"BULLSEYE! BULLSEYE!".
"YA HOO!".
"THREE ENEMY CARRIERS BURNING!!".
The ecstatic voices erupted from the radio.
Pearl Harbor had been avenged.
Amidst the reactions of the crew, Izuku and teens listened in awe and a little horror as the best of the Imperial Japanese Navy was gone in a flash.
A week earlier…
The return to Pearl Harbour was brief but memorable.
The harbour was now devoid of the wrecks from months earlier, instead, a massive aircraft carrier was in port.
"Wow, look at that!". Kirishima remarked, looking at the carrier. "Looks pretty beat up."
Kirishima was right. Several bomb craters lined the decks, the result of combat against the Japanese.
"Ah, The Yorktown, back from the Coral Sea." Jack spoke. "Things are looking pretty dicey here, this ship alone is twenty five percent of the Navy's strength."
"It's really this bad?". Uraraka asked.
"Well, the Navy's really on the back foot, we lost a lot of capital ships in the last months." Eddie spoke.
It's really surprising how America won eventually, considering how fast Japan has conquered the Pacific. Izuku thought.
"We're actually here to help bolster the ship's crew." Jack continued. "We're supposed to be part of the marine detachment aboard. They really need anyone they can find."
"Damnit, I don't want to sit around in a ship when there's a war going on!". Bakugo grumbled.
"No need to be such a downer, eh? I've heard what you did onboard the Nevada, there's a good chance you'll be back shooting planes out of the air." Monty spoke.
Bakugo gave a small smirk as he thought about using his quirk against aircraft.
During the several months of training, the Sergeant had brought the party out to something called "skeet" shooting, where one would shoot clay targets flying through the air. Bakugo quickly mastered the skill, with both quirk and firearm, undoubtedly, this would prove useful if he were to face off against aircraft once more.
"I see you're thinking of all the ways you can shoot down planes." Kirishima broke Bakugo's train of thought.
"You're damn right!". Bakugo confirmed.
The rest of the entourage headed towards the Yorktown, specifically in search of its commanding officer
"Todoroki, how are you holding up?". Izuku asked inquisitively.
"I am doing fine Midoriya. My quirk functions better in the pacific, I freeze slower so I can use it longer." Todoroki explained.
Todoroki was one of the best in their squad, he had incredibly good aim with firearms after repeated training as well as the fact he rigorously cleaned every single one of them. The Sergeant had remarked how his quirk would be a godsend in the Pacific. Fresh water wouldn't always be available, but Todoroki's ice could provide ample amounts. Furthermore, there was a use for the fire side of his quirk, something Todoroki wasn't as fond of."
"What's wrong?". Izuku asked, witnessing the distressed emotion on his friend's face.
"Back at training, The Sergeant told me to use my fire quirk as a flamethrower. He said I would be extremely useful at destroying enemy fortifications."
Jack had immediately spotted an important use for Todoroki's fire. He could easily flush out entrenched Japanese soldiers from bunkers and trenches. It was rather grim, and would certainly cause fatality.
Izuku pondered for a moment on how he should respond.
"I actually had a similar problem with guns, but Jack helped me out. He told me to use guns as more of a threat than a weapon." Izuku explained. "Maybe you could to the same? You could scare them with fire without burning anyone."
"…Thank you Midoriya. I'll think about it." Todoroki responded.
Both boys felt better about themselves as they prepared to board the Yorktown.
It just so happened, that The Sergeant had found an Admiral Fletcher, the commander of USS Yorktown, and as result, they were hurriedly impressed into the Yorktown's marine detachment.
"The Yorktown took some hits during the battle of the Coral Sea." Monty explained as he strolled being the first group with Jack and Eddie and the boys of 1-A.
"We're currently needed to help with repairs. They say it'll take three months to get the ship back in the fight."
"Really? We're gonna be repair crews for three months!?". Uraraka groaned.
"Not exactly."
"The Admiral's allocated all the resources of Pearl Harbour and he's trying to get the ship ready for action in forty-eight hours."
The next two days devolved into helping with repairs, loading equipment and weapons training.
The teens quickly familiarized themselves with the Yorktown and its anti-air weapons.
All the while, aircraft and crew were hurriedly cobbled together to give the Aircraft Carrier its striking power.
Eventually, it came the day when the Yorktown was repaired.
And so, a week later of sailing on the high seas, several of the young heroes were in the ship's galley, eating a small breakfast.
Specifically, Uraraka, Izuku, Todoroki, and Kirishima
"Did you hear? We're being deployed off an island called Midway."
