"Admiral, Garner, I don't know what the hell you just did, but I am receiving several incoming transmissions from the Australian military, American Army Air Corps, and several of the Higher ups in the RAN requesting you immediately." Allan said as Isaac smiled. His plan was working.
"Tell them I'm a little busy right now. The enemy fleet is bearing down on us and it's taking quite a bit to halt their advance." Isaac said, playing the sounds from the earlier recording in the background.
"Then I'll relay for them. They are asking what they can do to help, the were completely unprepared for a fight like this and have no experience fighting these enemies." Allan said.
"Tell them that the port up north is being defended by another section of my fleet. I need all of their attention here. We can deal with the carriers up north just fine, it's these battleships in front of me that we are having no luck with." Isaac said.
"The RAN doesn't have the vessels they believe you would need for this, but they have repair ships and several cruisers that they can scramble." Allan said.
"Tell them to transfer to Brisbane, if my forces begin to get worn down, I'm going to have to send them back to the port. What is the Army Air corps saying?" Isaac asked.
"They want to know what they need to do." Allan said.
"Good. I need every available B-17 loaded for bear in the air, yesterday. Those bombers might be enough to do the damage needed." Isaac said.
"These are the B-17G variants. And the only bombs the army is keeping here are the 4,000 pound Block Busters." Allan said, relaying the words from the base commanders of each airfield.
"Even better. That level of overkill should pierce the shields no problem." Isaac said with the radio off.
"That works. Just get those bombers in the air now. The enemy is 35 miles out from my location coming from the North. My only request is to not hit the Ship in the middle of the formation. The HMS Hood has been taken hostage by this enemy and we are attempting to retrieve her without damaging her. Isaac said.
Allan was quiet for a minute.
"They cannot guarantee anything, but these bomber boys are confident in their aim. We need a weather check on your location however. They won't accept mine." Allan said.
"The sky is clear over my fleet and the enemy fleet. Not a cloud in sight. Do not be alarmed by the presence of BF-109's in the area. The Ironblood are a part of my faction as well as the Sakura Empire. Do not shoot any aircraft in the area. We have already scouted the enemy fleet and confirmed no carriers in our AO." Isaac said.
Allan was quiet once again.
"Their fueling the planes and overloading all of them The furthest base is 100 miles out anyway so they can manage the altitude with that kind of bomb load." Allan said.
"I'm going to keep my fighters in the area around the enemy fleet until they drop the payload, aerial presence seems to be enough to halt their advance for a short time." Isaac said.
"Alright. They said that they should be overhead within the hour. Just be sure that your air wing is out of the area when they drop their load, because these things have reach and they don't discriminate." Allan said.
"We'll keep em busy til you can rain hell. What of the Military?" Isaac asked.
"They have just issued the order to fortify every port on this side of Australia. They are also sending a sizable force to this port to assist in running it under a military function." Allan said.
"Excellent. Tell them we'll see them once this battle is won." Isaac said as he cut the line.
"Well?" Nimitz asked.
"We woke them up alright. They're sending every B-17 loaded for bear to assault the enemy fleet. The military is fortifying every port on this side of Australia, and the RAN is sending their remaining fleet to Brisbane to help any ships that will need repairs, along with any men wounded." Isaac said.
"You son of a bitch... the things you come up with. I would have killed to have you back during the Pacific war." Nimitz said with a tone of disbelief.
"Just doing what I had to do to keep everyone safe." Isaac said as he settled back into his battle mentality.
"Richthofen, what is going on out there?" Isaac asked.
"Sure enough, once I came into visual contact with the Hood, their fleet stopped dead in their tracks and have resisted all of my machine guns thus far." Richthofen said.
"I'm going to rotate you with Eagle and Shinano for the next hour. The Army Air Corps is bringing in heavy ordinance via B-17 bombers to soften them up for us. After that, I will need dive bombers in the air to allow the fleet to move into attack range. Once that happens, it's open season." Isaac said. He could almost hear the smile forming on Richthofen's face as he said that.
"Wunderbar!" Richthofen said excitedly.
"I expect no less than 5 ships sunk from you, little lady." Isaac teased.
"I'll give you 10 for that comment, Kommandant." Richthofen replied.
"I know you will." Isaac said as he addressed the fleet.
"Alright everyone. The bombers will be here in an hour. Once they do their work, we will move in and do what we do best." Isaac said, earning a round of cheers and horns from the fleet.
"Help..." Hood's voice was all but gone as she looked to the skies over the fleet she was being held by. Every word she muttered caused a painful shock to jolt her, but the pain had been so constant that it no longer affected her.
"Please... help me..." Hood cried as Richthofen's BF-109 flew over her deck.
"Kommanant, I have found her. She's on the aft section of her deck." Richthofen's voice came over the radio.
"You found Hood?" Isaac asked.
"Ja. She's... looking like she's crying." Richthofen said.
"Crying? How close are you?" Isaac asked, now concerned for both girls.
"Oh... maybe about 50 feet from the water." Richthofen said.
"And they haven't reacted?" Isaac asked.
"Nope. Not a single burst of flak. Not a single laser fired in my direction." Richthofen said.
"Hmm. Can we patch me through?" Isaac asked.
"I'd have to jump to her deck to get her on my radio, Kommandant." Richthofen said.
"Damn..." Isaac said.
"Oh, I'm not saying I won't. I was already planning on it. And I can get out via my rigging if it gets too bad down here." Richthofen said.
