider Squadron, who are already low on fuel - this is a dangerous situation for them to be in. As Trigger spoke,

"Damn it, I was hoping they wouldn't show up."

Count asked, "Friends of yours?"

"Not really, but they are looking to kill me."

He sighed, "We've been down this road before, buddy."

Húxiãn chimed in, "We're not going to fight them, right? We're already low on fuel and are at a risk of fuel loss rather than getting shot down."

Jaeger spoke, "I said this before that this was going to happen. We can't face them while low on fuel."

Tabloid stated, "Hey, Trigger and I faced Crimson 1 and two of his wingmen, but in our current situation and he has his whole squadron - we're pretty much vulnerable."

High Roller realized, "With tanks being close to empty, I'm not so sure about our odds."

The Ace thought about what to do, if they attempted to fight Crimson, they would risk fuel loss and an eventual ditch in the ocean which would also result in losing the Raven. But if they fall back to the base, they can land, refuel and get back into the fight. But Crimson would be pursuing them, unless they have someone covering their retreat, so Trigger contacted Avril,

"Scrap Queen, what's the status of the transport?"

Avril chimed in, "Cyclops and Ridgeback Squadron was able to get Pegasus 2 down. The runway is cleared as well if you are looking to land for supplies or fuel."

"Strider Squadron is dangerously low on fuel as it is and those bogeys are after us, specifically."

"I'm guessing that's Crimson Squadron, one of the two squadrons that are after you?"

Trigger replied, "They are."

Avril soon stated, "You better get your asses down here and refuel - your recruits already have the fuel trucks rolling."

Trigger was a bit relieved that they can immediately refuel once they land. But they needed to keep Crimson away from them, so they could land. That's when he contacted the allied squadrons,

"Cyclops, Ridgeback and Sol Squadron, I need you to provide support for the Azur Lane fleets, engage the enemy forces and keep the bandits off of us while we land and refuel."

Fencer spoke, "Cyclops Squadron acknowledged. We'll keep you covered."

Slash spoke, "Ridgeback Squadron acknowledged. We'll give them something to shoot at."

Wit spoke, "Sol Squadron acknowledged. We'll keep them busy until you're airborne."

After the acknowledgement of the three squadrons, Strider Squadron turned back towards HQ as they flew to the airfield. Their disengagement caught the attention of Crimson as one of the pilots spoke,

"Look, Three Strikes and his squadron are turning tail. Cowards!"

Crimson 1 stated, "Don't get cocky, cornered animals tend to lash out."

Crimson intends to destroy Strider Squadron as they make their way into the combat zone. But as Strider Squadron withdrew, that same Crimson pilot noticed,

"I'm picking up twelve bogeys heading right for us. Four of each plane: F-15C, SU-30 and ASF-X."

Crimson 1 was intrigued since he remembered seeing the latter plane from Wake, "The Shinden II? Most likely will have a Single Line which means the Major is here as well and he's working alongside those squadrons bearing the emblem of a cyclops and a sun. They will most likely cover Three Strikes and his squadron as they retreat."

Crimson 5 asked, "Should we engage them or pursue Three Strikes?"

He wasn't going to let the three squadrons distract him, so he ordered, "Engage the fighters if you must, but get past them and deal with those dogs."

The eight aircraft separated as they went on the attack.

As Strider Squadron made their way back to base, Trigger heard Amagi's voice,

"I recommend that you stay vigilant. Your squadrons are about to clash with Crimson."

Trigger mentally spoke, "I know and I don't know how much time we have until they are on top of us, but I have faith in Cyclops, Ridgeback and Sol Squadrons to keep them distracted."

The Battlecruiser pointed out, "But the leader is your main concern because the Iron Blood hired him to kill you."

"Well I guess we have to land, refuel and takeoff quickly before he gets to us."

Amagi knew for a fact that Rodriguez is persistent with taking down his enemies. She knew about this after observing the duel between Crimson 1 and the Crowned Merc during the Tokyo Incident. She observed how the Rogue Ace attempted to shoot the Sicario Ace down, but the Crown countered and shot a missile, damaging Rodriguez's Terminator as the Rogue Ace fled in frustration. She told the Osean Ace,

"When he has a priority in sight, he will come after you."

Trigger agreed with the spirit as he contacted New Jersey,

"NJ, have the battleships of Eagle Union and Royal Navy form a defensive line between the enemy fleet and the base. Prepare all guns to fire on the enemy fleet, but keep your AA guns ready in case any enemy planes slip past our allies."

NJ understood, "Roger that, Honey. All Battleships, Defensive line formation!"

Wales spoke, "Orders acknowledged, Black Dragon! Royal Navy Battleships moving into position."

Once the order was given, all heavy hitters from both factions moved into position as they formed a line of defense as they stood ready for threats from both air and sea. As for New Jersey, she stood with Pennsylvania, Arizona, West Virginia, Prince of Wales, Hood, Queen Elizabeth and Warspite alongside her. New Jersey sighed,

"And here I thought this was just a regular morning."

Elizabeth stated, "Hmph, I was just finishing my morning tea when the air raid sirens went off."

Wales stated, "But to think that Tirpitz herself would take part in this raid…and to see Crimson Team."

Hood spoke, "It is frightening to see how far they will go. They were once an Eagle Union Peacekeeper Squadron before our rebirth, now they are rogue pilots wanted by the Sakura Empire."

Pennsylvania spoke, "It's obvious that they're here for Trigger and since they caught him while his squadron was close to empty fuel tanks and it's our job to keep Crimson away from Strider while they land."

West Virginia knew for certain as she said, "Trigger is not only counting on us with keeping Crimson at bay, but to prevent the enemy fleet from attacking the base. We can't let him down!"

Arizona knew this as well as she sighed, "If we get through this raid, I also would like to apologize to him for my actions yesterday."

Warspite stated as she raised her sword, "We will get through this."

New Jersey soon took command, "All right, girls! Set your main cannons for the enemy fleet and keep your AA Guns trained on the enemy planes. Remember we are Battleships, we have the big guns and the most AA! Now let's provide support for the carriers and the retreating squadron by blowing up the Iron Blood's Raggedy-Ass Fleet!"

The Eagle Union ships shouted, "HOO -YAH!"

Queen Elizabeth raised her scepter, "Show the Red Axis the might of the Royal Navy!"

The Royal Navy ships shouted, "FOR THE QUEEN!"

Meanwhile the Cyclops, Ridgeback and Sol Squadrons were engaging Crimson Squadron as the twelve allied planes attempted to catch the attention of the former peacekeepers.

Fencer and Skald caught the attention of Crimson's 4 and 6 as the two Eagles were being pursued by an F-22 and an SU-37. Fencer stated,

"That's right, we're your targets, not the ones retreating."

Skald pointed out, "Let's do it with a bang! Come and get us!"

The Terminator that was pursuing Skald attempted to get a missile lock on the Osean, only for bullets to pelt the enemy fighter as Crimson 6 realized,

"Shit!" He pulled off as another F-15C passed him and flew alongside Skald. The pilot spoke,

"For being dangerous criminals, they never went up against us."

Skald stated, "Let's not get too cocky, Lanza. Remember Anchorhead?"

Lanza remembered, "I remember, but I guess I'm paying Trigger and Count back for covering my escape."

As for Fencer, his pursuer was relentless at shooting him down since the enemy F-22 was spinning up its machine gun and launching a stream of bullets as Cyclops 1 avoided the deadly stream of gunfire as Fencer pulled some evasive maneuvers, evading the bullets as Crimson 4 growled,

"Damn it, I guess these guys are better than the others that tried to down us!"

That's when he decided to lock a missile onto the F-15C as the targeting reticle zeroed in on his target. Fencer himself noticed his warning alarms go off as he realized,

"Shit! The enemy's locking onto me!"

The Osean Eagle began evasive maneuvers as the Raptor kept the Eagle in place as he pursued Cyclops 1 in several twists and turns until the reticle turned red as Crimson 4 smirked,

"I have you now…"

"WANNA BET!"

