A/N: Hope you like this! 

Disclaimer: some of the foreign word used as callsign in this story are machine-translated via Google Translate.

January 22nd, 2019. Yellow Sea, 1700 hour

Lieutenant (Navy equivalent to Army and Air Force Captain) Umi "Target" Sonoda is conducting patrol aboard her F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. A part of the VFA-225 "Carps", one of the fighter squadrons in the now carrier-capable Japanese Navy, embarked on board aircraft carrier JNS Zuikaku, translated as Auspicious Crane.

Now she's commanding the second element of a 4-ship F-35 flight conducting combat air patrol in support of a target-of-opportunity mission, one of the newly discovered North Korean POW camp just near the border with China, 115 miles southeast from the nearby major city, Sinuiju, codenamed Operation Kinu, named after Kinu river in Japan.

The strike package consists of Korean F-15K and Japanese F-15EJ Strike Eagles tasked to destroy any defenses inside the complex and other target of opportunities in order to allow an Australian SASR (Special Air Service Regiment) team, callsign Swan, to liberate it's prisoners, with USN EA-18G provided ECM and SEAD support.

A diversion raid was also launched from Zuikaku, herself positioned in Tsushima Strait with escorts, which include two brand-new Haguro-class, also known as Improved Atago-class, Aegis destroyers Haruna and Nachi (1),  in a form of four Super Hornets and four JSFs.

A Kawasaki-built E-2J Hawkeye orbiting ahead from the carrier soon contacted the F-35s, already refueled 15 minutes after taking off with an American KC-46.

"All Kajiki flight, be advised, you are on rendezvous point with the strike package" said the AWACS, callsign "Shimushu"

"Roger Shimushu, we're in visual on the package" said the flight leader, Lieutenant Commander James Kanagawa, callsign "Cutlass" as his eyes gained vision of eight F-15Es below his own flight.

Meanwhile, inside one of the Strike Eagles, callsign "Temple 1-2" Tsubaki's eyes are focused on the radar and her weapons, while the back seat, 1st Lt. Enomoto "Zipper" Naoto, recently transferred from the 302nd TFS to replace one of the 4th own CSO which was relieved from his duties and currently being prosecuted due to document falsification, specifically his criminal record, are checking at the navigational pod to ensure its course.

Watari was assigned in a separate mission; interdiction of a North Korean armored division attempted to cut off Allied force in a town called Chongpyong.

Back to the mission, as the joint Japanese-Korean-American strike package passing an island called Sinmi-do..

"Contact, eight bandits bearing 075, 135 miles, heading west-southwest. Angels 18, identified as Venezuelan Flanker-Gs and it's heading for the strike package!"

"All strike unit, stay on course, we're going to take care of those bandits" said Commander Kanagawa. The F-35s increased throttle and formed up to engage the Venezuelans, within visual range as their relative position are relatively close to the Chinese airspace.

"Those bastards must had came from Chongjin or even deep inside China," Kajiki 04 and Umi's wingman, Lieutenant (junior grade) Nakajima "Claw" Sato said. 

"We have an important update for Kajiki flight; a flight of KF-25s has been dispatched from Kunsan to reinforce you. Kajiki lead, you are cleared to engage at will!"

---

"Datalink setup completed" the corresponding Kanji character was shown on Umi's F-35 cockpit interface.

The Japanese F-35s had been equipped with stealthy external tanks that also serve as external weapons pod in order to allow it to carry missiles outside the internal weapons bay without compromising it's stealth feature.

Sure enough, the JSFs are in position to shoot, using mid-course update from the AWACS it fire eight AAM-4Cs before it locked on the enemy. Sure enough, the Flankers scattered to defeat the missiles, but three were destroyed.

"Splash one" Kajiki 02, LT. Nishizumi Shou, callsign "Crab" reported his kill.

"Solid hit, splash that Flanker" Umi reported.

"One less commie, hurrah!" James cheered.

The surviving bandits gunned their engines to close into the F-35s. One Flanker soon passed Umi's F-35 and immediately entered a turning fight, within visual range of each other.

"Fox two!" Umi's backflip maneuver surprised the Flanker after three minutes of pursuit and turning move over the Yellow Sea. The ensuing missile shot exploded right inside the Su-30's hot tailpipe, and it broke apart in mid-air.

"Love arrow shot! Splash one!" She shouted her personal slogan back in her school idol days over the radio as she reports her second kill in the day.

As the F-35s continued their engagement with the Venezuelan Flankers, the F-15s, are just 25 miles from their target. Tracers rose up challenging the oncoming strike aircrafts.

"Swan team is en route, ETA, 1 minute"

"Shit, we don't have a much time."

"Target locked!" Enomoto reported as he locked two 23 mm AA guns near the outer perimeter.

