Author: The first chapter is a bit short since this is just a prologue so it didn't take me a long time to complete. My schedule had been somewhat freed up recently so I got enough spare time to finish this. I thought it would take me till next week to upload this, but I guess unexpected things do happen from time to time.

Anyhow, Tirpitz might come back in the future, as in the shipgirl one. Though the reunion won't be a happy one compared three years ago. Let's just say she's not going to be the little sister Bismarck knew and loved.

Early morning in the Maizuru naval district. Of course, much like any other days, the routine is the same for most shipgirls. There's the morning exercises, practices, and the likes of breakfast. Just like the shipgirls, Saki had to wake up early to prepare for her usual duty as the admiral of the naval base.

"What a good night sleep. A night without night battle maniacs sure is nice"

The night battle maniac Saki is referring to is definitely Sendai...and her "prodigies". Sendai would always be so excited about night battles she would cause too much noise that short tempered shipgirls like Zuikaku doesn't take too kindly.

"Hmm? Those planes. Ah, that's right. Today it's Zuihou assigned for CAP duty"

The aircraft carriers, both standard and light would take turns on the regular CAP duty on the naval base and the coastline of the sea of Japan. There are times where Abyssals would sometimes wander off in the navy's territory so regular patrols are always done.

"As usual, those girls are quite energetic"

Saki laughed as she watched the scene of Bismarck heavily panting while Iowa wore a confident smug with her arms crossed.

"I'm still number one, yo" Iowa winked, teasing Bismarck

"D...damn it. You outrun...me..."

"That's the power of American engineering for you"

"German engineering is still the best!"

Bismarck refused to accept that American engineering are superior than German engineering. She's someone that takes great pride in herself and her country so it's obvious she won't admit the superiority of others.

"When it comes to science and engineering, Germany is superior than everyone else. Remember that!"

"Says the battleship that tripped over a Swordfish"

Iowa mocked Bismarck and her dislike for Swordfish, deliberately annoying the German battleship. Before Bismarck could even lunge at Iowa, Prinz Eugen is holding her back. As an American battleship, Iowa is clearly stronger than a German battleship like Bismarck. The latter may be the pride of the Kriegsmarine, but her design...is a both outdated and flawed.

"Stop fooling around, all of you. We're up next for the training exercise"

Richelieu reminded her two fellow fast battleships about their unfinished duty for this morning. Of all the fast battleships in the naval base, Richelieu is the most level-headed and serious...most of the time.

"You two looked so much like that I could tell you two are related at first glance"

What Saki is thinking how she Bismarck and Tirpitz had so much similarities, one should think if they're related when comparing the two side by side. Even if the two are sisters so they have barely any differences, what sets Tirpitz apart from her sister is her white hair and serious looking face.

"Now that I think about it, how come no one even suspected you two are sisters? Then again..."

As Saki thinks about it, she realized it's someone like Nagato or Yamato usually accompanying Tirpitz when she's away to report to the headquarters or something. Though a vice admiral thought how the two are like sisters during one of the rare occasions Bismarck and Tirpitz are together outside of the naval base.

Later...

Inside a special storage, Saki checked on the the equipment kept inside it for the past two years. For the whole time, the battleship rigging laid there quietly, suspended in chains and collecting dust. While Akashi does occasional maintenance on the equipment, the fairies manning the equipment regularly checks on it.

"This thing is heavy as hell. How in the world can you even use these things around?"

Saki couldn't even make one of the turrets rotate, even using her full strength. Of all the shipgirls, battleships had the heaviest rigging just as they have the biggest guns, specially the Yamato class. This explains why their physical abilities are superior than other ship types.

"I kind of miss you, you know. I miss the admiral whom I don't know was actually a shipgirl"

She gently rubs her hand on one of the turrets, saying how she longs for her "deceased" fellow admiral. While they don't see each other very often due to their duties on their respective naval bases, she saw Tirpitz as a "friend" even if the latter isn't who she seems.

"When are you going to come back? The shipgirl, I mean..."

Saki thought how it felt like for Tirpitz. To be an admiral yet to be a shipgirl. She had to keep her identity as a shipgirl a secret to the public in order for the navy to not execute her for "desertion".

"A German battleship not everyone knows who officially sunk in the far north thirteen years ago. No wonder no one recognized you"

She laughed, thinking how the Tirpitz, a shipgirl only some people knew, could use her "non existence" as an advantage. Tirpitz mentioned how it felt like she didn't exist. Though she's thankful she isn't as famous as her sister or she wouldn't be able to walk out in the open without having her identity exposed.

"Your big sister is the most famous German shipgirl. I'm sure at some point of your life, you envied her..."

Despite being sister ships, Bismarck and Tirpitz have quite the opposite lives. In the old war, Bismarck accomplished something that made her a "legend", but lived a short life while Tirpitz lived much longer...but she didn't accomplished anything. She was forgotten unlike her sister who was remembered for her fame.

"It makes me think what was the Beast thinking. Why she chose to remain as she is rather than let Tirpitz come back?"

While she doesn't fully understand how the cycle of rebirth works for shipgirls and Abyssals, she knows the only way for Tirpitz to come back is for Northern Beast Princess to sink.

"There's something she's not telling me"

It would be as simple as that, yet the Beast chose it this way. Warspite thought it's because if Tirpitz were to return the third time, there's a chance Tirpitz wouldn't be the same person she was once again.

