A/N: A little something different for Halloween. Not the spookiest fic I've done, I feel, but hope that hopefully gives you a bit of a chill~ Especially if you dislike deep water~
Enjoy~
Abyss
''Any idea why Bismarck called for us? We're not scheduled for anything today...''
''Maybe something urgent came up? U-556 said she was busy helping Bismarck run errands, so she must be swamped with work?''
''Ugh, I don't wanna be a courier, let Z1 and her sisters do that...''
The languid chatter of three Submarines echoed through the lavish halls of the Ironblood command centre, undisturbed by any sound due to the floor they were on being otherwise completely empty aside from themselves. It was early morning by that point; the three of them having only been awake for no more than an hour before they received the summons. Naturally, given who it came from, nobody even considered denying nor delaying it.
U-81 led the group with a prideful but somewhat languid stride, contrasting the more relaxed postures of U-101 and U-73 who lagged a step behind her. Even as they spoke she was already musing what could warrant them being summoned, especially on their day off. Training exercises? Unlikely, so they were off the table. A convoy? There was already other Submarines out at sea, and even if there weren't then the chances of the three of them getting to the ocean in time was borderline non-existent. Which left only one option; a secret, important mission.
U-81 purged the thought from her mind as she reached the grand double doors of Bismarck's office. Her two friends also quietened down, the three listening in for any sounds but unable to find any – prompting U-81 to rap her knuckles on the door.
''Bismarck.'' U-81 tilted her chin up as she spoke, trying her best to sound as professional as possible. ''U-81, reporting!''
''U-101, reporting!'' The mechanic straightened up too.
''U-73, reporting!'' The mad scientist of the trio declared.
The three girls had to wait no more than a few short moments before a familiar regal voice spoke. ''Enter.''
Dutifully U-81 obeyed, a simple twist of the handle squeaking the door open and allowing her and her comrades to march inside, formal to the utmost degree in the presence of their leader. Bismarck's office was about as grandiose as one might expect from the leader of the Ironblood; the walls red with stripes of gold, a large black-wood desk topped with neat but admittedly profuse stacks of documents; and of course Bismarck herself sat behind it, the early morning sunlight spilling partially over the wall before her through the tall paned windows.
As one the three Submarines marched in front of Bismarck's desk in line, waiting for their illustrious leader to finish signing off the document in her hands. Only then, as she put it off to the side, did she deign to look at them.
''I'm sure you're wondering why I summoned you here so early. Especially on your day off.'' Bismarck dipped her head slightly at that. ''My apologies for that.''
''It's no trouble.'' U-81 professionally stated, chin raised.
''But er... what did you call us for?'' U-101 was much less graceful about how she asked, but at least remained respectful all the same.
Bismarck didn't mind either way, merely humming as she looked between them. ''Something important has come up. Something, in fact, top-secret. I cannot tell you any details further unless you swear to me that not a single iota of pertinent information will leave this room. If asked you are to state it is relevant to convoy interdiction doctrinal changes. Am I clear?''
U-81 spared a glance at her fellow Submarines, gauging them, before looking back at Bismarck and firmly nodding. ''Understood!''
The blonde leader hummed and reached down; wood hissing against wood as she withdrew a folder from one of her desk drawers. ''Roughly four hours ago at oh-four-hundred a convoy chartered from the Sakura Empire to the Ironblood was attack and sunk in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It carries vital intelligence from the Sakura Empire about new technology that could change the course of the war. This information is contained within a waterproof, air-tight suitcase, as seen here.''
As she spoke Bismarck took out a monochrome photograph from the manilla folder, placing it down on her black-wood desk and turning it around for the three Submarines to see. Leaning forwards slightly U-81 eyed the picture, noting the noticeably-thick suitcase held in some man's hand. It looked more like a luggage bag than a traditional suitcase, though she supposed given it was designed to be both waterproof and air-tight it had to be a bit bulkier.
