Rails of Destruction
Chapter 6: An engine upon the tracks that lay silent
Previous Chapter Next ChapterUSRWC "4-8-8-4" Captain's Car.
Somewhere in the Everfree Forest
Equestria 1150 hours
In the last couple of hours since awakening Captain Ryan has been trying to keep himself occupied until his fellow officers wake up. To help pass the time he has taken the liberty of taking a thorough look around of his new home on rails. During the "4-8-8-4"s refit the sleeper/dinning cars were mostly salvaged and crudely modified heavyweight coaches taken from abandoned museums across the country. Those have since been replaced by the latest streamlined crew accommodation cars available in the USRWC which come with up to date amenities such as proper working showers, air conditioning, anti-radiation shielding and external decontamination sprinklers. The one thing that the crew have enjoyed the most so far is being able to sleep in their own beds whereas the rest of the railway fleet have to make use of cramped conditions and hot-bunking between shared hammocks.
Ryan's old observation car was replaced with what could be described as one of the most luxurious private cars available. The Skytop Lounge car originally built by Pullman-Standard in the late 40's was heavily modified with a lengthened articulated chassis spanning 90 feet in length, the rear of the Skytop Lounge is 90% glass with multiple rows of windows reaching up to form the ceiling. The original four parlor-lounges that made up the "solarium" contained 12 seats, with an additional 24 seats in the interior of the car had been stripped out and rebuilt into the main accommodation space for Ryan which includes a private kitchen, dinning/lounge room, and a fully kitted out bathroom. The front end of the car was separated from to allow a lengthened body section to be installed and was completely rebuilt with the new and improved war room. The interior featured the finest wood paneling, a key characteristic of the former Milwaukee Road designs.
Ryan's bedroom was located at the back of the Skytop lounge, his king sized bed placed underneath the rear shatter-proof windows that give the railcar it's signature shape. His wardrobe placed on the left was big enough to hold his summer, winter, formal and ceremonial uniforms. Ryan normally wears those on certain occasions and sticks to his personal look most of the time. His signature dark brown duster coat with reinforced shoulder plates, a long, thick leather sleeve runs down his right arm while the left sleeve was cut off to allow Ryan to better use his left cybernetic arm and the retractable gatling gun. Custom armored knee guards were added to his skinny light blue jeans and a light ceramic chest plate sat over his tarnished USRWC shirt.
Ryan keeps his medals, rank insignias and battle honours in a safe and proudly wears them when not in combat or on duty in the Ops Room. For now, Ryan could only lay on his bed and wait for Serina to inform him on the others, more importantly his fellow officers and commanders of the embarked strike teams and armoured cavalry. It wasn't even noon and already Ryan felt his eyelids becoming heavier as he slowly succumbed to a partial slumber.
Ryan suffers from stage one Autism, and one major symptom he has is regular autistic burnouts which is when someone like Ryan has a productive lifestyle like being a Railway Warfare Corps officer he burns through his body energy more rapidly compared to everyone else. This combined with having a smaller dietary intake from low dietary metabolism, Ryan sometimes struggled to completely fulfilling his duties unless he can stop briefly to recover some energy. Anxiety and minor depression only creates further stress for the young captain as he struggles but with greater determination to maintain his command and overall authority on his war train and his crew.
Had it not been for his loyal officers and crewmates who continues to support him even in the most stressful and tense times, an honourable medical discharge would be an act of mercy compared to more common scenarios which ended in violent mutinies and the commanding officer executed for failing to maintaining his duties and keeping his/her ship and crew intact.
Ryan forced himself awake again as he massaged his temples to resist the temptation of falling asleep again while he pulled himself up into an upright position to take a few deep breath to restore some composure to himself. He tried to think of something to distract himself as his fellow canine companion looked on from the end of his bed with curiosity.
He decided to have another thorough inspection of his cybernetic limb as he brought his left arm into his view. The tiny fusion reactor built into his metallic hand hummed silently as it supplied power to the artificial limb. Titanium alloy makes up the entirety of the main structure with three gyrostabilisers linking the individual sections from the hand to the forearm and the latter to the upper arm. The bottom forearm is hollowed out from the bottom which serves as the housing for the retractable gatling gun. Originally the rotary based weapon was gonna be belt feed like many common weapons in the post-nuclear world but many issues forced designers for an alternative means which come to modifying the gun to fire ionized plasma projectiles via an Ion accelerator built into the upper arm structure. Another unique feature is the sensitive neural sensors imbedded in the metal fingertips that restored Ryan's ability to feel what he touches with his left hand.
