Malaya Mayham - 1.1
January 1st, 2011
Manhattan, New York City
Amirah sighed as she looked at the memorial fountain in the courtyard of Liberty Island, she and Alina had just tossed coins into the fountain as is tradition with these fountains. She glanced up towards the towering monument that was the Statue of Liberty who stoically gazes out to sea. She couldn't help but wonder what her thoughts were at what was happening in the harbour. New York Harbour was unusually busy that New Year's Day.
As far as she could see, she could see countless ships of all sizes and types had dotted the harbour from the massive cruise liners to the small private boats. Amirah had always been fascinated by ships and the water in general. Alina joked, if things had gone differently, Amirah would have been a ship's captain, most likely a naval captain in the Commonwealth Navy. Amirah wouldn't argue as she let herself smile as she took in the sights.
She looked on out to sea as she took a whiff from her pipe. That is when she noticed something was happening, she noted there was an increase in aerial activity as she saw a pair of what appear to be a pair of Cessnas in what appear to be Civil Air Patrol markings flying southwards. She became rather confused by this but decided to think nothing of it.
"Hello New York~! Time for you to burn~" Amirah turned to see who muttered but saw no one.
"Amirah, are you alright?" Alina asked, Amirah looking up to see her sister looking at her with concern.
"Oh, it is nothing, Ally," Amirah waved it off, "How about you? Enjoying yourself?"
"Yeah! It is so awesome to see all these ships and boats but… why does it look like things are getting quite busy all of a sudden?"
Amirah looked up in confusion, as she looked around to see what Alina was talking about as the various ships and boats were moving about in a rather frantic manner. That was the quiet of the morning shattered, when a thunderous boom was heard. Amirah and Alina with the rest of the crowd on Liberty Island turned to the source which appeared to be from the south. The two sisters stepped closer to the edge of the waterfront to get a better look.
"That sounded like it came from Queens," A nearby man commented.
"What is causing that explosion?" Alina asked as she turned to Amirah but she found her sister merely staring off into the distance.
What she couldn't see is that Amirah's mind was being bombarded with flashes of terrifying sights. Searing through Amirah's eyes were flashes of a massive naval battle, flashes of guns and explosions and in the wind, a mess of flags were fluttering in the wind. Her ears were besieged by a cacophony of guns and explosions with the barking of men and the screaming of dying men. It felt so real for Amirah as if she was there on the deck of this battlewagon in battle as she can nearly feel the heat from the battle. That was until she was shaken out of her flashbacks by Alina shaking her.
"H-Huh?" Amirah gasped for a second before she caught her falling smoking pipe, "What is it, Ally?"
"Amirah, you were spacing out, what's wrong?" Alina asked.
"It is nothing, just another headache." Amirah reassured her sister but she didn't help her case by flinching when another explosion was heard from the same direction.
"Are you sure? You've been having a lot of these headaches since we arrived here. Don't lie to me, Mira," Alina crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing.
"I am fine, now let's go see if we can find out what's going on." Amirah said before more explosions, no Amirah was sure this was gun fire, erupted south of their position. This time she could see where it was coming from, a fort she saw when they sailed in on their cruise liner, the MS Queen Elizabeth. She watched as streaks of fire and smoke rose from the forts and out to sea, she somehow couldn't help but distinctively tell it was a missile being launched, with more following suit.
However it appeared the guns and missiles while still firing seemed to do little to whatever was approaching as soon smaller guns began to bark as well. Amirah could tell these were the 12 inch and 10 inch guns opening up. Soon however, Amirah, Alina and those on Liberty Island could see why the guns were firing. Dark ominous shapes were approaching the Narrows. Amirah watched as now 6 inch, 5 inch and even anti-air guns began blasting at these growing lumps in the sea.
This caused panic as people either began to run, scream or just stood in horror as they approached as if blackened misshapen islands that radiated a desire for death and destruction, running the gauntlet of fire while responding in kind. Amirah couldn't help but wonder if she was watching a twisted version of the old Naga legends from home. That is until the first dark shadow-shrouded island of death got past the choke point, past the construction site that was the new Narrows' bridge, Amirah watched as shapes on one of these unnatural islands moved in a painful and ungainly manner, before they appeared to raise their limbs. Then in what felt like an eternity, the beast belched fire. Amirah quickly turned around and watched their bloody mark as Battery Park erupted into fire.
It was then she understood why all the ships seemed to be in a rush, they were running and given how she could see people were crowding onto any vessel willing to take them. However in their rush, it appeared some were being forgotten like Amirah and the people now ironically trapped on Liberty Island. She could see more and more of these twisted moving islands slipping past the forts which are now reduced in capabilities but she can see brave souls fighting back with whatever they can get their hands on.
"That is right, burn New York! Burn and turn into Ashes!" The earlier voice now echoed in Amirah's head.
Amirah started to become concerned as the moving islands began to spread out, belching fire. At first they seem to ignore Liberty Island, instead aiming for Manhattan and the port, however that changed when huge columns of water erupted near the waterfront, now it appears that some of the twisted entities have decided to turn their attention on the islands in the harbour. Amirah's concern also grew as the ships and boats were still busy trying to get people out of the city.
"They need more time…" Amirah gritted her teeth as she saw a tugboat shatter into splinters by shell fire.
