DISCLAIMER: I don't own Sea Patrol or anything other than the plot of this story and my original characters.

Sea Patrol: Strike First
A Sea Patrol fanfiction by cdrsmith
Part One of Sea Patrol: Surface Warfare

SUMMARY: When Mike Flynn finally takes a promotion at the urging of his boss, Commander Maxine White, and is posted to Naval Forces Command (NAVCOM) North as Maxine's Operations Manager and Chief of Staff, he is replaced by Lieutenant Commander Maddison "Maddy" Norton, a laid-back yet quietly confident Warfare Officer nine years into a life in the Navy. The transition from Mike to Maddy is complicated by personal connections and the winds of change, there is a New Generation Navy coming and Maddy must steer Hammersley through the tough times to come...

Author's Note: In this story there are sixteen Armidale class patrol boats; the fourteen real boats along with HMA Ships Hammersley and Kingston featured in the Sea Patrol series. The abbreviations for enlisted ranks used in this story are taken are mostly taken from the Royal Australian Navy website. This story is alternate universe from the middle of Season 4 Episode 1.

Chapter One: A Bloody War Or A Sickly Season

Twenty-four sailors from every walk of life, of every age and temperament, living literally cheek by jowl for week after week, away from family and friends sometimes for months at a time in seas of all conditions with temperatures often in the high 30s. It's a pressure cooker that can bring out the best, and sometimes the worst, in all of them – man and woman alike. It calls upon reserves of devotion to duty, tolerance, obedience and of course humour, way beyond that which most people possess. Blue skies, white sands, throbbing motors and star filled nights. Explosive action and monumental stillness, a closeness to nature. The awesome beauty of tropical waters, its wildlife, and the terrifying intensity of tropical storms. Mysterious events and deadly consequences. At sea, man is at his most lonely and vulnerable, entirely at the mercy of capricious Mother Nature's unpredictable winds and waves. It's a special kind of person who chooses to live and work "on the edge" like this. They form bonds of mateship that will never be broken.

Patrol boat sailors say their job is the best in Navy. A small boat and its crew, facing real dangers – not just war games. Every hour of every day, in all weather imaginable, these young men and women of the Australian Patrol Boat Group battle the elements, and the odds, to defend Australia's borders and enforce its economic zone. They provide security, support, and relief for the world's largest island. Honour. Honesty. Courage. Integrity. Loyalty. These are the Royal Australian Navy values and they are the cornerstone of any successful crew. This is it, the real deal...

THIS IS SEA PATROL - everyday heroes doing an extraordinary job!

Cairns International Airport
Aeroglen, Cairns Region LGA, Queensland, Australia
1002 Hours Local - Forenoon Watch

Lt. Cmdr. Maddison Norton, known only as Maddy on pain of death, or to her closest of friends as Mads, stepped off the Qantas Boeing 737-400 jet and was immediately assaulted by the incredibly intense humidity of Far North Queensland. Even dressed as she was in her Summer Regular Day Dress, or "summer whites", she was fully aware that just about every male on the flight had been sneaking glances. She knew that men found her attractive, but she found this frustrating and felt it took away from her position as a leader. At five feet four and a half inches, Maddy was practically bang on average height and with what one ex-boyfriend in her teen years described as curves in all the right places, the brunette naval officer could have quite easily taken up a career as an actor or a model, or even as a surfer.

Slipping her cover on her head as her feet hit the tarmac, Maddy thanked her lucky stars that "rig of the day" (as the British call it) to report in to her new command was summer whites rather than Winter Ceremonial Dress ("winter dress blues") or even Winter Regular Day Dress ("winter blues") like she had been wearing just a week ago when she returned to Sydney and reported to Fleet HQ at HMAS Kuttabul after her posting as an exchange Warfare Officer on board Royal Navy destroyer HMS Edinburgh had ended. Less than three days after she had returned to Australia, she had received a phone call from a former mentor of hers, Cmdr. Maxine White, known as Max to friends, and behind her back by the bravest of sailors as "Knocker", asking her to take a billet at HMAS Cairns under Max's command.

As the crowd dispersed away from the plane, Maddy caught sight of a sailor standing beside a nondescript blue sedan parked nearby. Making her way towards the car, she was met halfway by the sailor who she now noticed wore the insignia of an able seaman personnel operations sailor on his summer whites. The sailor stopped before her in the brace position before executing a textbook, picture perfect salute and addressed her, "Lieutenant Commander Norton? Able Seaman Personnel Operations Sailor Tom Garrett. I'm here to drive you to Naval Forces Command Northern Region Headquarters for your meeting with Commander White."