It was the littlest things like this that add a whole silver lining to life in the wasteland. Such talent and ingenuity was very scarce in the days prior to the Reunification of the States. The wasteland's brightest minds used to wonder back and forth from coast to coast doing whatever they could to restore forgotten technologies that was lost to the Atomic War. When the Tri-Communist Alliance made landfall on the west coast and in Alaska every scientist, inventor and specialist was tracked down and brought back to D.C to coordinate in reviving the Unified States Military Science Division and the reclamation of vital technologies that once formed the backbone of the old military. The former robotics industry that used to be the economic powerhouse kept the United States ahead of the competition prior to the Great Resource Depletion in the 2080's which would transpire a series of catastrophic events leading up to the Atomic War. The American robotics industry continues to play a pivotal role in maintaining the military infrastructure.
Ryan could only imagine what life was like back then, before the nukes were set loose. What little information that was preserved described the old world as a near perfect conservative society driven by one constitutional law; "To preserve the rights of all citizens through equal recognition without infringement nor compromise on the rights of the overall majority." Such a law was not implemented without strong opposition from those who wished to see a more socialist society made a reality, such thoughts these days in the wasteland would have you tried and executed for treason or conspiring against the U.S Government in pursuit of Communist influence.
Ryan's train of thought was halted when something triggered the neural sensors on his left hand, looking down he noticed a feminine hand holding a firm grip on his artificial limb. Looking up Ryan's eyes meet the eyes of the woman that has been by his side since their early days as foster siblings. After losing their families in the invasion of Hawaii and the years that follow Ryan and this older girl would develop a close unbreakable bond of friendship that brought them close together and beyond. To the outside world, this woman was known by many on both sides of the war as an Angel of Death, which is exactly what Wing Commander Michelle McKensey is; a genetically enhanced female super-soldier that specialises in aerial mechanized warfare, suicidal covert missions and heavy assaults. Michelle and hundreds of other female soldiers make up one of the Unified States' most powerful airborne special forces branches dubbed the Battle Angels Squadrons. The most iconic of all the known all-female squadrons is the 101st Emerald Angels Squadron who are currently embarked on the "4-8-8-4" led by Wing Commander McKensey.
Michelle is one of the more unique and the most elite of all the Battle Angels as she is the sole survivor of the 2nd Generation Angels program. Many of her fellow super soldiers died in the brutal trainings and the genetic surgeries that followed. Michelle was genetically modified with enhanced strength, lightning fast reaction times and superior situational awareness that allows her to predict what her target's next move will be before they do it. Her enhanced strength comes from her strengthened muscle tissue where most blunt weapons can't puncture her skin. One of the more horrific surgeries she underwent involved having her entire natural skeleton separated from her skin and flesh and completely replaced with a full titanium alloy exoskeleton which accounted to 85% of the fatalities during the inhumane training period. Only her skull was sparred from the gruesome procedure and her spinal cord was heavily reinforced with nano-alloy plating.
Her flight suit is also the newest model too, made specifically for the Gen. 2 Battle Angels but as Michelle was the only one to survive the program only one was made specifically for her. Made entirely of nanomaterials Michelle can control the billions of nanomachines to configure and modify her suit at will as long as she is in her under suit.
Michelle stands at a full 6 feet 2 inches compared to Ryan who stands at 5 feet 8 inches, has a slim but curvaceous build thanks to her genetic modifications and sports a 34DD bust. She is 26 years old and a natural brunette of New Zealand origin with her hair running down her back. Her emerald green eyes are cybernetic and programed with a heads up display and her eye colour would glow in the dark when night vision is active. Normally she wears her latex bodysuit when not in combat as to hide the surgical scars from her surgeries. Not that she minds exposing them but she's very sensitive about the surgical scar she had from her surgery where she had her ovaries taken out following a cancer scare. You only see her out of her bodysuit when alone or with Ryan.
Her Armoured power suit when the nanomaterials are active, is a mixture of multilayered armour pieces, exoskeleton hydraulics, small thrusters and weapon hardpoints. Under the right neural programing and even distribution of the nanomachines the suit could weigh as much as a small car which no normal human being could have the physical strength to wear without being completely crushed. But for Michelle the suit is a part of her enhanced body as she is, in the eyes of the Unified States Armed Forces the ultimate biological weapon. The weapons attached to her can vary from powerful plasma sniper rifles, anti-infantry missile launchers, gauss autocannons and seeker drones.
