Title: Brand New Mission
Chapter 1 – Rewriting History

Summary: AU For Chandler and Slattery, facing life and death situations is a way of life but when a new enemy arises can these two put aside personal & professional differences to save their newly combined crew and each other?

Disclaimer: I own nothing from The Last Ship (sadly) only my hard working muse and the dream to work under Captain Chandler (pun intended) hehe

A/N: Okay so this is a standalone story set somewhere before the episode Solace which got me thinking about an idea of two new crews meeting and then having to work together for a common goal – saving the cure and each other. As always I'm going to toss in danger, whump, tension, angst and some humor oh and you might see a wee bit of Kara/Danny romance but sorry I don't write Tom/Rachel so you won't see anything romantic between them. But this story will mainly focus on Chandler/Slattery but it's not slash just lots of great buddy/buddy bromance! So I hope you all enjoy this :)


Just get to the to the second deck…half deck…just get…to the half deck…call out 'mayday'…send a distress signal…get help!

He hears screams in his mind's eye…his crew…friends…some he considers family…yelling, shooting…silence. He pauses mid-stride, his right hand coming away from the lower half of his blood soaked navy tee-shirt; his mind acknowledging some of it's his blood…some belong to others, crew he's lost. Attackers he's killed.

Captain…get to the captain…regroup…make a plan to…

He rounds the corner and stops short, a few more shots ringing out and forcing him to duck, pivot and retreat to where he just came from, uttering an angry curse into the anxious early morning air. Find a weapon…get a weapon any kind of…his thoughts instantly stop as his body barrels into someone else.

Not navy…not your ally…FIGHT!

He drops his shoulder, pushing the enemy intruder into the steel bulkhead behind him, his fist instantly following with a smash to his jaw, snapping his head back. Luckily he has size on his side and uses that to his advantage, using the bulk of his frame to send both of them tumbling into one of the crew's personal quarters, busting up a chair and toppling over a small bookcase. A few seconds later, his palm grasps something hard and he's able to take his enemy out for good; grasping his gun and turning to head back outside; wanting to save as many of his crew as possible in the hopes of taking back their ship.

He leaves the room, heads back into the hallway and bolts for the stairs, but just as he's about to push through a door he feels a hand on his shoulder and instantly turns with his gun cocked and ready.

"Whoa XO, it's me."

"Wolf! Have you seen the captain?" He asks somewhat breathlessly.

"No. I know Doc Milowsky took a few with him. I think Lieutenant Foster was with them but I don't know. Sir…we're losing this fight."

"I know. Damn it…okay we need to get to the half deck. There's a small room, port side. In it is a box with an emergency radio. Break the lock. Call for help. Send out the mayday and then…"

"Abandon ship?"

"No! We can save the ship! I'll find the captain. Call for help and save as many as you can. I know we're in international waters. I don't care what those damn bastards say! Go now!"

"Slattery…"

"Yeah?"

"Watch your ass."

"Copy that!"

Find the captain…take back the ship…find the captain…get to the radio…call for help…save the crew…save the ship

He pauses at the bottom of the stairwell, his heart racing and his mind begging his sweat and blood covered fingers not to miss when firing upon any hostiles. He hopes that Wolf can get to the half deck and the radio; his only mission now – get to the captain and somehow turn the tables.

But he knows…it'll probably take a miracle, one he…all of them just don't have.

XXXXXXXX

'Captain…you have a position to fill. The crew is wondering when that'll happen.'

'I know Master Chief…I just…Bowman was a good man and we worked side by side for five years. I have others who are ready but…'

'But what?'

'But I was thinking this time I'd just like to have someone who follows orders and…'

'And isn't a close friend?' MC Jeter replies with a heavy sigh. 'Less emotional aggravation?'

'Something like that.'

His mind races with anxious thoughts as he heads down in to the CNC area hoping to get a muchly needed distraction. They had left the US west coast a few weeks back and were working in international waters to rendezvous with the ships that were sent to various ports around the world with the cure. But after losing his XO on a tough mission, he wonders if they shouldn't just head back to the US where he can give his friend a proper burial and then go through the proper interview process to find his second in command.

But that thought will have to wait. As soon as he enters the communications hub of his ship, all eyes turn to him and history's about to be rewritten – for them all.

"Sir…we're picking up a Mayday…but…"

"But what? What coordinates?"

