TFA1 7.1 - The Frogman Platoon

Bluefin Naval Station.

23:20, 21 Aug 2025

Under the darkness of night sky, four people dressed in black wetsuits silently swam into the gap that became the entrance to Bluefin Naval Station. At a position of 400 meters from the entry point, the intruders easily passed through the row of floating blocks that served as portals.

The intruder's swimming ability was excellent. By using frog style they were able to keep their heads above the water line. They also showed no signs of having short of breath or cold. As soon as they entered Bluefin's deep pool, they immediately took out crystal recorder, and by using a hand signal they divided the areas they had to record.

However, the intruders didn't realize that from two different directions at a depth of four meters, eight shadows swam gracefully toward their position. Without warning, the shadows then grabbed the intruders’ ankles and pulled them to the bottom of the deep pool.

Ripples and bubbles were formed, but only for a moment before the surface of the deep pool returned into a total calm and quiet.

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Main Hangar, Davy Jones MOB

17:05, 22 Aug 2025

Davy Jones Medium Operating Base was TF Amethyst's second base with an airfield and hangar. In this MOB, 8 units F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and 4 units P-8 Poseidon were stationed and rotated every three weeks.

Davy Jones was also the home base for a battery of Tamir ADS that protected lot of vital facilities around it, such as Bluefin Naval Station which was located 8 km to the south, FOC South 1750 which was located 50 km to the west, Aqua Marine Development and Research Center which was located 5 km to the north, and several Nouel storage and processing facilities.

TF Amethyst had planted Nouel only 5 km outward from South High Road, but with the length of South High Road which reached more than 1800 km, the few first of Nouel's harvest already filled the existing storages to the maximum capacity.

Moreover, Lt. Col. Slane had already signaled that in the next few weeks Amethyst Merchant would be flooded with Nouel from Northern Coalition. Therefore, if someone showed an interest to the area around Davy Jones, TF Amethyst's higher-ups would take it seriously.

Smoothly, a C-130J Super Hercules made a landing. As soon as its rear door opened, personnel from Logistics & Support Group immediately started the unloading. At the same time, from the side door Vex and his bodyguards walked out while carrying their backpacks.

Nate, who had been waiting for Vex's arrival smiled and said, "Welcome to Davy Jones."

"Yep."

"After putting your luggage we can go to the bar."

"Cold beer is tempting, but can you take me to Bluefin first?"

"As you wish."

Nate replied as he took Vex and his bodyguards to 3 units of M1152 Personnel Carriers not far from the Hercules parking spot.

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Bluefin Naval Station

17:30, 22 Aug 2025

Within TF Amethyst's special operations element, Frogman Platoon was the only unit that had a base outside of Harley Quinn. Their HQ was at Bluefin Naval Station, located on the southern coast of Amstell Continent. To be precise, it was located on an inland small sea surrounded by a cliff 30 meters high, and connected to the sea through a gap of 600 meters wide and 4 km long.

Therefore, ships at Bluefin's deep pool didn't have to worry about seasonal storms that visiting twice a year. Even though for now it had only served as a base for several armed LCACs, guided-missile patrol boats, and speedboats.

The commanding officer of Frogman Platoon was Captain Kasino. He was a frogman from Indonesian Navy who considered his appointment as CO was a disaster. Because it was no secret that every Frogman Platoon personnel have various 'uniqueness' as a side effect for spending most of their time underwater, which was not a natural habitat for humans.

In addition, when not on a mission, be it a real mission or a training mission, Frogman Platoon’s personnel carried out their daily activities by the 'Rule and Forget' principle. In short, they were behaving more like mercenaries rather than military personnel.

Therefore, Captain Kasino spent his days with the principle of 'Stay calm in chaos and suffering to the end, while holding back the nerve.' In short, as long as the members of his unit didn't kill each other, he wouldn't bother with what they did.

Every afternoon, the off-duty Frogman Platoon’s personnel would carry out a ritual of dinner together in the side yard of their barracks. Some personnel would prepare dinner, while his comrades relaxed around the campfire.

This afternoon, Captain Kasino happened to be tasked with preparing the dinner, and he used young jackfruit as the main ingredient.

Vex had tasted Captain Kasino's dishes many times. So he was quite familiar with tonight's menu. Young jackfruit was cooked using sautéed spices and minced meat, added with coconut milk and boiled egg, and then being enjoyed with white rice. The dish's flavor was similar to curry rice, except that the carrots, onions, and potatoes were being replaced with young jackfruit and boiled eggs.

"XO, please." After handing over a large bowl of white rice doused with young jackfruit curry, Captain Kasino sat down next to Vex.

"Captain, give me your opinion if Frogman Platoon had to carry an underwater infiltration into Kingdom of Buriek?"

Captain Kasino didn't answer immediately. He took a sip of his coffee while an unwanted memory filled his mind. Two months ago, he was conducting an underwater infiltration exercise when a Black-striped Shark came over from the side and bit one of his men until his body was cut from the waist up.

Black-striped Shark was not only seven times larger than the great white shark on earth, but also ten times fiercer and had a natural character of a serial killer. In short, Black-striped Shark killed its prey for fun, not for its belly. So, it wouldn't stop until every toy before its nose was dead.

Captain Kasino and his men were aware that they would not come home alive since firearms were useless underwater, especially at depths. But Sergeant Jason, the second prey of the Black-striped Shark, managed to detonate two hand grenades at its throat, even though he had to sacrifice his life in the process.

Since sound travels about four times faster in the water than in the air, the blast of a hand grenade could travel quite far. The underwater blast would hammer sinus and lung very hard, and it would fatally wound or even kill a diver.

Fortunately, the Black-striped Shark's throat was thick enough to hold the explosion, so it didn’t harm the frogmen. Captain Kasino and the rest of his men then returned to Bluefin carrying the bodies of their two fallen comrades, and in the following day General O'Neil directly led the funeral of two fallen Frogman using a full-scale military ceremony.

Captain Kasino put down his coffee before saying. "There are many ideal landing sites along Kingdom of Buriek’s coastline. The problem is they have a hobby of feeding Black-striped Sharks on their shores. So, underwater infiltration to secure landing areas is not a wise choice.

Of course, if the situation is we will lose the war if the underwater infiltration is not being carried out, the Frogman Platoon will happily carry it then. We would rather die than lose.

However, if it is not for worthy reasons, please do not send us to become Black-striped Shark's food."

Vex nodded slightly before saying, "Understood."

*****