: The Fight For Humanity

The wait is over you weebs, get your popcorn, and get your drinks for one final ride as we delve into the true season finale. {part 1.}

This chapter is long I won't be splitting it since this is already part 1, part 2 will be shorter.

Do note that there are some major character deaths cause space is hard and I'm the author I am not pulling any punches in this fight cause the stuff that goes down is worth the sacrifice. [Tease of part 2]

Also, I'd like to say thank you to you the reader for sticking around so far into the story.

Now enough of me, let the story start.

Location: Earth in Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

Currently, the Admiral was aboard one of the military stations put in Leo and now he was being debriefed on a situation that occurred some hours ago in the Azur Lane system.

"At 5 pm standard time, there was a gravitational anomaly above the third planet in the Azur Lane system. Out of the anomaly came out a fleet of 4 ships with 1 being identified as the Argo, soon after a critical event happened to the Argo, causing it to lose power and make an emergency landing on the waters near the city which ended with it impacting the beach before coming to a halt. After that people from the Coast Guard and Azur Lane base were on the scene and the following pictures were taken"

A tablet slid across the table before a hologram displayed the multiple pictures taken.

"From it, Admiral, we can see the Argo which seemed to have taken a beating from a battle and in the next is Captain Haruka who has been hospitalised and is said to be out for a few days but that's not what interests me, what do are of these 3 ships"

The slideshow of pictures stopped as only 6 pictures remained.

"The identical ones are cruisers who are the light cruisers Kitakami and Oicchi in that order, their looks and ships from what they were before and now are completely different but the most interesting is the other battleship of the fleet. She identifies as Ginga, sister to Haruka but the only problem is she has Sakuran traits with the most being the nine tails behind her. Shinano is the only known kansen to have 9 tails, which might mean that Haruka has something she's hiding under her sleeve but that's not my job to question others. Have a good day Admiral"

The messenger gives a salute before turning and walking out through the door he came through a few minutes ago.

The admiral being talked to is the same one we've been following all these chapters, and as he received the debrief on Haruka's situation (if that was even her real name), he couldn't help but feel like he had more pressing matters to attend to. His eyes lingered on the pictures of the three new ships and their unique features, but he quickly got up from his comfy seat and made his way to the meeting/war room. As he walked in, he was greeted by a group of kansens from each faction tasked with defending the Earth.

He could feel all the serious stares in the room as he made his way to his seat. Once he sat down, he briefly looked at each kansen present before clearing his throat and speaking up.

"Sorry for the delay I was being debriefed on an important situation, now may I ask how the preparation for the war is going?"

The question asked was general and the elected fleet flagship of the whole defence force for the kansens, Enterprise, spoke up.

"For us kansens, we finished most preparations now we're only waiting for the sirens to appear. But there's been a complaint raised by a lot of kansens"

The admiral nodded his head gesturing for her to continue.

"Why do we have to work together with the human combat ships, in the views of most kansens, human combat ships are weak and don't pack enough punch to hold themselves against the sirens thus if a war were to break out, they might act more of a hindrance to us kansens."

The admiral nodded his head again before giving back his feedback with a small smile playing on his mouth.

"That is a good question but one which has already been solved, luckily for me the higher-ups already made the contents of the program declassified so I don't have to lie to you all. We humans had started a program to make a new reactor, the Pulsar reactor and it was a big leap from our current Neutron reactors. In all don't judge those current ships by what our past has shown, they are leagues above their older selves and will not act as a hindrance in any way."

The admiral said with confidence and looked at most kansens before asking if they had a question and to his surprise, they had none.

"Okay with that done all of you are free to go back to your fleets, make sure your fleets are in top shape for rapid deployment and if any of you have a request just come to me personally"

With that done they were all dismissed and they all left the room one by one with Enterprise being the last one followed by the Admiral who just can't help but feel a bad feeling.

Location: Azur Lane base 12

A crowd gathered at the piers as they struggled to catch a glimpse of a battleship they hadn't seen in a while.

Soon from the 2nd entrance, they saw what looked like 2 cruisers emerge first and this made a lot of people wonder whose ship it was for since it was the first time such a model was seen in public but they all felt a sense of death from the guns they boasted.

The cruisers sailed ahead at a slow speed and barely trailing behind them was a wounded battleship that was slightly tilting to the right.

A shock went through the crowd as they looked over the extensive damage it had acquired with there still being some faint plumes of smoke rising from the damaged hull.

The Yamato even with its core dead, its auxiliary engines can still run without the core and this was enough to make the ship sailing.

After the wounded Argo, *Yamato* sailed past another shock passed through the crowd as a similar ship in size emerged last with some patrol vessels marking the end of the short escort.

Some chatting between people ensued as they wondered where these new ships came from and who was commanding them but one of the things, they decided was that the extra ships were somehow connected to the Argo due to the paint scheme and UNCF anchors on their hull.

Ginga's superstructure was also an eye-catcher as she had a carrier deck extending from her bridge structure and the unique glass dome that lay in front of the bridge, it was thought that she was some type of support type.

The Yamato broke formation and headed to the docks to be repaired while the rest went to anchor in the bays.

Kitakami's Bridge.

"Singularity, reduce speed to 4 knots make sure you don't scrape the hull this time" Kitakami's blue eyes traced the view of the familiar port as her ship sailed closer.

Her main engine powered down as her auxiliaries powered on at a low setting. Similarly, her sister was going to in the dock next to her and Ginga the next which just so happened to be right next to a certain supercarrier.

Time passed and soon her engines fully powered down as her left anchor was dropped, anchoring her in place.

Kitakami sighed before taking her captain cap and putting it on, she made sure that all the sectors in her ship were reading normal before departing leaving her ship in the able quantum hands of her AI.

As she walked through the hallway that led to the outside, she passed groups of manjuus, each little chick going to do the task so that her ship could be in perfect condition for a rapid sortie.

A small smile graced her lips as she opened the door leading outside, the wind slightly flinging her black hair which was slightly past her shoulders.