That's when another F-15C appeared and shot a missile at the Raptor. Crimson 4 saw this and tried to break off as the missile struck the Raptor.

The new F-15C pulled alongside Fencer as the pilot gave him a thumbs up. Cyclops 1 stated,

"Nice timing, Tailor."

Cyclops 3 stated, "He let his guard down and I was able to jump him."

"It was a good distraction, but we need to keep them busy and buy Strider time to land. Let's keep at it!"

Tailor knew this as he said, "Roger."

As Cyclops Squadron continued their engagement, Ridgeback Squadron were dealing with Crimsons 8 and 3 who were flying F-22s, as Slash and Edge put their skills to the test as they took on the enemy fighters.

Slash was pursuing Crimson 8 as the enemy Raptor was doing some crazy maneuvers as the ASF-X matched the enemy move-by-move as he fired his guns which the hostile F-22 avoided, only for Edge to come up and do a pincer attack as her bullets raked across the enemy plane.

Lance was being pursued by Crimson 3 as the F-22 fired his guns at the ASF-X, but the allied pilot dived for the deck as he pulled up close to the water as several kansen launched aircraft soon bounced on the F-22 as the Hellcats, Spitfires and Friendly Zeroes fired their guns at Crimson 3, damaging his aircraft.

He contacted his leader, "Crimson 1, these pilots are good, better than we expected. But Crimson 4 took a missile hit while the rest of us took a hit in a vital area with bullets."

The leader sighed, "Affirmative 3, if you are unable to fight, disengage. I don't need trash like them getting a lucky shot off."

Crimson 1 was with Crimsons 5 and 7 as they were going to break through the defensive line. Crimson 5 flew a Raptor while 7 flew a Terminator like the leader until four SU-30s got their attention.

Crimson 7, the only female pilot, spoke, "We got bogeys - Four SU-30s bearing the Sun emblem."

Crimson 5 stated, "Look like they're looking for a fight."

The lead simply stated, "Or to distract us from our real target. Predictable."

He soon ordered, "Crimson 2, engage those Flankers. A few siren planes will also assist you."

His wingman, an SU-37 broke off as several siren planes joined him to engage Sol Squadron as Crimson 2 stated,

"Copy that, sir."

While Crimson 2 kept Sol Squadron occupied, Crimson 1, 5 and 7 led several siren jets and Stukas through the allied squadrons and went straight for the defensive line.

Azur Lane Airfield

As the battle commenced, Strider Squadron had made it to the airfield. The two C-17s had already taxied off the runway as the transports made their way to the hangar where the Darkstar staff would disembark. Meanwhile six fuel trucks were rolling as the news came about an emergency refueling after landing. Avril contacted the approaching squadron,

"Trigger, you and your squadron have entered the landing corridor. Lower landing gear and prepare for touchdown. Rooster and the other Top Gun guys are helping the Nuggets with refueling and will rendezvous with you once you land."

Trigger acknowledged this, "Roger that."

He soon ordered, "Count, you take point and guide the others down. We may be over the airfield, but I suspect that we're not out of the woods."

Count asked, "But what about you?"

"I still have some fuel left, I'll cover you until you're on the ground."

The other pilots acknowledged this as the five planes were in formation as one-by-one they lowered their altitude to land while the Raven kept a vigil on their surroundings. He contacted his AWACS,

"Long Caster, what's the status of the battle?"

The AWACS stated, "Friendly Kansen have engaged the enemy fleet, the carriers are sending their planes against the Siren Ships while the battleships are providing fire support for the fleet and Anti-Aircraft fire to keep the enemy squadron occupied."

Trigger knew for a fact that he sent his fleet against a small raiding fleet which had Eugen and Hipper's sisters as well as the Iron Blood's Co-Leader. His fleet knew not to underestimate their foe, Trigger knew that lesson since witnessing Champ's death at Yinshi because that hotshot underestimated Mihaly.

He made sure not to underestimate the enemy since those many straightforward missions tend to get turned on their head. He remembered the botched two-front offensive with the IUN-PKF, resulting in Brownie's death at Chopinburg and the loss of the OFS Kestrel II during its raid on Farbanti, the first encounter with Sol Squadron at Yinshi, the Unmanned F-18s and Helios strikes at Waiapolo with the 444. When he was reassigned to the LRSSG, there were the incidents with the Alicorn where they were given false intel, Captain Torres' fake surrender which resulted in Trigger sinking the super sub, the taking of Farbanti which also resulted in the encounter with Sol Squadron resulting in Wiseman's death, the escort of General Labarthe in Anchorhead Bay which soon turned into a disaster when they learned he was shot down by another Osean aircraft due to false information because of the blackout, the disaster at Tyler Island and Daredevil with the Unmanned Ravens.

"Past experiences?" His recent acquaintance asked.

He knew that voice, "No doubt about it, Amagi. The Iron Blood wouldn't commit a raiding fleet and Crimson Squadron against HQ unless they have something up their sleeves."

Amagi sighed, "It seems like it and considering that you have a target on your back because of your reputation."

He knew that feeling since his duel with Mimic Squadron, "The feeling of being hunted…and to know that Crimson is not the only squadron hunting me…"

"So is Sulejmani and his Varcolac Squadron."

He agreed since the mercenary pilots were hired by the Iron Blood. But as he looked down at the airfield, he saw the two C-17s parked near the hangars and remembered,

"Long Caster, what's the status of Pegasus 3 and the Darkstar itself?"

The AWACS stated, "Let me check…" There was a brief pause until he said, "We got reports of a C-17 approaching Oahu from vector 050, coming from the mainland, IFF confirms to be Pegasus 3."

Trigger at least now knew where the transport was and asked, "And the Darkstar?"

Long Caster stated, "Unknown at this time."

Trigger sighed, "We do know that it's coming, but let's focus on the mission."

The ADF-11F did a flyby over the base as he saw Strider Squadron land. Count spoke,

"Striders 2 through 6 have touched down!"

Avril spoke, "Nice landing, now go meet up with the refueling crew." As the five planes cleared the runway, she soon turned her attention to the lead, "Trigger, the runway is cleared. Get your ass down here."

The lead acknowledged, "Strider 1 copies, preparing to land."

As he got into position and lowered his landing gear, his missile alarms suddenly went off as he realized,

"Damn! I've been spiked! I need to abort landing!"

He broke off as he retracted his landing gear as two missiles attempted to shoot him down, but he was able to avoid them as he asked his AWACS,

"Long Caster, what's going on!?"

There wasn't a response from the AWACS, but he heard New Jersey's voice, "Honey, we have bad news! We managed to shoot down a group of siren aircraft and Stukas, but three of the Crimson planes have broken through the defensive line and are heading your way - one of them is Crimson 1!"

Trigger was surprised, but he remembered that the enemy ace was persistent in pursuing his target. So considering that he and two others were able to get past the allied squadrons and the battleships meant that those wingmen were people that he trusts, "But who fired those missiles?"

The AWACS checked again, "That's even more bad news, we got four bogeys inbound at 270. We identified the same A-10 from the Heavy Command Cruiser and three additional aircraft."

The Ace guessed, "A Flatpack, a Foxhound and a Terminator?"

"That's affirmative and markings show teeth."

Trigger realized, "Damn it, it's Varcolac!"

Approaching the base, Varcolac Squadron flew in formation as Oruma spoke,

"Good, we managed to keep him from landing. Captain, let's take him out for good this time."

Toyla Kiriakov, the Terminator pilot agreed, "Definitely, but you, just try not to be the one who holds us back."

Faryd Gaviria was anxious as he said, "The Three Strikes is mine."

Sulejmani kept his men in line, "Men, keep in mind that we will be coordinating with Crimson Squadron. Make the most of your aircrafts as well as coordination with the Peacekeepers to bring down Three Strikes."

