Chapter 3
17 April, 1003 Celestia’s Reign
Location: Unknown, P.S. Equestria
3:52pm
"Get back to chopping free the mast! We still run the risk of capsizing until it's free and clear of the vessel, that's an order!" Seas shouted, snapping the crew from their daze as they went back to work; but in a much better mood: they were safe. The sound of axes and mauls and lines being parted resonated throughout the ship as the debris was cleared. By 4:12 the sound of rigging snapping like musket fire filled the air as the mainmast fell over the side of the ship through the cheers of the crew; as soon as the weight was lifted the Equestria righted herself and the Captain managed to breathe a sigh of relief: his ship was safe. He noticed midshippony Sea Breeze walk up towards the bridge carrying a clipboard.
Breeze entered the bridge and saluted the Captain, who nodded towards the clipboard giving the young officer permission to speak. "Damage report Captain." Breeze said with a grimace, Captain Seas looked beyond him to the debris field that was once a fine ship; he grimaced too.
"Well let's get on with it, what's the damage midshippony?" Seas wasn't looking foward to what the clipboard would have written on it.
Breeze took in a breath and started to list off the damage: "The mainmast is a complete loss, as you well know, the foremast is mostly intact but the lanyards are too tangled to deploy the sails, engine two is still down, although the repairs were mostly complete before we entered the storm and it should be up and running within the hour. Engineering also reports minor leaks but the pumps can easily keep up with it, they're being sealed as we speak, four of the ten lifeboats were destroyed and another two damaged, the carpenter is looking at them now and says they can be salvaged with the remains of the destroyed boats." The Captain was contemplating the information heavily as the officer kept listing off the damages. "Hmmm also the chief steward reports over 70% of china and glassware were destroyed." Breeze smiled at the steward's priorities, followed by the Captain as he shook his head. It looked like they'll be able to continue on and make Trottingham only about a week late, but he had one thing still on his mind.
"Casualties?" he said with a slight grimace at the possibility of losing some ponies.
"No confirmed deaths, although two seaponies are missing and presumed washed overboard, other than that nothing beyond a few broken bones, cuts and bruises. Everypony is expected to live according to Doctor Lightheart." Breeze was shaken up about the thought of the two stallions who probably met their fate in the cruel sea and how close he came to joining them.
Captain Seas was also a bit unnerved that he may have lost two brave stallions but was relieved that the casualties didn't extend further. "I want one of the undamaged boats in the water and sear-" he was interrupted by one of the lookouts.
"Possible ship spotted bearing one-five-seven relative!" The lookout shouted down to the Captain from his point on the foremast. The Captain brought his telescope to the portside stern of the vessel and peered through it. What met his eyes was the strangest ship he had ever seen, it was coming towards them and in the Equestria's current state he would welcome any help these strangers may have to offer. If they intended to help, if they didn't, they would not have the Equestria without a fight.
17 April, 1942
Timor Sea, H.M.S. Enterprise
15:20
This was it; the Enterprise was finally heading out of the war with the Japanese, finally going home, even if it was to continue the war with Germany and Italy. The crew were happy, they couldn't wait to get out of the shithole the Dutch East Indies had become, almost everything was under Japanese control and the longer they stayed the higher the chance they wouldn't be leaving alive. Captain Winchester allowed the crew to play music through the intercom with the wind up gramophone Petty Officer James Stephenson had brought, currently playing was "The White Cliffs of Dover".
The Captain was outside walking the length of his ship, enjoying the sunny day and ignoring the heat, along with most of the crew. As he paced the 570 foot vessel he took in her details, such as the twin 6 inch gun turret on the bow, the turret was part of an experiment to see how effective it was, the twin mount had proven successful and added to later classes. He walked past the bridge nodding at the gunners on the quad mount Vickers AA guns.
Pausing just forward of amidships to look at the two funnels forward of the amidships deckhouse, he glanced in front of the smaller forward funnel at the tri-pod supported crows' nest and the lookout scanning the area for any potential dangers. He continued aft past the amidships gun turrets; forward the search light tower and the two single mount 3 pounder pom-pom AA guns. He went by the aft mast above the quad mount 21 inch torpedo tubes and the aft-most funnel, behind the funnel was one of the single mount 6 inch turrets and the Hawker's catapult.
