Chapter 3: The Red Axis Pt.1


It's been more than a week since the last Siren Emergence. The Core of the Queen along with the battle data log were sent back to Central for further study. It's been more than a week since then and the Ironblood continued to uphold their motto 'Efficiency is everything' as they carried out their daily routine down to a T.

Dining Hall, 7:46.

When there are no Commission available, this is the usual time for all Ship Girls to gather and have their breakfast after doing their morning training. Just like what one would expect from a base where supply shortage would be the least of their worries even the breakfast, while not top-class cuisine from a five-star restaurant, is still a total luxury for meal on the forefront.

Two baskets of freshly baked breads with all kind of toppings and spreads to go along like butter, marmalade and quark. Other dishes consisted of steamed potatoes, scrambled or boiled eggs, wurst and last but not least, a cup of hot cocoa. Breakfast and supper are the only times in a day where both the Commander and Ship Girls can enjoy at their own pace and leisure. But today, the former was having breakfast while dealing with a bunch of paperwork.

It's been 15 minutes since they all sat down to have breakfast and Commander Burai has only finished half of what's on his dish. Sitting across the table, Prinz Eugen stared at his dish then back at him before finally spoke up.

"Commander, working too hard is bad for you. You could d-i-e."

"Heh, the only thing I'm going to die from is old age. Jokes aside, these documents are due the day after tomorrow and it's better to deal with these as soon as possible. And for a bunch who spend a good half of their lives behind a table doing paperwork, those lot at Central sure are bad at making all these numbers match."

"War may end someday but damn, this kind of thing never does." Replying to Eugen, he reached for the fork with his left hand but kept missing it every time.

"Here, Commander."

"Hm?" the moment he lifted his face, Eugen leaned forward and put a boiled egg into his mouth. Without the glove, her long and slender fingers were touching his lips directly.

"So, how does it taste?" she was probably asking about the boiled egg, or maybe…

"It's good, and…thanks, I guess." Commander Burai widened his eyes a bit at her sudden action, but being the most bewildered or throwing a fuss would be the other Ship Girls sitting around them. Namely,

"Woooot~ Commander, you sly lady killer~!" Karlsruhe who was squealing.

"Hmp…interesting…" Koln whose eyes were shining behind those glasses as if she just received a divine revelation.

"Oy, Eugen! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" and Z1 who was showing great protest toward Eugen.

But the one in question, Prinz Eugen herself simply stood up and walked away not after taking another glance at the Commander. Seeing that his eyes were still on her and still a bit bewildered, she showed a mischievous smile and left. Turning the corner, she ran the fingers which touched the Commander's lips on her own, humming a small hymn.

Being left alone, the Commander then got back to the paperwork. And for whatever reason, he was going through them at twice the speed just now. In a blink of eye, he had already finished the last report. It's like his mind was suddenly cleared from everything which might explain why he was able to concentrate better than usual. But as he finished the last bit of food on his dish, the thoughts from just now reappeared all at once.

"Her fingers…are incredibly tender to the touch."


Beside the daily necessity of a human like food, sleep and a good bath, both the Ship Girls and Armadas required a special kind of Oil to operate their Rigs. Since this kind of special fuel is always on high demand, transporting from a factory built exclusively to produce them from somewhere was reconsidered for even just a day or a few hour gap is enough to decide the outcome of war.

So the facility for producing the special fuel was integrated as a part of the base's schematic, completely automated and supervised by the Ship Girls stationed there. Entering the passcode onto the panel, Commander Burai then entered the facility.

The inside of the facility was dimly lit with the only source of light was from the neon lights on the wall and the control panel. Because this special fuel could be said to be the life force of Ship Girls, the facility was built with the idea of 'a mega structure that can withstand even an air raid' in mind. So beside the front door made from reinforced steel, there is no other way in.

Under the dim light, several large machines stood tall just like the giants in the old tales. This is where the special fuel is produced. Only thing is, currently none of the machine are working and no Oil was being produced. Seeing that, the Commander then walked around the facility to find Leipzig and Karlsruhe standing in front of the mixing chamber.

"Something wrong with the machine?"

"Ah, Commander! It looks like the mixing chamber isn't working properly. We tried rerouting the power and cleaned the gears, but that did not seem to be the problem." Karlsruhe said with a perplexed expression.

"Let me see it." Commander Burai took the manual from her. He quickly read through the section about the mixing chamber then flipped through to other sections.

"Leipzig, go to the control panel and tell me if any number is off the usual."

"Yes sir!" Leipzig ran to the control panel and turned it on as several charts appeared in the form of pop-ups. All the data recorded are shown as numbers, so she searched for the charts with numbers that are different from others. The result, the chart recording the activity of the facility from last night gave a slightly higher number.

"Commander, it seems the coolant usage for the furnace had slightly exceeded the norm since last night."

"The furnace, huh?" from the instruction manual, Commander Burai looked for the coolant pipe connecting from the reserve tank to the furnace to narrow down where the fault might be. Just as he thought, coolant was leaking out from one of the connector.

"There's our problem. Karlsruhe, go get me a new connector from the storage. I'll see what I can do about this."

Yes, sir~" as Karlsruhe ran outside, the Commander then took out a toolbox from the repair tool locker.

Because they are few in number while their enemies are many, one Ironblood must pull the weight of three not only in but also outside of battle. That's why both the Ship Girls and the Commander must possess daily live skills beside just being a soldier.

After a few minute, Karlsruhe came back with a new connector and despite that thing was as big as her head and made of metal, she was carrying it easily with two hands like it was made out of cardboard. Well, they all used to be war machines weighing more than ten thousand tons each with enough power in their engine to move that colossal body. Why would anyone think that they are frail young ladies who have never handled anything heavier than a spoon or a pen?

