Now after some time the surgeries finished and since it was already night time, Frunze let them sleep for the night. But in the morning they were sent immediately to Frunze's ship where they chose their ships.
I won't go over every single conversations as they lasted for several hours, but by the end of it, the Phantom part of the fleet ended up with one Mercy-class hospital ship, two Supply-class fast support ships, three Georges Leygues-class frigates, one Borei-class submarine, one Udaloy-class destroyer, two Ticonderoga-class cruisers, and one Mark I variant Strike cruiser.
Soon Frunze and Nitze set off to Midway Island to form the new hybrids ships, and train them in the basics of controlling their ships. They also took Diamond with them since she needed her ship reformed.
Nitze made rooms for everyone to sleep in, on the way there. She also made a little lobby for them to hang out, since there really wasn't anything to do besides talking to get to know each other.
The eight adults who were their sat at a circular table, while Nitze was talking with the three younger boys quite clearly interested in them even though the three were kind of scared of her.
"So, since we're all quite new to each other, how about we introduce ourselves to each other, we did it before but that was before that surgery that made us like… like this" the soldier from before said. "I'll start off first. I'm Ticonderoga, of the Mark I variant Strike cruiser" he looked to be in his late thirties, with short brown hair, and light blue eyes.
There was a silence around the table after Ticonderoga spoke. Everyone looked at each other expectantly, all waiting for the next person to speak up. It lasted like this for a couple seconds till the man who tried to punch Nitze before spoke.
"Knyaz Vladimir, Borei class ballistic missile submarine" he spoke in a somewhat gruff voice, and looked clearly unhappy with what was happening. He looked to be in late forties, with brown hair, and dark brown eyes. He looked like the kind of guy who would drink a lot, and that was true.
After Vladimir spoke the rest of them started to introduce themselves.
The other soldier, who looked to be in his mid twenties spoke. "Princeton, Ticonderoga class cruiser"
"Mercy, Mercy class hospital ship" Mercy looked to be in his late teens, with black hair and brown eyes.
"Arctic, Supply class fast support ship" one with short gray hair, and green eyes said
"Rainier, Supply class fast support ship" Another said, he had red, curly hair and brown eyes
"Valley Forge, Ticonderoga class cruiser" one who looked to be in his late teens with brown hair and slightly gray looking eyes.
Then the last who hadn't introduced themselves spoke. "Admiral Chabanenko, Udaloy class destroyer" the one who said this did look to be of Russian descent, with dark blond hair and blue eyes.
Then Vladimir spoke in a mocking tone "so then what should we do? since we're now the Fog's little bitches now"
Then Nitze interrupted a bit to correct Vladimir. "Hey we're the Phantom Fleet not the Fleet of Fog" she whined.
"Well what's the fucking difference?!" Vladimir yelled as he turned to look at Nitze.
Nitze stood up to look at him and squinted, losing her normally cheerful attitude quite fast.
"I don't like that attitude you know? Another swear word out of you, and I promise that your first week of patrols shall be in the Arctic Ocean" this was the first time anyone there had seen Nitze go actually serious.
Vladimir seemed to stare at Nitze for a moment before scoffing as he turned back. "Fine... Nitze"
Now almost immediately Nitze went back to her cheerful self, and everyone noted the complete 180 Nitze just did.
Everyone at the table just looked at Vladimir, as he seemed like the man that normally doesn't go down without a fight.
"What?" Vladimir said.
"You, just backed down. You seem like the kind of guy that doesn't back down easily" Princeton said.
"Well I've been in Alaska before, and the cold there isn't fun" Vladimir answered "so, what should we do till we get to this training place?"
"Anyone got a deck of cards?" Valley Forge asked.
Everyone sat the table just looked at each other for a few seconds until Ticonderoga inhaled and sighed "well I guess that is a no, Valley Forge"
"Unless" trailed Arctic "Hey Nitze, can you make us a card deck so we can at least entertain ourselves?"
"Sure!" Nitze said now in her cheerful voice.
