Chapter 3 - The Shikikan
Karl sat behind his desk with a bag of brown sugar in his hand with a spoon, eating straight from said bag with wet sugar pasted on his lips. He had some paperwork to do as a Commander does, mainly a few medical bills from Hipper's pounding of him, but decided to write it off and decided his blood sugar needed raising. He could swear to himself that he'd probably get diabetes soon, but that's besides the point.
A knock came on his office door and he showed them in with a simple call to enter. The knob turned and the door slowly opened, a head poking out. It was Z-23.
"Oh, hey, Z-23." Karl said, licking his lips clean with absolutely no shame as he shoveled the unhealthy powder into his mouth.
"Hi Kommandant, uhm. Something came in from the Sakura empire, a letter straight to you."
Karl asked for it to be handed over and Z-23 entered the room, walking over to his desk amd plopping the letter down. He waved her out and she left, closing the door behind her. Karl opened the letter and slipped a piece of paper out, unfolding it.
Commander of the Ironblood forces, it would be my pleasure to meet you in-person sometime as the Shikikan of the Sakura fleet. Seeing as our forces are closely allied and you simply seem to be an intriguing and potentially effective commander I believe a meetup would be understandable. We also have a few things to discuss. Whenever you feel the need to come down feel free, I will be sure to make time, just be sure to let us know.
Regards, Takeshi Kido, Commanding Officer of the Sakura Empire fleet.
A little stamp with what he would assume is the insignia of the Sakura empire was put down at the bottom left corner of the page in red.
"Huh." He folded the letter back up and put it in his back pocket. Karl looked over to the clock, it was about eleven in the morning. He had time, plus whatever can get him out of paperwork. Karl stood up and walked up to his door, opening it and looked down the hall, stopping Z-23 who was just about to turn the corner.
"Hey! Wait!" Z-23 looked back.
"Is something wrong Kommandant?"
"No, but the letter is requesting my presence. Tell the Commander of the Sakura Empire i'll be coming down there today."
"Mhm, anything else?"
"Yes, is Graf Zeppelin back?"
"She came back last night while you were sleeping Kommandant."
"Very well, have her ready me a transport plane. Plus I need to meet her anyhow."
"Will do now Kommandant." She saluted Karl and he smiled, retreating back into his room to get his uniform on. He had been wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt casually, not thinking he'd be up to anything today.
Karl eventually exited his room and made his way down the hallway in his Kriegsmarine uniform with a destination of the docks in mind. Plan was to take off of Graf Zeppelin's runway- the base itself didn't have a functional airfield for whatever reason- with a modified He-111 with a shorter take-off, a tail hook to land on aircraft carriers, a better fuel economy, and better engines. It was also civilianized so much of the military equipment like bombs, armor, and weaponry had been shaved off to reduce weight drastically.
That's what the documents said about it tales as he read them over. Looking over a picture clipped onto the paper he noticed one of the little gun-pods atop the bomber was still present and he wondered why. Probably just in case, but it wouldn't come in handy most likely seeing as the plane was unarmed 100 percent.
As he made his way through the main command building and dorms he turned a corner into one of the smaller dormitories reserved for priority ships. Karl knew damn well this is where Roon and others were located so he decided it'd be best to get through quick. Of course, I wouldn't be telling you this if something didn't go down now would I?
As Karl turned another corner only a hallway down from the exit, he came face-to-face with the one person he'd rather not see- Roon. He seriously gave him the creeps and with her giving him a solid kiss yesterday and Hipper's subsequent assault of Karl put him on serious edge whenever around her. Karl took a step back and quickly wiping his brow.
"Herr Kommandant~!" Roon said with an energetic smile "What are you doing down in the dorms, hm?"
"Oh- uh. I was just leaving, on my way to Graf Zeppelin's carrier." He leaned over and pointed towards the door. Roon took a look to the exit then back to Karl.
"Oh~? You're going to meet Kido now~?"
"Y-Yeah- wait, how'd you know?" He didn't tell anyone other then Z-23 and then she told Zeppelin.
"Word gets around."
Roon took an odd look at his hair and got a step closer. Not wanting to be rude, Karl stood still with a bit of fear in his heart. The fact the two were of the same height made having to look her dead in the eyes with a level field even worse.
"Do you put conditioner in your hair?" She asked. Karl nodded his head.
"Of course I do, but I don't know where the bottle went." Karl replied in honest.
"Oh~? Well, thats too bad, hm? You have this little guy sticking off your head." Suddenly her hand went up to his hair and he could feel her finger twirl around a strand of hair. It was actually quite a nice feeling, but thats besides the point.
"I find it quite cute but you can't go and meet up with Kido with this, now, can you?" Rood told Karl. Karl shrugged, wanting to get out ASAP.
"I guess I can go wet it down in the bathroom-"
"Nono~, I'm right here~." Roon suddenly brought her hand up to her mouth and licked her fingers, grabbing Karl by the shoulder. He froze up at the grip and let just let it happen.
He felt as her wet hand made contact with his head and shivered as she wiped it down. There was a pause, then she did so again. And once more.
"Hm, its not staying down..." She did it once more, a bit more roughly.
"I-Its fine, Roon, I can-"
"I have an idea~. It doesn't have to stay there, no?"
"...What?"
Roon gave another smile and her hand that was on his head came down. She lifted her boot up a bit and said hand clutched something on the side of it, what seemed to be a hilt. And out she slid a 7 inch boot knife. Karl felt his teeth clench in fear.
"R-Roon, the hell?!" He called out but she ignored him. Grabbing hard his strand of hair with her left hand she brought the knife to it. With one quick motion she sliced the stand off and retreated her blade back into her boot.
"There. Gone." Roon patted him on the head a few times, but Karl quickly weaved out of it. Karl backed away from the situation with a few steps, but Roon followed with steps of her own.
"So, can I come with you~?" Asked Roon, a look of hope and... something else on her face.
"No." Karl shut down the idea. "And now I'm probably late, I have to go." He said to the disapointment of Roon who gave off an 'awhhh.' Karl quickly barged through the exit, not bothering to look back, or too scared to do so. Yeah, the ladder, as his heart was racing and breath began to become unruley.
Wait, he forgot his hat. Oh well, a sacrifice.
Meanwhile, Roon looked down at the strand of hair in her mechanical hand. "Huff... a part of him~." an look of pure ecstacy slowly crept up onto her face, a mix of curiousity in as well.
Karl had survived his way down to the docks, thank God, and made his way towards the only aircraft carrier in the Ironblood fleet, the Graf Zeppelin. It was quite obvious what it was originally meant to be and Karl knew of the fate of the Zeppelin. See, Germany really never intended to have much in the way of aircraft carriers, they were seen more as a novelty then an actual strategically important ship that can change the tides of a battle. No, not really. It had the hull of any other battleship, it seemed amost as if they had taken some poor ship and chopped the top off from the superstructure up. Then the main deck was placed as well as the bridge. Overall, it wasn't not an imposing ship. He had done some reading on it and it could handle around 50 planes fairly well with average operational capacity being 42, 30 dive bombers and 12 fighters. He was also aware that the Ironblood fleet seriously lacked in the carrier department, with the Sakura empire having at least five. Meaning that should war happen, though unlikely, they'd most certaintly have air dominance over any battle. He wasn't too sure about the US fleets or the British ones but he had to guess the numbers were similiar.
