A war of the Icy Sea

Chapter 11, Force 10 from Arendelle sets sail

Smoke filled the air as HMS Norway fired up her huge steam engines and prepared to set sail for the southern isles. The Sunderland had flown out to check the validity of what the Southern Isles Messenger had said and there was a Wesleton Fleet waiting there, the flying boat hadn't seen HMS Sami, HMS Inuit and SS Ocean Star but they had picked up a very weak radio transmission from them. The bay was also full of conventional Sailing ships from Arrendelle's navy. The Pride and Spirit of Arrendelle were to come along too but the Spirit had been converted into a supply ship so the Norway could be topped up with Fuel and Ammunition along the way.

From the Norway's mast on the stern flew the Royal Navy's white ensign whilst on the bow flew a flag bearing the personal crest of the Queen of Arrendelle signifying that Elsa was on-board.

It had taken a lot of persuasion on Elsa's part for Alexander to let her on-board the Norway for the voyage to relieve the southern isles. Anna had been dead set against Elsa going as well and even as the final pieces of luggage was being loaded, Anna was still trying to stop Elsa from going.

"Please Elsa, you can't go!" Anna said, tears forming in her eyes. It pained Elsa to see Anna like this and she would have taken Anna with her but it was too dangerous and someone needed to look after Arrendelle. A spare radio from the Norway had been set up and the Norway could communicate with Arrendelle and the Sunderland if needed. This way Elsa could keep up to date on the situation in Arrendelle.

Elsa smiled in a caring way and said to Anna "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine and I have my powers and the Norway's armour and firepower to protect me and the fleet"

"I'll keep an eye on Elsa; I swear on my life that she will come back without a scratch" Alexander added.

"Make sure you do" Anna replied and she did the "I'm watching you" gesture at Alexander which made him chuckle softly. Just then the Norway's whistle blew, warning everyone that the ship was about to leave.

"Gotta go" Elsa said to herself and just before she boarded the Norway, she gave Anna one last hug before she stepped onto the deck of the Norway, the gangplank was retracted and the Battle-Cruiser slowly made her way out of the port. Arrendelle's citizens cheered and Norway replied with a blast of its whistle. The Arrendelle Navy ships that had been formed into the Norway's escort force set sail, the Pride and Spirit of Arrendelle among them. With all of the ships together, Force 10 from Arrendelle set sail at full speed to the aid of the Southern Isles.

Several days later and the task force made good progress through the waves towards the Southern Isles which were rapidly approaching. Elsa had created an icy wind that blew at the sails of the Arrendelle ships so they could keep up with the Norway. Despite this the Norway was limited to 12 knots so she didn't leave her escorts behind. However progress was swift and the fleet would arrive in the southern isles within a week or so. The Pride and Spirit of Arrendelle sailed the closest to the Norway since they were the main supply ships for the Norway and they were the only two ships armed with the new Breech loading guns so they were classed as Escort Battle-Cruisers for the time being.

On-board the Battle-Cruiser, Elsa sat in her cabin pouring over hundreds of documents relating to Military Strategy from the Norway's library. She knew that those documents could help pave a way to victory.

Alexander helped whenever he could with the planning but he had a whole task force to command. Arrendelle's navy was split into multiple fleets with an Admiral commanding each fleet with Elsa having supreme command over all of Arrendelle's military since she was the Queen. Alexander had command of force 10, the most powerful force and if the fleet found the Sami, Inuit and Ocean Star, they would be part of the fleet and possibly command over a small flotilla each which was part of the main Fleet.

Elsa sighed to herself as she stood up and smoothed down the skirt of her Naval Uniform which had been made under her instructions to match Alexander's uniform but for Women and Elsa's uniform was decorated with things that normally would be on a head of State's naval uniform. The skirt was a little shorter and the uniform's material a little itchier than she was used to but Elsa knew she had to look the part even though Alexander had assured her that she would be ok just wearing her normal outfits. After she had checked that her uniform was perfect, she placed her Naval Officer's cap on her head and strode out of the door to find Alexander. Since Elsa had helped Alexander fight off the wolf pack back in Arrendelle, her feelings for the Lieutenant Commander had grown sharply and every time she looked into Alex's chocolate brown eyes, she had to fight back a blush. The same was for Alexander but both Elsa and Alex knew that they had a war to concentrate on and for the time being they could be friends but nothing more.

As Elsa strode through the Norway's maze of corridors, glancing left and right at the activities that the crew were getting up to, her mind went to the Snow Storm that transported HMS Norway to her world. She was concerned that her powers had the ability to do those kinds of things. And the possibility of three smoking ships being here since the Eternal Winter several months ago still scared her. Surely the crews of those ships would have found a way to search for help and why didn't they pick up the Norway's radio transmissions just after it entered this world and tried to call for help?

As Elsa strode onto the bridge and took in the sight of the Southern Isles rapidly approaching in the evening light, she knew that she would soon find out.