Creative Writing: The Vessel

I had the opportunity once to serve abourd one of the greatest vessels ever made by Federation hands. The Копье set out from Riga in what used to be Lithuanian territory in 2025. It was an incredible chance, though it lasted for only a few years. A kilometer long, and 200 meters wide, it is a ship that breaks records, a gigantic mass of metal and power that its architects boast can never be defeated by any ship nor a fleet of ships. The ship is capable of traveling for months on end without the need to make port to refuel or resupply, and can carry thousands of Federation men at a time. It was a marvel, and I was made to swear never to tell about it, but now I've come forth to make this information public

At the time we set out, I was a rank-and-file sailor with little to no significance in the eyes of my superiors. We set out to the Western Front within a matter of weeks, and had seen action shortly after. Any soldier or sailor could tell you that when it came to the Federation's navy, we had been badly out-gunned in the early years of this war. We had a great lack of aircraft carriers and bases, our weapons were out-dated. The Копье was a huge step toward changing that. No longer would the East's superior air power be a factor, and no longer would their navy seem so untouchable. It wasn't long before we made great strides toward turning the war in our favor. Every time we made port we were immediately met with crowds of cheering men, women, and children, people who cried out their thanks for fighting off the enemy, shouted their encouragement for us to bring the war to the enemy.

We received the order to set off across the ocean in winter 2027. It was fantastic news to here, we would soon be bringing the fight to the people we had been so bitterly fighting for year after year without an end in sight. Our morale soared, and people began talking once again about returning home to tell tales of their adventures at sea, defending their country proudly. This feeling would not last.

We were not told what city we approached first, but we could guess it may have been in the northern part of the coast due to the snow on the buildings. We received an order to bombard the city without discretion. No one questioned the order, neither officer nor sailor, if anything people seemed ready to unleash all of the anger that had been building up, no matter the target. We bombarded the city for several days, until it seemed that no building taller than two floors was left standing. There was no worthy attempt at stopping us, any resistance was quickly obliterated. We sent back a report that the city was vulnerable and virtually undefended. An army unit would be dispatched to occupy the region within several days. Meanwhile, we turned southward, and continued to bombard cities as we went. This continued for weeks until it seemed there was nothing more to our jobs than destroying buildings, and over time the anger left us. We became numb, and no one spoke of an end to the fighting. No one spoke of returning home, no one spoke of telling stories of proud victories.