Alright, Chapter 3, here you all go. I've finally gotten something I'm somewhat happy with. It's going to get a little confusing, but that's what happens when I'm constantly making changes.
Chapter 3; WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!
Date: 26/10/1944 (presumed)
Location: Unknown Cave
Time: 09:30
POV: First person (USS Johnston)
I slowly woke up, slightly groaning as I opened my eyes. After I got into a sitting position, I saw that everyone, besides Sammy, was still sleeping. Sammy was awake because she was the last one on overwatch/guard duty. It had been a very peaceful night, with there being no hostiles that came near.
I did a quick once over of myself just to be safe, noticing nothing out of the ordinary on my lightly tanned skin. The cave that we were currently in had a natural body of water, large enough to fit a total displacement of ~250,000 metric tonnes.
This would allow us to have the place act as a makeshift naval base if Murphy's law came into effect. Hoel had shared the basic idea of Murphy's law, that "Anything that can go wrong, will". Our situation wasn't the best, so it never hurts to be cautious, even if it's superstitious caution.
Anyway, I proceeded to get up off my butt and get moving. After all, we needed to get moving to understand the gravity of our situation.
"Well," I said, popping my joints, "better get moving and help Sammy wake everyone up."
I slowly walked over to Sammy, being careful to not accidentally step on someone.
"Hey, Sammy," I said.
"Yeah mate?" she replied.
"You ever wonder why we're here?" I asked jokingly. I didn't expect her to answer the question, but she did.
"*Scoff*, it's one of life's greatest mysteries, isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence? Or is there really a God out there, watching everything? You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know, man, but it keeps me up at night."
I stood there, right by her, in stunned silence. The answer Sammy gave was very philosophical, well outside of her usual behavior. I was just, greatly impressed by how smart Sammy can be at times. It's a rare occurrence, but a welcome one every time.
"Uh, that was a rhetorical question asked jokingly, but that was very thoughtful," I said.
"Oh," Sammy said, "well, at least ya liked it. Kinda feel a lil' off about how everything happened. Almost felt like I was bein' ever so slightly guided by an outside force."
"Y'know, I felt the same way." I said, "I mean, you weren't swearing up a storm in confusion when we woke up in the forest. You still aren't even letting out a single bit of profanity. But, I guess we can just chalk it up to you still being relatively calm."
"Yeah mate," She said, "probably just there not being any situations to swear over. Still, the modernization packages we've received are bloody lovely. Hmm, I wonder what our ships look like now."
"I mean," I began, "we have the space to check. Wouldn't hurt to see the upgrades. 'Should probably wake Gambier first beforehand."
"Well, what are we bloody waiting for?" Sammy said, "Let's wake Gambier, then check to see the refits made with the modernization!"
"Sigh, typical Sammy, always rushing head first into the unknown." I thought to myself. "Never change Sammy, never change."
Time: 09:45
POV: First Person (USS Gambier Bay)
I was currently dreaming of the Czechoslovak legion, crossing the perilous thousands of kilometers of railroad tracks from Moscow to Vladivostok. They were prevailing in every way imaginable, seizing every opportunity to wreak havoc on the Reds. At every step of their journey, they succeeded with a minimal amount of fatalities, casualties, and injuries.
It was a relatively peaceful and comforting dream, one that I wish would last longer. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I just jinxed myself there, because I'm feeling my body being shaken.
"Do cholery, can't I get some peace and quiet? I just want to see the Reds crushed underneath Czech and Slovak boots!" I thought to myself.
Begrudgingly, I left the dream and woke up. I slowly opened my eyes and glared at the person who awoke me. That person turned out to be Sammy, the ever-energetic wannabe Aussie.
"Ugh, I'm up Sammy, I'm up." I said, "Now, what is so important that you just had to wake me up?"
"Johnston asked me to get ya up." Sammy said, "We were thinking about checking out the modernizations. She suggested that we get you up to also check out your modernizations. Might be nice to know what we're working with."
"Alright, alright, I'll get moving over to the water," I said, annoyed. "Just don't rush me to get a move on you malá sračka."
"I don't know what you called me, but you too ya slowpoke," Sammy said, trying to get a rise out of me.
"I'm literally just going to take a minute. You don't need to taunt me for being slow when originally, you and your sisters were slower than me." I rebuked calmly. "Also, please get off of me so that I won't be slowed down any further."
"Oh, uh, oops," She said as she got off of me, "Sorry 'bout that one mate."
