WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Little Prince in the Ossuary

Chapter 116

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April Vengeance (4)

The huge ship moved like a slowly rocking cradle. Wind battered the bridge. Waves slammed into the hull. When he closed his eyes, it felt like the sea lay spread beneath his back.

Lying in the dark cabin, the boy replayed the failed request.

Negotiations had not gone well.

The captain of USS Higgins was uneasy about a request outside the chain of command. Still, he could not ignore it. The Medal of Honor carried weight beyond rank and branch. While the FBI agent fidgeted, the destroyer captain relayed the comms up the line. The rank on the other end of the radio kept rising.

There was guilt over wiping out civilians, and curiosity about the youngest Medal of Honor recipient. Without the latter, he would never have been given a chance to speak to the carrier strike group commander. In live combat, the gap between a major general and a mere lieutenant was that wide. No matter how famous the boy officer was.

Admiral Charles Kitchener spoke in a tired voice.

[Lt. I do not know why you are there, but it is a proposal with real Charm. Still, I have no choice but to refuse. These days, overloading and overboarding are routine on ships. If April Pacific has turned into a ghost ship, the enemy is likely beyond what one man's carried ammo can handle.]

With personal combat gear, Gyeoul carried about 200 rounds. If he added reserve ammo and wore a feed bag, maybe he could somehow push it to 1,000.

The admiral feared the passenger ship might have become a mutant nest.

[Even if you kill exactly one with every shot, how will you deal with the thousands left after that? In the middle of that, you want to search for possible survivors? Carrying only a Bayonet?]

"Yes."

Gyeoul's blunt answer made the admiral laugh.

[Oh dear. I remember your courage. I thought some of what I saw on broadcasts was staged, but it seems it was not. Even so, I cannot permit this. Courage beyond limits is just recklessness.]

"Then could you provide troop support?"

An aircraft carrier alone had more than five thousand personnel aboard. Most were technical specialists far from direct combat, but they still had basic combat training. Troops could also be pulled from ships across the strike group. That was Gyeoul's judgment.

'If we have a few hundred combat personnel, we can secure the deck without losses.'

A passenger ship had limited routes of movement. Mutants would bottleneck under concentrated fire. During initial insertion, they could get helicopter fire support. Even ordinary mutants had animal-level intelligence, so they would likely stop trying to come out onto the deck.

Of course, entering the interior was a different problem. Too many obstacles, too complex a layout. Ideal conditions for casualties. Gyeoul guessed this was why the admiral hesitated. So if the most dangerous part could be left to the boy officer, maybe that might change his mind.

The reality was a little different.

[Lieutenant Han Gyeoul. The identification code this ship assigned to April Pacific is Romeo 96.]

The admiral explained that numbers were assigned by radar contact order. That meant his flagship was already monitoring at least ninety-five vessels.

[There are forty-three ships sending distress signals. It is hard enough to distinguish real from fake among them... There are limits to humanitarian aid and rescue operations too. Long-term accumulated loss of life, and the crews' mental stress. Available manpower has fallen to a dangerous level. As commander, I have a duty to keep this unit's combat power above a certain threshold. Do you understand what I am saying?]

"Yes."

[You are a good soldier. I hope you are not too disappointed in my decision.]

It was good speaking with you. Get some rest. Admiral Kitchener cut the communication one-sidedly.

For a Navy major general to speak this much to an Army lieutenant was already sincere enough. Gyeoul understood his exhaustion.

'The fact that the admiral answered at this hour says enough.'

The night had grown deep. Normally, the duty officer should have been handling things in the admiral's place. That meant even now, matters still required the top commander's direct attention. It was easy to imagine the fleet's fatigue. He was not going to casually order a civilian ship sunk.

Gyeoul let go of his lingering thoughts and accelerated time. A self-running world would shorten this meaningless night. Until the controller personality finished Situational Computation, there was no need to mind the viewers from the other world.

'Come to think of it, they were strangely quiet.'

People with hard, exhausting lives who watched other people's lives for relief. While the boy mulled over his failure, they had only lain in darkness. Now and then, neatly arranged thoughts might have been converted into text through Teletype and sent over.

Ah, was that it? Maybe even dark, quiet time was scarce in their daily lives. Gyeoul accepted his own deduction. Unhappy people in an unhappy world. Their lives were beyond Gyeoul's limits.

Beep-

Time Acceleration broke. Gyeoul opened his eyes and checked the clock at once. Not even a full hour had passed.

Why? He thought nothing would happen until they reached San Francisco. Beep, beep, beep. The repeating electronic tone came from the lit intercom in the cabin. Gyeoul answered, puzzled.

Captain Kaysers' voice came through.

[Ah, Lieutenant. Could you come up right now? It is about April Pacific.]

So it was not over yet. Gyeoul grabbed the pistol under his pillow and the rifle under the blanket, then sprinted to the bridge in personal combat gear.

"What happened?"

"Ah, you did not have to run... Anyway, take this first. There is a transmission from Carl Vinson asking for you, Lieutenant."

USS Carl Vinson was Admiral Kitchener's flagship.

Before picking up the receiver, Gyeoul checked the electronic chart. The symbol for April Pacific was still moving. It should have been sunk by now.

"Yes. Lieutenant Han Gyeoul speaking."

[Hm, Lieutenant.]

As expected, it was the admiral. He sounded even more drained than before, like he was mentally cornered.

