Weird happenings

[Lynneth]

"So these storm clouds are finally dispersing somewhat, but things are still affected by this crazy !@#$ wherever it goes."
"That's the gist of it, Ma'am."
"Okay. What we want to do is outfit an expedition of a decently big ship in case the fan is hit. Do we have anything suitable?"
"Well, we have a recently acquired [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirov_class_battlecruiser"]missile battlecruiser[/url], practically counts as battleship, really."
"Good. Did you upgrade it already?"
"As best we could. We also added some more conventional AA guns and MGs in case it runs out of missiles to fire. Should give it a bit more defense."
"Well, as long as those guns are computer-guided.."
"Of course. CIWS and four naval guns have been installed as well."
"Caliber?"
"Two are [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK%E2%80%93176"]76.2 mm[/url], ten kilometers range or so. Good guns. The others are [url="http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNRussian_51-70_ak130.htm"]130 mm[/url] with 500 rounds per turret and a range of roughly 23 kilometers."
"Dual-purpose?"
"Of course. They can be used against missiles and planes as well as hostile ships. The best we could possibly get."
"Excellent. Make everything ready. We won't have to travel very far, right?"
"Reportedly, the anomalies have almost reached the equator."
"Let's get going, then."
"The ship's going to be ready in six hours at most, Ma'am."
"Good."

With this, the young woman, CEO of Sostra Holdings and de facto ruler of Sri Lanka, made her was towards a private helicopter, to be transferred to Colombo Harbour, where the ship was anchored.
The hull itself was somewhat aged, but the interior and its weaponry were top of the line, latest technology, EMP proofed and everything. Theoretically, some of the carried missiles could even be fit with nuclear warheads, though the nation hadn't acquired such weaponry - yet.

Some five hours later, she was on board and on the bridge, watching the most experienced sailors in Sri Lanka's navy doing their work most excellently. With the powerful fusion-propulsion which had replaced the previous combustion and fission plants of the ship, it could move at its full speed of 32 knots (or roughly 59 km/h) forever and a day, the required fuel being in abundance in the oceans.
Roughly thirteen hours would be required to reach the equator.

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Narrator: Approaching the equatorial boundary line, the ship would begin to register the storms on radar.. including at least one that was disappearing and reappearing with great frequency on the radar as if gone one second, and there the next...

It looked something like this:

[img]http://www.scifi-movies.com/images/n/nimitzretourverslenfer1980film/image1.jpg[/img]

Radio transmissions, even ones that were supposedly weather-resistant would become garbled when nearing the storms.

Edited October 12, 2010 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Lynneth]

"Hey, you see that?"
"Yes, I do. The hell's that?"
"Anomaly."
"Mhm. Certainly looks like it. Crazy, seriously."
"Regardless, we need to check everything, for science."

Laura walked to a microphone, which fed into a loudspeaker on the main deck, on which numerous strange contraptions had been erected. Scientific equipment, meant to examine the storms and get reasonable readings from them, though it was impossible to know whether it would work.
"Everything set up?"
One of the scientists on the deck looked up to the bridge, giving an 'all clear' hand-sign.
Laura smiled, then shut the mic off again, looking to the captain. "Everything's prepared. We can go in."
The older man nodded. "That we do then, Ma'am."
"Try to get good readings on that disappearing one, too."
"Will do."

With this, the battlecruiser's engines worked to bring the vessel closer to the anomalies, into the storm. Its current course was to get the best readings (as predicted by the scientists), meaning it would have to go straight into the anomaly.
None of them really liked that, but it was necessary...And until now, they hadn't been killed by the storm.

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Narrator: As they began to enter the peculiar looping clouds that looked like scuff fog in a horizontal vortices.. a piercing screech went through the electronics on the deck. Additionally, all organisms on board got a massive headache.. to the point of passing out.

Some unknown time later, the crew would begin waking up.. and the helmsman would be immediately aware they were heading towards a land mass in front of them, with what looked like a town ashore. They were in a bay.. surrounded by warships flying the American flag?

There was no one ashore and apparently no one manning the warships. There was a nasty storm in the harbor at the time still.

