//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: The Detective Turned Smuggler // by Lamasioux //------------------------------// April 1st, 1010 The HOMS Sammakko was nearly twenty minutes into the storm now. All of the major waves the storm was making were crashing into the Sammakko as she cut through the water. Waves splashed onto her deck, hitting her sides all while rain pelted her from above. Thankfully, even the port side AA gun crew had come inside so they were safe from the weather. Is what they would’ve thought at least. The Sammakko kept nose-diving into the ocean occasionally after being pushed up by some waves, which slammed the whole ship. Everything was currently taking its toll on the Sammakko’s speed, slowing her down. On the bridge, all of the deer who were working there were doing everything they could to plot their path through. Unlike being in a formation, they were free now to take whatever course was best through. They were able to send constant orders to the engineers down below working the engines to make constant changes to the boat's direction. For every deer on the boat that wasn’t actively engaged with the ship's survival, they were all either getting what rest they could in the midst of the storm, or trying their best to not fall over from the tilting of the ship, which was the current situation for Velvet. Velvet was trying her best to not fall. She had been on boats before, but never had she gone through a storm in one, always around if one was in the path. For most of the sailors though, it was something they had experienced before to some extent. Repairs on the ship where it had been hit had finished by now. Any fires that might’ve been about were now extinguished, pipes and wiring were fixed and anything that was broken was working as intended again. View from the bridge was very limited currently. The cloud coverage, the rain, and the waves blocking the view occasionally. That, though, did not stop one of the deer who was on lookout in the bridge to quickly yell out, “Unknown ship to our port side stern! It seems to be three kilometers away!” And like that, nearly ⅓ of the deer in the bridge made their way over to the left side of the bridge, looking out of the windows and out into the ocean trying to spot it. Though they didn’t have to really try as they could see the spotlights shining from the boat. They were aimed out into the ocean, as if they were looking for something. One of the deer quickly said, “It’s a goddamn Changeling ship. Its outline matches one of the destroyers that were chasing us as well.” Lauri then chipped in and said, “Well, keep a watch on it. Double check and make sure our boat has no lights out. Let’s try and keep going through the storm while avoiding going in that direction.” Lauri was also looking out the window, thinking as he hadn’t thought the Changelings would chase them into the storm, “Fucking hells, let’s also make sure our boys are ready to man the 105 as well. Get them set up.” “Yes sir.” A deer said before talking on the intercom to whoever picked up on the other end. “They better not find us. Dumb bugs must’ve just turned on their lights… Hey! Did you see any other ships around it?” Lauri said as he walked away from the window. “Not yet, but I’m definitely looking, but there’s no way it’s sticking with its buds in the storm. Must be far apart or they’re alone.” A deer said. “Let's hope they’re alone. We don’t need to be engaged in-- Three kilometers!? Wait?” Lauri asked, “How did they catch up so fast?” “We’ve slowed down to 34knots due to the storm, but they should’ve slowed down a lot as well.” A deer said. “You said it was one of the ships that were chasing us? Do you know what class it was?” Lauri asked, “I never got a chance to see.” “I didn’t recognize it. It was a destroyer, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen its form before. It must be a new class.” A deer said. “They’re that fast in this storm. Fuck me.” Lauri said, “And what do we have? A 105 and two depth charges?” “And one remaining AA gun as well, but that’s it.” A deer said. “Let’s just hope they don’t find us then.” Lauri said. A single deer ended up keeping watch on the Changeling boat as they continued on. Unfortunately, it never left their sight and looked as if it was following them, which meant they were either lucky or were waiting for some unknown reason to attack. Despite everything going on though, down below deck, the deer were taking their turns to eat. “Just potatoes?” Kiran asked. “Just potatoes.” The chef said. “Kind of lacking for such an adventure you think?” Kiran said. “We don’t plan on being out here long so suck it up or leave. I’m just the one handing it out right now.” The chef said. Kiran took the potatoes without any more questions and moved to join Cyrillus on the floor. Nearly