Chapter Six: Fight Night At The Lane
König and Roon were currently at a nice secluded spot of the beach as they trained. The time for the fight was only a few days away now. Preparations had been going smoothly and the hybrid kansen had made good progress in his training. However, his current issue was trying to not get his face ripped off by a particular heavy cruiser. While Roon's face was calm and happy, her gauntlet-covered hands screamed rip and tear!
König dodged left and ducked before shooting forward with his blades gleaming in the light of the sun. Making a quick slash to try and throw Roon off and then stabbing motion with the other. The heavy cruiser made a quick twist and narrowly avoided the strike. Roon quickly reached out and gripped the battleship's outstretched arm. A devious smirk played across her lips and as for König. He barely had time to regret his decision. Before he suddenly found himself ripped clean off his feet swung upwards and then down through the air. To then being slammed viciously into the ground like he owed the woman money.
"Shit that hurt, though not as much as when we first started." König groaned out as he lay half-buried in the sand.
Roon inspected herself now that the spar was finished. She noticed the front of her uniform across the belly was sliced. There was even a minor cut on her skin, she smiled at this surprisingly enough. "You've gotten much better since when we began," Roon spoke with satisfaction as she faced the hybrid. "You can actually penetrate my guard enough to cut me, even if only minorly. When we first started you couldn't come even remotely close to that much." She finished as she help her friend back onto his feet.
"I can't deny that one Roon. You certainly live up to your reputation of being one of most proficient CQC fighters amongst all kansen." König responded while brushing the sand off himself. "Hopefully all this training will be enough."
"Your ability at range has always been good and your close combat had improved considerably. You're more prepared than you think but let's review a few things. So let's go over your specific skills once more. You possess five skills, three attack, a defense, and support skill respectively." Roon piped up in a teacher-like tone.
The battleship kansen nodded his head, he had done a lot more study into his specific skills. When not sparing with Roon, not just for the upcoming fight but in general. Every kansen had certain skills after all and it always was encouraged to properly master them through study. Once he had begun awakening his skills during his training with Bismarck and Tirpitz. He worked with Z-23 utilizing the various skill books. The destroyer had even helped him come up with names for them. Not to mention getting an understanding of where his base stats lie. Azur Lane had developed a level and stat system as a means to gauge the capabilities of the kansen.
"Right then," König began "My first attack skill is Sunderer every twenty seconds after the battle starts. I can release a damaging salvo blast that causes burn and armor break. My defense skill is Unyielding Defense every twenty-five second's I can summon four rotating shields. Each shield can block up to ten hits or last fifth-teen seconds. My support skill is King's Decree of the Ironblood at the start of a fight.I and any other Ironblood ships in my fleet have their firepower, torpedo (if applicable), aviation (if applicable), reload, evasion, and crit rate. Receive a twenty percent boost. If in the flagship position this boost increases to thirty percent. These enhancements can stack with other boosts. My second attack skill is Siren's Bane. I do twenty percent more damage against all siren enemies. My final skill and third attack skill is Magnetic Torpedo Barrage. I can fire both of my torpedo launchers simultaneously every twenty seconds."
"Good, now stats." Roon urged on.
"My stat's before modifiers is as follows. HP 11,500, FP 460, AA 425, TRP 300, LCK 10, Armor is heavy type, AVI 0, Accuracy 90, RLD 170, EVA 35, Speed 30, and Oil Cost 25. My gear proficiencies, Main guns 120%-150%, Secondary guns 180%-220%, and Anti-Air guns 120%-140%.
"You're going to be able to compete with your competition, you should at least," Roon added on though with a slight uneasiness at the end. Something that didn't escape the battleship.
"How concerned do I need to be about my potential opponent from the Parliament?" He questioned in return.
