The battle of Portsmouth (KCQ): Part 3.

The guttural roar of a CIWS turret filled the air and tracers lanced out and cut an incoming shell from the air. The rest splashed down into the water next to the ship. “Incomming fire from the light cruiser.” The AIC officer reported. “The heavy cruiser is hanging back and the escorts have broken into two pairs to cover them.” More shells landed in the water around Reading, exploding underneath the waves and showering the deck with water.

In response, fire exploded from the foredeck as an LRASM launched out on a plume of fire and lanced towards the enemy fleet. The missile slammed into of one of the escorts, a destroyer, and blew a large hole into the stern as Reading’s AGS sent a shell straight into the side of the enemy ship. Blowing a chunk of the destroyer’s middle to scrap.

“HELM. HARD STARBOARD!” Bradford instructed and the ship lurched to its left, shells splashed into the water where Reading would have been. As the ship turned a harpoon shot straight off its crossed quad launchers stationed between forward radar mast and the polemast. The missile roared out at the enemy fleet, its internal guidance selecting the light cruiser. The harpoon sailed clean over the ship and splashed into the water behind it. Its warhead detonated beneath the water and sprayed the enemy ship with water.

“The returns are bouncing. We can’t get a solid lock on them.”

The AGS fired again, the booming report of the weapon drowned out the sound of the CIWS and the sound incoming shells. The round sailed towards an escort ship and hit the escort’s bridge, blowing the entire structure away.

As the missiles continued to miss their marks, The AGS continued firing. Between the advanced targeting systems and the two RQ-21 drones it had no trouble putting accurate fire onto the enemy ships. Another shell lanced out and slammed into the light cruiser’s deformed, maw-like bow. The round detonated inside the enemy ship and split it wide open.

The gun fired another shell as another LRASM was slung skyward from the Vertical Launchers. The round punched into one of the light cruiser’s turrets and blew it to pieces. The missile however, was unable to target the enemy ship and splashed into the water next to the cruiser. This was bad. The Reading only carried a limited number of missiles on, and painfully few of those missiles could strike the enemy ships. They were too precious weapons to be missing their targets. He supposed that he should be thankful that the Reading wasn't carrying LRLAP shells for it's main gun as budget cuts had called for the ammunition to be comprised mostly of basic high-explosive shells with delayed fuses and armour piercing shells, the was latter originally intended to punch into heavily re-enforced bunkers.

“AIC, shoot down those incoming aircraft. Then divert processing power to track those ships.” Bradford instructed, and three seconds later the VLS was engulfed in flames as Aster missiles ripple fired out towards the incoming enemy aircraft. Bradford looked at the radar display at the TAC officer’s station. A stream of missiles tracked towards the two groups of enemy aircraft, each line representing a missile vectored towards a red diamond representing an enemy aircraft. And one by one each red diamond winked out as they were shot from the sky.

That problem now dealt with, the powerful SAMPSON radar could be diverted to try and track the enemy surface combatants. And not a moment too soon, the enemy were landing their shots dangerously close, in spite of the terrible conditions.

The cruiser responded with a barrage of fire, supplemented by the cannons of the two destroyers. Many shells splashed into the water around the Reading, some were slapped out of the air by the CIWS turret and the 30mm autocannon. But two shells slammed into the ship, and punched out the other side. Instantly the ship’s damage klaxons screamed into life as damage control teams were notified of the impact points of the shells.

“Two impacts. One to section E two and another to section H zero-three. No detonation, they over-penetrated. Damage response teams are moving to put out any fires that may have started.” The AIC officer reported, Bradford released a breath he’s never known he was holding. There were many, much more important places that could have been hit. The officer’s mess and some beds were things that he was willing to loose, provided that there were no people in those areas.

“Helm, hard port. Heading 195.” Bradford instructed, the helmsman brought the cruiser sized ship around masterfully, presenting the starboard weapons to the enemy fleet and allowing time for the port CIWS to be reloaded. As the ship turned the port facing harpoon launcher fired a parting shot before the enemy was out of its firing arc. The missile speared straight into the light cruiser’s side and blew a neat hole in it.

