Chapter 6- First Contact

Marne looked at Mitscher. "Admiral?"

"It's your command now, Marne," replied the admiral. "This will be a good test of your capabilities, too." At Marne's surprised look, he grinned. "Just give them general orders and they'll do fine. They need a strategist, not a tactician."

Marne pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Long Island, I need a more detailed contact report. What do we have out there?"

The small carrier still had her eyes closed. "One Queen-class aircraft carrier...six Knights. Two Bishops, and..." she screwed up her eyes and counted under her breath. "Twelve Pawns."

"Great," muttered Marne. Displacement-wise, the Siren mass-produced ships were pretty inferior to crewed human vessels- not so much because of any defects in their armor or armament, but just as a result of their robotic behavior. Still, this was a force to be reckoned with, and he still had only a vague idea of the capabilities of his command.

If they were anything like regular ships- "Downes, Cassin, Laffey. Head out and take up picketing positions between us and the Siren fleet." He turned around as the three destroyers jumped off the barge. "Cleveland, San Diego. You're on anti-aircraft duty. Screen the carriers and Arizona."

"Aye, aye, sir!" said Cleveland with a snappy salute.

San Diego frowned at her. "I what?"

"Just come on," said Cleveland. She grabbed San Diego and pulled her off the ship as she jumped onto the water.

That left Houston, Arizona, and four carriers. Not ideal, except- "Can you ladies get your CAP's up?" Combat Air Patrols were the term used for fighters that covered the fleet. "Houston, you'll stay in Arizona's company."

The carriers were already forming their rigging. Long Island launched a series of fighters that began buzzing overhead. They were soon joined by more from Hornet and Langley. He blinked as the now familiar blue light dazzled him as Enterprise formed her rigging.

A flight deck roughly the same size she was materialized on her left side. Her hands closed around the island, which came off smoothly. There was a metallic click and two limbs swung out, forming a massive bow.

Marne couldn't help but stare as she adjusted her grip slightly. She looked up to see him watching her, and another brief smile passed over her face. She turned to the east and squinted at the late morning sun.

"Here," said Marne, placing his hat on her head. "That'll help you keep the sun out of your eyes."

"Thanks," she said, blushing. Yorktown coughed.

"Sister-"

"I know, I know," said Enterprise sharply. She raised her bow as a squadron of Dauntless dive bombers took off from her flight deck.

"Where do they keep those airplanes?" Marne asked Mitscher, keeping his voice low.

The admiral gave him a level look. "They're the spirits of warships made into young women. I think magical dive bombers are perfectly normal compared to that."

"Fair enough." He looked around. "Shame we don't have something more suited for a flagship. Never thought I'd be commanding a barge into battle."

"Why didn't you say something?" Arizona raised her hands and thousands of cubes appeared from nowhere. The cubes swirled, throwing off particles of light that floated gently downward.

They shot towards a nearby patch of ocean, forming the shape of a battleship- and with a final flash, the Arizona appeared.

"My God," said Marne, staring at the ship as if at a vision. "I saw her sink at Pearl Harbor when the first Siren attack came."

Arizona gave him a sad look. "I did sink, but I've been reborn." She looked away. "I just wish my crew could be as well."

Not knowing what to say, Marne cleared his throat and looked at Yorktown and Enterprise. "Okay, well, a battleship would make a good command platform, but how are we supposed to get over there?"

Mitscher winced. "Oh, I don't think you'll like this, Captain."

Marne frowned at him, but before he could speak he felt an arm encircle his waist. He turned to see Enterprise, her face red again, studiously avoiding his gaze. "Just hang on, Captain," she said. And still holding him, she leaped off the barge and into the air.

The captain barely had time to wonder why she had suddenly decided to throw him off of a ship- it wouldn't be the first time a woman had done it, but at least before he had an idea why. He saw the water rush towards him...

And then away, as their drop turned into flight. He looked around wonderingly. "You can fly?"

"Like this, only to the height of my ship," she said. "Though I have a few tricks to get higher."

"Yeah, well, this is pretty good for me. No need to get higher." He swallowed as the ocean rushed past underneath him. "Or faster."

"Thought you liked flying," teased Enterprise.

"Yes, with a plane around me," said Marne. "And a bit higher than wave-top level, as a rule."

"I can go higher-"

"Okay, right, I can see how you could interpret that remark that way, but I'm going to have to ask you not to."

She smiled at him, a real smile. Marne felt his breath catch as he saw how it lit up her face underneath his cap. "Tell you what. It'll make you feel better if you look to your left."

Marne raised an eyebrow, but did as she suggested.

Admiral Mitscher was being carried by Yorktown in a bridal carry, his legs dangling over her arms. He had his arms crossed and, when he saw Marne looking at him, he glared grumpily at his subordinate.

Just then, they reached the Arizona. Arizona- the girl, not the ship- had also flown over, and she dropped neatly onto the deck. Enterprise and Yorktown made less elegant, but still creditable, landings with their burdens.

