[MacGyverGod]

Welcome to chapter 4 already. In this chapter, we're almost another six months further in the story. And from this chapter on the war begins. Also from now on the upcoming chapters are completely new and recently or rewritten (with exception of chapter 10 who got a finishing touch) I hope you enjoy.

(We fade in as the texts of Headlines III appears and the track Lynch Mob from North and South starts playing)
Headlines III
May 1941 – November 1941

‘Unsinkable’ ship sinks

May 27 1941
Germany has always said his newest and fastest battleship, the Bismarck was unsinkable. But the ship lies already on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean after a relentless assault of the British Royal Navy. The action took place after the Bismarck destroyed the British ship Hood.

German invasion

June 22 1941
Hitler has broken the German treaty, he signed with Stalin, not to attack the Soviet Union and invaded the country. The operation got the codename Barbarossa. At sunrise the German army unleashed a ferocious attack. The Soviets were not prepared and on the first day over more that one thousand and eight hundred Soviet airplanes got destroyed. It seems that Germans once more are willing to gain a quick victory but only the size of the Soviet Union might put a stop to this.

Winter slows down Nazi-advance

November 21 1941
The German advance in the Soviet Union has slowed down. After a series of easy victories the German army is closing in de Soviet capital of Moscow. The Germans however has to deal with a new enemy: the severe Russian winter. Most German soldiers don’t have solid winter clothing and the engines of their trucks and tanks are freezing down. In the meantime the Soviets are getting backup of new troops out of Siberia, who are better equipped for warfare in extreme weather conditions.
(The music reaches it's ending and we fade out here)

(We fade in with peaceful views of Hawaii when the track Tennessee from Pearl Harbor starts playing)
Chapter 4
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
Oahu - Hawaii
Sunday December 7th 1941
07:30 AM Hawaiian Time

