NationStates Jolt Archive

KONN Headlines:
Piracy Defense Act grants commercial vessels the right to carry arms against rising pirate threats

Steeler Systems accused of smuggling cocaine from farms landside

Navy announces surpise inspections are now in effect

Somewhere west of Kalitha-Oceania...

The large freighter sloshed through the water, the Steeler Systems double S logo clearly visible. The rising sun was very visible in the east as golden rays were cast on the ocean and the slick metal of the ship.

"Conn, sonar contact, bearing 23 degrees North North West."

"Sensors, identify."

"Conn, contact is," the sonar operator looked through the list of possibles the computer gave up, his face illuminated in the green light from the screen. "Contact is a freighter, making 25 knots West."

"Confirm nationality."

"IFF tag reads ASKO, Steeler vessel 0201 "Betty Jane," sir."

The captain stood in the CIC of the attack/missile submarine Appia, lurking beneath the waves. The sub was very advanced, but she wasn't the best. The new ASKO Kalitha class had that title for this category.

He was the son of an immigrant from America, who had roots in Germany. Captain Ernst Horner was a tall man, his head clean shaven and blue eyes sharp as he surveyed his command.

"Prepare inspection procedure 103, surface now."

The submarine, traveling at 60 knots on it's waterjets, leapt from the water like a whale, the sun gleaming off it's sleek and wet hull. As she came down, the radio message began to run.

"Steeler vessel 0201 "Betty Jane, this is the Kalitha Oceanian navy boat Appia, stay on present course and make your speed 0 knots. Prepare for boarding and inspection."

"Ah, Appia, we're in international waters, and our cargo can't be delayed."

"Betty Jane, we have everything from Hades Railguns to Cruise missiles, continue speed and I will fire."

"WHAT! That's outrageous! We're a privately operated ships, and under maritime-"

"Betty Jane, stop now or we will sink you. Under Executive order 2099, the KON, KOCG, and KOAF have full authorization to search ASKO registered vessels. If these vessels do not comply, they will be fired upon. You aren't going anywhere if you do not stop."

The captain of the Betty Jane didn't reply, but the freighter stopped. And as it did, the crew on the conning tower noticed something shine on the deck.

A group of men were inserting a large cylindrical assembly onto one of the life raft cranes.

"CONN! Possible weapon on the port side of the vessel!"

"Can you confirm?"

"Yessir, they're hooking up a feed belt."

"Weapons, ready the Hades turrets!"

The two turreted 30mm Gatling railguns used for point defense swiveled up and around to meet the Betty Jane.

"Fire!"

A thousand cracks were heard as DU/Tungsten Carbide slugs screamed at hypervelocities towards the side of the ship. The weapon on the vessel distintegrated, along with most of the crew's bodies. Chunks of hull were turned to plasma as the rounds flew in.

And then it happened.

The Hades gun turrets weren't designed to find that kind of thing, nor were the crew.

The man was using a Kinetikill launcher, a sort of railgun rocket launcher, from the bridge. He angled the weapon down, flipped up the sights, and fired.

The round screamed at Mach 8 on it's SCRAMjet assisted rockets towards the conning tower of the Appia, blasting the top clean off. The men on the deck and tower were killed instantly, the shrapnel cleaving them in pieces and then burning them from the heat.

Fortunately for the Captain, the armored covering of the CIC saved him and the other men. But nothing would save the Betty Jane.

The Hades guns continued to fire as the deck of the freighter was ripped to shreds. The Coast Guard aircraft eventually arrived to find two damaged, but floating, vessels.

-

"The findings of this panel are thus. Firstly, that the witness accounts show that it was the Appia that fired first on the Betty Jane. Secondly, Captain Horner violated the rules of engagement by firing before attempting to negotiate, and that the arming of weapons was technically allowed under the piracy act. While the Appia will return to service with newly promoted Captain Kevolski, Horner will not. He is to be interned at Selworth Military Prison for a period of 20 years for his actions. Steeler Systems will be granted a sum of..."

