Thankfully for many in Taskforce Thirty once the convoy began to unload its supplies Rear Admiral Smith had new orders for them.
"Carolina, Wasp I have new orders for your Taskforce. HIGHCOM has received spotty transmissions from New Zeeland. This is the first time we've heard anything from them in one and a half months. Your orders are to head to New Zeeland and attain their situation. Out."
"Sounds like we're going to New Zeeland."
"That's going to be dangerous."
"Very."
"Lexington, we have orders to head for New Zeeland."
"You're going to be on your own Carolina. Our orders are to guard Hawaii against possible Abyssal attacks. Good luck and kick the Abyssals' teeth in for us."
"We will. Out. Once we pass American Soma the fleet will be on strict radio silence."
She nodded to Wasp and they set course for New Zeeland. At a speed of eighteen knots, their Taskforce will arrive on September the eighteenth, a nine-day voyage.
Patrol log. Date: September 16, 2015. Time: 12:46 hours.
Small Abyssal convoy sighted at 11:15 hours at the following coordinates: 35*21'25"S 176*03'27"W. Convoy consisted of two destroyer escorts and four merchants. Speed: ten knots. Heading: 0-8-7 degrees. Attacked at 11:27 hours sinking one merchant. Subsequent depth charge attacks forced me to go deep and lasted until 12:00 hours.
Exhausted all torpedoes and low on fuel. Heading for Wellington Naval Base.
I-22 sent the report to her commander and scanned the horizon one more time. The Abyssals may have given up on hunting her but they could still be in the area. Her search revealed no contacts and she surfaced. She increased speed to eleven knots and set course for Wellington Naval Base.
'It was a good patrol. Seven merchants sunk and no damage sustained.' She sighed tiredly. 'Still, we haven't slowed the Abyssals. They keep sending convoys through no matter how many losses we inflict. Where are these convoys going?' She closed her eyes in thought. 'Worrying about it won't do me any good. I'll let intelligence figure that one out. I have to focus on sinking Abyssals.'
She nodded to herself and slowly opened her eyes. She smiled as she looked across the calm ocean. She looked up at the clear blue sky and let her mind drift like waves on the ocean.
"Ships on the horizon!"
She snapped back to herself. "Emergency dive!"
It took forty-five nerve-wracking seconds before she submerged. She cut her speed to 1/4 and raised her attack scope. She didn't have any torpedoes but she could report the position of the contacts . It wasn't much but maybe another submarine was close enough to intercept. She scanned the horizon and spotted the ships. Her blood slowly ran cold.
"One carrier and two battleships with multiple cruisers and destroyers in support. Fuck!"
She switched her radio to the channel used by Wellington Naval Base and quickly sent a transmission.
"Wellington Naval Base this is I-22. An enemy fleet consisting of one carrier and two battleships with multiple cruisers and destroyers as escort. Speed: Eighteen knots. Heading: 2-8-0. The fleet's coordinates are as follows: 35*40'55"S 175*26'16"W. Over."
"Understood. No submarines are close enough to intercept. Stay with them for as long as possible. Out."
She cursed silently. With no submarines to intercept they couldn't weaken the fleet. If they could sink the carrier and both battleships their fleet would have a much better chance of winning the following engagement. As it stands now if their fleet engages, there is a high probability it would be destroyed. She cursed again this time at her inability to do anything. The only weapon she had was her 140mm deck gun and it would only be effective against the destroyers. Of course, surfacing to fire would be suicide. She cussed again and bitterly accepted the fact she can't do anything to help.
The fleet was closing in allowing her to see more details. She frowned, "Wait a minute..."
Closer and closer they came allowing her to see more details. They lacked the pitch-black rigging and the pieces of black armor the Abyssals had. Their skin had color unlike the Abyssals with their pale white skin. The biggest difference was their eyes. They didn't glow blue or gold or any of the other colors.
"Commander Hayes, this is I-22. That report I sent is wrong. Over."
"Wrong? Can you clarify? Over."
"The contacts are not Abyssals. They lack the features that the Abyssals have. Over."
"I-22, are you sure? Over."
"Absolutely sir. This is not an Abyssal fleet. Over."
He was silent for a few seconds. "Can you positively identify the fleet? Over."
"I can. Over."
"Do it. Out."
It was a few more minutes until she was close enough to identify them. Their rigging didn't match any Japanese or British Kanmusu which only left one option.
"Commander Hayes, I believe the fleet is American. Over."
"American? Are. You. Sure? Over."
"Yes sir. Over."
Hayes was silent again. "I'll make the necessary preparations here. You have the USN's radio frequency correct? Over."
"Yes sir. Over."
"Excellent. They are probably here to find out if New Zealand is still standing. You are free to contact them but only with morse code. We can't have the Abyssals finding out about them. Out."
She looked through her attack scope once again. 'About time the US got more involved in the Pacific.'
She switched her radio frequency to the USNs and sent out a message. USN Kanmusu, this is I-22, please respond.