Then nanomaterials appeared out of a vent in the wall and floated towards the table. They sparkled white like glitter in air as they formed into a deck of cards in the middle of the table. It took only a few seconds till a card deck was fully formed in front of them.
Ticonderoga grabbed the deck and looked through it to make sure it was correct. He then chuckled to himself a bit.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think these weren't made out of those weird materials" Ticonderoga said as he started to shuffle the deck "so, poker?"
"Ehhhh, we don't have any money to bet on" Vladimir said
"How about IOUs?" Nitze chirped in.
Now Chabanenko chuckled "hah, I wouldn't really want to give an IOU to Vladimir from how he's acted so far, besides, betting on money is more exciting"
Vladimir just glared at Chabanenko after he said that. Then there was a moment of silence, then Princeton broke it.
"How about Go Fish?"
"Eh, I'm in with playing Go Fish, better than nothing" Vladimir said.
There were a few glances between the men at the table, until Ticonderoga finished shuffling the deck.
"Go Fish, it is then" he said, as he started to deal out the cards to everyone.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Now after they reached Midway Island, they formed all twelve ships needed, with Mercy's ship turning out to be the biggest out of all of them.
First they had them get used to controlling their ships, so they had to maneuver around buoys that Nitze laid down. To avoid collisions they made them go one at a time. In all honesty, they found it quite terrifying to see Mercy maneuvering around the buoys with surprising speed for a ship of his size.
Now after the maneuvering training they were immediately thrust into training battle, though Mercy, Arctic, and Rainier were excluded from it.
Nitze focused on training: Montcalm, Dupleix, Jean de Vienne (who were both the boys that she had been talking to, and the fleet's three frigates), and Chabanenko. While Frunze focused on the remaining hybrids, besides Vladimir. Since Vladimir was a submarine he'd get his training separate from everyone else, so he had his submarine parked with Mercy and the supply ships, who at the moment were both filling their stocks with nanomaterials.
The rest of the training wasn't too eventful, except when Vladimir collided with Valley Forge, followed by Forge losing his Klein field, for a while. At the time Frunze had finished training with the others and was going to start with Vladimir.
Ok, Knayz Vladimir we'll start off now. Bring your ship near mine and I'll explain some basics in submarine warfare
Ugh, finally Vladimir groaned as he was tired of waiting. He was inside his ship messing with some things like making a place to rest while he was waiting. I'm on my way
Now Vladimir's ship started to move towards where Frunze' was, but hadn't noticed Forge's ship had parked in front of him, and since Vladimir was inside his ship he didn't notice Forge's ship. And Forge didn't notice that Vladimir was getting closer because he was messing with stuff on his ship.
Now as Vladimir's ship came in quickly, after a moment there was a loud bang sound when the superstructure of Vladimir's ship hit Forge's Klein field, as Forge left it on low power.
When the two ships collided Vladimir was thrown to the ground by the sudden stop.
what the fuck did I hit!? Vladimir yelled over comms, sounding quite angry.
Forge actually wasn't too affected by the collision like Vladimir was, but could clearly feel as his Klein field was put to almost full saturation from the collision.
it appears like you hit Valley Forge by accident Frunze calmly stated. He was on the superstructure of his ship, watching as Forge's ship was slightly moved from the collision.
get out of my way, ya bastard Vladimir said angrily over comms at Forge.
and why are you swearing at me!? You were the one to ram me Forge said over comms in a much calmer voice.
Vladimir's ship actually started to push Forge's ship, which did slowly make his Klein field more and more saturated, and right to the tipping point that if they didn't get out of each other's way, Forge would lose hisKlein field. Though Vladimir's ship was also forced downwards, which pushed Forge's ship upwards a bit.
just get out of my way!
ugh, fine Forge responded begrudgingly.
Now Forge put his ship in reverse to try and pull away from Vladimir's, who didn't actually stop his ship. Though as he tried pulling away his Klein field went over the tipping point and broke. Then a louder bang than before could be heard, and the sound of scraping, as Vladimir's superstructure hit the port side of Forge's ship. Now Vladimir got knocked down to the ground again from the sudden stop, and this time Forge got tossed around a bit because he went out on deck to see what was happening.