He ordered, "Varcolac Squadron, let's head out!"

The four planes moved in as Crimsons 1, 5 and 7 approached from the defensive line.

Trigger saw this and said, "Sweet Mother of God, Bismarck sent both squadrons!"

Avril spoke, "You gotta be kidding me! How did we not see them?!"

Long Caster realized, "They must've flown in low to dodge the radar and evade our air patrols!"

This was serious as Trigger looked at his fuel gauge and saw that he was down to 260 lbs of fuel. He quickly thought of the next course of action since he had just enough to engage the bandits, but not enough for an extended fight. What he really needed was time for his squadron to refuel.

But he remembered the two drones he had hanging off his wings and found that they only had 476 lbs of fuel since he used them twice and the drones only had the fuel capacity of about 576. So he had a thought which Amagi noticed,

"You intend to siphon the fuel from your drones into your plane's fuel tank to keep flying?"

He mentally told the spirit, "Only a little bit, I just need to keep flying to buy time for my squadron to takeoff and I'm not going to siphon all of it."

"You are going to use your drones as improvised wingmen?"

The ace stated, "Exactly."

He spoke to the plane, "Computer, siphon 40% fuel from UAV Alpha and UAV Bravo into the main fuel tank."

The manned Raven was fitted with an onboard computer for pilot assistance, the Doc said that it was like a Z.O.E. Unit fitted to cooperate with the pilot and respond to pilot commands. The synthesized voice said,

"Siphoning fuel from UAVs to fuel tanks."

A display of the aircraft appeared on the HUD as fuel was being siphoned from the drones and into the Raven itself. Amagi expressed her concern,

"I hope you know what you are doing."

Trigger stated, "I've been through suicide missions, a brother-sister pair of mercenaries, crazed sub commanders, an aging ace, two giant unmanned aircraft carriers and two unmanned variants of the Raven which culminated with me flying out of a Space Elevator. Now I'm fighting against two squadrons by myself and low on fuel."

Amagi had a feeling, "I had a feeling that your father did solo fights against enemy squadrons before."

The Ace knew this, "He wasn't alone during those fights, but in some cases he did go solo and my uncle fought Yellow Squadron alone during the Continental War."

He chuckled, "I guess it runs in the family."

Soon enough, the computer announced,

"Fuel has been siphoned from UAVs.

Aircraft fuel capacity is now 510 lbs.

UAV Alpha and UAV Bravo Fuel is now 285 lbs."

Trigger knew that this was all he needed as he contacted his squadron,

"Strider 1 to Squadron, continue with refueling. I'm going to go high and engage the bandits."

Count asked, "Wait, are you sure about this?"

"Count, it's me they want. The UAVs and I will buy you some time to refuel and get airborne."

Count sighed as he figured, "All right, we'll refuel, just make sure you're still alive when we get back up there."

Trigger stated as he deployed his UAVs, "We'll give Crimson and Varcolac a hard time."

Soon enough, he heard Rooster's voice, "Trigger, we'll meet your squadron by the apron with the fuel trucks. We'll refuel your squadron quickly so they can get back into the fight."

He assured the Top Gun grad, "Copy that, Rooster."

After that, he and his drones turned towards the enemy squadron as he announced,

"Strider 1 engaging!"

The enemy squadron took notice as Crimson 5 noticed,

"Look at that, Three Strikes is going on the attack."

Crimson 1 spoke, "Affirmative 5, the bird with the three lines."

Sulejmani noticed, "The plane is different, but the emblem is the same."

Kiriakov also pointed out, "We have two additional hits besides Three Strikes - they're small aircraft, most likely drones."

Crimson 5 asked, "UAVs? Where did they come from?"

Crimson 1 stated, "Most likely launched from the main craft."

His assessment was true because of the Raven's ability to launch its wing-mounted drones. It was at that moment that they broke formation as the Raven blew through them at top speed as the drones went on the attack.

"Good morning, Aviators. This is Strider 1 speaking."

Back with the Kansen

Meanwhile, the kansen of Azur Lane were fighting off the Siren Mass-Produced Ships as the carriers launched several bomber squadrons while the battleships provided support with their guns, sinking a couple of Knight-Class and Bishop-Class Cruisers.

As for Hipper and Prinz Eugen, they were utilizing their AA guns to shoot down both Siren and hostile Iron Blood aircraft. The two cruisers knew that those aircraft were launched from Weser - their sister who became a carrier. It still doesn't seem right that they have to fight Weser, but in the end - this is war.

While the allied squadrons keep Crimson Squadron busy, the sea units are going to fight the enemy fleet.

As a Pawn-Class Destroyer was sunk by kansen-launched torpedoes, the four destroyers, Javelin, Laffey, Ayanami and Nimi were side-by-side as they used their quick maneuvers to stage hit-and-run attacks on Siren ships. This was effective against Pawns and Knights since they were light ships, but there were also Rook-Class Battleships in the mix as well as Queen-Class Carriers.

But these four were not going to hold back as Javelin said,

"They have the heavier ships in the back, the other ships are acting as a vanguard."

Nimi stated, "The vanguard are the Pawns, Knights and Bishops, but the Rooks and Queens are the threat we need to take out."

Ayanami used her sword blast to destroy an enemy ship as she said, "The main ships are guarded by the vanguard ships. It will take too much time for us to get through."

Laffey launched her torpedoes to sink a destroyer and said, "We won't have to break through a vanguard, we could use a battleship shell using terminal guidance."

The Hipper sisters heard this as Hipper said, "We would need to get a mark on the enemy battleships and carriers."

Eugen spoke, "Our battleships can conduct a saturation attack on the enemy fleet, but we need someone holding the torch - mainly EW Aircraft."

St. Louis, the light cruiser of Eagle Union heard this, "EW Aircraft? The Stennis has two EW Aircraft out on patrol with EW aircraft from the Andersen with a fighter squadron as an escort."

Cleveland, who was fending off a wave of hostile aircraft and ships with her sisters, asked,

"Can we call them back?"

"We need to contact the AWACS!"

The cruisers and destroyers knew that the enemy ships were going to be a problem until an SBD, B-25 and Kikka planes sunk the enemy ships as Enterprise, Hornet and Shinano stood before them as Shinano stated,

"Our planes will hold them back while you contact the AWACS."

At this moment, the carriers of Eagle Union and Royal Navy sent out fighters and bombers against the enemy while Cleveland activated her comm,

"Cleveland to AWACS Magic and AWACS Long Caster, come in!"

The Osean AWACS chimed in, "This is Long Caster, both Magic and I read you, Cleveland."

"We have Siren battleships and carriers calling strikes down on us, we're pinned down unless we can get a precision strike on them. We need EW Aircraft to act as spotters for the battleships."

Magic chimed in, "We have two planes from the VAQ-133rd on patrol with the Andersen's EW Squadron."

Cleveland ordered, "Call them back immediately!"

Long Caster stated, "The callback order was already sent, ETA in 6 minutes."

The cruiser was relieved to know that help was on the way. But she grew concerned about the status of the commander,

"Has Strider 1 landed?"

Magic answered, "Negative, Strider 1 has engaged Crimsons 1, 5, 7 and Varcolac Squadron over the base to buy time for his squadron to refuel."

Every kansen heard that call as Helena spoke in shock,

"Varcolac!?"

Cygnet and her sisters heard this as the silver-haired destroyer said,

"The Varcolac Squadron is here?!"

Unicorn, who was mounted onto U-Chan shouted, "Big Brother's surrounded! We need to help him!"

Illustrious, realizing what the little girl wants to do, spoke,

"Unicorn, we need to hold the line."

The light carrier tearfully said, "But he could die! He doesn't have enough fuel to take them!"

Illustrious was going to speak until Enterprise contacted Unicorn,

"Unicorn, Trigger needs us here to destroy the enemy fleet and keep the enemy aircraft from attacking the base. Crimson and Varcolac may be dangerous pilots, but we all know that Trigger's different. He will survive!"

