My Experiences with a Shipgirl

by Leadway001

I've never seen a shipgirl before nor has interacted with one. I am just a simple foot soldier from a foreign country that was unfortunately blockaded when the abyssals arrived. Well that was four years ago that is, now I am currently staring at the sea with a certain shipgirl in front of me. Tell you what, how about I tell you a story about my experiences with a shipgirl?

36. Pinakamasamang Kalalabasan

Worst Consequence/ Pinakamasamang Kalalabasan

---

~o~

Sometime in the near future

"I'm going back." I said profoundly at the man in front of me.

"Go back? To where?" He asked, raising a Sapporo beer can towards my face.

I shook my head and lifted the chair forwards that the cushion on the chair was already underneath the table. The man in front of me gulped his beer and slams it on the table savoring the taste that just poured pass his throat.

"Where else? To my room clearly. I still have things to finish before I can finally savor my summer break." I said to him honestly.

It's actually pretty rare to get yourself a Summer Break whilst being a soldier in the Navy. Well that's only applicable in the Navy since most of its personnel are either in Marine Guards, Pilots in the Air Corps, Ground Troops in the Marine Division or a Maintenance Worker performing maintenance on equipment inside a Naval Base. Basically, every personnel enlisted in the Navy are doing nothing unless something big happen. And nothing big has happened in Mainland Japan so, Summer Break it is!

The Imperial Navy only has a couple of warships available right now. Most of them are transport ships and a handful of destroyers, the Kaiki-class destroyers. We have 22 of these specifically.

The monarchist nation named Japan has a three year draft written in its law. Every three years the JSDF or Japanese Self Defense Force would randomly draft civilians that are around 18 to 25 years of age and enlist them either on the Imperial Japanese Army or in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The length of service that the enlisted men must serve before they obligatory service expires is three years as well.

After graduating high school a year ago, I was enlisted on the Imperial Japanese Navy as a Marine Guard. Basically, a marine guard is just the Navy version of a police officer whose job is to guard a Naval Base from any unwanted personnel such as low ranking soldiers and civilians.

The training to become a Marine Guard only takes a year which is composed of a nine month period of basic training and a two month period of weapons training.

Once you graduated from the Maritime School of the Imperial Japanese Navy or MSIJN, you are immediately transferred to a Naval Base that is lacking personnel to guard the Naval Base perimeter effectively. If there aren't any, you are instantaneously transferred into the Marine Division.

I really don't want to fight on the front lines so I was really grateful that I wasn't transferred to the Marine Division unlike my other 2,533 batchmates that graduated with me.

"You are still hung-up on that book that Akashi-san asked you to translate? Enough already, you are straining yourself. I mean that book is like an Ancient Manuscript where no one could understand a single word in it." The other marine guard that goes with a name of Takeshi Minato spoke with a rather irritated tone.

Seriously why are you irritated when I am the only one who is having a hard time translating it? You only had to watch the outer perimeter of the Naval Base while I had to work hard inside Akashi-san's workshop while at the same time translate the book that I accidentally found on her workshop.

"I've already finished 34 chapters so far. It kinda feels bad ending the translation there." I said to him.

"Enlistmen Toshiki Gin, you are a Marine Guard whose job is to guard a Naval Base' perimeter from any unwanted peering eyes not a goddamn literature nerd who reads and translates foreign books." Minato said to me.

I let out a sigh and approached the exit. I turned my head towards him and spoke with a rather complacent tone.

"This does not concern you, nerd."

I then closed the door and walked along the lightly lit hallway of the Marine Guard Office. This building is currently erected outside the inner perimeter of the Naval Base, away from the shipgirl dormitory where Admiral Goto's shipgirls are living.

Usually the inner perimeter of the Naval Base is bustling with people either from the Marine Guard Office, Maintenance Office, or from the Air Corps. But right now, even though it's Summer Break for everyone in the IJN, the inner perimeter is somewhat empty other than my very own presence.

"Well, everyone is currently in Mindanao right now. Of course the Naval Base would be somewhat empty." I softly said as I trekked along the road leading to the inner perimeter gate.

When I finally reach the inner perimeter gate, I waved at the marine guard on guarding shift right now. The soldier nodded back and opened the fence gate.

"You still have work done in Akashi-san's workshop?" The middle aged man asked.

"Well you could say that. I think I won't be coming out until morning." I said to him honestly.

The middle aged man nodded and only closed the fence. He then sat back on the chair that he placed near the gate.

"I see. Good luck on whatever you are doing then!"

I nodded at him and faced the road leading to Akashi-san's workshop which is not very far from the inner gate. The night sky was really beautiful. Despite being in the city, I can still see the dazzling night sky very clearly. I wonder if ever Akashi-san can also see a dazzling night sky like this in Mindanao.

Yes, right now. Akashi-san being the only repair ship left in the Combined Fleet, was also transferred to Mindanao together with the 1st, 3rd, 11th, 12th, 14th, 20th, and 9th Fleets forming Task Force South.

And its been four months already since they left Yokosuka Naval Base.

I faced the metal door that's been replaced multiple times in a span of just a year. It's not that the Naval Base is being attacked by Abyssal Planes ever time but instead, it's because of the annoying shipgirls that kicked the door open every time they pay a visit for repairs.

After letting out a sigh, I grabbed the keys from my pockets and inserted it on the keyhole, giving it a clockwise turn and unlocking it in the process. I then placed my hand on the door knob and pushed it inward.

The dark room met my attention. I cautiously approached the light switch near the entrance. It took me some time to find the actual switch since it's a small model unlike those in the Marine Guard office where you could just feel it by its size.

And just like that the workshop was illuminated like a Christmas tree, lighting up the room in a continuous manner.

Lathe machine, milling machine, drilling machine, forming machine, welding machine, riveting tools, hand tools, rulers, straight edges, measuring devices, measuring tools, a large calculator, weighing scales, and lastly a shipgirl portable dock that Akashi and her fellow repair ship colleague built together.

Every single of these tools were used by Akashi every single day. Either by repairing damaged shipgirl battle rigging or manufacturing ammunition for every shipgirl that needs it.

Everything that a shipgirl needs to do its job effectively in the battlefield is built and repaired here. But right now, all these tools here inside this very room were just catching air dust.

Well this is a natural case. I mean, it's been a while since I've seen a shipgirl. Like, the last time I ever saw a shipgirl or interacted with one was two months ago. That was before majority of them were transferred on a naval base that's close from the front line.

After the Pacific Ocean was partially liberated and clear route that connects the east to the west was secured, the next course of action was to liberate the Oceana Region. An archipelagos country named the Philippines was nearer to the Oceana Region so it was decided that the archipelagos country would act as a staging zone to liberate the Oceana Region. In its most southern island, Mindanao, a large Naval Base was erected on an island named Sulu located southwest of Mindanao about 143 kilometers away.

Since I was Akashi-san's assistant, I've been coming here every day to clean the workshop due to my superior's absence. Also, this is where my room was placed. It's a small room that only had a cabinet, a small table, and a single bed. The bathroom is located at the back of the workshop and both Akashi and I use it every time, whenever we take a dump or take our daily bath.

Because of that there would be times where I accidentally open the bathroom door and saw her bare skin with my two brown eyes.

No, it happens frequently that Akashi-san herself already got used to it that she would just verbally harass me whenever this happens. I mean, it's not my fault that the bathroom lock is broken! She herself would accidentally open the bathroom door as well and saw me in my bare skin, albeit accidentally as well.

Like I said it's a complicated life, especially being Akashi-san's assistant.

I shook my head as I closed the workshop door and locked it from the inside. I made sure that the windows are closed too since there are pesky destroyers in the past that would sneak inside from the shadows and steal some Repair Buckets containing Akashi-san's repair formula. Its like a natural thing for me really after experiencing their thieving acts almost every week.

The brown entrance of my room caught my attention. It was half open. Did a destroyer somehow sneak inside the workshop while I was having a beer session with Minato?

This better be not the annoying brat that's been giving me a headache ever since I was posted as Akashi-san's assistant inside the inner perimeter.

I slowly approached the half-open door and peaked inside. With my table lamp lit up I saw the silhouette of the said burglar. It was not the annoying brat, this one had a taller body figure and by the looks of it she was wearing a yellow kimono top and a green skirt.

"Oi, what are you doing in my room?" I asked as I somehow sneaked behind her and placed my hand on her shoulder.

The said burglar was none other than Hiryuu-san herself. She let out a loud yelp as she jolted to the side of my bed. I shook my head in irritation knowing that one of the said older shipgirls entered my room without my consent.

"Ah, Gintoki-kun! Don't scare me like that. For a second there I thought that an Empress-type abyssal somehow sneaked behind me." She scratched the back of her neck.

