Sunbeams appeared where the sea and ice meets the sky. The horizon became pale green, then orange then red and slowly the Sun emerged. Its light made long shadows on the ice. The Arctic slowly woke up from its long sleep as summer was coming up.
"Good morning." said Heinrich with a smile walking out to the deck. "It's been a while since we saw it."
"It's been too long to be honest." replied Bismarck.
"So, it has been about a year now, huh?"
"About."
Nearly an entire year was behind them since Heinrich got to Bismarck's deck. And how many things have happened since then! From a hated enemy the battleship became his close friend, his co-fighter then a so fantastic girlfriend he could only imagine before.
The time went on and it was now six months since they left the Sogne-fjord. During this time they had to move again twice. First the light cruisers Nürnberg, Karlsruhe and Exeter found them between the frozen islets by Greenland. That fight didn't last too long, a big blast from the super-gravity cannon sank all of them in no time. Their next hiding place was a bay of the Russian island Novaya Zemlya. There they fought the cruisers Kirov, Voroshilov, Kalinin and the battleship Petropavlovsk. This was a tougher one; they caught Bismarck and Heinrich in the bay so they didn't have much place to maneuver. It was impossible to dodge all the enemy torpedoes and many hit the Klein-field. Heinrich told Bismarck to take out the three cruisers first. Petropavlovsk had big guns but her ship was designed after a very old battleship built before WW1.
When the guns went silent our friends were victorious again and they could get the union core of Kirov, but the ship took severe damage and it had to be repaired in a quiet place. That's how they got to the 191 icy, inhabited islands of the Franz Joseph Land only about 900 kilometers from the North Pole. As it was summer the black rocks were visible on many islands. The vegetation consisted only of lichen and moss. They saw a few belugas in the coastal waters and arctic foxes and walruses on the shore. Icebergs were floating around everywhere.
It took them a whole day to restore the damaged parts such as the rear rangefinder and radar, the starboard secondary armament and sections of the superstructure and the hull.
A few days later they left the Franz Joseph Land, that area is accessible only for a few weeks in summer. They didn't want problems with the ice.
One day Heinrich stood at the bridge looking at a map.
"What are you thinking about dear?" asked Bismarck hugging him from behind.
"You see. I know we wanted to disappear but this place over Siberia is just… TOO abandoned. Not to mention it's not really the best place for sailing. I doubt you have lust for shooting constantly to destroy the ice in our way."
"So? Where would you like to go?"
"To Alaska. More or less it's the same stuff there, but if we go south the environment is a little bit friendlier. There are a lot of islands, islets, straits and bays. Great place to hide. What do you say Bismarck."
"Wherever you go I go there too. Alaska then?"
"Alaska." said Heinrich turning back and kissing her.
They turned to the southeast and sailed nearly 800 kilometers on the icy, cruel sea. Then they passed through the Vilkitsky Strait between the Russian mainland and Bolshevik Island. Wait! Bolshevik Island? Heinrich laughed a bit on this. The other one is called October Revolution Island and another's name is Komsomolets Island. It looks like they forgot to rename them after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
On the other side of the strait the Laptev Sea waited them. They sailed following the coastline. Sometimes in the distance they could see roofs of the houses of small towns and villages. Heinrich always wondered what life can be like in a so isolated place like this.
They left behind the delta of the Lena River, then after another two days and hundreds of kilometers again the Bismarck arrived to the East Siberian Sea through another strait. This will be a really long travel, more than 1000 kilometers 'till the Vrangel Island. But after that the next stop will be the Chukchi Sea, and its eastern coast is the Alaskan mainland itself.
They could only move slowly, they had to break their way through the thick ice. But for compensation the weather was pretty nice compared to the climate zone. There were only a few clouds in the sparkling, blue sky. Heinrich and Bismarck even would have liked to go out to the deck if the air wasn't freezing.
The travel through the East Siberian Sea lasted for four days before they passed near the Vrangel Island and turned to the southeast.
"Finally, the last 600 kilometers in this area. I'm getting fed up with this empty refrigerator." sighed Bismarck sitting in the saloon.
"Where we go will be much better." said Heinrich.
"Where do you want to go in Alaska specifically?"
