Normandie joined the other shipgirls under Tegran's command, something that had the Titanic kanmusu torn between squealing with joy or curling up on the floor in despair! Olympia had seen how smitten she was, she was captivated by Normandie. And the French girl's flirtatious demeanor wasn't helping! But Tegran was determined not to let her feelings show too much. If Bluenose caught wind of this, she'd never hear the end of it!
Most of the destroyers were off on patrol, leaving just a small group for Tegran to deal with today. At the end of the line were Bluenose and Theabaud. The two famous schooners stood at attention and it was almost comical to see how they worked to imitate the larger ships. Hindenburg and Macon were the ships the schooners were trying to imitate. Given Hindenburg's German professionalism and Macon's rigidity, a far cry from her excitable sister, not an easy task. Behind them and well hidden enough that Tegran had to rely on her special senses just to know that she was there, was Harder. The submarine was almost as good at hiding as she was. Next in line came United States. The speedy ocean liner had just returned from a refitting in Boston and now sported 6, 4.5 inch guns in dual mounts on her deck. As well as a pair of 40 mm guns. Next to her and at the front of the line was Normandie. Her empty quiver had been filled partially with a handful of arrows. Trial aircraft for her to get used to before she was given a full compliment of planes. She sported a gun armament similar to an Essex's. They were all gathered on the banks of the Delaware River, 15 miles or so upstream from Camden near the town of Stockton.
Tegran could hear a scratching sound in her hear and one eye flickered down to see fairy!Andrews scribbling away on his notepad. With the ability that all kanmusu had, she took enough attention away from her fleet to scold him silently. "What are you doing?!"
"Taking notes. That Normandie's got an armament that with a little deck reinforcement, would be perfect for you!" He replied.
She hissed softly through her teeth. "Get down before someone sees you!"
"No worries there my dear. I am the master of disguise." He replied and Tegran groaned. There was no use talking him out of it.
She returned her full attention to her fleet and paced in front of them, Olympia watching silently behind her. Her hands were clasped behind her back like a classic drill sergeant. She spoke like one too.
"Convoys. They were a vital part of winning the last war and they are just as vital today. Most of you are used to operating on your own but today will be all about teamwork. You will have to work together to achieve your mission."
"And, what is our mission Captain?" asked Normandie in that shy yet alluring voice of hers.
Tegran brushed her red hair across her cheeks to hide her blush. "You are going to play a miniature convoy. Harder here will play the role of U-boat trying to sink you."
Harder waved. "Hello!" She called timidly.
"United States will be the transport ship." United States waved excitedly.
"Hindenburg and Macon will act as long range scouts, scanning the path ahead for any signs of submarines and then reporting back. You do not engage until you have made contact with the convoy." Tegran stressed and the two airships nodded. Tegran noticed how Hindenburg's fairies were dutifully taking notes and she was aware of Andrews on her shoulder doing the same thing.
"Bluenose and Theabaud will be our first line of defense. Once the airships radio in it'll be your job to confirm the sighting. Use your speed and maneuverability to outwit the submarine and draw it in towards the bigger guns." The two schooners grinned almost giddily. "If the destroyers were here, they'd do the depth charging. But since they aren't, you two will have to do your best. Normandie will cover you as she's on CAP duty."
Normandie looked a little nervous. "Excuse me captain but um, I haven't much experience with planes. No experience really."
"Well then now is the perfect time to get some isn't it." Tegran replied. "Remember, this is just practice. So if you mess up, that's okay. We can always try again. The convoy's job is to reach Trenton. "Reach that, and you're safe. But if Harder sinks United States, you lose. You all understand that?"
"Yes ma'am!" Came the reply.
"Okay, begin!"
The girls happily entered the water. Harder rigged for silent running and dove. The surface girls all spread out in a formation around United States who was working not to speed ahead of her escort. Tegran knew that putting United States in a convoy would not be a wise move in reality. The girl's speed was her best defense and it was unlikely that any U-boat or surface raider could catch her once she unleashed those powerful engines of hers. But all the girls needed fleet experience, desperately! None had ever served in a group before. Theabaud at least had some experience in dealing with submarines and Tegran was counting on her to remember that. Bluenose just spent her days in the war running between Florida and Haiti. Macon was too busy being a show girl to get much ASW practice in. And Hindenburg and Normandie had never seen combat before anyways so Tegran had her work cut out for her. Still, she was pleased when she saw Normandie clumsily launch a pair of Dauntless' off her flight deck. The Dauntless was slow but reliable. And Normandie could trust that it would train her pilots well.
Hindenburg and Macon took positions on opposite sides of the convoy, scanning back and forth in a pattern known as mowing the lawn. If Harder came for the convoy, they would hear her coming. For the first 2 miles all was silent and then Hindenburg cried out "Submerged contact, bearing 110. Position 40.36N, 74.95E."
"Diverting aircraft to intercept." Normandie's calm voice hid her inner turmoil. She had no idea what she was doing as she ordered her two patrol craft over to the spot Hindenburg had indicated. She raised her bow to launch another pair when her craft reported back.
"Confirmed ma'am." Said one of her pilots. "Submarine closing fast on the convoy."