"Don't put me in the same level as those things, Hiryuu-san. I'm not a sadistic person you know?" I complained as I approached the table and saw Fustaku-san's book opened at the 23rd chapter.

Ah, so she was reading the part where Zuikaku-san and Fustaku-san had an intimate time together? I slowly turned my head towards Hiryuu-san who was sitting on top of my bed.

"Oi, what were you doing in my room?" I asked with a rather serious tone.

"I-it's not like that I did something bad." She replied with a rather bright smile

"It's not that I can tell that you did something bad." I replicated her sentence and added a bit of satire in it.

Hiryuu-san's bright smile immediately shattered into a million pieces, well not literally. She then started averting my gaze as she stood up from my bed.

"Really I didn't. I was just curious on what this book is all about but it looks like I couldn't understand a single word written in there." She said while letting out a forced laugh.

Although I already knew that you and Fustaku-san had some interactions together. I then turned my head back to the said book. Then a thought snapped in my head.

So you aren't capable of understanding his native tongue huh? Well, let's not jump into conclusions. I haven't really finished translating the whole book so who knows?

"Ah, you knew Fustaku-san right? He wrote this book using his native language." I said to her while I sat on top of my desk.

"Fustaku-san…?" Hiryuu tilted her head to the side clearly confused.

"Oi, you don't have to lie you know? This book even revealed that you and Fustaku-san had an interaction together. It was as if you were already close enough that you even invited him to a night date." I said to her blankly.

"Eh?! Something like that was written there?! Wait-wait, I'm still an untainted lady right? No-No, seriously there is no way that happened right?"

Hiryuu-san hastily approached the exit. She was pointing her finger outside as if she wanted to elaborate something.

"I took some damage while I was returning here for my own frontline vacation. I need your help to fix my flight deck. Akashi told me that she taught you how to fix shipgirl battle rigging when I was still posted in Sulu Naval Base. So would you kindly fix them for me?" She said.

"You…"

Hiryuu-san tilted her head to the side again. Her right hand placed on her right cheek, scratching it.

"You….." I paused as I watched her expression, "You don't remember do you?" I asked her with a rather petrified tone.

"Ah, eh….umm….So I'll be in the shipgirl dormitory okay?" Hiryuu-san hastily exited my room and walked towards the exit of the workshop. She didn't even bother unlocking the door from the inside. She just pushed the door forward destroying the lock itself that I painstakingly attached six hours ago.

It is really okay this way, Fustaku-san?

Forgetting your very existence that is—it was as if, you were just a side character of a mysterious novel? One part you were there and then you weren't.

Don't joke with me….dammit.

I shook my head after letting out a deep sigh. I shouldn't get myself get work up on this. I haven't met Fustaku-san myself. Truth be told, I knew nothing about him at all even though I've already translated his book all the way to chapter 34.

Though I haven't even translated the chapter title yet—

The man is basically a refracted straw inside the glass that has water in it. The words that he is saying is the total opposite of the actions that he is doing….I've edited a lot of things in this book that some sentences were already plain ambiguous already. Did I somehow mess up the original thought of the sentence and translated it into an ambiguous sentence? Should I stop editing them into third person or should I stick in first person view?

Dammit I've hit my translator's block. I won't be able to continue unless I do something about this issue.

You know what?

To hell with this—

I'm going to translate this in my own way. Whether Akashi-san would like it or not! No, she wouldn't even know that I did some major tinkering since she can't even understand the man's native tongue. Yes, she wouldn't mind at all.

"Alright."

With that issue out of the way, let's continue translating the book. I need to finish a good chunk of this book before Akashi-san arrives. Lastly, I need to fix Hiryuu-san's flight deck….ahhhhh, I'll do it tomorrow after I finish this chapter.

~o~

Present Day

Akashi had multiple jobs inside Yokosuka Naval Base aside from working as a Repair Ship. Actually she has around five major jobs and nine minor jobs. Let's just focus on two major ones and a single minor one, alright?

One of Akashi's major jobs is producing shipgirl ammunition with different kinds of caliber, since shipgirl ammunition on both primary and secondary armaments aren't manufacturable in the industry due to some necessary materials being unavailable in the world market. Akashi is the only one who knows where to find these materials and how to convert them into shipgirl ammunition, in the Pacific Front that is. Shipgirl ammunition does not use any of the basic high grade materials like tungsten and chromium or any of the common materials like copper or lead that are used to manufacture ammunition.

Shipgirl ammunition primarily on main armaments and secondary armament are made of Albisium: A jet black high tension-high density material emitting unknown gamma like rays. A very scares material that can only be mined underneath the Ural Mountains as well as liberated Abyssal Islands in the Pacific.

Not much was revealed from Akashi why such material is used other than the single statement that she shared during the naval review of 2047.

"Once the material is subjected to proper amounts of high explosive filling the object would just vroom through abyssal armor like it was made of wet paper sheet"

Metallurgist and other element field sciences tried decoding that statement Akashi made on that day but until now—it's fruitless.

Another major job that Akashi handles is repairing shipgirl riggings. Riggings or some might call it battle riggings are those large mounted like objects that the shipgirls are carrying around their body. Each shipgirl are categorized by their own battle rigging, for example: A shipgirl that is taller than 170 and is armed with primary armaments that exceeds 356mm is considered a battleship. While shipgirls whose height is below 166cm is considered to be a destroyer.

"There done…"

Now for the minor job. One of Akashi's minor jobs is cleaning the shipgirl dormitory if time permits. Usually this happens every Sunday of a new week but sometimes this happens once a month if there are multiple shipgirls who got home with severe wounds.

Today is currently Sunday in Japan. This would be her first dormitory spring clean for this year. And with so much enthusiasm, Akashi headed first to the Carrier rooms floor, specifically the 2nd floor of the shipgirl dormitory.

"Alright! Prepare yourselves, dirt. I will kick your ass this time for sure—"Akashi's voice trailed off when she heard a faint chime inside the 'Shokkaku-class' room.

Using the master key on her hands she opened the door and saw a phone placed on an upright position on Zuikaku's desk. She knew this is Zuikaku's desk since Zuikaku had this bad habit of doing scratch marks on her table whenever she is feeling exited or just plain old restless.

The satellite phone to be precise was vibrating heavily on the said table that it's already making a noticeable rumbling noise. She took the satellite phone with her dominant hand and checked who the caller was. Unfortunately for her the owner had multiple sets of number placed on the name tab.

Not good, she said to herself as she let the satellite phone to ring for a couple of more seconds. She hesitated for a moment when her right thumb was placed on top of the green button. Does she really have to answer the call? Does she have the permission to do so? Furthermore wouldn't it be rude for me to just look away when I am already here prepared to answer the call?

The third question took a toll on her and finally after a couple of seconds of hesitation she pressed the green button and placed it on her ear.

"Hello?"

She felt like the air suddenly become still. There was no answer behind the call. The time was ticking which indicates that the conversation is still ongoing.

Not wanting to end the call without a proper conclusion, Akashi said "Moshi-moshi~? Aren't you going to speak up?" one last time.

But she received not a single word. Annoyed she let out a scoff as she placed her right index finger on the red button, right before she put pressure on the button however her name was called.

"Akashi?" Called a male's voice in English.

Akashi was taken aback that the caller identified her. Her heart started beating heavily once the realization came to her that a foreigner has identified her via her voice.

"Yes…this is Akashi…." She said as she bit the lower part of her lip.

"Oh, ah, it looks like she's out on a sortie huh? Well, I guess I should call back later…" The caller replied his tone a bit depressed when he knew who the receiver was.

"Wait-wait, who is this by the way? Who were you expecting huh?" Akashi asked in English wanting to know who the caller was.

"Oh, right, this is Ermest…..Fustaku…. dess." The man behind the phone introduced his name in Japanese.

Like a spotlight, Akashi's eyes widen when she learned the name of the caller. It's was just Fuck-san, she said to herself. And then like a low bell, it came to her.

"Wait, how did you get Zuikaku's number? Wait a minute, why do you sound unhappy when you learned that it was not Zuikaku? You even sound like you were expecting something like—"

"It's good to hear from you Akashi, how are you by the way?" Fustaku interjected.

"I am fine, thank you. I've been doing busy jobs lately since more and more shipgirls are being summoned every hour—wait you just changed the subject didn't you?!" Akashi shouted as she learned that Fustaku was avoiding the topic.

"Ah, new shipgirls are being summoned while were gone huh?" Fustaku replied seemingly amazed.

Akashi let out a sigh knowing that Fuck-san wouldn't want to answer her question. Since she hasn't seen Fuck-san for three days now after he and his platoon were sent into the mountains of Austria, this is a rare opportunity to talk to him. Akashi shrugged off the topic and just listened to him talk instead.