Outside even more manjuus were at work securing mooring lines to inspecting turrets and VLS cells for any damage. Every time she sees the manjuus at work she feels happy knowing that she can leave her ship in the able hands wait wings of her manjuus.

A ramp was already put making it easier instead of using the ladders and soon she found herself setting foot on the base but this time she wasn't the same old cruiser she was a monster in her enemy's eyes for her strength could rival that of a battleship but with the agility of a destroyer.

You could say she has the best of both classes and that's the same with her sister Oicchi. The 2 of them could take on a whole armada of sirens and make it out with minimal damage if there were no humanoid sirens.

The port crew as well as base personnel gave her a curious look as they never heard of the Sakura Empire making any new kansens or more importantly, they had never gotten word that they were making a visit.

Kitakami soon found Oicchi but there were still people giving her a curious look, soon the attention was diverted to the more important fox of the group who just arrived.

Ginga had changed from her previous outfit to that her captain wore when she was captain of her ship. It had a grey coat with an open chest, black trousers with white accents that had stretchy material and grey boots, to top it all off she had a grey captain cap that had a *silver* anchor at the front with some silver trimmings giving it a subtle yet elegant touch.

The colour scheme blended well with her golden eyes her hair though short had a dark grey colour like her hull as it twisted at its ends and her mound of tails behind her also had the same colour as her hair but looked like metal due to the tails having segments to them.

The reason she took their attention was that she had 9 nine tails as stated earlier only Shinano has that kind of number which would mean that she's either a Yamato class or a very strong battleship the Sakura Empire decided to reveal.

Most people thought she was Sakura Empire's secret weapon but the answer was far from that.

"Kitakami, Oicchi, I'll go see my sister's condition right away if there's a situation you 2 can handle, right?"

"Yes, we can" Kitakami answered as Ginga nodded her head before quickly moving to the hospital wing of the base, her strides giving her a sense of power and dignity which is to be expected from a Yamato class.

"So, what are we supposed to do now?" Oicchi asked as her brown eyes stared at Kitakami's.

Kitakami thought for a bit but before she could answer a soft voice questioned the 2 of them.

"Pardon the intrusion," the 2 kansens turn only to meet certain blue-coloured eyes, "I haven't seen kansens like you in the Sakura empire before, were you 2 newly built?"

The person in front of them made them nervous as they surely didn't want to lie to Yamato's sister who was Shinano.

"Well," Kitakami took the role of answering since she was the elder one, "we aren't new, we just came from undergoing refits"

Shinano made a hmm as she looked at them again, " Then have I met you 2 before because your faces and voice seem familiar but I just can't quite remember."

At this point, the 2 cruisers were stuck as the empress's sister was questioning them, her loyal kansens, lying was out of the question.

"We did meet before, in the Alessa system, it's me Kitakami and she's my sister Oicchi," she said with a nervous voice.

Shinano took some time to process this as the shock was genuine.

"Didn't you two have 2 tails? How do you have 6?!"

Since they already told her they might as well tell her everything, this time Oicchi spoke up.

"We were retrofitted by Yamato after we decided to join her fleet. We were also shocked by this jump in strength but we've gotten used to it now."

Shinano's expression slowly turned sour as she put together what happened from the little her sister revealed to her.

Her anger started to show and put the cruisers on edge and before they realised it Shinano was already tugging them towards the hospital wing where a Battleship was beginning to wake up.

POV: Yamato

Everything felt numb to her, her vision was nothing but pitch black and her mind slightly felt at ease because she wasn't under stress for her friends or humanity as a whole. She was alone and the black silence felt peaceful until her vision was illuminated by a bright blue light.

The blue light increased in intensity until she felt a jolt of needles race down her hands. Her once numb body slowly regained its sense of feeling until her mind fully awoke.

The sight that greeted her wasn't that of a hospital wing but that of a girl who looked around her age had bright blue eyes, long cyan (a light shade of blue) hair put in a ponytail and she was wearing a form-fitting naval uniform with a skirt but what caught her eyes was the insignia on her shirt pocket.

It was a golden anchor with the United Nations symbol behind it which symbolized that she was part of the UNCF fleet but that wasn't even the most shocking, what was, was her hull number.

"You really are a heavy sleeper Yamato" The girl had a big smile on her face, Yamato meanwhile could feel her eyes sting as she read and reread the hull number.

"It can't be you, you died at the battle of Mars, I saw it happen!" Yamato said as she sat up tears streaking down her eyes.

"Yeah, I did die but" The kansen quickly closed the gap between her and Yamato to hug her, "I'm sorry for burdening you with protecting humanity. I'm sorry for leaving you alone when you most needed it, Yamato."

Yamato, as she listened, slowly hugged her back as more tears streaked from her eyes mainly due to her understanding the pain the 2 of them had gone through.

"You don't have to be sorry, you pushed yourself harder than anyone else to save me. I never got the chance but I'm thankful to you, if it wasn't for you destroying the core and towing me, I would have never escaped that planet. Though, I'm also sorry cause of the trauma you had to endure in that war"

The kansens grip suddenly grew tighter before she suddenly let go of the hug.

"Thanks, but the past is the past we both lost a lot in that war but in the end, humanity won" She stood up allowing the light to illuminate her entire figure.

"But you can't deny you lead the charge in most fights making you have the most influence in humanity's victory" Yamato said as she eyed the hull number again.

AAA - 001

Andromeda gave a short laugh as she thought of the past battles she fought.

"Yes, I did lead most charges but almost all failed because we couldn't crack the Ark's shield no matter how many Wave motion guns we spammed. But you shouldn't be here Yamato"

A look of regret filled Andromeda's face as she looked away from Yamato's gaze and into the empty void of space.

"Humanity still needs you Yamato, your sisters and Empire need you. The fight for Earth will be hard but I know you can defend Earth again even if it's not ours."

