Millennia: Eye of the Storm

by Thunderblast

10. Rough Seas

I looped a hoof through the strap of my seabag and brought it up over my shoulder, turning to Nightpath while he followed suit. "Well, you ready?"

"More ready than I'll ever be," he responded, exhaling softly. "Pack everything you needed?"

I shrugged. "More or less, we'll find out."

"What about your computer? You taking that?"

"Nah, it's not all that important anymore. Everything I needed on it is in Shadow's hooves now, and I'm pretty sure the ship doesn't have a free wifi connection."

Night chuckled slightly at that. "All right, then. To the ship?"

"To the ship," I nodded once, turning and trotting to the door and out, Nightpath following behind, then locking the handle.

Waiting for him, then beginning to walk, we headed toward the docks where hundreds of sailors waited. Days like these granted friends and family access to the base to say their goodbyes before the voyage ahead. Without any family members to bid farewell to, Night and I would stand among those, antsy to set sail.

Through the crowds we walked, keeping our eyes peeled for the others. As if by miracle, we found the three closer to the edge of the water.

"There they are," Silver Edge smiled in our direction. "Took you guys long enough."

"Got carried away with sleep, forgot to pack last night," I sheepishly smiled, eyes darting to Anchorage, who frowned. "Hey, buddy, where are your parents?"

"You mean my mother?" the white-grey pegasus replied. "Couldn't come, sick at home."

"And... your father?" my head cocked.

"My stepfather? Pro'lly off at a strip club in Winneighpeg, or some shit," he grunted slightly.

"He is your stepfather?" Night blinked twice.

Anchorage nodded, rubbing his forehead. "Was. Not even a year of marriage and for a second time my mother is heartbroken."

"Oh, no. I'm sorry, man," I said, lowering my ears. "Anything we can do?"

"Nah, there's no need to worry about it. I didn't like him that much, anyway. Could never replace the original pops, y'know?" he replied, evidently faking a smile.

"So... what happened to him?" I asked, only to be met with silence between them. "...Anchorage?"

The white-grey pegasus stood up, snatching his seabag suddenly. "That's for another time," then was off.

The four of us watched him leave, all with concerned looks on our faces. I turned slowly to Ashfall and Silver. "Did I say something wrong?"

Ash raised a hoof, gesturing for me to come closer, which I did. He leaned in, whispering. "He lost his father almost a decade ago, when he was in the Junior Reserves."

My eyes grew wide. I looked the green stallion dead in the eyes. "What happened?"

"Suicide. Him and his mother had concerns for a while before that, but it still came as sudden when they thought he was improving," Ash continued, face stuck between concern and seriousness.

"So, it still irks him to this day. I see now. I'll watch out, then," I nodded once.

Ash returned the nod. "Would be for the best. He'll feel better later on, or tomorrow, it depends. It doesn't stick with him long, that's all I can really tell you."

I nodded again. Regardless, it sort of hit me wrong to only just this very moment learn of this, even after almost a year of knowing Anchorage. Well, not a year. That wouldn't be until at least September or October.

It wasn't long after that where sailors begun boarding via narrow metal walkways stretching from the dock up to the starboard hull, where watertight hatch doors had been built into the side for easier access.

The process took at least two hours to get everypony on board, and sailors lined along the edges of the flight deck in a spread-leg, straightened posture, stretching from the front of the ship to the very rear.

Those remaining on the docks below were either friends or family, with some Marines here and there, watching over the crowds, or having abandoned their post briefly to say goodbye to somepony they knew.

I walked through the overly-packed corridors with my friends, carrying our seabags to our sleeping quarters: a narrow, cramped room with four bunks partially built into the walls, and a very small wood desk—shelf, table, whatever anypony would like to call it—beneath a small circular window with bolts along the edge, facing out toward the base.

The four of us parted ways, each heading off to our respective stations. Nightpath—the reactor, Ashfall—the armory, Silver Edge—the janitor closet, Anchorage—who knows where, and myself—the bridge.

***

Before we could leave port, the other ships in the fleet pulled out one by one and began steaming east, out into the open ocean and regrouping. We would soon follow, but spread apart the further out to sea we would go.

"Permission to enter the bridge, Captain," I sternly requested, halted at the door into the room.

"Permission granted, radarpony. Good to see you again," the greenish-blue earth pony responded, going over some papers on a clipboard and not once looking up.

"Likewise, sir," I replied with a nod.

Stepping onto the bridge and immediately taking a seat at my station, I scooted the chair in, then individually fired up three digital monitors on the desk before me. Each one displayed different regional maps. Left screen, sky radar. Center, weather radar, and right, sonar.