-

The building was gray and angular, it's windows no larger than a small computer monitor screen. A black van drove along the street, and then stopped at a checkpoint, and rolled down the drivers window so the ID could be checked. It continued through giant blast doors, which had been opened by the guards. A door was opened, and a prison uniformed and handcuffed Horner was lead out to the 'check in'.

After the rigorous inspection and verification process, Horner was lead to a solitary cell, with the same bed, bathroom, bars, and walls as every other one. This would be his home for the next two decades.

Night came, and with it, navy marked armored cars. Light signals in morse code were flashed by laser pointer to the guards, who lead the trucks to the supply docks for the prison. The armored cars backed into the docks, and a MP emerged to meet one the guards, dressed in full riot gear with a 12 gauge Benelli slung over his shoulder.

The guard flashed a signal, and the MP nodded. The doors were rolled up, and the armored cars disgorged more MPs in similar attire, all with a variety of lethal and nonlethal weapons.

They then entered the supply elevator, and a coded message was transmitted.

On level three, the entrance to the cell block was unlocked silently.

The doors of the elevator opened, and the soldiers fanned out, covering all angles with their weapons.

"Hey, what the-" began a guard, before a compressed air gun spat a dart into his chest. Two men went over the the cell block armory, and nodded to the guard on the other side, who was watching the whole thing. The door opened, and a keycard was tossed to the MPs.

With the keycard in hand, an MP walked over to one of the soundproof cells, swiped the card, and opened the cell.

Horner looked in surpise at the armored figure standing in the doorway.

"Captain Horner, Executive Officer Kevolski reporting for duty."

-

The armored cars screamed over to the Selworth docks, where the task force the Appia was in was based. Containing two "Typhoon III" Subcarriers, and a host of patrol and attack subs, it was a formidable force. The crews were lined up, waiting for orders to sail.

Horner was putting on his uniform as the armored cars passed the checkpoints and made into the docks, where he was lead to a tower. He knew what he was doing as he looked over the group of sailors willing to defy orders for him.

"Crew of the Selworth Sub Force present and accounted for."

"Thank you Mr. Kevolski. Little ducks, there's trouble on the high seas. A bunch of corporate shitbags are taking the lives of fine sailors, and getting paid for it while they push crack on the rest of the nation. We're going over there and bringing the most lethal killing machine ever devised. We're capable of launching more firepower than has ever been released in the history of our nation for one purpose alone: To keep our country safe. Safe from the people that are ruining our nation.

We constitute the front line and the last line of defense against these people. I expect and demand your very best. Anything less -- you should've joined the Air Force. This might be our Commander-in-Chief's Navy, but you'll be under my command. This may be mutiny, but it's for the best cause that's ever been. You've all agreed to be here. This may be piracy, but nothing less will work. And all I ask is that you keep up with me. And if you can't, that strange sensation you'll be feeling in the seat of your pants will be my boot in your ass.

Mr. Kevolski?"

"Yes, sir."

"Are you aware of the name for this task force?"

"Very aware, sir."

"It represents fine people."

"Very fine sir."

"Who live in an outstanding state."

"Very outstanding sir."

"In one of the most unique and great countries on the earth."

"On the earth sir."

"And will we see them pushed around by a bunch of Fortune 500 slackers?"

"NO SIR!"

"Then let's give them hell!"

"ROLL TIDE!" shouted the crew.

"Dismiss the crew."

"Dismiss the crew! Aye, aye, Sir! Crew, department heads, attend to your department. Fall out!"

The men raced to their positions, as a deadly fighting force left port under the guise of an excersise.

OOC: No offense to you, but I just hate it when people write such longgggggggggg posts. Please, I beg everyone, make your posts short and sweet and to the point.

OOC: I had a more eloquent argument for long, well written posts, but I'll listen to you.

No.

So sorry for trying to RP well.

So sorry for making you read a post much shorter than many that are written here.

Sweet enough for you?

Seriously, what sounds better?

A sub fought a freighter.

The captain got court marshaled.

Then he was in prison.

