Commonnerfer

  The st of the scaffolding was finally being hauled away as Georgia stood on the deck, rolling her shoulders and exhaling deeply. The drydock—what was left of it—was still undergoing repairs from her incident, but her own hull had been patched up, rearmed, and ready for battle.

  "All systems green," she muttered to herself, feeling the familiar hum of power running through her rigging. The past few days had been a mess of repairs, an engineer had to be put on suicide watch…

  “Wave motion engine engage!” Georgia shouts as her entire hull begins to rumble.

  Clevend nearly dropped her clipboard as the deep, thrumming vibration rippled through the dock. "The what engine?!"

  Enterprise snapped her head toward Georgia, her normally composed expression briefly breaking into disbelief. "Georgia, what did you do?"

  “Well i took some of my drydock time to repair my main engine.” Georgia responds as a loud hum suddenly begins to reverberate from the hull.

  Hornet took a cautious step back, eyeing the glowing blue lines now pulsing along Georgia’s rigging. "That doesn’t sound like just an engine repair, Georgie."

  Georgia smirked, gripping the railing. "Rex, dies! It’s just a little optimization. Tweaked some systems, recalibrated the energy flow—y’know, standard maintenance."

  Enterprise’s eyes narrowed. "Georgia. That humming—what exactly did you install?"

  Georgia’s grin widened. "Oh, just a wave motion engine—" the ground of the ship begins to rumble as Georgia begins to take flight.

  Hornet’s jaw nearly hit the deck. "Oh, hell no—"

  Before she could finish, a deep thrumming vibration pulsed through the dock as Georgia’s hull lifted. The water beneath her churned violently, waves crashing against the piers as the entire ship hovered just above the surface. The glowing blue lines along her rigging fred even brighter, casting an eerie light across the stunned onlookers.

  Enterprise took a sharp step forward, her usually calm demeanor breaking into something between shock and exasperation. "Georgia, what did you do?!"

  Georgia, now hovering several feet above the water, crossed her arms and grinned like a kid who had just gotten away with stealing the cookie jar. "What? I optimized my propulsion system."

  "YOU'RE FLYING!" Clevend shouted, gripping the railing for dear life as the sheer force of the engine output sent shockwaves through the dock.

  Vestal, already sprinting onto the scene with a wrench in hand, skidded to a stop, eyes wide with horror. "GEORGIA, YOU GET YOUR AFT BACK IN THAT WATER RIGHT NOW!"

  "Can’t, Doc!" Georgia called back, throwing a mock salute as she tilted forward, the engines shifting. "Got a date with history at Coral Sea!"

  Then, with a thunderous boom, Georgia unched forward.

  Hornet and Enterprise watched as Georgia left floating above the ocean before her massive ship broke down into riggings and a set of massive bck wings adorned her back along with the steel hull and weapons of the rigging.

  With a fp georgia was suddenly in the air and another swift fp she was disappearing into the distance.

  Hornet let out a low whistle, adjusting her cap as the shockwave from Georgia’s takeoff sent ripples across the ocean’s surface. "Well, I’ll be damned," she muttered. "Didn’t know she could do that."

  Enterprise, arms still crossed, kept her gaze fixed on the rapidly fading form of Georgia. Her expression was unreadable, but the slight furrow in her brow betrayed the calcutions running through her mind. "Neither did I," she admitted. "That wasn’t standard rigging transformation… that was something else entirely."

  Hornet chuckled, nudging her sister with an elbow. "You sound almost impressed, wait did she see coral sea? Isn’t that were big sis Yorktown is?”

  ===

  The rising sun bathed Truk Lagoon in a golden glow as the waves gently pped against the hulls of the departing fleet. Shokaku stood at the edge of her deck, hands csped behind her back, watching the open ocean stretch before her. The air was thick with humidity, but the salty breeze carried the scent of adventure—and the promise of battle.

  Beside her, Zuikaku adjusted her sword at her hip, gncing at their escorts sailing alongside them. A formation of destroyers and cruisers cut through the waves, their wakes trailing behind like long ribbons. Overhead, a small patrol of Zeros circled zily, their engines purring like contented predators.

  "So, we’re really doing this," Zuikaku muttered, her green eyes flicking toward her sister.

  Shokaku gave a small nod. "Coral Sea. The Americans are waiting for us."

  Zuikaku huffed, rolling her shoulders. "Good. I’ve been itching for a rematch after the st skirmish." She clenched a fist, determination burning in her gaze. "This time, we won’t let them escape."

  Shokaku smiled softly, though a hint of worry lingered in her expression. "Just remember, Zuikaku… we have our orders. Victory is expected, but caution is necessary."

  Zuikaku waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But come on, Sis! We’re the pride of the Sakura Empire’s carrier force. We’ve got a full strike wing, the element of surprise, and some of the best escorts in the fleet." She smirked. "This will be our battle."

  Shokaku sighed, gazing back at the fading outline of Truk behind them. "I hope you're right…"