Roon gave a sigh and began to explain. "The Northern Parliament only has three kansen they could viably put against you. All three of them are battleships like you. They would be Gangut, Sovetskaya Rossiya herself, and her younger sister Sovetskaya Belorussiya. I can tell you already it won't be Gangut. While I wouldn't call her weak, she's an older battleship that wouldn't hold up in an engagement against you. I doubt it will be Rossiya, while she's a powerful battleship and the NP leader at port for a reason. When it comes to pure fighting capabilities from what I've seen, Belorussiya edges her out slightly. She's the one you will be fighting, I'm sure of it."
"Why do I feel like there's a bit more here to be told?"
Roon was silent in thought for a moment before she spoke. "Here's the thing about it all. When stacked side by side you clearly have the edge when compared on paper. Though I wouldn't say she is that far behind you. The real factor at play here is the matter of experience. While everyone was hit hard by the sirens, the territory of the NP. Was hit the hardest due to being so far and away from everyone else. While they managed to eventually hold the line and push back. The losses suffered from what we know were staggering, Belorussiya fought in and survived the worst of it. You in comparison are still for the most part a total greenhorn."
König hummed to himself a little thinking about that. Roon was right, having high-quality equipment was one thing. However, having lots of actual battle experience and knowing how to properly apply it. That was certainly an even more important and valuable trait, and something he certainly lacked. "Anything else I should be aware of?"
"She'll make you pay for practically any mistake you make. She'll make it painful, but she'll also make it last. The woman is a sadist in combat, a true sadist at that. Not like Deutschland who simply puts up a front to cover her insecurities. Be wary of this as you fight her." Roon finished with an air of caution in her tone.
König was silent as he took this new information in. It certainly tossed a new spin on things. "That's something I'm glad to know ahead of time, caution will be key."
"By the way," The heavy cruiser cut in. "While all this has managed to stay under the radar for now. Once this all happens no matter the result the whole port will know. Lord Bismarck and the Kommandantin being the two of the biggest concern."
"I'm not too concerned about Lord Bismarck as long as I win anyways. She might be a little miffed but bringing Lützow home will keep her from dealing any real punishment. Maruyama is another matter but she won't be able to punish me all that badly. While she's the port Commander she's an Eagle Union officer and I'm an Ironblood. She'll only be able to get away with punishing me so much without overstepping her boundaries."
"You really have thought this all out, haven't you?"
The hybrid chuckled a little. "As I've said before Mein Freund, it's all about knowing how to play the field." With that said he walked away and headed back to the dorms. As he sat at his desk he pulled out both the old diary and his own. Placing the two on the top of the desk once he finished with them for the night.
A few days later both König and Roon were gathered at the training grounds by the spar area. Across from them were some of the members of the Northern Parliament. He saw Avrora, Rossiya, Lützow, and another woman he assumed was Belorussiya. She was just as tall as her sister, but she had very long blue hair. She wore a very form-fitting outfit styled in the usual NP way. Though hers was much more revealing and played up her sex appeal compared to Rossiya. If the huge amount of underboob she was showing was any indication. Plus, while he couldn't confirm he was fairly certain she was going commando just like Prinz Heinrich did. A few minutes later they all stood face to face only a few feet apart.
König looked at Belorussiya as the woman ran her eyes up and down, sizing him up. A smirk spread across her face a rather predatory one at that too. "So this's the one I'm to fight?" She said with curiosity before licking her lips. "It will be fun to steadily break you into submission."
A giggle from Roon brought everyone's attention to her. "Don't be so certain of that one. König may lack the experience the rest of us have he's still quite powerful all the same. Underestimate him and he'll have you flat on your back in no time. Though I suppose you're used to being in such a position."
Belorussiya glared at the Ironblood heavy cruiser. "Perhaps I'll break you as well Roon? Then I'll hand you off to Chapayev, she'll put you on a leash and use you as her pet."