Alright, obviously we need to bolster either our anti-air or air capabilites. Though, I doubt we can make new shipgirls persay. If that history book is telling me the truth, these girls are quite expensive and pretty damn hard to make. I'll have to see what I can do. Karl stroked his beard that wasn't there, instead running his hand down his chin. Then he realized he was about to walk off the dock and was right next to the carrier. He scratched the back of his head and chuckled at his absent mind, walking off to board the ship.
Before he could do so, however, a hand touched his shoudler. Karl took a look behind him to see who it was.
"Hello, Kommandant."
The person behind him was a female, who would have thought, standing in at about 6' 2". She had diamond-like purple eyes that looked just lovely as they seemed to glint and shine in the sunlight and her face complimented those eyes completely. God, he could get lost in them. The females hair was a snow white like Prinz Eugen's and seemingly poufy, not unkept but obviously doing her hair didn't take up much time in the bathroom. Her body was similar to that of Bismarck's but with more robust curves and larger size. You'd expect Bismarck to have the best body out of everyone, but she so far had quite the bit of competition. Uniform wise it was another perversion of a naval officer's uniform, with a black and red vest that was sure to do very kindly to her body shape. Overall, Karl was already a bit of a fan of hers, and a hormonal' increase reflected that. Rightfully so he adjusted himself and got his composure back.
Karl sighed in relief that it wasn't Roon and shook the females hand. "Graf Zeppelin I assume?"
"The one and only, Kommandant. Call me Zeppelin." Karl nodded in understanding
"Will do, Zeppelin. Now, uh. Can you get me up on deck, I don't want to get lost."
Zeppelin smiled and took his hand. "Come then, let me tour you my machinations of destruction."
"Wha...?" Karl sighed and accepted her hand, trying to keep pace with her as she lead him into the ship.
"Zeppelin, there's no need for a tour- I need to get going now anyhow."
"Hm, alright." Zeppelin took a turn in the ship up some stairs, the twos hands still locked. Zeppelin walked quite fast in comparison to Karl so it was more like she was dragging him then they were holding hands of sorts. "I'll just take you up to the deck."
"I assume my transport is ready?"
"The Heinkel 111? Of course. However, Kommandant, you sure you don't want an escort?" Zeppelin looked back at him. "It would be pretty stupid to go without one."
"I don't believe it will be necessary."
"It might very well be. It'll be a long flight so Siren attacks are a genuine issue. I'd hate to have the Kommandant be attacked under my watch."
"Oh, yeah." Karl had forgotten about those. According to the history book, the Sirens were some alien species which had invaded earth during the 40s. They quite easily took dominance in the seas and humanity was forced to reverse-engineer some of their technology and thus the birth of what's called the "wisdom cube", whatever the hell that really is. These cubes were what made the ship girls possible, though Karl wondered how the hell a lot of it worked. He knew the Zeppelin was never completed, he had never heard of some of the Sakura Empire ships or even some of the Ironblood ships until now. Though the book didn't specify and focused more on the international relations of each government after the fact, he had to guess with the information he had that the girls were introduced slowly as time went on, not all at once and some ships may have been developed for the sole purpose of being a ship girl.
It still felt really weird to Karl to say the phrase 'ship girl'.
"Kommandant, get a move on." Karl exited his thoughts and realized he was being dragged by Zeppelin. "I'd rather not tow you around."
"My bad." He let go of her hand and walked in a pace similar to hers. They went up another set of stairs and turned a corner, facing a door.
"It is quite alright, we are already here anyhow." Zeppelin opened the door, revealing a seemingly empty flight deck.
"Where's my transport?"
"Down by the stern."
Zeppelin walked out and pointed down by their left side. Karl took a look down there and saw the He-111 sitting all the way down the deck, engines running slowly with a hum.
"I'll ask again Kommandant." Zeppelin looked back to Karl. "You sure you don't want or need an escort of any kind?"
Karl was about to answer with a no but an unfamiliar voice chimed in instead. Karl turned to face the voice. One of a male's.
"It's quite alright Frau Graf Zeppelin. We'll be flying over Asia so primarily over land. The likelihood of an attack is close to zero."
"Ah. This is your pilot Kommandant." Zeppelin took a moment to stretch. "And I'd you'll excuse me, I have to make plans for world domination."
The pilot shook Karl's hand which he accepted with no protest. Zeppelin left the scene while this exchange went down. Karl could swear he could hear stereotypical villain laughter with an 'All Hail Zeppelin!' Coming from the structure, probably from Zeppelin. What an odd girl.
"Follow me if you please, Kommandant." The pilot walked past him, gesturing him to come along. Karl did so in tune with the pilot.
"What's your name?" Karl asked.
"Call me Rudolf." Pilot Rudolf answered.
Soon enough they came upon the plane with barely a word spoken between the two. Rudolf boarded first and into the cockpit he slipped, leaving Karl to climb on the stairs into the civilian door of the He-111. Inside the cabin it was quite average when it comes to the airliners Karl knew. There was only 4 seats well spread out, the insignia of Ironblood plastered throughout. There was a table for each seat with papers and a few books, and there was a door separating the cabin from what he had to guess was the other parts of the plane.
Karl shrugged and took a seat in the top-left seat, resting his elbows on the table in front of him and sitting his chin upon his palms. Before he could close his eyes to sleep something came upon an intercom.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are soon to take off from the aircraft carrier KMS Graf Zeppelin with a destination of the home fleet of the Sakura empire. We have an expected arrival time of about 6 hours so feel free to read any of the books at your disposal to pass time or simply catch some sleep. Uh, be sure not to smoke on the plane or-"
Karl tuned it out and did as was told, resting his head to catch a nap. Not like he needed it but sleep is sleep.
"Get the hell off me you bitch!" Roon screamed with Prinz Eugen behind her, Prinz's arms under Roon's armpits and looping back to the back of her head, keeping her back. This situation prevented Roon from deploying her riggings, but the same applied for Prinz Eugen.
"No, dammit! Neu-Kommandant was very keen on not having anyone accompany him!" Prinz Eugen said between grunts.
"I need to make sure he isn't going to be attacked on his triiiiiiiiiip! Augh!"
"No!"
"I'm gonna fucking kill you-" Roon stopped in her words as she was forced to observe a large plane begin to take off on the aircraft carrier.
"No..." Roon damn near fell to her knees as Prinz Eugen finally unhanded her with a sigh and adjustment of her uniform around her breasts. Roon clutched her fists.
"I was so close... Prinz, you dumbass!" She turned back to Prinz Eugen who was about to just walk off. She gave Roon a smug look of victory which infuriated Roon more.
"What if Herr Kommandant is swooned by those damn Jap ships?! What if he falls for fucking Akagi, or Yamato, and not an Ironblood ship- specifically me."
Prinz Eugen gave her a look of doubt. "That will never happen."
"But it might."
"...fuck, you're right."
