A/N: Hello everyone. First and foremost, I would like to welcome you all to this new story. I wrote this two years ago when I was first introduced to Arpeggio of Blue Steel. I must say it's a phenomenal anime, I thought it was going to be a major turn off, seeing as it was a fully 3D rendered anime, but I instantly fell in love with it, all of the bright colors, the characters, the world, it was truly a magnificent piece of work, something that I have the honor of placing in my top 10 best animes of all time. I thought I would have my own take on it, this is fairly anime based as I haven't read up to the current chapters in the manga. Also since I wrote this a couple years ago, don't be too harsh with the grammar, I went through and corrected a vast majority of my mistakes, but I am only human, so I missed tons I'm sure. One more thing, I only have four chapters written currently and was not planning to continue this at this time, but if it recieves a good number of likes and reviews, I might continue it. I am currently working on like, three things at a time, which is really bad for me. So I will post what I have and let you decide, this fandom needs more fanfiction and I figured I would add my own.

So, for now I hope you enjoy this first chapter, and before you start, I will say some characters are modeled after characters from the Kantai Collection series, I don't know why but some the characters from that series would fit perfectly in this one, but they are totally different in personality so if you are familiar with KanColle, then just be prepared for that.

Summary: The year is 2056 and all Maritime commerce has been halted by the alien ships known as the Fleet of Fog. No one knows their true motives, but what they do know is that their rule of the oceans must come to an end. While the people of Japan are contructing a special warhead that will give them an edge in the war, the remaining US Military in Pearl Harbor is also developing their own methods, without divulging information to the continental United States. Jonas Rongil, a young man that washed ashore in Hawaii seven years prior is now about to graduate from Navy School, and wishes nothing more than to leave Hawaii and explore the seas in hopes of seeing his mother in what remains of the state of Florida. A chance encounter with a curious Fleet of Fog member maybe the ticket he needs to leave that god forsaken spit of land. This is the beginning of the Green Fleet, the Emerald Eagles.

Arpeggio of Blue Steel

Emerald Eagles

Chapter 1

Captain?

Smoke filled the air, and the sound of distant explosions could still be heard. War was being held in the Bering Straight, but it was already futile, as the human side was suffering heavy losses. In the Mid 21st century, humanity lost most of the Planets Terrestrial areas due to global warming. Hundreds of coastal cities sunk and millions of people lost their homes and their lives. New Islands arose, others disappeared and the world was forever changed. To make matters worse, an unknown fleet of sentient warships, known only as the Fog had appeared. No one knew their agenda, or who their creator was, but everyone knew they were a major threat. In 2039, the biggest war in the history of the world was waged, and humanity lost 75 percent of their Naval Fleets. From then on, the Fleet of Fog gained control of the seven seas, making it almost impossible to sail the oceans. Planes were brought down, as well as all underwater communications cables. Merely confirming the existence of other nations was next to impossible.

Everyone thought the Fleet of Fog was just created by some mad man who wanted nothing more than to stop the world from being connected to each other, and when he was satisfied, he'd call a truce and make some money in order to stop his fleet from attacking. Others thought they were the Judgment of God for destroying his Planet and abusing its resources endlessly. Then there were the ones who thought the Fleet of Fog was all the work of Aliens who wanted nothing more than Planetary take over and were driving the Humans to extremes. Whatever it was, the Fleet of Fog was a serious thing to deal with, and any human ship that ran into one of their own was guaranteed certain death.

Stories were told, back in World War II, of warships that came out of the fog and disappeared without a trace. The same was said in the Gulf War, but no one ever paid attention to them. It seemed as if they were on the planet far longer than anyone expected them too. And with their clearly advanced hardware, it was possible entirely that they had been here longer than even the oldest of countries. Who knew exactly where they came from? Everyone agreed to one thing however, they needed to be stopped.

The Bering Straight was a small area near the Arctic that separated Alaska from Russia. Since the sea level had risen, so had the distance between the two countries, but man made islands served to connect them. However, the Arctic Fleet of Fog also patrolled the waters near it. Before the war, a large bridge had been created connecting the two countries together. But at the beginning of the war, the bridge had been compromised. As the war started to end and the Fog started to retreat, both countries felt bold and started slowly retaking the bridge. The Fleet didn't seem to care, as it had been made public that they refused to attack human settlements. However, Man sometimes becomes to prideful, and they make mistakes, Grave mistakes. And this caused them to attack.

It was well past nightfall, and the smell of smoke still lingered. The Bridge had been the only thing to connect Russia to the State of Alaska, and now, since the Fleet had attacked a small Whaling vessel, had been lost completely. In the midst of it all, lay a young man, surrounded by the bodies of the people who were attempting to cross the bridge to Russia. He was only seven years old, still a kid but in this world, no one was safe. He was dazed, laying on the now broken span of the bridge and looking at the sky. Horns and sirens could still be heard in the distance, and bright purple explosions could still be seen.

