Author: My free days are numbered, but that doesn't stop me from playing Kancolle...and recently World of Warships. Stockpiling to hardcap resources and buckets are a pain, but I need to prepare for the large scale event. I hope the final map reward will be worth the salt and sanity loss.
Anyway, Chapter 08 will be about the preparation for an operation while Chapter 09 will be the operation itself and Bismarck isn't going to be happy at what's going to happen. Uploading of the next chapter will be slower than usual due to busy schedule that will last until first week of March.
SOMEONE WILL DIE.
Bismarck waited outside of a room impatiently and after a minute has passed, Warspite exited the door with a sigh of relief.
"How is she? Is everything alright?"
"There's nothing to worry, Bismarck. This happens often when the admiral overstressed both her mind and body"
"Often? What do you mean by that?"
"Hmm...I better discuss more inside the office where I feel more easiness"
Warspite doesn't like having a conversation at their current spot so she lead the way to the office while Bismarck followed behind her.
"I suppose she didn't tell you? Well I can understand that"
"Didn't tell me what?"
"The reason why she never came back and decided to remain dead in your eyes"
Even after confessing, admiral Schwarze never really told Bismarck why she couldn't return to her old ship girl days.
"Six years ago when the battleship Tirpitz returned..."
Warspite was there and she's the first person to know about the other burden the admiral is still carrying. Back then, the battleship Tirpitz has fired a salvo when it happened.
"...?!" Tirpitz almost collapsed
"What's the matter?"
"It hurts. It hurts so much"
She felt the weight of her own rigging pressing down her body. Tirpitz never felt that way before and she knew it can't be good.
"Oh no. I never thought this would happen to you"
It was already clear to Warspite why after a single salvo, Tirpitz could barely stand up.
"Warspite, why can I barely move back there? It's like my entire body hurts so much"
"I believe it's caused by bodily injuries. Permanent injuries to be exact"
"Injuries?!"
"Tirpitz, you sustained an enormous amount of damage from countless air raids"
"..."
Tirpitz's hand shook, remembering the days where Abyssal bomber planes would relentless do air raids on her.
"Not to mention, the same thing happened when you sunk and became an Abyssal"
"It means..."
"It means your body had taken damages more than it can sustain. This is just a side effect of that"
"How can I be a ship girl if my body can't fight anymore?!"
A single punch to the wall and she almost made a hole in it. Warspite saw how frustrated Tirpitz is, but what's done cannot be undone.
"There's also your PTSD. Your...unhealthy...mental state affects not just your body functions, but your senses as well"
"...?!"
"It's the reason why you can't shoot accurately during practice. Your senses somewhat lowered because of your past traumatic experiences"
Hearing what Warspite said, Tirpitz's legs slumped on the floor as she realizes her body is no longer seaworthy.
"As much as I hate this, Tirpitz...you cannot return to the front lines anymore"
"I fought to the front line since the beginning...and I choise to fight to the very end. Why...why does this have to happen to me?!"
"I'm sorry. I truly am. You have to accept your body is burdened with permanent injuries. You cannot return to the Kriegsmarines"
At that instant, Tirpitz cried in frustration, hating herself as she can never be the same again. She couldn't accept she can't go back to her sister and comrades. At some point, she learned to accept her fate.
"Then the reason why Tirpitz is an admiral..."
"It's the main reason why she chose not to show herself to you. As her older sister, she doesn't want you to learn of her fate"
"Tirpitz..."
Bismarck hit the desk with light force and Warspite saw how the two sister ships have a habit of hitting things when upset.
"It pains her to look at the seas and be reminded of her burden. You have to understand, Bismarck"
"Tirpitz. Why does it have to happen to her? She doesn't deserve this!"
"Some things are beyond our control. This one of them. All you can do now is be there...as the older sister"
Bismarck loosened her fist and calmed down, slowly accepting the admiral's situation.
Later...
Floating inside a sea of memories, admiral Schwarze relived the moment on the day 'Tirpitz' has sunk. That was the last time she ever called herself Tirpitz. She was overwhelmed with sheer numbers and she couldn't breathe properly.
"Graf's fleet wouldn't make it back in time. I would be already dead by then...Ahahaha..."
Her entire body is screaming pain while her riggings took critical damage.
"I'm sorry, nee-san, but I couldn't let you and the others sink. As long as everyone is fine...then I don't mind sinking here"
Tirpitz paid no mind at the another wave of dive bombers. Even if her fate was already sealed, it was her resolve to fight to the very end. She will sink...but she will sink fighting.
"Ggh!"
