"You're humming that tune again."

"Huh?" Intrepid looked over at Biloxi, who, along with the other girls in her patrol, were staring at her. The carrier felt her cheeks grow hot as she looked back out on the open ocean but still couldn't stop the smile from crossing her face. "Oh, uh…sorry. It's been stuck in my mind since last night."

"Guess the date with the Commander went well," Bunker Hill remarked, causing the other girls to let out gasps of excitement. Well, most of them. Independence seemed coolly unperturbed by the sudden revelation.

"You went on a date with the Commander?" Halsey Powell exclaimed. "That's so cool!"

Stephen Potter was next to speak up, asking a barrage of questions without giving Intrepid the time to answer. "Where'd you guys go? Was he a gentleman? Did you guys kiss good night?"

"Girls, girls, settle down," Biloxi chuckled as she tried to placate the destroyers with her smooth southern drawl. "It's not a lady's place to kiss and tell. However, it is of the utmost importance that our gracious Commander comported himself in the fashion befittin' of a gentleman." She fixed the carrier with a pointed stare. "Was he, Intrepid?"

"O-of course!" she blurted out, a little too defensively for her liking. "He was really nice and sweet and I could tell he loved my dress."

"Was that the dark blue velvet and satin number you were eyin' up the other day?" Biloxi asked.

"Mhm."

"Man's got a good eye for taste, I knew it'd look good on you," the southern cruiser smiled, and Intrepid felt a blush creep across her cheeks again.

"Th-thanks," she stammered. "I had fun, and I could tell he did, too."

"Does that mean there's a second date in the offin'?" Biloxi grinned.

"I certainly hope so, I-"

Their conversation was cut short by urgent beeping from both Halsey Powell and Stephen Potter's riggings, and all eyes went to the two destroyers as they began to scan the horizon.

"Siren portals opening!" Powell announced, and the patrol immediately went on alert, arming their guns and prepping their strike waves.

"How many?" Intrepid barked as she began to summon her Hellcats.

"Eight!"

"Where?" Biloxi growled as she looked around. "I don't see anything."

Potter was the one to answer this time, glancing around "All around us! Should be visible…now!"

One by one, violet rents opened up, and wave after wave of Siren mass-produced ships poured out. For what it was worth, Intrepid breathed a sigh of relief when she saw no humanoid Sirens leading them. This was going to be a hard enough fight as it is without throwing them into the mix.

Bunker Hill and Independence sailed close to her, the other fleet carrier keeping her voice low as she spoke. "How do you wanna play this, Intrepid?"

The carrier's blue eyes darted around the horizon, taking in each group of Sirens in turn. "Need to get out of this ring," she muttered back as her eyes finally settled on a battlegroup to their right side. "There," she declared, pointing to her targets. "We're going through them."

While her collar obscured most of her face, Bunker Hill's wide eyes effectively conveyed her surprise. "The carrier group?" she asked. "You wanna go through the toughest group first?"

"Yep!" She confirmed as she began launching her aircraft. "Any direction we run, we're going to have to deal with those planes, might as well take out their base first."

"Understood."

As Bunker Hill sailed back to begin launching her own planes, Intrepid called out over the radio. "Alright, we're getting out of here, and we're going through that carrier group to do it! Powell, Biloxi, take point, Potter, cover our rear. Bunker Hill, keep those other fleets tied up. Independence, you're with me. Let's take this carrier out quick."

A chorus of acknowledgment filled the radio before it was drowned out by the roar of launching aircraft and thundering guns. Behind her, Potter was already laying down a thick smoke screen, helping to cover them from the Sirens pursuing them. It also helped to hide the telltale splashes of her torpedoes hitting the water.

Ahead of them, Biloxi was laying down a steady stream of fire, her guns thundering in rapid succession as she focused her fire on the lead destroyer. Within moments, multiple fires had broken out, but the stubborn ship sailed on and returned fire shortly thereafter. Above it all, Intrepid's Hellcats and Helldivers formed up with Independence's Avengers, the light carrier's fighters staying behind for CAP.

"Enemy aircraft launching," Independence's voice crackled over the radio as Intrepid focused on the enemy flight deck.

