Chapter 20: Flight-Decks, HO!

Ryuujou's Zeros fell on the Abyssal bombers in a merciless swarm. Breaking off into two-plane formations, the Zeros raked their targets with machine gun rounds, truing in their aim as she merged with the horde of lumbering bombers.

As a light carrier, Ryuujou spent her time flying air cover for fishing ships, not amassing the great strike forces of Kaga or Akagi. A minor blow to the carriers pride, yes. But it meant her pilots had plenty of practice in air-to-air combat. They were good.

Very good.

Very very good.

The Zeros tore though the formation with professional precision, using their machine guns to check their aim before putting quick bursts of 20mm fire into the toothy maw of the bombers' radiators.

Not every shot was a kill, but the Zeros didn't stop their relentless pace. They'd leave the wounded for the surface ships to finish off, their prey was still ahead of them.

Ryuujou almost cackled to herself. She knew her planes would be going up against four-engine bombers, those were the only planes that could range far enough to smash the American convoy. But she'd worried she'd be going up against American flying fortresses with their seemingly infinite number of fast-firing machine guns.

These… these bombers were flinging rifle-caliber rounds at her Zeros! It was almost embarrassing.

Almost.

"C'mon! That all you got?" cheered the carrier, regrouping her Zeros as they cleared the scattered mass of bombers.

"CV Ryuujou, this is USS Hoel," Ryuujou heard a young, but commanding and distinctly American voice filter though her wireless, "I'm, uh… I'm running air defense down here,"she added in what sounded like an afterthought. "Thanks… for the assist," she almost spat out.

Ryuujou was too focused on regrouping her planes for another attack run—and keeping them out of that ridiculous hail of flak—to respond.

Fortunately, the convoy flagship had no such preoccupations. "No Problem, Dess!" cheered the fast battleship Kongou, one huge billowy sleeve flailing in the stiff arctic breeze as she threw her hand up with a dramatic flourish.

"Holy Hannah!" screeched a new voice, a deeper one that sounded not unlike Secretary Ship Nagato. But grouchier. "Volume, dude. Volume."

Kongou just smiled, her hair whipping in the breeze as she steamed ahead, her face gleaming like the Imperial Seal proudly displayed on her bow. She'd actually been rather quiet for the past few hours, sprinting though the night must've taken some effort for the old battleship.

But now, with the taste of battle hovering in the wind… She was back to her usual goofy self.

Tenryuu rolled her good eye, her gloved fingers flexing against the hilt of her katana. She looked as fierce as ever, even with a gaggle of adorable destroyer lolis bobbing in her wake.

"By my calculations," said Kirishima, her glasses shining as the early-morning sun glinted off the finely polished lenses, "We should meet up in thirty-two minutes."

Kongou nodded, the one stubborn tuft of hair on her head bobbing down before springing back to attention. "Remember," she said, glancing at Tenryuu for a split-second longer than anyone else, "The Americans are our friends! Make sure you show them a warm welcome, Dess!"

"Hai," chorused the Destroyers, with their purple-attired light-cruiser minder chiming in at the last second.

"I hear they have a battleship!" said Akatsuki, "A real battleship! Like Nagato-san!"

"I hope she's nice," said Inazuma, clutching at her borrowed scarf as her bow careened though Tenryuu's wake, "Nanodesu."

"Of course she is, silly!" Akatsuki, giggled, waving her over sized sleeve at her sister, "She's a battleship! they're all elegant ladies!"

"She's a fast battleship," corrected Hibiki. The snowy-haired destroyer seemed to be the only one who didn't have a problem with the cold.

"So?" Ikazuki shrugged, waving at Kongou, "So's Kongou-San!"

The battleship beamed on cue, spreading her flowing sleeves in the best approximation of a curtseyshe could pull off while steaming at twenty-eight knots. "Of course!" she said with a kind-hearted laugh.

Hibiki didn't say a word, but by her expression, she clearly had a choice few loaded and ready.

"Fufufufu," Tenryuu laughed, swinging her sword out of its sheath to rest the gray-red blade against her shoulder, "You girls aren't gonna leave me for some big slow battleship, would ya?"

"She's two knots faster than you," said Kirishima, her eyes glued to the horizon as she looked for any sign of the American convoy.

If Tenryuu had anything to drink, she would have spewed it all over her shirt. "She what?"

"No, it's true!" said Aktatsuki, "When she came in to save Fubuki-chan!—" the girl let out a sigh as she thought of her half-sister—"She was going thirty-five."

Kirishima nodded. She chewed on a pencil she'd gotten from… somewhere, her head tilting by fractions as the cams in her brain recomputed her course.

"Well…" Tenryuu fell silent for a second, her shoulders slumping until she regained her devil-may-care attitude. "Well ha! Finally someone who can keep up with me!"

The DesDiv6 lolis giggled their approval.

English-born returnee Kongou couldn't help but grin like a fool as she smashed though the waves, her hair blowing back in the stiff Arctic breeze as she steamed at close to flank. She'd been looking forwards to meeting these Americans again!