The second collision drew the attention of basically the rest of the fleet. So now Vladimir and Princeton have all eyes on them.
hey what's happening? Are you guys alright? came Diamond over comms.
Forge groaned a bit in frustration, because now his ship was slightly damaged from the collision, with a dent the shape of Vladimir's superstructure now in his port side, just behind the main gun. Vladimir's superstructure was also damaged from the collision.
I'm fine, Vladimir's ship collided with mine Forge said over comms to Diamond.
do you need help? Mercy said.
possibly. Vladimir, put your ship into reverse. Going forward will only make things worse Forge said as he stopped his engines.
and how the hell do you know that will work!? Vladimir yelled still in an angry voice.
because, you're just going to push my ship if you continue going forward
Vladimir grumbled a bit before begrudgingly saying fine
Now Vladimir put his ship into reverse and started to back up. More screeching of metal could be heard, as his ship backed away from Forge's. The damage was still in both of their ships.
Forge sighed heavily, while he pinched the bridge of his nose We're going to both need repairs for our ships now, because you rammed me
By now Vladimir was on his superstructure looking at the damage to his ship as he kept backing up. He didn't respond clearly back to Forge, as he just mumbled swears to himself.
Knyaz Vladimir, get repairs before you come to me Frunze calmly said, as he had been watching everything from a distance.
yeah, yeah stating the obvious Vladimir replied then quietly said ya bastard but he was still talking over comms.
Then Frunze spoke in a serious voice to him, as he did hear the quiet bit that Vladimir said. Watch your tongue with how you talk to your superiors, Knyaz Vladimir
There was a pause from Vladimir before he responded ok…
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Now as soon as the Frunze' Fleet made it back to the main fleet. Almost all of them were sent out on patrols. Though Nitze, Ticonderoga, Diamond, and Boyle didn't go on patrols. Instead they were sent to destroy a naval base near Astoria, which was apparently getting ready to send a fleet out to sea.
So, Ticonderoga how did you get caught? Diamond asked, as the four of them made their way towards Astoria.
Got ripped out of a tank, by Nitze after she literally ripped the tank open, and I got carried off like a sack of potatoes Ticonderoga responded calmly what about you?
went out trying to go fishing with my uncle, until a Fog destroyer appeared and sunk our boat. I don't know if my uncle survived
oh… I see, sorry about that
it's fine. Besides my uncle, most everyone in my life didn't treat me well, that was until I joined the Fog. Now I have friends and allies that I can trust on
I see… so what about Boyle? Boyle, how did you get conscripted into the Fog? Ticonderoga asked.
I was on a transport ship that tried making a break for it to get from Hawaii to the mainland. The transport got sunk when we barely got over the horizon
ooof, bad luck Ticonderoga said I hear the navy tries sending out ships to rescue or resupply the people there, but they're either chased back to port, or never heard from again
yeah, when I was still there I knew that only one submarine got there, and was able to bring supplies. It was just impossible to hear stuff from the mainland, because the Fog kept jamming our radios Boyle said.
hey… what are you doing, Nitze? Diamond asked as she could see Nitze' main gun being disassembled and having nanomaterials replacing certain parts of it.
oh this? I'm just converting my gun to an eight inch fifty-five cal, like Tico's Nitze responded, happily.
wait you can do that? And who is Tico? Diamond asked curiously.
yeah of course I can, we're allowed to freely modify our armaments, well at least full Phantoms are. Hybrids have to ask their flagship's permission before they can do so. And Tico is short for Ticonderoga. I think it sounds good don't you? Nitze responded
huh was the response Diamond and Boyle gave.
while Ticonderoga responded hmm… sounds good to me. Though I'm wondering, Diamond, what exactly are the limits that Fog can go with modifying their armament?
I believe that we can't use modern weapons, so the Phalanx and others like it are not allowed. Though what she said was how we do it as well. Where you have to ask your Flagship before modifying anything
oh! And I'm making it use actual rounds instead of lasers, since we're attacking targets on and near the land Nitze added.
hmm, I've heard of it hybrids that normally do demolition, switch to normal rounds instead of lasers. Apparently it gives more range and you can fire over obstacles Diamond said.
hmm, I might change to that, then. Though it would be useful if you could switch without needing to modify them Ticonderoga said.
