Chapter 33: 'Here be the Mission
Polaris Wind found Frosty's scope and used it to look out the window.
“One, two, three masts.” He counted. “Frosty, you want to get up? I spotted a large ship with 3 masts!”
She took a deep breath and stood, sending the ship into a rhythmic swing. PW took note of her long, dark socks which she wasn’t wearing when she went to bed.
“Where at?” She muttered.
PW snapped himself out of staring at her enormous legs just in time. “Erm – dead astern, nearly at the horizon. Course is roughly south by southeast.”
She took her scope in her clicking, turning her stern towards PW to better see it. She was able to make her conclusion in just a few seconds.
“Hm, yeah. Yeah, radio this in. That’s the right appearance.” She concluded, lowering the scope.
“Norfilly Control. Are you still there?” PW spoke into the device.
“Affirm.” The radio squawked.
“Immediately after signing off we spotted a ship of the line.” He started.
“ –andby.” Replied the voice. Nearly a full minute went by before it finally returned. “Under – and you’ve see– a shi– of the line.”
“Affirmative.” PW nodded.
“ –ow many masts-s?”
“Three!”
“Copy, three. –escribe their col-or.” Came the broken reply.
Frosty lifted the scope again. Given she’d looked through it at nearly every kill she made it was second nature to her eyes.
PW opened the mike and repeated the Night-Mare’s words. “Foremast all white… Mizzenmast all white… Mainmast multi-colored. Main Royal black. Main Topgallant black. Main Topsail and Main Mainsail are white.”
They waited a few minutes. “Good job, that’s our bogey! –ut your engines and follow ‘im.”
“Cutting the engines!” Replied PW.
“Not bad, for such a small stallion.” Teased Frosty, leaning into him and pinning him to the equipment lining the walkway briefly.
“Frosty, w’you doing?” PW laughed.
He was promptly freed and approached the control stand which he hadn’t touched in a day and remembered his training.
“Blower off… Slowly reduce regulator pressure… cutoff to full.” PW repeated from training, moving the controls with his words. A whirring sound spooled down as the steam turbine spun down. The gentle windy sound outside of the craft vanished, leaving only the sound of the boiler.
PW looked outside to visually check the propeller blades halted. “Engines off. We are adrift.” He radioed.
“Keep with them. –an you give me –heir distance and course?”
“Standby.” PW responded, thinking.
“Can you figure it out?” Frosty challenged.
“I think so. I should be able to get it from the horizon dip equation…” PW figured, opening his nautical almanac and flipping through the tables. “Here we go.” He muttered, scribbling formulas down. Frosty looked over his withers at his intricate arithmetic.
“It’s 75 miles. To the horizon. Now we need the sine function. Visually 90% to the horizon I’d say?” PW looked to her.
“Yes, that’s what I’d say.” She nodded.
“Okay so…” PW said, taking his slide rule out, “sine of 6 degrees 0.105… 1 over 0.105 is 9.75, multiplied by our current altitude of 6.75 miles, which puts it at 66.5 miles out! Right?” PW asked her as if he expected she did the whole thing in her head with him.
“Um, sure. Right.” She admitted, for the first time being intimidated by a calculation PW made.
“Norfilly Control, ready to copy?” He asked.
“Go.”
“Estimated position is 66 decimal 5 miles west, bearing 270, longitude approximately 47 degrees, same latitude. Course appears to be 150 degrees.”
“Copy, please stay with them. Room management is informing me that is indeed your target. We want to know where they disembark.”
“Copy, we’ll keep them in our sights.”
“That’s not an easy task out here.” Frosty commented off air.
“I’ll make sure it happens.” PW shrugged. “Know something, Frosty?”
“Hm?”
“I love the ocean. Because it’s very big.”
“Is that why you like supporting me?” She cocked a brow at him.
“Well… it’s one reason.” He smiled.
“Is it the only reason?” She leaned in above him to demand a response.
Only then did he realize how carefully he ought to choose his words..
