Chp. 29: Traffic Stop
March 11, 2024
OFS James Wellington (CVN-34)
"Admiral, the Shannon reports surface contacts Bearing 210, 375 Miles. Five surface-based radars...Prime Time also reports one airborne radar orbiting just off scope. Two more, looks like ASW aircraft. Looks to be a convoy, sir."
Admiral Dodge looked at the threat board as other sailors translated the announcement into drawn form. If the intelligence they had was solid, this was the convoy that his masters were interested in seeing put at the bottom of the ocean. The Oured-class attack sub had been waiting for them to leave port. Ideally, he wanted the convoy out in the middle of the ocean, where it would be harder to reinforce it. Based on what the threat boards showed, the fleet was trying to look unassuming. Another supply run across the sea to Fusamone; this one was special because ELINT tagged it as such.
"Are they clear of the littoral zone?" He asked.
"Standby...yes sir. Prime Time relays that our window should last for about three hours, sir. Less if they get wind of us." The same sailor replied. Well we won't be letting that happen Dodge thought.
"Alright, send the order up to Boss and tell em to get those aircraft up. Tell the Shannon to maintain pursuit, but make sure they keep plenty of distance." The Admiral ordered.
"Aye sir!"
Minutes later the bellow from Boss's voice across the flight deck spurred her subordinates into action. Eric started making sure his harness was secure as Ruiz hurried up the boarding steps to make sure he was good to go. They exchanged thumbs ups before the enlisted sailor hurried down to the deck and cleared away while a Plane Director walked through the startup sequence with him. Eric lowered the canopy and pulled down his HMD visor.
"Shogun 2-3, radio check." He declared.
"Shogun 2-1 reads 2-3 loud and clear. Shogun 2-3, radio check." Eddie responded.
"Shogun 2-3 reads 2-1 loud and clear...Shogun 2-4?"
"Gotcha loud and clear, 2-3." Mark replied, sounding eager to launch on his first mission after Sick Bay set him free.
Eric released the brakes and eased the throttles forward after the first pair in the CAP rolled from the space between bow and island. The Plane Director waved him forward and guided him in the direction of the bow catapults. He turned to the right and rolled past the second fourship in the escort and fell in behind Eddie and Blank. He checked his watch as Eddie's jet was sent roaring down the catapult and into the evening sky. They had a few hours, but in the scope of things that was just barely enough time to catch this convoy. The scutllebutt, especially what they could coax out of Hack, was that this bunch of ships carried the same important cargo that the train Mark had photographed did. His imagination didn't have to go too far to know it wasn't good. He rolled forward into position, thoughts on Misaki and James for a minute as he recalled the town he'd flown CAS over for those Marines. The reality of what he was personally defending had long settled in, but this stuff the higher ups were being vague about made it feel like he was realizing it all over again. He briefly wished Sharky was in one of those F-35s; the man KNEW how to eat ships alive. At least CAG had tapped into his brain to help fine-tune the plan of attack.
The Catapult Officer beckoned Eric to spread his wings before he sent those under him to arm the load of missiles and hook the plane to the catapult. For once Eric's thoughts tempered the rush that came with launches. It was a real tightrope on this one; The convoy could have anything from Finbacks to Black Dragons covering it. Eric psyched himself up again and told his anxious thoughts that whatever it was, he and the other Ronin would kill it. The thrill of cat shots returned at the last minute as the Cat Officer signalled him that the way was clear. Eric rendered his salute, braced and let the shuttle carry his F-21 to the end of the deck. Mark was with him almost instantly as the cycle used simultaneous or near-simultaneous launches when possible.
Almost immediately after launch, the eight Red Ronin jets lined up in an arrowhead spreading over miles and miles. Their immediate concern were the two EA-18Gs who would be running electronic interference against the five escorts. The Growlers would start out in front, then fall back behind the Thunderhawks' defensive screen. Eric was near the front of the arrowhead, with Mark in a three-mile trail. His RWR told him that the sea lanes were going to be busy today. Two diversionary strikes by Shimoji aircraft, further south of the target convoy, were aimed at some particularly big shipments of supplies to the islands. The first hit he got within his reach was down low. Eric squinted at the contact; it was a search radar. Pretty isolated for a ship He thought. After a minute he realized it was airborne.
"Prime Time, Shogun 2-3 has a low and slow contact at 208, 78 Miles from me. Looks like it's airborne." He radioed, smelling something suspicious.
"Roger Shogun, we've got em...doesn't look like a fighter radar." The E-2 replied.
"Saber, take Tex and check it out. Daredevil, maintain course to station, stay heads up for Shoguns 2-3 and 2-4 descending to investigate contact." Eddie added.
Eric pushed his stick forward and dipped below the clouds towards the ocean. Mark pulled into a one-mile trail, positioning himself higher to better cover Eric. At present speed, they would be on top of the contact in a matter of moments. The unseen aircraft started to bank away from the two fighters; it's movements suggested it was a heavy aircraft. Eric mentally tagged it as a patrol aircraft screening for the convoy. He turned around towards Mark and told him to get some altitude to search for an escort. Eric slowed as he drew close to avoid overtaking the aircraft. The shape that formed against the water revealed a high wing and oddly-shaped body. Eric switched to his cannon as the aircraft revealed itself to be propellor driven.
