XX Author's Note XX
I've finally come back—and I only have a short transition chapter to show for it. Sorry, folks.
X Vera, Cross Isles, Day Two. X
Aircraft carriers revolutionized naval warfare. Lightly armed and unsuited for direct engagements, carriers allowed surface fleets to engage each other beyond visual range. This factor redefined all naval doctrine as emphasis now turned from the biggest guns to the longest engagement ranges. The modern part of the Rubinelle Navy, its main battle fleets, had been built on this concept, which sustained itself on long-range radar and high-tech weapons systems.
Now, that doctrine had become obsolete. A blackened sky not only inhibited our natural senses, but our technological edge, too. The style of fighting we would have to make do with here would have been better suited for the early stages of the last war, or possibly the one before it.
I'd wrapped my head around these thoughts from a comfortable bed in a heated housing building, which was on the airfield located on the eastern island. We'd stayed on the carrier for less than a day after the last battle before it was decided that the carrier's aircraft would be moved to land. The Marine squadron and the carrier's native squadron were sent to the western island where most of the MEB was, and ours was sent on the eastern island to support the bulk of the Fleet located there. The Pontus was tucked in a bay on one of the southern islands under heavy guard, while Admiral Ryman transferred his flag to one of the battleships.
It made sense, but it was still unsettling to everyone who took note. We were a modern military, trained in an era of warfare where bullets and guns went hand in hand with information technology. The feeling wasn't universal, though; word was that some of the older veterans (battleship officers, in particular) felt a somewhat perverse joy in the situation. Now that technology was mostly rendered useless, trained gunnery officers like them were more valuable (and insufferable) now. I merely dismissed that as bravado. They had to be shaken like we were.
Patrols were out of the question at the moment, so we were all relaxing. The quarters we'd been given included a rather large indoor recreational area, a swimming pool, and what would've counted as a small restaurant. It was easily the highest standard of living any of us had had during our time in the Navy.
This was all a contrast to the darkness outside, where we advised to keep out unless we surprise the Marine patrols and cause an incident. Nevertheless, the conditions were well enough that we could still take a little breather. The others were enjoying some VCR movies in one of the lounges, while others were in the arcades.
Just as I was starting to fall asleep, the door suddenly opened. I opened my eyes a little bit to see Heather come in, holding a towel and some bathing necessities.
"Hey, Vera—do you care to join us?" I furrowed my brows.
"Join what, exactly?"
"They actually have a few hot tubs near the swimming area, all sectioned off. Amy, Kayla, and I are going to take a look. It seemed a good idea not to pass up, don't you think?" I groaned, and then twisted further in my bed. I really wanted to sleep, but the idea of soaking my skin in a hot bath was rather appealing to me. Sure, showers were good, but a woman needed to take care of her skin in some ways where soap and water weren't enough. Well, guess she has a point.
I sighed and got up. "All right, wait for me. I'll go get my stuff."
Five minutes later, I joined them. Since it was sectioned off, our lack of proper attire wasn't a concern. Even with my own fits about modesty, it was nice enough that I didn't care enough to really complain—or maybe not.
"Man this feels nice." Kayla sighed. "All natural fun, huh girls?" Heather and me were a little lower in the water then the other two, who didn't seem to care at all.
I merely sighed. I was expecting to have a nice, quiet soak. Then again, this did count as liberty as far as they were concerned. Fooling around was certainly guaranteed.
"I guess." Heather responded uninterested.
"Oh, lighten up." She briefly rose from the water to reach for a bag set near the edge. "Wine?" She offered a bottle to Heather, who regarded it for a moment before accepting it with a brief, controlled nod. I knew she gravitated to the others more when it came to fun, so it wasn't a total surprise. I was a bit suspicious though.
"Where'd you get a banned substance?" I asked. Alcohol of any kind was banned as per Navy regulation. Not that any of us were old enough anyway (or that those laws rarely even applied to service members).
"Couple of the people here gave it to me. They got barrels of the stuff. Rules are really loose here." She pulled out another bottle. "Want one?"
