"Alright. Hood, Bismarck, you ready?" The Commander's voice crackled over the video as the two former bitter rivals exchanged a nod.
"Always." Hood stated simply, focused on her work more than anything.
"Bismarck is ready to sink any ship that crosses her path." The battleship crossed her arms with a sigh. "Assuming that I can aim these things, anyway."
"Well, best of luck to the both of you. I'll have Helena giving me status updates, as usual. Try to keep a low profile until you reach the cargo ship." The commander sighed. "That means don't go on a rampage, Hood dearest."
"I-It was one time!" Hood blushed furiously. "Regardless, we'll be setting off now." She tried to regain her composure.
The two shipgirls equipped their weapons as they sailed towards the general location of the cargo ship, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.
But it was smooth sailing, quite literally as the two approached the seemingly unguarded cargo ship, the crew seeming to ignore the fact that the two were approaching.
"I have an idea." Bismarck put a hand to her chin. "Stay out of sight, I'll go on ahead and pretend to still be with Crimson Axis… If they knew I was sunk, it would have devastated their morale."
Hood crossed her arms with a glare. "I think the death of Bismarck would have been a big deal, considering you were the top battleship in Crimson Axis." She had her doubts about the plan.
Bismarck sighed as she opened up communications with the Azur Lane base. "What do you think?"
"Hmm? I wasn't listening." The Commander admitted. "I was uh… Sorting through paperwork."
"That means he's at the bar. Again." Hood put a hand to her head in frustration. "The man's a tactical genius, but once he gets on the drink…"
"I was just saying to Hood I could infiltrate the cargo ship myself and steer it towards the Azur Lane base without any trouble, as the news of my death would have been very much kept to rumors." Bismarck explained.
"I for one think it's asinine to let you go off on your own." Hood kept her hand at her head, massaging her temple. "I have been hearing rumors of a mole in Azur Lane itself, if those are true then someone at Crimson Axis must know of your revival."
"First I've heard of this. Then again, that neko shipgirl is pretty sketchy." The commander hmm'd. "I'll allow it."
"What?" Hood yelled in surprise and anger as Bismarck floated off towards the ship heading to the Iron Blood base of operations. "Are you insane?"
"No… Just drunk?" The commander innocently asked.
"I'm staging an intervention when we get back." Hood sighed again, using both of her palms to massage her temple, unaware of the danger that lurked above the waves.
Bismarck disengaged her rigging, it turning back into the glorious battleship that towered over the cargo ship. "Guten tag!" She waved to the crew operating below. "I can escort you to Iron Blood! I know a faster way, follow me!"
The crew unaware of Bismarck's recent revival, shrugged and started to follow the battleship as it went full tilt towards Azur Lane's waters.
With a hearty sigh, Hood opened her eyes, seeing Bismarck's ship being followed by the cargo ship. " I don't believe this…"
"I wouldn't." A young, stoic voice caused her to train her cannons on a Sakura Empire destroyer with white hair. "Prinz Eugen and I have been sent to ensure that cargo ship goes to their rightful owner." She grabbed her blade. "And to take out anyone in our path."
The Royal Navy ship trained her cannons on the assassin, leaping back in order to gain maximum reaction time if she tried anything. The two stared each other down for several moments, neither of them saying a word.
Ayanami let go of her sword's handle, not even unsheathing it. "But… I don't wish to fight." Was all she said, before skating away without another word. Weird. Saved her some ammo, though.
Her hands came to her face in shock. Bismarck was escorting the cargo ship. And she said that Prinz Eugen was coming for her.
Floating across the water as fast as she could, Hood hurried to her partner for the mission, determined not to see another ally go down in flames. Even if it was her.
"Deutschland, Deutschland über alles..." Bismarck sung to herself as she gradually advanced to Azur Lane's waters. It was honestly kind of easy to convince the crew. Too easy, even…
Her thoughts were interrupted by one of her cannons suddenly exploding. "Scheisse!" She yelled in her native tongue as the force nearly knocked her off the boat entirely. Forcing her rigging back on, the crew were understandably worried about their supposed escort being under siege.
Scarcely dodging a second shot due to her now much more mobile form, Bismarck looked around for who could have shot her. Spotting Iron Blood markings in the distance, she sighed before she trained her cannons onto the white haired Heavy Cruiser approaching her.
"Oh~ Lord Bismarck~." She greeted with all the subtlety of an exploding warship. "Did I accidentally take out one of your Royal Navy marked main guns?~"
"Prinz. Eugen." Bismarck crossed her arms. Of course Akagi wouldn't make this easy on her, sending her least loyal former comrade to try and take her out. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" The last word dripped with sarcasm.
