Chapter I
The Call
"Depth is currently around 108 to 112 meters from the surface. There's trenches and debris all over this place, it's hard to gauge how much deeper the water is and will be getting from here." The Lieutenant reported
"I know. . . I just hope we don't find her in shallower water or closer to other Islands. With the rising sea levels making all of these areas around Iwo significantly harder to search with the maps we already have, I just hope SBB-171 does not lay much further from her fleet than we have searched already." Madame Red sighed
"801, We really should report our findings by now. The sooner we get the rest of the Task Force repaired and refloated, the more likely we are to sneak them out of here and out of harm's way."
"It's not a matter of reporting this anymore. You've seen what they do. -To aircraft, to space shuttles, to submarines. We've witnessed these glowing vessels sink anything that is not themselves. We attacked and sunk one just so that we could make sure we could even hurt them in the first place instead of moving around her and avoiding combat altogether."
"Red-" he was silenced- "Don't 'red' me, Fleet Lieutenant, Recovery vehicles are far from subtle. -and this submarine and my crew are far from being babysitters." she argued back.
"Look, I'm going to the Audio Records room. I'll be in there if you need me." she said to the Lieutenant, "Bridge Crew, at ease" she addressed everyone who were stiff in the bridge.
The woman in black fatigues stood up and walked out of the command room, down a narrow and low-cut hallway. Through a bulkhead she went past before entering a small 1-entrance room. A door which she shut air-tight behind her. She grabbed a yellow envelope with water soluble paper and a cassette record inside which would be forever ruined if it made contact with extreme temperature change.
She perused through her records of hundreds of dozens of audio cassettes and their respective files. Some of them, older than the rest. Another file she picked and then took with her to the back of the room, away from the door to the cassette player. As she laid them down, she withdrew both cassettes. The envelopes were distinctly different, one had sharp creases and a brighter hue compared to the softer, more rounded curve of the package and a more orange than yellow color on the other one.
"September 20th, 2 I.L." She read the date listed on the Envelope and Cassette which were made before there were such requirements to prevent intel from being recoverable from a sunken submarine. "There's still more questions, ones that can only be answered by that Super Dreadnought. . ." she pondered upon the incident, before slipping in the older cassette first.
. . .
The machine rolled and whirled, finally, red put the pair of headphones on.
"This is G-A-N-V SBB-171, the Soryuz, we are currently under attack from unidentifiable attackers, sustaining damage along the portside main belt and superstructure! All nearby fleets, converge and render assistance!"
The thuds and metal clangs against the hull, Bridge crew are barking orders and commands across the ship as the combat rages on. The fight doesn't seem to sound that desperate as the ship rattles under her own cannon fire and the muffled smaller cannon fire aboard her. The bridge is full of voices and activity, even as alarms blare and the General Quarters Alarm blares up and down the hallways.
The Taped ended there
Red eyed the new Cassette, the new piece of this mystery that was captured as she passed this world. Ejecting the old cassette, she relistened to the new one. The machine began to roll and whirl again. The Warship's voice, now more desperate than ever.
. . .
The roar of cannon fire was deafening, one could also hear the wind in the room. The rattling was more intense than the previous recording. There were fewer voices in the bridge too. It haunted the submarine captain as she listened to it the first time. The automated threat detection system was active and very audible too, something done out of necessity due to the simple fact that the Acoustics operator should be the only one who needs to hear the automated voice.
"-pire. Ripple. Port. Vampire. Ripple. Port." The system repeated endlessly as impacts came repetitiously to the ship.
"This is the Soryuz, we're suffering extensive damage, portside underwater compartments breached, sectors flooding! We're losing combat viability rapidly, B-turret has been mangled FUBAR-" the crash and screeching of metal threw all standing bridge crew to their stomachs, many groaned, "Help isn't coming Soryuz! We have to use it!" a crewman shouted across to the battleship, "I know, regular shells are going straight through them, and we're running low on propellant! I just need to hit them with HE, that might do something!" She turned back to the broadcast machine, "This is the Soryuz, Mayday, Mayday, Mayday-" she was thrown from her feet a second time- "The guns won't reload in time." she got on her ship comms and her voice became louder than the firefight, "All hands! We are deploying the weapon, Abandon Ship! Abandon Ship, every man for himself!"
Familiar sounds began to whine and ring before the tape turned into pure white noise. It seemed to intensify in waves, like something was pulsing. Of course soon the tape was cut, after three or six pulses.
She set down the headset gingerly. The contrast unsteadying the woman. "To hear a Destroyer or Frigate go loudly into the howling dark is something I am used to. . . Light Cruisers and above normally never end up in a situation where they may encounter death." she said, ejecting the tape before hauntingly looking at the tape in her hands. She slipped it back into the envelope and stared at the envelope.
"Battleships never go quietly. . . and certainly never did the rest of Soryuz's class." she muttered, "So where might you lie, Soryuz?" she asked. The cannon fire and dwindling bridge crew filled her mind. "Task Force 78 Flagship, lost with all hands. Gone with her, too, is a Prototype whose documents were lost with the warship transporting it. . ." she pondered, "Why would we need such a weapon in the first place? We won that war and the Admiralty forbade the creation of Nuclear Weapons, surely he would've forbidden this project too. . ."
Her thoughts were interrupted and she straightened up, returning to her professional appearance. The Lieutenant opened the hatch door and stepped in, "We heard some creaking and undersea gas leakage nearby, if you heard that." he said
"I didn't, I was too wrapped up into my own head and trying to think up theories of Soryuz's precious cargo. A weapon capable of displacing an entire Union-Class Super Dreadnought and her fourteen escorts." she defended
"Hy-Sonar barely caught the noise, but as you can tell we've adjusted course." He paused, "If this is her-"
"-We'll have problems with recovery efforts. The rest of her fleet is but a simple task. . . but her recovery will be high-risk." she said, "I realize so. . . We might have to be proactive in creating distractions for her. . . or the alternative" she hummed.
The Lieutenant looked at her curiously, "alternative?" he asked, "We use Submarines as recovery vessels. Of course, recovery efforts will be slowed and an expected timeframe jumps from a handful of months to possibly up to twelve years. . ." she said
"Regardless. . . If this wreck is indeed the one we seek. . . we will finally brief command. And the admiralty."
"I know that Lieutenant. Let's return to the bridge." she stood from her chair.
Author's Note:
Happy 9th people! This is Chapter 1 (And Chapter 2 is in the works) of this story. As you can notice, the Warship's name and my username is the same. This is because I have been sitting on this side story and main story for a very long time now that I use my various OCs in my online life. I enjoy mentioning them because I am passionate about them and their stories. Soryuz's story is just that, a side story. The more main story rather follows "I-801 Madame Red" and her various field ops. I hope you can enjoy this story as much as I love it. Have a good week people and have a good day.