Chapter 63 – Mop Up

RonTheBlackCat

1138 April 15th, 2020 CE (Washington DC Time)

0538 April 15th, 2020 CE (Hawaii Time)

Hawaii

“Their submarine fleet is turning around!”

Cheers rose in the brig of the USS John C. Stennis. Rear Admiral Kirkland smiled. 

“Mission accomplished everyone.” 

Although the elves were retreating. ASROC missiles were still being fired. The streaks of smoke from the missiles could clearly be seen as the day started to brighten. The tip of the sun was barely peaking out of the horizon. 

Somewhere in the “Pacific”

Multiple RHIBs sped across the ocean. Large wakes formed behind them. An MH-60S flew over them and headed towards the same direction. A few more MH-60Ss followed behind. 

The lead helicopter came upon a bunch of wooden lifeboats. Whilst keeping a distance, they hovered. 

<<<“This is the US Navy. You are being rescued. Do not resist! We are here to help. Under the Gene…”>>>

The announcer stopped for a second. Realizing his mistake, he coughed before continuing.

<<<“Ahem… Under the oath of the government of the United States, you will be treated humanely as prisoners of war.”>>>

One of the MH-60S started lowering itself at one of the lifeboats. 

An elf on the lifeboat stuck his hand out towards the sea. A small blob of water rose out of the sea and the elf swung his hand at the MH-60S. The blob of water flew towards the helicopter and stuck it. It shook a bit from the impact.

“Aw fuck! They are shooting at us!”

“Abort! Abort!”

More and more elves stuck their hands out at the water. The MH-60S quickly started pulling back up as more blobs of water started hitting it. The water was hitting so hard that it sounded like the ricochets of bullets. 

After returning back to its original position, the firing stopped 

<<<“We aren’t able to get close. They are shooting at us with their magic.”

“Understood. Give them a warning.”>>>

The elves in the lifeboat cheered as the MH-60S backed away. The elves started hollering at the helicopters. 

“Get out of here you inferiors!”

<<<“We are only here to rescue you! I repeat we are here to rescue you. We have no intent on harming anyone. You will be treated humanely.”>>>

A few of the elves tried to hit the helicopters with their water bullets but they lacked the range to do so. They soon stopped firing and started rowing their lifeboats

Washington D.C.

Cralson gave a suggestion after learning that the elves were firing at the rescue helicopters. 

“If they continue resisting we will probably need to shoot them.”

President Hayes raised an eyebrow.

“Won’t that be considered a war crime?”

“War crimes aren’t important in this world anymore. I’m pretty sure the word ‘war crimes’ doesn’t even exist in this world. We will probably face no international backlash for what we do.” 

“Okay…but what I meant was public perception. We should be asking whether or not the American people will be outraged by our actions. And I don’t believe the public would approve. It will definitely seem like we are shooting defenseless people in the waters. The media will have a hay day with that. It’s domestic backlash that’s important now.” 

“But Mr.President, we can’t just leave them there! We can’t let them land in Hawaii. They are clearly rowing towards Hawaii. They will endanger people if they land.” 

The President couldn’t respond. He sat there in deep thought. 

“Tell the commanding officer to threaten them but don’t actually shoot them. Let’s see what happens.”

Somewhere in the “Pacific” 

Only the sound of the blades could be heard as the MH-60Ss hovered in the sky. 

<<<“Continued resistance will be met with deadly force! I repeat. Continued resistance will be met with deadly force!”>>>

The lead MH-60S lowered itself once again and once again, the elves shot at it.

Washington D.C. 

“The Rear Admiral is asking whether or not he has permission to shoot. He doesn't sound too happy about us telling him what to do.” 

“Well I’m the commander in chief and it’s my reputation on the line here. Are the RHIBs armed?”

“The personnel on them are. The RHIBs themselves aren’t.” 

“Then instruct the MH-60 to fire warning shots at the elves. If the RHIBs are shot at when they arrive, then they can return fire with intent to kill.”

“Somewhere in the “Pacific” 

The .50 cal on the open side door of the MH-60S opened up in a few quick bursts. Small amounts of water sprouted up close to the elven boats as the bullets hit the water. 

<<<“These are warning shots! Boats are here to pick you up. If they are shot at, we will use deadly force!”>>>

The RHIBs quickly came into view. 

<<<”Dolphin 1, this is Angel 1. The elves are not cooperating. We have fired warning shots. Try getting closer. Weapons Hold. Stay frosty. Over.”

”This is Dolphin 1. Heard you loud and clear. Out.”>>>

“They are opening fire!”

The sailors on the RHIBs ducked as water bullets whizzed over them.

The single .50 cals on the side door of the MH-60Ss opened up at the boats. The sailors on the RHIBs started firing their rifles at the elves. Water sprouted up as .50 caliber bullets hit the ocean. Holes were punctured through the elves’ wooden boats. The elves tried to shoot back with water bullets but were being quickly cut down. The sheer volume of fire terrified the elves. Some of the lifeboats started taking on water and sinking. A couple of elves jumped into the water in a desperate attempt to survive. 

