Episode 10: Dealing with the Dutch

xxxxxxxxxx

Begun in Dutchess' Survival : r/Azur_Lane_FanFics/comments/rrbq74/the_sirens_won_the_war_for_freedom_begins/

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Now tell me why you want me to help you."

Lucia gazed back at Natalie, absorbing what she had just heard. In being truthful to herself, Lucia couldn't think of anything she could say that would convince Natalie of why she should help. Natalie had suffered so much during the last war and had lost even more afterwards.

"Well?"

The sudden change in Natalie's tone startled Lucia. Before Natalie's tone had been one of resignation, grief, and even a little bit of hope. Now, her tone had an edge that Lucia didn't like at all. Lucia could hear the repressed fury in that one word, and Lucia didn't want to accidentally have that fury unleashed on her.

"I really wish I could tell you that I know exactly where Observer Alpha has your wife, but I can't. I don't even have the slightest idea where to start looking. Besides, you've told me about yourself, it's only fair that I tell you about me." Lucia said to Natalie, who simply raised her right eyebrow in response.

"Go on."

Lucia took a deep breath in, and slowly let it out. Even though she had made the suggestion, it was nevertheless painful to remember what had happened to her.

"Up until the Nazis came to power, my life had been incredibly normal. My father had served aboard the battlecruiser Lützow at Jutland, and was the last person to see her before…" Lucia paused to take in a breath, "before they scuttled her. When the Nazis rose to power, my life turned upside down. My family had originally voted against them in 1930, but when our neighbors who were more outspoken in their oppostion started to dissapear, we knew we had no choice but to accept the Nazis as the ones in charge."

Lucia glanced at Natalie to gauge her reaction, but the Dutch girl's face was unreadable.

"Life continued as normal for the next 12 years, but that changed in 1942. My friend Annemarie had her mother taken away for asking a question about something Annemarie had heard. Annemarie's mother was returned after a trial where the judge somehow ruled in her favor, but she was never the same. Soon after, I joined the Edelwiess pirates group around Cologne."

Lucia paused and took a breath, this is where things got bad.

"A year past and late 1943 came which is when things took a turn for the worst. In October, the Gestapo rounded up two dozen people they claimed were 'subverting the war effort'."

Lucia snorted in mocking at those words before continuing.

"Those people were speaking the truth. The Northern Parliment was whipping us in the east, Rommel had been forced out of Africa that summer, and Sardenga was now falling to the Eagle Union and the Royals. Those people knew it was only a matter of time before there was an invasion in the west. The Gestapo didn't like that, and rounded them up before hosting a trial rigged to find them guilty. We were forced to watch those two dozen people dig their own graves before the Gestapo shot them."

Lucia shuddered at the memory.

"Even now I can hear the gunshots, see the bodies falling into the graves. The Gestapo only used one bullet for each victim and for some, one wasn't enough. The Gestapo didn't care. They forced us, the witnesses, to fill the graves. I can not get the face of the women I was forced to bury. She was still alive, gasping for breath. Her eyes glassy but still held life. We made eye contact once as I shoveled in the dirt, and I will never forget the look she gave me."

Lucia closed her eyes as a tear leaked out of her right eye. Even with her eyelids down, tears leaked out the sides of her eyes. Taking another deep breath to try and stop the tears, Lucia continued her story.

"The next five months are a blur. More people disappearing, Gestapo executions, bombing raids that became more and more frequent, and the time I was…"

Lucia paused and shuddered again before continuing.

"April and May of 1944 were the only months during the entire war I can remember feeling happy. I had met the love of my life. He always lit up my day when I saw him, which was every other day. Those two brief months were the best of my life. But then June came, and it all went away. Rumours began floating around that there had been a massive invasion of the former Iris Othordoxy by the Royals and Eagle Union. Turns out, those rumours were true. Gustav, the boy I'd fallen for, was transferred to the panzer division, and I never saw him again.

More tears leaked out of Lucia's eyes, and she angrily wiped them away.

"I was filled with so much anger that when I heard about Hans Steinbrück and made contact, I felt good about being able to get back at the Nazis in some small way. We stole food as well as vehicles and sold goods on the black market. Eventually, we started to buy guns on the black market. As our operation grew, I knew it couldn't last forever, and I was proven right. During a round of general inspection, an army patrol found our celler warehouse. Steinbrück managed to escape, but they later searched the apartment where he'd been staying. Few days later, he and a deserter by the name of Roland Lorent stole some bicycles and weapons before collecting me and a few others to go on a 'Nazi Hunt'."

