“So, what kind of dresses does Major Kestel like to wear?” Polly smiled as she looked over the over the green field as the sun rose. She scanned for any engine smoke.

“She doesn’t really talk that. We mostly just talk fighting, and I mostly see her in uniforms,” Evans sighed as he looked over the other horizon, Scanning for any infantry or vehicles. Or… fucking god it better not be fucking airships.

“Colors then. She ever talk about her favorite colors? Is mauve still in?” Polly polished a little bit of dirt off her rifle.

“Still don’t know,” Evans pulled a looted cigarette pack out of his jacket, offered one to Polly, who declined. He pulled one out and put it in his mouth, “Tell you what, next time my wife and I are with the Major, I’ll get Anna to bother her. Since she isn’t army, she can do whatever the hell she wants.”

Evans slipped the cigarette pack back into his jacket and patted himself down. No fucking lighter. He pulled the cigarette out his mouth, “Do you have a lighter?”

“I don’t smoke anymore. Don’t have a lighter.”

“Dammit,” Evans yelled down to a sailor who was working to clear up the roadblock, “HEY! HAVE A LIGHT?”

“YEAH,” The sailor pulled out his lighter and flicked it, “FUCK, NEVER MIND! I NEED A REFILL!”

“Fucking hell,” Evans looked back at Polly, “Nothing in your sur-”

“CONTACT ON THE SOUTHERN HORIZON!” Polly turned and yelled to the signalman, “GET THE ENSIGN AND BRING UP THE BINOCULARS!”

The Signalman pointed to someone who ran the binoculars up while she went to get the Ensign.

“So whatcha see Polly?” Evans kept watching the northern horizon.

“Smoke, maybe. Hopefully the column,” Polly held out her hand for the sailor with the binoculars. When the sailor gave them to her, she pulled them to her eyes and scanned the horizon, “Multiple contacts from the south. Looks to be our armored cars. I think I see the infantry support riding along.”

“Fuckers.”

“What?”

“Last time I was supporting armored cars we weren’t allowed to ride.”

“Wow. So sad for you. Maybe if you-”

“Army? You had something to report?” The ensign tapped Polly on the shoulder.

She handed the binoculars to him and pointed to the smoke on the horizon, “Yes Sir. Looks to be the column and I can see some attached infantry. Should be here in about half an hour, Sir.”

“Very well… Private?” He handed the binoculars back to her and turned to the signalman, “Raise our flag!”

“Corporal, take the private and one of my sailors with you to meet the column out in front of the roadblock. Tell them what’s happened and what to expect.”

“Yes Sir,” Evans paused, “Who are you and what unit is this?”

“Ensign Carruthers, and we’re the 5th Regiment, D Company. At least I am, we’ve got sailors from all over 5th, and a few from other regiments.”

“Thank you sir. And shouldn’t someone take over our watch sir?”

“Yes…” The Ensign shouted down to the working party, “ALDUINO! TAFANI! YOU’RE ON WATCH! FIORE, YOU’RE WITH ARMY!”

Evans climbed down the ladder, followed by Polly. An Sailor walked over and stood to attention, “Corporal, Able Seaman Nicholas Fiore reporting for duty.”

“What?” Evans was confused.

“Excuse me?” This response confused Fiore.

“What’s with all the fancy talk?”

Polly giggled.

“I thought you army guys really liked protocol.”

“Fucking nope. Maybe the careers and officers, but I don’t give a shit,” Evans pointed over his shoulder, “Now let’s go for a walk. Slung rifles. We don’t want to look like we’re trying to shoot anyone. Because my wife hates it when I die. I’d rather not actually die.”

The three walked for a few minutes before Fiore got curious, “What do you mean your wife hates it when you die?”

“First time she saw me get hit by a shell, second time I got lost behind enemy lines, third time I got shot and then captured, and I guess now I’ve been stuck behind the lines again. I might be forgetting some,” He started waving his arms at the approaching column, “HEY! ETHSLIN ARMY… I MEAN NAVAL INFANTRY! NAVAL… CAVALRY? THAT SOUNDS STUPID! WHOEVER THE HELL ARE YOU, WE’RE HERE TO LINK UP WITH YOU!”

