Chapter 27: Reckoning

Daban was on the cusp of spring.

For the first time in months, the temperature around the city was starting to rise. The skies weren’t as overcast or dreary as they’d been, and the first hint of greenery was beginning to return to the beleaguered city.

Adalbert Avila was troubled about how to think or feel about the return of spring. Like any other man, he welcomed the change in weather. He was thankful not to have to trudge through the heavy snow or feel the biting chill every time a door was opened to the outside.

On the other hand, he disliked it merely because he couldn’t really enjoy the warmer temperatures by being outside. Daban itself was still under a tenuous siege by his brethren in the Swabian army, and if Adalbert was caught behind enemy lines, the penalty was going to be death.

Since the war showed no signs of coming to a close just yet, there wasn’t much else he could do except stay bottled up like a rat. Neither side was strong enough to push the other out, and it seemed like everyone was content to wait until spring to see what warmer temperatures might bring.

Adalbert hoped it would be sooner rather than later. He was tired of hearing rumors about what one side was going to do or the other. With Swabian lines only a few hundred yards from where he stood, he just wanted this war to be over. He wanted to stop having to look over his shoulder in Daban, and more importantly, he wanted to find out when Jack Easterbrook was going to ride to the city’s rescue.

In that regard, he’d almost given up hope. It had been nearly six months since Easterbrook left the country, and there was no word yet on his return. Adalbert was nearly to the point where he believed he might not come back to Picardy, for surely if he was going to try to save the country, he would have arrived by now.

Instead, he let Picardy languish on the brink of oblivion for months. Wherever he was, it didn’t seem like coming back to Daban was a priority for him.

Unfortunately for Adalbert, it was also the only way he could go back to Swabian lines without being killed by either Magda or his cousin. He had to bring Easterbrook to them or else he would continue to live like a pariah.

Today though, he wasn’t going to let any of that bother him. One nice thing about being this close to Swabian lines was the chance to catch up with his countrymen. Adalbert had discovered weeks ago that the allied lines in this section of the city didn’t cover every nook and cranny of the urban landscape. It was only a small oversight on the Picard part that allowed him to slip down a backstreet, crawl under a fence, and prowl down a quiet alley until he was quite literally right on top of Swabian lines.

Of course, the first time he did this, he nearly got shot—the result of a quick trigger finger from a young Swabian recruit. Adalbert had only gotten his hood down in time, showcasing his Swabian features and avoiding a quick and unfortunate death.

As luck would have it, one of the lieutenants in charge of that section of the line was known to Adalbert, being an old chum that grew up on the same portion of Cormfeld as he did. Since then, Adalbert had a reliable contact within the Swabian army to obtain news about the current situation.

It also helped that all of it occurred under Magda’s nose since he didn’t doubt that if she caught him, he’d soon be resting not-so-easily on those impaled stakes she loved so much.

That evening, Adalbert snuck out of the tiny hovel he shared with Darcy the whore and joined the crowd of those that were heading home for the evening. Adalbert preferred going out at this time over all others. He could more easily blend in with the crowd, not having to worry about his features sticking out because of his covered head. It was also better than going out in the dead of night, where any single person might draw attention based on the overall lack of people. Adalbert preferred slipping by in broad daylight, so he arranged this meeting time with his Swabian lieutenant friend every week to get news.

The mass of people steadily died down as they got closer to the front lines, and then they became sparse altogether. Adalbert crept down the alley, slipped under the fence, and approached Swabian lines like he’d practiced many times, stopping when he heard the command.

“Password,” said the brisk Swabian voice just ahead of him. Even though Adalbert couldn’t yet see the soldier, he had no doubt that a rifle was now trained on his body. He gave the password when prompted, revealing a Swabian soldier tucked into the shadows who soon gestured him forward.

“You’re late today,” accused the private, a smarmy-looking fellow that Adalbert instantly disliked.

“Better late than never,” he replied. “Where’s Gil?”

The private gestured his head to a decrepit-looking building across the street. “Where he always is. Don’t keep him waiting any longer.”