"You sounded like an important person for a second there. We'll yeah, we've been receiving a lot of salt lately from Austria for some unknown reasons. Anyhow how are you doing there? I've heard that the commanding officer there gave you a bad session."

Fustaku let out a soft laugh as he heard Akashi's remark. She then heard a muffled explosion at the background. Akashi casually sat on Zuikaku's table and pressed the speaker onto her ear.

"What was that?" Akashi asked.

"Oh, don't mind that one. It looks like the party on Wilhemsburg is almost concluding. Ah, friendly planes just passed by." Fustaku calmly described the chaos that's happening on the background.

"Party? On Wilhemsburg? Wait, that's part of Hamburg! Are you telling me you're on the European frontline right now?!"

There was this faint stillness that surrounded both Akashi and Fustaku. As the explosions in the background kept getting louder and louder...closer and closer. It was at this point that Fustaku let out an audible gulp.

"What?" Akashi asked with a dry tone.

A few seconds later a loud explosion rang on Akashi's ear. Akashi immediately pushed the satellite phone away from her ear out of instinct. The explosion was loud enough that her ears were making chimes.

"Ermest-san?! Ermest-san!" Akashi pressed the satellite phone on her left ear and shouted at the speaker.

"Sorry, Akashi. It looks like I won't be calling back for a couple of days. Say, why don't you save this number right now? You know how to operate a mobile phone right? Please save the number for Zuikaku' sake."

"Ah wait!"

And the call ended. A flat beep remained.

Akashi stared at the satellite phone on her hand with contempt. A few beeps here and there, she was able save the caller's I.D into the contacts tab. She then placed the satellite phone at Zuikaku's table and stared at it for a couple of more seconds.

"Wait…..when did the two of them get this close?"

She asked herself. Realizing that she she was left out on something big.

~o~

Highway Bridge B is a bridge that's 35 meters wide. The highway bridge stretches all the way across the outskirts of lower Saxony and into the small city of Mecklefield. This bridge is vital since this is the only remaining highway bridge in the city of Hamburg that is still unscathed.

Losing it would be a major setback for the European Alliance who are intent on pushing the Abyssals back to the Netherlands border.

Although the bridge is important, the commanding officer of the 9th Mechanized Division that was tasked on protecting the two remaining bridges focused all of its remaining soldiers into the first bridge which is Railway Bridge A, just approximately a kilometer away from Highway Bridge B. The only soldiers that were tasked on defending the second bridge was Fustaku's platoon nicknamed Platoon B and two Russian titans namely BT-1120 and BT-5003.

It was not long for the abyssals to realize that the second bridge is basically open for the taking. Fustaku however, refused to let that happen.

With just 13 soldiers and two titans in his command, Fustaku ordered his men to hastily dig foxholes at the opposite bank of Highway Bridge B. Intent on making an outer defensive perimeter

Fustaku ordered Lomo's squadron to dig foxholes on the western flat land at the side of the bridge, Etnaz's squadron stationed at the eastern side of the bridge, and Lucas' squadron making a column of sandbags on the bridge.

In his disposal are six machine guns, equally divided among the three squadrons and two mortars given to Lomo and Etnaz's platoon. Fustaku also made sure that the foxholes should be at least 180 centimeters deep and that it could fit at least two soldiers inside.

It was a very labor extensive plan but his platoon managed to finish the foxholes before the abyssals started shelling their positions.

As a precaution, Fustaku also ordered Etnaz and Lomo to plant anti-personnel mines 150 meters ahead of them, expecting a heavy influx of Hu-types coming their way.

"LT! 60 Chu-types, 600 meters away!" Val shouted at the radio.

What he did not expect however was the first wave of abyssals that attacked their position….a large horde of heavily armored abyssals classified as Chu-types also nicknamed Hummel by the European Alliance infantrymen.

"Shit…Fire the AT-600s now! Those mines won't do anything!" Fustaku yelled at his own radio.

Fustaku dug his own foxhole at the eastern side of the bridge together with Etnaz's platoon for reason being that he could see the road clearly from the eastern side since the ground is a bit elevated.

Behind him Val took an AT-600 from his foxhole and aimed at running Chu-type in front of him. He then removed the safety pin and yelled—

"Clear back blast!"

After firing at the Chu-type in front of him the rocket flew 953 m/s and landed directly at the Chu-type's shoulder, severing it due to the sheer amount kinetic energy and HE filament that was stored inside the projectile.

The others also fired their own rockets as well managing to bring down twenty Chu-types but more are coming near them. As the Chu-types bypass the minefield it was apparent that the integrity of their position was in danger.

Just as the Chu-types entered the 147 meter mark a random 75mm projectile landed on the Chu-type's head staggering it in the process. Fustaku turned his head behind him and saw a trail of smoke coming from the Russian Titans at the opposite bank.

The titans kept firing and firing until the Chu-types changed direction and retreated back into the woods on the western side where Lomo' squadron was stationed.

"What the hell?" Lomo yelled.

"Thank the fucking gods we drove them off…." Fustaku muttered as he immediately raised his binoculars at the horizon after seeing a glint from the edges of his view. "Shit, here they come…" he gritted, flipping the safety pin of his rifle into the opposite direction.

"LT, I don't think we have enough ammunition to hold on…" Zera's voice came to his ear.

"I know….Etnaz I want two members of your squadron to head back to the opposite side of the riverbank and order those titans to move forward. If they are still persistent on not moving forward at least bring additional ammunition for the MG's." Fustaku turned his head towards Etnaz who had his foxhole dug near him.

"That'll just make the eastern side undermanned!" Etnaz shouted his concern.

"I know….just pick two soldiers already." Fustaku urged as he lowered his binoculars and raised his rifle towards the horde of Hu-types coming their way.

Etnaz gritted as he too saw the large amounts of Hu-types coming their way. With two of his men ordered to pull back that'll only mean that there only four guys left to defend the eastern side. Either way he shook his head and ordered Mountain and Pura to run to the other side of the riverbank.

"Listen, bring at least ten canisters of MG rounds you got that? I've left the ammunition cache behind that small shack near the two Russian titans." Etnaz coldly said.

Mountain and Pura nodded simultaneously as they swung their rifles behind their back and ran towards the opposite river bank.

"Oi….Aim your guns properly and don't waste ammo. I wouldn't want Mountain and Pura to be left dying due to oxygen deprivation for running back and forth just deliver ammunition canisters…Lastly, don't you dare die on me now." Fustaku let out his last statement before all hell breaks loose on Highway Bridge B.

~o~

She's been her escort for almost three years now. Every single day she and her sister would follow the bedrohlich in the Kriegsmarine.

A paper ship that was unknowingly summoned by Vice-Admiral Andrew Lutzow and was the first shipgirl ever summoned in the Kriegsmarine, her name was Battleship Hamburg of the unbuilt H41-Class Battleships.

"Well, I am also an paper ship so I digress."

"Hmm? You said something, Marelda?" Hamburg turned her head behind her and gave Marelda a confused look.

"No-no, I didn't say anything Hamburg…" Marelda waved her hand in denial.

"Hmm? Is that so….? Oh well, let's hurry up and link up with Admiral Hipper's fleet. We are told to immediately sortie after we arrive there." Hamburg added as she forced her attention to the side.

Marelda, formerly known as light cruiser M, is the nameship of the four M-class light cruiser sisters in the Kriegsmarine. She and her third sister Marié were tasked on escorting Hamburg's fleet designated Flotte 1 or Fleet 1 in this operation together with the 1st Destroyer Squadron: Z-41, Z-11, Z16, Z-10, Z-02 and Z-20.

They've been in the Elbe River for quite some time now. They've disembarked from Dresden a few hours back after receiving their new fittings from Cordon; a repair ship; whose plane crash landed on Dresden after her plane was ambushed by Fockewolves.

After receiving their new battle fittings they then disembarked along the Elbe River and headed north, straight to the city of Hamburg. Along the way however they were constantly harassed by Abyssal Stukas and Fockewolves.

They finally arrived at Hamburg around 9:30 in the morning but they received some damages especially to the older destroyers that had little AA armaments. Emergency repairs were desperately needed that's what Hamburg thought when she saw the state her fleet was in.

The moment she saw Highway Bridge B, Hamburg let out a sigh of relief knowing that she and her fleet have finally arrived at the city whose name was granted into her, Hamburg.

As they sail towards the bridge, Hamburg turned her attention to her left and saw a small group of soldiers digging foxholes on the grass field ahead of the highway bridge. She saw a soldier with a shovel on his hand facing towards her. As a gesture of comradeship she tipped her visor at the soldier that was looking at her and nodded.

