"Enemy strike group still closing, range, ten miles."

I could see the Siren bombers ahead of me now, the glow of their engines and running lights a stark contrast to the dark blue of the Pacific Ocean. "I have visual," I reported. "Looks like about three squadrons of bombers. Gonna hit 'em from above and try and scatter them. Have Hamman and Northampton ready with AA for anything that may break through."

"What about hitting you?" Northampton interjected.

"Or Yorktown?" Hammann added.

"Don't worry about us," I answered with a small smile. "We'll break off as soon as we're in range."

"Alright, if you say so…" I could hear the concern and doubt in Northampton's voice, but I also knew she'd stay the course.

As much as I would have loved to further reassure her, there was no time. "VF-17, into the attack," I ordered as I rolled into a dive, followed by Yorktown and the rest of the squadron. The Hellcat shuddered and rattled as I swooped down on the bombers, who had yet to spot us. I lined up a shot on the lead aircraft and pulled the trigger, sending bolts of tracer fire dancing along its surface. The bomber quickly erupted in flames and tumbled out of formation before detonating in a brilliant fireball.

Not hesitating for a second, I brought the nose around and fired off another burst at another bomber, this one scoring a lucky shot on the control center. Its running lights and engines cut out and it too fell away in a slow, gentle glide toward the waves below. A surge of elation raced through me as we roared through the enemy formation, sending most of them scattering in all directions.

As I glanced behind me, Essex gave a helpful update. "That got most of them, but it looks like we've still got a squadron approaching."

"On it," I grunted as I pulled the Hellcat out of the dive, feeling the g-forces pressing me down into the seat. My vision turned grey, and darkness crept in around the edges as my heartbeat thundered in my ears, a counterpoint to my roaring, ragged breaths. "Yorktown, have the squadron start hunting the stragglers, but stay on my wing."

"Right with you, Max."

As I leveled off, and then pulled back into a climb, the pressure lessened, and I found color returning to my world. I scanned for the bombers that hadn't broken off from the attack, spotting the mass of arrow-shaped craft still homing in on the task force. Despite their lack of turrets or rearward-facing weaponry, they maintained a tight formation, making them easy pickings for us.

But first, I needed to make a request of my wingwoman. "Yorktown, top me off, would you?"

"Reloading," she curtly replied as she settled onto my left wing. "Ten seconds."

By my estimation, that meant I'd be ready to fire by the time the bombers were in range. "Copy that. I'll get the ones on the right, you get the ones on the left."

"Understood."

In my head, I counted down as we slowly closed the distance. I waited for more of them to break off, to try and evade, but they stayed locked on course. Whether it was simplistic programming, or the Siren commanding them had decided to simply gamble that they'd get into weapons range before we downed them all, I'll never know. But at that moment in time, I really didn't care. I had a fleet to defend.

Just as I reached zero, I felt the Hellcat tremble ever so slightly and heard the familiar clicking of the guns charging as the reload completed. I wasted no time in pulling the trigger, and a half dozen machine guns barked in unison as I watched the bomber on the far right of the formation break apart. Shrapnel was hurled in all directions, and in two thick black puffs of smoke, both engines died and it fell away. I wanted to focus on it and make sure it was dead, but there was no time. I needed to move on to the next target.

I swiftly slid the Hellcat into position behind the next bomber, opening up as I went. The first bursts went wide across his nose, the next tearing into the armor plating and biting deep inside. Without warning, the Siren went into the vertical, standing on its tail for a half-second and I had to push the stick forward into a last-second dive to avoid slamming into him. As I dove below him, I prayed he didn't stall and crash through my rear fuselage. With my rearview mirror gone I had no way of knowing what happened to him next. When I didn't feel any bullet impacts or see any tracer rounds whizzing by me, I assumed he was at least out of the fight.

The next bomber wasn't as lucky as the first two. With a single burst of my guns, the rounds hammered into something juicy, and the Siren came apart in a brilliant fireball. I sideslipped around it and continued firing, catching the next aircraft in the left engine. It flamed out, and the plane tumbled out of the sky as it burned out of control. Three down, three to go.