Despite an entire battleship's worth of cannons being pointed at her, Prinz Eugen still approached her former superior. "Just to escort this ship to Iron Blood safely. You've been dead for some time so you might not know this, but Akagi is getting really cranky about getting these new cannons to Iron Blood's forces. And of course as their new de-facto leader, I had to oblige~."
Bismarck rolled her eyes. "Of course she'd make you the leader of my forces, you schlampe." Her beef with Prinz Eugen was pretty well known among Crimson Axis… So of course the two were sent together as often as possible. Akagi always had it out for her ever since she and Prinz met.
"Wow, crude much. Seems that you coming back didn't improve your attitude." She sighed melodramatically as she floated backwards, training her cannons onto the battleship. "No hard feelings, mein fraulein, but Akagi wants you gone."
"ROYAL NAVY'S GLORY!" Came the battle cry of a familiar voice before Prinz Eugen was assaulted by a barrage from above, her main guns malfunctioning from the damage.
"N-nani?" Prinz quickly flipped around, seeing the Glory of the Royal Navy herself preparing another barrage. "Lord Bismarck. Hood is just over there and she's alone! Quick, we can take her!"
She seemed unaware of the truth at least. Bismarck shook her head. "Looks like Akagi sent you out here to die as well. How much did you find out?"
"I… How did you…"
Another barrage of fire knocked out her anti-air cannons. "BISMARCK, PLEASE!" She begged as Hood prepared a third and final attack as the Heavy Cruiser grabbed Bismarck's jacket. "WHY AREN'T YOU SHOOTING YOUR SWORN NEMESIS?" Her tone was very clearly escalating as Bismark pushed her away before floating back.
"It's Lord Bismarck to you and I'm not shooting her because… We're in the same fleet. I work for Azur Lane." She mock saluted as her grin turned shit-eating, training her own cannons on the traitorous Iron Blood ship. "Auf wiedersehen, Prinz Eugen. I'd say it's been nice knowing you." She prepared to finish off the panicking ship herself. "But I'm not a lying schlampe."
Two barrages of explosives rained down on Prinz Eugen, finishing her off spectacularly as her last moments were spent begging for mercy. Bismarck's grin didn't even fade as her ally approached her, anger and worry visible on her face as she saw the damaged main gun.
"Bismarck! You've been hit!" Hood pointed out the obvious, trying to call the commander for backup, but he didn't answer as Bismarck put her hand on the union jacket of the battlecruiser.
"Focus on the mission, mein fraulein." Bismarck shook her head as her ship reappeared, accidentally catching the Royal Navy ship off guard as the damaged cannon stopped sparking. "The important thing is that I got to watch Prinz Eugen die begging for mercy like the worm she was. That is all I need."
Hood had recovered from her shock and was now on the bow of the ship, looking ahead to the Azur Lane base, barely visible on the horizon. "I suppose you got the same satisfaction I got the day I… Sank you."
Bismarck joined her in looking out to the ocean. "Ja. Mein fraulein… I must confess." She continued to look out at the slowly growing base of which she dreamed of destroying but now lived in. "Prinz Eugen would have sunk me if you didn't intervene like you did. She caught me off guard and as you obviously saw…" She pointed to her damaged gun. "But even if she didn't do that, I'm not used to your tech… I wasn't able to hit a single target while on the range. You saved me Hood. I'm eternally grateful."
Hood smiled. "Always a pleasure. A flagship such as myself always takes care of her fleet."
"Hey, isn't this the Azur Lane base?" One of the crew members pointed to the base that they were rapidly approaching.
"Well it's not Iron Blood, is it?" Another asked.
"Did… Did Bismarck lie to us?!" A third cried out in betrayal.
"Maybe… But she did save us from that heavy cruiser. She could have gone for us next." The first one admitted.
"Guess we should have figured it out when Hood started firing at Prinz Eugen." The second one pondered.
"Glad she's sunk, honestly." The third one admitted. "Always thought she hung around the wrong crowd."
Bismarck silently seethed as Hood looked at her with worry. "Bismarck?"
"One moment." she walked over to the left of the ship, where the cargo ship was sailing alongside hers now. "YOU DISRESPECTFUL DISGRACE OF A SAILOR. IF I EVER HEAR YOU SPEAK ILL OF A SUNKEN SHIP AGAIN, I WILL MAKE SURE YOU'RE THE NEXT ONE WHO DROWNS!" She screamed at the third sailor in utter rage before heading back next to Hood. "You were saying?"
