Chapter 10: Fish in the Water
Beneath the waves, the skipper of the Crimea was worried. Very worried. His sub had already been damaged by a few Federation planes a week ago, and he had just been ordered to search a Federation task force four hours ago despite that. He looked at the sonar display. The Federation fleet was still missing. Worse, a loose piece of metal in the bow courtesy of some Federation's Don Escargots was still causing some flow noise. Not much but still... "Bingo," JP said quietly as he tapped his pencil on the sonar display. It showed a thin green line, representing a sound source. It was very weak, but certainly metallic. Definitely a submarine. "Nice job again, Magic!" Major Alfonso replied with a smile. "Keep it down, Sir, remember?" John reminded his skipper. The Skate was in a silent routine, meaning that everything had to be muted, including conversations. She was twenty miles ahead of the rest of the fleet, and creeping very slowly to maximize her sonar performance. At Magic's request, of course. "Yes, yes, I forgot. Damn, I got a little excited. Good suggestion again, John," the Major replied with a pat on the back, "Who do you think she is?" "Probably the Crimea, Sir. The Madras Don Escargot squadron said they picked her up and sank her supposedly with a pair of forward hits, guess they exaggerated her demise," John explained in a very muted tone, "It's got plenty of flow noise thanks to some loose pieces of metal in it's bow though, and I never would have found it without that little piece of luck. But I was right, the Zeeks did put a sub in this area." The Major smiled. Magic wasn't great because he had a sharp ear. Rather, he was good because he thinks like a submariner. He could "read" the minds of enemy sub skippers and guess their most likely locations and reactions. "Alright, how many minutes before the main fleet comes?" the Major asked the XO. "Thirteen minutes, Sir. We have to get her by then." "She's over ten miles away, Sir, suggest we use the Fanfan," John suggested.
"XO, send the Fanfan to the coordinates. Let's get her." "Magic has done it again!" General Marc's aide reported to him as he handed him a report. "Excellent. Get a few anti-sub planes ready to support them just in case. And warn the rest of the fleet."
"Aye-aye, Sir." "See, Sylvie?" Earl said with a grin. "Alright, alright I was wrong but he's still an idiot," Sylvie replied defiantly.
"In either case," Captain Karl interjected, "Get ready. That sub is just twenty five miles away. It'll take us less than fifteen minutes to get within it's weapons range."
The Fanfan wasn't exactly built as an anti-submarine platform, John thought, but it was the closest thing the Federation had to a helicopter, and the helicopter was about the only thing that a submariner would ever admit being afraid of. After all, it was just about the only thing they couldn't shoot back at. He watched as the Skate's navalized Fanfan started to take off. It was a little different from the army one: in place of the six-tube missile launchers was a quartet of torpedoes and a few sonobuoys - generally a disposable microphone buoy that could be used to detect enemy subs - as well as having a larger fuel capacity. Hopefully, the extra fuel wouldn't be needed. "Sir, weak transient bearing 007," the lead sonarman onboard the Crimea reported. The Captain finally smiled lightly for the first time in a week. A transient was a definite metallic sound, and it could only be man-made. It seems he had found the fleet before the enemy found him. Perfect. "Launch the Gogs and send them to the bearing. XO, take her deep and let's make a speed run to close on them."
The XO issued the appropriate commands, and the ship slipped beneath the thermal layer - the boundary between the hot and cold water in th ocean, which was almost impossible to penetrate with sound. Two Gogs on board then clambered out of the sub, heading towrds the direction of the Federation fleet. "Oh ****," John said quietly, "She may have heard us launch the Fanfan, I've lost her beneath the layer." "Damn it, I thought we had that sucker cold," the Major complained, "What's the status on the Fanfan?" "Circling the area now, it's sonobuoys haven't picked the enemy sub up yet," the XO reported. "Crap, tell them to look somewhere else, I don't think this character is trying to evade," JP interjected. "Where do you think it went?" Alfonso asked.
"Working on it." "Sir, I have a fuzzy sonar contact just three miles away," the Crimea's lead sonar man repoted as the sub slowed to a crawl, "It might be a Federation destroyer."
"It's probably just an outside picket, the main fleet has yet to arrive," the Captain declared, "Keep silent until we get more contacts." "OHHH SHOOT!" JP said a little too loudly, "Got him again, now three miles away. We might want to get that Gundam thingy ready too. I am hearing MS reactor sounds..."
