1 Chapter 1: Station Kodiak

The obnoxious sound of rain and fast wind pummeled the airfield. The runway was wet and the winds were gusting to forty miles per hour. The engine was a hum, loud but faded, and was drowned out by the louder rain. The plane often shook left to right, as the fuselage took hits of short up and downdrafts. The occasional radio chatter from the cockpit was audible. The pilots were flying on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan to guide them in. As the plane was in low-visibility conditions, they relied on IFR instead of visual reference. The pilots called into tower, requesting landing clearance, and were cleared five seconds later. One minute later, the plane slowed down tremendously and the hum was lower pitched. A few vibrations of the aircraft, and then a thud and loss of speed, it was clear the plane was on the ground.

It turned off the runway and headed down a long taxiway. The airfield they landed at was called Kodiak, named after the island they were on. They continued their taxi and turned right when it was possible. They made their way to a point where the airplane could stop. The rain came down harder, and then thunder followed with a bright flash of light. A truck came over and extended a large staircase to the door of the plane. It was opened by members outside and they were met by the co-pilot. After a few seconds of chat and a laugh later, they turned to welcome a man who stood tall and thin. He was presented with an umbrella and was rendered a salute, in which he responded. After a few more seconds, he was pointed down the stairs and into the dark rainy tarmac and stared down for a moment.

He then stepped down, every single step was met by a splash of water which was in his way. He wore a blue Coast Guard Class A uniform and had eighteen ribbons. He also had two silver eagles on either side. His uniform was initially battered by the rain but the brunt of the attack was shielded by his umbrella.

About the same time, two technical-like vehicles and a blacked out suburban pulled forward and stopped. From the passenger side door of the Suburban, a port security member stepped out. The security member carried an M4 and had body armor. He bore a green NWU III uniform and also had a helmet. On his vest, it had his rank and name on it.

The guardsman opened the back seat for the officer that arrived, and he sat inside. They exchanged a quick salute and the door was closed. The guardsman entered the passenger side door, and the vehicles started to drive. The inside had a small light that illuminated the back seat. The only light source in the front was from the speedometer. The rain now was muffled, the sound of rapid drops hitting the top of the large SUV drowned out the small chatter on the radio inside the car. In the car was the driver, who was another port security guard. In the back was him alone.

"Good to have you back, Captain." said the driver.

He was a black man and wore a uniform hat, not a helmet like his companion. He also wore body armor and basically everything else the other man had. The voice was familiar to the man in the back with the dress uniform.

"Darnell? Since when did you join PSU? I thought you were still in MSST." he said.

"No. Captain, I was turned away because I didn't pass some of the security clearance needed, but the PSU quickly swooped me up before NSF or TACLET approached. I am a Petty Officer 2nd Class now, I was recently promoted." said Darnell.

"Oh, well that's great to hear. How's the kid? He still doing football, or is he playing video games?" the dressed man said.

He took his uniform hat off and kept it to his lap. He had black hair.

"Yeah, Deshawn is alright. He's still going through the process of turning his life around after the whole ordeal. His mom is worried if he will relapse though. We made him join JROTC, maybe it will help."

"That's good," The Captain had paused for a moment, thinking to himself for a bit, "...What's new?"

"The new ship just arrived the other day, we've just appointed a captain for it. It's supposedly the flagship for the all pacific forces that we got."

"Eh, that is nice. Where is it from?"

"It was purchased as a gift for us by Homeland Security. They bought two, both are flagships of their specific area. They are Spanish Navy design was bought from Homeland Security for us, and the Navy used their contracts to construct it here for us," he said, clearing his throat now, "It was supposedly meant to be based in Alameda, with a bunch of other cutters. I don't know it's specs, I just saw it come in. It looks bigger than the National Security Cutters."

"Oh wow, that's actually crazy. I didn't know that. I wonder how much it costs."

"Yeah, it probably costed a lot from what I can tell. It's the first cutter to incorporate the AEGIS Combat System. Ballistic Missile Defense capabilities will be added to the software in about 2-4 years to assist the navy."

"That's got to be expensive man."

"Yeah, it costs us near damn well a billion dollars, I wonder if command even thinks it is worth it. It's a domestic design but it is an old one that was retired for a reason. I don't see a reason why we would put it back in service."

"You hear about what happened in San Diego?"

"Yeah, I actually called my buddy from Alameda, the District has ordered a full mobilization of all CG members in the area. Apparently he's being deployed."

"It's so weird, and then I'm suddenly back on mandatory call while I was on LOA? It's just not a regular thing you would expect."

The vehicle had turned into a garage, and the passenger got out. They opened the door for the Captain, who got out, and put his hat on. He held his suitcase, and walked into the adjacent building which had a sign on the side of the door. It read out as "HQ." The new building was one of the first modern feeling building on the base. The driver and guard stepped out, the driver moved around the front of the car.

"I guess so."

The guard stood by the car. Darnell moved forward, and then opened the door for the Captain.

"Nice to have you back, Captain." the man said.

"Thank you, Darnell."

"No problem."

"I still can't believe it...what day is it again?"

"15th of June, Captain."

The Captain stood at the door, looking in. He knew from what was given to him in this suitcase made this meeting probably one of the worse things to happen to him.