"Mira, we need to get to safety!" Alina cried.
"Y-Yeah, head towards the statue, I doubt these things' guns can smash through all that granite." Amirah remarked. The two sisters turned but realized they might be too late as shells were now impacting the island. Already, the cries of the dying could be heard amid the roar of guns. But they ran anyway, trying frantically to get to safety.
It was then, when they neared the memorial fountain, where some were already using it for cover, it happened. Amirah suddenly had a gut feeling that something terrible was about to happen, without a moment to lose, she shoved Alina into the fountain before she was engulfed by a flash and the last thing she could feel was her feet being lifted off the ground.
"What's the status of our guns?" A voice barked. Amirah shakes her head as she finds herself on what appears to be the bridge of a ship.
"Gun crews report all guns are loaded and ready to fire." .
"Chief? How are our boilers looking?"
"Purring like kittens, all 6 boilers are running fine."
"Fuel?"
"We are good, full tanks, she had a good meal before."
"Bugler! Sound of Action. Follow by the Double!"
It was then a young lad stepped up and to the speaker, began to play his bugle. Somehow Amirah could feel the flurry of organized mayhem that was taking place through the ship.
"Ma'am, we are ready for your command." Amirah blinked as she looked at the captain, his face looking quite familiar. However, that wasn't important, right now, there was an evacuation that needed protecting.
"Hoist the battle ensign!" Amirah said as she put one foot forward. She didn't even glance behind her to see the battle ensign of her dreadnought unfurling into the wind.
"HMS MALAYA, SAILING FORTH!"
MS Queen Mary 2
The crew were frantically trying to get as many people onboard with similar scenes repeating across the other cruise ships as well as whatever ships or boats that were available. However due to the panic, they were still not finished when the misshapen leviathans began their attack. The bridge crew looked on in panic as these beasts of steel and fire began to slowly make their way towards the piers. Orders to cast off were screaming at the back of the minds of the bridge crew.
"How many do we have onboard?" The captain asked.
"We have about 5,000 souls onboard, more are still boarding," An officer replied.
"We don't have much time! Those monsters are coming closer!" The executive officer barked, "We need to cast off now!"
"We can't leave all these people to die!" The navigator argued.
"If we don't move now, then we all die!"
As if to prove his point, a small ferry erupted into a ball of flame before it began to sink into the Hudson.
"No, we will wait, we have a duty here to save as many people as we can. People will die, yes, but when we can cut that down, I will not let that chance go. I will not go down as the captain who left thousands to die." The captain declared, "Continue with the evacuation."
The evacuation continued as ships and boats filled up as many people as they were willing to take, yet as this happened, New York City was being ravaged by the invaders and they were getting closer to the piers where the ships were being loaded. People were piling up to get onto anything that will take them. But it seems they were in a losing battle as the invading beasts were moving closer towards the ad hoc evacuation fleet.
Suddenly a sharp wail of whistle caught the attention of everyone, it even seemed to cause the attackers to pause as emerging behind them from the low hanging smoke and soot that was billowing out of lower Manhattan was a peculiar sight, it was massive leviathan of steel and iron, her steel gray hull seem to shine in the midday sun, her funnels were alive with smoke coming out. While some fell into despair at another even bigger beast coming to attack. It was then that people saw the flags flying proudly in the wind, it was the white, red and spot of blue of the Royal Navy Ensign, and this warship was flying one from almost every place possible.
Aboard HMS Malaya
Amirah frowned as she saw several small vessels had already been reduced to splinters, drifting in the Hudson. She offered a brief prayer to those already lost before she turned to the deadly business at hand.
"Slow to 5 knots," Amirah ordered.
"Aye-aye," The executive officer nodded before he stepped to a voice pipe, "Engineering, bring our speed to 5 knots."
Amirah need not hear the confirmation as she felt the turbines slow down, bringing the speed of the dreadnought to a slow crawl, the water barely breaking in her wake.
"Speed, 5 knots, ma'am" the XO relaid to which Amirah nodded.
"Do we have any idea what we are facing?" Amirah asked.
"Appears to be a force of three armoured cruisers, with another one leading a dreadnought near Governor's Island."
"Focus on the cruisers, we need to prevent them from disturbing the evacuation effort."
"Aye-aye ma'am." Amirah let herself smile as she felt the crew prepare for battle.
"Gunnery, solutions on the first cruiser?" Amirah requested.
"We have the range on it, ma'am," the gunnery officer replied.
"Do we know what we are shooting at?" Amirah asked.
"Well, we know it is not German, that's for sure, ma'am." An officer replied.
"Anything else, not sure."
"Understood; have the guns load high explosive with reduced charges, I don't want to damage the city," Amirah ordered.
"Aye-aye, ma'am," The gunnery officer replied, "How are we shooting?"
Amirah pondered for a few seconds on how to divide her fire against the three cruisers. It didn't take long.
"Turret A and B, focus on the leading cruiser, Turret X and Y, the second cruiser. Starboard secondary battery, smother the trailing cruiser, I want that bitch blind."
Just then the Commander of Malaya's Royal Marines Detachment came up to the bridge.
"Ma'am, permission to speak?" Amirah turned to see the Commander of her Royal Marines detachment standing at attention.
"What is it?"