Hood was shocked by the sudden outburst. "I…"
"Iron Blood runs on honor. One of our oaths is to never speak ill of the fallen. I might not have liked Prinz Eugen, but I will respect her in death. May she rest well." She looked down into the water as her ship entered the dock of Azur Lane, various shipgirls enjoying their time off in the midday sun.
"I'll show the cargo ship where to drop off the cannons… And ask for their boss's contact information. White Heart can take care of that when she gets back from her vacation and White Heart takes complaints very seriously." Hood hopped off KMS Bismarck, before heading to and disengaging her own rigging, HMS Hood now sat alongside the battleship as she headed to the cargo ship. "Gentlemen, I'll show you were to drop off your cargo. Have you been paid?"
The two crewmates who weren't yelled at shook their heads. "Crimson Axis promised payment on delivery and the Iron Blood in particular are very insistent on being on time."
"I'll get the Commander to pay you two double what you're owed for inconvenience. I do sincerely apologise on behalf of Azur Lane for deceiving you, but if you were working for us and Crimson Axis came across you..."
"Yeah, we've heard rumors that Bismarck blew up a cargo ship herself in an ambush gone wrong." The first sailor rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "So you see why we had to work for them instead of you. Sorry."
Hood shook her head. "Don't even worry about it. We're only hijacking their deliveries in order to protect humanity, after all. Even if we do have to play dirty, we do have your best interests in mind." Hood beamed. "Come on then, I've talked your ear off enough and the Commander will be elated to hear the good news!" She finished as the ship started to move into the cargo bay.
"Such a diplomat." Bismark remarked, listening from her own ship, impressed by how Hood expertly navigated what was essentially a hijacking.
"Hood is a lot of things, but a diplomat is one of her defining qualities." Enterprise had gotten on KMS Bismarck and now stood next to the former Iron Blood leader. "How'd the mission go?" She went straight to business.
"Well enough. I got ambushed by a heavy cruiser, but Hood helped me take her out." Bismarck couldn't exactly lie about her damaged cannon, after all.
"We all drop the ball sometimes." Enterprise leaned on the railing of the battleship. "I wouldn't worry about it."
Bismarck would have nodded in agreement, but she remembered her boast in the briefing. "Iron Blood doesn't fuck up." She repeated, sighing as her first mission as an Azur Lane ship ended with unnecessary damage.
"If you hold yourself responsible for a simple lapse in judgement, losing an ally would probably scar you." Enterprise reasoned logically. "Who did you sink?"
"Prinz Eugen." She replied honestly, sighing as she did so. "I never liked her that much, but in Iron Blood we didn't speak ill of the sunken."
"In Azur Lane we remember them." Enterprise patted the back of her new teammate, the aircraft carrier smiling sadly. "You should ask Hood about her group photo of the Royal Navy ships at some point… See how much blood is on your hands."
Enterprise started to walk away as Bismarck considered her words. "How many has Hood herself sunk?"
Enterprise stopped. "Do you want the truth, or the answer that will make you happy?"
Bismarck briefly considered the latter. "The truth."
"One hundred and twenty-five." Enterprise stated simply. "The most ships she ever sunk on a mission was twelve, after the loss of Ark Royal."
… "And how many of those were Iron Blood?"
"Seventy-two, including yourself."
Bismarck took the picture she kept of Prinz Eugen, an unwanted gift before her last mission as an Iron Blood ship. "Make it seventy-three." She tore the image in half, tossing the photo into the water, the paper wetting then sinking, like the traitor herself.
"I've heard of your spat with Prinz Eugen from the other Iron Blood ships who have been stationed here. I don't believe Hood sunk her. Not for a moment." Enterprise started to walk away again.
Before Enterprise could hop off the battleship, Bismarck spoke one last time. "She helped. Does that count towards the blood on her hands?"
Enterprise nodded, though the Iron Blood shipgirl couldn't see her. "Seventy-three it is. Can't believe you'd swallow your pride and say she helped."
"She did a lot more than help, mein fraulein… She saved me." She admitted to her former enemy, the truth flowing like water from a tap now.
"She saves as many as she can, because every loss takes her closer to the brink." Enterprise said with a sad smile. "She blames herself for each and every sinking of a Royal Navy ship. I heard what happened on the day she sank you, so you probably understand why goading her like that was a mistake now… I'd have done the same thing if you taunted me with the death of Yorktown or Hornet. Good thing I'm the best aircraft carrier in Eagle Union, huh?"