Well you'll need to ask Frunze first before you can modify it. And only battleships' and battlecruisers' guns are big enough to have both mechanisms inside Nitze said.
hm, then I think I'll ask him after this mission
Now after some time the four of them could see Astoria in the distance. It was much bigger than the one we know of and had a naval base further down the river. Several ships were docked at the base, along with an older Iowa class battleship slightly further in the bay, though they could only see the upper part of its superstructure.
ahoy! There it is! Nitze exclaimed
oh… there's an Iowa class there Diamond said a bit nervously. be careful that thing is terrifying, to fight
how do you know that? Ticonderoga asked curiously.
I fought one like six months ago. Or more accurately it chased me away from some ships that I was attacking. My ship was crippled and I had to be towed for a while till I got repaired she sighed a bit as she got ready to attack. to be honest we should take that out first if we want to have any hope of completing the mission
Ticonderoga winced to himself a bit upon hearing what happened. yeah I can understand wanting to get rid of that. I just hope there won't be people on it
Now the small fleet entered into the bay, in a line formation, with Nitze in the front followed by Ticonderoga, Diamond, and Boyle. People from the shore could clearly see the ships entering and many started to go to see the four ships sailing through.
The river was normally quite busy with boats sailing to and fro, but now the river was barren as the four of them went towards the base. But the navy wasn't blind as three destroyers quickly responded to them.
seems like they finally see us! Nitze exclaimed happily. She giggled a bit before training her gun on the closest destroyer. open fire when ready! she yelled as her main gun opened fire rapidly.
Nitze was some followed by the rest of them, though the others had laser weapons instead of normal rounds.
Nitze' rounds fell short since she was new to laser weapons. The lasers however didn't miss, as two destroyers almost instantly lit up in balls of flames. Now Nitze changed priority and started to shell the Iowa class, while the others destroyed the remaining ship.
Nitze' shells did little damage to the battleship until she switched to a low yield Corrosive shell that took smaller, but more noticeable, chunks out of it.
The base was initially in panic from the sudden attack, but now the personnel scrambled to their battle stations to defend themselves. They were hampered by the jamming of radio communications from the Fogs and the Phantoms.
Now the four of them turned to port and bore their full attack on the unprepared battleship with laser beams, boring holes through it, and corrosive shells taking little bites out of itself. Missiles were launched at any vessels that tried to pull away from the docks, with them exploding before they could barely make any difference to the battle. Fires soon filled the water all around and in the base, but soon the battleship started to slowly move out, to try and escape the onslaught of attacks thrown at it. Its turrets slowly turned towards the fleet to try and retaliate, but they were stopped by a corrosive shell that hit the roof of Turret One.
There was a pause after it hit, then an explosion followed from the rounds inside the barrels. Then a bigger explosion followed, as a corrosive missile hit just behind Turret Two, as not only the corrosive missile almost completely took out the turret, it also set off the forward magazine.
In the space of about forty to fifty minutes the base that was getting ready to try and make a break for it out to sea to make contact with the Russians, was now mostly on fire, with its ships sinking into the river in an irreparable way.
Now the fleet had circled back around so that their port side bore on the base. There was a momentary pause as all of them trained their guns, preparing to fire on the base proper, rather than just the ships. Yet some of them did think it odd that no planes had shown up since they started. Yes they were jamming the humans, but surely they had some sort of land cable that ran to an airbase.
Their Klein fields had been ringing from attacks from the humans, but so far none had been enough to go near full saturation. Then Ticonderoga noticed something coming up on radar.
I've got eight planes coming at us from the south east. About nine miles now Ticonderoga said over comms.
finally! Nitze exclaimed happily they're sending little birdies for us to play with! now she giggled a bit as two anti aircraft missiles were launched from her ship at the oncoming planes.
