A/N: Guess who's back~!
This chapter is shorter than I wanted, but this way y'all get something to read while we work on the next one.

Next chapter, y'all will finally be getting more *lore* so enjoy looking forward to that.
As always, leave a review if you enjoyed it! - SirStonewall


Huynh, Kinh-Luyên

October 15th, 1615

Location: 27°19'50.0"N 139°47'57.1"E

Status: On Patrol

"New orders just came in gents!" Kinh exclaimed as he read the dispatch, "We're to engage an enemy force approaching our sector. Friendly forces have been notified of our presence here so green light for engaging hostile forces. Strength estimates at least four enemy vessels converging to coordinates 27°09'35.7"N 139°38'14.2"E."

A chorus of cheers echoed through the sub.

"What's the location of the enemy force right now Kinh?" Archer asked, looking over maps.

"They're at N 28° 33' 20.0738"E 139° 19' 3.2775" and are closing in at 8 knots. Still faster than them while underwater," Kinh chuckled with a grin. He grabbed the intercom phone, "Ready front tubes 1 to 6. Live warheads."

The captain and instructor headed to the torpedo room to ready the use of live torpedoes. The rest of the crew was already at battlestations, ready for anything that the enemy would throw at them.

The captain walked up to his periscope once keys were turned and the torpedoes were made live.

His grin only grew wider as four large silhouettes appeared in his sight.

"Come to papa," He muttered to himself, "We're going after the big one boys!"

"Big one?"

"Looks like a battleship!'

Through his periscope, Kinh got to watch as four massive turrets slowly turned to the starboard side of the ship, all aligning on a target before they belched sheets of flame, slinging their projectiles at an unseen target.

"It's a battleship alright! Archer! Got any contact reports?"

After a few seconds, his second answered.

"Only hostile capital ship in the area is the Mutsu."

"Your silhouette book." Olson reminded Kinh. "ID the target."

"Right!" Kinh nodded before grabbing his book and flipping through a few pages, muttering as he did so. He peered through the pericope one more time before glancing at the page he stopped on.

"Confirming that it's a Nagato-class! Get me a firing solution on her Remi!"

"Understood," the torpedo officer replied as he took over the periscope and began issuing the firing solutions.

"Ready tubes one and two!" he ordered finally. In the torpedo compartment, the crew opened the tubes and flooded them.

"Tube one, tube two, ready to fire!" Oliver reported after a few seconds.

"Fire tubes one and two!"

"Firing!" The two levers for both tubes were depressed with some time between them, an audible thump and whoosh of the torpedoes leaving the tubes resonating through the hull. "Both tubes away."

Kinh pulled out his stopwatch, looking at it as tense seconds passed by.

"Impact in thirty-four seconds."

The torpedo's zipped at high speed through the dark waves, unseen by the enemy ahead in the turbulent waters.

"3… 2… 1..."

"Impact confirmed!" the captain shouted as he saw plumes of water erupt from the side of the Mutsu.

"Sonar confirms impact on hostile warship!" Saïd shouted from his station. A few moments later, he shouted again. "Enemy slowing down! Screws are stopping! We got them in the engine rooms." Immediately a cheer broke out throughout the submarine, crew congratulating each other before Olson quieted them down, followed by Saïd calling out. "Enemy torpedoes! They're gonna pass right by us!"

"Shit!" Kinh shouts, "Take us down 20m!"

"That's not necessary." Olson hummed. "Hold depth, hard to port."

"Hard to port, aye sir!" The helmsman replied as he spun the rudder around.

"High speed screws behind us!" Saïd called, "Multiple ships!"

"Right!" Kinh said as he quickly swung the periscope around. "I think it's our ships! Yeah, it's the Black and her group!"

As he watched, the Black made an abrupt course change to port, a lookout pointing seemingly directly at the periscope.

"Enemy torpedoes have passed us completely!" Saïd reported.

"Hard starboard!" Kinh ordered, refocusing his attention on the Mutsu's group, "Ready tubes three and four! We're going for a second run against those ships!"

"Aye sir! Hard starboard!"

"Sir, the Black is slowing!" Saïd reported dutifully, waiting a moment before a ping ripped through the water.

"What?!"

"Sonar from the Black! Additional sonar signatures behind them!"

The submarine captain swung his periscope around… and saw the Black and her fellow ships moving far too quickly towards him, their bow guns turrets firing at the Mutsu and her escorts.

"What the hell is going on?!" he shouted.

"Active sonar, short burst! We're being hunted!" Saïd replied nervously as the pinging speeds up.

"Fuck!"