Even without her nanosuit active, she still has the strength and reflexes to decapitate a fully equipped soldier with a well executed roundhouse kick or deliver a small punch with enough brute force to shatter rib cages. Despite her terrifying form, deep down she has a heart of gold and a beautiful soul inside and out. Michelle is not afraid to show off her semi-tomboy persona around the train. Unlike most of the crew she still expresses true humanity alongside Captain Ryan as she gently pulls her superior into a gentle hug.
In the time that has passed since staying together the relationship between the two has evolved significantly from starting as foster siblings to becoming an unlikely couple engaged in a dangerous game of forbidden love as Michelle leans close and locks Ryan into a deep, passionate kiss that felt like it lasted a whole hour. Their tongues overlap each other in a game of dominance while Ryan raises his left cybernetic hand to massage Michelle's cheek and lightly ran his right hand up and down her back before making a cheeky love tap on her voluptuous ass, giving it a good squeeze.
"OI!?" Michelle squeaked with a defined Kiwi accent as within a heartbeat her lightning reflexes kicked in, grabbing Ryan's wrists and with a powerful thrust of her legs launched herself and her young daring lover back across the bed they happily share with Ryan landing square back to where he was napping before.
"Uh-oh!" Ryan yelped as he could only brace and let his body go limp as he came down, his pillows caught his head and the enhanced strength of Michelle almost knocked the wind out of him as she came down on top of him. There was no point for Ryan to try and playfully resist when going up against the super-strength of his Battle Angel girlfriend as Michelle pinned him down and locked his hands above his head with no difficulty.
Michelle arched down with a seductive smile and her lower torso swaying lustfully above as she got close to where she and Ryan were touching nose to nose. "Uh-oh indeed! If you want to play with my bum, you have to bring both your hands to the table, babe!"
"Sorry, honey, but when my Emerald Angel is moving her booty like that, you're asking for a paddlin'." Ryan teased back rubbing his nose against Michelle's in an Eskimo style kiss.
Michelle could only laugh at her boyfriend's cheeky remark as she released Ryan's hands and slowly brought her latex covered body down carefully as to not accidentally crush her small and frail partner. "You certainly love being a little dangerous with how you handle your angel my love." She dug her arms under Ryan's back to lock him in another gentle, heartwarming hug and Ryan did the same to her before sharing another long French kiss. This time Ryan does gently brings both his hands to Michelle's soft buns and massages them, the Battle Angel lets out a lustful sigh of pleasure as her partner rubs his hands softly around her rump with a gentle squeeze and gives her a few more soft, playful spanks.
"I came here as soon as I could after what had happened to us. Feeling better, babe?" Michelle whispered to her young lover now fully satisfied with her bum massage.
"Much better, honey. Thank you for checking up on me." Ryan replied as he tightened his hug around the Battle Angel in pure affection. "Has Serina brought you up to speed with our current situation?"
"Fully up to speed with new intel, sir." Serina's voice echoed through the cabin as avatar materialised on a pedestal on the left side of Ryan's bed. "All senior personnel have regained consciousness and have assembled in the war room, Captain."
"Thank you, Serina." Ryan groaned at the A.I.
"We'll be out in a minute." Michelle added as she stood up from the bed.
"Take your time, Lovebirds." Serina teased as her avatar fades out of thin air.
Michelle extends a hand to Ryan to help him off their bed and put his on duster coat and with a single thought process the nanomaterials emerged from within her body suit and began the rapid assembly process of her powered flight suit.
Starting from her feet the nanomachines merged to build her shock proof boots that allows her to make hard landings when engaging in close quarters combat and can trigger a shockwave upon landing to knock enemies off their feet. As the nanomaterials slowly crawl it's way up Michelle's legs the smooth streamlining of her suit becomes apparent over the months of continuous alterations and improvements to her suit's aerodynamics. Small maneuvering thrusters begin to take shape from the bottom of her boots up her rear calf and on her outer thigh plates. small gaps break up around the knees and remould the materials for better flexibility on the joints as the thigh plates grow dense giving Michelle a more curvy figure. The crotch plate takes form on her waistline and follows her hips to link with the thigh plates. Once the nanomaterials have completely assembled Michelle's lower torso pieces the micro machines started their way up the spine to begin making her breastplate replicating her upper body posture.