The light carrier was scared, knowing that they are leaving him to fend for himself until they heard a familiar voice,

"Unicorn, you need to be strong, help with destroying the enemy fleet. As for me, these guys are nothing I can't handle. I even have my UAVs as my temporary wingmen, but I need you to stop any reinforcements from getting past you to the base. Can you do that for me, little sister?"

Unicorn mustered up her courage as she said, "I…will, big brother! I won't let you down!"

So with newfound confidence, she launched a wave of fighters as they intercepted several siren planes, even a few of the Crimson planes that were engaged with Cyclops, Ridgeback and Sol. One of those hit was Crimson 2 as he said,

"Damn it, I'm hit! Can't keep up…withdrawing from combat!"

Sol 2 saw this as he reported, "Enemy aircraft is bugging out. Unicorn must've scared him."

Slash spoke, "We've got reports of at least three Crimson aircraft retreating from the battle, all due to battle damage."

Fencer pointed out, "We still have 2 more bandits in the combat zone and they're being backed by those Siren jets."

It was true since the siren planes formed around the two remaining planes of Crimson Squadron. For the air units, they are in for a fur ball, but not as big as Operation Daredevil.

As for Enterprise, she knew that if they shoot a drone down, another one would take its place unless the carrier is destroyed. As she gripped her bow, the other kansen gathered around her as she said,

"Sink as many siren ships and destroy as many enemy planes as we can. We need to make sure that this area is safe when the EW Aircraft arrive!"

The kansen soon began ensure that the area while the fighter squadrons fought to establish air superiority over the battlefield.

But as the Azur Lane forces kept up the fight, Tirpitz and her fleet held back as they watched as their mass-produced vanguard ships were being destroyed. But still, she did see Crimson 1 break through the AA screen that the Azur Lane battleships put up. The white haired battleship noticed that siren and Iron Blood planes were getting shot down faster than either Weser and the Siren carriers could launch them.

Tirpitz was no carrier herself, but she knew for a fact that the Allied Squadrons were going to obtain air superiority over the battlefield. But as the battle went on, Tirpitz was going through her choices before her plan went into action. So she ordered,

"Weser, Blücher, we are going to move up with the mass-produced ships and separate and engage the Azur Lane forces. Weser, you take the left side, Blücher, you go right."

The two kansen acknowledged as they followed their orders as Tirpitz moved past the Queens and Rooks as she focused on her objective - The Black Dragon. She would face off in a battle with Eagle Union's most powerful battleship. A great battle between a ship of the Bismarck-Class and Iowa-Class, but deep down, Tirpitz had a different plan since she heard a phrase regarding the Commander as she softly said,

"Stick with Trigger and You'll Make It."

Above Azur Lane Airfield

A missile explodes in midair due to it being intercepted by a beam of light. This was a laser weapon from UAV Alpha as it used its laser to protect the ADF-11F from a Varcolac SU-37 as the Raven pulled a Cobra and countered with a stream of pulse lasers which struck the craft.

Upon getting struck, Kiriakov shouted, "Damn it, I screwed up!"

Sulejmani asked, "Can you still fight?"

"I can, Three Strikes managed to hit a non-critical area."

The lead said, "Don't hold back when it comes to Three Strikes."

The encounter with Varcolac Squadron and the key members of Crimson Squadron was quite the fight for the leader of Strider Squadron. For the amount of time that he's facing them, he's been going on the attack and defensive since he would notice how Varcolac Squadron would engage in hit-and-run attacks on him. Trigger had to admire the squadron coordination from the mercenaries since they would utilize their strengths.

As for Crimson Team, despite only having three aircraft, each pilot was skilled. They worked in coordination with Varcolac since they would always attempt to surround Trigger after the hit-and-run attack. The Osean Ace was able to weave through this tactic and counter with a missile which struck Crimson 5 as Trigger announced,

"Missile hit on a Crimson aircraft!"

Long Caster spoke, "Confirmed hit on enemy plane, keep it up Strider 1."

He soon noticed Crimsons 1 and 7 attempt to attack him by going close, but he pulled a very tight post-stall maneuver as the Raven jolted up before the stabilizers yawed the plane to the right as it soared passed the two enemy planes as the Raven's engines fired up and flew off.

Crimson 7 asked, "Sir, did you see that?!"

Crimson 1 sighed, "A tight maneuver in an advanced plane? Impressive."

"You think we can still take him, Crimson 1?"

The lead stated, "He's likely low on fuel as it is and this gives us a chance to take him out."

"You're right, this is our chance. But Crimson 5 is trailing smoke."

The F-22 flying Crimson colors was trailing smoke as it struggled due to battle damage. Crimson 5 said,

"I can still fight."

The lead shook his head, "5, disengage from the fight. There's no use trying to take down Three Strikes with a damaged plane."

The pilot wanted to refuse, but he knew that his squadron leader was right as the Raptor disengaged.

But while that was going on, Trigger got contacted by Count,

"Trigger, the recruits managed to refuel our planes. We're taking off!"

Strider 1 was relieved to know that his squadron could get back into the fight. This also means that he could be able to land and refuel while they handle Crimson and Varcolac.

As he moved away from the fight and began to circle the airbase, he heard Avril,

"Striders 2 through 6 are cleared for takeoff."

Strider 2 acknowledged, "We're in takeoff position on the runway. Engines Full Power!"

The engines of the Super Fulcrum, Super Kai, Super Hornet, Mirage and Lightning II fired up as the planes sped down the runway as they lifted off the ground as they were noticed by the enemy squadrons as Faryd said,

"Look at that, five enemy planes are climbing up to meet us!"

Oruma stated, "It's Three Strikes' Squadron, Faryd."

Crimson 7 said, "Damn it, I thought we had time before they got here."

Crimson 1 reminded everyone, "Three Strikes is our primary focus, but Strider Squadron is secondary."

The enemy squadrons understood this as the six remaining aircraft formed up in a fight against Strider Squadron as they got airborne.

Count announced, "Strider Squadron is airborne!"

Long Caster was relieved, "Strider 1, your wingmen will keep the enemy busy while you land."

This was good news for Trigger since the 7-on-1 duel made him lose precious fuel, siphoning fuel from the drones before engaging the bandits was a good idea. It gave him time to keep flying until his squadron refueled, but now it's his turn to land.

While his squadron went to engage the bandits, Trigger entered the landing corridor as Avril ordered him to lower his landing gear which he complied as the Raven's ventral stabilizer folded up and the landing gear deployed. The mechanic even said,

"The fuel trucks will meet you at the apron, so you can fuel up and get back into the fight quickly."

Trigger acknowledged this, "Roger that."

As the Raven came in to land, Trigger was noticing that his fuel gauge was going back into the red zone and close to running on fumes. He could hear the computer say,

"Warning: Engine one losing power."

He realized, "Damn it, that's what I was afraid of." He soon stated, "Route non-critical power to Engine One. Activate manual control!"

"COFFIN System Control disabled.

Manual Control Engaged."

Trigger took off the flight interface visor from his flight helmet as he looked at the cockpit screen of his aircraft as he lowered his helmet's regular visor as the HUD came up. The flight stick and thrust control appeared from the right and left sides of the seat while the yaw pedals emerged from below, these were made for manual control.

As the ace gripped the controls, he maneuvered the plane to the runway as he lowered airspeed. He had to land this bird, refuel and takeoff again, so he could drive Crimson and Varcolac off with his wingmen. But as he approached the runway, Avril yelled,

"Trigger, watch your ass! You've got a single bogey coming up behind you!"

Long Caster spoke, "She's right, that bogey broke off from the fight. It's confirmed to be Crimson 1!"

The Osean Ace realized, "Shit!"

The SU-37 was in position as he got a lock on the ADF-11F, "Azur Lane's Ace dies today. Crimson 1 Fox 2!"

The SU-37 launched a missile and it was heading for the Raven.

