They were now once again on the move, following a lesser, but more wiser, ship that would lead them to land and hopefully someplace to call upon as a brief sanctuary.
The elven ship, that was what their race was called, had taken the lead pushing at 20 knots which was the fastest it could travel without overheating it's boilers. When the engineers who helped repair the ship returned to the Indomitable, they had learned much about the foreign warship and made some, interesting, discoveries.
For one, the engines weren't burning coal or oil, but rather were using crystalline like red stones that generated extreme heat to produce steam for a set of triple-expansion engines. Outdated in design, but the engineers expected nothing less for a ship of this design being pre-dreadnought era.
Either way, they got the engines working again and the elven ship was made seaworthy once again. Now they were on their way for this Esho Nalore where they hoped to dock and find someplace for their wounded to be taken care of. The two battleships kept a full kilometer distance apart, with the elven ship in lead and the larger human ship tailing behind in it's wake.
Earlier before the captain returned to his ship, he had learned much about who it was the elves were fighting against from the princess.
'They're called the Shuirin Empire,' He remembered her telling him. 'They're one of the many human nations that dwell in the western continents, but they've never come this far north. We were on an envoy mission to the Dwarven Kingdoms before we found their ships at sea and adjusted our course to intercept and figure out what they were doing here. It was then that they attacked us and then you showed up later.'
They were in another world, that the captain figured out and informed the rest of his bridge crew including the lieutenant, and apparently this world has inhabited by diverse races of non-human and human civilizations. The east, where they were headed, was inhabited by the elves, dwarves, and other non-human races while the west was occupied entirely by humans.
So far there's been no confrontation between either side, until today. The princess was now most concerned about the outbreak of war sparking from this event, and the Indomitable just so happened to land right in the middle of it all.
"Captain, what's the plan now?" Lieutenant Rose came up and asked the captain. "For all we know we're in unfamiliar territory and an unfamiliar world, somehow. What are we going to do from now on?"
"To be honest lieutenant, I have no idea right now." The captain answered. "But for now our current goal is to reach shore and get our wounded situated. From there we'll figure things out, and do what we can to keep our ship alive. These are unfamiliar seas with unfamiliar laws, so we best tread carefully and readily."
The news had rapidly spread to the rest of the crew, some taking it better than others. Many were anxious and on edge after everything they've been through these past few hours. For now they would remain vigilant and on guard for the next attack aimed against them and their ship.
Fortunately they encountered no such attacks as they made visual contact with shore and land. For about two hours they sailed within visual range of the newly found land following the elven battleship before the radar screens started reporting in another find.
"Radar surface contacts coming in at 015, reading two vessels at sixty kilometers out and heading at 210. Should we issue general quarters again sir?"
The captain contemplated the decision for a moment or two, before shaking his head. "Negative, not this time. It's probably a pair of elven patrol ships. Carry on with normal duties."
"Aye captain."
They continued sailing for another two hours as the sun began to set over the horizon, while making visual contact with what lookouts confirmed as two additional elven battleships approaching them. It was then that the ship guiding them started flashing a lamp in a pattern the humans could not understand, perhaps the reason why they didn't respond to their earlier attempt as Morse code communications. They used different codes. The two new battleships responded with their own patterns while trying to confirm if the Indomitable was really friendly or not.
It would seem the princess' ship was able to convince them as the two new battleships pulled off to the right and swung around hard to port to align themselves and take up escort positions on the Indomitable's port side with a kilometer wide gap between all four ships.
The elven battleship was only 90 meters in length with a beam of 15 meters, and a draft of 3 meters. While onboard repairing the engines of the princess' battleship the engineers measured the weapons to be 254mm/40 caliber guns and 76mm/50 caliber guns with zero air defenses. Guess air power has either yet to develop or they're slow in making anti-aircraft guns.
It was from then on they proceeded and make their way into the bay of Esho Nalore.
