Jaxon’s fleet rushed towards the enemies in front of them as fast as they could. Explosions could be heard every few seconds, some managed to find targets. Others would do nothing more than make the ocean a little bit lighter. In terms of pure strength, the Japanese forces under Yamamoto, who Jaxon assumed was commanding the fleet in front of him, were superior. However, this was not a hopeless situation.

The only uncertain factor was the mysterious vessel that was at the very rear of the Japanese fleet not making any moves, just staying in the water, watching, waiting. Jaxon wasn’t sure what its uses were, but he knew that Baron might be able to shed some light. He had to split his attention from commanding his fleet and talking with Baron. As soon as he explained everything that happened, Baron pondered for a bit before saying something.

“Bigger than a Typhoon-class submarine?” Baron thought aloud, “no…could it be?”

“Do you know what it is?” Jaxon asked then immediately gave the order for all their aircraft to deploy.

“The only possibility that comes to mind is the underwater aircraft carriers that the Japanese managed to build one of but never actually put to use. The French also entertained the idea. However, the technology to build a functioning one that was useful in battle would take too much of an investment to make it worthwhile.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“It seems our Japanese friends have finally made something deemed to be unfeasible and generally unusable in an actual conflict. But I guess they had some time on Planet 4 and made it into a reality. They must have deep pockets to fund this kind of research.”

“I’ve never even heard of this before you mentioned it.”

“I’m not surprised. Unless they found a way to cram more space for aircraft onboard that thing or made the loading and unloading process a lot faster, then it is more of a wasted opportunity to build other vessels. The best the Japanese had managed was to fit 3 specially designed planes to fit into these vessels and it took them 30-45 minutes to deploy each one. A big waste of time especially since the intended purpose of such a vessel was for stealth and surprise attacks. Of course, this is just my speculation. You should still be careful if it decides to move.”

“I know that,” Jaxon agreed. He was given a short report about the state of his fleet. To which he knit his eyebrows. “Say, Baron, how long do you think it will take you to fully conquer Hokkaido?”

“I have already left the rest of the campaign up to the NPC’s and am heading to your position now. Of course, I suspect that it will still be a while before I can assist you.”

“That’s alright, I think I can hold, maybe even come out victorious in this battle. Just need a little bit of luck.”

“Indeed-“ Before Baron could say anything else, a loud voice screamed from across the room. “Well now, that’s no good.”

“What’s wrong?”

“We are being targeted by land defenses near the entrance of Ise Bay. Hmm, it seems like a major fleet has shown up now too.” Multiple explosions could be heard on Baron’s end. “I don’t think this is a simple attack. We’ll talk later, Jaxon. Let’s focus on our current battles first.”

“Agreed,” Jaxon confirmed right before he was informed that things took a turn for the worse on his end. Many of his pilots were being shot out of the sky at a rate that he did not think the Japanese would be able to manage. Something was not right. The number of planes should be roughly equal, but there was a very large difference in skill.

Jaxon had trained these pilots himself. Taught them all his decades of experience in aerial warfare. Seeing them drop like flies one by one broke his heart. Though it was a tough decision, Jaxon would have to command everything from the skies. A little bit impractical, plus very risky. That was just how it would have to be for now. He needed to be able to see the entire battlefield to accurately gauge which measures to take. This was his preferred method of gathering information, not receiving updates, and reports from others.

He was extremely proud of his skills in an aircraft, few could match his insane level of maneuverability and foresight. As soon as he got up in the air, he could tell how dire the situation was for his fleet. A few cruisers and battleships were close to sinking and even one of the carriers had taken significant damage. Orders flowed from his mind to his mouth directing his entire fleet what to do and where to go. For a while, it seemed to reverse the tides a little bit.

Suddenly, a barrage of land defenses fired all the landmasses around them. Which Jaxon was afraid of. They were now being targeted from almost 360 degrees. Just then, behind the rear of Jaxon’s fleet, toward the direction of the naval mines, surfaced 4 more of those mysterious underwater behemoths.

They did not remain a mystery much longer as they began to spit out planes one after another. A far cry from the 30-45 minutes that Baron had told him earlier. Jaxon could see that these newcomers would make the situation here worse for his fleet, so he did the only thing he could think of. He gave the orders for 2 dozen of his pilots to follow him and do battle with the, now confirmed, underwater aircraft carriers and sink them before they had the time to release all of their planes.

This was when Jaxon truly showed his dominance in the skies. It didn’t take him long to shoot down 3 incoming fighters that ended up in the middle of the ocean as wreckage. He made his way to the front to show his squadron that there was nothing to be afraid of. Plane after plane he shot down, with his men behind him doing fairly well for themselves as well. Finally, they came close to the underwater aircraft carriers only to realize that the Japanese fighters that had originally been on the other battlefield following them.