My sole duty aboard this ship is to keep a close eye on each of the screens, and occasionally read data to provide weather updates to the bridge and advise course corrections if necessary. Anomalies on sky radar or sonar would be transmitted below deck, where fire controlponies or pilots on the flight deck would remain on standby in the event of attack.

I can't say it is exactly strange being a Marine in this position. Stations on the bridge are typically handed over to sailors, assuming they have the proper training for it. My day-to-day replacement—the one to take over after my shift ends—was a sailor, though.

Then again, having a bit of a long-term relationship with the commanding officer played a major role in it, too. Without his inspiration, I most certainly would not be sitting here, on the bridge, at this desk, observing three computer screens. Hell, I wouldn't have enlisted at all for that matter. Though, I couldn't help but feel for the pony who dreamed of sitting in this chair.

The navigational officer, Sea Watch, glanced away from his screen and to Shadow. "Captain, where is Lieutenant Ping?"

"Lieutenant Ping will not be joining us this time around. As it turns out, lack of staff due to this year's flu season has prompted her to take the reins of the Academy," he responded from the coffee machine behind me at the rear of the room, between the stairwell door and the restroom.

He turned around, holding his well-known (on the bridge, that is) mug, filled to the brim with steaming hot coffee. He took a brief sip of it, striding to the his chair in front-center of the room. "More so, the main reason she accompanied us on the bridge last year is when we were ordered back out to sea on such short notice, and we had those pirates to deal with. This is far different. If anything, it should be more routine."

Placing his mug off to the side, Shadow picked up the VHF and switched frequencies with a couple twists of a knob, then pressing down on the side of the radio. "This is the L.R.S. Eclipse, ready for undocking," he switched the knob again, speaking into the hoof-held microphone. "Seal the hatches and raise anchor."

Workers along the pier began retracting the walkways used to board, while ponies on board closed and locked the bulkhead doors along the starboard hull. In a neat line, sailors stood along the edge of the flight deck at attention, looking over the docks with friends and family gathered below, waving goodbye for these next couple of months.

As soon as the thick ropes holding the Eclipse to the dock released, Shadow once more changed frequencies, this time to a pair of small tugboats on standby. "Anchors aweigh. Eclipse is ready to leave port."

"Roger, Eclipse," the captain of one of the smaller vessels responded, and almost as soon as the announcement went out, as if by magic, the massive carrier steadily drifted evenly to the left, before slowly turning around in the river and coming to a halt, facing eastward.

The tugboats cleared our port side and moved out of the way, just in time for Shadow to pick up an onboard phone that announced throughout the whole of the ship, giving the signal to start the propellers.

A low hum vibrated all around as the massive engines roared to life, and with incrementally-rising speed, we began moving away from port, passing beneath the Manehattan Bridge, the gateway to the open ocean from the river.

Out in the distance, silhouetted by haze of the afternoon and beginning to sink beneath the horizon sailed the rest of the fleet, slowing down to grant us time to catch up and create a ship formation.

At maximum speed of thirty knots, Manehattan grew smaller and smaller behind us, the bright sun of mid-afternoon shining off the enormous skyline and the calm sea.

Other ships in the area made way for us as we closed distance between the guided-missile destroyers, frigates, and other vessels steaming east—one of them being the L.R.S. Gibbous, the ship I had been made aware months ago that stationed Silver's higher-ranking uncle.

It was not long before the city disappeared entirely, instead replaced with the endless horizon of bright, low-wave ocean beneath a near-cloudless sky. For once, it seemed the weather was in our favor. I imagine this was the calm before the real storm.

***

At long last, shift rotation came along. My evening replacement took over, allowing for me to head to the mess deck for dinner, and maybe sit down for a little chat with either Anchorage or Silver, assuming their shifts had finished for the night as well.

Half of my body tugged all of me to the left side of the corridor, in a tug-of-war battle between either hemispheres as I contemplated heading straight for bed, or to grab something to eat before then.

The rumbling of my empty stomach broke the feud, ultimately leading to me deciding on dinner first and foremost. With as weak of a sleeping schedule as I currently had, trying to doze off while hungry was not the best of ideas. Then again, ponies always say never to eat before bed, either. I'm not too entirely sure what to believe these days.

Much to my joy, the line of sailors waiting in the galley for chefs to serve them food looked decently short. I soon joined in from behind, taking a plastic dinner tray from the top of a stack, moving each time the line did, and eventually reaching the front.

