Honor, Courage, Duty...

[Nick Foghorn Leghorn]

Foghorn paced up and down his office in Norfolk's capitol. All the preperations for the coming struggle were set. There was little for him left to do.

The sun was just rising over the ocean, and the light had begun streaming into the office through the large french windows. The light played over the adornments of his walls, over the various prizes he had taken from battles long over and forgotten.

He walked over to a wooden cabinet on the side of the room opposite the risen sun, unlocked the latch and slid open the door. He smiled as he removed the contents. First his battered Naval Infantry uniform. Stained with salt from the Red Antilles, mud from Velike, dragon's blood from Musica and a recent patch from the swordfight in Ardashir's office, it was little more than a tattered piece of cloth. But, as Napoleon once noted, "A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon". Foghorn snapped the buttons on the front of the jacket closed.

From a rack in the back of the cabinet Foghorn lifted out his sword. He pulled it out of its sheath, inspecting the blade. The nicks from his recent run-in with Ardashir were almost completely buffed out, and the blade was as sharp as ever. He ran the long, silver blade back into its scabbard and fastened the sword to his belt.

One final object appeared from the darkness of the cabinet. A Springfield model 1903 bolt action rifle with attached scope. He had absent mindedly left his old Mosin-Nagant rifle in Babkhan hands, but he felt a closer tie to this weapon than its predecessor. He slid the action open and closed a few times, feeling how much smoother the bold glided along. He slipped five rounds into the magazine, pushed them down so the bolt wouldn't load one as he closed the action and slid the bolt home.

Foghorn swung his newly found rifle over his shoulder as he left his office on the way to fight a new enemy. The first Battalion of Naval Infantry would be shipping out within the hour, with the Second battalion staying in the capitol to defend it. Chris, for some strange reason, had requested a company of Naval Infantrymen. He had detached Alpha company of the second battalion for Chris, who was to pick them up later in the day.

The stage was set. And the pawns were moving.

[Chrimigules]

"My gods... how did you find these, Lieutenant?" Captain Bobritzky said as he walked past about a dozen Vipers, all in pristine condition, in a warehouse on the edge of Norfolk's naval base.

"Noone was totally sure what was in these buildings, sir. There's another four warehouses with just as many packed in, scattered all over the base. These are the Vigilantes. All of them." Captain Bobritzky noticed that when he inspected one of them closely.

"Makes you wonder how No.3 Naval Squadron got here with noone noticing them. I hope they'll fly."

"Oh, they'll fly, sir. When I found them, I assigned the Master Chief to send some guys to check them all out. Each one is ready to fight. All they need is fuel and bullets."

"Pinnacle of Dinarchial military technology... Pinnacle of Micras's military technology... Well, we're leaving tomorrow with Naval Infantry 1st Battalion. so you make sure they're on deck when we launch."

"Aye, sir. They'll be there." The LSO, Lieutenant Kelly, made his way to the doorway of the warehouse to signal the men outside to get the equipment ready to move the Vipers out. Bobritzky's Comm officer, with a headset on to keep in contact with progress onboard the Indefatigable, their ship, got the Captain's attention.

"Sir, call coming in from HQ."

Ok, give it here." Captain Bobritzky took the headset out of her hands and put it on.

"Captain Bobritzky."

"Change of plans, Captain," Michael immediately recognized the voice of Count Foghorn, "we're leaving tonight, and I'm detaching A Company from the 2nd Battalion. Chris gave me a good 'suggestion' and we're going to go along with it. The Orion's also getting a minisub as part of the plan. You'll get a more thorough explanation once we're en route. That's all."

"Understood, sir." *Click* Captain Bobritzky handed the headset back to his Comm officer.

"Right before that, Captain, LtCdr Gaeta reported that the Majestic will be ready to launch within a couple of hours save the airwing."

"Well get back to him and tell him we're leaving tonight. His airwing will be there by nightfall."

"Aye, sir." The two sat in the back of the jeep assigned to take the Captain around the base.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The four helecopters' rotor blades came to a stop and the deck crew locked off the landing gear and checked its status. Captain Bobritzky walked up to the lead helecopter just as the door opened. Naval Infantrymen from A Company of the 2nd Battalion filled out. All of them were at least 4 inches taller than Bobritzky, and he was on the tall side. Last was the Lieutenant in command of A Company, Lt Hatch. Captain Bobritzky looked up to him as the Lieutenant saluted. The other three helecopters were now emptied.

"Lieutenant, have you been informed of the details of the plan?"

"Yes sir. My men are ready for the job."

"Good. The Orion has the minisub. We'll be executing the plan as soon as we sight hostile ships."

"Aye sir."

"Dismissed." Lt Hatch saluted and then joined his men and the entire company filled down into the ship to await for their operation. I wish I knew what the plan was. The deck crew directed the helecopters to the elevators to clear the deck for the incoming Vipers. The Majestic, nearby, already had Vipers landing and being stowed below, but the Indefatigable had to wait for these helecopters to land and empty. There better be a good reason for them being here.

Summary: Captain Bobritzky has taken his crew, awaiting the construction of the next Republican battlecarrier, to volunteer in the service of the County of Norfolk, which coincidently had carriers and Viper fighters left over from the Dinarchy-Republican split, all in pristine condition, which simply needed to be fueled up and manned. Now they are preparing to depart with the Naval Infantrymen being sent to Kaikias.