"Thank you, able," Maddy replied, returning the salute before gesturing the junior sailor to lead the way.

Headquarters, Naval Forces Command Northern Region
HMAS Cairns, Cairns Region LGA, Queensland, Australia
1044 Hours Local - Forenoon Watch

After a twenty-two hour flight and a car trip which seemed to just drag on and on, Maddy was finally led into the office of the Commander, Naval Forces Command Northern Region (COMNAVFORNORTH), coming to attention in the brace position, a faint grin on her face as she looked directly of the Commander's shoulder and said, "Lieutenant Commander Maddy Norton, reporting as ordered, ma'am."

Commander Maxine White flashed a smile of her own before coming business-like as she addressed Maddy, "Stand at ease, Commander, and welcome back to Cairns." The stern forty-one year old blonde naval officer gestured her protégé into one of the two chairs in front of her desk. "Maddy, I'm afraid that I told you a slight fib when I said I wanted you to fill a shore billet at NAVCOM."

"Uh, ma'am?" Maddy asked, looking confused about whatever Maxine could mean by such a cryptic statement.

The look of confusion gradually turned to comprehension as Max explained, "The billet her at NAVCOM HQ will hopefully be taken by another friend of mine currently serving as the CO of HMAS Hammersley. He's turned down three separate promotions in the last twenty-four months, but after his heroics with the American Ambassador this morning, not to mention the call from a staff officer to the Commander Australian Fleet, I suspect he will find the next person to ask rather difficult to turn down."

"Now you have me curious, ma'am," Maddy said, leaning forward in her seat.

"Well let's just say that the Admiral will be calling after the Hammersley docks," Max informed the junior officer with a twinkle in her eye.

"Very devious," Maddy smirked, tacking on "ma'am" only when Max raised an eyebrow and looked expectantly at her.

1502 Hours Local - Afternoon Watch

A loud knock on the doorframe at the entry to her office caused Max to look up from her laptop and smile as she caught sight of her old friend and academy classmate, Lt. Cmdr. Mike Flynn. "How's the hand?" she asked, referring to his actions the night before when he had saved the American Ambassador to Australia, Steve Davis, from an assassination attempt.

"Just a flesh wound, Swaino patched me up," Mike replied, brushing off the inquiry and ignoring the slight twinge in his hand as he flexed it slightly.

"Mike, sit," Maxine said, her smile turning to a frown as Mike made no effort to move.

Shaking his head, Mike was bordering on insubordination when he replied, "Thought I might just hang by the door. Quick getaway... ma'am."

"SIT!" Max ordered this time, her voice changing from friendly to stentorian when Mike continued to remain near the door. When Mike finally sat down, Max continued to talk, "Unfortunately, there's been a blanket on the press, so the public are never going to learn about your heroics..."

"I can live with that," Mike assured her casually.

"... but the people that matter," Max said sternly, silently chastising him for his interruption, "however, have been fully briefed. I've just been reading an email from the Admiral and he wants to know why Mike Flynn is being so stubborn about this blasted promotion?"

"Let me guess," Mike said, waving his hand near his head as if he were trying to capture psychic waves, "Now, don't tell me, he's been speaking with his old mate the ambassador?"

"I have had Ambassador Davis on the phone too, chewing my ear off. It seems you've been doing your job just a bit too well," Max said, ignoring Mike's smile which at one time would have made her feel weak-kneed.

"Hey, look! My godson!" Mike said, picking up the picture of Max's son Ryan from her desk, making a desperate attempt to change the subject. "How old is Ryan now? Sixteen?"

"Nearly eighteen, don't change the subject Mike," Max shot back, chastising him once more.

"Please, Maxine," Mike begged, or whined, Max thought.

"The office next to mine is free, you can't sit in a CO's chair forever!" Max gave Mike a reality check, hoping he would finally cave.

"I wasn't thinking forever, just the next year or three," Mike assured Max, and she silently cursed him before having yet another answer but then inwardly smirked when the phone rang and she new that Mike would have three stripes rather than two and a half by the end of the day.