"Get Corporal Juan," the Major ordered, "And warn the fleet, they have under ten minutes before reaching weapon's range." "Uhh... Sir, are you sure this mobile suit can really... " "CORPORAL JUAN IGNACIO! Are you related to that dumb*** John Recto?!!?!" the chief engineer asked angrily, "YES!! IT CAN!!" "Yes, Sir..." Juan replied sheepishly. Oh boy, underwater was such an uncommon element for space colonists...
"Chief! Keep it down! Silent routine remember?" Magic reminded over the intercom, "Uh-oh... I think we'd better launch that Gundam, NOW." "That was a definite and very loud sound source! They may have us, Sir!" the lead sonar man reported. "Damn, looks like we can't wait for the main fleet. Alright, let's go get that tin can!" the Captain ordered.
Outside, two Zeon's Gog mobile suits broke out of formation and started to head to the surface, heading right towards the Skate. "Thanks a lot, Chief, thanks a lot..." John muttered as he heard at least two amphibious MS head towards the surface. Wonderful. "Requesting permission to use active sonar." "Do it, Magic!" the Major approved. Active sonar was the type of sonar that produced the distinctive ping heard in many movies. It was more accurate than just listening for the enemy. Realistically though, it was rarely used because it was short ranged and often gave your own position away instead of the enemy. But now the enemy knew where they were anyway, and nothing was going to be gained from hiding. "Alright!" JP said as he depressed a button. The Skate's powerful sonar transducer was soon blasting the ocean with high frequency sound waves. Unlike radar, sound waves were not affected by Minovsky particles. These waves bounced off the hulls of the three Zeon units and returned to the waiting receiver on the Skate. The computer quickly processed the data, and it gave JP the exact position of all three Zeon units. "Got them, firing solution is set!"
The Major nodded. Only one thing left to do, "Tubes one to four, aim for the Crimea, five and six, go for each MS!" "Active sonar! OH ****! Fish in the water! Fish in the water!" the Crimea's lead sonar man screamed.
"Fire tubes two to four at the enemy destroyer, snap shot, set course for bearing 1-8-0! Dive to 200 feet to evade!" the Captain ordered automatically. It was bad that the enemy fired the first shot, but hopefully he could evade its first volley... "Man oh man, we are in BIG trouble!" JP screamed, "Three torpedoes in the water bearing 0-9-0! Speed is fifty knots!" "Turn 90 degrees port! Engines on full, prepare to launch the decoys!" the Major ordered.
"Fanfan!" John called, "Get ahead of that sub and get ready to nail her!" The decision was automatic. The torps going after the Crimea looked as if they were going to miss. It was because the Skate was evading and had to cut the control wires guiding the torpedoes. Each torpedo had its own independent guidance system, of course, but it was just too easily fooled given the Crimea's evasive maneuvers. Curiously though, the enemy underwater MS seemed to be a little slow in their attempt to evade, and maybe if he was lucky... "What the hell is happening out there?" General Marc asked as his crew tried desperately to get information. "Sir, torpedoes are all over the place! I can't make them out very well... Oh crap! I hear an explosion! "
"Is it the Skate?" Marc asked worriedly.
"WHOA!" John remarked as the torpedoes exploded behind the Skate, going after the decoys, "Man this is getting serious! Alright! I have lock-on MS Contact 2... IMPACT!" "Captain! Gog 1 has been hit by a torpedo. No signal from the suit..." "Where are the torpedoes chasing us?" "Behind us, I think we managed to break their lock-on."
"Turn around and prepare to fire on that tin can," the Captain ordered, his voice low with rage... "Kill confirmed!" John reported, "Fanfan is in perfect position, Sir!" "Alright, John, tell'm to do it!" the Major ordered.
"Alright! Fire all four torps! Kill that *******!" "What the hell?!?!?! Sir four torps right above us!" the sonarman screamed.
"Where the hell did they come from?!" the Captain asked before his blood chilled when he looked at the display. Outside, the pings coming from the torpedoes' sonar were growing louder and louder...
"Scratch one, Zeek sub!" JP announced as four lines converged as one on his screen. A bright green blossom then appeared as all four torpedoes detonated on the enemy sub. What followed were the sounds of screeching bulkheads and of more secondary explosions, the death throes of a submarine, "Oh ****! We still have a problem! The second MS is heading straight for us!!! Launch the Gundam NOW!"
