1 Pilot - Steady as she goes.
20XX, The South China Sea
"Helmsman! Hard to starboard!" yelled CPT Henry Li as the Formidable-class Frigate, the RSS Eclipse, received an incoming salvo of naval artillery shells from a formation of enemy destroyers.
"Sir we can't evade in time!" cried out one of the officers on the bridge. Li grit his teeth, if he wouldn't be surviving this, then neither would the enemy. Then, one of the lookouts on the bridge shouted "Incoming! Brace for impact!" as the whistling noise of the 130mm shells got louder and louder.
Two out of three of the shells hit the Eclipse, while another hit the ocean's surface. The Frigate tilted to port as the lights onboard flickered, before rocking back to its original orientation.
"Damage sustained! Flooding reported in the lower compartments, casualties reported!"
Li played every possible outcome he could think of in his head, while all around him, officers and enlistees, with orders being yelled around the bridge. In every one of his scenarios, the fate of his ship and his men was certain death.
The CO was KIA, the structure of the ship had taken too much stress and could fall apart at any moment, and the enemy wouldn't be so lenient in accepting a surrender considering the fact that he had neutralized two other enemy warships along with their crew just a few hours prior to the battle.
'How did I get here?' Li thought. Just over a month ago, he had been posted as the XO of the Eclipse and promoted to the rank of Captain. Just two weeks ago, he was discussing vacation plans to Cameron Highlands with his parents. And now, he found himself in the middle of a war.
He could still hear his friends and family congratulating him on his big promotion and the party they threw to celebrate. But now Li felt that this big break in his career wouldn't be the best thing in his life to party over.
Li clenched his fist as he stood up from his seat on the bridge of Eclipse and gave his command. "Helm, come to starboard, course 035."
The Navigation Officer turned to face him with a look of shock. "But sir! That's a direct course to the enemy!" Hearing this, everyone on the bridge stopped what they were doing and turned to face Li, waiting to hear his response.
Li ignored their looks with a face of calm determination and contacted the CIC. "Lieutenant, what's the status on armaments?"
The reply came back in an instant. "All systems are green sir, the OTO Melara's a little banged up, but it's up and ready for a fight sir."
"Very good Lieutenant, get your men ready," Li replied, putting the speaker back down.
"S-sir, you can't really be considering going guns blazing into the enemy squadron, a-are you?" asked the frightened sonar operator "Those are destroyers! Three of them! What are we going to do in a frigate?"
Li only stared dead ahead at the three enemy destroyers on the horizon, their bows pointed directly at the Eclipse. "Son, why do you think they haven't attacked us again?" he asked, his gaze not diverging.
"W-well, I can only assume that they're either experiencing a technical fault or... they're expecting our surrender sir." replied the sonar operator.
Li nodded. "Precisely so. Now, behind us, just about a hundred kilometres behind us, is the motherland. Our parents, significant others, and our children are there, frightened to death hiding in the bomb shelters waiting for this hell to be over. They rely on us for their survival. What do you think would happen, if we simply allowed them to pass? What's their next target after us?"
Every sailor on the bridge knew what the answer was, even if Li did not say it. They thought of their families back home, and some even said a silent prayer.
"All of us took a pledge when we entered the armed forces to support and defend the constitution and preserve and protect the honour and independence of our country... with our lives. Today, I intend to fulfil my sacred obligations, and I hope you will all join me, as honourable men of the Navy..."
With that said, every sailor on the bridge snapped to attention and saluted Li. Their eyes filled with determination and for some, a tear or two.
Li looked back at every single one of them. This was his boat now, and these were his men. With so much on the line, and no way out, he would lead them in their goal of defending their nation to the death.
"Right. Let's get back to work." Li said, and the Eclipse entered its final chapter.
The battle was short, violent, chaotic, bloody, and a glorious one. In just under half an hour, three destroyers and one frigate were on their way to the bottom of the sea. Henry Li sat upon his seat among the bodies of his comrades, ready to go down with his ship.
"So this is how I die..." he muttered to himself. "Well it's not what I had in mind... but it's good enough I guess."
He thought about his parents back home, and his brother serving in the Air Force, still fighting the war. He made a silent prayer for them, before being engulfed by darkness...
...
... Only to find himself awaking unharmed, dry, and lying in the middle of a circular polished stone slab in the middle of a large, dimly lit chamber, with the only light source being a skylight on the ceiling which shone down on him.
Henry sat up, the last of his sweat evaporating as his heart rate approached usual levels as the adrenaline from the battle wore off. 'Hell looks a lot more neater than I imagined.' he thought, as he got up and dusted himself off.
He felt his side and found that his holster was still with him, the Heckler & Koch P30 pistol still intact and fully loaded. He was just about to step out of the circle when lanterns lit up above and around him, exposing the room to a large throne room which seemed to be a longer and grander version of the Hall of Supreme Harmony of the Forbidden Palace in Beijing.
Perhaps more concerning for him however, was the fact that he realised that he was not alone. Surrounding him were five men in dark robes carrying large staves. Henry instinctively went for his sidearm, but a thought stopped him.
'If this is the afterlife, then I'm probably going to be judged. I better not do anything rash to offend anybody...' Henry adjusted his uniform to make it neater and ensured his sidearm was properly in its holster. Taking a better look around the room, he found it to be filled with terracotta soldiers, though not of the same design as those found at Qin Shi-huang's burial site, while being much fresher and lifelike in appearance.
The terracotta warriors stood in ranks, creating an aisle that led directly to a golden throne, similar to the one in Beijing. Seeing that these men in robes seemed to be ignoring him, he walked down the aisle towards the throne. Before the throne, were what appeared to would be an emperor's advisors.
On the throne however, was a beautiful young woman who looked to be in her early 20s with long black hair and a pair of horns on her head wearing a dark Hanfu (Traditional Chinese attire) lying sideways on the throne, staring down at Henry, a stern look on her face.
"Greetings otherworlder, I am the Demon Lord of the 9th Rank, Yang Meilin, of the Shenwu Domain. What is your name?"
