| 032 | Herd of Leviathans

Inside the Combat Information Center of the UNS Light Bringer, Abraham watched the live footage recorded by a Seahawk. Within the live footage was the herd of sea monsters propelling themselves into the location of the United Navy Fleet.

Abraham's eyebrows were furrowed as the reality of their circumstances set into his mind. It was far from good, especially with their newly-acquired intelligence.

'Sea monsters with a length of between fifty meters and a hundred meters are heading towards us. Despite their size, they also seem very fast. Can we even handle them?'

He silently thought with a grave expression. If they wanted to win against their incoming adversaries, they must carry out a first strike.

"Fleet Admiral, what are our further orders?" Captain Lux inquired with profoundness. Abraham was interrupted from his thoughts and glanced at the captain.

"Let's execute our first-strike protocol and immediately throw every anti-surface and anti-submarine ordnance we have towards them."

"These sea monsters are extremely dangerous. The moment they get close to us will be the time our fleet will meet its demise."

Regardless of how big or metallic their warship was, two or three sea monsters might be able to sink them. And with a herd of them incoming, it was obvious what the result was.

"Understood, Fleet Admiral. We will be launching our available standard missiles." While it was painful to waste millions of dollars, it was for a chance of survival.

"Good, I want them ready in 2 minutes." Abraham nodded in satisfaction and Captain Lux began implementing the orders of the Fleet Admiral.

With Captain Lux gone, Abraham was left alone, observing the herd of Leviathans. Laplace gave deeper information about these creatures, and he finally understood why the spell was forbidden.

Leviathans were violent sea creatures that traveled in a herd of a dozen or more. They were serpentine in form, but with several tentacles dangling from their body. 

These oceanic abominations have scales that not even a barrage of cannon balls couldn't penetrate, and an acidic saliva that could melt anything or anyone.

They would sink any ships in their nearby vicinity as though it was their covenant, so they weren't useful for military purposes, which the nations of foreigners understood.

But while not useful for military purposes, they were a trump card that could be used when one was fated to die against the enemy.

It was the concept of mutually assured destruction or MAD. The fact that these locals understood the concept was already problematic for the Fleet Admiral.

'I can't help but feel that things will become more complicated in the future.' Abraham thought while shaking his head in annoyance.

He already understood that his life in this world would be far from a calm one. But this was too much for a middle-aged man like him to handle.

Just after handling a naval battle, destiny wanted him to fight against a sea monster? How much does it want him to die?

Abraham couldn't help but feel that the world was against him. It felt a bit foolish to feel such a way, though it was hard not to.

'Let's stop being narcissistic and handle the trouble.' He wryly smiled and quietly thought to himself. He continued to observe the monitors presenting the situation outside.

Naval strategies kept popping up inside his head and none of them were working out. He wasn't dealing with an enemy fleet, destroyer, cruiser, aircraft carrier, or a submarine.

He was about to fight against a herd of giant sea monsters.

'Perhaps, I might be thinking too much about it. Instead, I need to understand how they engage to know the tactics I could use against them.' Abraham had a realization.

Through this thought process, he analyzed the information he had about the Leviathans. From the words of Laplace, these sea monsters seemed to attack in close quarters.

If they engage through close quarters via ramming into ships, one can consider them as agile massive guns or torpedo boats. Although faster and more agile than any gunboat. They could also submerge deep into the waters.

With this consideration, an idea struck the Fleet Admiral. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. These guys were like stronger and faster ramming ships.

But that doesn't make them impossible to fight against, only hard to deal with.

"Have the armada follow the maritime-security route at full speed. The UNS Zarya will be leading the formation with the UNS Light Bringer in the rear. The UNS Guardian of the High Seas will be in between the two."

Abraham gave further orders, which were heard by the intelligence officers and the communication operators. Without any hesitation, they relayed his orders to the bridge.

The reason for the recent orders was simple. Their greatest advantage was distance and they must maintain it for their survival. 

Through this, one can conclude that the United Navy must advance and not face the sea monsters head-on. Instead, they could use their torpedoes and missiles to terminate the Leviathans one by one.

It was a sound strategy that didn't have any issues. It was also the better option as a direct fight against sea monsters would cause a lot of casualties.

"Orders have been relayed, Sir. The bridge will be following through accordingly."

"Fleet Admiral, a data link has been established with UNS Zarya and UNS Guardian of the High Seas. Their respective captains are desiring to meet the highest of command."