An SH-7A Mallard flying boat sung its tail towards him and as he passed it, he caught glimpses of its tail turret blasting at the sky where he'd once been. A flying boat! He thought. We've gone back to the year 1935! Eric went into a high turn, slowing and trying to make a pass at the SH-7 from its side, away from the tail guns. He turned on his radar in case he needed to get further away or someone came to the SH-7's rescue. The patrol plane turned towards him to try and stay out of reach, scraping Eric's first run. As he craned his neck to move effectively against the patrol plane, Mark got his attention.
"Saber, two bandits at yer five high!"
Eric looked behind him and saw a pair of Firebrands descending, with one aimed directly at him. The two J-10s had caught him with his ass pointed in their direction and his gun selected. One was latched onto him while the other was splitting off to deal with Mark. The lead Firebrand shot a PL-9 at Eric before he could fully turn around and pushed the attack, making a pass at him before slowing and snaking so he'd remain relatively behind the F-21. Eric had broken right and deployed flares, working the throttles to avoid giving the missile something to follow. He ascended, looking back over each shoulder for the Firebrand. It appeared at his eight low, ascending to get another shot at him in case the PL-9 failed. Eric pulled into a partial loop and dove down, grunting angrily as the number of Gs rose and fell. He deployed more flares and slowed to avoid screaming down into the waves. The Verusean missile was outside his turn. Eric broke to the left and deployed flares. The missile banked towards him and missed. Unable to reacquire him due to the sudden break. Eric nosed up again and hit the gas, going in an upwards spiral before the J-10 could have its nose on him. The Firebrand passed beneath and banked back towards the Thunderhawk. The two crossed, neither able to wrest full control of the offensive position.
"Saber, Tex be advised...we're engaging more bandits just west of you guys. Check your fire in that direction and be aware that Durango's gonna go around you from the east." Eddie radioed.
"Three." Eric groaned.
"Four...Four…" Mark added, not sounding much better.
Eric selected his Sidewinders, the Mallard far from an important matter now. The J-10 had extended from their second time making passes at each other to break the deadlock and get another missile shot. Eric leapt at the chance to take the offensive but did so a second too late. The J-10 came at him from his left, this time using its cannon to do the job. Eric rolled to the left and passed under the Firebrand before he slowed and pulled hard to come around and get on the bandit. The J-10 passed in front of him in a tight turn; Eric winged over in the same direction and strained to keep his HMD pointed at the fighter. He felt his head rattling as the two fighters went through a tight, mind-numbing turn at high speed. The J-10 reversed and hit its afterburner, forcing Eric to the outside when he reacted. Almost as soon as he was moving back to the left, the J-10 throttled back suddenly. The move allowed the Verusean jet to fire a short burst from its cannon, but physics meant the position was not sustainable. Eric took his turn extending from the fight and saw (on radar) that at least one of the escorts was turning to engage the incoming air raid.
"Durango, be advised that one of the escorts has peeled off from the group. Prime Time can you get an idea of its type?" Blank called. AWACS responded with a certain amount of testiness.
"Roger Shogun...Durango, target is a Luyang III. Shogun, stay focused on those bandits until Durango can deal with that Luyang."
"Gotcha, Prime Time!" Eddie replied.
The J-10 Eric was dueling with immediately used the entrance of the Luyang-class ship. Eric called his bluff, partly to make sure that any of the F-35s gunning for the destroyer were free of harassment by the fighter. He leapt on the J-10's partial retreat to secure the position of attacker. The RWR didn't like the idea as the ship's radar started painting every target it could find. The tone faltered as the Growlers focused their efforts on the ship, only to fade back in as the two systems tried to outpace one another. At the same time, Eric followed the J-10 as it tried to stay in the general vicinity of the ship while still denying Eric a chance to kill it. Eric was fairly certain that such a scenario was possible, at least not for long. He slowed and turned with the J-10 as it tried to circle and get closer to the Luyang-III. Eric split his attention between the ship and the Firebrand. The tracking circle and TD box seemed to be locked in an endless chase as the two jets squeezed into a tighter and tighter space among other individual engagements. Eric's ears searched for the "Bruiser" calls, his heart feeling a bit lighter each time he heard the call.
Finally, the J-10 simply made a break for it. Eric debated on a response for a second, then followed. He deployed several canisters of chaff and wildly criss-crossed the sky after the J-10 as it speed away as fast it could. The flares as it seemed stuck between getting closer to the destroyer and avoiding Eric putting a Sidewinder up its backside. Finally, the ship launched two missiles Eric's way. He snapped down and left, releasing more chaff as soon as he could flick the switch. His gaze flew back over his right shoulder and he saw the Firebrand had broken away from the engagement. He had to look forward again to make sure he didn't go for a swim and spotted the two HQ-9s racing across the sky towards him. He turned into the attack and dropped lower. The Firebrand dove after him and made a pass with its gun, though the tracers fell short of his right wing. Eric deployed more chaff and swung his nose up towards the J-10. He looked back for the ship-launched missiles drew closer and closer. The Osean let them close in before he snapped to the left, released more chaff, and then went back to the right to keep on the Firebrand. The trick worked long enough to give him breathing room, and long enough for the Luyang to be caught up by bigger threats.
