Whatever Hornet had in mind, she was certainly taking her time on it. We fully expected to, at the very least, hear from her regarding her plans for a triple date, yet it had been all quiet on her end. Of course, this has done little to assuage our concerns. After all, what could she be planning that's taking so much time? How much prep work is she having to put into all this? But with nothing to do but wait, we decided to carry on with our lives. Which, at the moment, included fleet exercises.

"It feels so great for us to be back on patrol!" Hornet enthusiastically declared. "Back together, better than ever, I am so pumped and ready to go!"

"Might wanna reel it in just a tad, hon," Northampton giggled over the radio. "We're just doing testing for now."

There was a soft sigh as Hornet's exuberance was tamped down. "I know, but still, when was the last time all of us were out here on a mission? A year?"

"Sounds about right," Northampton agreed.

"I'm just glad we're all together, even if this is just for a quiet cruise," Yorktown spoke up, smiling at me from across the holomap. "Besides, unlike you two, I've been out of practice for a little while. I'd prefer to get back into the swing of things when I'm not under fire."

"Fair enough," Hornet conceded. "But for what it's worth, I think you could kick any Siren's ass right now."

Yorktown blushed and shook her head, "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Hornet, but I'd still like to get some practice."

"It's always a good idea to train yourself to become stronger!" Essex eagerly agreed.

Before I could say something, Enterprise cut in and changed the subject. "Will you be taking part in the exercise, Commander?"

"Yeah. I'll be up there to get a feel for the Hellcat with Tiny Tims under the wings and to help Essex with data collection. And of course, with the breathtaking Fighting Lady on my wing." I glanced at her from across the holomap, returning her blissful smile with one of my own.

Even through the comms, I could hear Hammann rolling her eyes as she let out an exasperated sigh. "Would you two get a room already?"

Chuckles and laughter echoed over the radio, and Yorktown and I shared a bemused grin. "We have several, I'll have you know," I teased.

"Ugh, I know!" she groaned. "Just…keep your pants on when we're working, pervert."

I cut the microphone and laughed uproariously. Yorktown grinned over at me and slowly shook her head. "It's nice to know she hasn't changed a bit."

"That she hasn't," I agreed with a smirk. "Wanna go suit up and join the mile-high club?"

"Max!" she half-heartedly protested with a laugh. "No! You're lucky Hammann didn't hear that. She'd probably have an aneurysm." She shooed me away with a playful grin. "Now you go and get changed, I'll go ahead and coordinate the launch from here."

"How's the view from up there, Commander?" Hornet crackled in my ear.

"Out-damn-standing," I grinned as I circled the assembled fleet. Four fleet carriers, one cruiser, and one destroyer all steaming at full speed is an impressive sight and one I'll never forget.

"And how's the Hellcat handling?" Essex inquired.

"Little sluggish on the turn, but nothing too bad," I answered as I banked right and set a course for the target area. "I'd be at a disadvantage during a dogfight with these things, but I'm still more maneuverable than an SBD."

"Good, good," Essex replied somewhat distractedly as if she were taking notes. Knowing Essex, she probably was. Fifteen minutes had passed in relative quiet, simply enjoying the view and the flight before Essex spoke up again.

"Alright, let's go ahead and get started. Looks like you're already heading for the target area, let me go ahead and summon a-" Her voice cut out so quickly that I initially suspected my radio had failed. Then she came back with a concerned tone that wasn't there before.

"We've got a Siren battlegroup on radar, Commander," Essex's voice crackled over the radio. "Looks like four carriers plus escorts." There was a brief pause. "They've launched a squadron of fighters, headed your way. Think you might wanna head back home."

While part of me bristled at the thought of turning tail and running, I also knew I wasn't about to take any unnecessary risks with my life and Yorktown's. "Understood," I complied, trying to keep the disappointment from my voice as I turned the aircraft back towards the friendly carriers. "On our way back."

As we headed back for the relative safety of the task force, I glanced up at the rearview mirror and saw the black dots of the approaching enemy aircraft. The longer I stared at them, the closer they got, and I suddenly got an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Hey, Essex, can you do a little math for me? Are we gonna make it back to you guys before those fighters overtake us?"

"One sec," Essex answered before she fell silent as she ran the numbers. I glanced up again at the black dots, which were rapidly growing in both size and definition. "Uh, negative. Looks like they'll be on you before you get to us."

