//------------------------------//
// 24. On The Bridge 
// Story: Millennia: Beginning 
// by Thunderblast 
//------------------------------//

"Star, wait up!" Nightpath panted, galloping down the stairs outside of our barrack and then slowing to a steady walk once he was by my side. "Okay... Star. You've spent the last twenty minutes refusing to tell me what's going on. Please, I want to know why we're being deployed again!"

I turned to face him with a slightly annoyed expression. "And as I've said the last fifty-four times, Night, Shadow will be briefing all of us. Which is why we need to get over to the docks at once and not be late to hear what he has to say," then kept walking, seabag sitting comfortably on my back.

"But you already know, don't you?" Night eyed me.

I didn't stop to look back at him. "I have a hunch."

"A hunch... is that it?" He kept following.

"Nothing more, nothing less. Now please be quiet."

"Okay... okay."

For once, I actually did something to make him stop. I hoped it would stay that way.

While we walked, I found myself to have completely ignored the outside temperature, having left my gloves and beanie back at our barrack. It wasn't until I noticed tiny snowflakes beginning to drift down from the grey overcast sky where I realized just how brisk it really was, nonetheless I still ignored it. I was too tense to care about the weather.


***


We reached the docks following a very short trot. Many confused sailors and Marines stood in an unorganized group, chatting and wondering what was going on. Thankfully Nightpath wasn't stupid enough to ask me again out loud and attract everyone's attention to me, knowing I was one of the few that actually knew the reason as to why we were being deployed for the second time in just over a week.

Some time of standing in the cold later, the commanding officer walked around the side of our group and stood in front of us, between everypony else and the water itself. Everyone quickly turned and stood forward, hooves clicking together in unison as everypony stood at attention. Shortly after Shadow came the lieutenant. And then—the other lieutenant? 

Both Arc and Kosec stood on either side of Shadow while he cleared his throat. "Attention everypony. I know this may seem confusing to many of you, but please, hold on to your questions for the time being. I need everypony to take into consideration that once again, we will be out to sea for quite possibly a longer time than before, and, me as well as a few others have not been all that honest from the time we arrived in port to this very minute," he then paused.

"The truth is, and well, we kept this secret to avoid a panic among all of you, but the truth is, during our last deployment, we received an anonymous threat, presumably from a nearby Griffonian vessel. We still aren't sure who exactly sent the message to us via radio communication, but the language they spoke is almost perfectly identical to Griffish. For now we've assumed it is Griffonian pirates wandering into the open waters away from their own. That is why we are being sent back out, we are going to investigate this thoroughly, and hopefully put an end to their reign on Equestria and Griffonia's trading system."

Shadow then sighed. "And yes, I understand it is hard for each and every one of you to think about leaving your families again, as I have one of my own. And right now, it may seem spiteful to say, but, this is what each and every one of you signed up for. We exist to defend our country, our friends, our families. What we are shipping out to take care of is exactly that, and I ask nothing more of you all to perform your tasks and follow orders, and if it does come to it, we defend our own vessel and eliminate any threat thrown our way."

"Hooyah, sir!" shouted a sailor from our group. Nobody turned to see who it was, not even Shadow, who actually smiled at that.

"Yes, hooyah," he smiled faintly, then wiped it from his expression. "But also, on our next voyage, not only will my good friend and second-in-command, Lieutenant Arc Nobis be joining us, but also Lieutenant Kosec Ping. Some of you may know her from the Lunar Naval Academy. She will be helping me and anypony else on the bridge during our trip and will provide visual aid."

Just then, somepony's hoof raised in the middle of the group. Shadow motioned his hoof to the pony to lower it, and he did. "And yes, the Eclipse was damaged in our previous deployment, but since our return, the damage has been repaired and the ship is once again fully operational, so no, we will not be taking somepony's boat out for a spin in the Antlertic," he added, and almost everypony started chuckling. 

"Now, lieutenants," Shadow looked between the two standing on either side of him. "If there is anything you two would like to bring the crew up to speed on, now is the time."

Lieutenant Arc remained his usual, quiet self, and not a word was heard from the stallion. Shadow turned back to Kosec, who seemed to be caught off guard. "Oh, erm, yes. As Shadow said before, we understand it will be tough to be deployed again, nevertheless our presence is required out there in the open ocean, and I can assure each and every one of you, this will not be anything more than a search and possibly destroy mission." 