"Permission for my marines to engage the warships with our small arms?"
"Denied, you are to disembark and assist in the defense of Manhattan. Spotters have seen landing crafts unloading soldiers onto Battery Park, I need you to protect the evacuation."
"Understood, ma'am, moving to disembark now." The Royal Marine commander saluted before he turned and left the bridge. Soon Amirah could feel her boats being prepared for launch.
"Lower the boats, mind the speed." Amirah commented.
"Aye-aye, ma'am." A sailor replied. After some time, Amirah saw her boats cutting across the Hudson towards Manhattan.
"Helmsman, bring us up to fifteen knots, we need to get alongside these cruisers, it appears they aren't aware that we are here."
"Aye-aye, ma'am."
Soon the rumble of 6 Admiralty three-drum boilers began to rise as they sent their raw power to the two steam turbines, leading Malaya to start churning the water, a white wake rising behind her. Amirah watched at the same time, the turrets making their turn towards their designated targets.
"Ma'am, guns are ready to open fire, waiting for your orders."
"Are we sure we should fire? What if our shells don't do the intended damage."
"We should put more effort to identify the cruisers, ma'am"
"Enough!" Amirah snapped, ""I will not let innocent lives be lost all because we can't tell what the clearly hostile ships are! Let the historians figure it out! Commence firing!"
Then with a deafening roar, eight 15 inch 42 caliber Mark I guns belched out 15,504 pounds of high explosive ordinance, while four of her 6 inch BL Mark XII guns barked in anger, hurling nearly 450 pounds of high explosive shells.
Pier 16, New York City
"Covering fire!" A police officer shouted as he and other officers laid into the approaching enemy, trying to allow more people to get out of the city. He was at a barricade next to the burning Pier 16. It started as normal patrol, until orders came to prepare for a possible large-scale attack. Then all hell broke loose, smoke started to rise out of Staten Island and Long Island before Manhattan was hit something as explosions rocked the city, now invaders were streaming onto the island on Battery Park and now were reaching Wall Street, with some reports on the radio saying that they got as far as Times Square.
"Where the hell is the National Guard?" His partner shouted.
"They are heading here now! But I heard they are busy trying to evacuate Midtown first, especially the UN building."
"Fuck the UN! We need heavy firepower here!" Another officer barked, "We already lost three guys here! And we are running out of ammo!"
The officer couldn't fault him, they only had a single rifle amongst the ten officers that were at the barricade and the rest had pistols, and even those were running low.
Suddenly, the bellow of a foghorn rang loud, nearly drowning out the battle at hand. Everyone turned to see what it was. The officer also turned and saw a cloud of steam emerging from behind the Brooklyn Bridge. Then a shadow moves through the water and from the mist, a shape, no, a ship, is taking form. And the officer watched as the bow then an entire battleship emerged from the cloud of steam, moving below the Brooklyn Bridge but nothing like the Iowas that he had seen sail into the harbour, now this was much older.
HMS Malaya
Amirah looked out to the Hudson, to the wrecks her guns had left, what were once warships were now floating and burning wrecked husks. The Royal Navy gunnery officer couldn't help but smile at the work of his gunners. However Amirah wasn't smiling, she was wondering as to who these cruisers were, could they have been friends in the past? Now, she will never know but something inside her is at unease at the sight of the wrecked armoured cruisers.
"Ma'am, those other two warships are coming around Battery Park, they mean to fight us."
"All turrets, focus on the capital ship, starboard secondary guns, aim for the armoured cruiser" Amirah barked.
"Armour piercing?"
"Yes, full charges, give these bastards hell." Amirah barked.
"Ma'am, the Royal Marines report that they are currently holding the line around the Times Square area."
"Good" Amirah nodded, "Helmsman, turn to starboard, we will block their path."
Amirah watched and felt all 33,260 tons of British steel turned to face Manhattan, with her bow in the direction of the mangled superstructure of USS Oriskany[1]. She noted that USS Growler was missing but seeing no wreckage, Amirah figured that she must have woken up.
"Ma'am, they are coming up on the position of the trailing cruiser"
"Range, three miles and closing!"
"Captain, you may fire when ready." Amirah turned to the captain who nodded.
"All turrets, shoot!"
Once again, Malaya's guns barked in anger, soon tall geysers of river water erupted around the hostile warships.
"We have the range." commented the XO.
"Enemy ships are engaging!"
The enemy fired back in response but thanks to the significant emotional event of being fired upon, their shells fell short. Amirah noted the time, it was nearly dusk, so she decided to pull a page from her sister's book.
"Have all the starboard searchlights turn on, full power, aim them at their bridges." Amirah ordered.
"Playing nasty, I see" commented the captain replied and soon Malaya's powerful searchlights soon flashed on, all aimed at the capital ship, this had the intended effect as the capital ship's gunnery seemed to go awry as the shells flew high.
However the armoured cruiser reminded everyone it was still in the fight as it fired off the three forward facing guns at Malaya and unfortunately they found their mark as two shells smashed into Malaya's catapult and starboard crane as Amirah felt the ship shudder under her feet. Soon smoke began to rise from the aircraft deck.
"Put out any fire!" Amirah ordered.
"Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire on the aircraft deck!" A sailor barked into the intercom. Soon the fire was contained, luckily it was merely superficial fires started by the wooden deck that was the aircraft hangar.
