First Light of a New Age

Chapter 20: Interception

After some time of traveling for a while, the mighty battleship finally met up with its Task Group, which is the 3rd task group of the 2nd fleet of the Wilwatikta Command Group. It is composed of 10 ships, with the Battleship "ALN Teuku Umar" at the center. On either side of the battleship were 2 Guided Missile Destroyers which are "ALN Antoro" and "ALN Asumi", followed by 3 Guided Missile Frigates, "ALN Banyu", "Baskoro" and "Bagus". Last but not the least were 4 Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvettes.

This task group had seen spread out across different parts of Aceh but were hastily assembled to form the 3rd Task Group on intercepting the massive fleets of unidentified ironclads spotted outside of Austronesia's Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Admiral of the fleets was utterly confused by the absence of the monsters, as they had seen none of them were rampaging around the sea and sky.

'Was it all a bad dream?' the admiral wondered, unable to shake his confusion.

Once the task group rearranged into a proper formation, they set out to intercept the fleet of ironclads. Meanwhile, the admiral was thinking of what is the the most effective tactic can can used to confront the unknown vessels. He thought hard about it, however. But ultimately, he decided to send one of the ships to become a messenger. So after arriving at the borders of the clouds of the storm, and on the other side stands a bright sun that was shining over the world.

The admiral ordered the guided missile destroyer ALN Asumi to scout ahead and issue a warning to the fleet of ironclads.

The admiral himself still believes and hoped for a peaceful exchange might work, but he was prepared for the worst. If the ironclads attacked the lone warship, then they shall face the full might of the Austronesians.

The guided missile destroyer ALN Asumi sailed forward and emerged from the border of the storm, entering a world what the sailors and captain of the ALN Asumi saw was a bright sun that was shining upon them. The light of the sun was dazzling, and they felt a warm glow enveloped them all, calming their nerves and lifting their spirits. 

It wasn't too hot, it was just the right temperature.

The sailors, for a, were appalled by what they were seeing. Fortunately, they immediately snapped out of it, because of a radio chatter and alarms that were blaring loudly.

[General Quarters! General Quarters! General Quarters!] Was the sound of the radio and alarm.

The captain of the ship immediately radioed the task group.

[Commander! There's multiple bogies everywhere! It seemed like the ironclads were engaged in a fight with those creatures that invaded our motherland!] shouted the voice wit an urgent report.

The Admiral thought hard about the situation, and so he decided to save them. After all, if he chose to save the ironclads, he could create an opportunity for future cooperation and put them in the Austronesian Empire's debt. This also aligns with the policy of the Emperor.

Gunboat Diplomacy.

If the ironclads saw how strong they were, then they would think twice before entering their territory.

At that moment, another message was receive from the radio.

[Admiral! Nearly all of the creatures had noticed us, and they are approaching the ship fast!]

Knowing he couldn't waste any more time, the order was immediately given and so the ALN Asumi opened its hatches and unleashed its arsenal, firing a barrage of surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft cannons, and every single of the ship's cannons were deafening as it shot the approaching creatures that had just invaded their motherland.