One of the infantryman waved at them. The sailors on the lead truck then dismounted and it accelerated towards the trio. The rest of the trucks pulled to a halt. One of the doors opened and an officer stepped out as the truck slowed, “Who the fuck are you?”

“Corporal James Evans. Ensign Carruthers of the 5th sends his regards. We’ve taken care of that nasty looking roadblock up the road Sir.”

“Right… Wait… James Evans. Shit. Would that happen to be Ann Stoddart?”

Polly piped up, “Yes! Why the hell do you care?”

The officer grabbed a flag out of the truck and waved it.

Another truck exited the column and zipped towards Evans. It pulled up and an army Colonel jumped out of the back. He walked towards Evans and Polly. He then pulled two pictures out of his pocket, compared them to Evans and Polly.

“Sir?”

“Corporal Evans, Private Stoddart, come with me please,” He put the pictures away and pulled a sheet from his pocket and handed it to Evans, “Order from the very top.”

“Newacre?”

“The Oligarchs. You two are recalled to Medway immediately.”

It was almost midnight. Evans checked the magazine on the Blair Auto Gun. He looked at Gunners Mate Watt and Polly. He gave a quick thumbs up, “You guys ready?”

“Yeah,” Watt looked a bit concerned, “What do we do once we hit the barricade?”

“Well, One of three things could happen. First, we could break through, in which case, we should turn round and get to the assault team and join them. Second, we could get stuck in the barricade and fight our way out. Third, we could all die instantly in the crash,” Evans shrugged, “That’s my least favorite option. So, ready now?”

Watt checked the bolt of her Auto Rifle for the tenth time, “Yeah, yeah. I think I’m OK.

Polly smiled at Evans, “Maybe if I’m a war hero Lord Halsey won’t call me a whore, ay?”

“You’re too poor to be a war hero.”

“Well I’ll ram my medals up his ass.”

“Excuse me?” the Gunners Mate spoke up.

“Yes Watt?”

“Why would Lord Halsey insinuate that… Private?.. Polly is a prostitute?”

Polly laughed, “My husband’s family does not approve of our marriage because I am not nobility… Also, my husband is Lord Halsey’s inheriting Grandson…”

“Ann Pollard?” Watt looked confused at Polly.

The Northeast team opened fire, Evans started the truck. Polly smiled, “Ann Stoddart, Now let’s go fucking kill something.”

Evans started to drive the truck forward and thought through the plan in his head. A right turn, left turn, floor it, wait for Alduino, once everything starts exploding, open fire.

He exhaled, “Don’t forget to keep giving me bullets Polly.”

Right turn.

Left Turn.

The roadblock came into view. The eastern end was lit brightly with gunfire. Good.

There was a crack of a rifle shot overhead.

A black streak soared towards the roadblock.

Small explosion, miss.

A second crack and a second streak.

Second small explosion. A few shots started coming towards the truck.

A third crack and a third streak.

Large explosion. Hit.

“LIGHT EM UP!”

Evans and Watt opened fire on the roadblock. Polly made sure to help both of them with reloading. Alduino on top started firing rifle grenades towards the east side to soften up the bulk of the enemy forces.

The roadblock was getting closer. Evans was able to see individual soldiers on the roadblock. This was somewhat helped by the flickering flames illuminating the area.

The truck was now close enough that Evans was able to look for a place to hit with the truck. That spot looked good. Evans turned the wheel a bit, “BRACE FOR IMPACT!”

The truck collided with the barrier and broke most of the way through. Fuck, “POLLY! KEEP YOUR FOOT ON THE GAS! I’LL GO OUT AND PUSH!”

Evans grabbed two more magazines from Polly, slipped out of the truck, and shouldered the submachine gun. Hopefully he could get the truck out before anyone manning the barricade was brave enough to come check it out. He leaned and pushed as hard as he could against the truck while Polly was spinning the wheels. Something broke free and the truck shot off into the dark… Fuck.

Evans unshouldered the submachine gun, ran to the nearest cover, and ducked down. There was a quick machine gun spray. He poked his head out to try and locate it. Luckily, the gunner was polite enough to fire another burst at Evans face, so Evans ducked back down. He took a few breaths, stood up, and fired a few bursts at the machine gun. Evans ducked back down, pulled his helmet off, and put it on the butt of the submachine gun. He slowly extended it out from behind the cover. Nothing. He pulled the gun back in and put his helmet back on and stood up, keeping the gun trained on the machine gun. Evans heard a soft groan. Thank god.

