Chp. 19: Fortress at Sea
October 29, 2049
Tanager II (EKA-01)
The intercom system came on with a sharp, attention-getting tone before the voice of a young sailor echoed throughout the ship.
"Alert, alert, all sailors to your primary stations! All sailors to your primary stations! Enemy air raid inbound! All sailors to your primary stations!"
Captain Pashko Rakic rolled out of his bunk and hurried to his shirt and grey trousers hanging over his desk chair. With a grumble he put them on, forgoing his normal tie in lieu of a clip-on. The last pieces, hat shoes and badge, were on as he walked out the door, quickly returning the salutes of the naval infantrymen guarding his quarters. Soon, he broke into a run and ascended the stairs ahead. Two flights up, he encountered a door and put his badge to it. The man entered the bridge of his supercruiser and returned the salute of his XO, Commander Acin. Around him, a dozen sailors and their supervisors poured over the info coming from computer screens, feeding it into the information boards surrounding the central plotting table. Rakic accepted a protective helmet and vest from his adjutant before they spoke.
"Report, Commander." Rakic said as he took his place near the center windows.
"One of the AEWs from the Invictus reports a large number of enemy aircraft approaching from the south and west. Each on a different vector; 165, 210, 253 and 288. We've designated them Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. They should enter our engagement envelope in seven minutes." The man replied.
"How many M10s remain ready to fire?"
"Last report says 90 of our 96 missiles remain; the frigate Veles finished total rearming an hour ago and all other surface combatants are at near-full or full capacity."
"CIDC reports all defenses ready, Captain! Including the M15 and S-OEPs; the primary laser turret should be ready any second." A sailor yelled from across the space.
Rakic walked to the windows and watched as the hexagonal pyramid on the bow turned to the right. He grabbed a handset nearby and had the communications room connect him to the Commodore aboard the Invictus.
"Sir, this is the Tanager; what air cover is available? We have two large raids approaching...close to 80 contacts coming in multiple waves. Possibly more." He asked, quickly but coolly.
"Additional support is enroute to you from the Khodra and the Invictus, ETA eight minutes. Be advised that we also have aircraft committed to other missions at this time." Labovic replied. The line went silent after that; Rakic turned back to his XO.
"Radul, report to CIDC and stay in contact. I want any friendly aircraft to stay clear of our fields of fire. I'll join you should I be unable to command the ship from here." He said in a low voice.
"Five minutes!" The same sailor from earlier reported.
Acin nodded and hurried off as Rakic contacted the Combat Information and Direction Center in the heart of the ship. The compartment's head answered.
"This is the Captain, do we have any contacts besides those inbound raids?" He asked.
"Kapija reports two subsurface contacts. They engaged and destroyed the frigate Dodola moments ago. The Commodore has given the order for the cruiser Rontas to assist." The man replied, as if reading from a script.
"Any updates on Rontas's status?"
"Her fire control radar remains out of service, hence why the Commodore ordered her to help with rescue operations. Nokken is in position to cover the western approach."
"And our support?"
"The Nokken is in range to support us, but otherwise all surface ships are committed."
"Very well! Target the closest threats and give the order to engage. Inform all friendly aircraft in the vicinity to exercise caution."
"Three minutes!"
Rakic bid the commander good luck and took a seat near the windows, raising his binoculars to survey the ocean around the distance, Nokken launched several missiles at the incoming raid; Rakic activated a screen on the bulkhead before him and watched what his ship's sensors saw. A jet of fire and smoke announced the launch of Tanager's first volley. Nearly a dozen missiles went off into the evening sky.
"Helmsman, change course to 210, then come to 253. All ahead one-third!" He barked over his shoulder.
"All ahead one-third to 210, sir!" The ship's driver replied.
The ship's bow heaved to the right effortlessly as another barrage of missiles lifted off. Fewer in number, this time, and after a considerable pause. Rakic turned back towards his subordinates.
"Why are the missiles taking so long? We need to saturate the enemy!" He demanded.
"Radar is trying to burn through the jamming, sir!" A sailor replied. Several more missiles launched as he turned back around.
Rakic turned and watched as the ship straightened out. He raised his binoculars and spotted the Nokken launching a flurry of M10s at the incoming raiders. He looked down at his screen to track their progress; the first missiles were approaching their targets.
"Two kills confirmed on Group Delta!" A sailor declared victoriously.
"Two confirmed on Group Beta!" Another echoed.
