Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
A/N: Okay, so, I MAY have missed some things in this one, but if so, let me know in PM and I'll fix it. Life in RL is still rocky for everyone, but we'll all get through this. I had wanted to do a special chapter for Remembrance Day, but as I did it, it felt... wrong, to release it then. It was something that I felt would work in this setting, and would be a form of tribute, but I realized that as I wrote it, it could come off also as insulting those who gave their lives in the past. Ultimately I chose to shelve it for now, and bring it into the story itself at a more fitting time, which is the real reason THIS chapter is so late. My apologies to you all.
Also, so there's no confusion (or at least little of it), here's some need-to-know info for you all:
"Lýkos" Ta-class Battleship
"Helepolis" Ru-class Battleship
"Imítheos" Re-class Aviation Battleship
"Háfur" I-class Destroyer
"Ollumi" Ha-class Destroyer
"Raau" Nu-class light carrier
Taiha-4 chirped at Taiha-1 as its radar spotted the enemy aircraft first, the bat-like fighter's cockpit glowing blue as it prepared its anti-air missiles while shedding velocity until they reached proper combat speeds. It seemed a waste to use missiles on such slow-moving craft as the sensors were registering, but Taiha-1 said that speed was of the essence, and there was no such thing as overkill when there were no friendlies to be caught up in it. With the radar showing only targets, it meant that they'd have free reign…
Overall, morale was rather high amongst the fighters until a situation update was transmitted to them from Leviathan herself, showing that another friendly vessel had fallen while they were en route. This caused the Longswords to growl as one before they focused again on their targeting systems, this time with murderous intent instead of contemptuous scorn. As they dropped to speeds that wouldn't tear their weapons apart in midair upon launch, Taiha-1 picked out one of the enemy bombers that was even now taking off from its carrier and felt a target lock solidify in its gold-glowing gaze. With a screech similar to a banshee, the Longsword let loose the first of many deadly payloads...
Meanwhile, the Abyssal CAP fighters were scrambling to try and intercept the incoming aircraft, their thrusters and prop-fans burning to get them in position. Abyssal aircraft may not have had the best radars, as their targeting capabilities were based more on organic senses than not, but even their more rudimentary ones could still detect when they were being targeted by radar emissions themselves, which made it impossible for the toothed craft to miss that they had been lit up like Christmas trees by the incoming jets.
Sadly, knowing that you've been spotted did nothing to prepare them for the sheer lethal velocities of UNSC anti-air missiles, especially when their targets were still scrambling to clear the decks so that the Nu-classes could switch to launching more fighters. A few of the Abyssal interceptors tried to shoot down the incoming missiles, even managing to hit two of them with lucky shots, but that didn't stop the rest from slashing through the air towards their targets.
One Nu-class had its deck erupt into flames as a missile slammed into a dive-bomber, setting off its payload and tearing off the bow end of the runway and causing the carrier itself to let out a roar of surprise. It was cut-off halfway through when another warhead slammed into an idling bomber on the middle of its deck, shattering the runway entirely and setting off the avgas stores within. Another had its bridge portholes blown out as another bomber was blown out of the sky close by, blinding it while fighters fell around it like burning rain.
The escorting destroyers roared in anger at the sight of their charges being attacked, and as one the shark-like beasts turned their guns skyward, firing flak bursts and high explosive rounds into the air amidst the shadows that swept down from the clouds. Shrapnel slashed through the air currents to ping off of armor plating and reinforced cockpits, while puffs of angry black smoke showed the aftermath of timed fuses that went off too late or too early…
And at ten kilometers away, the Longswords opened up with their own cannons, eight machine-linked 50mm autocannons that spat tungsten wrath, the rounds turning into burning streaks as the air friction made them white hot. They left gouts of steam as they struck the waves, and the one poor destroyer who had been in the crosshairs of two of the Longswords felt them punch through its thin armor and into its inner organs and systems. Two more felt the cannon rounds slash through them, causing one to spasm as they struck something akin to a nervous system, while the other dove beneath the waves to avoid the worst…
Splitting into three flights of four planes each, the Longswords swooped close to the waves to break radar for the moment as the remaining enemy aircraft tried to engage, guns blazing with tracers glowing even in the afternoon light. Abyssals have long hated humanity's military jets and the sheer speed they possessed, but they made up for it in having just as much if not more maneuverability, turning on dimes to try and walk their fire in front of their targets so as to catch them in a net of bullets. Here it didn't work so well, much of the fire missing, while the rest bounced off of the GA-TL1's armored hull.
