The Red Sun Rises: Voyages

by The Atlantean


The Battle of Stormwater Cove Part 3

Celestia woke up the next morning to a large explosion rocking the ship. Secondary rumbles followed, along with the emergency diesel engine. We seem to use that thing a lot.

She teleported to the Combat Direction Center, just below the Bridge. Robinson was there to more easily monitor the battle, and so was Amber, directing aircraft via the Strike Controllers. The princess asked what was going on.

“Russian fighters have come through some kind of portal and into this world. While you were sleeping, your magic shield shut down, and they came right on through. We've been fighting them all damn morning.” Robinson replied.

“Any submarines?”

“Not after you picked that one up the other day.” The admiral looked at the screen behind Celestia and saw two red half-circles with the round end downward, meaning submerged contacts. Russian submarines were closing in on the American carrier. Omaha and Scorpion still had dudded torpedoes, as far as the carrier group was concerned, so the two fast attacks sailed swiftly away from the enemy.

But Omaha’s captain had a trick up his sleeve. He turned the submarine around at ahead flank, barreling straight towards the Russians. Then the American fired a torpedo, launched a countermeasure, and yanked hard right. His crew was well trained; they pulled through the turn while keeping at the same depth, preventing the rudder-turned-quasi-stern plane from sending Omaha to Crush Depth.

Omaha’s torpedo continued to cruise on at the Russian submarine farther to the south. Then Omaha suddenly shut it down as a high-pitched sonar pulse hit the torpedo. Since the torpedo was deactivated almost as the pulse hit it, Omaha’s captain hoped it wouldn't affect his weapon. Several tense moments passed by while the American crew watched their submarine’s idea.

It worked. When the Russian submarine was within five hundred yards, Omaha’s captain reactivated it and the entire CDC crew cheered. The torpedo went to full speed and slammed into the Russians before they could send out another pulse. It exploded, sending a plume of water at the surface, and the gamble paid off. The other Russian submarine turned around quickly and vacated the area for fear of a similar attack.

“Someone get that guy a medal!” yelled Robinson. Celestia hadn't seen a happier face in her entire life. It was a mixture of cheer, relief, and gratitude, making the admiral’s true emotion that much harder to discern.

“Attention in CDC,” Amber called out. “We have multiple DF-21 missiles inbound. Request General Quarters.”

The cheering instantly died down. Fourteen Chinese anti-carrier missiles were headed straight for Reagan, presumably launched from China and through an interdimensional hole, allowing China to cripple flight operations again. Without the Aegis Warfare Systems, it was doubtful that Reagan would survive the onslaught.

For an anti-ship missile, the DF-21 was quite large. It was designed to punch a forty-foot hole in the Flight Deck, continue on down, and wreak havoc throughout the carrier. Robinson was lucky those few weeks before, when Reagan had been hit. The resonant frequency had brought Celestia to the carrier as the ship’s midsection lost a lot of material and men. That time, the ammunition magazine was extremely close to overheating and turning Reagan to scrap metal. As it was, the carrier survived, although the same couldn’t be said for her sister ship USS Carl Vinson. Vinson had sunk within hours, hit by five DF-21s.

“Admiral, I recommend using USS Lake Erie’s developmental build. It might just save our bacon like last time if there isn't malware.”

Robinson agreed. “Tell them to use it.” Patching into the internal comms system, he called DC Central. “Put the RO on the line.”

The Reactor Officer came on quickly. “RO.”

“RO, Captain. Skip repair procedures and commence immediate Fast Recovery Start-Up. Override reactor protection and increase shaft turns to one hundred ten percent power. We'll need the power to possibly evade some missiles.”

On the other end, it was complete silence. The same thing happened in CDC. Robinson knew what they were thinking. He wanted to break the most sacred rule in the entire nuclear powered navy. Override reactor protection. But he had the authority. If Reagan needed new cores later, so be it.

Finally, a response came in. “Captain, RO, aye. Skipping repair and powering reactors. Increasing shaft turns to one hundred ten percent.”

Aboard Lake Erie, the Captain received orders to use the developmental build. He seriously doubted it effectiveness against malware, but it wasn't a debate. He had to protect the fleet from fourteen ballistic missiles. He told his Weapons Officer to go ahead, and she started it up.

A tense minute dragged on as Lake Erie’s developmental Aegis Warfare System initiated a warm start, booting up as quickly as possible. Just as the cruiser would be too late to save the carrier, SM-3 missiles launched towards the DF-21s. Many hit their targets, but three missed and dropped into ocean, their fuel spent. The remaining three DF-21s fell down to earth. One missed as Reagan sped out of its path, one was taken out by the carrier's self-defense, and one wasn’t even aimed at Reagan. It streaked towards the battleship USS Pennsylvania instead. It was then that the crews realized the Chinese plan.

“Captain Ross, prepare for impact!” Robinson yelled via line-of-sight comms.

Aboard the battleship, Ross had come to the same conclusion. He ordered everyone to the closest end of the ship. It wasn’t long before the bow and stern became too crowded, and crewmembers spilled out onto the deck. They watched in horror as the DF-21, now clearly visible, fell. Still in the battleship’s Bridge, Captain Ross yelled, “Brace for impact!” and rushed his bridge crew to the bow.

