Coral Sea

27 MAY 2021

GMT +10 1624

The warm sea breeze blew across the deck of the Kii, the most pleasant she had encountered since the start of her journey. On her bridge, Hikari and Masato were yet again having another heated "discussion" over some recent decisions regarding the ship's future path.

"Getting out into the Pacific after leaving the Solomon Sea would prevent us from being detected by any civilians in the Bismarck Sea," Hikari replied, slightly annoyed.

"But the whole US Navy is hunting us down, there's sure to be vessels around the area. Taking a path across the Bismarck Sea would both save fuel and prevent use from being possibly detected in the Pacific, even if for a short while," Masato countered, equally annoyed.

"The Bismarck Sea is probably patrolled more often by the Papau New Guinea Coast Guard, we'll surely be detected and soon have the US Navy on our asses!"

"That's better than directly running into the US Navy!"

As the two continued arguing, everyone else on the bridge watched, slightly interested and amused.

"Those two never stop arguing, do they?" Anderson asked the Captain as he watched.

"It won't escalate beyond this point," the latter replied, "but both of them have valid points. It looks like we have to take a gamble this time."

"Okay, enough. We'll go with Iwata's decision to cross both the Solomon and Bismarck seas before breaking out into the Atlantic. However, the crew is required to be on alert in case we run into the local Coast Guard, like what Yamasaki has said."

"To add on," Yamamoto continued, "downing the helicopters had pushed the Navy to send their best ships against us. The logical first orders that they've probably issued would be to radio the ships near the Coral Sea to start searching for us. Remain on high alert till we enter the Solomon Sea."

"Roger that." "Sure thing."

"Also, you two, follow me. Both your boss and I have something to show you," the Captain said, turning to leave the bridge. "Only the two of you are able to operate this little surprise both of us have in store for you."

Glancing at each other for a moment, both Hikari and Masato followed the Captain and Anderson out.

8 MINUTES LATER

"Bloody hell, why are we moving towards the stern? This is one hell of a walk," Masato complained as the four of them approached the ship's hangar.

"What's wrong?" Hikari called from ahead, "Can't keep up?"

"I would appreciate it if you could slow down," Masato shot back, struggling to keep up.

"Fine, I'm slowing down. Go exercise or something," Hikari replied as she slowed down, allowing Masato to catch up.

"So Captain," Masato asked, "what's the thing you want to show us?"

"It's in the aircraft hangar," Yamamoto replied as he entered the hangar and motioned the two to follow him in. "To be exact, two of them."

Entering the hangar, the Aichi E13A that Masato and Hikari knew was loaded onto the ship greeted them, its wings folded upwards. The Jake, as what its Allied reporting name was back during World War 2, was built according to its original blueprints, just like how the Kii was built according to known plans of the Yamato. Anderson had intended it to be part of the Yamato museum too, for the sake of realism.

The duo stared at the Jake.

"You've brought us here to look at the seaplane?" Masato quipped.

"Nope," was the reply from Anderson, "What we want to show you is at the other side of the hangar. Now get over here."

Moving to the right side of the hanger, Hikari and Masato met something that they had no idea was brought onboard for the very first time.

Sitting in the hangar were two black fighter jets, both resembling a Sea Harrier FA2, only significantly smaller than the British aircraft they seemed to be inspired from. Each aircraft had their wings folded neatly upwards, and both Hikari and Masato noticed two small missiles on each wing, along with two machine guns, each fitted neatly into one side of each aircraft's fuselage and nose.

"Wow," Hikari responded, "what are these?"

"These are prototype stealth reconnaissance fighter craft, the Mitsubishi RS-00, also known as 'Karasu' because of their black appearance," Yamamoto explained. "Unlike their namesake, I find this aircraft somewhat pleasant to look at, don't you think?'

Both Hikari and Masato nodded in agreement, before simultaneously turning their heads to stare at the Captain.

"Ahem. Anyway," the Captain continued, "they were supposed to pave the way for a new stealth fighter, the RS-01, but these designs were rejected after their flight tests. These aircraft were based on the British Sea Harrier and came with VTOL, foldable wings and a small size for easy takeoff, less storage space and high speeds for scouting enemy aircraft. They got mostly what they wanted, except the main feature of the aircraft; this aircraft is by no means stealthy, thus the higher-ups dropped the design."

"So basically Anderson bought the prototypes in an auction again?" Masato asked.

"Nope. These prototypes were found in a military junkyard, I simply went over with a team to pick them up," was Anderson's reply.

"Oh."

"And what do we have to do with these aircraft?" Hikari quipped.