It was December 7th on a sleepy Sunday morning when we arrived on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The tour started at 7:30 am when we visited the base. Our guide came to pick us up at the place of where we were supposed to meet. A open truck pulled up and drove to us. He stopped in front of O’ Neill and the driver came out of the truck.
‘Colonel O’ Neill?’
‘Yes, sir,’ O’ Neill acknowledged while saluting. (The music fades away here)
‘I am major Stevenson,’ he introduced himself. ‘I am your tour guide as it were.’
He was pretty tall and early or halfway his forties. He had brown curly hair and with that disciplined look in his dark eyes it looked like he had years of field experience. It came as no surprise that he’d fought in the Great War. ‘Are these your cadets?’
‘Yes, they form the Stargate Company. These are the nine they assigned to you. Privates MacGyver, Dalton, Murdoc, Neill, Chuck, Jesse, Andrew, Charles and Tommy.’
‘Alright. I guess we better get started if we don’t wanna fall behind on schedule. The idea is to show you around on how the navy works. So you can hop on the back of the truck and enjoy the morning sun. Sunrises and sunsets are very beautiful on these islands. Further I’ll show the other meanings of Pearl Harbor, like what do we do to relax, what we do on the battleships and where the infirmary is.’
‘Alright, everyone on the truck!’ O’ Neill ordered. (The same track starts playing again)
We all went on the truck. O’ Neill took place on the passengers seat next to Stevenson.
‘OK, everybody, hold on,’ Stevenson said and started the truck.
Slowly but on natural speed we had a sightseeing tour on the truck in Pearl Harbor. By going over the various little streets we had a great view on how Pearl Harbor was made.
‘Can everybody hear me, back there?’ Stevenson asked.
‘Yes, we do, sir,’ Andrew acknowledged. (The music fades away again)
‘Good. The history of Pearl Harbor starts in the early 1800’s when the worlds navies were exploring and establishing ports throughout the Pacific Ocean. But it wasn’t until 1820 that the American government got interested in the Sandwich Islands which followed the ship and whale trading in the Pacific. According the history records of the nineteenth century what is now known as Pearl Harbor was referred to as “Wai-Momi” which literally means “Water of the Pearl” or “Pearl Water”.’
‘And since when did it became Pearl Harbor the way it is?’ Tommy asked.
‘On May the 13th 1908 the Congress passed an official act for creating Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. They authorized three million dollars to do so,’ Stevenson answered. ‘From then on Pearl Harbor grew and grew till it became what it is.’
‘But not without problems, huh?’ O’ Neill said.
‘Yeah,’ Stevenson sighed. ‘In 1913, before the Great War, we had a discouraging collapse of the dry dock. You see, during the enlargement and dredging of the harbor’s channels and the build-up of the houses and shops, we had a construction of a dry dock.’
He paused and than continued. ‘The dry dock collapsed because of underground pressure. The navy worked four years on that with all class mechanics from the mainland on four sections. When the first section was completed, they tested the second one to see if it’s bottom was rising by pumping out the water. After four days, the second section was dry but at the end of one day, the bottom rose again and massively. Because of the rising sections one and three caved in. The wood we used splintered up in thousands of pieces. Four years of work was all of a sudden gone. That, plus four hundred thousand dollars.’
O’ Neill whistled in astonishment of that kind of money.
‘Thirteen months later, they agreed on restarting the works, which was a good thing, because we could all use the money. Under the supervision of the Navy inspector we began rebuilding the dry dock. It was in 1917 when we poured the first concrete of the dry dock, but it wasn’t until August 1919 that the dry dock was finally completed. During these constructions and the Great War, Pearl Harbor became a first class naval base on demand to take care of entire fleet in case of war, precluding it’s usefulness as a commercial harbor.’
He paused one more time before he finished his monologue about Pearl Harbor. ‘God, knows that the U.S. Marines are proud of their harbor. And by halfway the thirties over forty million dollars was invested in the harbor to make it as big and beautiful as she is now.’
Going down a little street we passed a baseball field.
‘And if you look on your right side, you can see our baseball field where our own national navy team practices their games. This is a great way for our soldiers, to relax and to live themselves out. Besides baseball, we also have a few good boxers around here. The matches are pretty tough, just like we are. You into any sports, colonel?’
‘Well, I like gulf. Than again, I don’t have much time to play it. Always busy to drill these guys,’ O’ Neill answered.
‘Any of you into sports, back there?’ Stevenson asked.