''This suitcase is likely to still be within the wreck of the ship.'' Bismarck withdrew the photograph. ''Your objective is to sail out into the middle of the Atlantic, dive at the known co-ordinates of the convoy, and regain the briefcase at all costs. Due to the utmost secrecy of the mission you will have no escorts, and will have to make the entire trip in radio silence. If you come under attack you will be on your own.''
''I see...'' U-73 scratched her cheek. ''What kind of information is in it?''
''Classified.'' Bismarck sharply responded. ''Do you accept the mission?''
''Ja.'' U-81 stood up taller and saluted, gold eyes firm. ''We won't let you down.''
Bismarck nodded, approving. ''Good. You will be equipped with experimental diving modifications to increase your maximum depth, developed in-part with U-73's aid in the event the convoy sunk lower than the expected depth. Do not engage any other targets en-route to the target.''
''Affirmative. And, also...?'' U-81 hesitated momentarily.
''Hm?'' The Battleship raised a brow.
''What sunk the convoy?''
''...that remains unknown. None of the Sakura Empire's escorts lived to inform us.''
The thought troubled U-81, but she accepted the mission all the same, worries pushed down by duty.
X-x-X
At just past nine that morning U-81, U-101 and U-73 set sail for the middle of the Atlantic.
It took many hours to reach their assigned sector, and hours more to reach the specific co-ordinates that marked the last known location of the convoy – taking several days just to reach it at surface-speed. Not helped by the fact that, en-route, they had to dive to avoid other convoys that they were explicitly told not to engage, slowing their journey down greatly. Nevertheless, despite some delays, they soon neared their target unmolested, and without drawing any unwanted attention either.
''Hn...''
U-81 frowned heavily, sailing on the surface with her two allies behind her in an arrowhead formation. The waters were calm, lapping lightly against her thighs as she sailed. Out this far from land the number of birds was scarce if not non-existent, leaving the air silent aside from the slow churning of the waves. A sound that would normally be quite calming, but one that right now felt a touch ominous given the mission.
Shaking her head U-81 reached into her tightly-sealed satchel and fumbled about, soon withdrawing a map – one mercifully in a waterproof covering. The sunlight glared off the material and the pink-haired Submarine had to squint a little to read it, finger on the page as she carefully tracked their route thus far, before sparing a glance back at U-101. A nod from the mechanic told her that they were at the right location.
''Alright.'' U-81 pocketed her map. ''Let's get to it then. Everyone ready?''
''Yep.'' U-73 rolled her shoulders a little, limbering up. ''Let's hope there ain't any sharks down here. Don't wanna get my toes munched by some dumb fish.''
''Look on the bright side, you can shove a torpedo up it's butt if it does that.'' U-101 teasingly said, before pausing. ''Sharks have butts, right? Or is there just a hol-''
''Now is not the time.'' U-81 cut her comrade off with a roll of her eyes. ''Ready?''
''Ready when you are~''
Nodding at that U-81 drew in a slow, deep breath, filling her superhuman lungs that doubled as oxygen tanks – before pursing her lips shut and guiding her rigging below the waves. Cold ocean water lapped over her chest and shoulders, sweeping up past her head and brushing her hair up momentarily. For a moment she waited, gazing at the light blue sea around them before gazing down at the seemingly-endless abyss below; an endless gorge that seemed to swallow light itself.
She pushed down her unease. Sparing one glance over her shoulder at her waiting comrades U-81 continued to descend, the slow whirring of her rigging and the displacement of bubbles the only sounds in her ears as she slowly dived deeper. Five feet became ten feet, then twenty, then forty, then sixty. The whirring of their motors became more prevalent as the lapping of the waves ceased to be audible; their depth increasing to a hundred feet, then two hundred. The water began to darkened from a blue to a shade of black, one that only grew more apparent when they reached three hundred feet, and then soon four hundred.