He stopped; looking at the plane and going over its performance in his mind: 'Hawker Osprey IV, two seater reconnaissance aircraft; has a top speed of 168mph, stall speed of 45mph, a forward firing .303 Vickers, and a Scarff ring mounted .303 Lewis Gun, range of 374 nautical miles, service ceiling of 22,000 feet and the option of two 500 pound wing mounted bombs. Too bad the biplane would get shot down easily if it tried to attack a Japanese ship, and with the Japanese controlling the skies it can't do much reconnaissance either...' he let that thought trail off as he looked at the rarely used aircraft.
The flight crew kept the floatplane in top notch condition and it still looked new, they had enough replacement parts for it to nearly make a second plane as well, two spare engines, four spare props, a set of floats, multiples of control surfaces, and some other odds and ends, they also had enough aviation spirit to last them a few months of weekly patrols. Past the aircraft's crane and the other quad 21 inch torpedo mount was another 6 inch turret and the other two 3 pounder pom-pom AA guns on the aft deckhouse; at the stern was the final 6 inch turret below the other on the fantail.
Reaching the end of his ship Winchester gave the White Ensign a salute before walking towards the bow again, this time listening to the sounds of the Enterprise. The roar of the turbines and blowers at 20 knots was enough to keep landlubbers awake at night, while the crew whom was accustomed to the noise would be more likely to wake if there wasn't the comforting sound of their vessel's heart as she steamed through the seas. The four turbines could kick up quite a rooster tail at 33 knots, arcing high over the fantail. A distinguishing feature of the Enterprise and the Emerald class in general was that her aft boiler room was actually abaft of the forward engine room, which led to the third funnel being located quite a bit aft of the centre funnel.
The boiler rooms were pressurized to keep the eight boiler's oil fires stable, any crew who were entering or leaving the boiler rooms had to pass through an airlock or the sudden change in pressure could cause the fires to blow out. The ship was old being launched in 1919 and commissioned in 1926, but her crew kept her machinery running well and they rarely had breakdowns, but even with the constant work of the chippers and painters her steel hull had still lost about a fifth of its thickness to rust. At 32 knots the ship had a range of 1,300 nautical miles and 8,000 nautical miles at 15knots, her speed made sure the Enterprise wasn't by any means useless, she was still the fastest cruiser in the Royal Navy when war began and her weapons were sufficient to deal with most threats a light cruiser may encounter.
Although she wasn't the most manoeuvrable vessel due to her size; length of 570 feet, beam of 54 feet 6 inches, and draught of 16 feet 6 inches, she could still out manoeuvre heavy cruisers with ease. The Enterprise's armour was thickest at amidships at 3 inches and thinnest at the bow at 1.5 inches, the deck had 1 inch armour plate as protection from aircraft strafing runs.
Winchester was not only in charge of the ship but all 572 crew members, himself included, and he was thankful he had such a competent crew, hardworking and reliable. The crew of the Enterprise were a fairly friendly bunch and they protected each other to the very end, they also heavily believed in the ship's motto "Spes aspera levat" Latin for "Hope lightens difficulties", to this end the crew was always hopeful. Although that hope can sometimes but put to extreme tests.
15:28
Captain Winchester watched as a storm began to dominate the skies, it seemingly came from nowhere and he wasn't sure if he was seeing a real storm or if his was mind playing games on him. A glance at his crew, who were also watching the clouds build up, told him this wasn't his mind and he ran off toward the bridge. As he entered the bridge the men stood at attention and his Executive Officer, Commander Edwin O'Roddy, gave him a sharp salute; "Captain on deck!" he announced with a slight Scottish accent.
"As you were," Winchester said and the crew went back to their positions, while Winchester continued. "I have the deck and the conn."
"The Captain has the deck and the conn." Commander O'Roddy stated as the tension that was building in the crew started to ebb once they knew the most experienced man on the ship was taking control. O'Roddy continued quietly so the rest of the bridge crew couldn't hear; "Sir, do you have any idea what is going on with the weather? This storm came out of bloody nowhere and it's getting worse rapidly!" The officer was clearly nervous and hoped the Captain might know something he didn't about meteorology that could explain this storm's sudden appearance and rapid growth.
