- Invitation Status
- Posting Speed
- Speed of Light
- Multiple posts per day
- 1-3 posts per day
- Writing Levels
- Adept
- Preferred Character Gender
- No Preferences
- Genres
- Scifi, Modern, size difference (mainly larger females), most things involving dragons and humans
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March 1st, 1942; the Java Sea
The war in the Pacific is raging. American, British, Dutch, and Australian forces in the southwestern Pacific region and the nearby island chains are being torn to ribbons by the Japanese forces that vastly outnumber and outgun them. The aging, battle-weary ships of the Asiatic Fleet, stationed in the Java Sea and the regions surrounding Java and Borneo, are in a particularly bad spot. With a huge Japanese task force bearing down on them from the north, the small band of allied ships either scrambled to escape or stood their ground, fought the approaching Japs, and were put on the bottom of the sea. In the port of Celebes, the famous British York-class heavy cruiser HMS Exeter was recovering from heavy damage she sustained in the 1st Battle of the Java Sea, of which she'd been the only allied capital ship to survive through the battle and its aftermath. There waiting for her at Celebes had been the British E-class destroyer HMS Encounter and three American Wilkes Little-class destroyers, USS Walker (DD-163), USS Mahan (DD-102), and USS Pope (DD-225), along with several other Allied warships. They were all that remained of the once-respectable ABDAFLOAT (American, British, Dutch, and Australian naval forces).
The merciless slaughter of the Asiatic Fleet had started on February 14th when the Dutch destroyer Van Ghent ran aground on a reef and was scuttled to avoid capture. She was followed by another Dutch destroyer, the Piet Hien, which was sunk on the 19th in the Battle of the Badoeng Strait. An American destroyer, USS Stewart (DD-224), also took heavy damage from shellfire during that same battle. The next day she was further damaged and met her fate when, improperly shored and placed on blocks, she rolled onto her port side in a Dutch floating drydock in Surabaya, Java. There she lied until she was later destroyed by the Allies to prevent her being captured and salvaged. Then, on February 27th, the 1st Battle of the Java Sea began. The Allied attack on a Japanese support force which was covering an invasion flotilla initially proved to be incredibly lucky, then quickly went straight to hell. The Japanese fired 1,271 8-inch naval shells at the Allied ships. A grand total of five of these shells hit, and four of these are duds and don't detonate. The only shell which did explode hit the HMS Exeter, reducing her top speed significantly and convincing her to withdraw to repair. The Dutch destroyer Kortenaer was torpedoed and sunk, and two British destroyers were also lost; HMS Jupiter hit a friendly Dutch mine and sank, and HMS Electra sacrificed herself to save the retreating Allied vessels by charging the enemy force all by herself and forcing the Japanese ships to maneuver and abort their chase in order to avoid her torpedoes. For her efforts she was thoroughly pounded into a floating wreck by the Japanese ships, the one whaleboat she managed to launch (filled with injured crewmembers) was singled out and obliterated by naval gunfire, and more than two thirds of her crew were killed.
The next morning several Jap heavy cruisers torpedoed and sank the Dutch light cruisers De Ruyter and Java, killing Rear Admiral Karel Doorman, who had led the Allied force in the 1st Battle of the Java Sea, aboard the De Ruyter. Then the Battle of the Sunda Strait began shortly before midnight. The American heavy cruiser USS Houston (CA-30) and the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth, while attempting to retreat from Java, accidentally found and engaged a Japanese transport force and its escorts in Banten Bay. In the early hours of the next morning, both were cornered by three Jap cruisers and nine destroyers, and were sunk by torpedoes and gunfire from the cruisers. The remaining ships of the Asiatic Fleet push south to Surabaya, where four of the surviving Allied destroyers, USS John D. Edwards (DD-216), USS Alden (DD-211), USS John D. Ford (DD-228), and USS Paul Jones (DD-230), split off and head southeast, hoping to make a break for Australia and leaving Exeter and the last four destroyers at Ceylon.