While the planes were able to dodge the two missiles, they couldn't dodge what came next. The eight planes carried heavy bombs that could theoretically punch through weaker Klein fields, but they were unguided because they were so heavy, so they had to go close to actually drop their bombs. As they came closer they had to maneuver so they'd come in length wise. What came next was the combined AA of the four ships that took out two of the planes immediately, with their wrecks falling out of the air and into the water behind the battle line.
Though now Nitze turned to port along with the rest of them to try and throw off their targeting. Soon four planes entered into dives like those of the old Second Great War. Two dropped their pay loads early and pulled up to try and escape the heavy AA fire, both their bombs missed, but sent towers of water up into the sky. The two that didn't drop their payloads early, dove in dangerously close to where the Klein fields were, then dropped their bombs and pulled up, with one skimming across Nitze' outer most Klein field before rising back up into the sky. Its bomb almost missed its intended target, Ticonderoga, but at the last second he turned slightly and the bomb hit the edge of his Klein field and exploded in a fireball that covered most of his starboard side, instantly sending his Klein field to almost 100% saturation. One more and it'd be over for him.
fuck! My Klein field is almost broken from that one bomb! Ticonderoga exclaimed, as he launched several anti air missiles to strike the remaining two planes before they could get too close.
everyone focus on the airplanes. Then we'll turn our attention to that base Nitze said in an excited voice.
Now the remaining two planes didn't just face normal AA fire like 20 millimeter rounds or 40 millimeter rounds, they faced even the 203 millimeter guns of the bigger ships. Soon after they opened up fully on the aircraft, both planes fell out of the sky without releasing their payloads.
alright! Everyone back in line! Train your guns on the base and wait for my signal! Nitze said as she now was slowly moving south towards the southern part of Astoria.
Now they slowly moved back into line formation, and trained all weapons back to the military base. Then…
Fire! Nitze yelled.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Now it was after they finished destroying the military base near Astoria, they had gotten a new adjective slightly to the north. Apparently some ships were hiding out in there, and they were to try and destroy them.
They moved slightly north to it and started to enter into some of the fjords to find these ships. They were on the lookout for the human ships as they entered in single file.
got anything yet? Nitze said slightly bored as now they were just looking around for the ships in the fjords.
They were quite decent ways inside of the fjords, and it seemed quiet, kind of in a scary way.
nothing here Diamond said.
only see a few deer on the shore Boyle said.
nothing either on my side. Even my drone isn't seeing anything Ticonderoga said, as he had a drone in the air looking around, only seeing the sides of the fjords and the river that stretched on further inland.
well we need to find some soon! Nitze whined a little or else Frunze won't be happy. Even a tiny frigate would work
maybe we should double back to see if we missed anything Ticonderoga suggested.
yeah let's do that Nitze said.
oh this is going to be fun turning around Diamond said sarcastically as she noted the river was only so wide that only one ship could turn around at a time.
well I guess it's better that we start now then later on. The river looks like it gets narrower further down Ticonderoga said, as they all slowly came to a halt.
Now Nitze slowly started to turn around and sailed back to where Boyle was, waiting for next in line to catch up. The next in line was Ticonderoga who had to do a sort of three point turn if he wanted to get turned around.
He was right in the middle of his three point turn when things went downhill. His ship was perpendicular to that of Diamond's, so he was blocking her path forward, and Diamond was blocked by Boyle and Nitze behind her, so you can see where that little trouble lies. But what sent it down was a sudden thundering boom, from slightly further down the river.
Heavy shells impacted Ticonderoga's Klein field putting it back up to full saturation, just after he got restored to full power.
He turned around in the direction of where the boom originated and was scared to see something terrifying. It was another battleship, but he could barely see its outlines from the thick brush that covered it. It looked like it was part of the landscape, with false trees and false brush attached to it, and green paint covering it.
As soon as he saw what it was he yelled over comms fuck! Another battleship further down! It was waiting for u- now he was interrupted as two more heavy shells impacted his Klein field and broke it completely, leaving him vulnerable to attacks.