“AIC, how long until Venom two takes off?” Bradford asked. He needed to know how long until his helicopter assets were in the air.

“Venom two is just spooling up now. Venom one is being refuelled now and will launch A-SAP.” The officer reported as the foredeck was engulfed in smoke as another LRASM launched and lanced towards the enemy flotilla. The missile arced up into the sky before coming down onto the deformed bow of one of the escorts, detonating below the enemy ship’s deck and blowing the bow clean off the ship.

As the Reading completed its turn the port CIWS fell silent. The starboard CIWS spun into action. A pair of LRASMs launched out at the enemy fleet, one missed while the other slammed into the closest destroyer and blew a hole into its blackened hull. The mauled destroyer, now missing both its bow and two sizable chunks of its hull seemingly began to slow before six small objects launched off its side. Six more launched off the side of the other destroyer which now nursed multiple craters and holes from where it had been hit multiple times by the Reading’s main cannon.

“SONAR CONTACT. TORPEDOES BEARING SIX SIX!” The TAC officer reported, now having to yell over the sound of the 155mm main cannon and the CIWS.

“AIC, TAKE THOSE TORPEDOS OUT.” Bradford ordered, and less than a second later the AGS fired at maximum depression, sending a High explosive round straight into the path of one of the incoming torpedoes and detonating it prematurely. On the screen to Bradford’s right a pair of torpedoes dropped off the weapons counter as they were fired. The two torpedoes lanced out and intercepted another pair of enemy torpedoes as the starboard 30mm cannon fired at another.

The Reading now had a window in the enemy torpedo barrage in which to pass through without having a massive hole ripped below it's waterline. But the lack of fire going downrange had given the enemy cruiser the time it needed to fire another salvo. The CIWS roared again but it was not enough. Three shells hit the Reading and exploded, violently shaking the ship.

“Multiple impacts, damage to sections M two, E zero one and G one. Fire suppression systems are active and damage control teams are moving to put out fires.” The AIC officer reported. Bradford knew that things were not going well. Reading was constructed mostly out of light metals and composites. Extensive armour plating was a thing of the past but right now Bradford would kill for some old fashioned steel plates. Hits like that would shred the ship to pieces in seconds, especially if they hit the hanger or the VLS.

Bradford looked up in time to see one of the enemy destroyers -the one that was missing its bow- finally keel over in the heavy seas. The gaping holes along in its hull had allowed too much water to flood into it. The destroyer quickly rolled onto its side and began to sink beneath the waves.

“Venom two is in the air.” The TAC officer reported. And as if to confirm this, a missile streaked from high above the Reading and slammed into the bridge of the light cruiser. The sound of rotor blades was audible over the roar of the CIWS slapping shells from the sky as the helicopter flew overhead and in front of the Reading’s bow.

Anti-aircraft fire erupted from the remaining destroyer as it tried to swat the wildcat from the air. The helicopter quickly jinked away from the incoming anti-aircraft fire. This increased fire from the enemy destroyers was answered with return fire from the helicopter and from the Reading itself.

Bradford looked back at his screen. The ship layout on it his right showed many damaged sections shaded in red and others in yellow. Bradford frowned at the yellow shaded engines. He knew that they were being run harder than they were ever meant to go, but if there was any chance of the ship and its crew surviving this engagement they needed to sail fast and shoot straight.

Speaking of which, the munitions counter was not telling good news either. Of the Reading’s 30 LRASMs, only 21 remained unfired, and those would not last very long. There were only 5 harpoons left in the tubes and with only one of them having successfully hit its target, the chances of them making up for their early loss were low. Only 16 Aster 15 missiles and 6 sea meteors remained, the AGS had fired roughly a quarter of its magazine, and was running low on AP shells. The ship’s two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers had also been firing, likely intercepting shells bound for Portsmouth. But without the recent HAS upgrade they were no use against enemy ships. The CIWS turrets and the 30mm cannons were beginning to run low on ammunition too.