Yamato understood what she was talking about, the problems of the real world still haunted her even if she was in a dream. Her head ached slightly as Andromeda gently placed her hand on Yamato's head.

"I know you're tired of all of this war and death but you are the ship of Harmony" Andromeda smiled softly as she stared into Yamato's eyes, "you're destined to bring peace and harmony to those around so please bring peace to Earth Yamato"

Everything around Yamato felt like they were growing distant until her vision shifted to that of the ceiling of a hospital room.

The strong antiseptic and beeping of a heart monitor filled her senses as she struggled to sit up earning a groan from her that awoke Ginga who was sleeping on a chair next to her.

"Sister!" Ginga reacted instantly as she gently pushed Yamato back onto the bed while she resisted, "You still haven't healed properly, you need rest after all the problems we went through."

Yamato knew where her sister's worry came from but there were bigger problems out there and she needed to be in her ship but before Yamato could do anything a commotion at the door caught the 2 foxes' attention before the door opened revealing a confusing sight.

Shinano walked into the room and her eyes were glowing with a fierce blue colour. While she walked in, she dragged with her the 2 cruisers, Kitakami and Oicchi who both tried fighting back but a stare from Shinano stopped them from resisting.

Yamato's sweat dropped as she met the fierce gaze of Shinano which finally softened until she saw the extra kansen in the room was Ginga.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Shinano's blue eyes clashed with Ginga's golden eyes before a look of realization hit Shinano, "Wait Kii!? Wasn't your cube stolen? How are you able to have been summoned unless..."

Yamato instantly felt like escaping through a window or passing out again as the aura around Shinano turned cold again.

"Dear sister, was it you who stole Kii?"

The sweet accent made Yamato feel an even greater sense of foreboding but she was stuck in that room with no way out so rather tell the truth and be done with it than tell her another lie.

"I can neither accept nor deny such an operation *Stare becomes even colder*

No....Yes... It was me who stole Kii but that isn't really Kii anymore"

"Then who is she then?"

Ginga for her part felt ticked off due to how she was being talked about and thus decided to answer Shinano directly.

"I am Ginga, the third ship of the Yamato class battleships BBY - 03 and as a matter of fact, I am also Yamato's sister" Ginga said with a slightly annoyed tone as she looked at Shinano.

"Wait -03? Since when were you produced before me, my hull number was CVN - 03 and Kii's was BBG - 04" Shinano asked confused about the similar numbers even though they are of different classes.

"Can we argue about hull numbers later, sisters, there's something big at play here," Yamato said as her eyes found Shinano's gaze.

"Shinano, has there been any major news lately, regarding Earth?"

A look of sadness flashed through Shinano's face before she slowly nodded her head.

"Earth is under threat from a massive siren invasion that could destroy it and wipe out all of humanity on its surface.

A pang of silence filled the room as this bombshell news dropped. Yamato's worst fears seemed to be true.

Yamato remembered what Andromeda told her and yes, she did despise war but there was no other choice.

Shinano looked at how her sister reacted to this piece of information. She figured out what her sister could be thinking since there was a similarity to the Yamato she knew, and she didn't like it.

"Sister, if you want to head into battle again, I won't allow it, you're still hurt and you need to heal properly," Shinano said in a stern voice. She lost most of her sisters already and she didn't want to lose her current sisters again, that would be too sad.

Yamato felt conflicted for a moment as she understood where her sister's concern was coming from but she had to think of the broader.

"Sister ... Shinano, I know you care a lot about me but I can't agree with your order. Earth is under threat and if I can help in any way possible I will, even if it means going critical, I'll do it." Yamato looked at Shinano with a serious look, her resolve unyielding.

Shinano sighed as her tails and ears droop, even if this wasn't the same sister her resolve for humanity was but the same. She had a small sliver of hope that maybe she could prevent her from going into a situation that could kill her but it was all for naught.

She closed her eyes in thought before opening them as her blue eyes met Yamato's serious gaze.

"If I can't stop you from going then allow me to join your fleet, even if you reject, I don't care. I don't want to be kept out of the fight any more," she said voicing some of the problems she has gone through from high command.

Yamato didn't want to bring her sister into a warzone but on the other hand, if she were to participate in the battle it would give her ample room to cover for other ships. Before she could say anything Ginga spoke up.

"We would gladly accept your offer," Her soft golden eyes met Shinano's gaze as a small smile played on her lips, "we're sisters plus I'd want to know more about you too."

Shinano was slightly caught off guard by this answer as she was fully expecting her elder sister to deny her offer. Her ears perked up as she felt a well of happiness fill her because she would finally be with her sisters in one fleet.

"Don't forget about us" Oicchi said after they had been put to the sidelines in the conversation.

"We're also part of the fleet and we shall gladly be the swords for her Empress and sisters to smite any foe you come across," Kitakami said as her patriotism was on full display as she crossed her arms over her chest.

A chuckle escaped Yamato's lips as her sisters also smiled at this show.

Yamato slowly stood, her feet touching the cold tiled floor of the hospital and gently put her hands on both cruisers' heads.

She patted them before saying, "As if I need protection but that's good to hear. I am glad to have picked the 2 of you." Yamato leans forward before whispering, "If you can Protect my sisters."

Both cruisers understood the assignment and nodded their heads. Yamato smiled before facing all of them.

"As of today, we shall begin preparations for a sortie to Earth as soon as repairs are done on my ship. Furthermore, we shall hold a meeting on Ginga to talk about this in depth later. If any of you want to remain here it's acceptable, I will not force you to head into battle with me. So does anyone want to stay back?"

A few moments of silence later all the other foxes shook their heads, they knew what they were getting into and the dangers but were ready for the coming battle.

"Okay, this is a point of no return. All ships should undergo final checks and rearmament, so make sure to carry extra, we don't know how many ships the enemy will throw at us but make sure you all have an ample number of stockpiled ammunition. As of this moment, you're all free to leave."

The rest of the fleet nodded their heads and headed out one by one until it was just Yamato in the room alone.