He sat up, clutching his head. He felt something smeared on his forehead, he looked at it, seeing the crimson red liquid that could only be his own blood. He looked to his left, over the destroyed span of the bridge, seeing bright explosions in the distance.

He was on the Island of Yakor, one of the many islands that served to connect the Intercontinental Bridge that kept Russia and America connected. The Russian landmass was only 10 miles away, but now that the bridge was destroyed, swimming seemed like a more viable option. The young boy stood up, grabbing his head. He looked around for his family, only realizing that he was alone, with bodies of people who were attempting to cross the bridge. Remains of cars could be seen everywhere, their splintered frames in odd angles. Glass also littered the ground, along with suit cases and other personal belongings.

"Hello?" he called out, only to receive silence. Another explosion rattled the area, making him snap his head to the right. A Fleet of Fog Light Cruiser was sailing around the remains of the bridge. He didn't know what kind of ship it was, but its markings were a bright crimson. He wanted to scream, but held his tongue. No use in attracting them to himself. He started limping towards the other side of the bridge, trying his best not to alert the Light Cruiser that was sailing around. He tripped, banging his knee on the concrete. He let out a yelp of pain, and quickly covered his mouth. The Ship kept on sailing like it was nothing, making him sigh in relief.

"Why aren't they attacking? Do they not kill humans on land?"

He was still just a boy, so understanding the intentions of the Fog was still beyond his comprehension. The sound of a missile being fired made him stop in his tracks. He saw a large white projectile coming straight toward him. He let out a scream in fear, closing his eyes and waiting for the end. All he heard was a loud explosion before everything went black.

Jonah jolted awake, heart racing a bit. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, leaning back in his seat. It had been seven years since that incident had happened and yet he still had vivid dreams about it. He looked around the room, seeing the familiar creamy blue walls of his favorite place in the world.

He was in the communications room in the Naval Academy located in Oahu Island in what was left of the Hawaiian Islands. It had been seven years since the fall of the Intercontinental Bridge, and seven years since he had lost the last of his remote family to the Fog. He still didn't know how it was that he found himself on Hawaii, but he did. He was taken care of by some locals and when he was old enough, he joined the Naval Academy that had been established in what was left of Pearl Harbor.

During the battle for the seas, Pearl Harbor was one of the United States active Naval Bases, deploying several hundred battleships with able soldiers to carry out what was left of humanities hope. Out of 116 ships deployed, only Eight returned, heavily damaged. It was then that everyone on the Hawaiian Islands had lost hope in ever coming out of the war unscathed. The final attack on the Islands came from a Kongo class Fast Battleship, that destroyed the last of the islands able boats, including cruise ships which were planned to be used to transport civilians to San Diego.

It was then that the Island state had been cut off from the Continental United States, leaving everyone left on the island to fend for themselves. It had been hard, he had to admit, seeing a lot of civil war break out wasn't his cup of tea, but the remaining military forces had done their best to calm the populace down. Several places in the main island had been destroyed, mostly by the Fog, half of Iroquois Point was gone, along with several other places in Oahu and Honolulu.

The United States Naval School had been established not long after the Fog had taken over the seas in hopes that one day, someone was able to take down the Fleet of Sentient warships, but out of all the students in the academy, only few ever made it out with high grades, even fewer secured a good spot in the US Navy. Out of every ten students, only one Officer was elected.

Jonas sighed and leaned back in his seat. He had been in this academy for three years now and was close to his final year. He had a promising future ahead of him, according to all of his instructors, but what was the point of that if he was just going to sit in an office all day? Doing nothing. When he joined the Naval Academy, he thought he was going to be taught in Naval warfare, and for the most part he was, but since they only had Eight Battleships left, they didn't risk letting the cadets train on them.

It was 2055, seven years was a long time. His grandmother and his cousins had died when that Heavy Cruiser had struck the bridge. Somehow he had made it all the way to Hawaii and he never found out how or why. He had steadily seen the decline of the Island state, and now from the millions of people that once populated the island chains, only a few hundred thousand remained. The smaller islands had been seized by Militia groups and driven the US Army out of them, and they didn't have the resources to reclaim them. The fertile soil around the Volcano had been the only means to grow food, but even now it was growing scarce. Hawaii wouldn't last another ten years, and with no way of making it to California, they were all lost. It's why Jonas spent his time in this communications room, trying to develop a new piece of tech that would lock a Fog Ships weapons and allow humans to take it over. But his Senior officer had stated that it wouldn't work, and wouldn't let him test it. He was at a loss for what to do. He looked at his pistol, a Government issue 1911A1, which was a standard handgun given to all the cadets in training. He also looked at the magazine beside it, which was filled with blue ammunition, the special devices he had created.

