Doomsday Pillars

Chapter 145 - Armada

Uss Midway Carrier

Kenny, the CIA Analyst, spent the last 40 days with the delta force and had been on their worst mission. They had traveled from the east coast of the US to the west coast and passed through 11 different cities. They had encountered the undead, crazy mutated animals, even fellow humans chasing them for help. However, no matter how much they had wanted to help and stay, they had a mission. A mission that was the top priority and couldn't be postponed.

After 30 days of hell, they had finally reached the west coast where the carrier was sitting. They stood in front of the massive body of the USS Midway. 

Commissioned on World War II 1940, it was a battleship with 120 aviation devices of destruction, a supercarrier.

Length: 295

Beam: 41

Displacement: 60,900 meters

Speed: 33 knots

Engine: 12 boilers, four Westinghouse geared turbines[2]

Armament: 

18 × 5"/54 caliber Mark 16 guns,

84 × Bofors 40 mm guns,

68 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons

2 8-cell Sea Sparrow launchers,

2 Phalanx CIWS

The aircraft carrier could be considered a moving city on its own. It could hold 4,000 men and currently not one of them were non-essential personnel. Under the direct orders of the current president Elizabeth McCord, they had gathered the best of the surviving navy seals from the naval base of South Carolina and the remaining crew in San Diego. It had taken two weeks to select its personnel and to fill the supplies. 

The aircraft carrier was decommissioned and has been a tourist object for the last 20 years but with its old engine technology, it was a silver-lining that it became one of the last battleships still working after the EMP. Unfortunately, all of the 130 fighter jet on board of the cruiser were not usable.

It finally reached Bali after crossing the pacific ocean.

In the open helm command center of the midway carrier, a bearded man in his 50s walked in, it's the man-in-charge, Admiral Gerard.

"Officer on board! Attention on deck!"

A hundred men, all quickly standing up and gave a formal salute.

"At ease. What's the status of the delta force?"

"Sir, they have encountered locals, but fire has been shot."

'!!!"

"Who are they firing at?"

When they had first arrived at the shore, they had tried to talk to the locals, however, that's where things went south. Foreign men fully armed, an unknown ship, language barrier and the Doomsday, a misunderstanding was bound to happen

BANG BANG BANG!

The wounded mutated cat lied on the ground gasping for breath. The two little girls crying held onto it.

"Hold your fire!" Kenny observed the wounded mutated cat, it was the first time he saw something like this. All mutated animals they had encountered tried to kill them. However, this mutated cat was traveling with the two little girls and seemed to be their pet. There is also a strange bug with red dots hovering around Tiffany. These made him confuse.

As they were standing there, the ground trembled as if there was a heavy monstrous being heading towards them. The trees shook; the heavy thudding sound was getting closer and closer.

Thud Thud

"Incoming!"

The whole delta force created a defensive formation securing their flanks and raised their assault rifles. 

"!!!"

From the distance, A hulking shadows revealed itself. Monstrous mutated animal as big as a tank. It's a mutated bear. 

GGROOAARRR!!!

Seeing the monstrous figures, all the delta forces soldiers readied their finger on the trigger. They were about to clench the trigger when Kenny noticed a man sitting on top of the monstrous figure holding a steel spear on its hand. Kenny shouted, "Hold your fire!" 

The mutated bear's humongous size, razor-sharp claws, and fangs made even the most elite of the delta force gulp and run cold sweat. A stage two beast's dominating aura wasn't to be trifled with. 

The rider checked the situation calmly, slowly moving closer, not afraid of the guns, he saw the two crying little girls and a handful unconscious local guards.

Looking at the situation, the riders gripped their spears tightly and the bears bared its fangs at the foreign soldiers while gnarling.

Tiffany wiped her tears and called out to the rider, "Uncle Rama!"

Rama is the fire spiritual enhancer masters of the pencak silat society. After the monkey forest battle, Rama's injuries were severe that Rama was on treatment for days. He got left behind by Alex group. He decided to use his time to practice martial arts with his newfound peak stage mortal realm.

Just before Alex leave, Tiffany able to use her power to a mutated cat and a mutated bear, but the bear was much harder to control for her. Rama took interest with the troubled bear and decided to help Tiffany to experiment with her ability and they succed.  As time passed by, Rama grew close with the little girls and somehow become their guardian.  When he heard about a girl with a mutated cat run out of the base, he decided to quickly follow.

Kenny and the delta force soldiers have seen a mutated bear in the United States before, a mutated animal such as this able to withstand normal bullets.  Also seeing a man on top of it...

"Lower your guns," Kenny whispered. He held up his hands and said, "Hi! We represent the government of the United States. We come in peace. We are on a mission to—"

Suddenly Tiffany interrupts him... "Uncle Rama... They are bad people! They've hurt Catty!" and Tiarra crying turns louder.

"!!!"

The mutated bears roared, deafening the people. When the bears were about to charge, the honking of jeeps sounded. Three jeeps arrived and quickly surrounded Kenny and the delta force.

Devita walked out of the jeep and saw her two little daughters. As a mother she couldn't help but be angry, even so, she did her best to calm down. 

"We come in peace!" Kenny shouted.