Evans started walked up the stairs of the roadblock onto a catwalk and made his way west, towards where the assault force should be coming in. He could hear some rifle fire, so the assault must be under way. Now hopefully none of those idiots would shoot him.

He saw someone walking below. Helmet was wrong. He sent a quick burst into the man’s skull.

People started to shoot at him. Evans ducked to the side of the catwalk, regretting his loud killing of the man. He prepared to return fire, he heard a shout.

“TOSS A GRENADE UP THERE!”

Wait, shit, “FUCKERS! IT’S ME! EVANS!”

“ARMY? FUCK, SORRY!”

Rifle shots started coming in from the other way, so Evans took cover again and fired a few wild bursts from behind cover. The Assault team from below kept pushing forward. After a few minutes more of hard fighting, the team managed to clear the roadblock with no casualties.

Looking around the room, Evans saw a motley bunch. The officer in charge was a terrified looking Ensign who looked barely nineteen. Evans was the most senior NCO in the room. And, of course, there was the fact that most of them hadn’t eaten today because they were trapped behind enemy lines.

Evans had though. He had only encountered this group today. Well him and Polly had encountered this group. The two of them had managed to stick together since the inland advance. And, well, technically they were the regiment, most of the survivors from the sinking of the Steven’s Point were too injured to take part in the assault, and the ones that did were mostly killed or wounded. It wouldn’t have been a great showing for Major Kestel’s first battalion command, if she wasn’t currently in Medway with a broken leg. But, besides almost everyone from the regiment being dead, wounded, or reassigned, the assault was going well. Besides the fact that Polly and Evans were now stuck behind enemy lines with this other unit.

The Ensign walked to the center of the room and held his candle over the crude map he had drawn, “Alright, I was listening on the wireless earlier today, and apparently, there is a column of troops and supplies coming up along the main road tomorrow. It seems their estimates for the soldiers at the roadblock is significantly lower than what we’ve observed.” He paused, “For you army people joining us tonight, my radio was damaged in an advance and doesn’t transmit, so I can’t warn them.” He then went back to addressing the group, “So, we have to break the roadblock somehow. Tonight.” The Ensign chuckled, “Any volunteers?”

“Me Sir,” Evans raised his hand.

“That was a…” The Ensign shook his head, “Nevermind, what’s your plan… Sergeant?”

“Corporal Evans Sir,”  He smiled, “I was thinking, there were a few trucks outside. If we could get one operational, I could use that to make a surprise hit on the roadblock. While that’s happening, we’ll have the rest of your sailors divided into two teams. One will provide harassing fire from the Northeast, signalling the commencement of the truck attack from the Northwest. Once my truck hits the roadblock, the final team will assault the roadblock from the Southwest. If you like the plan, I can go into more detail.”

“Yes…” The Ensign paused, “This is a very well thought out plan.”

“Yeah, it’s almost like I’ve done this before,” Evans laughed, “So, first off, what’s the weapon situation in this unit?”

The Ensign took out his notepad, “Twenty two rifles, two automatic rifles, my submachine gun, five pistols, two dozen grenades, a dozen rifle grenades. Plenty of ammo for everything.”

Smiling, Evans looked at the Officer, “I’ll need your submachine gun, an automatic rifle, a pistol, and the rifle grenades. I can drive, so I’ll take the submachine gun. I’ll need a volunteer to act as the auto rifleman.”

A Gunners Mate Third Class raised her hand, “I can Corporal.”

“Thank you sailor,” Evans smiled, “And I’ll need whoever is the best shot with a rifle grenade.”

There was some muttering around the room before a Boarder Third Class spoke up, “Alduino’s pretty good.”

An Able Seaman raised his hand, “I guess I’ve been volunteered.”

“Alright, And Polly?” Evans looked at Polly, “How about you act as the loader with the pistol?”

“Sure Evans, you haven’t gotten me killed so far.”