The overall benefits of having a nanosuit like that of Michelle's allows her to be highly mobile while also benefiting from superior maneuverability in all forms of combat. Once the breastplate had formed the remaining materials slithered up to the base of her neck to form an inverted throat plate and down her arms to create the last angular armour pieces. At the same time the machines had created the graviton reactor on her upper breast plate and powers up almost immediately. A large circular hardpoint appears on her back as a pair of angel like wing thrusters grow from Michelle's back which can unfurl into a wingspan of fifteen feet in width and shares similar functions to variable-sweep wing fighters like an F14 Tomcat. The suits shield generator takes shape on her lower back and lastly her particle accelerator charger to power her energy weapons forms above the wing mounting.
The leftover materials that make up her aviator helmet was stored away until Michelle needed it, for now she tied up her long brown hair into a single bun as Captain Ryan was putting on his protective gear. The whole process to assemble the Supersoldier's nanosuit took no more than twenty seconds whereas for her 1st Generation counterparts their conventional suits need to put on in similar fashion to the standard Power Armour suits.
"You know, honey." Ryan spoke to his girlfriend. "For being the senior commander of the Emerald Angels, I really think you are a living goddess with the way you have your suit configured."
"You really think so?" Michelle replied as she gave herself a quick lookover at a nearby mirror. "I don't know, babe, it's just how I like the suit to give me the flexibility I need to quickly adapt to an everchanging hostile environment. But you're so sweet for saying that! Thank you."
Ryan blushed. "Your welcome, honey. You know, for someone I've known almost my entire life, I would have never expected you to become the very person that you are now. We have been through a lot of tough times since we fled our birthright countries. My parents were Australian but I was born on the American Battleship that ferried our families to Hawaii and you were evacuated from New Zealand with your family. Since my mum died in my earliest days it was you that stepped in and helped raised me up. Ever since we've lost everything and all that we loved dearly you refused to abandon me. We've been to hell and back in that cruel world and I couldn't be more thankful to go through it all with you, Michelle. I'm so happy to be with you and I am so glad I got to call you my foster sister, my best friend, and now my soulmate, honey."
"Babe, I made you a promise since you were little that I will never let go of you and that we were going to survive together no matter what! I promised your family that I will take care of you and that we will be strong. We have always solved our problems and worked together to get to where we are now. That's why I wanted to become a Battle Angel so I can protect you and our future together after this war. I am so happy to have the special relationship that we now share, I love you so much my daring and brave cowboy, my Atomic Gunslinger. You will always be safe under my wing, babe. Nothing will ever hurt you or take me away from you, ever!" Michelle cooed as she closed the brief gap to her love as Ryan wrapped his arms around her waist for a final brief hug.
"I love you forever more my Emerald Angel, my beautiful goddess and my queen of the universe. I wouldn't have been here without you, honey." Ryan tightened his hug around the love of his life and gave her a final kiss on her left cheek.
"Ready to get back to work, Captain?" Michelle spoke with renowned formality.
"Just another day in the Railway Warfare Corps, Commander." Ryan sighed peacefully as he broke his hug and took Michelle's hand to lead her to the war room. Rex and Jeep followed them out in short order.
"Alright, is everyone accounted for?" Ryan spoke out across the war-room compartment of his personal railcar.
Having woken up following the recent events that transported the "4-8-8-4" to these unknown lands the senior officers and embarked commanders immediately made their way to the back of their train to check up on their commanding officer upon Serina's request. Upon entering the private railcar the presence of the Emerald Angel brought sudden relief to them knowing that their Captain would always be okay under her care. Everyone soon gathered around the holo-Sit Rep projector in their traditional spots.
From Ryan's left side stood Michelle followed by the Locomotive's Engineer's, Fred and Steve. On the opposite end of the Projector stood Sergeant 1st Class David McKnight; The senior commander of the "4-8-8-4"s Embarked Armoured Calvary. Looping around the right side was Pilot, Co-Pilot and the Weapons Officer of the Blackhawk Gunship. Second to last is the Chief Medical Officer; Oleg Kirov of the War-Train's hospital car. Lastly to my right stood cladded in her power armour suit was Knight Paladin and fellow anomaly hunter, Victoria.