It was only when they passed four hundred and fifty feet that U-81 spotted a shape on the seabed beneath them. An outline of a hull. Looking over her shoulders she could barely make out her fellow Submarines and made a high-five gesture, one that earned twin nods from her comrades before all three of them switched their rigging lights on; casting bright white lights into the darkness below. At this depth they could just about make things out; not quite an abyssal void, but such a dark blue that anything around them was faint and vague, and anything below was an light-devouring abyss.
'This must be the convoy...' U-81 mused to herself as her light hit metal; turning her rigging so she could cast the light across it.
Truthfully the convoy was nothing special. It was... just a regular, old convoy, really. Only that this one was broken in half; the front part of the ship buried partially in the seabed. When she cast her light onto the rear end, however... she found nothing. Thinking her light just didn't reach far enough U-81 swam closer – but it was the way her light glinted off the seabed and faded to nothing that made her think to look down.
It was a cliff. The convoy had landed on an undersea shelf of some kind, and had either split apart due to the impact on landing, or from damage sustained during the attack itself... which meant that the other half was likely down in the abyss below. An abyss that U-81, unnervingly, couldn't begin to see with her rigging lights – even the cliff itself was a steep, sharp drop, with very little coral or identifiable features upon it.
Thinking for a second the Submarine girl got an idea, prompting her to reach into one of her other satchels and withdraw one of several flares from it and twisting the cap, igniting it. The stick crackled to life and burned a bright amber-red hue and, after a second of hesitation, U-81 sailed out over the abyss. Not far, and definitely with the edge of the plateau still in sight, but far enough that she could be reasonably certain the ocean currents wouldn't just push the flare back against the cliff and get it lodged.
And then she dropped it.
The amber light slowly fell from her hand, descending into the depths. Without anything to reflect its light off of however it just fell in solitude, its red glow becoming fainter, fainter...
...before disappearing entirely, the last thing she saw being it continuing to fall.
'How deep does this trench go?' U-81 wondered, perturbed. 'I don't recall it being on the map...?'
Reluctantly dismissing the thought U-81 swam back to the front half of the convoy where the others were. Whatever had split it in half had left a deep gouge down the side of the hull, providing plenty of room for the three Submarines to swim on inside, arching their slender forms to slip inside. It was dark, their flashlights the only illumination within the ruined hull; boxes floating up and down in respond to the slightest currents.
U-81 glanced at her comrades and nodded down one of the hallway, indicating she'd go ahead. U-101 and U-73 both nodded, and with a look of concentration U-81 slowly swam ahead; careful to angle her rigging so she didn't bang it against the walls of the hull and dislodge anything. The size of her rigging though made it impossible to turn around, forcing her to rely on the ambient glow of its lights when she swam into the adjacent rooms, bubbles passing by her lips as she swam into a wardroom of some kind. It was on the smaller end, but the table in the middle of the room made it clear the crew on-board used it for meals and such.
'So messy...' U-81 quietly thought as water-soaked cards, wrinkled and ruined, floated past her head as she swam by them. 'Briefcase... should be easy to spot, right...?'
Despite that thought however she found nothing in the wardroom, forcing her to swim back out-
-and nearly gasp in shock when a fish swam past the door, several of its comrades following it out the nearest hole in the hull.
'Tch.' U-81 scowled. 'Dang fish.'
Pushing the mild irritation from her mind the Submarine swam out into the hallway again, checking the next room over – a storage room of some kind – but found little in the way of briefcases, only boxes and soaked dry ingredients, much of which seemed to have been scavenged already. Swimming back into the hallway once more U-81 had a little look around the below-deck spaces too, but grimly found no briefcase.
Something that prompted her to swim back outside the hull. Neither U-73 nor U-101 were done yet so it was just her, something that normally wouldn't really bother her... but something was making her uneasy. She pushed the ridiculous feeling down but it surged back up, something in her gut telling her this wasn't quite right. She reasoned it might just be the trench that was unnerving her – she'd never gone that deep after all – but at the same time... what if it was her instincts trying to tell her something?