Malaya continued to fire on the battleship with her main guns while the armoured cruiser had the undivided attention of Malaya's starboard secondary battery, this time even her 4 inch Anti-Air guns joined in the battle. Amirah, up on the bridge couldn't help grin at her gunners' work. Amirah watched as the armoured cruiser began to slow down; however thanks to the searchlights to her face, the dreadnought turned at the last second, smashing into the stern of an increasingly crippled armoured cruiser before turning port, exposing her broadside. Amirah at this point couldn't help but marvel at the rather splendid lines the opposing dreadnought had even as its Q turret was turning desperately to aim its guns at Amirah.
"Hit that bitch again before she turns her aft turrets around!" Amirah called out. Her 15 inch rifles compiled and soon the dreadnought shuddered from the fire. Time then froze for just a moment before all hell broke loose. A massive ball of fire and heat erupted from the dreadnought, engulfing the entirety of the midsection of the steel beast. The heat was so intense that Amirah and the bridge crew could feel it from their positions. The explosion's force shattered windows and tossed anything not bolted down into the air. Some of the searchlights were turned to the warship that looked like someone picked it up and tore it in two before dropping the two halves back into the river. Amirah watched as debris fell into the river and both New York and New Jersey with some landing on her ship. She winced as a particularly large section landed nearby. She also glanced around to see several buildings collapsed from debris falling.
"Ma'am, we have someone trying to hail us on the radio." The comms officer reported.
"Who? The New York Port Defense?" Amirah asked.
"No, it is USS New York," The comms officer replied, "They are asking if we are alright?"
"Let me talk to her." Amirah said to which the comms officer nodded, "This is Malaya to New York, can you hear me?"
"This is New York, I can hear you just fine," New York replied, "So how are you, that was quite the explosion?"
"Don't worry, barely a scratch, you should have seen the other girl," Amirah replied, "So what are you doing?"
"Nothing much, was sailing to the battle, only to find it over" New York replied.
"Within the harbour, I can hear Fort Tilden still firing away." Amirah pointed out.
"Right, so what do you want to do?" New York asked.
"I am planning to escort the evacuation fleet north." Amirah said, "I could use the help."
"Alright, consider it done." New York agreed.
Amirah watched as the American battlewagon made its way around Manhattan to link up with her. Amirah couldn't help but sigh in relief, now knowing she support.
"Wow, you've been busy." New York commented as the dreadnought sailed up the river.
"Well, someone had to keep the civilians safe." Amirah replied. "Have you unloaded your marines?"
"Way ahead of you, they are already on the ground helping the guys fight these bastards." New York replied.
It was then another voice piped up on the radio.
"WAIT, WAIT! We are coming along!"
Amirah and New York looked in the direction of the voice. The two dreadnoughts couldn't help but wonder, 'who the hell was that.'
"This is New York, who the hell was that?"
"Damn it Gridley! I told you to announce our names!" Another voice barked.
"Ah, sorry! This is USS Gridley with USS Craven," The lead voice announced before a throat clearing could be heard, "Oh right, we also have two Clemson, USS Borie and USS Barry as well as two Wickes, HMS Campbelltown and HMS Castleton."
"So you are two Gridleys, two Clemsons and two Wickes?" Amirah summarized.
"Yes, we are coming up from Ellis Island" Gridley answered.
"Ellis Island… Tell me, is Liberty Island alright?" Amirah asked.
"Liberty Island looks alright, there are US Coast Guard helicopters on the island right now."
Amirah felt a weight fall off her shoulders and her mind felt lighter as now she knows her sister now had a chance to survive.
Liberty Island
Alina still couldn't believe it.
She still can't believe it.
She wouldn't believe it.
Alina believes she is still in shock from the loss of her left leg but she couldn't deny what was being presented to her. Laying in front of her, was her sister, Her face covered with blood, all originating the gash on her forehead. Her eyes were glazed over, her arms and legs were mangled wrecks but for some reason, Amirah had a serene smile on her face as if she knew that Alina would live.
MS Queen Victoria
The captain could finally relax as they left New York City. The Queen Victoria was filled to the brim with people, there was barely any space for anyone to stand, last count, nearly 10,000 souls onboard. The same can be said for every other cruise liner that is in this convoy, that's not even counting all the various ferries, yachts, pleasure boats, tugboats. Some of the boats were so crowded they looked less like boats than a hull with people on top.
"Sir, boats coming down river" A crewmate called out and the captain walked over to the wing of the bridge. It was a sizable fleet of fast moving boats leading slow moving truck ducks from what the captain could see were from that Albany based tour company. It was another group of vessels the captain had seen coming down river, all he assumed were heading to help in saving as many people from the battle of New York.
He then turned to watch the boats sail past before a cacophony of horns and whistles erupted from the upriver ships while cheers and shouts were heard from the evacuated people. Then came the sharp whistles of the ships at the very end of the ad hoc convoy, the ships that in the opinion of Queen Victoria's captain are the reasons why this convoy was able to sail to begin with. Especially the one flying the biggest Royal Ensign he had ever seen. He shuddered at the thought of how the evacuation would have gone if she hadn't arrived.
Author's notes:
[1} USS Oriskany replaces USS Intrepid as the latter was sold to the Byzantine.
