Hans was resting in his bunk after a long day''s work. Over the past week, he had been an instrumental part of the war effort against Japan. By now, he had shot down a total of 50 Japanese aircraft and was considered Germany''s premier fighter ace.


    Following his initial victory, the crew of the SMS Osterreich had painted Hans'' ne crimson, with the fore end of the ne being painted in a white and ck checkered pattern, along with a matching spiral propellor.


    Obviously, the pattern was not designed to blend in with thendscape which Hans flew over, and instead was a statement about his identity as the greatest fighter pilot in the world. The fighting had been intense for the first week, as the Japanese forces came from the Philippines inrger numbers to contest the German invasion of Borneo.


    Hans had already lost five members of his squadron to the Japanese fighters, shot down over the Borneo, and never recovered. It was uncertain whether they were KIA or MIA, but their loss had a noticeable effect on the carrier, whose pilot''s quarters were down by five men.


    Haywire had miraculously survived, despite his reckless piloting, and continued to fly as Hans'' wingman. He had scored quite a few kills himself, enough to be an ace in his own right, butpared to Hans, his glory fell short.


    However, before the 6th Carrier Strike Group could fully perform their duties, they were ordered to pack up and embark towards the midway inds in an attempt to regroup with the 8th and 10th carrier strike groups.


    The reason for this was obvious: arge battle group of Japanese warships which were roughly twice the number of the 6th CSG had been spotted in hot pursuit of the German fleet. However, Hans still felt a bit dissatisfied over the fact that he and hisrades were now essentially running with their tails between his legs.


    As much as the boy wanted to rest, he was more concerned about getting out there and doing his job. Thus, he waited patiently as the night passed by, slipping in and out of sleep, before looking over at his rm clock to check the time.


    For days, Hans endured such an existence as the war continued in Borneo, and Korea, with more casualties piling up by the day. He felt it was his sworn duty to assist the men on the ground by eliminating the air forces of the enemy. Yet now that they were so far out at sea, there was truly nothing that he could do.


    After nearly two weeks at sea, the Sixth Carrier Strike group found itself outside the Marshall Inds, which were still a bit further away from their ultimate destination. However, the 8th CSG located which was normally stationed in Australia, along with the 10th CSH which was usually housed in Hawaii, were not far away, and thus, despite their orders to continue on to Midway, Admiral Nolthe Schriber decided to engage the enemy.


    The siren interrupted Hans''s half-asleep state shortly before the crack of dawn. With this, the entire crew of the carrier rushed into uniform and to their positions in preparation for the uing battle. After getting dressed in his pilot''s uniform, Hans rushed to the meeting room, where his Wing Commander had gathered to give a speech to the pilots who would be taking the most risk on this day.


    "Alright men, any moment now, a battle will take ce between our fleet and the Japanese Armada. Luckily for all of us, we have thirty-seven of the best damn pilots this world has to offer. Lieutenant Hans, I want you to lead our fighters to engage the enemy floatnes. As for the Stukas, I will takemand. Remember, you are to get within an eptable distance andunch your torpedos at the enemy''s ships. Those same vessels will have extensive Anti-Aircraft capabilities, so don''t get yourselves killed!"


    With that short speech given, that pilots saluted their wingmander before embarking towards the deck, where they hopped into their nes and begun to take off. Immediately after hitting the air, Hans saw the enemy fleet in the distance. Out of the roughly twenty-five Japanese warships that were visible above the surface, roughly eight of them were battleships, while the rest were a mixture of cruisers and destroyers.


    Still, that an enormous amount of firepower whenpared with the German Carrier strike group, which deployed its sole battleship, and two cruisers in front of the carrier to protect it against the enemy''srge bore guns.


    Still, if the enemy thought their battleships would win this engagement, then they were sorely mistaken. In the distance, Hans could see the 8th and 10th carrier strike groups nking the Japanese Armada. In total, there would be well over a hundred German nes in the air, most of which were torpedo bombers. Thus, Hans had a good feeling about the battle that was about to take ce.