"I think the delta of the Yukon will be okay. We can hide between the many islands and canals."
"So we should pass through the Bering Strait?" asked Bismarck frowning.
"Yeah."
"It's a bit risky. It's only 82 kilometers wide at its narrowest point. What if they detect us from one of the shores?"
"You are right. Unluckily I have no idea if there is any military installation around there. That's why we shall pass through at night. As fast as we can."
"Agree. But unluckily I don't know anything about the Fog in the Pacific either."
"Let's hope that they don't really care about this "refrigerator"."
After all, their last day in the Arctic Sea arrived. The weather was clear so they could see the shores of Russia to the right and America to the left on the horizon. It was still day so Bismarck stopped the ship and anchored down waiting for the darkness.
"Nights are short in summer, especially here. I suggest entering the strait at 22:00 p.m." said Bismarck.
"Good idea. The critical point is between Cape Dezhnev and Cape Prince of Wales. After that the strait becomes wider but we should leave that point behind as fast as possible."
"From which side shall we bypass the Diomede Islands?"
"From the east. From the American side."
"Alright. Then I guess all we have to do is waiting for now."
"Maybe. Or we can go down and I can try to teach you again how to make Viennese donuts. As I remember your last try nearly set the ship on fire." said Heinrich with a teasing smile.
"Beware what you say! I can still set YOU on fire!" replied Bismarck giving him a weak slap.
"Don't worry, you do it every day, I ensure you."
"What… Embarrassing spiels again huh?" said Bismarck blushing deeply.
"Hey, I'm just being honest." shrugged Heinrich.
"Okay Herr Honestman. Let's go. At least we'll not be bored in meantime." said Bismarck taking him by the hand and leading him downstairs.
The hours melted away. The sky turned to grey then black. Bismarck lifted the anchor and started up the engines again.
They approached the Bering Strait with a high but still safe speed. Short after they reached the narrowest part of the strait what separates the easternmost point Asia and the westernmost point of the North American continent. Though they saw the lights of small Alaskan towns they didn't meet with any other signs of life. They both let out a little sigh of relief when they left Cape Prince of Wales and Little Diomede Island behind and with the strait wider Bismarck increased the speed. Slowly the shores on both sides vanished into the dark.
"Okay, only 200 more kilometers 'till the St. Lawrence Island. We'll easily make it within a day." stated Heinrich.
"You know I'm actually surprised that we didn't meet with anybody." said Bismarck. "Not as if I missed it."
"Same here." said Heinrich. "Heh! But think of it! Technically we are on the other side of the world. We met at the North Sea first, wandered through the Norwegian Sea, the Greenland Sea, and the Arctic Sea and now we are entering the Pacific Ocean."
"It was a long way indeed." nodded Bismarck.
"And who knows where else we'll go! Actually I've always loved travelling. For example I've wanted to visit Japan in my whole life."
"We can go there someday if you'd like to."
"Nah." waved Heinrich. "As they are isolated since a while I'm sure they would find it curious how a European shows up suddenly in their country. I don't want to be suspicious."
"I see." said Bismarck as they passed by the eastern side of the 145 kilometer long St. Lawrence Island.
But as soon as they got out from the cover of the island the sensors alarmed them. However there wasn't really need for it, they could see the group of Fog ships only about five kilometers away.
"O, Scheiße! (O, shit!)" Yelled Heinrich and Bismarck in the same time and Bismarck activated her Klein-field within a second.
"Bismarck, try to figure it out who the hell they are!"
"I'm on it!" said Bismarck and started to compare the silhouettes of the Fog ships with the historical ones in her data base. She soon had the result. "One Myoko-class heavy cruiser, two Nagara-class light cruisers and two Fubuki-class destroyers."
"That's just great!"
"Do you know anything about them Heinrich?"
"I've learned about their WW2 versions. I know how big their armament is but nothing more. The four smaller ones will not be a problem but that heavy cruiser is another topic."
"What should we do?"
"They know nothing about us either. Let's see how they react."
Ashigara's POV
Ashigara was just as much surprised as our friends. She didn't expect a huge, unknown battleship with unknown identification sign suddenly appearing from nowhere.
