The Kaga Saga

Part 10: The Big Race (Tashkent)

"I'm going to race against Tashkent." Kaga said.

Tashkent and Kaga went up to the starting line and readied their engines. Atago was checking what fuel the carrier was using and suggested some race strategies. Le Fantasque, as usual, went to the finish line to see the results of the race. Kamikaze R was playing with I-168, Kaga's pet sub that Enterprise was taking care of. After the race with Shimakaze, nearby ships were taking attention of Kaga's victory. A small crowd gathered to see if this carrier who defeated a destroyer in a race was the real deal. Tashkent noticed this too and took advantage of this to taunt the carrier he was racing.

"Oh my God! It's Tashkent! We love you!" A fan exclaimed.

"And I love you too." He replied back.

"AAAHHHH!! He said he loved me." The spectator fangirled.

He went to sing his own theme song before the race began. His plan was to not make the same mistake that the Japanese destroyer made. He was ready for this and as Shimakaze was to fire the starting shot, Tashkent still looked at her with disappointment.

"Racers, are you ready? Get set... GO!!!"

Shimakaze fired the starting shot and the racers were off. The small crowd that gathered was excited to see this. Kamikaze R cheered Kaga on but Tashkent was already gaining the lead due to his better acceleration. He pulled away and disappeared like Shimakaze did. Kaga used whatever she could to close the distance with the Russian destroyer. He is much faster than Shimakaze for sure but his weakness, as Kaga learned from the info gathered from Kamikaze R, was that he turns like a brick. There are few tight turns in this course though so Tashkent did have the advantage. That wasn't a problem for kaga though. This time she was making use of the Silicon Chip that she got from Leberecht Maas. With it, she was given the information to know which lines to take to gain more ground. She was able to know where the depths and currents were. She even knew when are where the tides would occur to get closer to shallower waters without grounding herself, not to mention a tracking line that would determine the fastest route for her to win the race.

Tashkent looked back and did not see Kaga. This made him glad that he didn't give a headstart like Shimakaze did. It was smooth sailing from here but he wasn't going to let off the gas. "I would slow down a bit but if I do, then that carrier would catch up to me. It's best if I can maintain this consistent speed." Tashkent thought. It was quiet but at least he knew that Kaga was not anywhere close to him. He had this in the bag... Or so he thought.

Meanwhile, the mercenary team consisting of New Jersey, Kitakami and Kirov were watching at a corner that Kaga told them to be at. The carrier explained to them that this spot was the location where she'll make the pass on Tashkent. The corner was tight but the buoys that the racers had to go through were spread far apart. However, this corner is an illusion. The inside portion was very shallow water because it was near the coast, so if anyone was foolish enough to cut inside this spot, they would beach themselves and cost themselves their league. The trick was to take it wide to avoid the grounding. "Do you really think Kaga can get around this corner?" Kirov asked.

"I don't have the slightest clue. Her draft is too deep so she can't just cut on the inside of this corner. Don't you agree Kitakami?" New Jersey stated.

The torpedo cruiser nicknamed the Demon Lord simply gave a silent nod with her guns. "Yeah, I don't understand how she'll do it here either." New Jersey said assuming Kitakami was actually speaking.

"Well let's be patient and find out then." Kirov said.

Over at the finish line, Le fantasque was waiting patiently to see how it would end. She received a report from Shimakaze that Tashkent was still in the lead. The French destroyer was glad that he was holding up but she had a gut feeling that Kaga must be plotting something from behind and surprise him at the most unexpected place. If Tashkent loses, it's up to her to end Kaga's victories. After all, she was the fastest of the three and is more agile than Tashkent.