The thought was pushed from her mind as U-73 swam out from the ruined convoy behind her. When their eyes met both shook their heads, indicating they'd neither found the briefcase – and when U-101 swam out just half-a-minute later she too shook her head.
Seeing that U-81 gestured her comrades close, the trio gathering close enough that their shoulders touched – allowing them to speak in short, bubble-laden bursts. ''Think the case was thrown overboard?''
U-73 shook her head. ''No way. Too important. Would've been sealed in the hull somewhere.''
U-101 nervously looked over her shoulder for a moment. Though she didn't say anything all three realised what she meant; grimaces twisting at their visages. The briefcase might've been in the rear of the hull when it went down... which meant, it was down in the trench below. A prospect none were happy about, but not one that was entirely unexpected – they were given the modifications for this exact sort of reason anyway.
They were distracted however as a shoal of fish rapidly swam by them, curving from around the convoy's hull. Bizarrely however they weren't the only one; multiple more shoals swimming past quite rapidly and into the darkness ahead of them, the unnatural haste at which they moved at making the Submarines share an uneasy glance.
''I guess there's some sharks about?'' U-101 hesitated proposed.
Above them several dolphins also swam away, actively fleeing.
''...yeah, definitely some sharks.'' U-101 grinned tightly. ''Keep your tubes lubed just in case~''
U-81 rolled her eyes. ''That was such a bad joke.''
U-101 just gave her a thumbs-up regardless, their amusement fast to fade as they remembered the mission at hand. Taking the lead U-81 was the first to swim over the edge of the trench, a bite of unease in her stomach before she forcibly relaxed, and with a tight expression guided her rigging down. Carefully she kept the edge of the cliff in view alongside her depth gauge, descending down and hearing more than seeing U-101 and U-73 follow after her.
It got darker faster than expected. The dark blue waters became an abyssal black; light failing to penetrate down as she passed six-hundred metres. Yet the trench went deeper still, the void around her absolute. No light, no fish, not even many sounds beyond her and her comrade's rigging – the slow churning and escaping bubbles the only noise to permeate the unyielding dark.
Until soon U-81's rigging lights fell upon ground. A bubble of relief swelled up within her and the pink-haired Submarine slowed down, carefully bringing herself as low to the seabed as possible – tiling her rigging and sweeping the light over the smooth sand. Only a few tiny corals were present but no fish, or even crabs and other tiny creatures. Pushing the thought from her mind U-81 looked up and waited for U-73 and U-101 to get within visual range before continuing forth. It didn't take long until she found something familiar, glowing faintly in the dark ahead. The flare she'd thrown.
The fizzling red light helped illuminate the edge of something metallic, too. 'The convoy...!'
Unease temporarily replaced by euphoric relief U-81 sailed ahead quickly, her rigging lights at last illuminating the sunken form of the convoy. It was worse-off than the other half on the underwater shelve above them; the metal warped and already beginning to rust. It was hard to see even with her light on it, as the moment the cone of light moved away pitch-black darkness engulfed it once more, though that was remedied somewhat when U-101 and U-73 both helped shine their lights on it too.
Lifting a hand U-81 rallied the girls close, all three getting within speaking distance before opening their mouths; expelling oxygen with every quick word. ''U-101. You search the surrounding area. Me and U-73 will check inside. Got it?''
''Yeah.'' U-101 nodded. ''Oxygen check?''
U-81 paused, gauging how her lungs felt and making an estimation based off of that. ''Ten minutes I'd say. Fifteen max.''
''Same.'' U-101 nodded and waved her off. ''Go. I'll search-''
They were cut off, however, by a sound none expected to hear.
''Hiiiin...!''
A was distant but shrill, a sharp stab to their ears as it petered out into a faint, ever-quietening whine, but one that made the hairs on their necks stand on end; alarmed looks shared between the three Submarines.
''What the heck was that?!'' U-101 worriedly spoke. ''I've never heard a fish make that kinda sound before.''