"Hard to starboard! Flank ahead! Bow planes down twenty, stern up ten!" Olson barks.

"Those idiots are gonna fucking depth charge us tabarnak!" Kinh swore as he retracted the periscope and braced himself as the sound of the destroyer overhead got louder, sounding like a speeding train through the hull of the submarine as the sub abruptly dived.

"Depth charge above us!"

"Brace for impact!"

Explosions rocked the Rainbow as lights flashed on and off inside the submarine. Various things clattered to the deck as the charges went off one by one, throwing the crew around like rocks in a tin can.

"Keep taking us down, to our maximum safe depth!" Olson ordered holding onto the ladder leading up the conning tower.

"More depth charges above!" Saïd reported a minute later, as they could all hear another destroyer's props churning the water above, sonar pings bouncing off the Rainbow's hull.

"Calisse de tabarnak," Kinh cursed to himself as three more waves of explosions shook his boat.

"Destroyers are moving away!" Saïd finally sighed, relief in his voice. "No signs of them turning around."

"Thank fucking God!"

"One larger contact approaching, probable cruiser."

"What cruiser is with the Black?" Olson asked after a moment.

"I never saw one." Kinh replied before Saïd groaned.

"More depth charges above!"

"This is going to be a long day…" Olson sighed as another set of depth charges shook the sub.


USS Black

October 15th,

10 minutes prior

Status: General quarters, condition Zebra

"Bridge, gunnery. Prechecks indicate guns A and B were knocked out of boresight. Advise we disengage for five and fix it."

"Captain?" Allison looked to Danielle for confirmation, the redhead chewing on her lip for a minute before shaking her head.

"Steady on course. We'll have to make do, we need to clear the area for Chiyoda."

Savannah sighed and reached back, picking up the intercom phone as the bow plowed through a wave, spraying the bridge's windows with seawater. For a split second, the hull under their feet vibrated as the screws came out of the water. "Negative gunnery, do what you can." She hung up the phone, pausing for a second before looking at Danielle, her brow furrowed. "That's going to severely hamper our offensive capabilities."

"I know. But if we use radar guidance, we'll have the upper hand."

"Radar ranging won't do any good if the guns are out of boresight, plus in this soup we'll be firing blind." Justin sighed from his position by the speaking tubes to the CIC, along the right wall of the bridge.

"I know. That's why we'll make a torpedo run, try to slow them down. If we can do that, then that should enable us to pull back, shadow them, and wait for heavier units."

"Radar, bridge." Savannah spoke up as the bridge fell silent. "What is the size of these contacts?"

"Bridge, Radar. Two medium, One large, one small. Likely a pair of cruisers, a destroyer, and a battleship or carrier."

"Bridge copies. Thank you." The Bosun put her radio back on her belt and looked at the captain. "Let's do it then."

The ship shuddered as they plowed through another wave, Danielle looking at Samuel. "Flank ahead. Left rudder, fifteen degrees."

"Flank ahead, left rudder fifteen, Aye ma'am." The helmsman rang the EOT all the way back, then all the way forward before he started turning, the ship's heel over being exaggerated by the large waves.

"Gunnery, slave to radar and engage."

"Aye Cap." Justin nodded before bringing his microphone up to his mouth. "Mount 51, mount 52, radar control. Targets will be on our bow. Live rounds authorized. Open fire."

"Bridge, fire control. Which target should we engage?"

"Engage the smallest target, that destroyer can shadow us, and I'd like to avoid that."

"Fire control confirms. Engaging."

Less than a second later as the ship plowed through another wave, the guns belched flame into the squall. The smoke immediately blew away with the gale as the bow rose and heeled to one side, the ship tacking diagonally into the waves until the guns were pointed directly ahead. Danielle grabbed a strap hanging from the ceiling to steady herself as she thought out a prayer that she was making the right call, the ship heeling to the other side once it crested the other side of the wave. Once they settled into the trough, the guns belched again, the ship charging down their contacts until star shells started bursting overhead. Way off in the distance they could start to see dark shapes looming over the rolling waves, the occasional flash of orange from the smaller of the four seeming to part the haze brought on by the raging storm. Behind them, Anderson, Harekaze, and Oakland all fired their front battery, sending shells howling overhead as they joined in the fusillade.

"Bridge! Port lookout! Torpedoes in the water, dead ahead! Recommend hard to Port!"

"Hard to port Samuel."

"Hard to port, aye-" The helmsman started to turn the wheel before another report came through the handheld radio.

"Bridge, port lookout! Periscope feather, one-third to the horizon! Bearing three-one-nine!"

