"Heya Commander, good morning. Sleep well?" Cleveland asked as Thorson stepped onto the bridge for the beginning of their second day at sea.
"Don't you already know the answer to that?" He asked groggily. "Anything new?"
"C'mon, Commander," Cleveland pouted at him. "I think we tamped down on the link pretty well when we were asleep. Didn't realize it would last this long though."
"Nor did I, though I suppose there's no reason to have suspected it would just fade on its own. I guess you could just sync up again without me but it's not like we've had time to stop," he lamented, looking over his naval charts.
"You know I don't mind, right?" Cleveland asked, leaning back against the steering gear and glancing at him. "You're not a bad guy, Commander. I think you're a bit too soft on Laffey and Akashi but they're pretty damn cute, aren't they?"
"It's going to always be like this, isn't it?" Thorson asked, rubbing his temples.
"I mean, if you keep kissing your ships it will be! But don't be like that, Commander. Secrets are only going to end up hurting them, and you. I won't tell. It's not my place. When you have a lot of sisters like I do you learn when to keep quiet. What do you think of this weather?" She asked, pointing to the western horizon. They had already completed one circle around the base and had found nothing, though Thorson suspected the ominous clouds on the horizon might have had something to do with that; that and the Pacific was a rather large place.
"I was on a submarine before this, can't say storms ever bothered us too much. What do you think?" He turned the question around on her.
"If we tighten up the formation we'll be fine, make sure no one gets lost," she said confidently, closing her eyes and scrunching up her face in thought. Thorson could faintly feel what she was doing, checking on the relative location of her Union sisters.
"It's good of you to check on them all like that," he affirmed.
"There are a lot of Cleveland class ships out there, Commander. In a way I'm responsible for them all," the tomboyish cruiser replied. "What are your orders, sir?"
Thorson stood and moved beside her, looking out over the choppy seas with his binoculars. "How daring do you want to be, Cleveland? It could provide the cover we need to poke our heads into Sakura territory."
"Ooooh, that's what you had in mind? Let me check!" She replied with excitement, radioing the other boats. "What do you think, girls?"
"Let's do it!" Downes replied immediately. "Don't mind me; just gonna come up on your stern real quick. Turn your lights on if we do this?" She requested as Thorson chuckled.
"I suppose the Cleveland class does have a nice posterior," me mused, winking as Cleveland herself blushed and more calls of affirmation came in from Portland and Indianapolis. Even Laffey agreed.
"If Commander wants to go into the storm, Laffey will follow," she said sleepily over the radio. Thorson watched as the formation tightened around Cleveland, with every ship activating most of their exterior lighting. They would stick out to be sure, but it was better than losing anyone. He glanced at Cleveland.
"You ready?"
"Absolutely, Commander. Let's go hunting. Just give the order."
He nodded. "All ships, change heading due west. Keep your lights on and check in via radio every two minutes. Report anything on radar or visual. Even if it's a false positive we're better safe than sorry."
"Roger that, Commander!" Cleveland and the others acknowledged orders and headed for the dark clouds. "Do you really think we'll find anything?"
"Honestly, Cleveland? No," Thorson told her. "But as I said, it's good cover to scout around a bit in the direction of Sakura territory. Even if we find nothing we've still done what we originally set out to do. If we do happen to encounter a Sakura fleet, well…let's just say I hope they'll be focused on something other than us."
"And then we strike!" The shipgirl exclaimed happily. He nodded.
"And hopefully come out of this with all six of us."
"You've got to be kidding me," Thorson muttered. "All ships, kill your lights now!" The commander looked around as the ships of his fleet became nothing more than dark silhouettes in the driving rain. "What do you think, Cleveland? They know we're here?"
"Give them another good look, will you?" The cruiser requested, standing at his side and placing a hand on his back as he peered through his binoculars again. "Damn this is really cool by the way. No sir, I think we might have them unawares. See how they're still in single file? Doesn't appear to me that they expected any Union ships about. We may have killed the lights in time."
"Agreed. How do you want to proceed?" Thorson asked.
"You want me to run the battle?" Cleveland asked with excited surprise. Thorson shrugged.