As she picked up the phone and covered the mouthpiece for a moment, Mike grabbed his cover and made a dash for the door. At another time, she would have thought it quite humorous, but this time, she was quite annoyed, and barked out "Wait!" before uncovering the mouthpiece and actually answering the call. "Commander White," she said, pausing a moment while she waited for the response. "Yes sir... yes sir... just a moment sir..." she continued looking up at Mike who suddenly paled as he realised what was happening. As Mike this time made his dash for real, Max muttered to herself, "Chief of Navy, if you're determined to stall on this, you're going to have to explain it to the boss yourself." She banged on her window, calling out, "Lieutenant Commander Flynn!" before watching with satisfaction as Mike realised that he had no choice now but to speak to the boss.

Steeling himself, Mike walked back into the office and took the phone from Max, shooting her a withering glare as he did so. "Mike Flynn," he said and waited to hear the voice on the other end.

"Lieutenant Commander Flynn, this is Vice Admiral Logan Morrell," the voice on the other end of the line said, and Mike recognised that it was indeed the recently promoted Chief of Navy and he had a sneaking suspicion that he would be in a shore-based commander's billet by the end of the phone call.

1511 Hours Local - Afternoon Watch

When he finally gave the phone back to Max to hang up, he shook his head in disbelief. Max smiled at him indulgently before gesturing him back into a seat. "Now that the Admiral has brought you around to our way of thinking, Commander," Max said, placing extra emphasis on the lack of lieutenant in Mike's new rank, "how about we bring in your replacement? She'll be working closely with you in your new role as Operations Manager, Naval Forces Command North."

"Are you going to give me a choice, Max?" Mike asked, now enjoying the fact that, despite him still wearing lieutenant commander shoulder boards until the quartermaster arrived, he was now the same rank as his old friend.

Max looked thoughtful for a moment. "No, not really," she told him with a grin as she caught the attention of her yeoman and gestured for him to send the next CO of Hammersley into her office.

When Mike turned around, curious about the identity of the woman taking command of his "old girl" - as he still thought of Hammersley - he was hard pressed to keep his jaw from bouncing off the carpet in Max's office. It had been five years, but he would recognise the young face and latent youthful exuberance anywhere. Something that Mike HAD forgotten in the intervening years was how her girl-next-door looks had turned a fair few heads when she reported to his command for her first sea duty out of Seaman Officer Training, and, looking at her now, he assumed they still did, wherever she went.

When Lt. Cmdr. Maddy Norton stepped into her mentor's office for the second time that day, she stopped dead and stared in disbelief as she recognised the man who she was replacing as CO of HMAS Hammersley. Five years had passed since she had served as Executive Officer to Lt. Cmdr. Mike Flynn when he was in command of HMAS Balikpapan, a landing craft heavy based out of HMAS Coonawarra with just two officers on board. Back then, Mike had been the object of unspoken desires for many of the women at the small Darwin base with a grin that would give any woman an attack of weak knees, and even now, when Maddy knew he must be approaching forty, she could still see that he was fit enough to be considered a "hunk" by many women.

Inwardly smirking at the reactions of her two friends, Max decided to break them from their musings by completing what was, she could tell, a completely pointless introduction, "Commander Mike Flynn, meet your replacement, Lieutenant Commander Maddy Norton." When Max spoke, Maddy blushed prettily at being caught staring while Mike looked momentarily uncomfortable for the same reason before they each caught themselves and the conversation continued.

"I think we've been set up," Maddy noted as she offered her hand to her first commanding officer. "It's good to see you again Mike."

"Yes, I think we have," Mike agreed dryly, shaking Maddy's hand while simultaneously shooting another glare at Max who, he noted, was looking altogether too smug sitting behind her desk. "It is good to see you as well Maddy. How have you been?"

"I've been good, been a bit starved of any patrol boat service lately, just came off eighteen months of officer exchange with the Brits," Maddy explained. "What about you? I hear you just saved the American Ambassador's life?"

"It was nothing," Mike waved the praise off, wincing slightly as his hand once again twinged.

"Modest as always," Maddy smiled reminiscently before the sound of a clearing throat interrupted the impromptu catch-up session.

"Now Mike, if you will excuse us, Maddy and I need to work through the logistics of the change in command," Max said, gesturing Mike out the door.

"Uh, sure, I'll go and get my new office ready," Mike nodded, returning the small wave from Maddy before leaving the office and closing the door behind him.

*COMNAVFORNORTH = Commander, Naval Forces Command Northern Region

Author's Note: Speech in parts of this chapter are taken directly from Sea Patrol Season 4 Episode 1 "Night of the Long Knives" and the introductory section is taken partially from the fanmade Sea Patrol website.