//------------------------------// // The US Navy // Story: When The Eagles Go Marching // by Wanderer101 //------------------------------// From the Atlantic to the Pacific From Discovery Coast to the Lunar Sea Nothing Can Stop The US Navy! New Washington Naval Yard Ship Shape was excited. It wasn’t just the ‘new job’ excitement either. He was going to be a part of what was to be a naval boom the likes of which this world had never seen. If you had told him ten years ago when he was a colt fresh out of university that he would be helping design the greatest navy on the planet he’d call you a liar.  Before he had gotten this job he had long wished that he returned to Equestria and took that job in the Vanhoover shipyards he was offered. Instead he stayed in New Mareland to help its budding shipbuilding industry as a Naval Architect. When the Depression hit and the yards closed he almost ended up completely destitute. Thankfully he had a fair bit of cash stored away. Not in a bank because they were the first to close during the Depression. He had it all stuffed in his mattress. While sleeping on a pile of bits was uncomfortable, at least he knew his money was safe. It was enough to live on until the government fell. When MARESOC took over he was selected to become a member of the Outer Party as one of their naval architects. Since he had no political leanings of any kind the Thought Police believed him to be the perfect ‘empty vessel’ they could fill with as much political rhetoric as they wanted. So long as he spouted enough Pro-Big Sister slogans and kept to himself the Thought Police stayed off his back. He was a fairly quiet stallion so it was pretty easy. He still had to go through a decent amount of therapy after the Americans liberated the place. Even now he couldn’t help but spout some Pro-American slogans around police officers and had an unhealthy fear of televisions. He had spent the past few days reading up on the American navy on Earth. From its humble beginnings of being a handful of converted merchant ships to the absolute behemoth it was before the Third World War. While he would love to help design Missile Cruisers and Nuclear submarines the US was years from having the infrastructure needed to build such vessels. So until then they had to go back to the basics. The USS Dreadnought is currently under construction right now. Based on the famous USS Texas it was to be the US Navy’s first battleship here on Equus. It was pretty difficult to get the Navy to agree to build it from what he heard. The US Navy had moved beyond battleships focusing on carriers for naval supremacy so many admirals protested its construction. A foreign concept in this world where many still believed the battleship to be king. He once thought the same until he read how successful American carriers were in the Second World War and in the opening stages of the Third.  The Navy was currently building a couple of carriers as well. The USS Defender was captured in Sunset Harbor while under construction. It was supposed to be the twin to New Mareland’s only aircraft carrier, the Princess (which was renamed to the Big Sister by MARESOC). The Princess now lay on the bottom of the Discovery Sea after being sunk by US aircraft. The USS Sentinel was under construction in Liberty City though only its keel had been laid so far. These carriers were quite simple especially when compared to the carriers the Navy used to operate. They were just big & advanced enough for the Navy’s jets & helicopters to operate on.  There were plans in place to start construction on the second carrier generation immediately. The world was headed to war and despite still trying to find its footing the US had been thrust into the role of peacekeeper once again. The new carriers were going to be based on the tried & tested Midway-Class. When it came time to decide their names someone had proposed that the new ships be called the Princess-Class and named after Celestia & Luna. While it apparently wasn’t uncommon for US navy vessels to be named after ‘foreigners’ this was still quite the radical proposal. Pros for this audacious plan was that it would help foster good relations with Equestria who was quickly starting to become America’s biggest ally. With the failure of the Second Aquelian Revolution the King of Aquelia has started making hostile moves towards the US who was rumored to have given discreet help to the revolutionaries. The Manehattan Fleet sailing in US waters for a ‘joint exercise’ was enough to dissuade him. Personally he would actually like to see such a thing happen. New Mareland’s Princess had never got much of a chance to prove itself before it was sunk. These new ships would be like the Princess reborn and give her the chance to protect the ponies & griffons it was meant to and not be used as a tool to oppress them. Getting to have a hoof in that no matter how minor was an honor he was proud to have. But carriers would have to wait for now. The US Navy had a project in the works to put them in the top ten navies on the planet. He and just about every senior shipwright in the country was brought onboard for Project Goliath. What it was he had no idea but he was happy to be a part of it. New Washington The Pentagon In a section of New Washington a large pentagon shaped building was under construction. A replica of the Pentagon on Earth, it served as the headquarters of the US Military. Even though it was still under construction the military used the offices that were completed. War the likes of which this world had never seen before was on the horizon and they would make sure the US was ready to defend democracy & freedom like it had done in the past. In one of the conference rooms belonging to the Navy a group of Admirals were sitting at a long table. Half of the Admirals, mostly humans, were looking fairly glum. The thought going through their heads was how their fellows even thought this was a good idea. The other half of the Admirals, mostly ponies & griffons, were behind the plan wholeheartedly. While many of them have been swayed to the power of the Aircraft Carrier they knew that the US still needed battleships. Not just any battleship either. “Greetings Admirals.” said an engineer dimming the lights and turning on a projector. “We have a lot to go over so let’s get started.” The words Project Goliath appeared on the screen before being replaced by an artist’s rendition of a large battleship. The United States was not constructing just any old battleship but a super battleship one to rival the Bismarck and Yamato on Earth. Dusting off plans for the old Montana class this ship which was to be named the USS United States of the Americas was to be the most powerful ship sailing the seas. The brainchild of a few US Navy admirals and the couple of New Mareland Navy Admirals in New Manehattan after the rise of MARESOC.  