My radio lit up at around six in the morning. It was three days since we'd set out, the decoy taking a more westerly route then required to put them further into the jaws of the Spratly Island Abyssals. Chitose climbed upstairs blearily as I blared at them from the Captain's wheel, Hakone following as the Caravan's radio transmission garbled."This is Chi-57. We've picked up numerous surface contacts, and our destroyers have picked up submarine pings on our radar. We need whatever assistance you can provide, over." I looked over to Chitose.
"Looks like its showtime. Get your aircraft launching, I'll start cruising over to see if I can take care of those submarines." She nodded resolutely as I turned to Hakone, "You patrol around the ship and guard Chitose alright? We don't need a cheeky destroyer slipping around and breaking our new house." She gave me the Imperial Japanese salute. "Alright let's go!" And I jumped onto scooter, diving almost immediately. It was still early in the morning, the waters almost black as I dived down to 8 fathoms. Pushing scooters propulsion to 21 knots we flew through the water. On my low-frequency channel I could hear the orders as the hopelessly out-gunned decoy caravan took defensive positions, guarding the Wa-classes as they took on an anti-sub formation. I'd have to steer clear of them so I didn't catch a depth charge by accident. Through the water I could see vague shadows flit by overhead as Chitose's launched Kai class started to enter the fight.
watch?time_continue=116&v=URyW5Z-bni4&feature=emb_title
"There aren't many aircraft being fielded by the enemy, looks like they are relying on surprise and speedy destroyers and light-cruisers to chase their enemies down. I'm seeing several He-class light cruisers, five packs-worth of imps, around twenty I class's and... oh no. Georgia! They have a Ta-class battleship! Be careful not to get caught on the surface by it, its 16inchers will tear you apart!" I shrugged at that, before focusing on my own theater. As I passed the right flank of the caravan I spotted my first target: A Ka-class submarine, angling for a shot on one of the To-class. I could tell its frustration from here, as the Ro escort destroyers kept unintentionally blocking its view. I raised myself to 5 fathoms, slightly above the submarine as I approached it, allowing my speed to drop to about 5 knots as I did so.
I didn't want to waste my torpedoes on a ship that wouldn't see me coming, not when there were destroyers capable of flinging charges everywhere. So I filled my tanks and came down on it, wrenching the oxygen torpedo out of its grip as I plunged my left arm into its chest like I had that Cargo container so long ago. The sound of crumpling metal was dampened by the water, a burst of pressurized air bubbles streamed from the gap in the hole I'd torn into its chest as its ruptured ballast tanks emptied.
And if the Ka screamed it was muffled by its respirator as I rooted around at my Captains direction in its chest, my fingers found purchase on something shaped almost like a can. I wrapped my hand around it tightly and pulled. The Ka's struggles abruptly ceased as I looked at the Watertube boiler in my hand, still incredibly hot to the touch as the torn off pipes briefly continued to pump hot water out like blood, the check valves broken off. I let go of it and let it drop, along with the suddenly still and sinking Ka-class, as I continued on through the right flank, taking the oxygen torpedo with me.
The battle had begun in earnest on the surface, large splashes above showcasing where bracket-fire had hit as torpedoes streamed by overhead, both from the enemy and our own destroyers and Chi. One of the enemy light-cruisers went up like a firework as I watched, slipping below the surface and drifting down to where I could see the damage, its lumpy upper body and the half of its head left covered in large craters from what must be Chitose's float-planes, the 'chug chug chug' of muffled anti-air fire was a constant beat I swam to. I Idly chucked the oxygen torpedo in my hand like a javelin at an I class as I passed.
It missed, of course, but managed to clip another and cause it to start taking on water if the list was anything to go by. I found my next actual target when I overheard reports that one of our Ro class destroyers had been hit by torpedo fire on our left flank, the one I had drifted over to. Judging by its listless corpse sailing past about a hundred meters out it was fatal. I looked for any movement, any faint shadow that wo-THERE. It was another Ka-class, already taking out another torpedo from its own personal hammerspace as I watched.
I didn't bother Wrenching the torpedo out of its hand this time. It dropped it anyway in surprise when it felt my hands around the back of its neck, I locked my knee's and straddled her back, getting a good grip as I held on through the submarines panicked flailing before I unscrewed the Ka's head like I was opening a jar of pickles. There was even a 'pop' at the end.
