Any Port in the Storm (semi-open)

[AHSCA]

(Update: while this is still going I'm going to start asking anyone wanting to join to please Telegram me with your intentions and how you want to join.)

(this a story of a simple passengers ship from my nation; lost in stormy seas, suffering from low supplies, sick passengers is open to any who wish to participate, I only request you don't instantly try to sink the ship. You can chase me off if you wish and even fire upon me, maybe even kill someone in the progress. You can play as a worried nation wanting to help, drive me away or a passenger or crew. I am mostly a "modern" nation but underdeveloped as can be which is why this can happen the way it does.)


In AHSCA it'd been a crazy few months, following a busy election cycle that saw many candidates vying and hoping for a slice of Government power. They all had their ideals of how they could change their nation and it was a hard race but it was over as soon as it began. A winner had to be picked and a winner was chosen by the people. Aina Indou ran for office on the Communism platform. Even if not likely they'd completely rewrite all of AHSCA's government it was worth a shot. But that was then this was now, now she was back where she really felt at home, on the sea. She was an experienced sailor and ship captain and really politics wasn't her specialty, she still wondered why she of all people were put up as the candidate. Maybe because she was just another working class face to put to commitment. There were issues, she saw her name besmirched by dubious outsiders. She often had to tear away anti-communist propaganda that pushed her as an enemy and even she lost some respect of crew who worked under her. Bad for a captain, especially a captain in this predicament.

WEEK 1

It began last week, a simple trip from AHSCA to Mokastana, a trip of roughly 15 hours if flying but six weeks by sea! But 99.9% of islanders traveled by sea still, only the really top elite could ever travel by air. That meant there was still healthy amounts of work for the ship captains of the islands. After a successful send off from port, routine, Captain Indou held steady on course but signs of trouble began to erupt. A small leak in the hull. "How bad is it?" She asked her crewman who had spotted it. His name was Sasha, a loyal friend to her regardless of her politics always and a strong reliable crew.

"It's not terrible captain, I can have it patched in a jiffy but I can't do any major repairs until we shore up."

This gave Aina pause. Certainly they still were close enough to home a simple turn around wasn't an issue, beyond currents and wind direction which could slow them down. But these long haul voyages for people were very expensive. Tourists and natives alike took advantage of them not to mention resupplying would be costly. "Hmm what do you think, Kiri?" She turned to ask her first mate. "Sasha, how will it hold up under stress?"

"Well, Ma'am," He gave a pause and answer "The job I did it should hold up even in the roughest of seas, I'm sure. But too much stress on it for too long may very well breach it entirely."

"We're kind of far out enough. Turning won't be cheap..." Aina pondered more if she should just turn around, if it was minimal damage and could hold up to stress, it may be worth just chancing it.

"Captain," Sasha added "I'd say we'll be fine if we can make it to port, we're still close enough to Carnelian and Lamoni to make a bail out if needed. In my humble opnion, we can make it just fine."

"Very well" Aina agreed, she knew Sasha well she knew he knew boats better than he knew himself it should be fine if he felt it that way.

Week 3

At this point it was getting close to being too late to detour. Still relatively close they could turn around but not without some doing if needed. But just a few more days in the ship found itself in stormy conditions. Large waves and heavy rain and winds pelted them slowing them significantly. Aina's mind still was on the small cracks in the hull but she had to also be concerned for her passengers and getting them through the storm safely. At the helm she held it steady to push through waves growing larger and angrier. Her first mate held up a lantern looking over the maps and compasses to ensure they were holding course. "Sea monsters." Aina muttered passing through one particularly rough wave on them

"Sorry, Captain?" her first mate asked

"Just the waves, they make me think of those legends of monsters. You know."

"I see, captain."

Below deck in the passenger quarters, there was more trouble than just a possible leak brewing. A little girl named Yuzu laid on her bed. To everybody around her she just seemed sea sick and frightened. "M-mama?" She muttered reaching for her worried mother's hands. "Mmm I know, dear it's tough right now but you'll be fine." The mother reached to stroke her daughter's hair to comfort her but felt something off. "My oh my you're burning up." Yuzu couldn't contain anymore as she rolled over and lost all control, vomiting up what little she had eaten in the morning hours.

"I-I"

"Shhh I think you're getting more than sea sick, my dear." It wasn't just Yuzu, other passengers began coming down with similar symptoms and ailments. It wasn't possible food poisoning because there were physical signs too. With more getting sick some of the crew had to inform their captain.

"Sick? Well it has been rough last few days." Aina replied to them

"Not just sea sickness, ma'am." A cabin maid informed her "It seems there's something more. There's children and adults stricken with fever and rash and even these awful boils."

"Let me see then" Aina was ready to go down but held back by Kiri. "Captain, if we lose you that's bad. I think we can take their word at it."

