HEMS Schornhorse
00:00
I heard the soft chime of the bell, the sound of approaching hoof-steps, and the low murmurs of the watch changing. I looked at the clock hanging from the wall and shook off the weariness that washed over me.
Getting a ship ready for sea is a daunting task, and for the last three weeks, I have drilled my crew through every scenario, both dockside and out in the deep. I wish the orders that sat before me had been set later, my crew just wasn't ready for a true mission, they were still too green, but orders were orders. I magicked my papers into my side case and trotted down the passages to my quarters. I took one last look out the porthole before settling into my cot. I was out before I knew it.
The Bridge
Commander Lyra Heartstrings looked into the captain's ready room. 'no sign of the Skipper, good' she thought as she turned back to the bridge.
The Captain had been running the ship's company hard ever since he came aboard and the crew had done their best. They had shown the Admiral just what the new ship could do. Looking back on the commissioning trial, she smiled. They had gone out with the Pride of the Navy, HEMS Canterlot, the super-dreadnought flagship of the East Fleet, along with the 5th Battle Squadron. They had been, "escorted" out of harbor and then taken a due north heading for an hour. The Captain had been silent the entire time, just standing there at his post till a signalmare trotted up to him with a note. He had magicked it to read and then handed it back.
"Helm, come to heading 0-4-5. All engines stand by for full power." He said
"Coming to heading 0-4-5, Aye, Sir!"
"Engineering standing ready, Sir!"
"All Engines Ahead FLANK!" His voice never rose bu the power behind 'flank' was almost like he was using his voice to propel the ship forward.
At first there was no noticeable change in the ship's speed, and then there was. The first indication was the smoke the gushed from the two stacks aft of the forward tower. Their normal grey white turned a thick black as the grease-ponies below opened the throttle all the way and flushed the entire system with power. A low throb was felt as high as the compass platform as four massive propellers dug in to the water, forcing the huge ship forward. She dug in deep by the stern before the gargantuan forces begin applied to the drive shafts finally overcame her 76 thousand tonne bulk.
She smiled as the memory of the high speed run replayed in her mind. The Captain had run the engines for a full five minutes before he threw the rudder into a hard port turn that brought the ship a full 180 degrees in less than a minute. Everypony had braced for the turn and when it was completed the captain had the engine backed till the Schornhorse came to a stop. the remainder of the exercise was using the engines to steer, then refueling at sea, transfer of ordinance at sea, and then the final full speed run back to the harbor, but not with the escorts, against them. The Schornhorse had arrived a full twenty minutes ahead of the rest of the battle squadron and even the Admiral had to give it to the Captain.
"Ma'am?" a voice broke her memory and she shook the remnants away.
"Yes Lieutenant?" she held her voice low.
"There is a courier from the Admiralty with orders for the Captain." the Com Officer's voice was a bit harsh, but considering the hour it could be tolerated
"At this hour? What is the Admiralty thinking? where is he now?" she had rose her voice back to normal levels.
"The forward gangway, Ma'am" the lieutenant was obviously relived by the exec's irritation.
"Bring him to the ready room. I'll see him there"
Main Engineering
Lieutenant Crystal Mesh paced the deck sole in livid fury. She had been working on number three turbine for hours now and had just finished the last repair and went to start it up but then realized that the 'hour' she and her team had spent on the turbine had been more like eight, and starting up a turbine at 01:30 was going to bring the Skipper on her head. So She had opted to pace over sleep and was waiting till 05:59 to kick the sucker over.
The Captain should know better then to run the ship's systems and crew so hard , but he had and even Crystal had to admit that it was working the green crew into a weapon of war, into Equestria's shield. But it was time like this that she was angry at the Skipper. Turbine Three had worked just fine up till the "race" home had blown some of her impellers out of alignment, causing a huge amount of noise and practically melted the eighth ring to scrap. It was a simple fix, pull out the broken ring and replace, but bits of the melted turbine blades had been blown through the low pressure turbine and that's were they lost all that time.
She continued pacing, the clock read 01:58 and she let out a sigh as the continued her pacing. I loud ring startled her as the phone line from the bridge rang. She trotted to it and pressed one hoof to the receive switch.
"Main Engineering," she said.
"Mesh? What are you doing up!?" It was the exec.
"I'm waiting to finish my repair on turbine three." she said like it should have been obvious.
"Well that can wait, How soon can you get full steam on all ten boilers?" She sounded a bit rushed.
"In ten minutes, but does the Skipper know? If I do that it will sure make some ponies unhappy." she bit her bottom lip,
"I know and I'm going to be calling GQ in ten so get on it Lieutenant!" The Captains voice rang through the speaker and Crystal jumped again.
"Yes, SIR!" She said and launched herself off the railing and into a glide to the forward bulkhead to the boiler rooms. She would get them in eight with that kind of encouragement!
Main Fire Control
First Gunnery Officer Trotter Muleheim was Pissed to say the least as he galloped to the Main Director at the top of the Mast. He had been sleeping peacefully when the GQ alarm blared him out of his bunk. He didn't know what the fuss was but a GQ drill and 0200 hours was a load of dragon dung in his mind. He entered the heavily armored room and set the headset on his head, careful not to bend his ears under the headphones weight.
He did a quick check of his instruments and again shook his head. 02;00 and the ship was still in Manehatten Harbor.
"Give me a visual run of the area, ten klicks. and update the bridge of any movement. from the normal traffic." he gave the order with nonchalance. He knew nothing was attacking. not at this hour, and not here.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, Sir. The bridge has acknowledged our sweep." the pony who spoken was awake but he could tell he was as miffed as his superior was.
"Good, are the links to the main and secondaries checked?"
"Yes, Sir" another pony said.
"Well then ponies, we now wait for..." his sentence was cut off by a sudden shift in the ship, He rushed to the starboard wing of the Director and saw that the ship was slowly drifting out from he dock heading towards the harbor entrance.
"It seams today just got interesting." He said quietly.
The Bridge
I guess the nap helped clear my head but I was still trying to clear my head. The sudden orders meant something was up, and it wasn't just us either. The Canterlot was getting underway along with the Equestria and two cruisers. They had the advantage of being out from the docks and they didn't have to embark an Admiral. I had just finished reading my orders when Admiral Blue Blood entered my day room and gave me the quick brief. I was surprised that he was going to use my ship as flagship, but there was no time to get to the Canterlot and time was of the essence.
I knew I felt anxious but I also knew my crew would be too, but there was really no time for me to brief them till we had left the harbor and but our best speed on. I had the eery feeling that the war the Princess had feared was about to break out and the me and my ship were to be the first ones on the front. I guess she was right, we WERE Equestria's shield.