Author's Note- Hey everyone, it is another week which means that it is time for another chapter. I want to thank Oniongrass, mofalle, anon, Pruhana, and our guest reviewers. Your words of excitement and encouragement really help me keep motivated about writing. Also I wanted to give a shout to the new beta that came on board this week. Thanks Pruhana. I really, really appreciate your help on this project.
Disclaimer- I do not own Hetalia, but I do claim all mistakes in this post as my own.
Chapter 2- Reports
England awoke still smelling of the stale beer he had vaguely remembered drunk at bar the night before. The few intact memories from yesterday told him a few things. First, the band had been very good. Secondly, he had a few dozen too many. Lastly, it was way too soon to be awake again. He groaned and pulled the covers over his head. Then he realized the reason that he had woken up in the first place. The phone was ringing. Two bare feet slowly lowered themselves to the cold wooden floor and shuffled across the floor.
"Do you realize the bloody hour that you are calling me?"
"I am sorry Sir Kirtland, but one of ballistic missile monitor sites has gone red." The voice on the other end was professional but still held the sharp edge of panic.
England cursed under his breath. "Where?"
"Clear Air Force Base had stopped transmitting and they had been unable to make contact for the last five minutes. There has also been a large seismic disturbance which we also believe is coming from Alaska."
"Do we have confirmation?" England asked as he tried to digest the magnitude of the information. It was one thing for one of the nuclear missile watch sites to go silent; it was another one to go silent at the same time as a seismic disturbance. It was beginning to look like Alaska might have just been taken out by nuclear warheads, and with Alaska gone America and Canada had just lost their first line of defense. "Have we been able to make contact with America or Canada?"
"No Sir, but we continue to work to securing contact with our allies. Until then, I was told to inform you that the military is putting Code Pegasus into effect. There should be a vehicle at your door to bring you to the secure airstrip."
Halfway across the world Anchorage looked like a war zone.
In the rubble in front of a military warehouse, the personification of the State of Alaska attempted to stand. Her brain felt fuzzy. Her vision flickered as her citizens desperately tried to get radar system up and running again. Her ears were so silent that she could barely hear herself think. Warm and sticky liquid flowed down her face, arms, and chest. A briefly lifting her fingers to her face she realized the liquid was blood seeping from dozens of cuts and scrapes. Somewhere in the chaos she had lost one of her shoes and now the snow soaked into her light silk socking. She could tell that the other person was trying to talk to her, but she couldn't hear them, she could barely make out there shaped in her blurred vision.
"Sorry…" the word slurred from her bruised and swollen lips. "I can't hear you…I can't hear anything." She could tell that this caused the other person to become agitated. They began to motion to her, so she squinted through the blood, but all she could see was dark shadows across the snow. That was not enough information to communicate. She sunk to her knees and cried out in anguish. "I can't see you. I can't see anything but shadows…I just know you are there."
For a moment she wondered if she had been speaking to a ghost. Then she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. A second earthquake, an aftershock shook the earth, and Alaska cried out in pain as she stumbled. Her companion moved quickly, catching her before she crumpled to the ground. Once the ground had once again stabilized, the other person lifted her into their arms.
Time passed, though Alaska didn't trust herself to make a judgment about how long. Her head pounded too badly from the vertigo of tsunamis pounding her coastlines and the insistent migraine of earthquakes. Numbly Alaska realized that gentle hands were removing the layers of blood stained clothing. She felt the sting of fabric being pressed against her many injuries. She felt her fractured bones shift under nurse attention and heart fought to keep an even rhythm. In agony she started praying that she could just black out.
England never did get pick up. Only a few moments later Clear AFB did come back online, and was able to squelch the speculation that the Soviet Union had just started a nuclear war with the United States. Unfortunately what the base reported was that Alaska had experience a natural disaster whose damaged may have even dwarfed the level of devastation which could occur from a nuclear attack from the USSR.
So far Clear AFB had managed to make contact with the city of Fairbanks and was able to contact the state capital of Juneau. Both cities had been badly shaken and large percentage of their population was going to be out of power for a while but they had no reports of major structural damage. The status of many of Alaska other large communities was still unknown, but the brief radio communication with Anchorage seem to indicate that those communities were probably piles of rubble at the moment. America and Canada needed to get home as quickly as possible. Unfortunately England was having a bit of trouble finding them.