By now, I had fully expected them to break, to try and evade, to do something, anything to try and avoid being splashed. And yet, they bravely charged on. If a Siren could even feel anything akin to bravery. Then, as I was lining up the fourth bomber, they all suddenly dipped, using the dive to give them an extra burst of speed.

At first, I thought they were about to take evasive action, but when they continued on the same heading, I became confused. Fortunately, Yorktown answered my unspoken question. "They're getting ready for their attack run. It's now or never."

"Roger that," I grimly replied as I squeezed the trigger, walking my fire across the wing and towards the engines, watching as the rounds stripped chunks off of the bomber. Like the others before it, the craft caught fire, lost speed, and hurtled towards a vast and unforgiving sea. "Two to go on my end, how about you?"

"Same."

"They're going to be within range in ten seconds," Northampton warned us. "Better make this quick!"

"We're on it!" I called out as I poured fire into the second-to-last bomber. Thick smoke burst from the engines just as my guns fell silent. I squeezed the trigger again, but nothing happened. I glanced over at Yorktown to see her take down her own second-to-last Siren. Out of ammunition and out of time, I pulled back on the stick to get clear of the inevitable flak. "Guns are dry, last two are all yours! Yorktown, break!"

"Get clear, Commander, we're going loud!" Northampton wasted no time, laying down a withering barrage of AA fire, swiftly joined by Hammann. Black bursts of flak, mingled with the glowing lines of tracer fire, made short work of the two remaining bombers. They barely lasted three seconds before they were reduced to burning hulks.

"Nice shooting, you two!" I cheered as I continued the turn, looking for the rest of the squadron. I saw the massive columns of smoke that dotted the sky first, then after a few more seconds, spotted them. It looked like they were in the process of mopping up the last remaining Siren bombers. "Looks like that's the last of the enemy strike force. Essex, can you confirm?"

"Wait one." There was a pause as Essex cross-checked the data feeds she was getting from everyone in the fleet. "Confirm, that's the enemy strike force out of action."

"We just finished up here," Enterprise added. "And our strike packages are prepped and ready to go."

"Same here," Yorktown's voice crackled. There was a brief pause, and then she asked, "How's your fuel level, Commander?"

I glanced down at the gauge and felt a pang of disappointment. "About half." If my math was correct, if I joined the strike force, I would run out of fuel somewhere on the return leg. "Not enough to make it there and back."

"Well, then we'll just have to shorten the return journey," Yorktown all but giggled.

It took me a second to realize what she was hinting at. "You mean meeting me halfway back?"

"Or sooner, if we head that way now," she replied. "I think between the four of us, we can make short work of a few mass-produced Siren carriers, don't you?"

I chuckled to myself before thumbing the radio back on. "I've seen you fight the Devil herself to a standstill. You could take all four of these by your lonesome. These poor Sirens don't stand a chance against all of you."

"Hell, yeah!" Hornet whooped. "Let's kick ass!"

"Well, Essex," I grinned. "Let's get this show on the road."

"Aye-aye, sir!" Even over the radio, I could hear the enthusiasm in her voice. "All ships, come about to course two-three-five. Launch all aircraft and rendezvous at Point Charlie, angels seven. Yorktown, Hornet, and Enterprise fighter squadrons, climb to angels ten for cover."

There was a chorus of acknowledgment, and I pulled the Hellcat up into a gentle climb as I watched plane after plane roll off the decks of the carriers, heading to their squadron assembly points. As we began the long, slow ascent, I heard Yorktown's voice come in on what I thought was our private channel. "How many did you get?"

"Uhh…seven, I think so far," I answered after tallying them up in my head. "Two fighters, five bombers."

"Ace in a day, an impressive achievement, Max," she proudly complimented me.

I felt a blush creep across my cheeks as I grinned. "I had one hell of a teacher. And wingman."

"You're too kind," she demurred, and I could hear the embarrassed smile in her tone. "By the way, about this 'Devil'...what did you mean by that?"