He called them, The Anti-Fog Locking Mechanism, or ALFM for short. In theory, if he shot it onto the hull of the ship before they deployed their Klein field, he'd be able to lock down their weapons remotely, making them unable to attack. He could even stop their engines if he wanted too, rendering the ship unusable, unless he shut the device off. He had been able to design and make ten cartridges, meaning he didn't have time to waste on testing them, or the resources to make all new ones. He stood up and stretched his tired limbs, placing his gun in his holster and the magazine in his pocket. He closed his lap top and headed out of the Communications Room.

He passed by a few students as he made his way to the cafeteria, most had been kids who had been on vacation when the Islands were attacked. Even though the war was in 2039, it took the Fog a few years to fully drive man out of the seas. A few other students were the sons and daughters of Navy officials, and of the locals.

All of them were wearing the schools uniform, a pressed white shirt, with breast pockets, the left having the United States Flag and the right having the crest of the Academy, an Eagle holding Thirteen Olive branches. They wore a tie which was blue for the boys and red for the girls. They also wore black slacks, and leather boots. He himself chose to wore a blazer over it all, sometimes the crisp sea air made him cold.

A few students gave him a friendly nod while others plain ignored him. He was used to this by now. He was seen as that kid who wanted out of the Island. Everyone wanted to leave the island, it was true, but he himself had an adoration for anything other than Hawaii. He wanted to go home, to where his mother was most likely living, on the Eastern Coast of the United States. The reason why he and his grandmother and cousins had been crossing the bridge to Russia was because they heard it was better there. His mother chose to stay in Florida while they all went to Russia. His father was a raging alcoholic who did nothing but get drunk, so she was out of options. In retrospect, they should have stayed in Canada.

He ran a hand through his long violet locks, brushing a few strands away from his eyes. He had a rather pale complexion, as opposed to many of the other students who actually got some sun. He didn't have many friends, he admitted, but it was better this way. Less people to worry about in the end.

Finally making it to the cafeteria, he headed toward his usual table, setting his computer down on it. He walked over to the lunch line, which was empty and ordered his food. Once he got his order, he swiped his student ID and headed back to his table. He opened his laptop and opened the program he had created, and started checking the codes for errors. It was something he did now, it had taken him a little over a year and a half to fully code what he wanted, but he had been able to do it. Learning to Code had been hard, but he had a knack for it, even his teachers were impressed. If only the Naval Officers saw it the same way.

"Hey, you finally showed up." a familiar voice said. He looked up, seeing one of his few friends standing in front of him. He was a seventeen year old teen, with slightly tanned skin, and short dirty brown hair. He was carrying his backpack in his hands and a tray of food in the other, a smile on his face.

"Sorry, I was working on my program." he muttered quietly, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"As always. It's all you do nowadays, but it's good that you work on it, you give me hope, hope of getting off this god forsaken spit of land we call home." he said, taking a seat.

Nick was originally from Wisconsin. His family had taken a cruise to Hawaii when the Fog had ceased all maritime travel, and thus had been stuck here for the brunt of it. His father had been forced into battle, where he lost his life. Since then he had been waiting for his chance to actually be put in a battle, but their Senior officers didn't approve of it.

"It's good that I give you hope. However, I won't be able to get anywhere if I don't test this." he replied, finishing his thorough scan. Like the last time, everything was still perfect.

"Well, I might have an idea that will solve that little issue you are having." a new voice added. This one belonged to a young woman, who was one of the academy's model students. She was wearing the female version of the academy's uniform, the only difference being that she wore a skirt rather than slacks. Her red hair was tied up with a black ribbon, which formed a perfect bow. Her light pink eyes glittered in the low lighting of the room. She had a wide grin on her face.

"Well hello to you too Chloe...weren't you taking an exam or something?" Nick asked, glancing at girl. She gave him a nod.

"I passed with flying colors, naturally of course. The officers said I would be a great Sonar operator in the future...you know if we ever actually go to sea." she said.

"That's what I'm saying. All this bullshit about me having great reflexes and high knowledge when it comes to armament and weaponry and yet they don't let me get on an actual boat. It's bullshit." Nick snapped, clearly annoyed. He grabbed his soda and popped it open, downing most of it in one go.

"Well, this is where my idea comes in. But in order for it to work, we have to head to Iroquois Point tonight." she said.

"Are you serious? You do know that it's illegal to go there right? That prefecture was blown to shit, there is nothing left, at least on the west side." Nick said.

"Yes, I get that but...I have been doing surveys around that area at night with my portable sonar. There is a Fog vessel that patrols the waters around Hawaii twice a month. I don't know what kind of battleship it is, but it puts the Navy on high alert every time it passes by here, there aren't any military patrols when it passes by. It's the perfect time for Jonas here to try out his little control thingies." She said.

"Weapons Locking Mechanism." He said.

"Yeah sure, whatever. It's the perfect time don't you think?" She asked.