Edited October 12, 2010 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Lynneth]

"Ugh...what happened?"
"No idea...Ngh"
Slowly, people were waking and getting up, back to their posts.
"Everyone alive?...Good. Now, can somebo-..Mother of God, what is that?"
"US Navy ships?!"
"Impossible!"
"Someone get the readings, get the damned readings!"
"Scan this land mass, Ladar, radar, everything we have. Compare it to maps!"
"Listen to all known frequencies, we want to know if these guys are alive."
"How are these US flags? The US doesn't have this many warships."
"Shut up and do your work."
"Sir, yes, Sir."

Things were rather chaotic for a minute or two, until everyone calmed down and got back to their actual work.
Laura spoke into the mic, "Get the readings, then remove the scientific equipment. Things may get ugly, there's a number of warships nearby."
Of course, everything was said in Sri Lanka's language, that being Sinhala. It was highly unlikely it could be understood by any random person listening to it.

Hopefully, the scans would yield something useful.
Hopefully, human waste wouldn't hit the fan.

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Narrator: The Storm was fortunately still going strong.. and their presence had been masked by the dense fog in the harbor from the storm. The U.S. Navy had no idea they were there. The lights on their ship illuminated the side of one which read, "U.S.S. Arizona".

A scan of their position indicated that they were in Hawaii based on topography, however, all GPS and satellite communications were apparently out. Their broadcasts were unheard as they were on the wrong band. And the radio seemed to be filled with stations broadcasting U.S. 1940's events, news, and cultural dressing.

Weather radar indicated the storms were starting to leave the island.. and when it did, they would be seen and they're sitting right next to battleship row.

[Lynneth]

"That ship's the USS Arizona!"
"What? That can't be. The last ship named [i]Arizona[/i] was..."
"Oh god."
"We're not in...Are we in Hawaii?"
"Sir, Ma'am, we are. We're in Hawaii, according to topographic scans, Sonar and all."
"GPS, satellites, everything's down. Frequencies are going crazy with '40s music and whatnot."
"We..."
"we're in the second !@#$@#$ world war."
"My god. This is insane."

Laura spoke through the microphone reaching the entire ship.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. We are apparently in the year 1941, Hawaii. Knowing Murphy's Law, we're probably hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.
Completely insane, but here we are. To stations."

Sighing, the relatively young woman moved to the radio. "Do we know their frequencies?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Okay. We'll need to talk to them."
"Aye, Ma'am."
The operator keyed the appropriate frequency in, and Laura mentally prepared herself, reflecting on the things that had happened.
Somehow, she got the feeling...that she was healthier than just minutes ago. Quite a bit healthier, in fact, and stronger as well. Curious.
She made the mental note to get checked by the ship's doctor.

Then she spoke to the US Naval base Pearl Harbour.
"This is the SLN Sostra. My name is Laura Leclerc, and I need to speak with the commanding officer of this base, ASAP. Please do not open fire. We don't wish to fight you."

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"SLN Sostra. We are unaware of any nation with that ship designation. Also, please clarify your position. Reports are only now coming in of a potential trespasser in the Harbor. Would that be you? We will give orders to only fire in response, but our guns are coming to bear on your position. Please clarify how you got where you are, your intent, and give a general explanation as to what is going on. We would also like to know the name of your Captain." Came the response of the U.S. PACCOM HQ.

[Lynneth]

"The SLN Sostra is the Flagship of the Sri Lanka Navy. We are currently right besides the USS Arizona, so yes, that 'trespasser' would be us. The commanding officer of this ship, though technically my subordinate, is Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe.
To be quite honest, I've no idea how we got here. Some strange storms were happening, and we moved into one to measure it and its effects. However, when we passed a strange...cloud formation, I'd guess, everything went black and we slowly woke up with our ship now being here in Pearl Harbour.
I know all this sounds crazy, and what I'm going to say will sound even crazier. But I believe that these unnatural storms somehow brought this ship and its entire crew back in time. Our ship's clock says that it should be the 22nd of October, 2072.
Our intent is to survive right now.
And please tell me what date it is."

The situation was tense. With all its modern equipment, this ship was made to keep its distance from guns with a larger caliber than 8 inches or so. Most of the weapons on these ships were considerably more powerful.
If she could just convince them that this was the truth..!

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"Dec. 6, 1941 is the current date. Your story is very hard to believe, but looking at your ship.. well.. we haven't seen anything like it. We can grant you safe harbor on the condition you allow us observers on board to ensure you're non-hostility and just to get anything information we can to validate your claims." They would hear some murmuring in the background over the radio about radar picking up something fishy.. they think it's just static..

