The Soul of the Union
The Eagle Union's carrier strike force steamed forward. Every single ship in the fleet knew that somewhere out beyond the horizon was the most hated enemy- the aircraft carriers that had struck the most infamous blow in history. Scout flights had spotted the main Sakuran task force near Midway, those treacherous witches having already having sent flights against the island garrison. With their planes distracted, it was the time to strike; the battle hinged on the Union carriers not being identified yet.
"Everyone! Today we will avenge our fallen friends at Pearl Harbor!" The fleet's flagship, Yorktown, held aloft her eagle, the very symbol of the Union, and the manifestation of her power as a carrier.
A cheer went up among their escorts, the destroyers and cruisers shaking themselves out and readying for battle. Yorktown's younger sisters Enterprise and Hornet were already prepared- they had been since the morning when the scout planes had come in. The enemy fleet may have had no idea what was about to hit them, but there was no time to plan the attack any further- they had to launch as soon as they could.
"Ready?" Yorktown had turned to sisters, the fire in their eyes speaking volumes more than their words ever could.
Yorktown released the first wave of TBD's, her sisters' following suit. The fighters they had scrambled earlier were set as an anti-air net, but each of the carriers diverted parts of their flights to serve as escorts- at least until the fighters had reached the edge of their feasible deployment.
And because of that reliance upon hope rather than procedure, only three of Yorktown's torpedo flight had returned.
Of the forty-one deployed by the three sisters, only six had returned. Yorktown wept for her sister Hornet, for not a single one of her precious bombers had made it back- Yorktown knew that pain well. In Yorktown's haste and hopes to score an easy kill, she had certainly underestimated the power of the Sakuran carriers. Still, the three sisters did not give any sign to the fleet that their first sortie was a catastrophic loss- the escorting destroyers and cruisers needed to remain vigilant and any bad news could be devastating morale-wise.
"Aim high!" Yorktown ordered, readying her next flight of dive bombers upon her rigging. Hornet and Enterprise copied her, wordlessly expressing faith in their older sister's judgement.
The Sakuran planes would be low to the water after engaging the torpedo bombers, it was doubtable that they would be able to intercept up high with equal force again.
"Launch!"
The flights took the to sky. Yorktown could close her eyes and feel them- each a small extension of her very spirit. It was the closest she would ever get to flying, and how she relished the chance to do so. She missed the days before the world was consumed in conflict- when she could sent out flights and simply… enjoy the ocean in all its vast beauty.
To soar above the fleet, to dazzle and delight them with that spirit of freedom that so often perched on her rigging. Even during her peacekeeping tours when the Union was still a neutral country, she could remember seeing through the eyes of her eagle all of the smiles and happiness of the Pacific Fleet.
And with those eagle-eyes, she had spotted the Sakuran task force. Sitting center of their formation, four figures upon that vast swell of blue- rigging all bearing that hated symbol of the Sakura- the red dot of betrayal and cowardice.
Hiryuu, Soryuu, Akagi, and Kaga. Four of the Infamous Six. Every Union sailor and ship knew their names, knew their faces, and dreamt of the day they would be sunk. Today would be the day that Yorktown and her sisters would strike their names from the Sakuran roster.
Yorktown did not hesitate.
She threw her arm down, willing her dive bombers into their attack run- the very manifestation of a eagle diving upon its prey. Enterprise's flight had joined in her strike as well, the full weight of vengeance to fall upon the head of Soryuu.
The blue-haired woman was the first to react, eyes going as wide as those spectacles she wore. Her fighters were too low, and even as she swung her arms to will her spirits to intercept, those long ears of hers drooped, perhaps understanding what was about to happen. She knew it was too late, and was attempting to draw her rigging in front of her to take the coming blows.
Bombs whistled and explosions shattered the calm of the ocean.
From her distant vantage, Yorktown saw the battered body of Soryuu hit the water face first, her once-fine robes aflame as she silently screamed. As the flight pulled back up to altitude, Yorktown could see that Kaga shared the same fate as Soryuu, consumed by fire.
"Hah! Scratch two of the four!" Hornet cheered, pulling her full attentions back amongst the sisters.
"I definitely hit Akagi as well. She was bleeding." Enterprise nodded, not sharing Hornet's full enthusiasm. Still, Enterprise seemed to breath a deep sigh of relief; the risk that the sisters had taken to launch such a sudden, unprepared attack had worked out in their benefit in the end.
"The next flight will finish them off." Yorktown reassured herself. It all seemed so simple because they had caught the carrier group off-guard. As long as they remained calm, they could press their advantage without out any risk.
"Enterprise, Hornet, move out to the flank and attack them from a different angle. Just because they are burning doesn't mean they don't have flight in the air." Yorktown directed. Her sisters, ever eager to finish the battle decisively, kicked out with their escorts, both racing the other to see who could get in position first. Their morale was high; after all, they had decisively struck three of the greatest enemies of the Union in a matter of minutes.
