There are few things more amusing then the study of humans and their endless cycle of hypocrisy. They whine about their desires of peace with their words while gleefully slaughtering each other for wealth and power with their actions, and yet do not seem to grasp the utter contradiction of this as their history repeats time and again.

In the age of sail, the so-called great Civilizations of man cast off from the shores of their homes to claim what they saw as their destiny in an unknown world upon lands and peoples never before charted. Yet even in this time of abundance, blood mixed with water as humans used steel and gunpowder to enforce their claims on the very planet they drew life from. Even as the centuries passed, little changed save for the efficiency in which mankind waged their wars. The ships of wood and sail were replaced with steel and engine, with the weapons growing ever larger to satiate their thirst for "peace". Perhaps this cycle would have continued forever, if not for the arrival of the Sirens.

Invaders from another world poured into the oceans of man, using their advanced technology to wreak devastation on what had been the most advanced navies in history and driving humanity from the seas entirely. As crucial trade routes were cut off practically overnight, starvation and critical shortages of goods began to set in, millions would die while any hope of fighting back would seem dimmer with every passing day. Law and Order broke down as the once mighty nations of the world collapsed under the panic of their own societies, and the human race seemed to be in true danger of destruction as the Sirens waged their brutal war upon islands and the coasts of every continent.

With no end in sight, everything seemed to rest with a desperate plan to reverse engineer the technology of the Sirens by the remnants of the world's militaries, leading to the discovery that would forever change the face of warfare. They created what would become known as "Wisdom Cubes", devices that could be installed into warships to make them far more effective then had dared been dreamed before. Any vessel given a Genesis cube would no longer need any crew members to function, no pilots to man its planes, no Captains to direct a course of battle. All would be controlled by the ship itself, given human body and soul by the Genesis cube.

With this groundbreaking discovery, these new warships cast off into the oceans once more, carrying the hopes of man with them. Slowly, the humans of Earth began to push back against the Sirens, winning victories on the high seas that bought much needed relief and hope to people across the world. From the ashes of the Old World, the military remnants would build new governments to help establish a sense of order among the survivors of the war. The broken pieces of the world's Superpowers would form the four largest of the new nations; known as the Eagle Union, Sakura Empire, Royal Navy, and Iron Blood. These Countries all joined together in a global alliance to fight against the Invaders, a mighty force known as "Azur Lane" dedicated to destroying the Sirens that continued to plague the waters. This newfound unity would help pave the way towards humanity gaining the upper hand in the war, winning back control of most of the world's waterways through the relentless courage of the warships and their admirals. But even through the survival of this hellish ordeal, humans did not change.

The guns have not yet fallen silent in the war against the Sirens, but the smell of blood in the water is too much for some to resist. The unity born from desperation gradually faded away as the threat of extinction fell from the minds of man, as Sakura Empire and Iron Blood depart from Azur Lane in pursuit of more "personal" pursuits. To anyone who has seen the cycle as often as I have, there can be little doubt as to what will come next.

For as long as man seeks to dominate the azure lanes of earth, there shall never be peace.

CHAPTER 1: CALM SEAS

The lurch of inertia rocked the plane as landing gear was set into position in preparation for landing, the supplies tied down in its cargo hold shuddering as they tried to break free of their netting. Sitting beside all the equipment and crates, the plane's only passenger reluctantly began to stir. It had been his first time riding in one of these old Army Air Force transports, and he'd been warned that it wasn't made with passenger comfort in mind, especially since the seat he was currently sitting in had been welded into place as a non-standard modification in what was its cargo hold. That fact had not deterred him at slightest as he figured there was no way it could be worse than being on the rolling deck of a destroyer during a monsoon. He had been right, and yet so wrong at the same time. He hadn't gotten any sort of nausea like what would have been considered sea sickness, but it had been a long sixteen hours of nothing but being rocked hard while sitting in a chair that's soul goal in its existence seemed to be trying to rearrange the set of his spine. That wouldn't have been so bad if he'd managed to fall asleep, but the nonstop sounds of food cans, jerry cans, and everything else that shared the space with him was like a hammer in his mind, not at all like the gentle rumble of the engine aboard a ship that would lull experienced sailors to sleep once they had gotten used to it. Yet another reason the Navy had been the right service to join in Old World America.