Yamato plopped herself back on the hospital bed as she felt her body tremble slightly, the aftereffects of her straining herself to her limits were still taking a toll on her body. She closed her eyes thinking about the many choices that lay ahead of her.

"You still tired?" A voice from out of nowhere startled as she bolted straight up, ready to deliver a devastating blow to any intruder only for her eyes to meet the golden eyes of a blonde girl who had an ethereal glow to her.

"Oh, it's you," Yamato said in a flat tone before lying back on the bed.

"And here I wanted to give you some of my power to heal since the cooldown has passed, but I guess I'll just leave," Allena said with a slightly annoyed tone before turning aiming to walk out.

Yamato quickly turned her tone and grabbed the angel's hand before she could leave.

"Please don't go, I'm sorry okay," Yamato said pleading because she wanted to get back in action as soon as possible.

"Hmm, how about this I give you a 2-hour punishment to think and reflect on your choices, the meeting is in 3 hours so there won't be any problem. Just for the record, I won't be doing any bargaining so either you take it or leave it." Allena was mean.

Yamato whined before dejectedly taking the offer, her tails drooped as she was defeated by an angel.

Location: Ginga

Down one of the many hallways that crisscross the massive battleship, the sound of footsteps as Ginga could be seen walking through it towards the cafeteria.

Her eyes looked around the hallway as she remembered the various conversations and acts her crew did, she could almost hear them as they walked about tending to duties or having a small chat.

Before she knew it, she was in the cafeteria which was a bit more spacious than Yamato's as she once had the role of a colony ship, being humanity's last-ditch effort to make sure they survived even if Earth and Mars were wiped.

A sad smile laced her face as she recalled the past, a past she missed so much. Thinking about it made her think of Yamato as she made her way to the kitchen.

Her sister had changed even if she tried to hide it, she remembered the scary other side of Yamato a side that held so much malice and hatred in her eyes. She never got the chance to ask her about it but she felt the need to ask her.

Her sister was going through something but she didn't know what it was. Ginga stopped at the door as her eyes dropped to her feet, a sad feeling, welling up within her.

She didn't even realise how much burden Yamato had gone through from literally having the burden of saving humanity from destruction time and time again, she couldn't possibly understand how Yamato lived under all that burden and she probably never will, but!

A new glow filled her eyes as she stared forward.

Ginga vowed there and then to help her sister where she could and try to lessen the burden that was always on her shoulders.

She opened the door only to be met with the smell of cooking. This confused her until a yellow creature walked towards her with a chef's apron and hat.

Piiiii?

The yellow chick chirped at her as it stared at her intensely.

Ginga couldn't help but be dumbfounded at the sight of an animal that looked like a chicken on her ship which didn't even have animals in the first place.

Her tails flicked in anxiety as she slowly crouched down to face the creature that let out a chirp from time to time.

 She carefully poked the animal and felt something she never felt before, its feathers were soft, softer than anything she ever felt in the earth's defence force.

Before she knew what she was already doing she had already hugged the yellow bird which just so happened to be the chief chef for the manjuus aboard the Ginga.

Ginga herself doesn't know about them yet due to not having time to walk around her ship thus that day was the first contact. A happy Ginga took the manjuu with her as she looked around the kitchen, her nine black tails swishing with happiness.

The poor manjuu could only accept its fate as other manjuus prayed for its safety. Ginga quickly found what she was looking for, and let go of the manjuu which ran for its dear life to its fellow manjuus.

Ginga took out some kitchen utensils before removing some ingredients and food from the freezer because she was going to make food for her other fleet members and she would make no stop in making the dish perfect.

Her skills from her previous chefs were going to be handy.

Location: Shinano.

On the deck of the supercarrier, it was noisy as manjuus driving tow trucks were zipping around quickly as they moved different fighters around with some heading below deck for maintenance and others being arranged on the deck of the supercarrier which wasn't even full.

We could see a kansen sitting on the edge of the supercarrier, her legs dangling off the edge. She had a hot drink in hand straight from her kitchen which soothed her nerves as she looked at the 3 vessels parked next to her ship.

One was a battleship which she thought was Kii but turned out to be Ginga. She felt slightly devastated since it wasn't the same sister she knew but her sister nonetheless. She still felt lonely even if 2 of her sisters were back, they just weren't the same.

A frown dotted her face as her eyes traced the unique structure of Ginga. Then her eyes moved to the 2 new cruisers of the fleet which just happened to be Kitakami and Oicchi.

If Ayanami were to see them, she would think they were imposters. The 2 cruisers in a span of a few months had gotten stranger beyond comprehension as they proudly had 6 tails and a more developed body.

She wondered what would happen if she accepted to be retrofitted by her sister, would she gain unimaginable power or would something else happen?

Her eyes soon stopped on the holes at the bow of each ship though Ginga's looked to have a plug on it.

She always wondered what they were used for but she had no clue other than her dreams and the only helpful thing she could remember were blue lancers tearing through space and destroying anything on its receiving end with an unimaginable power.

She didn't want to think that these holes were capable of that kind of mass destruction but with all the unknown floating around these ships and the strange energy they produce, she couldn't be too sure anymore.

Before she could continue with her thoughts a chirp brought her back to reality as she looked behind only to see the tactics officer, manjuu, handing a data pad that had its report and others from various sectors.

Even if it was a bird, it was as intelligent as a human and had superhuman strength and stamina, the ultimate crew a kansen could ever need.

Shinano got up from her position and walked to conduct some inspections for the upcoming battle.

Meanwhile, on the cruisers, the 2 kansens could be seen in their captains' room sleeping soundly.

Yes, sleeping.

It seemed like their bodies still weren't used to their new strengths and their multiple fights before drained them leaving them running dry until they just collapsed on their beds.

They deserved it, for their kill record is starting to become quite fearsome making Yamato sometimes question if she made better cruisers or demons.

Time continued to move on until the resting form of Yamato was rudely awakened by none other than Allena who after doing some shopping came back only to find Yamato sleeping.

