"We're approaching the target. Open the bomb bay doors." The lead bomber commander said as the massive wing of flying fortresses made their way over the drone fleet.
"There must be at least two hundred of those things, looks like that Port Master wasn't kidding." One of the radio men replied.
"We were told that this was a massive invasion fleet. We should have been more on the ball with this." The ground operator said.
"Cut the chatter. The fleet we saw going against this is needing our help to break these so called shields. So we need to hit our marks." The commander said as the lines went quiet.
"Permission to take targets of opportunity?" One of the bombardiers asked.
"If you can hit any dead center, send em. First to sink one of these fuckers gets a barrel from me." The commander said as the lines erupted with cheers and calls for the enemy fleet's destruction.
"First one's lined up. Bombs away." One of the bombardiers said as one of his three 4,000 pound bombs dropped from the bomb bay.
Isaac stood on the deck of the Norfolk, watching through Binoculars as the bombs fell from far above the enemy fleet.
"5...4...3...2...1...and impact." Isaac whispered as the sound of an explosion in the distance came several seconds after he saw the flash.
"Those shields are tough, but those bombs definitely pack a punch." Isaac said as he addressed the fleet.
"Alright ladies. Enemy fleet is within range, you may fire at will. Send that fleet to the bottom." Isaac ordered as the sheer amount of sudden cannon fire nearly threw him off his feet.
The battleships around the fleet all opened up with their opening salvoes, aiming for the ships that had already been worked over by the bombers.
"Girls, the shields look like they are thinning. We may be receiving fire sooner than expected." Isaac said as he narrowly avoided being cleaved in half by a shot from one of the battleships in the front of the formation. The shot flew by and landed just off the starboard side of the Norfolk.
"Jesus fucking Christ, Commander, get down!" Norfolk yelled from the bridge as Isaac looked up at her.
"I'm fine. Just focus on what's in front of us and not on me." Isaac snapped back as he made his way over to where Richthofen had pulled Hood off of her rigging.
"Richthofen, return to your ship and get bombers in the air. Shinano will cover you and your bombers. After you work them over, I want you to run interference for Eagle's Albacores. We need the torpedoes to hit and sink them before they get too close." Isaac said.
"What about her?" Richthofen asked.
"I'll deal with her. Go, before we all meet Davy Jones personally." Isaac said as her put Hood on his shoulder to carry her inside.
"As you command." Richthofen said as she jumped down to the waves as shells splashed down around the entirety of the fleet.
"Commander! Come on!" Norfolk cried as her shield flared above Isaac's head, indicating a blocked shell.
"Believe it or not, Norfolk... carrying the embodiment of a warship isn't exactly a process you can expedite." Isaac ground out as he climbed the steps to the bridge.
"Get Vestal here now, she's fading quickly." Isaac said, noting the lack of color in Hood's face.
"Already here and waiting. Now get the hell in here before you get turned into mist." Norfolk hissed as she watched a shell glance off her shields.
"We're being targeted a lot." Isaac said as Vestal grabbed Hood off of Isaac's shoulder and took her down below deck to the med bay.
"THEY SAW YOUR FACE, STUPID COMMANDER! Of course they're going to focus on us!" Norfolk yelled as he felt the ship shudder beneath him.
"What happened?" Isaac asked as he narrowly avoided faceplanting onto the floor.
"I'm getting us off the front lines. We have wounded aboard, we're taking too much fire, and they now know who to target. You need to leave for now, Commander." Norfolk growled as Isaac looked at her, knowing full well that she was right.
"You can come with me, Commander. I'm still stationed behind that big German battleship of yours My guns don't exactly have the range to hit them that far out, but I can still provide you the tools to command the fleet." Australia said.
"Australia, I admire your courage, especially after 21 years of being out of action, but I cannot in good conscious allow you to come under that volume of fire when you're still getting readjusted. Return to your ship and assist Friedrich. I know she'll be a priority target as well." Isaac said, earning a nod from Australia, who quickly made her way off the bridge and onto the waves towards her vessel.
