Yorktown stood proudly on the edge of her flight deck as the fleet moved from the minimal fog outside of Wilhelmshaven. This was the first time she had seen the defenses of the Port City with her own two eyes instead of through the bomb lenses of her scout aircraft. Her attention was drawn to the massive Flak tower that offended the cityscape with its haphazard placement and brutalistic construction. Her eyes fell from the tower as she noted pillboxes and tank positions throughout the town. As her vessel fully pierced the fog, the sound of an air raid siren was heard.
"We've finally been spotted, looks like they weren't looking too hard for us." Yorktown spoke, turning to see Nimitz behind her with a pair of Binoculars.
"We came up the coast as quietly as we could, chances are we caught them by surprise. Especially with Isaac in the Pacific making as much noise as he does." Nimitz said.
"Understandable, sir. However, I must insist you return to the bridge. My shields can keep you safe from the incoming fighters that are sure to be launching from the surrounding areas. That… and I will be beginning flight operations immediately." Yorktown spoke as she heard the whine of JU-87 engines coming from the other carrier in the fleet.
"Elbe seems ready too." Yorktown commented.
"Agreed. I'll return to the bridge. Yorktown, you're clear to engage. Give them hell." Nimitz spoke as he walked towards the bridge.
"As ordered sir. I'll get your boys on the beach." Yorktown said as her flight deck became cluttered with the sheer amount of Sky Pirates she had brought into existence. Each plane was loaded up with four two-thousand pound bombs destined for ground targets in the region. At the head of the flight deck stood four lone P-51's that were going to be used to intercept any incoming aircraft while trying to take flak off her bombers. Yorktown stood to the side as her P-51's thundered down the flight deck and took to the sky as the air raid sirens continued to blare.
Nimitz's voice came over Yorktown's speakers.
"Men. This is Admiral Nimitz. Prepare for landing on the beaches of Wilhelmshaven. Yorktown and Elbe will soften the beach defenses for your landing. Just focus on getting to the beaches and getting behind something solid. I have fought with you lot ever since I took the helm of the Missouri back during the war. I feel as if I know each of you on a personal level. I know what your best is, and you know mine. I expect nothing less than the best! I will not let any of you die needlessly. Our mission will be fulfilled!" Nimitz spoke, earning roars and cheers from within the hull of the Yorktown.
"All men, man your boats and prepare to drop. Yorktown, let's give 'em hell!" Nimitz ordered.
"Yes sir." Yorktown said as s he cracked a soft smile as her P-51's launched into the sky, followed in short order by her bombers, laden down with over eight-thousand pounds of explosives a piece.
Almost immediately, the flak tower and guns from around the city began firing into the sky, trying to shoot down the planes before they could even leave Yorktown's airspace. Yorktown and Elbe, however, refused to back down with a crack of their shoulders.
"So this is how we are going to fight? Not an issue then." Yorktown spoke as a full wave of P-51's appeared on her flight deck, armed with rockets and plenty of .50 caliber for the machine guns.
"Let's see how you deal with these." Yorktown whispered as the P-51's shot off the flight deck and swept low, making a beeline directly for the flak tower.
"Uh… guys?" Lucia asked as Cole looked back at her.
"What's up, Lucia?" Cole asked.
"I hear an air raid siren… and planes." Lucia said.
"That must mean Yorktown and Elbe are softening them up for us." Cole assumed.
"No… The siren is coming from Wilhelmshaven… but the planes…" Lucia was cut off by the sounds of machine guns strafing their position. Overhead, several land-based BF-109's flew in formation towards Wilhelmshaven at top speed.
The tank commander yelled over the radios.
"Man the .50's! They have air cover!" He yelled as Cole scrambled to reach the M2 bolted on a mount on the Pershing's turret. Racking the bolt back, Cole swiveled the gun around in time to see several more BF-109's and several ME 155's approaching from the south.
"They must have called in reinforcements from every single airfield left in Northern Germany!" Cole said as he and several other men on the other tanks opened fire with their machine guns, aiming to take down as many planes as they could to help the assault fleet.
Brooklyn scoffed before standing up and activating her rigging.
"Let's see how you fuckers like this." Brooklyn spat under her breath as her fifteen rigging-mounted guns aimed up at the sky and began firing in rapid succession, throwing large puffs of fire and shrapnel into the air, directly into the flight path of the incoming fighters.
Cole cheered softly as he watched his rounds strike the lead element of the ME-155 squadron right before it ate an entire cloud of flak from Brooklyn's rigging, sending the burning wreck spiraling into the field to their right.
Cole looked away for a moment to call to the Tank Commander.
"Get us moving! These planes are going to reinforce the air space over Wilhelmshaven! We only have two carriers!" Cole yelled.
"Right. Hold onto something." The commander said as the tanks lurched forward as their machine guns continued pounding away at the incoming aircraft.
Yorktown's P-51's weaved and dodged balls of flak as they made their way closer and closer to the Flak tower.