Coming upon a wide opening in the shore, the battleships all turned to starboard and set course into the bay that surrounded not only the coastal city, but also the elven capital. Along the surrounding landscape were bunkers and costal artillery batteries were constructed as a means of defense from foreign attacks via overseas aggressors. Meanwhile within the bay was a massive city wrapped around the eastern and southern edges with ports, harbors, docks, and piers spread out across the northern, eastern, and southern edges with ships of varying design and purpose.
A lot of the ships were wind powered sailboats with wooden hulls, however there were plenty of steel hulled battleships relying on steam to provided propulsion. The city behind the harbors and ports was quite the sight with three separated elevated levels supported by layers of stone. The lower lever, level with the harbors and ports, was made out of basic wooden structures with a large abundance of trees, while the middle level had fewer trees but better constructed housings with better materials. The upper level was filled with vegetation like a garden and contained a full stone palace and other structures. All buildings part of the city were made with green roofs, while farmland stretched out across the unurbanized surroundings.
Upon entering the bay, the Indomitable immediately became the full center of attention, with the elven inhabitants pausing what they were doing to look on at the massive warship entering their waters.
Quite frankly, the Indomitable was bigger than any elven ship. Even their own battleships which were formidable in size compared to other vessels in the bay.
"This is quite a welcoming committee," Lieutenant Rose said jokingly as he observed the ships dock in the harbors and sailing out of the bay around them. "Think we can get any assistance from these people?"
"It's our best option as of now." Captain Rhys answered. "They may not have the ship building technique used to build our vessel, but we'll see if they can do for our needs."
Due to the unexpected size difference of the Indomitable, the only location it was able to dock was an entire pier used to dock multiple smaller ship. The engines were cut off from the turbine and the imposing battleship slowly drifted into position with the elongated wooden platform. Almost instantly, hundreds of the elves currently on the pier came out to look on at the newly arriving battleship. The marks of battle damage along her superstructure and deck visible. What sort of opponent could possibly challenge and damage such a terrifying vessel?
"We've stopped sir. Should we begin docking procedures and tie the ship down on the pier?"
"Yes, yes we should. I have no doubt whoever rules this city is going to be paying us a visit, and we haven't seen the last of that princess." Captain Rhys predicted. "For now you have control of the ship while I'm most likely on shore. Organize our engineers and continue with repairing whatever we can repair with our current resources. Make our ship as presentable as possible."
"Aye captain. Good luck to you sir."
Crew of the Indomitable and on the pier worked together throwing ropes and using them to tie the ship in place while a platform was extended to provide passage between the ship and shore. Although no elf dared to venture onto the mysterious battleship while the human crew stood along the edges behind the safety railing looking down upon them. Staff in the medical bay were standing by, waiting for the opportunity to move the wounded on shore once they were given a place to send them for treatment.
On the pier, a few armed elves approached and made for where the ship was docked carrying spears and bolt-action rifles. "What is this? Where did this ship come from? Who're the operators?"
"Guard captain, this ship came into the harbor escorted by three of our battleships." One of the elves responded to the approaching elven captain who came to investigate the arrival of an unknown ship. "One of the ships was badly damaged but showed no hostility to this one. We believe it was brought here by them."
"One of the ships was damaged? Where is it?" The elf looked around the bay in search of the damaged battleship that supposedly escorted this behemoth. Meanwhile two marines accompanying Captain Rhys began to descend from their battleship down to the pier. They became the main focus of the pier as the elven people on it stared at them, not expecting humans of any kind to be arriving today. "You up there, halt! Stay where you are!"
The three humans stood their ground while both marines behind Captain Rhys were visibly armed with their nation's standard issue rifle, the SAR-2M1 (Semi-Auto Rifle 2 Modification 1). The weapon used a gas-operated, closed rotating bolt action for a 6.98x51mm cartridge through a 622mm long barrel. It was able to put off 40–50 rounds per minute through a detachable box magazine under the stock carrying ten rounds each.
