Heavy Burden
Admiral Michael Stonebridge was being hailed an American hero for the near destruction of the joint Japanese and Chinese fleets, but what people had quickly forgotten was that nearly 1,100 American sailors had also died during the battle, making it one of the costliest naval engagements of the war. Stonebridge hadn’t forgotten though, the weight of every sailor lost hung on him each day.
The Admiral tried to suppress thoughts of depression by burying himself in his work; the only way to get through each day was to put one foot in front of the other. While Stonebridge was drinking his coffee in the CIC, an intelligence officer walked up to him, handing him an intelligence intercept from the NSA. As he read the report, his eyes grew wide with alarm.
He looked up at the young officer and asked, “Do we have any of the specifics on this new micro-drone weapon?”
The young officer shook his head, “No, Sir, but I suspect their designs are probably based off our own micro-drone project. I have asked several of the weapons officers to research the issue so they can provide a brief on what these weapons may be like and how we can prepare to deal with them.”
The Admiral thought to himself, “Now this is a sharp officer; we need more forward thinkers like him in the Navy.”
Aloud, he replied, “Lieutenant, that is a great idea. Thank you for taking the initiative in getting this going. Please let the Captain and the other officers know, and we will have a briefing about this tomorrow during Commander’s Call. Tell the weapons officers they have until then to finalize the brief.” Then he dismissed the young officer so he could finish his coffee and draft a personal email to his wife.
He missed his wife severely; the past few years had been incredibly hard for him. Besides all of the sailors that he had just lost, he was still mourning the loss of all his old friends that he had gone through the Academy with in his youth. Beyond that, his eldest son had also been wounded while serving on occupation duty in Saudi Arabia last month. His son, who had managed to become a captain and a company commander in the Marines, had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and had been traveling from one city to another when his vehicle had been hit by an Improvised Explosive Device, killing two of the four people with him. Fortunately, it looked like his son would fully recuperate from his wounds, but for the time being, he was on a long road to recovery. The Admiral was having a hard time not being able to see his son while he was in the hospital and then at a skilled nursing facility; the urgency of their deployment had prevented him from being able to see him.
Captain Mason could see that Admiral Stonebridge was deep in thought as he approached him. “Admiral, I am sorry to interrupt. General Gardner would like to know if we can stay on station for another two weeks while the rest of the Third Army continues to arrive in the area — on the other side of things, Admiral Juliano and General Branson from DC want to know how soon we can begin to sail on Hawaii and finish off the enemy fleet there. How would you like to proceed?”
Admiral Stonebridge sighed before responding, “Thank you for breaking me from my thoughts…we do need to make this decision soon. How many aircraft is the fleet short of right now? Also, what are your thoughts on our ability to effectively defend against a missile swarm attack?” He wanted a better idea of their defensive capability before he made the decision.
The captain looked through some files on his tablet before responding, “Sir, we are short 48 manned aircraft and 143 drones. We can probably get replacements from the forces in California prior to our leaving. As to the drone swarms, that is a good question. With the loss of nine of our support ships, I am not sure we could effectively defend against another major missile swarm. I think we would take a lot of hits.”
“That is a bit of a problem then. I’m sure you saw that NSA intercept. The enemy is planning a nice little welcoming party for us when we get closer to Hawaii. What are your thoughts on how we can overcome this?” asked Stonebridge, looking for ideas.
“Sir, we could request F41 support for this specific engagement. Also, the President has not changed our directive with regards to the use of nuclear torpedoes. We have a Seawolf class submarine off the coast of Hawaii, conducting surveillance. We could order them to use a nuclear torpedo against the enemy carriers once they have left the harbor and move to engage us. With more of the enemy carriers and support ships out of the picture, the number of anti-ship missiles they will be able to launch will be significantly reduced,” Mason suggested.
Admiral Stonebridge shot Captain Mason a very icy look with his already blue eyes. “No!” he exclaimed. “We will not use nuclear weapons. Our situation is not that desperate that we need to use a nuclear torpedo or weapon to win. I want a message sent to Captain Thompson, the CG of the Seawolf, asking them to engage in a second attack using conventional torpedoes. Tell him that he is to do anything he can to damage the enemy carriers. I will make the case to the President that we need the F41s for this mission. We will rely on them and their laser weapons systems to help us defeat the enemy drone swarms. Unless directed by the President, I will not use nuclear weapons.”
Stonebridge was visibly angry; you could see his blood pulsating through a vein on his forehead that was suddenly very noticeable. He had seen what those weapons could do up close and in person. His ship had survived a nuclear attack, but so many of his friends had died because of them. He would not be party to the use of such a brutal weapon.
“I did not mean to overstep,” Captain Mason said, trying to calm the Admiral down.
Stonebridge took a deep breath. “No, it’s OK. You are only looking for ways to protect our fleet. There are just some lines we should not cross. Nuclear weapons have been used enough in this war, I do not want to be the reason for why additional nukes are used.” As he spoke, he realized he might have over-reacted a bit. The vein near his temple slowly became a bit less obvious. “I will make the call to the President now; have everyone ready for the Commander’s Call tomorrow and we’ll discuss our plan in detail.”
“Yes, Sir,” Captain Mason replied. With his orders issued, he turned to leave.
The following four days were busy for the fleet. Admiral Stonebridge did obtain permission to use the only remaining squadron of F41s for the attack. The F41s would fly off from the carriers, so they could be brought to bear immediately. They would loiter high above the fleet and be used for the sole purpose of engaging enemy missiles heading towards the fleet. Their added firepower would greatly increase the survivability of the fleet. Their effort, along with the additional attack from the Seawolf, should make enough of a difference to turn the tide in their favor.
As the fleet set sail for Hawaii, the apprehension among the sailors was high. A lot was riding on the ability of the Seawolf to damage or sink the remaining PLAN and JDF carriers and the F41s’ ability to shoot down the inevitable missile and drone-swarm that was coming. Once the immediate threat had been neutralized, then the F38B attack drones and F35s could be sent in to attack the enemy fleet.
Ultimatum
In the dimly lit command center of the USS Seawolf, Commander Ramos approached Captain Thompson saying, “Sir, the enemy fleet is nearly on top of us right now. The carriers are approaching quickly.”