Chapters Prologue Chapter 1: The Storm Chapter 2: Incredible Discoveries Chapter 3: Landfall Chapter 4: Misadventures, and First Contact Chapter 5: Texas Conferences, and Revelations Chapter 6: Inspections, Royal Meetings, and Tours (Part 1) Chapter 6: Inspections, Royal Meetings, and Tours, (Part 2) Chapter 7: Dinner Talks, Trial Preparations, and Spies Plotting Chapter 8: Family Drama, and Shock and Awe The USS Texas BB-35. One of 8 US battleships still in existence, the oldest of the US battleships, having been commissioned on March 12th, 1914, the second oldest battleship in the world, and the last Dreadnought-Era battleship on Earth. She saw service in WW1, and all through WW2, giving supporting fire all during Operation Torch, D-Day, the Battle of Cherbourg, and Operation Dragoon, before being transferred over to the Pacific in time to participate in the battles of Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. She also participated in Operation Magic Carpet to help US troops get home after WW2 ended, before being decommissioned in 1946. However, in 1947, the ship was given over to the State of Texas to be opened as a museum ship, the first battleship to do so. She was towed from where she was moored in reserve in Baltimore, all the way down the East Coast, and across the Gulf of Mexico until she was finally towed up the Houston Ship Channel where she reached her new home, the San Jacinto State Park, just outside of the city of Houston, Texas. It was here that many came from far and wide to admire this amazing vessel, which at one time was the most powerful warship in the world.
At the time of her decommissioning in 1946, the Texas was 573 feet long, had a beam of 106 feet, a draft of 31.6 feet, had a total displacement of 32,000 long-tons, was powered by 6 Bureau Express oil-fired boilers, as well as 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines driving 2 screws, a top speed of 19.72 knots (23mph), and had an endurance of 17,722 miles, and a crew of 1,810 officers and men. For armament, the ship had 10 x 14in guns in 5 turrets, 6 x 5in guns, 10 x 3in AA guns, 10 x quad 40mm Bofors AA guns, and 44 x 20mm Oerlikon cannons. For armor, the ship had 10-12in armor on her belt, 10in armor on her bulkheads, 5-12in armor on the barbettes, her turrets had 14in of armor on their faces, 5.75in of armor on their tops, 8-9in of armor on their sides, and 8in of armor on their backs, the decks had 1.5-3in of armor, and the conning tower had 12in of armor on its sides, and 4in on the top. For sensors and processing, the ship had 2 x SG surface search radars, 1 x SK air search radar, 2 x Mk 3 fire control radars, and 2 x Mk 10 fire control radars. The ship also once carried 3 x OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes, and had a catapult on top of Turret 3, however, 2 of these planes were later removed, as was the catapult on top of Turret 3, and the last plane was removed upon the ship's decommissioning.
For many years following her journey to San Jacinto, the USS Texas was slumbering peacefully. However, over the years, Time, the weather, and neglect by the group who was supposed to be caring for the ship, the Battleship Texas Commission, were not kind to her, and by 1983, the Texas was in pretty rough shape. Her hull was rusting and corroding, and seawater was coming in through many holes. Entire compartments were flooded, the deck was rotting, and many structures inside of the ship were rusty, corroded, and in danger of collapsing. Following outcries over this, the Texas State Legislature turned over ownership of the ship to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, who immediately began to hire naval architects to fully inspect the ship, and figure out the best plan to restore the ship. When the full scope of the damage was realized, a fundraising campaign to raise the $15 million needed to dry-dock the ship, and finish the necessary repairs was begun. 5 years later, in December of 1988, Texas was pulled from her berth by 6 tugboats, and towed 56 miles to the Todd Shipyards in Galveston, TX.
Once she was there, the ship's exterior was sandblasted, all rusted and corroded metal inside and outside the ship was stripped out and replaced, totaling almost 15% of the ship's overall metal. Also while she was in dry-dock, Texas was repainted in the dark blue camouflage of the US Pacific Fleet, replacing the battleship-gray that she'd been repainted in following WW2. Texas was in dry-dock from 1988-1990, where she was then towed to a ship repair facility in Green Bayou, where she would be given a brand-new pinewood deck, and the rest of the repairs to the ship were complete.
On September 8th, 1990, following her return to San Jacinto, the Texas was reopened to the public. Efforts were still underway to slowly restore the ship's interior spaces, and it looked like the future of the USS Texas was secured, but while the ship was in good condition for a number of years, it was sadly not to last.
In 2014, the Texas celebrated her 100th birthday, but as Time marched on, Texas's condition once again began to deteriorate. Her hull began to leak again, interior structures were rusting, her deck was rotting, and rust was also found on other structures around the ship. Her paint was fading, and the ship soon required pumps to keep her afloat, and some spaces had to be closed off from tours, as they were now active construction zones. By 2018, the situation on Texas was getting critical. The hull was badly deteriorated, holes were letting in seawater faster than it could be pumped out, and interior metal structures were rusted, corroded, and threatening to completely fall apart, and if that happened, Texas would collapse in on herself. If something wasn't done soon, USS Texas BB-35, the last Dreadnought battleship on earth, and one of only 6 ships left, and the only warship, to have served in both World Wars, would be no more.
However, while the ship's condition was dire, plans were underway to once again save the veteran 104 year old battleship. Beginning in late 2018, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department once again sent in naval architects to figure out what the best way to restore the ship would be, and what they found was troubling. Once again, the USS Texas would have to be dry-docked to fix her rusting hull, as well as rusting internal structures, but this time there was a serious problem; there were no more dry-docks in Texas. Todd Shipyards? They went bankrupt soon after Texas finished her restoration back in 1988-1990. Another shipyard would have to be found, but the nearest ones to Texas were in Mississippi, Alabama, or Florida. Texas's condition was very poor. A way would have to be found to keep the ship afloat during travel, or she would sink before reaching a shipyard. Work was beginning on getting Texas ready to even be moved, but it was slow-going.
Finally, in 2019, the Texas State Legislature gave $35 million to the TPAWD to clean the Texas up, keep her afloat, tow her to a shipyard, and fully restore her once again. Once the TPAWD had the money, they began to send out bids to shipyards with dry-docks, as well as getting the Texas ready to be moved. Debris were removed from the ship, and a system of floats was devised to cradle the hull, and keep it afloat as it was moved. Around this same time, another problem arose. Where she was kept currently in San Jacinto, the ship wasn't bringing in enough money to keep her in good condition following her second restoration. The Texas would need a new home, and bids were also being sent out to various city governments in the hope that a good new home for Texas would be found.
On August 25th, 2019, the Texas closed to visitors for the last time prior to her restoration, and on Monday the 26th, the work crews came in. These crews were composed of volunteers, naval engineers, retired US Navy personnel, and US Navy reservists, several hundred at any given time. This is where I come into this story. Hi, my name is David Gardner. I'm 20 years old, a Texas native, and have light brown hair, blue eyes, stand 5'11, and weigh 165lbs. I'm a native of Corpus Christi, Texas, and I've been fascinated by naval warfare for years. I wanted to join the Navy when I was old enough, but at the same time, my Mom also insisted that I had to go to college, so I had to compromise. I would join the US Naval Reserves while I was going to college, and then once I had my Bachelor's Degree, then I would join the regular Navy.
Growing up in Corpus Christi, I visited the aircraft carrier USS Lexington CV-16, aka the Blue Ghost, which was moored there as a museum ship. However, several times as I was growing up, my family would take a vacation to Houston, and it was there that we would visit the USS Texas. I was well and truly enthralled with the battleship, and my bedroom at home was filled with posters, pictures, and even a few models of the ship, as well as a few pictures, photos, and models of the Lexington. It was my love of these 2 ships that sparked my love for the Navy, and sure enough, when I graduated high school in 2017, I was both going to college, and training with the Naval Reserve. However, in early 2020, a call came out for more volunteers from the US Naval Reserve for the Texas's restoration project. I was almost 2 years into my degree, so I decided to wait until Summer of 2020, as then I would be able to focus on it full-time, at least for a season. If I liked it, then I might stick with the project until it made it to the dry-dock. (Oh who am I kidding, of COURSE I was going to like it, and stick with it until the end!)
Finally, in May of 2020, myself, and a number of others, including my best friend and fellow Corpus Christi reservist Ted Walker, age 20, traveled from Corpus Christi to Houston, and once again beheld the sight of the impressive battleship, and we were soon eager to get to work. For the most part, our work was somewhat boring. We'd help remove debris from parts of the ship, sweep up piles of dirt and debris, carry tools, throw things into dumpsters, set other things aside for restoration, help take down barriers that were previously used to keep guests at bay, help move portable fans, air conditioners and ventilation systems, (summer heat in Texas can be damn near lethal, ESPECIALLY in an enclosed space like on the Texas!) helping lay more cables for portable generators, helping operate the pumps to keep the water out, and helping to assist with beginning the assembly of the special device that would help keep the Texas afloat once she was underway. Our work was seemingly mundane, though the work done by others, such as welding, diving to inspect the hull, operating heavy machinery, and using tools to cut metal had to be left to the professionals, and volunteers who were specially trained. Our work was important too, but it could get rather boring at times. By the end of the Summer though, the ship was all ready to go. The device cradling her hull was fully in place, and providing extra buoyancy, the ship was clear of roughly 60,000lbs of debris, 6 large tugboats were attached to the ship, the ramps connecting the Texas to the shore were disconnected, and there were maybe 400 of us on the ship, a crew of engineers, volunteers, former naval personnel, and US Naval Reservists. Our job was to keep the Texas afloat until she reached the dry-dock in Mobile, Alabama where her restoration work was going to take place, and then the real work could begin.
On August 6th, at about 8am, with a crowd gathering to watch along the Houston Ship Channel, the tugboats began to pull the Texas away. The ship was now free of the mud at the bottom of her berth, and was being moved slowly backwards towards the ship channel. The crowds were cheering, and we were also cheering at our great achievement. However, getting the ship free and into the ship channel was only the beginning of our journey. Now we had to escort the ship roughly 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico to Mobile. Thankfully, the weather was clear, and the temperatures were warm, and it looked like it was going to be smooth sailing. I was standing on one of the wings of the ship's bridge, looking out at the shore of the Houston Ship Channel as we slowly sailed past it. The Texas was being towed backwards, so by looking forwards towards the bow, I was looking at where the Texas had been moored slowly getting farther and father behind us. As I was standing there, I was soon joined by Ted.
"Hey Pump."
I winced. I'd been given the nickname "Pump" following an unfortunate incident with a pump deep within the hull of Texas. I'd been trying to fix it after it quit working, and just as I unhooked one of its hoses to check for a clog, one of my boots slipped, and hit the switch to start the pump. Moments later, I was being hit full in the face by gallons of seawater, which were also tainted with rust and silt. Thankfully someone shut the pump off soon after, but I was still soaking wet, and pretty upset. Ever after, I was known as "Pump", as the rest of the Naval Reservists just couldn't let it go.
"Come on Ted, stop calling me Pump! That was ONE TIME!"
"All it takes is one mistake to get a nickname David, but enough about that. I still CANNOT believe that we're on the Texas as she's moving!"
I agreed. "Yeah, I know what you mean Ted. It just feels so surreal. It'll take us 2 days to get her to that dry-dock, and then we can catch a plane back to Texas. I'm just hoping that we're both still around in late 2022 when they're ready to bring the ship back to Texas."
"So am I. That's only about another..............eh........roughly 2 years, give or take an extra few months for pier-side repairs, such as redoing the wooden deck, work on her various AA guns, and more interior restoration."
I thought about that. "Yeah. Hopefully by then I'll have finished my 4 year degree, and will then be eligible for the regular Navy."
"Is that what you're planning on doing once you're out of college?"
"Yeah. And what about you Ted? What do you see yourself doing in the long-term?"
He shrugged. "I dunno. I'll probably go to college once the fall semester starts, but I don't know what my major will be yet."
"Well, whatever you pick, I know that you'll do good with it."
He smiled. "I hope so too David."
2 days later, in the early afternoon of August 8th, the USS Texas arrived at the World Marine of Alabama Commercial Ship Repair Facility, where she was quickly ushered by the 6 tugs that were moving her into a waiting dry-dock. Here the Texas would remain until 2022, when she would then be returned to Texas, and towed to her new home, which was still being decided. I was sad when I disembarked from the Texas in Mobile. I'd been working with her since early May, and now it was time to leave her, and return to Corpus Christi for the next 2 years and X-months until the ship was ready to be moved again.
I saluted her one last time before I left the shipyard. "Farewell USS Texas. Your time for restoration has come, and soon, you'll be a proud battleship once again. Hopefully one day soon I will be able to return here, and if that time comes, I'll be able to escort you back to your native State. Until we meet again, Lone Star of the Pacific". I then snapped one final picture of the ship, and then myself, the rest of the reservists, some of the volunteers, and some of the retired naval personnel left the shipyard, then caught a train into Mobile, and then got on a plane, and headed back to Texas.
Over the next 2 years, I eagerly kept up with all of the updates about the ship while she was in dry-dock in between working on my schoolwork, and I waited for any news about a crew being needed to escort the ship back to Texas. I hadn't heard anything yet, but I kept watching, waiting, praying, and of course, trying to finish my bachelor's degree. I had a feeling that my time with the USS Texas wasn't over yet, but little did I know just what kind of an adventure lay ahead.
Author's Note
And, that was the Prologue. Yes, I know that it was slow, and contained a LOT of statistics-porn, but when I put that warning in the description, I meant it. There will be a LOT of details about the ship being given, as well as history, and this was one of those times. For all of those who sat through this, if you enjoyed it, then congratulations, you must love US naval warships like I do. If you sat through this, and you didn't enjoy it, or if you sat through this, and were wondering when the action will start, hold on. The real adventure starts in Chapter 1, and that's where the action starts to pick up as well. I just had to introduce the USS Texas, give her statistics, introduce the Main Character, talk a little bit about his life, and begin to set up the adventure ahead. So what will happen next? Will David be among those chosen to escort the Texas back to Texas? Where will her new home be? And how does the Texas end up in Equestria? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned and I'll tell you!
In the meantime, as always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 1!
ScarFox out for now!
All while the Texas was undergoing her restoration, Time was marching on for me. My days in college were seeming to blend together, though I knew that by Summer of 2022, I would FINALLY have my 4 year degree.
"And then I can FINALLY join the regular Navy!" I thought. "And then my family can be even more proud of me than they already are."
I then thought about my family. It had been a little while since I'd last seen them, even though we weren't very far apart. My Dad worked as a contractor at the Naval Facility in Corpus Christi, my Mom was a stay at home Mom, my older sister Jill was going to school to be an engineer, and my younger brother Marcus wasn't out of high school yet, but he said that he wanted to go into IT (in a nutshell, working with computers for all you non-techy folks). I'd gotten along fairly well with my 2 siblings over the years, as 3 years separated Jill and I, and 3 years between me and Marcus. Both my Dad and Marcus supported my decision to join the Navy, though my Mom wasn't so sure about that, and instead asked me what I was going to do about college. After debating this for a while with her, this was where I had to compromise for the time being. If I earned a 4 year degree, then I could join the regular Navy. I bent this a little bit when I joined the Naval Reserves, but since I was still going to college, my Mom couldn't fuss too much about it. I still did get a little bit of flak because of it, but not much.
"I hope that they're doing well", I thought. "I'll have to call them when I get the chance. my Dad and Marcus were sure happy when they learned that I was part of the team that was helping to get the Texas ready to go to dry-dock, and I wonder what they'll say if I'm picked to bring her from Mobile back to Texas." I didn't know, but I was hoping to find out soon.
Finally, in May of 2022, when I was 23 years old, I was up on the stage at my college, being handed my diploma for my Bachelor's Degree in military history. I was so proud of my accomplishment, and so were my family, who were cheering for me out in the crowd. My best friend Ted was also there, and he was really proud of me too.
"Way to go David! Now you're a BA who's got his BA!"
I couldn't help but laugh. Ted was always one to crack jokes like that. "Yeah, you're right Ted."
Then it was my family's turn to congratulate me. Marcus was the first one to speak up.
"Yeah, I agree with what Ted said!"
"I'm so proud of you David." My Mom said while hugging me.
"So.......now that I have my 4 year degree, NOW does this mean that I can join the regular Navy Mom?" I asked jokingly.
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I guess you've earned that privilege!"
"Yay!" I then hugged Mom back. "And what do you think Dad?" I asked him after I was done hugging Mom.
"Like what your Mom said, I'm really proud of you too. You've done so great with the Naval Reserves, and I know that you'll do really great with the Navy as well."
"I hope so too Dad."
Finally, I got to hug my sister Jill. "Hey Sis. Long time no see!"
She gave me a weird look. "Who are you, and what have you done with my brother David? He would NEVER want to hug me before!"
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well special times call for special measures, I guess."
Jill then locked me into a VERY tight hug. "Well then, I guess that I'd better make the most of it before you're able to wriggle away from me!"
"S-shit!" I muttered as the life was being squeezed out of me. Finally though, I was able to push Jill just enough so that I could breathe, and she let go of me soon after.
"Sorry Bro, had to happen! Once you're in the regular Navy, then I won't be able to hug you like that anymore, because you'll be able to break free too easily!"
"And that's a bad thing why exactly Sis?"
Jill pouted a bit. "I won't be able to hug you like I used to be able to!"
"Well, I'm SURE that you'll be able to find some way to guilt-trip me into hugging you, right?"
She smirked. "Maaaaybe!"
I couldn't help but laugh at that. Some people never changed, and my sister Jill was one of them!
Later on that same month, Ted and I received a letter from the Battleship Texas Foundation, the organization who now oversaw the preservation of the Texas, under the guidance of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The letter informed us that since we'd done such a great job with getting the Texas to Mobile, we were being welcomed back to the ship to transport her to her new home, which would be in Galveston.
"Yes! We're going back to help with the Texas Ted! This is awesome!"
"Yeah, it is David! I had a feeling that she was going to be going to Galveston, but now we know for sure. And when do we have to be back at the ship in Mobile?"
I looked lower down the letter. "Um..........it says that we have to be back in July. They hope to have the ship in Galveston before the end of the month, and then have her ready to open to the public again before the New Year."
"July huh? At least it'll be nice and warm."
I agreed. "Yeah, provided of course that there aren't any storms. That could postpone the ship being moved, as July is during hurricane season after all."
"Maybe, but I don't think that that's gonna happen."
Careful what you say there Ted, you just jinxed it. Yes, we WOULD have been heading back to the ship in July, but darn it all, Hurricane Jackson decided to roll up, and hit along the Gulf Coast. Thankfully, damage to the shipyard where the Texas was was minimal, as was damage to the ship itself, however, cleanup was going to take another 2 months. Now it was going to be late September-early October by the time that Texas would be ready to be moved.
"Well don't that just beat all! That just ain't right!"
"That's why you always have to be careful about what you say Ted. You never know when someone Upstairs might be listening, and they're bored. And be glad, hurricane damage can sometimes be catastrophic."
He sighed. "Yeah, you're right David. It could have been a lot worse. And look at it this way, maybe they'll call us in early to help with the cleanup."
"Maybe. One can hope anyway."
Sadly, we never got word that our help with the cleanup was needed, however, we did get another letter saying to be in Mobile by September 30th, and that the ship would be ready to be moved back to Texas by October 3rd. All too soon, Ted and I, as well as other Naval Reservists, some of whom had been helping move the Texas the first time, and others were just recently called in to help move the Texas back to Texas, were on our way back to Mobile, and would arrive there by the 30th as requested.
Once we were off the plane in Mobile, Ted and I, as well as the rest, soon boarded a train that would take us close to the shipyard.
"So, what do you think that the Texas looks like now?" Ted asked me on the train ride over.
I shrugged. "Hopefully about the same as she did, if not better than when she was finished being restored in 1990. Her whole hull below the waterline has been replaced and repainted, her rudder has been worked on, the upper hull and superstructure have been sandblasted, and then repainted in that same dark blue Pacific camouflage, All of her AA guns, and 5in guns were cleaned up, repainted, oiled, greased, and look brand-new, not to mention how they hopefully cleaned all of the exterior glass on the ship, and tore up the old wooden deck, and replaced it with a new one. Anything that you were hoping for Ted?"
He thought for a moment. "Well, I was hoping for all that, plus more restoration of her engines and boilers. Remember that one video on YouTube showing that they were in not very good condition, despite her engines being declared a National Engineering Landmark? I hope that they were finally given the attention that they deserve."
"Yeah, that would be nice Ted. Though while I know that they made sure that the engines were properly secured, and wouldn't punch a hole through the formerly rusty, corroded, paper-thin hull, that might be all that they did with them for now, as remember, they only have $35 million, and most of that was for the cost of the dry-dock, and repairing the hull, deck, internal structures, and repainting. Beyond that, the Battleship Texas Commission probably received donations from private donors, which will help, but I think that the restoration of the engines and boilers, as well as other internal spaces, will continue once the ship is in her new home in Galveston. I recall hearing that there will be more Hard-Hat Tours of certain areas as they undergo more restoration, so that's most likely what it means."
Ted sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right David, but it's still a bit sad though. I wish that the Texas could be given a full restoration, but sadly, there's the distinct lack of funds, manpower, time, facilities, and spare parts."
"Yeah, but man, it must have been so amazing to have seen this ship in its heyday with everything functioning as it should. That must have been a real sight to have seen. It's almost a shame that it can't be so again."
Ted agreed. "Yeah. But let's face it David, this trip back to Texas is going to be the closest that we're ever going to get to see it functioning as it used to, which is going to be operating at MAYBE 5-10% of normal operational status. All of our power comes from generators brought on board, all of our water comes in big 50 gallon jugs, our toilet is 10 Porta-Potties on the deck with the 5in guns, and our food is pre-packaged, none of the guns, engines, boilers, radars, fire-control radars, or gun directors work. Heck, even the helm wheel on the bridge, and everything else on the bridge, don't do anything anymore. All of it's behind that big metal cage."
I knew what Ted was referring to. One thing that always bothered me about touring the USS Texas was the fact that you could step a little bit into the bridge, but everything was closed off floor to ceiling with a large wire "cage" of sorts, with a sign on it for visitors to read. Yes, this was obviously done to protect the equipment on the bridge, but other museum ships, such as the USS North Carolina BB-55 Museum in Wilmington, NC had a fully accessible bridge.
"Yeah, though at least that 'cage' was taken down prior to the ship being moved to Mobile so that they could secure everything within, and it will stay down until the ship reaches Galveston."
"Yeah, you're right David. I completely forgot that they took it down when we left Texas, which is weird, because I walked right through the bridge to get to you were standing on the left bridge wing, which would have been impossible if that cage had still been in place."
We continued to talk about this for a while longer, but we soon reached the shipyard.
When we arrived, we quickly got off the train, and once we'd formed into a group, we were herded along by a number of engineers towards where the ship was. When I laid eyes on the Texas following her restoration, my jaw was on the ground. The ship was moored to a pier near the edge of the shipyard, and she literally looked brand new!
"Whoa! Are you seeing this Ted?!"
"Yeah! I'm seeing it, but I'm having a VERY hard time believing it!"
From where we were standing alongside the pier that the Texas was moored to, the ship looked impeccable. Her brand new coat of dark blue Pacific camouflage paint gleamed in the sunlight, the exterior glass was all shiny and clean, there didn't seem to be a spot of rust anywhere, the ship's number, a white "35" was clearly visible on both sides of the bow, the word "Texas" was also visible in white at both sides of the stern, the ship's Navy Jack was flying from the small flagpole on the tip of the bow, and a brand-new American Flag was flying from the flagpole at the ship's stern. Ted and I climbed aboard, and as we, and several others were milling about on the bow, I snapped a picture facing the 2 forward gun turrets to show just how amazing the restoration was.
"I can't believe this Ted. They said that it could NEVER be done, but yet here we are. The Texas is fully restored cosmetically, at least on the outside, and we're here right in the middle of it all."
"Yeah, I know what you mean David. This all feels so surreal."
Not too long after this though, a meeting was called for all of the volunteers, engineers, retired naval sailors, and the Naval Reservists along the bow of the ship, and on the upper decks where space could be found, all 200 of us. It was here that we got to meet our "Captain" for the voyage back to Texas, and would be learning who would be his "officers", and where everyone would be stationed. For some reason, we were to treat this voyage like an actual mission, and we were really hoping that we would soon find out why.
Soon, a man stepped to the front of the bow, and turned around just in front of the Navy Jack flag. He was an older man, perhaps late 50's, maybe early 60's, about 6' tall, still somewhat of a muscular build, had blonde hair that was whitening with age, some light stubble, and was dressed in what appeared to be a US Navy Captain's uniform with insignias, but it looked to be of an older style. He then picked up a microphone, and addressed all of us.
"Good afternoon Engineers, Volunteers, and fellow Sailors, both active and former alike. I am Robert Hogan, US Navy Captain, retired, though you all can call me Bob. I'm 58 years old, and after leaving the Navy, I took up work in the one industry that Texas is known for; oil. However, enough about that for now. What matters now is that as a 'Captain' of the 3rd Texas Navy, I was chosen to help lead the effort to first get the Texas to Mobile, and then bring her home safely to Texas. As such, I am the 'Captain' of the Texas; have been since we left Houston, and will be until we reach Galveston in about 2 day's time. And some of you may be wondering why I'm dressed like this, and why we're supposed to treat this like a mission, and I'll gladly answer those questions. The truth is, this is a VERY rare opportunity to be on the Texas during such a time as her being moved, and since she is the flagship of the 3rd Texas Navy, those of us officers within the Texas Navy felt that it would be best for this to be treated as a mission, and I think that many of you will agree with that. As for why I'm dressed like this, we also wanted to try and recapture the bygone days when Texas was sailing home for the last time in 1946, and anyone else who wants to can also dress as Texas crewman. This is optional for any volunteers, as well as engineers, but for all of you retired sailors, and you too Naval Reservists, it's mandatory. You can handle that for a few days, right?"
Captain Bob went on to talk about how great of a job those at the shipyard in Mobile had done with the Texas, he answered questions from the media who were gathered there, and he also selected "officers" for the trip back to Texas. Both Ted and I were assigned to the bridge.
I learned that I was the ship's "First Officer", as well as a secondary helmsman, which I learned was going to be an interesting job, as I soon learned that while Texas had been in dry-dock, her rudder had been fully restored, and steering power had been reconnected to the ship's wheel. Now whenever the ship's wheel turned, the rudder turned too, and the Texas turned with it..........as far as the tugs towing her allowed anyway. Ted was the "junior officer" in charge of the ship's telegraph on the bridge, and another naval reservist named Dennis Weaver, from Dallas, was the primary helmsman. Others were assigned to the engine and boiler rooms (these were almost exclusively engineers), some were "gunners", a few were cooks (these were the ones in charge of the food and water for everyone on the ship during the trip back to Texas), others were in charge of damage control (basically make sure that the hull and internal spaces remained dry on the way back to Texas), and the rest filled in the gaps in between, though it was a VERY far cry from the 1,810 officers and men who crewed her before. Two very lucky men who had flight experience were assigned to the Vought OS2U Kingfisher seaplane (which had been donated from storage at another museum in the US), which was attached to the "catapult" on top of Turret 3 (this had also been installed during the restoration, though all of it was fabricated, and NOT meant to be functional. It was for cosmetic display to hold a static aircraft only!) It was a bit odd that they were required to have flight experience, as the plane was for static display, and not functional, never mind the static, display-only aircraft catapult!
Later that night, all of us who either wanted to, or were required to, were given our WW2-era sailor uniforms, which had been ordered from a company that made WW2-era uniforms, weapons, and other props for museums, reenactments, and movies. For the most part, it consisted of a standard dark blue crackerjack with white trim (that dark blue shirt with the flap in the back), dark blue bell-bottomed pants, black socks, black shoes, and a white US Navy sailor hat. A dark blue sailor hat with "USS Texas" printed on the ribbon on the front of the hat was also provided, though it would only be worn for a "special occasion", such as when we arrived in Galveston. That night, Ted and I, as well as the other "officers" spent the night sleeping in the bunks in the officer's quarters. It was hard to sleep though, as in a few short days, the Texas would depart from Mobile, and begin her journey back to Texas. However, I had a hard time sleeping for another reason. I couldn't shake this gut feeling that something big was going to happen, and happen very soon. It wasn't a bad feeling, but it was an unusual one all the same.
"Hopefully it's nothing." I thought as I tried to sleep. "Just the jitters before being a temporary crewman of the Texas, a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Finally, I was able to drift off to sleep.
Sure enough, by 7am on October 3rd, after we were all up, had eaten breakfast served by the cooks, cleaned up as best we could, used the bathroom, and changed back into our sailor uniforms, it was time to get the ship ready to move. We were all scurrying around, securing everything that needed to be secured, checking the watertight integrity of the hull, making sure that the pumps were all easily accessible should we need them, making sure that everything was where it was supposed to be, and doing a little bit of cleanup work to the areas of the ship that we'd been inhabiting as well. Once this was all done, some of the engineers, as well as a number of the Naval reservists scurried up to to the top deck, as the time had come to detach the ship from the pier that she was moored to, and hook up the cables to the tugs that would tow her back to Texas.
These 3 tugboats were different than the ones that helped Texas get to Mobile originally, or at least, they belonged to a different company, as all 3 were about the same size, and were ocean-going tugs, though while 2 were white and green, the 3rd was white and blue. There was the North Star (white and blue), the Jupiter, and the Pelican (both white and green). Two of the tugs would be towing the ship from the sides, while one towed her from the front. Each of the tugs had a crew of 8, so in addition to the 200 aboard Texas, there were 24 on the 3 tugs, for a total of 224.
While we were detaching the Texas from the pier, and helping the crew of the tugs attach their lines to the Texas, our every move was being observed, and often recorded by news reporters, ordinary people who had shown up to watch, and other workers from the shipyard who were on break at the time. It was a pretty nice-sized crowd, though not quite as big as the crowd that wished us all well when we left Houston, nor as big as the crowds that would be waiting for us when we pulled into Galveston. However, by about 9:06am, we were all ready to go. All of us were at our stations again, and the 3 tugs helped pull Texas away from the pier, and once she was far enough away from it, they helped maneuver her away from the shipyard, and back down towards the Gulf. Once the waterway became wide enough, Pelican moved into position on Texas's starboard side, Jupiter moved into position on Texas's port side, and North Star pulled ahead to her position in the front, and with her pulling, and the other 2 tugs pushing and pulling, Texas was soon making good time, and this time was also being moved forwards instead of in reverse. By about 10am, we were away from Alabama, and there was nothing left around us except for the wide open Gulf of Mexico. It was now about 2 days back to Texas, and we were hoping to make good time.
On the bridge, Captain Bob turned to Ted, Dennis, myself, and the man in charge of navigation, a US Navy lieutenant named Adam Price, and began to give us orders.
"Lieutenant Price?"
"Yes Sir?"
"Chart us the fastest course to Galveston."
"Yes Sir." He then began to look over his maps on the table at the back of the bridge used for navigation.
"Ensign Walker?"
Ted looked up. "Yes Sir?"
"Now that we're into open seas, all ahead full. Let's stretch the old Girl's legs!"
Ted saluted. "Yes Sir!" He then grabbed the engine order telegraph, which had been set at "Slow Ahead", and after cranking it back a bit, moved the levers forwards to "Full Ahead". "All Ahead Full Sir!"
Down in the engine room, the indicator needle on the engine order telegraph in the engine room moved to "Full Ahead", and the ship's acting Chief Engineer, a retired US Navy Chief Engineer named Wallace Dalton relayed this to the other engineers. "For what it's worth Boys, all Ahead Full!" He then grabbed the controls of the engine order telegraph, and cranked it to "Full Ahead". The others in the engine room did move a bit, but since they didn't really have anything to do since the engines were non-functional, they just shrugged and went back to whatever they'd been doing before.
Back up on the bridge, Captain Bob was still giving orders.
"Ensign Weaver?"
Dennis turned to him. "Yes Sir?"
"Keep her steady."
"Yes Sir."
Ted then looked at the engine order telegraph, and then up at Captain Bob. "Sir, engine room reports Full Ahead!"
"Excellent." Captain Bob then picked up his radio, and checked with the captains of the 3 tugboats, and they confirmed that they were moving at close to full speed.
"And what about me Sir?" I asked.
He turned to me. "You Ensign Gardner, need to go out onto the bridge wing, and check for any signs of Hurricane Nancy. Report back when your done."
I saluted. "Yes Sir!" I then went out onto the port bridge wing.
I looked around, and while the day was somewhat cloudy, the seas were fairly calm, the air was warm, there was only a small amount of wind, and no sign of the approaching hurricane. Despite what it might have seemed, Captain Bob talking about Hurricane Nancy was no joke. There really was a hurricane coming for the Gulf Coast, though it seemed to be heading for Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and possibly Louisiana too, but not Texas, and it wasn't expected to hit until the end of the week, or another 4-5 days after we'd reached Galveston. We were supposed to be safe, and I was hoping that it would stay that way. I looked around, but thankfully saw no signs of Hurricane Nancy.
"All clear Sir!" I called back into the bridge. "The skies are cloudy, but the seas are calm, the air is warm, and there's only a little bit of wind. No signs of the hurricane yet!"
"Excellent work Ensign Gardner!"
I saluted, and then kept my eyes on the water all around us. I still hadn't fully shaken that fully feeling that I'd had the previous night, but all seemed to be going well, and we would be back in Texas soon.
The next day, October 4th, 2022, the weather, which had been holding steady, started to deteriorate. The sky, which had been overcast the day before, began to darken. Thunder could be heard, and lightning could occasionally be seen. The wind was picking up, and the seas were getting a bit rougher too. By our estimates, we were maybe 200 miles off the coast of Mississippi at the time, and would soon be perhaps 175 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana. We were a bit concerned, as the weather forecast did predict some wind and rain, but it wasn't expected to be too bad. By 11am though, it started raining. It was gentle at first, but soon began to turn problematic, especially when the wind began to blow harder.
Hatches and portholes were closed, flaps used to keep out the weather on the deck with the 6 x 5in guns were pulled down and secured, and those of us who had to work near hatches, or near the exposed decks all pulled on raincoats over our sailor uniforms. Inside the bridge, I was at the wheel of the Texas, Ted stood by the telegraph, Dennis was looking out of the bridge portholes to try and see ahead of the ship since the doors to the bridge wings had to be kept closed to keep out the rain and seawater, Adam was still looking at his maps, and Captain Bob was watching over all of us while we worked.
"I just hope that the weather doesn't get any worse." Dennis muttered.
"Me too." I said quietly. I then looked back at Adam. "Hey Adam?"
"Yeah?"
"How much farther until we're back to Texas?"
"The coastline, or Galveston?"
"Even just to the coastline."
He looked at his maps. "Well, judging by our current speed, as well as the weather, we should be in sight of Texas by dinnertime tonight, and safely in Galveston by 9-10pm or so. We're still making fairly good time thanks to the tugs, and the weather being more of a nuisance than a danger."
I briefly removed my white sailor hat, wiped off a bit of sweat, and then put it back on, returning both hands to Texas's wheel. "If the weather holds, that's the key here."
Captain Bob then radioed the North Star for a weather update. The captain replied that it was still looking like storms until they were close to Texas, but it wouldn't be anything bad.
"We should be fine Captain. Yes, Hurricane Nancy did move a bit faster than expected, and we are feeling a bit of the storm that came ahead of her, but once we're fully past Louisiana we'll be safe. She's headed towards the other Gulf States, not Texas."
"I hope that you're right North Star. We took a bit of a risk moving the Texas in not-ideal weather conditions, and if something does go wrong, we will not be in a very good position to do anything about it, as we lack any propulsion, and all power comes from generators that we've brought onboard."
"We'll keep an eye on what the weather is doing, and we'll keep you informed Texas. Remember, it's not just your necks on the line here; it's our's too!"
"Copy that. Texas out." Captain Bob then put down the radio.
For a while, things seemed to be going ok, but by Noon, things began to take a turn for the worst. The rain began to come down harder, the wind was really picking up, the lightning and thunder became more frequent, and the waves began to batter the Texas, as well as the tugs. Ted was hanging onto the engine order telegraph to keep himself steady, both Dennis and I held the wheel to try and keep Texas steady, Adam was hanging onto his map table, and Captain Bob was hanging onto a support beam. I looked out of the forward portholes of the bridge, though aside from the waves crashing over the deck, I could barely even see the 2 forward turrets, never mind the North Star pulling the Texas from the front.
"I'm REALLY glad that the gun turrets were evacuated before this storm got really bad." I said quietly.
"Yeah, me too." Ted agreed.
"A storm that shouldn't even BE HERE! How the f@#k did we miss a f@#king hurricane?!" Dennis yelled.
Captain Bob glared at him. "Language, Ensign Weaver! And what's going on around us is NOT Hurricane Nancy. I don't know what it is, but it's not Nancy. Nancy's still almost a thousand miles to the Southeast of us."
"Well then what's going on around us?!"
"As far as we can tell, it appears to be a tropical storm that proceeded Hurricane Nancy, and it sprang up suddenly."
"And how far are we from the storm breaking Adam?" Dennis asked him.
Adam looked over his maps, as well as the data given to him on the weather from the tugs, which came from the US Navy. "That's the thing Dennis, it's hard to say. This storm seems to be a bit widespread, and we're having a VERY hard time staying on course. By my estimates, we're now almost 50 miles further away from the coast of Louisiana than we were before, and we're not making too much progress against the storm."
Captain Bob looked at him. "Wait. So you mean to tell me that while we're not making much headway in getting to Galveston, we are getting knocked further and further off the coast of the US?"
"That's somewhat true Sir. We make some progress back towards the coast, and then get knocked back a bit. It's a back-and-forth game with Mother Nature, and so far She seems to be winning."
"And if this battering from the storm keeps up, I don't know how much longer the Texas can take it. All of our power is coming from the generators that we brought onboard, and not only do those have to keep the lights, and other electrical systems that we have onboard on, but they also have to keep the pumps working."
We were all worried. If something went wrong, we weren't sure if the US Navy or US Coast Guard could get to us in time. Down below decks, things seemed to be in worse straights than they were on the bridge. Sailors and volunteers were scurrying around trying to secure everything that wasn't tied down while the ship was constantly moving back and forth, the lights were sometimes flickering, and the engineers were trying to make sure that everything stayed online. The pumps had all been pulled out, and were being assembled. Under the guidance of Chief Engineer Wallace Dalton, some of the sailors were grabbing the hoses for the pumps, and dropping them down into the ship's bilge where all of the water that was coming into the ships drained into. They had to keep the bilge from overflowing, because if that happened, or if water came down into the ship elsewhere, that would be very bad, and could possibly indicate a collapsed deck, or a hull breach.
"What's the situation down there CE?"
"We're holding everything together as best we can Captain. The generators and the pumps all have sufficient fuel, we've finally managed to lash down/secure all remaining loose items, and we're pumping the water out of the bilge. It's a little scary down here, but I think that we can manage. And how close are we to Texas?"
"We're still maybe 150 miles off the coast of Louisiana, and maybe 400 miles from Galveston. We might have to call the Navy or Coast Guard for assistance soon if this weather keeps up, as I don't know if the tugs can keep us on course."
"That's not good Captain. I just wish that we knew about this storm sooner. It's like it came out of nowhere, and with no warning."
"That's the weird thing CE, no one predicted that the weather was going to be this bad. Some light rain, wind and waves, but not like this friggin' almost-hurricane! And what's the status on the deck with the 5in guns? Are the flaps holding steady?"
"We do have to send guys up there every 10 minutes to check the flaps, as they can become loose, as well as make sure all of the rainwater and seawater that does get past them is being directed either forward to the main deck, or down to where it drains into the bilge. And yes, all of the guns are capped, and they have been since the new caps were installed in Mobile. We don't have to worry about losing them, as they were welded on."
"And what about the seaplane on top of Turret 3? That was secured before this turned bad, right?"
"Affirmative Captain! That Vought Kingfisher isn't going anywhere! We lashed her as tightly to her catapult as we possibly could, and while this weather is NOT good for her, she's not going anywhere."
"That's good to hear CE. And I don't know if you pray or not, but if you do, that would be highly advisable. Pray that God carries us through this storm safely, and that we reach Galveston soon."
"Will do Captain. I've been praying, and so have others down here too. May God carry us through this storm safely."
"Yes. Keep me posted on any new developments below deck. Captain out."
Between Noon and 1pm, things seemed to be ok. We were still moving, and while the weather was bad, everything seemed to be under control. From 1pm, until about 1:30, we seemingly made it close to 100 miles of the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, and within 200 miles of the Texas coast. However, this was our high water mark. By 2pm, absolute panic set it.
"Calling all vessels in the area! Mayday! Mayday! This is Captain Bob Hogan of the USS Texas BB-35! We are lost in this storm, we have water coming in, our 3 tugboats are having EXTREME difficulty holding onto us, and we lack any means of self-propulsion! We CANNOT survive on our own, and we need IMMEDIATE aid!" This, and many more frantic calls for help were sent out from the Texas, as well as the North Star, Jupiter, and Pelican to both the US Navy, and the US Coast Guard.
We were now facing winds of well over 100mph, almost 80 foot waves, blinding rain, and it was unclear how much longer we were going to even be alive. Water was coming in below deck, the pumps were having a hard time keeping up, and the Texas was losing her stability. She was 108 years old, and NOT designed to be weathering a storm like this. Even the 3 tugboats were having difficulties. Those on them said that they had NEVER seen a storm like this before, and the older men of their crews had been at sea for almost 40 years. Some even likened this storm to storms seen on the Great Lakes, especially the storm on November 10th, 1975 that sank the ore-carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
Down below decks, men were panicking, crying, praying, throwing up, it was chaos. Most of them were simply volunteers, and civilian engineers; none of them had any real experience at sea, or with storms like this. Even those who were sailors were only Naval Reservists who had no real experience, or hadn't sailed on vessels bigger than a yacht. Now here they were stuck below decks on a 108 year old battleship with no propulsion, held together only by welds that had been made long before any of them had even been born, with water pumps working at full power to even try to keep up with the water, and generators almost ready to burn themselves out supplying not only power to those pumps, but also power to the lights and other vital systems on the ship as well.
Up on the bridge, it was little better. Captain Bob, Adam, Dennis, Ted and I knew that if we weren't rescued soon, the Texas would most likely be our grave. Dennis and I still held the wheel as tightly as we could, Ted gripped the engine order telegraph for dear life, Adam was clinging to the table, not really even caring anymore that most of his maps and data had slid off, and Captain Bob was hanging onto a support column, his face an ashy white. In his hand he clutched a radio tightly, flipping back and forth between Chief Engineer Dalton below decks, the captains of the 3 tugboats, and either the US Navy, or the US Coast Guard. He was desperately trying to figure out our location, and Adam, as well as those who were working the radars and sonars on the tugs were trying to pinpoint it. 2 Coast Guard cutters, and several US Navy vessels were on their way, and it was a desperate matter of them reaching us before the Texas sank, and dragged the 3 tugs down with her.
I kept looking back at Captain Bob, then over at Dennis, and then at Ted, and then back out the windows. Lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and the whole ship shook. I knew that the mast at the top of the conning tower had been struck at least a few times by lightning, and out ahead of us, I saw the North Star struggling against a huge wave. The wave lifted the tugboat up like it was a toy, causing it to leap several feet out of the water, before the wave crashed against the bow of the Texas, the impact sending water flying up into the portholes of the bridge.
"Damnation!" Dennis muttered. "It's like it's a toy boat out there!"
"And that's a full-sized ocean-going tug!" I added. "North Star has to be getting the worse of it since she's out in front of us towing, but I can't imagine that it's too much better for Pelican and Jupiter."
Ted looked back at Captain Bob. "What's the Navy and the Coast Guard saying? Have we figured out our position yet?"
"By our best estimates, we're still about 200 miles off the coast of Texas. We can see land from the radar on the tugs, the naval base in Corpus Christi has us on radar, and more importantly, the Navy and the Coast Guard have us on radar too, and they're coming. I don't know what they're going to be able to do in this kind of weather, but they are coming."
"And how far out are they?"
"If we can hold out until 2:30pm or so, then they MIGHT be able to get to us by then."
"And what time is it now?"
I looked at my watch. "It's about 2:08."
Ted then looked out of the porthole window closest to him. "We have to hold on. We HAVE TO!"
And we tried to hold on too. However, the storm just wouldn't let up any, the ship kept getting hit by waves, as well as driving rain, battered by the wind, rattled by thunder, and occasionally struck by lightning. It was a few notches below fatal, but the worst was still to come.
At about 2:18pm, Captain Bob got a radio call from the Pelican. "Captain Hogan! Come in Captain Hogan!"
Captain Bob picked up his radio. "What is it Pelican?"
"You need to look out of the starboard side of your ship right now! We CANNOT be the only ones seeing this! There is a MASSIVE wall of black water coming straight at us!"
"What?!" Captain Bob then raced over to the small portholes on the starboard side of the bridge, and looked out. For a moment, he couldn't see anything, but when he did, his face turned whiter than it already was.
"GOSH-DAMN!!!!"
At that, Dennis and I looked, and what we saw petrified both of us, as well as Ted, who looked moments later. From off to the starboard side of the ship, perhaps 500 yards off the starboard bow, thanks to flashes of lightning, we saw a MASSIVE wall of black water coming straight at us! It was darker than night, and we weren't sure if it was the biggest wave that we'd ever seen, or a black wall-shaped void. It seemed so much darker than any of the other waves, and in that moment, none of us had any words.
However, Captain Bob sure did. In an instant once he could think again, he sounded the alarm on the ship, and grabbed his radio to address not only the crew of the Texas, but also the crew of the 3 tugboats.
"ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR IMPACT NOW!!!!! THERE'S A MASSIVE WAVE COMING, AND THIS COULD BE DEVASTATING!!!! ALL HANDS, BRACE!!!!! BRACE!!!!! BRACE!!!!!" He then put down his radio, grabbed that support structure again, and began praying.
Dennis and I looked at each other, and we grabbed the wheel's telemoter base, and we too began to pray, as did Ted, who was still hanging onto the telegraph. Adam grabbed one of the legs of his table, and he too held on. All of us were praying, and I took one last look at my watch. 2:20pm. 2:20pm, October 4th, 2022, the day I would die. I then shut my eyes, and braced for the inevitable, which presumably slammed into the Pelican and the North Star first, then into Texas, and then into Jupiter. The impact was deafening. It sounded like a train running into a solid wall, and the impact sent us all flying towards the port side. The last thing I remembered was getting thrown back from the helm, my white sailor hat flying off, then I hit my head against the port wall of the bridge, then I hit the floor, and I saw only blackness as I went unconscious.
That message about bracing for impact sent from Captain Bob to the rest of the Texas crew, and the crew of the tugboats was the last transmission anyone ever heard from the 4 ships. All of them vanished from radar screens less than 2 minutes later at 2:20pm, and when the Navy and Coast Guard vessels reached the Texas's last known location, they couldn't find anything. They searched for a while, but couldn't really find anything because of the storm. However, when the searched resumed the next day, October 5th, when the weather had died down, nothing was found. No wreckage, no debris, no life rafts, no bodies, no oil slicks, nothing. It was as if the Texas, the 200 men onboard her, the 3 tugboats, and the 24 men on the 3 of them had simply been wiped from existence. No traces of anything had been found, and that of course made headlines.
"Last Dreadnought Battleship Vanishes at Sea!"
"USS Texas Gone Missing, Presumed Sunk!"
"All Hands Lost in USS Texas Tragedy!"
"USS Texas, and 3 Tugboats Lost at Sea with all Hands! No Traces Found!"
And many more such headlines. Some wildly speculated that the 4 ships had been abducted by Aliens, others claimed that the ships got sucked into a Time-Rift, and were either sent way forwards, or way back in time, still others said that the ships had been transported into another dimension, and many other theories ranging from the Supernatural, to simply pirates were put forwards. Neither the US Navy, nor the Coast Guard knew what to make of the disappearances, but worst of all was the position of the Battleship Texas Foundation, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Now suddenly they had to deal with not only the loss of the 108 year old Battleship Texas, the LAST Dreadnought-era Battleship on Earth, and all of the historical artifacts that had been lost with her, but also the loss of 200 volunteers, engineers, and Naval Reservists. They were devastated at the losses, both Human and material, and they too wanted answers for how this had happened, as did the marine company who owned the North Star, Jupiter, and Pelican. Worse still, the Navy also had to tell all of the families of the volunteers, engineers, and Naval reservists what had happened, and that didn't go down too well either. Everyone was grieving, but their grief soon turned to frustration and anger.
Everyone wanted to know why the Texas had been out in that kind of weather to begin with, how the storm had blown up so suddenly, and how 4 ships; one battleship and 3 tugboats, as well as the 224 men that had been onboard all 3 vessels, had just suddenly vanished in the Gulf of Mexico without a trace. No debris, bodies, or any kind of wreckage had been found, and the only clue was Captain Bob Hogan's final transmission about a huge wave coming. Presumably the wave had capsized and sunk the ships, but if that was the case, why was there no debris, oil-slicks or bodies? Those tugboats were designed to self-right themselves if they'd capsized, which meant that the Texas had probably drug them down with it. But if that was the case, there would be life-jackets, floating debris, rafts, and possibly bodies, but again, NOTHING was found. It was a real mystery, and one that would captivate not only the Americans, but the citizens of other nations for a long time to come. What really had happened to the Texas, those 3 tugboats, and their crews? Would any traces of them ever be found? Would this mystery ever be solved? No one had any answers, and finding answers seemed to be an impossible task.
Author's Note
And, that was Chapter 1!
This kinda got dark fast, didn't it? It started out with David graduating college, and his friendship with Ted, and it evolved into the Texas finishing her restoration, and being towed back, only for that storm to blow up, cause a panic, and then came that black wave. What happened to the crew of the Texas, as well as the 3 tugboats? Were they transported to Equus, and if so, are they all ok? What's the condition of the Texas following her major battering by that storm? What was that black wave? Was it an actual wave, or was it some kind of portal? And what about the storm? Was it natural, and just blew up out of nowhere, or was it a supernatural event? Will the world ever find out what happened to the Texas and the 3 tugs? And what could POSSIBLY happen next? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned and I'll tell you!
In the meantime, as always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 2!
ScarFox out for now!
Chapter 2: Incredible Discoveries
An unknown amount of time later, I finally began to come to my senses. I felt like I was swimming in an endless black void, and I was certain that I was dead, and trying to figure out how to cross over to the Afterlife, but then I began to feel a pain in my head.
"Hmm?" I remember thinking. "Why does my head hurt? You're not in pain when you're dead." However, the pain in my head became a dull throbbing, and then I came to myself again, and regained consciousness.
When I first opened my eyes, all I could see was dull red. Dull red, and a few splotches of black. I had no idea what I was looking at, as I was still pretty out of it, and my head was still hurting, but then I shifted ever so much, and I fell on my side. I then realized that I'd been lying face-down on the floor of Texas's bridge, and after a few more moments, I realized that I was still alive.
"Wait............I'm............I'm not dead?" I moved my hands a bit, and then rolled over onto my back. When I did, I felt something warm on my face, as well as seeing a bright light. I looked to see what was making the light, and I saw an unusual sight; sunlight. There was sunlight coming into the bridge through the porthole windows. "Wait, what? Sunlight? Why is there sunlight? There was a storm............" Then the memories all came flooding back to me. The mission to get the Texas back to Galveston, the sudden storm that blew up out of nowhere, the frantic calls for help to the US Navy and the US Coast Guard, and then the massive black wave. ".......And then I was yanked away from the wheel, thrown against the bridge wall, and then I hit the floor and blacked out."
I then looked down at myself. I was still wearing my WW2-Era US Navy uniform, though my white sailor hat was missing. I realized that it must have flown off my head when I hit the wall, and then I remembered that I wasn't alone on the bridge. Where were the others? I glanced around in a panic, and I saw the crumpled bodies of Dennis, Adam, Ted, and Captain Bob. Ted was lying on his back near the engine order telegraph, Dennis was lying on his side against the back wall of the bridge, Adam was lying face down against the back wall behind his table, with Dennis partially on top of him, and Captain Bob was lying next to the (non-functioning) radar scope on the bridge. I was afraid that all of them were dead, but then I heard groaning, and it seemed like all of them were coming around. I then looked forwards, and realized that I'd been thrown almost 5 feet away from the ship's wheel, and hit my head on the floor just shy of the front legs of Adam's table. I looked around, and soon spotted my sailor hat. I then picked it up, and put it back on my head, before attempting to stand up. I managed to do so shakily, and then went over to make sure that the other 4 were ok.
I first went over to Adam and Dennis, as they were lying partially on top of each other. I gently helped Dennis sit up, and then move off of Adam, who was also trying to get up again.
"Are you guys ok? You had a pretty nasty crash against the wall."
Dennis looked at me first. "Ugh..........what.........happened?"
I shrugged. "I don't know Dennis. As far as I can tell though, the storm is over, we're seemingly still floating, and we seem to be in the clear."
"We're...........we're still alive?" Adam said shakily as he pulled himself off the floor.
I nodded. "Yeah. At least, I don't think that you're still in minor pain when you're dead. I don't know how we survived, but we somehow did."
"Thank God." Captain Bob said quietly as he stood up, brushed off his captain's uniform, and then put his hat back on.
Finally, Ted got back up. "Well, I take it that we're alive, but the real question is, where are we?"
I shrugged. "That's a VERY good question Ted, and honestly, I don't know. I assume that we're still off the coast of Texas somewhere, though we won't know for sure until we contact the.........tug.........boats." I then looked at Bob, Dennis, Adam, and Ted. "Better question, we're still here, but are Pelican, Jupiter, and North Star? And what about the rest of our crew?"
The eyes of the others went very wide when I said that.
"Yes, those are VERY good questions Ensign Gardner. We need to find out ASAP!" Captain Bob then looked around for his radio, which had been launched across the bridge during our impact with the black wave, and once he found it, began to see if it still worked.
While he was doing that, I decided to look outside. I then walked over to the port door to the bridge, and opened it. When I did, some rainwater from somewhere above the door fell down, and more sunlight began to stream into the bridge. The light was a bit blinding for a few moments, but then I stepped out onto the port bridge wing, I was a bit surprised when I did so. For starters, the area outside the bridge was still very wet, and water was dripping down from other parts of the mast above us, so we had indeed made it through the storm. I then looked ahead, and I saw North Star still attached to the front of the ship by tow ropes, and I also saw Jupiter still attached to Texas's port side, and I heard Ted confirm that Pelican was still on Texas's starboard side. I also heard Captain Bob talking to what sounded like the crew on the tugboats, while Adam was talking to others on the Texas.