Consigning himself to defeat, Paul Franklin pushed the naval cap from over his eyes to sit normally on his head, the plane giving a hard bounce as it touched down that slammed the metal back of the chair even harder into him. He gritted his teeth, soothing his rising irritation with the knowledge that soon he would be off this damned thing. It took a few more minutes for the aircraft to taxi into its parking position and come to a full stop, giving another slight jolt as it did so. Franklin stood up and stretched as best he could in the confined space, his muscles making audible popping noises from the exertion as he made his way to the access door. He didn't bother waiting for the pilots to finish their post flight checklist or for a step ladder to be set in place, wanting nothing more than to disembark as soon as possible. He slung his sea bag over one shoulder and opened the hatch, dropping the few feet to the ground without much trouble. It scuffled his black shoes slightly, but now that he was over a thousand miles away from high command, the finer details of dress and appearance didn't matter so much. It certainly didn't matter to the Naval Airmen who worked here, several only gave him a glance and a salute before going about their jobs. The one exception was the only other man nearby who was wearing the Officer service Khakis like Franklin

"Welcome to Hawaii, Admiral." The man greeted him. The rank on his collar identified him as an Eagle Union Ensign, and by his looks appeared to be about a decade younger than Franklin.

"It's good to be back." He said, shaking the Ensign's hand. "Sorry for dropping in on you like this, I promise it's not a surprise inspection for what that's worth."

"I won't lie sir; you did throw us for a bit of a panic when we heard you were flying in today." The Ensign admitted with a small smile as he led Franklin away from the Airfield. "Do you want me to relay to Pearl that you've arrived?"

"I don't think that'll be necessary." Franklin said, checking his watch. "Pretty sure they can survive without me until Monday."

It was already getting close to evening on a Saturday, which meant the day's activities on the base would be winding down if they hadn't already stopped. And success in driving the Sirens back from the major islands meant they could enjoy luxuries like having Sundays be rest days for the most part in secure areas like this. Even if there was some sort of training planned for tomorrow, they wouldn't need him for it.

"Ah, I see." The Ensign gave a knowing nod as they approached a parked car outside of a row of hangars. "Wanted a couple of days to yourself before the madness starts?"

"You know that kind of accusation towards a superior officer could get you in trouble someday. No matter how true it may be."

"Well, as I have no real evidence to back up my theory, I guess I'll just have to keep it to myself." The Ensign answered with mock seriousness, opening the car door for Franklin.

"Keep that kind of sensibility and you'll make Lieutenant in no time." Franklin said, sitting down and enjoying the comfortable seat that was made of fabric instead of scrap metal. The Ensign climbed into the front seat, starting to drive away as Franklin dug around in his pockets to bring out his cigar tin and a match. "You smoke Ensign?"

"Can't say I do sir."

"Well never start, or else you'll end up like me and spend way too much money on making sure you get the good stuff." He took a few puffs, then looked out the window. Even from here, Franklin could see the shimmer of the ocean in the distance. It all looked so peaceful, even beautiful, hiding the true terrors that could be found further away from shore. "Who all has arrived so far?"

"Just a handful of ships from the Royal Navy's Pacific Fleet, main group are still days away from arrival." The Ensign explained. "Don't know for sure, but I think a Royal Navy Battleship and Carrier arrived earlier today, those are probably the biggest ships we have in harbor right now. Most of our ships that are scheduled to attend are either already here or are close by."

Franklin nodded, more to himself as the Ensign couldn't see him. As much as he wished otherwise, he hadn't come back to Hawaii for a vacation, at least not so far as the navy was concerned. A "conference" had been called to meet at the recently rebuilt Pearl Harbor for the two major camps that still remained in the Azur Lane Alliance, Eagle Union and Royal Navy, with the stated goal of discussing security in the Pacific now that there had been several major victories against the Sirens. In reality though, the Sirens would become a secondary consideration as the focus would inevitably turn to the recent aggressive stances by both Iron Blood and Sakura Empire and what was going to be done about it. Part of it was a publicity stunt, having a massed fleet visible to the Sakura Empire would make it clear to their former allies that any violent moves would be met by a unified Azur Lane response. While Franklin didn't relish the thought of fighting old comrades, the fact that they were willing to turn their guns on other humans before they had even finished rebuilding from the Sirens sapped him of any hesitation to do so. Assuming War was what they really had in mind.