Roon simply glared back at the battleship before a slasher smile spread across her face. "As much as I would greatly enjoy tearing you asunder and to record your screams of agony as I did so. Just so I could listen to them every night as I go to sleep." Roon finished sinisterly before her face reverted to a calm expression. Her voice went to a polite and happy tone. "However, that job today belongs to König."
"Just to clarify real quick, I'm just here to win a fight. Not to do any of that." The hybrid cut in. "We should probably get this going before someone stops this from happening."
With that said, König and Belorussiya made their way to the water and summoned their riggings. While the others watch from the shoreline. The two fighters lined up across from each other. Looking at his opponent's rigging, König noticed her set up was rather similar to an Ironblood rigging.
On the shoreline, Avrora was preparing to give the signal to start. "Ready. Set. GO!" The cruiser yelled as she brought her arm down as the signal.
König immediately backed into reverse wanting to put himself at a medium-range to his target. He wanted to avoid being too close where his opponent could overtake him in close quarters combat. He also wanted to avoid being at too long of range. Turtle-backs key weakness was taking hits from a long-range, so sticking to the medium-range was his best option.
He quickly dived left to avoid a salvo from Belorussiya, he then returned fire with his own. The Northern Parliament kansen avoided it and blasted another barrage of her main guns. This time however it was accompanied by a special salvo he couldn't avoid. While it didn't do that much damage it did have another unexpected effect. "That salvo seriously cut back my speed!" He thought with mild alarm. Belorussiya moved forward to close the gap as she did so König kicked off his sunderer skill. His own special salvo fired off and connected, forcing her to halt her advance. To deal with the whole being set on fire thing.
Not wanting to pass up the opportunity the hybrid's main guns roared to life. Belorussiya manage to dodge at the last second and returned with a barrage of her own. König was going to dodge but noticed the shots were falling short. They hit the water in front of him and sent large geysers of water up into the air. All the water came crashing down soaking him and temporarily blinding him. The water cleared just in time for him to see a fist coming his way.
"She shot short on purpose!" That was all he could think before a fist slammed harshly into his face. He couldn't keep himself from staggering back and receiving another harsh fist to the gut. Feeling the wind getting knocked out of him, König knew he needed to do something quickly. The two innermost jaws of his rigging opened up wide to reveal his launchers.
"He has torpedoes!" Belorussiya exclaimed in surprise right before she was slammed with the dual torpedo blasts. The two battleships were completely engulfed in a mass burst of water, explosives, and smoke. Once that all cleared both were at distance from each other again. The NP battleship had all sorts of burn marks and she was bleeding from a few places. Not to mention she was looking rather pissed off now. König having been so close to the blast zone didn't get away unscathed himself. His right sleeve was blown off and his arm was noticeably singed in a few places.
Belorussiya fired off her special salvo once more and the hybrid knew he couldn't avoid it. While he expected his own speed to be decreased, he wasn't expecting his opponent to move as quickly as she did. After all, she did just eat a mass number of torpedoes. As the Russian battleship closed the gap, she pulled out a dagger in each hand and thrust them both into his gut.
Let it be known that getting stabbed really sucked, being stabbed twice even more so. König didn't have much time to ponder this before he received a brutal knee to the chin. Belorussiya quickly swung around behind the hybrid using her own rigging to keep his tied up. She used one arm to put him in a chokehold while using the other. To pull out another dagger.
"Keeping your torpedoes hidden within your rigging like that. I'll admit you got me off guard with that. Something I wouldn't have expected from a battleship." Belorussiya spoke into König's ear. "Fortunately, I have a skill to help me should I sustain so much damage at a given point. It's been a while since I took so much damage in a fight but that makes my fun even better." She then pressed another dagger into his gut, nowhere vital but still hurt like hell. König thrashed and tried to pry her arm from his neck with his hands. With no luck as she had him held like a vice. "Struggle, beg, cry in pain in your fruitless efforts to escape. I love it when my prey does that as they steadily lose the will to fight. Having such control, such dominance in a fight. What a sensational feeling and thrill it is." She then jammed a dagger into one of his legs.