    Thunderous echoes roared in the air as the German and Japanese warships began to engage one another on the seas. While the Japanese anti-aircraft weapons fired into the skies, trying their best to nail the 37 nes that had just entered the air space after beingunched by the SMS Osterreich.


    One of these k guns narrowly missed Hans''s wing, as he tilted his ne out of the st radius of the 20mm shell. Hans could not worry about the ships below, as his job was to deal with the Japanese floatnes.


    The Japanese floatnes which wereunched from the battleships were loosely modelled after the Nakajima A6M2-N from Berengar''s past life. There was however, certain extensive modifications in ce to make the aircraft primarily constructed from wood. Steel was used in ce of aluminum where necessary, however, this ultimately made the aircraft heavier and slower than it otherwise would have been.


    There were perhaps at most sixteen of these fighters, which were roughly the same number, give or take a few, as the German fighters that hadunched from the SMS Osterreich. As for the rest of the warnes attached to the other CSGs, they had yet tounch from their respective carriers.


    Knowing that it was now do or die, Hans began to take altitude, making sure he could get an advantage over the enemy fighters, which were not designed to go nearly as high as the German Ta-152. However, he could guess that the sight of the legendary crimson warne was enough to install a sense of dread into the other pilots.<novelnext></novelnext>


    He was right to assume this, as the moment the Japanese pilots witnessed his noticeable ne, they all began to chase after him, not a single one paying attention to the other German pilots. Looping through the air, Hans used his superior speed and altitude to get behind the envy floatnes, where he opened fire on his first target.


    The 30mm auto cannons on board his ne mercilessly tore the tail off the Japanese float ne, sending it spiraling down into the ocean where it crashed on the deep blue surface. While he was engaging another ne, the rest of the German pilots began to pick their own targets and dogfight it out in the air.


    Since the two sides were roughly equal in number, Hans decided to give a bit of encouragement to hisrades as he spoke over the radio towards them.


    "If any of you fuckers manage to get shot down without killing a single enemy, I will piss on your graves!"


    Hans knew that the other pilots wereughing in their cockpits, even if they did not voice it over the radio. He then swept down and shot another Japanese floatne which was about to unleash its twin 20mm auto cannons onto Haywire''s backside. Who was in his own reckless way chasing after another Japanese ne in front of him?


    Naturally, Hans felt the need to scold his fellow pilot, which he was quick to do so after breaking off from the man''s tail and pursuing another fighter.


    "What did I just fucking say?"


    Hans could hear haywire''s voice on the radio, apologizing for not watching his six properly.


    "Sory boss, you know how I get with my tunnel vision!"


    However, Hans did not want to hear it, instead from the corner of his eye saw Haywire shoot out one of his target''s engines, who was rapidly spiraling down towards the ocean''s surface. However, he noticed something peculiar. The Japanese pilot had not ejected, and was instead aiming his ne towards the surface of the SMS Osterreich.


    ? This caused Hans to curse out loud as he dived as fast as he could to intercept the enemy ne before it could cause serious damage to the carrier.


    "Fuck!"


    Hans began to count down the seconds until the enemy ne collided with the carrier''s deck as he dived from the opposite direction. Luckily for him, his ne was substantially faster, and thus he was not only able to close the distance, but surpass the other pilot, where he nearly hit the ocean''s surface before pulling on his flight stick, and shooting up towards the underbelly of the Japanese floatne.


    Just as the two aircraft were about to collide in mid-air, Hans veered to the side and fired his auto cannons. In doing so, he had sted off the floatne''s wing, causing its trajectory to veer off course. Ultimately missing the SMS Osterreich and crashing into the water''s surface where the ne and its pilot disintegrated upon impact.


    Seeing how he had just saved a German Carrier from sinking, Hans expected a Knight''s cross for such a feat, and he would make sure that Haywire nted the idea into the wingmander''s brain.


    Thus, while Hans and his fellow fighter pilots had utterly annihted the Japanese floatnes, the two fleets were engaged in a frightening disy of firepower.


    ---


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