Yamato II

Here’s Yamato II, the second insert for Yamato. I just couldn’t resist putting her into another story, WOWS is too tempting. Oh and yes there’s a shoutout to WOWS, but that’s besides the point.

OH! and here’s the Yamato theme song for my favorite RTS game Battlestations Pacific with super sexy and impressive pictures and paintings:

The video’s good for the battle scene 😉 Enjoy!

Yamato II

Yamato handed Daichi to Hisashi, he was their bright little baby boy. Yamato had given birth not forty-eight hours ago and Daichi was already proving to be a trouble maker. When Yamato tried to ‘breast’ feed him he grabbed her nipple and did drink a little from it but took it and smacked it against her arm like it was a stick. Another instance is when they tried to put him to sleep he would rattle his crib open and get out, all throughout the night he’d wake up and bust out of his crib. They expected him to cry throughout the night but no, he silently would break out and would be caught when he fell from the crib to the floor and climb onto Hisashi. Yamato said he just loves his dad a lot but she knew he did it to be an annoyance. With all the crap he’s put them through they still couldn’t be happier. He’s a little tan bundle and when Hisashi took him he smiled upon his little boy. Daichi’s little brown eyes squinted in the sunlight and his little arms reached out to the sun to block out the light. Hisashi rubbed Daichi’s head, feeling the soft little black hairs already growing out. Hisashi sat down against Yamato’s superstructure and rocked his son in his arms.

“You’re going to grow up and make us proud, Daichi.”

“You tell him that every time you see him.”

“I don’t want him to have any doubts.” At that moment an Admiral stepped onto Yamato and asked for Hisashi. An attendant led him to the Admiral’s bridge and asked him to wait while the attendant fetched Hisashi. He climbed up a level and opened the blast door and called for Hisashi. Hisashi muttered ‘I thought I was retired’ and climbed up the ladder. Yamato held her son while daddy climbed up. He followed the attendant and just before the door to the bridge was opened the admiral commanded ‘at ease’ and surprised Hisashi. Hisashi still snapped to attention before the admiral. “Sir, what fortune have we found to have your presence?”

“Hisashi Isobe I understand it is still drilled into you to treat me with high respects but if you could try to refrain from it that would be greatly appreciated.”

“As you wish, sir.”

“I am greatly humbled to be here, Yamato here in a Japanese slipway was far beyond my childhood dreams when I was inspired to join by her, but much like in her time of glory Japan’s Navy is small; and just like in her time of glory Japan is at war.” Hisashi blinked.

“What, sir? Japan is at war?” The admiral nodded. “With who? China?”

“No, Isobe, Japan is at war with the United African Federation.” Yamato blinked this time.

“Excuse me, but the United African Federation? Who are they?”

“The UAF are similar to United States but instead of democracy as their governing tool the UAF use a dictator-socialist method. Close to fascism but not as extreme. Their dictator Jamul Irogod rose to power by gaining the allegiance of other African countries through promise of prosperity, by economic overtaking, or by forcefully erecting himself, much like Hitler did. At first he promised peace, like Hitler, then he did something else, he used Africa’s vast resources to become a superpower. They hurriedly advanced many sciences, such as finding the antivirus serum for AIDS and HIV, developing a combatant for early stage cancers, and finding new building techniques for more stable buildings during earthquakes-something Japan has benefited from greatly-and they have some of the greatest a scientists from around the world there researching their fields. Their domestic production is immense and is one of the highest in the world. Jamul wanted more, just like Hitler. He started expanding into the Middle East to ‘stabilize’ the turmoil but it was an invasion. I’ve said enough and you get the picture so I’m going to cut to the chase, the UAF has declared war on the ‘corrupt’ UN nations. We are part of the UN.” There was a short silence before Yamato put things together.

“So you want me back in service.” The admiral was hesitant to reply.