"I figured we could look into it together. Downes, move to the front of the formation," he ordered, receiving an affirmative from the destroyer and watching as she pulled alongside and then past them at full speed.
"So that's your plan then?" Cleveland asked with approval in her voice. "Lead with a torpedo wave and open fire just before they strike?"
"Exactly. Not sure any torpedoes will make it, but even if we score a single hit that will help us greatly. I count at least eight destroyers in that formation. If we can take out those three cruisers…"
"So long as we can dodge their torpedoes we have a significant advantage in firepower," Cleveland finished for him, nodding confidently as her hull rocked in the choppy seas. "Well I'm ready when you are, Commander. Just give the order!"
"We're lucky they have no battleships," Thorson said, taking Cleveland's hand a focusing on his fleet. "All destroyers, I want a full torpedo volley aimed at the lead elements of the enemy of the formation. All ships, load HE rounds and prepare to target the enemy destroyers. As soon as we open fire increase your distance from one another and watch for torpedoes. Portland and Indianapolis, I want the two of you up front the closer we get."
A chorus of eager affirmation reached his ears, or was it his mind. Even Cassin seemed mildly excited. He could practically feel the energy radiating from Cleveland. "When do we fire?"
Thorson tried to run the calculations in his head, taking a rough guess at the distance of the enemy fleet and factoring in the travel speed of his force's 533mm torpedoes, which were already in the water. "Before the torpedoes hit. The chop will help with concealment but I still want them focused on us. Target the destroyers." Cleveland waited silently as the two of them counted down with one mind, turning and angling her guns at the lead enemy destroyer. It was still hard to make out through the rain and low light, but Thorson thought he could make out the low profiles of multiple Mutsuki and Hatsuharu class hulls. He took a deep breath. "All ships, fire at will!" The thunder of guns erupted all around him.
"Curse this storm. We were almost at the coordinates given to us by Akagi-sama," Myoukou lamented as the rain lashed against the windows of her bridge. "We're never going to track down those traitors like this."
"All we have to do is wait for it to clear and carry on. It's not like we have useless human crew to worry about anymore. Besides, you think that little cat would fare any better in this storm? She's not even a warship," Nachi radioed back.
"No, instead of humans we're stuck with that procession of children," Aoba whined. "Oh well, at least they can follow in a straight line and shoot where you point. Not much use in them other than that though."
"Hey, we can hear you!" Shiratsuyu protested, though that only had the cruisers laughing at her.
"And maybe when you distinguish yourselves in the war games, like the Akizuki girls, we'll treat you differently," Nachi replied haughtily. Myoukou was about to order a cessation to the radio chatter when she spotted lightning to her right, though something was subtly off about it. Fear lanced through her when she turned for a closer look.
"Ready your shields! All hands prepare fo- GAAAH!" The lead cruiser doubled over in pain as her barely ready shield felt the full brunt of a Union torpedo detonation. Chatter had exploded over the radio as shells rained down around the destroyer formation, terrified crying and screaming telling her that Hatsuharu and Mutsuki had been hit. "Damage report! Stay in formation and return fire!" She commanded, pushing herself upright with the hilt of her blade and turning to face their assailants. Bright lights marked the Union vessels as two large cruisers bore down on them, complemented by a Cleveland-class and three destroyers who were firing an almost unceasing rain of small caliber HE shells on her fleet. Those Union dogs, attacking us so brazenly with a smaller force?! Myoukou gritted her teeth and returned fire at the lights, immediately getting a face full of searchlight in reply from one of the destroyers that temporarily addled her senses. Her cruiser sisters did the same, but it was clear the sneak attack had proven disastrous in terms of her force's morale, especially among the young and inexperienced destroyers. They had already fired off their torpedoes in disarray and few in any of their shells were hitting their marks. Some splashed short of the lead Union ships while others sailed harmlessly overtop of their hulls. She breathed deeply and tried to remember her training, calming her mind. Her soldiers needed her to rally them. "You Union cowards, have you no honor? Feel the wrath of the Sakura! All ships focus fire on the Mahan class!"