Then he got out.

Then he got some other people to help him.

Wow, what a great RP this will be with that kind of content.

Your RPing was GREAT! I never said it wasn't. I was just saying that people should not go into such grave detail. I'm not saying you did. Just that some people like writing what kind of underwear the guy was wearing. No one cares! I was just saying that it should be kept not to long, unless its a storefront. Then by all means, write away. And if it is absolutely necessary, like in this one, to make it long, then by all means, DO! Sorry for what I said. I didn't mean for it to come out that way.

OOC: I think it's the other way around. I'd much rather see long RP posts than, say, half an hour's reading of the same guns that everyone else has, or just the same pictures with different 3 lines of statistics, two being the name and price.

Good detail and explanation=better understanding of situation=more interesting=good RP.

You won't see novel grade stuff, but I'd rather have people be perfectly clear on what's going on.

Bump...

<Atlantica Prime Naval Base, 37 nautical miles due west of McLeodian Coastline>

"Admiral, direct orders from MAFCC SUBFOR. We are to dispatch a Gaunt to trail the next Steeler Systems transport craft. It seems the Kalithans have opened fire on a freighter, causing moderate damage and sustaining a hit in return. Satellite photographsa and magnetic anomoly detection pictures are with the order documentation. Looks like an attack sub did the damage, before the Coast Guard arrived to assist. Latest recon reports also indicate a reasonably sized task force heading out to sea from one of the Kalithan ports."


Admiral James Hilton turned in his chair, glancing at the young officer passing on the briefing.

"Very well, i believe the Hunter is due for a training exercise. Recall her crew and prep the submarine for launch. Request NIRTSSAT coverage of the port and potential recall orders for the Monitor's senior crew. With the technology the Kalithans have, I might be able to follow my father in deploying the Monitor in the role she was designed for.


<Below Atlantica Prime>

A ring of lights illuminate a small craft, barely 50 metres long. Her graceful curves sweep back into two wing shapes, and hide intakes for two powerful MAE-96 Hydrajet engines, capable of boosting the craft to aroun 65 knots. Mounted between the two was a single hydrogen burning rocket engine. Her hull was covered in a transducer system capable of both producing noise-cancelling signals and the initial stages of a super-cavitation bubble. The Gaunt class was the fastest non-fighter craft in the SUBFOR, built for scouting operations. She was lightly armed with only two 20-mm deck mounted railguns either side of a squat conning tower shape around the bridge, four 25-mm super-cavitating point-defence and anti-subfighter cannons on her hull, and six small diameter super-cavitating torpedo tubes. She was built to observe then flee, quickly, awaiting reinforcement from the Monitor, nearly ten times her length.

A name painted across the bow identifies the craft as the Hunter, and a Typhoon transport rapidly approaches, unloading a skeleton crew into the ship to get her started and loaded for her first ever mission that didn't involve searching for immigrants lost in leaking boats or over-zealous yachtsmen who believed that they of all people would never capsize.

550 miles W of ASKO territory

The battlegroup was silent for now, lurking around at 10,000 BSL. They would wait until the next scehduled convoy was to arrive. Steeler had since armed it's boats more, hiring private contractors to provide escort hydrofoil gunboats until they reached ASKO waters.

They didn't stand a chance.

The first 10 S-37 screamed from their docks in the massive Typhoon IIIs, so called because they were actually made from the hulls of 3 Typhoon class subs. At 100 knots, they were deep. By the time they got into shallower waters, they were making 350 knots. Then they slowed to 90, in order to use the Gertrude phones and EMS communication system.

"Viper One to Viper School, we've got Steelie freighters, 4 of them, with a 6 gunboat escort. They're all armed."

"Well, let's f*cking paste these ingrates. Section two, on me, Formation Three. On my mark."

The two groups split as they came at the convoy from behind, forming a double pincer as they armed their weapons.

"Mark."

Inside one of the Hades gunpods, a laser flashed through the ocean. It's beam warmed the ocean enough so that the supercavitating rounds of the 30mm Hades guns could travel at their deadliest velocity.