Manhattan, New York City
Amirah sighed as she looked at the memorial fountain in the courtyard of Liberty Island, she and Alina had just tossed coins into the fountain as is tradition with these fountains. She glanced up towards the towering monument that was the Statue of Liberty who stoically gazes out to sea. She couldn't help but wonder what her thoughts were at what was happening in the harbour. New York Harbour was unusually busy that New Year's Day.
As far as she could see, she could see countless ships of all sizes and types had dotted the harbour from the massive cruise liners to the small private boats. Amirah had always been fascinated by ships and the water in general. Alina joked, if things had gone differently, Amirah would have been a ship's captain, most likely a naval captain in the Commonwealth Navy. Amirah wouldn't argue as she let herself smile as she took in the sights.
She looked on out to sea as she took a whiff from her pipe. That is when she noticed something was happening, she noted there was an increase in aerial activity as she saw a pair of what appear to be a pair of Cessnas in what appear to be Civil Air Patrol markings flying southwards. She became rather confused by this but decided to think nothing of it.
"Hello New York~! Time for you to burn~" Amirah turned to see who muttered but saw no one.
"Amirah, are you alright?" Alina asked, Amirah looking up to see her sister looking at her with concern.
"Oh, it is nothing, Ally," Amirah waved it off, "How about you? Enjoying yourself?"
"Yeah! It is so awesome to see all these ships and boats but… why does it look like things are getting quite busy all of a sudden?"
Amirah looked up in confusion, as she looked around to see what Alina was talking about as the various ships and boats were moving about in a rather frantic manner. That was the quiet of the morning shattered, when a thunderous boom was heard. Amirah and Alina with the rest of the crowd on Liberty Island turned to the source which appeared to be from the south. The two sisters stepped closer to the edge of the waterfront to get a better look.
"That sounded like it came from Queens," A nearby man commented.
"What is causing that explosion?" Alina asked as she turned to Amirah but she found her sister merely staring off into the distance.
What she couldn't see is that Amirah's mind was being bombarded with flashes of terrifying sights. Searing through Amirah's eyes were flashes of a massive naval battle, flashes of guns and explosions and in the wind, a mess of flags were fluttering in the wind. Her ears were besieged by a cacophony of guns and explosions with the barking of men and the screaming of dying men. It felt so real for Amirah as if she was there on the deck of this battlewagon in battle as she can nearly feel the heat from the battle. That was until she was shaken out of her flashbacks by Alina shaking her.
"H-Huh?" Amirah gasped for a second before she caught her falling smoking pipe, "What is it, Ally?"
"Amirah, you were spacing out, what's wrong?" Alina asked.
"It is nothing, just another headache." Amirah reassured her sister but she didn't help her case by flinching when another explosion was heard from the same direction.
"Are you sure? You've been having a lot of these headaches since we arrived here. Don't lie to me, Mira," Alina crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing.
"I am fine, now let's go see if we can find out what's going on." Amirah said before more explosions, no Amirah was sure this was gun fire, erupted south of their position. This time she could see where it was coming from, a fort she saw when they sailed in on their cruise liner, the MS Queen Elizabeth. She watched as streaks of fire and smoke rose from the forts and out to sea, she somehow couldn't help but distinctively tell it was a missile being launched, with more following suit.
However it appeared the guns and missiles while still firing seemed to do little to whatever was approaching as soon smaller guns began to bark as well. Amirah could tell these were the 12 inch and 10 inch guns opening up. Soon however, Amirah, Alina and those on Liberty Island could see why the guns were firing. Dark ominous shapes were approaching the Narrows. Amirah watched as now 6 inch, 5 inch and even anti-air guns began blasting at these growing lumps in the sea.
This caused panic as people either began to run, scream or just stood in horror as they approached as if blackened misshapen islands that radiated a desire for death and destruction, running the gauntlet of fire while responding in kind. Amirah couldn't help but wonder if she was watching a twisted version of the old Naga legends from home. That is until the first dark shadow-shrouded island of death got past the choke point, past the construction site that was the new Narrows' bridge, Amirah watched as shapes on one of these unnatural islands moved in a painful and ungainly manner, before they appeared to raise their limbs. Then in what felt like an eternity, the beast belched fire. Amirah quickly turned around and watched their bloody mark as Battery Park erupted into fire.
It was then she understood why all the ships seemed to be in a rush, they were running and given how she could see people were crowding onto any vessel willing to take them. However in their rush, it appeared some were being forgotten like Amirah and the people now ironically trapped on Liberty Island. She could see more and more of these twisted moving islands slipping past the forts which are now reduced in capabilities but she can see brave souls fighting back with whatever they can get their hands on.
"That is right, burn New York! Burn and turn into Ashes!" The earlier voice now echoed in Amirah's head.
Amirah started to become concerned as the moving islands began to spread out, belching fire. At first they seem to ignore Liberty Island, instead aiming for Manhattan and the port, however that changed when huge columns of water erupted near the waterfront, now it appears that some of the twisted entities have decided to turn their attention on the islands in the harbour. Amirah's concern also grew as the ships and boats were still busy trying to get people out of the city.
"They need more time…" Amirah gritted her teeth as she saw a tugboat shatter into splinters by shell fire.