Yorktown looked to the sky once again, sensing the spirit of her returning planes. There was another feeling though- a shadow encroaching upon Yorktown and her sisters. It had unsettled her enough to send them away.
"Kaga and Soryuu will burn, Akagi is wounded… what about Hiryuu?"
The shock of her revelation struck Yorktown in the gut. No one had hit Hiryuu.
"Focus your defenses!" Yorktown screamed to her sisters in the distance while she moved her own fighters to defense. They might have been too far to hear, or too distracted in their victory. The buzz of engines chopped the air: it wasn't her flight.
Hiryuu's planes had followed the sister's flights right back to their carrier group. Anti-air fire from her escorts had opened up upon realizing the same exact thing.
Yorktown had to focus, she had to command her fighters. Enterprise and Hornet were experienced now, they could defend themselves without their big sister's help. Yorktown drew her fighters into a net, trying to catch as many of the Sakuran planes as possible.
She had gambled on Hiryuu's flights being thinned between the three carriers, but the full counter-attack came for Yorktown.
The swarm began, the buzz of planes scrambling with planes as Hiryuu's flight met the defensive net Yorktown had set. Planes burned, flak-fire and tracers from the escort ships filled the air…
And still three planes made it through. Yorktown stared up at the tiny dots diving upon her slowly growing wings as they neared.
In that brief moment, she understood that look of fear in Soryuu's eyes- that hopelessness at the situation they had been thrust in. How, in that agonizingly infinite moment, she could only wish that she were a bird, above this whole awful conflict- free to fly.
Instinctively Yorktown pulled the decks of her rigging to shield herself.
The first blast shattered part of her rigging.
The second blast ripped a section of her flight deck and knocked it completely aside.
The third blast hit her full force, throwing Yorktown backwards to the sea and savagely punching the air from her lungs.
Even as hardened as she was by merit of being a warship, Yorktown struggled to breath, writhing upon the surface of the ocean. She thrashed upon the waves, hands clawing at her neck in an unrealistic attempt to force her windpipe back open.
She could feel something call her name once or twice; the depths perhaps, but she would not grant the ocean's desires yet. The voices only willed Yorktown back up onto her feet, gasping and drooling as life returned to her mortal frame.
In a daze she pushed herself forward again, calling out to her sisters but hearing nothing in return except a deep, resonating ring. Her world muted, her eyes in a haze, her flights not responding… what else could she do besides push forward in search of her sisters?
Another ship had approached Yorktown from behind, and reflexively she swung the broken remains of her flight deck towards the offending woman.
The blonde hair… the white and blue uniform of the Union… the ship was a cruiser and she was trying to say something to Yorktown, but the carrier couldn't hear. She had to be one of the sister's escorts…
It was Astoria… Astoria-
The cruiser gripped Yorktown by the shoulders, trying to slow the carrier down. The deafness smothered Yorktown's words, but whatever she had spoken to the cruiser had made the girl's eyes go wide. Astoria cautiously let go of the carrier, keeping pace with Yorktown by skating backwards. Again, in her daze Yorktown said something to the cruiser, causing the blonde to frown and shake her head.
The ringing in Yorktown's head reached a mind-shattering pitch, and she gripped at her head to try and make it stop. Astoria stooped in to try and help, but what could she do? In a frantic desperation, Yorktown pulled her armband from the scorched remains of her jacket, handing it to Astoria-
Her symbol as the flagship.
A deaf commander couldn't lead. Yorktown must have said something along the likes of it being a temporary promotion for Astoria, for she got a pained smile and what should have been a small giggle from the heavy cruiser. Still, it was clear that the fight wasn't finished yet, and Astoria understood what was needed, saluting as she shoved off from Yorktown. There were fleet duties that must be attended to; the destroyers and cruiser escorts both had to have their eyes to the skies and ears beneath the surface, and Yorktown couldn't coordinate them anymore.
The carrier, meanwhile, turned her focus back to trying to find her scattered planes. Her loss of concentration disrupting the usual routine of flights returning, but Yorktown was conscious once again- she was able to fight.
Still, she was limited.
Hiryuu would come for Yorktown, after all she was the one who killed Soryuu. The scout planes reported that Hiryuu had broken formation and most likely there was an attack on the way.
What remained of her bomber flight, Yorktown diverted to Enterprise. Wherever her sister was, the soul of the Union- Yorktown's eagle- would find her. Of her fighter net, Yorktown commandeered what she could, steeling herself for what came next.
The first bursts of anti-air fire from her escorts crackled skywards announcing it was beginning again, and soon Yorktown felt her fighters in contact. There were too many holes, her concentration too scattered and distracted from her wounds.
Torpedo bombers found the gaps, streaking towards her. The ringing in her ears, the searing pain that wracked her body, the grip of exhaustion- Yorktown breathed it all away for that fateful minute that the torpedoes hit the water. Even while weighed down by her wounds, Yorktown slipped between two of those deadly lines, but she was unable to keep track of every wasp that slipped through.