"It's no big deal," I responded.
Time:10:00
POV: First Person (USS Samuel B. Roberts A.K.A. Sammy B.)
It had been about 5 minutes since I woke up Gambier, and everything was going smoothly until it was Gambier's turn. When Gambier brought her ship in, it turned out that it had been massively overhauled from a simple Escort Carrier to a FACKING HYBRID OF GERMAN, BRITISH, AND AMERICAN DESIGNS! Her ship had a crap ton of secondaries (German Casemates and German & American turrets), an armored flight deck, a LOT of AA, and a SECOND FLIGHT DECK! The total displacement of her ship was ~75,000 Metric Tonnes at full load. The engine was unlike anything I've seen. It had a radiation warning symbol on it, so it's probably a nuclear reactor.
But the best part of her ship was the fact that it had jet aircraft. JET! AIRCRAFT!
"Ho. Ly. Shit." I said, "We're gonna need Hoel to recognize everything."
Time skip, 10:30
POV: First Person (USS Hoel)
Most of the time when I'm dreaming, I'm allowed to see into the future, sometimes I can experience what the future is like. This dream, however, was different. I was in a light-gray void of some kind, with music playing in the background, (I think it was Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend from COD MW2), and in the distance, I could make out some silhouettes. Slowly I began walking toward the silhouettes, my footsteps echoing throughout the void, and as I closed the distance, the silhouettes became clearer. When I was about 50 meters away, I could clearly identify the silhouettes, and my eyes widened in shock. It was thirteen ships, all geared up and ready for war. One of the ships slowly approached and changed into a fellow Kansen. My eyes once again widened, as this Kansen was Blücher, the second Admiral Hipper class Heavy Cruiser, and she was supposed to be dead. Blücher walked towards me and spoke to me.
"It's nice to meet you, Hoel," she said in a soft voice. "Judging by your reaction towards seeing me, I'm guessing you already know who I am."
Getting over my shock, I responded to her, "Uh, y-yes, I do know who you are, you're Blücher, and how are you here? You should be dead."
"Hmm, I'm curious, why aren't you openly hostile towards me?"
"That's because I have no quarrel with you, and I know you were only following orders. Besides, it's all Hitler's fault that this all happened."
Blücher smiles at my response. "Well, I guess that means I don't have to convince you that we're not your enemy."
Wait a second, "We?" I ask.
"Why, Myself, und the others, of course."
It's at that moment that the rest of the ships change into Kansen and once again, I am shocked at who they are. They're Bismarck, Tirpitz, U-556, Z-23, Blücher's sisters (including Weser), Graf Zeppelin, Jade, Elbe, Europa, Bayern, Baden, Derfflinger, Lützow, Hindenburg, Roma, Piorun, Dallas, & Helena.
"Oh. My. God." I said in shock, "What are you all even planning? An invasion?"
Blücher chuckled, "Heh, nien, a recovery operation in another universe."
"Well, what is it you're going to recover? Us?"
"Well done," Blücher said, "you hit the nail right on the head."
She paused for a moment, letting the meaning behind those words sink in. "Wait, so you mean that, somehow, Taffy 3 and I were transported to another universe? How the hell did that happen?"
Dallas decided to speak up just then. "Well," she said, "just like you, we still don't have a clue about how this happened. Our best guess is some multiverse shenanigans, but, who knows? It could just be some omnipotent, god-like being getting bored and wanting to see what would happen, but that's highly unlikely."
Just as I'm about to agree with Dallas' opinion, I feel my body being shaken. That's probably someone trying to wake me up. "Well," I said, "it was nice talking to you all, but Someone's waking me up. Bye, and I hope to see you all soon."
But, just before I fully woke up, I saw a green portal open up, and Dallas ran full tilt toward it. Just as she was about to enter the portal, she jumped and shouted, "YIPPIE KAY YAY MOTHERFUCKA!" and then she disappeared in a flash of green.
Shaking her head, Bismarck spoke up and said, "Well, we'll be seeing you and Taffy 3 soon, hopefully. Until then, Auf Wiedersehen."
I closed my eyes and exited REM sleep, and was greeted by the face of Sammy. Being slightly annoyed I moved into a sitting position. I noticed that she had a slightly panicked facial expression.
"Ugh, alright, I'm up, Sammy, I'm up. What's so important that you had to wake me?"
