"Two heavy cruisers." said Bismarck as she watched her radar screen. "Oh! One of them is that little harlequin from the Bering Strait."
"Looks like she didn't have enough." said Heinrich. "What about the other one?"
"She is her sister from the Myoko-class."
"Two Myoko-class cruisers, not great, not terrible. Are they preparing to attack?"
"No, they are just following us yet."
"Hm. Continue the way to the islands. If they attack there we can shake them off."
"Verstanden Kapitän!"
"Hey Hiei! Can we start the assault now?" asked Ashigara with passion.
"Not yet Ashigara we are not in position yet." replied the president annoyed.
"Man, that's just tooooo boring like this!" whimpered Haguro.
"So you both can calm down: you may fire in 90 minutes. By that time we will be at our place." sighed Hiei.
"YES!" screamed Ashigara in joy. "That is our president! She is always precise!"
That one and a half hour passed away, Bismarck and Heinrich noticed the northern shores of the Galapagos Islands on the horizon. In that exact moment Ashigara and Haguro opened fire with their forward turrets and rocket launchers.
"Activate the Klein-field!" commanded Heinrich. The shots bounced off the glowing shield.
"You said you have an idea darling." said Bismarck. "I think it is the best time to share it with me if you don't mind."
"Do you see this little strait between the eastern coast of Isla Isabela and that small rock island?"
"I do. What about that?"
"Let's head there."
"It's very narrow. Are you sure?"
"Do you still trust me Bismarck?"
"I would trust you with my life like you said before." said Bismarck with an encouraging smile.
Hiei's POV
Hiei was waiting south from Isla Floreana with Myoko and Nachi behind her.
"What is she doing Ashigara? Did she attack back?"
"No Hiei! She's firing her aft turrets but she's constantly fleeing away!"
"Strange. It would be more logical for her to pick up the fight. Be aware!"
"No worries President! Nobody beats the glorious Myoko-class!"
"I still have a bad feeling."
Bismarck's and Heinrich's POV
"We are closing Heinrich." reported Bismarck as they approached the narrow strait between Isla Isabela and that smaller rock island.
"Okay. Prepare all your cannons and rockets to fire. Wait for my signal."
"Whenever you wish."
Bismarck got between the two islands. She decreased her speed letting Ashigara and Haguro to get closer to her.
"Steady!" said Heinrich observing their pursuers. Now the two cruisers entered the strait too. "Aren't you getting nervous for still not firing?"
"I do nothing unless you say it Heinrich. And again: I trust you. I'm totally calm."
"Glad to hear that." smiled Heinrich. "When we are at the middle of the strait, okay?"
"In the middle. Understood." nodded Bismarck.
The distance decreased between the sides. They were so close to each other that the cruisers sailed the wake of Bismarck. In mean time the duel didn't stop for even a second.
"You may turn your turrets." said Heinrich and Bismarck turned her front turrets to the left and her aft turrets to the right.
"What is she doing?" frowned Haguro.
"Maybe she gave up." cheered on Ashigara.
"And now!" Bismarck fired every cannon and rocket she had on the high cliffs of the islands. Due to the impacts huge avalanches of big stones gushed down on the hillsides behind her.
"Whaaaaat?" yelled Ashigara as the dusty falling stones stormed toward her. They lashed up the water before the heavy cruiser then they reached her. The world darkened before her and her ship stopped while shaking for the falling stones completely barricaded the strait. She had to create a small Klein-field around her mental model to avoid injuries. "Haguro stop!"
But it was too late to avoid collision, Haguro's bow crashed into the hull of her sister who listed because of the impact. A second later the two sister cruisers were standing parallel pressed to each other trapped by fallen cliffs.
"Eh. How galling." moaned Haguro in her usual manner.
"Hey you! Don't you think that I'll let you go with this! I'll end you with my bare hands!" Ashigara shook her fists in frustration.
"Now this was beautiful." said Bismarck looking back as they sailed away.
"Beautiful performance by a beautiful girl right?" chuckled Heinrich.
"Are you coming again with this?"
"Again, I'm just telling the truth."
"I know love. Your biggest problem is that you're too kind."
"I am too kind? Can you hear yourself?"
"I'm just telling the truth too." smiled Bismarck and she took him by the arm. "Oh wait! We have another company at the south."
Hiei's POV
Hiei sighed deeply with closed eyes when she learned what happened. It's really sauciness now. Why does a Fog ship go crazy and develop such tactics if she meets a human? Inexplicable.
"Hiei. They are nearly in the firing range of my sniper cannons. Shall I open fire?" asked Myoko.
