The Same old Song (Closed. ATTN: Nick.)

[NS Gregaria]

OOC:

This is between me, and Nick.

IC:

East Coast of Gregaria
USS Thomas MacDonough
1100 Hours – Local Zulu Time

From her place on the bridge, Captain Doris E. Boone could see the ship growing slowly on the horizon. Ever since her XO, Commander Tammy J. Coleman had called her up to the bridge there had been a growing tension on the US warship.

It had all started normally enough, with the MacDonough running a routine patrol cruise along the coast, watching for pirates and smugglers, and just generally reassuring the civilians ships there it was still possible to operate safely in Gregarian territory, at sea as much as on land. Thus when the relatively large, slow moving contact had first showed up on the RADAR screen, Coleman’s initial reaction had been to give a friendly radio call and say hello. When no reply was given, there was slight concern, but Coleman had chalked it up to a sleepy or lazy radioman, and sent out a repeat message. When that had also produced no results, the concern grew, and she had summoned Captain Boone after deploying one of the cruiser’s two SH-60H helicopters out to examine at range the unidentified merchant. The captain had arrived just as the LAMPS III aircraft was leaving. She was informed of the situation, and decided to remain on the bridge for the moment and keep an eye on the proceedings.

******************************

Lieutenant Archie Cooper, USN watched the large, foreign merchantman down below as he flew a circle holding pattern. She had raised a flag when she spotted the aircraft approaching, and he had spotted it almost immediately for what it was as he flew.

“She’s a New Nicksyllvanian,” he said. “No wonder she’s been ignoring us now, is there?”

“Not really, Sir,” replied the voice of Sergeant Sandra Payne, USMC from the carriage bay, where she and ten more Marines waited, just in case. “They are notoriously arrogant.”

“Well, they’ll show respect here,” was Cooper’s reply. “These waters are ours, by Christ.”

“Aye, aye, Sir.”

Looking back down, Cooper’s eyes scanned the vessel. She was a broad, fat, very ungainly looking vessel, with a hull that looked like it could use some fresh paint, as he had seen when flying a low altitude run to see the name: TSS Bankfields. Not a bad name, but certainly a lousy flag.

“I’ll call back to the Skipper,” he said, finally.

******************************

“Merchant vessel is a New Nicksyllvanian, Ma’am,” Coleman said as Boone listened. “Identity is TSS Bankfields.”

“Wash that name through the Registry,” Boone ordered. She was referring to the enormous, computerized list of known slave-carrying vessels maintained by the United States. The wait was not long, and the reply…

“She’s on the Registry, all right, Skipper,” Coleman said. Boone nodded.

“Very well,” she said. “Raise them on the radio now. Also, plot an intercept course and increase speed to three fifths.”

******************************

“Nicksyllvanian merchantman TSS Bankfields, this is Gregarian warship USS MacDonough. You are intruding upon United States waters at this time and we are ordering you to heave to and be ready to face close inspection. – Over.”

[NS Gregaria]

IC:

USS MacDonough

"Commander, what are we hearing from the scout helicopter?" Captain Boone asked.

"Nothing much, Skipper, except for one thing. Nobody seems to be at the wheel right now."

Boone looked a bit shocked at that, blinking before she replied.

"Excuse me?" she asked, believing that she had perhaps heard wrong.

"Lieutenant Cooper, the pilot, made a low and slow run past the bridge, and he says he didn't see anybody in the wheelhouse. He noticed the unusually large numbers of people on the deck, but they didn't seem to be doing anything, actually. He says it was almost like he wasn't even in the immediate area."

"Hmph!" Boone snorted. "Well, they'll notice us before long. Please instruct the SH-60 to use a bullhorn, see if it can't get anybody aboard in the mood to speak to us now."

"Aye, aye, Ma'am."

******************************

"ATTENTION NEW NYCKSYLLVANIAN VESSEL! THIS IS LIEUTENANT COOPER OF THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES OF GREGARIA. YOU ARE NOW SAILING IN GREGARIAN WATERS! YOUR SHIP NAME IS LISTED AS A SLAVING VESSEL! HEAVE TO AND PREPARE TO BE BOARDED!"

******************************

Meanwhile, the MacDonough was closing to within barely visible range of the Nicksyllvanian merchant.

[NS Gregaria]

IC:

"Ha!" Cooper barked gleefully. "That certainly got them paying attention, didn't it?"

"Yes, Sir, it did," said the Ensign in the co-pilot's place. "I think they're attempting to reply."

Looking down at the main deck of the Bankfields, the pilot saw his backup man was correct. Somebody down there, a large man stood in the open, wearing a somewhat...stylized outfit and holding a bullhorn, though probably nothing like the deliberately overpowered job that his SH-60 was carrying.

"What the devil are they saying?" he asked.

"Something about finishing our inspection quickly, sounds like," was the reply.

"They're not threatening us? Trying to warn us off?" he asked.

"It looks that way, Lieutenant," the Ensign said.

Looking down at the deck, Cooper's eyes took in the overall scene. That bunch which had been lounging on the deck was flouncing about now like a bunch of fish on dry land. Drunkards. The big loudmouthed fellow was probably the man in charge, but not the captain because no Nicky aristocrat would consent to captain a ship, if he could help it. From the laggardly way the ship was moving, he could tell that the bridge-mounted automated navigational program was almost certainly in charge right now. Gregarian crews were taught not to trust that kind of thing, except in an emergency. He snorted.