"Hmm." I'd had wine before; it was common at high function parties. Only a small amount though. It was the healthier drink. The brand certainly seemed high quality. But... "We're in a active warzone. I'll pass." As I gave my excuse, Heather examined the bottle she'd gotten and already taken a sip from before putting the cork back in and setting it back by her stuff.
"Can I get one of those?" Amy asked. Those two decided to drink while Heather and me just soaked. But I could tolerate them and just let the heat relax me. Fatigue, aches, stress- it all seemed to just slip off and vanish. I didn't think I'd physically felt this good in a lot time.
Across from me, my fellow pilots had drifted onto the conversation subject of fraternization somehow.
"Vincent? Seems like an every man. Not that interesting. David though- He's always been mysterious. Can't trust a man like that." Amy was saying.
"He's way older then any of us anyway." Kayla dismissed the idea further and that was about the time I tuned them out. I wasn't going to waste this one chance to relax. Perhaps the realization reached their minds as well, because before long they stopped talking.
A few minutes of total silence passed, and then Kayla spoke up.
"I wish the whole military got these kinds of luxuries."
"Talk about unfair." Amy agreed with her. Cramped on ships, Navy living was arguably the worst of all the five branches. The living conditions in the other branches were better, but were probably not as good as those here.
"If I'd known about this place," Kayla said, "I'd have filed for a transfer."
"Uh, maybe." Amy didn't sound so enthusiastic. "It's obviously a secret location, and you'd probably have to fill out a mountain of forums before they'd even tell you it existed. Too much work." I could've sworn I heard Heather go 'hmph' at the mention of secrecy.
After quite a bit of thinking, I finally gathered my thoughts. This place could only be a missile research facility; there wasn't any other explanation. Militaries weren't exactly the most ethical organizations on the planet, especially when it came to keeping secrets. Besides, considering Lazuria's last reaction to our research, the secrecy was a sensible precaution. Still, I was more than a little uncomfortable about being controlled from the shadows—being put in danger for things I didn't or weren't allowed to understand.
Yet, I'd been thinking. I'd read an article a long time ago about how missiles had a chance to be just as good at deterrents as atomic weapons. If we saved this facility and the missiles, could we end the unfortunate war that had spawned from the chaos? Both sides could put down their guns and focus on rebuilding, and I could get out at one year and go home. I wasn't thinking worse-case scenario, though. I knew it was unlikely. The war could go on and the missiles we saved would just be used to make it easier. And if it did, I'd still fight in it to its conclusion.
I'd been exposed to actual war for nearly three weeks, and every day so far it just seemed to get dirtier. I was remembering the evacuation in a more positive light—I knew that what I was doing had saved thousands of lives. Even if I didn't enjoy war at all, I'd much rather have that less ambiguous part of it.
I'd thought about that while leaning back with my eyes closed. Suddenly, I heard a thundering boom; I thought it was an explosion at first. All of us rose from the water halfway through a rush to get dressed and go check. We all stopped as the sound faded in a way uncharacteristic for an explosion.
"Was that thunder?" Kayla asked out loud.
"Sounded like it," Amy confirmed. "It might be a nasty thunderstorm."
"Strange... There haven't been any weather patterns since the meteors." I'd only just realized that. "I didn't think storm clouds could form with the sky the way it is."
"Probably not a good idea to soak anymore," Kayla pointed out. "Well, guess we've had a good one, anyway." She promptly climbed out. I did too and grabbed a towel. Weather patterns—funny how I could forget something that I hadn't seen it for a while when Cadigold had plenty of rainstorms all year round.
Hopefully it's a good thing, I thought. If the weather patterns became normal again, maybe the world would, too? I could hope. I didn't even realize how odd it was to take a thunderstorm as good news.
X Nate, a year before the meteors came. X
"Dancing?" I repeated. "I, uh, don't know how to dance."
"It isn't hard," Maria assured me. "Come on, I'll show you." She held out her left hand. As soon as I grabbed it, she effortlessly yanked me off the couch and into the center of her living room. She kept the hands we were holding in the air and put her right arm over my shoulder. "Put your left hand on my waist."
"Huh?"
"My waist," she said it again. "Go on." I tentatively raised my left arm and put my hand where I thought she meant. Apparently I hit the mark a little low and a little far back because she took her arm off my shoulder to correct me. "Uh, sorry."