As Eric fell in behind the J-10, going for a long-awaited lock, a wave of AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM) came in low and fast. Their stealth features meant that the destroyer's radar was having to think longer to properly track them. The J-10, unaware of this, turned towards the destroyer again so it might fire more missiles at the unwanted pursuer. No such help came as the convoy and its escorts were now under siege from a barrage they were hard-pressed to fully engage. The message was broadcast clearly to the Firebrand as explosions appeared on the horizon, some from destroyed missiles but others from impacts against the destroyer. By then it was too late to dwell on that matter.
"Shogun 208, Fox 2 Fox 2!" Eric snarled.
The missile separated and Eric broke to the left to avoid being drawn closer to the convoy. The second wave of LRASMs flashed by beneath him. He searched the sky and checked his radar to find more bandits, but there was little in his immediate grasp. He looked down for the Mallard but it had disappeared and its radar was off. He told Mark he was coming to join him on CAP station, but he wanted to make sure that Luyang-III was dead. Mark, at Eddie's behest, went with him. The two jets formed into a pair and closed on the destroyer's last known position, helped by the ugly cloud of smoke that hung over the water. A single pass revealed the ship was ablaze from bow to stern and the crew was abandoning ship. Eric looked down twice, then back up and chewed on his thoughts for a minute or two.
"Prime Time this is Shogun 2-3, be advised that Luyang-III is on fire and sinking...uh, likely that first contact I found is inbound to assist. Recommend we leave it alone." He radioed, not exactly sure how to word his message.
"Say again, Shogun?" Prime Time replied, equally confused.
"That first contact I spotted was an SH-7 Mallard. Recommend we let it rescue the survivors of that destroyer, how copy?"
"Uhm roger, noted…"
Eric felt Mark's eyes on him, and looked over to see his friend giving him a "what the fuck, man?" kind of look. Eric shrugged in reply and looked forward. Mark did nothing to bring it up again as the two jets joined the rest of the CAP in setting up against any jets the Veruseans had scrambled to help. Eric didn't expect to see much more come out to play. The strikers were, for the most part, all heading back towards the carrier. The bulk of the fight now shifted to the missiles attacking the convoy. The primary targets, three cargo ships, had nothing to defend themselves with. As a result, the remaining escorts swung towards the side the attacks were coming from and duly engaged the closest waves of LRASMs.
A lone Verusean merchantman had snuck onto the deck of his ship to watch the battle. He was certain he'd get reamed for his reckless thrill seeking later, but this was only his second time running this route. It would be worth it to see the navy in action against those Imperialist criminals. They would never be able to bleed Verusa dry, he'd firmly declared day after day to his wearier shipmates. He was a young, idealistic man who'd only avoided joining the military to honor his mother's wishes. But he was someone who almost religiously traveled to the capital every year to see the parades commemorating the creation of the country's armed forces. He knew all four ships by name and type. What they were armed with and how advanced they were.
Despite his assumptions, he couldn't see much of what was going on. The ships would launch their missiles in small salvos, then deploy some chaff to screen the transports. Any sign of the attacking Oseans was usually indicated by a distant explosion or plume of water from a missile crashing into the sea. Suddenly, the fierce roar of one of the warships' point-defense systems caused him to throw his palms over his ears. He flinched back and fell onto the deck, unable to fully muffle the sound as the first survivors of the defenses came into sight. He still didn't see any; it was also as if ghosts had swept down upon the small flotilla. Next he knew, one of the frigates to his left was rocked by an explosion, then another. The blastwaves sent him rolling into a container lashed down to the top of the deck. He was shaken and disoriented, but was able to stumble to his feet, only to fall on his ass again.
Through his blurring, unfocused vision he could see billowing fires. What he couldn't see was an LRSAM that had cut between two of the frigates and was on course for the ship he was aboard. The man did catch something moving towards him, but he couldn't even begin to figure out what it was before the missile punched a hole in the side of the ship. In the cargo bay, sealed from the rest of the world, were containers with the components needed to make Sarin-equipped artillery shells. Enough for four to six artillery batteries that were intended to reach units on the main island. The ship took no less than three missiles in the port side, breaching the sealed area and bathing it in flame and shrapnel. The containers were thrown about, with a few breaking open. The ship was too much in chaos to deal with the situation, and the fires sparked the suppression systems. When seperated, the components of Sarin began to break down as they were exposed to water. All they would leave would be small, unnatural elements floating in the water. More importantly than proving them, though, was the fact that at least one shipment of the stuff had been kept from getting to the Shimoji Islands. That wouldn't be the most effective part of stopping it, though; that job fell on Osean citizens on the other side of the world.