"Isn't it obvious? We're supposed to pilot them, since we're the only ones in the crew with flight training," Masato explained.

"That is correct," the Captain confirmed, "in the event when we need air support, you two would be sent out to keep enemy aircraft away from us. Here, I'll explain to you what these weapons are. Get closer."

The two of them went closer towards the first Karasu, which they noted had a small number "01" written on the body below the canopy. Yamamoto pointed at one of the two missiles below the left wing of the aircraft.

"This is the Type 98 air-to-ship prototype EMP missile, developed by the JMSDF for non-lethal use against any enemy vessels. This particular missile was not used as the navy opted for a larger and improved design, which is still being developed at the moment. These are by no means long-ranged; in order to secure a hit, the pilot must fly within 500 meters of the target, as these missiles have an estimated range of only 600 meters. Firing at the maximum range is not advised due to both human error and the fact that the missile tends to run out of fuel at various ranges between 500 and 600 meters."

"This here," the Captain continued, pointing towards the machine guns, "are simply Oerlikon 20 mm machine guns. I suppose any further explanation is unneeded for them, am I correct?"

The two of them nodded.

"Very well. Just to point out, these aircraft are extremely agile, being able to outmaneuver any US aircraft that we may come across. Hopefully you two have completed your training well, you two may very well be sent out soon if my predictions are correct."

"Predictions?" Masato asked.

"From our current situation and some prior knowledge, the US Navy is likely to have at least a single Nimitz-class carrier docked at Manila a few days before we set off. Due to the sinking of the Porter, it is likely that the carrier has been dispatched to an area close to our current position."

"So we're running into a major confrontation?" Hikari enquired.

"It's just a personal speculation," the captain reaffirmed, "I find the probability of the US Navy wasting both their time and one of their largest vessels against an obsolete vessel to be rather slim."

"Captain!" A crew member rushed into the hangar, his face pale from running from the bridge to the stern.

"What is it?"

"A major news channel has reported that the USS Nimitz and George Washington had sortied with five destroyer escorts and launched aircraft earlier today, from the waters northeast of the Coral Sea. They're looking for us already, Captain."

"Do not worry, set the ship to high alert. Stop the vessel now, we will continue our journey in the night, where the lower visibility will be our ally. Get all officers to report to the night action bridge at 2200, we will then proceed with an evasion strategy."

2200

The night action bridge, a level higher and behind the conning tower, was reserved only for night surface action, thus the reason why it was not used at all beforehand. The Captain and the officers had all gathered in the bridge a few minutes earlier, and had closed the side windows as they planned the ship's escape, and Yamamoto was now giving out instructions.

"Masato, Hikari, you two will be sent on a reconnaissance mission using the two Karasus the ship carries. While Hikari sweeps the area north, Masato sweeps the area east. Once the enemy has been identified, use the EMP missiles to disable all the ships in the fleet. You have been cleared to open fire on hostile aircraft, but try not to kill them. Is that understood?"

"Roger that." "No problem."

"The ship will head towards the Solomon Sea as expected, where we will stop until we are certain the enemy is no longer following us. Everyone to battlestations!"

Fifteen minutes later, as the ship advanced at 10 knots Hikari and Masato had made their way to the hangar, picked their planes and were ready to go. While Masato had picked Karasu number 1, Hikari had picked the second aircraft."

"So, do we use the catapults or do we VTOL out of here?" Masato asked.

"The cranes will lift your planes up to the deck, where you will use the aircraft's VTOL capabilities to take off," a crew member was explaining. "Aircraft 2 will take off first, is that fine with you?"

"Sure."

"Your aircraft has a combat radius of 500 kilometers, meaning that you'll run out of fuel at 1000 kilometers. Come back at any time you want if you're running out of fuel or need a reload, though that wouldn't be necessary."

"No problem, send us off."

As Masato unfolded his plane's wings, Hikari took off from the ship, soon leaving the vessel at an incredible pace. Just as Masato lifted off, his radio came to life.

"Hey, this working? Masato, do you read?"

"Loud and clear, now where do we go?" Masato asked as he switched the Karasu to standard flight mode.

"You take north, I take east. Or would you want the other way round?"

"Sure, I'd go north. Radio the ship if you see anything," replied Masato.

"Okay then, good luck."

2225

"Hey Yamasaki, I'm getting five contacts on my radar. Probably US fighters, I'm preparing to engage."

"What? We're barely minutes in."

"Yeah, guess they decided to come to us instead."

"Hold on, I'm coming over to your coordinates. Did they see you?"

"Yeah, two of them are coming towards me. So much for stealth. All contacts are F-35s, I'm engaging. Radio the ship, they have 3 aircraft incoming."