Danielle muttered a curse under her breath as she stepped out into the driving rain, grabbing the rail while she made her way forward, ignoring the warm rain pelting her face as she scanned for what the lookout was talking about, finally spotting the torpedo wakes that were obviously going to miss, and one big fat periscope sticking out of the water beyond them.

"Sam, slow to two-thirds! Steer for that periscope! Savannah, have sonar ping active, and ready a shallow pattern! Allison, signal the others to slow and follow us in. Let's pound this little fucker to dust for shooting at us!"

A series of acknowledgements rang out as the fore two guns continued to fire away at the surface ships, the captain making her way inside just as they crested another wave.

"Sonar has acquired the target." Savannah reported quickly. "Dead ahead, bearings drifting right."

"Right standard rudder, to three-two-five. What's the status on those depth charges?"

"Right standard rudder, three-two-five, aye ma'am."

"K-guns are ready, roll racks are still setting depth."

"Bridge, Sonar. Contact inside minimum sonar range. Hydrophone noise very strong, over revving screws."

"Bridge, depth charge detail! All charges armed and ready!"

The ship shuddered again as the bow turrets fired at the surface ships, some shells splashing around them while Danielle walked to the front windows and gripped the small railing there. "Once we hit this sub, we're gonna turn right sharply to zero-six-five to open the aft arcs and launch our torpedoes. Justin, have the after batteries traverse, Serena, do the same with the torpedoes." She ordered as she waited, counting down in her head.
"Bridge, sonar, contact lost!"

'Five… four… three… two… one… zero.'

"Now, Savannah."

"Depth charges, roll and fire!"

Immediately the bridge crew could hear the first set of depth charge projectors fire with a mighty thump, the second of which being drowned out by another salvo from the main battery. As soon as the pattern was dropped, Danielle looked to Samuel and nodded. "Hard to starboard, full ahead."

"Hard to starboard, full ahead, aye!" The helmsman started spinning the helm quickly, using his other hand to ring the EOT up to full speed.

"All batteries, target will be on our port side, slave to radar and fire as you bear." Justin ordered as the ship heeled over, charging over the next wave as the battleship's secondary battery ripple-fired.

"Incoming." Allison reported while the destroyer responded with all five guns of her own.

"Serena, one wide pattern, both launchers. Fire when ready."

"Yes ma'am." The torpedo officer nodded, quickly giving orders to both launchers until they were on target. "Sam, right ten degrees."

"Right ten, aye."

"Launcher one, launcher two, fire!"

As the ship began to turn, both launchers ripple-fired their fish, sending out an arc of torpedoes towards the RATT controlled ships. Once the last torpedo was away, Danielle walked past Samuel to the right bridge walk, grabbing the railing. "Hard right rudder, flank ahead."

The rain pelted her as the ship heeled over and her helmsman repeated the command back, the Harekaze coming into view as they too depth charged the sub. She brought up her binoculars and scanned Oakland's stern to find her crew running about, prepping the depth charges the light cruiser had.

"Allison, have Radio send force Gold a contact report."

"You got it." The first mate nodded and made her way back inside, Danielle coming back inside and wiping her face. "Savannah, did we ever identify that battleship?"

"Fire Control did. It was a Nagato-class, so your odds of having engaged the right one are one in two."

"Here's hoping-" Danielle started before a blast shook the ship, a fire alarm starting quickly after.

"Penetration, primary radio room!" Savannah reported before grabbing her handheld. "Damage control, report to primary radio room!"

"Good thing it was empty." Serena muttered before looking out the port bulkhead, glancing between the horizon and her stopwatch. "Five seconds to impact."

Danielle moved to the rear of the bridge and grabbed the short wave radio, speaking into the handset. "Oakland, Black. Once you drop your torpedoes, lay smoke while we disengage."

"Oakland copies." Came the reply a moment later as the ship shuddered once more, the props coming out of the water for a brief second.

"And let's get the hell out of here." Danielle muttered to herself.


Three days later

Jack Schumer

USS Leyte

October 18th, 0641

Location: Pilots bunk

Status: enjoying R&R

"Hey new guy, watcha doing?"

"I have a name you know." Jack sighed, "As for what I'm doing, editing a video."

"A video?" The pilot asked as he sat down on the edge of Jack's bunk.

"Mmhm. Summing up the year." Jack muttered.

"Already? Shit it's only October."

"Well yeah, I've got half a year of almost daily flight footage to cruise through, not to mention the footage from the last couple weeks."

"I suppose that's fair. Some of the guys here have cameras if you want footage or pictures."

"I mean, sure, I-" Jack abruptly stopped talking when the bosun's whistle shrieked over the ship's PA system.