"Ok, well that's good. But now the question is, where are we?" I then looked to where I saw the sun, and to my surprise, it seemed very low in the sky, but yet was seemingly rising instead of setting. "Hmm. So it must be early in the morning." I could see that the sun was rising from our starboard side, which meant that we were most likely facing North. "Ok, so we're facing North, which means that we are off course, but hopefully not by much."
I then looked down at my watch to see what time it actually was, and when I did, my heart skipped a few beats. "No. Wait, what? How can that be?"
My watch, which was a waterproof digital Casio watch, and showed both the time and the date, said that it was 7am, on October 3rd, 2022.
"No. That can't be! We left Mobile on October 3rd, and that was BEFORE the storm picked up on the 4th! Something's wrong with my watch!" I then took it off my wrist and fiddled with it, but to my surprise, it was still working. "Still, something must be wrong." I then went back inside the bridge.
When I did so, I looked at Captain Bob. "What's the damage Captain?"
To my surprise, he didn't answer right away. Adam spoke for him. "Huh? Oh. I just checked with Chief Engineer Dalton below decks, and I got a headcount from him. Thank the Heavens, all 200 of us Naval Reservists, volunteers, and engineers are still present and accounted for, and with only a few minor injuries. Everyone's still a bit groggy, but are VERY glad that the storm is over, and now they're going around trying to fully sound the ship."
I nodded. "Yeah, thank God for that. And where are we?"
Adam shrugged. "I'm not sure. I won't have a heading until I hear from Captain Bob, and he's been on the radio with the tugs for a while now. Their crews are also all still present and accounted for, but I wonder what they're talking about that's so urgent."
"And do you have the time Adam, or anyone else? I think that my watch's conked out, as it's showing the wrong date."
"Did it show that your watch says 7:02am, October 3rd, 2022?" Ted asked.
I checked my watch again, and then looked back at Ted. "Yeah."
"So does mine."
Adam checked his watch too, and then radioed down below decks for anyone who had an atomic clock in their watches. To his surprise, one of the engineers reported that it was 7:03am Central Time, October 3rd, 2022.
"But, that's impossible! YESTERDAY was October 3rd!"
"I don't know what to tell you Lieutenant Price. Atomic clocks are never wrong."
At that moment, Captain Bob finally got off the radio with the tugs. "Ok Guys, I've got good news and bad news. According to all 3 tugs, all of their crews are present and accounted for, all of their systems are functioning normally, though their engines are shut off, and will have to be restarted. They also reported that we're maybe 400 or so miles off the coast of Texas, with maybe another 50 or so miles North to Galveston. We were blown WAY off course, but we're not down yet!"
We all cheered at that, but then I asked the important question. "That's great Captain Bob, but what's the bad news? We're not sinking, are we?"
He shook his head. "No, we're not sinking, but the tugs reported that they've been unable to contact either the US Navy, the US Coast Guard, or anyone on the Mainland. Our radio signals are going out, but we haven't received any replies."
We all thought that this was pretty unusual, but then Adam and I spoke up about our watches, and the atomic clock that he'd used to verify the time and date.
Captain Bob was perplexed. "That's................I honestly don't know what to say about that Boys. It's POSSIBLE that something could have interfered with our clocks, phones, laptops and watches during the storm, but I also don't see how that would be possible."
At that exact moment though, Captain Bob got a call from Chief Engineer Dalton. "Captain? Captain! Come in right now! We've got a situation down here, and I need you to advise on how to proceed!"
We were all worried. If the ship's Chief Engineer, who had years of experience with all kinds of ships was calling the captain with panic in his voice, what could be going on down below decks?
Captain Bob grabbed his radio. "What is it CE? What's going on down there?"
"That's the thing Sir...........I............I honestly do not know how to explain this. In all of my years at sea, I have NEVER seen ANYTHING like this before! What I'm seeing right now, and with what's being reported in from other stations should be BEYOND impossible, but it's right here in front of my very eyes!"
"What are you talking about CE?"
"Captain. I.............I do not know how this is even REMOTELY possible, but somehow, someway, Texas has been fully restored!"
Captain Bob was confused. "Um, what now? I know that she's been restored CE, we just hauled her back from Mobile after her overhaul."
"Not like that Sir, I mean that she's been fully restored to full operational status! Everything works down here!"
When we heard that, our jaws slammed into the bridge floor so hard that I thought the floor was going to break.
"EVERYTHING WHAT?!?!?!?!" We all screamed together.
After we were able to pick our jaws back up, we all looked at each other in complete disbelief. We all knew how serious-minded Chief Engineer Dalton was. The guy never joked, and rarely even smiled when he wasn't working on ship components, so why would he suddenly be joking with us now?
Finally, Captain Bob mange to sputter out, "J-just............hang on. I'm..........we're coming down!" He then put down his radio, and began to leave the bridge. He told Adam and Ted to stay behind, but he took Dennis and I with him, and we went to go and see what was going on with the rest of the ship. However, Adam and Ted both went out onto the bridge wings so that they would be able to see what was going on better.
Once the 3 of us reached the main deck again, we were met by Chief Engineer Dalton, as well as a number of other really confused sailors.
"Talk to me CE, what's going on?"
Dalton just shook his head and shrugged. "Honestly Captain, I have no idea. When I came around again after that wave impact, I was still on the floor of the port side engine room. I was unhurt aside from a few bumps and bruises, but when I got back up, I quickly realized that something was different. For starters, all of the Plexiglas that used to protect all of the gauges and other instruments from being touched by guests was gone, and the instruments themselves looked almost brand new. I called several other engineers over there to look at them, and they were baffled. However, we didn't have too much time to contemplate this, as we all knew that we had to immediately fully sound the ship, and make sure that she was still watertight, and nothing was damaged."
"And this is when you radioed me?" Captain Bob asked.
"No, not quite yet Captain. However, as the engineers and I raced throughout the ship sounding everything, as well as checking on the other sailors and volunteers, we kept making bizarre discoveries. All of the barriers that used to keep guests out of certain areas were gone, equipment that shouldn't have been there was, empty supply closets were suddenly full of tools, spare parts, and other items, but most shockingly of all, machinery that was either missing, disabled, damaged, or in need of restoration was suddenly present, fully operational, and seemingly brand new! All throughout the ship we were finding the impossible. Ammunition lockers were suddenly full of ammunition, powder magazines were full of powder bags, tanks were full of either water or fuel, depending on what they originally held, and even the engines and boilers looked brand new and ready to be fired up again!"
All of us were still in utter disbelief, but once we began to see things with our own eyes, we still couldn't believe what we were seeing, but it certainly gave much more credibility to what Dalton had told us. We were looking all around the ship, and we couldn't believe our eyes. Not only were areas of the ship that had been flooding during the storm completely dry, and showing no signs of having been anywhere near water, the ship's ammunition magazines were full of ammunition for every gun on the ship, the powder magazines were also all full, all of the machinery seemed to be in perfect working order, there was hardly a speck of rust or chip of paint to be seen anywhere, the ship's gun barrels had brand new cover plugs on the ends of them that could be removed for battle (even while the ship had been in Mobile, the covers for the main guns, which had been welded on, had never been removed), and there were full reserves of food, water, uniforms and other clothing, helmets, rifles and pistols, as well as ammunition for both, the ship's medical bay was spotlessly clean, and fully stocked with brand-new WW2-era equipment, bandages, linens, and drugs, the ship's soda fountain had several varieties of frosty-cold soda, as well as ice cream, and all the toppings to go with it, the ship's little store was fully stocked, and ready for customers, the barber shop and dentist office were also fully ready for customers, the post office was ready to send out and receive mail, the bathrooms on the ship were spotlessly clean, and could be used (the Porta-Potties that we had been using before had seemingly disappeared sometime before we all woke up again), the kitchen and bakery were ready to start making food for everyone on the ship, there were shelves and shelves of dishes, cups, plates, and silverware in the scullery, as well as the big dish washing machines, the ship's pantries were fully-stocked, the crew quarters were brand new, the radar and radio equipment were all ready to go, the laundry room was ready to do the laundry for everyone on the ship, the engines and boilers, as well as the ship's generators and dynamos looked like they'd just been installed last week, and were ready to go as well.
On a hunch, an engineer with diving gear was sent over the side of the ship to check the hull, and what he found was even more astonishing. In addition to the ship's hull being completely intact (thanks to the restoration, though he was checking it for storm damage), the ship's rudder was still intact, but he also reported that both propeller shafts, as well as both propellers were present, and looked amazing.
"They're all shiny and new!" He reported once he was back onboard the Texas. "I could almost see my reflection in the propellers!"
Captain Bob was at a loss, but then came yet another report from 2 more engineers, as well as the 2 men who were in charge of the Kingfisher seaplane. Somehow, someway, the plane was fully restored to full operational status.
"It literally looks like it rolled off the assembly line yesterday!" One of the pilots reported. "I've never seen a WW2 plane, even the restored ones, be in this good of condition!"
"And the catapult!" One of the engineers added. "That thing was made from spare metal for display purposes, and now it's a fully-operational catapult, and could actually launch the plane if we wanted to!"
"I'm glad that the plane made it through the storm, as well as the catapult." Captain Bob told them. "Especially considering how the plane was lashed to Turret 3 as tightly as it could be, but somehow, it being fully restored like the rest of the ship doesn't really surprise me too much."
"It.........doesn't?" I asked quietly.
He shook his head. "With how the rest of the ship has seemingly been miraculously restored to how she looked in 1946 when she was retired, with the added bonus of seemingly being a brand new ship, not really Ensign Gardner."
"So...........what do we do now Captain?" Chief Engineer Dalton asked.
Captain Bob looked at those gathered around him, as well as fore and aft at those who were still at their duty stations. For a rare time in his life, he was truly at a loss for words. He had no idea what to say. The tugboats were reporting that there was still no contact with the US Navy, the US Coast Guard, or the US Mainland, and that those on the tugs were just as shocked as we were that the Texas was fully restored to operational status. He was the man in charge though, so he had to come up with something, and fast. He thought up an idea, however, it was a crazy one, and it might end badly, but he knew that this could be the only chance that he would ever have to go through with his plan, so he decided to go for it.
"Chief Engineer Dalton?"
"Yes Captain?"
"How many crew did the Texas have in 1945 when WW2 ended?"
"1,815 officers and men Sir."
"And how many do we have onboard?"
"200 men Sir, composed of engineers, volunteers, and Naval Reservists, some of whom are retired ex-Navy like you and me."
"And with the ship the way that it is now, and with all of the people that we have on board, do you think that we have enough for a skeleton crew to actually sail the Texas back to Texas under her own power?"
Dalton winced internally when he heard that. In all truth, he could see that the Captain's questions were leading up to this, but even though he knew what was coming, he had no idea what to say about it. In all honest truth, he wanted to do what the Captain wanted just as much as he did, however, did they have enough crew to do it, and not just crew, but also trained crew?
He sighed. "In all honesty Captain, I don't know. Yes, everything is fully restored, stocked, and ready to go, but what we lack is crew, and trained crew at that. Remember, the systems on the Texas have not been used by the US Navy in decades, and training for them is non-existent. Yes, we have engineers and naval sailors on board, but not a lot who are trained in the operation of ship engines, boilers, radar, and electrical generators like what Texas has. It's a risk, and Texas is the last ship of her kind. What if we tried to do this, and something went wrong? Right now, all of the power on the ship is still coming from our generators that we brought onboard, and there's no telling what will happen if we tried to transfer that power over to the ship's systems. Yes, it could handle what was already here, but could it also handle all the fans, ventilators, pumps, and other electronic devices that we brought on board with us?"
Captain Bob thought long and hard about that. Everything that Dalton said was the truth, but what if it could work? "Though what if we leave Texas's systems to the Texas's power generators, and all the modern stuff to the generators? Would that be any better?"
Dalton talked for a while with the other engineers to see what they thought, as well as the other volunteers who had been ex-Navy. Finally, he turned back to Captain Bob. "If you're really sure that you want to do this Captain, then yes, I think that we have enough people for a skeleton crew, as well as enough specialists to oversee the systems. If you're really sure, then yes, I think that we can at least attempt it."
Captain Bob nodded, before readjusting his captain's hat slightly. "Very well then CE. Let's get everyone back to their stations, and then we can see about getting the Texas back online for the first time in ages." He then turned to the rest of us. "And who's ready to do this?!"
We were all screaming and cheering loudly. "WE ALL ARE SIR!!!!"
"THEN LET'S FRIGGIN' DO THIS THING!!!!"
"YEAH!!!!" We all then began to scurry back to our stations.
Once we were all ready, our first task was for the engineers to analyze the boilers, engines, electrical generators, and other key systems, just to make sure that they actually were fully restored to operational status, and not just cosmetically restored. But true to the word of whatever Cosmic Force that had caused this to happen, everything not only looked pristine, but also looked like it was going to work too. Now came the real challenge; getting ready to fire up the 6 oil-fired Bureau-Express boilers, which had been sitting cold since 1946. The boilers in question were very old, and looked a bit wonky. Each of the ship's 6 boilers were triangular-shaped, and had 8 burners.
They were clunky, ancient pieces of hardware, and no one was sure how they worked. The few engineers who had experience with steam boilers had either worked on aircraft carriers, or the Iowa-Class Battleships, the latter of which had Babcock and Wilcox oil-fired water-tube boilers. None of them knew much about the Bureau-Express boilers on the Texas, but they were certainly going to try and start them up.
"Damn." One of the engineers muttered. "These things are dinosaurs, and I served on the USS Midway CV-41!"
"Too bad we don't have a user's manual for these things." Another added. "Or even some kind of diagram."
A 3rd engineer was poking around a few storage lockers along one of the back walls of the boiler room. "Do any of you guys remember what this boiler room looked like before today? I certainly do."
The other 2 engineers winced heavily.
"Yeah, I do."
"Me too. So full of rust, grime, dirt, and decay. They restored it a little bit, but not too much."
Suddenly though, the engineer who had been looking through the storage lockers suddenly found diagrams of the boilers. "Hey! I just found some diagrams! Maybe now we can get the boilers working!"
The other 2 engineers looked, and they realized that he was right. "Yeah, maybe we finally can!"
It took a while, but after poking, prodding, opening valves, checking gauges, and using a special lighting tool, the engineers successfully lit up one of the boilers.
"Yay! We did it! We got one of the boilers working!"
"Yeah, now we just have to see about the other 5."
More poking, prodding, valve-opening, gauge checking, and using that lighting tool again, they managed to get the other 5 boilers lit up too, and began to run water into them to be turned into steam.
"CE, this is Boiler Rooms! We've got all 6 boilers in all 3 boiler rooms lit up, and they're getting hot! Everything looks good here Sir!"
Dalton grabbed his radio. "That's great Boiler Rooms! Texas is slowly coming to life again for the first time since 1946! Let me know when you have enough boiler pressure, and then we can start running steam through the engines, and then get the ship's generators and dynamos going again."
"Roger that Sir!"
By about 7:20am, the Texas's boilers finally had enough steam pressure, and at Dalton's orders, more valves were opened, allowing steam from the boilers to begin to run through pipes to the engine room. While that pressure was building up enough to run the engines, Dalton, as well as a few other engineers, and others with electrical experience were looking at the ship's generators and dynamos, as well as their switchboards.
"Gosh, even the electrical systems on this ship are old!" Dalton muttered.
"No kidding! These switches look like they're made of brass, and they have wooden handles! And look at these old electrical gauges!"
"Yes, but everything also looks brand-new. It looks like it was only made last week. It might be old, but how much do you want to bet that this old tech still works?"
"Well, considering what happened in the boiler room, I'd say that those chances are pretty high!"
Dalton then began to coordinate with several sailors who were near the generators that we'd brought on the ship, and were currently supplying all of the power.
"Are you guys ready down there?"
"Affirmative Sir! We're all ready to turn off the generators at your command!"
Dalton then sent a warning to everyone on the ship that the Texas was about to lose power. "Don't worry though, this will only be temporary. Provided of course that the ship's own generators and dynamos are able to kick into gear, the problem should be resolved quickly!"
Everyone on the ship then held their breath, and at Dalton's command, the generators were flipped off, and the Texas went dark. Then the flashlights all came on, and Dalton and the other engineers began to throw all of the switches on the electrical switchboards. There were some sparks when the switches were thrown, but slowly, the ship's switchboards began to light up, and one by one, the various rooms on the ship began to light up once again. Soon, the entire ship had power, and the power was at full capacity.
"Let there be light!" Dalton told the crew as the last lights on the ship came on. "Texas is now at full power for the first time since 1946! All of her lights are on, the generators are humming strongly, and all the switches are in!"
"And the status of the modern generators?" Captain Bob asked.
"They're off, and we'll keep them in place in case of emergencies, but now they can have a chance to rest while the ship's generators do all of the work."
"And the status of the ship's engines? And a bit off topic, but does this mean that the main 14in guns also have power now? And what about the radar, fire-control radars, and the gun directors?"
"That's what we're going to look into testing next. We'll test the radars, fire-control radars, and the gun directors, then the guns themselves, as well as their related mechanisms, and then we'll look at the engines. The boilers still need a little bit longer to finish building up sufficient pressure."
"Ok CE. Keep me posted on all updates."
"Roger that Captain."
Captain Bob then looked towards the stern of the ship from the bridge. For the first time in his life, he could see smoke rising from the Texas's smokestack.
"Well, we're getting closer and closer to full operational status." He mused. "Only a few more steps until we might be able to move the Texas on her own. I just wish that we could contact someone on the US Mainland, or the US Navy, and US Coast Guard. Why can't we get any replies from them?" Captain Bob still had no answer for that.
While Captain Bob was still contemplating this, a few engineers, as well as sailors who had experience with radar made it to Texas's primary radar control room. Like the rest of the technology on the ship, it was a room full of relics from a bygone era, but relics that were shiny and new, just like the room that they resided in.
"Well, I'm not sure how any of this works, but if the CO and the CE want the ship's radar running, then by golly we'll get the Texas's radar up and running!"
One of the engineers looked at the sailor who had spoken. "Yeah, but how do we do that if we're not even sure how radar equipment this old even works?"
"With these!" The sailor held up what looked like a set of blueprints. "I got these from the CE, who in turn got them from one of his subordinates. These are the blueprints for the radar control systems, and if we study them hard enough, we might be able to make sense of how this all works."
The other 3 in the room with him agreed, and after setting the blueprints on a nearby table, they began to study them. It took a little while longer, but after turning the radar equipment on, flipping a number of switches, pressing a number of buttons, and turning on a few screens, soon, a white dot appeared in the middle of the screen, and a white line began to go around it in sweeping circles. 3 other white dots appeared, all of them close to the larger dot in the center.
"It works! The surface-search radar works!" One of the engineers reported to Dalton. "We've got Texas in the middle, and the other 3 tugs on the radar! It's old, but it's working Sir!"
"And what about the air-search radar? Is it working? And do you see any other ships or planes in the area?"
"Yes Sir, the air-search radar is also working, but no Sir, we don't see any other ships or planes; just the Pelican, Jupiter, and North Star. However, our radar can only see about 100 miles out. What about the tugs? Do they see anything either?"
"That's a negative. They can see land maybe 400 miles to our Northwest, but no other ships or planes at the moment. I don't understand it either."
"And what about the fire-control radars CE? Are those working?"
"I've got a few teams of guys looking at them now. As always, they're in good condition, and they're about ready to test them."
"Roger that CE."
Just then, Dalton got a radio call from Captain Bob. "Go ahead Captain."
"I heard about the regular radars, but what about the fire-control radars and the gun directors CE?"
"Everything looks good out here Sir, both with the radars and directors themselves on the conning tower, at the top of the main mast, just behind the smokestack, and on the aft mast, as well as all of their control rooms. The 3in, 5in, and 14in. guns of the Texas have full radar-control, assuming of course that they work."
"That's good news, and yes, assuming that they work. That will be the biggest test of all. Do our 14in guns work, and not only that, but also our 5in guns, 3in AA guns, the 40mm Bofors AA guns, and the 20mm Oerlikon cannons. All of them will have to be mechanically tested, though probably not fired."
"Yes. We don't want to risk an incident!"
"And will that take most of the hands on the ship to test the guns?"
"I think so Captain. It'll be a bit of a chore to test all 10 x 14in guns in 5 turrets, the 6 x 5in guns, the 10 x 3in guns, the 10 x quad 40mm Bofors, and the 44 x 20mm Oerlikon cannons. It could take a while."
"Yes, though with almost all of the 200 men on this ship working together, that might make things go faster."
Dalton agreed, though just as he was putting down his radio, he noticed that his watch was seemingly stuck at 7:30am. He shook his wrist a bit, but the watch remained stuck. "Hmm. Must need a new battery, or something." He made a note to check it later, but didn't worry about it at the time. He then went back up to the main deck, passing a clock on the wall. Dalton failed to notice that it too was stuck at 7:30am. Strange, especially for a digital clock.
Once he was up on the main deck, and was joined by Captain Bob, they assembled maybe 175 of the crew of the Texas, as well as a few guys from the tugboats, (25 crew at the minimum were needed to stay in the Texas's boiler rooms, and the engine room), and we began to check all of the guns, and made sure that they all worked. This would indeed prove to be a bit of a chore, as there were so many of them. Our first chore was to check all of the Oerlikon cannons. This was easy enough as all we had to do was grab the gun, move it around in all directions, load it, arm it, DON'T fire it, then unload it, and repeat 43 more times for all 44 Oerlikon cannons. It was pretty much the same for the 10 quad Bofors AA guns, though these took 2 people to move them around, and 2 more to load them. On one of the 5 Bofors guns on the starboard side, I was working the elevation of the guns, while Adam worked the rotation, and Ted and Dennis loaded.
"Can you guys imagine being on one of these guns in combat, especially during Iwo Jima, or Okinawa?" Ted wondered aloud.
I shook my head. "Not entirely, but I have heard stories from those who have. The heat, sweat, smoke from the battle, vibration of your gun, and all the other guns firing, the smell of the powder, not to mention being shot at, or worse, having to ward off Japanese Kamikaze planes."
"Did Texas ever have to do that?" Dennis asked.
I nodded. "Oh yes. Texas came under attack at least several times by Kamikaze planes, especially during Okinawa, but she never suffered a single hit from them. I don't remember the exact number of planes that Texas downed in her career, but it was at least a few, with a few more assisted kills."
"Assisted kills?"
I looked back at Ted. "That means that either Texas shot up an enemy plane, and while it escaped her gunners, gunners on another ship, or another plane finished it off, or they shot up a plane, and while it escaped them, it didn't escape Texas's guns."
"Oh. That makes sense."
It took a little while longer, but all 10 of the quad Bofors AA guns were declared to be in perfect working order, as were the 10 x 3in guns, which were also used for AA defense. This just left us to check the 5in guns, as well as the main 14in guns. As we were making our way back up to the lower deck where the 6 x 5in guns were, Adam noticed something.
"Hey guys?"
Dennis looked at him. "Yeah Adam?"
"Anyone got the time? My watch is stuck at 7:30am, and the sun isn't moving."
Dennis, Ted, and I all looked back at him like he was crazy. "What? What do you mean that the sun isn't moving?"
"Just what I said. It's still seemingly at the exact same height it was when they first fired up the boilers, and that was what, almost 2 hours ago?"
I looked at my watch, and sure enough, it seemed to be stuck at 7:30am, and like Adam had said, the sun seemed to be in the exact same place where it had been what seemed to have been 2 hours ago. "Something is really wrong here. Our watches and clocks all keep stopping, or turning back time, and now the sun seems to be stuck too. What on God's green Earth is going on around here?!"
"Maybe the Universe is waiting for something." Ted said softly.
We all looked at him like he was crazy. "What was that Ted?"
He sighed. "Maybe the Universe is waiting on us to get the Texas moving again, and She's just giving us time to get there."
Neither Adam, Dennis, or even myself knew what to say to that. Ted was one to joke, but he sure didn't seem to be joking right now. And none of us had any answers at all to how we'd survived the storm, how it was still October 3rd at all, where the heck we even were, why we couldn't get any responses from anyone in the US, or the Navy and Coast Guard, how the Texas was suddenly fully restored to operating condition, or why our watches and clocks, not to mention the sun, were frozen at 7:30am. Ted's statement seemed so far-fetched, but at the same time, we had no other answers, so we rolled with it for the time being.
Soon enough, we all reached the deck with the 5in guns. There were 6 of them on the Texas in total; 3 on each side. These guns were unique, as they weren't in a turret, nor were they controlled electronically. Just like the AA guns that we'd just worked with, the Mark 8 5in guns also ran under manual operation, even though they had their own gun-director.
Since there were only 6 of them, they only needed a fraction of the almost 200 crew to operate, so while some of us were still assigned to them, others were instructed to start heading towards the real prize, Texas's 5 main gun turrets, containing her 10 x 14in guns. After a number of rounds of rock, paper, scissors, as well as flipping coins, Adam and I stayed with the 1st 5in gun on the port side, while Dennis and Ted left to get orders from Dalton, and learn which 14in turret they would be helping with.
"What were the ranges on these things Pump?" Adam asked me while we were loading the gun with ammunition that had been brought up from one of the 5in shell magazines with the aid of a few other crewmen.
I winced, but put up with my unfortunate nickname. "Just 'David' will do Adam, or Pump if you insist. Anyway, if I recall correctly, Texas's 5in guns had an effective range of about 17,000 yards, and a maximum range of about 20,142 yards. That does fall short of the range of the 14in guns, but still, a 5in shell coming at you from that range? That's definitely nothing to sneeze at!"
Adam, as well as the other sailors agreed. "Yeah, no kidding Pump......David! I've seen pictures of craters caused by 5in shell impacts, and I would NOT like to be anywhere nearby when one came down!"
"Yeah, no kidding!" We soon unloaded the gun again after fully testing it (short of actually firing it), and the other 5 guns were given similar green lights from their gun crews. Now all that was left to be done was to test the main 14in guns, as well as the turrets that housed them.
"It's all coming together Captain!" Dalton informed Captain Bob over his radio. "The 5in guns are all good, and that only leaves us with the 14in guns, as well as their turrets. Once those are tested, then we can finally see where we stand on the engines."
"Ok, copy that CE. And the boys and I up here just tested the small radar scope on the bridge, and it works too. Still no other planes or ships, but it does work."
"That's good to know that it works Captain. And now the tests for the 14in guns!"
"Copy that CE!" Captain Bob then left the bridge again, and headed up to the flag platform on top of it, so that he could have the best view for watching the 14in gun tests.
Everyone was eagerly awaiting the outcome of the 14in gun tests. We all knew that they were going to work, but yet there was always that little bit of doubt in the backs of our minds. Thanks to keys provided by Dalton, and a few other engineers, the hatches on the backs of the undersides main gun turrets were opened, and while a few climbed inside (the interiors were actually VERY small and cramped, despite what they appear on the outside), others inspected the exterior of the turrets, as well as all of the machinery underneath them, including the lifts used to bring the powder bags, and the 14in shells up from their respective magazines. I was standing on top of Turret 2 checking the rubber skirts (the coverings where the guns go outside the turrets, or where the turret stops, and the guns continue outwards), as well as the turret's armored roof between the 2 rows of 3 Oerlikon cannons. As I was expecting, the skirts, while still slightly damp from the storm, were still in remarkably good condition, and seemed almost brand-new.
"The rubber skirts are looking good, and so does the actual armor on the turret. How do those gun caps look Dennis?"
He looked back at me from where he was sitting at the end of the left barrel of Turret 2. "Well, like I was hoping, the metal covers that they welded on are gone, and replaced with proper, removable gun caps. Yes, they're on right now, but they can easily be removed."
Around this same time, reports were coming from inside the turret that all systems were operational, all of the metal and Plexiglas barriers that had been used to keep guests out of all but the back of the turrets were gone, though it was still stuffy and hot inside. From below decks, reports were coming in from the area below the turrets, as well as the primary and secondary battery plotting rooms that everything was fully operational, and could be controlled. All 5 turrets, as well as all 10 x 14in guns were all ready to go, but now came the real tests; actually moving both the gun barrels, and the turrets themselves.
Everyone on the outside of the turrets all scrambled clear of the turrets, though those inside and underneath remained where they were, as they were needed to operate the turrets.
"Moving Turret 1!" Someone shouted. Then, after an alarm sounded, with a rumble, and the sound of greased metal moving, Turret 1 slowly began to rotate to the right 90 degrees, before coming to a stop, facing the starboard side of the ship.
"Moving Turret 2!"
"Moving Turret 3!"
Moving Turret 4!"
Moving Turret 5!" The other 4 turrets also began to move, and rotated 90 degrees to the right before coming to a stop, also facing the Texas's starboard side.
"All turrets, elevate the barrels up 20 degrees!" Dalton yelled over his radio.
"Gun barrels coming up Sir!" The barrels all then moved upwards 20 degrees. (The barrels are incapable of moving independently like on later battleships, and have to move as a pair).
After that, the barrels were lowered to their default positions, and all 5 turrets were then turned towards the port side of the ship. Once they stopped moving, there were more tests with the gun barrels, and once again, the turrets all performed as expected. They were even loaded and unloaded to perfection before being returned to their default positions; Turrets 1 and 2 facing towards the bow, and Turrets 3-5 facing towards the stern.
"Excellent work Boys! I'm proud of all of you!" Captain Bob commended us.
"Thank you Sir!"
"All gun turrets, and all of their components are fully operational Sir!" Dalton reported. "And after running a few more tests on the Kingfisher Seaplane, the engineers who inspected it, as well as the 2 pilots, have confirmed that the plane could be fired up and launched if we so desired, as well as being retrieved by the ship's cranes, and then locked back into place in her catapult on top of Turret 3. That's just about everything tested Sir. Now though comes the real test, and another important decision. Do we fire up Texas's engines and sail her back to Texas? Or do we let the tugs tow us back to Texas instead?"
"Would that be possible to do CE? I mean, I'd give the order to do it if we could. What's the status of the engines, and their controls in the engine rooms?"
"From what I've seen so far, the engines and their controls look good, but we'll have to look at them a bit more. I'll keep you posted Sir."
"Ok, roger that CE." Captain Bob then put down his radio. He then looked down at his watch, which was still stuck at 7:30am. He also looked out at the sun, which still hadn't moved from the position that it was in when he saw it earlier that morning. He'd heard what others had been saying about Time seeming to be at a complete standstill for some unknown reason, and he didn't know what to think. He tried to think logically, but yet, he didn't have a logical explanation either.
Down below in the Texas's engine rooms, Dalton and others were looking over the blueprints for the Texas's 2 massive triple-expansion engines. These engines themselves were among, if not the last known triple-expansion steam engines that still existed, and had been declared a National Engineering Landmark while the Texas was a museum in San Jacinto.
At this same time, others were looking at the engines themselves, as well as their control systems. All of them seemed to be in perfect condition, as well as in full working order.
Dalton was hoping that everything was going to be good, but he was still waiting on the word from the engineers that everything was good. Eventually, he got the answers that he was waiting for.
"The Port Engine Room looks good CE! Everything is where it's supposed to be, and is in good working order! "
"The Starboard Engine Room also looks good CE! I don't know how it's possible, but everything looks like it was just installed earlier this week, and is waiting for its first test-run!"
Other reports also came in that all barriers that used to keep guests out of certain areas, as well as keeping them from touching the controls, gauges and valve wheels were all gone, and no traces of them could be found.
"It's as if they were never even there Captain." Dalton reported. "The barriers and protectors are all gone."
"And is everything in both of the engine rooms all good to go?"
"Affirmative Captain! At your orders, we can get to work on firing up both engines, and then getting the ship moving again!"
"That's..........that's great news CE! And are the other engineers all ready down there?"
"We will be soon Sir. And what's the status of the 3 tugs? Are they still attached to the ship?"
"Yes, and as soon as everyone is back to their stations, I'll give the orders for the tugs to release their ropes from the Texas, and give us enough space to start moving if we do, but yet still be close enough to immediately assist if anything goes wrong."
"Ok, Roger that Captain. Just let me know when everything is ok up there."
"Roger that CE".
Once Captain Bob was done talking to Dalton, he switched frequencies, and got in contact with the captains of the North Star, Pelican, and Jupiter. He informed them of the situation, and they said that while it was risky, they said that they couldn't wait to see the Texas move under her own power for the first time since 1946.
"We've all got our cameras ready, so just give us the word, and we'll bring in our lines for the time being."
"Ok, roger that. I'll give you the word as soon as I hear from the guys I'm sending to the bollards to detach the lines."
"Ok, We'll wait Captain Bob."
Soon though, Bob heard from those that were sent to detach the lines. "We're ready to detach the lines Sir! Just give us the word!"
"You have it. Detach the Texas from the 3 tugs!"
"Roger that Sir!"
One by one, the lines that connected Texas to first the North Star, then the Jupiter, and then the Pelican were detached from the ship, and dropped into the water between the 4 vessels, before the crew of the tugs were given the order from their captains to haul the lines back in. After this, the 3 tugs pulled out, and moved to spots about 30 yards off to the side of the Texas so that she would have room to maneuver once she was moving. Once the tugs were clear, and everyone was at their stations, Captain Bob radioed down to Dalton again.
"The tugs are clear, and everyone is at their stations Dalton. Are you guys all ready down there?"
"Affirmative Captain! We're all ready down here! We're just waiting for the order."
"You have it CE. Fire up the engines!"
"Firing up the engines!"
There were some loud rumblings coming from deep within the Texas as steam was directed from the boilers to the engines. The engines were coming alive again, but Texas was still not moving yet.
"Why aren't we moving yet CE?" Captain Bob asked him.
"Well, we haven't been given the order yet Captain!"
"You have it CE. Get the Texas moving!"
"Negative Captain, we don't have it. By our engine-order indicators, the telegraph still says 'Stop'. We don't know which way the Texas is supposed to move, or how fast!"
Captain Bob could detect more than a hint of sarcasm in Dalton's voice, but he knew what he was referring to. Captain Bob then turned to Ted. "Ensign Walker?"
"Yes Sir?"
"All ahead Slow. We need to take this slowly at first."
Ted saluted. "Yes Sir!" He then grabbed the engine order telegraph, and moved the levers from "Stop", to "Slow Ahead". "All Ahead Slow Sir!"
Down in the engine rooms, the engine order telegraphs there moved from "Stop", to "Slow Ahead".
"All ahead Slow!" Dalton called to the other engineers, before moving the engine order telegraph to "Slow Ahead" to match what the bridge wanted.
"All Ahead Slow!" Other engineers called back.
They all then began to pull levers, flip switches, open valves, and watch gauges as the engines of the Texas slowly began to move. With a rumble, and a bit of a roar, as well as multiple releases of steam, the 2 mighty engines of the Texas came to life once again. A few sailors at the stern of the ship saw that the water above where the propellers were began to churn, and white foam was soon visible. Then, with a bit of a heave, the Texas began to move forwards under her own power.
"All ahead Slow Captain!" Dalton reported.
"Roger that CE!" Captain Bob then looked to Adam. "Lieutenant Price?"
"Yes Sir?"
"Chart our course to Galveston. I need the fastest route there."
"Charting a course now Sir." Adam then looked at his maps, and soon had a course charted. "Course charted Sir. We're still about 400 miles off the coast of Texas, and 50 miles north of where we make landfall is Galveston if we head there in a straight line. We need to turn to port about 85 degrees, and then we'll be pointing Northwest, and on course for the Texas coastline."
"Excellent work Lieutenant." Captain Bob then turned to Dennis, who was at the wheel at the time. "Ensign Weaver?"
"Yes Sir?"
"Hard to port about 85 degrees. We need to get to our new heading."
"Yes Sir. Hard to port!" He then began to turn the wheel to the left, and the Texas began to turn. Due to only having one large rudder, she didn't have a very small turning radius, and she wasn't going very fast at the time, but she was turning slowly to port. Once the ship reached the proper point, Dennis turned the wheel to the right to straighten the rudder out again, and the Texas began to move in a straight line again, followed closely by the 3 tugs. "We're on course now Sir!"
"Excellent! Hold her steady Ensign Weaver."
"Yes Sir."
"Ensign Gardner?"
I then looked at him. "Yes Sir?"
"Contact the 2 lookouts up in the mast. I want their status."
"Yes Sir." I then grabbed my own radio, and checked on the 2 lookouts. "Lookouts report everything nominal Captain. The sea is clear, the skies have a few clouds, and no ships or planes in sight visually. Should I check the radar scope here on the bridge?"
Captain Bob shook his head. "No need. I already checked it. You can watch from the bridge wings though to keep watch from there. Once we get closer to Texas, you can relieve Ensign Weaver at the wheel."
I saluted. "Yes Sir." I then stepped out of the bridge, and out onto the port-wide wing.
Once I was out there, and Captain Bob had checked with Dalton to make sure that everything was ok in the engine rooms, he instructed Ted to move the engine order telegraph from "Slow Ahead", to "Half". Once Texas had run for a while at half speed, Captain Bob told Ted to move the engine order telegraph to "Full Ahead". Soon, Texas's engines were running at full steam, pushing the ship slightly past her design speed of 19.72 knots (22.7mph), to 21 knots (24.16mph).
"21 knots Captain!" Dalton reported. "We've exceeded her design speed by about 1 1/4 knots!"
"That's great CE, though even at top speed, it'll still take about 16 hours to get to Galveston, and that's assuming that nothing goes wrong."
"Yeah, so let's pray that nothing goes wrong Captain."
"Yes, let's. Keep me informed CE."
"Yes Sir."
Captain Bob then put down his radio. On a hunch, he then looked down at his watch. To his surprise, the time was now 7:32am, meaning that Time had started moving again. "Well, at least Time is moving again." He thought to himself. "I don't know why it suddenly decided to start moving again, but I'm glad that it did. Now let's just hope that we can make it back to Galveston without any more issues." Captain Bob then went back to looking out of the porthole windows at the front of the bridge.
Author's Note
And, that was Chapter 2
So now the crew of the USS Texas, and the crews of the North Star, Pelican, and Jupiter are still alive and well, and have survived the storm. However, the USS Texas is now fully restored to operating condition, and all of her machinery, despite how old it is, looks like it was just made last week! And now that they have the ship fully running again, they're heading off on what they believe is the 400 miles to the coast of Texas, but the question is, is it? Are they still in the Gulf of Mexico like they believe that they are? Why are they unable to contact anyone in the US Navy, US Coast Guard, or anyone on the US Mainland? Why haven't they been able to see any ships or planes on their radars? And a better question, why did Time stand still for so long? Was the Universe waiting for the crew of the Texas to fully get the ship up and running again, or was it something else? And is Time back to normal again, or is it still running slow for some reason? When will there be actual Ponies in this story? And how will they react to the appearance of the USS Texas? And what could possibly happen next? Well, you know the drill, stay tuned and I'll tell you!
In the meantime, as always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 3!
ScarFox out for now!
For a long while, the voyage of the USS Texas went very smoothly. The seas were calm, and even though there were a few clouds, there was no sign of any rain, never mind any more bad storms! There was a bit of wind, and while this did blow some sea spray up over the bow of the Texas, it made the US Navy Jack on the flagpole at the tip of the bow flap strongly, just as it did for the American Flag that was flying on the flagpole at the tip of the stern. Interestingly, the US Flag that we were flying right then only had 48 stars on it, as there were only 48 US States when the Texas was retired in '46. Why were we flying this flag? Well, while it was "officially" to keep up the WW2 experience (which had already gotten way more bang for its buck than we could have possibly imagined!), there were whisperings that someone had screwed up back in Mobile, and accidentally hoisted a US Flag with 48 stars instead of 50, though no one was sure how it had happened. In any case though, the flag was historically accurate for the time-period, even if it had been made much later.
Down below decks, those in charge of the food for the 200 crew of the Texas decided that they'd had enough of pre-packaged food (most of the rest of the crew wholeheartedly agreed with them!) and they decided to take some of the food that was being stored in the pantry and elsewhere, and make a fresh breakfast for the crew. Granted, there were only 5 guys in charge of the food, but while they were not chefs, they did know how to cook, and do it well.
"Boy howdy! We've got loads of good food in here to cook for the guys!" One of them called to the others when he saw the fully-stocked pantry and scullery.
"Yeah, no kiddin' Bret! And we may not be professionals, but we're sure gonna make it count, right Guys?"
"You got that right Del!"
"Here here!"
After a little bit more cheering, they all washed their hands again, put on aprons and hats, and went to work. They washed, peeled, and grated potatoes to make hashbrowns, went next door to the galley to the bakery to make some fresh bread for toast and french toast (yes, Texas has her own bakery), and in the butcher shop close by (yes, Texas has a butcher shop too), they were able to find enough pork to make sausage patties. They also cut up some fruit, began brewing coffee, and in the area for storing cold foods, eggs for scrambled eggs were also found.
All 5 of them were really scurrying around, but once the smells of breakfast began to waft through the ship, they knew that it was all going to be worth it in the end.
"Hey Bret?"
Bret looked up from the eggs that he was cooking. "Yeah Del?"
"Do you remember how many cooks and the like Texas had on her when she was in service?"
Bret thought for a second. "Well, from what I recall hearin' in the past, as of 1935, the Texas had 26 commissary personnel, which included cooks, specialty cooks, butchers, and bakers, in addition to 38 mess stewards. This was before WW2 though, so those numbers could have gone up around that time."
"Yeah, maybe. I just wish that we had more help. There's only 5 of us, and we have 195 guys to feed on this ship beside ourselves! After breakfast, I know that we'll get help with the dishes, but then we gotta make lunch, AND dinner before we reach Galveston!"
Bret winced. "Yeah, you're right Del. It ain't gonna be easy. Maybe we can enlist some more help come lunch and dinnertime."
"Hopefully we can."
By about 7:36am, the food was ready, and Captain Bob sent a handful of guys at a time down to the enlisted mess so that they could get their food, eat it, and then clean up and get back to their duty stations before he sent more guys down. (It was easier to feed everyone on the ship in waves in the enlisted mess, as they only had 5 guys cooking; not enough to staff both the enlisted, and the officer's mess).
"Man, this food is amazing!" Ted said as he ate. "It feels like I'm at my Grandma's house outside of Amarillo again."
I agreed with him. "Yeah, I know what you mean Ted. Those guys in the kitchen REALLY know how to make good home-style cooking! I thanked them for breakfast when I was in line getting food, but I'll be sure to thank them again once I'm leaving."
"Yeah, so will I David."
After we finished our food, both Ted and I, as well as a few others, stuck around for a little while longer to help with the dish washing. There was a machine to wash the dishes, but it was still a bit tedious to dump/scrape everything into the trash, then rinse the trays, cups, and silverware off, and then finally put everything into the dish washing machine. We didn't have to put the dishes away, but washing them was hard enough. As we were heading back upstairs, I looked at my watch, and I noticed that the time was 7:36am. I knew that this was impossible, as we'd been moving at full speed for almost 2 hours now, and Time had started moving again at 7:30 when the engines started up. I checked my watch, but while it was still working, the hands were seemingly frozen in place.
"Is Time moving, or is it not?" I wondered, "This is getting REALLY friggin' confusing! Can Time just decide if it wants to move or stay still already?! Or better still, when will Time just move normally again?!" Once again, I had no answers, but I was really hoping that the whole thing with Time would be resolved soon.
Maybe 3 hours later, at 7:38am, the captain of the North Star radioed Captain Bob.
"Go ahead North Star."
"Captain, it looks like we might have a lot of fog coming in maybe 15 miles ahead of us. We can see a lot of low cloud cover just beyond the horizon. This might be a bit of a hazard to our navigation."
Captain Bob then radioed up to the lookouts in the mast, and asked them if they could see any fog, or any low, heavy cloud cover.
"Affirmative Captain. We can see what looks like fog right where the North Star said that it would be. It looks like it goes on for miles both to the Northeast, and to the Northwest."
Captain Bob then picked up a pair of binoculars that he'd grabbed from a supply closet as he was coming back from breakfast earlier, and walked out onto the starboard bridge wing to see what he could see.
"Yes, I see what you mean lookouts. That looks like a fog-bank alright, and a thick one too."
"What are we going to do Captain?" One of the lookouts asked.
Captain Bob then walked back into the bridge, and turned to Adam. "Lieutenant?"
He looked up from his table. "Yes Captain?"
"As I'm sure that you've heard, there's a fog-bank coming up ahead of us, and it looks to be a thick one. If we had to go around it, how much time would that add to our voyage?"
"Well, that depends. How far does the fog-bank stretch?"
"We're not sure Lieutenant. The tugs only have regular radar, not Doppler radar. According to our lookouts up in the mast, they say that it stretches for a number of miles both to the Northeast, and the Northwest."
Adam looked over his maps and charts. "Well, as of right now, we're about 300 miles off the coast of Texas. If we veer too far off course, that could add a lot of time to the trip. Even if we veer just 50 miles off course, that's 50 miles to make up again, and we don't know how long that fog-bank is. It could be 1 mile long, or it could be 100 miles long, and this isn't even talking about how thick it could be either. I can't give you proper numbers unless I have accurate data, and that doesn't seem to be soon in coming."
Captain Bob then had a decision to make. Do we go through the fog, or try and find a way around it, and then get back on course on the other side of the fog-bank? He didn't know, but he had to make a decision soon. Briefly, he did contemplate sending up the Kingfisher seaplane to see what it could see, and that might have worked, but the 2 pilots had very little experience with flying in fog. They had flown at night, and in some low-visibility environments, but Captain Bob didn't want to send them out. Call it a gut feeling, but he had a feeling that something was going on. Time wasn't working right, they couldn't contact anyone on the US Mainland, or the US Navy and US Coast Guard, and there was not a single ship or plane to be seen. Now there was a fog-bank coming up, and what if he sent that plane out, and it never came back? He didn't want to risk any needless deaths, or more disappearances, so he decided against using the seaplane. Finally, he came to a decision.
"Ensign Weaver?"
Dennis looked back from the helm. "Yes Captain?"
"Turn over the wheel to Ensign Gardner."
"Yes Sir." Dennis then stepped back from the helm, and I took over.
"Are we going through the fog Sir?" I asked him, a hint of nervousness in my voice.
"We are Ensign. We have our radars running, and the tugs have their radars running, so we should be able to see any issues before we run into them." He then looked out towards the upcoming fog. "Take us into the fog Ensign Gardner."
I nodded, still a bit worried. "Yes Sir." I then turned the wheel ever so much, and we were on course for the fog-bank, and would reach it in maybe 12 minutes or so.
Sure enough, at 7:38am, we reached the fog-bank, and were soon enveloped by it. Levels of visibility dropped from 100%, down to about 1% in less than 5 minutes, and it got really dark, almost as dark as night.
"Ensign Walker?"
"Yes Sir?"
"We can't risk running full-speed in the fog. Bring us back to half-speed."
"Yes Sir." Ted then grabbed the engine order telegraph, and brought it from "Full Ahead", back to "Half", and Texas's speed dropped from about 21 knots (24.16mph), down to only about 11 knots (12.66mph).
"So I take it that we're going through the fog Captain?" Dalton asked from the engine rooms.
"Yes CE, we are. I have to cut our speed, just in case we bump into something out there that our radars, and the tugs's radars can't see."
"Yeah, that's a smart move Captain, even though it'll drag out the length of our trip. Better to get there safely than to not get there at all."
"Nothing truer than that CE. I'll keep you posted on the status of the fog-bank, but so far it's about as dark as night, and visibility is below 5%."
"Yeah. That's not good, though thanks for any updates. CE out."
Time crawled on as we were in the fog, and my watch eventually showed that it was now 7:40am. We'd been in the fog for at least a few hours now, and while progress seemed slow, we were still moving. (How could we tell Time when our watches and clocks were not working right? Stopwatches. A handful of guys had stopwatches with them for one reason or another, and that was the only way to tell Time at a time where Time was seemingly moving in slow motion. Let them run for 60 minutes, and an hour has passed. It was rudimentary, but it was all we had).
None of us could see anything in the fog. All we could see was darkness, more fog, and whatever our imaginations allowed us to see, ranging from dark blobs, to strange wispy shapes.
"I wonder how much farther we have to go until we're out of the fog." Ted wondered.
I shrugged. "I dunno Ted. If I had to take a shot in the dark, I'd say that we have maybe 50-100 miles to go, and then we're on the other side of it, and can finally see more than 5in in front of the bridge!"
"Yeah. We can barely even see Turret 2, never mind Turret 1, or even the rest of the bow!"
"I'm just glad that the 3 tugs are attached to each other with lines, and that the lead tug North Star is connected to the stern of the Texas by lines, so that way we don't lose anyone in the fog."
I looked back at him. "Yeah, me too Adam. And they're using their own engines to keep up, so they don't put a strain on Texas's 2 engines at all."
Suddenly though, Captain Bob received a call from the ship's main radar room.
"Go ahead Radar Room."
"Captain, we just picked up a few other small blips on our surface-search radar screen. They were maybe 20 miles away from us off our port side, but they kept dropping in and out. Either our instruments are screwed up because of the fog, or there's something out there."
Captain Bob was deeply concerned. "How many blips did you see?"
"We counted 3, but usually only 1 or 2 were visible at any given time. They were coming and going too fast to be submarines, so maybe they were either fishing boats, or some other small vessels."
"And how many are on screen right now?"
"None Sir. All 3 blips have disappeared, but they could reappear again. What do we do?"
"Standby." Captain Bob then radioed the 3 tugs, and asked them to check their radar scopes for any other vessels.
"Negative Captain. We've got nothing." The captain of the North Star reported. The captains of the Pelican and the Jupiter said the same.
"Radar Room, keep a VERY close eye on this. Those could have been fishing vessels, or they could have been some kind of attack vessels, or even smuggling boats. Fog like this would be quite ideal for running something illegal."
"We will Captain. You can count on it!"
Captain Bob then put down his radio, and sent word to the lookouts on watch to keep a very watchful eye out for any other possible vessels in the fog, as something had been spotted on radar, but had dropped off the screens.
"Will do Captain."
Captain Bob then turned back to look out of the forward portholes on the bridge, completely unaware that his vessel, as well as the 3 tugs had been spotted in the fog, and the sighting was being reported elsewhere.
By about 7:45am, with there still being no signs of the fog breaking, though it was getting a bit lighter within, the crew in the radar rooms had another report.
"Captain, I'm not sure how this is possible, but we're seeing land."
"Land?" Captain Bob asked. "What land?"
"It's at the very edge of our radar screens, so it must be approximately 100 miles away from us, and we're detecting it towards our port and starboard sides, so it appears that we're heading right towards it."
Captain Bob checked with the 3 tugs, and sure enough, they spotted it on their radars too.
"Yeah, we're seeing land too Captain Bob. I'm not sure how we're seeing land, as I thought that we were still almost 300 miles or so off the coast of Texas, but then again, with how Time has been working as of late, maybe we covered a lot of distance in that time."
Captain Bob wasn't so sure. "Yes, but we've been traveling at only half-speed. That should have increased our travel time, not made it get less." He then looked over at Adam. "Lieutenant?"
"Yes Captain?"
"What's our current position?"
Adam looked at his maps for the umpteenth time that day. "According to all the current data, we're still about 300 miles off the coast of Texas. As for what the radar crews are seeing, I do not know. We're roughly 200 miles off the coast of Louisiana, and there's no other land out here that I know of."
"Is it possible that we've traveled farther in the fog than we thought that we did, even at half-speed?"
Adam then looked at the stopwatch that he'd been provided with, compared it to his watch, then took a pencil and a ruler, and began to look at the map where he marked our location. He was silent for a number of moments while he was working.
"Be a navigation officer my Mom said. You're so great with math, maps and numbers my Mom said. Why did I listen?" He thought while he worked. "Any job in the Naval Reserves, and I picked navigation. It would have been great......but unfortunately we've been knocked back to WW2 in terms of navigation technology! Yes we have GPS's, but none of them can get a f@#king signal for some reason!"
Finally though, he had the answer that he needed. "Well Captain, I've done all the calculations, and according to all of the available data......we're still 250 miles off the coast of Texas. I don't know how our radars are seeing land at 100 miles, but we're still too far out for our radars here on the Texas to be able to see it. I've checked and double-checked everything Sir. I don't know what else to tell you."
Captain Bob was genuinely perplexed. While it was possible that Adam had made some kind of mistake, he was a trained navigational officer, and he trusted his judgment. If he said that we were still 250 miles off the coast of Texas, then we really were 250 miles off the coast of Texas, and should not be seeing any land on our radar, which only extended to about 100 miles. However, we were seeing land on the Texas's radar, and on the radar of the tugs, which was a real conundrum. Were we really closer to our destination than what the data suggested? Had we been knocked off course without realizing it?
"Keep an eye on that land." He told the radar operators on both Texas, and the 3 tugs, "Let me know if it appears to just be some kind of an island, or a much bigger landmass. That will tell us if it's the US Mainland or not."
"Yes Sir. We'll keep you posted, though if you ask me, it seems too big to just be a little island to me."
"Noted Ensign. Just keep an eye on those screens."
"Yes Sir." The radar techs then went back to looking at the screens.
They kept watching for a long time, and the dull "ping" of the radar, the white sweeping line, and the 4 dots that represented the Texas, and the 3 tugs were getting a bit monotonous, but now they also had to watch the series of lines at the very top of the screens that indicated the unknown landmass, in addition to watching for any other blips that indicated other ships. Every now and again, a few other little blips would appear, but then disappear a few moments later. However, 2 blips appeared, and then stayed constant. This was immediately reported to the bridge, and it was noted that the 2 blips, which appeared to be small vessels, were located perhaps 10 miles off Texas's starboard side. Attempts to contact the vessels were made by the 3 tugboats, but they never received any replies, or heard any static indicating that the ships had radios. No attempts were made to use the radios in the primary radio room on the Texas either. The 2 vessels didn't move any closer, but did start moving away after a few minutes, and eventually disappeared from the radar screens again. This incident was strange, but things were about to start getting a whole lot stranger.
A few hours later, at about 7:50am, the fog was beginning to clear. We could start to see sunlight, though our visibility was still somewhat poor, hovering at about 35%. More reports of other small vessels kept coming in from the radar room, though they often disappeared just as quickly, and then came the report from one of the lookouts that they seemingly spotted a vessel.
"Maybe a mile off the starboard side Sir! I saw a small boat appear out of the fog for a moment, but then it was gone again. It might have been a small fishing vessel."
"This is getting strange." Captain Bob muttered. "Why do these vessels keep popping in, but then popping back out so quickly? Is it because we're sailing past each other? Or is it because they're doing something illegal that they don't want us to see?" He then picked his radio up again. "Just keep me posted Lookout."