Jaxon didn’t want to think that all of his aces were down, but that was the likely conclusion. In his opinion, the best course of action now was to destroy the vessels in front of him first before trying to engage in another aerial dogfight. They fired shot after shot, but nothing they threw at it was enough to sink it. It must have been reinforced to heck and back. With the reality that it wouldn’t be as easy as he thought it would be, Jaxon ordered what remained of his squadron to fall back to the other battlefield. Alas, the Japanese fighters behind them did not give them the chance.

Jaxon only had a little difficulty with these opponents, but that could not be said for the rest of his pilots when they began to be shot out of the sky relentlessly. He kept going, firing at plane after plane, but it was no use. Pretty soon, he was the only one in a sea of enemies. He received reports that his reinforcements had arrived and had tipped the balance back to his favor, but that was only if these highly trained Japanese pilots were occupied with him. He would have to stall for a little bit longer.

Thankfully, he wouldn’t have to worry about the underwater beast as it was at this time that his American submarines finally made their way to his position. These subs began shooting relentlessly at the new Japanese invention. With a dozen or so missiles coming at them every minute and it still not being able to submerge due to proper procedures, they all sank in no time. Their onboard defense systems made virtually no difference.

However, Jaxon wasn’t paying any attention to this as he was in a battle of his own. Him against the 15 remaining Japanese fighters. This would be a suicide battle for anyone less skilled than him. But still, it would not be easy to get out of this. If he was in his specially designed Electric Swift fighter jet, then he would feel a lot more confident, but now was not the time to think about what-ifs. He had never been challenged to this degree in the air, excitement filled him.

To win this battle, Jaxon had to be vigilant, quick, and smart about every move he was to make. All he had to do was to get back to his fleet alive, so shooting down every enemy plane wasn’t necessary. That was easier said than done. He went this way and that way, trying to shake off the Japanese chasing him. No matter what he did, they continued on his trail relentlessly. All while being shot at from every direction.

It wouldn’t take much to down his plane, and with a barrage from every direction, he was running out of time and luck. He tried his best to dodge and to fire back, but somehow, his enemies almost always managed to outmaneuver him. Especially this one pilot who seemed to be able to read him perfectly. No one was at this level of aerial experience on the Japanese, except for Minoru Genda himself. One of the three strategists that Jaxon had to fight against.

In the end, Jaxon managed to escape while taking out 10 of the enemy planes. The result was that the remaining 5 did not pursue any longer. Though he and his plane did not get out of it unscathed. As he made it back aboard his command ship, he was briefed quickly on the events that took place while he was busy running for his life. His submarines who had taken out those underwater aircraft carriers turned around to help out the naval battle between the two fleets. They were a big help. Now that Jaxon was back again, he managed to stabilize the situation a bit.

Given a few more hours, both sides managed to inflict a few heavy casualties on each other. If that was all, then Jaxon would’ve been able to keep going on. However, something unexpected happened. 4 more of the Japanese underwater behemoths surfaced behind the Japanese fleet and spat out even more fighters. Thankfully, he was able to hold until the rest of his reinforcements came, but it was close. Jaxon was able to expertly guide his fleet to a decisive victory. Though he did take heavy casualties.

Jaxon had managed to secure a victory against the Japanese naval fleet, but he nearly paid a huge price for it. Then, bad news reached Jaxon. It was about Baron. His entire fleet was sunk that day and is presumed dead. This was a shock to everybody. Baron had always been the guy to plan out the big picture, but now they could not rely on him. This would be a test to his, and Roxi’s prowess at war. First, she would have to be informed of the current state of affairs. He had to do this personally.

“Roxi, I’ve got some bad news, we have reason to believe that Baron is dead. His fleet has been smashed and few managed to get away,” Jaxon regrettably reported.

“That’s terrible,” Roxi took in the news with some level of sadness.

“How long will you need to be with your weapons development?”

“For us to win this war, I will need 3 more months. Will you be able to hold out for that long?”

“Yes, I believe so. The conquest of every island except Honshu is but a given at this point. I will keep them blockaded in and begin a land invasion soon. With Baron out of the picture, we will need to rethink the strategy. I may not be as good as him in this aspect, but there is no other way without your weapons. What are your weapons by the way?”

“Do you trust me?”

“I don’t have much of a choice in this situation, do I?”

“Not unless you want to be defeated.”

“Then I trust you, Roxi.”

“Then have faith in me when I say that this is still a very winnable simulation. I just need time.”

“Alright,”

Once the call ended, Jaxon went to go plan the next phase of the invasion of Japan. For Roxi, she had someone she had to find, her great-grandfather, Cornelius Victor Blaze. As it stood now, he was the only option to victory.