Chapter Three: Conversing in the Common Language of High Explosive
"War: a massacre of people who don't know each other for the profit of people who know each other but don't massacre each other."
-Paul Valery-
...
It was to be the largest naval offensive in the field of human conflict.
The navies of the world united against one enemy, so many ships in that offensive that it seemed impossible that the operation would fail.
The Abyssals could be killed. They were small, but with the fire power of whole warships, so it was sometimes hard to see them and hit them. Even though bad weather and darkness, with no UAV, satellite or reconnaissance craft, many times only the legendary Mark One Eyeball could find them. And humans had shipfuls of missiles and CIWS and artillery, so the Abyssals could definitely be killed.
The operation dubbed "Unity" called for a simultaneous counter attack on anywhere that was known to have Abyssal presence. Surely with this much of humanity's collective military strength on display they could at least push the Abyssals back, reclaim lost territory, and hopefully take the Abyssal's numbers
down a notch.
The alternative, that even this huge and powerful offensive would not be enough, that humanity couldn't assure victory even with the cooperation of the world's navies, was something no one wanted to consider.
This was meant to be a sign. A sign that humanity was no longer on the defensive, that they could bring the fury and fire power and match the Abyssals.
This victory, would give rise to the hope that more victories were not out of question.
...
The Kirov-class battle-cruiser, RFS Admiral Nakhimov, formally USSRS Kalinin, anchoring the centre of the vast Russian Navy formation along with her sister ships didn't want to admit it, but something good had come out of this war.
Before the war, the Kirov-class of warships were some of the heaviest and most powerful warships in the world. However in the chaos following dissolution of the Soviet Union had them worrying endlessly. Who would employ them? Who would keep them?
The Soviet Union's "successor" now following the democracies that all the Kirov-class had been told to reject as they were raised, kept them. However the Russian Federation lost a great deal of its territories and seemed a shadow of its former self.
The Russian Navy had had to cut back on its running costs, and much knowledge was lost. The skills required to build capital ships seemed to wane, as the Russian Navy preferred smaller and cheaper vessels. Many of the older vessels, were scrapped, or simply left to rust.
Due to their age, the Kirov-class had encountered many technical problems. The eldest sister had suffered a reactor accident and been slated for dismantling. Admiral Lazarev the next eldest had been designated for the same fate, as there was little money to overhaul her, to get her back to modern fighting shape.
It seemed as if the fate of all battle cruisers would go in the same direction as battleships as well. The Kirov sisters would never fire a shot in anger, never fulfil its duty to the Russian people to its fullest.
...
"Heads up."
The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov disturbed her thoughts.
"Something seems to be happening, "said Kirov, lead ship of the Kirov sisters,
"All my crew are going haywire. One of them is speaking on the phone to the President about using nuclear weapons!"
"Targets have been spotted at extreme range." Kuznetsov's complement of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters were hurling themselves off the carrier, "One of them seems to be an Abyssal that is extremely dangerous."
"The 'demons'?" asked Lazarev.
"Da. Affirmative."
"No one knows how dangerous they really are," said Pyotr Velikiy, the youngest sister, "Their combat abilities are unknown because anything that goes into combat with them dies so quick."
"No need to be nervous," Kirov cooed, "not when everyone is cheering us on. No need when there are so many of us."
There were a great deal of ships all around them, but there were also many more ships supporting this operation from afar as well.
"Abyssals are launching fighter and bomber wings!" Kuznetsov declared.
Nakhimov knew that the Russian navy's sole aircraft carrier must be feeling the tension and responsibility.
"Good luck."
"Everyone! Man your battle stations!"
...
Until then everything had gone well.
But the deeper the offensive went, the more and more tension and blame built up between the "cooperating" navies as setbacks, mistakes and rivalries had accumulated. It threatened the withdrawal of the participating navies as they lost confidence and trust with each other.
The 'Demon' though would be the one to end Russia's involvement.
...
The fleet eagerly engaged the Abyssals. With the advantage of range from missiles- a technology that humanity hoped would never be picked up by the Abyssals- the fleet threw their ordnance downrange.
With the reports of mounting casualties on the enemy side, victory seemed assured, for this battle at least.
...
Rear Admiral Chengli's teary gaze wandered listlessly. He idly noted that the port they were in was very busy, the amount of workers had at least trebled the naval bases numbers. Some refugees fleeing the Abyssals augmented their number as well as many native volunteers.