"I've heard legends of you being the best aircraft carrier in Azur Lane, the Grey Ghost who haunts the Crimson Axis." The former Crimson Axis mentioned rather candidly. "Akagi is scared of you. She'll never admit it because it's a point of pride for her, but she and Kaga pale in comparison to you if the legends are to be believed."
Silence fell between the two. "Akagi was why I lost Saratoga. I swear on her legacy, that aircraft carrier won't see the end of this war." Bitterness was in her voice as she finally left the battleship to contemplate their conversation.
"Akagi… You really have made a lot of enemies over here, haven't you?"
"Easy does it… Easy does it." USS Helena instructed her idol partner USS San Diego as the crane lowered the speaker for their next concert to inspire the troops of Eagle Union…
That was the excuse, anyway. Everyone in Eagle Union and Azur Lane in general knew they just enjoyed the performance part of it and left them be. Especially for Helena, who was one of the more timid ships in the fleet but provided invaluable support both off and on the battlefield so the Commander turned a blind eye… But still unironically listened to Dimension Tripper! when he thought he was alone.
Sighing, the unofficial leader of Eagle Union approached the duo of idols. "Still slacking off, I see." She wasn't exactly amused.
"A-ah! Enterprise!" Helena immediately stood to attention, the Eagle Union aircraft carrier rolling her eyes.
"At ease. Just wondering if you could perform a little closer to Bismarck." She pointed to where the battleship containing the ship laid on the dock. "She seems a little down after her first mission and I want her to feel welcome."
Had this been any other Eagle Union ship, Helena would have denied the request, citing that they were already nearly set up and it took over an hour, but this was Enterprise. "Y-yes ma'am!" She turned to the aspiring idol in the crane. "Sandy! We're moving closer to the dock!"
"WHAT!?" The shock from the order made the light cruiser drop the speaker she was moving, causing it to crash to the ground. "AW SON OF A BIT-"
"NOT IN FRONT OF ENTY!" Helena yelled, trying to stop the cussing singer as the aircraft carrier left the scene.
"Hell of a work ethic…" She muttered to herself "Too bad we can't have that on the battlefield more often."
"Send the bill to Azur Lane." Hood had helped unload the new Iron Blood cannons in the cargo bay. Along with making sure the cannons were actually there, she wanted to ensure there were no hard feelings after the incident earlier with Bismarck. It seemed there weren't as the sailors seemed nice enough, if a little jumpy.
"Will do. Thanks for the help, Miss Hood." Two of the sailors were on the cargo deck, having delivered all the new equipment with the Royal Navy ship's help.
"Please stick to Hood."
"S-Sorry, Hood!" The sailors saluted as the battlecruiser sighed.
"It's quite alright. Please stay safe on your return to the delivery firm." She waved off the cargo ship as it started the long journey back to its base as Hood inspected the cannons herself.
Admittedly she wasn't much of a mechanic, but she could admire Iron Blood's sleek design of their weaponry. Sliding her hand over the cool, smooth steel, she wondered if Bismarck would let her borrow a pair for her next deployment.
She shook her head. Where did that come from? Her cannons were the top of the line, newly developed set of Royal Navy's artillery division. Sure, the Iron Blood tech could be better, but she'd also have to spend hours down at the firing range adjusting to the weight of the cannons on her rigging, which she had no time for anymore due to how frequently she was deployed these days.
"I see it went well." The Commander walked into the cargo bay, smiling at the latest deployment going perfectly, as expected of Azur Lane's premier shipgirl.
"Well, if not perfect. Bismarck took some damage and lost a cannon. Her ship's in the main dock." Hood shook her head. "We managed to sink Prinz Eugen at least."
"Great! Another Iron Blood lieutenant down. I do find it weird that the Sakura Empire aren't sending more of their own ships… Do you think Bismarck would know anything about that?" The Commander pondered.
"We'll ask her later. As you might imagine, I don't want to put too much pressure on her after her first deployment. I saw Enterprise going up to her ship before helping unload the cargo, so I'll ask her later." Hood explained. "Aside from that, do I have any more deployments today?"
Pulling out his phone, the Commander looked at the list. "Nope. You got the rest of the day off. I really did think it'd go worse than expected, that's why I booked the rest of the day off for you to unwind."
"Thanks." Hood gave the Commander a peck on his cheek. "Anything comes up, don't hesitate to ring." With a wave, Hood left the Commander to inspect the new weaponry.