Lucia paused to shift her sitting position as her side began to hurt. Idly running her hand over where the shrapnel had hit her, Lucia resumed her story.

"When we got to Steinbrück's girlfriend's house, we found an army gaurd there. Steinbrück and Lorent opened fire on him, seriously injuring hime. During this, a member of the SA was riding toward us on a bike. I shot him off of it and he was dead before he hit the ground. A man wearing boots, who we assumed was a Nazi, was also killed. After that, we went to an embankment by the train tracks to wait. While sitting there we fired into a group of people, killing a member of the Hitler Youth. We tried stealing some explosives as well, but that didn't go as great."

"On October 3, 1944, Lorent was arrested, followed by the Gestapo arresting other members of the group on October 8, 1944. Not long after, Steinbrück as arrested as well. By October 15, the Gestapo had made 63 arrests, including 19 of my group of Edelwiess Pirates. Of these, thirteen of the males, including six Edelwiess Pirates, were executed without trial in a public hanging next to the Ehrenfeld train station on November 10, 1944. That was the worst. Most of them died right away from thier necks being snapped, but not Johann Müller. He was to light for that. Instead, we were forced to watch as he dangled there for hours. The agony on his face is something I will never forget."

Lucia suddenly stood and threw her cup of coffee at the tank before pacing back and forth. As she paced, she continued to speak to Natalie, her words beginning to glow with repressed fury.

"When the war ended, I rejoiced. No more Gestapo, no more fear, no more death. That lasted a good two months before the sirens showed up and took over the world. We in Cologne did what we did to the Nazis. We fought back, but you can guess how well that went were slaughtered. I watched my best friend Raci get vaporized a blast from a Tracker class siren. My father was killed trying to rescue a young child that had been trapped by falling debris. My mother… I held her in my arms as she beld to death from a massive hole in her chest caused by debris from the blast that killed my father."

Lucia now stopped pacing a whirled around to face Natalie. Gone was the face of a girl in pain from injuries, Now, her face was one of outright hostility to the girl who had a siren sleeping on her lap.

"Throughout the war I had my parents and Raci. Now they're gone, thanks to your little siren's friends. If Carina hadn't have trusted your judgement, I would have killed your little siren on the spot. All I want is for the sirens to die in an as horrible way as my friends and family. Since you seem to want the same thing, I guess that means we're allies. But mark my words: if you or your little siren friend make one wrong move, I will not hesitate to shoot either of you."

All the activity in the last minute seemed to drain Lucia of her anger, and she slumped against the drive sprocket of the tank. What remained of her anger turned back to sadness, as Lucia began to cry. Tears streamed down her face as Lucia slid down to the ground. As she stared at Natalie through her tears, Lucia noticed a strange change in the Dutch girl.

xxxxxxxxxx

Continued in Dutchess' Survival

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Fine by me, and he's a Corporal, not a Private." Lucia told Natalie, pulling herself up from the ground, tears drying on her face.

"Same thing." Natalie responded, rolling her eyes.

Lucia glared at Natalie, but didn't respond. Moving toward the GIs, Lucia stumbled as her vision blurred ahain.

"Woah there." Clarence said, coming up to her.

Lucia didn't fight Calarence's help like she normally would have, and instead leaned into him for support.

"Natalie, the Dutch girl, wants to go back to the square. She insists that Observer Alpha will be there for some reason or other." Lucia told Clarence, who just looked at her questioningly.

"And what does that have to do with me?' Clarence asked, although he had a pretty good idea.

"You're the only one she trusts to escort us there. Don't ask me why, but she just does."

Clarence stared at Lucia, before simply shrugging his shoulders. Why should he question a girl who had a siren as her friend, and a Iron Blood girl who simply didn't know when to stop.

"Alright. I'm coming along. Just make sure not to overexert yourself again. We don't need you falling unconious should Observer Alpha show up."

xxxxxxxxxx

Concluded in Dutchess' Survival

xxxxxxxxxxx

Author's note: Hey guys! I'm back from the sudden hiatus. Call episode 9 a winter finale if you would. Anyways, I will (hopefully) go back to the upload schedule of every 2-5 days. If I don't post something in that time frame, then just assume that the next episode is something big. I have about 8 more episodes planned for this season, and then the BP raid season will commence. TitanSlayr, TinselTangent and I have something big brewing on that back burner that will be moved to the front fairly quickly. I guarantee you won't want to miss it.