The president was thinking. Her duty is to hunt the Fog's enemies. However… What if she could learn about what effects a human interaction has on a Fog ship? Maybe she can learn how to fight more effectively the I-401.
"No." Hiei finally said. "I want to do something. Do not fire unless she attacks first."
"Copy president." answered Myoko but in meantime she thought that it's not usual from Hiei.
This time Hiei watched as Bismarck's mast appeared on the horizon followed by the superstructure and the hull.
"Do you hear me Bismarck?" she asked.
"Ah. You are that boastful geek from earlier right?"
Hiei's eyebrow shook a little bit but she remained calm.
"Yes, I am."
"What do you want? Let me guess: to stand in our way?"
"Partly." answered Hiei. "What did you say, how is your so called "captain" called?"
"His name is Heinrich. Why?"
"I'd like to meet with him."
"I'm sorry, what?" frowned Bismarck.
"I'd like to meet with him. In private." repeated Hiei.
"Oh yeah of course. So you can kill him easily." opposed Bismarck.
"I wouldn't harm him. Yet."
"How do you imagine it?"
"We'll meet on neutral ground. On Isla Watson."
"Isn't it forbidden for you to step on land?"
"It's deserted so it's not against the rules of the Fog to go there."
"And what is the guarantee that he'll return to me?"
"My word as a student council president."
"Am I rude if that's not enough for me?"
"Think about it. I will be onshore, my ship will be abandoned. If I do anything to him you can easily destroy either my ship or my mental model."
Bismarck was silent. "I ask him."
"What is it?" asked Heinrich who was annoyed by the fact that he didn't know what kind of conversation was going on.
"This Hiei wants to meet with you face to face without me or anybody else."
"What?"
"That's exactly what I said too. What do you say?"
"What does she want from me?"
"She didn't tell it. But she promised that you'll come back."
"And do you believe her?"
"Of course not. What do you want to do?"
Heinrich thought about it. Hiei didn't attack them instantly. Who knows? Maybe he can achieve some positive result with her.
"I'm going."
"… Are you sure?" asked Bismarck. It was obvious that she didn't like the idea.
"Yes. A single mental model cannot be TOO dangerous. Where does she want to have the meeting?"
"On Isla Watson but…"
"Bismarck." said Heinrich and hugged her tightly. "I'll come back to you. I'll always come back to you."
"Don't even go anywhere please." said Bismarck burying her face into his shoulder.
"Aye aye ma'am!" he patted her nape.
The two sides sailed to the small island.
Hiei slowly walked toward the shore on platforms she created. Before that she ordered Myoko and Nachi to open fire at Bismarck if she does anything suspicious. She was the first to arrive. When she stepped on shore she met with the unique fauna. She saw iguanas, flightless cormorants and seals in the distance. As it was her first time being on solid earth she found all of this very interesting. After that she waited for that human to arrive.
In mean time our couple stood at the railing of the Bismarck.
"Do you still want to go?" asked Bismarck nervously.
"Don't worry dear I'll be back soon." replied Heinrich placing a kiss on her cheek. Then he went on his way too on glowing grey platforms. He arrived to the northern shore of the about 50 meters wide island. He crossed its rocky terrain to the southern coast. He noticed a person in long dark pink uniform standing on the beach watching the waves. She was showing her back to him. "Fast battleship Hiei if I'm not wrong."
The mental model turned toward him. Heinrich thought at first that he sees a cobra in humanoid form. Hiei had narrow brown eyes and her long reddish brown hair was arranged like the hood of the venomous snake. So yes, she didn't really have the most comforting appearance. Still it was somehow… cool, or mesmerizing.
Hiei on the other hand froze for a second. Not just because she saw a human for the first time from this close but this human was a male and he was European. He was so exotic for her with that dark blonde hair and blazing blue eyes. If Hiei was a human she would have said that he was pretty good-looking or handsome. But she quickly squashed these thoughts away.
"Pleased to meet you in person." said Hiei bowing her head. "Correct, I'm the fast battleship Hiei."
"And you are the flagship of the first oriental fleet. I remember." said Heinrich as he walked closer. "I'm Heinrich Wenzel, former soldier of the Deutsche Marine and now the captain of Bismarck." he said offering his hand. Hiei looked at it at first then at him in question.
"What do you expect from me?"
"You shall shake it."
"Why?"
"I don't know. We used to greet each other this way."
Hiei looked at his hand again then slowly took it. She never thought before that she'll ever touch a human but it happened now. It wasn't as strange as she thought it will be.
"May I ask why you called me here?" questioned Heinrich.
"To meet you."