“OK, so my team will start the truck once the Northeast team starts up their suppressing fire,” He pointed at the map to something on the roadblock, “The ammo dump for the anti vehicle guns is here, so that’s where the truck will be hitting. Alduino will be firing as many rifle grenades as he can at that, and hopefully it will go up like last time. The Gunners Mate and I will provide suppressing fire until we hit the weakened roadblock and hopefully break through. And, Ensign, I figured you would want to plan the rest?”

“Uh, yes Corporal. Very good. Um, what should I be doing in this attack?”

“Well,” Evans shrugged, “Some officers would stay with the fireteam to coordinate that. My CO would lead the assault team, from the front, sword in hand. It’s your choice really.”

“I don’t have a sword Corporal, but I could use the pistol and a club I guess,” He paused, “Does midnight sound like a good time to start?”
“It’s your call Ensign, you’re in charge you.”

“QUICKLY NOW!” The Lieuten…. Ensign on deck shouted to his sailors as they started to winch up the torpedo boat. Evans moved down to go back to Major Kestel. He bent down and put her over his shoulders to prepare to get off the boat. There was a jerk when the boat started to raise up, but Evans managed to keep his balance.
Evans shouted to Major Kestel, “SO MAJOR! GUESS YOU WON’T BE LANDING WITH US?”
“I WILL GET TO GO SEE DADDY! MAYBE HAVE WOOO,” She attempted to point towards a burning ship, “THAT IS PRETTY! DO YOU WANT TO DANCE WITH ME JAMES?”
“I GUESS YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN SOME PAIN MEDICINE?”
“I AM FINE JAMES HOW DARE YOU… YOU… I FORGET!”
The Torpedo Boat reached the unloading level. Boatswain’s Mates on deck started to cleat it off for unloading. The… Ensign pointed to Evans, “ARMY! WITH THE OFFICER! YOU FIRST!”
Evans walked across the deck of the Torpedo Boat onto the deck of the Indefatigable. The Ensign pointed to a Sailor who was waiting by, “BAKER! TAKE ARMY AND THE OFFICER TO THE OFFICER’S SICKBAY!”
The Sailor waved for Evans to follow her through the ship. It was a bit of trouble for Evans to stand with the ship pitching like this, let alone jog behind someone with Major Kestel on his shoulders. She was rubbing her hands in his hair, still a bit out of it.
It thankfully didn’t take long to get to the Officer’s Sickbay, which was below decks and towards the center of the ship, so it wasn’t rolling as bad. Baker held open the hatchway, then scurried back out. A nurse came up to Evans and pointed towards an empty bed. Evans knelt down and laid the Major down onto the cot. He turned and saluted to the nurse, “Sir, Major Kestel is suffering from a broken leg Sir. We’re from the Steven’s Point Sir. I’m the Major’s Assistant sir.”
“Is that Lady Demetria?” The Nurse bent down and started to look at the Major’s leg and the splint on it. When Evans nodded, the Nurse turned to the Doctor, “Hey, Janice! We’ve got ourselves a special guest. Lady Demetria!”
The Doctor came over with her clipboard and started doing a quick survey of Major Kestel, “My kids are going to be so excited when I tell them this.” She looked at Evans, “You can go to the runner outside, he’ll direct you to the rescue area.
“NO!” Major Kestel grabbed out at Evans’ leg and gripped tightly, “Mine.
“They gave her some pain medication Ma’am, she’s a bit off. The Major is normally a lot more dignified Ma’am.”
“Well who am I to argue with my betters?” She knelt next to the Major, “Your assistant can stay with us Ma’am.” She looked back to Evans, “Step back would you kindly and wait for me to properly set her leg. You can set up a chair next to her once we’re done. Shouldn’t be that long, alright… Assistant?”
“I’m Corporal James Evans.”
“I never really paid attention to army ranks,” the Doctor laughed, “Hell, I can’t recognize like half of these Navy ranks even. I’m Lieutenant Commander Bain. My Nurse here is Lieutenant Monroe.”
“Alright, thank you for letting me stay here. Ma’am.”
Evans sat on one of the empty cots for a few moments before a sailor came through the hatchway, looked at Lieutenant Commander Bain and saluted, “Ma’am! Commander Lions from General is wondering if your sickbay can be opened up to Enlisted. General Sickbay is running out of bedspace.
“Yes sailor!” the Lieutenant Commander shouted back without looking, “So far we’ve only got a few cases, relatively minor. We may need to call in more assistance. All my Nurses except for Lieutenant Monroe and all my orderlies have been called to General. That’s all for you.” She pitched her voice to talk to Evans, “Corporal, once I’ve finished patching up the Lady, She will be classified as walking wounded. We will need the bed, so have the runner outside guide you to the rescue area. Keep her off the leg. And whoever put the splint on gave her way to much pain medication, so watch out for her… Monroe? I have this pretty well. Would you get the Corporal an Officer Chit?”
“Yes.”
“The Officer Chit will basically say that you are acting as an officer’s representative because, well, she’s a bit incapacitated right now. You can’t order people around, but you’ll be allowed to come take her to the officer’s mess if she gets hungry. And you get to eat that food, so I really recommend it. I’ve had enlisted food and I hated it.”