"Uh, w-well," she stuttered, "y-you see, um, Gambier's Ship is no longer a Casablanca."
"What? How did that happen?" I asked.
"I haven't got a fackin' clue, but it's something I've never seen before."
"Well, show me."
Time skip; 10:35
"Oookay," I said, "that's roughly 75,000 metric tonnes of displacement. It's got an angled flight deck, catapults, 5 nuclear reactors, sheesh those are some powerful secondaries, f-4e Phantom IIs, f/a-18e Super Hornets, and f/a-18f Block III Super Hornets. I'm pretty sure the Phantoms are there for their high maximum payload. That radar is the AN/SPY-6, the most advanced and the best naval-based radar."
"Uh, I'm confused by what you just said." Johnston said, "Would you mind explaining what you mean by that?"
I sigh quietly, "Okay, so, the advantage of an angled flight deck is that it allows for simultaneous takeoff and landing. The aircraft catapults are self-explanatory. The nuclear reactors allow for a nearly unlimited range. The secondaries are German dual-mount 150mm casemates, US single-mount 127mm guns in casemate, and 4 turreted single-mount 127mm guns. The f-4e Phantom II is a third-gen jet fighter made by McDonnell Douglas and serves the role of a heavier fighter/poor man's multi-role fighter. The f/a-18e & f/a-18f block III Super Hornets are fourth-gen jet fighters made by Boeing. they're light, multi-role fighter aircraft with very good maneuverability. Finally, we have the AN/SPY-6, an active electronically scanned array 3D radar, and the best radar in the US Navy service. Oh, wait, I almost forgot, it seems like you've also got the AN/SPQ-9B. The AN/SPQ-9B, AKA the Spook-9 Bravo, is a fire control radar, and a really good one at that."
"I still don't get it, but I'm just going to nod my head and pretend like I understood that," Sammy said before nodding her head shortly after.
"So," Gambier said, "what you're saying is that I'm now the most powerful member of Taffy 3?"
"Yep," I responded, popping the p. "You're basically fucking invincible. Anyway, wanna go for a joy-ride in a Super Hornet, Gambier?"
Gambier chuckles at my question, "Hell yeah we're going for a joy ride! What are we waiting for? Let's get going!"
We both began making our way to the hangar to grab a Super Hornet. When we reached the hangar, we picked an f/a-18f Super Hornet and moved it to the elevator. Gambier then willed the elevator to rise up to the flight deck. I got into the cockpit of the Hornet and began the start-up procedure.
"Okay Hoel, you've watched a DCS tutorial for the Hornet, remember the steps, first, turn on the battery." I flip the switch for the battery and some of the lights turn on.
"Alright, that's the battery on. Hey Gambier! Are you fine being the WSO? 'Cause I call dibs to be the pilot!"
"Tak, Yes, I'm fine being the WSO," She responds.
"Good, now please get in, I'm starting the aircraft," I told her.
Gambier then walks up to the cockpit and climbs into the WSO seat.
"Good, now then, I'll guide you through the start-up process. First off, I'm going to close the canopy." I hit the canopy lever, and it closed.
"Good, now to turn on the generators if they aren't already, and they're on, good. Now then, I need to turn on the APU." I flip the APU switch and wait for the green light to turn on.
"Alright, time to crank the engines." I proceed to crank the right engine to get a quicker start-up.
"Okay, now I need to wait for the RPM to reach 30 percent, then bring the throttle to idle." I keep my eyes on the I Feed and watch as the RPM rises to 30 percent. A few seconds after it reaches 30 percent, I bring the throttle to idle and watch as the RPM stabilizes at 65 percent. The Crank switch automatically moved back to the center. As it stabilizes, I hear Bitchin' Betty, AKA the RWR, come online. It proceeded to yell at me unnecessarily, and I ignored it.
"Alright, that's the right engine cranked, now to turn the Radar on and the INS knob to the carrier position." I then proceed to turn them both on.
"Now to turn on the screens and my HUD." I turn the brightness knobs on all of the screens and put on my helmet, flipping the visor down and turning on the HUD.
"Oh shit, I almost forgot, I need to put on my O2 supply." I then grab the oxygen mask and put it on, turning on the air supply and the AC, both for comfort and for the gun.
"Right, now then, time to crank the left engine. Also, Gambier! You should put on your helmet and oxygen mask! Once you put your helmet on, flip the visor down and turn the dial on the right side until it clicks. The dial on the left is for comms between us, turn it right by about 45 degrees."