"Target confirmed, pickle, pickle!" Tsubaki dropped two 250-pound (113 kg) GPS-guided GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs or SDB. As its name suggested, it has a relatively small 38 pound warhead in order to reduce collateral damage.

Meanwhile, Maj. Suzuki, assigned as the flight leader in this mission, dropped two, heavier, JDAMs to destroy two guard towers stood in the way of the incoming SAS team. Secondary explosions from stored fuels and munition further intensify the inferno. Luckily no prisoner's compound were caught in the blast and flame.

"Swan is on station, team is away and it's moving towards the compound"

"Go, go, go!" said the SASR team leader over the radio, after several chaotic calls and gunfire.

"APC in the courtyard, heading for Swan!" said a Korean.

"I see it, engaging" said the Korean wingmen, Lt. Kim Kum-cho, callsign Jumeog (Fist) 1-4. "Bombs away" Two SDBs went off his Slam Eagle's wing, directly impacting two BTR-60 APCs heading for the Australian team, destroying it along with several soldiers responding to the attack.

"SAM, break, break!" Tsubaki called as she saw a contrail of SA-16 streaked past them. The offending KPA soldier with the SAM was immediately dispatched by Temple 1-2 by high-risk strafing run using the 20mm Vulcan.

"He's history" Temple 1-3, Capt. Tachibana reported.

"Be advised, Swan, we're going to assist you in this by blowing off some of those walls for additional escape route" Temple 1-4 called the ground unit.

"Excellent idea!"

He soon passed one of the camp's wall and dropped a JDAM, immediately collapsed a section when it hits.

Suddenly. "Jumeog 1-2, to all units, we've got company, Saeqehs! All Jumeog flight, engaging!" another Korean pilot reported his sighting of the Iranian-built fighter above the camp. 

"Where are those escorts?" Suzuki asked the AWACS.

"Kajiki here, we're on your way in afterburner, all of those Flankers has been defeated. hang in there.." After a ten second that seems to be eternity the Navy flight lead responded.

"This is Seonpung (whirlwind), we hear you, heading towards your position now" said the leader of the Korean KF-25 flight dispatched as backup and reinforcement to the CAP fighters.

"Fox two!" Tachibana reported as he launched an AAM-5 towards a stray MiG-21 passed by in front of him, which destroyed it.

"Fox three!" Suzuki locked a Saeqeh and fired an AAM-4. Not a direct hit but the shrapnel was enough to damage its twin GE J85 turbojet engine, it's portside fin soon went off the fuselage, sent it into a violent spin as the Iranian inside ejected.

Four minutes later. "More contact up ahead, Fulcrums, bearing 030, angels 12, heading southwest-south!"

"Goddamn it, where are those people? We cannot extract if those fighters are not taken down, and we have packages here!" grumbled the Australian SAS leader.

"I got a solid lock, Fox 3!" Jumeog 1-3's radar locked two Saeqehs in front of him. Being based on older fighter it's subsystems are less capable than the F-15s, making them less able to detect and counter oncoming missiles, which rings true when two of the fighters took direct AMRAAM hit, destroying both.

"Fox three!" A Korean accented English voice came over the radio.

"Fox three!" A Japanese voice followed.

"Here comes the cavalry!" said Lt. Cdr. Kanagawa as his F-35s were in sight of the Strike Eagles and orbiting over the camp, ready to engage the oncoming MiG-29s.

After several more minutes and the strike fighters are being re-formed to exit the combat area, Suzuki asked "Shimushu, what's the status of the ground team?"

The Australian replied instead. "We're taking off and egressing at haste. All wounded prisoners has been evacuated alongside ours and now on their way home."

The Airbus MRH-90 Taipans transporting the Australians formed up and turned back towards home.

A/N: 

1. In real life the JMSDF are to increase their collection of ballistic missile defense capable AEGIS-equipped destroyers from six to eight ships as the Japanese government has requested a possible sale of two ship set of the Aegis Combat System from the United States and being close allies, the Americans will be more than happy to approve the sale (source: http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/japan-ddg-guided-missile-destroyer-7-and-8-aegis-combat-system-acs-underwater).

About the naming, Japanese Aegis destroyers are named after mountains, all of these names have been used in the days of the Imperial Japanese Navy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_ship-naming_conventions):

- Kongou, Kirishima, Myoukou, Choukai (Kongou-class/DDG-173 class)

- Atago, Ashigara (Atago-class/DDG-177 class)

Both Haruna and Nachi are mountains in Japan, so the next two vessels could be named after it. And in this story this "Improved-Atago class" consist of three ships in active service, Haguro, Nachi, and Haruna, while the fourth, Hiei, are on sea trial, so the total is ten ship instead of eight.

UPDATE: The new class of the JMSDF Aegis destroyer, DDG-179 is named Maya. Maya is also a mountain.