//------------------------------// // Divided Fleet // Story: The Red Sun Rises: Voyages // by The Atlantean //------------------------------// By the end of the day, Celestia had become friends with Amber. They understood each other in way that no one else could: Amber watched the show, meaning she knew a fair bit about the princess’s home; and Celestia was just glad to know somebody who actually remotely knew of Equestria. “Well, Celestia, I’m no scientist nor psychiatrist, but from what you’ve told me, I have a guess as to to why you’re here and not the Whispering Mountain Pass. When the missile hit Reagan and punched a hole in the flight deck, the resonant frequency of the explosion must have matched that of your unconscious. You were then mentally pulled through either space or time to the site of the explosion, where you were found by us. Your body simply followed your mind.” Amber concluded. “Is there a way back?” the princess inquired. “Not that I know of. That’s a level of technology we just haven’t quite reached yet.” “Then how’d I get here?” The sailor sighed. “I don’t know. But-” She was cut off by a call. “Air Boss, the captain wants you on the bridge. And bring our guest.” “Acknowledged.” Amber looked at Celestia. “If you would follow me, I’ll take you to the bridge.” On the way there, the Equestrian asked what the bridge was, since she thought it was a solid pathway over a geological obstacle. The American’s response was that the bridge was the command room of the ship. It housed the navigational equipment, along with announcement systems and other stuff. The two walked into the bridge, where Admiral Robinson waited impatiently. He saw them and strode over. “About time, ladies. You see that?” he gestured out the window to a strange storm ahead of them. When they nodded, he continued. “It came out of nowhere. One minute we had clear skies, the next, this damn thing shows up. Do you know what it is, Celestia?” “Looks like a hurricane, like the ones that periodically hit Batlimare during the summer. They form in the central Celestial Sea, then head northwest.” “Well, this one’s headed southeast. Can you explain that?” Celestia was shocked. “They’ve never headed south before. I don’t know why this one did.” Amber spoke up. “Sir, I may have an explanation. Celestia told me that her younger sister was assassinated about a week or two ago. Since both were powerful beings at the time, it may have ripped open a hole in space. We could be looking at a portal to another world, admiral.” Robinson pursed his lips. If he could sail Reagan and her escort around the storm, he could help finish the war against Russia and China. On the other hand, if this storm ignored the realities of space-time altogether, it would be possible to sail in and come out on the other side in time for the landing on China’s coast. If we can get there without losing all of our carriers. “All right then, we sail in. inform the escort to follow us through the storm if they can handle the high seas. Otherwise, they should stay behind and wait for us to come back out.” he ordered. Reagan and her escort and a half sailed towards the tropical storm. As they approached the cloud front, the wind picked up dramatically, howling at the tall steel vessels entering its domain. Antennae atop the ships began to bend to the side, the wind battering it into a slant. Helicopters not secured to the flight deck were blown to the portside edge of the deck by 300-mph gusts, and eventually fell off the carrier. “Sir, maximum wind speed is not this high in a tropical cyclone! We need to abort before it capsizes the cruisers and destroyers!” a navigational officer yelled over the wind. “We might sink in this storm!” “No! Hold your course, sailor!” Reagan crested a wave two hundred ten feet high, its water splashing over the deck. One of the heavily damaged destroyers wasn’t so lucky, and hit the wave at a diagonal, capsizing as it neared the crest. The other surface ships made it through next to the carrier. “Sir, Halsey has capsized! They’re not gonna make it!” The wind picked up to higher speeds, threatening to knock the smaller ships over, and beginning to become a concern to the carrier. Sea spray continually washed over the deck, falling off, and splashing up again. As Reagan went over the crest of another monster wave, she flew down towards the trough and nearly smashed a submarine that sailed silently under the turmoil that was the surface. Luckily, the submarine captain saw Reagan on fuzzed sonar and dove deeper to avoid getting crushed. The storm dissipated as suddenly as it started an hour earlier. Reagan was essentially the only surface ship left, save two cruisers and a guided missile destroyer. The submarines surfaced at that time so the ships could acknowledge their safety, and stayed with their conning towers peeking above the low, rolling waves. About a hundred nautical miles to the west, three cruisers and four destroyers sailed through calm waters. Their primary concern was to find Reagan and the rest of the fleet to regroup. Along with them was a fast attack submarine, surfacing to acknowledge the other ships. The same distance to the east of Reagan, two heavily damaged frigates and a destroyer sat dead in the water, their steering systems taken out by the storm. All they had was Morse code, radar, and sonar. However, their luck returned with the appearance of a WWI-era American battleship that had disappeared in the same conditions Reagan’s fleet had. Even with heavy damage, little to no fuel, and large cloth sails as its primary propulsion, it was a sight indeed. It signaled with Morse code a inquiry of identification, and received replies from all three ships. Soon, they all sailed close enough for commanding officers to meet, and they did, creating a small armada with the goal of finding the supercarrier. Aboard Reagan, Celestia stood on the starboard balcony structure on the bridge, looking for land. It didn’t take too long once Amber handed her a pair of binoculars and taught her how to use them. “I see something off the starboard bow. I think it’s the Dragon’s Lair North Coast.” Robinson asked her a very important question. “Why are you a horse now?” Celestia removed the binoculars and realized she was holding them with magic. Turning around, she said, “Welcome to Equestria.” Amber nodded and asked about the location of the Dragon’s Lair. “It’s that way,” she answered, pointing with her hoof. “So, bearing south sixty east. Can you tell me where on the coast we are?” “Yes. That is Mount Stormpeak, nearest to where the Gauntlet of Fire started last time. But I can’t give you a precise location without some kind of map.” “Leave it to me.” Amber left the bridge and rushed to her quarters, where she kept a poster map of Equestria. Then she headed back up and laid it out on the table in the officer’s briefing room, where the others gathered while she grabbed the map. “Where’s Celestia?” she asked, but was answered by the princess’s teleportation spell. “Alright, here you go. Full map of Equestria and the surrounding lands.” “Appreciated.” Celestia used a pencil to point out what she talked about. “So, here is Mount Stormpeak, at a bearing of apparently south sixty east. Judging by the midday sun, I figure that we’re here.” She circled a spot twenty nautical miles northwest of the volcano. “As far as we can tell, we’re all that’s left of the fleet. Now, to get you home, I need a magic only one creature has, and he’s a little busy fighting a war while I’m supposed to be east of Griffonstone.” She labeled the Whispering Mountain Pass. “This leads to my destination: Atlantis. However, I can’t get there by land since we happen to be just north of Dragon’s Lair. But there’s also a sea route, if you all are willing to make the journey.” Admiral Robinson looked at the poster. “What you’re saying is that we’ll go off this map? We don’t know what’s past that point.” The princess sighed. “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m asking you to do.”