The torpedo boats zipped ahead of the fleet in a “V” formation. After a few minutes, one of the torpedo boats came back with a “enemy sighted” flag.

Captain Campbell looked to the signalman, “Davies, order the minesweepers forward.”

“Minesweeps forward Aye.”

“CAPTAIN!” A Boatswain’s Mate lowered his binoculars and turned around, “ENEMY OBSERVATION BALLOON! JUST OVER THE HORIZON. 33 DEGREES.”

“XO! FORE STARBOARD ANTI BALLOON ROCKETS GET ME A FIRING SOLUTION!”

“Firing Solution Aye!” Commander Blair picked up her handset, shouted some orders. Moments later, she looked up at Captain Campbell, “Rocket batteries have solution, Awaiting your command”

“Fore Starboard Rocket Launchers fire five rocket spreads.

“Five Rocket Spreads, Aye.” Commander Blair picked up the handset, “Rocket Batteries S1 through S5, Five Rocket Spread on target.”

Moments later the twenty five rockets streaked towards the balloon. This was quickly followed by a few of the rocket equipped cruisers. The idea was that while they may not be able to shoot down the balloon, they could force it to land and discourage anyone else from trying to take off in a balloon. Not that it would matter once the two fleets collided.

A klaxon went off, Commander Blair shouted, “ENEMY FLEET COMING INTO VIEW! FLAGSHIP AT 5 DEGREES.”

“HELM! TURN FIVE DEGREES STARBOARD,” Captain Campbell turned to Blair, “XO! ORDER NUMBER ONE THROUGH THREE GUNS TO FIRE ON TARGET!,” He flipped his handset to public address, “Multiple Contacts on Horizon, All Defense Guns weapons free.”

The first shells started walking in towards the Indefatigable.

“TORPEDO BOATS SPOTTED 245 DEGREES! THEY’RE SWEEPING AROUND THE FORMATION!”

“THEY’RE HEADED FOR THE CONVOY!”

“THE STEVEN’S POINT IS GOING DOWN!”

Captain Campbell cursed under his breath, “XO! YOU HAVE THE DECK AND CONN! “ This was the first operation where Captain Campbell had to control a fleet. If only they hadn’t decided to give this operation an admiral to take command so he could just focus on the Indefatigable. He yelled to Davies, “SEND THE ANTELOPE AND THE NIGHTINGALE TO INTERCEPT THE ENEMY TORPEDO BOATS!”

“GREEN BAY, ELLEN CARTER, AND PHILLIP MITCHELL ALL GOING DOWN! FITZGERALD, ROGER, AND EDMUN…” The Boatswain’s Mate was interrupted by an explosion on deck that rocked the ship, “NEAR MISS ON TURRET TWO!” He listened to his handset, “DAMAGE CONTROL TEAMS ARE MOVING IN TO… FIRES IN TURRET TWO!”

Commander Blair was shouting into her handset, “DAMCON CONCENTRATE ON THE FIRES! WE CAN’T LET IT REACH THE MAGAZINE!”

“FISH IN THE WATER OFF THE PORT BOW! COMING IT AT A 30 DEGREE ANGLE!”

“DAMCON ON READY FOR TORPEDOES OFF THE PORT BOW,” Commander Blair slammed down her handset and looked to the Helmsman, “HELM! HARD PORT!”