The Captain was outwardly calm; inwardly he was also a little nervous, but his reply showed no hint of it; "I don't know what could cause a storm this large to appear so suddenly out of a clear, sunny day; squalls are one thing, but this?" He shook his head, "This isn't normal and I have the strangest feeling that we should be doing everything in our power to get away from it...I don't know, it's like it's radiating danger."
O'Roddy nodded at those words, "I feel it too Cap'n', I don't like this one bit, we should turn around and get out of this wrongful storm as quickly as we can." The Commander's nervousness caused his accent to become slightly more profound, Winchester was a good friend with the man and could tell he was becoming more unnerved than being in a fight with the Japanese.
Still keeping his outward calm Winchester began to plan the quickest way out of the storm, but when he walked to the port bridge wing his heart skipped a beat; the storm seemed endless in every direction. It wouldn't matter which way they set their heading. Winchester turned back to his second in command and friend; "I don't think we are avoiding this, we're just going to have to ride it out and hope for the best." O'Roddy frowned but nodded; he didn't like the idea but knew there was nothing to be done about it. "Sound the General Alarm, all men to Action Stations." He announced to the bridge crew before turning back to O'Roddy; "Have the crew secure the deck and the Osprey, and make sure anyone caught on deck has a safety line; we don't need anyone getting washed overboard." O'Roddy nodded and started handing out orders to the deck division; Winchester turned to the bridge crew and started his own set of orders. He turned to Leading Telegraphist 2nd Class Curt Willwright, "Send a message to Port Darwin stating we have entered a large storm and may be delayed on our arrival."
"Aye sir." The man said before the clacking of the wireless telegraph was resounded throughout the bridge as the coded message was sent.
As the crew watched the storm grew in intensity, the swells had grown to 15ft and continued to rise, the Captain ordered the helmsman to ring up Ahead Flank and steer the ship into the swells. The roll on the Enterprise wasn't so bad due to her speed, but the pitch was nearly unbearable as the clinometer needle jumped from side to side, and the bow broke the swells with massive water sprays. In the sudden chaos the storm caused aboard the ship the gramophone was left on right when they changed the record, and the sounds of "We'll Meet Again" contested with the waves and thunder of the storm.
Aside from the crew on deck becoming soaked and loose objects being washed away the Enterprise was handling the storm well, although Winchester wasn't so sure the Osprey would come out okay, if it wasn't a total loss it would surely be easier to replace than to rebuild. The bridge windows were getting hammered with the rain and spray, the wind howled through the open bridge wing ports as the temperature started to decrease rapidly. Winchester was standing to the left of the helmsman; making sure he could take control of the ship should anything happen, he also had a great view of the storm... well if it wasn't just a dark grey horizon with no end in sight. Then he noticed something, it was dim at first but grew in intensity; a small greenish light started to form directly in the Enterprise's path, soon Winchester had to shield his eyes. A sudden lump formed in his throat as he realised it was a spotlight and the ship was on a collision course; thinking quickly he grabbed the helm out from the stunned seaman's grip and turned the ship hard to port. The Enterprise groaned in protest but the bow started to come around, although before the ship could've cleared the collision the light expanded and enveloped the Enterprise and a crisp crack was heard before the light faded away without a trace. Winchester didn't think much of it, there would be time later to ponder the fate of the unknown vessel, right now he had to bring the bow back into the swells; the roll was already noticeably greater. As the Enterprise started to brace the swells head-on again the storm abruptly ceased, all was quiet, only the roar of the blowers and the whine of the turbines could be heard. The crew stopped and just stared with open awe at the suddenly benevolent sea, the Enterprise started to gain speed as the swells flattened out and soon she was steaming at 30 knots.
"Captain, I think the storm damaged something, I'm not picking up anything at all on the wireless; no distress calls, no military transmissions, not even the civilian frequencies, nothing. It just went quiet; do you want me to try and raise Darwin?" Willwright asked, not worried about the radio, it was old and it was probably just a loose connection; but they may still be able to transmit ahead to update Darwin, to tell them they would probably need minor repairs.