"I see them," she called out. "Looks like we've got fighters headed our way and bombers headed for the patrol. I've got the fighters."

"Roger," Independence acknowledged. "CAP's moving to intercept the bombers."

As one, Intrepid's Hellcats dove down towards the enemy aircraft as they tried to climb high enough to engage her bombers. The Sirens were forced to switch to the incoming fighters, the two sides exchanging fire in a high-speed pass that saw the loss of two of her Hellcats for four of the enemy planes. Immediately, Intrepid's planes pulled up and out of the dive, bleeding off energy in order to regain some altitude.

Just as the fighters settled back in on the Siren's tails, the enemy planes opened up, savaging the Helldivers just as they nosed over into their attack run. Two fell burning from the sky immediately while a third began belching thick black smoke. As they screamed down towards their target, a murderous hail of anti-aircraft fire opened up, destroying another four before they could drop their lethal payload. The remaining five released their bombs, pulled up out of the dive, and headed back for Intrepid. Only four made it, as the last Helldiver found itself bereft of a wing as it banked back for home.

Meanwhile, Independence's Avengers were scoring torpedo hits, but against the wrong ships. The Sirens had clustered themselves around their carrier, making it harder to get a clean shot from a torpedo. Several cruisers and destroyers were showing signs of damage, and even one with a concerning list, but all were still functional and firing on the kansen.

This wasn't going to work if they kept this up. As she waited for her savaged squadrons, she decided to check in with Intrepid. "How's your CAP holding up?"

"Still good," the smaller carrier stated as she began recovering her Avengers and readying another sortie. "Plenty of fuel, ammo, and the incoming bomber wave has been destroyed."

Intrepid nodded as she let out a short sigh. "Their defenses are too bunched up for a direct attack, I think we need to start peeling the onion. I'll hit them with Avengers on the left, you keep hitting them on the right."

"Roger."

Once more, Intrepid's aircraft roared from her flight deck, joined swiftly by Independence's planes as they raced towards the Siren battle group. She poured every ounce of speed she could into the burly torpedo planes, the sense of urgency building with each passing second. The longer it took to knock that carrier out of action, the more planes it could send up, which increased the chances of one of the shipgirls taking severe damage which increased the chances of the rest of the Sirens from surrounding them and finishing them off. This was her patrol, these girls were her responsibility, and she couldn't let them down. She didn't even want to think of what John would say if she came back from patrol with someone severely injured. Or worse, not at all.

While she waited as the seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness, she glanced over her shoulder back at Bunker Hill. "How're you two holding up?"

Bunker Hill's voice sounded strained, indicating that she was probably directing an attacking flight. "I've picked off a few escorts, and I think Potter's damaged a few with torpedo volleys. They seem to be keeping their distance for now."

"Good, keep it up." At least the rearguard was holding their own. She re-focused on her Avengers as they came within range of the Siren carrier group and started their attack run. Once again, the escorts opened up, trying to bring down Intrepid's aircraft, but since she was attacking the outermost ships first, her planes were at the outer envelope of anti-air fire. This time, all twelve aircraft dropped their torpedoes and successfully escaped to return to her safely. As they headed back, she watched the tell-tale wakes streak towards the Sirens, then slam into their sides with a geyser of water, multiple impacts on several ships. One lucky torpedo slammed into the forward bow of a cruiser and set off a magazine, the resulting explosion hurtling the front end of the cruiser forward while the rest of it rolled over and rapidly sank.

And that wasn't all. Two destroyers were rapidly listing to a dangerous degree and water was already lapping over the freeboard. Another cruiser was smoldering from the impact and slowly falling out of formation with the rest of the fleet. She felt the pressure on her chest ease up ever so slightly as she began to realize they were still in this, they still had a chance. As they were returning, Intrepid had her Avengers wing over slightly to port so she could get a glimpse at the damage Independence had done. Much to her delight, it appeared the younger carrier had done an impressive job as well. Two cruisers were rapidly disappearing beneath the waves, and a destroyer was already nowhere to be seen.

"Think we've peeled the onion enough?" Independence asked, and even over the radio, Intrepid could hear the grin in her voice.

"Think so," she agreed. "Let's try this again. I'll go high, you take them from the right again. See if we can't flip this thing."

