r18novel Chapter 97 Close-Range Strike
Chapter 97 Close-Range Strike
A few minutes later, the flagship arrived at the designated location.
The flagship has arrived at its designated location.
Lorraine did not order anchoring, but instead left the flagship to float on the sea.
"Cleveland, how much battery does your flagship have left?"
[Remaining battery level: 21.5%]
"The gas turbines start up to replenish the flagship's power. The overlord shuts down its engines when it is 10 nautical miles away from the flagship."
[The gas turbine has started and is expected to shut down in 17 minutes, replenishing approximately 10% of its power.]
"30% battery should be barely enough."
Lorraine stroked his chin, pondering.
"There shouldn't be any major problems. By the time the gas turbines are needed, the overlord will be pretty much dead, or at the very least, it should have lost its mobility."
After confirming that the plan was correct, Lorraine leaned against the wall and closed her eyes to rest.
"Cleveland, remember to remind me when the gas turbine shuts down."
【receive. 】
After Lorraine closed his eyes, Cleveland turned off most of the lights in the cockpit, leaving only a few small lights on the left and right sides.
Time passed quickly, and the overlord arrived within ten nautical miles of the flagship.
[Commander, time's up.]
Cleveland called out to Lorraine while slightly turning on the lights in the cockpit.
Lorraine opened his eyes and quickly adjusted to the gradually brightening lights inside the driver's cab.
"What's the situation now?"
[Everything is going smoothly. The Overlord has not detected the flagship's location and is expected to arrive at Reconnaissance 2's bait drop point in 10 minutes.]
"Cleveland, advance to 12 kilometers from the bait drop point in 8 minutes. After locking onto the target, fire two depth-fixing shells. After the main guns have finished firing, the flagship will begin to accelerate."
[Command received.]
A short while later, the flagship began to move slowly forward and locked onto its target.
[12 kilometers reached, target locked, fire permitted.]
Lorraine pressed the trigger button, and two shells were fired from the barrel. He then felt a strong push-back sensation.
"Cleveland, maximum speed, prepare air curtain and decoy-2, hedgehog shells pointed to starboard."
[Air curtain bombs and decoy-2 are ready; hedgehog bombs are pointed to starboard.]
Subsequently, a black box appeared at the top of the real-time map, with the current speed and the countdown to contacting the overlord displayed in red.
"The flagship veers to the left, and the closest distance to the target must not be less than 200 meters."
[Route adjustments completed.]
Lorraine continued to issue orders.
"Fire the Hedgehog missile when the flagship is 250 meters from the target."
[Hedgehog bullet aiming adjusted.]
At this point, there were still 8 minutes until the flagship and the overlord made contact.
Lorraine stared intently at the countdown on the screen. When the countdown reached 7 minutes, Lorraine instructed the sonar buoys to begin emitting low-frequency sound waves to mask the noise generated by the flagship's high-speed approach.
5 minutes until contact.
Lorraine discovered through the information transmitted back by the sonar system that the Overlord was beginning to stir.
Contact countdown: 4 minutes
"Air curtain activated."
[Air curtain grenades activated; propulsion system initiating operation.]
Three minutes until contact.
"Deploy air curtain bombs."
[Air curtain grenades have been deployed.]
The hangar was unlocked, and the air curtain bomb plunged into the water at a speed of 40 knots. With the help of the thrusters, the air curtain bomb quickly reached a speed of 55 knots, leaving a long trail of bubbles as it overtook the flagship.
Contact countdown: 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
"Decoy-2 activated."
[Decoy-2 activated, propulsion system in operation.]
Contact countdown: 90 seconds.
"Deploy bait-2".
After entering the water, the decoy-2 quickly turned to the left and forward, with the sonar buoy at its tail continuously emitting sound waves of various frequencies, attracting the attention of the dominant fish.
Contact countdown: 60 seconds.
[Decoy-2 has reached a speed of 50 knots; the target has not moved.]
"Activate Fishing Net-2, and set it at a 45-degree angle to the flagship, ready to be deployed at any time."
The robotic arm on the aft deck picked up the Fishing Net-2 unmanned underwater vehicle, oriented it at a 45-degree angle to the flagship, and pointed it diagonally downwards towards the water surface.
Contact countdown: 30 seconds.
[Target locked, Hedgehog ammunition ready.]
Then, a countdown to the launch of the Hedgehog missile appeared on the screen.
Contact countdown: 20 seconds; Launch countdown: 10 seconds
Lorraine placed her hand on the activation button, staring intently at the launch countdown.
[Launch countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0!]
The instant the launch countdown reached zero, Lorraine pressed the activation button, and 12 Hedgehog rounds were fired in quick succession within a second.
When the countdown reached zero, 12 Hedgehog rounds exploded in succession, followed by a violent tremor.
The moment the shaking stopped, Lorraine activated the acoustic barrier function of the sonar and issued a command.
"Deploy fishing nets - 2".
[Fishing Net-2 successfully deployed, nets are being spread.]
Only after the two unmanned underwater vehicles, numbered Fishing Net-2, completed their turn and turned on their cameras did Lorraine see the destructive effect of this round of hedgehog bomb attacks.
"He suffered multiple injuries, with a severe back injury, a twisted tail, and a significantly reduced swimming speed."
Taking advantage of the target's poor awareness of its surroundings, the two unmanned underwater vehicles crashed into it at high speed, dragging a large net with barbs.
The net successfully hooked onto its target.
Before the two unmanned underwater vehicles could retract their cables, the Overlord suddenly twisted its body and bit one of the unmanned underwater vehicles that was closest to its mouth.
Before Lorraine could react, another unmanned underwater vehicle was also destroyed.
During this time, the flagship, maintaining maximum speed, had already left the target by one nautical mile, beyond the coverage area of the list.
"Cleveland, support drone takeoff, prepare to drop depth charges."
Four support drones carrying small depth charges took off from the deck and headed straight for the target without climbing too high, dropping the depth charges at a relatively low altitude.
After dropping the depth charges, the four support drones pulled up and turned left, quickly returning to the flagship.
"Reconnaissance Unit 2, follow the target."
Only after the flagship had created some distance did Lorraine slow down its speed.
"Speed dropped to 25 knots."
Before long, Lorraine heard Cleveland's report.
[It's section 25.]
"Is the hull damaged?"
[Self-checking in progress...]
[Self-inspection complete. Minor deformation has been found on the starboard hull and the connecting bridge. These can be repaired independently.]
"Phew, at least it didn't affect the power system."
Just as Lorraine was about to catch her breath, she saw the message sent back by Decoy Two.
[After detection by sonar buoys, the target's speed has returned to 20 knots, and it is currently tracking the flagship.]
In an instant, Lorraine's face darkened.
"This guy's really tough. Cleveland, speed up to 30 knots, start the gas turbine, head straight for the ambush site."
[Received. The gas turbine has started and is now providing power.]
The noise generated by the gas turbine travels into the water, turning itself into bait and luring the dominant species into a trap.