542 The Unrepentan (1/2)
Fleet Master Megan entered the giant barn like structure that was built along the beach of a deep water cove. As she stepped out of the rain, she dumped her wet coat to one of her aides and cast her eyes upon a strange looking ship sitting on wooden supports inside the dry dock.
The strange ship appeared to be made out of two materials, the upper half was covered in slabs of black iron and was prism shaped with a sharp angled bow where a barbed metal tip jutted out. The other lower half of the hull was the similar to the bilges of the wooden sailing ships Megan was familiar with. The only difference was the appearance of two holes underneath the bilge at the centre of the hull with what appeared to be part of two paddle wheels sticking out.
The metal angular sloped hull had no open decks and instead of having the traditional cloth sails and masts, two fat stubby smoke stacks poked out from the centre. Several squarish port holes ringing the metal hull were opened at this moment. Several workers could be seen hammering away at some tasks all over the strange ship.
Seeing the arrival of Megan, a small group of people came hurriedly over and they bowed before her. ”Fleet Master Megan! Welcome!”
The person who spoke was middle aged with a rough leathery face that had turned to a dark tan from long exposure to the sun. He had bugling arms and hints of a pot belly and was dressed in a leather work apron with several tools hang on a belt. He eyed Megan with a proud look and gestured to the ship on the dry dock, ”Your timing is just right!”
”Is this the iron ship?” Megan asked as her eyes glittered at the sight. ”It looks so... flat and ugly...”
The master shipwright frowned slightly at her words but did not let it bother him. Instead, he went on to proudly showcase his finest creation. ”Yes, this is the iron ship you wanted! It is armoured from the waterline to the covered top with iron plating and powered by steam!”
”Unlike our other double decker sailing ships,” The master shipwright explained. ”This is a single decker, with six thunder cannon ports on each side and two more at the bow and stern of the ship!”
”We decided to build the iron ship as a single decker is due to the heavier topside weight and by keeping the topside lower, the ship will not be easily capsized by the rough seas.” The master shipwright continued. ”It takes a crew of two hundred forty to run and is expected to be faster by at least two wind levels of our sailing frigates!”
”How long before it can be completed?” Megan asked as they took a tour around the docked ship.
”We are finishing up on most of the major needed work,” The beefy shipwright said. ”Once the summer storm passes, the iron ship will be ready to be tested!”
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The New World, Fort Hensink
The storm has lessened as the sun rose behind the storm clouds. The rain no longer fell in blinding sheets but had dropped to a drizzle. The UN soldiers taking this opportunity had sent several parties to check the bodies littered outside the sandbag bastions of the fort. Enemy wounded were carried back into the fort for treatment and those too far gone were given grace.
Equipment and gear were also looted and dead bodies were piled off one side to be buried in a mass grave once hostilities or the rain has ended. The soldiers also quickly took the opportunity that the enemy had no movements to lay new claymore mines to cover their positions.
While the rest of the fort was busy at work, the Base Commander of Fort Hensink too had been busy having a conference call with his superior, General Joseph over the landline. Plans were discussed and finalized before the Base Com ended the conference. He quickly gave orders to his staff and his orders were further passed down to the troops under his command.
Soon, one of the grounded FB - 1S2 Mariner S2 recon plane rolled out of its sheltered hangar and took off into the skies under the light rain. The recon plane circled low under the storm clouds as it performed its mission to scout out the surrounding areas for the location of the enemy.
Not long, its belly camera started whirling and clicking away as the aircraft passed over the city ruins that was just barely five kilometers away. The pilot suddenly swerved the plane around as he saw the outlines of dozens of airships in the distance and he quickly fled to prevent putting his plane and his crew at risk. The quick actions of the pilot saved his plane as several winged shapes came fluttering behind from under the plane, their intentions clearly hostile.
The Mariner S2 quickly retreated away from the enemy's small flyers and after a short tense chase, the short range flyers had to give up, allowing the UN recon plane to escape. After this, it became a game of cat and mouse as the faster UN recon plane continued to probe the enemy lines, beaming as much live fed imagery back to the fort and running when chased until the weather started to turn for the worse.
The daring crew returned victoriously having performed their mission of scouting for the enemy. The collected images and videos of the enemy concentrations were studied extensively by the command staff and mission planners. With better knowledge of the enemy's depositions, new orders were given and the defenders of the fort were rearranged.
The few heavy 155 mm artillery batteries were repositioned and their long barrels now pointed towards the enemy several kilometers away. Coordinates were rechecked and guns rumbled one by one, each spitting an over forty kilogram shell of high explosives towards the unsuspecting enemy. Many seconds later, the first echos of thunder rolled back over the fort as the UN forces struck back.
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The New World, Protectorate Camp