Adalbert rolled his eyes and made his way quickly to the building. At one time, it looked to have been a post office, with hundreds of tiny mailboxes and large sorting rooms all along the first floor. Now it was the headquarters of Delta Company, 2nd Battalion of the 7th Regiment. The first floor entrance had been turned into two machine gun nests, and the entire building had been fortified to repel an attack.

Since an attack wasn’t imminent, the second floor was being used to house the officers, and that’s where Adalbert found Lt. Gil Barnes, the commander of Delta Company. Gil hadn’t changed much from the way Adalbert remembered him from back on Cormfeld. He was still tall and lanky, and that overbite was never going to go away, but what Adalbert liked the most about the man was his healthy disdain for the higher leadership in the Swabian Army, including those like Magda.

“There you are,” said Gil when Adalbert showed up. “I didn’t think you were coming today.”

“My whore kept me busier than usual,” said Adalbert as he slumped down into a chair next to Gil’s desk.

“What a problem to have,” quipped Gil. “If only we’d all be so lucky to have such a problem.”

“Trust me, even fucking the same whore over and over again gets tiring,” said Adalbert. “If Darcy wasn’t so easy to manipulate, she would have lost her usefulness months ago.”

“Well, you can always send her my way,” said Gil with a greasy smile. “I’d be delighted to take her off your hands for a while. A three-hole whore is always welcome in my book.”

“I’ll be sure to do that when I’m done with her,” said Adalbert before gesturing outside. “Your man out there questioned me on my lateness today. That usually doesn’t happen out there. They usually just point me in your direction and that’s the end of it.”

Gil nodded. “Rumors are rife today, my friend. I heard from the colonel two days ago that a foreign fleet was spotted off the southeastern coast of Picardy.”

Adalbert raised an eyebrow. “Carinthian?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” said Gil. “Apparently, the lookout didn’t get to see the flags on the vessels because it was too dark. Could be Galician for all we know.”

Adalbert chuckled. “I highly doubt we’d find any Galician dogs in this corner of the world. They’ve been docile little puppies for the better part of a hundred years now.”

“Still, it does beg a question of who it is,” said Gil. “We haven’t spotted the Carinthian or Picard fleets since that action off the coast months ago when we sunk several of their ships. We’ve assumed they’ve been licking their wounds in Carinthia, but it could easily be them coming back for a round two. Not to mention, no one has spotted that foreign fleet that was around nearly six months ago and then seemed to vanish.”

Adalbert’s ears perked up a little on hearing that. “I think you mean the Javans.”

Gil shrugged. “Whoever the hell they are. It doesn’t matter to me though. Ever since the Swabian fleet took up position at the entrance of the bay, any invading force is going to have to go through them before they get anywhere close to Daban. You know how the enlisted men are though. They hear the slightest bit of news that isn’t entirely positive and they all start to panic.”

“That’s still interesting news though,” said Adalbert. Could it be that Jack Easterbrook is finally coming back to Daban after all this time?

“More interesting news would be when we’re going to end this siege,” remarked Gil. “The men are restless. It was a hard winter. Many of them didn’t get proper winter coats or footwear until it was too late. It was only because we got reinforcements from Swabia that our army didn’t fall apart completely. The flip side to that is that there are a lot of green men out there. I’ll be happier once I know when we’re going to finish the job.”

“Any word on that yet?” asked Adalbert.

Gil shook his head. “I wish I knew my friend. The she-devil in charge of the army doesn’t let such plans out to us peons that easily.”

Adalbert started to laugh. “She’s even worse in close contact. Be grateful that you’re just a distant peon to her.”

Gil grinned. “I count my blessings on that subject every day.”

Adalbert matched his grin. “So what else is new? Surely there has to be more than that going on in the army after this whole week?”

Adalbert was only half-listening as Gil went on about the arrival of another regiment. On his brain still were the rumors of the enemy fleet and the chances that it might be Jack Easterbrook coming back to the country. In the deepest part of his soul, he knew that this foreign fleet wasn’t Carinthian, Picard, or Galician for that matter.

