Chp. 48: A Carrier's Worst Enemy

December 11, 2049

OFS Icarus (CVN-62)

"...Ah'm hungry. Anyone wanna go to the quick mart with me?"

Jed hadn't even finished storing his flight gear when he made the announcement. The rest of those gathered in the lockers looked at him, and a second later Glue's stomach growled a little.

"Okay I'll join you." He decided.

Deep in Annie's mind, the manifestation of her conscience was squealing like she'd just come upon a husky puppy seeing snow for the first time. For reasons that only made sense to a romantic partner, the way he'd said it was somehow endearing. Maybe she was just so drained after fighting off the Erusean raid that she was a bit loopy. He certainly looked drained with his sweat-soaked flightsuit and the impressions from his oxygen mask still on his face. She doubted she looked any better.

"Quick mart?" She asked, looking at Yuki.

"Convenience store…what, you've never been?" Her roommate replied.

"I've seen maybe a third of this ship."

"Well I'm hungry, Bronco's hungry and Glue is hungry."

Annie caught her drift immediately.

"I guess I'm hungry as well." She commented.

"Ah'm certain Ah sweated off a few pounds during my last engagement." Jed commented, patting up and down his torso.

He led the way from VF-34's ready room and deep into the interior of the carrier. The mood was still tense as the crew waited for the second attack to hit. Those aviators currently aboard were simply waiting for their planes to be readied and for those in charge to give them direction. The Daredevils were currently licking their wounds: two planes lost, and a third very badly damaged. Brick was in sick bay due to hypothermia, and Conman had yet to be found. They passed by ashen-faced sailors, many who'd just survived their first raid. For a fleeting second, Annie felt like they were out of place. That was until one of them smiled at the group, one she recognized as one of her ground crew.

"We'll have the bird up and ready soon, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, Airman." She replied with a polite smile.

She followed the others through a hatch into a surprisingly big space for a carrier. Almost immediately, Jed grabbed a handful of various candy bars and brought them to the counter. She looked through the rows of snack foods, some healthier than others, and eventually came upon a rack of granola bars. Right next to them were several snack cakes, which Yuki was quick to examine.

"No Zebra Cakes this time, Bronco?" She called.

"Hmm?" He replied with part of a Milky Way between his teeth.

Yuki cocked a brow and held up the sweet in question. Annie picked up another one and regarded him with some amusement.

"Zebra Cakes; the things you could probably inhale by the box if they weren't individually wrapped." The former snorted.

"Oh, they have those? Cool; next time, maybe." He observed quickly.

He was more interested in finishing off his candy bar. Annie dared look at the back of the packaging and recoiled. She looked back at Jed, what he'd bought, then the "nutritional value" of the cakes. She leaned towards Yuki but kept her mouth uncovered.

"Where does it all go?" She asked.

"Mah Aunt Irina asks the same thing." He commented between bites.

"So Bronco, indulge me."

"Hmm?"

"When you were describing your longest engagement tonight, you seemed to be talking about the CFA like you were familiar with it."

Jed took another bite before he went on.

"Now this is gonna sound like a ghost story, but that's the third time Ah've encountered that particular Nosferatu. From what Ah can figure, it's with the Erusean 87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. One of the outfits that was assigned to be a tenant at New Rovennti. Ah'm mean, it makes sense that they'd be in the thick of it but three separate encounters like this? Kinda freaky, if yah ask me."

"How were you sure it was the same jet?"

"Same aircraft number, same unit insignia."

Jed shrugged and finished the candy bar .

"We'll know someday. Someday long after the war is over, historians can sort through all the debriefs, news reports, unclassified and declassified stuff, and talk to those of us who were there. Even then, we'd probably see things get re-examined again and again. Maybe Ah'll meet him someday, but for now Ah can say with certainty that Ah blew him outta the sky."...

The commander of the Erusean submarine Veles listened patiently as the Osean submarine passed in front of their hiding spot. His instincts were all screaming that there was a trap waiting for him and his vessel. The Oseans were playing dumb, waiting for him to do something so they could pounce on him. The attack by the Jestra should have made them weary. It seemed too perfect, and maybe he'd gotten so weary of such a chance he'd assumed it was a trap. Two ships out of action meant that the rest of the group had to cover the gaps. It was a simple matter of arithmetic: fewer ships meant more time to move towards contacts.

"Sir."

He looked to his second-in-command.

"The longer we wait, the more chances they have to find us. If we're going to fire, we need to do it soon."