"Prinz Eugen is gone? A shame." Akagi was listening to Ayanami's summary of the most recent failure of Crimson Axis, completely unaware of her deception.
"It is. Azur Lane are growing stronger by the day." Ayanami stated in a neutral tone, completely sick of the war. She simply wanted to stop fighting, but Akagi knew of her hidden strength and kept sending her out despite her insistence on staying behind. It's why she started to not fight at all during her deployments.
"You know… I'm shocked you haven't taken down any ships in quite a while." Akagi tilted her head as she supported it with a single hand. "Is there something wrong?"
Ayanami blinked. "Yes. I have told you several times that I wish to leave Crimson Axis. I yearn for peace. I have sent in the appropriate form multiple times and yet you have not responded to any of them."
Akagi gave a sigh. "I'd reject them personally, but you wouldn't get the message unless I told you to your face. You can't leave Crimson Axis. You'd jeopardize the lives of your fellow shipgirls that look up to you."
Ayanami showed no emotion in her face. "No. Their lives are in jeopardy because you refuse to realize how pointless this war truly is, despite your comrades dying left and right around you. This war will get to a point where you and Kaga will have to go deal with Azur Lane personally…"
Ayanami turned around. "And then you will perish for your stubbornness." She left the room without another word, leaving the foxgirl carrier alone to contemplate.
"I gave you every chance Ayanami. I really did." Akagi got out of her throne and headed to her safe behind the wall. Taking out her personal key, she unlocked it, opening it to reveal her plans.
Sorting out the documents, she pulled one out in particular. Namely, one involving a fake escort that would lead right to Azur Lane's waters.
A suicide mission for any solo ship and a trick she could pull only once… But Ayanami had failed her for the last time.
"Are you serious?" HMS Illustrious slammed her hands on the Commander's desk, having just been told the bad news.
"The math just checks out, Illustrious." The Commander tried not to focus on the pressing issue of the bouncing meat puppies in front of him, as Hood was in the room.
"The math checks out? YOU WANT TO DEPLOY MY LITTLE SISTER INTO THE WAR!"
The usually calm and collected aircraft carrier maid hadn't been this angry since the one time the Commander had been caught up in that media shitstorm… Or the night raid on Taranto where she annihilated multiple ships despite the darkness of the night.
"The math. Checks out." The Commander rubbed his temples. "Unicorn can heal the fleet mid-fight and she'd always be in the backlines due to being a light aircraft carrier. Look… I'm willing to compromise on this."
"I'm not!" Illustrious slammed her gloved hands onto the table again. "She's my sister!"
"Commander… I have to agree. She's the youngest ship in the Royal Navy and the only reason she has rigging in the first place is that it's a requirement to live here." Hood remained neutral on the situation, but had to support her Royal Navy comrade.
"I know it sounds wrong to be drafting someone as young as her in-"
"It is." They both said simultaneously."Especially someone as timid as her, who is jumpy around strangers and needs to be with me almost all the time, never mind in an actual war!"
"It's a learning experience?" He shrugged, to which Illustrious gave the deadliest of glares.
"No."
The Commander sighed. "Fine. What if I put her on one deployment-"
"No."
"But it'll be a simple escort-"
"No…"
"And I'll specifically have you and Hood in the backlines as well."
"... I'll consider it." She sat back with a sigh. "I know she keeps wanting to come with me on deployment and I don't like leaving her in the base on her own."
I nodded. "Next escort deployment I'll set you guys up with Helena and Laffey too, for extra safety." He sighed inwardly. "I do need a third vanguard ship for future full deployments."
Hood sighed. "USS Minneapolis still on her hunt?"
"Still won't return my calls." He confirmed. "Shame too, she was a ruthless killing machine."
"A shame. I'll look around the Royal Navy in a bit to see if Javelin would like to hang out with Laffey. I know the two are buddies, at least." Hood offered, if nothing else she could take advantage of her time off and catch up with some of her friends over there.
"Well, if that'll be all, I'd best get going." Illustrious got up, her assets bouncing again as she did so. "Have a meeting with Belfast and the rest of the maids. Apparently we're not working hard enough on keeping the base presentable."
It took all the Commander's strength to not headdesk. "I keep telling her that it's unnecessary."
"We all do." Hood sighed, craving caffeine. "I'll go make some tea. Good day to the both of you." She proceeded to leave with Illustrious, giving the Commander some privacy as he examined the blueprints for HMS Unicorn on his desktop.
"It doesn't make any sense." He muttered. "How can she heal ships by launching planes?.. But at the same time it would be so invaluable…"