Battleship Alamo City: A Battleship Express Side Story

Chapter 2: A Miracle For Them, A Tuesday For Us

It was a dark, moonlit night in Saddle Arabia. The sands were blown about by the winds outside of the city of Ride. Inside the opulent palace of the House of Saddle, King Saddle sat upon his throne. It had been two whole years since war was declared on his kingdom from all sides. The front lines were getting closer and closer to the capital every day. It made him wonder, was he truly a king? Or was he merely a failure that deserved to be forgotten by the desert sands?

"My Dear Husband, you mustn't keep yourself up all night. It is bad for your health." Came a kind voice. King Saddle looked up, and his wife Cantle walked in. Her muzzle and head were decorated with beautiful jewelry complimenting her gray, almost white coat, with a blue dress covering most of her body.

"I know my Darling, but this war strains me so." King Saddle replied, nuzzling his wife. "This conflict strains our nation to no end. I just wish a solution would show itself." He continued.

"Follow me Darling." She said, taking her husband by the hand. The two then stood on the balcony overlooking the city of Ride. The occasional lamp or torch lit some of the streets. "Look at the stars." She said. The sky twinkled with stars all across it.

"What are you getting at My Love?" He asked.

"Our people have prayed to the stars since our creation. All you must to is pray to them, and I believe we shall get our solution." Cantle replied, lowering her head for prayer. King Saddle followed her.

"Great Stars that lighten the darkness, we beseech you now. Our kingdom is in dire times, and we beg of thee for our saving grace. May your bright lights give us guidance." King Saddle finished, giving a kneel and returning to the castle. His wife looked to the sky with a small smile before returning inside for bed. Little did either of them know that the answer to their prayers was already on its way, and would be arriving by rail very shortly.

The rails of the desert were fairly quiet at this time of night. Both sides used this time to rest while it was cooler, so no attacks were happening. A lone signalman in his box along the rails was sleeping when a sound rang out in the night.

"What is that?" He said looking out along the line. He looked along the tracks with a pair of binoculars.

Rang a whistle through the night. The signalman looked out, and then heard the sound of something pounding along the line. That whistle rang as he saw a large white light moving closer. Two thunderous bells rang out as the white light closed in. Then the signalman saw it. A behemoth of a locomotive thundered by with cars carrying weapons of varying sizes. Then another behemoth that brought up the rear of the train whistled as the whole train cleared the signal box, and raced off into the night.

"I need to cut back on the drinks." The signalman muttered before passing out into sleep.

Alamo City was flying down the line, but all of the crew were unconscious. A large thump shook the engine crew of Ravage, Clemente and Jenkins.

"Huh?" Ravage muttered before looking at the gauges, and his eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. "Shit! Wake up guys, the trains running away!" He yelled, smacking his comrades awake.

"Oh Fuck!"

"Shit!"

The three fought the engine for dear life trying to slow her down, but unfortunately 5017 was also pushing the train from behind, so they couldn't just throw on the brakes. If they did, the brake shoes could shear off, or they could wreck the tires. (And it wasn't fully realized until this exact moment, but the situation at hand was EXACTLY why Alamo City was the only major war-train in the RWD Fleet to have one engine at the front, and other at the back, both of which operate independently of the other. It was too big of a risk of the train destroying itself if one engine crew was lost, and the crew in the other engine couldn't stop the train. This is why the few war-trains that had 2 engines either double-headed them, (so that one crew could quickly scramble into the cab of the other in the event of an emergency) or controlled the train from one engine, and used synchronized controls in the cab to control the other engine remotely (like how the crew of the Rail Dreadnought controlled the train from Madam Queen, and still operated UP 9000 at the same time). That way there was no risk of what was happening to Alamo City at the current moment. Perhaps it was time to rethink how the train's engines were configured once this incident was over!)

"What do we do?" Clemente asked. "We can't stop the train from up here with Nimitz still pushing from behind!"