"Yes Sir."
"And do we have anything on the radios?" He asked the captains of the Tugs.
"That's a negative Captain Bob. Either they don't have radios, or they have their radios turned off. We keep sending out the standard signals asking if there's any vessels in the area, but we can't get any replies."
Captain Bob still didn't give the order to try the Texas's radios, as there still didn't seem to be a point to that.
"And how far away from the land are we Lieutenant?" He asked Adam.
"We're about 30 miles Sir. In another 45 minutes or so, assuming that the fog clears, we should be able to see the coastline just beyond the horizon."
"And then we can hopefully finally get some real answers as to why we haven't been able to contact the US Navy, the Coast Guard, or anyone else on the US Mainland, not to mention all of the little boats that keep popping in and out!"
Adam nodded. "Hopefully so Captain. I'm just as baffled as you are."
"Same here." Dennis added.
"Me too."
"What Ted said." I finished. "Once we make landfall, then everything should finally become clear."
Captain Bob looked at all of us. "I'm hoping so too Boys. And at the rate it's going, give it maybe another 45 minutes or so, the fog should clear out. It's already starting to lighten a good bit, so it should be lifting fully here before too long."
We all agreed, and Adam reset his stopwatch to count 45 minutes, and we were all hoping to soon see the US coastline. It took a little bit longer than expected, but by about 8am, a cry was heard from the lookouts.
"Land ho! 15 miles dead ahead!" This was confirmed by the radar crews on the Texas, and on the tugs.
Captain Bob went out in front of the bridge, and he looked with his binoculars. Sure enough, there it was. Way off in the distance, almost to the edge of the horizon, he could just make out the edge of what seemed to be the US Coastline. He went back on the bridge, and got on the radio, as well as the ship's intercom.
"Attention all hands on the Texas, this is your Captain speaking. I just wanted to let you all know that we've spotted the US Coastline! Within the hour we'll be fully within sight of the good old Lone Star State, and then it'll just be another 50 miles or so north to Galveston! We're almost home!"
From all over the Texas, and on the 3 tugs there came the sounds of cheers. We'd been at sea for what felt like days (and with how Time had been out of whack, maybe it was), and now it seemed like our journey was finally almost at its end. Even the 5 guys down in the galley were cheering, even as they were starting to scurry around to get lunch ready for the crews, even though it was only about 8am.
"Well, we're almost home Guys." Del said to the others. "Almost home to Good ol' Texas!"
"Yeah, we're almost there. Just another 50 miles North, and then we're FINALLY to Galveston! We're so close now!"
"Hence the reason why we're making a celebratory lunch?" One of the others asked.
Del nodded. "Yeah, that's why we're making a celebratory lunch. We've come this far, and now our journey is almost at its end."
Well, that's what we all thought anyway. We kept sending out radio messages towards the coast, but we still weren't receiving any replies. Suddenly though, as we were closing in on 10 miles from shore, there suddenly came a call from the lookouts.
"Lookouts to Captain! Come in please!"
"Go ahead Lookouts. What do you see?"
"Well Sir, the fog has cleared up a lot, and we're looking at the coastline, but Sir, I've seen Texas, and what I'm lookin at right now ain't it!"
Captain Bob was confused. "Huh? What do you mean Lookout?"
"Just what I said Sir. I don't know what we're lookin' at, but it ain't Texas Sir!"
"That's impossible!" He then went out onto the bridge wings, and after having Dennis take over the wheel, I followed him out there, also with binoculars in hand.
We both looked, and we couldn't believe what we wee seeing. We were looking at what appeared to be a coastal city, but it wasn't any coastal city that we'd ever seen before along the Gulf Coast. It was still a bit hard to see thanks to the fog, but we could just make out what seemed to be tall buildings, as well as what seemed to be a city port, and what looked to possibly be some sort of naval yard, but that should have been impossible, as we were way north of Corpus Christi.
Captain Bob then moved quickly back to the doorway of the bridge. "Ensign Walker?"
"Yes Sir?"
"All Stop!"
He was confused. "Sir?"
"Stop the engines! Something's wrong!"
"Yes Sir!" Ted then grabbed the engine order telegraph, and moved the levers from "Half-Ahead", all the way back to "Stop".
Down in the engine rooms, Dalton saw the engine stop order, and he was confused. However, he decided to ask questions later, and gave the orders to stop the engines. Other engineers were scurrying about trying to stop the engines, and soon Texas came to a complete stop, as did the tugs behind her. Once the ship was stopped, Dalton got on the radio with Captain Bob.
"What's going on Captain? Why did we stop the engines?"
"Because something's wrong CE. We're looking at the coastline up here, but everything's all wrong. I don't know what we're looking at, but I don't think that it's Texas."
"What does it look like?"
"We're looking at a coastal city CE, but the buildings look a bit different, and we're seeing what looks like a city port, and some kind of naval base, but we're way North of Corpus Christi. I don't know what's going on, but just to be safe, get ready to start the engines up again in a hurry. We don't fully know what we're dealing with here yet."
"Yes Sir. Keep me posted on all further updates."
"Will do CE. Captain out." He then went back to the bridge wing next to where I was standing, and looked through his binoculars at the coastline maybe 10 miles ahead of us. "Ensign Gardner, I have this strange feeling that we ain't in Texas no more."
"Yeah, I know what you mean Sir. But if we're not in Texas, then where the heck are we?"
"I have no idea Ensign."
We both then resumed watching the coastline, little knowing that not only had we been spotted some time ago, but at that exact moment we ourselves were being watched from the coastline, and things were about to get interesting.
On the other end of this spectrum, in the Equestrian coastal city of Fillydelphia, life was going on as normal. The sun was raised at about 7:05am, and even though it was a bit foggy that morning, Ponies were either going to work, or just getting off work (if they worked night shifts), the streetlights were going off, the city's streetcars were just starting their first trips of the day, as were the city's subways, and elevated trains. Some stores were just beginning to open, and parents were getting their kids up, and ready to go to school. It was a day like so many others for the Ponies of Fillydelphia, but yet, sometimes on the most basic of days, the most extraordinary things can happen.
Just past the Port of Fillydelphia, where a number of freighters and cargo ships were docked, and being either loaded or unloaded, the city's naval base, Fillydelphia Naval Yard, stood tall and proud. Not only was this naval yard a hub for building new ships, but it was also the permanent home of 24 active naval ships; 3 of them being battleships (bearing some resemblance to the US Indiana-Class Battleships), and the rest being 7 cruisers (both light cruisers, and early-design heavy cruisers), 8 destroyers, one hospital ship, and the rest being repair ships, supply ships, or oil tankers, all of which belonged to the Equestrian Second Fleet. Other ships would sometimes be stationed there too, but they would rotate around between the Fillydelphia Naval yard, and the naval bases in Manehattan and Baltimare.
It was the dawn of a new era in Equestrian naval technology, with steam engines and propellers toppling the sails and paddle wheels of yesteryear, just as welded steel ships were sweeping away the wooden, and even armored wooden ships of the past, and breech-loading rifles, and other similar naval guns were replacing the muzzle-loading cannons on capital ships. The need for such a powerful navy started about a decade earlier with needing better and more powerful ships to ward off pirate attacks on Equestrian ships, as well as better protecting the Equestrian East Coast, though this need later evolved as a necessity to match the might of the Griffon Navy, which was Equestria's rival at the time. An uneasy peace eventually turned into an alliance between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom, though the 2 nations still considered themselves rivals on some levels. Recently, a series of shore batteries were added to the area around the Fillydelphia Naval Yard to help deter a new kind of threat; possible ship-to-shore invasion, as did a brand new invention. It was only a prototype at the time, but the inventor, who called it "radar", said that it could be used to see threats up to 50 miles away from the shoreline. It was hoped that this new "radar" could help detect incoming threats.
On that October 3rd morning, the stallion in charge of Fillydelphia Naval Yard, 57 year old Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, was standing on the roof of the building where his office was, looking out over the naval yard, and then past it to the Fillydelphia Harbor, and out towards the foggy sea. He often did this every morning when he had a few spare moments, and longed for the days when he was still a junior officer, and served on a ship instead of at a base. He longed for those days, but with him now being a rear-admiral, and in charge of the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, him returning to sea seemed to be little more than a pipe dream. However, when the Rear-Admiral returned to his office, a messenger was waiting for him.
"Admiral, I've got reports for you here from the radio station on the base. They picked up reports from several fishing vessels, and one or two cargo ships of an unknown vessel that had been sighted in the fog, maybe 300 miles off the coast of Fillydelphia. They said that it seemed to be a larger vessel, but what it was was uncertain, as they only saw it for a brief time in the fog, and it was far away. The cargo ships tried to hail the vessel with signal lamps, but received no replies."
"Did anyone try to radio the unknown vessel?"
"No Sir. The cargo ship didn't have a radio, and nor did the fishing vessels."
The Rear-Admiral shrugged. "Hmm. Well this doesn't seem to be too unusual yet. It was a vessel in the fog, and far out to sea. It could just be one of ours, and they missed the signal lamp, as it is pretty foggy out at sea right now." He then told the messenger to alert the officer in charge of the radio operations to keep him informed of any new developments, and he then sat down at his desk, and got to work on the morning's paperwork.
However, maybe 15 minutes later, more reports came to the Rear-Admiral's desk of sightings of the unknown vessel. It was seemingly sailing straight towards Fillydelphia, but because the few vessels who had spotted it were far away, and it was still foggy, none of them had gotten a clear look at it, though one of the cargo ships that did have radio reported hearing some static, meaning that the unknown vessel did have radio, but because they weren't sure what frequency they were using, they were unable to contact them. The most recent reports stated that the unknown vessel was maybe 250 miles from Fillydelphia and closing, which meant that it was most likely powered by a steam engine, as it was moving too fast to have been powered by sails.
By about 7:30am though, the reports were starting to get more worrying. An Equestrian salvage vessel that was returning to port spotted the unknown vessel, as well as what appeared to be 3 smaller vessels behind it maybe 200 miles off the coast of Fillydelphia. Once again, attempts were made to contact the unknown vessel, but once again, there were no replies, only faint static. The crew of the salvage vessel also noted with some worry that the largest of the now 4 unknown vessels, which was maybe 10 miles or so away from them, appeared to bear resemblance to a modern Equestrian warship, but it was much bigger. The Rear-Admiral then called a meeting with a few other high-ranking officers at the naval base to ask their input on the situation.
"So what do you all think? Is this something that we need to be concerned about or not?"
"Have we confirmed that the largest vessel is a warship, and if it is, who does it belong too?"
Sky Seas sighed. "That's the biggest problem, we don't know. The ship, as well as the 3 other vessels with it, were only seen from a distance in the fog, and only for a brief time. Nopony who's seen them has seen them clearly."
"Do you think.....do you think that they could be His ships?"
There was dead silence in the room when the officer said those words. Few of those in the room dared to say their current enemy's name out loud, or his nickname, by which he was better known.
"He has tried this before, but those were just raids. Why would he start escalating this now?"
"Dark Claw is a warlord." Sky Seas reluctantly replied. "He has proven unpredictable in the past, and this could be the next step to one of his plans. However, this is assuming that the vessels that we've seen are even his. They could be ours, or they could belong to the Griffons, Minotaurs, or maybe even the Dragons. We don't know, and that's the problem here."
This meeting went on for a while longer, but at 7:46am, another report came in, this time from an Equestrian destroyer that was out on patrol in the Celestial Sea, only about 100 miles off the coast of Fillydelphia. The destroyer had seen the unknown vessel, and for a moment had seen it clearly.
"It was definitely a warship!" The captain of the destroyer reported. "We only saw it for a few moments, but it was close to us, and I could see gun turrets on the upper decks! The ship was also pained a dark color, and failed to respond to radio hails! It disappeared back into the fog, but we're trying to find it again!"
Now everyone at the base was starting to get worried. The alertness levels were raised to Yellow Alert, and various sailors were being sent up to the shore batteries to get the guns ready to fire. Some warships were being maneuvered into positions to protect Fillydelphia Harbor should the need arise, while other naval ships out at sea were also hunting the unknown vessels, but due to the fog, and none of the ships having radar, this was proving to be a very difficult task. However, a few minutes later, another report came in from an Equestrian minesweeper, and this report was the most informative, and the most chilling. The Captain of the minesweeper saw not only the unknown warship almost completely clearly, but also the other 3 vessels that were tailing it as well, and saw a number of their details, as they were only about a mile off the vessels's port sides, and were seemingly never spotted by the crews of the vessels.
"I could see all 4 vessels clearly Admiral! The lead vessel was large, and it had to be powered by an engine, as it had no sails, but a stack that was belching smoke, and the noises of an engine could be heard. The ship was painted entirely a dark color, and it was a bit hard to tell because of the fog, but I could see at least 4 large gun turrets on the main deck, and a number of smaller guns on the main deck, and amidships! It's definitely a warship, and it's big, bigger than anything that we have in our Navy! And the 3 smaller vessels with it seemed to be 3 of the same kind of ship, and they also had an engine, as they too were moving on their own without the aide of sails, and had a stack with smoke coming from it. They seemed to be either much smaller warships, or maybe even fishing vessels, or possibly tugboats. We tried to contact all 4 vessels, but all we were getting was silence, and radio static. Whoever they are, they don't want to be contacted!"
When Sky Seas heard that, his worst fears were coming to life right before his very eyes. Immediately, he put the base on Red Alert status, the guns were all fully manned, the radar was sweeping the area within 50 miles of the coastline, and more vessels were manned, and ready to be used in defense. Warnings were also sent to the Fillydelphia Port, and the city itself that there was a highly-possible threat at sea, and while there was no lockdown order yet, one could come shortly. The mood was suddenly tense, and everypony wanted to know what was really going on.
Suddenly though, at about 7:50am, 4 dots appeared on the radar screens at the naval base The dots were moving closer to shore, and one was larger than the other 3. This must be the mysterious ships that they'd been informed about, and it was time to prepare for their arrival. All guns were manned, locked and loaded, soldiers from the military garrison in Fillydelphia were called to action, and several large cargo ships made ready to block the entrance to the harbor should that become necessary. Reports were also being sent to Canterlot that 4 unknown vessels were approaching Fillydelphia, and were so far unresponsive to any attempts at communication. There was a request for reinforcements to be on standby, and those at the naval base would keep them informed of any new updates.
"Get Canterlot on the line right now!" Sky Seas informed the radio operators at the base. "The Princesses have to know about this! This could be the Big One right here, and we HAVE to let them know about it immediately!"
"Yes Sir!" The messages were being sent, and the 4 unknown vessels were moving ever closer to the shoreline. They would arrive within the hour, and if they were hostile, the Equestrians would be ready to meet them head on, and fight them if they had to.
From the time that the 4 unknown vessels were spotted on radar, to the time when they would be able to be seen once they were about 15 miles away from the shore (as the distance from the shore to the horizon is about 15 miles) was the most tense period of time for everypony at the Fillydelphia Naval Yard in recent memory. They had no idea what they were going to be facing, only that the warship that was leading the 3 other vessels seemed to be bigger, and more powerful than anything that the Equestrians had in their navy. The fog was starting to clear at this point, but it was still a bit foggy, and they were hoping that they could spot the ship to open fire on it before it saw them, and could shoot first.
At about 7:50am, the radar techs reported that the unknown vessels were maybe 30 miles out, and closing. Then, 10 minutes later, at about 8am, it was reported that the vessels were about 15 miles out.
"15 miles out!" The radar techs reported. "The unknown vessels just crested the horizon! They can now be spotted as the fog clears!"
Every sailor and soldier manning every gun, and every sailor on all of the ships, as well as all those on the base were starting to sweat. It's true what they say; the fear of the unknown is the strongest kind of fear. The unknown was out there, and it was rapidly coming closer. However, at about 10 miles out, the vessels suddenly stopped.
"The 4 vessels have stopped!" The radar techs reported. "I say again, the 4 vessels have come to a complete stop!"
"Huh?" Sky Seas grabbed his spyglass, and took it up to the roof of the building where his office was, and used it to look out to sea.
The fog was indeed clearing, but it was still hard to see. He kept looking for the unknown vessels, before he finally spotted what must have been the warship. Its silhouette could just be made out in the fog, and it just seemed to be sitting there, its bow pointed towards the shore of Fillydelphia, but it was not moving. The 3 smaller vessels couldn't be seen, but the radar techs confirmed that they were still there. More attempts to contact the vessels by radio were made, but aside from static, there were no replies. It was clear that the ships had radio, and were maybe trying to use them, but were doing so on the wrong frequencies. For another few minutes, the ship just seemed to be frozen in place, but then reports came from the radar crews that the ship must have started its engine, as it was moving forwards again.
"The ship is moving! I say again the ship is moving towards us again!"
The Rear-Admiral had no choice now. The unknown vessels had failed to respond to any attempts to contact them, and were coming towards Fillydelphia, a city with a very large population, and military presence with unknown intent, so after giving the order to city officials for a city-wide lockdown, a warning had to be given.
"Fire one warning shot!" Sky Seas told the crews of one of the shore batteries. "Once the ship has passed the 8 mile-mark, fire the shot at it! Don't hit the ship, aim for the water next to it!"
"Yes Sir!"
Sure enough, once the ship hit the 8 mile-mark from the shore, the shore battery could see it clearly, and they opened fire on it, or rather, at the water off what would have been its starboard side. The shell landed in the water less than 50 yards off the ship's starboard bow, and in that moment, all Hell seemed to break loose.
Meanwhile, back out on the Texas, we were still trying to figure out what the heck was going on. We were still at a complete stop maybe 10 miles away from the coastline, and while there still was fog, the fog was slowly lifting. The tugboats were trying to raise the coastal city with their radios, but were only receiving static as a reply. This could indicate that they were using the wrong frequency, though they tried other frequencies, but still couldn't raise anyone. A few crews who were trained with radios were trying to use the radio equipment in the Texas's primary radio room, though while they too could only get static at first, they suddenly began to pick up music.
"Wait, you're picking up music?"
"Affirmative Captain! We seem to have been been able to tap into a civilian radio frequency. I don't recognize any of the lyrics from this song, but if you ask me, it sounds like something that the US Navy would play during WW2." The tech then hooked the radio up to the ship's intercom system, and soon all of those on the Texas heard the sounds of a female voice singing a song in English, but the lyrics were very unfamiliar.
We were all very surprised. It sounded like the female voice was singing a song about the Navy, but parts of the song made little sense. Brand-new battleships? No more sails? Big rifles and no cannons? And what's an "Equestria"? None of us had the foggiest idea.
"Well, we're getting radio music, so that means that there's life on the Mainland. Have you tried using the Texas's radio to reach out to anyone on the Mainland?" Captain Bob asked the radio techs.
"We're trying to now Sir. We just wanted you all to get to hear the music first. We're picking up static, so there are radios there, but we don't know what frequency they're using."
The radio operators tried for a while, but all they could get was static, and a few garbled messages, but they soon realized that while they were switching frequencies to try and contact someone, others must be switching frequencies too, thus making it impossible for them to communicate. They then explained this situation to Captain Bob.
"Hmm, so we can't raise anyone on the radio? Well then, I guess that we'll just have to pull into the harbor, and find somewhere to dock. Maybe then we can FINALLY learn what's going on!" He then walked back into the bridge, and I was following along behind him.
"Ensign Walker?"
Ted looked back at him. "Yes Sir?"
"All Ahead Slow. We're maybe 10 miles out, but we need to come in slowly."
"Yes Sir." He then moved the engine order telegraph to "Slow Ahead".
Down in the engine rooms, Dalton told the engineers there to get the ship's engines going again. "All Ahead Slow!" He called after moving the engine order telegraph to match what the bridge wanted.
Soon the Texas was moving again at about 8:10am, as were the 3 tugs. None of us noticed it at the time, but all of our clocks and watches were running normally again, and at normal speeds. Whatever was affecting them before had either finally left them alone, or no longer had any control over them. However, as we began to get closer to the shoreline, and the fog continued to lift, we could begin to make out more and more features of the city ahead of us.
"Is it just me, or does that city look very similar to Philadelphia?"
I looked with my own binoculars. "It's not just you Captain, I can see the resemblance too. But we're nowhere NEAR Philadelphia! And since when does Philly have a harbor that big, even border the ocean at all, have several airships flying overhead, not to mention the Philadelphia Naval yard having vintage warships, and coastal defense batteries?"
"What?" Captain Bob then looked with his own binoculars, and what he saw astonished him. Everything that I had just said was absolutely correct, and it made no sense. "What on God's green Earth...???"
However, Captain Bob's moment of astonishment was rudely interrupted. From towards the shoreline, both he and I, as well as the others on the bridge, the lookouts above us, and a few others who were on the deck at the time all heard a faint distant booming noise. Then, before we could fully register what that was, there suddenly came a resounding splash just off our starboard bow less than 50 yards away from us, with the impact throwing up a large column of water.
Dennis jumped a bit. "Whoa!"
"Damn! What the heck was that?!" Ted wondered in a startled voice.
"Did something crash into the water?" Adam asked.
I was looking at where the splash was with my binoculars. However, just as I realized what it was, Captain Bob beat me to the punch.
"Warning shot! That was a warning shot!"
We all froze where we were when we heard that. We had just been fired upon, we were outside of a city that resembled Philadelphia, but had many features that were different, we couldn't contact anyone on the US Mainland, or the US Navy or Coast Guard, and it was just now beginning to dawn on us that we were nowhere near Texas at all, and that we were now possibly under attack. In that one instant, Captain Bob made a decision that would forever change not only our lives, but also how we viewed the Texas. Captain Bob then slammed down an alarm button, and the battle alarms began to blare all across the ship.
"Battle stations! Battle stations!" He yelled over the ship's intercom. "Get to your battle stations now! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill! We are under attack by unknown forces! I say again, we are under attack by unknown forces! General Quarters, General Quarters!"
When everyone else on the ship heard that, reactions ranged from shock and disbelief, to even minor panic. The Texas was a Dreadnought Battleship that hadn't seen combat since 1945, and they were a crew of 200 engineers, volunteers, retired Navy personnel, and US Naval Reservists. All of us were about to go into combat for the first time in our lives (or for the first time in many years), and we were all scared. However, we had all trained for this in Naval Reserves training (sort of. We were trained for smaller ships like destroyers and cruisers), and now it was time to put that training into action. As fast as we could, the decks were all cleared, all exterior hatches and portholes were closed and locked down, all interior bulkhead doors were closed and locked down, guns were being manned and loaded, the crew in the galley had to stop mid-lunch preparations, shut off all the burners and the ovens, and secure everything just in case the ship took any hits, the 2 lookouts evacuated the mast for the safety of the conning tower, the radar and radio crews remained where they were, as did the crew in the engine and boiler rooms, but all of them were scared.
"This is it boys!" Dalton told everyone in the engine and boiler rooms. "This is what you've all been training for, or if you're like me, you have trained for, and it hasn't happened in years, but this is it! We're going into combat against unknown forces, so let's make this count!"
Up on the bridge, both doors were closed and locked, Dennis grabbed the wheel, Ted grabbed the telegraph, Adam grabbed a gun, I grabbed my binoculars while also watching the bridge's radar scope, and Captain Bob kept hold of the intercom. We also swapped out our sailor hats for helmets that were brought up from the supply closets, and helmets were also given out to everyone else in the crew who worked in an exposed area as well.
Captain Bob then looked at Ted. "Ensign Walker?"
"Yes Sir?"
"All Ahead Full! We need to make this next turn as fast as possible!"
"Yes Sir!" Ted grabbed the engine order telegraph, and pushed it to "Full Ahead".
Once the ship was moving fast enough, he turned to Dennis. "Ensign Weaver?"
"Yes Sir?"
"Hard to port! We need to give them a full starboard broadside if we have to!"
"Yes Sir!" Dennis then turned the wheel as far to the left as it would go, and soon Texas was turning as fast as her single rudder would allow. Eventually though, once the ship was in position with her starboard side facing the shore about 7 miles away from it, Dennis straightened out the wheel again. "On course Sir!"
"Good." He then gave the order to slow down and stop, so Ted set the engine order telegraph back to "Stop".
"Why are we slowing down and stopping Captain?" Dalton asked.
"Because we need to better gauge our targets CE. We need a show of force to intimidate them, and I think that their guns will have a hard time hitting us out here, based on how old they looked when I saw them earlier. However, as they were able to launch that one shell close to us last time, be ready to get the engines going again if shit hits the fan!"
"Roger that Captain."
Once the Texas came to a complete stop, the 3 tugs quickly detached themselves from the ship, and began to move behind her port side as rapidly as they could. All 3 put about 5 miles between them and the Texas before coming to a stop again, as they had no weapons or armor at all. It was now up to the Texas to defend them. At this same time, all 3 x 5in guns on the starboard side were manned and loaded, as were the Oerlikon cannons on that side, and some of the 3in, and quad Bofors 40mm AA guns. However, due to a lack of crew, only the 14in guns in Turrets 1, 2, and 4 were manned, and those turrets turned towards the coastal city, and their guns elevated to the proper levels to have the best chance of hitting key targets there; Turrets 3 and 5 were still in their original positions.
"Fire one warning shot from the 1st starboard 5in gun!" Captain Bob ordered. "Aim too low on purpose, as I want our shot to hit the water maybe 75 yards from the entrance to their harbor!"
"Yes Sir!" The gun crew then took aim, and for the first time since 1945, Texas actually fired a shot from one of her 5in guns. The shell landed in the water almost right on target about 12,320 yards away from the ship, and 75 yards away from the shore, still well within the 5in gun's effective firing range of 17,000 yards.
"Right on target Sir! Whoever fired that first shot should hopefully get the message loud and clear not to mess with us, and that any further shots will be responded to in kind!"
"Excellent work Boys!" Here though Captain Bob's face fell a bit. "Now let's just hope that it'll be enough if something else does happen."
We all felt the nervousness in Captain Bob's voice, as well as hearing it. In all honest truth, we were just as worried as he was. If something really did go wrong, we wouldn't have enough crew to really do too much about it. For now, all we could do was hope that whoever had fired at us would back off, and then reach out to us to talk peacefully.
After Rear-Admiral Sky Seas ordered the crew of that shore battery to fire at the unknown vessel, that seemed to set off some kind of alarm. For a few lingering moments more, nothing seemed to happen, but then the sounds of alarms blaring on the ship could just barely be heard, and it sounded like a call to battle stations. Then, the vessel suddenly began to increase its speed, and was heading right towards the shore!
"Oh Ponyfeathers! That's done it!" One of the gunners of the shore battery that fired the warning shot muttered after he saw what was happening with his spyglass. "Now we're all gonna die!"
"Admiral, do we fire again?" A gunnery officer asked.
"Negative Lieutenant. Do not fire again unless we're fired upon."
"Roger that Sir. But this is certainly strange. If that vessel was going to attack us, then why would they only now be going to battle stations? It's almost like they were at Condition Green until we fired that shot."
Sky Seas agreed. "Yes, it is very unusual Lieutenant."
However, things were about to go from unusual to scary once again. Not too long after this, the unknown warship began to turn hard to port.
"Admiral, the warship is turning hard to port!" One of the lookouts reported.
"Oh no, that could mean that they're about to give us a full broadside! All shore battery gunners prepare to fire on my signal!"
"Yes Sir!"
As everyone at the Naval Yard watched, the warship continued to turn until its starboard side was parallel to the shore maybe 7 miles away. Now that it was somewhat closer, and the fog had almost completely lifted, they were able to see it fairly clearly through their spyglasses. To their horror, they saw that the warship was most likely a battleship, and not only was it bigger than anything that they had in their navy, but that it also had 10 large guns in 5 main gun turrets, and a number of smaller guns as well. The vessel was painted all dark-blue, and a single smokestack was belching out black smoke. The vessel then seemed to slow down and stop, but then 3 of its gun turrets began to turn towards Fillydelphia, and were soon locked onto it.
"Wait. Why have only 3 of its gun turrets locked onto us Admiral?" One of the other officers asked Sky Seas.
He shrugged. "I do not know Captain Hammer. Perhaps because they think that they only need the guns in 3 of their main gun turrets to destroy us, or to cause us harm."
"I knew that this was gonna happen one day. I KNEW that it was only a matter of time before the Black Baron tried something like this! But my question is, where did he get the tools and resources to build a ship like that?! He hasn't had that kind of technology before, and I didn't think that he had the facilities to accommodate such a vessel!"
"I didn't think so either Captain. Unless this vessel belonged to the Griffons, and then his thugs stole it from them."
"And where did those 3 smaller vessels go Admiral? I can't see them anymore."
Sky Seas checked with the radar techs. "According to our radar techs, just after the warship finished turning, the 3 smaller vessels peeled out, and raced back out to sea as fast as they could, and came to a stop at a point about 5 miles behind the warship. Maybe they don't have any weapons."
"Yeah, maybe they don't."
Just after Captain Hammer said this though, a distant *Boom!* was heard, and then came a loud splashing sound maybe 75 yards away from the shore.
"The unknown warship has fired at us! I say again the enemy warship has fired at us!" A lookout reported.
"Do we fire at them Now Sir?" A gunnery officer asked.
"Which gun on the ship fired it? Did anypony see?" Sky Seas asked.
"It was fired from one of the smaller guns!" Another lookout reported. "It also appears that they fired too low on purpose, and they only fired the one shot!"
"That was probably a warning shot of their own. Alert me immediately if that vessel does anything else! NOTHING happens on that vessel without me knowing about it! Got that?!"
"Sir, Yes Sir!"
"Good!" Sky Seas then contacted the radio operators again. "Please tell me that you have been able to establish some kind of communications with that warship."
"We're trying Sir. We've been able to pick up a few garbled messages, but we can't seem to figure out what frequency they're using. It also appears that they're trying to contact us, but they keep switching frequencies too, while we're also switching frequencies trying to match them, so it's going nowhere."
Sky Seas then put a hand over his face. "Great. Just sea-flippin peachy!" After he calmed down, he added, "I need you all to send another message to Canterlot immediately. The Princesses HAVE to know about this latest development, in addition to the messages that I sent them before."
"Right away Admiral!" The radio techs then got to work on that as fast as they could, and the message was soon on its way to Canterlot.
Once the message was sent, Admiral Sky Seas then looked out towards the unknown warship once again. It still hadn't moved, and it hadn't fired any more shots, but he was still wary of it. "The Princesses will know what to do." He thought. "They always know just what to do in a time of crisis, as well as just who to send for the job." He then awaited a reply from Canterlot.
Up in Canterlot, the Rear-Admiral's latest report on the situation had just arrived, and Princess Celestia, as well as her sister Princess Luna, the rulers of all Equestria, awaited the report with much anticipation, as well as dread. They too had feared that something like this would happen one day, and they understood all too well why everypony at the Fillydelphia Naval Yard was so scared.
"So it seems that that traitorous Griffon ex-baron has finally reared his ugly head once again!" Luna spat with disdain.
Celestia nodded. "Yes, it appears so Sister. Or if not him, then either somepony else affiliated with him, or another new threat altogether."
"And has the unknown warship done anything since the Rear-Admiral's last report?"
"No Sister, it has not. After firing that warning shot, the warship has remained where it is, and hasn't moved, or fired its guns any more. Further attempts have been made to contact the ship, though aside from static, and a few garbled messages that haven't been understood yet, no communications have been made."
"And you have summoned your former Student and her Friends, right Sister?"
Celestia nodded. "Yes Luna, I have. They should be here anytime now, and once they have arrived, then we can fill them in on the situation."
A few minutes later, Twilight Sparkle, the former student of Princess Celestia, and now the Princess of Friendship arrived at Canterlot Castle, and she, as well as her 5 friends, and her faithful Dragon assistant Spike were ushered towards the throne room.
"I wonder what's going on."
Applejack shrugged "I dunno Fluttershy. Whatever it was though, it was serious enough that Princess Celestia asked us all to come immediately."
"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash agreed, "Otherwise we wouldn't have to have been here so quickly, and so early in the morning too!"
Twilight looked back at her friend in slight annoyance. "8:30am isn't as early as you think that it is Rainbow!"
Rainbow Dash scoffed, but before she could say anything further, the group reached the throne room, and the guards let them pass. Once they were all inside, they hurried to the thrones at the very front of the room, and the Princesses came down to greet them.
"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna." Twilight hugged her former teacher and her sister.
"Twilight." Celestia hugged her back.
"So what's going on?" She asked once she was done hugging. "Whatever it is, it sounded extremely urgent, and we all came as fast as we could."
"For which Luna and I are so thankful. And yes, the situation at hand is indeed urgent, and if it pans out, it means that our worst fears have been realized."
"Wait. Does that mean that King Sombra has escaped from Tartarus? Or that Queen Chrysalis has returned?! Or that the whole world is ending?! Or that we're all characters inside some random guy's story and we all do what he wants?!"
Everypony in the room looked at Pinkie in shock.
"Pinkie, where in tarnation do ya even come up with crazy ideas like that?" Applejack asked her.
Pinkie shrugged. "I dunno. It kinda just came to me. It could have been my Pinkie-Sense, but I don't know."
Twilight then gave Pinkie a look to keep her from talking needlessly, and once she took the hint, Celestia continued.
"We fear that Dark Claw, aka 'The Black Baron' has reared his head once again, and has sent a warship to attack Fillydelphia."
When Celestia said that, the Mane 6 and Spike all gaped in shock and horror.
"The Black Baron?! But how...?! How did he...?! Tell us everything you know about this!" Twilight finally managed to sputter out. Her friends could tell that she was panicking, and were doing their best to help her calm down. Once she finally was, Celestia began to explain.
"About an hour and a half ago, we received the first transmission from Rear-Admiral Sky Seas from the Fillydelphia Naval Yard that they'd picked up an unknown vessel, tailed by 3 smaller vessels on their radar. The vessels had so far failed to respond to any attempts to communicate with them, and the Rear-Admiral feared the worst. He called everypony to arms to meet the incoming threat once other vessels at sea seemed to confirm that the largest vessel was a warship, and that it was coming towards Fillydelphia. The 3 smaller vessels are either tugboats, or perhaps fishing vessels, as they were not nearly as large as the main vessel. Then, about a half an hour ago, the 3 vessels arrived at Fillydelphia, and came to within about 8 miles of the shoreline, and that action would soon be taken to stop the ships from coming any closer."
Luna then took up the story. "A little while after this, another report was sent to Canterlot confirming that the largest vessel was indeed a warship (most likely a battleship), and was one that was larger, and more powerful than anything that we have in our Navy. It was painted all blue, and 5 main gun turrets, each containing 2 large rifles were spotted on the deck, as were a number of smaller guns. The unknown warship had still failed to respond to any attempts at communication, so a warning shot was fired from a shore battery, which landed about 50 yards off the warship's starboard bow. This seemed to send an alarm across the vessel, and it turned hard to port so that its starboard side was parallel to the shore maybe 7 miles offshore, and 3 of the turrets moved into a firing position. Other observers noted that the other 3 vessels, all 3 of which were almost certainly tugboats, retreated several miles behind the larger warship, seemingly for protection. The warship then fired a single shell from a smaller gun, which also seemed to be a warning shot. Radio-Ponies continued to report that while they could get static and garbled messages from the ship, they were uncertain of what frequency the radios on it were using, but that they were still trying their hardest to prevent any unnecessary bloodshed."
"Does....does this mean that we're under attack Princess?" Twilight asked slowly.
Celestia sighed. "Unfortunately, we're still not sure Twilight. The warship has so far only fired one shot, which seemed to be a warning shot in response to that shore battery also firing a warning shot. It also has not moved from its current position. However, and the Rear-Admiral also found this very strange, the warship seemed to have been on Condition Green up until the first warning shot was fired, during which time the ship seemed to sound General Quarters, and after the ship turned, and the 3 smaller tugboats retreated, the guns were manned, and the turrets moved, though only 3 of them turned towards Fillydelphia; the other 2 turrets remained in their previous positions."
Twilight paused. "Wait. They were seemingly at Condition Green before our warning shot was fired? That's...unusual. Why would that be, assuming of course that they are here to attack us. That seems like a strange thing to do."
"That's exactly what Rear-Admiral Sky Seas said. He couldn't understand it either."
"And only 3 out of the 5 turrets have their guns pointed towards Fillydelphia?" Spike asked. "Why?"
The Princesses weren't sure. "Unfortunately, we do not know Spike."
"The Rear-Admiral thinks that it could be because the warship could destroy the city with only 3 turrets, but he's also in the dark about that." Luna added.
"And do we know who's crewing this warship yet?" Rainbow Dash wondered.
"Yes, are they the Black Baron's goons?" Rarity added.
Luna shook her head. "Once again, we still do not know. The upper decks of the warship were largely clear at first, but then creatures in what looked to be naval uniforms did come out from the lower decks to man some of the guns on the upper deck, however, due to the distances, their species remains unknown."
Twilight then asked an equally important question. "And...what are we going to do about it Princess?"
Celestia looked at her sister, who nodded, and then back at Twilight. "Luna and I are sending you all to Fillydelphia so that we can finally get some answers for why this unknown warship is here, who it belongs to, and who crews it. And if they really are with the Black Baron, then they must be dealt with. You've all saved Equestria before, and now it looks like you must do it again."
Twilight looked at her friends, as well as Spike. All of them knew how dangerous this mission at hand was, but yet so were the missions to defeat Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, King Sombra, and Tirek. They'd risked their lives before, but now they had to do it again in the face of yet another threat. The other 5 Girls and Spike nodded, and then Twilight turned back to Celestia.
"We'll do it Princesses. We'll get to Fillydelphia, and then see what we can do to figure all of this out, and if it comes to it, we'll fight, and use the Elements of Harmony."
The Princesses were still somewhat worried, but yet this mission was a necessity. They wished Twilight, her friends, and Spike the best of luck, and told them that if any more reports came in from Fillydelphia, they would be the first to know about them while they were en-route to the city. Twilight and the others then said goodbye to the Princesses, and headed as fast as they could to the Canterlot Train Station, where they catch the next train to Fillydelphia. Normally, this trip would have taken 4 hours at the least, however, because all rail traffic to Fillydelphia was temporarily suspended under the circumstances, a special train was waiting to take the 7 of them to the city faster than normal. The time of the trip was shaved down to a mere 2 hours. As soon as they boarded, the train was on its way, and Twilight, her friends, and Spike, all ventured off towards the unknown.
Author's Note
And, that was Chapter 3.
Not only was there so much packed into this chapter, but it's also the longest chapter yet at 12,035 words. And now that First Contact has been made, and the Texas is just offshore of Fillydelphia, 2 warning shots have been fired; one from an Equestrian shore battery, and the other from a 5in gun on the Texas. Now an uneasy standoff has begun, a standoff which Twilight, the rest of the Mane 6, and Spike hope to resolve, and resolve peacefully. Who are these newcomers to Equestria, and what do they want? Where has the Texas ended up, and why were they being shot at? What will happen when Twilight and the rest arrive in Fillydelphia? Will they be able to break the stalemate? Will any more guns, Equestrian or on the Texas be fired again? And what could possibly happen next? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned and I'll tell you!
In the meantime, as always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 4!
ScarFox out for now!
Chapter 4: Misadventures, and First Contact
Out on the Texas, the situation at hand was still rather tense. Occasionally, we would spot movement from the shore, but aside from that, no other shots had been fired. No shots had been fired by our guys either, however, in order to give the gun crews a short break so that they wouldn't get too jumpy, crews were rotated around every 30 minutes or so, giving the gunners a chance to collect themselves, calm down, and just breathe. Then, after maybe grabbing some water, they would then rotate back to their guns. This system was working, but yet at the same time there was still a fear. There were only 200 guys on the Texas. If actual fighting broke out, there wouldn't be enough crew to man all the guns, and if people started getting injured, there were only 2 guys on the Texas who had been US Naval medics/corpsmen, and even then, both had been retired for over a decade, and now they had medical supplies from the Second World War, which they were unsure if they would be able to use in a crisis.
Up on the bridge, Captain Bob and I were watching the shoreline through the bridge windows with our binoculars like hawks, while Adam kept an eye on the bridge radar scopes, Dennis held the wheel, and Ted still stood by the engine order telegraph. I looked at my watch, and the time was about 9:30am now.
"Well, at least Time is running normally again at any rate." I then looked over at Captain Bob. "What do you think, Captain? How much longer are we gonna let this stalemate go on?"
He sighed. "Well, Ensign Gardner, what we really need is a better understanding of what we're up against. Yes, the fog has lifted, but we're still 7 miles away from the shoreline, and aside from the naval base, that city port, and some of the buildings along the coastline, we don't know what lies beyond them. We need a way to find out."
I thought for a second. "Well Sir, we do have the Kingfisher Seaplane on top of Turret 3. It works, and we have 2 guys on board with flight experience."
"Yes, you're right about that, Ensign Gardner, but yet, we also don't know if the enemy has any AA guns. If they do, that plane is only armed with one fixed forward-facing machine gun, as well as one flexible rear-facing machine gun, and I don't think that they'd be able to defend themselves against AA fire."
"Yes, though that is assuming that they even have effective AA guns. I mean, they have vintage warships, and zeppelins; what kind of AA guns could they have? Possibly machine guns, but even then, I don't think that they'd be able to hit the seaplane if they flew high enough. It's just a thought."
Captain Bob thought about that. While he was thinking, he checked with the radio room again. "Anything new to report?"
"Negative, Captain. We've stopped flipping radio frequencies, but we haven't heard anything new. I'm not sure if it's something with our radio, or they're not reaching out anymore, or what's going on. We're about to start reaching out again though."
"Ok, keep me informed."
"Roger that, Captain."
Captain Bob then decided to leave the bridge, and talk with the 2 pilots of the Kingfisher Seaplane, as well as a few engineers who knew how to launch the plane. As he was leaving, he told me that I was in charge until he got back, as I was the Texas's XO (Executive Officer, ie, second in command).
I saluted. "Yes, Sir."
Captain Bob then left for the main deck after informing them all to meet him by Turret 3, leaving me in charge for the first time.
Once Captain Bob was down on the main deck, he walked along the starboard side of the ship (so as to be out of sight of the shoreline as much as possible), and met up with Lt. Mike Watson, and Lt. Gary Mitchell, the 2 former US Navy pilots who were now in charge of flying the Kingfisher Seaplane, as well as 3 other engineers who would launch the plane from the top of Turret 3. When the Captain arrived, the 5 men saluted him.
"Captain."
"Gentlemen." He then turned to Mike and Gary. "I know that both of you are pilots, but how much experience do you have?"
"25 years in the Navy as a pilot, and service from then until the present day with the Commemorative Air Force out of Dallas. We have years of experience in flying, and years more in flying vintage aircraft like this." Mike informed him.
"Pretty much the same story as Mike. We served together, first in the US Navy, and now in the CAF. And let me guess, you've called us here because you need our services in scouting from the air?"
Captain Bob nodded. "Yes, that is indeed correct. We need to know what's waiting for us in that city, and we need a better lay of the land. I'm authorizing you Lt. Watson, and Lt. Mitchell to take our Kingfisher Seaplane, get it up in the air, and then fly the 7 miles to the city, and then fly around overhead. I want you to maintain constant radio contact, and be able to tell us what you see down below you. I also want pictures, and video, so you will be supplied with cameras. Since there are 2 of you, one of you will be the pilot, and the other will be the observer/photographer." Here Captain Bob's face turned grave. "And I'm not gonna sugarcoat this Boys, this mission could be the most dangerous mission of your lives. We don't know if those inland have AA guns, and if they do, they could have the range to hit your plane. However, this is the only way to really get a feel for what's going on over there. Are you willing to accept this mission?"
Mike and Gary then talked among themselves for a moment or so, before turning back to Captain Bob. Gary then spoke up.
"We know that this mission is dangerous, Sir, but it must be done. We're willing to take risks now, just like we used to do back in the day. Being shot at is nothing new for me, or Mike; we flew in Desert Storm!"
Captain Bob nodded, before turning to the engineers. "And do you all think that you can launch the plane?"
"We believe so, Sir. We have the schematics for the catapult, as well as training manuals for using it, so it shouldn't be too hard to launch the plane."
"Ok then, get the plane ready to go, and you two, Lt. Watson and Lt. Mitchell, need to gear up, and prepare yourselves for the mission ahead."
While the 2 lieutenants went to go gear up, the engineers began to check the plane over, and prepare to start up the engine. The Vought Kingfisher was the primary reconnaissance aircraft carried by almost all US battleships, and most heavy cruisers in WW2, had a range of 908 miles, a top speed of 171mph, and a service ceiling of 18,200ft. These planes had a large float on the bottom, as well as 2 floats under the wings so that once they returned to their motherships, they could land in the water, and then be hauled back onboard by a crane (some of them did have wheels that could be attached to the floats for use on land, though no one had looked to see if the Kingfisher Seaplane on the Texas had its wheels in storage somewhere on the ship yet). They weren't the prettiest planes ever, but they did their job to the best of their abilities.
The Kingfisher Seaplane on the USS Texas was one of only 6 remaining in the US, and came from storage at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California, and although its bureau number was unknown, it was marked "#13". It hadn't seen the light of day in years, until it was pulled out of storage, cleaned up, restored cosmetically, and donated to the USS Texas to be installed during her overhaul. Now, for the first time since it was retired, most likely at the end of WW2, this Kingfisher would take to the air again, the first one to do so in many decades.
Once the engineers had climbed up on top of Turret 3, they went over to the plane. After making sure that its main float was properly secured to the launcher on the catapult, they removed the cables and other lashings that had kept the Kingfisher in place during the storm. After this, they began to climb all over the plane to inspect it, just to make sure that it was airworthy.
"Tail's all good!"
"So are the wings!"
"Body and floats are all good! What about the fuel, oil, engine, propeller, and the guns?"
One of the engineers pried up part of the engine's cowling, before tinkering around a bit. "Engine's all good! We've got plenty of fuel and oil, and the spark plugs look good too."
"Propeller looks good!"
"So do the guns, and they're both loaded and ready to go!"
"And what about the interior? Is everything good there?"
2 of the engineers looked into the cockpit, as well as the rear-seat position. Sure enough, all of the controls were present and accounted for, everything was shiny and new, the seats looked brand new, as was the glass of the cockpit canopy, and the rear-seat canopy.
"Just like everything else on the Texas, this plane looks like she just rolled off the assembly line yesterday, Captain." One of the engineers reported to Captain Bob. "Everything is all good to go, and all we have to do now is start the plane's engine up. Are we clear to start it up?"
"Affirmative. Start the engine up!"
"Yes, Sir!" He then turned to the others. "Check that the seaplane is secured to the catapult one more time, and then get clear! I'm starting up the engine!"
"You're all good, Sir. It's locked into place!"
"Affirmative!"
The others ran to the ladder on the side of Turret 3, and climbed down to the ground. Once the others were down, the remaining engineer climbed into the plane's cockpit, and after making sure that everything was ready, he pulled the starter knob, and with a few coughs, as well as a little bit of smoke, the engine of the Kingfisher Seaplane turned over with very little coaxing, and soon roared to life. Others on the main deck who saw and heard the plane start up cheered that the startup had been successful, and the lead engineer reported once again to Captain Bob.
"It's all good, Captain!" He said as he climbed back out of the plane. "The pilots can take her up as soon as they're up here, and we've turned the turret to face out to sea!"
"Affirmative." Captain Bob then turned to Mike and Gary, who were all geared in in WW2-era US Navy aviation gear, and were ready for their mission. "One more time Gentlemen, are you ready for the mission at hand? This will be a very dangerous mission."
Both men nodded. "Yes, Sir, we're ready!"
"Good. Now then, as I'm sure that you're aware, your mission is to get to the city on the coast, fly over it, and see what you can see. Remain in constant radio contact, and take as many pictures and videos as you can, as we need as much information as possible."
Both men saluted. "Yes, Sir!"
However, Gary had a question. "Captain?"
"Yes Lieutenant?"
"If...if the worst happens, and we're shot down somehow, does that mean that you will fire on the city?"
Captain Bob nodded gravely. “Yes, Lt. Mitchell, it will. If you are shot down, then it means that the enemy is hostile, and we will be dealing with it. However, since they haven't done anything since we fired that warning shot, I'm hoping that they're just as scared as we are. But if the worst happens, we will be prepared for it."
"Understood, Sir."
They then flipped a coin to see who would be flying, and Mike won the toss. After this, some engineers got inside of Turret 3, turned it to port, and stopped once the turret's front, and by default the catapult, were pointed out to sea. Once they were ready, both Mike and Gary climbed up onto the top of Turret 3, and into the Kingfisher Seaplane. Mike climbed into the cockpit, and Gary climbed into the back. The engineers then helped the 2 men strap in, and then handed them both compasses, pistols, a flare gun, a number of signal flares, Mike was handed a compass, Gary was given several cameras and a video camera, and upon request, Mike was given a camera too just in case. They then put on their pilot helmets, and after a quick check, made sure that their radios were working, as well as the intercom that they would use to talk to each other. Once they were ready, they pulled their goggles down, and after giving the signal that they were ready, Mike pushed the plane's throttle to maximum, and revved the engine to top speed.
"They're ready! Launch the plane!" Captain Bob ordered.
"Yes, Sir!" On that order, the Kingfisher was released, and after picking up speed, it soon reached the end of its catapult, and while it stayed in the air for a moment, the seaplane soon fell down, and its floats hit the water. However, after running across the sea for a brief time, Mike pulled back on the stick, and the Kingfisher rose up into the air. Once the plane was airborne, everyone on the Texas cheered once again.
"Captain, we're airborne!" Mike reported over the radio.
"Yes, I can see that, Lt. Watson! Now we can get this show on the road. Get over to the city as soon as you can."
"Yes, Sir!" Soon after this, Mike began to bank the plane to the left, and had soon done a full 180 degree turn, and was flying back towards the Texas. The whole ship shuddered as the Kingfisher flew only about 200 feet overhead, and once past the Texas, Mike began to climb. His plan was to climb to about 8,000 feet, and then fly over the city. If it was proven to be safe, he would fly a little bit lower, but no lower than 5,000 feet.
"Good luck you guys." I thought as I watched the Kingfisher fly past the Texas with my binoculars. "Let's hope that you can finally see what's going on over there."
At the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, all eyes were still on the unknown warship located 7 miles offshore.
"Have they responded to any of our radio transmissions yet?" Sky Seas asked the radio technicians.
"Negative, Rear-Admiral. And strangely, they haven't sent out any transmissions for a while. It's almost like they've gone silent for some reason. We don't think that it's a problem on our end, so it's possibly a problem on their end. We're still trying to transmit, but we're still not getting anything."
"Ok. Keep me informed, and let me know the second you have anything on the radio."
"Yes, Sir."
"And what's the status on those 3 smaller vessels?" Sky Seas asked the radar technicians. "Are they still in the same position that they were in before?"
"Affirmative, Rear-Admiral. They haven't moved either."
"Hmm." Sky Seas mused to himself. "This is very strange. I wonder what...."
"Rear-Admiral!" Captain Hammer was pointing out to sea while looking through his spyglass. "Look at that! The warship is doing something!"
Worriedly, Sea Skies grabbed his own spyglass again, and looked at the unknown warship. Sure enough, he spotted movement amidships, and to his growing alarm, the ship's 3rd gun turret was moving. However, it was seemingly moving the wrong way.
"Wait. That turret is moving the wrong way. Why's it moving to port? It needs to turn to starboard to be aimed at us."
"I don't know, Captain. Perhaps something is wrong with the mechanism that moves the turret; maybe it can only turn in one direction."
However, moments after this, the turret seemed to stop moving, but before the Rear-Admiral or the Captain could say anything, a large light-blue object, which had previously been sitting on top of the turret, suddenly shot forwards, and seemingly landed in the sea.
"Ok, now that's just bizarre. First the turret turns the wrong way, and now it launches something into the ocean? What gives?"
"I have no idea Rear-Admiral. Maybe that was a weapon, and it malfunctioned."
As both stallions were still watching the warship, that strange blue object suddenly reappeared from behind it, only now it was flying! As they and others watched, the light-blue object, which seemed to be some sort of flying-machine, suddenly turned around, and was seemingly coming straight for the shore.
"Oh Sweet Celestia, it's coming right for us!" Captain Hammer yelled.
"Since when does that warship have a flying-machine onboard?!" A sailor cried in panic. "None of our ships have that!"
"Sir, do we try to shoot it down once it comes into range?" Another asked.
As the Rear-Admiral watched, the flying-machine seemed to be gaining more altitude. However, it would make landfall in a matter of minutes, and he had a very important decision to make. He knew that there were AA guns at the naval base, as well as AA guns at the Fillydelphia garrison, however, they were designed to hit large, low-flying airships, not high-flying small flying-machines like what was coming right then. The craft coming towards Fillydelphia could have been some kind of scout craft, or it just as easily could have been a weapon, or carrying a weapon. However, Sky Seas did have a plan, and quickly got in touch with General Coal Black, the stallion in charge of the Fillydelphia Garrison.
"General, I need you to answer a question for me, and I need the answer right now."
"What do you need Rear-Admiral?"
"Are your Pegasai scouts ready to take to the skies right now, and do they have weapons with them? We HAVE to stop that flying-machine if it proves to be hostile!"
"They most certainly are, Rear-Admiral! I can have 12 up in the air right now, and another 12 up in another minute or so! Do I give them the order to launch?"
"Yes, by all means give that order!"
"Roger that!" After General Coal Black put down his radio, he gave that order, and 12 armed and armored Pegasai scouts took to the skies, and began to rapidly fly on an intercept course towards where they thought that the flying-machine was going to be.
Once they were up in the air, Sky Seas watched the Pegasai scouts as they flew by. "I sure hope that those scouts can take down that flying-machine if it proves to be hostile, otherwise we're screwed!"
As the Kingfisher got closer and closer to the unknown city, Mike and Gary finally began to be able to see it very clearly. Even though they were approaching it at almost 8,000 feet, there was still a lot that they could see.
"We're closing in on the city fast, Texas!" Mike reported. "We're less than a mile out and closing!"
"And how high up are you?" Captain Bob asked.
"We're about 8,000 feet up, Captain."
"And what can you all see?"
"From where we are right now, we can see a lot of tall buildings. We won't be able to see too much at first, though a bit later, if I deem that it's safe, I'll drop down to about 5,000 feet, and then we might be able to see more."
"And you are taking pictures and video, correct?"
"Yes, Sir. Right now, Gary is doing most of the filming, but I might be able to take some later on."
"Ok, roger that."