Serina's avatar materialised on the war room pedestal once more. "All relevant personnel accounted for, Captain."
"Thank you, Serina." Ryan nodded as the lights dimmed down and the holo-Sit Rep projector booted up. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, here's the current situation that we're in at this very moment. If you had a good look outside, you would already know that we are no longer in Nevada, or even in the Unified States."
Ryan's fellow officers exchanged various emotions around the room as their minds try to comprehend what their commanding officer had just said.
"I know what I just said is absolutely crazy but I can assure you all that we are no longer on the irradiated hellhole that we call home." Ryan continued his address to everyone. "As we were retreating from the nuclear bombardment on Vegas we were unfortunate to have the experience of encountering one of the rarest and most dangerous anomalies in the American Wasteland, the Space-Time anomaly."
Everyone gasped, Victoria underneath her power armour tensed up as Michelle looked at Ryan in mild shock.
"How can that be, Sir? The gunship pilot, Lieutenant Emily Earhart spoke up. "I thought an anomaly like this was just a myth?"
"We all did at first." Victoria took centre-stage, her mild German accent echoed through her helmet's speaker. "We always thought that Humanity was never prepared to fully comprehend the science behind the Space-Time Continuum. There was one organisation that almost succeeded in unlocking the secrets of time travel, they called themselves the Timekeepers. My legion of the Brotherhood was deployed to stop them from developing a machine that would allow them to do as they pleased with the timeline. We managed to stop them from interfering with the 'Reunification of the States Conference' and starting another civil war. It came at a great cost, I lost a lot of my brothers and sisters in that battle with the destruction of the machine unleashing hundreds of these Space-Time anomalies, and Boston was completely consumed in a blackhole when the facility self-destructed."
"Jesus Christ!" McKnight exclaimed with a thick Alabama accent. "I heard about what happened in Boston but I didn't think it was actually that bad."
"Well, now you know and that's all I am saying about it." Victoria stepped aside to let Ryan take the lead of the meeting again.
"Thank you, Victoria. Fred, Steve, how's the old girl up front holding up?" Ryan focused on the train's engineers as Serina brought up a hologram of the nuclear fusion powered Big Boy while simultaneously running a full diagnostic check on the locomotive.
The Big Boy's conversion from her conventional oil burning boiler to her nuclear boiler saw the steam engine transformed into the most powerful locomotive in the post nuclear world. Where the old firebox used to be had been swapped out with her fusion reactor encased in an armoured sarcophagus to protect the power source. Capable of producing energy equivalent to that of a small artificial star the locomotive can generate an endless supply of superheated atomic-plasma to keep the boiler hot around the clock. The steam energy created in the boiler is sent straight to the locomotive's two contra-rotating steam turbines that powers the locomotive's driving rods allowing the train to accelerate to speeds faster than what she was originally built from 80 mph (130 km/h) to 120 mph (190 km/h) and maintain it's top speed indefinitely with the assistance of the maglev-wheels. The old backhead controls in the cab were striped out and replaced with state of the art computer based controls with an inbuilt Co-Pilot functionality for Serina to take control of the engine if a combat situation deems it unsafe or crewmembers to remain in the cab.
The implementation of these new technologies and equipment saw further, drastic changes to the locomotive itself being completely rebuilt and upscaled with stronger materials to support the additional weight. 4014's boiler was lengthened from 85ft to 120ft to fit the fusion reactor and turbines, with the tender installed her overall length is 152ft/1" in length. The boiler sits upon a monstrously enlarged articulated chassis that replicates the signature "4-8-8-4" wheel configuration with four 48" leading wheels, eight 80" driving wheels and four 54" trailing wheels. The wheel arrangement on the tender have also been enlarged to match the trailing wheels. The weaponry on the locomotive have been completely upgraded with the 30mm C-Ram on the front platform converted to fire Ion energy rounds, The two triple railguns on the sides of the boiler have been replaced with two twin 8" casemate gauss cannons fitted to the sides of the locomotive forward of the front most steam turbine. The top mounted railguns were converted to fire gauss based slugs and the surface to air missile launchers were updated to use an improved missile design. Overall 4014 dwarfs her sister engines in terms of speed, firepower and durability all while being powered by her fusion reactor that could power the entire Eastern Seaboard for centuries.
"Better than she was before, skipper." Fred spoke happily.