I-22, this is USS Wasp. What's the situation on New Zealand?
New Zealand is still standing but the situation is dire. I do not have all of the details but the country is on the brink of collapse.
There wasn't an immediate response. She noticed three destroyers break formation, change course, and noticeably increase their speed.
I-22, this is USS North Carolina. Wasp and I are in agreement. Until we receive new orders from our commander we wish to assist in the defense of New Zealand.
She was shocked. She honestly believed New Zealand would fall by the next week either from Abyssal invasion or the complete collapse of law and order. Now, if New Zealand didn't get supplies soon, that was still a very real threat. But, with an American force reinforcing their defense, an Abyssal invasion seemed unlikely at least. However, this brought up a problem. Wellington Naval Base was critically low on supplies which had lead to heavy rationing of what few supplies they had. There was no way the base could support a force of this size on top of the force already there.
"Commander Hayes, the American force wishes to assist in the defense. Over."
He was quite, no doubt thinking about the same thing she was. "...Tell them to head to Wellington Naval Base. Over."
"Sir... What about-
"I know. Our supply situation is dire but Abyssal raiding fleets have run our forces ragged. We need reinforcements and we need them badly. Over."
"Understood sir. Out."
Commander Hayes had accepted your offer. Head to Wellington Naval Base. I will follow behind.
With that, she breached the surface nine thousand yards from the American task force.
They lost sight of I-22 a few hours after she surfaced. It took them another two days before New Zealand appeared on the horizon.
"And there it is. New Zealand."
"You ever been here before?"
"Nope. First time. I wish it was under better circumstances."
"We all do Northampton."
"Do you think the destroyers have relayed our message?"
"If they haven't already they will in a few hours."
"Do you think command will send convoys and reinforcements?"
"They should. New Zealand is of tactical and strategic importance to the war effort in the Pacific."
"The Abyssals would know this too. So why haven't they invaded New Zealand yet?"
"I-22's presence in the area points out that the Japanese have submarines operating in the area."
"True. But submarines alone wouldn't be able to stop an Abyssal invasion."
Carolina hummed. "I wonder..."
"USS North Carolina this is Commander Hayes. Respond," his tone was urgent.
"This is North Carolina send."
"We have an Abyssal force one hundred nautical miles off our West coast at the following coordinates: 38*52'13"S 171*53'09"E. My forces are en route to engage but they are outnumbered. They are going to need assistance. Over."
"Understood sir. We will get there as soon as we can. Out. Wasp?"
"Already on it."
She launched her TBDs first as they were the slowest. Her SBDs followed and finally the F4F-3s that will escort them.
"This is bullshit!"
"Watch out!"
Richmond cussed as eight 8 in shells screamed in! Six of them missed but two hit!
"Fuck!"
"Richmond!"
"I'm fine! They over pinned!"
She fired back at her pursuers and cursed. Apparently, the Abyssals have had it with their defiance and aim to wipe them out. An Abyssal force consisting of one battleship, two battlecruisers, four heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and nineteen destroyers are pressing hard. Her small force, consisting of herself, her sister Marblehead, and their three destroyers are being engaged by one heavy and one light cruiser with seven destroyers backing them up.
Renown, who is engaging the Abyssal battleship, is leading the rest of their make-shift taskforce consisting of the heavy cruiser Exeter, two extremely pissed-off Dutch light cruisers by the names of Java and Sumatra, and seven destroyers.
"Enemy aircraft!"
Oh, and to make matters worse, the Abyssals have a carrier in the area.
"I think we pissed them off!"
"We didn't just piss them off! We royally pissed them off!"
The destroyers couldn't engage the aircraft with their main guns as they are currently engaging Abyssal destroyers. Their Bofors guns opened up soon followed by the 1.1 in cannons on Richmond and Marblehead! The 20 mm Oerlikons on the destroyers opened up shortly followed by the 50 Cals on the cruisers! Two of the dive bombers were shot down!
Richmond was already taking evasive action. Seven bombers dove on her! Her AA guns shot down one before they dropped their bombs! Two of the bombs hit! The first one destroyed her torpedo launcher! Thankfully, she had long since fired all of her torpedoes. The second bomb hit her port side towards her aft causing heavy internal damage. Her sister was hit twice with both bombs landing close together causing extreme damage. Her speed rapidly started to drop. Seeing the damage done by the airstrikes, the Abyssals pressed forward aggressively.
Their destroyers turned and charged the Abyssals! Richmond, determined to save her sister, followed their lead. She focused on the Abyssal destroyers. Unlike her, their destroyers still had some torpedoes. If they could punch through and launch their torpedoes they might survive this after all. Her sister understood this as well and fired shell after shell after shell at the approaching destroyers! The light cruiser gave Marblehead her undivided attention hammering her with 6 in HE shells wrecking her AA suite and starting multiple fires. The heavy cruiser targeted Richmond.