For tonight's meal: warm, plain oatmeal, a fruit cup, and a little carton of milk. Not much compared to previous dinners underway, but, it'll do. I sat down at an empty table, stabbing a straw through a plastic-covered hole in the carton and taking a sip, washing away the bitter taste left behind from two cups of black coffee hours prior.

Placing it beside the tray and taking the spoon in a hoof, I dipped it into the faintly-steaming slop, bringing it just up to my muzzle and blowing carefully on the contents, and taking it in carefully.

The moment the oatmeal met my tongue, I shuddered in disgust, but didn't spit it back out. The chef did not joke around when he said it was plain oatmeal. Quite literally, all that made it was oats and warm water, not even a pinch of cinnamon added.

It certainly was not the most bitter food I have tasted. On the contrary, it sat near the top of my list, and quite frankly, I hoped it would never be served again while I am on board, nor would I be willing to give up a perfectly-fine cup of diced fruit and mix it into the brown goop as a test to improve the overall flavor.

With one aftertaste gone, the oatmeal almost immediately replaced the coffee. At least I knew it would not last long, assuming I don't somehow receive food poisoning in the next few minutes and wind up sleepless.

A food tray dropped just across from mine, the noise startling and making me snap my gaze up from the bowl of oatmeal on my own. Sitting down with a tired grumble on the opposite side of the table was Anchorage, coming down a lot more steady than his tray.

"Man, you don't look so good. What happened?" I asked innocently. Might as well see if he is still upset about earlier.

"Where do I begin?" he replied, eyes falling to a bowl of dry cereal. He took his milk carton and ripped the top open, pouring the contents out into the bowl, and scooping some into his mouth, chewing slowly. "First day, and the bastards are already breaking shit."

"What broke?" my head cocked. I still didn't have a clue what he did on this blasted ship.

"Just some rusted pipes in need of replacing, a couple of generators, then a bunch of wires near the reactor room. Neither of them gave me a good time. The ponies, too," he grumbled out, not once lifting his gaze.

"I see," I slowly nodded. "Hey, listen, about earlier..."

The handle of his spoon dropped, clinking against the glass. That perked him up.

"No, don't apologize. It was all me, Star, and you didn't know. Ash probably told you by now, so... I won't go into the details. It is me who should apologize for my little outburst, which I do," he said, icy-blue eyes fixing on the cherry of mine.

"Still," I waved a hoof. "I feel bad, and I apologize, too. I'm sorry about your father."

"Thank you," he nodded, returning his attention to his cereal bowl. "I should probably move on, anyways. It's been almost a decade since it happened."

"Things like that aren't so easy to move on from. Same with Solar. It's been three months and I remember it like it happened yesterday."

"Because it's a traumatizing experience. It haunts me, too, as it does the rest of us, I'm sure," he motioned his hooves slightly. "I didn't see my father die. I was away when it happened."

"Vacation?" I asked, hesitantly taking another bite of the tasteless oatmeal.

Anchorage shook his head. "Junior Officer Naval Reserves. Parents signed me up for my birthday, and the camp was in Alderneigh, so I was away from home for a few months. They took care of my high school education because I hadn't graduated yet, so it was like... home away from home. I wrote back often, then the letters just... stopped."

"That's... when it happened?" my muscles tensed slightly.

Lowering his gaze just slightly, he nodded. I took note of his ears losing their perk, and his eyes becoming more reflective as some tears were beginning to build. Before they could, he lifted a hoof and wiped at both of his eyes individually. "I came home as soon as I heard the news, and I didn't stop running the second I stepped off the boat."

"You live on an island, right? Bander... Cove?"

"Gander Cove," he nodded again. "It's just off the northeast coast, it's near the border of the Crystal Empire. Pretty remote. Then again, this was before they build the Narrows."

"The Narrows?"

"It's a train bridge to connect the island to the mainland. Before, it was just a ferry to and from the town."

I nodded in understanding. "From what you describe, it sounds like a nice place. And cold, it sounds very cold."

"Cold for you, maybe," he cracked a grin. "I love it."

"What are you, Caneighdian?" I chuckled softly.

"Nah, Equestrian. Close, though," the grin retained on his muzzle, before he returned to eating his cereal, going silent for a few long moments. "So, when is this storm coming?"

"Storm?" I stopped, blinking, about to scoop in some more oatmeal. It took a few moments for his question to process in my drowsy state. "Oh, the storm. Yeah. I'm not quite sure. A week, maybe. It's moving pretty fast."

"Does the captain know?"