"All right. Ren, I want all vacant cabins scrubbed. Get some of the deck workers to start getting infected into cabins. Get the dorms cleaned down and healthy passangers will be moved out."

"Yes, captain."

"I need to find Sasha, I'll need an update on the hull. We're gonna have to turn around now."

"Yes, captain" Kiri bundled up ready to go out but the large cracking sound made her freeze in her tracks. It wasn't the hull but a mast. They just lost a mast. "Aah damn! Now we're in trouble!"

Aina also flushed pale white things were now growing bad to worse for them on the sea. Now a 282-foot, side-wheel steamer with no mast and little fuel was left to the mercy of the currents now. A host of passengers getting ill by some unknown ailment, captained by a kitsune woman, when anti-furry and human nationalism is rising globally. it'd be a wonder would someone take pity on the poor lost souls or would they be chased off to keep their primitive exotic diseases away?

[The Protacan-Anzotac Peoples]

Port Luxemburg, Brumlen
Port Overseer Daniel Miller
Ryan Highsaw, Boatswain, Messenger and Aide

A messenger runs in the overseer's building, "Sir, theres an unmarked ship atleast 12 km away from port! No signals or flags or anything have been spotted on the ship"

Daniel stood up and looked out his window at the dull, vague ship, "Well, we cannot shoot them nor can we let them in without official permission, contact Naval Administration and get their order"

"Right away sir" the messenger quickly ran out, watching the ship as he ran for the radio tower.

"This Port code A-667, we have a code - 2, blue status, how copy?"

After 3 minutes, a static came in and then a voice, "This HQ code- B-998, we have recieved your message, Naval Administration has confirmed too have the ship brought in port, over"

"Copy, over and out" the messenger ran from the radio tower back to the overseer's building, ran up the stairs to Daniel's office only to find he wasn't there, he was on the beach side inspecting the ship.
The messenger ran onto the beach and reported to the overseer, "Sir! We have confirmed status on R-645 by Naval Administration, we are clear to proceed"

While still staring at the ship Daniel responded quickly "Very well, have three teams search the ships, prepare a medical transport and small rations and direct them towards the nearest hotel"

"Understood, sir" The messenger contacted the naval guard teams and they went on search.

Mysterious Ship, off the coast of Port Luxemburg
Naval Staff Sergeant James Renfrow

"Prepare tactical arms, nothing lethal only sleep darts, smoke, flash and concussion, understand?"

The team whispered loudly "Yes, sir!" And boarded the ship

"Make sure to help any survivors, lets go"

[Arctica-Aleutia]

The Thunder Child was in trouble.

The oldest ship in the Arctica-Aleutian Navy, the 240 foot ironclad torpedo ram's construction began in 1878. But its age wasn't the issue, for it was always well-maintained and had recently been given some much-needed upgrades. The issue was that it was a small, low-in-the-water ship in the middle of what may well be the storm of the century.

The skies had been clear when it first entered the AHSCA's dimension for some usual ocean exercises, but now there were gales making on-deck activity almost impossible. The training mission, now impossible, was being scrubbed and the Thunder Child had settled into the same trade route as Aina Indou's ship (though they didn't know she was nearby).

The steamer was much swifter than Indou's ship, which was designed to rely partly on a mast and sail, and quickly neared it. As the storm gave its worst, the radar and sonar crew reported the detection of a ship.

"Looks like a paddle steamer, sir. 'bout 40 feet longer than us, I'd reckon. Somethin' doesn't look right, though. She's sort of half-drifting, like she's having problems with movement."

"Can we contact them?" asked the captain.

"Negative, sir. Either they don't have a radio or the signal can't get through the storm."

"Hmm... Bring us close, but not too close. These waves could smash them right against us. Once we're there, have the radio team send "DO YOU NEED HELP" in morse code with flashes from the floodlight. Hopefully they have someone who knows it, maybe someone ex-military."

"Yessir. I'll tell the radio room."

The steamer gained speed, and then stopped, about 300 feet from the paddle steamer. The winds died down enough for people to go on deck and operate a floodlight, sending the message in morse with long and short flashes.

"My word, they've lost a mast!"

[The Protacan-Anzotac Peoples]

This is going to be a little wild since your ship will be RPed in many other nations which means you'll have to keep up with what happens which is a tad bit too much.

[Sleet Clans]

This is going to be a little wild since your ship will be RPed in many other nations which means you'll have to keep up with what happens which is a tad bit too much.

(How about having the steamer in the middle of the storm that some other nation's vessels get caught in, and the storm actually leads to some sort of middle ground between worlds that all the other vessels meet in. A silly idea, but it's just to ease off the strain of RPing multiple scenarios. May have to deal with other RPers meeting up though)

[The Protacan-Anzotac Peoples]

This is going to be a little wild since your ship will be RPed in many other nations which means you'll have to keep up with what happens which is a tad bit too much.