‘I play hockey every now and than,’ I said.
‘And I play soccer,’ Tommy said.
‘Soccer? European football, eh? That’s neat.’
We drove further and Stevenson pointed out to the infirmary, but we were going to keep that for the last part of our tour.
Our next stop was going the be at the docks to view the battleships on “Battleship Row”. We walked on the docks looking with our mouths open to the gigantic battleships. First we went to the USS California. A whole bunch of sailors were working on the ship, mostly cleaning it. Stevenson gave us some information of the battleship.
‘The USS California (BB-44), a Tennessee-class battleship, was the fifth ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 31st state. Her keel was laid down on October 25 1916 by the Mare Island Navy Yard. She was launched November 20 1919 sponsored by Mrs. R.T. Zane (daughter of California governor William D. Stephens); and commissioned August 10 1921 with Captain H.J. Ziegemeier in command. She immediately reported to the Pacific Fleet as a flagship.’
He paused and than continued. ‘For the past 20 years from 1921 until 1941, California served first as a flagship of the Pacific Fleet, then as a flagship of the Battle Fleet (Battle Force), U.S. Fleet. Her annual activities included joint Army-Navy exercises, tactical and organizational development problems, and fleet concentrations for various purposes. Intensive training and superior performance won her the Battle Efficiency Pennant for 1921 and 1922, and the Gunnery "E" for 1925 and 1926.’
Another pause.
‘In the summer of 1925 California led the Battle Fleet and a division of cruisers from the Scouting Fleet on a good-will cruise to Australia and New Zealand. She took part in the Presidential reviews of 1927, 1930, and 1934. She was modernized in late 1929 and early 1930 and equipped with an improved antiaircraft battery of eight 5"/25 caliber guns replacing the earlier 3-inch guns. Later in the mid to late 30's the "California" and the 14 Battleships of the United States Fleet was stationed in San Pedro, California. During that time they participated in numerous fleet exercises taking them up and down the west coast, to Hawaii, and in 1939 through the Panama Canal, to Cuba, to New York City for the 1939 Worlds Fair. The "California", and other "Capital Ships" (other Battleships, USS Lexington, and USS Saratoga) competed for the Navy Department General Excellency Trophy for Capital Ships of the Pacific - known as the "Iron Man Trophy". Since 1919 the Capital Ships competed for this covinent award. The "California" was first awarded the "Iron Man" in 1925 and held it for three years. In 1939 the "California" won the "Iron Man" for the last time with a total score of 733 to beat out the New Mexico. During those years the competition for the "Iron Man" was fierce among the capital ships of the Pacific Fleet until most of them were re-assigned to Hawaii in May 1940. The ship weighs about 32,300 tons, is 624,5 feet long, 97,3 feet wide, 30.3 feet deep and can speed up till 21 knots with room for 1026 men. The armaments are 12 × 14-inch guns, 14 × 5-inch guns, 4 × 3-inch guns and 2 × 21 in torpedo tubes.’
‘Now that was a lot of info,’ Charles said stumped.
‘Yeah, sorry. I hope that wasn’t too boring for you, guys. Are there any questions?’
He got negative mumbling for an answer. ‘OK, than, then we’re going to the USS Arizona.’
After walking down the USS California we went on the deck of the USS Arizona, where we got to see the same theater. Sailors cleaning the ship and Stevenson telling us on how and when the Arizona was build and what it’s purposes were.
‘The battleship we’re now standing on is the USS Arizona, gents. This BB-39 is from the Pennsylvania class and type Battleship US NAVY. It was build on March 16 1914 in New York. We placed it in the water March 19 1915. We began using this ship in the Great War on October 16 of the following year where it saw action. The vessel was the third to be named in honor of the 48th state, though the first since its statehood was actually achieved. After a shakedown off the east coast and in the Caribbean, she operated out of Norfolk, Virginia, until November 1918, when she made a brief cruise to France. She made a second cruise to European waters in April-June 1919, proceeding as far east as Turkey.’
Stevenson paused and took breath before continuing. ‘During much of 1920-21, the battleship was in the western Atlantic and Caribbean areas, but paid two visits to Peru in 1921 in her first excursions into the Pacific. From August 1921 until 1929, Arizona was based in Southern California, making occasional cruises to the Caribbean or Hawaii during major U.S. Fleet exercises.’
‘That’s very interesting, we never saw this during the history classes on West Point,’ Jesse said interrupting Stevenson.
‘That’s because we joined the Land Force and not the Sea Force,’ I said.
‘Yeah, we’re soldiers not marines,’ Jack said.
‘Hey, come on. Pay attention,’ O’ Neill said.