Kirishima approached the rest of the group holding his lunch tray. The ship's galley reminded the teens of UA's cafeteria, a faint memory of home.
"Midway? We looked at a few maps awhile back, it's not too far from Hawaii." Izuku spoke, as he reached for his new journal.
"Oh, yeah, something big definitely happens here." Uraraka spoke. "Something about the greatest naval battle in history."
The teens all paused for a moment, running through the fact they were likely in the thick of a decisive naval battle, and a crucial one at that.
"We're not alone though." Kirishima mumbled as he ate.
We're linking up with two more ships, the Enterprise and Hornet, at least that's what Jack told me."
Once the teens finished dining, they dashed topside, onto the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, eagerly awaiting for action.
As they climbed up, the roar of aircraft engines dominated the air, as the carrier began launching its complement of aircraft.
The teens, fighting the strong air currents from the planes, found Bakugo, Tsuyu and the soldiers already watching carrier operations.
"Finally, you idiots got up here." Bakugo spoke at the new arrivals.
"They're launching scout planes to search for enemy activity." Jack briefed the teens, as the flight of aircraft flew into the distance, growing smaller and smaller.
After witnessing the planes take flight, the entourage spent most of the time anxiously waiting for any sightings of the Japanese Navy.
The air was fraught with some tension, as if they were watching a sports match, since the heroes weren't able to directly participate in the inevitable battle.
Then it happened.
American scout planes from Midway Island had found the Japanese fleet.
"ALL HANDS TO BATTLESTATIONS. ENEMY CARRIERS SIGHTED."
The Young heroes took up their posts, mainly on board the ship's anti air weaponry, an impressive array of machine guns and cannons.
Izuku watched as the returning scout aircraft hastily landed back on the carrier, coming dangerously close to crashing and other disaster.
Hurriedly, more aircraft were brought up from below decks. Toredo bombers, while slow, their torpedoes provided the greatest damage against enemy ships. Next were the dive bombers, which while carried a lighter payload, were quicker and more agile.
The planes were launched into the air, destined to attacking the enemy fleet.
"The reports all say it's the Kido Butai." Izuku spoke, mostly to himself.
The Kido Butai. The aircraft carriers that struck Pearl Harbor on that day.
"They're probably gunning for Midway, it's a good area for a potential Japanese base." Monty remarked.
"We're here to stop em, right?". Kirishima responded.
"Midway's loaded with strike planes and anti air defenses, since we spotted them early, their element of surprise is gone." Monty continued.
"Well kid, far as I know from the radio, the Japanese are throwing everything they've got at Midway." Jack relayed information to Izuku, who was jotting it all down in his note book.
"Not all one sided though, Midway's already launched all aircraft."
"So they'll defend the island right?".
"Not exactly, if they shoot down the Japs, there'll always be more Japanese planes. What we really need is those Jap carriers, if we get them, the Japs' greatest weapon will be at the bottom of the Pacific.
Meanwhile, Tsuyu amusingly watched Todoroki and Charlie mill about, both of them were equally silent. Todoroki was never a talker and Charlie was introduced as the silent type.
They occasionally passed glances over each other, with the latter taking note of the former's scar.
A fierce air battle was raging. The Americans launched attack after attack on the Japanese carriers.
And yet, little success came.
Midway island's aircraft were mostly wiped out, those that weren't failed to damage the Japanese fleet.
But damaged as the island's airbases were, they were still in the fight.
This necessitated a second strike by the Japanese.
And so, their reserve aircraft were prepared for action, loading with bombs designed to crater airfields.
But the Japanese had their own woes. Despite lack of success and heavy losses, the repeated American airstrikes hampered the Japanese ability to launch more aircraft, forcing the ship's to take wild maneuvers to dodge torpedoes and bombs.
Then suddenly, a Japanese plane that had strayed off course spotted an anomaly.
American ships.
This was not according to Japanese plan.
The American fleet was supposed to still be at Pearl Harbor.
The planes loaded with crater bombs were hurriedly unloaded and reloaded with anti ship torpedoes.
Unbeknownst to them, the amount of explosives in the Japanese carriers was becoming dangerously high.
Several hours had passed, and the Yorktown's torpedo bombers had returned, but only a sliver of the initial strike force.
"H-how many planes were sent out?". Uraraka asked, with a slight twinge of dread .
"Fourty one." Eddie spoke.
Only three came back.
Most of the planes were scarred, mostly by a combination of gunfire and quirks, bullet holes, blackened steel from presumably a fire related quirk all marked the torpedo bombers.