"Aaaaah! What on earth?" she gasped on top of her bridge. She searched in her own data base but it didn't contain this ship. She followed Bismarck's example, she analyzed the characteristics of the unknown vessel and searched among the ships from the WW2 era.
(8 X 380 mm cannons)
(12 X 150 mm cannons)
(150 photon cannons)
(Super-gravity cannon)
(30 X 533 mm torpedo tubes)
(30 X missile launchers)
(Length: 251 meters)
(Displacement: 50.000 tons)
(3 propellers)
(Mental model: detected)
Taking these informations and the silhouette into a count Ashigara found a match: Bismarck-class battleship. And because this ship is 251 meters long, it must be Bismarck herself as the Tirpitz was a bit bigger even than the Bismarck.
"Oh! How interesting!" said Ashigara more joyfully this time like she used to. "What could bring you here?" Then she let out a sign.
Bismarck's POV
Bismarck raised her head.
"What is it?" asked Heinrich.
"Their flagship is calling me." replied Bismarck and moments later she found herself in the concept communication system. She looked around and noticed the model of the heavy cruiser standing at the other side of the tea table.
"Who are you?" Ashigara asked immediately.
"I wish you a good night too." replied Bismarck annoyed. "I'm battleship Bismarck. I'm the flagship, or more likely the former flagship of the North Atlantic Fleet of the Fleet of Fog."
"Why former flagship? Were you gammy to take that role?" asked Ashigara smiling cocking her head to the side.
Bismarck slowly walked to her without saying a word. Ashigara's smile weakened a bit when Bismarck got close and she realized how tall the german battleship was. And that look in her eyes…
"It was my own decision." said Bismarck in a serious tone.
"I get it now! You are running away from the rest of the fleet!"
"And what if I am?"
"It means you are an enemy! Finally! I've started to get so bored! Sinking you will be so much fun!" Ashigara was jumping with joy.
"May I ask the name of this little harlequin who tells me great jokes like this?"
"Hey! Don't call me little! I have so much power you could never imagine!" replied Ashigara sullenly.
"Again: what is your name?"
"I'm Ashigara from the glorious Myoko-class!"
"Ashigara. At least your name sounds pretty cool."
"Right?" asked Ashigara proudly. "Wait. What? Don't divert the subject! Are you an enemy?"
"Well, it's true that I wasn't planning to meet with any of you." said Bismarck.
"Then we will fight right?" asked Ashigara hyped.
"It's not depending on me."
"Then prepare yourself Bismarck! You'll sink before dawn!"
"Do you know how many times I've heard this?" asked Bismarck and she left the system.
"What's up?" asked Heinrich. "Unfortunately or fortunately she is stupid enough to storm us. Like you said we don't have to worry about the light cruisers and destroyers. Finish them off first if you let me a suggestion."
"Anytime Love. And I agree with you."
In mean time the Japanese Fog ships moved up in a line of battle, behind each other. Ashigara was in the middle. They opened fire from short range.
Bismarck was sailing almost parallel to them.
"Sink that leading destroyer first!" said Heinrich. "That will slow them down a bit. When this happens get into a T formation!"
Yes, the hundreds of years old T formation which was last used in 1944 in the battle of Surigao Strait. It means that you get before the bows of the enemy ships crossing the T so you can shoot full broadsides while the enemy can only use the forward turrets.
In the rain of lasers and missiles Bismarck turned all her guns to starboard and aimed at the destroyer Hatsuyuki. Needless to say that one large salvo broke the ship in two. To avoid collision with the sinking wreck Ashigara, Isonami, Isuzu and Abukuma had to decrease their speed and that was what Bismarck was waiting for. She gave full power to her engines and turned hard to starboard. In no time she was before the Japanese ships.
Now the Isuzu could only fire her one and only forward-looking gun against her and because the other three ships were behind her they had to get into position again.
"Wow. I didn't expect this." blinked Ashigara. "No matter! This is getting interesting! All units turn to starboard! Prepare for torpedo attack!
The Fog fleet turned and they launched dozens of warheads.
"Turn to starboard! Launch anti-torpedoes!" ordered Heinrich.