The Javans were coming back, and with them, his only chance at getting back into his cousin’s good graces.

The conversation with Gil went on for another twenty-five minutes before Adalbert professed a need to slip back into the city before it got too dark. The trip back to the house he shared with Darcy was uneventful, and he walked into the side entrance of the house just like their rules specified. He never used the front door since it was all too likely that Darcy might be with another man out there (who would question the sudden appearance of a Swabian in her living room). That was indeed the case when he walked in, hearing the familiar sound of fleshing slapping against flesh along with muted moans emanating from the front portion of the house.

It only took another thirty minutes for Darcy to finish up, kick out the customer, and slip back to where he was situated outside the kitchen.

“You’re back,” she said as she tied her robe tighter.

“I’m back,” said Adalbert before looking down at the floor. “And I finally have the news I’ve been waiting on.”

“We should be seeing the entrance to the bay at any time now,” came the radio transmission from the commander of destroyer Maddox, Lt. Commander Alex McGrath. “Visibility isn’t the best right now but our map shows we’re almost there.”

Jack Easterbrook pursed his lips in thought before he replied back to Alex. “Keep me informed on what you see. Remember, all of our intel seems to indicate that Daban is once more under siege. Expect to see enemy vessels within the bay.”

“Aye, Jack, we’re on it.”

Jack attached his radio back to his belt and gazed out from the bridge of the Destiny as the great mass of Picardy passed on their port side. It hadn’t been quite two weeks since they left Sorella, the remote island being far enough away from Picardy that it required such a long voyage. That time was augmented by the fact that most of Picardy was now in enemy hands, meaning they had to be vigilant as they made their way up the eastern coast of the country.

For Jack, it was long overdue. When he’d been called back to Java over six months ago, he’d left Picardy in the middle of a war. Their job wasn’t done, and with the rapidly-changing fortunes of the war still on the balance scales, it was time for them to finish the job.

Most importantly, he was looking forward to seeing faces he hadn’t seen in half a year. Vera and Greg were at the top of that list. Dustin, for that matter, was too. He even missed Aedan and Ciara, and he knew they needed his help now more than ever. It was the reason why he sailed as quickly as he could (or as quickly as the Centurion would allow) to help relieve the siege.

It was also why Jack chose to make the decision to bypass Andalucia for the time being, leaving the Javan viceroy in place. It was an unpopular decision with most of the higher command within his force but it had to be done. Daban was in dire straits with half the city occupied, and Jack still hadn’t pinned the spy in his force on any one person. Captain Barnabas of the Centurion was the chief suspect but so far, they hadn’t been able to incriminate him as being the leak of the information.

And until they could stop the leak, Jack wasn’t about to risk Bancroft finding out about the removal of another Javan viceroy.

That meant that Andalucia had to continue where it was for now but it only gave further impetus for Jack to figure out who was behind the leak. He had to nail Barnabas on it before the man could do further damage to his mission.

“Jack, are you okay?” asked Kat from his side. “Your fists are clenched.”

Jack looked down to see how tightly he was gripping the armrest of his commander’s chair. “Just a little tense, I suppose,” he said, casting thoughts of Barnabas to the back of his mind. “Anxious to see what awaits us in Daban.”

Kat smiled. “I think you’re just anxious to see our friends. I know I’ll be happy to see all of them again too. Especially Vera.” Kat rested her hand over her stomach. “I can’t wait to tell her the news.”

Jack smiled and looked at her stomach. Even three months pregnant, Kat still wasn’t showing much of anything in regards to a baby bump. When she took her clothes off each night, her slim and slender figure barely showed any hints of pregnancy around her midsection just yet. Jack had noticed that it seemed like her breasts were a tad fuller in size than they were before, a small enough difference that only a lover would pick up on.

In every other aspect, Kat looked like her normally radiant self. It was also making Abigail a little jealous, or perhaps even giving her baby fever.

“What if I just accidentally misplace my pills?” Abigail suggested to him in bed one evening. “And then oops! I get pregnant. Nothing that can be done!”