[I do not even know where to begin...]

After a long pause, the admiral explained why April Pacific was still afloat.

[The pilot refused the order. Looks like he took a close pass to check it. Said there are survivors. Complicated mess... Now that this happened, it is difficult to launch a new strike aircraft too.]

A low pass close enough to see passengers? Could a jet even do that? At jet speed, it would be over in an instant. As Gyeoul tilted his head, he remembered that the U.S. military had strike aircraft capable of hovering, models that could vector their engines for vertical takeoff and landing.

It also made sense that launching another strike aircraft was difficult. Earlier, the admiral had mentioned crew mental stress. Even with tight operational secrecy, word would spread. Accidentally killing civilians left psychological scars. Killing them knowingly would be worse.

[So, has your resolve from earlier changed?]

"Of course not."

[Still quick to answer. You are saying you are fine even without troop support?]

"Yes."

The admiral asked as if demanding a pledge, and Gyeoul kept replying without hesitation. At last, the admiral gave permission.

[All right. It is hard to dispatch combat troops, but I can keep one helicopter airborne continuously. At minimum, while you are on deck, you will be safe. Try to rescue as many survivors as possible.]

"Understood."

[The aircraft you will board will come from Higgins. Transit time is... hm, yes. They say 30 minutes. If you need anything besides personnel, let me know. Ammunition or weapon type.]

Agent Gibson quietly told him that this ship carried not only food but also operational supplies for San Francisco. Gyeoul nodded and reported to the admiral that there was no problem.

[Is that so. I am not sure this is the right call... Anyway, I will be watching. Good luck.]

His second conversation with the admiral ended.

Gyeoul waited for the helicopter on deck. The wind was rougher than before. Climate anomalies were nothing new to him. The world he had come from had suffered even deeper pain than the era that formed this world setting.

His weapons stayed the same. He only increased how much ammunition he carried. He filled his backpack with magazines and explosives too.

While he waited, a fully armed agent stepped up beside him.

"I will go with you."

"I may not be the one who should say this, but it will be very dangerous."

Despite Gyeoul's attempt to stop her, the agent kept her gaze forward and did not move an inch. Her tied-back hair whipped in the wind. She carried a heavy shotgun, the same kind Yura had used when seizing the San Ardo Oil Field. It could fire automatically.

She said firmly, "My skill is nowhere near yours, Lieutenant, but I am also a veteran of irregular warfare. Most fights with Mexican cartels happened in cities, indoors, in underground tunnels, and in forest hideouts. I also received counter-terror training. After my post changed, combat became rare, but I can absolutely support Lieutenant Han."

"Where are you assigned now?"

"Department of Weapons of Mass Destruction Management."

"Ah."

She was definitely an asset suited for a place like San Francisco.

Filipino sentries patrolling the deck watched from a distance. They whispered among themselves. They looked like people staring at something they could not understand. Agent Gibson sighed.

"They said support from Ramon Alcaraz would be difficult. I do not want to blame them, but it is disappointing."

Of course. Why would soldiers serving abroad in this distant sea risk their lives? Even the U.S. military itself was struggling to step in.

Gyeoul asked something else.

"Will a shotgun be enough?"

"I thought about that too. I wondered whether it might be better to use something that shares ammo with you."

If they used weapons that took the same ammunition, one person could draw from the other's supply when running low. Tactical utility. But she said she had already considered that point.

"Still, I judged that using the weapon I know best would be better. Weapon combination matters too. Outside North America, different mutant variants have been found. We may need stronger close-range firepower than a rifle can give."

New mutants by region... that had never appeared in this world's setting before.

"Can you give me an example of those different mutants?"

At Gyeoul's question, the agent narrowed her brow.

"That information is often classified... What I know is anthrax-resistant mutants and mustard-gas-producing mutants discovered in China. That is one reason they avoid using biochemical weapons. It is also out of consideration for survivor groups inside cities..."

So when they did deploy biochemical rounds, they usually leveled the entire target area.

While Gyeoul considered this new information, a heavy engine sound mixed into the wind.

A helicopter descended onto the brightly lit deck in the dark.

============================ Author's Afterword ============================

#Research Notes

This is not a full-on military novel, but given the subject matter, I was worried readers who know this field well might point things out.

So I am leaving a short excuse here.

The hover-capable aircraft model mentioned in the story is the F-35B.

From what I found, the only naval aviation unit that had received the F-35B was the 23rd Test and Evaluation Squadron at Patuxent base in Maryland, but I would appreciate it if you could view this as sacrificing a bit of realism for dramatic development.

#Drinking

I am heading out for drinks now. My friend is paying. Hahahaha. Jealous?

#Q&A

Q. Narodake-nim: Up to what grade can skills go? Absolute One 15 beyond Transcendent 14? Maybe you can only get grade 15 by clearing quests or achievements?

A. The realm of genius means a level that cannot be reached through effort alone without inborn talent, and above that are the realm of transcendents and the realm of gods. "God" here is only metaphorical. God of shooting, god of close combat, things like that...

The realm of gods is effectively impossible to reach without spending cash.

Q. Ca-mo-nim: This is a slightly late question, but what happened to the two prisoners captured after the fight with Captain Harrison? I am looking forward to seeing Gyeoul's reaction. Thanks for the great writing :)
A. It did not seem important, so I did not mention it, but of course they were sent to military court. Trials take time, so there is still no verdict yet.

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