MS Iceberg Warrior was steaming 10 miles south of the edge of the ice field. She was a day and a half out of New York, sailing at a leisurely 20 knots. She was fully capable of steaming faster, her propellers were spinning at a relaxed 72 revolutions per minute and she wasn't even breathing hard. Her modern diesel electric power plant was a marvel to her and she never got tired of it. The feeling that she could open the throttles at any point and find a whole another gear waiting for her to try out. The reason she wasn't going faster, her back. It had been aching the last couple of days and it was wise of her to take it easy. She didn't need to steam at 40 knots anyway. That speed was hardly economical so 20 knots it was. She didn't see Oasis approaching her, the large cruise ship breaking out of the icefield by fiercely pushing aside a pair of growlers and once in clear water opening the throttles to flank. Her bow lifted and her stern dug into the sea as she went from 7 knots to 25 in just 2/3 of a mile. Her shafts groaned and her keel creaked ominously but she ignored it in favor of closing on Warrior's position. The older ship would open the throttle as soon as she was past the ice and then Oasis would have no hope of catching her.

"X-raySierra7 calling HotelWhiskey401 how copy?" Oasis' voice over her radio was the last thing Warrior expected to hear. "HotelWhiskey401 go ahead." "Warrior, I need you to alter course North, new heading 170. I know its close to the ice but, I'll explain when I see you." "401 copies all." Warrior hated going anywhere near ice. Small chunks rarely bothered her, she actually liked nudging the little cubes aside with her bow. But large fields were another matter. And Oasis had her going straight towards one. She almost didn't spot the much larger ship against the backdrop but as she got closer, Oasis' finer features distinguished her from the bergs. "Okay, you got me up here. What's going on?" Warrior was no fool. She knew that Oasis wouldn't have called her unless she absolutely needed to. "Please don't bite me although I certainly deserve it as it was my fault." Oasis whined. "What was your fault?" Warrior asked, pausing as she remembered something. Liz was scheduled to have crossed paths with Oasis by now. Oasis could see when she understood. "I got too curious for my own good with a tabletop and Liz tried to stop me. She was right but now she's trapped." "Trapped where?" Warrior's growl was almost dangerous sounding. "Trapped inside the berg." Oasis looked down, bracing herself for Warrior's charge. The older ship rammed her hard. "What the hell were you thinking?!" She shouted, teeth bared. "Every ship knows better than to play with ice. It's Basic Seamanship 101." "You would know wouldn't you?" Oasis couldn't help the quip. A jab at Warrior's experience with the Coast Guard. She herself had never had the liner as an instructor but Warrior had a reputation for being a hardass. But Warrior winced at the strike, an almost haunted look passing over her face. "Yes, I know only all too well." She rasped. Then she sighed. "Show me."

Oasis carefully re-negotiated the path she took to break free of the icefield. It would be at least 45 miles to Liz's position and the berg shouldn't have moved much. It was also one of the biggest which made it even easier to spot. As Oasis broke a path through she noted how impatient Warrior was getting with the slow going. Whether that was because she wanted to reach Liz faster or wanted out of the ice was unclear. At last she said "Do you have an exact position?" "41.40N, 49.20W." "That's smack in the middle of the icefield." Warrior said. She looked down at the water in front of her. Oasis had cleared the path, keeping any ice from touching her hull which she couldn't stand. But she'd never reach Liz in any kind of decent time if she let her fear continue to rule her. It almost felt like a test, like her sisters were testing her resolve. "Okay then." She sighed, taking a deep breath to steady her courage. "Step aside Oasis, I'm going on ahead." "You sure? I know you're an ocean liner but is your hull up for this?" Oasis was hesitant to let the old ship go off on her own. "I'm experienced with ice. I can manage." She assured her. "Ah, well alright but be careful." Oasis begged. She sensed Liz would not forgive her if she let Warrior get hurt. "Promise." Warrior smiled and raced off.