[Lynneth]

"Thank you. Also, what's this about radar picking up something? Give me a moment..."
in Sinhala, Laura ordered the ship's radar to medium power to assess a possible threat. Should anything be found, the radar would be focused there and brought to full power, potentially burning through hostile electronics while overpowering stealth.

To the Americans, she sent, "If this is what I think it is, then the Japanese Navy is currently on their way here.
But the attack shouldn't happen for several hours..! We will bring all our systems online to combat the enemy, with your authorization. In the meantime, it would be prudent to bring the base to full alert and get the ships out of the harbour. I will do this with the Sostra. No risks, the date of the attack is too close for my taste."

With this, the young woman would order the battlecruiser to move out of the harbour, but into the best position to intercept and attack potential hostiles.
Numerous minor systems were brought online.

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"Permission granted... since you'd know history... just given your presence we will do that anyway." The base commander sends out orders to flush the aircraft and to man all ships to battle-stations and to move them out of the Harbor. There would be no surprise this time. As for the electronics.. fortunately for most of the IJN air forces, they had no real electronics on board to speak of. The IJN was mostly flying mechanically based prop planes, the elegant and deadly Zero.. and of course.. Toranaga's modern aircraft.

Edited October 12, 2010 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Continued to:

[url="http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=93410&view=findpost&p=2482695"]The Fight for Pearl Harbor REDUX[/url]

[Lynneth]

With power having gone out in Sri Lanka, engineers and scientists were frantically attempting to restore it.
"This must have something to do with these crazy storms! There's no other explanation that our fusion plants should suddenly go out, all at once."
"Okay, so we know a possible source. Get the message out to all teams, and tell them to be careful. There might be some residue...weird power, I dunno what to call it."
"They'll have to be really careful with this stuff. Complete insulation suits?"
"Minimum! If the plants come back online, they'll get fried to death and back without anything less than full protection."
"I'll give the orders."

All over the nation, expert teams would attempt to find the cause for the plants going down, going through every last corner of the plants, armed with heavy rubber gloves and -suits in addition to their standard equipment.

___________________

"What can we do about the cruiser just vanishing..?"
"Nothing right now, unfortunately. We'll have to wait for a bit...and hope they come back."
"Mhm. Damnit."
"Sorry, but we can't risk another ship with power being out and all these other things happening."
"I know...Still. I don't want to lose her."
"None of us want to lose her. She's an inspiring leader."
"Mhm."

[Maelstrom Vortex]

[quote name='Lynneth' timestamp='1287034407' post='2484264']
With power having gone out in Sri Lanka, engineers and scientists were frantically attempting to restore it.
"This must have something to do with these crazy storms! There's no other explanation that our fusion plants should suddenly go out, all at once."
"Okay, so we know a possible source. Get the message out to all teams, and tell them to be careful. There might be some residue...weird power, I dunno what to call it."
"They'll have to be really careful with this stuff. Complete insulation suits?"
"Minimum! If the plants come back online, they'll get fried to death and back without anything less than full protection."
"I'll give the orders."

All over the nation, expert teams would attempt to find the cause for the plants going down, going through every last corner of the plants, armed with heavy rubber gloves and -suits in addition to their standard equipment.
[/quote]

Narrator: In corner that was normally dim near a turbine, one of the teams saw a brilliant light which they assumed must be the source of the power outage.. a bad ground of some form. As they approached, they would be greeted by a man sized entity of electrical energy that looked like a crackling spark with lances of electricity dancing off from it in various directions. It had no apparent eyes.. mouth, etc.. but it was obviously drawing straight from a pair of broken wires that were the outlets of the turbines.

Since it apparently had no normal sensory mechanism.. it did not even respond to the presence of the individuals observing it.

[Lynneth]

The findings - practically at every plant - were reported to high command.
But before the orders could be given, the engineers were already readying insulating containers, making them of ceramics, glass and rubbers.
These creatures evidently fed on electricity and had to be stopped.

When the actual command came - "Remove these things ASAP." - the teams attempted to imprison the strange creatures in the containers, all the time protected by their rubber suits.
However, this wasn't done when power was on. In fact, the teams coordinated with others within the facility, to shut the power generators two seconds before the "strike" down as to not give these things something to feed on if they attempted to defend themselves.

If successful, power could be restored while valuable research subjects were gained.