"Ahh!" The hybrid couldn't keep himself from yelling in pain as he felt steel pierce his flesh once more.
"Let me hear your cries more and more, as your will to fight drains away!" The blue-haired woman spoke as she tightened the hold on his throat.
König's vision began to get hazy from lack of oxygen. He gripped her arm with both hands, but it was useless. "I can't break free. Is this how I lose? No, I can't lose, not like this. Not now, not ever! I won't, I won't, I WON'T!" He roared in his mind and in that moment something awoke in him. A surge coursed through his mind and body. An almost primal, bestial growl then escaped his throat. The slightest sparking of black electricity ran across his body. His hands gripped the arm around his throat, harder than one would think possible for even a kansen.
A sickening snapping sound could be heard as Belorussiya's arm was shattered instantly in multiple places. "GAAHHH!" The Russian cried out in horrendous pain as she was forced to let go and backed away. "засранец!" She yelled in anger before suddenly freezing up.
König had turned to face her, and she noticed something about him was different. His stance, his deep breathing, the slight sparking of electricity on his body. However, what really unnerved her was his eyes. They were dilated and didn't look like something that belonged to a person. No, they were more reminiscent of something belonging to a primal beast. They were filled with a bestial sense of fury, bloodlust, and desire to wreak destruction. She could also swear for the briefest moment the eyes went from blue to red before going right back. They didn't belong to anything remotely human. They belonged to some sort of leviathan of death and chaos. Something about that legitimately scared the absolute hell out of her.
The Ironblood battleship charged forward faster than he had moved before. Caught off guard in surprise by everything suddenly happening Belorussiya couldn't avoid being hit. An audible crunch sound could be heard as König's fist connected into the side of her face. He quickly swung his other fist and connected her face again. With the same amount of destructive force in his berserk-like state. Quickly reaching with a hand the hybrid held Belorussiya's throat in an iron grip. Then he brought back his free hand and with all the force he could bring to bear. Buried his fist viciously into her gut. Belorussiya's eyes bulged widely right before she turned her head to the side. Then proceeded to vomit out bile and blood. Everything seemed to stop for a moment, then her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her body went completely limp soon after.
It was at this moment with the fight effectively over, König came back to his senses. His eyes widened in shock at the sight before him. "Did… did I do this?" He questioned himself. In truth, once he felt that surge when he was struggling, things went blank. He didn't remember beating down Belorussiya into her current state at all. While this current development was certainly concerning he had more pressing matters before him. Like making sure he hadn't unintentionally killed the blue-haired woman in his grasp.
Once she fell unconscious her rigging dissipated, taking his grip off her throat. He then carefully checked her pulse. He was relieved it was still there and noticed the slight up and down motion of her chest as she breathed. Gently, he picked her up with both arms bridal style and made his way back to shore. To be greeted by the shocked looks of Rossiya and Avrora. As he reached the beach putting his rigging away as he did. Meanwhile, Roon stood not too far away with a shit-eating grin on her face.
"You should get her to Vestal and have her looked over," König spoke up, snapping Rossiya out of her current state. "She's not in danger of dying but she needs medical attention all the same."
Rossiya walked over and took her sister into her arms as she began to walk away, she paused. "Tallinn!" She suddenly exclaimed. "You are freed from your service to the Northern Parliament and may return to the Ironblood."
"Just like that?" König questioned
"After we made our deal, I informed my superiors on what was happening. They were in agreement considering the rewards would worth be the risk. We were all quite certain that my sister would be the one to prevail in this fight. You are certainly one for surprises." With that said she continued on her way. Avrora gave brief look his way before giving a small smile. Before she left off in the direction of the base bar. No doubt to start spreading the news of what just transpired.