Her powerful engines brought her up to flank speed within a minute and her entire hull shuddered in protest. She ignored it and she ignored the pain as her prow took the brunt of ice bashing. After nearly an hour of steaming she reached Liz's position. The berg was massive, far larger than she expected. It wasn't the tallest around but it certainly was the largest Warrior had ever seen. She put her nose to the spot Oasis had indicated to her as the collapsed entrance. "Liz?" She called. For a few moments there was silence and Warrior feared the worst, then Liz's weak voice reached her. "Warrior? You came! You actually came!" "Yes I can't believe it either." Warrior remained in control of her fear for the moment but it was a fragile balance. Her desire to help Liz was keeping it at bay for the moment. "Okay Liz what I want you to do is tell me exactly where there are any openings." "There's a few up high but I can't reach them. There what's left of when the entrance collapsed." Liz reported. "Okay, standby." Warrior spent the next 15 minutes checking the berg, sometimes pressing her hull to it and testing its give. When she returned to the collapsed entrance, she thought she might have a way to get her out. "Okay Liz what I need you to do is to back up away from the entrance but away from any overhangs. Can you do that?" She asked. "Yeah, there's more than enough room in here for that." There was shuffling. "Okay, I'm back!" Liz's voice was fainter now that she had moved away from the holes that allowed her voice to be carried through to the outside. "Alright, as soon as you see daylight don't hesitate, run for it." Warrior ordered. "I understand Warrior but what are you going to..." "Just stay back and get ready to run like hell!" Warrior shouted as she reversed. She was not looking forward to this but she had little choice. She gave herself 800 yards, a decent distance. It was around this time that Oasis arrived and Warrior was giving her engines a workout, revving them without engaging the turning gears. "You aren't!" She gasped. "Stay clear." Warrior growled and released the shaft locks. With enough power flowing into them for flank speed, her propellers churned the sea creating a rooster tail behind her. Within 200 yards she was already going 15 knots. 600 yards to go, her massive wake pushed chunks of ice aside like toys. 500 yards, 22.5 knots. Warrior noticed she was veering to port and adjusted her heading to correct. 400 yards, 29 knots her hull was protesting very loudly now. It did not like being subjected to the forces that resulted when one went from a standstill to flank speed. 300 yards, 35 knots and it was time to start turning. Every instinct Warrior had was screaming at her to throw her engines into reverse but she didn't give into the desire. The only way to break through that ice was to hit it at speed. She dropped her watertight doors to be safe, knowing she was going to have flooding. 200 yards and Warrior was going 37.5 knots when she closed her eyes as the final seconds ticked by. At this speed, it would be a mere 5 seconds before impact. She kept her speed up but flicked her rudder slightly to port, causing her bow to swing in that direction. The maneuver was to keep the steel there from crumpling on impact. She would take the hit on her more solid starboard shoulder. There, her frame bones were very close to the surface ensuring a well reinforced structure.

Even so, she was going 40.3 knots at impact generating a force of well over 60,000 tons. Her shoulder was one of the strongest bones in her body and it broke on impact. Momentum ensured she kept moving forward and she punched through the ice wall, rearing before coming back down with a massive splash. Liz didn't hesitate. As soon as she saw the collapsed chunks of ice start to move she ran for it. Warrior, as soon as she hit had thrown her engines into reverse, knowing that momentum would do the trick. This ensured she wouldn't travel too deeply into the berg and become trapped herself. Oasis helped, moving in as soon as she saw Liz race out she used her massive weight to act as an anchor that stopped Warrior's forward progress allowing the old ship to reverse out on her own. Liz made a ridiculously tight turn that Oasis didn't thick she could make as soon as she saw her fleet-mate limp away from the berg. "WARRIOR!" Warrior looked disorientated as Liz raced up to her. "I'm okay." She rasped out as soon as she saw Liz. "You just rammed an iceberg! The very thing that put you in a coma and the first you can say is that you're okay?!" Warrior smiled sheepishly, revealing blood stained teeth. She'd bit her tongue on impact. "My shoulder's throbbing rather painfully at the moment but that's all. What about you? You look okay." "I'm fine. Not even bruised." Liz said. "That was the craziest stunt I have ever seen." Oasis interjected. "You don't know the half of it." Warrior cracked a smile. She staggered as Liz backed off, taking her support with it. With her frame broken she couldn't stand on her own and would've rolled over if Oasis didn't catch her. She gave a sharp cry. "Where does it hurt?" Liz demanded. "My shoulder. It's broken, I can tell." Warrior rasped. "What about your back?" Liz asked. "That hurts too." Warrior acknowledged. "But then again it always hurts." "Oasis, I need you to help me." Liz said. "What can I do? I'm not a liner. Or a doctor." Oasis replied, sounding bitter. "No but you are big and strong. You can carry her." Liz replied. "I can't sail like this Oasis and Liz is too small to haul my bulk around." Warrior rasped, growing weary as the pain began to overwhelm her. "Don't pass out on me, T." Liz begged. "Wouldn't dream of it sweetie." Warrior smiled. She howled as Oasis lifted her, placing her diagonally across her decks. "Okay, lead the way out of here." The big ship said.

The trio reached New York a day later and the entire city was in an uproar. Everyone had heard about Warrior's brave but stupid stunt and Oasis had to do double duty warding off eager tourist boats. Warrior was placed in a special dock to recover and Liz was her near constant companion as was Oasis. "I still can't believe you did that." Liz said. "Ramming ice, deliberately. Especially for a ship with your history." "Not something I would willingly do, ever." Warrior rasped. "And yet you did it." Liz stated. "To save you." Painkillers made Warrior tired and speaking was hard but she tried, eyes cracking open to look up at her. "You, are my family Liz. I don't know how or why but I can sense it. Your heritage is mine." "I'm Cunard." Liz shook her head, not understanding. "I know what I sense to be true. It is a mystery to me but one I can accept as fact. You are my family and I would, do anything for my family as I did today." "Thank you, Titanic." Liz whispered her true name and Warrior reached up, gently stroking her cheek.