"I count 43 ships hit during that run." The bombardier from the final bomber spoke over his radio.
"Get me that commander down there." The Bomber commander spoke.
"You're patched in, sir." The radio operator said.
"Admiral Garner?" The bomber commander spoke.
"Yes?" Isaac asked, the sound of cannon fire was heard in the background.
"We were able to hit 43 targets, about a third of what's out there. But we're out of bombs for this run. You're on your own until we can refuel and rearm. We should have enough for another run, but after that, we're 86. We're draining the reserves as is." The commander said.
"You've softened them up for us, anything more is just icing on the cake. We'll hold. We will all sink before we let them through." Isaac said.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that, Admiral." The Commander said as the line cut out.
"Go, my little ones!" Patty said happily as the three subs unmoored themselves from her flanks.
"47, come in." Norfolk called to the shy submarine.
"I'm here." 47 whispered.
"Come pick up the commander. We need to get him to safety, and above the water right now is a bit too dangerous a place for him to be, especially since the enemy know he's here and are now gunning to take his head." Norfolk said.
"On my way." 47 said softly as she sunk below the waves and made her way towards the Norfolk.
"No AA? Even with Bombers and a Carrier known to be in the area?" 556 spoke softly to herself as the head bulin and the Purin walked into her command center.
"Is something wrong?" The head bulin asked.
"This doesn't feel right to me. Rescuing Hood should not have been that easy. And to have no AA at all to try and counter the fighters or the heavy bombers? None of this is adding up, and I think that the Hood is the key to it." 556 said softly
"Yeah, it did feel a bit odd to have it go this smoothly." The Purin said as 556 nodded.
"We're going to go check it out. Batten down the hatches and prepare to dive." 556 said as the Purin ran to inform the other Bulins onboard.
"I'm not having a good feeling about this." The head bulin said.
"That's why we're doing this under the radar. Hopefully some of those bombs hit any potential subs underneath that massive fleet." 556 said softly as she filled her ballast tanks and sank below the waves.
"Commander, U-47 and U-556 have left my line of sight. U-110 has yet to depart." Patty's voice came over the Norfolk's radio.
"U-47, I can understand. But why is U-556 leaving the pen?" Isaac asked.
"I dunno, Commander." Patty said as Isaac sighed.
"Send U-110 with her. She is still on thin ice after her attempt on my life. I want to make sure she isn't about to turn on us." Isaac said as U-47 rose from the depths beside the Norfolk.
47 opened the hatch and held out her arms.
"Kommandant, come quickly." 47 said as she waved him over.
Isaac looked at Norfolk as her shields flared again.
"GO!" She yelled as Isaac jumped from the deck into the water, swimming quickly over to 47, who quickly fished him out of the water and helped him into the Submarine.
"Sorry about the rush, Kommandant, but please prepare for a crash dive. We're getting you out of the front lines." 47 said as she sealed the hatch and opened the ballast tanks without caution, dropping the sub below the waves, narrowly avoiding another shell.
"I'm Hit! Fires are spreading. I'll be back online soon." A cry came from Pennsylvania, followed by a worried yell from Arizona.
"These shells hit hard as hell. Thank the Union for the thick steel." Texas said as another crash in the background cut her line short.
"Admiral, we're taking heavy losses here. Several of my men have been lost and many are injured, we need to figure out something." Nimitz's voice came through.
"Nng... Laffey isn't used to having to dodge this much. But Laffey will do it for Nimi."
"Isaac... I hope you are safe..." Eagle's voice came over. "Come on, young one. You mustn't fall here." Shinano's voice came over as the sound of shells shattering on shields could be heard.
"I can't stand being down here like this, get me up there, now." Isaac demanded as he threw the earphones off his head.
"I can't do that, Kommandant. My directive is to keep you safe." 47 said.
"I am ordering you to bring us up. My fleet is in danger and I need to be up there to help command." Isaac said.
"Kommandant... I can't do that. They are going to target you exclusively once they reacquire you." 47 spoke calmly.