"Come on Italy, pick on the phone." England muttered as he listened to the phone ring.
"Feliciano qui, questo non è un buon tempo potrebbe richiamare più tardi?" Italy's voice seemed unusually stressed, which made England a bit hopeful.
"Italy, this is England." He spoke slowly and calmly. "I need your help."
"England?" Italy parroted.
"Yes, England." He took a breath and tried explain what was going on. "I am trying to find America and Canada. I was recently in contact with one of Canada's provinces and they said that both of them went to visit Italy for the holiday. I haven't been able to verify but I need you to…"
"They are here." Italy blurted.
"What?" England was surprised at the sudden response.
"They are at my home. I invited them to my home because Canada said America need a vacation. We were going around town and America collapsed and I didn't know what to do and I was starting to get very scared so I…" By this point Italy was clearly on the verge of tears.
"Italy!" England barked, which knocked the other nation out of his rambling. "Italy, do you call anyone to help you?"
"I…called…Germany." Italy sobbed.
"Go put him on the phone."
In many ways England's conversation with Germany was a lot easier. Unlike Italy, he was able to give England a detailed evaluation of America and Canada's current condition. They twins were awake and could give fairly coherent answers to questions, but both appeared to be in agony which led England to believe that this earthquake had shaken the entire continent.
"Germany, we need to get these boys home." England sighed. "They will be better able to deal with the situation if they are on their own soil."
"How do you suggest we proceed?"
"I think we are going to have to fly them across the Atlantic." England paused and considered the possibilities. There were only a couple of jets which were capable of making the long flight between Europe and North America without making a stop in Iceland. England had access to three full squadrons of such planes, but it took time for air clearance. Slowly England realized that he was going to have to ask for a favor or two to get his former colonies home safely. "Ludwig, I am assuming that you took a military patrol plane to get to Italy correct?"
"Ja…"
"Would it be possible that you could use that plane to fly America and Canada to England?"
There was an uncomfortable pause on the other end then German spoke. "I will see what I can do."
With that Germany hung up the phone, leaving England in silence. He took a few moments to breath, and then he dialing a new number. The Royal Air Force had some of the fastest jets around, and right now time was a very valuable asset.
The morning was unusually cold for the time of year, and England could see puffs of steam form in the air as he breathed. He wiggled his fingers to keep them warm, but his toes were unfortunately already a lost cause. They had gone numb over a half hour ago. Part of him wanted to return to the welcoming building not too far from the primary runway of RAF Feltwell Field and grab a warm mug of tea, but his worry stopped him. He needed to be here to when the plan arrived from Italy.
Quietly, England let his thoughts run over the hastily made travel arrangements again. On the far side of the runway he could see the pair of English Electric Canberra waiting to transport the North American twins from RAF Feltwell to CFB Goose Bay. The Canberra was the fastest jet plane that had enough range to fly across the Atlantic without refueling and enough capacity to hold a passenger. Once they Canberras landed in Canada, the states and provinces would organize the care transportation arrangements. It looked like Canada would be transferred to Ottawa via a Canadian Royal Air Force C-130 Hercules transport. America would be transferred to Washington DC via a U.S. Air Force C-135 Stratolifter. Both nations should be back in their prospective capitals an hour or so after local dawn.
England's line of thought was shattered by the sound of propellers. He looked up to see a large ungainly plane coming in for its final approach. As soon as the plane had come to a complete stop and the doors were opened, England rushed forward to enter the craft. He was greeted by a German officer who motioned towards the three passengers still buckled into the hold.
"What have you two done to yourselves?" England shook his head as he stood at the door of the small military aircraft taking in the two sleeping North American twins.
"Arthur?" America's words were slurred and his eyes unfocused.
"I am here Alfred."
"Arthur, what is going on?"
"You have had a major earthquake." England tired to explain, as he unclasped the seat restraints. "Alfred, I need to know if you can stand and walk, because if you can't I am going to have to find someone to help me carry you."
At England words, America managed to climb unsteadily to his feet. The processed winded the younger nation and he was leaning heavily on England, but at least he was standing. It took a good ten minutes to guide him out of the plane and into a waiting wheelchair which America sank gratefully into. Once his charge was safely situated, England turned to see that Germany was already rolling Canada down the tarmac in a second chair.
