Gena stood on the bridge of the Slava. The cruiser and most of the destroyers of TF south had hauled ass across the Pacific to regroup with TF Pacific before they reached the Hawaiian islands. Gena looked out over the largest group of warships at the disposal of the Soviet Union with a tinge of pride.
Though the reason he'd hauled ass across the pacific was because only a few ships of the US Pacific fleet had been in San Diego, and those were scuttled, left behind vessels. Gena and high command had speculated, but it was likely the Americans had evacuated to Pearl Harbor, though it was possible they had gone even further.
Regardless, General Reichenbacher had ordered him to get to TF Pacific and assume command, placing a trusted subordinate in charge of TF South. Now the task force was cruising almost five hundred miles due east of the islands. Several helicopters were being prepared to be launched. They'd fly towards the island and if anything appears on radar they'd come running back, no reason to prod the bear…
Gena still held his doubts about the US navy being so superior. But his orders were to not anger the American fleet unnecessarily. As much as he disagreed with his orders, he'd follow them, until proven they were no longer applicable to the situation.
"Anything on radar?" He asked the captain again, receiving a negative reply. Why would they be flying? It's unlikely, they would probably be focused on survival than actual intelligence gathering they were…
"Shit! Contact!" The radar operator screamed.
"Altitude 32,000 feet, bearing 290, speed, 800 knots… range, 70 miles and closing."
The general quarters alarm blared. Its harsh tone resounded through the bridge. Sailors across the fleet scrambled to their stations. Gena walked over to the station, standing behind the radar operator.
"Identify the track!"
"Sir, they appear to be Hornets, carrier based aircraft." The operator replied.
"Small mercies." Gena muttered under his breath as the unidentified aircraft streaked closer. Missiles at this range… he pushed the thought aside
"Maintain course and heading." Gena instructed the captain. He walked to the bridge wing, watching the sky as a pair of aircraft streaked over the fleet.
The aircraft streaked overhead. Unmistakably an American carrier aircraft. But how had it gotten so close without being detected? How far, how much had the Americans advanced? The thought chilled the commodore to his bones.
"Commodore, radio transmission, it's in the clear, no encryption." Gena stepped back inside the bridge, walking over to the communications station.
"Attention unidentified naval vessels, you are in American waters, leave now or we will be forced to fire upon you." The operator translated.
"Reply with our message. We are ships of the Soviet navy operating in concordance with international law. We will exercise our right to navigate the oceans. Our orders obligate us to determine if there is life on the Hawaiian archipelago."
A few tense minutes passed while they waited. A report came back and the operator translated the reply.
"Proceed along bearing 195, deviations will lead to us firing upon you."
The commodore grit his teeth but nodded to the captain. The radars were on, but the only contact was this single aircraft orbiting high above. The fleet changed course, following the bearing that would take them south of the islands.
"Sir, sonar contact! Leviathan, 80 miles, approaching fast. Bearing 113!" The sonar man screamed.
"Inform our guests we have a leviathan to deal with." Gena instructed the radio operator…
Gena quickly went through the roster of assets in his head. He had the Slava, five Udaloys, and three Krivaks as well as all of the ships air complement.
"Get the helicopters airborne, ready to drop torpedoes… dispatch the Midnight Revolution, and Minsk to intercept…"
Gena ordered calmly. His orders were issued and helicopters scrambled, lifting off the flight deck and racing south as Midnight Revolution, a Krivak and the Minsk, a Udaloy turned south and accelerated to full.
Towed sonar arrays were dropped into the water, trailing behind the ships. It was long before the Ka-27s were circling above the leviathan. Torpedoes were dropped into the sea, within minutes frothy red water rose to the surface.
The levithan, not yet dead, raced forward, increasing its speed dramatically. The beast rose, a large dorsal fin piercing the surface. The Minsk and Midnight Revolution opened fire, shells streaking towards the beast.
The Minsk fired a Stallion, the torpedo flying from the tube and slapping into the sea before racing away from the destroyer. The midnight Revolution followed suit, firing a pair of torpedoes into the sea.
The massive leviathan, rather similar to a gigantic shark dove deep. The torpedoes followed without hesitation. The pings from their sonar illuminated the creature as it doubled back in an attempt to get away from the torpedoes. As the soviets fought the leviathan the lone super Hornets high above related everything to his command.
Gena refused the desire to swear like a sailor as the leviathan moved increasingly closer, the Minsk and Midnight Revolution firing another three torpedoes between them. The two vessels were barely a mile distant from the rest of the fleet when Gena saw the rocket propelled depth charges fire into the sky, thin trails of smoke leading into the sky.
The rub 6000 fired off all its depth charges, landing in the water before the leviathan and quickly sinking in front of it. The charges exploded as the leviathan passed through them. A silent rumble rippled across the surface of the water. The sonar screen updated and Gena's head snapped upwards. The leviathan was under them, rising rapidly…
The sea on either side of the Midnight Revolution erupted, water and spray flying everywhere as the whole frigate was hefted out of the sea, massive jaws on either side of the ship. The jaws slammed shut, metal audible screeching even over the vast distance as the gigantic shark closed its jaws. The beast was mostly out of the water, it's massive bulk having shoved the Soviet frigate nearly three hundred feet above the sea when the ship vanished under a bright snap of light.