"Then it's a dogfight," I concluded. "Have Enterprise launch fighters and form up on us ASAP."

"Already on our way," Enterprise cut in, and ahead of me, I could see Enterprise wink out of existence in a flash as she summoned her rigging and began launching her F4F Wildcats.

Almost as soon as Enterprise's fighters took to the sky, Essex made another announcement, worry beginning to creep into her voice. "They just launched another squadron."

My answer was immediate, although I had a suspicion this was going to provoke a further escalation. "Hornet, get up here."

"Hang in there, Commander, cavalry's on its way!" Hornet cheered, and once again, Essex took the radio.

"Uhhhhhhh..." She sounded downright anxious at this point.

"This is not a sound that fills me with confidence, Essex. What's going on?"

"They launched more fighters."

I expected as much, although one more squadron shouldn't worry her that much. Unless… "How many?"

"All of them? Looks like at least three squadrons worth"

"Oh boy," I muttered. "Launch every fighter we've got and have them form up on me. Full scramble. You're going to be our Fighter Director Officer for the day."

"Copy that," she coolly replied as she began to settle into her new duty. "All fighters, form up on the Commander. Should give you just enough time to get sorted before the Sirens reach you. ETA is three minutes."

"Understood," I replied, followed quickly by acknowledgments from Hornet and Enterprise. I switched over to my private channel with Yorktown. "Gonna be one hell of a furball. Think you're up to it?"

"You wouldn't ask if you didn't think I was ready, right?" Even through the static, I could hear the playful grin on her face.

I laughed. "Exactly."

Her tone grew softer, more serious. "What about you?"

"A little nervous," I answered honestly. "But this would hardly be the first time I've been in danger and at least this time I have an effective way to fight back."

"Good point." There was an awkward silence as we watched the other fighters begin to climb to our altitude. Yorktown was the first to break it.

"Remember, let me know when your machine guns have run dry and I'll get them reloaded," she helpfully offered. "The Tiny Tim's can't be reloaded mid-flight, I'm afraid. For that, you'll need to return to the ship."

"Thank you," I smiled grimly as I glanced over at her on my wing. "I'm fine with not having the rockets reload. Less weight means more maneuverability."

"Precisely."

I looked over my shoulder at the approaching squadrons, now looking like an angry cloud of flies. "So, do you think we should try and out-climb them?"

"Not in this case," she answered. "Siren fighters can match our climb rates, and we're clearly the target so any change in altitude would be pointless."

"So how do we wanna engage them, then?"

"In this case," she sighed, "We'd have to go head to head. Unless we've got a way to break up the formation."

That was a rather daunting and uncomfortable process. Sure, I had six .50 caliber guns at the ready, but it was still one hell of a gamble. Fortunately, I had an unexpected idea. "What about the Tiny Tims?"

Yorktown was caught off-guard by the suggestion. "What?"

"We could use a rocket salvo to scatter them," I elaborated. "Yeah, I know they aren't accurate, but a squadron's worth of Tiny Tims should at the very least get them to break formation."

There was a moment's silence while she thought it over. "That might work. Good way to drop the added weight and if we can get them to break off, it gives us an extra edge in the merge, too. Good thinking, Max."

I smiled at her compliment. "Thank you, my rose."

"What're you two lovebirds chattin' about up here?" Hornet teased as her squadron formed up around us.

"The Commander here had an idea," Yorktown explained. "We'll break up the incoming formation with a volley from my squadron's Tiny Tims."

"Good thinking, Commander," Enterprise complimented me. "That should give us a good opening to exploit."

"Hate to interrupt," Essex interjected, "but those fighters are going to be on you in sixty seconds."

"Understood," I acknowledged as I banked left, bringing my nose around to finally face our pursuers. "Guns charged, safeties off. Ready for rocket volley. Call it, Yorktown."

If there was any surprise at me handing off the shot to her, I didn't hear it in her voice. "Keep your nose above your target when you fire," she instructed. "Wait…wait…fire full volley!"

"It's away!" I repeatedly squeezed the trigger, feeling the Hellcat lighten as a muffled whoomph came from beneath. The rockets leapt forward on smoky contrails, headed straight for the enemy squadrons. There was a moment, a pregnant pause when the contrails disappeared and the enemy kept coming at us. I suddenly felt a flash of doubt. Had the rockets been duds? Did the Siren fighters just not care about losses, willing to potentially sacrifice themselves for a killing blow? And then it happened.