Jack started to chuckle. “You really think I can handle two pregnant women right now? You saw how I reacted when Kat told us about it.”

“True, but it was a bit of a surprise,” said Kat, resting Jack’s hand against her bare breast. “You recovered quite nicely as I remember.”

“She just looks so good right now,” pouted Abigail as she looked over at Jack. “Kat, your tits just look incredible. I wish mine looked that good!”

Kat shook her head. “They do look that good. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Besides, my ass will never be as nice as yours.”

Abigail regarded that thought for a moment before she conceded. “I guess you have a point there.”

Kat threw her pillow at the other woman, causing Abigail to squeal with laughter. Of course, Jack was caught in the middle of it all but he was hardly complaining. There were a lot worse fates in life than having two gorgeous women mashing their naked bodies against his.

“Okay, I give up,” said Abigail finally as she held up her hands. “Besides, I don’t want this to get out of hand.” She gestured to Kat’s stomach. “We have precious cargo in there.”

Jack didn’t miss a beat before touching Abigail’s stomach. “And someday, we’ll have the same in here too.”

That made the brunette commander a little teary-eyed. “I just want to know that your child is growing inside me too.”

Jack grinned before kissing her soundly. “In due time, love. We have all the time in the world to make babies.”

That seemed to put an end to the conversation there, even though Abigail’s baby fever didn’t quite go away. Jack suspected it would only get worse as Kat’s body began to change further with the pregnancy. It was a good problem for anyone to have, even if it did make him question how he was going to take care of a little one in the heat of conflict.

What happened in the next few minutes was a perfect illustration of the kind of danger that could find them aboard naval warships.

“Jack, I have foreign vessels right in front of us,” said Alex from the Wickes. “At least two destroyers and three cruisers from what we can tell.”

“How far out?” asked Jack as the tension on the bridge amplified. Jack looked ahead to where his destroyer screen was in front of them. He could scarcely see them in the fog, which must have meant they could barely see the enemy.

“Three thousand yards and closing,” replied Alex.

“Are we sure they’re hostile?” asked Abigail from his side. “What if they’re the remnants of the Picard/Carinthian fleet?”

Jack radioed back to Alex. “Don’t engage unless they prove to be hostile. Possible friendly ships in the area.”

“Aye, Jack,” replied Alex.

There remained a tense period of waiting as the Javan destroyers scoped out the scene at the bay, trying to determine whether there would be any action that morning or not. Five minutes passed and then ten, all without word of any action from the foreign vessels. All of that peace was destroyed in a matter of moments.

“Torpedoes in the water, I repeat torpedoes in the water,” came the call from Laura Pollard of the Maddox as she read off the course of the torpedoes to the rest of them.

“Hostile vessels have opened fire, permission given to engage the enemy,” said Jack as he radioed out to the entire task force. “Destroyers move in and engage. Cruisers and battleship Centurion, turn hard to starboard and prepare to fire on the enemy.”

The Destiny lurched immediately after the order was given, and the entire task force soon pushed off from the coast to a more perpendicular heading that took them across the bay instead of inside of it. Along the way, Jack caught the first sight of the hostile vessels, indeed seeing three cruisers and two destroyers that were hugging the coast and moving toward the bay’s exit. Jack’s change in position provided two advantages right from the start. One, the hostile ships, now believed to be Swabian, couldn’t turn without running into the Javans or the coast and were forced to keep on a straight and predictable course. Two, the Javans were able to “cross the T” of the Swabian position, enabling them to bring the maximum amount of firepower on their heads while exposing themselves to as little risk as possible.

It was also fortuitous that the Centurion was holding the rear of the task force that morning. The battleship would have the longest amount of time to sight in the enemy vessels and would remain within range long after the rest of Jack’s ships had to cease firing.

With those advantages in place, the battle kicked off as expected. The enemy cruisers were able to get off the first shots, just before the mighty guns of the Destiny roared to life. As was usually the case, those first salvos were off course, requiring updates to the range on the guns to get the next shot on target.

“A little short, Kyle,” said Jack as he watched the Destiny‘s first salvos land harmlessly into the waters just a hundred yards before reaching the enemy.