Captain Campbell focused back to the fleet. They had closed to about half a kilometer of the enemy fleet.

Captain Campbell walked onto the bridge towards the Captain’s chair. A Petty Officer shouted out, “Captain on the Bridge!”
Returning their salutes, Captain Campbell looked to Lieutenant Smith, “Mister Smith, I have the deck and conn.”
Lieutenant Smith turned to Ensign Arthur, “Ensign Arthur, pass me the conn.”
Ensign Arthur saluted, “Lieutenant Smith, you have the conn”
Returning the salute, Lieutenant Smith wheeled around to Captain Campbell, “Captain, you have the deck and conn.”
“Thank you Mister Smith and Miss Arthur, you are relieved. You might want to get to your battlestations now,” Captain Campbell sighed slowly. He looked around the bridge and nodded, “Now I’m not one for speeches, so I’ll just get to the point. We’re going into battle. Contact is expected to be thirty minutes out. We’re the lead ship for this, so let’s show those bastards why the Indie is the best goddamn ship in world.” He clicked the switch for the public address and picked up the handset, “This is Captain Andrew Campbell. ACTION STATIONS. ACTION STATIONS. ALL HANDS TO ACTION STATIONS. SET REDCON ONE. ACTION STATIONS. ACTION STATIONS. ALL HANDS TO ACTION STATIONS. SET REDCON ONE. ACTION STATIONS. ACTION STATIONS. ALL HANDS TO ACTION STATIONS. SET REDCON ONE. ACTION STATIONS. ACTION STATIONS. ALL HANDS TO ACTION STATIONS. SET REDCON ONE.”
Captain Campbell pointed at a Petty Officer, “Signalman Davies, raise the flag of war.”
“Raising the flag of war, Aye.”
“Quartermaster Scott, all ahead flank.”
“All ahead flank, aye.”
He turned to Commander Blair, “XO, launch the torpedo boats. Rescue Priority”
“Launch torpedo boats, aye,” Commander Blair switched her comm station to the torpedo boat circuit, “This is Commander Blair. All Torpedo Boats launch. Rescue Priority, I say again, all Torpedo Boats launch. Rescue Priority.”
Captain Campbell picked up his handset and switched to public address, “All Priority One stations report in sequence.”
“Engine Room One ready.”
“Engine Room Two ready.”
“Number One Turret ready.”
“Number Two Turret ready.”
“Number Three Turret ready.”
“Number Four Turret ready.”
“Number Five Turret ready.”
“Fore Torpedoes ready.”
“Aft Torpedoes ready.”
“Starboard Defense ready.”
“Port Defense ready.”
“DamCon command All stations ready.”
“Communications ready.”
He switched to the communications address, “Communications, give me the report on the fleet.”
“All warships ready for combat”
Captain Campbell put down his handset and looked back to Commander Blair, “XO, how are the Boats?”
“All Torpedo Boats launched sir.”
Taking a deep breath, Captain Campbell switched back to Public Address one more time, “Let’s do this.”

Evans scrambled out of the gunpit. He turned back around and helped Rosetta out. The Captain pointed back, “RESCUE STATION! QUICK, THEN BACK TO THE INDIE!”

The boat pitched and Evans rolled to the side. Rosetta grabbed Evans’ shoulder with one hand and with the other grabbed a cleat. She swore something under her breath and helped him up. Keeping a firm grip on his shoulder, she walked him the rest of the way, “I THROW! YOU GRAB!”

She gestured up to the front, the torpedo boat slammed into reverse. The boat slowed and pulled alongside a few soldiers in the water. Rosetta tossed a life ring to one. The soldiers all linked arms and Evans started hauling the line. Rosetta grabbed on behind and helped haul. The first soldier reached up, and Evans knelt down.

The soldier grabbed Evans’ hand. Evans leaned back and dragged the soldier partway out the water until he could make his way out. Evans then switched to the next soldier waiting to be hauled up while Rosetta helped up the third. She waved forward once the soldier got hold. The torpedo boat then slammed forward again. Rosetta led the way to the hatch, helping one of the soldiers while Evans helped along the other two.