"What should we do." She wondered. Normally, she'd suggest they reroute but they were in a river, not the open ocean. There was no room to maneuver. They were packed in tight as it was. Tegran had done this to simulate the tight confines of the waters around England. Waters that had seen many a ship go down when they thought they were home free. Normandie could understand her CO's desire to drive this lesson home but she was not in a position to appreciate it at the moment. She thought for a second before making her decision. Her choice came from something Queen Elizabeth had told her, back when she was still a ship. The British liner had just arrived in New York after a sprint for a safe haven. "Britain's back is ta the wall." She said in her Scottish brogue. "Which means weere gonna have ta fight very soon. If ya can't run no more, ya fight. Ya fight until ya pound yer opponent into the sediment!"
And that's exactly what Normandie tried to do. Launching all her 10 aircraft into the mix. This was her first mistake. They came in pairs, hounding Harder. Unfortunately, she was too eager and underestimated her opponent. These were her second and third failures. And that was three strikes!
For the sake of maintaining her secrecy, Tegran had remained on the shore. She and Olympia were driving along the roads paralleling the river. Now that they were alone, Olympia was quite content to start teasing Tegran. "So, you and Normandie hmm?" She asked.
"Come off it, Olympia. I doubt she's even interested in me!" Tegran huffed. "She flirts with everybody you know."
"Oh I know, but she's different with you." Olympia said and Tegran rolled her eyes. She doubted that was true but she wouldn't deny her heart fluttered a little at the thought.
They'd gotten about halfway to Trenton when they heard it. Horns, squeals and shouts echoed through the countryside. Tegran could see a few smoke plumes in the distance. Overhead, a Dauntless was spiraling out of control, the fairy inside screaming "HHHHHEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY!" before he crashed into the trees on the far side of the river. And that was just the start. Tegran could now hear what her girls were saying.
"WHERE'D SHE GO?"
"10-O-CLOCK, BLUENOSE."
"I GOT HER!"
"GAH NORMANDIE, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE SHOOTING!"
"SORRY! OH, THERE SHE IS!"
"SHE'S COMING TO YOU THEABAUD!"
"I'M SUNK!"
"PINK IS A NICE COLOR ON YOU!"
"SHUT UP!"
"GODDAMMIT WHERE IS THAT SUBMARINE!"
"THERE SHE IS!"
"HINDENBURG, SHE'S ON YOUR SIDE."
"COMING IN, BOMBS AWAY!"
"DAMMIT, I MISSED!"
"HOW COULD YOU MISS? THAT WAS POINT BLANK RANGE!"
"I DON'T KNOW, I JUST KNOW THAT I MISSED THEABAUD!"
"PERISCOPE, 3-O-CLOCK!"
"HOW THE FUCK DID SHE GET OVER THERE?! NORMANDIE CAN YOU VECTOR SOME PLANES OVER? I'M OUT OF POSITION!"
"SORRY, I USED ALL MY PLANES ON THAT FIRST RUN. I'M TRYING TO RELOAD THEM NOW."
"GODDAMMIT!"
Tegran checked her map. "Well, they got farther along than I thought they would." She said and Olympia chuckled. "Let's go see what the damage is." She said.
The officers found a boat ramp where they could join the fleet and Tegran couldn't help but giggle at the sight of the ships. United States was covered in pink paint, courtesy of Harder's dummy fish. It looked like the submarine had some fun before taking her out too as both Bluenose and Theabaud's hulls and sails were splattered with it! There was also a good helping of green, blue, and yellow paints on them as well indicating that there had been several friendly fire incidents.
Tegran crossed her arms, looking very stern. "Someone care to tell me what went wrong?" She asked.
"Everything." Bluenose groaned, holding her head in her hands.
Theabaud was more professional but not by much. "Miss Escargot here," she began, thumbing at Normandie "Got too eager and sent away all our air cover. Once Harder took care of us, the crazy started happening. Normandie started firing those deck guns of hers all over the place! Forget Harder, we didn't even need a submarine to sink us. She did that job for her!"
Normandie had the grace to look sheepish, looking down at her shoes and fiddling with her bow. Tegran sighed. She'd expected there to be difficulties but pinning all the blame on Normandie was hardly fair. After all, pink and blue (Normandie's paint rounds) weren't the only colors on everyone. Under Tegran's stare Theabaud confessed. "I lost my temper and gave it back to her, happy?!" She grumbled.
"No I am not!" Tegran was fuming. "I told you all to work together and what happens; you all go off an do you own thing and SNAFU, shit hits the fan! Normandie, I'm adding another 2 hours to your usual daily flight practice time. You need to learn how to properly manage your aircraft. Bluenose, Theabaud, I'm bunking you with the destroyers. Maybe by spending more time around them you'll gain some insight into how to properly conduct ASW. And as for you two..." Tegran rounded on the airships. "One simple word that I hope you can understand; communication! You both need to communicate with each other! Am I understood? That goes for all of you. AM. I. UNDERSTOOD?!" She roared.
"YES MA'AM!"
As her temper cooled, Tegran noticed something. Olympia had her notepad out and once again so did Andrews, perched high on her shoulder and well hidden by her read hair. They were jotting down her rant, word for word! She threw up her hands in exasperation. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH THIS BASE?!" She cried.