He couldn't tell where the two other shells came from but he could tell it wasn't from the battleship he just recognized.
one battleship sighted, there's at least one more, but I didn't see where it was Ticonderoga spoke as he rushed to complete his turn to get away from the battleship, but was slightly sloppy and ran aground in a way that was bad for him and the ships behind himself.
damn, this isn't a good time Diamond said Boyle, back up. It'll take too long to turn around here Boyle didn't need orders as she already was backing up, past Nitze.
Now an explosion could be seen amidship of Ticonderoga as shells from the recently spotted battleship tore through the side of his ship. He tried firing back, but it was hard telling which was the battleship and which was part of the land.
I don't think my ship will make it. I think I'll need to abandon ship if I want to make it out alive Ticonderoga said, as he hurried from the superstructure to the stern, but found the path blocked by a raging fire, so he went back to the bow to see how far it was to the shore that way.
alright, but make sure you set scuttling charges before you get off. Don't let them get to it intac- agh! Diamond said but was cut off as multiple heavy shells, and many smaller shells hit the sides of her Klein field, sending the saturation close to the tipping point.
Diamond you good?! Ticonderoga asked hurriedly, as he started to set of the scuttling charges.
Diamond are you alright!? Boyle asked concerned as she momentarily stopped.
I'm fine, looks like there are fortifications set around here. Just get out of here! I don't think I and Ticonderoga will make it out Diamond responded, as she saw she needed to set scuttling charges, and did so as her Klein field continued to soak in smaller caliber shells.
but, you'll be stuck on land, and you know what happened to the last hybrid that this happened to Boyle countered, as she and Nitze tried to find where the emplacements were, so they could destroy them.
yeah, I know she got tortured, but we don't have the time for this. Go now, Ticonderoga and I can take care of ourselves
Boyle sighed before her ship started to back up as fast as it could. fine, good luck to both of you. Hope to see you soon and not be tortured by them
Soon Diamond, like Ticonderoga, had her Klein field shattered by heavy shells, and soon both ships were mangled in shapes they weren't supposed to be in.
let's group up to the south of here Ticonderoga. Make sure your ship is destroyed before you leave completely Diamond says as she finishes off the rest of the scuttling charges.
alright, I've already finished. Gonna jump now Ticonderoga said just before he jumped off the bow of his ship and into the water below. Then he instinctively swam for the shore to the south.
As soon as Diamond completely finished the scuttling charges she dove off of her ship and into the water below, and swam for the shoreline. As she did so she heated and saw a glimpse as Ticonderoga's ship lifted up into the air and exploded in a bright ball of flames. It was so big it actually set off Diamond's ship, so both of their ships were now completely destroyed.
Diamond had a harder time swimming to the shore, both because she was farther away from the start, and she didn't have military training. But soon she made it to the shore, and could see as the two now destroyed ships blocked most of the river, so that no ship could make it through at the moment.
She lay on her back slightly away from the shoreline, panting from exhaustion, and trying to build the strength back up to walk. Then she heard the snapping of a twig behind her, and spun around to see who was there. But a voice spoke to her before she could see who it was.
"don't worry. It's just me, Ticonderoga" Ticonderoga said as he stepped out so she could see him.
Diamond let out a heavy sigh "good, good. I'm just… tired… from… what happened"
"Well we need to go now, if we stay in this area too long they're going to find us" he said as he offered a hand to her.
"Yeah, ok" Diamond said tiredly as she took his hand and stood up besides him. She took one last look at the remains of their old ships.
Now the two started through the forest to try and get to a place where they could get picked up by the fleet. Soon Diamond sent a level one distress signal to alert the fleet of where they were. There were three levels, with level one like saying "I'm here" level two is like saying "I need some help" and level three, the highest one, is like saying "I need help now from anyone who is able to"
Level one distress signal activated: Diamond, Des Moines class heavy cruiser (H)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Now after some walking the two would come across a dirt road, and followed it for some time until they came across a small fishing village, made up of only several stores, a dock for boats, and a few houses. It was so small that it didn't even have any paved roads, instead they were gravel paths that connected everything together.