Mitscher nodded briskly at Yorktown as she put him down. He saw Marne grinning at him and pointed a finger at him. "You say a word about this and I'll have you busted down lower than an ensign's boots on a submarine. The soles of the boot, mind you."

"Might be worth it." Marne raised his hands in submission as Mitscher took a threatening step toward him. "Just joking, sir. Mum's the word." He looked around. "So do the ship-girls have radio sets or-?

Arizona tapped the side of her head. "Yep. We'll be able to hear anything on the standard frequencies."

"Ain't that the bee's knees," said Marne admiringly. He started slightly when Langley alighted next to him.

"That slang's a bit outdated," she commented.

"Well, sure, but you'd remember it, since you're- ow!" He rubbed his arm and looked at her suspiciously. "Did you just ram me with a tiny Buffalo fighter?"

"No."

"Captain," said Arizona urgently. "The destroyers are reporting contact."

Even as she said it, the horizon to the east lit up, the sound of explosions drifting across the waves some time after.

All banter forgotten, Marne nodded. "Take me to the conning tower."

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Cleveland, Knight of the Seas, skimmed effortlessly across the water, her eyes on the fireworks display in front of her. She glanced up to see the first Eagle Union aircraft entering the fray, their machine guns chattering.

"So what do you think of the Commander?" asked San Diego.

Cleveland closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "This really isn't the time, Sandy."

"He was captain of the Grey Ghost? I mean, it's hard to imagine him being her captain."

"Sandy-"

"But did you see the way she looked at him? Maybe I can see it."

Cleveland started to say something, but her remark turned into a shout. "San Diego, watch out!"

The red-haired ship-girl didn't even turn around. Her guns swiveled and fired, blasting apart the diving Siren jet planes. They rotated and opened up again, and Cleveland looked up to see another formation burst into flames. She added her own fire, briefly turning the airspace above them into a hell of tracer fire and flak bursts. At least half a dozen more Sirens rained down from above, splashing into the sea around them.

San Diego seemed to hardly notice. "He is kind of cute in a sort of 'boy next door' way, though, isn't he?"

Cleveland could only shake her head. Just when you thought you had her pegged as just a clumsy ninny, she thought, she pulled something like that. "Let's stay sharp. We should be seeing the Siren ships any minute now."

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As they walked into the conning tower, the radio was already squawking. No doubt Arizona had set it to the correct frequency. "-leveland to Arizona. Multiple bandits engaged. I think we got most of them but there might be some leakers."

Marne picked up the radio. "Acknowledged, Cleveland. Have you spotted any Siren ships yet?"

"No, but there's a fog bank that came out of nowhere. They can apparently create them to surprise us."

"Yeah, I remember," said Marne grimly. "Be careful."

"Long Island reports that she lost contact with the Siren fleet," said Enterprise, her head cocked as she listened to, presumably, the radio in her head. "She also says that ghosts like the fog and she's sleepy."

Mitscher shrugged. "Well, at least one of those three things she said is useful. That's pretty good for her."

"I don't like it," said Marne, drumming his fingers on the helm. Which, he noted, was moving by itself. "The Sirens can somehow teleport from one place to another, and they usually use fog to cover it. In fact-"

There was an all-consuming, ear-piercing roar. The ship shook with the recoil. If Marne hadn't caught a glimpse of the muzzle flashes out of the corner of his eye, he would have thought the ship had been struck. But instead-

"What the hell, Arizona? What are you firing your guns at?"

He couldn't hear her for a moment over the ringing in his ears, but it subsided enough for him to catch the last bit. "-rens just came out of the fog." She was pointing frantically behind him.

Marne turned to see over a dozen Siren ships. He hastily put his hands over his ears as the guns fired again. A Pawn-class Siren destroyer took a direct hit, a column of smoke and fire shooting up from the sea as the shells ripped it apart. The Sirens were already firing back, and Marne staggered as one of the weird guns struck the superstructure of the ship some distance aft of the tower. "Okay, okay, fire at will." He watched the Siren fleet pour on speed, approaching the suddenly very exposed battleship. "Shit."

He felt a sting across the back of his thighs and jumped.

"Language," admonished Langley, waving her pointer warningly.

"Seriously?"

"Commander, our strike force is coming back, but they caught us wrong-footed." Enterprise's voice stopped him from saying anything more.

"Yeah," said Marne, turning back to watch the battle. "I've never seen them use this trick on anything less than a full fleet. I wouldn't have thought we were that much of a threat."

Enterprise looked at him, then at her sister. "Yorktown?"

The other carrier nodded, her face set in determination. "I have your back."

Three of Enterprise's fighters dove towards the Arizona. Marne frowned. "Wait, what are you-"

Enterprise launched herself into the air as the fighters passed, swinging herself onto one as Marne watched in astonishment. "Can carriers really do that?" he said, his voice high-pitched.