She'd only had the honor of facing the destroyers of Taffy 3 once in her life, and that time the battle had gone her way. But Kongou didn't hold grudges, those girls fought with honor and courage! She'd been proud to meet them, and she knew she'd be proud to serve with such dedicated women of battle! Akatsuki would be so happy to meet them!

But even more than that, she couldn't wait to meet Miss New Jersey! Kongou and her three sisters were the only fast battleships the Japanese Navy had, and she was looking forwards to meeting another. Fast battleships truly were the most elegant of naval weapons. Steel hidden in fast, agile, silk, they were the pinnacle of ladylike honor on the seas!

Little Akatsuki could take a lesson from Miss New Jersey too!

"There they are!" she yelled, her cheery voice echoing off the waves louder than the commanding bark of her fourteen inch guns. Kongou smiled, waving her billowing sleeve in greeting, "Hello, friends!"

One of the Fletcher class destroyers waved back, the one with her coppery-red hair tied back in a braided ponytail. "USS Hoel, she said, swinging around to veer back towards the convoy, AA guns blazing all the while, "You Kongou?"

"DESS!" beamed Kongou, reading all one-hundred-and-eighteen of her Type-96 25mm anti-aircraft guns.

"The hell does that mean?" grunted back the destroyer, her turrets slewing around to maintain their firing solution even as she swung around. Those Americans always were trick-shooters, but let's see how they fare against the pride of the Japanese Navy!

"It means 'I am' you ignorant little fuck-nuggets," growled the most un-battleship-like battleship Kongou'd ever met. New Jersey—it had to be her, Kongou paid careful attention to Teitoku during her briefing, Dess!—towered over Kongou, and her legs were easily twice as thick. And… and…

Kongou gasped.

Jersey's bare legs were covered in raw, bleeding flesh, her hair was singed short, and… And a solid chunk of her face was just gone, even if she was trying to hide it with those mirrored glasses. "N-New Jersey?" asked Kongou, her voice suddenly tender and motherly.

"'m fine," growled the battleship, scowling as she stared down Kongou. "'s just a flesh wound."

"Are you sure?" said Kongou, biting her lip as she adjusted course, shielding the destroyer lolis with her hull. She'd never seen a girl get so badly battered, even a battleship.

"I'm fucking fine!" said Jersey, her glare somehow coming though her shades. She threw her hands up in an angry show of defiance. And by the instant change in her bloodied face, she instantly regretted it.

"FUCK ME!" she barked, her mouth hanging open in a quiet gasp of pain as she sloooowly brought her arms back down, wincing as her ragged shirt dragged along her charred skin.

Kongou could hear Akatsuki's lofty dreams shattering like glass under the power of a Type-3 shell, but the English-Built fast-battleship wouldn't give up. Miss Jersey was obviously hurt, and what kind of host would she be if she didn't help? "I can dispatch a damage-control party, Dess?"

Jersey shook her head, "Unless they got a spare radar and gun director, wouldn't do me any good."

"Probably just fuck you up worse!" said an American Destroyer, sailing between the two battle wagons and 'accidentally' training her twin quintuple torpedo tubes down the Japanese girl's track.

"Oh hell yeah," agreed the girl who'd identified herself as the Hoel. "Ni-"

Jersey glared at the girl. "Hey fucktards! Bombers!" she barked, jerking her head at the bare handful of burning, bloodied Abyssal aircraft. "Idiots," she added just loud enough for the girls to hear, her scowl flickering into a smirk.

"Aye aye, skipper!" cheered the destroyers, their AA guns barking in eager harmony as they criss-crossed though the sea. They almost seemed to… giggle as the chewed though whatever planes Ryuujou's fighters hadn't smashed.

"A-are Americans always so loud?" asked Akatsuki, her voice very small as she cowered behind Tenryuu's skirt.

Kongou swore she saw Hibiki smirk for just a second.

Kirishima didn't say a word, her face reddening as she buried her face in her notebook, jotting down… something. Kongou would make sure to investigate later, Dess!

Tenryuu shrugged. "What, you girls scared of a little noise?"

DesDiv six sheepishly shook their heads, falling into formation behind their one-eyed minder.

"Form up around the convoy, Dess!" said Kongou. With the American destroyers preoccupied with anti-aircraft duties, her girls would be best watching the surface.

Jersey peeled off to form up with Kongou, gliding to a stop a few hundred yards abreast of the English-built battleship. "Yo."

"Hmm?"

"You and my girls have a history-" Jersey dipped her head towards the destroyers and their little carrier friend, "-You start anything, I'll put a salvo though that thin-ass belt of yours, range finder or not."

Kongou would have been offended, if she wasn't worried about the Americans doing the exact same thing to her. "Don't worry," she said, her voice dropping so only the battleship could hear, "I saw that interview you did. We're with you, dess."

Jersey nodded, wiping blood from her brow with the back of her hand. "Good think we're on the same-" she stopped dead in her tracks, her head slowly slewing to focus on Tenryuu. "AY!"

"Fu?" The light cruiser gulped at the sight of battleship staring her down.

"Is that a Katana?"

"Yeah."

"Does it have a fucking waterline on it?"

"…Yeah."

Jersey didn't say anything for a second, her split lips slowly turning up in a smile. "That… that's fucking awesome."