Stevenson didn’t mind the intrusion and simply continued. ‘It was from 1929 till 1931, Arizona was modernized at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, emerging with a radically altered appearance and major improvements to her armament and protection. Than in March 1931, she transported President Herbert Hoover and his party to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In August of that year, Arizona returned to the Pacific, continuing her operations with the Battle Fleet during the next decade. Since last year, she, and the other Pacific Fleet battleships, were based at Pearl Harbor on the orders of our President Franklin D. Roosevelt.’
‘I’ve got a question, sir,’ Andrew said.
‘Yes!’
‘What are the measurements of this ship?’
‘It’s six hundred and eight feet long and thirty meters wide. The ship is about nine meters deep and weighs 31,400 tons. With the mechanical turbines and four shafts, we can give it 33.375 horsepower and gain 21 knots of speed. In total there’s room for one thousand and eighty-one men.’
‘And what’s your weaponry equipment?’ O’ Neill asked.
‘The weaponry of the USS Arizona exists out of 12 x 14”/45 canons and 12 x 5”/51 canons. Two planes and two catapults. Also they have their gun turrets at hand.’
Impressed we look around on the ship.
‘Are there any more questions?’ Stevenson asked.
No one answered. ‘OK, than let us go to our last ship of the tour, the USS Nevada!’
We went of the ship again and for a moment I thought I heard something humming. I stopped halfway going down the board and looked up at the blue sky.
‘Hey, come on. Keep moving,’ O’ Neill said from behind.
‘Do you hear that?’ I asked.
‘Hear what?’ he asked and also looked up.
‘I don’t know. Never mind.’
O’ Neill frowned shook his head and walked further.
‘What’s the matter, Mac?’ Jack asked.
‘Nothing.’
‘You, alright?’
‘I’m fine, Jack.’
‘Alright, just checking,’ he said patting my shoulder.
We walked over the decks to the USS Nevada. Also here the sailors where working on the battleship and cleaning it.
‘This is the eighth and last ship of the line. The ship in contrary with the others has had a radical departure in design. Where other battleships has armor of various thickness, depending on the importance of what it’s protecting, the USS Nevada had a maximum of armor over critical places. The ship has been laid down on November the 4th 1912 and launched two years later on July the 11th. Commissioned on March the 11th in 1916 with Captain William S. Sims in command. She joined the US Atlantic Fleet in Newport, Rhode Island where she operated on the east coast and than later joined in the Great War.’
There was some mumbling around the group when Stevenson paused for a moment.
‘The displacement of the ship is 27,500 tons. Length is 583 feet, beam 85,3 feet, draft 28,5 feet. The ship can gain a speed of 20,5 knots. There is room for 864 men and the weaponry exists out of 10 x 14 in (356 mm) guns, 21 x 5 in (127 mm guns), 4 x 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes. In September 1922 she represented the United States in Rio de Janeiro for the Centennial of Brazilian Independence. From July to September 1925, she participated in the U.S. Fleet's goodwill cruise to Australia and New Zealand, which demonstrated to these allies, and to the Japanese, US ability to make a self-supported cruise to a distance equal to that to Japan. Modernized at Norfolk Naval Shipyard between August 1927 and January 1930, Nevada served in the Pacific Fleet for the next decade. Modernization included addition of eight 5"/25 caliber guns.’
Again there was some mumbling.
‘Questions?’
No one really answered, everybody was looking at the battleship.
‘Okay than, if there aren’t any questions, we’ll proceed to our final stop of the tour. The infirmary,’ Stevenson said and let us back to the docks.
‘Oh, the infirmary,’ Tommy cheered.
‘Hot nurses,’ Charles cheered as well.
‘Oh, jeez, go jerk off somewhere else,’ Andrew said.
‘Don’t deny it, you want them as well. You know you want them.’
‘Hey, guys, come on,’ I said. ‘Behave!’
‘Oh, yes, mother,’ Charles replied sarcastically.
I playfully hit him on the shoulder.
‘Hey, fella’s,’ O’ Neill said slightly agitated. ‘Knock it off.’
While we were walking back to the truck I heard that noise again. I stopped to look at the sky again. O’ Neill saw that.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘I’m hearing it again.’
O’ Neill checked out the sky again as well.
‘I don’t hear anything or see anything out of the ordinary. What’s wrong with you?’
‘Colonel, I just have this bad feeling all morning.’
‘You see? That’s what happens if you have beans for breakfast.’
‘I didn’t had any beans for breakfast,’ I spat back.
‘Canned eggs, maybe?’
‘There was indeed something funny about that omelet though.’
‘See? The noise you hear are probably the B-17’s the harbor is expecting. Everything is just fine,’ O’ Neil reassured me.
We entered the docks again and than BANG!!! (The track The Blast from North and South starts playing) The first Japanese bomb was dropped. We were thrown to the ground when the first victims fell.
