Hey all. I apologize for being gone for so long. Hopefully I'll be able to start doing this regularly again, maybe even get this thing all wrapped up nicely. I haven't been idle since I've been gone, so I have a couple new chapters to put up today, and more in the works.

This chapter was a bit of a challenge for me, and I've rewritten it several times. Hopefully everyone likes it, since I'm still not entirely satisfied with it. But, hey, the show must go on. As always, if you like it, please don't hesitate to let me know. And if not, please don't hesitate to let me know how I can improve. So, here comes Chapter 12!

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed in the last few months. I still don't own any of this stuff.


Chapter 12

In the week following the announcement of the declaration, as everyone had taken to calling it, much of the excitement had died down. Reality was sinking in for the crew. Somewhere beyond the horizon, there was a Fire Navy fleet bearing down on the islands, and sooner or later the fledgling North Sea Navy was going to have to face it.

An hour before sunrise, Lee found himself standing on the bridge, having relieved the officer of the deck of his watch a few hours before. Independence rode at anchor near North Sea Station, the coaling pier located on the northwestern side of Black Rock Island. She had taken on coal the day before, packing her bunkers to the rafters in preparation for the long interdiction patrol she would be undertaking with the rest of the fleet. In the gray of the dawn, he could see the outline of a pair of cruisers, moored pierside to top off as well. The door to the observation platform was open, and in addition to the light sound of waves slapping against the hull he could hear the fluttering of their new flag.

The brand new ensign had been delivered to them the day before by couriers from the council. The flag, five red stars emblazoned on a field of blue, had flown proudly over every ship in the fleet ever since. Lee could have sworn he even saw the garrison at North Sea Station flying the flag as well.

"Officer of the deck, lookout reports two vessels approaching, relative bearing two-five-zero. Estimated range, one and a half nautical miles."

"Very well," Lee replied, walking over to the bridge window and extending a telescope. He looked out in the direction indicated, and saw the vessels that the lookout had reported. A pair of CDF gunboats were approaching at a leisurely pace, small wisps of smoke curling lazily from their small stacks.

"Communications, signal the approaching vessels that they are to maintain their distance at one nautical mile. Refueling operations are in progress in this area."

"Aye aye, sir," the communications watch stander replied, stepping out to relay the message with the signal lantern. Lee continued to watch the approaching ships, which seemed to slow down at the one nautical mile mark. They made no effort to turn and maintain their distance, however, nor did they answer to acknowledge the message that had just been sent. A sneaking suspicion nagged at the back of his mind. Some premonition that something wasn't right.

"Engineering, do we have a load of steam up?"

"Yes sir."

"Make sure that the throttle station is manned and ready. Boats!"

"Here, sir," the bosun replied, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

"Weigh the starboard anchor. Keep the port side wildcat manned up as well. I have a bad feeling about this. Has the captain returned yet?"

"No sir. He wasn't due to return until after sunrise."

Lee cursed silently. Captain Yuan had gone ashore the previous afternoon in order to meet with the commander of the North Sea Station garrison. He would have preferred that the man be onboard in case something went down.

"Officer of the deck! Lookout reports that the contacts to port have begun moving towards the ship again, faster this time!"

"Repeat the order to maintain their distance, comms."

Lee looked back through the telescope, straining his eyes to see what flags were flying from the staffs on the small ships. A flash of light from the light house illuminated them briefly, and his heart sank. Red, with a blotch of black that, although he couldn't identify it, he would be a fool not to recognize.

"Surface action port! Sound the general alarm and set general quarters! Lee helm, all ahead two thirds. Get us moving! Boats, weigh port anchor and make preparations for emergency underway!"

A flurry of responses that he couldn't take the time to listen to greeted his ears as the bridge erupted into a maelstrom of panicked activity. The alarm bell began ringing, the sound echoing over the water as the general quarters announcement was passed.

"General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations. Routes for general quarters are up and forward on the starboard side, down and aft on the port side. Departments submit manned and ready reports to the bridge. This is not a drill. Set general quarters."

"Officer of the deck! All ahead two thirds indicated and answered for."

"Lieutenant! Anchors aweigh!"

"Very well. Helm, left ten degree rudder."

"Left ten degree rudder helm aye."

Lee looked out at the gunboats. Flames leapt from the stacks, indicating that their captains were pouring on heat and headed his way fast. He didn't doubt that their gun crews would already be manned up.

One minute, Kuruk was in the middle of a pleasant dream about the girl he'd once loved in the Northern Water Tribe. He'd been about to kiss her when the jarring clang of the alarm bell cut through the fog that had surrounded them, bringing him crashing back to consciousness.

He rolled out of bed, reaching for his boots. What fool is ordering a drill while we're at anchor?

He heard the battle stations announcement vaguely, but one part came through chillingly clear.

"This is not a drill. Set general quarters."

He felt the ship shuddering underneath him, a sure sign that the screws were desperately biting into the water to get the mammoth ship moving.

"Is the Fire Navy here already?" one sailor asked as he joined Kuruk in his dash through the passageways.

"I have no idea, but whatever it is isn't good."

They were interrupted by the roar of an explosion, which pitched all the men in the passageway sideways into the bulkhead. Kuruk was the first to shake it off and resume his journey. He had to make it to the mount.

"Impact, hit one, port side aft. Investigators away! Repair lockers conduct communications checks with the bridge!"

Madness, Kuruk thought as he gained the main deck. The ship was underway, picking up speed and turning. Half the gun crew was already at their station, prepping the mount for action. He chanced a look back aft, and saw smoke streaming from a hit behind the command tower.