"Why? Am I so special? I think I'm just an ordinary human being."
"Maybe. But I wanted to get to know my enemy. I know now that you are behind the deeds of Bismarck. A strong Fog battleship has deserted her fleet and fought against her own kind. You could even cause great losses to the Fog. She changed. Can you realize the weight of this?"
"Actually yes." answered Heinrich. "I managed to open her eyes. I wish I could do this with the whole Fleet of Fog. Then my planet would be peaceful again."
"You know that your thinking goes against the Fog?"
"I'm aware of that."
"What makes you to fight?"
"I want to decrease the threat on mankind. Furthermore I want to protect Bismarck."
"Do you think that you are able to do such things on your own? In terms of numbers I have far more chance." asked Hiei.
"Look. I do what I can."
Of course Hiei knew that Heinrich and Bismarck weren't all alone. But she didn't want to tell him about the I-401. Last thing she wanted was Bismarck joining Iona and the escalation of their example.
"Neglect this barren conversation." Hiei shook her head. "Bismarck said before that she loves you. What does it mean?"
"I love her too. In short: it means that she is the most important thing in my life and I would do anything for her. But love is about more."
"She said just the same. But I still cannot understand it. Why are you so important to each other?"
"Because we have nobody else on earth we can love."
"So you can love more persons?"
"Yes. Your sister for example."
Hiei felt uncomfortable hearing the word "sister". She had none of them anymore. Her two little sisters Haruna and Kirishima have joined the I-401 and her respected big sister Kongo just disappeared. All of this because of that damn insurgent submarine.
"But there's that one person who is your soul mate." continued Heinrich.
"I don't really see the point in it." said Hiei.
"And for that I actually feel sorry for you."
"What?" asked Hiei narrowing her eyes further.
"You don't know anything about what is really important in life. Friends, love, family. You have this poor, empty life and that's really sad from a certain point of view."
"Do you want to provoke me now?" asked Hiei in a harder voice.
"In fact I could do anything. If you get angry I wouldn't be able to make a stand against a mental model. True."
"Yeah. It's true." answered Hiei shortly. She never was in a situation like this before. Here was this human, her enemy before her and he spoke with her as if they were equal. He really wasn't afraid of her.
"Is there anything you'd like to know?"
"No. I've heard enough. Listening to this corrupts my system. In the name of the Admiralty Code I have to call you to surrender to me and leave Bismarck's control to me."
"I'm afraid that this will not happen. By the way I have a question too. What is exactly this "Admiralty Code"?"
"It defines our destiny and gives reason for our existence."
"How this code was made and put into operation I wonder."
"That's not important for you. So you say "no"?"
"I say no. I will always say no to those who want to harm my fellow humans." said Heinrich with a self-confident voice.
"I see. I didn't want to do that but you leave me no choice. Are you ready to meet the abyss Heinrich Wenzel-san?"
"The sea is my life Hiei. If it has to be my death too I have no objection."
"As you think. Goodbye." said Hiei and turned away.
Heinrich looked after her as she walked away back to her ship then he turned back as well. When he arrived he saw the look of relief on Bismarck's face.
"See? I told you I'll be back."
"What's the situation?"
"They'll attack."
"Eh. I didn't have lust for that." sighed Bismarck.
"We've been in more serious situations than this before. We'll handle this one too."
"Then I propose to get back to the bridge sweetheart."
Meanwhile Hiei, Myoko and Nachi went into a V formation with Hiei at the lead.
"Myoko. You may prepare your cannons."
"Understood president."
Bismarck's and Heinrich's POV
"What do your sensors say about their ships?"
"Only Hiei has super gravity cannon. One of the cruisers has some "unidentified armament" as the computer says."
"Hm. Interesting."
In the next moment a huge, purple blast reached Bismarck's Klein-field and reduced it to 90%. It also shook the battleship heavily.
"What the bloody hell was that?!"
Heinrich took his binoculars and looked at the purple Fog cruiser.
"What on earth are those? Sniper cannons or what?" He saw big guns on both side of the ship.
"It's not good." stated Bismarck.
"You see it well dear. But Hiei is still the biggest danger. If you ask me we should take her out first."
"I'm in."
"Right. Then do not waste time, turn toward them and charge the super gravity cannon!" Bismarck turned her bow to the south in the rain of lasers. "Aim right at her hull!"
The hull of Bismarck opened up and the fearful weapon appeared.
"You think so?" asked Hiei coldly.
"Feuer!" ordered Heinrich and the "shell" flew toward the student council president dividing the sea. It nearly reached her when multiple shining rhombuses appeared before the fast battleship. The shot broke into parts and evaded Hiei.
