GWOT VII: Flash Battle Stations
Apr. 1st, 2026 05:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drewkittyGWOT VII Flash Battle Stations
"All hands now hear this. Flash battle stations. Emergency unmoor and head for open water. Set Condition William throughout the ship."
Still on the surface, still at dock, Republic Marines ran to the host nation docking lines and tossed them off the ship.
Chinese Marines watched dockside, as if incuriously, but with special attention to the rifles they carried at port arms.
Their officer was busy on his handset.
The water bubbled at the stern as the California submarine pushed away, brief puffs as the side mounted azipods changed her heading to point for open water.
A brief opening of the sail mounted clamshell hatch as a buzzing quadcopter lifted from within. Then it closed and locked as the Marines went downside. Only a single lookout wearing headphones on the sail, harness clipped to the recessed deck eyehole. If the sub did what it was designed to do and submerged, she was dead, that was all.
But she heard the ship's 1MC through her headphones.
"All hands, this is the Duty Captain speaking. We are now engaged in limited nuclear war with the United States of America. Our primary objective is to protect Chinese cities from nuclear attack."
The quadcopter lifted, far above, until it became a distant speck. Then there was an faint 'POP' - one of the Chinese Marines flinched - and a balloon started inflating above it.
Loiter drone, aerial sensor and retransmitter.
"Once we clear the harbor mouth, we will launch our AWACS drones and balloon and commence radiating. Our priority is ballistic track."
Hands busy with optics, the lookout could not wipe the sweat from her brow. But that meant it was not her duty to die, as the powerful radar in the sail fried her brains and those of anyone within a thousand meters as they moved to open water.
"We anticipate our primary risk of inbounds from first of all, leakers from Trident and Los Angeles class submarines at sea. Second, a ripple fire of silos especially in the Midwest. Third, and least likely many hours from now, long range bombers from mainland America. As we have perfect intelligence on all of these locations, the goal is to shoot down inbounds before they are in a position to become hazards."
The bow of the submarine cleared the breakwater and the lookout heard a HOOT HOOT HOOT in her headphones. So she unclipped from the deck, popped the hatch and scrambled below. Other sailors, instead of securing the hatch, came up to the deck and manhandled the bulky fabric of the large radar balloon as the larger protection drones launched. They took care not to let the underslung dome hit the anti-sound coating of the sail as it lifted clear.
The protection drones were big enough to carry a single pilot - although the seat was empty, filled with a fuel blivet strapped in and controls removed. They also had a cylinder where the torpedo should be, also a fuel pod. The two drones raced away from each other, north and south as the submarine herself continued east and the radar balloon on the tether rose above.
The quadcopter still floated above the harbor, in electronic contact with the submarine and her three sensor drones.
Together they painted a complex electronic picture of the land, sea and air. Space would have to wait just a little while longer.
The sailors finished their work and all went below, slamming the hatch. The submarine submerged very slightly, just enough that the decks were awash.
"Request permission to radiate."
"We are authorized to radiate."
Now they could see the space warfare pieces.
The extremely powerful radar built into the sail, the smaller radar on the tether, and the data links from the two tiny receptors on the protection drones - augmented for the moment by the quadcopter's RF capabilities - had the resolution to peek above the atmosphere.
And it was bad.
Very bad.
###
"Evaluate Hammer system constellation active and starting deorbit commit burns. Targeting profile stabilizing...."
A sigh of momentary relief.
"Target template does not conflict our AO. Extremely high operational tempo from the Snakes. Sky King warnings going out. Nightmare aircraft lifting."
It was the thing that should not be.
In this year of AD, nuclear war was beginning. Again.
"All hands now hear this. Flash battle stations. Emergency unmoor and head for open water. Set Condition William throughout the ship."
Still on the surface, still at dock, Republic Marines ran to the host nation docking lines and tossed them off the ship.
Chinese Marines watched dockside, as if incuriously, but with special attention to the rifles they carried at port arms.
Their officer was busy on his handset.
The water bubbled at the stern as the California submarine pushed away, brief puffs as the side mounted azipods changed her heading to point for open water.
A brief opening of the sail mounted clamshell hatch as a buzzing quadcopter lifted from within. Then it closed and locked as the Marines went downside. Only a single lookout wearing headphones on the sail, harness clipped to the recessed deck eyehole. If the sub did what it was designed to do and submerged, she was dead, that was all.
But she heard the ship's 1MC through her headphones.
"All hands, this is the Duty Captain speaking. We are now engaged in limited nuclear war with the United States of America. Our primary objective is to protect Chinese cities from nuclear attack."
The quadcopter lifted, far above, until it became a distant speck. Then there was an faint 'POP' - one of the Chinese Marines flinched - and a balloon started inflating above it.
Loiter drone, aerial sensor and retransmitter.
"Once we clear the harbor mouth, we will launch our AWACS drones and balloon and commence radiating. Our priority is ballistic track."
Hands busy with optics, the lookout could not wipe the sweat from her brow. But that meant it was not her duty to die, as the powerful radar in the sail fried her brains and those of anyone within a thousand meters as they moved to open water.
"We anticipate our primary risk of inbounds from first of all, leakers from Trident and Los Angeles class submarines at sea. Second, a ripple fire of silos especially in the Midwest. Third, and least likely many hours from now, long range bombers from mainland America. As we have perfect intelligence on all of these locations, the goal is to shoot down inbounds before they are in a position to become hazards."
The bow of the submarine cleared the breakwater and the lookout heard a HOOT HOOT HOOT in her headphones. So she unclipped from the deck, popped the hatch and scrambled below. Other sailors, instead of securing the hatch, came up to the deck and manhandled the bulky fabric of the large radar balloon as the larger protection drones launched. They took care not to let the underslung dome hit the anti-sound coating of the sail as it lifted clear.
The protection drones were big enough to carry a single pilot - although the seat was empty, filled with a fuel blivet strapped in and controls removed. They also had a cylinder where the torpedo should be, also a fuel pod. The two drones raced away from each other, north and south as the submarine herself continued east and the radar balloon on the tether rose above.
The quadcopter still floated above the harbor, in electronic contact with the submarine and her three sensor drones.
Together they painted a complex electronic picture of the land, sea and air. Space would have to wait just a little while longer.
The sailors finished their work and all went below, slamming the hatch. The submarine submerged very slightly, just enough that the decks were awash.
"Request permission to radiate."
"We are authorized to radiate."
Now they could see the space warfare pieces.
The extremely powerful radar built into the sail, the smaller radar on the tether, and the data links from the two tiny receptors on the protection drones - augmented for the moment by the quadcopter's RF capabilities - had the resolution to peek above the atmosphere.
And it was bad.
Very bad.
###
"Evaluate Hammer system constellation active and starting deorbit commit burns. Targeting profile stabilizing...."
A sigh of momentary relief.
"Target template does not conflict our AO. Extremely high operational tempo from the Snakes. Sky King warnings going out. Nightmare aircraft lifting."
It was the thing that should not be.
In this year of AD, nuclear war was beginning. Again.