"Are you the occupants and commanding officer of this ship?" The elven guard captain questioned the humans at the top of the catwalk between the battleship and pier.
"Aye, we are," Captain Rhys answered. "We came under the grace of Princess Vyan Hersalor after assisting her vessel in fending off an attack from a hostile fleet. We were informed we would have a space to deposit our wounded and see them tended to."
"The princess was attacked? Where is her ship?" The guard captain and other elves were alarmed as they began looking around drastically for the where the damaged battleship had docked. It had docked at a port next to a dry dock, most likely scheduled to undergo repairs.
"I am just fine, thanks to these men and their ship coming to our need of aid." A feminine voice caught the attention of everyone on the pier as they turned to see Princess Vyan approaching. "Captain Rhys, you and your sailors are welcome on our shores, however I assume my elders would wish to speak with you directly about your presence. Captain Vlamir," She turned to the elven captain standing on the pier. "Work with these men in escorting their wounded to a nearby hospital immediately."
"Yes, of course your majesty. We'll ensure any wounded they have aboard are brought out and receive medical care."
Following the princess and a few guards accompanying her, the human captain and his marines trailed behind as they approached the elven city's lower district. This district was nothing like slums or lower class of civilians, but was filled with nature, was very clean, and everyone looked to live decent lives with decent health. A lot of the district had trees in it, some in which houses were built into.
Back at the pier, doctors and nurses assisted by other crewmen were now removing the wounded from the medical bay and transporting them out onto the pier to be transported to the nearby hospital to receive proper treatment, while under the gazeful watch of the elven captain and other elven soldiers from the pier while Lieutenant Rose and human marines watched from the edges of their ship.
"I'm curious, how did you become nationless in the first place?" The princess questioned. "You mentioned it, but never yet gave me any explanation or reason for your current status. What happened?"
The captain who was following behind her sighed. "We used to serve under a proud and powerful nation, with a pride and honor filled military excelling all others in technology, logistics, and training. We were the best in both quality and quantity, if only the same could be said about our politics." A feeling of frustration came back to Rhys just thinking about them. "It was a result of incompetent leadership and political corruption that resulted in our downfall. Our enemy had a part of this, and when they declared war on us instead of fighting our leaders surrendered and handed everything to our enemy. All surrendered except us who's all that's felt our nation's might. We were labeled as traitors and rouge, but they're the real traitors."
"Sounds like a long tragic tale." The princess commented. "I only wish whoever your leaders are would've shown some competence, for your sake. No leader should ever turn over their nation without showing some pride for it. I would flip if my elders surrendered without even drawing blood in war."
They climbed an inclining road and reached the middle district with better paved roads and more infrastructure than nature. This was likely where most of the elite lived as the houses took highly into luxury and accommodation. Another incline later and they reached the upper district with massive gardens with statues and large luxurious mansions surrounding an entire palace.
"Once we reach the palace, wait in the foyer outside the throne room," The elven princess instructed to the humans. "I'll speak to my elders before they meet your presence. It's best I explain your situation to them first before you make their acquaintance."
"Very well, we'll wait until we're called upon." Captain Rhys responded as they approached a pair of large elven wood doors that served as the front entrance for the palace. The interior was made of walls with smooth marble and beams of elven wood for support and decoration with runes and small pieces of art etched into the wood. Colored murals were painted along the marble walls depicting old ancient legends and times of strife, prosperity, and honor throughout elven history. A massive chandelier comprised of various gemstones hanged from the ceiling and twinkled in the sunlight shining through the open windows along the upper parts of the walls.
Another set of doors separated the foyer from the throne room, which Princess Vyan and her guard escort crossed through and entered. Meanwhile Captain Rhys and his marines waited outside for the princess to return and call them in.
They waited for about five minutes before the doors opened and an elven guard poked his head out, catching the attention of the humans. "Queen Amisra will see you now, but your soldiers will have to remain here. No weapons allowed around the queen."