Less than a minute later, the Kingfisher made landfall. Both Mike and Gary held their breath for a few moments, but nothing happened. No guns opened up on them, no rockets or missiles were fired, nothing at all happened. Gary was looking down at the ground, but aside from the tall buildings, and the outlines of the city port, and the naval base, not much else could be made out.
"It's because we're too high up." Gary mused. "Mike, we're going to have to go lower if we're going to be able to see anything."
"Yeah, you're right, Gary. Though have you snapped any pictures of those airships off to the right? The ones moored to that building that kinda looks like the Empire State Building?"
"Yeah, I did, Mike. And it's strange. Why would that building look like the Empire State Building? New York City is on Manhattan Island, not directly on the coast."
"I have no idea, Gary." He then radioed Captain Bob. "We're going lower, Captain. We won't be able to see anything from up here."
"Roger that, Kingfisher. And no hostile actions have been taken against you, correct?"
"Yes, Sir. It's been all clear so far. I'm just hoping that that stays the same once we drop lower. And just to verify, if we are attacked, our first priority is to evade and get to safety with our photos and video, and only fight if we have to, correct?"
"Same here Kingfisher, and yes, you are correct. Your first priority is getting to safety with the Intel, and if you have to fight to get away, do so, but if you can avoid it by evading, then do that."
"Yes, Sir."
Mike then began to ease the stick downwards, and in sweeping circles, he brought the Kingfisher down from 8,000 feet, down to 5,000 feet. Once they were down lower, a number of features of the city suddenly became clear, and there was a lot to report.
"Things are a lot clearer now Captain, and believe me, you're gonna want to hear this!"
"What do you see Lt. Watson?"
"We can see a lot of features closer to the ground, and from what we can see so far, this city seems to bear a lot of resemblance to Philadelphia, but yet there's a lot of features that don't match. From where we are right now, we can't seem to see any vehicles on the streets, but we can see what appear to be streetcars, as well as elevated trains, but yet they seem to be steam engines, rather than electric trains!"
"What?" Captain Bob was stunned. "That's incredible, Lt. Watson!"
"And that's not all, Sir." Gary added. "I've been able to make a lot of use of the zoom features on my cameras, and I've been able to see right down to street level, and what I've seen is a bit startling. I can't seem to see any people anywhere! Instead, all I can see are what appear to be a few bipedal....almost equine-like beings peering out of some of the buildings, but it's hard to hold the camera steady at that high of zoom to see for sure. I've snapped a lot of pictures, and have taken videos for analysis once we get back to the ship. This is getting really strange out here, Sir."
Captain Bob had no idea what to say, and neither did myself, or the others nearby who were listening to the reports from the Kingfisher.
"This is too weird." I muttered. "Where on Earth are we right now?"
"Unless, we're not even on Earth at all." One of the engineers added.
"I....I don't know what to say to that, Lt. Mitchell. This is just...too weird. I've never experienced anything like this in all my years of being in the Navy! And have you been able to fly over the city port, and the naval base yet?"
Mike was a bit concerned. "We're flying over there now, Captain. We might be able to fly over the city port safely, however, there might be trouble once we get close to the naval base. We're definitely going to try to get close to it, but if it gets too hot, we'll have to bug out."
"Yes, that would be tolerable Lt. Watson. I'll be very eagerly awaiting to see what you can see."
"Will do, Captain."
Mike and Gary then flew on towards the city port, and the shipyard, little knowing that they were being watched from the clouds above them, and those watching them were none too pleased to see them there.
"We're flying over that city port now, Captain. "Gary reported, "And it looks like there's a lot of sudden activity going on down there."
"What do you mean, Lt. Mitchell?"
"I mean that before we started to fly over, not too much out of the ordinary seemed to be happening, but once we were overhead, then a lot of activity started up. There's a lot of figures running around the various docks and piers, and some on the ships too. I can't tell what's going on, but it might be because of us."
"And what does it look like down there?"
"Eh...reminds me of the aerial pictures that I've seen of the Port of Baltimore back in the 40's. I can see cranes from yesteryear loading and unloading what look to be tramp steamers, freighters, grain ships, and possibly even ships carrying coal. It all looks straight out of a page of a history book of 1940's America just prior to WW2, and I've never seen anything like it."
Captain Bob was silent for a few moments. "Hmm. So it seems that this city, or the nation that it may be attached to have achieved the level of technology of perhaps circa-1940. Way behind what we're used to, but yet, still fairly impressive, even more so due to the fact that it seems so familiar to us. And how far are you from the naval base?"
"We're leaving the city port now, and we'll be heading to it momentarily."
"Ok, roger that."
Gary then let go of his radio, and picked his camera again. However, just as he did so, he thought that he saw a large shadow fly overhead.
"Huh?" He looked up, and all around the sky around the Kingfisher, but he didn't see anything. "Hey, Mike?"
"Yeah, Gary?"
"Did you see a big shadow pass overhead, or am I trippin'?"
"I didn't see anything, but then again, I wasn't looking."
Gary was about to say something, but then he clearly saw a reddish blur whiz by the Kingfisher at high speed.
"Whoa!"
"Yeah, now THAT I did see!" Mike called.
"What was that?!"
"I have no idea! Birds don't fly that fast, do they?!"
"I didn't think so!"
However, before they could say anything else, the Kingfisher was suddenly surrounded by large, flying creatures. They seemed to be anthropomorphic horses, but yet they had wings. They were also wearing what seemed to be military uniforms and armor, and they were flying dangerously close to the Kingfisher.
".......Are you seeing this Mike?" Gary croaked out.
"Yep.....I'm seeing it alright. We must have crashed and died, because I would SWEAR that we're seeing Pegasai wearing military uniforms and armor, and have surrounded us!"
Just as Mike was about to say something else, several of the Pegasai flew closer, and began to deliberately bump against the Kingfisher, and hit it with their fists, causing it to shudder!
"Whoa!"
"Dang!" Mike then grabbed the stick, yelled for Gary to hold on, and he then began to pull up into a steep climb, while also shaking the wings to try and keep the Pegasai from bumping and hitting the Kingfisher again.
However, the Pegasai managed to stay with the Kingfisher, and were seemingly aggressively trying either force it in a certain direction, or testing the reactions of Mike and Gary. Gary was keeping the cameras all rolling, but just then, a Pegasus grabbed the edge of the rear compartment in the plane, before grabbing at him, and was either trying to climb inside, or drag him out!
"Shit!" Gary frantically reached around inside the rear compartment, and when his hand closed over what he thought was a gun, he pulled it out, and fired it at the attacking Pegasus.
He was only trying to scare it off, but to his surprise, he'd just fired a flare from a flare-gun at it. The flare shot out, missing the Pegasus by inches, and once it exploded, it did seem to startle the other attacking Pegasai a bit, and the one trying to grab him let go and disappeared. Mike then also fired a flare, though his was at a Pegasus who was swinging what looked like a large chain dangerously close to the Kingfisher's propeller. His flare hit the wings of the Pegasus, and it seemed to scream in pain before breaking off its attack. Suddenly, the Kingfisher's radio came to life.
"Kingfisher, what's going on up there? We're seeing flares out here!"
"Texas, we're under attack up here!" Mike yelled.
"WHAT?!?!" You're under attack?! By who?!"
"Armed and armored anthropomorphic Pegasai, Captain! Whoa!" Mike then veered to the right to dodge what seemed to be either a flare, or possibly some kind of incendiary device fired at the Kingfisher. "They're all over the plane! I can't shake them!"
"You're being attacked by Pegasai?!"
"Yes! We're not sure where they came from, but they came suddenly!" Gary reported. "They just flew alongside us for a few seconds, and then they began to hit the plane with their bodies and fists hard enough to rattle it, and then one of them was either trying to climb into the back, or drag me out, and I shot a flare at it to scare it off!"
"And I fired a second flare at a Pegasus that was swinging a chain close to the propeller! The flare hit it, but I didn't see how bad. What do we do Captain?!"
Now Captain Bob had another tough decision to make. He didn't want to have to order the Kingfisher to open fire if it could be avoided, but yet, they had to make it back to the ship in one piece with their Intel.
"Fall back, I say again, fall back right now! Return to the Texas with all of the pictures and video that you've taken! Open fire on the attackers if you have to, but if you can keep them at bay with flares, then do that! They haven't opened fire on you, so don't fire unless you're fired upon!"
"Yes, Sir!" Mike then banked hard to the right, brought the plane around in a tight turn, and pointed it back towards the Texas. He then opened up the throttle to maximum, and soon reached the plane's max speed of 171mph.
Mike and Gary did have to continue to repel Pegasai attacks with flares, but the closer they came to the open ocean, the less the attacks became. Finally, once the Kingfisher was out of the city entirely, the Pegasai stopped attacking altogether. Gary looked back, and he saw the Pegasai holding their position close to the edge of the city. He saw them shaking their fists at the Kingfisher, but yet made no moves to follow them any further. Just before Gary turned back to face forwards again, he looked back at the city itself one more time, and he saw what looked to be a railroad track running into the hills behind it. For a brief moment, Gary caught sight of a train just starting to crest the top of one of the hills, but then Mike pushed the plane downwards, and he lost sight of the train. Both men were glad to be alive, and were still wondering what they had just experienced.
"We chased it off, Rear-Admiral! That flying-machine retreated as soon as we started to make things hot for it, and the 2 beings inside!"
"Wait, there were 2 beings inside of it?" Sky Seas asked.
"Yes, Sir. They were seemingly bipedal, and it was a bit hard to tell as they were wearing dark uniforms, gloves, and helmets with goggles, but instead of fur, they seemed to have flesh on their faces. We spotted guns on the flying-machine, but yet the 2 beings never made any moves to use them. Maybe they really were on a scouting mission."
"And where is the flying-machine now, Commander Bright?"
"It flew away from the city, and appears to be heading back to its mothership."
"Keep your eyes on it, and the warship it’s returning to. I want to know IMMEDIATELY if it comes back!"
"Yes, Sir!"
Captain Hammer then turned to Sky Seas. "Well, I guess that we know now that the flying-machine was harmless, or at least, harmless enough. If it was here to attack us, then they would have already done it. Perhaps it was only here to scout around."
"It appears so, Captain. And I'll certainly have to send General Coal Black my compliments for his Pegasai Scouts, and all their hard work. I knew that it was risky for them to attack from the clouds above the flying-machine, and for them to just try and 'shoo it' away from the Naval Yard, only firing if they had to, but I see now that it was the right thing to do. They were also able to snap pictures of it as it flew beneath them, so maybe once those photos are analyzed, we'll know a bit more about it." Sky Seas then paused. "Though that does raise the question, what did the crew of that flying-machine see, and how much are they going to tell the others on the warship?"
"That is indeed the million-Bit question, Rear-Admiral. I think that it's safe to assume that they saw almost everything save for the Naval Yard, and from what Commander Bright told us, those in the flying-machine may have been taking pictures of what they were seeing too. Now the question is though, what are they going to do with that information?"
"I do not know, Rear-Admiral."
Moments after this, just as Sky Seas sent orders for the photos that the Pegasai scouts took to be analyzed, he received another report from the radio technicians.
"Rear-Admiral! We've made contact with the unknown warship!"
Both Hammer and Sky Seas froze. Their radio technicians had made contact with the unknown warship? It didn't seem possible, but both of them flew to where the radio operators were just as fast as they could. However, when they arrived, they received some bad news.
"What? What do you mean 'you lost them'?!"
The lead radio tech was confused. "Just what I said, Sir. Briefly, we heard a male voice talking over the radio, asking why their battleship was being attacked, but then it went dead, and the signal dropped. Something may have gone wrong with the warship's radio."
"Well, keep trying to raise them. I need to inform the Princesses about what's been going on here since my last report, and she'll inform the Element Bearers."
"Yes, Sir." One of the other techs then began to forward the Rear-Admiral's report to Canterlot.
As their train continued to hurtle towards Fillydelphia, the Mane 6 continued to talk among themselves about what they could be facing.
"I really hope that this just turns out to be a case of mistaken identity", Rarity was saying. "It would be so horrible if we actually had to fight. I mean, I'm not saying that we couldn't, I'm saying that combat would ruin my mane, and I just had it done yesterday!"
Applejack shot Rarity a look. "Really, Sugarcube? You're gonna go there right now? We're facing a possible invasion, and all you can think about is yer gosh-durn mane?!"
Twilight intervened before things could escalate any further. "Girls, please! Now is NOT the time to be arguing like this!"
Rarity sighed. "Yes, you're right, Darling. What I said before was rather selfish of me."
"And I'm sorry for snappin' at ya, Rares."
"I just wonder who they are though. Are they enemy, or are they just lost?"
Twilight looked at her. "What do you mean by that, Pinkie?"
She shrugged. "Well, if they were enemy, why haven't they shot at us yet? They only fired that one shot, and when they did that, it's almost like they were scared."
Twilight thought about that. "I'm not sure, Pinkie. I'd like to think that, but yet, if they weren't enemy, why haven't they contacted us yet? Surely if they were from another nation, or even just lost, then they would have tried to contact us, either by radio, or by signal lamp. But since they haven't, and are alongside Fillydelphia in a threatening manner, until we know more, then I fear that we must assume that the warship is hostile, and could open fire at any time." She then paused. "But that's the one thing that still bothers me. If they really were hostile, why did they wait so long to go to Red Alert, and man their weapons? That's the one thing that still makes no sense to me, and nopony else seems to have any answers either."
"Yeah, that is weird, Twilight." Applejack agreed. "That's the first thing that I hope we get an answer for when we get to Fillydelphia."
"I just hope that that ship isn't a diversion."
"What do you mean, Spike?" Twilight asked him.
"Well, like some of those stories from past wars that you told me about, what if the Black Baron is using that one warship as a decoy, and while we're all worried about it, he sends forces to invade elsewhere?"
All of the other girls froze when Spike said that. However, Twilight did have an answer. "Yes, I could see where you would be worried about that, and granted, it's still a possibility, however, the radars at the naval bases in Manehattan, and Baltimare are also watching the seas, as are other ships, and Pegasai air patrols, but no other vessels have been sighted that haven't either been identified, or identified themselves. Aside from that one warship, and those other 3 smaller vessels, there doesn't seem to be any other immediate danger."
"Immediate danger." Rainbow Dash muttered. "When we get to Fillydelphia, I'll show the crew of that warship 'immediate danger'!"
"Um, Rainbow, I really don't think that that's a good idea." Fluttershy told her. "That might just make them mad."
"Yeah, and if they get mad, then they might just up and start shootin!" Applejack added. "We're tryin' to avoid a war here, not start one!"
"Yes, you're right, Applejack. If you just rush out to fight them, Rainbow Dash, that could be the trigger to start a war, and if that happens, then Ponies could die. Though if that warship fires again, then the Ponies of the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, and the soldiers at the Fillydelphia garrison will swing into action."
"Well then why are we going, if not to fight, Twi?"
"Good question, Rainbow. We're going to see what's going on, hopefully see who's ship that is, and who crews her, and if an attack does happen, then we'll be using the Elements of Harmony to shield the city while the civilians are evacuated, and we leave the actual fighting to the trained professionals; we won't fight unless we absolutely have to."
Rainbow Dash grumbled a bit, and while she did apologize for being rash, she did say that she hoped that something would happen that would require fighting. She should have been a bit careful about what she wished for, as when the train was about an hour away from Fillydelphia, Spike suddenly burped out a report from Princess Celestia, which he then handed to Twilight.
"What is it, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked her.
"Well, just moments ago, another report came in from Fillydelphia. The warship did something else, and there was a lot of fuss because of it."
When Twilight said that, it became so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop, and the tension was so think you could have cut it with a knife.
"What....what happened, Darling?"
"Did....did the warship shoot again?" Fluttershy asked with dread.
Twilight sighed. "Apparently, another one of the other turrets on the unknown warship moved. Turret 3, which previously still had its guns in their default position, was now turning, but surprisingly, it turned its guns to face away from the shore."
The others were surprised. "Huh? Why would they do that Twilight? Did something malfunction on the ship?"
Twilight shook her head. "I don't think so. Listen to this. 'It was clear that something was happening, but then a light blue object was launched from the top of the turret, and out into the sea. It disappeared behind the warship for a moment, before it appeared again, though it soon became clear that this object was a flying-machine of some sort. It started flying towards the shore, and once it was over the city, has begun to circle around it. It's still not fully known what this flying machine is trying to do, though it appears to have been scouting the city. Some Pegasai scouts tried to get close to the flying-machine to try and divert it away from the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, but were attacked by flares fired from the 2 beings who were operating it, and a few were injured. Nevertheless, the Pegasai kept up the pressure, and eventually the flying-machine made a very hard turn, and raced back out to sea at full speed, and has seemingly been recovered by the unknown warship. The flying-machine hasn't reappeared yet, but we're watching that warship like a hawk.' Oh wow." Twilight's eyes suddenly went wide.
"What?" Spike asked.
"For a brief time, the radio technicians at the Fillydelphia Naval yard were able to contact the unknown warship! It was only briefly, but long enough to hear what appeared to be a male voice ask why their battleship was under attack. The technicians said that they lost the signal just after that. They think that something went wrong with the warship's radio, and the report ends here."
The others looked at her in surprise. The unknown warship had been carrying a flying-machine of some sort, and had deployed it over the city for a time? What was the purpose of it? Was it a weapon of war, or was it for scouting purposes like the Rear-Admiral believed? None of them knew, though they all added it to the list of things to figure out when they arrived. And for a brief time, the warship had established contact with the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, but then the signal was dropped. Had something gone wrong with the warship's radio, or was something else was going on? One thing was clear, this situation was escalating, and more guns could be fired soon. The train sped on towards Fillydelphia, and the Mane 6 and Spike were really hoping that they could diffuse the situation before it got any worse.
For pretty much the entire 7-mile trip back to the Texas, Gary and Mike were in complete silence. They were grateful that they were still alive, but yet, were still in a state of severe shock. What had they just experienced? Why were they attacked by anthropomorphic Pegasai? Did they kill any of them with the flares that they'd fired? Had they just started a war because of what they did? And what would happen now? These, and so many other questions were running through their minds at 1000mph. Once they were close enough to Texas, Mike got on the radio.
"Kingfisher to Texas, Kingfisher to Texas, we're on our final approach. Are we cleared to land, over?"
One of the engineers quickly picked up his radio. "Affirmative Kingfisher, you're all cleared to come in. Come in off the port side, land in the water, and then idle up to the sides. We'll then get the crane into position, and haul you guys back up."
"Roger that."
Mike then brought the plane towards Texas's port side, and after pulling back the throttle, soon splashed into the sea maybe 100 feet away from the Texas, and once he'd come to a stop, he throttled up the engine just enough to start moving the plane, and brought it alongside Texas. Once he was alongside Turret 3, the port side crane moved into position, and the hook was lowered down to the Kingfisher. Once it was down, Gary attached it to the hook on the fuselage of the Kingfisher, and once it was secured, the crane hauled the plane up into the air, swung it over Texas's deck, and placed it back on the catapult on top of Turret 3. Mike then fully shut the engine off, and he and Gary just sat in silence for a few minutes longer. Other engineers saw that the plane's wings, tail, and fuselage were covered in large dents, and a number of scratches, and they too were thankful that Mike and Gary had made it back safely. (However, they were not thankful that they would now have to buff out all those dents, and fix the scratches, but they didn't show it). Once Gary and Mike were out of the plane, they gathered up all of their cameras, which were then taken immediately to Captain Bob, who met them on the main deck, and brought them down to the officer's mess, where all of the photos and video would be reviewed.
In the officer's mess, the cameras were hooked up to a laptop belonging to one of the engineers, and all of the photos and videos were then copied off of them, and after a projector was hooked up to the laptop (someone had brought a projector for a movie night), everything was then displayed on a wall of the officer's mess, and viewed by Captain Bob, myself, a few other officers, and of course, Mike and Gary.
"I'm so thankful that you Boys made it back in one piece. I was getting VERY worried, especially when I heard that you were under attack."
Both men saluted. "We did what we had to do, Captain. I just hope that a lot can be learned from our Intel."
"I hope so too, Lieutenants."
We all then began to look over what Mike and Gary had brought back.
While the footage and pictures were being looked over, in the Texas's radio room, one of the engineers there was slowly flipping through the channels again, when all of a sudden, he suddenly thought that he heard a voice.
"Wait, what?" He listened closer.
"What is it Walt?" Another engineer asked.
"I'm not sure, Sir. I thought that for a second I heard......" He froze.
"What?"
"Listen!" Walt then flipped a switch, and everyone in that radio room heard the sound of a male voice asking the unknown warship off the coast of Fillydelphia to identify itself.
"Did they say off the coast of Philadelphia?! We're off the coast of Philadelphia?!"
Walt was confused. "I think so."
"We'd better tell Captain Bob about this!" the lead engineer urged
Walt agreed. "Yeah, but first, I'm going to answer that voice. We might be able to end this standoff right now!" He then flipped a few switches. "Attention unknown voice. Why are you attacking our battleship? I say again, why are you attacking our battleship?"
"Say plane!" Someone called. "Ask them why they attacked our Kingfisher!"
"Right!" Walt then froze. "Huh? What?" He then began to fiddle with the radio.
"What? What's wrong?"
"The radio just went dead!"
The others in the room froze. "What? What do you mean that it went dead, Walt?"
"Just what I said! The doggone thing just went ka-put!"
"Dagnabbit!" All of them then began to look at the radio. It had power, but what was wrong with it? Eventually, they realized that it must have blown a vacuum tube or two.
"Oh well that's just f@#kin' peachy! How the f@#k do we fix a vacuum tube?! Or better still, how the f@#k do we even know what tube is the problem?!"
None of the men in that room had an answer for that. Few of them had ever even seen a vacuum tube in their lives, and of those who did, none of them knew how to test one to see if it was blown. Sheepishly, Walt had to radio Captain Bob for help, and after explaining the situation, a general call went out to everyone on the ship.
"Attention, attention! Will anyone with experience in using/testing vacuum tubes please report to the main radio room immediately. We almost had contact with those who shot at us, and we need to contact them again as soon as possible!"
Luckily, there were a few onboard Texas who knew how to use, and test vacuum tubes, and they got to the radio room as fast as they could, one of them bringing a tube-tester that was retrieved from a storage closet. Once they got to the radio room, they all got to work immediately on trying to fix the radio, and identify which tubes had blown out.
While this was happening, those of us in the officer's mess were still looking over the photos and videos, as well as talking about what Walt had heard over the radio.
"Philadelphia? How could this be Philadelphia? We've compared the photos to aerial maps of the city that whoever owns this laptop had on there as possible wallpaper, and while some features match, others don't. Plus, Philly was NEVER inhabited by problematic, plane-punching Pegasai!"
Captain Bob was perplexed. "I'm just as confused as you are, Ensign Gardner. This makes no sense." He then looked at the video that Gary was taking as he was being attacked again. "What kind of crazy world is this? Are we on Earth? Are we on another world like Earth? There's so many unknowns here, and that scouting mission has seemingly only brought on more questions than answers."
I sighed. "Yeah. If only we could get that radio working. Then, maybe we can FINALLY figure out what the hell is going on, where the hell we are, and FINALLY make some gosh-darn sense out of this friggin' side-show!"
Captain Bob slowly nodded. "Yes, and hopefully that won't be too much longer. They're working as fast as they can, but those radios have a LOT of vacuum tubes in them, and there could be more than one that blew out. Let's just hope that they can get it fixed before whoever is over there in 'Philadelphia' decides to start shooting at us again!"
I shivered a bit, but did agree with him. And while we kept analyzing all of the photos and videos, the others were working tirelessly to fix the radio before anything else could happen.
Maybe 30 minutes after Texas retrieved her Kingfisher, the train containing the Mane 6 pulled into the station in Fillydelphia. As the 6 of them and Spike disembarked, they looked all around them, but aside from themselves, they couldn't see a single soul anywhere on the station platform, and their train was the only one there....until it pulled out anyway. Now aside from a few birds, and some blowing trash, they were seemingly the only ones in the entire train station.
"Wow. This is so eerie. It's almost like something straight out of a horror movie." Spike said with a slight shiver.
"Yeah, except that it's daytime, still in the morning, I might add, and on top of that, the whole city is still on lockdown because of the unknown warship. Only essential personnel will be out and about, while all others are sheltering in their homes and businesses."
Spike gave Twilight a look. "Way to ruin the vibe, Twilight. I was having a moment here!"
Now she gave Spike a look. "And this is one of the reasons why I don't like you watching horror movies; suddenly everything has to relate to one!"
"Um, he's kinda right, Twi." Pinkie added. "Maybe not quite like a scary horror movie, but still eerie!"
"So, where do we go from here, Twi? Do we try to get to the Naval Yard?" Applejack asked.
Twilight was just about to reply, but before she could, the group were approached by a stallion in an Equestrian Navy officer's uniform, flanked by several Equestrian MP's (Military Police). Once he was in front of them, he saluted briskly.
"Good morning, Princess Twilight and Company. I am Captain Hammer of the Equestrian Navy, and it is my privilege and honor to welcome you to Fillydelphia, though I wish it was under more favorable circumstances."
"At ease, Captain." Twilight told him. "And we're glad to be here, though like you, I wish that it was under more favorable circumstances. Has anything changed since the Rear-Admiral's last report?"
Captain Hammer shook his head. "No, Princess. Everything is still the same, though some of those at the Naval Yard did get to see the blue flying-machine hauled back onto the top of the 3rd turret with a crane. Other than this, everything else has remained the same, and we're still trying to contact anyone on that warship."
"So they've either fallen silent, or are having radio trouble?"
"That appears to be the case, Princess. Our signals aren't going through, so it appears that they're having problems. Or maybe they just don't want to talk. Unfortunately, like so much else in this situation, we don't know what's really going on." He then looked at the others, and then at their baggage. "Well, we probably shouldn't be dallying here all day; we should probably be getting over to the Naval Yard, as Rear-Admiral Sky Seas is very eagerly awaiting your arrival. If you would be so kind as to follow me, my MP's will get all of your luggage."
"Certainly, Captain!"
Twilight and Co then began to follow him as he walked away from the station platform, and the MP's began to collect all of the baggage. However, there were plenty of groans from the poor MP's who had to grab Rarity's mountain of trunks and bags! Once they were out of the train station, they walked a few blocks to a streetcar station, and once the driver saw who they all were, he agreed to take them to the Naval Yard, which was the last stop on that particular streetcar line. As the streetcar moved along, Twilight and Co looked out of the windows at the streets of Fillydelphia, and they were so shocked to see them bare and empty, though they could occasionally spot Ponies looking out of the windows of various buildings at them.
"It's so bizarre to see the whole city like this." Applejack muttered. "A whole city ground to a complete halt 'cuz of that unknown warship, and later 'cuz of that flyin'-machine."
"Yeah, it is, Applejack. It's so eerie." Fluttershy shivered. "I hope that we can resolve this soon without any more problems."
"Me too, Sugarcube."
A short while later, the streetcar reached the last stop just outside of the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, and while the MP's once again gathered the baggage, and transported it into the base, and into a section of the barracks where VIP's were allowed to stay on official visits, the Mane 6 and Spike were ushered towards a large building by Captain Hammer, and it was in front of this building that they met Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, who saluted them.
"Princess Twilight, Elements, Spike the Dragon, welcome to the Fillydelphia Naval Yard. I just wish that our meeting could have been under more favorable circumstances."
"So do I, Rear-Admiral. And has anything happened since the flying-machine left the city?"
"Negative, Princess. Once the flying-machine was recovered by the unknown warship, and there was a brief moment of communication before the radio went silent, nothing else of note has happened. The warship is still holding its position, as are the 3 smaller vessels."
"And can we go to a place where we can see it?"
"Certainly, Princess. If you would kindly follow me, I'll take you up to the roof of this building. You'll have the best view from up there, and it's where Captain Hammer and I have been watching the vessel for some time."
"Lead the way, Rear-Admiral."
They were all then ushered into the building, and quickly made their way up to the roof.
Once they were all up there, Sky Seas waved them over to the side where he and Hammer had the best view of the ship.
"There she is, the unknown warship. Still sitting 7 miles off our coast, with the guns of 3 of her main gun turrets pointed at us."
Binoculars were provided for the Mane 6 and Spike, and when they looked at the ship, even with their own eyes, they gasped in surprise. It was indeed a very large warship, seemingly a battleship, painted all dark blue, had 5 main gun turrets, a number of what appeared to be smaller guns, a single stack was belching smoke, a tall mast with what looked to be a large windowed box on top of it was over the superstructure, and another mast could be spotted towards the stern. The flying-machine was still on top of Turret 3, and Twilight could just barely make out a white "35" on the ship's bow, as well as something else in white at the stern, but it made no sense to her.
"What's a 'Texas'?" Twilight wondered.
"I don't know either, Twilight. Maybe that's the name of the ship?"
"Maybe, Pinkie. Or maybe that's the class of warship." Twilight then noticed a large flag at the stern of the warship. Thanks to the wind, and her Magic enhancing her binoculars, she was able to see that it had 7 red stripes, 6 white stripes, and a large blue rectangle with what appeared to be 48 white stars on it.
"Any idea what that flag is, Rear-Admiral?"
Sky Seas shook his head. "Negative, Princess. It's certainly not the Flag of Equestria, and it's not a flag of any other nation that I recognize, but yet, it's also not the Black Baron's Flag, so I don't know who's flag it is."
"And have any more scouting teams been sent out to get a closer look at the warship?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"That's also a negative, Rainbow Dash. Our scouts chased the flying-machine to the edge of Fillydelphia Harbor, but not beyond it, and no teams have been sent to get a closer look at the warship. We don't want any unnecessary deaths, as we still do not know what we're dealing with here."
Rainbow then looked at Twilight, who shut that down before she could even open her mouth.
"No! Absolutely not Rainbow Dash! You are NOT going out there! Why can you never use your head in situations like this?!"
"Yeah, are you tryin' to start a war, Sugarcube? Because just flying out there unannounced is how you start a war!" Applejack scolded.
"Flying out there unannounced?! THEY just decided to pop in here unannounced, AND they haven't responded to any attempts at communication! They should have been blown out of the water already!"
"Which they would have been if they had opened fire on the city!" Sky Seas now got involved, and his tone was that of a drill-sergeant. "Need I remind you, Miss Rainbow that we have enough firepower with our shore batteries alone to level a conventional invasion fleet at 10 miles, and more than enough to deal with that single unknown warship at 7 miles! Think for a moment; if I genuinely believed that that warship was an immediate and present danger, don't you think that I already would have taken serious action against it? It's ONLY still floating because I have allowed it to! Now you need to remember your place here, Miss Rainbow. I am in charge of this operation, not you! Now have a seat!" (Sky Seas knew full well that there were no seats up on the roof, but he hoped that he got his point across).
"Y-yes, Sir!" Rainbow then actually sat down on the roof!
Twilight looked at Sky Seas, and both of them had to work EXTREMELY hard to keep from bursting out laughing, as did Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, and even Fluttershy. It was pretty clear that Rainbow had just been shown who was the boss, and by an Equestrian Navy Rear-Admiral no less! Rainbow Dash had never felt more embarrassed than she did right at that moment, and used her wings to hide her face. However, this hilarious scene was soon to be interrupted.
"Rear-Admiral!" Captain Hammer suddenly came running up onto the roof.
"What is it, Captain?"
"Sir, the radio techs have reestablished contact with the unknown warship! Their radio went down due to faulty vacuum tubes on their end, but now they're back, and the captain of the warship is waiting to speak to you!"
When they heard that, the eyes of everypony and Spike went wide.
"You've reestablished contact with the unknown warship, and the captain of said warship is waiting to speak to me?"
"Yes, Sir."
Sky Seas then began to follow Captain Hammer all the way to the building where the radios were, followed closely by the Mane 6 and Spike. They too wanted to be there for this First Contact meeting, and they hoped to finally be able to get answers to all of their questions.
Around the same time that the train carrying the Mane 6 and Spike pulled into the train station in Fillydelphia, the engineers on the Texas were still trying to figure out what was wrong with the radio. They had to remove each individual vacuum tube, test it with the tube tester, and then either put it back where they got it, or if it was burned out, replace it. So far, only two tubes were bad, but the radio still wasn't working, which meant that there were at least one or two more busted tubes.
"What's the status down there?" Captain Bob asked from the officer's mess where he and I were still looking over the videos and photos. "Is it ready for use yet?"
"It should be ready soon, Captain. We have about 10 more tubes to check, and at least one of those tubes is bad, so once we replace it/them, the radio should be working again."
"Ok, but please hurry. Every minute we're radio silent is another minute that we're creeping closer and closer to possible war that could have been avoided."
"We know, Sir. Give us another 10 minutes or so."
It actually took another 15 minutes, but once the last tube was checked, found to be bad, replaced, and then the whole radio was fully put back together, it seemed to be working again. "The radio looks good captain, we're about to start transmitting again now."
"Ok, I'm on my way. Start transmitting, and see if you can raise them again."
"Yes, Sir." Walt, the engineer who had been at the radio before it went down then took his seat again, and once the radio was turned back on, he was about to start transmitting on the same frequency as before, but then a message came through.
"Attention unknown warship, attention unknown warship. This is the radio operations center at the Fillydelphia Naval Yard. You have entered the territorial waters of the sovereign nation of Equestria. Please identify yourself, and state your intentions, or you will be subject to the full firepower of the Equestrian Navy!"
There was a minute or so of silence while everyone was looking at each other with unease and worry, but Walt was able to compose himself, and then send a reply.
"Attention, attention. To anyone listening on this frequency at the Philadelphia Naval Yard, this is Lt. Walt Dayton onboard the American battleship USS Texas BB-35, of the US Navy. Our vessel was attacked earlier this morning, as was our scouting plane that we sent over your city. We are very much lost, and we come in peace. We also apologize for not responding sooner, but we were having trouble with our radio, due to blown out vacuum tubes. Please respond, over."
There was a pause. "USS Texas, USS Texas, we would like to speak to the captain of your vessel. Please put him on the radio."
"Certainly, but for our records, could you please identify yourselves, and tell us where we are?" As he was saying this, Walt made the motions for one of the engineers to make sure that Captain Bob was close to the radio room.
"I am Lt. Green Glade of the Equestrian Navy, stationed at the radio operations center at the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, here in the city of Fillydelphia, part of the sovereign nation of Equestria."
When the voice on the other end of the radio said that, everyone in the Texas's radio room was stunned. Were they really just this lost, or were they not anywhere near Earth anymore? How could that be Philadelphia? And who names their kid "Green Glade"?
As they were still contemplating this though, Captain Bob came into the radio room, and picked up a radio headset. "Hello Lt. Green Glade, this is Captain Robert Hogan, Commanding Officer of the USS Texas. I was informed that you wanted to speak to me."
"Yes, Captain, I certainly did. You, your crew, your vessel, and the crews of the 3 smaller vessels are trespassing in Equestrian territorial waters, refused to identify yourselves when asked repeatedly, fired a shot at our shoreline, and sent a flying-machine over our city. These are very serious offenses, and could carry serious punishments if we so choose to take action. Please state your intentions."
"Lt Green Glade, we're nothing more than hopelessly lost. We were traveling from Mobile, Alabama, back to our native Texas, or more specifically, the coastal city of Galveston, when we were caught in a storm, and woke up in a calm sea. We were still trying to get home, but after hours of traveling, we ended up off your coast. You then fired a shot, which we responded to in kind, but it was a warning shot only. Now then, I request to speak to a superior officer, as we now wish to open direct lines of communications now that our radio is repaired to hopefully calm this situation down. We come in peace, and have no quarrels with you."
There was a few moments of silence. "Request granted. We will have Rear-Admiral Sky Seas on the radio momentarily."
After this, Lt. Green Glade sent a messenger to inform Captain Hammer, who in turn sent word to Sky Seas that he was needed immediately at the radio operations center, as contact had been made with the unknown warship, and that the vessel's captain was standing by to talk to him.
When Sky Seas arrived at the radio operations center, he picked up a headset. "This is Rear-Admiral Sky Seas of the Equestrian Navy, Commanding Officer of the Fillydelphia Naval Yard. Am I speaking to the captain of the warship off my coast?"
"Yes, Sir. As I told Lt. Green Glade, I am Captain Robert Hogan of the US Navy, the Commanding Officer of the battleship USS Texas BB-35 of the US Navy. We did not intend to trespass into the territorial waters of the nation of Equestria, and are simply hopelessly lost. Our intentions are entirely peaceful."
"And why did your ship fire on us, Captain Hogan? Were you sent by the Black Baron?"
"Well, Rear-Admiral, you fired a shot at my vessel first, so we fired a warning shot in kind, and went to General Quarters. And no, we were not sent by this 'Black Baron' that you speak of. We know of no such person to begin with."
"Noted for the records. And why did you send a flying-machine over Equestrian Airspace, Captain? That is also a serious offence."
"I sent out my ship's Kingfisher Seaplane to scout the city from the air, as we needed a better idea of what we were dealing with. We've been out of contact with anyone from the US Navy, the US Coast Guard, or anyone on the US Mainland for hours and hours, even though we kept reaching out. We also tried to contact anyone in your city, but we first had difficulties matching any frequencies, and then we had troubles with our radio. However, now that I am speaking with you, Rear-Admiral, I sincerely hope that we can deescalate this situation. We're not here for conquest, bloodshed, or anything out of the ordinary. All we want are directions for how to get back to Texas. That is assuming of course that we're still on good old Planet Earth, which let's face it, we're probably not, are we?"
Everypony in the radio room blinked a few times. Where was this "US", or "Texas" that the captain of the battleship spoke of? Were they really from another planet, and if so, what kind of creatures were they? And most importantly, it seemed that the Ponies now finally had an answer as to why the warship was at Condition Green until the warning shot was fired at them; they thought that they were in their home territory.
"No, Captain Hogan, I don't think that you're anywhere near where you've come from. Like Lt. Green Glade told you, you're off the coast of the City of Fillydelphia, of the nation of Equestria, on the planet Equus. We do not know of any 'US', or 'Texas' unfortunately. Though while we are on the topic of deescalation, I would like to propose a meeting between us held at the Fillydelphia Naval Yard. During this meeting, I hope that we can come to terms with our predicament, and come to a peaceful resolution. If your intentions truly are peaceful, then we do not wish to harm you, but over the radio just isn't enough. We need to meet face to face."
"I understand Rear-Admiral. Please give me a moment to discuss a few things with my crew. This is a LOT to take in all at once."
"Take your time, Captain Hogan."
Once he was off the radio, Captain Bob turned to the others in the room, who were all just as stunned and perplexed as he was. They weren't on Earth anymore? They'd been trespassing without realizing it? And now this new nation wanted to meet with Captain Bob, but would he accept their invitation? Captain Bob then got on the ship's intercom.
"Attention all hands on the Texas, this is your Captain speaking. As of a few minutes ago, we successfully made contact with the unknown city, which appears to be called 'Philadelphia', though it is NOT the Philly from back home, as this city is part of the nation of Equestria, on the planet Equus. Boys, our initial fears were correct, we're NOT anywhere near Texas anymore, nor anywhere on Earth for that matter. This is uncharted territory, however, the Equestrians seem to want to talk, so a small landing party will be sent out to meet Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, while the rest of us prepare to blow the Equestrians out of the water if they try anything stupid! Now then, I would like Ensign Gardner to come to the Radio Room to speak with me please. All other hands remain where you are. This is about to start getting really interesting, as we truly are looking at a First Contact situation here."
When they all heard that, everyone on the Texas was beyond stunned. They weren't on Earth, but had somehow been transported to another world? How was that possible, and how were they ever going to get back home? Though it did explain why they were unable to contact anyone in the US Navy, Us Coast Guard, or anyone on the US Mainland; they were God-knows how many miles outside of contact range! Once I was in the radio room a few minutes later, Captain Bob got back on the radio again.
"Rear-Admiral, I've talked it over with my crew, and we accept your invitation for a meeting, however, I will be unable to attend. In my stead, I'm sending my XO, Ensign David Garner, as well as a small force of 8 men under his command. I have to remain behind to oversee my ship, and make sure that no tragedies befall the landing party. I take the safety of my crew VERY seriously."
"I understand, Captain Hogan. When can we expect the landing party to arrive?"
"If you've been watching my ship as intently as I think that you have been, you'll see two rafts lowered over the starboard side of the Texas here in about 10 minutes, and those inside them will then make their way towards shore. I hope that this meeting will be very beneficial to both sides, and I hope that this can be resolved."
"Me too, Captain. My Subordinate, Captain Hammer, will be awaiting their arrival with a small force of 8 under his command, and once they have arrived safely, then I will join the proceedings."
"Roger that, Rear-Admiral."
After I heard what Captain Bob had just told the Rear-Admiral about what I was about to do, I was shocked and horrified. What if we were walking right into a trap? I mean yes, this is why the Texas was being kept on Red-Alert status, and Captain Bob himself was not attending the meeting, but what if it was still a trap? It would be a minimum of 9 deaths for the landing party, and then the Texas having a field day blowing up the city with her main and secondary guns, but still, I didn't want to die, and neither did anyone else, so we were all apprehensive.
Eventually, 8 others were selected to go with me to Fillydelphia, nets were lowered over the starboard side of the ship, and we all climbed down into 2 rafts that had been lowered as well. Luckily the rafts did have motors on them, but they were very old, and hard to start up. Once we got them going though, we began our 7 mile journey to the city. All of us were wearing helmets, as well as improvised flack-vests (basically WW2-era lifejackets that probably wouldn't offer too much protection), and we were all armed. Everything from pistols, to rifles, to even 3 guys carrying Thompson SMG's that were found in the Texas's armory! We were NOT taking this lying down, and if we were going down, we were definitely going to be taking more than a few of them with us!
"I didn't ask for this mission", I thought as we continued on our way, "But it's my duty to lead these men. I may only be an Ensign, and with the US Naval Reserves, but I'm the XO of the Texas, and I'm gonna do this mission to the best of my ability, and hopefully finally deescalate this situation."
The closer and closer that we got to the shoreline, the more nervous and apprehensive we became. Once we got within 2 miles, we were suddenly surrounded by what we guessed were the same Pegasai that had attacked the Kingfisher. They were circling around overhead, almost like buzzards.
"Well, that sure ain't ominous as hell." I heard someone mutter.
"Where do we make landfall, Sir?" Someone asked me.
I then scouted the shoreline with my binoculars, and it was just then that I realized that we had no idea where we were supposed to go. However, I then spotted a small sandy beach near what appeared to be a small slope leading up to the main naval base, perhaps 25 yards from the nearest pier, and below one of the shore batteries.
"Right there. Steer us towards that tiny beach right there. We'll disembark there."
"Roger that, Sir." One of the guys in my boat who had a portable radio then radioed over to the other raft to steer towards the sandy beach.
Maybe a minute later, we reached the beach, the guy operating the engine and the tiller cut the engine, and our raft, and the other raft, coasted up to the beach, before coming to a stop in the sand as the waves ebbed around it. I looked around, and saw a number of those Pegasai land around us with their weapons drawn, and that we were being approached by what appeared to be another Pegasus, but he seemed to be an officer, as he was wearing an officer's uniform, and he was surrounded by MP's.
"Erm...all ashore!" I told those around me, and after I hopped out of the raft, becoming the first Human ever to set foot on another world, the rest all got out of the rafts, splashed into the surf a bit, and then walked up onto the beach after me. We also all held our weapons, and I was at the head of everyone. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to say something first, but then the other officer spoke first.
"Which one of you...eh...creatures....is David Gardner, the XO of the 'USS Texas BB-35'?"
I stepped forwards. “I am, Sir. I am Ensign David Gardner, US Navy, at your service." I then saluted.
"Wait. Since when are hairless ape-looking ensigns XO's of ships? That's a lieutenant's job!"
I looked over at who had said that, and he was one of the Pegasai scouts. "You don't know how we do things down in Texas, do you?"
"Corporal! Not a good time, and VERY uncalled for!" The officer snapped at the Pegasus. He then looked back at me. "I am Captain Hammer, of the Equestrian Navy, and let me be the first to welcome you to the Fillydelphia Naval Yard. Though if you don't mind my asking....what....are you?"
"The pleasure is mine, Captain Hammer. And to answer your question, we are Humans; the dominant species on our planet, Earth. Most of our bodies are covered in flesh, and we don't have any fur, though we do have hair."
"Humans..." He then paused a bit. "Well, you're all sailors, and you seem to be at least somewhat close to us physically, so you are welcome here." He then held out his hand, and I shook it, while a few of my guys shook hands with the Pegasai scouts, and the one who called me a "hairless ape" also apologized for his comment.
"Well, apology accepted. Now then, as I'm sure you're aware, Captain Hammer, I'm here to speak with Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, and hopefully we can reach a peaceful resolution to our current predicament. I don't want any bloodshed, and I'm sure that you don't either, correct?"
"Yes, that is correct, Ensign Gardner. I hope that we can reach a peaceful resolution."
He then gestured for us to follow him, and I did so, while also telling 2 of the guys, one of whom was a radioman, to stay with the rafts, just in case. 2 of the Pegasai scouts also stayed behind, though whether this was to watch over the 2 Texas sailors to make sure that they didn't try anything funny, or just to talk to them further was unclear at the time.
"We've made it safely to shore, Captain." I informed him over the radio held by the other radioman as we started walking. "I've met with Captain Hammer, and he's taking myself, and 7 others to meet with Rear Admiral Sky Seas at the naval base. So far, First Contact seems to be going fairly well."
"That's good news, Ensign Gardner. Let me know as soon as you have something else to report."
"Will do, Captain. XO out." I then put the radio back, and continued to follow Captain Hammer, as did the rest of those with me.
We were still pretty apprehensive about this, and could only hope that the meeting with the Rear-Admiral, as well as anyone else we would soon be meeting, would go well.
Author's Note
And, that was Chapter 4.
So the Texas sent out her Kingfisher Seaplane, only to have it attacked by Pegasai scouts, and then the Texas's radio broke down, and no one in the radio room knew how vacuum tubes worked, forcing Captain Bob to send out a general call to anyone with those skills to help fix the radio. Then the Mane 6 finally arrived in Fillydelphia, and for the first time, those at the Filydelphia Naval Yard heard from the Texas and her crew, and a meeting was arranged between David, and Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, hopefully leading to cooperation between the Texas, and the Equestrian Navy.
But yet, what will happen now? How will the meeting with the Rear-Admiral go? How will the Texas sailors react to the Mane 6, as well as Twilight loosing her mind at wanting to study every last detail of them? Will the Texas crew find a way to go back to Texas, or are they stuck in Equestria for a while? Will the Texas crew ever get to meet Celestia and Luna? What will happen when David meets Princess Luna? And more importantly, when will more information about the Black Baron be released, and he'll make his first appearance in the story? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned and I'll tell you!
In the meantime, as always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story is always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 5!
ScarFox out for now!
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Chapter 5: Texas Conferences, and Revelations
As my group of 6 and I continued to follow along behind Captain Hammer and his group of Pegasai Scouts and MP's, I still had this uneasy feeling that we could be walking right into a trap. Yes, if there was a trap the Texas would take vengeance, but what about the 9 of us sent ashore? We could all die, or be held as POW's/used as bargaining chips, and that would leave Captain Bob without his XO. In that moment, I genuinely began to wonder if Captain Bob was still fit for command. Yes, he was only 58, but he'd been out of the Navy for a while, and had been in the oil industry before taking a quick break to work on the Texas. Now he was in command of the ship, and had sent his XO, and 8 other men to an unknown beach to meet with Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, who could very well be an enemy, instead of meeting in a neutral spot between the Texas and the shore, such as on one of the tugboats.
"If this doesn't pan out, and I manage to escape alive, I'm gonna remove him from command myself." I thought angrily. "I mean.....I don't hate the guy by any stretch of the imagination, heck, I look up to him as a great leader just like the rest, but his decision to send us out here is gonna get someone killed! But on the other hand, if it does pan out, and we all get out of this alive, I'll still put in a few stern words about this situation. I may only be an Ensign in the US Naval Reserves, but even I can see that this is a potentially dangerous move."
To try and lighten the mood, and possibly probe for more information, I began to talk to Captain Hammer. "So, how long have you been in the Equestrian Navy?"
He smiled. "Well, I'm 36 now, and I joined the Navy when I was 24 once I'd graduated college, so about 10 years now. I've been at the Filly Naval Yard for about 4 years now, though at more of a desk job. I'm STILL waiting for a shipboard position to open up so that I can take command of a vessel, but there haven't been any, and still won't be for another few months while more ships are being built. And you?"
I sighed. "I've been in the Navy for a few years now. I joined when I was 20, though at the same time I was also trying to finish my 4-year degree. Once I did, I became an Ensign, and my first deployment was on the Texas, and so far, I've been getting WAY more than what I've bargained for!" (I didn't mention that I was only in the Naval Reserves, as I wanted to make it look like I was a bit more experienced than I actually was).
I also asked a question that finally cleared something up. "And Captain, how do you spell the name of this city? Back home in my home nation of America, we also have a 'Philadelphia', but I have the feeling that your's is spelled differently."
He looked at me suspiciously. "Wait. You said that your home nation was the 'US'."
"It is. Its full proper name is the 'United States of America', often shortened to 'America', 'USA', or just 'US'."
Captain Hammer's face softened. "Oh. I guess that that makes sense. I'll have to ask more about that in a few minutes, but 'Fillydelphia' is spelled F-I-L-L-Y-D-E-L-P-H-I-A. How's your city spelled?"
I was surprised. "Ours is spelled P-H-I-L-A-D-E-L-P-H-I-A."
"Hmm. So it appears that while we share a 'Delphia', our respective nations disagree on the 'Filly/Philly' part. And where is your city located?"
I thought for a second. "It's located on our nation's East Coast, though a bit inland, and along the Delaware River. It's not directly on the coast like your city."
Captain Hammer and I continued to talk as we walked. I explained a bit more about how the US was broken up into 50 States, and that it was controlled by a democratically-elected President, and a Congress, and he told me a bit more about Equestria, and how it was ruled over by 2 Diarch Princesses. We learned a lot from each other during our conversation, and I could only hope that I would live long enough to share this information with others on the Texas.
Eventually, we were a ways away from the little beach where we landed, and were walking towards what appeared to be an outdoor sitting area near what I guessed was a command building of some sort. There was a table set up with chairs on both sides of it, and it was surrounded by MP's, and other Equestrian sailors. As we continued to walk towards it, the rest of the Texas crew and I were still looking around in wonder. All around us we saw not only Pegasai, but also Unicorns, and what looked to be Ponies with neither wings nor horns, which Captain Hammer identified as "Earth-Ponies", and said that their skill was immense strength.
"It feels like we're walking through the pages of a history book." One of my guys said in wonder.
"Yeah, no kidding, Caleb. It's clear we ain't in Texas no more, but dang! This is one heck of an amazing naval base! Heck, they've even got actual BATTLESHIPS here!" He was pointing to a pier where what appeared to be an Indiana-Class Battleship was moored.
"That would be the ENS Destiny, my good Texas Sailor." Captain Hammer informed him. "She's been in service for almost a decade now, and these are our most powerful warships here at the Fillydelphia Naval Yard. However, these aren't as powerful as they get. If you think that the battleships here are impressive, you should see the Sea-Knight, and Seaboard-Class Battleships up in our sister naval bases in Manehattan and Baltimare!"
In my head, I ventured a guess that those other classes of battleships translated over into the US Kearsarge-Class, and Illinois-Class respectively, though they also could have been like the earlier USS Iowa BB-4, or even of the later Maine or Virginia-Class, but I wasn't sure, and may never be able to find out, so I had to leave it at guesswork for the time being.
While I was still pondering this, we reached the table where the meeting would be held, and were told to sit. We did so, while Captain Hammer and some of the Pegasai scouts took seats on the opposite side of the table, and the MP's remained standing. All of my guys still had their weapons close at hand, or still in their hands, and the group's radioman sat next to me so that I could report to Captain Bob when necessary.
"Yes, we made it to the Naval Base just fine, Captain. We're sitting at an outdoor table outside of a command building; us on one side of the table, and the Ponies on the other. I'm sitting across from Captain Hammer, and it appears that the Rear-Admiral himself is coming over to the table. But still keep the kettles warm. We still might have some need for some good ol' Texas coffee here before too long."
Captain Bob understood my coded phrase about keeping the guns manned and ready. "Understood, Ensign. And a few of the guys are still taking videos and pictures, right?"
I looked over, and I saw 2 others in my group holding cameras. "Yep, they've got them. Is the video feed coming through yet?"
"Yes, but the signal isn't the best. It's somewhat grainy, and laggy, but it's better than nothing."
"Roger that. And here comes the Rear-Admiral." I then put the radio down, and Captain Bob went back to watching the live video feed from a laptop with a few other officers on the Texas.
When the Rear-Admiral approached the table, all of my guys, and the Ponies stood up, though while they saluted him, we did not. He was not our superior officer, however, if he saluted us, we would salute back, and if he offered his hand, we would shake it. I saw that he was an older Pegasus stallion with white fur, a green and black mane cut somewhat short, and purple eyes, wearing a dark blue Navy officer's uniform with the insignia of a rear-admiral. He saluted when he saw us, and we did salute back, though as I did so, I saw that in addition to several sailors behind him, there was also a group of 6 mares, as well as what appeared to be a small Dragon, but they weren't dressed like sailors, and were instead wearing normal civilian clothing.
"I wonder who they are, and what they're doing here." I thought. "Are they family of the Rear-Admiral?"
Before I could ponder this any further though, the Rear-Admiral spoke. "Greetings, sailors of the US Battleship 'USS Texas BB-35'. My name is Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, and like Captain Hammer, I would like to welcome all of you to Equestria, as well as the Fillydelphia Naval Yard. I only wish that our meeting could be under more favorable circumstances. Now then, which one of you is the Texas's XO?"
I raised my hand. "I am, Sir. Ensign David Gardner, USS Texas, US Navy."
The Rear-Admiral turned to me. "Hmm. Eh, no offense Ensign Gardner....I was just expecting someone a little bit older, and I always thought that being an XO was a lieutenant's job."
I smiled a bit. "Eh, none taken, Rear-Admiral. And normally it is, however, my duties on the Texas are a special case. She was my first at-sea assignment, and I was being tested as her XO to see if I was worthy of the rank of lieutenant or not. As far as I know, I seem to be doing well in my role as her XO, and I'll hopefully find out soon if I'm ready or not."
"Oh. I see. Well that would certainly explain a few things. And I know that you are from the 'US', but what part of it?"
I smiled proudly. "Well, Sir, myself, and everyone else on the Texas come from a VERY special place in the Southern US, known as the 'Great State of Texas', from which our ship was named. Every single one of us were born and raised there, though we all came from different parts of it. I for instance came from the coastal city of Corpus Christi."