"Mira, we need to get to safety!" Alina cried.
"Y-Yeah, head towards the statue, I doubt these things' guns can smash through all that granite." Amirah remarked. The two sisters turned but realized they might be too late as shells were now impacting the island. Already, the cries of the dying could be heard amid the roar of guns. But they ran anyway, trying frantically to get to safety.
It was then, when they neared the memorial fountain, where some were already using it for cover, it happened. Amirah suddenly had a gut feeling that something terrible was about to happen, without a moment to lose, she shoved Alina into the fountain before she was engulfed by a flash and the last thing she could feel was her feet being lifted off the ground.
"What's the status of our guns?" A voice barked. Amirah shakes her head as she finds herself on what appears to be the bridge of a ship.
"Gun crews report all guns are loaded and ready to fire." .
"Chief? How are our boilers looking?"
"Purring like kittens, all 6 boilers are running fine."
"Fuel?"
"We are good, full tanks, she had a good meal before."
"Bugler! Sound of Action. Follow by the Double!"
It was then a young lad stepped up and to the speaker, began to play his bugle. Somehow Amirah could feel the flurry of organized mayhem that was taking place through the ship.
"Ma'am, we are ready for your command." Amirah blinked as she looked at the captain, his face looking quite familiar. However, that wasn't important, right now, there was an evacuation that needed protecting.
"Hoist the battle ensign!" Amirah said as she put one foot forward. She didn't even glance behind her to see the battle ensign of her dreadnought unfurling into the wind.
"HMS MALAYA, SAILING FORTH!"
MS Queen Mary 2
The crew were frantically trying to get as many people onboard with similar scenes repeating across the other cruise ships as well as whatever ships or boats that were available. However due to the panic, they were still not finished when the misshapen leviathans began their attack. The bridge crew looked on in panic as these beasts of steel and fire began to slowly make their way towards the piers. Orders to cast off were screaming at the back of the minds of the bridge crew.
"How many do we have onboard?" The captain asked.
"We have about 5,000 souls onboard, more are still boarding," An officer replied.
"We don't have much time! Those monsters are coming closer!" The executive officer barked, "We need to cast off now!"
"We can't leave all these people to die!" The navigator argued.
"If we don't move now, then we all die!"
As if to prove his point, a small ferry erupted into a ball of flame before it began to sink into the Hudson.
"No, we will wait, we have a duty here to save as many people as we can. People will die, yes, but when we can cut that down, I will not let that chance go. I will not go down as the captain who left thousands to die." The captain declared, "Continue with the evacuation."
The evacuation continued as ships and boats filled up as many people as they were willing to take, yet as this happened, New York City was being ravaged by the invaders and they were getting closer to the piers where the ships were being loaded. People were piling up to get onto anything that will take them. But it seems they were in a losing battle as the invading beasts were moving closer towards the ad hoc evacuation fleet.
Suddenly a sharp wail of whistle caught the attention of everyone, it even seemed to cause the attackers to pause as emerging behind them from the low hanging smoke and soot that was billowing out of lower Manhattan was a peculiar sight, it was massive leviathan of steel and iron, her steel gray hull seem to shine in the midday sun, her funnels were alive with smoke coming out. While some fell into despair at another even bigger beast coming to attack. It was then that people saw the flags flying proudly in the wind, it was the white, red and spot of blue of the Royal Navy Ensign, and this warship was flying one from almost every place possible.
Aboard HMS Malaya
Amirah frowned as she saw several small vessels had already been reduced to splinters, drifting in the Hudson. She offered a brief prayer to those already lost before she turned to the deadly business at hand.
"Slow to 5 knots," Amirah ordered.
"Aye-aye," The executive officer nodded before he stepped to a voice pipe, "Engineering, bring our speed to 5 knots."
Amirah need not hear the confirmation as she felt the turbines slow down, bringing the speed of the dreadnought to a slow crawl, the water barely breaking in her wake.
"Speed, 5 knots, ma'am" the XO relaid to which Amirah nodded.
"Do we have any idea what we are facing?" Amirah asked.
"Appears to be a force of three armoured cruisers, with another one leading a dreadnought near Governor's Island."
"Focus on the cruisers, we need to prevent them from disturbing the evacuation effort."
"Aye-aye ma'am." Amirah let herself smile as she felt the crew prepare for battle.
"Gunnery, solutions on the first cruiser?" Amirah requested.
"We have the range on it, ma'am," the gunnery officer replied.
"Do we know what we are shooting at?" Amirah asked.
"Well, we know it is not German, that's for sure, ma'am." An officer replied.
"Anything else, not sure."
"Understood; have the guns load high explosive with reduced charges, I don't want to damage the city," Amirah ordered.
"Aye-aye, ma'am," The gunnery officer replied, "How are we shooting?"
Amirah pondered for a few seconds on how to divide her fire against the three cruisers. It didn't take long.
"Turret A and B, focus on the leading cruiser, Turret X and Y, the second cruiser. Starboard secondary battery, smother the trailing cruiser, I want that bitch blind."
Just then the Commander of Malaya's Royal Marines Detachment came up to the bridge.
"Ma'am, permission to speak?" Amirah turned to see the Commander of her Royal Marines detachment standing at attention.
"What is it?"
"Permission for my marines to engage the warships with our small arms?"