every table and chair had been removed. “I kind of regret joining this boat now if I had known the experience would be like this. Would probably rather be on the King Johan than here. At least they probably have better food.” Kiran said. “Can’t be worse than what the army has to eat. I heard that we got better food to help boost morale since we’re inside floating metal coffins.” Cyrillus said. “Maybe they could’ve given us some better food for the journey. Like, it’s a lot of stress just leaving our country like this, plus we never had any action during the time the Sammakko was being stripped and modified. Just boring exercises in a classroom every day.” Kiran sighed and went to eat some of his potato. “At least we get a chance to live.” Cyrillus said blankly. “If we make it. If we die before making it, we’re just going to get thrown overboard into the sea anyways. We or the entire ship. Like, couldn’t they have used an airplane?” Kiran asked. “That I don’t know. I don’t know how they work but I know the King Johan was planned to get some. I heard Equestria has floating airfields for planes as well, but have you ever seen one flying about from our side?” Cyrillus asked. “No, but it just seems like they could’ve used one of those instead. Or maybe a submarine if they all hadn’t been destroyed within the first few months.’ Kiran said. “With a submarine, they could’ve snuck by any Changeling ship or airplane flying above at least.” Cyrillus said. “Yeah, they could’ve, but here we are, using one of the last boats our navy has to get the queen out.” Kiran said. “Are you opposed to doing that?” Cyrillus asked. “No… Just why did it have to be our boat that would. Half our crew was sent to other boats or to the front lines if there was no more room. Just, it’s weird. I don’t know.” Kiran said. “Not wrong about that.” Cyrillus, “But I guess that’s not for us to decide.” Kiran sighed, “Yep.” “Here. Some potatoes and a few apples. It’s all we have but it should be good enough.” The head chef said after handing a plate of the mentioned food to Velvet. “It’s fine! Trust me! Everything you guys are doing is more than is to be asked of you. I can’t complain about the food that you offer.” Velvet said. The head chef nodded and finished handing the other two plates to Nathan and Torsti, “As I just said, it’s all we have, so enjoy it.” The chef then walked out of the room empty hoofed of the food he brought. Nathan didn’t hold himself back from digging into the food. “I guess as he said, all there is to do is enjoy it. Definitely won't be anything as good as what was served at the palace, and that wasn’t a lot either.” Torsti said. Velvet smiled and said, “That it is, but don’t let it go to waste. All we have to do is wait until we’re in Equestria before we can eat like normal again.” “Mhmm.” Torsti said. He watched Nathan eat the food for a second before digging in as well. It had been a tiring day so far, rushing to the boat and sitting in the same room for some hours by now. Velvet gave a quick prayer to herself before she started to eat herself. It wasn’t the most pleasant of meals as it was very bare and basic, but it truly was enough. None of the three talked as they sat in the room eating. Torsti and Velvet had grown accustomed to the swaying of the boat and swayed with it to keep themselves balanced. Nathan had been doing it without thought long ago. One thing Torsti thought of while they ate though was of all the food he’d be able to eat in Equestria. It had been months since he had anything truly stomach bursting filling and being under the safe protection of Equestria, out of the war would add a lot more to it as well. But until then, the potatoes would have to do. The waves had calmed down some. The wind was slower and the rain let up just a little. It was still hard to see that far out still. The deer on the bridge had each taken a break to get food earlier so they were all full on potato now, ready and focused on anything and everything, especially the Changeling ship. The Changeling boat was further away now, it still had its searchlights on as it kept looking out for the Sammakko, or whoever else it might be trying to find. The deer on the bridge kept a watch on the enemy. One of the things that Lauri had talked about with one of the deer during the time was the paint color of the ship. It was a darker blue color right now so they had theorized that it was helping a lot with concealing them from the enemy. Whyever the bugs were using spotlights still was unknown. No radio messages had been found, either the encryption of the enemy’s radio just hadn’t been broken or they weren’t sending anything. But none of that mattered to any of them. They were focused on surviving no matter what the enemy did so they stayed focused on their job. All was going well so far.