“H-hay no! For one, you don’t treat me like a teddy bear or ignore me. And you understand me.” He stammered.
“And how.” The mare replied in agreement. PW breathed a sigh of relief before looking back at the vessel on the ocean. He clicked into the mouthpiece again. “Norfilly Control!”
“Go.”
“We’re still drifting too fast in the jet stream. May we descend a little?” he asked.
“ –egative. We can’t have any chanc – that see us. We must –ocate their offloading port.” Came the broken response.
“Wilco. I will need to reverse course and run the propulsion against the wind to keep position.”
“Approved.”
“10-4.” PW responded, bringing the regulator open again to quarter speed and steering the ship around to the west to keep with it.
“We need to finish all of our duties by dark. We can’t utilize any lighting.” PW realized.
“Agreed. Good thinking.” Frosty complimented.
Later that afternoon PW did another sextant shot and had assessed that they crossed the equator. And around sunset PW made a significant observation down below. “Hey Frosty?”
“Yeah?”
“It looks like the ship is using lanterns. So we should be able to see it through the night. You want to take turns checking on it?”
“I’ll do it.” She muttered.
“Really? Not taking turns?” He asked in surprise.
“It’s just a check every hour or so, right?” She looked at him.
“Yes but…”
“Then I’ll just wake myself up hourly.”
“Wake me up if we need a course correction, okay?”
“You got it.” She nodded.
PW laid down on his bunk and slept for a while before being jarred awake. He looked over to see Frosty's moonlit silhouette by the window.
“Still down there. Why’d you wake up?” She whispered. “Your snoring stopped.”
“I snore?” PW responded, confused and concerned.
“Not really. Let’s change that to ‘your breathing pattern changed.’ But, why’d you wake up?” She asked again.
“Because you moved the balloon and made noise?” He shrugged.
“Jeez. I tried to be really quiet.” She muttered.
“I’m a pretty light sleeper Frosty.”
“I can tell. That has its merits. Off to bed with you, again.” She ordered.
The next time PW woke up it was due to the ship moving in a peculiar rhythm. He looked over at Frosty’s bunk and was amazed at what he saw. She was… blowing air kisses? He shook his head, removed his ear plugs and listened. Frosty was rolling back and forth, making a hugging motion with her forelegs and trying to wrap her hinds around an invisible object above her. PW could hear her kissing. As he watched her rolling and passing her field of view in and out, she did not make eye contact with him.
“She must be dreaming!” PW realized.
The mare kept doing this for several minutes, and even tried to lick something before finally resting again and her snoring returned.
“What… Did I just witness?” PW wondered to himself, putting the earplugs back in. He chuckled at this most peculiar dream and drifted back to sleep.
The smell of coffee woke PW up. It was light out now.
“Oh you woke yourself up!” PW commented.
Frosty, laying over that side of the cabin, didn’t say anything – only clinked her mug and motioned to the floor. Polaris got up and peered out of the window. “Oh! They’re even closer now!”
“Thanks to you. Good job navigating.” She commended and pointed. “There’s more.”
“Land!” PW exclaimed upon making out the dark shape on the horizon.
“Dragon Land.” She clarified.
“That’s Point Scaleton! I recognize it from the map, here. That puts us around 7 south 55 east.” PW noted.
“They’re going down the eastern shore of the sea.” Frosty suggested.
“Agreed. But where?”
“No idea. But my orders to you are to keep following them. Hopefully they’ll give away their hidey-hole.” She grinned.
“Oh, by the way…” PW began, changing the conversation suddenly, “I heard you rolling around last night.”
She stopped. “... WHAT?”
“You were acting out your dream in your sleep. You were embracing and kissing somecreature. Wrapping your legs around them...” PW described.
Frosty’s face had become as red as PW’s coat. “I’m curious… was it…” He began.
“MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!” She bellowed.
Her voice echoed all around them, knocking PW back onto his bunk in alarm. She relented once she realized how far her shout went. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that… but that’s private.”
