other and a Commander under Terrance, is infuriated at Alex's lack of motivation and forces him to join him in the U.S. Navy. By 2012, Alex is a hothead lieutenant aboard the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS John Paul Jones, while Stone is the commanding officer of USS Sampson. Alex is in a relationship with Samantha and is in danger of being discharged from the Navy. Their ships join the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) in Hawaii. During the exercises five alien spacecraft arrive in response to the NASA signal. Their communications ship crashes in Hong Kong, causing heavy damage and casualties there, while four others land in the water near Hawaii. Sampson, John Paul Jones, and the JMSDF Kong? class destroyer My?k? investigate, but are trapped when the alien mothership creates a force field over and around the Hawaiian islands. The aliens destroy Sampson and My?k?, and damage John Paul Jones, killing the commanding and executive officers. Alex sees his brother die and takes command as the most senior officer left on the ship. The John Paul Jones recovers survivors from My?k?, including Captain Nagata, with whom Alex is in a rivalry. Meanwhile the aliens have taken over the communications array on O'ahu. Nearby, Samantha, a physiotherapist, is accompanying retired U.S. Army veteran and double amputee Mick Canales on a hike to help him adapt to his prosthetic legs. They run into a scientist, Cal Zapata, who informs them that the aliens are using the array to signal back to their home planet. He retrieves a radio that will allow Samantha and Mick to contact the John Paul Jones and relay this information. Back on the John Paul Jones, the crew faces difficulty because the alien force field has disabled radar functions. Nagata suggests using NOAA's tsunami warning buoys around Hawaii to track the aliens. During a night battle, the aliens and the humans exchange shots. The John Paul Jones sinks two alien ships, but he is unable to hit the third. After briefly capturing an alien soldier, the humans learn that the aliens are sensitive to sunlight, and decides to lure the third alien vessel close to shore, where he and Nagata shoot out its bridge windows as the sunrise blinds the aliens. In the ensuing battle, both ships are destroyed. Fearing the aliens are contacting a larger invasion fleet, Alex needs to destroy the alien mothership. But since his ship has been destroyed the survivors are forced to return to base and acquire the only remaining naval vessel, the USS Missouri. Although decommissioned and turned into a museum ship, they are able to reactivate it with the aid of the retired veterans preserving her. The battleship evades the mothership's gunfire and destroys the force field and the ship's turrets. Alex uses the last shell to destroy the communications array on the island, leaving the Missouri defenseless. However, with the energy barrier down, jet fighters from the RIMPAC fleet arrive and save the crew by destroying the weapons fired from the vessel's last turret. The RIMPAC jets then destroy the turret itself, eliminating the alien threat. A ceremony is held to honor the Navy personnel and Alex, who is promoted to Lieutenant Commander, is presented with a Silver Star and accepts Stone's posthumous Navy Cross. After the ceremony, Alex asks Admiral Shane for his daughter's hand in marriage. The admiral initially refuses but invites Alex to lunch to discuss the matter. A post-credits scene in Scotland shows three schoolchildren and a handyman running off in terror as an alien hand reaches out of an object they have just opened.

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