On deck and below it, close-in weapons systems spun to life—automated cannons calculating trajectories faster than any human could blink. They spat streams of tungsten into the air, building walls of metal against incoming threats. Electronic warfare teams flooded the spectrum with jamming signals, deploying decoys meant to seduce missile guidance systems away from steel hulls and into empty sea. Every layer of defense activated in concert, a symphony of countermeasures refined through decades of doctrine.