"Roger that," came the reply.

"This is Yamasaki, you have three F-35s headed straight towards the ship, you got to get the shield up now."

"Activate the shield now!" came the commanded by Yamamoto.

"Captain, the shield isn't getting up! Something's gone wrong!"

"Fix it now! We're going to be hit!"

Back on Karasu Number 2, Hikari was busy dealing with the two F-35s, which were actually struggling with trying to shoot her down.

"Hey, I'm outmaneuvering them, this plane isn't bad. Though, they're getting pretty annoying, they've launched their missiles at me and all my countermeasures are used up, I'll be hit if this goes on. Captain, they're using lethal force, permission to down them?"

"Permission granted. Don't overdo it."

Hikari opened up the throttle and turned hard, facing herself behind the two American jets. Opening a second's worth of burst fire for each plane, she managed to damage the engines of both planes, sending them out of power and forcing the pilots to eject before their planes crashed into the sea.

"Okay, two down. Let's take out the other three before they put holes on the ship."

As the crew struggled to bring the Deactivator online, the three jets have already closed in. Locking onto the Kii, all of them fired a volley of missiles, two from each fighter. Just when the missiles were just 80 meters away, the shield immediately sprang to life, putting the ship under the protective electromagnetic layer.

But it was a bit too late.

As the three F-35s suddenly lost power and plunged into the sea, the missiles were still operational. Two were shut down and crashed harmlessly into the sea, two were deflected by the secondary later, but two managed to remain unaffected. The first one slammed into the belt of the vessel, leaving no significant damage due to the ship's thick armour. The second missile, however, found its mark on the starboard AA array of the ship, destroying two of the 12.7 cm turrets and taking five of the 25 mm turrets out of commission. In addition, it started a fire and punctured the superstructure, the flames being visible even by Masato and Hikari.

"That's a pretty big blaze. Captain, what's the damage?"

"We are sending the firefighting crew out now, the situation will be under control. It was a good thing you two were far enough to not be downed by your own ship."

"This isn't going to work," Hikari joined in, "we have two carriers onto us. In this situation one of us is going to be shot down soon, we have to find the carriers quickly."

The Captain thought it over for a moment.

"Both of you will return to the ship at once, it is pointless to continue on with the search. We will turn off the shields so that you can land. Come to the night action bridge once you're done."

"Roger that."

2300

"The enemy has located us while we do not know where they are, what should we do?" Masato asked.

"The air group that attacked us was a reconnaissance group due to its small number of aircraft, so it is safe to say that the fleet has no accurate coordinates of our current location up until the earlier attack," was the reply from Yamamoto.

"That doesn't sound very reassuring," Hikari said, "they're bound to be onto us now."

"Do not worry, they cannot come close to us to effectively fire again, with the Deactivator now up. However, I would like you two to stand by for takeoff, you two will shadow any returning planes and track down the enemy fleet. As long as you stay behind these aircraft, you should be safe. Since the enemy has to send out another group of fighters to confirm our position, we are fortunate enough to have time on our side."

"How long exactly?"

"A few hours maybe, the further they are the longer we have. They should be pretty far away, so we should have some time. Meanwhile we would advance at 15 knots east, the closer we get the lesser range you would need to travel."

USS GEORGE WASHINGTON

"Captain, all our aircraft have been downed, but we have the coordinates of the pirate vessel."

"Very well, send a squadron of fighters out. Where is it anyway?"

"In the middle of the Coral Sea, less than a thousand kilometers away."

"I see, wait till 0330 before sending the planes out. We will wait and catch them when they least expect it."

28 MAY 2021

GMT +10 0417

KII

"Captain, 10 targets incoming, they are aircraft."

"Prepare the firefighting crew, brace for an attack," the Captain ordered. "Tell Masato and Hikari to prepare for takeoff. Prepare evasive maneuvers."

As the missiles began to hit the water one by one, the two Karasus were on the deck preparing to take off.

"So the shield would be switched off once the missiles are offline, so we'll have to take off from then?"

"Yeah," came the reply from Hikari, "We should be able to shadow the enemy once they're 10 kilometers back, since the electronic jamming of our aircraft should be able to cover us."

"And we didn't use them earlier on?"

"Well, the F-35 has superior detection when facing us, so it'll be pointless. Just pray they don't turn around and look back, and we should be fine."

A short while later, as 28 missiles were shut down and sent onto the surface of the sea, 8 were thrown off course by the shield's last defense and either dove down or went up harmlessly. However, the remaining 4 missiles were still operational. One hit the bow, another flew over the bow section and hit the water on the Kii's port side, the third slammed into the same area which was hit earlier on while the fourth hit the pagoda below the night action bridge, leaving the ship with three raging flames.