"Exactly, which is why I wanted to accompany him. I don't want those whores down in the Sakura Empire to somehow capture our poor Herr Kommandant. He needs to be in Ironblood hands only, specifically my own."
"Why you? I'm basically his secretary-"
"That's Z-23."
"Shut up, I'm basically his secretary and I talk to him every day. So obviously if he were to pick anyone to come along he would pick me, not you."
"What?! No, it'd be me. Have you seen him around me, it's so obvious he likes me." Roon tried to shift the tables to her favor but Prinz Eugen was full ready to retort.
"Are you dumb? He's fucking terrified of you, like any reasonable person would be. He could never."
Roon wondered how to come back from that. Truth be told she found his scared, hopeless expression extremely cute and desirable. Of course she couldn't say that so she decided to hit where it hurt.
"I kissed him."
Prinz Eugen took a step back and put her hands on her semi-exposed hips "Oh yeah? Well... He crewed me..."
"However, I kissed him~"
"I-I was the first to meet him!"
"Buuut~" Roon got closer to Prinz Eugen, a smug smile similar to the one Prinz had just had on her own face plastered onto hers.
"I~. Kissed~. Him~."
Prinz Eugen really really wanted to strike Roon in the gut but a battle between the two wouldn't exactly be in Prinz's favor as of now. She bit her tongue, thinking of a retort.
"Well... I'll just have to beat you to the rest."
"Hm?" Roon literally wasn't listening, adjusting her uniform a bit.
"I'm gonna have-" Prinz Eugen was interrupted by her older sister Hipper suddenly coming into the scene.
"Sorry to interrupt but anyone know where the sugar for the coffee is? Bismarck's needs her coffee and sugar with her breakfast and she's about to blow a gasket."
—
Crazy old Kommandant Karl sneezed awake, the surprise of which had practically thrown him back into his seat. He sighed and wiped his forehead, looking out the window. They were over land with the coastline seemingly not to far out of reach, maybe only a few miles off at most.
"You're finally awake." A voice called out to him, the pilot Rudolf. He was in for corner of the area.
"Aren't you supposed to be flying this thing?" Karl asked in a groggy voice and Rudolf shook his head.
"We'll be cruising at this altitude for about next hour or so. I don't need to really 'fly' right now."
"Ah, alright." Karl cracked his back over the seat with a groan of satisfaction.
"So, Karl, was it?" Rudolf asked.
"Yeah, Karl."
"You aren't supposed to be here either, eh?"
Karl looked back over to him with an odd expression on his face. "What do you mean?"
"I heard you crewed the Bismarck, no? I know it sunk, many men died. Including you I assume?"
Karl looked down and heaved a heavy sigh and nodded yes, placing a hand on his thigh.
"Yeah. That and a good friend." Karl reached into his uniform and took out the pocket watch, placing it on the table. "I have to return this to his father."
"Rough." Rudolf crosses his arms and took out a pack of cigarettes, sliding two cigarettes out and tossed one to Karl.
"I thought you said no smoking- ah never mind." He grabbed the cancer stick, placing it in his mouth and taking out his own lighter. He lit the cigarette and took a drag. "So... how'd you die?"
Rudolf chuckled at Karl's brazenness and took a moment to remember. "Bastogne, 1944. I was providing some close air support to a regiment that had been encircled by American forces. An AA got a good hit on my fuselage. I didn't stand a chance, went tumbling out the damn sky." Rudolf lit his own cigarette and took a puff, looking out the window.
Karl had no clue what battle he was talking about nor would he even had been alive during then in 1944. "Better way to go then drowning, huh? Quicker, more honorable."
"Heh. Yeah, I guess you could say that. So, here I am, been flying with Frau Zeppelin for the last year or so. I am actually one of the only pilots in Ironblood. The planes on her deck are just... controlled by her. I can't explain it well. But I normally just fly from here to the Jap islands, normally transporting either the Kommandant or Zeppelin herself. Her and Akagi are quite good friends."
"I heard, actually." Karl noted and crosses his legs, ankle-on-knee. "How frequent are Siren attacks anyhow?"
Rudolf shrugged "Depends. Sometimes no activity for a month, other times they're on the shorelines."
"Really?"
"Yeah, their jet fighters are quite the threat to our planes when it comes to intercepting. That's why Zeppelin was keep on an escort, though we should be fine."
"You sure? How quick could they take us down?"
"Pretty quick, but just in case I dad requested one of the original machine gun turrets stay in the plane. Back behind the door is where it just about is."
Karl took a look behind him towards the door. "I thought that'd be a sort of staff room."
"This isn't a commercial airliner. Not like we serve food or anything."
Karl chuckled and finished his cigarette, placing the butt down onto the table. "You should consider it."
"Ahaha. No."
Karl shrugged and sat back a bit. "So anyhow, how many of your type are here? You know, normal people working with Ironblood."
"Let me answer that with a question of my own. You think Prinz Eugen changes her own light bulbs?"
"...ah, good point."
"Exactly." Rudolf walked over to the butt and picked it up, flicking it in a small trash can across the room. "Now, Karl. Anything about your old life you wanna talk about maybe?"
"Why'd you wanna know?" Karl asked in a somewhat sarcastic suspicious tone.
"Trying to make conversation."
"Ah, logical. Well, I grew up in a military family. Father was a naval officer with the Kaiser and we have roots going back to the Prussian armies. My mother was an military nurse and my father took some shrapnel to the knee- and that's how they met."
Rudolf finished his own cancer stick and flicked it with the other finished butt. "My father was a drunken farm asshole but I love em'. He hardened me throughout my life, gave me something to prove wrong. Dad would tell me how I could move these hay bails from one barn to another and I'd damn well do it. I proved to him I could feed the horses and treat the cattle well, to his delight. Once he had told me I'd never amount to anything in life. Know what I did? I set out for the Air Force to prove his ass wrong, joined a Luftwaffe academy. What do you know, I proved his ass wrong. I live for the look on his face whenever that kind of shit happens."
"Well... I live to get that watch there back to my friends dad."
"Oh? How was your friend?"
"His name was Eichmann. Amazing guy, extremely funny and charming. The dude always had something funny to say or some way to lighten up the mood. He got serious when the time arose of course and he was no dult, but when morale was low he tried his damned best to keep it as high as he could manage. Eichmann was the same rank as me, a petty officer. We served together for almost 3 years, on the Prinz Eugen and later the Bismarck. He was a good comrades and... Fuck, man. I miss him a lot, had a dream that he had visited me my first day here..."
Rudolf walked up to Karl and patted his back in a reassuring way. "Well you got the watch to return, no? You got a goal to head towards, so head towards it."
"You're right. Question is... how do I get back?"
Rudolf shrugged. "That is a problem, but a bridge to cross later on. But Now, Kommandant, you have a fleet to lead and a Japanese commander to meet."
The two men's conversations would continue for about 15 minutes longer before the pilot finally left to go actually pilot the plane, leaving Karl to look out the window for a few minutes before putting his head down to go to sleep yet again.