"Roger that!"

One more time, Helldivers and Hellcats leaped from the deck and took to the air, steadily gaining altitude as they climbed into the sky. This time, however, Independence's Avengers stayed closer to sea level, with the Hellcats pacing them from a thousand feet above them, watchful for another enemy wave. They didn't have to watch for long.

This time, Intrepid spotted the planes first. "Aircraft launching, looks like three squadrons." As the aircraft grew larger, her stomach twisted into a knot. "...all of them are fighters. Looks like we're going to have one hell of a dogfight on our hands. I'll keep as many busy as I can while you blow through."

Even over the radio, Intrepid could hear the worry in Independence's voice. "R-roger."

Her Hellcats vectored in on an intercept course as she prepared to do all she could to take them down with her. If push came to shove, she could use the cannons on her Helldivers in a pinch, although they were in no way meant for dogfighting. The closer she got, however, she realized that the fighters were ignoring both hers and Independence's attack craft. They weren't even focusing on her Hellcats, which were now almost on top of them. For a brief moment, Intrepid was puzzled. If they weren't going after her aircraft, where were they going? She did a quick bearing check and realized they were headed straight for the patrol.

"Heads up," she announced, "we've got incoming! Switch to AA defense and prioritize those inbound aircraft. I've got a bad feeling about this bunch."

"Understood."

"Roger."

"On it."

"You need extra fighter cover over there?" Bunker Hill offered.

Intrepid weighed it for a second before she nodded, then realized Bunker Hill couldn't see her. "Yeah, give me what you can without putting your own safety at risk."

"Corsairs coming your way." Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, a group of gull-winged fighters roared overhead, headed towards the incoming fighters. As the three squadrons converged on the Siren aircraft, Intrepid shifted her focus back to her Helldivers. Now over the target, they began their dive down on the massive carrier below them. Once again, the antiaircraft fire was much lighter than before, although it still managed to down two bombers. The other ten, though, released their bombs and pulled out, their payloads landing directly on target. Explosions rippled across the flight decks, gouging massive holes and rendering them incapable of launching or recovering aircraft again. As her bombs hit home, all twelve torpedoes from Independence's Avengers struck the carrier on its port side. With so many holes gouged into one side, the twin-hulled vessel began to list badly to port.

Normally, a catamaran-style hull offers more stability at sea, but when one side sinks, it can cause the rest of the vessel to flip over in a dramatic fashion. Which is exactly what happened here. Almost. As the port hull began to roll over and slip beneath the sea, the starboard hull rose completely out of the water. It likely would have flipped over with a thunderous crash, but that isn't what happened.

Damaged by the bombs, the spar holding the two hulls together fractured with a horrific groaning, cracking noise that could be heard by everyone in the patrol group. The starboard hull fell onto the port hull, something broke loose in one of the magazines, and the entire ship erupted into a colossal fireball, hurtling bits of steel everywhere.

For a second, the girls cheered, and even Intrepid allowed herself a brief moment of elation before she refocused on her fighters. "Not out of this yet!" she reminded everyone. "Still have those enemy squadrons coming in, and they're coming in fast!"

It was taking everything she had just to close the distance with her Hellcats, but they were finally in firing range. She lined up her shots, and the second she opened up, the Siren planes hit the afterburners and took off.

"Shit!" she swore, realizing her aircraft were now out of the fight. "These things are coming in hot, watch out! Bunker Hill, Independence, I think you'll only get one pass as they blow past."

"Damn, she wasn't kidding," Biloxi muttered as she began opening up with her extensive AA batteries. "The hell's going on?"

Intrepid shared Biloxi's confusion until the lead Siren changed course and dove down directly towards the cruiser. "Kamikaze!" she yelled as she added her own anti-aircraft batteries to the fray. "Take evasive action!"

As if somehow sensing who the flagship was, the majority of the incoming fighters switched targets and were now headed straight for her. Like a nightmare she couldn't wake up from, Intrepid watched as she filled the sky with flak and tracer rounds, as Bunker Hill and Independence's fighters ripped Siren after Siren out of the sky, and yet they kept coming and coming and coming.