"Now, I spoke with Shadow about this earlier, and I received word that the Eclipse is stationed approximately eleven nautical miles off the coast. There will be helos flying in to pick each and every one of you up. Because of the deadline, there is no time to bring the ship into the harbor and board it manually, so consider this to be an exception," she continued. "I suggest keeping your questions locked away until we're on the carrier. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" we each answered in unison.

"Very good," Kosec nodded her head once. "It will be a short while before the choppers arrive, so I hope each of you packed a lunch. I don't want any of you leaving this spot until they do get here."

Stepping back some, she nodded to the captain, and he turned to face us. "You heard the lieutenant. Nopony goes anywhere 'til our rides fly in, whether that be a few minutes or an hour's wait."

Now I really wish I grabbed my beanie.


***


Each of us had taken a seat on the cold cement, and most of us were shivering from the frigid air blowing in from the ocean and the snowflakes that continued to drift to the ground. I sat towards the center of the large group, rubbing my hooves together and occasionally blowing hot breath onto them to keep them warm. Much of the others did their best to pass the time by chatting with each other, while those including myself simply wanted to prevent ourselves from turning into uniformed blocks of ice.

It wasn't until the grayness of the sky began to dim when me and a few others caught onto the approaching whirring noise of helicopter blades slicing through the icy air. I turned while shivering, and much to my relief, there they were, five black UH-60s approaching from over the coastline and were beginning their slow descent towards where we waited. Before long, the even brisker breeze they kicked up blew across every one of us. Those who weren't shivering before most likely were now.

Each of the helicopters landed on their own landing pads close by, while one of them had landed on a dock beside the one we waited on, and one of the pilots of the choppers hopped out to gather us up and have us boarded in an orderly fashion.

"Listen up!" Shouted the pilot above the loud engine as he flipped the black visor up into his helmet. "I need twelve of you on each, the rest of you will be picked up by following helos, understood?"

"Yes sir!" We answered at the top of our lungs, and in groups of twelve, we boarded the helicopters and strapped ourselves in while the pilot shut the sliding door on the side. Despite the cabin being small, we packed in comfortably with our bags, and within minutes we were lifting off of the ground. Inside was still an uncomfortable, freezing temperature, but thankfully there was no breeze, which was the real killer.

Staring outside of the window, I watched Manehattan disappear as we began to pass through a snow squall, and from there, the ride became slightly turbulent, and it was at that moment where I could completely comprehend that I absolutely hated being in a helicopter, and the weather only made my fear worse.

On the contrary, the flight was fairly short, and after nothing but a total whiteout with the only thing visible being the choppy ocean below us for just over fifteen minutes, we began to circle around the Eclipse as the pilots waited for the go-ahead to land on the deck. All the while, the blackhawk continued to be battered with fierce winds that were enough to make somepony nauseous—well, enough to make me nauseous, and here I was thinking seasickness was the worst possible thing I'd have to deal with medically-wise.

Our chopper did manage to land without a hitch, and like clockwork we disembarked onto the safety of the flight deck, where I noticed two green-faced sailors galloping to the edge of the ship and puking their lunches into the sea for the fish to take care of. I felt queasy myself, but I was at least able to keep my insides... well... inside. 

We all were taken into the ship where it was extremely toasty. Wherever a heater vent was found, there were groups of up to six or seven ponies gathered around it fighting over the warmth. It was an entertaining but short-lived sight when our bodies did finally reach a safe temperature and the blood had thawed. Furthermore, me and Nightpath met back up in the hallway and made our way to our sleeping quarters to drop off our bags. Being at sea already, our shifts had begun the moment the blackhawks landed, and granted, this meant longer shifts. Not just for a few of us, everybody on board.

I trotted back out into the hallway and went right, making my way to and up the stairwell that led up to the bridge where I assumed Shadow waited. Upon walking up to the door jam, I stopped and stood at attention.

"Permission granted, private," said Lieutenant Arc before I could speak up, standing and facing out the window towards the open ocean. With much surprise, I eased myself and stepped into the room.

"Er, thank you sir," I stopped just before my desk and peered around. "Where is everypony else?"

"They're either just arriving or are on their way," Arc replied, standing perfectly still like a statue, focus locked outside of the ship.