Their arguments did have merit. The US Navy for the foreseeable future was going to be heavily outnumbered both in terms of ships and in naval production. The two largest powers surrounding them, Aquileia and Wingbady, both had large navies that got larger each month. The chances of fighting them was high so the Navy needed a ship that could take a lot of punishment while dishing it out. There was also the added benefit of the ship getting the US Navy the grudging respect of the world’s navies who still believed the battleship was king of the seas and couldn't understand why the US was putting so much emphasis on carriers. A few of the opposing Admirals upon seeing the rendition and a detailed look at the ship’s specifications started to be swayed away from the opinion that this battleship was a waste of resources and dockyard space. A reminder at how much just how close the Marelandian navy was to completely overwhelming them in numbers also started to sway many opinions. The sub and destroyer crews had their hands full trying to escort the invading troops and prevent an invasion of their island. As much as they were reluctant to admit it the Air Force was the real hero of the war having sunk a good chunk of the Marelandian navy at port while also constantly harassing their ships at sea. The Navy wasn’t going to let the Air Force steal their thunder so ensuring they could go toe to toe with this world’s fleets was paramount.  Interlude: Voices from the Other Side I Celestia lay upon her bed in her room reading the latest Daring Do book. Miss Yearling really outdone herself this time. She heard Chrysalis was quite furious at how the legendary Daring Do made a fool of her elite Specters. If Miss Yearling wasn’t so keen on keeping her privacy she would have awarded her several Hero of Equestria medals by now. Her peaceful atmosphere was broken by her radio which had been playing a piece from the Canterlot Orchestra suddenly emitting static. She looked over at it annoyed, wondering what was causing it to make such a horrid noise. Through the static she started to hear voices which intrigued her enough to keep her from simply turning the radio off. Soon the static cleared allowing her to hear the voices clearly and what she heard was shocking. Was that her voice!? -failed to protect the ponies of Equestria because I was afraid to do what is necessary! No longer! Without Order there can be no Survival! Without Survival there can be no Friendship! All shall be safe under the new Solar Empire. I ask only for your obedience, devotion, and shared sacrifice… As the radio went back to playing static Celestia was stunned. Was that her? She doesn’t remember saying anything like that, especially not on the radio! She would never say something so… sinister. Or would she? These past few days she wondered if she should take a more… proactive stance. War was on the horizon and there seemed to be little she could do to prepare for it. Even her power had limits and over a thousand years of red tape & tradition constantly bogged her down. Ironically it was her and Luna, the thousand year old alicorns, that advocated change while other members of Equestria’s government tried to keep everything the same expecting things to turn out alright like they always did. Was this a version of her that did get more involved? That did get more aggressive? That slope was more slippery than she thought if she fell down it that far. The static started to clear again so she leaned forward and listened. The Equestria Civil War has entered its third year with no significant gains by either side. President J.D. Neighvis of the Confederation of Southern States has condemned the attempt by the Solar and Lunar Empires to annex the newly formed state saying that the south will remain independent now and forever. President Thorax of the Free Changeling Hive has opened the borders to any ponies fleeing the civil war. King Sombra of the Crystal Empire has done the same yet states refugees must make an oath of loyalty to his regime… There was a lot to unwrap from that one. A Civil War!? Between her and Luna!? Did her fall to darkness cause her sister to fall as well? Or was it the other way around? Luna had been so worried when making her Thestral Reforms. She had sunk everything into it. Now she couldn’t help but think what if things had gone wrong? Would that have caused Luna to snap? J.D. Neighvis. That was a name she was familiar with. He was an Appleloosan politician that had advocated the southern, and neglected, part of Equestria be turned into an autonomous state. If there was a civil war she didn’t doubt Neighvis would use such a thing to his advantage. Sombra returning was worrying. There had been rumors of certain groups in the Crystal Empire trying to bring him back. Perhaps she should take such things more seriously. A letter to Cadence urging her to look into such matters would do along with assigning an agent or two from Equestrian Intelligence. The thing that interested her the most was this mention of a Free Changeling Hive. In wherever world these broadcasts were coming from did the Changelings overthrow Chrysalis? If so then more power to them. If there was a way to find this Thorax she wouldn’t hesitate to offer him whatever support he needed. That was something to keep an eye out for. The next thing that played from the radio wasn’t a broadcast but instead music. I don’t want to set the world on fire~ It was obviously a human song and sounded quite lovely. She returned to her book reading while the music played in the background. When the song ended there was static for a few seconds until the radio went back to playing the Canterlot Orchestra like nothing even happened. What a rather strange event but honestly such a thing was becoming quite common these days.