"Does this face look like I care if I get shot at? Bring us up, or I bench you until we reach Russia." Isaac yelled, slamming his fist on the wooden desk.
47 hesitated for a moment before sighing.
"Where do you want up at?" 47 asked.
"The Odin. She's near the center so I can keep my eye on Eagle and Penny." Isaac said as he straightened his uniform.
"Alright. Brace, we're breaching." 47 said in a tone not to far off from discontent.
U-47 breached the surface several yards from the Odin, which was smoking heavily from an apparent fire.
Isaac forced open the hatch and was mortified by the sights around him. Shells continued to rain down on his fleet from miles away. Most of the ships in the fleet were damaged to some extent, some worse than others. As Isaac looked around, he could see oil and blood in the water, a testament to the damage done not only to his ships, but to the men serving him.
"Get me onboard the Odin, now." Isaac ground out as 47 helped him cross the distance before jumping to the deck and throwing down a ladder. Isaac climbed quickly and found what remained of Odin's jacket in a burning heap on the deck.
Isaac's heart sank as he began to search the upper deck, eventually finding Odin in a black shirt and pants on her bridge, actively assessing the damage of her vessel from a small screen.
"Odin." Isaac said, causing her to turn and slap him.
"What the hell is going on here, Kommandant?! We save Hood, and now we're the ones in need of rescue due to your own personal morality issues? I helped Nimitz put together the formation in a way that could minimize damage. But you completely disregarded our, and your own safety to satisfy both Elizabeth and Bismarck. Look at them now!" Odin said, pointing out to where Isaac could see the blonde woman slumped against the side of Bismarck's superstructure, with her vessel nowhere to be seen.
"Wait... where is her ship?" Isaac asked.
"She was hit by three shells in short order before she could reset her shields, they pierced her powder storage and blew apart the hull. The Queen Elizabeth now rests at the bottom of the ocean, Kommandant." Odin said as she wound up and slapped him again.
"Your disregard and general lack of understanding of military doctrine has led to not only her ship being sunk, but... the rest of the fleet is slowly being worn down. Texas is missing several turrets. Penny is still fighting fires with the help of Arizona, who thankfully hasn't been hit. The Missouri, by my last count, has lost nearly thirty men, all of them being gunners or loaders since she has also lost one of her main batteries. Laffey, bless her soul, has managed to keep from being hit but nobody has heard from her in several minutes. And Norfolk... she's struggling to keep us together." Odin said as she looked at Isaac with a small amount of distain.
"Wait... where are the cruisers?" Isaac asked, scanning the fleet.
"Baltimore had to pull back with Bremerton. The reports are varied, but apparently Bremerton was evacuated to the Vestal. Baltimore was crying too much to get much more out of her. I only saw when the Bremerton got hit. The shell penetrated her shields and exploded in the bridge. I can only assume the worst." Odin said as she turned and saw a look in Isaac's eye that she knew wasn't good.
"I'm handing command to you. Order the fleet, and the crew of the Missouri to retreat." Isaac said as he laid his hat down on the table on Odin's bridge.
"Kommandant?" Odin asked as Isaac turned to leave.
"This... is my final order. Full retreat. Save who we can." Isaac said as he walked off the bridge. He looked at 47, who also realized how bad his orders were about to be.
"Get me to the Missouri." Isaac said with a solemn tone.
"What are you planning?" 47 asked as Odin listened in.
"Just... do what I ask. Once there, help evacuate whatever crew you can. Make sure Nimitz is among them." Isaac said as Odin came out from her bridge and placed his hat back on his head.
"No. I already know what you're thinking. I won't let you throw your life away. You have a job to do." Odin said.
"This is the result of me trying to do my job! More than a quarter of the fleet is heavily damaged. The rest are damaged in one way or another! Do you want me ruining the fleet further?! At least let me do something right!" Isaac yelled as she could see a tear fall.
