(Side note: I will be changing some things, and yes Laffey is watching but she is too asleep to say anything)
The scene continues as the setting changes to night time and some text appears
"OFFICERS'/SHIPGIRLS CLUB
HONOLULU, HAWAII"
We see people around as we see Best and Illustrious hugging his arm
"Are you really sure you want your wife flying wingman for you tonight?" She asks
"Yeah, nobody told me there'd be USO girls here tonight" Best replies
Illustrious blushes again while the other girls look at her teasingly
Dickinson comes up
"Hey" he says as he kisses Illustrious cheek as a friend
"I got us a table" Dickinson says as he leads them where Enterprise and McClusky are
"Wade have you met Illustrious?" Best asks as both his wife and McClusky shake hands
"Wade McClusky, I fly with your husband" He introduces himself
"Hey uh, you want a drink?" Best asks
"I do, if you want me to dance" Illustrious replies then smiling after
Dickinson helps her get into her seat
"Thank you" She says
"You're welcome" Dickinson replies
"How long have you been married?" Enterprise asks
"Long enough to know my husband's talents. Why isn't he commanding a squadron?" Illustrious replies then asks back
"Well, unfortunately I don't make those decisions" Enterprise states
Perspective changes to best
"Two Mai Tai please" Best orders
"Yes sir" The bartender replies
scene changes back to the table
"I have to say, I often wondered what kind of woman would marry Dick Best and well... well you have not disappointed" McClusky says
"Wait.. his name is... Dick Best?" Warspite says
"All I can say is... no wonder why Illustrious from that world decided to marry him" Prinz Eugen teased with a smirk
Illustrious was now blushing madly, Unicorn came up to her and asked
"Why are they teasing you?" She asked innocently, she figured out her "big sister's" other world self was in love with the man but she didn't understand why the others were teasing her about the name
"I-it's nothing, no n-need to worry" Illustrious replied still with an embarrassed expression
Unicorn just nods not understanding but decided to continue watching
Scene changes back to Best as Commander Layton shows up next to him
"Dick Best" He starts
"Hey Layton" Best shakes hands with Layton
"How was the Marshall Islands?" Layton asks
"Well we got our feet wet, you keeping tabs on me?" Best replies
"Ah, I'm with Fleet Intelligence" Layton states
"Thank God, we're gonna need someone as smart as you after Pearl. You gonna straighten those boys out?" Best says with his head down
"I'll do my best" Layton replies
"Your Mai Tai sir" The Bartender shows
"Well, I'm rooting for you. Si hi to Belfast your wife for me" Best says
"Yeah you as well" Layton replies back then Best leaves
"E-eh?" Belfast says
"Wow, I never thought someone like Belfast would find someone" Hood says
Belfast is red as she slightly covers her face
Scene changes back to the table
"Just be straight with me you three, what am I missing?" Illustrious asks
"Well.. every time we go up in one of those planes... there's a chance we won't come back" McClusky started
"It's hard to follow a man who doesn't know that, or even worse... doesn't care. Just so you know, I too was once like that." Enterprise finished
"See Enterprise? What did I say" Vestal said
Enterprise got Vietnam flashbacks while Yorktown patted her back
Best approaches them and they stop talking
"Let's dance" Best says as he offers his hand to Illustrious
"Okay, excuse me" Illustrious says as she leaves with Best as Dickinson, Wade, and Enterprise looking at each other
Music is playing (~~ means singing)
~All or nothing at all~
The scene changes to the dance floor as we see Best and Illustrious dancing
~Half a love never appealed to me~
~If your heart never could yield to me, then I'd rather have nothing at all~
The singer keeps on singing as the dancers keep on dancing
The scene changes to the Best residence as we see Best hugging a sleeping Unicorn as he puts the blanket on her
Everyone coos at the sight
"Come to bed" Illustrious whispered as Best leaves Unicorn's room as he turns off the lights
"Hmm? Are we going to watch something that's more.. mature~?" Prinz Eugen teased as every shipgirl blushed hoping that wasn't the case
Scene changes to the briefing room in Enterprise with new recruits as Enterprise shows
Every shipgirl breathed in relief, Prinz Eugen did a little "aww" as Hipper nudges her
"Welcome aboard my ship, you're replacing good men. Much earlier than me or the Navy wanted, but... that's the situation we're dealing with. Now you're going in a rotation and my job is to make sure you're worth more than a bucket of warm spit. The sirens are out there waiting for us, so... I need pilots who can hold their own" Enterprise says
the door suddenly opens causing a few shipgirls to jump
"Ms Enterprise, you gotta see this" Dickinson says
The scene changes outside in deck as Enterprise goes to the carrier tower and we see two other carriers as some text appears
"APRIL 18, 1942
USS HORNET AND IJN KAGA
650 MILES EAST OF THE SAKURA EMPIRE"
"Finally! My ship shows!" Hornet yells
"It seems I'm involved in this operation" Kaga says
"What the hell are bomber planes doing on carriers?!" Best yells
Perspective on the carrier tower
"Well Enterprise, the commander of all those bombers? Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle who is maybe the best pilot in the world. He intends to launch the planes off your sister's ship and Kaga, strike a siren base then land somewhere in the Sakura Empire" Commander Halsey states
"Must be a serious operation if it involves a siren base and two carriers to attack it" Soryu says
"Ms Enterprise" An officer says as he salutes and gives a paper to the her
"Let me guess, it's not going to be good" Hiryu says
"Siren fleet 50 miles out, they're gonna blow our cover" Enterprise says
"Every mile we get Doolittle closer to the base is fuel he can use to get the hell out of there, but I'm not going to risk these carriers" Halsey replies
"What do we tell Doolittle?" Enterprise asks
"The truth" Halsey says
"Wise decision" Soryu says
Scene changes on the deck of Hornet as she comes out and walks to Doolittle as he and his men salute her and she salutes back.