"No signs of damage to the engine or the consist and all critical components are functioning flawlessly." Steve added.
"I have to admit, captain, the refit team have done an amazing job with modernising 4014. I couldn't be anymore prouder to have an engine like that pulling our train." Serina confessed.
"You and me both, Serina." Ryan nodded in agreement. "Any updates on our scouts?"
"Some of our Eyebots have reached the edge of the forest following the tracks from the front of our train. A few others have wondered deeper into the forest and retreated back here after encountering dangerous wildlife." Serina reported as the Sit-Rep projector changed to reveal a 3D map of the forest area that has been scouted before zooming in on the active Eyebots on the rim of the forest.
"Have they found any signs of civilisation or intelligent life?" Michelle Asked.
"Yes, as a matter of fact. Two of our bots have visually sighted what looks to be an apple farm bordering the forest eight clicks to the north of our current position and three other units are observing a small town twelve clicks to the North-East." Serina replied as she updated the holo-map with the farm and town in question.
"Well, that's certainly good news." McKnight studied the new map. "At least we're not alone in the world, we should contact whoever they are and see if they can help us get home?"
"Jumping the gun a bit, Sergeant?" Paladin Victoria dejected. "What if these inhabitants aren't human? What if we are the only human beings on this goddamn planet? They probably don't even speak English and how do you think their reaction would be when they see our train pull up in front of their town!"
"Easy now, Paladin." Ryan intervened. "We'll cross that bridge when we establish whose backyard we've dropped into and better understand with who the inhabitants of this land belongs to and what political system they operate under."
Ryan then turns to Serina for additional information. "Anything else you wanna report, Serina?"
"Actually, you might want to see this, Captain." Serina started as a ping highlighting a point of interest appears on the 3D map. "Eyebot unit thirty five eighty seven has detected a rogue anomaly within the apple farm. It's the Space-Time anomaly that brought us here."
The sudden news instantly caught the attention of the Knight Paladin "Captain, that anomaly is our ticket for getting back home! If we don't capture it, we could be at risk of being trapped in this dimension forever."
"Agreed." Ryan nodded. "Knight Paladin, I'm sending you out to safely capture that anomaly and bring it back to the "4-8-8-4" for study. Take a small team with you out there as well, We're only just scratching the surface of what lies outside this forest so it is equally important that you don't get spotted by the natives of this land until we are ready to make first contact with them."
"Understood, Captain." Victoria saluted her superior before starting a brisk pace for the side doors of the Skytop Lounge car.
Ryan turns to David. "McKnight, I need an LAV-50 ready to go. We need to make what time we have count to get that anomaly before it starts to decay."
"You can count on the Armoured Calvary, Captain! I'll have a vehicle ready for the Paladin." The Sergeant nodded as he followed the Paladin out.
"Honey, I need you to be Victoria's guardian angel and our eyes in the sky. Make sure nobody that isn't human sees them and any hostile lifeforms you or the team encounters that try to attack, give them nothing but a swift death, Emerald Angel." Ryan spoke to Michelle.
"Understood, babe. I'll make sure everyone comes home." Michelle smiled and gave Ryan a small kiss before her head became enclosed in her nanomaterial built aviator helmet and left the war room.
"Alright, as for rest of us, we still have our duties to tend to. I want everyone manning their defensive stations, full combat readiness. Dismissed!" Ryan ended the meeting with the remaining officers saluting their Captain and left to their duties.
"So..." Serina's avatar glanced at Ryan. "Do you really think Victoria can get us home with whatever she has planned to do with that anomaly?"
Ryan sighed with uncertainty as he looked out one of the few windows of the war room to admire the vibrant colours of the forest. "It may be our only chance, Serina. It's a risk I'm willing to take."
Next Chapter: Humanoids in the Orchards Estimated time remaining: 25 MinutesAuthor's Notes:
Hey there fellow sailors!
Sorry this one took a while to get done, I wasn't expecting to write this much but I saw an opportunity to really do some character development and expand the lore a bit. Hopefully I won't takes as long as I did with the next one but I really want to make the time to give you guys some real quality story telling. I have another chapter for Landfall coming soon and Keep an eye on Nearing the Edge by Callsign Eagle as I am doing some collaborating story telling with him and a few other friends on FIMFiction.
I am also working on something new that I'll be releasing soon, until next chapter, sailors.
I'll see you on the naval battlefield!
-Iowa