Discussions over what exactly Iron Blood and Sakura Empire were trying to accomplish with their sudden withdrawal from Azur Lane varied widely in speculation, as it was far from clear. While they had not all gotten along exactly well in the old world, common sense would dictate that the arrival of alien invaders would keep their focus away from other humans for at least a while. Some thought that they were just using the lull in violence to make a political stunt, drawing on nationalist support to prop up what were barely stable nations. Others argued that while they didn't want overt hostilities with Azur Lane, they were more than willing to use its moment of weakness to re-establish themselves as world powers and seize desired land and resources. Franklin wanted to agree with one of those arguments, but it was hard to tell whether or not they were built on hard logic or wishful thinking. Whatever the truth was, a show of force and unity here should at least give pause to any war hawks that there may have been in the Empire or Iron Blood.

It was only a few more minutes of driving before the Harbor itself came into view, the rows of ships glittering in the early evening sun, from the smaller destroyers to the mighty battleships. There weren't all that many, at least compared to the size of the lagoon that had once held the entire United States Pacific Fleet. Still, the ships that were there made for an impressive sight. He couldn't see much in the way of foot traffic, or even any car traffic as they were currently the only occupants of the road. The fact that there were so few people around to see would have struck some as unnerving, but it wasn't anything that Franklin wasn't used to by that point. After all, it wasn't like there would be a mass of crew members that would have manned those ships.

"This place is definitely looking a lot better than it was last time I saw it." Franklin observed.

"Were you here during the Siren attack?"

"No, just supporting the civilian evacuation on the north of Oahu. I saw the aftermath with my own eyes though."

"We've managed to either repair or replace most everything that was hit during the battle." The Ensign said. "That turned out to be the easy part, the hard part was cleaning up all the debris and trying to get the airfields usable. We still find pieces from the fuel and ammo dumps every now and then, sometimes even some unexploded ordinance that needs a full team to clear it out. The landing strips have been a bigger headache, the Naval Air Stations around the harbor were completely ruined and will need a lot more time to be made usable. At the moment all we have is that old Army Air Force airfield you came in on to use as base for planes."

"It's a start at least, maybe in a few years the civilians can come back." Franklin said, putting out his cigar and taking a sip from his canteen. The whisky burned as it traveled down his throat, enticing him to take a larger gulp. "Do me a favor Ensign, don't take me to the base housing."

"...Where to then sir?" The Ensign asked, confused.

"Well, I don't have to show up until Monday technically." The Admiral grinned. "Some time on the beach sounds pretty nice about now."

~oOo~

"I have better things to do tonight then spend it crawling on my hands and knees with you."

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you lost one of those three-inch shells." Johnson growled, sticking his hand in between two empty storage crates and feeling around for the ordinance. "Chief will have our heads if it's not found."

"I'm not the one who lost it!" Corser snapped back. "I'm telling you; everything was accounted for when I-"

"Have you two found it yet?" A voice demanded from behind them. Johnson glanced back, seeing a tall woman wearing a blue "uniform" standing in the doorway to the warehouse. Her arms were crossed, and green eyes fixed in a glare, like usual.

"No ma'am, not yet." Johnson answered, standing up and dusting off his pant legs. "We should probably do another inventory of your arsenal, just to make sure."

"Are you suggesting I made a mistake?" The woman said, a challenge in her tone.

"It's possible, we're all human." He answered evenly. "Well, you know what I mean."

The Warship Pennsylvania continued to stare at him, her hard glare capable of withering men of lesser spirit. Or those that weren't used to dealing with it by now. But Johnson was fortified by the annoyance of still being at the dockyard while most everyone else had already called it a day, and he managed to meet her gaze evenly.

"...Fine." She finally growled. "I'LL do another inventory, you two stay here."

"It'd be faster if you let one of us help." Corser offered.

"You're not coming aboard." Pennsylvania said, her tone broaching no argument as she turned to leave. "Keep looking here until I get back."

"...She's cheery as always." Corser grunted.

"Try not to antagonize her, it'll just make our lives much harder than needed."

"Then maybe tell her not to order us around like she's our commander."

"She might as well be, like it or not." Johnson said.

"I don't like it."

"I'll alert the newsies." He sighed, giving the room another sweep with his eyes. "It can't be here, maybe it was accidently transferred to the ammo dump on the other side of the harbor."

"But we haven't sent anything there since this morning." Corser shook his head. "The inventory we did this afternoon says it was here."

"Assuming THAT wasn't a mistake."

"If it was, what then? We can't go running around the harbor all day looking for one god damn shell."

"I'm willing to bet the Commander would disagree with you on that one."

"Why are we the ones who even supplied her weapons? Pennsylvania isn't even docked at Ford's Island." Corser pointed out.