Behind her, Marié was following Hamburg also glanced at the soldier. He's a bit small for her, is that Marié thought after taking just a single glance at the soldier. She then hastens her speed until she was sailing alongside Hamburg.

"You know him, Hamburg?" Marié asked with a sneer on her face.

"Unfortunately, I do not know him. Furthermore, he's too short to be a soldier in the European Alliance." Hamburg added, her tone a bit cold.

Anyway, Hamburg shook her head and turned her attention towards Marié who was still sailing beside her.

"Furthermore, he's not a soldier from the European Alliance."

"No, wait, didn't you already say that a while ago?" Marié remarked.

"No-no, what I meant is that he's a soldier from from a certain Asian country. I saw his nationality patch on his shoulder and I know that flag belongs to a certain country that was overrun by abyssals during the 2nd year of the Abyssal War." Hamburg added, her tone a bit aloof.

Marié kept nodding and nodding until Hamburg stopped talking. Her expression then turned sour as she saw Hamburg staring at her with piercing eyes.

"You're not listening are you?!" Hamburg growled as she grabbed Marié by the shoulder and neck lock her using her right hand.

"Wait-wait-wait! I was listening! I was listening I tell you!" Marié yelped as she was being pummeled by Hamburg' strength.

Marelda let out a tired as sigh. Ominous or not, this battleship sure does have some issues she thought.

The small fleet then sailed pass Railway Bridge A, the fighting there was intense. Audible yells of pain and horror could be heard as they sailed underneath the bridge.

"Say, Hamburg—" Marelda raised her head towards the bridge above them before lowering her head once more towards Hamburg.

"We aren't helping them, Marelda. We have our own problems. Furthermore, we are in a strict time table. You wouldn't want Admiral Lutzow to get mad right?" Hamburg interjected, her attention focused at what's in front of her.

Slowly they sailed pass the railway bridge and along with it the cries of pain and help. Marelda turned her head once more, gritting her teeth as the distance of the railway bridge increased.

"To hell with this…" Marelda swore loudly as she turned clockwise and aimed her 20.3cm SK C/34 naval guns at the bridge.

She dialed-in at the elevation followed by the distance and then the amount of spread at which her rounds are going to level a certain area. All calculations completed, now…Fi—

"I told you not to interfere…." Hamburg swoops in between her view.

In a split second her view suddenly misaligned followed by a sudden urge to vomit. Marelda slowly succumbed into a halt as she lowered her head and let out a couple of deep breaths before raising her head towards the silhouette in front of her.

"What did you—?"

"I guess you should rest for now, Marelda." Hamburg cold reply as she burrowed her fist on Marelda's stomach.

Marelda's eyes rolled above her head revealing the whites of her eyes. Hamburg then caught Marelda's unconscious body and wrapped Marelda's arm over her neck.

Behind her, Marelda's sister Marié glared at her. Hamburg gave Marié the silent treatment while she carried Marelda's unconscious body by the shoulder.

"You better make sure that you'll win against me." Hamburg softly announced as she sailed pass Marié.

Marié only shook her head as she stared at Hamburg's tall figure.

"Asshole" Were the words she uttered as she finally decided to follow behind the group of destroyers.

As they sailed deeper into the city the fleet made a right turn towards a certain steel construction factory. That is the rendezvous point where Hamburg's fleet links up with Admiral Hipper's fleet. Hamburg waved her hand at Admiral Hipper; nameship of the Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers; who was standing inside a small observation building observing the group of shipgirls who were carrying corpses on a large river dock.

Hipper waved her hand in return and began to walk outside the building and into the river dock itself where the rest of her fleet was located.

"Took you long enough" Hipper spoke with a rather complacent tone as Hamburg's fleet prepared to dock.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Here, give this girl a repair bucket. I believe I've taken the light out of her." Hamburg manually removed Marelda's rigging and placed them on the river dock. After that she then extended Marelda's body to Hipper who was standing at the river dock.

"What in a world did you do to her?" Hipper asked with an irritated tone as she princess carry Marelda and ordered her second sister Blucher to carry Marelda's body into the makeshift repair dock on the main building.

"Big sis Hamburg performed a right uppercut on Big sis Marelda's stomach." Z-20 casually answered as she unsummons her riggings and ran away from the growling Hamburg.

Hipper let out a very tired sigh. She then glanced at the amount of holes on Hamburg's rigging.

"It looks like the mosquitoes have done their part."

"Shut it will you. I took the trouble of catching the bombs so that I wouldn't have to carry unconscious brats." Hamburg scowled at Hipper's remark as she too finally stood on the river dock after she unsummons her riggings.

Hamburg's tall figure towered over Hipper. In this case, Hipper was around 169 centimeters tall while Hamburg was around 188 centimeters, the tallest shipgirl in the Kriegsmarine.

Just by her presence alone, Hipper felt like a mere cat that's standing in front of a seasoned lion. Even Bismark who was believed to be the biggest during the Second World War was nowhere near to this colossus in front of her.

"Mind explaining the 60 bodies placed along the platform?" Hamburg asked as she glanced on her side.

"What you see already explains everything." Hipper responded crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Hey, I'm asking properly here..." Hamburg turned her head at Hipper and frowned at Hipper's blatant response.

With a deep sigh, Hipper walked pass Hamburg and kneeled at the nearest body placed on the cemented river dock. The bodies were covered with white fabric, blood stains could be seen seeping through the white fabric. Using her dominant hand, Hipper partially flipped the white fabric that was covering the corpse, revealing the face of a young looking submarine type shipgirl that had blonde hair and a purple skin.

"U-600?! Explain this to me Hipper! Why aren't these shipgirls on the repair docks yet?!" Hamburg shouted loudly that the other shipgirls that were talking near them glanced towards them and slowly dispersed not wanting to be included in the argument.

"Keep your mouth shut, Hamburg. I wouldn't want the younger destroyers to see this." Hipper casually says as she covered the head immediately.

"Screw that bullshit. You better start explaining shit Hipper or else—"

"Or else what Hamburg? They are already dead. We can't revive them using the same repair formula that I got from Concord. The very same repair formula that you and I use almost every day to heal our wounds. Now tell me, what are you gonna do, H41?"

Hamburg's expression soured as she heard her former name. With fury she grabbed Hipper by the neck and raised her above her head to the point that Hipper's stomach was already at the same level as Hamburg's head.

"You better tell me that you didn't sink them on purpose..." Hamburg growled.

Hipper slowly choked to submission. Drool started pouring out of her mouth as her skin paled as every second goes by.

"Ad-Lutzoooo-didddd tttthiiissss..."

Hamburg heard it...she heard it clearly. Something inside her immediately snapped like an overstretched rubber band.

"A-admiral...Lutzow...?"

Confused and furious she slammed Hipper on the cemented ground marking a large crater that was around one and a half feet deep. Cracks stretched along the river dock that some of the destroyers decided to hell with it and evacuate towards the main building via the connecting bridge.

Hamburg kneeled down and grabbed Hipper by the collar. Blood ooze out of Hipper's wounded head, her hands limply hanging at her side. But her attention did not wander, it was all focused at Hamburg's murderous eyes.

"Don't you fucking sully Admiral's reputation you bitch! I will kill you...I will kill you!"

"That's enough, Hamburg!" Huascaran grabbed Hamburg's hand and yanked it away from Hipper's collar.

"This does not involve you, repair ship!" Hamburg yelled back.

"This do involve me muscle head! She's hurt—you are hurt and it's my job as a repair ship to fix your wounds!" Huascaran yelled back as she threw a wrench at Hamburg's direction hitting her on forehead.

Hamburg let out a sharp 'ah!' as the wrench hit her forehead before landing on the cemented ground. At that point Hamburg was already fed that in her mind she also wanted to pummel Huascaran as well.

Just as she was about to make her move, multiple shipgirls restrained her from getting closer to the very small repair ship. Light cruisers, heavy cruisers, the small destroyers and even the two notorious battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

A grand total of thirteen shipgirls grabbed every nook and cranny of Hamburg's body trying their best to prevent her from making another step closer to the repair ship.

"Unhand me!" Hamburg yelled.

"Huascaran, grab Hipper already and get away from here! We'll hold her! Hurry while we still can!" Scharnhorst wailed at the small repair ship as she grabbed Hamburg's neck from the back while her sister Gneisenau grabbed Hamburg's stomach.

Huascaran averted her gaze from Hamburg before picking up Hipper from the ground. Hipper was already unconscious, and the only thing she could do now was carry the unconscious shipgirl and hope that the other thirteen shipgirls is enough to keep Hamburg at bay.