Rakic grimaced as the reports kept coming in. One of the formations was closing with little deviation, while the other was splitting and moving in reaction to the missile shots. The realization hit him immediately.
"Designate Groups Beta and Delta as decoys! Have any available aircraft investigate them and weed out any aircraft mixed in with them." He commanded.
On his screens, the first Sotoan aircraft had entered the fight from the north and were splitting into two groups to engage. Rakic counted 12 aircraft. Hardly enough to overwhelm the Oseans, but he rationalized it as the Tanager II showing her power. More missiles roared from their launch cells, now targeted at what he believed were the real attackers…
"Filter has detected bandits inbound. Heading 357 at 179 Miles, Angels 25. Two groups of six, looks like Fulcrums!"
The report from AWACS drew Jed's attention away from Tanager's missile spamming. Once they were let off the chain by Cyborg, he followed Glue to the left. Annie and Yuki broke off from their station and went inside their squadmates' turn. A dozen targets appeared on radar, paired up just how AWACS had said. Jed switched his radar to track multiple targets at once and chose the closest bandits. Targets painted by his leader showed up with a small mark next to them. MiG-35KD Fulcrums: Sotoa's had the COFFIN (COnnection For Flight INterface) system, Jed remembered. The RWR alerted him that they'd picked up the Oseans but were too far away to shoot. He reckoned they were probably out of radar range, too.
"Skull 1 be advised, additional bandits on radar. Heading 020, 190 Miles at Angels 22. Count four Basilisks." Filter updated.
"Filter, request assistance from Andersen's CAP and the BARCAP." Cyborg replied quickly.
"Copy that Skull Lead, we're working on it."
"Appreciate it, break, all Skull 1 aircraft engage at will. Stay close to the strikers."
"Bronco once your Marlins are off, go loose deuce and block the wingman in the nearest pair." Nathan added.
"Gotcha, Glue!" Jed replied enthusiastically.
Two Fulcrums focused on him as he finally entered detection range, by which point he was getting a lock. The bandits accelerated and split, forcing him to choose to commit to. He decided to stick with Glue, but called out the two they were moving away from. Nathan told him to at least try and scare them off. Jed broke left and up as the MiGs began to ascend. He hit the launch button just as they started to focus on him.
"Skull 207, Fox 3 Fox 3." Glue called.
"Skull 210, Fox 3 Fox 3." Jed echoed.
Two of his AIM-152s dropped away and disappeared into the clouds an instant later. Jed turned towards Glue, leaving his external tanks behind. A few seconds later he turned towards the MiGs again to see they'd split.
"Glue, bandits split but are still trying to inch their way towards us. Skull 1-3, can y'all and Skull 1-4 take 'em?" He radioed.
"Copy Skull 1-6, we're on it." Yuki replied.
Jed turned away, still watching the distance for his missiles. He checked the timer on his HUD and saw they were five seconds from impact. As he looked over his shoulder again, he saw a small twinkle in the distance.
"Skull 1-6, I think you nailed one of those MiGs!" Yuki reported with audible surprise.
"Confirmed; bandit is going down." Annie declared.
"Pipe down, Skull 1-3, and get that other guy." Cyborg cut in.
It briefly occurred to him that he'd scored his fifth kill, and had brought the number up to four generations of Walker men being aces, but it'd been so unceremonious that he didn't get caught up in it. Fear, the drive to avoid being shot down, were far more powerful factors at the moment. Jed looked back one more time as the two MiGs ahead were joined by another pair. On Glue's command, Jed jinked left and weaved. He selected the MiGs as they were coming in full tilt to engage. He launched his remaining two Marlins as they fired a pair of Astras at him. Jed reversed and dumped chaff, then nosed up and hit the throttle. He looked in the direction he'd last seen the MiGs, then for the missiles. He caught them just before their rocket motors burned out, still on a direct course for him. He kept steady a second, then banked hard into the attack and nosed up again. They made a weak attempt to nose up after him, but without propulsion they sailed by and exploded. He waited, but nothing on his aircraft indicated any problems. He selected his AMRAAMs and turned to the nearest threat his RWR could see. He came face to face with one of the Fulcrums.
"Skull 1-5, what's yer status?" He exhaled quickly as he selected his gun and fired a burst at the MiG.
"Engaged offensive with those other two. You got their friends tied down?" Glue replied.
"One of 'em!"