''Me neither.'' U-73 breathed out, bubbled passing her lips from the exhaled oxygen. ''Siren maybe?''
''Probably.'' U-81 concluded grimly. ''Let's hurry up and find this briefcase and get out of here. I don't wanna get depth-charged in the middle of the Atlantic.''
Twin nods answered her, and with quiet haste the three of them split up. Catching sight of U-73 entering through a hole in the mid-section of the ship U-81 came to a stop outside of it, hesitating – before after a prolonged pause she sent out a sonar ping. When she closed her eyes she could see its effect in her mind; the landscape shaping out in a blue-tinted hue before fading back into darkness. She saw the rounded plateau they were on, the steep cliff behind them, and the gaping trench further ahead of them. The thing still went down, she couldn't help but note, but couldn't scan farther down without getting directly over it. And while her curiosity ate at her, she had a mission to do; one under threat with the risk of Sirens in the vicinity.
Thus with haste U-81 abandoned her attempts at detecting whatever it was she heard, opting instead to swim inside. It was about as cluttered as she expected, most of the objects either on the ground or floating idly in the water, forcing the Submarine girl to push them aside as she swam past. The rear of the convoy held things like the engine room and crew compartments, providing a bothersome number of rooms she had to peek her head into and sometimes enter, pushing soaked boxes and books and clothes aside as she searched for the briefcase.
Oddly, though, she found no bodies. As if those involved escaped the wreck before it went down...
...but then, what happened to them?
Just then she heard movement ahead of her from further down the crew quarters. Growing curious she swam ahead – and nearly headbutted U-73 as the Submarine girl burst out of one of the room, grinning victoriously and lifting up their target; the suitcase. It looked even bulkier than in pictures, doubly so when held by the slender U-73, but U-81 didn't care; simply relieved that the hardest part of the mission was now over.
As if to correct that foolish notion, she heard it – that shriek again. Only this time it was much louder, a deeper echo to the shriek as it reverberated through the water and rattled her bones unpleasantly. The rushing of bubbles only further heightened that, her back tensing as she turned to face the source; and found a frantic U-101 swimming inside through a hole in the hull, hurriedly laying down low and jerking her hand for them to do the same.
U-81 didn't. Curiosity made her carefully swim up to one of the portholes in the hallway and peek out... and had she not been underwater her jaw would've gone slack. There, barely visible in the abyss, was a... thing. Bioluminescent flesh made it glow ambiently in the dark, its blue, snake-like body slithering through the sea silently yet ominously. A sharp, cone-headed skull came with a pair of bright bioluminescent eyes that bulged from its wide skull, its jaw unhinging low to release another terrifying shriek that echoed through the waters around it, bouncing off anything it hit like a primitive sonar.
In a heartbeat U-81 backed away from the porthole window, leaning down low next to her comrades. ''What the hell is that?!''
''I don't know!'' U-101 breathed back, frantic. ''I-I just caught a glimpse of it after it screamed and got in her as quick as I could!''
''Did it see you?'' U-81 dared to ask, unnerved.
''Why, well- I-I don't know!'' The mechanic was a little heated as she responded, waving her arms about only to stop lest it attract unwanted attention.
''It must be some Siren creature. No Earth animal is that big.'' U-73 murmured, floating up a little to peek out the porthole; prompting the other two Submarines to join her. ''Maybe it's just a filter-feeder? Something that big probably wouldn't be interested in us. It's longer than most carriers I've seen; no way would it like us as food. Right? Right. Right?''
U-81 shook her head, forcibly cooling herself and exhaling a breath, trying to resist the urge to chat – every exhaled breath spent much-needed oxygen. The others realised the same and went quiet, the three of them simply floating in the darkness of the convoy with naught but their rigging lights to illuminate the interior – but they too were dimmed after a shared glance, leaving just U-101's on to allow them to see, but not so much it might give their locations away.