~o~

A couple of hours have passed and Hipper eventually woke up with her body inside a makeshift bathtub with green hued liquid inside. She was wearing her shipgirl attire whilst bask by the green fluid.

"You asshole, you shouldn't have placed those bodies there." Were the first words her ears were able meet. After hearing that she turns her head to the side and saw repair ship Huascaran tending Hamburg's unconscious body.

"Where did you expect me to put them...to the ground? They are submarines, putting their bodies near the river - in any case, a place where there is water, is the least thing that I could do to them as a secretary ship." Hipper shouted at the top of her lungs.

"You placed them on a place where shipgirls are expected to dock! Spare me the nobility bullshit that you got from your name cause what you did back there was plain ol' stupid. You were just begging Hamburg to beat you into a pulp!" Huascaran yelled back. Despite her small stature she has the loudest mouth in the Kriegsmarine - that one would expect that she's actually louder than a drill sergeant.

"They're dead, Huascaran! What were you expecting me to do?!" Hipper asked, tears coming out of her eyes.

"Bury them on the ground like most soldiers do! They deserved to be buried on the ground not in an old fashioned burial in sea bullshit! The abyssals are just going to reuse their corpses and send them our way to fucking murder you during your sorties! I've already killed 20 of my own comrades who were repurposed into abyssal submarines because you fucking noble knack heads don't know how to bury a dead person correctly!" Huascaran was beet red in fury. After putting the repair formula on Hamburg's bathtub she stood up and grabbed a wrench from a nearby toolbox and a slams it the rims of Hipper's bathtub.

"I will bury them myself. Stay here and get fix. Once Hamburg wakes up apologize to her and the other 13 shipgirls who tried their best to restrain her. You are supposed to be the secretary shipgirl in the whole navy and yet you are even more immature than a newly summoned destroyer who doesn't know shit." Huascaran added as she hastily walked out of the room leaving behind Hipper and Hamburg on their own.

Huascaran found herself behind the main building where a large tree could be seen on an open field. Underneath that said tree are 60 shipgirls lined neatly on a row. The white fabric that was used to cover their bodies were removed and piled up beside the two battlecruisers awaiting Huascaran's arrival.

"Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, thanks for arranging them for me." Huascaran softly uttered at the two battlecruiser sisters in front of her.

"Don't mention it, Huascaran. We'll be at the river dock if you need anything from us." Gneisenau placed her left hand on Huascaran' shoulder before walking pass her. Scharnhorst only nodded and gave Huascaran a long shovel.

The tree rustled audibly as the strong wind slowly pass over the vicinity. As the repair ship move closer and closer, she could see clearly the faces of the deceased shipgirls that she failed to save.

The shovel limply fell from her arms and into the grass. Her knees fell to to the ground a second later. Her body was shaking badly; she let out a wheeze unable to suppress the pain inside her heart.

"Oh god...oh god...oh god~" The tears poured out of her eyes as she reminiscent the moments before the Submarine Flotte 7 was completely destroyed.

Not too long ago, these submarines were teasing her for being short. Not too long ago these submarines treated her with a chicken bucket before their eventual sortie to blockade the abyssals from escaping into the Wadden Sea. Not too long ago these shipgirls were laughing, cursing, yelling, swearing, and singing inside the main building.

Now, all that's left was silence and their peaceful expressions left embedded on their faces while their eyes were closed.

Their bodies had multiple tear wounds after being bombed by depth charges for twelve hours. Not a single retreat order was passed, one by one their numbers dwindled and before long the last surviving submarine let out a single Morse code message into the Kriesmarine High Command HQ in Kiel.

"Ahhhhhh...ahhhh!"

Huascaran cried as she remembered the cold message that was passed into her detachment fleet. How she cursed High Command for letting this happen. How she hastily ordered Hipper's fleet to sortie and retrieve the bodies of Submarine Flotte 7 despite strict orders not to sortie the surface task force.

"I am terribly sorry..." Huascaran softly uttered as she wailed in sorrow. "I'm so sorrry..."

With a trembling hand Huascaran grabbed the shovel next to her. With a clouded heart she stood up from the ground and suppressed her tears.

With a swift movement she started digging the ground. The number of strokes increased and the depth eventually deepens into a certain height.

Huascaran stabs the shovel into the ground and walked at the first person placed on the farthest on the left…The flagship of the submarine flotte 7, U-600.

She tried wiping away the tears from her eyes using her dirtied hands. In a princess carry she slowly approached the grave that she just dug. Gently she placed the body on the hole, making sure that her position is just right. After that she removed U-600's cap that had stitches, writing the owner's name of the cap. These submarine caps are the pride of every submarine type shipgirl in the navy, as this acts as an identity for them.

With the shovel on her hand, Huascaran buried the exposed body of the deceased shipgirl into the grave, she then placed a wooden makeshift cross at the outer edge of the grave. Lastly she placed the cap on the vertical stick.

"Ha..." Huascaran wheezed as she moved a bit further away from the first grave.

It took some time, but eventually she finally finished giving the destroyed submarine shipgirl fleet a proper burial.

She stood at the middle of the columns of freshly dug graves. After finishing her resting rites suddenly she felt one of her pockets vibrating. With a cold look and a stained hand she placed her hand inside her pocket and grabbed her cellular phone.

"Yeah?" Huascaran said with a somber tone.

"He-hey there Hua-chan. Umm, can I ask you a favor?" The caller spoke with a rather hesitant tone.

"What is it?"

"Well the truth is….um…..A group of shipgirls from my fleet should've arrive at your position right now. Have you made contact yet?" The caller asked.

Huascaran was confused by the caller's tone and question. With a furrowed look, Huascaran lowered the phone from her ear and stared at the name of the caller that was miraculously saved on her contacts.

It was a fellow repair shipgirl like her.

"No, I haven't made contact with them yet." Huascaran placed the phone back into her ear and said those words.

"Ah, is that so? Um, would you mind calling me once you made contact with them?" The caller pleaded.

"Hmm? Is there something wrong, Akashi?" Huascaran asked.

"No, not really…it's just….the flagship of the said group wanted me to call you. Making sure that her group safely arrived in Hamburg…Call me once you made contact okay?" Akashi explained before abruptly ending the conversation there.

Huascaran stared at the phone once more. Wondering what the fuss was about.

~o~

I was at my wits end when my luck finally decided that I've had enough of this insanity. The Hu-types that were swarming us like ants was finally stopped.

It was like a massive graveyard, where small craters and the pile of uncountable bodies of Hu-types were sprawled all over the 150 meter radius. The mass graveyard stretched over 600 meters bypassing the minefield that my men laid 150 meters away from their foxholes.

The barrels of the machine guns that were placed in fix positions were bright red after being fired for over three hours consuming 22 MG canisters and over 22,000 rounds were used. The machine guns were so hot, that MG operators namely: Vas and Mop were basically using toaster gloves just to keep themselves from burning their hands as they replaced the barrels multiple times in quick succession in just a span of three hours.

It was way pass noon and the Highway Bridge B was basically successfully defended by my platoon of 13 men and a pair of russian titans.

The Russian titans even retreated multiple times just to refill their spent cannon ammunitions. Despite the fact that they still refused to move a single step forward or even crossing the bridge. However they were still valuable for my men who needed their firepower so that they could get the Hu-types at bay.

With heavy breathing, I lowered the barrel of my rifle and leaned my head upward making sure that there aren't any Hu-types remaining that were hiding among the dead. After that, I raised my body out the foxhole that had a sea of castings on the ground and turned my head and body clockwise to check whether the area was now safe.

"Clear!" I shouted.

One after another my men also got out of their foxholes and awed at the amount of Hu-types that they just mowed down.

"Holy shit" Mountain loudly remarked after seeing the killing field.

"Remind me to award Mountain and Pura with Purple Hearts for successfully delivering ammunition for the MGs." I announced as I turned my head at Lucas who also nodded in agreement to my announcement.

"Hey isn't that unfair?! Val, Vas, and I did most of the killing here!" Zera poured his complaint.

"Yeah it's unfair for our part!"

"Shut it both of you! The two ammo carriers had to jog 400 meters with more than 80 kilograms of weight on their hands just to deliver ammunition to you peashooters!" Lomo shouted back clearly irritated at the previous complaint.

"I can do that too!" Zera added.

"So do I!" Vas added as well.

With my dominant hand I pinched the bridge of my nose, irritated by the fact that that these idiots were complaining that I gave a special citation to the two ammo carriers. With a heavy sigh, I instead uttered an order.

"Alright shut up and get those bodies away from the line of fire. Use the bodies as fortifications if you have to since they don't odor like most corpses do."