The aircraft at the front of the formation suddenly scattered like a startled school of fish, breaking off in every direction to escape the rockets, leaving the fighters behind them with little to no time to react. While most rockets completely missed, some found their mark, explosions blossoming along the back line of fighters, sending them tumbling towards the sea wreathed in flames or simply vanishing in massive fireballs.

The rest rocketed past us and each of us broke off into our own sections as the dogfight began in earnest. "Taking the bandit as ten o'clock low," I announced as I pushed the Hellcat into a dive, lining up for a shot.

"I'm on your wing, Commander," Yorktown responded as she and two other Jolly Pirate Hellcats followed suit. The Siren fighter, somehow sensing I was on his tail, broke left in an attempt to shake me. And had this been my first time, he might have gotten away. But after the rigorous training Yorktown put me through, I maintained a steady hand on my F6F and stayed right on his tail. When he tried to break right, a burst of fire from Yorktown's Hellcat forced him back to the left…and right into my crosshairs. I saw the tracer rounds connect with the airframe, chunks of metal hurled from the aircraft until the bullets connected with something both volatile and vital. The Siren's left engine burst into flame and it tumbled from the sky, leaving only an oily-black column of smoke in its wake.

"Confirmed kill!" Yorktown cheered over the radio. "Nice shot!"

I couldn't stop smiling, even as I pulled up and back into the furball. "Nice job setting him up for me, by the way."

"That's what I'm here for," she demurred. "Got a straggler, two o'clock-break left NOW!"

I instantly followed her instructions, snap-rolling to port as I saw a black shadow fly past, enough to violently rattle the Hellcat. "Where'd he go, where'd he go?" I called out as I continued in a tight left turn, looking for the bandit who'd almost splashed us.

"He's at your nine o'clock, pulling up for another run."

I looked to my immediate left as I banked, finally catching sight of him as he was pulling up in a high-G maneuver no human could survive, the vapor contrails trailing off the edges of his wings like a dancer's ribbons. "Not if I've got anything to say about it." I grimly quipped. "I'm going after him, cover me."

"Got your back," Yorktown responded as she pulled up and away, keeping an eye on me from above as I dove down on the Siren. While pulling a high-G climb like that is certainly impressive, and one no human could follow, it also caused the aircraft to bleed a lot of energy in exchange for altitude. If I could figure out where he was going to slow down, I would have a nice, broad target. I aimed just above where he was and fired off a short burst. When I pushed the nose down, I saw I'd missed completely, and at the rate I was closing, I'd only have one more shot to get him. I fired again, glancing behind me as I soared past. No smoke, no fire, and now I was in trouble.

"He's on your tail," Yorktown stated, the faintest bit of worry creeping into her voice. I immediately tried to shake him loose, snap-rolling left, catching a glimpse of tracer rounds to my right as I did so. While none of his shots connected, the enemy fighter stayed right on my tail, refusing to be dislodged.

"I can't shake him!" I called out as I slammed the rudder hard right, slewing the Hellcat so hard that I thought I was going to stall out. "I'm entirely defensive!"

My lover was quick with a response as she dove down from above. "Thatch weave, go."

"Copy that, banking right." I pulled the F6F to the right, trying to keep an eye on the bandit behind me, where I was going, and Yorktown's Hellcat all at once. I suddenly envied chameleons and their ability to independently swivel their eyes. After a few tense seconds, I spotted her off my nose, closing in dead ahead.

"Head straight toward me, I don't want him to see me coming until it's too late," Yorktown instructed and I quickly leveled out. At our rate of closure, Yorktown and I would be much more intimate and intermingled than either of us would care to be in about fifteen seconds. "On my mark, bank hard right." Five seconds passed. "Mark!"

I rolled the Hellcat onto the starboard wing just as Yorktown rolled to port, our aircraft passing within inches of each other as she roared past me, guns blazing. The Siren fighter had no chance. He erupted into a massive fireball, debris hurtled in all directions. "God damn, but that's one hell of an impressive kill, Yorktown!"

Before Yorktown could say anything, Hornet cut in. "Y'all practice that or something? Glad I caught that on camera!"

"Little bit," I smirked as Yorktown formed back up on my wing, and we climbed into the dogfight once more. All around us, we could see black pillars of smoke heading towards the sea, or massive, inky clouds indicating defeated aircraft. Friends or foes, I couldn't say, but I was starting to notice the Navy blue fighters were beginning to outnumber the Siren's black craft.