"Very well, stay here boys." Rhys ordered as the marines remained behind while the captain ventured forward and approached the set of doors leading into the throne room. Upon opening it, he was greeted with light shining directly on his face from a circular window letting in the sunlight from the far side of the room. After adjusting, his eyes were able to notice the window depicted a sun surrounded by a mural with elven figures and several other mythical creatures perhaps related to elven culture and history. Most of which he didn't even recognize as they were unlike any he had ever seen.
Set at the bottom of the mural was a large tree that expanded across the lower part of the wall, behind a wooden throne where another female elf with a flowy white gown and crown atop her head as she looked down at the human. Princess Vyan was sitting beside her on the elevated platform with a smaller throne while another large one remained empty.
"You…you're the human who has come before our capital bringing forth a massive ship unlike any we've ever seen?"
"Yes ma'am," The captain answered. "I'm Captain Rhys, commanding officer of the Battleship Indomitable. We come seeking no quarrel with you or your people, but to find assistance as we brought with us many wounded from another battle before our previous engagement."
The queen stood up and approached the human captain, inspecting him closely and curiously. Everything about him screamed wrong about the humans she was well familiar with. His attire, body and facial configuration were unlike any she had expected. They were sharp, not elven sharp, but sharp.
"I am Queen Amisra of the Elven Kingdom, and you have my thanks, for coming to the aid of my daughter and ensuring her safe return home under uncertain conditions."
"It was nothing really." Captain Rhys answered. "We were initially acting in self defense once the vessels attacking her ship fired upon us, but we're happy to have been of assistance."
"I see." The queen replied. "Either way you, your crew, and your ship are welcome within our harbor. I heard you came bringing several wounded from a battle you fought previously before encountering my daughter." She looked back at Vyan. "She told me you were on the run and are without a nation as you claimed. Quite strange conditions, but I believe that it the cause for your wounded?"
"Indeed. Our leaders betrayed our people and so we betrayed them. Let's just say they didn't take kindly and tried to beat us down into submission."
"Cowards and fools they must've been. You show a lot of honor and pride as a military officer, that I can see." The queen noted. "Perhaps we can be of assistance to each other in the future. I know this may be a lot of to ask of you, but we're already in a difficult situation with the possibility of an imminent war we're unprepared for."
The attack by the Shiruin Empire ships caught the elves by surprise, and the queen feared a war was imminent by their previous transgressions within their territorial waters. It was possible a larger fleet would approach the capital and several coastal cities, and they were unprepared to fend off such an attack.
"For now I only ask of one favor from you," The queen spoke to the captain. "To aid us against the enemy and drive their ships away from our shores if they approach. We'll be sure to repay you once we're certain the threat is no longer present."
"This sounds agreeable." The captain responded. "You have my attention, but I'll have to take this up with my crew first. We used to be sailors of a proper navy, not mercenaries so I'm not certain how they'll respond to this idea."
"I understand." The queen said and was about to speak more before an ominous buzzing sound echoed from outside the open windows surrounding the throne room. "What is that noise?"
The captain however picked up on it and was somewhat familiar as he recognized it based on his military experience.
"Your majesty!" An elven guard burst into the throne room sounding disturbed. "We're under attack, but it's not from the waters! The enemy is approaching from the skies!"
"The skies?" The queen sounded puzzled. "Is that what that noise is outside? Are they using griffins or wyverns?"
"No…no that's not it." The Captain answered as he ran for the exit. "That sounds like aircraft!"
Running outside, the entire city was captivated by the noise as they looked up and saw a growing mass of biplane piston engine aircraft flying towards their city with machine guns and bombs ready to attack. Looking around, he saw no anti-aircraft guns on any of the elven ships or military fortifications, so they must either have alternative methods or are unfamiliar with air attacks. The only guns he spotted designed for defending against aircraft were on the Indomitable, which was still parked along the pier.
"Man the guns!"