"We're gonna need to put barbwires and replant the mines as well. We might face an even greater amount of Hu-types in the next wave." Lomo remarked pointing his hand at the depleted minefield 150 meter away."

"How many mines did you plant?" I pondered.

"On the west, well around 170 mines." Lomo answered.

"Yours?" I then turned to Etnaz who was standing on my left.

"Around 200."

"How the hell did the two of you plant that many?" I asked with a shudder.

"Well since the Hu-types were basically mindless abyssals we just placed the mines as is and didn't bury them to the ground." Etnaz answered.

Behind us another complaint suddenly erupted. "No wonder a mine shard flew to my foxhole in a speed of sound because you idiots didn't bury them to the ground like most mines are supposed to be used! I almost died because a random shrapnel almost hit me you know?!" Zeno points his hand at the mine piece sticking out of his foxhole.

"Buzz off" Etnaz and Lomo simultaneously spoke.

I scratched the back of my neck as I crouched down and examined the dead Hu-type near my boots. It had its jaws torn off, its eyes were beet red, and its skin was jet black and parasitic like organisms were coming out of its body. On second thought, should I really order my men to use these bodies as additional fortifications?

"LT, the commanding officer of the company that we were attached on is watching us from across the bridge." Mop came in front of me and said those words.

I turned my head clockwise and saw Captain Vladimir Putin using his binoculars towards us. I raised my body and swung my rifle to my back. Mop who alerted me about the Captain's presence turned towards Etnaz and helped him carry a dead Hu-type towards the east foxhole.

On the other hand, I walked along the highway bridge and approached the Captain. He lowered his binoculars as the distance between the two of us decreased. He then shook his head and asked with incredulity.

"How in a world did you guys manage to stay alive?" Captain Putin asked.

"Oi, you sounded like you purposely ordered us to make foxholes on the other side so that we would be butchered to death." I loudly said as I came to a halt beside him.

"No-no, I was told to send 50 additional soldiers to the second bridge hence here we are. But it seems we already arrived too late."

"Too late to do any work…" I said softy as I watched my men pilling up the bodies on the road.

It seems like Lucas is building a makeshift roadblock on the road just beside his sandbags. Lomo on the other hand just placed the bodies around their foxholes so that the shrapnels from the abyssal artillery won't sprawl towards their exposed positions.

"Anyway, why don't you guys get some proper shut-eye on the steel plant ahead of the railway bridge? Third Company has already garrisoned themselves there. The 50 soldiers that I've brought along with me will take over for here." Captain Putin said to me as he waved his hand towards his men.

"Is that okay? I mean we can still go about for a couple of days or maybe weeks if we are only supplied with ammunition constantly." I said to him confidently.

"You seem to have great confidence on your men. Cockiness won't get you anywhere in this battlefield. I do not know what kind of battles you have faced on the Eastern Theater but in the flatlands of Europe. A stationary target is an easy target." Captain Putin says with a low tone as he followed the men he ordered to move forward.

What kind of battles he said. Cockiness he said. He's right, I shouldn't be too complacent on a battlefield that I hardy even know. This is our first baptism of fire; we just managed to repulse that attack on our own. If Mountain and Pura were to die whilst carrying the ammunition for the MG's, we wouldn't have lasted very long.

Well, ain't that nice that we are relived a bit earlier?

With my dominant I pressed the transmitter of my radio and ordered Lomo to gather up the men on the other side of the bridge. I also told him to leave behind the MG's and the mortars since the relief force might need them.

The men in my platoon immediately stopped carrying the bodies of the Hu-types and just walked across the bridge like what they experienced a few hours ago was just business as usual.

So where the hell is this steel plant near the railway bridge who know what how to pronounce? I unzipped my chest pocket and took the map that was given to me during the quick briefing before we took our positions near this bridge.

Ah, its three kilometers away from the highway bridge. Unfortunately I wouldn't want my men to walk three kilometers. Mountain and Pura haven't even got their rests yet. And by sheer luck, I turned my eyes near the first titan standing behind the bridge.

Behind that said titan was a transport truck. It's a very old looking transport truck not like the ones that we were transported on a while back to reach Hamburg. I could order Mop to drive the bloody thing since he's the only one who know how to drive a truck.

It was not long for them to finally reach the opposite side of the bridge. Etnaz gave me a tired look and I only gave him a side glance towards the truck behind the titan.

"Look, I've already told you a week ago that I don't know how to drive a truck." He said.

"I wasn't asking. I was merely telling you that we'll be burrowing that truck so that we can reach the steel plant not in marching formation. And according to Bex, your former commanding officer, you suck at driving." I said to him.

"Why do you always roast me like this LT? Anyway who's driving then?" He asked.

I pointed my finger at Mop who was standing beside Vera and Val. He glanced towards me so I gestured him to come closer.

"What?" He asked.

"Drive the truck, we're getting out of here." I said.

"We can finally go back to Japan now?!" He yelled prompting the others to glance our way.

"Idiot! I don't want Engineer Holland to chase us if ran away back to Japan!" I yelled back as I shook my head in irritation. "Just go already. Also, tell Lomo and the others to mount-up on the truck."

Mop nodded as he ran towards the truck. Lomo then gathered up the men and told them to get inside the truck. As that was going on, I lowered my head towards the broken satellite phone on my vest. I lost my motivation to call back, after all Zuikaku might be on a major sortie right now and she might return to the naval base in the evening. Since the time difference here in Germany is only slightly different from Japan, I might as well call her around eight in the evening. If I can fix this phone by that time.

I glanced towards my wrist watch and realized that it was already way pass noon. I even lost my appetite on that encounter….

"Blarghhhhhh"

Unknowingly I vomited the empty contents of my stomach to the asphalt. Shit, I suddenly remembered the dead Hu-type. How the worms were moving side to side on the ground…..

"Blarghhhhhh"

Damn, I did not expect that I would vomit on that kind of grotesque scene. I've seen grotesque things before, I've seen dismembered limbs before, and I've seen dead bodies before. But this would be my first vomiting on something that I considered to be disgusting.

After letting out a couple of deep breaths I walked towards the truck. Mountain was looking at me with a worried look on his face.

"You alright, LT?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Move a bit, I'll sit near the exit." I said to him as I grabbed his extended hand and climbed inside the truck.

"All in! Let's go Mop!" Val shouted and then slammed his hand on the roof of the truck twice.

The back of the transport truck was basically open. We could feel the wind coming towards us as the truck increased speed. Not just the cold breeze of the afternoon scenery, but as well as the odor of the battlefield.

I leaned my body on the truck's side guard and raised my head to the sky once more. I couldn't see the sun since it was blocked by the gray clouds. Oh, gray clouds. It seems that it's going to rain soon.

I then lowered my head and glanced at the railway bridge. It was an utter mess. The rails were destroyed and four titans lay motionless on the ground with dead soldiers lined up on the ground. It was a good thing that we only faced unarmed Hu-types…I wonder what would've happened if the armed ones came our way.

Just by thinking about it is making me uneasy.

We eventually arrived at the steel plant that Captain Putin talked about.

By the time we arrived there a group of soldiers could be seen setting a camp near the river. We decided to drop off on a flat ground near the Russian soldiers that were already there. Unfortunately for us, none of them can speak English. So we decided to leave them alone and mind our own business a few meters away from them.

Since we didn't have any materials to set up a tent we decided to place our bags on the grass and just rest there.

Mountain is the best cook back when I was still the commanding officer of the Una Company. I actually ordered him to cook us a decent meal since we haven't eaten anything since morning, and it's already way pass noon.

And by the time Mountain was finished heating up the soup that we took from the river, the men were already dozing off by the accumulated fatigue.

Mountain and I were the only ones left awake. "LT, I can't believe they just doze off before I can even distribute the soup." Mountain complained as he gave me my canteen containing the soup.

"Well you can't blame them. We just went through hell on our first battle. Sorry for forcing you to cook while the others doze off." I said to him in pity as I scooped the soup using a disposable spoon.

"Its fine, they'll gotta have to reheat the soup on their own since I won't be reheating it. Cover up the lid once you are done, will you?" Mountain says as he finished eating his own share.

I slowly stood up from my sitting position and approached the container that we used to cook the soup. I then grabbed the lid that was placed on top of a horizontal brick and placed it at the brim of the container.

The soup was great, although it was a bit bitter since we were lacking ingredients but it was enough to make the soup edible.

As I walked away from the container, I turned my head towards Mountain and realized that he was already dozing off after finishing his own share of the soup. I too felt a bit tired. With lethargic movements I approached my bag and sat near it.

I then leaned on top of it as I lay my body on the grassy ground. Although it was a bit uncomfortable because of the sharp tips of the grass but I didn't complain since by the time I was about to utter a complaint, I was already dozing off.