The Midnight Revolution exploded as its forward magazines detonated, the lower jaw was blown clean off the shark leviathan, and the beast recoiled back, the rear or the Midnight Revolution slammed back into the sea. Settling before quickly taking on water and diving into the depths. The bridge of the Slava was silent, you could have heard a pin drop as the shockwave raced across the sea and washed over the fleet.
The crack of the explosion snapped Gena out of his stupor. "Fire!"
The shout rang through the bridge as all eyes trained on the leviathan. Much of its back and its massive dorsal fin stuck out of the water. Quickly every gun in the fleet was slinging metal at the beast. Tracers from autocannons and cwis cut bright paths of light through the growing dusk, cannons snapped, vomiting shells as quickly as they could into the leviathan. Explosions rippled across the beast's back. Black ichor running down its back and staining the sea.
The Minsk opened the distance, dropping its remaining torpedoes into the water. Several pillars of black water fell upon the creature's side and the amount of fire from the fleet fell off. Silence once again claimed the battlefield with the creature's death.
The Soviet fleet would proceed southwest through the night, their aerial watchers changing a few times. Around midnight they would come across an American Destroyer, the Ramage. They'd remained in contact with their American counterparts prior. Now the Ramage would lead them into Pearl Harbor.
Gena stood on the bridgewing, staring at the American destroyer a mile ahead of the Slava. She was of the Alreigh Burke class destroyers, which scant information was available to the Soviet fleet. Communications with General Reichenbacher had revealed that to his knowledge, it was the only destroyer class in active service with the US navy…
That didn't sit well with Gena as his computers and data references had no data on the class. The fleet was trying to determine the capability of a vessel they had no idea about, though from the General's communications the ship had weaponry modernized from the early 2000s…
The fleet entered Pearl Harbor at 0957, all flags streaming under a fresh breeze, a rainstorm having just passed over the islands. A brief salute was fired from the guns, which the Americans returned. Gena looked around the harbor, a few dozen destroyers, a few submarines, handfuls of logistical and support vessels, and the large, imposing USS Theadore Rosevelt dominated the harbor. Even as he watched a pair of Hornets took off from the aircraft carrier and thundered into the sky.
Just looking around the bay Gena could tell that the undead here had already been curtailed. Civilians worked without care, or openly gawked at the Soviet vessels.
The crew did much the same, the iconic harbor was a symbol of American naval prowess and history now stood as a bastion amidst the chaos of the world. The sheer scale of the military presence of the Americans caused unease to gnaw at the Soviet crews.
The Theadore Roosevelt, with its imposing silhouette was a stark reminder of the power the United States still wielded. The aircraft hurtling into the sky only reinforced that point. They were only guests here, at the mercy of the Americans and their modern fleet. They were only temporary allies in this chaos against the undead.
Slowly the cruiser came alongside a berth and mooring lines were thrown, the Captain and helmsman edged the ship closer, bringing her to a stop as the lines were tied and secured. A small detail had been prepared to greet them. Gena disembarked with a few sailors behind him to a salute from an American officer.
Gena saluted and spoke in broken English. "Commodore Gena, commander of Soviet naval forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics."
The American officer replied. Dressed smartly in his dress uniform. His gaze held a resolution that reminded Gena of General Reichenbacher. "Pleasure to meet you. Rear Admiral Reichert, commander United States Pacific command."
The two continued talking as they made their way into some nearby buildings, several of the Fleet's captains joined Gena while he was being introduced to several American officers.
"General Howard, 25th infantry." Gena was introduced to a man with hard steely eyes dressed in an American army uniform.
"Colonel Maithers, 2nd Marine regiment." Gena nodded to the marine, a short, heavyset man with more muscles than everyone else in the room.
Gena briefly introduced his officers as everyone sat at the table, eyeing each other with suspicion. The air felt rife with tension, like a string drawn taught, ready to snap at the slightest provocation.
"You're a long way from Vladivostok Commodore…" Colonel Maithers said with a calm, yet direct tone.
"We are all a long way from Vladivostok, what does that have to do with our current situation?" Gena replied.
"Your orders, as you informed us, were to ascertain life among the Hawaiian archipelago…" Maithers replied while Reichert gave him a look similar to what Reichenbacher gave Ivanov when he spoke out of turn…
"Ah, there seems to be some fundamental communication error. Neither my fleet nor myself came from Vladivostok." Gena replied.
"You crossed the Atlantic?" General Howard asked with an undertone of incredulity. Gena had everyone's attention.
"No, my fleet is based in Los Angeles, the capital of the Union." Gena replied.
"You've invaded American soil?!?" Maithers leapt to his feet. And Howard grabbed his arm.
"No… my commanding officer would be more than happy to explain, but as of this moment he is currently at Fob LAX, if you allow it he will board a plane with the Premier following the election and fly here post haste."
"Very well, we'll meet your commander…" Admiral Reichert spoke softly.