Aboard the Raven, the computer spoke,

"Missile Alert! Missile Alert!"

The missile was coming towards him as he attempted evasive maneuvers, but with low fuel, it was affecting its maneuverability. But even if he evaded the missile, Crimson 1 will still pursue him which made Strider 1 vulnerable.

But as he thought that this could be it - something blue flew into the path of the missile resulting in the object being hit instead of Trigger, this surprised him as he said,

"What was that?!"

That's when Amagi spoke, "My dear half-sister following her heart."

Trigger mentally spoke, "That was Kaga…she's here?"

"And believe it or not, she intends to marry you."

"Wait…marriage?!"

The spirit chuckles at the ace's reaction as he was brought back to it by Long Caster informing him of something,

"We've picked up a high-speed aircraft inbound at Vector 050 to the Northeast and closing fast."

That was new since a high-speed aircraft was heading their way, but the vector was curious since 050 would lead northeast to the mainland. This piqued Trigger's curiosity and asked, "What type of aircraft is it?"

The AWACS operator looked over the ID Data and said,

"IFF Confirmed: It's a fast aircraft designated as SR-72."

Avril remembered from the report she recieved, "That's the Darkstar!"

As if on cue, a black aircraft flew past Crimson 1 at high speed which threw off his aim while a voice said,

"Good morning, Commander. Heard from the comm that you were in trouble and someone was trying to keep you from landing?"

Trigger figured that the Darkstar pilot was Maverick as he said,

"Sorry we couldn't roll out the welcome wagon, Captain, but I need to get on the ground and refuel."

The Captain understood this, "Copy that, Commander. Darkstar will cover you."

As Trigger moved in to land, the Terminator reoriented itself as Crimson 1 realized,

"That voice…you're back, Maverick?!"

Maverick chuckled, "Long time no see, Rodriguez. How's the life of a mercenary and wanted criminal treating you?"

"Of all the pilots from the Crown to the Scorpion, I wouldn't have guessed that the military would bring you back to combat."

Maverick figured, "Seems like he needs pilots like me fighting in the pacific."

Crimson 1 yelled, "I'm going to down Three Strikes and scare Azur Lane into ending this war. Don't get in my way!"

"The problem with you is that you're obsessed with proving that you are the better pilot, try shooting at something else with a full tank for a change."

The Darkstar brushed past the Terminator as Crimson 1's aim was thrown off and started pursuing the SR-72.

Trigger saw this as he soon lowered his altitude as the nose pitched up a bit before the tires made contact with the tarmac. He was able to land the plane as he immediately taxied off the runway to the apron.

The Sea Battle

At the same time that happened, the kansen were sinking several enemy ships while evading the strikes from the enemy battleships and carriers. The heavy cruisers were using their AA guns to destroy any enemy aircraft that were launched from the carriers while the destroyers used their speed to avoid the hard points of the siren ships and their torpedoes to strike where they're weak.

But they were just buying time for the EW Squadrons coming back from patrol. As Cleveland and her sister, Biloxi were using their cannons to destroy a siren light cruiser and a wave of siren aircraft, Helena spotted something weaving through the fleet and upon noticing the familiar shape of a kansen, more specifically - a battleship, she cried out,

"Cleveland, Biloxi, watch out! Tirpitz is bearing down on you!"

As the alien cruiser sank, both kansen turned their attention to see the Iron Blood Battleship with her shark-like rigging and four main cannons armed and ready. But the battleship had her pole-lance ready as she intended to strike the two heavy cruisers with their guards down.

But the battleship's weapon was blocked by a pair of blue blades as Tirpitz dodged an anchor strike from her adversary.

Before anyone knew it, New Jersey stood defiantly at the Iron Blood kansen, holding two glowing blades as she stated,

"You're not going to get a shot at them so easily!"

Tirpitz was intrigued, "The Black Dragon…Eagle Union's Most Decorated Battleship…one of the last battleships."

"That's what Iowas are known to be, but we still are technologically advanced for our time."

The Iron Blood kansen held her pole lance to ready position, "It will be an honor to duel you, Black Dragon."

NJ took that as a compliment as she crossed her blades as her anchor tail was in position.

The two Eagle Union cruisers watched as the Black Dragon clashed with the Queen of the North.

As for the Hipper sisters, they were sinking Siren ships and shooting down aircraft as Hipper sighed,

"There's seemingly no end to them, no matter how many we sink, they just keep coming!"

Prinz Eugen smugly asked, "Is that confidence as flat as your chest, big sister?"

Hipper's face went red, "I would slap you around if we weren't in a battle!"

The silver haired cruiser lightly chuckled as she fired her guns at a nearby siren cruiser's magazine, sinking it,

"We still have to protect the base and buy time for the EW Aircraft which should be here at any minute."

The blonde cruiser nodded as she continued the fight until she noticed someone familiar among the siren ships - primarily the kansen approaching them. The blonde hair, red eyes and similar looks to Hipper made it clear who this was as Eugen said,

"Blücher…"

The heavy cruiser said, "Hello Hipper and Eugen, how is it serving under Three Strikes?"

The two kansen were curious as to why their sister asked about the Commander, Eugen asked,

"Why are you asking?"

"Besides the fact that I saw pictures of him and saw how cute he is?"

It was well-known to the two that Blücher was very flirtatious, even more so than Eugen. When pictures of the Commander, taken by either Sakura or Iron Blood kansen during the battle at the ruined islands had surfaced, Blücher was seen staring at the pictures of Trigger with his Beretta or riding the KLR that he used on the island. So it was no surprise for Hipper and Eugen to hear their sister say that the ace pilot is cute. Hipper asked,

"Bismarck sent you along with Weser to get to us, didn't she or did you volunteer?"

The red eyed cruiser said, "Lord Bismarck assigned us to Lord Tirpitz's detachment. But ever since we heard about your defection, Weser and I didn't know what to think, but I think I know why you defected…"

Eugen stated as the cannons on her rigging activated, "The Kommandant is different, he inspires warships like us to be more than what we are. He protected us from Bismarck's Death Fleet and destroyed that Heavy Command Cruiser."

Hipper spoke as her cannons activated, "He is the one the Iron Blood should be following. As long as he lives, we know that we can beat the Sirens."

Blücher noticed the cannons and said, "I believe you and many other warships have questioned the motives of Bismarck." She took a deep breath and said,

"Even Tirpitz is questioning the motives of her own sister."

Eugen quickly glanced at the duel nearby between the two battleships before saying, "And yet, she was sent here on Bismarck's orders?"

Hipper was curious, "What is she really up to?"

That piqued the curiosity of the three cruisers as Hipper and Eugen fired their cannons at the vanguard ships near Blücher, sinking them without harming their sister.

Meanwhile, Light Carriers Bataan, Independence, Unicorn and Hermes along with Fleet Carriers Enterprise, Hornet, Illustrious and Glorious were doing their best to destroy the enemy aircraft and ships that tried to break through their line while avoiding the strikes that the Main Siren Ships were calling down on them.

As if their situation wasn't dire enough, the Iron Blood Light Carrier Weser had appeared and was launching Stukas at them. But the carrier planes were able to shoot down the hostile Stukas as more volleys from the enemy battleships were incoming.

Hornet sighed as she evaded a shell, "Jeez, no matter how many we destroy they just keep coming! But there's also that Iron Blood carrier with the damn Stukas!"

Enterprise did a backflip over an enemy missile as she knocked an arrow in her bow as she was upside down and fired a single arrow which formed into a full fighter squadron as they destroyed the offending siren and Iron Blood aircraft. She said,

"We need to get our planes past Weser and take at least one of those Capital Ships out of action."

Hermes, a Royal Navy light carrier who placed two cards on her flight deck sideways, summoning two Seafires to shoot down an enemy fighter squadron while placing a card in a vertical position as a Fairey Barracuda Torpedo Bomber was summoned and attacked a siren cruiser,

"Lessen the fire coming towards us while throwing her off while buying time for the EW Squadron?"