The shells ripped through the left foil of the target gunboat, and with a loss of support and thrust from the waterjet, it spun into the water, the sheer force of hitting smashing the modified Israeli craft on impact. Another boat fell, this time because the angled shots went straight through the deck, bursting the gunboat into flames.

One managed to get a torpedo in the water, but it was too little too late. The 50mm missile pods popped up and released a minitorpedo that destroyed the defender's weapon before it got into range. More gunfire screamed into the hydrofoils, as they began to die. And then the cargo ships were alone.

"Steeler Cargo ships, this is the Selworth Fleet. You are to stop and surrender your goods to us immediately."

They obeyed, as unloaded commercial transport subs surfaced to take the load. Navy Special forces troops stormed aboard, ordering the crews at gunpoint to move any supplies on a list the commanders had written up onto the transport subs. The rest were shoved overboard, and the ships left in the ocean as the group began sinking into the inky deep once more...

<Atlantica Prime naval base>

The young officer rushed back in, holding paper still warm from the A£ colour laser printer in teh intelligence office below.

"Admiral, another convoy has been attacked. We aren't sure, but it looks like a group of subfighters attacked convoy escorts, then what appear to be commerical transports rose and took position of call cargo. We lost transmission before we could see what happened, but when we got it back, there was just crew members floating in the ocean, and MAD could only read sunken ships." he said hurriedly

"Damn" said Hilton "Get the Hunter ready for launch. Send the Captain and the XO to my office immediately, and get the rest of the crew on board. We must get to the next convoy before these Kalithan ships do."


<Fifteen minutes later, smae location>

Captain William Archer and his XO, Jamie Anslow, stood at ease in front of Hilton's desk.

"Ok. Thats about all we know so far." said Hilton, concluding the briefing. "In summary, your orders are to follow the next convoy at a safe distant, and when the attack happens, go fully active on all systems, then burn out of there. DOn't attempt to help out crew or defenders. That's not what the Hunter is built for. Just shoot the sonar, get teh info, then break and run back here. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Admiral"
"Aye, sir"

"Very good. Dismissed"

The two turned and left the office. Anslow turned to Archer and asked "What are we doing following convoys miles from nowhere, from a country we haven't ever even encountered before. Its just another poor excuse for a training mission. To think i gave up four days in McLeodia for this. It just sucks." Archer walked into the elevator heading for the docking bay holding his ship, and said simply "Becuase its our job Anslow, because that's we are paid to do"



<Bridge of the Hunter, five minutes later>

Archer ducked as he walked through the airlock onto the spacious bridge. The centralisation of most control systems allowed for the Gaunt class to have most crew on a large bridge, filled with computer banks, and dominated by a large 3-d projection screen currently showing footage of outside, where small powered suits were loading the last of the cargo into the hold. He strode over to teh comm-link, and heyed the intercom button.

"Alright crew, listen up. We are being sent to trail a civilian convoy from a company that has recently come under fire from what appear to be Kelithan ships. These Kalithans are dangerous. We are not to engage, just to gather data, and get out of there once the next attack happens. Subfighters need carriers, and that means these Kelithan pirates are well armed. Keep your eyes peeled, and stay sharp at all times. Run fast."

From around the ship echoed the second part of the SUBFOR motto

"RUN DEEP"

The valley was a long abandoned area, left over from war and weapons tests of days past.

It was fitting that such a graveyard was home to what seemed to be a ghost fleet, as it was being called in the news.

The area 5 miles south was a government submarine base, Deep Six as it was referred. It was also nicknamed 'Atlantis', like all the other Deep -- Bases. It was a large Alumina Casing dome with a series of docking positions for various submarines, and it would be a home to the Selworth Fleet for the duration of the operations.

"Next convoy won't run for a few weeks, if they go on schedule."

"Did we get any datapulses from the rest of the 'net?"

The 'circle' of sub commanders, one from each Small craft wing or major sub, were all on gertrude phone.

