Starblaydia
25-05-2004, 16:25
OOC: This is secret information, so no-one should really have a whiff of what's going on onboard the Indie, and a rogue anti-sub carrier roaming around may have an interesting permutation or two in the near future.
IC:
The fourth and final Invincible-class carrier, designated CV-84 and christened Indefatigable, was well beyond Cape Horn and into the chilly Antarctic waters. Unusually for a carrier, she was on her own conducting final testing, which all aboard knew she would pass anyway. The Indie had been built to the highest standards in Starblaydia's own shipyards. Based on the British ASuW carrier, the Indie carried eight Sea Harriers and a handful of Sea King ASW and AEW helicopters. A powerful towed sonar array dragged behind the ship, along with a built-in launcher for Tomahawk missiles that snuggled into an unused part of the flight-deck, close to an extra Harpoon ASW missile system. The space inside the Indie was more limited than on other carriers of this size, but she was far more deadly in real terms.
Captain Gallagher stood on his bridge, watching the changeover of flight patrols, as two Harriers flung themselves off the ski-jump at the bow, while a second pair hovered into well-taken landings at the stern. He loved the Harrier's capabilities. Small and manoeuvreable with an incredible surprise. Just like me and this ship, he thought to himself with a smile. His Harriers passed overhead and Gallagher gave the signal. He pressed a tiny button on one of the fobs on his set of keys. No-one had noticed it. Beepers would be going off across the ship, as well as on land a few hundred miles away.
"Do you ever wish we could just take this gal on a far-flung adventure, us versus the world?" he asked to no one in particular.
"Nice idea, Captain," it was his First Officer, Vernaldihno, the All-Starblaydi action hero of the ship, "but we'd get in a world of trouble very quickly." He looked through his binoculars at the horizon and frowned.
"You think?" asked Gallagher, impassively, pulling the trigger. The hole in Vernaldihno's head spread a fine red mist onto the far wall. Twice more the Captain fired, picking off the men who weren't part of his plan. More entered the bridge and took their places, one had a mop and bucket.
*****
"Have we got visitors today?" The Chief of the Flight Deck used his binoculars to scan the far-off sea, there were two helicopters, twin rotored. "Chinooks?"
"I don't know, Sir," said his sub-ordinate, "Is that debris on the end of the jump?" he pointed to the Harriers' ski-jump and the two walked over.
The Chief looked down and inspected the edge of the ramp. There was nothing there, but it only took one firm shove. The Chief fell from the jump into the icy waters below. Either the cold would soon kill him or being dragged under the ship would do it first.
*****
"Ship is secure, Captain."
"Well done, men."
By now the Chinooks were landing. They took up too much space on the deck, but that couldn't be helped. As his two best pilots kept watch in the skies above, the remaining men and women were hered onto the deck. Their replacements stepped out of the Chinooks and onto the deck, with determination in their eyes.
"Get a lifeboat," the Captain ordered, "rip out the comms gear from it and set 'em loose."
Within ten minutes the ship was his, from bow to stern, keel to bridge.
"Let's get Indie out of here."
IC:
The fourth and final Invincible-class carrier, designated CV-84 and christened Indefatigable, was well beyond Cape Horn and into the chilly Antarctic waters. Unusually for a carrier, she was on her own conducting final testing, which all aboard knew she would pass anyway. The Indie had been built to the highest standards in Starblaydia's own shipyards. Based on the British ASuW carrier, the Indie carried eight Sea Harriers and a handful of Sea King ASW and AEW helicopters. A powerful towed sonar array dragged behind the ship, along with a built-in launcher for Tomahawk missiles that snuggled into an unused part of the flight-deck, close to an extra Harpoon ASW missile system. The space inside the Indie was more limited than on other carriers of this size, but she was far more deadly in real terms.
Captain Gallagher stood on his bridge, watching the changeover of flight patrols, as two Harriers flung themselves off the ski-jump at the bow, while a second pair hovered into well-taken landings at the stern. He loved the Harrier's capabilities. Small and manoeuvreable with an incredible surprise. Just like me and this ship, he thought to himself with a smile. His Harriers passed overhead and Gallagher gave the signal. He pressed a tiny button on one of the fobs on his set of keys. No-one had noticed it. Beepers would be going off across the ship, as well as on land a few hundred miles away.
"Do you ever wish we could just take this gal on a far-flung adventure, us versus the world?" he asked to no one in particular.
"Nice idea, Captain," it was his First Officer, Vernaldihno, the All-Starblaydi action hero of the ship, "but we'd get in a world of trouble very quickly." He looked through his binoculars at the horizon and frowned.
"You think?" asked Gallagher, impassively, pulling the trigger. The hole in Vernaldihno's head spread a fine red mist onto the far wall. Twice more the Captain fired, picking off the men who weren't part of his plan. More entered the bridge and took their places, one had a mop and bucket.
*****
"Have we got visitors today?" The Chief of the Flight Deck used his binoculars to scan the far-off sea, there were two helicopters, twin rotored. "Chinooks?"
"I don't know, Sir," said his sub-ordinate, "Is that debris on the end of the jump?" he pointed to the Harriers' ski-jump and the two walked over.
The Chief looked down and inspected the edge of the ramp. There was nothing there, but it only took one firm shove. The Chief fell from the jump into the icy waters below. Either the cold would soon kill him or being dragged under the ship would do it first.
*****
"Ship is secure, Captain."
"Well done, men."
By now the Chinooks were landing. They took up too much space on the deck, but that couldn't be helped. As his two best pilots kept watch in the skies above, the remaining men and women were hered onto the deck. Their replacements stepped out of the Chinooks and onto the deck, with determination in their eyes.
"Get a lifeboat," the Captain ordered, "rip out the comms gear from it and set 'em loose."
Within ten minutes the ship was his, from bow to stern, keel to bridge.
"Let's get Indie out of here."