"Denied, you are to disembark and assist in the defense of Manhattan. Spotters have seen landing crafts unloading soldiers onto Battery Park, I need you to protect the evacuation."
"Understood, ma'am, moving to disembark now." The Royal Marine commander saluted before he turned and left the bridge. Soon Amirah could feel her boats being prepared for launch.
"Lower the boats, mind the speed." Amirah commented.
"Aye-aye, ma'am." A sailor replied. After some time, Amirah saw her boats cutting across the Hudson towards Manhattan.
"Helmsman, bring us up to fifteen knots, we need to get alongside these cruisers, it appears they aren't aware that we are here."
"Aye-aye, ma'am."
Soon the rumble of 6 Admiralty three-drum boilers began to rise as they sent their raw power to the two steam turbines, leading Malaya to start churning the water, a white wake rising behind her. Amirah watched at the same time, the turrets making their turn towards their designated targets.
"Ma'am, guns are ready to open fire, waiting for your orders."
"Are we sure we should fire? What if our shells don't do the intended damage."
"We should put more effort to identify the cruisers, ma'am"
"Enough!" Amirah snapped, ""I will not let innocent lives be lost all because we can't tell what the clearly hostile ships are! Let the historians figure it out! Commence firing!"
Then with a deafening roar, eight 15 inch 42 caliber Mark I guns belched out 15,504 pounds of high explosive ordinance, while four of her 6 inch BL Mark XII guns barked in anger, hurling nearly 450 pounds of high explosive shells.
Pier 16, New York City
"Covering fire!" A police officer shouted as he and other officers laid into the approaching enemy, trying to allow more people to get out of the city. He was at a barricade next to the burning Pier 16. It started as normal patrol, until orders came to prepare for a possible large-scale attack. Then all hell broke loose, smoke started to rise out of Staten Island and Long Island before Manhattan was hit something as explosions rocked the city, now invaders were streaming onto the island on Battery Park and now were reaching Wall Street, with some reports on the radio saying that they got as far as Times Square.
"Where the hell is the National Guard?" His partner shouted.
"They are heading here now! But I heard they are busy trying to evacuate Midtown first, especially the UN building."
"Fuck the UN! We need heavy firepower here!" Another officer barked, "We already lost three guys here! And we are running out of ammo!"
The officer couldn't fault him, they only had a single rifle amongst the ten officers that were at the barricade and the rest had pistols, and even those were running low.
Suddenly, the bellow of a foghorn rang loud, nearly drowning out the battle at hand. Everyone turned to see what it was. The officer also turned and saw a cloud of steam emerging from behind the Brooklyn Bridge. Then a shadow moves through the water and from the mist, a shape, no, a ship, is taking form. And the officer watched as the bow then an entire battleship emerged from the cloud of steam, moving below the Brooklyn Bridge but nothing like the Iowas that he had seen sail into the harbour, now this was much older.
HMS Malaya
Amirah looked out to the Hudson, to the wrecks her guns had left, what were once warships were now floating and burning wrecked husks. The Royal Navy gunnery officer couldn't help but smile at the work of his gunners. However Amirah wasn't smiling, she was wondering as to who these cruisers were, could they have been friends in the past? Now, she will never know but something inside her is at unease at the sight of the wrecked armoured cruisers.
"Ma'am, those other two warships are coming around Battery Park, they mean to fight us."
"All turrets, focus on the capital ship, starboard secondary guns, aim for the armoured cruiser" Amirah barked.
"Armour piercing?"
"Yes, full charges, give these bastards hell." Amirah barked.
"Ma'am, the Royal Marines report that they are currently holding the line around the Times Square area."
"Good" Amirah nodded, "Helmsman, turn to starboard, we will block their path."
Amirah watched and felt all 33,260 tons of British steel turned to face Manhattan, with her bow in the direction of the mangled superstructure of USS Oriskany[1]. She noted that USS Growler was missing but seeing no wreckage, Amirah figured that she must have woken up.
"Ma'am, they are coming up on the position of the trailing cruiser"
"Range, three miles and closing!"
"Captain, you may fire when ready." Amirah turned to the captain who nodded.
"All turrets, shoot!"
Once again, Malaya's guns barked in anger, soon tall geysers of river water erupted around the hostile warships.
"We have the range." commented the XO.
"Enemy ships are engaging!"
The enemy fired back in response but thanks to the significant emotional event of being fired upon, their shells fell short. Amirah noted the time, it was nearly dusk, so she decided to pull a page from her sister's book.
"Have all the starboard searchlights turn on, full power, aim them at their bridges." Amirah ordered.
"Playing nasty, I see" commented the captain replied and soon Malaya's powerful searchlights soon flashed on, all aimed at the capital ship, this had the intended effect as the capital ship's gunnery seemed to go awry as the shells flew high.
However the armoured cruiser reminded everyone it was still in the fight as it fired off the three forward facing guns at Malaya and unfortunately they found their mark as two shells smashed into Malaya's catapult and starboard crane as Amirah felt the ship shudder under her feet. Soon smoke began to rise from the aircraft deck.
"Put out any fire!" Amirah ordered.
"Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire on the aircraft deck!" A sailor barked into the intercom. Soon the fire was contained, luckily it was merely superficial fires started by the wooden deck that was the aircraft hangar.