"I informed him first thing. He said because of the angle it's coming in, we can't exactly change course without risking missing our target."

"Our target? The strange signals, right? The reason why we're out here?"

I nodded. "The majority of them are in the storm's path, so, there's a chance we might not be able to find all of them. If the storm so changes direction in the slightest, slows down, or even comes to a halt when it hits the jet stream to the north, we'll have to turn back."

"Sounds rough. Is it named?"

"What?"

"The storm, is it named?" Anchorage repeated, eyes darting back and fourth from the spoonful of cereal lifting to his maw.

"Not that I am aware of. It's only March, it is way too early for this kind of weather. Last I checked, it wasn't expected to strengthen, but you know the Antlertic. It's unpredictable most of the time."

"Yeah, you ain't wrong there," he nodded, lifting the bowl up to his mouth and drinking the rest of the milk inside, setting it back down and letting out a contented sigh, standing up. "Well, I'm gonna take this up to the galley, then head on over to the computer room and say hello to my mother."

I perked up a bit, watching him stand. "Computer room?" I blinked in bewilderment.

Anchorage's smile dropped into an equally-confused look, tilting his head. "Yeah, where we can talk to family underway. You... didn't know about that?"

"Nobody ever told me," I motioned my hoof, standing up. "So, the ship does have internet?"

He furrowed his brow, slowly nodding. "Of course it does. Why?"

Damn it, I should have brought that laptop with me, come to realize this late. This changes everything! Now I don't have to lay around off duty. Now I could talk to Ray!

...

Ray.

***

I took a seat in an office chair in front of a desk and a computer monitor, reaching forward to take the wire-attached mouse in my hoof, placing my other just below the keyboard.

"All right, so, internet access isn't too restricted. Most commonly, sailors use Whynnie. It's a chat program where you can call ponies and even see them through a webcam. Pretty cool, right?" Anchorage explained, grinning.

"How did I not know about this?" I mumbled to myself, moving the mouse in a circle and locating the arrow on the screen. "What now?"

Anchorage reached his hoof, setting it on mine, and moving it along with the mouse to a blue circle with a white 'W' in the center, clicking on it twice. In the same moment, a window opened on the screen.

"Now, you can sign in if you already have an account, or you can just sign in as a guest. I recommend the first one, though. Logging in as a guest can make it harder for friends and family to recognize you."

From there, Anchorage showed me how to create an account to use, which I would then have to log off after my time is up to ensure the next pony wouldn't mess with anything of mine. The process took a few minutes, and finally, I was logged on!

"There you go. Let me know if you want to know anything else, aye?" he patted my shoulder, trotting off down the room to a vacant computer to talk to his mother.

Now came the tricky part. Without a clue of how to contact Ray—assuming he is online to begin with, or even used this application—my attempts to find him would likely be futile, not that I am willing to let that get in the way of checking up on him. Hell, he probably wasn't even aware of my deployment.

In the little search bar at the top, I typed carefully on the keyboard as to not mistype his name, searching under the name 'Ray Blitz'.

Evidently, more ponies shared his name. This at least narrowed the search down just a bit to where it was now just a guessing game of who is the correct one I am looking for.

I checked over each individual profile displayed, until I found him. Of course, what confirmed it was most definitely the picture listed on the profile—quite literally one of himself, grinning widely with a pair of headphones over his ears, sitting in a room similar to that of a radio talk show. Close enough.

Taking in a deep breath, letting it out quietly, I clicked down on the call button, sitting back as a new window opened, displaying myself like a mirror on the screen with the webcam atop the monitor now turned on. Putting my hooves together, relaxed into the chair, I stared worriedly at the screen, hoping he would answer the call.

As if a wave washed away my concerns, a second camera opened on the screen, displaying a golden pegasus on the opposite end. A smile grew on his muzzle moments after. "Star!"

"Ray!" I straightened my back, shifting in my seat. "Glad I could finally call you. What are you up to?"

"Not much, just making some dinner. What about you?" He then squinted, looking in closer to his screen. "Where are you?"

"I'm..." I stopped, looking around me. "I'm on the Eclipse. About a hundred and ten or so miles east-southeast of Manehattan."

"You're on the ship?" His eyes grew, blinking twice with surprise. "Whoa. How long?"

"Since this afternoon. We've got a busy schedule ahead of us, so I wanted to drop by before everything happens."

"I appreciate it," he smiled. "Stay safe out there, I heard there's a nasty storm forming."