"Apparently," said Mitscher dryly. "Since she just did."

Yorktown was busily launching more fighters and then torpedo bombers. They shot into the air, falling into formation around Enterprise's ride.

"But how is she going to do anything from up there?" Marne asked Mitscher.

"That bow isn't just for show, son."

Fire poured into the sky from the Siren fleet. One of the fighters in Enterprise's formation exploded, rocking her fighter. He grabbed his binoculars. He watched, his heart in his mouth, as she regained her balance. As she drew closer to the Siren forces, she pulled back her bow.

"Oh," said Marne.

Enterprise loosed, and a flaming arrow impaled itself on the lead Siren heavy cruiser. For a split second it appeared it had just stuck in the vessel's armor, but then a detonation tore through the Siren's decks, blasting the bow turrets completely clear of the ship's deck. It started burning, secondary explosions throwing debris into the air as it began to list to its port.

He tore his gaze away as Enterprise circled around for another attack. "Contact Houston," he ordered Arizona. "Have her form up behind us."

"Already on it, Commander," came a cheerful voice through the radio. Marne turned to see the pink-haired cruiser in their wake. The guns of her rigging began adding their fire to the Arizona's.

More Siren ships died, smoke rising from the stricken ships. The secondary guns blasted away at the Siren destroyers, who were dashing in heedlessly to launch torpedoes. Most of the hastily fired torpedoes missed, but Marne spotted the wake of two that were on target.

"Brace for impact!"

Arizona let out a cry as the first torpedo struck her ship, falling to a knee. Marne managed to catch her a bare second before the second one struck, sending a spray of water high into the air. "Arizona!"

Her eyes gradually focused. "I'm still operational, Commander."

"We won't be for long at this rate," said Marne grimly.

"Incoming bombers!" shouted Mitscher.

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"Come on, come on!" snarled Cleveland to herself as she shot through the waves. Even San Diego, who was barely keeping up, seemed worried.

"I think my engines are red-lining," gasped San Diego.

"Well, push harder until you know they are!"

The fog bank swallowed them, and Cleveland found herself relying entirely on dead reckoning for navigation.

Which was why she nearly ran straight into the Queen-class carrier that suddenly loomed up in front of her.

"Whoa!" She swerved, dodging around the ship's stern.

San Diego didn't adjust her course in time, though she managed to slow enough that she didn't completely knock herself out.

"Ow!" She looked up at the red and black metal wall of the carrier's hull rising above her, rubbing her head. "What do we do now?"

"Um." Cleveland had never found herself within spitting distance of an enemy carrier before, so she was somewhat at a loss. "Torpedoes?"

"Okay!" San Diego turned and shot into the fog.

Cleveland blinked. "Where are you going?"

She heard something about "arming distance" from the fog, but it took her a moment for the information to process. "Oh, right!"

She started to skate away, and found San Diego's torpedoes coming straight at her.

With no other option, she jumped over them, stumbling slightly as she hit the water. She turned around to watch the torpedoes.

A fluke in the wind revealed the carrier for just a moment as the torpedoes closed in. The fog closed in again, but then-

The explosions echoed across the water, only mildly dampened by the moisture in the air. The fog was blasted aside by the shockwave, revealing the Queen as it heeled over on its side, her hull visibly breached.

"Yes!" shouted San Diego, leaping into the air. "I'm number one!"

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"Carrier's down," said Laffey matter-of-factly.

"Aw," replied Downes. "I wanted to see it blow up."

Cassin yawned. "Well, maybe I can just go back to my room, then."

"There are still some cruisers out there," admonished Downes. "Hey, the fog is lifting."

Sure enough, the fog was dissipating, slowly revealing the remaining Siren ships. Immediately, dozens of aircraft that had been milling around looking for a target began diving in.

"Hey!" shouted Downes as the first dive bomber dropped its payload on the lead Knight. "That one was mine!"

She heard the Commander's voice in her head. "Relax, Downes, I'm sure there are plenty more where they came from."

Another ship exploded, debris pattering down into the water around them. The last ship, a Bishop, continued stolidly on, firing on the Arizona uselessly until a half-dozen air-launched torpedoes struck along its port side.

There was an audible sigh of relief from Marne. "Is that the last of them?"

"Sure is, Commander," transmitted Hornet. "I just wanted to point out that I got the last one, everybody."

"It's not a game," said Yorktown.

"You're just saying that because you're losing."

"All right, all right," came Marne's voice. "Bring it in girls. I think we need to have a nice, long after action report."

Laffey and Cassin sighed in unison.

A/N: So military history-wise, I'm more of a land-based forces guy. That's not to say I'm not interested in naval history- I wouldn't be playing this game if I weren't- but there are bound to be mistakes no matter how much research I do. So those of you who know more about the naval terminology and such please let me know about my mistakes.

For convention, when referring to the ship-girl herself, the name will be in regular font, when referring to the ship it will be in italics.