The man meant no disrespect, and hearing someone speak up started to shift his opinion on the matter. He was even considering slipping away. The thought of the repercussions for that swayed his opinion very quickly. Given that their sister ship, Peilos, was supposed to be in position as well. He leaned forward and called to his helmsman.

"Helmsman, make our speed 20 kilometers per hour. Bring us to 001 once we're clear of the terrain."

"Yes sir!" The junior officer replied punctually.

The commander grabbed his headset and quickly rang up the weapons section.

"Munitions." A voice replied.

"Munitions, this is the Conn, is our fire solution the same?"

"Yes sir."

"Prepare to fire all vertical cells on my mark. Ready a secondary salvo with tubes one through four."

"Yes sir."

The commander waited as the ship slowly moved into open water and began to turn north. Passive sensors revealed that the Osean submarine was turning around.

"Enemy sub has opened his tube doors! He's firing!" One of the sailors nearby reported.

"Munitions, fire cells and tubes! Now!" He commanded.

The Osean vessel had fired half a second early and was already breaking away. Veles filled the ocean deep with noise as she returned fire and launched six KR-220s towards the surface. Whatever the fate of their home, the missiles broke from the waves and erupted from their containers at incredible speed. Joseph Griffin was the closest ship on station as the contacts appeared just under 150 miles from the carrier. The earlier raid had burned through a lot of ammo, but Griffin and her surviving companions sent up a sizable barrage of Standards. Any jet in the area with an AMRAAM or a Marlin lobbed it in the same direction, piggybacking off the ships' firing solutions. Pelios took advantage of the confusion to fire her barrage, though she was only able to get off a few more missiles as the second Osean sub in the battlegroup worked with Icarus's Wraiths to seal her fate. It was all down to Veles to get the Osean carrier.

Three missiles survived the hypersonic ride to the clouds and began to fall back towards the water. The Osean warships tracked them and fired again just before the missiles reached wave-level, and those nearest the remaining ASMs' projected flight path readied their close-in defenses. Icarus did the same as the massive ship maneuvered violently back and forth against the threat. A turret on the forward-port side of the carrier turned towards the threat as two RIM-162 Sea Sparrows raced from their launch cells. A few compartments inside the ship, the eager sailors who ran the port-side defenses fine-tuned one of Icarus's chemical lasers to intercept. Or rather, they made sure the computer did; the KR-220s were moving far too fast for any human's reaction time. By now, only two missiles remained. The warhead and forward fins of one began to bend from their intended shape as the laser superheated the entire missile. The warhead simply fell apart before it could fully arm. Still, alarms all across the ship broadcasted the words no sailor ever liked to hear: brace for impact.

The first missile was rendered largely useless a mere second before it reached the carrier. The loss of its control surfaces caused it to wobble and turn end over end until it slammed into the catwalk a hundred or so yards aft of the laser's mount. The missile's remaining fuel, coupled with the sheer momentum, pushed fire through the corridors and compartments beyond. Becky had gone to secure the hatch when the inferno came rushing into VF-34's ready room. It came just before the second missile completed its journey. The KR-220 used raw kinetic force to punch through the carrier's hull. Its 550-pound warhead counted down from three before firing. Personnel had been hugging the deck in the forward bay of the hangar deck when it went off. In a single flash, the space was turned into a chaotic inferno. The shockwave tossed airplanes and heavy equipment around like they were made of paper. Drop tanks hanging from the ceiling in the next bay were wrenched free, falling down with a terrifying metallic crash. Screams, cries, pleas for mercy competed with the wail of sirens and orders over the 1-MC.

Jed and his friends had taken shelter inside a storage room when the order to brace had been given. The worst of it was that the shockwave had sent Jed's face into a bulkhead. Nothing a band-aid and a few impolite words towards the Eruseans couldn't fix. They emerged as sailors were rushing down the corridor towards the hangar deck. Jed looked back as a gangly chief petty officer was charging his way, putting on a breathing apparatus as he closed in.

"Chief, y'all need extra hands?" He called.

Aviators such as himself weren't typically the ones earmarked for damage control, but on a ship fire safety was everyone's duty. Even Annie knew that.

"It's not a question; where do you need us?" She said firmly. Not that the noncom needed to be convinced.

"Follow me! We'll get yah set up with some OBAs."

