Author's Note:
- Buckle up and get ready to be sea sick, guys! This month we're going to awesome France by ship! For various reasons! XD (Bottom line, France because I just LOVE the country. And because Evan~)
- My other projects are burning in the background as we speak, so I have a feeling that I'll disappear for awhile again... T-T
My 'one completed long fic per month' rule doesn't change, though! I'll do my best to have this done by the end of this month!
- Started with zero knowledge on almost everything that appeared in this fic, so I went and researched like nuts! As usual, feel free to poke me if you spot anything weird with the way things work or the language :)
- Trivia: The beautiful French language, so of course, this time all the chapter titles are romantic phrases in French. Have fun! :D
- (16/9 EDIT) *Unloads some Giorgio and Evan doodles onto you* (Yes, I'm an artist before a writer! Warning that the rest of my pixiv account is full of my OCs and original works. Go say hi to them if you want XD) :
pixiv.
net/member_illust.
php?mode=manga&illust_id=70713290
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction and has no connection to any military or law enforcement agencies. Names, characters, business, events and incidents are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or deceased, or actual events is purely coincidental. Any trademarks appearing in this work are the property of their respective owners.
【Chapter 1: Je t'aime】
ー Je t'aime. ー
ー I love you. ー
One must not forget that the sea, although beautiful and abundant, was also a capricious and unforgiving mistress, forever shrouded in mystery. Once you thought that you had known her, she would turn away, slipping out of your grasp. Tonight, her treacherous waves tossed and turned forebodingly. She smiled darkly, slowly opening her cupped hands.
To men, she revealed a new peril...
Balearic Sea 2:23
In the cold, thunderous July night, the waters of the Balearic Sea stirred roughly in the turbulent storm, rising high and dropping low. Nothing could be seen for miles in the darkness and the pouring rain. Nothing, save for the burning glow a gargantuan pillar of fire and smoke, ascending from the deck of a large aircraft carrier.
The majestic flagship of the French Navy, the Charles de Gaulle, was just heading back to her homeport in Toulon, France, after finishing her operations in the Mediterranean Sea. The carrier's battle group, consisting of four smaller ships and a submarine, sailed closely by her sides as escorts. The fleet had made it only halfway through the Balearic Sea when it had started raining. The sea's tall waves being nothing for the big ships, they had continued to sail onwards. Things were going fine at first, until out of nowhere, the flagship was suddenly shot at by the cannon of an undetected enemy, trapping the entire fleet in the storm.
"Capitaine! We're under attack!"
The naval officers who had stayed up for the night shift had immediately sounded the alarm, waking all those on board. Everyone quickly scrambled into position preparing for the attack. Unfortunately, being low on supplies and exhausted after their operations, the officers of the Charles de Gaulle found themselves to be in quite a pinch.
Flashes of lightning revealed the silhouette of a large, unidentified enemy ship approaching them from their left. The enemy continued to shoot at the Charles de Gaulle with what seemed to be large caliber guns, preventing the naval officers on her from organizing themselves. Another explosion was heard as the enemy's cannon landed a hit on the aircraft carrier's stern. Orders were issued with haste among the officers.
"Contact our frigates and tell them to get ready! We'll push them back!"
"Sir! The signal's been jammed! We can't get in touch with our other ships!"
"Distress signals are not sending!"
"What?!"
As the enemy ship got closer, the great fire that had risen from the Charles de Gaulle's deck illuminated her. When everyone saw what type of ship it was, they could only hold their breath in dismay.
A black, heavily armed dreadnought, a battleship made first and foremost for the purpose of destroying enemy ships, loomed before them. On her was flown not a flag of any nation, but a tattered Jolly Roger. 'Le Fantôme' was painted on the sides of her bow. Two smaller frigates and four black destroyers zipped by her side, providing support and quickly circling the Charles de Gaulle.
"Capitaine! It's a heavily armed and armored battleship!" One of the naval officers reported hurriedly, stumbling into the ship's bridge in terror. "Seeing from their equipments, they might have enough power to match or even surpass us. Do we still engage them?!"
Baffled by how such a gigantic ship could have approached them without appearing on the radar, the commanding officer and captain of the _Charles de Gaulle_ gritted his teeth in frustration. Before they could decide on the best course of action, their radio suddenly crackled. The enemy's voice came in, giving them a warning.
"Bonsoir, messieurs! (Good evening, gentlemen!) Bad weather today, isn't it? This is the captain of the Fantôme speaking. I have your frigates and submarine hostage and you've been surrounded. I'll have all the officers come out to the deck immediately and surrender, otherwise you'll be sunk!"
The lives of over 2000 officers at stake...
The captain frowned deeply. After a long pause and hesitance, he reluctantly replied.
"Oui, d'accord. (Yes, alright.) Don't touch the officers!"