Around 4:30 in the afternoon I was abruptly awaken by Etnaz who had his pilot helmet worn on top of his head. I can tell its Etnaz since he actually had the free time to scribble his name on his helmet's forehead.

"What is it?" I let out a groaning question.

"LT, it's about to rain any moment now. We should relocate inside that garage over there to seek cover from the rain since we don't have any tents with us unlike those Russian soldiers there." He said.

"I doubt those men would share some space for us." I said to him.

"Precisely. I already ordered Val and Vas to find us a good spot. Lomo already ordered Mop to relocate the truck near that building over there." Etnaz explained as he pointed his finger at the buildings behind us.

Since I was dead asleep before we managed to mobilize, Lomo was kind enough to actually pack my things as well. However, inside this long bag is just a single pair of underwear, six pairs of socks, two pairs of green shirt, a single pair of my old uniform before I was given this pilot uniform, extra magazines for my rifle, and a box of first aid. I think I should buy Lomo a drink to repay my debts…he has done so many things for me. He's like a mother to me already.

I raised my body on an upright position and grabbed the long bag that I used as a pillow. I then grabbed my rifle and followed Etnaz towards the building that he pointed a second ago. Glancing behind me I already realized that the others have already relocated leaving me alone with Etnaz.

The two of us followed a pavement that leads into a wall that looks like it was destroyed by heavy ordinance. We then come across this open field that had a single tree located at the middle and a row of freshly buried graves that had makeshift wooden crosses. Above these said crosses are small sailor caps placed on top of each cross.

I counted the fresh graves by eye and there are around 60 of them in total. That's a lot of casualties. Etnaz who was standing beside me made a sign of the cross and let out a quick prayer.

"What do you think happen to them, LT?" Etnaz asked beside me.

"I don't know. There are many things that could get you killed in a warzone like this. Either by hunger, infected wounds, rape, murder, getting shot, bombed, mortared, mined, and so forth." I said to him honestly.

"Do you think they are armed personnel?"

I stared at the cap placed on top of the cross. It really resembles a sailor's cap that I once saw back in Yokosuka.

"A navy enlisted soldier or a shipgirl. That's all I could guess." I answered as I crouched down and examined the cap closely.

A moment too soon, I saw a small girl standing beside the said tree with a shovel on her hand. It was a young looking girl around 160 centimeters in height and had a body resembling a female middle schooler. She was glaring at me. I could only look at her in bafflement as she slowly exited the tree's shadow and spoke with a very intimidating tone.

"Don't you dare steal those caps you fucking twits…!" The girl said in English.

Slowly I stood up from my crouching position and tried reasoning out with her. Etnaz who was beside me slowly removed his helmet and gave the girl a worried smile.

"We weren't gonna do anything to them. We were just guessing what type of people that were buried here, nothing more." Etnaz explained.

"And what good does that do? If you really wanna know then those girls that I buried are shipgirls. Though, I highly doubt that you monkeys even know what a shipgirls is." The little girl answered still glaring at us.

I glanced at Etnaz after hearing her answer. Etnaz scratched his ear as he slowly walked away and approached one of the half destroyed garage right outside the large building on my right.

"My name is Ermest E. Fustaku. I am the commanding officer of a small platoon that took shelter over there. We were—"

Before I could finish my sentence however the rain downpours, drenching me and the little girl standing in front of me with a shovel on her hand.

"So, what's a platoon originating from Asia doing in Europe?" The little girl asked.

My right eyebrow unknowingly raised, I glanced to my shoulder and realized that I actually had my nationality patch there.

"Uhh, we were actually sent here by Admiral Goto to retrieve something from a man. But before we could finally get home we were transferred into the frontline to field-test the things that we were supposed to be retrieving here."

I was actually having some conflicting thoughts whether its okay to spill the beans to this little girl. Then again—

"Admiral Goto huh? So I believe you knew Akashi as well?" The little girl asked.

"Akashi? You mean repair Akashi from the Combined Fleet?"

The little girl nodded. She then stabs the shovel to the ground and placed her right hand on her left chest.

"I am Repair ship Huascaran of the Kriegsmarine." The little girl said.

And so it appears that I actually met a shipgirl here of all places…A small girl like her could've been a destroyer or a destroyer escort but a repair ship?

"Aren't you feeling cold? Why don't you follow me inside?" Huascaran says as she took the shovel and walked towards the building on my right.

I didn't utter a single word. I just followed her inside the building. Well there aren't any actual doors since we just entered a large hole embedded on the wall. Once I got inside my radio screeched and a voice followed.

"LT? Are you still talking with that little girl in the rain? Get in here or you might catch a cold." It was Etnaz's voice.

"Nah, the little girl is actually a shipgirl of the Kriegsmarine. I am actually taking shelter on the opposite building, following her. Why don't you come over?" I transmitted on the radio.

"Alright, the others are moving out." Lucas voice then followed after.

"There's this large hole on the wall located at the right corner of the building. I am currently waiting just outside the hole." I said to them.

It was not long when my men finally arrived, drenched from the rain with their long bags partially wet. Lomo was the last one to arrive carrying his long bag and a polymer box that's around two feet long.

"What in a world is inside—"

"Feast your eyes, LT." Lomo threw his long bag on the ground and then followed by the box opening in a horizontal manner. "It's a can full of Corned Beef!" Lomo announced.

And here I thought I've exhausted my months' worth of luck after surviving a horde of Hu-types in a single day. I did not expect a box full of edible food to be found on small garage!

"What the hell…" I said as I crouched down and examined the canned food.

It was an Argentinian made corned beef. There's no mistake this is indeed an Argentinian made corned beef, the food's label as well as the instructions says so.

"It's not yet sullied that's for sure." I said as I rotated the can counterclockwise and saw the expiration date of the can to be next year.

"It looks like we scored a good one LT. Dinner's gonna be great." Mop said from behind.

I placed the can back into the box and gave Mountain a raised eyebrow. Immediately, he let out tired sigh and a worn out tone.

"Fine-fine, I'll cook six cans for the platoon." He said.

A couple of smiles and laughter soon followed as we heard Mountain's words. In the gist of it a tall woman that was wearing a gray and black attire peeked her head from a corner before entering the said corridor that we were gathering on.

She appears to be a shipgirl as well, seeing that her hair color to be silver. She was speaking in her native language as well so we couldn't get the gist on what she was saying. Then the shipgirl that I followed a moment ago, Huascaran, also arrived and talked to the unknown shipgirl. The silver haired shipgirl nodded and walked away from our view.

"Hmm, so 13 soldiers all in all. I did not expect to be seeing this many soldiers gathered around a box full of can goods this close to the front line." Huascaran says with both of her hands resting on her waist.

"Well we were suddenly transferred into the front so we weren't able to fully pack some rations since we thought that we won't be staying here for too long. I did not expect that we'll be replacing a depleted platoon of the Russian Mechanized Division." I said to her.

"Then what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be reinforcements for those unfortunate soldiers?" Huascaran asked.

"Uhh, we came from the front just a few hours ago until we were relieved by our company commander." Val explained who was leaning his back on a wall.

Huascaran furrowed her eyebrow as she glanced at Val. She then tilted her head slightly to the right.

"And you are?"

"Pvt. Romeo Valdez, call me Val in short." Val introduced himself with his hands crossed in front of him.

"Hmm, is that so? Then let me reintroduce myself to the soldiers here. I am Repair ship Huascaran of the Kriegsmarine. I am the high ranking officer of this makeshift forward base. If any of you yellow monkeys do anything stupid with my shipgirls. Consider yourself buttered with 12cm rounds, alright?"

Simultaneously everyone around me nodded. I can't believe that small shipgirl in front of me could actually emit a strong authoritative aura.

"If you need anything, I will be waiting at the next corridor. Don't bother me if when I am working…you got that?!"

And then she left.

Tez gave me this look. A look that was asking what I did to her since she had this very strict tone towards them. I could only shrug at him in return.

"So, since its still 17:10 in the afternoon. Why don't we hunker down for a bit and wait until 18:30?" I said to my men around me.

"Might as well cook the corned beef right now! Who knows when will be forwarded into the front line again." Vas shouted.

"Vas' got a point. Before our relief order expires, why don't we have our dinner early?" Rem says in agreement.

"Nah, you are just hungry. Seriously Rem, when are you gonna stop acting like that. If you are hungry then say it with a straight face." Mountain gave Rem a deadpanned look as he approached the box and took six cans of corned beef.

Mountain then took some bricks from the ground and arranged them in a triangular shaped figure.