These last few vessels soon headed south to the Allied repair facilities at Surabaya so that Exeter could undergo further emergency repairs. There they were joined by the USS Black Hawk (AD-9), a submarine/destroyer-tender doubling as an emergency relief transport. Exeter was repaired somewhat more extensively and the ships all took on as much ammunition, fuel, and other supplies as they could carry, preparing for a desperate push to escape the death trap that had become of the Java sea. The Walker also took on several military personnel from Surabaya hoping to save them from the approaching Japanese armada, including several Marines, an Australian scientist/biologist (the only civilian on any of the ships), three US Army Air Corps P-40 pilots, and six navy nurses. (These were the only females on any of the ships.) However, when the Japanese came bearing down on them, the two British ships and the three American "four-stackers" were forced on the run again. Thus begins the 2nd Battle of the Java Sea. They high-tailed it to the west along the northern coast of Java, then spotted a group of Japanese warships out in front of them. They turned north to flee but were then forced to turn back east along the southern coast of Borneo by another Japanese force. Just when it looked like they might be in the clear, the noose was tightened and their fates sealed. With two groups of modern Japanese destroyers and heavy cruisers pursuing them from behind and from their right flank, another, final Japanese battle group charged in from the north to cut off the Allied ships' last escape route. This new group only contained two ships, one of them a brand-new Kagero-class destroyer, but she was almost a laughable threat compared to the other vessel. Steaming along with the DD loomed a massive, lumbering fortress of guns and steel: Battlecruiser Amagi. HIMS Amagi was the first ship of her class, and was slower than most of the Allied ships but was armed to the teeth with ten 16" main cannons, sixteen 5.5" secondaries, six 4.7" guns, scores of smaller anti-aircraft batteries, and eight 24" torpedo tubes for the incredibly lethal Type 93 'Long Lance' torpedoes.". Just beyond Amagi, however, lay a rain squall of titanic proportions. The goal for the surviving Allied ships was clear: get into that squall whatever it takes. If the ships could reach the storm, they would be able to take a breather and possibly escape because the Japs would be unable to find and shoot at them. Little did they know that this was no ordinary rain squall, and that soon they'd find themselves on a world very different from home in an entirely different kind of war…
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If you want more information on USS Walker, USS Mahan, USS Black Hawk, HIMS Amagi, or any of the other ships named above, look them up, though only these four will be playing much any significant part in the story. (Please note that some sources state the main armament of the Amagi class would have been ten 10" guns, but her real main battery would have been ten 16" guns so that is what we will be using,)
You are allowed to make American characters as 'destroyermen' aboard both Walker and Mahan, as well as sailors aboard Black Hawk, but (SPOILERS) ANY AND ALL characters on the Black Hawk WILL DIE. (Not saying you shouldn't make any characters for her, though. Adds to the drama. YAY DRAMA!!)
THERE CAN ONLY BE SIX FEMALES. (This will likely change eventually as (SPOILERS) the American destroyermen may find other human populations, but for a good part of the early portion of the story this will be a hard fast rule) These six are the navy nurses taken aboard Walker, and there will not be any other (human) women besides them. Also, in the opening scene there's about a 50% chance for anyone on the Mahan to die and a 5-10% chance for anyone on the Walker to die. If you have several characters that you really don't want to get offed, then make some other full-fledged characters to let be killed instead. If you still don't want to do that much, then I have provided a form for 'Minor Characters' which will basically be people who still play a significant part in the story, but are likely to get offed or won't be playing as major a part in the story as some other people would be. There will also be plenty of NPC deaths throughout, some of which may be slightly-to-significantly gory. (I would enjoy it if people made characters for Mahan's senior staff (i.e. captain, XO, and other bridge officers) even though (MORE SPOILERS) they will all end up dead by the time Mahan reaches the squall.)
There are no civilians on any of these vessels (except for Courtney Bradford, the Australian naturalist that Walker rescued from Surabaya), as all but the Blackhawk are purpose-built weapons of war. The Black Hawk was originally built and launched as the civilian freighter SS Santa Catalina, but she has been repurposed as a wartime vessel and still has no civilians aboard.