Having no choice but to listen, everyone on board the Charles de Gaulle put on their raincoats and headed out. Nervous and tense, they gathered outside on the deck, the rain pouring down hard on them.
Unperturbed by the storm due to her size, the Fantôme closed in easily. Once they were close enough, the enemy sailors boarded the aircraft carrier with their firearms. They pointed their guns at the officers on the deck threateningly. His orders met, the Fantôme's captain came to join them, gracefully landing on the deck.
Wearing a hooded black long coat and a blood red lace jabot, his sharp and dashing countenance was wasted on his evil deeds. Gold rings ornamented his ears and gloved fingers; various jewelries his coat. From his waist hung an ornate cutlass and a black and gold Beretta. At a glance, one would think that he didn't come from this age. The naval officers held their breath as he walked forward, stopping in front of them and studying them.
"Heh, thought I'd have to fight tooth and nail to get here. You made it all too easy!" The mysterious man laughed. "Eh bien (Oh well), not that I'd complain. The real fun starts now anyway," he smirked, before turning to his crew. His next words carved horror into everyone's faces.
"Men! We only need the ships! Spare no soul any mercy!"
The men roared, they held up their guns and were about to fire, but then one of the officers interrupted.
"Attendez! (Wait!)"
The Fantôme's captain turned and glared at him. The officer took a few bold steps forward, his raincoat billowing in the strong winds, seemingly unafraid.
"C'est incroyable! (This is unbelievable!) We've followed your ordersーHow could you do this to your own countrymen?!" He demanded, gesturing angrily.
Oh, an arrogant young man who needed to be hammered in.
The Fantôme's captain smirked. If he was going to kill all of them anyway, he might as well toy with them a littleーa cat playing with its helpless prey before dealing the death blow. He walked over to the officer, roughly grabbing him by the collar. The poor officer gasped.
"Playing hero now, aren't we?" He laughed, "Just so you know, the entire sea will soon be ours, and I shall do as I please while we're on it!"
With that, he shoved the officer roughly to the ground, letting him crash hard against the watery deck. The captain drew out his cutlass.
"Since you've been so brave as to step forward, monsieur, why don't we start tonight's bloodbath with you?" He asked with a twisted grin, pointing his cutlass at the officer.
"The name's Gauthier l'Olonnais. Remember me as your killer."
Just as he was about to slash at his victim, a distant gunshot was heard, and a bullet was suddenly shot through his left shoulder.
"...?!" Gauthier was knocked back, gripping his wound in pain. He glared disbelievingly at the direction the bullet had come from.
Atop the Charles de Gaulle's bridge, VSSE field operative Giorgio Bruno peered through the scope of his sniper rifle, getting it ready for another shot. Before Gauthier could even react, he felt the cold steel of a pistol being pressed against his temple.
"Oups! Quel dommage~ (Too bad~)"
The officer he had pushed down earlier had stood up. He lifted his face, grinning smugly at the enemy captain from under his raincoat hood. VSSE field operative Evan Bernard. Gauthier glared at him in anger. Evan started.
"Well monsieur, we heard that there's been trouble around these waters and had expected an attack. Never quite expected it to be a whole pirate dreadnought!" He exclaimed, bothered by the giant battleship looming by their side. "Either way, we have you now. Come quietly!" Evan ordered, keeping his gun pressed against Gauthier's head.
"As if I would!" Gauthier didn't give Evan a chance, immediately swinging his cutlass towards Evan's stomach.
"...!" Evan twisted away just in time to avoid getting disemboweled, only to have his side kicked roughly by Gauthier's boot, knocking him down.
"Kill them! KILL THEM ALL!" Gauthier laughed as he shouted his orders.
Their captain freed, the enemy sailors proceeded to open fire. The naval officers ducked and scrambled for cover. Throwing off their raincoats, they revealed their hidden bulletproof vests underneath, firearms and ammo ready at their hips. Having fully prepared, they engaged the enemy in battle, starting a shootout between the two sides. The deck came alive and became a war zone. Overseeing the entire chaos from atop the Charles de Gaulle's bridge, Giorgio rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation.
'Plan A failed and the worst case scenario happened. Great.'
Putting away his sniper rifle, Giorgio took out his trademark M1911. Turning swiftly, he dashed off to join the party below.
"Hahahahaha!" Gauthier laughed, continuing to fight and slash at the naval officers despite his injury. Seeing the ship's commanding officer fighting a little away from him caught his attention. With a smirk, he sheathed his cutlass and pulled out his Beretta. Pointing his gun at his prey, he was just about to move in for the kill, but a few gunshots towards him forced him back.
"Never in a million years!" Evan shouted, his handgun pointed at the enemy captain.
"Why, you...!" Gauthier glared, not appreciating the distraction. To his surprise, Evan was grinning.
"I'd surrender if I were you. We've already won the fight," Evan said smugly.