Two torpedoes struck her port-side the moment she had threaded the first two, exploding beneath her left leg and sending her sprawling face-first into the ocean. What little strength she had manage to muster had fled her body, leaving Yorktown with barely enough strength to keep herself afloat.
One of her escorts was by her side instantly- the cat-eared destroyer Hammann shouting at the barely conscious carrier. The destroyer was simultaneously trying to tend to Yorktown's wounds while also furiously firing her anti-air guns at anything that buzzed near.
"Just… go." Yorktown protested the destroyer's treatment. She was struck by a sudden clarity... rather, it felt as if she had lifted up from her haze, drifting father away from the frame of her mortal body once again.
She was dying.
"N-no!" Hammann was trying to stem the blood that flowed from Yorktown's mangled leg, "We are here to protect you- stay with us!" Hammann's ears twitched, and the destroyer once again spun to face a new threat, firing erratically into the water. Four lines blurred and rippled beneath the waves, coursing towards Yorktown.
"We're here to protect you Miss Yorktown!" Hammann tried to reassure, but her shells failed to detonate the incoming torpedoes. No matter how loud she screamed or how many tears fell from her eyes, two deadly tubes passed beneath the destroyer, detonating and throwing the already ragged body of Yorktown.
And yet, the carrier was still afloat. Bleeding, burning, and spent... but the depths could not claim her soul yet. She was still not defeated.
The same could not be said for Hammann.
The final torpedo had seen fit to ensure that Yorktown would not die alone. The lower half of the destroyer had slipped beneath the surface, but the cruel gods of whatever horrible world this was saw fit to have the top half live on- if only briefly.
"Miss Yorktown…" Hammann sobbed, reaching out for the carrier with what remained of her body. Shakily, Yorktown gripped onto Hammann's tiny hand, trying her best to comfort the sinking destroyer even as her own life slipped away.
It was then that Yorktown had given up trying to survive. She had already passed on what she could, let her death serve as catalyst for her sisters... and yet-
Why must she suffer still? Why were others dying for her?
"You were brilliant…" Yorktown choked, trying to pull herself closer to her broken escort- to hold someone, to reassure someone one last time, "Thank you, Hammann."
"Miss… Yorktown…"
Even as Hammann's head slipped beneath the waves, Yorktown held on, just for a moment longer. In her final ounces of life, she wanted to be with someone.
An explosion from below battered Yorktown- Hammann's depth charges having accidentally detonated beneath the waves. It made the small destroyer's lifeless hand slip from Yorktown's, and though she wished so desperately to cry out- to scream at the cruelty befalling her, the only thing that came out of Yorktown's mouth was a dying rasp.
'Enterprise… Hornet… please survive.'
The world was growing dark, the tugging from below stronger than before.
'Live on and win… so that you aren't poisoned by revenge any longer.'
Yorktown listed, the waves rolling her over face-down and smothering her final breath. The depths peacefully wrapped its tendrils around her spirit, slowly and gently pulling her beneath the surface. Perhaps the cold of the deep would cool the anger she had held so long in her heart...
"Miss Yorktown!"
The carrier spun only to be taken off guard a destroyer slamming into her with her tiny frame. Before she registered who is was, she felt arms wrap tightly around her.
"H-Hammann? Is something the matter?" Yorktown placed a hand upon Hammann's head, gently stroking the destroyer's cat ears to help calm her.
"T-that idiot commander! He… He-!" Hammann gripped onto Yorktown's dress, looking up to her.
"He what?" In an instant, an over-protectiveness for her juniors had overcome Yorktown's normally demure self. If the Azur Lane's commander had so much as-
"He called me cute! T-The pervert!"
Yorktown was taken aback.
And she couldn't hold back the giggle that slowly pulled forth from her in a most unladylike chortle. When Hammann stared up at Yorktown in confusion, she found only that warm smile.
"Should I gather my sisters and teach that man a lesson?"
"Lets get the whole task force together!" Hammann whined, "Sexual harassment will not be tolerated on this base!"
"What's all this about sexual harassment?" Hornet slammed into Yorktown's back, giving her older sister a hug from behind and sandwiching the older carrier.
"H-Hornet, don't say it so loud!"
"No, say it louder!" Hammann shouted gleefully, the mirth spreading to her as well.
"Sexual harassment!" Hornet cried out without a care to who was wandering the courtyard, laughing all the while.
"You look like the one harassing big sis." Enterprise's voice floated over the group. The three looked over to where their heroic sister stood, side by side with the crane-like carrier Zuikaku- the pair having come from a practice sortie together. Seeing the Sakura woman made Yorktown bristle, but the smile on Zuikaku's face-
It was earnest. It was how Yorktown had smiled countless times before in a life long past. With a deep breath, Yorktown freed herself of the hate- at least for the time being. If her younger sister could set aside the animosity…
Then she too, perhaps, could find peace.