There was a whizz that swept past Evans and the soldier on Evans’ left slumped down. He pushed the soldier on his right forward and knelt to the one who was bleeding out on the deck. The puddle of blood on his uniform kept growing. Stomach wound probably. Shit. Evans yanked the knife out of his belt, slipped it under his uniform and cut upwards. There was a large piece of metal sticking out of the soldiers belly. Fuck.

The torpedo boat shook violently as it hit the side of the Indefatigable.

The Indefatigable was the pride of the Ethslin navy. It was the first of Ethslin’s new line of dreadnaughts, commissioned four years before the war began. It had ten thirty centimeter guns, six torpedo tubes, and thirty of eight centimeter guns, like the one on the torpedo boat. It was also bristling with machine guns, capable of sweeping every centimeter of water surrounding the ship. The eight hundred officers and sailors assigned to the ship were the very best and most well connected in the Navy.

For these reasons, it was selected to lead the assault on the Vledscan Coast.

Evans ran forward to the sunken gun pit in the front of the boat. One sailor was attempting to lift the body of another out of the pit. Figuring that it was the right thing to do, Evans knelt down, dragged the body out of the pit, and slid in.

The Sailor in the pit with him stepped behind the gun and leaned towards him so her mouth was over his ear, “Gràçie! I am Rosetta!” She pointed to a small niche in the wall, “Boxes of Bullets! When I need to reload, throw old box on deck and attach new box. You also help me pick targets.”

Evans nodded. He knelt down and grabbed a box. He then picked it up and latched it on. Pulling off the top and tossing it to the side, Evans began the loading the gun itself. He took the end of the belt and put it into the chamber. Rosetta closed it and racked the bolt.

Evans finally looked up and away from the deck of the Torpedo Boat.

The sea was well… a sea of chaos. God that sounds stupid. Evans shook his head to snap out of it. He couldn’t tell what the hell was Vledscan and what was Ethslin. He could barely even see anything with the speed the torpedo boat was twisting and turning and the walls of water being thrown up. Rosetta wheeled the gun to the left and started firing. Evans followed the tracers with his gaze. They were flying towards the deck of a somewhat smaller ship. Though smaller didn’t really mean much. The ship still dwarfed the Torpedo Boat. The tracers collided with an area of the deck that held a small 20 millimeter gun emplacement that was trying to keep up with the Torpedo Boat. There was a puff of smoke from the gun emplacement and the Torpedo Boat rolled to the side. Evans puked into an empty ammo tin.

Rosetta tapped Evans on the shoulder, “JAM!”

Evans helped pop open the top of the machine gun and tried to clear it. Rosetta yanked Evans down right before an explosion hit and shrapnel ripped overhead. A sailor shouted into the pit, “SURVIVORS COMING UP. YOU TWO ON DECK!”

Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuuuuuucccckkkkkkk….

Evans attempted to keep a grip on the Major while flailing around. After all he’d been through he was going to drown. All the goddamn ways he could die and it’s because he doesn’t know how to fucking swim. And it was probably going to be his fault that the the future fucking Duchess of Medway drowned. Not the glorious death befitting someone of her fucking stature. That is if she was still alive. Evans tried to remember what Anna had told him about swimming. Or just trying to float. Why the fuck did people start swimming anyways? Evans flapped with his right arm and legs to try and get towards a floating plank,near the ship, keeping his left arm gripped tightly around the Major’s waist.

“THE SUCTION!” Major Kestel shouted, “SWIM AWAY FROM THE SHIP!”

“I CAN’T FUCKING SWIM!”

“HOW CAN YOU NO…” Major Kestel coughed out some water, “NOT SWIM?”

“THERE ISN’T MUCH!”

“SOLDATI!” Someone shouted at him over the cacophony of gunfire and explosions. A circular ring hit Evans. Major Kestel grabbed it. A rope attached to the ring started to be tugged. A hand reached down to Evans and yanked him onboard a boat. The sailor the bent down and yanked up Major Kestel.

The Major then yelped in pain. The sailor looked at her shoulder boards, “Un ufficiale?” The boat shook violently.

Someone yelled, “Diego! Il Cannone!” The sailor ran to the front of the boat towards a deck gun. Another sailor ran over from the cockpit of the boat. She saluted, “OFFICER!? I AM SIGNALMAN TWO ELENA CASTIGLIONE! BENVENUTI A BORDO TORPEDINIERA SEI!”