The bombs were a near miss. One direct hit to the ship girl and she would be done for.
"I don't want to leave you alone, but you have to be the one to live...because you can protect anyone while I can't"
With her last strength, Tirpitz faced another wave of bombers. She couldn't breathe properly, but it doesn't matter...she was going to sink.
"Nee-san, Graf, Eugen...everyone...I hope all of you would understand someday"
Using the last of her strength, Tirpitz still chose to go down fighting. Three bombs missed her, but the fourth one...was heading towards her.
"I'm sorry...because I can't fulfill the promise we made together...on the day we became ship girls..."
The fourth bomb exploded upon impact, sinking the German battleship. She may have sunk, but she sunk with a smile on her face.
"I see. So this is what it feels...to sink. It's feels so lonely, but I don't mind..."
Her body helplessly keeps falling down as if a force is dragging her. Tirpitz's senses was becoming numb and she couldn't feel anymore pain.
"Your warmth, your smile, your voice...I would never forget it. At least I got to see you one last time..."
The light is fading away, but she continued to reach for it. It wasn't long before her senses were about to shut down.
"Nee-san, I'm going ahead first. I'll be waiting for your return...because I promised..."
She closed her eyes and her body sunk to the coldness and loneliness of the abyss. The German battleship Tirpitz...has sunk.
I will be waiting...no matter how long it takes...
"...!"
Admiral Schwarze opened her eyes, shocked from reliving her last moments when she sunk at Sorbotn.
"This is..."
She has no recollection to how she ended up in the infirmary.
"That's right. I passed out again"
The last thing admiral Schwarze remembers was passing out in Bismarck's arms. After that...everything went black.
"Nee-san...! I almost forgot"
She never finished their talk as she passed after confessing the truth to her.
"I have to talk to her"
As she stood up and grabbed her coat, the fairies all jumped at her arm...clinging to the confused admiral
"W-what?"
"..."
"I should rest first? It's bad for my health?"
"..." The fairies nodded
"I can't really rest now. There will be an operation in less than a week. I can't idle around"
The fairies shook their head and kept insisting the admiral should rest first, so it resulted into an argument.
"Aaaah! Stop it! Let go!"
They're clinging on her arm and the other one is hitting and pinching her face. The fairies are easy to remove, but they move like annoying cockroaches. On the way to where the admiral is supposedly resting, Bismarck hears her shouting.
"What's going on there?"
She slowly opens the room only to find admiral Schwarze lifting a pouting fairy while the others continued to annoy her.
"Nee-san?" She suddenly noticed Bismarck
"I'm not even going to ask what's going on..."
Bismarck shook her head and sighed as she closed the door behind her. The fairies behaved as soon as they sensed the atmosphere.
"These guys said I need to rest"
"They're right, you know. With your condition and all"
"...?"
"Warspite told me why you couldn't fight again. Why you chose to stay dead all these years..."
Knowing what Bismarck exactly meant, admiral Schwarze silently sat on the bed.
"For the past six years years. Tirpitz, I don't like it when you keep all your pain to yourself and not let anyone know about it"
"There's no point in letting others know. I even view my own life as meaningless"
"Why do you hate yourself?" Bismarck sat beside her
"Because I can't protect anyone..."
She could never forget the names and faces of the people she lost...both as a ship girl and as an admiral.
"Everyone just keeps sinking...and I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't protect them. I just watch them die right before my eyes"
"..."
Bismarck couldn't say anything seeing the guilt in the admiral's. The guilt that still haunts her to this very day.
"That's why I had to make a choice back then. It's either me...or everyone I cared about"
"I get you just want to protect the people important to you, but not like this. You're suffering...you're in a lot of pain"
"Nee-san?"
"Tirpitz, if you keep going like this...you'll fall apart. I don't want that to happen to you"
She tapped the admiral's shoulder and felt her jolt, signifying her body is still in pain so she immediately pulled her hand away.
"Sorry"
"It's fine. Just past injuries acting up..."
"Does your body still hurts?"
"It does, but I'll be back to my normal self in a couple of hours"
"I see. Then you better rest for the time being"
While admiral Schwarze massages her aching shoulders, Bismarck laughed to ease up the heavy atmosphere.
"What's with that smile?"
"Nothing. It's just that...it's been so long since we last spend time like this. You know...with your sinking and all"
"Yeah. It's been so long..."
She turned to look at Bismarck who tilted her head, confused to what the admiral is looking at.
"What's the matter?"
"Well...seeing you in your Drei uniform reminds me of mine. Except I wear a sleeveless coat"
"And a skirt!" Bismarck laughed
"It's because it's cold in the North. Unlike you, I can't walk around without a skirt!"