Soon, Uraraka was assisting with removing the heavily injured pilots, many of which had their uniforms stained red.
"Goddamnit.. those Japs.. their planes picked us off… I-if we survived the planes, they tore us up with gunfire and quirks.. those fuckers are damn accurate.."
Uraraka helped a small team move the pilot onto a stretcher, which was quickly hauled to the medical bay.
"Ochako, you've got..". Tsuyu pointed.
Uraraka looked at the few red splotches on her own uniform, blood stains from the wounded.
She sighed with a hint of anguish as she returned to her post.
But the fight was still raging in the skies.
The last wave of American torpedo bombers made their run towards the Japanese carriers, only to be pounced on by Japanese aircraft defending their fleet.
But this time, all of the defending Japanese planes were focused on the low and slow torpedo bombers.
None noticed the American dive bombers diving from above.
American dive bombers from two aircraft carriers, the Yorktown and Enterprise descended on their prey from the heavens.
The first Japanese carrier was struck by a cluster of bombs, the carrier loaded with aircraft fuel and torpedoes for its planes detonated.
The steep attack runs from the dive bombers denied the Japanese effective defense with their quirks.
Another carrier detonated, it too loaded with fuel and armaments.
Another Japanese carrier gone.
And finally, three lone American aircraft struck the third Japanese carrier, sending it up in flames.
The results came in sharply through the radio.
'HOLY SHIT THEY'VE GOT BOMBS STACKED ALL OVER THE DECK!!".
"BULLSEYE!! BULLSEYE !! YAHOO!!".
"SCRATCH ONE CARRIER!!".
"COMMANDER I'VE GOT A HIT! LOOK AT THAT BASTARD BURN!!".
"WE'VE GOT THEM FLAT FOOTED!! NO FIGHTER COVER!!"..
"THREE ENEMY CARRIERS BURNING!!".
In a span of five minutes, three out of four Japanese carriers were burning wrecks.
Izuku all the meanwhile, was frantically scribbling down the newest developments.
"We've did it now, those Japs will probably want revenge." Jack told everyone as they reconvened after leaving their posts for a short celebration with the rest of the ship's crew.
"There's still one more carrier, right? We only got three." Izuku asked.
"Yes, no doubt it's launching its own strike group." Monty spoke.
Then came a shout.
"Jap recon plane! 9 o'clock high!".
Sure enough, a lone Japanese plane was spotted flying near the fleet, inciting a response of gunfire and quirks from the American fleet.
Amongst the crew of the carrier, Bakugo left the machine gun he was manning after its ammunition ran out, and strapped on his gauntlet.
The heat of the Pacific was already making him sweat; he didn't have much left to do before firing at the plane.
A thunderous explosion erupted from him, and the Japanese plane was no more.
"Nice shot, Bakubro." Kirishima congratulated.
"Sorry to ruin the moment lads, we've got more of them coming, radar picked them up." Eddie explained.
Sure enough, Johnny soon confirmed the arrival of more Japanese aircraft.
"Eleven of them inbound! Five o'clock!". Johnny hollered.
Todoroki watched as Charlie leapt from his machine gun post, and began pushing a fuel cart overboard.
"What are you doing?". Todoroki approached.
"Fire Hazard. You gonna help!?".
They both shoved it into the water.
Similar preparations were undertaken, anything flammable that was not needed was kicked over board. Planes on deck were cleared, either helping with the Carrier's defense or instructed to stay far away until the attack was over.
"Alright Kid, we've got to drain the fuel lines." Jack spoke as he led Izuku into a room with cables and pipes.
Several other sailors were already hard at work.
Jack gave brief instruction as the two pulled lever and turned valves.
"Alright, were almost done here. You see that knob?".
"That one with CO2 on it?".
"Yeah, turn it."
"What's that for?".
"Fuel tanks."
"..! The fuel can't burn if it's got Carbon dioxide in it!".
"You're quick kid." Jack congratulated.
Most of the enemy aircraft were already thinned out from the Carrier's combat air patrol, but the threat was far from over.
The Yorktown soon began evasive movement, along with its escorting cruisers and destroyers.
Soon, the Japanese planes were on top of them. The first descended on the ship vertically, most of the gunfire and quirks directed at the attackers missed.
Soon, it released its bomb, bursting into flames from consecutive hits.
The bomb hurtled down through the air, whistling as it came.
Izuku jumped into action, flicking his finger in an attempt to deflect the bomb.
Exploding in the water, metal fragments and water rained from above.
Izuku was thrown off his feet from the explosion before being hauled back up by his friends.