"And you believed that Fillydelphia was the coast of this 'Great State of Texas'?"
"Yes, Sir. As I told Captain Hammer, and as Captain Hogan told you over the radio, we come here in peace. We have no quarrels with you, and are not here for war, or conquest. We simply got lost in a storm while trying to make our way back home, and somehow wound up here. That's what I sincerely hope that this meeting can accomplish today; an end to hostilities before they begin, or escalate any further. All we want is to be able to go back to Texas, and we'll leave you all be."
The Rear-Admiral seemed to be pondering this deeply. To buy himself a bit more time to think, he asked another question. "And if you do not mind my asking, Ensign Gardner, what is your species?"
"No, Sir, I don't mind at all. We're Humans, which is the most dominant, and most advanced species on our planet, Earth. We were once at the bottom of the food chain, but over the course of millennia, we crafted weapons and tools, banded together, and slowly rose to the top of the food chain, and now we fight to remain there, though unfortunately, Human nature is so warlike, and we're always looking for a fight with somebody. I guess that that's why we invented weapons before any other species did. Thankfully though, some of us learned to keep our warlike nature in check, and built instead of destroyed, enabling Human Civilization to thrive."
During the course of my little speech about Humans, some of the guys gave me terrified looks. I had just admitted that Humans were the most warlike species on our planet, and that we were always looking for a fight......right after I said that we came in peace. Had I just derailed the talks? Even I myself realized that I may have screwed up big time with what I said, but I was hoping that the Ponies would take the whole "some of us learned to keep our warlike nature in check, and built instead of destroyed" part of it to heart, and not judge us right off the bat.
"I see. Well, Ensign Gardner, I need to take some time to speak with Captain Hammer, as well as other officers as we discuss what we've seen of you so far, and where to go from here. In the meantime, you can converse with Princess Twilight, as well as the other Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and their Dragon friend Spike. They'll be able to find out your true motives quickly enough."
The Rear-Admiral then took his leave, as did Captain Hammer, and then the 6 mares and the Dragon that I'd spotted earlier began to come over to the table, and now they sat opposite of all of us. 2 of them, a blue Pegasus mare with a rainbow-colored mane and tail, and an orange mare with a blonde mane and tail were glaring at us, a Pegasus with a pink mane and tail looked terrified of us, a pink mare with a curly pink mane and tail looked like she either was going to explode, or she really had to use the bathroom, a purple mare with a purple mane, who I also noticed had both wings and a horn on her forehead, and the Dragon seemed to be studying us intently, while the last mare, a Unicorn mare with white fur, and a curly purple mane and tail was looking more intently at our uniforms than us.
"Oh man." I thought to myself as I tried to keep all my emotions in check. "What the heck have I just gotten all of us into?"
Yes, what indeed did I just get us all into? For the next unknown amount of time, I and all the rest were being bombarded with more questions that we knew what to do with, while at the same time also fending off some of the mares who either didn't seem to know what personal space was, or they just didn't care.
From what I could piece together from the few milliseconds that my brain could function normally without exploding, the 2 mares without wings or horns (which I learned were called "Earth-Ponies"), were Pinkie Pie and Applejack, the 2 Pegasai were Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, the Unicorn was Rarity, and the one with wings and a horn (which the mare herself said was called an "Alicorn"), was Twilight Sparkle, and the Dragon identified himself as Spike. However, all while I was trying to compute all of this, Pinkie was bouncing around all over the place, jumping on us, saying how excited she was to meet all of us, and she kept throwing streamers and confetti everywhere, Rarity was trying to climb all over us while she inspected our uniforms, and asked questions about them, Twilight was doing the same thing, except she wanted to know more about Humans as a species, Rainbow Dash kept getting in our faces, yelling about how Humans were dangerous, and we needed to be killed, Applejack was upset with us as well, but for getting Rainbow Dash all riled up, and for showing up without any warning, Spike wanted to know all about the Texas, and Fluttershy.....well....she just stayed behind her friends, and didn't really say anything.
Finally though, I had enough of all the chaos, and moments before I flew off the handle, and either slapped somebody, threw hands with Rainbow Dash, or choked out Rarity or Pinkie Pie, I finally slammed my hands down onto the table in front of me.
"ENOUGH!!!!!!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs.
After my outburst, not only the table, but the entire area around the base that it was in went completely dead-silent. It was so quiet that aside from the distant sounds of the ocean, and some seagulls overhead, you could have heard a pin drop. All eyes were on me, and everyone and everypony looked scared out of their minds.
I then took a deep breath, and looked at everyone and everypony at the table. "Enough, please! This meeting won't be getting ANYWHERE if we're all talking over each other, yelling over each other, trying to throw hands, bouncing around like a maniac, constantly inspecting our uniforms without asking permission from the person who's wearing it, poking and prodding the person who's trying to answer all your questions, asking a million questions about our ship, the whole shebang! However, if we all calm down, take a seat, and start this over from the top, and with everyone talking one at a time, or a few at a time if need be, I think that maybe we can get somewhere. First though, I think that we should restart with proper introductions."
I then saluted. "Hello, my name is David Gardner. I'm a US Navy Ensign, and the XO, of the USS Texas BB-35."
The other 6 guys with me also reintroduced themselves. Once they were finished, it was the Ponies's turn.
"Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm the Princess of Friendship, and the bearer of the Element of Magic, one of the Elements of Harmony."
"Hello, Darlings, my name is Rarity. I'm the Bearer of the Element of Generosity, owner of the Carousel Boutique, and a fashionista extraordinaire!" She then gestured down to the dress she was wearing, which was indeed very stunning. "And I must say, your uniforms are absolutely stunning, Darlings! Such a nice shade of navy blue!"
"Hi everypony! I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm the Bearer of the Element of Laughter, I work at Sugarcube Corner, and I love to bake! Ooh, ooh, ooh! And I REALLY love parties! I'm gonna have to throw all of you a 'Welcome to Equestria!' Party!" Pinkie then pulled a party cannon seemingly out of thin air, and blasted confetti everywhere with it.
I looked at Twilight in confusion, and she responded with a quick, "You'll get used to Pinkie's antics pretty quickly. Even I myself have long ago given up trying to explain how she does anything, including breaking the Laws of Physics!"
"Oh.....well ok then."
The next mare then took her turn. "Howdy, Y'all, Mah name's Applejack! I'm the bearer of the Element of Honesty, and I work on Sweet Apple Acres, the best apple farm in all of Equestria! I've lived there my whole life, and so has some of the rest of my family. Yee-haw!" She then whipped off her Stetson cowboy hat, flung it around for a moment, and then placed it back on her head.
"Aw yeah, my turn! The name's Rainbow Dash, and I'm the fastest flyer in all of Equestria! I'm also a soon-to-be Wonderbolt, and the bearer of the Element of Loyalty. I'm also the most AWESOME-EST Pony in all of Equestria!" Dash yelled as she flew a few loops above the table.
We all then looked at the other Pegasus, Fluttershy, who seemed really shy.
"Oh....uh......M-my name is F-Fluttershy. N-nice to meet you all. I'm.....I'm the Bearer of the Element of Kindness, and I love to take care of animals."
"Really?" One of my guys asked, trying to make her feel a bit more at ease. "What kind of animals?"
"All kinds." Fluttershy replied. "From birds, to bears, to insects, and all others in between. There's hardly an animal in all of Equestria that I haven't seen before."
"Wow, that's amazing."
"And I'm Spike." The Dragon finished. "I'm Twilight's assistant, and a lover of war stories, Orcs and Ogres RPG, and comic books. I'm not an Element Bearer, but I'm a close second!"
I then looked at Twilight again. "And if you don't mind my asking, Twilight, what exactly are the Elements of Harmony? I know that you bear them, but what exactly are they?"
Twilight smiled. "No, I don't mind at all. The Elements of Harmony are a collection of 6 Elements that were created from the Tree of Harmony way back when Equestria was very young.........."
".............And after we used them to defeat Nightmare Moon, and later Discord, Chrysalis, and Tirek, we hoped that we wouldn't have to use them again, but we feared that we would when your ship arrived off the coast of Fillydelphia, Ensign Gardner." Twilight finally finished.
I quickly glanced at my other guys, and then back at Twilight. She'd been droning on and on about the Elements of Harmony, and while I still didn't fully understand them, I did get the basics.
"Well, thank you for the explanation, Twilight. And you can just call me 'David'. And now that we've gotten the introductions out of the way, is there anything else that you guys would like to know? I know you had a LOT of questions for all of us, so now we can take the time to answer them."
The Girls and Spike then got all of their questions ready, and we all got ready to answer them.
I'm not sure how much time passed after this point, but none of us noticed, as we were all in such deep discussions. Rarity got to learn all she wanted to know about our uniforms, as well as inspecting them up close with permission from those wearing them, and she also got to examine our life jackets, shoes, and metal helmets.
"So fascinating, Darlings. They're like Equestrian Navy uniforms, but yet they have their own flare to them too. It's so exotic! But you said that these uniforms are no longer the standard for the US Navy?"
I nodded. "Yes, that is the case, Rarity, at least to some degree. Sometimes updated versions of what we're wearing right now are still worn for formal events, but uniforms like this haven't really been fashionable since WW2, which ended almost 75 years ago. Which is kind of a shame, as these uniforms were so cool. But yet, I can see their impracticality at times, as they are wool, and wouldn't fit so well in a hot/tropical environment, such as the Pacific during WW2 when the Texas served out her final years in service. This is why different, and much lighter/more breathable uniforms were worn." I then went on to describe what those uniforms looked like.
"Yes, that is a shame, David, but I can see why they weren't used all the time. But with all of the information I've written down today, I'll simply have to develop a new clothing line from it! I'll call it the 'Texas Line', after all of you!"
Fluttershy got to learn a lot about the animals that we had back on Earth, a lot of which seemed to be very similar to what she was used to there in Equestria.
"And the Texas really did have mascot animals at some points in her service career?" She asked.
"Yes, that is the case, Fluttershy. Details are a bit sparse, but it appears that over the course of Texas's service career, a number of animals were her mascots, with them being a few dogs, a cat or two, a goat, and even a bear cub! However, the practice of animal mascots was phased out during the 1920's, as there aren't anymore records of Texas having an animal mascot after that point."
"And does she have a mascot now?"
I shook my head. "No, she does not. We did briefly consider having a mascot animal, but ultimately decided against it, as it didn't make sense for the mission at hand."
Fluttershy did seem disappointed, but she understood our reasoning for not having a mascot.
Twilight also eagerly soaked up all of the information that we gave her regarding Earth, Humans, as well as some of our history.
"Thank you SO MUCH for all of this information! It'll take me a while to fully go over it all, and even when I have, I'll most likely still have a lot of questions that I'll have to come back to you for answers for, but in the meantime, I'll still have the information at hand to look over, and I'm really going to enjoy that!"
I smiled. "You're welcome, Twilight. I'm glad that we could provide you with such good information about ourselves, our species, and where we came from."
We also got apologies from Rainbow Dash, as well as Applejack for yelling at us, and trying to fight us.
"Yeah....sorry for yelling at you all, and trying to throw hands like that. It's just...well....whenever there's a threat to Equestria, I've always been the one to rush out to try and fight it first, and that's led to some pretty painful lessons in not only patience, but also working with a team to deal with a problem. And when you guys just showed up out of the blue with your warship, and in a threatening manner, not to mention your mentioning that Humans are so warlike, David, that kinda set me off. Can you forgive me for being so rash?"
I then looked at the other 6 guys, and they all nodded, and said that they could. I then looked back at Rainbow Dash. "Yes, I think that we can, Rainbow Dash. We Texans may be a bit easy to rile up as well, but we're also known to be forgiving towards those who deserve it, and you seem to deserve it, so we forgive you, Rainbow Dash."
"Thanks!" She then high-fived all of us, which we happily returned. "You're all so awesome! Are all Texans this cool, or is it just you all?"
We all laughed. "I dunno, but we are pretty cool!"
Applejack then spoke up. "And I'm sorry too, Y'all. I was yellin' at y'all too, and more likely than not said some things that I'm already regretting, so can you forgive me too?"
"Yes, we most certainly can, Applejack. And I meant to say this before to Rainbow Dash, but I'll say it now. If the tables had been flipped, and you showed up off the coast of Texas with a big warship, I think that we'd all be pretty pissed off too, so I can understand completely where your anger is coming from. Yes, we forgive you too."
"Yee-haw! Thanks, Partners!" She then shook hands with all of us as a thank you for forgiving her.
Next, it was Spike's turn once we were finally done explaining all that we were allowed to explain about the Texas to someone outside the US Navy.
"Wow, thanks for sharing all this information, Guys. Your ship sounds so cool! Even though she's the last Dreadnought-Era Battleship on Earth, and her 14in guns are out of date there, the same can't be said here in Equestria, as she's bigger, more heavily armored, has bigger guns, not to mention her radar, and....fire-control radar was it? Whatever you guys use to track targets before you shoot at them."
I nodded. "Yeah, that's fire-control radar. And you're welcome, Spike. It's nice to be able to talk to someone outside the US Navy, and Navy enthusiasts who not only understands warship specs like this, but also appreciates them as they deserve to be appreciated."
"I could say the same thing about some of the comic books in my comic collection. You guys should see it sometime, it's pretty awesome!"
"Maybe some other time, Spike." Twilight broke in. "We still need to focus on the matter at hand."
Spike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, Twilight."
"Maybe once this is all over, then we can see your comic book collection, Spike." One of the other guys added.
Spike was maybe about to say something, but before he could, there suddenly came the sound of a party-cannon exploding, and before any of us knew what hit us, we were hit with streamers and confetti.
"SURPRISE!!!!" It's time for your 'Welcome to Equestria!' Party!" Pinkie yelled.
Once I finally got all of the confetti out of my face, I looked around us, and to say that my jaw dropped would be the understatement of the century. Where before there had just been a large wooden table that we were all sitting around, now not only that table, but the entire area close to it was completely decorated with party streamers, balloons, there was a huge cake on the table with a picture of the Texas on it, as well as plates for all of us to eat the cake on, cups for each of us filled with punch, as well as a large "Welcome to Equestria Texas Crew!" banner behind us, complete with not only the faces of the 7 of us at the table, but the faces of the 2 sailors who were still sitting back on the beach with the rafts. My mind was still in shock. How could Pinkie have POSSIBLY decorated this entire table with such oddly-specific decorations in a span of literally less than 3 seconds?
I looked at Twilight, but once again, all she could say was, "It's Pinkie Pie. Don't question it." Though this time she added. "Enjoy the Party. She really worked hard to set this up for you all."
I then looked at the cake. For a fleeting instant, I was afraid that it was poisoned, and I turned to warn the others, only to be greeted by the sight of them eating slices of the cake that Pinkie cut for them, as well as Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Spike, and Rarity also eating slices from that same cake.
"Well, if they're eating it too, then I guess that it's safe." I thought. I then ate my slice of cake, as did Twilight and Fluttershy. When I did, I instantly regretted it. Why? Because eating that cake made me hate EVERY other cake that I'd ever eaten back on Earth, because NONE OF THEM, not even the cakes that my Mom made on occasion, could even REMOTELY compare to how good that one tasted!
"Holy cow, Pinkie. What the heck did you put in this cake to make it taste so good?!"
Pinkie giggled. "Sorry, Guys, it's a secret! But I'm glad that you all like it though."
"This must have taken a lot of work to prepare for, so you have my thanks, Pinkie Pie, as well as the thanks of the rest of us." I then looked at the other 6 Texas Crew at the table. "Right, Guys?"
"Yeah!" They all agreed. "Thanks for the cake, the punch, and the party, Pinkie Pie!"
Pinkie giggled again. "Glad that you all liked it, Guys! And don't worry, I'm saving 2 pieces of cake, and 2 glasses of punch for your other two crew that you left at the rafts."
"Thank you for that too, Pinkie Pie. I know that they'll really appreciate that."
As we all continued eating, we kept talking about various things, and all the while, I was getting the feeling that the more we interacted with the Ponies, the more the situation at hand was cooling down, and the truth that we really were just lost was becoming more believable. I was hoping to find that I was proven right soon.
Eventually, Rear-Admiral Sky Seas and Captain Hammer came back to the table, though instead of talking to us, they instead quietly asked Twilight if she would speak with them for a moment. Twilight then left the table, leaving the rest of us wondering what was going to happen next.
"What's going to happen, Sir?" The sailor to my right whispered.
"I'm not sure." I whispered back. "If I had to guess though, I'd say that Princess Twilight, and the Rear-Admiral are comparing their notes about us. I also have a feeling that the Rear-Admiral, and Captain Hammer were watching our interactions with Princess Twilight and the Elements very closely, so as to try and determine our true motives, while Princess Twilight and the Elements were doing the same from the inside. Now they're comparing notes, and our futures ride on what happens next."
"Let's hope that this situation cools down permanently." Someone else whispered.
"Yeah, me too. I think that we all do." Just to be safe, I radioed the 2 sailors that we'd left with the rafts, and they confirmed that they were still alive and well.
"Yes, we're doing fine, Sir. And be sure to tell Miss Pinkie that we really enjoyed her cake and punch. They were phenomenal!"
"I'll be sure to do that." I then looked up, and saw Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, Captain Hammer, and Princess Twilight returning to the table. "I have to go, the Ponies are returning to the table."
"Roger that, Sir."
I then put down the radio, as Princess Twilight took her seat, and Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, as well as Captain Hammer, and other Equestrian Naval officers stood behind the table, seemingly waiting for the Rear-Admiral to speak.
The Rear-Admiral then looked at all of us. "Ensign Gardner, other sailors of the USS Texas?"
"Yes, Sir?" I asked, a slight hint of nervousness in my voice.
"After much deliberation, discussions, and watching your interactions with Princess Twilight and the Elements, we have reached a consensus about you, as well as your motives."
"And what have you all decided, Sir?"
The Rear-Admiral remained silent for a few moments longer. Then he looked first at me, and then at the rest of us.
"We have decided.......that you have been telling us the truth, and that you really are exactly as you have said that you are, and that you are not a threat to Equestria. You were simply swept up in a storm, and somehow transported here by mistake. And now that we know for sure that your intentions are entirely peaceful, let me be the first to say with absolute sincerity; Ensign Gardner, other crewmen of the USS Texas, welcome to Equestria, and the City of Fillydelphia, and I sincerely hope that you enjoy your time here during your port-of-call!"
When the Rear-Admiral said that, we all looked at each other for a moment. Without realizing it, some of us had been holding our breath, and now we could finally let all that air out again. I then looked up at Rear-Admiral Sky Seas.
"The pleasure is all ours, Rear-Admiral. We're glad to be here, and that we don't have to fight anyone. However, before we do anything else, I need to speak with Captain Hogan for a moment."
"Certainly."
I then picked up my radio again. "Did you get all that, Captain?"
"Yes, loud and clear, Ensign Gardner. There were guys here on the Texas also holding their breath, but now we can all breathe normally again. It seems that we're all friends now, and I'll sound the All-Clear."
"Yeah, it was tense here too, Captain. The fates of all of us, and all those out there on the Texas were in the balance, but luckily for us, God was smiling down on us today, and we avoided any and all bloodshed, and possible conflict. And for that, I for one say that I'm entirely grateful!"
"I can agree to that!"
I then looked towards the Texas again, and using my binoculars, I could tell that the Texas's gun were being lowered, and the turrets then moved back into their original positions, while the gunners on the 5in, 3in, 40mm, and Oerlikon cannons were also standing down as the All-Clear order was given. At this same time, Rear-Admiral Sky Seas also gave the All-Clear order to the Fillydelphia Naval Base. All of the gunners of the shore batteries, and on the warships all stood down, and the lockdown order that had been in place on the City of Fillydelphia was lifted, though security around the naval base was still really tight. In that moment, everyone on both sides breathed a collective sigh of relief that we would all live to see another day, and that no fighting would have to happen.
As we were celebrating the stand-down orders, Twilight looked at me. "Ensign Gardner?"
"Hmm? Oh. Yes, Twilight?"
"I was wondering, would it be possible for us to see your ship? It's a very impressive vessel, and I would like to be able to study it."
I thought for a moment. "Well, I would have to ask Captain Bob first, but I think he'll say yes." As I reached for my radio again, there was a slight twinge at the back of my mind that said to still be cautious of the Ponies wanting to see the Texas, but at the same time, the technology on the ship wasn't too much further along than where they were right now, and if the Ponies had been hostile, I think we would have sensed something by that point. However, it never paid to be too cautious.
"Captain?" I asked over the radio.
"Yes, Ensign Gardner?"
"Sir, I have a request from Princess Twilight Sparkle. She, her 5 friends, and Dragon assistant wish to be allowed to board the Texas for a tour."
"Actually, we would just like to see the ship up close, and save the actual tour for when Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna arrive." Twilight clarified.
"Oh." I then relayed that information to Captain Bob, but then froze. "Wait. Did you say 'save the actual tour for when Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna arrive?!" I looked at Twilight in shock.
She nodded. "Yes. They've been watching this situation unfold with great interest, and are awaiting my latest report. I know that they'll be very interested in coming down here to meet you, as well as the rest of the Texas crew, and see your ship."
When the full weight of what Twilight had just said hit me, I was too stunned to say anything. Up until that moment, the highest-ranking authority figure I'd met back on Earth was my superior officer in the Naval Reserves. That had already been surpassed today by meeting Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, and then Twilight, but now to meet the Princesses who ruled all of Equestria, and then give them a tour of the Texas?! It was almost inconceivable!
Once I'd recovered, I relayed that information to Captain Bob as well. When he heard that the Princesses of Equestria were coming to visit, he too was in a state of shock.
"What?! Oh no, oh no this is bad! This is very bad! We're NOT prepared for a Royal Visit! We have to clean the ship, make everything perfect, get the crew showered, and then into their Class A's.........oh darn it all, we don't even HAVE Class A uniforms! We just have the standard Class B uniforms! I have my Dress Blues, as I'm the captain, but no one else does! Oh Sweet State of Texas, this is a DISASTER!!!"
I glanced over at Twilight to gauge her reaction to this situation, and she seemed sympathetic to our plight. She asked to speak with Captain Bob, and I handed her the radio.
"Captain Hogan, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle. I just wanted to let you know that you need not fret about such things. This is merely an unofficial visit from the Princesses to see you, and your ship; it's not an inspection. I mean, you do what you feel is necessary, but this isn't a big deal."
"NOT A BIG DEAL?!?!?! We're meeting the PRINCESSES of Equestria, and you say that it's not a big deal?!?!" Captain Bob then seemed to take a few minutes to collect himself, and calm down. If Twilight, another Princess of Equestria, said that this visit was unofficial, and therefore not a major event (relatively speaking anyway!) then he was worrying about nothing. "If you say so, Princess Twilight. Nevertheless, arrangements still need to me made, and actions carried out. I will be ready to meet you when you and your group of friends arrive here on the Texas, and then we should only need a little while longer to prepare for the Royal Visit."
Twilight agreed. "That sounds reasonable. We shall be heading to your location very shortly. I very much look forward to our meeting, Captain Hogan."
"As do I, Princess Twilight." He then put down the radio again, and I was pretty sure that he was making himself presentable for Twilight and the Element Bearer's arrival.
I then looked at Twilight, and asked if she was ready to start heading towards the waterfront again, and she said that she was, but first had to send her report to Princess Celestia. I and the other 7 Texas crew at the table, as well as the other 5 Element Bearers and Spike all patiently waited for her to finish.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
It is with great relief that I write to you that the crew of the unknown battleship are indeed friendly, and not a threat to Equestria. It turns out that they were en route to the city of 'Galveston', located in their home state of 'Texas' (their ship's namesake), in their home country of 'America', when they, and the 3 tugboats that were with them, were caught up in a fierce storm. Sometime during this storm, they were hit by a black wave, and the next thing they know, they wake up in the Celestial Sea, not knowing that they were now on Equus. They approached Fillydelphia, thinking it to be Galveston, but soon realized that it was not when the Fillydelphia shore battery fired a warning shot, which they responded to in kind, followed by them going to Red Alert Status. They believed that they were in home waters, which was indeed why they were at Condition Green until that warning shot was fired. They also wanted to know more about the city they had stumbled across, so they launched a scout craft, called a 'Kingfisher Seaplane' from the top of the ship's 3rd gun turret, and sent it to scout the City of Fillydelphia, until it was chased away by teams of Pegasai who were defending the city. Eventually, communications were established with the unknown battleship, and the ship's commanding officer, Captain Robert Hogan, identified his ship as the battleship 'USS Texas BB-35', as well as the 3 tugboats, and after some negotiations, 9 crewmen from the ship were sent to a meeting with myself, and the other 5 Element Bearers, as well as officers from the Fillydelphia Naval Base, led by the ship's second in command, Ensign David Gardner.
We learned so much from Ensign Gardner, and the rest of the Texas crew. They're of a race called 'Humans', and they are bipedal like us, and highly intelligent, but they lack fur, only having hair on their heads, and some light hair on the rest of their bodies. We also learned that they are omnivorous, and they are a warlike species, but that they only fight if threatened. I will admit, it was very intimidating at first, but as the talks progressed, it was soon clear that I think we will become great friends with these Humans during their stay here in Equestria. As of now, the Element Bearers and I will be heading out to the Texas to meet with Captain Hogan personally, and arrangements are also being made for your visit as well. The Humans seemed very surprised that you and Princess Luna were so eager to come down to Fillydelphia and meet them, but they seemed interested at the same time. I will await your reply, as well as when you will come down to meet the Humans
Your Faithful Former Student,
Twilight then gave the report to Spike, who breathed his Magic fire on it, and sent it on its way. Twilight then awaited a reply from the Princesses.
Back in Canterlot, ever since Twilight and her friends had left for Fillydelphia, and the report from Rear-Admiral Sky Seas about the encounter with the flying machine launched from the unknown warship, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had been eagerly awaiting anymore news. Eventually, Twilight sent a brief note that she and her friends had arrived safely in Fillydelphia, had met with Rear-Admiral Sky Seas and his staff, and were going to see about contacting the unknown warship again, though this had been some time ago, and there hadn't been any word from anypony in Fillydelphia since.
Princess Celestia was getting worried. "This is a bit concerning, Luna. Shouldn't we have heard from Twilight, or the Rear-Admiral by now?"
Luna thought for a moment. "If they truly were in trouble, I think that we most definitely would have heard from somepony by now. Your former student and her friends are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony after all, so I'm confident that they would have handled the problem if there was one. And even if they had been killed or captured, I know we would have heard about it by now, either by a survivor from the incident, or from the party responsible announcing their actions. No, I think that maybe progress has been made, and everypony has merely been too busy to report it yet."
Celestia sighed. "I....I feel that you are right, Luna, but still, I just wish that we could hear it for ourselves."
Luna agreed. "As do I, Dear Sister."
However, before Luna could say anything else, a message suddenly appeared in the air in front of Celestia. She then quickly caught the letter, and opened it.
"My word!"
Luna looked at her. "What is it, Sister?" She asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
"It seems that the crew of the unknown warship, the battleship 'USS Texas BB-35', are indeed friendly, and were sent here by mistake. Twilight, her friends, the Rear-Admiral, and his staff have all met with them in person, and have concluded that their intentions are peaceful."
"Can I see the message?"
Celestia handed it to her sister, who then read it over. Once she finished, Luna read the note again, before looking back up at her sister. "Well then, Sister, it seems that we must make immediate preparations for a visit to Fillydelphia to meet with the crew of the USS Texas BB-35, and get to know them better."
"Yes, I agree, Luna. Preparations must be made at once."
Then, while Luna began to give orders for her and Celestia's servants to begin immediate preparations for the Princess's trip to Fillydelphia, Celestia began to write out a reply to Twilight.
"My Dearest Twilight,
I have received your message, and both Luna and I breathed a sigh of relief when we read it, and realized that the crew of the Battleship USS Texas BB-35 were non-hostile, and were not going to be attacking Fillydelphia. Luna and I are making preparations for our trip there right now, and we will be leaving soon. We very much wish to meet with Captain Hogan, Ensign Gardner, and the rest of the ship's crew, as well as be given a tour of the ship. It should prove to be a very enlightening experience, and I hope that we can remain friends with these Humans throughout their stay in Equestria. You, your friends, Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, and his staff, all have my highest thanks for resolving this situation before it escalated into any further violence. We should be arriving in Fillydelphia by the mid-afternoon, and I will send you another message when we arrive
Your Former Mentor,
Celestia then used her Magic to send the message on its way, and then she joined Luna in supervising the packing, and other preparations for their trip to Fillydelphia.
A minute or so later in Fillydelphia, Spike burped fire, and soon a message appeared in the air in front of him, which he caught.
I turned towards the source of the noise once I heard a loud burp, and I was about to start laughing once I saw that it was Spike (yeah, I still laugh at loud burps. Sue me), but then I saw that he burped fire, followed by what seemed to be some sort of message rolled up. Then my urge to laugh died away almost immediately, and I became concerned.
"Whoa! Spike, are you ok? What was that?!"
He turned to me. "Yeah, I'm fine, David. This is just how Princess Celestia sends messages to Twilight. Twilight writes a message, then gives it to me. I then blow my Magic fire on it, and send it to Princess Celestia. Then, once Princess Celestia has a reply, she uses her Magic to send it, then I burp fire, and the message appears."
I blinked. I couldn't fully tell if Spike was joking, but he didn't seem to be. However, once Twilight, and the other Element Bearers confirmed what Spike said, I nodded.
"Oh, I see. I guess that you guys use this method of long-distance communication, rather than radio?"
"Eh, sometimes. Some Ponies, such as those here at the Naval Base use radios, which was how Rear-Admiral Sky Seas communicated with Canterlot when you first arrived, though others still use the Equestrian Mail Service, but using Magic, and Dragon Fire to send messages is pretty much exclusive to the Princesses of Equestria." Twilight explained as she took the message from Spike, and began to read it.
"What's it say, Twilight?" Applejack asked her.
"Well, Applejack, it pretty much just says that Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna are relived that everything is ok, and that the crew of the USS Texas aren't hostile, and that they're coming here to Fillydelphia to meet them in a few hours."
I then relayed this information to Captain Bob, who was hard at work giving orders for the crew of the Texas to scrub the decks, make everything look nice, and make themselves presentable for the Princess's arrival. Yes, it was still an informal meeting, but that was no excuse for things to look poorly, especially among those who were now considered ambassadors to their home nation!
"We should be ready on time, Ensign Gardner. And when will the Element Bearers be coming out to the Texas?"
I looked back at Twilight for a moment. "We'll be leaving here in a minute or so, Captain. I'll radio you again once we get close, and then someone can lower the 'boarding ladder'."
"Copy that, Ensign Gardner."
I then looked at Twilight and the other Element Bearers. "Now that the message from Princess Celestia has arrived, are all of you ready to head out to the Texas?"
They all nodded.
"Yes, I'm ready, Ensign Garder."
"Yep! Born ready!"
"Ooh! Ooh! I'm ready!"
"Ready, Sugarcube!"
"Now that I have my sun hat, I'm ready too, Darling!"
"I'm ready too."
"I'm ready, Guys!"
I then looked at my group of 6 crewmen who'd come with me. "Are you guys ready?"
They nodded. "Ready, Sir!"
"Good. Alright then, let's go. We'll head back to the rafts, check on the two sailors we left behind there, load up, and then head out. However, we won't all fit on 2 rafts, so would there be another small boat that you and your friends could use, Princess Twilight?"
Twilight then asked the Rear-Admiral.
"Yes, there's a small motor launch that I could lend you, Princess Twilight."
Twilight nodded. "Yes, that would work."
"Ok then, off we go." I then began to lead the way back to the waterfront.
The rest of the 6 sailors, the Element Bearers, and Spike all began to follow, though just before she left, the Rear-Admiral put a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "While the Humans may be friendly, Princess, keep your wits about you. If they try anything funny, just give me the word, and I'll have the shore batteries blast them, and the USS Texas, right out of the water!"
"While I don't think that that will be necessary, Rear-Admiral, yes. I will most definitely keep my wits about me. But I appreciate your concern for my well-being, and the well-being for the other Element Bearers."
"You're welcome, Princess Twilight. It's my duty to serve after all."
Twilight smiled, before following the rest of the group towards the waterfront.
As we walked, I was hoping to still find the 2 sailors I'd left behind guarding the rafts alive and well. Yes, I had heard them over the radio when they told me to thank Pinkie for the cake and punch, but at the same time, that could have been a trick of "Magic", as the Ponies called it. I didn't want to believe that they would do something like that, especially not after we'd gotten to know them better, but at the same time, it still never hurt to be cautious. However, my fears were put to rest when we reached the beach where we arrived at, and found the 2 sailors alive and well. They were sitting on one of the rafts with the 2 Pegasai scouts, seemingly deeply engaged in a game of cards with them.
The 2 Texas sailors stood up when we approached, and saluted when they saw me. "Sir!"
"At ease. I see that you've been getting along well with your new friends?" I gestured to the 2 Pegasai Scouts.
"Oh yes, Sir, we have. Bay Winds, and Fly High have been really good to us, and they've proven amazing Texas Hold'em players too once we've shown them how."
I smiled. "That's good to hear. Though sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you guys are gonna have to postpone your card game for now, as we need the rafts again, and we're all needed back at the Texas. Captain Bob is expecting us, and we have to transport these 7 VIP's there to meet him."
"7 VI......." The sailor trailed off. He looked behind me, and saw the 6 Element Bearers, and Spike. "Oh, I see. Hello there, I'm Brandon Winters, gunner on the USS Texas."
"And I'm Daniel Hollis, also a gunner. Nice to meet all of you."
The Ponies and Spike all introduced themselves.
"Nice to meet you both, too." Twilight told them.
Brandon and Daniel then packed up the cards, said goodbye to Bay and Fly, and promised to meet up with them again later to finish their game once I said that we'd be docking the Texas in Fillydelphia a bit later on that day. Once we were ready, we got into the rafts, while the rest got into the motor launch from the nearest pier. It was also set up so that 2 Ponies would be in each raft, while 4 Texas sailors were on the motor launch with the other 2 Ponies. Spike then asked where he would be sitting, and after debating for a moment, I agreed with Twilight's request for him to be in the raft that she would be in. This means that Twilight, Spike and Fluttershy were in the raft that I was in, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were in the motor launch, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack were in the other raft.
"Everyone all ready?"
"Yes, Sir!" Everyone in my raft called back.
"We're ready too, David." Twilight also informed me.
"Yep!" Spike added.
Fluttershy didn't say anything, but she did nod.
"You all in Raft 2 ready?" I asked the guys in the other raft.
"Yes, Sir, we're ready!"
"We're also ready, Sugarcube!" Applejack called.
"Yep!" Rainbow Dash added.
"And what about all of you in the motor launch? All set?"
"Yeah, we're ready, Sir!"
"All good here, Darling!"
"Ready, David!" Pinkie also called over.
"Ok, good." I then grabbed my radio again. "Captain, this is Ensign Gardner."
"Go ahead, Ensign."
"We're all loaded up onto the rafts, Sir, and there's a 3rd motor launch joining us, as we all were unable to fit onto the rafts. We're heading out now, and will be there shortly."
"Very good, Ensign Gardner. We're all ready for the arrival of the Element Bearers here, and we have a visual on you all now."
"Ok, roger that, Sir. Ensign Gardner out."
I then put down my radio, and once we had the 2 rafts away from the beach, we all began to motor back towards the Texas, followed closely by the motor launch.
As we made our way back to the Texas, the sun was shining, the air was warm, the wind blew the salt air into our faces, the sea was calm, so luckily there weren't very many bumps. Nevertheless, Fluttershy still looked really nervous.
"Are you ok, Fluttershy?" I asked her gently.
"I.....I've n-never been on the ocean before." She quivered. "It's.....it's so big....and....k-kinda scary."
I was about to reply, but before I could, Twilight wrapped her arms around her friend. "It's ok, Fluttershy. The ocean isn't very scary at all. It's a large body of salt water, with waves and tides, full of all kinds of unique animals."
Before Twilight could say anything else, a large fish with a huge blue sail-like fin, and a nose like a spear suddenly jumped out of the water next to our raft, flipped over, and then dove back in!
"Whoa!" Everyone in our raft was shocked. "What the heck was that?!"
"It almost looked like a sailfish! And if it was, did you know that those are considered to be the fastest fish in the ocean, reaching speeds of up to 70mph?"
Fluttershy looked at me. "Really, David?"
I nodded. "Yeah. I studied the ocean, and fish a lot while I was still in school. It was my favorite subject next to military history, and it came so naturally to me, as I lived so close to the ocean, or at least fairly close, as my hometown, Corpus Christi, TX, is on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, which eventually meets the Atlantic Ocean near the southern tip of Florida."
Fluttershy looked amazed, and then the fish jumped back out of the water, and Twilight was able to confirm that it was indeed a sailfish. Fluttershy got to see the sailfish a number of times more when it jumped out of the water, and she was happy.
"Wow. I guess that the ocean really isn't so bad after all. There's so many amazing creatures to see and enjoy here. I see now why you like the ocean so much, David."
I smiled. "I'm glad, Fluttershy. The ocean is such an amazing, yet very mysterious place. We Humans have only explored maybe 9% of the 5 oceans on Earth. There's so much more out there to discover, and we've only just begun to scratch the surface. Heck, we've even explored Earth's Moon more than we've explored our own oceans!"
I then realized that I made a VERY serious mistake mentioning that Humans went to the Moon, because this caused Twilight to go ballistic, and ask HUNDREDS of questions about that! The others in the raft looked at me with either traces of laughter on their faces, or extreme pity, as once again, I had to deal with Twilight, and her incessant questions about Human History, and life on Earth.
"Man!" I cursed to myself. "Why did I have to mention that Humans went to the Moon? Why couldn't I have just left well enough alone? Why?!"
I just prayed that the trip back to the Texas would be over before I went completely insane, and "accidentally" knocked Twilight overboard!
Once we made it to about the 3-mile mark from the Texas, the Ponies could begin to see the ship more clearly, as well as for the first time begin to really get a feel for just how big the ship really was.
"Wow, the Texas already looks huge, and I know that it's just going to get bigger from here, right, David?"
I nodded. "Yes, that's right, Spike."
"So amazing. And what were the basic stats again, David? Just the length, width, gross tonnage, things like that."
I thought for a second. "Well, like I said before, Texas is 573ft. long overall, has a beam of 106ft., a draft of 31ft., a full displacement of 32,000 long tons, is powered by 6 Bureau-Express oil-fired boilers, powering 2 triple-expansion steam engines, which turn 2 screws, a top design speed of about 20 knots, and a compliment of 1,810 officers and men. Does this help?"
Twilight nodded. "Oh yes, it does. I wrote all the stats down, but I just wanted to hear it again. And normally I would ask about the armament again, but I'll wait until we're on the ship for that, so as not to overload your brain, David!"
"Thank God for that!" I thought. Out loud, I said, "Thank you, Twilight."
Once we passed the 2-mile mark, my radio came to life. "XO, XO, this is Texas. We see you, Raft 2, the motor launch, and your VIP's. What's your status, over?"
"Texas, this is Ensign Gardner. We're doing fine out here. Are we cleared to approach?"
There was silence for a few moments. "Yes, you're cleared to approach, XO. We're lowering the starboard 'boarding ramp' now."
"Roger that, Texas. We'll be there shortly. Ensign Gardner out." I then put down my radio.
A few minutes later, we reached the Texas, and the Ponies and Spike were in awe at its true size. At Twilight's request, I asked Captain Bob for permission to circle the Texas twice with the rafts, so that the Ponies could see the ship on all sides from the water. Permission was granted, and we made our 2 laps; Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike all snapping pictures with their cameras that Twilight teleported in for her and Spike......or seemingly pulled out of thin air for Pinkie! I tried to ignore it, but it still bothered me.
"How does she keep doing that?" I wondered. "Defying the Laws of Physics, not to mention seemingly pulling things out of thin air, and then making them disappear again. This is really starting to freak me out!"
I then tried to push these thoughts out of my mind, and instead focus on getting the rafts, and the motor launch, up to the Texas's starboard "boarding ramp" so that the Ponies, and ourselves, could disembark, and get back onto the ship.
Once we finished our second and final lap, I ordered the raft pulled up next to the starboard "boarding ramp", or at least, that's what we called them. In reality, they were nothing more than 2 large cargo nets that we used to get onto our 2 rafts to begin with; they weren't even ramps at all. By the time we pulled up to the starboard side of the Texas, just below where the bridge was, the cargo net had been lowered, and my raft pulled up first, and a line was tossed up to the sailors on deck so that they could secure the raft while we disembarked. Then, once the rafts were empty, a small crane would then be used to haul the rafts back up onto the deck of the Texas.
Just as I was about to start telling Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy about how to safely climb up the cargo net, from behind me, I could hear, "Where are the boarding ramps, Darling? I don't see them anywhere!"
"They aren't actual ramps, Rarity!" I called back to her. "That's just what we call them. In reality, they're just 2 large cargo nets, one for the port side, and one for the starboard side. It'll be just like climbing a ladder."
Unfortunately though, this was NOT the answer Rarity wanted to hear. "What?! I have to climb up a dirty CARGO NET?!?! I just finished moisturizing my hands, and this is on top of what the sea spray did to my mane! And let's not even mention my hooves......." And on and on her whining went.
"Is she always like this?" I whispered to Twilight, all while pretending to nod in agreement with whatever Rarity was whining about then.
Twilight sighed. "Pretty much, unfortunately. Rarity's not only a fashionista, but also a total diva, and a bit of a drama queen sometimes, ESPECIALLY when it comes to her mane, fur, or clothes getting dirty." Twilight paused. She could hear Applejack and Rainbow Dash also yelling at Rarity, and she knew that she had to take control of this situation right now.
"Rarity?" She yelled back to her friend.
"Yes, Twilight?" Rarity asked, seemingly taking a break from her endless whining.
"You could always just levitate yourself up onto the Texas's deck you know. You don't have to use the cargo net."
There was a long silence as Rarity seemed to be contemplating that.
"Hey, what's the holdup down there?" Someone on the Texas's deck called down to us.
"Nothing. We'll be up shortly." I called back.
Rarity then realized how foolish she was being, though without saying another word, she looked up at the Texas's deck, and then levitated herself up there with her Magic.
"FINALLY she's done whining!!!!" A sailor who'd been on the second raft with Rarity cried with relief. "The ENTIRE trip she wouldn't shut up! I wanted to hang myself!" The others in the raft, except Pinkie Pie, agreed with him.
"Let's just forget about that right now, and get up on the ship ourselves!" I called.
Moments after this, a few of the sailors in my raft started climbing the cargo net, followed closely by Twilight and Spike. Fluttershy was too scared, and despite offers from Texas sailors to carry her up the net piggy-back, she opted to have Twilight teleport her up as well.
"I appreciate the offers though." She told the sailors who had offered just before Twilight teleported her. "It was a nice gesture on your part."
It still took another few minutes, but once the raft was empty, I attached the hook from the crane to it, and and while I was climbing up myself, the raft was hoisted up onto the Texas's deck. Then Raft 2 pulled into position, and everyone, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack, all got out, climbed up the cargo net, and were back on the ship. Then Raft 2 was hauled back up as well. Finally, the motor launch pulled up, and the sailors who'd been on it with Pinkie Pie began to disembark. Eventually, everyone, everypony, and Spike were all onboard the Texas, as were the 2 rafts, though the motor launch was attached to a rope tied to a bollard on the ship's deck, as there wasn't room for it on the deck.
Once the Mane 6 and Spike were on the Texas, they began to look around them in awe. They were standing below the bridge, near the starboard side of the 2nd gun turret, and all around them were uniformed Texas sailors either standing in rows, or at the railings on the upper parts of the superstructure. All of them were also looking at the Ponies in awe, and some were seemingly whispering among themselves. At this same time, those of us who had gone ashore were taking off our improvised life jacket-flak vests, slinging our guns over our shoulders, and swapping out our helmets for our sailor hats.
Twilight then saw me walk over to an older man, who was wearing a uniform different than the rest of ours. His was a dark blue tunic with gold striped cuffs, a white shirt with a black tie, dark blue pants, black shoes, and a dark blue officer's cap. Twilight could also see that the man was sweating nervously, and she guessed that he must be the Captain of the Texas. I then stood next to the older man, who then walked over to Twilight and her friends.
"Greetings, Ponies of Equestria. I am Captain Robert Hogan, of the USS Texas, though you may hear the crew call me 'Captain Bob'. You may call me that, or you can stick with 'Captain Hogan'. And which one of you is Princess Twilight Sparkle?"
Twilight stepped forwards. "I am, Sir. It's an honor to finally be able to meet you in person, Captain Hogan." She then held out her hand, which Captain Bob shook." And I can tell from the looks that your crew are giving you that they look up to you, and respect you very much. That's a good thing to have. And I can tell that you're really nervous, Captain, but you need not be. Like I said before, this is merely an informal visit. Though I must say, your ship's decks are certainly very well scrubbed, and the crew's uniforms are certainly well washed and ironed, and you all look amazing!"
"Thank you, Princess Twilight."
"You can just call me 'Twilight', Captain."
"Ok then. Twilight, the other Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and Spike the Dragon, let me be the first to welcome you all to the USS Texas BB-35, the last of the Dreadnought Battleships!"
The crew of the Texas cheered, and the Ponies began to look around the upper decks of the ship, wondering what cool things that they were going to get to see prior to the official tour once the Princesses arrived.
Author's Note
And, that was Chapter 5
I'm SO SORRY that this Chapter took 1 year, and 3 months to get out to you all, but I had a lot on my plate, ranging from simple writer's block, to being too tired to write from my factory job, to having busy weekends, busy holidays, working on a few side-projects, and a handful of other unforeseen events. But I also thank you for bearing with me through all of this, and I REALLY hope that you all enjoyed Chapter 5!
So now the Ponies know for sure that the USS Texas was sent to Equus by mistake, and that the crew are harmless, or at least, harmless enough, just as the crew of the Texas now know that the Ponies are not their enemies. So where will they all go from here? Will the Ponies see anything interesting on the upper decks of the Texas? And what about when Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna arrive for the full tour of the Texas? How will that go? And what of the Black Baron? When will he find out of the Texas's existence, and how will he react to it? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned and I'll tell you!
In the meantime though, as always, comments, questions, feedback, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 6!
ScarFox out for now!
And yes, it will be a while until Chapter 6 is ready. I have 2 other commitments that I have to finish first; one being my part of a VERY LONG overdue RP story (thank you for bearing with me during all of this Dusk!
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Chapter 6: Inspections, Royal Meetings, and Tours (Part 1)
The Mane 6, and Spike, were still looking all around the upper deck of the Texas in awe. They had seen a few warships before, but never this close, and none of them were even remotely close to how large and powerful Texas was. All of them were looking around on the upper deck at everything there was to see, and asking many questions to the various Texas sailors, all of whom were happy to answer their questions, or if they couldn't, then they'd direct the Pony who asked the question to someone who could.
"I know about the main guns, but what're these smaller guns on the deck for?" Applejack asked. "And why'd they got 4 barrels?"
"Oh, those are the quad Bofors 40mm Anti-Air guns." A sailor told her. "They were used during WW2 to knock down any incoming enemy aircraft. Texas has 10 of these mounts in total."
"They were used for attackin' aircraft? Like yer scout-plane thing?"
"Eh...kind of. The Japanese, who were the enemies in the Pacific Theater in WW2, had various fighter aircraft, as well as bombers, and torpedo planes, all of which were used to attack US Navy ships, which required them to have a very large amount of AA guns. Texas alone has 64 AA guns; 10 x quad Bofors 40mm guns, 10 x 3in guns, and 44 x Oerlikon 20mm cannons, which look like large machine guns."
"You mean those things?" Applejack pointed to the deck nearby where 2 machine guns stood, surrounded by a metal wall.
"Yep, those are 2 of the 44 Oerlikon 20mm cannons."
At this same time, Twilight was examining the 2 forward main gun turrets. "Now that I'm seeing them here, David, they're even more impressive up close. Can you tell me a bit more about them?"
I nodded. "Certainly. These are Turret 1, and Turret 2, which contain 4 of Texas's 10 x 14in guns; her main battery. These guns were capable of firing a 1,400lb shell up to 23,000 yards. The guns themselves could be elevated up to 15 degrees, and they move as a pair; they cannot elevate individually. And interestingly enough, the US Navy modernized 4 out of the 6 ships that had these types of 14in guns in the 1930's, enabling them to shoot larger 1,500lb shells up to 34,300 yards, at an elevation of 30 degrees, but alas, Texas, and her sister-ship, USS New York BB-34, the first ships to be fitted with 14in guns, were the 2 ships left unmodernized."
Twilight was surprised. "And why was that, David?"
I sighed. "Because the shell hoists on Texas and New York weren't strong enough to lift these new shells which would have enabled them to shoot farther, and it wasn't economically viable to build all new turrets for them, which is what it would have taken to fully modernize them, as they were of a different, older design of 14in gun turrets; the Mark 1 to be exact. However, these 2 ships weren't left totally in the dark, and their guns were given some upgrades to make firing easier, and prolonged the lives of the gun barrels, and they were given smaller variants of the new Armor-Piercing, and High-Explosive shells, but because of the shells's smaller sizes, which were similar to what Texas and New York originally fired, they still lacked the range of the 4 modernized ships. But make no mistake, Texas's guns still packed a VERY serious punch, as she demonstrated at Normandy, Iwo-Jima, and Okinawa."
Twilight was writing all of this down. "You may be upset about Texas never really having her guns upgraded, but in the Equestrian Navy, we don't have any guns more powerful than a 12in gun, and they can only shoot up to about 21,000 yards, with an effective firing range of about 12,000 yards. And unlike the guns on the Texas, they're not radar-guided, and instead rely on optical rangefinders, making them inaccurate at times, especially in high seas."
I was just about to ask Twilight a bit more about what kind of guns the Equestrian Navy used on their warships, when I noticed Spike walking around Turret 1.
"Hey, how do the turret gunners get inside these things, David? From below decks?"
"No, there's a small ladder underneath the very back of the turret leading up to a hatch. All of the gunners get inside the turrets through that hatch."
"Hatch?" Spike looked up at the underside of the back of Turret 1, and he finally noticed the small ladder, and the hatch.
"Ok, now how did I miss that?" He muttered. I then watched him climb up the ladder, and try to open the hatch.
"Should he be doing that, David?"
"He can. I mean, I'm not gonna say anything, but the guys inside the turret might."
Suddenly, the hatch popped open, and Spike found himself looking up into the turret's dark interior, as well as at least 4 pairs of eyes looking back at him!
"Hello." Came a raspy whisper from one of the pairs of eyes.
"YIKES!!!" Spike then lost his grip on the ladder, and fell maybe 2 1/2 feet to the deck of the Texas, landing on his ass.
Suddenly, some lights came on in the turret, and Spike looked up to see that the 4 pairs of eyes belonged to 4 of the gunners inside of Turret 2.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to scare you that badly, Spike." One of them called down. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Spike got back up, and rubbed his butt a bit, as well as his tail. "Can I see inside the turret?"
They nodded. "Sure. Though it's a bit cramped up here." They then got back from the hatch, and Spike climbed up enough to climb inside the turret.
"Whoa!" He said as he looked around. "This isn't quite as big as I thought that it was going to be."
"Yeah", One of the gunners replied, "Most of the space in here is taken up by the guns themselves, as well as the hoists for the shells and the powder bags, and the controls for moving the guns, and the turret itself. The lights in here are poor, and ventilation is even worse. Can you imagine being in here during the heat of battle in the Pacific, with 100+ degree temperatures, and no air conditioning, and poor ventilation? Not to mention all of the noise and vibration every time the turret's guns fired?"
Spike shook his head. "No, I can't imagine it. It must have been absolutely brutal."
"I've heard stories from some of the family members of guys who did serve on Texas during WW2, firing these main guns, and it was most definitely brutal, especially in the tropical heat of the Pacific."
"And did the ship have any kind of cooling, or air conditioning?"
"Nope, I'm afraid not, Spike. Air conditioning on warships didn't really become widespread until the late 50's, early 60's, and even then, it didn't work so well until improvements could be made. Granted, the ship does have fans and blowers to provide ventilation, which does help, but even today, when Texas was being prepped for her overhaul, we had several air conditioning units onboard, as well as ventilation fans, but even so, the heat inside was sometimes miserable."
Spike had to think about that one, while down below on the main deck, Twilight and I were still talking, and she was taking notes.
Meanwhile, one of the Texas crewmen had a question for Rainbow Dash.
"Miss Rainbow? How come ya didn't just fly up onto the Texas? Why'd ya use the 'boarding ramp' like everyone else?"
Rainbow Dash laughed a bit. "You can just call me 'Rainbow', 'Dash', or even just 'RD'; no 'Miss'. And to answer your question, I wanted a challenge, so just flying up would be too easy. I wanted to test myself by climbing up, so I did!"
"Oh, I see."
A bit aft of where they were standing, Pinkie was looking towards the stern of the Texas. "Hey, Anypony? Why's there just a single turret in the middle of the ship? It looks so lonely there all by itself!"
"I can answer that, Miss Pinkie." Captain Bob replied. "Back in the early days of battleships, or to be more specific, during the Pre-Dreadnought, and early Dreadnought-Eras, battleships, and other warships with heavy guns didn't have radar to guide their main guns, as it hadn't been invented yet. Because of this, gunnery accuracy was often rather poor, even in the best circumstances. To try and remedy this, British American, and especially French warship designers often gave battleships as many main guns as possible, so as to increase the chances of hitting a target. Believe it or not, there was a class of warship similar to Texas that had 12 main guns, situated in 6 main turrets, with there being 2 turrets amidships rather than just one."
Pinkie's eyes went wide. "Really, Captain Hogan?"
"Oh yes. They were called the Wyoming-Class Battleships. There were 2 of them, USS Wyoming BB-32, and USS Arkansas BB-33; USS New York BB-34, and USS Texas BB-35's immediate predecessors. However, these 2 ships had 12 x 12in guns in 6 main turrets, while Texas and New York had 10 x 14in guns in 5 turrets. And Arkansas was the last battleship ever built with 6 turrets, and the last ever built with 12in guns, while Texas was the last battleship ever built with 5 turrets like this. Every American battleship after her had either 8 x 14in guns in 4 turrets, 12 x 14in guns in 4 turrets, or even 9 x 16in guns in 3 turrets. And do you want to know one more fun fact?"
"Sure."
"These types of battleships like the Texas that had multiple turrets were called 'Turret Farms'. Texas was the last of the 'Turret Farm' Battleships."