"Stand up straight." She pulled me closer so I wasn't leaning forward. Because of how short I was, I had a rather nice view of her bust, but she didn't seem to notice.
"N-now what?" I asked.
"Just move your feet," she told me. "Do as I do." She gave me a second to take that in before she stepped to the side. Her grip on me was good enough that she practically dragged me to the side, too. Rather than step, I stumbled. She gave me a second to feel my foot again and stepped back. This time I was more prepared and stepped forward with her. We kept on dancing while she started humming, her eyes closed but still moving easily.
"See? It's easy," she told me as we continued that slow little movement.
"Where'd you learn to dance?" I asked. She opened her eyes and looked down at me.
"My grandma taught me before we moved."
"Oh, when you lived down southwest?" I guessed. Maria had moved here from there around second grade. I didn't hear a lot of good things about that part of the country, though—it was supposed to have a really bad crime problem.
"Yeah." She nodded and pulled me a little closer. I turned my head and found myself leaning against her chest, quickly noticing a loud thumping sound. Actually, and it took me a moment to realize we weren't even moving; we were just standing there while she was holding me close and my arms just hung to the side. It was the nicest feeling I ever had.
The sound of a door opening made us jump back from each other. Maria's mother passed by a moment later, stopping in the doorway when she noticed us or perhaps our embarrassed faces.
"What are you two doing?"
"Dancing," Maria said quickly. Her mother raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I was just teaching Nate. Watch." She held out a hand again and I grabbed it. I knew what to do this time, and I actually managed to go a few seconds without tripping over my own feet. I glanced over and noticed Maria's mom actually smiling.
"That's nice." She nodded and left the room. Maria sighed with relief and we kept dancing.
"See? Isn't this fun?" She asked as we managed to spin around, just like in the movies.
"Yeah," I laughed. "It is fun!"
X In the present, with Nate, nineteen days after the meteors came. X
Why had I given that up?
Why, why, why, why, why?Why had I been so stupid?
As I tried to grapple with that question in my head, a more pressing concern pushed itself in my consciousness. Why was it raining so hard? I didn't know what happened. We'd been lying in our little campsite and passing time, the sky the same red as always.
Then, it had gotten dark—REALLY dark. No one knew why, and we'd actually been waiting for orders about it even as visibility began to drop drastically. And then it started raining hard. We couldn't see anything after that. My eyes were wide open and it was dark in front of me, even though I could feel someone standing just a few inches in front of me.
Everyone who was in our little encampment huddled together as soon as it started pouring, with a few even managing to grab their tents and use them as a tarp before the wind tossed them off the mountain. The rest of us were getting soaked, though. Hell, the rain drops felt like I was getting punched, but the wind was the really scary part. I swear to God it nearly toppled me over when it really started blowing, and it was probably the reason everyone was grabbing onto each other.
Something was wrong here. I was sure the world was trying to finish us off. This was going to kill a lot more people and probably destroy anything that was still standing. Had we all just been wasting our time? Were humans doomed to be killed off, anyway? Was Ijust wasting my time trying to salvage something out of this?
Another clap of thunder above made me jump where I stood, and I wasn't the only one. I kept a tight grip on the person in front of me, and the painful grip on my shoulder didn't ease up either. I was absolutely terrified. I had no idea if we were going to survive this storm. At that moment, I wasn't sure if it would've been even worth surviving.
X In eastern Lazuria, approximately one hundred miles away from Archangelsk, and nineteen days after the meteors came. X
For a few hours, survivors all across the world experienced massive rainstorms as the vast amount of water that had evaporated during the initial meteor strikes finally came back down. In some strange ways, it was a good thing. Rivers and lakes that had gone dry suddenly found themselves full and flowing again. Debris was washed away and some dying ecosystems enjoyed a brief respite. Like anything else, however, it was a double-edged sword.
It was a force destructive in its own right. Other areas were flooded, transportation routes were swept away, and even more casualties occurred. It also wrecked parts of the coastline, adding even more problems to their efforts in restoring utilities and shelter to the survivors.
For the military, particularly those in Lazuria, it was nothing short of a disaster.