A tick mark appeared on her face before she practically yelled at the sleeping fox.

"Wake up you Space HOTEL!!" 

The result was instant, Yamato quickly stood sword in hand already blazing with a blue fire of cosmic energy.

"For the last time Andromeda, I'm not a HOTEL!!" Yamato yelled out of instinct only to realise it was just Allena.

After the misunderstanding was clarified the moment had finally come.

[Notice: Skill, Angels Touch has been activated. All critical systems have been repaired. Half of the damage sustained has been healed for 3 tons of materials.]

The amount was less than the last time due to her ship being mostly intact with only her engine and some parts of the hull needing repairs.

A wave of relief washed all over her body making Yamato sigh in relief as she felt normal again.

After confirming that everything was okay with the doctor, she was clear to leave which astonished the doctor at her healing speed because originally, she was bound to stay for a day or two due to her injuries, luckily, she had a cheat angel to bail her out.

Yamato quickly put on her clothing which was her original uniform that she was summoned with. It was a red colour scheme of the female outfit her crew wore. Even though she didn't mind it she thought that it was too form fitting which was why she liked her captain's uniform since it was more official and less eye-catching.

Yamato quickly walked down the hallway as she headed to the port area where her ship was being repaired. 

Location: Ginga's conference room 1 hour later

Currently, all the kansens were standing in the dimly lit room as they patiently waited for their unofficial flagship to arrive.

On the opposite side of the group a group of manjuus could be seen chirping at each other, they represented the 2 highest-ranking birds on each ship. On another side was the group of AIs that being Cosmo for Ginga, Nebula for Shinano, Singularity for Kitakami and Sagittarius for Oicchi.

The AIs from the Azur Lane ships didn't have a robot body like that of Cosmo and Analyser as a substitute a large dot glowed on the panels on the floor with blue representing Shinano, red Kitakami and brown Oicchi.

The dot was just to show that they were there and they could communicate due to the ultra-fast data link that Ginga set up.

A few moments later the door to the conference room opened as the last person had finally arrived with analyser and some 2 manjuus in tow. The door closed behind them as the lights turned off completely letting the panels lining up the floor turn on.

"Good everyone's here," Yamato said as she stood looking at the 3 groups formed before continuing, "First let me ask, are all ships ready to depart at a moment's notice?"

All the kansens present nodded their heads. The panels beneath them started to display a 2d model of the Milky Way Galaxy.

The room lit up as the image zoomed in until it focused on a blue planet in the Aries Constellation, Earth.

"So far we've learned that the sirens plan to invade Earth but the problem is we don't know how they will attack. That's why our team of AIs analysed records of previous invasions by sirens and came up with a rough idea on how the attack will play out."

Around the image of the Earth, multiple blue marks were placed to mark the allies which were in a semicircle formation and further out a mindboggling number of red dots were placed to mark the sirens.

But the red dots were also present in major cities around the earth with Tokyo, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Sydney and Berlin just to name a few.

It was clear what the Sirens wanted to accomplish, a simple divide and conquer. The ships present on Earth were too few to be on multiple fronts and this was giving Yamato a slight headache to solve.

"The enemy will outnumber us and use that to their advantage but even if they have numbers on their side, we have a way to counter them," A smile played on Yamato's face as she looked at the displayed map, this smile made some of the kansens feel uneasy, especially the cruisers.

"First when we warp into the Solar system we will emerge on the far side of the moon and asses the battlefield afterwards I'll form a strike force comprising of me in the lead the cruisers in the flanks and Ginga in the centre from there we will warp again and emerge behind the enemy line. From there we'll dive straight in and blitz to reach the Earth's defence line while blowing up ships around us, this can provide a distraction for Shinano to warp behind the Earth's defence line." Yamato then looked at Shinano.

"Shinano for this we'll require to load you to full capacity with aircraft, I'll tell the base to manufacture as many Tigers 1's and 2's you can handle. These fighters will be sent all over the earth and keep the sirens at bay while maintaining air superiority. Your fighters will be used to strike enemy siren ships from space. Though a more difficult task would be to get carriers out of the defence line, Enterprise will be sure to reject but I'd rather not lose a valuable asset." Yamato paused as the map updated to show the plan with yellow diamonds representing their fleet.

"Now the difficult part is dealing with the massive wave of sirens attacking from space. For this operation all missiles are to be tipped with Wave Motion Energy or Cosmic energy, we can't afford to pull any punches and if need be, firing of the Wave Motion Gun or Cosmic will be permitted if the situation demands it."

The escalation of force to the point they could use their trump cards is something that shocked Ginga and the cruisers, Shinano didn't know what they meant by this gun but she labelled it as their trump cards which was true.

"We must not let earth fall, if it does then this war will take a turn for the worse. But that doesn't mean you need to sacrifice yourself, if you are damaged critically warp immediately, I'd rather lose a planet than lose a kansens that could be the key to a battle remember that."

All the kansens and AI agreed and so the plan was set in motion.

"Good, we'll leave in 3 hours make sure you all are ready by then. This meeting is over"

Location: Siren controlled space

Preparation was ready and now they only needed a signal to start the conquest of Earth, thousands of ships silently waited in a perfect formation for the moment space and time would be ruptured and their plan set in motion.

The Empress looked over all this beauty and laughed at how magnificent it was. But her gaze looked up at another giant beauty.

It loomed over the fleet like a black angel of death, and red ominous light emerged from the 6 holes at the top of its structure. 2 wing-like structures emerged from the centre and if you looked closer you could see even more ships orbiting the giant structure making their assembled force look small.

Finally at the bottom of it all was a core that glowed purple, its hunger for power was still unquenched even after all the planets and fleets it devoured. This powerhouse of a structure was none other than the Ark of the Void.

It differed from her sister, the Ark of Destruction in that she was built with better defences and attacking power, though her production of ships was less than her sisters since she never received the structures for them she still held a sizable fleet that could make the Earth Defence force of her universe even at their height of power, 2202, sweat bullets.