Pinkie was still in awe. "So why did the battleships need fewer turrets? Is this when that radar-thingy was invented?"
"Yes and no. As time went on, optical rangefinder technology improved, negating the need for so many main guns, and then finally in the 1930's, radar-guidance for the guns began to be introduced, but it was piss-poor at first. However, by the end of WW2, it got scary how accurate these kinds of radar-guided main guns, radar-guided secondary guns, and even radar-guided AA guns could be. A 16in, 1,000lb shell could be plopped onto a target from 23 miles away in rough seas, fog, and while the ship is being tossed around, and land within 30 feet of the projected target area."
Pinkie's eyes got as big as saucers, and her jaw hung low. Even Rainbow Dash, who had been overhearing this conversation couldn't believe what Captain Bob had just said. No Equestrian warship was that accurate with its gunfire, but then again, Texas was more advanced than anything Equestria had, and from what she'd overheard me say earlier, Texas was obsolete even by the standards of WW2. So if Texas was already accurate with her radar guided guns, what kind of damage could these other battleships, which Captain Bob called "North Carolina-Class", "South Dakota-Class", and "Iowa-Class" Battleships possibly do? She wasn't so sure if she wanted to find out.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Rarity were standing on Texas's bridge, talking with Ted and Dennis.
"I recall David saying earlier that the current dark blue uniforms that most of you are wearing right now were not the standard uniform for when Texas was serving in the Pacific, though what did these uniforms actually look like?"
Dennis thought for a second. "Well, Miss Rarity, they consisted of a lighter-blue button-up shirt, navy-blue pants, a leather belt, brown shoes, and the same white sailor hats we're all wearing right now. Or if it was really hot, a thin white t-shirt, or no shirt at all, white shorts, sometimes shoes, sometimes not, and the same white sailor hats."
Rarity looked appalled that the crew of the Texas back in WW2 went about their duties half-naked at times, but once she thought about the tropical heat of the South Pacific in the Summertime, and the lack of any air conditioning, it all made sense.
"But it's still so ghastly." She thought to herself. Out loud, she said, "So I take it that at some point, all of you will be switching from your current uniforms, to the first one you talked about?"
Dennis shrugged. "Possibly, it all depends on the weather. If it gets warmer, then yes, but if not, we'll stick with what we've got on. However, I have a feeling that the weather might get warmer, so we'll see."
While Rarity was still talking with Dennis about the uniforms, Fluttershy was looking around the bridge itself.
"Wow, it's not very large in here. I find it hard to believe that you and Ensign Dennis, were in here, alongside Ensign David, Lt. Adam, and Captain Hogan, and in a storm too."
Ted nodded quietly. "Yeah, it was a bit cramped, especially during the storm, but yet, all of us had to be here, and we all had our jobs."
"Which were what again?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well, I operated the engine-order telegraph, David and Dennis were the helmsmen, also known as wheelmen, though only one stood at the wheel at any one time, while the other served as a bridge lookout. During the storm though, both David and Dennis had to hold the wheel steady to keep Texas on course. And of course, Captain Bob is the ship's captain, while Adam was the bridge navigator."
"And is this where he worked?" Rarity asked, pointing to the table near the back of the bridge, where various maps, charts, and other navigation tools were spread out.
"Yep, that's it, Miss Rarity. Though as you can see from those maps, they're of the US's Gulf Coast, and are not accurate to Equestrian waters."
"Oh, I see." Rarity then looked at the maps, and she saw where Adam had been using a black marker to keep track of the Texas's position, but then he used a red marker. "Why did Adam suddenly switch to a red marker?"
Dennis then spoke up. "That's when the storm started getting really bad, and we unknowingly wound up in the Celestial Sea. We were unsure of our position, so Adam used a red marker to indicate that it was his best guess. And as you can see, the red marks end at Galveston Island on the map, which is NOT where we were in Real Life, but we were unaware of this, until we noticed that Fillydelphia didn't look like Galveston at all, or anywhere along the Texas Coast for that matter."
Rarity pondered that, and then looked at the maps again. "And speaking of Lt. Adam, where is he now?"
Dennis shrugged. "I don't know. Most likely down on the main deck with the others."
At this same time, Fluttershy looked at the bridge's radar scope, and then took a closer look at the Texas's bridge engine-order telegraph.
"So how does this thing work, Ted?" She asked quietly.
"Oh, let me show you, Fluttershy." He then reached it, and put his hand on the lever, but then paused. "Eh, I probably should alert CE Dalton, and the rest of the engine room staff first." He then grabbed the bridge's intercom. "Bridge to Engine Room, please respond."
After a minute or so, a reply came. "Engine Room to Bridge, go ahead."
"Engine Room, this is Ensign Ted Walker. I just wanted to let you know that I was going to be performing a brief demonstration of the bridge engine order telegraph for our VIP's, and to ignore what the engine room engine order telegraph says."
"Ok, copy that Bridge. Engine Room Out."
"Copy that." Ted then put down the bridge intercom, and walked back over to the telegraph. "Ok, now I can show you how it works, Fluttershy. It's very simple." He then reached out, and grabbed the telegraph's main lever. "This device is called an engine order telegraph. It's used so that those on the bridge can communicate with the engine room, and tell them how fast the engines need to go, and in which direction."
"You mean....the Texas could move forwards or backwards?"
Ted nodded. "Oh yes. Not very fast in reverse, but she definitely can."
Fluttershy was very surprised. "Oh. And what do these words mean?" She asked, pointing to the different words on the side of the telegraph.
"Oh, those are how we indicate to the engine room how fast we want the ship to go. As you can see, there's 'Standby Engines', 'Dead Slow', 'Slow', 'Half', 'Full', and 'Flank' in the forward direction, or 'Ahead', and 'Finished With Engines', 'Dead Slow', 'Slow', 'Half', and 'Full' in the reverse direction, or 'Astern', and of course, there's the all-important 'Stop' in between them, which is where the telegraph is set to now."
"And does 'Stop' mean stop the engines?"
"Yes, it does. And here's how it works." He then grabbed the right handle of the telegraph. "Let's say for example that we were just pulling out of port. I'd take the handle, move it back a bit, and then move it to 'Dead Slow' in the 'Ahead' position. Ted then did what he said, and a bell could be heard ringing from the telegraph, before the handle stopped at "Dead Slow".
"Why did you move the telegraph back a bit, and then to its current position, Darling?" Rarity asked. "And what does that bell ringing mean?"
"Good questions, Miss Rarity." He then pointed to the telegraph handles. "Whenever the telegraph handles are moved here on the bridge, they also move the Engine Order Telegraphs in the ship's engine rooms, thanks to various control cables. However, it's very noisy there in the engine room, which can make the bells on the telegraph hard to hear. Because of this, whenever the telegraphs need to be moved, we always move them more than what's needed, so that the bells in the engine room telegraphs will ring longer, thus enabling someone down there to either hear the bells, or see the indicator needle move, which itself is accompanied by another bell."
"Indicator needle?" Rarity asked.
Ted then pointed to a second needle on the telegraph's face. "This. Whenever we move the telegraph on the bridge, down in the engine room, this indicator needle on the telegraph there moves to wherever the bridge telegraph was moved to, to show the engineers how fast the engines need to go. They then move their telegraph into the same position that the bridge wants, which rings a bell down there, and this indicator needle moves into the position as the telegraph's indicator handles, and then a bell rings up here, which indicates to us on the bridge that the engine room acknowledged our request."
"Oh, I see. This is all very complicated, and....mechanical I suppose would be the right word? I really don't understand it very well, but thank you for explaining it, Darling."
"I have one more question."
"Oh, yes Fluttersy?" Ted asked.
"Why did only one telegraph handle move when you pulled it? Are they not connected?"
Ted shook his head. "No, they're actually not. This is because Texas has 2 engines, located in 2 separate engine rooms. Because of this, both handles of the bridge telegraph must be capable of moving independently, because in some cases, the engines may need to be ran at different speeds, which can be used as an emergency turning measure if the rudder was knocked out for example. But for the most part, the engines are run together at the same speed, though because of this, I always have to make sure I move both handles at the same time, or one handle quickly after the other, so as to not cause confusion in the engine rooms."
"Oh, that's very interesting, Ensign Ted."
Ted then explained a bit more about how engine order telegraphs worked, and their history, though while he was doing that, unknown to those of us out on the Texas, the Princess's train had just pulled into Fillydelphia, and Princess Celestia was just finishing writing a letter to Twilight to let her know that they had arrived in Fillydelphia, and were about to make their way over to the Naval Yard.
At around this same time, Twilight, Spike and I were still up near the bow of the ship, discussing various aspects of the Texas, when all of a sudden, Spike burped out some green fire, and a letter appeared.
"Oh, who's that letter from?" I ask. "Is it from the Princesses?"
"Let me see." Twilight then took the message from Spike, and read it.
"Well, Twilight?" Spike asked. "Who's it from?"
"It's from Celestia and Luna. They said that their train has just arrived in Fillydelphia, and they're getting ready to make their way over to the Naval Yard."
My eyes went a bit wide. "Oh, that's pretty important news. We'd better go inform Captain Bob about this immediately."
Twilight agreed, and then she and Spike followed me as I briskly made my way back to amidships where Captain Bob. When we arrived there, he was still talking to Pinkie Pie, though Rainbow Dash and Applejack had joined them too.
"Captain Bob!" I called when I was close enough.
"Yes, Ensign Gardner?" He asked.
"A very important message just arrived from Princess Celestia! She just announced that she and Princess Luna have arrived in Fillydelphia, and are making their way over to the Naval Yard as we speak. We must prepare to bring the Texas into port immediately upon their arrival."
Now it was Captain Bob's turn for his eyes to go wide. "The Princesses are in Fillydelphia?! Oh my, I hope that we've been able to get everything ready! Have all the crew changed into fresh clean uniforms, and scrubbed and polished the ship as best they can?" Captain Bob asked one of the other officers.
"Yes, we've done everything you requested of us to do to prepare for the Princesses's arrival, Captain." He replied.
"Good. Now then, someone needs to get to the Texas's radio room, and have Lt. Dayton radio Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, and see if we have permission to dock at the Fillydelphia Naval Yard."
"Yes, Sir!" Someone then went running to Texas's radio room.
When they returned a few minutes later, they said that there was good news, and bad news.
"What news?" Captain Bob asked.
"Well, the good news is that yes, the Read-Admiral says that we have his permission to come to the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, however, when we get close, we'll have to stop to allow Equestrian tugs to bring us in, as well as have a harbor pilot come on board, as we're unfamiliar with these waters close to shore."
"And was that the bad news?"
"No, Sir. The bad news is that since our ship is so large, larger than any warship in the Equestrian Fleet, we may have difficulty docking, as there isn't a dock large enough for us to moor next to. In light of this, they're shuffling a few ships around so that we can dock at Docks 4 and 6, which together are long enough to moor the Texas to. Oh, and our 3 tugboats can dock at the Tug Dock on the other side of the Naval Yard, in Berths 1, 2, and 3."
"Excellent! Tell the Rear-Admiral that we'll be making all haste to get to Fillydelphia, and to have the Equestrian tugs, as well as the harbor pilot standing by to receive us at the mouth of the harbor."
"Yes, Sir!"
Captain Bob then went over to the closest intercom panel, and after picking up the receiver told the crew that the time had come for them to head into Fillydelphia Harbor, as the Princesses had arrived to receive them. All of the crew then scrambled to get back to their posts, while Captain Bob and I made our way back to the bridge. Dennis and Ted were already there, and Adam would meet us there.
"And where can we be, Captain Hogan?" Twilight asked.
"You can come up to the bridge with us if you wish. There's enough room for you to stand in there, and out on the bridge wings."
Twilight then checked with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack, as Rarity and Fluttershy were already up on the bridge with Ted and Dennis. All of them agreed to Captain Bob's proposal.
"We're all in agreement, Captain Hogan. Lead the way to the bridge."
"Excellent, Princess Twilight." He then led the way up to the bridge.
Once we were all up there, Twilight and her friends were standing on the bridge wings, while Spike stayed inside the bridge, and Captain Bob and I were also out on the bridge wings. Ted took his place at the engine order telegraphs, Adam was at his map table, and Dennis was at the wheel. Once he had confirmation that everyone was at their posts, Captain Bob radioed down to the engine room.
"Bridge to Engine Room. Come in please."
"Bridge, this is the Engine Room, CE Dalton here."
"Is everything ready down there?"
"Affirmative, Captain."
"Ok then. Ensign Walker?"
Ted looked up. "Yes, Sir?"
"All Ahead Slow."
"All Ahead Slow, Sir." He then moved the telegraphs to the "Slow Ahead" position.
Soon afterwards, we felt the Texas shudder as her engines came to life again, and slowly began to move the ship through the water.
"Ensign Weaver?"
Dennis looked over. "Yes, Sir?"
"Hard to starboard. We need to turn the ship towards Fillydelphia Harbor."
"Yes, Sir." He then began to turn the wheel, and Texas slowly began to turn.
Eventually, it was pointed towards the harbor. Once it was, Captain Bob ordered half-speed from the engines, so as to get to the harbor a bit faster, and he also radioed the captains of the 3 tug boats to return to the Texas, and to fall in line behind her. He also explained to them where they would be docking once they reached Fillydelphia.
"Very good, Captain Hogan." The Captain of the North Star replied. The tugboats had to run their engines at full speed to cover the few miles distance between them and the Texas quickly, but they were soon where they needed to be, and the North Star, Pelican, and Jupiter all fell in line behind the Texas.
As we got the Texas moving again, Twilight marveled as she watched us work, and took a lot of notes.
"This is all so amazing." She was muttering to herself. "I've never gotten to be on a warship while it was moving like this before."
"I think it's really nice." Fluttershy agreed. "The breeze blowing through our manes, the smell of the salt water, the seagulls flying around." One of them then landed on the bridge wing near her for a few moments before taking off again.
"What would it be like to be on this bridge during combat?" Spike asked.
I turned to him. "I'm not sure, as in combat, this bridge wouldn't be used, but instead the bridge staff would be a bit lower down in the armored conning tower in the Battle-Bridge. All of the controls are the same, but it doesn't have any bridge wings, and only tiny little slits to see out of at the front. It's dark, hot, and cramped, but it protects the bridge crew during combat. I mean, I guess technically the crew could stay on this bridge during combat, which I believe is what was done while Texas was shelling the beaches of Normandy, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, but what happened at the Battle of Cherbourg is a pretty good indicator of why this is a bad idea."
"What happened at the Battle of Cherbourg?"
"June 25th, 1944, Texas, the battleships USS Arkansas BB-33 and USS Nevada BB-36, along with 4 cruisers and 11 destroyers were tasked with helping the Allies secure the vital French port of Cherbourg by providing fire support, and during this battle, Texas had 26 near-misses, but was struck by 2 shells fired from German shore batteries. The second shell hit the bow, and punched a hole into the wardroom, and thankfully failed to explode, but the first shell struck the conning tower, detonating just below the bridge. 11 sailors were wounded, and one of them died, becoming Texas's sole fatality during her career. The bridge was completely wrecked, and required extensive repairs."
Spike's eyes went wide. "Yikes! At least there was only 1 fatality, and the bridge was able to be repaired. And what happened to that shell that struck the Texas, but failed to explode?"
"It was rendered inert, and up until Texas's overhaul it was displayed on the ship in an exterior display, but now it's sitting inside the ship, in the hallway outside the wardroom where it struck, but unlike the other shells on the ship, it's still inert. And no one knows how it got there either, but we've given up questioning it."
Spike was still trying to picture the Texas during the Battle of Cherbourg, and I was happy to answer all of his questions about it.
Some time later, we were being hailed by the Fillydelphia harbor tugs.
"USS Texas, USS Texas. This is the captain of the tugboat ENS Seagull. Do you copy?"
"ENS Seagull, this is Captain Hogan of the USS Texas, I read you loud and clear, over."
"Very good, Captain Hogan. Your ship is about a mile from the entrance to the harbor, so we request that you stop your engines now, and then we can throw up our lines to tow you into port, and the harbor pilot shall come onboard as well."
"Copy that, Seagull."
Captain Bob then ordered Ted to set the engine order telegraphs to "Stop", and soon the Texas glided to a stop, where the Seagull, and another tugboat came alongside, and the sailors onboard tossed up the lines to the Texas sailors gathered near the bow, who then attached the lines to the ship's bow bollards. Then, after lowering one of the cargo nets, the Fillydelphia Harbor Pilot, a Unicorn stallion named Compass climbed onboard, and was quickly ushered up to the bridge, where he took Dennis's place at the wheel. Then, once Ted was given the signal, he moved the telegraphs to "Dead Slow Ahead", and Texas began to make the final leg of her trip into Fillydelphia Harbor being guided by the 2 Equestrian tugs, followed closely by our own tugboats Jupiter, Pelican, and North Star. By this time, a number of the crew had gathered on the decks, and watched in awe as the Texas came into sight of the harbor, and they took in the sight of it, the city, and the naval base.
"Whoa. One of those shore batteries must be the one that fired that warning shot at us." Dennis said as he looked through a pair of binoculars at the shoreline.
"Yes, I think you're right, Ensign Weaver." Captain Bob replied, looking through his own binoculars.
I then looked back at Adam, who was still looking over his maps. "You might want to leave your maps for a bit, as you're missing the sights of Texas being guided into port."
Adam looked up. "I would, but with our VIP's here on the bridge, I can't really see much." Nevertheless, he still got up, and walked over to try and see what he could see from amid the Mane 6, Spike, Captain Bob, Dennis, Ted and I.
Pretty soon, Texas was entering Fillydelphia Harbor, and we blew the ship's whistle in a greeting, while the Equestrian tugs blew their own whistles to indicate that they were entering the harbor, and our own 3 tugs also blew their whistles in greeting. For the first time since 1946, Texas was making a port of call in a foreign port, and for the first time ever this port was in another world, and as far as we could see, various Ponies were lined up along the harbor-front, many with their cameras, and some were even in small boats inside the harbor proper. Many of them were cheering for us, and the crew on the bow were waving to them. Things were equally exciting once we finally pulled into the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, where Texas dwarfed every ship around her, even the other battleships. Seagull and the other tug then began to guide Texas over to Docks 4 and 6 where she would be moored, and I noted a light cruiser moored next to us in Dock 5, and a heavy cruiser moored in Dock 7. Many Equestrian sailors and other navy personnel were gathered at the docks waiting for us, and once Texas was in place, ropes were tossed up to us so that we could moor the Texas in place, gangplanks were raised up to the ship's deck, and the Texas's engines were idled, and most the fires in her boilers were put out, with the ship's power and ventilation now being provided by shore-based facilities. Meanwhile, our 3 tugboats arrived at the Tug Dock, and were soon moored into Docks 1-3.
"Is everything all set down there, CE?" Captain Bob asked.
"Yes, everything's all good down here, Captain." Dalton replied. "A few engineers will remain below, but I'm coming up to the main deck now."
"Excellent."
He and I, as well as Adam, Dennis, Ted, the Mane 6 and Spike all then left the bridge, and regrouped on the main deck. Just as we were figuring out what to do next, a large carriage suddenly pulled up onto the dock near where the Texas was moored, with the symbols of Equestria on it, and surrounded by Ponies wearing golden armor.
"Oh good, the Princesses are here!" Twilight called out to the rest of us.
Our eyes all went very wide when we saw the carriage, and Captain Bob quickly gave orders.
"That's the Princesses! Ok, look alive everyone, the Princesses are here!"
Quick as a flash, all of the Texas's sailors who were on deck quickly got into formation, and stood in picture-perfect rows, while Captain Bob stood near the top of the gangplank, and I stood next to him. The Mane 6 and Spike also gathered near the gangplank, though they seemed much more relaxed than we were; all of us were almost sweating we were so nervous. The doors to the carriages then opened, and several Ponies that we guessed were servants then moved next to them, and helped the 2 Princesses down, and they were then escorted by their Royal Guards, as well as several Equestrian Naval officers over to the Texas's gangplank, and as they walked up it, those of us on the Texas laid eyes on the Rulers of Equestria for the very first time.
I saw that Princess Celestia had white fur, magenta eyes, a long, flowing tri-colored mane and tail, a long white horn on her forehead, and a pair of white wings. She was dressed in a regal white dress with golden shoes on her hooves, and a golden tiara on her head. Next to her, her sister, Princess Luna had dark blue fur, blue eyes, a long flowing blue mane and tail that appeared to have star patterns on it, as well as a blue horn on her forehead, and a pair of blue wings. She was dressed in a regal blue and black dress, with silver shoes on her hooves, and a black tiara on her head. Princess Celestia had a soft smile on her face, while Princess Luna had a more neutral expression, but I could tell that she was interested in us, and our ship. Once the Princesses were fully on the ship, all of us Texas sailors saluted them, and Captain Bob spoke up.
"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, it is my absolute privilege and honor to welcome you both onboard the USS Texas BB-35, the finest battleship in the US Navy. I am Captain Robert Hogan, at your service." He then bowed lightly.
Celestia spoke first. "The honor is all ours, Captain Hogan. It's our pleasure to be here, and to meet with the crew of the battleship who've come here from another world. I'm very glad that we were able to have this meeting today, and that a major crisis was averted."
"As am I, Princess Celestia. It was thanks to Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, Captain Hammer, as well as Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike the Dragon, as well as my own crew who were able to meet in the middle, and find enough common ground to defuse a tense situation. I'm glad that it all worked out in the end, and no one got hurt."
"Yes, this was a very close call, Captain Hogan, but I have full confidence that we will be able to forge a strong relationship between the Equestrians, and the crew of the Texas."
While Celestia and Captain Bob were still talking, Luna then suddenly turned, and looked directly at me. "And who might you be, Young Sailor?"
For a few moments, I completely froze up, but a nudge from behind from Chief Engineer Dalton quickly brought me back to reality. I then saluted. "Princess Luna, I am Ensign David Gardner, the Texas's Executive Officer, her second in command under Captain Hogan. It's a pleasure to meet you." I then bowed lightly.
"Such a young officer to be selected as a battleship's XO, but yet such a polite one too. I think that you'll go very far in your career, Ensign Gardner."
I smiled. "Thank you, Princess. Though you may call me 'David' if you prefer."
"Very well, David. I think I'll be watching you with great interest.......watching your career, that is." Luna then looked away, seemingly embarrassed.
I was surprised at what I'd just seen. It seemed that Princess Luna slipped up in what she meant to say, but I wasn't sure of what to make of it at the time. I then pushed it out of my mind, as Captain Bob and Chief Engineer Dalton were also introduced to Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, and Captain Hammer for the first time.
"It's an honor to finally meet you in person, Captain Hogan."
"The honor is mine, Rear-Admiral. I'm just thankful that we're having this meeting now, rather than picking up the pieces after a war began."
"Indeed, Captain."
Chief Engineer Dalton then looked over at Captain Hammer. "And you must be Captain Hammer. From what I've heard, you're the officer in charge of the shore batteries, are you not?"
Captain Hammer nodded. "Yes, Sir, I am. I was right there alongside the Rear-Admiral when the first, and only, warning shot was fired towards the Texas when it first arrived."
"That was a very fine shot, Captain. You've trained your gunners well."
"Thank you, Chief Engineer Dalton."
Captain Bob then turned towards the Princesses. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna? If you're ready, then I'd like to begin the tour of our vessel."
Princess Celestia nodded. "Certainly, Captain Hogan. Lead the way."
He saluted. "Yes, Ma'am."
Captain Bob then began to walk down the deck, and the large group of Ponies and Humans followed him; the Texas crew returning to their duty stations, the officers, including myself being a part of the tour, and the Equestrians all eager to see the wonders of the USS Texas BB-35, which we were happy to show them.
Author's Note
And, that was Chapter 6 Part 1
I'm so, SO sorry that this took almost 2 1/2 years to get out. It was a combination of Real Life, writer's block, and a bit of burnout. I plan on getting Chapter 6 Part 2 out faster, though I'd like to thank those of you who kept asking about Chapter 6, and when it was coming out, as you all kept me on track somewhat, and reminded me that you were waiting for this. I thank you very much for your patience, and your persistence, and I hope that you enjoyed Part 1 of Chapter 6. So now the Texas is docked in Fillydelphia, and the crew have met the Princesses. What're they going to think of the tour of the Texas? Will the Texas continue to remain at Fillydelphia, or will it be moved somewhere else? Why did Luna suddenly slip up when talking to David? And what about the Black Baron? When will he make an appearance in the story? And what's going to happen next? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned and I'll tell you
In the meantime though, as always, comments, questions, feedback, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 6 Part 2!
ScarFox out for now!
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Chapter 6: Inspections, Royal Meetings, and Tours, (Part 2)
As Captain Bob and I led the way towards the middle of the ship where we would show the Princesses the sights of the Texas's main deck before leading the tour down below decks, both Princesses were in awe not only of the size of the Texas, but also at the sight of her armament, and how large her main guns were.
"Look at the size of those main batteries, Sister." Celestia remarked in awe. "They're bigger than anything we have in our arsenal!"
"Yes, they are indeed quite impressive, Sister. And you said that they were 14in guns, and that the Texas has 10 of them, arranged in pairs in 5 turrets, correct?" Luna asked.
I nodded. "Yes, that is correct, Princess Luna."
"And it's been many years since these guns were last fired, correct?"
"Yes. The last time they were fired in anger was during the Battle of Okinawa way back in 1945, but I assume that they were fired at least a few more times since then as part of a gunnery drill before the ship was retired in 1946."
"And aside from her main battery, how many other guns does the Texas possess?"
I thought for a second. "Well, the Texas also has 6 x 5in guns, 10 x 3in anti-aircraft guns, 10 × quad 40mm Bofors AA guns, and 44 × single 20mm Oerlikon AA guns."
Luna was impressed, as no other ship in the Equestrian Navy had that much firepower, and she was even more astonished to learn that even by the standards of WW2, the then almost 30 year old Texas was rather obsolete, as she'd been surpassed long ago by larger, faster, and more heavily armed and armored battleships.
"But just because she was obsolete didn't mean that Texas didn't pack a punch. Her 14in main guns were nothing to sneeze at, and she demonstrated this when she pounded the beaches of North Africa, Normandy, Cherbourg, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. In fact, if you look at Normandy today, the craters created by the Texas, and the Battleship USS Arkansas are not only still visible, but are extremely prominent as well." I then showed Luna, Celestia, and the other Element Bearers this picture, as well as Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, and they were all aghast.
"You mean that Texas and Arkansas were able to do all of this?!" Spike asked.
"And this is what it still looks like today, almost 80 years later?!" Rainbow Dash asked with equal astonishment.
I nodded. "Yep. It's truly amazing how powerful Battleships are. And if this is what it looks like today, I can only imagine how it looked in 1944. I wish I had a picture to show, but alas, if any do exist, they've been lost to time."
The tour then continued on the upper deck, and the Princesses got to look up at the Texas's armored conning tower, bridge, and main mast, as well as Texas's smokestack, which was still venting smoke from the boilers, her main radar mast, her fire-control radar, her 3rd turret amidships, the Kingfisher Seaplane on top of it, Texas's 2 large cranes amidships, the aft mast, and looking back at the other 2 turrets of the ship towards the stern.
"So that's the seaplane that caused so much trouble over Fillydelphia?" Rear-Admiral Sky Seas asked.
"Yes, that's it." Captain Bob replied.
"It doesn't look so scary up close. It looks like an aircraft made for a utility purpose."
"Well, these were designed as scout planes, though they were also deployed for search and rescue missions. Almost all US Battleships had them, and the later battleships carried 2 of them at their sterns. They would be launched during battle to scout targets from the air for the ships to fire at. However, by 1945, Texas had her Kingfisher Seaplane, and its catapult removed, as they were no longer needed, and it wasn't until the ship was restored in Mobile that a Kingfisher Seaplane was brought out of storage in California, cosmetically restored, and then donated to the Texas to be displayed, mounted on top of a scratch-built catapult. Only a few Kingfisher Seaplanes still exist today, and ours is the only one that can still fly, and the only one to have been launched off of a battleship via catapult since the end of WW2, as they were removed from the battleships soon after the war ended in favor of a newfangled invention called a 'helicopter'." Captain Bob then went on to explain a bit more about that.
"And are these planes armed?" Princess Luna asked.
"Yes, they are, Princess Luna." Lt. Mike Watson, the pilot of the Kingfisher Seaplane, replied. "Kingfishers have 1 x fixed, forward firing machine gun for the pilot, and 1 x rear flexible machine gun for the observer. However, when we flew over Fillydelphia, neither of these guns were used by myself, or Lt. Gary Mitchell, as we didn't want to hurt the Pegasai attacking us, but merely scare them off."
"Hence the flares you fired?" Rear-Admiral Sky Seas asked.
"Yes, exactly." Mike replied.
The Princesses had more questions for Mike about the Kingfisher Seaplane, and he eagerly answered all of them, and eventually, it was time for the tour to move down below decks, which was something that the Mane 6 were eager to see as well, since they had yet to see inside of the Texas at the time. I then led the way down the nearest hatch, and the tour continued into the bowels of the Texas.
"Now for those of you on this tour who have served in the Navy, I think that a lot of what you're going to see in the lower decks of Texas are going to be very familiar to you, since the technological gap between it and your own warships isn't very wide, at least for the most part when it comes to basic ship functions. Or maybe not. I guess it'll be a learning experience for all of us."
"Yes, perhaps it will be, Ensign Gardner." Captain Hammer mused.
The first place we came to was the deck where the Texas's 5in guns were.
"As I said before, Texas has 6 of these 5in guns, 3 on each side of the ship. She used to have more, but during her first overhaul in the 1920's, these were removed, as gunnery sight technology was rapidly improving." I told the group, stopping next to one of the 5in guns.
"These look very much like the secondary armament on some of our own battleships, as they're breech-loading as well, and I would assume that they're manually operated?" Captain Hammer asked.
"They can be, yes. However, by the time of WW2, these guns could not only be operated via electric motors, but they were even controlled by fire-control radar, making them extremely accurate, even in rough seas, as seen on D-Day."
"And which gun was it that fired the warning shot at Fillydelphia?" Rear-Admiral Sky Seas asked.
I looked at some of the 5in gunners, and briefly conferred with them.
"It was 5in Gun #2, Sir, located here on the starboard side." The gunner who spoke up gestured to the 5in gun in question, which was then examined by the Rear-Admiral, the Princesses, and the Mane 6. All of them were in awe at seeing the very gun that had fired the warning shot from the Texas, which had intentionally fallen short of Fillydelphia.
"And how does the ammunition and powder needed to fire the guns come up to this deck?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, those are brought up via special elevators from the 5in shell magazines, and the 5in powder magazines." I then pointed to the elevators in question. "And you'll be able to see the actual magazines and powder rooms once we reach the lower parts of the ship. And yes, in case you were wondering, these elevators can be operated manually via crank handles, just in case Texas's power gets knocked out."
"Fascinating." Twilight muttered as she continued to take notes.
"Hey, what's this over here?" Pinkie Pie suddenly asked, pointing to an area near to the 5in guns. "Is this a bakery?"
One of the commissary cooks looked up from the bread dough he was kneading. "Oh yes, this is the Texas's bakery, Miss Pinkie. It's here that all of the bread for the entire crew of the USS Texas is made fresh every day, and where they used to bake cakes, pies, and other such things for special occasions."
Pinkie's eyes lit up, and before anyone or anypony could stop her, Pinkie vaulted over the barrier separating the 5in gun area from the bakery, and after washing her hands, and putting on an apron, she began racing all over the bakery, quickly making up batches of dough, tossing them into pans, and then throwing them into the ovens, and not just bread, but she also whipped up batches of doughnuts, muffins, cupcakes, and other baked goods. The commissary cook, Daniel Morris, who was acting as one of Texas's bakers, was thoroughly amazed with Pinkie's speed and skills, as were myself, Captain Bob, Chief Engineer Dalton, and the other Texas crew, but the rest of the Mane 6 and the Princesses were used to it.
"I take it she does this professionally, in addition to planning parties?" I asked Twilight.
Twilight nodded. "Yep, she works at Sugarcube Corner, the main bakery in Ponyville, alongside Mr. and Mrs. Cake, who own the bakery."
"Oh, I see. And I know that Morris appreciates the help, as he and the other commissary personnel have been quite shorthanded lately....." I was about to continue, but a quick look from Captain Bob made me stop before I did so. Even though we were now friends, the Ponies didn't yet need to know just how badly undermanned the Texas actually was, just in case they decided to pull a fast one on us. The Texas was supposed to have a crew of 1,815, and we were barely 200, just barely enough for a skeleton crew, and our being so shorthanded was why we were only able to man selective guns when we first arrived in Fillydelphia.
Twilight however didn't seem to pick up on what I'd been about to say. "Oh, I see. I guess with when you all were brought here after the Texas's restoration was finished, you didn't have a full crew capacity."
"Yeah, that's right Twilight."
Behind us though, the 2 Princesses exchanged looks with Rear-Admiral Sky Seas. Ever since they all came onboard, they noticed that the Texas seemed to be far more undermanned than what it should have been. They thought that it was because most crew were at their stations, which did seem to be true, but yet, it also seemed that the Texas might be a lot more undermanned than what we were making it look like, and what I was maybe about to say to Twilight seemed to confirm it. None of them decided to say anything for the moment though.
After the 5in guns, and the Texas's bakery, the tour moved on to the Texas's officer's mess, also known as the Wardroom.
"And this is where all of the officers on the Texas would eat their meals, and where Captain Bob, myself, and other officers have eaten our meals while we were onboard the Texas. And it was also hear that visiting officers, dignitaries, and other VIP's have eaten. And come dinnertime, all of you will be invited to have dinner with us, right Captain?" I asked him.
Captain Bob nodded. "Of course! I've already notified all of the Commissary Personnel, including the ship's stewards that we were hosting our VIP's for dinner tonight, and they've promised to prepare something very special, which you'll see here shortly when we pass the Officer's Galley. If you all would accept our invitation of course."
Princess Celestia nodded. "Of course, Captain Hogan. We would be honored to be your guests for dinner tonight."
"I'm glad to hear it, Princess Celestia."
During this time, Spike was looking at something just outside of the Wardroom. "So this shell right here was the dud shell that struck the USS Texas's Wardroom off the coast of.....Cherryburg....however you pronounced it, France that you talked about earlier Ensign David?" He asked me, pointing to a shell that was sitting on wooden blocks outside of the Wardroom.
I nodded. "Yep, that's it Spike. It's quite an interesting piece of Texas's history, and the coastal town your were trying to pronounce is 'Cherbourg'."
"Oh, ok. Well, it's still interesting to see."
"Yeah, it certainly is." I agreed.
After the Wardroom, the tour continued to the Officer's galley, where Del, and a number of other cooks were beginning the preparations for dinner for the ship's officers, and the VIP's in the Wardroom.
"Wow, it smells really good in here!" Applejack piped up. The others of the Mane 6 agreed with her.
"I'm glad you think so, Miss Applejack. This is the Officer's Galley, where all of the meals for the ship's officers are prepared. There's larger facilities on the decks below for the enlisted crew, and it's quite a full-time job."
"And when the Texas was still in service, how many Commissary Personnel did she have?" Princess Luna asked.
Del thought for a second. "Well, as of 1935, the Texas had 26 commissary personnel, which included cooks, specialty cooks, butchers, and bakers, in addition to 38 mess stewards. This was before WW2 though, so those numbers could have gone up around that time."
Princess Luna nodded, and she and the others got to see some of the Officer's Galley, as well as the adjoining pantry, scullery, the big dishwashing machines, but then the group heard a gasp of fright, which they quickly realized came from Fluttershy. Her friends quickly came over to see what had scared her so much, and Fluttershy pointed to a room nearby, the words "Butcher Shop" were visible over the door, and inside, another cook was busy chopping up meat, and making sausages.
"You.......you all eat meat?" Twilight asked me, a mixture of nervousness, and suspicion on her voice.
I nod. "Yes, we do. Humans are omnivorous, and we do eat meat. This includes things like beef, pork, chicken, and fish primarily."
"And Ponies? Do you eat that?" Rainbow Dash asked, her face darkening.
I shake my head. "No, absolutely not. We don't eat ponies, horses, or anything like that. Some Humans have in the past, but they said that it tasted like leather, and there was hardly any meat on the bones. Here on the Texas though, the meat we have are beef, pork, chicken, and fish. That's one good thing about the sea, it's full of fish that can be eaten. My personal favorite is tuna, the 'Chicken of the Sea', as some call it."
"Oh, I see. Some creatures that the Ponies have contact with, such as the Griffons and the Dragons also eat meat, but it's not something we're used to seeing on a daily basis."
"Wait, you don't eat meat, Spike?" I ask him, a bit confused.
He sighed. "Yeah, I do, but away from the other Ponies. That's why Twilight's Castle has more than one kitchen, so I can cook and eat meat out of sight."
"Oh, ok. So I guess we'll be keeping meat off the menu for tonight for all of you. It won't be a problem, as there'll be plenty of other things to feast on."
I quickly informed Del and the other cooks about this new development. Ham was still going to be the main course for the Texas's officers, as well as tuna, but Del then asked Princess Celestia what would be ok for her and the other Ponies, and she informed him that anything was fine. Fluttershy had been escorted away from the Butcher Shop by this point, still in tears.
"What'd I do?" The cook asked, genuinely concerned.
"Nothing, Ensign. You didn't do anything wrong. Miss Fluttershy was just scared, as the Ponies don't eat meat." Captain Bob informed him.
"Oh, I see. Well, I'm still sorry for scaring you, Miss Fluttershy!" He called out to her.
"It's....it's fine." She told him. "I should be used to it by now, as I care for so many animals, some of whom eat meat, as they're carnivorous, but I'm just not used to seeing so much raw meat in one place."
The cook nodded, before going back to what he'd been doing. The tour then continued onward.
Once away from the Officer's Galley, the tour then wound its way to the enlisted galley, and the enlisted crew's berthing areas, as well as the berthing area for the embarked Marines.
"Gosh, this looks so cramped. Why're they all packed so close together? That doesn't look comfortable at all!" Rarity moaned.
"It's to save space, Rarity." I told her. "Texas isn't a very big ship, yet she has a crew in wartime of 1,815 officers and men. All of these men must be quartered somewhere, and yet still have all of the space for the ship's essential equipment, so the berthing areas must be like this, and it's the same for the low-level officers, but the more senior officers, such as Captain Bob, myself, and Chief Engineer Dalton have our own private quarters."
Rarity nodded, though then she asked about the Marines onboard.
"Well, at the moment, we don't have any Marines, but if we did, then they'd be berthed in the Marine Quarters you saw. US Marines are often kept on Navy ships, even today, to act as both a security force, and to be sent on missions should that be required. This was done a handful of times throughout Texas's career, though the Texas having Marines onboard is often overlooked in her history."
"Augh! Why the f@#k does that room smell like shit?!" Rainbow Dash asked, gagging as she staggered out of a nearby room.
"RAINBOW DASH!!!! LANGUAGE!!!!" Applejack yelled at her, as did Twilight.
"That's the head, Rainbow Dash." I calmly told her. "Which if you didn't know is the crew's toilets, and shower room."
"Oh, so that's why it smells like that."
After the tour group moved on, they got to see the Texas's onboard store, as well as one of its coolest features, an actual soda fountain.
"Whoa! The Texas has an actual soda fountain?! That's so cool!" Pinkie Pie gushed with amazement.
"Yeah, it totally is!" Rainbow Dash agreed, as did their other Friends, Spike, the Princesses, and Rear-Admiral Sky Seas and Captain Hammer.
"Some of our ships have areas like this, but nothing extravagant like this. A soda machine, soda fountains, ice cream coolers, I'll bet that this area was really popular."
"Oh, I have no doubt it was, Rear-Admiral." Captain Bob replied.
"Um, Captain Hogan?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Yes, Miss Pinkie?"
"Is there any chance......."
"I'm not so sure that that's a good idea, Pinkie." Twilight interrupted her, knowing what she was about to ask. "We wouldn't want to intrude."
"Oh, don't worry, Princess Twilight. It wouldn't be any bother at all. You're our VIP guests after all. If you all want some refreshments from the soda fountain, go right ahead. Once I call down someone who knows how to work this old equipment anyway."
Pinkie Pie cheered, and soon she and the others were seated on the bar stools surrounding the soda fountain, and a Texas crewman was serving up refreshments. Twilight had a vanilla ice cream cone, Spike had an ice cream sundae with sprinkles, Rainbow Dash and Applejack both got rootbeer floats, Rarity had a chocolate ice cream cone, Fluttershy also had a vanilla ice cream cone, Pinkie Pie had an ice cream sundae loaded with all the toppings, Rear-Admiral Sky Seas and Captain Bob had a Coke, Captain Hammer got an Orange Fanta, Princess Celestia got a banana split with hot fudge sauce, Princess Luna got an ice cream sundae with sprinkles, whipped cream, and a cherry on top, and I had the same, just with chocolate sauce.
It was so surreal to get to see high-ranking naval officers sharing a glass-bottled soda, and chatting, while Princesses, and other VIP's all happily ate ice cream, but at the same time, I was happy to see them all so happy, and I was seated next to Princess Luna, chatting with her about her life, and she asked me more about mine. I was intrigued that she was banished to the moon for 1,000 years after turning evil, and becoming Nightmare Moon, only to be saved by Twilight and Co. using the Elements of Harmony.
"That's.....I'm not really sure what to say to that, Princess Luna. That must have been......unimaginably lonely. I can't imagine being all alone for 1,000 years on the Moon. I thought that being out on the ocean on a ship for weeks, even months at a time could be lonely and boring, but that has noting on what you experienced."
"And you'd.....you'd be right, David. It was the sheer loneliness, and boredom that eventually got to me, and drove me even more insane than I already was."
"I'm just glad that you were able to make it through that ordeal, and then be redeemed, otherwise, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."
"Yeah, so am I, David. It's nice to be able to talk to somepony who can sympathize with what I went through, even if only somewhat."
Unknown to either of us at the time, Princess Celestia was quietly listening to our conversation.
"I've never really seen Princess Luna be this chatty before." Twilight whispered to her.
"Neither have I, Twilight. Or at least, not for a very long time. When we were younger, Luna was more chatty, but that diminished somewhat when she became an adult, and then she became Nightmare Moon, and was redeemed, and while she talked some, and a lot to me, it wasn't quite like this."
"I'm not sure how to describe it, Princess. It's almost like....." Twilight paused for a moment. "....Almost like my Brother Shining Armor when he was on a date with Cadence."
Celestia chuckled softly. "Yes, it's exactly like that, Twilight. Not to presume too much, but I have a feeling that we may be witnessing the beginning stages of my Sister falling in love."
Twilight put a hand over her mouth, but was smiling a bit too.
We spent quite a lot of time at the soda fountain, during which time I explained to Princess Luna and the others that the Texas's store next to us was where Texas crewmen could purchase items like cigarettes, gum, candy, magazines, playing cards, writing utensils, stamps, canned food, and more, and they also got to see the Enlisted Galley, and the Enlisted Mess, which were larger than those for the officers, as they had to feed and sit a lot more men. They also got to see the Texas's post office.
"And it was here that the crew of the USS Texas could send and receive mail, postcards, and small packages....when the ship was close to shore, in port, or within range of a mail boat anyway. Which towards the end of the war was quite frequent for the Texas, as even while she was on-station, mail boats would come by to pick up and deliver mail, postcards, and small packages for/from the crew for/from their families and/or sweethearts back home. It was vital for them to be able to stay connected during the war. I would know, as my Great-Grandpa sent and received letters from his girlfriend, my future Great-Grandma, while he served aboard the Battleship USS North Carolina BB-55."
The Ponies all nodded in agreement, and then the tour continued.
After looking through the ship's laundry room (during which time Rarity marveled at the sheer size of the washers, dryers, and iron presses), the Ponies then got to see the ship's barber shop, and dental office.
"Wow, both a barber shop, AND a dental office, in addition to the soda fountain?! You guys really did think of everything when building a battleship!" Spike said in amazement.
Captain Bob chuckled. "Well, those who designed, built, overhauled, and maintained the Texas certainly tried, Spike. The US Navy had, and still has, strict regulations on how long your hair can be, and how it must be styled, and how you must remain clean-shaven at all times, and with so many men on the ship, they definitely needed a dentist, who was also part of the ship's medical staff, who could aid in the Infirmary if required. Like the rest of Texas, the dental office here was fully restored to how it was in 1945, but luckily, no one on the ship has had to use it yet. Dental technology has come a VERY long way since 1945, and I say thank God for that!"
"And where are the ship's barber and dentist now?" Twilight asked, noting that both rooms were empty of crewmen.
"Not onboard the Texas, I'm afraid, Princess Twilight. Our trip was only supposed to last a few days, and we were just delivering the ship to her new home in Galveston, so it wasn't seen as necessary to have them onboard."
"And how many crewmen are actually onboard, Captain Hogan?" Princess Celestia asked. "I know that you and your crew have done a good job of making the ship look inhabited, but I have a feeling that this is far from the case. Am I correct?"
Captain Bob sighed. "Yes, that is true. Since our mission was just a quick delivery of the ship, there were only 200 men onboard Texas when she was displaced, most of whom were either retired US Navy personnel, like myself, and CE Dalton, or US Naval Reservists, like Ensign Gardner. So we now have a fully-restored battleship, but just barely enough crew to man her."
The Princesses, Element Bearers, Spike, and Equestrian Naval Personnel were all surprised to hear this. Now it became clear why only 3 of Texas's 5 gun turrets turned towards shore, and why the ship seemed so sparse during the tour thus far. However, they were quick to forgive the Texas crew for their deception, considering the circumstances, and assured them that they had no ill intentions for them, or for the Texas herself. Captain Bob and I, as well as other Texas sailors within earshot were still slightly skeptical of this, but for the time being at least, we had no reason to distrust the Ponies, so we continued to the tour to one of the most important parts of the ship, the Infirmary.
"The infirmary was one of the most important parts of the Texas." I told the group. "Every time a Sailor or Marine was sick or injured, they came, or were taken here to be looked after by the Texas's medical staff."
The Ponies looked around the infirmary, which was full of white bunk beds, fitted with white sheets, various cabinets for medicines, and other medical equipment, various other medical equipment was scattered around, and they even looked into the Texas's operating room.
"Wow. This really isn't all that different than the sick bays on our own capital ships. Our military technology may be different, but all of this medical equipment looks nearly identical. Granted, I'm not a ship's doctor, so I can't say for sure, but I'd be interested to hear what one of our medical officers would have to say about this." Rear-Admiral Sky Seas then sent for a medical officer to come examine the Texas's infirmary, with permission from Captain Bob.
Meanwhile, Applejack noticed a room off to the side of the infirmary that was very dark. "Hey, what's this room for?"
I looked over. "Oh, that's a darkroom, Applejack. That's where technicians would develop X-rays from the X-ray machine."
"And why's this medical room so separated from the others, Darling?" Rarity asked.
"That's the Quarantine Room, Rarity. That's where sailors who had infectious diseases, and those with STD's were sent so that they could recover, yet not infect the whole ship with their diseases."
Rarity looked appalled, and recoiled from the room, but then Fluttershy spoke up. "Um....what're 'STD's?" She asked.
I shifted uncomfortably. "Um.......it stands for 'Sexually Transmitted Diseases', Fluttershy. Whenever the Texas would make a port of call somewhere, inevitably, at least some of the crew would come back with STD's from local women. There were so many posters made warning about this, not to mention condoms being made readily available, but it happened. Either that, or women would get pregnant, but that's a whole 'nother topic for a whole 'nother time." I finished quickly.
Fluttershy's eyes went wide in shock, while the rest of the Mane 6, Spike, and the Princesses also looked visibly uncomfortable. Only Captain Hammer and the Rear-Admiral kept their composure, as they'd seen what I'd just been talking about before with their own sailors.
"Well, we've gotten to see a lot of the Texas's domestic aspects, but could we see some of her more mechanical, and wartime aspects now? Such as the engine room, boiler room, radio room, etc?" Captain Hammer asked, eager to change the subject.
Captain Bob, and the rest of the Texas crew had no objections to this, and the tour continued, though a bit smaller now, as Rarity and Fluttershy went back up onto the main deck for some air, and Pinkie Pie returned to the Texas's bakery to help Daniel, leaving Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, the Princesses, and Captain Hammer, and the Rear-Admiral to continue the tour.
Our next stop in the tour brought us to Texas's radio room, where Lt. Walt was all too eager to talk to the Ponies about Texas's radio equipment, and tell them the story of how Texas finally made contact with the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, and even about the incident with the blown out vacuum tubes. Captain Hammer remarked that this equipment was nearly identical to what was used on their own ships, and Twilight was taking so many notes.
Next up was the Texas's radar rooms, and this was an object of great interest to the Ponies, since radar was a relatively new invention for them, and to date was only in use on shore installations, and a few select test vessels. It had yet to be rolled out to most of the Equestrian Navy, and it still only had about a 50 mile range.
"As old and primitive as the Texas's radar is, both her air search, and surface radars have about a 100 mile range on them, while later battleships had even longer ranges, and our tugboats can see several hundred miles with their radars. We used the Texas's radars extensively when we first arrived here, especially once we entered that fog bank, as the last thing that we wanted to do was hit anything, or have anything hit us. And we did spot various vessels, a lot of whom I believe reported back to you on our position, and what our vessel looked like, but they kept darting in and out of radar contact range."
"I believe that that's because most of the vessels who encountered you were small fishing vessels, but other ships were destroyers, and at least one minesweeper, Ensign Gardner." Captain Hammer informed me.
"This radar technology is incredible. It's more advanced than what we have, but it definitely proves the concept, and shows that it can be an invaluable asset to a modern navy. I do believe that we definitely need to ramp up our efforts to create better radar sets, and install them on all major naval vessels in the Equestrian Navy." Rear-Admiral Sky Seas remarked. "Granted, it will take time, and a lot of resources, but it will definitely be worth it. And what's this 'fire control radar' I was hearing about that could guide the Texas's guns?"
"US Navy battleships in WW2, as well as cruisers, and most destroyers were fitted with fire control radar, which enabled their guns to be radar-guided, and hit their targets accurately, even in storms, or rough seas. No matter how the ship moved, or bounced around, the fire control radar kept the guns as close to being on target as possible."
"And where was this all done from on the Texas?" Princess Luna asked.
"That was done primarily from the Main Battery Plotting Room, which we can show you next if you want."
The Ponies eagerly agreed, and we led the way there. When we arrived, they all gasped in awe. The room was large, and full of various equipment, from banks of switches, radar screens, electrical equipment, wires snaking around all over the place, and more.
"Holy cow, this place is massive! How do you even know what to do in here?!" Rainbow Dash asked in awe.
"Well, that's why some of the most skilled men onboard the Texas worked in here." Dalton replied. "All of them had to work together to not only keep this room operating, but also maintain constant contact with all of the Texas's gunnery officers in the turrets, and secondary batteries, give them accurate and up to date information on targets, and most importantly, keep their guns on target. During combat, especially if going up against other warships, this would have been absolutely vital, though for Texas, she never had to engage another warship. But even so, with her guns pounding shore targets, accurate firing information was still vital for hitting land targets, especially in rough weather. Whenever the Texas was in action, this room was nothing short of a beehive, always abuzz with activity, and full of noise. And I assume that since you don't have fire control radar, that your ships don't have a plotting room like this?"
Read-Admiral Sky Seas shook his head. "No, not even close."
"And would you believe me if I told you that even by the standards of WW2 that Texas's fire control radar was obsolete when compared to that of more modern battleships and heavy cruisers?"
"Well, considering what I've seen so far of the Texas, and what you've told us about her, yes, I could believe it. But the technology you have here is still some years ahead of our own, but if we could add it to our own vessels, it could be such a boon, especially with the war going on."
"You mean the war against this 'Black Baron' fellow I keep hearing you Ponies mention?" I asked.
Princess Luna nodded. "Yes. And this is a topic that needs to be discussed, but we'll save that for another time, perhaps during our dinner tonight."
"Yes, that would work fine." Captain Bob replied.
After spending more time looking around the Plotting Room, it was time to move on once again.
The tour continued to meander throughout the ship, and the Ponies were shown the various armories spread out throughout the ship, containing a mixture of M1 Garand rifles, M1 Carbines, M1911 pistols, Thompson SMG's, Winchester 1898 Trench Guns, Browning BAR's and M1919 Browning Machine Guns (none of us were sure why these latter 3 were here, as they weren't used by the US Navy) and US Navy helmets, as well as boxes upon boxes of shells and bullets, as well as the various engineering spaces, full of various electrical switches, electrical boards, and various generators and dynamos.
"When we powered up the USS Texas for the first time following our arrival on Equus, it was done so at power switchboards just like this." Dalton was telling the Ponies. "We powered off our modern generators which had been supplying all power to the ship up until this point, before turning on the ship's power plant, which quickly came to life. Then we packed up our modern generators, and put them away for emergency use."
Just then, Rainbow Dash had a question. "Hey, I don't know why I or anypony else didn't ask this earlier, but how come all of Texas's hatchway doors are off the ground? Is there a reason for this?" She asked.
"Ah, a very good question, Rainbow Dash, and yes, there is a reason for it, and it relates to the ship's damage control. If the ship was filling with water from damage, the raised metal underneath the door was designed to slow the flooding of water into the next compartment long enough for someone to close and lock down that door."
Rainbow Dash looked at the door. "Oh, I see it now, David. Thank you."
I nodded, smiling a bit. "You're welcome, Rainbow Dash."
By this time, the tour reached the very bottom of the Texas, where her engine rooms, boiler rooms, magazines, and the motors for the turrets were. Our first stop was to see the ship's magazines, which Twilight had inquired about earlier. The Ponies got to see the 14in, and 5in magazines, as well as the 3in magazines, and the magazines for the other AA guns, and the powder magazines for the 14in and 5in guns as well.
"Wow, these rooms are huge! And they're stuffed to the brim with shells!" Spike exclaimed. "Though why're the shells stored separately from the powder bags? Isn't that a waste of space?"
"It's a safety measure, Spike." Twilight told him. "The reason the shells and the powder are stored separately is because the powder is highly flammable, and if there were to ever be an accident, or Faust-forbid, a fire, then the explosion would be contained within the powder magazine, rather than the shell magazine, which could trigger a chain of explosions powerful enough to completely tear the ship apart."
"That's exactly right, Twilight." I told her. "Luckily, nothing like this ever happened on the Texas during her long career, but the risk was always there, as it did happen to other vessels, such as the armored cruiser USS Maine, the Battleship USS Arizona, and the destroyer USS Shaw to name a few, and both the Maine and the Arizona were sunk with huge losses of life."
