G Hopf - The End

“What’s going on, Gunny?” Sebastian asked.

“Apparently we lost the USS New Orleans ; the captain of the ship was able to retake it. Men loyal to the colonel are being transported here in exchange for those who don’t want to be here. You both will just be another set of eyeballs out there. If you see anyone who wishes us harm and have a shot, take it.”

Sebastian thought that God was playing a trick on him. This was exactly the opposite situation he wanted to be in.

“Grab your spotters, gear and get your ass topside,” Gunny commanded.

“Yes, Gunny,” both Sebastian and Jennings said.

When Sebastian and Tomlinson made it topside they were welcomed by the noise of Harrier jets taking off. They quickly proceeded to their position and set up next to the flight deck. Sebastian looked through his scope and he could see the USS New Orleans and estimated it was a mile away. He could barely make out people on the deck, but he could see the aft ramp was down. Assault amphibious vehicles were in the water heading their way. He kept peering through the scope and spotted two LCAC hovercrafts also heading their way. The plume of water put out from the hovercrafts made it easier to spot them versus the AAVs.

An hour had gone by and the operation to remove all those loyal to Barone from the New Orleans was going smoothly. The Harriers were making runs past the New Orleans in a show of force and the LCACS and Amtracs were going back and forth between the two ships. Sebastian thought to himself that it would be nice to go without any incident today.

“How long do you think this is going to take?” Tomlinson asked.

“As long as it will take, T.”

Just then, gunfire broke out below them.

“What the hell?” Tomlinson asked out loud.

They both stood up and tried to look down from their position back into the ship’s well deck. Whatever was happening had taken place inside the belly of the ship. The gunfire lasted only 20 seconds before it was silenced, the short-lived silence was broken by the sound of General Quarters. Sebastian and Tomlinson were trying to see something but their position prohibited a good view back into the ship. Within moments following the call to General Quarters, a blast shook the ship behind them. Sebastian turned around and saw smoke coming from a hatch on the super structure of the ship. More gunfire broke out but they could not identify its location before it stopped as quickly as it had started.

“What do we do?” Tomlinson asked.

“Just hold tight, if we can get any shots, we’ll take them.”

They could hear the rapid gunfire of the Phalanx anti-ship missile system followed by an explosion just off the port side of the ship.

“Oh my God, they shot a missile at us!” Tomlinson screamed.

Sebastian didn’t respond. He was whipping his head around trying to see if anything was coming his way or if he had a target he could shoot.

The Harriers that had been making runs past the New Orleans had pulled away from the ship and were flying above it in the clouds. Sebastian could hear them but not see them. Then, without notice, a missile was launched from the New Orleans , it went straight up. Both he and Tomlinson watched it travel into the clouds and out of sight. The seconds that passed seemed like forever, but an explosion echoed across the wide open ocean. Debris rained down from the clouds into the vastness of the water below.

The rapid fire of the Phalanx from the New Orleans then sounded. It was attempting to knock missiles from the Harriers out of the sky. Fortunately for the New Orleans , their Phalanx did its intended job and destroyed the incoming missiles.

“Can you believe this?” Tomlinson asked.

“Yes, I can. This is what I was talking about,” Sebastian now was getting upset again.

As they were watching the fighting near the New Orleans they had all but forgotten the fighting on their ship. It had been quiet for minutes now.

Another missile launched from the New Orleans with a similar trajectory as before. It disappeared into the clouds but this time no explosion followed its potentially lethal flight.

Barone’s Harriers responded with another volley of missiles but the New Orleans ’ Phalanx destroyed them.

Moments had passed with no missile exchange when an explosion like nothing they had heard yet echoed from across the ocean. They both turned their attention to the New Orleans and saw that the ship had been hit on the starboard side.

“Oh my God, did one of the jets finally hit it?” Tomlinson yelled out.

Another explosion followed on the same side as the other, flames shot out of side and the ship started to list. The damage done to the New Orleans was not from a Harrier but from the USS Topeka .

Taking advantage of the damage to the ship, several Harriers fired again. This time, the Phalanx was only able to take one missile down. Two found their way to their deadly destination, the bridge of the New Orleans . More flames and debris came from the ship. The ship was taking on huge amounts of water and began to list even more. Heavy black smoke poured out of the gaping holes on the side and from what had been the bridge.

“Did you see that? That was fucking awesome!” Tomlinson said. He was smiling behind his binoculars.

Sebastian looked at Tomlinson in disgust. He reached over and grabbed the binoculars and scolded him.

“What’s wrong with you, those are Americans. Those are our countrymen. This is not funny!”

“Corporal, I’m tired of your whiny bullshit. Stop complaining. You wanted to go home and this is what it takes to go home.”

“I don’t think that the means justify the end for me.”

“Stop being a bitch, corporal. I am so sick of you whining about this shit. If you don’t like it then you have a choice.”

Sebastian didn’t answer Tomlinson, because in some way he was right. All he was doing was complaining and if he felt this strong about it he’d do something. He thought to himself, What could he do? Where would he go now?

“Here,” Sebastian said to Tomlinson, handing him back the binoculars.

Tomlinson snatched them out Sebastian’s hands. He leered at him for a second then went back to watching the battle across the water.

Sebastian leaned against the bulkhead and looked through the railing as the smoldering and smoking New Orleans lay on its side. He could see all the lifeboats and rafts being deployed. The Harriers overhead kept making passes near the ship but the fighting was now over. The New Orleans was a complete loss, hundreds of men were dead. Sebastian wondered what damage his ship had taken. The smoke from their ship billowed out of the well deck and the super structure behind him.

“Do you think they’ll serve turkey today for Christmas?” Tomlinson asked.

Sebastian just turned away and shook his head.

“I need a damage and casualty report,” Barone ordered, walking into the CIC. He had just been on the bridge overseeing the final loading of the survivors from the New Orleans . The ship’s first officer Navy Lt. Montgomery, his executive officer Maj. Ashley, Lt. Colonel Pelton the VMA-214 Attack Aircraft Squadron Commander and Sgt Major Simpson were already in the briefing room.

“XO, what do you have?” Barone asked, Ashley.

“Sir, our damage was limited. We lost one LCAC which has been replaced by one from the New Orleans . We have three KIA’s and 22 wounded.”

“Give me what you have from the New Orleans ,” Barone then ordered.

“Between us and the Pearl Harbor we were able to rescue 468 Marines and 337 sailors. Unfortunately, Lt. Colonel Silver was lost as was Capt. Newsom,” Ashley said, reading off a pad of paper.