A Tale of a New Commander

Chapter 11: Forced Entry

The pristine water of the Barents Sea splashed around our ship while moving past the miniature icebergs that floated beside us. In front of our ship, a few nautical miles ahead, were Pegasus and her fleet who scoured the area that we were headed to. I could sometimes see them splitting up, sending out recon planes, but there wasn't any real threat nor issue in regards to our operation. It was sailing smoothly, just how I wished it to be.

I silently stayed on the deck, yawning as I lazily scratched my chin. Thanks to last night's events when I went star watching with the carrier sisters, I was still really hazy, even though it's currently seven in the morning here. Right now, the sun was out, shining on the sea that appeared to be shimmering thanks to its light, a welcoming sight before an operation.

I was about to doze off when I noticed the escort fleet returning from the front lines. Their group was lead by Perseus whose pink hair fluttered along with the wind as she cruised. Beside her were Eagle and Hermione who looked a bit worse for wear due to Perseus's persistence to still go and patrol last night, but for the most part, they still felt strong enough to march into combat.

I walked up to the ship's forward, awaiting the escort fleet who jumped to the deck, easily clearing the entire ship's height in a single bound. The three of them landed effortlessly on the deck, hiding their riggings as they approached me. "Any problems?" I asked, raising my brows as I waited for their response.

Perseus shook her head, biting her lips that curved into a frown as she did. "That's exactly it... Everything's silent. Too silent." She said in a soft yet stressed voice, her eyes looking directly into mine, like a deer in red headlights.

"Ever since last night...it bothered me that we were met with nearly no resistance...it kind of irks me a little too." Hermione continued, seconding Perseus's claims as she fixed her bonnet (maid's headband) that was slightly crooked thanks to the speed that they cruised in.

"On the bright side however, we barely used up any resources while scouting so I see this as a positive. We would be able to provide aid to the Northern Parliament's fleet without any reservations. We still have a lot of resources on us so I believe it'd be just enough to hold out with full firepower before the massive cargo fleet arrives." Eagle retorted, her serious amber eyes shining against the bright sun as she made a fair point to the argument.

Instead of answering, I sat down. I gathered all their thoughts in regards to the place's notoriety. Based on the meeting yesterday, the Barents Sea should've been riddled by multiple smaller forces of ships and an extremely powerful main fleet, but we never encountered anything, not a single alert since yesterday.

It could've been our luck that we ended up here while they're refueling but if they plan to cut this line, shouldn't they be leaving in a few ships here to at least alert them if a takeover is happening? It also doesn't help that they don't seem alerted by our recon planes at all, if ever they were here...

I grit my teeth, nervous with how the things were going in light of the current situation and while I didn't dislike the tranquility, it still worried me a bit to be unable to predict the movements of our enemies. With a heavy sigh, I looked forward into the horizon, taking a deep breath before I made up a decision.

"Let's carry on. Reserve your oil, later on we'll need much more of it to sustain our operability. For now, I'd like you three to rest and relax. If you guys seriously want to patrol, I've got no choice but to limit you guys to a few recon planes at a time. It'd be unwise to use to use or burn through our supplies when we risk almost nothing." I instructed, my lips quivering not because I felt the cold sea breeze touch my skin, but because of my worry with the things that could come later.

It may just be wishful thinking...but God help me if that scene were to ever happen again... Christopher's incident can never be repeated, even if it cost me my life this time around.