The bioluminescent monster – and a monster was truly the only word for it – continued to swim through the trench not far from them. It didn't seem to know they were there; swishing and swimming in a slight wavy pattern, head tilting as if just idly swimming by. However even if that was the case, they were limited on oxygen; with how much they'd just talked it was likely they were all down to about ten minutes. No way could they stay any longer than nine minutes this deep lest they drown themselves and make the convoy their new coffin.
Thus U-81 tapped both her comrades on the shoulders, bringing them close. ''We need to go. Up the cliff, hug close to the wall. We'll stay close to the ground and hope it doesn't see us.''
''Problem.'' U-73 interjected, grimacing. ''We came from the other end of the trench. Back to Ironblood is over that deep trench.''
U-81 swallowed. ''Then we'll cross it quietly. No sudden movements, lights and rigging off. U-73 you carry the briefcase. Torpedoes stay loaded, fire only if necessary. No pissing it off.''
Following behind, her two comrades looked uneasy but both tentatively nodded, knowing there was no other option available. Thus with deliberate slowness the three of them sailed out of the convoy, U-81 at the head as she peeked out from the middle section, one hand on the torn metal edge as she poked her head out – but saw no sign of the creature. It had swam off. The thought gave her the confidence to look back and nod at her comrades, her rigging silent and leaving her with just her legs to propel her forth; slowly swimming with her rigging as little more than a floatation guide.
Her eyesight was just capable enough to see the seabed a mere foot under her, passing by, passing, passing... until nothing. Even if she couldn't actively see it U-81 realised she was over the gorge, making her stomach twist itself into uneasy knots, some primal instinct of hers telling her this wasn't right – like they were being watched by something far beyond her wildest dreams. Or nightmares, in this case.
So distracted by the all-consuming dark U-81 paid no mind to U-101 as the Submarine followed her, nor to U-73 as she followed just a foot behind U-101... until, with clammy hands, the scientist accidentally loosened her grip and the briefcase fell from her hand, falling slowly into the abyss below.
''C-Crap!'' U-73 breathed on reflex, rushing down to grab it before it could fall too far.
And, in the heat of the moment, activated her rigging and rigging light – letting her see the briefcase and snatch it up.
And draw the attention of a certain bioluminescent threat.
One they became aware of by the shrill, shrieking cry that pierces their ears and echoed off the trench walls. In a heartbeat all riggings and lights blared to life; U-81 in particular tense as she swept her light under them and then above, searching – until she caught sight of a blurry blue figure coming towards them, fast. She was above to tap into her radio and cry for everyone to evade only for a hand to grab her arm and pull her down, eliciting a bubble-laden gasp as she was dragged down by the familiar slender hand of U-73.
The wall of the trench became visible, and with a jerk of her head she looked behind herself to where she was being dragged – a hole. It was tiny, just a narrow groove in the rugged rock-face, but in that moment it may as well have been a fortress for all she cared; regaining her sense of self and hurriedly de-summoning her rigging, letting U-73 drag her along for the ride with U-101 just a foot behind.
Until as one all three girls shoved themselves into the gap, backs hitting the rough rocky wall.
And with a loud, all-consuming shriek, the bioluminescent serpent smashed its cone-shaped head against the rock-face. The whole trench seemed to shake from the impact, rocks and dust falling down on the three girls as they screamed, lithe legs pulled close to their chests as the beak-like maw of the beast snapped and chomped at them from just a terrifying few feet away; a gaping void laying within the creature's throat.
Then the beast reared itself back – and smashed its bony skull into the rock again. The whole area rumbled and shook even after the impact passed, more rocks floating down and landing on the three Submarines; threatening to cave them in if they didn't flee. However with the gaping, unhinging maw at the mouth of the cave they had nowhere to go; able to only scream and squeeze into the tiniest corners of the trench, unable to even use torpedoes lest they cave themselves in and drown.
''W-When it pulls back, we run, okay?!'' U-81 cried out, unable to contain the quiver to her voice. ''O-Okay?!''
