The PacificBoard

FVN Mastadon, 2 Kilometers off the sourthern coast of Alston Island, 0200 Hours

The Mastadon. A Sovereign-class Destroyer from the Federation 3rd Fleet, it was assigned to oversee the standard automation procedures for the fourth Ardent-class Drone Carrier, which would patrol the southern coast for any sign of activity from the Winter Resistance. The other three were already activated and guarding the southern archipelagic waters.

Captain Rein: "Status report, Commander."

Commander Eshen: "Second set of tests check out. Starting third set of tests."

Captain Rein: "Anything on radar?"

Radar Officer: "Tjern Squadron is patrolling 7 klicks southeast of our position. Two scheduled and cleared civilian flights headed towards the mainland, three cargo ships, nothing else... hold on."

TJERN, Federation 1st Air Force, 4th Air Division, 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron

Four NG-31 interceptors traveled northwest at supercruising speed. The night combined with their black paint made them nearly invisible, save for their afterburners which gave a blue glow regardless. Despite being an older design in comparison to the newer production model interceptors like the CHIMERA, an overhaul to improve the airframe, replacement of engines and electronics, and compatibility with a pulse laser in place of a machine gun allowed the NG-31 as well as other jets of that era to remain in service.

Tjern 1: "Tjern 1 to Mastadon, radar network is picking up an aircraft from Alston, bearing 1-7-5, closing fast."

Captain Rein: "Mastadon to Tjern, set Alert 1. Investigate the airspace."

Tjern 1: "Tjern, roger that."

Tjern Squadron set their afterburners and headed to the blip on their radar. The Mastadon continued it's escort of the carrier while two LCS combat ships that were only half a kilometer behind were notified to make a tighter formation with the destroyer. Tjern soon reached their destination, meeting up with the aircraft. The aircraft in question appeared to be a cargo plane, with two conformal fuel tanks on delta wings, allowing for a quick flight.

Tjern 1: "1 to 2, check around the plane. 3, fly up to the cockpit and signal them to change course."

Tjern 2 and 3: "Roger that, boss."

Tjern 2 began flying closer to the plane to check on markings and any external devices while 3 accelerated and lined up alongside the cockpit of the cargo plane.

Tjern 2: "Nothing out of the ordinary here. Designation is SC-6511A."

Tjern 3: "Attention Cargo Flight SC-6511A, you're nearing restricted airspace..."

Tjern 1: "Tjern 3, what's going on?"

Tjern 3: "Boss, there's no one in the cockpit."

The two conformal fuel tanks detached from the pylons, splitting in half. As the halves broke away, a pair of ignitions was seen, and Tjern now found themselves chasing after two anti-ship cruise missiles. The pilots of the four NG-31s set master arm and prepared to fire. If only their electronics weren't scrambled at the last second.

Tjern 2: "It's that darn plane!"

Tjern 4: "The cruise missiles will accelerate out of reach if we go after it, even if we split up!"

Tjern 1: "Tjern 1 to Mastadon, you have a pair of cruise missiles targeting you!"

Mastadon Comms Officer: "Roger that, Tjern, anti-weapon defense systems spinning up. Take out that contact."

Tjern 1: "With pleasure. Tjern 2 and 3, destroy that cargo plane with your laser pods."

Tjern 2 and 3 armed their laser pods and each continually fired until they landed several hits by eyesight, damaging the engines and hull of the plane and making it lose speed.

Back with the Mastadon...

Comms Officer: "Sir! Two cruise missiles spotted by Tjern squadron, heading our direction!"

Radar Officer: "Can confirm! Two unknown model SRASMs on radar, bearing 175, closing fast!"

Fire Control Systems Officer: "Spinning up anti-weapon defenses."

Commander Eshen: "Sir, should I-"

Captain Rein: "Finish the tests. Two missiles won't be a problem for a Laser Weapon System."

Commander Eshen: "R-Roger that, sir."

Captain Rein: "First time finding yourself at the receiving end of a cruise missile?"