(How about having the steamer in the middle of the storm that some other nation's vessels get caught in, and the storm actually leads to some sort of middle ground between worlds that all the other vessels meet in. A silly idea, but it's just to ease off the strain of RPing multiple scenarios. May have to deal with other RPers meeting up though)

Forgive my idiocy, I tend to forget about things on the OP..

[Sleet Clans]

A Chankee-damned typhoon. That was all Commander Ilmo Yujeshe of the United Confederate Navy could call the massive storm rocking his Lursi-class minesweeper, the UCN Ulsima, as he held onto one of the control panels, along with some other officers also in the same predicament, within the bridge of the 176 ft long vessel. His minesweeper had been on her usual course: Sailing about 350 miles off the coast of the island of Mherci, picking up hazardous materials and other ocean trash when needed while also making sure that international shipways were secure against pirates and other scum who would take the opportunity to raid such shipways. Although, that was usually left to the many frigates of the navy...

That was besides the point right now, however. The deck was awash with seawater peaking over the bow of the Ulsima as she went up and down over wave after wave. Luckily, their radar and sonar were still operational, otherwise they wouldn't have had a hope of returning to mainland Sleetavia in the midst of the storm they were currently in. It was in that moment, while holding on for dear life in the bridge, one of the officers took a peak at their radar panel and saw something out of the ordinary:

''Sir, contact just 12 miles off our port bow. She looks to be in as bad a situation as we are. She is nearly twice our size, however, so she may be a bit better off'', the officer called out to Ilmo. The commander made his way over to the radar panel, taking a look at it himself and confirming what the lieutenant had called out: There was indeed a vessel, nearly twice their size, just under 12 miles off their port bow and drawing nearer and nearer.

''How long until we can get a visual?'' Ilmo asked his lieutenant, although he had a feeling he knew the answer already

''Not very long sir, although with this storm we will be hard-pressed to help them if they need it. And it looks that way too, because the radar shows their speed to be almost drifting'', the officer replied, gesturing towards their radar display while still holding onto the top rim of the panel.

''Well, let's get a little closer to them. In this kind of storm, united we stand, divided we fall'' Ilmo ordered, going by the saying that many Sleetavians such as him had taken to heart over their lives. The rest of the bridge crew immediately knew what he meant by that: Let's go help these poor sods. With a little bit of effort, the helmsman attempted to steer and hold on course their ship as they made their way towards the presumably stricken vessel in the middle of the typhoon, arriving just in time to see a mast snap off. It also brought another fact to the fore: The stricken ship was a steamer that relied a little on wild power, and they just lost half their power with their mast gone.

''By the gods...'' One of the bridge crew muttered as the mast rolled off into the churning ocean. The ship was flying no signal flags, no national flag even (As far as the Sleetavians could see), so it was entirely possible that whatever communications they threw their way wouldn't make any sense to them. Still, if they knew international maritime communication methods, then it was worth a shot.

As one of the bridge crew struggled his way over to one of the search lights onboard, Ilmo started thinking about how to help the vessel now just a mile off their bow. In this storm, it would be near-impossible to take onboard any survivors and/or passengers with the gigantic swells they were getting. Same with fuel and supplies: The swells made any sort of transfer extremely difficult, if not impossible. It was then that he glimpsed the crewman working the searchlight, using morse code to spell out: Who are you? Are your engines operational?

They could now only hope for a swift reply...

[AHSCA]

The Bridge

Large waves, no mast only at pure mercy. No means of contact with the outside world with no working electronic equipment. It wasn't entirely known just yet to Aina there were other ships nearby she was doing all she could to keep them afloat. She'd been through her share of storms on the seas but something about this just felt meaner than most. Perhaps it was a hurricane or maybe simply the weight of now sick passengers and a crew on her mind made her sweat through her kimono. "Captain, hang tight!" Kiri raced to her captain's side to keep the wheel stable. "Hold her steady!"

"What is that?" She noticed a faint glimer between the black waves and lightning flashes. Could it be nearby help? But without a tall mast it'd be hard to signal back with light. She'd hope the crews holding the deck steady would keep an eye out for the faint light.

"Think there may be ships nearby captain?"

"Maybe. But we also won't know if they're friendly or not." Aina had probably faced just too much prejudice in her life as a half-human-half-animal woman it made her sometimes too mistrusting for her own good. Not to mention anyone who came aboard noticing a fleet of sick people could mean bad things.

"Goddess carry us through!"

"Aaayye" The sheer strength of the seas knocked them to their feet spinning the wheel so wildly careening the ship more into the waves. It was a miracle at this point they weren't completely swamped.