ALL of the destroyermen (and other humans aboard the Asiatic fleet ships) will suffer quite a lot, and MANY will die sooner or later. (Much of those sooner)
Keep in mind, this is 1942. The U.S. as a whole is still pretty racist against African-Americans (commonly referred to as 'Negros' by whites in this day and age) and pretty sexist against women. (Meaning, in general, they won't necessarily be treated as equals to the white, male destroyermen. This, however, may eventually change when the ships and their crews get sucked into a different kind of war)
Love: romance definitely is possible, but won't really be much of a thing for most of the early part of the story, primarily because… well… they're kind of at war. It will come later, though. Any actual sex MUST be 'faded to black' before they go any farther than kissing though.
Cussing: they're WWII-era American sailors. Need I say more?
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Below is a list of the names of the different crew assignments that could be utilized and what that job entails. If a certain position has a strictly limited number of people who can hold it, then information about that will be in parentheses immediately following the description. If there is no such note, you may assume that there is not a limit to the number of characters that may hold that position.
Officers:
Captain/Skipper: Commanding officer, in charge of the ship. (1, Walker's taken.)
Executive Officer/XO: Second-in-command of the ship, he's the one who makes things happen and is supposed to advise the Captain on any decisions he makes and always try to offer at least one alternative, even if what the Captain plans to do is probably the right way to do something. Also sometimes acts as the helmsman (the guy who actually steers the ship). (1, available.)
Hospital Corpsman: runs the ship's medical ward and serves as the ship's surgeon. (1, available.)
Navigator: responsible for determining the ship's position and is also responsible for making recommendations as to the appropriate course of action to the commanding officer. Engineering Officer: In charge of the ship's engineering division (frequently nicknamed 'snipes') and responsible for the ship's engineering plant, electrical generation and distribution, auxiliary machinery, and interior communications. (1, available.)
Gunnery Officer: In charge of the ship's gunnery division (weaponry) (1, available.)
Chief Signalman: In charge of communications. (1, available.)
Chief Bosun/Chief Boatswain: In charge of supervising the deck division (nicknamed 'apes') in performing major seamanship functions like cargo handling, the operation and maintenance of the ship's boats (her two small motorized watercraft), the maintenance of deck equipment, etc. Sometimes called 'Super Bosun.' (1, Walker's taken.)
Enlisted men:
Cook: Self-explanatory. (1, Walker's taken.)
Stewards: Assistants to the cook.
Radiomen: Responsible for all electronic means of exterior communications. Available methods included voice radio, teletype, and the old fashioned Morse Code key.
Signalmen: Responsible for visual communications between ships by flashing light, flaghoist, or semaphore.
Quartermasters: Assist the Navigator, maintain the Deck Log while underway, and coordinate a number of other bridge functions.
RADARmen: Operates the ship's RADAR. (1, available.)
Gunners: Self-explanatory.
Boatswain's Mates/Bosun's Mates: Assistants to the Chief Bosun.
Fire Control Technician: Responsible for operation and maintenance of all of the ships gunfire control systems including fire control radar, computer, and electrical transmission systems.
Torpedomen: Responsible for operation and maintenance of the ships torpedoes, depth charges, and Hedgehogs.
Sonarmen: Responsible for operation and maintenance of the ship's sonar.
Firemen: Maintain and monitor the ship's boilers. Commonly referred to as 'mice'.
Machinist's Mate: Responsible for the operation and maintenance of all the equipment in the engine rooms.
There will be 8 officers assigned each to Walker and Mahan, the head nurse would be a navy Lieutenant and the other five would be Ensigns, the three P-40 pilots would be 1st Lieutenants, and the Marines would be Sergeants. The allowed ranks (from highest allowed to lowest) are as follows:
Lieutenant-Commander (would really only end up being the captains of Walker, Mahan, and Black Hawk)
Lieutenant (XO's for the ships, some other higher-up officers)
Lieutenant Junior Grade (J.G.) (younger officers who are above Ensign, but aren't experienced/skilled enough to be promoted to a full Lieutenant)
Ensign (The lowest possible rank for an officer. Anyone who is not an officer (i.e. below this point) would just have their crew position as their 'rank')
To prove that you have read these rules, put "Take us into the squall!" in the "other" section of each character form you submit.