Her ships were leagues above her sister's ships even though she had less she could still deliver a devasting blow.

But even if she was powerful, she was still able to be bored, the only time she felt she felt her blood rushing was when some of her forces went up against some ships from the EDF specifically, an Andromeda class (AAA) and some surviving ZZZ Andromeda class.

The outcome was the annihilation of her fleet to the EDF's 1 ship that was lost. This made her feel the need to improve herself and she slightly felt jealous when her sister invaded the solar system and gave the EDF a run for their money even when the time vault was at maximum output.

Back to the present, she didn't have any need to assist in the battle since the humanity in that universe was weak compared to the one, she came from and this made her bored thus she left everything to the sirens and went to take a rest.

The Empress was in love with the Ark of the Void but she had other things to attend to.

Location Earth above Washington DC

The sun was starting to rise on that city with its people slowly starting to wake up to do their duties and the military had the DEFCON raised to 1, the first ever in a decade.

Nuclear silos were on standby to be used as a last resort while there were continuous sorties of fighters across the globe to be ready at a moment's notice. The ground forces were moving equipment and armour close to urban centres while some were placed in remote areas so that, in case of an orbital bombardment, the military could still have a fighting chance.

The space force was largely placed in a Joint task force with more Pulsar combat ships being used there and older Neutron Combat ships defending continents.

The citizens of each country were in a state of readiness to escape to shelters but the only problem was if there was enough space to hold most civilians, this prompted the government to build emergency shelters for those bunkers that wouldn't have the capacity to hold any more citizens.

All this occurred beneath a certain siren as she observed all this. The wind blew past her, she could almost imagine the city below up in flames as death and destruction spread everywhere.

A smile formed on her face before someone talked to her through her comms.

"Observer, what's your status?" The voice of her empress sounded through her comms.

"I'm finished here and the plan is ready to be set in motion. This world shall soon be razed"

 Unknown to Observer she was already on the eyes of multiple radar sites with a hunter quickly closing onto her position at supersonic speeds.

Alarms were quietly raised and the citizens quickly entered their bunkers, those who couldn't were to stay in their basements or a secure part of their homes.

The hunter which was quickly closing on to the oblivious siren was none other than a spitfire from the Enterprise, {Space F-22 Raptor}, its engine's afterburners were burning full blast.

Through data link it acquired a lock and when it reached the optimal range it released 4 Hypersonic AMRAMS at the siren before pointing its nose upwards and rising into the sky.

"Good, the operation will soon begin let the ships do their job" The empress said with full confidence in their plans.

"Okay coming now." A portal opened beside the observer but before she could enter, she felt her sensors give out a few warnings before 2 hypersonic AMRAMS slammed into her.

The explosion sent her falling out for a few moments only for her to receive another missile to the face and one to the rigging.

She fell for a good few moments before she controlled her descent. A tick mark appeared as her yellow eyes tracked the spitfire high up passing the Karman line and entering outer space.

One of her lasers locked onto the fighter but instead of ending its service life she decided to let it go as in a few moments everything would begin.

In a few moments that did happen as spikes in energy were detected across major cities triggering the automated alarm sending the citizens in a panic as they rushed to shelters before it was too late.

Most of the spikes in energy were detected in space over the Pacific, slowly lighting up as morning came closer.

The joint task force was sent into distress as they were based on the other side of the planet, this was a huge error and it could cost them. All kansens were sortied and rushed to the other side of the planet where it was now up to an unlikely group of kansens to hold out until reinforcements came.

This unlikely group were the kansens of the Sakura Empire, who were stationed in orbit above their country.

A while later, large red portals ripped apart space-time as they formed a gateway for siren ships to surge forth.

The air forces of every nation were immediately sortied and ground forces were on the move to defend vital cities. Lines of smoke streaked across the sky as early missile salvos were already on their way. Jets were taking off one after another as they rushed to secure air superiority over the contested areas.

Combat ships were launched as their hulls sailed out of ports before their hulls lifted off the sea as their armaments were readied for immediate action.

In the Sakura Empire space station, 

Red alarms bathed hallways and rooms in red colour as klaxons rang throughout the station. 

Right in front of the station 7 giant portals ruptured as swarms of sirens emerged from the portal ready for battle. This one small station was supposed to hold up against an invasion force of that magnitude.

For the crew working on board, they felt their hopes of surviving getting crushed. It would be impossible to hold out unless they used their Trump cards from the start.

But in the launching area of the station, the maintenance workers couldn't help but be in shock as they saw the kansens stationed there getting ready to sortie into the battlefield, doing final checks as they steeled themselves for the upcoming battle.

The Kansens knew they were screwed from the moment those portals appeared and the Joint task force on the opposite of the planet but they still prepared for battle because there were billions of people who could die if they let them pass.

Those Kansens with weapons sharpened their blades as they kept tabs on the approaching enemy. One such Kansens stared at the enemy from the open launching bay, rigging already summoned and her 4-twin barrel 16-inch turrets ready to open fire at the enemy.

"Nagato-Sama" the kansen, Nagato looked behind her as the Sakura Empire fleet lined themselves at attention behind her. The one who spoke was none other than Akagi of the 1st carrier division.

"All preparations are complete, we're ready to sortie"

Nagato nodded as she noticed the tense mood around the kansens.

"How long until the reinforcements arrive?" Nagato asked Mutsu.

"They said ...," Mutsu paused as her ears drooped indicating the grim news., "They will arrive in half an hour or an hour due to their forces being bogged down by some emerging siren fleets."

The morale which was already low plummeted to rock bottom. There was no way they could hold out for an hour against a fleet like that even if they tried their best, they could hold out for half an hour tops before they were gunned down by the insane number of enemy ships.

Nagato sighed before steeling herself as she addressed the kansens maybe for the final time.

"Everyone!" Nagato grabbed the attention of the Kansens. Even if she was considered short, she was the leader of the Sakura Empire and it was her role to lead them to battle.