"Except you forget, that it's a Fog vessel. Meaning that it's going to fire its Photon blasters, Nukes and Corrosive torpedoes at our asses. Not to mention its full armament, which includes Twelve 14 inch/45guns, 22 x1 5 inch/51 guns, 4 x1 3 inch/50 AA guns and 2 x21 inch torpedo tubes. And since its a Fog vessel, you can add fifteen to those totals." Nick said.

"If it was modeled after a Heavy Cruiser or something, but think about the praise that Jonas would get, he'd finally get the chance to test out his new device, and we'd also be able to show everyone in this Academy that we are more than ready to fight. I really don't want to be stuck in an office for the rest of my life." Chloe said.

"It's still suicide...tell her Jonas." Nick said, glancing at the brown haired teen. He stood up, grabbing his empty tray and tossing it in the nearby trash can.

"When will it pass by?" he asked.

"Around Seven PM tonight." Chloe replied.

"Really? Are we seriously doing this?" Nick said.

"I am. You said it yourself, you are tired of being stuck on this god forsaken spit of land. You want off this island, and I want to go home to Florida, for that we'll need to commandeer a ship, and what better way than to commandeer a Fog Vessel?" he said.

"Can you even say that? What if we fail? We could end up pissing her off." Nick said.

"We'll get to that when we get to that. Pack your things, if I do manage to lock her weapons, then we'll be leaving tonight." he said.

"Understood. I'll be heading out now." Chloe said, leaving the cafeteria. Nick sighed, finishing his lunch.

"Might as well tag along. I ain't letting the two of you die, that's for sure." he said. Jonas smiled.

"Good, and when we pull it off, I'll let you handle the guns." he said, making Nick grin.

Out in the Southern Pacific, a Fog Vessel was making its way toward its normal Patrol area. This vessel was gigantic, unlike anything the humans could ever hope to make, and yet it was based off one of their past designs. She was the Japanese Destroyer Shimakaze, the only ship of her kind. She was one of the largest destroyers on the Second Oriental Fleet of Fog. Her bright green markings struck fear into some of the lower class ships, but in all honesty, it just amused her a bit.

While she was large, she was one of the fastest ships in the fleet. Her Displacement was 2,570 long tons, 3,330 long tons with a full load.

Her Length was 129.5m, her Beam was 11.2m, her Draft was 4.15m. With her speedy engines, she was able to reach speeds of 90 knots, and even with a full load she could still reach 80 knots.

The proudest thing Shimakaze had about herself was her armament. Being a Fog vessel granted her with several special kinds of weapons. She had 6x 25 mm type 96 anti-aircraft guns, 2x 13.2 anti-aircraft machine guns, 56x 610mm vertical torpedo tubes, 8x 610mm frontal torpedo tubes, 12x 127mm Photon Cannons and 36 depth charges. And for defense, she had Wave force armor, which could block any corrosive torpedoes launched at her. This armament made her a threat, though against human ships, she wouldn't so much as break a sweat.

Recently, she had decided on crafting her own mental model, in hopes that she could act more like a human. She had been intrigued by them for as long as she could remember, and one day she hoped to go on land and try some of the things the humans had. She wanted to know what Ice cream was, and where she could get some Chocolate covered strawberries.

Her mental model was that of a sixteen year old girl, with long silver blonde hair, that reached just above her waist. She wore a white sleeveless shirt with a blue sailor collar, that left her midriff exposed, and had six golden buttons on it. She wore a very short blue pleated skirt with a red belt around her waist, the straps of her black thong could be seen on her hips. She wore stripped red thigh high stockings, along with a pair of silver metallic boots. The heels were thin and bright red. She was wearing a black headdress that looked like bunny ears, and swayed in the breeze. She wore long white gloves that reached to her biceps and were lined with blue stripes. Her bright green eyes scanned the horizon, as if something would be coming at her.

Shimakaze sighed, brushing back a strand of hair. She still didn't know why she had been sent all the way out East, but apparently the Navy stationed in Hawaii was becoming a bit more active. There had been rumors of a vessel leaving with several humans on it and making it to San Diego, somehow getting undetected by any of the patrol fleets. And seeing as she was the fastest Destroyer of the Second Oriental Fleet, her Flagship Hyuuga thought it best for her to at least check it out. She leaned back against the wall of her Conning Tower, bored out of her mind. The Island was just coming into view, she opened up her Radar and Sonar map, and quickly did a scan.

"There isn't anything here. No small vessels and no readings of underwater submersibles. Why the hell would Hyuuga even send me over here?" she asked herself. The sun was barely peeking out of the horizon now, since it was around Seven or Eight in the evening. She saw a few tiki torches lit up at the beach, meaning the humans were most likely having a beach party. She grit her teeth, becoming a bit giddy at the thought of going to a party. All of her friend's were stiff and wouldn't throw a party due to following the rules and what not, but there wasn't anything wrong and going onto land for a bit of fun, in her opinion anyway. If Hyuuga caught her though, she'd be reprimanded severely, probably have her core repaired again. She looked around for a few seconds before dropping her anchor. With a wave of her hand, she made a gangplank from her Klein Field, heading to the hill just above the beach.