"Oh!" I started, feeling somewhat foolish that I didn't explain this earlier to her. "Back in the Reality Lens, at the end, the Arbiters found us and began…deleting the entire virtual space. But they couldn't fully delete it while one of them, the Devil, was still in there. So the…you…from the Reality Lens stayed behind to fight her, to keep her there. To save me. She fought an Arbiter on her home turf and still managed to fight her to a standstill. That's how I know just how powerful you'll be one day. I watched a weaker version of you fight the unmaking of creation to a standstill. I know what you're made of."

There was a long silence on the other end. "Max…" she finally said softly, her voice almost drowned out by the engine. "I…I…don't know what to say. I love you."

"I love you, too." I smiled over at her.

"D'awwww," Hornet suddenly interjected, startling both of us. "I'm such a sucker for a love story."

"H-Hornet!" Yorktown stammered, "Th-this is a private channel, how did you get access to it?!"

"Bad news, sis. You didn't switch channels."

"Does…does that mean everyone just heard all of that?"

"Yes."

"Yep!"

"Affirmative."

"Unfortunately."

I'll leave it to you to decide who the "Unfortunately" was.

Yorktown, meanwhile, made a noise that sounded like an upset tea kettle, and I looked over to see her with her head in her hands as she tried not to die from embarrassment. Even though I couldn't see her face from where I was, I knew she would be as red as a tomato.

"So, Commander," Hornet continued, clearly taking joy in her sibling's mortification. "Ace in a day and the love of a good woman. Not bad, huh?"

I knew what I was about to say was going to make things way worse, but I just couldn't let it pass by. "Not a good woman, Hornet, a great woman."

"Ooh, you silver-tongued devil, you," Hornet grinned as Yorktown made another strangled cry of embarrassment. "But we may wanna ease off a bit."

"Roger that," I chuckled before glancing back at the Fighting Lady. "You okay, Yorktown?"

"Uh-huh…" came the muffled response before she lowered her hands and shook her head. "I can't believe I did that…"

"Ah, it's alright," I reassured her. "We're all family and friends here, and we didn't discuss anything terribly salacious."

"If you say so…" she replied, although she didn't seem very confident.

"What I wanna know is what sort of badass stunt digital me pulled in the Reality Lens, Commander!" Hornet enthusiastically declared.

"Ahhh…" I awkwardly began. "You…fought really hard? Sorry, Hornet, but you were kinda the first one to get deleted from the Reality Lens…."

"Are you serious?!"

"I'm afraid so."

There was a pause on the radio before I heard her sigh. "Damn. Well, I guess I'm gonna have to make it up by being doubly badass in the real world!"

"That's the spirit," I smirked.

Another voice, less bossy than it usually was, cut in. "Commander…" Hammann hesitantly started, "Did…did I do anything brave?"

"You were the bravest," I smiled as I recalled her digital exploits. "You took on an Arbiter, dodging and weaving through her fire before jumping onto her rigging and stabbing her in the heart to defeat her."

Hamman's voice was both awed and subdued. "...whoa."

"Damn, Hammann, that's metal," Hornet commented.

"Hate to break up the party," Essex interrupted, "But you're approaching the Siren fleet. Game faces on, people."

I tightened the straps on my harness and settled in as we moved into the attack. Flak bursts and tracer fire began to erupt from the Siren ships, but it was relatively ineffectual, with only one or two Avengers or SBDs being downed or forced back. These vessels relied on escorts or fighters to defend them, and without either, they were sitting ducks.

"Looks like they're trying to get last-ditch fighter squadrons launched," Enterprise observed.

I looked down and saw tiny pinpricks leaping from the bows of the carriers like fleas leaping from a dog. "I see them. Let's pounce 'em and rack up some free kills."

"Yee-haw!" Hornet hollered as all four fighter squadrons dove down on the carriers. With the Sirens focused on trying to shoot down the incoming SBDs and Avengers, they had no guns left for us, and we set upon the helpless fighters as they struggled to gain speed or altitude.