‘Everything, huh?’ I asked while getting back up.
We looked up and hundreds of Japanese fighter planes appeared in the skies above, bombarding Pearl Harbor. Everywhere bombs and rockets were dropped on the fleet and on the building. The planes that weren’t bombing shot everything in sight.
‘Holy *quack*!’ O’ Neill exclaimed.
More bombs were dropped very close to us. We had to duck for cover so the flames wouldn’t get us. Another bomb was dropped on the USS Vestal, the ship next to the Arizona. The bomb crashed through the deck and blew a big hole in the side of the hull. When I saw that happen, instinctively I reacted by running to the infernal.
‘MacGyver, you crazy son of a b*tch, don’t go in there by yourself!’ O’ Neill yelled but I didn’t listen anymore and entered the burning ship.
‘Right, listen up!’ O’ Neill barked loud and low. ‘This *quack* is for real now. Tommy, Charles and Andrew you go and collect the wounded and bring them to Hospital Island. Take Murdoc with you. Jesse, Chuck and Neill, you go and evacuate the battleships.’
‘Right!’ they acknowledged.
‘Dalton, you come with me!’ O’ Neill said.
They both ran into the burning battleship.
‘MacGyver, where are you?!’ O’ Neill yelled.
‘I’m over here!’ I yelled back from above. ‘There’s a ladder over there, than you can reach me. But hurry up, they’re a lot of wounded in here.’
O’Neill and Jack climbed up the ladder and reached up to me.
‘Where the hell are we here?’ Jack asked.
‘I think we’re in the engine rooms. Come on, they’re over there.’
For a moment there, it looked liked the earth itself has moved. The shipped rocked heavily after we heard another nearby explosion. The explosion sounded muffled, just like everything else that happened on the outside. The gunshots, the explosions, it all sounded so far and still so nearby. We proceeded through the burning engine rooms and found three soldiers covered under debris. They were bleeding but conscious.
‘Help us out of here!’ they begged.
‘We’ll do everything, we can,’ I said and looked at their current situation. ‘Alright, Jack, you take on that side, O’ Neill and I will lift this side.’
There was a part of a boiler fallen on their legs with more little debris.
‘Okay, ready?’ I asked.
They both acknowledged and on the count of three, we lifted the part up.
‘One, two, three.’
They crawled from underneath it. (The music stops here)
‘Is everybody ok? Can you all walk?’ O’ Neill asked.
‘Yeah,’ two of them answered.
‘Except me,’ the third one said, ‘I think my leg is broken.’
‘Alright, we’ll take you to the infirmary,’ I said. ‘This way.’
When we tried to go back the way we came, another shockwave went through the ship. Another boiler got loose from the ceiling and collapsed right onto the ladder.
‘Get back!’ I said.
Because of the loud clang and the weight of the boiler, the ladder bended over and caused more damage to the hull.
‘Look,’ Jack said and pointed to the water that was rising. ‘She’s gonna sink.’
‘Is there another way out of here?’ I asked.
‘Yeah. Through the door, up there,’ the second man said pointing to door a floor up.
‘Guys, I don’t think I can make it with my leg like this,’ the third one said.
‘Sure you can,’ I said trying to giving him some hope. ‘Just from a soon you’re at the ladder don’t support on your broken leg.’
‘I’ll try.’
‘On the ladder, you better go first,’ O’ Neill said to him. ‘Let’s go!’
(The track Attack from Pearl Harbor starts playing)
I put the broken legged soldier’s arm around my neck for his support and dragged him along. Slowly we moved our way to the ladder. The water just kept rising as the ship started to lean over to the right.
‘Come on,’ I said. ‘Hold on!’
We got to the ladder. ‘Alright, you first and don’t support on your leg.’
The soldier got on the ladder and jumped from one step to the other. Swifter than expected he climbed up the ladder and we followed him on his tail. ‘Go on!’
It was getting harder to climb since the ship leaned more over to his left. Eventually we all got up top. The wounded soldier tried to get to the door open.
‘Damn it, it’s stuck.’
‘Let me try,’ I said and tried to crank the wheel of the door. It was indeed stuck. ‘Come on! Jack, colonel, help me out here.’
Jack and O’ Neill both got their hands on the wheel as well and on the count of three we tried to get the wheel. ‘One, two, thhhhreeeeeeee!’
The wheel went along and the door was open. We turned the wheel all the way to the right until it didn’t go any further. But when we tried to push the door open it was still stuck. Something was holding the door closed from the other side.
‘Goddamn it!’ one of the soldiers swore.
‘Something must’ve fallen in front of the door,’ I said.
‘We better break the door open. Water level’s rising fast,’ O’ Neill said.
He was right, the water was reaching up to our boots already.
‘Maybe we can try to kick it open!’ Jack suggested.
‘I’ll doubt it,’ I said. ‘But since we’re running out of time, I see it as the only way.’