She used to be stationed around the Northern waters within the fjords. The two sisters laughed...until the admiral acted strangely
"...?!"
Admiral Schwarze pulled up her left sleeve and saw another abnormality on her forearm.
"Tirpitz? Is there something wrong?"
"I-It's nothing!"
She pulled down her sleeve again and acted as if there's nothing wrong, but Bismarck knows better.
Somewhere...
A fleet led by Yamato sailed on what is actually dangerous waters.
"I have to admit, I feel a little terrified..." Yamato told her fellow ship girls
"Even Yamato-san is scared. I feel the same, poi" Yuudachi shivered
"This reminds me of Savo island when Fubuki-chan went berserk"
Mutsuki slipped her tongue and accidentally said that. Both Yuudachi and Fubuki have no idea what Mutsuki is talking about. Only Mutsuki has memory of that incident a few months ago.
"You guys don't remember it so forget it. Ahahahaha" Mutsuki dryly laughed
After a few minutes of threading carefully in the area, Yamato's radar detected an enemy ship...
"Huh?"
"Is there something wrong?" Warspite felt a sense of dread
"The enemy ship...vanished from my radar?"
Yamato's fleet all looked at each other confused. The three destroyers all felt terrified now.
"Should I send a reconnaissance plane?" Jintsuu raised her hand
"Not yet..."
Not long after and Yamato's fleet spotted a white figure a few kilometers ahead of them. Single mounted guns fired at them with less accuracy while Abyssal seaplanes flew in the sky.
"You shouldn't have come here..."
Yamato recognized the Abyssal to be Seaplane tender Water Princess who is definitely unhappy at their trespassing.
"Commandant...Teste-san?" Yamato swallowed her breath
"So that's her" Warspite prepared her main batteries
The Abyssal Seaplane tender only recognized Yamato among the six ship girls present.
"Get out of here" She has no intention of sinking them
There are no other Abyssals except the Water Princess herself. Right now, all she is doing is fending them off.
"Fall back" Yamato told her fleet
"Poi?!"
"I said fall back!"
As the flagship, her fleet compelled with her order and they turned around while the Abyssal seaplanes returned.
"Yamato-san, why didn't we engage the Abyssal?" Mutsuki asked
"Didn't you know? That may be just a seaplane tender, but her power surpasses what we know"
"I've heard from the secretary ship. That Abyssal alone is can take on a combined fleet and still win" Warspite added
The two battleships looked at each other, aware of who the Abyssal is and what she's capable of.
"She doesn't sink ship girls, but there's the probability of an enemy fleet somewhere in these waters. Princesses are never alone" Yamato sighed
"We can't afford reckless engagements. One wrong decision is a fatal mistake" Warspite nodded
As the fleet retreated, Seaplane tender Water Princess returned to her own 'nest' and sat on the beach silently.
"Four days left..." Heavy cruiser Princess is there with her
"My admiral is going to be in danger once the battle starts"
"Central Princess is going to outsmart the ship girls. Not to mention about her grudge on that one operation on the Southern anchorage. She's super pissed off when that rogue destroyer helped the ship girls sink Southern War Demon"
Heavy cruiser Princess pulled down her hood and sat near the Abyssal Seaplane tender. They sat comfortably with their monstrous weapons retreated inside their body.
"Aircraft carrier Princess will lead the attack. If she sees you trying to save your admiral, they'll know you're the traitor"
"It doesn't matter if they discover. All that matters is the safety of my admiral. Even if it compromises my main goal"
"You'll sink anyone who will harm your admiral. Well...even I would go to such lengths for Pola"
Seaplane tender Water Princess slowly reached out for the sky, as if she's longing for something.
"Ma amiral..."
She remembered the last time they saw each other. Some time ago...on a peaceful scenery. She faced the sorrowful admiral while she looked at her with little emotion.
"Teste..."
"Admiral...Don't...look at me..."
Seaplane tender Water Princess wanted to leave, but she wished to see admiral Schwarze after a long time.
"Ma amiral. I have become this monstrosity...but my old memories still remains"
"..."
"Even in this monstrous form, my feelings never changed and they will never change. I still...love you"
"I know..."
Admiral Schwarze grabbed her arm even if the Abyssal hesitated for a while. She could feel the admiral's warmth.
"I wish to return to you as the Commandant Teste you once knew"
"Teste..."
"...But there is something I must do. Something that is for your sake"
"What...do you mean?"