"You guys got the order to launch" Hornet says
"How far out are we?" Doolittle asks
"Too far, you guys will end up ditching in Sakura Empire territory, but if you guys bomb that base then you guys will have just saved more lives. If any of you want to bow out, now's your chance" She states
The men look at each other then back at her
"We all want to fly mam" A pilot says
"Good, man your planes and I'll see you all if you guys return" Hornet replies as Doolittle and his men go into their planes
Back to Enterprise
"They can't take off, certainly not with a load and they sure as hell can't land" Dickinson states
"Ten bucks says they don't make it off the deck" Lindsey says
"Yeah I'll take that bet!" Best replies
Back to Hornet
The bombers are ready to take off as the first bomber takes off from the deck successfully with bombers from Kaga also taking off
"It was a success it seems" Kaga says
Scene changes as text appears
"SIREN BASE"
Air Raid alarms are going off as we see the bombs drop from the sky destroying some ships, structures, etc.
"Bomb's away sir"
"Let's get out of here, tell the Sakura planes to circle around as well" Doolittle says as the planes circle around
"That actually felt nice" Denver says with the other shipgirls nodding in agreement
Scene changes to Layton residence as Belfast is in the kitchen then she hears a car stopping.
Layton puts down his jacket as he sits down in his work area with some folders with one of them being "WAR PLANS - SECRET"
He opens them and tries to view them until Belfast takes his glasses away
"N-no" Layton tries to say
"I'm taking these hostage" Belfast says
"Just half an hour" Layton tries to plead
Belfast blushes as the girls tease her about being a wife
"Does Azur Lane winning the war really depend on Edwin Layton working himself to death?" Belfast asks
"Some of our men bombed a siren base today, they are supposed to land in the Sakura Empire but they're probably gonna run out of fuel and have to ditch in God knows where. If by some miracle they actually make it into Siren occupied territory they'll be tortured and executed" Layton states
The shipgirls flinch at this, none of them what to think about on what if they were captured and what the sirens would do to them
"What can you do?" Belfast asks again
"Most likely nothing, but we're not gonna lose any more men because I didn't dig deep enough" Layton replies
Belfast sighs
She goes up to Layton and puts his glasses back on
"I'll make some tea and fix you a sandwich" She says
"Aww, how sweet" Prince of Wales says
Belfast turns red
Scene changes as we hear thunder
We see a map and a person on it
"I keep recalculating but with this steady tailwind.." The person says
"You think we over land?" Doolittle asks
"Yeah maybe" The man replies
"Well.. only one way to find out" Doolittle says as he keeps flying until he notices the left engine suddenly stops
"Everyone, we gotta bailout" Doolittle says as he and his men ready themselves to jump
"Now I don't know if we're over Sakura Empire or Siren territory so watch yourselves and I'll see you all in Tokyo" Doolittle finishes as the second engine of the plane stops. The men one by one jump out with Doolittle last
Everyone prays for their safety
The scene changes back to the siren base as many ships are seen, then we see Observer Alpha enter into a room
(Observer Alpha..) Akagi and Kaga thought with anger
"My Empress" Observer says
(Empress?) Everyone thought, they faced many sirens but they never heard of this 'Empress' before
"Please leave me.. I'm not in the mood..." Empress says with her eyes closed and head down
"It was only a handful of bombers, everyone now agrees with you now that you were right about those annoying carriers" Observer replied
Empress looks at Observer with her eyes opened and head up
"Lastly some sirens are waiting for your orders about the operation in the Coral Sea, then once that operation is finished then we can turn our attention for the operation to Midway" Observer finished
The Empress is now intrigued
"Well, wait are we waiting for? We have work to do" Empress said slowly making an insane smile