The first report made Abraham nod in contentment, but the second one made him confused. It was then he remembered that he hadn't met with the captains of the two newly summoned ships.

"Open their transmission," Abraham ordered and the communication operator connected the transmission through a data link.

One might be curious about the data link.

Well, the tactical data link(TDL) systems were essential components of fully integrated naval communications systems on both manned and unmanned naval platforms. 

All naval command, control, and communications (C3) systems rely on tactical data link systems and standards to either transmit, relay or receive critical data. 

TDL interoperability enables tactical data to be shared between operators in real time on manned platforms and enables data from unmanned platforms to be integrated into the C3 data streams. 

True tactical communications interoperability across all naval assets facilitates a common, mission-critical view of surface, subsurface, air, and space environments. 

In simpler terms, it was comparable to a highly advanced private discord server for Navy assets. Typically, there would be satellites supporting the data link for vast connection.

But for now, they could only connect a data link through close distances of half a thousand kilometers maximum.

*Comrade Fleet Admiral, Zarya is honored to see the highest of command.*

*Fleet Admiral, Guardian reveres.*

In two of the monitor screens were the captains of the UNS Zarya and the UNS Guardian of the High Seas. 

Vokshod looked like the usual Russian old man, although a bit on the buffer side. One might mistake him for being in his forties because of his unusually high vitality.

On the other hand, Howard had short gray hair and seemed to be only a few years older than Abraham. Perhaps, the captain had just recently reached his forties.

"It's nice meeting you two." Abraham nodded at the two captains in the monitor screens and continued. "I would like to discuss more about the two of you, but for now, we have a problem to handle."

"I'm confident that the intelligence officers had sent you my orders." While he would like to get to know them more, this wasn't the time for such interactions.

*Comrade Fleet Admiral, orders have been received. The UNS Zarya will be leading the formation of the great armada.* Vokshod felt honored to be given the responsibility of leading the front of the formation.

*Fleet Admiral, the battle plan has been welcomed. The UNS Guardian of the High Seas will be providing full support to the formation and will tackle the sea monster problem.*

Howard also didn't seem against the plan Abraham had in mind. It was simple but effective for their current circumstances.

While a protocol for such situations was desired, he understood that they didn't have the time and resources to create the strategic plan.

Besides, they could handle sea monster protocols after they survived these precarious circumstances they found themselves in.

"Good, I will be expecting your cooperation in this upcoming battle." Abraham was satisfied that his newly acquired naval personnel were listening to him without resistance.

*The UNS Zarya will endure and fight for the United Navy!* Captain Vokshod saluted to him before ending the transmission.

*The UNS Guardian of the High Seas has the same determination, Fleet Admiral. We will engage against anyone, even the entire world if the situation says so.* Captain Howard was the same and had deeper resolutions.

His transmission ended after uttering such words and silence encapsulated the monitor screens that recently turned off. 

But before Abraham could keep himself in the pleasant grasp of silence, the radio operators reported the status of the Leviathan Herd.

"Sir, Target group at 152 degrees. Distance 35,000 meters. Speed 55 knots and increasing. Depth elevated from 125 to 5." The radio operator's words resounded throughout the Combat Information Center.

Abraham's eyebrows became furrowed as he clenched his fist in annoyance. Though, he calmed himself from anger and decided to tackle the issue with rationality.

"Is the bird ready for combat?" He questioned the intelligence officer, to which the officer nodded and calmly responded to the highest of command.

"The Seahawk is ready for combat, Sir."

"Okay, have them start the first-strike protocol. However, advise them to be cautious and not get too close into the waters. They can use every ordnance equipped in the bird." 

What Abraham needed was for the Leviathan Herd to slow down. After that, the UN armada will start raining freedom warheads on these annoying giant fishes.

"Affirmative, Sir. Relaying orders to Harpoon." The radio operator handling the inboard surface-to-air communications replied to the Fleet Admiral. 

Meanwhile, in the middle of the high seas was an MH-60R Seahawk piercing through the air with unparalleled speed. It circled around the Leviathan Herd, which could be seen treading in the waters below.

The maritime aviation warfare officer had just received the relayed orders from the UNS Light Bringer. The Overwatch wanted them to engage with the herd and slow them down.

Maintaining distance and caution was paramount.

"Orders received," The officer muttered under his breath.