"I won't lie, the battle ahead is going to be the toughest one you've ever faced. There will be ships lost, but we cannot give up. Even if the odds are stacked against us, we must continue moving forward. We have to keep the enemy at bay until help arrives. If we fail to do so, the enemy will destroy Earth. Although death may be certain, there's always hope, no matter how small it may seem, that we can prevail. That's why I'm asking all of you for the strength to protect our planet." 

Nagato's short speech though lacking lifted the mood slightly. Each Kansen nodded their head before stepping forward.

"Good, now everyone is to sortie and form a defensive line 500 km from the station, carriers are to launch fighters but do not engage the enemy yet, their AA will knock you out if you get close. We will first engage with long-range missiles and cut down their numbers this will be mixed with our shells and engage from long-range the proximity sensors will do the rest. Afterwards, fighters would engage and cut down the remaining enemies if they still breach the fighters, we'll engage them with ship-to-ship combat use of riggings is highly advised. All ships are to sortie immediately"

One by one the kansens launched and formed a defence line ready for the battle to start. The Kansesns were the first to open fire as long-range missiles closed the distance and plunged into the invasion force marking the first engagement for humanity.

Location: Azur Lane Base 12

The fleet was still 1 hour away from their launch until breaking news started to flood the media channels.

Breaking News: Sirens have started to Invade Earth. Is this the end?

This news was broadcast to every ship and piece of tech that can show images or play audio. Conversations soon broke out due to this as the people wondered if Earth could survive the invasion and most said that it couldn't with a few believing that the Kansens could pull out a new ship or a trump card to help them

Yamato ignored these conversations on the web and opened a channel for a fleet-wide broadcast in the comms.

"Shinano, have you finished loading?"

"Yes, all fighters have been delivered but most still need to be checked, however, were ready to sortie"

"Okay, all Ships are to sortie right away"

The anchors on each ship were raised from the water before being locked in place. The first to leave were the cruisers, their bottom 2 sub-engines in the water lit up as they slowly moved forward out of their docking bays.

Once they were past the bays their bows turned to face the exit as their sub engines increased in power, behind them the Ginga was following its bow gracefully cutting through the waters. 

Following her were her sisters Yamato and Shinano. Once the fleet was in the open sea, they each began to ramp up their engine power as their main engines were about to be lit.

Before they could the fleet received a broadcast from the base.

"To the fleet of Shinano, we pray for your safety and hope for your safe return. Godspeed, go sink some siren ass."

This simple message lifted their spirits as each ship's main engine turned on, the bow of each ship leaving the water as the hull was lifted into the air. On the Yamato, Ginga and cruisers small fin-like wings were deployed helping the ship stabilize and maintain some lift.

The Shinano just brute forced its way up into the sky.

The ships quickly entered into orbit as the wings retracted for the respective ships.

"All ships prepare for Warp" Yamato announced through the fleet comm, her ship increasing in speed as its main engine flame turned into a large blue flame.

Once the ship attained its warp speed, 33 space knots, A ripple occurred in space as the Yamato pierced through a hole in space-time, The same happened with the rest of the ships as they all warped in a straight line towards Earth.

Time Skip, Location Far Side Of the moon

The fleet had been straining their engines and warping nonstop thus they managed to get to Earth in a record-breaking 20 minutes, travelling some 110 light years.

A brief flash of light occurred before 4 ships emerged from warp a moment later another flash followed as Shinano came out of warp. She was still stumped as to where the ice came from but she had to focus on the mission.

The fleet moved forward slowly until the earth was in view and looking at the battle revealed a grim scene.

A wreckage of hundreds of ships littered the space and locking closer they could see explosions occurring as the retreating form of a fleet of ships was seen, however, what was shocking was their condition.

When the live video feed was sent to Yamato, she felt all the colour drain from her face.

She knew who some of the ships were and the rest were vaguely familiar, it was their damages that shocked her.

"Analyser where's the Joint Task Force?" her voice sounded alien as she said those words.

The video changed to show the Joint Task Force pushing forward through wave after wave of siren fleets but it was clear they won't make it in time.

Yamato switched to the fleet comms, "Kitakami, Oicchi, Ginga we're leaving now. Shinano ready your fighters first then warp, the battle looks to be worse than I imagined."

The ships mentioned immediately broke formation as they sailed forward with urgency. The ships broke free of the moon's gravity as they entered into formation with Yamato leading the charge, the cruisers bringing up the flanks and Ginga in the centre.

Their engines erupted into a blue flame before the fleet warped around the same time.

On the Shinano, manjuus in EVA suits could be seen moving around the deck as fighters were brought up to the deck already armed with their specific loadout as they were anchored for warp on the deck.

The sirens could be said to be sieging the forces of the Sakura Empire, though they were able to cut down the first wave the second inflicted some damage and the third made them retreat as kansens gave cover for those critically damaged.

Now they were on the 4th wave and they had pushed the kansens back to the point that carriers only had a handful of squadrons left where some were used as kamikaze jets to save some of their ships from being sunk, battleships were riddled with holes and were a smoking mess while the cruisers and destroyers had similar damage but less.

The station was already giving some support as they were now in the range of some of its armaments.

But the Kansens were already starting to feel the toll of the battle, their fierce resistance was slowly being snuffed and it was inevitable that they would be sunk through sheer numbers.

Unless they were helped by an external factor.

Behind the multiple waves of siren ships, 4 bright lights illuminate the space around it as 4 ships emerge covered in ice that quickly breaks away as their main engines come online and thrust their ships forward.

Klaxons blared on each ship as the bridge was bathed in red light, the call to battle stations was echoed through the ships as manjuus locked themselves in secure rooms with some oxygen masks, food and water for all the chicks present.

Leading the charge was none other than Yamato, Ginga was behind her in the centre as her Cosmo reverse system powered on, a circular wave erupted from Ginga and covered the other ships making them both feel an increase in power as their cores were boosted to another level.