"It won't hurt to take a peek. It's not like the humans would even notice me." she said to herself. She jumped down to the boat deck, landing with a loud clack before stepping toward the gangplank. It wasn't long before she started to run, being unable to hold herself back.

Jonas and his friends were patiently waiting near Iroquois Point, hoping to spot the Fog ship as it passed by. Chloe had borrowed one of her superior's tablet's, which allowed her to see any vessels in the remote area, but they weren't able to see anything whatsoever. Nick was looking though a pair of binoculars, hoping to see something out on the water, but so far he saw nothing.

"Are you sure this ship is going to come by here?" he asked, glancing back at Chloe who was holding her headphones tightly against her ear, eyes narrowed in concentration. After a minute, she looked at him.

"Of course she'll pass by here. Her patrol route is consistent, she's not just gonna stop, unless her Flagship told her to stop." Chloe replied. Jonas looked at the two as they argued, shaking his head. He remembered when he met them. They were the only two people that actually wanted to talk to him. He had been a loner his entire life, most people knew him as the kid who had dreams of leaving Hawaii even though it was impossible to leave at the moment. He would boast about getting out of this "Hellhole" any chance he got, instead of following the stagnant Status Quo and submitting to the Fleet of Fog. It wasn't something he wanted to do, he wasn't training to be a Naval Officer just so he could get stuck in some office doing nothing for the rest of his life. He wanted to see the world, and most of all he wanted to get home.

"Look alive you two, She's here." Chloe said.

"Really?" Nick asked, glancing at his redheaded friend. She nodded and turned the tablet toward him.

"Japanese Destroyer Shimakaze. She's one of the fastest ships recorded, and one of the ones that was responsible for the most human casualties of the Great Naval War." She said.

"Shimakaze is a one of a kind ship, why would she be patrolling the Eastern Pacific?" Nick asked.

"Perhaps it's because of her armament and speed. Hawaii's naval base is rather large, sending a Heavy Cruiser would just be a waste of time. They would probably lose their field and be forced to retreat, sending a Destroyer however would be a better choice, with her speed and armament, she'd be able to take out what remains of the American Fleet here." Jonas said.

"She just stopped moving." Chloe said, earning a curious look from Jonas.

"What are her passive Sonar readings?"

"I can't really tell. Her sonar is off actually."

"Uh...this is Shimakaze we're talking about right? Why would a Japanese Destroyer have her Sonar off?" Nick asked.

"Don't know, but it's off. Looks like she dropped anchor too...three...four miles away from the coast, and with her location she can't be seen by humans or detected by our Sonars." She said.

"Hey...I see something green in the distance...looks like it's headed to the hill above the beach."

Jonas took the binoculars from Nick and looked through them. He squinted a bit, seeing the glowing green path. He saw a figure running on it, in quite a rush. He followed the green path, which lead to something that was lightly glowing in the same green color. He lowered his binoculars and looked into the distance.

"I think I see the vessel. I saw a girl too, running on the green path." He replied.

"A girl?" Nick asked.

"It might be a Mental Model. There were reports of some Fog ships making mental models to better understand humans. That's just a rumor though, I don't know if it's true." Chloe said.

"The path is still there...I might be able to get on board."

"What? Are you insane Jonas?" Nick asked, glancing at his friend.

"I might be. I'm gonna go check it out, feel free to join me." he muttered, handing the blonde haired teen his binoculars back. He started heading down the side path that would cross the abandoned beach.

"Hey wait...you can't go. What if she attacks you?"

"Her mental model isn't on board, I doubt she can sense humans when she's not aboard her vessel. I'll place a tracer on her and lock her weapons, maybe I can negotiate passage off this island." he said.

"Nego...do you hear yourself dude? You aren't a pirate, you can't just barter passage off this island."

"Well I want off." He snapped, glancing at Nick, eyes narrowed in anger. He looked at the sand at his feet, taking a deep breath.

"I have been stuck on this island for Seven years, ever since the battle of Yakor. My Grandmother and my Cousins are dead, the only person left in my life is my mother, who must be sick and worried, hell she may even think I'm dead. I am not dying on this island, I am getting off. If you want to to stay here for the rest of your life, then by all means, feel free to stay, but I am not going to."

With that, Jonas turned around, heading toward the abandoned beach. Chloe stood up from her spot behind the large rock formation she was sitting against. She closed her laptop and turned off her tablet, placing her headphones around her neck. She glanced at Nick for a second before going after Jonas.

"What are you doing Chloe?" he asked.

