A week later.Of the 196 countries in the world, 194 of them had finished preparing to deal with the final two, Eden and Esparia. Their forces gathered and the first phase of their preparations completed, they began their inexorable march toward the “terrorist and dictator” that ruled over Eden.America was sending eight of their twelve carrier groups, and every other country that had a navy was sending their own as well. China, India, France, and the United Kingdom had each sent a carrier group to join the eight American fleets; the only nation missing was Russia, whose only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov, had been damaged by a fire a month before and was currently undergoing repairs.But even without Russia in the mix, fourteen aircraft carriers with all of their escorts as well as a token from every other non-landlocked country in the world had gathered in the Pacific Ocean and were currently sailing toward what they thought would be a walkover vict
(Ed note: This title reference is a bit obscure, so I’ll give it to you as a freebie: it’s a dual reference to the 1971 Gill Scott-Heron song, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”; and the British TV series, “The Revolution Will Be Televised”, which ran for three series from 2012-2015.)With Poseidon and Aeolus both occupied with directing the Edenian missile defense response, the situation was tight, but manageable. After all, their big sister Athena was still watching out for them and picking up the slack while maintaining overall command and control. Thus, the entire defensive effort was moving along like clockwork and missile after missile was being taken down with the smallest amount of waste possible, leaving the allied forces completely flabbergasted by the efficient response.Only now did they realize that Eden’s capabilities were far beyond even their most pessimistic overestimations, but it was too late. They had already climbed on the tiger’s back and now they could do no
The image on televisions everywhere in Eden and Esparia was the flagship of the Edenian Reaction Fleet, the aircraft carrier EV Beowulf, and its task group. It was currently sailing to the east of Esparia, where the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group had sailed in an attempt to outflank the Poseidon Navy defenders.In the flag bridge on the EV Beowulf.“Sir, the Carl Vinson and its escorts have entered our effective range,” the flag lieutenant reported. “Orders, sir?”“Signal the fleet: all stop,” Admiral Pedro Gutierrez ordered. Edenian naval doctrine emphasized independent battlefield commands, believing that as their theater of operations would only continue to grow, a centralized command structure would prove more harmful than beneficial. Especially once they started operating on an intergalactic scale. Thus, Athena and Poseidon had decided to step back and allow their commanders on the front line the freedom to command.“All stop, aye sir,” the flag lieutenant confirmed, then
The crew of the USS Carl Vinson was like a kicked beehive as they scrambled around the massive Nimitz class aircraft carrier. Damage control teams rushed here and there, putting out fires and carrying injured crew to the sickbays, while the bridge crew continued attempting to contact the flag bridge, but to no avail. The powerful impact of the three Type VI Hulk Fist rounds fired by the EV Heidrek had sent enough of a shock through the carrier that it had even caused breaks in the electrical wiring running through the bulkheads and decks of the American vessel.Type VI Hulk Fist rounds were considered something of an inside joke by the researchers in Lab City that had come up with them. Indeed, they were shaped like a muscular forearm that ended in a gigantic fist, and the electrical steel that coated them was even covered in a layer of green conductive paint. They were crude, brutal, and designed for one thing and one thing only: delivering the greatest blunt impact force possible to
The captain’s gig carrying Admiral McConnel reached the USS Lake Champlain and the admiral wasted no time in boarding the ship.“Action plan?” he asked the moment he reached the bridge.“We managed to get twenty jets in the air and have three missile cruisers plus whatever’s already armed on the Carl Vinson. That might convince them to cease their attack, but I doubt it. The best we can hope for is that it distracts them long enough to stage a rescue mission and pick up the crew of the Vinson and retreat. Absolute best case scenario, we might cause some damage, though I doubt it. Did you see what happened to our missile swarm? That was thousands of missiles all swatted out of the sky, so our launchers probably won’t even chip the paint on the fleet in front of us,” the captain reported.“Are you telling me that an entire carrier strike group is helpless against a frigate!? Just. One FRIGATE!?” the admiral spat, his face purpling in rage. “Our navy, the same navy that keeps the entire
“How much longer until the deadline?” the captain of the Heidrek asked as he gazed at the incoming attack.“Fifteen seconds, sir,” the comms officer replied.“If they don’t surrender by the—”The captain was interrupted by his comms officer. “Signal from the flag, sir. Admiral Gutierrez sends, ‘sink the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group. God speed and good hunting, gentlemen.’”“Well, let’s not disappoint the admiral, shall we? Heidrek, please clean my sky,” the captain ordered.{Aye, sir. Sky cleaning in progress,} the ship’s AI replied, then sounded a brief maneuvering alert. {Brace for maneuvers in 3... 2... 1. Maneuvering.}The Heidrek rotated in place on the ocean like a spinning top, allowing her to bring both her fore and aft metalstorms to bear on the incoming jets and ordnance. While there were only two of them, compared to the hundreds of air defense options in the much bigger Edenian reaction fleet, they were also being targeted by far fewer attackers.In a matter of sec
Since Nova wanted to hide her repair of the Edenian internet and its reconnection to the rest of the world, she had thought up a devious idea. {Sir, how about we show the coalition forces exactly how we took out the Carl Vinson strike group?} she said with a sinister grin on her face.Aron, who was sitting in the virtual command center with Athena, Poseidon, Aeolus, Nova, and the human leaders of the ARES branches under them, thought for a moment, then asked, “Do you think it’ll work?”{Of course it will, sir,} Nova confidently replied.“Then let’s do it. Put up the live feed on all of the screens in their ships.”Soon, every monitor aboard every vessel in the coalition fleet showed the scene of the EV Heidrek singlehandedly taking down an entire carrier strike group. From the first hulk smashers that impacted the Carl Vinson all the way to the final round of widowmakers that put paid to the American flanking attempt. Then the feed cut off. The entire thing had been presented raw and
President Trump quickly collected himself; he couldn’t possibly allow a subordinate to see him as anything less than perfect, after all.He put aside the issue of Admiral McConnel for the moment and would deal with the intelligence failure first. Soon, the Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats entered the Oval Office alongside the Secretary of Defense, General Mattis.Trump slammed both of his hands on the resolute desk and stood up, leaning over the surface of the historied piece of furniture. “How the fuck did you manage to fail this hard? I mean, really, how fucking dumb do you have to be to not notice a ship that’s a kilometer and a half long!? And there’s even TEN OF THEM!” he screamed. The man in front of him was absolutely useless... no, he was beyond useless. Everyone around him was useless! All they ever did was fail, fail, and fail some more, leaving him to take the blame! He was furious; how dare they taint his legacy with their idiocy!He forcibly calmed himself and