"What?" they stared in awe. "What was that again?"
"I think this is what they call Mirror ring system. But I've never seen it before. Even I, the flagship of the North Atlantic Fleet don't have it."
"So technically the super gravity cannon is useless against her?"
"In the moment yes."
"That's just fantastic!" said Heinrich as the enemy's bombardment continued. Minute by minute the shield depleted.
"On my signal Myoko." said Hiei. "We'll finish this for once and all!"
"My cannons are on 96%. I'll be ready in a minute." the heavy cruiser replied in her usual calm manner.
It was now Hiei who prepared her super gravity cannon.
Back on the Bismarck
Bismarck and Heinrich watched as the destructive guns on the other side started to glow. It was now questionable if they can resist the strike.
"Concentrate all energy on the frontal Klein-Field!" ordered Heinrich.
"Do you think it will stop them?" asked Bismarck as she did what he said. Heinrich looked at her. For the first time Bismarck saw doubt on his face.
"I don't know dear. I really don't know. Let's hope the best."
Bismarck stepped to him and took him by the hand.
"Remember?" she asked. "Back in Norway you spoke about the life after death. If something goes wrong do you think that we will go to the same place?"
"Well. Some say that everyone is given according to their faith."
"Then I believe in it with all my heart." replied Bismarck and they hugged each other tightly.
"Fire!" commanded Hiei and the three enormous laser beams tore Bismarck's Klein-field into pieces and the german battleship disappeared behind the curtain of smoke. "More!"
Hiei, Myoko and Nachi now fired their normal cannons into the smoke cloud. They were shooting for a few minutes before they stopped. Due to the smoke they couldn't see the result and her sensors temporarily weren't accurate because of the many big shots. However Hiei was pretty sure that they destroyed their target. She looked into the distance with a satisfied look.
"Finally. We succeeded where so many others have failed."
"President."
"What is it Nachi?'
"I hear something from there."
Hiei looked back where Bismarck was before narrowing her eyes. First she noticed only a silhouette. Then a wide, pointy bow emerged from the smoke followed by gun turrets, a superstructure and a whole ship. She just didn't want to believe her eyes. It was Bismarck. Many of her parts were smoking heavily but she wasn't even listing or showing signs of sinking. The three council ships stared in disbelief. Hiei noticed a person coming out to the right bridge wing. She enlarged him with her monitor. It was that human, Heinrich. He had a little smoke on his face and on his clothes but he didn't have any wounds. He looked at them with a very determined look.
"FEUER!"
Bismarck suddenly turned her starboard toward them and unleashed everything she had. All her main cannons and half of her rocket launchers were firing at Hiei the others weapons were shooting the cruisers. Hiei nearly fell, it was too much. How could Bismarck have so much strength? Her armament alone doesn't make it possible.
"Hiei I can't stand it! We should…" Myoko's message was cut in half because of the damage of the communication system. Before Hiei could notice it, all three of them were disabled. Bismarck boosted up her engines and quickly passed to the south with all her 60 knots.
The place was quiet again. Hiei, Myoko and Nachi were just floating there with smoking or even burning ships. Ashigara and Haguro were still trapped near Isla Isabela. The student council clearly wasn't able to chase her.
Hiei was standing on one knee on top of her bridge sighing heavily. She couldn't process it. How could it happen? All her calculations said before that they'll win the battle. But… Unbelievable. What gave Bismarck so much power? How could she do this? That human. That human must be the cause.
Repairing their ships requested a whole night and day. When it was morning again Hiei had to decide what to do. Should the go after Bismarck? Or turn back leaving her to the American Fog fleet? No matter how annoying it was for her they had to sail back to the West Pacific. They got too far from their operating area. By noon they started their way back. Their travel was undisturbed but Hiei couldn't free herself from her thoughts. She was quiet all the time. It took her a while but she realized that her thoughts were about that human. "Heinrich Wenzel. Who are you?" But why? Why is she thinking about him so much? Are these thoughts dangerous? She couldn't tell. But somehow she wanted to… go after him. And find him. For what? To destroy him together with Bismarck obviously, that's her task. However the feeling that she had to go after him was still far stronger than the intention to kill him. Why is that?
"Is something wrong Hiei?" asked half-heartedly Ashigara who was sitting on her board resting her back on the barbette of her B turret. She was still grumpy about what happened with her and Haguro.
"I'm alright Ashigara. You can leave me alone." replied Hiei in the same mood. But even while saying this she couldn't forget the European captain of Bismarck. She has to do something before she goes mad.