"Because the Navy absolutely cannot do anything the simple way. It's against a regulation somewhere."

"Hello? Is anyone still here?"

Johnson frowned, following the sound of the new voice. For a moment, he thought that Pennsylvania had just come back way sooner than expected. It wasn't her, but a different warship walking into the warehouse. She was shorter than the Battleship with mid-length brown hair and a necklace of what looked like a car around her neck. She was probably a cruiser by Johnson's estimation.

"Still a couple of us kicking around." He confirmed. "Can we help you with something, ma'am?"

"I was just doing a check of my weapon stockpile, and I think there was a mistake made."

"Oh, please tell me you've got an extra three-inch shell." Corser said, his voice pleading.

"That's it exactly." She nodded. "But it's not the right type of three-inch shell for my guns, so it wouldn't have worked. Guess you've been looking for it?"

"Only for the past three hours." Johnson said. "Sorry about the mix-up, we'll get it squared away. What's your ship ID?"

"CL-8, Light Cruiser Detroit." She rattled off. "I'm docked just northeast of my sister Raleigh, if you know where she is."

"I do. I'll head over right now and retrieve it if that's alright with you." He offered. Detroit hesitated, and for a moment Johnson thought she would insist on not having any crewmen aboard like Pennsylvania always did. But she surprised him.

"That works." She agreed. "Just don't take too long, I'd like to go off duty myself soon."

"Wouldn't dream of it, ma'am." Johnson said, looking over to Corser. "Go ahead and lock up, then go tell Pennsylvania that I'm bringing her missing shell over."

"How gracious of you to leave me to deal with her alone." The other sailor said sarcastically. "Especially since she'll probably have started her inventory by the time I get there."

"I'm letting you go and drink to forget about it before I do." He said flatly. "And I'm not making you come in tomorrow to do another inventory, so count your blessings."

Corser continued to grumble behind him, but Johnson tuned him out as he and Detroit went out of the structure, the smell of sea salt filling his nostrils as soon as he stepped out. They weren't quite on the waterfront, and Johnson didn't fancy a long walk just to account for a single three-inch shell.

"Want a ride ma'am?" He offered Detroit, indicating to a nearby jeep with his thumb.

"I'll be fine, thanks." She declined, making her way towards the harbor. He watched her go for a moment, then mounted up onto the jeep and got it moving. It took a second for him to remember where he had seen Raleigh docked, on the opposite side of Ford's Island of the battleships. The Island was directly in the middle of the harbor, giving a nice view of all the different warships that were assembled, even the massive Royal Navy Battleship and Carrier. Shifting into gear he started along one of the makeshift roads that had once been part of the US Navy's Air Station. The sun was starting to set now, its light casting lovely flames dancing in the almost cloudless sky above. He'd seen it dozens of times by this point, but the Hawaiian sunset hadn't lost one bit of its luster in his eyes, all the sweeter when he thought about how hard they'd fought just to come back here.

There were a lot more people around then normal for this time, usually it would be just some Security and Emergency Fire crews that were on standby. But Johnson could see at least a couple dozen sailors milling about, all of them wearing the uniforms of the Royal Navy. They were probably still working on that massive Battleship he had seen arrive at dock earlier, not an easy task considering the size of the ship and how long the voyage here had been. Poor sods, they would probably be working late into the night. He didn't see any other warships walking around the Island, probably either cleaning up their decks or otherwise having called it a day. The exception to that was Detroit. Glancing off to the side, Johnson could see her gliding in the water in the same direction as him, making better time even though he was taking the more direct path. Seeing what looked like a human traveling on the water like that was always strange to him, especially when he thought about how many times he had seen these "Ship Girls" swim in the water just like a normal person. The more he thought about it, the less he understood how they worked, with the fact they could operate an entire warship by themselves almost landing last in the line of his questions. He was happy his job didn't require him to know those kinds of things as a dumb mechanic.