"What's going on, chief?" he shouted as he approached the gun, pulling out his water cask and flipping the lid off of it.

"We're under attack by a pair of gunboats flying Fire Nation colors," the gun chief replied between shouted orders, "bloody cowards bounced us without any sort of warning."

The ammo hatch on the deck burst open, and men began hoisting rounds up and into the ready cradle.

"Load this gun!" the chief shouted, jumping in to fill the gap in the crew. Kuruk joined in, helping to lift the heavy bomb to the muzzle of the gun. It was rammed in by the chief himself.

"Sir, mount number two reports manned and ready for action."

"Very well."

Lee slammed the voice tube open and began practically shouting into it.

"Mount two! Run to full port and engage first target of opportunity. You may fire when you have a solution."

He turned away, forgetting to close the voice tube in his haste, and started barking orders to the crew yet again.

"Helm! Rudder amidships. Damage report!"

"Sir, we've had two hits at the base of the tower, port side. Damage doesn't seem too severe."

"Keep me posted. Lee helm! All ahead full."

Independence had her bow pointed at the mouth of the harbor. Lee's intention was to take the fight out of the confined waters, where he would have more room to maneuver. A flash of light lit the bridge, announcing to all present that they were now officially in the fight. The fire control officer listened to the lookout's report before relaying corrections to the crew on the mount.

Crrrump!

The bridge rocked as a second pair of explosions rattled the ship. Almost immediately, the talker was on the voice tube relaying the relevant details.

"Sir! Ordnance reports manned and ready. All mounts are prepped and ready for action."

"Very well."

Lee bent back down to the voice tube, preparing to relay his orders to the newly arrived gunners.

"Fire!"

The gun whumped for the third time in a minute, sending the bomb tumbling out into the dawn air. Kuruk swept the water up and into the barrel, trying to keep an eye on the fight at the same time. Independence had already been hit several times, most of the damage being confined to the command tower's base.

Rather than a geyser of water, this time the crew was rewarded with a burst of flame on the main deck of the lead gunboat. The impact was accompanied by a chain reaction of explosions that riddled the ship. With a cracking roar, the deck of the gunboat erupted, vomiting a dirty yellow cloud of smoke and flame towards the heavens. As the smoke cleared, they realized that there wasn't much of the shattered ship to stay afloat, and a ragged cheer rose up around the gun deck.

"Get yourselves under control ladies! We still have another contact. Trainer, push left ten degrees and elevate five. Load and make ready to fire again."

As the loaders set to their work, the second gunboat fired again. Almost in slow motion, Kuruk watched the incoming bomb fly towards the ship. It sailed in and impacted the main deck, well forward of the number one mount. The explosion knocked most of the men standing on deck sprawling.

Kuruk struggled to his knees, ears ringing from the blast. He looked towards the impact site. The bomb had scorched a twisted hole into the steel deck plates. Smoke flowed freely from the hole, leaving him to wonder what the newly started fire would threaten below.

Sound started slowly coming back to him, faint and echoing, as if he was hearing it from the end of a long tunnel. He rose to his feet, looking around at his fellow crewmen. Several had already returned to their stations, while the rest were on their way back to them. He had a faint sense of the pressure of his gun firing assaulting his ears, as well as the warmth of the muzzle blast, and streamed the water once again.

"Sir, one gunboat is confirmed sunk. Gun crews have engaged the second."

"Very well," Lee replied, looking at the charts. The ship had just passed the lighthouse that marked the entrance to the harbor, which meant they were more or less in open water. He evaluated his options for a moment, looking up at the hole that his opponent had blasted into the main deck. While he did have a firepower advantage over the smaller gunboat, they were proving ridiculously hard targets to hit. They were small, maneuvered much more easily than the lumbering battleship he stood on. His advantage was that he could soak up a lot more damage than the little ship could. That one had been so thoroughly devastated by a single impact was telling.

"Lee helm, all ahead two thirds."

"All ahead two thirds aye."

He watched as the gunboat slowed to match his speed, hoping that the slower speed would pitch the small boat even more, spoiling their accuracy. His own gunners were giving it their all, and splashes erupted in the water all around the small boat.

Come on guys, give me a hit.

Another round impacted, this time aft of the command tower. The entire ship shuddered at the impact, and he knew right away what their intentions were. They were attempting to cripple his engines, or the boilers, to leave the ship wallowing and defenseless.

"Damage report!"

The damage control officer hesitated for a moment, listening to the frantic shouts coming through his voice tube.

"Sir, that last round impacted above the number two fire room. The armor plating in the deck held, so it's still pressurized. There's a fire on deck, but my crews are on station and putting it out."

"Very well."

Lee allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief before returning to the dire situation at hand. He looked out the bridge window at his adversary, and was finally rewarded. Three bombs, from all three of his guns, converged on the small craft at the same time. The explosion of impact was spectacular, but the explosion that followed was even more spectacular. Lee would discover later that the magazine on the small boat had been open.

When the fireball dissipated, there was nothing left of the second gunboat. A few burning chunks of steel and wood, floating back down from the sky, were all that remained to suggest that the threat had existed in the first place.

"Sir," the operations officer said, relief apparent in his voice, "lookout reports that the second gunboat is sunk, and all contacts are confirmed neutralized."

"Very well. Helmsman, right ten degree rudder. Take us back into the harbor. Damage control, keep me posted about all ongoing repair efforts."