"Sir it's too close to Chinese Territorial waters for us to…"

"Talk to me Granderson. Who's sending out the mayday? Anything on radar?"

"Captain Chandler, I have something."

"What is it Mason?" He asks his communications officer. "What are you hearing?"

"I…" he pauses as he pushes a button and the overhead speaker crackles to life. "It's a US Navy Channel but…"

"Any ships out in these waters?"

"I think so sir. But I can't get a call sign or…name or…" Mason pauses as the message finally comes to life; at least bits and pieces of it.

"Mayd…ay…M…yday…und…er…fir…e…cre…US…S…"

"That's it?"

"Sir, I have two ships on radar. Behind that small island. But it's not in international waters."

"That boundary isn't recognized right now. Ahead full and Mason…keep trying to get them back. Try Morse Code if you have to just let them know helps on the way."

"Yes sir."

He takes his binoculars and slowly wanders out to the bow of his ship the Nathan James and starts to scan the watery horizon; his mind anxious to know exactly what that chatter was all about, was it another US naval ship in distress, who they were fighting and why. The cure? Or something else?

He'd know in about ten minutes…if there would be anyone left. If…

XXXXXXXX

Slattery fires off a shot and then ducks into the stairwell, his gun still trained and ready and starts to slowly climb the steps that would take him to the port side of the bridge. He can only hope that Wolf got to the emergency radio and sent out a call for help; at this point he'd take anyone as a distraction. But as he nears the top of the stairwell, he hears angry shouting and then another shot is fired off and he wonders if the call will be sent too late.

He stops and listens, his brain cursing the fact that the loud booming from his rapidly beating heart might give him away – if the gunfire hadn't already. However, just before he can think about opening the door to make a move, he hears the door one story down below him open and anxious chatter filling the stairwell.

Trapped!

Holding his breath, he pulls the door open and charges into what remains of the shot up bridge. But Slattery only gets a few shots fired off before he's attacked and wrestled to the ground; the gun taken and his wrists bound.

"Now…we have the captain and the XO. Take them to the bridge."

"You'll never get away with this!" Slattery hisses before he receives a backhand to his jaw.

"Bring him."

Wolf makes his way up the side of the ship, looking to the left and narrowing his dark eyes at the enemy ship and then uttering an angry Aussie curse in an undertone. He busts open a small leeway side window and climbs in, pulling the rifle off his back and getting it ready for action once again.

He opens a door and then….

"It's me!"

"Kara," Wolf exclaims with a heavy huff. "Where's Milowsky?"

"He's safe in the med lab inventory closet with a few others. Where's Slattery? Captain Jenkins?"

"I think they've been captured. I sent out a mayday at least I hope it went out. I got back a few Morse Code taps in acknowledgement but I'm a bit rusty. Slattery said we can take the ship but…but we're out numbered and need to get off this ship. The Zodiac on the port side is ready. Get Milowsky and the others and head for the nearest piece of land."

"You're not leaving are you?" TAO Lieutenant Kara Foster asks the ex-Australian Naval officer with a heavy frown.

"I can't just leave the captain and…" he starts but is quickly interrupted by the overhead speakers coming to life.

"Captain Jenkins…tell your crew what you told me."

"Go…to hell!"

"No one surren…"

*bang*

Both Wolf and Kara look at each other in horror as crackly static rings out overhead for a few seconds.

"I want the rest of the crew of the USS Kalvin to surrender. Come up to the deck with your arms raised and I'll spare the rest of your senior command."

"Wolf…what do we do?"

"We listen to the XO. We continue to fight until there's no one left or…help arrives."

"Let's hope help arrives while some of us still standing."

XXXXXXXX

"Captain, we're coming into view."

Chandler quickly shifts his gaze to the left of the ship and then instantly narrows his eyes in horror as he watches the scene unfold before his eyes. Before he can order his team to fire upon the invading ship, his eyes shift from the hull of one to the other and his mind starts to race.

"What the….? USS Kalvin and…USS Oswalde…"

"Oswald, sir?"

"Spelt with an E and no longer in service. Fire one shot on…" Chandler starts his order and then stops as he watches in horror as whom he assumes is the captain and his first officer are dragged up to the deck of the ship, both bound and unable to fight back and in roughed up condition. "They're in trouble. Granderson."

"Yes sir."

"Fire one round at…" but just as Chandler gives the coordinates he can only stare in horrified shock as one of the men dressed all in black fires point blank at the forehead of the man he assumes by the gold shoulder bands that he's the captain.

