12090: We regret to inform you...
12090a: "No, please don't say it because I don't want to hear it!"~ A grieving Archerfish
12090b: "She went down kamakazi style. We wouldn't have gotten out if not for her."~ USS Massachusetts
The task force was moving fast. First spotted 400 miles off the Newfoundland coast, it was heading in a west-southwest direction meaning it was making a beeline to New York. The force consisted of 3 large battleships, five smaller battleships, an assortment of cruisers and destroyers. And 2 carriers (American and Japanese based designs) equipped with two squardons of Zeros and Hellcats apiece. There was little doubt that bombers waited use belowdecks. The force had to be stopped. Which was why Massachusetts and her group were currently steaming at top speed to intercept, closely guarded by VP16 out of Norfolk.
Max was scouting 100 miles ahead, trying to locate the Abyssals before it was too late. She was skirting the lower edge of the clouds, her profile appearing and disappearing from them. She needed to see the ocean below her to spot the enemy. But likewise she needed to do as much as she could to avoid being spotted herself.
After 30 minutes of searching, Max's wings felt frozen and a cold chill was working its way up her keel beam. She had been at this long enough to realize what that meant. Sure enough, the clouds beneath her parted and revealed an absolutely massive task force. Max took a quick scan and pulled up back into the safety of the clouds. She needed to call this in.
"Mad Max to Marathon." The 737 radioed to Massachusetts using her call sign.
Massachusetts signaled to her fleet to be silent before answering. "Go ahead Max." She said.
"There's a large group of warships directly below me. Three battleships, two carriers and heavily escorted. Position: 41 45 N, 51 02W. Course: 260. Speed: 20 knots."
"Marathon copies all. Stay with them until we can arrive. NO HEROICS!" She added, knowing Max's habits.
She turned to Fletcher who was acting as navigator. Despite her reputation as a trigger happy destroyer, she was also extremely handy with a chart. "Time to intercept?"
"About 45 minutes. If they keep their course we'll be within firing range in 20." Fletcher replied.
"Alright girls, lock and load."
From her vantage point, Max was the first to see them coming in. Massachusetts had her battle ensign flying. On her flank sat Portland and Indianapolis, the sisters had their game faces on. Indianapolis was already aiming at the nearest cruiser, just waiting for Massachusetts signal. Max was waiting too just as eagerly. Up until this point, her roll was purely that of scout. Once the battle became joined, she could unleash her weapons upon the unsuspecting Abyssals. And she could expect support from Lexington's planes. Lexington herself was keeping far away from the battle zone of course.
As was her right as flagship, Massachusetts fired the opening shot and Max cheered as the 16 inch shells straddled the leading battleship. Immediately the completion changed. The Abyssals took a defensive strategy. Their big guns returned fire, providing cover as the carriers launched more planes to strengthen their CAP. Now was Max's chance.
The 737 dove out of the clouds, her 102s opening up on the Zeros and Hellcats. She swooped low, strafing the flight decks of the two carriers before pulling up and engaging the fighters. Lexington's fighters arrived to support the sky war and they presented a unique challenge for Max. The Hellcats from Lexington and the Hellcats from the Abyssals were identical. Only the evil aura surrounding the latter let Max know which was which.
She engaged one fighter, then another showing that despite her larger size, she could hang with the best of them. As she sent a Zero crashing into the sea in flames, she received a frantic radio call from one of Lexington's fighters.
"I've got a Zero on my six. I can't shake him!"
Max looked to her left and saw the fighter in trouble. She made a tight aileron turn that would've made a flight instructor drool before chasing after the pair. "Break left and climb. Now!" As the Hellcat did so, the Abyssal followed and there was a brief window where the enemy plane's course did not match the friendly. That's when Max took her shot. She was so accurate she didn't bother with a stream of bullets. One shot, one kill was her usual although it took three hits to send the fighter's remains down towards the sea.
With that taken care of and the enemy fighter's ranks thinned out, Max turned her attention to the warships. By this time, Massachusetts and her fleet had closed to within 5 miles. Point blank range for the seasoned American gunners. Max skirted the main fighting zone, deciding to leave the big boys to Massachusetts and instead focus her attentions on the encircling destroyers. The harpoons underneath her wings twitched as though they knew they would soon be unleashed on the unsuspecting ship.
The destroyer never knew what hit her as two harpoons blew her magazine apart but her parter steaming alongside, opened up her 20mm at Max as the 737 flew overhead strafing her decks as she did so. Max fired a third harpoon at the remaining destroyer but it missed. Cursing the finicky weapons, Max switched to torpedoes, firing a salvo of five Mark 48s. Of these only 1 made its mark but it was enough to slow the ship to a halt. It took another two torpedoes to finish the job. Now down to only a handful of torpedoes and a few harpoons, Max went hunting for her next target.
She found it in the form of a cruiser, steaming next to one of the carriers as she underwent a replenishment. Both were sitting ducks. Max fired her remaining torpedoes at the carrier while her harpoons made their mark on the cruiser. The cruiser sank right away. The carrier dragged to a halt, engulfed in flames.
Her work done and out of ammunition, Max made to leave the battle area to land and resupply in Newfoundland. She could be back in the zone within 3 hours if she hurried. But before she could leave she saw something that made her hydraulic fluid run cold. Massachusetts and Gearing were cut off from the rest of the fleet, surrounded by the three heavy battleships while their lessors kept the remaining kanmusu at bay. Even from 10000 feet, Max could see the determined resignation on Massachusetts face. She knew she was going to die and she would do so fighting.
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Max thought. She didn't know what she could do though. She had no ammunition. Then it came to her, inspired by tales of Japanese desperation. She herself was ammunition. Having taken on a fresh load of fuel just before she located the task force, Max's wings were bursting with jet fuel. She was a flying bomb.
"Archerfish I hope you'll forgive me." She thought.
Massachusetts stood toe to toe with the enormous H-class. Beside her, Gearing swallowed down her fear and readied herself to reunite with her sisters in that frozen plain. Then a sound reached Massachusetts ears. One instantly familiar to any ship that served in the waning days of World War 2.
"KAMIKAZI!" She cried and both Americans ducked instinctively. Out of the corner of her eye, Massachusetts saw an aircraft far too large to be a fighter streak down from the clouds and aiming right for the H-class. It all happened in an instant but to Massachusetts it felt like an eternity. She ducked again when Max impacted the battleship's forward deck, tons of jet fuel going up in an instant. Momentum carried her deep into the battleship's bowels. The entire front section was blown off in the explosion, giving Massachusetts and Gearing the gap they needed to escape.
"Oh. My. God." Fletcher managed when her two comrades rejoined the fleet. They all quickly got out of there.
"I saw it. She, sacrificed herself..." Massachusetts was a hardened veteran but even she was shaken.
The fleet as a whole went silent and remained so until they docked in Norfolk. Admiral Briggs was waiting for them. Massachusetts made a beeline for her Admiral.
Briggs could see instantly that something had gone very wrong with this mission. "Who did we lose?" He asked. "I see every ship is accounted for."
"Aye sir. And that is only because of Max." She replied.
"I see." Briggs hid his grief well. He had to as being an Admiral in this war guaranteed you'd lose close friends at some point.
Both turned at a scream, seeing Archerfish collapsed on the dock with Fletcher and Gearing trying to comfort her. Briggs shook his head. "Get her back Massachusetts. I don't care how many summoning scientists you go through. You get her back."
"Yes sir." The battleship straightened and saluted.