“Yes. Now we know you have done so much for Japan already, even giving your life for Japan, but we’re asking again. Will you help us?” Yamato cradled her son in her arms and pressed him against her body, ignoring his death grip on her tendril. She still retained the mentality of fulfilling duty no matter what, and her duty was to serve the Emperor and Japan, but at the same time she has a child to feed and nurture, a child to protect. Hisashi was going to take up the call to arms and Yamato knew and accepted that, but what about her son? She could not form an answer, she panicked a little bit. She brought Hisashi to a private corner and asked him. Hisashi had no immediate family alive but he did have a cousin that he regularly talked to while waiting for Yamato. Hisashi knew he had a wife and a daughter, his cousin-in-law was a nice woman, he trusted them with Daichi. He proposed the thought to Yamato, the admiral caught wind of their situation. “My wife said it’d be an honor to watch your child in the time being, if that helps with anything.” Yamato was still afraid to let go of her only son but she knew that if something did happen Daichi would be in great care with Hisashi’s cousin. She hesitantly accepted the call to arms. “Don’t fear, Yamato. Your line of duty won’t put you on the front often; there will be ample time for you to spend with your son. Besides, we still have to outfit you.”

Yamato relieved herself of worry, she and Hisashi continued to care for Daichi while Hisashi’s cousin and his family came down to spend time with Yamato, Hisashi, and Daichi. The day after they reentered the Japanese Navy Yamato was moved into the slip where she was outfitted with her turrets after being raised and her turrets were removed and the museum pieces exhumed from her. Four triple AA turrets from each side were removed and her smokestack cover was taken out. In place of the eight missing triple AA turrets were eight American ‘Sea Whiz’ guns, radar was easily positioned on her and hooked up to a computer and her main gun batteries, in her smokestack were two ballistic missile systems and the smokestack cover was changed to one that opened up. She was obviously filled with ammunition and powder.

“Where did you find all of these extra rounds?” She asked the admiral in astonishment as truck upon truck stopped and unloaded rounds.

“Since you were resurfaced we have been building up arms for your weaponry. Since you sank, actually, people have been keeping you, say, up to date. There have been numerous conception arts put online of you modernized, as a space ship, and even as an aircraft carrier. You’ve been put into various medias, video games, comics, animations. You’re almost considered a pop culture icon. Now the actual modernization may not be what the media is expecting, no rail guns or laser beams, but you will be once again a deadly and fierce adversary.” Yamato did indeed feel like a deadly foe again. Her gun systems were given computer assistance and her new radar array swept far past the horizon, further than her guns could even reach, and her new missiles were a very potent weapon to unleash upon a worthy enemy. Her defenses? Her AA battery was also given an enhanced fire control system and her Sea Whiz guns that were radar guided made a near impenetrable bubble around her. Hisashi’s family arrived the weekend the modifications were completed. They were tired after the long travel and while they were all very much impressed by Yamato but they really just wanted some sleep. Hisashi very excitedly introduced them to Yamato, Mr. and Mrs. Isobe and their daughter Emiko. Emiko was an energetic preteen and after following Hisashi to her bedroom, right next to her parents’ room all officers’ quarters, she followed Hisashi around and talked to Yamato more.

“You look different from the game.” Emiko said looking up at Yamato’s impressive radar array.

“I did have a lot of modern changes.” Yamato was curious about how she looked in the game. “What do I look like in the game?”

“I’ll show you,” she pulled a small laptop and opened it up. She started it up and used a wireless mouse to open up a game. She logged on and a Japanese cruiser came up on the ocean, she clicked around and a grayscale Yamato appeared. Emiko handed the laptop to Yamato and told her how to orbit the digital version of herself. It was the 1945 variant of her, exactly how she looked when she sank. Yamato held the laptop in front of her face with two hands and moved the mouse with a third “looks like you, but without all the new stuff.”

“Yeah,” Yamato was amazed at how nice it looked, even though it lacked color it looked amazing, “it looks exactly like me.”

“I don’t play battleships. I play cruisers.” Yamato was still entranced by her digital self, a mix of both flattering and astonishment filled her. “Click ‘PORT’ and you can see what ships I have.” Yamato did so and color came back as her digital self disappeared. Up came a Mogami cruiser in full colors with the green stripe camouflage. “My best ship is the Mogami, but I think I also have the American Bogue carrier. Those are my top ships. My other countries are still at tier two.” Yamato was this time affixed on looking all around the Mogami, she was astonished at how real it looked.

“Why don’t you have a battleship?” She asked not at all offended, she realized long long ago she was outdated.

“They’re too slow, I like going fast and running around.”

“You know our Kongo battleships were fast. I think they could do thirty knots.”

