Chapter 53: The Caribbean Offensive
The Caribbean Islands. A major defensive node for the Terran Army. It was to the Atlantic what Hawaii was to the Pacific. No major offensives could be conducted in the Americas without the support of the various naval bases and munitions factories based on the islands that littered the Caribbean Sea.
Naturally, Purple Athena knew this, saw how dangerous it could be to her, and sent her forces after it.
For the first time ever, the Machines had naval forces of their own to contest humanity's grip over the oceans.
Less than three hours after the invasion of Osaka began, the Battle of Havana, as some were already calling it despite it yet to even occur, would be a decisive conflict that would determine if the androids could hold their own against the New Machine Empire and repulse them from the sea.
And Admiral Coral didn't like it. She glared at the sonar system monitoring the area around her fleet, impatiently tapping a finger against the console.
It was easy to say that the Resistance Army of the past had had superior naval assets, considering the Machines hadn't had any of their own. Now, though? A lot of military vessels had been mothballed.
And even during the earlier Machine Wars, the androids had only ever bothered to build and maintain three types of ships; carriers, which launched aerial units and other types of aircraft, tankers for transporting supplies to and from different naval stations, and submarines, for reconnaissance.
The New Machine Empire did not have any submarines (not yet at least), but it did have its own types of carriers, and it also had built dozens of destroyers, frigates, and cruisers to deal with the Terran Navy.
The admiral had been forced to scramble to build her own warships in the past few months in order to catch up with the rising forces being made, but she, like YoRHa and the rest of the Terran Officers, hadn't expected Purple Athena to pay attention to the naval side of things, and so only had a couple of gunboats and corvettes to act as escorts for her carriers.
But, Coral was counting on a few things the upstart Neo-Machine leader hadn't foreseen or planned on. Issues which, hopefully, would allow her weaker forces to emerge victorious in the coming battle.
"Admiral! News from the Gulfstream! It reports that it has detected the New Machine Empire's fleet passing by the coastal defenses of Havana. It is still heading straight for us," the commsman informed her, and the admiral nodded.
"Hmm. As expected. Purple Athena is still a novice when it comes to naval battles," Admiral Coral said, not bothering to hide her relief at the fact that her plan had worked.
Ignoring the fact that she, too, was untested when it came to warfare on the waves, the gynoid turned to her crew. "Alright, battle stations, everyone! We've got some ships to sink!"
Purple Athena had the fire power to overwhelm the admiral's fleet, there was no doubt about that, but Coral had been sailing these waters for centuries. She knew every reef, every tide, every current and every hidden danger within the depths. And Purple Athena had been lured into her trap, just as she'd hoped.
At that very moment, a large fleet that'd been built in and dispatched from the Gulf of Mexico was bearing down on Admiral Coral's forces. It consisted of a pair of carriers, eight destroyers, eight frigates, and six corvettes, alongside fifteen transport ships, each carrying hundreds of Neo-Machine soldiers.
On the admiral's side, the 8th Fleet had four carriers, ten gunboats, and four submarines. Admiral Coral herself was commanding the battle from the carrier known as the Port Royal.
It was lopsided, but she was ready for the enemy, and with the Gulfstream's latest update, she could begin the operation.
"Order the submarines to aim for the destroyers! Take them out so they can't use their AA emplacements!" Admiral Coral instructed.
The Empire's destroyers were armed with two anti-aircraft guns, while the frigates had only one. The destroyers however also had several chaff dispersal units which would screw up missile targeting systems, and could shroud the whole enemy fleet to the point the 8th Fleet would need to get visual confirmation to fire upon the enemy instead of relying on their sensors.
The four subs obeyed, and torpedoes surged through the water, each underwater vessel firing off two of them at once.
Two destroyers were sunk out right as the explosives slammed into their hulls and breached them. Another destroyer was badly wounded and began to list in the water while the final destroyer that'd been targeted was saved as a nearby frigate managed to deploy countermeasures at the last minute, blowing up the torpedoes before they could reach it.
"Not bad, but we can do better," Admiral Coral hummed.
"The enemy carrier is slowing down in response to our attack! Enemy fliers detected!" a crew member called out, and the admiral nodded, having expected that.
"Prepare to counter them with our own. Get the aerial unit pilots strapped in and ready to deploy in one mike!" Coral commanded. "Have the subs pull back, then strike at the rest of the destroyers from behind! I want them gone!"
She then looked out towards the distance, the enemy fleet barely visible in the distance if one looked using their eyes. However, several holographic screens were able to project images of the oncoming force, allowing her to see what she was up against before they reached her.
The New Machine Empire's ships were odd, and looked to be what a madman might consider a fusion of Machine and Human aesthetics. The destroyers and frigates looked like steampunk triremes. Gun turrets had been attached to the sides of the hulls as well as on the deck, replacing the oars, and there were no windows or doors. Instead of a mast or sails, there were antenna arrays and satellite dishes, and for the figureheads, a totem of some sort in the shape of Purple Athena stood at the prow, speakers embedded in the statue's mouth spewing insane, religious ramblings.