"Fuck off…every single one of us here is hungry. It's not just me!" Rem complained but Mountain was not hearing any of it as he walked out of large hole and ran on the opposite side to retrieve some wet twigs for the fire.

I stood up from my couching position and placed my long bag at the corner of the corridor. After that I approached a destroyed wall that leads to the corridor in which Huascaran's location is.

"Don't wonder too far, LT." Zeno's voice came to my ear.

I turned my head clockwise and said, "You guys stay here and hunker up while Mountain cooks the corned beef. You guys better leave some behind!" I yelled before vaulting myself over the said destroyed wall.

The moment I entered the opposite wall what I saw was a row of bathtubs with metal hangers placed beside them. There are three bags each on every hanger, one looks like a bag of blood, another is an IV fluid and the last one resembles a repair formula.

Huascaran was standing beside an occupied bathtub. There are six of them all in all but it appears that only one of them is occupied.

"Yoh." I said to her.

"What do you want?" Huascaran coldly asked.

That question caught me off guard. I don't even know why I approached her in the first place.

"So, umm, you knew Akashi?" I asked her.

Huascaran focused her eyes on the shipgirl that was sleeping on the bathtub. This shipgirl had a long black hair and her black officer's cap covering most of her face.

"Yes, I knew her. Well, I pretty much knew every single repair ships that are currently summoned right now. That includes Kamchatka, Concord, Asahi, Fylgia, and Laugen." Huascaran answered.

Well among those names that she has uttered the only one I knew was Asahi, which was a battleship-type shipgirl that was converted into a repair ship due to her outdated armaments and lack of speed.

"About those graves—"

"Just put it to rest will you?" Huascaran interjected.

"I was just wondering why you didn't revive them using the repair formula. From my personal experience, Akashi was able to heal my wounds as well as regrow the severed limbs of my pointman." I said to her.

Huascaran let out a sigh and she leaned forwards placing both of her elbows on her two knees. She then placed her left hand underneath her chin and stared at the shipgirl who was sleeping on the bathtub.

"To cut to the chase…those shipgirls are un-revivable." Huascaran casually answered.

"Un-revivable? What do you mean?"

Akashi's repair formula was like an elixir that could bring back the dead. And here I am hearing the words of a repair ship saying that those shipgirls can't be revived.

"It means I can't bring them back alive, nitwit. They were sunk by abyssal depth charges that contain unknown elements that prevent a shipgirl to be revived." Huascaran answered with an irritated tone. "Forget it. You are just a normal foot soldier of course you wouldn't understand even if I explain it to you in detail."

"Um, hard to break it to you but I'm not just an ordinary grunt." I said to her.

"Hmm, why's that?" She asked.

"Well for starters." I placed my rifle on top of an elevated position while I leaned my body on a nearby wall crossing my arms in front of me as I faced her. "I am what you call as a Titan pilot."

"Oh, you are no ordinary grunt because you are an extraordinary grunt. Makes sense." Huascaran added.

This shipgirl, does she have a grudge against Army enlisted men or something? Hey, I am just trying to be a friendly person here.

"So? Since you are here, you have something to ask to me?" Huascaran added.

Well, it seems I need to cut to the chase now?

Slowly I placed my right hand on my back and retrieved an object. With a menial laugh I presented the object on my hand into her.

"Umm, can you fix this for me? I accidentally stepped over it…" I said to her as I extended the broken satellite phone on my hand to her.

Huascaran's expression quickly broke down into something more than an irritated person.

"Look, I am a repair ship not a cellphone mechanic." Huascaran says. "If you want this phone to be fixed, why don't you go to Berlin or a nearby city that's close to the front line and have it fixed."

"It's no good huh? I thought repair ships can fix electronic devices as well since Akashi fixed my radio a while back." I said to her with a depressed look.

"Oi, don't lump me together with Akashi. She's in a whole different level than I." Huascaran complained as she took the satellite phone from my hand using her petite hands.

With my left hand I scratched the back of my neck as I reveal to her how I broke the satellite phone.

"Well this phone was actually placed inside my foxhole. During the heat of the firefight I ran out of ammunition so I ran out of my foxhole to restock. I came back running for dear life since there were mortar rounds coming our way. In the lieu of the confusion I jumped boots first into the foxhole and landed on the satellite phone, breaking it in half." I explained to her.

Huascaran's left eyebrow twitched after listening to my explanation.

"What are you a protagonist of a certain comical skit or something?" Huascaran says.

Well you could say that? I've been through a lot of things already. I've died a couple of times, revived a couple of times, and only experienced sex once. I mean, doesn't that outweigh the last one?

"Well that's about it. I can't help you unfortunately, Lieutenant. I suggest you to throw this one to the side for now and buy a new one once this battle is over." She says right before a tall shipgirl arrived wearing the same uniform as the one on the bathtub.

She was speaking in German so I couldn't understand what she is saying. Huascaran's expression on the other hand was pretty clear to me. She was looking lethargic, with a sigh she stood up from the chair giving me the broken satellite phone and approached the newly arrived shipgirl.

"I have important matters to attend to, Lieutenant. See you later." She said.

Huascaran's figure faded from my view together with the newly arrived shipgirl. With our conversation finished I turn around and returned to the opposite corridor in which my men are hunkering down.

~o~

"What do you mean an Asian looking soldier arrived with a large Gundam? Have you been watching too much cartoons lately, Nurnberg?" Huascaran said in disbelief.

"What else do you want me to identify the thing that she brought with her? A transformer, a cyborg, Frankenstein or whatever?" Nurnberg complained at the small repair ship.

The two of them arrived at the front entrance where a large robot was standing with a soldier sitting on the ground with its head raised into the raining sky.

"See?" Nurnberg urged.

"That's a titan you nitwit. You've seen one back when we were still in Kiel." Huascaran lightly punched at Nurnberg's arm before coming out into the rain.

"Oi, are you just gonna drench yourself in the rain or what?" Huascaran said in German.

The pilot lowered her head and faced Huascaran. The pilot let out a "Hmm?" As it stood up from the ground and approached the small repair ship. As the pilot finally arrived in front of Huascaran, the pilot removed its helmet revealing its brown hair and Asian looking features.

"Pardon me. But can you speak English?" The female pilot says.

"Hmm? Another foreigner huh, so what do you want?" Huascaran asked in English.

"Oh, so um, I was told that my platoon was hunkering down in this building. I approached that shipgirl over there if ever she saw Asian soldiers entering the building. But it appears she couldn't understand me and hastily entered the building before I could say anything."

Huascaran tilted her head to the right and saw the female pilot's nationality patch. So you are part of his platoon huh? Were the words that popped inside Huascaran's head as she saw the female pilot's nationality patch.

"They're at the back of this building. Just take a left turn her and follow the pavements into a destroyed wall. You should be able to see a large tree. Don't you dare disturb the grave you hear me?! Take another right turn until you see a large hole on another wall leading to a corridor. Your platoon should be there waiting for you." Huascaran pointed her right hand on the right side.

The female pilot nodded as she raised her head towards the titan and said "Let's go Venset!" and ran towards the right side of the building, the ground shook as the titan followed its pilot into the corner.

Huascaran could only shook her head twice before re-entering the building again to take shelter from the rain.

"What was that all about?" Nurnberg asked.

"Nah, she was just looking for her platoon so I gave her the directions. Anyway has Hamburg's fleet as well as Scharnhorst's fleet already reached the Wadden Sea?" Huascaran asked.

Nurnberg nodded in affirmation as she followed Huascaran who was returning to the repair ward. Huascaran then sat on the chair near Hipper who was still sleeping on the bathtub.

"Hamburg got out first since she only received minor injuries from the 13 shipgirls that tried stopping her. Hipper on the other hand received the might of the strongest shipgirl in the Kriegsmarine." Nurnberg says.

"Nah, that show off still has minor injuries on her stomach and sides. She just doesn't want to be left behind while the others set off to another blockade sortie into the Wadden Sea. They should be coming back around 20:30 in the evening." Huascaran said to Nurnberg.

"What are about the soldiers taking shelter in the building or the Russian soldiers making camp outside the building?" Nurnberg asked once more.

"Leave them be. They'll be returning to the front line soon. Once that happens the perimeter should quite down a bit." Huascaran added.

A few seconds later a loud cheering roar erupted from a nearby hole. English expressions like "What took you so long?!" and "Where the hell have you been?!" followed by un-understandable words.

"The soldiers back there sure are energetic." Nurnberg says with a tired look.

"Well, they must've been worried sick about her. After all, it looks like she's the only female soldier on that said platoon. I wonder if Akashi knew about this." Huascaran says out loud.

As she raised her head into the ceiling a dumbfounded voice followed that immediately silenced the cheering crowd.

"Hiryuu?"

Chapter End