—
Prinz Eugen entered her dorm with a long drawn out sigh, cracking her knuckles with loud pops to further signify her exhaustion. Inside the room it was fairly large at about 17 by 17 feet with two beds on either side of the room. The larger objects in the room mirrored each side, including a desk, mirror, lamp, chair, among a few other things. It had a overall dark red and grey color scheme with plenty of examples of the Ironblood insignia strewn about the room liberally, with said insignia on coffee mugs to the rugs on the floor of the room. The room was clearly divided between each side, with one being very organized and well kept and the other the exact opposite of that. One side was maintained by its owner with some effort put it, only a few things lay dominant including a few papers and books. The other side had an undone bed, a crooked rug, clothes thrown about lazily, et cetera.
Prinz Eugen looked over to the organized bed to find Hipper laying there on her stomach writing in a journal.
"What're you doing here Hipper?" Prinz Eugen asked, walking over to the mirror and beginning to undo her uniform.
"Oh-?" Hipper looked up from her journal and back towards Prinz Eugen, somehow not having heard her come in. "The Kommandant didn't give me much to do so here I am, just trying to waste some time. You?"
"Ah. Taking a shower is all." Prinz Eugen got the top of her uniform off, tossing it onto her bed, exposing her bare breasts, waist, and that place for the entire room of two people including her to see. She put her foot onto her desk to begin to take off her thigh-highs. "He's probably scared of you because you beat him over the head Hipper."
Remembering the day Hipper's cheeks got a little pink. "I-I only did that because he wanted to get all perverted with Roon..."
"Awh, Schwester, do you wish it was your lips instead~?" Prinz Eugen teased. Hipper covered her face with her journal quickly as her entire face went pink to dark red.
"N-no! D-Don't say things l-like that!"
"Mm, Tell you what my dear~. Whenever I bring him into here we can share him, okay~? I'll be sure to let you get plenty and plenty of kisses~, hehe- AUGH!"
Naked Prinz Eugen (TM) was hit square in the forehead with Hipper's journal causing her to stumble back two steps, catching herself on the bathroom door handle. She rubbed the spot a bit, looking up to her sister.
"Hmph. Flatly."
"Shush!
Prinz Eugen looked down at the journal and realized something. "What's in this anyhow, hm~?"
"WAIT NO-!" Hipper hopped herself out of bed and stumbled over her feet in an attempt to grab it before Prinz Eugen could. Quickly Prinz Eugen found out what it is and picked it up, raising it high above her head to ensure Hipper didn't get it.
"Is this your diary Hipper~?" Prinz Eugen asked with a smug smile on her face. Hipper pouted as she attempted to grab it back.
"That's mine dammit! I don't take your stuff, so give it back!"
"Yeah you do, remember when I caught you trying on my uniform?"
"THAT WAS A ONE TIME THING!"
Prinz Eugen snickered but continued to refuse to give it back to her poor poor sister. "Let me read a bit of it first."
"Absolutely not! That's all private!"
"So is my uniform~."
"FALSE EQUIVALENCE!"
Prinz Eugen took a second to think, making it obvious she was as well to further make the desperate Hipper mad. "Do you write little fantasies in this, hm~? Maybe involving Karl~?"
Hipper's previous blush that was actually starting go away flares right back up. This time she couldn't cover her burning face, so she was forced to try and suck it up.
"Uh, erm- o-of course not! Why would it?!"
"Let me look then."
"N-no!"
"Then I'm right."
"You're not!"
This kind of exchange went back in forth for about a minute before Prinz Eugen sighed . "Fine, fine. Shut up and I'll give it back."
Hipper crossed her arms and took a step back. "You came to your senses." She muttered. Prinz Eugen lowered her arm to give it back. But instead she bonked Hipper onto the head, stunning her sister like it was some stealth video game. Prinz Eugen took the opportunity to quickly opened the door to the bathroom and slipped in, journal in hand. She slammed the door closed and locked it, laughing aloud in victory.
"Time to read~!" Prinz Eugen smugly remarked at the expense of Hipper's honor. Her sister desperately pounded on the door to get it back but to no avail.
A few minutes past. Hipper was now attempting to pick the lock as Prinz Eugen stayed inside. reading with a light hum emanating from her lips. Then, she went silent with her musical note.
"..."
"Binding on one..." Hipper said as she diligently picked the lock, remembering lessons from the Great Lawyer.
"Hey, Hipper..."
Hipper didn't answer, out of both anger at Prinz Eugen and focus on the lock
"You really want to get back at Roon, hm?"
Realized what part of the journal Prinz Eugen had reached Hipper simply sighed in defeat, knowing further protest was now futile. She put her head on the door.
"Promise never to tell anyone about that this?" Hipper asked. A giggle came from the other side of the door.
"Mm, maybe."
—
The He-111 slowly approached a large dockyard filled with various warships of different sizes and class. Some were light frigates that were more comparable to a pleasure craft in size, others were massive heavy cruisers and battleships that made most of the other ships seem smaller in their wake. Of course what seemed to be the pride of the dockyard was the various carriers. In view there was about five carriers, though the owner of the dockyard had more.
The pilot got onto the radio of the He-111. "Heinkel hundertundelf callsign Berta-Richard-Anton neunzehn achtzehn carrying precious cargo requesting landing on the aircraft carrier Akagi."
A female voice soon chimes in to reply. "Permission granted~, don't crash~!"
The pilot chuckled before responding. "I don't plan on it, out."
The pilot circled around the carrier once and began to lineup for landing. He put his flaps up and gear down, getting into the intercom.
"Karl, wake up." Was all he said, which caused his passenger to of course wake up in the cabin behind him with an audible grunt or slight annoyance. The pilot chuckled and lowered altitude, coming in for the landing. There was a crew of people on the carrier awaiting them.
Thus the He-111 landed upon the carrier without struggle. The hook engaged and stopped the plane almost in its tracks, the tires on the gears burning a little bit of rubber as it came to a stop, settling down with a clunk.
Karl awoke again after falling back asleep to the sudden stop, nearly bumping his head on the wall as he tiredly stood. He took a moment to stretch and Rudolf entered the cabin.
"Alright, let's get you out of here sleeping beauty." Rudolf jokingly called Karl, using a key to open up the side door that would let them out of the plane. Normally the crew would enter through a hatch at the bottom but again, it was civilianized and such a think would be inconvenient.
Karl flipped Rudolf off with a smile on his face to show he understood it was a joke. Rudolf turned a latch and the door opened with a creek.
"Normally," Rudolf looked back to Karl "Someone would trolly over some stairs to let you down, but not here, so you gotta hop down."
"Reasonable." Karl went up to the opened and looked down, not focusing on the few people outside waiting for him. It was only maybe a 10 foot drop so Karl sucked it up and went for it. He of course dropped and hit the ground without difficulty, brushing himself off and taking a look around. There was three people directly in front of him. Two males and a female. One of the males had a camera so he figured he was some public relations guy. The first to speak up was the other male in a fine black suit.
"Karl Eyssen I assume?"