Ravage started thinking. Then he had it. "Jenkins! Race to the back, and throw on the brakes for Nimitz and the caboose! Once you do that, radio us, and we'll throw on our brakes! Now Go!"

"You got it Ravage!" Jenkins then ran like a bat outta hell to get to the rear of the train. It took him a few minutes at full sprint, but he quickly reached 5017 to see her crew knocked out.

"Crap. This ain't good!" He then threw the regulator into the "off" position, and then slammed on the brakes hard. He then ran to the caboose and screwed the brakes on. His body was jolted as the brakes took effect, but he still grabbed his radio. "The brakes are on back here Ravage! Hit them up there!"

"Right!" Ravage yelled as he threw the brakes on 610 on, and applied the reverse gear to shove its weight against the train. The brakes squealed like damned souls, and sparks flew like flint stones hitting each other from the wheels, but at last the train stopped just outside of a small station. The rest of the crew woke up at the quick stop, and went to check the train. Major Blood also hopped out and looked at the land.

"Sir, where are we?" asked a private.

"I'm not sure. Best ask Ravage what's going on." He replied, walking to the front engine. "What happened?" Major Blood asked the three in the cab.

"We woke up to see the engine running full speed down this track. We had Jenkins screw on the rear brakes then we applied ours." Clemente said.

Ravage then spoke up. "And Sir, as much as I hate to say this, I think that we REALLY need to rethink how 610 and 5017 are positioned in the train. The crew in 5017 were unconscious, and we couldn't stop the train from 610 without burning out our brakes, or crashing." He then explained what happened to the best of his ability.

Major Blood sighed. "Noted Ravage. I secretly feared that this would happen some day, and we were warned by engineers in the RWD of the dangers of running our train with 1 engine at the front, and 1 engine at the back, both of which run independently of the other, but we decided to run the risk anyway. There was a reason why no other trains in the RWD Fleet do this, and unfortunately, what just happened was that reason come to life. We'll discuss this with the train's engineers at the next officer's meeting."

Before Major Blood could continue though, those on Alamo City all heard sounds of people. They looked, and the train was being surrounded by what looked to be people of some kind, and they wore clothing very similar to what was worn in the Middle East.

"Oh.........boy........."

The people of Al-Camel (Al Calm El) where suddenly, and very rudely awoken by loud screeching. The garrison captain, Seyed(Say Yed) Rashid, lept to his hooves.

"What is it Dear?" His wife asked.

"Something just came into town. Stay here, and don't come outside." He warned. He then went to the barracks and roused all the stallions. "Wake up! We've got potential hostiles in town at the train station!" He yelled.

The soldiers were awake in a flash. They all donned their gear, and marched out with Seyed to the station. The guards walked down the large main street to see the large behemoth at the station with figures clambering around it. The soldier of the garrison walked slowly closer to the station. Then they reached the station, and came out to the tracks.

"Oh..........boy......"

"Halt!"

The crew and the Major then looked closer at those around them, and they saw that they Arabian Horses with rifles with bayonets fixed, and pointed at them! The soldiers of Alamo City pointed their guns as well.

"What is going on?" Jenkins whispered.

"I don't know." Clemente answered. "But one thing's for sure. I REALLY don't think that we're in Central America anymore!"

"You. State your business in Al Camel. You are violating the territory of the Kingdom of Saddle Arabia." Captain Seyed ordered, gesturing to Major Blood.

He spoke up quickly. "Look, we aren't here to cause problems. You aren't our enemy, nor do we wish to make you one, so if we could all calm down and talk like rational folk......" Major Blood said, as he held out his hands in a calming gesture, "I think we can figure this situation out." He looked at the officer that he was addressing, and saw that his skin was covered in fur in Arabian horse colors.

Seyed seemed satisfied with that answer. "Alright. You look similar to ourselves, so we won't fire. Follow us to our base in town and we'll hear what you have to say."

"Okay, but may I bring my second in command as my adviser and guard?" Major Blood asked. The garrison whispered to each other then turned around.