“WE’RE FROM THE STEVEN’S POINT! SHE HAS A BROKEN LEG!”

“BELIN!” Castiglione knelt down next to the Major, “LET’S GET HER BELOW DECK! WE RESCUE A HOSPITALMAN!” Evans helped Castiglione carry the Major to the cockpit. Castiglione used her boot to knock on the hatch cover. The ring started to turn. Castiglione stepped back and the hatch flung open.

The boat rumbled again. Major Kestel and Evans tumbled down the stairs. Castiglione shut the hatch. Evans yelled to the huddled soldiers and sailors below decks, “MEDIC! I NEED A MEDIC!”

A soldier crawl ran over towards Evans and Major Kestel. Evans pointed to the Major’s leg, “MAJOR KESTEL BROKE HER LEG!”

The hospitalman started to work on splinting Major Kestel’s leg. He had to move to work on a few more seriously wounded soldiers that were rescued and brought down below decks.

Evans just tried to keep from puking. The boat was bouncing back and forth normally, and when the deck gun went off, the whole boat shook. The constant roar of gunfire and explosions wasn’t helping much.

After what seemed like an eternity, Castiglione came down, quickly looked around, and pointed at Evans, “CAN YOU LOAD A MACHINE GUN?”

Evans nodded and followed Castiglione up the stairs. She pointed to a sunken gun position towards the front of the boat before she ran back to help with the loading of the deck gun.

The ship pitched and rolled, which made it very hard for Evans to aim. He missed his first, but the second hit home. He looked up at Major Kestel, “I’m sorry Demi. I will mop that up.”

Attempting to stand up, Evans slipped on the slick vomit. Major Kestel started to laugh, “Come on Corp, puking in my office. You have got to be better with ships.”

“Well this is the first time I’ve been on a boat,” Evans vomited into the bucket again.

“It is a ship lad, not a boat. A boat is…”

Major Kestel was interrupted by an announcement over the loudspeaker, “ACTION STATIONS. ACTION STATIONS. ALL HANDS TO ACTION STATIONS. SET REDCON ONE.” It repeated four times before it was shut off.

“Well Jim, I guess we have reached the blockade. Reports say that, if all goes well, two ho…”

Major Kestel was interrupted again. This time by loud whump. The two were thrown against a bulkhead. There was a loud groaning noise and the ship started to list.

There was another crash moments later and the ship rolled the other way. Evans grabbed onto the loudspeaker as the world shifted the other way. The loudspeaker blared into his face, “ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP. ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP. Fucking Hell.”

There was a tug on his leg. Evans looked down. Major Kestel was clinging to his leg. She shouted up, “SORRY JAMES! HOW ABOUT WE ABANDON SHIP?”

“SOUNDS GOOD MA’AM!”

The Major let go. Another explosion knocked Evans down from the loudspeaker. There was a snap. The Major yelped in pain. Evans rolled over off of her. She attempted to stand and collapsed, “Darn it!” She looked over to Evans, “You broke my leg you oaf.”

Evans laughed, “Fuck and bastard.” Evans knelt next to her and lifted her onto his shoulders, He turned to her head, dangling next to his face, “Now let’s leave Demi.”

He stood up and stumbled to the door. He used his boot to kick open the loose hatchway. Luckily, officers quarters were near the top of the boat… ship, so he wouldn’t have to carry her that far. He took a left. He ran up the stairs. The hatchway to the deck was already open when Evans reached it. He stumbled upward in time for the deck to start listing the… right… starboard. There were explosions all around. The fleet was taking heavy fire and machine guns strafed the deck.

Evans looked for a lifeboat. Lieutenant Commander Barrett was standing near one, waving to the Evans. He shouted something that Evans couldn’t hear over the roar of fire. An artillery piece had come loose. It slipped across the deck and smashed him into a bulkhead. The barrel was in just the right position that it smashed Barrett’s skull like an egg.

Another sudden blast to the ship sent Evans and Major Kestel slipping down towards the ocean. The deck was almost perpendicular to the water.

At this point, with the turbulent water rushing towards him, the world exploding around him, Evans decided that ships were not for him. Major Kestel was probably wishing she could hit something with her sword. He should probably tell the Major that joke.

The two slammed into the water.