"Yes, we did." Horner was currently looking through the 'net traffic on his laptop. "Next convoy will have Ekroplans, bought from Jordaxia through the government phaseout. They might have SuCav torps."

"That seems kind of odd... You'd think they'd have mobilized the other fleets yet."

"See, that's the thing."

"What?"

"They don't want to. We're one of the most powerful forces in the area, and many in the Senate support us."

"Well then... Who's on their side."

"In time..." Horner mused, "We shall find out."

The lights around the Hunter flickered and died, only to be replaced by ne wlights from teh sub itself. With a cloud of air bubbles, the main crew entry gangway broke free, swingint back into the dock. The sleek scout vessel engaged her harbour engines and cruised out from under the belly of the huge naval base at a leisurely 30 knots.

"All hands, prepare for super-cav burn" announced Hilton, before nodding at the helmsman.

Across the hull of the ship, small white noise transducers began to emit resonance, decreasing the pressure of the water around the hull, and, as the craft accelerated to 60 knots, the pressure lessened to the point at which water turned into water vapour. In that instant, the hydrogen engine kicked in, accelerating the craft to nearly 900 mph in a high-speed dash towards the departure port of the next, larger convoy.

"Captain?"

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

Horner was still looking through the files on the convoy, but when something came from Penn with that tone, it usually wasn't good news.

"We're reading SuCav signatures from the Deepsix sonar array in the Thermocline, someone's bubbling, and reeall fast."

"Fast being?"

"Something larger than a subfighter, about 900 mph."

"Great... It's not the Nightingale or the Monitor or the Angelus, one of those supercarriers, is it?"

"No, too small. Only vessel intel knows about with that profile is a rumored McLeodian design."

"Well the, it looks like someone's putting new pieces on the board. And they ain't pawns. We've got two days. We don't want to poke the shark in the eye, so let's just try and avoid it and punch it in the nose and run away if we need to."

The Hunter shifted its transducer emission patterns, allowing the bubble to be subtly reshaped, causing a slight descent, until she was barely a thousand feet from the seafloor. On the bridge, an estimate map system used gyro-stablised compasses and velocity indicators to give a position accurate to within two metres. The map showed the destination, the SS convoy, nearly three hours away at their current speed.

A skeleton crew was on the bridge, with the rest either asleep, or watching reruns of the latest McLeodian Rugby League Final, drinknig and cheering on the McLeodia Mountain Lions, even though they knew the final score, having watched teh game four times since leaving Atlantica Prime.

Each member of the crew was a fresh trainee, the only axperiance being with Archer and Anslow, the Captain and the XO. The Hunter was an intermediate step for most crew members on their way up to the Guardian or even, for a select lucky few, an assignment on one of the two Nightingales, the Monitor and the Tiberus.

"Men," Horner began over the intercom of Deepsix, and thus all subs docked to it, "We're looking at a different prospect today."

The 20 S-37 were being loaded with quite a different mix of weapons. Half of them sported multi-tube SAM pods instead of their torpedo. Guns were hooked up to giant ammo feeds as the twenty craft were prepared for war.

"Our intelligence confirms there is now a McLeodian Supercavitating Escort or Strike vessel in the area. It will be a very fast, very deadly vessel. You are to avoid this vessel at all costs, and if it fires, do not hesitate. Concentrate as much fire on it as you can if they get angry. Otherwise, we're still dealing with a bunch of pukes. I know you can accomplish this, because you are the finest fighting force I have ever had at my disposal. Good luck."

The twenty aircraft slipped from their wetbays, beginning the usual 100-350 knot climb.

Above them, 4 freighters, 8 JXN Ekroplans, and 6 Gunboats awaited them.

The Hunter sat twnty miles behind the convoy, running silent, yet keeping up with the convoy easily. All active systems were switched off, and they were tracking the convoy only on passive sensors.

Archer looked around the bridge. Something didn't feel right. It was too quiet. They had been following the convoy for days without anything happening. But something felt out of place, and he acted on instinct.