“That’s fast,” she thought, “yeah they are fast. Not as fast as my Furutaka but fast.”

“You don’t have any destroyers?”

“Not yet, I want to get the Senjo first, and then I’ll get some destroyers.” There was a silence as Yamato switched to the Bogue carrier. Chills shook through her hull. “Do you want to play?” Yamato had absolutely no computer capability. She had been on a tablet before but a computer? Hell no. But she wanted to so bad.

“Yes! How do I play?”

“Well,” Emiko thought, she didn’t want her laptop to be broken out here. She wanted to move it inside, “can you see inside?”

“I can see on the bridge and I can see in Hisashi’s room.” She found Hisashi in his room. “Hisashi!” She exclaimed, “Make yourself appropriate!” Hisashi was already appropriate and the only time she really commanded him like that was when she wanted some naughty fun, usually she commanded ‘Hisashi! Clean the bed off!’ but nope, not this time. He was confused. He instead made Daichi appropriate and soon enough Yamato opened the door and let Emiko in. “Emiko is showing me how to play a game.”

“Well keep it down, Daichi is asleep.” Emiko sat down at the desk and opened the laptop; she rebooted everything and up came the game. The title screen of a movie clip of a dramatic fight between ships caught his eye. “What game is that?”

“World of Warships. It’s a game about warships from the Second World War.”

“Is Yamato in it?”

“I am! Isn’t it exciting? It’s so amazing how realistic it looks!” She exclaimed sharing her feelings about being in a video game. Hisashi softly chuckled, he knew how much media surrounded Yamato, and still he was curious as to the detail they gave her in this game. Emiko signed in and pulled up Yamato again, she turned and saw Daichi.

“Oh he’s so cute! Can I hold him? Please?”

“Sit on the bed so if you get tired you can put him down.” She hopped off the chair and onto the bed and her face gave away that she was not strong enough to hold Daichi for long. Hisashi meanwhile orbited the digital Yamato and was impressed at its detail and beauty. It did look exactly like when they left for Okinawa all those years ago. He got up and picked Daichi off of Emiko’s numb legs. “Heavy, isn’t he?”

“Very heavy.” She popped back into the chair and clicked around. “Yamato what nation do you want to start with?”

“Japan.” Emiko switched to Co-op mode and selected the Japanese tier I she kept for the destroyer line.

“Okay now give me your hands,” Yamato did so, she was taught the basics and then sent into a Co-op game. Yamato could see through the camera she had in the room the screen and everybody watching her, she felt excited and pressured even though it was a game. As she played Daichi woke up but nobody noticed, it wasn’t because the game drowned out his cry but the game captivated him and so he didn’t cry. The flashes of fire and smoke with the splashes and explosions of shots kept him quiet. Hisashi noticed he was staring at the screen with a wide smile on his face; he’d grin and softly giggle when a ship exploded. Once the game ended, Yamato sank a ship and hit four others; Yamato retracted her arms and exclaimed how much fun she had. “Those enemies were just computer programs, the only real people were your allies. If you play in random battles instead of co-op battles then everyone there is a real person. Random battles are much harder.”

“That was pretty loud, is Daichi still asleep?”

“No,” Yamato was about to go comfort Daichi back to sleep, “he loved the show.” Daichi was pointing at the laptop screen and grunting and whining. “I think he wants another.”

“Oh I could play that game all day.”

“We can make you your own profile, that way you can play yours and I can play mine and we can play together.”

“I’ll still be able to play, right?”

“Yes.”

“As long as I can play it!” She picked up Daichi and talked to him. “Don’t worry my little Daichi, you’ll see it soon enough.” Emiko made Yamato her own email account and from there her own profile. Yamato played for a little longer on her own profile and meanwhile thought how she might take Daichi out and show him the power of real life guns she has. “Hisashi, when do we go out for sea trials?”

“Tuesday. Why do you ask?”

“I think Daichi would love to see my guns fire.” Emiko got excited.

“Can I come!?” She begged but Hisashi declared it was up to her parents.