The corvettes were smaller than either of them, and were much sleeker, resembling sharks. The transport vessels on the other hand were clunky and slow targets, each one capable of carrying three hundred standard humanoid Neo-Machines, and designed to look like oversized World War 2 LCVP landing craft.
As for the Neo-Machine carriers, they were big, bulky thing. Each one was shaped like a triangular wedge of cheese with a giant donut shaped flotation ring attached to the back of it.
And as the admiral observed them through the scanners, the hatches and hangars on donut ring's surface began to open up, and dozens of saucer-shaped hover units shot out, filling the air.
Several dozen more flying units rose from the other ships in the formation, and in less than a minute, close to a thousand of them blanketed the heavens.
In response, the AA guns mounted on the gunboats lit up alongside the ones on the carriers, filling the air with bullets and flak that tore the Neo-Machines from the sky.
"Unleash our aerial fighters!" Coral ordered.
She only had twenty YoRHa flying units at her disposal – five for each of her carriers – but they were veterans and were able to keep up with the AA guns on the ships. But the admiral had a second ace up her sleeves.
"And send in the Hydras!" Coral ordered, grinning viciously.
Despite their grandiose name, the Hydras were little more than remote controlled drones armed with bombs. Each Hydra was two feet long and three wide, was black with purple LED lights, had three rotary blades to provide lift, and could carry a hundred pounds worth of munitions.
Some Hydra drones were equipped with Maso Bullet Projectors like a POD, others were built with Nano-Forge Fabricators that could rapidly 3D print explosives like bombs and missiles. But most carried simple, one-use payloads of between one and four Phobos-pattern micro-nukes, each capable of delivering as much destruction as a conventional missile eight times their size.
The Resistance Army hadn't used drones very often in the past, as the Machine Network could hack them and the Logic Virus was extremely brutal to rudimentary AI systems. However, the Hydras had been designed by YoRHa in the last couple of years to counter their manpower weakness, and were installed with POD grade firewalls.
The Hydra Drones' operating systems were also linked directly to a group of PODs stationed nearby on the carriers, which would be able to counter any hacking attempts from outside sources. The PODs could also control the drones if the androids operating the Hydras were incapacitated for any reason.
YoRHa had churned out tens of thousands of Hydras to act as cannon fodder in the last couple of months. They were meant to fire a few missiles, drop a couple bombs, and maybe act as a shield for more important units. And right now, several hundred were going to strike at the New Machine Empire fleet baring down on the 8th Terran Fleet.
Explosions dotted the sky for several minutes as the YoRHa fliers ripped into the enemy, and a massive pillar of water rose up as one of the corvettes detonated violently following a barrage of missiles.
Not everything was going well for the 8th Fleet, however. Two gunboats had been sunk, and one of their carriers, the Miami, was so badly damaged by enemy rockets and lasers that it would be better to just scrap it than bother trying to repair it.
Yet the battle wasn't over, and there were still tricks to play.
"Order the fleet to begin reversing. Use the Miami as a distraction for the rest of our ships to escape," Admiral Coral ordered, and it was swiftly relayed throughout the 8th Fleet. The gunboats pulled back, escorting the carriers, while the heavily damaged Miami limped behind, trailing smoke and acting as a tantalizing target for the Machines.
"Admiral Coral! The enemy fleet has entered the edge of the kill zone!" someone watching the sensors announced, and a feral grin split the gynoid's face.
"Keep pulling our own ships back! Don't let them get caught up in the trap!" Coral instructed urgently.
"Relaying message!" the commsman confirmed.
The 8th Fleet continued to draw away from the battle, and lured the Neo-Machine ships towards a region of water Admiral Coral had prepped beforehand.
As the Empire's vessels tried to chase after the Resistance fleet, they found that they were moving too fast. Their ships were caught up in a powerful current and unable to account for the sudden increase in speed that came from it.
The particular current the Neo-Machine fleet was sailing on was too strong, and the frigates and destroyers couldn't maneuver as fast as they normally could, leaving them vulnerable.
Unprepared, the Neo-Machine fleet sailed straight into the minefield that Admiral Coral had seeded the area with when she'd heard the Neo-Machine navy was headed towards them. The gamble she'd taken with choosing to lay her mines down here, instead of elsewhere, paid off as the escorts detonated in fiery displays before sinking beneath the waves.
"All enemy destroyers and three frigates down, admiral! Their corvettes are taking heavy fire!" someone shouted jubilantly, and Coral had to resist the urge to whoop and holler with her crew.
"Settle down, folks, there's still a lot of enemy vessels left to deal with," she said, keeping calm outwardly, though inside she was jumping with joy.
"Submarines have fired their last shots. They're dry," a commsman soon informed her as one of the Empire's carriers began to list, explosions rocking its hull.