Commander Eshen: "Yes, sir."

Captain Rein: "You'll be fine."

Radar Officer: "Hostile aircraft confirmed destroyed by Tjern Squadron."

Captain Rein: "Set one of the lasers to a lower wattage so it shuts down a missile. Destroy the other one. Once it's over, I want that missile fished out. We'll have an idea what we're dealing with."

FCS Officer: "Wilco."

Two ball turrets near the front end of the ship, at each front corner of the Mastadon's superstructure, opened up, each revealing a lens. One had a dim glow while the other would most certainly blind anyone trying to look in. The dimmer pod fired a red laser, cutting into the back half of the missile, damaging the thruster. The missile shut down and splashed into the water. As this happened, the brighter pod fired a much brighter laser that could be seen from miles away, destroying the other missile signified by an explosion in the air. One of the LCS ships sped ahead towards the splash point of the disabled missile while Commander Eshen wiped his brow.

Commander Eshen: "Calibrations complete. Ardent-4 is ready for operations."

Captain Rein gave a sigh. He felt like he was already getting too old for this, despite being only 37 years of age. A lap around the Arcion Islets would probably help.

Central Authority Office, the next morning

Fennik looked over the current news, with the two crises of Kathol Rift and Penguinya being prominent.

Colonel Sokov: "Comrade. Mastadon chopper brought missile."

Fennik sighed.

Fennik: "A moment. I'll be there shortly."

Sokov nodded and left, closing the door behind him. Fennik turned to the man next to him, Intel Secondary Commander Schmidt.

Fennik: "So you can confirm this just from her speech?"

ISC Schmidt: "Of course. While Lochte's division is still gathering information about the overall situation, I do believe the facts we have now. The recently widowed Kathol'ar, Verdika, is actually rather hiding the fact well. If I were still a rookie, I wouldn't have known any better. But her speech and wording is ever so slightly forced. Perhaps it was with intention so we would take notice or I'm just that good at analysis, but this confirms my suspicions that the Kathol'ar is being forced to speak against her will by a group she is not fond of. I wouldn't immediately suspect the Senate without proper evidence, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're pulling the strings."

Fennik: "I see. I suspected the same, but I wanted your expertise on this. As much as I'd want to avenge a lost friend of mine, we have more pressing concerns."

ISC Schmidt: "Indeed. The missile used by the Winter Resistance."

The two were taken by car to the naval dock, where the helicopter and captured missile sat at one of the various helipads, waiting for examination. One of the marines saluted the two, then turned and pulled the tarp off of the missile.

ISC Schmidt: "That is quite the package."

Fennik: "I recognize it from my tours in the Ring Expansion War."

ISC Schmidt: "An older model cruise missile used by East Lebatuck until they developed a replacement and sold some of their stockpile to the Coalition for arming their own ships. It has been heavily modified by the Winter Resistance with a fuel efficient thruster, upgraded sensors and optics, and a higher yield explosive, matching the basic modern standards."

Fennik: "They never quit poking around, do they..."

Fennik turned around to see Erikson approaching before stopping in front of him, saluting and handing a holo-tablet over.

Erikson: "The Jar Wattinree government has agreed to our proposal. So far, the East Lebatuckese government isn't aware and a detachment will arrive in due time. Soon, sir. We will be able to travel through the Sugamya Ocean once more."

Fennik gave Erikson a pat on the shoulder.

Fennik: "Good. Whatever East Lebatuck has in plan next, we'll be prepared."

Fennik turned to look out to the archipelagic waters, where 40 ships were visible in formation, the battleships Tungsten Blade and Gate Guardian among them, preparing to head out to sea toward their positions to guard the sovereign waters, while several Blackstar gunships flew above, their jumbo jet wingspans visible to all and their engines giving a powerful hum. He reached out to the sea, imagining taking hold as two ZF-47 fighters flew in the same direction as he reached, soon descending to an altitude where their thrust propelled seawater into the sky, cutting a path towards the open waters of Sugamya Ocean.