The man who had spoken up was to be assumed Takeshi Kido, the man who had contacted Karl in the first place. He was about 5' 11", similar in height to Karl though a bit taller. He had the complexion of a middle aged Japanese man and seemed to be around 40. His suit was dark black and well tailored with a pin on his left breast with the Sakura emblem on it. He also had a pair of circular glasses. Kids overall gave out a very business-like, professional vibe and seemed to be a kind but stern man.
Karl nodded to Kido and held out his hand for a handshake Kido accepted. "And you're Takeshi Kido?"
"Good to see you have figured it out. Is there anything in particular you'd like me to refer to you by? Feel free to call me Kido."
"Karl will do, Kido."
"Very well." Kido looked to his side towards the female. "This is my secretary and pride of our fleet, IJN Yamato.
(Serious props to artist Dishwasher1910 for this design. They've made a lot of excellent Azur Lane fanart and I recommend you check them out.)
A slightly exhausted looking 6' 2" female gave Karl a slight welcoming smile, extending her hand as well. She had long white scruffy hair similiar to that of a canine that reached down to around her hips. The female also had some sort of hair extensions or something of that nature that took the appearence of fox ears, though they seemed a bit too real. Then Karl noticed something behind her. Seven large tails attached to her backside in a semi-symetrical layout almost the size of her upper body. Karl took quite the... odd liking to those additions to her and they went along well with her robust good-looking body. Clothing wise she was wearing some sort of Japanese formal dress- which barely fit her but at the same time fit perfectly-, though the type Karl had no clue. He believed it was something called a yukata but he had been a time since he last checked up on anything Japanese really. It was red and gold with black lining and various extremely well-made designs were expertly plotted around the dress. It seemed damn well expensive.
Karl took the females hand and shook it well with his own smile on his face. "A pleasure to meet you both."
"You as well." Yamato said.
Kido gave a friendly dismissive wave in response. "No no, pleasures all mine. I was the one to summon you here after all."
"That is true Kido. Now, is there any particular reason you wished to meet me-"
"Wait, let me meet him as well~!"
Karl was cut off by another voice chiming in from afar. He looked over to the source, Kido doing the same.
"Ah, and that is Akagi, one of our best."
The female was 6' and wearing something similar to Yamato, not exactly the same. It had different colors, quality, designs, and just fit her different that it would Yamato and vise versa. Again, it was some sort of perversion of a formal Japanese dress though Karl didn't know the specifics. It had long sleeves with an awfully revealing chest area, and on the stomach was a little design similar to maybe a corset with the Sakura empire emblem stamped upon it. She had a red skirt on with thigh-highs to accompany it, so Karl couldn't complain.
If you can't tell already, Karl had a thing for thighs.
The female herself had canine ears and the nine tails like Yamato had, though brown with her hair and not a dirty white color. Her face was something to be desired with crimson red eyes to accompany her lovely- albeit off putting- smile. Truly quite beautiful. Heartwarming almost.
Karl let out a hand for Akagi to shake which she took in bound.
"Karl Eyssen." Karl said.
"Akagi, 1st Carrier Division." Akagi responded, lettin go of his hand. Karl gave a look of satisfaction and went back to Kido, Akagi in tow and walked up next to her commander.
"Now, Kido, you were saying?"
Kido had been speaking Japanese to the camera man and just noticed Karl's reentrance into the area. He ended his conversation and continued with Karl.
"Ah, yes, my mistake. Karl, It is a bit of a tradition for the new Ironblood or Sakura Empire commanders to meet one another on the others turf. Simply a handshake, a picture, maybe a drink or two. However there is something more important I wish to discuss, hence why my letter was a bit... vague. My apologies if I somehow confused you."
"Quite alright Kido, I've been confused now for a while." He let out a pitiful chuckle at his own joke. Kido simply gave an equally pitiful smile in return at Karl's expense.
"Haha, I guess it is so. Let us stop standing around on this carrier, would you like to go off for my personal quarters?"
Akagi seemed a bit offended by the comment and gave a bit of a pour which neither commander noticed. "Hmph. I wanted him to stay here."
Karl took a second to think before giving his answer. "Very well. I'm your guest so, please. Lead the way."
—
Kido had done so and the four were now off the carrier Akagi walking down a small path that deviated from the military quarters, sort of like a recreational staff room at an office. The overall environment differenced from the docks, where the docks had men and sailors tending to various duties aboard and off the ships with a generally governmental, tough feeling, this area had barely anyone here except for the eventual ship girl passing through and giving a bow to Kido and a handshake to Karl. It gave off a warm, natural feel which was aided by the fact that they were pretty much in a forested green (pink, really, with the abundance of Sakura trees) area with several trees and plants as well as the pungent earthy smell.
Most of the time Kido and Karl were making small talk, with Kido telling Karl of the various things of note around the area, acting more like a tour guide then a commander.
"And here, Karl, is one of my personal favorite herbs, cannabis." Kido crouched a bit next to a taller plant by the edge of the path they were walking on. Karl noticed an extremely strong smell it emanated.
"Huh?" Karl asked, with no clue what the herb was. Most others he knew were used for tea or medicines but he had never heard of cannabis.
"Oh- it's a recreational herb, Karl. Similar to tobacco, you normally smoke it like a cigarette, and it's affects are comparable to alcohol. It's quite nice and useful, we use it to help ships calm down before or after a battle, because the stress that can pile will often cloud their judgement in combat."
Karl realized what he was talking about. Back in the academy one of his friends went down to America for a few years to study English abroad and would come back a month out of a year to meet friends and family and such. Normally he brought just knick-knacks and items not of much importance but one day he smuggled in American Whiskey and something he referred to as "weed". The smell of their room that day slowly came back to him and realized it was the same smell as what the herb produced.
Ah. The Sakura Empire natively grows drugs. Good to know.
"Do you use this herb yourself Kido?" Karl asked, crouching to meet the height of the stalk, putting a hand under one of the plants leaves to analyze it.
"Sometimes, yes."
Karl chuckled to himself. Though he didn't know Kido too well the thought of the well dressed, fine talking man sitting slouched in an office chair high out of his mind was quite humorous. He stood back up as Kido began to walk again. The two girls who had been in their tow were relatively silent, with Yamato keeping next to Kido, and Akagi next to Karl.
After a minute of silence as they made their way up the hill Agaki decided to speak up.
"The Shikikan's quarters are coming up~." She said in her oddly cheery but emotionally dry voice. Yamato nodded and Kido looked back to the two.
"Just over this hill, yes. Quite the building to live in if I do say so myself."
As the four neared the crest of the hill the wind picked up just a bit, telling Karl just how high up his office was. They had been walking uphill for some time now, so this place was maybe a few hundred feet, if not more, above sea level. As they went over the hilltop the small forest broke into a sizable clearing. In the middle of the clearing was an average sized governmental-looking building. It was rectangular in overall shape and it faced westward towards the ocean and coastline, overlooking the docks to its right. In the middle-front of the building there was a circular break that lead into the entrance (Think of the White House, sort of like that). A pathway from the forest to the building suddenly cut from a flat cobblestone path to hard concrete. It seemed... out of place. It's rocky and grey feel broke the nice natural green feel of the surrounding area, and Karl could only wonder why he decided to build that building in that specific area. Oh well.