"Tell them they've done good work, and to pull back to the base at Havana for refueling and rearming," Coral said.
"Acknowledged, admiral. Captain Brine of the Gulf Stream reporting in the affirmative. The subs are away," one of her crew stated.
That was good news, and it just kept coming.
"Second enemy carrier crippled! Enemy fliers down to twenty percent!" a crewmember shouted excitedly.
"Launch the rest of the Hydras!" Coral commanded, and the few dozen that had been kept back in reserve for this exact opportunity were sent out.
The Hydra drones then flew off of the carriers through the air, and as they cut through the clouds, began to unleash their payload upon the enemy ships that remained.
There weren't enough enemy fliers or AA guns to deter them, and as one, the second wave of Hydras unleashed their Phobos mini-nukes directly onto the remaining Neo-Machine warships.
They erupted in clouds of smoke and radioactive vapor, and when the explosions were done, the Neo-Machine forces were wiped out to the last, little more than chunks of burning wreckage floating on the waves that slowly began to sink into the depths.
"Make a note of these coordinates and then send a message to the Environmental Teams that they need to send in Radiation Scrubbers to clean up the nuclear fallout," Coral instructed her commsman, who saluted and began to compile the paperwork for the requisition.
Centuries of researching Maso and studying how to siphon the dangerous particles had taught the androids how to handle and deal with other kinds of energy and radiation, especially nuclear. It only took a couple weeks to remove all traces of nuclear fallout these days.
"Incoming message from Havana-Base," a POD suddenly informed her, projecting a hologram into the air in front of the admiral.
"Good work, Admiral Coral. You completely destroyed the enemy fleet! And you didn't even need us to use Havana's mortars or rail cannons to help out!" an exuberant gynoid in a naval officer's uniform cheered.
"All in a day's work, Captain Palm. Better get the docks ready to receive us, though, we're going to need some major repairs," the admiral said, nodding at the hologram.
"Of course! We've already got your submarines tucked away safely, they're receiving new stocks of torpedoes as we speak. Oh! And there's a surprise for your 8thFleet when you arrive!" Captain Palm, commander of the Havana Naval Base, said to her superior.
"Is that so? Color me excited, then," Coral chuckled. "Alright, see you soon, captain."
She gestured to the POD to hang up, wondering just what it was Palm had received that was making the captain act like that.
Admiral Coral then turned to her crew. "Alright, enough relaxing! We've got to get back to Havana to resupply! I'll bet my grog rations that wasn't the only fleet the Neo-Machines have hidden up their non-existent sleeves! We need to be ready!"
Her crew nodded and quickly got to work, their professionalism kicking in as they coordinated the 8th Fleet back to their base in Cuba.
The island of Cuba was one that hadn't suffered much in the wake of the lose of humanity or the invasion of the aliens. In many cases, it was even more plentiful than before, the jungle growing thick and strong, and the maso mutating several plants and animals in new and unique ways, such as the parrots that were the size of wolves, and a breed of sugarcane that'd crossbred with tobacco plants that could also spontaneously combust if damaged. It was not as bad as what had happened in the Amazon Jungle, but it was still an impressive display of bizarre evolution.
The only settlement on the island that hadn't been consumed by nature was Havana, and that was due to the constant efforts of the androids stationed there who cut away the encroaching flora.
The fortified city was an important naval base for the Caribbean based androids, and its docks were extensive, and more than capable of handling all of the ships in 8th Fleet.
However, as the victorious androids sailed into Havana's port, there were several new vessels Coral didn't recognize.
"What are those?" Admiral Coral asked as she admired a trio of warships in front of her.
Each one was sleek and black, over seven hundred feet long, and had six heavy cannons, three in a row at the front, three in a row behind the forecastle, while ten smaller AA guns lined the sides, with an extra one at the bow and another at the stern. It also had torpedo tubes and missile silos, with plenty of advanced sonar, radar, and radio gear bristling from it.
"Think those might be our new gifts?" one of her crewmembers asked, and another one snorted.
"No bet," she said, and Coral nodded along in silent agreement. Once the Port Royal docked itself, the admiral quickly disembarked. Spotting Captain Palm hurrying over to join, she took the time to get another look at the three new warships.
"Captain Palm, I assume these are what you wanted to show me?" she asked, and her subordinated nodded.
"These are the latest ships to come from YoRHa's naval yards in Barbados, the Argo-class destroyers!" Captain Palm said giddily. "Each can go over thirty-five knots and only needs a crew of a hundred. They're seven-hundred and twenty feet long, carry six Ascalon-class cannons and twelve Griffon AA guns, with two torpedo and eight missile launchers! It should be able to rip apart any dumb ol' Machine that gets too close!"
"Oh my!" Coral heard one of her officers gasp, and she agreed. These would definitely be valuable additions to the 8th Fleet.
"The Machines won't know what hit 'em," the admiral said with a sharp, vicious grin. Things were looking up for the forces of the Terran Army in the Caribbean!
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Author's Note:
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