"That is far too dangerous." Isaac said.
"You were already planning on asking me, knowing that it is something I would want to do anyway, considering you saw what the other girls recorded from our first encounter. Am I right?" Richthofen asked.
Isaac sighed, shaking his head.
"Your reasoning is too good. If you think you can get to her safely, then go for it." Isaac said.
"On it." Richthofen said as she cut the line.
Richthofen banked hard to avoid the shields of one of the drone ships and rose back into the sky to make another pass. She looked around, keeping her eyes peeled for any more surprises that this fleet could throw at her. Thankfully, as she dove back down towards the Hood, no surprises made themselves known. Richthofen jumped from her plane at the last second, allowing it to disappear into the sea as she landed on the deck of the Hood.
"I'm on the deck, Kommandant." Richthofen said.
"Are you alright?" Isaac asked.
"Only cost me a fighter, Kommandant. Those are a dime a dozen. I'm here now, that's what matters." Richthofen said.
"If you say. Get to Hood, quickly." Isaac said as Richthofen looked around and spotted the royal battlecruiser sitting on her deck, her eyes glued on the sky.
"Poor woman..." Richthofen said softly as she walked over.
"Hood?" Richthofen asked, causing the once regal woman to jump.
"The fighter pilot..." Hood whispered.
"I may share the name of a pilot, but you're talking to a carrier of Ironblood and of Azur Lane." Richthofen said as she knelt down next to Hood.
"Azur...Lane? That name hasn't graced my ears in some time." Hood said with a soft smile.
"Hood? Can you hear me?" Isaac asked via Richthofen's radio.
"Apollyon. Nobody can ever forget that voice." Hood said softly.
"My name is Isaac Garner, the Admiral of Azur Lane. We are trying to get you out of there." Isaac said.
"It won't matter, Commander." Hood said softly.
"What do you mean?" Isaac asked.
"Tester has loaded my hull almost to the point of overcapacity with high explosive material. Regardless of whether I win or lose this battle with you... I'm going to die." Hood said.
"Shit... alright. That changes the plan drastically." Isaac said.
"What plan?" Hood asked.
"Richthofen. I order you to examine Hood as best you can. If you see a black cube in her neck, get it out of there. I will have Arizona and Vestal on standby. Get her off that boat now. I will be sending Shinano's dive bombers in just in case those battleships react." Isaac said frantically.
"I know you Royal Navy types are all prim and proper, but this has been ordered by the Kommandant. So it must be done." Richthofen said as she began to move articles of clothing around until she found the cube in Hood's neck.
"This might hurt..." Richthofen said as she pulled a knife from her belt.
"It won't... there's nothing you can do that they didn't do to me already." Hood said as she held her messy blonde hair out of the way, allowing Richthofen to cut open the back of her neck and extract the cube.
"Hold your hand there. I can't fix it here." Richthofen said softly as she summoned her rigging, the weight of which caused a noticeable lean in the deck of the Hood.
"What an ungodly creature..." Hood said as she closed her eyes, feeling the pain finally begin to wash away.
"Alright, princess. Let's get you home." Richthofen said as her rigging took to the sea, carrying Hood and Richthofen on it.
"U-556, hold your position, Richthofen has retrieved Hood. I have received word of a bomb on board the Hood. Everyone back off. I don't know what was loaded onboard, but it doesn't sound good." Isaac said before contacting Allan.
"Allen, have those bombers raze it all. The Hood has been compromised and is a total loss. Make it easier on the fly boys." Isaac said before cutting the line.
"Richthofen, get back here, double time. Those bombers aren't stopping." Isaac said.
"We're just passing the front battleship now. They're still stationary for some reason though." Richthofen said as several torpedoes grazed her rigging.
"Kommandant, Torpedoes in the water!" Richthofen said as she looked closer at the battleships.
"Torpedoes? I thought we confirmed that this fleet was solely battleship class." Isaac said.
"I did. I even made a second pass before confirming it. So that has to mean submarines." Richthofen said.
"Get back to the fleet. I have a bad feeling that those ships are getting ready to move." Isaac said as his words proved prophetic.
"They're beginning to move again. Where are the bombers?" Richthofen asked.
"20 minutes out. You need to get out as soon as possible." Isaac said as Richthofen cut the line, focusing on getting as far away from the enemy fleet as possible.
"All ships, the enemy has begun moving and has closed to 30 miles. I can physically see them on the horizon. And from the looks of it, this isn't going to be easy, even with the B-17 support. By my count, they have sent easily 100 to 150 of these... mechanical abominations to face us. So we will answer in kind. Beware of the Hood, she is packed with explosives. Hood herself has already been extracted. If the bombs don't sink her vessel, I expect everyone to avoid that vessel like the plague." Isaac said.
"Hood has been extracted already?" Bismarck's voice was heard, followed by an echo from Elizabeth.
"Yes you two. Hood has been extracted by Richthofen. She should be coming any minute now." Isaac said as Norfolk winced a bit.
"She's here. I can feel those tendrils digging into the deck." Norfolk said as Isaac looked out over the bow, seeing the large mechanical tentacle digging into the deck to pull Richthofen and Hood from the waves.
"She's here. All ships, fan out and prepare for combat." Isaac said as he looked to the skies, seeing tiny fleck of black against the sky.
"Let's hope this does something, or we're all fucked." Isaac muttered as he grabbed his cap and ran off the bridge towards the bow of the Norfolk.