*Midway island

*Evan/My POV

"Enterprise, Illustrious, Veneto and Vauquelin. You four will stay and defend Midway. The rest of us will take the battle to the seas." I instructed.

"Roger!" the four of them acknowledged.

"Aquila. You'll be my flagship for this operation." I said and Aquila acknowledged. "New Jersey. as this is your idea, you'll say those words." I turned to Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey and told her to give the order to sortie as this is her idea to take the battle to the seas. Admiral Kenneth's new jersey nodded and took a deep breath.

"Azur Lane! Sortie!" Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey commanded.

"Roger!" my shipgirls and I acknowledged in unison.

*???

*Kenneth POV

"Kenneth. If that is really you, do you still know my name?" the mysterious girl asked.

"Don't answer her commander. I don't trust her one bit, and if she's up to no good, she'll have to answer to my trust ol' bat!" San Francisco urged me.

"Calm down San Francisco." I told San Francisco before turning back to the girl. "Helena. Is that you?" I asked the mysterious girl as her appearance and demeanor reminded me of my Helena

"Not quite. It seems that you're still not yet ready for the truth, Kenneth." the mysterious girl frowned. "But more importantly, back to the task at hand... You wish to know how to leave this place, yes?" the mysterious girl asked

"Yes. we still have an important mission to complete." I replied, thinking about Evan and his fleet defending Midway Island alongside New Jersey

"'Oh, thank you so much for saving us'~ Tch, like hell I'd believe something that convenient! Before we go any further, answer me this: Are you friend or foe?" San Francisco sarcastically commented before demanding the mysterious girl

"Consider me a friend." the mysterious girl replied before turning to Helena. "Helena you understand right?" the mysterious girl asked

"Why me?" Helena asked

"If you know how we can get out of here, let's hear it already." archerfish said

"You'd better not try anything funny, or the back of your head's gonna be saying hello to my bat~" San Francisco warned.

*Mirror sea

*Evan/My POV

There were cannon shots as Admiral Kenneth's new jersey opened fire with her main guns

"Hehe~ It feels really good to finally let these cannons roar! These Pawns don't feel like anything special though..." Admiral Kenneth's new jersey commented as she kept firing at the mass produced ships.

"So many mass produced ships yet I don't see anything leading them." I said as I looked through my binoculars on Aquila's protection ship.

"There's no way we can check all these ships in such a short time though." Ticonderoga remarked

"Is nobody going to say anything about how I cleaned up the rest of those Pawns in one fell swoop? Dunno about the rest of you, but I feel like I can take on the world right now! That's the power of the indomitable Black Dragon." Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey commented.

"Haha... I'm glad you're all fired up, but try not to rush out so far ahead of us next time, okay?" Ticonderoga advised

"Don't worry I got this." Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey assured us.

*timeskip

After sailing for awhile, we decided to stop and rest for a short while

"Hey ty, are we getting close to where the sakura empire pawns are gathering." Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey asked Ticonderoga about the coordinates.

"If my calculations from the intercepted communications are correct, we should be at the right coordinates shortly." Ticonderoga replied. Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey looked around for a bit

"It seems strange to me that we haven't even run into any Siren patrols." Admiral Kenneth's new jersey remarked

"There's a pretty conspicuous absence of mass-produced ships as well." Ticonderoga pointed out. "If the Reenactment has already ended, the Sirens should be reorganizing their forces accordingly even if the Mirror Sea is still in effect. That's not what we're seeing at all though. It's as if they're still trying to lure us in." Ticonderoga tried to process everything

"Really." I asked. Ticonderoga turned to me and was about to answer when she was interrupted

"Of course... Most of the normal functionalities of a Mirror Sea have been stripped down." an unfamiliar voice interrupted us and we turned to see a girl that looks alot like Helena

"Huh? Who are you...?!" Ticonderoga asked the mystery girl. There was a loud cannon shot and we turned to see the main guns of Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey smoking

"That was the only warning shot you'll get. Drop that disguise, or the next shot isn't going to miss." Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey warned

"Such tremendous firepower... No hesitation at all to aim at your own allies... What is your name...?" the mystery girl asked Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey for her name

"New Jersey, Iowa-class battleship of the Eagle Union. Those who try to deceive us by imitating our friends... are no allies of ours!" Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey replied

"She looks just like Helena but there's nothing on my radar!" Aquila exclaimed

"Then that means!" I looked at the mystery girl

"You're not a Siren, and yet you can't be detected by radar... You're one of the Ashes..." Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey frowned before turning to me

"Fleet Admiral Evan, help me with manual aiming. We're done talking here." Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey asked me as she aimed her guns at the mystery girl.

"Wait, please... I am loyal to Kenneth Halsey..." the mystery girl pleaded

"What was that?" I asked as I grabbed my Imperial Dragon Sword

"How dare you...! What have you done with my commander?!" Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey demanded

"Please calm down... I am here to guide you to Kenneth's whereabouts... I would not have exposed myself to you like this if I was intent on attacking you... Please, believe me..." the mystery girl pleaded.

"What do you think, everyone?" Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey asked me and my shipgirls

"She has a point. She easily could've utilized this sea fog to ambush us if that was her intent. Even if she's one of the Ashes, there might be a way to find common ground..." Ticonderoga pointed out

"I don't trust you, Ashes. But I do trust my commander." Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey reluctantly decided to trust the mystery girl

"So where's Admiral Kenneth? This better not be some sort of trap or else you'll taste a Dragon Star Slash." I warned

"First, we must defeat our pursuers." the mystery girl replied

"What pursuers?" lady forbin asked

"Let me just tell you this - until my commander is back safe and sound, don't think you've earned an ounce of our trust." Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey reminded.

"Our pursuers have already surrounded us. You may not be able to see it on your radar, but they are already all around us. I have hacked into this Mirror Sea, but it is only a matter of time until its automated defenses find us. Just as your eyes can be deceived by the fog, so too can your equipment." the mystery girl said.

"What was that? What did you do to the mirror sea?" I demanded.

"What I make... the Sirens can also unmake. What you see... is only what the Sirens wish for you to see." the mystery girl said before raising her left hand. "Mirror hacking protocol - disable stealth system." the mystery girl snapped her fingers. "Now, look closely at your radars." the mystery girl told us.

"Are these dots... all Sirens?! How are there so many of them?!" Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey asked before glaring at the mystery girl. "You led us into this ambush!" Admiral Kenneth's New Jersey shouted.

"The protocol I put into place has temporarily increased the sensitivity of your equipment. We will not be able to reach Kenneth's location with all these Sirens in the way... I will deconstruct the Sirens' systems. Please eliminate the real enemies in the vicinity." the mystery girl told us