The days passed and Emiko’s parents didn’t mind Emiko staying while Yamato conducted sea trials, Hisashi’s cousin also stayed but his wife did not stay with Yamato, she stayed with the Admiral’s wife not too far from the base. Yamato sailed out off the coast of Okinawa and ended her trip off the coast of Iwo Jima where she woke her guns from their slumber. Emiko and Daichi were in their fathers’ arms and were watching, watching with excited anticipation as the two forward barbettes clunked to life. They all heard the gears grind, the clank-clank-clank of the turrets move, the hum of the six massive guns elevate to the predetermined position. Hisashi leaned over the rail to check on the stern turret, it was in the same position as the other two. Over the loudspeaker they heard the countdown. Yamato could hardly stand it. As soon as the order was given her first turret let its awesome power go. No matter where you were on that ship you felt those guns, the discharge put a heavy thump in your chest, it knocks the wind from your lungs and makes your ribs question their strength. The gun crews for the AA erupted in cheer as the smoke billowed from the three barrels, everyone watches as the three glowing shots hurtled out maybe ten miles, well within her capability, and suddenly drop to the ocean making huge splashes seen easily with the naked eye. As the columns came crashing back down the second battery was discharged. Again it felt like someone punched you square in the chest and knocked the wind from you. Daichi by now was going crazy, he had the biggest smile on his chubby face and was flailing his arms around, bouncing up and down, and laughing up a storm. This set of salvos traveled out to about the edge of the horizon before they dropped from the sky. Again there was cheer, and soon after the third battery fired. Emiko felt sick to her stomach with the concussive wave and sat down. The third battery fired their shots to the maximum range; it disappeared over the horizon and as it did there was a multitude of cheers from the gun crews. Hisashi convinced Emiko to stand back up and watch the smaller batteries fire. They went through their phases, not nearly as impressive as the main batteries, but they proved effective. Yamato had passed her gun qualification. Her ballistic missile launches weren’t as cool, rather uninteresting, but it was the maneuvers they performed in the sky that dazzled Yamato, Hisashi, Emiko, Daichi, and Tadashi (Emiko’s father). They turned for home and merrily chugged home.

Once they arrived home Mrs. Isobe came back aboard and heard, nonstop, all about the voyage. Emiko didn’t leave any details out, she explained the storm, the fisherman paying their respects as Yamato passed, the whales they saw, the gun qualification, the emergency stop and the hard turn around Yamato did, the shipping freighter that contested its lane (it eventually veered off before Yamato and it hit each other) and tug that almost got sucked under Yamato’s stern trying to push her into the slip. Once that was all settled out it was rather uneventful, they heard plenty from combat in the Atlantic and how the U.S. declared itself in a struggle with the UAF, it wasn’t officially war but it technically was. The majority of combat was in the Middle East and the Mediterranean, occasionally the southern cape, but almost none in the Pacific. Yamato hoped that she wouldn’t be needed but at the same time she didn’t want to be for nothing again. Since she had been recommissioned her museum doors had been closed to the public and they sat around, again. But she wasn’t alone; most of Japan’s Navy was the same way. Japan’s carriers were sent to the Atlantic for some reason, it didn’t make sense to anyone, not Yamato, not Hisashi, not even the Admiral. That was until the UAF sent a task force towards Panama. One cold morning Yamato and an escort of four destroyers were called upon. The admiral smiled once he finished reading the orders. He walked onto the bridge with a huge smirk on his face.

“What’s our mission, sir?” She asked she had just waved off Daichi and the Isobes when he stepped on deck.

“The higher-ups want to disgrace the UAF Navy.”

“How’s that, sir?”

“It was discovered that the UAF are planning to use a small detachment of destroyers and troop transports to seize the Panama Canal. Essentially cutting off the Pacific from the Atlantic. I figured out why we sent our carrier over, we were baiting them to move on Panama while everyone’s carriers were in the Atlantic.” Yamato put it together.

“They set this up for me.”

“Exactly.” They both smiled and when Yamato told Hisashi he smiled. The task force made haste to intercept the UAFN just off of Midway. The UAFN already had a good start on them but storms set them back, and Yamato’s force arrived early, the trap was set and Yamato would finally be the spearhead. The UAFN was only a day late; Yamato picked them up on her radar and felt their presence. There were six targets, all moderate size just a bit bigger than the Japanese destroyers and just as fast. She aligned her guns as the all call rang out, the five Japanese ships all coordinated their attacks and exactly 1150 hours eight missiles launched two from each destroyer. Yamato watched as the destroyer missile hatches flung open as smoke flooded the decks, a long black rod came from each of the open hatches followed by a bright streak and more smoke, as she thought about how much cooler that looked than her missile launches the eight powerful missiles soared toward their targets. Yamato tracked their impressive speed and all of a sudden they vanished off of her radar.