The second Japanese plane came in, its aim was less precise, a near miss on the Yorktown, starting a fire on the back end of the ship.
Damage control was quick, with Todoroki smothering some of the flames with ice.
The next wave of Japanese aircraft came with even less success, missing their bombs due to the ship's rapid maneuvering and anti-aircraft fire.
Then the fifth plane came.
"STEADY!! STEADY!!". Monty directed.
The plane was riddled with holes from the ship's machine guns, but it still came at its target.
Uraraka and Tsuyu were already hosing the plane down with gunfire, since their quirks were less applicable to enemy aircraft.
"WHY. WON'T. YOU. DIE.!". Bakugo stepped up, his quirk set the plane on fire.
But it was to no avail. The burning wreck crashed onto the Yorktown's deck with a horrific explosion.
The shockwave threw the group off their feet and had their ears ringing.
"S-shit!". Bakugo groaned as he got up.
Several fires were burning aboard, furthermore, the ship's smokestacks appeared to stop spewing smoke.
The Yorktown's speed halved, growing slower.
"F-fuck! That hit must've been deep! Must've hit the engine room!". Eddie groaned as well.
Then, another plane scored a hit on the ship, capitalizing on the disorientated state of the crew and the slow speed.
A final plane came in, but only made a near miss, inflicting negligible damage.
Multiple fires raged inside and outside the ship, and the ship's crew jumped into action.
The girls had already joined a hose team, spraying sea water on the flames.
Holes in the aircraft carrier's flight deck were patched with Izuku, Jack, Kirishima, Eddie and Bakugo.
But it was down in the engine room where things were truly dire.
Repair crews were hurriedly patching holes and boilers. Engineers tried desperately to restore engine power.
Todoroki was amongst the repair crews; he had melted some of the steel and moulded them to patch holes before freezing them in a crude welding fashion.
"Hey you! Kid!". One of the engineers beckoned to Todoroki.
"We need your quirk to help start the boilers."
Todoroki obliged, shooting a powerful flame into several boilers, the flame burning them back to life.
Soon black smoke came out the smokestacks of the Yorktown once more, and speed began to pick up.
"Holy shit. We actually did it." Jack spoke.
It was as if they had resurrected the ship. The Yorktown could once more handle flight operations, and began refueling its aircraft.
The group got some respite after the attack, with the exception of Todoroki, who unfortunately was stuck the engine rooms, forcing the boilers to work by shooting flame into them if the flames died.
He would rather be anywhere else but the engine room, which was already swelteringly hot, not to mention very real fears of the entire area detonating if a Japanese plane got a lucky hit.
Meanwhile, Izuku was catching his breath, after severely bruising several of his fingers from attempting to deflect bombs. Not to mention he had minor injuries from the hits the Japanese aircraft did score.
"H-hey, Midoriya chan." A voice greeted, grabbing Izuku's attention.
"Hey Tsu,". Izuku repsonded with a tired tone. "How are you?".
"I'm Alright, Ribbit." She huffed. "Mostly moving ammunition around, Ochako's got it worse."
"She had to help moved the injured, some didn't make it."
Izuku ran his hand through his hair. Although it was certainly a massive victory for the Americans, with three Japanese aircraft carriers wiped out, the Yorktown was bearing the brunt of the Japanese counterattack, and it was taking a toll on his friends.
There were also two other American carriers in the area, the Hornet and Enterprise, far as he knew, the two carriers were undetected.
"We should probably get going again." Izuku spoke.
"Are your fingers alright? Ribbit."
"I only use them to deflect bombs, hopefully if we can shoot them down, we won't even need to."
Suddenly, there was another alarm.
"ALERT! ENEMY TORPEDO BOMBERS INBOUND! I REPEAT ENEMY TORPEDO BOMBERS INBOUND."
Soon sailors began rushing everywhere, in preparation for the second wave.
Tsuyu grabbed Izuku and using her tongue, moved their way back to their battle stations, dodging aircraft that were taking off as well as sailors.
All planes on deck hurriedly took off in order to help defend the ship as well as remove themselves as a fire hazard.
The Yorktown's escorting ships formed a defensive ring, engaging the approaching Japanese with their armament.
The Yorktown itself began taking sharp maneuvers in an attempt to give the attackers poor angles of attack.
Izuku watched as the first torpedo bomber made its run towards the aircraft carrier when suddenly, an American plane came out from nowhere and set the Japanese on fire.
But the plane didn't not falter.
"It's not going down." Izuku spoke.