"You live here, Kido?" Karl questioned, though the answer was obvious.
"I eat, sleep, and work here. So just about as living as any man can get."
He figured Kido would have his own house of some sort, but apparently he was in a similar situation to Karl where he lived in what he assumed was the headquarters of the area. Though, maybe not, as it wasn't too big. Maybe some sort of operational headquarters, and not like Ironblood's where the headquarters and several other buildings were fused together to make "The Headquarters". Not only was it the operational headquarters but the building (or buildings) that made up Ironblood in general, I.e. the dorms, not including the docks of course. This is why Karl had to pass through the dorms to leave.
The men entered the building, being met with what reminded Karl of a hotel lobby. There was a front desk with a man attending it, chairs around the area for guests to sit on, a carpet, and signs directing towards elevators, stairs, or various different rooms. It was somewhat dimly lit but still more then enough to see clearly, it was just that it was dully lighted one could put it.
The man at the front desk bowed to Kido and Karl. Karl gave a nod in respond but Kido payed it no mind, bringing Karl towards the left where the elevator was. Before they could enter Kido turned to Yamato and Akagi who were still in tow behind them.
"You two may now excuse us now if you may."
"Of course, Shikikan." Yamato bowed deeply towards the two, but Akagi had a bit of fight against it.
"But Shikikan~, I wanted to get to know Karl better~." She gave the man in question a light smile, which he returned by averted his gaze from her.
"You'll have the opportunity sometime later if Karl decides to stay longer. However, I request you dismiss us until further notice."
Akagi hesitated, poured a bit, but eventually bowed. "Huff... of course, Shikikan. Forgive my protest."
Kido smiled and nodded before leading Karl away into the elevator. The two girls looked at one another, with Yamato giving a shrug and walking off to go preform her duties. Akagi looked back at the elevator and crossed her arms. "He's quite.. interesting...~"
Kido and Karl exited the elevator at the top floor and ventured left down a hallway, Kido leading the way with Karl behind him. They took another turn and came across a simple wooden door not unlike the other ones the two had came across. Kido took out some keys and stuck them into the knob, turning it with a click before opening the door.
"Welcome to my humble abode, Karl."
Karl had expected some sort of traditional Japanese layout to his room. Something that emanated Asian vibes, with those weird sliding doors and designs detailing branches and stuff. Karl had been to Japan once before when he was 15 with the Hitler Youth, and that was really all he cared to have remembered about Japan was the general layout of their rooms.
But to his surprise Kido's office was fairly simple. There was a large desk made out of polished brown wood sitting in the middle of a maybe 20x20 foot room. Behind it was a sizable window with curtains draped over it, though they still let a decent amount of light through which gave enough illumination to comfortably light the room. There were various portraits of Japanese generals hung throughout the room, like Tojo and Yamamoto, with a particularly large one depicted a young Hirohito. In the middle of the room the wooden floors were engraved with the Sakura emblem, quite obviously done so with precision and care. Along with all these things there were other chairs for what he could assume was for guests, a small bookshelf, and a piano.
Kido walked around his desk and took a seat on his chair, opening a drawer and taking out two glasses and a bottle of clear liquor. He placed the glasses down on either side of the desk, then put the bottle down as well. Karl walked over to the desk and pulled over a chair, sitting down himself.
"Need I ask?" Kido said and Karl shook his head. Kido chuckled and unscrewed the cap to the liquor, pouring some into both glasses.
Karl took his glass and sipped on it, not wishing to get tipsy or anything. Kido, on the other hand, took a solid swig of the alcohol.
"Let us begin, Karl. How long do you believe you will last here?"
"Excuse me?" Karl leaned in a bit, his mood souring at what he took as an insult.
"You must know the bad track record of a lot of the Ironblood commanders, no? Many do not last over five years, it's said to be a cursed position. They retire, are fired, or straight up die. My question was simply asking how long you believe you'll last."
Karl didn't know how to respond. He had no clue what he was doing to be fair. He had appeared here, washed ashore, with his dead best friends watch and nothing but he memories of that day. Next thing he knew he was a commander of a fleet of ship girls he knew nothing really about. I mean, he enjoyed their company and all, but he had no clue how to command them properly.
"Not long, Kido." He answered honestly. Kido nodded his head.
"Why did they choose you then?"
"I don't know. I mean, I'm not some military tactician, or war hero, or anything of that sort. Kido... truth be told, I should be dead."
Kido sat back in his chair and picked up his glass, taking another drink and listening. "Go on."
Karl sighed. "See, Kido. I died on the Bismarck. It had sunk in May 1941... and well... augh. How do I say this-?"
"I understand Karl." The other man in the room raised a hand to cut him off. Not intending to be rude but to prevent him from stressing himself out. "I was as well."
"Really?"
"Yes. A bomb had detonated near my office back in San Francisco. It had killed me I presume, and I woke up here. In this exact chair. I had no idea what had happened or what to do. I have no naval experience what do ever, but I pulled through. There is no need to stress over such things Karl. It will be tough and it's all foreign to you, but... I mean, shit. What's the worst that can happen?"
Karl chucked a bit. "I guess that is true. I mean, I can't fuck up too hard now can I? Though, you mentioned San Francisco, are you American or something?"
Kido shook his head. "Do I look American? No, I'm not. I guess you died before it happened but the Axis won the war, ending it with an invasion of the United States. Japanese took the west coast, the Nazis the east."
"I would expect so, Kido. After all, nothing can stop our war machines. We were bound victory from the start."
"I wouldn't say that, Karl."
Karl cocked his head to the left a bit. "What do you mean?"
Kido just gave him a dismissive shrug. "Never mind it." He took a swig from his glass, prompting Karl to do the same.
"So... why do you think we're here, Kido?" Karl asked in a slightly low voice, putting down his cup and watching as the clear alcohol made small waves as he whirled it around with small movements of his hand.
"If I knew, I'd tell you. But enough of this depressive talk. I have a question for you, Karl."
"Lay it on me."
"How much of this world do you understand?"
Karl looked at Kido, then down at his drink. There was a few seconds of silence between the two before Karl took a drink of his alcohol. "Only a bit. Read a history book a few days back."
"G. W. Mann I assume?" Kido asked.
"Yeah."
"I have another book by him, under a different pen name. Let me go get it."
Kido stood and walked over to his bookshelf. Unlike Karl's, Kido's was filled with various books of different lengths, genres, and authors. He traced his finger across the spines of a section of books on the 3rd-to-top shelf. His finger stopped on a particular book and grabbed it. He walked over back to the desk and slid it to Kido before sitting back down.
Karl grabbed it and looked at the plain red cover:
'MODERN NAVAL HISTORY' By K.D. Onitz
"Everything you need to know." Kido said. "Naval history since the introduction of the ship girl. Common tactics, developments, past leaders, et cetera, spanning about 20 or so years. Quite detailed."
Karl slid the book closed to himself and opened it, flipping through the text-filled pages. "Phew. Quite the book."
"322 pages."
Karl flipped to the last page and looked at the number. "Huh. That's quite the bit. I feel like I'm in college again."
Kido chuckled. "If you passed college you'll be fine then."