"Ta gueule! (Shut up!) I'll take you down firsー ...?!"
Gauthier was cut short, eyes widening when he saw that behind Evan, a great cluster of lights was heading towards them from the distance, closing in quickly. They had come from the direction of Toulon, which could only mean one thing. The flashes of lightning showed the silhouette of several destroyers and frigates in the coming fleet.
Frowning in annoyance, Gauthier shot at Evan, forcing him to roll behind a nearby jet for cover. Gauthier turned to his men.
"Their backup had arrived! Retreat!" He commanded, seeing that they would be horribly outnumbered.
"We won't let you!" Evan shouted.
"Heh, eat this!" Gauthier retorted with confidence, signaling to his men with a wave of his hand.
"...?!"
A series of shots were fired from the Fantôme's powerful cannons, impacting against the Charles de Gaulle's side and rocking her roughly. The giant ship creaked and wailed as she tilted. Evan heard some screams, seeing some of the officers fighting near the edge tip over and plunge down into the raging waters below.
"Non...! (No...!)"
"Au revoir! (So long!) Hahaha!" Gauthier laughed, running off during the chaos.
"...!" Evan chased after and shot at him, but Gauthier had put enough distance between them, jumping back onto his own ship. The rest of his men retreated with him. Evan stopped at the edge, watching them go.
"You can't save everyone," the enemy captain said, smirking darkly as the Fantôme began to move away, disappearing into the stormy night.
Evan glared at him, but Gauthier was hardly what he should be worried about right now. The naval officers at the edge of the Charles de Gaulle were screaming, desperately calling out to their fallen comrades below. Giorgio was there helping them throw several long rope ladders down so the fallen officers could climb back up. Evan ran there to help immediately.
With the rough seas tossing them up and down several meters, it was a great challenge for the naval officers in the water to even grab a hold of the rope ladder. But although it was a fierce struggle, they somewhat managed, to everyone's relief.
"PAUL!"
Evan and Giorgio turned to look. Several officers were gathered on one side at the deck's edge, shouting for their friend. Looking at the waters, they spotted an officer who's arm had been injured in the shootout, barely managing to keep himself afloat as the ruthless waves continued to drag him away.
"Zut!" Evan's natural instincts kicked in. Without much thinking, he rushed off to the edge and jumped.
"EVAN!" Giorgio shouted in horror.
He bent over the edge and looked. Evan resurfaced from the freezing black waters, immediately trying to make his way to Paul. Every now and then the waves would swallow him, but he pushed on. He was barely halfway there when Paul, overwhelmed by his exhaustion and pain, couldn't keep himself afloat any longer, sinking below the surface. Evan cursed, diving in. Those watching from the deck held their breath with building tension.
Fortunately, Evan resurfaced a little later, Paul safely in his arms, coughing out seawater. Paul's friends on the deck cheered a little. The bad news was that Evan and Paul had been washed off so far away from their ships. One of the the Charles de Gaulle's frigates that was closest to them tried to move closer, the officers on board calling out to them. Another wave washed Evan over, tearing Paul out of his hands. He quickly swam and held onto the bleeding officer again before he could drift any further.
"Stay with me! We're going to make it!" Evan reassured him, trying to swim towards their ships with difficulty. Paul only looked at him wordlessly. And then he made the hard decision.
"Monsieur, we're both going to die like this! Just let me go," he said in tears, knowing that he was a lost cause.
"Don't be stupid! I'm not leaving anyone behind!"
Another giant wave crashed upon them mercilessly, separating them. Evan rolled over in the harsh waves. Once he managed to pull himself together, he forced his way to the surface, coughing once he had succeeded. Paul was nowhere in sight.
"PAUL!" He shouted, looking around frantically. Try as he might, he couldn't see the officer. Cursing, he dived underwater again and looked.
Paul was there, suffocating as he had no strength left to pull himself up. Evan made his way there and grabbed onto him, dragging him up. They managed to get back to the surface, only to find that they were so hopelessly far away from their fleet. The frigate that was coming to help them was moving its searchlight frantically across the black waters, having lost sight of them.
"OVER HERE!" Evan yelled so loudly that his throat hurt. But no matter how many times he called, the thunders and storm swallowed his voice. Unable to spot them, the frigate sailed a different direction, searching the other parts of the waters away from them.
'You can't save everyone.'
Gauthier's words came back like a thorn on Evan's side. The cold waters were freezing him and Paul to the bones. Throat too raw and hoarse to call out another time, he thought that he was done for. But suddenly, a bright searchlight shone on them from behind. Evan turned around to look, and he couldn't express his relief.
A very familiar gray patrol vessel with its blue, white and red stripes towered there, stopping by close to them. On its side, 'P675' was written, and Evan recognized it immediately as the Arago. The Maritime Gendarmerie, the French coastguard, was here.