Sasha
Below deck, Sasha was hard at work. Their engines had been in and out and their only hope was to get them running again. He also had to watch the bits of sea water now seeping in. But things were bad for Sasha now. He began to feel feverish and dizzy. Maybe he was just working to hard? After all a storm like this took a lot out of a person. Sitting down for just a sec and splash a little water on himself. But he lost himself as he faded in and out of consciousness. His body now covered in the same boils and marks as many others. Whatever this sickness was he had it. The lone lantern he used for light fell down onto him as well the water seeping in from the rain and waves put the flames out quickly enough to keep it from spreading but not quick enough to keep him from getting burned in the process.

The Deck

The sailors all hard at work to keep their ship afloat. The mast gone it was going to be a struggle. "Hold steady!" Third Mate and Officer Tari shouted over the wind and waves and thunder. "What?" She spotted a few bobbing lights on the horizon and held on for dear life when the ship listed heavily in a different direction. She had to try to get their attention, they could be ships also looking for help or even there to help them. She stood to her feet raised the lantern she could grab and waved it hoping someone anyone would see it.

Passenger Quarters

Nestled in his cabin was a former soldier of the UIS Militia, Tondro. From the days of war to now, he was just hoping to do his thing live out the rest of his life with what family he had left in the world. He had his daughter and grandchildren in Mokastana and was on the way to see unless this storm had other ideas. "Aah damn." he muttered. He also had a stash of his own weapons he kept. You never know if pirates or other nefarious people might try to rob or kill islanders so he traveled well prepared. A gentle knock at his door there was a young police officer "S-sir?" the much younger Officer Mio Fujiama nervously muttered.

"What is it now?"

"Captain's orders, we need this cabin."

"Little missy I fought so you may be shot outta yer ma's womb, I paid damn good sum of money for this cabin, I aint givin it up no matter what the law tells me."

She shut the door. "Ah first the storm now I can't even do my job as an officer. I should have just became a farmer." She was pretty wet herself, wearing a rain poncho with her rifle strapped on her back, she looked more like a solider than a cop. "Well?" Another cabin attendant, Natsume asked her "If you want to try," Mio replied to her "Go ahead but he frankly scares me."

"Scares you, what kind of officer are you?"

"He's one of those grizzled veterans who probably killed a hundred enemy soldiers."

"mmm" Natsume was more brash and marched in "Hey you, we gotta lot of sick people and a hell of a raging storm here! Get yer ass out into the cabins before I force you out."

And somehow that worked. "Well that was easy." All of them lost their balance when the ship listed heavily to starboard and the loud bangs and cracks echoed in the ship. "Oh that doesn't sound good." Natsume murmured. "Damn right it's not good, little Missy!" Tondro growled in response. We just lost our mast! Well hope you made your peace now."

"Hey come on a broken mast, this is a steamer we have that going for us." Natsume replied

"That'll only get us so far in this here storm, little lady. Well guess if I gotta go, I gotta go." he pulled his one rifle he had since the war and limped on into the main passenger quarters.

[The Protacan-Anzotac Peoples]

Port Luxemburg, Brumlen
Port Overseer, Daniel Miller
James Simpson, Boatswain, Messenger, and Aide

"Sir! The Admiral of The Fleet has declared this a state of emergency, two ships of ours suddenly blew up at Port Atantra in Versati, we believe the ship was an distraction while whoever planted the bombs had enough time"

The captain's expression quickly went from suprised to despair, but he did as he was told and had the aide tell I.S.S Ruby Ford to fire upon the ship. And had the expedition teams withdrawn.

I.S.S Ruby Ford
Captain Robert Coswell
Lieutenant Peter Stanton

Lieutenant Peter abruptly walked in the Captain's quarters and told the Captain of the message, "Captain, we have confirmation on strike deployment 67-89-54, on your order we will proceed"

"Doesn't seem like I have much a choice, but of course go ahead launch two warning shots at it, take my keys, turned the key clockwise and press the red button"

"Right away captain", the lieutenant saluted and walked out.

The lieutenant launched the warning shots and hopefully it will send them away.

The captain stumbled out of his quarters and went up to the command deck, "Lieutenant have two ASTRA reconnaissance teams follow the ship and gather pictures, and when we get the permission from the War Dept. board the ship and salvage anything and anyone on their, I also what comms up and trying to make contact with the ship every so often, and...send two more warning shots"

The lieutenant saluted, and had two more warning shots fired, hopefully it will direct the ship away.

[Arctica-Aleutia]

"Sir!" It was the man from the radar room again.

"What is it?" The captain was peering out the bridge windows, looking for any attempt at a response to the light.

"We just picked up another ship on radar, an' she's close. The paddle steamer must have been blocking it before. 150, maybe 175 feet long. Got a look at it during a lightning flash. Looks more modern, probably a navy ship. Flying the Sleetavian flag."