“We’ll get them with this next one, Jack, I promise you that,” said Kyle.

He wasn’t exaggerating with that next volley. The cruiser in the middle of the enemy formation took a direct hit against the superstructure, emitting a heavy and dark cloud of smoke. That volley was soon joined by one from the Valiant, and Jack soon heard Luke chime in with acknowledgment for the shot.

Nobody was prepared for the tremendous racket that would occur when the Centurion fired off all twelve of its 14-inch guns though. Coming in like a thunderclap, the battleship’s volley mostly missed the lead ship except for one single ordnance which struck against the cruiser’s starboard aft.

As the enemy prepared to launch their next response, the destroyers between them were in a dramatic race for position. It was a lopsided fight from the beginning though, with Jack’s five destroyers and one frigate soon converging on the two enemy destroyers. While their 5-inch guns were able to do some damage to the enemy, the real coup de grâce was the series of torpedoes launched by the Wickes and the Hutchins. They caused the first real fireworks of the day, crippling both enemy destroyers in a manner of minutes. Those small ships didn’t take long to sink, finding themselves at the bottom of the bay only fifteen minutes after being struck.

Meanwhile, the enemy cruisers were ready to launch their next wave of ordnance. They seemed determined to strike against the Valiant, no doubt having figured it was their best shot at doing damage to Jack’s force before they were forced under the waves to join their destroyers. Jack almost grimaced when he watched the arcing volleys center in on the light cruiser, hoping that they wouldn’t soon see a repeat of the Battle of Aberdeen.

For her bad luck, the Valiant managed to take only light damage as only a few of the shots actually connected. She took some damage on her starboard hull and against her deck, but it wasn’t a killing shot by any stretch of the imagination.

“Let’s put these fuckers under,” said Jack after having watched the Valiant remain relatively unscathed. “Centurion, focus on the lead cruiser. Stardust and Valiant, take the one in the middle. Leave the one in the rear to the Destiny.”

“Aye, Jack,” came the response from the rest of the commanders.

With their focus now lasered in on the remaining cruisers, and with Jack’s own destroyers now freed to concentrate on them as well, the Swabians had run out of options. The middle cruiser was killed off by another torpedo run, this time from the Hutchins while it was raked by the Stardust and the Valiant in turn. It started to list heavily to its starboard side after the last volley, and its guns went quiet shortly after. The sailors aboard could soon be seen abandoning ship, and it rolled over completely before sinking to the rocky bottom not long after.

The enemy cruiser in the rear was able to get off another shot against the Valiant before it too took a punishing salvo from the Destiny that set off a vicious fire which illuminated the entire visible sky. Seeing as the damage against the hull was relatively nonexistent, but since the fire was too out of control, the commander made the decision to run the ship aground, knowing there was no chance to escape. Jack watched as she soon settled in on the rocky coast of Picardy, and soon all of her sailors were trying to get onto dry land. Many of them would never make it, and there was a small handful that jumped into the water in order to try to extinguish the flames.

That wasn’t the most dramatic death that morning, as that honor would go to the lead cruiser that was under target by the Centurion. It was a lopsided contest from the beginning, with the Centurion‘s heavy guns making the enemy cruiser look defenseless. Once that cruiser saw what happened to its friends, they focused attention on the battleship but that was largely in vain. The ordnance bounced harmlessly off the Centurion‘s heavily-armored hull rendering any further contest irrelevant.

It only took a couple well-placed salvos from the powerful battleship before one connected with the ammunition room on the ship. One second the enemy cruiser was plugging along on the Picard shore, and in the next, she was blown to bits by the force of the explosion within her hull. Jack had rarely seen such a spectacle as having a full-sized enemy warship completely destroyed in a matter of seconds. There wasn’t even a question of survivors—so complete was the destruction that her wreckage couldn’t possibly support a single living soul.

Indeed, none were found. Some men were picked up from the two enemy destroyers and from the middle cruiser but that was it. None were found from the cruiser that ran aground either as their survivors made the quick haul further inland to escape any possible retribution.