"Following Jonas. He's right, I'm not dying on this island. I'm sick of just sitting around, taking tests and getting results only to be told that I might be good at something in the future. It's time I actually did something with my life. I'm not sitting in an office for the rest of my life." she said. Nick sighed, running a hand through his hair. He grit his teeth, glancing back at where the city was. He had lived there most of his life, and lost his parents due to wars. Deep down, he was tired of being on this island as well. His family was in Wisconsin, what was left of them anyway. He had no reason to stay here, and so he wasn't going too. He was scared, but he would swallow his fear, in favor of making a life of himself.

It took the three around twenty minutes to actually make it to the vessel. They were amazed at it's size. It was nothing near what the human ships actually had been. This Destroyer was capable of destroying an entire fleet on it's own, and yet here it was harmlessly floating in the water. Chloe was the first one aboard, followed by Jonas and Nick. They looked around the flight deck, seeing the large Photon Cannon that were primed and ready to fire. Nick shivered a bit.

"Those cannons can cut through a Navy ship without breaking a sweat." He said. Jonas smiled a bit, he was impressed with what he was seeing. Shimakaze was a threatening looking vessel. He no doubt knew that this ship had taken down several human ships during the war. Just how many people had been killed by those cannons? He saw the covers to the vertical missile launchers, glowing a light green. He nodded to himself and drew his gun, pulling the slide back.

"Are you sure this will work Jonas?" Nick asked.

"I'm sure. I programmed it after all." he said with a smirk. He took aim at the Conning Tower above them and pulled the trigger. The small tracer shot forward, opening in mid air before latching itself onto the antenna at the top of the tower. He pulled his phone from his pocket and unlocked the screen, tapping his program's app. Once it loaded, he started getting readings of the ship.

"Holy crap, you got it's specs?" Chloe asked, glancing at the phone. He gave her a nod, looking at all of the ship's compartments. Shimakaze was fully stocked on everything. She had 130 normal torpedoes, 70 corrosive torpedoes, 120 missiles, 36 depth charges, and 22 infrasonic torpedoes. Her propulsion engines ran on thanatonium, an element that humans didn't know much about at this moment, but had theorized was what made the Fog different from human ships. The biggest weapon aboard though was the Super Gravity Cannon. Survivors from the war had described this massive gravity weapon, one blast from it would devastate an entire fleet, it would even disintegrate a single ship given the chance. Once everything was all green, Jonas locked all the weapons. The thick glowing green markings on the hull of the ship slowly disappeared, and the green gangplank lost a bit of it's glow but held true.

"What do we do now?" Nick asked.

"We explore. We have to get acquainted with our new vessel don't we?" Jonas asked, a smirk on his face. He took off, going in a random direction. Chloe followed suit, not wanting to be left behind. Nick sighed, shaking his head. May as well explore the ship for himself, maybe he'd find something interesting aboard.

Shimakaze had finally reached land. It had been the first time off her ship in her entire existence. Everything was so different, the sand felt weird and walking in heels had been a challenge. The scent of burning wood and flowers assaulted her senses and was driving her absolutely crazy. She was hiding behind a palm tree, staring at a few college students having a party. Upon doing some research, she found out that it was something called "Spring Break" where students would throw parties and drink alcohol due to being off from school. She wondered why it was even called Spring Break as it didn't involve springs whatsoever. She stiffened a bit as a few girls walked by her, she clenched her eyes shut, letting out a sigh of relief once they passed.

"This is all so cool. I better record all of this for later." She muttered to herself, activating one of her recording devices. She saw a few people sitting by the fire holding sticks over the flame, she had found out they were roasting candy called Marshmallows in order to make something else called Smores.

"Hey you."

She eeped and fell down into the sand, her skirt riding up a bit. Several of the boys wolf whistled, cheering at the sight of panties, while the other girl's scolded them for their rudeness. Shimakaze looked up, seeing a couple girl's standing before her, holding her hand out.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

The girl was wary. She this was her first time with actual human contact, ever. Even though she looked like a human girl, she didn't know how one truly acted. Though she had seen their body language and their attitude before, she didn't feel comfortable being herself around them. She slowly took the girl's hand and she was back on her feet shortly after. She shook a bit of sand from her hair and clothes.

"I saw you standing there by yourself and figured you wanted to join us." she said with a smile.

"Um...you don't know me." she said.

"We know that, but it's spring break, so it doesn't matter if we know each other or not. Though I haven't seen someone with your skin color in a while, normally all of the people here spend as much free time as they can in the sun." she said. Shimakaze looked at her skin color, seeing that she looked really different from the other girls and boys around her.

"I...stay inside a lot." she replied.

"I'll say. You're actually pretty cute, you got a boyfriend? If not I can show you a good time." one of the guy's by the fire said, a smirk on his face.

"Don't be a pig Chris, jeez. We don't want to scare the poor girl away."

"Would you like something to eat? You must be hungry." the girl that had helped her said. Shimakaze shook her head.

"No no, I'm not really that hungry." she said.