The Grey Ghost nodded, "Exactly, she will focus on evading the attacks from the planes while giving our battleships time to get ready for the counterattack once reinforcements arrive."

Bataan, upon hearing this had an idea, "Then we need something faster than our usual prop planes to knock out a Capital Ship."

"You have jet aircraft in your rigging?"

Bataan brought out a small model jet, "I spent months with Maverick and during those times, we were able to retrofit jet aircraft into my rigging."

She tosses it to Enterprise as she recognizes the model, "An F-14 Tomcat?"

The light carrier corrected, "The F-14B Bombcat, the Tomcat's strike fighter variant."

Enterprise had a feeling that Bataan would know the variants of F-14s and decided while inserting the small jet into her bow,

"Then we know what we have to do. Our target is a Rook-Class Battleship that's been calling strikes down on us!"

Bataan tossed each carrier a strike jet from her arsenal as Hornet grabbed an F-14B Bombcat, Independence and Princeton got the A-6 Intruder, a carrier-based strike aircraft as Unicorn and Hermes got an F/A-18E, which the jet shifted into a card for Hermes. Illustrious and Glorious received an A-5 Vigilante, a high speed carrier-based bomber used in the 60s and 70s.

The allied carriers installed the jets into their rigging as Bataan took charge,

"All right, girls! Independence, Princeton, your Intruders are going to focus on calling strikes on Weser in order to keep her from launching those Stukas. Unicorn, Hermes, your F-18s will keep the Siren Fighters busy while Enterprise, Hornet, Illustrious and Glorious launch a strike against the Siren Battleship."

All carrier kansen acknowledged the plan as they all brought their flight decks forward as Princeton and Independence launched their Intruders while Unicorn and Hermes launched their F-18s as they were heading for Weser.

The Iron Blood Light Carrier saw this as her eyes widened,

"Mein Gott! They have jets!"

She attempted to launch defense fighters against them, but the A-6's twin gun pods spun up and fired as the carrier moved to try and avoid the gunfire, only to find a bomb dropping towards her as she evaded the bombs as she got doused with water from the bombs impacting the sea, but the Intruders came back around as more machine gun fire hit her rigging, causing her to sustain damage.

But while she was trying to evade the attacks from the Intruders, the Fleet Carriers had launched their strike aircraft. Enterprise and Hornet launched their Bombcats while Illustrious and Glorious launched their A-5 Vigilante bombers. The strike aircraft sped through the vanguard ships as they avoided the AA fire while the enemy fighters were occupied by the F-18s.

Upon breaking through, the Rook was directly ahead as the F-14s lined up their bombing run and dropped their guided penetration bombs while the Vigilantes followed behind and dropped a combination of unguided and guided bombs on the enemy battleship.

The guided bombs struck the battleship's turrets on both port and starboard while the unguided bombs struck directly in the center of the ship. Soon enough, there were a series of explosions occurring around the drone ship as the F-14s and A-5s dissipated and returned to the kansen as the Rook-Class Battleship exploded with the drone ship lifted up briefly as an explosion tore through its hull before sinking.

The carriers saw that explosion as they heard Long Caster's voice,

"I just saw an explosion in the Siren Fleet. Enterprise, what just happened?"

Enterprise announced, "We just took down a Siren Battleship that was calling strikes on our position and to buy us more time for reinforcements."

The AWACS was impressed, "Smart plan and we have also received word that friendly EW Aircraft and Salamander Squadron have entered the AO."

The Grey Ghost was relieved to hear this news as she contacted the rest of the fleet,

"Enterprise to all ships, the EW Aircraft are here. Repeat, the EW Aircraft are here!"

The other Kansen acknowledged this as well as confirmation from the EA-18 Growler,

"This is Enchanter 1 of the 98th Electronic Attack Squadron, we've entered the AO alongside Wizards 1 and 2."

Wizard 1 announced, "We have our orders to act as spotters for New Jersey and her battleships. They got the guns, we'll do the terminal guidance."

When the Battleship force heard that reinforcements were here and New Jersey was mentioned, Eagle Union Battleship South Dakota spoke,

"The Black Dragon has engaged Tirpitz in a duel, so she's occupied right now."

That surprised the EW Aircraft as the battle between two well-known ships was underway. But the aircraft needed to establish contact with NJ as a female voice spoke,

"Don't worry, we'll be able to break up the fight. We actually came across an Allied Sakura Fleet during our patrol. The Flagship will be able to break up this duel."

When the female pilot spoke, Hood recognized that voice,

"Wait, Leftenant Trace, is that you?"

The pilot said, "That's me, this bird is flying high on a morning patrol. Good to hear from you again, Lady Hood."

The Royal Battleship asked, "How are you out on patrol?"

"Bob and I volunteered to fly with Salamander Squadron to escort the EW Aircraft."

To Hood, that made sense for the pilot and flight officer to volunteer for the patrol. But what Phoenix said had caught everyone by surprise as Hood asked,

"Leftenant, you mentioned an Allied Sakura Fleet. What happened?"

Bob chimed in, "We ran into a Sakura Fleet while on patrol, IFF confirms that they are allies. When Magic informed us that the base was under attack, both the fleet and our patrol rushed back here as soon as we could."

South Dakota asked with curiosity, "Who is the flagship of the Sakura fleet?"

There was a slight chuckle in Phoenix's voice as she hinted,

"Someone they both know."

Back at the airfield

Trigger had managed to make it down in one piece thanks to the unexpected help from Kaga's paper crane and the arrival of Maverick driving Crimson 1 off. It bought him time to move his plane to the apron area where Rooster and the other Top Gun grads waited with the fuel trucks as he was listening to the sea battle over the radio. He was happy to know that reinforcements had arrived to push back the siren fleet and a bit surprised that Phoenix and Bob were flying with Salamander.

He also needed to get back up there since Maverick's plane is an experimental scram-jet, not a fighter which makes the Captain unarmed. He heard Rooster's voice,

"Sir, we're just ahead of you, we will refuel you so you can get back into the fight quickly. We advise that your engines remain on."

As he pulled up to the fuel trucks, he acknowledged,

"Copy that, taking off once refueling is complete. And Rooster…"

The Top Gun Grad asked, "Yes?"

"Thanks for getting my squadron back into action."

Rooster stated, "I've never lost a wingman and I'll be damn sure not to lose the Flight Lead."

The grounded pilots soon worked with the Nuggets in opening the fuel hatch and attaching the hoses to the ADF-11F as they began to pump fuel into the advanced fighter. There were also Manjuu manning the AA Guns and SAMs in case of a renewed attack and they were AD Tanks near the refueling site in case of enemy missiles.

Avril was in the tower when she received a transmission from Count which made her concerned, so she contacted Trigger,

"Trigger, we have a problem."

The Ace asked, "What is it?"

"A Varcolac member broke off from the fight. It's that Oruma guy and he's heading for the base."

That was a problem since Oruma flies an A-10, an attack aircraft and since Trigger is on the ground next to the refueling trucks. It meant that if Oruma reaches him, he could hit him while he's on the ground and next to a volatile vehicle like a truck full of jet fuel. He asked,

"Rooster, did you get what Scrap Queen just said?"

The pilot stated, "I did and we need more time."

He soon contacted the AWACS, "Long Caster, I need someone to get Oruma away from the base. I don't want to get bounced while taking off."

The AWACS operator was going to say something until he paused for a moment and stated, "You might as well have that wish since I'm picking up at least four AH-64 helicopters in the area."

Avril heard this and asked, "Apaches?"

When Trigger heard the mention of Apaches, he had a feeling that this was someone he knows as he contacted the copters,

"Apaches, this is Strider 1 of Azur Lane, what is your squadron callsign?"

There was a moment of silence until a voice spoke,

"Is that the Ace of Azur Lane that I hear? This is your old friend, Shooter 1 from Wake Island."

Trigger was surprised, "Shooter Squadron!? What are you guys doing here?"