“I understand!” PW squeaked, backing away to the corner of his bunk.
She sighed deep and looked out the window again. “Their course has been changing to follow the eastern shore’s contour. Want me to radio this in?”
“Sure!” PW responded quickly, knowing full well she had no obligation to ask him, being the superior officer.
“Norfilly Control, Number 2.” She muttered.
“…O…” Was all that could be made out.
“We are at Point Scaleton. Ship following the eastern shore of Dragon Land, southward.”
“…ot shi… ea… ost…?” Came the very bad transmission.
“Norfilly Control I read you five by two- I can barely understand you.” Frosty sighed.
“…Ame. Ive… oo”
“Ship travelling southward. Easternshore of Dragonland.” She articulated.
“Oge, ea-ost, …agon an, outhw-d.”
“Good copy.” Replied Frosty.
“E, ing see… do ab… ignal.”
“Please do!” Frosty responded, handing the radio up.
At this point, the changing coastline required PW to readjust the ship’s steering and power. They were now in the southern trade winds, blowing them ever faster southwards, necessitating PW use more power to act against the winds. Unlike the first night, Frosty had to wake her field tech a few times to have him readjust the course. This was very easy for her of course. Being such a light sleeper Frosty simply tapped her hoof on the metal. By the third tap PW would burst into a sitting position, ready for orders.
The next morning was uneventful until the 10:00 AM check. “Frosty, come look at this!” PW called. The vessel swayed as she clambered forwards.
“The ship’s made a sudden port turn.” Her assistant announced.
After confirming it, Frosty dug her scope out. She followed until there was no more window to look through.
“PW, rotate the ship clockwise. I need to see further to the right side.” She said.
Polaris hauled the rudder to starboard and the coastline was revealed. She raised her glass again and focused. “We got an inlet… There's something big and brown there. Let’s get closer. Fly us over in the direction they’re headed.” She ordered.
“Yes ma’am!” PW called in response. They were still seven miles high, making identification, even with the scope, very difficult until they were directly overhead.
Frosty again raised her scope once they were closer. “Inlet’s shaped like a fork. Harbor is a confluence of two rivers. In between the rivers, there’s some type of covered wharf structure. A road leads up from it into the jungle. With the thick canopy, I see nothing else. Radio this in.” Frosty ordered, lowering the scope.
“Norfilly Control, how read?” Asked the stallion.
“N… aa… … o… i….” Came an unintelligible response.
“Reading you one by!” PW radioed slowly. The radio only crackled. He hung up the microphone.
“We’re on our own, PW.” The warrior mare noted.
“Maybe not, Frosty. I took radio classes in engineering school. Our professor demonstrated that some frequencies can bounce off of the atmosphere really far during twilight. How about this; we wait for sunset, climb as high as we possibly can, and try to contact again. If it fails, we go in alone.”
“Clever little stallion… deal.” She smiled.
“At the very least we’ll get to see some operations now.” She figured, bringing her scope back to the large window. The pair watched throughout the afternoon as the ship slowly drifted into the harbor and tied up to the wharf. Being so high up it was very difficult to see what was going on, and being unable to descend for fear of compromising their mission, Frosty was only just able to make out a few enormous shipping crates making their way into the wharf.
Finally after dinner, PW opened the oil flow valve, blower, and damper, and they pushed the envelope of altitude- to 40,040 feet. This excited PW to no end.
“Wow! 40,000! Look Frosty! I think the sky is slightly darker now we’re so high! Would you agree?”
“There you go again PW, obsessing over something big – this time our height above the terrain.” Frosty teased.
“You know I can’t help it!” PW cried.
“No, you can’t. Anyways I think it’s time we made our call.” Suggested Frosty, pulling the microphone off the hook.
“Norfilly Control, how do you read?”
“Five by five! Wow what in Equestria did you do?”
“A little bird nerd here told me he took some radio classes and made a suggestion we try you again at twilight our time. We’re also above 40,000 feet.”