"That's sure to leave a mark," Masato muttered before picking the radio up. "This is Masato, is everything all right?"

"The night action bridge is completely fine, we're not dead. The F-35s are turning back now, the shield has been temporarily turned off. You have 5 minutes to be outside the Deactivator's range, so make it quick."

"Roger that, I take it as our call to take off. Hey Hikari, let's go"

"After you," Hikari replied as both Karasus lifted off the deck.

"Active electronic jammers are turned on, let's go."

Once the two jets were out of the 5 kilometer range, Hikari radioed her partner.

"Okay, we can see the F-35s but they can't see us. One wrong move however and we'll either lose them or be spotted. This radio is of a different frequency from theirs, so they won't pick up our chatter. Once we find the enemy fleet, aim at one of the two carriers, the destroyers can wait. They're not expecting us to appear, so we have the element of surprise here."

"Sure thing, but can the Kii outrun the DDGs?"

"Even if she couldn't, the destroyers won't leave their formation unless ordered to, so we can at least buy the ship some time."

0624

"How long more are these asshats going to fly? We've been at it for 2 hours, I'm frankly bored," Masato groaned.

"Well, they're flying slow, and we have to maintain our distance. Can't be spotted yet," came the reply from the other Karasu.

"Oh, would you look at that, 6:25 in the morning, even the sun is about to rise. Wait, I have surface radar contact, 7 contacts. Looks like we found them."

"Look ahead too," Hikari pointed out, "we can see the ships now too."

As the sun rose, the silhouette of a fleet of vessels can be seen. Among them, both Hikari and Masato could tell that two of them were aircraft carriers.

"Okay," Hikari said, "you take the one on the right, I'll take the one on the left. Jamming should be able to prevent their CIWS from locking on us for some time, aim for the island but not directly at the bridge. Use one missile first, I'll race you," Hikari added before pushing the throttle to full.

"Hey, no fair," Masato replied as he did the same, the two Karasus launched forward.

USS NIMITZ

"Captain, two air targets at 8 kilometers, closing in fast."

"Wait, they have planes? Get the DD to have their CIWS online and fire the anti-aircraft missiles now."

As the Arleigh Burke destroyers took aim, their crews realized that they could not lock onto any of the targets.

"Captain, we can't get a lock, they're using jamming."

"Use the Mark 45s to gun them down."

KII'S KARASUS

"Holy hell, they're not happy at us, they're using their main guns to shoot us down."

"Don't mind them, keep to your target. 5 kilometers left, watch out."

"Sure thing, boss lady."

"What? Don't call me that!"

"Fine, boss lady."

Without any locks on them, the two jets easily got closer to the US fleet, while avoiding the defensive fire from the destroyers.

"Two kilometers, prepare to fire! Remember, aim for the island, but avoid the bridge!"

"Yes I know, I'm getting an early lock at the base of the island."

At slightly above one kilometers, one of the destroyer's ship-to-air missile systems finally got an attempt to lock on Hikari's aircraft.

"I got the lock, just a bit more and I'll fire. Man, these missiles are bad."

"Okay," Masato shouted, "600 meters, I'm firing!"

As the two jets simultaneously fired their missiles and pulled up, the SAM system finally locked onto Hikari's aircraft. Before it could fire however, the missiles hit, sending an EMP wave that took the power out of the entire fleet. As all the ships were left drifting, Masato and Hikari observed.

"Man, that was one powerful EMP attack. Maybe these missiles aren't that terrible," Masato commented.

"Yeah, its shortcoming would still be its range, but it's a good non-lethal weapon," Hikari replied.

"Hikari to Kii, the whole enemy fleet has been immobilized, they'll only start running after a few hours, we can escape now."

"Well done," the Captain replied, "This would not have been possible without the skills of the two of you. The ship will move full speed across the Solomon Sea, you two can return."

"Roger that," the two of them replied in unison.

"Never doing that again though," Masato added in, "Those were the scariest few minutes of my life."

"True, hopefully we'd never need to use these planes for a similar mission anymore," Hikari agreed.

"The two of you just relax," Anderson came in, "you two saved the ship. Leave the worries of another day to the future, you two may have the day off."

"Perfect," Hikari said, "looks like I can take a look around without it being part of my job."

"I'll take the time in my cabin napping, I'm tired after all this crap," Masato yawned.

"And take a nap you shall only after you get back," Yamamoto answered, ending the conversation on a happy mood while the morning sun rose.