Malaya continued to fire on the battleship with her main guns while the armoured cruiser had the undivided attention of Malaya's starboard secondary battery, this time even her 4 inch Anti-Air guns joined in the battle. Amirah, up on the bridge couldn't help grin at her gunners' work. Amirah watched as the armoured cruiser began to slow down; however thanks to the searchlights to her face, the dreadnought turned at the last second, smashing into the stern of an increasingly crippled armoured cruiser before turning port, exposing her broadside. Amirah at this point couldn't help but marvel at the rather splendid lines the opposing dreadnought had even as its Q turret was turning desperately to aim its guns at Amirah.
"Hit that bitch again before she turns her aft turrets around!" Amirah called out. Her 15 inch rifles compiled and soon the dreadnought shuddered from the fire. Time then froze for just a moment before all hell broke loose. A massive ball of fire and heat erupted from the dreadnought, engulfing the entirety of the midsection of the steel beast. The heat was so intense that Amirah and the bridge crew could feel it from their positions. The explosion's force shattered windows and tossed anything not bolted down into the air. Some of the searchlights were turned to the warship that looked like someone picked it up and tore it in two before dropping the two halves back into the river. Amirah watched as debris fell into the river and both New York and New Jersey with some landing on her ship. She winced as a particularly large section landed nearby. She also glanced around to see several buildings collapsed from debris falling.
"Ma'am, we have someone trying to hail us on the radio." The comms officer reported.
"Who? The New York Port Defense?" Amirah asked.
"No, it is USS New York," The comms officer replied, "They are asking if we are alright?"
"Let me talk to her." Amirah said to which the comms officer nodded, "This is Malaya to New York, can you hear me?"
"This is New York, I can hear you just fine," New York replied, "So how are you, that was quite the explosion?"
"Don't worry, barely a scratch, you should have seen the other girl," Amirah replied, "So what are you doing?"
"Nothing much, was sailing to the battle, only to find it over" New York replied.
"Within the harbour, I can hear Fort Tilden still firing away." Amirah pointed out.
"Right, so what do you want to do?" New York asked.
"I am planning to escort the evacuation fleet north." Amirah said, "I could use the help."
"Alright, consider it done." New York agreed.
Amirah watched as the American battlewagon made its way around Manhattan to link up with her. Amirah couldn't help but sigh in relief, now knowing she support.
"Wow, you've been busy." New York commented as the dreadnought sailed up the river.
"Well, someone had to keep the civilians safe." Amirah replied. "Have you unloaded your marines?"
"Way ahead of you, they are already on the ground helping the guys fight these bastards." New York replied.
It was then another voice piped up on the radio.
"WAIT, WAIT! We are coming along!"
Amirah and New York looked in the direction of the voice. The two dreadnoughts couldn't help but wonder, 'who the hell was that.'
"This is New York, who the hell was that?"
"Damn it Gridley! I told you to announce our names!" Another voice barked.
"Ah, sorry! This is USS Gridley with USS Craven," The lead voice announced before a throat clearing could be heard, "Oh right, we also have two Clemson, USS Borie and USS Barry as well as two Wickes, HMS Campbelltown and HMS Castleton."
"So you are two Gridleys, two Clemsons and two Wickes?" Amirah summarized.
"Yes, we are coming up from Ellis Island" Gridley answered.
"Ellis Island… Tell me, is Liberty Island alright?" Amirah asked.
"Liberty Island looks alright, there are US Coast Guard helicopters on the island right now."
Amirah felt a weight fall off her shoulders and her mind felt lighter as now she knows her sister now had a chance to survive.
Liberty Island
Alina still couldn't believe it.
She still can't believe it.
She wouldn't believe it.
Alina believes she is still in shock from the loss of her left leg but she couldn't deny what was being presented to her. Laying in front of her, was her sister, Her face covered with blood, all originating the gash on her forehead. Her eyes were glazed over, her arms and legs were mangled wrecks but for some reason, Amirah had a serene smile on her face as if she knew that Alina would live.
MS Queen Victoria
The captain could finally relax as they left New York City. The Queen Victoria was filled to the brim with people, there was barely any space for anyone to stand, last count, nearly 10,000 souls onboard. The same can be said for every other cruise liner that is in this convoy, that's not even counting all the various ferries, yachts, pleasure boats, tugboats. Some of the boats were so crowded they looked less like boats than a hull with people on top.
"Sir, boats coming down river" A crewmate called out and the captain walked over to the wing of the bridge. It was a sizable fleet of fast moving boats leading slow moving truck ducks from what the captain could see were from that Albany based tour company. It was another group of vessels the captain had seen coming down river, all he assumed were heading to help in saving as many people from the battle of New York.
He then turned to watch the boats sail past before a cacophony of horns and whistles erupted from the upriver ships while cheers and shouts were heard from the evacuated people. Then came the sharp whistles of the ships at the very end of the ad hoc convoy, the ships that in the opinion of Queen Victoria's captain are the reasons why this convoy was able to sail to begin with. Especially the one flying the biggest Royal Ensign he had ever seen. He shuddered at the thought of how the evacuation would have gone if she hadn't arrived.
Author's notes:
[1} USS Oriskany replaces USS Intrepid as the latter was sold to the Byzantine.
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