Captain Winchester was still focussing on the sky as he replied, "Yes, I would think Darwin should know we can't receive wireless for now, if we can, in fact, transmit. As soon as you send the message I want you and your men checking for any damage, I should not need to remind you how important communication is." He replied calmly, calculatingly, before walking over to the intercom and asking for damage reports. Slowly the reports came back, a few plates were loosened and they had minor leaks but they weren't large enough to give a second's notice, on deck they had some AA ammunition washed overboard but other than that the ship came out without a hint of damage. Somehow the flight crew even managed to secure the Osprey and it could be flight ready in around 30 minutes. With a sigh Winchester relaxed and looked out the bridge, the soaked deck shined in the sunlight, the sky was a brilliant blue without a cloud in sight. He glanced at the clock, it had only been ten minutes, odd, he thought it had been at the very least twice that although he would get that same feeling during and after battles; something about taking in so much information than normal makes your brain believe it was much longer. He pondered to himself. Winchester had the feeling he was forgetting something, something important... 'ah yes'. "Helm bring us to a heading of one-one-four, Ahead Standard."
"Heading one-one-four, standard, aye sir." The helmsman replied before turning the ship to it's new heading and ringing the engine room, the Enterprise's speed bled off as she took on a more leisurely pace towards Port Darwin.
The crew remained at Action Stations in case another storm was to appear out of the blue, and in case any Japanese ships or aircraft managed to trace the brief transmissions of the Enterprise. So far Willwright and his men hadn't managed to find anything wrong with the radio, the Captain had ordered to have the flight crew try to pick up anything on the Osprey's radio; it too was quiet. The crew was puzzled by the lack of radio traffic, both radios were working properly but there was nothing to listen to, it was unnerving. Winchester remained on the bridge, he was thumbing his 1873 Colt Peacemaker, the gun was a gift to him from one of his American friends; Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy who was a fellow captain being in command of the Wickes class destroyer U.S.S. Walker DD-163. When Walker disappeared in a storm shortly after the H.M.S. Exeter was destroyed by the IJN, Winchester had suspected that his friend met his demise to their ever more hated foe. His only consolation being that reports seemed to indicate Walker and Mahan, DD-102, managed to bring the Japanese battlecruiser Amagi with them; Winchester had to shake his head at that, he knew that Reddy was capable in a fight and he could see how the suicidal act took place, mostly likely out of pure revenge for U.S.S. Pope, H.M.S. Encounter and H.M.S. Exeter. There were a couple shouts before the lookout's voice was heard through the speaking tubes; Winchester cocked an eyebrow at what was sure to be something either really good or really bad.
"Smoke on the horizon, bearing oh-two-seven! I can't see the vessel currently but it's definitely burning coal, and a lot of it. Looks like they're really pouring it on." The lookout replied, his voice had a certain... excitement to it, whoever was up there would hear from Winchester about remaining professional, but for now the Captain brought up his binoculars and sure enough; there was a small column of thick black smoke on the horizon. The lookout was right, the ship was really laying on the coal, the column was quite heavy and if he had to take a guess Winchester would say that ship was running from something.
"Helm come about, two-seven degrees starboard, Ahead Full." Winchester wasn't concerned about what he was about to stumble upon; if it was burning coal it most likely wasn't a warship, if it was it certainly wasn't a modern one. The ship came into view range shortly; it was small although it was still too far to make out any detail Winchester noticed something strange: it had sails. From their current distance the mast was little more than a toothpick, but the square sails were hard to miss, taking a double and triple check still yielded the same result: a square rigged steamer, but with only a single mast. The Enterprise continued towards the antique ship, rumours spread through the crew like wildfire; the possibility that they could have somehow been transported back in time would explain the lack of radio traffic, but Winchester knew better than to believe such a thing, knowing full well that time travel just isn't possible. 'Maybe it was a rich historian's personal plaything?' He quickly dismissed that thought, who would dare conn a century old ship through hostile waters?