Many dead elves floated on the ocean but there were still many boats afloat. The elves who survived started raising their hands in surrender.

A few minutes later

“Get them on the boat. Don’t let your guards down. Their literal hands are weapons. Don’t hesitate to shoot if you see them lift their arms.” An RHIB got up next to one of the elf lifeboats. One by one, the sailors dragged the elves onto the RHIB. Every time an elf was helped on, at least four M4 rifles were aimed at them. The sailors had their fingers on the trigger and were ready to shoot at a moment's notice. The other RHIBs and MH-60Ss all had their guns trained on the other lifeboats. Each of the elves’ hands was zip-tied as hard as possible to prevent movement. 

Petty Officer (3rd Class) Dan Hailey did a quick sweep of the elves being rescued. 

“We captured quite a few of them alive. I thought they were all suicidal.” 

1120 April 15th, 2020 CE 

0540 Sun 15th 196 AE

Afvalin, Elven Nation 

“Our assault fleet has failed and the Americans have pushed us out of the seas near the Magus Imperium.”

Tarron slammed his fist on his table. 

“It seems like the Navy can no longer protect us. How is the defense construction going?”

Tarron’s advisor stayed silent for a second. 

“My Leader, wouldn’t you like to know about the condition of the assault fleet?”

Tarron raised his eyebrows. 

“There are still survivors?”

“Yes, about 30 or so submarines. They are being pursued and attacked. The Navy is trying to save them.”

Tarron waved him off. 

“That’s the Navy’s concern now, not mine. I want to know how our defense situation is.”

“Well, we have hidden hundreds of tanks, dug thousands of miles of trench line, placed down thousands of mines, and antiaircraft guns blanket the land. We also have large weapon stocks ready to be handed out.”

“What about the PAMs?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Tarron looked a bit irritated

“The portable anti-magipanzers?”

The advisor flipped through the papers on his clipboard.

“Those are uhhhh… under mass production and will be available soon.” 

1153 April 15th, 2020 CE (Washington DC Time)

0553 April 15th, 2020 CE (Hawaii Time)

Somewhere in the “Pacific”

An MH-60R flew swiftly through the sky. It was on a search and destroy mission. Near the left side door of the helicopter, there are multiple evenly spaced holes. A sonobuoy popped out from one of these holes and splashed into the ocean. 

<<<“This Hawk One. We have found multiple submarines miles in front of our position. Will be engaging. How copy? Over.”

“Solid copy. You are free to engage. Out.”>>>

On each side of the very small stub wings of the helicopter, there was an Mk54 lightweight torpedo. It launched both. 

The other MH-60Rs were speeding to the location.

1210 April 15th, 2020 CE 

0605 Sun 15th 196 AE

Somewhere in the Magus Imperium 

An American engineer got out of the M4 Sherman. 

“Congratulations on your first M4 Sherman. Seeing that you followed the manual to a tee, there should be no issues with it.”

Emperor Arstant nodded with an impressed look on his face. Compared to the clanky-looking and riveted Magusian magitanks, the M4 Shermans had much smoother armor. 

“Good! Very good! I like it.” 

“I do recommend you test fire it though. I’m an engineer so I don’t actually know if you made the ammunition correctly. The gun is made correctly though.”

Hasta Air Base, Magus Imperium 

“Get the papers loaded!”

Originally a small airbase with a bumpy runway that accommodated the wyverns of the Magus, the airbase had gotten larger and larger ever since the arrival of the Americans. There was now even a brown stone sign right outside of the base with the white words “U.S. Air Force” and “Hasta Air Base” right under it.  It was located next to the small town of Hasta and right behind the massive Zaitha Jungle that cuts through the Magus Imperium. 

Large containers of papers were stacked into the C-130. The sound of more and more planes landing could be easily heard. Various units have already been stationed at the Hasta Air Base. 

1302 April 15th, 2020 CE (Washington DC Time)

Washington D.C.

President Haye had a busy day ahead of him. He had spent most of the morning keeping a close eye on the situation near Hawaii. Now with that over, he still had to deal with the affairs of the rest of the day. He sat down in his chair in the Oval Office and rifled through his Presidential Daily Brief. A knock came on the door.

“Come in Cralson. What did you want to talk about?”

On his way to return to his office, Cralson had urgently told him that he had a very important message.  

“Well, it seems like the Magus wants to cooperate with us in the invasion.”

“I don’t see why not. They have been quite useful in the past and we just gave them Shermans and P-51 Mustangs.”

“I really don’t think we need to do a joint offensive. It would just be too big of a headache and I don’t really trust the capabilities of the Magus.”

“Well, we have the technological capabilities while the Magus has the numerical one. There have been circumstances where the Magus have been quite helpful with their numbers.”