The final eleven aircraft dove into her like a pack of cruise missiles, and Intrepid threw up her rigging as a shield, hoping the damage wouldn't be too severe. As the planes hit, she cried out in pain as she was shoved backward by the force of each successive crash, and it was all she could do to keep herself upright. When the echoes of the last blast faded away, and her ears quit ringing, she lowered her rigging, which was now smoking, and looked around.

"-pid!" someone called out to her. "Intrepid, are you okay?"

She nodded as she ran a quick diagnostic. "Flight deck's pretty beat up, but I'll be alright. Can't launch for a bit, though."

Intrepid saw Independence heading towards her when the light carrier stopped and pointed at something behind the fleet carrier. "Look out!"

She spun around and saw the twelfth fighter bearing down on her, engines on fire as it prepared to give its life to end hers. She tried to raise her rigging, to shield herself from what was to come, but it was too late. She had enough time for one final thought-John-before it all went black.

Several hours earlier, I'd woken up from that nightmare with a horrible feeling of dread. As much as I tried to tell myself it was just a dream, I couldn't shake this terrible sense that something bad had happened, or would happen, to Intrepid. Still, it wouldn't do to have the base see me running around in a panic over a bad dream. My first thought was to stop by Bremerton's office, but I quickly remembered that she had her training exercises today. I sighed and took another deep breath to calm my nerves. It could wait until Bremerton finished her training, after all, I was certain she was going to stop by to see how I thought the date went. I'm sure she'd already gotten Intrepid's side of things. Before heading out the door, I glanced over at the coffee maker, decided decaf should be the order of the day, at least, until I was a bit calmer, and left for the office.

When I arrived, Essex was there, already getting papers filed and reports issued. In fact, it looked like she was actually ahead of schedule. "Morning, Essex," I said slowly as I looked around in amazement. "You've been busy this morning."

She looked up from her work and smiled proudly. "Actually, a lot of it is from last night. You'd be pretty amazed at what three Essex-class ships can do once we put our minds to it!"

"I'm learning very quickly just how talented you all are," I forced a smile as I sat at my desk, Intrepid still on my mind. "Not that I underestimated you in the first place." I tried to keep my voice casual as I asked, "Have you heard anything from our patrols this morning?

If Essex heard any worry or panic in my voice, she didn't show it in her reply. She simply scanned the morning reports and answered, "Nope. Just the usual check-ins. Looking for someone in particular?"

Again, I tried to play it off as nonchalant. "Just wanted to check in on Intrepid, see how she's doing."

Essex smiled as she saw right through me, or at least, she thought she did. "Date went that well, huh?"

I smiled genuinely, but sheepishly. "Yeah, it did. She really pulled out all the stops for that one. Did you know what she was planning?"

"Nope," she shook her head. "I just knew it was a big thing and we were going to cover for you so you'd have time to go on the date. So where'd she take you?"

"The canteen." When Essex raised an eyebrow and shot me a curious look, I grinned and explained, "She'd had the manjuus remodel it to look like the interior of Rick's Cafe from Casablanca. Band and all."

Essex's eyes went wide. "Wow, that's impressive! What are you going to do on the next date?"

I leaned back in my chair and sighed as I looked up at the ceiling. "I have no idea," I admitted. "How do you top something like that? She loves stargazing, but it's not like I can take her to the moon. Unless…"

"Sir, no," Essex quickly answered. "We do not have the capability, nor can we afford to send you and Intrepid to the moon."

I lifted my head up and gave her a playful smile. "Not even for a quick date? Just Moon Dinner and back, I promise."

"Not even for a snack, Commander," she grinned back. "All future dates will have to be earthbound, I'm afraid."

"Darn."

"Don't worry," she smiled reassuringly, "I'm sure you'll think of something."

"Yeah," I sighed. "It's not even been twelve hours. Just need to give it time. Meanwhile, let's see just how far ahead of our paperwork we can get…"

We buckled down and got to work. Honestly, I was grateful we were able to get so much done and get so far ahead. I'd need every spare second I could get very shortly…

A/N-Yeah, sorry about this one. Little bit. In any case, cookies for those who figured out the historical event this references! The rest of you…fine, you can have a cookie, too. BUT JUST ONE. Until next time, fair winds and following seas!