Celestia watched helplessly from Reagan’s CDC as the missile continued on. If there was only some kind of magic shield…

Wait a second, she thought. I can use magic!

Celestia closed her eyes and threw a magic barrier around Pennsylvania. When the DF-21 hit her shield, it cracked its casing with a deafening roar. The princess was knocked to the floor in CDC by the force as the missile’s kinetic energy transferred directly to her, losing her concentration and falling unconscious.

The DF-21 kept going. Its momentum gone, it had fallen slightly to the battleship’s starboard side as it slammed into the shield. Then the shield gave out, and the missile fell into the starboard side of the superstructure. Its warhead detected the steel next to it and set off.

With an earsplitting boom, Pennsylvania lost her Bridge section, her radar equipment, and two dozen unlucky crewmembers. The battleship rocked violently from the blast, threatening to capsize on the relatively untouched port side. But she righted herself, more or less, and began to list to starboard. She was taking on water.

Captain Ross was almost certain that he lost his ship, but wasn’t ready to give up. He ordered his damage control teams to converge on the hole, and everyone else was to abandon ship. He personally stayed behind to go down with the ship, and to help stem the water flowing into the hull.

All around both sides, inflatable lifeboats sprung open. Sailors hurried in as fast as they safely could, and cut the lines, falling into the cold sea below. They rowed away quickly in case the massive ship created a suction force when it sank. Deep in the bowels, cold seawater flowed into the corridors faster than the damage teams could pump it out. This meant they couldn’t get to the affected area and seal the breach. The battleship was doomed.

Celestia woke groggily in Robinson’s arms as he held her close, hoping she hadn’t been killed. Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw him looking down at her worriedly.

“What happened?”

“You must’ve tried to protect Pennsylvania with magic, but the kinetic force of the DF-21 knocked you down. The shield collapsed, and Pennsylvania was hit on her starboard side. She’s currently taking on water.”

“No! We can’t lose her! Pennsylvania means so much to so many ponies. I will not stand by and let the men and women aboard her die!”
“Celestia, you need to relax. Captain Ross ordered the ‘Abandon ship.’ There’s nothing we can do.”

“To hell with that.” The princess cursed as if she wasn’t from a Y6-rated TV show. “Get me to my feet. I can keep her up, but I don’t know for how long.”

She shakily stood and concentrated on the video screen showing the WWII battleship. Slowly, the ship stopped sinking and stayed still. Then, like magic, the waterline inched its way back to the surface as the ship stopped listing to starboard and began to float normally.

The princess shook involuntarily, not sitting down for a second, not taking her eyes off the screen. Amber could see the strain on her friend’s face. Robinson noticed the same situation, and became greatly concerned for the Equestrian. The two glanced at the other, sharing their emotions.

Outside, Americans, Chinese, and Russians alike could not believe their eyes. The sinking dreadnought had reversed and her evacuated crew took the chance to go back and repair the damage before she slipped under the waves for good. It was a miracle. They hurried to the blackened superstructure and reorganized who was on what inflatable lifeboat. Soon, several lifeboats were empty, and some sailors laddered up to the deck, where they climbed over the rail and raced to get ropes of some sort.

The sailors that found ropes hurried back to the damaged deck, tying the ropes to the rail and tossed the ends overboard. Down in the lifeboats, the crew grabbed the falling ropes and tied themselves to them to scale the hull. They shouted when ready, and the ones on the main deck strained to pull on the ropes and tie another knot on the rail when the man being carried was just above the large hole in the battleship’s side. It was tough, but Pennsylvania’s crew was more focused on saving the ship.

Someone found duct tape, and tossed it down to the hanging sailors, who were working with mess hall knives to cut the four emptied inflatable lifeboats. They then used the duct tape to attach the strips of plastic across the gap. Out of the three hanging crewmembers, one was using a welder to melt the twisted metal and reform it into duller edges, helping prevent the plastic strips from being torn and being rendered useless.

In the corridors, the damage control teams pumped the seawater down to wading level, and hurried to assist their shipmates. Captain Ross worked tirelessly to help soften the sharp edges of twisted metal, and cut away hull plating to make room for the orange lifeboat plastic. After four hours of hurried labor and quick thinking, the battleship’s hull breach was sealed. Sections of railing were cut and moved to the plastic cover as support against the pressure of water, and just in time. Celestia had worn herself out enough to simply faint from exhaustion.

During the four hours of insane work speed by Pennsylvania’s crew, the Russian aircraft were severely beaten and shot down. But the cost of this victory was twenty Super Hornets. The cruiser Lake Erie launched more SM-3 missiles to counter the continued DF-21 assaults, and wirelessly transmitted their developmental build to the other ships, which then initiated warm start to assist the cruiser. Anti-aircraft guns roared, knocking out every Russian fighter they could hit. Eventually, a crazy Russian pilot went kamikaze on Reagan and slammed into the catapults. This was followed by more attempts to inflict as much damage as possible, but Russia soon ran out of planes to use. Finally accepting defeat, they retreated back to Stormwater Cove.

Sadly, the Americans took some losses. The guided missile destroyer USS Chafee sank when the Russian kamikaze jets hit her right at the waterline. Celestia couldn’t save the destroyer, as she was busy keeping Pennsylvania from sinking.