Though I'm fairly certain a pickle jar would be harder to open, at least without breaking the jar. I let the head tumble out of my hands as I continued to stalk the battlefield looking for the remaining submarines. I didn't fight anyone, that would mean they'd seen me, I up and disassembled their respirator-wearing arses. It was about the time I'd finished off probably the last Ka that the Chi in charge came in over the radio. "Georgia-Hime! The enemy fleet know you're in the water somewhere, I'm seeing almost a third of their destroyers launching charges on your position!" They hadn't, they were launching in the general direction of the last known Ka-class I'd killed, they must have realized something was picking them off. I was already over a hundred meters from where the little barrels rained, explosive shockwaves tearing the last Ka I'd disabled to pieces before she could drift down out of sight.
The Chi was destroyed after that, the Ta class fast battleship advancing through a spread of torpedoes and getting a direct hit with one of her 16 inch guns. When she slipped below the waterline, there wasn't all that much left to see, the human half of her body had been hit somewhere in-about the solar plexus, and as a result had come down in two separate pieces. The Wa-classes, seeing this as their cue, started to steam out of the protective formation the remaining light cruisers and destroyers had formed at full burn. This took the enemy by surprise it seemed, as the Wa-class transports were very likely the war-parties objective in the first place.
The hesitance to fire on what could be valuable cargo cost them, as the three Wa-class reached the enemy destroyer-lines with desperate roars and exploded, each taking out a number of the comparatively small vessels. Mae had had the transports packed with explosives and turned into fire ships, stating that they were destined for the scrapyard anyway as outdated models. I didn't really agree with it but this, apparently, killed two birds with one stone. Several birds actually, as I saw Imp corpses caught in the radius also start to drift down. The battle paused for a brief moment, but with Chitose's aircraft still harrying them, the remaining vessels quickly snapped out of their stupor.
With the transports gone, the entire reason the pirates were here had gone up in smoke, the Ta-class having finished off the two To-class light cruisers in a duel of blistering fire, covered the rearguard of the enemy as the fleet attempted to disengage. We could let the remaining I-class and Imps go, they were simple-minded, and wouldn't notice us trailing behind them back to their base of operations.
But that Ta class had to go. I shot out ahead of the course of the battleship, passing within several arms lengths below her as I did. Her feet came to narrow points, no skeg to break, I couldn't re-create that stunt I'd pulled with Hakone, and it would be near impossible to hit such a fast and small footprint on the first pass with a torp. But the Ta looked like she hadn't been built in a proper yard, cracks in her skin showing through, probably production defects or badly repaired battle damage. She also had a large crack running along the back of her neck, glowing an ominous green at its base, hmmm.
I know.
I turned as I reached the 100-meter mark in front of the Ta-class's backward course away from our fleet, popping a torpedo I'd had my crew set to a 30-second timer with its proximity sensor ripped out from Scooter and into my hand, I then sped up to a record 23 knots at the battleship I waited till the last moment before emptying my ballast completely and jumping clear out of the water, Scooter diving to avoid collision with the Ta. I did not. I slammed into the Ta's back-rigging, clamping my arms down as I tried to get my breath back. Slamming into the battleship's armor had been like running into a brick wall! I had to scramble to climb up the Ta's back, who wildly swung backward, looking for what hit her, I didn't waste time, jamming my fingers into the cracks in her citadel armor the crack widened. The Ta, realizing what was happening and what I was trying to do, frantically tried to throw me off. A wild elbow cracked me in the ribs, leaving a dent in my hull, I didn't let go. The crack started to become a gash as green light began to leak out. I'd peeled the Screaming Ta's back open like a banana along the seam, leaving a direct hole into her citadel, the strong, all-or-nothing armor of a battleship that protected her machinery and ammo magazines (that was the important part).
I drove the long shaft of my modified MK48 down to the propeller into the Ta's chest cavity, before kicking off her back with my legs and swimming down like the Abyss itself was on my heels. Scooter swept by and I grabbed hold, somehow avoiding the 16inchers as they slapped into and perforated the water above me, it still shook my crew around, and I'd gotten reports of at least one high-pressure leak in the outer hull by the time the torpedo's timer ran down and it detonated.
I surfaced after the shockwave died off, half to see what I'd managed to do, half to get above water to start repairs on that leak.
Of the Ta, only twisted metal and flames remained.