"Why can't I feel Alaska?" America whimper force England's attention back on the wounded nation.
"I don't know, but I can tell you that Alaska is still there. We have been in contact with a number of the state's cities. They have been heavily damaged but they are still there." England tried to sooth. "We have a pair of planes that will fly Mathew and you to…"
"I don't want to be alone." America stopped his eyes full of panic, fingers latched onto England's arm.
"You are not going to be alone, there will be…" The tightening of America's hand stopped England from saying anything else. I it was pretty clear that America didn't want to be separated from Canada at the moment, and when America wanted something there was pretty much nothing that could stop him from getting it. Luckily one of the watching pilots was able to offer a solution to the problem.
"We are not carrying any torpedoes, sir." The air force officer commented smartly, after taking in the situation. "We can make weight with both of them."
The pilot's words caused America to look up, his eyes pleading, his face twisted in grief and pain. The looks were echoed by Canada. England's heart nearly broke seeing his former colonies in such a mess.
"What would it take to take for you to transport them both?"
"We will need a few minutes to rig up a second restraint system."
"Go do it then." England ordered quietly.
It ended up taking twenty-seven minutes to make the changes. England spent that wrapping the North American Twins in thick layers of winter clothing. Then it was time to strap them into the jet. Germany helped England haul in American first; leaving England to fight with the buckles he went and retrieved Canada. It was pretty clear that the whole ordeal was exhausting for the twins; because America was already asleep head lolling on his brother's shoulder before Canada was fully buckled in. Canada wasn't too far behind him. England took one moment to plant of soft kiss on their foreheads then left the plane without a backward look.
The engines of the Canberra roared and the awkward looking airplane took to the sky. For a long moment both nations watched the plane disappeared into the night sky. The two were still until Germany broke the silence.
"How bad is it?" Germany asked softly.
"Bad." England looked up at Germany with a sigh. "They haven't gotten a hold of two of the five largest communities in the state and an additional seven smaller communities have failed to respond to any communication attempts. The early estimates that the tacticians are giving me predict approximately fifty percent of Alaska's population are probably dead. If that wasn't bad enough, we are looking at the possibility that there are going to be additional casualties throughout the Pacific. As far as we can tell British Columbia will be particularly hard hit."
Germany didn't say anything in reply. Instead the two nations took one look at the sky, and then walked back to the building on one side of the runway. In the coming weeks the North American twins might request their help in cleaning up after the earthquake, but for now they could only wait and see the extent of the damage.
Historical Note- While it may seem unusual that both the U.S. and English governments initially mistaken the Good Friday Earthquake for a nuclear attack may seem farfetched today, it makes a lot of sense given the current political climate. Only two years earlier the Cuban Missile Crisis (or Caribbean Crisis in Russia) had pushed the two super powers towards the brink of nuclear war. While the two countries had reached an uneasy truce and focused their aggressive energy on the Vietnam War there were still an a lot of nuclear missiles pointed at the U.S.
In the attempt to give the U.S. a chance to fight back if Russia ever launched those missiles, it created the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System. This was a network of five watch stations. Clear, Beale, and Cap Cod watch stations were located in states of Alaska, California, and Massachusetts. The two other stations were located international. Thule Air Base is located in Greenland and Fylingdales Royal Air Base is located in England. These bases were built to be the nation's first line of defense and though out the Cold War these locations stood a twenty-four hour surveillance watch for missiles from land, water, or sea. The only failure that has occurred in the systems history, was the six minute that Clear Air Base was unable to transmit do to the intensity of the Good Friday Earthquake.
End Note- Hey everyone, welcome to the end of the post. If you have the time I would love to hear from you, your comments really do encourage me to write fast. In addition to the normal shot out for reviews this week, I have a question for you the reader…What states, provinces, and territories perspectives would like to see? The roles of British Columbia, Yukon, Virginia, and of course Alaska are being included in the plot, but I would like to know what other places you would like to hear from.
Next Chapter- Without Warning- It was around dinnertime when the western half of Canada felt the Good Friday Earthquake, but the tremors did little more than crack the ice on the lakes and rattle a few nerves. But the shaking was not the only part of the earthquake which would reach Canada. At midnight the first of six tsunamis would hit the coast of British Columbia, the towering waves swallowing communities that had no warning of the coming danger.