With munitions running out and only one enemy ship sunk things were looking bad.

The AGS fired again, sending another shell into the enemy cruiser and blowing another hole in its side. As the shell impacted a harpoon sailed out and slammed into the water near to the remaining escort. However this seemingly botched missile still served its purpose as it detonated beneath the enemy ship. The warhead propelled the ship up, and gravity brought it back down into the vacuum caused by the detonation. This snapped the ship’s spine and broke it in two.  As the two halves began to rapidly sink beneath the waves, the escort's forward cannon fired once more. The shell arched high into the air, and detonated next to the helicopter.

The wildcat spun out of control as the pilot temporarily lost control, the damaged helicopter screamed towards the enemy cruiser, its engine belching black smoke as it dived on a terminal trajectory. A solitary anti-ship missile remained on its hard point, likely jammed there by shrapnel. The helicopter's pilot just barely managed to be reign in his bird long enough to place it on the most destructive possible. And just like that the helicopter slammed into the hole in the cruiser’s deck where its turret once sat. The wildcat disappeared for a second as it plunged deep into the enemy ship before detonating. Setting off the cruiser’s magazine and starting a chain reaction that tore the ship apart. The rippling blast could be heard and felt even inside the bridge. But even as the enemy cruiser sank beneath the waves, Reading’s defensive systems kept firing. The shells now coming from the heavy cruiser, it’s guns directed against the ship.

“Captain, the enemy heavy cruiser is firing on us, I recommend-“ The connection was suddenly cut off as a shell passed the ship’s defences and slammed into the ship.

“Captain, the AIC has been hit!” The TAC officer reported in a panicked tone. This was not good, the AIC was the nerve center of the ship. With it destroyed there would be no-one operating the missile launchers and the assorted guns.

Unless…

“Alright.” Bradford said to everyone in the bridge, his voice stern and commanding in spite of the situation. “We’re going to be assuming direct control of the Reading. TAC, you’re on weapons. Set the CIWS, Thirty-mills and RAM launchers to automatic targeting. Grant, you’re in charge of crew direction. Get the damage control teams to the AIC to look for survivors and put out any fires that might have sprung up. Helm, bring us parallel to the enemy ships.” And on his orders the bridge moved. Grant tapped away at his tablet while the TAC officer set about re-targeting the weapons.

As they set about their tasks Bradford picked up the phone from besides his seat and set it to the ship-wide channel.

“All hands, this is the captain. Make preparations to abandon ship.” Bradford placed the phone back down and looked out the bridge windows.

Out in the stormy seas the three remaining enemy ships remained. The fire from the two escorts was largely ineffective, the stormy seas threw their aims off too much for them to be able to effectively compensate. But the heavy cruiser had no such problem, the only thing that prevented it from targeting the ship effectively was the Reading’s defensive guns intercepting it’s shells mid-trajectory.

“Planning for the worst sir?” Grant said as he handed Bradford a lifejacket. Bradford nodded as he put on the bright orange vest.

“All things considered we’ve been lucky thus far. I want to be prepared just in case it inevitably stops.” Grant nodded in acknowledgement before returning to his pad.

“By the way sir, Venom two is just spooling up now. They’re loaded with anti-shipping missiles.” Bradford nodded at Grant’s report as the enemy cruiser fired again. The shells arced through the air. As the shells flew through the air they were intercepted by the RIM-116 missiles and Sea meteors. But as the shells lanced closer the starboard CIWS fired it’s last burst.

The ship shook as a large explosion shook through the ship. The master fire warning sirens sprang into action. Grant tapped away at his tablet before announcing the damage.

“The hanger has been hit, the aft Sea-RAM is down. Venom two is hit. The entire aft section is burning. Damage control teams are moving to combat the fire and engine crews are evacuating. ” Grant reported. This was not good, a fire back there could kill the engines very quickly. The AGS fired again, sending a shell at the heavy cruiser, it bounced off the side of one of the ship’s turrets. Less than a second after that a pair of Harpoons fired from their launchers and lanced towards the enemy fleet. One of them slammed into one of the heavy cruiser’s turrets while the second pierced the side of one of the escorts.

