The Nihon Chronicles: An Alternate Summoning Japan Fanfiction

Gaiden Chapter: Turbulent Seas

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•• 200km off the coast of Guadalcanal, Solomons Prefecture ••

Once waters of the deep blue Pacific Ocean is now but a new and uncharted sea unknown to man. Thankfully, the skies were clear enough for the sun to peek through the thick blanket of clouds above. Teeming with dangerous and strange sea creatures, one brave ship is currently patrolling the vast expanse of water, hoisting the Red Sun flag of Japan.

"Report from Hamanagi, no sea anomalies are detected. Western Sector is safe for passage. Sumonagi is also not detecting any anomalies."

Slicing through the seas is a lone guided missile destroyer of the JMSF, the Hatsuyuki-class Destroyer Hatsuyuki. She's actually not alone, since all around the (former) Bismarck Sea and the surrounding waters a total of five ships from the Navy and Coast Guard, and with marauding maritime patrol aircrafts also in the scene. Weeks prior, Aikoku Maru, a commercial vessel was attacked by a sea monster of gigantic size. Based on the damage, the monster was able to penetrate the ship's hull and cause flooding, and also disable the propellers albeit getting wounded. With that being said, the patrolling ships are tasked with hunting and neutralizing the sea monsters who will get within the range of their torpedoes.

The destroyer's captain, Ryō Ichigaki, can be seen inside the CIC, monitoring the movements from the screen displaying the sonar sweep, manned by its operator. Beside him is his XO, also watching the readings. "Mhm. Seems to me there are no monsters around today.", Ichigaki said with a sigh of relief, retreating to the seat near the comms and command panel in the center of the room. "I still can't believe it, captain, sea monsters are real... it's not submarines that we're hunting anymore, but real sea monsters.", his XO expressed with fear and excitement. He can only glance at him with a small smirk, knowing that his XO is very much still a young man with a lot of dreams and an active imagination. "I know, but it's a good thing that we're deployed here instead of the Pacific Proper, I heard the guys there last time managed to hit something that's 250 meters long with sonar, it disappeared quickly, though...", Ryō chuckled.

Ever since the Japan was transfered, hydrophones and other oceanic observation stations have been detecting a lot of strange noises from the seas that surround the archipelago and its far-flung Solomon Island Chain territories. Noises even louder than 'The Bloop' were recorded, coinciding with the detection of a giant sea creature 500km off the coast of Hokkaido by JS Hibiki's sonar. The fear of getting attacked by sea monsters came at a price of hurting the fishing industry, although undeniably, catches became more abundant especially in the Vespian Sea.

Hatsuyuki's hull-mounted sonar swept an area with a radius of 34.1km, although there are certain blindspots that the sonar can't sweep especially on the wake. She can deploy her towed array sonar, although it will limit the ship's maneuverability. "Alright, there seems to be no sea monsters. Set course to port!!

<"unidentified contacts detected by sonar, bearing 1-8-5, 10 clicks from our position!">

Ryō was suddenly cut off by a report from the sonar room that went through his headset. From another screen in the CIC, three large contacts with an elongated shape can be seen moving towards Hatsuyuki's icon. Ryō and his XO stood up, tensed and alerted. "What- how did they get that close? Activate the sonar, ping them for ID!", he ordered. The sonar, doing only passive sweeps earlier suddenly came into life, letting out a shill and long sound that can be heard slightly inside the room as it reverbrated.

Underneath the surface, a very loud sound emanated from the sonar, letting out a single but long piercing sound. An active sonar ping is one of the ways to identify the acoustic signature of an object for identification, just like what Hatsuyuki is doing. A sonar ping is also very dangerous for marine life close to the source of the sound, as it is enough to kill them instantly.