"We were escorting a Royal Navy fleet here, but Admiral Williams' Office informed us that the Red Axis was trying to attack the base with Crimson and Varcolac Squadrons. The Royal Navy fleet gave us orders to assist in the base defense."

Shooter 1's Co-Pilot, Jack said, "We were also fitted with Air-to-Air missiles for possible air engagements."

The Osean couldn't believe the amount of good timing that this morning brought. First was Maverick's arrival and now the arrival of Shooter Squadron. He immediately said,

"D-Ray, there's an enemy A-10 closing in on my position and he's looking to strafe me while I'm on the ground."

The Apache pilot stated, "Yeah, I see him. We'll keep him off ya, kid."

He was relieved to know that as he looked to his radar to see that the A-10 was heading for him, only for friendly missiles to appear and throw the attacker off with one missile actually hitting the plane.

"Damn it, I'm hit! I need to clear out."

That was Oruma's voice as the mercenary pilot turned away from the base as the four Apaches formed a defensive line and fired AA missiles at the enemy aircraft.

Trigger heard various enemy pilots cry out that there were incoming missiles as notice of hits on enemy aircraft were heard. But he was interrupted by Rooster,

"Trigger, your plane is fueled, take off now!"

As the fuel team cleared out, the Ace moved his plane towards the runway as he contacted the tower,

"Strider 1 to Scrap Queen, I'm heading to the runway."

The mechanic acknowledged, "Copy that, Trigger, get your ass back into the fight."

He taxied onto the runway as he looked over his plane,

"Quick checklist: Flaps, Engines, Gear and Weapons."

The computer said, "All systems nominal.

UAV usage at 45%.

TLS at 100%."

That caught him off guard, "Wait…TLS?"

But he had no time to think as he gunned his engines and sped down the runway. Once he hit takeoff speed, the ADF-11F lifted off into the sky as the gear folded up while the ventral stabilizer folded down.

He was now back in the fight as he flew to rejoin his squadron.

As Strider Squadron were facing off against the enemy aircraft, each member was pulling off impressive maneuvers against the enemy. An example was High Roller pulling a kulbit with his F-35C to counter Faryd's Foxhound and landing a missile hit on the large MiG. The Varcolac member steered his plane away as he trailed smoke.

Húxiãn was dealing with Crimson 7 as the rogue pilot was glued to her tail. Húxiãn was pulling off some evasive maneuvers to keep the enemy Terminator from getting a bead on her. But she remembered the training she had under Wiseman and how she learned from her old commander. So she kept moving as she attempted to shake off her pursuer. As Crimson 7 moved closer, Húxiãn hit the brakes, pulled back on the stick as her Super Hornet performed a Cobra as the enemy plane flew by her. After leveling out, the Osean pilot opened up with her guns as it raked across the SU-37, striking something important.

Crimson 7 shouted, "I'm hit…sorry about this, Crimson 1. I'm bugging out."

As for Count, he was being pursued by the Flatpack as the advanced MiG was looking to shoot down his Super Fulcrum. Sulejmani was determined to shoot down the number 2 of Strider Squadron since he noticed the winged top hat on the tail. It may not be Three Strikes, but it was still a member of his squadron. He stated,

"I've got you in my sights, Strider 2."

Count realized this and said, "You want me? You got me!"

He hit the brakes and did a reverse barrel roll over the MiG-1.44 and shot a missile which struck a non-critical area. The mercenary asked,

"This is it? This is the best of Strider Squadron?"

Count said, "No, but everyone in it is an Ace."

The merc was confused, "What?!"

At that moment, another missile struck the Flatpack, damaging it as another hit Crimson 1's Terminator when his pursuit of the Darkstar led him into the dogfight. As that occurred, the ADF-11F blew through the dogfight.

Crimson 1 realized, "Damn it, I'm hit!"

Sulejmani was surprised, "Shit…"

That's when Oruma spoke, "Captain, we have enemy reinforcements inbound and the siren fleets are being destroyed. Things don't look good for us. Let's fall back!"

Crimson 1 agreed, "I have to agree with Oruma. Crimson Squadron, retreat."

Kiriakov was surprised, "Are you serious?"

Sulejmani accepted, "Varcolac Squadron, retreat."

This surprised Kiriakov as he wanted to keep fighting, but orders were orders as the enemy aircraft retreated. But before retreating, Sulejmani contacted Trigger,

"Three Strikes, you have some excellent pilots. However they won't be so lucky next time. I'll make sure of it."

Trigger stated, "It's not luck, my old squadron commander trained us well. Everyone you see in Strider Squadron is an Ace."

As the enemy planes retreated, Strider Squadron formed up as the Darkstar pulled up beside them. The pilot of the experimental aircraft said,

"Commander, the way your squadron fought against Crimson and Varcolac was impressive."

Trigger stated, "It's all part of the job, Captain." He soon asked his wingmen,

"Strider Squadron, report."

Count stated, "Strider 2 here, all systems are still running."

Jaeger reported, "This is Strider 3, everything is okay."

Húxiãn spoke, "Strider 4, I'm fine."

Tabloid spoke, "Strider 5 reporting all systems go."

High Roller finished, "Strider 6, the odds were in my favor since my plane is still flying."

Once the wingmen confirmed that their planes were okay, Trigger stated,

"We managed to drive them off, but the mission isn't over yet. Allied reinforcements have arrived to destroy the siren fleet, we should go lend a hand."

Maverick stated, "You guys go on ahead, I'll stay behind and land after Pegasus 3. This plane isn't a fighter anyway."

"Acknowledged Captain. Shooter Squadron will provide support until you and the transport land."

The veteran pilot stated, "Copy Strider 1 and also…" He paused before saying, "Tell Bataan that I'm here."

"Sure thing."

The six planes sped off towards the combat zone while the SR-72 returned to base.

Battle Zone

Back with the duel, NJ backflips to avoid a sweep from Tirpitz's lance as she brings up her blades again and charges at the Iron Blood kansen. As their weapons locked together, they were face-to-face as Tirpitz said,

"Fighting you is not my intention…"

NJ figured, "But you wanted the opportunity!"

The two struggled to overpower one another until they noticed something purple off the corner of their eyes and immediately jumped back as a purple blade cut through the area they were in as water shot up before collapsing. The two battleships were confused by this until NJ felt a sense of familiarity,

"That slash…it can't be…"

That was when both battleships looked up to see a dark haired foxgirl floating in midair with her rigging consisting of ship parts, 18.1 inch guns with a katana sword in her hand. Tirpitz had a look of surprise as she said,

"Mein Gott…"

It was clear that both battleships knew who this was. But New Jersey identified her by name,

"Musashi!"

The dark haired foxgirl smirked, "Sorry for interrupting your duel, but the karubarī has arrived."

Both battleships were surprised until they heard the sound of jet noise as four EA-18G Growlers flew overhead while being escorted by F-35Cs and one F/A-18F Super Hornet.

That was until the comm went off as a pilot said, "New Jersey, this is Wizard, we're going to mark the target and send the data over for the Eagle Union to commence a saturation attack on Main Fleet Alpha."

Another pilot spoke, "Enchanter here, we'll mark Main Fleet Bravo for the Royal Navy to commence bombardment."

Musashi spoke as she landed next to New Jersey, "I would also lend my aid to you and your commander."

The Black Dragon smiled, "I appreciate the help, Musashi. Thanks."

Afterwards, both battleships stood side by side as the guns on their rigging pointed in Tirpitz's direction as the Iron Blood battleship stood surprised by this as the kansen of Musashi's fleet joined up with the main Azur Lane Defense Fleet as the Head-Up Displays of the battleship kansen showed that the EW Aircraft were painting the targets and were being protected by Salamander Squadron as well as Phoenix and Bob in their Super Hornet.

As the F-35s shot down siren aircraft, Phoenix was knocking out the siren vanguard ships and knocking out the AA guns on the capital ships. The pair were very effective due to the electronic support from the EW Aircraft.