"Nonsense, we have plenty." she said. One of her friends handed her a plate filled with all sorts of food. Not wanting to seem out of place, Shimakaze grabbed the Hot dog and took a bite from it. As she chewed, she did a bit of research on the food itself, finding out that it was a type of meat made from cows, pigs and chickens. She swallowed the bite in her mouth, quickly taking another one. The girl smiled brightly.

"See, I knew you were hungry, what's your name?" she asked.

"Um...Shiki...call me Shiki." she said.

"It's nice to meet you Shiki, you can join us if you want. We have plenty of food." she said. The blonde girl nodded, following the tan girl to where her friends were.

After awhile, she got used to the scene around her. All of the people were very nice, though some of the boys kept hitting on her and the girls embarrassed her a bit. She felt as if she had lived with them for a long time, learning a lot about them and their dreams. Most of them were the same, to leave the island and go to the mainland, while others were content with just being alive. The more she interacted with them, the more she learned. One of the girl's had weaved a lei from the flowers growing around the beach. She apologized, saying they didn't have many flowers in the area, but she didn't mind it at all. She kept inhaling their sweet scent, blushing a bit from how they smelled.

"I dunno why Kongo says humans can't be trusted. Their interesting creatures...I bet if she interacted with humans, she would change her views on them."

She stiffened a bit, eyes widening. She looked to her right, where her ship was docked, seeing the glow of her markings fade out of existence. She stood up, and walked toward the surf, stopping just before the waves. She tried looking out into the ocean but couldn't see her ship whatsoever. She could faintly see the path she had left in order to get back on her ship before it slowly started to fade away. A window started to flash in her line of sight, but she didn't dare open it near the humans. The girl that had welcomed her to their party, Sasha, stopped next to her, a worried look on her face.

"Is something wrong Shiki?" she asked.

"NO...nothing's wrong...It's just...it's getting late, and I really have to go."

"Oh...that's okay. I hope you had a great time with us, it wasn't a traditional luau but we did it justice." she said.

"You did, I had a great time, and the food was awesome. I'll see you around okay?"

"Don't be a stranger." she said, waving her off. Shimakaze felt a bit sad, knowing this was probably the last time she would see her new friend. She slowly walked back the way she came, trying to find the gangplank she had created when she has come off her ship. She didn't find it at all, sighing, she set out to create a new one. She took the time to open the message that had popped up on her display. It was a message that said her Weapons had been remotely locked.

"What is the meaning of this? No one has been able to remotely lock my weapons ever. Could it be the Navy here finally got savvy enough to develop something like that?" she asked herself. She expanded her spec rings, searching for the problem. She found an unknown device attached to her Conning Tower and was the source of her weapons being locked. She tried hacking it, but it was too advanced for her to hack it. It would take her more than a few minutes to actually get in. She kept walking toward her ship, the faster she was on it the faster she could leave Hawaii, before the Navy saw that she was completely unprotected. Finally, making it to the side of her ship, she created a small stairway onto her deck, allowing it to disappear once she was back on board. She rose her anchor and opened her operations window, starting her engines. However, her engines didn't start, however many times she tried, she wasn't able to move at all.

"Damn it, what is going on?" she shouted, looking around. She found the blinking device attached to her antenna. She focused on it, accessing it's interface. Her eyes widened a bit when she saw the massive firewall on it. She started typing a series of decryption lines, trying to see if she could crack it's code. No matter what she tried, she couldn't get past the firewall...she would actually have to sit down to crack this thing open, using most of her processing power to crack a tiny tracer was beyond her. She heard a chuckle, and quickly looked at its source, finding a young man sitting atop one of her Photon Cannons.

"Impressive isn't it? I programmed that firewall myself." He said.

"Who the heck are you?" Shimakaze shouted, pointing at him angrily. Her rings expanded a bit, but since her weapons were locked, she couldn't do anything against him.

"I'm no one special. Just a kid who want's to sail the seas, and see the world. But more importantly, I want to go home." he said.

"Home? Isn't this place your home?" she asked, jabbing her thumb toward Hawaii. He shook his head.

"I'm from the East Coast of the United States of America. Florida to be exact." He said.

"Alright, and what do you want me to do about it? I'm not a ferry service you know." she snapped.

"I want you to help me. Shimakaze is it?" he asked, earning a nod from her. He jumped down from the barrel of the cannon, landing on the deck below him.

"You are currently three miles from Pearl Harbor's dock. It won't be long until they see your ship anchored here. They'll send out their fleet and fire against you, and when they realize your field is down, they'll fire their strongest munitions at you. And they'll sink you." he said, stopping right in front of the mental model. Shimakaze swallowed hard, her glare hardening a bit.

"But...I have the solution...right here." he said, holding his phone out to her. She looked at him, tilting her head. He gestured for her to take it and she did. When she scanned the device, she got the codes to unlock the tracer. She looked back at him, brow raised.

