>>6131915“As to their magical defences, we know that they are active-only and so ineffective when a target is not alerted, and operate on weapons which are targeting them directly; semi-active weapons guided by other platforms are less affected. Their countermeasures have useful ranges of less than a mile and can only target a single threat: this enables aircraft to defeat missiles, but ships are slow enough that by the time their beams can affect an incoming threat it’s likely close enough for inertia to carry it home.
“Their anti-ship missiles as we have so far observed come in two types. The first are medium-range air-launched radar-guided weapons with fairly small warheads and a sea-skimming flight path. The second and more dangerous type are the larger ship-launched ones, which are ramjet-powered and follow supersonic high-arcing paths; these can be deployed at ranges in excess of 300 nautical miles.
“Finally, Abyssal EW capabilities are generally primitive and low power and not much use against anything but civvy equipment, but no one expects things’ll stay that way.”
“Okay, that’s mostly consistent with what I’ve seen. Do the Abyssals have ballistic missiles?”
Raleigh shakes her head. “Not yet. But let me tell you, the idea’s got everyone real spooked. Just plain missiles were bad enough. I’ve been back eight months and every day I hear again how it’s just a matter of days before the first atom bomb falls. Hell, people were yappin’ about that long before the Abyssals started downing passenger jets with SAMs.”
“I can’t imagine we’re not helping things by proving magic can replicate nuclear physics, either.”
“Bingo. Obviously the news is limited for OPSEC right now, but it won’t stay that way for long, and I wouldn’t want to be in your chair the first time they sit you down for a press conference.”
“Excuse me, they’re going to *what* now?”
“Press. Conference.” Raleigh’s face splits into a feline grin. “Interviews. Photoshoots. Articles. The *works.* We’re shipgirls, Enterprise. We’re the pretty human faces of this whole war, darlings of the public the world over. Everyone is going to want to meet you.”
Half an ocean away you rest your face in your palms, stifling a groan. You should have expected it, really. Humans already love their ships enough as steel boxes - how would they react when those ships could talk? Truth be told, you don’t mind attention from an adoring public, but warships exist for the express purpose of killing people and breaking their toys; their beauty is in violence. Pop idol or PR officer you are not.
“So, no ballistic missiles, but do the Abyssals have modern submarines yet?”