“No hit, no hit, no hit.” Another volley met with the same fate, no hits. Suddenly the six targets turned to twelve and then eighteen as they retaliated. Yamato watched in terror as the twelve missiles zoomed to their positions; she had just gotten them into view when her four Sea Whiz guns moved without her command. They revved to life and like a Zero’s engine they zipped and zipped, all of the Japanese ships zipped and zipped. A wall of lead formed and hit each missile on the button. Yamato wished she had those seventy-something years ago and awaited orders.

“Hold fire, hold fire. We can’t do anything to each other.” The UAFN must have thought the same thing because no more missiles came their way. “Load the guns. High Explosive.” Yamato felt a huge smile creep across her face as the command was echoed throughout the fleet. She felt all the intricate mechanics at work, she felt the breaches lock and she moved her guns to fire right as they came into range. Her destroyer escorts also had their guns ready, she knew that they would be ready, she knew everyone was ready. Hisashi stood with her in what this will be their finest hour. She kept the Admiral informed.

“Targets will be in range in three minutes, sir.” She couldn’t wait, she trained the guns onto the lead ship and waited for the command to fire. She waited for an eternity. “Sir the targets are in range.” She waited for the order.

“Hold fire.” Yamato couldn’t believe it.

“What, sir!?”

“Hold fire. At that range the shot will spread too much. I want a swift victory, so wait until they are in spotting distance before firing.” Yamato scowled. She had all of this capability and it was essentially useless. She tracked each one; she tracked their movements and patterns. After an agonizing time the first destroyer crept over the horizon. “Fire away.” Her guns instantly rang out in a broadside and the whole Japanese fleet felt the guns as the one-and-a-half ton shots soared at two-thousand and six-hundred feet per second. The shots kept their grouping tight and when they dropped from the sky they came crashing down with immense force, enough that the lead destroyer that was hit was almost completely obliterated. The HE shots pierced through the thin armor and their explosive charges ripped the hull apart sending all sorts of things into the sky. As what remains of the destroyer sank the three shots that hit their mark showed just how potent and dangerous Yamato really was. Instantly the five other destroyers took evasive actions, they were going to be tricky to hit. Their maneuvers slowed their approach but it worked. When Yamato’s guns reloaded she fired on the coordinates the computer gave her and the shots hit their marks every time, give or take about five meters but that didn’t matter, the destroyers changed direction before they could get there. Her shots were on point but the destroyers were too evasive. She grew extremely frustrated. She went with her gut on one battery and knocked out a destroyer’s bridge, the other two shots that she fired in spite barely missed the deck gun and the antenna tower. Smoke and fire flowed from the bridge as its controls were lost and it soon drifted into range for the allied destroyers to use their main guns. There were four left and by now they had drawn within the secondary battery’s range and Yamato’s six inch guns were firing as fast as possible and soon the AA five inch guns were firing flak at it to shred anyone outside and the bridge. One destroyer was hit and set afire as it tried to make a torpedo run, the admiral ordered a hard turn as it lined up but Yamato was 78,808 tons, she was nowhere near nimble; she would have to take the blow. No torpedoes came but instead volley upon volley of their main deck guns. Japanese destroyers broke formation and paired up to pick off one destroyer each pair, leaving Yamato with an injured one and a healthy one. The injured one refused to give up a torpedo run and got so close that the AA triple turrets fired rounds at the windows of it. Yamato saw the torpedo tubes moving and felt the urge to fire her main battery. She obeyed her instinct and Hisashi screaming over the gunfire for her to shoot him and all two hit him center mass. The shots were low in the hull and the explosions broke the destroyer in half with it bucking up to the sky. Yamato shifted her attention to the destroyer making a B-line to her flank. Suddenly she felt something along her side where her stern barbette was, she looked and Hisashi confirmed that it was a submarine! She couldn’t believe it, suddenly hatches on the deck opened and out shot grappling cables and hooks that quickly entangled themselves around her railing, the sub became magnetically attached to her and armed men began ascending the ropes. AA gun crews quickly sent messages up the chain and the on board Marine force was scrambled. The marine force was going to be well out numbered she saw. Her guns were reloaded just as the first attacker reached the deck; she dropped those three guns and fired all three into the ocean. The concussive blast knocked them against her hull and off the rope and caused internal bleeding, they either fell and drowned or fell sprawled onto the deck of the sub while they all were bleeding from the ears and screaming with tremendous pain. She felt the same thing on her other side, the Marines were ordered to spread over to the other side but it’d be too late. The exposed men on that side drew their side arms and waited, Yamato refused to let them be out gunned and moved the AA triple turrets to lie in wait for them. The attackers climbed up and over right into a hailstorm of .98 inch gunfire and small handgun rounds. They halted and called in for the destroyer to do something about the guns, the destroyer answered by shooting a six inch round into Yamato’s AA assortment, which killed many men and crippled at least three turrets, another round finished off the other two turrets available. She had been moving her stern turret over to subdue the attackers permanently but it was too late, they had rushed over and were swarming the uninjured AA gunners. The Marines busted trough the hatch frame and instantly started firing at the attackers. They were too close for the destroyer to do anything, so close that melee combat sparked up. Yamato did her best to grab attackers and either chuck them over or snap their necks or both. The attackers used high explosive grenade launchers to set small fires along the AA battery, further insuring they wouldn’t be a problem. Just then Yamato grabbed every Marine she could and dragged them back away from the attackers as her stern turret fired its shots, the crippling ear and internal bleeding affected very few attackers but at least it did something. Two Japanese destroyers came around and fired at the enemy destroyer to drive it away. It defiantly launched three torpedoes at Yamato; she turned hard and hoped for the best. Two would be unavoidable and she braced for the shock. Instead one torpedo slammed into the attached sub assault transport and the other one glanced off of that and further glanced off of Yamato. She was extremely relieved and giddy when the fleeing destroyer fired upon Yamato as much as possible. The other destroyers ceased their pursuit under the admiral’s orders.