Targeting systems on the Yamato and cruisers synced and locked onto targets, so that there was no cross fire. Yamato's forward-facing turrets rotated a few degrees to the left and right before letting out 9 blue positron beams that quickly split any cruiser or destroyer in its path.

Explosion occured from these ships creating a hole that the fleet plunged into their main engines pushing them forward through the smoke and debris.

By now all weapons were free though missiles were rationed by the AIs if the battle was to continue.

Yamato's dorsal, ventral and bow missiles fired before another salvo from her forward turrets ripped through even more siren ships. By now the enemy was beginning to realise the threat punching through from their backs.

Turrets on multiple siren ships locked onto approaching enemy but their fates had been sealed as a monster was about to unleash.

"Light them up"

With the command received the turrets on the cruisers quickly opened fire even the phoenix turrets, once a targeting solution a simple order was given and hell was now brought upon the sirens.

The cruiser's 10-inch dual turrets let out a round of positron beams that tore through ships like destroyers but against cruisers had less effect and against battleships, they could only leave moderate damage on the hull.

This lack of destruction was filled in by phoenix turrets that were like a minigun spewing out rounds of positron beams, melting ships who don't have shields and tearing those that did have shields.

Missiles were fired from all ships taking down ships in clusters as they made siren ships go critical and explode in a bright ball of fire when their engine is hit.

The sirens weren't sitting idle letting their ships get decimated they fired back but their beams and missiles simply couldn't pen the shields which were boosted but the shields were starting to reach their limit as parts of it were hit repeatedly.

As the ships continued forward the cruisers spaced themselves a bit from the fleet before spinning slowly to allow their shields to soak up all the incoming weapons evenly but this also gave the cruisers and battleships the opportunity to fire everything they had.

All 10 Phoenix turrets opened fire, cosmic-tipped missiles from every cell were launched (300 or so) and their 4 main guns pumped out rounds in rapid success from both cruisers. For the Yamato, her turrets rotated as they continued firing while the battleship slowly spun.

The positron beams from these massive turrets sliced through multiple ships from 1 salvo, combined with the missiles from both her and Ginga, decimated any siren ships that were moderately far.

From the view of the Sakura empire what started as a few minor explosions suddenly became a big explosion in the invasion force of the sirens.

Kansens were confused since there wasn't any mention of allies on the way from other star systems.

Their confusion turned into shock as a supercarrier emerged from warp some hundreds of meters behind the space station.

This made Kansens both relieved for the support but for Nagato, she was slightly annoyed that Shinano disobeyed orders and came to their help but she couldn't deny that she appreciated the extra help.

On the deck of the supercarrier, all 8 of its electromagnetic launchers were immediately occupied as her fighters were taking off with her 'Wonder flake' F-27 was among the first to take off immediately for anti-ship.

While the fighters were being sortied, Shinano's VLS cells opened up as badly needed missiles were sent to support the fleet while control was slowly being regained.

Shinano's presence boosted the morale of the Kansens as they fought with more intensity.

On the side of the strike fleet, all ships had finished their spin and continued forward as they neared the breakthrough point. However, Yamato couldn't help but notice a spike in energy readings.

Sensors quickly located the target which was a battleship of the Arbiter which was preparing to fire a devastating blow and its target was none other than Nagato who seemed oblivious to this and continued to sink siren ships.

Even if Yamato concentrated her beams, she wouldn't be able to cut through all the regular battleships and other classes in the way of the shot.

Energy readings neared firing range and Yamato had to make a split-second decision.

Her ship's main engine increased in speed as she detached from the group and raced forward. Due to previous retrofits, her speed had increased and at flank speed, she could reach a total of 43 space knots.

This was fast and was what she needed as her turrets fired another salvo all aimed in front as they cleared a way for her to pass. Once she was through the sirens her ships were immediately spotted by the Sakura empire and this shocked everyone again since she was said to have been on leave for an unknown amount of time.

But this also caused everyone to be relieved as they witnessed the sirens being gutted and blown apart by her powerful main guns. However, the problem was that she was going too fast and in Nagato's direction which confused the fox before she saw the Argo *Yamato* turn off its main engine and do a 180 before stopping directly in front of her, gravity anchors engaging.

This confused her before her sensors picked up massive energy coming from within the siren force before a red beam tore through the space and impacted the shield on the Yamato.

A bright lit Nagato's field of view making her close her eyes and look away and before long the light subsided and revealed the Argo unharmed but its shield had been drained a lot making it dangerous to try and block it again.

Nagato couldn't help but be in shock because it saved her from being blown to bits and again when she looked at the ship, she couldn't help but imagine the old Yamato she knew.

Yamato felt relieved that she made it in time but now her focus was turned onto the still large invasion force in front of her that was now going to attack all at once.

"Kitakami, Oicchi go and help the Joint Task Force break free of their blockade, Ginga do your best to heal the wounded. All ships should launch their on-board fighters."

As soon as she said that all 3 ships emerged from the siren lines, Ginga slowed down as she passed Yamato's ship while launching her Cosmo zeros and Tiger 2's from her deck.

The cruisers launched their complement of fighters as 10 Tiger 2's and 6 Tiger 1's were launched from each cruiser while the fighters flew ahead of the cruisers to make a pre-emptive strike.

When the kansens saw these new ships, they couldn't help but wonder where they came from but were relieved again that they had powerful allies to rely on.

The fight for Earth was suddenly starting to look like it might turn around for the Kansens but on the other side, a certain humanoid siren was feeling ecstatic that they would finally be able to have that rematch they so badly wanted.

And scene.

Yes, I'm pulling an Attack on Titan saying that this is the final chapter but in real sense it's not. 

It is just part 1.

Sorry if the fighting at the end was not done well, I'm working on a time limit here so forgive me for rushing it.

Next CHP will be the climax of the battle as an unlikely foe will emerge casting its shadow of death over the entire Earth.

-Drago out!