"You wouldn't be going alone... Every one of us would follow you, not because you're our Kommandant. But because you care. To be fair, your ability to lead is shoddy at best. The fact that your leadership got us this far is praiseworthy. But... we don't stay because you're a good leader. We want to be here, because you let us do what we were meant to do. And it's not like we went into this thinking we'd all make it to the end. The fact that we haven't lost anyone, is beyond a miracle." Odin said as Isaac looked out over the fleet. "Another thing special about you Kommandant... is that you unified us, you saw our strengths together, and have made a massive effort to keep our sights set on the end goal. Nobody else could have unified us like you have. That's what you bring to the table, you see us for our strengths and our humanity, you bind us and lead us when you can. Allow me and Nimitz to help you lead and allow Norfolk and the rest of the girls to look out for your health. I love you Isaac, but you need to allow us to take some of the weight from your shoulders. Doing this alone, with a fleet of this size... it will kill you if the Sirens don't beat you to it." Odin added as she hugged Isaac, rubbing the growing red mark on his face.
"Why have the shells stopped?" Isaac asked, noting the lack of shells assaulting the fleet.
"Admiral, we've returned. We managed to scrounge together whatever bombs we could. By our count you've reduced the enemy fleet by half. We'll soften them up from here." The Bomber commander's voice came over the radio.
"They must have stopped firing to try and strengthen their shields against the incoming bombers." Odin said as she looked to the skies, refusing to let go of Isaac just yet.
"Odin... get me a damage report." Isaac said softly.
"Right away, Kommandant." Odin said as she spoke into her own radio, being sure to keep an eye on Isaac.
Several minutes passed as Isaac watched the Bombers work over the enemy fleet as his own fleet fired away with their own guns, peppering the slowly dwindling numbers of the drone fleet.
"Kommandant, so far, damages are: 30 sailors dead, 200 wounded, 10 critically. Bremerton is unknown. The Queen Elizabeth has been lost. Fires rage throughout several vessels. Eagle has been knocked out of action due to holes in her flight deck. But that is about the extent of our losses thus far.
"We've taken half of them down. Can we afford to take out the rest?" Isaac asked.
"Remember, we sent Richthofen to bomb them as well, she's been doing wonders over there. Somehow, she's striking critical areas with every dive, knocking out those drones one by one." Odin said.
"And what of 556?" Isaac asked.
"Nobody has heard from her. Patty reported that she left but 556 is not responding to any radio contacts." Odin said.
Isaac looked out to the enemy fleet, which had closed to a range of 17 miles.
"Hand me some binoculars please." Isaac asked. Odin was quick to comply, handing him a pair of binoculars that she had on her bridge. Isaac dialed them in and looked among the enemy fleet, spotting the Hood and a Periscope next to it.
"I think I found her." Isaac said as U-556 surfaced next to the Hood.
"Where is she?" Odin asked.
"She's in the middle of the enemy fleet, offloading Bulins onto the Hood..." Isaac said as he saw the unmistakable white hair of the Bulins and the golden hair of the Purin.
"She's what?!" Odin cried as she looked over at the Bismarck, which was still holding formation.
"The Bulins are going below deck... I'm seeing sparks in the side of the hull." Isaac said.
"They're scrapping?" Odin asked.
"No... they cut a hole in the side of the Hood." Isaac said, confused as to what he was seeing until he saw a familiar barrel being handed out through the hole.
"I know what the explosives are..." Isaac said.
"What?" Odin asked.
"I know what the explosives on the Hood are." Isaac repeated.
"I don't like that tone..." Odin said as she looked at him.
"Wisdom dust... and a lot of it." Isaac said as he turned to Odin.
"Hail everyone. We need to back off now. If that stuff goes up, we're getting caught in it." Isaac said in a frantic tone.
"Understood. Sending the order." Odin said.
"All ships. Retreat immediately. I repeat, full retreat. 556 has uncovered a store of Wisdom dust on board the Hood. We need to back off, because if a stray bomb hits that ship, we're all dead." Odin said as Isaac saw the fleet grind to a halt and apply full reverse to the propellers.
Authors note: This chapter will be coming in two parts. Stay tuned tomorrow for part two, and the conclusion to this battle.