"I mustn't sink until I accomplish my goal. Until then...we can't be together"
Before she leaves, the admiral called her name again. The name of the ship girl she once knew.
"I don't know when we'll meet again...but I'll wait for you"
"That's a promise..."
With a smile filled with sadness, Seaplane tender Water Princess bid farewell to her admiral and disappeared again. Heavy cruiser Princess just scratched her head, confused. Either way, Seaplane tender Water Princess' made a solid resolve.
EXTRA (VALENTINES SPECIAL)
It's the time of the year where girls are the ones looking forward to. Namely the ship girls in the Maizuru naval district.
"Valentines? I'm well aware of that it's today. Just not too excited about it"
"Why is that?" Richelieu asked
"I don't know. Probably because the Mutsuki and Shiratsuyu class are...to enthusiastic about it"
This was the first time the admiral celebrates Valentines in the base and she's not too fond about it.
"Not to mention Zuikaku who dive bombed me earlier while I was at the arsenal"
As she scratched her head, Richelieu stopped in her tracks and this made admiral Schwarze stop about two seconds later.
"Richelieu?"
"Ma amiral...uhm well...here"
She brought up a small box neatly wrapped in light color. The French battleship could barely look at the admiral straight in the eyes.
"I made it for the occasion. I mean this is the holiday you give chocolate to someone you like so...you know..."
Before admiral Schwarze could respond, the loud voice of a certain energetic and clingy fast battleship interrupted the moment.
"Aaaaaddmiiiraaaal!"
Kongou charged towards the admiral at flank speed and stopped in front of you.
"I made this chocolate for admiral. It's full of my BURNING LOVE!"
Irritated, Richelieu pulled Kongou away and glared at her as the tea loving battleship ruined her chance to the admiral.
"I had enough of you ruining my chance to the admiral!" Richelieu clenched her fists
"If you want the admiral's heart...you have to take me down first!"
"Fine by me!"
"I accept the challenge!"
Knowing only violence will lead to this, admiral Schwarze sneak away and fled from the scene to avoid being involved. After she ran far enough she stopped to catch her breath.
"If I wasn't a battleship, I wouldn't have survived eight months in this base"
As the admiral stretched her aching muscles, she noticed someone walking towards her direction.
"Oh? Commandant Teste...it's you. Thank goodness"
She leaned against a wall and slid down, thankful it's not another problematic ship girl.
"You look awfully exhausted, admiral"
"Since I woke up this morning, everyone became savages for giving chocolates. Even the Mutsuki class!"
"Ha ha ha. Ma amiral had it rough"
Teste sat beside her as she brought out a small box of handmade chocolate. Unlike the other ship girls, Commandant Teste is the only one other than Yamato who isn't too aggressive when it comes to showing affections.
"This is my Valentines present for you. I-I did my best in making it"
"Danke"
After receiving the gift, admiral Schwarze immediately opened it much to Commandant Teste's surprise.
"Y-you're going to eat it already?! Right here?!"
"Why not? It's best to eat it now...since you made it"
Her statement made the seaplane tender blush and briefly look away.
"Wine?"
"D-do you not like wine?"
"Of course not. Don't worry, I don't think it's bad. I love it since you're good at baking"
The admiral ate another piece to show her she doesn't hate the chocolate. This warmed her heart and puts a smile on her face.
"Here" Admiral Schwarze grabbed a piece and reached out her hand
"A-admiral?"
"Say aah~"
"E-eh?" Teste doesn't know how to react
"Come on now. You worked hard for this chocolate, right? So you should at least taste them"
Reluctant at first, Commandant Teste eventually agreed and let the admiral feed her with the chocolate. She slowly chewed and swallowed it and blushed again when the admiral friendly smiled at her.
"See? It's great. Now let's eat this together"
"E-eh? But I made it...just for...admiral"
"Yeah! And I want to share it...with you"
"Ma amiral..."
"I want to share this with someone special to me"
Her heart raced as her feelings for admiral Schwarze grew. In the end, she couldn't deny the 'request' and the two of them ate the chocolates while sitting. Not long and a muffled explosion erupted.
"What was that?"
"Definitely Richelieu and Kongou. Honestly they should stop using live ammunition when trying to blow each other's faces"
"Oh? There's a bit of chocolate on your face" The admiral wiped the chocolate stain on Teste's face with a handkerchief
"A-ah...!" She froze as the side of her mouth is gently wiped
Ignoring the continued explosion and shouting, admiral Schwarze took a piece of the last few chocolates and savored its taste. Commandant Teste put up a loving smile just watching the admiral enjoy her handmade chocolates.
I wish I could tell you how I truly feel...