I lined up on a fighter that had just launched, its afterburners leaving a column of blue fire behind it as it desperately tried to gain speed. A single burst from my guns punctured the left engine, spraying fuel that quickly ignited and blew the aircraft apart. I pulled up and circled back around, joining the queue of fighters that were now taking their turns shooting the Siren planes down as fast as they were being launched. Not that there were many left to launch. The bombs of the SBDs and torpedoes from the Avengers began finding their marks, blowing huge rents in the deck or blasting out portions of the hull.

In a display of piloting excellence, all of Yorktown's SBDs managed to hit the carrier she was targeting right as her TBF's torpedoes slammed into its side. The vessel disappeared in clouds of smoke and geysers of water and when they dissipated, the Siren was simply no longer there.

Enterprise's target had been reduced to a drifting hulk, aflame from stem to stern. I thought she would leave it like that until I heard her cry out a familiar, "It's over!" and finish it up with a well-placed energy arrow from her bow that snapped the ship in half. Hornet had similarly finished off her opponent with a strike from her B-25s that carpet-bombed the carrier out of existence. While Essex's hadn't been as flashy as her seniors, when I looked at her target, it had already capsized and was down by the stern.

"We clear?" I called out over the radio as I glanced at my fuel gauge. I still had for the trip back to Yorktown, but just barely.

"Wait one," Essex replied. "All scopes are clear, you are cleared to return home, Commander. Vector zero-eight-four, angels two."

"Copy that," I smiled, letting out a sigh of relief. "Great work out there, everyone!"

Even with the relatively short flight back, I found myself watching the fuel gauge with an ever-increasing sense of anxiety. As soon as I made out the beautiful shape of an Essex-class carrier with the number "10" painted on her deck, I felt that anxiety lighten. But only a little.

"I'm cutting it a little too close for comfort here," I announced as I moved into position for landing. "I think I've got enough fuel for one pass and then I'm gonna have to ditch."

"Let's make sure you make it on your first pass, then," Yorktown said, still on my wing. "You're on a good approach, go ahead and drop flaps and landing gear."

Immediately, I responded, muscle memory kicking in as I obeyed her orders. "Flaps set to landing, gear down and locked, tailhook extended." I kept my eyes locked on the pitching flight deck ahead of me, growing ever closer.

"Excellent. Cut power just a little bit."

I throttled back, the Hellcat dropping a little bit quicker now, and I pitched the nose up slightly to keep on the glide path. The Yorktown was almost out of my sight now, with only the island visible. I was entirely reliant on Yorktown to talk me down. "Still good…still good…almost there…now cut throttle and prepare for landing."

I pulled back hard on the throttle just as I felt the Hellcat's wheels hit the deck, followed shortly by the tailhook catching one of the wires, jerking me forward against the harness as it came to a sudden stop.

"On the deck!" I called out, sliding the canopy open as I raised the tailhook back up. "Taxiing forward to give you room."

While I slowly rolled forward, I folded the Hellcat's wings up, making it ready to be stowed below deck for refit and maintenance. And it turns out I hadn't been kidding about cutting it close. As soon as I cleared the crash barrier, the engine sputtered, coughed, and then died. I made it back just in the nick of time.

After ensuring the breaks were engaged, I unbuckled my safety harness and clambered out of my aircraft just in time to see Yorktown's picture-perfect landing. I waited until her engine had stopped before rushing over to her Hellcat, waiting for her to climb out.

"Max!" she beamed as she made her way down the wing, all but jumping into my arms. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit shaky, to be honest," I grinned exuberantly. "Adrenaline's starting to wear off."

"Let's get you inside then," she said before she gave me a tender kiss. "You've earned a break and besides, we need to celebrate your ace status."

"What did you have in mind?"

"You'll see…"

A/N-Whew! So much combat it took two chapters! And for your fun history fact for the day, Max's kill total is just one shy of the all-time record for kills in a day in the US Navy. That current record holder is Captain David McCampell, with nine kills in a single day. Until next time, fair winds and following seas!