“Smart.” Came the reply. Frosty looked over at her assistant and bounced her eyelids to emphasize the last reply. PW grinned and pumped his hoof, knowing he scored a huge tactical win for them.
“Standby for some info. Advise when ready to copy.” Called Frosty, handing her little assistant the microphone.
“Ready to copy!” Control advised.
“Roger.” Began PW, “Our current position is 1-9 degrees south, 6-2 degrees east. The ship of interest has entered a cove underneath our location, eastern shore of the sea and off the west coast of the Dragon Lands. There appears to be a wharf. We believe we saw some large crates being offloaded but not sure because we were above 35,000 feet. Over.”
“Roger Windy… standby… lots of us scrambling here to get you some orders.”
“Wilco. I advise you only have a few minutes- the atmosphere will stop reflecting our radio waves at night.”
“Understood.”
PW prepared his maps, notebook, and pencil to copy in the meantime.
“Okay. Briefing for part 2 of the operation. We are learning that this cocaine ring may have some supporting role in a larger highly sophisticated support structure; a cartel. This operation may represent one focus group, with other possible groups for security, information or intel, and a mastermind. They appear to be occupying an archeological site known as Corail. You are advised to be mindful of this as you carry out your mission. Tomorrow morning, you will locate an acceptable place to land north of the site, distant enough to avoid arousing suspicion. We recommend ten to fifteen miles, but your call. Since we think there might be more to this organization than we know even now, we’re going to have Night-Mare Recce come in from the east and rendezvous with you in the jungle.”
PW could have sworn he heard Frosty gulp and the vessel shimmied a little bit. “Once you meet Recce you are to wipe out the wharf and the ship if it is still there per your earlier briefing. Once the infrastructure is eliminated, extract and return to the sky. We’ll expect next contact from you after the mission, as there’s no way we’ll be ab… to talk on the ground. Lastly, I’ve just been handed a paper with a recommended route – there’s believed to be a small river about fifteen miles north of you, marked with the name ‘unknown river’. We do not know where it goes. We believe it has never been explored. So if you go, you may be the first ponies of Equestria to follow it. Number 2 may be able to construct a dugout for you to ride. Lastly, remember that this is hard unexplored jungle, and risks include venomous plants, animals, biteacudas, fever, natural hazards, and more. Be careful.”
“Copy all.” PW replied.
“We’ll b… expect… you t… us… in a f… days.”
“Roger. Sounds like our time is up!” PW responded.
“Concur. Norfilly out.” Then the radio went silent.
PW lowered the oil burn valve, blower, and closed the damper some to return them into the low 30-thousands of altitude. “Good job PW. Now get in bed. We wake up at first light and try to get this ship down in a safe location by sunrise.” Frosty ordered. PW playfully leapt into his bunk, looking obediently up at her. She snorted at the sight before climbing into her own bunk.
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Heh, PW gonna get to deal with Night Mare 1 soon
11981477
Yup, it will be interesting.
Hope they packed a venom kit
Things could be about to get ugly down there...
Also, the slight change in Frosty's measurements and her lack of snoring suggest that something is up...
11981874
Thank you! Da, I would say we are on the same page.
11981978
I am glad to see someone appreciated this! We thrive on memes here, just as Night-Mares thrive on a large diet high in protein!
11982480
You are very observant- and on the right page.
11984457
Indeed! Echo is a gentle natured mare and must have proper exposure to cute things- or... well who knows what could happen!
She has a crush on him... guess she was jelly becouse Echo dud spend time with him
Interesting story so far. Cant wait to read more
11985883
If the friendlies are making this many mistakes with the Night-Mares, imagine the amount of mistakes that are being made with the enemy! This is precisely why the Night-Mare sidekick is needed.
11985998
Thanks! Just released chapter 34. They release every Friday night (with a few Saturday morning exceptions). I am still actively writing but getting close to the end- wordcount on my version is now over 118,000.