The ghost ship crawled out of the fog bank. Its weapons were gone, its superstructure in shambles, and it had a hull so badly damaged inside and out it held a 23* list to starboard. The only things left mildly operational were the engines.

It was a good thing too, because they were the only things allowing Bismarck to move in any direction. His eyes were glowing crimson, and the data circle that surrounded him held that same color.

This particular data circle, as Midway observed, was different, and not just because of its color. It wasn't a complete circle, not anymore anyway. The circle was broken, almost a quarter of it looked like a piece of shattered glass. Floating around smi-close to the rest of the circle as it rotated slowly around Bismarck. His mauled face twitched.

Midway's circle came online for just a moment as she sent out a quick message, then it closed again. "Bismarck," she said in a business tone.

"Save your breath," Bismarck replied. Midway snorted with a smirk on her face.

"What are you going to do?" She asked with the kind of cocky attitude that made him want to bang his head on something. "Your weapons are either destroyed or damaged, you're flooding with an uncontrollable list, your systems are on lockdown, and you're outnumbered 14 to 1."

"Outnumbered? Perhaps. However, you are clearly outmatched." Midway chuckled at that.

"You really are delusional," she deadpanned. "I am the nameship of the Midway class carrier, beside me is the nameship of the Iowa class battleship, and we have a dosen Cleveland class cruisers as escorts. You can't even fight."

"With this hull, no. That's obvious. I couldn't even sink a standard cruiser like this. And I couldn't hope of taking on this size of a fleet even if my hull was at optimal settings. As you are right, I couldn't even dream of taking on an Iowa 1 on 1."

Midway's eyes narrowed. "What are you getting at?" she demanded.

"This hull that I currently possess is obviously not enough to bring success in this conflict. Therefore, I'll have to switch to plan B." After he said this, another data circle surrounded him. This one was blue, and Midway recognized it.

"Alaska?" she breathed in partial shock.

"The Fog often talks about being weapons, but is that true? Are we weapons? Or are we soldiers? Do you know the difference, Midway?" Bismarck asked as he continued to close the distance. He received no response.

"Very well, I'll tell you," he continued. "A soldier chooses, a weapon obeys. That's it really."

The blue data circle continued to grow in size until it wrapped around all of what was left of Bismarck's hull. The chains that held him began to glow a soft blue, the same blue that made up Alaska's data circle.

"A soldier has the ability to say 'I won't do that.' A weapon however, does not have this liberty. Will a rifle decide to pull its own trigger at random? No. However, can a soldier not pull the trigger of his rifle when he deems it necessary?"

The chain's glow grew brighter.

"Do you know why Alaska obeys me? It is not just because I give her orders."

After he said that, those present heard the audible sound of something unlocking. "A soldier chooses..." The chains around his body suddenly fell to his feet, and the remaining systems aboard the ship came online. "... A weapon obeys."

A quick scan detected something Midway couldn't believe. Missiles and torpedoes, live missiles and torpedoes, came online and loaded into their damaged launchers. "I am a soldier, therefore I choose to do this."

His deck became alight as the warheads powered up. Midway took a deep breath through clenched teeth and even took a step back.

"This almost useless hull of mine is my weapon. It has no choice but to obey."

A/N: Sorry this took so long, and that it's so short. I've been busy trying to make up my work. But, I've had enough free time to write this so here you are guys. Oh, and Merry Christmas!