Battleship of Equestria Chapter Seven: A New Foe Revealed
April 29th, 1942 6:28 PM
Canterlot…
(Jacob's POV)
I sit up in my bed with a sigh, a pounding in my head. 'At least I seemed to have slept most of it off,' I think to myself ruefully, walking over to the mirror. I cringe and immediately start fixing my mane and my uniform, and pretty much everything else. A knock on the door interrupts me and I walk over to the door slowly. "Yes? Oh, hello Luna," I say as I open the door and see a pair of cerulean eyes staring into mine. "Ah, you're up. How are you feeling?"
I chuckle slightly. "Aside from a headache, I'm fine. Would you like to come inside?" I ask, my manners kicking in. Luna smiles and nods. I step to the side and open the door, allowing her to sit in one of the two chairs at the small table near the window. At this point I finally look at the night sky and am simply stunned by it. A full moon stands amid a curtain of glittering stars. I watch a comet streak by, instinctively making a wish for victory. I look at Luna. "Tomorrow, I will be holding a funeral for my three dead crewmates. You are welcomed to attend, as are the other princesses, but to be honest, it is going to be a quiet event." I lean back in my chair, thinking about my brother's tombstone.
Luna nods in understanding. "I will be there, to provide support as a friend should." She then hesitates for a moment, making me curious. "Bit for you thought?" I ask, modifying an old saying from home. "It's nothing. Just concerned for how deeply the land will be scarred," Luna replies, a bit too quickly for my liking. I know she's holding something back, but I also know it is best to let her tell me what it is when she is ready. It's a lesson I have learned from my younger brother when we were on the streets in '33.
"The enemy will be wanting to regain the momentum," I state, gazing out the window again. I feel Luna's gaze on me. I continue speaking, not moving my head. "Cluny has suffered two setbacks. The next blow will come to the Southern Theater. Before you ask how I am sure of this, let me explain. Cluny has lost forty warships and roughly thirty transports in the Central Theater. In the north, he has a massive force laying siege to Vanhoover, now defended by 250,000 members of the Royal Guard, many veterans of the battle you had lead from the first strike it has withstood. The three new boats coming from the east, the prototypes my crew and I designed, are they on their way?"
The princess of the night nods. "With crews of veteran sailors, both military and civilian, and fully loaded with the equally new experimental cannons. However, as you told us to expect, they are both slow and cumbersome." I nod, wishing once again for a slightly more industrial world. But I'll take what I can get. "The ship they were based on in my world was the same. She helped change naval warfare forever, at a place called Hampton Roads. As we will always have a smaller navy then Cluny's, we must use armor. His ships are easily replaceable. It won't be the same for us." Again my friend nods.
Another silence falls over us. Two warriors, from two different worlds. I haven't told anyone this, not even Luna, but I fear for my ship. The new shells had arrived today and will be tested tomorrow, but what about her boilers? And what if we come across another lost ship? Fuso was desgined in the 1910s for God's sake! Anything not British or American will either be able to outgun us or hit us with torpedoes!
I shudder slightly, dreading the thought of the under-water weapon. 'And what about bombers? The Arizona went up like she did from a single hit, and she had the same, if not better armor! DAMN IT' At that I (lightly) thud my hoof on the table, lowering my head until my chin rests on my other hoof, now lying at the table. "Jacob?" Once again Luna calls my name with concern, way too often for one day for my liking. I keep my head down. "Escalation. Goddamn escalation," I mumble tiredly. A sudden knock on the door interrupts her reply. "Captain, you're going to want to hear this!" Froster exclaims in an abnormally panicked tone. "What happened?" I ask as I exit my 'room', Luna close behind. Out of everything I would have expected, what I hear next is not even at the bottom of the list.
"Someone has contacted for you specifically on the radio. An American who didn't come through with us but who has accesses to both a radio and our naval codes."
9:00 PM
I pace around impatiently. Aside from my officers and the princesses, the room is empty. "Anything?" I ask Private Burns. The stallion shakes his head. "No sir. Wait, now I am getting something. Yes, he is here. Ok, I will put him through," Burns says as he quickly turns the volume up so everyone can hear, and hands me the microphone. "This is Captain Jacob Holman of the United States Navy. Identify yourself," I say coolly, mustering as much confidence as I can.
A hauntingly familiar chuckle fills the room. "Captain, is it? Last we talked, you were a Lieutenant Junior Grade. My, my, what can happen in not even a half year." "You're supposed to be dead! We never found a single piece of you! Not a scrap of uniform, skin, or even bone! Who the fuck are you?" I hiss, the faces in the room starring in downright alarm at my reaction. The words I hear next chill me to my very soul. "The same guy you grew up with and pretended to be Lawrence of Arabia and his sidekick in the forest as kids." I turn to my companions. "Out. Please." I phrase it as a request, but everyone can tell it is more of a demand, which I am quickly granted. Once Luna exits the room, I close the door.
"What the fuck happen?" I demand as another tinny laugh is emitted from the electronic. "Oh, the same way you did. Only I was chosen, and for the first time it is you, brother dearest, who is here by accident. As much as I enjoy a family reunion, I didn't call for you to do that. I have a message, and a warning, Jacob. Leave this war. Go to the griffins or the dragons, but leave this war. Cluny doesn't have anything against you, even with your actions. Refuse, and your ship will be destroyed. And you, your crew, and everything you care about. You have one week. Personally, I hope you decide to try to continue whatever it is you're doing in the South Luna Ocean. Good-bye, 'brother'," the voice says before the radio falls silent.
Once the initial shock has worn out, I use my magic to fling open the doors and gallop through the castle halls, ignoring anyone or pony who calls my name or rank. Once I am outside, I spread my wings and take off in the early night skies, needing fresh air. 'My brother, alive, aligned with Cluny?!'
Meanwhile off the Coast of Vanhoover…
Gu'klas eyes at the commander of the 'special' ship his master had summoned. "Do you really think he will accept the offer?" He asks cautiously. His answer comes in the form of a haughty scoff. "I honestly don't give a damn. I only told him that was what the master promised. I never promised that I would do the same. You guys sure were lucky the master had chosen me to be his 'Supreme Naval Commander', since now I will be facing off against my brother," The dark alicorn responds as he steps onto the bridge of his ship. Gu'klas follows, listening to his 'co-commander's' rant as he continues.
"Of course perfect older brother would be the one that has been messing our plans. The one time I am chosen for my talents, he's gotta outshine me even in another world! Well, he shall soon regret having Henry Holman as a younger brother!"