"Keep up the fire, they're weakening!" Cleveland shouted, sweating profusely as she devoted all her energy into the reloading and firing of her guns. With ten barrels on her hull and the quick actions of her loading mechanism she was almost capable of uninterrupted ripple fire, though it was clearly strenuous activity. Thorson stood stoically at her side, his eyes fixed on the enemy fleet via his binoculars. The moment he'd seen the telltale blue shimmer of a shipgirl's defensive power surround the lead cruiser he'd done his best to visually confirm that there were no Sakura sailors in the enemy fleet. He'd still not seen a single one. Based on the coordinated actions of the cruisers and a couple of the destroyers he was sure that he was up against a fleet consisting of actual shipgirls, no drones.
"Keep your shields raised and ready," he ordered his fleet. His words proved prophetic as the Indianapolis shuddered under an impact that had her crying out in discomfort over radio.
"INDY!" Portland yelled, her fear palpable in her voice.
"Portland, stay in formation!" Thorson ordered sternly. "Focus your shields downward. Eyes on sonar! Indy, damage report!"
"Shields are holding," the young cruiser panted. "Sonar is negative, seems like an isolated attack."
"Enemy torpedo formation was rather lame. They are afraid," Laffey rendered her sleepy judgment as she launched another wave of torpedoes from her position on the far left of the formation, joined by Downes and Cassin. Thorson didn't want to underestimate his enemy, but it was hard to not agree with Laffey's assessment of the battle so far. Most of the shells and torpedoes fired by each side had missed, but the ships were drawing closer by the minute and his side had better fire control. Thorson knew his larger guns would win in a knife fight, but he had to even the odds on torpedoes first. Sakura cruisers carried them, and if their firing patterns were any indication there was another wave coming at them that was actually aimed, unlike the panic that was evident in the first destroyer volley.
"Commander, look left! Eleven o'clock!" Downes radioed him. Thorson shifted his gaze from the lead ships to the rearguard of destroyers. Three of them had broken formation and were fleeing as fast as their engines could move them, which was a considerable speed. Another destroyer had fallen away from the formation with a gimped engine. A fifth had been set ablaze. That left three operational. He couldn't help a feral grin.
"Press on, they're breaking!" He yelled, his stomach dropping into the pit of his stomach as the water roiled around them. The second wave of torpedoes had found their mark. Cleveland grunted with exertion and leaned against him for support that he willingly gave. Elsewhere the situation looked more concerning as the air around Cassin seemed to flicker and flare. Her shield's depletion was confirmed as multiple 203mm HE shells slammed into her.
"SIS!" Downes yelled in fury as the Cassin's deck caught fire and she listed dangerously to one side. "Commander!"
"Downes, take her place on the right flank. Indy and Portland get up front and crush them!" Thorson ordered. "Cassin, status report!"
"Heavy damage…would rather be home…working on the fires," her voice came weakly.
"Just focus on damage control for now," Thorson continued as Downes and her sister swapped places as best they could. "Portland, Indianapolis, move up now!"
"But Commander, Indy's already taken several hits!" Portland protested. "She's my little sister!"
Thorson was about to tear into Portland for questioning his orders in combat when the enemy cruisers fired another volley. It was an act of defiance as multiple ships burned and one of the Myoukou class hulls continued to sink lower in the water. In the face of the arcing shells, Indianapolis put on a burst of speed and moved to the tip of his formation's spear. "Sister," she said calmly between breaths, determination in her voice. "Shut up. Activating Pandora reactor, commencing Pandora field projection." Laffey ooh'd and aah'd as Indianapolis' hull glowed brightly before projecting a massive field of shimmering blue hexagons around the entire fleet. The barrier flared and flashed at the impact points, absorbing the entire volley. Thorson didn't know how often Indy would be able to repeat the feat, but the act itself was clearly so unexpected and revolutionary that both sides guns had momentarily stopped firing. He raised his hand and pointed at the remaining cruisers and destroyers.
"All ships return fire! Finish them off! And Indianapolis?"
"Yes, Commander?"
"Damn fine work."
"Myoukou, we need to leave now! The kids took off running, Hatsuharu is one ember away from a detonation and Shiratsuyu lost her engines so we're now outnumbered," Aoba reported, the panic more than evident in her voice. "Oh right, and they have a massive shield that blocks shells!"