The four ran after him to a firefighting locker near the hatch to the hangar deck. The chief pulled out an Oxygen Breathing Apparatus and shoved it into Jed's hands as another sailor came to help him get it on. The aviator was feeling impatient, wanting to get into the action and help, but when he did he was glad he was prepared. He could feel the heat even as he came down the stairs. With the OBA's mask on, things seemed twice as claustrophobic, especially as a little fog formed at the bottom of his vision.

"Alright, help the hose crews! Make sure the line stays clear and doesn't get snagged!" The chief yelled, motioning to sailors manning a fire hose.

"Bronco, take Tsun-Tsun and get that one over there. Glue, with me!" Yuki spoke up.

Jed hunched over and followed the hose from its source as water entered it, making sure it didn't get snagged on the tie-down points along the way. As he did, another explosion seemed to rock the bay. This one was far less violent, only enough to get his heart to stop for a second or two. Annie pushed him forwards to the crew at the end of the line, and they each grabbed a section of hose to keep the fire retardant flowing. Their opponent became the flames that had engulfed one of VF-168's Hellcats. Sailors in fireproof suits hustled past the flames, coming out a few seconds later with survivors. Jed kept silent and felt himself turn into a statue as the experts did their job. He only moved when Annie pushed him forward with the rest of the crew. As they pushed the fire back, Jed could hear chanting from the enlisted sailors. He recognized it after a few repetitions and joined them.

"ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWER!"

Annie recoiled at the sudden shout from her boyfriend. Before she could ask about it, he repeated it and the line moved forward again. They'd cut a short path into the fire, allowing more rescue crews to move in and search for people who were trapped. Jed and the others continued to shout their mantra as they inched forward, and the two aviators could feel the initial shock starting to wear off. The closer they got to what seemed like a dragon's gaping maw, the more they realized that the systems in place were working. Like so many things before, countless training and drilling had made this job second-nature to the fire crews.

For Jed and Annie, all they had to do was what the damage control people did. The fire flared up further inside the bay, causing Jed to trip over his part of the shouting. He leaned forward to the nearest firefighter as it happened again.

"The hell is causing the fire to flare up?!" He yelled.

"Don't know, sir! Ain't weapons…probably the fire being fueled by new sources! Stuff melts or something! Stuff gets exposed!" The man replied distractedly.

The answer was as good as any to Jed. He shouted "Row row fight the power" once again and followed the crew forward. He only looked back to make sure Annie was still with him.

"The bloody hell are you shouting about?" She asked.

"Asking what's causing those flare-ups!" He replied.

"No no, what's the rowing about?"

"It's from an old anime!"

Jed stopped to shout the phrase once again, then followed the fire crew towards an F-35 near the bay doors. The crew, under the direction of one of the safety personnel, gave it specific attention. As they drew closer, it became clearer why: someone was sitting in the open cockpit of the aircraft. Jed felt something inside him kick on, but he kept his feet still as a path was quickly cleared to the jet. Better-equipped personnel hurried to the jet with a ladder had the individual down in seconds. Jed threw a fist in the air in triumph. Suddenly, the fire didn't seem so bad. Not that he welcomed it, but the idea that it was a carrier's worst enemy seemed a distant concept. As they rose to move forward again, Jed felt it was harder to get up this time. He grunted and kept himself steady, but he could only take a few steps before he had to stop. Annie was feeling the same symptoms, though not as strongly.

"Take it easy, Bronco! We aren't as well-equipped as they are." She warned.

"Guess inhaling that chocolate bar wasn't the hottest idea." He chuckled.

He laughed at the stupid choice of words and kept a firm grip on the hose as the fire crew held position to battle a particularly stubborn part of the blaze. He could feel the sweat rolling down his face pooling at the bottom of the mask. There he knelt, focused solely on his job, until he started to feel faint. Annie reached out with one hand to keep him steady and looked over her shoulder.

"Chief, get over here!" She barked.

It was hard to hear over all the chaos, but Annie kept yelling until she felt Jed pushing against her hand. She turned her head to see Jed falling back towards her. The sight brought forth several personnel with a stretcher. Annie was forced to move back as they caught Jed and pulled him away. One turned to her and examined her face closely.

"Best get you back too, ma'am. You're looking a bit too warm." He advised.