The captain picked up a microphone that was linked to the radio system, and sent out a broadcast on all frequencies: "Attention Sleetavian vessel. This is the captain of the torpedo ram Thunder Child, Arctica-Aleutian Navy. We are attempting to help a damaged vessel. Please state your intentions."

Just then, he thought he saw a light flash. He looked again. Sure enough, a faint light was bobbing back and forth in the direction of the paddle steamer.

"They've seen us! Bring us as close as you can in these waves, alongside them. Keep the light out there on steady."

"Yessir."

The light stayed on instead of flashing, and the torpedo ram began slowly moving toward the paddle steamer. But suddenly two fiery flashes were seen, followed by the sound of a naval shell hitting the water. This repeated itself.

Voices filled the cabin.

"We're being fired upon!"

"Who was that?!"

"They're right on top of us! How didn't we see them?!"

"Shut up!" yelled the captain, as he grabbed the radio microphone. "Attention hostile vessel. This is the captain of the torpedo ram Thunder Child, Arctica-Aleutian Navy. We are attempting to help a drifting vessel. This is an established trade route for international use. Stand down."

[AHSCA]

I.S.S Ruby Ford
Captain Robert Coswell
Lieutenant Peter Stanton

Lieutenant Peter abruptly walked in the Captain's quarters and told the Captain of the message, "Captain, we have confirmation on strike deployment 67-89-54, on your order we will proceed"

"Doesn't seem like I have much a choice, but of course go ahead launch two warning shots at it, take my keys, turned the key clockwise and press the red button"

"Right away captain", the lieutenant saluted and walked out.

The lieutenant launched the warning shots and hopefully it will send them away.

The captain stumbled out of his quarters and went up to the command deck, "Lieutenant have two ASTRA reconnaissance teams follow the ship and gather pictures, and when we get the permission from the War Dept. board the ship and salvage anything and anyone on their, I also what comms up and trying to make contact with the ship every so often, and...send two more warning shots"

The lieutenant saluted, and had two more warning shots fired, hopefully it will direct the ship away.

On the Deck

Only thing that could be louder than thunder and wind on a dark stormy sea was canon fire. "Huh?!" Tari reacted to the canon fire.

"They're shooting at us!" many of them reacted. Even if they were being fired at another ship it was too hard to tell who was being fired at. "Guess signaling wasn't a good idea." She didn't want to toss the lantern out to sea it was their only beacon at this point. "Stay calm! We have a job to do!"

The Bridge

"Aah dammit!" After pulling herself up and hearing fire of canons, Aina knew wherever they were now, it wasn't a friendly place. Now she had no idea who she could trust and any ship out there could be just as hostile. "Did they hit us?" Kiri asked

"I don't think so. I hope not, we lost the mast we can't take any more beatings as is. Kiri, you feeling okay still?"

"Ship shape, Captain!"

"Good, let's pray neither of us get sick now. And let's pray whoever shot us just wants us to leave."

"Aye, Captain."

Even if the shot wasn't intended for them it wasn't a good thing. It meant Aina would steer her ship away from any rescue attempts and hope to make it to calm seas by morning. If not things could turn ugly fast if people were to board.

[The Protacan-Anzotac Peoples]

I.S.S Black Pearl
Captain Nathaniel Helms

"I want all barrels on this ship loaded, the I.S.S Ruby Ford almost hit another ship! We must be prepared to fire back if we are fired upon! Prepare boarding teams"

Nathaniel rushed for the local comms until a Sea-Class 3 radioman hollered "Sir! Its the Secretary of The Navy!"

Nathaniel clearly not thinking straight eagerly shouted "Put him on hold this is more important!"

Nathaniel got onto the comms and accessed all local frequencies This is the I.S.S Black Pearl, all ships in the area not in the imperial navy must leave, again all ships not belonging to the imperial navy must leave or will be fired upon Nathaniel then turned to the Ship's Comms, "This is your captain speaking, we are on code orange, 90-76-85, standby, this is not a drill, all hands on deck, we are on code orange, DEFCON 1, ALERT STATUS: Maximum

Men rushed from their beds,mess hall tables, bathrooms, etc and reported to their designated location, another shot would mean war, but the imperial navy is willing to do anything to achieve their mission, and this mission is to capture that ship.

[Kuronami]

(ooc: OP here, this is my puppet nation so if I'm a little omnipotent, that's why. I have characters here I can play.)

Aboard the ship traveling along with her parents for what was hoping to be a nice cruise aboard an antiquated steamer was the Budi family, mother Bikuni, father Abdul and their pride and joy daughter, Amina. The voyage seemed fine for the first while but now things were bad with this raging storm and many people falling sick. The family wasn't one to sit and just do nothing they became proactive. They were still well so the father went to help the crew wherever he could while Amina and Bikuni tended to the sick. Amina was scared but helping others was keeping her mind off the weather and limping ship they were on. She was particularly fond of tending to the little fox girl, one of the first to fall ill. Many had seem to consider her patient zero of the now outbreak but who knows if that was true or not. "There now." Amina gently dabbed her brow with a cold wet cloth. "Easy now. We'll be alright." Seeing the little girl alone as her own mother had fallen ill made her feel sad and sullen for her. Her shallow breaths and faint whimpers resonated with her. "I'll be praying for you. Please pull through."