"Sonar, prepare for a single burst on full power. Helm, ready for super-cav if the shit hits the fan. Defence, load up the PDS guns, and have them ready to transmit if we get attacked. Offense, get the tubes loaded, but don't flood them yet. I'm not gonna just run while this convoy is under attack. We'll fire a salvo, then make best possible speed for Atlantica Prime."

Then, as an after thought "XO, Bring us to yellow alert. But stay quiet. Lights only, no alert."

Yellow light bathed the interior of the ship, and off-duty crew members found themselves stowing away bunks, zipping up uniforms and coming to quarters, in preparation for the increase to red alert, and the call to battle stations.

They split into groups of 10, 5 with AA and 5 with AS in each. They were supercavitating at 400 knots when the EMS detected new objects in the water.

Depth charges. Very, very powerful depth charges.

Loaded with HMX, about 1 ton of it, it would spell doom for any subfighter that came within the blast radius. The dual Hades guns of each craft spat their rounds as gigantic globes of light fromed near the surface. As the firing lulled, the AIM-022 Subfighter Launched SRMs fired off, launching in their canisters before breaking through the surface to track the Ekroplans. Railguns continued to fire, and the Ekroplans and hydrofoils fell to the barrage. And then the torpedo was launched.

It came from the back of a freighter, a navy VAS-212, 500 knots with a 30 mile engagement range. It was wire guided, but the subfighter it was after had no chance. The 5,000 pound weapon slammed right into it, bursting the S-37 like a ripe fruit. The next round fired saved the other fighter from death, as a squadronmate flew his subfighter through the guidance wire to cut it off. Dumb and blind, the VAS continued on it's way behind the convoy, a small speck in the ongoing naval battle.

"Conn, Sonar, sounds like the convoy is under attack. I can hear lots of explosions and lots of gunfire. Jeez, massive explosion. Breaking metal, sounds like a submarine craft got hit." came the urgent report over the Captains comm-link.

Archer sat bolt upright in his seat. "Go active, full power. Bring the PDS online and tracking any incomings. Prepare to flood main tubes. All hands to battle statinos, red alert." he barked.

Klaxons sounded as a massive sonar pulse shot out from the Hunter's sensitive arrays, instantly unveiling the battle ahead. PDS guns began to swivel in their mountings, self-testing their freedom of movement. The craft accelerated rapidly to 60 knots, heading towards the convoy.

"Conn, sonar, we have munitions in the water ahead, moving our way. Unknown type, sounds huge. Sonar map reveals a big unit, naval possibly. Seems to be cloasing fast. Suggest evasive manouevres." said the worried junior sonar operator.

"Those pirates just launched at us. Bastards." Archer said, softly. "Prepare a message for SUBFOR Command. Inform them we have been fired upon, and are currently engaging subfighters attacking a friendly convoy. End of message. All hands battle stations. Flood the tubes and get firing solutions on those subfighters. Load the deck guns. They may not be great, but we need every weapon we have."

"SHIT! Who launched at the McLeodian?"

"Sir, it was a freighter launched VAS, a 210 or 212 model probably. I cut the guidance wire."

"Well, shit. No counter fire. Just nail anything they shoot at us. Cover the cargo subs."

The subfighters moved into a defensive pattern, maximizing the area they could cover with 50mm CT pods and 30mm Hades guns. The massive cargo vessels surfaced as the message was relayed to the ships down below. Things were about to get very tricky.

"Sonar, Conn. Go full active on the sonar, keep us updated on the situation out there." snapped Archer, then, following an ancient McLeodian naval tradition, he added "We shall beat to quarters".

"Conn, Sonar. We have large vessels surfacing. From the readings, i'd guess they were transports. Probably for capturing goods on board." replied the junior sonar operator.

"Very good Sonar." Archer responded. "Offense, get firing solutions on those transports. Flood the tubes. Stand by to launch and reload at double time. Wait for my command. Helm, bring us to the verge of supercav, but leave the transducers off for now. Have them charged. I want to cut and run. We are outglassed and out gunned. Defense, release all PDS batteries, set to fire-at-will. All station, standby for supercav burn"

The Hunter accelerated further, rapidly approaching 70knots, weapons systems trained forward, locked onto the subfighters, waiting for them to come into range.