‘Come on! All three together!’ O’ Neill ordered.
And again on the count of three we started to kick in the door. ‘One, two, three!’
We kicked the door in several times and it seemed to give in little bit. The water has been rising until our ankles now.
‘Use your shoulders,’ O’ Neill barked.
By using our shoulders we tried to bang in the door and it gave in little more.
‘Come on! Come on!’ O’ Neill cried out.
The door gave in until a certain point and it stopped giving in.
‘Wait, wait, wait, wait!’ I said in a hurry. ‘I can see what’s blocking it. It looks like a big piece of a wooden board. It must’ve fallen during the attack.’
‘Well, if it’s just a board, you can chop it down,’ the first soldier said and smashed his elbow through the glass of red case attached to the wall. ‘Here, use this axe.’
He gave me the axe which I immediately took. ‘Alright, everybody back up little bit.’
They backed up and I started chopping. It took me at least ten times before I could finally break through the board. Growling I chopped in on that last hit and the door broke open. ‘Come on,’ I said.
They got out of the engine room and O’ Neill and Jack helped me out to push and lock the door back in.
‘Jesus Christ, what the f*ck is going on around here?’ one of the soldiers asked.
‘We’re under attack, what do you figure?’ the other one wondered.
‘Yes, we are, and it’s not over,’ I said. ‘Look.’
I pointed to the windows as we saw fighter planes still bombing and destroying the Pearl.
‘Holy God!’ the third one exclaimed.
‘Look, we gotta get out of here, there’s no time to waste. What’s the fastest way to get back on deck?’
‘The ladder over there or the door on your left,’ the second one said pointing to a ladder leading up a hatch in the middle of the room and the door at our left end.
‘The ladder,’ I said and I ascended it as the first one.
I opened the hatch and looked at the morning sky. It was filled with fighter planes bombing everything in sight. Another plane flies over and dropped something that was coming my way. It was a small dot at first sight but pretty soon it became clear with it was. The plane dropped a bomb on the Vestal. For half a split second I froze but I quickly regained my senses and jumped back of the ladder. ‘GET TO THE DOOR!!!’
O’ Neill, Jack and the other two soldiers didn’t hesitate for a second to run and they dragged their hurt friend with them. I gave it a go when the bomb fell straight into the hatch. The bomb exploded with an ear deafening roar. The ground I was running on shook heavily, almost causing me to lose my balance. The windows shattered in a bazillion pieces. I felt pieces of glass falling on me and the intense heat on my back from the fire. I jumped through the door hole as another explosion destroyed that interior part of the ship. The flames reached out till outside as the others ducked for cover again.
‘Oh my God,’ I exclaimed on my shock of survival. ‘I can’t believe I survived that.’
We got ourselves up again.
‘If we follow this stairwell, we get back on the upper deck where that ladder should’ve led to,’ the first soldier said.
We went up the stairs and got back to the upper deck. The destruction caused by the fighter planes were beyond our imaginations. They really destroyed everything they could. By standing there we had a good look on what was happening. It was chaos in the largest meaning of the word. On some ships a counterattack evolved. Brave men were wielding the cannons and turrets on the ship. Now we saw who was attack us.
‘There are red dots on those planes,’ Jack noticed.
‘Those are Japanese Zeros,’ O’ Neill said.
‘What the hell did we or didn’t we do to Japan?’ the broken legged soldier asked.
‘I don’t know,’ O’ Neill said, ‘but whatever their problem is, one thing is for sure.’
‘What’s that?’ I asked.
‘The war is on!’
‘Come on, we have to get of the ship.’
We turned around and went back to the docks.
‘Look there’s an ambulance coming,’ Jack said.
Unfortunately for that ambulance and us a Japanese Zero bombed it. It released the rocket and it slammed in on the ground behind it, catapulting the ambulance in the air. The ambulance tipped over a couple of times until it remained still on it’s side. The peoples inside tried to get out but another Zero flew over and fired their machineguns at them.
‘Oh, God!’ the third soldier said.
The ship was completely leaning further over to the right when we tried to get of it. There was no way of going back to the docks. The walking plank was damaged.
‘Oh great!’ I said.
The ship really started to turn over now at increasing speed, that we had to hold on to the railing of the side. At a point the ship got stuck against the docks. The ship wasn’t exactly on it’s side yet but it looked like a playground slide. Not knowing what to do, we just dangled there for a few moments. We just saw peoples fighting for their lives. Hundreds of them ended up in the sea screaming for help, trying to get themselves in safety. At the moment I thought everything was over for us a speedboat passed by that was picking up the wounded.