"Now, there should still be some coolant left in the pipe so replacing the connector would be dangerous. Leipzig, close the vent of the current pipe and start the sequence just for a minute, that should get rid of the left over coolant. Karlsruhe, give me a hand here." Taking off his overcoat and gloves, Commander Burai waited until the leaking stop before climbing onto the ladder.

Using a wrench, he unfastened the bolts and took down the connector. Just like the Ship Girls, he easily lifted the connector out of the pipe with only one hand. With Karlsruhe's help, the new connector was put into place and fastened with new bolts.

"Restarting the sequence in 3…2…1…All numbers are in the green!" shortly after, the machines reinitiated its production sequence at top condition, like it always does. Special fuel was being poured into the barrel and sent directly into the storage.

"Alright, that solved it."

"Commander, what about this?"

"Some simple welding should cover up the gap. I'll drop it off at the workshop. I leave the rest here to you two then."

"Yes sir! Gut gemacht, Commander!"

"Gleichfalls, ladies."


Having taken care of the daily inspection on the production of fuel, the Commander made his way to the depot which, compared to other facilities of the base, is furthest in land. On his way, he cut through the lecture building. Currently, the lecture hall was being used to hold lesson. From the second level, he saw Z23 taking the role of the lecturer, even wearing her teacher uniform.

"Please memorize this part by heart as it will be on the test." As she was explaining the lesson, she noticed the Commander's presence on the second floor and looked up. He did two hand signs saying 'keep quiet about his presence and 'keep up the good work'. She nodded and returned to explaining the lesson, even more enthusiastically. But one of her student wasn't half as eager.

"Prinz Eugen, please pay attention! If you don't take note carefully I'll give you more homework!"

"Yes yes, Professor~" despite Z23 remark, Prinz Eugen continued to yawn while leaning her face on her hand, then slowly turned into leaning her entire body onto the arm of the chair.

Located all the way further in land, at the heart of Ironblood where the Capital is, is Central. Once every two weeks, a convoy departing from Central would arrive at the base to deliver the supply. Why twice a month instead of monthly, you asked?

Due to the Wisdom Cube being uncharted territory, the limitless exploitation, or so the scientists claimed, of Ship Girls and the Siren's carcass being a treasure vault of otherworldly knowledge, the R&D Department has been going wild with their 'experiments'.

Every day, one of their subdivisions would come up with some sort of bizarre inventions then those inventions would be thrown onto the convoy to be delivered to the base under the pretense of 'testing out practicality and collecting data' but the underlying motive was to get the Commander to put in a few good words for them in the report back to Central.

Being the no-nonsense type that he is when it comes to climbing the ladder of power, of course he put in a few words for them and put them back in their place real good.

"3 minutes left." The scheduled time of arrival of the convoy is always ten in the morning. Arriving at the depot, he pulled the lever to open the hangar door then waited. Gentle breezes touched on his cheek and made his overcoat billowed. It is because of fleeting moment of peace like this that held one back from going insane in wartime. But as the hand on the clock counted the last minute to ten, tremors could be felt along with a bellow could be heard.

Black beast of steel with the mane of smoke, the war horse that will go through even the nine circles to complete its mission, the war horse which mere existence is synonymous to victory itself, the epitome and pride of Ironblood's engineering.

Heavy-duty cargo transport/mobile fortress – Sleipnir.

Engine: Sleipnir Model 3.0, 7500 HP.

Cargo load capacity: 60000 tons.

Armament:

+6 Dual 8.8cm Kw.K 43 L/71 turrets.

+6 8.8cm Flak 18/36/37/41 turrets.

As the Sleipnir pulled the brake, it slowly drifted on the track and entered the depot. The moment the train stopped completely, the doors on the side of the cars opened automatically as cargos were unloaded by a system of conveyor belt and mechanical arms protruding down from the ceiling.

From the driver car the door swung open as a man and a woman stepped out. Without exchanging a single word, the two parties saluted each other. Their uniform was similar to Commander Burai's with a color theme of grey instead of black. Blonde hair and blue eyes, the characteristic of the proud A**** race.

"The supply scheduled for this transport have all been listed down here." Every time this would be the only line he utters as the man handed the list to Commander Burai. Beside his blonde hair and blue eyes, the man has no other noteworthy characteristic. He's what one would call a mob. Whereas the woman possessed a figure that is lump in the right places and slender in the other with her long hair tied into a ponytail. But both are the type not to be trifled with.

"Supply, you say. All I see is a heap of metal scraps. What a total waste of national budget." Commander Burai took the list and scanned its content while occasionally glanced at the man. The gun in the holster at his side is different from the military-issued model for officer. A bulge on his chest pocket while not easily recognizable is completely out of place. Probably caused by an object hidden under his jacket. A tube shaped object. Same goes for the woman.

No doubt, those two are from the Secret Service. That tube shaped object hidden under their jacket is definitely a truth serum. Because this naval base is like the Golden Goose that will one day lay the golden egg called victory, Central wants all the intel regarding it to be reported directly back to the top brass. And espionage is where the Secret Service comes in.

"Well, here's the reports and data log of everything in the last two weeks. Do stress on the issue about the R&D Department for me, will you?" he handed over the report folder with a witty remark. The man and woman gave no reply, simply saluted him and returned to the driver car. Once all cargos had been unloaded, the Sleipnir let out a neigh a departed. Closing the hangar door, Commander Burai returned to scanning the rest of the list.

"Oh, what do we have here…Hahaha, how generous of them to send me a present this time." His eyes glinted with excitement. Because sometimes, amongst those bizarre inventions are rare, hidden gems.


Gut gemacht means "Good work" or "Well done".

Gleichfalls means "Likewise".