OSS John F. Kennedy, head of SAG 17
"Andrews? Talk to me. What assets do we have?"
"Sir, I have a P-8 from Cebu about 300 miles away. SSN OSS Arizona is about an hour or so away, given their current heading and speed. I estimate that if we can ELF her she'll come here ASAP."
"Get that P-8 over here, and inform Theater that we need the Arizona ELF'd over to us. When she gets online, holler at me, and give her an action order."
Watkins was scratching the back of his head, trying to rid himself of that itchy feeling, the one of impending chaos. He knew something was up with that task force, but he didn't know who would fire the first shot. Officially, the ROE had been to not engage enemy ships, only rebel positions. It might be soon to change today. "Skipper, sound general quarters." As a precaution, he also said “Set helos to ASW patterns, and deploy the Nixies.”
"Bridge, this is Captain. Set condition one, battle stations."
All of a sudden, klaxons started hooting across the ship, followed by the same droning message three times. “General Quarters, General Quarters, man your battle stations!”
The communications tech yelled out "P-8 online, sir. I'm patching it to the display now."
The P-8 Posiedon is a militarized version of the 737-800ERX. Armed with a small amount of sonobuoys, torpedoes, and Harpoon missiles, the primary purpose of this aircraft was maritime patrol. Needless to say, the powerful sensor and camera array on the stable platform allowed the ship a clear view of the action.
"Shit. It looks like a hostile SAG. This is getting real ugly. Ask theater for air support from Singapore and Cebu if possible. I don't want a bald spot on our head. Captain, how are we loaded for the VLS?"
"The task force is looking at a combined 200 ESSM Block-II's and 80 SM-6's, which should give us enough magazine depth to counter any atta-" He was cut off by the frenzied screaming of a technician.
"P-8 detects heat bloom from enemy tangos. Rocket boosters firing. I count... 12 vampires. I repeat, TWELVE VAMPIRES IN THE AIR. ALL MARKS ON TUSCALOOSA."
The response was as simple as it gets.
"All ships, weapons free; anti-air."
The Aegis combat system on all four ships was purpose-built to defend against swarms of enemy missiles heading towards a surface group. Through modern networking technology, each ships targeting computer saw what every other ship in the system saw. That resulted in a fully integrated air defense system that could engage nearly any target, in air and space. Twelve vampires meant three marks for each ship. With the distance between Tuscaloosa, an ASW ship, and the two Anti-Air destroyers Omaha Beach and Chancellorsville, just a short 8km away, the task force was never in danger of an attack. The roaring of the VLS was almost anti-climactic. Those twelve ASM's were targeted by nearly 300 anti-air missiles. The task force fired just 18 missiles- 6 of the SM-6 kind, and 12 of the ESSM Block II's when the targets moved into the 80km engagement range. Not a single hit on the TF was reported.
"Sir, response from theater. Shall I read it out loud?"
"Yes."
"Fleet to Alpha November, Actual. ROE has changed. Free to engage enemy targets at own discretion. Defend your command at any means. Fleet ends."
Without hesitation, he knew what to do.
"Weps? What's our magazine for anti-shipping?"
"16 NSM's on the Tusc. 66 TLAM's, normally used against land targets, but we can target moving ships with them. Our main striking arm are our 88 LRASM's. Enemy SAG is touching the limits of their range, but I'm fairly confident we can hit. Lastly, we have our 12 C-HGB's onboard this ship."
Thomas glanced at Watkins. "Sir, Tango one, at the head of the formation, has drifted slightly out of the other ship's AA envelope. Suggest a timed attack with four LRASM's.
"I concur. Plot."
The weapons officer had the targeting solution on the system ready within seconds. "Ready to fire."
Watkins and Thomas exchanged glances. "Admiral Watkins, Sir. I concur with your assessment that our ROE has been met. Concur decision to shoot."
Watkins replied "Weps, fire at will."
"Shooting now."
The LRASM's leaped out of the VLS cells from the Kennedy. The rocket booster ignited for a few seconds, propelling them away from the ship, before falling into the sea and turning LRASM into a cruise missile. A stealthy, high-subsonic weapon, the LRASM's onboard computer allowed it to evade enemy "pop-up" targets before diving down to sea-skimming altitude for the terminal approach. From there on, it would rely on the infrared sensors in the nose to plan out the terminal maneuvers designed to sway the enemy CIWS systems.
The display showed all missiles converging rapidly onto the exposed, vulnerable, lead ship...