I spotted a pair of fighters disengaging from the battle, and it looked like they were going to try and gain some altitude. "Yorktown, fighters, eleven o'clock. Looks like they're going to try and jump the group from above."

"I see them," she replied. "Ready when you are."

"Roger. I'm taking the one on the right, the other half of the section can get the one on the left."

I pulled in behind the fighter as it began to point its nose skyward. Having learned from my previous mistake, I pulled the nose up just enough and squeezed off a burst. This time, the shot was perfect. I could see the tracers arcing through the air just as the Siren pulled up into my sights. One of my rounds must have found something good because he erupted into a massive fireball, one that I had no time to dodge.

Smoke and flame surrounded me, and I heard metal clattering off of my aircraft. I closed my eyes as I passed through and silently prayed I didn't hit anything large enough to take me out. As soon as the rattling stopped, I opened my eyes and looked around for any damage.

"Max, are you alright?" Yorktown called out to me, the worry clearly in her voice now.

"I'm good!" I reflexively answered as I checked all the dials and gauges. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good." My eyes flicked up to check out the tail in the rearview mirror…only to find it wasn't there anymore. "Well, mostly. My mirror's gone."

"I'll stay extra tight on your tail, then," she responded as she formed up on my wing. "The other section is still on the other fighter, let's give them a hand."

"Roger tha-" Suddenly, I caught movement in the corner of my eye and turned to see a Siren fighter falling out of the sky. A wing was gone and it was consumed in flame, but it was still firing away with its guns in a vain attempt to take someone down with it. "Yorktown, break right!"

She rolled right and managed to dodge most of the incoming fire, but one of the rounds punched clean through her wing, leaving a gaping hole that ignited almost immediately. Even with self-sealing tanks, a fire that size was going to consume the entire wing in seconds.

"Your left wing is gone, Yorktown, bail out! Bail out!" I called out to her over the radio, but I didn't hear any response. My heart leapt into my throat as I watched her Hellcat suddenly climb. "Hornet, Yorktown's in trouble!"

"On it!" There was a brief pause as Hornet's fighters surrounded us to check on her sister. "I've got movement…she's bailing out."

I let out a soft sigh as a wave of relief crashed over me. It would be short-lived. There was a confused noise on Hornet's end before she exclaimed, "What the hell is she doing?"

I looked back up at Yorktown's stricken fighter, almost completely obscured by thick black billowing smoke and angry flames when suddenly, she burst through, running along the wingtip until she leapt off of it, arms outstretched.

"Oh my god," I muttered as I realized where she was aiming. As she fell, her Hellcat finally detonated in a massive fireball behind her, framing her perfectly mid-swan dive before she tucked into a roll and landed on my starboard wing. Feathered the Hellcat, making sure her landing didn't send me into a roll and that I didn't overcorrect and send her flying. Once we were stable, I looked over at her and activated my radio. "When I said you were my wingman, I didn't mean literally," I quipped.

This woman had the audacity to blush and shrug her shoulders before she blew me a kiss and backflipped off the wing, dropping down into another fighter as she summoned it.

"God, I love her," I sighed as I watched her form back up on my wing.

"Uhh, sir, you do know you're still transmitting, right?" Essex's voice cut in.

Oops. "Hell yeah, I do!" I confidently lied. "I love her and I want that on the record!"

There was a momentary pause, a quiet sigh, and then, "Aye-aye, sir. Documenting your love." There was another pause, and then. "Hold that thought, Commander. I've got a Siren attack force coming in low and fast. Looks like they're trying to slip past us and hit us while all our cover is tied up."

"We've got this, Commander," Enterprise volunteered. "You and Yorktown go handle them."

"Copy that," I acknowledged. "VF-17, on me. Essex, vector me in."

As the other eleven Hellcats formed up behind me, I dove out of the furball and back towards the carriers. "Come to heading one six zero, enemy formation is at angels one, fifteen miles out."

"One six zero, angels one, copy." I brought my fighter on the new vector, scanning the sea ahead of us as we continued our descent. "Move up Northampton and Hamman ahead of Enterprise and the others. And let's start preparing a strike package of our own."

"Roger that, sir."

Today was going to be a very busy day.

A/N-Okay, sure, your shipfu is cool, but is she "swan dives off of an exploding Hellcat and onto your wing" cool? Until next time, fair winds and following seas!