The MiG "responded" with its own gun, and passed by behind and above Jed. He drew in a breath to steady himself and selected his Sidewinders. He banked to the right and tugged the throttle back. The F-24 slowed halfway through the turn, by which time the Fulcrum had already turned into his move. Jed slowed further and swept his nose past the MiG while he was still out of reach. The more nimble MiG went up and into a high yo-yo to negate it. Jed swung back to the left and nosed down, throttling up to regain some speed. He came up after the MiG and leveled out as it did. The two circled a few times before its wingman made its entrance. The second jet dove out of a cloud and fired an Archer at him.
"Glue, Ah'm getting boxed in here. Where are yah?" He asked.
"Engaged neutral, one bandit. Hang on." Glue replied.
Jed addressed the immediate threat by deploying flares and turning right. He rolled into a dive and came back up with his nose pointed towards the MiG. The Fulcrum passed by overhead, descending in a spiral so he could reengage properly. Jed gave the throttles a shove and moved above the Fulcrum. As he got some distance, he pulled into a barrel roll to get upright. He went to the right, looking all around for the other Fulcrum. As he broke left to stay unpredictable, he spotted his initial target above and behind him. Jed pulled tighter while the MiG was still going to the right. He looked for the other MiG, which he knew was someplace below him. He rolled to try and spot the Sotoan fighter and saw a gray mass in a turn. The Fulcrum was nose up and turning when it launched another Archer at him. Jed turned after the MiG as it tried to capitalize on the off-bore shot (ie shoot and scoot). Jed looked back and spotted a second F-24 pursuing the MiG.
"Glue, that y'all?" he asked.
"Copy, keep the other guy off me." Nathan replied.
Jed turned towards the one his lead was pursuing nonetheless, figuring the other Fulcrum might try to drive him off his wingman. He spotted the MiG coming in from above at his five o'clock and pulled back on the stick. The MiG still managed to nose up in time, but now Jed had a bit more energy to play with. He used that to go in the opposite direction and extend away from the MiG. The Sotoan jet reversed as Jed was dumping speed and rolling back into him. He stood the jet on its right wing and held until the MiG was in his forward quarter. Jed tilted the plane in the opposite direction and nosed down as he brushed stall speed. He set his gaze on the enemy aircraft and leveled out, going into afterburner to get some momentum back. The MiG broke right to foil the move; Jed went to the outside and slowed. He slipped behind the MiG and dove for some clouds, hoping to escape for a few seconds and engage in a better position. He looked back and saw the MiG still going away from him.
The world outside went white for a second, then some sky poked through Jed made a gentle turn to the left and slowly brought his nose up. He saw the MiG had reversed and was coming at him. He went head-to-head with the bandit and fired one of his Sidewinders.
"Skull 210, Fox 2." He declared.
He ducked right and craned his neck to get a view of the missile shot as soon as he could. The MiG had dropped flares and gone left, but couldn't pull hard enough in time to avoid the shot. He watched the weapon explode near the MiG's intakes. Part of the "canopy" blew off of the COFFIN-equipped fighter and shot out a small pod. Jed looked away when the parachute opened and kept right until he was coming around and ascended with a steady push of the throttles. He checked his watch as his nose swept in the direction of the Tanager; the Lightnings and Dauntlesses still had two minutes until they were at their launch points. He had enough fuel to last that long if he was smart.
"Glue, what's yer status?" He asked.
"Unengaged, heading towards Skulls 1-3 and 1-4." Nathan replied.
"Copy, Ah'm at yer four. About six, seven miles off."
Jed turned northwest and kept the throttles forward. His radar showed bandits moving slightly parallel to him, probably trying to consolidate or draw the fighters away from the missile-ladened strike aircraft. Either way he called out the contacts to Glue and nudged his plane towards the nearest bandits. He caught a friendly aircraft on his radar as he leveled out again and started setting up an AMRAAM shot. A second friendly shot upwards.
"Skull 204, Fox 2." Yuki reported.
"Curry, Ah'm coming in on the bandits yah just engaged. Heads up!" Jed warned when he put two and two together.
"Copy Bronco!"
Jed pulled away from the MiGs to avoid shrapnel, looking back to see Yuki claim her seventh kill. He turned to take the remaining Fulcrum and caught it making an abrupt dive. He caught a glimpse of another F-24 chasing another MiG-35. Annie's jet, he surmised. Jed pulled back the throttles and rolled in on the MiG trying to get the drop on her.
"Ah'm on my way, Annie." He promised under his breath…
"First wave of missiles inbound on Heading 165! Distance 340 Kilometers...Second wave is coming from 253, 310 Kilometers."