“Helm bring us about, hard starboard.” The helmsman pulled the ship into an emergency turn as a trio of LRASMs launched from the VLS. Their trajectory sent them over the ship as they sailed towards the enemy fleet.

As the ship completed it’s turn the port CIWS fired again, cutting incoming shells from the skies. Another three missiles launched out and spread out between the enemy ships. A cursory glance at the chart on the screen next to the captain’s chair showed him that the reading only had three Harpoons, 12 LRASMs and 16 Aster 15 missiles.

Bradford nodded, he could work with this.

A pair of LRASMs slammed into the enemy ships, one for the Heavy cruiser and and one for an escort. The one bound for the heavy cruiser impacted into its superstructure while the one that was meant for the escort punched into its hull and detonated. Another pair of LRASMs sailed out and splashed down near to the two escorts.

“Captain, message from the fleet.” The comms officer announced. “HMS Dragon and HMS Richmond are sailing out to support us.”

Bradford nodded at the report as the AGS thundered again. The combined fire from the AGS and assorted missiles was beginning to take its toll as the enemy ships began to be deformed by the combined fire. At the current rate, the enemy might be sunk before support arrived.

The AGS fired again, and again and again, slinging high explosive shells into one of the escorts with murderous intent. Each shell took chunks from the enemy ship. But a harpoon to its centre finished the job. The missile hit something vital as the enemy ship began to break apart. The tac officer whooped in success.

“Well done, now target the heavy cruiser. We’re on the home stretch now, let’s finish this and go home!” Bradford announced. The feeling of imminent success filled his heart as the AGS turned to engage the heavy cruiser. The gun fired. But the shell never hit it’s target, it instead hit a giant ship that broke out of the water between the Reading and the enemy cruiser.

The ship was massive. It had a pair of central smoke stacks, in front and behind those stacks were two tusk like masts. Four large, triple gunned turrets were spread about the ship, two near to the bow with another two at the stern. And along it’s sides were cannons, each one was mounted in maw like casements. Bradford knew exactly what type of ship it was the second he saw it. He’d done a case study on them during naval theory.

Before him sat a dreadnought. And it’s heavy guns were already traversing to send a devastating salvo against his ship.

“TAC! TARGET THAT DREADNOUGHT. FIRE EVERYTHING!” Bradford yelled, any semblance of control lost. Fire erupted from the VLS as the remaining LRASMs launched at the new target. He snatched up the captain’s phone, already connected to the ship-wide frequency.

“All hands abandon ship. Repeat-“ Suddenly blackness enshrouded him.

When Bradford came back to his senses he realised that he was no longer on the bridge, he was now underwater. This only lasted for a few seconds as his life vest dragged him to the surface of the stormy seas. Pain lanced through his body.

Bradford looked down at himself, wondering just how much he’d been hurt by what had sent him from his bridge. His observations concluded in a simple way, he was screwed. Sticking out of his chest were spikes of grey metal, parts of Reading’s hull that must have been lodged there via an explosion. The explosion had also ripped off part of his left leg as he couldn't feel his foot. With such a massive wound bleeding out into the open sea Bradford knew that his end was close. Morbid curiosity pressed him to try and look for his ship. He could not see his ship before him so he turned to try and find it. If his face was not already pale from blood loss then it would have paled at the sight before him.

Before him Reading burned.

Her bow was sinking beneath the waves. The main gun mounting was empty; the AGS that once sat there must have taken a direct hit as there was nothing left of it but a crater. The bridge was a burning wreck. The forward radar mast had collapsed into the sea, barely being held onto the ship. Steel beams stuck out of the mast and its base where its metal skin had been shredded away. Behind it the two harpoon launchers were distant memories, the launchers now engulfed in flames. Next to them the towering masts that once housed complex radar and sensor systems were brutally severed. The state of these ‘stumps’ reminded him of brutally amputated limbs, with the bones replaced by metal beams and the arteries and veins replaced by thick cables.