"Conn, Offense. We have firing solutions."

"Offense, fire tubes 1 through 4. Reload with two plasma yield and two multi-torps" Archer said, rapidly.

Four torpedos raced from the bow of the Hunter, heading for the giant cargo submarines rising from the depths.

"Offense, Conn. Fire tubes 5 and 6 at the first subfighters to fire back. Helm, standby for burn" Archer said, a slight twinge of fear in his voice.

"Conn, Offense. Tubes reloaded, ready for second salvo."

The subfighters launched a barrage of 30mm railgun rounds at the incoming torpedo, blasting both of them under a hail of DU slugs traveling at the equivalent of Mach 7 underwater. Fragments ruptured the hull of one fighter, forcing it to surface. The other four were met with 50mm Countertorpedoes supercavitating in, followed by even more railguns. The explosions rocked the cargo vessels, causing several leaks in one that slowed it's ascent as damage crews tried to engage compartmentalization.

"Sir, we have a situation here. Request permission to return fire!"

Horner looked at his crew, and at the data coming from above on the vessel.

"Return fire. Kraken 4 and 5, begin surfacing for heavy counterfire."

The two vessels, modified ACS designs, began to ascend, activating their 200mm spinal mount SuCav railguns as a volley of 12 VAS-214 Supercav torpedo screamed out. They used Octanitrocubane (sp??), an explosive more powerful than any other non-nuclear substance, as warheads.

"Offense, Conn. Fire second salvo. Helm, bring us about, and burn." Archer nearly screamed as he saw the sonar overlay display the mass of firepower heading his way.

Two of the extremely powerful plasma yield torpedos headed towards Kraken 4, and two normal torpedos trained in on the subfighters. Then, the latest McLeodian torpedo design launched. Generally considered an anti-fighter weapon, the multi-warhead supercavitating torpedo, or multi-torp, was in essence a discarding shell. Inside are some 12 mini-torpedos, similar to those found on sub-fighters. Once within range, each shell breaks up, allowing the torpedos inside to break and engage subfighters at short rnage and high-speed. Capable of nearly 80 knots under transducer modified low pressure water conditions, each maintained a high-rate of turn.

With some 24 torpedos closing in on teh subfighters, the Hunter veered sharply over, heading on a course directly away from the battle. Bubbles began to form around her hull as the transducers got to work forming the supercav bubble. As a last act before death or a burn, a small hatch above the sub opened, and a super-cavitating projectile headed for the surface. Breaking the surface, it continued to climb, almost entering low earth orbit before a satellite transmitter activated, broadcasting position and situation reports straight to SUBFOR HQ, as well as latest sonar information gathered on the pirate fleet.

Releasing a flurry of rounds, the subfighters then screamed away on their Supercavitating rockets, high tailing it to outrun the decreased range of the torpedo. One more was damaged, but repairable.

"Status report!"

"Four Four damaged... But I'll make it back."

"Tail end vessel has engine damage."

"Loading going fine."

Horner sighed. He had lost men, and that was regretable. Services would be held, he decided, as he overlooked the battle data on the strike sub. It was faster than any submarine in the arsenal, and some torpedo. Dealing with it added a whole new level to the coordinated chaos that was his operation.

<SUBFOR HQ, Atlantica Prime Naval Base>

"Admiral, we have an emergency distress signal from the Hunter. It seems the hunch paid off, and the convoy was ambushed. Problem is, the Hunter came under fire from what appear to be pirate operated subfighters, and from what i can make out of the sonar reports, it looks like they have some heavies in there too, with major armament." reported a junior intelligence officer to Hilton, sat in his office towering high above the waves lapping the huge naval platform.

"Very well" said Hilton "Ready the Monitor battlegroup. Recally all crews. We depart in three days. Looks like we are to become pirate hunters."