CHAPTER 12

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       We docked on this small island with no problems. There were two runways overflowing with bombers and fighters. There were four carriers, also filled with planes. There must have been over a hundred destroyers, battleships, and cruisers. And there would still be more arriving.

       It seemed that half the allied force was crammed on this piece of an island. We were escorted to a small hangar where we reviewed the mission one last time. Destroy one, save the other.

       "Does it matter which one we destroy?" I asked.

       "No, Nico, it doesn't." James replied.

       We were told to get a good night's rest before we set out for Japan. It was hard to sleep since there were ships landing throughout the night. Planes roared overhead. There was no room for sleeping bags on the island, so thousands of people were sleeping on the top deck of our ships.

       When I woke up to the sound of trumpets, there were ships already taking off. One about the size of mine was hovering in the air with tubes hanging from it. It was named Allie's Tavern. When I saw a cruiser fly up to it and the tubes plugged in to the ship, I understood it was an enormous tanker. Michael and I had topped off our ships the night before, so we didn't need to fly up. More ships had arrived overnight. These modified ships can land on water, but are a pain to take off in. Usually, there needs to be a huge ramp to drive it ashore where the water won't create unnecessary drag. This island had one ramp, and it was crowded. There were maybe a dozen ships waiting in line. I then realized the luxury of parking here on land. I set the coordinates, and Riptide soared with Deathbringer close behind.

       A group of ten B-24s appeared on our left. The lead plane was silver and reflected the sun magnificently. Nicknamed "Glory", it lead nine dark green flying monsters of death. But their guns weren't firing. No four hundred pound bombs falling. Most were named non-violently. There were at least three with names like "Satan's Angel", "Destroyer", and "Raining Death". My most favorite was one named "Witchcraft". A creative, non-murderous name.

       The radio crackled to life suddenly.

       "One nice ship you got there!" A static voice said.

       "Who is this?" I asked.

       "I'm Maggie, pilot of the lead bomber on your left," The voice replied. She didn't sound much older than me.

       I looked over to see Glory shake its wings up and down.

       "How old are you?" I asked.

       "Fifteen" She replied.

       "Who you talkin' to? Your girlfriend?" Another voice said.

       "Michael! Shut up!" I yelled.

       "Or do I have to land on your ship and shut you up myself!" Maggie yelled.

       There was no reply. The armada kept at a steady 4,000 feet for what felt like forever. I wondered why bombers would be on this mission. There wasn't any land to hit. Suddenly, the radar picked something up ahead of us. An enormous group of objects like the fleet I was in. It was heading towards us. Out ahead, small objects became visible. Then grew into larger objects. Fighters tore out ahead. The order to engage was given. I punched the throttle. I knew I needed the upper advantage. Two identical objects appeared in front. An object shaped like a carrier followed. There we go. I ordered the guns aimed on one of the big targets. The right one. I instructed Michael to do the same. James also followed my instructions. I wanted to get closer, for better accuracy. Fighters from both sides engaged. The anti-aircraft guns started up. Smaller ships on both sides started falling to the ocean.

       Not yet. Not quite yet.

       "Fire!" I shouted into the radio and to the speakers on my ship.

       Deafening booms tore through the air. The target took hits, but didn't budge. Both ships aimed at a smaller cruiser down below. It disappeared in a fireball. My ship fired again. More shots landed. They fired back. Hits landed on our ships. We kept on going. I saw a group of B-24s fly overhead. They flew into the group of warships. Suddenly, I saw them pull up and break away. The ships were so tightly packed together, some of the bombs hit ships.

       One of the ships, the big ones, broke away and started for me. I ordered oxygen masks on, and put the ship in a climb. The other ship did too. We looked about even in altitude, and climbing at an even speed. I stopped all forward motion, and it looked like the other ship did the same. We were at 20,000 feet and quickly climbing. I was told the maximum altitude before the air was too thin was 30,000 feet. Neither ship was firing, for the crews couldn't work this high without oxygen. The engines were starting to get angry. They had to work harder to keep my ship flying. The RPM gauge kept increasing. The other ship also was struggling. It was so close I could finally read the name printed in gold on the side. Yamato. So, here was my challenger. I could barely see the Musashi fighting with our ships. Some planes dared to fly up here to watch what would happen.

       By now the engines were flat out screaming at me. The ship couldn't take much more, but neither could they. I saw Yamato lurch up, and then start falling back. Now we had the upper hand.

       I reduced thrust and started chasing after them. I angled the Riptide so that our bow was facing down. When we passed 7,000 feet I ordered the guns fire. We planted shots into the deck of the Yamato while their fancy guns couldn't angle to catch us. They started to stop dropping at about 100 feet. Waves and water flew up from below. I stopped just above their line of fire.

       One shot hit the front most turret and it exploded. The beast was wounded. What felt like forever later, the second front turret also was disabled. I maneuvered my ship so I was head on with the Yamato. I stepped outside with a megaphone to warn them to surrender. They were maybe twenty feet apart, bow to bow. As I raised the megaphone to my mouth, a small object flew at me. It bounced and landed at my feet. I picked it up. It had wires coming from it at a strange blue glowing light. I turned it over and saw a timer. 4. 3. I threw it and ran back for the safety of the cabin. I looked back to see a blue flash from between the ships. The ship lurched suddenly. I ran to the bridge to see the gauges were all dropping to zero. 

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