Tides of War

For minutes now, the Lionfish lay in wait.

PING!

The enemy vessel was somewhere near.

PING!

PING!

PING!

PING!

It was closing rapidly. Surely the could not spot a sub at 200 ft., with its engines turned off?

Everyone onboard was sweating. The men were trapped in thier own cloud of stinking air.

PING!

PING!

Hopefully, it would pass over sometime soon...

PING!

PING!

PING!

It was right on top of them.

"Splashing noises, on the surface bearing 303'!" said the sonarman. "Depth charges, it looks like." Even if they were right on target, they had no way of reaching down toward the sub's great depth.

Then, a horrible creaking noise. Everyone froze. What now? "Engine room reports minor flooding! Damn those bastards!"

Mark thought of his options. He could stay down here and be crushed by water pressure, or blow the tanks and be depth charged.

At least he would die trying to kill. "Emergency blow! Load the tubes!"

As Commander wrench caught the beer from the Assasin captain, he couldn't help but to be relieved, yet omewhat apprehensive. Glad for the wondrous alchoholic beverage, he asked if there were possibly enough for his 24 man crew { prisoners included} To his delight he was asked to board the cleverly disguised ship of the motley looking Captain Argon. He was amazed that upon closer inspection, all of the rust streks and junk lying about the deck was in fact all a farce. The rust was simply paint, and the various pieces of debris diguised an amazing arsenal of naval firepower. When asked below deck, he discovered that these Assasin pirates had gutted a whole area of the ship and transformed it into a seagoing brewery.

Captain argon, I am unsure of how well my country will react to this, my deciding to come unto your groups views, if I am captured I may be tried for treason.

Captain argon nodded, " well, mate, if any of us be caught, then we'll all be hung for it, but mind you, an assasin does not die alone."

Indeed sir, I have heard of your groups exploits, and they are truly astounding. May I.." he said, gesturing to a recently opened bottle of rum.

The captain again nodded. " what might I ask compelled you and you men to secede?

" well" Commander Wrench began, taking one, and then another large gulp of rum " the empire doesn't exactly cater to the whimsof its patrons, rather, the rich stay rich, whilst wepoor beggars either are conscripted into the service, or die working a plow."

" I see" argon replied " And how should we Assasins trust you and your crew? "

" well, you shouldn't, but at least if I am dead drunk, Me and my boys will be an easy target!" He laughed

" true enough, mate " argon laughed as well, keeping a wary eye on his guest, and a his hand positioned closely to the revolver tucked into his trousers.

" True enough........."

Damn pirates! bash:

Meanwhile, south of Singapore...

The sub broke the surface. They weren't dead.

Confused, Lieutenant Mark went up the ladder to the top of the sail almost reflexively to see what was going on.

A German ship to port! It was only a hundred yards away, moving quickly with powerful guns. But the guns were aimed in the other direction. He saw the horror in one of the sailors eyes as a shell from the Assasin battleship struck home. There was a ball of fire, and Mark was knocked off his feet. He fell upon his XO, Jacob Copeland.

He got up. His hands were shaking? "Jake? You okay?"

"Score one for the good guys."

The German destroyer has listing hard and spewing smoke. The smoke screen prevented the battleship from seeing the sub. Thats what the splashes were. Battleship shells falling short of the target. KLM sailors were swimming in the water, begging to be taken aboard. "Jake, how much room do we have in the cargo hold?" "We've aten most of the food on the boat, sir, so we have a lot of space" was the reply. "Take a few krauts and put them in there. Time to get back to base."

Captain Jonathan Wrench, of the RNE , was somewhat disturbed. He had heard that aN Imperial Sub had apparently surrendered to the group known as the Assasins. What bothered him was that his brother, Commander James Wrench, was in command of said Sub.

" Assasins, huh. " he muttered." At least he's not with the bloody KLM any longer."

" What was that , sir? " The helmsman asked

" Uh Nothing, mind the wheel, would you? "

" Aye, sir." The sailor answered smartly.

Captain wrench was stalking down below deck to his stateroom tobrood, when he was piped to return to the bridge. He arrived to find the helmsman glancing nervously out to sea, while the hydrophones operator gestured for the captain to approach.

" Yes, Williams, what do you have? "

" Sir, I've picked up several screws, headed our way, fast too!"

" OK, Battlestations!!, I want the XO up here now!"

As the klaxon bells rang, Captain wrench put aside thoughts of his wayward brother, and prayed that they would not meet in battle.

Meanwhile, back in Singapore....

The Lionfish had already been in dock a few hours now. Mark sat in front of CINCPAC (Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet).

"You did well son. I'm putting you in for promotion," he said. "Thank you sir. Ill buy you drink tonight." "Naval captains don't take those bribes, mister. Cash bribes only for us sailors." Mark chuckled. Anything would make you laugh after months at sea. "You're wife's here, just checked in a few minutes ago. When's the last time you've been briefed on the strategic situation?"

"I don't think I ever was," Mark replied. "Well I put something together for you, fortunately." CINCPAC stood up and rolled a map across his desk. "The 1st Marine Divison did a good defense in the north, and we took back a few key ports to the east. The Krauts are wimping out- our planes spotted thier troops pulling out by ship."

"I need you to get there quick. Get to Singapore harbor, and blast as many troopships as you can. My son is out there fighting for us, I don't want him dead and his life probably depends on your performance. I have a more detailed briefing that I'm doing tommorrow in front of the whole local naval detachment. You follow?"

"Yes, sir". As Mark walked down to the bar, he wondered about his CO's son. He didn't look that old, maybe his early thirties, so his son must be young. Or CINCPAC must be a lot older than he looked. Either way, Mark saw little point in this war. A war of domination, interfering with other nation's problems. Fighting only justified the German's conquests. And he didn't want his friend's son to die for that.

Did this thread die? Why????

oh no, see thats why you have to keep the story going m8s

Captain Argon had an important decision to make. He could execute Wrench and his Crew and confiscate the Sub or bring them into the Alliance. In the past he would have just brought the whole crew into the Alliance but times have changed and trust has become a commodity that cannot be afforded lightly. Still, The problem remains, The Alliance has gotten so good at seizing enemy Ships that the men were already spread dangerously thin. They simply did not have the crew to man the Sub.

Commander Wrench, I have a mission for you. You will go out with your crew and sink a KLM warship. We will send Commander Buxton and his Sub along to observe. He will be at liberty to destroy your sub at his discretion. By the way, his indiscretions are legendary so I would be very careful if I were you and you just might live to be an Assassin.

Thirty-two miles off the coast of Singapore, a lone LFN Raiko-class Destroyer Escort, HMS Waikato, steamed on her patrol route. On her bridge, Captain David Abramczyk leaned on the guard rail, whistling a George Formby song.

Tossing a cigarette butt over the side, Captain Abramczyk picked up his binoculars and began to scan the horizon.

"Smoke! Smoke bearing Red 4-5! Smoke at Red 4-5!" he shouted suddenly.

The First Officer came over to the rail and looked over as well. "What do you think it is, sir?" he asked.

"My guess is a convoy, probably an American one." Captain Abramczyk said. "Lt. Hughes, whistle up the Raiden, and tell the Chief."