—
"My question is, Kido, is how exactly victory is achieved." Karl said, cigarette now between his fingers. They had been discussing various topics for the past 30 minutes, mainly about Sirens and Kido doing his best to teach Karl.
Kido stroked his chin, pondering the question asked of him. "What do you mean?"
Karl gave a shrug. "It's not like they have cities we can bomb, ports we can strike, large fleets to track, or really a frontline at all to attack or defend. They don't have commanders or anything resembling a hierarchy and seem to have near indefinite numbers when it comes to manpower. So, how could we possibly achieve a victory over what is basically an invisible foe?"
Kido took a swig of his whiskey, finishing it. "Well, not exactly invisible. They have what could be guessed to be some sort of commander. I've already told you, but their own ship-girls."
"I mean, I thought so, but we can never find them can we? They attack our forces, not the other way around. Not usually."
Kido sat back in his seat and took out a cigarette of his own. "Well, I don't know how exactly we can secure a victory. We can only fight back against their forces, truth be told. Until we can definitely secure a game-changing strike against their ships, whether it be we find their HQ or knock out one of their commanders, we will stay on the relative defensive."
Karl looked up to the clock which was on the side wall to his left. 6:57 PM.
"Ah. I believe I must go now." Karl said, standing up. "I thank you for the whiskey and the introductions, Kido."
"Ah, you must leave? Very well. Will you need anyone to escort you back?"
Karl shook his head, picking up the history book that Kido had previously handed him. "That will not be necessary."
Kido slid a file that had been on his desk for quite some time towards Karl. "Take this as well and hand it to Yamato on your way back please. She'll be the door towards the left as you leave."
He took it. "Will do."
—
Karl left Kido's room with a feeling of relative security within him. Finally, he had a few answers and not many questions left. Only took him a weeks time.
As he ventured down the hall he encountered the door which he assumed belonged to Yamato. He made a few knocks which were answered with a weary "Come in."
Karl opened to find Yamato sitting behind a desk, chin on her palm as she seemed half dead from exhaustion. A hot cup of coffee accompanied her as well. Karl walked up to her and put the file on her desk, which she looked down on and opened.
"Ah, from Kido I assume?"
"Yeah. Told me to hand you this before I leave."
Inside was what seemed to be photographs of several battleships on dock. They were grainy and black and white, seemingly taken from a smaller camera. Japanese writing we're strewn upon the photos, writing he obviously couldn't read.
"Thank you." Is all Yamato said before putting the file away and putting her head down on her desk. Karl shrugged and walked out, closing the door behind him.
"All ready?" Rudolf asked Kido, standing outside the civilianized He-111 which was parked on the carrier Akagi. A ladder had been put in place to help Karl board the plane.
"Of course." He said, walking up to the pilot who gave him a smile. Karl handed the pilot his things- which was the history book given by Kido- and climbed the ladder onto the plane. Rudolf followed who gave the book back. Karl went to his seat and sat down. Rudolf looked over to him, saying something as he sat.
"Also, Akagi let me know there's a storm developing off the coast directly in our flight path. We'll have to detour around it and fly above the ocean instead."
"Why's it matter?" Karl asked.
"Sirens operate around the ocean so there is a chance we'll be attacked."
"Ah. Well, make it quick."
—
It was around an hour after their initial takeoff from Akagi. They were on the open ocean, though close enough to the storm that Karl could see the darkened clouds if he squinted his eyes hard enough out the window. Rudolf probably came in as close as possible to shave off as much time from the detour as possible. The longer they were on the ocean, the better the chances of attack.
Karl had been sitting and reading the history book Kido had gave him.
... In 1947 the leader of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler dies from Parkinson's Disease. Having been bedridden for weeks beforehand a new Führer had already been picked, that being Joseph Goebbels, the minister of Propaganda. However, Goebbels had been attacked while flying over to the United States to tell news of Hitler's condition and to take his spot for a conference being held there regarding- ironically- Siren attacks on government officials. Despite having an armed escort to assist him, his personal plane had been hit several times and a bullet pieces his spine, paralyzing him from the waist down. Due to this he was seen unfit for leading and Heinrich Himmler, head of the Waffen SS, ascended the throne.
The Death of Adolf Hitler was met with nationwide mourning and sadness in Germany. When-
Suddenly the sound of projectiles punching through metal threw Karl out of his reading state. He looked around frantically, wondering if they were under fire.
FWOOSH! The sound similar to a plane erupted suddenly, loud enough to shake his own plane and loud enough to make his ears ring. He clutched his temples when Rudolf busted down the door, blood coming from his shoulder.
"Shit! Karl!" He yelled out, grabbing the commander in question. Karl grunted, a terrible ringing in his ears.
"Wha-?" He mumbled out as Rudolf stood him up.
"I fucking knew it! Siren fighters spotted us- probably the fucking storm..."
"What?!" Karl yelled out, unbelieving.
"I SAID-"
"I heard you-! What the fuck do we do?!"
Rudolf looked around frantically. The fuselage was riddled with small bullet holes from the first attack which led into the cockpit. Rudolf was quite obviously struck.
"Damn- come on!" He pulled Karl to the door on the other end of the plane. He practically kicked the door open. Inside was a ladder that lead up to a glass bubble with a machine gun inside. On the sides were small doors which slid out, machine guns as well resting by them. This was the armament room.
Karl looked over to Rudolf who was ushering him to climb up the ladder. "Karl, come on! You need to shoot back before we end up at the bottom of the fucking Pacific!"
Karl didn't protest and climbed up the ladder. The small glass bubble seemed to rotate and there was what could be described as a chair on it as well to assist with movement of the bubble. He wasn't quite sure what type of machine gun it was, but guessed some variant of the MG-34. Karl grabbed the MG and put the stock on his shoulder. It was already loaded.
Rudolf ran back to the cockpit, audibly cursing as he did so. The door closed behind him and there was an eerie silence.
Then, a small sound came from his left. Quickly he turned with the bubble to face it and two small blips came into view. Karl aimed down the sights of the MG.
Frooooooo-
The small dots got closer and closer. The moment he could see the wings, he immediately opened fire.
Green traders launched themselves at the targets, spread out and sporadic. Karl had terrible aim for obvious reasons- he wasn't trained to fire machine guns atop planes. Still, he fired, the sound of the blasts worsening the ringing in his ears.
The small dots quickly maneuvered out of the way of his fire. One went downwards, the other more towards the left. Karl focused on the left most one, leading his shots to hope for hits.
The dot which finally emerged more visibly as a plane he had never seen before in his life- with jagged edges and a black and red paint scheme- fired its own guns at the He-111. Red projectiles careened towards the wing of the former bomber and made contact, ripping through the flaps and causing the engine to start to emit white smoke. It broke off from the engagement as it got closer to avoid Karl's fire.
The same "fwooosh" from before came as the plane disengaged from the fight. Suddenly, the sound of metal being penetrated from before came, this time behind him. He turned around independent of the MG and saw several tens of holes in the metal, then the Siren plane came over his head after the attack.