She snarled as two of her casemates were destroyed by a single penetrating hit! A few seconds later an explosion blasted the casements from her hull!
Two of the Abyssal destroyers are flaming wrecks with a third heavily damaged but they couldn't stop them. They turned for a torpedo attack and Marblehead was dead in the water.
"FIRE FASTER GODDAMIT! ENGINEERING! GIVE ME MORE SPEED!"
Her crew gave it their all! Her guns thundered every four seconds while her engineers ignored all safety regulations and increased the steam pressure in her boilers beyond their designated rating! She piled on the speed approaching thirty-nine knots! She ignored the worsening pain she felt. All that mattered was reaching her sister! The destroyers did the same! Black smoke belched from their funnels as they passed forty knots!
"SISTER! MOVE! MOVE GODDAMIT!"
"MARBLEHEAD! GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!"
...
...
...
Five torpedoes slammed into her starboard side. Her guns fell silent and she rapidly began to list.
"SISTER!"
Tears ran down Richmond's cheeks. She watched, helplessly, as her sister slipped beneath the waves. All sound became muffled. Her eyes were fixated on the point where her baby sis just was. Where she was just murdered.
Her blood began to boil. A deep burning hatred settled in her heart. She snarled and clenched her fists so hard her nails dug into her skin.
"YOU BASTARDS! I'LL KILL YOU ALL! DO YOU HEAR ME!? ALL OF YOU WILL DIE BY MY HANDS!"
"Richmond wait!"
She charged the heavy cruiser and for a split second pure shock flickered across its face! It snarled and fired! All eight shells slammed into Richmond! It didn't slow her down. Her own guns lashed out at the cruiser and with her terrifying rate of fire its superstructure was mauled and multiple fires broke out! The light cruiser brought all of its guns to bear against her and fired! Once again it didn't affect her.
"Farragut! What do we do!?"
She quickly examined the situation. Winslow is gone. There's nothing she can do for her. Flusser and Case both have heavy damage but can escape.
"Lay smoke and fall back. We can't win the battle."
"What are you gonna do!?"
"I'm going to make sure Richmond doesn't kill herself."
"Farragut wait! We're coming with you!"
"No you're not."
"Yes we are! There's no point in arguing about it! What's the plan!?"
Farragut sighed but caved. "Follow my lead."
Flusser and Case duly fell in line. The Abyssals have completely forgotten about them. A fact Farragut intends to exploit. She saw Richmond's position. The heavy cruiser had fallen back and was holding its fire. Richmond had engaged the light cruiser in CQC and was winning but with the destroyers closing in and firing that could change soon.
Farragut watched anxiously as the wounds Richmond sustained slowly caught up to her. Her attacks slowed and turned sloppy. Soon, she was on the defensive with the Abyssal pressing her hard.
"Come on... Come on... NOW! LAUNCH YOUR TORPEDOES!"
They launched their remaining torpedoes totaling seven.
"Those are going to hit Richmond!"
"They won't."
"WHAT!? It sure as hell looks like they will! Tell her to move!"
She didn't do anything. Her eyes were zeroed on the torpedo tracks.
"FARRAGUT!"
Twenty-five hundred yards.
"FARRAGUT!"
Two thousand yards.
"PLEASE!"
Fifteen hundred yards. Now.
"RICHMOND! MOVE!"
She didn't hesitate. She dodged the next attack and moved to her port just as all seven torpedoes slammed into the Abyssal! With the light cruiser destroyed the heavy cruiser opened fire! Farragut, Flusser, and Case reengaged the destroyers.
"RICHMOND! FALL BACK NOW!"
"NO! I MUST AVENGE MARBLEHEAD! ALL OF THESE BASTARDS ARE DEAD!"
"YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED! WHAT ABOUT YOUR OTHER SISTERS!? ARE YOU GOING TO LEAVE THEM BEHIND!? THEY WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY! MARBLEHEAD WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY!"
She didn't move. Farragut felt her heart drop.
"FUCK!" Richmond started to fall back towards them. Black smoke belched from her funnels concealing her retreat. Farragut, Flusser, and Case continued to battle the destroyers until she reached their position. Only then did they cease-fire and active their smoke generators.
"Renown! Reinforcements are inbound!"
"Sir!? You're broadcasting on an open channel!"
"One carrier and Two battleships with escorting cruisers and destroyers are inbound! The carrier has already launched a strike!"
"COMMANDER! THE ABYSSALS CAN HEAR THIS!"
He switched to a secure channel. "I know."
Farragut looked to the Abyssal fleet. They had ceased their pursuit.
"They're retreating," Flusser muttered in shock.
"...Commander. That was an idiotic move."
"I know. It was the only way I could think of saving you."
"...Thank you, Commander."
"You're welcome. Get back to Wellington ASAP."
"Understood. Sir? Is the strike in range?"
"Yes. I've given her the course and speed of the Abyssal fleet. They will be hit."
"That's good to hear sir. Renown out."