Far above, Elbe had taken a high altitude approach, all of which was going to plan. Her fighters had a slightly lower service ceiling than Yorktown's P-51's and were readily attracting the majority of the flak from the Flak tower, leaving them unable to throw all of their firepower at the rapidly approaching P-51's coming in at 500 feet as opposed to the harmless dive bombers at 27,000 feet. That mistake would cost them dearly. The P-51's rapidly rose to 1,000 feet and spread out, aiming their rocket pods before unleashing a hellish salvo into the center of the tower, rocking it on it's foundation while also tearing chunks out of the walls.
"How's that, krauts?" Yorktown whispered as she brushed the hair from her eyes. She recalled her P-51 strike craft, raising them to 5,000 feet to draw fire from the flak tower, allowing them to divert their attention away from Elbe, who had sent a second squadron behind the decoy and was now diving in a near vertical dive with a 1,100 pound bomb under each plane. The Jericho sirens wailed as the gunners on the flak tower realized too late that they had been duped yet again as they all heard the distinctive 'clink' of hardpoints releasing munitions, sending several heavy AP bombs through the floor of the top levels of the Flak tower, exploding within and blowing out the sides of the already damaged structure. The building creaked and swayed for a moment before the steel supports gave out and caused the upper levels to collapse downwards, demolishing the building in short order while sending a massive cloud of dust through the streets.
Yorktown and Elbe breathed a sigh or relief as they watched the Flak tower fall.
"That was easier than I expected… didn't lose too many planes." Elbe said happily.
"Don't get complacent, Elbe. We only took out a portion of their Anti-aircraft facilities. There are still plenty of truck-towed emplacements and AA hardpoints in the open areas of the town. We need to focus on them before the ground troops go in, otherwise we will have to fight defensively until the ground troops can destroy the guns, we can't risk friendly fire." Yorktown spoke.
"Right. Bringing my planes back to rearm. I'll be using smaller bombs then." Elbe said.
"Good choice. Aim for the trucks and AA armored vehicles. I'll go for the more open areas since my bombs have a bigger blast radius. I can afford a little less accuracy." Yorktown spoke.
"Gotcha…" Elbe said as Yorktown heard her gulp nervously.
"They haven't fully woken up yet. I'm sure Alpha and Purifier are just as surprised that we are here. Just focus on the mission, I'll keep my eyes open for any Siren drones." Yorktown spoke.
This seemed to calm Elbe down.
"R-right."
"So he's finally come." Alpha spoke as she looked at the many screens in her warehouse. Outside the sirens had begun blaring and the destruction of the Flak tower had been observed by several Explorer class sirens who had relayed the footage to Alpha.
"Apollyon?" Purifier asked in an inquisitive tone.
"Not him specifically, but a portion of his forces have come here… for what reason ,I do not know." Alpha said as she scratched her chin.
"Should we go out and welcome them? I would very much like to stretch my legs a little." Purifier spoke.
Alpha shook her head.
"Zero was killed by Apollyon. We have no way of retrieving her data. Same with the Smasher class Template, Lurker class Template, and Navigator class Template. I've been using the data from the prototype Peace Breakers to produce more, but the quality is beginning to show. Same with the Oceanas. We need to keep a cool head here, Purifier. Apollyon may be nothing more than a puny human, but you and I both know that this has never happened before. He has never been this dangerous. We need to proceed cautiously." Alpha said.
Purifier grabbed Alpha's hair and jerked her head back.
"And what exactly are you suggesting, Alphie? That we surrender? That we give up our territory? You know that if Apollyon hadn't killed Zero, that Empress would have instead. So tell me… what are you suggesting? Because if you decide you want cowardice… I will execute you without hesitation." Purifier spoke in a crazed tone.
Alpha was unamused. With a slap of her tentacle, Purifier was thrown back enough to release Alpha's hair.
"Cool your jets. I only suggested we proceed carefully. We do not know what they want. And we do not know what all they have up their sleeves. If we rush in, we could very well be playing right into their hands." Alpha explained.
Purifier dropped her crazed look.
"Oh! That's what you meant! Okay. I was scared that I was going to have to tear you apart, Alphie." Purifier said in a cutesy tone.
"How you ever managed to defeat the Northern Parliament is beyond me." Alpha said flatly.
"I didn't get them all… sadly. The Admiral Makarov or whatever got away from me. And that Monarch disappeared right as I was about to rip her cubes from her chest. But other than that, the majority of their forces are in shambles!" Purifier spoke.
"So you've said." Alpha spat.
"But did I tell you that I left a warning for Apollyon?" Purifier asked. This piqued Alpha's interest.
"No you didn't. What did you do?" Alpha asked.
"You know that old protected cruiser? Avrora I think her name was… I left her all kinds of mangled up at the edge of the Bering sea. I left her in such a way that she will not die, but if he tries to rescue her, she will be lost forever. And I drilled it into her vodka riddled brain that she is to relay a message, that I destroyed the entire Northern Parliament all by myself. And that if he enters that territory, I will know. And he will be torn apart, piece by agonizing piece." Purifier said as her cutesy tone gave way to the depths of her depraved madness.
Alpha smiled.
"Interesting… very interesting."