“Why, sir?”

“Let them run.” There was a tense pause as he lit his tobacco. “They’ll only die tired.” With that Yamato tracked its movements and fired a full on broadside. The computer assistance paid off and five of the nine shots hit. The destroyer was entirely decimated. The UAFN must have sent out a retreat because once the destroyer slipped beneath the waves the UAF Marines returned to their grappling equipment and quickly slid down back to their boarding submarine still operable. Once no more Marines returned and the Japanese Marines flooded the rail shorting down at them the UAF disconnected and quickly dove deep enough to evade the destroyers.

“Sonar picking up anything?” The Admiral demanded to know. The radio operator reported that none of the destroyers were picking up the sub. He was about to order the Marines to go down and investigate the sub still attached to Yamato when it suddenly exploded into bits and fell from Yamato’s hull. “Damn, they scuttled.” After a report on the mission they received immediate orders to return to Japan. No reason stated.

“Hisashi did you get it all?” Hisashi was hooking up his camera to the computer they bought.

“I tried but there was so much going on I couldn’t catch it all.”

“Cut out any blood, Daichi doesn’t need to see that.” Hisashi started uploading the footage to the computer before he finally relaxed.

“I tried not to record the bloodshed but there’s a few bits where I slipped. He’s going to love the big explosions.” Yamato agreed. “You alright, dear?”

“A few embers, destroyed guns and scorch marks. I’m alright otherwise. No hull breaches.” She was quiet before the headcount call rang out. “We lost a lot of people. Maybe fifty.”

Her guess was close, only one off. Yamato’s crew endured forty-nine casualties: sixteen dead and the rest wounded. The Japanese picked out fifty-three UAF survivors, the immense fire power of Yamato killed the other three-hundred or so that manned the three she killed. The UAF survivors were mostly from the destroyers’ kills, and they ranged from many ethnicities. One thing that still shocked Yamato was the vast amount of racial acceptance, something that the generation of her time never truly thought possible. It boggled and inspired her mind. While the inter species lovers thought that there was a great death toll in their battle what news was waiting back in Japan would change the world forever like nothing before seen.

Fin Yamato II