Karl grabbed a hold of the MG trigger and aimed at the jet that he felt was within his grasp. He could see large holes in the back with what seemed to be fire shooting out of them, which made no sense to him.
He held down the trigger and send out a barrage of tracers at the plane. Finally they made contact, colliding with the fuselage. Overjoyed he kept up with his fire, compensating even as the plane attempted to turn out of the way.
His rounds continued to hit the plane, this time in its wing. Black smoke was spewing out of its fuselage and it suddenly stopped turning.
Karl sent out one last burst of tracers. They hit the wing at the last second before they began to drop off, and the end of the wing began to tear off, sending the plane into a dropping embankment. The Gs sustained from this caused more and more of the wing to tear off and it send the plane into a fiery spiral into the sea.
"Fuck yes!" Karl screamed out a in joy. "Get some! Fucking get some!"
He turned the MG the other way, now out to hunt the other plane.
Karl found it. Heading right for him.
The moment he squeezed the trigger an armada of red came right for him. They penetrated the metal and his instincts forced him to duck down. Bullets wizzed passed him and metal shrapnel flew into his skin. A piercing pain shocked his leg and he fell out of the small chair, barely grabbing onto the ladder as he collided with the floor below with a thud.
"Agh!" He groaned out, having landed right on his rump. Karl looked down at his leg, blood now pooling his pants. A bullet had hit the side of his leg, shaving off a considerable amount of skin. He got up and stumbled over to the other side of the plane and opened up the small sliding window to allow the other MG on the left to fire. He aimed it as the plane which had got a shot off onto him turned for another attack and fired. A few rounds hit the right wing but nothing major. Groaning as the plane began to turn towards the other side he basically crawled over to meet it, sliding open the other window and aiming the other MG, waiting for the other plane to come and attack him.
Slowly it came from behind the plane. He could see it but the MG couldn't turn itself to face it. Karl cursed and waited to see if it would eventually come into his sights.
Another burst of red came from the enemy plane and Karl saw as the tail was ripped to shreds. The He-111 shook and began to turn towards the left, now visibly at a incline towards the sea.
The plane fired another burst. They penetrated deep and he could hear a few bullets fly behind him and strike the door, leaving dents.
Then the plane began to turn towards Karl. It was just barely in his sights.
Not even thinking he slammed the trigger down at the cockpit which now faced him. He couldn't even tell if he was hitting it in the mix of green and red tracers.
Then he saw what seemed to be an explosion on the wing of the plane. No, not an explosion.
A rocket.
Two rockets were fired from the plane as his rounds hit the cockpit accurately. As the plane attempted to maneuver to avoid striking the He-111the rockets struck the fuselage. The first blasted Karl away, hot metal and fire slamming into him. His back hit the door and he didn't even have time to fall before the next rocket hit. That rocket got past the walls of the He-111 and detonated inside. The blast again threw Karl back into a corner, and he was knocked unconscious.
—
"Mayday, mayday! This is He-111 Berta-Richard-Anton neunzehn achtzehn reporting! We are under attack! I repeat we are under attack! We are 44 kilometers from the Japanese coast, quadrant E-4! Holding precious cargo, we request immediate assistance-"
Rudolf was cut off by a terrible sound. A loud explosion. His radio cut out and his controls suddenly locked up. He was unable to move the plane.
"Fuck this." Rudolf muttered and stood up. Rushing out of the cockpit he ran back to the room Karl was in, practically kicking open the door.
Inside he found two flaming holes in the fuselage. The holes were so large that he could see the destroyed tail wings at the very end of the plane. Not only all of that but the roof had a clean cut through it, as if a wing had sliced right into it. Around the small area was various burning debris, black metals, and shell casings.
Rudolf's head jutted around before finding Karl in the back corner of the room, bloody and unconscious. The fire continued to rage as he could feel the plane tilt to the right, messing up his balance and causing him to stumble as he rushed over.
He grabbed the commander. "Karl! Karl! Wake the fuck up!"
Karl's eyes quickly opened and he grabbed Rudolf's shoulders, gripping tightly.
"WHAT?!" He yelled out, "WHAT?!"
"Get the fuck up!" Rudolf hoisted him up to his feet, covering his mouth as the smoke began to gather. Karl narrowly tripped over himself, forcing himself to put more weight onto Rudolf for balance.
The pilot practically dragged the commander into the main room, smoke still filling the entire plane, pieces of it and the wing pretty much tearing off. As they got into the main cabin Rudolf looked out the window.
The sea was coming in. And coming in fast.
"Shit." Rudolf hissed out. He opened up a small box on the wall labeled for emergencies only and took out two bags- parachutes. Karl knew what they were despite being dazed and completely out of his element and took on, Rudolf quickly helping him hoist it onto his back.
"Karl!" He again yelled, putting his parachute on. "We gotta jump!"
"Jump?!"
"Jump!"
Karl rapidly shook his head. "God no! I hate heights- I couldn't possibly-"
"KARL! You got onto this fucking plane now get the fuck out!"
Rudolf sprinted over to the emergent exit and opened it, air rushing in. They were only 3,000 feet above sea level max. And their altitude was descending quite rapidly.
"Come on Karl! Jump!"
Karl shakily walked over as the plane continued to tilt towards the water below. "F-Fine!"
He approached the door and looked outside. Rudolf was trying to tell him to pull the cord soon after he jumped but he wasn't listening. It all felt too disorienting, he was bleeding all over and his head was pounding against his skull. God he felt awful.
Then, he felt something touch his back. He didn't even have the time to look before he was pushed out, the cord being pulled by Rudolf as he fell.
The parachute deployed soon after, the wing rushing over his head aflame. The engine was spewing fire and smoke, pieces of the flaps tearing off as it barreled towards the sea.
Karl fell fast, the ocean coming in closer and closer. The parachute finally opened only 500 feet above the ground, slowing Karl down so suddenly it felt as if someone had blown him back.
Still, he had considerable speed behind him as he fell and hit the water with force. He went underwater, the parachute giving just enough buoyancy to prevent him from sinking like a rock. Grabbing onto the s chute itself he tried to hoist himself up, his head going above the water.
His wounds began to sting bad from the salty water, causing him to wince in pain. Blood pooled around where he was, probably attracting the attention of a few fishes that didn't probably mean too well.
Karl looked up towards the plane. It was still in view,the smoke trail extending for what seems like miles. He focused on it, hoping to see Rudolf fall from it.
But instead, there was an explosion. The engine and fuel tanks on the wings had finally caught fire and got hot enough to combust. Though he couldn't see it well, a massive fireball destroyed the wing, sending the plane into a spiraling nosedive.
"Oh... my god..." Karl shakily said as the He-111 splashed into the sea. Fire continued to rage where it was as the oil and gasoline inside floated above the water. Plumes of black smoke bellowed from the crash site, extending into the clouds itself.
Karl's dizziness got worse. He was tired, fearful, and needing of assistance. Though, the hope of retrieving it slowly faded, the ocean seeming as empty as ever.
Looking into the horizon, the sun slowly setting as the clouds darkened. A few cracks of thunder echoed in the far distance from the storm.
Karl blinked a few times, before passing out in the middle of the ocean.
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