"Oh, I'm aware of it. The commanding officer, my boss—" I gestured my hoof. "—had me and somepony else plan out our path. The whole bridge knows of it, and we will be keeping a watchful eye out. We're certain it will pass right over us, but it's going to be rough."

Ray shuddered, making a little creeped out groan as he did. "Don't go swimming, I mean it."

"I wouldn't dream of it," I grinned softly. "I would if you were drowning, though."

Though it was faint due to some pixelation on the screen, I noted a small blush form on his cheeks. "Aww, how sweet. But, you and I both know I'll never go anywhere near the ocean, simple as that."

"You're missing out, I hear the beaches of Mareami are packed with mares this time of year. Spring break, you know?" I joked.

It brought a chuckle out of Ray, making me smile more. "You're better than any mare, that's for sure. That's a compliment, by the way."

"Suuuure it was," I laughed.

"It was, you big dork," he sighed contently, laying down in front of the camera. "Tell me we'll see each other when you're back, right?"

"I'll make arrangements," I nodded, smiling warmly. "We have a loooong two months ahead."

"Mmm, I'll be patient," he blinked slowly. "I miss you, Star."

"I miss you, too, Ray."

We may have just met in January, and have seen each other quite a few times since then, but it seemed to have a quick start. At this point, it would be absurd to not admit it as it truly is—a relationship. With another stallion. Now that I ponder on the matter, it's not so bad after all.

I hoped this was not a phase of some sort, or that it was all just for play. Ray genuinely was an admirable pony, and my heart skipped beats and danced every time we set eyes on one another.

He seemed to have the same feelings as I had towards him, enough to where I could almost deny for a fact that he was not putting on an act. That was good enough for me.

"Well, I will let you go so you can have your dinner. I'll try and call as often as I can, maybe every few days if things don't get too chaotic, alright?" I said, sitting forward.

"Sounds good to me," he nodded, setting a hoof on his keyboard. "Stay safe."

"I will," I nodded back. "Talk to you later."

"See you," he smiled, before the window closed, and the call ended.

I leaned into the back of the chair, smiling at the screen, even after we both hung up. In spite of my exhausted state, these past couple of minutes talking to Ray boosted myself just a tad, and I only further looked forward to next time.

***

Yawning silently, more lethargic than ever, I strode out of the computer room in the center of the ship and stopped at the corridor along the starboard side of the carrier, turning right to head towards the rear, in the direction of our bunk room. Anchorage remained in the computer room, probably still talking to his mother, or whoever he decided to call or chat with over Whynnie.

At long last, bed time. Perhaps tonight, I will finally have a decent rest and actually wake up with energy come morning. Those were my hopes for the moment.

As I turned to walk through the hatch, I froze, lifting my gaze to an arctic-blue earth pony sitting along the edge of my bed, wearing a uniform of the Navy, and was only missing his cover, which sat on the little desk between beds.

He rubbed along the upper of his arm, near his shoulder, glancing up to look at me, smiling nervously. "Hey, Star."

"Do I... know you?" I cocked my head, then shook it. "I believe you have the wrong room."

"That may be so," he stood up, steadily approaching, his hips swaying slightly. "But I'm right where I want to be."

Before I could react, the arctic blue earth pony suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders, forcing me against the wall, pressing his chest against mine. He kicked the hatch door shut with his hoof, sliding the handle down to lock it.

My pupils dilated, my wings spreading out of reflex and smacking against the noticeably-stronger stallion. I squirmed relentlessly, grunting in effort, only to have my hooves pinned above my head and unable to break free from his grip. He grinned sultrily, leaning in closer.

"The name's Rondache, and I saw you with that little coltfriend of yours," he said quietly. "He's cute, what's his name?"

I remained quiet, my eyes locked with his, maw parted and body lightly shaking. He breathed softly through his nostrils, which rolled along my neck, sending a shiver up my spine.

"Mmm, too bad, I bet you're missing him all over. I can help with that," he whispered the last bit. My heart sank.

"I-I don't know what you want with me, but I w-want you to know, you won't get away with this th-that easy!"

"Shhh..." he pressed a wet rag over my muzzle, my eyes shooting even more wide. As quickly as it sank, my heart pounded in my chest in fear of what came next.

I tried to scream out to grab somepony's attention, only for the noises to be muffled entirely. Very slowly, the longer I breathed in through the cloth, my body began to fall limp, and everything faded to black.

Author's Note:

First off, I'd like to apologize for the hiatus. Thankfully, with one of my other stories now finished, I have more time to focus on this one! Also, because it is strictly off-screen and vague, I will not be adding a sex tag to this story.

Stay tuned for chapter 11.