"Admiral?" The tall lady who Xian still didn't know seemed awkward.
"Sorry. You were asking about an Admiral earlier. But I need to be somewhere."
A sad look "Understood. Can I help?"
Xian didn't know who this person was.
"I'm just going to the loading area. Sorry I don't think I got your name?"
"Loading area? Will there be fuel, steel and ammunition there?"
Was she just looking for the loading area? Maybe she just needed to meet with someone?
"Yeah sure. Follow me."
Well there was nothing classified in the loading area to see. Otherwise the truck drivers would all need gag orders.
...
All along the walk to the back of the base, Liaoning, could feel the despondence as people heard the news.
"We lost a whole battle group?"
"It was made up from crews from the North Home and East Fleets."
"That means that's a whole lot of ships we just lost. We're in Dalian, there's nothing between us and the enemy!"
"Whose going to protect us now!"
Liaoning calmed herself. She was with a high-ranking officer. Maybe not her late Admiral, but she was sure that things would work out.
"They were sunk right outside Busan or something..."
"What are the South Koreans doing?"
"I heard on the news two in three of their navy is a fatality."
"The news? I wouldn't be surprised then if really two in three of their countrywas a fatality."
"Calm down. We still have Seoul between us and them."
"I thought that was a ghost town. Ghost city. Same difference."
"Well to be a ghost town you still need to have an intact building."
...
Liaoning tries to tune all the negativity out by listening to another view.
"I reckon those ship girls we've been hearing about will stop them. There's bases in Southern Japan with these ship girls after all."
"Like heck the Japanese would help the CPC. Those things kick major Abyssal
ass. "
"I wonder when we'll get ship girls of our own."
"If we get them. The government ain't getting through to the Japanese."
Liaoning smiled.
...
The international offensive had been deemed to be too large, too powerful to stop.
No had considered what they were to do when the basket they had put all their hopes in, fell.
The enemy stonewalled their advances along every single front they were attacked on.
The coalition of human warships didn't even reach their key objectives, a slew of Abyssal strongholds.
When the crews and officers went down with their planes and ships, there was little to hold the line against the enemy.
…
The unveiling of Kanmusu had a profound impact.
The Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force, emerged as the world's leading superpower.
Now the Russians, the British or the Americans - who had lost almost all their super-carrier fleet at Operation Unity - had even suspected such a thing could happen. That such a thing as Kanmusu were
possible. That Japan would have the newest naval technology.
Even though they may have tried to hold onto their advantage, no technology stays new forever, especially if it was shown to be successful. The major navies of the world had managed to secure deals and traded for what could possibly salvage the war.
After Operation Unity, a disaster that had convinced humanity that even the heaviest fire power, the best efforts could not secure victory.
Their best had not been enough. And now their best could no longer be deployed to their defense any more.
Attack after attack. City after city. Victories cropped up but at too steep a price. Some had even adopted a "scorched earth" policy, using nuclear weapons to deny and destroy the Abyssals.
...
Loss after loss.
An American strike group, one of the survivors of Operation Unity, its super-carrier too far gone for repair, had been bait. Had sailed straight into an armada of Abyssals and used nuclear weapons to end itself and a substantial amount of the enemy.
The doomed defenders of the city Kamchatsky had hunkered down, taking months of bombardment before they finally starved in the siege.
The city of Seoul, had been razed to the ground with almost little warning. Many people fleeing the city were trapped and were massacred as the bombs fell.
...
"Yeah get the forklift while I lower the ramp."
The truck drivers had arrived with a veritable amount of supplies. One of them went to collect the forklift.
Xian chatted with the one opening the back.
Liaoning looked at the resources hungrily. Then suddenly without warning...
...
Squeal, crumple, crunch.
Was that the sound of metal breaking?
"So I was like, 'man my son is going to join the -' what in the-?!" the truck driver stopped speaking.
Well you couldn't blame him. Because it's not every day you get to see a fucking crazy women mothafucking eating a can of oil, metal and all!
Om-nom-nom, slurp, snuffle.
"A-a-a-ah-hhh..." the truck driver uttered.
Xian agreed. So much for truck drivers not having gag orders.
A/N:If you guys have any ideas. Weapons free.