"Granderson ready the helo. Burk! Green!" Chandler's excited voice is heard barking out orders as he hurries back inside and then into the stairwell that would take him to the helo base two levels down.

"What's going on captain?" Burk inquires as they hastily pile onto the helicopter.

"Mason pulled the logs on the Kalvin. I believe it was one of the ships in international waters that received one of the fighters carrying the cure. My guess is that whoever is attacking them is after the cure. The ship had a small compliment of highly trained officers but they're rapidly losing."

"Let's hope they're all still alive when we get there," Danny states as Chandler looks at him in anxiety.

"They just lost their captain," Chandler replies with a heavy sigh. "Now punch it!"

"Yes sir."

XXXXXXXX

Everything had happened so fast his brain almost didn't have time to process.

"Take them to the bridge. Make an example of them."

"Cowards! You have the cure! Leave the crew alone!"

"What more do you want?" Slattery asks after his captain.

But the time for questions was over.

His heart races at the thought of never getting home to his wife and daughters as the very real possibility of dying right now is suddenly presented. But before that can even happen, destiny seems to have something else in mind and that comes in the form of another ship that suddenly enters the quiet harbor.

"Another American ship has arrived!" One of the Kalvin's attackers tells another anxiously.

"Someone called for help!"

"Wolf," Slattery whispers in an undertone as the leader looks at him in contempt. "Help has arrived! You've lost!"

Without warning, the leader aims his gun at Jenkin's head and fires, point blank.

"NO!" Slattery shouts as he tries to charge at the leader; his bound wrists be damned. "Bastard!"

But he doesn't get very far, as a few seconds later the area around them explodes with a superheated blast, two of the hostile guards taken out; his body flying backward a few feet and landing on the hard metal surface with an angry grunt.

Slattery's frame rolls to the right, his eyes coming back into focus and then frantically looking around for something sharp to cut himself free with. A solution quickly presents itself.

"Slattery!"

"Wolf! Helps arrived! We need…"

"INCOMING!"

But this time it's from the other side of ship; from the hostile ship determined to sink the ship they failed to commandeer. The large ship starts to creek and groan and both Slattery and Wolf know they don't have much time to get to their last surviving crew and get them off without further incident.

"Who the hell are they?" Wolf asks a few seconds after he fires off a few shots and takes out two incoming attackers.

"The freakin' Cavalry!" Slattery shouts as he fires off a few shots from the gun that Wolf had given him, shouting at him to get Kara, Milowsky and the others and get them into topside; all hands are needed now.

"Each of you take a hostile and then we spread into the rest of the ship," Chandler shouts the orders as the helicopter lands, taking on a few shots before the belly opens and Burk, Green jump out, taking out the last two still on the bridge.

"Drop your weapon!"

"Lieutenant Wolf! This is my ship or was…Captain Jenkins was murdered. XO Slattery just went to secure the bridge," Wolf relays in haste.

"How many are there of you left?"

"I don't know. Medical lab is two levels down. I'm on my way to free who's left."

"Danny, Burk…go with him, bring whosever lef…" is all Chandler gets before another explosion rings out, the ship groaning heavily as it starts to sag toward the other side.

"She's hit!" Wolf shouts as he turns and dashes back toward the mouth of the stairwell.

"Go with him!" Chandler's voice bellows before he turns and races toward the bridge of the ship with his gun drawn, Cruz and Miller on his heel.

Slattery finishes off one of the last bridge attackers and then raises his gun just as Chandler enters with his gun drawn. "Drop your weapon!" Slattery shouts as he and Chandler square off.

"We're the good guys."

"They said that too," Slattery retorts with a sneer as he looks at Cruz and Miller enter with their weapons drawn.

"We just saw them kill your captain…"

"They murdered him," Slattery huffs as his gun remains raised.

"In about ten seconds that other ship is going to fire on this one again and I don't know how many hits it can take before we're all dead in the water – literally. Your man Wolf is leading two of my men to help secure the rest of your crew and bring them up topside. We're here to help."

"Mike Slattery, XO, USS Kalvin."

"Tom Chandler, Captain, Nathan James. Well XO Slattery, what else can we help with? Do you have anything left of the cure?"

"A few boxes. Dr. Milowsky has it. He…"

And just as Chandler had predicated another shot is fired at them; this time the ship unable to bear any more attacks and life to tell about it, starts to list.