The shipgirls found the Empress intimidating as they felt pressure from her, and they are worried about their operations because Coral Sea and Midway are areas they cannot afford to lose
Scene changes back to Pearl headquarters in the planning room with a few commanders and shipgirls
"The Sirens are sending their carriers into the Coral Sea, they're trying to break one of our lifelines with the Sakura Empire" Nimitz states
"Yes sir" Layton says
"Send a secure message to Commander Halsey, I want Enterprise to join Yorktown, Lexington, Shoho, Zuikaku, and Shoukaku in the Coral Sea. Please tell Halsey that time is a factor" Nimitz finished
"Yes sir" The radio man said
The shipgirls were shocked at the carriers mentioned
"W-what kind of operation needs 6 carriers?!" Junyou finally spoke with shock in her voice
"I-it must be very VERY serious if that's the case. The sirens must've sent a lot of fleets to that area" Taihou said
"There must be 20+ ships in that operation" Tirpitz says
I hope it's not overkill, however it could be a trap set up from the sirens as well." Bismarck states
"That might be true, I wonder what me, Akagi, and Kaga are doing though" Hornet wonders
"We're either in the dock for refueling and repairs or we're in another operation" Akagi replies
"Yes dear sister" Kaga says
"There's something else sir" Layton says
"There always is" Nimitz replies
"I heard a theory" Layton states
"What kind of theory?" Nimitz asks
"According to one of the kansens and officers in my command, Coral Sea is just a warm-up. They think that the sirens are planning something bigger, much bigger" Layton replies
"What makes them think that?" Nimitz asks
"Little bits and pieces that we've intercepted, the first message is about a battleship not being ready for an upcoming operation, the second being a request for maps of the Aleutian Islands." Layton states
"Well what's the target?" Nimitz asks again
"We don't know yet" Layton admits
"Do you trust this them?"
"They're two of the most brilliant people I know" Layton says
"Well have them figure it out" Nimitz finishes
Scene changes to Doolittle and some of his men in a cruiser in one of the Sakura Empire fleets
" I've been wondering what happened to Doolittle and his men nya. It seems they are in safe hands nya." Akashi says
Takao shows up
"Are you boys doing fine?" she asks
"We're fine, thank you for helping find the rest of our men and helping us get back to base" Doolittle says
"Don't mention it, we're allies after all" Takao says
Scene changes to what it seems to be the aftermath of a battle as we see the decks of both Yorktown and Shoukaku in fire, Lexington is sinking, Shoho is literally in pieces, Zuikaku's ship isn't damaged at all while the fleet of Enterprise just arrived. Some text appears
"MAY 8, 1942
CORAL SEA, SOUTH PACIFIC"
"The battle of Coral Sea was a tactical victory for the sirens while a strategic victory for Azur Lane. This battle took four long days as both sides competed for who gets the upper hand."
The shipgirls had their eyes widened as they saw the aftermath of Coral Sea.
"S-Shoukaku nee!" Zuikaku said in fear as she hugged her elder sister
"It's okay.. It's okay...." Shoukaku says as she caressed her younger sister's back
The other shipgirls were shocked at the site as the younger sisters of Yorktown were scared especially Enterprise wondering why her fleet just arrived. The destroyers were comforted by Belfast and FDG with Ark Royal wishing she could join them but was denied.
"Judging from the damage.. it must've been an intense battle seeing how it lasted for four days..." Vestal says
"Twenty-four hours too late. Damn it.. why couldn't we have been here?" Enterprise says with a face of guilt
"Well, this leaves you, Hornet, Akagi, and Kaga as the only carriers in working in these areas. The Royal Navy and the rest of the Sakura Empire have got their hands full." Halsey says
Halsey puts his hand on Enterprise's shoulder
"Don't feel guilt here, it's not your fault. Your sister and the those who survived are fine" Halsey says as he leaves the room and goes to the cafeteria where a lot of men are.