"Be advised, some contacts in groups Beta and Delta are turning away. Possibly additional aircraft using the decoys as cover."
Rakic switched between the radar picture of each group and chose Gamma. He switched to the main picture as he watched the ship's bow once more banking to starboard.
"Prioritize Group Gamma for the next two salvos, then split evenly between Alpha and Gamma. Tell the M15s to start tracking targets and engage at maximum range." He ordered, to which he received a quick "yes sir".
The next salvo of M10s flew from the forward launch cells. Rakic looked at his screen as the dart-shaped missiles accelerated to four times the speed of sound. One of the sailors in CIDC would select a group of targets based on computer recommendation, then fire. He designated what appeared to be an electronic warfare aircraft for part of a salvo. The Nokken turned with its larger counterpart and, on receiving data from the Tanager, fired two of its remaining missiles at the sources of jamming. The course of the incoming missiles slowly became apparent as the surviving ones made it through the defenses. They maneuvered, albeit rather simplistically, sometimes turning the M10's speed against it.
"Third and fourth waves of missiles inbound from multiple vectors, range 300 Kilometers. Remaining enemy strike aircraft appear to be veering off at this time. Invictus has committed all available aircraft to assist with intercepts." A sailor spoke up.
"Focus all efforts on those missiles. Turn on the beam splitters for the S-OEPs. Continue maneuvers and tell the crew to prepare to launch chaff!" Rakic responded.
"But sir, that will-"
"I know, but we need to hit more at a time. Have them engage at max range to make up for the power loss."
"Understood, sir!"
Rakic's gaze started to constantly shift towards the overall number of targets. It went down in sporadic intervals, but the closer the missiles got the more layers of defense they had to go through. At first it'd just been missiles and jamming; now they were reaching the outer engagement envelope of the M15s.
"Launch chaff and turn hard to 015!" He ordered, grabbing hold of something solid.
He looked from side to side as canisters were launched into the air. They burst open several dozen meters from the ship and fluttered towards the waves. The ship's bow dipped as it split a wave. Rakic raised his binoculars and spotted the smaller cruiser mirroring their actions. Its S-OEPs on the starboard ship fired, lighting the water with thin blue beams. He looked at the display screen but saw no indications that any of the enemy missiles were that close. As he looked back up, the top of the ship's mast was blotted out in an explosion. A small one, too small to be an ASM.
"Nokken reports she's lost her primary fire control radar!" One of his staff confirmed seconds later.
"Find out what it was that hit them!" He yelled over his shoulder.
The cruiser came to port, deploying chaff until it was out. Rakic and the Tanager moved to cover them as the first missiles reached the range of their M15s. The "short-range" defense missiles erupted from cylinders just ahead of the superstructure and on either side of the helicopter pad. Tanager slowly began to come to port as its fellow warship kept trying to evade the incoming missiles. Without her KP-17, the ship had to rely on less-prefered methods. Rakic again looked up, this time when two Osean anti-ship missiles had managed to make it all the way to their target. They punched through the ship just above the waterline with little fanfare. A fireball erupted out of the opposite side of the Nokken, throwing chunks of metal into the sea with ease. Jets of the same inferno came out of the impacts.
Rakic looked away as a third missile made it through, forcing himself to look at his command screen and the blue glow of his ship's lasers. The ship launched a final barrage of chaff, then her sailors got to work reloading the launchers. Rakic was drawn to the far side of the bridge, where he raised his binoculars in hopes of seeing the missiles as they closed in. The ship's primary laser turned and fired a particularly powerful blast. Rakic looked in the direction it'd fired but couldn't see any immediate results. He lowered his binoculars and ordered a final turn to starboard as the Osean barrage closed in. He hurried to his console once more and saw they had two missiles almost inside the minimum range of their defenses.
"Bracing positions!" He roared.
The man dropped onto the deck and kept his mouth open as he felt the shockwave of an explosion. He heard the sound of metal hitting glass, and even a single pane shattering. Something bounced off the deck in front of him, and something else scraped his helmet. He felt a third piece of shrapnel land on his back, hard enough to get a grunt out of him. A second shockwave rocked the entire ship from someplace near the stern. He expected secondaries, probably chaostrophic, but that was it. Rakic raised his head, then got to his feet as the others got back to their stations. He rushed to his screen and saw it'd been damaged.
"I want a damage report as soon as possible!" He commanded as he picked up his handset to call CIDC. The man paused and waited a minute while his subordinates gathered the info for him.
