The enemy had changed course. They probably wanted their towed sonar array facing the de Danaan head-on to collect more acoustic data. Whatever the reason, it was clear that the enemy had noticed them.
“What’s the DEMON?” Tessa inquired.
“Just got it. Analyzing now...” They were closer now and the opponent was speeding up, so they should have sufficient acoustic data for an ID. The head sonar tech, Dejirani, would have the name of the enemy sub in moments. “Got it,” he reported. “It’s the Asheville.”
SSN-758 Asheville: according to the data they’d received the week before, its captain was Commander Hogan. She’d never met him, but he had a sterling record. He was a father of two, about to be moved to a desk job... But his life—which, thus far, had consisted of a well-loved military career, balancing love for his family with faithful service to his country—was about to suffer a setback.
The de Danaan’s sonar continued to search for other underwater sound sources. As expected, there were three others hiding nearby: four submarines in total. As far as surface ships went... Tessa estimated that there were probably two anti-submarine frigates on the surface, plus two anti-submarine helicopters above.
And it wasn’t just these conventional forces of the US Navy. There were also a few smaller signatures in the water. Likely five of them... Tessa knew these to be Leviathans.
“A fiery welcome, I suppose,” said Mardukas. “How shall we begin?”
“With a bang,” Tessa told him. “Load all tubes with torpedoes. Prioritize Mike-5, Mike-7, then the other underwater craft.”
“Aye, aye, ma’am,” said Mardukas, acknowledging the order. “Load tubes one through six. Target two at Mike-5, two at Mike-7, one each at Sierra-6 and Sierra-8.”
The fire control officer repeated the order, and the boat’s automatic loaders completed their work in twenty seconds. On top of that, Tessa had four anti-ship missiles, two anti-air missiles, and two anti-submarine torpedoes—eight in all—mounted into the central MVLS. In the meantime, she raised the submarine to periscope depth, just below the water’s surface.
She reanalyzed the data. The number of enemies was certain: when combined, the US Navy and Amalgam’s forces totaled thirteen units. One against thirteen...
Just fine, Tessa thought. “I’ll take you all on,” she said, and found a small smile appearing on her face. It was an expression she hadn’t worn in a long time; a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time. Stirrings in her soul, which she hadn’t permitted herself in so long... I’ll show you all who you’re dealing with.
Tessa gave the order. “Flood all tubes.”
“Flooding all tubes, aye.”
“Open all tubes.”
“Opening all tubes, aye.”
Opening fourteen launch tubes while moving at such high speeds would create uncontrollable turbulence and increase their internal vibrations, as well as the noise they generated. Their location and tactics would be clear as day to all the enemies around them.
Indeed, their priority target, the Asheville, picked up speed and began escaping to the southwest. Their other targets also began to move frantically.
Too late, Tessa thought gleefully. “All torpedoes and missiles, fire simultaneously!”
“Aye, aye, ma’am. Fire all!”
All missiles and torpedoes fired from the Tuatha de Danaan. Normally you’d just fire one or two at a time and check for reactions, but Tessa had fired fourteen of them all at once. From the outside, it would have been a grand sight to see.
Six torpedoes, fired out of the bow launch tubes parallel to the water, immediately activated their motors. They sped up to seventy knots before dispersing. The eight missiles launched from the MVLS burst out of the sea into the air, engaged their rocket motors, and flew forward.
“All torpedoes and missiles operating properly. Closing all tube doors and draining now,” the fire control officer reported.
“Good,” said Tessa. “Load mobile mines into odd-numbered tubes and high-speed torpedoes into even-numbered ones.”
“Aye,” said Mardukas. “ADSLMMs in one, three, five. ADCAPs in two, four, six.”
“Maintain course and speed,” Tessa ordered. “Make your depth 250. Five degrees down bubble.”
“Aye, ma’am. Diving to 250. Five degrees down bubble.”
Now, what is the enemy doing? Tessa wondered. She checked the nautical chart displayed on the front screen. Concise numbers printed next to the arcs of the fired weapons displayed their heading and speed, as well as the various enemy units targeted.
The enemy was clearly caught off guard by the maneuver. The US Navy ships began to scatter—this much was expected—but so did the five Leviathans. The opponent they’d expected to run and hide had plowed right into the center of their formation and fired fourteen missiles into the sea and the air at once, after all; they must have wondered if they were mad. The de Danaan had instantaneously scrapped every countermeasure and plan they had prepared. They would have their hands full just dodging and fighting back.
And soon enough... with damage control.
“We have a hit from the Sea Sparrows,” came a report. The two anti-air missiles had hit their targets, the anti-submarine helicopters. These had been equipped with special anti-air warheads that used less powder and generated less shrapnel—the crew called them “slapshots”—so it probably wouldn’t blow them up completely or crash them hard into the sea.
“I hear a slight water impact,” said Dejirani. “Should be one chopper down. The other one seems to be just barely airborne.”
One helicopter down. The other was still flying but would be out of the fight. There might be dead or wounded among the crew, but Tessa couldn’t hold back any further against people trying to kill her... Even if they were her own countrymen.
From the de Danaan’s point of view, the most troublesome enemies were now disabled.
“Harpoons intercepted,” came another report.
The anti-ship missiles, known as AD Harpoons, were approaching the surface vessels, two aimed at each one. These were anti-submarine Frigates, so they didn’t have AEGIS, which should limit their anti-air defenses. Indeed, as hoped, their CIWS machine guns weren’t fully able to stop the incoming anti-ship missiles.
On the screen, the enemy ship symbol overlapped with the missile one.
“Hit,” came yet another. “Turtle One received the final signal. Analyzing hit locations: Mike-8’s is near the tail of the ship, near the waterline. Mike-11’s is also near the tail, near the waterline.”
AD Harpoons were almost entirely different from the classic Harpoon missiles. They detached their tip-mounted radar module upon reaching the final homing stage, then used the optical sensors mounted on the rear to “see” the enemy ship and target the designated location with the desired amount of force. They’d destroyed the area near the tail screw on both surface ships, rendering them dead in the water.
“MAGROC splashdown. Now homing in on Sierra-15 and Sierra-18.”
They’d launched the MAGROCs—which were vertically-fired torpedoes—at two of the five aquatic ASes, but Tessa didn’t anticipate any hits this time. They were too fast. She’d chosen the two in the most threatening positions just to try to limit their offensive capabilities.
As hoped, the two enemy Leviathans abandoned their ideal attack positions and entered evasive maneuvers. That would buy them time before the next attack.
Following the eight missiles, six torpedoes headed for various submarines.
“Asheville launched countermeasure,” Dejirani announced. The Asheville—the original submarine targeting them—had now entered evasive maneuvers and fired a sound-emitting countermeasure to try to hold the de Danaan’s torpedo off. But its efforts proved to be in vain as both torpedoes hit near its tail. These were also weakened warheads; they would either destroy the screw, or open a small hole in the hull—no more than that. But that was all they needed.
The other three subs were further away, so Tessa hadn’t been counting on them all hitting. But they temporarily disabled one and forced another to do an emergency blow. Including the Asheville, that meant three of the four US submarines were out of the fight.
But one still remained. This one hadn’t run away but actually came straight at them, accelerating at a diagonal to their path at an angle just outside of the torpedo’s pursuit range. It had successfully evaded while going on an offensive, streaking in from the de Danaan’s side.
“Impressive,” Mardukas said, appreciative of their skill and spirit.
“Do you have a name yet?” Tessa asked.
“No, almost... I have a match. It’s here. Ahh...” Dejirani said, his voice taking on a strange tone. “It’s them again. The Pasadena!”