"You just handed me the codes to unlock your tracer...why would you do that? Do you know what I am?" she asked.

"You are a mental model of the Fog...I'm not a good negotiator. I thought I would ask you nicely if I could stay aboard your ship. My friends are aboard too but...I don't think their ready to meet a mental model yet." he said.

"You want to stay aboard my ship...what is your ulterior motive?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I just want to sail the seas and possibly go home?" he asked.

"It makes no sense. Why would a human risk his life just so he could sail the seas and return home? Are you just that stupid that you don't care for your own life?"

"That's not it. I guess...I want to know more about the Fog, and how I can stop them from attacking human ships. I think we can all be friends...I grew up having to live alone, my family is all gone, my mother is the only one alive and even now I have no clue if she's alive or not. Shimakaze, you are my freedom...my last hope. It's not like I can wait for another Fog ship to sail by Hawaii and ask her to get me out of here...please...allow me to just stay here. I'm not gonna stop you if you have to fight against other people."

She stayed silent for a few minutes, glancing at the phone in her hand. She felt a bit weird, her core was tingling a bit with an unknown emotion...was it...empathy maybe? Pity? She never pitied anything, humans included. Why would she feel pity now? Why would she even bother helping a human? Her thoughts drifted back to the kids back at the beach, enjoying their time. They had been nice to her, fed her even and talked to her as if she was human. The truth was she wasn't and they wouldn't know that. She wanted more of those moments, she wanted more experiences like that...and she wasn't going to get that if she stayed in the Fleet of Fog. Maybe it was time for her to leave the Fleet, even though she would be branded a traitor by her Fleet. After another minute of silence, she finally looked at the young man.

"I'm not going to let you hitch a ride on my ship for fun. I want something from you." she said.

"What would you want from a human like me?" he asked.

"Human experiences, I want you to treat me like a regular girl, not like a mental model and not like a war ship. If I allow you to be on board, it would be going against the Admirality Code the Fleet of Fog must absolutely follow. But if we make a compromise, then leaving the fleet wouldn't be so bad. Not just that, I'll...allow you to...be my captain." she said, looking away from him. She tugged on her skirt, pulling it down a bit while hiding her blush.

"You want me to be your captain?" he asked.

"I want you to be my friend first and foremost, but yes...I'll let you be my captain. But I have to scan you first so I know you are telling the truth about being my friend." she said firmly. He chuckled.

"Sure thing." he said. She nodded and unlocked her systems, the green markings returning to her ship. The sounds of the engines starting up filled his ears and sure enough, they started moving away from the Island of Hawaii. Shimakaze looked back at the young man, a curious look on her face.

"Well, what is your name Captain?" she asked.

"My name is Jonas Rongil, it's nice to meet you Shimakaze." he said, holding his hand out to her. She looked at it oddly.

"It's a handshake. Humans shake hands as a gesture of friendship." he said.

"Oh...okay." she said, taking a firm hold of his hand. They shook for a few seconds before letting go. She opened her status window, her rings glowing brightly.

"Alright, I need to scan you now. If I find out you were lying or are trying to damage my core, I will kill you." she said. He gave a nod and spread his arms out, allowing her to scan his body. Her eyes glowed brightly as she looked at the status screen in front of her. Her eyes widened a bit at what she found. She closed the status screen, giving him a nod.

"You passed, I believe you. I'll lead you to the bridge." she said.

"Oh, I already found my way to the bridge. I sort of left my friends alone there...hope you don't mind. You'll have to scan them too right?" he asked.

"No...it's alright. I just needed to know if you were telling the truth...after all you are my captain now." she said with a giggle.

"Okay, thanks again Shimakaze."

"Please...I want my friends to call me Shiki for short. And it's alright Captain." she said with a smile.

"I'm gonna go ahead. Hope you don't mind."

"No no, I'll meet you there." she said, watching him go. Once he was out of sight, she opened her status window again, looking at the results of her scan. There was a profile picture of Jonas on it, a picture she had taken right before the scan. Next to it was all of his information.

Age:16

Gender: Male

Height: 160cm

Weight: 65kg

Blood Type: AB

All of this was the basic medical results of the scan. What caught her attention was the second part of the scan.

Species: Human/Mental Model

Union Core: Takao Class

Genetic Modification at a large scale. Fog Union Core detected, unknown Vessel, specifications imply that it's a Battleship Core that was reprogrammed by humans. He also has a core processor in his brain which increases his intellect tenfold. It doesn't seem like he is human anymore. The Union core seemed to have remade his genetic structure, giving him the look of a human but the structure of a mental model and yet, he registered as being fully human. Her scans could barely tell the difference, and was borderline inconclusive. Going by his attitude, he most likely didn't know anything about this experimentation on him. If he didn't know then she wasn't going to tell him, however, she was going to due a lot more research the next time she was closer to land. She closed her scanning window down and headed toward the bridge, it was time to meet her new crew.