"Tak, I copy."
I proceeded to do the same, and a few seconds later, I heard my speakers crackle to life.
"Sprawdź komunikację, wejdź." I heard Gambier say. It was Polish, but I understood the meaning behind her words.
"I hear you loud and clear, Gambier," I responded.
"Wait, you know Polish?" she asked.
"No, but I understood what you meant," I said before temporarily turning off my mic.
"Alright then, now to finish the start-up. First, crank the left engine." I flipped the crank switch to the left, bringing the engine RPM up to 30 percent.
"Now to bring the left throttle to the idle position." I moved the left throttle to the idle position and watched the RPM go up to 65 percent. Just like before, the crank switch moved back into the idle position. I then turned the APU off due to it not being necessary.
"Alright, now to taxi to a catapult and fold the wings out." I proceed to flip the fold wings lever from fold to spread, turning it clockwise. The wings folded out into the take-off position. The chocks were already removed, but I still had the parking brake on, so I turned off the parking brake and began to taxi to Catapult 2. I lined up the aircraft with the catapult and slowly advanced towards it, stopping a foot from the start of the catapult.
Turning on my radio mic, I asked Gambier, "Gambier, I need you to bring up the Jet Blast Deflector."
"Twierdzący, Afirm, bringing it up now." She said, and sure enough, the JBD came up.
Keeping the mic on, I told myself, "Alright, now then, lock the wings into the spread position, and bring the flaps to the half position." I push the fold wings lever in, then set the flaps switch to the middle position. I look back and watch to make sure the flaps go to the correct position.
"Okay, that's done, now to bring the launch bar down." I flip the launch bar switch down, causing the launch bar to extend.
"There, now to slowly advance until the catapult shuttle stops the aircraft." I slowly advance the throttle, slowly moving the Super Hornet forward. The airframe slightly jolted to a stop, meaning the launch bar had caught the shuttle and I reduced the throttle back to the idle position.
"Alright, Gambier, I need you to apply tension to catapult 2, do you copy?"
"I copy, Applying tension to catapult 2, you should be seeing the steam now."
I look down the catapult and sure enough, there's steam rising off of it. "Alright, time to seat the launch bar into the shuttle." I flip the launch bar switch back up, thus seating it in the shuttle.
"Alright, we're good to go, advancing the throttle up to max and engaging afterburners." I advance the throttles up to max and engage the afterburners, causing the airframe to shake.
"Alright Gambier, fire the catapult!"
The aircraft speeds up rapidly, leaving the deck in two seconds, I pull back on the flight stick, causing the aircraft to climb rapidly. Thinking quickly, I remembered that the gear could snap off at 240 knots, so I quickly pulled the gear up, and set the flaps to auto.
"OH YEAH BABY! That was a perfect take-off!" I said, adrenaline flowing through my veins. I proceeded to level the aircraft out so we didn't accidentally waste millions of taxpayer dollars in military equipment. I then turned the afterburner off to save fuel.
"Right-o, let's get out of this huge cave and explore what else is out there," I said to Gambier.
"Zgoda, agreed, let's see what else is out there to be found." She replied.
I flew the aircraft towards the entrance to the cave, reducing the throttle to 75 percent just to be safe.
"Heh, y'know, Gambier, this reminds me a lot of the mission Express Lane from Project Wingman: Frontline 59. Flying a jet through an unfinished underground highway." I said. "The main difference between Express Lane and this is, well, this is a cave. Also, Cordium doesn't exist."
Gambier then came on the radio, "Uh, Hoel, I've noticed that the radio has something attached to it. It seems as if it's meant to play music." She said in a somewhat confused voice.
"Well I'll be damned, it seems this thing's got a music library. Do you want to listen to something while we fly? I recommend King's Court by Jose Pavli. It's really good."
"What about The Chain by Fleetwood Mac? Is that fine?" Gambier suggested.
"Sure, that's fine by me," I said, knowing that it wasn't too high energy.
Just then, when we exited the mouth of the cave, the RWR emitted a ping. Then another, and another, all with a one-second pause in between them. Something with a radar was out there. It couldn't be an aerial contact because the radar wasn't picking anything up. It must have been a surface-based radar. Then, the radio crackled to life on a friendly, encrypted channel.