The Ponies looked on in horror, but then Rear-Admiral Sky Seas sighed, and admitted that a few Equestrian Navy ships had also fallen victim to magazine explosions, usually with high losses of life.
Moving on from this unpleasant topic, we also showed the ponies the elevators for the shells and powder bags, as well as the hoists used to move the shells over to the elevators.
"Weren't you saying something earlier about how the US Navy upgraded the 14in guns on other battleships to enable them to shoot farther, and extend the barrel life, but not those on the USS Texas and her sister ship, due to the shell hoists not being strong enough to accommodate the new shells, and it not being economically feasible to replace them?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I did say that. However, what was done for the Texas and her sister-ship New York was to instead give them modified, shorter armor-piercing, and high-explosive shells to enable them to stay up to par with the other 14in gun battleships, increasing their maximum firing range from 23,000 yards, to 34,300 yards, which is just shy of 19 1/2 miles. However, it remains unclear if the Texas ever actually fired a shell to this range, since most of her duties involved shore bombardment, which had her only a few miles offshore. Records on this are quite sparse."
"19 1/2 miles. If the Texas could actually shoot that far, then she would beat out the current record for an Equestrian naval gun, which currently stands at 13 miles." Twilight reported with a mixture of awe and surprise on her face.
Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash's mouths were hanging open, while Captain Hammer, Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, and the Princesses were in equal shock, but they were quick to see the advantages of being able to hit a target accurately from such a distance, and wondered if the guns of their own ships could be modified someday to shoot shells that far.
After leaving the magazines, the Ponies then got to see the mechanisms used to move the massive 14in gun turrets themselves, and they weren't quite to surprised here, as the technology was almost identical to what they had on their own ships. However, they were quite surprised when we reached amidships, and showed them (with pictures), Texas's torpedo blisters. Only a few of their ships had torpedo blisters, and those ships tended to be unwieldy in rougher seas do to their increased beam. And it was also here that Princess Luna noticed what seemed to be the remains of some old machinery.
"Ensign David? What's this old machinery for? Were they part of something that no longer exists?"
I looked at what she was pointing at, stared for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Yes, indeed they were, Princess Luna. What you're looking at is all that's left of Texas's old torpedo tubes, and the mechanisms used to load, and fire them. From the time she was built, until the early 1920's, the Texas was equipped with 4 x 21in torpedo tubes, with space nearby to store 12 x Bliss-Leavitt Mark 8 Torpedoes (3 per tube), as well as 12 naval defense mines. However, when Texas underwent her first overhaul, the torpedoes, their tubes, and the mines were all removed, and replaced with the torpedo blisters, but some of the equipment used to launch the torpedoes was left behind, and still remains here today. Why they were left behind I don't know, but they're a piece of US Navy history, so here they remain."
"Wow, that's interesting that despite being mostly removed, parts of them were left behind. Though why were the torpedo tubes removed?"
I sighed. "It happened to almost all US Battleships that had been equipped with them at this time, while no new ones were made with them. Multiple tests showed that while it looked good on paper, it was almost impossible for battleship-launched torpedoes to be aimed accurately, with destroyers and submarines able to do the job much more effectively, and in actual combat, ship-to-ship engagements that involved battleships always took place beyond torpedo range, making them effectively useless, so they were removed during the 1920's on most battleships, and no new battleships were built with them."
"Oh, I see. As far as I know, no Equestrian battleships were built with underwater torpedo tubes, though some do mount torpedo tubes on their upper decks, though the effectiveness of this arrangement is still in question."
"Hmm, torpedo tubes mounted on the upper decks you say? That could work, provided of course they're placed correctly to prevent the ship from losing stability." Dalton mused.
"And did you know that Texas has the most famous torpedo blisters in the entire US Navy?" I asked the Ponies.
"Really?" Spike asked. "Why's that?"
I smirked. "It's because of what happened on D-Day, and in the following days. After shelling her primary targets at Normandy, the USS Texas was called in to move danger-close to the shore to continue to provide gunfire support for the US troops pushing out from Utah and Omaha Beaches, and the Texas closed in to about 2-3 miles from shore, and continued to pound German targets with her 14in guns, all while her hull was almost scraping the rocks not too far offshore. However, the Germans kept retreating inland to more fortified positions, beyond the range of Texas's guns, but then the Texas's captain had a genius idea; flood one of the torpedo blisters to intentionally cause the ship to list. This list increased the elevation of her main battery, allowing her to shoot even further inland, breaking apart these German fortifications, and allowing the US Troops to push even farther. Eventually though, the Germans were just simply too far inland, and the Texas was running low on ammunition, so after pumping out the water in the flooded torpedo blister, she withdrew, having done what very few, if any battleships before her had ever done; intentionally flooding herself to allow her guns to shoot farther."
When I finished, all of the Ponies, and Spike stared at me in absolute shock and disbelief, as had some of the Texas's crew who'd been nearby, and overheard my story who were unaware of it. Never had they ever heard of a battleship doing anything like this before, and none of them had any words at all.
Eventually though, Princess Luna was able to utter, "By the Moon, you Humans never cease to amaze me with your ingenuity, even if it's during wartime."
Captain Bob chuckled a bit. "Well, we try, Princess Luna. It's just part of our nature to overcome adversity, even if it means employing absurd methods to do so."
The Princesses and the Mane 6 talked about this for a little bit longer, as did Spike, the Rear-Admiral and Captain Hammer, and then the tour moved on to Texas's boiler rooms.
When we arrived, the area was still a bit noisy, and there was steam in the air, as while most of Texas's boilers had been shut down for the time being, one was kept idling, just in case it was needed to power the ship, should the strain of keeping the Texas's power on prove to be too much for the Equestrian shore-based facilities.
"One thing's for sure, Rarity would sure hate it here. All this steam, soot, grime, etc, it would be 'god-awful for her mane, and what about my brand new dress?!' as she would say!" Rainbow Dash laughed. Applejack and Spike also chuckled, and even Twilight smiled a bit.
"Yeah, I can imagine." I said with a slight laugh. Then Chief Engineer Dalton had the floor again.
"Now then, as you all can see, we've arrived at the very heart of the Texas, her boiler rooms. Currently, the Texas is powered by 6 x Bureau-Express oil-fired boilers, each with 8 x burners, which she received during her first overhaul in the 1920's. As built, and up until her first overhaul, she was powered by 14 x Babcock and Wilcox coal-fired water-tube boilers, and back then, the Texas had 2 smokestacks, but when these original boilers were replaced with more efficient oil-fired boilers, all 6 boilers were trunked into a single smokestack, as you see today."
Dalton then went on to explain more about how the boilers worked, their output, how Texas's 6 boilers were spread out over 4 boiler rooms, and more, all while a few engineers passed by as they kept Boiler #2 running idly, and Rainbow Dash snickered about Texas's original boilers being "Babcock and Wilcox" boilers, and Twilight gave her a glare for her dirty mind.
"I can't imagine how unbearably hot it must have been in here with all of the boilers operating at peak capacity, especially in a tropical area." Princess Celestia said quietly.
"Neither can I." Captain Bob replied. "I've heard a few testimonies from relatives of those who served in the boiler rooms on other warships, some during WW2, and they said it was often unbearable, even with the vent fans running at maximum capacity. I even heard some stories of engineers passing out from the heat, and having to be carried to the Medical Bay to be treated for heat exhaustion. It wasn't a glamorous job, but one that was absolutely vital for the Texas's operation."
"And it seems that oil is indeed the future for warships, and we were right to begin to convert some of our warships to burn oil instead of coal." Rear-Admiral Sky Seas remarked. "And these boilers look almost identical to the ones we use on our ships, though ours are shaped more like a hexagon rather than a triangle."
"And when the boilers are running, most of the power goes to the ship's engines, while the rest is used to provide electrical power to the ship via the generators and dynamos, correct?" Twilight asked as she looked up from her notes.
"Yes, that's correct, Princess Twilight." Dalton replied.
"And can we see the engine room now?"
Dalton nodded. "Certainly. Though because we're in port at the moment, and only have one boiler active, we won't really be able to demonstrate the engines operating."
"That's fine, Chief Engineer Dalton." Princess Celestia assured him.
He then nodded, and led the way there, with the rest of us following close behind him.
When we arrived at the Texas's engine room, the Ponies weren't too surprised, as they'd seen this before.
"I had a feeling that the Texas had triple-expansion steam engines. Granted, they don't provide the most power, not to mention the vibrations they can cause while operating at high speeds, but they're certainly reliable."
"And you were right, Princess Luna. Texas is indeed powered by triple-expansion steam engines, two of them to be precise."
"And what about turbines?" Captain Hammer asked. "Recently, some of our shipbuilders and engineers have been experimenting with steam turbine engines to power our ships instead of the triple-expansion steam engines. Since you all know future technology, will these turbines be effective?"
Dalton nodded. "Oh, indeed they will. It'll take some time, and you'll go through a number of experiments in the process, but once you perfect the geared steam turbine engines, your warships will be faster, and more powerful than ever before. In fact, after the Texas, only one more US Navy Battleship was powered by triple-expansion steam engines; the USS Oklahoma BB-37. After this, all other future battleships, (save for a few that had electric drive systems, but that's a topic for another time) had geared steam turbine engines, which were powerful enough for the last battleships built, the Iowa-Class, to have 4 of these engines, driving 4 propellers, for speeds of up to 33 knots."
"33 knots for a battleship?!" Captain Hammer cried. "That's impossible!"
"It is without geared steam turbines. With engines like what the Texas has, her max speed is only about 21 knots, though during our trip across the Celestial Sea, we were able to get 24 knots out of her engines, and in an emergency, we might be able to get 26 or even 27 knots out of her engines, but that would come at a severe risk. Anyway, my point is, the only way you're going to get speeds like that out of a battleship the size of the Iowa-Class would be with geared steam turbine engines. And of course you'd have to cut down on the armor to achieve that speed....." Dalton then went on to explain more about the differences between regular battleships, and fast-battleships.
While this was happening, Princess Luna was looking at the Texas's engines up close, and marveled at their size and power. I walked over to her.
"The engines on the Texas are very special, as they're the last of their kind still mounted inside of a ship. They were declared a National Engineering Landmark because of this, though due to Texas's deteriorating condition prior to her most recent overhaul, people didn't really get to see the engine room very often, as it was usually an active construction zone for trying to keep the Texas from sinking at her berth. And because her engines hadn't been used in so long, rumors began to circulate online that Texas's engines had permanently seized up, but this simply isn't true."
"It isn't?" Princess Luna asked in surprise.
I shook my head. "No, it's not. The moving parts of Texas's engines are kept lubricated, and then about once a month, the engines would be cranked over manually. This done specifically to keep her engines from seizing, though now that Texas is fully restored, we can just run her engines normally without having to crank them over."
"You really do seem to know a lot about the Texas, David. All throughout this tour, you've mostly been the one to explain everything, and how it works."
"Well, I am the Texas's XO, so knowing all about the ship is part of my job. Beyond this though, I used to visit the Texas a lot when she was still a museum ship, and I learned so much about the ship during that time, including the sad fact that they cut Texas's propeller shafts when they made her a museum ship, meant to prevent her from ever running again. Why they did this I don't know, but this travesty wasn't rectified until Texas arrived here on Equus, and she finally had her whole propeller shafts, and propellers again."
Princess Luna's eyes widened a bit in shock, as did Twilight's who overheard our conversation.
"That's....I'm not sure what to say about that, David, aside from I'm glad that Texas has her propellers and propeller shafts back again, as you said."
"I have a question. How loud would it be in here with the engines runnin' at full speed? And what 'bout the vibrations you talked 'bout earlier?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, when the Texas was running at full speed, the noise of her engines could be almost deafening, and the vibrations felt like a small earthquake at times. At the time, the crew had no hearing protection, but today hearing protection is mandatory, and the only reason you aren't wearing earplugs right now is because the engines are idling." Dalton informed her.
"Well, if/when the Texas is brought out of Fillydelphia Harbor to provide a demonstration of her skills, I'll be very interested to see, and hear this."
"Chief Engineer Dalton?" Twilight suddenly asked him.
"Yes, Princess Twilight?"
"Are the engine rooms as far astern into the Texas as one can go below decks? Or is there anything else aft down here?"
Dalton thought for a moment. "Well, there is the Aft Steering Room, though that's located a bit further up." He then looked over at me. "Ensign Gardner?"
I knew what he was trying to ask me. "Yes, that'll work very nicely, CE. We'll conclude our below decks tour of the Texas by showing our guests the Aft Steering Room, and then we'll make our way back above decks, checking on Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy once we're up there, and then we'll conclude our tour by showing our guests the conning tower. Then we can all meet up again on the main deck, and we'll see how much time we have before dinner in the Wardroom, if any."
"Very good, Ensign Gardner."
I then looked over at Captain Bob, who nodded in approval at what I'd laid out, and the tour below decks reached its last main point of interest.
Pretty soon, we reached the Aft Steering Room, which was actually pretty sparse.
"There's not a whole lot to this room." I told the group. "The wheel up on the bridge is connected to mechanisms that run through here, and then these huge motors here move the ship's rudder. For a long time, US Battleships only had one rudder, and this remained unchanged until the North Carolina-Class at the end of the 1930's. Only having one rudder gave the ship a much wider turning radius, and if that rudder got hit or jammed, then you were in trouble. But I digress."
"What're those huge wheels for?" Rainbow Dash pointed to what seemed like 4 large ship's wheels attached to a single column.
"Oh, those are the auxiliary steering gear wheels. If the Texas ever had her power knocked out, then her rudder could still be turned with those wheels, but it took a number of men to move them, as they were extremely hard to turn, due to the amount of torque required for the task of manually steering such a large ship."
"And was that ever done while the Texas was in service?" Applejack asked.
I shrugged. "I would assume so as a test, however, there aren't any surviving records to indicate if it was ever done because the ship lost power."
Applejack nodded, and soon after, we all left the Aft Steering Room, and began to make our way back through the ship, and to the upper decks again. On our way though, the Ponies did get to see the officer's cabins, including the cabins that belonged to the Texas's Captain and XO, which were inhabited by Captain Bob and myself respectively.
"Wow, these are smaller than what I was expecting, especially for the first and second in command of a ship." Princess Celestia remarked.
"Well, some of this is because of how little open space there actually is on a ship, Princess Celestia." Captain Hammer piped up. "Every bit of space has to be allocated for something, and while the high-ranking officers do get their own quarters on ships, they're often rather small, save for admirals, who do have more luxurious accommodations."
"Yes, exactly right, Captain Hammer." Captain Bob replied.
"And while Captain Bob has gotten the chance to live in his cabin a bit, I haven't yet."
Princess Luna looked at me. "Why not, David?"
I sighed. "Well, because while we were making the journey from Mobile, and ended up here, I slept in one of the crew bunks, as my role as Texas's XO was more ceremonial than anything else. Once we arrived here, I moved my things into here now that my role as XO became concrete, but I spent almost all of my time during our journey to Equestria on the bridge, and haven't slept here yet."
"Oh, I see."
I nodded, and pretty soon, we reached the main deck again, and it took our eyes a bit to adjust to the sunlight, since we'd been below decks for so long. I then glanced at my watch, and saw that the time was now a little bit past 4pm.
"Wow, today really has flown by." I muttered to myself.
Waiting for us on the main deck were Rarity and Fluttershy, and we were joined a short time later by Pinkie Pie, who proudly reported that the VIP dinner in the Wardroom would have all the fresh bread, muffins, cupcakes, donuts, and other baked goods we could want, and we all thanked Pinkie Pie for helping out in the Texas's understaffed bakery.
"And how did you two do while we were finishing the tour?" Twilight asked Rarity and Fluttershy.
"Oh, it was lovely Darling. I got to help out down in the Texas's laundry room, washing drying, ironing, and pressing all these wonderful uniforms. It was so incredible!"
"And I got to help the crewmen up here keep the main deck clean by keeping away the seagulls so that they wouldn't poop on the Texas."
Twilight smiled. "That's great to hear, Girls!"
Twilight, Spike, and the rest of the Mane 6 then began to compare notes on their experiences during the tour, while Captain Bob and I led the final leg of the tour up into the Texas's conning tower, to show the Princesses, Captain Hammer, and Rear-Admiral the Texas's bridge, and battle bridge.
"Wow, so this is where you all spent most of your time while the Texas was underway?" Princess Celestia asked once we reached the main bridge.
I nodded. "Yes, that's right, Princess Celestia. Captain Bob was in charge, Dennis and I alternated steering the ship, Ted manned the engine order telegraph, and Adam served as our navigator. It was a bit cramped with the 5 of us in here, but we made it work."
"This all looks very familiar, though our ships have wooden wheels, rather than the thin metal wheel you have here." Captain Hammer remarked.
"I think the wooden wheels are more iconic, but yet, metal wheels like this are easier to replace due to how minimalistic they are. It looks like a bicycle wheel, and is only made up of a few components."
"I can see that. There's also no risk of anyone getting hit with wood splinters if the bridge takes a hit, and the wheel gets blown apart."
I agreed with him, but then the Rear-Admiral asked about the battle bridge. "What's this I hear about the Texas having a second bridge?" He asked.
"That would be the so-called 'Battle Bridge', located about a deck below us, deeper in the conning tower. It looks just like this bridge, except it only has little slits to see out of, and is much better protected. It could also be used in the event of the main bridge being rendered inoperable."
I then led the way down to it, and opened the heavy metal door leading to it, and turned on the lights.
"We haven't really been in here since we did our inspections of the Texas when we first arrived here. This bridge hasn't been in use, to my knowledge, since 1945 when the Texas was last in combat off Okinawa."
"Hmm. Some naval engineers have proposed our warships to have an auxiliary bridge just in case the main bridge got knocked out, but others weren't convinced that it was worth the space it would take up in the conning tower. However, I would like those engineers to be shown this bridge to see that not only is it possible to be done, but how to do it." Rear-Admiral Sky Seas remarked.
"I think that they would find that to be very beneficial, Rear-Admiral." Captain Bob replied. He could already tell that in the coming days, a number of more tours of the Texas would be conducted by Equestrian Naval Personnel so that they could study the Texas's technology, and hopefully apply it to their own vessels.
After leaving the battle bridge, we climbed up to the level on top of the main bridge, known as the Admiral's Flag Bridge, then up to where the Mark 6 Gun Director was.
"Up until recently, this was the highest deck that visitors were allowed to climb up to while the Texas was a museum ship, and while there were ladders to climb higher, they were removed. However, like everything else, these ladders were restored when the Texas arrived here." I told the group.
The group, which now consisted of just myself, Princess Luna, and Captain Hammer, as Rear-Admiral Sky Seas and Captain Bob didn't feel physically up for the climb, and Princess Celestia was taking time to write a report for her niece Princess Cadence, and her husband Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire, and inform them of the current state of things involving the Texas, as she wanted to finish it before dinner in the Wardroom, all began to climb up, though then we were joined by Rainbow Dash, who flew up to where we were, as she wanted to see the "Big Blue House", as she called the top of the Texas's mast.
"So what's the deal with the 'Big Blue House'?" She asked once we'd all climbed up into it.
I chuckled a bit. "You're not the first one to call it a 'house', Rainbow Dash, and I doubt you'll be the last. A number of battleships of the time had these, however, once they were overhauled in WW2, these were removed when the conning towers were rebuilt. By the end of WW2, only the Texas, New York, and their predecessor the USS Arkansas BB-33 still had them, though the one on the Arkansas wasn't nearly as prominent. And now the Texas is the last ship to have it. But far from being a 'house', these large boxes actually had a lot of uses."
"Like what?" Princess Luna asked.
"Well, aside from hosting lookouts, this box also houses one of the Texas's radars, one of her main radio antennas, her main battery control secondary battery control, and several gun directors as well, which is quite a lot, and is also why these boxes were considered targets by the enemy, though Texas's box was never hit. Nevertheless, once battle alarms sound, any lookouts up here immediately evacuate to the conning tower below. That's what they did as soon as your warning shot hit the water near the Texas."
While Captain Hammer and Rainbow Dash marveled at how much was packed into the main mast's box, Princess Luna was looking out of one of the many windows of the box, also called the observation tower.
"Wow. I'll bet that on a clear day, and you're out at sea, you can see quite a lot from up here. I can definitely see why you would post lookouts up here."
"I can't say for sure, as I haven't been up here yet while the Texas was underway, but based on how high up we are, I'd say that the view would indeed be amazing."
All of us chatted about this for a little while longer, before climbing back down again, and then climbing back down to the main deck, where our group was fully formed up again. Princess Celestia had finished her report, the Mane 6 and Spike were all present, as were Captain Hammer and Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, and of course Captain Bob. Everyone and Everypony was still talking about the tour of the Texas, and it was just then that Del, the leader of the Texas's Commissary Personnel, came up to tell us that the food was all ready, and if we were ready then to head down to the Texas's Ward Room.
"Very good. Just give us all a chance to wash up, and then we'll be right there." Captain Bob informed him.
Del nodded, and made his way back down into the Texas, and we all began to follow him, all talking excitedly about the upcoming VIP dinner, completely unaware that we were being watched by somepony with ill intentions.
While those of us on the Texas were heading down to dinner, the crew to their galley, and the officers and VIP's to the Wardroom, various Ponies were bustling around the docks where the Texas was moored. Some were still marveling at the size of the ship, while others were simply passing by on their way to somewhere, and various carts of cargo were being moved back and forth as well. However, from an alleyway between two warehouses, a Pony wearing an Equestrian Navy uniform stood in the shadows of the setting sun, looking at the Texas through binoculars, and snapping pictures with a camera. They'd been here for quite a while now, but unlike the others, this particular pony, a mare named Snapshot, wasn't there to just see the Texas. She'd been wandering around, snapping as many pictures of the battleship as she could, and from as many angles as she could, as well as eavesdropping on any and all conversations that she heard about the ship, which she both wrote down, and secretly recorded. After snapping a few final pictures, she retreated to the alleyway, and after looking through a pair of binoculars to make sure that the VIP's had gone inside the ship, she pulled out a communication device, and turned it on.
"Blackshore Island, Blackshore Island. This is Agent Watcher, reporting in."
After a few moments, a voice responded. "Agent Watcher, this is Blackshore Island. Do you have something to report?"
Snapshot nodded. "Yes, I do. Something pretty major happened here in Fillydelphia, and it's important enough that I'm requesting a pickup for a package to be taken back to the island immediately."
The operator responding to Snapshot was surprised. If Snapshot was requesting a pickup for a package, then that meant that she had a lot of highly-valuable intel that needed to be brought back to Blackshore Island for study immediately.
"Copy that, Agent Watcher. I'm sending a courier to your location now, and he'll meet you at the usual pickup spot. But I must know, what is the nature of your information?"
Snapshot smirked. "It's something that the Black Baron will be VERY interested to know about. It seems that a new battleship has arrived from another world, one that's far more powerful than any ship in the Equestrian Navy, or our own fleet. Under normal circumstances, this ship would be a major threat, but yet this ship could be quite a valuable asset to us, as it's also horribly undermanned........"
Author's Note
And, that was Chapter 6 part 2. I know that some of you probably weren't expecting it to come out for another few years, but I recently thought to myself, "Wait a minute. If I can crank out short stories in only a few days to a few weeks, then why can't I write Chapters to popular stories in a timely manner? This gave me the motivation required to finish Chapter 6 Part 2, and I think Chapter 7 will also go smoothly, as it'll be shorter than this one, and not nearly as technical, so stay tuned for that.
So what did you all think of Chapter 6 Part 2? Did I do a good job of giving a tour of the USS Texas for the characters? I really hope so. Did you all learn anything new from this? If so, then I'm glad. In the meantime though, what's going to happen at the dinner in the Ward Room? What kind of food's going to be served? What will the discussions be, aside from the Ponies finally telling the crew of the Texas all about the Black Baron. And what about Snapshot? It's clear she's a spy for the Black Baron, but what's going to happen when the information reaches him about the USS Texas? How will he respond? And what could possibly happen next? Well, you know the drill, stay tuned and I'll tell you
In the meantime though, as always, Comments, Questions, Feedback, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 7!
ScarFox out for now!
(Also, in case you wanted to see what a tour of the Texas could look like, here's a video of one, taken a few years ago
And I also think that this Chapter may also now hold the record on FIMFiction for the most pictures in a single Chapter, at 31. If you know of any Chapters with more pictures, please let me know)
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Chapter 7: Dinner Talks, Trial Preparations, and Spies Plotting
Once we'd all made it back down inside the Texas, we quickly made our way to the Ward Room. Because of the amount of people and Ponies eating there for our VIP dinner, other Texas crew had taken the liberty of putting a few tables together to form one long table, enough to seat all of us comfortably. The tables were covered in white tablecloths, and were set properly with all of the necessary plates, glasses, and silverware. A few candles were also added to the table for ambiance, and once we were all in the Ward Room, the Texas Officers helped to seat all of the women/mares, and then we all took our own seats. Captain Bob and Rear-Admiral Sky Seas sat at the ends of the table, Captain Hammer sat at Sky Seas's right, I sat at Captain Bob's right, CE Dalton sat at Captain Bob's left, and the rest of the officers and Ponies and Spike were free to seat wherever they chose. To my surprise, Princess Luna chose to sit next to me, though at the time, I figured that she'd picked her seat first, since she and the other Mares had been seated first, and the rest of us followed, and then I just happened to sit next to her, since I was seated at Captain Bob's right side, since I was the XO, but I wasn't complaining.
Once we were all seated, stewards soon entered the Ward Room, and began to fill up everyone's glasses with ice, and water, lemonade, tea, or iced tea, depending on what they wanted, however, there wasn't any wine offered. Princess Celestia asked about this, and Captain Bob sighed.
"I apologize if any of you wanted wine, as I'm afraid that we don't have any onboard. Many years ago, the US Navy passed very strict rules about how all US Navy ships must remain 'dry', ie, free of any alcohol at all times, and these rules still remain in place to this day, despite other Navies having relaxed the rules to some degree. The only times those onboard ships ever got to have alcohol was on shore. Even when the Texas was fully restored, there wasn't any alcohol onboard her. Granted, some alcohol was brought onboard by the crew, but this was Texas whiskey we were saving for celebrating our reaching Galveston, and is far too strong for this occasion I'm afraid."
Princess Celestia nodded slowly. "Oh, I see. Well, no matter, I think we'll all still very much enjoy ourselves."
Captain Bob still tried to apologize, but Princess Celestia assured him that it was fine, as she didn't drink very much wine anyway, and her Sister agreed with her. Rarity looked like she was maybe about to say something, but then seemingly thought better of it, and decided not to.
Just then though, Del stepped into the Ward Room, and behind him a number of Texas crewmen, acting as stewards came in, carrying platters and trays of food, all of which were covered with silver lids. However, the smells of the food were wafting from underneath, and were causing our mouths to water.
"Mmm, something smells really good!" Spike said from the middle of the table.
"Yeah, no kidding, Spike!" Rainbow Dash agreed, followed closely by everyone and everypony else.
Moments later, the stewards all set the trays down on the table, and one after the other, they all lifted the lids. The Ponies's eyes lit up in surprise and delight when they saw all of the food. There were trays of salads, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, various cheeses, fresh bread, butter for said bread, rolls, various types of fruit, macaroni and cheese, and for those of us who ate meat, there was also ham, and fried chicken. However, one tray still remained covered by a steward.
"What's under there?" Spike asked.
I smiled. "Ah, that would be a Texas delicacy. I present to you, the famous Texas potato skins!"
The steward then lifted the tray's lid, and the Ponies were greeted by the sight of potatoes that had been cut in half, and then mostly hollowed out, with the potato parts removed then being mashed while the rest were being deep-fried, and then the mashed parts put back in, with cheese, green onions, sour cream, and for some of them, bacon.
"And if these weren't already good enough, Del also added a secret ingredient, known only to a handful of Texas cooks and chefs."
"And what secret ingredient is that, Ensign David?" Twilight asked.
I smirked a bit. "Well, if I told you, then it wouldn't be a 'secret ingredient', now would it, Twilight?"
Twilight frowned a bit, but soon saw the humor in it, and started to laugh a bit. Pretty soon, everyone and everypony was digging in, and while the Ponies had tasted many of the foods set out on the tables before, the flavors were more exotic to them, as the foods themselves, and the methods and equipment used to cook them came from another world. All of them were amazed by how good the food tasted, and they couldn't get enough of the Texas potato skins, and I noticed that Princess Luna even ate one that had bacon on it.
"I know my stomach's going to kill me for this later, but I'd like to know what it tastes like." She told me when I asked her why she ate one with bacon.
"Well, to each their own, Love......my Dear.....ah f@#k....shit!" I then slammed a hand over my mouth before I embarrassed myself any further.
Luckily for me, only Luna, Captain Bob, Dalton, and another Texas officer overheard my outburst, which I'd said at a low volume. All of them looked at me, and they could clearly see I was embarrassed beyond belief, both for slipping up, and swearing, which I'd unintentionally done in my panic.
"I'm so, SO sorry, Princess Luna!" I said quickly. "I don't know how that happened."
She looked at me with pity. "It's ok, David. We all make mistakes."
"Down in Texas, we're used to saying things like that, but around here, that could be misinterpreted, which is why I tried to bail from them.....and only made things worse. I'm sorry."
Luna reassured me that it was ok, though next to her, Celestia had also heard my slip-up, and chuckled to herself. She couldn't see my face, but she could tell that I was deeply embarrassed, but she had a feeling that what I said about "Love", and "My Dear" may have been a bit of a white lie. She'd heard the other Texas crewmen talk in their Southern drawl, very similar to Applejack and her Family, but they hadn't really used those terms. She'd heard a few "Dearie's" and "Sunshine's", but not what I'd said. Granted, maybe she just hadn't heard them yet, but she had a feeling that I'd used those as terms of endearment towards her Sister, unintentionally, and then tried to bail from them, only to make the situation worse.
"Hmm, so perhaps he reacts the same way to embarrassment as my Sister does." Celestia thought, remembering when Luna and I first met, and how she'd unintentionally talked about watching me, rather than my career. "Now the shoe was on the other foot, and it's still funny, and cute at the same time."
Celestia then made a mental note to send a letter to Princess Cadence after dinner regarding the matter.
As the dinner progressed, Captain Bob then asked Princess Celestia a very serious question.
"Princess Celestia?"
"Yes, Captain Hogan?"
"I need to know something. Is there a way that you can send us, and our ship back to Earth? As we've told you, during that violent storm, an event occurred that completely ripped us, the Texas, the 3 tugboats, and their crews away from Earth, and deposited us here on Equus. Our disappearances on Earth have no doubt by now caused quite a stir, and all of us have families wating for us, and some of us even have spouses and kids back home, and now we're here, far away from them. Is there any way for you to send us home, or even help us send messages home telling everyone that we're ok?"
Princess Celestia sighed. "This may be very hard for you to hear, Captain Hogan, but in all honesty......I do not know. In the entire history of Equestria, something like this has never happened before. We've never had any creatures arrive here from another world, and as such, we currently have no means of sending you home."
All of the Texas officers at the table were crestfallen. We had no means of contacting our families, and they probably thought that we were dead after the storm. I knew that Captain Bob had a wife, and several grown kids, I had my Parents, and my siblings Jill and Marcus, and everyone else on the Texas had their families too.
"However!" Celestia continued, seeing how upset we were, "This doesn't mean that we're not going to try to help you. You all were sent here somehow, and we may not have a solution to send you back home yet, but we're definitely going to try and help get you, the Texas, and the tugboats and their crews back to Earth where you belong, or at the very least, help you get messages to your Families to let them know that you're alright."
"Yes, that's right!" Twilight broke in. "It may take some time though, but myself, the Girls, Spike, the Princesses, and others will be getting to work on the problem right away to try and come up with a good solution for it. We'll give it our all, because I know how hard it is to be separated from your Family." She finished, thinking of the many times where she didn't get to see her Brother Shining Armor for months at a time, both when he was a Royal Guard, and when he and Cadence ruled the Crystal Empire.
"In the meantime though, all of you will be well cared for here in Equestria, my Sister Celestia and I will see to that."
"Yes, and you'll all also be honorary members of the Equestrian Navy, and will be treated as such." Rear-Admiral Sky Seas added.
"And in return for this, I take it that you'll be wanting our help to deal with this 'Black Baron' fellow?" I asked, both intrigued, and concerned.
"Well.....if it comes to that, then yes, your battleship would be an incredibly powerful asset to us." Princess Luna replied.
"And who exactly is the 'Black Baron'?" I asked. "I take it that he's some kind of an enemy of Equestria?"
"Not just Equestria, but other nations as well."
While some of the officers were still talking with Twilight, and the other Mane 6 about getting home to Earth, Princess Luna then began to tell the rest of us about the Black Baron.
"The need for Equestria to have a powerful navy started about a decade ago. It was the dawn of a new era in Equestrian naval technology, with steam engines and propellers toppling the sails and paddle wheels of yesteryear, just as welded steel ships were sweeping away the wooden, and even armored wooden ships of the past, and breech-loading rifles, and other similar naval guns were replacing the muzzle-loading cannons on capital ships.
The Equestrian Navy needed better and more powerful ships to ward off pirate attacks on Equestrian ships, as well as better protecting the Equestrian East Coast, though this need later evolved as a necessity to match the might of the Griffon Navy, which was Equestria's rival at the time. An uneasy peace eventually turned into an alliance between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom, though the two nations still consider themselves rivals on some levels."
"Oh, and I take it that after Equestria modernized their Navy, the pirate attacks dropped, and with the alliance between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom, the pirate attacks dropped even further?"
Luna nodded. "Yes, that is correct, Captain Hogan. Other nations, such as the Saddle Arabians, and the Minotaur Kingdom also contributed to these anti-piracy efforts, and for quite a while, the seas were quite safe from threats that weren't nature-related, but alas, it was not to last."
"Enter this 'Black Baron' everyone keeps talking about?" I asked.
"Yes, correct again, Ensign David. Enter the Black Baron."
"And who is he exactly?" Captain Bob asked. "We keep hearing his name, but no one will talk about him, save for the fact that he's a threat to Equestria, and you thought that we were affiliated with him when we first arrived here."
Luna then looked around at everyone and every pony seated at the table, including her sister Celestia, who nodded gravely.
"If our new friends are to help us in exchange for us helping them get home, then they need to know the full extent of what we're facing, and the full story of the loathsome mastermind behind it all."
Luna grimaced a bit, steeling herself up for this conversation, before she finally began.
"Around 6 or 7 years ago, there was a powerful Griffon noble named Gustav Darkclaw. He was very rich, and he was one of the leading powerhouses in driving the Griffons to modernize their military, from their army, to their navy, to their zeppelin and airship force. He funded a lot of these efforts himself, and made a lot of money making and selling weapons."
"Ah, so he was a 'Daddy Warbucks'." I said, chuckling softly. "America has no shortage of them, as they, and their companies, have fueled America's Military Industrial Complex since the time of the First World War, if not before. Many of them became quite rich from manufacturing and selling weapons and ammunition, and it would seem like the Griffons were gobbling up his weapons as fast as he could make them."
"Oh, indeed they were, Ensign Gardner. In fact, this was the reason why Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom's military rivalry began, and why we had to quickly modernize our Navy; it was because of Darkclaw's push for the Griffons to do so, and we risked them pulling ahead of us in technology, but then an ugly truth came out. As it turns out, our 'esteemed' Gustav Darkclaw, now a Baron at this point, having inherited the title from his family, wasn't quite as squeaky clean with his intentions as it appeared. As it turns out, the real reason he was pushing to modernize the Griffons's military so much was because he was planning on overthrowing the Griffon king, King Gruff, and then pushing the Griffons into an age of war and conquest. Naturally, King Gruff was outraged when he learned of Darkclaw's treachery, and he was immediately arrested."
When the Texas officers heard this, our eyes went quite wide. We were thinking that perhaps Darkclaw went mad, or maybe tried to fund a war secretly from the sidelines, but none of us thought that he was plotting a coup de tat.
"And what happened to him afterwards?" Dalton asked. "I mean, he's still alive, and apparently quite a threat, so what happened with him?"
Luna sighed. "While details are a bit sparse from the Griffons regarding this matter, it seems that while some were pushing for Darkclaw to be executed for his treachery, in the end, it was decided to banish him from the Griffon Kingdom forever, and seize all of his assets, which is ultimately what happened. He was sent away in disgrace onboard a small boat, and threatened with death if he ever returned. All he had were the clothes on his back, a small toolkit, and whatever was on that small boat, which couldn't have been much at all. After this, tensions between the Equestrians and the Griffons cooled down, and this was where the alliance with them was formed. And for a while, we all thought that it was the end of it, but we were wrong.
In the following few years, our disgraced Darkclaw, now calling himself 'The Black Baron' (on account of his fur and feathers being all black), had apparently found an island, or island chain with some form of infrastructure on it, and begun to build a base of operations on it. He would be joined in this endeavor by various other pirates, criminals, marauders, and scum of all kinds, and from many races, including Ponies, Griffons, Minotaurs, Saddle Arabians, Hippogriffs, Dragons, and possibly even Changelings, but we're not sure. As time went on, his forces grew, he gained more ships and airships through raids, or desertions, and he declared himself to be a warlord, and began to unleash his forces against the nations of Equus.
Because of this, our forces had to remain vigilant, and it was the reason why we installed shore batteries along all of our coastal cities; to protect against ship-to-shore invasion, and why we began to put the brand-new radar, just invented by one of our Equestrian scientists and his team, to work scanning the Equestrian coastline for any threats. And this was also why when you first arrived here, with a warship that we'd never seen before, running in the fog without communicating with anyone, and heading straight towards Fillydelphia, we assumed that you were either the Black Baron, or associated with him, and took the actions that we did against you. Though now I imagine that you can understand why we did so."
"Yes, we most certainly can, Princess Luna. Though I would imagine that the rest of Equus were quite angry with the Griffons for not executing the Black Baron when they had the chance to."
"Oh yes, they most certainly were, Captain Hogan, and the Griffons themselves were angry enough about it that they led the charge to find the Black Baron's base of operations, but so far that search has been unsuccessful."
"And how much about the Black Baron's forces is known? And of his base of operations?"
Luna sighed. "Very little, I'm afraid, Captain Hogan. It's estimated that the Black Baron has under his command, a force of around 12,000 creatures of various races, around 100 ships of various sizes, types, and from various nationalities, a fleet of around 40 airships, and this is all based on what we would assume would be an island chain, located somewhere in the Celestial Sea, as this would be the only way that he would have enough space to support enough infrastructure to keep an operation of this size going. It's also believed that the Black Baron's forces have drilled oil wells, and have refined the oil into fuel to power their vessels and airships, but this is unconfirmed. However, reports do indicate that the Black Baron does have facilities to repair damaged ships, as well as build new ones, which confirms that he has at least one drydock, and shipbuilding facilities. But beyond this, very little about his forces, or their base is known."
"How are they able to hide so well?" I asked. "With an operation this size, and so many nations actively hunting them for several years now, you'd think that they would have been discovered by now."
"We believe that Unicorns among their ranks have used their Magic to create an illusion around their base, hiding it from view."
I looked over at Twilight. "Is that even possible?"
She nodded. "Yes, but doing so is extremely difficult. It would require multiple Unicorns to perform the spell, as well as a number of special Magic Runes, and it would require constant maintenance as well. So while not impossible, it would be very difficult to perform. But yet, it would seem that the Black Baron's underlings have indeed done it, or something similar to have hidden themselves so well up until now."
I sat back in my chair, still reeling a bit in shock. "So we've got a rogue Griffon Baron-turned-warlord, with a force of pirates, marauders, etc, as well as a force of ships and airships, with the required infrastructure to support them all, located on an island chain somewhere in the Celestial Sea, hidden away by illusion Magic, from which they can launch attacks on other ships, and judging by how Equestria has coastal guns and radar, I assume raids on coastal cities and towns too?"
"Yes, that's correct, Ensign David. And while the Equestrians, Dragons, and Minotaurs haven't yet experienced this, the Saddle Arabians, Hippogriffs, and those on the Griffish Isles have. And what makes it very concerning in the case of the Griffish Isles is that those islands have a small population, with only a small defense army, and a small coastal defense fleet. The Black Baron has threatened to invade, and conquer the Islands in the past, as well as threaten the Gateway Bridge."
"What's the 'Gateway Bridge'?" Captain Bob asked.
One of the Ponies in the Princesses's entourage then handed Princess Luna a map of Equus, which she then unfolded, and laid out on the table. She then pointed out Equestria, the Griffon Kingdom, and other key nations, as well as the Celestial Sea, and then she pointed to the Griffish Isles, and a large bridge above them
"This is the Gateway Bridge. It was constructed some years ago when the Equestrians achieved an alliance with the Griffon Kingdom, and has been used to link the two nations together via railroad, and more recently, the rail line terminates at the Dragon Lands. But if the Black Baron were to follow through on his threats against the Griffish Isles, then he would have a new base to launch more extensive attacks against Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom, not to mention destroying a vital transportation route passing over the Gateway Bridge, causing much disruption."
"And in light of these threats, have those of the Griffish Isles bolstered their defenses, and have defenses been made for the bridge itself?"
"Yes, they have to some extent, Captain Hogan. Granted, the Griffish Isles are an independent territory, but they have created their own defenses, and we have our military patrol the area near the Equestrian side of the bridge, while the Griffons do the same on their side."
Captain Bob shook his head. "All this fear, and global tension that evil bastard's caused. As you said, he needs to be hunted down, and while I know that we would be willing to help you, there's a few problems."
"And what are those, Captain Hogan?" Princess Celestia asked.
Captain Bob then laid them out. "Well, all of them pertain to the Texas herself. There's nowhere for her to be able to be docked properly without taking up at least 2 docks, and this same problem applies to dry-docks; I don't think you have one that the Texas could use if she was damaged. Also, I don't think you Ponies manufacture the ammunition her weapons use, though it does seem like you do manufacture many of the other spare parts she requires. But beyond this, she'll need fuel oil, which only some of your vessels run on, and above all, as you've seen for yourself, and Ensign Gardner and myself have confirmed, we don't have enough crew to man the ship. There's 200 of us, barely enough for a skeleton crew; in wartime, the Texas had a crew of 1,815 officers and men, and if we're going to war, we will need a full wartime compliment of trained crew."
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looked at each other, and then over at Captain Hammer, and Rear-Admiral Sky Seas. All of them knew that what Captain Bob had said was the truth, but were there ways to overcome these problems?
The Rear-Admiral spoke up. "Well, we could always expand our Naval Yard to give the Texas a proper dock, which was going to be done anyway because of her joining our fleet, same with a similarly-sized dock built in the naval bases in Manehattan and Baltimare. As for a dry-dock, we could build another one here for the Texas, though up in Manehattan, and Baltimare, they do have larger dry-docks, as these were made to accommodate two cruiser-sized ships at once, which put together would be larger than the Texas, meaning that these dry-docks could accommodate her in length, beam, and draft. As for the fuel oil, more and more ships are being converted from coal to oil, so we have a large reserve of fuel oil, so that won't be an issue, and as for your ammunition, if we could study it, and see the specs, I know our munitions factories could make them, as they're very close to the ammunition our capital ships use. As for the crew, it would seem like we would indeed have to train more crew to man the ship, which would be doable, if you're willing to serve alongside Ponies."
Now it was Captain Bob's turn to look at myself, Chief Engineer Dalton, and the other Texas Crew present, and we all nodded our heads. Captain Bob then spoke up.
"Yes, that seems like it will work out splendidly, Rear-Admiral. We're fully ready and willing to help you deal with the Black Baron, in return for you helping us return home, and you giving us the ability to fully bring the Texas back to the fighting standard she was in during WW2."
"That's good to hear, Captain Hogan."
For the rest of the dinner, we continued to talk about how this would work out, only pausing to enjoy desert, which was composed of the baked goods that Pinkie Pie had helped make earlier, which all of us found to be delightful. Plans continued to be drawn up, and by the time night had fallen, it looked like things were going to be on track for getting the Texas ready to fight. Plans for a new dock and dry-dock in the Naval yard specially for the Texas were drawn up, specs on all of the Texas's ammunition were being delivered to the Equestrian Navy's munitions works, and plans were being made for the next day to have the Texas be put to sea for a training cruise, both to show off her capabilities to the Ponies, and to start training her new Pony crew. It was going to be a very busy day, and after the plates, glasses, and other cutlery had been cleared away, it was getting close to bedtime.
The Rear-Admiral and Captain Hammer were returning to the their quarters at Naval Yard, while the Princesses, the Mane 6, and Spike were heading to their VIP quarters at the Naval Yard as well. They said goodnight to us, and we said goodnight to them, though just before she left, Princess Luna spent a little bit more time with me.
"I'm glad that we got to spend so much time together today. You're such a good officer, Ensign David. A perfect fit for being the Texas's XO."
I smiled a bit. "I'm glad too, Princess Luna. Until today, I never thought that I would ever get to meet a Princess, but then I met you. And I'm very glad I did so too."
Luna then held both of my hands gently in hers for a few moments, then she said goodnight, before disembarking the Texas via the gangplank, and once she was off of it, being the last Pony to leave the Texas, the gangplank was then lowered and locked down to prevent any unauthorized access to the ship, and after some more time had passed, most of the ship's crew were returning to their quarters, though those who had rested earlier were now awake, as they had night duty.
I then went back down to the XO's quarters, where after taking a shower, I pulled on a white T-shirt and a pair of boxers, hung up my uniform to wear tomorrow, and after writing down some thoughts in a notebook, I then went to sleep at about 12:30am.
Sometime later, I suddenly found myself walking along a sandy beach. The sun was shining, a few clouds were in the sky, it was a bit hot, the wind was blowing in from off the ocean, some seagulls were flying overhead, and to my left I saw some palm trees, though I couldn't see what was beyond them. Looking down at myself, I saw that I was barefoot, and wearing my swimsuit, and I began to look around, wondering where I was, as this beach was unfamiliar. Just then though, I heard a voice calling my name. I looked around, but didn't see anyone at first. However, after a few moments, I spotted someone walking down the beach towards me. I couldn't tell who it was at first, but as they got closer, I saw that it was Princess Luna.
I waved to her, and she smiled and waved back to me, and began to walk closer, but as she did so, I began to think that there was something....off about her appearance. I couldn't quite put my finger on it at first, but then once she walked fully into view, it suddenly hit me; she wasn't wearing a swimsuit; she was completely naked! Her large breasts bobbed as she walked, and I saw that she had some dark blue pubic hair that was the same color as her mane. She smiled seductively as she walked up to me, a light blush on her cheeks.
"Hello, My Love. I was hoping I'd find you here." She said with a giggle.
I then looked down at myself, and to my surprise, I was now completely naked as well, and my member was starting to get hard. Luna then pulled me into a naked hug, and as her warm blue fur was pressed against my skin, and her large, furry breasts were pressed into my chest, she began to kiss me deeply.
Suddenly though, I woke with a start. I sat up, and looked around me, fully expecting to still be on that nude beach(?) with Princess Luna, but I saw that I was instead still inside my quarters on the Texas, and the time was now about 4am.
"Well that was......I honestly have no words to describe that, save for 'what the f@#k even was that'?" I'd literally just met Princess Luna earlier that day, and already I was having dreams about us being naked on the beach, hugging, kissing, and possibly even about to have sex? It made no sense to me.
I then laid back down, and went back to sleep again, hoping for either a normal dream, or no dreams at all. Either was fine.
Early the next morning, Princess Luna found herself unable to sleep. Normally she would be asleep by the time Celestia was getting ready to raise the sun, but this morning, she'd been unable to sleep. Perhaps it was her eagerness to get to see the Texas in action later that day, maybe it was anxiety about the war, maybe it was getting to see me again.....or maybe it was the weird dream she'd had the previous night. While normally Luna was in full control of the Dream Realm, on occasion she would have dreams of her own that she couldn't control, and this was one of those dreams. She dreamed that she was on a beach somewhere, I was there too, and both of us were naked, and starting to get intimate with each other before the dream suddenly ended. Luna felt that I woke up from the dream as well, and while it wasn't too uncommon for multiple Ponies to have the same dream, there was something different about this one.
Shaking these thoughts from her mind, Luna showered, brushed her teeth, got dressed, and got some coffee. The time was only about 6am, and since she had some time before breakfast, Princess Luna decided to go on a flight around the Naval yard. She took flight from her quarters, and flew through the air. The sun was just beginning to be raised, and a handful of Ponies were moving around the Naval yard, and on the various ships, either on their way to somewhere, or doing their assigned duties. It was the same out on the Texas, and Princess Luna landed there a short time later, her hooves touching down on the Admiral's Flag Bridge.
There wasn't anyone up there at the moment, but looking down at the deck of the ship towards the bow, she could see a few sailors who were moving about. Some were standing on the main deck, seemingly on Watch Duty, while others were sweeping the deck with brooms, and others came along behind them with mops and scrubbing brooms to wash the deck. Luna watched for a few moments, before to her surprise, she saw me among the sailors. I was scrubbing the deck near the 2nd Turret with a scrubbing-broom, and I was wearing my white sailor's hat, as well as a pair of black shorts, and my US Navy dog-tags, but aside from these, I was both shirtless, and barefoot. Luna blushed a bit as she saw my state of undress, though then she noticed that the others cleaning the deck with me weren't dressed (or undressed) much differently. However, no matter how hard she tried to force herself, Luna was unable to look away from me while I was working.
"By the Moon, he really takes good care of himself." She muttered to herself. "Those muscles, he must really work out a lot to have muscles like those. And that....tattoo..." She then noticed that I had a tattoo of a black wolf's head on the back of my right shoulder. "That wolf tattoo looks so amazing on him."
Eventually, Luna decided to leave, as it was soon going to be time for breakfast to be served for her, her Sister, and the rest of the Mane 6 and Spike, and she wanted to be there for that, however, just as she was turning away from the railing of the Admiral's Flag Bridge, Luna was startled to see her Sister standing right behind her.
"Enjoying the view, Dear Sister?" She asked, smiling a bit.
"Oh.....Celestia. I....I didn't know that you were here. And yes....yes I was. Both your sunrise, and the ocean."
"Oh really, the sunrise and the ocean, huh? Are you sure , Luna Dear? Because it looked to me like the only thing you were staring at was Ensign Gardner." Celestia said with a smirk.
"W-what?? No, of course I wasn't looking at him! D-don't be silly, Sister!" Luna retorted, trying to hide her blush.
"Oh Sister, it's so easy to see when you're lying. Plus, I was here the whole time, and saw everything. I was just coming from an early morning meeting with Captain Hogan, and I saw you land up here. I came up here to say good morning, and what did I see? My Dear Little Sister, drooling over a certain Texas sailor like he was a tasty snack!"
"CELESTIA!!!" Luna snapped, both with a bit of anger, and a ton of embarrassment. "D-don't talk about him like that!"
"Why not? Are you afraid to admit that you have a crush on him? Even after that dream you had about him?"
Luna went as pale as the moon. "W-wh-what?! How....how did you....???"
"Oh, I have my ways, Sister Dear. You didn't think that you were the only one who had access to the Dream World, did you? You've been working so hard there night after night, so I decided to give you a very pleasant dream. Oh, and I might have 'accidentally' given Ensign Gardner the same dream too."
Now Luna was outraged. "Why you little pervert!!!! I'm gonna.....!!!"
Celestia then teleported herself away, giggling like a schoolfilly.
"COME BACK HERE!!!!!" Luna yelled, chasing after her Sister.
Down on the Texas's deck, I looked up when I heard yelling, but after looking around, I didn't see anyone, or anypony. I did have a feeling that I was being watched, but I wasn't sure where from, despite looking around.
"Hmm. Must have just been my imagination." I muttered as I got back to scrubbing.
A short time later, most of the Texas's crew were eating breakfast in the ships messes, and were discussing what was going to take place later that afternoon. The crew of the Texas were going to offload samples of the ship's ammunition stores of her Oerlikon cannons, Bofors AA guns, 3in, 5in, and 14in guns to be sent to be examined, and then mass-produced by the Equestrian Naval Armaments companies, then the ship was going to be refueled, before embarking a little over 1,400 new Equestrian Sailors, give them a basic tour of the ship, show them to their duty stations, and then get the Texas out of the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, and out to sea for sea trials, and then the next day, Texas would be put through her paces in front on the Princesses, Element Bearers, and other Equestrian Naval officials, and then she would continue on a training cruise with her new crew. So many of us were excited for this, because at some point during the exercises, we were going to get to fire Texas's main 14in guns, hopefully even in a full-broadside.
"I've heard the stories, and seen the clips of film of it, but to actually experience it in person? It'll be amazing!"
I agreed. "Yeah, it will be, Ted."
"Though I wonder what they'll have us shoot at. I would assume that they'll have some kind of targets for us to shoot at."
"I think I overheard Captain Bob say that the Equestrians have a small island somewhere off the coast that they shoot at to train gun crews for shore-bombardment, and they have various towed-targets for ship-to-ship gunnery training. But I'm sure they'll tell us soon."
"Yeah, you're right David."
As we finished eating, calls rang out throughout the ship for the crews to report to the ship's magazines to help offload the ammunition that we were giving to the Equestrians. Soon, various crates of ammunition for the Oerlikon cannons, and 40mm AA guns were being brought up onto the main deck, before being carried down the gangplank to waiting wagons below, meanwhile, hoists inside of the ship were being used to move the 3in, 5in, and 14 in shells from their magazines, and over to the elevators, which brought them up to the upper decks, where they were then placed onto pallets, secured properly, and then picked up by an Equestrian crane, and lowered safely down onto the dock to be loaded onto another wagon. While this was happening, I was helping to secure a load of powder bags for the main 14in guns, which were also being offloaded.
"Careful everyone. One wrong move, and we'll be history. All it takes is one small spark, and them KABOOM!!!!"
"Yeah, we understand that perfectly well, Sir."
"I know, but it never hurts to remind everyone."
Eventually, the last of the powder bags were offloaded, and the wagons were soon on their way under Naval personnel escort to the ammunition factories to be studied, and then replicated. Then, by about 10am, large hoses were brought over to the Texas, and hoisted aboard, before being attached to hoses on the Texas, which fed directly into her main fuel tanks. Soon, many gallons of fuel oil (which we tested first to ensure that it was the same type of fuel oil that the Texas's boilers burned, and it was a close match) were being pumped in. From the time that we first started moving, until we pulled into Fillydelphia, Texas had used up about 2/3 of her fuel supply, and since she was about to embark on a training cruise, her fuel tanks needed to be full.