[Maelstrom Vortex]

[quote name='Lynneth' timestamp='1287035217' post='2484278']
The findings - practically at every plant - were reported to high command.
But before the orders could be given, the engineers were already readying insulating containers, making them of ceramics, glass and rubbers.
These creatures evidently fed on electricity and had to be stopped.

When the actual command came - "Remove these things ASAP." - the teams attempted to imprison the strange creatures in the containers, all the time protected by their rubber suits.
However, this wasn't done when power was on. In fact, the teams coordinated with others within the facility, to shut the power generators two seconds before the "strike" down as to not give these things something to feed on if they attempted to defend themselves.

If successful, power could be restored while valuable research subjects were gained.
[/quote]

Narator: There was only one miscalculation in the plan. Shutting down the power immediately caused the creature to seek the next nearest source of voltage.. the only thing it could sense. They also moved at near the speed of light like most electricity. While they were able to contain a great majority of the creatures. One creature literally lept in less than a fraction of a second from its feeding point and into another part of the plant which contained offices and connected with human brains, the only other source of any electrical activity at all. Several persons died, but lessons were learned.

ooc: Sri Lankan magical sciences advance 1% at a cost of life due to a minor error.

[Lynneth]

While a few people had died due to this miscalculation in the plan, it nonetheless was considered extremely successful, seeing as there were dozens of subjects to be studied now.
The rest of these electric creatures would hopefully be caught in due time by the ever-labouring teams (which began to restart the generators now).

Higher up, it was decided to insulate the power plants more efficiently as stop-gap measure, while the creatures were being brought into various research facilities in Sri Lanka.
There, the brightest minds of the nation could crack their heads while trying to figure out how these things could not only be stopped, but completely repelled.

Sri Lanka was a power-hungry nation, and with the energy density it had, the likeliness of more creatures arriving very soon was high.
Things would be learned, plans hatched.
Dozens and hundreds of scientists attempted using their grasps of physics to understand these creatures, some eventually attempting to use methods more commonly seen in movies than reality to try and manipulate the electric beasts.
Something would work. Something. They just didn't know yet [b]what[/b].

[Lynneth]

Just a day after it had vanished, the [i]Sostra[/i] was there again, on the exact course the ship had been on before these storms.
When the homeland received their transmissions - and the story about what they'd done there - many relieved sighs were heard, but also some gasps.

It was now evident that this new force, this 'magic' could actively and possibly even permanently influence not only space, but also time. heavily at that.
This revelation was the one thing that began to unite Sri Lanka's scientific community to try and use this new type of energy to make both a Unified Field Theory and a Theory of Everything.
Surely almost everything of the puzzle was there, they just had to arrange it properly...And with the help of Laura Leclerc, who showed inexplicable powers related to this 'magic', among them incredible strength and speed, enabling the young woman to best practically every world record in running, swimming, whatever required speed.
During several tests, they additionally noted that the girl's was unnaturally tough, hard to penetrate even with the sharpest and strongest needles the scientists had, unless she actively 'allowed' it through. This, coupled with a rapid healing of the small needle-wounds baffled the scientists even more, and they began building all kinds of instruments in a scientific complex within which she let herself to be kept for a while, in order to find out more about this 'magic'.

In the meantime, other groups of scientists attempted using the results from the [i]Sostra[/i]'s systems to try and channel magic, like one would channel electricity. If this didn't work, they'd try several other methods, such as using a sort of magnet or crystals or varying purity and types to harness and use the power.
Their intent was primarily to create a sort of shield with which to protect Sri Lanka and its Bengal-territories from the electric beings as well as other magical creatures that were bound to appear eventually.
Until then, they could also use the caught electric golems to help with their testing.
Perhaps something would come of all this work, perhaps nothing would come of it. Regardless, Sri Lanka's scientists would learn [i]something[/i]. Even if it was that they had to think differently to understand this magic.

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Narrator:

Trying to channel magic like electricity.. failed miserably.. failed to the point that the introduction of magic into electrical conduits made the entire ship act like it had been hit by an emp. Something about magic and energy didn't mesh well.. then the engineers figured it out when a lightning elemental popped out and onto the rear deck. It was shortly subdued by shorting it out with a stream of ocean water. All the electrical circuit boards on the ship ended up needing replacement.

The use of crystals to store magic resulted in a crystal that generated a soft luminescence while generating a moderate amount of heat. The degree to which this could be harnessed would need to be explored, but they had their first self-sustaining eternal flames.

(Initial research yields a 2% shift of Sri-lanka towards magic.)