Taiha-5 banked as it peeled off towards another pair of carriers along with its flight-mates, lining up the targeting reticle in its vision to lock onto the Nu-class as its escort fighters and pair of destroyers threw up a cloud of flak in their way. Chirping to its fellows, the bat-like strike craft switched to guns and started walking its fire across the airspace, mowing down three of the smaller enemy aircraft and taking some of the heat off the others as it and Taiha-6 split off to engage the remainder. 7 and 8 had toggled their surface to air missiles into activation, and unloaded them into the carrier as they sped by, weaving through anti-air fire as the missiles streaked in and caught the Nu in the side like the fist of an angry god, splitting the nightmare ship in two…
Suddenly, Taiha-6 felt something kick it in its side, an airburst from one of the surfacing destroyers catching it just under the wing, causing it to wobble a bit as its engine coughed and fluttered, yet stayed lit. Giving a growling chitter, the Longsword launched another pair of air-to-air missiles into the pack of fighters, scoring another two kills for itself before slicing downwards to try and cut the tail off of the Ha-class that had shot at it. The destroyer managed to jink to the side enough to keep its stern, and even managed to fire back with one of its side-mounted five inch guns, though this time it failed to do anything but force its enemy to break off. Taiha-5 however was more than willing to help out its wingmate, and the pair gained some altitude to come in from both sides to pincer the cycloptic destroyer, who didn't dive in time to avoid having a pair of air-to-surface missiles rammed up its shafts!
Taihas 7 and 8 had continued on to the other carrier, dodging and weaving to avoid the worst of the flak and shellfire as they tried to line up a run. Unfortunately, this carrier had opted to abandon its fighters and replicate the destroyers' own tactic, diving into the depths for safety from its aerial attackers. The missiles released by the pair of fighters slammed into the Nu-class' side-mounted turret and bridge tower, yet despite the plumes of flame and smoke and the bloody oil-slick that bubbled to the surface, it was impossible to confirm whether or not the vessel had truly been killed. They circled around for a moment, seeing if the beast would rise above the waves again, before its vengeful children came howling for their blood, forcing them into another furball...
Akuma's only warning that things had gone pear shaped was when one of her destroyers cried out and started to swerve manically to avoid something, and it was only when said destroyer blew into pieces that she realized the danger. [Torpedoes! Evasive, now!] she called out to her screen-mate, who immediately dove to try and avoid the usual straight-line run of torpedoes while turning to present its bow to the convoy. The Re-class was doing the same when she heard the sound of high-speed screws bearing down on her…
As her head slipped under the waves, her guns having shut the emergency hatches on the barrels to keep from flooding her internals, Akuma could SEE the blunt-nosed shape of the torpedo's warhead as they screamed towards her, and while she was able to escape two of them, the third managed to catch her via proximity, exploding about a dozen yards from her and causing her to heave as the shockwave rippled through her superstructure, though the actual impact of it was thankfully along her belt-line instead of beneath her keel like it would have done if she hadn't acted. The explosion caused her vision to go blurry and her ears to ring, but not so much that she wasn't able to discern the sound of two more torpedoes sailing above her… obviously the follow-up to the one-two knockout punch whoever had launched them had hoped to inflict.
Looking through the murky depths of the sea's surface duct, she tried to determine the source of the torpedoes. The angle wasn't right for it to have come from the convoy, as they were still too far southwest. Even if they'd programmed the weapons to turn while underwater, there would have been some warning… and last she knew, kanmusu mounted torpedoes were still the kind that ran straight, barring some mishap. So why had those come from north west?
Akuma grimaced as she sent a mental broadcast to her remaining Háfur-class escort, causing them to start circling and letting off pings with their sonar. She could still hear secondary explosions from within her other destroyer's body over her own hydrophones, watching bits of it twitch as it sank down to the bottom past the battleship, leaving a curtain of blood and oil that hung in the water like a bad taste. Nothing else seemed to be down here, but that only made the Imítheos' instincts scream out that there was, even if her other senses said otherwise. Motioning her shark-like comrade to follow her, Akuma dove down deeper, heading for the thermal layer that separated the surface duct from the depths proper, and whose alternating currents of hot and cold water caused not only sonar issues, but even visual ones to Abyssals and ship-girls alike.
The Re-class was just dipping through this layer when she heard the launch of yet more torpedoes, and poured on the speed to clear the layer as swiftly as possible. Though she could tell that it was still a distance away, Akuma prepared her counter-measures and let them loose, a pair of creatures similar to metal remoras that slipped from the pockets of her hoodie and wriggled around to orient themselves. The symbiotic creatures were made to home in on the sound of high-speed screws and try to 'eat' them, an act of suicide that nonetheless caused their own payload to go off and set off enemy torpedoes. These ones seemed hungry indeed, as they both bolted towards the first such sound they heard.