"I'm just glad that the Equestrians have such a large supply of fuel oil for the ships that need it." I was telling Captain Bob as we watched the refueling take place from the bridge.
"Yes, I agree, Ensign Gardner. However, with more and more of their ships being converted to burn oil instead of coal, and the Equestrians drilling more oil wells, and building more oil rigs, as well as refineries to take the raw oil, and turn it into fuel oil, it makes sense that they would have a large reserve of fuel."
"Yeah, but where is it stored? I haven't seen any big fuel tanks anywhere."
Captain Bob thought for a moment. "Hmm, that's a great question, Ensign Gardner. I asked Princess Celestia this same question during my meeting with her this morning, and she said that the fuel tanks are all underground, protected by special bunkers, so as to make them much less of a target."
"Huh. That's....that's actually pretty smart of them. Granted, you'd need a lot of underground space to do that, but it's still pretty smart."
"Indeed. If I recall correctly, there were some underground fuel storage facilities that the US used during WW2, but I don't remember too much more about them."
Captain Bob and I continued to talk about this for a while longer while the Texas was finishing up being refueled.
As the refueling of the Texas was wrapping up, in an alley near the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, Snapshot was waiting impatiently. She was looking at her watch, and tapping one of her hooves.
"Come on you f@#ker! Where are you?!" She growled in frustration. "I don't have all day here!"
Finally, there came a loud flutter of wings, and a male Griffon landed nearby, and walked into the alley to meet her. He was tall, had brown fur, dirty-white head feathers, and blue eyes. He was also dressed in dirty overalls, a stained blue shirt, and a work cap, and was smoking a cigarette. To most, he was just another face in the crowd, most likely a mechanic, but unknown to them, he was Garran, an agent of the Black Baron. Not a spy like Snapshot was, he was a courier. His job was to get to the Black Baron's spies whenever they requested a pickup, get the information that they had, and smuggle it safely back to the Black Baron's secret base on Blackshore Island.
Once he was out of sight in the alley, Snapshot turned to him, and was giving him a glare of death. "You're late!" She growled angrily.
Garran sighed. "Yeah, and I apologize for that. I just got a bit delayed, and......"
"'AND' NOTHING!!!!" Snapshot interrupted. "When you said you'd meet me early, I was worried, as I had a very narrow window to sneak away and get the information to you before anypony realized that I was gone, but I moved things around, and got here on time, but not only are you LATE, but you're also so late that when I get back, Ponies are gonna start asking where I was! I work in the Photography Lab at the Naval Yard; we don't just up and vanish for hours at a time! If I get caught, this is ENTIRELY on you, you Feather-Brained F@#khead!!!"
"Yes, I KNOW!!!" Garran yelled back, as loud as he dared. "I KNOW how high the stakes here are, and I'm sorry for being late. But when you get stopped for a 'random inspection' at the Fillydelphia Port, there's nothing you can do about it except smile, and agree to whatever those Port Authority jerkoffs are saying, and don't do anything to arouse suspicion."
Snapshot's face softened a bit. "Oh, I see. Well, in any case, you're here now, and I have the package." She then reached down into a nearby crate, and pulled out a brown cardboard box, about the size of a microwave, and handed it to Garran. "This is everything I was able to find out about the ship, as well as as many photos of it as I could take. I also included a few audio tapes of my notes about the ship, including comparing it to other warships in the Equestrian Navy, Griffon Navy, and the Black Baron's Fleet. And I also have confirmation of the exact number of the ship's crew, which brings me to both good news and bad news."
"And that would be?"
Snapshot sighed. "The good news is, the ship is indeed horribly undermanned. It's supposed to have 1,815 crewmen onboard, and right now it has only 200. This is great news for us......but then we have the bad news. The Equestrian Navy wishes to evaluate the Texas's performance (which I'll also be monitoring btw), and have it serve in their fleet, and they're allocating many sailors for this task, which will give the Texas a full crew very shortly."
Garran sighed. "Great, just great. So we had a window to strike, and we blew it."
"It's not so simple, Garran. There never really was a window for us to do anything. The Ponies were all over the ship from the moment it arrived, and trying to do anything here in the Naval Yard would have been suicidal."
"You had a shot to kill not just one, but BOTH of the Diarch Princesses, AND the 6 Elements of Harmony, and you just sat by and watched."
Snapshot looked at Garran like he'd lost his mind. "Ok, I'm going to be doing my damndest to remain calm right now. First of all, I'm a spy, NOT an assassin! And secondly, and most importantly, remember what I said earlier about how doing anything here in the Naval Yard would be suicidal? That applies to everything you just said. And followup point to that, do you have any idea what kind of security the Princesses have?! Yes, this was an unofficial visit, but they had their Elite Guard Corps with them! I would have been spotted before I even got close to them, never mind the Elements, and even if I had, and by some miracle killed all 8 of them, do you have any idea what kind of trouble that would cause? Every. Single. Nation on Equus would never rest until every last square inch of the entire PLANET had been searched for us, and if they find us, and invade all at once? We don't stand a snowball's chance in Tartarus of even lasting 5 minutes." She finished ominously.
Garran turned pale. Sure, he hated the Princesses as much as most Griffons did, but even he wasn't stupid enough to think that killing them was a good idea once he actually thought it through.
"Yeah, you're right. You're right. Bad idea. So what can we do, anything?"
"Well, that's why you're here at all, Garran. You came here to pick up all the information I've gotten on the Texas, and her crew, and take it back to the Black Baron so that it can be analyzed, and I'll keep you updated from here. And I can make no guarantees, but I'll see what I can do about getting onboard the ship. Who knows, maybe they'll need a photographer to document their journey, or maybe the Texas even has its own photography darkroom, and they'll need somepony to develop their pictures."
"Yeah, good thinking, Agent Watcher. See what you can do about that, and I'll get out of here, and leave you to it. If anything else happens, report it immediately."
"Yeah, I'll do that, Garran. Just as the other spies here will do the same."
Garran nodded, before taking off with the package Snapshot had given him, and flying off back towards the Port of Fillydelphia, leaving her alone once again. Snapshot then sighed, and as fast as she could, made her way back to her post at the photography lab in the Naval Yard. When she arrived, she tried to make herself look busy, though to her relief, no one seemed to notice that she'd been missing for an extended period of time. However, a few minutes later, one of her bosses approached her.
"Seaman Snapshot?"
"Yes, Sir?" She asked, worried that she was about to get chewed out, or worse, for being missing.
"I'm here to inform you that you're being transferred to the USS Texas as part of her Equestrian Navy crew."
Snapshot couldn't believe her ears. She was being transferred to the USS Texas as part of her crew? Had she heard correctly?
"Did you just say that I'm being transferred to the USS Texas as part of her Equestrian Navy crew, Sir?" She asked for clarity.
"Yes, you heard me right, Seaman."
"May I ask why, Sir?" She asked, still reeling from the news.
"Well, since you're one of the finest photography specialists here at the Naval Yard, the higher-ups wanted you to lead the Texas's photography department for the foreseeable future."
"Oh, I see. Well, thank you, Sir. This is such a great honor for me."
Her boss smiled. "I know it is, Seaman. Now then, you need to hurry up and gather your belongings, and all of your photography equipment, as you, and the others who'll be serving under you in the Texas's photography department, as well as the rest of the Equestrian sailors who'll be a part of the Texas's crew are just beginning to start to embark on the ship, and you don't want to be late."
Snapshot saluted. "Right away, Sir! This is a high honor for me, and I'll be sure to make you proud!"
"I know you will, Seaman." He then turned and walked away.
Once he was gone, Snapshot lowered her hand, and smirked. "A great honor, and a great opportunity. As part of the Texas's crew, I should have all the access I need to scout the ship, photograph its interior, and hopefully get the information back to Blackshore Island. Then the Black Baron's strategists can figure out how to either knock this ship out of action, or better still, use it for our own purposes." She thought to herself.
She then began to laugh to herself as she packed up all of her things, and joined the other photography specialists who were making their way out to the Texas.
Author's Note
And, that was Chapter 7
So now more has been revealed about the Black Baron, including who his is, and his past, as well as where he and his forces are hiding out. And it also seems that the relationship between David and Luna is heating up a bit, something that's definitely not lost on Celestia, who seems to very much enjoy teasing her little sister about her crush. And the Texas is now an official part of the Equestrian Navy, and is receiving a large contingent of Ponies to supplement her Human crew, and prepare for her upcoming sea-trials. So what's going to happen now? Will the Equestrian sailors be able to adapt to their new roles as the Texas's crew? Will the Texas be able to perform to satisfaction during her sea trials? Or will she far exceed her expectations? How will David and Luna's relationship progress? And what about Snapshot? Now that she's a part of the Texas's crew too, what nefarious things will she get up to? And is she the only Black Baron spy onboard the Texas, or are there more? And when will the Black Baron himself make an appearance? And what could possibly happen next? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned and I'll tell you!
In the meantime though, as always, Comments, Questions, Feedback, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 8!
ScarFox out for now!
Chapter 8: Family Drama, and Shock and Awe
At the same time that Snapshot was gathering her things, still giddy about her stroke of luck at being assigned to serve on the Texas, the refueling of the ship was complete, and the gangplanks leading up to the ship were full of Pony sailors, eager to make their way up onto the Texas, and learn where they were to be stationed onboard her. Many were going to be gunners, but others were being assigned to the engine and boiler rooms, the ship's messes, the sick bay, radar rooms, radio room, battery plotting room, and just about every other space on the ship too. Very quickly, the Texas's compliment swelled from a mere 200 men, to a full compliment of 1,600; 200 men, and 1,400 Ponies. This was still shy of her full wartime compliment of 1,815 men, but considering the Texas wasn't yet at war, and her crew of Ponies were still undergoing training, the last 200 or so Ponies, plus additional recruits for training to become future Texas crewmen (or rather, crewponies) would begin once Texas had been run through her sea trials, and was declared fit to serve in the Equestrian Navy.
While Captain Bob was down on the main deck with Chief Engineer Dalton, welcoming the various new Pony crew to the Texas, I was still up on the bridge with Ted, Dennis, and Adam, chatting with them briefly just before I went down to join them on the deck.
"So what do you guys think? How're these Ponies going to work out?" I asked.
Ted shrugged. "I hope they do. With the clouds of war clearly on the horizon, Texas has to be ready to fight, and she can't do that without a good, well-trained crew."
"I agree." Dennis added. "Plus, we have to drive home the point of damage control to them. Damage control, damage control, damage control. It's what the US Navy's been built on since WW2, and the reason why after damage control became the gospel of every ship in the US Navy, literally only a few ships have been lost, or nearly lost since WW2 ended, and how the USS Cole DDG-67, the USS Stark FFG-31, the USS Samuel B Roberts FFG-58, and the USS Liberty AGTR-5 all survived, despite being heavily damaged. And this of course is on top of countless examples from WW2 of heavily damaged ships surviving."
"Funny you should mention the USS Liberty, Dennis." Adam piped up, looking up from his map table. "It was nearly sunk by our Israeli 'allies', and now we have a ship full of Pony 'allies' that outnumber us 7 to 1."
I looked over at Adam, giving him a "Really Bro?" face. "While I agree with what you said first about the USS Liberty, I don't agree with your latter statement. Yes, the USS Liberty was attacked by the Israelis (an event which was NOT an accident, despite what many claim), the Ponies aren't like that. If they meant us harm, they would have already done so by now, since as you said, they outnumber us 7 to 1, and many of the systems on the Texas are very similar to what they're used to."
Adam shifted a bit. "Yeah, you're probably right, David. But I just hope we don't end up fighting a war for the Ponies on our own."
"I can understand your concern, Adam, but rest assured, we won't be. The Texas will be the tip of the spear, the flagship of the naval operations against the Black Baron's forces, but we won't be alone by any means."
Just then, I heard Captain Bob call out from the main deck, requesting my presence down there.
"Coming, Sir!" I called to him.
I then said goodbye to those on the bridge for the time being, and raced to the main deck. On my way there though, I accidentally bumped into someone, sending me flying back a bit, and them falling to the corridor that we were in. I then saw that she was a Unicorn Pony mare with yellow fur, a blue mane and tail, purple eyes, dressed in an Equestrian navy uniform, and carrying a camera, and a large navy-issued duffel-bag.
"Oh shoot! I'm so sorry, Miss!" I say as I help her back to her hooves.
"It's fine. I was just taking a few pictures, and wasn't paying any attention. I'm Ensign Snapshot, by the way, part of the Equestrian Navy photography team assigned to the USS Texas."
"Oh, well nice to meet you, Ensign Snapshot, I'm Ensign David Gardner, the Texas's Executive Officer (XO)."
"Nice to meet you too, David. Though do you mind if I take a picture of you? I'm photographing various members of the Texas's crew while we're still in port."
I shook my head. "No, not at all." I then adjusted my sailor uniform a bit, before smiling while Snapshot took my picture.
"Thank you, Ensign Gardner. This helps me out a lot."
"You're welcome, Ensign Snapshot." I reply, continuing on my way to meet up with Captain Bob and CE Dalton. "See you out at sea."
"Yeah, I'm sure you will." She called. Though once I was out of earshot, she muttered, "Damn, I need to be a lot more careful. One misstep could lead to me getting a concussion before I even make it out to sea. And it's a good thing that the Texas crew, including the officers are so kind and trusting; it makes my job of gathering intel for the Black Baron a hell of a lot easier!" She then chuckled to herself as she continued on her way to the Texas's photography lab.
A while later, once all of the Texas's crew were ready, and her new Pony crew were onboard and getting acclimated to the ship that we were getting the Texas ready to head out to sea for her first training crews. The fires in the boilers were lit, steam was being sent to the ship's engines, her onboard power systems were being turned back on, various tests and systems checks were being performed, and I joined Captain Bob, Ted, Dennis, and Adam on the Texas's bridge. Ted was at the engine order telegraph, Dennis was at the wheel, Adam was by his map table, Captain Bob was on the radio, checking in with various officers and stations throughout the Texas, while I was standing out at the railing at the front of the ship's bridge, giving directions to the crew on decks who were casting off the lines holding the Texas to the dock.
I then glanced off towards the rest of the Naval Base. Originally, the Princesses, and the Mane 6, and Spike were going to be coming with us, but at the last minute, plans changed. Instead of them coming with us now, this first trip was going to be an acclimation/training cruise to get the Texas's new Pony crew fully acclimated to the ship, and beginning to learn their new roles, and adjust to life on the Texas, and then they'd come aboard for Texas's first actual training cruise in a few days's time, followed by her gunnery exercises for review by them, and other Equestrian Naval officials and VIP's.
"It's a shame though, I still wish Luna was going to be here." I thought to myself. Despite a few hiccups, Luna and I were really beginning to bond as good friends, and we enjoyed the time we'd gotten to spend together so far. Of course, some on the Texas teased me for having a crush on a Pony Princess, but I largely ignored them. Then, as the Texas's engines slowly began to spin her propellers, the tugboats Pelican and Jupiter came in to help ease the ship out of her berth, and while they were doing that, I reentered the bridge, just in time for Captain Bob to finish up his check-ins.
"Ok, all stations are good to go. Are you all good?" He asked us.
"Good, Sir." Dennis reported.
"All good here, Captain!" Ted called.
"Same here." Adam replied.
"Everything's all good here, Sir." I finished.
"Excellent!"
Captain Bob then got on the radio again, though this time he was communicating with the tugboat crews, as well as Compass, the main Fillydelphia Harbor Pilot, arranging for him to come aboard to safely guide the Texas out of Fillydelphia Harbor, and out into open water. It took a little bit longer, but pretty soon, the Texas was out of Fillydelphia Harbor, and steaming at half-speed into the Celestial Sea. We weren't going to be out of sight of land very much during this particular trip, and indeed, for most of the Texas crew, the day was pretty uneventful. Most of it was spent giving tours to the new Pony crew, getting them acclimated to the ship, which was going to be their new home for the foreseeable future, and of course, orientating them on their new jobs/roles on the ship.
"So, how do you think things're goin' so far, Ted?" I asked him as we ate lunch in the Officer's Mess that afternoon.
He shrugged. "From what I've seen and heard, so far things seem to be goin' pretty well. Most, if not all of the Ponies onboard are clearly well-trained professionals, and know their stuff well. Sure, it's gonna take them a bit longer to get fully adjusted to the Texas, but with the basic technology gap between her, and the ships they're used to, I don't think it'll take too much longer for them, and us, to fully integrate, and start drilling to become a well-oiled machine."
"Yeah, I agree." I then frowned. "Now if only those dang-blasted photography lab Ponies would stop constantly being in everyone's way."
Ted groaned as well. While they seemed to mean well, the techs assigned to the Texas's photography lab were spending the day moving around the ship with their cameras, taking pictures of this and that. However, this was causing issues, as while they were taking their pictures, they often got in the way of the other crewmen and crew-Ponies, and were constantly being bumped into, tripped over, and causing more than a bit of a ruckus. Finally, Captain Bob put his foot down, and confined the techs to the Texas's photography lab, the Enlisted Mess Hall, the head, and their berthing quarters for the time being.
"Yeah, I get that they're eager, but they're way too overzealous. And do some of them seem to be a bit....eh...too eager to you, David?"
I thought for a second. "Perhaps. Some of them do seem to really like taking a lot of pictures, but some of their questions were....a bit odd to say the least. I assume that it's because it's their first time ever actually being on a warship, but I don't know."
I wasn't able to tell Ted this, as he wasn't high enough in the ranking, but earlier that morning, Captain Bob, Chief Engineer Dalton, myself, and a few other Texas officers were briefed by Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, Captain Hammer, and a few Ponies from the Equestrian Intelligence Service that there were some concerns that the Black Baron had spies in Equestrian territory, and we were told to keep our eyes open for anything suspicious. Why wasn't this told to the rest of the crew? Only because it could tip off any spies that we were onto them. And even though we knew that the chances of their being any spies on Texas were low, they were still chances. And it was because of this that Captain Bob had to take such harsh measures with the photography techs.
"If anything, I'd say that the whole Photography Department are enemy spies." I thought to myself, half-jokingly. Little did I know though that I was right, at least to some degree.
For the rest of that week, the training cruise went very well, and at the end of it, the Texas arrived back in the Fillydelphia Naval Yard with her new Pony crew being well on their way to becoming a well-oiled machine. However, now the time was growing close for the real tests, the live-firing of Texas's guns against actual targets.
"And what exactly will the Texas be shooting at?" Captain Bob asked Rear-Admiral Sky Seas during the important meeting where Texas's gunnery exercises were being planned.
The Rear-Admiral pointed to a map laid out on the table. "Several things, Captain Hogan. For land-based Targets, the Texas will be shooting at various fortifications set up here on this island about 5 miles off the coast of Equestria, known famously as "Big Bang Island". It's completely uninhabited, under military quarantine, and used solely for target practice for naval and airship weapons. For sea-based targets, we have more than a few elderly ships that have been designated as target ships, and can be controlled with Magic to enable them to move around, thus enabling us, and you, to simulate a live ship-to-ship gunnery duel, at least to some degree."
Captain Bob nodded. "I see. And what about targets in the air? We need to train our AA gun crews as well on the use of the 3in guns, Bofors AA guns, and the Oerlikon cannons."
"Well we have a solution for that as well, Captain Hogan. We have a few small airships that have been built specifically to be moving air targets, as well as a series of smaller target drones. I think you'll find these to be quite satisfactory in being targets for the Texas's AA guns."
"I certainly hope so, Rear-Admiral. Especially since we'll have so many VIP's onboard to watch the Texas's gunnery trials. We have to put on a good show, while also showing off how powerful, and accurate Texas's radar-guided guns are, and proving that they can hit targets in all kinds of sea conditions."
While this meeting was taking place between Captain Bob, Rear-Admiral Sky-Seas, and a few other officers from both the Texas and the Equestrian Navy, back out where the Texas was docked, the Princesses, and the Mane 6, and Spike had returned, and I was representing the Texas's crew for the arrival of Princess Cadence, and Prince Shining Armor, who'd just arrived in Fillydelphia for the Texas's gunnery trials the following day.
"It's an honor to finally meet you in person, Princess Cadence, and Prince Shining Armor. I'm glad that you both could make the trip from the Crystal Empire to see the USS Texas." I said, saluting them.
"The honor is ours, Captain Hogan, and I must say, the Texas is certainly a very impressive battleship. Though aren't you a little bit young to be a ship's captain?" Shining Armor asked me.
I frowned a bit, and I could hear some chuckles from some of the other Texas crew. "Eh, not quite. I'm not Captain Hogan. I'm Ensign David Gardner, the Texas's Executive Officer, standing in for Captain Hogan, who's currently in a meeting with Rear-Admiral Sky Seas about the Texas's gunnery trials tomorrow."
Shining Armor's eyes went a bit wide. "Oh, My mistake, Ensign."
"It's fine, Prince Shining Armor."
"Oh, you can just call me Shining Armor, Ensign Gardner."
"And you can just call me 'David', or 'Ensign David'. Either is fine."
While I was talking with Shining Armor, Cadence was talking with Celestia.
"Wow, so that's the Ensign that you mentioned in your letter, Auntie Celestia? The one that Auntie Luna has a crush on?" Cadence whispered, gesturing to me.
Celestia giggled a bit. "Yes, the very one. And from what I've seen, he seems to be quite enamored with her too, though for the moment, they're both taking things one step at a time."
Cadence nodded. "Well, under normal circumstances I might 'help them along' with one of my Love Spells, but considering how we're on the brink of war with the Black Baron's forces, I won't do that."
"That's probably for the best, my Dear Cadence."
Cadence then looked around. "And speaking of Auntie Luna, where is she? Wasn't she supposed to be here?"
"Yes, she's here, though she stepped away for a few minutes to take care of some messages from Canterlot. Nothing serious, just some reports from her Bat-Pony Night Guards on the status of things."
"Oh, I see." Cadence then paused. "And is it really true what you said in your letter, Auntie? Did you really give David and Luna the same dream of being naked together on a beach?" She whispered.
Celestia grinned. "Oh yes, that really did happen. Just ask my Sister once she gets back."
Cadence had to put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing too loudly. "PLEASE tell me you used a recording crystal for that, as I'd LOVE to see their reactions."
"You didn't get this from me." Celestia replied cheekily, handing Cadence a recording crystal.
Just after Cadence took the crystal, Princess Luna returned. She eagerly embraced her niece, as it had been a while since they'd last seen each other, but it wasn't long before the Princess of Love began to tease her Auntie about her crush.
"Really, Auntie Luna? Out of all of the Ponies you could have chosen, you decided on an Ensign from another world?" Cadence asked, giggling a bit.
Luna gave Cadence a look. It was quite clear that Celestia had been talking to her about this while she was responding to the messages from her Bat-Pony Night Guards.
"I'd hardly call it a romance, Cadence. More of a mutual friendship."
"Oh, a mutual friendship?"
"Yes."
"And do mutual friends usually have dreams about being naked together on a beach?" Cadence asked, giggling.
Luna's eyes went wide with shock, and her face turned a bit pale. "How did you.....???"
"Well, I am the Princess of Love after all. Not too many romance-related things slip past me without me noticing. Well, that, plus a Little Birdie told me."
Luna shot her Sister a glare, knowing all too well who the 'Little Birdie' was. Celestia just giggled as well, leaving Luna to stew in her internal rage over Cadence now knowing about the dream that Celestia had given her and David.
"But yet, it's not all teasing, Auntie Luna. I'm happy that you finally found love with somepony, even if he's not a Pony at all."
Luna sighed. "Yeah, thanks Cadence. I guess."
Around this same time, I looked over and saw that Luna had returned, and went over to see her. She was happy to see me, as it provided a distraction from Cadence's teasing, and I was glad to finally get to spend some time with her again.
Later on that day, once all the preparations had finally been finished, the crew of the Texas got the ship ready to move again, and with the addition of our VIP's onboard, Texas left the Fillydelphia Naval Yard once again, bound for the open ocean. The plan was simple. First we'd bring the ship into range of "Big Bang Island", and practice using the 14in, and 5in guns against land-based targets, as well as demonstrating how effective our fire-control radars were against these targets, and then the next day we'd train those same guns on the target ships designated for this exercise, which would be an even greater test/demonstration of our fire-control radars's capabilities, and then the next day after that, it would be the turn of the AA gun crews turn, when they'd train their 3in guns, Bofors 40mm guns, and Oerlikon cannons on various target airships and drones. These trials were going to be a demonstration of the Texas's abilities as a warship, and show how superior her 1940's technology was compared to that of the Equestrian Navy.
"I'm a bit nervous, Captain Bob." I murmured to him as the Texas was leaving Fillydelphia Harbor. "So many eyes are watching us during these trials, some of whom are naysayers looking for any excuse not to copy the Texas's technology for one reason or another, and there's so much riding on everything going smoothly, and us performing these exercises under pressure."
"I know what you mean, Ensign Gardner. However, I have full faith and confidence in my crew, be they Human or Pony, and I have a feeling that there's going to be quite a lot of 'Shock and Awe' in the next few days, with the Texas performing her trials, and passing with flying colors. And even if a few things go wrong, I don't think it will be seen as a big issue, as remember, the Texas is still going through her 'growing pains' of being an active warship again after over 85 years of being inactive."
I nodded slowly. I knew that Captain Bob was right, but still, all of us were under pressure to get everything right, and we intended to make our upcoming demonstrations the best that the Equestrians had ever seen.
Soon after this conversation with Captain Bob, he and I, as well as Chief Engineer Dalton, were showing the Princesses, the Mane 6, Spike, Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, and Captain Hammer around the Texas's boiler rooms and engine rooms, which while they had seen them before during the first tour, they hadn't been operating at the time. This was also the first time Princess Cadence and Shining Armor got to see the Texas's interior, and they too were in awe of it.
"So this is Boiler Room No.1!" Chief Engineer Dalton called, having to talk very loudly to make himself heard over the roaring fires of the boilers. "It's one of 3 x Boiler Rooms on the Texas, with each Boiler Room housing two of the Texas's 6 x Bureau Express oil-fired boilers!"
"And you said that these boilers burn oil instead of coal!?" Shining Armor asked.
"Yes, that's correct, Shining Armor! Not only are oil-fired boilers more powerful, but they're also more fuel-efficient, far less manpower-intensive, easier to maintain, and far easier to refuel! Instead of hours upon hours of backbreaking manual labor to shovel coal, now you just have to hook up hoses to pump fuel oil!"
"It truly is amazing!" Rear-Admiral Sky Seas remarked. "We've begun to convert some of our ships to burn oil instead of coal, but seeing how it works for the Texas proves that oil-fired boilers are indeed the future, and eventually will replaced coal-fired ships almost entirely!"
It was also incredibly hot and stuffy, not to mention noisy and dirty in the boiler rooms, and while Rarity was throwing a fit about it, with her friends trying to either get her to calm down, or leave the boiler rooms, the tour moved on to the Texas's Engine Rooms, and it was here that hearing protection was handed out, as the Engine Rooms were far louder than the Boiler Rooms were. As they'd seen before, the two reciprocating steam engines of the Texas were almost identical to what the Equestrians were using on their own warships, though those on the Texas were slightly larger, and more powerful.
"So, how fast can these engines move the Texas?" Princess Luna asked me telepathically with her Magic as we stood on a catwalk watching the engines go up and down. (Why was she doing this? It was so we'd be able to talk normally without having to yell to each other. We'd simply be able to hear each other's thoughts while the spell was in use. I found it a bit unnerving, but interesting at the same time).
"Well, when running at full power, the Texas's engines are capable of moving the ship at about 21 knots (24mph), which was their design speed, however, during her sea trials here in Equestria, the Texas's engines were clocked at moving at 24 knots (27mph)." I replied telepathically.
"And is that the Texas's top speed?"
"Officially, yes. However, Chief Engineer Dalton and the other engineers have theorized that in the event of an extreme emergency, Texas's engines could be pushed up to close to or above 27 knots (31mph), but only for a short period of time, as this would push the engines far beyond their design capacity, which could result in them exploding, which would be catastrophic for the Texas if that happened."
"I can imagine. Not only would the ship be unable to move, but those explosions could cripple other vital systems, or even blow holes into the Texas's hull, potentially dooming the ship."
I nodded. "Exactly right, Luna. But with guys like Chief Engineer Dalton, and his engineers working down here, I'd say that the risks of that happening are extremely low."
"Which is a very good thing, David."
I agreed, and the tour soon moved on elsewhere, as Shining Armor and Cadence wanted to see the rest of the ship, since they'd been absent from the original tour.
"So, what do you think of the Texas?" I asked once the tour for Cadence and Shining Armor ended, and we regrouped on the bridge.
"I'm impressed by it. The technology is close to what we have now, yet still more advanced in certain areas, especially when it comes to your fire-control radars, which I very much await to see in action during the gunnery exercises." Shining Armor replied.
"I agree. I could definitely see the Texas's technology paving the way for a new era for the Equestrian Navy, not to mention how incredible the ship looks overall." Cadence finished.
I nodded. "Yes, the Texas is truly an incredible ship, and I think you're going to be very impressed during her gunnery exercises, which will be beginning here shortly, once the Texas is in position off 'Big Bang Island'."
"And how much longer will that be, Ensign David?" Cadence asked.
I then looked over to Adam, who quickly checked his maps. "It should only be another 10 minutes or so, Princess Cadence." He replied.
Cadence nodded, and then she and Shining Armor went out onto the port bridge wing, so that they'd be able to see "Big Bang Island" once it came into view.
Sure enough, roughly 10 minutes later, the Texas arrived at her assigned station post about 8 miles off the coast of "Big Bang Island". Texas's engines were then idled to keep her in place, and while General Quarters were sounded, Captain Bob came over the intercom to address the Texas's crew.
"Attention all hands on the Texas, this is your Captain speaking. We've now arrived at our station point off 'Big Bang Island', and the time has come to show off the Texas's firepower against land-based targets on the island. All gunnery crews standby to receive orders from the commanders of each gun, who will further brief you on your targets on the island, and their location."
Since there wasn't enough room for all of the Texas's bridge crew, plus the Equestrian VIP's, some of them would remain on the bridge, while the rest would migrate up to the Admiral's Flag bridge just above it. Up here were Captain Bob, Myself, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, while Captain Hammer, Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, and Captain Hammer were on the main bridge. And where were the Main 6 and Spike? They were located up in the "Big Blue House" on top of Texas's main mast. Not only would they have the best view, but also some protection from the shockwaves from Texas's guns, since they'd never been a part of a gunnery exercise before. They were still provided with hearing protection, as were everyone and everypony else, and pretty soon, the Texas's 5 x main 14in gun turrets began to rotate to port, and their barrels, as well as the barrels of the 3 x 5in guns began to elevate to various degrees.
"Is everything ready?" Captain Bob radioed to the 14in and 5in gun crews
"Affirmative, Captain! We're all set!" They all reported.
"Excellent." Then after having confirmation from the VIP's that they were all ready, as well as the rest of the Texas's crew, and confirmation from the airships monitoring the island to check the accuracy of the Texas's guns that they were ready, Captain Bob took a deep breath, and gave a single order.
"Main guns, fire at will."
And in that moment, for the first time since 1946, the USS Texas fired her main battery. All 10 x of her 14in guns erupted in fire and smoke, sending a 14in high-explosive shell hurtling downrange towards various targets on the island, ranging from buildings, to weapons emplacements, trenches, and even bunkers. The shockwave from the guns being fired could be heard and felt, creating temporary bowl-like craters on the water on the Texas's port side when the guns fired. For several long moments, there was brief silence, and then the shells began to impact with their targets on the island, while the gunnery crews quickly began to reload their guns, while the fire-control crews in the Battery Plotting Room began to feed them new data.
For the next several hours, all of the VIP's, as well as nearly all of the Texas's crew who witnessed the sight of the Texas firing her guns were in complete awe at what they were seeing. Not since 1993 at the very latest had an American battleship fired its main guns, and now we were seeing a sight that hadn't been seen since the end of WW2; the Texas firing her main guns, and secondary guns at land-based targets, and with great accuracy. And to add more to the tests, the Texas was moving while firing, and then teams of Weather Pegasai came by to create stormy sea conditions and high winds, and yet through it all, the Texas's guns retained much of their accuracy. And the real cause for celebration came when the Texas set a new record for gunnery range. One of Texas's 14in shells was fired from a distance of nearly 16 miles, and slammed into a warehouse on the island, destroying it completely. This confirmed hit shattered the previous record of only 12 miles set by an Equestrian battleship.
"So, what do you think, Rear-Admiral?" Captain Bob asked Rear-Admiral Sky Seas once the tests ended for the day.
"I......I....truly have no words, Captain Hogan." He replied shakily. "I've......never seen anything like this in my life. The firepower being so immense, yet so accurate, even while the Texas is moving in stormy seas. Is this because of the fire-control radars you spoke so highly of?"
Captain Bob nodded. "Yes indeed, Rear-Admiral. The fire-control radars, and other machines in the Main Battery Plotting Room were what make this all possible. You gave us the coordinates of the targets, we fired the guns, the airships circling overhead gave us more data to feed to our plotting machines, and we continued from there until all targets were destroyed."
"Well, I can say this. I was certainly right when I asked you to be a part of the Equestrian Navy. With such accurate heavy firepower like this, the Black Baron doesn't stand a chance."
"Indeed. Though this was just the first day of the 3 day trials. We successfully passed Phase 1, the land-based targets, but tomorrow, we'll be facing the sea-based targets, which will prove to be trickier since both they, and the Texas will be moving, and they'll be shooting at us with Magic Shells you mentioned earlier, Rear-Admiral"
"Hmm? What're 'Magic Shells'?" I asked, curious.
"Oh, Magic Shells are shells used by our warships during various gunnery exercises." The Rear-Admiral explained. "They're like regular shells, except when they impact with a target, they explode, but instead of penetrating, they splatter the area with colorful dyes to simulate a hit, with said dyes being infused with Magic to disable any ship systems they come into contact with, meaning that they're able to knock out guns, power systems, engines, etc, without causing any permanent damage. They're quite unique, and very effective for training."
"Oh, I see. But what happens when the dye comes into contact with anything living?" I asked.
"That's a very good question, Ensign Gardner, and the answer is, nothing. Yes, the dye can be capable of knocking Ponies over, but its effects beyond this are negligible, causing no injuries, pain, or even damage to uniforms since the dye can be washed right off, except in rare cases of Ponies having allergies to the dyes themselves."
"Well that's good to know for tomorrow, in case the Texas takes any hits from the Magic Shells." Captain Bob replied, to which I agreed with.
Soon after this, the Texas began to make her way back into port for the evening, with everyone and everypony eagerly waiting to see what would happen the next day with Phase 2 of the Texas's gunnery exercises.
The night passed peacefully enough, and on this night, I had another dream. This time though, it wasn't so strange. I was once again walking on a beach, and Luna was with me, but this time, we were both properly clothed; me wearing a blue swimsuit with Luna's Cutie-Mark on it, and Luna herself wearing a black bikini. Luna wanted to apologize for the previous dream, since it was her Sister's doing, but she was too embarrassed to do so, since it would reveal that not only did she get aroused by seeing me naked, but that we'd also had a shared dream.
"I'll tell him someday." She thought to herself. "Or perhaps I'll trick Celestia or Cadence into revealing the truth to him on their own. That'll teach my Sister not to be such a pervert!" She thought to herself with a smirk.
"Whoa!" Ted cried as a huge column of water splashed into the air close to the Texas.
"No kidding, that one was way too close!" Dennis agreed as he turned the Texas's wheel hard to port to keep the Texas on an evasive course.
"Keep evading, and gunners, keep landing those hits! They're CRUCIAL to us winning the day here!" I called to Dennis, and over the radio to the gunners, respectively.
"Sir, yes Sir!"
As the Texas was evading, Captain Bob was looking at the bridge radar scope. Spread out around the Texas was a series of 6 dots, each representing a "hostile" warship. For Phase 2, we were promised a fair fight against actual Equestrian warships, and the Equestrians did not disappoint. Sure, the ships were retired, and were being operated remotely, not to mention they were only firing Magic Shells, but that made them no less dangerous. Already the Texas had suffered a few hits, though thanks to her thick armor, damage was so far minimal. And in return, Texas had already sent 4 ships to the bottom, at least one more was going down, and of the 6 remaining vessels, two were on fire. The weather that day was also overcast, and the wind was whipping up some pretty good waves, but the Texas was landing hits with her 14in and 5in guns, all thanks to her fire-control radar, and plotting equipment.
"Those ships may be old and outdated, but against just the Texas like this, it's sure proving to be a real fight." Captain Bob muttered.
The warships we were facing were a bit of a hodge-podge. Many of them had originally been wooden-hulled ships, but upon their retirement had been rebuilt to mimic battleships and cruisers, although the few destroyers that were a part of the "enemy" Equestrian fleet were all genuine, though thankfully, their "Magic Torpedoes" were not. Our 5in guns ate those little destroyers alive, and the few torpedoes that they did manage to launch either missed, or in one case, hit the Texas's starboard torpedo blister, but failed to "explode", ie, discharge its payload of Magic dye.
Another thing that really impressed the Equestrians was the Texas's ability to not only be able to track multiple targets at once while moving at full speed through semi-rough seas, but also be able to hit those targets with fairly decent accuracy. With their own ships, the guns could only track one, maybe two targets at the most, but with the Texas? Each gun turret was able to track its own target, so that meant that all 5 pairs of 14in guns, and all 6 x 5in guns could each track their own target, though now with only 6 ships remaining, the gun crews were coordinating their attacks on various targets, though this was interrupted when a Magic shell struck Turret No.2, causing it to jam while it was facing to port. Now frozen in place, it could only fire at targets directly in front of it.
"Dammit! Now Turret 2 is all but useless! Is Damage Control on it?" Ted asked.
"Yeah, they're on-scene now, trying to see if they can get the turret un-jammed, but the hit was pretty bad, and a lot of the massive gears used to turn the turret are either cracked, or are missing their cog-teeth, thus preventing the turret from moving." I reported, holding the bridge's radio, communicating with the main Damage Control Team.
"Good. That's very good." Captain Bob said with some relief. "That's another good thing about these exercises, our Damage Control Crews get practice too."
Ted, Dennis, Adam, and I agreed. Granted, while technically the entire crew of the Texas was responsible for damage control, we did still have Damage Control Crew onboard who's job was solely that.
While all this was going on, the crew of Texas's No.4 Turret managed to set fire to the offending ship that had struck Turret 2, soon causing it to explode, while Turrets 1 and 5 each took out two light cruisers, and Turret No.3 crippled a 4th ship, which was soon finished off by the starboard 5in gun crews. With 3 more ships now on their way to the bottom, soon followed by the burning ship the No.4 Turret hit, that left only 2 "enemy" ships left; one armored battleship, and one destroyer, which was proving to be quite speedy and maneuverable, making it difficult to hit.
"All 5in gun crews, concentrate fire on that destroyer!" Captain Bob ordered. "Pepper the water all around it, as even near-misses can cause damage! Give it a death by 1,000 cracks if you have to, but send it to the bottom!"
"Sir, yes Sir!"
"All 14in gun crews, assist the 5in gun crews if needed, but your main target is that armored battleship! Take it out!"
"Sir, yes Sir!"
The sea battle of Phase 2 lasted for another 37 minutes or so, but by the end of it, the battleship was sunk, and the destroyer was split in two before sinking. The Texas had come out on top, despite being up against so many "enemy" ships, and although she suffered some damage, and a handful of crewmen were injured, the damage was repairable, and the injuries were minor. Upon our return to the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, the Princesses, Element Bearers, and Equestrian Naval officers commended us on our incredible performance, as once again, the Texas had far exceeded their expectations.
"And come tomorrow, you'll undergo the third and final phase of the trials; the anti-air missions. That way we'll get to see the Texas's air-search radars in action, as well as how her AA gunners respond to aerial threats." Rear-Admiral Sky Seas announced.
All of us agreed, but we also had a feeling that for the Equestrians, Phase 3 was going to be a blowout, since the Texas crew highly doubted that any of their airships, or flying drones were going to be able to get anywhere near the Texas without being blown out of the sky.
"Well then, I guess we'll just have to see who comes out on top tomorrow then, won't we?"
Captain Bob nodded. "Yes, I guess we will, Rear-Admiral."
And indeed, both sides certainly did see who would come out on top, and it wasn't even a fair fight; the Texas's AA guns, coupled with her air-search radar, absolutely annihilated all of the "enemy" Equestrian airships, balloons, drones, gliders, and even a new creation of the Equestrians. They called them "Sky-Skippers", though to us, they were nearly identical to the old biplanes of yesteryear, chiefly the American Boeing-Stearman Model 75, and the British Fairey-Swordfish, with the former being a fighter, and the latter being a bomber.
Aircraft were seen as a novelty at this point in Equestrian history, with the venerable airships being able to fly higher, farther, and carry far more cargo than the newfangled airframes, but some pioneers saw potential in them being used for military applications, hence the reason why Equestria now had an Army and Navy Aviation Program, albeit, a very small one, with only about 10 planes; 5 biplane fighters for the Equestrian Army, and 5 biplane bombers for the Equestrian Navy. Because of this, we weren't shooting at any of the actual planes, but rather cheaply-made mockups. It didn't really matter in the end though, as all of them were sent spiraling into the ocean in balls of fire, and/or debris, just like the other airships and drones. None of them were even able to get close enough to the Texas to fire their guns at her, never mind drop any Magic Torpedoes.
All of the Ponies who witnessed this impressive display of anti-aircraft gunnery were amazed, and Rear-Admiral Sky Seas immediately began to make plans for adding various types of AA guns to Equestrian warships. And of course, Equestrian Navy officials were questioning us about how they could make their Military Aviation Programs successful, and if the US had any similar programs.
"Oh, indeed we do. The US Navy, US Army, US Marines and the US Coast Guard all have their own aviation arms, and of course, there's the US Air Force, which is dedicated entirely to aircraft. And it all started with the US Army buying their first aircraft in 1909, the Wright Military Flyer, with the US Navy sprouting wings two years later in 1911; 5 years, and 3 years respectively before the USS Texas would enter commission for the first time."
"And like your aviation programs, it all started with biplanes, though a bit more antiquated than what you have now, as I just showed you." I replied.
"Hmm, so it seems you Humans got your start in much the same way we did, Ensign Gardner, albeit, many decades ago. And I could see our aviation program becoming quite successful someday, or at least it will be, once we figure out how to evade the Texas's guns long enough to launch any attacks on her." Captain Hammer chuckled.
We all got a good chuckle out of that, and now with the last of the tests finally being completed, the Texas was pulling back into her berth at the Fillydelphia Naval Yard again, though unknown to any of us, Snapshot had been taking more pictures, and other careful notes during the tests of Texas's prowess, and she was also given more notes from two other Texas sailors, stallions Gear Wrench (who worked in the Texas's Engine Rooms), and Crosshair (one of the Texas's gunners operating Turret No.2), who were also Pony spies for the Black Baron who'd slipped through the cracks alongside Snapshot.
"Damn." She muttered to herself as she began to compile her latest list of notes and photographs into a bundle to be sent off to Blackshore Island as soon as Garran, the Griffon Courier arrived at the rendezvous point outside of the Fillydelphia Naval Yard. "Taking this ship down is going to be a LOT harder than I thought it was going to be. When they said that this ship was powerful, I knew it was, but I had no idea it was this powerful, nor as resistant to damage. I just hope that all of the information I gathered previously, plus this latest package of information will be put to good use."
Once she was finished, and made sure that the coast was clear, and no one would notice her departure, Snapshot slipped away with the package of information to give to Garran, so he could get it to the Black Baron as soon as possible.
About a day or so later, with the package from Snapshot safely in his possession, Garran was flying through the slightly overcast skies over the Celestial Sea, heading Southeast towards Blackshore Island. Despite his job often requiring long trips from Blackshore Island to either Equestria, or another country on Equus, which often required him to fly for incredibly long distances, since various passenger ships and airships only went to certain places, he quite enjoyed the long haul-runs. However, at that moment, he was getting tired, and was thankful that he was soon be back at base, and able to rest.
Roughly 45 minutes later, Garran made it past the Magical barrier protecting the Black Sands Archipelago from the rest of Equus, and once he was through the barrier, he looked down at it. The Black Sands Archipelago was an island chain comprised of about 20 large, and a number of smaller islands, all centered around Blackshore Island (also known as "Blackshore 1") in the middle. Blackshore Island was where the Black Baron's fortress was, and served as his main residence, and base of operations. On the various other islands were various shipyards, ship repair facilities, factories for munitions and spare parts, farming and fishing operations, refineries for oil, power plants, water distillation systems, housing barracks, and various other infrastructure required for keeping such a large operation such as this going. And of course, the archipelago was covered in shore batteries, sea mines, jagged rocks, rocket launchers, and numerous other defensive weapons to prevent anyone from getting too close, assuming of course they could get past the Magic shield and rune stones protecting the islands.
For many years, the islands of the archipelago had been inhabited by the Roshin, a race of primitive Leopards who sustained themselves mostly on fishing, hunting, and gathering, with some agriculture, but when the Black Baron showed up, and took over the islands for himself and his forces, the Roshin resisted, and did inflict some damaging casualties, but in the end, they were conquered. Some of them were executed for resisting, but the rest were essentially used as slave labor for the Black Baron. Some were put to work fishing, hunting, gathering coconuts, other jungle fruits, plants, and nuts for his forces, while others worked in various fields growing crops, others were forced to help build new infrastructure on the islands, and still others, chiefly the females, were used as servants, and "Pleasure Girls" for the Black Baron, and his high-ranking officers and officials, while more "Pleasure Girls" were kept in one of several brothels for the regular forces. The Roshin were absolutely miserable, and hated the Black Baron and his minions with a burning passion, but were unable to do much about it at the current moment.
As Garran came in to land on Blackshore Island, he saw several large hulls taking shape at a nearby shipyard. Someday soon, these were going to be battleships to rival the ones that the Equestrians and the Griffons had, as would what the Black Baron called "Project Sun-Ship", but what exactly that was was currently unknown to anyone not working on the project in a nearby sea-cave, those of the Black Baron's inner circle, and of course, the Black Baron himself.
"Quite the impressive navy we'll have soon." He thought to himself. "Big enough to rival any other on Equus, at least to some degree."
Upon his landing, he ensured once again that the package was safe, before being ushered into the main fortress by several Minotaur guards. He was being taken directly to the fortress's throne room, as the Black Baron was awaiting his arrival. The inside of the fortress was quite busy as various Ponies, Griffons, Minotaurs, Dragons, Changelings, and other creatures all moved about, some working, some not, and eventually Garran and the guards reached the throne room. Once inside, Garrin was ushered over to a large table near the middle of the throne room. This table was used for meetings between the Black Baron and his various Generals, Admirals, Captains, Lieutenants, Scientists, Engineers, and other officials to discuss plans, strategies, and progress reports on a regular basis. And as Garran stood at the far end of the table, he looked beyond it, towards a series of stone steps where seated on his throne at the top of them, surrounded by guards, and a few female Roshin slaves, was the Black Baron himself.
Former Griffon Baron Garratt Darkclaw looked every bit like the warlord he was. He was an older Griffon in his 40's, with feathers and fur as black as tar, a yellow beak, piercing gray eyes, and a currently neutral expression on his face. He was dressed in a gray military tunic, gray pants with red stripes, black boots, had 2 pistols holstered at his hips, as well as his sword in its scabbard, and a dark gray military command hat was on his head. On his tunic were various medals and decorations, and on his face, head, neck, and arms were a number of visible scars. He looked down at Garran with a cold, yet expectant look once the Griffon courier was standing in front of the table.
"Have you brought the latest round of information from my spies in Equestria, or rather, the 3 spies who managed to get onboard this 'USS Texas' Battleship as part of her crew?" He asked, his voice a bit gravelly.
Garran nodded quickly. "Yes, Sir. The package is right here." He then opened his courier's bag, and placed the package onto the table.
"Excellent."
The Black Baron then rose from his throne, and made his way down to the table, while also summoning his cabinet of military commanders, scientists, engineers, war strategists, and other advisors to come and look over the information as well. All of them were very eager to see what the trio of spies had sent over, as now they would finally know what the Texas was capable of, and how it would compare to their own warships, both those that they'd stolen from other nations, and those that they'd built, and were building.
"Now then, let's see what goodies you brought for us today."
He then took a seat at the table just as his cabinet members (who collectively were known as "The Blackshore War Council") arrived in the throne room, and also took their seats. One of the engineers was also carrying a 1/350th scale model of the USS Texas, that had been created by him and others, based on the information that had been provided the trio of spies among her crew so far. For what it was, the model was pretty accurate to the real ship, and it was being used to compare the Texas to other models of the Black Baron's ships, and from this, they were able to determine that she was larger and heavier than anything they had, though now they would learn more about the ship's performance.
The Black Baron then gestured for Garran to open the package, which he did, before a Roshin servant came forward with a bag of gold coins to pay Garran for his service, which he gratefully accepted before bowing lightly, and exiting the throne room. Once he was gone, the scientists and engineers were pouring over the contents of the package, while also providing the information to the Griffon military commanders and war strategists. All of them were whispering among themselves, with some sounding deeply concerned, while others were in disbelief, or even sounded angry.
"Well? What have you lot learned?" The Black Baron asked them impatiently, and also with a hint of anger at being left out of the loop.
All of the War Council Members looked up as soon as he spoke, and all of their faces were a bit pale. However, one of the engineers then spoke up.
"From what we can tell, Sir, it's not good. In addition to also being larger and heavier than any ship we currently have, the USS Texas is also several knots faster, has much heavier armor, and her weapons? Absolutely devastating to any target coming at her from land, air, or sea. All of her trials with the Equestrian Navy were a resounding success, and no real faults with the ship were seemingly found."
"So, what would you all recommend?" The Black Baron asked.
"In my honest opinion, Sir. The Texas must be destroyed before she can become a real threat to us, or at the very least, damaged badly enough to send her to dry-dock for a while." One of the Military Strategists replied.
"I see. And what's the current status of 'Project Sun-Ship', all 3 Phases?" He asked the engineers assigned to that project.
After conferring for a moment with his colleagues, Arius, the Minotaur chief engineer of the project spoke up.
"The Project is coming along quite well, Sir. The ships themselves are sound (at least the ones for Phase 1 and Phase 2), but yet, we're still not entirely sure how the one for Phase 2 functions. However, what we've learned so far from the Texas has certainly helped to speed things up. At our current pace, we're engaging in sea-trials with the ship for Phase 1, the ship for Phase 2 could be ready for sea-trials here within the next month or so, around the time more ships for your Fleet are ready to enter service, and your war on the seas to ramp up."
"And what of the ship for Phase 3? The entire reason the project came into existence, and its namesake?" The Black Baron Asked.
"We're......still unsure, Sir." Arius replied hesitantly. "The ship was severely damaged, and it's much bigger than the ships from Phases 1-2. Repairs are ongoing, as are the upgrades you requested, but we won't know more until the ship from Phase 2 finishes its sea-trials, as it's more comparable in size and capability than the ship from Phase 1."
"I see. And how are the preparations coming for our upcoming assault on the Griffish Isles, both our naval and air forces, and our ground forces?"
A Griffon General then spoke up. "Our forces are nearly ready, Sir. We need a bit more time to finish stockpiling weapons, munitions, rations, and other vital supplies, as well as study the Isles's defenses for a bit longer to know all of their patterns, but we're almost all ready to go."
The Black Baron sat back in his chair, pondering all of the information he'd been given, on the USS Texas, on "Project Sun-Ship", and on the invasion plans for the Griffish Isles, and was trying to formulate a plan in his mind.
Finally though, after several long minutes, he spoke. "Ok, here's the deal everyone. First of all, keep 'Project Sun-Ship' on schedule, and ready for its sea-trials by the end of the month, as per your own statements." He informed the group responsible for that project.
"Sir, yes Sir."
"And secondly, I need constant updates on the status of our fleet of ships and airships for the invasion of the Griffish Isles, as well as updates on the required supplies for the invasion." He told the Military Commanders.
"Sir, yes Sir."
"And last of all, I need a plan for how to destroy/neutralize the USS Texas, based on the information we've gathered so far." He said, looking at the Military Strategists.
"We've got one right here, Sir. It's a bit risky, and does involve a lot of steps, as well as a list of things that have to go right, or nearly so, not to mention things we have to coordinate with our spies in Equestria and elsewhere, but it's a pretty solid plan if you're willing to commit the required naval forces and personnel." One of them replied, handing the Black Baron a large file folder.
Wordlessly, he took the file-folder from the Strategist, opened it, and began to read through it. At first, his expression was unreadable, and he was muttering inaudibly to himself, seemingly trying to calculate something. However, the more he read, the more a smile began to form on his face, until eventually, he looked back up at his War Council with a determined look, and a dark grin.
"Yes, I think this will do very nicely. Very nicely indeed." He then looked at his Generals and Fleet Commanders. "Gather your forces, and begin to prepare them for this operation at once. We'll strike within the next 14 days. Our current plan right now is to first sink, or cripple the Texas, and then following this, while the Equestrians are still reeling from the loss of their 'precious' new battleship, we strike at the Griffish Isles, conquer them, and destroy the Gateway Bridge, cutting off that vital link between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom. And then with the Islands firmly under our control, we can launch multiple raids against Equestria, the Griffon Kingdom, the Dragon lands, and Saddle Arabia, only now we'll be the biggest threat Equus had ever seen!"
He then began to laugh darkly, with some of his War Council joining in, while the rest were already leaving the throne room, going out to ready for their forces for the upcoming battles.
Author's Note
And, that was Chapter 8. I'm sorry that this took so long to get out, I've been very busy with work, personal life, and severe writer's block, as well as working on other story projects, but now it's finally out, and I hope you all enjoy it. So now the Equestrians have seen firsthand just how powerful and capable the Texas's weapons are at destroying any threat, and in any kind of sea and weather conditions, and were left in total awe of it. David and Luna seem to be growing closer together, in spite of teasing from Celestia and Cadence, but yet at the same time, war clouds are on the horizon. The Black Baron has evil plans for the Griffish Isles, and plans to wipe out the Texas to prevent her from being a threat. So what's going to happen now? What exactly is the Black Baron's plan for destroying the Texas? What exactly is "Project Sun-Ship"? How long will Snapshot, and the other 2 Pony Spies be able to operate on the Texas before they're found out? How will David and Luna's relationship progress? What will be the event that triggers the war between the forces of Equus, and the Black Baron's forces? And what could possibly happen next? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned, and I'll tell you!
In the meantime though, as always, Comments, Questions, Feedback, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 9!
ScarFox out for now!
Thank you everypony!