Devita glared at the man and said in a cold voice, "If you 'come in peace', then why are there people lying on the ground? Why did you come fully armed? Is that your goodwill? If you come onto someone else's house, would you bring a gun and wave it around?!"

"I—"

"If you truly come in peace, please lay down your weapons."

The delta force soldiers looked at it each other.

Kenny understood her logic and said, "Drop your weapons, men."

"But we will have no means to defend ourselves."

Tut Tut

At this moment, a radio from one of the delta force soldiers sounded. "Follow her orders, Admiral Gerard's orders."

The surrounded delta forces gritted their teeth and dropped their weapons.

Devita walked closer to Tiffany and Tiarra and hugged them. Other than the wound on Tiarra's knees they were fine. She breathed a sigh of relief.

She then checked the mutated cat and saw that it was hurt so badly... 

"Stand back, hopefully, it will work. Devita took out a small serum and inject it to the dying mutated cats"

In just a few moments The heavy breathing of the mutated cat calmed down as its wounds were recovering at a visible rate. A few seconds later, the mutated cat opens its eye and slowly stood up, it seems slowly gaining its strength back.

This is the panacea serum developed by Doctor Rachel from the sun pill.  A few of the pill was send by Alex to Devita along with the letters when the Surabaya survivors came a few weeks ago.  Since then a few more dosages of the panacea serum have been created.  The serum exceeded all of the medical items the world had produced even before the Doomsday.

"Catty!!"

Tiffany and Tiarra hugged the mutated cat and it licked them back.

Seeing the scene, Kenny and the delta force was dumbfounded.

Devita turned to Kenny, the only man who seemed to be reasonable. "The sun is setting. There are kids here. Please, accept my invitation to our base as goodwill."

Kenny nodded, this is what his mission is all about, he hopped on the jeep along with the other delta force soldiers.

"Rama, please escort my daughters back to their room," Devita said and then turned to her two little daughters. "Tiffany, Tiarra, be obedient and follow your Uncle Rama"

The two little girls nodded as they wiped their snot-filled faces.

Devita glanced at her guards and nodded.

The two opposing groups watched each other carefully as they traveled. Some of the other delta forces soldiers thought it was wrong for them to surrender their weapons, but since it was an order from the Admiral, they had to comply. 

On the way, Devita's suspicions slowly disappeared when one of her guards mentioned that there were no casualties, the man was just knocked out unconscious. But to be sure, Devita didn't actually take them to the starbase, rather, she took them to one of the smaller outposts near the beach. 

After a short drive, they finally arrived at their destination.

Kenny and the delta forces soldiers were bewildered at what they were seeing. A five-star hotel that looked like the Doomsday hadn't happened, the luxurious architecture, the windy white sand beach. there was no trace of undead, but instead, people moving around busy with their work.

As they got off the jeeps and went inside the hotel, a few pretty ladies wearing traditional Balinese uniforms welcomed them with a large smile and even offered them fresh juice as a welcome drink. Bali had been known for its hospitality, luxurious venue, mouthwatering dishes, and eye-pleasing entertainment.  Devita kept its culture even in the Doomsday era.

There were just too many survivors with the skill and talent to make this happened, and the leaders have been thinking such a venue will be useful later, and just a few days after it's done, VIP guests already arrived.

On the other hand, hospitality treatment is one of the most effective ways to extract information other than putting one on-chain and interrogate them with torture.

In the hotel's meeting room, Kenny had noticed how Devita ordered people and how dignified she was from the moment she first appeared. He decided to explain and stated the purpose of their journey. "We've come here looking for a man named Alex."

Devita, being the smart woman she is, already guessed what's happening. She simply sipped her tea and said, "You came a bit earlier than my husband. He's currently out, but will be arriving soon."

Tut Tut Tut

Kenny's long-distance radio made a sound. its Admiral Gerard from the USS Midway

"Kenny, Beware!! We have incoming ships. there are more than 10 ships and a few are destroyer class. This is an armada of warships!"

Kenny, being a CIA analyst, observed Devita's action. Casually sipping her tea while smiling, he did not feel an ounce of malice coming from her. He was trained to collect and interpret information and that included reading people. She was either an excellent bluffer or a genuine person. He thought for a bit and decided to respond.

"Admiral... They are friendly."

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Hi doomsday pillars readers, I am sorry for unable to do a more regular update, been trying to make time (believe me) but there always be something else that needs to be done. Recently after long late hours work, I really have no energy to write. I went straight to sleep when I got home.

With my working condition not improving and the novel also keeps the drop in rank, I am really sorry to inform you that a few days ago I finally reached out to WN to go premium. I hope by going premium, I will get more featured and i believe will also improve my motivation as well, on the other hand, the last few weeks WN has done so many updates that I now believe that WN could really able to create a good ecosystem for both readers and writers. I probably the last contracted writer to go premium, Please give your continuous support to Doomsday Pillars and WebNovel. 

Special Thanks for:

Mark G - Kristina T - Fabian Z - Thomas W - Marc-A - Nicholas B- Boland R - Jose C - Atashkada - AstoryL - Ngaco - JJat - IWantMeat - Jagat - Light Reader - MattRyba -Drust - Volirik - Tarolee - Shintaro. And many more who has been supporting Doomsday pillars for the last 6 months.

Yours sincerely, Avan