"What you suggest is surrender, dishonor!" Myoukou protested, knowing her own voice sounded strained as she tried to keep up the fire now that more shells were coming directly at her. One of her torpedo arrays had already been disabled.
"And if we stay here we're all going to die! I'm still taking on water!" Nachi cried. "Damnit sis, give the order!"
"Rrrr…all ships full retreat! Get out of here and make for the sanctuary!" Myoukou reluctantly ordered, turning her rudder and fleeing from the advancing Union ships. She even ran a white flag up her mast, just in case the Union commander was of a merciful persuasion. After Pearl Harbor she didn't think it would work. "Nachi, keep up!" She yelled, looking behind her to see only Aoba and two destroyers keeping pace. Yuugure had similarly run up a flag of surrender and was turning to try to assist her sister.
"I can't!" Nachi shouted in distress. "My hull is too low! I can't stop the flooding and handle the fires! Myoukou, please! Tell them we surrender!"
Myoukou threw her hands forward and gripped her steering gear tightly, allowing a tear of shame to slip past her lids. More shells rained down around them, the impacts bludgeoning her as Nachi took another volley to her amidships and screamed over the radio. The lead cruiser roared in despair and set a broadcast to all frequencies. "This is Myoukou, operator of the IJN Myoukou and commander of this fleet. We surrender! Please, cease fire!"
"Commander Thorson?" Cleveland asked as the broadcast came in. He was frowning but held out a hand.
"All ships cease fire. Downes, remain with Cassin. The rest of you advance on the wounded vessels."
"What should we do on contact, sir?" Portland asked.
"If a shipgirl surrenders, take her prisoner and scuttle her ship. If not, sink them," he ordered, unable to meet Cleveland's eyes as he possibly condemned those girls to death. He could feel her unease well enough through the mental link. He thought everything settled and done when another voice suddenly reached them all on all frequencies.
"Myoukou, I can't get out! There are fires on deck and my bridge took a direct hit! I'm sinking! Sister, help me!" Thorson threw up his binoculars and easily picked out the distressed ship, one of the Myoukou class cruisers. He and his fleet were nearing the disabled destroyers, but if the other four enemy ships kept fleeing they'd be unable to catch them. The burning ship was left in no man's land. Additional engagement was the last thing on anyone's mind, however, as increasingly distraught cries continued to sound over the radio. "Oh gods, oh gods, the door, the water. Myoukou-san, please. Please save me!" Nachi shrieked, surrounded by fire in the cold maw of the sea. Thorson gritted his teeth and looked on as the Sakura shipgirl's words turned to unintelligible screams and shrieks as the hull sank lower and lower. Eventually the radio fell silent as the hull slipped below the waves. None of his ships dared to speak for a long moment as Thorson removed his cap and held it over his chest. Cleveland had long since turned away from the sight and was holding his arm tightly.
"Commander…let those four go, please. We'll beat them again if we have to. This is enough," she whispered. He couldn't speak, didn't trust himself. He'd thought the slow and inevitable death of sailors on a submarine to be the most horrific thing he'd witness. The screams of that unknown shipgirl were something else entirely. He knew they would haunt him to the end of his days. He did his best to soothe Cleveland's rioting emotions as they continued to approach a pair of Sakura destroyers, promising her mercy if their enemy surrendered. He surveyed the situation anew, finding one Hatsuharu-class destroyer steadily succumbing to fire and flooding damage while the second pulled up as close as she could, flying the flag of surrender. He watched as a distressingly frail looking girl abandoned her bridge and ran up her deck to the bow, looking behind her at the fires. A blue, oriental jacket billowed around her form in the wind along with, much to Thorson's surprise, a thin, black tail. He had but a moment to process that interesting tidbit of information as the girl continued to look about her in distress.
"Oh shit," Thorson cursed, knowing what was coming. The girl's rigging wasn't even active anymore. He yelled out orders as she jumped into the churning seas below, the pilot of the other Hatsuharu-class looking on in horror as her tiny form was quickly tossed about and subsumed by the whitecaps. He and Cleveland could feel each other's desperate pull to not see another frail creature destroyed by the uncaring ocean. He radioed the lead elements of his fleet. "Portland, Indy, get to her now!"