‘Hey,’ the guy at the rudder called and waved to us. ‘Come on, I’ll throw you a rope!’
A Zero flew low over releasing a rain of bullets out of his machineguns. The bullets drilled into the water first forming a line of the impacts before hitting the speedboat. The guy who was about to throw the rope got an unknown amount of bullets drilled in his body as he fell dead into the water. The wounded he already picked also fell into the water, more badly injured or even dead.
‘I’m going to let go,’ I said and let go of my grip.
I sled down of the deck into the water.
‘Mac!’ Jack screamed as I went under.
I had to swim around first before getting into the boat. My head popped up and I climbed into the boat. ‘I’m alright,’ I waved at them.
The rope hung half out of the boat. I took the rope together and made a lasso to throw it up to ones in danger.
O’ Neill caught it in his hand and tied it up to railing while I did the same thing at my end.
‘Alright, you can climb down now,’ he said to the broken legged soldier.
‘Yeah!’
The broken legged soldier climbed his way to the boat as well as the others did. There were already the six of us in the boat, still we tried to get the ones who were still alive after the plane attack, back into the boat. There was room for at least six more.
O’ Neill took place at the rudder as for myself and the others tried to get their fallen friends out of the water.
‘Somebody use that machinegun on the planes and cover us.’
‘I’ll do it,’ one of the men said and wielded the machine gun.
‘Remember to lead the target a bit and than fire,’ another guy said.
O’ Neill started the speedboat and at increasing speed we almost fled between the big battleships. On some ships they started to fire back but the damages we did weren’t as effective as the Japanese ones.
A Zero flew over low so the soldier at the machinegun released a salvo on the plane. He hit his wing and it caught fire. Than it crashed against a ship.
Every now and than a Japanese plane started to crash but it didn’t matter. We were not prepared for an attack like this and the worst things still had to happen.
After finding our way back to the docks, I helped everybody out of the boat and told them to go to the hospital right away.
Jack and O’ Neill got out of the boat as the last ones.
‘Woah!’ Jack exclaimed as I reached out for him.
My eye caught the USS Arizona. We stood not so far from it when a Zero that flew high but directly over it released a bomb from sky high. I saw the bomb drop faster and faster.
‘What are you looking at, Mac?’ Jack asked.
I pointed my finger to the dropping bomb. Jack’s eyes went bigger and O’ Neill was about to take cover when the bomb crashed into the ship’s bow. Strangely no explosion followed as the bomb crashed deeper and deeper into the ship.
We shared a questioned look when no explosion seemed to occur.
‘Maybe it’s a dud,’ Jack figured but his words weren’t even cold or a hellish explosion burst out. The intensity of the explosion and the shockwave that caused it must’ve been due to the ammunition that was stored on board. A powerful explosion almost tore off the whole bow of the ocean giant, rocking it heavily on the water and followed by another even more powerful explosion the ship lifted itself at least two feet out of the water. We ducked for cover when we saw that happening. A lot of debris got scattered around the place. Because of the explosion a lot of oil got out causing fires on the sea.
‘We have to go back,’ O’ Neill said and we jumped back into the speedboat.
Jack was wielding the machinegun now and doing better than at target practice. On our way to the USS Arizona he took down at least one other plane.
When we came to the Arizona another Zero flew over shooting at everything in sight.
‘Jack, cover us, while I’ll help out, Mac,’ O’ Neill barked.
Jack let the machinegun do his work on the planes as O’ Neill helped me out getting the marines in our speedboat. Not only did we rescued marines and sailors from the Arizona but we saved as many as we could from every battle ship. When we were full we had to make a go for it. O’ Neill was gaining in on the speed as we fled between the gigantic battleships. We became the target of a Zero that was following us down. Jack was shooting at it but the Zero dodged it expertly and fired his machineguns at it. The bullets ricocheted on the water and the ships. The plane flew over, making a turn and was coming back to us. The Zero bombed the radio tower of one of the ships we were passing by. It was a direct hit. Sideways the tower fell into the water blocking our way.
‘Hell, no!’ O’ Neill screamed.
The radio tower sunk into the water. When we passed it we heard and felt the boat screeching over it. We took a turn to right and got into a little more open sea. The plane came back but now Jack succeeded at shooting the plane down. His right wing caught on fire and than broke off. The pilot lost control over the plane and crashed with the nose in the sea. It bounced of the water a couple of time and than slammed into the hull of another battleship.