Annie nodded and followed the sailor as Jed weakly insisted "Ah'm okay" over and over. Luckily for him, there were plenty of others to take over in the fight against the blaze. The Icarus would not join her Lenish sister beneath the waves…

Luukas gripped the sides of his life raft with a tense glare as the waves seemed to pick up in frequency. Through the fading darkness of the early morning, he spotted something break the surface a few dozen meters away. It looked like a giant oval with fins, and a hatch opened on the top bump to reveal a humanoid figure. Once the water settled, the pilot pulled a pencil flare from his survival kit and fired it into the sky. It immediately drew the attention of the figure, who fired a flare in return. Luukas let out a breath he felt like he'd been holding in for hours and sat back in the orange raft. The deep-sea rescue vehicle started forward and turned towards him. As it approached, he held up his hands. The rescue coordinator had reminded him that they would have to treat him as potentially hostile until they saw him with their own eyes. He mumbled his service ID under his breath for practice as the vessel slowed a few more meters away. The sailor atop the conning tower produced a submachine gun as another hatch opened near the tail-end. Stern, Luukas reminded himself.

He kept his hands raised as a pair of frogmen descended into the water with a line. One swam to him while the other kept a second SMG trained on him. The first emerged and hooked one end of the cable to his raft. He guided it in while a third frogman emerged to pull the two in. Luukas said nothing, letting them go through the procedures as he'd been told. They escorted him into the submarine, relieving him of his sidearm and leaving the raft behind. Once they were out of the cold, Luukas decided that now was as good a time as any to identify himself.

"Miemi, rank of Major. Eighty-Seventh Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, service ID 13-01-18." He breathed calmly.

One of the men looked at him and nodded. He lifted his goggles and pulled down his rebreather's mouthpiece, revealing an apologetic smile.

"Apologies, Major; procedure and all." He explained.

"I'm aware. I was instructed to say that to you in order to ensure you knew it was me."

"Well if you're not, then you certainly missed a few good chances to avoid capture, eh?"

Luukas snorted at the comment, then lowered his hands very slowly.

"Thank you, gentlemen. It seems I indeed owe a debt of gratitude to the Erusean Navy now."

The same man accepted one of his extended hands and shook it."

"Senior Boatswain Tomic; your debt is returning to land safely, Major. Our pride comes in our successful rescues. I'm certain you'd like to dry off and rest. Come; it's at least 40 minutes until we reach our mothership."

He was led out of what he assumed was a decompression chamber and into the main cabin of the submarine. Three sailors sat near the front, busy controlling the vessel as she sank beneath the waves. Laying across a cot behind that section, under the care of a medic, was Riku. The enlisted sailor prevented him from getting up, so one of the frogmen sat Luukas down opposite him and pulled out another first-aid bag.

"Are you hurt anywhere, Major?" He asked.

"No, no Boatswain. I think I am fine. A bit damp and chilly, but otherwise fine." Luukas said slowly.

"I feel some sense of deja vu, Major." Riku commented from his cot.

"You have a skill that the Oseans would find very annoying, Riku. The skill of surviving."

"Did we hit the carrier?"

"I don't know, Pine. If we did, then we did. If we didn't, then like that Osean who killed Heinonen we'll come back another day to finish it."

"That was him, wasn't it? It had to be; I felt it."

Luukas just nodded as the Boatswain countied to examine him for injuries. Riku was silent for a minute, then he snarled.

"That bastard probably thinks he's untouchable. I hope we sunk that carrier. If we're lucky, if there is any justice, then he'll die aboard it like a trapped rat."

Luukas simply let out a pensive "hmm" as his eyes became fixed on the bulkhead opposite him.

"Did you get him, Lynx? You or anyone else? He didn't shoot you down, did he? I thought I had him, but maybe it was one of his wingmen. They all have that big skull and crossbones on their planes. It's like they wear ceremonial livery. Ceremonial livery, in the middle of a war!"

"Lieutenant."

Riku quieted at the Major's change in tone. Luukas remained seated after his physical was done. He didn't say anything for a minute as he wrestled with whether or not to tell the younger pilot what had happened. Not that Luukas would pretend that he did shoot down that Osean. The truth would probably come to light when they returned home and were properly debriefed. A desire to avenge Heinonen still stirred inside him, but he had to admit that he felt respect. Had the Osean ever realized who he was? Who was he? Maybe it was a she? It felt almost improper that the Osean should die aboard that ship. He remembered what he'd thought as he floated towards the sea, and decided he would leave it at that.

"Major?"

Riku's voice caused his gaze to fall towards the younger man. The faintest flicker of a smile went across his face.

"As I said: if we didn't, then we will come back another day to finish it."