Evan quickly grabbed onto the lifebuoys thrown at him and Paul, letting the coastguard officers help pull them up. With some difficulty, they were successfully hauled on board, crashing onto the patrol ship's deck. The coastguard officers cheered, some of them quickly heading off to contact the Charles de Gaulle about their rescue.
Although exhausted, Evan was grinning from ear to ear as he was handed a thick blanket. He used to be part of the coastguard himself before the VSSE had scouted him, and he remembered how much of a celebration it was whenever a life was saved. Still seated on the deck, he patted Paul's back, happy for him. Paul nodded in relief, grateful. Evan watched as the nearby officers wrapped Paul up, bringing him over to the ship's medic.
His worries taken care of, Evan let himself fall back onto the ground, tiredness taking over. Their enemy had escaped, but at least they had been able to reduce their losses. Hoping that all the other officers of the Charles de Gaulle had survived, Evan closed his eyes, drifting off into sleep.
"We have a new mission for you, gentlemen."
"Two of the French Navy's four ballistic missile submarines had been hijacked and stolen. There's a danger that they'll be used to start a nuclear war. Work together with the French Navy and investigate the incidentー"
The transmission buzzed and the screen blacked out, the laptop sinking further down into the dark abyss of the ocean.
Evan opened his eyes, finding himself floating weightlessly in the water, not breathing.
In the night, everything was black. The only light was from a burning mess above the surfaceーwhat little was left of the sinking cruise ship next to him that hadn't sunken. The dead bodies of hundreds of innocent passengers floated around him. Turning his head, Evan could see Paul and the other officers who had fought with him earlier floating there. He felt lethargic and nauseous. Another lifeless body sank down slowly in front of him.
Giorgio...
Evan woke up.
Ship cabin, Charles de Gaulle, Balearic Sea 5:17
After everything had calmed down, the Charles de Gaulle and its battle group had continued making their way to their homeport in Toulon, escorted by the backup ships of the French Navy and the coastguard. The Fantôme had vanished without a trace, disappearing as if she had never existed. But although the enemy's capture had failed, everyone was glad that they had at least managed to deflect the attack, and even more glad that all the officers had survived when they did a headcount. Afterwards, everyone had gone back to their cabins for a well-deserved rest.
Despite being tired and wanting to get some more sleep, Giorgio stirred in his bunk bed. The bright lights of the cabin he was in had been lit up. He glanced over at the clock on the wall, squinting disapprovingly at the early hour it pointed. Annoyed at being woken up, Giorgio groggily leaned out, looking up at the culprit on the bed above him. Evan was sitting there, curled up against the wall, reading a book.
...Reading a book.
The last thing that the youngster would probably do, even if mobile phones weren't allowed on board. Why'd he wake up so early just for that? And then he noticed how Evan was just flipping through the pages, eyes not particularly looking at anything. Giorgio raised an eyebrow.
"Can't sleep?" He asked, annoyance having melted away into worry and concern. Evan jumped a little, snapping back into reality. He looked down at Giorgio.
"...Yeah. Did I wake you up? Sorry for that," he apologized, sounding quite down. Giorgio eyed him curiously.
"You were so cheerful just a little while ago... Nightmare?" He guessed. Evan put his book away, sighing and hugging his knees.
"I guess so...? Don't worry, though. It's nothing big."
"Big enough to keep you awake and tear that ever present grin off your face, though. You can talk about it if you want," Giorgio replied. Having worked with Evan for quite awhile, he wasn't going to let his partner fool him.
"...Nah, I'm fine. Really," Evan said, lying down on his stomach and peeking down at Giorgio. Despite his words, his expression remained rather troubled. "It's just that a lot of things happened tonight."
"Sure you can go back to sleep like that? You can come sleep down here with me if you want," Giorgio teased as he shifted to the side and tapped at the empty space next to him, pretending that Evan was a scared little boy. "Just keep in mind that I might steal your blanket and squish you to death in your sleep, considering how chokingly small this bed is. Consider that as the rental fee," he joked.
"Tonton! (Uncle!) Not funny!" Evan laughed.
During his VSSE days, Evan had certainly gotten lost a little too many times and had run into quite a lot of corners, being the rookie that he was. At such times, Giorgio would always be his lighthouse in the storm, directing him back to the right path. He couldn't be more thankful. Sighing, he smiled at his partner and mentor.
"Giorgio, comme je t'aime! (how I love you!)"
"You said something?"
"Nothing!" Evan laughed, pulling his blanket over himself. "Still some time until we arrive. I think I'll have a nice sleep. Thanks, Giorgio!"
"No problem," Giorgio smiled, glad that his partner, the usual ball of cheerfulness and mischief, was back. He reached out to flick off the light switch on the wall before retreating back into his own sheets. Content, Evan drifted off to sleep peacefully.
Life was beautiful.