"Amina," Bikuni, her own mother, sat at her side with a fresh pale of water. "How is she doing?"

"She's still hot and her breathing seems just off."

"She is a very sick little girl. Her mother is about the same." CRAAACK and loud THUD echoed "What was that? thunder?"

"No, I wonder if maybe something above deck. Something might have fallen or broken free." Neither of them knew much about sailing or boats they didn't know it was the mast. Beyond the sounds of creaking and crashing of the storm more BANGS. "That... That is canon fire.." Bikuni could pick out THAT sound. "Allah be with us now. Stay here for a bit I'll check on some more of the sick."

"Mhm" she pulled out her phone as she always did, she didn't know why, it didn't work out here. It was now half past midnight.

[Arctica-Aleutia]

I.S.S Black Pearl
Captain Nathaniel Helms

"I want all barrels on this ship loaded, the I.S.S Ruby Ford almost hit another ship! We must be prepared to fire back if we are fired upon! Prepare boarding teams"

Nathaniel rushed for the local comms until a Sea-Class 3 radioman hollered "Sir! Its the Secretary of The Navy!"

Nathaniel clearly not thinking straight eagerly shouted "Put him on hold this is more important!"

Nathaniel got onto the comms and accessed all local frequencies This is the I.S.S Black Pearl, all ships in the area not in the imperial navy must leave, again all ships not belonging to the imperial navy must leave or will be fired upon Nathaniel then turned to the Ship's Comms, "This is your captain speaking, we are on code orange, 90-76-85, standby, this is not a drill, all hands on deck, we are on code orange, DEFCON 1, ALERT STATUS: Maximum

Men rushed from their beds,mess hall tables, bathrooms, etc and reported to their designated location, another shot would mean war, but the imperial navy is willing to do anything to achieve their mission, and this mission is to capture that ship.

The captain, a veteran of numerous naval campaigns, was not amused. He radioed back.
"The paddle steamer has a broken mast and is unable to leave. We had thought we were in international waters, but we have clearly gone off course. Had you not fired upon an innocent passenger vessel, we would have left. But your unwarranted aggression is inexcusable. If you fire again, you could start a war. Do not attempt to board the neutral vessel."

The Thunder Child began to position itself between the paddle steamer and the hostile ship. If fighting did break out, it had 5 torpedo tubes and several short-range machine guns at its disposal. On top of that, it was designed to be able to ram enemy ships.

(OOC: What kind of ships are the Black Pearl and the Ruby Ford?)
(Also, here's some dramatic music in case things do get ugly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb4BWSUV8mM)

[The Protacan-Anzotac Peoples]

Ravenstern Airbase, Versati
Air Commander Riley Simmons
Air Marshal Ray Smith

"Commander, we just got word from I.S.S Ruby Ford and Black Pearl about the current tensions, I want 6 ISF-56s (Imperial Storm Fighter) scrambled to the current location of both our ships, you will be the leading airman, you and your squad will excessively circulate the mysterious ship and make sure that other nation doesn't interfere, you will return, refill on gas and complete the same process again, and make sure to fly low, scare the hell out of whoever is on board that ship, understood?"

"You got it comnander," Riley ran for his plane which was black with "Storm" on one side and "Fighter" on the other side.

I.S.S Black Pearl

"Captain Nathaniel, I.S.S Ruby Ford has started firing around the mysterious ship, we've tried contact but no answer"

Nathaniel spat, "The damn traitors, aim our guns on the Ruby Ford and start firing, I want that ship sunk"

Riley Simmons

"This is black fox to Ravenstern Airbase, both our ships our firing at each other and the ship we need is right in the middle of it, requesting to destroy mysterious ship before we get shot by our own ships?!

Denied, continue to fly low, under the shells and circulate the mysterious ship, standby for further orders, over and out

Riley saw something both ships moved out from the location and took their feud with them, Riley had his team circulate the mysterious ship, while he go check out Ruby Ford and Black Pearl.

I.S.S Ruby Ford

"Captain your orders? Hold fire, we are in no condition to fight two ships, only fire when fired upon, and send out three boarding teams, 12 men on each, were taking that vessel one way or another"

(OOC: Both Black Pearl and Ruby Ford are war eager frigates)

[Arctica-Aleutia]

"Sir! Something's firing on the frigate! It's moving away!"

"Good. Now let's get back to our task. Something must be up if they sent a warship after a paddle steamer. I have a feeling that they'll be back." the captain replied.