‘That was amazing,’ one of soldiers cheered.
‘Yeah,’ Jack said.
‘Hey, look at the Arizona. She’s sinking!’ another one said. (The music fades into the track December 7th from Pearl Harbor)
Stunned we looked at the Arizona that was being taken down. It turned over to it’s side. We heard the marines scream, who tried to hold on, on the gigantic ship. But we couldn’t do anything for them our boat was full and we had to bring the wounded to the hospital.
Everywhere I looked I saw peoples dying or fighting for their lives and it wasn’t only peoples but also the gigantic ships died like monsters that are being swallowed by the sea. Our boat was getting full, there wasn’t room for anyone else.
‘Hey,’ someone shouted, ‘the Nevada is trying to make a go for it.’
We saw the ship trying to leave to harbor but it didn’t got very far. Another bomb got send to the ship and blew it up, blocking the entrance way of the Pearl. The bows of the ships stuck up in the air when they sank to the depths of the sea.
O’ Neill returned our speedboat back to the docks, where we all got off the boat.
‘Everybody just run! Go to the infirmary,’ O’ Neill said.
We all ran for it, while avoiding bullets and bombardments. The hangars near the hospital were a great target for them because the planes were stationed there, also trucks and other marines and soldiers were in danger. Zeros flew over the hangars and bombed it. Planes and trucks got blown up and the whole hangar came down. Another Zero flew over and dropped another one near the clinic. They felt the shock in the hospital, windows burst and everybody got into a panic. During our run to the hospital a bomb killed four men and two others got hit.
‘Help!!! Help!!!’
I heard a call for help. I look over my shoulder and saw one of our men wounded.
‘Colonel, look,’ I said.
‘Let’s get them.’
We ran back to them and lay them over our shoulders. The extra weight maybe it more difficult to run but we made it till the hospital.
Tommy, Charles, Andrew and Murdoc were there helping others. Andrew came to me.
‘How’s he doing?’ he asked.
‘He’s wounded so is that other guy,’ I said while putting the injured marine down. ‘What’s the situation here?’
‘Just like out there. It’s a catastrophe. I mean, what the hell did we do to Japan?’
‘The world’s gone crazy. Absolutely crazy.’
‘Gentlemen, I hate to disturb your coffee chat but we’re still under attack,’ O’ Neill said. ‘There are still peoples out there who needs saving.’
‘Wait a minute, have you seen Stevenson?’
‘Not since the attack,’ Andrew said and left.
‘Come on, MacGyver. We’ll go out there again and try to safe more marines.’
So O’ Neill, Jack and I went out for a second time to rescue peoples. This time we even saved more lives and we counted seventeen peoples when the boat was full.
The second attack wave struck the harbor even more worse while it was already nearly fully destroyed, than slowly the Japanese Zeros left the airspace. When I went back on my own and took a look around I realized what the scale of the damage was. The black smoke of the sinking ships covered the daylight with darkness. Dead bodies drifted in the ocean or they were laying at the docks. Everywhere you looked, you could see death and desperation. On the sinking ships the marines tried everything they could to help to dying people inside. For a lot of people help came too late.
I walked around while looking at all the damage, than I saw Jack, Neill, Chuck and Jesse. They were alright.
‘So, I guess this it, right?’ I said. ‘We’re at war with the world. Japan sucked us into it.’
‘It’s awful, Mac. Who knows what’ll happen next?’
‘I don’t know, but we’re in for the big one, now.’
‘I’m scared of what will happen,’ Jesse said. ‘I just wanna go home.’
‘Home. I’m afraid no one is going to go home, Jesse. Not for a long time.’
‘I don’t wanna hear this, MacGyver.’
‘You better believe it, Jesse. It’s reality. We probably won’t see our families again.’
‘Don’t say that.’
‘It’s the truth. We’re all going to die some time so we better do it by doing something right.’
The following day the President of the United States spoke:
“Yesterday, December 7 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by Naval and Air Forces by the Empire of Japan. The attack was planned days or even weeks ago. No matter how long it may take us, we will overcome this premeditative invasion. I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday December 7 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.”
(The music reaches it's peak and we slowly fade out here)

[MacGyverGod]

And also updated. I know it's a lot of info on Pearl Harbor and the battleships. But it only seemed natural I suppose to give you that info to make the story more coherent and more historically correct.

[MacsChick]

I love your revisions! Carry on!

[MacGyver's_Baby]

Really good story and its really cool that you have headlines from WW2! love it!

[MacGyverGod]

Thanks, y'all.