"Attention on deck!" An officer says
"I wanna talk to McClusky and Best" Halsey says as everyone leaves the room and he lights up a cigar
"Oh, for Christ's sake" Halsey says as he scratches his neck
"You okay Commander?" Best asks with some concern
"I've got this damn rash. Listen up, I'm done playing politics. The Navy.. hell the whole damn entirety of Azur Lane are counting on us, and I need to make sure my best men are in the right spots. So McClusky, you are now in charge of the air group. I don't have a lick of confidence in our damn torpedoes, so I want you in a dive bomber. Best, I'm bumping you up from XO so now you're the new skipper of Bombing Six. Good luck boys" Admiral Halsey says as he leaves the room
"Well, I guess you're gonna have to learn to fly an SBD" Best says
"I've logged plenty of hours in the Dauntless" McClusky says back
"Not diving at a live target" Best states
"Can't be that hard, I mean you do it" McClusky replies as he walks into his room
Scene changes as some text appears
"SAKURA EMPIRE BASE, PEARL HARBOR"
(In Japanese)
Commander Yamamoto with his secretary Nagato, and Commander Yamaguchi with his secretary Hiryu are shown walking in a hallway
"How dare you! You're not following Eagle Union's strategy!" An officer yells
Both commanders arrive on the planning room as Yamamoto removes his cap and gives it to Nagato as another commander is shown
"Admiral Nagumo"
The shipgirls realize who the man was as he is the one who commands the First Carrier Division
"This is no way to conduct a war game"
"Kaga and some young men here have ignored the possible battle plans provided by Eagle Union" Nagumo says while Kaga has her head down afraid with Akagi beside her
(Kaga? Her ignoring orders?) The Sakura Empire shipgirls thought, there had to be good reason for this
Nagumo grabs a stick and points it to the map
"We attacked the siren fleet with our carriers, and we were ready to pivot as soon as the siren carriers were in a vulnerable position." Nagumo says as he points the stick to the 'siren carrier' circles on the map
"But?" Yamamoto asks as he looks towards Kaga as she grabs another stick on the table
"My Siren carriers didn't come from east or south" Kaga says as she points the stick to the map as Yamamoto looks closely
"They were sailing here northeast of where the siren carriers were. While Akagi's planes were bombing the carriers near, I sunk three out of four carriers in that area" Kaga says as she tapped three carriers on the map with the stick as she put it down when she was done speaking
The Sakura Empire carriers frown
"I see nothing wrong with my sister's decision at all" Akagi says
"Such a move is impossible because the sirens won't know we are coming" Nagumo says to Kaga as she sends him an 'oh really?' look as the other shipgirls and commanders in the room whisper about the situation
"If the sirens won't know Akagi and Kaga are coming then why is Kaga's decision there considered impossible?" Soryu asks dumbfounded
"No wonder why Commander Yamaguchi wants him removed from command of the Fist Carrier Division" Hiryu say
"Nagumo, I'm sorry but I'm removing you from command of the 1st Carrier Division" Yamamoto says after observing the battle map
Nagumo is stunned same with the commanders and shipgirls present
"W-what?" Nagumo says
"I'm sorry, you may be suited for cruisers and battleships, but you are not suited for Aircraft Carriers. Expect that you will be reassigned to a battleship fleet soon" Yamamoto states
Nagumo sighs
"I-I understand" Nagumo says as he knows he can't fight back and leaves the room
"Commander Yamaguchi, if you want do you accept Akagi and Kaga to be under your command along with Soryu and Hiryu?" Yamamoto asks when Nagumo left knowing Yamaguchi to be much more suited to command carriers
"It will be my honor sir" Yamaguchi says as he leaves the room with Hiryu who is happy even though she doesn't show it
Kaga still has her head down while Akagi pats her back
"Don't worry, Yamaguchi isn't like Nagumo" Yamamoto smiles as Kaga lifts her head up and shyly smiles back just a little bit
The shipgirls smile
"At least Akagi-senpai and Kaga-senpai are under a better commander now" Zuikaku says with the other carriers agreeing
Scene changes as some text appear
"A few days later"
"So I just got off the phone with Eagle Union headquarters and their intelligence guys think you're wrong about this big operation." Nimitz says
"They think that the sirens are sending their carriers back into the Coral Sea?" Layton asks stunned
"Yeah and they've ordered me to keep Enterprise and the 1st Carrier Division down there" Nimitz replies
"That's a mistake, their intelligence is starting from a faulty assumption and looking for evidence to corroborate it" Layton states
"So I'm going to ask again, what's the sirens real target?" Nimitz asks
"We believe it's Midway" Layton replies
"Hopefully they can convince them that it's Midway" Nagato say
"We saw that the sirens were talking about it earlier so all they need to do is somehow find a way to convince them" Queen Elizabeth says