Before König could do anything else he was suddenly pulled into a tight hug by Lützow. She had her head buried in his shoulder as tears of joy streamed down her face. "Thank you, thank you so much." She softly spoke as she kept up her embrace. While he wanted to do something to show that he appreciated her thanks. Her hugging him gave him a few rather painful reminders.
"Lützow I'm happy that this all worked out. Though could you let off on the hugging for a bit. The daggers are still in me and your hugging isn't exactly helping with that."
"I'm so sorry!" She cried out jumping back.
"Don't worry too much about it. Roon why don't you take Lützow to the dorms. I'm gonna head off to Vestal and get patched up. Hopefully, she'll be able to get to me soon enough." The hybrid chirped as he began making his way to the medical ward. It was a little awkward walking with an assortment of daggers sticking out of him. Thankfully he didn't run into anyone on the way. "Vestal, you're not too busy at the moment I hope." He called out a bit sheepishly.
"König! You mind further explaining why exactly Rossiya showed up wi-" The repair ship began ranting as she made her way to where the Ironblood was. Only to cut herself off once she saw his condition. "Good lord, you have all those daggers in you! Quickly follow me!"
"How's Belorussiya doing?"
"She's been treated and stable. She'll be out for a short time, but she'll make a full recovery. Rossiya gave me somewhat of a rundown of what happened. You should know I've already informed Commander Maruyama." Vestal explained as the two entered a treatment room. "What in the world were you thinking by pulling this stunt?"
"Correcting a mistake that never should've happened to begin with. Trying to bring a family back together that was unfairly ripped apart." König replied as he sat down and let Vestal do her work. He couldn't help but wince a bit as she removed each dagger.
"I'll admit while I do find your goal noble, I question the method used to achieve it." The repair ship retorted as she continued to treat the Ironblood. As she took a look at his burned arm. She noticed something peculiar watching closely she could see the burns steadily healing on their own. While kansen did heal faster than humans, this healing seemed fast even by kansen standards. She quickly ordered König to remove his jacket and the black sleeveless tight-fit workout shirt he wore underneath it. Taking a medical cloth she wiped the blood away from a stab wound on his abdomen. Once she did she noticed that the wound that there had already healed to a scratch and was healing further. She took a hand and gently ran it across the area. It was healing in a way that it wouldn't even leave a scar.
"Everything is healing so quickly and completely." Vestal thought to herself. "I've suspected he's possessed some type of advanced healing factor. I thought as much when he healed rather quickly after the accident that made him how he is. This now only confirms my thoughts. Something about his hybrid nature must be responsible for this." With those final thoughts, vestal quickly cleaned the other stab areas and noticed the same thing. She then put a healing salve on the burned arm and wrapped it. As she finished that and König put his clothes back on. A knock was heard at the door and Vestal went to answer it. Opening the door to see who it was, she stepped inside to let them inside and closed the door.
Maruyama walked into the room and she looked rather annoyed at the moment. She fixed König with a hard look. "So, do you mind telling me just what the hell you were thinking? I've already talked to Rossiya and received a full breakdown from her end." Maruyama harshly snapped
"Trying to bring a family back together. Yes, I fully admit that I purposely kept this hidden. I knew you would stop it if you had found out and I'm prepared to take whatever punishment you wish to give." The hybrid calmly replied.
"Goddammit König, while I can respect what you aimed to do. You can't go doing things like this behind my back. It undermines my authority as the port Commander. I have enough shit on my plate as it is with the high command and dealing with the sirens. I don't need two of my strongest kansen trying to beat each other to near death. Regardless of the circumstances for it."
Oh boy, now he really felt like a jackass. König really did like Maruyama and in his planning. He failed to take into account what possible repercussions she could face. If things had gone really bad at some point. He hung his head in shame as he realized his short-sightedness.