In the flash of detonation, Akuma knew two things: First, that they'd only gotten one of the enemy torps heading her way. Second, that their prey was a Virginia class fast-attack sub.
The Abyssal super-ship cursed to herself viciously as she heard the sub's screws powering forward to flank speed. The subs of old were slow, gliding things that relied on straight line torpedo runs to hit an unsuspecting ship. These days though, the humans had added a lot to their bag of tricks. The Virginia class had a habit of sniffing out their own subs if they weren't constantly harassed, and with their mine-laying and sonar-tracking capabilities it made it difficult to get too close without getting blown to hell... even when you could see through the ink-like blackness of the deep as she could. Said mines were more akin to torpedoes themselves, drones that went after anything that sounded Abyssal, or whatever was programmed into their tiny silicon brains. They didn't have great range, but they were an absolute PAIN to deal with!
And then there were the ones that acted as carriers for submarine kanmusu, trading missile space for airlocks and docking space that gave them an offensive punch FAR beyond anything she could do at this range...
Twisting her serpentine body around, the Abyssal battleship sidestepped the second torpedo even as she lined up a shot with her own Cuttlefish torpedoes, launching two of them to try and hunt down the American sub while moving southward to hopefully gain an oblique angle on the undersea boat. Said submarine defended two-fold, launching a decoy out of an aft port that caught the attention of one of the hungry torps, sending it off to explode harmlessly against the noise-making drone. The second was not deterred however, and as Akuma pushed herself up to flank speed again, the Virginia resorted to working its rudders like mad to try and create a 'knuckle' of turbulent water. To an extent, they succeeded, as the cuttlefish hit the knuckle and had its limited sensors confused as to why it hadn't impacted anything, swimming off to the side and trying to reacquire its target…
Akuma knew that engaging by herself was not a wise move here, but thankfully she wasn't yet alone. Her escort Háfur was already launching torpedoes of its own, letting them slide from beneath its leg-like flippers and shoot forwards to hunt. Moving north and west to try and flank the Virginia, the two Abyssals sped to set up another torpedo run so that they could hopefully catch the vessel in a hammer and anvil. As they launched a brace of torpedoes to keep the human ship from running away though, the submarine turned straight on towards Akuma, bearing down on her and accelerating while launching FOUR torpedoes in reply. Cursing again, the snake-like battlecarrier dove downwards while releasing decoys in an attempt to save herself, literally throwing them out of her pockets towards the lethal warheads coming her way.
The good news as the remoras detonated was that they succeeded in stopping the torpedoes that would have otherwise gutted her like a tuna. The bad news is that she didn't have an unlimited supply of them, and didn't know how many the humans were carrying. Sure, they supposedly carried only 25, but that meant nothing when humanity kept adapting… The WORST part, from what Akuma could see, was that most of their own torps hadn't connected, either spoofed by the Virginia's decoys or gotten confused, resulting in one attacking another in a fratricidal detonation. The one that DID get through, however, hadn't been a killshot, only leaving a dent in the dorsal tower that was leaking air in a stream of bubbles.
Her Háfur seemed to take offence to that, and darted in to try and get close for a proper kill. Coming at the enemy sub from its starboard side, it opened its jaws to launch, only to be blinded as the sub launched FLARES of all things underwater, causing it to roar in pain and frustration. Its torpedoes weren't in any better of a shape, and in their pain turned to the nearest high-mass form they could find… Their own destroyer...
[Santou! Stop playing around with those transports and get down here!]
The aforementioned Lýkos-class gritted her teeth as she finished firing another salvo, catching Salt Lake City along her aft end even while shooting down another missile from the remaining steel-hulled destroyer. [We've got a carrier out here with a fighter group that's causing havoc amongst our own up here! If we don't deal with it, the convoy will get away!]
[Forget the convoy! They were only supposed to be a test for us, the sub is a priority target!]
[Sub? What sub?]
[We've got a Virgin Mary down here taking potshots at me! Do YOU want to tell DeepCom that we passed up such a prize for a bunch of empty tankers?]
Santou cursed to herself. Akuma was right, if they let that sub go, it would be a major pain in the ass for anyone going through these waters, and to catch one after it had revealed itself wasn't an everyday occurrence. Reluctantly, the battleship turned her guns away from the convoy and started sheathing them for diving. [Jericho, Zaula, form up around the carriers. If the enemy wants to retreat, let them go. Stay under air cover and keep your eyes peeled for long range missiles.]
[Roger that, babysitting it is,] Jericho replied half-jokingly. [Just nail that Virgin for us, will ya?]
[Consider it done. Stay sharp,] Santou said back, before closing her breeches and preparing to dive...