Detroit made that job a little easier by jumping up onto the decks of one of the cruisers lined up along the docks like a rabbit on a trampoline, saving him the trouble of having to find it by going down the side and reading the names. He still wasn't particularly good at spotting the subtle differences between ships in the same class and had to rely on overt clues or exact positioning to not accidentally get on the wrong boat. He pulled up alongside Detroit's hull and parked the Jeep, climbing out and getting ready to climb the gang plank onto the ship. He hesitated a moment, not sure if it were alright to climb aboard without her express permission, knowing that some of the girls really hated it when crew would climb up without their say so. On the other hand, she hadn't told him NOT to board, and had asked for him to come and retrieve the extra ammo. Deciding he would just take the chance, he went up to the main deck and took an educated guess which direction the magazine would be based on the turret position and began searching for a door that led down below, which was a tough task because there were a lot more passageways on a Cruiser then most people would have guessed. Johnson was just about to start regretting his choice to not wait for Detroit to come to him, when she seemed to do just that. One of the hatches down the line swing open, and the Warship stepped out holding a small shell in her hands.

"Get a little lost, did we?" She asked, amused.

"That easy to tell huh?" Johnson said, trying to hide his own embarrassment as he accepted the ammo. It was heavier than it looked, but Detroit had made it look like nothing at all.

"Well yes, but I could also feel you wandering around and opening doors at random."

"You could...feel me doing that?" He blinked.

"Obviously. You're kind of walking around on top of me." Detroit answered with a hand wave taking in the entire ship. "It'd be pretty hard not to notice."

Johnson took another look around, trying to wrap his head around what she was implying. He had been told that the warship hulls and the "Ship Girls" were one in the same for the most part, but how could a flesh and blood person "feel" when he was walking around on a steel deck? What would that even feel like?

"I'm... sorry?" He offered, not sure what else to say.

"You haven't worked with us much before, have you?" Detroit guessed. "Us warships I mean."

"No Ma'am. I was stationed at a supply depot on the mainland before I was shipped out here." Johnson said. "Even now I only work with Warships every now and then, and rarely come aboard unless there's an issue. Still trying to get used to how things work with all this…stuff."

"Don't worry about it, it happens to everyone." She said reassuringly. "And you're already off to a better start then the first human I ever worked with, he and I could barely work together with all the confusion."

"I can imagine." Johnson laughed a little, relieved that she seemed to be understanding. "Does it...hurt to have people like me on board? Most of the other warships don't seem to like it when we do, and Pennsylvania seems to forbid us outright unless she's ordered otherwise."

"It doesn't exactly hurt, at least not in the way you're thinking." Detroit frowned, searching for the right words. "The best I can describe it would basically be it's like having something foreign suddenly enter your body and travel all around. If it's just one or two people, it doesn't really matter since it can be ignored without too much trouble. But larger groups become impossible to pretend like they aren't there, so we instinctively try to avoid that whenever possible. Some of the girls like Pennsylvania try to keep humans away at all times, worried that if they open the door to a few of you, it will make more people think it's okay until you're swarming over them."

"I guess I can't blame her when you put it like that." He conceded. "I guess it's a good thing you girls don't need a crew to operate your ships then, otherwise it wouldn't work at all."

"If we needed crews to operate, there wouldn't be much point to us." She pointed out, a fact so obvious that Johnson winced at his own lapse in logic.

"Yeah...right…. that is the whole point isn't it." He said. That seemed to bring a genuine laugh out of Detroit.

"You'll get the hang of it, I promise." She said. "But at the moment you should probably get that shell to Pennsylvania. She's not known to be the most…patient of girls."

Johnson felt his stomach drop, having completely forgotten his reason for coming here in the first place.

"Oh crap, I still need to get off the island to deliver it!" He scrambled for the gangway and made his way off the cruiser. "Thanks ma'am! Sorry to take up your time!"

"Have a good evening Petty Officer!" She answered back as he sped away on the jeep.

As he once again drove across Ford's Island, his mind was divided by two dominating thoughts. The first was about the Warships, what else they could feel or think that he wasn't aware of.

The second was a prayer that Pennsylvania wouldn't notice how he was running late.

~oOo~

The sun had completed its dip below the horizon, leaving only the full moon to light the gentle waves of the Pacific under its grey glow. It made navigation much easier, but it also made the ships more visible then would the dark shadows of an inky night. Considering they could not change the light of the moon any more than the desires of the heavens themselves, they would just need to adapt. A skill the Sakura Empire had been forced to master since the first Western Ships had forced their way into harbors almost a century ago. Soon, it would be time they repaid that favor in full.