They casually walked along the road into the village and looked around for a moment before deciding to go to the river front to see where they were.
"Let's be careful, we don't want to get found out here" Ticonderoga whispered to Diamond as they walked towards the docks.
"I know" Diamond said "the last hybrid to get captured was tortured"
"What!?" Ticonderoga asked in a hushed voice of disbelief upon hearing what happened to that hybrid.
"They got tortured by the army after a run in with a battleship" She said as they made it to the docks and could see what remained of the sunken ships in and near the naval base.
Ticonderoga just couldn't believe the army he served in, would torture someone. He decided just to stay quiet now as he could see the remains of the sunken ships, some still on fire, while others weren't on fire.
After a while they decided to go back to where the few stores were to ask where they were. Though they needed to decide on names for themselves in case someone asked who they were. Diamond settled on Samantha Nowak, and Ticonderoga settled on Jonathan Fischer.
The two entered a small bar that had a little motel right next to it. When they entered only the bartender was the only really interested in them when they entered, though a few men of the unsavory type did focus on Diamond after a while.
The two went up and stood at the bar, though they didn't sit down since they couldn't really pay for anything. Soon the bartender came up to them, and greeted them "Howdy folks, don't think I've seen y'all around here. What'll it be for you?"
"Uh, nothing actually, we're just wondering where we are. We got lost when we went hiking, and ended up here"
"Oh, this village is Joansville. If you're looking to get around I suggest you go to Astoria, across the river if you can. Though it seems unlikely today with what happened with the Fog"
Ticonderoga tried to keep up the act so he asked "I see. What happened to the Fog?"
"They came in, four of them, down the river and attacked that naval base, along with any ship the navy tried getting out. I think they said the Wisconsin was sunk by them. Sad. That old ship's presence kept a whole lot of people feeling safe around here"
"I see. Well when do you think we can catch a boat to go down there?"
"Mmm, from how most people around here act, I'd say tomorrow the boats will probably start moving again"
"Thanks for the information sir. Sorry I can't buy anything" Ticonderoga said as he backed away from the bar, motioning for Diamond to follow with him.
"Oh, that's quite alright. Hope to see you around, son"
Now the two of them leave the bar and walk slightly down the path to where the motel was.
"So now what?" Diamond asked.
"We should try to get somewhere remote so we can get picked up. This place is too crowded, with Astoria so close to the south"
"Hmm, well we can't go north, that'll just lead back up to that opening where we sunk, and the navy and army will probably be looking there for anything that might be helpful"
Ticonderoga sighed a bit "then we'll need to go south to Astoria and continue going south till we reach a remote enough place. So let's see about this motel"
Now the two went to the motel to check it out and saw that the first night was free, so they could sleep there no problem.
Now after an uneventful night spent there at the motel, Ticonderoga and Diamond were able to quietly "barrow" some money from a guy. So they stepped back into the bar to get something to eat before they went to Astoria.
"Ah, I see y'all are back here again. And from how it looks you might buy something" the bartender said as he moved over to serve them.
"Yeah we will. What will this give for the both of us?" Ticonderoga said as he put three crumpled up dollar bills on the counter.
Diamond well tried to stay close to where Ticonderoga was since she could notice there were again the more unsavory type of men eying her.
"Hmm, I'd say two beers is all" the bartender said as he picked up the dollar bills to check them.
"Alright then we'll take that"
"Alright, two beers coming up" the bartender said as he fully took the money and went over to get their beers.
Now Ticonderoga and Diamond sat on barstools waiting for their drinks, when the sound of a car stopping could be heard outside, and the slamming of two car doors could be heard outside. the door to the bar suddenly opened and heavy footsteps could be heard.
Most everyone actually turned to look at who was entering since it didn't sound like a normal person. They could see a man about six feet tall, dressed in green camouflage similar to the military, he had blacked out ski goggles, and a black mask covering the rest of his face. He had a rifle on a strap slung over his shoulder. He looked like he was a hunter possibly, but he wasn't alone as he stepped forward slowly into the bar someone else could be seen behind him; it was Turgenev.
