Sword Art Online - Volume 15 - Chapter 14.2

Part 2



Captain Dario Giuliani who commanded the Seawolf-class nuclear submarine, Jimmy Carter, was a submariner down to his bones, rising to his current position from cleaning the torpedo tubes. The first he rode was an antique Barbel-class diesel vessel where the stench of oil and noise followed along no matter where one went in her stiflingly cramp space.


In comparison, the Seawolf-class that cost more than any other submarine in the world was practically a Rolls-Royce. Giuliani had showered the ship and her crew with love ever since he was appointed as her captain in 2020. Through tough training, the high yield strength steel hull, her S6W reactor, and the hundred and forty crew members were bonded like a single being, capable of swimming as she liked in any ocean as long as it had the depth.


Jimmy Carter was practically Giuliani’s daughter. It was a pity he had to step down from active duty soon, forced to either work on land or an early retirement, but the successor he recommended, the executive officer, Guthrie, would definitely command the ship brilliantly.


Nonetheless—


As though to disgrace Giuliani’s last years, a single, curiously perilous order was handed down a mere ten days ago.


Jimmy Carter was a ship planned for support on special operations and possessed a variety of methods to cooperate with the SEALs. The  midget submarineASDS  carried on its afterdeck was one among those.


There were countless times she cruised deep in foreign waters with those from the SEALs aboard. But the objective was always for keeping the peace of the states or the world and those men on board definitely felt the same sense of duty as Giuliani’s subordinates as they went into the jaws of death.


However, as for that bunch who boarded from Guam two days ago—


Giuliani went to see the faces of his guests at the rear section only once, but that was enough for him to get on the verge of ordering his subordinates to kick them out into the deep sea. The tens of men lay down on the floor without any sense of order, some blared noise from their headphones while others made merry, gambling over card games; not to mention the empty cans of beer scattered everywhere. There were no proper seamen in that bunch. It was doubtful they were even from the military.


There was only one who seemed to have some notion of courtesy, that tall commanding officer who apologized to Giuliani for their disturbance in order.


However, that man with those shockingly blue eyes—


While holding the right hand he offered and meeting his eyes, Giuliani tasted a sensation he had forgotten for a long time.


That was from, yes, long before he entered the navy. He was swimming in the ocean at Miami, his homeland, when a giant great white raced straight past his side. He was fortunately unharmed, but Giuliani saw that shark’s eyes right before him. Those eyes devoured all light like a bottomless pit.


That same hollowness extended out deep within that man’s eyes…


“Captain, a reading from the bow sonar!”


The sudden noise from the sonar technician pulled Giuliani out from his thoughts.


“It’s the turbine from a reactor, we’re matching now… it matches, it’s definitely the target mega-float. Fifteen miles.”


Bringing his mind back, he quickly gave instructions from the combat command post, the captain’s seat.


“Right, keep this depth and drop her speed to fifteen knots.”

The order was echoed and he felt an instant of deceleration.


“Where’s that Aegis-equipped escort ship?”


“There’s a gas turbine sound confirmed three miles west-southwest of the target… matching done, it’s the JMSDF’s Nagato.


Giuliani stared hard at the two light points shown on the large display in front.


Putting aside from the Aegis-equipped warship, he heard the mega-float was an oceanic research ship without any arms. And the order this time was to let those armed thugs invade that. Not to mention how it was a ship from Japan, an allied nation. It hardly seemed like a legitimate operation with the approval of the President and Secretary of Defense.


The words from those men in black suits who brought the directive directly from the Pentagon resurfaced in Giuliani’s mind.


—Japan is conducting research on that mega-float for reigniting war on the states. There is no choice but to bury that research in order to maintain the friendship between our two countries.


Giuliani was no youngling capable of eating up their words at face value.


Still, he was already old enough to understand he had no choice but to obey those orders.


“Are our guests prepared?”


The executive officer standing at his side confirmed in a deep voice.


“They are standing by in the ASDS.”


“Alright… maintain this speed and bring her up to a hundred feet!”


Compressed air pushed the ocean water out from the ballast tank and the produced buoyancy lifted Jimmy Carter’s gigantic frame. The distance from the light points gently yet surely decreased.


Would there be casualties among the Japanese researchers? That seemed likely. He would probably carry the memory of cooperating in such an operation until his deathbed.


“Five miles to the objective!”


Shaking off his hesitation, Giuliani commanded with resolution.


“Release the ASDS!”


The faint vibrations his body felt conveyed the release of their baggage from the afterdeck.


“Release complete… ASDS self-propulsion initiated.”


The submarine with a pack of stray dogs and a single shark aboard accelerated in the blink of an eye and charged straight into the belly of that giant ocean turtle floating atop the ocean.