"Sir, alarms are going off in the helicopter hangar and damage control has been alerted. Looks like the other missile was hit at the last second by one of our S-OEPs!" A sailor reported with growing cheer.
"How bad is the damage to the hangar?" Rakic snapped.
"Fire suppression systems are on but we've got a serious blaze in that sector, sir!" The man replied as he regained his sense of urgency. Rakic composed himself and made the call to CIDC.
"How many of our M10s remain?" He asked while he waited.
"Latest report indicates we have 4 out of 96 missiles remaining, sir." Another sailor answered. Rakic showed genuine surprise; they still had missiles left?
"Rabul, what's the situation?" He asked.
"Picture shows all missiles either down or no factor, sir. Enemy aircraft are withdrawing and we have eight confirmed kills against them so far." The XO replied with audible relief.
"How many missiles did they fire at us?"
"Close to 60, of which we intercepted 42. The remaining 16 were decoyed, one exploded and caused light damage, and one hit the hangar."
"And the status of those enemy submarines?"
"Metra reports both contacts sunk, sir. One Lenish Resolute-class, and an Osean Oseana-class, sir. We believe that Osean one had been shadowing us for a while."
Fitting payback Rakic thought. The Tanager would not go down so easily this time.
"Very well, keep me informed...Helmsman, bring us closer to the Nokken. Give the order to prepare for rescue operations!"
"Yes sir!"...
Annie descended from her Hellcat II and accepted the congratulatory handshakes from her crew as she removed her helmet. Yuki was already there to join in the well-wishing.
"Oh good, then I don't have to walk over while they're still recovering aircraft." The Lesnish woman remarked, thickening her accent for comedic effect. Yuki cocked a brow.
"Jokes now? Yeesh Tsun-Tsun, what happened?" She observed.
"Oh bugger off, Curry. Unless you want me to go back to full bitch."
"No no, current you is fine."
Annie did have to think twice as they watched Jed's F-24 snatch the Third Wire. She couldn't be too chipper lest people start wondering. Not that she shouldn't try to just be happy as it was. She told herself. She started to go back and forth until she recalled what she and Jed had agreed on. One day at a time. For now she basked in getting kills five and six. She'd made ace, though it wasn't that big of an event to her. Just another point of pride for her, proof that she had escaped her roots. She accepted a can of spray paint and a stencil from her Plane Captain, Clipton, and ascended the boarding steps once more for the obligatory victory photo. There was a round of applause and she was handed a bottle of Coke (in lieu of beer, she was told). Annie shook the hands of her ground crew one more time.
"Thank you all for reminding a high-and-mighty type like myself is forever in debt to this plane's caretakers. Thank you; you're a bloody good team." She said.
The woman took a long chug of the soda, even though Gatorade of water sounded more appealing at the moment. After another quip about how she wished there was some Tizer around, she saw Jed's plane was rolled into place nearby. She knew this was important to him for a variety of reasons. In one of the odd paradoxes, their kind sought some kind of validation from destroying five or more enemy aircraft. A solid testament to their skills. Annie tipped the cap of her drink towards his jet.
"Think we should go ahead and congratulate Bronco. I imagine this is a lot more important to him." She explained.
The two hurried off to Jed's fighter as the canopy came up and Jed lifted his helmet off. He looked weary and sweat soaked like the rest of the CAP, but he easily managed a smile. Cheers grew as he descended from his aircraft and shook hands with Wolfe, then Nathan, Yuki, Annie and finally Cyborg. When given the stencil and paint, he held it up and allowed Wolfe to actually paint the two kill markings. The flyers from that mission also gathered around the nose of the plane for a group shot, each holding up a number of fingers to reflect their kill count. Everyone else was given whatever drinks could be mustered, usually bottles of soda. Jed was handed some Cherry Pepsi, and noted that Annie held up her Coke to toast.
"Congrats, Bronco." She said, unable to really elaborate.
"Thank yah, and the same to y'all Tsun-Tsun. Glad to have yah on the team." He replied as they knocked the bottles together. He looked down at the soda pensively, something the photographer captured, then looked up at the others.
"No fear too great, Daredevils?" He asked. That got a round of applause from those gathered.
With the fear gone, Jed could now acknowledge what'd happened. He felt a lot of things, but he acknowledged it was a product of being human. Avenging the lost, souring Tanager's survival, and taking part in the Osean tradition of shooting down products of Mikoyan. He was a warrior, and to defeat his enemies was his duty. For a fleeting moment, he was the conqueror under a golden crown. At his side was his queen.