Otherworldly Liberty

Chapter 2: Picking Up the Pieces

Sea of Gaia
New World Year 1556 (Earth 2026)
February 28th
USS Makin Island (LHD-8)

A small fleet, numbering seven ships was currently en-route to what was being dubbed now as the Gaia Continent, unexplored and unclaimed by this world's population, it was the perfect stepping stone that the United States needed to fulfill 'The 3-Year Plan', select officials even called it The Second Revolution, some serious change was coming to the nation and they would be part of it.

This plan will be officially announced tomorrow by the President in an address made directly from the Oval Office, the last time a U.S. president did that was in 2022, when the Third World War began, and it was Marcus himself who delivered the speech, he had been put into office just months prior, yet he rallied the nation for a single cause, absolute victory.

The small flotilla consisted of two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, one Wasp-class amphibious assault ship — fully loaded with a standard complement of aircraft and helicopters — and four San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks, their mission was to set up an FOB, secure a perimeter of 10-square miles from the landing zone, and then prepare the area for the arrival civilian contracted cargo ships, all escorted by multiple military vessels, to begin the construction of a military base and a settlement.

A little step for these men and women, but a massive leap for the United States of America and her recovery.

While the flotilla was nowhere near full strength, and the complement of ships didn't follow any previous framework the Navy had for its fleet compositions, they had to make do with the things they had available — they didn't have the luxury of being picky right now — so they sailed onwards just like they had always done.

The area was surveyed beforehand by the newly installed satellite network — which had been bestowed the highest quality devices and technology their resources could allow — and therefore was deemed safe enough for a landing operation to take place, however, there was a forest close by that was too thick for anything to be made out from just the IMINT they got. This meant that they had to exercise professionalism and caution once a foothold was set on the continent.

Coming out of his musings, Admiral George Tinsel focused on completing the task he was assigned with utmost diligence, at the same time, he could faintly observe the familiar outline of a landmass steadily approaching.

Humming in satisfaction, he began giving out orders to the sailors under his command, "We will approach the landing zone with at least more than one mile separating us and the beach. Let the marines know that they're up now, deploy the CH-53E Super Stallions and have them drop the supplies we brought for our forces at the shore.", he paused, scratching his chin as he remembered some crucial intel, "Be advised, there is a moderate chance of monster presence, most likely groups of dumb green shrimps, code-named 'Goblins', engage at your discretion, but make sure to report everything thoroughly, any information on these things will be useful for all of us."

As some of the men present on the bridge began to relay this information to the rest of the fleet, another group was simultaneously carrying out another facet of their plan.

Sea of [REDACTED]
New World Year 1556 (Earth 2026)
February 28th
USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7)

Sailing through the calm sea was a comparatively ferocious fleet, formed from combined elements of the Iwo Jima and the America ESGs (Expeditionary Strike Group), while this force was not intended to serve as a landing spearhead, it donned an impressive amount of combat potency, composed of two Amphibious Assault Ships — Wasp and America class respectively —, four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, four Constellation class frigates, and one Ohio class submarine.