"General Quarters! General Quarters! All pilots prepare for combat!"

"Go!" Jack yelled, shutting the laptop and leaving it on his bunk as he rolled out and sprinted towards the ready room with the rest of the other pilots.


45 minutes later

Jack Schumer
23,000 feet, 347 knots, heading 103

33°02'50.1"N 140°18'15.6"E

{Lima two-niner, Outback. Maintain heading for intercept. Bandits BRA zero-nine-nine for twelve, angels twenty-three, beam North.}

{All Lima's, fence in. Fangs out.}

"You know, this intercept would be a lot easier without the fucking sun right in the middle of my gunsight." Jack grumbled to his wingmen as he squinted against the glare. He kept moving around as he tried to catch any glimpse of the bandits in front of them, eventually managing to get his cockpit frame between himself and the burning ball of gas.

{That it would be. I knew I should have brought my sunglasses.} Millie grumbled from her spot on his right wing.

"Mine were in my Hellcat. I should have grabbed them. Maybe I can-"

{Lima two-niner, merged.} The AWACS callout made everyone in either of the two squadrons shift in their seats, the squadron of Sea Furies five thousand feet above the corsairs started to speed up before more than twenty aircraft screamed through the formation out of the sun, an A7M passing between Jack and Millie with its guns blazing.

"Jesus! Breaking right!" Jack shouted before he yanked back on the stick and stomped the rudder, pulling up and sliding over Millie as he turned to pursue, missing his wingman's engine spark with several impacts as another Sam blasted past.

{I'm hit! Fortis-Three is hit, punching out!}

"Eva, status!?" Jack tried to look over his shoulder mid-turn, then immediately cursed the Corsair's design. He swiftly abandoned the notion of checking on his wingman, looking up through the top of his canopy to find the Sam halfway through his much tighter turn, the gaping maw of his cannons starting to open up as it started to pull lead, the white belly growing more pronounced. Jack slammed the stick into his gut as he turned in while the pilot couldn't see, only to watch the fuselage of the aircraft spark and flash, a Sea Fury screaming past from above between him and the hostile fighter.

{Still here! Splash one!}

"Good kill! Forming on you!"

{All units! All units! Some of these aircraft are Judy's! They're heading for the island!} A Sea Fury pilot called out.

"Oh shit. After those Judy's!" Jack turned West and leveled out, pushing his throttle forward to the wire as he looked around above him, spotting the outer edge of the furball that he and his wingman were skirting the edge of. Among the twisting and turning fighters, the barely weaving D4Y3 dive bombers stuck out like a sore thumb, all of them entering a shallow dive as they tried to dive down and away from the furball. "Tally ho! Two o'clock low!" He slowly turned in, diving after them.

{Two!} Eva let him know she was with him before a stream of tracers flew past his canopy, the pair of them breaking from their pursuit.

"Two, break left. Come around behind him, I'm gonna try to stay on the Judy's." Jack ordered as he dove, glancing up at his mirror to find the gaping maw of the A7M's engine cowling staring him down. His plane shuddered as cannon rounds tore into the fuselage, a large gouge being carved into his canopy before he stomped the rudder and yanked the stick, snap-rolling out of the pilots gunsight. "Outback, Stingray. We're going to need search and rescue at the merge, multiple beepers active."

{Outback copies. Biscuit one-Niner, vector bullseye zero-eight-six for one-six, multiple pilots in the water.}

{Biscuit copies, diverting now.}

As Jack kept pulling, he could watch the Sam on his tail in the mirror, the green of the fuselage giving way to the white of the underbelly as he started to pull lead, the American pilot reversed course, diving to get some speed and pull out of gun range. "Two, status!"

{I'm on him, but you're jerking him around too bloody much!}

"I'm going to break right in a moment. When he pulls to get me, you nail him!"

{Two!}

Another stream of tracers sailed past Jack's canopy, making him wince a little before he wrenched the stick to the right, almost immediately slamming the stick into his gut and tensing to resist the high-G pull straining on his body. He felt the Corsair shudder again as the canopy above his head shattered.

{Two, splash one!}

"Get after the Judy's!" Jack shouted as he reversed course towards the dive bombers and pushed his throttle forward, breaking the wire and feeling his plane lurch forward as he activated Wartime Emergency Power.

{All Engaged units, Outback. Three bandits, type Judy, between angels nine and angels eighteen, Bullseye zero-eight-six for seven.}

"Outback has the populace been notified?" Jack asked as he slowly pushed the nose down a little, pulling his goggles down over his eyes as they started to water from the breeze.

{Unknown at this time.}

"You might want to do that."