Bismarck did what he said and the sea erupted between the sides as the torpedoes hit each other. They sank the Isonami easily too with a blast from the aft turrets.
"Hey that was not the case!" pouted Ashigara. "Isuzu! Abukuma! Encircle her from two sides!" she ordered when she noticed that Bismarck was turning toward them.
"Fire a spread of lasers!" commanded Heinrich and Bismarck turned all her guns into different directions. Dozens of shots impacted on the cruisers as they were closing. At a point they became unable to launch their torpedoes due to the heavy damage they took. Within two minutes Ashigara was less confident for she left all alone.
"Be wise Ashigara. Give it up and go home wherever it is." said Bismarck.
"Never! Take this!" the heavy cruiser yelled back and suddenly an unidentified long glowing object was launched from her ship and it hit Bismarck.
"What the bloody hell was that?" hooted Heinrich as the ship shook. He looked out the window and saw a kilometer long wire connecting their ship with Ashigara. "What's that some kind of a harpoon?"
"That's new for me too. I guess I know why she doesn't have super-gravity cannon. She spent all the nanomaterials on this thing." said Bismarck.
They felt that the ship moved toward Ashigara who was shooting constantly in mean time.
"That's it! I've got you now!" the Fog student council secretary laughed with passion.
"You think so?" asked Bismarck narrowing her eyes. "You don't know that I have a captain! And he'll screw you! What do you want dear?"
Heinrich looked out again. The shore of the St. Lawrence Island was still close and they are between it and Ashigara. Hmmm.
"Stop firing, concentrate all power on the engines! Revers starboard engine! Full power! Backboard and middle engine ahead full!"
"Understood Kapitän!"
The ship twitched as the starboard engine wanted to pull the ship backwards and the other two wanted to push it further ahead. The bow started to turn to starboard. Ashigara could only notice that the wire of her harpoon tightens and it pulls her away.
"Eh? What!?"
"Now give all powers Bismarck!" commanded Heinrich again. In the next moment Ashigara fall on her back because her ship incredibly accelerated. Bismarck pulled it with herself and the centrifugal force made it to go on a circle. "Shoot her harpoon launcher!"
The battleship aimed and sent one single laser beam flying which hit Ashigara at the named part. The wire came out of its place and the big cruiser practically flew away half emerging from the water. Only the sand of the island stopped it. Ashigara was now lying ashore unable to move. She slowly climbed up to the side of the bridge rubbing her head. She shook it and looked at the receding Bismarck in awe.
"Stop you damn cheater! I haven't finished with you yet!"
"But I have finished with you harlequin." grumbled Bismarck. "I think we have to find another place instead of the Yukon."
"You are a mind-reader Bismarck. Head toward the Aleut Islands."
"Just a minute." said Bismarck and she turned Ashigara's harpoon into nanomaterials and stored it. "We may go."
Somewhere else
Hiei was standing at the window in the dim Fog student council room with her hands behind her back. She was disappointed. Deeply disappointed. She heard the door opening.
"Here I am president." a voice said.
"Weren't you planning at least not to compound your failure by not knocking?" asked Hiei coldly.
"Ah, I'm sorry. Knock knock." said Ashigara with her head lowered.
Hiei turned to her.
"I send you to a routine patrol to an abandoned area with an own squadron once in the life and you end up defeated with all your escorts sunk. If you have an explanation share with me."
"It wasn't my fault! She had extreme tactics!"
"I hoped you were able to learn from the tricks of 401 but as I see…"
"It wasn't the 401! It was a battleship!"
This information caused Hiei to go silent. She raised her eyebrows by a millimeter.
"A battleship? Haruna? Kirishima? Or… Kongo?"
"None of them. I've never even heard about her before! Her name is Bismarck and she deserted her Atlantic fleet!"
This was a bit of surprise even for Hiei even if she didn't express it. She walked up and down without saying a word. A renegade battleship from the far side of the world with highly developed tactics?
"Where did she go?" the president asked.
"She left to the south. That's all I know."
"I'll go myself. You stay back and repair yourself. And don't you try to do anything without my permission."
"Clear." grumbled Ashigara.
And with that Hiei walked out of the room closing the door behind her.