"Attention unidentified friendly Super Hornet, this is KMS Bismarck, please send your identification and affiliation." Bismarck? Wait, that means…
Thinking fast, I changed my radio to their frequency, and said, "KMS Bismarck, this is USS Hoel, me and Gambier were just going for a little joy-ride and then we stumbled into your radar range. Do you mind guiding us towards your position?"
I locked Gambier out of the weapon systems, not wanting her to cause a blue-on-blue incident.
"Affirm, Hoel, linking data now. We should be showing up on your HUD, now." Sure enough, a few seconds later multiple friendly IFFs appeared on my, (and probably Gambier's), HUDs.
AN: Alright then, that's chapter 3 done. here are some outtakes I made.
Outtake
POV: First Person (USS hoel)
"Well I'll be damned, it seems this thing's got a music library. Do you want to listen to something while we fly? I recommend King's Court by Jose Pavli. It's really good." I said to Gambier.
"What about the Free Bird solo?" She asked as my eyes widened.
"No, please no. Don't play it Gambier, please don't" I said slightly stressed.
"Too late! I've already started it." She said, as my heart sank.
(Cue Free Bird solo by Lynyrd Skynyrd)
I began to hear that epic solo, and my instincts began to take over. When one hears the Free Bird Solo, they feel an instinctual urge to go as fast as they can. My left hand began to grip the throttle while my right hand was firmly gripping the flight stick. The music began to pick up the pace, the solo was coming.
"Well, there's nothing I can do to stop it. might as well enjoy this moment." I thought to myself.
The solo fully kicked in, and I pushed the throttle to full afterburner and pulled the stick back, hard. We began to climb higher and higher. Gambier was screaming her butt off, her fault for putting on Free Bird. I pushed the stick forward and began to dive at a 45-degree angle.
"HOEL, CO JEST DO CHOLERY DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" She asked me, shouting.
"THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MOST PEOPLE LISTEN TO THE FREE BIRD SOLO! IT'S JUST SO GOOD THAT YOU JUST HAVE TO GO EXTREMELY FAST!" I shouted back, proceeding to ignore any more of her complaints.
POV: First Person (Hoel)
"Well I'll be damned, it seems this thing's got a music library. Do you want to listen to something while we fly? I recommend King's Court by Jose Pavli. It's really good." I said to Gambier.
"What about the Ska cover of Megalovania?" She asked.
"Eh, I've never heard it, so go ahead, play it," I said, wondering what it sounded like.
(Cue Megalovania Ska cover by Skatune Network)
As the song started playing, I was interested in the way it sounded. It seemed like it was mainly a trombone playing. And then it suddenly picked up its pace. I then began to gently bob my head to the music.
"Oh ho ho HO yeah, this is really good!" I said to Gambier.
"Tak, you're right, it's really getting my blood flowing!" She responded.
I then began to pull some maneuvers in excitement, being careful to not crash. The song was nearing its end, and I was fine with that. That meant that the next song would start playing.
(end of music.)
As the song ended, I had a feeling of satisfaction within myself.
"Hey, Gambier," I said.
"Tak?" She responded.
"What's the next song to play?" I asked.
"It's, uh, Anything Was Better by The Interrupters." She answered.
"Oh Heck yeah! That's a great song! Put it on." I said enthusiastically.
(Cue Anything Was Better by The Interrupters.)
As the song started, I began to sing along with it.
"I felt invisible but everyone, Was staring at me, I felt alone yet smothered, Like no one would let me be, I felt a yearning like a burning, Too hot to overcome, 'Cause anything was better, Than where I was from
I met a band, they played a show, And then we headed out on the road, We made it down to Arizona, Where it didn't seem so cold, I had a California Dream, You know I need that fun fun fun, 'Cause anything was better, Than where I was from!
Anything was better, So I went out on the run, Anything was better, I couldn't wait to see the sun, Anything was better, I said goodbye to everyone, Anything was better, Than where I was from!
Goodbye to old Queen Street, Goodbye to Whitaker Park, I'm thankful for the lessons, But the memories are dark, Good riddance to that home, Where the nightmare had begun, Yeah, anything was better, Than where I was from!
Anything was better, So I went out on the run, Anything was better, I couldn't wait to see the sun, Anything was better, I said goodbye to everyone, Anything was better, Than where I was from!
Anything was better, So I went out on the run, Anything was better, I couldn't wait to see the sun, Anything was better, I said goodbye to everyone, Anything was better, Than where I was from, Yeah, anything was better, Than where I was from!"
(End of Song.)