As the task force sailed under the beautiful night sky, Admiral Nishi Toshiko kept his eyes on the horizon for any sign of movement. It was probably a waste of time, their scout planes would have spotted any surprise attack long before they would have come this far, but it was always better to be too cautious then too reckless. He let his eyes linger a bit longer before turning back around and stepping to the center of the bridge. Most of the equipment and chairs that would have been used by crews in the old world had long since been removed, leaving space for a large table to be bolted down to the deck. Atop it sat a map of the Hawaiian Islands, red and blue colored game pieces placed all around in specific points to represent allied and enemy forces respectively. The largest gathering of red pieces was moving almost imperceptibly toward the blue pieces, invisibly controlled by the only other figure on the bridge with Toshiko. She sat cross legged on the floor, her eyes closed but her mouth still curled up in a chilly smile.

Although Admiral Toshiko had served with Akagi as his flagship for years by this point, she still was very much an enigma to him. Part of the reason was, he had to admit to himself, superstition. Both she and her younger sister Kaga's flesh and blood forms were those of a Kitsune that had taken on human bodies, with foxlike ears atop their heads and nine bushy tails at their backs. Whenever he looked at them, he couldn't help but remember the stories his grandfather had scared him to death with as a child. Yokai that reveled in everything from humiliation of Samurai that were too proud, to the abuse of devoid monks for their holy lifestyles. Akagi may not have been a creature from the supernatural, but she seemed to take delight in the image she invoked and cement it in the minds of all those around her.

The smile on her face widened, as her red eyes slowly opened and flickered over to where Toshiko was standing.

"I caught you staring at me again Admiral." Akagi said, her sultry voice like the finest of velvet as it reached his ears. "I love the attention, but now is hardly the time for such thoughts."

"Are you having any troubles with the Black Box?" He asked, knowing if he took the bait it would only enable her to continue needling him.

"It is behaving as promised. The Siren vessels are responding to all commands I direct to them."

"Good. Has Admiral Kichirou made contact yet?"

"Not yet." Akagi stood up and stretched. "But Zuikaku has informed me they're ahead of schedule. They'll be in position by the morning."

"Check in two hours beforehand to make sure." Toshiko ordered. "We can't afford any mistakes in this."

"Of course, my dear Admiral." She said, giving a small bow of her head.

Toshiko turned his attention back to the map, feeling Akagi's eyes on him the whole time. It was a game she liked to play, seeing if she could get a reaction out of him without even using any words. The suspicious part of his mind thought that it was a test, that she was always testing him to see if he was worthy to lead her in battle. It was probably nothing but a character quirk of hers, Akagi seemed to be almost attached to his hip ever since she was assigned to him, but there was always something in her mannerisms that unsettled him. Like a wolf that was only pretending to be tamed until it came time to break free of its leash. He pushed those thoughts from his mind, the last thing he needed right now was for one of his own warships to become a distraction. This was a daring action they were undertaking, in more ways than one. Some would probably call it foolhardy, but they had to act on the window while it was still there, lest it be closed to them forever. So far, everything had been going perfectly according to plan, without any delays either from poor weather or enemy scouts. It put them in a supremely advantageous position, like a game of Shogi where he got to decide the starting point of all the pieces. But all that preparation would be for nothing if the execution were not pulled off.

The silence in the room dominated for nearly twenty minutes, with Akagi not saying anything to disrupt her Admiral's concentration. Soon, they were joined by a third who stood silently off to the side of the bridge and waited to be acknowledged by Toshiko. He let her stay there for a couple minutes before turning himself to face her. Unlike Akagi, she knew her place in the Fleet and was always respectful in the utmost when speaking to him. He wanted to remind her of that place to not encourage deviation, giving a lesson to her sister at the same time.

"You have something to report Kaga?" Toshiko asked when he deemed it appropriate.

"Yes Admiral." She said, taking a step forward. In most ways, Kaga was physically identical to her sister Akagi including in height. The only major difference was in the colors of their features and clothing, Kaga's being blue and white while Akagi's were red and black. "A report just came in from our spies, two more Royal Navy and one more Eagle Union Destroyer have arrived at the port."

"And the Carriers?"

"No sign of any save for Illustrious."

"Perfect." Toshiko gave an approving nod. "I doubt any more ships will be arriving tonight either… Akagi, get the details from Kaga and put it up on the map. Then both of you get some rest, tomorrow will be a long day."

They both bowed respectfully and turned away, chatting as they went down from the command deck. Toshiko allowed himself one last look at the sky before deciding he should likely sleep himself, though it would likely be fleeting.

The following day would determine whether the Sakura Empire survived and prospered or withered and died like a flower in a storm.

(A/N: This is a partial re-upload, as the previous version was badly in need of an edit and changes to several story moments. Apologies for any confusion)