The pilot of Gog 2 had seen the explosions, and was eager to exact some revenge. He sent his mobile suit straight at the Skate at full speed, his arms and claws outstretched in preparation of cutting open the destroyer. In his rage he had not noticed that a second Mobile Suit was already in the water...
"Damn it..." Juan said as he tried to aim his torpedo gun correctly. It was much harder to move underwater, and the non-streamlined shape of the Gundam made it even worse. But at least the Gundam had power. Through sheer force he managed to move the gun enough to give it the proper elevation, and as the Gog entered his sights, he depressed the trigger.
The Gog had just started to swing his arm towards the ship when the first torpedo hit the suit. The torpedo was smaller than the shipboard version and did not destroy it entirely. The Gog tried to turn around, but two more follow-on torpedoes impacted the suit, and the Gog disappeared in a white fireball that expanded from its core.
"That was close. WAAAAAAY TOO CLOSE!" John reported as a huge plume of water appeared just beside the Skate. The explosion had been close enough to rock the ship, but fortunately not close enough to cause any real damage. He looked behind him and saw the rest of the fleet in the distance. He grinned. They had managed to finish off that sub just in time.
Juan breathe a sigh of relief as his Gundam finally reached the surface. He had been worried that the underwater engines installed in the backpack would malfunction but it seems that the chief engineer had done his job right. He didn't even have to use his reserve power for this mission, he thought a little proudly. Maybe he DID have a future in this business after all... "Wow..." Sylvie said as she read the reports that had been sent to the Galahad's bridge. The Skate and that idiot had really pulled through for them. She looked outside and saw the Skate's cranes pulling Juan's Gundam back to her deck. "Well, Juan had done well too hadn't he?" She thought. "Well, Sylvie, you forgive that guy now?" Earl asked as he put down his binoculars. "In a word, NEVER!" She replied defiantly. She knew it was the man-hater within her, but she just hated being treated like a dumb kid. "Well, according to the Captain the U-35 and U-47 are only fifty miles or so away, and that should be enough escort to keep us safe." "Well, that's reassuring." "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" a lookout suddenly reported, pointing to a white object just skimming over the wave tops at high speed. Sylvie watched in horror as the missile streaked towards the LST Tristam and hit her. The ship then erupted into a huge fireball that sent shrapnel flying in all directions. "****! A sea skimming missile! Another sub is out there!" Earl said as another missile impacted the burning Tristam.
"This is the Veneto, no further missiles inbound. Missiles came from bearing 0-9-4! Anti-sub forces, go find that SOB!" "Magic!" Alfonso shouted. "Damn it! That guy just pulled a beautiful move on us, Skipper," John replied. "Any chance of finding her?"
"Not a chance. She fired really far away. Bet is she heard the commotion between us and the Crimea and just fired a few missiles on the off chance he'd hit something. Well, his gamble paid off." John explained angrily as he observed the burning remanants of the Tristam, "Let's just pick up the survivors, if there are any that is, and move on. If this character tries to come back and do some more damage using torpedoes, chances are we'll pick her up." "Well, what now?" Karl asked as he entered the bridge. "We're leaving in a few minutes. Wahoo will spend some time looking for survivors, but there's not much chance..." Sylvie reported.
"Damn!" Karl muttered. Seven tanks and twenty-one crew gone. Just like that. "Was that the surface fleet?" Col. Ken Mason asked. "Yes, Sir, looks like they lost an LST," the chief sonarman reported. "Did we pick up anything?"
"No, Sir, our area is quiet." "We got lucky, Sir," Dirk reported as he pointed to a blotch on the screen, "We got one of them."
Col. Conrad nodded and patted Dirk in the back. It was Dirk who had heard the commotion earlier and correctly deduced it was the enemy fleet taking on the Crimea. They were VERY lucky that their long range missiles had found their mark. Even better, he now knew where the enemy fleet were. Unfortunately, if Dirk was right, the Crimea had been sunk. And one sub definitely can not take them all at once. "Alright XO, let's get out of here and rendezvous with the Iberia, hopefully we'll be able to link up in time to sink the rest of the fleet." Sylvie watched as the remnants of the Tristam's hull slipped beneath the waves. The Wahoo had managed to rescue eleven men, all badly burned. But that was just a mere fraction of its total crew. She just hoped that it was the last time.
Notice: This story and all related material is copyrighted by Thomas E. "Zinegata" Ting, no part of this story may be taken by any other person. If you wish to use any material, please contact me first. Gundam and all related trademarks are owned by their respective companies. |