The ship was burning everywhere, but none more violently than at the hanger. There the fire was fuelled by the aviation fuel for the two Wildcat helicopters. And at the very end of the ship, the wreck of one of those Wildcats burned. Even from this far away he could see the body of one of the helicopter’s crew, the pilot’s flesh was burned away showing scorched black bones. And on the flank of the ship the phalanx CIWS turrets were silent: the one he could see was still tracking targets. It’s in-built fire control system kept it pointing and its barrel spinning. But with no ammunition it was about as lethal as a paper tiger. He knew that the other wasn't firing due to the lack of tracers coming from the opposite side of the ship, but if it was destroyed or out of ammunition was up unknown to him.

All along the hull of the ship crew members jumped off, leaping from great holes in the superstructure where shells had impacted. But the ship wasn't finished yet. All along her hull crew members fired against the hostile aircraft with rifles, machine guns and the single remaining mounted weapon, a thirty millimetre cannon usually suited to destroying speedboats and other small ships. Its fury was now vented skyward, thundering at vulture-like aircraft that circled the slowly sinking carcass of the once proud vessel. But the screaming sound of incoming aircraft marked an end to that.

Gunfire raked across the ship, defiant crewmen were slaughtered as hundreds of rounds were slung at them. The brave gunner on the thirty millimetre gun was ripped apart, his position afforded him no cover to defend from the aircraft that was firing on him. Both the man and his gun were shredded by incoming fire. Then, seemingly fuelled by a lust for blood, the enemy aircraft turned their guns against those who could not fight back. The already choppy sea was torn up as bullets ripped into it, searching for anyone who might have survived the initial slaughter.

Bradford felt something boring into the back of his head, like the stare of a drill sergeant during basic training only much more murderous. Bradford turned around and gazed upon something that should not be.

Before him, roughly about 50 to 100 meters away stood a woman. If the fact that she was standing on water didn’t clue him into the fact that there was some spooky stuff going on then her pale white skin was a dead giveaway. What looked like parts of ship were wrapped around her, these hull shaped parts had cannons stick out of the outward faces, away from the “girl” in the centre. Four turrets jutted out from her back on black, bone like struts. Her hair was pale while and tied into two twin tails that flowed over her shoulders. Her light blue eyes would have been cute if they weren't so soulless. Her uniform was old fashioned, the only deviation being a short, nearly thigh length skirt. From his position, Bradford could even make out the colour of her panties when the wind hiked her skirt up.

White and blue stripes seemed rather out of place with the rest of the outfit.

This “girl” looked down at Bradford. A cruel smile creped across her face, like the smile of a psychopath that has found a new victim. Her turrets slowly traversed down until Bradford was staring down the barrels. She smiled, there was a flash, and Bradford felt himself being dragged into the inky blackness once more.

For what felt like seconds, but for intents and purposes could have been years. Bradford felt nothing, heard nothing and saw nothing. But suddenly he heard slow beeps. His senses came back to him like they were warming up after a deep sleep. His eyes slowly opened and he surveyed his surroundings with what little energy he had.

He was in a hospital, the bare white walls and the scent of bleach gave it away enough. He was lying in bed in what looked like a private room. A rather nice one at that, a television sat on a stand and the window let in a lot of light. On the bedside table to his left hat a large amount of flowers, cards and what looked like medals. But he could not identify what medals they were. On his right was a woman with short, brown hair. Her head was rested against the bed. She was a woman he would identify anywhere, his sister.

Bradford tried to speak but all that came out was a pained groan. But it was enough to get her attention. She lifted her head and looked at him, before beginning to cry.

She leant over him and wrapped him in a tight hug as she cried into his side. Bradford lifted an arm with all his effort and placed it on his sister’s back, returning the hug as best as he could.

As he lay there, Captain Joseph Bradford wondered just what was responsible for his previous battle, the loss of his ship and the injuries he’d sustained.

In the hospital bed, just a few minutes after he’d woken up from his injuries. Joseph Bradford plotted his revenge.