"What Warspite said could be true, but something doesn't add up"

She shook her head as she left the storage. While she thought Warspite could be right, the Beast's words somewhat contradicts with the theory.

Admiral's office...

Paper to paper, Saki flipped through each and one, carefully studying to the documents. She furrowed her eyebrows as if she might as well bury her face to those documents. She begun to grow frustrated to how she couldn't find the slightest hint in all the available documents she could find.

"Not a single one. Is the Beast just elusive or the Kriegsmarine just lacks intel?"

She slammed her back on her chair, groaning his frustrations and complaints to the situation. Just then, her exhausted eyes turned towards her pocket. Her hands slowly reached for the pocket, reaching out for the only object kept in there. In turns out to the the phone the Beast handed over two years ago. That phone is the only source of contact she had with the Beast whose whereabouts are unknown.

"She did tell me I should only ask for help when I really need her"

Saki shook her head, resisting the urge to contact Northern Beast Princess. She instructed the admiral to seek her help if she is needed. Though knowing her, the Beast would rush back if it concerns the shipgirls in the naval district.

"Hello. Admiral?" Warspite knocked and peaked through the door

"Warspite? What is it?"

"I brought tea"

"Thanks"

Even now the admiral is still baffled with the British and their history with tea. The modern day Soviet would always associate British with tea as much as the Germans with with beer.

"This is - the Northern Beast Princess' records?"

Warspite grabbed one of the documents upon spotting a reconnaissance photo of the Beast in Norway. Beside the documents about the Abyssal is a lone picture of the shipgirl herself. It's the image of Tirpitz together with Admiral Hipper in the Norwegian coast.

"What are you doing anyway?"

"I want to know more who she really is. May it be Abyssal or shipgirl"

Of course Saki referred to Northern Beast Princess and Tirpitz respectively. While she knows the former admiral is a shipgirl, she knew little to nothing about her past life. She doesn't want to talk about it much, careful to not let anyone discover who she is.

"Warspite, you're like her mentor, right? What was she like?"

"You want to know about the Tirpitz, right?"

"Yeah. I could ask Bismarck, but...she's sensitive to topics about her sister"

The last time she asked about Tirpitz to Bismarck, the latter broke down in tears having reminded about her "deceased" sister. She felt like a horrible person for making Bismarck cry so she decided not to ask her anything about Tirpitz ever again.

"At first, she was a bit distant to everyone else. She preferred to be alone..."

Warspite could still remember how Tirpitz preferred to be by herself than be with her comrades. She would always spent a lot of her time by herself and staring into the horizon.

"The Tirpitz was very single minded. All she thought about is the battle and the enemies in front of her"

"Hmm. So she used to be a really serious person"

"Yes. She was the type who focused on fighting more than anything else. Though she has a side that's not good at expressing herself"

Warspite giggled at the thought of the memory when she once spoke to Tirpitz. The latter turned away as she couldn't answer Warspite's question. That was the first time she ever saw Tirpitz's shy side.

"At some point she begun to open up, starting with the one called Admiral Hipper"

"Prinz Eugen's oldest sister? I did not know that"

"That girl got was both short tempered and harsh. To think she's a heavy cruiser who can just boss around a battleship"

An example of it was Admiral Hipper dragging Tirpitz by force when she refused to do anything else. Warspite thought Bismarck is the only person who can do that to Tirpitz.

"Tirpitz was also as stubborn as Bismarck. Though between the two sisters, Bismarck was the loud one"

There are times where Bismarck would get into arguments with some of the Royal navy shipgirls, namely Hood. Tirpitz would just stand in a corner and shake her head.

"Though Tirpitz changed ever since Scharnhorst sunk. It's like she reverted back to her self...but filled with guilt"

"Oh..."

"She shunned herself from her comrades and truly became the lonely Queen of the North. I wasn't there when Bismarck slapped back some sense into Tirpitz"

Warspite was back in her homeland when Bismarck finally talked to Tirpitz to ease the guilt and regret in her heart. She even heard Bismarck literally slapped Tirpitz when she refused to listen.

"Ha ha ha. As expected of the big sister"

"In my perspective, Tirpitz was a person who just wanted to prove herself. She wanted to live up to everyone's expectations since she is the younger sister of Bismarck"

"Must be hard to have a famous big sister. It's like trying to get out of her shadow"

"That's right. She resented being compared to Bismarck. After all, it was their words and Bismarck's high sense of pride that warped negative feelings in Tirpitz"

"I didn't know that"

"Neither did Bismarck. Tirpitz couldn't bear to hate her own sister, so she kept those feelings inside her all that time"

Tirpitz didn't express it, but Warspite noticed. Every time Bismarck would boast about herself and Tirpitz is there, she would see the dilated bitterness and insecurity in her eyes. She was jealous of her own sister.

"Their relationship is more complicated than I thought" Saki sighed as she slid her arm and head to her desk

"They are sisters, even before they were shipgirls"

"Sisters, huh..."

Almost buried in the documents is another photo with both Bismarck and Tirpitz in it. Even just by the still image, Saki can tell how close the two were. She wondered about how the Beast views Bismarck. She wanted to know...how and what she thinks about the sister of her shipgirl self.

When are you going to come back, Beast...?