"We're taking on water!"

"Captain that other ship…the Oswalde is pulling out of the harbor. Do we pursue?"

"Negative. Standby to receive crew and supplies. Slattery…take us below. We're out of time."

XXXXXXXX

Danny Green takes the cue from Wolf, rounds the corner only to be met with a hail of gunfire. He fires back before calling out, "hold your fire. We're here to help!"

Kara Foster hears the voice and since there's no Australian accent, figures it could be another ambush. They had just lost to very valuable crew members and she wasn't about to let them lose any more.

"Come around the corner again and it'll be the last thing you do," she replies in an even tone; Danny signaling Wolf to advance.

"Kara! It's me! These men are with me!"

"Wolf…" she breathes a sigh of relief as a familiar face rounds the corner, a man she considers her older, protective brother.

"Report!" Wolf demands as he looks at the open med lab door.

Her eyes look at Wolf and then dart to Danny, Burk…back to Danny and then back to Wolf. "They took Milowsky and Jones and the new strain of the virus."

"What…new strain?" Burk questions as he trades wondering glances with Danny.

"Our orders were to take the cure to the lab in Japan. Obviously we didn't make it. We were intercepted by a ship with the name USS Oswalde," Slattery explains as he nears them. "It only took seconds for us to realize that something was wrong."

"Oswald…with an E." Chandler interjects as Slattery nods.

"We didn't even have time to call for help," Kara continues. "Our communications were disabled…from within…."

"The same time we were attacked from the outside," Slattery hisses in anger.

"Who were they? The Chinese?"

"Some…but not all. A mish-mash of soldiers of fortune. But we don't know who hired them. We heard about the trouble you had with Sean Ramsey but figured since he's dead this has to be someone else. Thanks for he help Captain Chandler but we need to get this ship back in pursuit of our crew an…" is all Slattery manages before their world changes once more.

"CAPTAIN! INCOMING!" Granderson's voice cracks to life over his radio.

The area around them fills with superheated air and debris as all of them are flung like ragdolls in various directions.

"WE'RE SINKING!"

"ABANDON SHIP!"

Driven by some internal instinct, Danny grabs Kara's arm and starts to direct her back toward the stairs to get up to the bow of the ship where the helo was waiting. Hopefully.

"How many more Granderson?" Chandler's anxious tone is heard as he helps another crew member to his feet and then hurries after Slattery and Burk; Wolf the last man to round up any stragglers as they all race toward a safe exit.

"They're backing off. They're not interested in engaging us!"

"This…this can't be," Slattery hisses in anger as Chandler looks at him in remorse.

"I'm sorry. The Kalvin is going down. You have to come with us to the Nathan James."

"I have to go after that ship!"

"That's our new mission now. But we have to move…now! These people….they'll follow your command," Chandler tells Slattery in truth. "Save as many lives as possible. We'll get the rest of your people back."

Realizing there is literally no other option, Slattery has to agree; the ship not giving him much choice but to abandon it and join forces with the officers that just saved their lives.

"All hands!" Slattery's voice is heard over the loud speaker. "Abandon ship!"

They all reach the top of the ship; Slattery ordering whoever was left into the last boat on the protected side of the ship to make for the Nathan James. The helicopter doors close and Slattery can only stare in misery at the body of his dead captain on the top deck of the now slowly sinking ship.

"Sorry," Chandler states in remorse as Slattery looks up in near defeat.

"Yeah…me too."

Slattery turns and looks at the bow of the new ship as it draws ever closer and then looks at Chandler's inspecting gaze.

"Welcome to the Nathan James," Chandler states in an undertone.

But as both Chandler and Slattery hold the inquiring gaze of the other one question races to the fore of each of their minds – What happens now?


A/N: Okay so…how was the start? *Holds breath nervously* I used the name for Slattery's ship as the USS Kalvin (spelt that way) so it wasn't after a real ship. I looked but didn't find so if there is then I apologize as it was meant to just be a fictitious ship! What did you all think? Like the premise? Think you'd like to see how our two crews come together to stop this enemy and of course survive? b/c you know I'm gonna toss in lots of danger and then become one crew! But so many questions to be answered first and of course the biggest – how will Chandler and Slattery grow to trust each other? And the rest of the new crew? Is there an insider? And what other danger awaits our intrepid duo? And the length of the story will depend on your reviews so please don't be shy and thanks so much!