A/N: Published November 18, 2020.

-13-

First to Pearl Harbor

Two fairies cranked up their orange A6Ms. Zuikaku and Katsuragi watched the fairy ground crews wave their arms around and after a thumbs up the pilots taxied onto the hundred-meter runway. The two carriers' attention broke from their planes briefly as the loud whir as quadcopter drone flew above them. The one controlling the drone was Utah. The American dreadnaught filmed the Japanese carriers' planes lining up on the runway. After the A6Ms started rolling, Utah returned the camera's focus on two flights already in the air. Two orange A6Ms belonging to Ryuujou turned into each other. Once they crossed paths, the planes reversed their turns and crossed paths again. The cycle continued until two yellow F6F Hellcats dove onto the tails of the A6Ms. The Hellcats followed the A6Ms through one weave, but midway through the second weave the four planes straightened out and flew in formation.

Not far from Zuikaku and Katsuragi was a small group made up of Ryuujou, Saratoga, Utah, and Hoppo holding an A7M while sitting in Ryuujou's lap. The light carrier looked up at Saratoga as the converted battlecruiser weaved her arms back and forth, imitating the planes' motions. She made a large turn with her hand and then a small turn. She bent backwards, miming yanking back on a control column.

"- turned too tight," said Saratoga. "You couldn't turn any more to get the Hellcat off your wingman's six.'

"'kay." Ryuujou nodded. "Let's go again."

"Okay, but make sure to not turn too wide either. You can't get to each other in time in that case."

Katsuragi watched the A6Ms and the Hellcats break away from each other.

"Zuikaku-san?" Katsuragi began.

"Hm?"

"I have a question I want to ask," said Katsuragi. "But I am not sure how appropriate it would be. It is quite sensitive."

"Please ask. If it is too sensitive, I'll decline to answer," Zuikaku said.

Blinking and avoiding Zuikaku's eyes, Katsuragi steeled herself.

"What was it like to be the first to attack?" Katsuragi asked. "You know…Pearl Harbor?"

Zuikaku had eyes like dinner plates.

"I'm sorry!" Katsuragi scrambled. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"No, no, it's all right!" Zuikaku comforted her junior. "I can answer if you want."

"Just remember that while you were bombin' Pearl, I was at Mindanao bombin' Davao!"

Ryuujou, now standing with Hoppo sitting on her shoulders, approached the two Japanese fleet carriers and greeted them with a smile.

"Also, you weren't the first to Pearl."

"Do you mean I-24 and her Ko-hyoteki?" asked Zuikaku.

"No, I mean this girl!" The light carrier pointed her thumb back towards Saratoga. Ryuujou waved her over. Saratoga stood next to the Hoppo-Ryuujou stack and gave a demure wave to Zuikaku and Katsuragi.

"You attacked Pearl Harbor first?" Zuikaku asked.

"You could say that. You might even call me an architect," said Saratoga. "Me and Lexi were north of Oahu. It was a Sunday and we launched our planes at dawn."

"Uh…are you…?" Zuikaku began.

"Oh! Sorry!" said Saratoga. "It was Fleet Problem XIII, a fleet exercise on February 7, 1932. The exercise was to simulate an attack on Pearl Harbor. Admiral Harry E. Yarnell - my commanding officer - had our planes take off at dawn, and they came in from the north-northeast. The fighters went first and attacked the airfields to prevent any fighters from getting off the ground. The bombers followed and dropped flares and bags of flour over their targets: ships, oil reserves, ammunition depots, and repair yards. Once the exercise was over, the immediate result was there was nothing on Oahu that could've been used for military purposes, which would set the US back considerably."

"Whoa," Zuikaku managed to croak after a time of silence.

"But if an air attack proved to be successful, why didn't the Americans do anything about it?" Katsuragi asked.

"Top brass had their panties in a twist and demanded the result be rescinded," said Saratoga. "They claimed it was 'unfair' with the planes approaching from north-northeast mimicking planes coming from the mainland and that Admiral Yarnell was 'supposed to' attack with battleships – which he left in San Diego. Also, apparently attacking on Sunday was 'inappropriate' and any potential enemy in the Pacific would not be 'good enough' to pull it off."

"Well, we all know how that went." Utah had landed her drone for a battery swap but decided to jump into the conversation. "The proof of concept worked and the American media blabbered about the exercise. Naturally, you guys picked up on it and planned your attack accordingly."

"I'd say we had a worse result despite you having it all planned out for us nine years prior," Zuikaku admitted. "We didn't destroy the oil reserves or the repair docks."

"And George Welch and Kenneth Taylor managed to get airborne," Saratoga added.

"But just to ignore a result like that and ignore any advice or objections the admiral may have!" exclaimed Katsuragi.

"You only need to ask Yamato about that," Zuikaku said. "Or me. Not a question I'm willing to answer, though."