"Get those vehicles moved at once!" Major-General James Mayhew, commander of the Rubinelle 1st Army, was screaming at the top of his lungs while engineers and some of the tank crews present tried to save their vehicles as best as they could. As the spearhead of the Rubinelle offensive, General Mayhew had a lot of things on his mind—and the sudden storm certainly didn't help matters.
First of all was the matter of reinforcements. On paper, he commanded ninety thousand men—all three divisions had thirty thousand men each—but he only had a little over than half that number when they landed in Lazuria. Admiral Greyfield had promised him reinforcements before he left for the Capital, but only a trickle came in. Considering the casualties he had sustained in almost two weeks of fighting, he had only thirty-five thousand combat-ready personnel left. It was a difficult situation, which would become impossible if sizable reinforcements failed to arrive soon. A few days ago he had managed to repulse a Lazurian attack, but at the cost of a battalion's worth of men. He wondered how long they would be able to hold on to the gains they already made if the Lazurians kept the pressure up.
Next of all was the supply situation. While it was not enough for a full-size field army, it was enough to supply what remained of his troops. However, given current operational tempos, he might soon run out of supplies within a week or two. His supply officers had come to him privately and told him that while food was not exactly a concern for now—it was a stroke of luck that they captured the food stores in Archangelsk intact—supplies of ammunition for the troops and gasoline for the tanks were down to their last reserves. There were factories in Archangelsk, but none of them were equipped to produce weapons and ammunition. Some of his officers had even encouraged scrounging for weapons from their fallen comrades. While General Mayhew regarded it with distaste, he knew getting angry about it would only make matters worse. Besides, how could he order his troops to save ammunition when the only thing that was stopping the Lazurians was the profligate use of every weapon at hand?
As he turned these matters in his head, General Mayhew returned to his headquarters, which was on the third floor of an abandoned office building. It was still raining during his drive to his headquarters, and he even had to help push the Humvee along the muddy roads. By the time he had returned and finished drying himself out, the rain had ceased as suddenly as it had begun. He turned to one of his staff officers.
"Major, give me a sit rep."
The junior officer nodded and said, 'Sir, this is what we've learned so far. All three divisions have all their men accounted for—no casualties. However, some of their vehicles and supplies have been stuck in the mud. Recovery efforts are now underway, but it might take some time." General Mayhew nodded and motioned for him to continue.
"We've also received some very disturbing news from the frontlines. The 17th Division had to withdraw all its men into the fourth defensive line, as its defensive positions were greatly flooded. The 20th Division is trying to get its men to the fifth defensive line as well. It seems that the ravines our men were using were dried-up rivers, sir."
"Have all our maps updated; what about our aircraft?"
"Some suffered water damage; we're still trying to get a more concrete number, sir."
"I see; what about the Navy?"
"Some were damaged; the destroyer Hartford capsized in the storms. They're still trying to get all their ships for a proper count, sir."
"Very well; I'll be waiting in my office for the casualty reports." He stood up, and the major saluted him as he went out of the room. Once he was in the confines of his office, he put his hands up in his faced and gave out a long sigh. He had kept up a façade of calm so as not to get his staff up in a panic. It couldn't be all that bad, he thought, but seeing the situation on his own gave him second thoughts. Figures had their own kind of perfection, after all.
Now, for the matter at hand: the loss of three defensive lines was a threat he would have to address. That meant that the Lazurians now had shorter distances to cover. He was sure the Lazurians would know of this, but General Mayhew privately hoped they were just as hard hit as they were, and thus would take time to recover.
However, his hope would be dashed. The Lazurians were just as hard hit by the storms, but there were more of them, and it was their land they were fighting on. While Mayhew's men were busy extricating themselves and their supplies and vehicles out of the mud and the floods, reconnaissance from selected units of the 3rd Lazurian Guards Army had already pinpointed key Rubinelle defensive positions. With that information, the entire army moved out. This was their chance to drive the enemy off their homeland, and they weren't going to pass it up.
For a few hours, the fates of both the Rubinelle and Lazurian troops in the continent hang in the balance as both sides—one unknowing, the other willingly and decisively—headed into battle.