Main Character Form:
Name (First and Last):
Gender:
Age:
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel:
Personality:
Appearance:
Picture: (Optional)
Crush: (Optional)
BF/GF/Spouse: (Optional)
History:
Other:
Username:
Minor Character Form:
Name (First and Last):
Gender: Male
Age:
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel:
Picture: (Optional)
Other:
Username:
Approved Characters:
Name (First and Last): Dirk William Hodges
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel: Lieutenant Commander, Skipper/Captain, USS Walker.
Personality: ADHD, a great guy once you get to know him, is very protective of those who can't stand up for themselves, and has a great sense of humor. Painfully shy when it comes to the opposite gender and sometimes he can't seem to stop talking about whatever is on his mind. Appearance: In a word: handsome. 6' 2." His head is topped by an unruly forest of fiery red hair that he usually keeps at about an inch long. His eyes stand out the most partly because he is heterochromic; his left eye is a medium blue while his right eye is a bright emerald green. He has a very nasty scar that starts in the middle of his right cheek, runs over his right eye, and ends on the left side of his forehead (there is a portion of the scar on his actual eyelid, but it is normally difficult to see). Very athletic build.
Picture: (Optional)
Crush:
BF/GF/Spouse:
History: Was born on his family's farm in Norman, Nebraska. Enlisted in the navy since his father had been captain of a destroyer during the 1st World War. Eventually he was assigned to captain the USS Walker.
Other: He got into a fight with a group of masked thugs during his last year of high school while trying to prevent them from mugging his mother and kidnapping his younger sister Tiffany at knife and gun-point. He managed to hold them off until police arrived and arrested the would-be muggers, but during the fight he was slashed across his face by one of the attackers with a hunting knife, giving him the scar which he still carries. Miraculously, even though the knife sliced into his eyelid, the eye itself was unharmed, allowing him to retain sight in both eyes and even his 20/20 vision. Tiffany didn't fair as well... (someone should ask him, and persist if he's a bit resistant) Take us into the squall!
Username: Trainbrain16
Name: Isaac Jackson Duvall
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Rank, Crew Position, and Vessel: 1st Lieutenant (Army Air Corps), Pilot, USS Walker.
Personality: Follows his gut in most situations, an almost chivalrous pilot in the air, and acts in a similar way on the ground when he's not joking around.
Appearance: Brown eyes, brown hair, 5' 4."
Picture: (Optional)
Crush: BF/GF/Spouse:
History:
Other: Take us into the squall!
Username: Trainbrain16
Name (First and Last): Michael Fiske (Silent 'E')
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel: Lieutenant (JG) (Junior Grade), Chief Boatwain's Mate, USS Walker.
Personality: Very dedicated to the service of his country and his shipmates. Trusting but not always dependable when he's forced to choose sides. Very big on discipline.
Appearance: Handsome in his own way. A little underweight, short brown hair, brown eyes, keeps himself neat and presentable. 5' 7."
Picture: (Optional)
Crush: N/A.
BF/GF/Spouse: N/A.
History: Enlisted into the US Naval Academy as soon as he was old enough. His main teachers were some of the strictest people you'd ever meet, and that's where he got his attitude about discipline.
Other: Take us into the squall! Username: Trainbrain16
Name (First and Last): Callipha (Connie) Fitzgerald McCormick
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel: Lieutenant, Nurse, USS Walker.
Personality: A serious Tomboy, ADD, tough, smart, clever and creative. Caring and protective especially for those who can't protect themselves, has a great sense of humor unless you piss her off. She is sweet and nice on the inside, but if you piss her off... well... just try not to do that. She is very playful for her age and can get a little emotional at times.
Appearance: Her eyes are a deep shade of purple, and her long, silky blond hair falls down to her waist when she lets it. Very cute, to say the least. She also has a slightly athletic build, but this doesn't take away from her very well developed female figure. (The photo below really doesn't do her figure justice, but I like it too much to change it at the moment. Just imagine the girl in that image, but more well-endowed, just a tad less skinny, and with purple eyes.)
