Chapter 26: | 026 | UNS Zarya and UNS Guardian of the High Seas
In a jet-black zodiac piercing through the rough waters of the high seas, Abraham had a grin on his face while gazing at somewhere and nowhere. He was specifically staring at the digital screen of his newly-gained warship, which was incredibly impressive in his opinion.
'I never thought I'd receive an LPD instead of a simple cargo ship. It seems that my luck in this foreign world is far from saddening, unlike my previous life.'
Abraham was genuinely surprised regarding the effectiveness of his luck. It made him wonder if this was the reward of being unlucky during the entirety of his former life.
'It doesn't matter if this was a reward for my suffering. What matters is that it gives me valuable ships. Though, I know that I shouldn't rely on it in the future.'
'Perhaps, maybe I'll get a bad ship on my next gacha endeavor.'
He shook his head and decided not to get arrogant of his luck. He knew better than to become enamored by it and completely rely on such an unreliable concept.
So, he had to keep his expectations at bay. And besides, his luck wasn't too amazing in itself. If it really was extremely good, then he could have gotten an aircraft carrier by now.
In simpler terms, not getting hit by bad luck was already enough for the middle-aged man. He didn't need unparalleled fortune, what he needed was stability.
Anyhow, the subject had gone farther from what was previously thought. Abraham decided to tackle the two warships first, before going on in a ramble of philosophy.
"Hmm… The information of the two should appear now." He muttered and noticed the materialization of two digital screens in front of him.
The first one was the digital screen where the information about the Admiral Gorshkov-Class Frigate was imprinted.
●| UNS Zarya |
➤| The UNS Zarya is an Admiral Gorshkov-Class Frigate of the Project 22350 classification. It is a multi-role frigate or a guided-missile frigate stocked with the best weapons and sensors of the Russian Federation. |
➤| As the frigate was designed to perform multiple roles, it can carry out long-range attacks against surface targets and ships, conduct anti-submarine warfare, carry out escort missions, and be deployed in a variety of situations that a general frigate class would not be able to fulfill. |
➤| The Zarya has a humble displacement of 5,400 tons with a length of 130 meters and a beam of 16 meters. It has a maximum speed of 29.5 knots and a complement of 210 officers and enlisted personnel. The multi-role frigate also carries a single Ka-27 series helicopter capable of transport and anti-submarine warfare. |
➤| The main armaments of the multi-role frigate are its UKSK and REDUT Vertical-Launching Systems(VLS), and a single 130mm Amethyst/Arsenal naval gun. It has supporting armaments such as two Palash CIWS 30mm, and two 14.5mm MTPU machine guns. It also has two Quadruple 330mm torpedo launchers. |
➤| Finally, it has a helipad and hangar for a medium helicopter. |
Abraham carefully read the information about the newly acquired frigate with a scrutinizing gaze. UNS Zarya was its name, and it was a powerful frigate.
It might be amongst the best frigates in his former modern world. But since he wasn't totally knowledgeable of the matter. He promptly stopped himself from pursuing assumptions.
"For a frigate, this ship is massive. This might become the main frigate of the United Navy for some time." Abraham muttered to himself and wondered about the price of this frigate.
If it was cheaper than the Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyer, then it would be the first one mass-produced by the United Navy.
'As expected of Russians, they love putting a lot of firepower on their ships.' Abraham nodded with appreciation in his eyes. Another powerful warship other than the UNS Light Bringer was always a welcome one.
At any rate, since he had concluded his reading session with the first digital screen. It was time to read the second one.
Abraham glanced at the second digital screen with information about the San Antonio-Class Amphibious Transport Dock, or LPD for short.
'The information on this ship is a lot longer than UNS Zarya.' Observing the digital screen, he raised an eyebrow when he realized its lengthy information.
He rubbed his eyebrows at the headaches about what was to come, but information about his warships was what he needed.
So, even if he hated reading long-written files, he had no choice as it was his job to do so. But, at the very least… He wouldn't have to read them all over again in the future.
With this in mind, Abraham took a deep breath and began reading the vast information about the amphibious transport dock.
He hoped that the information inside was worth it.