"Time to use some initiative," he said.

"Sir?" That was Sergeant Sandra Payne, still waiting in back with her Marines.

"Get ready to drop, Sergeant," was Cooper's reply. "We're going in. You will secure a Landing Zone on the foredeck, for more Marines and Navy deck types to make deck-fall."

"Aye, aye, Sir," Payne replied, and if there was a certain, subliminal savageness in her tone now, Cooper pretended he didn't notice.

******************************

USS MacDonough

"They're letting us inspect them?"

Captain Boone looked...perplexed, almost, Commander Coleman decided, like she didn't really realize what she had heard.

"That's what it sounds like, Ma'am."

"Damn," Boone said. "This is too good to waste. Cooper's got to land his Marines, now, and send out the second SH-60 with a full load to back him up, right away."

"Aye, aye, Ma'am."

"Comms, raise Fleet and tell them we need aerial support, and a second warship out here, if at all possible."

"Aye, aye, Ma'am!"

"Helm, increase speed to Full, get us within easy visual range of these bastards, now."

******************************

Descending from an aircraft while in flight can be an unnerving experience. Add the weight of a full combat load out, a heaving deck and maybe hostiles below, and it can become downright terrifying. Even so, that is one thing in which Gregarian Marines are expertly trained.

It was a good thing, too, if you asked Sergeant Sandra Payne, USMC as she made contact with the drop cable, sliding rapidly deckward to be the second 'man' on deck. She let go at just the right time, landing and rushing to help form the landing perimeter which would be held until all eleven Marines were on deck. At that point, Cooper's helo withdrew to a safe distance, and waited.

[NS Gregaria]

IC:

Corporal Allen Sloan walked up beside Sergeant Payne, sparing her the need to explain a woman in command to the Nicky captain.

"Nothing but routine here, sir," he said. "Local law requires all slaves transported through our waters be inspected visually, just to make the necessary assurances that it's all to code. As to the discipline, don't worry. We don't mind. Most of us will remain up here, but a couple must head below to inspect the hold area."

******************************

USS MacDonough

Meanwhile, eleven more Marines were being lifted skyward by the second SH-60H, as the warship closed steadily with the merchantman and the illicit cargo she carried. As well, the destroyer USS Arleigh Burke was closing from up north, cutting across the merchantman's route through the national waters of Gregaria.

In addition even to that, land-based Navy units had scrambled eight F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters, which were now thirty minutes out.

[NS Gregaria]

IC:

Nodding wordlessly, Sergeant Payne fell in behind the Midshipman, along with two Marines. The remaining eight of the party moved aside to let the crew do what they had to do, but suddenly Corporal Sloan had an idea.

"Excuse me," he said. "Why don't I just lead my squad down there? We can get this all done a lot faster, that way, and then you can make an impressive delivery, right on schedule. Sound alright?"

OOC:

My next post should be more substantial, once things get moving along properly.

[NS Gregaria]

IC:

Lieutenant Coopers mood could best be described as tense, watching all eleven Marines vanish down in to the cargo hold, though that was a marvelous sign as it meant the Nicky captain was not yet wise to how much trouble he was likely to be in soon. MacDonough had called him to say the second SH-60 was en route, just a few minutes out now.

He only hoped Sergeant Payne and her gang could keep it up long enough.

******************************

Payne kept silent as the Midshipman led the way through the cargo area, letting Corporal Sloan play man-in-charge for the moment, just the kind of thing meant to avoid troubles.

"My men will need to get a few pictures, sir," Sloan said, as a Marine removed a small phone with a digital camera feature, and began taking lots of images of the cells, the people inside, and so forth. The boarding party were also occasionally looking in to see what kind of people a Nicky ship was carrying through USG waters.

"Probably best go down all through and make sure everybody gets the orders to go on deck, don't you think, sir?" Sloan asked the man who had been assigned to lead them. "Discipline's only effective when everybody sees it, right?"

Minutes later, they found themselves standing at the entrance to the engine room.

"How many in here, do you reckon?" Sloan asked. He had been doing that all the way, casually asking personnel numbers and the like, just making like a curious local yokel, playing to the jingoistic superiority complex of the common Nicky.

******************************

City of Christiania, USG
Federal Hall - Executive Office

President Walter J. Rogers had just finished a nice cup of hot coffee when the news came in. he quickly gave orders endorsing the choice made by Captain Boone and had a press statement prepared.

[NS Gregaria]

IC:

Payne glanced at Sloan with a look of mild irritation. He had been trying to ask how many were in the engine room, not the whole shipboard load, but that helped a little. The small force of Marines quietly followed the man in to the engine room, the one with the camera phone just hanging back enough so as not to be seen transmitting the images to the MacDonough.

"So," one of the Marines asked. "I suppose the guy in charge is all the way in back, right? That's usually where the controls are in the engine room of a ship, isn't it?"

******************************

Both helicopters were now hovering in a circle above the slave ship, one loaded with Marines, the other, a flying security policy. As they kept in the holding pattern, MacDonough was now within easy sight distance.