"Alright, but just him. Who is your second in command?" Seyed asked looking for the soldier. His eyes widened to see a tall Purrsian-looking creature walking next to the foreign commander.

"This is Captain Ravage, my most trusted soldier." The Major replied. Seyed simply nodded and his group turned to escort the two to the garrison.

They all arrived at a clay fort on the edge of town, and entered the main hall. The garrison commanders were on side of the table, and Major Alexander and Ravage were on the other.

"Alright, so now that we are here, who are you and your crew?" Seyed asked.

"I am Major Alexander Koning Jackobsson, or "Major Blood" to my crew and this is Captain Ravage." The foreign commander replied. "We are the first and second in command of the war-train Alamo City."

"Where are you from?" A second soldier asked.

"We are from the State of Texas, one of the states of the United States of America. We never intended to violate your territory." The Major calmly replied.

"Then what is your story?" Seyed asked.

"We were sent to take care of our enemies the Futas in Central America. To put it simply, the Futas are female slavers who have male genitalia instead of female genitalia, and they don't show mercy. Long story short, they have an Empire on our home world, and they tried to conquer the rest of the planet. They took large chunks of several continents, but recently have been driven back by the Americans and their allies. The war is still going on, but the Futas are losing. We were attacked halfway to our target in Central America, and were struck by an anomaly. After how knows how long, Ravage and his crew woke up to find us out of control along the line. They stopped the train in this town, and now here we are." Major Blood said.

Seyed stayed silent for a moment. Then he spoke.

"I am Captain Seyed Al Rashid, the commander of the garrison of Al Camel. I have a few crucial questions for you. Do you fight tyranny?" Seyed said keeping his face blank.

Major Blood nodded. "Oh yes. We most certainly did. Our state fought to break free from the horrendous evil that was the Futa Empire, and gain the rights our people didn't have. Our home country has fought tyranny time and time again; first against the Matriarchal World Empire, then against the One Race Empire, and now against the Futa Empire. My men believe that if the innocent aren't free, then we must stand to defend them. We've stood firm in several wars for this reason."

"Yes. WW3, WW4, WW5, WW6, and the many skirmishes of the Second Cold War were all fought by those who loved freedom against those who sought to take that freedom away. " Captain Ravage added.

Seyed looked at him then back to Major Blood. "You all love freedom, and you fight against tyranny, but would you be willing to help us?" Seyed asked.

"It depends. What is your current situation?"

Seyed sighed sadly. "You see, we are at war with two great nations. They have been stealing our land and people for over a century, and now they seek to finally end us once and for all."

"Why are they fighting you?" The Major asked.

"One nation, The Usuri Union, seeks to "Liberate all workers", but we have seen the slave-like conditions of their country, so we fight them. The Cobra Kingdoms seek to destroy our economic power by taking all our profitable mines, ports, and anything that will destroy our economy. We have shrunk in size from two previous war failures, and now we need to win or risk eternal enslavement." The Second Soldier finished.

Ravage clenched his clawed fists so hard small amounts of blood leaked from his gloves. "Fucking Bastards!" He muttered angrily. "They deserve to DIE for what they've tried to do to you!"

The Major then stood. "Usually we would need permission from our home nation, as well as our superiors, but our soldiers were given permission to act outside of our nation should the need arise." Major Blood said. "This is a privilege that so few US Armed Forces Units were given. The only other ones who have this privilege are the remnants of the US Pacific Fleet who work in tandem with the remnants of the Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand Navies to keep the Futas in check in the Pacific Ocean, and attack their supply convoys, the Night Stalkers, an elite special-forces unit, and one of our fellow war-trains, the Battleship Express. The Battleship Express is the flagship of the war-trains in the Railway Warfare Division (RWD) Fleet, and they hold the record for most Futas killed by a single unit, and have been there for most of the major battles against the Futas in North America."

"So you'll help us?" Seyed asked.