●| UNS Guardian of the High Seas |
➤| The UNS Guardian of the High Seas is a San Antonio-Class Amphibious Transport Dock of the LPD classification. It is an amphibious transport dock designed to provide the Navy and Marine Corps with modern, sea-based platforms. |
➤| The ship supports amphibious assault, special operations, or expeditionary warfare missions and can serve as a secondary aviation platform for amphibious-ready groups. |
➤| As such, the LPD is networked survivable, and built to operate with 21st-century transformational platforms known as the MV-22 Osprey, Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle(EFV), Air-Cushioned Landing Craft(LCACs), and future means by which Marines are delivered ashore. |
➤| The Guardian of the High Seas has a sizable displacement of 25,300 long tons followed by a length of 208 meters and a beam of 32 meters. The LPD has a maximum speed of 22 knots and a vast complement of 28 officers and 333 enlisted personnel. It can also support an embarked landing force of 699 personnel. |
➤| The LPD specifically carries four MV-22 Ospreys with one in the hangar deck and two Air-Cushioned Landing Crafts(LCACs). Along with fourteen Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles/Amphibious Assault Vehicles. |
➤| The main armaments of the amphibious transport dock are its two Bushmaster II close-in-guns, two RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launchers, and a Mark 41 Vertical Launching System(VLS). It also has support armaments such as several twin M2 Browning machine gun turrets. |
➤| Lastly, It has a wide flight deck and a large hangar deck for repairs and maintenance. |
The information imprinted on the digital screen was beyond worth it. The UNS Guardian of the High Seas was a lot better than he had previously thought.
From the four Ospreys, two LCACs, and fourteen EFVs, followed by the two companies worth of Marines. He practically had a deployable army, which would make handling islands easier than ever before.
"Things are bound to get intriguing," Abraham mumbled with a smile as two golden lights radiantly shone amidst the rough waters of the high seas.
The gleaming golden lights pierced through the heavens and the seas, bringing about luminescence rivaling the luster of the blazing sun.
Abraham squinted his eyes and felt the waves becoming harsher. Fortunately, though, the zodiac was only a hundred meters away from the captured merchant vessel.
'With this, I won't have to worry about the rescued hostages and prisoners of war anymore.' He quietly thought and closed his eyelids with a relieved smile.
The radiant golden lights soon dimmed with time and faded into the background as though they hadn't come to light. What replaced it was a moderately sized warship and a large warship.
Each had their respective names boldly written on their hulls, which were the UNS Zarya and UNS Guardian of the High Seas.
The LPD was a magnificent sight to see. It was bigger than any ship he had seen before, but it was not like he saw a lot of ships personally.
Anyhow, Abraham enjoyed the large silhouette of the LPD and was looking forward to boarding the warship later on.
Meanwhile, in the Combat Information Center of the UNS Light Bringer, Captain Lux watched the two warships with interest. However, he soon commanded the comm operators of their next actions.
"Open a communication line with the two warships." The old white-bearded man continued observing the newly-emerged warships while the comm operators did as they were ordered.
"Opening communication with UNS Zarya and UNS Guardian of the High Seas." One of the comm operators announced and static escaped the communication instrument.
Captain Lux took a deep breath before speaking through the communication line.
"This is Captain Lux of the UNS Light Bringer, requesting verification from UNS Zarya and UNS Guardian of the High Seas." It was protocol to request for verification when meeting for the first time.
After some time, a husky-like voice resounded from the communication instrument.
*Greetings Comrade Lux, this is Captain Vokshod of the UNS Zarya.* The first one that responded was the Russian captain of the multi-role frigate, UNS Zarya.
*Verification Acknowledged, I am Captain Howard of the UNS Guardian of the High Seas.* The second one was the captain of the amphibious transport dock, UNS Guardian of the High Seas.
"The two of you must have a lot of questions about your special circumstances. I will be debriefing you about it, so I hope you maintain your calm." Captain Lux calmly uttered.
*Zarya will be hearing from our comrade.* Vokshod seemed to be an easy guy to get along with.
*Guardian is also open to the debriefing, but I'd like to meet the Fleet Admiral afterward.* On the other hand, Howard sounded stern and cold.
Captain Lux didn't care about how they sounded as his job was to only educate them about the United Navy's circumstances in this world. What they did after was the responsibilities of the Fleet Admiral.
"Alright, I'll be giving you data about our discoveries during this recent week. We already went through our analysis, but you can undertake your own examination if you wish to confirm the intel."
Captain Lux stated and began debriefing the captain of the two warships.
In the meantime, Abraham had arrived beside the wooden hull of the merchant vessel. He climbed through the ladder leading to the upper deck and soon arrived at the bloodied venue where the execution was done.
As he laid his jet-black irises upon the horrific scenery, Abraham saw dozens of corpses scattered throughout the wooden deck.