"Thankfully, nothing all that bad seemed to happen. Belorussiya is roughed up but nothing permanent. While I would punish Rossiya for her part in this. She'll have her superiors in Moscow to deal with. Since she'll have to explain the loss of a heavy cruiser kansen. Something they won't be happy about even if they did agree to the whole deal. You are another matter; you're going on port restriction for the next week. I'll be finding additional duties in the form of assisting around the base as needed." Maruyama finished with finality as she turned on her heel and left.
"Well then, you're free to go König unless you have anything else to add?" Vestal mused after some silence.
For a moment he contemplated talking about his blanking out during the fight but decided against it. He needed more time to think on that one himself before he told anyone else. With a shake of his head, he took his leave and headed for the Ironblood dorms.
Once he walked inside, he was immediately greeted by a celebratory atmosphere. Music, dance, drinking, and more, it would seem everyone was taking Lützow's return with vigor. Before he got any further he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder from behind. He turned his head and was greeted by Bismarck herself.
"Good of you to join us König." Bismarck merely stated.
"Good evening, Lord Bismarck."
"I've been told by the Commander and Roon that we have you to thank for Lützow's sudden return. Part of me feels as though I need to punish you for the stunt you pulled. But," she said and gestured to everything all around. "I can permit letting this slide this once." Then her grip on the hybrids shoulder tightened and her eyes narrowed. "However, pull some shit like this again behind my back and there will be problems. Understood?" König gulped and nodded his head. "Good, now go celebrate your victory."
The next thing König knew, he was suddenly pulled into the crowd. The rest of the night seemed to blur after that as much alcohol was had. He drank a good deal of it with the Hipper sisters. They were the most excited to have their wayward sister home at last. Eventually the celebrating began to die out as everyone made their way to bed. König for his part was helped to his room due to how intoxicated he was. He wasn't sure who was supporting him as they made their way to his room. Make it there they finally did and once they got inside, he was laid on his bed and he promptly passed out.
The individual who after making sure König was tucked away in his bed and fast asleep. Took a moment to inspect the battleship's room for they had never been in it before. She noticed what looked to be an old and new diary of sorts sitting out on a desk. Being the inquisitive person she was, she went about looking through them. Her eyes widened in surprise from what she read as she looked between them and König. She laid the diaries back down right where she found them. She put a finger almost playfully to her lips as she thought about what she had just discovered.
"Now this's a very interesting development indeed." Prinz Eugen mused to herself as she then left the room closing the door behind her.
AN/EDIT: Okay so a few people are really critical about the angle with Tallinn/ Lützow. I went with my direction based upon how the girls are written by the creators of AL. I think a few people might be overlooking the fact that kansen are actual people with a full range of thoughts and emotions. Not just mere ships of war.
The whole debate about kansen being people or just tools of war. And how some factions view them in one way or the other. Was something hinted at earlier towards the end of chapter four. Now to best explain Tallinn and how she's written in AL itself. Foil her against Murmansk, a crusier who was originally from the Eagle Union as Milwaukee. And how both have taken to being sent off to the NP.
Murmansk has adapted well to life in the Parliament, having developed a taste for vodka and some proficiency at the language. Tallinn seems to be a fish out of water in the Parliament, outright refusing to drink vodka in favor of the Ironblood favorite beer. She also never says a word of Russian that isn't a name.
Murmansk has also made friends with her Northern Parliament comrades and never mentions any of her former Eagle Union cohorts. The only Parliament shipgirl that Tallinn seems to tolerate is Kirov, to the extent she gets along better with Admiral Hipper than any of them. In fact she seems to get along better with the Ironblood girls in general. Then she does those of her own faction at all. Something that's been shown in the in-game Juustagram post from time to time. As well as voicelines.
To me, I interpret AL's writing of her as she just isn't happy being in the NP. And that she still at least misses her fellow kansen of the Ironblood a good deal. I plan on exploring deeper into the story about the IB leadership and others being bastardy towards there kansen. Again, something I previously alluded to earlier in the story. Hopefully this helps clear things up. Thank you for reading and I hope you continue to do so.