After a short amount of action, the Battle of Daban Bay was over. Jack was now the master of the waterway that led to the Picard capital city.

“What do you think, Jack?” asked Abigail after the last of the survivors had been rounded up. “Shall we go to Daban?”

Jack cast his eyes off toward the western horizon. They were still far enough from the city not to see it but he knew it waited for him just beyond the waves. “Yes, let’s go.”

The cruise into the Picard capital city was just as tense as it was before the battle. Jack had the entire task force remain at battle-stations as they sailed along the bay, never knowing if any other Swabians would arrive to contest their entrance. What Jack didn’t know was that the Swabian force he’d happened upon was a token scouting force dedicated to maintaining their stranglehold over the bay. The rest of the Swabian fleet was out looking for them, having received the reports of the sighting of his task force. The two forces had passed within a few miles of each other, but the bulk of the Swabian fleet was still moving south along the coast.

For that reason, there was nothing more to be seen on the way into the city. Jack passed by the great ruined sea fortress where the world was given its first demonstration of naval-borne airpower. The fortifications still carried the scars of that battle, never having been repaired from that engagement many months ago. The rest of the country was just as bleak, giving Jack feelings of déjà vu from his first visit to the country.

“It just looks so ... desolate,” said Kat from his side, giving voice to thoughts that had only been inside his head.

“I just hope we’re not too late,” said Jack. “I hope we find that Daban is still standing at the end of this.”

Kat’s hand slipped into his. “It just has to be. The Picards are tough people. If anyone can endure this kind of devastation, it’s the people of Picardy.”

Those words were put to the ultimate test when the entire task force came to the end of the bay and cast their eyes on the first city of Picardy.

Jack had thought the Picards had it bad the last time around. This time, half the city was in ruins. Just from what he could see, there seemed to be an almost visible line of devastation that worked its way entirely around the city and ended on the coasts on either side. Outside of this line was nothing but destruction—ruined houses, blockaded streets, and scenes of despair. The city looked to be on the brink of the precipice, only needing one final blow to extinguish the light there forever.

“Good heavens,” muttered Kat. “What’s happened here?”

“Let’s hope they see our flags before anything else,” said Jack, gesturing to the large Javan and Galician flags that flew from the masts of leading ships. “I want them to know we’re friendly and not more Swabians.”

The flags did what they were intended to do. Despite the city’s near paralyzation due to the Swabian threat, no one fired upon them as they anchored out in the deepest portion of the bay. In fact, it seemed like their presence was liable to cause a bit of celebration, when large Picard flags began to wave in return. The sight of the yellow and red cross flag of Picardy seeming to beckon their entrance was enough for Jack.

“Let’s grab a couple marine squads and take the launch boats in,” he said to Abigail. “Everything looks calm ashore but just in case we’re walking into a trap, I’d rather be prepared.”

For that reason, Jack, Kat, and Abigail, and Captain Morse piled into two launch boats with two marine squads and made the short jaunt into the main docks of the city.

The effect it had on Daban was electrifying. As they neared the docks, soldiers and sailors alike on the coast could be seen in various states of jubilation. Many of them tossed their caps in the air or chanted Jack’s name as the launch boat sped by. Their ultimate destination was the scene of the most ruckus though. It was like a welcoming party had been rolled out of nowhere to accommodate them. Picard soldiers, in their finest uniforms, stood there with parade ground sharpness while the city’s population pushed in behind them, all eager to see their Javan allies once more.

Front and center in the crowd was none other than the sovereign of the Picard people, King Aedan himself. His wife, Queen Ciara, was by his side as was the now six-month-old crown prince, Davin, who was a lot bigger than Jack remembered.

“You have no idea how happy we are to see you,” called out Aedan as soon as Jack placed his feet on the shore.

Jack beamed with a smile. “There’s no power in the world that would make us forget about our friends in Picardy!”

The crowd seemed to love that answer, giving up an exultant cheer of their own. Aedan and Ciara soon moved to greet them and the young king of Picardy soon wrapped his arms around Jack.