"Hold on... we're getting an aircraft on the radar, sir... moving fast, must be a jet."

"In this weather?!"

"Yessir. It's small, outline suggests a modern fighter... and we just picked up 5 more. That makes a full squad of 6. No, now the first ship is leaving, heading toward the frigate... and now I'm detecting another frigate..."

"Blast... something big must be going on. Get us alongside the steamer! As close as possible, steady as she goes!"

"Yessir."

The torpedo ram moved closer to the paddle steamer, attempting to get close enough to board and find out what was going on. The storm showed no signs of letting up.

"Should I radio home, sir? We have a link ready to the home dimension."

"Not yet... I don't want to escalate things."

[Arctica-Aleutia]

(OOC: Wait... I thought the Ruby Ford was leaving. Now there's something about a boarding party?)

[The Protacan-Anzotac Peoples]

(OOC: Wait... I thought the Ruby Ford was leaving. Now there's something about a boarding party?)

(OOC: It is but the captain had a last minute decision and decided to send a boarding party, hopefully it won't get intercepted)

[Arctica-Aleutia]

(OOC: Wait... I thought the Ruby Ford was leaving. Now there's something about a boarding party?)

(OOC: It is but the captain had a last minute decision and decided to send a boarding party, hopefully it won't get intercepted)

(I won't have my crew notice it at first. After all, they're busy trying to make sense of a paddle steamer, two frigates, six planes, and a minesweeper. Small boarding craft will probably go undetected. Once they get on the ship, on the other hand, they'll have to deal with some armed Navy men. On the other hand, if the frigate itself is actually coming alongside to board, then I should probably edit my post.)

[Sleet Clans]

First a paddle steamer in the middle of a storm, now the Artica-Aleutians show up? And then we get shot at! Ilno thought to himself for a moment before starting to bark out orders.

"Pull us up alongside that steamer. I don't want them to be getting shot at, especially if we can help it! And keep an eye on that radar, if that warship starts firing again I want to know" Now that that was done, he made his way over to where the comms. were, flicked it over to a channel between him and the Artica ship, and replied, "Attention Artica ship, this is the UCN Ultima. We have no hostile intentions and are merely attempting to help the demasted steamer. I think we're both on the same side here, especially with another warship shooting at us."

With that being said, he flicked off the comms. and turned around only to see his radar officer call out, "Sir, six bogeys approaching at high speed. They may be carrying surface attack munitions"

"None of our weapons are damaged, no?" Ilmo inquired

"No, sir. The 100mm, CIWS, depth charge launchers, and both 20mm guns are all operational" Replied the officer who called out the contacts.

"Then get our CIWS heated up and loaded. If those planes are hostile, I don't wanna get caught with our pants down" He ordered, before turning to watch out the port side windows as the Ultima began to pull up alongside the steamer...

[The Protacan-Anzotac Peoples]

Riley Simmons

Riley flew towards the ships carefully, then went to local comms.

"This is ISF-69, to I.S.S Ruby Ford, under naval administrative guidelines you are to switch off your engines and remain here until a ship can come and detain you all, you are under a code arrest for treason


I.S.S Ruby Ford

"Captain! How should we respond?"

"Shoot that plane down, and shoot that other ship, and send out the boarding teams to that steamer"

"Right away Captain,"

Team Red, Boarding Team
First Mate Luthor Hansen

"Alright men, were nearing the paddle steamer, remember full lethal, we are too secure the ship and take it to "place B" (Codename for Port Luenzo in another country). And kill everyone, the more you kill the more money you get"

(OOC: Yes, The Ruby Ford is a corrupt ship in this for money, a contact at Luenzo offered money for the steamer)

Riley Simmons

Riley, not paying any attention to the boarding teams moving across water he shoots the ruby ford excessively while trying to dodge their shells

I.S.F 2(Imperial Storm Fighter)
Air Senior Flyman Bryan Willis

"Alright thats it, enough flying around the ships, start firing at the paddle steamer and that other nation's ship, we need that ship gone"

The 5 ships swooped down and started firing at the paddle steamer and The Thunder Child.

Team Red, Boarding Team
First Mate Luthor Hansen

"Load up, no one on the ship survives, then we follow the Ruby Ford to Port Luenza"

The Boarding Teams neared closer to the paddler..

----------------------------------
OOC: Whats going on so far on my side
- I.S.S Ruby Ford and all its crew members are corrupt and disloyal, trying to take the steam paddler for money

- Riley simmons and his planes are also trying to destroy the steam paddler because it is 'believed' they were a distraction of the recent terror attacks

- I.S.S Black Pearl was a ship sent to see what was going on and help the Ruby Ford until this happened.