Picture:[BCOLOR=#ffffff][/BCOLOR]
Crush:
BF/GF/Spouse:
History: Was bullied as a child, but eventually she stood up for herself in such a way that other people decided not to do that anymore.
Other: Take us into the squall!
Username: Trainbrain16
Name (First and Last): Courtney Bradford
Gender: Male
Age: 35
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel: (No rank or crew position, civilian) USS Walker
Personality: A serious talker, incredibly curious and always wanting to learn as much as he can about anything that intrigues him (and many things do)
Appearance: medium height, a bit stocky, blonde hair, blue eyes.
Picture (Optional):
Crush:
BF/GF/Spouse:
History: A well-renowned scientist, biologist, and self-proclaimed 'naturalist' from Australia, he was stranded on Ceylon when his ship fled without him and he was forced to seek refuge aboard the ancient four-stacker.
Other: Take us into the squall!
Username: Trainbrain16
Name: Adrian Fowler
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel: Sargent, Marine, USS Walker.
Personality: Adrian is a serious no nonsense man of the USMC, he rarely smiles and is focused on ensuring the safety of any allies personal he finds, he is very cynical due to his experiences in the war and in the states.
Appearance: 6'0", Brown hair green eyes, stocky build, small beard forming on his face. Several scars up his arm along with a scar form a bayonet along his cheek to his chin.
History: Adrian was born in 1910 to two loving parents with a large family who cared for Adrian as a child, in 1917 his father was drafted to fight with the marines in the killing grounds of the great war. His father died in November 3 1918 leaving Adrian and his now widowed mother behind, luckily his family was rather large and helped take care of Adrian and his mother and set them up with a small fund that supplied them until the stock market crash in 1929. Adrian enlisted into the USMC in 1930 despite his mothers protests so he could send some type of pay back home to her but he received devastating news in the winter of 1932, his mother had died of a stroke. With his mother gone the young man threw himself into the work of career and was soon one of the most skilled men in his battalion. Fast forward nine years and we find the US at war and Adrian in the island hopping campaign, he thought this war would lead to his death buy he and several others were whisked away by the USS Walker and now he and the others find themselves in a very different war to their own.
Other: "Today?" Adrian's reply to a reporter who asked how many times he had been wounded. Take us into the squall!
Username: Dakota K5
Characters that are currently up for grabs by anyone:
Name (First and Last): Miles Atkinson
Gender: Male
Age: 41
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel: Lieutenant-Commander, Captain, USS Mahan.
Picture: (Optional)
Other: Take us into the squall!
Username: None (anyone who wants this character may have them and may expand them into a Major character and change some things about them around if desired.)
Name (First and Last): Thomas Miller
Gender: Male
Age: 34
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel: Lieutenant-Commander, Captain, USS Black Hawk
Picture: (Optional)
Other:
Username: None (anyone who wants this character may have them and may expand them into a Major character and change some things about them around if desired.)
Name (First and Last): Kenneth Langley
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel:
Damage Control Chief, USS Mahan.
Picture: (Optional)
Other:
Username: None (anyone who wants this character may have them and may expand them into a Major character and change some things about them around if desired.)
Name (First and Last): James 'Jim' Ellis
Gender: Male
Age: 29
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel: Lieutenant, XO, USS Walker.
Picture: (Optional)
Other:
Username: None (anyone who wants this character may have them and may expand them into a Major character and change some things about them around if desired.)
Name (First and Last): Isak Reuben
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel: Fireman, USS Walker.
Picture: (Optional)
Other:
Username: None (anyone who wants this character may have them and may expand them into a Major character and change some things about them around if desired.)
Name (First and Last): Ryan Hardcastle
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Rank, Crew Position and Vessel: Gunner (Number 2 .50 machine gun), USS Walker.
Picture: (Optional)
Other:
Username: None (anyone who wants this character may have them and may expand them into a Major character and change some things about them around if desired.)
More to come.
Last edited by a moderator:
I have just a few suggestions, though.
