After having everything from his history and fame to his two sisters stripped from him, USS Oregon was ready to accept his final scrapping. But something or someone determined that his story wouldn't end there.
Destroyed in his world by a freak of...
Oregon examined a picture of what looked like a city that had been completely wiped out. Buildings heavily damaged or destroyed, everything a dull dusty grey.
"I remember the day atomic warfare was invented, when the United States dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan. The results looked very similar to this."
"'Atomic'? What does that mean?"
"I don't fully understand it myself, but the gist is that uranium atoms are split and the resulting energy released is equivalent to at least thousands of tons of TNT, which can and will produce the wasteland this picture shows."
"What year was this?"
"1945. 11 years before I was supposed to be finally scrapped."
Wales interrupted. "Wait, you're saying that a single bomb can cause this extent of destruction?"
"That and more. Not just regular fission bombs were invented, we made even more powerful plutonium bombs that can create hundred-foot-wide mushroom clouds that can tower tens of thousands of feet into the air."
"You're joking..."
Oregon chuckled humorlessly. "Just wait till you learn about Operation Crossroads. Actually, no, you don't want to know about that. But here's an illustration to get an idea."
He produced a color picture from somewhere and presented it.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Meet the first moments of Test Baker, the star of one of the most iconic pictures of the nuclear age. Beyond that...trust me, you don't want to know.
"Heh. Turns out us warships are pretty resistant to nuclear explosions. Sure, we get coated in highly radioactive fallout that doesn't disappear for decades but we are not easily sunk by the explosion. Operation Crossroads pretty much proved that."
"A-Are you saying a bomb like this caused that kind of damage to that city?"
"Entirely possible, although since this is most likely Siren technology it's hard to tell for sure."
"A weapon with that kind of power...what could it do if it were used against a base like this...?"
Oregon nodded. "It would easily wipe this base off the face of the earth. Which is why we'll have to find the place responsible for this attack and destroy it."
Cleveland burst into the room, ever capable of knocking down the innocent door.
"A Sakura Empire sub has been spotted outside the base. They are surfaced and flying a white flag. Furthermore, a small group of Red Axis cruisers, destroyers, and an escort carrier are waiting behind it."
Oregon immediately headed for the doorway. "Let me see who it is and what they want."
"Are you sure? They could easily sink you if they wanted to..."
