Chapter 2

The Watatsumi made a hard turn to port as ammunition and missiles were loaded rapidly but orderly onto the thirty fighters as the skilled aircraft technicians readied the jets for interception. Kokomi rushed back onto the bridge with Yukiko close behind as the first of the Mitsubishi A10/75s soared into the skies. The fact that 30 fighter jets would not be able to do a single damn thing against 140 fighter-bombers was left unsaid.

10.33 am. The Pontus bombers closed in. Although the fighter jets tried their best to ward off the air flotilla, Kokomi let out a small shriek as the RIS Onami - a Makoto-class battleship - was torn about by five bombs and no less than thirteen torpedoes. Yukiko beside her was staring with equally abject horror, her eyes wide and lower lip trembling. "There were 2400 Valkyries on her... 2400... So many." A light cruiser attempted to put up resistance as multicoloured antiaircraft missiles ripped through the formation, but four 850-pound guided bombs were enough to reduce her to little more than a floating oil slick. An Ilyushin IL-01 attempted to release a bomb into the Watatsumi but was shot down just in time by a timely Type 03 AA missile, the splash barely 3 metres away from the vaunted carrier.

10.42 am. The last of the bombers disappeared towards the Pontic coastline. The Tsurumi lay dead in the water in an ever-expanding oil slick, the 27° list to port precariously supported by an I-171 repair ship. Another Tsurumi-class was leaking oil into the ocean, her frontal turret ablaze. A Haruna-class battlecruiser and Lingyang-class heavy cruiser were also slowly disappearing beneath the unforgiving sea, several destroyers assisting with the retrieval of surviving Valkyries. And as Kokomi stormed back to the prow to check on rescue efforts with Yukiko pale-faced in tow, she decided that she would have a lot to say to the Director of Naval Intelligence.

A tally was conducted and casualties counted - One Makoto-class battleship and two Haruna-class battlecruisers had been lost, in addition to four cruisers and five destroyers. In total, almost 12,000 Valkyries' lives had been lost. Twelve thousand Valkyries. Kokomi thought bleakly. Twelve ships lost for twenty enemy bombers.

The first ever battle between land-based bombers and surface fleets had been concluded. The victor was clear to everyone.