While the escort was keeping the sirens busy, the Union and Osean Growlers began to paint the targets as they targeted the siren ships and beamed the target data back to the allied battleships as the familiar 'TGT' indicator appeared on the HUDs of the kansen.

New Jersey contacted the planes, "We received the target data, the heat is coming!"

As the order was given, all riggings of the battleship kansen raised their guns to the elevation needed for their shots to hit. Once they were in position, New Jersey threw her right hand forward and announced,

"SEND THE HEAT!!"

It was at that moment that multiple booming sounds occurred as the battleships fired upon the siren fleet. The many booming sounds of the cannons made some of the Coalition pilots look at what was going on and said,

"Whoa…"

"Look at that!"

"Yeah heh hah!"

Skald noticed this and said, "Now that's a bang!"

And a bang was right as various shells impacted the capital ships as various siren ships exploded due to battle damage. The destruction of the siren carriers also caused the drones to fall out of the sky and crash into the ocean. Even when the siren battleships tried to retaliate, the heat of shells from the kansen silenced any form of retaliatory action by the sirens.

Once the explosions ceased, what they saw were the flaming wrecks of the enemy capital ships. But there were still a number of vanguard ships still afloat as New Jersey stated,

"That's it for the capital ships, but we still have destroyers and cruisers."

Musashi told her Eagle Union counterpart, "Not for long. I used most of my firepower on the capital ships, but we have backup."

She activated her communications, "Spooky 1-1 and 1-2, use Anti-Ship missiles and 105 shells. Bring the rain."

New Jersey realized, "Gunships!?"

The dark fox smiled, "Admiral Williams had them on standby from Kaneohe Air Base."

The roaring sounds consisting of four Allison T56-A-15 turboprop engines was heard as a pair of AC-130U Spooky Gunships were in position as the commander of each plane reported,

"Be advised, Azur Lane is requesting LASM Missiles and 105 SABOT Rounds."

"Spooky 1-1 will do 105 strikes."

"Spooky 1-2 will commence missile strikes on remaining ships."

Soon enough, the two AC-130s went on the attack as Spooky 1-1 had its guns pointed at the remaining siren ships as the plane turned. The pilot of the Spooky said,

"Set Operator Spense, light 'em up!"

Upon hearing the order, the operator aboard the AC-130 opened up with the 105 shells as it rained down on the remains of the siren fleet. The second AC-130, Spooky 1-2 fired several anti-ship missiles at the siren ships as several missiles struck and destroyed the drone ships.

The many pilots and kansen witnessed the awesome power of battleships combined with the assistance from Eagle Union's Angel of Death as water jetted up from the impact sites of the missed shells and explosions from direct shell hits dealt a devastating blow to the raiding fleet.

Once the firepower subsided, the Azur Lane and Tirpitz fleet saw the remains of the siren fleet. It was nothing but wrecked ships that were on fire and taking water.

Tirpitz herself, knew that this was a suicide mission from the start as she turned and saw the guns and aircraft all pointed at her, no doubt the two gunships were holding fire. That's when she announced,

"Blücher, Weser, I am ordering us to surrender."

This caught the attention as the Iron Blood Light Carrier and Heavy Cruiser agreed to surrender. Tirpitz announced,

"This is Battleship Tirpitz of the Iron Blood, we will surrender, the battle is over."

This made Cyclops Squadron suspicious due to their experience with fake surrenders as Fencer suspiciously asked,

"This is Fencer, Leader of the 122nd Tactical Fighter Squadron. How do we know that you're not faking your surrender?"

The white haired battleship knew that her surrender would catch others by surprise, but she knew the reason why she decided to surrender as she stated,

"I no longer follow my sister's ambitions, it became clear that the one we should be following is the Ace of Azur Lane - The Three Strikes. It also occurred to me that you have a phrase for him."

She closed her eyes briefly before opening them as she said,

"Stick With Trigger And You'll Make It."

That surrender request was surprising and a very interesting reason for the request. It seemed like even the co-leader of the Iron Blood had second thoughts about the whole issue regarding the Red Axis. But before the Azur Lane kansen could accept Tirpitz's surrender, the last siren heavy cruiser began to point its guns at the Lone Queen of the North with every intent of making her pay for her betrayal. It wasn't until a blue beam of light struck the drone ship, destroying it as the mass produced ship split in two.

Tirpitz was confused until she heard the distinct sound of jet engines as six additional aircraft flew overhead. The lead aircraft was an advanced aircraft similar to the one used against the 5th Division. As the plane circled around, she spotted the familiar three scratches on the tailless end of the plane and she knew that it was him. The Iron Blood battleship was more surprised that the plane has a laser weapon, just like the Falken.

As Strider Squadron circled overhead, Tirpitz heard Trigger's voice on her comm,

"This is Commander Cross of the 124th Tactical Fighter Squadron, the siren fleet has been destroyed and since you intend to surrender with a genuine reason. In all accordance with international law, you will be treated with respect."

Tirpitz acknowledges this as she says, "I understand."

Weser heard this as she added, "With the way things have been going, I will vouch for our surrender."

Blücher spoke, "I will also surrender since our sisters have their support for you, Commander."

It was good to know that the battle ends with the Iron Blood kansen surrendering, but they actually have the co-leader of the Iron Blood in their hands which is a major win.

Trigger soon contacted the other squadrons, "Strider 1 to all squadrons, any additional enemy fighters?"

Fencer announced, "All enemy drones are down, some even crashed when the carriers were destroyed."

Slash announced, "But Crimson Squadron bugged out due to battle damage."

Trigger asked the AWACS, "Long Caster, Magic, anything else?"

There was a pause until Magic chimed in, "We picked up an additional fleet heading towards the base. Kansen are confirmed to be part of this fleet and IFF confirmed as Royal Navy Fleet Carrier Indomitable, Light Carriers Centaur and Albion as well as three PR Kansen identified as Light Cruiser Plymouth, Heavy Cruiser Cheshire and Battleship Monarch."

Long Caster remembered, "This must be the fleet that the Apaches were escorting."

Trigger stated, "But at least we were able to save the base and give them a place to dock."

As the allied ships appeared on the radar, Trigger heard the voice of Prez as she softly said,

"She has the same name as his TAC name…"

He asked, "Prez, did you say something?"

The merc stuttered, "N…no, no I didn't…"

The Ace soon decided to talk to her about it later as he announced,

"New Jersey, you and Enterprise secure Tirpitz and her fleet, guide them to the dock and bring them to the debriefing room."

Both Eagle Union legends stated, "Yes sir!"

He soon ordered Elizabeth, "Your Majesty, escort the arriving fleet to dock at the port."

The Queen pouted, but Warspite accepted the order as the two battleships guided the inbound fleet.

Trigger soon announced, "All planes, we did good today as for Phoenix and Bob…"

The female pilot and her WSO asked, "Yes?"

"You did good today both with your patrol and in the fight. But there's still much to learn and don't get too cocky."

Phoenix sighed, "Right, the last thing we need is a bird strike."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

He soon called out to his forces as he announced,

"Azur Lane, Victory Is Ours!"

After that, the satisfying 'ding' was heard as the 'Mission Accomplished' sign appeared on the system.

And that's a wrap!

The morning raid is over and not only has a fleet of siren mass produced ships been decimated, but Tirpitz has surrendered.

But it also looks like Maverick has arrived and helped out with keeping Crimson busy and buying time for Trigger to refuel.

Both Crimson and Varcolac were given a blackeye and there's no doubt that this won't be the last that Strider Squadron will face them.

Now that they have one of the Iron Blood Leaders in custody. How will this affect the Red Axis when they learn this?

How will Bismarck react?

How will Trigger react when Musashi tells him that she has Amagi's Cube?

What kind of training would Trigger and Maverick teach the Top Gun Grads?

Well, you'll have to tune in next time!

Nighthawk Out!