Mechanica Damnatio (A Mindustry X Arpeggio of Blue Steel Crossover)

Chapter 4: Great Naval Battle of 2039 (Part 3)

Once the control panel was fully on, he began doing diagnostics on the radar that it was supposedly controlled. Of course, they could just go outside and inspect the radar itself. But, since the entirety of the ship's crew is in battle stations, no one on the ship's entire crew could spare themselves to check the radar, knowing that the enemy could appear at any given point in time.

While the radar was being diagnosed, the Captain began thinking of all the possible naval tactics and strategies that 'might' work on the enemy. And that is a BIG 'might'. At least to him, no matter what kind of strategy he would come up with, there is always that voice in the back of his mind that's always telling him that it won't work. With the current situation, he was very inclined to listen to that voice. As the minutes turned into an hour, and with no sign of the enemy, the Captain continued to plan for the eventual battle along with his other officers. 

Dread had loomed over the air like a phantom, afflicting every crewmember of the ship. Some prayed to God for protection or their family's safety while others tried to console their fellow crewmembers. As the tension continued to thicken, the radar suddenly caught multiple contacts.

"Captain! I got multiple contacts at 12 o'clock!" the radarman relayed to Joe.

"Is it the Fog?" the captain asked, his voice having a nervous tone.

"Hold on." the radar crewmember replied. After a few tense moments, he faced Captain Joe once more. "Yes, sir. The signatures match those with the Fleet of Fog. I'm picking up 1 battleship, 5 heavy cruisers, and 5 squadrons of light cruisers, sir."

'Oh God. They're here.' Joe whispered in a scared manner. "What's their distance?"

"40 clicks from our position sir."

"Good." the captain then picked up a nearby radio and held it up to his mouth. "CIC, do we have a lock on these assholes?"

">>>That is an affirm, captain.<<<" someone on the radio replied.

"Prepare for anti-ship combat! Prime VLS cells 1 through 40!" the captain shouted orders as alarms sounded throughout the ship. 

Outside, multiple VLS cells had opened, revealing 40 Tomahawk anti-ship missiles hidden within. However before they could launch them at the enemy, several more warnings sounded at the radar.

"Captain!" the radarman shouted. "Enemy missiles inbound! There's a lot of them, sir!"

"LAUNCH ESSMs NOW! PRIME THE CIWS FOR CLOSE ANTI-AIR COMBAT!"

Recommended Music: Arpeggio of Blue Steel OST - 13: Tempest [Elli Lima]

Multiple launches were seen from the ship as well as the other destroyers and frigates that were nearby it. Flying towards the incoming missiles, the anti-air missiles slammed into their corrosive counterparts, prematurely detonating their warheads. Some were able to pass through though however they were quickly dealt with by the continuous and overlapping fire of the fleet's point-defense systems.

"CIC!" the captain shouted once more into the radio. "Unleash a salvo of Tomahawks onto those motherf*&%kers!"

Fire spewed once again on the deck of the ship as dozens upon dozens of anti-ship missiles from the fleet launched themselves into the air and onto the enemy in response. At the same time, the few submarines that are underneath the fleet had fired a salvo of torpedoes in the same direction. After a few minutes of traveling, they are now rapidly approaching the enemy fleet. In the same manner that the Bulwark Fleet had managed to defend themselves from the multitude of missiles that were launched at them, the Fleet of Fog had fired their anti-air weaponry, ranging from AA missiles to laser-based point defense. All of the anti-ship missiles were sadly destroyed due to the sheer amount of anti-air firepower that the enemy unleashed. The torpedoes meanwhile slammed into the 'Klein Field' of the enemy ships, doing no amount of damage.