As they got closer Winchester saw another ship chasing the steamer, this one looked even more antiquated, while the steamer looked like an British or American frigate the other ship was sail only and wasn't dissimilar to a Viking Longship; oars and all. Closer and closer the cruiser approached, apparently unnoticed, Winchester now saw why the steamer had only a single mast, the stump of another mast could be seen aft of the funnel, most likely lost in the storm. He also saw that the ship was a paddle steamer, but what really caught his eye was its flag; it had what appeared to be two horses, and what he guessed to be a sun and moon. It was hard to tell as they were still fairly far away, but what he did notice was the longship glinted with polished metal, it took him a bit before he realised they were swords, bloody swords! He was at a loss for what was going on, for once in his life Captain Winchester didn't know what his next move were to be, or even what had happened and was currently happening to them. He just stood there, binoculars glued to his face, mouth slightly agape, and a small twitch in his left eye.
As if fate couldn't screw with his mind more, Winchester took notice of the creatures upon both vessels, the longship had some sort of reptilian creatures, large teeth and snouts, greenish grey scales, and thick tails; and then there were the creatures on the steamer... 'Horses, bloody horses, brightly coloured horses... ha, haha, hahahaha I've finally lost my bloody fucking mind, I-I must be dreaming, yeah dreaming and I would love to wake up about now.' Winchester pulled out his Colt, but before he would shoot himself he had to make sure he was in a dream; he turned the weapon around and gripped it by the barrel, put his hand on the telegraph post and brought the handle down with force. What he expected was to feel nothing, what actually happened was immense pain shot up his hand and he pulled it back, shaking it violently to try and numb it, to little effect. His crew watched him, wide eyed; he looked at Willwright and asked him the most important question in his life: "Petty Officer, do you happen to see a paddle steamer full of brightly coloured horses being chased by a longship with lizards?" He managed to remain calm while he asked the question, Willwright was unsure what to do, he thought his Captain had lost it, he did the only rational thing; he answered truthfully.
"Yes sir, I do sir." He replied with a wince and a step away from Winchester. Winchester did something completely unexpected by the bridge crew from what they'd seen so far; he pulled himself together, holstered his sidearm and stood up straight and tall with a look of determination in his eye.
"Well, right then, bring the ship about, All Stop." He ordered before walking to the speaking tube for fire control, "Chief, I want you to put a round across the bow of the longship; hopefully they'll get the idea and heave to. In case they don't keep the guns trained on them, it's clear they're the aggressors here."
"Aye Captain." Came the reply from the Chief Gunners Mate Patrick O'Henry; shortly after a single HE round fired from the C turret on the starboard amidships gun platform. The round landed 100 yards past the bow of the longship, the spume drenching the reptiles; who recoiled away from the bow and collapsed on the oarsmen. Although the round had far from the intended effect, rather than heaving to, the reptiles got back up and started to come at them. Winchester was shocked, how could they possibly believe they can take on the Enterprise? Even if they never saw a gun before, which he seriously doubted they did, they just saw what the warning shot did; how can they think they have a chance? While Winchester didn't want to take sides, or get caught in a war he knew nothing about, it was clear these creatures weren't willing to parley; they came straight at the cruiser, bashing swords against shields as an act of intimidation.
Winchester wasn't intimidated however, and he would not let a bunch of hostile reptiles near his ship, to hell with the consequences. "O'Henry, you have permission to destroy that ship, try to do it in a single shot, I have a feeling we may not be able to get resupplied any time soon.
"Aye Captain, we'll show those bloody lizards the might of the British Empire!" O'Henry was known to get a "little" happy when he had the chance to blow something up, and he was great at it, being able to guess ranges and speeds to within 10% or less. The C mount rang out another shell, it impacted straight through the bow of the enemy vessel, the round detonated and the longship was reduced to splinters sending the reptiles into the water. It appeared they couldn't swim because as he watched Winchester saw them flail their arms about and slip beneath the sea, he oddly didn't feel much remorse; they attacked his ship and he would not pity the vile beasts.
He turned his attention to the paddle steamer now that the reptiles were dealt with he hoped they could talk to the... horses. How absurd the situation was struck him like a freight train; he, a captain in the British Royal Navy, was going to talk to horses. He looked at the ship through his binoculars and was greeted with what he assumed to be the captain looking back at him with a telescope. The uniform he was wearing was similar to the American uniforms, although the braided rank on the cuffs was closer to what the Royal Navy used, still neither being a perfect match. While he studied the horse, it studied him back, even from this distance Winchester could tell he was experienced and intelligent; having that same calm calculating stare that he would use when sizing up a threat. Winchester waved at the horse captain and it returned the gesture; a smile crept onto Winchester's face: it was going to be one hell of a day.