"The sirens believe that our base there as a step towards Hawaii and then eventually the West Coast" Layton says
"When?" Nimitz asks
"In a few weeks" Layton replies as Nimitz taps the table with his pen
"Great, now they have to make the convincing quicker" Cleveland says
"I think it's time to pay a visit to your friends in Station HYPO. Yorktown, bring the car around," Nimitz says, Yorktown is shown to have a bandage in her head but she is just fine
The Yorktown sisters and Hammann are relieved
Scene changes to the car arriving in Station HYPO as Nimitz and Layton go inside
"I have to warn you sir, code breakers are a rare breed. Rochefort's way of doing things is especially.. particular." Layton says
"I don't care if he consults coffee grounds while doing boogie-woogie as long as the intel is good" Nimitz says as they go inside a room
"Weird way of saying that but ok" Pennsylvania says
"Attention on deck!" An officer says as all the men in the room stop what their doing and turn face
"Carry on gentlemen" Nimitz says as they all continue what they were doing
"Where's Rochefort?" Layton asks an officer as he points to a room
"If you'll follow me sir" Layton says
"Didn't realize that the Navy had so many trained code breakers" Nimitz says a little surprised
"That's the thing sir, we don't" Layton replies
The shipgirls are confused
"Most of these men were in the band on the California, and since we don't have much use for music bands these days, Rochefort thought that their musical abilities might make them naturals at breaking the rhythms of ciphers." Layton stated
(Interesting use of music) The shipgirls thought
Scene changes inside Rochefort's room as we see him take a pill from a shelf as Layton clears his throat as he hides the pills back and stands straight. Nimitz looks at him as he notices he is wearing a cloth jacket and slippers.
"Sorry Commander, it uh, gets cold down here in the dungeon" Rochefort says
"I'm told you're brilliant" Nimitz states as he shakes hands with Rochefort
"Well, Commander Layton has been known to exaggerate" Rochefort replies
"I hope not" Nimitz replies back
"He told me he's absolutely certain the sirens are gonna hit Midway, and I need to know whether or not I can believe him" Nimitz states
"Well if you don't believe him then we'll all be slaves for the sirens or, most likely we'll be dead" Rochefort says as Layton shakes his head and bridges his nose
"Show me how this works" Nimitz says
"You mean.. like a tour?" Rochefort asks
"Exactly.. like a tour" Nimitz says as they head outside of his room
"So this is where it starts. We intercept roughly 60% of secure siren radio traffic, and we've cracked enough of their code to be able to break about 40% of those messages" Rochefort says
"So we're able to read about a quarter of their secure communications?" Nimitz asks
"Uh no, not exactly. Here's some of our uh.. cracked messages" Rochefort says
Nimitz looks at the papers not able to understand anything
"It's gibberish to me" he says
"Yes, but if you read enough of it-" Rochefort tries to say but Layton interrupts
"Rochefort has a gift for assembling the fragments. He can recall a message from two months ago, and plug it into today's intercept." Layton says as Nimitz gives the papers to him
"Explain the disagreement with headquarters" Nimitz says
"Well, we all have access to the same raw information, but uh, over here is where our paths diverge." Rochefort says as he grabs another few papers
"Information and analysis" Layton says to Nimitz
"Now headquarters agrees with us that the sirens are gonna attack a major target codenamed AF" Rochefort states
"But headquarters believes that AF is located in the South Pacific, which is why they ordered to keep Enterprise and the 1st Carrier Division down there." Layton finishes
"Do you have any direct proof that they're wrong?" Nimitz asks
"Direct proof? No.. but... sir.. imagine that you're throwing a wedding. And maybe I've never seen the invitation, but I hear from the caterers that they have an event on a certain date. The flower guy is buying up all the roses on the island. The best band is booked. That's what signal intelligence can give you. Clues. Not a direct answer." Rochefort says
"Sir, after Pearl, you told me to stick to my guns. I swear to you, Joe's right about this" Layton supports as Nimitz sighs
"I'm not generally predisposed to trust a bunch of tuba players led by a man wearing fuzzy slippers, but... I'll figure a way to get the carriers back here. Meantime, you gentlemen need to convince headquarters that the sirens real target is Midway." Nimitz states as he lights up a cigar
"How sir? Headquarters doesn't exactly have a habit of listening to us" Layton says
"Well.. I'm sure you'll think of something" Nimitz says as he leaves the room
During this entire scene, the shipgirls are getting a better understanding of the situation as they keep on watching
End of Part 3
Enjoy, happy new year to you all