The flaming plane kept steady, and launched its torpedo before plunging into the sea.
But it was all in vain, for the torpedo missed.
The battle continued as the other Japanese planes arrived.
Most missed or were downed thanks to the efforts of sailors and the young heroes.
"DIE!". Bakugo shouted as the plane disintegrated from combined fire.
The Yorktown was now running parallel to the enemy torpedo bombers, preventing any torpedo attack from succeeding.
But the initial wave of torpedo bombers had forced the ship into the path of four more torpedo bombers.
"JAPS! NINE O CLOCK!". Charlie shouted, firing away.
The lead plane was shot down, but three torpedoes had been released.
"FUCK!!". Bakugo fired at another torpedo, detonating it early.
Unfortunately, the two remaining torpedoes hit their mark.
The engine room burst open, gushing in seawater like a bloody wound.
Todorki attempted to stem the tide, but to no avail, since the boilers were ruined.
All power aboard was lost, sending the flooding engine room into the dark.
The Yorktown slowed, and began to tilt.
The carrier was finally out of action.
"WE'RE CAPSIZING!". Jack shouted.
The group had moved to the non-tilting side of the ship.
"Where's Todoroki?". Uraraka shouted.
"In the engine room!!". Charlie shouted.
"We're getting him out!". Monty replied.
An ad hoc team was formed. Tsuyu was chosen due to her quirk being perfectly suited to navigating a flooding ship. Eddie was to oversee the whole thing, while Izuku would help with breaking obstructions if they happened upon any.
The rest of the teens were prevented by Jack and the rest of the marines, who refused to let anymore of their younger compatriots into harm's way.
The party ventured below decks, fighting through crowds of sailors heading topside.
Soon after navigating the absolute maze that was the interior of an aircraft carrier, the rising water from the lower decks led them to the right direction.
"Christ, looks like the water tight door's sealed, Izuku, you're up.".
With that, Izuku mustered a butt of One for All, and smashed the door open, realising a spew of sea water.
Tsuyu followed through, swimming into the deep dark abyss of the flooded engine room.
" Lots of debris, reminds me of Pearl Harbor, I hate it."
She navigated through wrecked machinery, looking for signs of life.
It was mostly busted engine components, that is until she saw an ice cocoon.
She gave a few hard knocks.
"Its me, Tsu.".
The ice cocoon began thawing as Todorki thawed himself out.
Turns out he wasn't alone as several other sailors were with him.
All in all, things went extremely smoothly, as Tsu led them out of the engine room. There wasn't much to say, since it was clear the carrier was mortally wounded.
The group reconvened, with Jack taking the lead because he was the highest ranking of the bunch.
"Alright, the Captain's given the order to abandon ship. We've done the best we can."
There was an air of disappointment from the teens, who were upset the ship was lost despite their efforts.
"Hey, listen, don't look too down, we won. We traded one carrier for three of theirs, as we speak, our comrades on the Enterprise and Hornet will finish the Japs off."
It was a comfort to the teens, which contented then enough for them to board life rafts and evacuate.
Several smaller ships, part of the Yorktown's escort group picked up the life boats, with the group hauled aboard a destroyer.
And so it was, American aircraft turned the final Japanese carrier into a wreck, ending the threat to Midway island.
Author's note.
The Battle of Midway was the turning point of the Pacific war. Four Japanese aircraft carriers, all of which struck Pearl Harbor were destroyed, three of the Japanese carriers were destroyed in five minutes.
American codebreakers had discovered Japanese plans to invade Midway island, which is not far from Hawaii, which allowed the Americans to set up an ambush.
The USS Yorktown, the ship which our heroes were aboard was basically the MVP of Midway.
It was heavily damaged in previous battles, and experts estimated it would be fixed in three months. The ship was fixed in two days.
Furthermore, The Japanese only discovered the Yorktown, the other American aircraft carriers were undetected for the entire battle. As a result, it took all of the Japanese counter attacks.
After the first Japanese attack in the Yorktown, which our heroes helped fight off, repairs were so effective it tricked Japanese aircraft into believing it was a different carrier, and wasted their attack on a wounded target.
Ultimately, the Yorktown would finally sink not from Japanese aircraft, but a Japanese submarine, which sank it when the ship was towed for repairs.
The Battle also started the legendary career of the Aircraft Carrier Enterprise.
This chapter will be the last one before our protagonists get into the virtual island battles in the Pacific war, which will be interesting to write, considering the addition of quirks, as well as how fights and battles will happen.
Personally, I would like to know what you all think of this fic, please give your opinion.