Road To Reelection : Fragile Relations

Chapter 1 : Midnight ambush

Yellow Sea

Standing on the deck of Gwanggaeto The Great class destroyer Kim Han Dong drew in a breath as the sea waters danced in the night. Kim Han Dong, even though being the Admiral of the mighty Republic of Korea Navy and the second son of Kim Wei Xiong and Kassandra Castellanos he always enjoyed being a normal human while enjoying his post as admiral. After watching his elder sister Alice suffer under a marriage turned bad and ended in divorce even though it's a love marriage he learned the lesson. She was loyal to him but he was a jerk to her. Although she lost her husband she instead focused her love on her only living child, Isabella, raising her to be a respectable woman in society. Han Dong loved his family more than ever but he always kept an eye on Isabella when Alice perished in an accident. As the eldest child of the family every sibling looked up to her for guidance but her death was an untimely one. 

Everybody is understandingly sad about it but they all knew, Isabella's the one who was the most saddest. She was still a child, fifteen years of growing up did not prepare her for this. She tried to seek comfort from her living parent but she faced emotionless voice messages instead. After her time in the military she informed his parents that she was going to America and no one objected. Kassandra cried when Isabella told her that she will be deployed to the war-torn nation, Syria, as a part of a joint military training drill with the United States Army. She didn't forget her roots, video calling whenever she can and sending letters back home with photographs. Kassandra raised Alice's daughter like her own, showering her with love and care while her stoic husband taught her how to defend herself. Unlike the whole family, minus his nephew Chan-yeol and his brothers in the military Han Dong is well aware about Isabella's further training in America, recruited by the world's top military academy, West Point. Han Dong, along with the rest of the family were shocked but proud about Isabella and Chan-yeol's success, nominated to positions in the United States political Cabinet and aide to the President of the United States. 

"Han Dong!" a familiar voice called out to him. Brian Lee Kang In, the commander of this destroyer waved at him and a smile formed on Han Dong's face. "What brings you here?"

"You know me Kang In, I don't like sitting around in my office." he replied. 

"Yeah, not a man of shadows." he shrugged. "I've got a new guy from the Americans. Name's Gerald Carter."

"Him?" 

"Yes, you know him?"

"He's the cousin of Dominic Hayes, Isabella knows him."

"Oh... speaking of Isabella, how's the kid?"

"She's doing fine." he replied. "Fact is she made her mother proud."

"But you spoke the name Dominic Hayes as if you knew him well."

"He is the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the United States. Before his appointment he, Gerald and Isabella are inseparable. They are friends during their deployment in Afghanistan."

"Sounds like he is very successful." Brian complimented. But a ship appeared, drifting closer towards the destroyer. The commander quickly took the pair of binoculars he had with him and looked at the direction of the boat. "Turn on the searchlights." he ordered his men through his walkie-talkie. A flash of bright light illuminated from the searchlight installed onboard the ship, shining at the target of their commander's order. Han Dong too took his pair of binoculars and looked at the same direction. 

"Wait..." he said, making clear of what is he now seeing. It is a small fishing boat, poorly constructed but still able to catch fish on it. He saw shadows moving on the boat as it drifted closer to the searchlight. "What?"

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Brian asked. "North Korean escapees?"

"Yes, I see the same thing but, why are some of them dressed in military clothing?"

"We save them, right?"

"We save them yes, but could this be a trap?" The commander called out some of his men to come onboard and waited as the boat reached the confines of their destroyer. As his men used the machinery onboard to lift the boat another warship appeared but Han Dong knew where exactly the boat came from. "Turn back now! Hostile force up ahead!" Reacting immediately the boat turned back but a loud crack and boom were heard. A spray of orange and yellow lit up the ocean as a missile flew towards the destroyer's direction. Han Dong ran towards the back of the destroyer, to reach the men helping the escapees and the missile hit the deck he once stood with Kang In. The portion of the ship exploded in a fiery display of smoke and fire, causing water to rush in quickly. 

"Lower the escape rafts! Abandon ship!" the commander shouted. A few splashes later and the men onboard the destroyer are now floating away from the wrecked destroyer now slowly sinking. The unidentified ship however, was merciless, firing missiles again and again. Expert officers and seamen steered the boats away from the attack but one did not manage. The escape raft exploded in a fiery ball, bodies bobbed on the icy waters. On the leading escape raft Han Dong looked solemnly on the destroyed raft and the ship as Kang In kept an eye on the second ship carrying the escapees they managed to rescue and evacuate together. 

"There goes our boat." the admiral sighed. The rafts ultimately reached Busan and the navy, stationed there because of the explosion soon found them and rescued them. Noting the escapees the men took them away for inspection and clearance while the admiral and the commander are sent for a medical checkup along with the survivors of the fleet. Today wasn't a very good day for the seamen onboard the class destroyer but it wasn't the last for the nation as well.