Major Blood sighed. "Well, first we must speak with your leader, and even then, I cannot guarantee that we'll be able to help, as we do not have martial law authority here."

Suddenly though, they then heard a loud *BANG!*

"What is that?!" Seyed shouted.

"Our men are being attacked!" Major Blood reported, and the group left the base to run to the station.

Clemente and Jenkins had their guns firing out at the dunes to the left of the train. Searchlights for the anti-air weapons were flipped on to illuminate some other creatures who opened fire once spotted. Some still charged, while others took cover on and behind the dunes.

"For Mother Ursa!" One cried.

"For Hisss Majessty!" another cried out with serpentine-like voice.

The Texans of Alamo City then fired everything at the enemy. Some of them even got close enough fore the machine guns on the train to open fire on them. Enemy rifles opened fire, but the bullets just pinged off the thick armor on the train, and some of them showed fear at this.

"Our bulletss aren't punching holess in that thing!"

"Keep firing at it! That armor can't hold forever!"

Some of the more terrified troops retreated, but were cut down by gunfire. The soldiers in the dunes had no chance either as heavy shells rained down on them, taking many of them out. The fight lasted less than ten minutes before a white flag waved from the dunes.

"Walk towards us very slowly!" Clemente called, and at this time the Major Blood, Captain Ravage, and the garrison came out with their weapons drawn.

The enemy survivors came forward, and the Americans were shocked. Some of them looked like anthropomorphic bears, and the others were like anthropomorphic snakes with tails coming out the back of their coats.

"Halt there Usuri and Cobra scoundrels!" Seyed said.

"How dare you insult our great ruler Saddle Scum!" The senior-most officer of the Bears yelled.

"You sshouldn't have such a behemoth." The senior-most Cobra officer said.

"That's because it isn't theirs." Major Blood said, and the 2 prisoner officers turned to him.

"Who are you?" The Usuri said.

"Major Alexander Blood of the railway battleship Alamo City, of the railfleet of the Railway Warfare Division; the train you just tried to assault." Major Blood stated, glaring daggers.

"Our most sinssere apologiess Major. We didn't mean to attack you. I ssee you have a magnifissent machine, and we would gladly acssept you into our glorious kingdom if you help uss occupy this town." The Cobra said.

"Fat chance, you Slimy Bastard." The Major replied simply.

"How dare you! You dare think you are better than us?! I'll kill you!" The Bear shouted, reaching for the Major, but was suddenly stuck by a bullet to the arm, and a kick to the face by Ravage.

"You ready to surrender the rest of your troops, or must I let my Captain continue?" The Major asked calmly.

"Err. Damn you!" The Bear tried again, but was held back by Ravage with his bare hands. "How...how are you this strong Purrsian?!" The Bear growled.

"Because I'm not a Purrsian.......I'm a Texan." Ravage said, kicking the Bear in the face, before swiping his claws across his chest. The Bear tried to get up, but was shot again by Ravage. He then turned to the Cobra. "Surrender, or run like hell you Scaly Cunt! And take the rest of your slimy survivors with you!" Ravage said with boiling anger.

"I know when I'm beaten." The Cobra said while slowly pulling his hand out of his pockets. A pin came loose and a grenade rolled out. The soldiers all got down when it exploded into smoke, while the Cobra and his surviving Snake soldiers slithered away into the night, followed quickly by the surviving Bears, dragging their wounded, but still alive officer with them.

When the smoke cleared, Major Blood turned to Seyed. "Seyed, you remember how I said that we needed a reason to fight?"

Seyed nodded.

"Well, you just got an ally in your war." The Major said as they shook hands. "Those bastards just attacked us, and that was their first, and most FATAL mistake. NEVER give a group of Texans an excuse to fight you, or they will, AND it will be the last fight of your now shortened life!" He and Seyed then continued to talk about what was to come.

Tomorrow, the Texans would set up shop close to where they were now. They would hopefully see the ruler of Saddle Arabia, and most importantly, discuss plans for bringing hell to the enemy!