U-101 U-73 cried out a vague agreement, squealing when the beast wriggled its head and managed to squirm itself in a foot deeper, its maw no more than an arms-length from them.
''O-On three!'' U-81 said instead. ''Go for the eyes! Three!''
The blue bioluminescent beast snapped its beak at them, pushing deeper.
''T-Two!''
It reared back, mouth opening wider.
''On-!''
Suddenly the bioluminescent monster reared further back – and a powerful, almighty roar shook the whole ocean around them, their bones rattling from the bubbled bellow.
Then in a heartbeat, a gigantic maw snapped up the bioluminescent beast like it was naught but a worm – bending it as it swam surfacewards. With their rigging lights pointed ahead all three Submarines saw it; pupils dilating in fear as the dragon-like head of the black-fleshed beast swam up past them, its thick body serpentine and with a single red line down its sides; frills and tendrils extending away from its body to help it swim.
The beast continued swimming up out of view, snake-like body rushing past higher and higher...
...and continued to still pass them by.
'H-How long is this thing...?' U-81 thought in terror, frozen stiff.
Submarines were good at measuring distance – they needed to in order to land torpedoes effectively. And if her measurements were right...
'Two hundred feet... four hundred... six hundred... e-eight... one... one-thousand... one-thousand... two hundred...!'
The number rose, rose, and rose until at last the whip-like tail of the draconic beast swished past the cave entrance – measuring out at just under two thousand metres, utterly dwarfing even man-made Aircraft Carriers nearly thrice over. The knowledge only left the three Submarines further paralysed, terrified to their core that something so ungodly huge existed and how it even survived... though, that latter question became answered as the distant shriek of the bioluminescent monster reached their ears. Judging from the pained lilt to its shriek, it was finding itself becoming the draconic sea-monster's food.
It also helped snap the three of them out of it, and practically in unison they burst out of the gap in the trench wall. They saw naught but a flicker of a tail near the lip of the trench, and with an uneasy glance between them the three Submarines hurriedly swam up – U-73 with an iron-grip on the briefcase and with U-81 riding on U-101's rigging, arms tightly wrapped around her waist as they sailed straight up onto the plateau above; the abyssal darkness waning to a darker blue hue.
One that also allowed them to see the distant form of the draconic sea monster, maw chomping down on the shrieking phantasmal beast; its black body curling and curving through the ocean behind it.
''Go.'' U-81 breathed to U-101, smacking her rigging. ''Go! Get us out of here!''
U-101 didn't need to be told twice, and with haste the three Submarines sailed as far away from the two beasts as possible.
X-x-X
Bismarck stood at the docks patiently, hands folded behind her straightened back and face set into a stoic mask.
Ten minutes ago she'd received word that U-81's wolfpack was returning and thus came to the dock to greet them. For only five minutes had she been standing before she caught sight of the trio, U-81 sailing with U-73 not a step behind – and to her concern they were sailing in quite fast. So fast that she stepped forth, about to issue a command to halt lest they ram themselves into the docks-
-only to pause and blink in surprise when the Submarines practically jumped off of their riggings the moment they neared the docks, landing on the docks almost frantically and crawling away from the water, terrified.
''U-81.'' Bismarck called out, marching towards them. ''What are-''
''Monster.'' U-81 shakily said back, breathing heavily. ''It was so big... it...''
Bismarck's visage became severe and she marched over to the trio, accepting the shakily-offered briefcase from U-73. Uncaring of the water that dripped on her sleeves the Battleship wiped the lid dry with a handkerchief and popped the case opened, eyes narrowing at the sight of various documents. Among of which laid a photograph taken from a Sakura Empire scout plane.
One featuring a massive black sea monster lunging up out of the water towards the aircraft with maw wide open, extending over a hundred feet out of the water.
'So what you said was true after all, Akagi...' Bismarck thought with a dark expression.
'And perhaps, so too is your desire to harness these... leviathans...'
[END]