Blinking with some confusion, I slowly took a seat in front of the radar panels, which were already switched on and operating normally. It still got to me just how the lieutenant knew I was about to request permission to enter the bridge. I figured he may have heard me come up the stairs, but him knowing it was me was another story, and with it being him, I was hesitant, instead I decided to go with it and ask questions later, yet when I glanced up from the screens, I now saw the lieutenant standing opposite of me on the other side of the desk, his black shades pushed up into his mane, the shades nearly completely blending in. I jumped in surprise, chair rolling back slightly, and I quickly regained my posture as I eyed him. "Sir?"

Arc's considerably fearsome, bright purple eyes were now completely focused on my every movement, and his expression was about as blank as a pony's face could get. He remained silent for at least five or six seconds prior to finally saying something. "Judging by the tone of your voice after you entered, you would like to know how I knew you were coming, right?"

I gulped somewhat nervously, then nodded a couple of times while sitting back in my chair. "It... wasn't on the top of my mind, but affirmative, sir."

After my response came an unexpected light chuckle from the grey stallion, followed by a toothy smirk. "Don't worry, you're not the first I've given the creeps to," he raised a hoof up, pointing to his eye as he closed one and kept the other wide open. "Vision like an eagle," then moved his hoof to his ear. "Hearing like a hawk. Two of the key elements to being a great soldier. I study everypony I meet's body language, the way they walk, the noises they make, everything. That's how I knew you were there."

Impressed, I nodded with a polite smile. "So that's why you were checking me out last deployment." Poor choice of words. Damn it, Star. Instantly his smirk faded, and overall his expression had dropped into a faint glare, and just with that I felt a wave of fear sweeping over my soul.

"The only things worthy of checking out, in the way you put it, are guns, namely rifles," Arc then put both hooves on the back of my desk and leaned closer to me, I reclined back with widened eyes. "And even if I were attracted to stallions, you would be the last one I would think about. Is that clear, private?"

I nodded, pupils still shrunk to pinpricks. "Y-yes sir," I stuttered. The stallion leaned back, then took his hooves off of the desk and walked back up to the front of the bridge, and any sweat that had beaded up on my forehead was wiped off by a simple swipe of my hoof and a quiet sigh of relief.

"There's a reason we're back out here, Star. Do your job and I'll do mine. If that isn't simple and you screw up, may Luna have mercy on you when we get back to port," he threatened with a rather sinister voice.

"Aye, sir," I replied nervously, feeling my body begin to ripple and tremble in my seat. Never had a pony, not even the drill sergeant, intimidated me as much as the lieutenant did. Upon seeing the color of his eyes and the way he stared at me was enough, it was much worse hearing what he would most likely do without hesitation if I did the slightest of things incorrectly. First it was Hardstaff, now it was Arc's bad side I was fearful of being on.

Shortly later, the last of the blackhawks landed on the flight deck, and minutes after it did, the rest of the bridge crew trotted into the room and took their seats while the lieutenant continued to stand almost motionless at the front of the room with nothing but a steaming cup of coffee in his hoof. And last but not least, the commanding officer was there. Just before he entered, the lieutenant shouted. "Captain on the bridge!" 

We all stood up at attention as Shadow stepped onto the bridge. "Good evening, all of you. It is nice to see each and every one of you here already. At ease," he said as he walked up to the front to stand beside Arc, and we all took our seats a second later.

"Captain, where is the other lieutenant?" Arc asked, turning to Shadow.

"She is in the mess hall grabbing something to eat. She'll join us in a little while," Shadow answered, then turned to everypony else in the room. "Just a reminder, Lieutenant Ping is only here to help you all out. Above anyone, she knows more about tracking than even the best of the best, that's why they made her a teacher at the Naval Academy. Private—" he moved his attention to me. "—she'll mostly be by your side, so be wary. But she won't be somepony you should be afraid of asking for help. If anypony, lieutenant Arc is the one to be afraid of," he rested a hoof on the pony's shoulder, Arc snapping his head towards Shadow and glared daggers towards him.

"Yes sir," I replied, returning my focus to the radar monitors. It would be wonderful to have somepony else monitoring the computers by my side, especially if I were to get up to use the restroom or anything else. On the contrary, I didn't like being watched by somepony while working either—it was always an uneasy feeling, and it threatened to lower my performance if something were to be thrown at the ship.

Yet despite that, I was already unsettled. Not just by the lieutenant, but the whole reason we were back out at sea. Something about our mission did not sit right with my mind, and all I could do was sit back and do my job. Only the next few weeks could really determine if my fears are correct. Only time will tell.