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"Onwards to Valhala!"
I find it quite hilarious that the lizards thought they can take on something even remotely close to a cruiser from WW2, even though it is an older ship. Before he ordered the shot, i thought he was just going to ram the longship, seeing as it would be steel vs wood XD
That was a clever bit, having the Captain take a walk to introduce the ship
Oh, and I think you might mean 1873 Peacemaker.
A note: You may want to use more paragraphs. At least begin a new paragraph every time a different character speaks, and try to keep the dialogue at the begining and/or end of a paragraph only.
Interesting... very interesting.
2493269 I do use a new paragragh everytime a different character speaks...unless I made a mistake somewhere, and yea I've noticed the walls of text, I like to think of my writing style as an old biplane, not very sleek or efficient but it still worked.
For the Colt yes you are right I'll change that now.
Thanks for the input.
Almost a century old ship compared to modern, captained by a guy using an almost century old gun, encountering a ship that's a century antique to them, plus viking lizards. This just got very interesting indeed.
Nit-picking powers, ACTIVATE.
There's no 'o' in maneuver
I think you put a space by accident in aggressor. That or the 'g' is invisible.
Enough of that, the chapter is pretty good and can't wait for more.
flyingfox
Strangely, I find myself understanding all this.
another good chapter.
2494766 British spelling of manoeuvre, and whoops.
2494012 For some reason your summary makes me laugh, although I wouldn't quite say a century yet on any of those things, almost but not quite. Yes there will be lots of the word "antique" by readers like you and by the British, even the ponies. After all, while Equestria seems overall 19th maybe early 20th century; in some parts, mainly culture, they are more modern than the Brits. Lets just hope Vinyl's "wub" music never meets Stephenson's gramophone needle...
This story is becoming quite the read I have to say. The way I see it, the ponies will have a heavily armed warship protecting them against wooden ships... I see this ending is a very distinct fashion
2498598
You fool, you've doomed them all. Never bring up what you don't want to happen. Murphy will have your head.
2500467 *Shrugs* Yeah right, what's the worst that can happen? *Gets hit by a bus that drove through bedroom wall...that's 14ft above the ground.* Murphy, nobody loves you, you know that?
2498685 I guess I can allow for a spoiler here... You seem to forget that both ships cannot simple sail on the sea for as long as they want, they do need supplies and resources that can only be found on land, or at ports which no longer exist.
2501850 but they are both stocked for long trips. If anything the human sailors can plunder the lizards stuff XD
2504037 True and not so true, whole cities of lizards vs the like two dozen men a Cruiser may send inland at a time to scout. Sure guns vs swords means the lizards would take extremely heavy casualities but if their numbers are in the thousands it'll take more than a couple dozen riflemen. Besides I don't think the lizards have spare fuel oil and 6" shells lying around.
As much as I would like it to be so, a single Light Cruiser is simply not enough to take over the world. Although it'd be funny to see them try. XD
Update plese
2569215 I was waiting for that today when I remembered that I was going on 2 weeks when I said for people to bug me on a week and a half. I'll try, I have the chapter all planned out in my head, but it's about 90% of my brain that is lazy and keeps putting it off, while the 10% fights a losing battle. Bad brain, stop being so lazy!
Anyway I should have it done sometime this week, next weekend max, hopefully before then though.
2569383 Kay thanks I just like to have time estamites this works for me!
Where the hell did the longship come from, eh? In the last chapter, the Equestria only saw the Enterprise's flag. Something is fishy here...
It's the Grik isn't it?
2705879 They're not dissimilar to the Grik, but they aren't quite the Grik either.
Up until now i thought it was the USS Enterprise the one of the worlds biggest carriers
Also do you play World of War ships if so tell me and friend me im Cpt_Repair
Its the nickname of the HMS Repulse
8314291
So you didn't even read the description?
wow! i did not expect some things from the “Destroyermen” series to be in this, and that one pony that operates on the middeck or somthing is quite similar to Silva from the destroyermen series