I.S.S Black Pearl - Loyal
I.S.S Ruby Ford - Unloyal/Corrupt
Riley and his I.S.F team- Loyal

[Arctica-Aleutia]

"Blazes! 5 of the jets are opening fire on us and the paddle steamer! And now we have the ship from earlier firing on us!"

"Keep moving toward her. We need to board it before the other ship can." replied the captain. Privately, he was becoming very, very worried. A torpedo ram was designed for attacking moored ships under cover of night and then retreating, not for a full-on naval battle in a storm. But there was no other option; both the captain's personal morals and the Arctica-Aleutian naval code demanded that they help a civilian ship in danger.

The captain radioed the Sleetavian ship. "We are being fired upon by at least five aircraft, as well as the frigate from earlier. We believe they may be of Protacan-Anzotac origin, as we're close to their port, but we cannot say for sure. The Thunder Child is going to send a boarding party onto the paddle steamer and then attempt to engage the frigate. If your ship is combat-ready we ask for support."

The Thunder Child's six deck machine guns attempted to open fire on the jets, but the storm made it difficult, as well as making it hard to tell if they got any hits... meanwhile, a spray of machine-gun fire from the jets raked the deck, and a shell from the Ruby Ford landed dangerously close in the water.

But the little steamer pressed on, coming alongside the paddle boat. 20 navy men, armed with AK-47s and pistols (either M1911s or Mars Automatics, the two models used by Arctica-Aleutia) boarded the ship. 6 of them ran to find the bridge and find out what help was needed, with the remaining 14 staying on deck in case the frigate sent a boarding party of its own.

Staying alongside another ship was dangerous in such rough seas. The Thunder Child quickly moved away, heading at full speed in the direction of the frigate. All 5 torpedo tubes were readied.

[Sleet Clans]

As the radio message from the Thunder Child came in, Ilmo sent back a reply:

''Copy that, we will support you and keep these planes off of your back. Don't know what good we will do against a frigate however, we're a minesweeper after all''. After that message was sent, Ilmo began barking out orders.

''Get that CIWS spun up and blow those aircraft out of the sky! And keep along side that paddle steamer, the Artica ship may need some help with rescue operations!'' He all but roared at his crew as they sprung to action...well, as much as one could spring to action in the middle of a gigantic storm. The single CIWS turret, mounted behind the bridge of the minesweeper, began tracking and shooting at the six planes attacking, although the swells offset it's accuracy somewhat, it's stabilizers were taking the brunt of it. The two 20mm guns on both sides were also manned and started firing at the planes, although they had nowhere near the accuracy of the CIWS.

While the CIWS was blaring away at the attacking aircraft, the 100mm deck gun swiveled around and started firing on the attacking frigate with a THUMP THUMP THUMP sound, doing it's best to do whatever damage it could on the frigate.

[AHSCA]

The Bridge

Things were growing steadily worse at this point, between the weather and now a group of other ships surrounding them basically. In this weather it was hard to tell where anyone was on a ship without much in the way of modern equipment. "We haven't moved as much as I want" Aina told to Kiri. At this point she was doing what she could to just get away, she didn't care where just away from these people. She had no way to know who was friend or foe.

"Hum," Kiri noticed too their position hadn't been much more, granted they were being tossed about real good it was hard to say they were keeping any course. More bangs, crashes and rumbles not of the thunder and waves but more artillery. "Shit. Kiri I don't know what happened but we might have just sailed into a war zone!"

"Noting on our current charts about this being any conflict zone. Not to mention who'd be fighting in a storm like this?" Kiri replied

"Does war ever make logical sense? I think we're caught up in something, this isn't just pirates we're dealing with!" Aina pulled a series of cables and cords that rang bells in various parts of the ship for signaling. "See if you can call Sasha!"

"You can hardly steer right now, me letting go of the wheel?"

"We need whatever power we can get, we need some torque." Kiri did her best to call up Sasha calling through their links to the engine room. "Nothing."

"Dammit."

The door of the bridge swung open, in stumbled another crew member, Ema Toyama. "Captain! It's Sasha, the fever's got to him, Captain, got him real good, I found him unable to move down below."

"And now you've been exposed, Ema!" Aina shouted back at her still keeping her eyes focused straight ahead. "Get him and you to a cabin and quarantine yourselves!"

"Yes, captain! Captain, what's going on? It sounds like there's a war going on!"

"Might just be it. Ema, see what cargo you can jettison. If we don't have much power we need to be lighter."

"Yes, Captain!" The young crewman picked herself up and got out of the bridge.

"If any thing hits us, we're good as dead, Kiri." Aina sullenly replied

"Aye, Captain." Kiri nodded. "Then let me say now, it's an honor to serve as your first mate."

[Arctica-Aleutia]

(OOC: Should I wait for The Protacan-Anzotac Peoples to post before I do? Since my ship is basically about to enter combat with his, I think I should let him react.)